Eat, Pray, Love: India

"And that's why God needs us. Because God loves to feel things through our hands.

During this book, Eat, Pray, Love, I have laughed and cried, felt sorry and hungry, wanted to travel and see the world but reading about her journey in India makes me want to pray most of all.

I have been with her as she searched for God and a spirtual awakening, you might say. She has been held back by her guilt from her failed marriage and spent months in an Indian Ashram trying desperately to find something to ease it. She sat on a rooftop of the highest building one night and told herself to forgive. Forgive herself, forgive her ex-husband.

She couldn't be any closer to God standing on that rooftop and she decided to not come down until she found some peace. She created her own spirtual ceremony. She said that "if you bring the right earnestness to your homemade ceremony, God will provide the grace. And that is why we need God". After her homemade ceremony she did a spontaneous handstand. "We have hands; we can stand on them if we want to. That's our privilege. That's the joy of a mortal body. And that's why God needs us. Because God loves to feel things through our hands."

This past weekend Zak and I and our friends, Jeneane and Jason all went hiking. It was a beautiful day that screamed Spring has arrived! I had a lot of fun. Of course everybody who knows me knows I'm not an advertureous, lets get dirty, kind of person and this hiking trip had its moments that were...well, just that. After hearing what Liz said about "that's why God needs us" and doing a handstand and feeling the dusty tiles underneath her hands and feeling the cool breeze on her feet, it made me think about how many times I've not used my hands. How many times I've tucked them close to my body so they don't get dirty or I don't get a bug on me. Instead, I should be feeling everything, taking everything around me in.

I'm not going to lie. I definitely need to get over some serious fears of bugs and spiders to fully appreciate my new desire to touch, feel, and use my hands. But that is where prayer comes in. Prayer for God to use my hands the way he needs them to be used and to feel what he needs me to feel.

Joy of Luck: Day Seven

Day seven and final day in the Joy of Luck is about your rainbow. What will luck bring for you in the future. I chose family and happiness....My little personal rainbow.

Joy of Luck: Day Six

Day six in the Joy of Luck is about Who is a Blessing? Right now in my life my best friend since 2nd grade is moving away. So, to her I want her to know that I'm so lucky to have her in my life and she is a blessing to me. I can't even begin to start on the memories we have together but she knows them and I know them. We seem to have a lifetime already and they won't end here...

The Joy of Luck: Day Five

Day 5 in the Joy of Luck was about capturing what has brought you the most luck/blessings.

I definitely have to say being married to Zak has brought me the most blessings. There have been so many laughs and moments I wouldn't have had if it weren't for him. It is so nice to be with someone who gets everything about you.

I also have to say that my niece Maddie has brought me many blessings as well. She is my little sunshine and I am the luckiest Aunt to have a niece as sweet as her. She makes me laugh, keeps me entertained, and is growing faster than I can keep up with.

Holding her when she was a few hours old

Taken a couple of weeks ago at age 4

The Joy of Luck: Day Four

Day 4 in the Joy of Luck was about capturing 7 material things that we love. I am so lucky for everything I have and it was very hard to narrow it down to 7 things. Here we go...

1. The picture Zak and I bought on our honeymoon. We said it would always hang somewhere in our house to always remind us of that time.

2. My new khaki jacket I bought this weekend. I have been hunting the perfect one for a few months now and I finally found one I love!

3. My camera. Zak bought me my camera after we were married and it has become one of the best gifts ever.

4. I can't live without my chapstick and it is only Burt's Bees for me.

5. Cupcakes!! Anyone who knows me knows about my love affair with cupcakes. They had to be included. These are ones my Mama made for St. Patricks' Day. They are delicious!

6. Orange Juice...Pulp Free...Tropicana. Just like that. I'm very picky. I have two unopened cartons in my fridge as we speak and Zak doesn't even drink it..ha!

7. My books. I wish I had more room for all of them. They are stuffed in my drawers, closet, and our one little bookcase. This is just one shelf...

So, there you have it. My 7 favorite material things.

What's yours?

The Joy of Luck: Day Three

The Joy of Luck: Day 3 was about lucky symbols. Something we have or do that we feel will bring us good luck.

I thought of my Dad's necklace that he gave me when I was little. It is a four leaf clover and I wear it sometimes for good luck and because it was my Dad's.

The Joy of Luck: Day Two

Day 2 of the Joy of Luck is about capturing the green! Green can represent new beginnings as well as color and so the prompt for Day 2 was to capture anything that brings newness, new beginnings, life, or hope.

I chose our adorable birdhouse. We have had this birdhouse since we got married and every Spring we get a new little family. With all the warm weather we have been having it was inevitable that over the weekend our new family of birds started moving in. We found the straw from last year all over our porch where it had been recently cleaned out. I'm sure soon we will be seeing them flying in and out feeding their new babies.

The Joy of Luck: Day One

I'm onto my next project, The Joy of Luck. This time we are documenting the things we should be lucky about in celebration of St. Patrick's Day!

Day one was to capture an object/thing/concept that we take for granted on a daily basis. Something someone, who is not as fortunate, would say that we are lucky to have.

I chose my education. I definitely take this for granted. It was hard to get out of school and not be able to find a job but I realize that there are a lot of people who didn't even get a chance to go to college in the first place. How lucky am I?

We were also suppose to take pictures of our "gift" at different angles. Sometimes it takes a few shots to get the right outcome. Here are mine...

Happy Birthday Mama!

I'm a little late posting this blog post but I'm giving a special shout out to my Mama who had a birthday a few weeks ago!

Happy Birthday!!

We celebrated by having a birthday party with cake and ice cream and presents. We ate pizza and talked away the night.

My Mom opening her presents.

Some jewelry

Fiestaware: Salt and Pepper shakers

Jelly Bellies, Popcorn flavored!

A new rug for the guest room

A CUTE jacket from Old Navy!

My Dad and I were the paparazzi for the evening and we had fun playing with our cameras.

Here is my Mom posing with her presents. I hope you had a great day Mama.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

A Dinner Date with the President

Ok I didn't really have a dinner date with the president...but that would have been awesome! What we did do was visit my sister, her new Fiance!, and my cutest niece in Maryland a few weeks ago. One of the days we were there, Paul and Beth took us all to Washington DC. So, most of you probably don't think that is a big deal. Most people took a school trip to DC or have visited since then but not me. Can you believe it? I have never seen the Capitol or the White House, Arlington Cemetery, or Lincoln Memorial! I was thrilled to be going, and seeing these places all turned out to be sureal. I was really there.

We weren't planning on walking around Arlington but I'm so glad we did. We got there just in time to see the changing of the guards. It was crazy how precise they are and it is something everyone should take time to see. The view is also incredible from the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Now Maddie did think we were having a dinner date with the President. She thought this because...well...we told her so. It was the only way for her to be excited and we never thought she would even remember. Well she did and we had a slight melt down at the White House when Obama didn't show up. Thanks to her favorite Aunt (that would be me), I found a secret service agent guarding...something...and told her that was the President. It seemed to work just fine and once seeing "The President" she was good to go.

We also saw Lincoln Memorial which was way bigger than I thought it would be. Yes, I thought it was big but not that big!

The Captiol was one of my favorite stops. We didn't stay long but it was so pretty and I even got to prance like Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Yes, I'm an adult.

I can't wait to go back again and spend more time exploring, touring museums, and taking a ton more pictures. Just maybe even a tour of the White House and who knows...a dinner date with the President. I wonder how long Maddie will believe me...