I Have Three!

I am having a moment of nostalgia. Maybe it's the "women emotions" or it could be the fact that I looked in the mirror and thought, how am I aging so fast, where's that young skin elasticity? Is it just me or does my chin look lower? Where is the time going?

Either way, I found these pictures of me with my sisters. Let me just tell ya, these girls rock! I would rather be with them than anyone else. We have the same interest, there's really no odd ball out here, and we all love to spend time together. But it wasn't always like that...

When I was younger my sister Catherine and cousin (who I've adopted as my sister) Eileen always hung out together. They fought, laughed, shared secrets, egged each other on and spent every moment together - all with me hanging underfoot whining and crying that I WAS old enough to go out with them.

Catherine and Eileen

Eileen's Grad Party - 1972 (haha, more like 1991 ?)

Once I jumped into the teenage years, I was invited in. Oh joy! But I must say, I still had to run the errands and was told, "You tell mom or dad and you're busted." Do you want in on a lil' secret, most of the time I did end of spilling the beans, most of it was too good to keep inside my thirteen year old head.

When I was seventeen, my brother met a girl that I just-did-not-like. The first time I saw her I think I stared, said a quick "Hi' and moved on. She was eighteen, skinny little thing with lots of hair. Her name was Sonia and she would never leave me alone again. Of course I fell in love her too, it took some time, but it happened.

Now that we are all adults we can relate so much better and the years melt away, most of the time. Sisters are truly the best gifts, everyone deserves one. How blessed I am to have three!!!

Our Greatest Need

I read this today and wanted to share... So glad He clothed Himself in flesh just for me!

• If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator
• If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist
• If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist
• If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer
• Our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior - Himself!

Ssss is for...

Jenster at Jenster's Musings was tagged and I begged her to tag me and she did. Isn't she sweet, kind and all around vonderful?

Rules: If you want to play, leave a comment on this post, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on...

Jenster gave me "S"... Because, well, I'm so snazzin' cool like that.

10 things I loooooove

Savior - Need I say more?

Smiles - from babies and little tykes and sometimes old people with no teeth

"Sure Bob" - If you're around me long enough, you'll hear this several times... don't ask because I really don't know

Starry Skies - Nothing like pitch black in the middle of Death Valley with a blanket of stars and silence...

Sounds of the sea - Comforting yet unnerving... Hmmm

Sandals - I'm a Cali girl, gotta have those toes showing

Sunny Days - Who doesn't love sunny days?

Stars Hollow - Gilmore, Lukes, Taylor Doose, The Dragonfly... don't know what I'm talking about? Please move on to #9 (it's okay... we all make mistakes.)

Speedos - HA! so joking, for real.... seriously...

Smelly cheese - heehee

If you want a letter, you've gotta leave a comment... Who's first?

I did it - The Daily Photo

I finally, after who knows how long, had the opportunity and time to start a Photo Blog! I am going to sign up with a daily photo organization, but for now, it's just for fun.

You can find random pics of my town and beyond. Maybe I'll sneak in a few random portrait shots... who knows.

So, if your interested in photography or just like looking at pictures, the latter is better since I am no professional, link me or stop by and tell me what you think.

The Daily Photo

~ Deb

Giveaway - Check it out!

If you are a Julie Lessman fan, follow this link for a chance to win one of her books and read a great interview about her past two books and books to be released.

Cornhusker Academy

*Crossing my fingers for ya!**

You can read my interview with Julie here - Julie Lessman Interview with the Daily Bee

RANDOMNESS - Food, FB, and Cristian

I've discovered this new eatery, Lee's Sandwiches, that is so odd and parts of the menu make me cringe, but it sure is good. When you see an avocado smoothie and a cured pork and pate sandwich... what is your first thought? AVOID

I don't have the nerve to try either of these or their sardine sandwich - cringe. I have found that their Baguettes are so delicious and their mocha smoothies make you want to head to the drive-thru every.single.day.

They have these fruit smoothies that taste like heaven... if you live in California, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona or if you live in Korea, Vietnam, or China - Try one of their smoothies or sandwiches. You'll want to stop by, like me, every.single.day.

As a matter of fact - I will be seeing Lee today for one of those Watermelon smoothies... I just can't help myself.

