Heart Like Mine

"I heard Jesus, He drank wine
And I bet we’d get along just fine
He could calm a storm and heal the blind
And I bet He’d understand a heart like mine"

I love me some Miranda!

And I love this song!

It has been a crazy week with a lot going on...hard work...some good things, and a few bad have kept me busy.

And I'm trying to remember that through any situation...even those that we may not find exactly referenced in the Bible, God still understands our hearts.

And I REALLY hope he understands an occasional beer-drinking, rock n roll loving, tattoo getting, sometimes potty-mouthed, Left-Wing leaning heart like mine.

I think he would.

My Country Song

There’s an wild, wild party down that old dirt road
In my hometown, I could get there with my eyes closed
Got an old coon dog in the back of my Ford
Or it can be a Chevy if they’ll pay me more

Chorus:
Cuz we like out country itemized
Like a pair of jeans that fit just right
And a farmer’s daughter on a Friday night
That’s how a country boy can survive

We got Hank and Waylon Johnny and June
And I brought some Nickleback, I like them too
Hey them boys are outlaws, they gotta be
I saw them once on CMT

Chorus:
We like our cliches one by one
Like workin' hard till the day is done
And wakin' up with the risin' sun
Just to grab some cornbread on the run

Why don’t ya pass me an ice cold beer
You know we only drink domestic round here
And we’ll get down in that Georgia clay
Don’t worry bout what your daddy’d say

Chorus:
Girl you got it goin' on
Gettin down with you just cain’t be wrong
Does it sound like I’m playin’ a hip hop song?
Can ya hear the crickets singing along?

Tractor, tractor, did I say tractor...

The record company likes it when I say tractor...

Saturday Update

I am so bad at taking pictures! I need to take some pictures during my new Saturday Summer Tradition...

Long, ridiculous, hilly bike rides with my dad.

I think when I left for college my dad wanted to buy a motorcycle and mom wouldn't let him, so dad decided to take up biking.

He really knows a lot about it, and I'm learning too. I didn't realize there was so much to riding a bike: when to shift gears...how to climb hills...when to not whine.

We've been going about 30 miles every Saturday for the last 3 weeks. The first week I thought that I was going to die, then I got better at it, and today I'm not even tired! It's very cool to watch myself improve at something.

We start at the Finley River Park in Ozark, and ride almost to Rogersville and near Sparta on back county roads.

Dad would like me to do the MS150. I'm not sure I could make it this year, but I'd definitely like to try next year.

Not only am I glad I get to spend time with my dad, but the exercise is great for both of us, and I think it makes him happy that I want to share one of his favorite hobbies with him.

In other news...we've just been going B's to the W at work. as stressful as my job can be sometimes, I love it and can't imagine doing anything else.

Mike and I are also brainstorming what to do for our upcoming "stay-cation" the first week of August.

On the table: Ozark Empire Fair, taking Cash to the river, hitting up Moonshine Beach, and maybe a trip to Eureka Springs!

But currently, we are watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and talking about chicken fried steak.

This is where the cowgirl rides away,
Carrie

Lyrics I'm Loving

"Without you I’d survive
But I’d have to have the notion
That I could live this life
Just going through the motions"

Those lines are from Keith Urban's "Without You."

They really struck me the first time I heard them. I think it's a great way to describe a healthy, true, real love. There's a lot there.

To say "without you I'd survive" pretty much goes against what a lot of song lyrics, movies, and fantasies say. That's why I like it.

It's a refreshing counterweight to the usual, "you're the air I breathe..." "you're the milk in my cereal..." "You're the reason I wake up" crap.

Though it makes for a nice sentiment, and melodrama has it's place, (God knows I can be melodramatic!) that's not love that works in the real world. In the real world, even if you've found your soul mate, you still need a sense of self. I can call my husband "my other half," but I'm still a whole person.

(let's pretend that makes sense, I was never good at math.)

An attitude that you need someone else to survive equals bad self esteem...which equals an unhealthy relationship.

"I'd have to have the notion that I could live this life going through the motions" is another gem. I love it, and I totally agree.

"Going through the motions" is what I felt I'd been doing before I met Mike. It's why I ran away from the life I started when I was too young to know what I wanted. Whether or not my decisions up to this point have been right or wrong, I know that I'm in the RIGHT place now.

This line, to me, says, "yeah, I could make it, but with you I'm really living...truly enjoying life! It's an adventure, it's exciting with you." It would be nothing...without you.

Personally, I think it's much more flattering to be wanted than to be needed.

That's what love is.

Carrie

My Heart is Full

My heart is full of happy!

My sweet friends Jasmine and Derek are getting married today! I am so glad Jasmine is letting my help with the wedding and I am praying that it's everything her and Derek want it to be.

I have stocked up on kleenex's because I know there will be tears! Jasmine just has the sweetest, most gentle spirit of anyone I've ever met...it's very obvious that she and Derek absolutely adore each other.

It's going to be a great wedding!

AND yesterday....3 weeks early...my friends Kevin and Kim welcomed their new baby girl into the world!
Palmer Isabella is absolutely beautiful! Her little face is just so precious and she has such pretty dark blue eyes.
We were able to see her through the nursery glass and she was just stretching and making faces...so cute!

