Lessons Learned The Hard Way

The source of my frustration is hanging on the back of my bedroom door, and the black sheet placed behind it only magnifies the flaws that were obvious enough. Spots and stains, rips and tears, alterations, discoloration---this isn't what a wedding gown is supposed to look like! 

Tinged, but easy to clean. Hemmed, but not torn or adjusted. I purchased with an expectation of receiving an almost perfect dress. Not completely without flaw, but something close. It's been days now, back and forth, back and forth with the seller, how could you sell something so obviously messed up!?

I pull out my camera. Flash on. Flash off. Snap! Snap! Snap! So many pictures, so many angles of so many flaws. Righteous indignation, man. I paid alot for this dress!

Put the dress away, or leave it? Forget it, it can't get any more messed up than it already is. Leaving home, returning hours later, immediately regretting that I didn't put it back. The last thing I want to do is go to sleep with that overbearing, beautifully flawed dress looming over me.

I stand. I stare. The white on black. Then it hits me. This is what He's trying to teach me.

That. Dress. Is. Me.

to be continued...

When Life Happens

Today has been some kinda day, man, SOME. KINDA. DAY. (The caps are very necessary. You gotta get the emphasis!) And I don't mean it in a bad way, but I am just shaking my head just in awe at...everything! And I don't mean it in a good way either, per se, just in a wow-look-at-how-life-just-happened-all-up-in-my-face-when-I-wasn't-even-expecting-it-to kinda way. You get me?

So this morning I take my dad to the slug line, as usual, nothing new there. (For all you non-DC area readers, slug line is our lingo for the commuter lot! I'm too tired to explain much further than that, so if you still don't get it, Google has just become your best friend.) I went back to sleep when I got home, and when I woke up, I just laid in bed for a bit thinking, Wow, I overslept again!? Let me go ahead and going for this day! A couple Sundays ago my pastor preached this EXTRA-convicting sermon about daily devotions, and did I mention it was convicting? I had gotten so caught up with stuff happening in life that I had been putting my time with the Lord on the back burner. (Sidenote: That affects EVERYTHING. No joke.)

Okay, rewind!

sluglineoversleepinglayinginbedthinkingaboutwhattodo

Oh, right! So ever since that sermon I've been much more diligent with spending quality time with Jesus, and this morning I grabbed my Bible and my Our Daily Bread, or whatever that little devotional pamphlet is called. The reading for the day was from Acts 16, when God let Paul and Silas to go to Macedonia and spread the gospel and the people they met along the way and the persecution they faced that eventually led to souls being saved. (Take some time to read it! Gotta love Acts!) Well the message in this devo was basically saying to be open to the Lord's leading and not get frustrated when plans don't go how we foresee that they should because ultimately God is sovereign, and He has a plan to work all things together for good! I meditated on this, and really felt the Lord leading me to seek Him regarding changing my perspective on how I view "mishaps" during my everyday life.

Alright this is getting long-winded and it's about time for me to go to bed, so let me attempt to speed through the rest (attempt being the optimal word). That beginning part was the foundation though! So I had my devo and the Lord kept it on my mind. That's when I tried on the wedding dress I raved about yesterday. Can I just say... I shouldn't have raved so early? Okay, I'll say it: I shouldn't have raved so early. I'm not going to get into the whole situation, but saints/readers/friends, please be in prayer that I can...handle some things. Lol. No really! Butttttt, guess what?? The Lord has a plan with this little detour, and I must say I look forward to seeing how it all turns out! Once all is well and good, of course I'll share in more detail. ;-) But this was the first thing during the day that had me really applying what I read in my Word.

While my mom and I are handling my dress situation, another situation arose: my brother's super nice football cleats got stolen!! Right before practice, with a game coming up soon! Seriously, though? People are trifling, and it's super shameful how students just go stealing other people's stuff! Grrrr. Rant over. Anyways. So my mom had to pause to handle that while I'm still trying to handle something with my dress and this is right. before. work. UGH! Bad timing!! ...or wait...God has a plan right? I calm myself down and stop freaking out and I smile and I chuckle and I say to myself, Detour, that's all! (Oh, and an exciting highlight with the shoe situation! Whoever stole the shoes managed to leave them on one of the benches on the field after my brother's practice without being noticed. Praise the Lord! He probably convicted him into giving them back to their rightful owner--however indirectly lol.)

