The One Where I Turned 24

I had always wondered at what birthday I would stop being excited about turning another year older. Well...this year I had the answer. It was 24. The big 2-4. AKA just another day on the calendar. Sad, but true. I am a big fan of birthdays. Always have been. Especially mine. And other peoples. I just really enjoy making someone feel special on their special day. I want to make other people's birthdays as exciting and special as I think mine should be. Not so much this year, though. Normally, I have a little countdown going. The day before, I repeatedly ask the husband if he knows what tomorrow is. I'll be honest, I am generally very annoying for the week or so leading up to my birthday. One positive thing about not getting excited about my birthday is that I was markedly less obnoxious, I will say.

I'm not really sure why I wasn't excited. I think it's because 23 still sounds young and cool and hip and by the time you're 24, you've started using words like "hip" and are so not. Sigh. My actual birthday (which was Saturday) turned out to be nice, uneventful day, though. I went and got a pedicure with my MIL and SIL, and went back to the in-laws for my favorite dinner - tequila lime chicken and a white-on-white birthday cake with sprinkles. Yum. My family couldn't come up to celebrate on my actual birthday, but I am hopeful that we will be able to do something over my sister's spring break.

On a slightly related note, I am slightly amused/slightly irritated at the fact that people think I am 12. Seriously. This happens a lot. Every time I go to get my nails done, they comment that I "look way too young to be married." Actually, I went on Sunday to get French shellac done on my nails (which look FANTASTIC, by the way) and I had another encounter like this. Keep in mind, I am legitimately 24 years old at this point. The convo with the high-school receptionist went like this:

Girl: "When I saw you walk in and I saw your ring, I thought - this girl doesn't even look like she's old enough to be legally married."
Me: (awkward smile) "Well, I am."
Girl: "I bet you get that all the time, don't you?"
Me: (glare and look away)

Okay, not really. I didn't really glare. I just awkwardly smiled as she proceeded to tell me what a compliment that was. The real kicker to this is that people think my 17-year old sister is older than me. I will recap a particular instance for you so you can see how serious this problem really is - Becca and I walk into a store in the mall after a long day of Christmas shopping (read: I am cranky).

Sales clerk: "Oh, you two must be twins!"
Me: "No, we're not."
Sales clerk: "Well, sisters at least."
Me: "Good guess." -- (okay, I wasn't this rude, I promise, but it makes for funnier dialogue when reading)
Sales clerk: "Let me see if I can guess who is older..." stands with finger tapping lip, thinking for 30 seconds... "You?" points to Becca.
Becca: giggling hysterically. She loves this.
Me: "No, I am. By 6 years." (storms away) -- okay, again. I didn't really storm away. I am much too polite for this, but I just want to emphasize for you what I was feeling internally.

Anyways, I'm not really sure why I just went off on this random tangent. It was on my mind, and talking about birthdays...I don't know. The dots connected in my mind. I am done. No more rambling.

And now, a few pictures that don't really relate at all to what I just wrote about - except to prove to you that I DO look older than my baby sister.

Becca and Jess

The One Where the Hubs and I Get Away

Not really sure why I just titled this like a Friends episode, but for some reason that's just what came out. Hmm. Maybe that will be my new thing. Anyways, the husband and I went on a little trip this past week. Josh bought some vouchers off of Living Social before Christmas this past year and had us a wonderful little trip booked for right after Christmas. Unfortunately, our trip was cancelled because of snow. We rescheduled for March, though, and I actually ended up being thankful that we rescheduled when we did. December is full of fun, exciting things - Christmas, New Years, time with family, etc. - but I normally get the blah-blues around this time of year so this trip was actually a perfect pick-me-up. We dropped off Roscoe at my parent's house in Lexington, which by the way, is his dream. Poor Ross is stuck being tethered to a leash or a line or is in some way hindered when he's home so to be able to just be let free out in the country at my parents is his favorite thing. He seriously never wants to come inside when we are there, so I knew that he would have a great time with Gammy while we were gone.

