Oh, boy! So much has happened since I last blogged!

To begin, last week was the Babbie Mason Embrace event at church. It was wonderful! We had such a blast! The week before the event I got roped into singing in the choir and I had so much fun that night! I don't know if I'll ever sing in another choir, but it sure was fun while it lasted. The whole night was a success and everyone there was really blessed.

John and I took a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary (we had to go early because I couldn't get off work for our anniversary). We spent our time in Savannah. It was beautiful down there. Our first day was spent in the historic district (or as John says, the hysterical district). The next two days we were our on Tybee island kayaking, checking out the old fort and hanging out on the beach. Our final day was spent driving around a wildlife area before we headed home. It was great to get away. But while we were gone Sarge had a incident.

Sarge caught his first squirrel. Yes, a living, breathing, furry tree rat! Somehow he caught it up and was able to kill it. Poor Candace didn't know what to do with it, so it just laid outside until we got home. I wouldn't have either. I just would have prayed for something else to come and take it away. John and I are so proud of Sarge! He's doing exactly what God designed him to do: terrorize rodents (he's a rat terrier). It just so happens that this one lived in a tree. Ever since then, Sarge has been going nuts for these squirrels (pun not intended). He can't wait to snag him another one.

On another note, I've started my yoga teacher training classes. It's going good. We have our second class this Sunday afternoon. I'm looking forward to it and getting into a regular routine with the classes.

That's all for now!

Namaste!

Super Busy!!!

Words can not explain how super swamped I've been! I've been trying to eek out a few minuets to drop a line on here, but every time I try, something else comes up and claims the time I've set aside. Finally, I'm here.

Things at work have been just ok. We've been busy and the pressure for sales has not let up in the least. We are getting closer and closer to the time that we will convert to Wells Fargo and there is a avalanche full of things to do. We were also able to get in someone to fill Teresa's spot and now we are short staffed again. This time we are not sure if we are going to get a replacement or not. Technically we are in a hiring freeze so if we get anyone they will have to come in from somewhere else in the organization. Hopefully we will get some support. To be honest, I'm getting worn out from being short staffed so much. We've had more time where we are short than when we've got a full staff. It's nothing new, just extra stress.

I've also started my yoga teacher training. I'm really enjoying the reading materials that have been assigned. We have our first official meeting on Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting into a routine with it. I'm hoping to be able to post some things that I've been learning/ writing on here, but I'm not sure if I can with my schedule being so hectic. We'll have to play it by ear. But I do want to say now is that I have been amazed with how close that yoga is to Christianity. There are MANY similarities in the methodology. I found myself writing down Bible scripture references in the margins of my books because the authors would write something that sounded VERY familiar from scripture. The little tips of the yoga iceberg that I've tapped into has already helped to broaden my view of God. It was amazing reading what is classified as a secular book and seeing Jesus all over it just by the design of yoga. Incredible.

I'm actually really looking forward to October starting. I've got so many things that have hit here at the end of this month that it's throwing me off. My schedule feels like a nightmare. I've got things going here and there and everywhere. October is looking more open and I plan on keeping it that way. I need a break from constant scheduling, some time to settle back into a routine.

Among those things we've got a crazy huge elephant ear plant growing just off our lanai. The funny part is that we didn't buy it! It came in the pot of a little gardenia that we purchased last year. We didn't even know it was there until it started to grow earlier this spring. We thought it would stay fairly small, especially since it was sharing a little patch of dirt with a larger plant. Boy were we wrong. Check it out:

And this picture was taken a couple of days after John trimmed it back. It had these octopus like arms going everywhere! They were all over our little gardenia, creeping over toward the grill, trying to climb the brick along the back and sides, and trying to block the door! Since this picture it's grown a few more giant leaves (only a few are smaller than Sarge) and it's got more tentacles growing yet again. We've decided that when the frost comes- it's getting a new home. John will cut it back and dig to find what will probably (based on it's current size) a football sized bulb and transplant it to a new home somewhere else in the yard. Hopefully next year I won't have to fight with another plant coming in and out the screen door!

Well, that's about all for now. I hope this finds everyone well!

