Saturday, June 30, 2007

i've been tagged

i've been tagged! (hehe... my first) by susan at penless writer. i think i'm up to the challenge. these are my instructions:

remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. then add your blog to the bottom slot. tag five new bloggers. then answer the questions. **added note: anyone else is welcomed to play and no obligation to play if you don't want to.

original list:
still see a spark in you
walking through doors
susie's space
penless writer
sunshine on my shoulders

newly tagged:
just a thought
oh fiddle dee dee
pen of jen
living to learn & learning to live
candid reflections

the questions:

1. what were you doing 10 years ago?
to be honest, 1997 was not a good year for me. to put it shortly, i had an emotional breakdown and spent a lot of time and energy working on some personal issues. besides that, just juggling the roles of wife, mommy, friend, and women's ministry leader. my grandfather also died that year.

2. what were you doing 1 year ago?
let's see... don and i started a youth ministry at a new-start church just about a year ago. so the first half of the year we were listening intently for God's voice and direction. the second half was spent getting to know new kids and getting a new ministry up and going. dani graduated from high school in may and started her first year of college in august. we went to hawaii for vacation.

3. five snacks you enjoy?
string cheese with pretzels, cold watermelon, quesadilla, popsicles, soft pretzel

4. five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
desperado (eagles), never alone (barlow girl), bye bye miss american pie (don mclean), imagine (john lennon), piano man (billy joel)
+ many praise songs
+ many songs from the sound of music, mary poppins, moulin rouge, etc.

5. five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
-buy a small retreat center in the mountains where we could live and also give groups a place and opporutnity to meet. -or-
-buy a space to open a youth center, complete with coffee bar, pool and ping pong tables and stage for local bands to perform.
-we would also buy a motor home of some kind and travel the united states. once we did that, we would want to travel to other countries.
-of course, our kid's college expenses would be paid for.
-i'm sure we would also give quite a bit to the church and/or a charity.

6. five bad habits:
-spending too much time on my computer
-procrastination
-eating too much
-no exercizing when i should
-not keeping up with house work

7. five things you like doing:
-spending time on my computer
-watching movies
-spending time with teenagers
-photography
-scrapbooking

8. five things you would never wear again:
-bikini
-mini skirts
-go go boots
-bandanas
-footsie pajamas

9. five favorite toys
-lap top computer
-camera
-ipod
-scrapbooking tools
-cell phone

there you go. i'm not sure how interesting all that was but i thank you if you stuck with it and read it all. thanks susan for tagging me.

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link of the day:
http://www.domystuff.com/

Friday, June 29, 2007

take a hike

it's friday! (yay!) you know what that means... show & tell time. click on over to kelli's place to find links to others who are sharing today.





today i'm sharing a small pile of clothes, shoes, and a few other items. these, and more, are all going into a backpack that will be strapped to my son's back for a week. tomorrow morning he will be heading out on a backpacking trip with his youth group.

you should have seen the list they gave the kids of what to bring. not much. and they told them to bring nothing more and nothing less. so he will only have two t-shirts for the entire week, two pairs of shorts, and one pair of pants. what really gets me is they aren't supposed to bring a toothbrush, deodorant, or hairbrush. i understand packing light, but really now.

i'm sure glad i'm not a leader of this group. not only could i not stand going without a shower for a week or simple necessities such as a toothbrush, but i wouldn't want to be around 10-15 smelly kids for that long. "/

but it does sound like fun. to get away for a week, spend time in the great outdoors, all with a spiritual emphasis. jake is really looking forward to it. i'm sure he'll have a great time. i can't wait to hear about his adventurous week. but i'll do it after his shower =)

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link of the day:
http://folklore.org/

Thursday, June 28, 2007

passion

this picture (of all of us leaders), and the one in my previous post, was actually taken a couple of years ago. it was after we had a "crud war" with our jr. high youth group at a winter retreat. what's a crud war you may ask? it's pretty simple. it's like a food fight but played outside in a big field with the ingredients of flour, shaving cream, and water balloons. and it's every man for himself. messy (obviously), but oh, so fun!

