It's Been Awhile

Today we had a snow day! Classes were cancelled and it seems that the whole city of Nashville just kind of shut down. As a girl who grew up in MinneSNOWta, the people of Nashville crack me up when it comes to snow. If there is even a chance of flurries in the forecast, everyone rushes to the grocery store to load up on bread and milk (what kind of meal can you make from bread and milk anyway?) and hunkers down until all talk or mention of snow is gone. Sidenote: people also seem to forget how to drive, but wait, this is Nashville. The drivers aren't that great even in the best weather conditions. That's right, I'm feeling a bit sassy these days. :) Nashville, you know I love you.

Jeepers....its been awhile since I've sat down to write on this blog. My soon to be sister-in-law   SISTER and sweet friend who I love SO much Kelli texted me this morning and said, "girl! You need to blog because I'm ready to read it!" It made me smile a little knowing that at least one person out there missed my blog posts. We writers like to think people actually take the time to read what we have to say. Although, I've said before that I don't write for you to read. I write simply just to write. Nonetheless, Kelli, thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoy what I have to say here on Stones Before Sand. It was her prompting that encouraged me to brush off the dust that had collected on this old blog of mine and get back to what I love- writing about life!

Which leads me to another point. I'm thinking of renaming my blog again. Please don't hate me! I know I'm like the most bipolar blogger ever when it comes to the title of my blog. I can't help it. I want it to say something about the season of life I'm currently in. I'm working on ideas and rethinking what I might want to change it to. Consider yourselves warned. If any of you have a strong attachment to the current title, feel free to contact me. Otherwise, you might see a name change in the coming months. We'll see.

For those of you just joining me, or who just happened to stumble across my page, welcome! I must warn you that I'm a bit of a hot mess, and you never know what you're going to get. Those of you who visit this page frequently hopefully already know that. For those of you just joining me on this journey, a lot has happened in my life the last few months. Those of you that know me well know that I experienced one of the most painfully tragic events in November. My dad passed away from a sudden heart attack and my life has literally been turned upside down. I have a few posts that I wrote late last year about that experience that you are more than welcome to go back to and read.

I just have to say that I'm so proud that my mom is becoming quite the blogger herself! When dad was in the hospital, we all took turns updating people on Caring Bridge. And after he passed away, mom kept writing. I think it was maybe a form of therapy for her. She's been blogging since November and her posts bring tears to my eyes every time. It completely amazes me....the grace my mom possesses. I always knew she had a heart of gold, but to see her pour her heart out on the Run with Randy blog just makes me that much more proud to have her as my mom. I love you, mama! If you haven't been following our story, feel free to check out our blog and "Like" Run with Randy on Facebook. Months later and I'm still amazed at what God has been doing to bring beauty out of something so tragic and heartbreaking.

Guys, there is literally SO much stuff that I need to write about. So many things have happened in the last several months, big life things. I promise to write about them soon. But I'm just getting back into writing. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally feel like I'm becoming myself again. After feeling like I was literally drowning in grief for several months, I'm slowly starting to find my voice again. Finally, I actually have something to say, thoughts to share about what God's been doing in my life. I can't wait to share all that's been happening!

Stay tuned....I promise it won't be 4 months until my next post. I just have been procrastinating the whole homework thing all day, and who knows if Belmont will give us another snow day tomorrow.

The end of this whole college thing is SO near! Only a couple months until graduation. More importantly, I get to marry Mitchell Steele in less than 100 days! THAT'S SOOOO SOON I CAN HARDLY EVEN HANDLE IT. Which reminds me, I should probably update my wedding blog too....I tell ya, this blogging hobby....so much to say, SOOO not enough time in the day to say it all!

I'll write again soon. I'M BACK! And it feels good. :) Thanks for being patient with me, and thanks so much for reading.

Sending love to you all,

Emily