hallelujah!

So, my God is amazing. He loves me so much, I don’t deserve any of it. But I’m glad he does. Last week was seriously so hard. I was extremely disheartened and felt almost hopeless in some areas. But God has restored my joy. He has brought encouragement to my heart through so many random people. People I used to know, people I know well, people I just met, and people I don’t know at all. They have all stopped (for no reason at all) to give me some kind of encouragement and it is none other than my wonderful savior at work. He really does take care of me and my heart. He shows me that when I feel that I don’t belong at all, I belong to him!

Who am I
That the lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt

Who am I
That the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wond’ring heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what you’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who you are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I’m calling
Lord you catch me when I’m falling
And you showed me who I am
I am yours!

MNSC, Halloween and Laguna tonight…….fun is in the air!

Mirrors?? we don't need no stinkin' Mirrors!

So, I guess it was inevitable, I mean who was I fooling, we all know I can’t drive, but this time it wasn’t my fault! Yes, I am sadly speaking of the injury that occurred to my car, whom I have aptly name “Percy Fox”. For those of you who are interested in my car naming skills here is how the name evolved: I drive a silver Grand AM, spelled A-M which in any other sentence refers to the morning time, the morning brings to mind the song “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” which is sung by none other than Percy Sledge, therefore Percy becomes our first name, the color silver makes me think of a silver bullet, which is what is used to kill a werewolf, which makes me think of TeenWolf who was played by Micheal J. Fox, hence we have our last name, Fox. Introducing to the world…….Percy Fox. But her beauty has been marred. It seems that while I was innocently at the mall doing my thing, I return to find my abused vehicle in the parking lot (ok, so maybe I parked too close to the car next to me, sue me!). The left hand mirror had been dislodged from it’s appropriate spot on the door. Oh, I can hear some of you laughing, isn’t it ironic the same injury that my poor CG lived with all that time is the same ailment that Percy is now facing. Where is Nancy Wilson and the duct tape when you need her. Haha, well, the good news is that it was a clean break which I think can be repaired with some good caulking glue…….JUSTIN!
Solstice where are you!??!

It seems my life is filled with injury these days. My poor little Prissy walks around like a grandma, with her head hung in shame. I took her to the vet yesterday to get her spayed. They said she would be healthier if I did it, but I really really didn’t want to. I wanted to have little mini-Prissies. But I’d rather have my one Prissy healthy, so I gave up the dream and took her in to go under the knife. I really was so worried all day. I called at lunchtime to see if she was okay, but they wouldn’t put her on the phone, in the words of Stephanie Tanner, “How rude!”. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a parent……..sheer torture! So I planned all day how I would go to rescue her from the vet’s office and take her home and snuggle with her and make her all better. But she was REALLY mad at me. I would try to make her a comfy palate in my lap and she would hop (as much as she could) right off and sadly walk to a dark corner and curl up there where she stared at me with a hurtful glare. Oh, it just broke my heart, but I don’t blame her, if someone came and took my womanhood away, I’d be P.O.ed too! I just wanted to help her, but she didn’t understand. It was so hard to see her like that and not be able to do anything to help. Thankfully, my darling is a forgiving pup and a couple hours later, hopped into my lap to curl up for a nap. Then when I went to lay in bed, she followed me in there and just looked at me until I put her on the bed with me……where she stayed until it was time for her to really go to bed……in her crate! I love her so much, it’s amazing how a little animal with no words at all can make you feel so loved………and she does.

On another note, bowling is fun, but……………..hahaha! So at Tuesday night bowling we (the girls of TNB) decided we need more hobbies. Don’t get us wrong we love to bowl just as much, or more, than the rest of ‘em but, it’s good to have variety. This is not the sentiment of the boys though, especially Justin. He almost looked heartbroken that we would suggest such a thing. So it is official, NO ONE can de-throne Tuesday night bowling. But, we are trying to appease ourselves by filling the rest of the week with our longed for variety. So this week we have board games and the fair! Yay, I cannot wait to go to the fair! Not so much for the spinny rides that somehow force me to slobber on the person beside me, everytime! (I think it has something to do with centripetal force, haha!) Then I start laughing so hard about it that I can’t close my mouth and well……..it’s a vicious cycle. But, I really want to go for the food and the games. I am a gambler on the DL I think. I don’t do it in casinos but those stupid games get me and Justin to spend everything we have in our pockets, and then go to the ATM for more. And you thought we were bad in the arcade!

Justin and I spent some time this week getting ready for Halloween. I am really excited about all the kids in our neighborhood knocking on our door. We've got everything we need, the enormous amounts of candy, the scary talking skeleton guy who laughs histerically when you walk by (and scares the crap out of me every morning), the blacklights to light up the porch, t he carved pumpkin, Prissy's witch costume, and the Freddy Krugger mask to adorn Justin! it's gonna be fun, but I just realized that I don't have a costume to wear! dangit! anyways, I hope everyone has a happy Halloween!

the pathway is broken
and the signs are unclear
and i don't know the reason
why you brought me here

but just because you love me
the way that you do
i'm gonna walk through the valley
if you want me to

cause i'm not who i was
when i took my first step
and i'm clingin' to the promise
you're not through with me yet

so if all of these trials
bring me closer to you
then i will go through the fire
if you want me to

it may not be the way
i would've chosen
when you lead me through a world
that's not my home

but you never said
it would be easy
you only said
I'd never go alone

so when the whole world turns against me
and i'm all by myself
and i can't hear you answer my cries for help
i'll remember the suffering your love put you through
and i will go through the valley
if you want me to

