A Picture-sque Weekend

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm actually really sad that the weekend is over. I took a half vacation day on Friday and I literally had the best weekend I've had in months.

Here's the weekend-in-review-via-pictures (I like combining words today):

Friday Jason and I went to see one of my best friends graduate from Samford's nursing school. I am so proud of her and it was also great to see my Little (little sister in Phi Mu)!

Yay MK!!!!

After graduation, Jason and I drove to Decatur, AL to see our friends Mark and Lindsay. Lindsay was on the Casting Crowns tour opening for the band while Mark, her husband, was also on the tour as an assistant tour manager. Jason and I became friends with them in the fall and we were excited to get to see Lindsay play at Soul Stock.

Lindsay McCaul - and yes, you should go buy her album, right now!

The event was sponsored by Show Hope, which is an organization that helps people adopt from overseas by raising money for grants and also raising awareness about orphan care. If you've ready my blog at all...you should know that I was totally excited about going to a Show Hope sponsored event (I cried like three times while we were there).

One of the cool things that is connected with Show Hope is called the Red Bus Project. It's literally a big red bus that goes around to college campuses and it's set up like a thrift store on the inside. It's super awesome and if you ever see this thing, you should definitely check it out!

After Lindsay played, Steven Curtis Chapman's sons played. I'd heard a lot about their band, Caleb, but I'd never seen them live before. They were great and Jason and I had a great time relaxing outside listening to their music.

After Caleb, there was a speaker from Show Hope who talked a lot about adoption and what the organization does. Jason and I listened for a little while, but then we got super hungry so we hit up the booth that was selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches. YUM! Jason also bought us matching-ish Show Hope t-shirts! Thanks Jason!

I promise the top shirt (Jason's) is blue, not pink.
The editing made both of these shirts look super girly.

The headliner for Soul Stock was Steven Curtis Chapman. He and his wife started Show Hope after adopting their three little girls from China about 12 years ago. It was only appropriate that that headlined for the first Show Hope sponsored event, right? I definitely re-lived ages 6-9 since he played a lot of his older music.

I loved everything about the event (except the bugs).

Saturday morning I woke up early, per my usual weekend routine. I waited to get a text from Jason saying that he was awake. We were able to go for a walk and do some work around his apartment and mine. I made us some lunch to save money. I hadn't been to the grocery store yet, so I literally threw together random things for myself, but it ended up being pretty good!

I had Italian seasoned green beans with shrimp and a baked sweet potato on the side.

Later that evening, Jason and I went to Chili's for dinner. I had the chicken fajitas with no sides while he went for the chicken crispers with corn on the cob and fries. We had a coupon for a free molten lava cake (hello splurge day), so we split that for dessert. It was good, but not sure if it was worth the calories (that sounds like crazy talk coming out of my mouth, but it's the truth...my how things have changed). Jason made me promise I'd never tell him how many calories are in that cake.

Saturday lunch, Sunday lunch, Saturday dinner

After Chili's we used another coupon and saw What to Expect when you're Expecting at the Edge Theater. It cost $6 for both of us to see a movie and for Jason to get popcorn. Now that's what I call a cheap date :)

The movie was actually really funny...and surprisingly clean. It has some language in it, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Sunday was the greatest day of all. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was great for some reason! I was actually able to sleep in (which is unusual for me), and then Jason and I went for another walk. After our walk, we made lunch and caught up on some TV shows. After TV/lunch time, we went to the pool for the first time this season (it was Jason's first time ever).

When we walked up to the pool, there was a man laying on a float in a teal speedo. Last year, my mom came up to stay with me on Memorial Day weekend and this same man was in the back of my apartment (I guess his backs up to mine) doing yoga in his chair. Well, yesterday Jason decided that it was too hot  to just sit in the chair, so he got in the pool (Jason, not speedo man...he was already lounging on his float). Speedo man started talking poor Jason's ears off. Turns out...he's from Miami and he's an alligator wrangler.

I couldn't help it. I had to take a picture.

I texted my mom while Jason was talking to the man and she said, "Well, it's official. Jason will literally talk to anyone!" So much truth.

After about an hour at the pool, we had to go back to my apartment to wait on the guy from Charter to come fix my internet...again. After he left, it was time to head to church.

Church was great, dinner was get (yummy yummy Thai food), and then we went to Jason's apartment to work on getting the pedestals off of our new washer and dryer.

They're so dusty, which wasn't a big deal. The pedestal came off of the dryer super easy. But the washer was a whole different story.

