Wednesday, July 31, 2013

a few so whats, and a few apologies

One of the wonderful bloggers that I follow, the lovely Chrissi over at Home Is Where The Heart Is, does this quirky little thing called 'So What Wednesday'. First of all, everyone should go click on that link and check out her blog because it's fantastic! And secondly, this post is going to be a little bit of a copy [or the idea anyways] of her lovely idea :) So all credit goes to her!

I realized as I was looking forward to my upcoming weekend and week that there's a couple of things going to be occurring that I should probably apologize in advance for. I was going to wait and write this out tomorrow afternoon right before I left, but I realized if I waited (with the minimal amounts of sleep I've gotten PLUS early mornings get ups) 'So What Wednesday' would probably turn into 'Take THAT Life! Thursday'. So. In order to avoid mindless ranting Bethany...we're doing this tonight ;) Here we go!

I apologize in advance for:

  1. The massive amounts of Instagram pictures that will be taken on my way to Georgia, at Alumni Reunion, of my best friends, of my bored face on the plane to Hawaii, in Hawaii with my family, and all the way back. We're talking MULTIPLE pictures a day people. Handfuls & handfuls. We've discussed my phototaking problem before. Hashtag: InstaAddict. 
  2. The equal [and probably much greater] amounts of tweets that will be tweeted, consisting of absolutely NOTHING serious and all ridiculous. My family is quite honestly just hilarious when we get together...and SOMETIMES I feel the need to share that with the world...
  3. Any and all Facebook status that consist of me going "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" in ways that translate to "I'M AT ALUMNI REUNION!!" and "WE JUST LANDED IN HAWAII!!!!" Sorry about that. Really. Especially is you're one of those people who translates all caps to mean the voice in your head that's reading needs to scream at you too. 
  4. The possibility of multiple blog posts reading "We did this today. It was awesome. Followed by this. Also awesome." But at least there will be lots of pictures! 
I say I'm sorry for these things jokingly, because the truth is I'm really not ;) I'm beyond excited to think that in less than 2 days I'm going to be reunited with some of my favorite people in the world, and then getting to travel with my family. And, if I didn't scare you away and you want to come along, you can follow me on Twitter here and on Instagram here! And just to end on a fantastically hilarious note...happy Wednesday everybody! [Hump DAY!] 


Sunday, July 28, 2013

Lakefront Brand of Lazy.

The family has been out on the lake for the past 4 days, and it was lovely. I love the lake. I always claimed the right to be a beach girl, and I still hold to that definitely, but I will openly admit the lake is growing on me :) We kind of follow our own schedule, which I guess can really only be expected when you put the weekend, sun rays, boating and beautiful sunsets all in the same place! Weirdly enough, I actually missed blogging :) So here is the typical, catch up, let me put my pictures in a blog post, post!


Israel: For those who don't know, my family spent 5 years of our life living in a neighborhood called Kfar Shmaryahu in the country of Israel. I really should blog more about it. Surprisingly, since we've moved back to the states there hasn't been very much slowing down long enough to actually miss living there, at least on my part. But I actually took the time to sit down and sift through some old pictures the other day, and I officially MISS IT. Big time.


Heart Cities: I think I jokingly told somebody once that while my heart would always be in Texas with my family, I'd lost it completely as soon as I stepped into the Savannah city limits. I've recently discovered that I might not have been joking at all. Savannah held the title as favorite city of all time up until last April, where it now has to share (probably forever) with the beauty that is Charleston, South Carolina. In the middle of the upcoming realization that school is about to start and I'm about to move away from my family, it makes me smile to think that I'll be moving back to two of the most peaceful places I've ever been privileged to be.


Trucks: I very seriously told a friend of mine once that Hummer Trucks were perhaps one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen. Maybe it's the fact that I've seen a bajillion & one of them over the course of this summer, but I take it back. They're kinda growing on me.


