Monday, May 31, 2010

Weekend Fun

I was blessed to have an overnight guest this weekend. My buddy Austin. Big brother Kevin had a sleepover to go to. So Austin came to have a sleepover with me. (I can only assume mom and dad were probably grateful for their own sleepover, too)

Best thing about coming to Tia's when it's hot out.... she has a pool. That and she pretty much spoils you and lets you get away with a little more than usual.

Only issue we had the entire time was the fact that I didn't go to sleep until 1am and Austin decided to get up at 6:30am raring to go wanting to play a game. He was kind enough to simple sit and watch TV while I slept.. sort of... till 7 at least. Good thing the pool and sun wore us both out and we napped for an hour in the afternoon.

Here's just a few photos...


My exercise ball become a stunt object.
Don't worry, he wasn't stuck for too long :)



Really ?!? Could that face be any sweeter and
michievous at the same time?
Luckily, I still have today to recover from all the fun and games.










Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Heroes: On Sale Today!

Last week I was on vacation. Anytime I'm with my sister, you can bet on there being much laughter and silly jokes (and being in Vegas... it's a good place to make bets). After several days driving in a big giant circle and stopping to take in the sites at Yosemite, we returned to Vegas for one night before flying home. And here is where our story happens...

I decide to go down to the gift shop to purchase a ring I had seen earlier and was on my way back up to the room. I got onto the elevator alone and inserted my room key in order to choose my floor and close the elevator doors. Only one problem.... it wouldn't read my key. I move over to the other side of the elevator and try again. No luck.

After maybe 4 tries (cause I just know one of these times it is going to work) 2 men get onto the elevator with me. I casually say, "I can't get it to read my key." One of the men tries there and also doesn't work. The man standing closest to me inserts his and it works. We press the button for our respective floors and the doors close.

Man who worked the elevator says, "I only charge $5 for rescuing ladies in elevators."

I casually give a half smile.

Other man says, "Only $5. All the other heroes charge at least $10."

First man: "Well, I'm cheap and easy."

Other man: "That could be taken the wrong way."

At this point I am just standing there. Finally I quip...

"Wow. I have to pay for my own hero. That's pretty pathetic."

They chuckle and the elevator doors open on their floor.

Thankfully!

The elevator doors close and I ride to my floor, wondering what to do with that one. Lesson learned: Don't waste your money on heroes. Next time take the stairs.

**********************************************************

I did take a ton of photos with my new fancy camera. The following are a few, but if you want to see the really good ones, hop on over here



Let me know which ones you really like.


The orange line is the route we traveled. Over 1000 miles


I found a Sugar Daddy who bought me this ring :D





My new pretty PINK sunglasses




Which one do you think I am drinking?
(Yeah... so apparently all the casino's in Vegas are Pepsi biased)



The most delicious peanut butter carmel apple EVER





Who knows??





Homage to Dirty Dancing







Peek-a-boo







The quintessential tourist postcard shot




My most favorite thing in Las Vegas




No vacation is complete with a Slurpee photo











Friday, May 14, 2010

Where's the wonder?

Last weekend, God was very present. As the master artist was contentedly reshaping things, mending cracked places and restoring broken pieces. I will never have words to explain the eternal, supernatural things I sensed at work in my mind, body, soul and spirit. The thing is, it didn't just happen this weekend. It's been happening. Day by day, moment by moment... since the second I gave up and said "God, you deal with this mess, cause all I am doing is making a bigger mess."

In that spirit, I claimed this year to be the "Year of So Much More." And God has proven to be ever faithful. Sometimes the change has come so gently, I never even noticed until it had happened and other times it has been harder and even painful. But only because admitting how short we really fall and how selfish our thoughts can be is never pleasant but is necessary. Every moment has been a choice I had to make... keep following, stop here or turn back. One foot in front of the other I have kept going. I have been so blessed. I know what I would have missed out on had I not trusted Him completely. I have agonized. I have cried (way more than I wish to admit, but need to). I have laughed. I have been in awe (the real kind where you just sit with your jaw on the ground and can't even begin to wrap your brain around it). And through it all, I have been changed for good.

Yesterday, on my very frustrating and slow drive through Michigan construction home, I began to realize something. When did we lose the wonder? When did we get to a place where we expect life to be mostly routine? We pray a little, read the bible and maybe a devotional. We know God is there but don't expect to get any answer really. On the few occasions we do, we think of it as a every now and again thing. Or we hear of some "miracle" or amazing thing God did for someone else and we wonder why we never experience that. We question why we are not "worthy" enough for God to speak to and use us in those ways.

More and more I see it differently.

We have lost our wonder.

Do we marvel at the way a tree grows? How it knows just when to bloom, or where to spread out a new branch? Do we marvel at our ability to think and feel? Do we see a miracle in the sun rising and setting each day? Or have these just become part of the routine?

So many times recently, I have found myself in wonder at the things of God. A sentence that seems to come out of nowhere into my head and ends up being exactly what another person needed to hear right then. Each time it happened I found myself thinking.... God's outdone himself this time... I'm not sure he can top that... This is going to have to end soon...

Oh ye of little faith.

Guess what? It doesn't have to end. It will never end. It's impossible for God to out-do himself. He can always bring more if you are seeking it.

In my heart, I believe that if we could just reclaim and grasp a hold of wonder again, God is just waiting.... He'll put a song in your heart that will make you skip down the road. He'll give you a hug from a child so pure your heart will melt. Put in some pigtails and smile at the sun and whistle to the birds. This is prayer language. This will get us deeper into his presence than pretty words that sound good to "pray." Recapture your wonder.

let me say that again... Recapture your wonder.

If God is who we believe He is, shouldn't we experience him intensely every day. And shouldn't that intensity change us every day to be more like him. Tangible change daily. It is possible. I might not have believed it before, but I cannot doubt it any longer. Our love will be different, toward God, towards ourselves and towards others. If we start to live like that...whoa... watch out! Change like that is contagious. Your wonder will make others wonder.

Live in wonder and see how crazy awesome our loving God REALLY is!!!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

She Came

And God showed up!

THE END.