Happy Birthday MOM!

Today celebrates my mother's birth.  I have never met a more selfless women.  She works from morning until night taking care of her family.  She has such a great disposition.  I am thankful for how she reflects Christ in so many ways.  And she is a talented dancer.  She is turning 59, but she is still absolutely so beautiful (even my friends comment on it.)  So Happy Birthday Mom.  I love you.

Nashville

Nash was good and cold. I flew in load in day, which was nice.  The show went alright, no major dramas.  The highlight was seeing old friend Drew Harris.  We had time to catch up on life and really have a good conversation on a lot of things in life and God.  There really is a lot of mystery to God and it's interesting as to when to know where to leave it be a mystery and where you want answers from  Him.  There is a problem about the Origin of Evil that doesn't sit well with me and it really skews the way that I interpret God.  It is so refreshing to have actual real conversations on topics like this.  Also he told me that they are working on making gasoline out of algae.  How in the world that happens I cannot comprehend.  I love being around people that are smarter than I. 

First night out to dinner.

Florida.......

....is a state that is losing jobs.  So finding a job is a bit difficult.  I am over looking and don't really like the thought of having to get a job.  My non-employed lifestyle suits me just fine....but doesn't really suit my bank account. Drats.

Shabby Chic

But different.

I am so loving this.

Jenna & Bryan Hamel

The Big Day. Finally.

So grand. So beautiful. Such a story.

Disney Magic

Exchanging 10 things I Love about you. Great touch.

The New Mr. & Mrs. Hamel

THE Cathy O'Neal. THE dress from Mom.

Done & Done.

It was a crazy night. Some people ended up in the fountain.

Cutest roommate Jana.

Three Amigos.

Lovely end to a lovely night.

The D Team

Newest friend: Dana Boss.

Together we make The D Team. 

She was going to go a Halloween party,

but came over to my house instead.

She was a ladybug.

The cutest one I have ever seen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Brian Grady Roquemore Sr.

Such a grand guy.  I am so grateful to have him in my life.  We have come along way since these were taken.  There have been things that have not been perfect but I always appreciated my Dad letting me that he loves me & thinks I am beautiful.  Those words really do make a difference in me.  Thanks Dad for loving me through it all. I Love You.

Saucy

This fits her like a dream. Sexy but still way classy. Bravo.

Rainy Day & Thoughts

~Sitting on my front porch has become my new favorite thing to do. Today is a rainy day and kinda matches how I am feeling. There are "some days" when I just feel annoyed at the world. Things that I don't normally get bothered by are in my face.
~Had great talk with CBell about men last night. I think I am confused on the idea of Love and the context of it in our society. I want this idea of being "In Love" and all the bliss that surrounds it. Knowing that not every moment of my life is going to extraordinarily high, but the idea of "falling" for someone is appealing. I am torn b.c on one hand I don't want to be alone forever (which is the way things are going right now as I don't have any prospects nor hardly ever do) so I wonder if my standards are too high and/or if this person I have created even exists and one the other hand I don't want to settle, which I am more and more scared of as I get older. I also wonder about Love. I heard a quote by Abraham Lincoln that said, "God created Marriage not for our happiness, but for our holiness." As I am learning, God's definition of love and our definitions are quite different. Love is not always so cheery and blissful. It can be loving to check them into rehab or take away something that is dear. Causing pain can be the by-product to doing what is best for someone. So do I need to be open to loving someone that I don't even like. To be able to make me learn how to love someone and grow closer to God? Crystal brought up a lot of good points about knowing what character qualities are essential. She & I think very very differently so it was a good challenge on both ends. All this is stirred in me b.c there has been a lot of wedding stuff going on around here.
~We have started our Wed night group! It is going to be a learning process for all of us. I feel like it is kinda a quiet group and so I feel like I am boring them. I am letting some thoughts of inadequacy creep in, when all along I knew that the Holy Spirit would be the one to lead it. So just being honest, diligent, and letting God use me is where I need to be.
~I have been learning to sew. Terrifying. I am getting the hang of it. I haven't sewed in ten years. I did make a fabulous dress in high school.....it resembled the Coat of Many Colors. I might still wear it if I knew where it went to. I am in the middle of hemming the dress for the wedding. I am pretty scared that it is going to come out terrible. I know that I don't really like things that are painstaking. And this is. I gave up last night and went to bed. So hopefully a more successful day today.
~Looking forward to Nashville.
~I am so humbled by Christ in my life.

