Christmas Parties

I love Christmas....parties, friends, gifts and giving, ?surprises?... Last Friday, we went to Late Nite's Christmas Party, "A Black & White Affair." My friend Ashley has never hung out with this group of friends and what does she win....the grand prize....$50 gift card to the mall. It was well deserved because noone enjoys shopping more than she does.

Sunday, I overslept and paniced because I hadn't baked my 3 dozen cookies for Lacey & Melissa's Party. I made it to the party just in time but with only 32 Mocha Madness Cookies, not quite 3 dz, but they came out pretty good. Anything with coffee is good. We exchanged cookie recipes and of course sampled all of them until we were sick!

Immediately following, I met up with some of my best friends and their kids for lunch and gift exchange. I thought Brady would love the "Up Up Elmo" I got him, which he did initially, but he became a little angry at Elmo started fussing at him and tried to eat him. Princess Hayley was graceful and loved her little purse.

It gets better!!!! Sunday night was Elevate's Christmas Party! Several weeks ago I went downtown for the lighting of the Christmas tree with 100s of other people. Some of the ladies wore their festive, Christmas sweaters which sparked a desire to go to a "Bad Christmas Sweater Party," and that week they announced they would have a competition. Megan and Lydia said they had outfits so I replied "GAME ON!" Natalie and I were fashionably late and missed the judging, but it's confirmed that we would have tied. We lit up...literally!

You think someone would get rid of the sweater after the party...not me... I wore it to the Hilton Sales Team Christmas Party.

(I didn't get the memo to wear jeans and a black top.)

Mark is here!

I'm a couple weeks behind, but Mark's blog best describes the last couple of weeks.

http://ignorantbliss-mabrinson.blogspot.com/

The conference is still not over for me

I know the conference is over, but I can't get enough of it. Watching the videos, listening to the audio cds and reading my notes over and over.... Check out the website. I may be a little bias but I love the Opening!!

http://www.healingplacechurch.org/livethedream/blog/
(Scroll through the videos and click on "Live The Dream 2007 - Live Opener" )

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to get as much girl time as possible before Mark gets here. I think I accomplished that with the conference and girl outings. Two Saturdays ago, I went to Lafayette and had lunch with some of best friends in the WORLD.

Day 2 of the Women's Conference

This is just a clip of how much fun we had on day 2 of the conference. HPC's own "Singing Bees." They definately showed up the opening hIp HoP number!

Friday morning, Holly Wagner was still on fire. She continued to stress the need to fight!

-You'll have more than 1 battle at the same time so get good swinging your sword. (Sword=The Word)

-When you're faithful with 1 thing, He'll give you more.

-Make sure you're great at the things God puts on your plate, and be good at staying at your post. (Main Post=Believer)

-Ask yourself, when troubles and obstacles come your way are you still a believer? Do you doubt He can or will take care of you?

-Live a life people want to follow. Jesus said "Follow Me..." That requires us living a life like Jesus.

Christine Caine talked about when God told Elijah to go to the poor widow and ask her for food and water. The widow only had a handful of flour and a cup of oil for her and her son, but she still brought Elijah food. She never ran out of food.

God just wants the little we have. Don't look at what you don't have but realize that's all you need. God will put the super in your natural and make it supernatural.

Live the Dream Day 1

What an amazing 3 days!! HPC's Women's Conference, Live the Dream, kicked off Thursday night with over 1000 women, a little hIp HoP dance and a message from Holly Wagner. What was so amazing was that all of these women came anticipating a life-changing weekend, and what's is even more amazing is that they said it far exceeded what they expected. Once again, God shocks us!

To enter the building, the ladies had to go through a line of men cheering them on. Some people may have thought that was wierd, but I think they deserve getting the royal treatment and that we should have put a sign above the door that said "Daugher's of the King Enter Here."

Holly Wagner is so amazing, and I can't get enough of her. I've been listening to one of her series in my car and I find myself taking the long route to get where I am going. Here are a few points she hit on the 1st night--

-"Princess" is not a slang word; it's actually who we are! We are daughters of the King which makes us princesses.