So I finally get to work, right? I got there for a little after 3:00pm today, and though I wasn't too down or frustrated about the prior two situations, I was immediately confronted with issues at work, one of which may leave me out of a job! Now at that point my anger and frustration were really starting to rise, and it was showing. So I turned away. I breathed. I reminded myself that no situation that arises is outside of the Lord's knowledge or control, so what am I doing wasting time and energy worrying? I let it go, left it at the Throne, and I'm trying not to take yokes on myself that Jesus wants to take from me. How freeing! And then along came a customer who I really enjoyed working with, so that lifted my spirits.

When I got home, I was ex.hausted. And hungry. If you know me, you know that is never a good combination. If you've read any number of my blog posts, you know that is never a good combination. So I took off my shoes, and walking gently (my feet ache after standing on them for 8 hours straight!) I head straight to the kitchen, purse and coat still on. After downing a tasty piece of chicken (I had the chicken ready for dinner for my fam before I even left for work! GO ME!! hehe), I was ready to relax. A lovely email reminded me that my dress situation isn't over, so I handled that as much as one can at 1:00am, then called my boo. Lemme just say...when it rains...it pours. Yep, that's right, ya'll, it ain't ova!

I won't disclose our conversation, but when we finished talking all I could do was cheese and laugh. And certainly not because we'd just had a funny conversation. (Trust me.) I could probably attribute part of my weird reaction to the fact that I was tired and I can randomly have these maniacal giggles when I'm lacking sleep, but in reality I was actually feeling (and still feel) kinda excited!

Like I said before, this day has been somethin' else. But to be able to see God's Word ALIVE in this day in the reality of it's application is bringing me ridiculous amounts of joy. And you know what? I count it a privilege that God would see fit to allow me to go through such things as this; though minor in the grand scheme of things, and certainly temporal, I see them as a beautiful opportunity to grow closer to my Lord and be conformed into His image! Plus I get to love on and support my amazing hubby-to-be in the process, and I seriously just can't think of a greater gift than that.

"Disappointment--His appointment,"

Change one letter, then I see

That the thwarting of my purpose

Is God's better choice for me.

~Young

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

Yes, I'm Still Here!

Just in case anyone was wondering I have not fallen off the face of the earth or disappeared into world wide web oblivion. What's that you say, no one was wondering? Ah, who cares. :)

Life has been bizzaayyy lately, and Lord knows I want to blog more frequently but unfortunately it just keeps getting pushed further down on the priorities list. Can I give you some highlights though? ...I'll give them to you anyway!

This busy woman you see right here is me. Though I totally should've totally  photoshopped my  face in and used Paint (the program...not actual paint!) to color her arms brown. Eh, oh well, you get the picture. P.S., thanks Google Images!

I GOT MY WEDDING DRESS! Today actually. And lemme tell you it is lovely!! I went the non-traditional route and bought my otherwise insanely expensive way outside my budget dress used! Sites like recycledbride and oncewed are ahh-mazing, wish I woulda come up with the idea for those sites!

I've been cooking more! Yes, I could've put that in all caps, but to be honest, it just doesn't come across quite as epically (is that a word??) as something like getting a wedding dress. However, I've made all sorts of tasty things lately, like fried smothered pork chops, deviled eggs (more about that delicious disaster in another post), brownies, cakes, and more! I really do enjoy cooking...when I feel like it lol. I should probably try cooking more things my babe likes to eat since, ya know, we're getting married and all. Eh, he can try new things ;-)

I changed the name of my blog!! Now if you didn't notice this, please don't tell me. Just pretend like you were shocked when all of a sudden you clicked on my page and *GASP* My Life: Perpetua was gone!! I like the new title though, don't you? Maybe you'll like it even better once I explain why I actually changed it. Hehe.

I've got a bug! ...a shopping bug that is! I never used to be too big into shopping for clothes and shoes, though I did like purchasing things now and then. Ya see, I typically preferred to break my budget on something more temporarily satisfying such as say...yummy food! But now, I have a problem. A serious one. Hi, my name is Ashley, and I am addicted to TJMaxx! Lol. I'm serious though! Now I like to buy clothes, shoes, AND food, and my Things Remembered budget is getting squeezed to the Maxx! (yes, pun intended! corny, I know) One look at my purchases though, and I can't say I feel too bad. Girl's gotta look good, right? ...scratch that. Girl's gotta (help) save for the wedding and the future and college and ahhh! Okay, honest truth, it's just a couple cute splurges now and then ;-)

I'M GETTING MARRIED!! Yeah, I know that's not new news, but I think have good reason to be ecstatic! I love my man, and I do not exaggerate when I say I CAN.NOT. WAIT! to be his wife. I'm gonna be a MRS.!! I always thought Mrs. sounded old. Whatever, I'll take this matronly title any day. Well, in 123 days, to be exact... :-)

There is so so much more I want to share! God has really been teaching me so much it's crazy and exciting and painful and refining and ahhhh so much good stuff. I really want to discipline myself to make time for writing more, because I love to do it, I want to blog! Sounds easy peasy, right? Now to actually get 'er done!

