singing sisters? yes.

I came across this post with the youtube video on Kaylee's blog and loved it.

I mean, what's better than siblings (*ahem*, sisters) that sing together?

Check out their:
youtube channel
website

celebrating birthdays.

This week, our family has been in the party mode.

Wednesday was my brother's 23rd birthday, and yesterday was my sister's 19th birthday.

I am a truly blessed girl to have these two as siblings.

They are without a doubt some of my best friends.

Here's to many more years of silliness with these two.

My brother is the bomb.

He is nuttier than a nut and an amazing impersonator of Mater.

He is a hard-worker and a macho of a hubby to sis-in-law.

His dedication to the Lord and His church is an inspiration to all. 

His song leading capabilities are out of this world.

I love him so much it hurts.

Who else gets redneck wrapping paper on their birthday? newspaper + duck tape

Have I told you how much I admire this girl? Well I do.

She is a quiet and humble person. Willing to do.

She make me all happy inside.

She's younger, but is totally smarter than me.

She's a monster on the Wii and will stomp on the go-cart track.

You'd never guess, but her Bronco has pipes on it...roaring everywhere she goes.

This girl is my sunshine and make me happy everyday.

Last night's celebration downtown at the Pizza Parlor with family and friends:

Yay for birthdays.

=D

blessings. blessings. blessings. (oh, and some more blessings.)

Who else had an amazing weekend?

I've been way out of pocket in the blogging community for the past four days, but I don't regret it one bit.

Thursday:

Work.

Chick-fil-A for Lunch.

Picnic Dinner in the Park.

Pride and Prejudice Play.

Friday:

A Game of Phase 10.

Visits to the Elderly.

Bass Pro Shops.

A Crater Crawl 5k Race (also ran the 1 mile fun run) in the Dark.

Tailgating in the Sub for Dinner.

Hitting the Bed...Exhausted.

Mom: 1st place. Me: 1st place. Sister: 2nd place. 

Saturday:

Crater Festival in Downtown.

A Picnic with Subway Subs and Cheetos.

The Gardens.

A Trip to the Farm.

Dinner at the Chicken Shack.

Crater Crawl 5k Stats :
Start: 19:11:56
Finish: 19:46:13
Total: 34:16 (it ended up being 3.41 miles.)
Pace: 11:03
Age Division: 20-29
Place: 1st (I was the only one in my age category)

vlog//girl behind the blog.

Yippee!!!

It's vlogging time!

Oh, and lovely Annie,  you will be happy to see my extra special guest with me for this month.

Just for you.

;)

So sorry about the length of this video.
When we sisters get together we just sometimes can. not. stop.

I totally broke the rules on it being 2 to 3 minutes long.
Oops.

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Just some bloggy stats:

Google Friend Connect Followers: 192

Instagram: 283

Pinterest: 124

Bloglovin': 20

Pageviews last month: 1,920

loving your life.

                                
                                                                               //via Pinterest//

the boston tragedy.

I wake up from an afternoon snooze and check Instagram.

#prayforboston

"Let's join together in prayer for Boston..."

"as I run today, I pray for Boston & those involved in this tragedy."

What has happened??

What has happened in the last 2 hours since I checked IG that I don't know about?

Pray for Boston?

What's the big deal about Boston?

After studying more for a HR Management final and eating a snack, I Google:

boston explosion.

The headlines are sickening.

At least two dead, dozens hurt after two bombs explode at Boston Marathon.

What?? How???

Just in the last two hours, at 2:50 p.m., innocent people were finishing up their 26.2 mile run and then a bomb exploded.

Two bombs exploded.

Reading more of the article, I get even more nauseous as I think of all the heartache that's being felt in that city....

"...the FBI, which was treating the bombing as a terrorist investigation...."

"'Somebody's leg flew by my head,' a spectator said..."

"This is a horrific day in Boston..."

//Source via Pinterest//

Trying to let this awfulness sink in, I climb out on the roof. 

My quiet spot...and just lay there. 

The sister is there too.

I turn on the Britt Nicole Pandora station and listen to the inspiring lyrics of the song.

I pray.

I pray for all the victims.

I pray for all the families of the victims who found out that one of their loved ones were one of the ones who were hurt.

I pray for the little children--the ones who were injured and the ones who had to witness the tragedy.

I pray for the people who decided to place those bombs. The ones who set them to go off in a crowd of innocent people.

Dear God,

Please keep us safe as we continue to pray for those who

were affected by Boston's tragedy today.

