Love Is In The Air...

Random thoughts today while sitting at my desk.

A few things i love...

-butterflies in my stomach.
-root beer
-my nephews
-my bed with clean sheets
-Brixx salad

thats all for now.

xoxo

Better Late Than Never....

I will confess....I am a horrible blogger and I have fallen behind once again...

So let me update you on the last few weeks of my life. Bare with me:)

I will start with Thanksgiving.

Meet My Thanksgiving Turkey. Tom. He showed up at my door the Tuesday before Thanksgiving....

My Boss sent everyone in our company a turkey for Thanksgiving from Greenberg Turkey Company. It was the most AMAZING turkey i have ever tasted in my life and I can honestly say I am now a turkey snob because i don't think i will ever be able to eat regular turkey again. You have to check out their website. http://www.gobblegobble.com/. how cute huh?

here is dad testing out the Turkey....haha

Me and the folks Thanksgiving night...enjoying a little family time after dinner.

So excited about my first real Christmas tree.

I know...the star is crooked. It adds character I think...

It was a great Thanksgiving weekend. Got to see a lot of old friends. Spend a LOT of time with my parents which is always nice and just relax. Thank you Jesus for relaxation....I needed it.

Things have been pretty crazy the past few weeks at work due to the fact that we are trying to close this new property before the new year. For those of you who don't know what i do, I work for the ROBERT PITTENGER COMPANY. We are a land investment firm. I am the administrative assistant there which basically translates to mean I do anything and everything i am asked to do. which is one reason i have had no time for blogging. so unfair right? haha...

so much more to catch up on. will write more late.

xoxo

Weekly Weekend Update

This was a great weekend filled with football and Friends:)

Friday night, after work, I picked up my best friend/college roommate Brittany and we drove to Greensboro for the night. I went and had dinner with a friend of mine. We stayed at Brittany's sisters house for the night who lives in Highpoint, NC.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and got dressed in our Carolina Blue and headed for Chapel Hill. Our third roommate Katie lives there now and is in Pharmacy school at UNC-Chapel Hill. We got the great news last weekend that her and her boyfriend of almost 6 years are engaged so we had to come spend some time with her and celebrate:) So excited to be a part of the wedding, these are 2 people that love each other so much and have been through a lot together and i am just so happy they are finally getting married!!

Saturday was absolutely FREEZING!!!! we bundled up as much as possible and headed for the Carolina/State game. I can honestly say i have never been that miserably cold in my entire life and i hope that i never am again....

We had a great time though, when the 3 of us get together it is so much fun...we laugh a lot:)

Saturday night we were all so exhausted from being out in the cold for so long that we just stayed in ordered pizza and laid around in our pj's and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, i know... i know...but it was actually pretty cute:) haha

Sunday we woke up, spent some time with Katie while watching another cheesy movie, "The Perfect Man" and then Brittany and I headed back to Charlotte. We had a great time talking and catching up in the car. I really am blessed with some of the sweetest friends. The only regret I have from this day is I missed church which i hate to do because it keeps me going through the week and i am already struggling...

I had some laundry, cleaning and errands to do when i got back so i got that done and then headed to a friends to watch the new episode of 24. I have never been into this show in the past but i think that after watching last night...I will be hooked for the season.

Really was nice to get out of Charlotte and spend time with 2 of my favorite people:) I must say, it was a great weekend!!

Can't believe this week is thanksgiving...Wow, this year has flown by!! Anyways thats all for now...

xoxo

Miss Independent

First of all thank you Mrs. Davis and Faith for your sweet messages. They really helped:)

Yesterday was just another one of those days where all i wanted to do was be perfect and God just reminded me once again how I am not and how important it is to remain humble before him at all times. Sometimes i get so caught up in my life and what i have going on that i forget to stop and take time for him...I try to Miss Independent, Miss "I dont need you"...

When i finally stopped fighting it yesterday is when i felt better, which by the way was not till 8 o'clock last night. Some days are just harder then others for me but i know that no matter what he is always there for me, waiting for me to let him be in control...

That's all for now. just wanted to share that tidbit.

xoxo

Today

Today is one of those days where I could just crawl back into bed and stay there all day. more to come.

Weekly Weekend Update

So I decided I would start doing a weekend Recap on Monday of each week. Well Monday was CRAZY at work so i did not get to it so i am doing it on Tuesday:)

It was a nice weekend. Very relaxing. And Peaceful....

FRIDAY: Caroline and I get to leave work at 4:30 instead of 5:30 because of "brown bag Friday" which basically means we eat lunch at the office instead of taking our hour break so we get to leave an hour early. which is nice.

