Nothing changes on New Year's Day..

Obviously I only named this entry that ^ because it's lyrics in a U2 song. Obviously.
Because I think that 2013 is going to be one of the most uncomfortable/best/scariest years of my life.
I am so happy that 2012 is over. Good riddance 2012. You were the worst year of my life. 2013 is going to bring so many changes in my life..from my job, to where I'm going to live, to my marriage. Every single thing is changing. 2012 knew that I absolutely HATE change and it let me stay where I was at. 2013 doesn't care what I want, it's throwing everything that was comfortable out of the window. I haven't updated in awhile, and I'm gonna try to do better this year I swear! At least 1-2 posts per month..I'll try my best! Maybe if my fellow bloggers want to do another 30 day blogging challenge it would force me to update more often! hinthint. Goodbye for now!

Will you breathe again?

Who will catch you if the engines fail?
Who will protect you if the train's derailed?
Who will revive you if your oxygen ceases?
Who will provide you with a new heartbeat?

You will catch me if the engines fail.
You'll protect me if the train's derailed.
You'll revive me if my oxygen ceases.
You'll provide me with a new heartbeat.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
-Romans 8:28

Who will catch you if the engines fail..

Chicken salad.
I've been craving it all week. But haven't had the time to make it. As easy as it is, I have never made it..I've always loved my maw maw's chicken salad more than anything in the world. She didn't make it often, but when she did, we would put some in some pita bread. It was awesome. Untiiillll I found out that she makes it from.....canned chicken!!!!!! I think I haven't ever made it because ever since then it always grosses me out. I am leery to eat it because when I see it all I think is that it came out of a can. That has a shelf life of like..12 years. Well maybe not that long, but anything that can sit on a shelf for that long and still be edible just disgusts me. Also, just think about what they put in it that makes it stay good for that long!! Ew. The only thing I think I use that is canned is (occasionally) black beans to throw in my chili. That is if I haven't soaked and cooked my own. Every once in awhile I'll use a can of crushed tomatoes..anyway..I'm on a really long bunny trail to say that I made chicken salad. Ha! I looked up so many different recipes and just decided that I would make mine up and see how it turned out. And I love it! I just baked my chicken in the oven..instead of mayo, I used greek yogurt. I threw in some toasted walnuts (I love the texture!), dill seed (I smushed it up-I think dill is one of my favorite tastes!), some juice from half of a lemon, a bell pepper, a little celery, and some onion and garlic seasoning and I think that was about it. I'm not a huge fan of apples (it's a texture thing) or grapes in my chicken salad, so this one turned out awesome!
That's all.
Just wanted to write about chicken salad.
Did I say chicken salad enough times in this post?
chicken salad.
It's grossing me out now.

This I pledge and I'll take it to my death..

Yikes. I can't believe I made it through this past week! It was a cu-ray-zay week. Oh but let me just begin by saying this: Today, I was running on one of the dirt roads by my house and a girl that lives down there stopped me and told me that they saw a black bear down that road this past weekend :-/ Imean, we've been knowing he was back there..but we thought he was about a mile back. Now he's running through the cane fields (um in my back yard..) and on a road where people live..As soon as she told me this..I ran back to my house on the side of the HIGHWAY like a coo coo..but I couldn't help it..I wasn't about to run back through the cane fields (where I ALWAYS go!) because that's where they saw him..scurry. The whole time I was running back I swear I heard that bear following me..I think the men that live down there will probably take care of the situation..they have been mounting deer cameras to keep track of him (her? and maybe cubs?). So annnywayyy I just ran alongside a really busy busy highway with people honking at me and thinking I'm a nutcase because it's almost dark outside and I was by myself..

