The Best Yes

Hey y'all! Have you ever had that gut feeling that you need.. no you HAVE.. to do something even though it might be pushing your comfort zone a little? Well, for the last few days I've been having an urge to write a blog post about the book I'm reading in the women's Bible study group at my church. Here it is.

Rewind to almost two months ago when the church announced its upcoming fall study groups one Sunday morning. One study in particular peaked my interest: The Covenant. It is a 24 week long Bible Study that meets for an hour a week to really dive deep into The Bible, particularly The Old Testament. I remember telling Ty I wanted to join that study group. A few Sundays later, they announced that sign ups for the study groups would be in the gathering hall, and we could sign up after church that day.

This is so typically me. I make these grand plans, and when it comes time to follow through, I come up with some excuse or reason why I should just stay home and relax (a.k.a. do nothing). By the end of the service that day, I had already found a dozen reasons why I shouldn't sign up for a study group. The main one being that I am somewhat introverted when it comes to people I don't know very well. Although I have been going to this same church for awhile now, it is very large, and I don't know anyone really well yet. Another excuse was my schedule. I'm on rotations that are in five week intervals, and I don't know what my hours will be at each new rotation. With a 24 week long study, my schedule would be fluctuating several times. I shouldn't risk making a commitment that I can't follow through, right? Right.

I had already talked myself out of joining a study group when Dr. Holland said something along the lines of, "You all really need to consider signing up for these study groups. Don't let not knowing anyone stop you. This is how you get to know people!" Do you know those moments when you think to yourself, "I know that was for me." I just knew at that moment God was giving me a sign. After the service I made my way to the gathering hall where the sign up tables were. I saw a study group for women only called The Best Yes, which was located beside The Covenant sign up. I stood in front of the two contemplating which one would be the best for me. I ended up going with The Best Yes, and I am so glad I did. It amazes me how God gives us exactly what we need even when we don't know exactly what it is we need just yet.

Now, to the whole reason I am writing this blog post. I try to live my life in a way that I feel would be pleasing to The Lord. I feel that is what every Christian tries to do; however, we are made of flesh, and we are all sinners. I do the best I can. That does not mean I never get mad/upset/sad or do/say things that make others mad/upset/sad. I have been having a tough time here lately y'all. I miss my hometown so much, and I feel like my schedule is so demanding right now. I wake up at 5:00AM every morning, leave my house by 5:40AM, drive an hour to work, work from 7:00-3:30, drive an hour home, cook dinner, clean up the kitchen, pack my and Ty's lunches for the next day, shower, then go to sleep, wake up, and do it all over again. It is exhausting! I have also been letting a lot of silly things get to me lately that I need to let go for my own sake.

Ya'll, I feel sorry for Tyler. I truly do. I have been both a Negative Nancy and a Debbie Downer lately. I've been harboring feelings in, and I just know that one day the flood gates will open and release an emotional outburst. Hey, I never claimed to be perfect! I try to keep telling myself, "Courtney, your thoughts affect your mood, your mood affects your actions, and your actions affect others." I have been praying about this lately. I've been praying for God to help me be a better and more forgiving person, to not hold grudges, and to rid me of bad/negative thoughts. Do you ever have those "aha!" moments where you just know God is hearing your prayers? I do.

My first study group session assignment was to read chapters 1-3 of The Best Yes. After the first chapter, I related to the author on so many levels. She is anxious. She is a people pleaser. She is indecisive. She can't tell people no due to a fear of disappointing them or seeming like she can't do it all. I'm thinking, "Did I write this book?!" Then I remember there is no way I would have time to write a book with my schedule right now. LOL Speaking of time, this book focuses a lot on how you spend your time. The author explains how women feel pressure to be all things to all people, but what happens when that woman needs to take some time to care for herself? If we give ourselves until we are all used up, there is nothing else left to give. We have to take care of ourselves so we can continue to take care of others. We have to learn to say no to things we don't have time for to make more time for important things like spending time with family, friends, and most importantly, God. If we can say no to pointless things or mundane, unimportant tasks, we can make time to say yes to what God has planned for us - our Best Yes. I feel joining this study group is one of my "best yeses." I was going to use my hectic schedule as a way to talk myself out of joining this study group, but God had other plans for me! I'm so glad I made the time for this because it has blessed me in more ways than one!