One of my oldest friends, Kristin Collins(now Kristin Deal), invited me to go out for her sisters 22nd birthday, who is also pretty much my sister:) We all met up at Jessica's house and hung out and then everyone headed downtown but i decided to just head home because Saturday was a big day...

Kristin, Jessica and I on her Birthday!!!!!!!!

Saturday: I just started working for this promotional company called Fusion Gateway, http://www.fusiongateway.com/, so i could make some extra money on the weekends. this weekend was my first event...

BARBIE CARES

The events purpose was to allow little girls to bring in their old Barbies which would be recycled to make new Barbies. For every Barbie that was donated, Mattel is going to donate a new Barbie to the Children's Hospital Organization. It was so much fun to make all of these little girls days....and the tiara wasnt so bad either;)

Raegan and I. We both worked the event. she was so sweet...such a blessing.

The cutest little cheerleader, she was so shy...

Got to hold this precious 2 week old baby...i just wanted to eat her up....

Me and the manager at Walmart, everyone wanted a picture..haha.

so stinkin cute.

This ended up being such a blessing to me. I have been going through a lot lately and it was just nice to have a FUN day and make others happy:)

Saturday night my friend Katie came over for a slumber party(yes i said it) and we went to dinner and then layed on the couch and watched the Fabulous life of Kimora, i know i know....but it was so nice to do nothing!

Sunday: MY FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK!! Katie and I woke up and went and got breakfast at Brueggers, YUMMO, and then came back and got ready for church. I have been visiting a new church for about a month now and i LOVE it. Its called Forest Hill Church in Charlotte, NC. I have not felt so welcome in a church since I was young. The pastor, David Chadwick is just great and i can really relate to his messages. The worship is awesome too.

Now i just want to find a group of girls to get connected with. I really need an accountablility/bibly study group so if anyone knows one that is looking for members please let me know:)

the rest of Sunday was spent doing laundry. running errands. and relaxing.

so over all, not to bad of a weekend.

xoxo

Best Friends and the Bobcats

Katie and I have been friends since we were in preschool, which is over 20 years now. holy moly that's a long time. She is one of the sweetest, most selfless, funniest women i have ever met and I just wanted to share some pictures of our adventures at the Bobcats game the other night. My boss gave me 4 of his AMAZING season tickets, 3rd row back...free food, drinks...it was so much fun. We took 2 of the girls Katie works with at Carmen and Carmen, Sam and Katie, and we had a blast:)

Katie and I hanging out in "back Quart" before the game

Being silly as usual

Me, Katie and Katie:) nice face Katie ....

Yes that is Rick Flair. haha.

Thats all for now. 2 post in one day. wow. go me.

xoxo

I've Lost that Lovin Feelin...Woah that lovin feelin...

I have discovered that if you stop blogging you loose your blogging juices and it is really hard to start back. I have decided to get back on track ...I PROMISE!! This is going to be a very random post of off the wall stuff/thoughts/etc. but like i said my brain is not in blogging mode and i think this will help me to kick start it again.

I saw this on a few peoples blogs so i decided i would do it...

Four Wishes:1. name my first daughter after my grandmother...Millie:)
2. celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
3. own a beach house
4. publish my cook book

Four Places I want to Travel:
1. Santorini, Greece
2. NYC
3. Australia
4. anywhere tropical....

Four Careers I want to be involved in:
1. Wedding Planning, want to own my own business one day!
2. Something with Special needs children.
3. A Ministry for High school senior girls/freshman in college.
4. Stay-at-home mom

A while back I posted the lyrics to a song by Britt Nicole, here is a YouTube Video of her singing in live...such an awesome song. heard it again on the way home from work and it brought tears to my eyes, the lyrics are awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBFDlndwhs0

This is a really yummy recipe that I got from my friend Caroline at work, its her moms recipe. She has been such a blessing and my sounding board for probably more then she wants to hear. love you babe:) It sounds kind of odd but trust me, it is SOOO good.

Sweet Caroline’s Salad
Marinated pea, corn & veggie salad

Veggies:
2 large cans of LeSeur Peas- drained
2 cans of white shoe peg corn- drained
1 large jar of pimentos- drained
1 can sliced water chestnuts- drained
½ of yellow onion- diced
½ of green pepper- diced
½-1 cup of celery- diced

Dressing:
¾ cup of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of sugar (maybe a little less than a cup)
½ cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons pepper

Mix ingredients of dressing together, separate from veggies, in microwavable bowl. Microwave dressing for about 2-3 minutes, stirring periodically, to help oil & vinegar mix.
Then pour dressing over veggies and refrigerate, stirring often.
This salad tends to be better if you can make it the day before you plan on serving it, so it has time to marinate.
And that’s it!!

