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.

Conference Season

Ok, Ok. I know it's been way too long since my last update. I had a half of a blog completed a month or so ago, but changed my mind on what I wanted to write about. I can assure you with American Idol and The Bachelor back on the air, I'll be back on the blogging train again.

I guess I should catch you all up to speed on what I've been doing with my life lately. In December I made the move to the UAB branch, which wasn't a big move...only about 12 blocks, but nonetheless, it was a move. God has perfect timing. and knew I needed a fresh fire under my feet to be able to keep doing what I'm doing.

Since last December I've been volunteering with SDEA (Scott Dawson Evangelistic Association) at their Strength to Stand winter conferences and at Stadium fest in the Spring. It's been such a blessing to be a part of their ministry and the Lord has shown me so much in the past year since I began volunteering and I've made some of the most incredible friends. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. ". What an incredible word from the Lord! I never thought a year ago, that I would have the friends that I have now. You have each been used by the Lord to show me just how much He loves me.

Now, a lot of you ask me what it is that I do when volunteering. In the past I have always worked the merchandise tables, but in January I got a different role. Stage manager. Needless to say, I was pumped, but really nervous. I wasn't really sure what to expect, even though I'd observed Kelly, our stage manager for the December conference. This was a different ballgame. At our January conference, we have 3 venues, each with our own worship band and emcee, but we share the speakers each night. It's my job to make sure each person is on stage and off stage on time (down to the minute), making sure videos are on time, and communicating with the band if they need to sing additional songs. If I'm not on time, it messes all of the other venues up. Now, y'all know I'm the queen of being late, but for whatever reason, they decided to give me that role anyway.

The worship band that was at my venue was Fee. Incredible. I'd never heard of them until then, mainly because I never know the names of bands, but I bought both of their albums after getting to know them and worshiping with them this weekend. Check them out at http://www.feeband.com/.

On Sunday afternoon, Jonathan (Brother Smothers) and I went into Gatlinburg and spent some time with our friend Jenks. While I was there, I met up with some friends from high school. Apparently I didn't get the memo that there was a class of '96 reunion that weekend, because there were tons of them there together, apparently having a couples retreat. Maybe that's why I didn't get the memo.

Anyway, the weekend as a whole was great. The Generation Band, who is from my church, got to open up our big night, followed by Fee, then Scott Dawson spoke. We had approximately 288 confirmed decisions, and gave out over 500 of the books that they used to share the Gospel, so there were possibly more . Praise the Lord!!! Toby Mac ended the big night for us.

It was so hot in the building during Toby's set, I talked my friend Amanda into stepping outside with me to get a little mountain air. As I sat down on a cooler outside, Amanda, decided she should inform me that it was wet. Not a little wet, but a lot wet. My whole backside was SOAKED after that. Luckily, it dried up just before the lights came back on, but that's what I get for making fun of people.

The last day of conference is always bittersweet. I was exhausted from staying out all night the night before on an adventure with Brooke (Barbie), Jonathan (Brother Smothers) and our new friend Brandon. We were all standing around getting ready to take our group picture when I heard some girls yelling "Macy, Macy", and all a sudden a girl comes running up to the steps and jumps. Now, at this point I thought to myself, "Macy ain't gonna make it" and needless to say she didn't. She falls to her knees and rolls into the group and I LOST MY MIND laughing! I've attached a picture so you can see the look on my face after it happened. Best fall ever! People kept singing, "Macy on the ground, Macy on the ground, looking like a fool, Macy on the ground"! I have laughed about that for DAYS!

After all the commotion of the fall, we loaded up on the bus and headed back to the Salty 'Ham. I love Birmingham, but I was so sad to leave Pigeon Forge this time. I love being around people that love the Lord. No matter what I'm doing or where I am, there's nothing like it. I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of their ministry. The friendships I've gained over the past year are ones I will forever thank the Lord for.

Stay Tuned for my next blog installment. I've got a lot going on in the next few weeks, and although this one was a little heavy, be assured that there will be plenty of humor in the ones to come!