Luxury: The lakehouse finally has furniture!!! "Bethany, it took you this long?" Yes. Yes it did. But after a weekend of sifting through Mamaw's old barn, various antique stores and a couple of flea markets, we've found the beginnings of our vintage home away from home!


 Hobbitses: We finally introduced Baby Brother to the Hobbit on Friday night. I know. I was shocked and appalled that he had yet to see it too. BUT he loved it, and on the drive home today he picked up the book and decided he just might read that too. Needless to say, I was impressed :)

#InstaAddict: I might have a problem. Let's just go ahead and admit it.

Last Minute Memories: It's beginning to finally sink in that "3 months at home" doesn't feel like 3 months at home, and is in fact almost at an end. Which is very, very, very, very sad, no matter how much I miss my roommates and CIU friends. However, in an effort to round summer off with a bang, I fly out Friday to reunite with my Impact 360 family, just before flying out to meet my family family in Hawaii. That'll do it ;) There really aren't words to describe how excited I am to get to the end of this week!!!!!!


BucketList: I CAUGHT A LIZARD! This was an item rather hastily placed on the summer bucket list, that got checked off right before we pulled out from the lake this evening. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. It's the little things. We named him Jaws the 5th (even though there was never a 2nd, 3rd or 4th) and he was pretty dang threatening.


Inspiration: I'm pretty picky about the classic Christian novel series...only because I've picked up so many that start off well and just end cheesy. Like...cheesy in an unexplainable, holes in the storyline, made Christ & the Gospel seem incredibly cliche & bedtime story-like, cheesy. But, at the suggestion of the SisterFriend, I picked up A Voice in the Wind and was hooked by chapter 5. Lovely, well written, and she doesn't make the Christian life seem easy....one of those books that made me turn around and take a look at how I was living, and what it said about Christ :) 



Music: I leave you with The Stella Sisters. You're welcome. again, this is the SisterFriend's doing...and these incredibly talented girls (The oldest is TWELVE ya'll) have been the soundtrack to my week :)

August is around the corner, Poptart is almost  17, school is almost here, my friends are back in my life, God remains faithful and crazy good, and I am beyond excited to see what the next few weeks has in store :) Let's go!! 






Monday, July 22, 2013

From Dark to Light


Nothing to do with my post, but I love this picture :) 
[sunset over the horse pasture] 

It's been a while since I've sat down to write about anything that had something to do with heart me and not random, rambling, this is what I've been doing me. I haven't had anything really to write about, to be honest. In the craziness that is summer, things that should be important like Christ  and devotion and morning quiet time tend to fall behind more often than not. But I sat up in bed this morning & wasn't really ready to start my day...so I reached over to Jesus Calling and flipped to today's entry. Crazy how Christ is willing to use something as simple as me being lazy to teach me gracefilled truth. 

Two statements from my reading this morning REALLY stuck out to me: 
  1. "Your own desire to look good can drain your energy. I am your Master, and I do not drive you to be what you are not." - Jesus Calling 
  2. "For you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. WALK as children of the light." - Ephesians 5:8 
Reading this statement and this verse one after another made something click. If anyone has the right to demand anything from me, it's Christ. An all-powerful,  all-encompassing, sovereign God who loves and loves perfectly has every right, is almost expected, to turn around and demand the same of me. He deserves it. He deserves more. Not only that, but He has every right to demand and then punish when I am unable to live up to the standards and requests that He makes of me. And yet, He does not call me to be what I am not....He changes what I am. Does that make sense? I'm not sure if everything is making it out of my head in one piece :P 

As a child of darkness, I was unable to seek Christ. I couldn't become what He demand I become to stand in His presence...but instead of accepting my inability or lowering the standard, Christ took me, changed my very structure, and formed me into the very thing He was asking me to become. I didn't do anything. Christ drew the finish line, noted my distance from it, picked me up, carried me across, and essentially finished my race for me. AH. 

