Freaky Friday

Happy Friday!

With it being October and all I'd like to share a scary little story. This is real, although many of the pictures are a reenactment, because, you know, in the trauma of the situation I was not thinking to grab my camera, or did I have any spare hands! But the last picture, it's real.

Here we go. So I was minding my own business and being the good girl that I am heading to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth before bed. I was by myself, remember, a man was not in the house: this is key.

So so I flipped the switch in the bathroom and I saw this...

A COCKROACH!! (Convenient that I had a fake roach at the house that I could use for this reenactment? Yes. Weird? Maybe.)

It was real, alive and much larger than this fake one. It had those long antenna things and it was all feeling around on the counter top like it couldn't see. Eww, eww, eww! I screamed. I jumped. These are NOT my favorite creatures.

So as I was freaking out and remembering that there was no man in my house I realized I would have to take care of this myself. I was NOT touching it... but I would not be able to sleep if I saw it scurry away. I would have nightmares about it crawling in my mouth as I was sleeping. I'm not kidding.

Then it started to crawl towards me. Nope, not going to happen. It crawled down the front of the cabinet and I grabbed my water cup as fast as I could and ...

I trapped it!! ...then I realized, I had trapped it, with a cup, on a cabinet door... What was I going to do with it? Was I going to sit there all night and just hold the cup? I could hear it's little legs flailing around in the cup and I was trying to think of every option. I was in my bathroom, with one hand glued to the cup... I didn't have many options. These things can FLY!

So I thought about trying to squish it with something. But it was so big, and I would have to either feel it crush under my hand if I did it with toilet paper or clean its guts up if I squished it with the trash can or something. No options there.

So I thought if I could find a piece of paper or card board I could slip it between the cup and the cabinet without the cockroach getting loose and then it would be trapped without be being trapped in the bathroom with it. No paper, other than toilet paper. No cardboard...

Other than Kyle's toothpaste box (he just got a new tube and threw away the old box). (You'll note in this fancy reenactment picture a cardboard toilet paper roll is used... you'll see why in a second).  So I ripped through the box one handed to make it as flat as I could. Still, by the way, the sound of little cockroach feet in the cup...

It was almost impossible, but it happened. And after one try and getting some kind of roach goo on the cardboard the first time, I was able to slip the cardboard under the cup without releasing the cockroach.

Then I realized I had trapped a cockroach in a cup, with a cardboard toothpaste box, and I was not about to kill it.

So I sent Kyle this text message:

I just trapped a roach to the wall with a cup... then had to figure out how to keep it trapped to the wall all while not moving my hand from the cup. It's waiting for you in the kitchen with the cup over it and the big Bible holding it down... I'm spraying for bugs tomorrow...

That's the real thing right there... that's why the toothpaste box was not available. There's a cockroach right in that thing...

But I guess big traumas call for big Bibles, lol... I just hope he doesn't escape...

Happy Friday.

Warnings and Motor Curses

So I just need you all to be aware of the recent curse that seems to be following me around these past few days. It's been quite comical actually...

I think I'll call it the "if you have a motor and I touch you, you will break" curse.

Yep.

So about a week and a half ago I was driving my work vehicle when the tire pressure light started to blink. It was pouring down rain and apparently my tire was deflating quickly. Took it to the shop... replaced two tires.

Then a few days ago Kyle and I bought some cowboy boots. Our first pairs ever really, since we live in Texas and all.  And I said to Kyle, "You know since we're spending money on boots the car is going to break down tomorrow?"

Apparently I'm psychic.

Next morning I get in my favorite little 1997 Saturn and turn the key. It sounds like the car wants to start but then it just doesn't. I try a few more times, no success. At this point I'm running late and Kyle suggests I take the Camry.

Yep, bet you didn't know we got a new-to-us car. Bought it at the end of the year for a number of reasons... one being the decreasing reliability of the Saturn. But I still drive the Saturn back and forth to work because it gets GREAT gas mileage and I don't want to put 90 miles a day on our new-to-us car.

So I hopped in the Camry and headed off to work.

Then I was on my way home from work and turned on the air conditioning...Light starts blinking, then shut off. The manual says this means I need to get my A/C repaired. :( We all remember that I bought a new air conditioner for the Saturn less than a year ago, right?

Sunday we decided to get to work on the lawn and we cranked up the lawn mower. Then it died. then we cracked it up again, then it died.  The curse continues.

