Ode to Casie

It's never a dull moment at the castle.....the "JC Castle", that is!

Ok so yes, we named our apartment, we're dorks....what else can I say? But maybe the fact that we're just cheesy like that plays into why we constantly have so much fun, and why I absolutely adore my new roommate! Casie, I love your guts...this shout-out's for you!

Now i'll admit, I had quite a few reservations about getting a roommate. In fact, I didn't want one. I was very content living by myself, as I have for the past four and a half years. I've come to enjoy having "my space" (and no, I'm not referring to MySpace, that's a whole different blog for another time, one that will probably be titled "senseless addictions I should probably purge from my life, but im too hooked to let go of..." haha). Having just settled into my new place back in March, getting a roommate was not really on the agenda. Then I met Casie, We became instant friends, and randomly decided to take a road trip to Indiana together, where we had the absolute best time! We decided that we had so much fun, why not do it all the time, and save money too! :o)

Life with Casie, so far, has never been dull. Since she is a lazy teacher and home for the summer, I never know what im going to find her up to when I get home. Monday I came home to find that she had hung a shelf in her room - but the story can't be that simple. The shelf was slanted so far, I dont know how her frames stayed on it - and so were the mirrors that she permanently stuck to the wall behind it...she proceeded to remove them (and part of the sheetrock) with Windex, so that she could straighten them up, and put more holes in the wall to fix the shelf. Needless to say, we were laughing our heads off, and she is no longer allowed to do any decorating in the apartment without direct supervision from me. :)

And to add to the fun, here's part of our conversation while she pushed me around in the buggy (er, I mean "cart"...sorry Casie!) at Target the other day. (yes, you read right, she pushed me around like I was a 5 year old kid...we got a lot of weird stares, but it was fun! :)

Casie: (looking at a dog carrier bag) "Ooh, look how cute this bag is! I have to have it for my dog!"

Jamie: "Uh, Casie...you don't have a dog"

Casie: "Oh yeah..."

Since im a fan of top 10 lists (they're so much fun), here's a list of my top 10 reasons why I love my roomie:

10. We are in each other's space almost 24/7, and have yet to get sick of each other!
9. When either of us is down, we know just what to do to cheer the other one up.....go shopping!
8. You just never know what random comment is going to come out of that girl's mouth at any given time, and it usually makes me laugh my butt off.
7. She loves double cheeseburgers as much as me, and we've been known to venture out in the middle of the night just to satisfy a craving....(we suck, dont we Cas?)
6. She's the best hairbrush singer I know.
5. She has the coolest family ever!
4. She will chase a bug into the hallway, but make me kill it with her shoe.
3. I come home for lunch, and she's still in the clothes she wore yesterday, and just woke up (ahh the life of a teacher, haha)
2. She picked up and moved from small town Indiana to Atl answering the call of God to be involved at NPCC - the girl has such a passion for Jesus, it's incredible! She's on fire for God and it shows in all she does. I truly admire her passionate spirit.

And the number one reason I love my roomie is:

1. Saturday mornings when we sleep late, she'll plop down in my bed and we giggle like we're 14 again while we talk about everything in the world, and plan another exciting weekend - it's a neverending slumber party!

Casie, you've made it to my Blog Wall Of Fame...feel special, 'cause you certainly are in my book - i'm so glad we're friends, and even more glad that we're roomates!

How great is our God!

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast."
-Psalms 139:8-10

Tonight I tried to see just how far the far side of the sea is...and it's impossible. As I went for a walk on the beach this evening at dusk, and stood on the shore underneath the most gorgeous full moon i've ever seen, I strained my eyes to see how far I could possibly see... to catch a glimpse of what? I'm not quite sure. But what blows my mind is the fact that even though I can't see beyond the scope of the human eye, God can. He can do the impossible - He can see the farthest side of the sea, the heavens and everything in between, and doesn't even bat an eyelash doing so. He also sees the depths of my heart, and still showers me with grace, in spite of myself. Great is His faithfulness!
You're the name above all names
You are worthy of all praise
And my heart will sing
HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD...

On the road again...

This time I flew solo...and it was fantastic! I love half-day Friday's at work!

After sneaking out of work at an astonishing 11:30am (a feat I rarely get to conquer), and having a great lunch (while meeting new friends!), I packed my bags and hit the road for South Carolina...a quick road trip to Hilton Head to spend some quality time with the family for the weekend. Since my parents and siblings were able to take off more work days than me, they were already at the condo - so I drove down alone. There's nothing better than being able to just take some time to close my mouth, open my eyes and ears, and bask in God's unyielding beautiful design in the landscapes all around me.

Apparently I was soaking in His glory a little too fast...or at least that's what my $180 speeding ticket concluded...oops.

Go figure that I drive 90 all the way there, and in the last 40 miles I get a ticket for going 75 in what I thought was a 70 mph zone (which actually turned out to be 60mph). Me and my stinking lead foot...oh well.

But even the speeding ticket couldn't put a damper on what was otherwise a fabulous drive. I just allowed myself to relax and try to clear my mind of all the clutter that has been my daily grind. Reeling in the warmth from the sun as I cruised with the top down, I turned my radio up and belted praise & worship music out at the top of my lungs, not even caring if I was on key! What a beautiful day to enjoy all the gifts God puts on display for us!

