Philly Phootball Phrenzy!!

Pre-season has begun.  

My birds pulled out a clutch win against my 2nd favorite NFL team.  

We have stolen the spotlight from every other team in the NFL during this free-agent frenzy.

We have stocked our deck with aces, and put on our game faces.

We have been deemed 'superbowl favorites.'

We have been hated by fans of other teams who want what we have.

We have realized a trend that Philly is happening.

So... I have kept my mouth shut.  I live deep in Redskins nation, I get hated on for the Phillies stickers on my car, my Eagles shirts, my passion and fanage that has only been building for the last 25 years of my life.  I get labeled as "the Eagles fan" and get all the love and hate that comes along with that.  (Including the overused, under-researched insult 'You guys throw snowballs at Santa!'  - FYI - if you are going to hurl an insult at me for something fans did two decades before I was born, look up the story.  Here I'll make it easy for you -> Philly Loves Santa!)

But this is the most excited I have ever been for football season.  I am not going to lie.  I know that my life does not revolve around the Eagles, and that if there had been a lockout this year, I would have moved on with my life, probably gotten in more running, and less munching on wings and beer, but my weekends/occasional Monday nights would have been just a little bit emptier.  Missing something.

The last three years I have been PROUD to be an Eagles fan.  We may not have won the superbowl, and we may have lost in the first game of the playoffs last year, but we have been exciting.  Three years ago we had a seasoned team and were definitely superbowl contenders.  Over the last three years, we have lost (keep in mind all these people have been pro-bowl players): the core of our defense and leader of our team - Brian Dawkins.   The man who was booed in 99 but came in to be one of the best quarterbacks in the franchise - Donovan McNabb (and to a division rival - ouch).  And this year - one of the best kickers in the NFL, and hands down the best kicker in the history of the franchise - David Akers.  We have gained: a cocky rookie who loves being an Eagle, and even better can sock it to the Gmen and Cowgirls by scoring a touchdown on a game -winning punt return - Desean Jackson.  A reformed criminal who was not given a second chance by any other team, and is now walking the good path and making plays in his life and on the field - Michael Vick.  And now a plethora of defensive and offensive players, ready to hit this season with fervor and passion.  When the Eagles have looked like they lost their chance, BAM.  There we are again ready for a power season.  And that is what made the last three years exciting to watch.

So I have to speak to the hype going on right now.  

Am I beyond excited that we have signed some of the best free agents in the league?  YES.

Am I almost squealing for joy that Asmougha followed in the footsteps of Cliff Lee by turning down a higher paycheck in NY for a dream and team that Philly could offer?  YES.

Do I think that the Eagles have been one of the most exciting teams to watch in the last 3 years, and am very excited that again it looks like another exciting season?  YES. 

Do I think that we could win the superbowl this year?  YES.

However, the danger is that Eagles fans always hope for the best and expect the worst.  This year the expectation is big, and we all know that.  Even with all the hype going on, I hope that my birds can realize that they will need to work hard for a superbowl.  They will need to stay healthy, and realize that just because they "have the dream team" does not mean anyone is ready to hand them the dream.   Andy Reid will need to push his guys.  He will need to be more efficient this year with calling plays that compliment the game clock.  We had had some great moments due to talent, and we have had some great moments due to luck.  And while I will take luck from time to time, AReid has to realize that he will not win the superbowl this year on luck.

I do expect a serious run at the superbowl.  And come February if my boys are playing in Indianapolis, I might consider selling my soul for a ticket, and will absolutely most definitely be crying if we win.

"To whom much is given, much is expected."  Luke 12:48.  Let's play like it my Phine Pheathered Phrends.  "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24

I am my own person...

I like sundresses, nail polish, lemonade, and pearls.
I like football, and fights, and even though I hate to admit it - I think burps and farts are funny.
I like country music in jeans and a tank top, I like jazz in a slim dress, and just about everything in between.

I have no label.  And I'm ok with that.  Because as my friends will tell you, my label is: superballa.

I may not wear make up often, or look for the most trendy styles, or create beautiful hairstyles often, but when I do, I am very happy.