i read this in a book the other day; "having passion is key to staying young. whether it's your job, your hobby or a cause you believe in, a vitality and passion for what you do is a passport to youthfulness." i can't agree more with this statement.

my passion is teenagers. and i truly believe they keep me young. i love being with young people. i enjoy getting to know them and spending time with them. i want to hear their stories. i want to help them to feel accepted and understood. i want to help them grow up to enjoy life and be productive citizens. i practically live to introduce them to Christ through love and understanding. i want to help them find that relationship that Christ wants with them.

teenagers can be so simple, and yet very complex. they are accepting and open with adults if they know that you care about them. my heart breaks sometimes to hear their stories, their pain, their struggles. i want to help them. i want to give them hope. it's rarely easy. in fact, it's messy, but oh, so fulfilling.

i read a story once that had a great impact on me. diane over at candid reflections had a post yesterday with a link to this same story but in movie form. i ask that if you are reading this post, please follow my link of the day to watch the movie. i believe if you watch it, you can't help but change your perspective on how you look at people, especially young people. you can make a difference in this world.

one more thing... find your passion. not only does it keep you young. it helps you live the life of joy God so wants for all of us.

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link of the day:
http://www.makeadifferencemovie.com/

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

it's only shaving cream

another wordless wednesday.

i debate with myself whether i should explain photos. it doesn't seem like a true wordless anything if i add words to it. so, i won't, except for the hint of... jr. high winter retreat =)




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link of the day:
http://www.u-starvin.com/micromaniac/

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

it's not about me

i spent most of my day sitting here on my couch with my laptop on my lap. i was going through over 200 photos i have of our previous youth group. i picked out the good ones - 97 of them. i cropped most of them. i uploaded them to myspace and entered captions for each one. i then wrote a myspace blog letting all my young friends know that there were pictures of them on my profile.

and through all of that, i cried.

some of you don't know my history. my husband and i used to be youthworkers at a different church than we are at now. we worked in the jr. high youth group for nearly 5 years and loved each and every kid that came through our group. we kept in touch with many of them after they moved on into high school and/or after we left the church.

so today, as i was pouring over these old photographs, i couldn't help but to tear up. so many good memories. so many kids that will always have a special place in our hearts. i miss them and the time we spent together.

as i was going through the photos, i came across the one i posted here. i remember taking it on a special outing up in the mountains. as i looked at it and reflected on all that happened that day, i felt a sense of peace. i was reminded that it's all about Jesus and not me.

He gave don and i the gifts and opportunity to be with these kids. what a wonderful blessing it was and still is. i was reminded that they are His children. that He is still watching over them. and that He is still pursuing them or enjoying the relationship He has with them.

we are thankful for another place to serve. for the new kids we have come to love. and for all the kids we will meet in the future. there will always be a past. we can remember it fondly and definitely learn from it. my challenge is to not let it ruin the present or influence the future. to remember that it's all about Jesus.

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link of the day:
http://www.hersheygifts.com/HDG_SpecialMessageKISSES.aspx?X=1

Monday, June 25, 2007

happy birthday jake

JAKE


it's my son's birthday today. hard to believe he's 17 years old. in some ways, it feels like it was just yesterday that i was in the hospital giving birth to him. it definitely doesn't feel like 17 years ago.


he was such a fun loving toddler. i have so many pictures of my cute, loving, curious, bright, mischievious, sensitive, and good-natured little boy. this is one of my favorites. he's not a toddler anymore. i've watched him grow each year and go through all the normal phases. he's now 17 and a well rounded kid. smart, social, responsible, and caring.

jake, it's a true blessing to have you as my son. it's been a pleasure watching you grow up to be the fine young man you are today. i could not be more proud of all of your accomplishments and who you are. i look forward to watching you as you go into your final year of high school and then onto college. i know great things are in store for you. thank you for being such a cool kid and a son we can be proud of. i love you more than mere words can express.


Sunday, June 24, 2007

let HIS light shine

i thought i'd share something that i wrote in my S (scripture) O (observance) A (application) P (prayer) journal this week. i was reading from ephesians 1 and this verse really struck me.