~Ginny Owens

So I am basically a grandma

You know that old lady who lives with 20 cats, or takes glamour shots of her toy poodle?? Well, I am borderline, THAT lady. I love my Prissy Priss. What can I say, I just really do. All these years my brothers and sisters (me included) have laughed and snickered at my grandmother’s obsession with her dogs, and I must say that I am now the butt of these jokes (I know I deserve it). And the thing is that I couldn’t care less…….because I love her so much and I want everyone to know. How could you not?? Just imagine, this cute little furball that depends on you for her very life, when you come home everyday she is so excited that she shakes uncontrollably (any bad day melts away into a smile), and when you lay down on the couch for a good movie, she comes and curls up right next to you……..how cute. So label me all you want, I have no denial or regret…….I AM THAT LADY! Maybe when I have a kid it will all subside……we’ll see!

Anyway, this weekend we went to Bama for the family ‘Shrimp Boil’. It was quite eventful. We enjoyed good food and family and man, all the kids. Justin spent the entire day in the front yard either tossing the football with my nephews (all under 9) or on the ground wrestling one of them. At one point he and Jeff (my bro-in-law) had like ten of those rugrats chasing me with intent to kill…….I was afraid for my life, really. Luckily I ducked inside the house before they could catch me (those short legs aren’t too fast). We didn’t get to spend too much time with Josh (Sharry’s bf) because he was doing his fireman duties all weekend (seems they stay there for days at a time) but he did get to come to the Shrimp Boil, where he seems to mesh right in with the rest of the goofballs. It’s crazy how quickly we’ve sucked him in…haha……I mean, he’s decided to join in! He reminds me of Justin in a lot of ways, he’s one of those guys that you like more and more everytime you hang out with them……….luckily he doesn’t possess the qualities in Justin that drive Sharry CRAZY, they seriously fight like brother and sister. We can’t play a game of Uno or Putt-Putt without them wanting to punch each other. Hahha, it’s quite hilarious for us innocent by-standers.

We got to hang out with Jimmy for the first time in forever this weekend. He makes me smile! He has this little kid ora about him. He just smiles so big when he thinks something is funny, and does the funniest bowling dances/air punches. I hope he finds the most incredible girl one day! We got to go to LongHorn and then, of course, bowling! We had the most fun, specifically because Sharry introduced us to this amazing game that we are all addicted to now…….it’s called 20 questions and it comes in the form of a little ball. You think of any object and then the ball asks you 20 questions and at the end, it guesses what you are thinking……..it always works! It doesn’t sound so wonderful on paper but the first time you think of a duck-billed platypus and that little sucker guesses it……….you’re hooked! We played it all through dinner and the batteries went dead. I am going to Wal-Mart to get one TODAY!

HAHAHAHA, Justin and I got to teach the 5 year olds in Sunday School at my old church in Bama. 5 year olds are great! They obsess way too much over what color marker they get and why Johnny has a bigger gamepiece that they do but, they are still great. To teach these little minds you have to get on their level. You have to simplify everything. It’s cool to see God from this height. Jill talked in one of her last blogs about how we overcomplicate God, we try to make him like ourselves, overcomplicated and confusing. But he is not! I guess he knew we would inevitably do this to ourselves which is why he reminds us to have faith like a child. Which is easy to say but hard to understand until you actually see what a child’s faith is like. And the perfect word to describe it is ‘simple’. There are no “why’s” just “wow’s”. There are no “well, that just doesn’t make sense” or “it can't be that way because…..” no, it’s just “okay, God, I believe you.” It’s good to get down to nothing but you and God sometimes. So needless to say we had fun and the lesson ended with Justin making paper airplanes for all the kids……while I am trying to explain to their parents how this goes along with something we were learning (which it didn’t).

So I want to end this blog with things I am thinking:
I miss my family and I hate leaving
I love my life in Pcola
Justin is the MOST understanding, hard-headed, loving, bratty, wonderfully perfect man
Prissy rox my face off
Praise God I am not sick like everyone else in my office
iPod’s rule
Johnny Diaz is gonna be a star
I miss Jill and Audge
I’m glad Jo and I are friends now
I love Tori as hard as she loves me
I am coming to appreciate Ashley more than I think she will ever realize, I love her
I am going to steal Tatum Renee Harris from her mother and then erase this, so there is no proof
My bosses are fun!
I’m wearing my new pink jacket and I’m warm, and cute (if I may say so myself)
I wonder where we are going for lunch
God is good and blesses me too much for what I deserve
There is nothing good in me and people still love me

If you are reading this because you care one ioda about me and my life, I thank you for caring at all! And I am in the praying/ praising mood so I will pray God will shower you with an extra blessing today……..be looking for it. I may post again today, because I just feel like I have a lot of stuff to say about my Jesus……..I just can’t organize the thought right now. But I want to share this feeling with someone, anyone!

What comes before Part B...........PART A!