We fueled up at Cracker Barrel, which I feel like is a prerequisite stop for any good road trip, and then we hit the open road. Our destination? Christopher Place Bed and Breakfast Resort in Newport, TN. Neither of us had stayed at a B&B before, so to be honest, I was a little nervous about what to expect. I had heard horror stories from friends about having to share a bathroom with the other visitors, and being forced to eat meals with strangers, so needless to say, I was a little apprehensive.

And all for no need! The B&B turned out to be incredible...absolutely incredible! Check out this place -

The best (okay, maybe not the best since there were many things that we enjoyed - but ONE of the best) things was that we checked in on a Wednesday and were the only people there until Friday afternoon! This would have been awkward if this had been a B&B where the innkeeper lived at the house, but all the staff left at 8 or 9 at night, so we basically had the whole mansion completely to ourselves! Amazing.  There was a game room upstairs with a big screen t.v. and a pool table, and they made us freshly baked cookies and had a refrigerator stocked full of soda, so we were set. We just hung out in the game room or in the pub/library area, and basically had the staff at our beck-and-call. I would totally recommend staying at a B&B like this during the week of an off-season - it was the best way to get our money's worth!

We stayed in Margaret's Room the first 2 nights, and then stayed in a disconnected suite the last night. Margaret's Room wasn't even a suite but was so spacious that it felt like one. The staff actually offered to let us move to our suite a night early but we were contented to stay in the mansion by ourselves, so we declined the offer.

Here's a shot of Josh reading up on the history of Christopher Place in our room. Notice the king-size bed = NICE! :)

We also got a wonderful welcome tray, complete with grapes, chocolate covered strawberries, and mini cheeses. Talk about luxury!

Now, the breakfasts that we got might really be the BEST part of the trip. Check out some of these pictures...and if it seems like there are a lot of pictures of food, it's because there are. This probably adequately represents the amount of time we spent eating - I literally think I may have gained 3 pounds on this trip, no joke.

Seriously, hands-down this was the best waffle I have ever eaten in my entire life. And I've eaten a lot of waffles. This thing must have been made with sweet batter, because I didn't even need syrup.

Chocolate scone. Basically a chocolate chip cookie in disguise. I think they figure if they call it a "scone" instead of a cookie, it's acceptable for breakfast.

So yeah...breakfast was grand every morning. It was kind of a bummer that it was yucky pretty much the whole trip. We drove into Gatlinburg on Thursday, but it was cold and dreary, so we didn't really do too much. I think Gatlinburg may have been more fun when I was younger, too, because we had to look for things to do while we were there. I remember when we used to go to Gatlinburg when I was younger and I would get anxious-excited, worried that we wouldn't get to do everything I wanted. Not so much with this trip. We did visit the Ripley's museum, which is something I have always wanted to do. It ended up being cooler than I thought it would be, and seriously...some of that stuff? - I still don't know if I believe it or not.

We also visited the outlets while we were in Pigeon Forge, and had dinner at the Applewood Barn, which according to one review we read is the #1 restaurant to eat at in Pigeon Forge. Now, the food was good - hearty and definitely southern - but I'm not sure I would say the #1 restaurant. That is a pretty bold claim to make in my opinion, and Josh and I were looking forward to eating there all day. We were a little disappointed...but not disappointed enough to leave food on our plates! Apple fritter biscuits with apple butter were served while we were waiting for our food - now those, were definitely #1! Again, this is why I think I may have gained 3 lbs. on this trip. 

Besides that, we didn't do too much. Because it was dreary, we stayed at the B&B for the majority of the time, which was actually very nice. It forced us to just relax and spend some time together, which is really what we wanted this trip to be about. We did get out and do a short hike one afternoon, which was refreshing and so beautiful as everything is really starting to green up and look renewed!

All-in-all, we had a great trip, and came home (somewhat) relaxed, renewed and ready to plan our next B&B retreat! :)

Notice our new friend, Ringo, who tried to sneak into our room every time we opened the door.

Craftiness, part 2

Well, this past weekend I had another hankering to embrace my inner craftiness. I knew I wanted to do some sort of craft, but I was scratching my head trying to think of exactly what I should do. Then, I remembered seeing instructions for how to make a yarn wreath that I thought looked cute and easy, and I decided to give it a try, so I hopped in my car and headed to where else?...HOBBY LOBBY! :) Can I just add that I absolutely love and could spend hours upon hours in HL? I almost get a little anxious when I walk into HL because there is so much that I want to see and buy that I'm afraid I might miss something. It's a little sad, actually, but I really do get excited to wander the aisles of HL, so it definitely helps when I have a specific purpose in mind.