:18 i pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called - His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance. (nlt)



i love the visual of a heart so filled with light that it's bursting at the seams and rays of light can't help but flow out in all directions. how could you not have hope if there was so much light . so much that your heart - your core - can not contain it. if i am called by God, which i believe i am, then He wants me to be filled with His light. i want to be filled with as much light as i can possibly hold. even more, i want to be so full that i'm bursting at the seams and all those around me will see and feel HIS light.

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link of the day:
http://stripgenerator.com/

Saturday, June 23, 2007

first and worst

jennifer over at pen of jen has given us something to write about. your "first and worst' jobs. so here it goes.

i was hired at k-mart as a cashier at the age of 15. i can't say this was the worse, but probably a close second. i think it was mostly because of my age. not only did i have to get used to working in the real world, but i always felt lonely. there wasn't many kids working there that were my own age. i'd go to work and do what i was hired to do and that part was fine. but i never socialized with anyone. being the social person that i am, i needed more interaction. i quit after three months and got a job with a small independent drug store. i liked that a lot more.

the worst job i had would probably have been a dream job for almost anyone else. it was with hughes aircraft (which is now raytheon). my job was to input data that i collected from different stations. i'd have to travel (by foot) to a few different buildings and then several places within the building i worked in. i then would go to a dinky little room where i'd sit in front of a computer and input a bunch of raw data. again, not too much interaction with anyone.

i learned a lot about myself during this job. what i like and don't like. what motivates me. what keeps me motivated and satisfied. from then on, i knew what i would want and not want in a job.
i learned that i need to know what the big picture is. at hughes, i was just a tiny bolt in a bigger machine. i never knew what any of the data meant or what the end result looked like. i also learned that i need accountability and to be kept busy. no one really watched me or i didn't need to be anywhere at any given time. as long as the data was within a certain time frame, i was doing my job. i found myself with large amounts of time where i had nothing to do. i started taking advantage of this in ways that i'm now not proud of. it didn't take long before i realized i didn't like how i spent my days. i quit right before christmas. people thought i was crazy because hughes gave their employees two weeks off at christmas. i was also making very good money. but all of that didn't make it worth staying. i was miserable.

i've had many jobs. i realized at some point that i enjoy the challenge of a new job. i enjoy going in to something, figuring it out, and making it better in whatever way is needed. but once i have achieved that, i get bored and most of the time, find that it's time for me to move on. i don't know if that's good or bad but i know that's how i'm wired.

fortunately, i haven't had to work since my kids were born. i've been blessed to be able to stay at home with them. i've had some part time jobs in the last 19 years but they were very flexible and they were the type where i went in, organized, and got out. i am currently a youthworker and i did work part time for a church for a bit, but i would have done the same thing for no pay. i prefer for my ministry to be done on a volunteer basis.

so there you go. my 'first and worst' jobs. plus so much more =] i'm looking forward to jen's next one.

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link of the day:
http://www.seatguru.com/

Friday, June 22, 2007

too much to count

thanks goes to kelli for hosting show & tell friday. it's always fun to go around a see what different bloggers have to share. i actually have two things to share this week.



these are two large glass (sparklets) water bottles filled with coins. for those of you who are too young to remember, bottled water used to be delivered in glass bottles instead of the plastic ones they are now. don and i found these on a street back around 1986/87. we probably shouldn't have taken them, but what can i say... we did.

we immediately started putting our change into them. one for pennies and the other for silver coins. we always said we would leave it all in there until our first born went off to college and we would use the money for that.

well, that was last year. and we haven't taken the money out yet. i have no idea how much is in the bottles. you can tell they're pretty full. what you can't tell is how heavy they are. the glass adds weight, but there are a lot of coins there, too. i should dump them and use the money, but then they would empty and for some reason, that would make me sad.


the second thing i want to share is my daughter danielle's new blog. i have included her in my sidebar. after watching me blog for the past couple of months, she has decided she wants to try to do the same.

i've always encouraged my kids to journal, to record their lives in some way. jake has a xanga account but probably doesn't want me to provide a link to it (i'll ask him about that). and dani has had a couple of different blog accounts but never kept up with it. i will be encouraging her to write on a regular basis as she's living here this summer. maybe by the time she goes back to school, it will have become a habit for her.

hope everyone has a good weekend.

