It's a new day!

Wow....it's crazy that my last post was over a year ago!  So much has changed since then!  The last blog I wrote was putting myself out there to the world, hoping that my Prince Charming would read my blog post and come looking to ride in (or write it) on his white horse and sweep me off my feet.  It didn't exactly happen that way.  But it did happen.

After the "Show Me Your Singles" blog failed me, I decided to put myself out there and attempt online dating again. It had never worked for me in the past, and after two of my closest friends began dating people, I knew I had to do something.  I told my friend Grant one night, "I guess I'm just going to have to join Plenty of Fish to find me someone, too".  Grant asked "Is that really a site?" and I said I didn't know but I was going to find out.  It just so happended to be an online dating site, and the only one that was free.  Free was definitely the selling point on that one! 

I set up my profile with POF sometime around March, had some interesting conversations with lots of weirdos, and men interested in more than dinner and a great conversation.  I went on a couple of dates with guys I thought had a lot of potential, but when it was over, I realize they either had no personality or they had girlfriends.  After finally deciding to get off of what I can only describe as a rollercoaster of ups and downs from this online dating experience, I decided that it was time for me to take a break from it for a while.

On April 13, 2013, I went to the Tim Hawkins Comedy show at my church with some friends.  After the show, I went to Applebee's with several friends.  I was talking about the website to a friend and she asked how it worked.  I pulled out my phone and pulled up the app and began to show her how it worked.  There is a part of the app that's called "Meet Me".  Here you can scroll through pictures and select yes, no or maybe.  The first picture that popped up was Shane's....and I selected "Maybe".  I didn't know that it would send him a message saying that I wanted to meet him....until I got a message from him a few minutes later.  When I got home from dinner, we began talking online, and talked for hours.  We exchanged numbers and talked on the phone for hours the next day....and the next, and the next, and the next day.

On April 20th, I met him in person for the first time.  I new that Shane was different than the other guys I'd dated before.  He was kind, sweet, he even brought me flowers.  He was considerate, thoughtful.  I'd never met anyone like him.  Three weeks later he told me he loved me and I was glad because I didn't know how much longer I could hold it in myself!

When people ask us how we met, I always reply "Online, like a couple of weirdo's" because I never imagined that's how I'd meet my prince Charming.  He's better than anyone I could have ever dreamed up, ever could have hoped for.  I waited 34 years to meet him....and he was worth every second.  I'm not going to lie, the waiting was the hardest part.  After countless relationships that failed, some ending in tremendous heartbreak, some just making you mad, and some leaving you with a sigh of relief that it's over, I can honestly say that all of it was worth it. The Lord blessed me tremendously with Shane.  

On September 21, 2013, Shane asked me to marry him.  After ring shopping for several months, I was beyond ready for him to drop down on one knee.  One night, after having dinner with friends for a birthday party, we went to help our friend Cindy, who was at the church having car trouble.  While Shane and our friend Michael worked on her car, Cindy, Gina and I decided to walk up the the huge cross at our church to take pictures.  Shane and Michael finished playing mechanic and walked to the cross, where Cindy offered to take our picture.  I put my arm around Shane, and, like I'd done many times before, whispered to him, "You know, now would be a great time for you to drop down on one knee", to which he replied, "You know, that's not a bad idea!", and pulled out the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. 

In 60 days, I'll marry that man.  The one whom my soul loves.  I'll change my name and I'll be his wife.  I wondered if I would ever be able to say that.  There were a lot of times prior to meeting Shane that I wondered if I would ever get married.  If I was destined to be "single for life".  A dear friend of mine and I were having a conversation over lunch one day and I told her, "I just want to know", to which she replied "You can't know...you just have to live life the way it is right now and trust that the Lord will take care of you".  It was such simple advise but just what I needed.

For the single ladies out there that are "just wanting to know" what it is the Lord has for you....quit stressing. I know that's easier said than done, but you can't know.  That's not the way the Lord designed this life.  We don't get a blueprint.  We just have to trust Him.  He'll always take care of us.  Trust him. 

Single's Day!!!!

Ok, so this is a little out of the norm for me....not just actually posting a blog, but putting myself out there.  It's been almost a year since my last post and so much in my life has changed, but I'll save that for another day, another blog.  So here it goes....

My BFF, Gina Mayfield, ran across this wonderful blog kellyskornerblog.com that each year does this thing called Single's Day.  She's done it for years and she's had several couples meet through her blog and eventually even get married!  Now, I realize this isn't the conventional way for me to meet my future husband, but hey, let's face it....the conventional way hasn't really worked for me either, now has it.  So, I'm putting myself out there, as did Gina, who wrote the sweetest, nicest "blurb" about me on her blog, because she's trying to get me fixed up as well.  Such an honor to be loved like she loves me and to have a friend like her.  Here's a picture of us on her wedding day.  That's me on the right. 

