Tony talking to the bridesmaids...the last time he will talk to women as a single man.

Michael Gilbert, Andy Heck, and Tavaras Brockman.

Before the big show, some of the boyz grazing around the cheese and grapes :)

Natalie and JT at the waffle house too. See we have to make sure our Canadian people get the full experience of the South! She tried grits for the first time and was upset at me for ordering a "Big House" breakfast. Fat Americans.

No comment needed here. The myth, the man, the legend.

Sarah (Tony's cousin) and Tony the night before the big day. Of course we had to go to Waffle House.

John Scott and Elizabeth S. the night before Tony and Leigh's wedding. Good times!

We all needed money to go out one night so about 10 of us stopped at an ATM machine. A white guy, 1 black guy, and 8 or more egyptians walking through a drive-thru ATM machine. People possibly were suspicious, so fun :)

Wedding practice, or some like to call it rehearsal. Tony, Mr. Clary, David Welch, and the Bride, Leigh Clary.

They shall be calling from all around requesting this teaching.

This is a sign :)

I really like motorcycles. A guy I work with got a new harley and let me take it for a ride today. There is nothing like riding a harley. It feels like you've been on a roller coaster and when you get off of it, your whole body is shaking. VRMMMMMM.

My boy jeeson inspired me to post this. While he was growing his "crustache" and staring in chocolate milk commercials worldwide, I was busy growing a surfer mullet. I'm surprised that I was even able to have a girlfriend at this point in my life. Just look at that. Disturbing and profound.

That aint even right

Breasts. Many many blogs ago, I wrote about a woman breast-feeding in
the toy aisle of my local Walmart. This very much bothered me and the
many young children that were trying to eye the latest Star Wars set
and saw a different set. What was this woman thinking? I'm not
really sure.

Recently I went to visit some "friends" for dinner. One of my buddies
had a baby recently and I had not seen this child yet. I walk in the
house and see his wife sitting on the couch with the baby and then see
all the guys outside. Again, I've never seen this child so the first
thing I do is go straight to the baby. There was about 20 feet
between the time I walked in the door until I could reach the baby and
his "mama." Well upon stepping within the 5 feet zone, I was
informed, "I'm breast-feeding." Now isn't that something I should
have been told at the 20 foot mark. I could have easily avoided the
"no fly" zone and missed the breasts on the couch. I think there
should be some written rule about communication while a woman is doing
that. I'm all about God's creation and how it's amazing that a woman
has the ability to do that. It really is. But I'm not all about
seeing it happen while I'm trying to eat a steak dinner or maybe even
just driving in my car. Either way, I still find it quite hilarioius
and comical.

I really just enjoy life and all the characters that make it up. It's great.

The hottest DJ in all the land. She spins the ones and twos like a champ.

A modern day Solomon.

Lily and Taguba...This was during one of our "foul" conversations if you know what I mean. I think Tugboat might have tasted a sour orange or something.

Sleeve and Niffer, also dancing to the boyz II men.

Also dancing to Boyz II men!! Tavaras and JuJu!!!!

Memorial Day weekend party at our house...fun times, cookout..and well...dancing to boyz II men with tugboat!

Melody in green.

Well, you may be asking yourself why Sanch and I have on the same outfit. Well...I'm not sure. Everyone who came to our house one night was wearing green. We didn't want to be left out so we changed to be like the rest. Forgive us.

Showstoppers Part Deuce

I wrote a whole blog and the internet ate it. Grrrrr. I should go
find Al Gore, he invented the thing :)

So anyway, after you lose a lot of work, you lose the desire to write
all the same things again. So I wanted to write a follow-up blog to
showstoppers part 1. Many people, mainly estrogen baring ones, thought it
was very insensitive and highly offensive. I love it. Haha. It was
not meant to be. See a showstopper for me, might be the very thing
another guy really looks for in a girl. Just like some girls like
tall guys, some like short guys. Some girls like guys with big
muscles, some don't care. Some guys like girls with big....brains, ya
know. And well other guys don't really care about that, they would
rather ask.."Can she cook?" etc. The things we hold important to
ourselves might not be so important to others.

