I've moved sites

Hey guys I've moved sites...I'm over at Wordpress now... http://makingbananapancakes.wordpress.com ...you can check my blog over there :)

Calligraphy

I love writing. I don't know what it is about the flow of my hand creating images on a page that just captivates me. My inspiration for my calligraphy is from Danae at http://idreamofletters.blogspot.com. I have been into Calligraphy for quite some time now...but haven't really had a chance to practice. Tonight I got out my pen and some paper (or parchment for you Harry lovers) and started writing away. It is pretty difficult to master the art of Calligraphy, but I hope with more practice, I will be able to start making this something I can do part time. :)

Weddings and Baby Showers

This weekend was a blast! So great to see old friends! That is the beautiful thing about weddings, it's like a college reunion.
We started our weekend off on Friday around 12:30pm and headed up to Tampa to celebrate the union of Ryan and Molly. We stopped off for some lunch up in Ft. Lauderdale at Moe's. What a wonderful place. Moo Moo Mr. Cow is always my go to. On our way up we encoutered some traffic jams on Alligator Alley and was behind schedule about 45 minutes. No good. This meant we were going to cut it close on getting to the wedding on time. About 4.5 hours later we made it to Tampa changed into our wedding garb in the car with about 1 minute to spare before the bride walked down the aisle. How we made it on time was a miracle. The wedding was gorgeous! Molly looked beautiful and Ryan looked very handsome as well. It was a beautiful ceremony with the best performance of a wedding song I've heard yet (and I've been to my fair share of weddings).
Next it was off to the reception. It was at the The Florida Aquarium! It was the first time I had ever seen a reception done in an Aquarium. What a great idea! As we waited for the wedding party to start the reception we were able to see all the sea creatures they had there. It made the time pass by very quickly. There was wonderful food, great dancing, and before we knew it we sent Ryan and Molly off on their honeymoon.

Me and my girls outside the aquarium

That night we drove over to Orlando to spend the night at Crystal's house (thanks Crystal for allowing us to stay with you guys!).

Saturday morning was prep time for Li's baby shower. Crystal, Katie and Tereasa did a fantastic job planning and executing the shower.

Crystal's cupcakes (she made them)

Tereasa's Cucumber Sandwiches

Crystal handpainted all the birdhouses

Li's shower turned out so beautiful! We were so exhausted after, we went home and took naps! Sunday morning we had breakfast with some college friends and their wives at Keke's. It was so great to see everyone again and relive those college days...good times.

So Thankful For A Wonderful Family!

I have the BEST aunt and uncle ever! I cannot express how thankful I am for my family. Through all that has happened, they continue to amaze me with their generosity and love. I received a call from my aunt Connie asking if Chris and I would join them, along with my dad, my aunt Mary, uncle Hal and their 3 children for a night at the Biltmore Hotel on Saturday night.

So Chris and I packed up and made our way over. That night we had dinner at the bar downstairs and had some chips and salsa and pizza (my kind of dinner). After dinner the boys found their way to the room where the Heat were playing, while us girls went down by the pool to have a drink. It was so great to sit a relax and enjoy the company of one another.

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the 19th Hole Restaurant. Chris and I shared a veggie omelet and a cup of coffee. We even got to have breakfast with Jeb Bush!

Then Sunday afternoon we hung out by the pool and relaxed the day away.

I am so thankful to have a family that sticks together when times are rough. And I am so grateful that a hard weekend was bearable because of it. I love you guys! :)

The Adventures of Housesitting/Dogsitting/Catsitting

If Chris and I thought we could ever have a pet in our life (not that we really ever have wanted one), we realized this weekend, we cannot. After housesitting/dogsitting/catsitting for my cousins this past weekend, Chris and I came to the conclusion that we do not want animals, nor do we have time for them.

Poor little Gypsy, we felt so bad. We really do like her. Leaving their house at 8:00am and not returning until 8:30pm for a long day at work and the Corporate Run on Thursday equals poop in poor Gypsy's crate. I don't think she was too happy with our dogsitting skills (I guess we cannot compare to the likes of Napoleon, who has many skills). Gypsy, I'm sorry we were not able to make it home sooner to let you out to use the grass as your pooping ground.

