A Sunday In Boston

Hi everybody! Today I had the privilege of going into Boston with a new friend to take pictures of the city in the spring. We went to the Boston Public Garden and to the Charles River to take some shots. It was BEAUTIFUL - temperature around 80, and it was so nice. I thought I'd make this a "post of pictures" and share some of my favorites with you. Enjoy, and have a great week!

Springy Friday Greetings!

While this weekend appears to be unseasonably warm, I plan to enjoy every minute of it! Today it's in the mid-60's, tomorrow the mid-70's and we're supposed to hit 80 on Sunday!!! It'll be back in the 50's next week, but I don't care right now - I plan to enjoy every bit of the sunshine and warmth that this weekend offers.

Leaves are starting to pop out on trees, flowers are beginning to bloom....I plan to spend lots of time outside this weekend taking pictures, and I'll post some for you as the world up here begins to burst with new life. I can't wait!

It's been a long winter folks, in every way, and as new life begins to emerge, I find myself excited about what God has in store. As our faith and trust in Him is sharpened and strengthened through the valleys, it makes the spring that much more beautiful. And to be honest, it makes Him that much more beautiful too. His redemption, His sacrifice on our behalf, His love....it's enough.

This is a crazy weekend for the Jones family. My parents are packing up their house in GA as we speak and will be heading out for good at the end of the weekend. Pray for them as the permanence of their new adventure settles in.

In the meantime, I leave you with this. When my soon to be roommate had her birthday earlier this year, I made this for her. The picture is one I took last year and the words are lyrics from a Charlie Hall song. As difficult as this path has been over the past few years, I do believe God works all things for good....that He heals, that He redeems, that He restores, and that He brings beauty out of ashes. And because of all of that, we can all bloom again - no matter what circumstances we are in or have walked through. May God surround you with a tangible expression of His redemptive love this weekend!

A Wedding Weekend

It's been a crazy 5 days or so! On Thursday, I flew home to GA to get ready for a wedding of a friend of mine. She had asked me to do her flowers for the wedding, so I needed the extra time to be prepared. It was lovely to be in GA. Spring has arrived there, and there were leaves on the trees, grass was green, flowers were in bloom.

Just to contrast this, here is what my trees look like here....

I am starting to see a few buds on trees though, and some tulips are pushing up through the ground and should be in bloom soon.

Anyway, back to the wedding. The bride is a HUGE UGA fan, and the groom is just as big of an Auburn fan. So all things bride had to be red flowers and all things groom had to be orange. Made for an interesting task for me, but it was fun. Here are a few pictures of the flowers.


The wedding was held at UGA, and my Mom and I had some fun taking pictures on the beautiful campus. Here are a few of us, as well as one with the bride.




Now, I'm back in the Great White North, where I am living the old saying, "April showers bring May flowers". It has rained a ton this month, and I'm looking forward to the flowers this rain will bring!

My parents are in GA this week packing up their house, as it has sold. We are thankful for that gift, but it was very odd to know I was spending my last night in that house. Please pray for them as they come to mind, and continue praying for me as I continue walking this path of healing and wholeness. More to come soon. Have a great week!

Broken But Not Destroyed

Hi everybody. Well, this post is a long time in coming, and I apologize for the length between all of my posts recently. I hope to be much better about updating my blog because for one, who knows if anyone even still reads it, and secondly, there are so many exciting things coming up! For now though, I wanted to share a bit about why there has been such a gap in posts, what's currently going on, and what I am learning. Interspersed in this post will be flower pictures from last year to help break up all the words AND to help have visual reminders that spring is coming!!

I mentioned in some previous entries about the fact that I was having anxiety attacks due to so much life stress happening. These past 6 weeks have been some of the most difficult I have walked through in a really long time. I think that a lot of "stress" was going on - work stress, parents moving to a new city, I'm moving to a new city and have to find a job and home, and even discovering deeper levels of healing and hurt that need to be dealt with. I think the stress had been building over time, without me even being aware of it, until it all just reached the boiling point and my body said, "ENOUGH! I'm done!" Anxiety attacks then began, my body was so tense and stressed all the time that I couldn't relax at all, and it was all I could do to simply survive.