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link of the day:
http://www.etchbeyond.com/

Thursday, June 21, 2007

thankful thursday

a lot of bloggers post "thankful thursdays." i haven't felt a need to use this theme before now. don't get me wrong - i have a lot to be thankful for and consider myself a very grateful person. i thank God (almost) daily for His many blessings in my life. but after the fun i had today, i thought it would be a good day to do a thankful thursday post.

this is my friend, terri. we became friends after i joined her moms in touch group two years ago. we clicked almost immediately. we could sit together for hours and never have a need for something to say. i love our long discussions and i admire her in so many ways, especially her unwavering faith and the many ways she shares that faith.

anyways, she called me up last night to invite me to go with her to our local farmer's market and then to her pool. i immediately said yes to the market as i hadn't been yet and have wanted to go. but the pool... hmmm... i don't think so. and i told her that. that i didn't think i would want to get into a swim suit and go to a public pool. but i told her i would give her my answer when i met her at the farmer's market.

i met her this morning at the market. we had a great time. one of the first booths we visited was one that sold hats. we had the most fun trying on different hats. of course, she looks good in hats. i don't. but she kept telling me i did and between her and the sales lady, i didn't stand a chance of walking away without a hat. we asked the sales lady to take our picture - it was the least she could do after buying two hats from her.


as we walked through the market, terri would say things like, "you are coming to the pool" and "you have to come to the pool with me." her encouragement and the fact that it was nearly 100 degrees convinced me that a trip to the pool would be fun and a good way to beat the heat. and even though i didn't want to put on the dreaded swim suit, i agreed to go.

... and it was great. i had a wonderful time. another friend (and her daughter) from our group joined us. it was a very nice time of visiting, soaking up some sun, and enjoying the refreshing powers of the pool. and as i was driving home, reflecting on the day, i couldn't help but be thankful for such a good friend. one that cared enough to invite me to spend part of the day with her. one that could coax me out of my confort zone, which i need to do more often. one that makes the world a better place.

thanks terri for a wonderful day. and thank you, God, for bringing terri and i together.

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link of the day:
http://www.evanalmighty.com/site/index.html?dl=

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

life's a beach





you can check out more wordless wednesdays by following this link.

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link of the day:
http://www.new7wonders.com/

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

the wayward tortoise

don's mom has owned tortoises and turtles as long as i can remember. she's a school teacher so she has used them in her classroom, but more so, they are her pets. they roam freely in her back yard and sometimes it has been hard to find them.

feeding these pets was always a part of the routine for my kids when they were younger while visiting grandma and grandpa. nothing too exciting, but always part of the routine that they enjoyed. i can still picture them sitting on the green grass in the backyard just staring at however many were there at the time, chomping down on fresh fruit or a head of lettuce. watching them scurry around the backyard trying to be first to find their hard-shelled friends.

in recent years, the number of pets have decreased. they either die or get out of the backyard somehow. so, as usual, when we were staying there last week, someone asked about the tortoises. we were sad to hear that the last two were gone. one had died after a young kid sat on it too hard (kinda comical) and the other one escaped last summer while grandma had workmen at the house, for months, redoing her kitchen.

so imagine our surprise when don went to the garage one morning and just sitting there was a tortoise. this was the one that grandma thought escaped. she hadn't seen it since last summer. they do hibernate so it spent several months probably buried deep amongst the many boxes in the garage. but there were just as many months that it wasn't hibernating. amazing! needless to say, grandma was astonished and very happy.

at first, the tortoise seemed pretty sluggish and non-responsive. it didn't eat when we tried feeding it. but by the second day, he (or she?) was eating and moving around, hiding amongst the many plants in the backyard. hopefully it will be there the next time we visit.

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link of the day:
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf

Monday, June 18, 2007

didn't want to leave anyone out

since not all of my family were included on the first slide show, i've made a second one that wraps up the rest of the week.

~the first two pictures are of my nephew, luke, at his graduation. that was the main reason for going out to california. congratulations luke!

