I know I've referenced this site before, but after reading this entry, I nearly fell off the chair laughing. I'm needing some humor in my life these days to take the edge off, and that's why I hit sites like hers.
Besides her and Mama P, these two women keep me in stitches. I have a sneaky feeling that, were Mama P and I to be in the same room, we'd be a force of nature to be reckoned with!!
Who do you guys read for a good, hard gut laugh? (And no, laughing at me to remind yourself of how normal you are doesn't count!! j/k)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
MercyMe Has Done It Again
Now that I have recovered from the shock of what I have just seen, I can't wait to share it with you, the bloggy public. I will spare you with the long story of how I found it, but if you: a) love flashing back to old songs, b) love MercyMe, c) like acoustic/bluegrass music, d) any combination of the above, or e) ALL of the above, then you're gonna get such a kick outta this. I found myself dancing, harmonizing, musing at how they pulled this off, and eventually laughing until I cried. Enjoy!!!
For all of us who secretly practiced dancing like a mummy in front of our bathroom mirrors and wanted the red leather jacket to boot:
For all you "oldsters" out there who actually admit to doing the hustle in public:
For the hard-core Rick Astley fans, a tribute complete with hard-core triangle playing:
This was the best song in the group to me, and it had an ending reminiscent of the dear ole Chokemaster himself:
Not near as good, but should satisfy Vanilla Ice groupies:
And lastly, this one is dedicated to HisGirl and S4J (do you think they could've transposed down a step or two?!?):
For all of us who secretly practiced dancing like a mummy in front of our bathroom mirrors and wanted the red leather jacket to boot:
For all you "oldsters" out there who actually admit to doing the hustle in public:
For the hard-core Rick Astley fans, a tribute complete with hard-core triangle playing:
This was the best song in the group to me, and it had an ending reminiscent of the dear ole Chokemaster himself:
Not near as good, but should satisfy Vanilla Ice groupies:
And lastly, this one is dedicated to HisGirl and S4J (do you think they could've transposed down a step or two?!?):
Pit Stop: Home
Well, we have arrived home again from our time in Washington to the disgusting, oppressive heat in the grand ole state of Texas. Can you tell I'm thrilled to be home? There is something to be said for sleeping in one's own bed after a lengthy travel, but it's a bittersweet thing for me this time around. Once again, I'm having to reacclimate to being alone, and I don't like it one bit. My heart is with R. but my mind has got to be plugged in here, and I'm stressed out and distracted. You can imagine how much fun I am to be around right now!
It was a good, memorable experience. Can't really call it a vacation, because that's not what it was intended to be. I've been working on uploading pictures for almost an hour now, going through them and wondering just where the time went and how fast it went by. The kids really handled travelling well, and actually handled the time change better than me, truth be told. I look forward to schlepping them up there again sometime in the not-too-distant future, but with R.'s schedule being full of travel and unpredictability, and kids starting school soon, I'm not sure when that will be. However, we do have a family vacation planned with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents next week, and I'm trying to talk S4J into a mini-chicas this weekend.
Yes, yes, Gretchen and I did have our "MIRL," and it was just the coolest. Picture my personality but putting a "relaxed and groovy," laid-back, wise, funny spin on it, and you've got the Bloggy Queen of the PNW, as I've decided to dub her. Her kids are the coolest, and Big seems like a big sweetie to boot. She was uber-cool about my puky Lil' G and energized Bud, and we even got to enjoy a glass of local wine to top off the afternoon. It was an amazing treat and blessing to get to meet her and experience her heartfelt hospitality. Can someone say Chicas '09?!? haha!!!
I'll get to posting some of the cool pics and giving everyone the run-down in a bit. Got to sort out household/essential things that were deliciously neglected whilst I retreated to the arms of my sweetie, and start preparing for another trip. I have some interesting excerpts from some journaling and just "wow" pics to put up. BTW, keep your eyes open: there is a special event coming up here at GGG's place. I'm even getting my own cool button from HisGirl to kick it off!!! Be sure to check back...
Much love to Gretchen and everyone who prayed for and over this trip, my children, my relationship, my nerves, etc. Please keep those prayers coming. We still have a long way to go, but I know that God is faithful and present and sovereign. Check back soon for the latest updates!!!