Well, I guess that's all for now....sorry this was so random:)

xoxo
gossip girl....jk, haha.

I WANT YOU TO KNOW

My sister comes home in 7 days...


I Want You to know

I want you to know when things go wrong
I want you to know that all along
Someone remembers, someone cares.
Whatever the load, the burden shares
Whatever you do or whatever they say
I want you to know that all the way
Someone believes, believes although Others may doubt
I want you to know…
I want you to know when far apart
When I cannot speak to you heart to heart
Whatever the rest may say or do
I want you to know that my faith is true.
I want you to know that come what will
in the deepest vale, on the highest hill
that these things that I say to you are so
and so forever I want you to know.
I want you to know in the after years,
In the time of sorrow, the time of tears
Although the plain or sea dividesI will be standing your soul beside.
The way is far and the voice is dumb
I cannot speak and I cannot come.
And perhaps my love will not help you so
but if it will…
I want you to know

World, Meet Ms. Not So Perfect...

Today is just one of those days. Where all I want to be is Ms. Perfect and God just keeps reminding me that there is no such thing...and Satan keeps torturing me with the fact that I am not. Sometimes i literally feel like I am on some movie with a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other...haha. God is all that is perfect in this world. NOT April McEwen. It happens to me often.... I wake up with every intention of having a great attitude, a great hair day(yea right!), a positive outlook, being super productive and then all of a sudden I find myself turned completely upside down...

Right now I am reading "Having A Mary Spirit" by Joanna Weaver. It is AWESOME but is totally kicking my butt. It is about allowing God to change you from the inside out. And let me tell you the inside ain't so pretty ladies! I have made my fair share of mistakes plus a few on this journey and it is TOUGH revisiting them but I believe that is all part of God's plan. That is how we become the woman we need to be to in order to serve him and follow through with his plan for our lives....we are never perfect but we should be striving every single day to be more like him. I wrote this verse down and tapped it to my mirror about 3 months ago, It has become somewhat of my life verse.

Philippians 3:12-14
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Everyone has a past. Some are "worse" then others but the point is this, God does not care!!! He wants to wipe all that away if we will just ask him too....he wants to give us a fresh start. He is waiting with arms wide open for YOU. How incredibly awesome is that.

This is my prayer today.

Lord Change me
whatever you do, DON'T leave me the same.
Make me like you, Amen.

Sweet Blessings

Everyday I am reminded of how truly blessed I am.... There are so many people that have touched my life. I am completely undeserving to have these people in my life most of the time but I am so thankful they are there. My two nephews, Aaron and Andrew, are such a blessing to me and I just wanted to share some cute pictures of them. Aaron is a constant reminder of how God can take the unexpected and turn it into the extraordinary and Andrew is just a wild little monster and i could just eat him up. Just being around him warms my heart because i think he has the best sense of humor of any 3 year old I have ever met. Really could not imagine my life without these two sweet little boys....

Andrew being silly in the bath...He cracks me up.

My brother and his boys. Andrew being Crazy as usual...

Giving Aunt April some love:)

Yelling at a fake bear. Again, Andrew...out of control. haha. love it.

Don't worry now...He is SO big

I heard a new song, well its probably not new at all but I am behind on music so its new to me. Its called "Don't Worry Now" by Britt Nicole and it really hit home. A lot of you know what is going on with my family and a lot of you do not. My youngest sister, Cari Leigh, is at a place called Remuda Ranch right now, which is a treatment center for women with eating disorders. My sister is so precious to our family and to my existence and I know that God is surrounding her with people who are going to help her in this journey she is facing...but its really hard to just sit back and not be able to help. When i heard this song it was a reminder of how little I really am in control of anything in my life and how BIG and in control God really is....

Everyday i need someone to punch me in the face and remind of this, because it is something i struggle with getting through my thick stubborn head. YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL April, He is....

"I've been trying to find a way to understand

When I can't see the picture of God's plan

Why would He let us hurt so bad?

Could anything good come of these feelings that I have?

He loved me more than the sand on beaches

He loved me more than the grass is green

And even though he had to go I always knew his love was part of me

When you feel like you are all alone

Don't worry now...Don't worry now

I've been there yeah, I know how it feels

To wonder if love is even real

Don't worry now

Don't worry now...."

Miss you Cari Leigh Leigh, Can't wait to see your pretty smile....hang in there.