Marie on a Mission

I'm still here.

2009-04-27T17:19:00.003-04:00

Yeah, yeah, I know...I've been really bad about blogging lately. I've been busy(as always) and I just haven't been in the mood to blog. I'm off today so I'm getting caught up on a few little things that I've been meaning to do. So, here is a bit of an update. I now have a blog just for my cakes here. I have a great logo and business cards thanks to my friends at Me2graphics. Hopefully I will keep up with it a little better than I have been doing with this one.

Here are just a few pictures from the last couple of months that I thought were blog worthy.

Meet Elphaba aka Elphie. I have wanted a puppy for years and I finally got one. She is precious! This was after her first trip to the groomers. Somebody must have know where here name came from because they put a green bow in her hair...I love it!

Fuller turned the big 30 this year. We had a great dinner with a bunch of friends to celebrate.

Luke and Shana Camara...some of my favorite people.

Paul and Lynn Barnett(and Luke)...more of my favorite people!

I'm a nerd.

2009-02-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sure if you are reading this I 'm not telling you anything you don't already know but I am a little bit of a nerd. The thing I miss about school is getting to discuss books either while reading them or after finishing them. I have found in the months since graduating that I really took that for granted. So, this brings me to why I am posting today. First, let me say that I was very skeptical of the book that I am reading. In fact, I had not really planned to read it because of the people I had heard talking about it. I figured it was just another feel good Christian fluff book. But, my grandmother had it at her house when I was there a couple of weeks ago so I decided I would give it a try. The book that I am talking about is The Shack by WM. Paul Young. Believe it or not, it is actually pretty good. I am only about half way finished with it but I am enjoying it. I've even found myself underlining in it(example 2 of nerdiness). Now, I'm not a theologian but I've not really found anything that I disagree with theologically yet. Let me repeat that I am not finished with it yet so I might have to amend this post later. But, I was just wondering if any of you out there have read it and what you think about it? If you haven't read it, you should...it's an easy read and not very long.

An Update on me

2009-02-07T12:52:00.002-05:00

This has been a long time coming and I'm not sure I can fully explain everything that 's being going on in my head in the past few months. I'm sorry for the inconsistency in my blogs but I've either been really busy or not really sure what to write. Several times on my way home from work I have constructed a blog in my head but it just never quite made it to the computer. So, I think I will just list a few realizations, epiphanies, if you will.

1. I have no idea what is ahead in my future. All I know is that I am where I am supposed to be. That was a sort of hard realization for me, someone who did not necessarily think that I would be coming back here for a long time after seminary. But, here I am! I don't have to know exactly what I'm going to be doing in 5, 10, 15 years. All I know is that I am called to serve God where ever I am and right now that is here. Amazingly, I am ok with that.

2. I LOVE my church. I feel like this is what the people of God are supposed to look like. It's hard sometimes being a part of a church plant, but I love it.

3. I'm learning what it feels like to be in love with Jesus. I went through a time when I did not know if that was something that I could ever feel. I read the book "Crazy Love" and it really did change my life. I know that sounds a little overly dramatic but it was just the right thing at the right time I think. I would encourage everyone to read it.

4. For some reason that I can't explain, I think that 2009 is going to be a great year. Now, I am usually very optimistic anyway but I'm just feeling very hopeful for the future. For some reason I LOVE my life right now. To be honest there is really nothing extraordinary about my life at all but I think my whole outlook has changed. I know that God is in control and as long as I am serving and glorifying him in all I do then I am right where I am supposed to be and I can't ask for more than that.

5. I can't say that life is easy and I have no stress. I'm pretty stressed all the time because of my job but I am trying hard to not let it get me down. In the past I totally let my job take over my life. It's still very overwhelming and gets me down sometimes but like I said earlier, my whole outlook has changed. My job is my ministry. As long as I do it to glorify God, that is all I can do.

I'm not sure if all that makes a whole lot of sense but those are just a few of the thoughts and conclusions that I've come to in the last few months. I'm sure there is soo much more I could say but I've realized so much since I have been back in Alabama that there is no way to put it all down in words.

Jake is here!

2009-02-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

Jacob Miller Tatum arrived today at 1:51pm. His parents are my cousin Kristie and her husband Trent. They are going to be amazing parents. Jake is perfect and looks like both mom and dad. I'm going to go see them again tomorrow and hopefully have more pictures!

It's about time for another post

2008-10-07T16:26:00.002-04:00

I know, I know...it's been awhile. I have a good excuse though. My computer has pretty much been with the Geek Squad since I got home. Right now I am illegally using a computer at DHR during my training. So, no fun pictures or anything. Once I get my computer back I might have a few cute pictures to post. Overall I've been very busy since I got home but not much too blog about. I just started back with DHR yesterday, not sure how I feel about it yet. I had a blast at the district youth retreat this weekend. I was super tired when I came home but it was well worth it. It was amazing to have the opportunity to get to know some new fun people and get to know other friends even better. I am loving being back and being a part of my church. I just love my church. I'm not exactly sure what the next few years look like for me but I'm excited to see how God continues to grow and stretch me. Hopefully once my computer is back I'll be a little better at posting.

My first time...

2008-07-17T10:42:00.003-04:00

...to make a tiered cake. I wasn't really happy with how it turned out but it had more to do with the icing than it did the stacking of the cakes. I figured that I should practice making a tiered cake before I tried to do one for a real event. Well...the stacking part of it turned out alright. My icing just wasn't quite right. It would have been fine if I was covering them in fondant but my buttercream was just too thin and didn't smooth right. So, here is a picture (for aunt patty). Don't worry, I'm still learning and getting better every time I do it so don't be afraid if I'm doing your cake in the near future. I promise It will look better than this. Oh, and yes, that is a cardboard C on top. Heather and I were playing around with designs for her wedding cake(no, I'm not doing hers)and she decided that it needed a C on top too late to make one out of fondant so she improvised. I think Heather might have a talent for making letters out of cardboard. What do you think?

You know you're getting old when...

2008-06-29T00:40:00.003-04:00

Publish Post

...after a long day in Manhattan all I wanted to do was put my feet up. Wow, I walked alot today. My feet are screaming at me right now but I was loving all the walking around earlier today. Before today I had never seen the Brooklyn Bridge so I decided to make a little trip today to walk across it. Before I got the bridge I made a little detour to Sugar Sweet Sunshine bakery so that I could compare thier cupcakes to Magnolia's. If you aren't familiar with the Manhattan cupcake scene, it is quite fierce competition. Well, For what it's worth...Sugar Sweet Sunshine is FAR superior to Magnolia's.

I have only heard great things about A Chorus Line so I decided to go see it today. A bonus is that Mario Lopez (A.K.A. A.C. Slater from Saved By The Bell) is in it right now. The show was great. I did not love the movie but the stage show was way better.

And here he is...Mario Lopez! He was very nice. As he was signing my playbill I told him I enjoyed the show and thanked him. He then looked up into my eyes and smiled his cute little smile and said it was his pleasure. In the picture he was on the phone with someone who was coming to pick him up.

I tried to get a picture with him too late so here is me with his back. Yeah, I'm being a little silly but it was fun. Two teenage boys got pictures with him that were standing in front of me but it was too late by the time I handed them my camera to take a picture of me. They were funny. They tried to push me up there with him and encouraged me to be just as pushy as everyone else but I refrained. Why is it that I always seem to make friends with gay guys in whatever line I am in? Anyway, they were nice enough to take this picture for me. And another way to know you are getting old... when the teenage heart throbs from your childhood are making comebacks on broadway.

I love weddings!

2008-06-19T20:44:00.000-04:00

So, here it is...my first wedding cake. It's not a big one but I guess you have to start somewhere, right? I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Here are the new Mr. And Mrs. Zernhelt cutting the cake. It was funfetti because it's thier favorite kind of cake. Thier wedding turned out great, despite the rain. Thankfully it held off until after the ceremony which was beautiful. The wedding was at 5 but the bride and groom did not leave until 10. A boring Southern Baptist wedding in Alabama just can't compare.

Tim and Brittany Harrision are two of my favorite people. It was great to get to hang out with them at the reception. This was one of the most fun weddings I've ever been to. I think it had to do with the fact that people actually danced. We danced all night long. It was great. It rained but I think that only helped to make it better.

Jim and Kendra are two more of my favorite people. They moved to Philadelphia a couple of months ago to plant a church there. It was great to catch up with them!

A little Randomness

2008-06-12T00:04:00.002-04:00

I can't seem to post very regularly so I apologize for the randomness of my recent posts. I have been staying very busy with lots of different activities. My birthday was great. I got to hang out with lots of great people! Thanks to every one for all the birthday cards, phone calls, and comments. They helped to make this birthday one of the best!

