It's a Good Thing

"It sure is hard getting old.. but I sure had a great time getting there!" is what a little lady said to me the other day at work. Ever since then, I have not been able to get it out of my head. What a great, positive way to look at things.

It seems like all around us these days is nothing but negativity. Whether it be from all of the recent events in the media or in the everyday lives of those around me, negativity has taken the front seat and seems to be the new, cool thing. And I can't say that I'm not guilty of jumping on the bandwagon. I'll be the first to admit that the last year or two of my life haven't been quite as peachy as the 27 before them. I've felt sorry for myself. I've complained. I've cried. I've questioned. I gave up writing. I quit laughing.  I've done it all. But at some point it all had to stop. There are too many "good things" in this great life we've been given to remain focused on the negative. The good far outweighs the bad.

On one of my down days, I was sitting Indian style in the middle of my bed reading a devotion. I was desperate for God to tell me something, so I grabbed a Bible that I had during college. I knew it was a completely different version than anything I read on a regular basis. It reads in a much more modern dialect. I thought maybe a new perspective, a new take on what the words said, would help me see things differently.

And I was exactly right. I reached for the Bible and tossed it onto the bed. I had no particular verse or page I intended to read, but God sure did. When it landed on the bed, it opened strait to a page with a title of "It's a good thing to hope from help from the Lord." I was immediately intrigued.

I read the page. I read it again. And again. And again. I shared it on Instagram. I shared it on facebook. I've shared it with numerous friends that I knew were going through a hard time. I still read it often.. And now I am sharing it here. We all need a little positivity in our lives.

It is from "The Message" Bible in the book of Lamentations and goes like this.

IT'S A "GOOD THING" TO HOPE FROM HELP FROM THE LORD.
I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed. I remember it all. O, how well I remember. The feeling of hitting rock bottom. But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope.

God's loyal love couldn't have run out. His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great Your faithfulness! I'm sticking with GOD. I say it over and over. He's all I've got left.

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter in silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions. Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst.

Why?? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return.
Lamentations 3: 19-31 (The Message)

Have a great weekend!
HE FILLS MY LIFE WITH GOOD THINGS.
Psalm 103:5

It's Been One Week..

"It's been one week since you looked at me. Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry"..
Kidding.. Kidding. Y'all know I always turn everything into a song, and now I shall have Barenaked Ladies in my head (and yours) for the rest of the day. You are welcome.

I had to have something clever to "break the (year long) ice."

But really!!
It's been one week since our little house was no longer "our" little house. One week since we have had our lives flipped upside down and went from a house to one bedroom/bathroom. One week since my sister (for the first time in my life) is not right down the street/hall. One week since we had our last beer sitting on the tailgate of our cute little driveway. One week, since we moved to a completely different town. One week... and I haven't broken down yet.

I can't decide if I'm really sad or really excited. Is it possible to be both? I can only pray that the man we sold our first house to loves it even half as much as we did. I cannot even begin to reminisce on all of the wonderful times we had there. But I also pray that our new "home" will be even more special than we can imagine at this point.

Construction has begun. Dirt work is complete. Foundation is poured. Stay tuned for more updates from "The Stump."

Y'all....

Y'all... It's been nearly three months. THREE MONTHS... that's absurd. So, I'm just going to kick it off with a little recap.

1. First and foremost... Mississippi State won the Egg Bowl! Instead of freezing our booties off, Kendol and I opted to tailgate with my family. The tailgate was complete with awesome food, a big ole' pallet and a fire in the fireplace. Genius decision, I'd say!

2. We celebrated our last Christmas in our first house (if all goes as planned). This Christmas was a bit of a struggle to me, but it was a good one. Not only was it possibly our last Christmas in this house, but it also came amidst unemployment... And that meant Christmas had to be on a budget. Christmas on a budget?? That just seems absurd to me (ha). Christmas is the one time of year that I blow it out, so it was tough, but I made it through! (the struggle is real.. y'all)

3. I started back running in January after an embarrassingly long hiatus. We won't get into the specifics... Any who, I set myself a goal for 31 miles in 31 days in January and surpassed it.. BOOM. I even busted out two 4+ mile runs. High fives all around!! Contemplating another half.. Perhaps I'm crazy and I'm getting a little ahead of myself.. Moving right along.

4. Mallory and I made our annual girls trip to Memphis a few weeks ago for the Lisa Lassandrello 5K and weekend full of fun!! This year was pretty legit! The Grizzlies were at home, so we got to attend our first NBA game. And.. it just so happened to be $25 hoodie day... Jackpot! (I'm a bit of a hoodie whore) We also celebrated over drinks, dancing and some late night soul burgers at Ernestine & Hazels.. duh!

5. And lastly, we received a little snow last week down here in Mississippi! While it didn't really stick to the ground, it actually snowed consistently over the course of a day. I don't recall ever really seeing it snow. It's always happened while I was asleep.