Back to my crazy week. Well. I think most people that know me, and read this blog, know that my husband and I have some high highs, and some low lows. (Which I'm sure every marriage does!) So last week was the lowest of the low..annnd my work has been crazy and super stressful. One of our therapists just decided to start working part-time..so now basically the rest of us are running around like crazy people who don't even have time to go to the bathroom or take a break..and when we do take a break, we have mountains of paperwork to finish. Blah. I would rather just treat every single patient than have to do the paperwork. It's time consuming AND sometimes by the time I get to it, it's been hours since I've seen that patient and I have to rack my brain to remember what they said and what treatment we did, etc. I didn't mean to go into all of that. So last Monday I went with some of my family/cousins/and friends to see MewithoutYou..a band that I've loved for about 9 or 10 years..well. I loved them at first..and I even saw them play twice. Over the past few years, I haven't enjoyed their music like I used to. I didn't even buy their last album that came out..but who can miss Aaron Weiss when he comes to town to dance around on the stage?? No one. No one should ever miss this! He really has the best time on the stage singing and dancing. Tuesday night I had my boot camp class and came home to cook supper for my husband..Wednesday night I went with my brother and sister in law to see P.O.D. in Lafayette..ummm..Let's just say that I've been trying to see them for almost 15 years and never got to for so many dumb reasons. The venue was the weirdest place ever for them to play, but it was sort of small, so we got a spot right in the front. We had to wait through a really bad band (think Nickelback and Creed having a baby..). But then something awesome happened..P.O.D. came out and they were amazinngggggg. Imean we were so freakin close to the stage that Sonny kept putting the mic down in our faces to sing(scream)..and I almost died a couple times from crazy people, but I didn't even care. I never wanted it to end. How can you not have fun when you are that close to the band and they are awesome and killing it?? (I've never said 'killing it'..but they were!) I'm seriously still on a high from that show and it was like 5 days ago soooo..pretty much I've been listening to them since then and that's about it in my cd player..Afterwards, we stalked the tour bus because we knew where it was. There were only like 5 other people back there, so we got to meet the band and take a picture with them (with really bad lighting, but who cares-I'm touching Sonny!) :

And they were super nice. And when I got home I started stalking them online (duh) and I found out that Sonny, along with a former member of the band Korn, Brian Welch (aka "Head"), and the singer from Flyleaf (Lacey Sturm), and a few other awesome dudes (Ryan Ries, Ronnie Faisst) started this thing called the Whosoevers..and they basically just have these big shows and they all talk and share about all of the crazy stuff that they came out of..because honestly, a lot of the kids that would go to this aren't the kind of kids that would ever go to a church..but they would go to see some of these bands play. And then they can hear everyone's stories about how they came out of drugs, depression, self mutilation..Imean how cool is that. And they got their name from a scripture that we all know.."that Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish"..you know the rest :) Their website says, "This is a threat to formalized religion" which I'm sure a lot of people get offended by..but..I agree with what they're saying. I'm not the best at explaining things, especially when I need to. ha! I just think it's cool.

Annnywayyy. The rest of the week went by pretty fast..Friday night I had a quick date with the hubby at the Renaissance hotel's restaurant..the food was SO good. I got scallops and he got sea bass..the food was excellent! But pricey. Afterwards, I went to meet some gals for a girl's night. Got to see a long lost cousin that I haven't seen in about 2 years. The next day I went to a birthday party for my good friend's son, (that was hard to say..my friend's son's birthday?) and then ran a million errands. Then went to eat at Coyote Blues with my husband. When Sunday came around, I wasn't up for anything. I slept LATE. Spent time with the kiddos..then went to ANOTHER girl's night at Zea's with my friends from college..we had a great time catching up. They all have kids except for one..who has one on the way. So we pretty much just talked about babies the ENTIRE time.. 

So that was my crazy week! I'm glad it's over! This post was long! I hope the bear doesn't eat my dogs! Or come in my trailer at night and eat all my honey!

That's all. I'm going relax.

I'm lost in forever..