It was a good, memorable experience. Can't really call it a vacation, because that's not what it was intended to be. I've been working on uploading pictures for almost an hour now, going through them and wondering just where the time went and how fast it went by. The kids really handled travelling well, and actually handled the time change better than me, truth be told. I look forward to schlepping them up there again sometime in the not-too-distant future, but with R.'s schedule being full of travel and unpredictability, and kids starting school soon, I'm not sure when that will be. However, we do have a family vacation planned with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents next week, and I'm trying to talk S4J into a mini-chicas this weekend.
Yes, yes, Gretchen and I did have our "MIRL," and it was just the coolest. Picture my personality but putting a "relaxed and groovy," laid-back, wise, funny spin on it, and you've got the Bloggy Queen of the PNW, as I've decided to dub her. Her kids are the coolest, and Big seems like a big sweetie to boot. She was uber-cool about my puky Lil' G and energized Bud, and we even got to enjoy a glass of local wine to top off the afternoon. It was an amazing treat and blessing to get to meet her and experience her heartfelt hospitality. Can someone say Chicas '09?!? haha!!!
I'll get to posting some of the cool pics and giving everyone the run-down in a bit. Got to sort out household/essential things that were deliciously neglected whilst I retreated to the arms of my sweetie, and start preparing for another trip. I have some interesting excerpts from some journaling and just "wow" pics to put up. BTW, keep your eyes open: there is a special event coming up here at GGG's place. I'm even getting my own cool button from HisGirl to kick it off!!! Be sure to check back...
Much love to Gretchen and everyone who prayed for and over this trip, my children, my relationship, my nerves, etc. Please keep those prayers coming. We still have a long way to go, but I know that God is faithful and present and sovereign. Check back soon for the latest updates!!!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Cascade Mountain High
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber." --Psalm 121:1-3 (NASB)
R. and I took the kids up to Mt. Rainier yesterday and had such a great time. Everywhere you go around here, Rainier stands patiently, majestically, always seeming just out of reach but always nearby. Bud and Lil' G affectionately call it, "Snowy Mountain." By the first five minutes out of the car, Lil' G was completely frustrated by slipping on the snow, but Bud wanted to ski. It's a weird feeling touching the snow and being insanely cold, yet baking in the sun because it's 85 degrees outside...
Despite the kids simply acting their ages, all four of us are having a wonderful time, enjoying being together and in one anothers' presence. I would love to report that we were enjoying cooler temperatures, but that would be a bold-faced lie. I can report that we are not having the same kind of intense, melt-your-brain-to-your-skull heat up here, but in a part of the country where homes are built with no air conditioning, even the slightest amount of unseasonable heat can seem ridiculous.
To top it all off with a heapin' helpin' of gravy, the sixth and best food group, I get to have a "MIRL" (read: Meet In Real Life) with the one and only, the bloggy queen of the Pacific Northwest, none other than Gretchen herself!!! She has most graciously opened up the hospitality of her home at the beach, complete with sand dollars and bald eagles, and we are anxious to take her up on it. Photos and details upcoming...
I leave you with what R. and I like to call a "Pookie Pic." We have collected these from all around the world. Now we have one on top of a dormant North American volcano, a.k.a., Mt. Rainier...
R. and I took the kids up to Mt. Rainier yesterday and had such a great time. Everywhere you go around here, Rainier stands patiently, majestically, always seeming just out of reach but always nearby. Bud and Lil' G affectionately call it, "Snowy Mountain." By the first five minutes out of the car, Lil' G was completely frustrated by slipping on the snow, but Bud wanted to ski. It's a weird feeling touching the snow and being insanely cold, yet baking in the sun because it's 85 degrees outside...
Despite the kids simply acting their ages, all four of us are having a wonderful time, enjoying being together and in one anothers' presence. I would love to report that we were enjoying cooler temperatures, but that would be a bold-faced lie. I can report that we are not having the same kind of intense, melt-your-brain-to-your-skull heat up here, but in a part of the country where homes are built with no air conditioning, even the slightest amount of unseasonable heat can seem ridiculous.