Obsessions

Those of you who have known me for while, know I get on kicks. It started with squeeze candy, you know, the kind that looks like it's in a toothpaste tube, but oh no, it's candy. I know it sounds gross, but I tried it once and then I was hooked. I found myself getting a tube everytime I saw it at the store, or the gas station. I even had a small travel size that I had on a keychain once. Then it was Capri Suns. I never really drank them as a kid, but as an adult they can be SO good! Especially when they are super cold, even a little frozen sometime. I rememember when I was in the 6th grade at Woodward Elementary, the big thing was the green Hi-C that had Slimer from Ghostbusters on it. Those were the days. After the Capri Sun kick, I went on to FunYuns, which I affectionately call, Fun Yums, as I'm sure all of you can understand why. I was on 2 bags a week before I found Cheetoo's Naturals White Chedder Cheese Puffs. I also had a brief weakness for Old Wisconsin Beef Jerky. I don't even know where it comes from. I heard on a radio show one day that a girl and her roomate were addicted to Hawaiian Punch. They went through, brace yourself, 10 gallons a WEEK!!!! Can you imagine? When they asked her what started it, she said, it was a 2 for the price of 1 special at Publix!
I really haven't gotten on any new kicks in a while, and once I'm done with it, I'm really done. So here's my question: Am I the only one who does this? What do you get hooked on? It could be anything...Facebook, Farmtown, Twitter, Myspace, Mafia Wars. What's your hangup? What makes you quirky? I realize that by admitting this quirk, you all are probably ready to have an intervention with me, but trust me, it's not necessary.

Poor Blog, How I've Neglected You

For my 8 followers out there, I sincerely apologize for my lack of blogging. After the finale of American Idol, I just thought I didn't have that much to write about. For those of you who know me best, you know that's a lie though, because this summer I have been going nonstop and quite frankly, I think it's gotten the best of me. Since my last post SOOOO much has happened that I think we should talk about!

Sugarland
I didn't really realize how much I liked their music until I went to their concert. My sister in law, Brittany went with me, along with a friends from church. When we walked through the gates, we were given a little package with a little card from Sugarland that said "Thanks for coming to our show" and inside was a glowstick and a thing of bubbles. At one song in the show, everyone pulled out their glowsticks and one one show everyone blew bubbles at the same time. It made it SO much fun! It really made us feel like we werent just ticket sales to them, but like they really wanted us to enjoy being there.

Michael Jackson
How could I go any farther without at least mentioning it. For those of you who haven't heard, Michael Jackson is dead. I know, I know, you're shocked. Michael passed away on the same day as the Sugarland concert. I'll be honest with you, I was pretty sad about it. It's sad that someone could have that much and never know what it means to be truly happy. I remember as a 6 year old being SO excited when my Aunt Susan gave me a Michael Jackson glove, belt (with a glitter glove buckle) and t-shirt that she'd gotten from his concert. If only the Michael of those days had never changed. Thanks for the music, Michael.

New Kids On The Block
After the devistation I felt when they cancelled their Birmingham concert back in May, I didn't know if I could bring myself to go through the heartache of buying another NKOTB concert ticket, but I sucked it up and purchased 2 tickets for me and my friend Gina to see our grown men in Memphis, TN. My friends Mandy, Melanie & Lindsey had already purchased their tickets, and thinking I couldn't get off work, didnt buy mine then, so I drafted Gina into making the roadtrip with us and away to Memphis we went. As we stopped along the way, just inside Tupelo, to the Pizza Hut for lunch, I saw a family that I'm certain were inbreads, but I'm not here to judge. I knew that we were almost there. Gina and I were sitting in the 2nd tier at an amphitheatre that didn't have a bad seat in the house. I think it was called Mud Hill. Great place for a concert! There were 5 platforms in front of each section, just in front of our tier. Gina informed me that she saw on You Tube that they were to come down from the stage and each guy would be on one of those platforms. We had 2 platforms that were , I kidd you not, 15 ft from us. I was sure we would get the shaft and get Jon and Danny, but when I saw Donnie walking my way, as I live and breathe, I thought I would D.I.E. die!!!!! I just kept yelling, we got Donnie, we got Donnie! We had a BLAST!!!!! My girls, Mandy, Melanie, & Lindsey, got Jon, however. Sorry ladies. After the concert we went on the Waffle House run, hoping to see them (along with every other cougar in town) only to find out they wouldn't be stopping by, since they were all sick with summer colds. Oh well...we gave it a shot.
The next day we got up and decided to take a trip to Graceland, home of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. You know what they say, "When in Rome..." so when in Memphis, you know we had to see the king. I've always said that there's no such thing as gaudy (usually talking about diamonds) but I'll be the first to say that Elvis proved me wrong. While some parts of the house were beautiful (the Peacock Room, for instance) others were just downright hideous (such as the paisley draped rec room). Apparently I'm a super slow walker though, because it took me a good bit longer to get through it than it did the other girls. The highlight of my trip to Graceland was by far, seeing the jumpsuits and singing karaoke with Elvis. LOVED IT!!!!! I had a great time.

