i wanna celebrate and live my life.

This post is about two weeks late, but my birthday was such a bonanza of festivities that the prospect of writing a post was almost too daunting...almost. However, I want to properly document so I can remember what I great birthday I had on September 30, 2010, so prepare yourself for an onslaught of photographical evidence that I had a most excellent 28th birthday. (No, that's not a typo. I really am just 2 years shy of the big 3-0 --wowzers.)

My birthday started off at work with a ridiculously awesome display of my team's creativity. They had totally decked out my cube with streamers, balloons and various photo-shopped pictures centered on a New York theme. I especially loved having my face inserted on the Statue of Liberty. There was a birthday lunch, a trivia game and lots of birthday treats throughout the day. All in all, it wasn't too bad for having to be at work on my birthday.





That night, Kori took me out to a birthday dinner at Coast. Not only did I get to spend time with one of my dearest friends, I also got to enjoy a beautiful setting, a great glass of wine and some really delicious seafood which included crabcakes, a seafood salad and grilled salmon.


The next day, I celebrated turning another year older with my beautiful family. We hit up Fireside Pies for some yummy pizza, salad and wine. Nick took one for the team when a rogue waitress spilled marinara sauce all down his left side. This snafu resulted in a serious chunk taken off our bill to which we were greatly indebted to Nick. Thanks a heap!







And what birthday is complete without cake and presents? We went back to Michelle's to open presents and eat the divine strawberry cake made ever so lovingly by my dad. We also toasted the festive occasion with celebratory glasses of champagne, because anytime is a good time for bubbly. (Feel free to quote me on that.)





As if that weren't enough, the merriment contiued throughout the weekend with a girls trip to my favorite place in Texas: the ATX. We headed down south Saturday morning and drove straight to Stonehouse Vineyards overlooking Lake Travis. The winery was really beautiful and we enjoyed a wine tasting at their bar with 3 white and 3 red wines. After we sampled their offerings, we got glasses of wine (bubbly for me) and took our party out on the patio to leisurely sip our spirits and listen to the live acoustic music. Obviously, superfluous photo opps were absolutely necessary.



















I think I could have sat out there all day, but we had much more on the agenda, so we packed it up and headed to check in to our hotel. We were then joined by my cousin Elisa for a quick champagne toast before we made our way to Malaga for dinner. Whilst at dinner, we sipped on a delightful sangria and feasted on dish upon succelent dish. Since it was a tapas restaurant, we were able to share about 8 different menu items and I don't think we even left so much as a garnish on the plate. From the swordfish to the goat cheese-stuffed peppers to the flatbread to the prosciutto-wrapped scallops to the artichoke-manchego dip, it was all incredibly savory and so flavorful.













Even after all that food, we still had room to sample some dessert, so we pressed on to Halcyon where we enjoyed frozen hot chocolate and made s'mores at our table. I hadn't done that since I lived in New York, and it was so much fun roasting marshmallows while sipping on our after-dinner drink. After we had closed out our checks, a waitress came over to deliver not one, but two plates of tiramisu. I thought she had made a mistake, but she proceeded to inform us that a gentleman at the bar had ordered us the dessert. After politely thanking him, we did our best to polish off the final food item of the evening, because we couldn't let such deliciousness go to waste.









We decided to make our way back to our hotel, but a familiar sound caught our attention and much to our surprise, we discovered the Spazmatics were playing at Cedars. Naturally, we had to extend our night and have an all-out dance party on 4th street. We eventually put on such a spectacular performance that the bouncer had no choice but to let us in the courtyard without paying the cover. A rockin' good time was had by all.




After we sufficiently recovered from the previous night's festivities, we ventured out into the beautiful Sunday that laid before us. Our destination was South Congress Cafe, but being the superior establishment it is, there was a rather lengthy wait. Christy and I took advantage of the exceptional weather and explored the sights and sounds of SoCo. We even got to enjoy a bluegrass band.






We wrapped up our tour and headed back just in time to be seated. We toasted the end of our trip with lovely brunch cocktails and feasted upon various sweet and savory brunch dishes. Per usual, South Congress Cafe did not disappoint.




And let's be honest, a trip to Austin never disappoints. We had an absolute blast and I enjoyed every single moment of my 28th birthday. I look forward to this new year with great anticipation.

stand up for your rights (to bowl).

