Super Saturday!

What a fun, tiring Saturday it has been! :) I got to spend last night and the majority of my day today with my old roommate and dear friend, Gina. I got into Rome a little after 8 last night and Gina and I had dinner at her place, rented a movie, talked and laughed and headed for bed around midnight. Today we did a little shopping before lunch then headed to have lunch at a new place in Rome called Sassafrass Grille. It's a very classy/modern type bistro restaurant. We had lots of fun! Our waiter was a little questionable...but fun nonetheless. :) After lunch we headed to get SPA PEDICURES! One of my most favorite things EVER! I've been wanting to get one for a few weeks now - I'm so glad I waited and shared the experience with G! Our toes are lookin' good. :) I headed towards home a bit earlier than I wanted due to my car giving me some issues. I don't think it's a big deal...hopefully just some air or trash has gotten into my fuel line causing my car to "sputter" a little upon acceleration. It only did it a few times but that was enough to make me nervous. I made it home safe and sound. I LOVED my time with Gina...she's such a wonderful person and an amazing friend! I thank Jesus for you, G!

Looking forward to tomorrow! One of my little cousins, Garrison, accepted Jesus as his personal Savior this past week at VBS. He's being baptized in the morning...what an awesome outward expression of commiting our lives to the Lord. I pray little Gary keeps his eyes on Jesus all his days.

Days off can be so stressful sometimes!

I love a day off from work! I've said it many times before and I know I'll say it again that I really do LOVE my job. But who in their right mind wouldn't say that they love having a day off every now and then?? I wanted today to be a really productive day and it really was in some ways. My Mom and her sisters are having a yard sale this weekend, so this was a great opportunity for me to clean out all my clothes that I can't wear anymore since loosing weight. By around 3:30, I had my closet cleaned out and most of my dresser drawers. Thankfully, all those clothes are out, but sadly, I now have hardly anything to wear! :) I had so many other things in my mind that I wanted to do on my day off today, like visit my friend Amanda who recently had her first baby girl. I wanted to spend some good time outside at the college walking and then spend some extra time with the Lord this afternoon. I have about 4 phone calls that I needed to catch up on, other friends that I need to visit. I think knowing that I could potentially do any of these things today since I didn't have to work was really stressful for me because I knew that I couldn't possibly do them ALL! Do you ever have those times? It just felt very overwhelming today for some reason! The rest of my afternoon was productive - I ran errands that have been put on the bottom of my list for a few weeks, had dinner with my family and went on a good walk tonight with my Mom. So, while I'm not choosing to put all those other things out of my mind that didn't get done today, I am choosing to be thankful for the things that did get done! :)

Hope you've all had a good day!

"Celebrate Good Times, Come On!"

What a FUN day we had yesterday as we celebrated Luke's 1st birthday! We partied hard with family. The partying consisted of grilling out and eating some yummy food, playing games such as "Can you guess how many Cheerios are in the jar?" and "How much does Luke weigh?", watching Luke open his presents (he did a SUPER job!) and seeing how excited he got over them all, laughing hysterically over his funny faces as he had his first birthday cake...so much celebration over this little guy's first year of life! He is SO loved and he just gives us sweet love right back! Enjoy these pictures from yesterday...sorry, they are in random order. I picked my favorites. This has to be one of my most favorite pictures ever!
Cake time!
A look at his MANY presents after he opened them.
Telling people "bye" as they were leaving...SO SWEET!

Peek-a-Boo is definitely one of his all time favorite games. :)

Ok, so in this box is one of my presents to Luke...look below to find out what it was.
A baby t-shirt that I had made for him that says, "If you think I'm cute, you should see my Aunt!" LOVE IT! And don't think he won't be wearing it...
My sister Carrie, Luke, and Kevin
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
He wasn't so sure about the cake at first...LOVE this expression!

Luke with his Mama
The Grand Folk
Luke and Papa
Luke and Aunt Meredith

A really cool old fashioned top from Nana

Has anybody seen Luke? :)

Luke and Nana

Kevin is becoming quite the master griller...I think it's all in the apron!

Aunt Shannon and Uncle Brian (Kevin's Brother)

I was SO excited to find these monkey stickers...he's definitely a little monkey!

I LOVED this! My sister and bro-in-law put out pictures from birth to 12 months...great idea!


Luke's very own personal, ready to be destroyed, cake! :)

Luke with Great Grandpa E.T.

Checking out the DAWGS rocking chair from his Papa...GO DAWGS!

