Looking Back

Remember when I wrote this last year? I hate to say I was right but boy was I right. 2013, you were indeed not a “lucky” year as I suspected. However, when I was reflecting back and flipping through photos of this year, I see you were pretty kind until October. October 21 to be exact but I promise to try not to focus too much on the last 67 days. I want this posting to be a recap of all the great things that happened the other 298 days. If you remember, I also wrote this in September about how this year (meaning my 28^th year on earth) would be the year of focusing on the blessings in my life. So yes, enough with the bad. Let me make room to reflect on all the good.

 

 

1.       We moved AGAIN! Yes, call us crazy. In short summary, we received a notice in January that a 300+ unit apartment complex was going to be built in our backyard. We loved our home and had been in it exactly one year but we did not want that many neighbors behind us. We decided to stick a for sale sign in the yard to see what happened. Well we sold our house in 13 days. We found our new home in which we love even more.

2.       2013 was the year of weddings. Three of my closest friends got married. Lara married in April and I was honored to serve as her wedding coordinator. Rachel married in June and I was honored to serve her as one of her wedding photographers. Then Andrea married in September and I was honored to serve as her matron of honor.

3.       My childhood dog Missy came to live with us in June. We thought Missy’s time was coming to an end so my dad brought her to me this summer for me to take to my brother-in-law who is a vet. Well wouldn’t you know it a week here with me with some baby aspirin as prescribed by Michael was all she needed to be back to her ole self. Sweet Missy turned 16 in October. I absolutely love having her with me again.

4.       Greyson and I did a lot of fun stuff this year. We celebrated our third wedding anniversary with our friends, Andrea and Steve at Lairdland Farms, where we got married. We also went to the beach twice this summer. Once with his family to Pawley’s Island, SC and once to Saint Simons, GA with our friends, Trina and Marshall. We were able to celebrate Trina’s 30^th birthday while we were there. This fall we went to a University of Tennessee vs. Auburn football game in Knoxville. This was the first time our teams ever faced each other since we’ve known one another. We had a great time (expect for all the walking but that’s another story) especially since Auburn won.  

5.       Professionally it has been a great year. I exceeded all of my sales goals for the year. I also had the privilege of serving on the Chamber of Commerce’s Business Women’s Council again and Murfreesboro Young Professionals as Director of Membership/ Chair- Elect.

These things and all the other great things that happened are the things I want to remember about 2013. Am I sad to see 2013 go after my time of reflection? Heck no. You still can go and don’t let the door hit you on the way out. However, I do hope that in years to come when I am reflecting back on this year that these things come to mind long before the memories of the heartache.

Speaking of NYE. How about a blast from New Year’s Past. Looking forward to carrying on the tradition another year.

 

 

Another Crazy Fall

Oh I wish I could say I am looking forward to fall but just thinking about the next couple of months brings me nothing but anxiety. I have a full plate. I realize having a full plate means I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a job where I am in demand. However, just looking at my schedule gives me an ulcer. No kidding, I really think I’ve developed a stomach ulcer. When I think about my upcoming week this week makes me want to run to my momma’s house. You know because running to your momma’s house means no responsibilities and no real worries. First off, this work week is going to be like 60 hours! And it is my birthday. Doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun? Oh my birthday…. That brings another load of anxiety to me. If I skip the presents and cake can I skip getting older? It’s a deal so don’t worry about writing on my Facebook wall on Tuesday because I am skipping it this year. I do not know why I am having such a hard time as I inch closer and closer to the big 3-0, especially when my friends who have already reached that milestone birthday take it in stride and make it look not so bad after all. Each year just goes faster than the one before. I need things to sllllooooowwwww down a little. I cannot believe how fast the months fly by.

I am also very grateful that in the midst of my crazy fall schedule that we have some really fun things planned.  In ten days (if I survive hosting Business After Hours and a football team) we leave for the beach.  And just not to any beach. I am going to my happy, happy, happy place which is Saint Simons Island, Georgia. I must keep my eye on the goal. I am so excited that our friends Trina and Marshall will be joining us. While we are there Trina will turn 30 (which adds to my own anxiety about getting older but this is the part where I am supposed to focus on the positive… ha ha). We are also planning to attend the UT vs. Auburn game in November. Plus my best friend is getting married at the end of this month. I cannot wait! I must keep focused on all the good and exciting stuff and not how overwhelming and almost impossible my schedule seems. I would appreciate any prayers and support. 

