The Light of a New Day

Well, ya’ll, it’s a new glorious day.  Can you believe I’m saying that after my pitiful post/day yesterday?!  Really, it is.  I’m so in love with the Lord this morning, I just can’t begin to tell you.  He is awesome.  He is mighty.  He is powerful.  He loves me so so much.  I just could keep going on and on and on. 

I realize that yesterday, it was just a complete day of darkness for no reason.  How often do I get down on myself, tell myself I’m a nothing and then, realize, hello, that’s not the Lord speaking to me.  Hello, He would never say those things to me, He would never make me feel like that.  The doubt, the fear, the anxiety, the frustration, the what-ifs…none of that is of Him.

Then, the Lord swoops in…He sends armies of angels and people in my life to just restore the ‘normal,’ the love, the grace, the mercy, and just like that, my eyes sort of open up.  I have angels on earth in my life, I really do.  If you know my friends, especially my bffers, you’ll know that they are.  They pray for me when I send out my ‘having a bad day’ texts.  They know to call me and ask me to come eat with them so they can hear me cry and then tell me its going to be okay.  They reassure me and tell me that I’m not a crazy person, that it is going to get better.  They tell me that my hopes and dreams aren’t nothing—they’re hoping and dreaming about the same thing for me.

Alongside of the angels on earth…my Lord goes in for the grand prize.  He makes a hopeless situation (in my mind), one full of hope.  He makes a situation that I had dreaded all day pass by so quickly and so painlessly, I laugh at myself as I get into the car after it, because I was silly enough to let the devil win that round.  BUT, God didn’t allow it to happen.  He fought for me, he battled the devil, and he WON.  (And, don’t even think that his Mama Mary wasn’t hearing my crys in those rosaries and my prayers for intercession!  She has my back, too!)

To my best friends…Erin, Emily, Jazzy, Mrs. Debbie, thank you.  Thank you for loving me for who I am, for being in my life, for caring for me and for just giving me unconditional love.  I seriously would not be where I am without you.  You’re my family, my bffers, my angels on earth.

Jesus, more than anything, I love you.  You get all the glory for my joy, and I pray that I can give you the glory everyday.  Let the light you shine on me today shine everyday.  I know in the darkness, you’ll bring the light.

Procrastinating…

So, ya’ll, today I’m in a funk.  A big old poor pitiful me funk.  I will first off blame it on my bad dream last night. 

Basically, all of my cute Godchildren were scary children in weird masks—the kind of weird masks that the men wear on the floats in Mardi Gras parades.  You know, the plain face masks, that are supposed to be ‘flesh’ colored and just cover who you really are, with the ginormo eye holes…well, yeah, little cute babies covered in those things.  That is a little frightening. 

However, that wasn’t the worst of it…it got worse when I went into my room to hide from them, looked down at the floor, and saw a big giant 6 ft long snake.  Glanced at it, it lunged at me, and that is the point where I woke myself up.  You know, cause I do that in my bad dreams.  If something funky is about to happen, I will bust out of that thing really quick.  I’m awake as fast as lightning!  It was 4:21 am when that happened.  Needless to say that sleep did not come for the remaining 39 minutes of my night.

Now, I’m at work in a funky mood.  (Can I go biblical and say it’s all because of that evil serpent in my dream—SATAN attacks people—warfare is no joke!) 

I guess my main funk is that I’m feeling lazy about myself.  I look at my desk, at my life, at ministry stuff and it seems like I’ve got a million things to do.  But, yet, I have no desire to do anything.  I sit here and blog, 1, to waste time not doing my work, but then again, 2, knowing that I’ve been stinking it up at blogging and doing things on my 52 things list.  NOTHING IS GETTING ACCOMPLISHED, PEOPLE!  I am looking at a huge ‘to do’ list at work, an unanswered letter from Kilonzo (that I should have written him back about a month ago), an order that I should have sent to Mrs. Debbie for some 31 stuff (yesterday), a half eaten apple to save my stomach from eating itself (over an hour old), but yet, NONE of it is appealing to me as something I remotely want to do, take care of, or even look at.  Ever feel like that??

See, I told you, funk.  I’m hoping that maybe mass and some Adore tomorrow night will lift me up.  I’ve also got some plans in my head I have been discerning, so I hope to talk to you about those VERY soon. 

Fitting things in…

Well, I know, I know, it’s been FAR too long!  Can I blame Mardi Gras crazy on everything?!  I’m telling you, I blame the king cake!  It made me a little crazy.  I’m now behind on work, ministry work, blogging, cleaning up my house/life/car/purse (basically, you name it), dieting, exercising…I’m telling you, I’m a little messed up right now! 

