Gorman Wedding Weekend!

This past Friday, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to shower, finish packing, and hit the road to Lexington, Kentucky to see my sweet CBSP sister, Julia, marry the love of her life, David.

I've gotten a few inquiries as to what "CBSP" means. It stands for Clearwater Beach Summer Project, which was a wonderful mission trip that I was blessed to partake in during the summer of 2008. In the circles of people that know what this means, it is often shortened to "Project" and that is where I get my "Project families" or in this case, "Project sister."

When I first arrived to Kentucky, I stopped at in Richmond, where I would be staying with my CBSP family for the weekend after Julia got hitched. We lounged around in the afternoon and then headed up to Lexington to see Miss becomes Mrs!

I may have had balcony seats...but my new camera has a lovely zoom...see?

After the "I Dos" were said and and we sent the bride and groom off in a shower of bubbles, the party moved to The Carrick House for the reception. We danced the night away and had a good, good night!

The newest member of the CBSP family!

CBSP represent!

Mrs. Gorman! Finally!

We all crashed after the reception. However, it seemed as though the sun was sitting just outside of the house and after an ungodly 7:30am wake-up call, we made pancakes and then headed to the pool to beat the heat.

After some of us got absolutely fried, we headed out for some Mexican food (note: the first restaurant that a group of CBSPers went to in Clearwater was a Mexican restaurant) and then went to a local bowling alley.

My sweet roomie from Clearwater, Kim. You can see the post that her sweet Facebook post inspired me to write.

CBSP believes in giving nicknames to one another. We each have at least three. I'm Reba, Bekah, Bekah Boo, Bex, and Mom. I understand it, it's just one of thsoe things that we do.



Again, we crashed with no excuses afterwards and had another ungodly wake-up time again. Stupid sun. However, the sun was in contrast with our mood as we all bid farewell to one another once again. In the perfect world, my CBSP family would live together and all my children would be able to call them "Aunt" and "Uncle" and all would be right in the world. However, this is reality and we live eight hours away and I miss them every day of my life.

But, my suitcases were packed and my gas tank was wishing to be filled. I had one more stop to make in Lexington before I headed back to Wendell.

My Uncle Walt, Aunt Ann, and their generations of offspring live in the surrounding areas of Lexington and I decided to give them a call and see if we could meet up for a mini-family reunion. We ended up having lunch and it was a hoot-and-a-half! They were telling stories on my dad and his siblings and even my grandpa and his brothers (Uncle Walt is my father's father's brother). 

My third cousin, Reagan, was also there and there is only one word that can sum up Reagan: firecracker. Wow! She's only seven and she walked right up to me and said "Hi! I'm Reagan and you're Rebekah. We've never met but I'm your cousin and I'm going to hug you now."

And hug me she did. She then told me about her soccer games and her favorite color is pink and anything that sparkles and how she likes math and science but not English and how she wants to go to UK when she grows up, but she doesn't look good in blue so maybe that isn't the best decision.

Yeah. Firecracker.

It was the perfect ending to a fabulous weekend.

Kentucky Bound!

Around 5 a.m. on Friday morning I am waking up and piling into my car to head to Kentucky for the weekend.

Yes, I realize I was just there, but this is for a special occasion. My CBSP sister Julia is marrying the love of her life, David.

I'll be getting to Kentucky about 2 p.m.,  just in time to get in some quality time with a good portion of the CBSP family and get ready for the big event at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, I'm hoping to see my great-uncle Walt for a bit and then hang out with the CBSP family some more. After church on Sunday, I'm heading home and meeting up with the girls I am living with next year to talk about some plans for the house. My plans for next year could be a whole other blog post in and of itself. Let me just go ahead and warn you about some insanity that will probably be popping up all over the blog in the next 365 days. Whew! Living with those girls is going to be an adventure...but it's one that I'm looking forward to.

While I'm on my voyage in the Bluegrass State, I'll be armed and ready with my new camera that my parents so lovingly bought me for my 22nd birthday and my graduation.

It is a Canon PowerShot SX30 IS. I just call it "beautiful."

I can't wait to capture memories with my family with this joker. I'm so excited for it to all happen, and then to share all of the memories with you! (because i promise, this summer i'm going to do better than i have been for the past month!)

Alive!

I am alive! Barely, but I'm still breathing.

My soul is refreshed after this wonderful long weekend. It was the exact nourishment that I needed in order to keep pushing through school for the next seven weeks. I have a few pictures to share later--I was not as picture diligent as I now wish I was--and lots of stories!