For now, we've got people looking into these problems and it may not be too detrimental, or we're hoping...

But the real kicker:
One lady I work with was giving me a hard time about my luck with vehicles. She joked yesterday, since I was riding with her in her work car, that she was worried that the car would break down since I was riding in it.

Guess who got a flat tire?  Bet you can't guess...

...oops.

I'm wondering if I need to come with a warning sign. Just so people know what they're up against. ...or maybe return those cowboy boots ;)

Off to read what my professor had to say about my thesis first draft...

Teach Me How to Shoot

There's a lot going on at the Hess household, but number one moment of the day:

Teaching a little girl how to shoot a basketball.

At practice one of our players came up to me and said:

Player: Mrs. Brittany I don't want to do this. 

Me: Umm, well, we should practice shooting...

Player: But I practice a lot and I don't get any better. ... I just get worse.

Imagine the sweetest, poutiest voice you ever heard.

So I took an extra few second, minutes and showed her how to shoot. Mine you, I have no idea how to shoot other than what I read in my coaches manual. But I studied that manual hard...

And it worked. Smile on face, that girl was proud. And boy was I proud of her. She even showed her mom after practice, and now she's more than likely better at shooting than I am.

Maybe I should have been a coach... or teacher ?? (I guess to my patients I am sort of a nutrition teacher, lol).

Loving coaching, loving the sweet girls on my team. Loving the way God uses me even when I am not qualified at all...

New Year, New Ideas

So all the famous bloggers (you know, all the ones with lots of "followers" that I read during my lunch break) have been writing about their New Year's Resolutions.

And I'm actually having a very hard time remembering what my resolutions were for 2010. Really, I'm hoping maybe I blogged about it so I can find them...

...

Okay, so to save you some time I just checked and apparently I didn't actually set any resolutions. I did say I'd be using coupons and working out more. As for the coupons, we decided that our little town's limitation of Wal-Mart and only one local grocery store wasn't going to work for extreme couponing. As for working out, well I worked out a lot last winter, and then a lot again this summer...  ...

I think maybe I jumped on the other opposite bandwagon last year of "not setting any resolutions but simply reflecting on the year."

But I think I've decided I'll make a few this year. Why not? If I don't keep them what'll happen, maybe we'll get a few laughs next year thinking about what I thought I could do in 2012?

So here goes:
1. Work out more. I know that one was from last year. But it really is a good one. I don't need to join a gym or start a class, I just need to walk more and dance more with my husband and work in the yard and such... right. I'd like to have at least 2 active days a week. I'm setting the bar low. But of course then I'm thinking about training for another half marathon with my new Christmas running shoes... raising the bar.

2. I'd like to pay off our debt. Not our house, but my student loan from my internship. It's a modest loan, I'm still in school, so it's not due yet, and it's subsidized meaning that it doesn't accrue any interest at all while I'm in school and up to 6 months afterwards. My goal is to have it paid off my the end of May.

3. Finish my Masters. I feel like it's been a long time coming, but it's only really been 3.. oh that is a long time.  It should be tuned in my March at the latest and finalized by May. Oh that day will be so wonderful. And then I'm sure the very very next day I'll miss school... Really, that's me.

4. Host People in Our Home. We have our new wonderful house and I'd like to have people over more. Movie nights, dinners, Bible study. I'd like to share what we've been blessed with and make it a welcoming place of love and friendship and "sure I'm not doing anything either come over and we'll hang out" place. We'll see. But if you're in the Lindale area, be watching for an invite...
And after I feel as free as a bird in May, out of debt and done with school and all, then maybe I'll have time for Number 1 and Number 4, right?

5. Blog more. I know there are not millions of you reading this and I don't expect 5,000 people to stop by every day... I don't expect that I am the next greatest blogger of all time. But honestly, we have some funny stuff happening around here and I just forget to take out my camera, or don't know how to take a good picture, really. I make and try all kinds of yummy food, and we've got a lot of work on the house coming up this year. I'd like to write about it and share it and maybe you can even learn from my mistakes, lol... I'd rather not just forget to blog and send you a list of the things I did last month. But we'll see...

I'd also like to love my husband better, read more books, and sew pillows, be a better friend, and plant a wonderful garden and repaint almost every room in our home, and setup the kiln, and make lots of pottery, and be on time for work, and post more than once a week (month) on the blog.

