The Perfect Day

Since most of my post is positive I will get the disappointing news out of the way. Just in the last few weeks I found out that the job position I thought God had opened up just for me closed. Yes God closed one door of opportunity in my career path. However, I know that He will open up a window somewhere else, at some point. And I'm looking forward to that. In other news, God is answering prayers in other areas and that is wonderful.

My relationship with my wonderful boyfriend Mark is going well and I'm loving every minute of it. Two Sundays ago we got to spend the whole day together and it was great! I went to church with him and his family, went to his family's house to eat lunch and watch the Colts game, and then went to a church cookout and hayride. We had a blast and the weather was perfect. In fact the whole day was perfect. I will never forget that day. :-)

Here's a picture of Mark & I at the church hayride on Oct. 14, 2012.

Also, I had a great time yesterday and today hanging out with my sister minus her five children. It was nice to have some one-on-one quality sister time and to have some fun. Yesterday we celebrated my birthday a month early by doing something we've wanted to for the last five years. I love touring old historic houses and yesterday we toured the President Benjamin Harrison house in downtown Indianapolis.

Then we each ate a yummy cupcake at 111 Cakery on 16th Street downtown. I had a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing and she had a turtle cupcake. It was delicious. We ate dinner at a Peruvian restaurant in Fountain Square called Mama Irma's and it was awesome. I had cilantro rice with chicken and vegetables and fried plantains on the side. Later on, we went to Burlington Coat Factory where I found some much needed new purple slippers for only $6.99 and a cute headband for only $0.98! I love a bargain.

Today we watched a movie called October Baby at my house. It was a really touching story about a 19 year old girl who found out she was adopted and set out to find her birth mother and where she came from. She also learned that she had been born out of a failed abortion attempt and that she had had a twin brother who died as a baby. It was a tearjerker, but it was also very encouraging, joyful, and had some good comic relief in it as well. I highly recommend it.

My music practices have been going well and singing last week at the nursing home went great again. I get so much joy and encouragement from singing to the people there. And so do they. They are always so thankful when we come and they always say that they look forward to us coming back. I look forward to singing to them next month about Thanksgiving and about Christmas in December as well.

I'm also excited about some fun fall activities I have coming up in the next few weeks. I'm going to a haunted house this weekend and a Halloween party next week. There are good things to come ahead and I'm thankful and blessed to enjoy it all. Thank you Lord. Until next time...dance, laugh, live, and love. :-)

Pleasantly Surprised

So since my last post on here I've had: two more singing practices, celebrated my brother's 22nd birthday, seen my nieces and nephew sing in front of church during church service, and had two more dates with the nice guy that I mentioned in my previous post. Each date we go on, is better than the last one we went on. He is a very funny, smart, cute, honest, and sweet Christian guy. I feel very blessed to have met him and am enjoying getting to know him better each day.

We have fun when we hang out and really enjoy each others' company even if we are just talking or playing cards together. We had the best date yet last night. He made me dinner, fully furnished with delicious food and drink, candlelight, and even some Kenny G music (per my suggestion ha ha). It was better than any five star restaurant you could eat at, because I knew it was from the heart. We had some great conversations and a great connection.

We even took a little personality quiz for fun to see how compatible our personalities are. And we seem to be pretty compatible and be hitting it off pretty well. Early this morning, he asked if I thought we were becoming more than just friends. I said yes.

He said, "I think I have a girlfriend now. What do you think?" I responded sarcastically, "Really who is she?" Haha. Then I said, "I think you might have a girlfriend now." Then I asked, "Does that mean that I have a boyfriend now?" And he said, "I would say so." So as of today, we have both decided to pursue a dating relationship with one another. And I'm pretty excited about it. :-)

I'm excited to see where the Lord takes me in the future. I'm also excited to see what doors He will open in my career, dating relationship, serving opportunities, friendships, and in the pursuits of my passions and dreams. May the Lord establish my plans and steps! Not my will, but His be done.

As it says in Proverbs 16: 1-3 & 9:

"1 To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

² All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.
⁹ In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps."

