Life at the Beach

As I sat at the beach I started writing this. I was sitting in a beach chair, with my hat on, eyes closed, just listening to the waves crash against the shore. Now, I know I am very fortunate, but at that moment I never felt more grateful. There are serious problems in the world today, I was worried about what to get at the Beach Club for lunch. I was also fortunate enough to watch Beth kick some serious butt at tennis, in what turned out to be a 3 hour and 15 minute, easily the longest match in Sea Oaks history. As I sat upstairs at the tennis house, I got to meet all of the ladies of the neighborhood. Every one of them telling me how nice my mother in law is. It's true. I always knew this, but couldn't believe how every single person she has come across couldn't say enough good things about her. I clearly have the best mother in law on the planet, who created the best husband this girl could ask for. We clearly have it made.

I know in everyday life you can get caught up in this inner poor me battle. Comparing your life to everyone's life around you. I do this all of the time. It's a horrible cycle. Sometimes you just can't understand why people, who aren't good people, can have so much and you try to give so much to others and feel that you have so little. After sitting at the beach last weekend I realized I have so much more than any of those people even know they are missing. My grandma had this philosophy on life, and I don't think I truly could understand it until that moment. Yes, we want to be in a place at some point where we can give our kids everything we have been given. We want to pay it forward, because we have been able to do so many things. But, I don't think they would even know the difference. If we are able to pass on the kind of love our families have, they are going to have more than most people on the planet. And that, my friends, is a life worth striving for!

Here are a couple pictures from our trip:

The Williams family never misses a good Happy Hour! We spent Friday night down on the patio at the beach club, meeting people from all over the country who get to spend their winters here. Of course we did this with a Cape Codder in hand! It was an absolutely amazing weekend full of family, fun and plenty of rum!

Tell me...what are you thankful for this week?

A Mini Family Reunion

Jay's brother, Josh, came into town a couple weekends ago. It was really nice getting to visit with him. He was just stopping through on his way to, what sounded like the bachelor party of the century. When he was hear we decided to go site see, and do something very Atlanta. What's more Atlanta than Coca-Cola? We went down to the new World of Coke and saw all of the exhibits, and tried Coke from all over the world. Here's what we saw...

Jay and Josh were more than excited to see an old Five Alive carton. We saw the original trucks they used to deliver Coca-Cola in. The bottle on the bottom right is from the state of Georgia. When the first started shipping in bottles across the country, each state had it's own original bottle. We saw the safe where the keep the secret formula. We tried different coke products from South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and finally finished with an ice cold original Coca-Cola from right here in the US. Now, I have given up caffeine for lent this year, but I think God will forgive just that one three small cups I had!

Apparently Coca-Cola was the official sponsor of the World Series, and the World Series rings for quite a long time. They have a couple of rings right there in museum. Of course the Sox are being represented twice in that photo, and a replica of the can after the 2007 World Series. I just loved all of the old signs, and bottles from all over the world. I can't believe they were able to keep all of those artifacts intact.

I thought it was perfect to end Josh's trip on this note. Josh and Haley go way back. He is her partner in crime, and she prefers to spend time with him more than anyone else. She wouldn't get out of his chair, so he used her as a pillow. She was completely content! Can't wait for him to come back! Now, if we could just get that baby brother to visit...

Attitude of Gratitude - Part 1

Why is it always such a long time in between posts? It's getting ridiculous. You would think I have nothing going on, and haven't been creative at all, when truth is I have been so busy I have been forgetting to take pictures and blog about it. So here we go. I think it's a great time to start something we will call "An Attitude of Gratitude". 

Do you ever have those Sunday mornings where you feel like you are so compelled to get up and go to church? And not just go, but rip your husband out of bed from his peaceful slumber to make the early service? I had a calling on Sunday morning. I couldn't sleep past 6:30, clearly a sign of getting older, and just felt like I was being called to go to church. Now, I wasn't planning on ripping poor Jay out of bed at 7:45 am on a Sunday morning, but apparently I am lacking on my quiet getting ready skills. He reluctantly got out of bed to join me, as long as we could stop by Starbucks on the way there. Who am I to deny a man his grande white mocha with an extra shot?

Since we just moved to Roswell we haven't really found a church that feels like home yet. Or so I had thought. We had gone over to North Point Community Church just once before. Now, when I say this is a huge church, I really had no idea how big until the end of service. They are trying to add one more service to the four they already have in place. In order to do that, they need an additional 1500 volunteers on Sundays. And no I didn't accidentally type an extra zero. This will allow an additional 4000 people to attend a church that currently has about 22000 regular attenders. The numbers are truly staggering. Now I am sitting there listening to the sermon about volunteering. We are studying how God provided bread and fish to the masses during his healing. The basic message was, God doesn't care about your abilities, He cares about your availability. He wants your time and focus so He can help you become the person you were meant to be. It really got me thinking. 

