Vital Signs - Part Two

The sermon from the past Sunday was phenomenal! I am feeling so blessed that God has sent such a wonderful message through Pastor Chris to pass on to us. It's so amazing to receive messages like this exactly when you need it. The passage below is how I want to live my life and treat my loved ones. Read it and I think you'll agree! It's something worth striving for.

Romans 12:9-20

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 John 4: 20-21

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Man - nuff said. I can't wait for next week's sermon! I hope you all have a blessed week!

Friday Randomness

Enjoy this Friday Flashback while you read!

* STAY TUNED FOR NEXT WEEK'S EDITION OF FLASHBACK FRIDAY *

Four words - pants on the ground. If you were like the other thousands of people that caught the first round of American Idol auditions, you also fell in love with 63-year-old General Larry Platt of the song "Pants on the Ground". He had me cracking up and I just had to hear this song over and over again. It's so catchy! It's so hard to believe that since Wednesday there have been several remixes created of his song. Who'd thunk it?! Click here for all the remixes and below is his orignal audition.

Check Your Pulse

We started a new study at church yesterday that will go through the next four weeks and I am pumped about it. It's called Vital Signs and it focuses on "killing off" the old self and bringing up the new. Man - is it perfect timing for that or what? With a new year a lot of people, including myself, want to focus on being a better person and serving God the best way we know how.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore if anyone is in Chris, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come"

Pastor Chris gave us a check-up list (no pun intended - ya know, like a doctor) on five reasons you may have a bad pulse rate spiritually.

1. Being inauthentic - trying to appear spiritual
2. Being full of pride or judgemental
3. Being unapproachable
4. Lacking passion or a hunger for God
5. Measuring spiritual growth in superficial way
   
   Chris is going to dive more into this in the coming weeks and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me. As I went through the checklist evaluating myself, I already see I'm practically dead! I am certainly guilty of most of these as much as I don't want to admit that I am. I think we all as humans are guilty of some of these, or all of these. I can admit if I'm wrong and I strive to make things right, but sometimes we just fall short. The next few weeks I'm looking forward to this being the stepping stone into a closer relationship with God. It's a journey and a fun journey at that. I've learned so much about myself since we've been attending NRCH and I look forward to learning more.

Goodbye 2009 ... Hello 2010

Has a year gone by already ... really? As I sit here at work, by myself, in the silence, for a half day thank goodness, I'm thinking about what last year held for us. As I think back, I come up with all these thoughts and I feel so blessed:

During these tough times of a recession we are blessed to still have a job.

Despite an occasionally ear infection or stomach bug, we are all alive and healthy.

God has led us to a new church. We finally feel like we are home.

We have amazing family and friends who love us for exactly who we are - good, bad and ugly.

I'm not going to make any New Year's resolutions that I know I can't keep. The older I get the more I realize there is no purpose for these resolutions when you know they don't last long. No Amanda, you will never have a body like Heidi Klum so stop dreaming. Instead, we are making personal goals for bettering ourselves - both inside and out.

I'll strive to trust in God for what is best for myself and my family. I'll keep thinking positive thoughts and know that God has a plan for myself and my family.

As the clock ticks towards midnight tonight, I'll be snuggled up to my sweetie pie (probably already sleeping soundly) with a glass of champagne in hand and I'll be thanking God for all the wonderful and amazing things He has done for us this year. Here's to a wonderful 2010 with even better memories than 2009 held! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I Heart NYC

If anyone wants to experience all the magic of Christmas (and doesn't mind the bitter cold), NYC is THE place to be. The city once again lived up to my every expectation! The cheesy T-shirts are so very true - how can anyone not heart this city? Let me count the ways I love thee ...

BOTH COOL AND INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS SHOPPING, ESPECIALLY FAO SCHWARZ -
IT'S EVEN AN GROWN UPS' PARADISE

CHILLLLYY WEATHER - AND YES, I KNOW

CARRIE AND I HAVE THE EXACT SAME JACKET.

MAGNOLIA BAKERY

TIMES SQUARE - ONE MY MOST FAVORITE PLACES IN THE WORLD! EATING MY BIRTHDAY CUPCAKE AMIDST
THE SPARKLY LIGHTS OF TIMES SQUARE MY BEST BUDDY, CARRIE CENTRAL PARKCARRIAGE RIDES THROUGH CENTRAL PARKROCKEFELLER CENTER AT CHRISTMAS - JUST ENCHANTING SNOW IN THE BIG CITY! OK, SO IT WAS
FOR A BRIEF MOMENT, BUT IT WAS SNOWING!TINY ROOMS WITH NO AC - IT'S QUITE A FUNNY STORY MACY'S MARVELOUS ARCHITECTUREFABULOUS FOODFABULOUS FRIENDSTHE MET - I FINALLY GOT THERE!