California Dreamin'
On July 4th I flew out to visit my Aunt Susan and her family in sunny California. I flew in around 1:30pm their time to beautiful San Francisco, and made an immediate stop to In & Out to get a burger and one of their famous neopolitan milkshakes. If you've never had an In & Out burger, you don't know what you're missing! SOOO good!
We picked up my Uncle Farzad (he's from Iran) and headed to one of Susan's friends houses where they were having a little party. When I walked in, I was immediately a novelty because of my stunning good looks...um, I mean, my Southern accent. One lady took one look at my blonde hair, blue eyes, and said, oh, you must be from Farzad's side. I looked at my aunt, who also has blonde hair and blue eyes, and just said..."No, not exactly". I thought, how could anyone mistake my lily white skin for me being Persian? But, I digress. The next lady came in and was talking about her husband who's from South America. I said, "Where exactly is he from?", to which she replied "South America". I said "What part of South America? I was in Peru last summer". She told me he was from Venezuela, and he came in and she said, "Honey, this is Susan's neice, she's from Peru". He looked me up and down, and I just simply said, "No, I'm from Alabama, I just visited Peru". I learned there on my first day that California is called the Granola state for a reason. Once you remove all the flakes, all you have left is a bunch of fruit and nuts.
While in California, I visited Sausalito, San Francisco, Carmel, Monteray, Santa Cruz, and San Jose. My aunt lives in Livermore, which is right in the middle of the wine country. I had SOOOO much fun sight seeing and visiting my cousins, Brianna and Sherizad (Sher) that it was really tough to leave. Carmel was absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've been to (home of Clint Eastwood and Pebble Beach). I took TONS of pictures. Visit my facebook page to see those (www.facebook.com/blarinkaren).

Always the Bridesmaid
My best friend, Kendra got hitched on July 25th to Mr. Stephan Reese. I had double duty at this wedding, as a bridesmaid and wedding singer. She was a beautiful bride, and Stephan is a very lucky man. I made it without shedding too many tears. She got to the altar and realized she'd left Stephan's ring in the bride's room. I didn't know it until I got a tap on my shoulder telling me to pass the ring what was going, but it all worked out. I did however, catch the bouquet. I'm 4 for 4 this year.

August
Well, so much has gone on this month I don't even know where to begin. I took and extremely short trip to the beach, found a little jewel called the Cotton Gin in Hanceville, AL (I'll discuss that in a seperate blog) and finally finished and passed my Statistics class. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about later, but I think your eyes may pop out if I go any further, so until then, I'll have to say goodbye.

Sorry for such a long post but I had to get this whole summers worth in!

-Blarin Karen

Concert Frenzy!!!!!

Well, needless to say it's been a few weeks since I last updated my blog. I've decided that this is the summer I say yes to almost anything. As result, I had plans to got to Virginia Beach (which, sadly, was cancelled), Nashville, Memphis, San Francisco, Gulf Shores, and Destin (which I'm having to cancel as well). I've already been to see Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert (and Blake Shelton), Kenny Chesney, Mikey Wax, Nathan Angelo (who was AMAZING!!!), Tim Brantley, and Josh Hoge (who was really good also). You may have never heard the the last four but you should DEFINITELY go to itunes and listen to their stuff. I'm going to see Billy Courington and Sugarland tonight, and my sister in law, Brittany & a couple of my friends, Rebecca and Andi, are going with me. I'm not a huge Sugarland fan, but I really like their music and I know they'll put on a great show. I'm leaving a week from today for Memphis, and I can't wait! I'll be going with my "Favorite Girls" Mandy, Lindsey, Melanie and Gina for the New Kids On The Block concert. I'm going to go ahead and give Mandy a birthday shoutout on this weeks blog, since we'll be celebrating on Friday while we're there. Stay tuned to hear all about our adventures in Memphis!!! We'll be hitting all the Waffle House's in town looking for the New Kid's after the show. I didn't have time to get my "Hey Donnie, I'm a big girl now" shirt made up, so hopefully my unbelieveable good looks will just have to capture his attention.

San Francisco
We're driving back to Birmingham on Friday, and then bright and early Saturday morning (July 4th) I'll be flying out to visit my out in the beautiful city of San Francisco. My aunt and her family actually live in a city called Livermore, but I'm super pumped about going and visiting the fam! For those of you who know me best, you know I'm someone who likes to be going all the time. My aunt's the same way, so I know we'll have tons of places to visit and sights to see. The last time I was there, her daughters were in school, so we had to be back early every afternoon, but this time they'll be out of school so we should have tons of stuff we'll be able to do. I'll be back in a few weeks to update you all on what went on while I was there, but in the mean time, have you been to San Francisco? What are some things I should do while I'm there, and please, spare me the jokes!