We had SUCH a fun day and I am the PROUDEST Aunt ever! Happy Birthday, Doodle!

Happy Birthday, Little Man Luke!

I cannot believe that my precious nephew, Luke, is a year old today! It really does feel like yesterday that he came into our lives...CRAZY! I can honestly say that I am just as enthralled by him today as I was a year ago. He has CERTAINLY been the "object of my affection" over the past year...I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed with him! (I'm OK with that!) He brings so much joy and blessing to me and my family every day...definitely a picture of God's favor and love. This little guy is one of my very best little friends...I think he's pretty crazy about me too! :) I can't wait to see him continue to grow...physically, mentally, and spiritually. God has HUGE plans for his life...both now and in the years to come. Enjoy a few pics from tonight. We are having his birthday party on Saturday, but of course we HAD to have some pictures of Little Man on his birthday!

ONE dollar for being ONE from my Aunt Meredith! Hmm...I wonder what's in there.
Nana, this bow sure is pretty!
Happy Birthday to ME!

Sweet Family!

Be on the look out for more pics from the partaay on Saturday! :)

YES!!...he really is THIS cute!

I begged my sister this past weekend to please let me buy a kiddie pool for Mister Luke. (ok, so maybe I didn't really have to beg.) Let me just say...he had the BEST time, as did his Aunt Meredith! I found this super cute pool at Wal-Mart for less than 10 bucks...can't beat that. Don't think I didn't almost jump right in there with him...my sister had to hold me back! :) Enjoy these sweet pictures! Can you believe he's going to be ONE a week from today?! Craziness! Me...inching my way to being IN the pool with him! :)
Oh my word...what a precious face!
Ok, these two were made inside the house before we moved the pool outside. Who says a pool needs water for it to be fun?


Look how cute this pool is! The hanging stars...they jingle!
SO excited!
This is my fav!
Luke and Mom

Have a great day! Thanks for letting me share these sweet moments!

Meredith's Git Fit Journey - Take 5...Good eats and beatin' the heat!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I had hoped to post this GFJ post yesterday, when all of these festivities took place, but today works just as well. My weigh-in yesterday was just ok...I actually gained 0.5 lb this past week, so I'm still stuck at 71. No big deal, but would have certainly loved to have lost that 0.5lb instead of gaining it! :) Workouts have been going great...and let me just tell you, I have been doing some serious sweatin' in this hot weather we're having. I've been "walogging" (that's my word for walking and jogging) mostly this week and jump roping. I haven't been able to get out to do this until around 7:30 most evenings when the sun starts to go down. Gotta be careful in that heat! I got this great recipe for "Chocolate Muffins" at my WW meeting yesterday - they are yummy! And good for you! Each muffin is only 1 point, if you're on the points system. I'll post the recipe at the bottom of this post. Ok, so I finally bought a bike rack yesterday so that I can start riding my very nice bike that I bought several years ago and have literally used it maybe twice. It's in storage just sitting there, but I'm so looking forward to getting it out and introducing that as a new form of exercise so that my routine doesn't get boring. As you can see, there's room for TWO bikes on the rack, so if anyone wants to go riding, just let me know! I could use some guidance! Please pray for my safety. :)

Here is a better picture of the bike rack. My mother has always referred to me as her "mechanically inclined daughter". I usually don't have a problem putting something together or "figuring" it out. Thankfully, the bike rack didn't require any assembly, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get it on my car. This is a problem. I did get it on my car, only to then look at the picture on the box, to find that it wasn't on right at ALL! It surely can't be that hard...really! I'm going to work on that again this afternoon...I'm off work tomorrow and would LOVE to go riding!

My advice for this GFJ post is this: If you buy a bike rack, make sure you know how to place it on your car before trying. Otherwise, scratches will appear and paint will be removed from your vehicle. (yes, I'm speaking from experience!) Hang in there!

Chocoate Muffins - 1 point each

Ingredients:

3 cups Kellogs All Bran Cereal

2 1/2 cups Water

1 package of brownie mix (any brand)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cereal and water into a mixing bowl and allow to soak for 5 minutes. Then, add in all other ingredients and mix well. Divide muffin mixture into paper lined muffin tins and bake 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 24 muffins. Enjoy!

These are a few of my favorite things...