Stood Up, But Not Standing Down

So in case the title of this post hasn't given you a hint as to my topic yet already, this post will involve my new blog theme of dating. Yes it's been a busy week and a half since my last post, but I will quickly bring you up to speed.

On Friday Sept. 14, I went to a play with the Christian artists group couple I told you about in the last post. One of the girls in the group who likes to act was acting in the play Arsenic and Old Lace. It was a hilarious play! After seeing it I really want to rent the original 1940's movie version on Netflix sometime which had Cary Grant & Boris Karloff in it, if I'm not mistaken.

On Sat. Sept. 15, I relaxed at home most of the day and then went to the Beech Grove Fall Festival that night with my family. I was suppose to have a first date with a guy I met online that night but he texted me an hour before we were suppose to meet at the bowling alley and said he couldn't make it. At least he let me know though that he was going to stand me up. I prefer courtesy to none at all. We both decided that the fact that he lives an hour and a half a way, was too far apart anyway.

On Sun. Sept. 16, I sang at the nursing home for the first time with the music outreach group I'm now a part of. I really enjoyed it! The residents in the audience were so responsive and most of them sang along, smiled, clapped, and one elderly gentleman even said several times, "Good job guys!" It was a very encouraging and uplifting experience. And afterwards we got to talk to a few of the residents and they were very supportive of our singing and thankful for us being there. God really is working through this music outreach group!

On Tues. Sept. 18, I had a fun girls night out with two good friends of mine from work. We ate at a yummy Mexican place for dinner, got frozen custard, and then visited at my friend's house. We had a nice time visiting and catching up. Later on, we even got pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks. I've been in a pumpkin spice mood lately with the cooler fall weather we've been having.

On Wed. Sept. 19, I was suppose to have a second date with a seemingly nice guy. We were suppose to meet at 2pm to play putt putt at a local putt putt place. When 2:15-2:20 rolled around and he had not yet returned my call or text I decided I wasn't going to wait any longer. I was hungry anyways so I went and got some lunch. Stood up for a second time in less than a week. That was fun haha.

As I was eating my food in my car it dawned on me that another guy I had been talking to, whom I had met online, but had not yet met in person was also off work that day. I texted him and asked if he would like to hangout since my other date had canceled. He said sure and it was a beautiful day so I drove and picked him up. We went to a local park and swung on the swings and talked.

Then we went to Starbucks, I had a delicious pumpkin spice latte, he had a salted caramel hot chocolate, and we played Uno with the Uno cards he had brought. All in all it was a better date experience than the other one that had happened earlier in that day. So even though I was stood up, I did not and am not standing down. Just when the Enemy thinks he has you discouraged in life, God likes to prove Him wrong and encourage us all and lift us up all over again.

Today Sun. Sept. 23, I had singing practice with my music outreach group, ate at Olive Garden for dinner with my dad and his girlfriend, then went for a 2.5 mile walk to the park with my brother. It was a beautiful day/evening for it and it felt good to burn some calories. I need to start getting back into more indoor exercise as it gets cooler out, but until the weather gets too cold out I still prefer working out outside lol.

I may not know what God has in store for me in the future, but I know He's got some good plans for me. His plans way are better than anything I can ask for or imagine. As in says in Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." May He do more for us all, more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Until next time...walk on, sing on, date on, and don't stand down!

God is Good!

This week has been an amazing testimony to the faithfulness of God when you fully trust Him with every area of your life.

On Sunday, I had a good time of communication with God and I re-surrendered all of the areas of my life into His control and not my own. I told Him whatever He wanted to do with my life, He could. That includes my finances, my dreams, my passions, my relationships, everything. Not my will, but His be done.

On Monday, I finally had the interview for the possible new career path I had mentioned in my last post. And even though the other position I had applied for had just been filled over the weekend, God made a way and created a new position just for me! In the next few months I will be able to transition into this new position, in a new area, at my current job and I'm very excited about it! It will be more mentally challenging, a better use of my skills, and it will pay a little better too, which are all answers to prayer!

