Raw

Today I had the chance to meet up with a few friends from the Flowood/Brandon area.

Please excuse me for one second, I'm stepping into teacher mode for the next question.  "Can you find the word that does not belong in the following words to describe our friendship?" We have such a sweet, uplifting, raw, inspirational, and encouraging friendship.   Did you find the word that sticks out?  If someone were asked to describe their friendship with any particular person I don't think the word raw would be first on their list. 

Let me explain this unique group of friends that I met a couple of years ago.  We are a group of people that can go weeks, even months, without seeing each other then gather for lunch and spill our guts in a jammed packed short one-hour session.  One-hour session???? That sounds like what people pay big bucks for to sit in front of someone to tell all their problems.  Well, we don't pay big bucks, (depending on what you order to eat, ha!), but we sit down and get straight to the nitty-gritty.  And what we share is raw information.  Stuff we may not tell anyone else (except our husbands).  Some of our darkest secrets.  Things that we may be too ashamed to let anyone else in the world know.  In those times, the listeners pour out love and encouragement letting each other know they are not alone.  Other times we may brag on ourselves to each other with complete confidence. We tell each other visions we have for ourselves.  Some goals or visions that no one else may believe that we can accomplish.  In those times, the listeners motivate and encourage those almost unheard of visions!  And sometimes the friend-group has to put the speaker in their place, giving them a dose of reality.  At times, each of us at our lunch table needs to be brought back to reality in the most loving way.

Why do we tell each other this information? Because we feel safe.  We want what's best for each other.  We love each other. 

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with the precious raw friendship with those ladies!

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In other news... I made a new dish tonight and it was delicious!  Thanks to my college friend, Amy, for the recipe! I am ready for her to move back to Brookhaven so we can share more recipes.  She's also going to help me get back on the fitness train! Oh boy, I need her kind of motivation!


This weekend is going to be fun-filled with friends.  Some friends are coming into town for the Charity Ball.  Last year was our first year to go and we decided to go again this year.  My "golden" friend, Danica, will be there.  We've been friends since the day we met in Mrs. Statham's 1st grade class room oh-so-many moons ago.  I can't wait to catch up with her!


Thank you, God, for bringing each of these special ladies in my life!
Kayla

Bills and M&Ms

Some friends I follow give midweek confessions and I wanted to give it a whirl today, so here goes nothing.....

1. My favorite Valentines gift this year was from my dad who said he paid my car insurance for me for the next three months! Who knew paying my bill would make this girl so happy! Oh the joys of growing up!

2. Daniel gave me a sweet card (awwww), a heart container full of delicious miniature chocolates, and a bag of Pretzel M&Ms.  Yes, he knows me well... I love pretzel M&Ms.

3.  Yes, my husband and I were the insane ones replanting shrubs while it was 31 degrees this Sunday afternoon.  Our winter has not felt like winter, more like an extended fall, until this weekend... and that is when we decided to work in the yard! Side note... Mom dropped off  shrubs she dug up out of her yard earlier in the week and dropped them off at my house in case I wanted to add them to my (almost naked) yard. The first time we had free time to plant them was Sunday afternoon.  Since we had the shovel and mulch out we went ahead and moved four other shrubs from one location in our yard to another.  And it's just our luck that it warmed back up by Tuesday and you would never have known it was as cold as 30 degrees this weekend.

4. Speaking of being busy, Daniel is busy at work right now since the busy tax season is in full swing.  He has been getting home between 8 and 9 at night.  Secretly, I've enjoyed the extra time alone this week.  Just wait, by the end of next week I will be so sick of being home along and counting down the days until April 15 so I can have my husband back to share the evenings with.

5. I'm a bit giddy yet nervous about receiving an acceptance letter from MC for a graduate program.  I will be a very busy student starting in June!  How am I going to juggle being a successful student AND a challenging teacher?!?! I am excited to continue my education but anxious to see how I am going to fit everything into my schedule!

Here's a shout out to my friend Amy!  She's new to the blogging world and one of my best friends.  She is in a transition phase right now and using her blog to capture the process. Be sure to check it her blog!