Boost of Creativity

I've recently had a boost in creativity. I do not know what has gotten into me. I've been designing custom monograms, invitations, blog headers and annoucements. Right now, it is just a hobby that I love but I can see this turning into something more. If you have an upcoming event and need an invitation or would like a custom monogram, please feel free to comment below or e-mail me. I would be happy to help! Since I am just starting off the price is ONLY $15 per file.

 

Personal information removed for privacy above.

Tips from This Event Pro

I’ve wanted to do this post for some time now. I just haven’t had the time lately. On average, we plan about 24 weddings a year. I’ve worked at DoubleTree now for three years. That means I’ve oversaw over 70 weddings. Whew, I am tired just thinking about. Over the past few years I’ve seen mistakes that my brides often make. Some of these mistakes I made as a bride. So here are some of my top wedding planning tips. I plan on doing a series of wedding and event planning tips. I hope they are helpful to you.

1. After you determine your budget, rank items in order of importance to you. Let’s face it weddings are expensive. You can try with all your might to be as conservative as possible but there’s not a bank account that won’t feel the impact of a wedding. My top priorities planning my wedding were a great band, unique location, and wonderful food so that is how I prioritized my spending. I also booked those items first. I spent more on my band than I did on flowers and decorations. By starting with what is most important, you are more likely to stay within your budget because you are more willing to compromise on items that aren’t as important to you. If I had picked out my flowers before booking my caterer, location and band, I would have blown my budget.

2. Have a timeline for everything. And yes, I mean everything. There is so much to get done the day of the wedding. Start a timeline for the day before and day of the wedding. Weddings involve lots of people and people need structure. Share these timelines with your bridal party, close family members and friends. If you want to make mom mad then cut your cake while she is in the bathroom. (I have seen this happen twice.) Make sure all your key people are aware of the timeline of the pre-wedding activities, pictures, ceremony and reception. (Reminder to myself: post wedding planning timeline template.)

3. Take pictures of you and the groom before your wedding. I would have never believed I would be saying this three years ago. G and I were adamant on not seeing each other until I walked down the aisle. Everyone told us to do pictures before but nope we weren’t doing it. I had this fairy tale pictured in my head. I would walk down the aisle and G’s lip would tremble as he saw me for the first time. It would be a magical moment. Then we would go to the reception and our guests would let us eat and then we would have a wonderful time visiting with everyone there. That’s not how it happened….at all. G’s lips didn’t tremble. I don’t think he shed a tear when he saw me. He actually looked away a few times. I think it was his tactic for his lips not to tremble or to cry. I guess he didn’t know that what I wanted. By the time we got married, I had already planned a few weddings at the hotel. I had seen how guests get restless without food so in order to not have any hungry guests and to appease my mom because she hated the idea of pictures afterwards, I decided to let our guests go ahead and start eating without us. The entire time our photographer was taking pictures, we were rushing her because we wanted to get to the party. By the time we got to the reception, everyone had finished eating dinner so we decided to cut the cake. You don’t want to keep a bunch of Baptist away from their wedding cake. Therefore, we never ate. And to add to this never ending point… a bride drinking wine on an empty stomach can be a not so great combination.

4. I am so glad Pinterest didn’t exist when I was getting married. It would have been the death of me. Ladies, if you are planning a wedding get off of Pinterest. While there are some great ideas, I keep seeing brides get caught in a Pinterest fog. They are so focused on the details; they forget the big picture and forget logistics. So don’t waste your time on the favors that will go into someone’s junk drawer and that’s if the favor makes it home.  Focus on the big items and the flow of the day, then add those finishing touches and personalized details.

5. The best piece of wedding advice I was given was once you make a decision about something move onto the next item. Don’t second guess yourself or nothing will get done.  

