Last weekend was a good weekend: Avenue Q on Friday, catching up with Jaclyn finally, Christmas brunch at my place for 20 or so of my closest girlfriends on Saturday morning, delivering baked goods to the neighbors with Jillian and Crystal, and a good old fashioned sleepover with Tiffany and a couple of our 10th graders on Saturday night. But, the most hilarious moment was, by far, Sunday after church.

Right after I left church, I went to the gas station, as the gas light in my car had been on since the night before. I think I was running on fumes. So I stop in at the local Chevron, and fill ‘er up. As I’m pumping the gas, I notice the screen in front of me says that you get a free coffee or soda with 8 gallon purchase. If you know anything about me at all, you know that I LOVE a good deal. Did I need to free drink? Nope. Did I want to take full advantage of something free? ABSOLUTELY. So, though I had used the pay-at-the-pump option and had no need to venture inside, I went in for my free drink. I ask the man behind the counter about the deal and he directs me to pick any size fountain drink I want. After getting my drink, I turn around to leave. Now, remember, I just left church and am therefore in church clothes: an outfit including a skirt and boots. Just behind the drink area, there is a very slippery section of floor that I had somehow missed earlier. I was not so lucky the second time around. I begin to feel myself slipping, so I try to stop the process at a slight falter and not an all-out fall. Though it seemed to be in slow motion because of my efforts at stopping the fall, I was not successful. This was, in part, because the only thing near me that I might have been able to grab onto was a little free-standing metal “tree” holding every gummy snack you could imagine. Clearly, I knew that wasn’t going to provide me any stability, so I tried to avoid it. This attempt was also not successful. Are you getting the picture here? I finally collapsed to the floor (very gracefully, I might add… no skirt over the head or anything UTTERLY embarrassing), taking the stand of gummies with me. All of them. So, there I am, sitting on the floor in a heap, my drink, cell phone and wallet somehow unharmed, with a metal store fixture on top of me. The gummy worms, bears, etc. were scattered ALL OVER the floor around me. I couldn’t decide if I was embarrassed (unlikely, knowing my track record in situations like this) or if I just wanted to die laughing. But, since I was alone, I decided to make the quickest exit possible before either emotion took over. A nice man saw the whole thing (including my awkward struggle to keep from falling) and immediately came over to help and see if I was OK. He tried to pick up the metal thing and found that the leg had been bent and it would no longer stand up unaided. Oops. The foreign man behind the counter also came dashing around the corner to the sound of his store being destroyed and immediately began apologizing all over himself as I explained the slick floor and reason for my spill. I was, thankfully, able to point out to him the exact spot that was so slippery, and I was not mistaken. Something had been spilled. I tried to pick some of the scattered gummies and he told me not to worry about it. I wasn’t fighting with that and made a quick exit, leaving quite a mess behind me. Oops again. HAHAHAHAHA even as I’m typing this, I’m remembering just how freakin’ funny this whole thing was and how it MUST have looked. I called Bek immediately because I HAD to laugh about it with someone ( clearly, I made the decision not to be embarrassed but rather to see the complete hilarity of the situation), and soon we were both crying we were laughing so hard.

Someday, you should ask me all about some of my other clumsy moments. I have 23 years full of stories much like this one. In fact, I believe I once blogged about an experience while in Paris. Check it out here. I thought I had finally left that stigma behind me (or, as it would seem at times, passed it on to my sister), but clearly, I was mistaken.

Is anyone else a clutz? Got a clutzy moment to share? I love a good story…at least then I feel like I’m not the only one.

I just wanted to share this video from an organization I care about and support: The Mocha Club. Also love the song "Shovel" by Katie Herzig.

I have been absent...

It has been a very busy last few weeks. At work, we were gearing up for a huge event that happened last Saturday. We got front page coverage in the Orlando Sentinel (see here) thanks to an amazing man named Sam, my boss' hard work, and our PR team. All of this was for the launch of our Last Languages Campaign which has now "officially" begun. I have also been busy working on a partnership with Moody Radio, and as time goes by, I'm getting more and more excited about that. It is a big undertaking, and I'm definitely being "professionally stretched" into arenas I never saw myself working in, but I love the relationship building, the planning, and honestly... I love the challenge. I just need to remind myself of that on the days I get overwhelmed.