I'm not very organized. Some girls might really like a guy who has
everything in it's place. Well my issue there might be a showstopper
for that girl. Now if you are hot and love Jesus, I can be trained.
Well, that's another blog. Anyway.

We are who we are. We cannot change that our ears are big, we are
natually disorganized, or the fact that waking up in the morning is a
challenge. Hopefully if the Lord has someone for you, He will make
that person appreciate all the lil things that you don't like about
yourself. My boy Ed wrote a song for Julie about all the
lil things about herself. Her lil quirks. How she likes to drink
out of a can, how she curls her hair but it never stays etc. He loves
all those lil things. I hope I can find a girl who really digs a guy
with a messy room. :) Or I should say, disorganized :)

Caught!

I caught our washing machine eating a sock of mine. I just happened
to open the door at the right time and saw one of my socks being
chewed on!

For years I have wondered why my sock drawer looks like an orphanage.
None of my socks has a brother or sister. They are all alone. They
are all the same color because I'm color blind and it's sometimes
tough to match socks, so I buy them all the same color. White, brown,
or black.

I really like buying socks, so I honestly don't mind losing them
sometimes. I bought some new socks in charleston that actually take
the sweat away from your feet. But what I am wondering is...well if
they take the sweat away from your feet....where do they put it??? It
goes in your shoe. Unless it just disappears. Maybe.

Not quite a packrat

Every single time I move to a new place, I go through all my old
stuff. I never want to throw any of it away. I hold onto everything.
It's the strangest thing. I have the desire now to be organized but
struggle to fully comprehend the whole idea. Daily, I walk in my room
and look around at the things that are there. I need help in this
area. I have improved a lot over the past year and I don't think I
will ever be super "organized." Hopefully the Lord will send me a
chick that likes to straighten up and all that jazz. I didn't say
clean, people, so don't get mad. Well if she did like to clean, that
would be cool too. And well cook, do laundry, have children, etc
etc...i kid i kid.

Anyway. It's funny to look back at old stuff and see how things in
your life have changed and also how some things have remained the
same. I heard this quote in a song I think..."If you want to make God
laugh, tell Him your plans." This is funny stuff to me. I believe
that it is true. It is very helpful to have an idea of where you want
your life to go, but we should never limit it to only that. We must
be ready to take a hard left or right at the drop of a hat. I think
"change" is really tough for many people. Stepping away from what you
"know" into the "unknown." SCARY.

I really like people. There is just something to be said about
hanging around with good people that are on the same page of life as
you. I like people on different pages of life too. :)

We found an ant living and well in the center of a peach yesterday,
this was profound.

A co-worker/friend of mine invited me on a camping trip with his church. Fun times were had by all and if you cannot tell by the picture, it rained the whole weekend. I'm not sure about the Eminem/camping look I had going on.

Awwww, I found some more pictures from Freedom Weekend. Someone please fix my hat.

BLOG LINES for Stalkers

For all of you who love to read blogs, this is the website for you. It lets you know when new blogs are posted. It also allows you to share your favorite blogs with others :) :0~

Blog Lines!

I guess this is really what Freedom Weekend is all about. THE BALLOONS.

Can you say..."Asian Persuasion" :) NICE.

My brother Greg and his boo Megan(sp) He came up to visit me :)

4 Reasons that I love living at 106 Canterbury.

Left to right, Niffer, Lindsay O. , and WhitYEY at Freedom Weekend Aloft. I definitely had more fun dancing and singing with these beautiful people than listening to the music, ha.

At Carrie & Daniel's reception/party. It was great, lots of food, lots of friends, and well, lots of food. Amy Wyatt went with me and yes, if you haven't noticed, she's tall. I'm 6'1 and with heels, she's about to be taller than me. I'm secure in my manhood enough to not be intimidated by this! I like to brag about peoples' dads...well her dad was a Top Gun pilot :) Yes, girls just like Tom Cruise in THE movie.

Josh & Jennifer Turner sang at Carrie and Daniel's wedding. So good...they both sang a song in the wedding and at the reception. Good team and great wedding.