But we'll see. A year's a long time, right. Who knows what'll turn up.

Update: I worked out twice already this week, really! Wii Biggest Loser Challenge Yoga and basketball practice... first game's on Saturday...

Finishing

On a day when quite possibly you are thinking of abandoning your resolutions, already. And on a day when I've got to realize it is time to get to work on finishing the thesis that is my life. I send you this. (And because I read it on a financial blog I love to read a few days ago.)

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile,

shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.

The fight to the finish spirit is the one...characteristic

we must posses if we are able to face the future as finishers.

-Henry David Thoreau

I may actually, very soon, find a way to get that up on my wall at home. Very near to the desk... very near.

It's already now written and taped to my desk at work. ;)

I'll finish that thesis, and I'll love it... whether I like it or not.

To resolutions.... and theses... and to any other of the seemingly large molehills.

Rent House ...

So we bought our own house, no more landlord or anything.

Or so we thought. Turns out that in our rent house (the one we just moved out of) there was a little statement in the lease that said if any of the plants die, the deposit will be used to replace the plants.

Well, we had a drought this summer. It turned into a desert, trees and bushes are dead everywhere in East Texas.

And we even planted grass in the yard, when there was NO grass when we moved in!

But apparently that doesn't count towards yard credit. Apparently our landlord didn't really think we did a great job with the grass or the bushes (or the small tree that died). Even though our water bill skyrocketed...

And I was about to get all worked up (well I kind of did) when she said, "well, I'll go to a nursery and factor in the cost of replacement plants, and the labor to get the old plants removed and new ones planted, and the tree to be cut up and hauled away..."

But then she said, "or if you guys wanted to do it, that would be okay too."

YES! Yes of course we would rather take a Saturday (after hunting garage-sales) and replant some plants and cut down the 4 foot tree (ish) and put it in the back of Kyle's pickup and take it to the dump we pay for monthly in local town utilities anyway... much more than we'd like our hard earned money to go to someone else who will charge too much to do it.

So I got excited and thought, "It'll be exercise, it'll be fun, and of course I can take pictures and post the before and after on the blog." (I'm thinking we'll see a lot more before and afters with the new house!)

And maybe this means so much to me because Kyle said I could use the money we got back from our deposit to decorate the new house ;)

What about you, any security deposit craziness, or better yet, any falltime yard projects?

Good for my Soul

Good Friday. It's payday Friday at my workplace so everyone was extra perky around the office.... 

And then I headed out to see some patients. One looked at me and smiled really really big and then:

Patient: Hello Miss Brittany! (With Large Smile on his Face).

Me: Well hello!

Patient: Miss Brittany, why are you so happy? You just look so happy with your smile. So up to par.

Hold it... did he say "up to par?" Yes, yes he did.

Me: Oh... thanks.

Patient: Well you know, the last couple of times, you know you haven't been so up to par (apparent he's referring to my looks) ... but this time Miss Brittany, up to par! up to par!

Hmm. I guess I could have been offended, but it was Friday, it was sunny, and I'll tell you what: I had the best hair day today and I think I did look, in fact, "up to par." So I said thanks and continued on. Made me smile a lot really, made me even more thankful that I had decided to shower this morning and put a little mascara on...

Yesterday I saw a patient who doesn't really have any nutrition problems other than the fact that he's a bit overweight.  At his age it'll be hard for him to lose the weight, so I just try to stay real positive. And yesterday he told me, and I quote, "Thanks for talking with me. You know, you're good for my soul."

Mmm. I like being good for someone's soul.

Happy Friday. Love the weekend, but love your job too. And enjoy your Friday night as I enjoy my pizza and study madness for the midterm tomorrow.

And know that I was going to leave you with a picture of my pizza, or even a picture of the weird neat bug I found... but the camera just died...

Happy Friday.... Good for the soul.

And we wait.

I distinctly remember the last time I continued to repeat outloud, over and over again, with no self control whatsoever, "This is Crazy!"

It was almost two years ago, and Kyle had just asked me to marry him. You can ask anyone who was there, or anyone who has seen the embarassing video and they will tell you, "yes, all Brittany did was jump up and down excited saying, "this is crazy!"

Which gives me a good feeling about this. Today, we made an offer on our first home.

