April 30, 2013

sunshine and rain ♥ april recap

What a crazy month! The weather has taken it's toll on the health of the people who live on the Cumberland - us. It was cold and rainy on Saturday, and today (Tuesday) it's supposed to get up into the 80's - I hope so, and I hope that the warm weather will stay this time! My dad, mom, sister and I are traveling down to Alabama tomorrow for a missions conference at Ridge Road Baptist Church. I won't have any internet while we're down there so I decided to go ahead and post my recap today. Pray for us while we're there! Wednesday-Saturday is the conference, my dad will be preaching every night. Saturday morning is a Father/Daughter luncheon where Amie and I will be speaking and we're both SO nervous, so please try to remember us in your prayers! My mom will be speaking at the same time at a Mother/Son picnic. We're looking forward to it, but speaking makes us nervous!

Saturday after the services we will drive several hours to another location in Alabama for Decoration Day and spend the afternoon with my dad's side of the family. We'll head back to Tennessee Sunday afternoon and make it back for services at our church.

Now, on to the recap!

The first week of April is momentarily gone from my memory, the second week of April everyone in my family was hit with a 24 hour stomach virus. The kind where you start throwing up at 1:00am and by 11:00pm you wonder if you could eat a cracker or two. The kind that makes you think that even though you're only 20, maybe you should have made a will. Tanner had a mild case of it on Sunday, Jackson and I got it on Monday, Christine got it on Tuesday, Jace had it on Wednesday, my dad got it on Friday, Mama and Jacob had it on Sunday, and Amie felt bad on Sunday but never got the really bad sickness that the rest of us did. IT WAS BAD.

April 14  we were at a surprise 16 birthday party for Grace after church Sunday afternoon. Sunday night, my dad left after church to drive through the night to Oklahoma. He went home directly after services to pack and get ready, and since Drew was going with him, he came back by the church to pick him up. A few of us hung out until he got there, and Amie learned how to play some "bluegrass" on the guitar. As you can see from the video, it's "peaceful bluegrass" (I did not come up with that term).

 




April 15-16 my dad went to Oklahoma to preach a meeting. My grandparent's church was having their anniversary meeting these same two days, so Mama, Amie and I went to that. We drove up both nights, the first night taking some boys who wanted to go with us. My grandma had everyone over for supper, and we had a really great time! Please keep their church, Antioch Baptist, in your prayers - they've recently moved locations and are trying to grow.

Amie (and Sport), me, PawPaw, James, Grandma, Connor, JD, and Collin. My mom took the picture.
 April 26 Mama, Amie, Christine, the 3 boys and I went to the Strawberry Patch Festival (not actually sure if it's the Strawberry Patch Festival, or the Strawberry Barn Festival) which was SO MUCH FUN! Seriously like Pinterest in real life. They do it again in the Fall, and I'm definitely going back! The pictures are some we took in front of an old vintage bus, and then at the park after we left. For Jace, Jackson, and Tanner, having a picnic at the playground and then playing was the best part of the day. ;)

 

When I told him that was like what firemen use, he said "No, this is like Oah's nark!"


Other random happenings for which I cannot remember dates include Sonic trips after church,

Hannah sending me some wedding pictures,




spring cleaning my room with this little monster,


and buying flowers!
My car on the way home from work one day. I had to take a picture of how cheery it looked. My laptop backpack is so girly :)


Isn't spring delightful? I hope everyone had a wonderful April! Now, off to Alabama....





April 22, 2013

SuRvEy (plus some old pictures)

Did the title of this post bring back some memories for any of you? Remember the e-mail surveys? Well, I dug this one out from the dusty folders of my old email address (figure of speech on the "dusty"). I always loved reading these and filling them out, so I thought I'd post one on here. If I have as much fun as I used to, I may just post several over the course of the next few weeks!

WHAT TIME DO YOU GET UP?  I wake up every weekday morning at 6:30.

 IF YOU COULD EAT LUNCH WITH ONE FAMOUS PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?  I would ask Jimmy Stewart to be alive for a few more hours so it could be him.
I am a weirdo.

GOLD OR SILVER? Gold, especially rose gold for watches and white gold for an engagement ring. (hint, hint, future.)



 YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? Most of the oldies, and Andy Griffith ranks #1.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?  Whatever I can get down (not a morning person). Usually something light - fruit, a smoothie, something like that. I LOVE watermelon for breakfast.