Day 9: 30 Days of Thanks

I'm thankful to be a member of Murfreesboro Young Professionals. I've been active with this organization since day one. I'm so thankful for the friends and leadership experiences it has brought me.

Day 4: 30 Days of Thanks

After a crazy and busy month, I am thankful things are slowing down for a bit. I am also thankful for each and every opportunity I've had over the last several weeks. God has carried me through this madness and allowed me to soak it all in and enjoy each opportunity. I'm feel incredible blessed to be able to serve my community through various leadership roles.

Day 1: 30 Days of Thanks

It's not hard to come up with 30 things I am thankful for the next 30 days. I could easily come up with 30 things that God blessed me with today alone.

Today was the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce's Women's Conference titled Learn, Grow, Connect. I'm honored to serve on the planning committee for this conference. I feel privileged to have this opportunity for going on 5 years. I've gained incredible experiences and leadership opportunities from this event. And more importantly I've gained another support system and friends on this amazing council.

I don't have it all or have it all together but my cup runneth over!

God’s Lesson Plan for Me

(This is somewhat of a long post for me because of all my copying and pasting of stuff I’ve read lately.)
I love it when God keeps bringing the same topic to my attention. I like to think of it as His lesson plan for me. About a week ago a precious friend e-mailed me the following devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries.

I stared into the frustrated eyes of my friend last week as we talked about her calling to write. She has big, big dreams, and her dreams seem to be coming true far too slowly.
I told her how much I understood. Stepping into my calling was a long time coming, too.
My specific calling is to teach, speak and write. Your calling may fall into a myriad of other categories, but every calling is equally high when it's in obedience to the Most High. We're ALL called to ministry of some sort.
My calling didn't materialize in a year. It has unfolded during the last 35 years, and each phase of that unfolding has shaped and re-determined the final product (which I know won't be final until my last breath!).
The unfolding looked kind of like this:
Becoming a passionate teacher of young children.
Marrying my best friend.
Investing years in my little boys' lives.
Teaching adults as they chased dreams that passed them by in their teens.
Volunteering in women's ministry.
Visiting home after home as the "Welcome Wagon Lady" in my new town.
Accepting invitations to speak at my church and others close by.
Joining the Proverbs 31 Ministries' speaker team.
Returning to a frustrating year of elementary school teaching.
Stepping in to my calling of equipping others in their calling.
I've look at my list many times and thought, "Wow. I wasted a lot of years." But I've come to realize it's just not true. Every relationship, every job, every opportunity has prepared me. Psalm 90:17 reminds me that God establishes the work of my hands. With each change, I've had an opportunity to view that next place as stepping into a calling. Sometimes I did. Sometimes I didn't.
Often I was irritated at the seeming meaninglessness of what I was doing, but now I see. Every diaper changed, every knee kissed, every book read, every late night listening, every dying to self, every lesson plan made, every story crafted, every presentation made, every meeting attended, every spreadsheet created, EVERY THING...
It all counted.
Every moment was an unfolding of my eventual calling. God used each stepping stone to establish the work I'm doing now.
Don't despair today when you can't see it. Obey God and trust that He is working. His timing is so rarely ours, but it is always perfect. Instead of chaffing under the seemingly mundane, embrace each task as a building block for the dreams in your heart. Don't give up hope.
I promise ... it's coming.

And then just four nights later I read this in my Jesus Calling devotional book.
When I give you no special guidance, stay where you are. Concentrate on doing your everyday tasks in awareness of My Presence with you.

I have spent a lot of time lately thinking I needed to be doing something else and something more but nothing has been reveled to me yet. One of my friends is home from his first year of missions and he will be leaving at the end of the month to pursue missions full time. During my second visit with him, I told him that I felt like I was doing nothing in comparison to him. He’s been in Australia, England, India and China spreading the Word. I couldn’t help but reflect on what I have been doing this past year.

