A little about me

You know, I'm normally a "rule" follower...  I love rules (not so much when I was younger), but I do understand that sometimes, they need to be bent or even broken.  So...  I'm not tagging anyone, but feel free to take this little "about me" survey deal and let me know so I can learn more about you!

Hello Rosie tagged me, so make sure you stop by and tell her "Hello!!".  She's pretty awesome, go see for yourself.  :)

The Rules
1. post the rules
2. post 11 fun facts about yourself
3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 new questions for the people you tag
4. tag 11 people and link them in your post
5. let them know you’ve “tagged” them

Facts about Me…

1. I'm a Christian.  I try my best to live a life where others can see Jesus in me.  I don't always achieve this though.

2. I'll be turning 36 this year and my hubs is turning 40 in a couple of months.  Why is it that when men age they look more distinguished, but when women age, we just...  age?  it's so totally not fair.

3. I have a beautiful daughter and she's turning 18 this summer and leaving me to go to college.  How dare she turn 18, OR leave me???!!!

4. Before I met my husband, I only owned two pairs of shoes at any given time.  Sneakers and "a" pair of dress shoes.  Now?  I have dressy boots, 3 kinds of crocs, georgia boots, many flip flops, two or three pairs of dressy shoes and my sneakers.    And I think you can tell I'm still no shoe connoisseur, I just have more shoes now than I did 13 years ago.

5. I would absolutely love for my niece Jessica to come live with us after Christen leaves for college.  Otherwise, I think I'm going to be way too obsessed with treating my dogs like my children.  (as if I'm not already way too obsessed)

6. I have days where I would be perfectly happy not saying one.single.word.  And other days where I can't talk enough.

7. I really do love watching shows like iCarly.  And I'm not sure how I will justify watching those shows once Christen is away at college.  I'm thinking she's already over those shows though and may just watch them to appease me.  uhoh....

8. I think Tim Tebow is pretty cool.  Even though he was a Gator (hey, no one can be perfect), I still love to hear about all the ways God is working through him.

9. I missed a lot of callings in my life: teacher, estate seller person (I don't know what they are called, think Cash and Cari), day care owner, etc...  but even though I think I'd be "happier" doing those things, I'm still right where I need to be.

10. Green is my all time favorite color, but turquoise is really leaving its mark on me.  I love, love, love it!

11. I have a tendency to acquire things before I really know what I want to do with them.  Which is the reason why my garage has a dresser and mirror, china cabinet, and other assorted furniture AND why my office is over run with scrapbook paper, ribbon, glue, fabric, beads, burlap, frames, crates and other assorted crafty things.

Questions Hello Rose gave me to answer…

1. You can have one of the following two things: trust/love

I don't think you can have one without the other.   

2. Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend?

Some days "yes", some days "no".  I hear a lot of things during my work day and I listen and give my time and emotional attention to others and by the end of the day, I'm spent.  So it's hard for me to invest in my friends and family after having an emotionally draining day.  But I do tend to pray and pray hard for my friends and family.  Some days, that's all I can afford to do.

3. Where do you like to go to have fun?

HOME!!  haha.. . I love to be home and knee deep in a craft project.  

4. What is beauty?

beauty is something that comes from the inside for sure.  You can have the perfect face and body, but if you have a horrible attitude and an ugly disposition, well, you're not beautiful to me.  

5. Why is it called a "drive through" if you have to stop?

good question!!  and why do we park in our driveway and drive in a parkway??

6. Do you have any regrets in life?

I'm sure I could name some things I had rather not done, but I know every decision  I've made has helped me become the person I am today.  I know that God uses every situation for His will.  He's with me, every day and I have to put my trust in Him.  Always.    

7. What is your favorite song and why?

oh gosh, this is always the hardest question to answer because I have so many songs that I LOVE!  So let me change the question to: What song can you not stop singing in your head and why? And that song (today) would be "Where I Belong" by Building 429 (which you can download FREE right now at KLOVE)  Other than just being an awesome song, these lyrics tell why I love it so much: 

So when the walls come falling down on me 
And when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea 
I have this blessed assurance holding me.

All I know is I'm not home yet 
This is not where I belong 
Take this world and give me Jesus

(okay...  I've thought about it, my favorite song of all time is "It Is Well".  Why?  Because it reminds me of God's unfailing grace and love and that no matter what I'm going through, I have my Father by my side, so It Is Well.)

8. If you were granted one wish what would it be?

to have been given one more day with my Ma Gibbs.  Seriously.  I miss that woman more than I've ever missed anyone.  I can't wait to see her again.  

9. If sour cream is past its expiration date is it good then?

I'm a bit OCD about expiration dates.  I won't even check to see if it's good, if the date says it's expired, I'll take the date's word for it.  (I get your joke here Roz, but I'm so OCD about expiration dates, I can't even play along! haha!)

