Valentine Oh-Nine!

I had a Valentine's date with my Lindsee on Friday night. We saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic" which was super cute. I don't think it will be winning any Academy Awards, but it was adorable and fun nonetheless. Lindsee and I enjoyed Diet Cokes, popcorn, and M&Ms during the movie which made it even better. Ya'll know how much I love a sweet and salty combo.

Saturday I had a nice, relaxing morning while Grant was playing golf. I laid on the couch and watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 and the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice CROSSOVER EVENT that I missed on Thursday night. I love Grey's, but I could do without Private Practice. Good show though. I'm a bit worried about Izzy.

Saturday afternoon we went on a long walk with Moxie, and then it was time for me to start getting ready for our big V-day date! I wore this dress from Ann Taylor Loft.

I opted for no necklace, and I wore black dangly earrings and black pointy-toe pumps. It was sassy!

We started off our evening with dinner at La Griglia. It was super yummy and the waitstaff was VERY attentive. Almost too attentive. I mean I would take one sip of my water and then the guy would come refill my water to the top of the glass. I think he poured water into my glass about 35 times. It was insane. Grant and I kept getting the giggles! We had some delicious Creme Brulee for dessert and we talked about how good it was all night! And in the car on the way to church the next morning, Grant even said again, "That Creme Brulee was really good". We are sad.

But then came the best part of the evening... the SHOW. Back in December, Grant gave me my Christmas/Anniversary present: Tickets to see "Legally Blonde- The Musical". I love me a good musical and I had kinda fallen in love with the soundtrack to this show. Mostly because of Laura Bell Bundy, the girl who originated the role on Broadway. Laura Bell Bundy (or LBB as she is referred to often) is a supreme Triple Threat. For those of you who are not musically inclined, a Triple Threat is someone who can sing, dance and act. It's hard to find an actor/actress that is equally good in all three areas. LBB is.

When Grant bought tickets to the show, I knew that this was the National Touring Company and that LBB would not be performing, especially since she retired from the show last summer. Well, the girl who was supposed to play Elle Woods for us Saturday night broke her toe and can't dance... so... GUESS WHO THEY FLEW IN FROM NYC?!?!?

My Laura Bell Bundy!!

We had heard there was a chance this could happen but I was preparing myself for some random understudy. But when we got to the theater and saw "Tonight's performance will feature Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods" I about cried. I almost did, seriously. I think I freaked out the couple sitting next to us. I heard the man say to his wife "Oh, great, we have some understudy tonight". And I was like "NO, you have NO IDEA how lucky we are to be seeing her! She was nominated for a TONY for this role. These tickets would've been worth so much more money if people would've known it was her!". Grant was telling me to stop talking to them.

She was awesome. Bless her heart, her voice was raspy and hoarse, but she still totally rocked it. She even improvised an awesome line. She was holding the little chihuahua while she was doing this scene, and the chihuahua kept licking all over her face while she was trying to say her lines. Well, people were kinda snickering about it so she just said "He likes to make out on Valentine's Day!". She got a big laugh.

Grant had no idea when he bought those tickets back in December that he would be taking me to see one of my Broadway faves perform LIVE! It was awesome and a big highlight!

Church was awesome yesterday morning. We talked about finances in Sunday School and then in church Pastor Gregg started his 3-week series on the End Times. I've learned so much already!

Yesterday afternoon I cooked lunch, took a 2 hour nap, went to the gym, went to Academy (blah), went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, and cleaned the house. It was a good day!

And it was a GREAT weekend!

Hope

Ya know, people are going through some stuff. I feel like everywhere I turn, somebody is going through something. I feel like I am giving everyone the same piece of advice (myself included) again and again. Sometimes life is a bummer. And sometimes, stuff just really ain't fair! So, for all of you who are going through some kind of something awful, allow me to encourage you:

IT'S GONNA GET BETTER. I promise you it will. There is a reason, there is a purpose. This too shall pass. Your Father in heaven loves you, and He truly wants what is best for you. More importantly, He knows what is best for you. You need to trust Him. I know you think you're super smart and you've got it all together, but you don't. He knows better than you and you've gotta let Him run His show and prove to you how much He loves you!

What you must remember is that even if it is unclear right now, the Lord really is going to just floor you with how amazing His plans are. A little down the road, all of this will come together and make sense and you are going to be sitting there going "Oh.... I see. Thanks for doing that.".

Things are going to get BETTER for you! You are being chosen to receive an even GREATER BLESSING!! In the words of Beth Moore, "Sister, you are not being picked on. You are being picked out!".

My friends, pray for wisdom. Pray for guidance. Pray for His will to be done, no matter how painful it is. He has plans for you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.