Enter my new obsession.
Women - this one is for you.  For women who know just enough about hair and make up to get by.  For women who want to add a little flair to their style.  For women with the summertime blues, knowing that they want to savor being a summer girl for just another few short weeks.

The Beauty Department
Lauren Conrad's Website

While I was in high school when Laguna Beach started, and was living the collegiate dorm life with The Hills, I never really got too into the Reality Show Fixations of Lauren Conrad.  But a few things I can assure you. 
1-  She is stunning
2 - She knows what she's talking about
3 - I have had my fair share of unflattering pictures and videos.  I have never seen one of her.  Coinsidence?
4 - She's always rocking the cutting edge, and shares her wisdom with us.
5 - This is the most important I believe - She embraces what she has, and encourages her readers to do the same.  Have thick eyebrows, crazy hair, or non-defined cheekbones?  EMBRACE it woman!

After reading this blog, I'm ready to become an LC Groupie and move to LA!  Thanks for the beauty tips LC!

We all have those days...

Days when we need to remind ourselves that love is not EARNED, it's given.

Days when we need to realize that who we were and what we've done is nothing compared to who we are and where we are going.

Days when we need to be humbled and realize that there is more in this world than just ourselves.

Days when we need to be reminded that there is grace, and love, and hope, and joy, and a future - just waiting for us.

I was out for a run and really needed to be encouraged a bit today, but in a way I couldn't verbalize to anyone.  So I tossed my concern out to the big guy (God) and was so moved when the song below popped up randomly on my radio.  It was a good song, and a good run :-)

Stuck in a funk

Sounds bad right?

Well, I like funk.  I like funk music, playing that funky music white boy, and I even like the funky cold medina.  I like a life with funk.  So I'm putting a new spin on the phrase 'stuck in a funk.'

Have you ever just looked around your life and thought, "really and truly, every day has been better than the last."  I don't remember ever thinking that before specifically, but I thought about it driving home tonight.

Things have been good lately.  Not perfect, not only good.  But yes, they have been good.  I might even say great.  And it seems that each day is better than the last.

And while I enjoy these last few moments of summer before the hustle and bustle of Younglife starts again, and share in the joy that some friends will be sharing as they get married in the next month, I know that it's true.  That each day really can be better than the last.

Things still can and are going wrong.  But I will pray, and smile, and move on because Life is So Good, and I do believe, it's getting better. <3

Oh, you better believe it's personal!

Let's face it, sometimes little things happen.  They hit a nerve with us and we take it personally.  And with me, it is 9 times out of 10 something that was done inadvertantly with without intention of anyone getting hurt.

But it still happens.  Things personally move us, hurt us, make us angry with ourselves or one another.  People personally let us down.  Things don't go they way we plan them in our perfect snapshot of what life should look like.

That is the sympton of a fallen world.  A world of pride, a world of selfishness, and a world of busi-ness.  A world where our agenda does not always include the best of some of the people we love.  We try, but we fail at times, because we are not perfect. 

Which is why it's personal.  There will always be personal let downs, personal disappointments, personal moments of feeling forgotten or  not-good-enough.  Which is why it is so great to have a personal God.  I sometimes forget to be thankful for the fact that there is a God out there that doesn't just spin the world on an axis, but wants to be here - there - wherever we are - for those personal moments that we feel personally hurt.  And not only does he want to be there, but he wants to be the source of that personal joy that keeps us from feeling too much personal hurt or disappointment.

I believe he blesses us dearly with people in our lives that love us and care for us, but without the occasional disappointment, we would not realize the personal joy that only he provides.

So is life personal?  Absolutely.
Is that painful sometimes?  Absolutely.
Is that overwhelmingly amazing as well?  Absolutely.

"She glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes." ~Frank Deford

The little diva who came to the beach with my small group ladies. <3

Mid-run, wearing the dogs down!

Little Bean - just straight chillin....

Loves him some playtime with the dogs!

It's a girl!!  Cupcakes for my sweet Caitlyn to congratulate her on her new addition.

Do you heart cupcakes?