After about 45 minutes of trying to get the bolts out, Jason decided we'd go buy a better tool later. Poor guy, in the middle of all of that, he killed at least two spiders (probably more) and had to clean off all kinds of bugs and nasty stuff that we apparently purchased with the washer.

Overall, great weekend. I honestly didn't want it to end. But next week is a long weekend (WHOOHOO!!!) and I'm sure it will be great as well!

Enough of the rambling from me...what did YOU do this weekend?

Game Over

Today, I wish for a few more Saturdays, pretty please!

I have had such a productive day. And because of my productiveness, I haven't had time to snack or anything. Usually snacking (on unhealthy items) is my downfall over the weekend.

Last night I was invited to go out to dinner with a couple of friends from church. Jason and I are so blessed to be friends with such amazing people. Even though Jason wasn't there last night, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

We ate at one of my favorite local restaurants, Iguana Grill.  I guess I celebrated Cinco de Mayo a day early, oops! I didn't eat the best, but I did okay. I just had a cheese quesadilla with some guacamole. I waited until I got my food to even touch the chips (a little trick I learned when my mom did Weight Watchers back in the day). I also broke them in to smaller pieces instead of taking big bites out of them (another WW trick).

After dinner we went back to one of the couple's townhouse. They are actually in the adoption process so we got to hear all about that, hear the name they've picked out, and see a cute little baby fedora. I was so encouraged to hear all about the adoption process, but it also made me think that Jason and I could be doing the same thing in just a few short years!!

This morning I woke up at 7:00 like a normal work week morning. I was frustrated, but then I decided to read on my new Kindle. I finally finished the book that I've been trying to complete since Christmas (victory dance break).

While I was reading I decided that today would be a running day, so after finishing the book I hopped out of bed and made some peanut butter oatmeal with a nice cup of coffee.

Whole wheat oats with chocolate PB2 (it's all gone now). 

A little while later I made my way to the gym. It felt good to hop on the treadmill and just listen to music for 45 minutes without having to think about anything.

When I got home I made some lunch. I fixed leftover taco bake, so nothing outstanding enough to take a picture of. I also started some laundry.

As I was finishing lunch, a technician from Charter showed up to finally fix our internet! Whoohoo!!

Next it was time to hit the grocery store. I usually can do a week's worth of grocery shopping in about 30-40 minutes for about $60-$70.  But, as of tomorrow afternoon Jason will be home full-time. I'm super excited, but I'm not really sure how to feed him, full-time.

Since our apartments are across the street from each other, it's not hard for us to eat dinner together each night. I have also been "strongly encouraging" him to start taking his lunch when he works at Apple, so I picked up some whole wheat bread and doubled my deli order.

Jason also sent me these lovely pictures from their tour ice cream social.

My response: Why do I need to see that?

The outcome at Publix was better than I thought it would be. I got enough food for both of us to last the week and it only took me one hour and $91. Not too shabby :)

As I was leaving Publix I began to make conversation with the man who walked my groceries to my car. I'm always reminded in times like those (times that can be sufficiently awkward) that I have such a opportunity to share God's love in day-to-day activities.

Tonight my plans are to clean the rest of my apartment (finish laundry, clean my bathroom, and vacuum the floors). I'm not sure how today turned into my cleaning day, but I guess I want Jason to want to stay in town when he gets home tomorrow and not long for his "luxurious bunk" on the tour bus.

Also, every time a tour ends they have a paper plate award ceremony. Today, Jason received the "Game Over Award". I wasn't sure what to think about that, but I've decided that it's good because he's mine and no one else's...

So...


Game. Over.

That's enough from me. I'll quit rambling and let you talk...

What did you do with your Saturday?

Day 4: This-Cleanse-is-Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

A little Gwen Stefani throwback for all you early 2000s middle/high schoolers out there. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! In an effort to not lose readers, I'm going to try to keep today's blog short and sweet. I had a lot to say yesterday, but today is just...well...bananas.

I also need to clarify that Jason's dinner picture that he demolished last night was a special and rare occasion. He tours with Casting Crowns as one of their merchandise guys and one night of each tour Mark Hall, the band's lead singer, takes all of the crew guys out for a manly man's dinner. That's why there was so much meat. He didn't send me a picture of his dessert, which is probably for the best :)

Okay, onto today.

Today is banana day. I get to eat up to eight bananas and I get to drink up to eight glasses of skim milk.

This morning, I made a huge mistake when I woke up. I was planning on completing day two of the 30 Day Shred, but I didn't weigh before I began the workout, therefore I didn't want to drink any water before the workout. Stupid me. Let's just say as soon as that 27 minutes ended, I ran and jumped on the scale, then ran to the kitchen for a Hunger Games glass of water.