Bloggie! I have abandoned you. I have been pretty busy lately-not doing anything exciting. Just with life. I have been going to my camp down in Grand Isle A LOT. Like probably every other weekend. I'm actually going again this weekend! But I love it. I can't get enough of it. It's away from home, and that's all that matters to me. My job has been super stressful lately, so any getaway is really nice.
It's really hard to stay positive working in a stressful environment every day..so I have to constantly remind myself of all of the blessings in my life..and exciting things that are going on and gonna happen!
I am excited about Grand Isle this weekend..and I think J and I are going to see Batman on Sunday night. Yes! I have only seen 2 previews for it..and I just can't wait. I didn't really get excited about it until this week. Annnnd next month, I think J and I are going to try to go to Destin or some beach in Florida for a long weekend to relax. I always get excited for fall..I love all of the holidays and also we get to see family that we don't see all year. And next May, I'm going to Disney World!! For the very first time! I always wanted to go..I mean I never like begged to go there or anything. But now that I'm going, I'm superrrr excited about it. I don't even care that we have to drive like 87 hours to get there.
So there.
Lots of things to be excited about and thankful for.
I decided to get back on pinterest yesterday because I'm helping with a baby shower for a friend of mine and I wanted to get some ideas. Bad idea. Now I can't stop again :-/ I post so many random things..so tonight I decided to actually make a dessert from one of my pins..I made lemon blueberry bars. Which pretty much is key lime pie, but with lemons instead of limes, and blueberries added. Actually, that's exactly what it is. We have to chill it overnight before we eat it, but it looks really good! (and not healthy whatsoever, yes!) That reminds me, I'm also excited about planning and having this baby shower ("sprinkle") next month..I've never really helped this much in planning something, and I kind of like it! Only because she is one of my close friends, and I really do love making people happy. I love to do things for other people. It's also kind of intimidating because this girl can plan a party. Like down to every last detail..so I feel like the pressure is on! I'm sure she'll love anything that we do.
Anywaaaay. My bed is calling my name :)

Some girls try too hard to impress, with the way that they dress..

Blink 182. Ever since I discovered what Pandora was, I have been listening to their station. It's the best! It reminds me of when I was a teenager, and I had to ride in my older brother's car. And we had a Blink tape that we kind of had to hide..but we listened to it, speakers blaring (duh). I also love when my Ipod is on random and one of those old songs comes on. The best!
This weekend I had my continuing education course in New Orleans. Well of course, I was running late (my alarm was set to pm instead of am :0 ) so I had to speed the whole way there..and then when I got there, the garage was full..so I had to park 7 blocks down the street and pay $20. Awesome.
I made it RIGHT on time. The course was given by the International Weightlifting Association and it was about functional exercise..It was pretty vague, but I did get to learn a few things. The instructor runs a rehab center in Ohio (I forgot the name of it, but he treats mostly athletes) and was super laid back and awesome. He also has a master's degree in nutrition, which he didn't really go into, but that plays a huge role in the healing process, so it's definitely a plus. Also, a lot of the patients that we see really need guidance in this area! Anyway, he basically believes that every single patient should begin therapy with doing functional movements and patterns that they will need in every day life, and we should focus less on doing exercises that isolate certain muscles/muscle groups. Or, at the very least, give those as home exercises for patients. I most definitely agreed with most things that he was talking about..I mean..our goal is to get the patient back to doing their everyday activities..so it's only logical. It's very hard to get out of a certain mindset that has been around for years and years. It's also very hard for someone (like me) who has to work with multiple therapists, who all basically have their own way of doing things..So if a certain patient sees a different therapist 3 times per week..they could be doing a totally different program every time they come in. So even if you try to change something up, or do something a little bit different, the next therapist that works with them may change their program back to the old plan or do something else! Sorry, that's a little boring and monotonous, but I'm just gettin stuff off my chest :) For the second part of the day, we basically just exercised. We learned different movement patterns (which we all learned way back when, in school..but it's so nice for the refresher :) and stretches. It's really very hard to get people to exercise these days! It really frustrates me. The elderly people don't really understand, because in their day, they didn't need to exercise..they basically exercised all day long working outside, walking instead of driving everywhere, just basically doing physical work. No video games, TVs, computers to play/watch all day long. I don't know where I was going with that..I was just thinking about it. The younger generation (for the most part) cringe at the word exercise. People say to me all of the time, "You don't NEED to exercise, you are thin!" This annoys me to no end people! EVERYONE needs to exercise! I don't care who you are! Unless you are bending, lifting, running..you know, doing hardcore labor all day long, you need to exercise.