Yep, we're real grown ups and sitting in the realtor's office early this morning I had to continue to tell myself 'don't say it again, you already said "this is crazy" 15 times.'

And we're excited and nervous and all kinds of anxious to know what the seller will say. Will they accept our offer, will they want more? It's a good exciting though, one where we know our ducks are in a row, our financial calculations met, and we really do like the house. And really if God for some reason doesn't think this house is good for us, well, we pray they don't take our offer at all.

Our realtor said we could hear back in 2 hour or 2 days...

The 2 hours is up and we're waiting. Yep. Can't think about anything else at all and waiting.

And yes, it's so crazy!

( If all goes well I'll surely put up pictures... however, what if you're the seller reading this and you see the picture of your house and you see that we really want it, and you ask us to spend way too much?? :)

Grapes? or Raisins?

So I love Raisin Bran. It's my favorite. Until well, I think they may have started to go overboard with the raisins.  When I take a spoonful I feel like I'm eating raisin fruit leather with a few flakes... which could be yummy, but I like the bran, too.

So, of course, the other day I left some raisins at the bottom of my breakfast cup... and then put it in the sink to "soak" for easier cleaning. And this is what I found today:

Yep, that's raisins turned back into grapes ladies and gents. If I had a 4 year old I'd do this again as a "science experiment" as a lesson that raisins really do come from grapes :)

But sorry, no 4-year old.

I'll just have to figure out how to mix All Bran or Total with Raisin Bran to tone down the raisins... or just add dried cranberries to Total... mmmm, yummy "science experiment."

So, go on, Enjoy your fave cereal today :) And remember, raisins really do come from grapes.

Buying a Motorcycle?

So today for about half a second I considered buying a motorcycle.

Maybe it was less than half a second.

But I understood a little more about why people ride motorcyles, other than the danger and those people who ride without helments, and the ones who drive too fast and weave in and out of traffic...

Okay, so maybe I understood those people who buy convertibles.

Because yesterday I rode home with ALL my windows down, on the interstate, going 70 miles and hour, with my sunglasses on and my hair "whipping back and forth."

I put on a CD that I recently aquired as a favor from my friend Tam's wedding. I was in a kind of Garden State soundtrack meets Elizabethtown treck on the road meets The Killers (circa 2005) meets butterflies and happiness...

It's a peculiar mix of music, but I love it.

My fave tracks from the mix check em out:
Track 1 - The Ladder by Andrew Belle 
Track 4 - Daylight by Matt & Kim
Track 14 - Beautiful by Phil Wickham
Track 15 - Can't Help Falling in Love by Ingrid Michaelson (sorry for the super-unofficial video link ;)

I highly recommend trying it.  Today, feel free to roll ALL your windows down, put on some good music and mess up your hair.

...see a really great thing can happen when the air conditioning goes out in your car and it's 80 degrees outside ;)

End Result of Hair Whipping...

Plan Much?

So today I logged on to the world wide web to order my newest textbook for my newest grad class. I will mention, as a side note, I'm considering buying more locally rather than online, but I called the stores near, and no one had this book…

So I'm online and I find my very expensive book and go through the ordering process.  Then I think about it and realize that I could go ahead and order a planner while I was ordering something and only have to pay shipping once.

Sure, it's March, and you are wondering why I have not bought a planner. For someone with as much going on as I do, why no planner?

Well it turns out that last semester in Bible study I realized my list-making habit, and I tried to quit.  And I thought I did. I thought "oh look at me, less stressed "list"less, and oh so happy not to be nailed down to a planner."

Then I came back to reality. I've simply turned to post-it notes constantly at work, only to lose the post-it and to panic!

So after my teacher sent the first due date for my statistics class, I realized planner = necessary.  And honestly, I kind of wonder if that's why I've been so stressed lately… because I've been living without a planner, without a "schedule," and maybe, just maybe, I need one.  Maybe I was not born with a planner in hand… but maybe I was.

So I hopped online to find the planner of all planners… the ones my good friend Kate introduced me to a few years ago and I've fallen in love with.  In 2010 I went to the store too late and they were out and I had to buy a different one, and that was too hard!  So this year (late again) I call up the store and the guy on the phone tells me they don't have it.   Amazon has it for like $30, and that's way too much.