I love birthdays. Mainly because I get to use the phrase, “But it’s my birthday” over and over, to persuade any and everyone to do what I want. Fun fun! So the events of my birthday are as follows: The partay started Wednesday night when Tori and Jo and I went to O’Charley’s for the coveted “birthday dinner” (yes it was changed from Lambert’s sadly but, hey, we had tons of fun) Then we headed to my house for a girl’s slumber party, just like old times in Polos on Park…….Jill and Danielle, we missed you. After getting home we decided to go rent a movie and run to the grocery store for a few things. Prissy wanted to go so badly and we don’t deny Prissy anything soooooo she hopped in the car with us and we were off! Now, I must preface the next events with the fact that Prissy has been more places than most children…….she goes to the ball games, to Wal-Mart, to the nail place, to basically everywhere her mama goes and well frankly, everyone loves her! But this is not what occurred this night. I think we were the victims of a Yorkie hate crime. We entered “Movie Gallery” minding our own business, and BAM, out of nowhere this phsyco worker girl comes running at us with quite a ferver yelling that Prissy is apparently against store policy and state regulations (since when does the state regulate dogs in movie places??) Anyway, so we decided that if Movie Gallery is against Prissy’s, then we are against Movie Gallery’s! Blockbuster never gave Prissy any hassle….I guess some movie places are over the olden days when dogs and movies were segregated. (PTL) So, while laughing histerically we made our way to Winn-Dixie where Tori begs us to try to bring Prissy inside (just so we can get kicked out again), but I just don’t think her little heart could have handled two rejections in one night. So we instead made Jo sit in the car while we did our shopping, sorry Jo. All we ended up getting was paper towels and a surprise for Justin, but we did learn in the checkout line that Nick is giving Jessica the silent treatment (bullcrap) and Katie and Tom’s child is a testtube baby. All things that we desperately needed to know. So then we headed back (movieless) to Justin awaiting at home for his movie, oops! So we instead found iRobot on HBO, all was well in the Tyner household.
For my birthday Justin and I both took off. This is such a special gesture to me because anyone who knows my husband, knows that he is addicted to work. Well, he just has a really good work ethic. Needless to say, he doesn’t take days off, especially just to play. But this was HIS idea! In fact, he MADE me take off………maybe this will become a pattern. Anyway, I awoke my birthday morning to Tori sticking her head in my room with a “Happy Birthday, Birthday girl………..can I have some toothpaste??” Haha! She had to leave for work while Jo, Jus, and I slept in. Eventually Prissy and I couldn’t take it so we bursted in Jo’s room and licked her on the face a million times (I did the bursting, Prissy did the licking, we’re a good team like that). Anyway, we went back to bed and laid around until like 11, Jo went to her new job and we got ready for the day. First we took Prissy to the groomer to get her hair did for the Shirley family shrimp boil this weekend, she looks fabulous. Then Jus and I headed to the mall and just played the whole day, not really doing anything (what fun!). We went to play with all the puppies at the pet store and then set off to pick out a pumpkin.
We decided that every year on my birthday we are gonna carve a pumpkin to put on our porch for Halloween. I like starting traditions. Jus and I decided that in order to be a good pumpkin carver/person who gets all the crap out of the inside, you have to be relentless, which we are willing to do for the sake of decoration. We also decided that our pumpkin face will not be a prefabricated template used by hundreds all over the world but instead would be a masterpiece only created by the two of us every Halloween. But, since we only know how to draw one face, this might change next year, haha! So then we got all dressed up and ready and went to BoneFish Grill. I love that place…..may I suggest the Bang Bang Shrimp……mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! It was romantic and fun and the rest is history! Thank you to everyone who made my birthday oh so fun. I love you all.

Tonight we head to Bama for another great weekend with my fam and to see Jimmy.......we miss you James Honeycutt! I'll fill you in on the details of the oh so eventful Shrimp Boil!

If you can't say nothing good, don't say nothing at all

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.— James 3:5-10


What a horrible horrible picture James paints. The very half brother of Jesus experiences the same evil that I find myself involved in today. The bible really is forever relevant. It is so amazing and disturbing how we cannot control such a small thing as our tongues. I mean even if we took 2 seconds before we open our big mouths we may realize that the damaging/stupid/unnecessary comment we are about to breathe into the world isn’t worth it. There is one verse of a popular song that says “but there are voices that want to be heard” which I see as a perfect description of how our minds work. We have these voices in us that want desperately for others to hear, to hear how we were hurt, to hear how insensitive someone was to our feelings, or even to hear how good and godly we are. It’s like these words that want nothing more than to escape from my body. It is truly an act of God almighty to hold those things in. I just sit here and think, the bible is “god-breathed”, these are his holy words at the top of this page and what are they saying about me?? And yes, they are about me, I have no problem admitting that (a little disgust in myself, but no denial). “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” I’ve seen my forest of friends burned down time and time again by a single spark made by an inconsiderate tongue. And God makes it quite clear that this fire making it’s way through our friendships is the very hellfire that eternal damnation is made of. It’s basically a little piece of Satan’s masterpiece. And the last verse is what truly and honestly brings tears to my eyes. From the same mouth that we tear down, gossip, and curse each other, we lift our voices to God. He isn’t fooled! He knows my heart, he knows what I said about Sally 20 minutes ago, he weeps for my evil actions still as I try to give him my praises. I, frankly, am tired of living as Satan’s pawn to keep Christians hating each other, to keep friendships in constant competition, to keep us from working together to show the world the “peace” God offers. I want my friends to truly truly know without a doubt that my words and actions are not to harm them. If they are happy (even if I am not involved in this happiness) I am happy, if they are hurting, my heart breaks with them and I will do anything in my power to make them smile again, if they speak against me, I WILL NOT retaliate but instead, whenever I get that evil urge I will try to speak something kind about them to someone else. If a friend and I are going through trials with each other, I want to vent only to God. I will make sure my words are sweet…….just in case I have to eat them.