I'm not really sure what happened here. Am I Asian too?? WhiYEY and I could be brother and sister!

Freedom Weekend Aloft! Gavin DeGraw and some fly honies! Left to right ( Melody, Lindsay, Lindsay T. , Niffer, and WhitYEY.)

just a note about friends

Well after over 5 years of not visiting me, my brother finally came up to Clemson for a visit. :) One thing I like about my friends is I really don't have to preface them with a "be nice to my brother" or "make sure you include him on your conversations." They do that naturally because that's who they are. Well most :) Everyone was really nice and a nice time was had by all! He did note that many of the girls around our "group" were very nice looking. And me and my roomies are still single, interesting. hahahahahahahaha. Back to work for me!

Showstoppers Part Uno

I have blogged for almost a year now and sometimes forget what I have blogged about, oh well. I work in a very technical environment and crazy terms are thrown around all the time. You have to learn a new vocabulary almost to really know what's going on most of the time. In the development of new products and in the process of testing new products or old ones for that matter we use a term. The term is called "known issue" or sometimes "known issues." This is basically something that we know needs to be fixed or is in the process of being fixed. It's a polite way to say there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

I'll let the girls in on a secret here. Guys do the same thing when they analyze the female species. You can see the most beautiful girl or the girl with the coolest qualities. But you don't really know her well. But hey, that's what friends are for and you have a friend that does know her well. One of the first things that most guys ask sums up to this..."does she have any known issues?".....this is just hilarious to me. A buddy and I know one girl that is really super cool. I always give him a tough time about dating her. We have known her for years and cannot discover any known issues. It baffles us.

Introducing technical term #2. "Show-stopper" A "show-stopper" is a term that describes a problem that you find in the testing process that haults the entire project until it is addressed. The "show-stopper" must be fixed before the project can move forward. Well this applies directly to what I've been talking about above. There are some "known issues" that can be looked over. I mean c'mon, we have issues, all of us, none excluded. But when you find a girl with a "show-stopper", you must move on. I think I would rather let some other guy figure out the show-stoppers.....I'm sure some of my friends could list some show-stoppers....or "known issues". Names excluded of course. :)

My Invention or idea

So often I rant to Lee about inventing something. You see these simple inventions in Walmart and on TV and they are so easy. Well someone just had the right idea, the right time, the right marketing, and VOILA! So a guy/girl is sitting on a beach somewhere because they invented the easy bake oven. C'mon people!

So I didn't know that girls knew about "matches." Matches have many different uses. Yes the sticks of wood with the red tip can come in handy when you need a fire. Well many of the men know the other "use" of matches. Yes, you guessed it. The BATHROOM. I first discovered that girls knew about matches when I first started to date this girl and used her bathroom for the first time. It was like a golden moment in my history. I open the door and whether this is homosexual or not, I don't know. Well I'll just say it. I scoped out the bathroom. The first thing I saw was a nice box of matches. "Wow, this is incredible." A girl who knows the other value of matches! So is this common among women? Or are there an elite few who understand this value to the wooden stick with a red top? Either way.

So if matches are what makes the bathroom smell better, I think we should create a potpouri that smells like BURNING MATCHES! C'mon, u all know that regular potpouri just stinks. I think I would rather smell dog crap than most of that stuff! So anyway, i'm going to watch a movie now. Toodles!

Just some thoughts from a man with big ears

"For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12).

Think about all the evil in the world. Most of it hinges on grace and forgiveness. Hotel Rwanda, for example, one tribe did something to another tribe, then a war started in Rwanda, people were killed, many died. No forgiveness. You kill our people, we will kill yours. Genocide.

It's amazing that God is so forgiving. We have a tough time with forgiveness and usually we only know half the wrongs done towards us. God knows ALL the sin and disgust we have done, and He is still able and willing to forgive us. Not only are we stubborn in forgiving people, we are often stubborn in forgiving ourselves.

He not only forgives our sin, He chooses not to remember it. (Micah 7:18-19 NIV) "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. {19} You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." Not only are our sins forgiven, they are thrown into the deep parts of the sea, not the kiddie pool where they can be easily seen. Deep.

