Refocus

Sorry for being radio silent for the last 10+ days.  School, vacation, Disney, life all got in the way.  My apologies.  I will write on all of this as soon as I have time to process it all.

For now, I'm in need of some time with my Savior because unfortunately, I've been a little radio silent from him too.  I'm needing to refocus.  The swirling and busyness all around me is getting to be too much. 

Tomorrow, we are going to get our Christmas tree, decorate a small portion of our home, and hopefully keep in mind the reason for it all.  Lord steady it all and help me to remain focused on you.

Beauty

On Friday, I was going to write a blog post about 28 things I have learned in my life time to reflect back on my 28 years of life.  I ran out of time and ran out the door because there was just too much to do and coming up with 28 life lessons was getting a little laborious. 

Now, I'm glad I didn't write that post, because there's really only one thing I've really learned.  Look for beauty in every situation, and if you can't find it, try to create it.

Saturday, we saw one of my favorite bands, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.  They were amazing, but I ultimately fell in love with another band as well.  Penny & Sparrow had me crying the whole time.  Their words and voices were powerful and heartfelt.  It made me think, I want to write words like that one day.    

Sunday I celebrated my birthday with a good friend at her beach home.  We were all on the deck looking at the water, drinking wine, with the sun shining, and I couldn't help but think how wonderful life can be at times.

I can't help but take a step back and thank God for the deck days with the sun shining and the dark storms because in the end it really is all beautiful.

Drew & Ellie Holcomb.  Good people, great music.

   

NOLA

I am in love with a city.  New Orleans represents humanity in so many ways.  Maybe that's why I love it so much.   It's broken, messy, damaged, beautiful, artistic, glamorous, refined.  I just love it.  There's no other way to explain it. 

In New Orleans, you are forced to live in the present.  You have to stop to listen to jazz swing through the trees.  You have to stop to smell the etouffee, beignets, and gumbo, before it all just drifts away on a Mississippi River breeze.  You have to close your eyes on a St. Charles street car to bask in the warm sunlight.  In those moments, I swear I feel closer to God.   I had to stop to catch my breath yesterday to listen to a guitar player and a violinist play on Royal street.  It's all almost too much to handle.  You want to drink it all in at once.  NOLA, you will always have my heart.

Beignet aftermath at Cafe Du Monde

Garden District cemetery cat

       

One of my favorite pictures of us.  Carriage ride through the French Quarter. 

My first NFL game!

I went to my first NFL game!  Definitely not planned at 12pm that day, but by 1pm we were gifted with tickets from some amazing friends.  It was an exciting night, and I am so thankful for happy, spontaneous moments like these.