Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy

While packing up the house yesterday, I came across one of my favorite books. It's called "Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy" and it is chock full of misheard lyrics to popular songs. Taken from the song, "Purple Haze" by Jimmi Hendrix ("excuse me while I kiss the sky"), the book contains hundreds of hilarious lines that people have mistaken for the actual lyrics to songs. Here are a few of my favorites that don't contain swears:

• Misheard: "Cinnamon Gum" / Real Lyrics: "Should'a been gone" -- "Oh Sherry" by Steve Perry
• Misheard: "The Cuervo Gold, The pinecones rush in and make tonight a wonderful thing" / Real Lyrics: "The Curevo God, That fine Columbian, make tonight a wonderful thing" -- "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan
• Misheard: "She sees the hat and is she gonna touch it?" / Real Lyrics: "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah" -- "Invisible Touch" by Genesis
• Misheard: "Four hundred children and a box of oatmeal" / Real Lyrics: "Four hungry children and a crop in the field" -- "Lucille" by Kenny Rogers
• Misheard: "Let's pee in the corner, Let's pee in the spotlight" / Real Lyrics: "That's me in the corner, That's me in the spotlight" -- "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M
• Misheard: "Kick a chicken with it" / Real Lyrics: "Getting jiggy with it" -- "Getting Jiggy With It" by Will Smith
• Misheard: "Hold me closer Tony Danza" / Real Lyrics: "Hold me closer, tiny dancer" -- "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John

These are just a few of my favorites!! Do you have any to add to this list???

The Past 36 Hours

I have spent the past 36 hours lying in bed in the fetal position. No, I have not finally gone insane - I have been dealing with another IBS attack. My stomach started hurting earlier in the week with John's announcement and quickly progessed into a full blown attack with the planning of the move (8 days until we leave), wrapping things up at my job, crying hysterically for 2 days (too long to even try to begin to explain), and finally surrendering to the plans that God has for us. It literally felt like Freddie Krueger was trying to claw his way out of my insides - I have never felt pain like that before and I am not looking forward to feeling that way again any time soon. Thankfully, I was able to stay in bed all day yesterday and all night last night. After sleeping a lot and taking a really good pain pill, I feel much better today, physically. Mentally, however, I am trying to pace myself to only think about what I have to do today and not what needs to be done over the next 2 weeks. I want everything done now and I have to remind myself that I only have one week left to spend with my friends and family here. I need to make sure that I use my time wisely and don't waste it watching the Olympics or Gilmore Girls re-runs in an effort to put off the inevitable. We are moving back to Florida. Even as I type that, it still hasn't sunken in. Yes, there are a lot of positive things about going back, but it's the "going back" part that has my head spinning. I am a "moving forward" person - hence the name of my blog - and going backwards seems equal to giving up, losing, failing, and missing it somehow. I know that there is a reason for this and I know that God is going to blow our minds with what He has waiting for us in Florida - but in the meantime, I am confused, frustrated, disappointed, and somehow clinging to the truth that this life is not all that there is and that He knows what He is doing.

Please pray for my health to stay extra-strong over the next 2-3 weeks. Please pray for John and I to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on our circumstances. And lastly, please pray for us to learn the lessons we need to learn from this - I would hate to go through all of this only to come out of it exactly the same.

Our A-Mazing Small Group

This past Tuesday, we had our final small group gathering. I had no idea when we joined this group last September that these people would not only become great friends, but would also be the support and encouragement that would get us through this past year. With 2 other pilot couples in the group, it was so awesome to have other people around us who totally understood all of the issues that pilot couples face. John and I both feel like we have known these couples forever and are really going to miss each of them.


This is Monee and Dru. Monee has had all kinds of health problems and many of them reared their ugly heads this year. She is the most giving person I have ever met in my life! She is so much fun to be around and I am going to miss eating giant bags of peanut M & M's with her! Dru is expecting her 3rd child and is the textbook definition of the perfect mom. She is incredibly hilarious and has an amazing story of how God transformed her life. She works with the Middle School girls at Southside and does a fantastic job.


This is Daniel and Monee. They are both pilots and John and I bonded with them at the very beginning of our group. Daniel works for the FAA and thanks God every day for his job. Because of his job, Monee can no longer pursue aviation as a career, so she is back in school to get her MBA. You have never met anyone with as much ambition as this girl! Daniel also volunteers at the Peachtree City Fire Department and has really been a huge encouragement to John.


This is Jenn and Dan - our leaders. Jenn just took her test to become a Pilates instructor and is very passionate about health and fitness. She is also a great mom to their one-year-old, Karina. Dan works for GA Pacific and has had a very successful year. They have also faced some family health issues this year that have not been easy. John and I have had the privilege of apprenticing under Dan and Jenn and are really going to miss them.