Sorry - still having rotating issues.  But my little babe, showing her phantastic phillies pride :-)

Best blogger ever!!

Ok, so in an effort to actually keep up with my blog - I'm changing it up a bit.  While I like to write stories for people to read, it is just too hard with keeping up with a busy life and a blog, and by the time I MAKE time for a blog, it's just a list of exciting things that have happened in my life, which always sound less exciting as a list.

So from now on it will be little glimpses of my life.  From the small, seemingly unimportant blessings, to the big ones.  Just whatever struck me as a wonderful moment of adventure, love, God, joy, etc.  Life is so full of the little positive moments that when we miss them we miss moments worth cherishing.

I am so grateful for:

Roommates that are so different, so beautiful, and so much fun to be around.

Friends who inconvenience their lives to help you be closer to your pup for a week.

Learning the art of geocatching, speanding whole days laughing, and just being with a great guy.

Moments in the grocery store where God shows us that he is in control in the small moments too.

Friendships that are not perfect, but when put in the stress-test always come through brighter and stronger.

Puppy dates with Cooper, Blake & Luke, Lulu, and Bingo - and their owners :-)

2 Day vacations, family, friends, sun and the reminder that there is a life outside the mundane work week.

Friends who found someone that they want to spend the rest of their lives with, and have invited friends and family to be a part of that.  It is an honor to share in their happiness.

"To whom much is given, much is expected."  I'm grateful for having that engrained in me, and constantly beign challenged to live that out in my life, and seek new ways to to so.

Have had a year with slaing to live in the same state.  See each other frequently, and wish her off to begin a new life up north.

 Life is so good.  And I do believe, it's getting better <3

100 degrees and 10 miles an hour... here are my (barely) coherant thoughts

Yet, I did not put up my windows and AC.  Yes, they work.  Yes I was wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt from work.  But you know what I realized?  If you drive an 01 Jeep Cherokee, and then put the windows up and AC on so that you are more comfortable, well then, you probably aren't doing 'The Jeep Thing' right.  So I will roll up my sleeves, blast some classic rock and some sweet shades, and enjoy the sticky heat on the side of my neck.

Blink 182 is back on tour.  I got some knock off ray bans yesterday for free.  Are the 90s returning?  If the answer is yes, then I am very excited!!

I am all about diversity and inclusion - heck I'm in HR after all.  But if all my friends were Eagles and/or Phillies fans, I would be ok with that.

Also, I made a new friend driving yesterday.  He had a big Eagles sticker on his back window so I waved at him, and he looked at me like I was crazy.  But then he saw that I had an Eagles sticker of my own, and the next time he was next to me he honked, opened his window and yelled, "Yea!  Go Birds!"  ... I hate when people knock brotherly love.  We are all about it in Philly.

I am very grateful for my inability to hold a key, hit the right pitch, or sing in tune.  (Not even sure if I said those things correctly.)  But I realized that singing in the car to a favorite song would not be nearly as fun if I was GOOD at singing.  So in the meantime, I am going to ham up my whacked out vocals and belt my jams like I'm Britney Spears.

My work keeps mentioning that they may send me to Djibouti for a week or so.  If I can handle sitting in the Jeep on the beltway in 101 degree heat, going 10 miles an hour or less, I think I can handle the 115 degree Djibouti weather, right?


So if you ever wondered at what I think about while I commute to and from work each day, now you know.  Happy Thursday!  And SKYDIVING ON SUNDAY!!

Life is SO good.  And I do believe it's getting better <3

Wanderlust has overcome me, like Lewis and Clark I'll dream...

So there is this great song that I have been in love with since I first heard it my freshman year of college.  It's by the band called The Afters, the have a great song called Love Lead me On.  The title of this blog is a direct lyric quote from that song, and aptly match my life lately.

A few people keep telling me to update my blog, they have no idea what's going on in my life, and my response is usually - you can just call me you know...  But really the reason I haven't been keeping up with this lately is because things have been such an incredible whirlwind.  While life is going really well these days, it's also at times exhausting, but I am caught up in my own little adventure world which is so great for me and makes me so happy.

