there's no place like home....

The last 2 months of my life have been lots of fun and OH SO CRAZY!

I've had plans to be out of town for 7 of the last 8 weekends. And the one I was home was spent celebrating Easter.  So, relaxing was not exactly a priority that weekend.

I've really enjoyed all my time away and being with girlfriends and family. 

But. I'm. done.

Last weekend, I was invited to the Women of Joy conference in Branson, Missouri with one of my very closest, dearest, and best friends- Tara.  I was amazed at how great the speakers were. 
The first night, we heard Jim Kelly's wife, Jill Kelly, give her testimony.  She was very well spoken and funny.  She talked a little about fear and worry.  It was something I really needed to hear. 

On Saturday, Liz Curtis Higgs spoke.  She was quite possibly one of the most enjoyable and funny speakers I've ever heard.  She has written many fiction books and some nonfiction like - "The Bad Girls of the Bible" and "The Really Bad Girls of the Bible."  If you ever get a chance to hear her RAP the story of the book of Ruth, take it. I believe it's on YouTube.  Hilarious!

Saturday evening, they had a Jeremy Camp concert.  Of course, it was wonderful.

And Sunday morning, we heard Angela Thomas speak.  She was amazing and funny as well.
I bought a devotional book that she wrote, "Choosing Joy."

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, but I just hit the wall while I was there.  I have been so tired- physically and mentally.  I don't think I was my usual self - maybe a bit distracted and quiet.

This is Tara and her friend Cortney before one of the sessions.  I did a poor job of getting pics this weekend.  Also a sign that I was tired.  Not taking pictures is NOT like me.

The stage was lit up and very pretty.  Charles Billingsley was the worship leader.  He was fantastic as well.

When I got home Sunday, Eric, Carson and I went to Village in for brunch.  I have been away from them quite a bit lately, and it was nice to come home and know that I don't have to been gone overnight for awhile.

Though I had such a great time this spring with all of my friends, I am looking forward to summer break and spending some time at home.  My house is a wreck.  We keep up with the kitchen/dining and living room the best we can and spot clean the bathrooms.  But, my house needs an overhaul.  I plan to clean it from top to bottom, get many things organized, and get rid of A LOT!

And, I have some running plans for this month.  I've set some goals and one of them will be to accomplish 52 miles.  With all my running around the world, I haven't spent much time actually RUNNING!  I feel so much better when I run 3 times a week on top of my weight and interval training.  And, I've gained a few pounds.  So, I'm working toward my weight loss goals again. 

I will feel better about myself this summer. period.

I'm ready for this month's photo challenge.  I have 4 to catch up on from April.  I've never been so far behind.  I am also looking forward to my phota-a-day project that I have planned to get completed this summer.  I'll post more when it's finished.

And, just because it's so cute.  Here is a picture of Carson's sidewalk chalk art from the other day.  We should be doing a lot more of this in May...

my {dear} friend's wedding

We spent our weekend at a friend's wedding in Eureka Springs, AR.  Eric was asked by my friend, Nancy (who actually sang in our wedding), to take pictures for her small wedding and I said I would help with posing and ideas for shots.   We were both happy to go and help her out, but we were both so NERVOUS to do it.  It was her wedding after all, and the pictures are the memories she will take with her.  Even though she was very laid back and not worried about it at all.... we sure were. :)

On our way down I snapped a pic of this old bridge.  I just love getting a shot like this on a bridge, and I just love bridges....

Before we met up with Nancy, we stopped at the Mud Cafe downtown to grab a bite to eat.  I had been there years ago with Kelly, so I knew it would be good.

We stayed at the Briarwood Lodge.  She had gotten a room for us which was so nice of her.  The room had a loft inside for Carson to sleep in.  He thought that was a super neat idea!

Eric did a fabulous job with the pictures.  They are rough right now because he needs to edit and crop them, but they turned out great.  And some of the poses Nancy and I found will hopefully make for some fun pictures to frame. :)

I have known Nancy since 4th grade.  She is one of those friends that is steadfast and true.  I know that I can confide in her and she can be trusted to keep it private and confidential.  She is also one of the nicest people I know.  It's amazing to me that my cirlce of best friends from grade school/junior high are still people I know I can trust.  And even though we have all grown and changed through the years, we are at the core the same people that we were back then. 

I am so happy for Nancy and Brian as they start this new chapter in their lives.  I pray for their marriage and their life together.  She deserves all the happiness in the world.

be {pink}

Last weekend, Carson participated in the Boy Scouts' Pinewood Derby.  His car didn't place, but he did win quite a few of his heats in the beginning.  He had a great time!

He and his dad spent the whole week designing, assembling and painting.  Lots of time with Daddy makes one happy boy. 

 

A few of the fans at the race. :)

 

Steak and Shake Fun....

I was able to go see this movie recently.  I enjoyed it.  It told a great story, and may or may not have had a happy ending also. ;)

I'm really trying to focus on my {one little word}.......

This weekend, we spent some time with the Johnson Fam.  We had a nice time at 1984..... (or the guys had more of a nice time, I should say).

We had a great meal at Texas Roadhouse!  Corn was the vegetable of choice!

And I got a fabulous manicure.  I'm just a little happy about it!! HA !