10. Why is your definition of true happiness different from anyone else's definition of true happiness?

I was never promised happiness, I was promised a Jesus filled life and that brings me joy.  Happiness is fleeting and momentary, joy is something you can have every minute of every day if you allow it.  

11. What do you expect from 2012?

I'm slowing learning to plan for things, and then expect my plan to go out the window when unexpected things pop up.  So...  I'm not really sure what to expect from 2012.  I pray and hope that 2012 will bring:

• a great freshman college experience for Christen


• traveling mercies


• to be closer to God and do more of what He wants me to do, more of Him, less of me

Well...  there ya have it!  Are you going to play along??  Are you going to abide by the rules or be a rebel like me?  If you do play along, please let me know.  I'd love to learn more about you!

Oh, and I guest posted over at Sweet Peas and Buddies yesterday.  Hop on over there and read about Christen's journey home from Sweden.

Guest Posting @ Sweet Peas & Buddies

Hey everyone!!

I'm guest posting today over at Gi's blog: Sweet Peas and Buddies.  I'll be sharing the story of Christen's homecoming from Sweden and how she taught me to trust, with all my heart and soul in our Heavenly Father.

If you've never "met" Gi, you've got to go over and say "hey!!".  I love Gi, her witty nature and her kids are just too precious!  She also has another blog called A Traveling Thought where she shares all kinds of traveling information.

Come on over!

Hey, It's Okay!

Amber, the Whispering Writer at Airing My Dirty Laundry has a linky party every Tuesday.  To join in, link up what you're okay about this week.

This week, It's Okay:

To still not be done reading "Lose 21lbs in 21 days" but I do need to kick it into high gear.  I'm in the market for a good but reasonably priced juicer.  Any suggestions??

To want to go to who ever is in charge of our IT department and tell them: "If it's not BROKE, don't try to fix it!".  Added time in creating and completing an endorsement?  Oh, about 3-5 min.  Doesn't sound long, but when you have a customer on their lunch break or trying to get back to work, it means a lot.

To not like chili.  Even when it has bison, elk and Italian sausage in it.  I guess I need to at least try it though.  May be if I put cream cheese in it...  Everything's better with cream cheese...  gotta do it before I start my detox...

To not like sweet tea.  Yes, I was born and raised in South Georgia and I do not like sweet tea.  Every time I declare that, I feel like I need to be in a support group of some kind...

To have watched Betty White's 90th Birthday celebration.  I can't help it, I love her and I hope I'm that active when I'm 90.

To watch Rachel & Guy's Celebrity cooking challenge show thingy.  I LOVE Joey Fatone and I'm so happy he didn't get cut Sunday.

To use the newest cruise ship catastrophe as another excuse for not loving the idea of going on a cruise.  I'd love, to love going on a cruise, but I much rather just go to the beach for a week and leave it at that.

To remind you that you can see Beckham talk here and also remind you there' s a link here where you can win your own Silhouette Cameo!

To really not leave well enough alone and believe I MUST post a picture.  Behold the cuteness:

(sorry for not wiping away Beckham's eye nasty b/4 taking the picture)

Alrighty...  do you have things you're okay about this week?  Or do you just want to see what everyone else is okay about?  What are you waiting for??  Go visit Amber!



Hope everyone has an awesome day!!

Jibber-Jabbering Beckham and Giveaway News X's 2!

I needed a laugh.

You all read about Beckham and from the feedback I get, he's well loved.

Well, guess what?

He loves to talk.

He's hilarious and it's not like those videos on youtube where you can make out the dog is saying "momma" or "no" or whatever.  He's just being cute and jibber-jabbering.

So, this made me laugh, I hope it makes you laugh too!

http://youtu.be/K6RUMOxvNJ4

(Don't worry, Beckham DOES have a right eye...  his right eye is just SO DARK, it's hard to see in the low light)

Oh, and I have a surprise out there for all of y'all.

My giveaway is coming up soon.

I still want y'all to click "like" on my Facebook page, but I don't think I'm waiting until I get 100 "likes".  I'm impatient like that.

I also started on the crafty give away prize pack, and I just don't know how long I can hang onto it.

So, stay tuned!

And here's the X's 2 part.  Y'all know I got a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas right?  So far, I've spruced up sweat shirts with it, decorated my mug, made gift boxes, decorated a birthday package and will SOON make some tshirts to wear during Christen's soccer games.

Well, guess what...

You now have a chance to win a Silhouette Cameo for yourself!!

how cool is that??

Expressions Vinyl is giving one away and all you need to do is click HERE and follow their simple instructions and you're entered!  Easy-peasy.

Just an FYI, Expressions Vinyl did NOT prompt me to blog about this, I'm just spreading the word because I LOVE my Silhouette Cameo, and I want you to have the chance to have one too!

OH!!!  I'm linking up on The Lovely Poppy's Facebook Fest.  Do you have a FB page that needs some new "likes"??  Sign up here:

You Just Never Know

I'm not fond of cryptic people.

You know the ones!  The ones that talk about something w/out really "talking" about something.

