The one for Sam.

 Sam,

I had the best day with you yesterday.  An early morning bike ride with you was the perfect way to start my day.  I love your spontaneity lately.  Friday night's date to Bonefish Grill where you ordered fish, caught me off guard.  The when in Rome attitude threw me off a little bit because you are creature of habit and comfort, but you stepped outside your comfort zone and I'm so proud of you. 

Instead of going on the trial for the bike ride yesterday morning, you suggested downtown. I love downtown.  You always do things, go places, buy things that I love.  You are kind.  You are thoughtful.  You are giving.  Since you have become a working man, you like your Saturday's to sleep in.  I appreciate you getting up early to endure this sweet trip with me.

 

 You're idea of hitting up the downtown Goodwill made me happy.  I love a good thrift, twice new, consignment shop.  Incredible treasures can always be found.  Our treasures turned out being gently-used 90's bands CDs.  I love watching you shop.  You analyze the details.  All of them.  You angled every one of those CDs to see how the light caught the back in order to check for scratches.  You analyze and think about things thoroughly.  I love that.  It balances me out as I am someone who buys, goes and does things on a whim.

 

Although you give most things a valid ponder, you are also more than willing to roll with it.  You please me with your flexibility.  You don't get worked up when your idea gets shot, or when something doesn't go according to plan.  You are easy-going.  I love that.  Morning Times wasn't your pick of the morning, but you rolled with it. You enjoyed it nonetheless.

You are happy.  Pretty much all the time.  You love a lot of things.  Like fishing and ice cold Pepsi's.  You have a passion for a lot of things.  Like Jesus and family.  I absolutely fall in love with you again and again when you reveal your heart.  Hard talks get your mind stirring and I love to see you sort through all of your feelings out loud.  I love that you come to me for an ear to listen, for an opinion, for anything.  You make me feel loved.  In more ways than one.  

I'm thankful for you.  You have such a sweet spirit that is infectious.  Even in silence you are golden.  Thank you for an incredible Saturday.  One for the books for you and me.  You're my best good friend, Sam.  And I love you.

Love,
Courtney

The one for a random Wednesday.

I had a good Wednesday.

That's all I wanted to share.

I also had THE best morning with Sam today.  Post completely dedicated to him will come sometime this weekend! :)

Happy studying to all my fellow college kids!

The one with Cutie's prom.

This past weekend my brother attended his senior prom.  Golly, that makes me sick.  He is suppose to be this tiny little annoying kid who won't leave me alone, who wears every shade of red or orange all at the same time, and who quotes Billy Madison constantly.  I have plenty of black mail I will hit yall up when he finally GRADUATES. 

 

After about 5 minutes of picture taking, Ryan was done.  "Court, my cheeks are already sore" "Im gonna have to smile a lot here about 15 minutes, let's save some energy" "Yall have enough pictures"

So we headed to the club house... and I let all the other cameras do work.

 

Plus look who I got to see!! 

My best friend from high school! :):) It had been foooooevaa since I last saw her.

  

All in all, happy day. :)

The one to ponder.

Today, I got slapped in the face twice.  Twice.  Of course I mean figuratively.. but shesh.

The first time was around lunch time when I was doing the Jesus Calling devotional for April 24.

It said: I am always with you, so you have no reason to be afraid.  Your fear often manifests itself in excessive planning.  Your mind is so accustomed to this pattern of thinking that you are only now becoming aware of how pervasive it is and how much it hinders your intimacy with Me.  Repent of this tendency and resist it, whenever you realize you are wandering down this well-worn path.  return to My Presence, which always awaits you in the present moment.  I accept you back with no condemnation.

Boom. Face. Slapped.

Im a planner.  && l haven't realized how it negatively affects me.

Second slap:  like I just said, I am a planner, therefore I am always on the go.  Im multitasking always.  I've even caught myself talking on the phone, brushing my teeth, printing lecture slides off and packing my lunch at the same time.  Chaos.

