4th of July 2014

Hi Friends!

I hope your Independence Day was as blessed as mine.

I debated what to do for the 4th of July as I  started the week off thinking I would be having a 3 day weekend. By midweek, it was clear that our clients weren't budging and I would indeed be working my normal schedule which involves Sunday. And then my boss texted to see if I'd work on Saturday. Of course, it was optional, but, I said yes. A little over-time couldn't hurt. So, that made making plans easier, instead of debating on a weekend away, I knew I would stay semi local for my one day off. 

Thursday my Dad and I got a taste of what traffic would be like for the holiday weekend as we headed to Florida Hospital in Orlando to visit my cousin who had been admitted. If you aren't aware, my cousin is in end stages of renal failure and desperately needs a kidney... you can find out more by learning about Kidney for Kristy. She was actually released from the hospital that day only to be admitted again on Sunday. This is a vicious cycle and I am so hopeful she can get the kidney she needs so she can live the life she deserves.

A friend of mine just moved back to Florida from Iowa so I invited her out on Friday, and we ventured out with another friend to Haines City's Thunder on the Ridge to meet up with yet another friend. I may have a fairly small family, but, I have been fortunate enough to have amazing friends that have turned into family, and that's what these girls are! My friends family does BBQ competitions and they were vending at the event, so, we set up shop right in front of their area. The weather was perfect. When we 1st got there it was still typical Florida, hot and muggy, but, within an hour or two it cooled off much to our surprise. And there were no mosquitoes which is always a blessing. 

^^ Red, White & Blue! Proud to be an American.

While we had yummy food at the event, my body definitely noticed the difference since I have been eating clean(er) the last month or so. They had my Elote which is corn on the cob Mexican style with mayo, Parmesan cheese and chili powder. There was NO WAY I was passing that up. And of course I had to have some BBQ from my friends family. Pulled chicken isn't that bad, right? 

Saturday was my Mommy's birthday, so, I wore her favorite color,  yellow in memory of her <3

After I got off work I made a visit to the cemetery and then met up with a friend to get ready to go out as we had plans to go to  local beer/wine/cigar bar for some yummy pretzel pizza and Framboise.

^^ All of the above girls are pretty much amazing!

It was back to work as usual on Sunday. I actually had to be in early so I didn't get to attend church in person. I had to settle for a sermon online. Either way, I can not complain. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.