-Have a little bit of fight in your life. Sometimes there are battles you can't control and you don't choose (i.e. sickness), but you have to decide to fight. Some battles we do choose (i.e. parenting, marriage...) and you still have to fight.

Holly is a cancer survivor, and while fighting that battle she was faced with so many other battles in life and she had to choose to fight. She did what it said in Micah by gathering her troops (prayer wariors) and fought.

http://www.healingplacechurch.org/livethedream/blog/

3 Strikes but your not out of the GAME!

I never knew Natalie and Kristan were so political. They are having a hard time with Cleo Fields being dismissed from the election. As friends, we supported them by bathing their front lawn with 103 signs.

I'd like to introduce all the members of our team, Krisin Stutes aka "Thrill of the Night," Kari Smith aka "Ms. Let me take a picture of my masterpiece while I leave my accomplice," Mollie White aka "Swift Thrower," Kaycee Smith aka "Soldier," & Nicole Duplechain aka "I'm too fine to get my picture taken."

GO CLEO or YVONNE!

Natalie, I hope you know that we did this all for your benefit. After extensive research we found that this is "sign" of love in Africa!

Don't forget to vote this Saturday, October 20th.

I love my Friends!

I LOVE my friends! Seriously, I would not want to go through life without them. Sometimes I think I enjoy life too much, but I’m ok with that. Let me introduce you to 2 of them.

Kristan Bailey was the first I met out of this crew. Even though she doesn’t spell her name correctly she is still really cool. For the past couple of years I’ve always wanted to pinch her to see if she is real because she falls in the top 5 sweetest people in the WORLD. She works with mentally disabled people which is not an easy job and calls for lots of patience. She has a deck of cards with questions for her patience to answer, we went through a couple and I think I passed. Please help me celebrate Kristan’s Birthday! She is OVER THE HILL and Kari and I thought it was only appropriate to surprise her with graffiti. Congratulation Kristan!!




I have less than 3 months to play with my Natalie before she heads to the other side of the world, and I really don’t like to talk about it. Natalie Spera is moving to Africa to work with beautiful orphans. She will be gone for 10 months!! Awe! As much as I don’t want her to go I’m even more excited about the opportunity. If you or anyone you know would like to help fund this trip please do not hesitate to contact me. When I grow up I want to have Natalie’s heart, personality, love for life and good looks. Also, Congratulations Nat on your new marriage. Kari and I wish you all the best in the world! Check out more from Natalie at http://nataliespera.com/.

A Week of FUN!

Last week was HORRIBLE with work and getting robbed at home. Well, this week God decided to give me a week of FUN!

Monday Night

This past Monday, 268 women came out for HPWomen. DeLynn delivered an awesome message. One point she made was "...don't act the way the devil makes you feel." Think about that!

Tuesday Night

Our Elevate leaders surprised us with a FUN NIGHT! They told us to pack up because we were heading to Celebration Station. Pizza, Ice Cream, Punch, Go Karts, Skee Ball, Putt Putt....

Wednesday Night

5 girls and 1 guy headed to The House of Blues in New Orleans to rock out with "The David Crowder Band". They were so amazing! I was looking around and watching the people and I pictured God looking down with a big grin on His face. He was enjoying the concert too! We had so much fun--except for the part when Stog's truck was towed. As Stog headed to the ghetto to get his truck, we went to Cafe' du Monde for hot chocolate and biegnets. Good Stuff!

Thursday

My director called a sales meeting at noon and brought us Raising Cane's. After going over a few reports she told us to pack up because she was taking us to the movies. YEAH!
That evening we played our soccer game of the season. The Sharpshooters vs Coach Julio Melara's team. Let's just say the Sharpshooters looked cute.

I got ROBBED!

Sorry for the delay in blogs, but I got ROBBED. They kicked in my back door and stole my computer and printer. I guess I got out pretty good if that’s all they took, or they’re upset that they chose my house because there was nothing good at to take. That’s my only excuse for not blogging in a while, but it won’t stop me from blogging.

Atlanta

This past weekend I took a quick trip to Atlanta, GA, to visit with Mark's family and attend a Georgia Tech game, and when I say quick I mean overnight. The company was great, but the game was not so good.