This is a birthday cake for the mom of the little boy I babysit. Her birthday is the same as mine. Thankfully I had some help with this cake. If you look closely you can see that the design is outlined with tiny little white pearl like sprinkles. Jenny Schepens helped me put them on. Without her help I would have been up all night.

This is the glass plate that inspired the cake design.

The night of my birthday the girls from my small group decided to have a girls night. At about 10pm Anna had the bright idea to go to the beach the next day. As you can tell from the picture everybody agreed. We got up bright and early, made a pit stop at target(that took a little longer than expected) and then headed down to the Jersey shore. I am pretty sure a good time was had by all. Joy, the one in the blue, is getting married this weekend so it was a great way to spend our last weekend with her before she moves off to be married! Speaking of moving...I'm sure going to miss these girls when I move:(

Katie made me a birthday lunch along with this FABULOUS cake! It was funfetti, my favorite! We also had tacos...another favorite. I'm going to miss her too:(

More cakes

2008-05-22T16:38:00.000-04:00

I did this cake for my friend Canada's birthday last Sunday.

This was for a friend's mom's birthday yesterday.

A Hooding

2008-05-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

Since the hooding ceremony is all about the hood we thought that we should get a good picture of them. This is Abby, Joe, Jesse, and me.

Apparently something was funny.

Here is another group shot. This time with Kot instead of Jesse. We never did manage to get everybody together for a big group picture. Those dern missions students...they're just too social.

I don't wanna grow up...

2008-05-18T00:15:00.003-04:00

The children's zoo was lots of fun, Mostly for the fun picture opportunities that it provided...

They had a birds next so we could see what it feels like to be a bird.
Brittany makes a pretty butterfly...don't ya think?
She also is pretty good at swimming like a turtle. Unfortunately my batteries died so we missed out on several good pictures. Oh well, maybe we will do those next time we go.

Da Bronx Zoo

2008-05-17T23:27:00.003-04:00

Thursday my friend, Brittany and I spent the day at the most amazing zoo I've ever seen. I pictured the Bronx zoo to be pretty sad. I mean, how much of a zoo can you have in NYC. Well, a whole lot of one apparently. Usually the zoo kind of makes me sad for the animals but I loved everything about this one. Most of the animals were free roaming and the ones that weren't had so much room that they did not even realize that they were caged in.

I think this guy was the grandpa of the group. At one point one of the females came over and sat on the rock above him eating. He just reached up without even looking and grabbed the limb that she was eating off of. That is what you see in front of him. She just looked at him but did not do anything. He looked up as if to say, "what are you going to do about it?" It was hilarious. I think we could have stayed in there all day watching them.
This one liked to pose for us. I think he thought we were the ones in the zoo for him to watch.
I took this from the "Skyfari" which is like the sky buckets at six flags. You can see the city in the background. It is amazing that all of this land is in the middle of the Bronx.
Another favorite part was the sea lions. We timed it so we could see them eat. They did some fun tricks and we found out that they liked yellow shirts. There were some school children there who had on bright yellow shirts and they would follow them around the whole pool. Brittany and I decided that next time we need to wear yellow shirts as well.
They also had a butterfly garden. It was basically a garden in a green house with tons of butterflies everywhere. It was beautiful...I could have stayed in there for a good part of the day if it wasn't so hot.

We took some fun pictures in the children's zoo that I will put in my next post.

My Newest Cake Creation

2008-05-13T18:06:00.000-04:00

This is a practice run for my friend's wedding cake. The wedding is in June so I am just practicing now. This is my first test run. The couple will see it tonight and we'll see if that is what they want to go with or try something else. Of course it did not turn out quite like I had in my head but I don't think it looks bad for a practice run. I have a few things in my head that I would do differently next time...but that's what practice is for.

This is thier invitation where I got the inspiration for the design of the cake.

Well Crap

2008-05-12T23:31:00.002-04:00

I got my days mixed up so I will not be able to attend the New Kids on the Block concert at the Today show...but, I'll be watching it as I babysit. Oh well...It's kind of nice to know that I could drive down there if I didn't have to work...or maybe its just more frustrating. I'm not sure.

Even when everybody else forgets.....

2008-05-12T23:17:00.002-04:00

I'll still love NKOTB(That's New Kids on The Block for all you old folks..ha ha)! That's the promise that my cousin Kristie and I made to eachother as we drove away from the Civic Center in Birmingham after the concert of the year(maybe our life up to that point). I'm not sure if she remembers it or not but I sure do. Ok, so I am just as guilty of forgetting about them as everybody else is. I no longer sleep on NKOTB sheets or have the curtains. But, I might have the dolls packed up somewhere and I am pretty sure I still have a hot pink hat somewhere with thier name on it. It's been a long time since I thought about them. Well, there was that summer at shocco where we watched all thier videos and marveled at the fact that we still remembered every word and even some of the dance steps.
Anyway, they are going to be on the Today show on Thursday and I just happen to be off on that day. Am I just crazy enough to make the trip down there before dawn in order to get a look at thier new moves? I'm not sure yet but I must admit I am seriously considering it after watching this video http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20199413,00.html.
So, If I do decide to brave the today show crowds I will let you know! Stay tuned. Don't be too dissapointed if I don't get to go though. I do have to close the night before so I will get no sleep. Ugh...is it worth it though? Yes, I know...I'm a little crazy but I have fun!

Random update

2008-05-03T16:02:00.000-04:00

I went to Birmingham a couple of weekends ago for Melissa's wedding but I did not take a lot of pictures at the wedding. I guess I was too busy being a bridesmaid. Anyway the few I did take were of the cute kids. How photogenic is Eli? He loves his Miss Ree. I got to see all the other Safe Harbor kids too but I don't have pictures with them. (Shana, did you ever retrieve yours?)

Introducing Micah Joy Waller. This was the first time I got to meet her. She is cute as can me. She even cooperated with me for some precious pictures. I got some cute smiles(even if it was just gas).

Last night we had the bi-annual AGSM Baci ceremony at Dr. Bailey's house. This is kind of our unoffical graduation. Above is the cake I baked for the event. It's been awhile since I have had time to decorate so I was rather excited to get back into decorating!

This is Dr. Bailey explaining the meaning behind the Baci ceremony. It is basically a blessing ceremony that they do in Laos where Dr. Bailey was a missionary. I don't have a picture of him blessing me because it was rather crowded but if I come accross one I will post it. Being here at ATS has really taught me the power of blessing people. I hope it is something that I carry with me from now on.

Do I really deserve a Master's Degree?

2008-04-10T17:21:00.002-04:00

Ok, so maybe the title is a little harsh on myself but it is how I am feeling at the moment. I am in the middle of trying to study for my comps which are on Tuesday. This is basically the biggest test that I have ever had to take. At least that is how I feel right now. How I do on this test determines if I get to graduate or not. It will consist of 4 essays that I will have about 2 hours per essay to write. I basically have to explain everything that I have learned in the past 4 semesters. Let me tell ya, its a lot of info. Sadly, I must not have been paying very close attention in some of my classes because I'm having a hard time remembering everything. First of all, I do not study very well. And secondly, I am feeling very ADD and overwhelmed. I am not even sure where to begin and how to go about studying for this. I have gotten some great encouragement and advice from friends who have already taken it but the main problem is I just can't focus. Anyway...there is my rant for today. With all of that said, please pray for me between now and Tuesday the 15th at 4:00 when it will all be over with. Pray that I can focus and that I can somehow organize it all in my head in a logical manner so that I will be able to spit it back out coherently on Tuesday.

Just a few more pictures

2008-03-22T19:39:00.003-04:00

Chris loves being silly and the characters at the Disney store on 5th Avenue gave provided much amusement.
Gotta have the classic Time Square shot!

And the three of us in Time Square!

The Millers Last Day in NYC

2008-03-22T19:28:00.002-04:00

I think Chris would have spent the entire day in the Museum of Natural History. I was pretty relieved at lunch when Lacy suggested that he just pick out a few things that he wanted to see the most. Chris has always been fasicnated by the giant squid so he was pretty excited to be this close to one(well a statue of one anyway)
I think Lacy's favorite part was the dinosour fossils. They were pretty awesome!
Central park is one of my favorite parts of the city so I always enjoy showing it to people. We got an added bonus when we realized that this is the exact part that they filmed part of Enchated in.
Chris found his long lost relatives in FAO Swartz.
The girls had to stop in at Tiffany's to look at the rings.

