Really Bad Coffe, A Horse's Hindend, And My Mama

My Mom recently had a Birthday. (If by recently you mean January 29, and I have been too busy with school, and work, and everything else to celebrate it with her) So, yesterday I finally had the time to take her out. We went shopping, and to our favorite place to eat.

Seriously, if you like Chinese food, and there is one in your area I STRONGLY urge you to go! They have the best food, they completely knock the buffets out of the park! However the coffee? well I'll tell you about that in a minute...

Going into the restaurant they have this beautiful statue. I'm not very sure what the significance of it is, but its beautiful none-the-less. (Good time to mention here, if you take a look at that sky it was COLD that day friends, C-O-L-D!

They give you these beautiful sauces to put on your meals. The Waiter/waitress always mixes you up their creation of sauce. The one our waiter made for us was really really good!

You get your choice of white or brown rice. I always choose white.

We had a beautiful meal together.

I am really really bad to want a cup of coffee after I eat. I think it makes your tummy feel really good after you eat, and makes your food settle better.

So, we ordered a cup of coffee. I took one sip and about died! It was the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth! We had asked the waiter to bring us a new cup thinking that maybe it was just old. So he brought us the new cups...

Still pretty bitter...

After much "doctoring" ....

It was still really, really bad coffee. Actually I have had gas station coffee that was better than that! I can't even describe...BAD!

So after the great meal, and much overdue mother/daughter time it was time to go catch a movie. We went to go see "Dear John" and let me tell you that is a GREAT movie! I laughed (mostly at my Mom, but there are funny parts to the movie as well), I cried, I couldn't peel myself away! Which turned out to be very inconvenient because midway through the movie I had to pee. Bad. I squiggled and squirmed but I toughed it through.

And as I go, I will leave you with the view when you leave the restaurant. Really poor design if you ask me! Someone really did not think this through!

Mama,

Happy Birthday! I wanted you to know that I had the best time with you! I am so blessed that God chose you to me my Mother, and I can't thank you enough for everything you do for me, Stacee, and Michele! You are the best Mom anyone could ask for and I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Hate.

It has come to my attention that there is a lot of hate going on around the blogging communities. This makes me so sad on so many levels.

When did it come to the point that women were finding joy in tearing others down? When did it become OK to say things that would rip a Mothers heart out, just for the point of saying it? Why do we feel free to say things on the computer that we would never say to someone in person?

It is not OK!

Here is the great thing about blogging....It is not a required read. If you do not like the author, her beliefs, her parenting strategies, or even her hair then DON"T READ IT!! No one is making you read it, you will not be tested on it later. Just leave them alone! Go about your way peacefully and move on to something you like.

One more thing before I go...

When you use a Mothers greatest loss (her child) as a weapon to say mean things you have went to far! When you use a Mothers children, or her abilities as a parent to criticize her, and tell her that she is a bad Mother, you have crossed a line.

Quite frankly, if you read this blog and you are one of the ones that have done this...listen to me carefully here....

Please do not come back! I'm not very sure that is the type of person I want hanging around here.

Now, I am not saying that you have to agree with everything ever written, a lot is learned when people have different views, what I am saying is you do not use a Mother's Children to hurt her.

That's All.

Thanks for listening! Ummm.....Reading :)

A Few Things...

Hi all,
I was just setting here trying to think of something to write, some deep meaningful, great post that would just knock your socks off and make you think that I am the best writer known to man and just love me forever...

(That is the longest run-on sentence ever)

(I think that proves that I am no where near a great writer, I'm not even good at it )

I never came up with my earth shattering post. I thought I'd share some of the things going on right now (also known as the most useless post ever) So, here we go...

1) BRANDI IS HOME!!!!! I actually found her a house about 200 yards away from mine!! Let me say this again.. WERE GOING TO BE NEIGHBORS!!!! If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know that Brandi is kind of a constant character around here, so you understand why I am doing the "fat happy dance" about this! Just one problem..they have not been able to move into the house yet because the people that are there are stalling about getting out. They were supposed to be out by the end of January and they keep postponing...week after week. So, well see, they need to hurry and get out Brandi and I have made plans for a lot of coffee drinking together!

