Be My Valentine

My mom was in town last week and stayed with me for two nights. The first night we did dinner with Molly in Hilliard, and the second night Molly came to Grandview and we went to Grandview Cafe. It was nice having Mama J in town during her conference even though we got nothing productive done. I had wanted to make cake balls, but we got home from dinner too late. Maybe I'll do them on my own.

On Thursday, I went downtown to meet Mom for lunch. She was at a conference and had told me that there were lots of cute guys there. So of course, I went. Well, they must have all left or gotten married over night, because I did not see one cute, single guy in the facility. But, I did get a Chipotle quesadilla with free parking, so that was worth the trip!

We did walk around at the trade show for a little bit. At a microscope stand I tried to guess what this image was. I am stumped. I'm still stumped. It's something magnified. I am still trying to figure it out and cannot. They were supposed to send an email out with the answers, but so far I haven't gotten anything? Any guesses?  Update: It's the hologram off a VISA card.

The Ohio Department of Transportation also had a driving simulator that Mom did. It was a texting and driving thing to show you that you SHOULD NOT text and drive. Well she failed miserably. She actually quite before it was done.

Friday night I got a good workout in at the gym. My goal was to kickstart my habit of going every day again. I thought the weekend would be a good time since I didn't have anything Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Well, it didn't work. I'll try again this week.

Friday night I went skiing again with friends. My third trip this winter. I can't express how much I love skiing. I can't even believe at one time I didn't enjoy it and wanted to quit so many years ago. Besides the big jumps and the trick things in the snowboarder park , there isn't really anything that I'm too scared of doing. All night I kept saying I was going to go down this really steep drop off from the lift area and I finally did it on my last run. On that run I also went off a baby ramp and got just a little bit of air. But then I crashed and burned. At least I fell gracefully? (not true!).

Only pic I took that night.

Saturday morning I woke up kind of late, but quickly got up and ready to volunteer a few hours at the animal shelter. I'd been talking to my coworker who also volunteers there and just felt the need to do something productive other than lay on my couch all day. Plus it was Valentine's Day and I wanted to share some love by giving back, even if it was to felines.

When I pulled into the parking lot I almost didn't stop. I had this thought of "I am 29 years old and spending my Valentine's Day as a single lady at a cat shelter. This is what my life will always be like. I can't do it!!" Cue mini crisis.

But I went ahead and parked. Since I got there at 11 and the cleaning takes place from 8-12am, most everything was already done! I cleaned all the windows and sliding glass doors throughout the facility. And petted a lot of cats! So I was just there for an hour. But I got to see my favorite feline - Stella. She was one of my favorites when I volunteered there for class last year at this time and my coworker always updates me on here. She's a fluffy, grey and white really shy cutie. She never lets anyone hold her, but somehow I always could when I visited. I always said I was going to adopt her when I got my own house if she was still there. Well, that can't happen now because she got adopted this weekend. I am equally happy and sad. When I tried to snuggle with her on Saturday she hissed and growled at me. She must have turned on the charm later in the day. I had no intentions of going on Saturday and then almost didn't go inside, but I really think God was putting it on my heart to 1. volunteer and give back and 2. say goodbye to my little Stella! He knew she was getting her forever home that weekend.

Go ahead and think crazy cat lady thoughts right now. It's fine.I know.

This is Dagwood and he likes to nurse your arm. #presh

A horrible picture of Stella, but it was the last time I saw her.

Saturday afternoon I did nothing. I watched tv and ate ice cream from the container. But what I did not do is have a pity party because I was single on Valentine's Day. (I wrote this post for my work blog on how to survive if you're single on V-tines Day.) I sent messages to a lot of my friends wishing them a HVD and got some cute pictures back of my nieces and nephew. I even got a gift in the mail from my friend Lauren and a few cards.

Later that evening Molly came over and we went to Bob Evan's for our Valentine's Dinner. That girl knows my love language. We had a great dinner and it was topped off with not one, not two, but THREE stretch limos in the parking lot! At Bob Evan's. We were cracking up every time one more pulled in.

Best Valentine a girl could ask for! #BAE #GMLS

Sunday I went to church and listened to a sermon on changing the world. We can't change everything at one time. We can't save everyone from everything. BUT we can change a little at a time and if we just save one person, it's better than none. It wasn't my favorite sermon, but one that I needed to hear.