Let me insert here that there are probably a million better instructions out there than mine below, so you may want to Google directions if you are interested in making your own yarn wreath; however, I'll detail the steps that I went through.

 So, here's what I bought to make my yarn wreath:

• yarn (obviously!)
• a straw wreath
• different colors of felt

Basically, all I did was wrap the yarn around the wreath. This takes a while to get the hang of, but after a while you'll get the hang of it and really get rolling along with it. That being said, it did take probably 3+ hours to wrap the entire wreath, but I did most of it while watching a movie, so it wasn't too bad. Also, the yarn is definitely not wrapped perfectly, but that gives it character, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself. :)

I just have to share this picture of Roscoe, who was very interested in helping me...particularly when it involved the yarn! He's so cute, I could just eat him up!...although I do distinctly remember saying quite the opposite when this was actually happening, and he wouldn't stop attacking my wreath! Oh well, kids will be kids. :)

To make the flowers, cut a circle out of felt. Be sure to make the edges somewhat wavy. Then, basically cut a spiral, leaving the end to be a circle.

Wrap the felt strip around itself to make your rosette.

Keep wrapping until you get to the end, and then hot glue the circle at the end onto the wrapped flower.

 

Ta-da! Flowers! I also added a few beads to the center of a couple of the flowers for a little added decoration.

Hang your wreath on your front door for all to see!

I should also add that I sprayed my wreath with a suede shoe protector . Not really sure if that serves any purpose or is going to help anything, but I thought it might help with how the wreath handles the weather, even though it is under our front porch awning.

All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with how my yarn wreath turned out! I'd like to make another one with the teal yarn that I bought, but that will have to wait for another rainy, dreary weekend! :)

Happy Valentine's Day...and Birthday...and Anniversary...and probably Christmas, to me!

I am SO excited about my Valentine's day present...I have been wanting a nice camera for years, but have been too nervous about spending that kind of money...well, hubs and I decided to take the plunge and splurge on one! I'm anxious to take it out and really start practicing with it...lots of really awesome, artistic pictures to come!...hehe.

Catchin' Up

I have a lot of catching up to do! For one thing, our 28-day detox has been over for weeks now, and I haven't even talked about it since then. BUT, first things first! - My new scripture for this second half of the month. This one is going to be a bit trickier...I kinda cheated with the other one, memorizing a verse that I had memorized in the past, but this is a brand spankin' new one! --

...comes with all his holy ones (is what's on the back). -1 Thessalonians 3:12 & 13

So anyway, back to the detox. Well, it's over, first of all. Josh lost 15 pounds! Seriously, the weight just fell off of him. I lost 3. Whoopee. But, to be honest, I definitely cheated more than he did, and I threw in the towel at around day 21, while he stuck strong until the end. Honestly, though, we weren't doing it, really, to lose weight, but rather, just to feel better. And I am starting to realize that what I put into my body really does affect how I feel. We're still trying to do about 80-20, meaning stick to the detox 80% of the time and then have cheats the other 20%. On the days where we completely cheat, I definitely feel it. My stomach hurts and grumbles and I wake up the next morning with a headache. Headaches have been the biggest thing for me since then that I've noticed - I didn't really have any while doing the detox, at least not that were bad enough that I needed Advil, but since then, I would say I've had headaches about 4 times a week where I've needed some kind of medicine. It's crazy really, and I'm sure I can pinpoint it to the gluten or caffeine or diet soda that I have added back to my diet, but for some reason I can't let go of these things! I have definitely cut back on my gluten, but I honestly really look forward to my cup of coffee in the morning and my Diet Mountain Dew in the afternoon. I think I am going to stick with the coffee and cut out some, SOME, of the DMD...like maybe down to 5 days a week. We'll see, that could be pushing it. :)

Hmm...I guess I didn't have nearly as much to catch up on as I thought. Pictures to come tomorrow of my FANTASTIC Valentine's Day present. And now, in late honor of LOVE day, a picture of me and the husband from my favorite day --

SO happy.