So, this post is a bit overdue, but we had our BIG bowling tourney at work a few weeks ago and I knew I had to blog about it. I had heard many stories about the company bowling tournament and how it is the "event of the year" for our company, but I don't think I knew the magnitude until I actually experienced the craziness.

The tournament is about a 3-month process which includes the naming of team captains, multiple rounds of an "official draft," team themes, costumes, etc. Our team was designated the "Rasta Blastas," which was sort of an homage to Bob Marley. Other teams included "Lady Gaga," "Saved by the Bowl," and the "Gutter Gang," to name a few. Here are a few snaps from our pre-bowling festivities (burrito breakfast, trivia game, Wii bowling tournament, etc).




Our day of fun included the unveiling of our new branding which included a champagne toast (you can imagine my disappointment - ha). We may or may not have borrowed a bottle to have a team toast back at our desk. I think that was the loudest pop of a bottle I have ever witnessed.


We also were given swag bags stuffed with various items branded with our new identity. My favorite item would have to be the i-Pod shuffle in magenta pink...not too shabby.

Our very productive day ended with the actual bowling tournament. Thankfully, my team did not contain a single individual who had any competitive aspirations to actually do well, so my countless gutter balls didn't do much to dampen our spirits. We took multiple dance breaks and had a lot of fun.




Despite the fact that I'm fairly certain our team finished dead last, the day did not disappoint. I mean, any day that includes dressing up, drinking champagne and dancing in a bowling alley is a good day by me!

happy 4th birthday.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (a day late) MY PRECIOUS PEARL (HAY-HAY)!!!

The picture below is a shot of us yesterday. She couldn't wait to put on her gift from me, a Sleeping Beauty gown complete with clip-on earrings.



I wasn't able to get this up yesterday, but I can't let another minute go by without sending a huge birthday wish out to Miss Haylee Grace. She turned the big 4 yesterday and I honestly cannot wrap my head around the fact that she is already 4-years-old.

I remember so vividly the night she was born. I could have never imagined what a blessing she would be and how much fun I would have with her being her aunt. I treasure every single moment we get to spend together and especially love our dance parties. One thing is for sure, this girl takes after the Lyons' side of the family and knows how to boogie down with the best of them.

So happy birthday to you Miss Thang. I hope you have a fabulous fourth year and I can't wait to celebrate with you at your princess party!!!

an even better birthday song.

I so wanted to get this post up on my actual birthday, but alas, my attempts were foiled by birthday meals, treats and other celebratory diversions. While I love the actual birthday song and never tire of hearing it sung or singing it myself (in various off-key versions), I came across in even better birthday song, a psalm, if you will.

The following is my birthday psalm, as it is Psalm 30 (in case the connection's not entirely, if not painfully obvious, my birthday was yesterday, September 30th). I felt directed to read it the day before my birthday and truly feel it is the psalm for this year in my life and present circumstances.

Psalm 30
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.

3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.

4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.

5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."

7 O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

9 "What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help."

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

And so, as I celebrate the life Christ has given me, I will endeavor with every fiber of my being to "give thanks (to Him) forever." I give thanks to Him for every trial, tribulation, disappointment, struggle and weakness, for when I am weak, He is made strong. His grace is sufficient for me and He has the power to redeem even the darkest night.

I give thanks to Him for His incarnate love which has been shown to me by my precious family (specifically my sister, parents, dear fousins, aunt and uncle), community and loyal, steadfast friends.

I give thanks to Him for the place I am in my life, knowing I am right where I need to be and that absolutely nothing catches Him off-guard or takes Him by surprise.

I give thanks to Him for every breath I take because it means He has purposed me to live another day to serve His kingdom.

I give thanks to Him for His promise that the remainder of my time here on this earth and all my subsequent birthdays can be abundant. (John 10:10)

drift away

D.A. Carson writes:

One of the most striking evidences of sinful human nature lies in the universal propensity for downward drift. In other words, it takes thought, resolve, energy, and effort to bring about reform. In the grace of God, sometimes human beings display such virtues. But where such virtues are absent, the drift is invariably toward compromise, comfort, indiscipline, sliding disobedience, and decay that advances, sometimes at a crawl and sometimes at a gallop, across generations.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

I post this quote for myself more than anything. Over the past few months, God has been revealing this truth to me with increasing clarity. I think so many times I have prayed for God to reveal His love to me or for God to allow me to have a close relationship with Him.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a seminary graduate to realize how grossly I was missing the point. A close relationship with God marked by intimacy, love and freedom doesn't "just happen," much like a close romantic relationship doesn't "just happen" (newsflash to all you "love at first sight" people). As the quote states, it takes time, energy, reform, discipline, if you will. The scriptures clearly tell us to pursue righteousness:

Proverbs 21:21
He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

Proverbs 15:9The LORD detests the way of the wicked but He loves those who pursue righteousness.

