Cupcake

B enjoyed every bit of that cupcake!

Whatcha gonna see here?

This blog...if I can keep it up this time around...will be a combination of many things. I might talk about politics one post, faith and spirituality and God in another, my job, my kids, my family, my friends, my life in general on any given day. There is probably not going to be much rhyme or reason, which happens to be very similar to the way my mind works.

I do plan on posting every Tuesday (at the bare minimum) to share things that I am grateful for. I don't give nearly enough credit to God for the blessings and challenges that have shaped my life, and that is definitely where the credit goes.

Unrelenting Gratitude

It is oh so easy to be thankful for the good stuff that happens in our lives. It is much harder to give thanks for the tough stuff that may actually shape our character and spirit more. I came across this quote today and it serves as a grand reminder to praise God in all circumstances.

"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives--the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-- that requires hard spiritual work.
Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.
Let us not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God."
~Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey

An interesting play on light in Ethan's room. The sun was shining through the string holes in his blinds and it was casting the most amazing light! No one else in our house appreciated it, but it brought me a little bit of joy to see something so beautiful come from something so normal.

Third Day on Leno!!!!

We were so excited to hear that Third Day, one of our favorite Christian bands was going to perform on The Tonight Show. God is doing some major work to get a Christian band onto a secular show. I was disappointed that there was not time for an interview, but the band really sounded terrific. I hope that everybody who saw the show buys the CD to get the full experience of Third Day!

Back to School (which shall be referred to as BTS from here on out)

Above video from "Billy Madison"

For me, the lure of BTS is new stuff. There is nothing like the BTS sales. I'm not sure what the draw is, but even now, 5+ years out of school and I need new notebooks and pencils and markers and why not throw a new backpack in for good measure! Maybe it's because I'm still "in school", just in a different capacity. All of those sharpened pencils and notebooks with pristine pages waiting to be filled with new learning, information, and ideas is so promising.

I can go to Target and wander and examine in the BTS aisles for a good hour. It amazes me how many different products there are compared to when I was in school. Remember covering your books with brown paper sacks? That is so over. Now you've got to buy the stretch fabric book covers. Where is the fun in that? I kinda liked wrestling with that paper sack. And pens and pencils. Remember when Bic was it? Now you've got endless options when choosing a writing utensil. It's crazy!

I love BTS so much that the last three years I worked as a BTS consultant through Crayola at a local Wal-Mart store. For several hours, I did my best to help parents and families navigate the BTS madness. Parents entered that aisle with a deer in the headlights look and I got to help them choose the products that would make the school year successful!

This year, the BTS program at Wal-Mart was cancelled in Nebraska and I have really limited myself to what new school supplies I have purchased. I have gotten three pretty notebooks and a ginormous package of mechanical pencils, but that's it. I do have my eye on the jumbo pack of Sharpie markers with every color imaginable, so we'll see what the next week brings. My blissful, stress free summer with E is coming to an end and I have to return to work. I am ready...I think!

So, what was/is your favorite part about BTS?

Sassy Sophia Petrillo, you'll be missed

In college, watching The Golden Girls was our thing, just like singing Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun at the top of our lungs cruising campus. I am so sad to hear that Estelle Getty who played Sophia on The Golden Girls has passed away. She is my favorite character on the show. I love her quick wit and biting sarcastic remarks. She was a softie when it mattered too. I still love to watch The Golden Girls if I happen upon the show on the Lifetime Network.



Here's a news story with more information.

July Blessings

July has been a month of finding contentment and practicing gratitude for all of the blessings in my life. I wanted to share a few here.

*The blessing of old friends!This is a gathering of some of my oldest friends from elementary, middle and high school. I've know Erin (front row, left) ever since first grade, some 25 years ago! I was talking to a teenage friend from church and she could hardly believe that I've know someone who is not biological family for that long. She said she hardly remembers people she graduated with just a few years ago.

*The blessing of God's delicious provisions

Our garden got obliterated in a crazy freak storm in late June, so our harvest has been slim. Fortunately, there is a wonderful farm stand a few blocks from our house with the BEST WATERMELON I'VE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE! They also have delicious tomatoes and cucumbers. I did buy a zucchini too, but haven't gotten around to eating that yet.

*The blessing of having the choice to hang my laundry outside to dry

I love hanging laundry on the clothesline, even though most of the time I take the lazy way out and just pop stuff in the dryer. But you truly cannot beat the smell of fresh laundry that has been dried in the sun.

*The blessing of the freedoms we have as Americans, including blowing things up!

We were fortunate enough this year to see three wonderful fireworks shows. One was for our church group, one was a family thing in hub's hometown and the third was right here in our neighborhood.

*The blessing of a fun-filled calendar

July has filled our calendar with many social activities with family and friends new, old and somewhere in between. The picture is of a fruit pizza I made for our church 4th of July party.

We have so many things to be thankful for and the blessings in our lives are numerous.