Then on Friday, we got home at 6:00pm after work, Gypsy has pooped in her crate yet again (sorry Gypsy). With Chris on clean up duty (I had it the night before), I went outside to feed the cats. The sound of meows coming from the sky baffled me. As I looked upward, I came to find one of the cats had escaped from inside the screened patio and found her way on top of the roof of the patio.

With ladder in hand, and rain coming down, I made my way to the back yard. Climbed up to the top of the 7 foot ladder and tried to coax Lily off the roof. After about 5 minutes, I was able to pry her claws off the screen roof. Determined to get away, she fought with me the whole way down the ladder. I won that battle, and safely returned her to the screened-in patio.

With my clothes soaked and my hands covered in cat hair, I decided I needed a shower before we ventured out to dinner. We laughed about our movie-like incident and realized pets were not in our future.

We are Homeowners!

Wow, I thought this day would come, but I have to say I didn't think it would come so soon and so fast! What a whirlwind this past month was. But here are some pictures of our new home!!


Living Room





Living Room with our not so pretty furniture...hopefully a new couch to come!

Dining Room- Pre-paint

Dining Room- With beautiful yellow walls!


Office- pre-paint


Office- post paint

To see the whole house check out my picasa webalbum.

More photos to follow...hopefully this weekend we can get some more work done! YAY!

Celebrations

Chris and I decided it was time to grow up. So...we bought a condo. I think we are making pretty good lemonade out of the lemons we've been given, and we are excited about owning our own home. We get to decorate and paint the way we want it. I can actually grow plants on my balcony! Now that is exciting!

But, it has also been really hard. This should be a time of excitement and celebration. It should be fun and creative. But, the reality is it's not, not right now at least. Chris and I were talking about how I am having a hard time of being excited lately. And he said something that resonated with me. He said, "I don't know if you'll ever be able to celebrate with me the same again. Because there is a void. It will always be bitter-sweet for you. I don't know what you're going through."

There is so much truth to that statement. I don't know if I'll be able to celebrate the way I used to again. I'm not saying that I can't be happy or that I can't be excited. I can. It's just different. It's bitter-sweet. Sweet, because this is a joyous time. One that brings about the excitement of change. And bitter, because my mom is not here to celebrate it with me. She would be the one to stay up all hours of the night painting with me, so we could move in. She would help me be indecisive about which 2 lamps to choose out of the 6.

It seems the times that I really need her, are the times I feel the sting of loss the most.

"For the Good"

Sometimes it's hard to believe that God has his best for the good of those who love Him. He says he will not let us go through something that we can't bear. But, right now, the load is so heavy I can't hold it anymore. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, all these emotions. I don't even know where they come from, or what to do with them when they get here.

Life is different now. It won't ever be the same. And learning to deal with that is hard...really hard. How do I get my mind to wrap around reality? How do I come to grips with what has happened without sinking into despair? I don't want to carry the load anymore. But I don't necessarily know how to give it up yet. I don't know what that looks like. All I know is that God is good, and while I'm sitting in the waiting room, this is the song that is playing:

We like to take the blessing from You
Should we not take the trouble too
You are working all things out
We like to take prosperity
Should we not take the suffering
You are working all things out

For the good
of those who are called by You
For the good
of those who are in love with You

That's why we sing
Holy God of light
I lay down my life
Holy is the Lord
Even in the storm be glorified.
"For the Good"
Shane and Shane

"Call me Mara"

"Don't call me Naomi" she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
Ruth 1:20

Coffee is one of my favorite drinks in the morning. With just the right amount of cream and sugar my day will be off to a great start. Not a couple weeks after my mom passed away I was making myself a cup of coffee and realized that I didn't want as much sugar in my coffee. I didn't mind that it wasn't as sweet as usual. I casually mentioned this to Chris (my husband) and he said "maybe you don't want it as sweet because life has become bitter."

I pondered that word, bitter. I didn't want to be bitter in the sense that I knew the word. I didn't want to be someone that was considered bitter and angry all the time. But, like the good student I am, I looked up the word. One of the meanings of bitter is "hard to bear; grievous; distressful". Life, for the past couple months had become hard to bear. Life, in a short amount of time, had become bitter.