Unintentional Blause

I have found myself in the middle of a Blause. In case you are wondering Blause = blog pause...a word I made up that means everything related to blogging has been put on the back burner... Other made up words that could work are blacation, (blog/vacation) or blazy (blog/lazy)

It's been approximately two months since my last blog post and since i've even considered logging into blogger to read through my ginormous blog roll... and I sort of have an excuse...life has been crazy busy. I know, I know...everyone's life is busy but all you fabulous people blog and read an comment with fervor! I fail. and I'm OK with that. There are only so many hours in a day and I found myself feeling the burden of blogging rather than enjoying my blogging so I went forth with things that made me feel like this :) and not this :(

Here are a few reasons why i haven't blogged...

At the end of March my boss at work moved on to greener pastures so things at work became a mad house. Exciting and fun, but a mad house none the less and that left me with little to no creative energy in my downtime for writing.

On Easter Sunday I staged a massive dinner party at my house with 14 adults and a massive adult Easter egg hunt complete with prizes like movie theatre gift certificates, wine, coffee and tons of candy. I, lamely, have zero photos of this, but here is a cute picture of my niece on Easter!

Participated in a worship confrence at my church and got to have sushi with the Hannah and Megan!

Got a new white iPhone - sha-wing!

Had to take willow to the Emergency Vet because of a scuffle over food with another dog.

Willow at the vet with a bloody eye. She pulled through just fine!

Went to Atlanta for an awesome e-mail marketing conference where I saw Richard Blaise do a cooking demo, met Gary Vaynerchuck, and stayed at a sweet hotel! Oh, and I learned a lot, too. :)

Liquid nitrogen shakes at Richard Blaise' Restaurant in Georgia.

Richard Blaise doing his thing with Liquid Nitrogen at the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta.

2nd row listening to Gary Vaynerchuck speak at the client summit.

Had an amazing mexican feast/mexican train triple date.
 


Went to Washington D.C. for Michael family vacation where we ate amazing french food, rode segways, toured many museums, saw the national cathedral, saw charm city cakes, went to a baseball game, and got burnt by the pool.

Being nerds on our segway in front of the white house in DC.

A nun in the National Museum of Art.

The Capitol!

A baseball game in Baltimore

The national cathedral.

Enjoying dinner at La Forchette the French Restaurant in DC!

All that to say, I haven't given up on my blog. I've just been busy living life. I will still write here...things just might be slow for a little while.

Presence

God's presence is the only thing that matters to me. He's always there, but I've been more aware of it in recent days.

I smelled him on Friday night while Josh lit up the grill for juicy burgers and ice cold beer with friends at our cozy little condo. Hot pink and orange sunset sky as our back drop.

I felt him smiling down on me while I cuddled with willow and hubs Saturday morning with sun streaming in our window and tasted Him in a perfectly cooked green pepper, onion and cheddar cheese omelet washed down with iced coffee.

I felt His love and provision in a diligent husband's turbo taxing for 5+ hours.

I hugged Him in my visiting little sister, if even for a brief passing-through visit on Saturday night.

I snuggled Him in my nephew Chris reading book after book before bed time, knowing that we were both heavy-lidded and ready to sleep, but loved the time so much that we re-read a christmas pop-up book 4 times in a row.

He strolled down a lamp lit main street on a late-night date with me and my lover. Pizza on a patio. precious pieces of our history woven together by moonlight and spontaneity.


He filled a Church building with the glory of His presence as we celebrated the VICTORY we have in the cross. Swells of thankful incense burning from the lips and hearts of the saints.

He is soaking my life right now and i'm overwhelmed. Let's your cloud rest and stay on my life, Holy Spirit. I'm in love.

Holy Cardiac Arrest

There's an increase coming
I can feel it in the wind
swirling presence inside
that wraps around my skin

I crawl with desire
reveal the secrets of your heart
put your handprint upon me
Shape me into what you want

You see
stars in my eyes
the plans you have
brightly they shine
I can't contain
this Love so divine
cause your ways are
higher than mine

all my plotting and scheming
have been (w)hol(l)y wrecked
your seal is upon me
all my dreams now connect

Take scalpel to sternum
cut open my chest
put your Spirit inside me
holy cardiac arrest

You see 

stars in my eyes

the plans you have

brightly they shine

I can't contain

this Love so divine

cause your ways are

higher than mine

Mish-Mash Life Update

I think the weather is sucking my creativity. I haven't felt inspired to write for about 2 weeks. So much is going on, but none feels worthy of an entire blog post...so rather than continue sporadic posts i'm breaking the silence with a family-fireside chat/a life update.