The difference between us and God is our ability to remember. We can forgive others and we can forgive ourselves, but we will always remember. Sin hurts, whether it is inflicted or received. It kills.

The ability to really forgive comes only from the Lord. If you have been forgiven, it becomes "easier" to forgive.

On a happy note, I have officially met the first person who had an "ear" tact. I will not release names. But this person apparently had big ears like me but chose to have theirs "appended." This is hilarious.

Hit on Life

I'm a nerd and I must confess something. For about a year now I've become very good at stalking. Let me clarify before you go and hide your children from me. Since the invention of the internet has come along (Thanks Al Gore :) , many things have changed in this world. One thing that has changed is stalking. t I should start giving an explanation. I would say that basically 75% of things I have learned since age 20 have come through the internet. For about 4 years, I have studied apologetics and completely through the internet. For about 3-4 years, I've studied evangelism, mostly through the internet and audio sermons. Check this site out This website can teach you about everything from lock picking to how cars work. I tell you all of that to give a background into what I'm about to say.

So I've had friends through the past year that have had "interests." Whether it comes in the form of a guy asking the girl out or the guy asking the girl out, they need me! "Why Justin?", you ask. Well here is why. See before you go out with anyone, you must do your homework. You must perform a google search on them. I'm not talking about any google search, google searching is a skill that is not easily taught. A buddy of mine, who is now engaged to be married in a month is fruit of my work. He started "talking" to this girl and I dug up some good information on her. Basically just some really good things people said about her and some funny pictures. He thoroughly enjoyed it and learned about his soon to be woman. The scary thing about google searching is that people can find out anything. They can find out your personal web page, they can find out where you live, they can find out anything you post on the internet. So before you date that next guy or girl, please contact me and I will let you know whether they are quality enough for you :)

So back to stalking. On my webpage, I can see the # of people that visit the page, this is commonly known as a "hit." One visit counts as one "hit." So I logged in the other day and saw that over 13,000 people have "hit" my page. It shows that these people came from all over the world. Some from the Netherlands, some from Australia, some from France, and other really random places. These people come from all walks of life. Something dawned on me. I thought about all the crazy and random things I write about. I thought about the good things that matter to the Lord. I thought about the stories regarding gas and well, you know those stories. 13,000 people have read these things! I started thinking about life, our lives, and how many MORE people "hit" them. People watch us daily, they see us in our good times and in our bad times. They see us when we are laughing, they see us when we are crying. Someone is always watching. How many people have logged into my life and seen something not honoring? Sometimes, someone might hit your blog once, read the most recent post and never come back again. You only got one chance to make it count. You only have 1 life to make your hits count. I surely want people to come back and visit my life, not because of anything that I've "done" or anything I've "worked" for, but because of the Lord's presence in my life and I hope to have pointed them to Him. I had dinner with a friend today and he said a professor he met at seminary "walked in humility." What a beautiful thing to say about someone. A man who got one chance to make an impression on someone and in 5 minutes, they knew he was of the Lord and followed hard after Him.

Eminem had a point, u really do only have one shot, do not miss your chance. yes, I quoted eminem. Forigve me, I'm male.

It's dat WOO WOO!

Well after a week on a motorcycle and no car, I now have a new ride. You may ask yourself, "Justin, didn't you already have a Jeep?" I would respond, "Yes." You might then counter and say, "Why did you buy another?" I would then say, "This one is bigger!" Haha. I'm stupid. But it's got more leg room and more cargo room for road trips! It's an Unlimited Wrangler which means it's just longer. THIS ONE HAS A/C! You never really know the value of A/C until you ride two years w/o it. Now hot girls can ride in my car to weddings and the like w/o hearing complaints of sweating. :)

A good wreck

Growing up in the country usually means you are going to have some type of recreational vehicle. My first ride was around the age of 5 and I got a 4x4 battery powered truck that I could drive. My mom would let me charge it all night and then drive it all the way to the store, which was about equivalent to 10 miles as an adult. It was so fun. I would take my $1 and be able to buy a mountain dew and a whatchamcalic (sp) candy bar. Those were great days.