The Millers in NYC Day 3

2008-03-22T19:15:00.002-04:00

I think Chris and Lacy can pretty much have fun where ever they are. This is Chris being the NBC peacock at the NBC store in Rockefeller center.
In the time that I thought we would walk around all of Time Square we actually only got as far as the Toy's R Us.
When in the Time Square Toys R Us you have to ride the cartoon ferris wheel!
We ate dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the servers sing. Cherry the waitress was "Hopelessly Devoted" to Chris. She sang the entire song to Chris.
We ended the day by going to The Little Mermaid. It's Disney's newest broadway musical. It was a lot of fun and the actors were wonderful. Especially the little boy who played flounder. His voice was AMAZING.

The Millers in New York Days 1 and 2

2008-03-22T19:04:00.002-04:00

On monday we just hung round Nyack and went to eat with a couple of my friends at one of my favorite places. The picture above is along the Hudson River in Nyack. (Look familiar Aunt Patty and Uncle Cal?)
On Tuesday we started off at the Statue of Liberty. After waiting in line for a couple of hours we finally made it over to see Lady Liberty up close and personal. Next, we headed up to Little Italy for lunch and canolis from Ferrara's Bakery!
After Lacy bought a purse and Chris bought some candy in Chinatown we had dinner in the village at Benny's Burito's. It was still a little early so we went to the Empire State Building but decided not to go up after seeing the long line. We finished off the day by watching Enchanted that takes place in NYC.

10 facts about me

2008-03-07T15:09:00.002-05:00

HERE'S HOW YOU PLAY. ONCE YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED YOU HAVE TO WRITE A BLOG OF TEN WEIRD, RANDOM THINGS, FACTS OR HABITS ABOUT YOURSELF. AT THE END, YOU CHOOSE TEN PEOPLE TO BE TAGGED, LISTING THEIR NAMES AND WHY YOU CHOSE THEM TO BE TAGGED. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE THEM A COMMENT "YOU'RE IT" AND TO READ YOUR BLOG. YOU CAN'T TAG THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU. SINCE YOU CAN'T TAG THAT PERSON BACK, LET HIM OR HER KNOW WHEN YOU'VE POSTED YOUR BLOG SO HE OR SHE CAN READ YOUR ANSWERS.

1. I never do these survey things but I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought this would be a
good way of doing it. I do enjoy reading them when other people do them though.
2. I LOVE Musical Theater. Ok, maybe that isn't random or wierd but it's true. I actually went
to see Spring Awakening BY MYSELF last week. When I listen to show tunes I can't help but
be happy.
3. I think I am somwhere in between an introvert and an extrovert. I love being by myself but
I process better by talking with other people.
4. I'm rather obessed with cake decorating right now. I'm never happy with the outcome of my
cakes though. My roommate says it's because I compare them to the professional ones that I
spend hours looking at online. That's pretty true.
5. I'm a perfectionist but you would never think that about me because I tend to give up b/c I
know that things aren't going to turn out perfectly so why try.
6. I almost did not go to my Senior prom...but my brother, who was a freshman, had a date to
my senior prom a month before it. I did go...I just did not decide to go till the day before
and my date took me and 2 other girls.
7. I have been on 5 of the 7 continents...but I plan to go to South America one day. Not so sure I
will make it to Antartica.
8. I love High School Musical! That's right...I said it. I actually have HSM 2 on my ipod and I
know all the songs. Anybody want to go when HSM 3 when it comes out in the theaters?
9. I hate dating...I have never been out on a second date. What is the point in a second date
when you know after the first one that there is no way you are going to marry the person.
10. I am pretty content where ever I am but I really hate it when I have miss out on events
when all of my family or friends are together.

So, there you go...I hope they were interesting enough. I'm not tagging anybody but i will say that it was kind of fun so you should do it.

Nothing exciting

2008-02-14T15:47:00.003-05:00

There is nothing very exciting going on right now so I thought that I would just take this opportunity to update everybody on what is coming up in my life over the next few months and answer some questions that I have been getting from people. Here is a list of a few things you might or might not be interested in knowing.

1. It has been a very slow start to my last semester of seminary. I have not had any
motivation. All I have wanted to do is lay in my bed and watch t.v. and movies. Thankfully,
I seem to be back to normal and I have actually already written one paper today and half of
another one! I'll have it finished before the end of the day.
2. Due to the above noted lack of motivation I have had to ask for an extension on a paper for
the first time in my life.
3. My comprehensive exam is April 15th and I get a sick feeling in my stomach every time I
think about it. This pretty much says if I graduate or not.
4. Susan is coming to NYC in a couple of weeks which means that we get to have a playdate in
the city one day while she is here!
5. Chris and Lacy are coming to visit for Spring Break. I can't wait to show them around.
Showing people New York City for the first time is like seeing it for the first time yourself. I
know they are going to love it. And, I actually get to see a show that I haven't seen yet so
that is way exciting!
6. I will be moving back to Alabama in May and I have no idea what I will be doing. I have to
pay off my school loans before I can go overseas with the CMA. I need a high paying, low
stress job that will enable me to pay back all my loans rather quickly. Anybody have any
ideas?
7. I'm excited about all the new babies that I will get to play with when I come home. As well as
all of my babies that aren't babies anymore.
8. No, 2 years of seminary did not provide any prospective husbands for me so there is no need
to ask. That is not what I came here for so I am ok with that. Someone will come along in
God's timing and at peace with that...now I just have to get everybody else that cares about
me to be at peace with that as well.
9. I have made some really wonderful friends here and I am going to be sad to leave them.
10. There are still so many places to go and shows to see in the city. Unfortunately that takes
time and money...two things I don't have much of. Oh well...I am very fortunate to have
been able to do everything that I have already done so I will just remember that.
11. I'm going on our Graduate School of Mission winter retreat this weekend so maybe next
week I will have some fun pictures to show. I am really looking forward to spending some
quality time with God and seeing what he is going to do this weekend.

Go Big Blue!

2008-02-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

This was by far the most fun I've ever had watching a Super Bowl. Of course, I'm sure it has something to do with having a home team to root for. I was up screaming at the end like an Alabama game. Too bad I have class on Tuesday Afternoon when they are having a parade and celebration for the Giants' Homecoming.
Of course, I had to make a cake for the occasion. Ignore the toothpicks in it. I promise I took them out before taking it to the party.

A taste of The Ivory Coast

2008-02-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few pictures from my recent trip to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I was there for a class on African Theology. It was great to actually learn from an African about African Theology. We also interviewed and visited lots of different churches over the 2 weeks. I loved being there and I was pretty content to stay but it made me miss Senegal. I had my favorite, Fanta Cocktail! But, I was very dissapointed that there was no ataya(or however you spell that). I don't have alot of pictures because I plan on just getting everybody elses. Once I get the rest of the pictures I will put some more on here for your viewing pleasure.

This was the building we stayed in for the 2 weeks that we were there. The accomidations were fabulous. A lot better than I expected. I think the mattress was actually better than the mattress that ATS provided for me.

This is the actual Seminary building. The round part that you see in the middle is where we ate all our meals. I never get tired of eating outside. It was great. The food was wonderful too. There wasn't a meal that I did not like. Our chefs were Raymond and Natalie. They have worked with a lot of missionaries over the years so they know how to cook for our weak American stomachs. I was very thankful for that.

This is a market I stole a picture of while we were in a church across the street. It smelled like fish...can't you just smell it now.

This is Lindesy and me when the day started. We were on our way to an interview with a church. We were all smiles and excited to see what the day would bring.

About 30 minutes later we were stuck in traffic because they closed a road for the President to come through town. We were rather warm and a little delirious by this time.

We all got dresses made by the Academic Dean's wife. We were all very pleased with the results! I had not planned on getting a dress made but I am glad that I did. After we had payed for them we found out that the Dean and his wife were trying to figure out how they were going to pay for thier son's tuition for school. It turned out that they made just enough from making our dresses to pay for his tuition.

I drank Fanta Cocktail every chance I got. I even brought two of these bottles home. Sadly, in my jet lagged stupor, I dropped one of them as soon as I got home. They were the only thing I upacked for several days. The bottle that was left lasted for about a week. Of course I had to share it with a couple of people because I think everyone sould experience the yumminess of Fanta Cocktail. By the time we left I had the whole group drinking them. I really don't understand why we don't have this flavor in the U.S. Maybe we should start a pettition.

