Radical Abandonment

I realize that its been way too long since I last posted… a lot has happened since May 5^th. These past 4 months (wow it really has been a long time!) have been a whirlwind! A whirlwind that I promise to post about with lots of pictures for all my 10 readers (if you guys are even still out there) soon.

But instead of writing about our summer vacations, new house, new car and new jobs… I thought that this series of posts would be a better way to get back into blogging mode.

I found out about a Radical Read-A-Long from one of my best friends. Before she even read the book she couldn’t stop talking about it. I decided that I needed to find out what this book was all about and join in on this read-a-long as a way to hold me accountable to finish the book.

So here we go…

Radical Read-A-Long - Chapter 1

Someone Worth Losing Everything For

In chapter 1 David Platt presents an interesting series of questions that we should ask ourselves about where we stand with Jesus…a series of questions that for me were hard to answer.

“Do we really believe he is worth abandoning everything for? Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in him? Do you and I believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture – and maybe in our churches – turn the other way?”

Its easy for me to say “Yes, I believe he is worth abandoning everything for!” but when have I ever been truly tested by that statement? When have I ever truly been in a situation were one of my options was to abandon everything in the name of Jesus? I hesitate to say never because I think the real truth is that my heart hasn’t been open to a question like this. I am sure I have been presented with situations where I could have given it all up for Christ... but I didn’t… I chose not to listen. That’s the hard part for me. Truly opening my self up to hear what God has to say… to be still and know… that’s hard!

The last part of the chapter really resonated with me when Platt said -

“For the sake of more than a billion people today who have yet to even hear the gospel, I want to risk it all. The price of our non-discipleship is high for those without Christ. “

We take the message of Christ for granted. We grew up with it and grew up thinking that everyone else did too. But that’s not the case. We have a life saving message that we need to share with the world… and someone RADICAL needs to do it.

Any volunteers? I can’t say that I am ready to go pack my bags… but I do know that something is pulling at my heart… and I am excited to keep listening to what its trying to tell me.

I am really excited about this Radical Read-A-Long that Marla Taviano is doing. I have heard so much about this book and can’t wait to journey through it with all the other readers. I know I will learn so much about myself and my walk with Christ through this journey… my prayer is that my heart remains open to what God has in store for me and that I can commit to believe whatever is being said to me and commit to obey what I have heard.

If you would like to join in I don’t think its too late… Go check it out!!

charity: water

Its been over a month since I last posted... I have some good excuses for this. But instead of boring you with details about our upcoming move to San Antonio, my current job interview process, the cute little rental home we found in San Antonio, our upcoming trips... I want to instead post about this AWESOME organization I found out about today!!

charity: water

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years.

This awesome girl name Sam (who I heard about on a friend' blog)is doing this wonderful thing for her 21st birthday - instead of asking for gifts she is asking for donations to charity: water!!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?

She has a campaign goal of $5,000 which will build a well and give an entire community (roughly 250 people) fresh running water for years to come. Please take a second to go check out her campaign website!!

If you have a few more minutes after visiting her site... take some time to watch this video & this one too!

After reading Sam's website, watching these videos and looking around on their website I was inspired to give and what a better place to start than Sam's birthday campaign!!

I dont know about you... but I think we can all afford to donate something to help someone have access to clean water!!

Random Thoughts for the Day:

I saw this funny list on a friends blog and couldnt help but copy and pasting it to mine... get ready to laugh-out-loud!!

Random Thoughts for the Day:
(Author unknown)

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection....again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? ) but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day " Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Hope you got a laugh out of this... I couldnt stop!!! :)

Introducing Miss Brylee...

This post is kind of (actually really) late... but better late than never right?

My dear friend Stacy asked me to take expecting and new born pics for her growing family. I was THRILLED!! She is such a joy to be around and I know that she will be the best mom to sweet Miss Brylee. Thank you Stacy and Eric for asking me to be a part of this special time in your lives!! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from their sessions.







Stacy made this quilt for little Brylee... I thought we needed a few pics of her with her creation!










Meet Sweet Brylee Ann, born on December 23, 2010... isn't she a doll?