"The decisions you make determine the schedule you keep. The schedule you keep determines the life you live. And how you live your life determines how you spend your soul." - Lysa Terkeurst

Now, where was I? Oh, yes, back to the point of this post. With my exhausting schedule and other silly/petty/hurtful nuisances that have popped up in my life in the last few weeks, I have been extra crabby. I haven't been letting my light shine. I have been keeping negative feelings pent up inside. I have prayed about this among other things feverishly. I pray that God will take those bad feelings away and make it easy for me to forgive, forget, and move on. 

Y'all will never guess what we talked about this evening in my second study group session: forgiveness. I can't tell you how many times I thought to myself, "Thanks God. I know this is for me." If you wait to forgive someone when you "feel like it," it is never going to happen. You want to know what else we talked about...? We talked about how most of the time when we are upset or hurt by something someone did or said, chances are they aren't even aware of it. So, let's put it all out there. We go around harboring negative thoughts and feelings because we are hurt by something someone may or may not even be aware of. Let me ask you this: who is the one suffering in this situation? I'll tell ya it isn't the person who is blissfully unaware they have done or said something out of the way. Forgiveness is for you. 

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." - Mark Twain

I am smart enough to know there are always two sides to every situation, and chances are I have also unintentionally hurt someone without realizing it. If I have done anyone that way, I truly am sorry. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone ever! I look at my relationship with God and his love for me to better understand how to treat others. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. Whether you love Him or not, He loves you. He forgives me when I least deserve it. What a friend we have in Jesus! I want to live a life that makes others want to know Him better. How can I do that if my light is dimmed by me letting my emotions get the best of me? I will continue to pray that God will help me every day to be a more understanding and tolerant person and that he will lead me on a path to do His work. We all need to practice active obedience and live the life God wants us to live. We need to nurture our relationship with Him in order to know when we have a "best yes" opportunity. I was going to pass up the opportunity to join a study group because I told myself I was too busy and wouldn't like it because I didn't know anyone. Fortunately I listened to God, and said yes. It has been such a blessing and has helped me so much already! In just two meetings, things that have been weighing heavy on my heart were discussed, and after hearing other ladies' opinions and perspectives, it opened my eyes to my wrongdoings and ways I can change my life for the better just by accepting things I can't change and focusing on the positives in my life. I need to focus on the  good in order to let my light shine for others! This study has shown me God has been hearing my prayers! 

I had a feeling that I needed to put this all out there (which is something I normally would never do), but I didn't want to ignore that gut feeling. I didn't want to bypass a potential "best yes." If even one person that reads this post needed to hear this little testimony of mine, then this whole post was worth it. I know a common misconception about Christians is that we are 1) perfect or 2) think we are perfect. Neither of those are even close to being true. I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. I sin every day, but I am forgiven because I am saved by the blood that Jesus shed for me. God has really been working in my life lately because I had some answered prayers and feel His presence. I am so blessed! We serve an awesome God that always gives us what we need! 

This and That

Since the wedding and honeymoon, I have been enjoying married life. I am currently doing my rotations for my fourth and final year of pharmacy school. I am loving it so far! I have met so many wonderful people at my rotation sites, and I am learning a lot. Since I didn't blog for awhile because I wanted to wait on my wedding pictures to come in, I figured my next post should be a short round up of a few exciting things that have happened since the wedding. I am finally getting my life back to normal - well, my new normal. 

1. I cooked. Now that I am married, I have a newfound interest in being a homemaker. I have been cooking ever since I started living on my own a few years ago, but now that I'm married, I actually enjoy it! I love trying to make new things. Sometimes the stuff I make turns out great, and sometimes it doesn't. Hey, it's a work in progress! 

This dinner was delicious! I made pork chops, baked beans, glazed carrots, cornbread, and brown sugar and cinnamon baked peaches with vanilla ice cream for dessert. So good! The recipe for the pork chops can be found on my pinterest "Recipes" board. 

I love flavored teas. As long as it is sweet, I will drink it. I found a recipe for peach flavored tea, so I decided to try it. Y'all.. YUM! It was phenomenal. Tyler isn't a huge fan of peaches, so he didn't care too much for it. More for me! Isn't this pitcher the cutest? My sweet aunt Michelle bought this for me. I love it, and it matches my dishes perfectly! 

I let these peaches simmer in sugar water for about 30 minutes, filtered out the peaches, and poured the mixture into the tea pitcher. Refrigerate and enjoy! 