If it crosses your mind to pray for this new family...they have a lot to deal with as far as adoption paperwork and rules.
The amount of red tape and money it's taking for these great Christian people who want to be parents so bad amazes me, but I guess in the end it's to protect everyone involved.

And, I'll say it once more: the baby is so friggin cute! I can't wait to see her in the Johnny Cash onsie Mike and I bought her!!

And I asked my sweet husband if he felt a little tickle wherever men should feel a tickle telling them to have a baby when he saw Kev and Kim's little bundle of joy.

He said no, and my baby-carrying parts were silent too...so...yeah...I'll just borrow Palmer and give her to Kevin when she poops.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning. Ugh. Now, I'm off to meet Jasmine and help her decorate for her outdoor/barn wedding before it gets too hot.

No pictures, please...I don't sweat well.

Memory Lane...A Look Through My Senior Scrapbook

OK, so when I was looking through things I needed to get my name changed and such, I found my senior scrapbook from 2002. I got a big kick out of what a massive dork I was almost 10 years ago, so I thought I'd share some highlights.

Why? Because I don't have any better blog ideas right now. Those of you who knew me back then will probably be amused, those of you who didn't will probably make fun of me...

Here Goes...

Favorite teachers:
Mrs. Cline-English; Ms. Lambert-Creative Writing; Mr. Williams-Spanish; Mrs. Harris-Algebra; Ms. Hanlen-Drama

Who I most admired:
Steven Curtis Chapman
My Parents
Pastor Bob

Who I wanted to meet:
Steven Curtis Chapman (can anyone guess who my favorite singer was...good grief!)
Oprah (???)

Favorite movies:
10 Things I Hate About You...when I fell in love with the late, great Heath Ledger
Road Trip...watched it pretty much every day after school at my friend Ben's house. Was it that good of a movie? Probably not. Did we laugh every time? Yes.

This one is very embarrassing...
What I like to wear:
Long jackets and sweaters
Black
Leather pants (what?!?)
Dark lipstick
Jeans

My dreams:
"to marry my true love that God has chosen for me, graduate college, have a stable career, stay a good Christian, direct theatre, have my own radio show."

Family:
We had a tiny white poodle named Ditto. He passed away the day before I left for college (awww...)

My sweet little brother was a freshman my senior year. He was much more popular than me.

Apparently, "me and dad (were) kinda having problems because of me growing up and having a boyfriend." Oy.

This makes me feel old...
Price of:
Movie ticket: $7.50
Pair of jeans: $30
My car: $924.00 (why I was so specific, I'm not sure. I can't remember if this was the giant old white Oldsmobile or the giant old navy blue Buick)
Tank of gas: $13.00 (really? I don't think I ever had to pay for my own gas, so I probably pulled that out of my butt)

"What's Hot":
Song: "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys; "How You Remind Me" by Nickleback (ugh)
Music group: Nickleback; Staind; Lincoln Park; Lifehouse
Movies: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars prequels (you can tell that I hung out with mostly guys and tomboys, no?)
Favorite Shows: Friends, That '70's Show (both of which I still watch!)

Apparently I though myself and my boyfriend at the time (Shea Langner) was the cutest couple in our class.

I thought Jason McConnell and Robert Bailey were the funniest people in our class.

I thought Emily Gibson (fellow blogger shout out!), Amelia Edwards, and my friend Jason were most likely to succeed.

I wrote about a battle of the bands that my friend Robert and his family organized, called "OBOB" (Ozark Battle of the Bands)...

I wrote about a game of charades my friends and I played...which was apparently hilarious.

I wrote down some classic quotes from "The Group" (the super-creative way my friends and I referred to each other) but they are mostly inappropriate and/or really dumb so I won't share. OK, just one, "That was the naughty pirate's punishment." I have no explanation, but apparently I though I needed to remember that one of my friends said it.

My favorite weekend of senior year was when we had a huge snow, no school, and my friends and I all spend the day sledding.


Here's how cool I was:
In the "Sports I Played" section, I wrote about drama class!!

We did "Into the Woods" for the fall musical, and I think that was when I fell in love with behind the scenes work. I was the teacher's "assistant," I guess you could say.

Any of my karaoke buddies will most likely not be surprised that I didn't get a lead role in the musical. Mariah Carey I am not. Besides, "Talk Dirty to Me" is not featured in "Into the Woods."

Anyway, I wrote that I sacrificed a lot, including a concert by Avalon, a Christian group I really liked at the time.

But, "It was all worth it when I heard the opening music on Thursday...I got chills. And when Ms. Hanlen say me in the hall and said, 'good job, Carrie.'"

No, I do not get chills every morning when the opening music to my newscast plays.

And I played Annelle in "Steel Magnolias" for the Spring play. No, I will not do the voice.

My Stuff:
In my locker: gym clothes; books; posters (I'm going to guess Backstreet Boys and/or 98 Degrees)
In my backseat: backpack, Baby Moses (I have no idea...I'm going to assume it was a baby doll for a church play...but, really...I don't know)

Apparently, if my house was burning down, I would first grab my CD's, pictures, and clothes. Grabbing my pet was ranked at the bottom. My priorities would be different now.

My First Job:
I really did write this: producer/director for a news show. (HA!)
OR radio DJ

In:
New York City, Nashville, or Springfield

Oh and then there's some fantastically embarrassing pictures of me wearing my dark lipstick and such.

I encourage everyone else to share their senior year memories as well.