Besides coordinating the best little southern wedding blog around and slinging crawfish beer at Mudbugs, that's my little life lately summed up in bullet points. You're welcome! Now let's see if I can maybe do a better job this go round... or maybe I'll see you in another three months.

God is Good All the Time

God is good all the time. Period. The end.

I knew this blog was special, but I never realized how special until just two weeks ago. Nearly three months into unemployment and almost to the end of my rope, I received a phone call. A phone call that I'm pretty sure changed my life. A fellow blogger, Jamie, called. She had read my blog about losing my job.

She then proceeded to tell me that she had begun working for her wedding planner and that they were starting a new Mississippi Wedding themed blog and magazine... And that I had been on her heart... And they wanted me to write for them. Excuse?? Hold the phone?

Me? Callie Collins? Help plan weddings and write about them for a living? 

So, why me? Turns out that the glitter Mississippi up there in my blog header was the golden ticket. Kidding.. Kind of.

Day 3 of being on Team Inspire and my first post goes live on the blog. It is our first of many fabulous "Wedding Wednesdays." If you are looking for wedding inspiration, creative inspiration or just inspiration in general, INSPIRE is the place to be!!

HE FILLS MY LIFE WITH GOOD THINGS. Psalm 103:5

Peace

"When you don't know what to do, wait while I open the way before you. Trust that I know what I'm doing, and be ready to follow my lead. I will give strength to you, and I will bless you with peace." 

Those are the words for November 4th in Jesus Calling. I don't think they could be any more perfect. I don't think that there is anything else that I needed to hear more on this specific day of my life than that.

Maybe you needed to hear it to.

He fills my life with good things.

Psalm 103:5

Blessings All Around

As I quickly approach the two month mark, my spirit has been down. Way down. I have prayed continually for patience in God's amazing plan bc I know it will be amazing in His time (not mine). And I've prayed for guidance, guidance as to what I'm supposed to be doing while His amazing plan falls into place. I have had plenty of great days and I have had a few very bad days. But the truth is, there are way too many blessings all around me to spend my days saddened by my current situation.

Just over this past weekend..

My sister and her husband celebrated five years of marriage and their daughter Hayes will be celebrating her 3rd birthday on Saturday.

Two of our very best friends welcomed the most beautiful and healthy baby boy, Charlie, just months after coping with the loss of their first born.

Another great friend welcomed their first beautiful, healthy baby girl, Emma Reece.

A special friend from high school celebrated her wedding.

A special friend, of Kendol's from high school and friend of mine from college, celebrated her engagement.

A very special blogger friend of mine is celebrating her first day back to work today after 10 months of unemployment and has a precious little baby on the way.

And I spent the weekend with the love of my life and my best friends celebrating the marriage of one of my very closest friends.

And celebrating all of the blessings above.

What more could I ask for, really? The last few days have been filled with more joy than I've seen in a long time. Literally, there are blessings all around.

God is so good.

He fills my life with good things. Psalm 103:5

Let's Play A Little Game..

A little game of catch up.

It's been a hot minute since I filled y'all in on my life a little bit. Don't fool yourself into thinking I have had any free time. That could not be further from the truth. 

First and foremost, one of the most stressful weeks of my life is over... and Eleanor is now a Phi Mu at Mississippi State. Well not technically til October, but you get what I'm sayin..

Eleanor and our Aunt Patricia on Bid Day!!

Football season has officially kicked off and we have been to Starkville a few times to root on the bulldogs. 

 We had some pretty severe storms here in Mississippi this past weekend, like lots of the U.S. We contemplated not making the trip to Starkville for the Troy game, but I sure am glad that we did. We knew parking would be an issue since there would be no parking allowed on any grassy areas so we decided to head on over so that we wouldn't get stuck parking miles away. When we got there, we were some of the first, so we took the opportunity to walk around and check out all of the construction going on with our stadium expansion and see what all else has changed lately. 

This is the Dawg Walk that runs through the middle of The Junction (the tailgating area) leading to the stadium.
That's the back of the Jumbotron from the picture above.
Yes, that's a giant cowbell over there on the right...

 While I was waiting on Kendol to park and make it back, I headed to Barnes and Noble to browse around and scope out my next sweatshirt purchase. (it's seriously a problem)This was the view I was greeted with when I was walking back. I had never seen our tailgating area from the back of the amphitheater before and it looked so awesome! I just wish that I had had my good camera with me.

Last weekend, we had Kendol's ten year high school reunion. On Friday night, we went to the homecoming game (against my high school.. they slaughtered us) and had a bit of tailgate with some great BBQ by Pig & Pint and took a little tour of the school. On Saturday, they had a pool party followed by a dinner. It's only fitting that the night end at Shuckers.

And last but not least....

looky who I found at Shuckers!!!!

RACHEL!!!!!!

And there you go... I think we're caught up.