I'm Too Young for This

My brother is getting married. Did I mention that? Yeah, so the middle one, the one 3 1/2 years younger than moi, is getting married. I'm very excited for him, but I still feel a bit astonished that he, of all people, has found Ms. Right already! And I do mean Right. He really couldn't have special ordered a better match. My future sister-in-law is feisty, sporty, level-headed, frugal, down-to-earth,and head over heals for him. Who could ask for more?

I have to buy plane tickets before they get too pricey. If anyone hears of great deals from Nashville to Connecticut, let me know.

So, because I love 'em both, I'm showing them off. Cheers to you two!

(Pictures from the engagement party I threw for them last week.)

Just Because

I'm feeling good today. Mom's doing better, my car is getting fixed (at no cost to me), and I've had contact with good friends and encouraging people lately.

Couldn't ask for more, really.

*looking up at the sky*

Thanks, God. I needed that.

I Know Who I Am - Do You Know Who You Are?

For all the days when I wonder what the point is, or why I'm here, or whether anyone cares, or if I just feel let down, or sad, or lonely ... I need to come back to this post and remember who I am. (Thanks to Melinda J for letting me copy her! And thanks to the encourager who put this together in the first place!)

I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt. 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation (Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14).
I have been adopted as Gods child (Eph 1:5)


I belong to God
Do you know who you are?

Hello, Friends

I love this picture. :)

No, Yes, Maybe

Person: No
Place: Yes
Thing: Maybe Soon.
Idea: Wait. What was I talking about?

So I Got Rear-ended Last Night

THAT was fun.

Just some paint damage, and maybe my bumper has separated from my tail light a bit. Nothing major to the car. I think I got hit by a girl going maybe 10-15 MPH. Not much.

I did scream in surprise, because the impact threw my face into the visor, but it felt like the steering wheel and I thought I'd be bruised this morning. Today, my shoulder (from the seatbelt), neck, and back are sore and stiff and feel a bit ... loose between the bones.

Still trying to figure out if I should go to the doctor like a stupid hypochondriac or not. I just don't want to be held responsible for the cost of fixing me up. Really, a chiropractor is what I need.

And a good nap. I still feel shaken, like my emotions aren't quite back in place. If anyone crosses me, I might just cry. Shock waves. That's what I chalk it up to.

yes or no?

Two words that can change a life.

I am hoping for yes and worrying about no. The strange thing is, this statement is applicable to an infinite number of levels in my life. I am waiting for positive answers about a person, a place, a thing, and an idea.

I feel like I should be standing beside Vanna and Pat. (May I buy a vowel?)

When I Grow Up

I want to live in a real house with a real dining room and a real dining room table and an extra bathroom just for guests. I want to clean my kitchen and have that be my job and not my headache. I want to dust just for the fun of it.

I want to hang out on the back porch and enjoy my yard. I want to have somebody plant beautiful gardens around the house, but they'll have to take care of them, too, because I don't have a green thumb on either hand. Not even a green pinky. I kill plants, so as a rule I avoid contact with them—I love flowers too much to see them needlessly die!

I want to cook and have people eat what I cook. I want to drive to the grocery store in the middle of the afternoon and shop when the lines are short.

Wouldn't that be grand? To just LIVE?

I remember

The eleventh day of September.

This day, six years ago, I was driving to my biology lab early in the morning and overheard commentators on the radio deliberating if Nashville was adequately prepared for an attack. I thought it was a role-play show. Or an advertisement for some political figure. And then the radio announcer said "... this just in ... a second plane has hit the Towers."

And I realized it was all for real.

We all stood around the televisions that day, at MTSU. Like moths to a bug lamp, we were drawn to the terror and couldn't look away as the horrific images flashed before our eyes. After seeing the figures of people dropping through the air, and the clouds of smoke, and the collapsing of uncollapsible steel and glass, we were numb. What had happened? How had it happened? And WHY? I still don't understand.

Thinking back and forward

Oh, to be this little girl again. To have a messy room be the worst of my problems. To be fed, and cared for, and housed, and loved just for being me.

They never tell you how complicated being a grown-up is.

My Favorite Beach Bums

You make me happy! Destin '07 was a weekend to remember.

Now, this sounds familiar ...

Might be moving again. No, let me rephrase that: I might be moving AGAIN. This blog really ought to be called "Ruby Red is a Gypsy.

The townhouse hasn't sold yet. Five months after I moved out, and it is still sitting on the market, despite having been reduced in price twice. So, since all of our leases are up in October, myself, my roommate, and a mutual friend are considering moving BACK into the house. Well, back for me. It will be new to them. They were pretty excited about the house. I mean, after all, it is a HOUSE, not an apartment. We got into discussions about colors and room delegations, and when to get patio furniture. It has yet to be determined if we go any further than just discussing. We have to decide soon though. We have to give 30 day notice if we aren't going to be in our apartments. That only gives us about two weeks to make the final decision.

In other news, I'm still up in the air about grad school. I really need to take a half day sometime soon and hand carry over my transcripts, if I can. If not, I have to order them. Really, I should have done that already, but I didn't. If it weren't for the money/debt payment/car payment issues, there wouldn't be any flip-flopping in my mind. I want to go to business school. It just costs a lot of money. Money that I'm not sure I can afford right now. That being said, if I graduate and am unable to start my own business right off the bat, I could qualify for positions paying at least double what I make now. Double sounds good. Double sounds VERY good.

So, this post is more like a journal entry than usual. My own personal "to do" list.

Hop to it, girl.

I just walked out of Best Buy and into the 21st Century

I bought a laptop. Or, more correctly, I owe Best Buy $713 towards said laptop.

I am currently sitting in Panera and rejoicing that I no longer have to get up super early just to be able to get to work and sneak in some personal computing time. Woo hoo! Hopefully, my blogging will be more frequent, and I'll be able to once again have fun on sites like my favorite forums and blogs ... without shame. ;)

Still getting used to this keyboard, though. It's an HP, not an Apple, and it's a laptop, not a traditional keyboard. The shift key is too small! I keep hitting enter, instead of SHIFT.

LOL.

Oh, this is too much fun!