March Madness

It turns out March has been just about as busy as February...

I turned 25+1 on March 5th and my mom flew out for the weekend as a surprise. We ate at the Sycamore Inn, which was built in like 1914, for my birthday dinner. We didn't quite realize it was going to be as expensive as it was, but it's one of those places that are fun to go to like once a year :)

Corey surprised me by taking me to Coronado Island for a night's stay in the Hotel Del Coronado! My freshman year of college I visited San Diego with my sister for Spring Break and Coronado Island quickly became my favorite place in California. When we moved out here I immediately began pestering Corey to stay in the Del. These are just a few highlights from our wonderful getaway (there's more on facebook).
Coronado Island is in the bottom left corner (the bridge to the right is the only way to get on the Island from San Diego). The big red roof on the Island is the Del :)

The March excitement continued when my sister and her family came out for a visit :) We had a wonderful venture to the Pacific Aquarium in Long Beach, hunted down a Merry-go-round for Maggie to ride a "horse" and ate way too much :)

I thought I had more pictures of Kenny :( I realized I took several on my phone that turned out too dark, but do not mistake his lack of pictures as Corey and I not loving him as much as Mags :) He's an amazingly sweet little guy who loves everyone, even me :) Oh, and I think seahorses are way cool, that's why there's a featured pic of one :)

February, in a nutshell...

I have a very good friend (aka. Amanda:) who very sensitively told me I'm not doing a very good job of watering my blog. That was several months ago and here I am still averaging about one post a month :) I do apologize for the lack of stability in my updating. However, I feel I am somewhat justified for the recent silence. I was in Birmingham for about a week and half visiting my sister for the birth of her fourth child. Yes, that's right, I said fourth. I don't know how she is able to do life day in and day out with that many children (all under the age of five) but not only does she do it, she does it amazingly. Thatcher David Reed was born February 10th! It was so good to be there for the birth of my sixth niece/nephew and I was able to get a healthy dose of life with children :)

I also got a not so healthy dose of bronchitis from my parents just in time for me to fly back to California. This wasn't quite as easy as just hopping on my flight home though. Because I was flying standby I wasn't able to get an open seat for two days (I needed to get back in order to leave again for Chick-fil-A's annual Seminar with Corey) so I resorted to buying a one way ticket for FAR more than a one way ticket should cost :( I set off on my overpriced American Airlines journey back to Rancho Cucamonga and Corey on Friday morning only to turn around and head to San Antonio on Saturday. Oh, I forgot to mention that I started out at four in the morning throwing up and trying desperately to not get dehydrated by drinking ginger ale, only to throw it back up again (sorry, TMI). As you can imagine, not the greatest of airline traveling experiences. I seem to have a knack for those :) Our trip to San Antonio is an entirely different story...

Let's just say that Corey is not too fond of Southwest's boarding policy as we weren't able to sit next to each other on our first flight and couldn't hear The Office on the second (because of the loud hoodlems behind us). While San Antonio seems like a wonderful city, our one free afternoon was spent in the urgent care for me to get a shot of steroids and a breathing treatment (and the incorrect diagnosis of "environmental allergies", when in reality I couldn't breathe because I had bronchitis), so we weren't really able to see very much of it. The details of Seminar are too extensive to share here but we did enjoy our time there and all that Chick-fil-A provided for us.

Chick-fil-A's Seminar is where the Symbol of Success Winners are presented and honored on stage, which made this year's Seminar extra special because Corey hit Symbol! I've said this before but Symbol is when your store does a 17% increase in sales from the previous year of sales. Let me just brag on my husband for a moment by saying that we were third in the West Coast market for Sales Dollar increase from the previous year and first in the West Coast market for Sales Percentage Increase from the previous year (also, he sent me beautiful tulips and chocolate covered strawberries for V-day while I was in Birmingham...I felt like that needed to be mentioned as well:)! Our store also hit the two million milestone mark! I am very proud of the Chick-fil-A Operator Corey is becoming and looking forward to what is in store for us! Hitting Symbol also means that we get a one year lease to a brand new Ford vehicle (we get the title if we hit it again next year :).
This is what we got...

Seminar reminds me of how generous and honorable the Cathy family is. We owe them so much...Corey and I would never have met if not for WinShape and we would certainly not be where we are without Chick-fil-A. We celebrated Truett's 90th Birthday at Seminar! I honestly could not sing without crying. From this man's vision, hard work and honest living thousands of lives have been touched and changed. I cannot describe how truly grateful I am to him and his family for living their lives truly honoring our Father.