Reunited and it feels so good

So Friday night I drove through the dusk to Tallahassee, Florida to see none other than THE Audrey K Johnson. I seriously seriously love her so much. Our birthdays are three days apart so we MUST celebrate celebrity style together. And when I say celebrity style I mean it, it seems that my little Audge Podge has become glamorfied! Yes for all of you skeptics out there, this is the same Audrey who refused to wear heels or a halter……..but now, you should see her. She let me doll her all up for her birthday dinner. I mean, she let me do everything, the voluminous hair, the glamorous make-up, the cute halter top, and THE HEELS! She was soooo hot! She just seemed to have such an adventurous spirit that I had never seen in her before. It was the most fun we have ever had together in all our years/couple months we had as roommates. So here’s what we did. I got there late Friday and met up with her and some friends at CiCi’s. Then we all headed off to hang at the BCM for a while. Then we left because I was starving and Audge and Ericka watched me eat Wendy’s. Oh yeah and I can’t forget my little Priss Pot who joined us in all our excursions. She loved the BCM……she spent the whole night sliding across all those tile floors, hhaha.
We woke up Saturday morning and went to get Audrey’s hair did. Then we went shopping a bit at the mall, where Audrey and the old couple behind us in line forced me to eat Chicken at Chik-fil-a (which I am boycotting due to the Chicken flu in Romania that has killed thousands). It only takes one idiot to bring one diseased chicken into the US to make one chicken sandwich for me to eat and die a horrible death. So if I do die from that chicken sandwich, Audrey (and those old people for that matter) are required to stand up at my funeral and take all the blame while people boo and throw paper at them. So after that battle we went to get my nails did, where Audrey and I decided to start a new fad…….flower nail art just on the nail of your ring fingers. They are quite adorable and I watched the lady do it so I think I could totally provide this service to all my friends…..if you’re interested! Haah! We went home to relax and maybe nap but ended up watching ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, Audrey requested that one, no doubt to make me feel more at home! Then we got ready for the big birthday bash which was soooo fun. I got to see people I thought I would never see again. I really did have the best time and I hope Audrey lives happily ever after right beside me in pcola florida………I think we can convince him to move to Pcola huh Audge?? hhahaha!

So then I was back to Pensacola in order to make it for Sunday School the next morn. It was the hardest Sunday School ever. I really teared up afterwards. My kids are usually so great and attentive and full of insight but not this Sunday. They were yawning and playing and carrying on conversations. I was getting so frustrated. And I am beginning to realize that being the cool friendly Sunday school teacher doesn’t get you much respect. That is about to change I am afraid. I desire more than life for these kids to relate to me, and to make them enjoy Sunday school and I want to be able to mentor them and give them all the insight God has given me but yesterday was so discouraging. I know that I cannot and will not let Satan use my hurt feelings and frustrations to stop me from doing God’s good and glorious work. I couldn’t ever abandon my kiddies. I really do love them and want to help them be all they can in Christ but I have to remember that they are 10th graders and they don’t understand the importance and priviledge they have in a church and a Sunday school. I didn’t have a clear and passionate vision of my place in God’s kingdom when I was in tenth grade. So I have to understand their place in life right now and be whatever Godly influence I can. But I will admit that my heart does still break sometimes, but Paul says that is totally a good thing, right? I know that I have to love them right where they are, just like someone did for me when I was their age, just like Christ does for me right now. I really do love them and I plan on continuing to do so.

I missed Justin so much while I was gone…..it was only one day but for some reason I just missed that boy more than usual! I was sooo happy to come home to him Saturday night. Even though all we did was sleep.
Well another good outcome of the weekend………Jo’s home! Yay. She and Ash came over last night to hang out. We drove to the local Village Inn and chilled for a while. Then went back to my house to talk about planning a ‘spa experience’ at my house for all the little chickadees here in pcola. If you wanna come it is on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7pm. Some of you will be getting invitations but if anyone wants to go just let me know so I can plan how many are coming! It’s gonna be so relaxing to be pampered……and don’t worry the boys have already been run out of the house that night, no men allowed! Jo, I can’t wait to have another ‘Hand Experience’ can you???? Hahahha!

So tonite is Laguna Beach with Jo and Ash, and maybe Tor I haven’t asked her yet. So Tor if you’re reading this, wanna come?? Haha, I’ll talk to you at lunch.