Now about that time discipline thing? It's 1:53 a.m., which equals past my bedtime. Which is also about to equal either laying down in bed and watching something on Netflix  or laying down in bed and reading The Broker by John Grisham. Which is better? Well, seeing that the last time I watched Netflix before bed I watched For Colored Girls and went to bed depressed, I'll probably go for the book. Anyone else see the movie? Wait, don't respond to that question! I'll have to post about that movie at a later time, and you can talk then. In the meantime, I need to go to bed! :-)

Bible Pride

Now this is a well used Bible! Even has mine beat! ;-)
Photo courtesy of Google Images. 

My favorite Bible I've had to date was a Christmas present from my dad back in 2001 or something like that. I had to have been in about 6th or 7th grade. The tiny KJV came with an adorable green Bible cover that I overstuffed with church bulletins, random notes, and tracks. As I got older I would eventually decide to ditch the cover, but the Bible I kept close. I used that Bible all the way up to my freshman year of college. At least 312 Sundays that Bible was used, and though my devotional times were not always consistent, I still used it frequently throughout the week too. Needless to say, the Bible became old and quite worn. The silver that lined each of the pages had long ago faded, and the binding threatened to fall apart at any moment. But it wasn't until I was presented with a new Bible that I reluctantly began to let it go.

I wish I could say that the primary reason I was reluctant to change Bibles was because part of Genesis was falling out or because I was ready to change to a study Bible or something. Nope. I wanted to keep this Bible because it was so used, and you could tell it.

Now this might sound absolutely ridiculous, but think about it. Have you ever looked at someone's Bible before and thought, "Wow, do they ever even use or open that?" or "Wow they must be really close to/spend alot of time with the Lord, look how used that Bible is!" Come on, I know I'm not the only one who's had that thought, even in passing, before.

I first realized that I had this mentality when I traveled to South Africa last summer. I mentioned before that I stopped using my little KJV freshman year of college. That's because one of the Christian groups on campus gave me one of those paperback NIVs, and because I had never read the Bible in that version before, I was eagerly eating up the Word, understanding stories and lessons in new and clearer ways. The old and worn KJV has been shelved ever since.

As far as the new NIV was concerned, that became my only go-to Bible. In spite of its larger size and the fact that it was paperback instead of leather, I still used it, and used it well, might I add. So many verses underlined, so many notes in the margins, so many things highlighted. And as I became more and more involved with Impact, I got deeper and deeper into studying God's Word, and my Bible showed the effects.

So let's fast forward to the whole South Africa thing. The Favorite decided that it was as good a time as any to invest in a new Bible. (And yeah, he was right! In hindsight, haha) Well I definitely did not want a new one. What was wrong with my two and a half year old obivously well used Bible? Either way, he got me a knew one that I had picked out, and I immediately began going through and underlining my favorite verses. It had to look like I at least read something outta there! You know what was going through my mind? "Here I am about to go on a missions trip to South Africa with a bunch of other students who have awesome testimonies and walks with the Lord and as soon as they see my Bible they're gonna think that I don't spend any time with the Lord at all!"

Reading it, it sounds pretty ridiculous, I know. But that's how it was! And it was at that point that I had those thoughts that the Lord really convicted me of one thing: PRIDE. Did I really believe that the way someone's (including my own) Bible looks was a direct reflection of their personal walk with Him? Crazy.

Now don't get me wrong; I love old Bibles, and I love holding on to copies of the living Word of God that I've had for years. It's nice to be able to hold on to the same Bible; often there are memories and lessons scribbled on the margins of pages, reminders from the Lord written on the extra pages in the back. It's when pride begins to subtly creep in and distort our reasons for holding on to the same when the issue arises.

That new Bible I took to South Africa has gotten it's share of use, but to be honest I have no idea where it is right now. (I moved, and it somehow got misplaced.) So went back to using that paperback NIV, then still ended up switching to a little leather Bible I borrowed from the Favorite. And you know what? Who cares! Either way I am reading God's words to me. He knows where I am in terms of my alone time with Him, and that is enough for me.

