i'm so happy. i had a great productive weekend! i found a church that i'm going to be an active member of. i was able to get a lot of work done and do a whole lot of cleaning and organizing. that made me really happy! i slept in a little bit this morning and even still, i got a whole lot done :)

on another note, i've been trying different combinations of salads to see what i like best and what i can really get used to eating WITHOUT salad dressing. salad dressing adds so many calories to a potentially healthy meal so i try my best to eat without it. if i decide to include salad dressings, i make sure that it is a healthy and low-cal option. today, i had a spinach salad with lots of grapes and maybe three chopped up strawberries. i added a capful of lemon juice for a little bit more liquid on the spinach leaves but i ended up not even needing it. the juices from the grapes and strawberries were fantastic! here's a NY Times article of different salad combos i found last year. i can't say that i would use them all but it's def. inspiration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1

i praise God for helping me get so much accomplished this week.

i'm very grateful for that. it's truly made an impact and a huge difference.

my faith is still not where it needs to be but it's getting there.

i didn't plan on making a post now but i woke up this morning and my heart felt a little heavy. people will always disappoint you but i've faced so many disappointments this year. you would think that someone loves you as much as you love them but that's not always the case. when you find that out, it's a little hurtful. in a way, a good piece of what that person meant to you has to die because it's a false image. i guess i'm mourning the loss of a few friendships gone awry. i wish the people weren't who they showed themselves to be. it's like "why can't you be the amazing person i once thought you were?" it's strange. but at the same time, i'm grateful that it happened because i'd rather learn the lessons now than later. i'm sure i've disappointed people in the past but i really try to have integrity about my situations and do the right thing no matter who is watching. i need to make sure i hear "well done". it's that deep for me. i can't let any bad habit keep me out of the kingdom. that's part of the reason i feel like God has been allowing me to witness bad characters. it's like He's saying, "this could be you if you don't act right and don't remember who i am and what i've done."

so when i was initially typing, one of my favorite hymns entitled "In the Sweet By and By" was playing. i clicked on the tab to see who the pianist was. his name was Anthony Burger. i really liked his simple rendition so i decided to look him up. come to find out that he died back in 2006. he died on a cruise ship while playing "We shall Behold Him". unbelievable.

sometimes, i just wonder why God allows certain things that cause so much pain. in the middle of his ministry (literally), he lost his life. he had no heart problems yet he died of a heart attack. i just can't imagine the pain people felt having to witness that. the family is on my heart this morning. i have no idea who they are but that was someone's father. he was someone's husband. smh.

Lord, please come soon. there is way too much pain in this world.

God says to abide in Him. this morning, i woke up thinking of an analogy i heard about a baby getting their nourishment from their mother when they're in the womb. everything the mother eats goes straight to the child. the child draws strength and nourishment from the mother. i need God to survive. i need the bread of life and the living water now more than ever.

John 15:4

Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

not gonna lie, this week has been pretty rough. i'm encouraged though. i have got to focus on what's good in my life because i'm getting criticism from everywhere on everything.

happy news: i've learned that my hair LOVES conditioner and a whole lot of it. if it has a whole lot of it (think globs for one section), it will do WHATEVER i ask it to. might i add that i'm tender-headed and have yet to feel pain from combing my curls! GRATEFUL!

more happy news: i'm almost finished with my first class. i have one more week to go! :)

even more happy news: after the big move, i agreed to do some contract work so i have a little moolah coming in. did that today and will finish up tomorrow! yay!

even more happy happy news: Satan may try to get me down but he can't KEEP me down! :)

don't put off today what you can do tomorrow.

i messed up AGAIN. i was supposed to take the trash out and my dad reminded me to take it out the night before because i probably wouldn't wake up early when they came to pick it up but i assured him that i would and decided to stay inside...

yeah...i didn't wake up at the CRACK of dawn like i was supposed to and now i'm stuck with STINK trash until Thursday :(

another story in procrastination (this ish is getting old...no pun intended).

praise God we made it safely in one piece w/out the help of a rearview mirror from ga to md!!!