Currently thanks to my new i(love this thing)Pod, I am listening to Ginny Owens and I would like to share:

Be thou my vision
Oh lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me
Save that thou are
Thou my best thought
By day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Thy presence - my light

Riches I heed not
Nor man's empty praise
Thou my inheritance now and always
Thou and thou always first in my heart
High king of heaven my treasure thou art

iPod, not wePod

So guess what I got for my birthday??? An iPod!! (nah nah na boo boo, Joanna Guedez) Yay, it is the cutest, coolest little thing ever invented. And I shower all my thanks onto Jon Tyner. Because the only reason I finally got one (after begging Justin for a year) is because Justin became obsessed with Jon’s at the family reunion, thank you Jon. After declaring how stubborn Justin was with sharing Jon’s iPod with the rest of us, and coincidentally how stubborn Jon is with sharing it, Angie declares, “It’s definitely called an iPod and not a wePod!” hahahah! I thought that was classic. I have spent most of the day (at work) loading every CD I own onto it! It’s so cute! So, many of you are probably wondering why I am writing about my birthday present a week before my birthday…….this is because my husband cannot hold a secret/surprise for the life of him. Which is so cute, the only surprise he has really ever managed to pull on me was his proposal! Which he admits he almost gave away twice! Don’t tell him that I said any of this because I am sure he thinks he surprises me all the time, probably because I ALWAYS act surprised anyway! Hahah! I love him. The TV is schedueled to be delivered on my birthday…….so I will get to open something fun that day!!

Justin is going to Evergreen for the opening day of hunting season tonight. So, I am going to Tally to celebrate Audge’s birthday……I am sooo excited. She is THE sweetest most Jesus lovin’ girl I know. We are gonna have such fun! She has the whole weekend planned. So as soon as I get off I will pack up my Priss and head east! (with my new iPod in hand of course)

Some bad news – Justin has to go out of town the day before my birthday…….=(
Some Good news – Tori is going to get everyone together and we are going to Lambert’s to celebrate me gaining another year! (It’s a surprise though so don’t tell me) hahaha! Then it’s slumber party time, we wouldn’t want me to wake up on my birthday all alone, now would we. Well, so far just Tori is spending the night……but I haven’t asked anyone else yet! Maybe we can have a grand ‘ol partay! I am excited. And then Justin comes back home the next afternoon (still my birthday) and he is taking me to a birthday dinner. He even agreed to wear a tie so that I could overdress, he knows I love to overdress! Haha! Not sure where we are going, maybe Chuck-e-cheese??? Haha, who knows?

8 days till my Birthday!

Soooo, Monday night Supper Club was relocated to Ci Ci’s Pizza……….which is quite hilarious due to the fact that the sheer reason we invented MNSC was to guarantee a home-cooked meal at least once a week……….life is just too busy! Haha! It was fun though, I especially enjoyed the guy in the big pizza suit, who informed us that this was NOT his Halloween costume, he had something totally different planned for that! RANDOM! Anyway, we spent the majority of the night loading up our new chairs for the “man room” (for those of you who don’t know, that’s the room where the dead animals and video games live). I am really thankful for God’s blessings in my life, he really does provide so much! Laguna Beach was great. Talan was miserable at prom with Kristen (serves him right for asking her instead of Taylor), and LC and Jason are starting to date (Stephen who?). Can’t wait till next week.

Tuesday night was jam packed. After getting off work late and trying to rush home I realized that everyone and their moms were apparently going to MY house…..it took forever! So we were late to the 6:00 dinner at the Parazine’s, oops! T.J. (one of justin’s best friends from high school) is in town from North Carolina. They had fun talking about old times and what not. And we enjoyed a food creation by Sandy and Jackson (1yr. old). He made the salad (which consisted of lettuce thrown over the countertop) and the croissants (you can imagine what a croissant rolled by a 1 year old looks like). It was quite eccentric! After dinner we had to hit up Oops Alley for Tuesday night bowling. I think we had a record number of people……15! Let’s see it was me and Justin, matt and Kristen, kurt and toby, Jennifer and Felipe, Randy and Sandy, TJ and Tara, Ryan and Weston, and don’t forget little Jackson. We had lots of fun and I must retract my previous comment about Felipe and his bowling. He kicked my ever-loving hinny! I’m hopeless! I think he has been practicing with a baseball and coke bottles at home……..seems like! Hahaha!

Tonight is church with the kiddies and then some folks are comin’ over for a warm cuddly movie night at the Tyners! Maybe I can talk Matt and Kristen into bringing their fondue pot again…………hmmmmmm.

Things you can pray for:
Tori’s Aunt Tweedie (she is in her last days) pray that her heart will be one with Christ’s, Jill’s mom is having weird heart things (shadows and what not) pray for healing, Jill’s sister Leah lost her baby boy at birth, pray for total restoration of their family and comfort, Jill also wrecked her car yesterday, pray for financial provision in that mishap…….Jill darling, I am so sorry for all your hardships lately. "Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23:4, for Audrey pray for guidance and a clear vision of what god has in store for her next step, for Em pray that God would open doors in her career where he wants her to be.