Corey and I are tremendously blessed beyond what we could imagine. It's pretty amazing to look back through your life and see how the Lord pieces the puzzle together and how evident His grace is in all our lives.

ps...I'm on antibiotics now for my sickly self. I just hope I didn't infect a large majority of the Chick-fil-A population while trying to get over my "environmental allergies".

Just a few...

If you know me at all, you know I get annoyed pretty easily. I admit it's not one of my best character traits, but at least I'm aware of it, right? Corey always says that when we pray for patience the Lord doesn't just give us patience, rather, he gives us opportunities to practice patience (pretty profound, I know ;). Anyway, here are several of my pet peeves, things that really get under my skin, things that help me practice patience ;) I know I'm not covering them all, but that's probably for the best. Here are the most prominent ones...

~ Please stop pulling out in front of me when there is absolutely no one behind me! Could you not have waited five more seconds?

~ When you carry on luggage, please put your over sized suit case directly above your seat! Those of us who don't want to get on the plane as soon as possible, only to be sitting in the seat we will be sandwiched into for the next 5 hours, have no where to put our luggage because yours has to be at the front of the plane for a quick escape! We're all getting on and off the plane, what's the rush!?!

~ Stop stealing! I seriously hate when people steal! What makes you think you can have something that's someone else's just because you want it? There is WAY too much stealing going on in the world these days!

~ Get your hands out of her back pockets! Stop the PDA! No one in their right mind wants to watch someone else make out or fondle one another, especially in person. Eww! Ps...just because your in line at Six Flags it is still not a an acceptable form of public behavior!

~ Shut your mouth! Why do people feel like they have the right to say anything they want? If you're going to talk loud enough for others to hear you, especially when there are CHILDREN around, DO NOT curse!


Now that I have had time to fully adjust to life in California, I have found that I have picked up a few more pet peeves. I suppose you could categorize these as "Californian Peeves"...

California Peeve #6 - Don't even think about someone allowing you to back out of a parking space! If someone is trying to back or pull out of parking space, let them! I don't actually know who has the right of way in this situation but come on people, have some sense of common courtesy!

California Peeve #5 - Who told motorcyclists it's okay for them to ride between cars? I'm talking about riding the line that is meant to separate and distinguish lanes. I mean, is it not a sign to anyone else that when a motorcycle passes so closely to actually reach in your open window, it might be a danger? Yes, they're small and able to maneuver quickly, but just because they're wearing helmets doesn't mean they're immune from wrecking! If you're going to ride a motorcycle (which is a terrible idea in the first place, if you want my honest opinion) be responsible (and know that these 2 ton cars the rest of us are driving are pretty hard to stop on a dime)!

California Peeve #4 - Stop wearing tights as though they are skinny jeans. I understand jeggings (for those of you who are skinny enough to make them actually look like tight fitting jeans) but no one wants to see that. Seriously, it outlines things you don't want outlined. It's not flattering, even on the skinniest of people. Tights with a shirt that does not reach beyond the lip of your butt cheeks is not a proper outfit. Put on some pants!

California Peeve #3 - A wave of gratitude might be nice! Let's say I stop and let you back out or I let you pull in front of me, please have enough decency to raise your hand in some attempt to show that you recognize the gesture!

California Peeve #2 - "Tagging", otherwise known as graffiti. Why? Why!?!

California Peeve #1 - This is a big one! My number 1 pet peeve at the moment!
Return your buggies!!! Seriously? Take thirty seconds to walk the five feet to return your shopping cart to it's proper place. Hello people! When you leave a buggy in the middle of a parking lot, you inhibit others from parking there! Let's not forget about the poor employee who has to round up all these neglected buggies! I see shopping carts all over the place. The bus stop. The entrance to our apartment complex. A street corner. The side walk. These are not proper places to leave a buggy!



I realize some of these are petty and stupid, but sometimes, I just wish people would consider others when making their day to day decisions. I know in the grand scheme of life these things really don't matter, that we are all selfish sinners and that we all need a little grace (okay a lot), just don't let me catch you not returning your buggy!

Another year gone by...

I know it's been a while, too long, since my last post. I'm still convinced my life really isn't that interesting to read about, but I've been inspired by some other blogs I follow to at least mention the year that has just ended. It has been an eventful year to say the least. A year filled with change and acclimation. I have tried to document 2010 by putting together a series of pictures that illustrate the events that stand out in my memory from each month. There are a few months I don't have pictures from, but for the most, part here was my 2010...

JANUARY

We were in Atlanta all of January for Corey's FRL Operator training so I was able to spend lots
of time with my family. I spent the better part of this month the sickest I can remember being in a long time though, so I don't have many memorable pics.