I have been winding down with the Bible study at Rollins College and tonight is our last night of the semester. I'm making the girls dinner. Remember, I love dinner parties.

I have been loving my involvement with my two churches: First Baptist and Status. God has been stretching me and teaching me a lot through the leadership and people of both of those communities. I am blessed to have two amazing places to call home. Now, I know that some people think it is crazy to be so attached to two churches and would encourage me to narrow my focus to one. But, for now, I feel as though both places are playing an important role in my life and hold a special place in my heart.

My house church (above picture at Ben and Alicia's wedding in the Panhandle) is growing more and more amazing each week. I love the fellowship we have on Thursday nights. I love that it doesn't stop on Thursday nights. I love the vulnerability we have with one another, that is continually growing (Praise God!!). I love the time I get to spend with these amazing people. And as we have been reading through the Bible together, I feel as though we are learning so much from our discussions and I cannot wait to see what the rest of this journey produces!

Greg came in town last weekend.

It was fun to spend time with an old friend, and to be around someone who reminds me of the life I loved in Texas. We had such good conversations about life...we laughed a lot...we relaxed... it was nice. I will see him again this weekend, hopefully at The Red Bar.

Went to see the night shuttle launch near the Cape in Titusville on Nov 14. Had a great group of friends there... had the perfect viewing location (thanks to Jaclyn) and really enjoyed the evening. I've lived in Central Florida my whole life and had yet to see a shuttle launch from the Cape. This might have been the last night launch EVER, so it was a good one to see.

Gorgeous... looks a little like the sun, but it is in fact, the shuttle.

Robert, Kimberly and I

Tony being interviewed by ABC. We were right near all the TV cameras and Robert, Tony AND Jaclyn were all interviewed. I know for sure that Robert was seen on NBC's nightly news at 11 that night, not sure about the other two on ABC.

I cannot wait for Thanksgiving break. We are headed up to Niceville for a much anticipated family get-together with the Tidwell side. I plan on laughing (A LOT), cooking and eating (A LOT), Black Friday shopping (A LOT), and enjoying my fam. I'm excited that my dear friends Andrew and Virginia get to join us on Thursday. There have been a lot of uphill battles in our family lately, and so I'm really excited for some time to be together.

Speaking of uphill battles... all this family stuff that has been going on has been causing me a lot of turmoil. I don't know how to describe it, but my brain feels like a battlefield lately. Every day. Lots of tears have been shed. Lots of yelling... lots of discussion... lots of anger, coupled with intense sadness. Confusion. It is a constant struggle between the truth I know of my God and the reality I am living in. I'm trying to make those two fit...to reconcile what seem like disconnects between the two. Because at the end of the day, I know there are no mistakes in God's plan, but sometimes it is DANG HARD to believe that. I'm learning to trust my Lord...in the midst of having broken trust for His people. I'm learning to forgive. I'm choosing (most days) to love. I have to stop - I'm tearing up even as I type about it. As often as you think of it, please be in prayer for my family. We couldn't need it more than we do right now.

WHEW, how's that for an update??

...all the election stuff, that is. i'm tired of it. after what feels like 2 years of campaigning by the candidates, i cannot believe that today has finally come and that hopefully, no matter the outcome, we can be done with all of this very soon. don't get me wrong, i care. i voted. proudly. but i really have had a growing hatred for everything political these past few months, and i'm glad that i will soon no longer have to see the personal attacks, bashing, anger, constant BLOG POSTS, tweets, rants, etc.

i'm tired of a lot of stuff right now, and i think my fear of allowing my emotions to rule a blog post in the way that they shouldn't has kept me from posting anything lately.

there have been a lot of good things going on (new york, which i still need to post on, ben and lish's wedding in the panhandle, friends that are amazing, church stuff, work stuff, house church, Bible reading, growth, etc.) but there have also been a lot of crappy things going on. and those are the things that make me apathetic to other stuff in life as i realize that there are so many issues going on that matter more. more than ever i'm needing to remember that God is sovereign in all of it.

wow - this is a really odd and ambiguous post. sorry, my mind is a jumble... constantly.