That afternoon I was a cleaning machine. Scrubbed, mopped, rolled (to get ride of the cat hair) and everything in between. That evening Molly came over (again! :) ) and we watched The Bachelor and because she'd been outside all day working and was nice and cozy on my couch, she stayed. And right after I went to bed I got this goodnight text from her. Love my little sister. :)

 

My little Valentine.

Now it's the start of a busy, busy week with something every evening. Sigh. I'm really looking forward to Wednesday night. Molly and I are sorting prom dresses for Fairy Goodmothers. Service and fancy dresses, sign us up!!

A Busy Life

Somehow we're a third of the way thru the month of February. How did that happen? The last few weeks have been so full of fun stuff that it just makes time fly by. Although I am still making sure I get one night of 'me time' to just be at home. Do I actually do anything while I'm home...sometimes. I've been trying to read more and one night I actually did all of my laundry. Every. single. piece. of. clothing....although you'd never know by looking at my bedroom floor right now. womp. womp.

A few weeks ago my mom, sis and I went to Amish Country, up in good 'ole Berlin, Ohio for a "Pajama Party." All of the shops in the town were open from 7-9am (some opened at 6am) and in order to get these awesome discounts, you had to be in your pajamas. So we went craft shopping at 6am in our pajamas. Mom and Molly stopped at Target to get new jams, but I just washed my favorite script Ohio pajamas I got for Christmas a billion years ago and added my robe. Yes, I wear that gray robe every day. It makes me feel like I have my life together when I get up and put on a robe before making breakfast. 

I didn't get anything at the first craft place we went to, but Molly got stuff to make a quilt and Mom got some felt projects to work on.

6am at the quilt shop

We also went to two other stores before everything closed at 9am. I got a cute dress at the Village Gift Barn that I thought for sure was going to be $100+ but when I looked at the tag it was only $34 and I got 25% off cause I was in my jammies. Score!

After we went back to the hotel and took a nap, we went antique shopping! The first place we went to I got a little glass nativity set like the one below. I have been looking for a nativity set that I liked and thought fit with my 'style'. And then I felt guilty because I was focusing on what it looked like instead of the meaning behind it. BUT as soon as I saw this one I knew it was the nativity set for me.

Not actually mine, but what it looks like.

We went to a few different antique places. I also got an "Ohio" glass that's going in my office and a mirror that I spray painted and added to my office wall. It's the perfect addition because it's in the shape of a "Block O". Molly got a few pieces of wall art for her apartment and Mom got a few more tea cups and saucers for her collection and two vintage license plates - one each for the years she and my dad were born.

I really wish this was an Ohio bracelet. Currently searching online for one!

We also visited Lehman's Hardware and I could have spent 12 hours looking at all of the things in that store!

And just because I thought it was so funny, I found Bowie's stuffed animal twin while in the toy department. No, I did not buy it. And yes, sometimes Bowie sends out snapchats. She's so vain.

 

We had a little Super Bowl watch party at a pub near my house. I was not invested in the Super Bowl at all this year. I don't like the Patriots AT ALL and some of the attitudes of the Seahawks made me not want them to win either, so I was clearly there for the commercials and halftime show. I even went home after the halftime show finished. And did not turn the TV on when I got home.

Kayla was excited that they passed out free mugs to everyone.

I loved the halftime show. I think Katy Perry can be a little out there, but I like entertaining shows and I'm not a fan of the halftime shows where they just stand and sign slow songs. Give me something exciting!

She rode in on a tiger!!

The beginning of last week I was busy with Bible Study, I donated blood one day (I'm becoming a regular), spent an evening with Molly at her apartment watching tv and just being sisters when I should have been doing dishes or something.

Thursday night was a busy night. I ran from one meeting to the next, caught up with my former co-workers for drinks, went to a fraternity exec meeting, and finally met Alicia at Newport for a concert. I had no idea who the guy was that was signing, but it was fun to be out with her and Molly. We danced and avoided creepers and then headed for a few drinks after the show, ended up staying way too late. The next evening we were both asleep before Dateline even got into the storyline because we were so tired. #oldpeoplestatus

Friday evening I had a scholarship dinner for the Fraternity after work. It was a very nice event that one of our alumni hosted. Because I was exhausted from the night before, I headed home as soon as dinner was over.

They all clean up well. 

