I have begun my reading plan for finishing the bible in a year.  I got the plan from my bible application on my iPad...so...I read three books from the Old Testament and then one book from the New Testament.  This morning, I read about the story of Noah.  I have heard this story so many times but I walked away with something different this morning.  (Now, what I walked away with might be something I was taught when I was little but I do not remember.)  I learned about the rainbow and the promise that the Lord gave us whenever one appears.  I thought this was very fitting this morning because of all the storms and tornadoes that are happening in the South.  After the flood was over, the Lord brought a rainbow and made a promise to Noah and his family.  He promised that the He would never destroy the earth and mankind with another flood.  Every time a rainbow appears, the Lord wanted Noah and his family to remember that.  I just think that is the coolest thing.  I love how the Lord works!

Forgive me...it's been so long since I have written!  This month at home has been packed with visitors, golf lessons, and some great family time.  Jordan came down for the first weekend and it was so great to have him here.  We sat on the beach, played some golf, and played some tennis.  I realized a couple of things after Jordan left.  I realized that I am super excited to get to Nashville and spend time with him (but I already knew that...woops) and I also realized that I want to be really good at golf and tennis.  So ever since he left, I have been trying so hard to become good at both of those sports!  I started taking golf lessons over on Hilton Head and I have to admit, they were a blast!  In total, I took three lessons and I feel like I have improved so much and I can actually play now...that's all I wanted. 

Our next visitors were Randy and Becky Turner (my best friend Lauren's parents).  They were only here for a couple of days and it was so special.  The whole weekend with them should have happened a long time ago because they are great friends and I know my parents will cherish their friendship for as long as they can.  I would give anything to hear Becky Turner's southern accent every time I wake up.  We got to finish the weekend with seeing Lauren in Grease!  I had already seen it but I was glad my parents got to see it and I was glad that I got to see my best friend!  I am so proud of her and I can't wait to see where her career goes when she moves to NYC. 

The next round of visitors came over Easter.  We had six visitors come in from Montana and North Carolina.  These friends, the Morgans and the Creamers, have been friends of ours since I was two years old.  We all lived in Atlanta together at one time and then all decided to go our separate ways.  The time with them was so fun, special, and entertaining!  The men played golf every single day while the ladies spent time on the beach, played "golf", and did some shopping.  I loved the weekend for many reasons.  The first was that I got to see my parents have fun, relax, and enjoy their time with some friends.  My mom has the gift of hospitality and to be able to see her share that gift with others brought so much joy!  Another reason I loved the weekend was that I realized how long friendships can last, no matter how far away you are from each other.  This brought me so much comfort when it comes to my friends!  Also, it made me want friendships like that when I am my parents age.  Friends that raise their children together.  Friends that laugh together and cry together.  Friends that won't let anything get in between them. 

Here are some pictures from the month!

Becky and Mom..aren't they cute?!

 

so proud

Oyster roast with the Morgans and Creamers...new tradition

Mom and Mrs. Morgan with their back-pack beach chairs...best invention.

Dad, Mr. Creamer, and Mr. Morgan

Mom, Mrs. Morgan, and Mrs. Creamer

The ladies

My beautiful mother

Transition

Well...I am officially out of New York. It's so crazy to think that my time there is over but I honestly couldn't be happier about my decision. Of course I am missing everybody up there...they are what made my stay in New York so much better. I do know that I don't want to step foot in a moving truck anytime soon. My wonderful mother made the experience so much better (and we had a blast!). We drove from NYC to Nashville for a couple of days. While I was in Nashville, I got some meetings done, saw my wonderful boyfriend Jordan and actually got a job! I will be working at Bricktops and going to school at the same time starting in the fall. I cannot wait till I have a steady job and doing what I want to be doing. I just have to be patient and realize that I cannot have everything I want right now. I have to work my way there, which is what school is for. I am ready for the end! Although my time in Nashville was amazing, it made me upset to leave there only after a couple of days. I am just so ready to be there for good and quit having short visits. It's happening so soon though! Hallelujah.

So it's back to the island for the month of April. I am so blessed that my parents were willing to let me come home for a month while I make this transition. This month will be relaxing and filled with house guests and some moving preparation. Oh....and I am hoping I will become somewhat of a golfer. We shall see about that one.

I am looking forward to this weekend because Jordan will be here! I am so ready to be in the same city as him. No more long distance please!