I'm here, and now after smothering my nephew in kisses (even though he's grumpy tonight and won't go to anyone but my dad), and spending a little time catching up, im off to go sleep with NO alarm clocks set for the morning! Tomorrow will be a nice relaxing day filled with napping, snoozing, oh and maybe a little relaxing. ;o)

Keep smiling...it makes people wonder what you're up to

Don't you just love it when your day gets off to a great start? It makes everything just that much better...

Today is a good day. I woke up on time (a rarity), and even had time to fix a cup of coffee on the way out. I hopped in the car, put the top down, and hit 11 of 13 lights green to make it to the office in record time (which also never happens). I settle in at my cube with my cup of coffee, and was elated to find out that my newest toy, my iTrip, will actually work on my little dinky radio that sits on my desk. Oh yes, I am quite content for the rest of the day knowing that my entire music collection is now at my fingertips all day long...my music can sometimes be my saving grace on stressful days - it calms me down, or revs me up when needed!

It doesn't even matter that some irate customer found his way to my phone line this morning and complained to me not once, not twice, but on THREE separate calls! For the record, I cannot activate/fix/repair/replace your phone...I just work in Human Resources for crying out loud people! haha. But it's ok - Mr. Groucho still didn't kill the happiness buzz that I have today.

Besides, his grumpiness was cancelled out when I went home for lunch and met Nate the Mailman, who was incredibly pleasant and overwhelmingly friendly. He took the time to learn my name so that he could put a face with the mail he was delivering, and apologized for only having junk mail to give me today. I told him I would rather get junk mail than more bills, but if he wanted to bring me a big fat check for a million dollars, or Mr. Right wrapped up in a nice little package, I would gladly accept them as well! He said he'd see what he can do. ;o)

Back at the office, my boss has left early for a weekend getaway, so I have a little bit of peace to catch up on the things I need to accomplish before I head out early tomorrow. I'm so excited, to only have to work 1/2 day tomorrow first of all, but also because im spending the whole weekend with my parents, sisters, brother-in-law and adorable nephew down in Hilton Head! It has been eeons since we've all been able to get away together, and im looking forward to the relaxation time just hanging with the family and enjoying their company. I'm driving down by myself, but im all set - I'll put the top down, my hat on, crank up Iggy (the iPod) and take some time to just breathe, soak in the solace of isolation, talk to God and maybe practice belting out a tune or two where noone can hear me mess up as I learn a new song. :)

Tonight...even better, dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday - sure to be filled with good food, conversation, and great fellowship! What a perfect end to a perfect day!

"Be happy, it's one way of being wise." -Colette

Memorial Day Mischief

Ahh...there's nothing quite like 4 days of friends, fun and sunburn all around!

As you know from previous blog posts, I LOVE a good road trip - and this weekend certainly qualified in my top 5. Our trip got off to a little bit of a slow start, taking us almost 2 hours to get out of Atlanta...gotta love that holiday traffic! I guess everyone and their brother (and their brother's brother for that matter) had the same idea as us...get outta town! But have no fear, we had plenty of iPods to keep us entertained while we sat in the parking lot we affectionately refer to as GA 400. About 7 hours and 200 girlie song selections later, we finally pulled into Destin. Poor Mark, he never had a chance to play iPod DJ with 3 females overruling him in the car. Needless to say, this is what he looked like after listening to our "chick music" for what must have felt like an eternity...


And wouldn't you know it, we got in trouble TWICE in the first hour that we were there! First, Kristin, Leah and a few of the other girls decided they wanted to go for a night swim...even though the pool was closed, and the gates were locked. They scaled the fence and hopped on in. Little did they know that there were security cameras all around the property, and before their fingers and toes could even begin to prune, a security guard came running out threatening to call the police! The girls shimmied back over that fence quicker than you could say trouble. Then just as all 16 of us decided to chill out, chat and enjoy the view on the guys' balcony, we get a knock at the door from security that we are being too loud and we have to move the party inside. Oops!

The majority of our days were spent lounging in the beautiful sand or at the pool, with a few volleyball games and a guys' golf outing thrown in the mix. Lesson learned: don't lather up in SPF 30, float around in the pool for 4 hours, THEN look to see if your sunscreen is waterproof (which it wasn't). Needless to say, aloe became our good friend. We filled the evenings with fun dinners out, and of course what trip would be complete without a little dancing thrown into the mix? Saturday night was dinner at Red Bar, and Sunday after dinner at Back Porch we hit up Baytown for some fun booty shakin', rolling back into the condo at about 3am. By the time we headed for home on Monday, we were burnt and tired, but it was well worth it. Fun times had by all!

And now, in true Letterman fashion, I will present to you the Top 10 Reasons I loved this weekend:

10. You CAN freeze to death at the beach in May...condo thermostats are posessed.
9. Surprise mystery guests are fun!
8. Ten girls in two bathrooms can get ready faster than 8 lazy boys.
7. Betsy can sweet talk her way to getting just about anything she wants (just ask the bouncer at Baytown!)
6. Go Kart races are fun, but you'll always catch Will "ridin' dirty"
5. 80's Mixes on iPods are the best for road trips!
4. Flipping Leah backwards off a deflating air mattress can never get old
3. New friends, new memories and endless laughs always make me smile
2. Food made with looove always tastes better (but not better than food fed via the airplane method)

And the number one reason I loved this trip...

1. You're never too old for a good 'ole fight-till-you-draw-blood game of spoons!

If this weekend was a preview for how the Labor Day Retreat will be this year, then I can't wait for September! :o)