Blown Away

I have been overwhelmed by God's greatness over the past few weeks! Every prayer that I have been praying for the past few months, God has answered in bigger and better ways than I could have EVER imagined! For work, I am consistently applying for international visas for our staff. Over the years, this has been a stressful game we play with the consulate, never knowing if they will give us the visas we want. This year, we came up with some new business platforms and God has been using them in huge ways. So far, we've applied for 33 visas and ALL 33 VISAS HAVE BEEN APPROVED!!!!! This is unheard of! We have fewer than 10 left to apply for and we're praying they all go through as smoothly as the first 33. God is blessing our efforts and we know He wants us to be doing His work internationally! Whenever I think about this, my mind can hardly grasp how incredibly these prayers have been answered. This also answers another prayer I've been praying - that God would show me more clearly my purpose for staying in Conway for a few years and my role in our overseas efforts. My Conway position allowing me to apply for these visas for our staff=my role in our overseas efforts and the reason God has me in Conway. Wow, is God great!!!!

Last week, I got to visit our Kaleo project in Destin! It was a wonderful time of seeing how the Destin project flows and of hanging out with friends at the beach. I was incredibly refreshed by my time down there! I got some great one-on-one time with close friends and got to have great convos and catch-up times with girls I haven't seen in way too long. Also, the beach is my ALL TIME favorite place on the planet, so that was a plus! I love laying in the sand, feeling the suns rays, and hearing the oceans waves. I loved my time down there and definitely didn't want to leave! Then, my expected 5 hours of travel time home turned into 12 hours, due to every possible delay you could imagine. It was good to be back in Conway once I finally got home!

This past weekend, my fam went to the lake. I spent 2 solid days laying out and got some great sun! :) The Marina had a rental boat available on Sunday so we got to go out for 4-5 hours. It was great! Second to the beach, I LOVE being on a boat on the lake! (my loves stem from laying in the sun - can you tell?!) We drove around, jumped into the 50* water by carpenter dam (felt like jumping into a glass of ICE water), and tubed.We are going to the lake again this weekend for the 4th - I'm looking forward to 3 more days in the sun!

Lastly, Cameron's wedding is LESS THAN 2 WEEKS away! Can you believe it?! It seems like not that long ago that he proposed. Where has the time gone? I am so excited for him and Andi! I'm honored to be a part of their big day. I am pumped to be adding someone so wonderful to our family!

Have a great week blogger friends!

Healthy Update

I've still been working out but I've been running less. For some reason it's getting harder. That doesn't make sense to me. But, I'm still trying for it! I've been doing the elliptical and lifting lots of weights. I can already tell a huge difference! My muscles are more toned and stronger and I've already lost a couple of inches in my waist. I am loving going to the gym every night and walking/running outside. It's so refreshing! I've been waking up at 630 every day no matter what time I go to bed - it must be from the exercise and change in energy. Because of this, I'm going to add in a morning walk. I read that 2 small workouts a day is great to boost your metabolism so I'm going to try this out. I'm going to go for a slow walk in the mornings while listening to a sermon and then do a more hardcore workout at night.

I've been cooking every night to try to avoid fried foods. This week I've had wheat pancakes, homemade pizza (best ever!), fish with asparagus and salad, and a burger with baked fries. First off, burgers are my all time favorite food ever! Second off, the pizza concoction I came up with is incredible. For the sauce, I mix pesto and alfredo. I put chicken, tomato, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese as the toppings. SO GOOD!
I used to eat super unhealthy cereals and other breakfast foods but I've also switched that up too. I now eat 1 scrambled egg and 2 pieces of turkey bacon for breakfast. If I decide for cereal, I eat Honey Bunches of Oats. I think changing my breakfast food is helping a lot too - the protein holds me over to where I don't need a morning snack. ( I read an article about this too! :))

Just for fun, here is a pic of the most comfortable pants that are so fun! They're from India!

Have a great weekend! If you need me, you can find me poolside at my apt complex :)

Nail Polish and Weddings

Here is the post of pictures I promised!

Houston We Have a Purple and Golden. This picture doesn't do justice to the left one. It's a great color! And the gold is really fun :)

These were 99 cents!! Pale yellow, bubble gum pink, orange/coral, and Cotton Candy pink. I love them!

Yep, I'm just as obsessed with nail polish as ever! I change the colors on my fingernails at least twice a week! It's the perfect accessory to change up for different events or occasions. Love it!!

Here are some pictures from last weekend's wedding festivities!