Do not allow the evil one to have control over your situation. He finds you in your most vulnerable, miserable, hopeless state and preys on you. He is prowling like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Flee. Flee from him. You can choose to believe in the hope to which you were called. You are filled with the Spirit. You can see past all the depressing here and now. You can rejoice for the blessings that are coming your way!

Jesus has always been faithful to you! He has never let you down before. If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it. He is not going to bring you to something painful and then just leave you there to fend for yourself. Look for Him in that dark place. He is there with you. It just feels so dark sometimes that you forget that He is in the room. He's there. He never left. Ask Him for help.

There is a beautiful Sara Groves lyric that comes to mind:

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me.

I want to encourage you, my sisters, to rejoice. Rejoice because it's going to get better. Rejoice because you are filled with hope. Rejoice because you can choose to believe Him and believe that He isn't leaving you here in this place. Rejoice because it's gonna get better.

And, if nothing else, simply rejoice because you are a daughter of God and He has cleared your name. He has cleared your way. He has gone before you and master-planned this whole life of yours.

Trust Him, sister.

Movies, Monopoly, Music Awards

Alrighty, I guess it is time to do a bit of a weekend recap!

Friday Night- We went to go see Pink Panther 2 with our friends, the Lloyd's. The movie was so silly. Totally Steve Martin.

Saturday Morning- I woke up and went to my hair appointment. I got my haircut and Troy put in some highlights. Ya'll, my hair is blonde on top. Seriously, there are blonde highlights in my hair. And when I say blonde, I mean BLONDE. It is super fun and really different. I kinda have a panic attack every morning when I look in the mirror for the first time cause I keep forgetting that they are there!

Saturday Afternoon- Baby Shower! My mom hosted a baby shower for my cousin B'linda at her house and it was just lovely. I got to see alot of people I haven't seen in awhile and it was so fun to celebrate the upcoming arrival of little Isobel!

Saturday Evening- GAME NIGHT! Our Sunday School class had a game night and it was too fun. I spent the first half of the evening playing Scattergories, and the last half of the evening playing a game of SceneIt, Friends version. My team won :) Grant spent the ENTIRE evening playing a game of Monopoly. Monopoly never sounds fun to me and no one ever looks like they are having any fun playing it! Grant won after 3 hours. Blaaah.

Sunday Morning- Up and out the door to church! In Sunday school we learned about family relationships and establishing boundaries. Then, in church, Pastor Gregg taught about Living a Life of Love. He talked about how people should know that we are Christians by our love. It is though God's agape love that we can love others with phileo, or brotherly love. It was a great message.

Sunday Afternoon- Our class went to Mission Burrito for lunch. It was there that the girls decided that we should all go see He's Just Not That Into You. This movie had funny parts and some cute moments, but all in all I disagreed with alot of it. Does anyone else think that Scarlett Johannson ALWAYS plays the hoochie in every movie she does?!

Sunday Evening- I made spaghetti, we watched the Grammy's (people are weird, ya'll) and then I cleaned the house till I couldn't stay awake any longer!

Best Dressed at the Grammy Awards:

Carrie Underwood

Worst Dressed at the Grammy Awards:
Rapper M.I.A. I don't care how pregnant you are, no one should've let her do this!

And here we are, back at work. The next 2 days should be fairly easy since the 2 attorneys that I work for the most are in San Antonio at a conference! Woo hoo! :)

Have a great week, friends!

February Fun

This morning I was on my way to work when I saw some brake lights ahead of me. It looked like there was a minor fender bender. No one looked hurt and the 2 men were both exchanging information. However, I was in a big hurry and needed to get to work. Of course, NO one from the other lanes would let me over to get away from the accident. I put on my blinker, stuck my "nose" out there and kept hoping a kind soul would let me in.

Two to three minutes went by it seemed before I FINALLY saw someone flash their lights and wave their hand to "come on in!". I waved my hand in a very cheery way and said THANK YOU!! It was then that I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that the kind soul who let me in was none other than my darling husband Grant. :) That's why I love him! (And if he had driven by without letting me in he would've gotten a sassy phone call from me!)

Anyways, I am still a bit out of sorts. I have been sick as a dog. I was in bed all day Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I had a fever of 101.3. That was NOT fun but thankfully my Katie brought me some gatorade and made it all better! Monday I finally went to the doctor. Turns out I have bronchitis and a sinus infection. I got lots of fun medicine and got back to work yesterday. I feel a bit too drugged up to be at work but no one has really seemed to notice. I guess I always act goofy! :)

I spoke with Ronda for quite awhile yesterday and she and Chase are both home resting. Praise the Lord! I was expressing to her how amazing it is that it is February now- and that THIS MONTH is the month that she and Chase will become parents! I am beside myself with joy! All of these babies are coming into my life. I am so beyond blessed to be an aunt.

In other news, I am enjoying American Idol this season and have already picked out a few favorites.

Bikini girl is not one of them.