Where Has The Time Gone!?

Five months later....

I'M BACK! I never thought I would go this long without blogging and yet, here I am, blogging five, almost six month later. Alas. But (not to give excuses or anything of course, hehe) life has been incredibly BUSY! And, thank the Lord, most of that busyness has been in a good way :-) Let me give you a few snapshots of what my life has been like over the past few months...

Wedding planning! My boo (ahem, my fiance) and I have settled on a date in February of next year (2012, woop woop!) and we'll be wedded in the beautiful city of Miami in Florida! Sounds like a fabulous, over the top destination wedding, right? Not really. The Favorite is from there, as well as the majority of his extended fam, so we're breakin' the have-the-wedding-in-the-bride's-hometown tradition and having it down there! I'm sure people up here would love to get away from the fairly unpredictable but otherwise freezing February temperatures the Washington, DC area is known for during that time of year anyway, so yay! :)

College stuff! But not for me. My younger sis, Erin, is officially off to college and I am proud to say she chose the real HU, Howard University! And so the HBCU Howard University legacy continues. First my older sis Whittney (c/o '07), then me (continuing student!), now Erin (c/o '15)! Erin is definitely putting in work with her major as she is studying Chemical Engineering!  One of these days I'm gonna have to post a pic of the three of us wearing "Howard Sister" tee shirts. But anyways, it was alot of fun helping my sister go shopping and getting her moved into her dorm. She's growin' up! *sniff*sniff*

SO proud of my brother graduating from high school, go Joshua! He did a FANTASTIC job during his entire secondary education, and I know God has big plans for him as a high school grad! Now he's on the job hunt, and we all know how the economy is these days with looking for jobs, so be praying for God to open up some doors!

The two youngest bros have started school, with the middle bro in tenth grade at the high school of his choosing (the Lord worked that out!) and the youngest bro in 8th grade! Geez louise, they are growing up so fast, and they're both taller than me!! *sniffs again*

And another big change (well at least to me)...I HAVE A ROOM TO MYSELF! I know ya'll are like, woohoo, big deal!, but I have shared a room my entire. life. Literally. No exagerration! I've never had my own room. All I've ever known is sharing a room with my sisters (not saying that in a bad way, by the way!), and now my older sis is off and married and my younger sis is off in school, and well, I guess I'll be leaving myself in a few months, but still, weird! Ripe old age of 22, I experience solitary rooming. Guess I better enjoy it now, since in February I'll have a lifetime roommate, eh? Hehe.

Well, that's all folks! At least for now! I have GOT to get back to blogging somewhat regularly, even in the midst of the crazy busyness that is my life right now. Also, be expecting some changes to the blog, slowly but surely! :-)

He Proposed...And I Said YES!

I know, I know I haven't posted in a while and now I'm springing this news on you! Nope, no joke. As of Wednesday, April 6, the Favorite and I are engaged to be married!! Woohoo!!! Sooo exciting! :-)

Let me give you a little background. Since we both live in the DMV area (which is where I was born and raised), the Favorite has met all of my immediate family, but I only met his mom and one of his sisters once (when they came to visit up here!). We've been dating a little over two years, so it was definitely about that time to meet his fam. So we planned a trip to Miami (where he grew up) for a few days this month. The day before the trip (April 6th), we planned to meet to go to a Borders blow-out sale (yay books!) after I finished Bible study on campus. So we met up at the metro, and I must say I was quite happy when I saw him. Looking handsome as usual, I came up behind him and gave him a hug (shout out to Jamil for the cut and shape up!! lol!). Amidst lots of laughs and teasing, we finally found the Zipcar he'd reserved and set out for Borders. (Now something I should insert here that I didn't know until after the fact is that the Borders sale was just an excuse for us to meet up! ...I mean, not like an excuse was really needed hehe, but he did a good job in covering his tracks in making sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary.)

After some book hunting, the Favorite suggested that perhaps we could go to the National Mall to check out the cherry blossoms while they were in bloom, before the Festival ended. A few weeks prior to this day, we had actually been talking about the Cherry Blossom Festival (and how we always miss it!), so viewing some of the lovely blooms under the beautiful DC night lights sounded like a plan to me. (Sidenote: we didn't actually go! He had other plans...)