All day Saturday was the fraternity's alumni event. I took pictures at it, but it's just a punch of them sitting at tables listening to each other talk. haha. Nothing interesting. But again, nice to see guys I went to college with and the ones that I've advised and have graduated over the past few years that come back for the event.

After that event I went with a group to a confirmation for one of the boys. I'd never been to a Catholic confirmation before so it was interesting and it made me happy to see so many of the fraternity guys come to support Zach.

My hair....I need something done to it. I'm hating it these days.

Later that night Molly and I met up with some friends and ended up going downtown. She hadn't ever been to the bars downtown before, so it was a fun night out.

Sunday was catching up on all the sleep that I'd lost on Thursday and Saturday nights. Molly and I went home and had dinner with the family, took a long walk/hike thru the fields and woods around the farm. We even climbed up in the deer stand that someone illegally put in one of the trees. Rude.  We also spent some time with our darling Posey before she went to the 'spa' and then drove back to Columbus in the rain while having a good sister chat.

Mom is in town this week for a conference and is staying with me. Looking forward to a few nights at home with her while baking and crafting. I might even get the two quilts done that I have had sitting on my sewing table for two years. :)

New Years Resolutions - 1 month update

At the end of December I made 7 goals that I was going to work on this year. So now that we're one month down, here's my update!

1. Be at work on time every day. This is still a daily struggle, but I am getting better at it. Some mornings I've even been early! My biggest problem, when that stinking cat of mine comes to cuddle AFTER my alarm goes off! And of course, I can't turn her away. Ugh!

2. Cut back on 'after school activities'. I'm doing much better at this. Only going to their main meetings and not all of the smaller meetings throughout the week or I'm scheduling one on one time with people I need to talk to during my work day!

3. Sign up for a half-marathon and get to the gym. I'm going to do the Flying Pig in May, I just need to register. Getting to the gym has been a different story. When I do go I run 3 miles, so that's a plus, right?

4. No fast food. Success! I have been doing really good at this. I think I've gotten two sweet teas from McDonald's in the past month, so not bad at all. A number of times I've been in a car going through the drive-thru and I just haven't ordered.

5. No social media. All my personal accounts have been deleted or the passwords have been changed. I did log on to facebook once to see how my friend's dad was doing following a very big surgery and I can't help but get onto Scout Ponder's instagram to see her new adorable photos. This needs work.

6. Study my Bible daily. I've been doing better. I download a plan to read the Bible in 365 days. BUT I haven't started it yet. I've been doing my BSF homework every night, but sometimes I'll do two nights at once, then skip a night. But I have been filling out my daily gratitude book each day. And I've attended some great Sunday services on gratitude and service this month.

7. Be a better communicator. I've also been doing really good on this. Telling someone the truth when it would be easier to just ignore them, or fessing up when I did something wrong - whether it's to my boss or my sister. I've been doing it and it feels nice!


And for giggles, here's a little convo I had with my dear friend Cara about not having our W2's yet. Please note what we both sent at the exact same time!

Baby, Rest and Fun

My week was pretty slow last week, which I was thankful for.

Tuesday I had fraternity dinner and meeting after work. Since it was an 'off' night, Tuesday instead of Monday, attendance was low for dinner, but still nice. They served ribs and we spent dinner talking about Disney World. If you ever wonder what is discussed at fraternity dinners, I'm guessing Disney World would not be your pick, but that's what we talked about. Many of the guys had been there before. Some hadn't. Some never want to go there. But it was still fun. The meeting was great and I'm super excited for the next calendar year and to see all the big things they're going to do. I watched the end of the State of the Union address when I got home, but then fell asleep on my couch. It's a horrible habit I've picked back up these days.

Kayla brought this Georgetown Cupcake to me from DC! Yum!

Wednesday I didn't do anything after work. Literally. I read. I watched Chicago PD and again, probably fell asleep on the couch. I didn't have plans to do anything on Thursday night either, but then little Miss Millie was born early Thursday morning, so Molly and I made a trip to the hospital to see this beautiful baby and her lovely mama (and Corey, too!). I have no pictures of Jess, but I hope if I ever have kids that I look as good as she does 12 hours post delivery.

Little baby Millie.

Millie was born on the birthday of my friend Erin's grandma, who passed away 10 years ago. Her name was also Millie. So it was a nice coincidence provided by God that made us all smile.

Friday night I caught up with a few college friends for happy hour and then visited with one of my bosses from my last job over dinner. I was in bed by 9:15pm. Actually in my bed, too. I slept for about 12 hours. It was glorious!

