Potty Mouth

So Nathan's co-workers took us out to lunch today for a little "congrats on your wedding deal". We went to the Sandy Springs diner and had a great time and even got a great gift card. Before we left I went to the restroom. Dont worry...I got locked in the stall!! The latch was completely stuck and my fingers were nearly bleeding by me trying to get it unstuck!

What the heck am I supposed to do? The opening from the bottom of the door to the ground was way to small for my to squeeze under, and I would have had to have been Superman to dive off the toilet over the top of the stall door.

Luckily, the opening on the stall next to me was just wide enough for me to shimmy underneath it. But because the bathroom was kind of small my face ended up literally on the toilet. The whole time I was panicking that someone would come in and see me laid out on the nasty bathroom floor with my face basically in the toilet!!

SO Nasty and embarrassing...but Nathan and I had a REALLY good laugh when it was all said and done. Seriously...this kind of stuff only happens to me!!!

What in the World...

Little update on my life. Nathan and I are getting married in 6 short weeks!!! I cannot believe how quickly the summer has flown by! While I am of course stressing about detials, Nathan is shooting the breeze and telling me to chill out!

You all may have heard from the grapevine that have a few jobs...and i feel like I am adding to the number daily! I work about 2 days a week at Ann Taylor Loft, work some weekends with a catering company, have an internship with YMCA Atlanta PR department (work from home), and baby sit a few days a week!! In about 2 weeks, i'll be back to substitute teaching in Cobb County, and I will also be teaching a few dance classes for my mom on Wednesday nights ...

The Lord is very much teaching me not only the value of hard work, but also patience. A friend of mine who has been out of work for quite some time just got a job this week, and I am beginning to realize that until I am content where I am, the Lord has no reason to reward me for my patience.

Meanwhile, Nathan's internship is going GREAT!! We are praying for a full time job to be offered with the city of Sandy Springs right around the time of our wedding.

We signed a lease on an apartment in Kennesaw just the other day, its right off the interstate, so very convenient for him to get to 75, while still keeping me in Cobb County for subbing and such. Wish I had a funny story or something to tell...but life if pretty much at a high stress level right now and I"m just so ready to walk down that aisle!!

Making Do

It's been a long time since I've written on this thing....but here is a little update on my life.

I am currently employed by my best friend's aunt and uncle. She recently had ACL surgery and basically needed help around the house. So I run errands for her, water plants, take kids to practices. Basically anything she would be doing if she weren't on crutches. Very fun to spend time with such a spiritually grounded woman and pretty lucrative pay!!

Going to Sea Island with a family as their nanny for about 7 days at the end of May....super sweet deal: awesome pay, all expense paid, and the beach :)

Applied for a part time job at Ann Taylor Loft...we'll see

Also applied for a job at a Christian school for the Director of Communications. I know several kids that go to the school, so having their parents as references pull some serious weight.

One last bit of news: I got a random e-mail from the YMCA of Atlanta asking if I was interested in a summer internship with their communications department. Heck yes I am!!! This was totally the Lord, because I submitted my applications to them about 4 months ago, they hired someone else, and are now hiring a second person and remembered my resume. :)

ALSO.....took our engagement pictures the other day and they were so fun! To view all of them go to http://www.shelliallenphotography.com/ click on Clients, and the password is "forever" .

She is awesome!!

The Church of the Laughing Jesus

Quick shout out to the VSU Red Hots & Co-Ed cheerleaders: Both won National Championships this weekend in Daytona!

Now, about The Church of the Laughing Jesus.....

My friend Natalie Webb heard about this "Laughing Jesus" this morning at the bridal shower. After doing a bit of research, I quickly learned how passionate these followers are! What I gather from the little I have read, is that it's a movement of people that are trying to educate Christians that the "original Christians were inspired men & women who saw how good life could be if we would just wake up & live in love". They claim that contemporary Christians see Jesus as a "man of sorrows", that we see a distorted image of Jesus being tortured to death on a cross.

I by all means think that the Christ that I follow was a laughing Jesus, a light-hearted Jesus, a teaching Jesus, a compassionate Jesus. But it is also important to remember that He most certainly was tortured to death on a cross to pay for your sins and mine. It was the ultimate sacrifice of love.

Matthew 24:46 says, "He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. "

Happy Easter and laugh on!

Do Gooders

First of all....who doesnt LOVE this picture?!?!

A popular discussion at my apartment in college was the controversial topic of lying. A friend of mine posed the question, "If a man came into your house and said that he would kill your friend unless you told him you had eaten a bowl of cocoa puff that morning, what you you do?" The point he was trying to get at was, what is the "Christian" thing to do? Certainly it couldnt be to lie....

We are indeed taught not to lie....so how do we justify our lying in this circumstance. Chances are, you most certainly did NOT eat cocoa puffs that morning for breakfast, but is it justifiable to lie about in God's eyes?

Now, this topic can be argued for literally hours in my apartment. People will start whipping out doctirines and theologies and getting really heated.

My answer is simple, and can most certainly be backed up the the words of Jesus himself. In Matthew 12, Jesus is teaching about the Sabbath. In verses 11 & 12 He says that if your sheep (possibly donkey in some translations) falls into a well on a Sunday, is it lawful to "work" to save his life? (remember that at this time, animals were ESSENTIAL to life and none could be spared) Well, technically, no. The Sabbath is a day of rest, where in the time of Jesus, absolutely NO work was done. BUT, because Jesus is a lover and not a fighter, he comes back to say that a mans life is much more valuable than that of a sheep, for it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, even if it takes some work!

SO, if a man asked me if I ate cocoa puffs for breakfast and my friend would die if I told the truth, heck yes I would lie!!!

Moral of this story: Life trumps law, Jesus said so himself!!

Update: got a part-time job with a catering company :)

Oh No She Didn't!

Sources say that due to the economic crisis, many women are turning to Exotic Dancing as alternate means of income. Now, not at all do I think this is a reputable career, but hey, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!!

However, if a woman is going to put herself in this situation, she doesn't need to expect to be treated like royalty. There are actually advocacy groups for strippers/exotic dancers to protect their "rights". One is called "Lusty Ladies". Um, I think the moment you sign up for a job like that, you pretty much give up most moral/ethical rights.

I'm thinking of going into it myself if nothing works out soon ;) I was a Red Hot after all! Substitute teacher by day, stripper by night.

But seriously, not that I condone such an occupation, if it will pay the bills for a few months, why not? Desperate times call for desperate measures...

Your opinion? what type of rights do exoctic dancers really have??? And...would you do it??

Stop the Salesmen!

My mother and I went to the mall today to find her a dress for my wedding, and we were shocked at the amount of people bugging us about buying things, or telling us how they could save us money!

We walked by one kiosk for TMobile, and the guy started with the usual, "How you ladies doing this afternoon?" (Note to self: whenever it starts that way....it's never good!)

He proceeded to ask us about our cell phones, and our providers, promising if we switched to TMobile he could cut our bill in half! And no matter how obvious it looked that we were trying to walk away and tell him we were not interested, he was relentless! "But ma'am, I don't need much of your time, just a few minutes to evaluate how much you could save...."

We then ran into a man wanting us to try some if his special hand lotion made from coconuts.....we continued on our way as he chased after us promising it would make our skin smooth!

Also in the past few days we have received several newsletters or business cards taped to our mailbox pushing a cleaning service or yard work.

Excuse me sir or madam, do you want people chasing you down the hall with lotion?? How about giving you 101 reasons to change phone providers? NO!! I think part of the problem is that you don't necessarily see what you do as a problem, because it is afterall, your job.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step; Hi, my name is _____ _____, and I'm an annoying sales person.