I smell fried food...

Yep, that's right...it's time for the State Fair of Texas. I'm drooling all over again thinking about the Fletcher's corn dogs, funnel cakes, fried frito pie, candy apples...the list goes on and on. The fried frito pie won 1st Place for the fried food award this year and it was so stinking good!!!

And thanks to my amazing job, I got to go to the fair for free this past weekend. I took my friend Andrea along and we made the most out of the rainy day. We saw the "Monsters of the Sea" show at the IMAX, looked at all of the new cars, and lusted over this super cool Mustang pool table. This would look so awesome in my (future) house!

And speaking of my future house, we went to play Bingo with my company that afternoon and I won a 26" flat screen HDTV. I never win anything, so you can only imagine how ridiculously excited I was. It turns out that there were 4 other people that bingoed at the same time as me, but because I threw my arms up in the air, everyone saw me first. Guess being an expressive person is a good thing sometimes. :) It's still sitting in my closet in its box waiting for the day that I have a place to put it.

And it only seems appropriate to end this happy blog with a friendly wave from Big Tex. It was yet another wonderful year at the State Fair of Texas!!!

A Day at the Dallas Zoo

A friend recently told me about a photography contest that the Dallas Zoo was holding called Feathers, Fur and Scales. So, a few weekends ago we headed off to the zoo to get up close and personal with the animals. I must say, the new Giants of the Savanna exhibit was beautiful! This friendly giraffe got so close she was nudging me. I think she thought my camera strap was food. I love those long eyelashes and chin hairs! :)

The elephants were pretty friendly as well. Although, I think this one might have been playing hide and seek. She put on a show for me while we were there...eating, drinking and just being plain cute!

Next up was the aviary, which was full of birds of all kinds. This one in particular caught my eye with its vivid orange color. And lucky me caught a shot right as it was flying away from its nest. I get to submit three pictures for the contest and this was the first I chose.

I love meerkats! I don't know if any of you have ever seen the TV show "Meerkat Manor" that is on the Discovery Channel, but these little guys are so much fun to watch. They always have one that is on the lookout, and this guy was working hard to do his job. I love that he is covered in dirt and almost looks perturbed at the fact that I was taking his picture. Can't you just see him tapping his foot and saying "Are you done yet?" This was my #2 picture that I submitted.

And last but certainly not least...I could have stayed in the gorilla exhibit for hours. One of the zoo keepers had just put a bunch of hay in the enclosure for them to play with and they were incredible to watch. This one big boy in particular captivated me. I don't know if it was those intense orange eyes or the humanlike hands but I'm pretty convinced we bonded.

And then he got tired of me taking his picture and I'm pretty sure he was pondering ways to escape. You know...that did actually happen at the Dallas Zoo once?!?!? The picture below was my favorite from the entire day and was the 3rd one I submitted. How anyone can look at all of these beautiful animals and not think of our Creator and His endless imagination is beyond me. It was such a perfect day and now I will just wait to see if any of my photos were selected. :)

What does a perfect day look like for you?

I don't know about you, but I dream of days like this:

• Waking up early (and rested) and enjoying a Starbucks hot chocolate or Peppermint Mocha out on the patio while enjoy some quite time with God in the crisp morning air
• Getting all of my laundry done, sheets washed, home cleaned and everything left in order
• Going for a long drive or bike ride with no destination or time constraint
• Enjoy a nice lunch on a patio where I can journal and soak up everything around me
• Go for a mani/pedi/full body massage
• Visit the Arboretum where I can walk around in solitude, curl up on a blanket with a good book, and photograph God's beautiful creation
• Meet up with my favorite girlfriends for a night of dinner and dancing
• Soak in a long, hot bubble bath with a glass of wine
• Curl up on the couch with one of my favorite chick flick movies until I can barely keep my eyes open
• Crawl into my bed between clean sheets and drift off into dreamland

Sounds pretty dreamy, huh?

Write much???

So Luci Swindoll and I have become great friends! She doesn't know this, but if I could stalk her down, I would force her be my friend. I have been reading through her book "Doing Life Differently" for the past month as part of my quiet time each day and she has begun to feel like a best friend. Her stories make me laugh and cry and I always walk away encouraged. Isn't that what friends are for. I'm going to be really sad when her book ends.

I think one of the reasons I like her so much is that we are so very alike, even though we are separated by 46 years of age. We are both stubborn and independent. Share a huge passion for music and the arts. Love travel and photography. And we are both writers. In yesterday's reading, she was encouraging me to write everything down. After all, the older you get, the less you remember. Fortunately, I have been recording my life for the past 18 years. I literally went through my bookcase last night and pulled out all of the journals I have written in. I'm pretty sure some of them are still in hiding, but they made for a fun picture, right?

I haven't actually found the time to sit down and read back through them yet. Maybe someday soon. It's always fun to see how far you've come, the lessons you've learned, and the lessons you are still learning. And who knows? Maybe someday my adolescent thoughts and words will be able to encourage my daughter or neice.

Launch Retreat

This past weekend was completely amazing! I have been to the Launch Retreat with the young adults from Watermark before, but I had no idea what a blessing I was in for when I showed up at Sky Ranch on Friday afternoon. This place is so beautiful and serene and I can't wait to go back in October for the CR leadership retreat.

Launch 2010 was the biggest retreat we have had to date. Over 500 young people showed up on Saturday morning and the rest is history! I met so many wonderful people and have never had so much fun serving. Afshin Ziafat was our speaker, and getting to see him and his wife was a special mini-reunion for me. I met Meredith when I moved to Dallas 10 years ago. We were both involved in a group called Graceplace and it was so fun getting to hear their story and where God has brought them over the past 10 years. Afshin was raised Muslim, accepted Christ as a teenager, was disowned from his family, and is now a full-time evangelist. To learn more about his story, check it out here: http://www.afshinziafat.com/. Be prepared to be blessed!

He challenged us throughout the weekend to put our "all" on the altar (referencing Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac), and to live out the calling that God has given each of us. As J.P. said over and over, "so you are a Christian...so what?" What are we doing with our faith?

I was also blessed to be able to lead the greatest team ever with my co-leader Jason. Not only did we seriously kick some butt during the challenges ( 5 of 5 baby!), but everyone was so open and authentic and I loved getting to share life with them.

More than anything, this weekend was a reminder that it's not about me. Whether I was unloading a billion cases of water, making countless team signs, signing people in, or leading a small group, it was all for HIM. Although I was completely exhausted and utterly used up, I have never been filled with so much joy!