Things you can Praise about:
Em got accepted to Grad school, Joanna Guedez is moving back to Pcola, every good and precious gift God has lavished on me (and you for that matter)

If you have something that needs prayer or praise that I left out, feel free to post a comment about it! Love you all!

life's a beach

This weekend was so much fun. And even more important, relaxing! Polly rented the most amazing beach house for us to stay in…..it was the tallest one for miles! And once you got up to the twentieth floor the view was amazing. No really, it was such a gorgeous house, ten foot ceilings on every floor, beachly decorated rooms, and a private pool in the back. Not to mention, THE BEACH! (my favorite place) Thursday after work Jus and I drove down to Grayton beach to meet up with everyone. We got there pretty late so we just visited with everyone and went to bed. We awoke Friday morning to Jon and Jackson bursting into our room in song (not surprising due to the fact that Jon is ALWAYS in song, even more than me people)


Jackson is so stinkin cute. He is one and a half and he has a plethora of talents. He can sing 'if you’re happy and you know it' (clapping, stopping and amen-ing all on queue), he can do the hokey pokey (now putting his head in and out and shaking it all about is his favorite), he can quote the backpack on ‘Dora the Explorer…….”yum yum yum Delissioso!”, he can give the best kisses, and he can point out his “eyes, nose, mouse”. Hahhah! Basically the entire weekend was Jackson filled. And even though you wouldn’t think we could cram anymore in his little head we managed to teach him to march (following the leader) and sword fight. I’d say, we accomplished much! Angie, Jo, and I then hit up the outlet malls where Banana Republic and JCrew sucked me in. But I did get my awesome new pink long length jacket for more than half off…….it is really really great! The boys golfed during our shopping excursion where I am sure they had an ubber fun time. Jon and Justin basically love each other so much. They are so goofy and laugh at everything the other one says. But sometimes their little productions are not all good……take for instance Justin’s hair experiment. Well, it is a known fact that Justin has the thickest, straightest hair known to man. You can’t do ANYTHING with it. So Jon set out to disprove that fact. He had Justin turn his head upside down and blow dried it, so that when he stood straight up it reached to the heavens! We made justin pray for the rest of the weekend because we figured he was now literally the closest to God. It was the most ridiculous thing you have ever seen………..turns out Justin has a pretty big forehead. I hated it, I mean it was funny and all but after a full hour of my significant other looking like Kid from Kid and Play, I was over it. I spent the rest of the night begging him to stick his head under a faucet……which he refused to do, fast forward twenty four hours…………his hair was still gooberfied! Until I encouraged him to jump in the pool with me, knowing that this simple act would deflat the blob that resided where his hair used to. Yayy! It worked! Other than that trauma, the rest is pretty relaxing.

Saturday was the most perfect beach day ever. It was warm because the sun was shining but there was a constant breeze that kept you from sweating. The water was surprisingly warm (the ocean is never warm enough for me) so I got in, and we swam out to the sand bar. I had fun playing in the water……I don’t do that so often anymore. Jackson is basically a fish……he loved the water, never wanted to get out. This was his first time at the beach, he gave two thumbs up. After we all splished and splashed we drug our way up to the shore where our towels awaited and took a nap in the sand. It ranked as close to a perfect day as you get! I remember thinking, "We are not promised tomorrow, and if today is all I get, I'm cool with it, it was a good day." Then we headed back to the house and got ready to go to a great restaurant for dinner Pandora's (some of the best crab legs I have ever had!) Then it was time for Justin and I to head back home. We had 8am Sunday School to teach the next morning. I wish we could have stayed, it was paradise. But I will admit I was glad to get back home to my Prissy Pot…….I missed her so! She is my little buttercup. She was so excited to see us. I also found out while we were gone that poor little Spencer had been sick…..did he miss us that much?? He is such a sweetie!

So Sunday school went well, Matt McGeeHee sat in with us, I think he is gonna help teach now. That will be so awesome! The best part of the service this Sunday was when Leo Day (the music minister) tried to get the “all-white” choir to clap and sway during the last song. I don’t think anyone in the whole congregation sang a word for the overwhelming laughter that filled the room. Leo, you need to understand……clap OR sway, we can’t do both!!! Most of the laughter was due to the toupee section in the very front of the choir………man they were WAY off! Hahah, and smiling all the while! We rode to Charlie and Rachel’s new house and had lunch with them, Jon, Angie, and Jack. Where Justin, Jon and Charlie decided to go on the road with their singing trio. We ended up conking out and staying for dinner too.

We got a new TV!! Yay! Finally. But sadly it won’t be delivered in time to watch Laguna on it tonight, but maybe by next week! So tonight is Laguna with Jo!! Our first of many Laguna nights……….if only the season lasted longer……..

I would like to end this blog by giving props to Jesus and a certain friend named Torrence. We were just reminiscing about me and Justin and how much I love him and we are just a perfect match. And we realized that we were only together because of Tori’s self-sacrificing ways. It seems that before Justin and I met, Justin mentioned to Jill that he wanted one of her friends to go on a blind date with him, “what about that Tori girl I met with you that one time Jill?? She was cute”. But when Jill approached Tori she proclaimed her infatuation with a certain other male and that she refused to go. This is where I come in……..I ended up going (not as a date, strictly friends) and we fell in love! It’s all because Torrence wouldn’t go! Well, it turns out this object of tori’s interest was a complete waste. And she went through a lot of heartache due to this relationship………why?? For what?? We have decided that it was a total ‘God thing’. The only reason she ever met ‘what’s his name’ was for my benefit and my benefit only!! Man God really does love me! Hahah. I must say tori…….it was well worth the pain! Plus now she has the most greatest fiancé ever! So you guys just remember, when you think you are going through this horrible time for nothing……..there is probably someone out there who is benefiting!! So smile! God really does use the good for bad! He works in very mysterious ways and although we can't see what he is doing in that moment, this is where we must be faith-driven, and know that he loves us and will take care of us!