 

The bride-to-be and I at the rehearsal dinner!!!

It was so fun to see and catch up with all my Nursing School friends! We had such a great time! Macy's mom rented us a cabin for the night before the wedding. We stayed up until 2 laughing, reminiscing, and catching up. It was great!!

The view from the cabin was beautiful!

Macy was a BEAUTIFUL BRIDE!!!! I felt honored to be a part of her big day!

Also, I CAUGHT THE BOUQUET! haha. I actually ran for it - I didn't want it to hit the ground! I also caught a bouquet in October and nothing as happened...so we'll see if anything comes from this one. Here's to hoping!

Post of Pictures complete! Hope you enjoyed it! Soon, I'll have some BEACH pictures to post! SO EXCITED!

Joyful Days

Brooke and Christy, this is for y'all!! :)

I feel like there is a common theme out in blogger world right now.....a long hiatus with no motivation to restart because it's overwhelming. Well, I'm back (hopefully I'm back and more consistent!). A lot has happened over the past 2 months so I'll give you a recap.

I ended up doing the Daniel Fast/Diet for about 3 weeks. I welcomed back meat, dairy, coffee, and diet coke with wide open arms! Since I ended it, I've decided to get rid of diets and "forbidden foods" and just go with what my body feels. At this point, fried foods don't sound good (too heavy in this HEAT) and lighter, healthier foods do. So, I'll stick with what my body wants! (Sidenote: my body still wants sweets and I'm giving it what it wants in moderation!!)

I was in Tulsa at the end of April/start of May for April Staff Training. It was so great! I got to spend 5 days with StuMo staff and I loved it!! So many hours of incredible fellowship with people I don't get to see often. I love StuMo staff. I love Tulsa. After training, I stayed for a few days with Lane and Kel. Love them!

This spring, my apartment has been like a hotel - so fun! Ganson stayed with me for a few days while home on her visa run. Then, a few weeks later, Ang was home and she stayed with me! In mid-May, a few friends stayed with me over the weekend for a wedding. After that, Ellie (co-worker/friend) stayed with my for a few nights en route to Kaleo. Hospitality and guests are a goal for my apartment and it's happening! Love it!

2 weeks ago my family went floating the Caddo. All I'm going to say is.....I'm a city girl that likes nail polish, heels, and poofed hair.

Last weekend, I spent 3 days laying on the dock reading Harry Potter 6. Perfect memorial day weekend!

Yesterday, Christy and I headed up to Marshall for Macy and Zach's rehearsal dinner and wedding!!! SO FUN! Zach and Macy are such a cute couple and their wedding was so sweet. It was a cherished weekend with Kate, Macy, Brooke, and Christy as we stayed up late and caught up on life. I love these sweet friends so much! We will have a lifelong connection with each other because of our 3 years together in Nursing School.

I caught the bouquet today - I actually ran for it. I think this is the first time that's ever happened. haha. I didn't want it to hit the ground...so I ran...in my 4 inch, nude, platform heels. #lovemylife  I've caught 2 bouquets in the past 8 months - does that mean anything? Should I catch 3 within a year for something to happen?

I'm taking up jogging and LOVING it! Fine, call me insane (Christy already has :). I'm going the route of jogging until I can't anymore. Wednesday, I jogged 3 minutes (yes, I'm out of shape). Thursday, I jogged 6 minutes. Today, I jogged 8 minutes. I've never been so refreshed and energized by jogging....this time it's just different. Again, I'm just doing what my body wants. I can feel the muscles relaxing and stress being released. By the end of the day, my body wants to go for a jog.

I bought gold nail polish today. I like it a lot :) Yep...I'm still obsessed with nail polish. I'll try to add pics of new colors soon (I've probably gotten 7 since that last post! In my defense-most were on sale for CHEAP).

Cameron and Andi's wedding is 5 weeks from today. Where did the time go? I'm a bridesmaid. We're wearing black dresses in the style of my choice. I'm going to borrow from a friend - she has a few different options. I'll def update with pics after the wedding!

I made my summer development schedule for reading. I'm excited about the variety of books I'm going to read and what I'm going to learn. I've had some sweet, sweet times with God over the past few days. It's been extremely refreshing, joyful, energizing, and transforming. 

If you read all of that, you're a true friend :) If you didn't, you're still a true friend :) Now that we're recapped, I'll TRY to do a better job of updating. I'll also try to do a photo post soon of recent photo captures. Love you guys!