For those of you who've known me for a while, you should be forwarding this to every single guy you know.  For the rest of you, looking for a pretty, Jesus loving, funny girl to share your life with, then I may just be your girl.  My name is Karen, I'm 34, never married, and I'm from a small town just outside of Birmingham, Alabama.  I love Jesus with all my heart and want to love him better every day. I'm looking for a man who loves Jesus, and seeks to serve Him in every aspect of his life.

I love to laugh and love to make others laugh.  I've been told before that I should try standup comedy, but I'm not really a joke teller, I'm more of a story teller, so I'll pass on the open mic nights at the local comedy clubs.  I love, love, love to sing, and I help lead worship on the praise team at my church every other Sunday.  I'm very active in the Single's Ministry at my church.  I'm a natural born leader, so I come to life in a group of people. 

I love going to concerts, movies, dinner with friends, shopping and spending time with the people I love.  I'm always up for a roadtrip, whether it's an hour away or a long trip.  I love to travel, and I love to go places I've never been.  I'm always up for an adventure.  Here's one of me and my friends at a wedding. 

I work as an Assistant Branch Manager for a credit union in Birmingham.  I absolutely love my job and the company I work for.  The Lord has really blessed me and given me the opportunity to work for a great organization.  My job doesn't define me but it opens up a lot of doors for me to show the love of Christ in a practical way to people on a daily basis. 

So, if you're interested, I'd love to hear from you.  If not, thanks for taking the time to look and maybe you know someone that I'm a match for :)

If I've Said It Once.....

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I'm a horrible blogger. I think all the time about what I could write about it but it really gets away from me. I guess it's time to catch you folks up on my year. To my 13 faithful followers....thanks for sticking around.

Well, well, another year has come and gone, and to be quite honest, I was not sad at all to say goodbye to 2011. I hesitate to even say that because in essence, aside from a bump in the road, it really was a great year. In February, my brother, Jonathan graduated from Army Basic Training. Me and my roomates (aka, my parents) as well as my sister-in-law, Brittany, flew out to Oklahoma City for his graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, Oklahoma had just been hit with the blizzard of 2011 and there were 18 inches of snow on the ground. After having 3 flights cancelled and spending most of the day trying to figure out how we could get there, the sweet flight attendant from Southwest Airlines got us all straightened out. We finally got to Oklahoma City around 1am and then drove (in the blizzard snow) to Ft Seal about an hour or 2 away. Needless to say, we were exhausted, but seeing Jonathan walk across that stage made it all worth it. I was so proud to see him accomplish that!

We spent a few days around base, then drove back to Oklahoma City and got to visit the bombing memorial. It was incredible! It's unbelievable how many people survived such a horrible event! It was a really cool museum and I would suggest you all go visit it!

In March, I left the banking world and came to work for Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association (SDEA) as the AtlantaFest Administrator. Most of you know I've been volunteering with SDEA for years, and I'd been praying for an opportunity to come on board full time, and in March a position was created and they offered me the job! It's been a huge challenge but I LOVE it! AtlantaFest is a 3 day Christian Music Festival held in Stone Mountain Park each June. As administrator, I am basically in charge of making it all come together. I'll talk more about AtlantaFest later.

In April, the big tornado came in and wiped out much of Pleasant Grove, my sweet little small town. I won't talk about it too much, but thankfully, my home was spared and we didn't have any damage. I wish I could say the rest for the city I love, but thankfully, now, the rebuilding stage is beginning. Each time I drive around and see a new house pop up, it gives me a little more hope for the future of good ole' PG.

In May, I got to go to North Caroline to the mountains of Maggie Valley with 11 of my closest friends. After literally almost drowning on a white water kayaking trip after falling out 3 times and being washed a mile down the river with nothing to stop me, thankfully, my friend Wes Butler saved my life.

This is the best picture I could find to show you:

Needless to say, I'm not really an outdoorsy girl. That water was like pure ice water! Anyway, other than that whole near-death experience, we really had a great time and even got to take part in the block party the little town had. Nothing like dancing in the streets to live music. Now that I like :)

June started the craziest month of my life! With AtlantaFest in full swing, I didn't have a lot of time to celebrate my birthday like I normally do....you know, with a month long celebration. I did have dinner with some great friends and played putt putt afterwards.