March...I love March because that means Spring is right around the corner.  In New York though, that's not really the case.  It's still pretty cold here but feeling a little more like fall.  (Fall for me now means 40's or 50's)  Since the weather has been a little on the depressing side, my parents offered to fly me home to experience some warm weather.  So I ventured down to South Carolina to get a little break from the city, soak up some sun, and figure out some life decisions.  My time at home was wonderful!  Believe it or not, I had two golf lessons.  I think that golf is a great sport to learn to play...it gives me something to do with my dad when I go home, it's a fun activity that Jordan and I can do together, and it's just a good sport to have under your belt.  I actually really enjoyed my two lessons and started playing a little bit.  I will say this...it's a very frustrating sport and takes a lot of patience.  Hopefully I won't get too frustrated and give up!

Besides golf lessons, I got to enjoy cooking new things with my mom, hanging out with Walter (our dog), and having some great conversations with my dad.  I love seeing how my relationship with my dad is changing.  We are now at the point that we can work as a team and talk like adults and make decisions together.  I am so thankful for that and blessed that he is willing to support me in whatever I decide.   Lately, I have been feeling the Lord pulling me in other directions.  There are so many gifts that He has blessed me with and so many of those I haven't even begun to explore.  When the Lord asks me 'what did you do with the gifts that I gave you?', I want to be able to say with full confidence that I did everything I could to use all of my gifts.  Being in New York has been very tough for me.  It's just a harsh city that goes completely against my personality.  Also, I am realizing that this career of Musical Theatre is not for me, at least up here in NYC.  It breaks my heart to say that because I don't want people to think that I am giving up and throwing in the towel.  I have no idea how the Lord will use my performance gifts later down the road.  I am excited to see where He takes me!

While at home, I had great conversations with my mom and dad about what should be my next step.  So, here's the plan....I am going to finish out March and finish what I came here to do.  Come April 1st, I will pack up everything and head home for the month of April and maybe a little bit of May.  Once things get nailed down and set in stone, I will be moving back to Nashville and getting my Masters so I can pursue a career in Music Education.  Just talking about this plan makes me so excited and so secure in what the Lord is doing.  I am ready to get started on the journey that He wants for me.  There is still a lot of room for change, but at least I know the direction I am going!  I cannot wait to have joy, confidence, organization, and the south back into my life.  Will there be things I will miss about NYC?  Of course.  The number one thing I will miss the most are the people that have pretty much become my family up here.  They create such a supportive and loving environment that I will miss terribly.

My new best friend

 

 

 

Walter--he brings so much joy!

My parents are going to France and have been learning French with their Rosetta Stone!  They are so cool.

I love home.  I get to see God's beauty every day!

 

This week was full of fun surprises, visitors, and some fun in the apartment!  Let's work backwards...Jordan came to visit for the weekend and for Valentines Day.  It was so great to have him here and be in the same city, even for a couple of days.  We decided to not go out on Valentines Day and to cook here at the house and have a special dinner!  It took us a while to decide what to cook but we finally decided on steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  Jordan did the steaks because...well let's be honest, I have no idea how to cook them.  I had the rest of the meal and made homemade mashed potatoes and some green beans.  (Yes we wore aprons the entire time.)  I must say, we did a fabulous job!  Dinner was so good and nothing was ruined. 

Me and Jordan in our aprons

The table!

For dessert, homemade chocolate covered strawberries and champagne!

Before Jordan came into town, my best friend Lauren Turner made a quick visit to the city.  She is on tour with Grease and was about two hours from the city.  Somebody in her cast had to move out of his apartment so she decided to hitch a ride and spend a couple of hours here!  It was just enough time to grab breakfast with some people and catch up with Lauren in person and not on the phone.

yay Lauren!

Along with all the other exciting things that happened this week, Maria and I decided to make our own sushi.  She was wanting to make some sushi for her boyfriend for Vday, so we thought we should give it a test run and make sure it wouldn't be a disaster!  We were a little worried that it was going to be impossible to find all the ingredients, but we found them all at our local grocery store!  We felt so successful.  Our menu consisted of California Roll and Sweet Potato Roll.  The raw fish and all of that made us a little nervous so we decided to stick with the cooked items.  Maria was the main chef but I gave her all the encouragement and some extra hands!  I must say, we made some great sushi...It was even better than ordering take out!

