It's been a while...

Well so much for keeping everyone updated on my life through this. Seems this is just as hard as phone calls for me :( sorry.

Last time I posted it was December! Ahh. Well to do a quick recap-

December- Christmas! Lee spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with me. It couldn't have been more perfect. He got me an ipad. Really?! Lucky girl? Yes. Not really because he got me an ipad but because he puts a lot of thought into our relationship. He is absolutely precious. We both got sick on Christmas day, though. That wasn't fun.

January- I was still sick! I was feeling a little better; I was actually out of the house working, and such. Lee and I (and his dad, brother Andrew, and Alisa- Andrew's friend) went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl (OSU and Arkansas). We had a great time!! Not somewhere I would want to live but it was definitely fun for a few days!! Ohio State won so that made the drive home a whole lot more pleasant! On the way home I got so sick- even worse than before! I ended up with the flu. Well as we all know my birthday is Jan. 11! Oh no! It's January 4th and I'm sick?!! Well I had a birthday party with my friend Samantha (her bday is January 4th) on the 8th. We went downtown and I was so sick it was a process just to get ready to go out that night!! It was awful! I had a good time though! On Jan 10th Sonny, mom, Lee, and I went to Carrabba's for my birthday dinner! YUM!!! We had a delicious dinner! On my actual birthday mom and I went to Jim N' Nicks for lunch and then Lee took me to Cheddars (my favorite!!) and then to see "Country Strong". It was a great birthday!

February- Lauren, Mom, and Dad celebrate their birthday's this month. I've been in school and feel like this semester is FLYING!!!! I have made plans to move out in May with one of my best friends! It's bittersweet. I feel like it's time to go and get out but I'll miss being a kid. I'll take the program where you're still a kid but play "house" with your best friend :) ha I can dream, right? Well mom and Sonny are making a big move too! They are remodeling Grandmother's house and moving to Lebanon! I'm excited! I'll be hanging out at mom's pool this summer :) Dad got engaged! (Congrats to dad and Mona!) I'm going to Knoxville in a couple of weeks to see Katie dance! I love seeing my friends use their talents! I have wonderful friends who are very talented! I have been blessed with such a lovely life. It's 3 a.m. and I should get some sleep so I can be productive tomorrow! Talk to you all soon!

Linds

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

It snowed... it stuck... it's Tennessee... in December... WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!

With all finals done (excluding one- the easiest one) I am feeling a lot less stress and a lot more Christmas.

Lee is staying with me for Christmas! He will be spending the night Christmas eve! No worries- Sonny is working so I'll be sleeping with mom and he'll sleep in my bed!! Mom and I wouldn't want anyone to have to wake up alone on Christmas morning.

January 4th Lee and I will be going to New Orleans for the OSU bowl game! I may not be an OSU fan but I definitely am a Lee fan and it's important to him so it's important to me.

I can already tell this Christmas break isn't going to be long enough... Lauren will be in Mississippi for Christmas so... Lauren, Blake, Lee, and I will be going to dad's on Sunday for our little Christmas... We are doing a themed Christmas!! We are all wearing our teams (OSU, Bama, Ole Miss, and UT) shirts!! How cute?? I know...


Mom, Sonny, and I went to the Rockettes with their friends on Tuesday! I forgot how much I enjoy that show! We had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden before hand!


Mom and I are writing Christmas cards and shopping and decorating tomorrow! Some of my favorite things to do this time every year! We went shopping the other day and we laughed all day! She is funny.. or crazy... I haven't decided yet... :)


Let's talk about being an adult.... I HATE IT. Ok sometimes it's cool but when you spend $156.50 (yes I had to tell you down to the cent) on brakes - that's when being an adult just sucks. I enjoy the freedom but I NEED A BIG GIRL JOB IF I'M GOING TO BE A BIG GIRL!!!!


That's all I have to say for now... Better get to sleep if I'm going to shop, Christmas cards, decorate, and work (at my non-big-girl-job.)... Good night.

Linds

Just once?

I only wrote once in November?? My bad! :(

Must mean my life is crazy...

Here's a brief update in a nutshell-

Thanksgiving in Ohio.
Grandmother passed.
Finals.
Christmas decorating.
Work.
Boyfriend.
Cousin Korie.
Planning a Party.

I'm ready for Christmas break- I get to hang out and enjoy my time with my friends and family without stressing about school work.

Girls night :) Can't wait. I'm ready for all of my girlfriends to be done with school and back home (the ones that live away obviously) so we can all get together and celebrate Christmas together!

My friend Samantha and I are planning a birthday party together! Her birthday is January 4th and mine is the 11th (like y'all didn't know)- so we're having a birthday party together on the 8th! I'm so excited about it!!!

Kenny's "Somewhere with you" tends to be on repeat in my head these days... No complaints though!

I think that's about all I have for now... Sorry it was so scattered and random.. but you'll understand.. right?

I love y'all

Linds

A little late...

So of course it's been a while since I've updated you guys... Sorry about that... Like I said in the first post- I'm TRYING to keep this up.

School is crazy busy. Professors are trying to get everything in before the end of the semester.