So, now, here’s a catch up post to fill you in on my latest happenings…

This is only one of the 1,467,089 different kinds of king cake I ate over the last few weeks…seriously, sugar overload is officially upon me.  However, it was *oh so good* while it lasted.  My extra few pounds are also here to remind me of their goodness.  :(  Not good.

 

 

Mardi Gras was the biggest thing keeping me from my real, normal life.  Last weekend, we started off on Friday night at Selene in Slidell.  Em and I caught some AWESOME light up goodness and we rocked our glasses all weekend long…I mean, come on, tell me we’re not rockin’ it:

Saturday we had big plans to go to Endymion, but they unfortunately got cancelled due to HUGE amounts of wind and rain falling all day.  All sorts of parades got cancelled and re-scheduled for Sunday, so we rearranged our plans and decided to make it work on Sunday and Monday.

Sunday, we got up and went Uptown at 7 am to prepare for 6 parades that day…yes, you heard me, SIX parades in one day.  We saw NOMTOC, Iris, Okeanos, Mid City, Thoth and Bacchus.  Whew, I’m wore out trying to remember all that…

NOMTOC was ehhh, but the rest of them were awesome. 

   

     

 

My FAVORITE regular parade (i.e. not a Super-Krewe) is Mid City…I love love love how they use the old-school mylar decorations on the floats.  It’s so so so colorful, shiny and pretty.  You seriously won’t find prettier floats anywhere else!  I also love this parade because it brings up the memories of my younger days when my Dad and I would do ‘Super Sunday’ for parade watching.  He always was in the fire house on Fat Tuesday, so he would bring me to every parade they had on the Sunday before Mardi Gras—we’d race from Uptown to Mid City to Metairie, back Uptown and end the day with Bacchus…it was so crazy, but yet, I loved being with him and I loved that he did it for me.  Oh, and did I mention that Mid City throws potato chips?!  I still, to this day, can remember eating those things.  YUM.

Bacchus was Sunday night and Will Ferrell was the Grand Marshall…so fun. 

 

Gotta love the big floats and lights of Bacchus!

Monday we went out at around noon to claim our ‘spot’.  We found an awesome spot in front of St. Andrew’s church/school, on Napoleon between St. Charles and Magazine.  They had bathrooms we could use and lots of things nearby for us to eat, drink, and be merry! 

 

    

We saw a rescheduled Tucks (which we DEFINITELY could have done without!), Proteus (one of the oldest running Krewes in the city) and then Orpheus…um, hello…bring on Harry Connick, Jr.!!  I’m convinced that every year he loves to see me along the parade route…I mean, we’re old friends by now! 

 

One of the celebrity guests of Orpheus was my childhood BFF, Cyndi Lauper!!  I L.O.V.E. her.  Her hair was big, and she looked like she was having the time of her life up there!  I heard later that she said riding in a parade was one of the things on her bucket list…um, hello, ME TOO!!  That’s why we are BFF.  :)

My favorite float in Orpheus…the Smoky Mary train!  The LED lights and fiber optic lights are so pretty!

Another favorite…the Leviathan dragon!  This is a LOOOOONG dragon float!

See, ya’ll…I told you I’d been busy!  I saw 10 parades in 3 days time…I’m awesome like that.  ;)  I think it wrapped up a great carnival season!

Now…what else has been happening…I’ve gotten back to work and the first thing we did was celebrate Diann’s birthday.  Karly, Diann and I are the only ‘staff’ people in my department’s section of Child Psych.  That being said, we always celebrate birthdays in a big way for each other, cause, well, we love each other!  I surprised Diann with these gorgeous things first off that morning…

Are you drooling?!  They include a dulce du leche, red velvet, cake with chocolate frosting, apple crumb, and strawberry cake glazed donuts.  The beast on the right is the ‘maple bacon’ long john.  Um…bacon and donuts—yes, please!  Two faves combined.  Sounds weird but it is YUMMO.

For lunch, we decided to walk over to the Hyatt Regency Hotel.  They have several restaurants in it, so we figured we’d pick a place to go to a nice lunch while we were there.  We went to Vitascope—a great place to eat.  We dined on some homemade potato chips and crawfish nachos as an app, then I had a stuffed burger for lunch that was delish.  We love to eat at new places…and just sneak out of the ‘house’ as often as we can!

Well, ya’ll…to end, I’ll just say PRAISE THE LORD for some awesome fun times these past few days…I had such wonderful time spent with amazing friends and I just know the Lord is who brings me all these peeps.  He is SO good! 

Erin, I know you’re reading this, so I’ll tell you again, I’m praying for you and your wisdom teeth surgery—love ya bffer—get well SOON!

XOXO,

LC

V-Day Update…List Update

This is what I am currently enjoying while I sit at my desk and type away…my sweet Dad called me and told me to come see him at the firehouse and surprised me with the red roses.  Diann, at work, bought me the yellow one.  *love* *love* *love*

 

I spent most of yesterday, I think feeling a little sorry for myself, so I boosted my spirits with retail therapy.  (I know, I know, I should NOT have…but, you know how it is sometimes!)  The shopping did help, though!  I was in a girly mood, apparently, because makeup was my priority!