After getting ready for work, I packed my food. Much easier today, but also quite a bit heavier.

7 bananas. 1 gallon of skim milk. 1 8 oz. glass.

I'm sure everyone who shares the fridge at work is hating me today. Usually I write my initials "JLS" on all of my food...but today I just put a big "J" so maybe people won't know it's mine.

I also put about a pound of raw chicken breast in the crockpot before I left for work. I am excited to eat meat again tomorrow. YAY for protein!

I ate my first banana and drank my first glass of milk before work. I tried to space everything out about two to two-and-a-half hours. Also, I drank a ton of water in between.

Side note: What's with the weather? It's almost May and it was so cold this morning! This Florida girl is ready for the summer to kick in (although I'm sure I'll be begging for fall by June).

Another side note: Do you ever have a song come on, especially in the morning, and you're just like, "Yes, this is perfect!"? Well, I did, and it made my drive to work quite delightful.

Funny story about this song. Jason and I have a friend (he was Jason's friend first, but I adopted him as my friend too) who plays drums. He loves this song because of the drum beat or melody or some musical term. But the first couple of lyrics to this song are, "I wish I were pretty". Every time this song comes on, I think about him looking into a mirror batting his eyes singing this to himself. I just can't help it. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much on my way to work.

Okay, back on track.

In an effort not to bore you with a bunch of pictures of bananas and milk, I'll post the times in which I ate the bananas and milk at the end of the post.

Jason has been trying to be a little more active in his spare time on the road. One of the opening artists on the tour with them sent me this picture of Jason playing Wiffle Ball.

Jason up to bat! Picture courtesy of Lindsay Mattingly

Unfortunately, his team didn't win, but he did slide into home base. GO JASON!

I've become accustomed to my 3:00 snack time. It gives me something to look forward to after lunch and makes the stretch to 5:00 not seem so long. I wasn't really ready for another banana since I ate lunch around 1:00, so I settled for a 3:00 tea time.

I could definitely be British. Delicious!

I got home from work tonight feeling quite weak. Not weak in the "I need to eat" way. I just have a lack of energy. This could be because of the food selection today. Or it could be because I have been using a lot of energy this week and not eating the foods to support that. More than likely, it's a combination of both.

I was planning on going for another nice walk after work today, but I decided to just go home and rest due to my lack of energy.

When I arrived home I found this little gem.

Special Delivery to me! Saturday morning is going to be great!

Talk about temptation. There are exactly 64 K-Cups full of coffee grounds in this box.

My eating times ended up being (all of these are a medium banana and 8 oz. of skim milk):
7:30 - Milk & Banana
8:00 - Herbal Tea
10:15 - Banana
11:30 - Milk
1:00 - Banana & Milk
3:15 - Herbal Tea
4:30 - Banana
6:00 - Milk
7:15 - Herbal Tea
8:00 - Milk & Banana (this is my plan at least it's only 7:15 now)

Day "boring" 4 = complete

On that note, I'm going to call it a night soon. I'm off to watch the New Girl and hit the hay early.

Tomorrow is chicken/turkey and tomato day. I'm very much looking forward to eating chicken, but very hesitant about the tomato part. I'm hoping that tomorrow is a turning point for me and my food habits. I would love to like tomatoes, or at least not hate them.

Enough rambling on my end for one day. How are you feeling today?

Chasing Rabbits

You're probably thinking, "Great, 'chasing rabbits' is just another way to say I'm going to ramble on and on and on. I think I'll skip out on this post." And you're probably right. But, the story I'm about to tell did happen on Easter weekend, and it's just poetic irony that I'm could potentially define the meaning of "chasing rabbits" in this blog post. But please, read on! This is my most exciting post yet. And you never know, it could end up being short and sweet :) ...but probably not.

The day before Easter, Jason worked in our hometown. He travels with Casting Crowns doing their merchandise and they were playing at the local arena here in Birmingham. I was so excited because it was the first Saturday we've been in the same town since we've been engaged. I packed a bag full of snacks and different weighted cardigans and I headed up to the BJCC where the concert would be taking place that night.

I tried to strategically arrive when Jason was ending the set up process (Sidenote: If you are going to a concert in the future, please appreciate all of the crew members and band members that make it possible. They were 12-16 hour days to make the experience perfect for you and they usually don't get to have their families with them).  So I arrived around lunchtime and just kind of hung around until it was time to go eat.