Today, I heard a guest speaker talk about mindfulness.  She defined mindfulness being present in the moment, fully accepting & nonjudgmental. Oh my word.  I loved that.  I think I am the only person in the room that pulled out her notebook to take notes... and started writing like a mad woman.  Some major points that I personally took away was:

- Anxiety can be an internal anchor we like to hold on due to familiarity.. when you realize you have this thought, focus on external things (not your internal anxiety).

-Figure out your autopilot.  Your autopilot is the thing that narrows your focus & doesn't allow you to see the whole picture.

-Recognize that every thought you have isn't true. (Basic example "I can't dance")

-Be open and receptive to stressful moments in order to see the whole picture.  Be open to them creates the greater possibility of conquering that task or moment.

-Pain within a moment can turn into great suffering.. when you recognize pain, turn your thoughts towards the positives of the moment, not the future.

I know it sounds so yoga-like.  But I ate that mess up.  I was encouraged to slow my life down.  To be present when some calls && not just stick the phone up to my ear so I can do my own thing.  To not hide from pain, but realize it can be conquered.  To recognize the things that hinder me from seeing the big picture.  To full accepting to whatever the moment brings.  To stay away from judgement and be open to all things that come.

Ahh. it's heavy, I know.. but be mindful of it.

Happy Tuesday.

iTunes Tuesday plug:

one of my absolute favorite songs.

The one I mean't to post last week.

I wrote this post last Friday and I forgot to hit publish.

I haven't been this tired in a while.  Three tests this past week.  & now I am sitting beside this sweet little blonde who is happy as he be can be reading this Davy Crockett book he bought at the book fair this morning.  The other blonde is upstairs & keeps on "accidentally" throwing something.  In about 2 more minutes, I'll hear a loud noise, throw a quick "What's going on, dude?" && it the "accidental" throwing will stop.  The house is quiet... for another two minutes at least.

Even though it's been a pretty stressful week.. I have found somethings that I am absolutely loving.

1.  This Eucalyptus Spearmint hand soap.  It is supposedly "stress-relieving", but to me.. it just smells so, so good.  My sister had it in her bathroom when I went to visit her & I was obsessed, my hands were in my face the entire weekend.  When she went to restock, she was so sweet to buy me some for my own bathroom in Raleigh. :)

2.  Building 429.  Um, obsessed.  The lady I babysit for told me to turn on their CD, while the boys ate breakfast one morning.. so I did & fell in love.  If you are a fan of KLOVE, you may have heard their hit single "Where I Belong".  The entire CD is such good worship -- it will get your heart just a stirrin!

3.  My Chacos.  I have been wearing them 24/7.  They are just perfect for this kind of weather && they are so comfy!  I even wore them on a bike ride on Saturday && they were golden.  My brother made fun of me when I got them, saying things like "now you're an official Young Life leader".  No matter what, I am in love with my precious green & black chacos.  They make me happy.

4.  Journaling.  I am thankful for the ability to write (literally, not literaturally -- not a real word.)  I love that I can write out my fears, my stressors, my happies and most importantly my prayers.  I love to write out my prayers because sometimes when I am saying them in my head, my mind goes everywhere or I start focusing on my roommate putting the dishes up or start thinking about think I need to do today.  So when I do devotions, I like to journal it.  I also like journaling because I love to look back and read the entries.

5. Fresh locally grown strawberries.  They are sweet, juicy, delicious. 4 years ago, you couldn't get me to even touch a strawberry.  But now, I love them.  My favorite fruit ever.  I actually had bowl-full of strawberries for lunch one day this week.

What are you loving lately?

the one on intense weeks.

I've wrote a paragraph.  Deleted it all.  Wrote another paragraph. Deleted it again... Long story short, school is probably at it's hardest point since being at NCSU.  My face is starting to break out a little bit.  Im wearing less make up.  My hair is up a lot more.  Im running out of clean sports bras.  Anyways, I tend to struggle with having fun throughout the waves of school work madness.  Not this past week.  I made a point to include it in order to save my sanity. 