Big Changes

Things have been changing so much recently, it's been tough to keep up with! To bring everyone up to speed, I got a promotion at work. I'm the new Lead Teller at my branch. And boy am I loaded down with challenges for the next few weeks. It wouldn't be such a rough transition, buy my boss, Liz, is out for three weeks with some training of her own. So, I'm picking up a bunch of extra tasks at work inaddition to trying to transition from peer to supervisor. The stress this week has been incredible. I've had headaches the last two day- I haven't had a headache in MONTHS! Now two days in a row. My anxiety is about to peak (really it's more like explode, think of a volcano) so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's yoga classes.

We discovered that Sarge is scared of baloons. John brought one home when I got the promotion and Sarge is terrified of it! He won't go anywhere near it! He's so funny, he completely avoids the room! When we first put it in the breakfast room, Sarge hid from it in the hallway and kept looking around and checking behind him expecting to see it floating up on him. He's gotten used to it to a small degree, but he still won't go into the breakfast room.

On another note: we have been able to purchase our new refrigerator and stove that we've been eyeing for a few months (we are selling our older ones). The new stuff is getting delivered tomorrow. :)Our kitchen is going to look so different. I'll try to remember to take some pics to post on here for everyone to see. They will be stainless and black to match the microwave and dishwasher. The next step will be a new sink and faucets (don't have a date on those yet, but eventually).



More good stuff is right around the corner: here in a couple of weeks, I'm going to get to meet my newest yoga teacher, Cheryl. She is going to be leading all the classes that I need to take to get my yoga certification. I'm ready to start down that path. It means doing something I love, helping others and just more positive growth coming my way. I'm ready to head down that path.

At Your Master's Feet

Who says that old dogs can't learn new tricks? Well, I can't say much for Sarge, but God sure used him the other day to get to me.

Friday morning, John was staying at home for the day and was still in bed when I was getting up to go to work. Sarge, of course, was all excited that it's morning and was ready to go outside for a run around the yard. Shortly after letting him back in, I sat down for my breakfast. As I was reading through my daily devotions, Sarge started freaking out and barking constantly out the back window. I got up, looked around and didn't see a thing. No matter what I said to him he wouldn't stop barking. Finally, I called him and forced him to sit at my feet. After a moment of sitting near me, he quited down and began to relax. I looked down at his furry little body and thought "So this is what it takes for him to get quiet; he has to sit down at his master's feet". Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. That's what God wants from each of us.

Everyday, we have lots of things pulling at us, vying for our attention and often times we (me, especially) start to freak out over stuff that's not even a speck on God's radar. It's those moments, that we (again, I'm speaking to myself on this one) need to bring ourselves to His feet and let Him minister to our hearts and calm us down so we can get back to the most important things in this life. It's funny what a little four legged varmint can teach us. It's even more incredible that God will use everything to deepen our relationship with Him if we allow Him and keep ourselves open.

Zip Line Through The Tree Tops

Yesterday, John and I went for a tour from North Georgia Canopy Tours in Lula, Ga. It was fantastic! The best fun I've had in a long while! We got to zip along 12 different lines, cross two sky bridges (they were the scariest parts) and rappel down a tower! What a blast!

Here I am getting ready for our first line: And away I go: John and me in full zip gear: John coming in for a landing:
Looking back from where we just zipped from: John zipping down: He arrived safely!:
Me zipping over:

Me again:

Me getting unhooked from the line:

Again, it is I:

Here's John:

And me getting ready to go:

Off I go- this line was one of three that went through an open area and over a pond:

Off the rappel tower- the scariest part was going over the edge. Once I was dangling, it was ok:
Almost to the bottom:
The final line- a double zip across the Hilltop Pond:

It was such a blast and super easy! If you ever want a fun time outside, try it!

Money and Dryers

As many of you know, John and I have been working on Dave Ramsey's financial plan for the last year and a half or so. It has been so amazing to see God working in our finances. The first thing that amazed me was how much further our money seemed to go. Even though we were making the same amount of money, under Dave's (really God's plan), it was like we had more money at the end of the month than what we had in previous months. It was wonderful! We have also seen God move in ways that we would not have imagined! He has miraculously shortened the time line for our savings goal by months! We are actually looking at hitting our goal by next month! John and I have been so excited about this and have been looking forward to this time next month for what feels like an eternity. Just over a year ago, it felt like it wouldn't come and it's almost here!

