a double-coke kind of day

i was practically raised on coke (coca-cola classic, people). and at the risk of sounding like a commercial, i still to this day love the first sip of a nice cold refreshing coke! :) anyway, i've limited myself to one per day for the past year or so but yesterday on my way out the door, i grabbed two because i knew it was going to be a rough day.

i couldn't have been more right. and i won't bore you with details of eps deadlines and print windows and last-minute changes, but basically i had a section that was supposed to be in nashville at 5 and i left work at 8. everything just seemed like it took forever to get done and extra stuff kept popping up and i was just treading water and doing all i could to keep it together to get this section out the door (it actually didn't get completely done until this morning. yikes!).

so as i was leaving work i turned on one republic's dreaming out loud cd and it helped me chill out on the way home. even though i didn't get home until almost 9, last night was one of those days i was kind of thankful for the 35 minute ride home so i could clear my head.

although it was a sucky day, there were several bright spots that i thought of as i went to bed and i thought i'd share...

• whitney, in all her best friend glory, sent me a "flower plant" that totally made my day!
• i got a very encouraging text message from jo
• the other designers pitched in majorly to help me out
• i saw a little furry face looking out the window at me when i pulled up to the house
• i saw two more little furry faces when i walked in and i got several puppy kisses and greetings at the top of the stairs
• whitney saved me leftovers
• jon & kate plus 8 was on. LOVE that show!

i'm popping open my one coke of the day right now.....aaaaaaaaaaah :)

reasons why...

...i love my church - cross point community church

let's start with the easy ones...

as a designer, i absolutely love the design of cross point. i know that kind of sounds weird but i've never seen a church with a more complete "brand." the staff is completely in tune with what attracts people and is incredibly well-marketed without sacrificing any of its integity and i think that's a really tricky thing to do. check out the website and you will understand what i mean...it's pretty :)

my church lives in the now. it doesn't pretend that it's sheltered to what is happening in the world and it keeps up. our paster, pete, delivers the messages in ways i understand and keep me interested and inspire me. here's a video that was used actually before we started going but shows another reason why i love this church...


also, i love our music director, jared. in fact, i love the entire worship team. one benefit of going to church in "music city" is that there are incredibly talented people who understand what it is to use their God-given talent in worship. and i also love the music because they don't constrict themselves to christian music. when they know a song can be used for the glory or God, they do. this video is a perfect example of the talent, boldness in worship and creativity of cross point. you can't really see the video playing on the screens very well, but it gave me chills it was so good.


ok...last reason although there are plenty more. over the course of the past several years i have had a hardened heart toward church because of different things that had happened and different people that had hurt me. anyway, i was using these things as an excuse to be complacent and quite honestly, i had gotten pretty good at it. i can't count the number of church services that have come and gone without even a thought. i don't think this is the fault of any church i've been to in the past but there's something about cross point that makes it impossible to avoid the impact of the Holy Spirit on my heart. the minute you walk in, you know God is present and although they care nothing about actual numbers (their aim is a healthy church body, be it 200 or 2,000 people), the growth at this church is evidence of God's work there.

anyway, i don't say any of this to brag or say my church is better than yours. just my thoughts on why i love my church. i truly believe i have found the place God wants me to be so we can reconnect and he can catch me up on what i've missed.

and now i leave you with a quote from fashionista diaries...

"Well my mother tells me you have to dress yourself for the Lord. Would a hat and gloves be appropriate? It's my first time reconnecting with God, so it's gotta be a good outfit!"

meet my best friend

so one thing you should know about me going in is that i have the best, most loyal best friend in all the world. you know how sometimes you meet someone and the next thing you know, it feels like you've known them your whole life? well, if you have, you know you are very lucky. pardon the cheese, but that's exactly how it is with me and whit. we met and clicked and really haven't been apart much since then. we laugh, cry and fight together but mostly we laugh. she laughs at the most ridiculous and corny jokes i make (which i happen to find hilarious!)

anyway, i'm starting this blog off with whit because, once again, we are blogging together :) well, not really together...but it was her idea that we each do one and i must say, i've kind of been thinking of starting one too. thats another thing about whit, she's way more driven than i could ever dream to be so she pushes me to do things that i would normally procrasinate on - like starting a blog for instance. or calling to make a haircut appointment. or calling the phone company (which i still need to do...oops).

i tend to ramble, so i'm going to attempt to keep this short. i hope i end up having some things worth saying that are also worth reading and hopefully we can keep in touch...i'll read yours if you read mine! :)
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