Over the last year and a half, I've become pretty familiar with a lot of the guys Jason tours with. So as we walked around we said hi to people, we (but mainly I) got asked how the wedding planning was going, and I just had a nice time getting to see everyone Jason lives with out on the road.

After lunch, we returned to the arena and Jason took my purse to the crew dressing room so I didn't have to lug it around with me all day. While I was waiting for him, I was leaning up against a wall just kind of halfway paying attention to what was going on around me.

The security woman who works for the building was sitting there by the backstage/dressing room area entrance. She was very friendly and heard us talking about eating at Surin West (our favorite little Thai place downtown). We'd gone there for lunch, but I guess she assumed we were from out of town and we hadn't eaten yet. She offered me a BOGO coupon for Surin, which was so thoughtful. I told her that we actually live in Birmingham, and I had the same coupon that we were able to use for our lunch. She said that Jason looked familiar, then Jason came out of his dressing room, I said thank you for the coupon offer, and we went on our way. Little did I know, my interaction with her was just beginning.

Later that afternoon, Jason and I walked by the same security guard and there was another crew guy talking to her. Jason leaned over and whispered to me, "I bet he's sharing the gospel with her." I asked why he thought that and this is how he responded: "He shares the gospel with at least one person every day."

My response: "I need to be more like that guy."

His name was John Fry. He's an older-teenager who travels with the band and just loves sharing the gospel with people that he meets on the road. 

A little while later, Jason and I were going to go get coffee so I needed my purse. While I was waiting outside of the dressing room again, John Fry was still talking to the security guard. She seemed so engaged and was asking questions. I was trying not to creep on the conversation too much, but I really wanted to just stand there and listen. About a minute later, the security guard's relief came and she went on her break.

I stood there as John Fry walked around the corner and waiting for her to come back. I stood there and prayed that she would receive the truth that John Fry was telling her and the she would come to know Jesus as her Savior right then and there. I teared up and had to stop myself from crying. I could feel how powerful the Word of God is while I was just standing there.

Well, Jason came out of his dressing room and we walked back up to the merch booth.

A few hours passed and Jason got radioed to come down to the side of the stage during the show. So we walked down there and one of the other crew members asked if we could meet this woman who John Fry shared the gospel with. She had just become a believer! They wanted to introduce Jason and me to her officially since we're local and we're plugged in to a local church. Jason sent me up to get some CDs for her and a few minutes later we were introducing ourselves, talking about churches in the area, talking about concerts and her job, and finally, I gave her my phone number.

I told her that she better call me. She is single and she said that she just needs friends to do things with. I explained to her that I live here and my fiancé travels for work so I'm alone a lot too. I've been praying for her, and I hope so badly that she calls!

The next morning Jason and I met at my car to go to church. This was my first holiday away from home, and I was nervous about being lonely. Even though Jason and I would be together I was worried because I'm from a large family so holidays are big events for us. So, to ensure that Jason and I would not be lonely, and to serve our church, I volunteered us to help with the preschoolers during church.

Jason and I were ready for the three-year-old class that we were assigned to. We had the craft ready, our Spring colors on, and we had read over all of the material. When we arrived, there was one kid to every adult, so we got sent to the baby room.

Now, Jason is an only child. And even though I'm the oldest child and have younger siblings, they're in high school. I've done some baby sitting here and there over the years, but not very recently. I'm sure that when we walked in the door to the baby room, our two sets of eyes looked like big brown golf balls.

I'm pretty sure Jason has never held a baby before. As soon as we walked in, they made Jason a "walker". That meant that he walked a stroller with two babies in it around the lobby area so that they wouldn't cry. Jason gladly accepted so that he had a job to do, but that also meant that if anything went wrong, he was all alone.

I stayed behind to help the other volunteers. I offered to make a bottle for one of the babies, but I made it wrong. It seemed like every time I held a baby, they cried. It didn't take long before I became a walker too (now that I think about it, they made me a walker after I told them Jason and I are engaged and we do not have kids).

All in all, being with the babies was a great experience. We got to serve our church. We got to play with babies. And we realized that we definitely want to wait a little while before we have our own babies.

We ended our independent Easter by attended the evening service at church. How incredible it was to worship our Savoir after such an eventful weekend!

Although we didn't partake in any of the usual Easter "festivities", I truly believe that our weekend was better for it. We were able to serve the Lord this holiday weekend and focus on His Son and what He did for us on the cross.

So,  no we did not end up chasing rabbits this weekend, but we do know that at least one person is no longer running.