Well, I'm about to become one of those people.

There are issues going on and I can't talk about them and I'm upset.

It makes me want to curl inside myself and wait for everything to get better.

HA!

And after ANOTHER weekend of doing absolutely NOTHING, I fear I'm getting too used to the idea of doing absolutely nothing.

So, I'm going to do something.

Pray, for sure.

And actively seek what God wants me to do, so I can be prepared and be done with the "curl up inside myself and hide" phase.

It's a nasty cycle, that "curl up inside myself and hide" phase.  I'm tired of seeing it, and I'm tired of living it.

I'm.done.

Hey y'all!!  I'm Jodi, and I blog over at Under The Georgia Sun.  I live in Georgia (duh), I've been married to my husband Jon going on 11yrs and we have a beautiful 17yr old daughter, Christen.  We also have two awesome boxer mixes, Brandi and Beckham who will soon become my only children living at home.  Christen feels the need to move 6hrs away from home to go to college.  Yes, I take it personally.

Anyways....

I was so excited when Gi asked me to guest host today!  And I got really excited when she wanted me to write about Christen!

I went back and forth on what exactly I should write about.  Gi prompted me with this: "an experience that has happened to you with or in spite of Christen".

Christen is my baby, my life, my love.  From the minute I knew I was pregnant, everything changed and all my experiences since then have happened because of her and God's grace and timing.

I finally decided on writing about her homecoming from Sweden after playing in the 2010 Gothia Cup.  Her decision to play there and represent the USA was one of the main reasons why I started this blog.  You can read my posts about her experience here.

Here's a quick rundown on what the Gothia Cup is.  It's like the World Cup of soccer, but for youth.  It's held in Gothenburg, Sweden.  To quote their website: "Gothia Cup is the worlds largest and most international youth football tournament in the world"

And to give you a bit more insight, Christen was only 15 when she went.

And.... we didn't go with her.

And.... she only had 3 days to meet her team mates, gel with them and practice.

And after some heart breaking losses, they started gelling and God heard our prayers.  They started WINNING! (yes, it's okay to pray for a win!)  They wound up coming in 3rd in their age division out of about 24 teams.  It was an AWESOME experience for her and one that has helped her get a lot of exposure to college coaches.

So, I've told you all that to tell you this.

The ride home for Christen was hard.  It was hard on her and on me.  She was stuck in NEWARK, NJ OVERNIGHT because of bad weather.  God took care of her, he sent her a family who took her in for the night in their hotel room.  (That's right, she was there basically by herself. Once they got back to the States, everyone pretty much went their separate ways)  That family had been traveling with her.  They were nothing short of heaven sent.  God heard my prayers.  He took care of her and ALL her needs.

When she called and said her flight was delayed, I immediately started praying.  When she called and said her flight was cancelled, I prayed some more.  And I probably cried.  I wanted so bad to see her THAT DAY.  But God had other plans.

Christen?  She was disappointed, but she handled it like a trooper.  She could have went all hormonal teenager on me, but she didn't.

Here I was, an emotional mess, and  there she was, 1000 miles from home and she was okay.  Tired, ready to be home, but okay.  And she was with a family.  Not just another team mate, an entire family.   She knew she would be home soon enough.  She had faith and even though I played it as though I wasn't worried, I was.

And you may be thinking: Ummm..  Jodi...  He got her to Sweden safely, and back to the States safely, why would you doubt Him in getting her home safely?

And I'd tell you, I just don't know.

I can't tell you the amount of relief I felt when I finally caught sight of her walking down the hallway at Hartsfield Int'l Airport.  Gosh, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

That experience, of seeing my child, tired and exhausted, but home, is one I will never forget.  She taught me so much of how I should ALWAYS trust and believe in God and His timing.

Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Yes, my then 15yr old daughter, taught me one of the most important lessons anyone can learn.  And I'm so thankful for her fearlessness and faith in God.



The verse in the picture above is the verse I would text her before each and every game.  Little did I know it was a verse I would lean on and need as well. (and yes, that's Christen in the picture)

If it were not for my heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus, I would have never had the strength to let her go.  To live her dream.

So I urge you, if your son or daughter come up to you with a crazy idea, hear them out.  Pray on it.  And pray on it some more.  Don't just cast it aside.  You never know where that crazy idea will take them.

Thank you again Gi for letting me guest post and thank you all for reading!  Hope you all come to visit me soon:

I'm MOVING!

Well..  Actually, I've already moved!

I'm sneaky like that!  ;o)

And I'm inviting you over!  Even though I've JUST moved in and things are still a bit messy... 

but you all are my friends, so I know you won't mind!

PLEASE, come and follow me at:

http://underthegeorgiasun.com/

It's my new blog, my new baby!

I'm still in the process of adding all my faves from this blog over to my new one. 

Hope to see all your smiling faces at my new blog!

Head on over and let me know what you think.  Be kind though, it's still a work in progress.  :o)