the day after...2 days after:)

This year the week of Thanksgiving was great. It began at my moms.... that was last Sunday. And Saturday I was reunited with an old friend. A game called Loser/Idiot. I had learned this game while in YWAM, but had since forgotten it. I'm so glad to be reunited! Thanks Brian and Jenna! Anywho... so Sunday we went to my moms for Thanksgiving, as her and my amazing step-dad left for Branson on Tuesday to be with other family. It was a good time... unfortunately Bruce and Anna were neither feeling well, so after dinner they slept... but, that's part of Thanksgiving right? Right. Michael was in the computer room, watching tv. The kids were downstairs. I LOVE that I can let him play downstairs, and not have to worry! And, my mom, brother and I played Loser! Good times. And the food was great too! Then on Thursday we went to Michaels moms, ate, sat on the couch watched football (boring), and relaxed all afternoon. And then yesterday Michael went back to work. Yesterday and today have been a bit lonely, but I put of the tree and the stockings... and we filled Maz's stocking with match-box cars! And then yesterday... he got into it! He only pulled one car out though... so, he doesn't know it's FULL of them. Anyway, Michael said... we told you to wait and not look yet. Maybe we should give all of your other presents in your stocking away. And then we proceeded to tell him that if he looked again we would give everything away. And Maz cried in time out :(

And then this morning... Maz got up and said, "Is it Christmas?!" And I said, "No. Christmas is coming." When I went to take a shower I was a bit worried that he would look again. So I said... what happens if you look in your stocking, Maz? He gave his typical response... I dunno. I said, We will give all of your presents away. He said... That would be sad. I don't want that to happen. and the day was good :)

thanksgiving time again...

i have a great thanksgiving time story. it happened to one of my friends from ywam (youth with a mission). i was in denver ywam in 2000. the thanksgiving after the year i was in here's what happened....

my friend, katie, was in a safeway. (that's the stores that they have a lot of places.. it was a few days before thanksgiving. katie was walking around the store minding her own business when she noticed a very conspicuous rather large black woman walking down the aisle. she just happened to follow this lady out of safeway. the manager of the store noticed this lady... she was nearly waddling, but you could totally tell she was trying to get away with something. there wasn't much proof though. so, my friend katie follows her out of the store. about 10 feet from the entrance a 10 pound ham falls out of this ladies shirt... and the lady yells, "fo real do, who phrew dat ham at me!?" so now, at the most opportune times myself, or one of my friends that's heard this story... will randomly yell out, "fo real do, who phrew dat ham at me!?"

good times. hope everyone has a blessed ham this thanksgiving :)

God-friends...

I've got some good friends... and I've got some God-friends... I MISS Caleb and Angela SOOOOOOOO bad. I do. I texted my friend Jenna today and said, "I need a cigarette and a beer." And, I don't drink! Or smoke! Sometimes you just get stressed, ya know? It's not typical that I get stressed. But, sometimes.... it just happens. After I texted that to Jenna I prayed a bit... I said, "God! What do you want of me here? Should I go after this job? It is stressing me!" I heard, "Go for it, but don't stress over it. I want you to be happy with life. If you get it, you get it. If you don't you don't. Be happy in ME." So, here I am.... happy in Jesus. But, totally thankful for my God-friends. There are some people that I really want to hang out with more. Some that I LOVE hanging out with. Well, actually... I don't hang out with people if I don't want to:) But, there are people that I wish I was with more... like Caleb and Angela! Oh, how I miss them! I was thinking of them today, and wallowing in my misery, when Angela called! Yay! A phone call from Angela! So, I said to her... if Michael and I die I want you to take Maz. Sure, it's random, but it's just a fact of life. I told her they would also have to live in our house so that he could be close to family :) Not that we're planning on dying, but what if? Anyway, she asked Caleb what he wanted for his birthday, and he said... "I want to play double-bid with Michael and Melissa." Ugh. I wish. I told them they need to move back. Time will tell. I'm glad they are in Colorado though. It's a great place.... FOR NOW... then my freaking phone died. ANGER!

Anywho... I'm so glad that Tara talked about God-friends yesterday. It brought a lot of people to mind. Love you everyone!

good times

so, today at bk. we're sitting in the kids play area. i'm online and maz is back and forth from playing and the table. he comes to the table and asks to go out for a crown. at first i say no. then he gives me these puppy-dog-i'm-so-cute-how-can-you-deny-me-eyes and says... pelleeeease. and i'm like, sure. go ahead. and he says... clear as day.... "ARE YOU SAYING I'M FAT?!" oh my gosh. this kid is hilarious!

everything

i know what it is to be in need, and i know what it is to have plenty. i have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want..... philippians 4:12

I feel like I can relate with Paul, who was the author of the above. I have never really been without, when it comes to food, but I have been in want. I mean sure I've been hungry before, but I don't think that really means I was without. It just means that we might not have what I want at the moment. It's not like I'm going without though.

