New Deck!

So, Lindsay decided to have a deck built onto the back of her house. Of course, since I live with her I will be able to benefit from this greatly! Our friends Evan and Curt, deck builders extrodinaire, have volunteered their services for this wonderful Memorial Day weekend. You can check out the pictures from Day 1 on Lindsay's blog: http://www.theaddisononion.blogspot.com/. I'll try and keep you posted on the progress as well. In the meantime, pray that it won't rain so they can finish by Monday!!

Old Roommies!

OK, so Will wasn't ever technically a roommate (duh, he's a boy!) but he and Diana were together the whole time she and I lived together in Clemson. So, I got the pleasure of watching them date, get engaged and then get married 2 days after Diana and I graduated! It was an exciting last year and a half of college. Besides, Will cooked every once in a while and would even take out the trash, so I figured it was ok to keep him around ;)

They were in town this past weekend for a wedding and so Sunday (Mother's Day) we went to lunch with Diana's mom, did a little shopping while we waited for a table, and then stuffed ourselves with lunch and four very large desserts. Be forewarned... if you ever go to Mimi's Café, the desserts are delicious, but they are huge!

I love that I've been able to see so many old friends lately! I even got to talk to Leah on the phone today. She, Adam and their girls just moved to Clinton to be house parents to a group of girls and are doing well. But, I've met some fun new people in the past few weeks, so for the first time in a while life really isn't that boring!

Picture of the Day

I took this picture at our National Convention at the end of April ("our's" meaning Upward's, the company I work for). We had a weekend to challenge our church partners to accept the Call to Excellence and had speakers, worship and all kinds of fun stuff. Friday night, we had New Song perform and it was incredible. This is my favorite photo of the evening... don't you just love it?!?

OK, so I know a few people...

So, it turns out that I know a lot of people in Dallas... who knew! So, Arica graciously drove me around the metroplex to see everyone that I knew and I of course spent the last few days meeting people she knows. It was great though because I've been hearing about them all for the past two years that I've known her so this time I finally got to put real people with the names (I didn't say faces b/c I've seen pictures so I even already knew what they looked like)!

This was dinner w/ me, Mandy, Denalyn, Matt, Coy & Arica. We went to Cheddar's and then had Cookie Monsters for dessert (Jill, I thought about you with every bite!).


This is Amy... Arica and I went by to see her on our way to Denton for one of my Training Conferences for work (Upward Unlimited). Amy and I went to South Africa last summer to do an Upward soccer camp in Soweto. You tend to bond with people when you fly halfway around the world with them... :) It was great to see her!

Arica came with me to the Leadership Training Conference Friday night. She helped out and even ran into some people she knows. I think she knew more people than I did! It was great to have her there and let her see a little of what I do. The best part was that she got to hear Caz's Vision Message on Friday night to hear how Upward was started and about the vision that God planned long ago!

Saturday night, after the Training Conference was over and Natalie and I were done working, we met up with one of our college roommates, Becca, along with her husband Reeves and their son Tallon. Isn't he adorable? There's a link to their blog if you want to see more pics of him and his red hair ;)


And last but not least, Rick and Nelly came to eat with us too! Nelly and I met during my last semester co-opping with Delta Airlines in Atlanta. She's a Univ of Florida grad and then even came to Clemson (thanks to my influence) for a semester to begin her masters in HR. I think it's been about a year since I've seen her. She and her parents came through Greenville last year when she was graduating with her masters. So, it was good to see her again and meet her beau!!

So, it's been a great time over here in Texas and I'm heading home today. I'm actually kind of sad because I've seen SO MANY people and I feel like I've gotten quality time with each of them , including Stan Cole and his wife (Stan went to S. Africa with Amy and I last summer too), but I wish I could spend even more time with them. I even got to meet a handful of "my churches" that I speak on the phone with all the time since we were here for Upward. I love that this week in Dallas and last week in ATL at the National Convention that I was able to meet them and put faces with the names. The other thing about going home is that I looked so forward to last week and this week and traveling and now it's all over. It's been a blast but I don't know when I'll be traveling again. So... back to the mundane of working and life in G'vegas it is!

Don't worry... I'm sure I'll be off again soon. I'll keep y'all posted ;)

I forgot my passport when I came to Texas

Things that are different in Texas from the rest of the world:
- their BBQ is called Brisket. Aparently it's a side of beef instaed of pork (see picture to the right). It looks the same but I guess it does have a slightly different taste.
- they have a special kind of Dr. Pepper called Dublin Dr. Pepper. It's made w/ real cane sugar instead of corn syrup. It's actually not too bad.
-they don't really have sweet tea! How do you eat BBQ without sweet tea?!?!
- their Tex-Mex food is good, but I felt a little odd eating at a "Mexican restaurant" without a Mexican wait-staff.
- they claim they are southern, but they're not (see above statements).

I will give this to them though... they are very hospitable and a lot of fun. Yes, everything is bigger in Texas, including the jelly beans, but if that means having big fun, big meals and big desserts, bring it on! All I ask is that we bring in BIG pitchers of SWEET TEA!!


See, they're so nice! This coyboy even held my purse for me!













