Recently I've really enjoyed checking out Petfinder.com. Sigh. I want a dog so bad!!! It's too expensive presently AND my husband and I don't completely see eye-to-eye on dogs. Don't get me wrong. We both love dogs but I'm not just breed loyal. I'll take any dog that is adorable. Take Daisy Mae for example: (here's Daisy Mae's link if you can't see the picture: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16854736?rvp=1 )
Here is an adorable little dog with huge ears! Who couldn't love that? She's only a few months old. Sigh. Jack thought she was ugly. She's a Sheltie/ Jack Russell and she's up for adoption.
I also liked this little girl, Thelma. http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16198559?rvp=1
I'm such a sucker for dogs. Jack again wasn't too impressed. But when I showed him this next picture, he melted. Meet little Cody ( http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16397757?rvp=1 ) 7 months old.
Adorable little guy. This is probably where our future lies unless we have "his" and "hers" dogs. Any solutions anyone? Once we get out of an apartment we'll probably get a dog.... or two.... or three. But probably just 2 if I ever want my parents coming to visit. Hm... maybe that would persuade Jack to let us have 3. Just kidding!
I must admit there is nothing quite as exciting as being with family after being away for a while. Perhaps you don't feel the same way. But there's something comforting in always being allowed to be yourself- good and bad. Siblings grew up with you.... you have nothing left to prove. They know you are capable of being the most annoying, brat-like, selfish person in the world, but they also know that when it comes to a boy throwing rocks at you on the playground they'd be standing right next to you throwing bigger rocks back. You just don't mess with family.
Jack and I took a small trip to see my siblings this past weekend and it was delightful! My sister is moving. Moving is stressful. Every nook and cranny that you have hidden your treasures in has to be cleaned out while the stuff finds a new home in a box for a few days. They have some awesome stuff including a huge tv and a couch that you never want to get out of cause you sink right in! But all that awesome stuff becomes cumbersome stuff until it's properly placed in its position in a home. You probably never realize how many clothes you actually have until you move as well. Carrying armloads of clothes is enough to make you stop and think "have I every thrown any old clothes away? Or have I just bought too many recently?" That's my own personal experience. In helping my sister with her clothes, my thoughts ran more like "how did she get such an awesome wardrobe? will I ever be able to look this cute?" The answer is probably no. No matter how much you grow up, your older siblings are always a step ahead of you.
We were bagging my older sister's clothing and labeling it, when my other sister saw a brooch that used to be my grandmother's before she passed away on my older sister's jacket. So she said "That definitely looks like a grandma brooch." My older sister froze with glare and said "Well thanks." Only then did my other sister realize that she had misspoken and instead of saying "Grandma" brooch, she said "grandma brooch." Hahaha. Funniest thing all weekend. "Now there's an old -lady- looking brooch if I ever saw one... and it's pinned on your jacket no less!!!" Haha- not a compliment. Rest-assured, it was not a slam because my grandmother had fabulous taste.
Needless to say, time spent with family is time well spent. Time spent packing up with family makes life much less miserable than packing alone.
I was asked recently though to take the Aladdin Challenge and see if I could not use any paper cups, water bottles or food containers for 30 days.
At first this was too daunting, but while I’m not always about saving the world I am always up for a good challenge!!
Really though I want you to consider taking this challenge with me because of the money it can potentially save you over 30 days:
Coffee at home, maybe $15 — Coffee out everyday $60-$90
Bring your own lunch, maybe $60 — Eat out for lunch $150
Carrying a Reusable Bottle for Water, free — Buying Water or Soda $40
Just changing those three things you’ve saved over $175 in one month!!!
Okay, for the folks that love the “eco” side of things here are numbers for you:
Seven million barrels of oil are used to produce the disposable bottles Americans go through in one year.
In the United States, 50 billion disposable water bottles are consumed per year; 137,000 per day; 1,585 per second.
Unless we change our habits, 23 billion paper coffee cups will be thrown out in 2010.
Are you up for it?
Click to join the “Do the Reuse Challenge” or find out more about it. When you sign up you’ll get special discounts on Aladdin reusable products and FREE shipping (I’m all about a deal). Get more tips and encouragement as you partake on your challenge from Aladdin on Facebook.
My Containers:
Aladdin sent me two of their containers – a plastic water bottle and a thermos. The awesome part, they are both microwave and dishwasher safe! I tipped the Thermos over in my purse, and dropped it in the car and had zero leakage. Awesome!
Here's a word from a coupon lady. I found this extremely humorous. Enjoy those ten seconds!