On the way there, we stopped by Potbelly, and anybody who knows anything about me knows that I love their sandwiches - a Wreck on white, to be specific - and also their chocolate malts! He dropped me off at the entrance, long enough for him to drive around the block while I got my sandwich. As we headed over to see the cherry blossoms, I rambled on about so many things, such as our upcoming trip to Miami and the poor service I had just received at my beloved Potbelly. Needless to say, I was rather aloof about anything that was about to happen!

Just look at that yummy delicious goodness!
Photo courtesy of Google Images

Once we parked on the Mall we simply wandered for a bit, talking, laughing, and reminiscing on the many times in the past that we'd done the exact same thing. (As a matter of fact, he asked me to be in an official courtship/dating relationship with him at the Washington Monument!) We happened upon (actually, no. I found out after the fact that the Favorite had scoped this place out months ago!) this lovely garden that, as many times as I've been on the Mall, I had never seen before. It had a huge cast iron fountain in the center, with several perfectly placed lights to illuminate the unique foliage that surrounded it. We sat on a bench across from the fountain, and the Favorite pulled out a book that we have been going through for a few months now entitled, 101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged. This wasn't at all odd or out of place, because we pretty much would take the book whereever we would hang out. Dinner, the movies, the park, anywhere! It was a fun and interesting way to get to know each other even better, and also to prepare us for the marriage that we both knew would inevitably come, though neither of knew (or at least I didn't!) when.

Photo courtesy
of Google Images

In order to keep the book from getting too monotonous, we would each pick a number and ask each other the question associated with that number. That night was no different. One of the questions was about love, and whether or not the love we demonstrated to each other lined up with biblical love. Then, he asked me whether I thought we were ready to be engaged. Of course I said yes :-) But again, this wasn't weird or out of the ordinary because it wasn't like this was the first time we'd talked about engagement and marriage! **disclaimer: details from this point forward get a little blurry because it seemed so surreal!** We went back to the book, and the Favorite began flipping through it, looking for a particular page. He said something along the lines of him running across a question that we hadn't gone over yet. And there it was.....

Question 102.



Ashley Danielle Strickland,

Will you marry me?

I stared at the page, jaw dropped. As I lifted my eyes to look at him he began to kneel, and pulled out a little box with a beautiful ring inside. Somewhere in the midst of this, I said yes!! :-) He slid the ring on my finger then wrapped me in a tight hug. It was all so beautiful! 

I must have said "oh my gosh" at least thirty thousand times that night because I was in such shock. Jeremiah would just sit and gaze at me with a smile, while I had a huge grin plastered across my face, shaking my head saying "oh my gosh" and looking back and forth from the bling on my finger to his content face. A few minutes after he proposed, I said I needed to walk around for bit. As we strolled slowly around the garden, it finally hit me: I AM ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED!!! I squealed and the Favorite spun me around. (I'm smiling to myself just remembering!) He pulled me into a hug, and we stood there like that for a few minutes. I remember saying "Oh my God," and it was at that point that it really began to sink in the depth and significance of this moments. It wasn't just the fact that the Favorite, whom I love, wanted to marry me, it was all the fact that our Sovereign God who sits high in the heavens has been ordering my steps and his for years prior to this moment!!

Just to give you a snapshot (It didn't begin here, but this is where I started putting it all together)... 
--Family financial situation caused me to leave six years of private Christian school education to go to public school. The school opened my eyes to the desperate need in the black community for believers to take a stand for righteousness found in Christ! This prepared me for the next step...
--I didn't get into my college of choice; not because of grades, but because of a paperwork technicality! So I ended up going to Howard, my last choice of school (which I now love!) Howard led to ministry opportunities...
--I got involved with Howard's chapter of the Impact Movement, which allowed me to put feet to my faith and to fulfill my God-given desire to reach out to the African American community on the college campus (and at Howard, pretty much the whole campus is black, hence HBCU hehe). I was actively involved with evangelism, discipleships, campus outreach events, and more! The Favorite and I met through ministry...
--Jeremiah was a junior and President of our Servant Team on campus when I came onto campus as a freshman. We got to know each other through service to the Lord, and initially we weren't really even attracted to each other; we were just brother and sister in Christ! But as time progressed, we both began to realize that the Lord was changing our hearts toward each other...
--February 2009, after talking to my dad for his approval, the Favorite asked to begin an official courtship with me. It hasn't been all flowers and ice cream (weird combo, but you get my drift), but the closer the two of us grew to the Lord, the closer we grew in our relationship with each other. Time progressed and...
--April 6, 2011, two years, two months, and one day after beginning dating, the Favorite once again sought my father's approval, and upon receiving it he asked for my hand in marriage! Yayyyy! And here we are now :-)

So there is a very brief snapshot of how the Lord has ordered things long before I even realized it! Of course there's more (He knew me before I was even in my mother's womb!), but just to give you an idea. We certainly DO serve a risen Savior; I have His testimony in my heart and in my life! (Here's my Happy Resurrection Sunday plug!)

