26th Birthday

2010 is the year that I have turned 26. How do I feel about that? I am not really sure.

You know, I know that I am happy and thankful to be here. I have a wonderful life- more than I ever dreamed possible really.

• I have the best, sweetest, hardest working husband in the world. He is my best friend and I can call him during his busiest time of year (rough estimate 8 times during the work day) and he always stops and talks to me. Or at least calls me back promptly. He has worked incredibly hard the last several months and it is all for us. I am so proud of him. I wish I had the words to express to him how much I appreciate his sacrifice.
• I have a wonderful family (both biological and in-law) and we are all healthy and happy. I am so excited this summer because we get to go on vacations with both of them!
• I have a home that I am proud of, that we worked hard to save and have the money to put down on. I work hard (after working all day) to keep it clean and neat and presentable and I am proud of it. I love that I am able to serve through hospitality and host our Lifegroup every Wednesday.
• I have the 2 best dogs on the planet. They have been my constant companions the last 3 months. They have kept me sane. They let me talk to them and rub them and play with them. They are ALWAYS happy to see me when I come home. Honestly, I would rather spend time with them than some people. Ok, maybe a lot of people. :)
• I have a job that allows us to save for our future and provides great benefits for me should something happen to me. And as I am getting older, I am realizing that it would be ok if something happens to me. I remember after September 11, my sense of being "invincible" went away. I am scared to fly, I worry when in high places, and I am nervous in general. As I am aging though, I see that these things are all ok. That this isn't my home anyway.

As I reflect on the last 26 years, I can see that it is truly God who has put me in this place. I am humbled and thankful for the blessings that He has given me, and I hope that the next 26 years I can use them to bless others.

Do I LOVE or HATE Facebook?

Let me preface this blog post by saying that I am the first one to admit that I, Lana Summitt, am addicted to Facebook. I have an app on my crackberry that if I am realistic I will admit that I probably check at least twice an hour. For the 16 hours a day that I am awake. That's a lot. I scroll through, I read status updates, I look at pictures, I "like" a few status updates, I write on a wall, respond to a message, etc. Here are my issues with Facebook.

Do we know too much about each other?
For instance, I went the Kojie Reunion at Harding Homecoming (and blogged about it a few months ago), and I felt like I already knew EVERYTHING about most of the girls I spoke to that morning. I knew who had babies. I knew who was expecting. I knew who got married and to whom. I knew who was still single. I knew about jobs and haircuts and new cars and going back to school. I knew it all. I can't remember one thing I "learned" about any of my friends that day. And some of them, I have not seen since graduation four years ago! And there are maybe some people that I know that I don't want to know everything about me. But I put it out there for anyone to comment on or "like". I put everything on Facebook and I don't even know what my privacy settings are. There is no telling who reads the stuff I put on there. *Note to self, check privacy settings after publishing post.

Should this be our main form of communication?
For instance, (and what prompted this post), Matt checked Facebook a few weekends ago only to find out that his brother, Joe, had become engaged! Now we knew he was planning the engagment (which he had asked us to be present for) and we absolutely love Tiffany so it wasn't a shock or disappointment to find out this information. Shouldn't they have talked to each other on the phone or in person or at least through text? And if I am making plans with someone, should it be through a Facebook message? (Big groups excluded. It may be just easier to do through Facebook message.) What happened to a phone call? And will we never write letters again? I realize that email is probably more to blame for that one, but who doesn't love receiving a letter in their mailbox? And HANDWRITTEN to boot. LOVE a good handwritten note.

As a blogger and a tweeter and a Facebook user, I guess bottom line I put myself out there. Things I don't like about Facebook, I also do regularly whether it be group messages or looking at pictures. I will say it is so helpful to be able to get on and look at pictures of friends who live in other cities (some 5 hours away in Nashville with a new baby boy I want to regularly see pictures of) and it's so easy, since I am on there all the time, to send a message or write on a wall to get a message across. I'm guilty too and I am an offender. I just wonder if personal forms of communication are gone with the wind...

Visiting the Kegleys

Oh my goodness. I got to go see my sweet friend Kelli Kegley and her sweet, sweet baby boy Connor not too long ago. Carrie, Lindsey and I made the trek over to Nashville. It TRULY wasn't a bad drive at all. AND, we stopped at a gas station on the way that sold Coconut M&M's. I bought 5 bags and gave some away to friends. WHERE ARE THESE IN ARKANSAS? Anyhoo. We arrived late Friday night and slept in Saturday. Saturday morning, we got to go see them!

Isn't he precious! Look at that sweet little perfect nose! Doesn't Kelli look beautiful! It was AMAZING to see her be a mommy. It comes to her so naturally. He has her undivided attention and she is great at taking care of him. Connor was such a sweet baby. He just slept and cooed and made cute little faces all day long.

This picture shows him doing what he does best. Being handsome.

Here are our friends! Rachael and KJ and Layla came to hang out with us! It was so great to see Rach. Layla was a hoot and entertained us all at dinner. I was so thankful to be able to make the weekend trip. I am so proud of Kelli and Matt! Connor Kegley is one sweet dude!