I think I try to go into most new situations with a sense of "this is what I have to offer". I think when you're in business and you're interviewing for a new company that's your biggest selling point. What can I do for you? I think this is the opposite of what we need to do for God. God knows what we are capable of, He just wants your time.I feel like I am constantly pleading with Him, asking Him to make something happen because I have put all the work in and feel like I deserve it. I think Sunday's service was a humbling experience. How I plan on going about work, life, marriage, volunteering has completely changed. I think I need to go and see what it is that my marriage, my job, and my life needs, and ask God to mold me into making that happen. This has got to make my life more significant than only doing the things in which I believe I am capable of. A great man once told me that being significant is what you should strive for in life. Being significant in someone's or a group of people's life is much more rewarding than anything else. 

So, today, I am grateful for the fact that I couldn't sleep in on Sunday morning. I am grateful for a life lesson I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I am also going to be grateful if I can start working with the kids services at North Point and find a connection among a very large group of people.

What are you grateful for today?

A Day I Will Always Remember

So I'm sure this won't be as exciting to most of you as it was to me at the time. My husband, the man who can barely make toast, made us dinner on Saturday night. It was amazing. He put steaks on the grill, cooked couscous and garlic toast. Now, it's not exactly the most complex meal on Earth, but it's the only meal he has ever made for me from start to finish. I didn't supervise, help, nag or anything! Since we started dating in 2006, every meal that has been prepared for us has been by me. That's pretty much every Monday thru Thursday, and most Saturdays since August 2006 people! He brought me a glass of wine, I sat on the couch and watched Sweet Home Alabama (one of my top 5 favs), and he even brought dinner in to me. Now if it were Valentine's Day or my Birthday I would still be pretty impressed, but this was just another ordinary Saturday night. And what he doesn't know....now I know he has it in him! I know he won't starve if I don't do it for him. At this point in life the only other significant life experience I can equate this to is driving off in your car for the first time. (And we all know how I felt about my beautiful, blue, PIA BMW)! I almost cried. It was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen.

I can't imagine a better Saturday night than steaks on the grill, Sweet Home Alabama on TV, and my hanging out with my hubby! I really am one lucky girl. 

On a side note, I had to add this picture because he was harrassing me for taking it this morning.

Neither of us said anything to each other while waking up this morning. Jay walked downstairs to make lunch after he showered, I slept in because my company was buying me lunch today and it's inventory day, hence the hat! I walked downstairs and it looked like it was Auburn Gameday. I had my blue sweater, orange scarf, vintage Aubie hat. Jay was wearing his orange polo and blue sweater vest. Isn't that cute? HAHA...he's going to kill me for putting that there, but I think you can tell how perfectly married we are to each from this very simple weekend. Great minds think alike!

Alot on my mind...and just a little behind

It's been a while since my last update. I would love to tell you that Jay and I have been tied up doing magnificently fabulous things, but we've been busy working on the house and hanging out with family and friends. Last weekend was pretty busy. Beth and Gary came into town on Thursday, we had dinner with them and his Uncle Mark and June that night. My friend Reana also flew into Atlanta on Thursday for work, so we met her in Buckhead on Friday for dinner. Jay's friends picked him up in Buckhead and they headed to Savannah for a weekend of bachelor debauchery. Reana came up to Roswell on Saturday afternoon, and we headed to the lake to see my Paige, Bill, my aunt Jennifer and her boyfriend Tom, as well as my parents. I'm winded just talking about it, you can imagine how I felt on Sunday afternoon!! But don't worry, I found plenty of time to watch Property Ladder, head to the mall, and paint my nails! Who knew how much you can accomplish when left to your own devices all weekend.

It was the first time I spent the night by myself in our house. It was kind of strange. Haley, of course, slept in our king bed with me, and almost pushed me out of bed. I will never understand how a 25 lb dog can take up so much room!

I was so excited for Reana to see our house for the first time as well. With us living worlds apart from each other its pretty difficult to spend a whole lot of quality time together. I was very fortunate to have her be a part of my wedding, and even luckier that she was working in Atlanta last week. It's very rare in life to find a friend at a very young age that you stay close to for so long, even while living so far apart. Reana is recently engaged, so I'm hoping her wedding will be an excuse for me to show Jay where I grew up in California. I am so genuinely excited for her. I think she started dating Eric when we turned 11...just kidding, but it has been awhile. So excited for them both!