Work is nothing but ridiculous. DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. I'm not the center of it or even in it so why does it bother me?? I think it bothers me because work used to put me in the best mood! I could have a horrible day and walk into work and just light up. Now a days I can be in the best mood- go into work and be ready to walk out in 5 minutes. There's nothing like a restaurant to turn mid twenties people into 6 year olds. I'm definitely getting tired of it. I'm thinking about looking for a job somewhere like a hospital? I think I'd like it. (or I hope so considering that's what I'm spending thousands of dollars to go into). I'm thinking about applying at Cheddars opening in Mt. Juliet soon. I know it's just another restaurant and it's going to be the same 6 year olds and the same drama but I think serving there a couple nights a week I could make a pretty decent amount. One thing about the restaurant business that I'll admit is good (if you're a server) is that if you decide you want to go somewhere (6 flags) or you want a new cell phone just because- you can pick up an extra shift and make some extra money that night.

On to more fun things-
Hannah is doing well and I love getting to spend time with her. I frequently think about my friends who are married (at a ridiculous young age) who don't get to have sleep over and silly nights with their best friends and it breaks my heart. I love the crazy nights I get to spend with my friends.
I miss Katie on a daily basis. I'm ready for Christmas to get here so she'll be home :)
Hailey's birthday is coming up soon (Monday). She is at MTSU now but somehow I see her just as much as when she was in Knoxville.... how does that happen??
Kristen had to withdrawl from Tech because of health issues. She has been diagnosed with all 5 types of epilepsy. Be praying for her please.
Mom is sick right now- some virus. It's sad :/ she's pitiful. We went to Christmas Village the other day- that's always one of my favorite things to do with mom. We have so many things that I will always enjoy doing- even if I don't see her as much these days...
Sonny is doing well. He started decorating for Christmas already.
Then there is my precious boyfriend. Every time I think he is just as good as it gets- he gets better. He is the sweetest thing. He got us Garth Brooks tickets :) He went to church with me :) He makes me laugh all the time... literally- ALL the time! He is the funniest person I know. Y'all will like him as much as I do- I know it. He will be going to the Welch family Thanksgiving with me and I'll be going to his family Thanksgiving with him (in Ohio... going North for the holidays..) And he'll be spending Christmas with me and all my families :) I'm so excited we get to be together during the holiday season. There would definitely be a huge part missing if he weren't here.


Then there's God... I've started a new devotional book- it's called "Jesus Calling"
I'll share today's entry with you-

"I am Christ in you, the hope of Glory. The One who walks beside you, holding you by your hand, is the same One who lives within you. This is a deep, unfathomable mystery. You and I are intertwined in an intimacy involving every fiber of your being. The Light of My Presence shines within you as well as upon you. I am in you, and you are in Me; therefore, nothing in heaven or on earth can separate you from Me!

As you sit quietly in My Presence, your awareness of My Life within you is heightened. This produces the JOY of the Lord, which is your strength. I, the God of hope, fill you with all Joy and Peace as you trust in Me, so that you may bubble over with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Sometimes I forget that God is always with me- of course I remember when I'm happy or I've been obviously blessed; but when I am afraid or worried I tend to forget WHO is beside me. The comfort I have when I remember God is beside me always and will never leave me is so far beyond any comfort even my sweet mom could give me as a little toddler when I was sick. There is nothing better than knowing My God will always love me and hold me close to His side. Even when I mess up I know He still holds me right under his loving arms. He won't let go... now it's up to me to hold on too.


Love you guys... see you at Thanksgiving. (Lee will see you too!!)
Linds

Laughter is good for the soul

Well this is the boy again :)

We always have this much fun- which would be the reason our first pictures together weren't serious. I think we would have a hard time ever taking a serious picture. We were eating cheesecake and had a little leftover... haha.

My abs always get a great workout anytime I see him. We laugh at the most ridiculous stuff. Things that no one else would find funny could keep us laughing for hours.

We watched Reba tonight with momma and had some great laughs with her. Mom is a funny person too- so she fits right in with us!!

I hope these pictures make you laugh :)

Love y'all.

The things we thought never went together.

Cookie dough pancakes? Yes please.

I'm learning lately that when you put two seemingly normal, but very opposite things together it turns out to be pretty great.

Last night I was hungry and mom had bought a pancake skillet for making "silver dollar" pancakes. They are the cutest things. If you live in my house you know that pancakes are my specialty. Cracker Barrel ain't got nothin' on me. I'm pancake princess around here. Well I saw the skillet and said let's do it! I bought some cookie dough the other day just to eat (that's another thing- I make cookies from scratch and they are what's up!). I buy cookie dough at the store because it's a guilty pleasure. Well I saw my pancake batter and my cookie dough and I thought- why not?? So I put chocolate chip cookie dough in one of my pancakes. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!! It was just wonderful. The cookie dough kind of half cooked and the chocolate chips were gooey and it was just perfect!!

I realize I just wrote an entire paragraph on cookie dough pancakes, but I think we all know I can't tell a short story.