As a boost to myself, I've picked up and began re-reading Dave's book Total Money Makeover. It's been great to re-read the stories of people just like us making their financial dreams come true on this plan. I was having a relaxing afternoon reading the book while I was working on our laundry today (it's such a fast read I'm already halfway through it and I just picked it back up a couple of days ago). Then tragedy struck. The dryer broke. Enter anxiety. I had just finished reading a part of the book that says when an emergency happens and you tap into your emergency fund, quit working on the step that you're on and go back to replenish your emergency fund and about how "Murphy" of Murphy's law typically leaves town when you've got more money in the bank (apparently he only likes broke people). A broken dryer apparently is an emergency, and it seems only fitting that Murphy would try to stop in for a visit when we are so close to our goal.

Thankfully, I have a resourceful husband. :) We quickly got on the web to try to diagnose the problem. With a little bit of research, he was able to determine that the thermal fuse blew out. We've got another one ordered and on it's way. It should be here before we need to do laundry next week. Hopefully, it will fix our problem and we can get some more mileage out of our current washer and dryer. After spending some time revisiting the principals of our financial plan, I really don't want to spend the money to buy a new dryer (even the beautiful front loaders in blue that I want, with the pedestals to hide all our laundry accessories). For now, I will hold out hope that the dryer is fixable. I feel like that we are just too close to our goal to have to deal with some major expenses like that.

Yoga and Other Goings On

I can hardly believe that another week is almost gone! Time has flown for sure!

I've been doing a bunch of research in the last week on yoga certification and through much prayer to God and consideration from John think that we have a plan in place. The only factor now is how much it will cost, so it's still kind of up in the air. I can't wait to have a hard fast decision in place. I also can't wait to get my new yoga mat. Heather ordered it for me a few days ago and I'm itching to try it out. It's a Jade Yoga mat. It's super thick, made of natural rubber and it has a lot more anti-slip stuff than my current mat (yay- no more sliding around in down-dog for me!). Plus, it will be my-sized: 74" of wonderful, super squishy-grippy, yogalicious space to spread out (in olive green, of course)! The way I see it, I shouldn't ever need to buy another mat again for the rest of my life. If you want to see one for yourself check them out at: http://www.jadeyoga.com/store/home.php

Future Opportunities

Heather called me yesterday and told me about a very exciting proposition that may be making it's way to my door soon. She had taken a continuing education course with her yoga instructor who asked her how many back up instructors she had for the studio (we only have 2 instructors at the studio- Heather and China- so there really are no back ups for them). Her teacher had been thinking about offering a training course at our studio to help train new instructors (yay!). It would be a shorter course that would allow the students to begin teaching a beginner's yoga course at our studio (it would not be a complete yoga instructor certification course (200 hrs), but enough to start teaching). Since I'd talked with Heather about teaching in the past, I was the first one that she called to spread the good news. The start time and cost are still up in the air; really the whole program is up in the air- it would depend on how many other students would be taking the course.

It's definitely good news, but I'm not sure what action to take. John and I have been working so hard on saving money and the thought of shelling out a few hundred or even over a thousand dollars to get me partially certified makes me feel sick. I definitely think that I wouldn't begin the classes until after we hit our savings goals in September. Other wise it would just push everything back (and we've been working so hard to reach our goal). On the flip side, I wouldn't want this opportunity to pass me by. It would definitely teach me more about yoga for my personal benefit and it would help me decide if I would want to continue my education further and complete my certification to be a certified yoga instructor, where I could teach all levels of yoga. It would also give me the opportunity to help out Heather more at the studio (teaching a class or two a week and filling in where I may be needed), allow me to help grow the company and the yoga community in our area and give me more opportunities to use my degree and business experience.

One question that I did have and was happy to hear the answer is that if I did complete the full certification, once I'm certified that certification will go with me everywhere, so when we move to Florida I wouldn't have to worry about loosing my certification or having to re-certify. Which, for me, makes this more compelling. I could get my certification up here, learn the business and then when we move to the Tampa area, open my own studio down there.

It seems like such a good opportunity. I just want to make sure that I make the best decision. I want to do what God wants me to do. Hopefully, He will put His two cents in soon.

Clearwater Beach Vacation 2010

We had a wonderful time away on our summer vacation this year in Clearwater Beach, FL! It was beautiful get away. and so nice to get away from it all.