AtlantaFest was held June 15-18th and we had a blast getting to know lots of new people and seeing lives changed! I can't wait for the next one! I did almost get arrested for driving a golf cart on the side of the road, but you know, no big deal.

While we were at AtlantaFest, my sister in law, Brittany called to tell me that she was expecting their first baby, my nephew Ryan! They are stationed in Ft Stewart, Georgia, which is located just outside of Savannah. I went to visit them in June with my parents and we had a blast! Savannah is a beautiful city, full of history, and my favorite, of course...spots they filmed movies in. My dad couldn't pass up the opportunity to pose as Forrest Gump in this spot:

Goofball. I guess you can all see where I get it. Anyway, I stayed a few days longer than my parents, and on the way home, stopped to see my other brother, Jordan, his wife, Kari, and my neice, Hannah, also known as the cutest kid in the world. Who couldn't love this kid?

Anyway, while we were talking, Kari tells me that she and Jordan are expecting their 2nd baby, my niece Leah! WHAT?!?! The Bankston's are out of control! 2 babies within a month apart? So needless to say, we're going to have babies out the wazoo coming soon!

In August, I FINALLY graduated from Huntingdon College with a degree in Business Management. I travelled to San Francisco to visit my Aunt Susan and her family and had a great time! I love Northern California! We also visited Sacramento while we were there, but best of all, Palo Alto! If you don't know what's in Palo Alto, let me show you.....

We had a blast. Well, aside from the holidays, that's about it for good ole 2011. It was a fun year. I made some great friends, shed a lot of tears, but God is good. Stay tuned!

Life in a Small Town

I grew up, like many of you, in a small town. My little town was my whole world, and anything outside of it barely existed in my eyes. I grew up knowing my neighbors, and playing at their house (outside of course). We snuck down to the creek, when I promised my mama I wouldn't go...always coming home soaking wet from falling in. We pretended to be on Kids Incorporated and rode our bikes around the block over and over again, until the bug man came and sprayed the neighborhood for mosquitos and you either rode behind him taking it in, or if you were like me, ran inside because your mama told you it was poison. We listened for the ice cream man, and swung on the swing set in my back yard, jumping off when we got so high in the air that we could almost touch the clouds!

My mama let me stay home alone after school (in the 4th grade!) and in the summers because my friend's mom was always at home if I needed anything. We swam in her above ground pool and jumped on the trampoline, and ran through the sprinkler. When we got thirsty, we drank out of the hose pipe. If it rained, we stayed inside listening to old records, or watched VHS tapes of "Creep Show" or Alice In Wonderland.

When my mama would come home, I would be ready to go to ball or cheerleading practice or the Athletic Complex to play softball, cheer, or watch my brother's play baseball, football, soccer, or basketball. We practically lived there. For dinner, we would eat whatever my mom cooked, or we ate at the ball park. Eating out was for the weekends, and when we did, my PawPaw always went with us, letting me count the money in his billfold on the way.

One summer, I went to my friend Michelle's house every single day at 10am and watched The Price Is Right, followed by Dirty Dancing. We'd play Barbie's or ride bikes after that, but always, without fail, had to watch The Price Is Right & Dirty Dancing.

Opening Day of little league was always a big day! All of the teams would get together at someone's house the night before for a team party while our parents decorated the trucks for the parade the next morning. The parade was followed by a huge carnival at the park where we would play needle in a haystack and go "fishing" for goldfish that would die by the time we got home with them in that plastic bag. We sold raffle tickets and ate barbeque at the ballpark. We played our games and got free cokes afterwards. While the other teams got ready to play, Mr. McDonald, better known as "Goat" would line the fields while we played cup-ball near the batting cages.

We rode a school bus to Woodward Elementary, passing the house with the chickens in front on the way, and had sock hops and 4-H talent shows. We took field trips to the zoo and the Children's Theater, but nothing was better than going to the Space & Rocket Center with Mr. McCrory in the 6th Grade. As 6th graders we took a tour of the high school and had our class picnic at the park.

We travelled the halls for the 1st time as 7th graders, realizing we were small fish again, and hoping that we got a top locker. We loved assemblies and pep rallies and would pay $1 for a prom fashion show, even as a Jr. High student if it meant we got out of class. We fell in "love" with senior boys, and got our hearts broken when they never looked our way. We did book reports on "Where the Red Fern Grows" and wore our Dick Tracy t-shirts tied on the side with our jeans tight rolled.

We held spend the night parties, rolled yards, and prank called people from our home phone...our only phone. We had lock-ins at church, choir tours and beach retreats. We took road trips to Opryland and Point Mallard in the summer.

