Catching up once again

I won't begin this post with another apology because I think that's how I start every post nowadays. But suffice it to say, I've been busy and life has just continued to happen and unfortunately the blog has taken a back seat. I'm sure my three readers have missed me.

I'll warn you- this is going to be a really random post so hopefully you can stick with me. I'm also planning to go back and write a few entries to catch you up on everything going on.

The wedding planning continues. Brian and I are pretty laid-back people and although you would have thought I could put a wedding together in three seconds flat due to the fact that I've been to more than 100 weddings and by now I should know what I want- well it's not true. It actually takes much more work than I thought. I am also one who lends herself to procrastination and working better under pressure. It's a good thing I'm in the job I'm in because the working better under pressure thing comes in handy quite a bit. Anyway, we're now to the point in time that I'm feeling the pressure. But it's all coming together quite nicely so far. Yes, there are several details still up in the air and no, James Taylor has not agreed to come but I'm really not stressed about any of it. We've gotten the most important parts taken care of and it's really not about the wedding per se that matters. The important part is our marriage itself. We've joined the Nearly/Newlywed class at our church and are enjoying that. We're just looking forward to officially joining the demographic of "married" in a matter of two and a half months!

The last few weeks have been very productive in the planning department but they've also been busy in just life in general. Brian is coaching basketball again. He didn't officially replace me as Associate Head Coach but he does have a friend from work who happens to actually play basketball helping him out this year. Plus, he's only coaching one team instead of two. It's been nice this year in some regards because I don't feel like I have to be there and I can just come and watch and sit with the parents. Of course, it's been a little painful to watch considering we are 0-4 and they've had to turn the scoreboard off on us because the other team was beating us too badly. But it's really no reflection on his coaching abilities. It's just that the group of kids put on our team have numerous challenges. The main one being the inability to get the ball in the basket. But then again, maybe it does have to do with the coaching. Or at least the assistant coaching because last year when I was on the bench, we did have a winning record!

It's also been a bit of an emotional few weeks. A few weeks ago, a dear lady at my church died unexpectedly in her sleep at age 47. Mary was one of those people who just lit up the room when she walked in. And she greeted everyone with a "Hello, Beautiful" and then giving a hug and kiss and letting them know she was praying for them. And she really did pray for them. I felt so special and loved by her. And it turns out that she had the ability to make every single person she came into contact with feel the same way. The last time I saw her she reminded me that she had prayed that God would bring a wonderful guy into my life for the past several years and she was thrilled that God had answered her prayers (and mine!) and she was looking forward to the wedding! Her funeral was a beautiful time of reflecting on such a precious person and she leaves quite a legacy. I think every young female in the room (myself included) left wanting to be a person of impact like Mary.

Speaking of people with impact... my heart has been heavy in the past few days because my dear friend from college, Missy, has been battling cancer since October and has had a rough week. I went to see her in the hospital yesterday and it was such a precious time. She's currently in a medically-induced coma so her body can heal from pneumonia. So as she was lying there, I just held her hand, talked with her, prayed for her and read encouraging messages from Facebook. I just know she could hear me. I'm really glad we had that time together and I pray that her body heals so we can have many more precious times together. If you don't mind, say a prayer for her when you read this. She could definitely use as many prayers as possible!!

Ok, sorry this post is kind of a downer. But in between my prayers for Missy, I'm going to think of happier things. Like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from Potbelly's and the fact that my cleaning lady came today while I was at work!