Back to Africa

2008-01-07T01:36:00.000-05:00

Not really much to blog about today but my next one should be pretty good. I didn't take too many pictures while I was home for Christmas so nothing fun to show. It was good to see everyone that I got to see while I was home. For those of you that I didn't get to see I hope to see you soon after I move back home in May.
For those of you who don't know, I am leaving tomorrow to go to Abidjan, Cote D' Ivore for 2 weeks. I will be taking an African Theology class at a Seminary there. I'm not really sure how much internet access we will have while we are there so don't expect to hear anything from me. I'll blog with some pictures as soon as I can when I get back.

2007-12-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

Katie and I went to Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb of God last night. It was the most amazing Christmas program I have ever been to, and yet, it was the simplest. All it is is about 13 musicians on the stage singing songs that tell the story of Christ's birth. It starts in the Old Testament and ends with the birth of Jesus in 12 songs. Andrew Peterson wrote these songs when he was in college and has been traveling around doing this for the past 7 years I think. Each year he has a couple of special guests and this year it is Bebo Norman and Sara Groves. They aren't what makes this so wonderful though. It is so focused on God that you really forget about who is singing and you find yourself enthralled with this wonderful story that you have heard a hundred times. It is coming to Alabama Monday, December 10th in Huntsville and Tuesday, December 11th in Birmingham. Yeah, I know it is short notice but I think that everybody in the area should go. Katie and I drove an hour to see it and it was well worth it. Even for those of you in Talladega...GO TO BIRMINGHAM!!!!!! It will be worth it. It is very inexpensive. I tried to put a video on here but I am not that fancy yet so go to this link and see a video of one of my favorite songs. There are many other videos to check out too. I can not express enough how everybody should see this show. It reminds us why we even celebrate to begin with. It is not about presents, Christmas trees, and pretty decorations. It is about remembering the day that our savior came into this world to die for our sins so we did not have to.

If you feel so inclined...

2007-12-07T16:49:00.000-05:00

I am working on my sermon for next friday. I am doing it on 1John 3. We have to do an expository sermon so basically I have to just come up with the big idea of the chapter and preach on that. This is where you come in. I'm just curious to see if I am on the right track so If you have some free time in the next few days you can read the chapter and comment with what you see as the big(main) idea of the chapter. If you have any other insights feel free to comment with those as well:)

Winter is here...

2007-12-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

This is what I woke up to this morning...actually I woke up to someone texting me to say that we were not having church because of the weather. I am now sitting in the comfort of my warm apartment listening to the tale tale sign that winter is here...someone outside my window shoveling the snow from the sidewalk. Last year I would have been excited about his development. But, since I have now lived here through a winter, I am not in a hurry for it to get under way. I will admit that it is pretty and peaceful, but when you have to dig your car out it kind of ruins the peacefulness of it. I have to finish a paper today so I guess since I can't really go anywhere, I have no excuse for not getting it done. Although, Katie just put in White Christmas(how fitting...I know) and I might have to watch it...it is my all time favorite Christmas movie. (Thanks Hayli)

A Walton Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving at Nanny and Pa's new house, which was wonderful. We actually fit our entire family in the kitchen to pray before the meal. It was great to work in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. We had three people making three different things and we never got in each other's way. We could have even had a couple more and it would have been fine. Anyway...the cake above is the cake that Aunt Patty and I decorated for the festivies. We started on the flowers and leaves the day before. Then we put it all together on Thanksgiving morning. We figured out that we spent about 6 or 7 hours on it.

Several years ago all the cousins took a picture on these very steps. Being the traditional family that we are we had to take another one since we were all together. It is getting a little harder to get everybody in the picture. We have added a few cousins...not to mention a few pounds.

Saturday was the famous Alabama vs. Auburn Game. Unfortunately we did not get to watch it together. We wanted to but everybody had to get back to be at church the next morning. That didnt keep everybody from wearing thier favorite teams colors though. As you can see we are mostly a Bama family. We let the Auburn guys hang round for fun though. It is neat to me that even though most of my cousins have grown up outside of Alabama they are all still die hard (mostly) Alabama fans with a few Auburn ones thrown in there.

Miranda and Chloe weren't there for the first picture but they came over later to show off their Crimson Tide gear. How cute is the Chloe the Bama Cheerleader? She will even yell "Roll Tide" for ya! There is no mistake that she is a Bama fan. (Don't tell her Dad...he thinks she is a GA Tech fan)

David Crowder and Friends

2007-11-13T22:51:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I went to a David Crowder band concert in the Hammerstien ballroom in the Manhattan Center.

The opening performances were just as good as The David Crowder Band. This is Phil Wickham. His voice was very unique and the music was powerful. Please check him out, he is worth it.

David Crowder was great. He was really funny and the music was moving. If you get a chance to go to one of thier concerts go.

This is our whole group with The Myriad. They were one of the opening bands and they might have been my favorite. They are in the running for MTV 2's breakout band. It would be amazing to see such a positive band on MTV. They are in the top 6 out of 4000 bands and if they get into the top 3 they will get to perform in Time Square on December 15th. If you would like to help get them there you can go to MTV2.com and vote every day. You can vote up to 100 times a day. It only takes about 15 mintues to vote 100 times so just do it!

My First Experience With Fondant

2007-11-13T19:42:00.000-05:00

So, here ya go...my first fondant covered cake. Not too shabby, huh? It's a pretty long process but I think the outcome is worth it for a special occasion. What's the special occasion today? Well...it just happens to be Carrie Helton's birthday. So even though I can't be there to make this for you in person...here is your birthday cake from New York. Happy Birthday Carrie!

Happy Birthday to Sarah!

2007-11-04T22:40:00.000-05:00

Sarah was gone for her birthday so Katie and I threw a little dinner tonight. Katie made her famous turkey meatballs and (of course) decorated a cake.

Katie says this is her favorite one so far!

Course II Finale Cake

2007-11-01T00:39:00.000-04:00

This was my finale cake for Course 2 of my cake decorating class. I have been working on the flowers for the past 3 weeks and then we finally finished it up and learned how to do the basketweaving on the side yesterday. It worked out perfectly because yesterday was Kristie's birthday so she had this as her birthday cake.

2007-10-30T00:22:00.000-04:00

This is my latest cake creation. I made it for my Global Expansion of the Church class. I am making one for Kristie's birthday tomorrow so I will post pictures soon.

In other news...My cousin, Maggie, has finally posted pictures of Nanny and Pa's new house. Check it out.

The Tatums Do The Big Apple!

2007-10-30T00:14:00.000-04:00

My cousin Kristie and her husband Trent came to visit for a long weekend. They have never been to New York before so it has been so much fun to see it through thier eyes and experience it for the first time again.

They are staying with Trent's Cousin, Jordan, in Queens. Unfortunately I have not been able to see everything with them but it has been fun hearing about what I missed. They went to see "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D on Friday night. I think they look pretty hot in their glasses!

I was able to spend all of Saturday and Sunday with them. It rained most of the day so we decided to get tickets to a show. We got to see RENT! It was wonderful. It my first time to see it in New York so I was so excited. Jordan is an even bigger broadway fan than me so it was lots of fun to learn about all things Broadway from him. I am pretty sure Kristie and Trent enjoyed thier first broadway experience.

Yes! We saw Wicked too! Kristie and Trent originally wanted to see Wicked but it is pretty hard to get affordable tickets to it so we decided to try our luck at the lottery. I have tried about 10 times before and never won. We were all very excited when Jordan's name was called. That meant that Kristie and Trent were going to see Wicked for about half the price of the cheepest ticket. The best part was that the tickets were for the front row! Luckily Jordan heard the man behind him(that won tickets too)say that he already had tickets. So, lucky for us we were able to buy the man's tickets and all 4 of us saw the show from the front row. It was AMAZING!!!!!! It was my 3rd time to see it but I think I could see it 100 more times and not get tired of it. We were so close we could almost reach out and touch the actors. The best part of the experience was seeing Kristie and Trent's reactions. Trent was the first one to stand during the curtain call and they are already talking about getting the cd. I have one more day with them and I am stoked because I get to celebrate Kristie's birthday wit her in NYC!

How about them apples?

2007-10-21T23:06:00.000-04:00

How many people does it take to pick a bushel of apples? About 20 if you are a part of the Risen King Alliance Church 20's group. We went to Dr. Davie's farm in Congers, New York. We went for the hayride but decided to pick apples instead.

I enjoyed the apples way too much. They were just so good. I ate 3 apples in about 30 minutes I think. Needless to say I had a little bit of a tummy ache when I got home.

This is the farm house where Dr. Davie, who was one of the first female doctors in the U.S., lived and worked back in the late 1800's.