Prissy the puppy/kitty

Okay so this morning before work I woke up to the sounds of a cute little baby voice, Jackson! Lord knows what he was saying but it sounds incredibly interesting. Jon and Angie came in late last night, like 2am, and due to the large portion of NyQuil Justin encouraged me to take, I was out cold. On that note, be careful with that stuff......I took it at 8pm last night and here it is 1:00 in the afternoon and I am still falling out of my chair. Anyway, I love the age that Jackson is at. It's just that time when everything they say is hilarious and they don't even try. For example, I got my laughs in this morning when Jackson kept going to the back door and looking at Spencer (the big hound dog) and saying, "Puppy dog, wanna see". Meaning he wanted to go outside and see the puppy. So instead i encouraged him to play with the puppy that was inside, Prissy (the little yorkie), to which he replied, "Hey Kitty Cat!" Jon and I both corrected him but he continued to chase Prissy around the house with the hugest grin on his face saying, "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat". Oh poor Prissy! Regardless, it was quite hilarious.

I don't have much to write about due to the fact that it is only half way through the day and I have been at work. But, Justin and I met for lunch today. We rarely get to do that because his job keeps him so busy. But today he took half the day off, which i figured he would use to pack for our trip tonight but, i have the strange feeling he will be at Best Buy or Circuit City buying a new TV. Oh well, that saves me the stress of staring at monitors hearing all about LCD, Plasma mumbo jumbo.

Ok so I'm doing this really cool experiment with my Sunday School class. We are talking about going through hard times and making hard decisions, and what the difference is if you have Jesus inside of you when you are doing these things. I am sure you all know that if you blow up a balloon and hold it up to a flame it will bust, but did you know that if you fill it with water first, then hold it to the flame it won't be destroyed??? It seems that the water takes all the heat and helps the balloon survive. That is so cool to me because it is a perfect example of how christ is the living water inside us. If we try to go through the fire without him, we will be destroyed, downheartened, useless. But if we are filled with him he takes the hard time as his own burden and helps us survive the fire.
John 4:14 -
14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

God is seriously the coolest dude i know!

Oh Baby Baby

Bowling night was fun. Matt and Kristen missed out for the first time in forever, due to the fact that Kristen is moving into her new house and they had lots of work to do. But Kurt and Toby blessed us with their presence and it was fun. I beat the boys the last game……something strange is going on!

Tomorrow we are leaving after work to go to Grayton Beach for Justin’s family reunion. It seems that Polly (AKA: Auntie Shauntie) put a lot of work into it so that it would be oh-so-fun. She rented a huge beach house and we are all staying there for a couple nights. It will be so wonderful to relax in the sun for a while…….I can’t wait! One bad note on the situation is that Prissy was banned from the festivities. I’ve never gone anywhere without her……..I hope I do okay. So Grandmama (AKA: Rachel) is gonna baby-sit her for me. I know she will have so much fun……..she loves Grandmama and Paw Paw Pudge. I just hope she doesn’t do anything to mess up their new house. Please don’t chew carpet Prissy, please don’t chew carpet! Ha-ha! She is such a good girl, I am sure she will be on her best behavior. I’m gonna put her in her best outfit!

Tonite is church with our little kiddies, well they aren’t exactly little. Hopefully we will get something done this week rather than random conversation. But on a completely different topic, my birthday is in two weeks………yay! I’m excited. I am trying to convince Justin to rent one of those really big blow up things with the oversized boxing gloves and jousting sticks and inviting all our friends and youth kids over to have a battle royale!! How fun does that sound…..seriously?? Anyway, I think I/We are getting a new flat panel TV for my birthday. Either that or a new computer, I will keep you in suspense for now.

Jon and Angie are coming in town tonight and staying at our house. And that can only mean one thing……JACKSON! I hear he can talk a lot now, I am so excited to hear all his new words but it will be so late when they get here that I am sure he will be out like a light. I have really been obsessed with babies a lot lately, I really want one, but I want more for Justin and I to have time by ourselves for a while. I realize that once you have a child, you can never go back. There is no more time for just the two of you, so for now I want to bask in that ‘alone’ time. There is still so much we want to do together before we bring another life into the picture. I hope that God blesses me with the ability to have children when the day comes that we are ready. They really are the best thing since sliced bread. I love em! But for now I am content with my darling Prissy and our step child Spencer (I love you Spencer!)

“People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of heaven like a little child will never enter it’” (Luke 18:15-17).

It seems that Jesus loved little babies as much as I do!!

Don't worry, I can swim for 40 days

So this weekend………was FUN! Except for the whole “on-call” thing. Sunday I was on the verge of calling my boss and just giving up! I cannot put into words how tired you are after 7 whole days of not getting a good night’s sleep. And you would think a nap would cure the situation but you forget…….i’m on call during the day too. Sunday I broke down into tears. I know it seems silly, but I was so frustrated and when I am frustrated, I cry! It almost feels like a little bit of stress comes out of me with each little tear…….I really did feel better afterwards. Plus sometimes you just need someone to feel sorry for you, and Justin was an absolute doll in this respect. I mean, I was crying because too many people were calling me and I was tired and I couldn’t even visit with my family………and though it was extremely silly he just rubbed my back and said he understood and he was sorry and that he was proud of my hard work. Just knowing that someone else tried to understand my frustration was enough. I love him! So other than the abnormal growth attached to my ear (AKA: the phone) I did manage to squeeze in some fun things this weekend.

