Hey Honey, I'm Home!

I saw this on a facebook status today and thought that I'd share with you. I have literally laughed out loud on a number of occasions. I think July 12 is a personal favorite.

Well, folks, I'm still here. I've been subbing a lot, which I guess is good. At one school a lady told me that her principal noticed me and told her to make sure that I didn't leave without giving them my name and number. That's a good thing, right? The school even called me today to see if I could sub tomorrow. I already have another job, though.

About a week and a half ago I went on a women's retreat through my church. I normally get kinda shy when stuff like that comes up and so I never apply for them. However, it was Austin who first heard about it and encouraged me to go. I found some more girls from our "honeymooners" Bible study and we all signed up. I had a wonderful time. The theme was "Why We Need Girlfriends" and was focused around the story of Mary and Elizabeth in Luke 1. I had heard their story so many times but this time my eyes were opened to the beautiful friendship that these two women shared. Elizabeth was elderly and had been through so much pain and shame in her life because she was barren. Mary was a teenager and had yet to experience pain and shame because of her pregnancy. Because Elizabeth remained faithful to God, despite the fact that she could never have children, God was able to bless her and use her. In His timing, Elizabeth became pregnant. Mary and Elizabeth were able to comfort each other as they carried the babies of perhaps the two (at least one) most important men in the Bible.

Houston is so different because it is so new. I don't have a lot of friends yet, but I trust that God is going to show me women with whom I can bond and have a deep friendship. He has already blessed me with some girls that I meet with every Thursday night. I think I mentioned that two of my friends from college, Stacie and Haley, are living on the west side of Houston. Haley literally lives less than 10 minutes away from me! None of us are from Houston, but we all ended up here. At my wedding, Haley and Stacie actually talked about how they didn't know any girls and needed that fellowship... So the week after they started meeting. Now I get to be a part of the group and we are loving it!

This week we are starting The Names of God by Ann Spangler. There are 52 different names of God that the Bible uses, and we will start studying one each week. I can't wait to grow and learn more about the characteristics of God with these girls! They are such a blessing to me!

So my friend Catlin mentioned that she uses Google Analytics for her website. I decided to try it out, too. Yes, that's right people.... I'm tracking you! It's so much fun. I'm actually surprised that so many people visit my site when I don't even update. No wonder they only spend an average of less than a minute on my page... :-/ Well, so I think it's really interesting. I know that I have readers in Texas (surprise surprise), Florida (Erin I assume!), California (who are you!?) and Colorado (Lauren!). But I also have a reader in Wales and one in China. I am global, ladies and gentlemen! Haha. But seriously, I think it's interesting. I wonder who they are!

I know that I read many blogs regularly of people who don't know me at all. I've been tempted to email them or comment on their blog, but I don't since I think it might creep them out. I love random comments, though... so if you want to introduce yourself... :-)

Ok, enough about my blog.

How about someone else's blog? My mom told me about this newlywed's blog and so I have decided to write about it.

I am not a fantastic chef but I want to learn. This website has helped me! Elizabeth, the blogger, loves to cook and try out recipes, and she takes pictures of her creations. But better than that, she takes pictures at each step of the food-making process. I love that! Go check out her site. Yesterday I made the tamale casserole. It was yummy!

Well kiddos, this girl is hungry for the brownies that she made last night (also on the website mentioned above... except that I didn't cook them long enough). I'm gonna go eat one.

Peace out!

-Katie