This verse is kind of where I'm living right now. God told me... very clearly.... that I should not work. Sometimes God tells his people to do things that seem pretty outrageous. Seriously, why would someone that was getting an income not get that income anymore? Especially in this economy. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But, we're trusting. And, that's exactly where I think God wants us right now. Just in a place where we trust fully in him. Fully.

And, it's kind of fun. An adventure.

people... and coffee houses

people at coffee houses shouldn't be so loud. i understand it's a social place... so, i'm not really talking about people that go to coffee houses to be social. be social. it's cool. but if you work at a coffee house.. don't be so noisy. come on. seriously. and leave your drama at home. i don't care if your bank account got messed up and you were late paying the rent. i don't care if your boyfriend is being stupid. i don't care. i love you, but i don't care.

my oh so amazing husband is "leading" our class tonight. he will be facilitating for the song of solomon class that we are assisting. should be fun. unfortunately, the stinking devil knows it and is attacking. the jerk. anywho... God is still good. God is still on his throne. i am happy.

my life is good. i am blessed. listening to God. gonna read messy spirituality. excited. gonna live it. good times.

things

i love...

1. people

2. wooden peel pizza

3. kids

4. facebook

5. slippers

6. hoodies

7. the colors yellow and orange

8. bonfires

9. hugs (this is new for me)

10. staying at home (mom)

11. going out to eat

12. reading

13. fall

14. music

15. hardwood floors

16. nice carpet

17. food

18. clean houses

19. people to clean my house :)

20. Jesus

21. my laptop

22. worship

23. people that give me money

24. tennis

25. mexican food after tennis:)

26. conversations

27. mountain dew

28. games

29. cards

30. laughter

i hate

1. expectations (others and my own)

2. depression

3. cars

4. lifetime t.v.

5. affairs

6. guilt

7. bad costumer service

8. this economy

9. lying politicians (i guess i didn't really have to preface that)

10. lists

11. cleaning

12. dresses (on me)

13. dressing up (except for occasionally maybe on dates)

14. judgmental people (am i being judgmental by hating judgmentals?)

15. addictions

16. shoes that are too small

17. liver and onions

18. satan

19. the dark

20. the HOT

21. the COLD (can't it be fall all year round?)

22. abuse

23. an itch that you can't reach

24. fried xbox 360s

25. apathy

26. uptightness

27. having sick family

28. diet pop

29. friends living FAR AWAY... like colorado:(

30. hospitals

what do you love? what do you hate?

responsibility... what's that?

we are all responsible for our own actions and words. can we be responsible for others?

definitions

what defines you? what do you enjoy? what makes you laugh? if you had to describe yourself in one word what would it be?

hmmmmm..... what defines me? well, i'm pretty sure Jesus defines me. what the heck does that mean? it means that he's why i do things. i laugh because he's given me joy and freedom. i feel happy because he's blessed me. i feel sad for others/or myself because they are going through hard or sad things and Jesus has given me compassion. i love because Jesus has given me a heart to love others.

what makes me laugh? people. myself. my kid. good food. television. words. movies. my husband. being tickled. blogs. my mom. hogface. good stories. tennis. ugly dogs. cute dogs. dead cats. books. kids.

speaking of tennis one of my friends last night said... "you play tennis? i didn't peg you as the athletic type." well, my friend, let me tell you... you don't really have to be athletic to play tennis. well, not really. i mean, you kind of do. i played tennis in high school (for a year) i played softball growing up. so, if that makes me athletic i guess i am:) but in general, i wouldn't put myself in that category.

if i had to describe myself in one word.... hmmmm.. relaxed.

that's me. what about you?

my life... in words...(long blog, beware)

born~december 25th, 1979

... before i was born my brother was born. when my mom was prego with him the dr. found out that my dad had a congenital heart defect.... (that means he was born with it, and it could be hereditary... or something like that). anywho, the dr. suggested to my parents that they abort him and not have any children because his life wasn't going to be full. my parents were like no way, and that's how i came about. so, i was born, and i would say my life was freaking awesome. my mom and dad loved each other. they loved us.

life was good. my dad was sick, but as i mentioned before, he never complained. caleb and i were in a bunch of sports, bowled on saturdays, went to breakfast on fridays at the corner cafe with dad, went on family vacations... just good times in general were had by all.

september, 1987 or 8 (can't figure it out right now)~i was hit by a car. put into an immediate coma. drs. said there was no way i would live, and if i did i would be a vegetable. i was in intensive care... in a coma for 5 weeks and stayed in the hospital for 3 months i believe. had speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. had to learn everything over. passed with my second grade class... thanks to linda huff... she's awesome. well, i'm alive. and, i'm not a vegetable...while i was in the hospital my dad had a stroke and ended up in intensive care. my brother was failing the 4th grade (but got through it). anyway, needless to say, mom had her hands full:) i came out of the hospital and did therapy for a long time after... don't remember how long. but a long time.