"Things I struggle finding the time for are neither few nor far between. Time to exercise seems near the top of the list. Time to prepare gourmet meals and bake my own bread aren’t far behind. Even when I get up an hour early, it still seems that by 10 O’clock, my time is gone and my domestic ambitions are left in a heap (next to the pile of laundry that I never started). Moms, Dads and everyone else in between—we all seem to have about 20 hours of work per day and no more than 18 hours to do it in! Let’s all pat ourselves on the back and devote the next ten seconds to feeling sorry for ourselves."
I'm proud to announce that Jack's soccer debut went well. His team which had never played together lost to the other team 6-3, but the other team had obviously played together before because they had uniforms with numbers. Jack's team just had on white. Sadly enough, Jack failed to tell me that he was playing a red team and I wore a red t-shirt! His leg is still giving him trouble but he was able to play last night. He's got 3 guys on his team which speak only English. Everyone else (it seems) on the other teams seem to be bilingual with Spanish. Man, do they talk fast! I told Jack that we were going to have to learn Spanish to survive around people from the indoor soccer league! Luckily for us, we already have a good start with words like gordita, taco, enchilada, pollo, tortilla, and salsa. Maybe for good measure we'll throw in a few words like chico, gracias, and agua. "Hey chico! Pass me the ball and quit acting like a pollo or else we will all help turn you into a tortilla and throw you into the agua! Gracias." Oh yes- we have quite the handle on that language!
For all you who are anxiously awaiting, feeding that nasty habit of biting your nails, here is the update on swimming. For round 2 of swimming exercise, I secured a handy little set of Speedo goggles. This was after I wandered around Dick's Sporting Goods waiting for Jack (to come from work) who happened to be following me around the store as I looked for him and wherever the goggles could be. I called him but he ignored it. I texted him and he didn't text back. In the end, I asked an associate went straight to the goggles and he appeared. Ugh!
Anyway, although the lifeguards still were amused, it was much better than my lane divider run-ins. Just today we increased our goals by 10 and achieved our goals in 30 mins! It required pushing ourselves but we're getting better!
After swimming today, Jack had a foot cramp which turned into a calf cramp. Men don't handle cramps very well. I don't like them either, but Jack could've been having a baby in the pool with the noises of pain that he was making. It just seemed like such turmoil and pain should be followed by others yelling "Push! PUSH!!" In fact, Jack himself was yelling that to me as I bent his toes back toward his body trying to keep him from cramping further. We were interrupting a swim class that had just taken over our lane and the ladies looked horrified. The instructor was giving me instructions to massage the calf or to have Jack walk it out. So if you can imagine the scene altogether, Jack and I in the pool with him practically in labor pains in his leg while a gaggle of ladies looked on with wide eyes and the instructor was telling me to rub him. It really was laugh worthy. We made it out of the pool without too much more drama but made a beeline for the grocery store to pick up more bananas. Jack is very concerned that he be better by tomorrow since tomorrow night is his "big debut for indoor soccer since 6 years ago." Let's just hope those bananas are magical!
If you read the post about Achan, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say part 2. Here's the second Bible story that I've lived through. Very exciting.
We were on a mission's trip to Myrtle Beach. Funny how my Bible story similarities all happen on mission trips so far. Anyway, after a very long trip on un-air conditioned vehicles (24 hours of driving for a 16 hr trip) we made it to our destination. We were there to run a Cola War for a recent church plant. We did the kids and teens. We'd trained and prayed and traveled. Part of the trip was recruiting kids to come to the program or blitzing as we like to call it. We handed out fliers to let people know about it! Before we went out, we prayed. In the car as we got out in groups to put fliers on doors, we prayed.
We had stopped at a house and my older sister and her friend Jackie jumped out to take on a house. I and my 2 friends were praying in the back of the van. Quickly, my sister and her friend came sprinting back to the van screaming. Behind them raced 3 dogs- 2 of which were quite large (a Saint Bernard and a Shepherd mix.) They jumped into the van quite upset. The driver asked for a volunteer who wasn't afraid of dogs. So my 2 friends and I jumped out. The van waited at the end of the very long driveway just to make sure we were okay. Comforting. My friends and I started towards the house with our shoulders back and our chins up, portraying confidence. We made it to almost halfway up the driveway before the dogs resumed their charge. This time toward us. The girls next to me were beginning to huddle into each other's arms for protection and we tried to stay calm and our voices even trying not to let on that we were freaked out. I've never been scared of dogs, but these dogs were extremely intimidating. With 60-80 lbs each of drooling, growling, barking, and teeth baring flesh sprinting toward us, we kept walking. Of course, the little dog had the biggest yap. I began to pray "God, shut the lion's mouth. Shut the lion's mouth." I continued to repeat my prayer til the dogs were only feet from us. I almost closed my eyes expecting one of them to leap and take me down. To our amazement, they pulled up short and circled us as if we were prey as we continued to walk to the door. They didn't stop growling, barking, or drooling. But they also didn't bite.