FEBRUARY

Corey graduates from FRL at the Chick-fil-A Home Office, officially making him a Chick-fil-A Operator!

Maggie Moo turns One Year Old! We were able to be at her party because of Corey's FRL training.

The Colts lose the Super Bowl...sad day.

Corey and I pack up all our belongings and move to Rancho Cucamonga, California. It was a pretty memorable trip I would say...the seats didn't recline, Peyton was secluded to a tiny space between us where she could barely lay down, we drove through several construction zones where for miles there were endless amounts of potholes and Corey and I both got incredibly sick somewhere in Oklahoma...still waiting for the day when we can look back and laugh about it.

Corey's first day as an Operator :) That's the cow they gave him when he graduated ;)

We officially own a Chick-fil-A!

We also went to Chick-fil-A's annual Seminar in Washington DC the end of February, but I have no pictures for some reason :(

MARCH
In March, Brent Linn, one of Corey's college friends came to live with us for a few weeks to help in the store as part of a program for new operators. We loved having him! We went to Disneyland but it's not documented with pictures (neither is my 25th birthday).

APRIL


Corey and I visit California Adventure!

Amanda, Allie and Sarah come for a visit for their Spring Break! So happy to have some our
first visitors! Had a blast with them, as usual!

Noah turns Five Years Old! We weren't able to be at his cowboy party though :(


MAY

Dad visits for the 2nd time! We take little trips to LA, Malibu and Temecula for some
wine tasting! Such fun and we're really expanding his horizons (before visiting us in Cali he
had never been west of the Mississippi River!).

Sutton turns One Year Old! We weren't able to be there for his party either :(

Jane Matthew turns Three Years Old! We were skyped in for her Princess Party ;)

JUNE

Molly, Jacob, Maggie and "Kenny to be" come for a surprise visit!
We were able to go to Sea World, Tom's Farms and the Dodger/Braves game ;)

Our first time celebrating Cow Appreciations Day at our own store! (this is the only pic I could find of one of us on that day;)

I meet Kris Allen on a Southwest flight to Birmingham! He was so nice! Seriously, one of the few celebrities I really ever wanted to meet! This right here, may have made my year complete ;)

Sweet Kenny is born! My third nephew...wishing I could see him more.

The Neshoba County Fair! Papa Clayton is my only living Grandparent and he is precious! We are so very thankful for him!

AUGUST
I can't really remember a whole lot about August except that it was hot is Southern California.

SEPTEMBER

My niece, Sharon, gets married in Douglasville, GA and another niece Trisha comes back into our lives. Both such special blessings from the Lord!

OCTOBER

We're home for about 2 weeks and able to go to Mountain Day in Rome and spend some wonderful time with our friends (who we miss dearly)!

Corey and I finally start making friends and we get invited to a Halloween party! We are Bert and Ernie, in case that needed some clarification (Corey's mom made these!).

NOVEMBER

We're able to go home for Thanksgiving and spend time with both our families! We celebrated Christmas together, played some Wii and took endless amounts of pictures like this to try to get a good one for mom's Christmas card (which I think she has yet to send out ;).

All of us playing baseball with Noah...he LOVES baseball and wanted nothing more than for
all of us to play together! I'm pretty confident it's now a Thanksgiving family tradition ;)

DECEMBER

Mom and Dad come out to Cali for Christmas! We ate a HUGE Christmas Eve dinner and spent Christmas afternoon with our pastor and his sweet family. It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas. My parent's and I also ventured to a place called Oak Glen, a wonderful apple orchard mountain community with some of the best cider I've ever tasted!

December brought another wonderful milestone for our store. We hit our goal of Symbol of Success, which is a 17% increase in sales from the previous year! Chick-fil-A awards the Symbol of Success winners with a brand new Ford vehicle! Ours will be cow spotted ;)
Don't worry, there will be pictures to come ;)

2010 has officially come and gone and I can't help but feel a little sadness at it's departure. Time has passed by so quickly, yet again. I know 2011 will bring new opportunities, new blessings and new challenges, but I can't help remembering all that we experienced in 2010. Corey and I officially left our family and friends and began a brand new life on the opposite side of the country. I can honestly say that I was terrified. Terrified to own our own business in an economy and a state that were rapidly withering. Terrified of being so far from all that was familiar and all the people I loved. Terrified of missing out. Those fears slowly dissipated as we began to settle in and life continued despite the fact that we were living life in a completely different place. Corey and I came to understand what it meant to work together and own a successful business together. We began to make new friends and share in their lives. We realized this door to Southern California that was opened to us was opened for a reason, and we are so very grateful. There are things we miss, and always will, and there things we have come to greatly appreciate about our new lives. I know my heart will always be split down the middle, each side belonging to different ends of the country, but I suppose I have come to accept it now, learned how to live with the break. As the New Year is now fully underway, we are looking forward to all that it will bring. We certainly intend to live this one to it's fullest, to appreciate how much we have been blessed and to remember all that brought us this far.