Another Girl's Trip!!!

"I have a motto. What's a motto? Nothing, what's the motto with you." If you can tell me where this quote came from, I'll give you 10 pts! So, my motto is Work Hard, Play Hard. Last week, I went to Washington DC; The first 3 days I worked and the last 3 days I played with 2 of my bestest friends in the whole world! Let me introduce you to these beautiful and talented ladies....

Emily Hammatt grew up in Baton Rouge, LA, and has a beautiful 3 month old son named Brady. In college, she was a member of the LSU Golden Girls Squad then went on to coach the LSU Tiger Girls. Emily's hip hop choreography debuted in Lady Royale's latest music video for her hit single titled "Do You Like". She can sing, dance, cook, and have fun...all at the same time...now that is talent. http://www.babysites.com/sites/scizzott/default.asp?page=home&seq=1

Samantha Fisicaro currently lives in Charlotte, NC. and has 2 perfect boys named William and Daniel. She graduated in Theatre, so you can imagine how much fun she has with her boys. Sam's latest film was "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby". She is Will Ferrell's biggest fan (in real life) and her line in the film was "Ricky Bobby, I want to have your baby." Mom's get ready, she is in the process of opening up her new children's clothing store in Baton Rouge called "Rockin' Baby".

Something is not right in this picture. Oh, the gentlemen to my right has his name badge backward. Whew... I thought it was me.

How many white haired people can you fit on 1 bench?

I did take time to visit some historical sites.... and I don't mean old people.

End of Watch

I just finished this amazing book about Terry Melancon, a friend of the family, who was a Baton Rouge Police Officer who died in the line of duty. He is prime example of how 1 person can make a HUGE difference to 100s of other people. I hope when I'm gone people will say the same things about me as they do Terry. http://www.endofwatch.org/

HPC opened a church called the "Terry Melancon Chapel" in Mozambique, Africa. http://www.isaacandcarol.blogspot.com/ He continues to touch lives even after he's gone.

I'm Starting a Band

I'm starting a toddler band. Here is an adorable, little, Asian girl who loves to sing, and a couple of weeks ago I posted a toddler boy from Africa who has rhythm. If you know any toddlers who play instruments, please let me know. "Lord, fill my life with these moments."

New Orleans Girls Trip

This trip started when I won a free night stay at the Hilton St Charles. Not only did we get a free night stay, but they upgraded us to a suite. Yeah, I said "sweet". Shannon got us a fabulous reservation at Commander's Palace. This "palace" was only fitting for 4 princesses. The dinner consisted of excellent food, 7 waiters, and the best company. Let me introduce you to some AMAZING ladies-

Shannon Rasbury was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA. She was named 2007 Elevater of the Year. Shannon impacts the lives of Middle & High School students, Young Professionals as well as the Business World; basically everyone. She works at the Business Report and keeps the infamous Julio Melara in order. She is a huge LSU fan, so you know where to find her this season. http://shannonrasbury.wordpress.com/

Emily Morrow grew up in a very small town in Louisiana but returned only 2 days prior to our girls trip from Peru and a couple of weeks ago from Sydney and in 1 month she’ll be in Italy. You can take the girl out of the country but you can’t keep the girl from going to other countries. (I think that’s how the saying goes.) While in Peru, Emily interviewed the First Lady! WOW! She has stared in several films; her latest was “The Reaping” and will be publishing her own movie and book in the Spring of 2009. http://emilymorrow.wordpress.com/

Elizabeth Demarest was born and raised in Brazil. She has a perfect little boy named “Nathanael” who has big blue eyes. Neither one of his parents have blue eyes, so obviously we know he got them from his Aunt Krissy. Start clearing your schedules, in a few years Elizabeth will be traveling the world and speaking to millions, and I’ll be her Travel/Booking Manager. On Sundays, HPC asks her to do the welcome announcements and 30 seconds later she's having an alter call. My girl can serve it! http://www.aleyandelizabeth.blogspot.com/

What do you get when 4 girls go to New Orleans? Good Times & Lots of Shoes!

