oh, heeeeeyyyyyy!

Hello world. I write to you as I sit in the intern office at North Metro First Baptist Church of Gwinnett, Inc. (fondly referred to as "North Metro"). I could go back and recount to you everything that has happened between my last post and now, but that would probably take a full 3 months. So I'll hit the high points. You're welcome.
The week before Easter, I brought my mom to Atlanta to see "The Final Season of the Atlanta Passion Play". This meant I got to see most of my friends from my first internship in Atlanta, and got to spend some more time in this beautiful city. I went back to Nashville knowing that the Lord was trying to tell me something. I went back to work at J. Alexander's on Monday morning, and it was honestly like I was having an out of body experience and watching everything happen around me. That next Wednesday night, I had the same experience at The Fellowship at Two Rivers (that's my Nashville church's new name...more on that later). I went through praise team and choir practice and sound check for Easter, but it never really felt real to me. The only thing I could figure out was that maybe God was trying to wrap up my time in Nashville. For now. I can't tell you if I'll live there again because I don't know. I started looking for jobs in Atlanta, set up some interviews, and drove back and forth between Nashy and the ATL a lot. Like...A LOT. Like...once a week for 3 weeks. True story. As I prepared to come to Atlanta for a second interview with a company, I was talking with Maclane (student pastor at North Metro) about moving to Atlanta and what I was looking for. He presented me with the option of coming to North Metro and working with him to build and grow a Girl's Ministry within the student ministry. It's funny that that's what I'm doing now because 3 years ago, I didn't know Girl's Ministry existed.
Anyway, everything happened very quickly. I met with Maclane on a Wednesday, May 4. He called me to offer me the position on Saturday, the 7th. I went to J's later that day to talk to Richard (my service manager) about leaving and put in my 2 weeks' notice. And I cried. Then I got in the car and I sobbed. It was rough. That place has been the one constant in my life for 2.5 years. THAT'S A LONG TIME! I joked a lot about just putting a bed in the back because I spent so much time there, but honestly it was kind of like a second home and a second family. I love the people there so so so much. Over the next two weeks, Maclane found me a family to live with, and I prepared to leave Nashville. So on Friday, May 20, I worked my last shift at J's and cried a lot more. The next day, I packed up my car and drove to Lawrenceville, GA to the home of David and Lynette Barber, whom I had never met before. My first day at North Metro was the next morning which also happened to be Senior Recognition Sunday, so I met about a billion people.
It's been 11 days since I moved. I feel like I've known David and Lynette and their 3 gorgeous kids forever, and they've done an amazing job of making me feel at home. I'm getting into a routine at the church. I was only here for 5 days before trekking back to Tennessee for my aunt's wedding, but I'm back here now until August. At least. I'd love to be here long term, full time, permanently. Not necessarily doing exactly this, but I'm open to opportunities and possibilities. I've learned to not put limits on God and what He can and will do. Right when I think nothing will happen, He blows my mind again. I love that.
So right now... I'm so excited about meeting and investing in the lives of these girls this summer. They've been through a lot as a student ministry, and I'm so honored that the Lord is allowing me to be here and love on them! Everyone here has been so cordial and welcoming and wonderful. I could not ask for a better situation, and I am so grateful.
Stay tuned...
Alicia

P.S. here are some shots from the most perfect wedding in the history of the world...
Me and Alayna at the Rehearsal Dinner

Amy had these made for all the girls...and they were necessary!

A shot of the program...

The most beautiful bride:

Being introduced as "Mr. and Mrs. Dale Massey"...

Bliss.

Blarg.

Day 4(.5?) of no bread/potatoes/chips/fries/etc... I'm not dead. I figured my body might go into shock from the complete change in dietary habits. As I have mentioned before, I like bread. It's my second favorite food (the first is cheese). :) It's not only delicious, it's also typically the most convenient option. So i've had to consciously and intentionally not eat bread this week. I've discovered so far that Jesus is the bread of life...the tortilla chips of life...the oatmeal cream pies of life... Lucky for me, He is everything and I need nothing but Him. He's been so good to me, so oftentimes I also want for nothing because of Him. Thank you, Jesus. I don't deserve You.

'tis all.


P.S. in totally unrelated news, i loathe ironing.