On Tuesday, I met with a young, married, Christian couple who I found on meetup.com. They lead a Christian artists group, a Christian artists Bible study, and a Christian praise band among other things. They are passionate about bringing other Christian artists together for fellowship and encouragement to others. I had a great time meeting and getting to know them better and they invited me to a local play that one of the actors in the group will be performing in on Friday night! I'm excited to get to know them better and meet other Christian artists like myself in the near future.

On Wednesday, I went for a 1 mile run around my neighborhood. It was my first time running again since I fell running a few weeks ago and hurt my knee really bad. It felt good to get back into it and not let my fear of possible injury hold me back, from getting the exercise I need and doing what I love. After running for about 16 minutes I also trimmed bushes and pulled the weeds in my front yard for 1 hour. So now my house has better curb appeal again and looks like someone actually lives there lol.

On Thursday, I met with an older married, Christian couple who I also found on meetup.com. They lead a Christian acoustic outreach group in which they sing and play guitar once a month at a local nursing home. They also write, publish, and sell their own songs, books, and games online. They are a very sweet couple and we had a great time getting to know each other today. We also had a great time singing together and practicing the songs we are going to sing this Sunday at the nursing home.

Overall, I can tell that God has some amazing things in store for me and I'm so glad that I'm trusting Him with all of it because it's way better than anything I could do on my own! Praise Jesus!

Time Flies...

Wow time really does fly when you are having fun haha.

My Favorite Gatlinburg, TN Vacation 2012 Photos:

Me atop the Great Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN, July 2012.

 Me during a one mile hike up the mountains to a waterfall.

Me at the bottom of the beautiful waterfall!

The beautiful mountain view behind the timeshare we stayed at.

Me and my silly 7 year-old cousin at a Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN. 

We tried to recreate a famous scene from the Titanic movie, but better lol.

 Me and some friendly black bears, taking a break together on a bench. Haha.

 Me at the waterfall in front of our timeshare.

Notice more of those playful little black bears again in the background.

 

One of the many gorgeous mountain views I was able to capture.

So my vacation to Gatlinburg, TN overall was a blast and should get me through the next year or so until my travel cravings start to come back. Of course I spent way too much money on souvenirs, attractions, and the like. So I will probably spend the next year trying to make up for what I spent on vacation, saving as much money as I can, and trying to get my last school loan paid off. I can't wait to be debt free! If only for a little while. I am also pursuing a new career field and hope to continue to study on my own and eventually break into this new career field. More about that at a later date...

In other news, my boyfriend of four months and I broke up at the end of May, not long after my last post. While it was hard to get through at the time, looking back I now know that it was for the best. I really learned how important it is to communicate how you feel and what you are conflicted about with the person you are in a relationship with and not through a third party. I also learned how important it is to see how well the other person deals with conflict or whether they shutdown and avoid it altogether. An argument or conflict sometimes really is a good test to see what the true character of a person is like, as opposed to how they claim their character is.

God is in control of all aspects of my life right now, whether it makes sense to me or not and whether it's easy or not. And lately it has been hard to learn the lessons that He has been teaching me. I have been reading a lot lately about sanctification and maturing in the faith and I truly believe that is what God is trying to do in my life right now. He is refining me into what He wants me to become and not what I  currently am. He seems to be refining me by fire too at times. But I know it's for my own good even though I can't see what's coming next, I'm trusting Him to guide me along this crazy path that we call life.

I'm not sure at this time what I really want to do with this blog. I'm almost tempted to add one more topic to the title. And that topic would be "dating." I have recently in the last month or so gotten back into the dating scene and it has been interesting to say the least. I have some pretty good dating stories new and old alike that are worth a good laugh if nothing else.

Over the last three years, all of my dating experiences have all been good learning experiences for sure. And I've come a long way in learning what I do want and don't want in a potential life partner. I am hopeful that eventually God will bring the right person along when the time is right. I have a feeling that it will be soon, but I'm trusting Him either way on the timing. I've met some great people along the way, made some great memories, and learned a lot about myself in the process. So I guess it's been a blessing in a way, even if it doesn't always feel like it.