Ps...2010 was the beginning of something else I almost forgot about! My blog. Thank you for being interested in reading it. It makes me feel connected to the people I miss and don't get to talk to everyday. Thank you to those of you who pushed me to do it :)

Blog Trivia

So my friend Erin, who's blog I love, "tagged" me in her blog to answer some blog trivia that she came up with. Technically I'm supposed to tag other blogs I follow and then come up with some questions for them to answer. But I can't really figure out how to tag other people's blogs in mine (and I'm still building my blog following library:). Anyway, here it goes...

1) If there was an extra hour in your day, what would you spend it doing?

Sleeping :) I absolutely LOVE to sleep, probably because I feel tired all the time! Yes, I've been tested for this and it's just something I think I'll always "suffer" from :) I'm on a very bad sleep schedule right now because I go to bed very late and wake up late. Corey tells me just to wake up earlier, but if I wake up early I'll have to take a nap in the afternoon (which I certainly don't mind doing :) and just go to bed late again. This, as you can see, just starts the cycle all over again.

2) What movie have you watched the most?

Ooh, this is a hard one! I go through phases where I watch movies I love over and over again :) Here's a list of the most I've watched the most: The Wedding Planner, Remember the Titans, Shag, Newsies, 27 Dresses, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and High School Musical (1,2 and 3:).

3) Which is worse? Being in a place that is too loud or too quiet?

Too loud! Can't stand it! Unless it's at an awesome concert which I am fully prepared for :)

4) Are you generally an optimist, a pessimist or a realist?

I would say realist...Corey says I'm a serious mixture of all three ;)

5) Who is your favorite celebrity crush?

Easy, Zach Efron!!! Also, Chris Pine (Captain Kirk from the newer Star Trek and Unstoppable;)!

ps...I was just asking Corey these questions to see if he knew them about me and he reminded me of a third :) Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights (Don't know his real name :).

6) What is the top thing to do on your bucket list?

Learn how to play the guitar! And go to the Grand Canyon! Corey and I actually need to make a list of all the things we want to do and places we need to visit while we're living in California...any suggestions?

7) Would you rather be a great photographer, dancer or singer?

Singer AND Dancer! Mostly singer but I would love to be a talented dancer too! If you've read earlier posts you know how severe my love for musicals is (although Glee is getting more and more sleezy...sad day).

So, since I didn't tag anyone in this post, please feel free to answer these questions on your blog or leave me a comment with your answers :)

1. Do you like the toilet paper to roll out over the roll or under the roll?

2. What is your favorite Air Head flavor?

3. What song did you and your husband dance to at your wedding (if you're single, what song instantly brings back a good memory for you)?

4. What do you want most for Christmas this year?

5. What was/is your favorite Little Debbie snack?

6. What's the best Halloween Costume you ever had/been?

Hear our prayer, Oh Lord

On the eve of a very pivotal election, I feel like I need to post something. Politics is a growing interest and passion for me, especially as I feel this country is headed for a very dark place. I am feeling the pull to get involved and help make change happen instead of simply complaining that it never does (or it changes for the worse). I'm still struggling with how to apply these forming interests but I'm definitely starting with being an educated voter. It's such a privilege and freedom to be able to elect our public officials, and as a citizen of the United States and a child of God, it is my responsibility. Our church began a week of prayer for our local communities, state and nation on Sunday, and Pastor David kicked it off with this incredible prayer. He prefaced it with saying that not all would be guilty of all these sins but that we need to humble our hearts and repent for what we are guilty of and realize that change starts with us. The people of God are the ones who need to stand up, cry out to Him and initiate change in such times as these. I wanted to share it with you here. I know it is long, but it is very convicting and an incredible way to enter into this new season of political change. Please read it carefully and pray it if you will. We, and this nation, are in desperate need of it.

"Oh Lord, you are Creator of heaven and earth and all exist to reflect your glory. We are your people, called out of darkness into your marvelous light, saved by the blood of Jesus, and sealed by your Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. You have given us a new heart and our desire is to worship you, but our obedience is faulty and the temptations of the world and flesh and devil are strong. We live among a people that are in open rebellion against you, yet in honesty we need look no further than our own reflection to see the manifestations of that same rebellion. So rather that sit judgment upon their sins, Oh Lord, we instead take this time to confess the sins of our own house.