This is a collage that Stacy made of the pictures I took to give to her family... I love it!!


Next Up - Christmas Family Pictures by dPhotography that are also better late than never! It is too late to make my new year's resolutions? Hope not... cause this is one thing I need to add to my list... KEEP UP WITH MY BLOG!!!

Happy Sunday!!!

Workout Mix

Yesterday JC and I went to the gym to officially start training for our run at the end of February... holy cow I have a long way to go before I can run a solid 3 miles. You would think it wouldnt be that hard... but I nearly passed out. I can usually pretty comfortably make it through a 60 min spinning class with out needing to stop or feeling like I need to pass out but for some reason the treadmill was a differnt story for me last night. It was HARD!!

One mistake I made before going was not uploading my new "training mix" to my pod... big no- no! There is something about that perfect mix that makes you want to keep going and push harder... and last night my tunes werent doing it for me. So... what I would like to know from all (11) of you out there is what tunes make you move?

Here are the ones that will be loaded for my run tonight... hopefully it helps me run a little longer!!

1. Tik Tok- Keisha
2. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z
3. Hard - Rihanna
4. Do You Remember - Jay Sean
5. Part in the USA - Miley Cyrus
6. Paparazzi - Lady GaGa
7. 3 - Brittney Spears
8. Sweet Dreams - Beyonce
9. Run this Town - Jay-Z
10. On to the Next One - Jay-Z

I feel like such a teenager cause all these songs are the ones that are on replay on the radio... oh well!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!! I am super pumped that its Friday... even if we can't go to Joe T's this weekend... I'm not quite sure it fits into the South Beach Diet?

Happy Friday!!!!!

Starting Fresh...

Like every new year the gym is packed full of people who are trying to loose their holiday weight… and I hate to say it but I am one of them (again)! And like every year… this one is going to be different and I am going to stick with it!! Fingers crossed!!

South Beach Diet Day One...Half way through the first day of the first phase of the South Beach diet and I have never been so hungry in my life. Ok, maybe I am being a little dramatic… but compared to how I have been eating the past month I am STARVING! Speaking of the past month… it’s the reason JC and I decided to go on this diet… we needed to cleanse our bodies of all the yummy junk we put in it over the holidays. We are also going on a cruise with his entire family in June and feel a little itimidated to stand next to some of his aunts and uncles… talk about in shape! YIKES!! So here is to a new year and a new (hungry) body!

Actually we are pretty excited about this diet. We both understand the long term effects a healthy diet can have on a person and we both want to incorporate better eating and more exercising into our everyday life. And what a better way to do it than with the South Beach Diet. We read up on numerous other diets and decided that this would be the best one to do cause its so easy to stick with and really helps to teach you about how to eat better forever! The first two weeks are going to be hard… no carbs (cheese its) and no sugar (starbucks)!!!! After two weeks of tourture our bodies will learn to stop craving the bad carbs and sugars that are in a typical American diet and will start craving more of the good stuff… that’s the plan at least. Once we have detoxed ourselves of these bad carbs and sugars we can then begin to incorporate the good carbs (whole wheats and grains) and the good sugars (fruits) back into our diet in moderation. The point of this diet for us is to not only loose a pound (or ten) but to learn how to eat better!!

Oh and top it off… I am officially signed up to run a 5K (that’s right… a 5k!) on February 27th ! To some of you this might seem like nothing… but to me, someone who has never run longer than a mile when back in 5th grade, this is going to be HARD!! But I am determined… I went and got some super cute running pants from Lululemon and some cute nike running shoes to get me pumped up!! Yes, they are still in the bags… but have no fear… I am taking the tags off tonight for the first spinning class of the year! I also got a Polar watch for Christmas which will help me keep track of my heart rate, calories burned and workout routine! I am ready… I can do this!

I am going to use my blog as way to keep me accountable for all of these goals that I have set in front of me… sorry if this is boring to all my (10) readers out there… but I think that being able to blog about my progress or lack of will really help me!!

Off to enjoy a grilled chicken salad with homemade balsamic dressing for lunch!! Here's to 2010… the year (decade) of change!!!

Happy Monday!!!

Merry Holidays!!!!