On Saturday morning Molly, Kayla and I went to Ohio Stadium to celebrate the Buckeyes' National Championship. It was cold, but it wasn't that cold. I wore my new Kenneth Cole black puffy coat that I got at the blue Macy's store closing sale! Love that coat! (I also love that Macy's and am SO SAD it's closing.) The celebration was fun.

I love this graphic from before the ceremony. And then while Zeke was up there!

I tried to do the Sam Ponder/Erin Andrews high ponytail. No, not happening.

Here comes the team.

Our selfie with Zeke.

Saturday afternoon I was so productive. I did tons and tons of laundry. Basically washed everything in my apartment - dirty clothes, sheets, blankets. And then I folded it and put it all away! haha. Later that evening I was invited to go skiing at Mad River Mountain and after turning down the offer a few times, I decided to go. And I'm so glad I did because it was so much fun. I was really feeling it though on Sunday and Monday. For the most part I did good skiing, probably had the least falls in the group, but I had a few wipeouts when I went over some ramps, including one really embarrassing one in the terrain park. And then one when I was just skiing on flat ground to get to the car. I have no idea how that happened. And because my iPhone does this great thing where it shuts off when it's cold, I have no pictures from that evening.

I've gone skiing twice in the past week. More than the last 6 years combined! And I just love it! I wish it wasn't so expensive and I wish Ohio had bigger resorts so it didn't only take you two minutes to get down the hill.  Buying skis might be next on my list of 'items to save for'. So we shall see. 

Snoozing with my girl.

Sunday Molly and I went home for the day to visit the family. Dad has been cooking something new in the crockpot every Sunday and this week it was meatloaf. It was so good! I used to hate meatloaf, but now I love it! Although, I do think it's one of those meals you make for a lot of people to eat and I'm just one person and would be eating it for weeks. We also visited with Payton and Avery for a few hours about prom dresses and ACL surgeries and got caught up on the latest high school gossip. Then we went to hang out with Mam, Papaw, and Uncle Randy for a few hours. I love visiting them because we giggle and laugh so much. Most of the time I'm laughing because Mam will start laughing so hard she'll be crying. I'm so blessed that I can visit with them and we have such a good time at their house. I need to start doing it more often. In college I talked to Mam on the phone almost every single day. I had a lot of down time in between classes then. Now I talk to her about once a week. I don't want to call too late, which is usually when I get home from work.

Monday I woke up to lots of snow. And very sore muscles from skiing and the insanity workout I did over the weekend. Thank goodness I had a chiropractors appointment on the calendar for Monday morning!

And also, I found out one of my good friends is expecting a baby! I wish she'd update her blog a little more often now so I can stay up to date on what's going on! :)

Got a new postcard for my board at work!

Three Day Weekend

I had a three day weekend since my work observed Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday. A three day weekend after being back to school for a week was welcomed!

Friday evening I went to see Gone Girl! Finally! I had read the book back in the Spring before I knew it was going to be a movie and marked October 4 on my calendar to go see it the night it was released into theaters. Well, wouldn't you know, here it is almost 4 months after it was released and I just saw it. It was actually released to stores the same day I saw it at the 'dollar theater'. 

It was such a good movie. It was very close to the book. There is only one park I remember being a little different, but since I read the book so long ago, I'm not even sure if what I remember happening in the book, actually happened. 

And then I caught up on some Dateline when I got home from the movie. And fell asleep on my couch. That's been a real problem lately! 

Saturday day I babysat for two cuties. They're getting ready to become big sisters any day now, so while Mom and Dad had one last date, we had a 'picnic' (on my dining room table, so basically a normal lunch) and baked cookies. 

 

Bowie was not sure of this little person who kept yelling "kitty cat" and chasing after her.

I may have taught them to take selfies back during the fair. Whoops.

My mom got them aprons for christmas a while back, so they brought them to wear.

Someone just liked to eat the icing right from the spoon. :)

While someone else liked to use a lot of sprinkles in decorating!

The girls were at my house for around 4 hours. Before they left the older one said she didn't want to go. I guess they had a good time! I was also not supposed to show the above pictures to their parents because they 'want to come back and bake again.'

It wasn't all joys, they also told me I needed to go to their mamaw's house and take baking lessons because she makes the icing with ingredients. Or basically, I bought a can of icing and that did not work. BUT Mamaw doesn't let them eat a cookie and lick the icing spoon! So I got that on her...