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Well to make to this long exciting story short(er), basically we ended up leaving the Mall and going to my house where I shared the news with my siblings and parents, and took lots of pictures! We stayed for hours and it was just a wonderful time! And then the next day we left for Miami where the Favorite introduced me to his family as his fiancee :-) God is good, eh?

I welcome prayers as God continues to prepare the Favorite and I for the wedding and our lifelong covenant of marriage!

I Miss Blogging!

I've allowed myself to get "too busy" to blog, and I simply don't like it! I'll attempt to catch you guys up with all you missed during the end of January, the month of February, and the beginning of March!



This was me while I was sick. Except I'm not white.
 And I'm not blonde either. In case you didn't already know! ;)
Photo courtesy of Google Images

Well, I got super sick around the last week of January and lost at least ten pounds! Those of you who haven't ever seen me in person don't realize that means I weighed a whopping 93 pounds! It was quite scary; Much to my dismay, I could tell my clothes were bigger on me! I am QUITE thankful that I got over that little bug I had and have gained most of the weight back! I am trying to stay on top of taking better care of my body. Right now I'm attempting to do this by monitoring what I'm putting into my body (i.e., foods and vitamins) but I hope to soon get my bike out of storage and get back to riding it! Now there is an exercise I actually enjoy :)

Photo courtesy of Google Images

A few weeks prior to this happening, I got a new job! But it just so happens that I was sick during that first week I was supposed to start, so I ended up starting late. The Lord worked it all out though! So I've been at this job for a little over a month now; time sure does fly by!

Three main highlights of February: the 5th, the 14th, and the 18th! February 5th marked two years that the Favorite (also known as Jeremiah) and I have been "officially" courting/dating! We had a fantastically fun day spent enjoying an overcrowded IHOP, exploring a nearly deserted in-need-of-tearing-down mall, laughing and joking in a photography studio (maybe I'll post pictures at a later date!), and lots of talking in between! I so enjoyed that day ;)

When I got in the car, the Favorite had a
pretty pink rose on the seat!

We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day on that Friday the 18th instead of on Monday the 14th, and that was sooo fun! We both dressed up which is always fun (he look quite dashing, I might add, hehe)! He picked me up from work, and in the car I was met with an abundance of chocolates AND chocolate covered strawberries, YES! :) We went and picked up the pictures we had taken on the 5th, and also purchased 4 (yes, you read that right - f-o-u-r) purses! Before you get on my case, let me tell you the total price for those FOUR purses: less than 20 bucks! Oh, and they weren't all for me, f.y.i. :)


Chocolate covered strawberries from Godiva AND cakelove!

The Favorite hadn't told me where we were going for dinner in advance, but once we were almost there, he shared the name of the place and let. me. tell. you. I was THRILLED. It was a Brazilian steakhouse called Fogo de Chao in DC. Each of us was given a card--one side red, one side green. When the green side was facing up on the table, the servers constantly came to the table to give us different cuts of meat!! Our taste buds were on overload (in the best possible way), so after awhile we had to flip that card over to the red side to simply rest from eating! The environment was wonderful, and I loved the bathrooms (I have this thing for really nice bathrooms...don't ask. Actually, ask away if you so desire, hehe). We had so much fun there; I loved it. (And I would HIGHLY recommend it to any and everyone! ...assuming you aren't a vegetarian, hehe.) We closed out the night by going to a small jazz club called Twins Jazz. It was so relaxing to just sit, chat, and take in the live jazz being played. What an exciting, memorable night!

At Twins Jazz in DC. I love the red behind us! :) 

Another exciting thing about that Friday the 18th is that it was my spiritual birthday! I turned 10 years old in "spiritual years." I am so thankful for that sermon my pastor preached when I was in the sixth grade that opened my eyes to my need of grace and forgiveness from my Lord Jesus Christ. What a journey it has been since then! My prayer is that 10 years from now every single day will show more growth than the day before in my walk with the Lord.

Well, those are the highlights of my February!! It's so hard to believe we're almost halfway into MARCH! Time sure does fly by! I would love to hear if there have been any exciting updates or changes in you guys' lives in the past few weeks and month(s)!