I made this meal one evening when I was homesick. It is one of my family's favorite meals to enjoy together. My Nanny cans hot kraut, and it is phenomenal. It is maybe my favorite food ever. I didn't have any of her kraut, so I improvised and made my own. She puts banana peppers in hers to give it a kick. Nobody will ever can kraut as good as Nanny, but my makeshift kraut was pretty good in a pinch! We also had pinto beans, mustard greens, and fried potatoes. It was a good southern home cooked meal!  

This dish was SO easy to make. I found the recipe on pinterest which also can be found on my "Recipes" board. I used Prego Alfredo sauce for this one. Usually I make my own Alfredo sauce homemade, but I was exhausted after work and wanted something quick. I thawed out frozen spinach and mixed that with artichokes. I sprinkled that with some garlic and mixed in the sauce and noodles. Then, I added some Italian blend cheese on the top and baked it for about 20 minutes until the cheese was melted and gooey. It was so good! 

2. I spent time with friends at my sorority sister's wedding. Bree had a destination wedding, but she had a reception in the Huntington area for friends and family. It was like a mini sorority reunion. I loved getting to catch up with the girls, and Bree looked so beautiful! I wish I would have taken pictures of this event. The only picture I have is one that Ashton took on her phone and sent to me. That just means I was having too much fun to be taking pictures!!

3. I attended an Eagles concert with my mom. Guys, she was so excited for this. We had to listen to Eagles songs, watch documentaries, and hear stories about them for a solid two weeks leading up to the concert. It was all she could talk about. I recall one time she was singing an Eagles song to us, and she grabbed her arm and exclaimed, "I just gave my own self chills!" LOL She was loving life seeing them live! Unfortunately, they requested no photos or videos during the concert, so I have two pictures that we quickly took right before the show began. I loved getting to do something with my mom that meant so much to her!

I also talked her into staying Sunday for church. We had lunch at a local Italian restaurant before she headed home. I loved having her in Lex with me!

4. I got a new car! If you read my last blog post, you know I started having car trouble on the way home from the wedding. We just knew it was going to be expensive to fix because the engine light was on, and it was saying something about traction control. Surprisingly, when I took it to the Cadillac dealership, they were able to fix it for a very reasonable price. Just when we thought our problem was solved, the air conditioning started going out. We decided my car was on its last leg. We were worried we would start pouring money into repairs and end up putting more in than it was worth. I had put over 150,000 miles on that thing. It was a beautiful car, and I was sad to see it go. However, crawling into this new beautiful car helped ease the pain of parting with my old car. I told Ty that if I was a car, I would be this one! Tyler facilitated this entire thing. He went to the dealership several times to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. He takes good care of me!

5. I celebrated my birthday. I recently turned 26, and my family and I celebrated in Northern Kentucky together. My dad and Tyler played in a golf tournament up there, so my mom and I tagged along so we could all be together on my birthday weekend. My poor sister was sick with strep throat, so she didn't come. Mom and I had a blast shopping while the guys played golf. My dad and his partner, Chippy, ended up in the play off. Mom, Ty, and I followed him on the golf course and cheered him on. They ended up coming in second. In my opinion, they deserved first! LOL On one hole, Dad made a really good shot, and before I realized what I was doing or where I was, I let out a big cheer. My mom and I started cracking up! I forgot you have to be quiet on a golf course.. oops! Looks like I may need to tone down my inner cheerleader and practice my golf clap!

I love him! Look how cute!

I put my birthday money to good use! My JuJu called me while I was in the Lilly store shopping. She asked what I was doing, and when I told her where I was, she said, "Courtney, you are addicted to that stuff."  LOL Guilty as charged! My friend Tamus said it best when she said being a Lilly lover is a lifestyle. It is more than clothes y'all!! 

I had to work Friday, so I met my parents and Ty in NKY Friday evening. Ty sent me these beautiful flowers to work as a surprise! Everyone loved them!

6. I ate smores in the city. Ty and I love smores, and we found a restaurant in Lex that had smores on their dessert menu. You can imagine our surprise when they brought this out to our table. We got to roast our own marshmallows and everything! It tasted (almost) as good as a real back-yard campfire smore! This is the city version of making smores y'all! 

7. I met friends for dinner. I know no one in Lexington. Okay, okay.. I know Tyler and a couple of people that I have met recently through Tyler, SO you can imagine how excited I was to meet up with some girls in my pharmacy school class one evening for dinner. We talked, laughed, and shared so many good stories. We talked about everything from fall decorations and hair cuts to pharmacy rotations and the latest nail colors. I forgot how much I missed "girl talk." So glad we got the chance to hang out!