Sweet Potato Roll

California Roll

It’s already February…that is so crazy!  I have now lived in the city for exactly five months now.  Since then, I have participated in NYMF, had many different roommates, and experienced three different snow storms.  The thing about the snow up here (and probably anywhere else) is that it takes a while for it to melt.  It just keeps piling up and makes our daily communicate to the grocery store or really anywhere a bit of a hassle.  We have to bundle up in our puffy jackets, gloves, earmuffs, and snow boots.

We don’t really care too much about our style.  We just want to be warm and not fall on our butts!

   
I have been lucky that the snow has not messed up any of my trips or important events (since I have so many).  However, we are supposed to get more snow/ice today and tomorrow and I just can’t have that!  I am traveling to Nashville and Memphis tomorrow night for some things that cannot be messed up.  I have doctors appointments, UPTA, and an interview.  If the snow messes all of this up, I will not be a happy camper. My friend Whitney and I were talking the other day about New York in the winter and how depressing it is.  The snow and cold influence your mood more than you think.  Just going to the grocery store wears you out. (This happens even in the good seasons!)  There are many times that I just wish I could get into my car and drive to the nearest grocery store and not feel worn out when I get home.  I am beginning to feel like this city isn’t made for me.  

Before moving to New York, I thought living in a city where it snows a lot would be so much fun!  It was exciting the first couple of times but now, I am a little tired of it.  We have had three snow storms (including today) in the past month.  The snow just keeps piling up and doesn't really melt.  When it snows, you don't really want to leave your house because it is so cold and the thought of trekking through the snow is just miserable.  It's really fun to look at through your window and it looks so beautiful from the top floor!  Let's just say I am ready for warm weather now. 

Since I have been in NYC, I have been attending Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  The main thing that drew me to this church was the preacher, Tim Keller.  Everybody that knew I was moving to the city told me I had to go to Redeemer and hear Tim speak.  They were all right about him.  He is a great speaker and really challenges you with his messages.  Tim Keller is really all I enjoyed about Redeemer though.  The worship wasn’t the greatest and worship is a big thing for me.  I feel like I have been spoiled when it comes to that because of my church back in Atlanta.  I continued to go though because the messages were out weighing all of that.  The community was a little stiff and hard to get involved with.  That was another downside to the church.  All of my friends attend Forefront Church up here.  I went once in the summer and really enjoyed it but I was so fixed on having a great speaker that I just completely took it off my radar.  I have started to learn at Redeemer that you don’t know which service Tim is going to preach at until you are there.  This got me frustrated and made me realize that I want to be going to a church that is consistent and encompasses most of the things I want.  The speaker at Forefront is great and if I ever feel like I need more of a challenge, I could easily listen to Tim Keller on the internet.  So, for the past two Sundays I have been attending Forefront Church with my friends up here and it just feels so much better.  

I love the way that the Lord works.  He knows exactly what is going on in your life and he knows exactly what you need to hear.  I feel like he is pulling me in a different direction and that he will use all of my strengths and even strengths that I haven’t explored yet.  That’s what the message was all about this morning.  Basically, the pastor talked about all our different strengths and how if we don't use them, then that's considered a sin and we are "missing the mark".  I get very impatient with this because I just want to know everything right now.  I want to know all my strengths and I want to know how I am supposed to use them.  But then life wouldn't be so easy would it?  I have a feeling this is something that will stick with me until the day that I die.  

"Let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him."  This comes from a book that I am reading by Andy Stanley called "The Principle of the Path".  He tells a story about a woman, Debbie, who attended his church and passed away from cancer several years ago.  When people are diagnosed with cancer, the question 'why me' sometimes pops into their head.  They think about how they don't deserve the pain and suffering they are about to go through.  Andy goes on to tell us that Debbie looked at her cancer in a totally different light.  He quotes her, "Once I was able to accept the cancer as coming from the hand of my heavenly Father, I was okay." This story blew me away and really got me thinking.  Now, I know none of us have cancer or anything of the sort, but we can apply this story to any part of our lives.  What if we looked at all negative things in our life like this?  I for sure want to! #foodforthethought

Peel!

Playing games is probably our favorite thing to do with our friends.  We have so much fun and it gives us a chance to laugh really hard and just be goofy!  Last night we had some friends over to play some games because my roommate Kara left for the national tour of Beauty and The Beast this morning.  We chose to play bananagrams...which is basically a different version of scrabble.  Once you make your words, you have to create a scenario and tell a little story.  The stories that are made up are hilarious and we can't help but laugh.  I think that laughter is the greatest medicine to anything.  It feels so great to be able to laugh and just enjoy the company of people that you care so much about!