::

I've been so slow at work and spending 99% of my time on Facebook. Whoever thought of this did a good thing... It is so fun to "see" people from so long ago and keep in contact with distant family and friends. Even my kindergarten teacher is my friend on FB! Bizarre. If you don't have one GET one - and if you know my name... haha... we can be FB friends too! =)

::

My nephew, Cristian, is a character these days. We went out on Saturday night and he was so entertaining. Auntie Cacky, my sister, kept giving him Maraschino cherries... let's just say he was spinning out of control and needed a candy sobriety test. I caught the evidence with my phone camera...

His first taste of a Maraschino cherry or as he calls it "Candy"

Aunt Cat's Cherry coke made him yell "Mooooooore!"

Bowllickinggood ice cream.

That sums up my exciting, edge of your seat random post - It's all good in my end of the world this week...

Honest Scrap

Amy from My Amazeing Journey, whose blog I enjoy reading, was tagged and awarded the Honest Scrap award. She tagged whoever wanted to join her and I figure we haven't passed around one of these in a while - so why not?


The rules...
1) Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
2) Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with "Honest Scrap." Well, there's no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3) List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

I'm not even sure if I regularly follow 7 blogs... I stick with the few that I really enjoy since I don't have that much blog hopping time.

1. Eileen at Say What?!
2. Becky at Stuck in Frump
3. Jenster at Jenster's Musings
4. Angela at Lighten Up
5. Cat at The Queen's Castle
6. Sony at Purely Sony
7. Anyone who wants to join... =)

::10 Things about the Daily Bee::

• I started my own business at 19
• I was born and raised in the same church
• I sing in a trio and chorale - Soprano
• I love taking pictures of anything and everything
• I laugh at myself often
• I am afraid of cats - very afraid
• I have a birthmark on my leg that looks, to me, like North and South America - lol
• My left foot is 1/2 size bigger than my right foot
• I am a nervous person - yes I admit it - sometimes I drive myself crazy
• I've always wanted to be an astronaut so I could see the universe

Who Knew - Bubble Gum is the Enemy

As a kid, did you ever hear your mom say, "Don't get gum in your hair!" or "Stop snapping your gum!"? I heard this plenty of times... but those warning didn't stop the peanut butter from coming out to fix the fact that I had blown too big of a bubble and now gum was intertwined with the hair. Oh Vey.

I am not a gum chewer. I'd rather have mints. I love the taste of gum but it's too exhausting to chew. I got a little stash in my stocking for Christmas this year and there was a cute little roll of Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape with a little Santa on the front. Enticing.

I took it to work and decided to chew a little strip... mind you I was bored to tears since work has been slow. I chewed that little bit and decided that I needed more. So there I was, chewing on a big mound of Hubba Bubba gum. If someone had told me that I would have injured myself on gum, I would have smiled, maybe giggled, maybe even choked on the gum a little. But alas, there was no warning from mom ringing in my ears, "You'll hurt yourself chewing gum!". I will be the first to admit that I am a little bit accident prone.

It started with a little twinge... that turned into a BIG twinge. I somehow pulled or ripped or angered something in my jaw/neck area. It screamed at me and yelped in pain - all.night.long.

I babied it all day today, took some trusty Advil and prayed for myself - hoping that it won't cause me to have to see the dreaded doctor over something so silly. I can just hear that conversation:

Doctor: So what are you here for?

Me: I was chewing gum

Doctor: And?

Me: I angered something in my jaw. Maybe pulled a muscle?

Doctor: (silence... staring... thinking - "dumb girl.")

I've come to one conclusion in all this - GUM is the enemy!

Letter Boxing

I have always wanted to go letter boxing, if you don't know what that is, go here (letterboxing)and try it out. I have a cousin who has been doing this for years... just seemed like something that was fun and the best part - inexpensive!

A friend and I were trying to figure out what we could do on Saturday and things being tight, I went online in search of a letter box close by that we could attempt to locate.

Since this is an open blog and there is a massive community in the letter boxing world that is not private, I'll refrain from telling which box we found... lol. It was so fun and so easy... the first one that is. My mom tagged along and we set up on a little table as we stamped and wrote little notes.

We got in the car and drove to the where the second box was supposed to be... We wandered around as I kept asking, "what are the clues, again?" They just seemed so vague... Hmm... I checked the website and sure enough, It was a word of mouth clue! In other words, we were on a wild goose chase... So much for our day of letter boxing fun!

This is a great family activity or individual activity. Try and let me know how it turns out on your end!

Think Positive Thoughts!