So I got to the company's website: Gallery Leather. Wow. These are great planners. They slip right into a purse or booksack or briefcase, they make me look professional but still classy, and they have one week on two pages without time of the day every line, I love it.  I buy the Gallery Leather Weekly Desk Planner in Freeport Mocha.  Don't be confused, by desk planner they don't mean as big as a desk, they just mean bigger than your pocket, or 8 ½ by 5 ½ inches to be exact.

I'm going on and on, I know. And they aren't even paying me to say this. But I cannot wait for it to arrive, and I cannot believe I only paid $11 for it.

:)

So even though it's March, if you haven't already: go buy a planner that you absolutely love, and try to be a little more organized than a post-it.

Seat Belts and Tulips

In Bible study this week we talked about the wisdom God gives you by God giving you "experiences" to learn wisdom. We mentioned that most of us have that "we endured a long distance relationship" wisdom.  No, that wasn't in the lesson, but in the chit chat before we got started.

Anyways, this Valentine's day I put some of that wisdom to use. 

My wonderful husband got me tulips and I said, "They are so pretty I wish I could look at them all day!" and so Kyle said, "then take them to work with you."

This is what happened: (Remember I drive 45 miles to work.)

See, that's one thing you learn in a long distance relationship. How to get flowers in one city, and still enjoy them in another. And yes that's the seatbelt and jackets as cushion for the vase.

And then I got to look at those all day! For days!

What "experiences" has God used to give you wisdom? And is it as useful as a seat-belted bouquet of tulips, or more maybe :)

And yep, I know the top picture has not changed for February... I had great Valentine plans for the picture, but then I got busy and hoped no one would realize because February is the short month.

As always, more to come. :)

I'm Losing It

So I work with patients who are, shall we say, elderly. And some of them are, well, forgetful.

It's rubbing off.

So Monday morning I got up early (on time), ate breakfast, read the daily devotional with Kyle, got dressed and gave Kyle a "honey have a wonderful day" kiss as I headed out the door.

Then I realized I needed my keys. But they weren't on the key hook! They weren't on the couch, were not in my purse... Could not find the keys. But I did find oh! no! the meat we bought last night and forgot to put in the fridge! but still the keys weren't there either!

After delaying my departure and making me a little upset, I ran to get my spare car key and headed out the door. Oh money wasted on now spoiled food, and time wasted on the fact that I cannot seem to use the key hook.

So Monday I returned home after work and Kyle and I headed to the store to re-buy the meat that spoiled. I'm still trying to figure out where my keys are because by this time I've really looked everywhere. Where could they be??

Yep. In the planter by the garage. In the dirt. That's right kids, I'm losing it.

Make a plan today about what you'll do when you start to lose your mind. I got married: found a man who can find my keys, even if they are in the flowerless planter under the carport. Thanks Kyle.

You really should read this, and no it's not written by me.

As I am busy writing my thesis. I need you to follow this link and read what a wonderfully wise woman wrote. Shauna Neiquist's word have been ever so surprisingly entangled into my life that I think I may just have to read her wonderful books.  Read this, because if I was ever incredibly good with words and had a typing voice that made your eyes go soft and made your lips want to read me aloud... this is what I would say.

Things I don't Do by Shauna Neiquist Click Here!

It is my goal to figure out the things the Lord wants me to do. Because "Do Everything Better" has been my motto in life, too. After realizing that growing up meant discovering who you are, and discovering how great you can be at everything, it's good to know that some things I don't have to be perfect at. I cannot describe to you how much I love what her good friend Denise said:

What’s hard, she said, is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.

If you thought you got away without reading the link, don't. Go read it. I think you'll be impressed, or even more, impressed upon.

So I got real excited...

So yesterday a woman I work with asked me the question that all of us ladies want to be asked. All of us, every one of us, in this tone, in this way... because as women, we work really hard to make life look easy. We wash and blow dry and spritz and curl our hair so it looks like we hopped out of the pool and spent the day on the beach. We shop and try on and match and change outfits 33 times so that we look put together, but casually put together, like 'oh, you think that looks great together, this ole' thing.'

Right? or maybe that's just me.

But today, ladies (and gents, see this is a little insight), today my co-worker saw me eating my yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies and asked "how do you love sweets so much, and look so great?"

WHAT?! She just said "look so great"!!!