I purchased a couple of things that I have heard awesome things about.

       

First up is the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  This goes on under your eyeshadow to sort of ‘prep’ your lid to keep the eyeshadow on all day.  People have sworn by this stuff and I got a great deal on the ‘old’ style of potion, since they just changed their packaging.  (Basically, I got 50% off a bottle of it…which, would’ve been good had I purchased one bottle, but, I got two!  Hey, I had to justify the shipping cost!)

Another thing I’ve been hearing about, especially from my blogger BFF (I wish!), Dawn McVey, is Purity Made Simple cleanser from Philosophy.  Now, I hate spending money on face wash, however, I will say that as I get older and people tell me how ‘young’ I look, this is going to sound crazy, but, I’m getting to the point where I’m okay with spending money on my skin and face if it’s going to keep me looking young.  Yes, add vain to my list of sins for the day…LOL.  I only got a small bottle to give it a whirl…so, I’ll update you once I can review it.  ;)  Dawn recommended some Cover Girl mascara that I’m going to try out, too, once I run out of the expensive, and CRAPPY, Bare Escentuals mascara I’m currently using.  I am having major mascara issues (smudging!), so I’m dying to try out the other.  If I can find a coupon, I may jump ahead a little earlier to give it a whirl…

 

Finally, I went to my friend, Kendall’s, boutique, Fini, and got some new Stila makeup.  I was EXTREMELY aggravated because I had purchased this awesome holiday palette of eyeshadows that I’ve been loving, however, when I went to go look to order more of one favorite shade, I found out it was a holiday color that they only put into the palette.  UGH.  Not cool, Stila, not cool. 

I picked out three new colors…Cloud (a pinky grey/brown), Twilight (a silvery grey), and Chinois (a skin tone/white highlighter for under the brow).  Here’s a link to the Stila website to see all the colors.  Kendall was a sweetie and bought me the new plumping lip gloss in vanilla mint for a gift.  She’s good to me, too!  I wasn’t completely sold on the Twilight, but I used it this morning and think it looks okay. 

 

 

(Don’t laugh at my selfie pic!  I just thought you’d want to see it!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So…that about covers my Valentine’s day excitement.  Basically a few purchases to touch, a few to wait to get in the mail, and a few that I added to my ‘wish list.’  :)

Speaking of lists…one of the things on my ‘52 things’ list for the year was: 

25. Make favorite quote/scripture journal.

Well, I’m happy to say that I started one!  I went with a simple, small Moleskine journal, however, I’m not convinced that I should keep using that.  I mean, I already have like 6 pages filled with quotes, but, at the same time, I didn’t want to get a ginormo one that I couldn’t fit in my purse…dilemmas…  I’ve thought about making it into an actual hard bound book one day, but I sort of love the fact that if I keep them handwritten I could pass them down to my family (hopefully kids!) one day, ya know?!  Keeping them small like this may also be good to sort of ‘spread’ my wisdom to others.  I know that sounds morbid, but, really, don’t you remember that awesome quote book in ‘A Walk to Remember’ that Jamie Sullivan’s Mom made (that she loved) and left it to Logan (her HOT bf/husband)?!  Come on…I know you’re with me, here…

 

 

 

Alright ya’ll…I’m off to try and get some work done.  We’re working on our ADD here at Tulane Child Psych lately…it seems me and the girls must have Spring Fever or Mardi Gras fever, or something…we just can’t get motivated!  So, here’s to hopin’ we find it!

Valentine’s Day

My Dad called to take me out to dinner on Monday night for Valentine’s Day…I wanted Susie to come, too, so we went to Copeland’s since he was in the firehouse today, which is actually Valentine’s Day!  I wanted to make sure I had some good pics of us together…cause I love my Dad!  :)  He’s the best Valentine a girl can have!

I made my way after to see Cole and Lisa and the boys (who were having dinner at Sicily’s).  Beau was a trip, as usual.  He didn’t take a bath the night before, so he told me he was “ehhhh” and “di-gu-ting.”  LOL.  I told ya, he’s crazy, but he never ceases to make me laugh.  I did spend most of the time chatting and holding this little sweetie…

Luke fell asleep on me most of the time, so I had to take a picture (to make Christy jealous…LOL!). 

Today is Valentine’s Day and my cute Dad called me and told me to stop by the firehouse before going to work…well, this was what was waiting for me!