CAN YOU TOUCH YOUR NOSE WITH YOUR TONGUE?  If I push my nose down with my finger.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?  Independent women, because I am a scaredy cat.

WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Marie.

BEACH, CITY, OR COUNTRY?  Beach.

MAUI!!!!
 FAVORITE ICE CREAM?  It's only seasonal, but Blue Bell's Southern Blackberry Cobbler.

 BUTTER, PLAIN OR SALTED POPCORN?  Butter with creole seasoning.

FAVORITE CAR? A Honda Element, which I have been driving for 3 years now, but recently I've been really attracted to the CRV's.

One of my senior pictures...I was so cool. :P
FAVORITE SANDWICH FILLING? Turkey or chicken, mayo, spicy mustard, lettuce, black olives, dipped in salsa.

WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU DESPISE?  Hypocrisy.

FAVORITE FLOWER?  Tulip.


FIZZY OR STILL WATER AS A DRINK? STILL.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHROOM?  White. 

HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING?  Two (plus a car remote, a flip-flop key chain from Aruba and a surfboard key chain from Maui).

girly!

WHERE WOULD YOU RETIRE TO?  Hawaii.

CAN YOU JUGGLE? Not at all.

FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Saturday.

WHAT'S YOU FAVORITE COLOR GUMMY BEAR? I don't like gummy bears.

CANDY? Yes. Hot Tamales.
 
HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SONG SANG ABOUT/FOR YOU?
Yes.


WHERE DO YOU SING THE MOST, IN THE CAR, THE SHOWER, OR OTHER?
Car.

WHAT DO YOU SMELL LIKE? "Aruba Coconut".

WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKET? Lint.

ANYTHING IN YOUR MOUTH? Gum. Orbit's bubble mint.

EVER HURT YOURSELF PLAYING WII? Yep!

DO YOU HAVE FRECKLES? Yes.

Senior picture - can you see the freckles?

HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SAY "HELLO" IN? 5 that I can think of.

CAN YOU DO THE ALPHABET IN SIGN LANGUAGE? Yes...mostly.

WHAT CAN YOU HEAR RIGHT NOW? The hum of a million different office machines, the ticking of a clock.

EVER BEEN OVERSEAS? Yes.

ARE YOU CLOSE TO YOUR SIBLINGS? Yes.


 
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB? Babysitting...7 years ago. Oh, dear.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR NAME TO? This requires an explanation...my first name, Kelley, is spelled like a last name because it's after my mom's gradmother's maiden name. She was Virdie Mae Kelley before she was married, and I never got to meet her, so I love my name. My middle name, Marie, is after my dad's mother - Mary Jean. I never got to meet her, either, so I like carrying the names of these two women. However, most people called his mom Jean, so if I could go back in time and tell my parents what to do, my name would be Kelley Jean.

WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST HAPPY? These three:
Forgive me for using such an old picture of Jace...it's just so cute I couldn't help it :)

Jackson - my watermelon buddy. :)
Me and Tanner -  I didn't know this picture was being taken!
 
 Any other things you want to know about me (normal or weird)? Ask me in the comments! :)


April 19, 2013

Fear

I am afraid.

There, I said it. That's such a hard thing to admit sometimes - that you're afraid. Of something, of everything. 

But then again . . . of nothing.

I am afraid of time. Weird? Everyone is afraid of time. We don't have enough, we're running out, it's passing too swiftly.

We're aging, we're getting old. Not really, but gradually, aren't we all?

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

I wondered tonight when seventeen year olds started looking young. Really, Kelley? Come on. You're only twenty. But believe me when I say that by the time I turned sixteen, I had been sixteen for five years.

I might be slightly exagerating.

When I was seven/eight/nine I wanted to be "grown up" so badly! I absolutely could not wait to be cool - or at least, what I perceived as cool. My parents tried to slow me down, and as best they could, they did. But I was determined to be like the teenagers. I wonder if it started even before the time I thought it did, because I've been carrying a purse around with me since I was young enough to carry a diaper in it . . . by the time I was able to walk, I've been able to carry a purse.

Not girly in the least.

(Pretty sure my family is rolling their eyes as they read this.)

But I wish I could go back and reclaim those years. Even the years of eleven, twelve, and thirteen, though maybe not so much the awkwardness that accompanied them. I lived those years in the anticipation of the coming ones, not stopping to enjoy the moment, and live in the day. Ever the dreamer, I could only envision my future.