We quickly hopped onto the porch and rang the doorbell. Apparently, the dogs weren't allowed on the porch and they knew it. The woman who answered the door was wearing a Big Dogs tshirt. We quickly assured her that her tshirt fit the occasion perfectly. She laughed and said amazed, "How did you make it up here?" We nervously laughed and said we just kept walking. She was really surprised. We were too to be honest. I thought we were going to get mauled by the look those dogs had on their face. Very mean and very angry.
We handed her the invitation for her kids and made it back to the van unscathed but completely breathless and shaken. It registered with us that the woman was truly surprised we had made it to the porch unharmed. The only excuse we had was that God "shut the lion's mouth."
All credit goes to my father who never fails to share jokes when he receives them:
1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .
3. A backward poet writes inverse.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11.In a democracy, it's your vote that counts. In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
12. Atheism is a non-profit organization.
13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital.
When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said 'No change yet.' 17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
It really is incredible how sometimes when you read something, you'll see a similar situation happen in your life or someone's life who is close to you. For example, Bible stories. I certainly have seen a few times where I have felt like I had seen similar stories. Today's story is about my friend who was an Achan. Just as a recap, Achan took things from a conquered city that God told him not to take and then he hid it and lied about it. Thus Israel had some problems with their next city but after the sin was dealt with, they succeeded. Don't worry my version was quite astounding and slightly humorous at the time.
The teen group of our church was headed to Mexico with their new youth pastor. We had verses to memorize in Spanish, a list of vocab to learn, and most importantly devotional times we had to complete before we went. We raised support, practiced a few songs in Spanish, said our verses, and away we went to Meh-hee-co. We spent the week painting and cleaning a Bible institute in Monterrey in skirts and tshirts in the very warm weather. We did some sight-seeing, sang in some services, heard some preaching, but mainly painting and cleaning. At the end of the week, we drove back to the Mexico-Texas border to get our bus that was in Texas. Once we were on our church bus, we all grabbed seats and tried to brave the 16-hour drive home. It was going to be long.
We were somewhere in Kentucky or Oklahoma when our church bus (no big surprise here) started having troubles with the engine was overheating. We stopped 3 different times with a overheated engine which means we sat in the hot bus for about an hour each time. On our 3rd engine problem, I made a really dumb comment saying "Man, if anyone has unconfessed sin in their life, you'd better get it right or we'll never get home." Those choice words spoke particularly to the girl next to me because she broke into tears. I felt I had really screwed up this time. Should've kept my mouth shut. She cried and cried. Finally, she admitted that she had unconfessed sin. She said, "I lied about doing my devotional booklet everyday. I didn't do it but I said I did." (Doing the devotional booklet was key to coming on the trip.) Then she said, "It's all my fault we're having engine problems. I've felt so guilty all week." She confessed this to our youth pastor while on the bus and he forgave her for lying to him. Literally right after the confession was made our driver tried another time to start up the bus and succeeded. We were headed home after a very long day. I did my best to keep my mouth shut, but she was guilt free and happy after that confession.
What Bible stories have you encountered? Leave a summary in the comments and I'll email you and get the whole story and your story can be in the next post!
It's always good to stay active and to burn calories, of that we are persuaded! My parents are constantly badgering us about putting on weight etc. So Jack and I decided to be on our merry way toward the world of the fit and healthy. Running can be such a drag! We heard from a new friend about the public county pools and they have lap swimming available all day. So after work, we headed off before dinner to swim a few laps. A nearby high school had just finished with their swim team training for the day, so we were some of the only few people there. We walked out in our swimsuits and no goggles and the other swimmers stopped and stared at us. We were there to get exercise not become the next Michael Phelps, but either way I think the lifeguards got a good kick out of us being there.
