That Time Of Year

Okay, I guess it's time to accept the fact that I'm getting older.  It's self-admittedly pretty bad when you forget that your own birthday is a few days away.  I guess that's what I get for being so busy, yeah?  Oh wells, life goes on.  Today is the day we celebrate my birth.  I, for one, am glad I've been given this many years to live and I hope God grants me many more!  I am more blessed than I ever imagined!

I've been trying to reflect on the past year so that I could leave you all with some pearls of wisdom - wisdom is what you're supposed to look forward to with age, isn't it?  I find this assignment to be challenging, since who knows if there is anything that I have learned this year that would apply to your lives, but here goes nothing!

1.  If you're going to have long hair, for the love of everything, attempt to style it!  (I am as guilty as they come of rocking the "hey, check out my hair as it literally just hangs on either side of my face day after day" look.  But we have to focus - Pinterest has changed the game, y'all.  There is no excuse for not at least TRYING the tutorials for cute styles that you've pinned.)

2.  That brings me to the next thing I've learned - when you put your mind to something, eight times out of ten, you can accomplish it!  The project isn't going to complete itself, folks!  For example, if you stumble across a craft project and accompanying tutorial - if you think you can make it cheaper than you can buy it, give it a shot!  I wanted to use fabric flowers as accents in my wedding.  Did I know how to do it?  Heck to the no!  Did I find a tutorial and have the materials?  You betcha!  Could I really justify spending $10 PER FLOWER when I felt capable of doing it myself for $10 or less TOTAL?  You have lost your mind!  Did I finally work up the courage to try?  Yes sir, yes ma'am.  And I'm so glad I did!

Proud crafty mama, I am!  Can't wait to share professional pictures of these bad boys in use!

3.  Sometimes, letting go is a part of growing up.  Over the past year, several people I had invested a lot of time and energy in let me down.  Not just once - more like continuously.  I have finally gotten to the point in my life where I am okay with letting go of relationships that make me sad more than they make me happy.  If someone constantly uses me, they're gone.  If they lie to me, they're gone.  If they only exist for the sole purpose of starting or continuing drama, they're gone.  As much as I've tried to complicate it over the years, it really is as simple as that.  Pray for them, bless their hearts, and move on.

4.  In the same vein as number 3, make it a PRIORITY to surround yourself with good, positive, challenging people.  I promise you, it will become one of your proudest accomplishments.

5.  Spend less time posting on facebook and other social media sites and live your life.  Wow this took a lot of time to put into action, because let's face it - we all love a good timesuck or two.  For example, I actually had someone say to me, "I can't believe you didn't post pictures while on your trip this week!"  Newsflash:  I was enjoying my HONEYMOON.  The only honeymoon I'll ever get.  I didn't want to spend my precious week off putting pictures or statuses on facebook about how much I enjoyed engorging myself with crab legs, hush puppies, and honey butter (rest assured, I did.  A lot.).  I wanted to spend my precious week off from work with my brand new, super sexy, uber fun, hunk of a husband.  [Sidebar:  I did take pictures.  I will post them when I get some time.  Pinky promise.]

6.  Magic Mike was an awesome movie, and not for the plotline.

7.  Getting organized is hard.  Staying organized is harder.  This is a work in progress for me because I'm not a natural organizer where everything has it's place.  Or, I'm not that way about everything - I am about some things and I wish I was about everything.  I'm a clutterbug.  My husband is somewhat of a clutterbug.  Two clutterbugs living in Casa De Clutterbug equals chaos on most days.  We're working on it.  If organization is a challenge for you, too, all I can say is keep going and don't give up! 

8.  When all else fails you, simply say a prayer.  God hears everything you tell Him.  He is always faithful.

9.  When you constantly have prayed for something (that promotion at work, the guy/girl to take things to the next level, to win the lottery, to find someone to be with, or to make pain go away in some form) and nothing changes, the right move is not to curse God.  It's not to blame Him, call Him a meanie or some other terrible name, or swear off believing in Him altogether.  The correct move is to take a long hard look in the mirror, buck up a bit, and realize that maybe God isn't ignoring you...maybe God is simply telling you, "No."  Guess what, it happens.