Of course, the main purpose of this trip was for my 30th birthday, but it was also a trip to take with my best buddy, Carrie, and our hubbies. (We just decided to take them along for the ride to be our bodyguards, but don't tell shhh) It's a shame that as long as Care and I have been friends, we have NEVER taken a trip together! Aside from one camping trip and one trip to the mountains, this was our first trip together. I am so glad we were able to have this experience together and we had the best time! We unfortunately didn't get to ice skate like we planned due to the long line and weather, but I told Chris we'll just have to go back next year! Happy Birthday to me! :)

Before I forget, I just have to tell the story about our room and no AC. When we arrived Thursday night in the room, we entered a sauna. We were literally ripping our clothes off as we're entering the door. There were two windows that we opened immediately but that did not help much. Once we determined that the room did not have a thermostat, Adam got on the horn to the front desk. He asked if they had AC and the guy said that there is usually one in the window, but they take it out in the winter. Adam laughed because he thought he was kidding, but the guy didn't laugh back. We were like - WHAT! We are Southerners and therefore do not take out our AC ever. It was so funny. The running joke of the weekend was that "They take it out for the winter", like the trashcan that didn't come with the room. They take it out for the winter.

Gobble Gobble

In the spirit of my most favorite holiday, I've been thinking of all the numerous things I am thankful for in life!

• Our wonderful Saviour from which nothing in life is possible or good
• My funny, warm and endearing husband. He makes life intriguing, fun and exciting every day
• My amazing son whom I am so lucky to be his mother. I am so blessed to be able to watch him grow and prosper every single day.
  
• My wonderful family on both sides
• My friends, especially those who love me exactly for who I am, nerdy and all
• My crazy and hair-brained puppy - she makes life sweet
  
• My health - I take it for granted quite often and I'm so glad that I am healthy
• All the yummy food at Thanksgiving. I could eat it over and over again - wait I already am!
  
• All the cool things in life - Starbucks coffee, Glee, Twilight Saga ... the list could go on and on
  

Halloween 2009

Happy Belated Halloween all! We had a eventful Halloween and make the most of it since it was so HUMID outside! What kinda Halloween is that!?! Anyways, we went to a small fall festival, trick-or-treated for about umm 30 minutes, then topped off the evening with a late dinner at Chick-fil-a - all with our friends the Ledfords! I must say though - Ethan looked VERY cute in his monkey outfit. Like I said, we had to get a quick picture with the costume on and then we stripped him down. He was sweating and it was just too much! Maybe next year it'll be cooler!

E making monkey noises
Two peas in a pod - or in a monkey suit shall I say

Run monkey run!

Enjoying his Halloween candy at the end of the night

Pumpkin Carving Tradition

About eight years ago, we started a pumpkin carving tradition with our friends Ben and Susan. This was way back in the day when Chris and Ben were roommates living on Baylor Drive. We continued to have our yearly carving tradition year and year after. We even added making goodies like caramel apples and elephant ears to the festivities. Then life got in the way and life got hard and busy at times. But things got better and we were able to rejoin! I was trying to dig up pictures from previous years but never got around to it. Fast forward to 2009 and we decided to revive the tradition once again! Last week Ben and Sue came over and brought 4 week old Benjamin Patrick. It was so cool to see Ethan interact with Benjamin. He was so sweet to him - rocking him in the car seat, patting him on the head and calling him baby. I think he's ready for a big brother or sister don't you? :) Below are only two pictures that we took but there's also a link to the pictures that Susan took of the two boys. So cute!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?albumId=464645401407&ownerId=69107525207

Benjamin Patrick

Here's our final product! GO PANTHERS! Right about now though, I'd love to smash this pumpkin into a million pieces!

A Day at the Farm

Saturday afternoon we went to Patterson Farms right outside of Mooresville, NC with the Ledfords to pick pumpkins with the babies. It was quite a hike to get there but well worth the drive. Chris even wants to go back next year! It was such a cool place. They had so many activities for the kiddos like a corn kernel pit (think ball pit, but with corn kernels), a petting zoo, a playground, hayrides and of course a pumpkin patch. The punkins were already picked off the vine which was probably better for the babies since they're so young. The weather was a lot cooler than I expected and we were not prepared. Luckily we did have an extra jacket in the car for Ethan and Carrie had an extra hat, so he had four layers on! His poor hands were frozen solid. But like always, he made the best of it and had a blast! The one thing that Ethan really wanted to do that we didn't get to because it was so cold was ride the hayride. He loved watching it drive by since it was a HUGE John Deere tractor. Maybe next time we'll think to bring a blanket! Check out our pictures!

The Ledfords

Katy Rae

Carayray and KR

My sweet lil' punkin'

My absolute favorite!

I have NO idea why he is licking the stump!

The next GQ cover