Saturday night I went to the Miranda Lambert concert with Molly and a few friends. It was a last minute plan, but ended up being a lot of fun. We had a good view of the stage and great company too. Justin Moore opened for her and RaeLynn (whoever that is) opened for Justin. I ran into a lot of people from Piketon, but no one that I knew from Columbus. 

Our view.

With Molly Beth post concert.

 Molly's birthday was Sunday, so we also celebrated her birthday too with a little outing. It was pretty casual, but nice to be with fun friends.

On Sunday, Mom came to town and we went out to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse for Molly's birthday and then to the mall. We also had ice cream cake! Yum. Then later that night I went to visit my college roommate who was in town for a nieces birthday. We watched the Patriots/Colts game with her family and I got some baby snuggles in because there were plenty of little ones there to snuggle with! :)

On Monday, Molly and I continued her birthday celebrations and went skiing. We have been talking about doing this for years and we finally just did it. I love skiing. I wish I had my own pair of skis so I could go more often. I also wish we lived closer to a bigger resort because I felt like we spent more time waiting on the lift than we did actually skiing. Maybe another time we can go somewhere else bigger.

Our first run was a little shakey, but after that, we were pros. I did a large ramp like thing (didn't jump or actually ramp, just went over it) and we both went down a black diamond...well, an Ohio black diamond. So my skills came back pretty quickly.

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn and Picaboo Street

I capped off the long weekend by working in the children's ministry at Bible Study. It wasn't my best experience with that, but it does make me realize how much more about God I have to learn because these kids know SO MUCH! And it confirms that I want my children to be involved in Bible study. :)

2014 Goals: How I Did

I made my resolutions for 2015, but forgot to go over what I completed from my 2014 goals.

Things that are definite on the calendar for 2014:

• Visiting DC in early January for a late Christmas with the nieces. I visited DC and spent a weekend with the girls. We didn't get to go to the Children's Science Museum because it rained and iced, but we had a good time. 
• Long weekend trip to Florida to visit Erica. I did go to Florida. Even went to Tampa where she lives! BUT she was in Ohio while I was there. 
• Spending the 4th of July in Washington DC on the mall! Spent the holiday in our nation's capital and had a great time. Fireworks on the lawn are a definite must for everyone.

Things I want to do during 2014:

• Go skiing. Well this didn't happen again in 2014. Maybe 2015 will be the year.
• Run at least 8 5K's this year (one more than 2013), the Big 10K in Chicago, and possibly run another half marathon. I did run another half marathon, but I only did three 5K's. 
• Chaperone the PHS trip to Washington DC in June with Molly. They didn't go. 
• Get a new stamp in my passport. Didn't leave the USA. 
• Chaperone the study abroad trip to Honduras in May. Didn't go on this either. 
• Go ziplining at Hocking Hills or the Wilds. Didn't do this either. 
• Pay off my student loans before 2015. I'm down to $900!
• Take the GRE. Apply to the HESA graduate program in December. I did both of these!
• Cook more instead of eating out/plan out weekly meals. I still ate out a lot. Trying again in  2015. 
• Pack my lunch at least 4 days a week. I did good at this sometimes. 
• Go to the gym BEFORE work at least 4 days a week. I didn't do this. 
• Never drive with my gas light on. Definitely didn't do this. Even ran out of gas once and had to have AAA come bail me out.
• Have at least one "me night" per week. Did much better at this.
• Go to church every Sunday. I did much better at this too and went fairly often. 
• Spend more time volunteering and giving to others. I did this more often, especially at Colony Cats for my class project, but still need to do it on a regular basis.
• Get my Bible study lesson done each week before class on Monday. There were very few weeks when I didn't have it done. 
• Continue to work on me - doing things out of my comfort zone, speaking up when I feel the need to, basically have no regrets about not doing something. And continue to trust God that he has a plan for me and I shouldn't be worried. :) I did this some, then maybe forgot for a while, then remembered. :)

Buckeyes are National Champions

If you pay attention to college football at all, then you know that the Ohio State Buckeyes won the National Championship last night. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, we are #1! Thank you playoff system!