Midnight Ramblings

I'm currently gorging myself on an obscene amount of tortilla chips. Why? I'm giving up carbs for 20 days as part of a time of prayer and fasting that my whole church is doing this month. It starts tomorrow. We don't have to give up carbs, but I figured I need to view Jesus more as my "bread of life" than I have been recently...and this will hopefully be an excellent representation. It's definitely not going to be easy. I love carbs. I've oftentimes asked for an all-carb diet. It's my comfort food, my discomfort food, my tired food, my happy food, my bored food, my cheaper than everything else and i'm broke food. I'm hoping and anticipating that God can and will do big things through this. I'm too dependent on myself. I have a hard time letting go. I've found that delegating is one of my least favorite things to do. It means I have to trust people and what they're going to do. I'd much rather do it all myself so I know when and how things are being accomplished. However, God has been giving me tons of opportunities to delegate recently. He's funny like that. In that same vein...giving up carbs for any period of time is not going to be easy...mainly because I work in a restaurant where I have easily accessible carbs being paraded around me at all times. The good news is, this restaurant also has wonderful carb-free food. It's better for me anyway. Isn't it funny how God uses things like carbohydrates to teach me lessons about His character? I love that. Anyway, I'll try to keep you updated throughout the next 20 days. Peace be with you all.

Slow down for just a minute, life...

Hey. Hope all is well with everyone out there. I am doing pretty well these days. Still at J's. Still teaching color guard at Page 2 days a week. Still at Two Rivers. Still struggling to be who God has called me to be everyday to everybody in every situation.
Today, I worked 12.5 hours in the restaurant, and let's just say we were slow enough that the monetary benefits were not great. However, I got to experience something wonderful today. One of my tables during the lunch shift was a couple with 2 small, special needs children and 2 older gentlemen who also had special needs. The couple was very nice, and surprisingly low maintenance. I wasn't sure how to respond to the other four at the table, so I just went off of how everyone responded and thought about how I'd want to be treated if the roles were reversed. Apparently, this family comes in about once a month. Sometimes they have the 2 kids with them, sometimes it's 4, sometimes it's a whole slew of people... They order pretty much the same things every time they're in, so they knew exactly what they wanted when they sat down. I tried to be as accommodating as possible, asking questions when I was unsure, and treating everyone equally. I brought extra ketchup and refilled iced teas and water glasses. Nothing special. No complications I had to work with. No belligerent guests. Their meal was uneventful. However, when I came to the table to clear away some of the dishes, there was $6 laying on it. The lady said that money was for me from "the boys" Brian and Malcolm--the two older, special needs gentlemen. I said "Oh! That's for me?" and they both nodded their heads and said "Yeah, yeah, for you." I said "Thank you so much!" and walked away. I had made it about 5 feet before I nearly collapsed in a puddle of tears on the floor. I was overwhelmed. When I came back to the table one last time to drop off their credit card and say thank you, "the boys" both shook my hand and told me thank you. It made me think about how often I take my life for granted. I've never struggled with major health issues. Neither has anyone in my immediate family. We're very lucky, and so many times we're concerned about what type of bottled water we drink or something else that's ridiculously trivial. Spending that little time with that family today made me so thankful for my health and mental stabilities and for being able to go out to eat and order for myself and tip my servers. I was immediately thankful for that couple and the gentleness and love they displayed for the people they had brought to lunch. It was apparent that everyone feels like an equal part of that family, and it was a blessing for me to get to see into their lives for just a little while. I can only hope that they were blessed by me today too, because they sure did change my whole day.

Long time, no post

Hello All...All 6 or 7 of you. :) I am tired. I'm a tired girl. I need to be sleeping right now, but I rarely have computer access through any avenue except my iPhone, and let's be honest...who wants to write a whole blog post from their iPhone. Not me.

Why am I tired, you may ask? Well I suppose I will tell you. I'll try to keep it brief and non-complainy. I work a lot. I love my job and 95-98% of the people I work with/for, but I do spend just about as much time at the restaurant as I do at home...wherever home is... haha. I'm a bit of a nomad these days until I figure out the grad school/student loan/whatever else situation.

After I graduated from Belmont, I moved home. I knew that wouldn't last long, so I started staying at my sister and brother-in-law's house in April. What started out as me staying there when I worked late and had to be back early the next morning turned into me having 2 crazy little roommates who were married and related to me. It was an adventure... one that ended with Amanda asking me to move to New York with her and Chris when they go so I can be their roommate. No thank you. :)

When they left the country for their current escapades in Central America, I moved back home for about 3.5 days. Since then, I've been living with Chris's parents. Yep. My sister's in-laws. They're out of town a lot this summer, and it works out better for all parties if I just stay here. It's closer to work, closer to friends, and they don't have to pay a house-sitter or ask a neighbor to feed the cat every other week. So it works out.