~unfortunately i didn't take any pictures of my half-brother, mike, and his girlfriend, stephanie. thanks mike and steph for meeting us at disneyland. wish we could have spent more time with you both.

~and then the last picture is of grandma's tortoise (or is it a turtle?). there's a funny story there. maybe i'll tell it in tomorrow's post.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

starstruck

let me tell you a little bit about my daughter, dani. she is, and always has been, starstruck. she is fascinated by celebrities, especially young cute guys. she's had so many teenage crushes that i've lost count.

one of her favorite shows is the O.C. one of the young actors on the show is adam brody. she kiddingly tells people that he's her future husband. most of the O.C. (which stands for orange county) was actually filmed on location in redondo and hermosa beach (not in orange county) - which is where we were this past week on vacation. so all week she would point out different spots where adam and his castmates had been. it was all very exciting for her.

she also talked us into visiting hollywood while were out there. she wanted to see a "star." i think she thought they would just be out and about, for anyone to see. like they might be out watering their lawn or ordering a frappacino at starbucks. we didn't see any. she would have been happy to spend the entire week traveling to different places where she thought celebrities would be. she would have done just about anything to see one.

so you can imagine her excitement when a real life celebrity walked right next to her while waiting to board our airplane. she was by herself when she thought she recognized one of the members of 'nsync (a boy band from the earlier part of this decade).

when i came back to our seats, she told me who she thought she saw. i looked around and spotted joey fatone. i remember him as being part of his band but he's more recently famous from coming in second place on dancing with the stars.

so dani and hollee went over to him, asked for his autograph, and asked if the could have a picture taken with him. he was very nice, made small talk with the girls, and agreed to the picture. they motioned me over and i snapped the photo below. i also told him i thought he should have won on dancing with the stars. he smiled and said, "yah, i was robbed."


needless to say, dani was ecstatic. she got to see her celeb. even if it was within minutes of boarding the plane to come home.

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link of the day:
http://www.nsync.com/content/group/guys.aspx?id=joey&sub=bio

Friday, June 15, 2007

vacation

well, my vacation is coming to an end. it's friday night and we get on a plane heading for home tomorrow afternoon. it's a bittersweet feeling.

of course, i want to get home. there's no place like home. i'm tired of living out of a suitcase. i'm tired of going, going, going. especially when most of that going is on the infamous freeways of southern california. i miss my pets, i miss my house, i miss my life.

but there's things i enjoy about being in southern california. i like the smell of the ocean air and the tropical flowers that bloom. i've eaten at some of my favorite restaurants - ones that we don't have in colorado. i enjoy seeing family that i don't get to see very often and catching up on their lives. i am thankful i got to see my nephew graduate from high school. and i love the beach and always forget how much until i'm back on it; walking on a pier or wading in the water, or even just seeing it from afar.

i guess that's what vacations are for. to get away for a period of time. to enjoy the place you go to; see new sights and visit old favorites. maybe some rest and relaxation. definitely memories. but maybe the best thing is finally going home, feeling blessed for what you have, and learning again to not take it for granted.

thank you, Lord, for time away... and for a place called home.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

22 x 1000

if a picture is worth a thousand words, how many more for 22 pictures. here has been our vacation thus far.

Monday, June 11, 2007

mickey and minnie

tomorrow we'll be spending the whole day at disneyland. i have been to this amazing park more times than i could ever count. as a teenager, we would go for just the evening as something fun to do. i've been there with friends, with boyfriends, with youth groups, with my parents, and with my own kids. most of those times were before prices sky-rocketed and it became so crowded. in fact, the last time my family and i went (and it was actually disneyworld), we decided we wouldn't go again until don and i had grandkids to take. we had seen and done it all.

so why are we going now? ....because i DON'T have any grandkids. we decided hollee (jake's girlfriend) needed to see and experience disneyland. and for those who have never been either, it IS an experience.

i love the atmosphere of disneyland. you know, they claim to be the happiest place on earth. i don't know if i would necessarily agree with that, but the atmosphere - the whole disney theme - makes it a very SPECIAL place. so we'll face the crowds and pay the high prices to spend the day in the company of mickey and minnie, and all their friends.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

is this supposed to be a vacation?