A Visit with the Fanchers

Last weekend my good friend Natalie came down to Nashville for a visit with her husband Ryan. Natalie and I were both music majors at Anderson University and were never super close until senior year when we decided on a whim to be roommates. Best. Decision. Ever. We have so many great memories from our last year of college, planning weddings, watching friends, drinking Oliver's Finest (my first introduction into the world of wine...now i'm ashamed to say how much I loved it cause it's so sweet!) eating real-ha, singing "your no good" at the top of our lungs till 2 in the morning and so much more. Josh and Ryan became friends that same year as a result of the mayhem.

Natalie and Ryan are expecting their first baby so we spent some time oooing and ahhhing over her adorable prego belly and the rest of the weekend was a completely relaxing playing games (Euchre, Scattegories and Clue) shopping, talking and eating. The good life.

Time Alone

A couple weeks ago (March 16 - 19) Josh went to New Orleans for an ESL conference with his sister so I had a little down time by myself. Now, i know this is going to sound bad, but I actually enjoy time at the house when Josh is gone.

Things stay cleaner. I get the computer all to myself and don't have to feel bad about sitting in the comfy office chair while watch Hulu. I get to sleep with my legs and arms all sprawled out and willow snuggled against me and not in her usual Josh chin-chest nook. I eat 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. I play my guitar as loud as I want without feeling like i'm interrupting Josh's work or reading. I find myself talking to the dog more than a normal person should. I sing opera while washing the dishes. I blare music at ridiculous decibels. I light all the candles in the house and sometimes forget to blow them out before going to bed.

But near the end, I start to ache for josh's scruffy beard and sweet kisses. I start to realize that life without him is fun for a little while, but if I were to continue on with my home-alone routine i could quickly turn into that crazy-loud lady that smells like incense and always has jelly on her face, so I welcome him back with a clean house and hugs galore. He does, in fact, make me a better person in the end and I love him dearly for that.

Bowling

This past Sunday, Josh and I went bowling with some friends. I'm pretty sure my 4 year old nephew got a better bowling score than me. Granted he had a little help from one of those metal bowling ball roller thingys, and his dad...but that's still pretty impressive. 

 

Women's Retreat

This weekend i'm leading worship at the Franklin Vineyard Women's Retreat. Last year the the retreat was only one night and went by VERY fast. This year we are all skipping regular church on Sunday and having a fun two-night outing complete with time to soak in the Lords presence, spend time with other women, hear testimony and minister to one another.  I'm feeling expectant for God to show up.

I think 2011 has big things for our church body and I know the women will play a vital role during this season. I'm praying that God will be able to use me (and my very limited guitar skills) to open up hearts during worship. Allowing ladies to be tender, vulnerable and able to receive a fresh revelation of His love, peace, grace, and mercy during the retreat and beyond. (is it just me, or did that last part sound like buzz lightyear?)

What are you all getting into this weekend? How's life going. 

Angry Bird Lessons

6.5 hours in the 3rd row and very back seat of a mountaineer with Willow on my lap and my 4 year old cute-as-a-button-but-full-of-energy nephew, Chris by my side.

Chris loves to ask questions. Let me rephrase that, Chris loves to ask repeated questions that are basically the same but with slightly different wording, hoping he will get a different answer.

"Can I play Angry Birds on your phone?"
"Not right now Chris, I don't want the battery to die at the beginning of the trip." (what Chris didn't realize is that I had just charged my phone all day before we left for the sole purpose of ME playing Angry Birds as a distraction from the 6.5 hour trip.)
"Do you have any other games I can play?"
"Sure, let's put this airplane together that we got in your Kids Meal."
"What about on your phone? Do you have any other games on your phone?"
"Same answer as before, Chris. I don't want the battery to die right now. Maybe later."

15 mins of more questions pass.
"Are we almost to mo-hi-o?"
"No, we still have about 6 hours left"
"What's an hour?"
"An hour is 60 minutes"
"What's a minute?"
"Well...a minute is 60 seconds which is this...One mississippi"
"A second isn't very long."

and on and on...until...

"Can I play Angry Birds on your phone?"
*sigh* "Sure."

Commence sticky fingers rubbing all over the screen of my iTouch and me learning the childhood lesson of sharing all over again.

A bit later we discovered mommy (aka my older sister) also had Angry Birds on her phone so we could both play. I could finally satisfy my addiction to those pissed off birds. About 30 mins in and I'm working hard on level 16 of the first episode which seems next to impossible to beat...

"Argh!" I half grunt/sigh/slightly shout when I miss that darn pig for the 1,029,568th time.
"What's wrong Aunt Katherine?"
"Oh, I'm just frustrated at the game."
"Why?"
"Well...i can't seem to beat this level."
"You shouldn't get mad at games. They aren't real life."

oh. my. gosh.
Complete words of wisdom from a 4 year old with doe eyes to this 26 year old with a competition problem.

"You're totally right, Chris. It won't happen again."
"Aunt Katherine, did God make my spiderman mask?"

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"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."

1 Corinthians 1:27