The farm is beautiful. It has been used for lots of movies, commercials, and SNL skits.

UPDATE

2007-10-14T22:39:00.000-04:00

For anyone who was wondering...my talk on Friday actually went really well. I got my point across, people laughed in the right places, and my prof said it was good. That was good enough for me:)

Fall is in the air

2007-10-10T13:53:00.000-04:00

After setting a record high on Monday we finally felt the cool down yesterday. The temperature dropped throughout the day yesterday and is cool again today. We are supposed to be down in the 60's later this week. Katie and I have been eagerly waiting the cool weather for about a month now. It is funny that a girl from the south is wishing for the cooler weather. Anyway...Katie and I have decided that we truly think that fall is our favorite time of the year. I have always affectionately referred to it as "Football Weather." That doesn’t really work here though. All of this to say that I am happy to report that fall is here! And I think I might be able to officially retire the summer clothes this weekend and pull out my winter ones! Woohoo for autumn cleaning! Once the leaves reach thier peak I will post some!

Speech 101 didn't prepare me for this...

2007-10-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

I did well in my required speech class at Judson...but I completly fell apart when I tried to speak for 2 minutes today. Having my speech written out in front of me and basically reading from it does not cut it in Preaching 101...at least if you don't want to be ripped apart by the prof. So, I took my 12 notecards up for my 2 minute talk and started out doing pretty well without them. By the time I got to what I should have been saying on card 6 my mind completly left me and never came back. I totally forgot what my last "powerful statement" was going to be and pretty much ended with ..."ok, that's it" Yeah...all I really wanted to do at that moment was run to the bathroom and cry( I had to wait about 4 hours to do that). My Prof commented that he liked the accent, which was one of those things that I was trying to concentrate on toning down, but that I needed to basically make a point and tie it up instead of giving to many details about something that didnt matter. I assured him that I had it written much more eloquently than I had spoken it and he quickly reminded me that this was a communications class so how I communiated it was all that was important.
Anyway...Once I got home, after having to go babysit, I let God have it. How could He let me fail so badly when this is something that I know he has called me to do. Not only did He call me to take this class but I believe that public speaking(maybe a little preaching) of some sort is going to be in my future. Is this my main calling? I don't think so. But, it is going to be a large enough part of my life that God saw fit for me to take this class.
As I was wallowing in my shame and venting to God I was reminded a few of my favorite verses. Psalm 139 reminded me that God knew me before I was even formed and he knows every word that I will speak before I speak it...even if it's embarrasing. I am fearfully and wonderfully made! While reading this chapter I read the first few verses before it. Psalm 138:8 says, The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love , O Lord, endures forever do not abandon the works of your hands. I know that today was a failure but God does have a purpose for me. I most likely will not be some powerful preacher but He is going to use me...even my imperfections. When I am weak He is strong. I think I just need to learn how to be weak...maybe that is what He is teaching me. I'm not sure. What I am sure about is it's not fun and I am going to mess up. But The Father has a purpose for me and he loves me even if I totally fail at a 2 minute talk.

I learn something new everyday...but I still need lots of practice

2007-10-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

This is my newest creation. I have now completed the first course and graduated onto Course II. I'm super excited and loving every minute of it!

Dillon in New York

2007-10-02T15:36:00.000-04:00

I knew Aunt Patty, Uncle Cal, and Dillon would love Ellen's Stardust Diner because the servers sing the entire time. I had no idea the ladies would love Dillon so much though. Two of the servers came over and sang right to him. I think he liked it more than he let on.
I love this picture. It just makes me happy! Isn't Dillon Handsome:)

The McIntires do New York

2007-10-02T15:27:00.000-04:00

This was pretty much the scene of the trip. Like father like son. The first night they were here Aunt Patty and I went to see Mary Poppins while the boys did Time Square. The next morning we started out with the Statue of Liberty. After a little scare about the tickets we set out to see Lady Liberty herself. From the beginning of the ferry ride the boys were taking pictures. It was soo exciting to see Dillon's dream come true.

If you ever want to have a 360 degree view of the Statue of Liberty just ask Dillon. He took pictures all around from every level.

After the Statue of Liberty we went to the birthplace of Theodore Rosevelt. This was one of the many stops for Dillon on his history tour. After leaving there I got to show them some of my favorite parts of the city. I had to take Dillon to Dylan's Candy Bar. It is a candy lovers dream. Dillon took off and went straight for the sour patch kids.

Next we went to Central Park and rested our tired feet while we ate our treats from Dylans.

More adventures in cake decorating

2007-09-25T23:51:00.000-04:00

This was my first attempt to decorate a cake for somebody. Monday was Sarah's birthday so it was a perfect excuse for me to practice my new skills. I actually had a grand idea in my head to do 3 mini cakes but it didn't quite work out.
This would be why the idea didnt quite work. After planning it all out in my head and then drawing it on paper...my icing was too stiff when I tried to ice the cake. Stiff icing does not exactly work when trying to spread it on a cake. It was ugly but it still tasted good!

Ace of Cakes...

2007-09-18T14:32:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe not ace of cakes but I'm on my way! Why am I blogging about a cake? Well, I decided I need a hobby other than going to broadway shows because that can get rather expensive. I have always loved watching those food network shows about cake decorating so I thought I would give it a try. After a little investigating I discovered that Michael's offers cake decorating classes. They also offer alot of others as well. If you are looking for an outlet for your creativity(or like me you need to find some creativity)these classes are wonderful. Anyway, today was my first class where I actually got to do something. The finished product is the lovely star cake you see above. I know, I know...its nothing spectacular... but it's a start. This week we just started out on some of the basics like stars, dots, and a couple of borders. Next week we learn flowers! I have to bake a cake and ice it every week before I go to class and make lots of icing. It is a lot of work making the different kinds of icing(stiff, medium, and thin)but its worth it when I actually get a decorated cake out of it! Stay tuned for next week's cake. There are 3 other courses so I could possibly have another 3 months of cakes for you to see!

This is what happens when you listen to God...

2007-09-07T14:19:00.000-04:00

I just got home from one of if not THE toughest class I have ever had. It is called proclamation and communication. It is basically a basic preaching class with a some communication aspect thrown in there. All of the information is very useful but it is very intimidating. Not only do I have to speak 3 times in class, one of which a 10 minute sermon, but I also have to do 4 exercises. The exercises involve making a website, new blog, applying for a grant, and fundraising, . Yes, these are all good things to know but I have to do all 4 in a semester while doing everything else that I have to do. To say that I am a little freaked out would be an understatement. This class is not even required for my degree but I just felt like it was something that I needed to take. UGH...anyway, for those few people who read this, I would really appreciate your prayers and if you have any suggestions on what I could do for these assignments I could use the input. If anybody needs help setting up a website or relaunching one...please let me know, I would love to help.

A Great End to the Season!

2007-09-03T18:42:00.000-04:00

Katie, Sarah, and I went to the Jersey Shore for Labor Day weekend. We celebrated the end of summer at Katie's beach house with about 30 other people. We ate lots of good food, played lots of fun games, and laughed until our cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

It was a great relaxing weekend before school really gets started good. I decided to leave the school books at home and I just read for fun while I lounged on the beach. I got some good sun but I must admit that it was the first time I have ever been cold at the beach. I never even thought about going in the water.

It's official! I'm a NY Yankees fan.

2007-08-17T15:41:00.000-04:00

We went to the Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers game last night. Unfortunately the Yanks lost but it was still an exciting game. We were up at the very top but we could still see really well. My friend Sarah was there with her family so Katie an I visited her at her seats. The last picture is taken from Sarah's seats. They were amazing! If you ever find yourself in NYC during baseball season I would certainly reccommend going!

2007-08-09T21:06:00.000-04:00

This week has been so hot that I have not wanted to do anything. I have barely even wanted to eat so cooking has been out of the question. It finally cooled down today so I wanted to cook. After watching an old episode of Top Chef I decided I wanted to cook meatloaf. I was in an adventureous mood so I decided to make up my own recipe and it turned out quite well if I do say so myself. Everybody else seemed to enjoy it as well. It turned out to be an Italian style meatloaf complete with a homemade sauce on top. That's right folks, no ketchup on this meatloaf. I made fried okra for the second time in my life. People in the north don't eat it. I try to do my party and introduce them to the fine vegetable that is okra. Anyway, nothing exciting has happend this week so I have resorted to blogging about food. If you are still reading this then your week must have been as exciting as mine. This time next week I will be at a Yankees game so hopefully I will have something a little more interesting to blog about.

My Alabama trip continued...the second week.