A brief run-down of what you get to look forward to...

I climbed a mountain.

I surprised three of my favorite people.

I sat on a front porch swing and heard all about my sisters' lives.

I ate lots of good food.

I explored three different cities.

I never will understand how to cross time zones.

I saw lots of family members.

It was a good weekend.

If you have had a conversation with me over the past month, I have probably had a smile on my face, but the things I said probably weren't encouraging.

After this weekend, a friend texted me and asked how I was doing. My response

"I am happier than I have been in weeks. I'm physically exhausted but I am emotionally, spiritually, and mentally refreshed. Thank God for true love and family."

I can't wait to share my stories.

Room 20.

Today, I had planned to blog about shin splints and blisters and oddly-fitting shoes and all of the other joys that come with a ballet class and 5k training.

Then I checked my Facebook. My Facebook page had a sweet little message on it from my Clearwater sister, Kim, on it.

It went something like this...

"Hey beautiful friend! Just making sure you knew I miss you. I was thinking about how we got to see each other this time last year at Preview Weekend. One year = too long.

P.S. I love to read your blog. I get to enjoy your talented writing and keep up with your life at the same time :)"

Needless to say, this made my day.

So I wanted to give a little shout-out to my CBSP roomies: Kim, Vicky, and Marla, the ladies of Room 20, where the door is always open :)

Vicky, me, Marla, and Kim on Family Photo Day

Me and Vicky at 80s Prom!

Me and Kim at EKU's Semi-Formal, 2009.

Best Spring Break ever.

Marla and me at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game.

Marla, Kim, me, and Vicky at the End of Summer Banquet.

I am so thankful for these girls. It would have been a really lonely summer without them.

Every time I clean, I still think of Kim and how Saturday (cleaning day) was her favorite day of the week. I love how she eagerly searched for Christ in every aspect of her life. It was such a comfort to be hanging out by the pool during the evenings and look up and see her perched in the chair outside our door reading her Bible and talking to Jesus.

Marla's laugh was so contagious. She was the one that I talked to the most before packing up the car and heading down to Florida and when I realized that she was going to be my roomie for the summer it was so comforting--I knew I would have a friend!

Vicky and I talked every night about midnight. We were usually the last to go to bed in our room and we would sit in the living room and talk and talk and talk. About everything. I think I had the most honest relationship with her out of every person that summer.

I love you girls. So much.

two of my faves.

After I published my last blog from earlier today, I sat down and wrote out my do-before-Christmas list.

I have let my apartment go to pieces over the last few months while I was student teaching because I had so little time and what time I did have didn't come with any energy. I wrote out every piece of this house that needs cleaning and what type of cleaning it needs.

Besides cleaning, I also needed to cook up a storm so I could have some meals in the frig for me to take to work over the next few days.

I realized I had some chicken that needed to be cooked so I cleaned the kitchen (clean the kitchen to just dirty it up again...hmph) and set to work.

But first, I hooked up the laptop in the kitchen to set the mood.

What better to set the mood for an afternoon of cooking than my CBSP playlist? Tenth Avenue North, Jesse McCartney, Relient K, and, of course, Usher.

...

What? Your favorite playlist doesn't have that type of variety? Well, I've always said we're a special family.

Yes, it was the most spiritually uplifting summer of my life and our theme song was "Love in this Club." It's a long story...

Anywho, I made my two favorite dishes: Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo and Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake! Both are Campbell's recipes and are so quick, simple, and cheap to make!

You can find the recipe for the Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake by going to the Campbell's Kitchen website and searching.

Note from my kitchen: Don't hold back on the cheese. Seriously. The recipe calls for half a cup of Parmesan---nah uh. I put at least a cup, if not more, of shredded Four Cheese Mexican Mix from Harris Teeter when it comes out of the oven. I also typically add a bit more when I put it on the plate.

Another note from my kitchen: The recipe suggests to put in veggies. Please do! Whatever I have frozen or canned I stick in there. Today I added some french cut green beans and some peas. I've added squash, carrots, and corn on different occasions before. Yum yum!

One last note on this recipe: If you pull it out of the oven and it's too watery, grab some Special K (personal favorite) or some other plain, flaky cereal and apply liberally. Stir it in and stick it back in the oven for five minutes. It gives it a bit more crunch and helps soak up the liquid.

For the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo recipe, I'm going to walk you through it!

Oh my goodness, I feel like Paula Deen! So exciting!

