Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Any special plans tonight?
• wap.cbsnews.com/site?sid=cbsnews&pid=sections.detail&catId=TOP&storyId=6039756 Way too cool. Star Trek fans should be pleased!
• Watching a video of Audrey while listening to my ipod. Song in video was the same as song in background of video. WEIRD!

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Swimming

P1070578
Originally uploaded by Christsstar

just a little video until I have a chance to put together a real blog.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Lord ... Please help Audrey eat more during the day so she will sleep better at night.
• proofed my rough draft. All it lacks is finishing touches. I will get this turned in today.
• All done. Finished my quarterly project! Yay! Now I can veg for the rest of the year. myloc.me/2tZCb

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Tuesday. Praying for a happy baby and a productive workday.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• audrey has a rash. I'm thinking food allergy. Poor thing. seeing Dr today.
• testing.... flic.kr/p/7rdxgL

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Rearranging bedroom. Found mold behind Audrey's dresser. YUCK!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Boxing Day.
• Cheeze-Its are uber addictive.

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feeding time

I'm such a big girl now ... Holding my bottle all by myself.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!
• Josh is braving the store this morning for egg nog and foil.
• ho ho ho! Macbook Pro from @dealsplus for Christmas. Details here: bit.ly/7kMWCB
• Audrey got two front teeth for Christmas.
• Mario Party 8 on wii. Fun stuff!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Christmas Eve. May your travels be smooth and your nog be Yummy!
• News, coffee and my frog princess on the couch while everyone else still sleeps.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• I think they're across the bay ... In Alameda.
• One more day ... one more day. I can do it.
• Check out Service Interrupted: Blackberry Blackout Sweeps America - lsnlw.com/t/1651323974/
• Audrey has a little rash. :( doesn't seem to be bothering her though.
• Praise God for computer gurus at work.
• Working so hard this morning I forgot to take my morning break.
• On hold with GMAC again. Why is it so hard to process a due date change request? myloc.me/2inOT
• Mmmmnnn...leftover Chevy's! Yummy!
• My voice is slowly coming back ...... I just want to be able to sing at the Christmas Eve service tomorrow.
• Baked some banana recipes from my new cook book. Thank you Brian and Lara!
• Baby girl doesn't want to go to sleep tonight.
• Playing Tetris while Aud Ball sleeps on my chest. I fear a long night ahead.

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One year ago...

A year ago today, Josh and I laid down, got goop put on my belly and stared at a TV monitor and learned we were having an Audrey and not a David.

I love my baby girl!
~Christine

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Yay! No late night feeding for Audrey! Let's get back in schedule.
• The end of a quarter shouldn't line up with holidays ... Things are too hectic to slack ogg at work.
• How much so you read in a book before deciding you can't get into it?

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Self-feeding?

It was dinner time and I was feeding the Little Miss. I needed to get a spoon, so I put her bowl of pumpkin down in a place I thought was out of reach to her.

I walked to the drawer to get a spoon and turned around and she had the bowl in her hand getting ready to pour it into her mouth. I ran to go get it from her and was barely too late. She missed her mouth completely and got pumpkin all over her bib.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Short week. lots of work to do.
• I've seen all the news stories once, and the weather and traffic several times ... I guess I should get ready to work.
• All out of spoons in the drawer ... using a baby spoon for my oatmeal.
• Was asked last night if I was in college. What better compliment for having just entered my 30s!
• MmmmM .... Pumpkin cheesecake
• The teapot doesn't whistle unless the whistle cap is actually closed........
• Thermostat got set to 90*!

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another angle.....

~Christine

sleeping frog....

Got out of the shower this morning and saw this.

~Christine

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• audrey likes playing peek-a-boo ............ When I'm feeding her with the nursing cover on.
• I'm wearing matching earrings today.
• Following the culture and am in line for Santa.
• Just finished Santa. She did good. tweetphoto.com/6859273
• Real tree or artificial ?
• My car smells like McDonald's.

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Holy-Days

I spent time over the last week or so writing a Christmas letter, as I try to do every year. The letter, as usual, is very news-y and somewhat lengthy. I love writing the annual Christmas letter, updating my loved ones on my life and putting a nice cap on the year; summing it all up in one neat little package. It's a great way for me to look back on our year and to remember what we've done.

I add lots of photos to my letters too, because I just love photos. Going through the photos of the year is really fun; seeing all the shots I took and all the opportunities we had to take the photos.

