So i think that i might be the ONE bridesmaid ever in history to actually reused her dress! You know the same old sayings that every bride says to her 'maids in an attempt to help comfort them in buying a WAYover priced dress for a hour ceremony and MAYBE a 2 hour reception?... "OH AND ITS REALLY PRETTY, BUT NOT SO 'ONE TIME OCCASION-EY' SO YOU COULD WEAR IT AGAIN!" .............or "YOU COULD JUST TAKE UP THE HEM AND TURN IT INTO A SUN DRESS!" .........or "AND IT LOOKS SO GOOD THAT YOU COULD ALWAYS WEAR THIS AGAIN!" ...................AND THEN lets face it, what are the chances that you are in the top of the social ladder and get invited to balls and dances and big fancy black tie events to where you even have the chance to recycle the dress. ?. chances are slim, BUT even if you are - you arent going to wear that same dress to a fancy event like that cuz lets face it, if you are on top of the social food chain you are going to take your private jet to France and get some trillion dollar couture dress anyways right?. you wouldnt go to a party and then when someone askes you the famous line "WHO are you wearing?" pretty sure you would look like a big fat old idiot if you said "OH this old thing?... I was a bridesmaid back in '06" HAHA :) I am taking WAY to much time talking about this than what i intentionally came on here to write about!.....

ANYWAYS, what i did wanna talk about was how much fun i had last night! (krystals surprised to hear that becuase she talked to me when i was stressing out an hour before with horrible non-using blinker drivers and making food) It was all the more fun becuase like i said i got to wear a dress that i paid like 200 bucks for. Dressing up is always fun! i think im going to start doing that more often, maybe break ouy my wedding dress and hold that as my new standard for 'sundays best'.. you think?....?.

I have been going to a ladies bible study by Beth Moore on the book of Esther. A very sweet friend, Sheila has been hosting it at her house and we meet weekly there and do the video segment there and talk about the previous week and share.... It's been REALLY GOOD so far. Honestly though, the first 2 weeks were a little slow but after that it really picked up. And it's surprising to me that I've been learning alot more about 'me' than i thought i was going to since i was after all studying a book based around the life of these Jews in the Persian Empire. And as you know-or maybe you dont, I am infact NOT a Jew, and I dont really live under King Xerxes :) .....I missed 3 weeks in a row becuase we were on vacation and i was really starting to miss it and actually was starting to get mad at myself that i didnt really pursue and make time for it on our vacation more than i had, but it was all apart of Gods timing! There is NO WAY i would have understood what He had for me one day -which i was technically like 3 weeks late on learning, but in Gods time frame i was just where he wanted me! Im so glad i did this study! Im still not done and everytime i crack it open im gaining more and more wisdom and knowledge and insight to who God wants me to become. Ultimately He wants me to become more CHRIST LIKE, but im begining to see the way (HIS WAY) He wants me to take.

We had our last :( bible study meeting last Tuesday, and there were actually 2 or 3 other groups of ladies that were doing the same bible study as we were around the community, so the ladies that were heading each one up came up with the idea of getting together and throwing our own little "PURIM" feast/party. If you dont know what "PURIM" means or stands for, i DARE you to read the book of Esther and find out! :) ...(im going on a 'rabbit trail' as my Pastor would stay, BUT STAY WITH ME) .....I am 21 and newly married. At the point in my life where i start carving my own little niche in the world and start becoming an 'adult' (yikes). Most of my friends that i have grown up with since we were in 1st grade have been led to leave town and start their own adventures! I did my adventuring in Reno and then as a newlywed in North Carolina. When i came back it wasnt long before most of my friends had left. So for a while i was wondering "WHO am I going to talk to? WHO am i going to hang out with? HOW could i possibly make 'new friends' in a town that ive grown up in-dont i already know everyone already? Is it possible to make new friends at 21 and then if i do will it be the 'same' as my old friends? WAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????" Iam a SUPER Extrovert so this was important to me!

AND to my shock, I CAN have new friends! *!HIP-HIP-HORRAY FOR FRIENDS!* Alicia and I went together to our little PURIM party, and i had a lot of fun! I love just talking about whatever comes to mind whether its funny things, important things, things that are troubling us, or extremely random things with friends! And im glad that God has placed Alicia to be one of my new and close friends and that He has blessed our friendship already! Another thing that is nice is when your new friends are fellow believers in Christ! Monica and Alicia really are ture blessings to have as friends.Its so nice to have friends you can just call to talk and hang out with and get together to help serve others that need that extra boost of encouragement and do it all in Christs name!

For a while I think God was showing me who my 'true friends' were. I really started noticing that people who i thought were my close friends, really were only calling me to hang out as kind of a 'last resort' and that i was doing more favors for them then spending time with them. WHICH i need to clarify that im not saying 'i dont like to do things for and help people'. Because Its the exact opposite!!! I love serving others and showing them a small piece of Christs love for us by doing this, BUT there is a point where people begin to take advantage of it and take your friendship for granted. So as painful as it is when you loose friends, im just glad to see that i have a God that is there for me and has friends lined up for me before i knew i was ever going to need them!

So the PURIM party was neat to experience. and Alicia made a VERY GOOD POINT, There is a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD reason baptists arent charasmatic. Im not really sure that if baptists included dance as a part of worship during sunday services, God would know what to do with it!? HAHAHA :)