We went to football games on Friday nights to walk around the track and meet boys, not to watch the games. We dressed up during homecoming week, and had wars between the Juniors and Seniors. We won baseball state championships, and cried at graduation.

Everyone knew you and all of your business. We knew the mayor and he knew us. Life in our sweet, small town, hasn't always been great, but it's home.

On April 27, 2011, a massive tornado came in and tore down a lot of the houses that my friends used to live in. While it may have destroyed the way our little town had looked for all those years, it didn't destroy our sense of community. I think I love it much more today than I did on April 26th. Sometimes you just don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

What's your small town like?

Wow....I thought I'd be better at this

Ok, so I'm a terrible blogger. I don't necessarily think it's my blogs that are bad, because I read over them and laugh and think, man, this is good stuff, it's just that I'm terrible at updating it regularly. I'm going to go with it's quality not quantity. Now that you all think I'm the most arrogant blogger on the planet, I'll move on.

I had a great summer! I took a trip to the beach with the family, which was my neice, Hannah's first experience with sand and the ocean. We had a great trip, but Hannah enjoyed her time in the pool much more than the beach :) . It's hard to believe she'll be a year old in only 2 weeks. I'll never forget the first time I laid eyes on her.

*Random side note: as I'm sitting here in the Books a Million in Fultondale, AL it never ceases to amaze me the things that people will wear. This lady is browsing the video game section with a shaved head and a braided rat tail down her back. I mean...I want to say, "Ma'am, the 80's ended 20 years ago...and is that really the look we want to go back to? " Come on. *

Anyway, back to my summer. I worked really hard this summer, even took a full load of classes, so by the time September hit, I was ready for another vacation. Gina, Cindy, Rebecca and I set sail from Mobile, Alabama on September 6th on the Carnival Elation "The Fun Ship" and headed out first to Cozumel, Mexico. The first night on the boat I won a karaoke contest and got to the opportunity to sing R.E.S.P.E.C.T. as Aretha Franklin in the Carnival Legend's finale show on the ship the last night of the cruise, in full costume (and wig) for about 1500 people. It. Was. Fantastic!!!!!! Definitely typical Karen Bankston type stuff.

Cozumel was great! We shopped in the markets, ate authentic Mexican food & hung out at the beach all day. It was GORGEOUS!!! I've never seen water so clear in all my life. Rebecca decided that since "you only live once" she would go snorkeling, which proved to not be the best decision since no one on the boat she went on spoke English and she'd just had guacamole. I, however, chose to spend my time getting a deep tissue massage on the beach, which was a GREAT decision!

Our next stop was Calica, which was just a rock quarry, so we took an excursion to Playa Del Carmen for more shopping and a private beach. It was a GREAT day! Playa Del Carmen was beautiful! I bought a beautiful bowl for my coffee table and some Christmas ornaments. Once we got to the private beach, we quickly found that apparently it's appropriate to go topless. Needless to say, the Fantastic four did not partake. I did, however, go ahead and have another massage, while on the beach. I'd gotten a little burnt the day before so I didn't want to spend too much time in the sun, and the 2nd massage was a great idea.

The best part of our trip, was meeting a very sweet couple, Brook & Chuck at breakfast on Tuesday. The are children's minister's from Missouri and we had the best time hanging out with them and getting to know them. They had a couple that was sitting at their dinner table from Arkansas, who are youth ministers. He looks just like Vince Vaughn, so that's exactly what we called him!!! It's was nice to be able to go on a trip like that and run into other believers that you have stuff in common with!

It's was a sad day to have to get off the boat and come on home, but we got home safely and watched the Alabama vs Penn State game with some great friends. Summer's officially over and it's time for my favorite season: Football Season!!!!!! ROLL TIDE!!!!!

On A Sad Note....
Around the end of July I bought a new car, a beautiful black 2011 Toyota Camry. It's definitely the nicest car I've ever owned with it's gorgeous stone colored leather interior. My coworkers like to pretend I'm their chauffeur, letting me drive everyone to lunch in my fancy new car. It's amazing that I've actually kept it clean for the past month and 3 weeks. It's been washed several times, so it's already got one up on the Cavalier. I even named it...never done that before, but I went with Ebony. On my way home Thursday night, I saw a car stopped in the middle of the road, waiting to turn into a subdivision. I swerved to miss it and ran off the road hitting a telephone. I should find out next week if it's totaled but thankfully, I wasn't hurt, other than a few bruises and a broken heart.

While I can't promise I'll do any better with my updates, I'll definitely try. I look forward to hearing from you all so comment away.

2 blogs 1 week

This is my neice, Hannah. Clearly, I'm her favorite aunt, but I digress.