I’ve had this deep yearning for more. I have also been a little frustrated that I wasn’t being called to do something. Doors have always opened for me when I’ve had this feeling before. It has always been clear as to where I need to be. I’ve told my friends a lot lately that I just need to have a particular mission and that I want to do something that will make a difference. But just as God so perfectly does, He spoke to me. I am not one to say I’ve ever heard God’s voice but God definitely speaks to me in many forms. Just like when all of a sudden a friend forwards me her devotional for the day and it is the answer to what I’ve been searching for. And then again, a few nights later I read the only words that could comfort me “stay where you are.” I am so amazed that God cares so much about me to speak to me and tell me exactly what it is that I need to hear. No, I may not being doing what I consider to be great things but I am where God wants me to be. I have not been told to stay. Everything is all a part of His plan. Every person I come in contact with, every opportunity and every hardship is all a part of the plan.

Our Journey in 2011.... Looking Back

2011 proved to be a pretty great year. Here are just a few highlights.

· Celebrated many birthdays with family and friends, including my mom’s 50th
· Received a promotion at work
· Greyson’s new job at HCA
· A few of our friends were blessed with babies
· Traveled to St. Simmons for a wonderful family vacation
· My best friend got married
· Bought our first home

Below is a link for some pictures to go along with the highlights. At the first of 2011, I decided I wanted to document our lives by doing a scrapbook each year. I guess you could think of it as a family yearbook. I am very proud of myself that I kept up with it each month and now at the start of a new year I have a photo book to look back and reflect on 2011. I used Shutterfly to compose my book just because it is simple to use and they always have great sales. Hope you enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Remembering “ The Voice of Truth”

To say October has been a busy and stressful month would be a huge understatement. From hosting another football team, weddings, a baby shower, serving on a planning committee for a large women’s conference, serving on a board, going through a leadership program and not to forget my 40+ hour workweek, it overwhelms again to think about it or look at my calendar. Add to that things that were not listed on my calendar or to-do list have made it an ever more stressful month. My grandparents’ health is failing. My grandmother’s sister passed away. Friends of mine have lost loved ones in tragic ways. My husband is adjusting to a new job. We’ve had a lot of changes in our management staff at work and the demands are ever increasing there. It has been a little much. I am sure I have not been the most pleasant person to my husband and co-workers and my friends are probably about to fill out a missing person report on me.

But yet through this entire month, God has been changing my prospective. He has changed my prospective on large and small things. (I hope to have more time to share all the ways my prospective has been changed.) He has been doing this in many different ways. He even used Facebook and YouTube today. Yes, I believe God can use these things to grab our attention. A fb “friend” posted a link to a YouTube video. Normally I would never click on it but I had a few moments to kill during lunch. It was this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaVg0cWkgAw

Here I was home for lunch and taking a break from a stressful day at the office where tension is extremely high and my mind is on my grandmother who just lost her twin sister. And God uses this ordinary moment and this video online to remind me to stop listening and focusing to all the negativity. I am reminded that I need to focus on the Voice of the Truth (Jesus) because it really does tell me a different story. The Voice of Truth personally tells me to not worry because this is ALL part of His plan. I have no reason to be anxious about anything because He is there with me in every step.

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”- Matthew 11:28

“Do not withhold your mercy on me, O Lord; may your love and truth always protect me.” – Psalm 40:11

“Surly God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid….” – Isaiah 12:2

“So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not afraid.” – Hebrews 13:6

How It Goes

This is Greyson’s third week on the new job. So far he loves it. Of course there have been some adjustments and the stress that comes with any situation but he’s not regretting his decision at all. I also love his new schedule. And he has definitely been enjoying his afternoon and weekend rounds of golf.

We both thought this new job would mean much more time together and although, our time together has doubled we somehow forgot that I lead a pretty busy life with work and all the organizations I am a part of. I guess because when I was busy he was at the golf course so we never dealt with my busy life interfering with our time together. For instance, this was the conversation that occurred two weekends ago when we were planning our meals for the week.
Greyson: What would you like for dinner this week?
Amy: Humm… I’ve been craving chili. How does that sounds?
Greyson: Good and I was thinking grilled chicken one night.
Amy: Well I have a MYP Community Outreach meeting Tuesday night, a dinner with the girls on Wednesday night that we’ve already had to reschedule once and Thursday night I will be out of town at my Leadership Rutherford retreat.
Greyson: So chili Monday night it is.