So let's start with Texas.  Seeing old summer staff friends was great, and it was really nice to hang out with my old college roommate.  Now that she has a husband and daughter, it's weird that she is in her "Family role" right now.  It was really nice to see her life as a family woman, and just be able to take some time with catching up and loving her little girl.  Also, I may have said this before, but summer staff with Younglife was one of the biggest blessings in my life.  I have friends now that are scattered throughout the country (actually some are even international!).  And what's unique about these friends is that no matter how much time has passed since we have served together, it's literally like picking up with you left off.  These are friends that if I am still running into when I'm 70 years old, I will be incredibly blessed.  Also, I read an amazing book while traveling.  This book, The Heart and the Fist, I recommend to anyone who likes a read that nurtures both the excitement seeking side as well as the heart of the reader.  The author is inspiring, encouraging, and honest, and a rarity of the person who not only chases their potential, but tried to exceed it.  This is a must read and needs to go on your book list.

For your pleasure here are some pictures:

My beach-day sidekick when I went to Galveston in Texas.

Freshman year roommates on the ferry.  I love that little Ava is already chasing after my venti Starbucks iced coffee.  Mhmmm :-)

My adorable Austin, TX hosts in front of the capitol building

Posing for our ghetto-fab album cover for our gangsta rap album.

The Stage - best country bar ever, great hot spot in Austin.  Only downfall?  The band didn't know Thunder Rolls!  Country band Fail!

Just one of the many beautiful missions I was able to visit in San Antonio.

Remember the Alamo!

View of downtown San Antonio from the Riverwalk.  River walk = best salsa, most beautiful city water way I have ever seen!

I was even able to visit the San Antonio Botanical garden and visit the garden for the blind!

Since going to Texas, I have moved into the Ashley house, and have a couple really great roommates.  One is a new friend, and the other old, but so grateful to be living with them.  I literally moved a few days after I got back from Texas so that was pretty crazy for sure!  But I am pretty settled in there and starting to look for where I am moving to next.  (The plan was to move into the Ashely house temporarily since they don't allow dogs on the lease.  So Gracie has been living in PA with the rents!)

The weekend after that I was able to go to Philly for a dress fitting with my friend Carmoo and her other bridesmaids.  Carmoo and I have been friends since high school, and it is so weird to imagine her getting married!  But she found herself a military man who things she is just the bee's knees (yes, I said that.) and so they will be getting hitched in a few short months!  It was great to see her and some other old friends from high school even if it was just for an afternoon.  That was the same weekend my friend JaK graduated from UMD with her master's so that day I rushed down to MD after the dress fitting to help my church softball team get defeated, and then rushed out to JaK's house to celebrate with her family.  JaK is another summer staff friend, who I can not even begin to tell you enough good things about.  This girl is one of my favorite people ever and has really encouraged and inspired to me to grow as a woman of God.  (Also, her mom is amazing.)  As if that weren't a crazy enough weekend I had a jam-packed day with some people from church to go down to Andrews Air Force base in Virginia for the Air Show.  Well... we missed the last shuttle to the base, and we had to completely forgo the show, but we were able to instead just hang out with each other in DC and do some exploring. 

Now my life is starting to blend together with all the craziness.  That next weekend may have been memorial day weekend, and I may have gone to the beach with my family, but I think there was actually one weekend where I actually stayed where I live!  (I know - it's a crazy concept!)  Either way, last weekend was beach weekend in Stone Harbor, and my pocket-sized friend decided to join me because she didn't have work either.  It was great.  We put 18 people in one house (eek!) so it was a BIT crowded.  But got to hang out with a lot of my cousins, and uncle and of course my immediate family.  Of course my crazy family is amazing, but so inappropriate, and my mind is still in the gutter from 4 days spent with them.  But the weekend included boating, tubing (bad idea for my back), water skiing (first time since the accident I was able to get up!), sea turtles and eels, lots of bocce ball, catch, and naps on the beach, mini-golf, shopping, and beach bars.  Basically, the quintessential beach weekend.

