She Reads Truth

We all need community. More so, we all need biblical, gospel-centered community. Over the past 9 months, I have been extremely blessed to be a part of an awesome small group. I am thankful to the Lord for his blessing in pairing me up with such a wonderfully diverse and beautiful group of ladies!

While I am extremely blessed and thankful for my small group, I am also extremely blessed and thankful for the She Reads Truth community and Bible Plans. I have mentioned it briefly before, but it is totally worth spending a little more time on. 

She Reads Truth is essentially a place, a forum, for women across the nation to read and study the Word together! It's a community that shares stories, testimonies, and prayer requests. You don't know each of the women personally, but you do know them as sisters in Christ, maybe sisters-to-be in Christ, and even as partners in prayer and in living a life that brings honor and glory to the Lord. 

One thing I love about SRT, is the many avenues there are to interact with everyone. They're on Instagram, Twitter, and shereadstruth.com. 

Another reason I absolutely love SRT is because of the wonderful reading plans. Being honest, there have been some better than others, but overall each of them have been perfect avenues to some special time in the Word everyday. Each plan is organized for daily reading, and includes scripture and a short devotion. All of the plans can be found on YouVersion. 

She Reads Truth has been so, so good for me. During weeks that I haven't been so consistent with diving into the word, I've turned to an SRT plan to reboot my mindset. When I crave the Word and am on the go, I can always pull it up and enjoy a few moments of time with the Lord. 

Some of my favorite plans have been Philippians, Hosea, and Songs of Ascent. To see a list of all of the plans, go here. 

That being said, by no means am I conveying that She Reads Truth, in itself, is what this is all about. It is all about being consistent and being accountable to other sisters for reading the Word daily and spending time with the Lord. HE is the goal and the center of it all! 

I am so excited that She Reads Truth has just recently celebrated the 1 year mark! Praise God for the women that devote themselves to writing, planning, and encouraging all the rest of us through SRT! I am especially looking forward to the "Women of the Bible" plan that is coming up very soon! How fun and valuable it will be to study the characters and hearts of 30 women from the Bible! 

Join in! 

*To find out more about the Who?, How?, and Where? of SRT, follow the links. 

The 5: Top 5 Designer Accessories I Would Kill to Own!

If I were a rich girl (na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na...sorry couldn't resist a song reference). Let me try again. If I could have unlimited access to designer fashion, these are the top 5 most coveted, sought after items I would look for and thus, must-have purchases that I would make. (Thanks to InStyle, Lucky, and Teen Vogue back in the day, years of research have been compiled into this one little list!)

Let me additionally preface this by saying, that this round is precisely about accessories because, well, I am an accessories girl. (Clothing pieces are a whole other conversation.) Always have been. Probably always will be! They make an outfit. Seriously, they just do. 

1. A Balenciaga City Bag

Balenciaga Classic Town Bag in Black 

2. A pair of classic Christian Louboutin pumps

(...okay, and maybe a crazy fun pair, too! Aahhh, that signature red heel, it speaks to me!) 

Pigalle Patent Pump in Black

Fifi Strass & Spikes Pump

3. A Classic Louis Vuitton Handbang

Speedy 30 Bag

4. A Cartier Watch

Ballon Bleu de Cartier Watch

and last but not least...

5. A Tiffany & Co. Diamond Necklace

Elsa Peretti Diamond by the Yard Necklace

So, there they are, in all their glory. My top 5 classic pieces. Now all I need to is to access that imaginary Burberry trench coat of mine to wear with them! That would be a killer outfit, no?!

Sweet Summertime

"Two bare feet on the dashboard
Young love and an old Ford
Cheap shades and a tattoo
And a Yoo-Hoo bottle rollin' on the floorboard

Perfect song on the radio
Sing along 'cause it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss
It's a sip of wine, it's summertime
Sweet summertime"

I can most definitely agree, with Mr. Kenny Chesney...bare feet, sunnies, perfect songs on the radio...sweet summertime, indeed.

One of my most favorite things to do is go see my favorite artists, and even sometimes new artists, perform. I. love. concerts. (I think that I may have inherited this deep love from my Dad!)

So, how excited was I when I found at that a local radio station was going to be sponsoring a free FREE show this week, featuring the up-and-coming, handsome, and talented Charlie Worsham! At first I wasn't quite sure if I was going, but all it took was reminding myself of how much I love hearing his new single on the radio! Sold!

A few text messages later, I invited a sweet friend to come along and join the party and the plans were set. Who could resist a deal like this?

photo courtesy of http://studentmedia.uab.edu

I arrived a little before showtime, and as I was waiting for my friend A., noticed that the venue had a St. Louis Cardinals game on a few of the TVs! (For those who may not know...catching a Cardinals game on TV in Alabama is not exactly common. Even less so if you don't have cable. Ha.) Nonetheless, it just added to my excitement!

My sweet friend A. arrived and we headed out back for the show! 

Charlie did not disappoint, and we had a BLAST!

I couldn't have asked for a more well-timed, super relaxing, and fun night. It's been a crazy stressful week, and a little dancing, music, and a beautiful southern summer night was exactly what I needed!

Did I mention they brought out the banjo, at one point. Banjo is the best. Seriously. I think maybe A. and I should consider taking banjo lessons, because it is just that cool! 

I had so much fun with this girl, and as she put it, "Summertime and friendships are the best!"

Farmers' Market Frenzy: East Lake Farmers Market

As Summer rolls around, it seems fitting to go explore the various farmers' markets set up around town. I am not too experienced when it comes to farmers' markets. However, I really want to be! Thankfully, there are quite a few in my neck of the woods! To join in on the fun, I have picked four local markets to visit over the next few weeks. The key items on my list: zucchini, new potatoes, strawberries, peaches, blueberries, and maybe some fresh herbs and peppers. 