From dark to light, from forsaken to forgiven, from abandoned to treasure, I am eternally at the mercy and grace of an overwhelming Lord & Savior...and that is possibly the most comforting thing I've been able to grasp in a long time :) 

Linking up pretty early this morning with Melissa at the Friend Connect Blog Hop! You might also know her from The Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife. So, click on one of those lovely links OR the picture below, and check it out! :)

Friday, July 19, 2013

Pre-Weekend Ramblings.

Essentially, this is another one of those random, no point blog posts. I don't have the time to sit down & blog about something heavier (those are in the works) but I've missed blogging for about a week and I wanted to get something down! So, randomness embraced, and let's go :D

- I have several questions rattling around in my head right now, the biggest ones being 'It's July WHAT?' and 'WHERE did my summer go?!' It seems like LITERALLY maybe 3 weeks ago I drove Baby Blue (aka my car Scofield) across the Lousiana/Texas border. Apparently it's been MUCH longer than that :D All that being said, I'm actually kind of okay with it. Beginning of August means end of camps, weekend of Alumni Reunion, and some wonderful much needed vacation time with my family on the beach. The beach!!! So we're good :)

The beginning of our roadtrip! 3 weeks ago, right? 

- Seeing as how I DO have to see people that haven't seen me in a year, a lot of Wednesday afternoon was spent chasing down sales with my Momma. I'm actually rather proud to say that I managed to pick out some pretty cute clothes for myself for upcoming reunion & vacation trip! This is more of an accomplishment than it sounds, because style is something that is NOT on my list of gifts. But it's incredible how far studying pinterest boards can get you ;) All that to say, there's new clothes and I'm excited. 

- Most of this week has been spent at VBS with 4&5 year olds, which means I now talk to everyone like they're 4 or 5 year olds. But there will be pictures & stories & a full blog post dedicated to that at some point, so we'll leave it here for now :) 

- I've discovered an all time FAVORITE of mine is being read aloud to...and reading books aloud to others. This has definitely become more & more common over my summer, and I LOVE it!! 

- The no-biting nails resolution is coming along nicely! They were painted for the first time in several weeks this morning, and so far I haven't figited or scratched it off :)


- So, a year ago my family finally made it to Disney World after 18+ years of planning. After we got home, Poptart and I made a promise to Rach that we'd take her back come Christmas and then kind of forgot about it. But after a lot of suggestions became ideas, those ideas became conversations, and those conversations became pleas with the parents, Turshy, Rachel & I will be headed out for #Disneyorbust2013 Christmas break this year :) Although this has meant a LOT of summer saving, we're excited out of our minds!! 

- I made the HUGE mistake of letting the new Miley Cyrus song play on the radio when I was in the car last week....and now I can't get it out of my head. Moral of the story: if you think something's catchy, CHANGE IT before you realize it is! 

Completely honestly, this week has been a week of crazy blessings for me :) I've been able to catch up with best friends far away, figure out the answers to a lot of end of summer plans, and gotten to love on some PRECIOUS kids :D There have been many, many phone calls (which are always some of my favorite things in the world) and last night I was reunited with one of my very best friends! And then simultaneously embarassingly trashed while playing Super Smash Brothers by that same best friend :) 

All in all, it has been a WONDERFUL week :) 

In order to make some new friends, I'm linking up with the Friday Chaos Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Oh So Amelia. So if you're looking for some new people to follow, check it out by either clicking the link or the picture below! 


Friday chaos

Hop on over!!! 

Monday, July 15, 2013

Miscellaneous Monday!

I've officially found the perfect linkup for me & my random all over the place thoughts...Miscellaneous Monday over at lowercase letters which, by the way, is a wonderful blog which continues to keep me entertained whenever I'm looking for something to read. Basically the only rule is write your randoms and then link up, so that's what I'll be doing!!!


1. The Little has been in town for about a week, and we've trekked all over the place. By all over the place I mean to Houston, back, to Galveston, back, and to the lake. And back. Not too far & not too much of Texas, but enough to give her the urge to come back! 