If you don't pay attention to college football, just know this - everyone gives Ohio State a hard time about being 'overrated.' We aren't as good as the SEC teams. "Even the worst SEC team is better than the best Big Ten team" they say. Well, WRONG! Ohio State is the best team in the country. We beat the top ranked Alabama team and we beat the #2 Oregon team. We would have beaten Florida State and TCU if we had to play them too! Go Buckeyes!!

I didn't go to Dallas for this game like I went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. As much as I would have loved to have been there, I'm ok that I didn't drain my savings to go. A face value ticket for this game for faculty/staff was more than what I paid for my ENTIRE trip to NOLA two weeks ago. I can't even justify spending that money.

So instead of being in sunny Texas (just kidding, it was 30 there yesterday), I watched the game with friends at a local pub. It was great to be together with college friends again. :) And it was even better to see them under exciting circumstances.

Molly and Cara before the game started.

Sarah, Abra, and Cara during halftime.

Me and Kayla - that Badger turned Buckeye.

Late in the game (Cara is 'catching a ball as a WR')

Our game watching crew. We decided we're lucky and have to get together for every game.

Oh Urban. Why are you making it so hard for me to not like you anymore?

I had read online yesterday that Dick's Sporting Goods was going to open after the game to sell championship merchandise if we won. So since we did win, we all headed to Dick's after we left for home and got the 'Undisputed CHAMPS' t-shirts.

We are at Dick's at 1am! Why, cause we're the camps!

I wore mine to work today, but paired it with a striped skirt and cardi. #dressycaus

Of course I went home immediately after leaving Dick's and went to bed. I missed all the ruckus around campus, but did hear about it thru social media. So I visited campus today and didn't really see anything out of the ordinary. We heard that a goal post had been torn down so Kayla and I went to investigate and sure enough it was gone!

No goal post in the South endzone!

Wearing my championship shirt in the Shoe! Go Bucks!

Now we have to wait a whole 7 months until football starts again in August. Wah! At least we've got basketball right now. I want to make it to a few games this year and attend a few Blue Jackets games too!

Bible Study

It seems like this week several of the blogs I follow posted about Bible studies they were starting or have enjoyed and I felt really encouraged to share about the bible study that I attend, as well as to invite anyone reading this to come with me! I also wrote about it a few years ago.

I started going to Bible Study Fellowship in March 2012. At the time I felt like my life was kind of a mess and I was looking for something. I had started going to church on my own and out of no where a former coworkers wife called and invited me to come with her. At first I was unsure, but I thought 'why not give it a try.' At the time I was really struggling with having close friends in Columbus and I was definitely interested in having a better and more regular church experience.

That first year was great for me. I met a few friends that were in my class and really met other girls that were going thru the same trials in life as me.

The following year (2012-2013) my friend Abra came to the first Welcome Night of the year and she also has really enjoyed it. She's still coming and we've been in class for two years now. My leader that second year was great and I had a good class that I liked visiting with once a week. this year we studied Genesis and I loved learning about the beginning of the bible.

My third year (2013-2014) my friend Jill also attended. We were all in different classes, but I still enjoyed the lessons. That year we studied Matthew, which includes the birth and death of Jesus Christ and so many other wonderful stories that I had heard thru Bible School when I was younger, but had not actually read. So it was also a great year for me. This group was a quiet group and I didn't do great about always having my lesson done ahead of time, so I do feel like I talked a lot some weeks while others I didn't talk at all.

My fourth year (this year) we're studying Moses. There are four books in the Bible that are part of Moses and we've already finished Exodus and will be wrapping of Leviticus soon and then the second half of the year will be Numbers and Deuteronomy. I absolutely LOVE my group this year and our group leader. Marcey has just been such a blessing. When she calls to check in on Sunday I don't avoid her calls and she has been such a support with a few things I've been going thru lately. For the first time ever I give her a prayer request to share with the group. I never did that before because there would only be a few from my class and I didn't want to share my struggles with other people for fear of being judged. This year I've really started opening up and sharing meaningful prayer requests - about grad school, about inviting friends and family to come to class, about having better communication with friends and especially family. I appreciate it so much that these women pray for me and I make it a goal to pray for their requests as well. Every week everyone has an A.S.K. (Ask, Seek, Knock) and it really makes me happy. And I've also been getting my lesson done ahead of time each week, so that's great too! I can feel a real difference when I'm putting Bible Study and God first in my life.