A few other quirky things I like to mix- I love to put jalapenos on my grilled cheese sandwiches!!! yum! I like jalapenos on anything involving cheese really. I like Jack Daniels swineapple sauce on my hamburgers. Well let me just tell you about my hamburgers-

Mom grills great hamburgers. We also use sourdough bread as our bun. We grill the bread of course. I put sweet relish, swineapple, mustard, and tomato on my grilled sour dough hamburger. Yes sir! DEEEEEEELIOUS.

I think I'm hungry right now... That could explain a blog post devoted to food... Good thing I'm about to go eat at church! Nothing like a little C-of-C cooking!! :)

Eat well

Linds

A list of rules or something more?

(Try to hang in there- this one could get long)

Today I had lunch with one of my favorite people in the entire world, my very precious friend Katie. We went to Olive Garden like we do most lunch dates (guilty pleasure, I think so.) She lives in Knoxville so it's definitely a treat when she comes home!

She was talking to me about a book she's been reading called "The Shack"- maybe you've heard of it? Well let me interrupt myself to say I absolutely love talking to Katie because we have very similar views on just about everything- actually there hasn't been one thing we've ever disagreed on. She is the one friend I have never had a fight with and she's the one friend I've never even be mad at. I positively love this girl. Back to the nitty gritty. I haven't read the book (yet- I plan on buying it tomorrow or Sunday) but she was giving me the run down. Basically (her version) it's about a man who felt God called him to stay in this shack for a week. He spent a week with God. He is saying in the book that the Bible, the 10 commandments, the "rules" God gives us are just ways of having a relationship with Him. Which I'm sure is nothing new to you. Of course we follow the rules and make God happy. Katie verbalized everything I've thought but never knew how to explain. God doesn't say "you have to do this or you're going to Hell". These things He gives us are guidelines to living a life in a relationship with God. He doesn't make us follow these "rules". If you have a relationship with God you just want to do things to please Him, right? I do not believe this is an excuse to kill, lie, steal, commit adultery, etc but I do believe following these guidelines just comes with having a relationship with Him.

If you put it into another relationship it's easier to see. Parents. They've got rules right? And their rules are there because they love you (or that's what they tell us anyway). If a child doesn't follow their parent's rules that doesn't make the parents love them any less does it? It will however put a strain on the relationship. You will have a hard time ever getting along. As children we don't really want to follow the rules or do the things our parents want us to but we do it out of respect because we love and appreciate our parents. If parents didn't have rules kids would probably feel a little unloved or un-cared about (if we are honest). I have a feeling if I asked my mom about not following her rules she would say something like "I will always love you, nothing you could do would ever change that (she said that the other day so I know for sure she'd say that part) but I have guidelines to living here and being around me; if you can't live with those then you may move on". A very Felica thing to say.

We also use this when choosing friends. If there are people who do things we don't like or we don't approve of do we keep them around? Do we hang out with them outside of school or work? Nope. We may not hate those people and we may even respect them but we still don't have much to do with them because they aren't like us.

We should probably try this in our other relationships (such as significant others). As a younger girl I had soooo many rules and lists for guys. I wasn't a very good girlfriend. I had rules and guys had to follow them... The guys I dated had rules and I had to follow those. Lately I've realized I don't need rules for guys I date. That's so stupid!! I should like the guy for who HE is- not who I MAKE HIM. I could like anyone if they followed my stupid rules. What a GREAT feeling to not have any rules but have a guy do or not do the things I like or don't like because he respects me and our relationship! It's so so so ridiculous to have rules in relationships! You don't want someone who is just doing something because it's on your list of things that is ok because that's just you doing all the work. Let someone show you they care by not doing something they know would hurt you or upset you because they WANT to. Imagine the divorce percentages, the young heart aches, the high school break ups that could have been prevented if the world started using this method of dating or marriage? You know the things you can live with and the things that are a deal breaker- if your significant other doesn't satisfy these then move on! Don't try to change someone!! Just go fishin' and snag you another one! Oh how I wish I had known this earlier! I'm only 19 so I guess I'm lucky to know it now!!

Imagine our relationship with God if we used this with Him. If we did things He appreciates because we love Him and we long for a great, healthy relationship with Him, and not because we look at the Bible as a list of rules He gives us because He has nothing better to do! God has plenty to do without checking up on us and checking His daily rules checklist for Lindsey Welch today.

Easier said than done though. I'm preaching to myself more than anyone here! In the God aspect I sometimes think "Wow God I don't feel like following rules today" (Just being honest). I shouldn't think of it that way. In the parent aspect I don't agree with my mom's rules but I respect her so I'll follow them but sometimes I honestly do it just to keep the peace (again just being honest). In the significant other aspect I don't have rules (you can't go here, you can't talk to her, you have to text me every 2 hours, etc) but sometimes boys don't make the best decisions so I tend to try to make them see it my way (still not a list of rules but let's BE HONEST AGAIN and just admit boys need a little help.) As a female I can look at a sitaution before I do it and say "would I be mad if he did this" or "how is he going to feel about this" (most of the time I'm good at that) and if I decide I wouldn't like it then I can say I care more about him to hurt him like that. It's a simple concept but so hard to put into practice.

Prayers for that are appreciated!! :)

That's all... sorry if it took you your whole lunch hour to read this!

Love you all.