1 Timothy 6:11
[ Paul's Charge to Timothy ] But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

1 Peter 3:11
He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

If we are charged to "pursue" something, how have we misconstrued this into something just happening, by either praying or attending church? By definition, pursue means to carry out or participate in an activity; be involved in; quest for: go in search of or hunt for. Do any of these definitions imply that an apathetic approach is appropriate in our pursuit of Christ?

At the risk of being redundant, I can't even count how many times I have wished I felt closer to God. Hmmm...let's just ask a few questions: had I been discplining myself to spend time reading and meditating on the scripture? Had I set aside specific increments of time to be still in the presence of the Lord and thank Him for His hand on my life? Had I devoted myself to love and serve others? Had I been pursuing Him with every breath that I took? A relationship takes work - a lot of work. Why should it be any different when cultivating a relationship with our beloved, our bridegroom?

The quote couldn't be clearer: we, as sinful and imperfect humans, will never naturally "drift toward holiness." Everything within our being and everything in the world around us will serve to act as a current, dragging us away from holiness and away from the abundant life promised to us through Christ.

oh glorious day.

Labor Day weekend marked my triumphant return to the Kingsland Manor and my formal introduction to my precious second cousin (?), Sophia Rose. The weather was absolutely picture-perfect, and although there wasn't much boating time, it was an absolute dream to be back at the lakehouse and reunited with some of my dearest fousins.

Truth be told, the weekend primarily consisted of a few jumps in the lake, countless hours of bananagrams (the best), a mimosa or two (natch), a nap in the hammock, ping pong, a rockin' dance party on the boat ("I throw my hands up in the air sometime, sayin' eh-oh, gotta let go"), quality time with my old married cousin (j/k) and her little "Sophers," the return of ghetto sangria and a lovely Labor Day lunch at The Grove.

Here is the weekend in pictures.


























I am blessed beyond measure to have family who constantly show me the love of Christ. It doesn't hurt that they know how to dance and share my affinity for games and Andre. Such a match made in heaven.

Twas a glorious day, indeed, to be back with my dear family on the peaceful water of the lake, where every cloud in the sky points to our mighty Creator. The stars speak of His wonder and I am moved every time I am amongst His creation at the lakehouse. I wish I could accurately depict the majesty of the sky at night. It is such a testament to Christ's love for us and I can only say holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. May I never cease to marvel at the beauty you have given us and may it always point me back to you.

impossible to grasp?

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been praying and meditating on this scripture. Paul was writing to the Ephesians and detailing his prayer for them. It is my current prayer that I might truly know the love of Christ and that I might grasp how "wide and long and high and deep" His affections are for me. Sometimes I feel it is impossible to grasp, and to some extent, that is certainly true. I do not think, in my humanness, I will ever be able to fully comprehend "this love that surpasses knowledge." I think this is why it is so hard to process and accept because if we are reliant on our own understanding, nothing about the love of Christ makes sense.

We are a fickle people, consumed with our own hurts, habit and hangups. We are far too easily pleased with the temporal pleasures of this earth. We consistently compartmentalize our lives, only allowing God to move and work in certain areas, but careful to retain control of specific things, be it our finances, job, relationships, etc. In terms of our devotion to Christ, we wouldn't put up with our kind of behavior from another human for one day, much less a lifetime. This is why it is utterly unfathomable that God not only "puts up with us," but He pursues us with unrelenting desire to be with us. What kind of human loves like this? What kind of human even comes close? What kind of human would endure rejection upon rejection, only to whisper that He longs for us to come back to Him? It makes no rational, logical sense. It is simply not lucid...

This is precisely why it has become my prayer. I know I cannot and will not understand it using my human knowledge. I must seek it with all my heart and desperately pray for Christ to help me in my finite grasp of His love. I know Jeremiah 29:13 tells me that if I seek Him with my whole heart, I will find Him. I think this applies to His love as well. I know if I desire to grasp His love and I seek it through His word, His creation and His people, He will reveal it to me according to His will and purpose.

I pray Ephesians 3:16-19 over you, dear reader, because I know if we were to grasp even an ounce of His love for us, it would change everything.