Wow..that was a tangent. Sorry! I'm sitting here halfway watching The Game Of Thrones season finale with hubs..he is so sad that it's the last one. He looovvves it.
Oh! Today, I went to American Eagle (shudder) to get my hubs some Father's Day stuff, and thought to myself, "since when did AE get cute clothes??" I haven't been in there in FOREVER and it reminds me of high school for some reason. I may have bought a few items for myself..and they weren't khaki's for work! Although, I do need to find some more shorts for work soon..

This entry has run far too long..I apologize!

P.S. I played a 3 hour game of monopoly today was an 11 and an 8 year old. I don't think I have to expound on that.

Goodnight.

I'm starting to believe the ocean's much like you..

If you are a female, and reading this, you should probably start following the Living Proof Ministries blog. I'm pretty sure I heard about it through 2 of my sister-in-laws (yay!) at some point last year, and I've been following it ever since. Also, Beth Moore has some really great devotionals. I sort of stole this from her blog today..just thought I would pass it along..I think she read it in one of her devotionals and decided to post it. 

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.”
— Psalm 55:22

Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the “broken cistern” instead of to the “fountain;” a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are “careful for nothing” because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

I know, I know..I had to read it a couple of times to really understand it because of the way the author worded it. But I think it's something we should come back to pretty frequently in our lives..because it's something that we all deal with on a daily basis. In some situations, I definitely put myself in His place and try to figure things out on my own..It's pretty sad that I call myself a Christian, and most of the time it's when a situation turns extreme, THAT'S when I'll go to God with it. It's something that I struggle with daily, and I will probably continue to struggle with it because I'm only HUMAN and I'm not perfect. I go through times in my life where I will automatically pray in a situation (honestly, I do that a lot.), but that doesn't mean that I actually leave that situation up to Him. Anyway, I could go on but I just wanted to post this and let whoever is reading it get something out of it for themselves.

Judah and I just got back from Grand Isle last night..we went for the weekend. Some of my aunts and uncles and cousins were staying at their camp down the road, so we spent a lot of time there. My cousins's husband, Gary decided that we should go fishing on Saturday afternoon in my uncle's boat..I'm not sure that he's ever taken out my Uncle Woots' (s's..?) boat before, so I was a little nervous about it. (If anyone that is reading this doesn't know me personally, my family has been fishing ever since I can remember being alive. So, I may not know much, but I knew enough to be a a little nervous about it!) After a few tries and finally getting the boat launched, we were out in the bay. We went to a spot where there is an oyster bed and caught quite a few fish here..at about 6:00, we decided to try out a different spot, but we knew it would be far away and we had only a few more hours of daylight to go..so we decided to go anyway, we stopped to get some more bait, and headed out to the spot (known as Four Bayous). We fished for about a half hour (and caught maybe about 10-15 specks) and then decided we had just enough time to get back before it got dark..so Gary cranked up the boat. Nothing. The engine wouldn't start. (Gary is probably the most laid back person I have ever met in my entire life) Apparently, the engine was flooded. Thank God there was one more boat not far from us..they were crankin up their boat, heading in too. We yelled over to them and they came over to check it out..they couldn't get it cranked up..so they had to tow us. At 8 mph. At that rate, we wouldn't be getting back until well after nightfall. (We never got their names, but they were some cute Louisiana boys) And neither of us had lights on the boat. Thank God, about 30 minutes later, our boat cranked up! So we untied the ropes that they were using to tow us, and hauled butt back to the island. It was dark by the time we got back..we were so relieved. After close to 28 years of being out on the water, I can say that this never happened (my memory is faulty, but I don't think it ever happened) to me! I probably made this story too long, sorry, I tend to do that..I will say, that in that situation, I didn't freak out. I just knew that we were gonna be okay. 

I really can't waaaaaiiit until my brother and sister-in-law come into town in June and we go back. (I might go back before then!)  I could probably live there all summer long if I didn't have to work. Here are some pictures:

My cousin Colton, and his girlfriend, Kacey (she caught the most fish, he caught the biggest fish :):

Gary didn't fish, he just called himself "The Captain" 

It was hot..

I <3 pelicans!

The towers..

Bye bye, sun..

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