2007-08-03T00:07:00.000-04:00

It was great to get to visit with everybody while I was home. I wasn't very good about taking pictures so here are the few I took. I had so much fun with everybody and I can't wait to see everybody again at Thanksgiving. If I didn't get to see you this time hopefully I will catch you the next time I am home.

My second week in Alabama started off with some quality time with some of the Mee-Maws. We were too busy talking to take many pictures. Then when I tried Lily did not want to sit still long enough to be in them so this is what I got. It was great fun and relaxing to see the Mee-Maws. Jennifer and Josh's new house is too cute and Lily is very proud of her room.

I got to see Bekah and Eli the most out of everybody at home I think. I was very happy to see that Eli had not forgotten me but by the 3rd time he saw me the newness of me had warn off. We had lunch with Jennifer Rushing while I was in town and as you can see Eli enjoyed the dessert.

How cute is this picture? Two of my favorite people! Chloe is my cousin Miranda's little girl. We all went out to eat the night before we left to head up to NY. Leigha played with Chloe for a second and I am pretty sure she was Chloe's new best friend(at least for the day anyway).

This is my nanny's kitchen in her new house. Aren't we impressed with the color? Since I have come back to New York they have put the cabinets in so I am sure it looks much different now. Unfortunately I didnt get to help with the house any like I had planned. But, I think it is coming along just fine without me. I can't wait to see it at Thanksgiving. I hope it will be finished by then!

Nanny and Pa's 50th Anniversery Party

2007-07-30T15:51:00.000-04:00

My first week of being home was pretty much devoted to getting ready for Nanny and Pa's party. We all had a lot of fun hanging out on the 4th of July and then got busy decorating as soon as dinner was over. I think that the party went really well. The food was fabulous, and I think everybody had fun with karaoke! There were a few tears, lots of laughter, and fun times for all!

2007-07-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

Nanny and Pa with thier grandkids

The Walton Cousins always have a good time when they are together. Unfortunately we don't get to have everybody together as often as we would like. But, I think that everybody takes advantage of the time that they do have together. For the first time in a long time almost everybody lives within about 2 hours of Nanny and Pa. Hopefully that will make things alot easier for everybody to get together. The collage above is made up of some candids that we took while we were waiting to take the family portrait. I'll post about the actual party next so check back soon!

A Walton Reunion

2007-07-29T20:33:00.000-04:00

I guess it's about time for me to post about my time at home. It was a packed couple of weeks so it might take a couple of posts. Check back in the next few days for more updates. This first collage is of the families that make up the Waltons. We took a big family portrait the morning of Nanny and Pa's Anniversery party. This was part of their present from the family. I was very happy with how the pictures turned out. It all just worked out perfectly. The colors, the location and one happy little baby made for beautiful pictures. Chloe even picked a coordinating stuffed animal for the big event. The Walton family is one handsome family if I do say so myself!

44 hours later....I'm done!

2007-07-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

Now I can finally get back to real life. It might be a little sad that a book can have such an effect on people but I must admit that my life has pretty much stopped for the last 2 days. If I had not already had plans to go to a party last night I would have not had any human interaction until tomorrow. Thank you to non-Harry Potter friends for taking my mind off of it for a second. I can't believe it is over. Yes, I am talking about a bunch of fictional characters but they are characters that I have been following for 4 or 5 years now. I'm sad that nothing new will happen but I am happy with how it ended. I am also happy that there are still 2 more movies to come out! For those of you who are not Harry Potter fans this all seems a little crazy. I know, I was one of those who made fun my friends where reading children's books. But for those of you who do understand, Thanks!

The beginning of the End!

2007-07-21T00:41:00.000-04:00

It is 12:30 am and I have my book. Leigha has already read the first few pages on the way home and now I will be reading to her as she packs for her flight in a few hours. Guess what I will be doing for the next 72 hours!

The calm before the storm

2007-06-28T23:17:00.000-04:00

This week has been rather uneventful. I am actually very greatful for that. I have been able to have some productive alone time. I've spent most of my time running errands and getting ready to be gone for 2 weeks. My car is in good condition, with a full tank of gas and an audio book in the cd player! Now I just have to work Friday night and all day Saturday then I head out on Sunday morning! So, If we haven't made plans yet give me a call so I can put you on the calender. My second week home is still pretty open.

Father's Day with The Father: God, Me, and my ipod.

2007-06-17T15:16:00.000-04:00

I didn't go to church today...I know,I know I'm a heathen. After an exhausting week of playing tour guide then working all weekend I just needed to sleep in. Plus, the thought of sitting down and listening to someone talk for an hour was not very appealing. After I got up I decided I needed to go work out and get a few things done today but the thought of walking on a treadmill inside made me sad. So, instead of going to the gym I went to Rockland lake. While I work out sometimes I like to listen to sermons. So I set my ipod to a Safe Harbor Sermon I had not listened to yet and I started walking. As I walked I very quickly noticed all the families that were out at the lake today cooking out and playing games. I began to feel a little sorry for myself that I was all alone walking around the lake while my family was back in Alabama together celebrating Father's Day. I then began to think about the fact that this is not the first holiday that I have spent by myself and certainly won't be the last. Because of the life that God has called me to, I will be a part from my family and friends for the majority of the time. I began to pray and I felt the presence of God with me and I suddenly did not feel so alone anymore. I felt a real peace and comfort that God was right there with me and I would never be alone.

About half way around the lake I came to a another large section of families enjoying eachother. I felt very joyful for them and how fortunate I am to live in such a diverse place. It was beautiful to look around and see people of all nationalities celebrating in thier language and in thier own way.

Towards the end of my walk around the lake I saw some swans resting in the water so I decided to sit on a bench and watch them. As I sat and praised God for the beauty around me I realized that as much as I see myself as a tiny ugly duckling, God sees me as His beautiful swan. After swimming around for a few minutes they decided to fly. I don't think I have ever really watched swans take off out of the water before. It was very interesting to see how they started flapping thier wings really hard just to get thier feet on top of the water. Then they actually run on the water for a few feet until they can get enough air under thier wings to actually take off in the air. Once they are in the air they still have to flap thier wings really hard to get up enough air under thier wings to soar above the lake and really fly. It was a beautiful site that I was very fortunate to see. I also noticed though that after all the hard work to just get up in the air they still had to work once they got up there. They floated for a few seconds but then they would have to flap thier wings to keep them in the air and then float for another few seconds. It was a continual cycle but I am sure well worth it just to be in the air flying.

After they left I continued on my walk but I kept thinking about the swans. Thier taking off is really symbolic of a Christian's life. We could be content to just float along in the calm cool water all day and just be the cookie cutter little Christian that we have always been. Or, we can begin to flap our wings by spending time with God and put a little more effort into KNOWING him. After flapping our wings for a little while then we can finally have the faith to not walk, but run on the water with the promise that He is the air under our wings and he is going to lift us up to new heights. Finally, after our faith is strong enough we can fly and rest on the Wind of our God, never forgetting to spend time with him to continue building up that wind underneath us.

I'm so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father that sees this tiny, awkward, ugly duckling as His Beautiful, graceful, swan and who is willing to be the wind that carries me. This promise is why I am willing to go wherever He takes me.

Leah does NYC

2007-06-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

Leah came to visit me for the week and I got to play tour guide again. We went on the same tv and movie tour that Aunt Connie and Heather went on. It was great fun. We made it to the tour bus on time this time! Leah was very impressive with her trivia knowledge!

We started off our second day in the city with Central Park. We went to Strawberry fields first, which is somewhere that I have always wanted to go. While we were in central park we were very excited to see the M. Knight Shamalan(don't know how to spell it). He was on the phone while we walked by. I am guessing he was scouting out the location for his next movie!

This was Leah's first time in NYC. It has been fun experiencing things with her for the first time. She was very impressed with the lights of Time Square. We went to see Mary Poppins Tuesday night. It was FABULOUS! The sets alone were amazing but the songs and actors were also great! I would reccommend it for anyone coming to the city! Warning: don't expect it to be just like the movie.

Tea Time and Sushi!

2007-06-08T22:45:00.000-04:00

Molly, Sarah and Katie took me into the city for my birthday on Wed. First we went to Magnolia's(a trendy bakery in the Village) and got cupcakes. Then we went to "Tea-rific" in Chinatown. It is a chinese tea house that has great bubble tea. We had nice tea and conversation. It was the perfect end to a great birthday. The picture is just of Katie and me. We look very buisness like because it was rather chilly so we had to wear jackets. Sorry, I don't have a picture of all 4 of us who were there.