He has been a pro about it though. He said if I waited two years for him then he could wait a few nights a week on me. I do think it will be juggle though for me and very much a transition for us both. I am use to going to my meetings and not keeping him informed on my schedule. It was on the kitchen calendar before and that is all he needed but now he wants to know my schedule a week in advance.

Oh we also kind of forgot I have to work some on the weekends…. Crazy sounding, I know. But seriously it is like we forgot. Just this week, I worked on Sunday at a Bridal Show and I have to work this Saturday because we are hosting a football team at the hotel. It never mattered before because he worked every weekend. But now he wants to plan stuff on the weekends and the next available date I can give him because of work or other commitments is the first weekend in November…. Eek! I’ve heard him say once already he wishes I could slow down. Hopefully things will slow down for me soon but I guess this is how it goes.

First Weekend EVERRRRR!

I am a giddy little girl! Greyson P. has his 1ST WEEKEND OFF EVERRRRRR in the 15 ½ months of our marriage. I honestly do not know what to do. He’s in the kitchen cooking dinner and has me in the living room with a glass of wine. I could get use to this. Tomorrow he is going to play golf with two of his closest buddies while I sleep in and tomorrow night we are heading up to Nashville to celebrate mine and one of my good friend’s birthday.

Time to Turn the Page

Time to turn the page; it is a new chapter in the Painter book. Today was G’s last day at SRCC. As you know from all my former posts G has been working A LOT this summer A WHOLE LOT. It got to where he was doing nothing but working, eating and sleeping and had no time for family, friends or fun. After MUCH consideration and countless prayers he decided to apply for some jobs outside of the golf industry. I kept praying that God would not open any doors unless they were supposed to be open. Well, God has a way of confirming things with us. G got not only one offer with a company he worked with but he got two offers from that company. He is going to work at HCA which is very different from work he has been doing but he is finally getting to use that MBA of his.  Just kidding, G!

We appreciate everyone’s’ prayers during this transition. But we are very excited about this new chapter. And so thankful to God for his provision!

May Recap

I am starting to see how complex the blogging world is for me and many others I know. When I have a lot going on and a lot to write about, then I don’t have time to blog but when I do have time that means I don’t have a lot going on and not much to say….

Anyways, once again it is the end of another month and I am wondering where it went. It has been extremely busy at work. Our 4th wedding reception is this Saturday. We also had a Mother’s Day Brunch. I was fortunate enough to have my mom, grandmother,my mother-in-law, and my best friend’s mom, Julie, attend. My best friend was unable to make it home for the weekend so her “adoptive daughters” (aka Trina and I) wanted to be with her on Mother’s Day.

My mom, me, and my gran

G, my mother-in-law, and me

Me, Julie, and Trina


We also celebrate my sweet great nephew’s 6th birthday last week with a bowling party. My mom and dad also came up and spent the night with us that evening. The older I get the more and more I enjoy my parents company. It was a short but very sweet time.

The birthday boy and his Mel

John and Papa Billy

Me and John


This month has also been a month of sickness for me. I’ve been home the past two days with high fever. My doctor had me panicked this morning thinking I had walking pneumonia because of the tightness in my chest and my annoying cough but thankfully my lungs checked out okay this morning. They are treating me for it because of my history but are thinking it is a bad viral infection. I am hoping and praying to be more of my normal self tomorrow and be able to put in a full day’s work. This is the second time I've been really sick this month. Plus, our first anniversary is this weekend and I cannot be sick!!! So prayers are appreciated. But it doesn't look like someone has minded that I've been home sick.

(Sorry for the poor quality. Camera phone.)

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I should be climbing into bed right now but instead I am washing and ironing clothes for tomorrow and just finished putting together a breakfast casserole and baking some muffins. I can’t imagine the stress of getting an entire family ready for Easter morning. I am thankful I only have myself and G to get out in the door in the morning.