Perhaps, a new topic to add to this blog would revive my passion and motivation to write on here again. I have gotten back into dancing a little recently when I went swing dancing a few weeks ago and I joined a dance social group on meetup.com. So I'm just trying to reprioritize my life right now and figure out how best to spend my time. So maybe a new topic that is fresh on my brain would help this blog and give it the new flavor and zest that it needs to make it one of my priorities again. Haha.

So what do you, the audience, think? How does this sound? "Dancing, Dieting, Dating, and a Diary." Too long? Or I could just take off the dieting part and have, "Dancing, Dating, and a Diary." I kind of like the second one better. Maybe I will try a new name out for a while and see if I like it and how it goes.

Until next time...dance on and date on!

Memorial Day Weekend

So I had a good Memorial Day weekend. How was yours? Yesterday I went to church, went to a graduation open house, visited family and friends, walked around at the park with some relatives for an hour, got ice cream, did a little gardening, and watched the end of the Indy 500 race on TV. Today I got the house cleaned up, went swimming at a pool party, and even had time and energy to do my dance video game tonight for 40 minutes. I even have a pretty good tan starting now from being outside so much lately. All in all it was a good Memorial Day weekend.

I'm starting to get excited because my vacation is coming up in the beginning of July! It's only a little over a month away now! I am going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with my aunt and two cousins. Smoky Mountains here we come! I haven't been there since the summer of 2007 and I can't wait to go back! It's so beautiful & relaxing there. I hope to get to go to Dollywood this time and some other new places. I will be gone for about two weeks and I will be having a blast I'm sure!

Oh and FYI my boyfriend Michael and I have been dating for four months now and I'm loving every minute of it. He really is a special, one of a kind, amazing guy. I look forward to many more fun experiences with him in the future. I will miss him while I'm on vacation though. But that's what phone calls and facebook are for right? lol.

Oh yes I am also currently preparing a short story for a writing contest about an experience in my life that required faith in God & how He worked in my life through that experience. So I will keep you updated on how that goes. I have to submit it by June 20, 2012. So pray that it goes well! Thanks!

Well that's enough for now. Until next time...keep reading, writing, and living life to the fullest!

Mother's Day & Memories

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. Lately my mom has been on my mind. It was eight years ago on May 11, 2004 that my mom passed away from a second bout with cancer. It was a few days after Mother's Day & four days before my sister's wedding. We had her funeral on Friday and my sister's wedding on Saturday. Even though, that was the hardest weekend of my life, I now see that God had a plan through all of that. All of those experiences taught me a lot and helped me to become who I am today.

Lately, I have been having good memories of my mom. Like when I was a kid she read a book called "The Boxcar Children" to me and my brother. She would read to us on nice summer days while swinging on the porch swing on the back patio of my grandmother's old log cabin. I remember her introducing me to the "Nancy Drew" mystery book series which I still love and read to this day.

Just recently I found both of those kinds of books at a book sale they had at the mall. That particular book sale only comes to the mall three times a year. Since I don't see those kinds of books for sale very often I couldn't pass up the chance to get some. So, I bought a few books in her memory and for my own enjoyment. I hope to pass those book traditions on to my nieces and nephew and maybe my future kids some day.

I also remembered just today how she used to help feed the homeless. She would stop and buy some hamburgers for a homeless guy on the street corner or make him a sandwich from our picnic supplies. She tried to make a difference for others in her own, small way. And she tried to lead by example.

I hope that I am leaving a good legacy behind with my life. And I hope to continue to be a Godly example to others that I encounter through out my life. What kind of example are setting for others around you? What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind for future generations to remember?

It was such beautiful weather out today that I played outside with my nieces and nephew while visiting my sister, later I went for a walk around my neighborhood, then I planted half of my garden. While at my sister's we even ate fresh mulberries off of a mulberry tree. It was a good day. And me, my sister, and my brother all talked about our best memories of our mom. It was our little way of honoring our mom on Mother's Day.

We'll never forget you Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Your Daughter