This pic should be labeled ~~~~~  BE PINK!

sixteen candles

I can not believe that little our HayHay is sixteen! 

 

We celebrated with a sixteenth birthday party in Ava this weekend.

I went down early to help Tara (Hay's mom) set up for the party.

 

 

Her cake was so pretty!  She loves pearls, so I love the way her mom had icing pearls put on the cake.

The dessert table also included all of Hailey's favorites...

 

 

The swag hanging above the table I found on pinterest and Tara's sister, Tracy, made it.

I LOVE it.  The colors are perfect and it looks great with her vintage country theme. :)

 

Thanks to Kelly, my sis in law, for all the poofs!  The were the perfect finishing touches.

 

This old window was filled with coordinating papers and pics of the birthday girl...



 

The birthday girl herself!  All sparkles and ready to party!!

 



Hailey with her mom, dad, and brother Tyler...

She also had a photo booth with every kind of hat and prop you could think of.

Eric took the pics and they turned out great.  I'll have to post some of those soon.

Hailey had the best facial expressions!



Tara did such a great job putting all the ideas together and throwing this party. Especially since she was not feeling great the whole week. 

 

I am so proud of what a great young lady Hailey is growing to be.

She is blessed with some of the best parents I know, and I'm so happy to be part of their lives. 

 

Love you always Johnson family!!!

 

 

 

 



love one another...

I wrote a post recently about my friendships and how I tend to overthink things. 

And ever since, I've tried to sort those thoughts out in my mind.  The comments that my friends left helped me see that I was being a bit off in my thinking.  Their love and appreciation for my friendship was definitely a wake up.  I didn't write the post to get others to tell me that I was a good friend.  I truly needed to just get those thoughts out of my head.  And this blog is a great place to do that.  But, the combination of those comments and my sorting, led to more peace about it.

And suddenly, I felt the Lord telling me something....

"Your love for one another will prove that you are my disciples."

John 13:35

And I realized.....

All I need to worry about is being a good friend to others.  He has called us to do that. 

I can't worry about how others might feel about me when I am trying to be a friend with good intentions. 

So that's it.

I will love my friends.

Help my friends when I can.

Spend time with my friends.

Have fun and be silly with my friends.

Worship and pray with my friends.

Enjoy my friends.

That's what FRIENDS are for, right?



{organize} my thoughts

Sometimes.... my brain gets all jumbled up with thoughts and I feel so overwhelmed... it gives me a literal headache.

I tend to overthink things sometimes...

In the past, I've had a friendship that was a bit one-sided.  I think that I tend to transfer things that happened with that friendship onto some of my current friendships.

I start to think that I'm bothering my friends, and that they really don't want to spend time with me, that I'm just a nuisance to them.

Why. do. I. do. that?

I'm usually an easy going person.  Things don't really hurt  my feelings much.  Don't get me wrong.  I do get my feelings hurt at times.  but not usually.

And it's not even that friends do anything to make me feel that way.  I just start overthinking things.

I need to let go of this.

I need to find a scripture to pray about this.

I need to, quite frankly, start to not care about this. 

Because it's ridiculous.  Unless, I do have friends that really do feel that way.....

See what I do?  It's a circle of uncertainty about my friendships that I don't really think should be there.

Am I the only one who feels this way at times?
Am I crazy?

This is really being transparent... So, I don't know if I'm even comfortable with sharing this with the blog world.... but it has been on my mind lately.  I guess I just wanted to get it out of my head.

Like right now.... I'm worried that my friends will read this and think I'm specifically talking about them and think....That Leslie... There she goes being needy again.

Hmmmm..... I think I need prayer.....
or maybe professional help.
or both...

it's fall again!

We met my friend Nancy to take a few  pics of her and her son, Jace.    And we took a few of us... It sure does seem like yesterday we were going to Jr. High in St. Clair... in 4th hour Algebra... eating split lunch (my usual pepperoni pizza and swiss roll cake)... being referee for Joel and Angel...sleeping on the trampoline at Nancy's Bday party at Tammy's... hanging out... just the 5 of us.  I am so blessed to have had such loyal, kind, childhood friends.  I'll always treasure Tonya, Nancy, Angel and Tammy. 

Now, here we are with our boys. Time just flies...

We always like to take Carson's picture in front of this tree in the fall every year.

Little turkey...

{so true}

 

Source: cherrybam.com via Leslie on Pinterest

I'm so thankful for my girlfriends that are ALWAYS there...

enough said...

{the posse}

We live in the BEST neighborhood!  We have VERY CLOSE friends that live down the street on the corner, the Dailys, and we hang out with them quite a bit.  Recently, we have become friends with lots of other neighbors, too.  All the kids play outside in the street and in the yards while us adults stand around watching for cars.

Last Sunday, the McIntyres hosted neighborhood BBQ, and we spent the whole day outside playing, eating, and having fun.  The weather was perfect!

They also hosted a sleepover in their backyard.  Dawn directed her minions, and they put up a huge tent.

The kids decided to have a bike race...

And Lauren learned how to ride her bike without training wheels!  So exciting.  Hopefully, Carson will decide to try soon. :)

Great job, Lauren!

The kids have a couple of motorized cars, and they ride them up and down the street.  It's just a great place to live, and I'm so happy that Carson can experience having the neighbors to play with.