i don't feel very relaxed right now. but not all vacations are rest and relaxation. this one hasn't been so far and probably won't be. i really didn't expect it to be. we knew coming out here it would be a lot of visiting family. that means a lot of time in the van and sitting in traffic. there are just too many people here. i don't have to remind myself that this was the reason we moved away. (the above picture was taken from the top of some foothills overlooking downtown los angeles. )


yesterday we went to the santa monica pier and walked around. even though it's a crowded place, it was quite pleasureable. it had been years since i've been there. but then we headed over to the hollywood area. that was a mistake. there was some kind of fair going on and you could barely walk or drive down the streets. after a while, it became unbearable.

today we drove down to dana point and met some family members for a family portrait. the time spent with family was great and i wish we had more time with each other. it was just the time spent on the freeways that wears me out. here is the family, on don's side. our hair is blowing all over the place, but it's still a good picture, next to the ocean and all.


tomorrow we head off to visit some of my side of the family. and tuesday we'll be going to disneyland. don't know when i'll get on this next, but i'll do my best.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

california... we're here

i'm sitting here in my mother-in-law's kitchen, on don's computer, while the rest of the house is still asleep (except for don). it seems surreal. i've always marveled at how you can be in one place, physically and mentally, and a few hours later be in a whole different place, again, physically and mentally.

california is so different than colorado. it smells different (thanks to the ocean breezes) and it looks different (a little more, tropical... a lot more people!). but most of all, it pulls at my heart strings. it's a place of years gone by, where memories come flooding back at every turn the car makes or as i sit here in this house where i spent so much time as a teenager.

but it's good. and i love being here. sandwiches from our favorite deli were waiting in the car for us when we landed and we went straight to the beach to have dinner on the sand at sunset. jake's girlfriend is with us and she had never been on a plane before or traveled too far from home. i have tried seeing and experiencing everything through her eyes and perspective. i would see this whole trip as an incredible adventure. i hope she does.

i was lucky enough to get a window seat on the plane. i spent most of the time looking out the window, down upon the ever changing landscape. mountains with snow still on the peaks, vast desert that seemed to go on forever, winding rivers, and finally, civilization - the metropolis know as los angeles (it goes on forever, too). i couldn't help but stare out in wonder and awe at God's magnificant creation. He is truly an artist and He is worthy of all honor and praise. thank you, God, for the beauty of this earth and all that you give us.

Friday, June 8, 2007

figurines and bottles

it's show & tell friday hosted by kelli. last week i shared a little turtle figurine that i purchased at the acoma pueblo. i used to keep him in a shadow box i had hung on my bedroom wall. i no longer have the shadow box but kept a few things that i had displayed in the box. here are a couple of them.

these two little figurines were actually a gift don and i gave his grandma one year for her birthday. we were still dating at the time. we were probably in our late teens. when she passed away, they were left to us. we liked these two because when you arrange them properly, they are kissing. we thought it was a little symbolic of us :)


here is a picture of some really old bottles. i've always been fascinated with old stuff and i used to collect little bottles like these. i stopped when i realized i had too many to effectively display. i kept a few and these were some of my favorites.


i usually post in the evening but this one is early. that's because i'm on my way to california. i'm really hoping that i'll be able to post each day while i'm out there. it will just depend on what we will be doing each day. but even more of a factor is the internet connection - or lack of - we'll have at where we're staying.

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link of the day:
http://booster-blades.com/

Thursday, June 7, 2007

another role model


i've always admired audredy hepburn even though her performances were a little before my time. one of the earliest movie going experiences that i can remember was with my mom seeing Wait Until Dark. boy, did that movie spook me. not only because i was fairly young, but because ms. hepburn did such an excellent job at acting as the blind victim who had to outwit her attacker. of course, later, when i was older, i watched Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady.

she was such a good actress. but that's about all i knew about her. i didn't know what kind of person she was. below is a wonderful poem she wrote when asked to share her "beauty tips." it was read at her funeral years later.