Story of My Life : Slowly Learning

"We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; His perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what He might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what He might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that He really loves us. So you see our love for Him comes as a result of HIs loving us first." 1 John 4:18-19

A la Natural.

I went for one week without make-up (sans one night with the girls).
It was an interesting experiment to see if anyone would notice or treat me differently.
Which no one did. It was actually quite a freeing experience.
I am glad I am comfortable with myself without it.
With it is just going from good to great.

Jenna's Day/St. Augustine

Good friend Jenna is getting married in a few days.  Last weekend we had a "party" on Friday in Orlando, which I attended a little of and Sat headed up to St. Augustine.  I have been there several times and it is just So beautiful.  It was really grand to be that group of girls.  We haven't all been together for a while.

Highlights:

-I almost broke Kate's foot a moment later.

- Quite a sight. 9 amazing beautiful women traveling together.  We did get a few invites. yikes.
-Between the Trees
-Happy Hippies
-Put your back into it. Thank you.

-Evening stroll. Nothing better.

-The D Team.

-The Bride to Be.

-Light.

-Touche Jenna Dey.

-More walking.

-Breezy weather + no schedule + amazing company = The Perfect Day.

-Let the sunshine through.

-St. Augustine reminds me of Old San Juan Puerto Rico.

I Delight in You.

A Perfect Saturday morning on the porch.

God's words to me.

Still so hard to believe.

Beginning to internalize.

The Counterfeiters

The Counterfeiters.  What an incredible film.  It won the Academy Award for the best foreign film.  It is truly a well made film.  The story is pretty remarkable.  A Jew was the top counterfeiter in German.  He was working on counterfeiting the Dollar when he was busted.  He was later sent to a concentration camp and was tapped to either do back breaking grueling work of the concentration camps or help the germans counterfeiter money.  The Germans were broke from the war so they began to work on The UK Pound.  The Jew was able to able to reproduce the Pound so perfectly that it was authenticated by the Bank of England.  They printed and proliferated so much of the Pound that it wiped out the economy of England.  Their next task was to master the dollar.  The Germans were out of money and needed the dollar to continue the Holocast.  They stalled and stalled for months.  By the time they actually handed of the dollar the Germans had been defeated.  It was said to be the largest counterfeiting effort of all times.   And because they stalled the Dollar for so long it helped end the war.  The acting was incredible and the film was made really well.  I would recommend a watch.

Thankful.

Today was wonderful. Nothing super special But just wonderful.  I am hopefully going to be faithful with starting my day with www.sacredspace.ie.  I like the contemplative exercises.   I think the retrospect even of the last 24 hours is good.  I rode Jana's bike to the library....it is a great distance for me a beginner.  Got 'The Counterfeiters' & 'The Queen' both I have been wanting to see. Washed my hair for the first time in five days. Got a new microwave. Sorry mom. Talked with Natalie for a long time....so good to catch up.  Submitted info for some agencies....hopefully I can get some work soon!  Went to celebrate great friend Brian Banks and did dance in the drum circle for about a minute and a half. Ate delicious carrot cake.  Had a deep talk with Jenn and at home a great talk with Jana. Overall I am just thankful for life and God in it.  You bring love, peace and grace to me. Thank you.

And I came across this photo which made my day.

Lanvin

Lanvin is becoming more and more one of my favorite designers.  Albert Albez is quite a genius.  He brings fresh and beautiful ideas to life increasingly every season.  He has the ability to create a ladylike look while being sexy and yet keeping it classy.  I love his use of strong colors in this collection.  Cheers to you Albert.

You can watch the video here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPoFxszFIsQ

Wedding, Surprise Sleep Over, Muse, Thoughts, GKTW, Give a Schmidt, The Brave One, Status,Phew.

Wedding:

Friend Lauren from GMS got married this weekend.  They did an ingenious thing by scheduling the wedding at 6:45 but really start at 7.  Good game.  The wedding was quite nice.  It was outside but at sunset, so not terribly hot.  Ceremony short & sweet.  Very special b.c of their story and to see God's hand of redemption and the way that they are together pursuing God in a real way.