oh yeah... in september (on the same day i got hit 10 years earlier) my mom hit and killed a little amish boy.... a horrible accident. but, i can't even imagine what she went through when she found out that i was hit that day.

sometime in 5th grade~dad had a stroke. caleb and i walked home with one of my friends that day. we saw dad on the chair, and he couldn't say anything to us. we didn't know what was going on. eventually we called my friends mom, and she ended up getting a hold of my mom and dad went to the hospital and came back from it. even though the drs. said it wouldn't happen.

you see... our family like to prove the drs wrong.

7th grade~pastor joe came to the school to pick up my brother and i. we knew something was wrong. dad was in the hospital again. i figured he'd come out like he had previously. i love him. i love Jesus. i was in quizzing at church. we had a tournament this same weekend in canada. i figured there was nothing i could do here so i went to canada with my quiz team. my uncle (dads brother) came along in case dad dies while we're in canada. so, i had a good time in canada, but was a little distracted. to say the least. there was this one time that our quiz coach was called out in the middle of a quiz and we were all freaking out... then she came back to tell us her daughter wasn't feeling well. what a stinker. anyway, we got through the weekend. had a good time. on the way home the van broke down in flint, michigan... it was sunday night at like midnight. my uncle had to get back for work on monday so my friend and i rode with him. my dad died the next morning.

i felt like i did a pretty good job grieving through all of this... while i missed my dad i chose to accept that he was in a better place. i did try to fill that father hole with other people... good relationships. got close to my mom. got close to my brother.

senior year~went camping with some close friends.... my friend bekah told me i was like the israelite children and was looking for a dad... God continued providing father figures for me... but what i didn't get until then was the God wanted to fill that hole. and i finally got that. that is one of those moments that i will NEVER forget. one of those defining moments in my faith, and for who i am.

throughout my youth i sought God, served God, served people, loved people...

graduated high school in 1998. had some really close friends. very relational. but... pretty legalistic.

oh yeah... i failed to mention that i didn't have a lot of emotions growing up either because of the traumatic head injury that i had when hit by the car...

anywho... went to bethel in 98. good times.

went to ywam (youth with a mission) in 2000. hated it for about 3 weeks. couldn't stand being away from family and friends. i had these great friends at the time... i had just begun forming a relationship with them in the years before that... (the lengachers) anyway, jamie prayed that i would be stretched... that my heart would stretch... dude, let me tell you. i was done stretching by the end of the 18 hour car ride... but jamie (and many others i'm sure) wasn't done praying... so i continued being stretched. it was really good for me. God is good. i'm not interested in sharing specifics here, but yeah... God is good. i learned a lot. funny thing about it too. i had never watched r rated movies before ywam. you see... i was legalistic. ywam helped me break out of that mold. not completely, but it was a start. i began watching movies not for their rating.. but just because. anyway. yeah.

came back and finished college. got a boyfriend... (who now is my best friend, confidante, lover) actually got the boyfriend my senior year... my grades showed it too:) i still graduated though. got a job at family and childrens center working with at risk 9-13 year olds. love that age.... love, love, love it. quit there. went to work at bashor where i could share my faith. that was cool. built some really really good relationships there. a lot of down times.... but even more up times. worked with 9-18 year old kiddos there. a few weeks ago... God released me... and my husband from me working. as a matter of fact... God said. STOP working. Stay HOME with your boy. Raise him up in the way he should go. and, here i am ... blogging :)

terms of endearment...

everyone has them. ours are just a little odd. my favorite is HOGFACE. if i ever call you a hogface, know that it's because i like you:) here's my little story about hogface and it's origination. i'm sure some people tell the story better, as it is second hand to me, and if you are one of those people... feel free. but here's the version that i remember...

my husband has a friend, who has a friend, who has a friend... or something like that. anyway, this guy (we'll call him Mark) counseled at a camp. Mark has a little boy in his cabin with some mental um.... how do you say it... instabilities... or something like that. anyway, this boy (we'll call him Charles) goes around to all the girls calling them hogface. Mark discretely pulls Charles aside and says, "hey buddy. it's not nice to call people hogface. we don't call our friends hogface. we don't make friends by calling them hogface.. etc." and charles says he'll stop. so, the next day while hanging out with the other kids charles walks up to all the girls that he's been calling hogface before and says... "i'm sorry. i'm sorry. not a jerk. still friends. still friends. HOGFACE." and it's done in the most loving way. so, now it's just one of those special names. ya know?:) hope you have a special name for those special people in your life.