We hopped in the water which was pretty cold initially and started toward our goal of laps. My goal was 15 and 20 if I was especially good. Jack's goal was 30. Away we went at our lap swimming with no goggles while people in other lanes were flying past us. We looked like the fat kid running laps in gym class. We were much slower than everyone else! I was on lap 2 minding my own business and trying to breath correctly and use good technique when BAM! I nailed the lane divider with my face. I never really knew those lane dividers were so hard. That is some solid plastic there! But, lucky me, I came up for air and managed to nail my face on it. I could've sworn the lanes were getting smaller. I stopped to rub my face and check for blood while treading water. Nothing. To my dismay, the lanes were not getting smaller either. I happen to have a very serious swimming issue. I've contemplated seeing the doctor for it, but have decided to overcome the malady on my own. It's called swimmer's disorientation. This happens when a swimmer can not swim vertically/ horizontally but swims in a rather diagonal pattern. Thus causing disorientation. Ok... so I made that up. I can't swim in a straight line to save my life. I can't open my eyes either cause then my contacts will disappear which would be bad news. I just need to get goggles. However, the only goggles I have are the snorkel goggles which make me look like a gigantic mosquito.
Anyway, I continued to swim and happened to nail the lane divider a bunch more times. You get to guess how many times I hit the lane divider. Leave your guesses in the comments section. We had a great time swimming. I swam 24 laps and Jack swam 32. After lap #4 I figured out that I could stand up in the pool and didn't have to tread water. Ha. =) I'm quick. It's true!
I'll keep you updated on my swimming prowess. I have a feeling we'll eventually be fit and healthy and then we'll get to stare at others who are new!
We have some wonderful friends we made recently named John and Sarah (names changed to protect the innocent.) We go to church with them in the evenings and really enjoy ourselves. They are hilarious and very intelligent people! They are our age but have been married for 3 years and have a whole different set of experience than we do which is awesome.
Last night we went to church with them as usual which was a delight. We carpooled with them out to church and back. At church we saw John's family and got a few parent hugs out of the deal! Very sweet people! On our way back from church, we stopped at Jason's Deli for dinner. Delicious! We were chatting away and laughing and enjoying ourselves thoroughly. We somehow started talking about movies and what all the guys have "put up with" as far as girl movies. I mentioned that Jack had seen most period dramas because his sister loves them! To that, he rolled his eyes and added his own wince so that John would feel sorry for him. In looking at John's face... John DID feel sorry for Jack. In fact, John looked horrified. He said with a shiver of disgust, "WHAT is a period drama?" Sarah said, "Is that about adolescent females and their journey through puberty or something?"
Through huge fits of laughter, we managed to explain to them that period dramas were movies like Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and other movies like that. They were relieved yet still aghast that anything would be called a period drama. John explained that as he heard "period drama" he saw that Jack had an "excruciating look on his face and I could only imagine what those movies were about!" He definitely didn't want his wife watching anything like that! He's okay with it now, but we're going to have to find a different term for those type of films.
Somethings in life are worth repeating. For all of you who know what a period drama is, have a good laugh and feel free to tell the story to others who know.
We have watched a few movies in the past few weeks. I give most of them thumbs down except for one.
Movie #1- World's Greatest Dad with Robin Williams, we said "you can't really go wrong with Robin Williams." Wow were we wrong. The whole story is centered around the son dying while masturbating. It didn't say that in the Redbox review when we rented it!!!!! In fact, it said it was a comedy. We didn't even laugh. 2 thumbs way down!
Movie #2- Repo Man- a strange movie about men who repossess artificial organs that the patient can't afford to continue payments for. These men go around cutting people open and ripping out organs and leaving the people to die. But the story has 2 endings. The first ending you think is real... but it's not. It ends up being a dream. Overall... very disappointing.
Movie #3- Flicka- Although centered on a heart-warming tale of a misunderstood girl and her desire to be free, just like the wild mustang, the girl is extremely disobedient and the father is scorned for the punishment. I wouldn't want my future children taking any cues from her. When I would say, "don't get near that horse- it's dangerous" I'm pretty sure I would mean it.
Movie #4- The Backup Plan- This one I actually laughed at. I initially watched it by myself but then showed it to a few friends and Jack. It's full of couple humor. It created in me the intense desire to not have children. I think it was supposed to though until the end when they're so happy. Although I don't endorse living together before marriage, it was sweet how the guy committed to being there and providing for the family even though it scared him out of his mind. You can purchase it at amazon.com for $16.99 if you desire to keep it. Getting it in Blu-ray only costs an extra $5.
Gotta admit- I enjoy a good game of putt-putt.When it comes to challenging Jack, I tend to shrink back. I mean- he's just as aggressive and competitive as I am when it comes to sports. Usually, I lose. I try not to do much boasting as I have often eaten my words later."Humble pie" as my mom-in-law calls it.