Also, Lord, we pray for the people who 

committed these acts.

Save their souls, God.

--Me

Our world has been hit.

It has been hit by an awful sadness.

May we all lift up the city of Boston and those affected...in fervent prayer.

the fifth run.

We have to get a paper done.

I complete it the night before, and we decide to do it.

To run another 5k.

Not sure when the race starts, we arrive 40 minutes early and walk to the registration table.

The ladies are all smiles and welcoming...a sight we are thankful for on this Saturday morning.

We receive our t-shirts and goodie bags and head back to the SUV to get the rest of our running gear.

"Marli!"

I turn and see a woman walking towards me.

I shield my eyes before I can recognize who it is.

After focusing, I see her.

She is a former co-worker of mine.

What fun this will be to have another friend to run alongside! :)

We chit-chat and catch up on things in life.

Then, someone gets on the loud speaker and announces that the race is about to begin. 

We put our ear buds in and turn up our music.

The horn blows and we're off.

 I set my pace a little faster than normal and settle in for the 3.1 miles of flat road.

The Mustang Stampede at the elementary school has begun.

Nearing the end of the race, it doesn't seem like it has been long enough.

"Man, that went by fast."

Blessings abound.

I see the finish line.

I squint to read the timer up ahead.

30 minutes.

Faster than I had ever run a 5k in my life.

I sprint through the finish line with my fastest time flashing.

31 minutes and 20 seconds.

Blessings abounded.

My family was there to cheer my across the finish line.

Mom and sister had finished just minutes before.

I received my water bottle from the water lady and take a swig.

Then it hits.

I feel as if I was about to pass out. 

I sit down hoping that will help the feeling.

Nope.

Heading over to the shade of the schools porch, I tell mom to bring me another water.

My sister follows knowing that I need her.

Mom arrives with another water and a banana.

Sister goes inside to get some wet paper towels to put on my face.

Having had one of these episodes before, they calmly just know just what to do.

I put my head down and start feeling better.

I eat the banana and the sis sits down beside me...just being there for me.

Getting the potassium in my body and downing two waters, I feel as good as new.

Sometimes, after my runs at home (and if I get too hot), these episodes happen.

Mom and sis are there...if I faint or not. ;)

I'm thankful today wasn't one of those "fainting days."

Boy, would that have been embarrassing.

Blessings abound.

Oh yeah.

And the race I place third in, they wouldn't hand out 3rd place trophies.

Just 1st and 2nd.

I'm totally okay with that.

Sort of.

=)

Stats for my info:

Gun Start: 08:31:17

Finish: 09:02:38

Gun Elapsed: 31:20:756

Overall Place: 35 out of 92

Age Division: 18-24

Place: 3rd out of the 6 in my age group (sis and I were in the same age division and she placed first :)

a princess life.

A princess.

Doesn't every girl want to be a princess?

When I have the time, I love to settle down and pop in Cinderella and enjoy the story of the fairy tale princess and her cute little mice friends.

Or the elegant Aurora, and the excitement of when her handsome prince charming comes to her rescue. 

(after he slays the mighty dragon, of course)

Oh yeah, and the lovely Snow White (the old version. not the scary, Snow White and the Huntsman version ;) and her seven-dwarf-friends. 

I mean really Grumpy, get a life.

What girl doesn't dream of having a "once upon a time?"

I'm here to tell you that you do.

Whether you are single and enjoying this "waiting stage" in your life, engaged to the prince that you will marry, or have already found your prince charming and are enjoying the blessing of marriage, we are all princesses and live our "once upon a times".

We have the honor and privilege of being princesses of a King.

A real and true King.

A King that is kind and will never leave or forsake you.

A King that has "engraved you in the palms of his hand" (Is. 49:16) and even knows the exact number of hairs on your head (Lk. 12:7). 

A King that will always be there and will never "break up" with you.

A King that will listen to your pleas of help through this crazy thing called life.

You may think:

I'm not special enough.

or

I'm not pretty enough to be a princess.

Please, friend, do not believe those lies of the devil.

This quote by Margaret Mead:

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique.

Just like everyone else."

No matter what your friends at school or the ladies in your group tell you,

You are beautiful and you can accomplish great things.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a little girl come up and want to show off her new dress.

Twirling, she says, "Marli, look at my new dress!!"

It makes me full of joy to be able to see the twinkle in that little girls eyes and know that she knows that she is a princess.

Even though life gets rough, and it may seem like there is no more chivalrous princes out there, always know that you have a KING and he has the perfect timing for you.

