The Good Life

Oh the life of a dog...

While I spent the better part of my morning cleaning my room, Tinka spent hers in the usual fashion...

Must be nice :)

Beautiful Day, Beautiful Song.

Oh, what a beautiful day it is to sit on the porch and enjoy a Sunday afternoon! Here in the South, it is widely recognized that there are indeed only two seasons...mildly chilly and blazing hot with a side of humidity. So it truly is a blessing when every so often we get to experience a glimpse of what our Northern neighbors might refer to as "Spring." And today just so happens to be one of those days :)

I want to share with you the lyrics to a song I recently came across while reading a friend's blog. It is sung by a Christian artist named Francesca Battistelli, and it sums up perfectly what I hope the prayer of my heart remains as I move forward in this little adventure.

Jesus, I pray that you will "Slow me down, show me around

I wanna see the world that I’ve been without
I am here and now the future is out of my hands
I trust in you and how you move
I won’t forget that patience is a virtue
You’re teaching me to hang on tight

Cause I don’t know how the story ends
But I’ll be alright cause you own it
And I don’t know where the highway bends
But I’m doin just fine
Cause your in control
Even when I don’t know
Where my life’s gonna go
You’re keeping me guessing

Seasons come and seasons go
But you decide"

Amen.

Have a beautifully blessed Spring day, full of sunshine and happy thoughts!

He is RISEN!

"Blessed be the LORD who has not left you this day without a Redeemer!" Ruth 4:14

Happy Easter!!!

You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometimes You Just Might Find You Get What You Need

What a great song. But after a year of ups and downs and learning things the hard way, I think a better way of saying it would go "You can't always get what you want, but if you wait on the Lord, you just might find HE'LL give you what He knows you need." And man, oh man has that been a tough lesson to learn!

This year has been a constant cycle of "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away" (and, I must admit, he hath had to taketh some things quite forcefully from my stubborn little hands). But he has always known exactly what I need and graciously provided it for me. Thanks Jesus :)

Last week, He blessed me beyond anything I could ever hope to deserve and placed me in my NUMBER ONE choice of groups to work in over the next two years! I will be working in Charlotte in the INDUSTRIALS group which will give me some wonderful deal experience and allow me to learn more than I can probably even imagine at this point. I will officially begin work (starting with 6 weeks of training) on either June 7th or 14th, meaning I will most likely be moving to Charlotte at the very end of May. I cannot believe how quickly it is all approaching and the fact that I am actually moving away permanently has yet to really hit me. This time won't be like the summers I've flittered off to Paris and New York for a few months, but it will truly be the start of a new life...

I can remember the last time I felt like this...it was over 4 years ago as I was finishing up my senior year in high school. I was so excited and so nervous at the same time, having no idea what to expect as I looked forward to the beginning of a new life at Auburn. But God knew. And what He had in store for me was so much more amazing than anything I could have ever imagined. Although my college years certainly did not come without rough patches, tears, or heartache, the journey was more than worth it and I wouldn't trade those precious years for anything. So today, as I look ahead to a new city and a new career with those same mixed feelings, I have peace and confidence knowing that my Savior is just as much in control of the next chapter as He was the last time. And He already knows "just what I need."

Queen and the Queen City

In order to retain sanity during our late night painting-fetes (that's party en francais) in Dallas, we quickly learned that music was a must. Not only did it serve to drown out the incessant droning of our top-of-the-line air conditioning system, but it also created a nice rhythm to our brush strokes. Over and over and over again...I mean maybe its just me, but sometime around 3AM my beautiful red cabinets began to resemble something more like the time I scribbled all over my mom's pristine white walls with a magic marker as a 5 year old. Long story short, I was most grateful for the music.

And not just any music....the best of 80s ROCK bands became the theme. Journey, Boston, Bon Jovi, Foreigner and most especially QUEEN. I found "Somebody to Love" in Freddie Mercury and the rest of the crew as we danced around on a newly built stage with paint brushes and mops as microphones. Oh the memories...

And today, I am reminded of the lyrics to another one of their famous songs...and you all know how it starts. You're bopping along and all of a sudden you hear the infamous "dun dun dun da da dun dun". And without a moment's pause you find yourself spontaneously screaming "ICE ICE BABY! OMG I love this SONG!!!" (ok, maybe that's just me again). But no...you my friend have been punked. Instead, its those Queen guys with their rendition of "Under Pressure." And today I am starting to feel the pressure...

Tomorrow morning I will be flying to the Queen City of Charlotte, NC to meet my new analyst class and speak with each group in the Investment Banking division in order to determine where I will be placed for the next few years. In actuality, I am much more excited than nervous, but like they say "first impressions are everything" and I hope to make a great one! So please say a prayer or two if you have a spare moment this weekend. Can't wait to report back with my official position!

Happy 96th Muddie!

Yesterday we celebrated my Muddie's NINETY SIXTH Birthday!!! What a fun time to gather with extended family and have a party for my very special great grandmother. She truly is amazing and we are all blessed to have such a wonderful example to follow. Love you Muddie :)

Oh, and I must give an honorable mention to the Edgar's Strawberry Cake...heaven on a fork. Yummmm.

Rain Rain Go Away...I want to go home sometime TODAY!

Trapped.

Its Friday afternoon and time to go home. But, as my luck would have it, cats and dogs have begun falling down outside of my office window. So, here I sit. Because, as we all know, should I be so brave as to attempt the trek from the door to my car umbrella-less, I will undoubtedly melt into a small puddle on the pavement. Sigh.

Ok, so maybe I won't actually melt...just wilt a little bit.

Wish me luck.

I'm sorryyyyy, so sorryyyyy...

Hi there.

Yes, I know. Terrible. Unacceptable. No good very bad. I have been gone much too long. I apologize for the neglect.

I have missed you blog world! I enjoy writing my little love notes to you and filling you in on the silly nuances of everyday life. Unfortunately though, those little nuances have been quite mundane as of late. My schedule has become a comfortable mish-mosh of work with Dad, running, and evenings spent cuddling up with Mom and Tinka...with a few little spatterings of visits with old friends and trips to and fro mixed in there.

And surprisingly, I am beginning to appreciate the for-lack-of-a-better-word boredom. It has been absolutely wonderful getting to spend days with my Dad under a the new context of "working relationship." I think we have each gained a newfound respect and perspective of the other, and I am {ahem. choke. gasp.} learning a lot from him. Whew, that was hard. Kidding. Sorta...

It has also been wonderful spending oh so much time with Big Mama :) I love my Mama. She's super great. I would be no where without her. Oh, and Tinka...

So there. My life lately. I told you, not all that exciting. But I did enjoy our little chat. Hope you did too. Promise I'll be back soon. Really, I do.