2) Stacee caught her stove on fire yesterday while watching the boys. You just need to go read her rendition of it...no on can exaggerate like my sister! (If you do go read it, please leave her a comment to let her know who you are and that you were there! She is new to the blog world and is looking to make new friends)

3) Zach is wearing his "big boy pants" all day during the day. He still has accidents of coarse, and still wears diapers at night but for the most part he is doing great!

4) Have I mentioned that BRANDI IS HOME!?!?!?

5) I had a brave streak today and decided to try to fix The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Pulled Pork. I bought her cookbook yesterday in an attempt to become more domesticated. (Is that even a word?) I went to the grocery store, bought all necessary ingredients, went home and prepared according to the directions and popped that baby in the oven. Then I read the rest of the instructions, which call for it to cook for 6-7 hours. This was at 5:30. So that means it will be really late when it is finished. SO, here I set :)

6) In a previous post I mentioned that I was going to try to forgive, and show the Love of Christ to Brandi's Husband "J". Last Friday I went over to see them because in case you didn't know BRANDI IS HOME!! I really impressed myself on how easy it was to be kind to him! I even had him over to my house!! I let him in my home, something that I swore he was never welcome! I have come to believe that when God wants you to do something, he makes do-able! Well see how it goes but so far-so-good!

7)I like to watch TV. I have found this show that I am in love with. If you guys don't watch White Collar, you are really missing out!

So, that is all I have for you at the moment. Sorry that this may just be the most boring useless post in history!

I'm going to go wait on some pork, it only has 3 hours to go..(It's 11pm just so you know)

Father Time, You Are DEAD To Me! Dead!

Me and Father Time are having a spat right now. He insist to keep things going forward, into the future, whether I like it or not. I say whats the big hurry, would it kill you to slow down a little. For those of you who know me personally, for me to tell someone to slow down is rare!! I am usually a person that wants something yesterday! I hate to wait, and when I want something I want it immediately if not sooner.

But what I want right now is to wait.

I don't want to go forward anymore.

I want to stop time right where we are.

Why you ask? Well, I have hit a parenting milestone that I have been dreading. The point in life when that sweet little innocent baby that was in your arms in the hospital, now looks you dead in the eye and says: "I can do it Mommy, I want to do this myself"

The list of things that Zachary needs my help for is ever-shortening. I can't help but to look back and think of how small and helpless he was.

I want to invite you to walk down my memory lane with me. (But you will have to excuse the first 5 pictures because for whatever reason turned out to be really blurry)

And also for those of you who may notice, yes, it is the same song I used last year when I made the video about my sisters. I love the song, and as the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Plus, at the rate Father Time insist on going, if it is broke give it a week or two by then I'm sure Zachary will be big enough to drive to your house and fix it for you!!!

**Remember to pause the music at the bottom so you don't have two songs playing at the same time**

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wanna Good Laugh?

I know that my blog topics here lately have been pretty heavy. For some reason that just seems to be my train of thought the past few days. I have this big revelation, and feel the need to share.
For those of you who are up for a guaranteed good laugh, and want to meet someone that I can guarantee will be like no one else you've ever met in your life...my sister Stacee has started her own blog!!!!

If you remember this post Stacee is the complete and total personification of a blond joke a completely unique character.

So go read, laugh, and enjoy!

Also, she's a little new to the bloggy world so go show her some love!

CLICK HERE TO GO READ STACEE'S BLOG!

Grace

"What is grace? In the New Testament grace means God’s love in action towards men who merited the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. Grace means God sending His only Son to descend into hell on the cross so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven. ‘(God) hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’[2 Cor. 5:21]"
--JI Packer

I have been reading the blog "Grace Is For Sinners" by Serena Woods. If you have never been there please go look at this girl's site! She is one of the most beautiful writers/person that I have ever seen. Her heart is amazing! Anyways, she wrote something this week that has really conflicted me.

I wont go into detail of what she writes, I think it best for you to go to her site and see for yourself what a beautiful person she is. The cliff notes version (or at least what I took from it) is that you can't accept the grace of God without being graceful with others as well.

So why does that conflict me?

The Bible says:
Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievances you have against each other. Forgive as the LORD forgave you. --Colossians 3:13

I'll be the first to admit that I have a hard time with this. I am one of the worst grudge holders you will ever know. Forgiveness is not something that comes easy for me. I hold things in, stew over them, ponder over them, and just never let them go.