Now that the story of my nomad-ness is complete (for now), I'll continue the "why is alicia tired?" saga:
For the past 3ish weeks, my sweet little grandmother has been battling pneumonia. She was sick at home for a week, sick and then recovering in the hospital for a week, and then came back home to continue her recovery on Friday. She's lost a significant amount of weight, and is all around pretty weak...so it helps her out to have someone at the house with her. She can't be up all day fixing her meals or doing laundry and the dishes, so my mom and her brothers and sisters have all been taking off work so they could stay with her and help out. Yesterday and today, I took my turn. My days went something like this: get very little sleep, help fix breakfast, try to eat my breakfast while running back and forth to Nanny's room getting her whatever she needed/wanted, fixing lunch, eating lunch, sneaking little naps, running some more, answering the phone, calling my mom to see where to find something, making sure the chickens and the dogs and the cats are fed and watered, etc... and on Tuesday, I got myself ready and to work on time where I trained a new server and then did cashouts--meaning I was there from 4:45 until 11:45. It was a lengthy day, and Wednesday I got to do it all over again minus the job. Don't get me wrong. I love my grandmother very, very, very much, and it physically pains me to see her so weak and frail. I can definitely understand why my mom and aunts have been taking shifts though. Taking care of any other human being is hard work and does not include instant gratification.

That's a lot like life in general though when you're just taking care of yourself. Dieting and working out brings delayed results. Studying for classes and exams...delayed results. Investing in the lives of those around you...delayed results. Being faithful in my relationship with Jesus...delayed results. In a society that is so obsessed with instant everything, it's ironic (but also a bit exciting) that the best things in life--the blessings--rarely come instantly. That proves the faithfulness of God (as if He needed proof). Just another picture of how deep and wide and great the Father's love is for us...and how intricate and perfectly designed. Thank you, Jesus.

oh, hey 2010!

so this one time, i graduated from Belmont... it was pretty awesome and overwhelming. and now everyone is asking me what i'm doing now. I really just want to hang out with my friends in various assorted cities around the country... so i think that's what i'm going to do. Katie is in Lynchburg. Erin and Brittany are in Denver. There are so many wonderful people in Atlanta (mainly the Haines sibs, Brandy, Amanda, Maddie, etc :]). Erin could possibly be in Seattle in June, so I might go there to see her. I just want to work and make money and travel for a little while. I don't want to miss Alayna's last semester of high school or Autumn's experience with her driving permit(which she got today...wow I am old.) or any part of my grandmother's or cousins' lives. Mom and I might drive to Arkansas to see my aunt, uncle and cousins who are building yet another house. I'm excited about opportunities like this. I need to get my schedule changed at work so I have more of a travel friendly one...
Terra Nova 09/10 just ended and I met some absolutely incredible people that I'm really really excited about starting friendships with. I also got to spend some time with old friends I haven't seen in too long, and that was good too! I'm probably going to try to go to Haiti this year too, so add that to my travel list. :) So far I have: Atlanta, Lynchburg, Denver (when it's warmer...), Seattle, Haiti, Arkansas, maybe Texas and definitely random parts of Tennessee. I'm going to have a good year. I'm determined. God is good, so what else matters? Loves.

Ch ch ch changes...

1. My little sister was at TN Tech on a college visit Monday.
2. My littlest sister is getting her permit over Christmas break.
3. I just signed up for my "big girl" e-mail address. The only other ones I have are my 6th grade original and my college e-mail. Until now!
4. I got my final hour of convocation credit Friday night at Allison's dance recital. If you don't go to Belmont, you will never understand how big of a deal this is.
5. Sunday night, I was inducted in the Alpha Sigma Tau Alumnae Organization. The biggest changes here are that I now have Sunday nights free, and annual dues are around 650-700 dollars cheaper. :)
6. I'm finished with one class. 5 to go.
7. A teacher who has been telling us all semester not to say we're graduating, but instead we're PLANNING on graduating because they could still fail us...told me today that she'll be the one yelling "hooty hoo! hooty hoo!" when I walk on Friday night. Guess that means she's not failing me!
8. Stuff is starting to come off the walls and be packed up in the apartment. LJ leaves in 6 days. I leave in 9.
9. My body is proving consistent this year in that my allergies just kicked in this week. Yep. I have allergies as fall changes to winter and everything dies. I'm a season ahead of everyone else.
10. I'm mailing my Christmas cards/Newsletters/Graduation announcements today. That kind of makes it real.

On an unrelated note: My future husband (assuming he exists) better know how to iron things for himself, because working at J. Alexander's has brought me to a place where I detest ironing.