Suddenly, today, I'm feeling a little on the ashamed side that I barely mentioned the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate. Being the analytical and logical person that I am, I recognize that Christmas was originally a pagan celebration that Christians used to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. However, in our society, Christmas is a Christian holiday.

The sermon today in church was about being Holy in the holidays. God makes us Holy, as He is Holy. Additionally, the word holiday comes from the term Holy-day. These are HOLY-days that we celebrate and we should celebrate them in such manner.

After today's sermon, I feel like I want to add to our Christmas letter that we as a family are enjoying the biblical basics in our household. We are celebrating ADVENT, the anticipation of Christs' birth. We are celebrating the BIRTH of our Lord. We are reminded of the humility of Mary and Joseph; the obedience they showed; the faithfulness to the calling God had for them. We remember the wise men and their great trek across the continent to worship the newborn King. We are thankful for the shepherds who were present that first night to welcome our King to this world. We awe at the thought of all of God's angels singing Praises, and being God's messengers of this GREAT and GLORIOUS event.

Merry Christmas

I have noting to add to these photos. They speak for themselves.
Merry Christmas.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Birthday to all my birthday twins ... G. Faith, Christopher, Stephanie, Melanie. May you all have a blessed day.
• Both Audrey and I had breakfast in bed this morning.
• Great birthday.

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The Enchanted Frog

Janet was. A happy little frog. She lived in a great big pond with her frog family.

One day Janet was hungry. She saw a fly and just had to chase it down the path. She finally caught the fly, but by then she realized she was lost and didn't know how to get home to her lilypad.

She saw a human and asked for help to find her home. The human, who wasn't just a human, but a witch, couldn't understand Janet. It just sounded like very ride ribbitting. The witch was not happy and turned. Janet into a human.

The witch laughed and walked away.

Janet didn't know what to do. She started crying and just wandering the path. Eventually she found the pond again, but her family didn't recognize her anymore.

A nice man named Bob was fishing in the pond and saw Janet trying to talk to the frogs. He listened to her story and felt sorry for her.

He took her home and introduced her to his wife, Molly. Bob and Molly had a nice home and took very good care of Janet.

Janet grew up with Bob and. Molly. She missed being a frog, but had a very nice life as a human and loved her new family very much.
~Christine

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Last day in my 20s................................
• I hate hitting all the red lights.
• The number of times you get all green lights is far fewer than hitting all red lights. Shouldn't it be equal?
• Blech.....

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Why is Audrey hungry in the middle of the night again?
• How many times do you let a phone ring before you conclude no one is there? (no voice mail.....)
• Phone tree hell! I just want to talk to a person!
• Techology breakdown day. Not getting alerts on my phone, computer crashed. What else will happen?
• Practicing patience while in the Best Buy customer service line.
• Bossman and I are playing hide-n-seek.
• Any techies wanna give me a Bday present amd fix my computer? It lost its bootup file.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• I'm excited to see what God has in store for me today.
• Hiccup in project. I hope I can compensate.
• My computer is fried. Haven't backed it up in a couple months. NEVER buying windows again!
• Watching Star Trek II Wrath of Kahn. debating reading instead though. Really good book.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Tuesday! Still no voice, presentation at 8:30.
• Presentation done. Have 2 1/2 days to finish the testing portion of my project. My analyzer is NOT cooperating either.
• When everything else is breaking ... My phone is doing GREAT. take pleasure in small thing.
• just completed the NYTimes CW puzzle with the help of google.
• Christmas shopping for my honey.
• And his shopping is done.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Its MONDAY!!!!! Happy anniversary Steve and Tara.
• At the doc with Aud Ball for possible thrush and off and on fever, coughing, congestion.
• I sound like a 12 year whose voice is changing.

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I heart faces --- Pets Only

This is my first official entry into I heart faces.
One of my favorite photos I've taken, I'm very pleased with myself for getting such a great shot on a creature quickly moving about the grounds. Taken at the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ

Click for more "Pets Only" entries.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Coughing, stuffed up, no voice.
• Staying home sick with Aud Ball. We're both a little under the weather.
• I love wrapping presents.
• White or colored Christmas lights?