He’s too too sweet to me, right?!  All girls should have thoughtful Dads, like mine…Love, love, love you DAD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the rest of my day, I don’t have big plans…I have to do my obligatory weigh-in for Weight Watchers and then I think I’m going to go home and dive in to this--

I bought a bunch of new magazine subscriptions before the holidays, when I could get them cheap and now they’re piling up on me!  Takeout and some inspiration seem like a great end to what I know will be a fab day!  I do love Martha, oh-so-much!

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day, ya’ll…remember “we love because He first loved us.”  --1 John 4:19.  XOXO

Weekend Recap

I’d love to say that all the things I had planned to do this weekend happened…but, they didn’t.  LOL…so is life, right?!  Though I didn’t get to do all of the things I hoped for, I did have my ME time, and I just added a couple of things in there to make it *just* right. 

Friday night was awesome…truly awesome.  Ally, one of our teens in youth ministry, has been Methodist for as long as we’ve known her.  She had a true desire to become Catholic, however, her parents told her she had to wait to do it until she was 18.  The mass for her first communion and confirmation was held on Friday night, with Father Beau Charbonnet as the priest.  Um.  Seriously.  So. Holy.  It brought me back to the time of my conversion and it was truly just such a joy to see her so excited and happy.  It didn’t hurt that all of my friends and favorite kids were there to share in the fun…  ;)

 

  

Seriously…are we awesome, or what?!  :)

Saturday I spent a lot of time making Valentine’s Day cards.  I will say that they may be my most favorite cards I’ve ever made.  Can I say that??  I wish I had made more, because I just want to give one to all the people I love, but that unfortunately just can’t happen.  Usually I rotate who I send what to throughout the year, so I guess I’ll just keep doing that…  Here’s some peeks…

One thing I can promise is that no two cards are ever alike…LOL…I rarely duplicate cards, unless I’m making them for a sale.  I usually duplicate the layout or sketch/design of the card.  Pink and red goodness, I tell you.  Makes my heart happy.  *sigh*

I’m inserting this image just because it makes me happy:

 

Seriously…heart shaped king cake, with pink and red sprinkles?!  Be still my heart…yumm-o!

Okay…the rest of Saturday was spent piddling around the house, reading on my Kindle, watching a bunch of DVR’ed shows, a quick run to the grocery and of course, to Mad Swirlz for yogurt!  These babies were at the store and I cannot wait for more…

I freaked myself out most of Sunday preparing for a short talk I had to give on the history of the church and the Holy Spirit at my Life Night last night.  What can I say, it was one of those ‘I suck at ministry’ days…with the bible, catechism and Youcat out, I finally just sucked it up and gave it over to God.  I’m so glad it’s over.  I got good feedback on the talk, so praise HIM!  One of the kids, Will Boler, gave an amazing testimony to the H.S. that totally rocked my world.  Seriously.  Rocked.  Isn’t it awesome how people speak to our hearts and allow the H.S. to move in us?!

See, I told you it was a crazy weekend…but, good crazy. 

This week should be a great one.  Valentine’s Day dinner with Dad tonight.  Lots to look forward to, with the Mardi Gras holiday next week.  Plans are in the works for at least Selene, Endymion and Thoth.  I’ll probably need a couple of extra days to recover after that! 

Oh, and P.S. Friday Night Lights and SMASH fun ARE in the plans for this week…I *will* play with my purchases and love on me some Tim Riggins!  I’m also waiting for one of my bffers to go to see The Vow with m…maybe we’ll do it on Monday or Tuesday during the holiday next week.  :)  It’s awesome that the rest of the world works while we have a free party happening!  #NOLALOVE

ME time!

So, as I think about my list…one of the things on it was to have a “ME” day at least once every 6 weeks…well, since that’s about to slip up on me really fast, AND because I had a pretty crappy past couple of days, I do believe the time is here.  This Saturday…Linzi Day!  WOOOHOOO…

Things that I’m contemplating doing…first off, this movie is coming out:

Seriously, Channing Tatum…need I say more?!  How much more ME can I get?!  LOL…

Other thoughts are going back to this favorite of mine:

      

Yes, Friday Night Lights.  Seriously, ya’ll, if you haven’t watched this show, you must RUN and do it now.  You will be sucked in for glorious hours of television watching that just pulls at your heart, makes you cry, but makes you cheer for the good guys, like that hottie above, Tim Riggins, and the best coach EVER(and future Core Team member—I wish!), Coach Taylor.  I can watch these shows over and over and it just makes my heart happy.  Really really happy. 

Just in case you need more coaxing into watching, check out this video of my beloved Coach Taylor:

What else am I thinking about MY day…hmmm…well, frozen yogurt is a must.  Playing with my new SMASH goodies are a must.  Oh, and of course, Diet Coke will be there.  hahaha…really, though, I just want relaxation.  I want the coziness of my house.  I want to just BE.  This ME day is definitely not one with a big agenda, but I am SO looking forward to it.  God is good!