The next thing we got was a go-cart. Now this thing was interesting. We would drive that thing around all day and then it would break. My dad would spend time fixing it and we would be back on the dirt roads of Hamer, SC.

The next choice vehicle was a Honda 110 three wheeler. This thing was fun. The very first day we got it was awesome. Well until something happened. My brother and I and some buddies took it a few miles from our house. We were riding in a dried up pond. So fun. I was going up a cliff and then another guy ran in front of me so I had to move quickly to some shrubs. Well there was something behind the shrubs, a 15 foot cliff. I went straight down, head first and front wheel first. It landed, threw me forward and the ATV landed on top of me. I was hurt, leg was busted open and burned pretty deep. They loaded me on the three wheeler and took me home so I could hide on the couch under the blankets. We couldn't tell my parents or they might take it from us. So we just bandaged my leg up and shhhhhh, kept it a secret. Of course, they found out. I didn't get in trouble though.

I got a motorcycle after the 3 wheeler. It was a 1977 XL100 and it was such a fun thing. Busted my chin open on that one driving across a field wide open then hitting a pile of dirt.

Now I have a huge dirtbike that I have yet to really wreck. Relationships are much like how you handle recreational vehicles. You almost have to get burned really bad one time to appreciate how fragile you can be on them or in them. I don't do stupid stuff anymore on motorcycles because I know that one bad move and you are done. Relationships aren't as easy to control! Just watch what you drive! You never can predict!

Off to look for a new car :)

Pushing Outside

I have really been trying to figure this thing out. I drove my wrangler for two years. I loved that car. When the upstate iced over, I was the only person who could leave the neighborhood. If you see a car in the ditch, the wrangler could hook right up and pull them out. Yes I am a redneck. I would get excited when it would ice or snow so I could go look for people in ditches. My neighbor's car skidded out the driveway one time and I had to pull him back into it. How fun. Anyway. I say all that to say that Jeeps are fun cars. Take the top off, let the sun hit the back of your neck. MMMMMM.

There is another mysterious thing about driving a wrangler. It's called the "Jeep Wave." I might have written about this before. The "Jeep Wave" is something that happens when one wrangler driver passes another. It doesn't matter how long you have had one, what year it is, how dirty, or how new, you get a genuine wave. People that you actually meet in the wrangler, insist on asking you when you got yours, how you like it, etc. Motorcycles are the same way. People will wave as they are driving by on theirs. It's a very cool thing that makes you proud and you feel part of something cool.

What if the church was the same way? When you see another Christian, u have that genuine care and love for them. It doesn't matter how long they have known the Lord, it doesn't matter what church they go to, it doesn't matter how old they are. You genuinely care for them because they share a love for Christ just like you. He connects you both and you are glad to be apart of Him. It's sad that there is a more cohesive bond in driving a Jeep than there is in the church.

We did an outreach at Clemson one time and made t-shirts with a random thing on them. Everyone who was participating wore the shirts. All ministries from around the campus were in on it. Well they were green, puke green. You could spot them a mile away. When I would see a green shirt, even from a long distance, I would get excited. "Hey there is another one." Just knowing these were my brothers and sisters in Christ made me feel part of something big. Then the sad news came. As I walked around campus that week in my green shirt, I noticed that the other green shirters were not so excited about wearing the shirt or even saying "hi" for that matter. I'd try and speak to each one as they walked past me and it was like pulling teeth. Most walked straight ahead and you really had to speak loudly for them to even look at you. I thought on that. "You know, if I'm a Christian and they treat me like this, how do they treat the world?" It made me angry. Because I was not apart of their ministry, maybe they just wanted to ignore me. Childish.

I wish the church could drive around in a Jeep for a week, or maybe take a cruise on the backroad of SC. See the unity of strangers driving the same car.

One of my least favorite things about going to church is the "meet a stranger" portion. Why do we do that? Are people that shy? Do we really have to force adults to meet? Do people really sit in their seats and not speak to the people beside them? Does this happen in church?

If we are not unified in the walls of the church, we are not going to be unified in front of a lost world. We are so self-focused to even wave at a fellow believer or give a gentle "hi." Christ said that the world would know we were his disciples by the love we have for each other.