To top it all off with a heapin' helpin' of gravy, the sixth and best food group, I get to have a "MIRL" (read: Meet In Real Life) with the one and only, the bloggy queen of the Pacific Northwest, none other than Gretchen herself!!! She has most graciously opened up the hospitality of her home at the beach, complete with sand dollars and bald eagles, and we are anxious to take her up on it. Photos and details upcoming...
I leave you with what R. and I like to call a "Pookie Pic." We have collected these from all around the world. Now we have one on top of a dormant North American volcano, a.k.a., Mt. Rainier...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Could You Pass The Latest Citizenship Test?
Click on the link above to take a 20-question sampling of the test given to people applying for citizenship in our country. I got a 90% -- I missed the question about senators and Susan B. Anthony. (I was waffling on the one about senators. Had I gone with my first answer, I would've gotten it right.)
I think this is timely, considering we celebrate our nation's independence on Friday. If you don't know the answers to some of these questions, and even if you do, take the time to invest a little more in what you know about our country and our government. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights is something that every single American should have a working knowledge of and be aware of what our politicians are doing that impacts our freedoms and laws. Yes, we should care about Supreme Court appointments and decisions. Yes, we should care about who is being elected to some obscure office. Look at Barak Obama's rise to fame and power. It seems like he just came out of nowhere and has somehow gotten past the Clinton dynasty to be our first black candidate for President. (Personally, I smell conspiracy alllll over that one, but we'll see...)
So enjoy! Post your scores back on here so we can see who is thenerdiest most well-informed among the group!
I think this is timely, considering we celebrate our nation's independence on Friday. If you don't know the answers to some of these questions, and even if you do, take the time to invest a little more in what you know about our country and our government. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights is something that every single American should have a working knowledge of and be aware of what our politicians are doing that impacts our freedoms and laws. Yes, we should care about Supreme Court appointments and decisions. Yes, we should care about who is being elected to some obscure office. Look at Barak Obama's rise to fame and power. It seems like he just came out of nowhere and has somehow gotten past the Clinton dynasty to be our first black candidate for President. (Personally, I smell conspiracy alllll over that one, but we'll see...)
So enjoy! Post your scores back on here so we can see who is the
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
D-Dang!!
OK, so after that last post, I'm updating my desk calendar to see what today's verse was. Look what little gem He left under my pillow:
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." --James 1:12
Man, He is soooo reading my mail. Gotta love it.
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." --James 1:12
Man, He is soooo reading my mail. Gotta love it.
Happy Anniversary, Schmupps...
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God... Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." --Hebrews 12:1-2, 28 (NKJV)
Dearest Tom,
I wanted to make my last verse dedicated to you. I think of you every time I read vv. 1 and 2, and it gives me such hope. It helps me endure the long days as they spread out before me, here without you, knowing that I am surrounded by you and others who love me and cheer me on, praying encouragement and strength over me.
Over this last year I really hope you have been saying extra prayers for me. I hope that God has allowed you to peek into my heart, and then again, I don't. The saying that "time heals all" has felt more like a cruel joke than words of wisdom. This year has been harder than any other since you died. The longer we are apart, the harder I struggle. So many times I feel myself falling, feeling so lost and out of sorts. I went through such a dark time, a season in which past hurts were choking out my happy memories of you like wild, bristly thistles in a delicate herb garden. Just when I am ready and willing to move on, I come across baggage like this that dashes my faith and my hope. As I wrote those letters where I was supposed to be forgiving you of being some inconsiderate person, I realized my own depravity, my own sinfulness against you and realized how desperately I needed your words of forgiveness.
As I sat there in the blazing Texas heat with my hand over where yours would be, six feet underneath me in white cotton gloves, my mind raced through a rolodex of memories we made. I remembered the song being played in the hangar as you were the last man in the door at the redeployment ceremony in FT Riley, and the travel-weary smile you gave me as I smothered you in a relieved hug. I remembered how you cried so hard you almost couldn't get out the words, "I love you," the first time you told them to me, the song you had picked out for that moment, and how I drove the two hours home in happy tears. I remembered the sound of your voice, your easy laugh, and the way your eyes danced when you smiled. I also remembered seeing you for one last time in the church. You laid there, in dress blues ready to be taken into the sanctuary one last time on the shoulders of the soldiers who loved you. You were in the same exact place we were standing after leaving the church when we married, and we did a 'high five' because we were exhilarated to finally be down the aisle. Our marriage began and ended in the same place; how strange...