Got to see sweet Bethany.  Such a joy and many laughs to be had.  Her and her great husband, Douglas, got married about a year ago.  I can't believe where the time goes.  They are such a incredible pair and a great example of how God pairs people so perfectly together.
Lauren: Such a beautiful bride.  She looked amazing in her dress and, of course, was glowing from within.
Surprise Sleep Over

I traded cars with John and so it ended up that I couldn't get my house key back.  So fortunately I had Shelby around the corner and headed over here.  She was not there but her roommate Jessica Apt was there.  It was so great to hear her stories of how she bicycled across the USA. Insane.  She did it with 18 other people in 40 days...averaging about 85 miles a day.  I think I could manage about 8.5 miles a day.  They raised money for Blood Water Mission, an organization to build wells in Africa.  If I had the stamina and time I would love to do something like that.  I can't imagine the friendships that you would form. And she had Donald Miller on the trip. I would love to pick his brain.

Muse: Theology

Finally something that means something.  I have been so desperate to go deeper in the meaning of Christ.  Chuck De Groat is a professor at RTS and 1. a great writer and 2. pretty good speaker.  I enjoyed the discussion on some of the things hindering us from knowing and understanding God.  I like the idea that things are not always ok.  Life falls apart sometimes.  If a person is all smiles and cheery all the time there is an errie feeling about that.  It doesn't feel good to say that I don't know what I am doing and that God has to be the one that is in control.  Even when these plans left us in a confusion and more dependant on Him and the hardest part letting those know that we are not in control.  Knowing we have to stumble and fall and literally hold God's hand like a child is quite humbling.

Thoughts

Went to the park afterwards to process some of the content.  One thing that did really stick with me was the answer my question of how to interpret the paradox of an extravagantly gracious and loving God and one the God that allows you to suffer to the point of desperation. His reply was lament.  The importance of feeling your pain, letting God know you feel about it and actually grieving.  I sat in a rose garden for a bit and thought of the beauty of the rose and the pain of the thorn.  Sometimes they just have to come together.  Hindsight is a b*tch.  I am slowly remembering and believing that God has the ultimate and best for me.  So that when times are tragic 1. It won't last forever. 2. Somehow there is a purpose for it.

Give Kids the World

Definitely the highlight of my weekend.  Such a grand experience.  It is a resort like place where kids and their families come that have terminal illness and they get spoiled and have a vacation.  A girl that I know works there as the entertainment coordinator.  We went on a sat afternoon and had a huge celebration birthday party for one of the fictional characters.  We set up all these party things.  It is a bit reminiscent of Disney but not officially affiliated with them.  These kids have some sort of serious illness.  Several kids were in wheelchairs, one girl had a tube sticking out of her throat, a girl with her head shaved bald.  A few times I about teared up. It was so magical to see these kids smile, dance and have fun.  I  volunteered to hand out popsicles.  It was glory & the time went by SO fast.  We were not allowed to take pictures of the kids, but these are the peoples I went with.  I would love to do it again.

Unfortatly the jumpsuit.....was tooo big and so all day and night I was fighting with it.

Give a Schmidt

Our friend Jahred Schmidt got hit by a car on his bike and it was really neither of their fault's. So he didn't go to the hospital.  He also cracked his laptop screen.  Seeing that he is a writer...this is pretty crucial for this to be fixed.  So we, my housechurch, threw a party for him to raise money for him to get his computer fixed.  I think they made $500?  He is just a grand person.  He only wants to know how to love Jesus and people better. Lame...he is leaving soon.

The Brave One

Didn't like it.  The movie just moved along so slow.  Jodie looks so old.  There was a lot of nudity in the movie that was just not necessary.  I didn't like the premise of the movie either.  A women taking the law into her own hands because her fiance was beaten to death.....atrocious for sure.  Jodie is always awkward to me.

Lastly Status community launch was tonight.  I am leading a small group of women.  I kinda wish that I didn't have to open it up to all of status.  I really just want a very small group of girls that I hand pick. But I have to understand that God knows where people need to be and who need to be in this group. oh well. So just letting go of control there. Altogether the weekend was quite grand & busy. God is so gracious and there is NONE like Him.