Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire...

Remember me telling you about how I like to pretend my car doesn't have windows and how I jam out with no shame? 

Remember how I said that I didn't care that people could actually see me?

Well, apparently I lied. 

Today I was driving down the road, singing my heart out to "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant.  (Yeah, I like kicking it to old-school nineties music - the kind I heard at rollerskating rinks when I was a kid.)  As I'm doing my thing and really belting it out, I look over and two guys, who were currently driving around me to pass me, had slowed down and were watching me pretend to be Mariah Carey (or, in this case, Amy Grant).  I'm 100% positive they weren't checking me out because I was wearing sweats and no makeup.

And because I was utterly humiliated, I slowed down and turned left even though I didn't actually need to go left.

Fun day.

Happy Birthday Bubba!!

My big brother turns 27 today.

TWENTY SEVEN!!!??!!

How did this happen?  It seems like it was only yesterday that he looked like this...

(That's him there, with the ridiculously adorable blond hair.  I'm the ugly baby he's holding.  I'm self-aware.  I recognize that I wasn't a pretty baby.  It's okay.)

Well, I don't ACTUALLY remember him looking like this because I was too young to know what was going on at that point.  So really, it seems like yesterday that he looked like this...

But wait a minute.  He looks pretty darn angelic in this picture, and from what I remember, he spent every waking minute terrorizing me.  So REALLY, it seems like yesterday that he looked like this...

Now that's more like it. He's terrorizing me, and I'm crying.  Sounds about right.

So he's twenty-seven.  Which makes today my half-birthday, as he reminded me on the phone this morning, since we were born exactly two and a half years apart.

There are a billion things I love about my brother.  

He always tells the best stories - the kind of stories that couldn't possibly be true, except that they are.  Which is usually pretty troubling.  

He says what he means.  You don't ever have to wonder what he's thinking because, for better or worse, he'll tell you.  

He confesses.  When he does something wrong, he owns up to it.  In fact, he can't sleep at night unless he does.  He's been like this since he was a little boy.

He's tenderhearted.  He seems tough, but his little heart can't take it when someone he cares about is upset with him.  When we'd fight as kids, he'd run to my room about thirty seconds after he made me cry and ask me to forgive him.  If I really wanted to make him mad, I'd tell him no, and he'd get mad all over again. 

He married one of my best friends.  The kid's got good taste.

(Someone got out some red lipstick, and it was all downhill from there.)

He's a farmer.  If you had told me five years ago that my brother would come home from the Navy and help run my Papaw's farming business, I'd have laughed in your face.  Yet, he came home and did exactly that.  I'm so proud of him for figuring out what he wanted out of life.  Although I guess his career choices were sort of foreshadowed early on in life.

(Here he is as a soldier.  I'm a... princess?  Covered in blue eyeshadow and calomine lotion??)

(I think he's TECHNICALLY supposed to be Indiana Jones here.  But he does look like a farmer.  With a gun.  I'm obviously Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz - minus the blue gingham dress.)

So anyway... I love my brother, and I hope he has a WONDERFUL twenty-seventh birthday.  And, just for good measure, I'm going to throw in an extra picture or two. :)

I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel...

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..." Romans 1:16.

It should be clear by now that I'm ridiculously in love with my husband.  He rocks my world, and I'm still as giddy about him as I was when I met him in seventh grade. I can't help but tell you about him, because meeting and loving him has irrevocably changed me... down to my very core.  

But who I am has been even more significantly shaped by my relationship with Jesus Christ.  It affects every decision I make, and it changes the way I see the world.  And in the same way that I tell you about the crazy love I have for Micah, I need to share the love I have for my Lord and Savior.

Because I am not ashamed of the gospel.

I am not ashamed that Jesus Christ loved me enough to hang on a cross and die for my sin.  

Or that He rose from the grave three days later.

I am not ashamed that Jesus claimed my heart when I was nine years old, riding in the backseat of my mom's convertible.

I am not ashamed that meeting and loving Jesus has irrevocably changed me... down to my very core.

So while I am a lot of things - a wife, daughter, dork, sister, Harry Potter fanatic, friend, niece, wannabe writer, granddaughter, and law student - I am first and foremost a Christian.  I am daily seeking to follow the Lord's plan for my life and to demonstrate His love for me by loving others.

I just wanted to share that with you.

Because I am not ashamed of the Gospel.

Meal Planning Friday

I generally do my grocery shopping on Fridays.  It's the only day during the week that I'm not at school or work.  I use the term "work" loosely because I love being at the DA's office.  Anyway, I digress.

So I plan all my meals on Fridays, generally.  I thought I'd go ahead and post our meals for this week here. :)  Click on the bolded words for links to the recipes.

Friday - Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

Saturday Lunch - Homemade Pizza and Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedge

Saturday Dinner - Out to eat!

Sunday Lunch - Apple, Cheddar, and Bacon Paninis and Potato Wedges

Sunday Afternoon Baking - Death By Chocolate (I found this recipe on my friend Katy's blog - it looks DELICIOUS!)

Sunday Dinner - Crescent Chicken & Chips with Pioneer Woman's Homemade Salsa

Monday Dinner - Poblano Pork Chops and Steamed Rice (this is one of my Mom's recipes, and it's SO yummy!)