This particular game started spontaneously after driving by a cute little putt-putt place. First hole was par 2. I got a 4 and Jack got a 2. So the game proceeded in the same manner until I got a hole in one by knocking off of Jack's ball. In my family, that's fair putt-putt. The ball is considered an obstacle to bounce off accidentally. Apparently in his family... it's unfair. In order to keep the peace, we both re-putted and I ended up getting a 3 instead of a 1. Of course, when Jack re-putted he did better. I could've killed him. However the next hole, I putted my first hit very poorly and he graciously allowed me to redo it without counting it against me. We decided on a truce and ended up taking one hole and doing it several times til we each got a hole in one. I got the hole in one before he did. So I had to wait for him to get it. That evened out my sense of justice. Then... I got a hole in one on accident at another hole and was in the midst of my celebratory dance when Jack decided to follow my lead. BOOO!!!! Dancing ceased. Poochy lip appeared. My inflated ego..... POPPED! DESTROYED! DECIMATED! Sadly, I lost this game as you can imagine.
I need help though. I need to find a way to one up Jack in putt-putt so that I'm not forever losing. I just need to lose often enough to keep him challenged and coming back to play me. Granted.... I'm kinda a captive competition at this point. Soon enough though, he'll find some nutso friend who will frequently play him.
1. Thou shall not post or tag friends on embarrassing or incriminating photos.
This is what yearbooks or scrapbooks are for — things that exist on dusty shelves for a select few to enjoy and mock — not the internet, where potential employers and lovers can be scared away. 2. Thou shall not post photo or video updates of thy children’s potty training.
Just don’t. It’s gross, embarrassing, and demeaning to the kids. Plus, no one gives a care. 3. Thou shall not use Facebook to converse with thine own significant other.
Say what you need to say in person, over the phone, on IM, or email. No one else cares or needs to follow your conversation or relationship drama/boasting. 4. Thou shall not endlessly self-promote.
A link to an article, TV appearance, or a newspaper mention every once in a blue moon is fine. A daily reminder that you need votes for the “Mad Men” walk-on part competition is just obnoxious. 5. Thou shall not propose, ask someone out, or dump anyone via wall messages or status updates.
What. Is. Wrong with people? 6. Thou shall not IM anyone you haven’t spoken to in over a decade.
Once, I was browsing on Facebook and got an IM from someone I hadn’t spoken to since high school. “How’s it going?” he said, “What’s new?”What’s new? Since 1993? Um, well, I got my driver’s license, for one thing. Don’t put people in a position where they have to: a) quickly sum up the last decade+ of their lives in four or five sentences, and b) act like they care about your life. 7. Thou shall not stalk exes and/or ex’s new loves.
Not only is it damaging to your own well-being, it’s, like, kinda psycho. So, just don’t. Go for a jog or join a book club or something. 8. Thou shall not use Facebook as a diet and workout diary.
Seriously, no one cares if you ate a salad for dinner last night and ran 3.1 miles before work this morning. Who are you trying to impress? Plus, go eat a muffin. 9. Thou shall not “spoil” TV shows in one’s status update.
Rudeness! 10. Thou shall post clear, updated photos of thyself.
Why else do you think people from your past are friending you in the first place?
I don't know about you, but I used to get really upset when I broke something glass when I was younger (ok... so maybe I still get really upset.) I was deathly afraid that my parents would think I broke the dish on purpose and punish me. It's gotten better since then. Now I just get upset because I'm so dar n clutsy and it frustrates me. I've never broken something glass out of anger. I've never had the nerve.
I had a teacher in college who was teaching class on International Business and then he threw in something about anger. He laughed and then said, "When my wife and I first got married..... before we were saved... (don't you love it when stories with "before we were saved?") and my wife got angry at me which was more often than we care to admit now, she used to throw dishes at me." We all sat with jaws to the floor as he laughed at the memory. The someone spoke up from the silence and said "Are you serious?" The great thing was that she was another professor in the school. Can you imagine being my professor? You finally admit that you bought yourself another expensive hat to cover your balding, sunburned head. She flies into a rage. You make a break for the door dodging left and right covering your vitals with anything available as all sorts of china and pottery is shattering on the walls behind, beside, or above you. Now that would be a wrath to avoid permanently. It's a good thing they got saved before they had children! If there were any plates left (which there probably was not if I know men and relationships.. which I do), they'd have to be locked up in a secure safe. Can you imagine explaining that to your children? "Daddy, why do we always use plastic/ paper plates? Sarah's family has real plates. Are we too poor?" "No sweetie, your mother becomes a fire-breathing, dish-hurling, glass-breaking dragon when she's angry. We keep that stuff locked away. It's not mom-friendly." The child responds with large eyes and "ohhh" as her imagination goes wild. Then she contentedly continues to eat off her paper plate until she gets the chance to address mom about the situation. I'll stop there, but my imagination only takes me farther.
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