Thinking Happiness

Think of the things that make you happy
not of the things that make sad
Think of the fine and true in mankind
not its sordid side and bad
Think of the blessings that surround you
not the ones that are denied
Think of the virtues of your friendships
not the weak and faulty side

Think of the gains you've made
not the losses you've incurred
Think of the days of health and pleasure
not the days of woe and pain
Think of the days alive with sunshine
not the dismal days of rain
Think of the hopes that lie before you
not the waste that lies behind

Think of the treasures you have gathered
not the ones you've failed to find
Think of the service you may render
not of serving self alone
Think of the happiness of others
and in this you will find your ownby

Robert Farley

God Saves

This past weekend we had a special speaker at our church, we'll call him Bro. L. He was incredibly funny and a powerful preacher.

Most of my long time blog readers know of my bible study that has serious addictions and issues. She has been struggling so much recently and I've been getting, gasp, frustrated, wondering if I was supposed to be reaching out to her or if I wasn't doing what God wanted me to do. She says she wants to come to church with me but when it comes time for church something always comes up. I've been pulling for her to come and calling and praying, but nothing seems to happen...

This past Sunday our special speaker told a story from when he was a youth and was in a car with his youth leader. A woman, thin and frail and apparently a prostitute knocked on the car window and asked for money. "My kids are dying, they haven't eaten for 3 days.", she said. The youth leader told her that he didn't want to give her money because she would abuse it. She pleaded with him to just buy food for her kids. They followed her to an alley where a cardboard box was covering 3 kids that could barely hold their heads up. They bought them food and watched as the kids hungrily ate.

They begin to tell the woman about Jesus. She said, "I've tried everything. Nothing works." She showed them her arms, they were covered and scabbed from needles. She told them she didn't want her kids taken away, she had no where else to go.

The youth leader and Bro. L gave her their church business card and told her to come.

Weeks went by, no sign of the woman. One service, Bro.L's father was preaching and the back doors flew open and in comes a woman yelling, "JESUS!" The ushers tried to sit her down but Bro. L recognized her and told his dad who she was. They led her to the front and she begin speaking in tongues as God filled her with the Holy Ghost!

She came to church with her children for a few months but then disappeared... no where to be found.

Years later Bro. L was in another country preaching and a man came up to him and said, "Bro, your the man that witnessed to my wife." The women came to him and asked him if he remembered her and he said no. She said, "I'm that women." and she pointed over to where her three kids were praising God, "and those are my kids..."

God can do incredible things in ones life! I was so overwhelmed and stung at the thought that I was feeling frustrated and about to give up. God works form the inside out. He knows the heart, when you work in His kingdom it is not in vain. I know that He will save my bible study and He's working on her.

It's all in His timing... just wait on Him.

Funny Faces Always Bring a SMILE

Phone in hand, I was sitting behind these kids in church on Sunday night.

New Years BASH

I've been going and going since Wednesday. This new years started off with a bang! We had a houseful. My SIL's entire family, minus one sister and her family, came over to share New Years with us and some friends. We had a potluck style dinner with homemade enchiladas, chicken cordon bleu', mashed potatoes with gravy, pasta salad, chicken wings, homemade bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos, meat and cheese tray, tortilla casserole... not your normal dinner but it was delish!

We played games, laughed, chatted about anything and everything and just had fun. Close to midnight we passed out Martinellis and non-alcoholic champagne and toasted as we counted down with Dick Clark and let off fire crackers which left me jumpy and worried about all the long hair in the room. Yikes.

Around 2PM I, being the 80 year old lady in a 25 year old body, was ready to crash while the kids were still running about. Everyone crashed at our house. Our living room, family room, bonus room, plus two of our bedrooms were full to the point that you had to step over people on the floor. So much fun... that is if you remove the person that snored in my face all.night.long!

My SIL's one-year old niece hammed it up for the camera, I had to share these photos with you...

The next morning we woke up and ate the potluck food again... who needs eggs when there's enchiladas with fresh green sauce. Mmmm.

I am at our Holiday Youth Convention. I haven't been to a youth convention since I was a teenager. I was going mainly to see my brother's band play, but ended up enjoying the music and service for myself. It's so exciting to see blood bought teenagers excited about living for God! Being the forgetful person that I am I forgot to charge JW (my camera) and had to take a pic with my phone. Here is my brother Peter on the big screen leading the band.