Some friends who met up at the beach bar in Stone Harbor.  Inch, me, MH, and Tess

Random stop on the highway on the way back do Rockville.  Why not stop and get a picture with the massive rocking chair?

Now, as I write this, I am en route to DC from NYC, where I was able to go to Brooklyn to hang out with some of my distant family and favorite 15 year olds.  These are kids I babysat for when they were 9, and now they are talking about college, and state championships, and are 15 years old!! It's amazing where the time goes, it's amazing the beautiful woman and men they are turning into, and I am so grateful for those relationships, and how we have been able to keep in touch with each other. 

While traveling about like a crazy person, somehow I have managed to find time for meeting with my manager at work, finding out about the new programs I support, and finish out some of my other programs.  I have also been able to celebrate the end of the year with my younglife kids.  The last few weeks we have had the biggest Younglife clubs and campaigners ever at Richard Montgomery High school.  I am very happy for my kids who are moving on and graduating, but yet it's bittersweet.  This graduating class is so dear to me, and we have gotten so close over the last few months.  It will definitely be a different Younglife without them.  I am excited to see how their relationships with God grow as they go off to college, and am very excited still for the younger ones that are still sticking around.

Picture even after half the kids left.  Remnants of our biggest club ever!  I love my high school friends :-)

My most adorable junior leader.  She has been such a blessing and encouragement this year.  Did I tell you I love her?

Some of my senior girls...

One of my little-uns!

THAT in a nutshell is the chaos of my life lately.  It has been super crazy and busy, but so great, and I am reminded time and again of how blessed I am to have the people in my life that I do have, to have the opportunities and resources that I do have, and to have a faith that restores my strength and energy, even when I feel like I am running on empty. 

And exactly one week from today I will be jumping out of a plane!  THAT is crazy!

Life is SO good.  And I do believe, it's getting better &lt;3

This one's for my daddy

So this one is for dad.  Dad and all those other readers out there that read my blog to catch up on my life.  Sorry I haven't kept you updated!

Some things I learned about Texas.

It is incredibly boring to drive through. 

Everyone said I would fall in love with Austin.  It was nice, but I wasn't in love with it.

San Antonio is beautiful.  The fire department found me - naturally - I don't know what sort of medical/emergency/fire personnel magnet I have in my body, but it needs to stop.

The missions were humblingly beautiful to tour.  So rustic, so simple, and so full of historic character. 

Galveston was beautiful.  It makes me wonder why I don't pack up my bags and move to the coast.  Even Annapolis.  I need to be near the water.  I blame Stone Harbor for putting this into me.

Marriage fever:  It seems that everyone is getting married these days!  Definitely, I am not the kind of girl that gets all sentimental and upset worrying about when I am going to find someone to marry.  But the weird thing is that I don't get all nervous and freak out when people tell me they are getting married.   It seems to be getting less scary.  Not sure if this is because I see more and more people doing it, or if I realize that my mom and dad (although crazy as they are sometimes) rock at this marriage thing, or if I'm just warming up to the idea, but I am not the big marriage freak out anymore!  (sidenote: this does not mean I am looking for a ring or a husband tomorrow.)

Summer is here!  And along with that means: skydiving, the beach, Younglife trips(?), sundresses, FIREWORKS, open windows in the Jeep, tanning, running outside, swimming, leaving work at 3pm just because, and long days, fireflies, baseball games, swinging in the hammock, long grass, creeks, outdoor concerts, and country music!

Work is hopping.  Like really hopping.  Like my life is crazy and things are challenging and stressful.  And for all the bad I could say about it, I have at least that much good.  So I'm happy.

I run a half marathon in four months.  That is not very far away.  But I am excited to run the streets of Philly and prove to myself that even 13.1 miles is not impossible.

And... Younglife.  This has definitely been a year.  We have had ups and downs, ins and outs, and through it all - I have been awed.  It hasn't been easy, and I am definitely looking forward to a summer away from the stress of planning clubs and contact work (although I expect to hang out with my kids a lot!) so that I can hit next year completely energized and ready!

(I'll post pictures for all this stuff as soon as I have a free minute at home.)

Life is so good.  And I do believe, it's getting better <3