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Its the day of the work CHRISTMAS party. T minus 7 days until 30.
• pretty dress for Christmas party: $17. Feeling pretty again 6 months post-pardem: priceless.
• Gonna go party like its 2009 at the work Christmas party!
• I wish I knew what to do with my hands when I danced.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Friday World!
• T minus 8 days to 30.
• mmmMmmmm ..... Homemade hot chocolate

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Poor Audrey is all congested. She can barely breathe.
• Skipped a step in my project yesterday. now I get to do that part over again. Oooops.
• Finally caught up to where I thought I was yesterday afternoon.
• Praise God for answers to prayers ... Especially when its the answer we wanted.
• Why am I coughing?

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Wednesday. T minus ten days to thirty.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Back to the grind. I think I can I think I can I think I can.
• Baby its cold outside.
• Money sucks.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• 0* in Denver. Glad I don't live here right now.
• Cold FF and no sauce for my Nuggets. I miss Josh's cooking.
• On the ground. Audrey did GREAT! The child behind me needs a spanking though.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Gramma has awesome cereal. Cinnamon toast crunch and froot loops!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• It's so dark in Gramma's basement I never know of its really time to wake up of if I'm suffering insomnia. 8. I can get up I guess.
• Sheesh ... I come to Michigan and they get snow days! 2 years in a row.
• The view from Gramma Nellie's porch. tweetphoto.com/5811402
• At Gramma Nellie's 90th Bday party!
• MONK!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• 4 am is ugly. I just remind myself that its 7 in Michigan. T minus 7 hours to GRR. T minus 16 days to 30.
• Traveling with an infant: forgot the snuggli in Josh's car. But we made it through security.
• Landed at layover city. Baby ate, napped, played, ate more.
• why don't airport bathrooms have stalls designed for having luggage with you?
• In the second flight. Froggie fell asleep before we boarded. Sleep baby sleep!
• Landed on the ground safely in Michigan. Gonna wait for mom and dad whose flight from Chi-town was delayed.
• Watching Steve Martin in the Pink Panther on my PSP while waiting for mom and dad.
• In the car going to Gramma's. Not over the river of through the woods.
• Audrey meets Grampa Ken. tweetphoto.com/5774585
• SNOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Baby's asleep. Yay! Now I can get myself ready for bed. Its be en a long day.
• Asleep at Gramma Nellie's tweetphoto.com/5791721

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Wednesday! T minus 1 day to Michigan and T minus 17 days to 30.
• Dr Phil tonight about designer babies. In actually going to record and watch it.
• I'm officially the mother of a young thing ... I have Old McDonald in my head and its not phasing me.
• Is it foolish to take a library book in vacation?
• I hate moronic drivers. Includes not driving speed Limit, changing lanes last second, and not letting others into your lane.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy December. T minus 2 days until Michigan and T minus 18 days until the big 3-0!
• Five goooold rings.
• You've been mostly dead all day.......
• Mawidge is what brings us togevver, today.
• since the invention of the kiss ... This one left them all behind.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Monday. Short week for me. T-minus 3 days until Michigan.
• Win a new Macbook Pro on Cyber Monday 2009. Details here: bit.ly/29rFES
• Importing my Christmas CDs to transfer to my ipod. YAY!
• 72.1 miles run since July

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy Advent!
• When do you decorate for Christmas?
• Wrapping the kids' presents!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Sitting in the cart for the first time like a big girl. tweetphoto.com/5512097
• setting up for Christmas ... Audrey very enamored!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Happy day after Thanksgiving. Hope your shopping is without fights and you find good deals.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I am thankful for my home, family, and Pumpkin Pie.
• A hunk-a-punkin' pie in honor of Grampa John ..... 1920-2008 pic.gd/473ade
• Great thanksgiving. Great food. Awesome company.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Thankful for an understanding boss and sick leave.
• Mmmmmm ...... Apple Pie is ready for tomorrow. pic.gd/b11dde
• In the for what its with category: the freecycle in my area is worthless. no one responds to offers or wanteds and the mods are too strict!
• Note to self: cranberries stain.
• Stupid HMO won't pay my medical bill they're supposed to pay! GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
• Pumpkin pie ready too! pic.gd/5dbc5e
• Pumpkin pie: done. Cran jelly: done. Apple pie: done. Rolls: thawing. Bread cubes: drying. Turkey: thawed. we're ready.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I am thankful for friends.
• I hurt my back putting my things in the car this morning. I should've stayed home I think. It really hurts.
• Is it cheating to use the internet to solve a crossword puzzle?
• nearly got run over by a woman with a shopping cart who wasn't paying attention. All she said was, " Oh my gosh.". No apology.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• today I am thankful for my stepson Andrew. The most confident, sensitive, and honest 15 year old I have ever met.
• Josh is on vacation this week. I'm not. Hard to be at work when he's at home, but easier to leave audrey with her daddy then daycare.

