Vicariously Through Faith

6 Weeks, 3 Road Trips

It has been a busy month and a half...but a fun one. As the title says, I've gone on 3 road trips.

The first was the week of Thanksgiving, which took me to Ohio to meet my new nephew:

We had a great afternoon at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a birthday party for Jason, celebrated Christmas, then had Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, that's right, we celebrated Christmas before Thanksgiving. It was a little out of order, but it was how it worked with everyone's schedules. We went to Jason and Ashley's for a birthday lunch the day before Thanksgiving, then we opened Christmas presents. It was a really fun day. Thanksgiving was filled with turkey and football--great day.

The second was a weekend trip to Miami for the Philadelphia Eagles/Miami Dolphins game:

Yay! The Eagles won!

The third, I just finished yesterday, was a trip to New Orleans to serve at the Impact Movement's National Conference:

It was held at the newly completed Hyatt Regency, which sat right next door to the Superdome:

Yes, I had a small taste of the "Who Dat" nation. Last Monday night, the Saints were playing at home, as they were this past Sunday. The hotel was taken over by Saints fans. New Year's Eve brought another group of "interesting" people. (I won't go into detail regarding the quotes surrounding the word interesting, it's New Orleans, and I think you can use your imagination.) It was a good week, busy, but good. I heard one morning, 32 students/attendees accepted Christ as their Savior, which is pretty awesome.

I also had a small taste of New Orleans' cuisine...jambalaya, gumbo...at the hotel. I didn't venture outside the hotel, which I'm sure the little Mom and Pop places would have had better food. Not to brag, but I thought my jambalaya was better, and the gumbo was not what I expected at all. So, that was a little disappointing. Other than that, it was a good week.

My next road trip...possibly Rep meetings back in Melbourne, FL at the end of this month...

My Brother's a Daddy!!

Born October (greatest month of the year) 7th, meet Cohen Breaker Kinnebrew.

How cute is he!!!! I'm an Auntie!! So fun! Can't wait to see him face to face.

Four Stars

At the end of September, beginning of October, I "suffered" through another briefing. I say suffered in quotes, because I know when you find out the location of the briefing, you won't feel sorry for me. :) Yes, the program went really well, which is all attributed to God. Through tons and tons of changes, adjustments, additions to everything, demanding leadership, bending over backwards, rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off, He showed up, revealing the mighty work He's doing in certain parts of the world. Amazing! So, you're probably still wondering where we stayed. In my journey to the hotel, we made a wrong turn and were face to face with Warner Brothers Studio. Several minutes later, we found our way from Burbank to Westlake Village, CA. Our final destination: The Four Seasons. So nice. Asian decor. The owner purchased large boulders from Thailand and scattered them throughout the property, even a polished one was featured inside the hotel. Waterfalls. A pagoda. A large fish tank that made up most of an entire wall. Maybe nice isn't the right description. Eye-catching wonder. The food was fantastic and the beds...oh the beds. They made it very hard to crawl out of them in the morning and swallowed you up at night in all its comfort.

One neat adventure we were able to go on or "mandatory fun" for the working staff was an afternoon trip to the Ronald Reagan Library. Very cool! So much history. It was neat to go through and read about his childhood, his teen years, how his speaking abilities were shaped in college, from radio to tv to movies to political office, how he and Nancy met, how tiny she was, and the impact they had on our country and the world while he was govenor and president. The plane that was his Air Force One was onsite, and we were able to walk through it. Very fun afternoon.

Sorry, no pictures inside the plane were allowed. But, they did have jelly beans everywhere. :)

Impacting the World at 5

My friend Heather's daughter is turning 5 next week: (the cuteness)

One neat thing Heather has done for each of Ella's birthdays is to donate the family's time and/or money to charity in honor of her birthday. I believe they do it for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. Very neat idea. And they explain to Ella what they are doing and why, teaching her the importance of service to those in need and to be an impact for God in the world.

This year, for the "whole hand" year's old, Heather sent an email, allowing friends to join in. Follow the link and see what kind of an impact you can have on a 5 year old's life and the lives of hundreds:

http://mycharitywater.org/ellasbirthdayimpact

Test Kitchen Returns

After watching the movie Julie and Julia on tv the other day, I've felt inspired to get creative in my kitchen once again and make delicious meals. Last night, coming home from a looooong day at work, I decided to get ambitious with the ingredients I had on hand.