Tuesday Dinner - Leftovers - I have class until 9. :(

Wednesday Dinner - Pioneer Woman's Chicken Salad and Chips

Thursday Dinner - Tacos and Chipotle Sour Cream

Today...

... is one of those days where I just miss home.  (I told you all about my sweet little hometown here.)

I miss my wonderful mom.  If I were home right now, she would cook up something DELICIOUS if I stopped by her house.  She'd listen to me go on and on about myself without caring how self-centered I sounded because she is actually interested in the minute details of my life.  She'd tell me the truth, like she always does.  I love that about her.

I miss my sweet, loving dad, who would take me out to Jalepeno Tree, one of my all-time favorite Mexican restaurants. He would encourage me to keep trucking with school.  He'd help me see the light at the end of the tunnel, and he'd make me laugh about a billion times.  My dad is really funny. :)

I miss my favorite girls, Lauren, Faith, and Rebecca.

If I were home, Lauren would let me curl up on her couch, and we'd talk and talk for hours.  Maybe about nothing.  Maybe about everything.  I'd feel like I was at home, because we've been friends for so long that she IS home to me.  I'd get to feel Miss Emerson kick (maybe!), and we'd talk about how excited we are that she's having a girl.

I'd probably see Faith a billion times because we're family now - something I love SO much.  We'd visit and chit-chat and talk about what a saint she is for putting up with my brother.  I'd marvel at her cuteness and her beautiful home, which I love being in because she's made it so cozy and comfortable.  We'd reminisce about old times and maybe do a bit of gossiping, because for some reason when I gossip with Faith it doesn't feel so wrong.

I would definitely make a trip to Dallas to see Rebecca.  And we'd pick up right where we left off last, because no matter how long it has been since I've seen or talked to her, we just seem to fit. She gets me, and I get her, and I just love that.  Plus, we were roommates.  That just adds an extra layer of comfort to the relationship - she has seen me at my worst, and she still loves me anyway.

And I know you couldn't possibly believe me, but I also miss my crazy big brother.  I'd see him sometime while I was there, and even though he'd pretend like I was driving him crazy, he'd actually be glad to see me.  He likes picking on me.  (And I secretly like it back.)  He's my hero.  In my head, he does no wrong (even though I have to tell him he does because I'm his sensible sister).

I miss my aunts and grandmas and grandpa and cousins.  My extended family that doesn't feel so extended.  I'd make my way to Josephine and feel the stress lift off as I drove through miles of nothingness.  I'd hopefully get to see them all, although it isn't always possible when I'm only in town for a few days.  But this is my daydream, and in daydreams, you get what you want.  Maybe I'd even talk one of them into taking me to get a CB's hamburger.  Just maybe.  I'd even make it out to Cooper and visit with my Mimi.  We always have such wonderful conversation.

But I'm not there.  I'm here.  I'm actually supposed to be reading for my 2:30 class.  But I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming about that CB's hamburger instead. :)

Just a thought...

I probably seem very self-aware - like the kind of person who knows what she wants and goes after it with everything she has.  

And in some circumstances, that's certainly the case.  When I decided to go to college to study biochemistry, I buckled down, did everything I could to be the best student I could be, and I graduated in exactly four years.  Then I decided to go to law school - I applied to the best schools in the state, and I decided to go to UH (without even seeing the campus, I might add), found a place for Micah and I to live, and did it.  Now here I am with one semester to go, and I've done pretty darn well in school (we won't count my joblessness, which is certainly not the result of a lack of effort).  

But when it comes to certain things, I just really don't have any idea what I want.  For example, I've always been attracted to quiet guys, but I expect them to be fully capable of communicating anything and everything to me.  And I was dead-set on getting a lab puppy, a breed that is known for having a lot of energy, but Lilly's hyperactivity drives me crazy.  

And when it comes to my hair, I'm the worst, most unfair person in the entire world. I went to a great hair stylist today and I told her that I wanted a lot of body and "as many layers as [she] could give me."  And yet when she did exactly that, and I saw my very modern haircut which embodied my specifications perfectly, I was dissatisfied.  

I guess I'm just the quintessential girl in every way:  I'm a hopeless romantic, I'm ridiculously sentimental, and I have absolutely no idea what I want. Sue me. :)

Am I ACTUALLY considering this???

Um. Yes.  I AM actually considering it.  

I'm actually considering making a relatively huge leap from the idea of practicing patent law to the idea of being a criminal prosecutor.  

There are a billion reasons I shouldn't.  The pay is WAAAAAAY less, yet the hours are about the same as what I would work at a law firm (except I'd get paid about three times more at a law firm).  Some might consider it dangerous.  It's a sort of thankless job, and the environment is not very cushy - I'd be sitting in a government building all day, surrounded by criminals.

All of these things are true.

And yet... I just can't describe the way I feel when I'm there.  It's like it's the most real thing I've ever done in my life.  More real than mixing molecules and creating chemical compounds.  More real than working at a social security law firm, staring at the medical records of sick people all day. 

Everyone always says you should do what you love.  That you won't be happy unless you do.  But then, the logical, reasonable side of me says that a job is still just a job.  That I want to be able to have a family and give my kids as much as I possibly can.  If I'm going to have to work long hours anyway, why not make more while doing it - even if it is less exciting?

I'm debating.  And what I REALLY need to be doing is praying.  So please be praying with me! And I'll keep you updated... :)