I've never dealt with anything like this before in my life, and it has been a humbling time. I don't like to be "weak", to not be perfect, and the fact that I couldn't relax, especially as a follower of Christ and knowing all of the "right answers", was not okay with me. I'm getting more okay with it now. :-) I finally went to see my doctor last week and did something I swore I would never do - I got some medication for anxiety. After taking the first pill, within about 15 minutes, I could literally feel my muscles relax, and I slept through the night that evening for the first time in weeks. Over these past days, I am taking very little of the medication - 1/2 pill once a day, but it has allowed my body to remember how to relax, it has allowed me to eat and sleep again, I have been able to re-enter social situations and function as a person, and I have been able to remember that God loves me. For all of that, I am very thankful for medication and doctor's wisdom! This is a very short-term situation for me, but it is helping me get over the hump and back into the land of the living.

I'm still dealing with the aftereffects of the stress - my body is very sore, as my muscles recover from being tense and tight for 6 weeks. I'm tired - you don't make up for weeks of not sleeping in a few days. But I am once again able to see and to feel a sense of hope that spring really is coming.

Easter was yesterday of course, and our windchills were in the 20's. I keep reminding myself that spring really is right around the corner. In just a few weeks time, we should have tulips blooming and a little while after that, leaves on the trees again. I can't wait. I'm ready for visible evidence that spring always comes because sometimes it's easy to forget that it does. These weeks have been a very dark time for me, but God is faithful, carrying me through even when my faith is weak.

I think in addition to the stresses going on, I have also been dealing with deeper healing, scars, and pain from all that has happened in the last two years with Jeff leaving. I'm such an analytical person, which can be good and bad. But in my analysis, I left a lot of the emotion out of the healing process, and I have been dealing with some of that now. It's a good thing - never easy, but good.

In the healing process, Easter takes on even more significance, doesn't it? Love wins. The nails didn't keep Jesus on the cross as He hung there dying - love did. And that love will carry us through whatever this life offers into an eternity beyond anything we can imagine. In the book "The Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers, there is a section at the end that says the following: "Abba Father, surely this suffering has been for my benefit. You've kept me in Your love, and I am not destroyed. Your will be done."

That is my testimony, and that is my prayer. This suffering over the past two years has been for my benefit. Through all that has happened and through all that is ahead - no matter what - God has kept me and will keep me in His love. And I am not destroyed. His will be done. And someday, in the most glorious moment, He will return and make all things new and all things right, and life will be as it was meant to be. Until that day, may we honor Him in all we do - even in our struggles and the dark times - and may He be glorified through our lives, as we point a world in desperate need of hope to the only One who can give it.

I appreciate you all and ask for your prayers as God continues His work in my life. Spring is coming again. It really is.

Yay For Brothers!

This is my two hundredth post on this blog....kinda crazy! I know that I've taken a bit of time off from writing - there are good reasons for my hiatus, which I will get into at some point. But for now, I dedicate this post to two of my favorite people in the world. We've had so much fun hanging out, and I am so thankful for the gift they are to me!

Anne Marathon

Happy Sunday! Brother arrives home today from his birthday trip to Orlando - I have to leave in a few minutes to go pick him up from the airport. It was nice having the apartment all to myself for a few days for some quiet and relaxation, but it will be good to have him back.

While he was gone, I took advantage of his absence to have a girls weekend, and most of the ladies from my community group gathered for an "Anne of Green Gables" marathon. We watched the first 4 hours on Friday night and the second 4 hours Saturday morning/afternoon. It was SO much fun! I hadn't seen the movies in a couple of years, even though we've tried to do Anne marathons every year. It was awesome to watch them again and a lot of fun to hang out with friends.

As you know, the brother and I share a tiny apartment, and on Friday night, there were 9 of us crammed in to watch Anne. I took a picture because I thought it was hilarious. It's a little blurry, but at least you get the idea!

One of the ladies brought raspberry cordial - she found the official Anne recipe and made it! It was yummy!

So it was a fun weekend, and I'm trying not to stress out about the fact that it is almost over and I'll have to go back to work tomorrow. I could use a couple of weeks of this relaxation! :)

Matthew is coming to visit us on Friday to spend part of his spring break with us. I am SO EXCITED!!!! I can't wait to see brother and show him around some and just hang out. He hasn't been here since we moved up here, so it will be fun. I'll be posting again soon with updates on Orlando, life in general, and sharing about brother's visit. In the meantime, please keep praying for me and my family as we continue to go through changes, deal with large amounts of stress, and try to rest in God's arms and not panic! :) Love you guys!

An Update

Hi everybody! Happy Monday to you. Did you know that here in the Great White North, the current windchill outside is 12? And we're getting close to April!! Sigh....one day spring will return.