With our jobs we no longer have a “traditional Easter”. We are both working tomorrow. My hotel is hosting a brunch and we have a record number of over 300 people registered. Tomorrow is also a big day at the county club for G as well. Thankfully he doesn’t have to go into work until late tomorrow afternoon and THANKFULLY he is going to help hide the Easter eggs for the two egg hunts we are having at the brunch. Also, his parents are coming to the hotel to eat and my precious mother-in-law is bringing a homemade coconut cake shaped like an entire body of a bunny. Her mother use to make one every year and Nancy does not want us to miss out on the tradition even if we do have to work. To be 100% honest I have dreaded tomorrow for a while. I struggle with guilt about having to work on Easter. But it is not my choice so early last week I started praying that my focus would be on Christ’s sacrifice and not the brunch. And it has been just that. Each night I have spent a great deal of time reading about Jesus’ last days on earth. Also today it hit me like a ton of bricks that I have the opportunity to serve and shine for Christ and my plan is to do just that… with HIS help of course. Otherwise, I would be my normal complaining self tomorrow. I have the opportunity to provide 300+ people with a great holiday experience and that is how I am determined to look at it. So please say a prayer for me tomorrow that my focus will remain on Christ and not on having to “work”. Also we both still have the opportunity to go and worship tomorrow and I am so thankful for that. Besides He paid the ultimate sacrifice so what am I complaining about?

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter wherever and however you choose to worship.

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above All

My Weekend Blahs

It’s Friday and I should be screaming from the rooftops TGIF but I’m not. Instead I have what I call “my weekend blahs”. It’s Friday night and don’t get me wrong I am thrilled to off work for two days especially after a day like today when I have seen and talked to a million clients and lunch was at my new normal place and time, my desk at 2 pm. But as thrilled as I am, I’m also a little down. I come home every Friday evening to husbandless household and it pretty much stays like that except for a few sporadic hours here and there. So that means just me and Libby. HOME ALONE ALL WEEKEND! I love that dog to death but she’s pretty boring. I can’t exactly share a glass of wine with her or go to dinner and a movie. I never want my husband to change careers because he is following his dream and doing what he loves and that is what matters most to me.

So I try and keep myself busy but it’s hard. How much shopping can a girl do on the weekends without breaking the bank? And has far as hanging out with friends, most of friends now are married and have hectic schedules just like my own. And there’s another thing when I do have fun things to do then I either have to work on the weekends myself or I am so exhausted from work all week that I dread doing them. It is like I can’t win. Are you starting to see why this titled this blog, “My Weekend Blahs”?

I’m not asking for sympathy. I’m really not. I just wish I was a little more “normal” when it came to my weekends. Enough complaining for now! I am tired of hearing myself whine. I promise for a more upbeat post next time.

Goodbye

Today I said goodbye to my sweet friend Seth at work. We sent him off in true DoubleTree style by throwing him a surprise party. It was complete with all his favorites, Chick Fil A and chocolate cake! Seth has been so much more than a co-worker to so many employees at our hotel and he has been more than a front desk agent to our guests. I know without a doubt he has blessed each and every single manager at our property (all 17 us) in some capacity and I am sure majority of the rest of the staff feels the same way. And we’ve heard of countless stories from guests on his service to them. You may have heard of someone being described with the ability to light up a room, well I think that expression was coined with Seth in mind. I have honestly never met anyone like him. And the greatest thing about his light is it radiates Christ’s love. So it makes total and perfect sense that God has called him to a life of missions.

Seth has a powerful testimony. One I have wanted to share on here many times but have been cautious of doing so. The reason is because it is not mine to share and I never want anyone to label him anything other than a believer and a follower of Christ. But I believe that his testimony has power and it deserves to be told.

Seth is gay and before we all put our not so glamorous judging Christian hats on, listen to the rest. Seth is not a practicing homosexual. While he desires to be with a man, he actively chooses not to, because his personal relationship with Jesus Christ means more to him than anything else in this world. He knows nothing compares to the love of Christ and because his nature does not follow with God’s word, he surrenders his desire daily. I hope you are all saying, “WOW” right now. I am sure if we were to all take even a small look in the mirror we would all see an image that wouldn’t reflect the very nature of Christ but our own human nature. And how many of us actively give up something every day because we value our relationship with Jesus Christ more? Yes, I have my battles but I can’t say that there is one deep desire that I have to surrender daily.