So, after several minutes and many dishes in the sink, this is what came out:

Herb-crusted fish with sweet potato fries and garlic and rosemary green beans. Melt-in-your-mouth tasty goodness!

Floral Creation

After a 2 year hiatus, I was asked to arrange flowers for a co-worker's wedding this past weekend. Hydrangeas are her favorite, and she wanted them to be blue, a bright blue. She also wanted to use orange roses, as her fiance and given her orange roses when he proposed.

(So, if you were thinking this was a Florida Gator's theme, you would be incorrect.)

Above is the bride's bouquet. I made smaller versions of this for the bridesmaids (4):

The boutonnieres in process (7):

Corsages in process (3):

And I had 5 centerpieces to construct:

I was concerned in the beginning, as it had been 2 years since I arranged for a wedding. Also, I didn't have my trusty sidekick, Caryn :), with me this time. So, to transport all these arrangements to the other side of town by myself would have been a challenge. But, my great friend Sherri stepped in and saved the day.

Oh, and the hydrangeas were dyed, possibly spray painted. It was interesting. Some of the leaves and stems were also blue. And, I won't get started on the smell...it wasn't pleasant.

Relearning to Paint

This past Saturday, I went to Cheri's Art Uncorked in Winter Park, FL for a 3 hour painting class--a fabulous gift. It's been a long time since I've painted, and with the influence of two good friends here in Orlando (Sherri and Melinda), I've been wanting to relearn, so to speak. So...here's my work in stages.

The Beginning:

Quarter Done:

Almost Done:

Flip Flops on the Beach:

Others in the class added glitter to the flip flops, but as you know me, I'm not sparkly. I didn't think it needed any flashiness. Now, I just need to figure out where to put it.

Where in the World is Faith?

I realize it's been a little over 4 months since I posted last. Oops. It's not that life has been boring; God has me on an interesting journey. My need for dependence on Him is very real. I am thankful everyday for His loving arms and capable hands to take care of me and lead me through the path He has me on.

So, since prior to Christmas...

I spent Christmas with my Aunt Susie in Rome, GA. Yes, they wanted to make me feel at home and provided snow on Christmas Day. (I told them that was not necessary.) It was the most snow North Georgia has seen on Christmas since the 1800s.

The week between Christmas and New Year's, I volunteered for the Impact Movement's National Conference in Atlanta. That was fun. I really enjoyed serving alongside like-minded people and making new friends. :)

New Year's Eve...

I watched Florida State beat up on South Carolina in the Chick-fila Bowl game at the Georgia Dome. There's nothing like the college sport's atmosphere.

I "suffered" through a week of meetings in January in Melbourne, FL. The hotel was right on the beach, and I was given my own room. :)

In February, I went to a really big Super Bowl party, had a week of stressful allocation meetings, and helped a friend celebrate a milestone birthday at a playhouse to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. That was fun.

March brought another Jesus Film briefing...this time in Marco Island, FL. The working staff had an adventure beforehand...I don't recommend going on an air-boat ride when a thunderstorm is rapidly approaching.

After the briefing, I was able to drive down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit Caryn and Hudson, who were staying at her folk's house. Hudson is ADORABLE! :) It was soooo great to spend some time with my Sis too.

At the beginning of April, I was able to get away for a couple days to St. Petersburg, FL with Sherri and relax on the beach. I could use a whole week of that. :)

I had my annual Easter Potluck on Resurrection Sunday. These are my dear friends--Melinda and Sherri. Everyone had a fun time, and there was only one plate full of food leftover. Great day!!

Merry Christmas from Orlando!

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tis the Season for...

Parties!

Wednesday night, I attended my work Christmas Party. This year, it was at SeaWorld. As many of you may be aware, we here in Central Florida have had unusual weather lately---COLDNESS!! I was curious how it was going to work, 40 degree weather and watching the Shamu Christmas Show. Actually, the projected low for that night was in the mid- to upper 30's. (BRRRRR!) But, the show was early enough in the evening, and they loaded us with hot chocolate, it was okay. The show was alright. The whales didn't cooperate that much, so, there wasn't that much jumping out of the water and splashing. (We weren't in the splash zone, which was good.) I think the whales wanted to stay warm under water; I would have. :)

Sorry no pictures of the show...old camera, darkness, and fast fish do not make for good photos, so I made no attempts.

After the show, we had dinner in a "ballroom" they have on-site. Surprisingly, SeaWorld catered some good food. With good food and great company, I had fun.