Out on the Golf Cart

Today in the mail we received a Flat Stanley from our nephew, Zachary. For his first trip, we decided to take him out for a ride around Lake Peachtree on the golf cart.





On the way, we stopped by Cedarcroft to check out our lot - we sign the contract tomorrow!!



We love going to the lake on the golf cart, so we thought Flat Stanley would enjoy it as well!







It was a beautiful evening - perfect for a spin around the lake!!

Big News!!

No, we are not pregnant!!

We are about to be the proud owners of the house shown above!!!

Thanks to John's uncle, we are building our first house! We will get to watch the entire process from the groundbreaking to the final coat of paint. We get to pick out everything for the house and since I work there, we will really get to be involved every step of the way. (We also were able to modify a plan and were even allowed to pick out the name - The McKeever!)

We are so blessed and so excited to be able to have a brand new home as our first real home!! Please pray with us and for us as we embark on this journey - we've heard that it can be stressful, but after what we have already been through, we are thinking this is going to be a walk in the park!!!

Beautiful

I keep hearing this song on the radio and everytime I hear it, I find tears coming to my eyes. This is the story of my life - especially over the last 5 years. It stinks to never feel good enough. It stinks to not be wanted. It stinks to try and try and try and still not be worthy. It stinks to not fit into the "right" social circles. It stinks to be overlooked and flat out told that you aren't good enough. It stinks to think that you have finally made it, only to find out that you haven't and you were just being used.

This isn't a cry for help or a "feel sorry for me" post. This isn't me fishing for compliments or even apologies. This is me being honest and knowing that if I feel this way, there have got to be other women like me out there who have gone through the same feelings.

Of course, as the song says, God thinks we are good enough - good enough to die for, in fact. And thankfully, He puts people in our lives to remind us of this truth. For me, those people have been my husband, my family, my amazing in-laws, and a few close friends. Even though my bosses, my "friends," my co-workers, and society have tried to tell me otherwise, I fight through their lies to come out on the other side believing that I am "worthy of love and beautiful."

Beautiful by Bethany Dillon

I was so unique
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me

Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

My Big Redneck Wedding

While flipping through the channels this week, John stopped on CMT to watch My Big Redneck Wedding. If you haven't seen this show, you need to carve out 30 minutes in your week to watch it. At first, I thought that the people on the show were going all out in their redneck-ness for the television show, but I quickly discovered that there are actually people in this country (and in my state) who are really, really, really serious about being a redneck.

The episode we watched featured Amber and John (shown above) and yes, they intentionally decorated the local community center to look like Outdoor World. For their reception, they went mud-bogging and had a greased pig catching contest - and yes, there was a prize - the winner received $10.

Check out this new show and let me know what you think!

Idol Gives Back

Tonight the "Idol Gives Back" episode of American Idol aired. John and I Tivo the show and even vote every week, but it is awesome to take a break from the contest and watch celebrities and everyday America show a little bit of love and compassion for others.



My musical heroes - Ann and Nancy Wilson - have once again proven that they are the most talented women in rock-n-roll. I literally jumped up off of the couch when Nancy started playing the intro to "Barracuda." Fergie was pretty good, too, but I kinda got creeped out when she started getting all snuggly with Nancy Wilson - and what was up with the cartwheels????

I also loved Carrie Underwood's performance of "Praying for Time," which is one of my favorite George Michael songs. That girl could sing the phone book and it would be amazing!

I was floored when the 8 finalists busted out with "Shout to the Lord" at the end of the night. There is so much about it that I could wonder about, but for now, I am just really blown away that the song was performed at all, much less on the biggest night of Idol next to the finale.



On a more serious note, am I the only person who wants to move to Africa tomorrow and just pour out God's love on those people?? Our church is taking a missions trip to Africa with Brackenhurst Ministries over the summer and I am dying to go. I just pray that all of the money that is raised tonight actually gets to the people that need it most.