This is Arica and me with my first "Dublin." YUM! For those of you who don't know, Arica was my roommate while I lived in Brussels, Belgium. It's been so great to see her again after a year and a half!


Believe it or not, I even got on a real longhorn. His name is Pacos Bill and he was really nice. Don't mind that look he's giving the camera. He was just dumbfounded that a girl from South Carolina had come all this way just to see him.

An Amazing Race

Last week we had our National Convention for work (Upward Unlimited) and it really was amazing. I was looking forward to it for many reasons... 1) I've been really bored and needed a change... mainly to get out of town for a while! 2) I was looking forward to meeting some of the people that I talk to on the phone all the time and they were going to be there from all over the country! Most of them were from Texas b/c that's the region I've been working with this past year, but I finally met some people from California and Washington state and even Oklahoma! It was so great to put a face with the voices and everyone was SO encouraging. It's amazing to be able to work for a ministry whose purpose is to evangelize children, but it's also incredible that I get to work with churches who share that vision of sharing the gospel with them.

As exciting as it all was, it was really tiring too. My department and the guys in the field (see picture where we look like a bunch of Skittles!) started the week off w/ some team building on Tuesday and then an Amazing Race all over ATL on Wednesday. There were many falls, many bruises, pulled muscles, scrapes and tired people at the end of the day! But it was well worth it. We went to a couple of churches, Hard Rock Cafe, the Coke factory, CNN, Turner Field and Stone Mountain. I took a break with the Coca-Cola Bear while I could...

It was an amazing weekend, but a tiring one also! I'm leaving for Dallas on Wednesday and I'm SO looking forward to seeing Arica (my roommate while I was in Belgium) b/c I haven't seen her in a year and a half! Good times ahead...!!

Crazy French Maid...

For the second year in a row I made the Saturday night trek to the campus of the University of South Carolina (aka home of the "shamecocks") to see my darling little sister in her French play. For those of you who know me, you're thinking, "What? Since when do you have a little sister??" Well, it all started 2 years ago when I went to live in Belgium for a while. The missionaries I worked with sent their daughter over to USC in the fall of 2004 to begin her college career. Sadly, it was not the best school in the state, but I told her the only reason she could go there is to study international business, which she is doing. Anyway, because of her I have made MANY trips to USC's campus in the past two years. But, for her, I'll do whatever I can. Just look at that face... how could I say no?? Besides, watching college students in a French play as Sissi portrays the French Maid who hits on one of the women's husbands is just too much to pass up!

Quote of the Day

Dr. Meredith Grey: We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?

I would just like to second that...

If you haven't been watching Grey's Anatomy, you have to check it out. (Sunday nights, 10pm, ABC)

Relay for Life

Last year Upward got a team together and participated in the Spartanburg Relay for Life over at Dorman High School. I helped get stuff ready for the tent the day of the event, but that's all I did last year. THIS year however, I've realized that while no one in my immediate family has been affected by cancer (that I know of...) I have so many friends that are dear to me that have had to help other friends or family members through it. So, I'm going to do what I can for them this year. And I'm pretty excited. So, please check it out. It's an amazing cause and even if you can't raise money yourself or be a part of our team to walk the track all night long on May 19, you can at least give your prayers to the victims, their families and the doctors who have to look at cancer in the face every single day.

Anyway, check out my webpage for fundraising (click on title above) and keep track of my progress. Come on... you know you're curious ;)

Obedience is costly...

"An Afghan man threatened with execution because he converted from Islam to Christianity is expected 'to be released in the coming days,' an official says." - CNN Breaking News email

We've been going through Experiencing God at work these past 7 1/2 weeks and it has been nothing short of incredible. This week has been about adjusting your life to God after He has called you to do something. Amazing. My junior and senior years in high school I was working toward applying to the United States Naval Academy. There was nothing that I wanted more than to be a Navy pilot and to one day pilot the space shuttle. In my mind, God put that desire in my heart so I thought that He wanted me at the Naval Academy. Unfortunately, in my early days as a Christian, I had to learn the hard way that we don't make plans and then invite God in. That's not how He works.

However, God IS working. As we spend time with Him in prayer and Bible study, He guides us to follow Him and work with Him. The thing that got me with today's lesson though were the many challenges he faced with the Jews and the Gentiles and showing them that Jesus was the Christ... his life was lived at many costs. He was put in prison, he was flogged, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, he went hungry, etc (II Corinthians 11:22-33) all for the name of Jesus. What have I done that has put myself out there in proclaiming that same name? Nothing.

Then, this afternoon I get the CNN Breaking News about this man, Abdul Rahman, who is going to be put to death because he has rejected Islam. I have lived in another country in a Muslim neighborhood and I know that it is a serious thing when a Muslim becomes a believer. Families will disown their family members if they become followers of Christ. From CNN: "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.

Why should I be able to turn around in my chair at my desk and talk to my coworkers all day about Jesus but this man can't even say that he is a Christian?? Granted, I work in a Christian ministry, but even when I worked at Delta in Atlanta, I could talk to whomever about Christ and not be threatened with my life! However, God is still glorified through this man whose life is at risk because Abdul is putting the living God above his own life.