10.  Finally, one last nugget of wisdom (you like how I word played on a form of chicken???) for you that I've learned in the past year is marry someone who turns you into a team.  Marry someone you genuinely want to do life with.  Marry someone who you can successfully have difficult discussions with.  Marry someone who makes the world a better place.  Marry someone who takes time for the little things.  Marry someone who makes you laugh.  Marry someone who knows what to do when you cry.  Marry someone who knows how to say the words, "I'm sorry."  Marry someone who wants to marry you.  Marry the person who does all these things for you.  Trust me, it rocks the most.

From me, on my birthday, to all of you - thanks for being in my life and for constantly lifting me up.  I hope I can do the same for all of you!

Until next time,

Songs of Sunday - Special Edition

9/11 - We will never forget...

I still remember where I was ten years ago today.  I was a high school student standing in the student lounge of our local community college with my friends in Governor's School.  We were huddled together watching the tragic events of the morning unfolding on the televisions there.  We stood in silence - in disbelief - most of us with our hands on our heads or on our mouths.  The horror pumped through all of our veins as our heart rates increased with each passing moment.

With those memories in mind, it was appropriate that the ten year anniversary of 9/11 fell on a Sunday.  In church today, we had a wonderful tribute and we lifted the victims' families and friends up in prayer together and individually.  We sang songs about reaching out to complete strangers because Christ's compassion doesn't play favorites - about expanding our scopes to include all the people of the world as our neighbors.

I've been pretty busy the past week, but I wanted to share a couple of the songs that we sang in church today to get your week started off right.

Matthew West - My Own Little World

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Matt Redman - We Could Change The World

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It's been an amazing albeit bittersweet day for me - Comanche and I have been hanging out with friends watching football (my Redskins and his Cowboys - I know, it's insanity), eating steaks we grilled, and having fellowship with our church family.  We know how lucky we are and therefore, we must continue to be mindful of those folks who are hurting today.  If you can spare five minutes, lift them up, everyone!  It'll be worth it!

Until next time,

Chicken Wing "New Song Obsession"

I LOVE THIS SONG!

...and it's a Christian song, to boot!  I was flipping through the radio channels in my car the other day, and the background music of this song came on.  I started bopping the head a little bit and thought to myself, "This is quite catchy."

Then, I listened to the lyrics and immediately the song resonated with me!  We all get caught up in the hassles and messes of life, and we sometimes forget to remember just how blessed we are.  This song came at the perfect time for me - if you read my last post, you already know why. If you haven't had a chance to read it, go check it out.

I hope you all enjoy "This Is The Stuff," by Francesca Battistelli.


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Until next time,

New Series - Stay Tuned

Every now and again, I find it harder and harder to come up with content that will hopefully entertain you.  I know that this blog is supposed to be about me and my life, and it is, but I have found that I also write this blog for each and every one of you.  I don't think you understand how much it means to me when someone says, "I love your blog.  I am a religious follower of the Chicken Wing."  Umm, hello....please pause while I retrieve the socks that you just rocked off my feet!

I've recently been made privvy to an awesome initiative in which bloggers can reflect on their year, and share their stories with one another, and I thought this could be an excellent opportunity for me.  I am behind (what can I say - I am always tardy to the party), but I will catch up and I will continue this.  It's called Reverb 10.

An excerpt from their website reads:  "Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. Use the end of your year as an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10 - and the 31 prompts our authors have created for you - you'll have support on your journey."


Basically, every day for the month of December, an author asks a question (called a prompt), and you simply answer it via your blog.  Then you share it with the world.

So, I've decided that I'm going to play along. 2010 has been an interesting year for me, and I think it will be therapeutic for me to look back upon the lessons that I've learned this year.

Stay tuned for a recap of my year, and don't forget - I'm starting at the beginning.  Prompt #1, from December 1st. If you blog, I'd love to hear your reverb perspectives!

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing