Roadtrip Weekend.

Okay everything on this blog is a little delayed lately but now that I've finished my final event for this season it may be safe to say I'll catch back up and be a bit more regular around here...but as sure as I say that everything will change.  So stay tuned.

Anyway,  I wanted to take the time to post some pictures from the Jacksonville road trip my friends and I went on the weekend before last.  After Pittsburgh and Indy I came back on a Sunday (after a Colts win) to prepare for to meet my friends in Jacksonville on Thursday night for another football game (you know I can never get enough).

It was truly one of the best weekends.   It was so fun to be with my Dad for lunch and pregame and nothing brings me more joy than my family and friends together.  I so love them getting to know each other and all the special people in my life getting along.  Ok fine, and the Colts winning was icing on the cake.

Dad snagged us pregame passes so we could spend a little more time with him down on the field.  I think after these I was too cold to take many pictures...

(Jason, Me, Dad, and Jared during pregame warm-ups)

 (Jason and I)

            (my sweet childhood friend/former roomie/small grouper/bff/favorite road trip buddy - Jess)

           (These two have quickly become two of my favorite people in the world - great guys.)

The boys followed me back to Tampa for the rest of the weekend which can pretty much be summed up by this photo:

We spent both days at the beach.  They spent it finding 102 sand dollars, two of which now grace my coffee table.

It was literally the perfect weekend.  I kind of want to go back and relive it again now that I wrote about it.

But don't worry, the travels keep on coming.

Never a dull moment.

B

2012 Reading List.

Image.

And again I say, the list...

1. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
2. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
3. A Life in Stitches - Rachael Herron
4. Leaving Paradise - Simone Elkeles
5. Sing Me Home - Jodi Picoult
6. The 6th Target - James Patterson
7. Serendipity - Lousie Shaffer
8. Haiti: A Tumultuous History - Philippe Girard
9. Orange it the New Black - Piper Kerman
10. The Secret Holocaust Diaries - Nonna Bannister
11. 7th Heaven - James Patterson
12. The Icing on the Cupcake - Jennifer Ross
13. Mrs. Kimble - Jennifer Haigh
14. Sams Letters to Jennifer - James Patterson
15. Abducted - T.R. Ragan
16. First Time Landlord - Janet Portman
17. Off the Record - Elizabeth White
18. Lady of Bolton Hill - Elizabeth Camden
19. Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
20. Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey
21. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld
22. Daisy Chain - Mary Demuth
23. The Keeper - Sarah Langan
24. The Paris Wife - Paula McClain
25. Hollywood is like High School with Money - Zoey Dean
26. The Lucky One - Nicholas Sparks
27. The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes - Diane Chamberlain
28. Tess of the d'Ubervilles - Thomas Hardy
29. Master your Metabolism - Jillian Michaels
30. The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen
31. Small Space Organizing - Kathryn Bechen
32. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
33. Organizing Your Day - Sandra Felton
34.  Me & My Big Mouth - Joyce Meyer
35. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
36. Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
37. Crazy Love - Francis Chan
38. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James
39. Still Missing - Chevy Stevens
40. Seven - Jen Hatmaker
41. 17 Day Diet - Mike Moreno
42. Forgotton God - Francis Chan
43. Girls in Trucks - Katie Crouch
44. Goodnight Nobody - Jennifer Weiner
45. A Desireable Residence - Madeleine Wickham
46. Sail - James Patterson
47. Anything - Jennie Allen
48. The Choice - Nicholas Sparks
49. The Sari Shop Widow - Shobhan Bantwal
50. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller
51. The Atonement Child - Francine Rivers
52. Kisses from Katie - Katie Davis
53. A Version of the Truth - Jennifer Kaufman
54. Nantucket Nights - Elin Hilderbrand
55. Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult
56. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
57. War Brides- Helen Bryan
58. Swim - Jennifer Weiner
59. Fearless - Max Lucado
60. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R Covey
61. Island of Lost Girls - Jennifer McMahon
62. Start Something that Matters - Blake Mycoskie
63. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller
64. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
65. Quiet Strength - Tony Dungy
66. One Breath Away - Heather Gudenkauf
67. Worth Lying For - Lisa Cheney
68. Mission Possible - Eva Moskowitz
69. The Furious Longing of God - Brennan Manning
70. The Guy Not Taken - Jennifer Weiner
71. Accused - Janice Catore
72. Slammed - Colleen Hoover
73. Point of Retreat - Colleen Hoover
74. 8th Confession - James Patterson
75. 9th Judgement - James Patterson
76. Erasing Hell - Francis Chan
77. Riversong - Tess Hardwick
78. Crash - Nicole Williams
79. Clash - Nicole Williams
80. Where We Belong - Emily Giffin
81. Recalculating - Jennifer Weiner
82. 10th Anniversary - James Patterson
83. 11th Hour - James Patterson
84. I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag - Jennifer Gilbert
85. Dark Place - Gillian Flynn
86. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
87. Style - Lauren Conrad
88. Stuck - Jennie Allen
89. Testimony - Anita Shreve
90. Between the Lines - Jodi Picoult
91.The End of Everything - Megan Abbott
92. The Darlings - Cristina Alger
93. My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick
94. The Circle Maker - Mark Batterson
95. Married by Mistake - Abby Gaines
96. Three Weeks with My Brother - Nicholas Sparks
97. The Edge of Never - J.A. Redmerski
98. In Search of Lucy - Lia Fairchild
99. Domestic Affairs - Bridget Siegel
100. Red Sea Rules - Robert Morgan


Love,
B

Untitled.

The last few months have been a roller coaster and to say that they have left me humbled would be an understatement. But as I was finally hitting a new stride - a hard but purposeful one in which I thought things were as hard as they could get, I got leveled one more time. As I came a place of  acceptance for the areas in my life I couldn't fix and I challenged myself to handle them with grace I had no idea I would encounter yet a harder season in the form of friendships.

For any of you who have mourned the loss of a friend for any number of reasons, I'm sorry. In the pursuit of what I thought was right I came to a tough crossroad. Go with my gut or give the people in my life I have loved their way. It sounds simple but I wouldn't be writing this if it were, now would I? I've never been one for lines in the sand and I'm fiercely loyal but don't back me into a corner...

What I realize as I've grown older and unfortunately not much wiser is this - while you can't control other people, you are responsible for who you can control, you. And so as lines were drawn I didn't choose a side, I chose what I knew to be right.

Word to the wise, doing the right thing sucks sometimes. Maybe even most of the time. And it comes at a cost.

Doing what I thought was right when I felt like I had been dealt a bad hand has cost me dearly. It's cost me friendships. They may or may not ever be restored but will certainly bare the scars of my choice and theirs.

The loss of the friendships isn't all. Loss of trust. Loss of respect. Loss of intimacy. I could go on and on.

But in the midst of this I have been reminded of the big picture. Who do I want to be?  As I thought about my decisions I thought hard about the kind of person I desire to be and that has become the focus of this season. I'm still figuring it out but heres a few things I know...

I desire to be the kind of friend who's love protects.  I desire to be trustworthy and reliable. I desire to be honest even when it hurts.  I desire to be real. I desire to be gracious and loving. I desire to be like Christ in that I want my love to cover a multitude of sin. I desire to treat others to the gift of grace I have been given. I desire to be a person of character who's walk lines up with their talk. I desire to be uncompromising in my convictions. And I hope to earn respect where I cannot earn approval.

Maybe I will revisit this in a few months but as of now I don't see any of the involved friendships ever being the same. But for once in my life I can say if I had it to do over I'd do it the same.  My walk lined up with my talk and it cost me dearly but it didn't cost me my integrity and for that I am grateful.

For everything there is a season and I truly hope this one is nearing the end.

Love,
B

Indy Weekend.

Gosh I feel like the weekends are flying by these days.  Thank you for your sweet words on last weeks post, they encouraged me beyond words.  I spent the past four days in Indianapolis and what a sweet four days it was. It was FULL with work, family, friends, and family friends.  But even as I landed after midnight last night I felt grateful for every moment.

Our Colts event is of course my favorite event to work because I get to work with this guy:

It's been such a sweet three year work season for us to be able to do these events together.  I don't take a single moment of it for granted.  I truly have the most amazing Dad of all, how could I not care to further the message of how important father's are?

 Of course having these three along as volunteers took the event from good to great for me.  Absolutely loved spending time with them and it was so special to have them be part of my work event.

I worked Friday and Saturday but managed to get a lunch and shopping date in with my Momma and some time with my Dad (at 6am, taking him to work mostly).  Mom even treated me to some gear for this Thursday game in Jax so I won't freeze in my short sleeves!

Stuck around after the event on Saturday to play downtown with my friends and then to catch the Colts game Sunday with this pretty lady:

Felt good to be home with my parents and the goodbye didn't hurt as much since I'll be back with Dad, Jared, and Jason on Thursday and home for Thanksgiving before the end of this month.

God is good. Another great event and another great weekend.

Love,
B

Maybe, Maybe Not.