Anyway, I just wanted to put a quick update out there on the blog. I was able to spend the weekend with my parents, and it was a much needed and very helpful break. I was able to relax, catch up on some sleep, get lots of hugs and be snuggled by their cat (who started out as my cat many years ago). The break wasn't long enough, but it helped to bring the anxiety levels way down, and I am hoping and praying that they will stay down.

There is still tons of stuff happening in life, but I know God is bigger than circumstances, and I am hoping my body will now be in a position to follow what my head and heart know. I've never struggled with anxiety in this way before, and it has been quite an experience. I appreciate greatly the encouragement and support from all of you!

I ended up back at the doctor last Thursday because my leg was still swelling some. It appears as though I have either seriously strained or slightly torn my calf muscle. I can feel it when I step or walk a certain way, and there have been times when I could feel the muscle ball up and take forever to relax. I have a cool heating pad thing that you heat up in the microwave, and that is helping. At least it appears to be nothing serious, so that is a stress that has been eliminated.

I'll keep you posted on life and continue updating my blog. There is lots happening and much to share. Counting this week, I only have 13 weeks left of my current job before I'll be moving on to Orlando. Remind me when it's burning hot down there this summer how I felt when the windchill was 12 in March.... :) Have a great week!

A VERY Long Week

Greetings, faithful friends and readers of my blog. I apologize for not posting anything in quite sometime. It has been quite a stretch of time here, and I am just now getting back to posting. Last week was one of the worst weeks I have had in quite some time - work stress, life stress, health stress - all culminating in a few days of experiencing anxiety attacks, which I've never dealt with before. So it's been a little insane. Perhaps at some point I'll go into more details, but I would appreciate any prayer you could send my way as this week unfolds. I am doing better - the anxiety has calmed down a lot, but I am completely exhausted and could use some good nights of sleep. I'm going to Baltimore for the weekend to see my parents - sometimes a hug from mom and dad is needed!! - and I think that will be a good break.

The health stress I mentioned I believe stemmed from the run I went on last Sunday. I never run - EVER - but I guess I was inspired by the sunshine, and I went running without stretching and pushed myself too far. The next night, I did some more exercising that was kind of leg focused, and on Tuesday, my left calf was swollen to twice the size of my right one. Advil took the swelling down, but it was kind of a crazy experience for a few days. I did go to the doctor Friday, and in looking at everything, he didn't think I needed to worry about a blood clot. I have had no swelling since Thursday now, and while my leg is still bothering me as I begin walking and exercising again, I think we're moving forward with it all. I suppose that will teach me to never run again! :)

Anyway, I try to stay real on my blog, and let's face it - sometimes real life isn't pretty. I'll keep you all posted, but thank you for your prayers during a time of high stress. I appreciate you all!

A Beautiful Day

Today was absolutely gorgeous! The temperature was about 54, the sun was shining, and it was glorious! We went to church this morning, which was fantastic, and then I went to the store afterwards. Came home, and I've gotten a lot done - cleaned the bathroom, did lots of laundry, cooked dinner - but I also took time to go for a run/walk and lay on the rocks by the ocean. It was really nice. These last two days have helped us remember that spring will arrive again at some point, but we have a way to go still. It's supposed to start wintry mixing overnight and into tomorrow, turning into all snow and accumulating around 3 inches through the day. Gotta love it!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pictures with you. Here is a picture of the chicken pie I made for dinner tonight. Mmm...

Ellie has very much enjoyed the nice weather. She sat in front of the door and in the open window a lot today. She's so cute!!



I hope you guys all have a fantastic week. More posts to come soon!

A Spring-like Saturday

Happy Saturday, y'all! It's so incredibly awesome to have temperatures in the 50's here today! We have a couple of windows open, and Ellie has spent most of the day sitting in them, enjoying the rare warmth. It's kind of weird though because you have this nice weather and then there is still snow all over the ground. It's obviously melting, but when you get 14 inches, it takes awhile to disappear.

Another thing that has made this day fabulous is that the World Baseball Classic started today and the United States is playing Canada. A couple of Braves are on the team, and it's been a lot of fun to watch some baseball again. It makes it seem like spring will really come again. The winters here are so long, and when you hit the month of March, you're so ready for it to be done. Just having one day of mild temps, seeing some baseball....well, it just helps encourage you to hang on! Spring always comes again....eventually.

As promised, I went to take some pictures today. There are a couple of ponds around here, or little inlets from the ocean, that have been frozen over for awhile. I just think it looks beautiful, so I wanted to share that with you today. In the first picture, the front is a little inlet that's frozen and then you can see the ocean on the other side of the divide.



Well, I'm going to go continue to enjoy this most relaxing day. Have a great weekend!