Take for this for instance. For years now, for reasons I will not say on here for the entire interweb to know, I have had this immense "dislike" for my friend Brandi's husband. (We'll call him "J") It's nothing that he has ever done to me personally. I just could not stand him as a person. I can't even take the time to tell you how strong these feelings were.

But then I found this:

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in Heaven forgive your sins
Mark 11:26

So, what did I get out of all this? That I am a sinner just as much as J is a sinner. Our personalities are polar opposites, and our sins may be different, but in God's eyes a sin is a sin no matter how big or small.

So why is it I can expect God to forgive me, and not offer forgiveness, and love myself?

Well I can't. That's the point. God demands his followers to show mercy, compassion, and love. That is something I need to learn to do. And I feel God pulling me to start with J. Isn't it funny that sometimes God pulls you to do the one thing you never want to do?

Now, I'm not saying that me and J are now Best Friends Forever, and will live happily ever after. What I am saying is that I feel like I owe it to my savior to make a conscious effort to forgive.

Can you think of a better way to show another person God's love?

About Me

Every time I go to a interview for a new job there is always a question that I dread. I hate it, in fact. Just because I never know what to say to it.

"Tell me a little bit about yourself"

I hate that question. As far as questions go, I have found that one to be quite hateful. I just set there with that deer-in-the-headlights-look. I fumble around bubbling out some incoherent babble that they already knew from my application, and quickly change the subject.

But I have received a few e-mails, and Twitter messages that said that I needed to fill out the "About Me" section of the blog. Just in case you haven't paid attention up to this point I have avoided that part of my profile because I hate that question. (Its up top on the left for those of you who haven't noticed it before) Come to find out, (so the message said) that a lot of people decide to read your blog or not just by the "About Me" section of your profile.

Silly me I thought it was about the writing!

Shows you how much I know.

Any who, so I've thought about it, and thought I'd share with you some things about me.

First and foremost, above all else, I am a sinner. I feel the need to remind my self of that every day. Let me say that again, I am a sinner, saved by Grace. The grace of a Father that loved me enough to come to earth, and die on a cross, so that my sins can not keep me out of Heaven.

I am also stubborn. I think I have touched on this a time or two in previous post, so I won't go into it here. But take it from me......Stubborn.

If I like you, I am a great friend. (so I think, but this is kinda one sided)

If I don't like you, well, forget it. I will probably never learn to like you, I want nothing to do with you, and I want you to go away.

I am the worst grudge holder in the world. Seriously, there was this guy in High School that Brandi dated that I despised. He was a bad guy. Come to find out 10 years later, I still despise him(if not more now). Pretty impressive, a girl can hold a grudge for a decade!

I am terrible with money. I spend it like it flows like water, and regret it later.

I am shy. I know that is kinda hard to believe. But if I don't know you, I have this terrible habit of thinking that you don't like me.

I love to read.

I love to watch TV. I have a few shows that I love to follow. Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, White Collar, and True Blood are some of my favorites at the moment. My all time favorite TV show of all time the best of the best is Sex and the City. (Although now a days I watch a lot of Go! Diego, Go!)

I am blunt. I have what I like to call "verbal diarrhea" at times. For some reason when I am thinking something, or have an opinion about something there is no filter from my brain to my mouth. It just comes out and I can't help it.

I am protective. My family and my friends are my life. I am very protective of them (see above about holding grudges)

I used to be a Cosmetologist. I grew up wanting to be a hairdresser, I remember in Middle School wanting to do hair. I got my licence and worked in a Salon for 2 years, and hated it. It was just not what I thought it was going to be. So, at the ripe old age of 20 I done a total career change and decided to go into the medical field, and have never looked back.

So, that is all I can think of at the moment. To tell you the truth I'm feeling a little narcissistic at the moment, talking about myself so much. So, here's the deal. I want to know about you too! I am putting up a McLinky. You can either A) write a post on your own blog and link back to it here or B) if you don't have a blog-or don't want to do an entire post- leave me a few things about yourself in the comments. On Saturday if I have enough participate I will select a winner from random.org and some random person will win a prize. (I'll tell you what on Friday-be sure to check back)