random.

hi.

i'm blogging from our last day of vacation. where i should be packing & finishing up getting ready, but i find myself with an itty bitty sound asleep & everyone else out of the condo, so i'm sitting down to write.

oh, how i've missed writing. i find it to be therapeutic, mostly.

and i've found that lately, i've been trying to censor myself from being entirely open on this blog. and i don't like that. i AM an open book. it's just me. i like to tell it like it is in my life. the good, the bad, the funny & the ugly.

hence, the reason for turning it private.

but today, i'm feeling open.

so here i am.

we've been on vacation for a week. we brought tropical storm LEE into town with us. yesterday was our first day of beautiful sunshine. and funnily enough, it was cool & crisp outside. just like fall.

i heart fall. especially after a very long & very very hot summer.

i love the smells of fall. queso, football, texas chilli {YUM. that WILL be on my menu next week}, the state fair, pumpkin patch hay, crisp dewey morning walks, fire places & smores.

yay! i can't wait.

oh - and crotons. i LOVE crotons. can't wait to put one on my front porch next to a small pumpkin patch that i have planned in my mind this year.

who knows if that will ACTUALLY happen. right? right.

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the good thing about being stuck in a tropical storm is the laziness of it all.

reading. watching football. eating. coloring in a coloring book for what seems like the first time in forever. napping. oh - and more eating.

i feel like it makes us slow down. when we SO need to slow down.

so for that i'm super thankful.

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in the spirit of being random, let me catch up on some pictures from before our vacay.

recently, i've been so incredibly thankful for my sweet girlfriends. i'm blessed to have them. in every way, they are a very specific answer to prayer. each of them individually & collectively as a whole. they pray for me, encourage me, challenge me & speak truth in love. they send me scripture at the very moment i need it. they send notes in the mail. they send sweet nothing texts that speak volumes to me about their character & the kinds of friends they are.

i love them.

the friday before vacation though, one of these dear friends had a birthday party for her daughter.

a luau. {is that even how you spell it?}

we had a lot of fun, ate way too many cupcakes & made a huge mess between the itty bitties & the 'big' kids.

but that's the point of a birthday party, right?

i so often feel sad for b. when he's the only boy of the big kids. but he eats. it. up. can you tell?

thanks, harper! we had fun celebrating you, sweet girl.

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so there it is. my random thoughts this morning. and little bit of procrastination on my part.

oh - and before i leave, i want to share an awesome & powerful excerpt of scripture that i've been clinging to these past few days. the Lord has been teaching me more than my fair share lately - some i'm very thankful for - and some i want to turn my eyes from because He is showing me {very clearly, i might add} my ugly side. yuck. 

but i love this. i rest in this. {or i try to}. and i hope you will, too, today.

"do you not know? have you not heard? the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does NOT become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. though youths grow weary & tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, the will run & not get tired, they will walk & not become weary."

isaiah 40:28-31

i don't know about you, but there are many days as a wife, a mommy, a friend that i feel like i cannot do it. i don't have the strength to do what i need to do. or be who i want to be. 

but HE does.

that's the beauty of it. that's the point.

that if we are going to get through the day in one piece, as a whole, and still have some room left over for our husbands and ourselves, it will be a miracle. and it will be HIS strength, not ours. 

our lives are to POINT to Him. 

that's a challenge for me. a huge one. 

it's one that i'll be wrestling with for the rest of my life. but i'm ready. 

and i'm done with my sermon for today.

love you all for sticking with me & reading until the end. 

happy wednesday.

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PS - remember that i'm turning this blog to private on monday, september 12. please email me or leave me a comment below with your email address if you want to be added to the list! {disregard if you've already let me know!}