"for attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
for lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
for a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
for beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
for poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
people, even more than things, have to be
restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed,and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.
remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
as you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands;
one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others."

i just thought that was beautiful. those are words we all should strive to live out. it's probably what made her such a beautiful lady, inside and out. here is one more quote.

"i am proud to have been in a business that gives pleasure, creates beauty, and awakens our conscience, arouses compassion, and perhaps most importantly,
gives millions a respite from our so violent world."


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link of the day:
http://spotthebull.orange.co.uk/game

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

role models

i came across two contrasting stories today. they had to do with role models. unfortunately, one was a role model that the young people of today might try to emulate and the other is one from days gone by.

last friday, a coach for the minor league mississippi braves went crazy after an ump made a call that he didn't like. since the game was being televised, the footage was downloaded to the ever popular youtube. if you really want to watch it, you can follow this link.

the coach's tirade went on for over two minutes. he just went on and on. in my opinion, the only thing he accomplished was looking like a child throwing a temper tantrum. the sad thing is that hundreds (if not thousands) of young people have watched this video. i read that once it was uploaded to youtube, it quickly became one of the most watched video during that that time. and sadly, kids who watch it thinks it cool and funny. so what does this teach the younger generations?

the other thing i came across was a write-up about mr. rogers. whether you watched mr. rogers or not, whether you liked him or not, you'd have to admit he was one-of-a-kind. the tribute is titled, 15 reasons mr. rogers was the best neighbor ever and the 15 reasons were ones that i had never heard before.

if you read the post you'll understand what i mean when i say this is the kind of role model we want for the youth of today. he was disciplined, he was kind, he cared about others, and the list goes on. one of the most interesting things i found was that he got into tv because he actually hated tv. that's what you call; being part of the change and not part of the problem.

he said that the first time he turned on a tv, he saw people angrily throwing pies in each other's faces. he vowed to use the medium for a better purpose. he sure did. and now we're back to watching things such as a grown man kicking dirt and yelling at an authority figure, stealing a base, using a rosen bag as a hand grenade, and the list goes sadly on.

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link of the day:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-disappear.htm

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

God's love is amazing

if you haven't read the book Redeeming Love - and it sounds like there are more of you than i thought - i would highly recommend it. it is a book that will make you see God's love in a different way and help you better understand God and His will. one of the tag lines on the back of the book puts it this way, "a powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God's unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love."

the friend that recommended this book told me i would read it in two days because i wouldn't be able to put it down. i have read a book in such a way before, but i didn't with this one. i can see how some would, but for me, i wanted to take breaks to reflect on what i had read. reflect on how much God loves me and how, despite this, i must hurt Him deeply at times. reflect on how selfish and judgemental i can be, even though i say i'm all about loving others.

so, it was, indeed, a life-changing book for me. my daughter also read it and loved it. she told me while she was reading it that it made her see God and His love in a different way, that she learned more about God through this book. she said it is now her favorite book. i think it is mine, too.

i don't usually recommend books and i don't like when people tell me that i need to read some book that they just loved. i've read enough books and know enough about people to know that we all have our own criteria of what makes a good book, or a favorite book. so i hesitate to do so here. but i'll go out on a limb and just say it... i think this is one book that everyone should read.

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link of the day:
http://www.games4work.com/games/swf/supercoolpic.swf

Monday, June 4, 2007

redeeming love

it's late at night. i've been reading my current book straight through for the past few hours and i just finished it. the book? redeeming love by francine rivers.

it's a great book. it's been around for a while. i know a lot of women have read it because every time i asked a friend or aquaintance if they had, they looked at me in disbelief and said something like, "you haven't ever read this book?" i actually stopped asking because i'm now figuring that i'm just about the only christian woman who hasn't read it. but now i have *smile*

i don't read a lot of christian fiction but this book came highly recommend by a friend. she told me that she thinks every christian should read it and that she often gives it to new christians as a gift. after finishing it, i agree. every christian should read it. although, i'm not too sure men would.

there is so much going through my mind right now. i really don't want to write... or write about it. so i think i will say good night and give myself some time to reflect on the book and how i'm feeling. i will write more tomorrow. i'm sure the emotions i'm feeling will still be there.