I know it's very unlike me to post 2 blogs in month much less within a few days of each other, but what can I say. I'm a giver.

I started having some cell phone trouble a couple of weeks ago. The charger wouldn't register so the battery was dead and I marched into Verizon to get it fixed. This is a pretty boring drawn out story that makes my head hurt so I'll keep this short and sweet. I finally got my Blackberry back. Now, much like a car, a phone has to know you love it. When I was on the Blackberry bandwagon I never had any trouble with it, but now, I've been talking about wanting an IPhone and just to be honest, my little Blackberry's gotten depressed. I've decided not to mention another word in the presence of my new phone about the Iphone just to keep the peace between me and my Curve. At least until my contract with Verizon runs out in January.

With all that being said, I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of replacement Blackberry. I've had to go back to my old phone which has not faired too well. After waiting a week (that seemed like a month) for the new Curve I spent an hour trying to get it activated this morning only to walk out the door and leave it at home. Typical.

So, anywho. I decided make the plunge and rejoin the choir at church. It shouldn't have been such a tough choice, but I really felt like the Lord's given me a tool, and I need to use it instead of being lazy. I've only been to 1 practice, since spring break was last week, so I'll be back tonight singing away.

In 2 weeks we'll have the last Easter service in the "South Campus" of GFBC. That's what they're calling the existing worship center. We should be in the new building in a couple of months. It's hard to believe that we'll finally be in it. We've been talking about the new building since I came to GFBC, so I'm really excited to see it happen! God's done such an incredible work in that church over the years and I'm thankful that the Lord brought me there.

There are so many exciting things to look forward to in the coming months so stay tuned! This Sunday, the Senior Adults are cooking potluck lunch for the College and Young Professionals and they're having a little entertainment for us so I can't wait! No telling what might go on!

Things to stay tuned for:
1. Strange things I see while working downtown
2. Summer concert series
3. Summer adventures/vacations

This Is My Story, This Is My Song

Well, since my friend Amanda (www.amandafmoon.blogspot.com)decided to share her testimony, I thought I would straight up copy her and do the same.

I've been thinking about sharing my testimony at our weekly women's bible study for the past few weeks, but I always struggle with what to say. I think it's because I often times discredit my story because it's not a big "come to Jesus meeting" kind of story. None the less, I know that when other people share their testimonies that have similar stories as mine, it really means a lot, because I realize I'm in the same boat as they are, so here it goes.

From the time I was 2 weeks old, I have been in church. In fact, those 1st 2 weeks were possibly the only 2 weeks I had ever missed church until I was in college other than when we were on family vacations, and I have never been resentful or regretful of the life that my parents made for me. I always loved being there. I can remember as early as 3 years old singing the old Dottie Rambo song Germs, My Invisible Dog, in the Down By The Creekbank childrens choir musical and can remember the ugly looks I got from my mama when I wasn't acting right in the choir loft (although she denies them).

I was raised in Wylam Baptist Church, the same church my daddy went to growing up, until I was 10. We moved our letter to FBC Pleasant Grove that year, and in the same year I was baptized. I knew at the exact moment that I found myself shimmying out of the pew making the walk that felt like the Green Mile that I didn't have any business going up there. My cousin, Amy, had gone the week before and was getting baptized that night, and I knew that if I got baptized I would be able to take the Lord's supper, so that night, I was baptized. I knew that if I was to die I would go to Hell and it terrified me.

As I got into junior high, nothing really changed. I was still a good kid, and I was at church everytime the doors were open. At 14 I went on a Spring Break trip to the beach with my youth group, came home and found everything I could on how to be a Christian and accepted Christ as my Savior that day. I was baptized a few weeks later and my life was changed. As I got older, I stayed very involved in church, and felt the Lord calling me into full time ministry. I'm still not quite sure what He has in store for me in that area, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

I started my internship with the Rick and Bubba Show on March 7, 2000 and became a part time employee shortly thereafter. I was a huge fan of the show before I started and still love listening, but I hear the show differently now. The difference is in my relationship with the show. Before I knew who they were, but didn't know them. After working with them, I have a personal friendship with them and understand the things they talk about because I know them, I don't just know who they are. Isn't God the same way? I had known who God was my entire life, but I didn't know him until I had begun a relationship with Him. I read His word from a different perspective because I know Him. When He speaks to me I know His voice.

While I've lived a good life, I've made a lot of mistakes. I am a sinner. I in no way, shape, or form have lived a perfect life, but God has been good to me and has protected me from a lot of the mistakes I would have made on my own and thankfully, loves me despite the stupid decisions I make everyday.