Seth has been a true inspiration to me and a great friend. I only hope I have blessed him as half as he has me. I am so proud to have been on part of this journey with him. I will never forget the day he told me God was laying missions on his heart. I hope Seth has been inspiration to you and I know God is going to use him for so many great things for the glory of His Kingdom. I also hope each of you will take a few minutes and pray for Seth. He is about to embark on a huge change by leaving everything he knows to go live halfway around the world. Pray for his transition and for the hearts of those he is going to meet.


He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." _ Mark 16:15

A Glamorous Gala: Special Needs Prom

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hosting the Rutherford County Special Needs Prom at the hotel. Six high schools attended the event with more than 150 students and countless family members and teachers. I don’t think I have ever seen any prom goers be so happy. It was a very challenging day but more rewarding than I ever could imagine. At the end of the prom after running around all day and not really getting to see the students enjoy themselves, I made myself stand back and reflect on it all. I stood there with tears in my eyes as they sang and danced to “I Had the Time of My Life”. Their excitement and gratitude made all the stress of the day more than worth it. I am so thankful to have been a part of this event. Also, I am once again thankful to be a part of this community, where more than 25 vendors volunteered their services and time for absolutely no cost to the students or to the organizers of the prom. Everything thing from their formal ware to limos were donated.

For press coverage of the prom, check out:
http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wztv_vid_6627.shtml

http://www.dnj.com/comments/article/20110312/NEWS01/103120332/Special-students-shine-at-prom?GID=uiPdiARh+w52F%2FmgBHPf3rSN+2+51O0l0htHmLiBY%2FM%3D

Sorry It’s Been So Long…

Wow, I never would have thought February would have been this busy and this great! It’s been filled with birthdays, events and a PROMOTION!!! I was promoted to Director of Catering last week. It is still so new it partly feels like a dream. It was been an overwhelming two weeks but a great two weeks. I am so honored to be given this amazing opportunity but God deserves all the glory! Greyson and I have been praying for so long about our future and trusting in God to open the doors that were supposed to be opened and close the doors that needed closing. We have stood on the promises of Jeremiah 29:11 and once again GOD HAS PROVIDED! Prayers are welcomed and appreciated during this transition.
And to my friends, I promise not to drop off the face of the earth. Please just give me a couple of more weeks to get acclimated and to hire some help! Hopefully, I will have a new coordinator on my staff soon. Dinner dates and phone dates soon. I promise.

And for a little recap….
We started off the month celebrating our good friend Lara’s “26th“ birthday. Oh wait, it was her 29th but we count what the candles say and her candles said 26, ha-ha.



Then it was Greyson’s 25th birthday. We had a great time celebrating for over a week with cupcakes, cakes and both of our families in town.



DoubleTree by Hilton Murfreesboro hosted Business After Hours for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce that was all coordinated by yours truly. It was a huge success. It was a western theme event and we had a couple of hundred attendees.



And I ended the month with the Boro Bridal Ball at Stones River Country Club.

A Day of Celebrating

The past 24 hours have been full of celebrating. My hotel was recently awarded a coveted award for my hotel’s brand. It’s the CARE Cup Award which in summary represents we are #1 in guest service and service to our community. It is a huge honor. Top executives from our company and the owners of our property were there to celebrate with us. They treated some of the key players in receiving this award to dinner last night and attended a brunch, where community leaders and our top accounts were invited. It was an incredible opportunity to meet and get to know our leadership. I am very fortunate to work for brand that makes service a priority and empowers each one of their employees to CARE for the guests and for our community.

I also had a co-worker pull me aside to today to tell me he has been accepted to go to Youth with a Mission international training. I immediately started jumping up and down with tears in my eyes. He had pulled me aside several months ago to let me know he was being called to missions. I am waiting until he tells everyone before I post more about this but he has an amazing testimony. I know God is going to use him to do amazing things. I know he has brought so much joy to me and to so many others at the hotel. We were not sure if he would be accepted into this program… again I will blog on that more after he shares. But I just had to share my happiness and ask for you to pray for him as he begins this amazing journey. LOVE YA SB!