My Cambodia Footage

While I was in Cambodia, after the orphanage and festival, we started heading home and spent the night in Phnom Phen. One morning I woke up and said "Lord, I know our intentional mission is over, but please put something in my path today to give You praise." I've always been told "Be careful what you pray for." A group of us went to the Killing Fields, which is a museum depicting the torture the Cambodian people went through during the genocide. On the other side of the fence was a group of kids begging us for money. We told them they had to work for their money. I cashed in a few dollars, just enough for each one of them to have 25 cents (which is a lot over there). We taught them several songs, and I'm so glad I get to share this moment with all of you. This was truly one of the best moments on the trip.

Leadership Training

I'm not a big TV or movie person, but from here on out if someone asks what's my favorite video, I'll direct them to this one. I can't stop watching it!! I can't wait to go to Africa and learn their dance moves.

Oliver Edward Prats

Let me introduce you to Oliver, better yet, he has his own blog that he personally updates -http://www.oliversmiracle.com/. It was so beautiful, on Tuesday I received a text around 3pm that said Oliver would need a 2nd surgery, and the doctor said he would probably be bound to a wheelchair and for us to keep praying for him. At 5pm, I received a 2nd text message that said "Keep the prayers coming, Oliver just moved his legs!" God is so Good!

Oliver's been anxious to come in the world to play. His mom and I went on a retreat earlier this year, and Oliver was inside her belly praising God so much, she had to sit as close to the bathroom as possible.




He doesn't like getting his diaper changed. Could he have a little privacy!

54,000 in 30 Days!!!

Per David Meyer regarding Cambodia, "We touched the lives of well over 160,000 people that we know of; over 54,000 of them accepted Christ. I can think of nothing else that tells the story any better than that. Tens of thousands of lives that will never be the same!! Thank you to all who have prayed and supported this cause in any way. To quote our good friends Delirious?-”This month we all became History Makers!”

30 Days of Hope for Cambodia

The festival came to an end this weekend in Cambodia, and it went out with full force. I'll let Joyce's son David explain.

Wow! What a night! In all my years of missions, I have never experienced what just happened here in Cambodia. Right before Delirious?, Darlene Zschech & Joyce Meyer (my mom) were about to hold an indoor blow out service for about three thousand people, several men from a local government office came and tried to shut the meeting down. They were able to successfully get the power shut off, even though they had no authority to do so. We decided to take the meeting outside. Joyce had to climb the fence just to get into the courtyard and the crowd went crazy. We all proceeded to worship God, led by Darlene Zschech and Martin Smith, and hear words of encouragement from Joyce—all through a bullhorn! God works all things out. He is absolutely sovereign! It was truly a historic moment for the church of Cambodia!

Unfortunately, tonight and tomorrow night has been cancelled. But I can say first hand that the people of Cambodia felt hope and experienced God!

Here is a list of things I learned/experienced on the trip:

1. When someone doesn't speak your language AT ALL, speaking slower doesn't help.

2. The people in Cambodia were so sweet, if you asked them for something, they always say "Yes", but never come back with what you asked for...they only know how to say "Yes".

3. Chris Tomlin is my favorite artist, and at a local church they were singing "How Great Is Our God" in Khmer. That alone was Awesome, but there was a boy about 5 years old at the alter with one hand raised and one hand on his heart singing with his eyes closed. That was definitely a highlight on my trip.

4. Being able to preach before 100 people in a foreign country with help from an interpreter was a great experience. I started and ended my speech in Khmer, which they thought was funny or maybe they couldn't understand me. ??

5. Being able to be a kid with kids. Watch the video.



6. Being used by God when you feel you have nothing left to offer.

7. Seeing a country full of people who are different, yet they worship and praise the same God as we do with just as much passion and conviction...better yet, with more passion.

8. The average income for a family in Cambodia is $400 a month.

9. 1,000 new women and children are forced into prostitution each month; mostly by someone they know (husband, parent, other family member...).

10. When you return home after experiencing something like this, you can't help but evaluate everything in your life. Literally you don't have a choice, your mind automatically does it.

I was going to do a Top 10, but I learned so much.

11. There's still hope for Cambodia!