These days I feel like I live only for the day, avoiding thoughts of the future and the pain it might hold. But by doing so I deny myself the thought of possible joy and elation. If my teen years were beyond what I had hoped, why shouldn't my twenties be any better?

I'm purposing to make them the best I possible can, but the fear of mistakes and failures nibble at my thoughts, and I allow worry to creep in.

And once again, I have opened the door to fear.


"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear..."

My youngest nephew Tanner is a year and a half (18 months, for those weirdos who count babies ages in months) and he is deathly afraid of bubbles blown from bubble gum.

I'm talking screams, tears, bury-his-face-in-your-neck, sobbing, terrified of them. When I chew gum around him, he stares at my mouth convinced, I'm sure, that at any moment a bubble will burst forth and attack him.

He is also nearly as afraid of play dough, and Jace (a little over four years old, 52 months to be exact ;) ) greatly enjoys chasing him around the house with it.

I love him to death, as we all do, and he gets spoiled, so don't think we're mean, but when this happens, it is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. The first time it happened, we were all laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes and yes, we kept blowing bubbles.

We know there is nothing for him to be afraid of. The bubbles will not hurt him, and he's perfectly fine if you're only chewing the gum so yes, we are amused by his fear. We will always do everything in our power to preserve him from real harm, and even when blowing bubbles, he trusts us implicitly. He has nothing to fear, yet he is still afraid, and this is funny.

How then, must our fears look to the Lord? 

We know He is here and everywhere, all the time. We know He has promised to protect us, we are His children, He loves us to death, and will do everything in His perfect power to preserve us from real harm. His definitions are different from ours, but His grace will always protect us.

And yet, we are still afraid. Does this make Him want laugh at our insignificant fears? Maybe. And oddly, I find comfort in that. 
  
" Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

My fear of time . . . He knows no time.  He has not given me a spirit of fear, I can rest under His wings. This thought is so comforting to me, that "...when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I."




April 17, 2013

A Hurting Heart

I could sit here and brag about my patriotism, I could sit here and tell you I'm tender hearted, I could sit here and talk about how sad I am.

But the facts are simply I am an America citizen, I do have a heart, and that heart is hurting very much right now.

My heart is with the people involved in the tragedy in Boston. I have cried, I have remembered Newtown, I have remembered Columbine, I have remembered the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, I have remembered...and I have cried, and I have prayed, and I have done it over and over again.

As someone waiting on love, I cannot imagine finally finding it, about to finally, finally say "I Do" and having that person ripped from my life. I cannot imagine having my little sibling or young child suddenly gone. I cannot imagine being in good health, running a marathon, and suddenly I'm missing limbs and knowing my body will never, ever be the same again. And yet, maybe in a small way I can imagine it just a little and that is why I can hurt for them.

Because some sick, twisted, selfish, evil heart took. And killed. And hurt.

And I am afraid to say even that, because what if my family, my friends, my town is targeted next? This is America and this kind of fear is not acceptable.

I am not unlike anyone else. I have wondered what we should do differently. How we could prevent things like this from happening. But I am also not unlike anyone else, who, when we hear about tragedies such as this does not picture my own loved ones. When I close my eyes, all I see are the faces of three precious little boys behind my eyelids.

So no matter what we wish we could do, how much we wish it hadn't happened, it all boils down to the fact that there are hurting, grieving people. And once again, my prayers are with those I've never and will never meet. I hope that all of you are praying for them too.


April 3, 2013

Why Duct Tape is Important

I wrote this when I was eighteen years old and shared it with some of my friends and family. I stumbled across it a while back ago, and seriously thought I had already posted it. I'm not going to lie, it's one of those things that makes me nervous about clicking the little "publish" button. Just keep in mind that this was written 2 years ago, please! I'm still keeping the promises I wrote about, and I still stick to what it says, I just might word it a little differently these days. ;) I hope you enjoy it, please let me know your thoughts in a comment!
___________________
Someday, I'd like to get married. I really would. I think I'd enjoy it, but first I need to find a groom.

But I'm not looking. Really I'm not. I know I grumble and complain about being eighteen and not having a boyfriend and oh, what if that never happens to me, but in all seriousness, I'm not worried. If God wants me to get married, it'll happen in His time, and I honestly believe He'd like me to. I'm not claiming that He personally told me that, but I believes He gives us the desires of our hearts.

So I'm not looking. Do I expect this Mr. Right to show up gift wrapped and perfect? Pretty much. I am waiting on him.