Another Year Come & Gone

Goodbye 30
I said goodbye to 30 this week. I'm not sure why but to turn 31 was especially hard for me. I think because I'm no longer just a number but I've now begun the infamous 30's. There's just something about that apostrophe s that makes me a little uneasy...even kind of panic like. It's like my life's suddenly on this time table and it puts me immediately in freak out mode. None the less, I began my birthday the right way...goodbye 30, hello 31. I had a big party, dinner with friends at the Comedy Club Stardome, and dinner tonight with my married friends.
Let's discuss:

Blarin Karen's Birthday Luau Blast at theBenefield's
Ok, that was a lot of b's. Sorry, I got carried away. My great friends, Jeff and Joy called me a few weeks ago to discuss plans for my birthday party. We decided to celebrate early because they had a lot of weddings planned to go to in June and I figured what better way to say goodbye than with a party at the Benefield's. Jeff and Joy got married March 28th and honeymooned in Hawaii, so I knew they would be experts on throwing a luau-themed birthday.
Jeff and Joy did a great job getting the word out and we had a lot of people show up. We had chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, smoked sausage, mashed potatoes....they went all out! I've celebrated my birthday for the past 3 years at Jeff's and this was my favorite one to date. Everyone came dressed up in their hawaiian shirts and leis . My facebook friend Andy Palys (who is Jeff's college roomate) and his sweet wife Becky made a trip down from Arab for the party too, so that made it even better!
One of these days I'll learn how to post pictures on this blog, so I can show you a picture of the cakes that my friend Jen made. One looked like a volcano and one was a beach scene.
After things started to die down a little we played Rock Band. I, of course, had control of the microphone for a while, and I enlightened all of my friends with Blondie's "Call Me", Bon Jovi's "Livin On A Prayer", Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder &Lead", and finished it out with Dixie Chick's "Sin Wagon" .
When I got home I had to use the restroom really bad, so I was running into my house. When I ran up the steps one of my flip flops got hung up on one of them bricks and I fell face first into my front porch. I decided that this was the night to bust out my new white jeans (I read they were back in style) and so when I scraped up my knees I wanted to make sure that (a) they were't ripped (b) they weren't blood stained. Fortunately no blood was shed on this spill, but when I fell I hit the door, waking up my roomates (aka my parents), so my mom came to the front door to find me with my pants rolled up stumbling through the door with one shoe on asking me if I was ok. Needless to say, all was fine, just two bruised up knees and a lot of commotion.
All in all, it was a great night, though. Big props to Jeff and Joy for making it a really special night for me. I'm so thankful that I have friends like them. Everyone needs people like them. They are always there to encourage, call me out on things, and push me to be a better Christian and friend. I consider them not just friends, but more like family.

Sunday
I woke up really sore from the tumble I took the night before, so I was running late for church. When I got in the car, the clock said 10:15 and I really didn't think I was running that late, but I just figured time had gotten away from me. I pulled in to the parking lot at 10:40 and thought about sitting in the car for 10 minutes until it was time for Sunday School to get out so I could walk over to the service with all of the good boys and girls that got there on time. I thought about it a little more and decided just to go in to Sunday School for the last few minutes. I expected to get some looks, but when know one said anything, I thought, "gosh, am I late so often now, that it doesn't even surprise anyone?". Andy, our singles minister, was talking when I came in and then said that Linda was going to speak. I thought, "Man, he's only giving her 5 minutes to talk, so she must only be saying a few quick words before we go into the service". She got started off just like she normally does and no one was looking at their watches to see how late we were going to be to church except me. I looked at the time on my phone and low and behold, it was only 10:15. I didn't know it but my car battery was going bad and it kept messing up the clock. I'm glad I was able to make it, though. Sunday was a good day at GFBC. After church, I went to lunch with the whole fam to Brio and then had dinner with Rebecca, John Austin, & Andi the girl at Cocina Superior, two of my favorite restaurants.

Comedy Club
I got the phone call earlier in the week that I had won a few tickets to the Comedy Club Stardome. John Morgan, who has been on the Rick and Bubba Show several times over the years, was the headlining act. I'll be honest with you, John's always been a super nice guy, but I've never been to his show. I was really impressed with his show. He was hilarious!!! One of the funniest shows I've been to in a long time. The hostess for the night was a girl named Michelle Thomas. I don't know if I thought she was funny just because she's a big girl or what, but I laughed at her a lot! She does a lot of big girl comedy too, and I'm pro that. I checked out her website (www.michellelovescake.com) and read up on her. She's a Christian comedian, and she does a clean comedy tour. Anyway, after dinner we had some dessert and cheese dip at Cocina Superior (wow, twice in one week!) and it was back to the house.

The Wrap Up
I would say that all in all, I had a good birthday. For those of you that weren't able to celebrate with me (and you know who you are), you're in luck because I celebrate my birthday for the entire month of June. Aside from a couple of emotional breakdowns at the thought of being over 30, I had a lot of fun, and realized now, more than ever, that my friends are really the best. I had a hundred facebook wishes and tweets to go along with them. Thank you all for being such good friends. I love all of you! Until next week.......


PS: Follow me on Twitter @blarinkaren