Friday night I got very lucky and walked into work to find somebody wanting to pick up my shift. Some of my friends were having a "make your own sushi" party so I very quickly agreed to not work. Making my own sushi was rather fun since I am pretty picky about my sushi. This picture is of my rolling my sushi. Impressed?

Isn't it beautiful? I must say I was pretty impressed with my first attempt. In case you are wondering what I put in my roll, it was carrots, avacado, and cucumber. No crab or any other raw meat for me!

It was very yummy, if I do say so myself!

In Honor of Jennifer Stone!

2007-06-01T11:28:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to Jennifer! I had a big idea of a photo montage in honor of you but that would involve messing up a hundred times and crying alot so I decided against it. We love you lots Jennifer Stone and I can't wait to see you next month!

Top 10 blog worthy things that I've been too lazy to blog about!

2007-05-29T00:48:00.000-04:00

10. We said goodbye to Jesse with a fire and smores!

9. My friends and I had a Spice Girls party which involved being a Spice Girl.

8. My friends and I had a Cinco de Mayo Party that was actually held on the 6th.

7. The Missions Students had a dinner at Dr. Bailey's house and were blessed
during the Basi ceremony...an AGSM tradition!

6. Attended a graduation party for Molly, Stacy, and Sarah, which involve Nithin
going into the pool in 50 degree weather.
5. I saw Les Mis for the second time. Wonderful as always!
4. I saw the Drowsy Chaperone. Very funny for any broadway lover!
3. I leave for Alabama in 25 days!
2. Leah comes to visit next week!
1. I really love living here and I honestly don't know if I have ever felt so
content before! It's a wonderful feeling.

What do you think?

2007-05-18T00:02:00.000-04:00

My pastor, Luke Camara, brings up some interesting and controversial topics. I'm not too good at the whole blog thing so I thought I would borrow from him. He brought up the topic of drinking on his blog this week. I have a little bit different audience than he does so I was just wondering what you thought? Be sure to read the comments on his blog and don't forget to comment to let me know your thoughts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER WEATHERS!!!

2007-05-11T00:37:00.000-04:00

Brave

2007-05-08T12:17:00.000-04:00

I have known this song for awhile but if you know me you know that sometimes it takes me awhile to catch on to things. Recently I have really come to identify with the words of this song. They are some powerful words. I urge you to read them and then to listen to the song by Nicole Nordeman. I pray that they might be as inspiring and uplifting to you as they are to me.

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
It's safe and sound and
Until now it's where I've been

Cuz it's been fear
That ties me down to everything
But it's been love, Your love
That cuts the strings

So long, status quo
I think I've just let go
You make me wanna be brave
The way it always was
It's no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave
Brave, brave

I am small
And I speak when I'm spoken to
But I am willing to risk it all
I say Your name
Just Your name, and I'm ready to jump
Even ready to fall

Why did I
Take this vow of compromise?
Why did I
Try to keep it all inside?

I've never known a fire that didn't begin with a flame
And every storm will start with just a drop of rain
But if You believe in me
That changes everything

Vote for Caroline!

2007-05-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

Please go to this site to vote for Caroline! She is the one on the back left of the picture. Caroline is in a contest on a Birmingham radio station. You can hear her and the other two contestants on the site. Please vote for Caroline and tell everyone you know to do the same! She really is the best one!

It's Spring Time! Well not really.

2007-04-29T16:12:00.000-04:00

By looking at these pictures you would think that it was fall. But it is not. It is spring. Unfortunatly I put up all of my sweaters last weekend when it was 80 degrees. Anyway...my friend Jesse is moving out this weekend so we have a little going away get together last week after class. I wish I had known about the fire pit before now. I would have been out there alot more often. It is a nifty little area not far from the building I live in.

Aren't Sarah, Molly, and Abby soo cute! They were a little chilly so they had to huddle to keep warm. We had another party last night at Sarah's house. Hopefully pictures from that will be coming soon. It is the end of the semester so things have been a little hectic trying to finish everything up.

According to Jesse this is my L.L.Bean look. I think I just look like I am trying to stay warm. We also had smores at this little get together. It was great fun. I really just enjoy the roasted marshmellows but everyone else enjoyed the smores!

Happy Birthday Susan!

2007-04-11T00:26:00.001-04:00

Stanley Cup Here We Come!

2007-04-01T19:44:00.000-04:00

I am officially a hockey fan now. Some of us decided during the Super Bowl that we wanted to go to a pro hockey game because several of us (me included)had never been to one. I had never even watched hockey on television. I must say...it is quite exciting. There were no big fights today with the players but we did see several screaming matches between some fans. It was also very obvious that the New Jersey Devils HATE the New York Rangers. They were playing the Boston Bruins so there was no need to mention the Rangers but ever so often the crowd would scream, "The Rangers Suck." I still can't figure out how they all new to do it at the same time. I guess I will just have to go back to investigate further. The Devils are actually really good. They are pretty much the team to beat right now I think. We had nose bleed seats but they are actually the best because we got to see everything that was going on. If you ever get a chance to go to a pro hockey game I would take it! It is way fun. Our next pro game will hopefully be a Yankees game. Opening Day is tomorrow! Go Yankees!

NYC Day 2

2007-03-22T00:12:00.000-04:00

Today started out with a sprint to catch our tour bus and ended with better than expected seats for Phantom. Further explanation will hopefully come later.

This is for you, Uncle Don!

2007-03-21T08:39:00.000-04:00

I Heart NY...our day in pictures

2007-03-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

As requested(uncle don), here are a few pictures from my first day in NYC with Aunt Connie and Heather. They got here yesterday for thier spring break. We are going on a Tv/Movie tour tomorrow so check back later this week for more pictures. We are exhausted from walking all over Manhattan today and tomorrow is going to be even later so don't expect pictures tomorrow.

2007-03-20T22:56:00.000-04:00

Snow, Snow, and more Snow!

2007-03-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

Yipee! We love snow and we love snow days even more!I think that we figured out we got about 10 inches. You don't see that in Alabama!

Who says all we do is study?

The Girls: Me, Sarah, Amy, Abby, and Katie

Now the fun is over, time to dig out the cars. It was rather humrous today. Almost everybody that lived on our street were outside digging thier cars out at the same time. Seoki, bless his heart, dug 6 cars out. This involved driving them out of the parking spot himself. Believe me, I am glad he did it and not me. I still haven't quite gotten used to the whole snow thing.

NOLA 1 1/2 Years after Katrina

2007-03-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

This was Mrs. Roberta's house that we worked on all week. We put up dry wall, and lots of other little things around the house to help her move back in a little quicker. Mrs. Roberta has lived in this house for 64 years. Her husband built it and she raised her 10 children in the house.

Brittany and I helped ALOT!!!! Well, we tried our best anyway. We were much better at gutting a house than building it.

This house is across the street from the 17th street canal levee break. You can see the water line at the top of the windows. The girls worked on gutting this house one afternoon. The owners of this house just left it because they could not deal with the amount of loss they had suffered. A friend of the original owner bought it from them and is now working on it himself. It was very eye opening to see people's things still in the home. We could tell that it was once a very nice and warm home.

This was one of the most troubling things that I saw while I was there. This house is directly behind where the levee broke in the Lakeview District. The back of the house is completely gone. In this picture you can see the patio furniture and a mound of mud is now in the what was the living room. This house has not been touched since Katrina. All of thier furniture and appliances are still in the house. Thier spices and kitchen utensils are outside of the kitchen window. I have sooo many more pictures but this is just to give you a little idea of the amount of damage that is still there a year and a half later.

This is a house in the 9th ward. It was completely taken off of its foundation and floated next door. We even saw one house that landed on a car. Most of the 9th ward is completely demolished. Most houses have been completely torn down. Some are still holding on to them in the hopes that they can get something for them from the insurance companies or the government. They aren't having much luck with that.

Just a taste of Perth, Australia

2007-03-03T00:15:00.000-05:00

We worked a little...but it didn't seem like work.

2007-03-02T17:41:00.000-05:00

Tuesday we had the opportunity to cook dinner for the women and girls living in Esther House. Stacy, Jay, and I had the fun job of shopping for the dinner. We had a few things to learn, such as a bell pepper is called a capsicum.

Cooking was so much fun. The girls were soo helpful and appreciative. It was nice to get a chance to sit down and talk to them as we ate. After dinner we went to a worship service with them. Ingrid Davis, my prof's wife preached there. It was a wonderful serman and I think the girls were truly bless by it. I know that we were blessed by meeting the girls.

