good times with good friends

We have a group of friends that get together every Tuesday for pizza at Pleasant City Pizza. Why Tuesdays? Because the pizza's are HALF OFF. Where else can you get a full belly for $4 (that isn't fast food)?

We were trying to entertain ourselves during the 40 minute wait for our pizzas. We caught up on our past week, movies and gossip...I mean news. Eventually I got around to asking my famous what-if questions. You know....like, what if you could have any animal in the world as a pet but they wouldn't ever get any bigger than a kitten (how cool would it be to have a pet elephant that could sit in your lap?!)

I end up asking the question 'If you could run any store in uptown Shelby, what kind of store would you want to have?' Melissa is the first to answer. She says she'd like to own a bookstore. Which totally fits her personality. And then Joey says he'd want to open a drug store....but actually sell drugs. Then Melissa joins back in and says, "Yeah, its going to be part bookstore and part drug operation. We're going to call it 'Crack a Book.'"

And this is why I love this brother-sister duo so much.

racing bikes

Josh and I love to bike.

Wait, I already said that?

Nearly a zillion times?

Oops, my bad. (Do people still say 'my bad'?)

After having a blast with Leigh and Brad at the criterium on Friday, Josh and I decided to check out the race the next day in Charlotte. I had been cheering for the only pro-team I recognized on Friday, Rock Racing, and was looking to follow them again on Saturday. I always describe Rock Racing as the opposite of Garmin-Slipstream. Garmin-Slipstream is dedicated to riding 100% clean, while Rock Racing has picked up just about every great rider that's gotten caught doping. Its really kind of sad that there's a team like this is the cycling community, but they've got some great talent and some awesome outfits. Seriously. Check out their team car:

Did I mention that the team is owned by Michael Ball?
He's the Rock & Republic designer denim guy.
I knew I loved their style for a reason.

So, Josh and I headed to downtown Charlotte on Saturday to watch the women's and men's professional teams at the criterium.

It was so hot. That explains why Josh is eating sorbet and why he has that hateful look on his face. I, on the otherhand, and happily enjoying the photoshoot.

I was so excited to cheer for Rahsaan Bahtai of Rock Racing. Why? Because he was the only African-American rider in the race, he's on the Rock Racing team and he's from Compton. Yep. Compton. (He also had amazing dreads that almost didn't fit under the helmet.)

We had a great time at the race, but we had to leave early. Sad! But we left the race in good hands:

That bike was ridiculous. So were the chairs.

steal of a deal

Friday night Josh and I hung out with our friends Brad and Leigh (and their sweet baby Miles.) We told stories, laughed, had a ball and got to watch the criterium.

Leigh had on the cutest top. It was Anthropologie. Of course it was. My mind was already jumping to conclusions (I wonder if it was on sale....maybe she's just borrowing it from a friend....maybe she's got an inheritance from a crazy old uncle...I wonder if I have a crazy old uncle I could inherit from...hmmmm) when she told me that she got the shirt from Rugged Wearhouse. Are you kidding me? She said she'd gotten four shirts from Antholpologie at the discount store.

So I made Josh take me to Rugged Wearhouse. And I found a ton of cute Anthropologie pants and tops....for anyone a size 0 or 2. It was quite depressing. Then I found a cute little tank (in my size) for only $9!

Thanks for the tip Leigh!

gardener extroidinair

I'm pretty much awesome at everything I do.

Wait, did I just say that??

Maybe I should I have said, "Sometimes people tell me that I'm awesome at everything I do." But then I'd be lying. And I'd much rather be called haughty than a liar. (I think it goes back to preschool. Mr. Gary, the music teacher at our church pre-school, used to make kids wear a donkey tail if we were tattle-telling on anyone. I used to wear it a LOT. Like at least 3 days a week. Seriously. I don't know why I think about that when I think about lying. I guess I was really tattle-telling and lying. Funny that I would want to not lie.....but I am totally fine with tattle-telling. Remind me to tell you about this lady I saw at Harris Teeter yesterday. Wait, is that tattle-telling or gossip? The line is really so very thin, isn't it?)

ANYWAYS. Back to how fabulous I am.