This is Dru and Travis. Travis was a pilot for Turner (yes, as in Ted) and recently left there to work at Flight Safety. Their 2 kids - Caitlin and Logan - are the most adorable kids on the planet! Although these guys are much younger than us, we have learned so much from them.

Although it is hard to leave our families up here, it is equally hard to leave these friends who have become our extended family. We are completely convinced that life was intended to be lived out in community and we are so incredibly thankful for this community we found at Southside.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The list of the pilots being furloughed that came out on Thursday was not the official list. Yeah, I know - it makes no sense at all!! The REAL list came out today at 5 PM. Since John was the very 1st name on the list, there was a chance that he could be safe.

Well, at 5 PM, the same list that was released on Thursday came out again - and yes, John's name was still on it - so we have our final answer - we are moving back to Florida on August 26th! Not sure what God has in store for us, but we are confident that He has something incredible planned for us both.

Please continue to pray for us as we go through the very stressful process of moving in the next 2 weeks. And please keep John in your prayers as he deals with all of this and goes back to flying internationally. I am so proud of him and the way he has handled all of this.

News

John just called me from the airport to let me know that he is being furloughed from AirTran. This means that he is being laid off, but can be called back to work if and when they decide to hire more pilots. We have decided that John is going to go back to work for Florida West (the company he used to fly for in Miami) and we are moving back to South Florida in the next 3 to 4 weeks. He has to sign a 2 year contract with Florida West, so if he is called back to AirTran during the next 2 years, he will not be able to take his position back at AirTran. This was not an easy decision, but we feel that this is the best decision for our family at this time.

As you can imagine, we have a lot to do in the next few weeks! We need to get packed up, finish up our jobs here, find a place to live in FL, I need to find a job, and we need to make the very dreaded drive back to FL. We are CONFIDENT that God has great things in store for us in spite of the mixed emotions we are experiencing. We are so sad to leave our friends, family, church, and the place we have come to call home, but we are so thankful that John has the opportunity to go back to a great job. The timing could not be more perfect and we are positive that God is in control.

Please keep John in your thoughts and prayers - he is pretty discouraged and upset, but is very thankful that unlike some of the pilots losing their jobs, he has another flying job waiting for him. Please keep us both in your thoughts and prayers as we once again make a big move. There is a bright side to all of this news - we will get to keep our flying benefits as long as he is furloughed, so we will be coming back to Atlanta to visit as often as we can!!

Thanks for all of your prayers, phone calls, get togethers, and emails over the past few weeks - we love all of you very much!!!!

New House Pictures

Even though we still don't know if we are moving into "our" house or not, the house has actually been an ironic distraction from the waiting game. Watching each piece come together has been so exciting, especially since we chose all of the pieces! There's always the fear that what you picked is going to be hideous, but so far we have been amazed at how well it all is coming together. If we never get to live in it, we have still have had so much fun watching the whole process from start to (almost) finish.

Here are the most recent pictures of the house:


Painting the outside


The kitchen!


The stairs with the foyer in the background


The master bathroom


The master bedroom

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us! We should know this week what is happening at AirTran. Either way, we are ready for whatever God has planned!!

How Starbucks Saved My Life

I am a huge nerd - my husband reminds me of that every other Tuesday when I drag him with me to the library. I always have and probably always will love to read. When I was little, my mom would take us to the mall just about every Saturday. I would always find a book at the bookstore and would usually have the entire thing read by the time we got home. My mom was impressed, but made me re-read that same book over and over again until our next trip to the mall.

As I grew up, I spent loads of money at Barnes & Noble, Lifeway, and Family Christian on books. I have Rubbermaid boxes full of books even after lending out (which I guess turned in to giving out) over half of my collection over the years.

Luckily for John, Peachtree City has a great library system that is just down the street from our house. They have a pretty decent selection of books - including up to date Christian books - and I look forward to searching through the aisles of books every other week.

Last week, after we saw Batman, John was kind enough to remember that it was time for my bi-weekly trip to the library. As soon as we walked in, I was drawn to a book on the "New to the Library" shelf. It was called "How Starbucks Saved My Life." I started reading it that night and wanted to spend all of my free time reading it - and here is why...

If you view Starbucks as a part of your life - meaning that you have memories connected to your time spent there or even a drink that you indulged in - then you will totally love this book. I don't want to give the whole story away, but for those of us who know the difference between coffee and Starbucks Coffee, this book explains all of the reasons why Starbucks is not just another coffee shop. If you are a reader and a lover of exceptional writing, then you should pick up a copy of this book. Be warned - there are a few swears in the book - but they do not add to nor will they take away from your experience.