My younger sister Ruth went through a weird phase.  I think maybe she was a fibber or my Dad thought she exaggerated too much.  So he put the fear of God into her literally about lying.  And for the next year or two after everything she said she would say 'maybe, maybe not' just to make sure that not matter what she said it couldn't be a lie.  It was incredibly annoying.

I realized this week as I'm reading The Circle Maker, I do that in my prayers sometimes.  The book talked this week about how sometimes we add a 'if it's your will' at the end of our prayers because we don't really think the Lord going to answer them and we want to leave Him an out.  But I was reminded this morning that God is bigger than our biggest problem, our biggest dream, and his grace is bigger than our biggest sins.  And what a reminder that is.  If we can really grasp that, wouldn't we pray differently?

The coolest thing I've taken from the book so far is that one couple that Mark Batterson writes about would write notes to the Lord with their biggest, craziest, hardest prayers and post them on the fridge.  I LOVE that.  I love the idea of being bold, of putting it in writing, and of not being ashamed for the people who come into your home to know that you're praying big.

And so, I got out my colorful post it's and I wrote my biggest requests.  For some of you.  For my family members.  For my friends. And for my own life.  I dated them today and I put them on my fridge.  I'm praying big, I'm praying bold, and I'm praying with the expectation that my God is bigger that every request.  I'm not adding any maybe, maybe not's at the end of my prayers. And when he answers them I'm going to take them down, add another date and give them to the person whose request it is as a reminder that our God is way bigger than the box we put him in.

Love,
B

Weekend.

Happy Tuesday to all!

I'm back in Tampa for what feels like a couple day layover on my way back out.  I was in Pittsburgh, PA this past weekend working out event with the Steelers and I landed late Saturday night.  Sunday was busy, Monday was madness, and not today I'm taking a deep breath before I join my 60 boxes in Indianapolis to help run our Indianapolis Colts event.

So, hello.
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Our event with Coach Tomlin in Pittsburgh went well and we had a great turnout.  It was fun to see Coach again and he did an incredible job of inspiring the Dad's and kids that attended our event.  So thankful for his commitment to the program.

We had a great team from our office go and I think it's safe to say that a fun but slightly freezing time was had by all.  It was warm when we arrived Friday and freezing by the time we left on Saturday night.  I hear they're supposed to get snow this week!  Yikes.

I landed at midnight going into Sunday morning but I took a long nap and awoke to see my sweet friend Amber be baptized on Sunday morning.

This was the absolute highlight of my weekend. I'm so grateful for her friendship and she was a timely gift from the Lord when I couldn't have needed her more.  I've loved doing life, jailbreak lunches, and bible study with her.  Try as I might I can't really imagine how I survived my day-to-day life without her.  I was so proud of her this weekend and it was such an honor to be there to be a part of it!

Sunday afternoon I rolled up in a throw blanket like a burrito and basically died on top of my bed only to resurrect a few hours later to host my bible study girls for a dessert night.  Clearly not in my right might I didn't take many picture but I at least wanted to show you all that I cleaned and semi decorated!...

It was such a sweet way to end the weekend and begin the week. I have the most amazing group of girls.  Thankful for the chance to do life with them in this season.

I head out again Thursday to work with my favorite of our spokesmen, my sweet Daddy. Looking forward to some face time with my mom, a lunch date with my Dad, working the event alongside my best friend Candy and two of my favorite new Indiana boys, Jared and Jason before catching the Colts v. Dolphins game on Sunday and flying home to get ready for a road trip weekend following.  Whew.  Life is good.  Busy, a little overwhelming, and full, but so good.

Love,
B

So I'll Let My Words be Few.

I've received some really sweet inquiries as to my absence (or really, semi-absence) from blog world.  Know that I have more on my plate and my heart than ever before and I'm learning a great deal from this time.  One thing I'm learning through some tough situations is this - it's ok to let your words be few.

For the past few days I've run a gauntlet of emotions but I am trying my darn-est to run it without letting my tongue get ahead of my learning curve.  So until I figure a few things out I'm learning to let my words be few.

'The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences' - Proverbs 18:21

Proverbs is so full of wisdom of the tough-to-learn-variety, isn't it?

Thank you for the out pouring of love and encouragement.  I'm happy to report this has been a really good week.  The Lord continues to challenge and grow me in this season but I am learning to love the challenge, slowly but surely.

And thank you thank you thank you to all who have encouraged me to keep on writing during this season and those to come. One thing I love about seasons, is that even the tough ones come to an end.  My sister wisely pointed out to me that sometimes you feel like you're 0-16 at the end, but it's still an end.  That's football speak for sometimes you get your butt handed to you but it's still an end, eventually.  Right now I'd say I'm looking at 8-8 for this season.

I love you guys.

B