Love wins

It's been quite a great week!

Last Sunday I got to take two of the little boys, Dyl and Ty to the beach with another friend Meaghan. For most of my life, I've been the oldest in social situations - just how it worked out on my block, growing up with a bunch of boys that were 1-3 years younger than me. (Recently though, the tables have turned, and I've found myself enjoying the company of older friends more - there's so much to learn from them. Is that weird?) It was super exciting to be able to spend the day with them, watching how they interact with each other. Plus, it gave Mommy a day off - I'm guessing there's not a whole lot more exciting than having your kids taken for the day, and brought back to you totally knocked out.

Tuesday I had a spontaneous visit from an old friend I don't get to see often. Since I go to school out of town, the majority of my relationships with "New Smyrna friends" that actually made it through me constantly being MIA are friends who go to my church. She doesn't go though (we're working on it), so I only get to see her every now and then.

While I was cooking dinner for the two of us before she headed out, Amanda called me in a bit of a frazzle, needing a puppysitter (does anybody else hire babysitters for their dogs?...) It was fun to spend 3 days with my other family, just hanging around the house, loving, and being loved on. The dog was SUPER good too, which is crazy, considering last time I watched her she tried to eat me, and I've been calling her Satan since. We had some sisterly bonding (:

Thursday we went to Turn or Burn together - Kinsey Anne wasn't there (note: I don't know what to do with myself when my other half isn't in town), so there wasn't another "shark incident." It's kind of funny to see our leaders get super excited about sand castle building - and Kevin saying he's going to boogie board. Katie The Intern is pretty much the best tai chi leader in the world, fyi.

If you know me, you know I like to be super productive. I'm highly task oriented. Saturday totally fell into that. I babysat with Meaghan (I'm sensing a pattern to this) from early in the morning until the early evening, then ran errands, cleaned, did laundry, made dinner, went to the gym, and finished my Sunday School lesson all in one evening. Win.

Yesterday was my best fraaand's 25th birthday party. I must admit, I was a bit sketched by the idea of being in the heat all day, but God is good and provided a breeze - He probs didn't want to listen to me whine, either! I decided to be a rebel though, and not apply sunscreen. I told myself I wouldn't burn if I just stayed in the shade. Not so much. I'm a tad crispy. Either I burned just walking from Audra's house to the pool (as Niki calls it, speed tanning!) or I'm a UV magnet (though I do know that UV rays bounce 10 feet into the shade... brilliant).

Today Kinsey Anne and I went over to her house early in the morning before Nate left for work or she got up (shout out to Whitney) to make her breakfast. Homegirl didn't have plans, and it's just pretty much illegal to be by yourself on your birthday. I was going to make it a surprise, but she was considering going to work because she had nothing else to do - again, illegal move! I made her my blueberry banana bread - it's basically heaven in a pan. (Something is going on with my blueberries though. They sink to the bottom and get a tad soggy. Anybody know how to fix this?). We hung around her house for a bit, got lunch, then went shopping and got our nails done. It was fun, hanging out with my two best girls.

God is so good. He's giving me such great joy. I have such an awesome week with all these people that I love, and I can't imagine that there is a God out there who loves me more than all of them combined. They don't know all my dirt or my junk in the trunk (no Kinsey, I'm not referring to my backside), but He does, and covers it all with His grace. Days like these make me totally excited to see my God - I can't even fathom what better of a week it will be, being with him.

Maybe we can get our nails done, too...