It takes a while to really chew on that.

Gone

Like many things that fulfill us for a short time in this life. My Wrangler is gone. I watched her drive away last night about 10:30. Oh the memories of mountains, beaches, long highways with no end. I drove her all the way back from Omaha, Nebraska and talked 10 hours on the phone. I slept in that car, ate in that car, and occasionally let girls ride in that ride. She took me 75,000 glorious miles and she will be remembered as faithful. Cleaning out the car was not so fun either. I found so many random notes and cds. Some were easy to throw away. Some not so easy. I don't remember ever making out in that car, maybe that's a good thing. In high school, you rated your car on how many times you made out in it. Wow. The ol Fiero was a good car. The wrangler was a pure car. She may get replaced this summer with another one!

For now, you can look for me buzzing by in a helmet, gloves, and motorcycle.

Ride on!

No regrets!

There is something disturbing in this kindergarten picture. It is my head. See if you can find it. See, my head has been the same size since birth. My body has tried to catch up. The race is still on.

On Two Feet

Guess who is back? Back again. Okay, forgive me for the Slim Shady pun. What year is it anyway? I have been on my back for almost a week with a combination of ailments. I've never missed more than one day of work and I missed 4 straight this week. Believe me, I would have loved to be an engineer and run test plans than sleep on a futon for a week straight.

It's amazing what you think about when you spend a week secluded from the world, news, and other outside influences. On Tuesday night, I really felt like I was going to die. I started thinking about all the time I waste. We think we are going to live forever. We think we will have time to witness to that guy at work we never talk to. We think we will have time to make mends with that person from our past. Tomorrow is not a given. Today we have today.

I take for granted many blessings in my life. I woke up the other night and just started thinking about my family and how much I love them. I guess when you sit in a room for 4 days, you have time to reflect.

So a random blog to say I missed reading everyone's blog and emails!

Also, I'm selling my Jeep on Saturday and I don't have another car yet??? Any ideas??? Maybe get another Jeep for the summer??? Maybe I should get a girl for the summer too. As if that was a choice. ha. I DID LOSE 10LBS on the sick diet!

I'm alive

For those of you who have called or emailed me in the past few days, I am not being stuck-up. I have been layed out on my back for the past few days with the flu, the worst cold ever, or mono. I can do nothing but sleep and cough.

Hopefully this will pass soon! ugghhh! Prayers much appreciated.

Preview

COMING SOON: Videos of a new visitor to our house. You will love it :)

For now, recalling old blogs.

Jessie, my lil sis was quite upset that I did not have any picture of her on my blog. I officially have one! Can you see any resemblance?? hahaha.

Utterly Amazing

All my life, I've been kinda amazed at stupid human tricks. Let me tell you what happened the other day at the house. Lee was outside picking up bottles in the backyard. No, he has money and no he is not selling them. The people that lived on the lot before he did left lots of bottles in the backyard. They were really cool. Even had a RedRock! I used to drink Red Rock as a kid. Loved it. I don't know why I just shared all that.

So Lee walked outside to grab some more bottles. As he was walking out, I took a big swig of Diet Coke and right as I did something happened. Well Sandy made a crack and I inhaled the diet coke, literally. Not 2 seconds after this, coke begans to drip from my nose at the same right a coffee maker works. It was glorious. I just held it in my hand. It was a puddle. I was so happy that I went around showing the roomies what my nose had made. All my life I've wanted to be able to do it. Amazing. Thanks for sharing in this with me.

Kiss A European Week 05

My sister works for the UN and lives in Amsterdam. I've always wanted to go visit her and kept putting it off. Well I'm in the process of planning a lil tour to see her. Looks like the plan could be...Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and a few other random spots along the way. Anyone interested?

All roads lead...

Every decision, every choice, every move, step, traffic light, and broken down car have led you to where you are.

It's crazy to think about all the decisions and choices we make and the consequences they have on our life and others.

I like Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" and Rascal Flatt's "Bless the Broken Road." Those are my two confessions.