My little bubble has burst this week. I've taken a good look at our yard and I am not impressed. It seems that just about everything that I've planted and attempted to care for is dying and all these plants that I didn't plant are doing fantastic. What is up with that?!

Here's some evidence:

what is up with that tree on the left? it has seriously been brown since it was planted.

i know its Japanese...i think it might be like a yin-yang tree

and then we have the plants that are thriving almost just to spite me

i can actually hear them laughing at me

that would be a pansy that mysteriously appeared in our flower bed in JULY

and also there's a decorative mini-pumpkin that i accidentally threw in the vacant lot next to our house. (and by accident, i mean that we were having a contest on our back porch last fall to see who could throw them the farthest and my aim was way off.) the plant is so huge that i couldn't fit it in the frame. seriously---its like 1/2 an acre. i might have to open up a pumpkin stand this fall.

i do have one plant that i love and that's doing well.

lantana, how do i love thee?

we have planted lantana in front of our garage, which is the hottest part of the house (smack between the brick and a sidewalk.) our landscaper said we'd be hard-pressed to find anything that would really thrive in that bed. and then we found the lantana, and life has been good.

and then the pansy moved in. seriously? a pansy?

Saving A Dollar

I love to save a dollar. I love fruit.

I love to save a dollar + I love fruit = picking my own blackberries

(I love to save a dollar + I love fruit) - farm not open after work = picking my own blackberries on my lunch break
picking fruit on your lunch break = getting laughed at by hispanic day-laborers

Josh and I went up to the northern (?) part of the county yesterday to pick blackberries. This is Josh getting prepared to pick blackberries at 12:30pm. Yes, that is a double-scoop of Butter Pecan homemade icecream. He proceeded to show me around the blackberry bushes and point out which berries were ripe. That's why my hands look like this--->

Aside from being laughed at by Hispanics, dodging Japanese Beetles and sweating profusely, I'm in love with picking my own blackberries. Guaranteed freshness (and ant bites.)

Josh even treated me to my own scoop of homemade blackberry icecream. Yum!

back in the saddle

After much prayer and preparation, I made it back on the bike yesterday. Its been exactly two weeks since the wreck. I'm so thankful that my recovery was so speedy! I've still got a few spots of recovering roadrash and a few short-term memory issues.....but both areas are leaning more towards cute and bearable rather than oh-my-goodness-why-couldn't-i-have-broken-my-arm-instead-of-forgetting-everything-every-five-seconds.

My new helmet still isn't in yet (thanks Bohemian Cycles for the great deal!) so I had to borrow Josh's mountain biking helmet. Its kind of ugly, so I had to counteract it with fashionista-ish sunglasses.

Two other important items for this ______ ride were:

road ID
ride smart folks

No7 Blush Tint in Blossom
fabulous color. only $9.99 at Target.

There's really no point in cycling unless you look good. For some guys that means shaving their legs so they can show off their calf muscles. For me, its more like good sunglasses and a sassy side-ponytail. So ride on friends....and remember: its not worth being safe unless you're being stylish too.

my cup overflows

"You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows"

-Psalm 23:5b

Elizabeth, Rachel and I went to the Deeper Still conference in Greensboro, NC this past weekend. I'm literally almost in tears just thinking about it.

Sometimes walking with the Lord can feel a little lonely....even when you're in ministry and have awesome Christian friends and an amazing Christ-following husband.

You know what doesn't feel lonely though? Worshipping God with 11,000 women. Its unlike anything that could ever be duplicated. I told Elizabeth, through tears and runny mascara, that I thought this was what heaven would feel like---except that I would know all the words to the songs. And she said, "I agree....and I bet there will even be a few guys there too." And then I laughed. Hard.

I never knew I could learn so much in 24 hours. The conference started at 7pm on Friday night and lasted until 5pm on Saturday night. We were taught by Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore. The cost was $75. Now that I've heard all three women, I can honestly say that I will pay $75 to hear any of them speak again. I really really really encourage y'all to check out the destinations for Deeper Still for the remainder of 2009 and the new locations for 2010. (I'm definitely going in 2010 if anyone wants to join me!)

I feel so encouraged and refreshed. My cup overflows. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this next year.

make sure you check out the pictures of Priscilla and Beth at the end
this was during their "Sister Act 2" reenactment...yes, they did the rap