Now, I have to post a disclaimer: I don't think I'm fat, I don't have self-esteem issues (until I get in the dressing room lighting at Target), and yet I don't think I'm some swimsuit model either, please! But oh how every girl wants to hear that, especially from another woman, especially as I stuff a cookie into my mouth like 'oh me?'

Just exciting. If you don't think so, maybe we have not met yet. But just something I wanted to share. Especially since we have not loaded our latest pictures to the computer yet because I have been soooo busy thesis-ing.

Lots more to say, just not enough time. Tune in next time, and find out whatever adventures Martin Luther King Jr. days takes us to.... and the more interesting parts of our lives after this hardcore thesis-ing weekend.

And today, go ahead...tell a woman she looks great (however if you don't know her and you're a man... that may be a little creepy).

I know it's not Thanksgiving, but.

I understand that Thanksgiving is not today. And I understand that most of us have moved on to Christmas, it being 9 days away and all... but I think I'm just now realizing how much I am blessed with, and how much I have to be thankful for.

Growing up in the culture we live in seems to produce the American Dream that we hear about on the news so much these says.  We're told at a young age that we can be anything we want to be. That if we work hard we can always get what we want. That you make a list for Christmas and if you're good enough, you get everything you want on your list.

Do you see how many times "want" is mentioned? It seems it's out of the norm to talk about what we need, or much less what others may need, what others may want, and especially true: what the Lord wants for us.

This year I've been so focused on what I want. Now that I'm married my life is supposed to be all put together, that's what they say right? And so go my thoughts:
I want to have the cutest blog, the funniest blog, and the blog everyone reads... I want to have the best decorated house...I want to be the best wife and cook the best meals for my husband every day, always healthy, always on budget... I want to be financially responsible, I want to stick to the budget, I want to reach the 7th Baby Step... I want to look put together, I want to have the shoes that match the scarf that match the earrings that match the hair... I want to finish my Bible study every day, to memorize all the good verses, and to pray hours on end for all the prayer requests I've been given and all the ones I think I should also be praying about... I want to pour into others around me, I want people to like us, I want people to remember us, I want to be 'in'... I want to get my Masters, I want to pass my RD exam, I want to be the best dietitian and bring the best cookies to our Christmas party... I want to send our Thank you notes for when people do nice things for us, I want to have beautiful Christmas cards, I want our house to have lights... I want our toilet to not have mold, I want to clean the bathtub, I want people to think our house is spotless... I want to workout an hour every day, I want to have arm muscles that looks great in a dress, and abs that look awesome in a swimsuit, and I want to be able to run a marathon... I want to learn to really sew, and be crafty McCrafty, and paint, and for everyone to see... I want to be the best friend that always calls, always visits, and always remembers, I want to be the daughter that always calls, always visits, and always remembers...

It's exhausting. And that's not even all of it.

But 'they told me if I work hard enough that I can have all of it' right?

We wonder why we are stressed, and wonder why we are tired, and wonder why it seems that we always fail. Well maybe we... me... I aught to look a little closer at all the blessings I already have, and use those to accomplish His plans for His glory.

I have a husband that I fall more in love with every day and who is a man that makes me better and better and who is patient and who does the dishes and who warms my spot in the bed before I come get in, who really is even more incredible that I thought he was the day I married him. I have a family that is beyond wonderful who is silly with me or makes faces at me when I'm silly, but loves me anyway, who cooks yummy food when I come home and who I can talk to at any time by phone and who understand how wonderful it is to fall asleep on the floor. I have friends that are as busy as me but still find time to call, who still love me no matter what and who I 'm friends with even when we don't talk for months. I have a wonderful, cozy, house filled with Christmas galore that we got for free and was called "cozy and warm and full of Christmas" just last night. and honeslty I could go all day, that's just the beginning.

I have a God that loves me no matter what, literally no matter what because it's in his being. And he saved me, and he's a God that I would not be worthy to even look upon if he had not sent His son to die for us. ...Remember Christmas, little baby Jesus...

What does the Lord want? For me to trust in the Lord with all my heart, to not lean on what my own mind creates, to remember that yes it is Him who is in control and who is there for me and who provides all things I need... and he will make my path straught.

...so much easier than the 'I want." :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving. What about you?

Stay tuned. Soon to come: Christmas Cookie Extravaganza Part II, The Big 12 Game, and Finally the Yard Sale Pictures.

And of course, as soon as it happens... Christmas!