• Hot Showers
• My down feather bed...oh my word!
• Laughing
• Reading
• Writing
• Exercising...some days are better than others
• Spending time with Jesus in His Word, talking to Him and letting Him speak to me.
• Java Chip Frappucinos...yummo!
• Losing weight at my Weight Watcher's weigh-ins! (doesn't go so well with the previous)
• BABY LUKE...not a more precious kid around...
• Cooking
• The smell of a newborn baby
• A clean room
• 80's Music
• Sunshine
• Friends....I'm convinced I have the best ones ever.
• Family....I'm convinced I have the best one ever.
• Chocolate anything
• Meeting new people and learning about them
• Love Spell Lotion...by Victoria's Secret
• Being told that I'm a "nice nurse" and that I'm good at what I do
• Flowers
• Sweet Memories
• Sharing God's love and His Truths...especially with teen girls
• The feel of clean teeth
• Surprises...pleasant ones :)
• Roadtrips
• Being barefoot...just not outside...ouch!
• Finding a pair of pants that fit really good
• Chewing Gum
• Cheesy Jokes
• My Mama's cookin'
• Mail from friends

Just a few of my favorite things! :)

Life Update!

Just an email that I sent out tonight that I thought I'd post:

Hey Sweet Friends and Family!
Hope you're all doing well and that your week has started off on a pleasant note. Just wanted to send you a quick update and fill you in on what's going on in my world and, of course, tell you a little about what Jesus is teaching me right now.

Life is good! Work at the Allergy & Asthma Clinic is going well and fortunately things are beginning to be a little less hectic since the pollen is on its way to slowing down. I can't even begin to tell you what a whilwind that place has been over the past couple months...but we are thankful for the business. :) My family is doing well...Dad's landscape business is growing and Mom is out of school for the summer. My sister and brother-in-law are also doing well...and Baby Luke..well, he's just as precious as ever and I can't even begin to believe that he's going to be ONE in just a few weeks. What incredible joy he's filling our lives with! Weight Watchers continues to go great! I have missed weighing in the past two weeks due to being out of town, but hopefully I'll be pretty close to my 3rd goal of 75 pounds this Saturday!! That just sounds insane to me...God is SO good. I've been blogging every few weeks about my "Get Fit Journey", so make sure to check in! (www.meredithhulsey.blogspot.com) I know it's not officially summer just yet, but things have already started off with a "bang"...I made the drive to KY this past weekend to visit w/ my sweet friends Todd and Jennifer...which was major fun! Many of you are having babies, getting married, moving...you guys definitely keep me busy...that's how I like it! :)

The Lord always tries to teach me so many things at once it seems. I figure that He surely knows by now that my tiny, scattered mind can only catch glimmers of the things He's showing me, so with that realized and settled in my heart and mind, I just tell Him to keep bringin' it on! :) The main "theme" of what He's been teaching me since about mid May is "not to worry". I think it's safe for me to say that personally, I'm not a big worrier. That hasn't always been the case and YES, I definitely still find myself on "worry road" often. However, many years back the Lord seemed to "engrave" Phillippians 4:6 on my heart..."Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything." What an incredibly hard concept for us as humans to wrap our minds around...this is WAY too easy! Our world is full of worry and anxiety so surely "worry" is a given in everybody's life. Right? Well, yes, inevidibly, we all worry at times. But we don't have to. And this is a truth God has to remind me of over and over again. And right now, He's reminding me a lot! I've had several friends over the past few weeks that have faced or are in the midst of situations where worry could certainly be given a foothold..and even situations in my own life where this is true. Health issues, stress and just being really overwhelmed with life, relationship issues, money. So many things.

One of my sweet patients at work is the biggest worrier I've ever met in my life. She came in last week in one of her anxious modes and I overheard the doctor gently saying to her..."You remember what Jesus said about worrying, don't you?" She asked him, "What?" His reply, "It won't add a day to your life." First of all, what a blessing that I work for godly doctors such as this! Tonight as I was on my "Meredith Jog", part of a song came to mind that says..."You are God alone, from before time began, You were on Your throne, You are God alone. And right now, in the good times and bad, You are on Your throne, You are God alone." There's another part of this song that stuck out to me that says "You're the only God Whose power none can contend." God faithfully reminded me tonight that He was in control of things before time even began, and He's still in control. And no matter how hard I try to let everything/one BUT Him have control and power over things in my life and around me, nothing will ever come close to handling things the way He does. No one (even myself) and no thing can even compare with His power. Maybe somebody needed to hear this today besides me...but even if it was just me...I'm glad I'm hearing it. :)

Praying for y'all and am so thankful that you so often help to minimize my temptations of worry by fullfilling the law of Christ and "bearing my burdens" with me.

Have a wonderful week!

Much love!
Meredith