Yes, I have high expectations, and I believe that's ok. I suppose I expect of him what I expect of me. So to describe what he must be, I have to describe what I must be.

I must promise God to never give away a single smidgen of my heart until my wedding day. He can hold it for me while I wait! And I'll let my dad take care of protecting it.

I must promise to serve the Lord, obey my parents, and treat people right.

I must promise to use my talents for God's purpose, to treasure every moment, and choose happiness every day.

I must purpose to pray for my future husband every single day.

But what is the significance of duct tape? That's easy to answer: I wear a promise ring. They're now called purity rings, but I prefer to call mine a promise ring because of all the different promises I've made. On my eighteenth birthday I got my braces taken off, and when I got home a ring I had picked out a few days before had come in the mail. It's a Celtic design (which is a woven design) and I've decided it's my new promise ring. It reminds me to keep my heart and life woven with Christ, and He'll send me someone that I can weave it with here on earth.

But still, duct tape? Ok, so I read a book over the summer titled "Praying for your Future Husband" and it was written partly by one of my all time favorite authors, Robin Jones Gunn.

In the book, she tells a true story about her son.

I cannot remember his name, nor how old he was, but when he was a teenager he went to a summer camp. One day he was helping tear down a tent, and a girl came up to him. She told him to meet her by the lake that night, and she would let him be the one to give her her first kiss, then she walked off. At that moment, he was peeling off the duct tape that was holding one of the posts together. It occurred to him that duct tape is something so small, so seemingly insignificant, but it was strong enough to hold an entire tent up and prevent it from falling and hurting a bunch of people.

On the spur of the moment, he wound some of this duct tape together and made a ring for his ankle. He promised himself he would not take it off until his wedding day when he gave his first kiss away to his bride and let her cut it off. I believe he was fifteen. (He did not meet the girl at the lake.)

True story!

Over the years, as the tape wore thin and became dingy, he simply added more layers. People asked him about it all the time, and his mother said it began to look like a shackle. But he said it was a constant reminder not to fall into temptation, and through different girlfriends the tape remained on his ankle.

Finally, he met The One. On their wedding day he gave her two gifts: a pair of diamond earrings, and a pair of scissors. She cut through the layers and layers of duct tape and promises, and finally he gave her his third gift: his first kiss.

While I believe this is a little extreme and I would never expect someone to do this, I think it's a beautiful story. A story of kept promises no matter what other people said. A story of a love so strong that before he even met this girl he wanted to give her everything he had. It's beautiful, and if you can get past the "duct tape anklet?" you might smile too.

So yes, I wear a promise ring, and while I never expect my future husband to actually have anything that symbolizes all of this, I hope he realizes the importance of it.

I hope he knows how strong duct tape is.

chilly and wet ♥ march recap

March ended a few days ago, but I'm just now getting the chance to do a recap! It's been cold and dreary with lots of rain - seriously Spring, hurry up! This was a busy month, but not very "eventful" - I've learned those are two quite different things!

March 1 was Christine's birthday (25), an March 6 was Jackson's birthday (3). Because of sickness and other circumstances, we were unable to celebrate with them on the actual days, so on March 7 we had a joint birthday party at our house! I don't have any pictures of that right now - Jackson got a new bicycle though and it was a huge hit!

March 3 - 6 was our annual March meeting. Bro. Lee Cadenhead from Ridge Road Baptist Church was our guest preacher, and he did an amazing job! Other than my dad, he's one of my favorite preachers and we had a really great meeting! Some of our family got to come up a few nights and Jace and I held Sophie - I still can't hardly believe there's a little girl!!



March 16 was the Irish Festival (you've already seen those pictures) and March 17 was St. Patrick's Day. I was the only one in our family wearing green - and I went all out, too! For some reason - I can't remember why - we kept the boys during the evening on March 16 - all I know is I have this picture from that date! :)


March 25-29 my parents were out of town at a meeting, and Christine and Tanner flew down to Texas for a meeting at her dad's church. Amie and I stayed with Jacob and took care of Jace and Jackson while he was at work during the day.








March 31 was Easter Sunday! And yes, we get a little more dressed up for it and wear Spring clothes - why not? :)

Me, Christine, and Amie

This picture makes me laugh so much! Tanner has recently learned how to say "CHEEEESE!" - can you tell? Jackson and Jace in the background really couldn't care less. :)


I hope everyone had a wonderful March, didn't get pranked to badly on April Fools Day, and has a beautiful rest of the month!