Great Weekends

I feel like I have so much to catch ya'll up on! I have been feeling so overwhelmingly blessed lately by the people in my life that I just have to share. I'll start with the weekend before last. My mom and sister came in to visit, which I just love! I treasure any time I get to spend with these 2 lovely ladies, so I was quite excited to spend a weekend with them up in my neck of the woods. Well, not only did they come in for a visit, but my sister Becca's boyfriend, Zac, came up to visit as well. It was such a nice weekend all around. The ladies did a little shopping while the fellas did a little Xboxing, and we all hung out at night playing Scrabble. I feel like I really got to know Zac better, and it's always refreshing to spend time with momma and sis, but hands-down the best part of the weekend was that Zac gave his life to Jesus on Sunday! YES! He has been going to church with my sister since they started dating several months ago, and has really been on the journey of searching since then, and decided that he was ready to make the biggest and best decision of his life! The coolest part was that Josh got to really minister and pour his wisdom into Zac, and got to baptize him on Sunday. One of my favorite parts of seeing someone give their life to Jesus is the sheer desire to get to know Him better. I absolutely love it when new believers ask questions and genuinely seek and have a desire to learn, which is what I see in Zac. It is truly refreshing.

Some intense Scrabble action :)

Zac getting baptized...in a horse trough, no less! :)

This past weekend was another great one...I am beyond tired as I write this, yet am feeling so inspired and encouraged! We took 11 of our youth kids to a Dare2Share conference in Columbus, which is basically an evangelism training for teens. We roadtripped it to Columbus Friday after school, just in time for the first session. Shane and Shane led worship, and then we had various speakers talk to us about the importance and urgency of sharing the gospel with our friends. We stayed at a hotel on Friday night, where we pigged out on pizza and candy and played some card games, and then rose and shone super early on Saturday (i.e., 6:30 a.m...yuck!) for some more sessions. The coolest/scariest part of the conference was that the kids were encouraged to call 2 of their friends on the spot and basically point-blank ask them if they believed in God. Scary, yet so inspiring to see our students embrace this and just do it! I am so so proud of our kids, and am honestly so moved and encouraged by their courage and boldness for the Lord. They were also encouraged to share the gospel with a stranger over dinner, and I am just unbelievably proud as one of our youngest students, a 7th-grader, boldly walked over to a couple eating dinner at Wendy's and asked them if they knew the Lord. She felt a prompting from the Holy Spirit and let it lead her. She didn't allow herself to be talked out of a prompting, which I ashamedly admit I am guilty of, but rather she moved when she felt called. One of my favorite parts which just filled my heart to the brim was seeing our students so engaged in worship. To see 5,000 teens with their eyes closed and arms in the air, worshipping their Father was just amazing. Also, I am so excited to share that 4 (yes, four!) of our students adopted a Compassion child! These kids understand the mission, and want to share the love of God with others, whether they be in Ohio, Uganda, Ghana or wherever. I left the conference in awe of God, extremely proud of our students, and with a full heart. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend. :)

A youth retreat certainly isn't complete without a stash of junk food :)

Worship.

Students worshipping.

Siesta Scripture

Wow! 2 blog entries in 2 days...I'm getting better at this! Well today I'm going to keep it short - I thought I'd share with ya'll something that I just heard of that I am going to start participating in. It's called the Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge. Basically, I am going to join with thousands of other women across the country in committing to memorizing 2 scriptures a month, 24 for the year. I am already 2 behind, because I just heard of this yesterday, but I think I will try to catch up so I can have 24 memorized this year. Anyways, you can find all the details here, but basically all you do is log on to The Living Proof Ministries blog on the 1st and 15th of every month. You write down what you're committing to memorize and then you do it! It's pretty simple, but so cool to know that countless other women all across the country are doing the same thing!

So for a little extra accountability, I thought I'd share my verse with you all. I've already written it all out on my trusty notecard, and it's going to sit on my desk so I'll see it everyday! If you see me, ask me my verse! :)