And yes, I sing Kelly's song really loud in my Jeep and play dashboard drummer to it.

Preview to another

It has been a week and a few changes, but not much time to write. I will say this.

Please see Sandy.

thank-you.

So driving along on our way back from the Cooper River Bridge run, I noticed this car. At first glance, you might think this car is driving around 80 by itself with no driver. But let me tell you, there is a driver, Huli Haley.



Here goes the side shot and confirms there was a person driving.

So I'm not really a "runner" per se, but some buddies and I sure did the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K! (Left to right, Angela Johnson, Keith Norris, me, and Kert Summer)

Take some responsibility

The Lord has been teaching me to be more responsible. I've begun to notice that there are many people who don't take responsibility for their actions and many other things. I really appreciate people who handle their affairs correctly and get things done, they are my role models. Here goes my soap box...

So many times in Christian and church circles, when a big decision needs to be made, it will all fall back onto God. Mainly in relationships. It's known as pulling the "god card." I don't spell 'God' with a capital G because He is not in the 'god card.' What is the 'god card'? Well I'm glad you asked. The card is pulled in a relationship where you are not happy anymore. Nothing is sinful about it, it might actually look "good" on the outside. But at some point, one of the parties in the relationship becomes unhappy and needs a way out. Well instead of being honest and telling other person in a tactful way, they pull the card. See what the 'god card' does is it takes the focus off yourself and your real reasons for ending things and places it on the Lord as if it's Him that wants to break up and not you. Now don't get me wrong, there are times when the Lord does lead you out of a relationship. People really believe that during the "crusades," they were doing the Lord's work. They honestly believed that killing catholics or killing protestants was of the Lord. Listen, everything that happens in this life can be used by the Lord, even sin, but we shouldn't blame everything situation on Him. C'mon people. Take some responsibility. Mainly lately, I've seen and just heard about some really sketchy things in Christian circles and that's sad. We should be who people look to for guidance in all situations in life: finances, living, relationships, marriage, etc.

Stop being sketchy and tell the truth.

Muahhhhhh.

Who are you?

I wonder who made up the saying, "you are what you eat?" That's a funny saying and I don't know what made me think about it, but I did.

So yesterday was my birthday, I turned 25 and my insurance was literally cut in half. Now I have more money per month to do good or fun things with. My boy Ed organized a party last night for my birthday and invited all my friends. One thing I love about doing anything as a big group is that some of my friends don't even know each other. A few times during the night someone would whisper "Who is that?" I love that. I love that my friends are from all over the place and all different, some strange, but all special :). We went to Wild Wing and it was fun. Afterwards, we hit marble slab, then CORNER POCKET to shoot some pool.

So back to friends. When I was younger and opening presents, I rarely liked to get cards. The only cards I liked were the long skinny ones that I immediately knew had money in them. Over the years, I've come to love cards. I couldn't wait to get home last night so I could read all the cards people sent me. Rachel gave me a "pail" and a digital camera case and I used the "pail" to put all my cards in. Well if u don't know, I consider anything under 5 gallons, a pail. Anyway. I read through these cards and just thanked the Lord for giving me the friends I have. They all have shaped me in their own special way. I keep everything, I have cards all the way back from high school and even before that. I have to force myself to throw some stuff away.

So back to friends. I am moving right now and was just going in and out of the house carrying stuff when I saw a box leaning on the door of the house. One of my friends had sent me at least 10-15 cds from Tommy Nelson's church. I did not immediately go to the cds but to the card. It's amazing the power words can have on a life. I read it and was literally broke down. I think most Christians that have those times in your life when you know the Lord is trying to push you to something and of course He is using people to show you and encourage.

Proverbs says : "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." And in 18:20, "A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled."

If you are reading this, most likely you are one of my friends and I thank you for being that. If you are reading this and I don't know you, I might see you on the road one day, I LOVE TO PICK UP YOU STRANGERS!

So CIU, your own Erin Sanders thought it would be funny to give me a "Free Panty" card from VS. I'm not sure what would motivate her to do such a thing! Keith Norris is also pictured here and quite excited about my gift. Or maybe it was getting his picture taken :)