I always have fun seeing Paige and Bill. They drove down from school for the afternoon to have dinner with the family, which was a nice treat. Paige, well what can I say about Paige? She's gearing up for her trip to South Africa this summer. (If you just read that twice, you weren't mistaken. I did say South Africa). She is going to study abroad, and give back to the community there. She has been showing me loads of videos from the kids who went last year. She has already picked out a couple of kids that she's planning on bringing home. I am a little nervous for her here. It's not a goldfish, she can't just bring one home, but the thought of her trying to help those less fortunate is amazing to see. She truly is better than I am when it comes to this. She is an eternal optimist. Where I, like my dad in a lot of ways, am a realist. I hope she never changes!

It was also great seeing my Aunt Jen, who brought her boyfriend Tom with her. I can only remember one other boyfriend that Jen has had, and he will never compare to Tom. He is genuinely sweet, real, and great for her. I'm so glad to see her so happy with someone!

I think Jay and I are probably the luckiest people alive. We are surrounded by amazing friends, and amazing family. I think I probably take this for granted alot of times, because I'm just so used to be around all of this love. Both of our parents go above and beyond to continue to support us in so many ways. I just hope we can pay this forward one day. I think with our family's continued support and prayer we will be able to do that.

A Present for Paige

I got to spend last weekend with my little sister, Paige, in Athens. I went up on Saturday, we got pedis, had lunch, went to a Gym Dogs meet, and ended up at dinner and a bar that night. We really had a blast. I can honestly say that going back to college is nowhere in my near future. Apparently I'm old now. I do enjoy the schedule, the sleeping in, but the late nights are about more than I can do. I just don't bounce back like I used to. I guess with age comes responsibility, and the inability to down as many well drinks at the Hangover!

Since my precious sister was letting me crash her apartment and her weekend plans, I wanted to make her something she could use in the apartment. Now I know college students don't typically host the same kind of parties that newly-marrieds do, but I still thought it was a cute idea.

I found some red platters, and a couple of white ones too, at Target right after Christmas. I think they were part of their Christmas collection, and I was able to snag a couple at a discounted price. This is why I love to wander Target and see what's on sale that no one knows about. After finding the plate, I borrowed my mom's Cricut and went to town. I think it ended up pretty cute, and hope that she enjoys it. I have been contemplating adding bow/s to make it something she can  set up on a plate stand. 

Love ya sis, and I had a blast in Athens! BTW, she is one of two people I would create anything UGA related for! 

Goodbye to an Old Friend

It's time today, to remember a very special part of my life. A part of your life you never get to do over, you can never have that experience twice. It's the day you buy your first car. Now I drove another car before her, but she was a hand me down, this car I picked out and was purchased just for me. We've had our ups and downs, and there are days I wondered if someone would steal her if I left her unlocked on the bad side of town so I could collect the insurance, but we were good friends.

I got this car when I was 19 years old, a freshman in college, when I thought I knew everything there was to know about the world. I drove her downtown to sneak into bars that I clearly wasn't old enough to be in. I drove her to sorority parties so I could bond with my sisters. I drove her to my first day at Auburn, where I met one of my best friends and later my husband. I drove her home the day after I graduated, the first day of my first real job. I drove her to Boston so I could follow the boy I loved. I even drove her to our wedding day, and then to the airport so we could go on our honeymoon. She was adorned with Phi Mu and Auburn stickers, an Auburn license plate, and an Auburn Alumni plate. She, too, loved the school I love so much.

I will never forget the day my dad took me to the dealership and asked me if I wanted to sit inside. The second I sat down on her leather seats and slid my legs inside, I knew she was the car for me. It was a perfect fit. There were only two blue cars left in the state of Georgia, and I knew I had to have one. Now, this was long before my love or even interest in Auburn. I don't know why I had to have blue, but I did. Maybe I just knew I would look good and blue, and she would look good adorned in orange. Either way, I had to have blue. Dad called around, and on Easter weekend, that car was sitting in the garage when I got home. I can't really describe the feeling, but like I said, there isn't another time in your life when you get behind the wheel of your first car.

I will miss this car in so many ways. I won't miss taking it to get serviced and seeing the bill every time I take it in. It's always something, and always something expensive at that. But she drove so well. She gripped curves like no other car I have ever been in. The amazing brakes saved my life at least twice. She was great in so many ways. But, it's time to say goodbye to this dear friend. She was getting to the point that we just couldn't afford her expensive parts and accessories. We knew we could actually get some money for her with the miles and wear that she had, knowing if we waited another ten thousand miles that wouldn't be the case. I had to list her on Auto Trader, and eventually watch as someone else drive her away.

All will work out though. We were able to pay off my new car, and put the remaining money on our American Express bill that has seemed to be growing. Between buying all new appliances for our house, and the last couple of bills for the car, it will be nice to have a huge chunk of that gone. You just never think it will end like that. When did I become an adult and start thinking of things like our financial future, and the value of a dollar over my selfishness of loving an object. God puts things in your life for a reason, I know that, but I just never thought that would be the reason I would have to sell her. I guess that is what faith is all about!