First up, East Lake Farmers Market!

Thanks to a little extra time before work last Saturday, I had the chance to visit the East Lake Farmers Market. Little did I know that it is within mere blocks from my house. Now, it's nothing grand or fancy, but has just enough of all the things you need!

Its location in the rear parking lot of a beautiful church is just such a special treat, in itself. Look at this place...

Walking around I found quite a few little gems...things like homemade jam with the coolest vintage-y labels! I may have to try some of this next time, just because of the cool packaging. What can I say, I'm a sucker for design! 

I also ran into this gentleman who so kindly spared some of his fresh-from-the-garden zucchinis...for a small price, of course. 

And just a few tables down, I came upon a baskets full of these beauties. Fresh peaches! 

One of the greatest things I discovered as I was wandering around, was that this particular market partners with and organization called P.E.E.R., Inc. The title stands for Promoting Empowerment and Enrichment Resources. Their mission is as follows:

P.E.E.R., Inc. aims to empower a thriving, diverse community in the eastern area of Birmingham through resources for healthy living, learning, and working.  We do this by connecting people to existing resources and creating new resources to meet needs in the areas of community health, economic development, and education.  We aim to enrich the lives of those with limited resources and place special emphasis on children and seniors.

I mean, how great is that? I really love the idea of community forces working together to benefit the good of everyone. 

After my brief visit, and a few dollars spent, I went home with a HUGE bag of snap peas, some zucchini, and some gorgeous peaches! Trying to decide which recipes to use on the other hand...now that's the challenge, and a fun one at that! 

Ponderings from a First-time Professor

As of today, I am about to complete my second week of teaching a Preschool Development course at the University of Alabama. Two weeks, already?! That means it is half over! (The course is a summer class that only lasts a little over 4 weeks). It is flying by. 

Some of the concerns or anxieties that I had before beginning this little adventure have disappeared. For instance, I'm not really as intimidated as I thought I would be. Additionally, the class is small in size which is conducive to many things, one of them being plenty of time to answer student questions and devote individual time to each one as needed. 

I haven't been a professor long, but I've learned quite a few things already!

1: I still have to study. 

Just because I am the teacher does not mean that I no longer have to study class material. In fact, I probably have to study it 10x more than the students. Being as I am the one relaying the information, I have to have a well-rounded and significantly detailed understanding of every concept that we discuss in class. (Just making notes for class lecture, can take hours.) If I can't communicate, then my students can't learn. If my students can't learn, then they can't pass. (It is safe to say from experience that I had just as much, if not more, test anxiety than my students before and during the first exam! Whether or not they did well would be a reflection of how well I am teaching. Eeeek. Good news is...they did pretty well on the exam!) Bottom line, I always need to know what I'm talking about. If I don't know, then I need to be able to express why that is the case. 

2: Be prepared. Be REALLY prepared.

As the teacher, it is my job to be able to a) teach the curriculum, and b) be able to answer student questions. Making sure that I am up to date on all knowledge concerning assignments, exams, and day-to-day class can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Thankfully, I have a brain that can't stand to be unorganized, especially in situations such as this one. It's a lot to be the professor, the grader, the question-answerer, the facilitator, the scheduler, and the accommodator. However, it is also quite exciting. That part about being REALLY prepared...those moments come when things like a lab orientation video decides to stop working halfway through, the projector decides it wants the day off, a student doesn't show up until week 2, and/or Blackboard decides that it doesn't like to work...barely ever! Things happen, and constantly having to be on my toes can be kind of a rush! It's exciting, in an odd sort of way.

3: I have a valid reason to wear cute outfits everyday!

Let's get this straight, I wore cute outfits during my time as a graduate student. However, as a professor, I get to "act" and "look" the part. It may be insignificant to some of you, especially to some who may have had to dress for their careers for years, but to this newbie, I'm loving every second of it. I've kind of even mentally challenged myself to wear a different outfit everyday of class for the entire 4 weeks?! So far, so good. And can I just say, the outfit for day one was killer! (Think black and white striped maxi dress, a lime green blazer, and a fantastic teal blue statement necklace!) A girl has got to look fabulous, right?!

4: Being the leader has its benefits.

One of the best things about taking on this role, has been the challenge that it provides. I have now studied psychology/sociology/child development/family studies for 5 years. Teaching this class is almost more of a test of my own knowledge than it is of my students' knowledge. I'm finally getting the chance to see if I really do know the things that I claim to know when it comes to child (specifically Preschool) development. It is most definitely one of those "practice what you preach" moments! Thankfully, for the most part I feel like I really do have a pretty good understanding of these areas. It's nice to hear people like my advisor say that I have a "really great foundational knowledge of child development", and that I can communicate it in a "very concise and clear manner". It is even nicer, though, to experience that and believe it for myself. 

5: It is still weird.

I am a teacher. No, I am a college professor. No longer a college student. The reality of this is still just a bit strange to wrap my head around. Good news is, that that is part of the novelty. By not being able to fully adjust to the idea in my mind, I think it has helped me really, truly live in the moment and enjoy the experience as it happens! 

6: I really do love Child Development!
Children truly are fascinating little creatures! It's a privilege to get to talk about ALL the ways in which they grow!

Here's to hoping that I am able to finish well! The Lord has provided me with the opportunity, and it is my goal to bring him the glory and the thanks by doing the best that I can. Hopefully, at the end, this will be the case!