Here's all you need:

1/2 of a 16 ounce package linguine
1 cup of fresh or frozen broccoli flowerets
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into cubes
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup--you can use any variety. you can also sub with Cream of Chicken, but I prefer Mushroom in this recipe.

What Rebekah actually used today:
1/2 package of angel hair pasta--didn't have linguine
0 cups of broccoli--I was working on the fly here people. I went strictly carnivore today.
A generous spray of Pam.
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes--yes, cut them up. it just tastes weird with the solid breast
1/2 cup of milk
Sprinkled pepper on top of soup when added. Didn't really measure
Generous portions of Four Cheese Mexican Mix shredded cheese from Harris Teeter (anyone sensing a pattern here?)

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta as called for. Add the broccoli for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking.

2. Brown the cubed chicken in a large skillet at medium-high heat. When almost ready (nice golden brown color), add can of soup, milk, and pepper for about two minutes alone.

3. After those two minutes, add in the pasta and broccoli. Stir and allow to settle for about another two minutes. Finally, dump with cheese! Stir and serve. Then add more cheese to taste ;-)

Yummy! One of my favorites!

A few tips from my experiences today:
1. As much love as Usher is due, it's probably not a good idea to make love in the club (XL) while cooking...because then you forget to set timers and just have to guestimate with your many, many dishes you have heating at the moment.

2. One should probably not tell their shawty they're leaving (no matter how many times Jesse McCartney tells you to) while beginning to make their third dish of the day. You'll forget that more ingredients must go in the skillet and you'll pick the wrong skillet...

See? The combination barely fits.
As I was feeling sunny with a high of 75 with Relient K, I was praying to Jesus that I wouldn't spill this mess all over everywhere while I was stirring.

Also, one small request: To those of you that haven't gotten me a Christmas present yet, here's an idea...POT HOLDERS! I don't have any! I'm using a (rather thin) towel.
My favorite color is purple and I also like pink and polka dots. And of course, anything Wolfpack. Thanks!

Oh, and where was Milley while I was jamming to The Summer Of My Life Soundtrack and cooking my faves?

She was keeping post by the back door. There's some birds that enjoy to torment her with their frolicking and she has to make sure they don't step one little claw onto the deck. She forbids it.

Good doggie.

Now, I have to go cross some things off of my to-do list! Ta-ta dahlings!

sore all over.

last night was jr/sr broomball. also known as awesomeness to the extreme.

while wearing tennis shoes and many, many layers of clothing, the juniors and seniors of our crusade ministry went to cary ice house and played games out on the ice rink: freeze tag, multi-ball soccer (3 at one point, 5 at another), and duck duck goose. i had so much fun playing, but today i woke up and was pretty sure i couldn't move. the feeling reminded me of something like the morning after the encounter new years dance party. it was fun four hours ago, but you're paying for it currently.

i woke up with a HUGE knot on the top of my head where i connected with the hockey goal, two majorly bruised knees and shins and just aches and pains everywhere else. but it was so worth it.

i remember at one point while i was playing goalie for the first round of soccer, i had a mini flashback to Clearwater and our rousing games of Hurricane Football, which is still one of the greatest games ever invented. we would run around in hurricane-like weather and play and rough house. a few people might have had some bumps and bruises and scrapes by the end, but we laughed the whole time. the reverie made me smile.

as i was thinking back to The Summer of My Life, i couldn't help but think forward. Forward to this summer. possibly, a summer in Lebanon. yes all of my exams have been moved (praise GOD!), but i still haven't gotten that wonderful phone call saying that i have been officially accepted. if i do get accepted, i have no idea what is waiting for me on the other end of a 14 hour plane ride. i have no idea what kind of clothes to pack (due to cultural/religious differences), i have no idea where i'll be living or even an idea of who with. i never realized how much i treasured the Clearwater Beach Summer Project Facebook group until now while i'm walking blind into Lebanon. i have no idea what kind of food i'll be eating or what sort of shoes i need to bring. i have no idea who my neighbors (foreign or domestic) will be, or how close the mediterranean is. i have no idea how open or closed the country is, and therefore i have no idea how loudly i'll be able to sing praises from every street corner to my Beautiful Savior.

although i'm walking into this blind, i'm still walking. which for a planner and ocd organizationalist like me, is a serious step of faith. and i know that God has multiplied that faith when i realize how much joy i have walking into those six weeks; albeit they're still hypothetical.

we'll see how it all turns out. for now, i'm going to go pop some more ibuprofen and take a nap :)