Barry, the community outread pastor gave us a tour of some of the ministries that Witford church (our host chruch) had going on in the community. We went to the Op shop(or thrift store)that is run by volunteers from the church. Our host family helps run the shop. It is a wonderful ministry. A few of us even came home with some goodies from there.

Hillary's Boat Harbor is the location of an annual New Age Festival. Witford Church sets up a tent there every year and Barry is friends with the man who organizes it. We prayerwalked the area and claimed it for Christ. We are excited to hear from Witford church about how the festival goes this year.

It wasn't all work

2007-03-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

This was our entire group at Kings Park. Think the Perth version of Central Park. It was beautiful. It runs right along the Swan River. We got a good view of it on our river cruise.

Nithin and Jordan (my prof's son) certainly kept us entertained during the trip.

Sometimes Nithin's entertaining got to be a little too much. Chuck(my prof)had to keep him under control

The River cruise was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. It took us about 3 hours to go down the river and back up to Perth. We saw some spectacular scenery. Mostly big beautiful houses and sailboats! If you look closely you can see the Perth skyline behind me.

What did you do on your snow day?

2007-02-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

That was the question of the day on Valentine's day here. Answer...I studied! But I had something to look forward to...Summer in Australia!!! I am leaving for the airport in just a few minutes but I wanted to post a few pictures from the winter storm from the past week. If you don't hear from me for the next 10 days don't worry. I am alive...I'm just on the other side of the world.

I took this picture at the height of the storm. You can't really tell ice is falling from the sky. I was looking forward to going out and playing in it but I decided against it. I had to go outside to move my car so It would not be covered in snow from the snow plow. I was out there for about 10 minutes and that was enough for me. I like snow, but ice is no fun.

You know how in the south people paint thier windows at Christmas time to look like they have snow on them. Well...I had the real thing. This is the snow on my window seal.

This is the snow on Thursday night. It is not as much snow as chuncks of ice. We can walk right on top of the snow without even sinking into it because it is so hard. It's not fun to try to get your car out of this kind of stuff.

Super Bowl...ATS style

2007-02-04T23:39:00.000-05:00

Katie and Jamila displayed the pre-game snacks. Notice the festive football brownie, complete with icing laces!

We had a great time in our tiny little apartment. The party started with about 6 of us but we somehow ended up with about 15 at one point I think. It was great fun. Lots of laughs were had by all! I only have one question though. Does Prince ever get older? I must say this was the best half time show that I have seen in awhile.

A Super Bowl party wouldn't be complete without pizza and wings(and we had lots of them!)

Yeah, enough of the game. Now time for the counseling students to analyze the rest of us.

Stacy, Amy, and Seoki got bored with the game pretty quickly. Amy moved on from trying to figure out how the blue and yellow lines worked to trying to win a game of ERS. I don't think she ever did either one.

2007-02-04T23:35:00.000-05:00

Faithful till the end.

My Little Corner of the World

2007-01-25T23:38:00.000-05:00

Now that I have lived here for 5 months I guess it is about time that I showed all of you what my room looks like. I would show you the rest of the apartment but there really is not much to show.

Winter has finally arrived!

2007-01-21T01:24:00.000-05:00

This is what I woke up to Friday morning.

It was definantly the first time I have ever had to scrape snow off my car windows so I could drive. I guess an ice scraper would be a smart purchase.

Big Kid at Heart

2007-01-17T22:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Katie and I went into Manhattan to hang out for a little while before the semester started. We decided to go to the Natural History Museum and try once again to get tickets to Wicked. We once again did not get tickets to Wicked but it was still a good day. One of these days we are going to get them and all of these times waiting in line will be worth it. We also made a stop at Dylan's Candy Bar(our favorite store in the city) and then to our new favorite tea room, Alice's Tea Cup. Anyone who comes to visit me will most likely get to go there. It was great. The saddest part of the day was when I realized that I left my candy from Dylan's in the taxi. A very sad revelation in deed.

This is the largest deer ever found. Check out that rack :)

For those Land Before Time fans,this is Ducky

On our way downtown we decided to take a little walk through Central Park.

The best store in the entire city!

Some of my Bama babies

2007-01-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

Some of the people that I miss most are all of my babies in Alabama. This is Mayer...the newest baby at Safe Harbor Church.

Kaela is Mayer's big sister. She is just too cute and I think she gets the award for being my only baby who remembered me right off. I don't think Eli realized who I was until I was about to leave.

We made a pact...a mee-maw Christmas

2007-01-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

The mee-maw Christmas was fun as always. It included lots of eating, a counseling session, hot tub discussion, and lots of laughes. For some quotes from the night you can go to Susan's blog and maybe one day the other mee-maws will update thier blogs.

The before pictures

2007-01-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

Nanny and Pa are moving! This is thier new house that they are going to remodel. Pa has already started some of the small stuff and hopefully they will be moving in by this summer. Stay tuned for the after pictures.

A Walton Christmas!

2007-01-01T20:10:00.000-05:00

Just say no to mini bikes

2007-01-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

Another Judson Wedding

2007-01-01T20:02:00.000-05:00

Oddly Normal Concert

2007-01-01T19:55:00.000-05:00

New Years with the Fam

2007-01-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

Chloe, Chloe, Chloe

2007-01-01T19:47:00.000-05:00

Update...

2006-12-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

I will be home a week from today! Woohoo. I can't wait to see everybody but my schedule is filling up fast so if you aren't on it yet then we need to work on that. Tomorrow is my last day to finish everything up for the semester. I have one paper due and a presentation due on Thursday. It is so close yet so far. Hopefully by this time tomorrow night I will be pretty much done. God has been very faithful in providing for me. I have been able to pick up some more shifts at work and still have enough time to get everything done. God is pretty amazing, huh? I was stressed out about missing 2 weeks of work but he has provided several extra opportunities for me to make a little extra cash so I have faith that everything will get paid this month. Sometimes I don't know how it happens but I always seem to manage. I certainly don't go hungry. I love to see how God works in the small things. About a week ago I decided I wasn't going to go grocery shopping any more before I left because I didn't want to spend the money and then just have it sit here while I was gone. Since I have been working alot at Outback it has worked out that I haven't even had to eat much at home and I was able to get free food at Outback(usually I have to pay 1/2). Our little community in my dorm is great becuase somebody is always cooking something. I think that is the way to go. When you have extra, you share and then when you don't somebody else does. Now I am just having faith that somehow I am going to get to where I need to go when I am home. This not having a car thing is going to be a real test of patience. I have alot of it already worked out so hopefully everything else will fall into place. Once again. I can't wait to see all of you!

If you need me...

2006-12-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

You can find me right here in front of my computer.

The countdown has now started. All of my work is due by next thursday. That includes a large group project, a paper for my theology class, and two smaller papers for my People as Social and Cultural Beings class. As well as more reading. The reading never ends. I already have to start reading for my winterm class that starts on January 2nd. We have 5 books due on the first day of class. Oh well...that is what I am paying the big bucks for, right? The books look interesting though so that is a huge plus. I also have an exciting opportunity for next semester. I will let you guys know more about that if it works out. By the way...I will be home 2 weeks from yesterday! WOOHOOO! See you then.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

2006-12-01T16:05:00.000-05:00

Although I was a little dissappointed that we could not see the performers in person, it was still an amazing experience to be at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting and hear them. We saw them on big screens on the side of Rockefeller center. I made a sign for Taylor, and even though he did not see it I think I might have made it onto the NYC fox news. The news reporter talked to me for a second and asked why I liked Taylor. Usually I shy away from news cameras and avoid them at all cost. For some reason I just did not even care. It was crazy. We were just across the street from where Al and Ann were hosting the show. We were just about as close as you could get without having a VIP pass. I am not racking up my celebrity sitings. We were standing beside a private party and one of the guests was one of the former members of N'SYNC, Joey Fatone. I also saw Amy Pohler walking down the street toward the SNL studio. We stood in front of two nice couples from Florida. I heard their accents so I asked them where they were from. We talked to them for the rest of the evening. Later I asked Katie if my accent was as bad as thiers was. She hesitantly informed me that it was. She said that it wasn't as strong now. I think Katie just tells me what I want to hear sometimes though :).

This is how the tree looked when we arrived that afternoon.

This is the stage that Taylor sang on but we only saw it at 3 that afternoon.

2006-12-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

Sara was a good little grad student. She and Katie both studied and read while we waited. I was just a litte too excited to do that. I was too busy talking the people around us and just taking it all in.

2006-12-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh...after waiting 6 hours it was finally lit. It was well worth it!

2006-12-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Sara found her man! Now when is it mine and Katie's turn?

2006-12-01T15:59:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!