For one, I went home to Bama on Friday for my High school’s homecoming. My little sister, Jessica, was on the court and I wanted to see her in her pretty dress. I went to the pep rally, where they narrowed the court down from 8 to 4 seniors, Jessica got in the top 4!!! Yay! Then I enjoyed the annual homecoming parade with my little nieces and nephews, I might be biased but there are no cuter kids on the planet. Especially our new addition Tatum Renee, she is 4 months old and has her own little cheerleading outfit to wear to the festivities……..she also takes after her aunt christi, she loves her jewelry. She fashioned her precious little ears with cute diamond earrings and what kind of princess would she be if she didn’t top off her cheerleading outfit with a pearl bracelet, just her size!! Later that night we went to the homecoming football game where I got to catch up with some old friends from h.s. We had some good laughs, I really do miss those folks sometimes! Then the big moment came……..the announcements of the court……….3rd alternate………..2nd alternate…………1st alternate………..and Homecoming Queen Jessica Shirley!!! Yay! She was so thrilled, she definitely gets to rule the school for a couple weeks now at least. Haha! Afterwards, it was late but Justin was still on his way to Bama (he had to work late in Pcola), when he finally got there we all went bowling, me, him, some of my friends from high school, Jessica, Sharry and her new beau Josh. Speaking of which, they seem pretty serious. Sharry seems to be letting her inhibitions go on this one (anyone who knows Sharry knows this is totally out of character). She has been dealt some raw deals in the dating world. But it is all part of God’s good and perfect plan and I am so happy to see her with someone who absolutely adores her. The others liked her, maybe even loved her, but they didn’t have that same sparkle in their eye when they looked at her. Josh really is so cute……..he wasn’t afraid to just try a little bit, and be goofy, and get to know us. We still have so much more to learn about him but so far……..I like him. Saturday we went to watch Jessica play in a volleyball tournament where her team got 2nd place. Then we met Sharry and Josh at LongHorn for dinner, where Justin and Josh fell in love……….followed by a round of putt-putt. No seriously, Justin and josh might just be twinkies. At dinner Justin leans over to me (no one else can hear him) and says, “ I think I’m gonna get the 12 oz Renagade Medium rare with a baked potato”, about that time the waitress walked up, looked at Josh, and asks, “what can I get for you??” To which he replies, “ I think I’m gonna get the 12oz. Renagade Medium rare with a baked potato”……….and this is when their eyes met and they fell in love! Sharry and I almost excused ourselves. Anyway, we then went to play putt-putt when the un-heard-of happened….Justin lost! Yes the standing went: Josh, Christi, Sharry, and Justin. (I will admit that that one hole with the score of 7 might have hurt him!) Oh but the night was still young and there was a plethora of games in the arcade waiting to be abused. Sharry killed me in air hockey, then Justin killed me in air hockey, but no one wants to take me in basketball!

Then it was Sunday and the calls started early……..I was lookin rough for church because I had no time to get ready for all the calls I was getting. But I made it to church and it felt good to just focus on Jesus for a while. And sing, I love to sing to God. I love to sing period, but especially when it has such a meaning and a passion behind the words. The sermon was about the budget so it wasn’t the most moving but I do miss my cute ol preacher. I went to help my mom and dad with the 5 year olds in Sunday School, and I truly know what it means to have faith “like a child”. Things are so simple with them, there is no grey area, it is completely black and white. We started off by singing and dancing to a fun God song and even though I am almost 23 years old I enjoyed it thoroughly……..in part of the song you have to bump butts with a partner, of course mine was a little 5 year old boy and I forgot that I have more junk in my trunk than I think…….I knocked him clear across the room and spent the rest of the song laughing histerically. My mom couldn’t help but laugh too. Their lesson was about Noah and the Ark. So my mom made them all animal masks……..everyone was a different animal. She told the whole story, they built an ark, and she used a water bottle to make it rain (which caused many a squeal with laughter, that wonderful little kid laughter that makes your bones happy) Anyway, when she got to the part where everyone was wisked away by the flood waters, the little girl with the ‘fish’ mask declared how she was the only one who had nothing to worry about, “because she could swim for 40 days”. It was funnier in person……..mom really should have thought about that before making a ‘fish’ mask anyway! Hahahah! I wish I could be 5 again, no worries, no responsibilities, no ‘on-call’ phones!!! No but really, I was watching as one of the boys was not quite behaving and my dad sternly scolded him. In the adult world when someone puts us in our place or points out our wrongs we tend to get defensive, we get angry, we make excuses, but not this little boy……..he didn’t necessarily straighten up but he didn’t get angry with my dad or defensive, he just went about his way (probably getting in more trouble) he just took the criticism, swallowed it, and moved on. I want to have this ability. You know to not get my feelings hurt. To realize that maybe, just maybe people are looking out for my best interest. It’s just a thought.

To top off the weekend Alabama killed the Gators! Roll Tide! And Florida State hammered Syracuse! Yee haw!!!! Oh wait, I mean, Go Noles! That always makes for a good weekend.

Tonite, I am going home, taking a nap, watching Laguna, and going to bed………I gotta catch up on my beauty sleep!