Embracing the Present!

"For God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit."  ~Romans 14:17

I'm glad I'm not afraid of death, but I don't want to be fearful of fully embracing life here either.  I want to live for Christ and walk with the Holy Spirit in a way that brings the life and depth and sense of permanent, unshakable friendship I'm craving!!  And I'm working to believe and live as if that is possible here and now!

Now on to lighter things...

Yesterday, Laura and I spent a lot of the morning working on a project together, then had lunch at the Jenks America Food Truck Festival, took an afternoon nap, then went to Jeff's for a happy outdoor dinner and game night...

There were eight of us -- obviously, I'm the one behind the camera in these first three pics: A posed candid in our Nertz game; everyone crowding into the foyer as JEM announced the final scores; and a "sunburst" pic of our dinner on the patio (all of which was awesome)!

A clearer dinner pic; one of all our feet in the foyer (well, only one of mine so I could keep my balance while snapping the pic - lol); then another cards pic Jessica took to send to Evan, who wasn't able to join us that night!  I really enjoyed our dinner outside, thanks to fun friends and zero bugs attacking me! lol  And playing Nertz with everyone while breaking out into random singing was definitely entertaining!!  #sugar #yesplease

The Food Truck Festival -- Laura had a Nutella Banana Crepe from Mod's and I had a cheeseburger from The Local Table, mostly because it was by far the shortest line! lol  It was a beautiful day, though, and cute to walk around.  Main Street often feels like Stars Hollow to me, and for those who don't watch Gilmore Girls, that's a happy thing. :)  

On Friday night, after helping Lindsay move for a while, I came home and made a (half) sheet cake to bring for dessert at Jeff's!  It was the Pioneer Woman's "Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever."  #yaaaas  I very wisely opted to use Heath bits instead of pecans. lol  And (if I do say so myself) it turned out great!!  I'm glad I chose to make a half rather than a whole, because we all know I heart chocolate, and this cake doesn't coincide well with my weight loss goals. =)  ...This also counts as embracing something new -- my first Pioneer Woman recipe and first sheet cake ever!  BAM!!

Shifting gears completely, one of the trainers posted this on the FT group page, and I loved it.  Never seen Fight Club, but this note made me laugh and it made me feel more normal and less alone, which are all things I can always use! :)  #owningthecrazy

One of my favorite movies is FIGHT CLUB. Not just because of the primal display of aggression portrayed throughout, but really I love the content of that movie and book.

One of my favorite lines in the movie is Tyler Durden's speech, "You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake." I'm sure everyone has their own interpretation of what he's saying and I'm not here to say your's is wrong or mine is better but what I take from that is simple...

WE'RE ALL CRAZY!

Every single one of us is crazy in our own right.

We all have issues.

We all have things we're faced with every day that trouble us.

We all have problems.

We all have personal demons that plague us.

And we all have the audacity to think we're alone in these problems.

We like to believe that we're the only CRAZY ones out there when in reality, I'll have you consider that "you're not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake" when it comes to your own personal CRAZINESS.

The truth is---> YOU'RE CRAZY JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

But that's not the best part...

The best part is that you have the power to choose...

You can choose to own your craziness before it drives you crazy.

You can choose to accept your craziness and realize you're not alone in it.

OR... you can keep resenting it and yourself and let it control your every thought, feeling and emotion.

Me, I like my craziness... it's kinda fun.

~Michael Watkins

FINALLY, this = a verse Laura and I used for the project, and a fantastic verse to meditate on!