One of my New Years Resolutions is to study the Bible more. In addition to doing my BSF lesson, I've also been trying to read books with a Christian background. I just finished the Growing Up Dugger book by the oldest Dugger girls and found a lot of stuff in there that I agreed with (not everything, but some). I enjoy hearing about others walks and how once they were at the same stage that I am now and God has led them to do great things. I know that if I put my faith in him for everything, I will be blessed as well. But sometimes, it's just hard.

If you're interested in coming to a Bible Study Fellowship class with me, let me know! The class I go to is on Monday Nights at 6:55pm off Bethel Road. It goes until 8:45pm. You have a few questions to answer each day. Or you can just do them all at once. :) There are day classes around Columbus too. Visit the BSF website for a complete listing of classes in your area. I really wish Columbus had a Young Adult class. Or that we could do a fellowship with the Men's class on our same night! :) hehe.

I've never done any kind of Bible study other than BSF, so I'm thinking that this summer I might try to do a shorter study. Maybe a Joyce Meyer or Beth Moore study. Or one for single women. :)

Road Trip to the Bayou

Last week Molly, Cara, and I headed south to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I blogged about gameday and the game already.

We left after everyone got off work on Tuesday and drove to Birmingham. We all took a 2.5 shift of driving and it didn't seem to take long at all. About an hour outside of Birmingham we got on Priceline and found a good price on a nice hotel and headed that way. It was a Hilton. I just rolled in in my sweatpants and tennis shoes. No big deal.

We got up early the next morning, which was NYE and headed more south. Molly had her GoPro going and we were filming the drive down out of the front window. She also turned it around at some points and we filmed videos to Love is an Open Door (from Frozen) and Shake It Off. It was definitely a girl's road trip soundtrack. But we did break out the early 2000's rap CD's and spit out some lyrics. #wesoghetto

Roll Tide

Go Bucks!

Thank you for making houndstooth stylish on men! :)

We also stopped in Tuscaloosa, which is where the University of Alabama is. It was pretty. Not what I expected, but we didn't drive around long. We just got a few photos with the stadium in the background, cruised thru Greek Row - holy giant houses! - and got back on the road.

We arrived in NOLA and rested and then got ready for dinner. We had reservations at a restaurant in the Garden District and then planned to meet up with some friends after dinner. Before dinner Molly started to get a migrane, so we had to take her back to the hotel after dinner. By the time we got back downtown, it was 10pm, cold, parking was super expensive and we couldn't find our friends to meet up with. Total Fail. So we ended up doing a night cap at the Roosevelt Hotel, then heading back to our tiny hotel in the suburbs. We listened to Auld Lang Syne on the radio while driving on the freeway and watching hundreds of fireworks go off around NOLA.

NYE selfie

Sisters

sisters for the weekend - on bourbon

Roosevelt Hotel

Game day started out much better. Molly's migraine had passed and we were downtown by noonish. We got a great parking spot and headed to the French Quarter to walk around. We went in a few shops, but them made our way back to Bourbon Street and met up with our groups of friends. It was great to have an Ohio State tailgate experience in another state. So much fun!

Then we went to the game.

On Friday, we checked out of our hotel and picked up Abra. We went to the French Quarter got beignets from Cafe Du Monde. I didn't know what they were or if I'd like them but they were pretty tastey. Then we went to a few other shops before hopping on our carriage tour. Our tour was an hour long and took us around the French Quarter. We went to see a cemetery. Those things are weird! I cannot believe that after a year, you go back in and collect their bones and just shove them in the back of the tomb. That seems so disrespectful!

Carriage Ride

After the tour we ate at a local little place called The Market in the Garden District, we took Abra back to her hotel and then we drove around a bit more. It was raining and dark. We didn't know if we wanted to stay another night or get on the road. I was leaning more toward getting on the road, so we agreed to head to Birmingham and then stop in Nashville the next day and visit the Belle Meade Plantation there. I would have loved to go to Oaks Alley, but I was also itching to get home to have a rest day before heading back to work!


We stopped for lunch in Nashville on Saturday and then headed to the Belle Meade Plantation for a tour. It was raining, so it wasn't ideal, but it was cool to see the inside of the house and the history. We were insulted as 'Yankees' on the trip by another tourist. Ugh. But for the most part it was educational and makes me again want a giant old house to fix up and live in one day.

Best meal of the trip - BBQ!!

Belle Meade Plantation.

Wine Tasting

Then we headed on to Cincy. We made it there by 11 and back to Piketon by 12:30am!