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link of the day:
http://www.crosswalk.com/

Sunday, June 3, 2007

watch out for the holes

we'll be traveling to the fair state of california at the end of this week. we're going back to see my nephew graduate from high school. we're planning on visiting family (they're all there) but finding some time for ourselves, too. we'll spend a lot of time on the beach, eating at our favorite restaurants, and maybe even a trip to disneyland. hopefully i'll be able to continue to blog each day.

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someone sent me this and i wanted to share it. it's a nice illustration of the christian experience. the devotion starts out talking about the holes that we find ourselves in. the issue isn't the holes themselves, but what we do when when we experience them. read this poem and reflect on it.

autobiography in five short chapters by portia nelson
(printed in healing the child within, charles whitfield)

chapter 1
I walk down the street.
there's a deep hole in the sidewalk.
i fall in.
i am lost...i am helpless;
it isn't my fault.
it takes forever to find a way out.

chapter 2
i walk down the same street.
there is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
i pretend i don't see it.
i fall in again.
i can't believe i am in the same place;
but it isn't my fault.
it still takes a long time to get out.

chapter 3
i walk down the same street.
there is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
i see it is there.
i still fall in....it's a habit.
my eyes are open.
i know where i am.
it is my fault.
i get out immediately.

chapter 4
i walk down the same street.
tis a deep hole in the sidewalk.
i walk around it.

chapter 5
i walk down a different street.

instead of blaming, instead of succumbing to habit, if we could trust the Lord to guide us to a new “walk” in life, our lives would be different. transformation occurs when we are committed to being formed into the likeness of Jesus. learning to follow Jesus is about learning to walk down streets that are different.

can anyone relate? i sure can. sometimes i just can't get past chapter 3. i think this poem has helped me though. i will be looking for different streets.

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link of the day:
http://blog.pixelbreaker.com/upload/polarclock/polarclock.html

Saturday, June 2, 2007

slow saturday

if you've been here before, you'll notice my new look. (if you haven't been here... welcome) i've been wanting to change the look of my blog for a while, but didn't like any of the standard layouts that blogger offers. i've gone out on the web but, until today, never found anything i liked or felt comfortable messing around with.

but today i found this template. i wasn't sure if i liked it at first. but after changing some of the elements and adding some new stuff, it's growing on me. i actually found a design i liked but it has to be made by the designer. since it will be more or less custom made, it could take 6-8 weeks before it's completed. i don't want to wait that long. i may just keep this one. let me know what you think.

on another note, jake started his job today. he was mostly in training, but he ended up creating ice cream masterpieces for the paying customer. he even was cut in on the tip money.

after work, his band and a couple of girl friends came over to jam and hang out. we made chili dogs for everyone for dinner. dani and i joined them in playing the game apples to apples until most of them headed for home. i love hanging out with high school kids but they definitely have more energy than i. i think i hear my pillow calling my name :)

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link of the day:
http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

Friday, June 1, 2007

my acoma turtle

here's another show & tell friday. if you'd like to see other blogger's show & tells, follow this link.




this is a little turtle figurine i purchased over 20 years ago. i bought it in acoma, new mexico, on a trip don and i took from southern california to oklahoma. we went out to visit my mom and step-dad and stopped by the acoma indian reservation. it was a fascinating place as the reservation is on top of a mesa. i remember driving in a rickety bus along a dirt road that winded around the mesa to the very top. we were then given a walking tour. you couldn't walk around on your own.

once up there, one was transported to a whole different world. the people there live with little (or no) comforts. no electricity, no running water, no plumbing. they live as their ancestors did. a lot of the indians, at some point, moved down off the pueblo and live nearby. another thing i remember is that no photography or video taping was allowed. they were very strict about it. i would have loved to have taken pictures while up there.

one of the few ways the tribe people makes money is through their pottery and art. their paintings are very distinctive, as you can see on the back of this turtle. they use a lot of geometric designs. we also bought a beautiful platter for don's mom.

this little guy reminds me of the time we spent on top of the mesa as well as the road trip and time we spent in oklahoma. great memories.

if you would like to know more about the acoma pueblo and it's people, you can click on the link of the day.

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link of the day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoma_Pueblo