Last Monday - bible study bonfire.  Sarah & I hosted bible study this week with s'mores.

 

Last Tuesday -- I took pictures at my roommates Tacky Prom Young Life club.

 

Last Wednesday -- I watch one of my favorite boys start to get the hang of his roller skates.

 

Also,  Sam & I headed to Doak Field to support the Pack.

 

On Friday, I watched Jeopardy with my boys && celebrated one of the roomies 21st (no pics, sorry).

 

Saturday morning, I volunteered at Bounce Back Kids.  I lead arts & crafts as we made spring/mother's day cards!  It was so fun & I met a bunch of sweet people.

Later that Saturday, I hung out with these sun bathing sleeping beauts.

 Also, went on a bike ride with Sam.

 

&& cooked an incredibly large and late but incredibly good supper with the same boy.

 

So overall, past the moments of studying and writing papers, I had a pretty good week.  This week is even more intense.  But as long as I  take it one day at a time, I'll be fine.  Here's to a long but hopefully beautiful week ahead!

  

These eggs are RIGHT beside our back door.  Spring has sprung at the Joby's.

the one over easter.

 This morning I slept through my alarm clock for an hour.  For an entire hour I didn't hear this annoying buzzer go off right beside my ear.  I had to make a conscious effort to roll my sleepy body out of the bed.  I was exhausted.  Sometimes, being tired is the result of a solid weekend.  

My Easter break was so good.  On Thursday I met mom for a delicious turkey sandwich at the Carving Board, shopped a little, then headed home for an almost 3 hour nap.  I woke up to find my happy, little family in the kitchen watching Mom do what she does best.  It was the start to a good Easter break.

Friday morning Dad, Ashley & I got up early to head to our beloved Victory Junction Gang Camp to paint fire hydrants.  My dad's obvious love for this place is so evident to my family.  As soon as we pulled into the camp, dad asked to stop the car.  He got out of the car and walked along some of the outlying fencing.  As he walked beside the fencing, he fixed any boards that weren't set in place.  Throughout the day, he picked weeds and perfected any little area that seemed off.  He loves this place, which makes his girls love it that much more.

Before shot of a fire hydrant Ashley painted when the camp first opened up.

Fire Hydrant one... cactus.

 

 Fire Hydrant two.. fun/happy zebra.

Fire Hydrant three.. fish tank.

 

I couldn't resist making my mark.

 

Later that night, Mom created this giant meal and Jesus added a big ol' side of moonlight.

 Saturday was a day of yard work for the boys and furniture staining for the girls.  Later on though, Ashley & I took Ryan's senior pictures.  I love this boy. I can't believe he will be sending out graduation invitations this month!

 

Sneak peak.. my favorite shot of the day.

 

 

Easter Sunday was great.  It started out with dropping pieces of bread into the communion cup and ended with an entirely too late trip to Raleigh.  Sunday was so fun.  I loved seeing all my family, even if it was only for a small amount of time.   

I got spend time with this gorgeous momma of two.

 I got to open Easter basket that were created out of fishing baskets and woks.

 I got to see my mom create my dad's main contribution to Easter... colorful deviled eggs.

 I got to spend more time with my sweet siblings.

 

I got moments with Sam.

 

 And I got to crack up over both of my silly grandpas!

 

 Holidays can be overwhelming, especially if you are sharing them with someone.  My mom is so great at reminding me that even small moments with the ones you love is enough.  I was so upset that I didn't get to see everyone on one side of the family.  But I am broken hearted and humbled by the fact that some individuals don't get to see any of their family.  Speaking of humbled, I am humbled mostly by my Savior.  I am thankful that my Jesus bled, died and then rose again for me.

All in all, my heart is full, my God is good.