Father, we have sinned against you financially in that:
~Both publicly and privately we have relentlessly pursued for decades a life-style of conspicuous consumption, fueled by an insatiable appetite for debt.
~As individuals we have borrowed the inflated equity from our homes to finance our lavish and materialistic lifestyles.
~We reject one set of elected officials for another - self righteously condemning their greed and self-promoting ways while we ourselves regularly fail to humble our own hearts, resist our greed and serve our fellow man.

We have also sinned against you morally by:
~Decrying the sewage that pours forth from Hollywood while at the same time filling their coffers with the money you have entrusted to our care.
~Too many of our pastors condemn the vile and soul damaging perversion of pornography all the while gripped by their own dark and shameful lusts. Oh Lord, what hope do your people have when even their leaders seem powerless to resist?
~We justly condemn the perversion of homosexual marriage yet make a mockery out of heterosexual marriage by a divorce rate indistinguishable from society at large.
~We speak and write about 'family values' yet are mostly silent while our own young redefine the boundaries of morality in terms of modesty, sexual promiscuity, alcohol and drugs.

Furthermore, we have sinned against you evangelically in that:
~We lament the erosion of authority yet have contributed to it by our unwillingness to some under submission to the Word of God. By rejecting the spiritual oversight of our leaders we reserve to ourselves unprecedented latitude of private interpretation.
~We have misunderstood and misapplied the meaning of Christian love by tolerating virtually any and all deviant behavior and belief within the boundaries of professing Evangelicalism.
~In society we have privatized our faith and chosen to keep silent rather than rock the boat and speak out boldly for our King, thus contributing to the damning notion that truth is relative.
~We demonstrate a hardness of heart and judgmental spirit concerning those caught in the sin of homosexual attraction by mocking their condition and withholding compassion from them as individuals made in the image of God.
~We care little, and pray even less for the conversion of the lost and instead withdraw to Christian ghettos in a foolish attempt to avoid the contamination of sin - rejecting in the process your purpose for our lives.
~We have failed to pray consistently for our leaders and instead through omission and commission we have allowed ourselves to become a political special interest group to whom cynical and self-serving politicians toss a few scraps in exchange for our vote.
~We portray the local church as the spiritual equivalent of a fast food restaurant, designed to meet our needs rather than the sovereign creation of Almighty God, through which you display the Glory of Christ to an unbelieving world. Our inability to love and serve one another in humility leads to a willingness to abandon the church rather than stay and work out our differences, and communicates to the world that Christian unity is no deeper than the local Rotary Club.

Oh God, any one of these corporate or individual sins would be more than enough to justify you casting us eternally from your presence, and yet we remain secure in Christ bound to you by grace. It is based upon the merits of Christ we turn from our confession and make these requests:
~That you would continue to extend your mercy and grace in saving people from the ravages of sin.
~That we, the church, would regain our sense of urgency for preaching the Gospel and making disciples.
~That you would restrain the forces that desire to squelch the Gospel message and bar it from the public square. If in your providence we are entering into a long night of darkness that you would grant us boldness to speak out for Christ and suffer joyfully for the sake of the Name.
~That you would help us not to place our faith in elected officials but to understand that true and lasting change only comes as a result of conversion and that we would thus utilize our opportunities to impact society one person at a time.
~That your common grace would continue to be poured out and that our republic would prosper spiritually, relationally, and materially (Jer. 29:7).
~That you would enable us not to 'pine for the past,' in which lay the seeds of our present distress, but that you would help us live as lights among a wicked and perverse generation.
~That you would give our elected leaders wisdom and integrity to govern an increasingly factious and uncooperative citizenry.
~That you would grant Solomonic Wisdom to our elected leaders as they face the complex and emotionally charged issues of economic stagnation, immigration, balkanization, and global conflict.
~That Christian men and women would continue to be willing to sacrifice career and fortune in order to humbly serve their fellow citizens as elected representatives.
~That you would utilize the pressures of public office to cause unbelieving politicians to be open to hear and believe the Gospel of grace.

Finally, we thank you our Father for...
~Salvation by grace through faith and not as a result of human effort - for none can be saved.
~Enabling us to understand and believe that you are sovereign over leaders and nations, and that you providentially rule your world.
~The privilege to live in a country where the transition of power from one group to another occurs by ballot rather than bayonet.
Amen."
~Written by Pastor David Forsyth