2. I've been trying to stop biting my nails this summer....and the reason I don't have a victorious 'look at how long they are!' hand picture is because it hasn't exactly worked yet. But fingers crossed I actually have nails to paint come the end of July! 


3. Hanners and I spent a good 30 minutes sitting on the side of our dock arguing about whether the little Loch Ness monster looking heads popping out of the water at sunset were turtles or sticks. She insists they're sticks...despite the fact that they pop IN AND OUT OF THE WATER and LOOK LIKE TURTLES. It was fun though :P 


4. Speaking of turtles, Tricia and I rescued 2 this weekend! We almost hit them with her car, so she stopped and I jumped out to fly them across the road and to the water. The first went smoothly, but I don't think the second little turtle knew exactly what was going down, because he proceeded to scratch at me and then I accidentally dropped him. Except it was less of dropping and more of flinging in shock because I thought he was about to bite down and break my finger. But he forgave me and made it across the road with little to no mishaps :P 

5. We're a little under halfway through July, which is sad because it means we're basically over halfway through the summer. But I've gotta admit, there's a part of me waiting to usher in the end of this month :P I'm selfishly ready for camps to be done so I can reclaim my friends. Plus Alumni Reunion & family vacation comes at the beginning of August! 


6. We got hit by one of the biggest (and prettiest) storms we've had all summer trying to grill for the Hargises last night. It came out of nowhere! 

7. I have a [temporary] pet German Shepherd living in our house with us right now. The boy's best friend is here and she comes with ^this beautiful dog in tow, whose name is Misha :) I'm living the dream for a couple of weeks! 

8. Speaking of pets, VBS has started and aside from the fact that I've got a class full of ADORABLE kindergartners, I've decided (with the help of Hannah) that if I could change any one thing in my life I'd give myself a pet dragon....who will remain nameless because I can't think of any one name quite epic enough for him yet! 

Welp, this has been the first of (many) Miscellaneous Mondays! Link up with the link below if you want to join the party! 


lowercase letters



Sunday, July 7, 2013

4th of July & weekend adventures!

It's late. I know it is. But I told myself as soon as I got home from the weekend at the lake I'd go ahead and post because this is BASICALLY the only chance I'm going to get to do it. 

Tomorrow is dedicated completely to cleaning the room & getting everything put together because when Tuesday arrives the Little touches down at 1 o'clock and we get an entire WEEK together! Which, if anyone is wondering, is the longest time we've ever spent together without having to say goodbye somewhere in the middle :) 

So before the crazy sets in....my 4th of July weekend! 
[complete with pictures] 


We went all out for 4th of July outfits this year...sunglasses & facepaint included! 




We camped out on the back porch for dinner right as a storm rolled over the lake



We ended up sheltering this little guy from the rainstorm, much to the disgust of the bug-hating best friend


Afternoon rainstorms kind of killed the fun on the lake, so we chose SpongeBob as our cartoon of choice :P 


And finally walked outside to this beautiful sunset, which of course meant we had to take a billion & one sunset photos 


He made me promise I would include the one of him pretending to push me in.....
and even though he's not making ONE normal face in any of these photos, he is my baby brother and I swear he loves me too





We finally headed out to a nearby new friend's house to watch the fireworks




Other big events of the weekend included putting the boat in the water for the first time 



Of course we had to name it. We batted the names Kingfisher, Kota and Skeeter around for a little while, and finally narrowed it down to Kota because that's what's written all over the boat anyways 


We went tubing, which resulted in me & baby being thrown off MULTIPLE times, and ending up sorer than I've been since I ran track in high school 









And there was my weekend :) 

This blog was mostly pictures and very little words, so I'll work on fixing that soon. But for now I've got to get to bed, so I actually have energy to throw clothes into my closet before Hannah gets here ;) 

35 HOURS AND COUNTING!