I need to know you are in that cloud of witnesses, Tom. The kids need to know it, too. All three of us have such a long road ahead of us. I struggle with knowing how to incorporate you into our lives without breaking their hearts, or mine for that matter. The next chapter in our lives has already begun and is moving in a good, happy direction. How do I appropriately keep you in the family without hurting him? While I'm at it, how weird is it to love two insanely different men? I wish beyond all wishing that God would just allow you a couple of words to me, a kind of "seal of approval," on everything, just to let me know that I'm doing the right thing. I feel good about all the choices that I have made so far, but knowing that it would pass muster with you would give me enormous peace of mind.
I didn't ask to be plopped in the big middle of this race I'm in, but as long as I'm here, I want to do it right, to make it to the end not just with a huff and a puff, but with flying colors. All I can think of is to keep my head down and just keep going toward what I know is right -- to keep my heart open to God's words and my eyes focused on the cross. Just promise me that you will be there with the others to tell me, "Welcome home," when I make it across that finish line.
Happy 8th anniversary, Schmupps; I miss you...
Dearest Tom,
I wanted to make my last verse dedicated to you. I think of you every time I read vv. 1 and 2, and it gives me such hope. It helps me endure the long days as they spread out before me, here without you, knowing that I am surrounded by you and others who love me and cheer me on, praying encouragement and strength over me.
Over this last year I really hope you have been saying extra prayers for me. I hope that God has allowed you to peek into my heart, and then again, I don't. The saying that "time heals all" has felt more like a cruel joke than words of wisdom. This year has been harder than any other since you died. The longer we are apart, the harder I struggle. So many times I feel myself falling, feeling so lost and out of sorts. I went through such a dark time, a season in which past hurts were choking out my happy memories of you like wild, bristly thistles in a delicate herb garden. Just when I am ready and willing to move on, I come across baggage like this that dashes my faith and my hope. As I wrote those letters where I was supposed to be forgiving you of being some inconsiderate person, I realized my own depravity, my own sinfulness against you and realized how desperately I needed your words of forgiveness.
As I sat there in the blazing Texas heat with my hand over where yours would be, six feet underneath me in white cotton gloves, my mind raced through a rolodex of memories we made. I remembered the song being played in the hangar as you were the last man in the door at the redeployment ceremony in FT Riley, and the travel-weary smile you gave me as I smothered you in a relieved hug. I remembered how you cried so hard you almost couldn't get out the words, "I love you," the first time you told them to me, the song you had picked out for that moment, and how I drove the two hours home in happy tears. I remembered the sound of your voice, your easy laugh, and the way your eyes danced when you smiled. I also remembered seeing you for one last time in the church. You laid there, in dress blues ready to be taken into the sanctuary one last time on the shoulders of the soldiers who loved you. You were in the same exact place we were standing after leaving the church when we married, and we did a 'high five' because we were exhilarated to finally be down the aisle. Our marriage began and ended in the same place; how strange...
I need to know you are in that cloud of witnesses, Tom. The kids need to know it, too. All three of us have such a long road ahead of us. I struggle with knowing how to incorporate you into our lives without breaking their hearts, or mine for that matter. The next chapter in our lives has already begun and is moving in a good, happy direction. How do I appropriately keep you in the family without hurting him? While I'm at it, how weird is it to love two insanely different men? I wish beyond all wishing that God would just allow you a couple of words to me, a kind of "seal of approval," on everything, just to let me know that I'm doing the right thing. I feel good about all the choices that I have made so far, but knowing that it would pass muster with you would give me enormous peace of mind.
I didn't ask to be plopped in the big middle of this race I'm in, but as long as I'm here, I want to do it right, to make it to the end not just with a huff and a puff, but with flying colors. All I can think of is to keep my head down and just keep going toward what I know is right -- to keep my heart open to God's words and my eyes focused on the cross. Just promise me that you will be there with the others to tell me, "Welcome home," when I make it across that finish line.
Happy 8th anniversary, Schmupps; I miss you...
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