The Help

 

 Couldnt. Put. It. Down.

Ask my brothers, who teased me mercilessly, and they'll tell you I never get this way about reading.  Ever.  But 530 pages of this novel werent enough for me.  If it had been a true story I'd be scouring the internet for more info on these people.  

Summary here.   

Movie comes out August 12.

Get it. Read it. Love it.

Shrek the Musical

My small girlfriends and I were able to go to Shrek the Musical the other night, thanks again to Uncle Paul!  Uncle Paul is SO good to me! :)  We had a great time including a sleep over!

The girls -

The Musical!

I thought it was good, especially when we moved to the Mezzanine seats.  But the singing was good and the set and props were very cool!  Recommend!

Berries, Beach, Bike, Brownie Batter, BOGO!

When your Bestie invites you for a fun Saturday using SO much alliteration your head spins, you know you have to say, YAAAAAAA! Love to!!!!! :)

Berries

Beach

Illegal parking? whoops

BOGOs!!!!!!!!

Biking

Brownie Batter Ice Cream - freeeeeeeeee!!

Good, good day! :)

Scream in the Tunnel!

This is exactly what I did both times I rode my bike through the tunnel on the White Pine Trail!  As a Youth Group we braved the weather and set out for Belmont with visions of Trailside Treats dancing in our heads!

Smurfs! :)

The girls

More of the girls

Jenn and Jo 

Enjoying the treats

We really did bike too, see they're in the background of the photo above! :)

For the Fans

I've had an uprising of requests for more Puff appearances on the blog...I try to keep them to a minimum, but I also like to keep the fans happy!  So here are the phases of exhaustion as demonstrated by the Puffster!

Do you know why Cats dont go to heaven?

  

'Cause they're already there!  clearly!

Georgetown Cupcake

One of the highlights of my recent trip to DC was going to Georgetown Cupcake.  Grace and Rita love watching DC Cupcake on tv, and since I so enjoyed my trip to Sprinkles this winter, we decided to do a comparison shop!  It was so fun and the girls just loved it!  They even asked if Sophie and Katherine were there!

Lovely presentation - counts for a lot!

The girls :)

SO excited to see our cupcakes

Andrea and me

Very excited

So I guess I'm becoming a bit of a cupcake connoisseur!  Not all bad!

Fun on Flintlock Rd

Over the weekend I was out in DC with my brother and his family.  Their tales of life can be seen here.  The tale of our weekend in photos can be seen in the following:

There was some shopping...

A trip to DC Cupcake - more complete details to come...

Firefly catching...

Playing in the pool...

Some riding in the car...

And a whole lot of goofing around...

Great weekend for sure!  Good times on Flintlock Rd!

Double Date

Dont get excited people!  Well, ok get excited, but different! :)  

Work sponsored an outing to the ballpark last weekend, so I sponsored an outing with Will and Wes!

I just love it when 'Uncle Paul' foots the bill for the Whitecaps!

Wes was hoping for a fly ball -

My boys :)

6th Inning treat run...9th inning bathroom break.

Goofing off

We had a great time together!

Gold Standard

I want to let you in on a little tid bit on me.  You'll probably be seeing more of this because I'm on a quest.  It's a journey that I'm not sure will ever end and I'm in search of the best.  It's my 'Gold Standard' by which I measure all others. 

I'm looking for the world's best Turkey Reuben sandwich.

Sometimes called a California Reuben or a Rachel, but who has it?  Where can it be found?  Is the bread just right?  How about the slaw and dressing?  

So if you ever care to share a meal with me, you'll probably find that I order a Turkey Reuben. Saddle up, join the tastetastic adventure!

Yesterday I went out with my girlfriends from lunch and experienced 'The Best'.  We were at the Schnitz.  I never order anything else from them, because...why?

So, any good recommendations?

Just Do Something

I just read a new book, this one:

It's about discerning the will of God, or not.  This is a progressive post; I'm writing as I read so I can have a place to put great quotes as I come across them, and then share them with you!

'We may have the best of intentions in trying to discern God's will, but we should really stop putting ourselves through the misery of overspiritualizing every decision.  Our misdirected piety makes following God more mysterious than it was meant to be.'

My fear is that of all the choices people face today, the one they rarely consider is, 'How can I serve most effectively and fruitfully in the local church?' I wonder if the abundance of opportunities to explore today is doing less to help make well rounded disciples of Christ and more to help Christians avoid long-term responsibility and have less long-term impact. 


She didnt mean to have bad theology. But instead of just saying 'Im not interested' or 'I dont like you' or 'Quit stalking me' or something, she went all spiritual on him. 'Ive been praying a lot about you...and the Holy Spirit told me no.'...Poor guy-he got rejected, not only by this sweet girl, but by the Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity took a break from pointing people to Jesus to tell this girl not to date my roommate.

...dont assume that the relative ease or difficulty of a new situation is God's way of telling you to do one thing or the other. Remember, God's will for your life is your sanctification, and God tends to use discomfort and trials more than comfort and ease to make us holy. 

God does not tell us the future, nor does He expect us to figure it out. When we dont know which way to turn and are faced with tough decisions in life, God doesnt expect us to grope in the dark for some hidden will of direction. He expects us to trust Him and to be wise.


And after you've prayed and studied and sought advice, make a decision and dont hyper-spiritualize it. Do what seems best...That's the way of wisdom...The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when it's a way of life, you are freer than you realize.


Finally, pray less that God would show you who is the right husband or wife and pray more to be the right kind of husband or wife.


In one sense, we trust in the will of God as His sovereign plan for our future. In another sense, we obey the will of God as His good word for our lives.

We're covering this book as a young adult class at church.  We've had good discussion which I hope will continue in the weeks to come!

I'd encourage anyone to read this book; if for nothing else to have a thought roll around in your brain :)

A Memorable Memorial Day

Two 'jeans days' (aka the Best Days Ever) in a row, crafting, and brunch with friends was how my fantastic Memorial Day all started!  And the following is how it continued and ended - 

Put Fran on a leash...

Found an Awesome Michigan t-shirt...

Went to a parade with friends...

Took a long bike ride...

In the in-between there was a lot of hanging out with friends, playing frisbee, delicious eating, movie watching, Skipbo and catching up on sleep!  

I just love me some BOYNE! :)