His princess.

<3

a day at callaway.

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Callaway Gardens to celebrate Sis-in-law's birthday.

Daddy and Mom,

Brother and Wife, Sister's boyfriend, Sis, and Me. 

It was a totally fun day filled with food, zip lines and ropes course (in the trees), and following the brother on hiking trails.

going on a road trip with these awesome peeps
(mom and daddy are here too...just didn't get in the picture).

a picnic of chicken salad and bagels, chex mix, and pecan pie

let's do this.

almost too short to do Treetop Adventures?? :/

finished the training line...ready for the real thing. ;D

"this map is useless."

the three amigos.
(sister's boyfriend, sis, and me)

the smolder...yeaah.

i love us.

today.

                                
                                                                            //Source via Pinterest//

the prank & lads to leaders.

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

(Hehehehe)

That last post was totally a prank. 

If I got rid of this blog, whew, it would be like getting rid of a part of my life....sort of.

Deleting all those posts and pictures?....ok, let's just not think about that right now. Scary thought.

Anyways, I posted all of your comments if you'd like to read.... ;D

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In all seriousness we had an amazing weekend.

And so, the weekend in insta, words, and pictures...

Wednesday and Thursday: church of Christ convention, a "just us girls" road trip, a doc visit for a strained muscle before heading out, a stop at McDonald's, the movie superman returns, a quick 3 hour trip, arriving at the massive hotel and early due to sis working for L2L, the excitement of the weekend, no problems checking in, a room on the 40th floor with a view, lunch in the food court at Chick-fil-A, operating a hand-truck, unloading the L2L truck with friends, a huge elevator that wouldn't work but eventually did, sweating, making packets in the blue and red bags with the girlies and guys, going to the highest floor (the 47th) with 4 little friends, a dinner of a Subway 6-inch, a late night work-out session with the mom and sis, a phone call by the window, a comfy bed, sleeping in, hanging with the sis, another work-out session by myself...

Atlanta, here we come!!

We're here! Let the fun begin! :)

One of our favorite places at convention... <3

Hanging out with these cuties on the 47th floor.

"Marli, let's make a silly face."

Friday: hitting the ground running, pink and lime green L2L bracelets, checking the art in with mom and Amber with no problems, a judges meeting and then judging scrapbook, finding out i'm a head judge for girls songs of praise and girls speech in the morning, a nap, playing in the church's  suite with the kiddos, the rest of our church peeps arriving at the hotel including daddy, being a runner for the sister, the wait of elevators beginning, BBQ sandwich dinner in the suite with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, getting ready for the Friday night awards ceremony, a late night...

Lads bracelets for only $1!! ;)

I love this girl, Audrey.

Only half of the excited crowd during Friday night's ceremony

Sweet girls cheering friends on to victory.

Saturday: breakfast of pop tarts, a 7:45 a.m. judges meeting, running from here to there, no lunch due to busyness, head judging 7th grade girls in songs and speech (never happens), no ties in songs of praise judging scores (yay!!!), visiting the sis and sis-in law at the information desk, sneaking off to take a nap, walking around the hotel with a little friend, photo shoots at the desk at a slow time, some more hospitality suite hanging, helping prepare dinner, taco salads and quesadillas for dinner, going back to the room and spiffing up for the Saturday night awards ceremony, the excitement of cheering on our winners, loading the L2L truck and getting in bed after midnight...

There's nothing like playing with the iPad entangled in the suites curtains with friends. ;P

Snuggles in the suite.

Ready for the excitement of the Saturday night ceremony.

Teachers and students.
Our Bible bowl team got 2nd place!! Woot! Woot!

Loading the truck in the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday: waking up before daylight and watching the sunrise, our Easter surprises, 8:00 a.m. worship service in the ballroom, 1st place guy winners leading our worship, walking 41 flights of stairs with mom, waiting on the bell hop, fun times and giggles with the sis and Andrew, getting loaded up and heading out, a lunch stop at Panera with Andrew and Mrs. Melanie, sleeping almost the whole way home, the good feeling of being back in the country, unloading and going back to bed to sleep until it was time to get ready for Sunday night worship....

Our Easter surprises.

All good things must come to an end.

I am thankful to be back to my life amidst the woods, horses and cows, and loud 4x4 trucks instead of city lights and elevators. #countrygirl

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Happy 22nd birthday to my sis-in-law today!!!

nana, mom, sis-in-law, sis, and me last July