Here's our condo. We stayed in the 2nd unit from the left on the bottom floor. The parking was beneath us on the ground level so our car stayed nice and cool during the day and we had a slightly elevated view of the beach:

Here's the living room of our home away from home. We had three sliding glass windows that gave us a panoramic view of the ocean. It was wonderful to open the blinds up in the morning to the view of the gulf:

Our view from the balcony:
From our beach looking south towards the pier:

Looking north to the residential area:
Day 1 of vacation (Saturday):
We arrived in CB about 3pm, checked and settled into the condo then headed out toward the pier to check the area out. We walked nearly every where we went. The pier with the marina, surf shops and many restaurants was just over a half mile from the condo so it made for a nice stroll.

Here's John and Leah at the CB sign at the pier:

Picture perfect- what vacation should look like:

The view of the beach from the pier:

John on the pier:

Leah and me on the pier:

Me and John on the strip:

John and me in the palm grove just off the pier:

The beautiful sunset God blessed us with on our first night:

Day 2 (Sunday):

We had some of the family over to the condo for a day at the beach. It was wonderful to see everyone and have a chance to catch up.

From the left: Kellie, Gerard, Steve, John and me:

Day 3 (Monday):

We had a quiet morning then headed down to the beach for a few hours before Tom (one of John's brothers) came with his girlfriend to meet us for dinner at the delicious Palm Pavilion.

We rented wave runners to pass the time. Here' s John on his:

Here's Leah and me on ours. The guy said that when I took my hand off the gas we would "float to a stop". Totally didn't happen. I'd take my hand off and it was like we hit a brick wall! There was no float. We had so much fun on ours we would scream and laugh. At a few times we'd get going so fast that we'd be scared and (silly me) would tighten my grip in the handle bars (and the gas) out of fear. lol! It was a blast!

Day 4 (Tuesday):

We had another lazy morning then walked down through the marina before our Segway tour at 2pm.

Here's some pelicans we saw:

The Pelican Club:

Here's Captain Memo's Ship- they would cruise around and fire cannons at the beach everyday. It was neat to see an old pirate ship out on the water:

Us on our Segways. We had a super fun time on the tour. Jean, our tour guide, took us onto the mainland part of Clearwater and guided us through the historic district. We got to see many multi million dollar mansions. The Segways were a lot easier to ride than I thought they would be.

Day 5 (Wednesday):

We went to Fort Desoto for the day. We started off with kayaking along the inter coastal water way around the Fort. When we were coming back, we came across a heard of wild manatees, one of which was begging to be petted. He would come over to the kayak and sniff at you then he would stick his little face up wanting you to scratch his nose and head. Then he would let you scratch his back before he rolled over for a belly rub. At one point he rolled over upside down and swam under my kayak and allowed me to hold a flipper in each hand. He was so sweet! In this picture, if you look close, you can see his face:

Getting his chin scratched and preparing for another belly rub:

After the kayaking we had lunch at a little picnic spot:

Me after lunch:

We then headed over to the Fort Area:

John and Leah at the cannons:

Looking at the artillery from the embankment above:

Me and John in a tropical paradise:

My best friend Amy told us to check out the camp ground b/c it has neat trees. She didn't mention anything about the wild beauty! We wanted to camp there so bad- maybe sometime soon...:

Day 6 (Thursday):

Deep Sea fishing on the Double Eagle. This was Leah's and my first time out deep sea fishing and catching saltwater fish. We spent the hour long ride out on the top deck:

Leah's first catch- a gray snapper. They made the funniest grunting sound when they were out of the water. They sounded just like pigs! Leah and I were cracking up!:

My first catch- a grouper. He had to go back b/c they only allow you to keep ones 20in or longer:

John's first catch of the day- a gray snapper:

John and me:

Day 7 (Friday):

We spent our last full day on vacation hanging out on the beach.

My toes in the sand:

John was feeding the seagulls baked lays. We tried to feed them some of the almonds we had, but they didn't like them.

Two seagulls just soaking up the view and catching some rays like us:

A beautiful sunset:

We had a blast! I really didn't want to leave, but we had to. :*( I can't wait until we go back. Hopefully the oil spill in the gulf won't completely destroy that area. I kept feeling like our time there was so short and that we needed to make the most of every moment b/c soon it may all be gone. At least we had our time while we were there.