8. My sister cut her hair. Okay, I know this isn't something that I did, but I couldn't make this list and leave this out. How cute is she?! Kelly has always had long hair, and she had BEAUTIFUL long hair. The longer my hair gets, the thinner it gets (thank you Jesus for hair extensions). Kelly's hair was always so thick and shiny. When she mentioned cutting it, we were all hesitant, our dad especially. He dared her to cut it. In true Kelly fashion, she did it anyway, and it looks awesome. She went all out on the first attempt and cut her hair from midway down her back to above her shoulders. I think it makes her look so mature and classy. I also think it makes her look like our mother! I found two pictures of Kel in the same dress - one with long hair and one with short. She is beautiful in both, but she is rockin' the short hair y'all! 

9. My best friend got married. Again, another thing I didn't do, but there is no way I could do this post without including Lauren's big day. Everything was perfect from start to finish and was completely "Lauren." The color scheme was ivory and gold, and it was stunning. She treated the bridal party like queens all day! She had us matching shirts made to get ready in and cute totes with our names embroidered on it. She had Panera catered for breakfast and Subway catered for lunch. Two girls came to do everyone's make up too which was a special treat. We took bridal party pictures at my house, so that was fun having all the girls running around taking pictures while the boys hung out in our basement. The decorations at the church and reception took my breath away. The cake table was the most fabulous thing I've ever seen, and the dinner that was served was phenomenal. She really thought of everything. I can't say enough good things about her big day. I know how much time and effort goes into celebrating a new marriage, so I can appreciate everything she did to pull this off.  Lauren had an awesome celebration and treated all of her guests like royalty! Everyone had a great time, but the entire day remained about Lauren and Josh, which I loved! You could see nothing but happiness when you looked at them! I am so thankful my friend found someone that I know will treat her right and love her unconditionally! That makes ME happy!

Here is a picture of some of us at the rehearsal dinner!

Right before this picture, I had just ran from the church to Lauren's house to get the rings, marriage license, and her garter. I made a quick pit stop to zip Terri's dress up before I ran back to the church! Talk about finishing up last minute to-dos before the big event! 

She looks stunning. I remember one year in high school Lauren wore a beautiful white dress to prom. I don't think I ever told her this, but I always thought she looked so gorgeous in that dress. It made me think how beautiful she would be one day in a wedding gown. When she did her reveal to the bridesmaids and I saw her for the first time fully ready, she surpassed any expectations I had. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was literally glowing. She looked perfect. 

These little turkeys kept us entertained the whole day. My mom has an especially funny video of them arguing over who got to keep Lauren's bridal bouquet. There was almost an incident with the cake table, but luckily Nancy and Tamus saved the day. They are too cute for their own good!

10. I spent time with friends and family in WV. If you know me, you know there are few things I enjoy more than spending time with the people I love. Since I moved away, any time I get to spend back home is something I treasure. On Labor Day weekend, my mom hosted a cookout at our house, and it was a blast. So many of our friends and family came to visit, and they all got to officially meet Tyler if they hadn't already. I loved getting to spend time with everyone just laughing and talking (and enjoying some good southern BBQ thanks to my uncle!) 

That same weekend I also attended the Marshall season opener. We went to my friend Lauren's family's tailgate, and it was a blast! It was so good to take Tyler to my old stompin' grounds. It was an extremely hot and long day, but The Herd pulled off a win! 

The following weekend I traveled back to WV for yet another visit (hey, you don't have to twist my arm to go home! LOL) I had a quick lunch date with my sweet momma, and we almost cried when we said goodbye (I may or may not have shed a tear on my way back to Lex that evening). Then I headed to my friend Jill's mom's house to celebrate baby Chase's first birthday! He is such a beautiful baby! I remember going to the hospital the day after he was born to see him, and here we are a year later now. Time flies! 

Jill informed everyone it was time to watch Chase eat his cake, but y'all I was not expecting that sweet thing to walk into the room wearing this! It was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! His party was Mickey themed, and Jill found this little pants and tie set for him to wear during the cake smash. I have never seen anything cuter in all my life! 

This post was a little random, but I just wanted to share what I have been up to lately since I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been busy with rotations and just life in general. I am loving married life. It is fun to spend every day with your best friend! I do miss my friends and family back home, but as you can see, I am still able to see them often. Before, I took my visits with them for granted, but now that I am four hours away, I cherish any time at all that I get to spend with them. I am lucky to live in a beautiful city like Lexington, but there is no place like home! I hope y'all enjoyed this post. I will try to be a more faithful blogger and start doing weekly posts again!