Success

I have been thinking a lot lately about success.  I feel like our parents generation and our generation look at success completely different.  We see success when we are doing something we love, no matter how much money we are making.  Some of our parents associate success with money and if you're making a substantial amount, then you are successful.  I hate that our generations disagree in some sense because we all have to work together.  That's where I am at right now in my life and I just wish that the two generations could come together and understand each other.  My parents are trying to figure out the same things I am trying to figure out and we are 30+ years apart.  Not everybody in our generation and their generation thinks these things but I am beginning to realize it more and more as I try and figure out my journey.

I want to make a difference in this world and use my gifts and talents in ways that I thought were never possible.  I want to glorify the Lord in everything that I do and make sure that I am pleasing Him and only Him.  When we were little, we all had these dreams for our lives.  These dreams were continued through high school and even through college.  During those years, there is a lot of growth that takes place in you and your relationships.  I believe that the Lord can totally change your heart and take you in a direction that doesn't correlate with what you thought.  This is happening all around us and I feel like there is no greater time for this to happen than right now.  I am young and all I want to do is be rich in the Spirit and live my life for Him.  That's my idea of success.   

So living in New York is expensive...everybody knows that.  What we are learning here is that in order to save money, all you have to do is just stay in your apartment all the time!  Unless you have to leave it for work or auditions.  Since this is our mindset, we are thoroughly enjoying our apartment. 

We made our own popcorn!  Well really Maria made popcorn...I was too scared to do it!  It was actually really good and we have a huge bag of it that would probably last us two weeks.  A diet of just popcorn?  Ok.

The doorbell rang and in walks a Poland Spring employee saying that the man downstairs told him to come up to our apartment and install this wonderful water cooler.  All three of us had no idea what was happening but we welcomed the idea!  We were so excited to have this new addition until the doorbell rang later that afternoon.  It appears the water cooler belongs to our landlord's son.  He had to come and get it and take away our present.  Oh well...at least we enjoyed it for a couple of hours!

The Holidays

I feel like I have been away from the city for so long.  Being home for three weeks made me almost forget how to do things here!  Coming back to the city this time was so great because I knew that my two roommates Maria and Kara we going to be there...thank goodness.  November and December were pretty lonely up here so it is nice to be back to a regular schedule.

Christmas break was a really special time at home.  There has been a lot of stress involved with my family lately, especially on my parents.  It was nice to be home and bring a little joy to their lives.  They have been through a lot and to add to all of it, putting Sam to sleep and my mom messing up her ankle did not help at all.  I am ready for them to catch a little break.  However, through the midst of all this mess, we were able to enjoy the company of each other and have some really special times.  My mom's birthday is four days before Christmas and this year, my dad decided to surprise her with a trip to the Greenbrier.  It's a special place up in West Virginia that we used to go to when I was little.  We hadn't been there in probably ten years so to go there for her birthday was a treat.  There was snow, relaxation time, and lots of good food.  The place has definitely changed since we were last there though.  They added a casino which totally changed the people who come there and the classiness of the place.  I guess you gotta change things every now and then to make some money.  I love my family because they never allow you to forget "the reason for the season".  Every year, my parents make sure that we are celebrating Jesus' birth and making that more important than gifts and decorations.  Christmas day couldn't have been any better.  We did exactly what we wanted to do and ended the day with a special meal at our neighbors house.  They were so sweet to include us in their celebration and family time. 

My parents finally met Jordan's parents and it went much better than we thought!  We both were very nervous about them meeting for some reason, but we shouldn't have been.  The Greiners met us in Atlanta and came over for the night and spent some time with the Ledbetters.  It was so great to be in the room and see our parents getting along and finally having the opportunity for them to meet.  I wanted them each to see how special the other family was.  After the meeting, I jumped in the car with the Greiners and we made the long drive to Texas.  I spent five days in Dallas with the Greiners and celebrated New Years and Christmas with them!  I felt so blessed to be a part of their lives during those days.  Jordan's sister and her husband opened up their home to me and made me feel so welcome!  The Greiners went above and beyond and made me feel so special, especially when it came to their Christmas.  The whole time I kept telling myself that I don't deserve this.  I am dating a wonderful man with a wonderful family and it just couldn't get much better.  Oh wait...we could live in the same city!  But I know the Lord will make that happen when it should.

Now it's time to be back in the city and get working.  I need to come up with my New Years Resolutions but it's tough this year for some reason....