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Baby Yoga

I've come to the conclusion that the practice of yoga positions is naturally in all humans when we are born, and we just grow out of it. Babies are very adept at practicing yoga and they must know it's benefits.

My child can teach me a thing or two about yoga.

Revolve Tour

This weekend, I had the opportunity to go with Kymberly and Alex to the Revolve Tour. It's a conference for teenage girls addressing the things teenage girls care about ... relationships, boys, txting, etc.

There were dramas, mini-concerts, speakers, worship, food, screaming, praising God, and lots of fun.

There were things that I really enjoyed, and some great reminders of who we are in Christ. The theme was 4Real. Being real people in this age of internet and txting and cell phones. Not being afraid of who we are. Not wearing masks. Not hiding behind the computer. And of course, BOYS! Why do boys act they way they act. What's important to a boy. How should girls act around them. How to get along with them.

The bands were Group 1 Crew, Britt Nicole, and Stellar Kart. I really liked Stellar Kart.

There were 4 main speakers.

Blanca Reyas from Group 1 Crew talked about her life growing up. Her father was a drug addict and her parents divorced when she was 5. Her mom started dating a man who was abusive. She watched her mom get abused and she was angry and hurt and confused. Many years later her dad came home. He was clean and he was different. He had found God. Through him, she also found God.

One singer from the Revolve Tour Praise Band also spoke about her life growing up. Also from a divorced home, she went back and forth between the two households. She felt invisible in one house. She wore different masks all the time, just trying to find her place. She talked about how finding the "real" her and realizing that she is called Beloved by God.

Chad Eastham talked about boys and girls and relationships. Boys are waffles and girls are spaghetti. Boys like everything compartmentalized and in neat little boxes. You can't put more than one thing in each box. Girls are random and all over the place and you never know when you leave one noodle and go on to the next.

Jenna Lucado, was phenomenal. She addressed who we are in Christ and that when we know Jesus, we know ourselves. It's like looking in a mirror, because we are made in his image. The following are the notes that I took from her talk. I was blown away by what she had to say.

Heb 4:15-17

We don't have to be perfect for God to like us.
We Strive for perfection in physical appearance and performance - why?

Until we accept that God loves me for who I am I won't stop beating myself up over my mistakes.

I have a God "gets me"

God is a PERFECT dad.
His arms aren't too short to reach me

John 1:12
names are powerful
The names we call ourselves
Dumb, Not As ________,
the names we call ourselves affect our decisions What name do I call myself?
When we call ourselves hurtful names, we live a hurtful life

God does not call me defeated
Romans 8:37
"more than a conquerer"

"complete in Him"
Colossians 2:10

"Loved Perfectly"
Jeremiah 31:3

We have to be in a relationship with Him I. Order to believe thee names He gives

FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus came when we were Broken! Gave us new names.

This was a great event and I highly recommend going to one in the future if you have the opportunity (and are a teenage girl or mom of a teen).

It felt a lot like a concert, but that's their goal. The only thing I would change is turning up the lights during the speakers so that we can take notes and/or refer to our bibles. It was also a way for all the speakers and bands to promote their books/albums. It's not as deep as a good small retreat, but definitely a taste of something for the girls. I would love to take this event and do a gender-specific series with the youth groups on the topics addressed. Get the books and go through them as a bible study. Really get down to the nitty-gritty with the teens and discuss the things that matter to them the most. Look at the subjects they talk about with their friends in a biblical perspective. In fact, I may just pitch the idea to our youth director.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I'm thankful for a night in my own bed with my husband and this face: pic.gd/ae6ed2
• In gonna be 30.
• I love my husband.
• I want a hunk a punkin pie
• Watched "Up.". Cried. I'm emotional. Going to bed. Yay for short week ahead.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• 5:30 on a Saturday with no fussy baby to wake me up and I still can't sleep in. Must be the lack of fussy baby.........
• Interesting article on Apple. You either love them or hate them.bit.ly/58u8aU
• Slept OK but I miss my baby. Excited for a great day and lots of learning.
• Today in thankful for a chance to spend a weekend with Kym and Alex and learn about being a teenage girl!
• "A friend who gets you is one who knows you inside and out and still loves you.". Jenna Lucado, Revolve Tour
• 4 Real @Revolvetour pic.gd/e99801
• Sunset break! pic.gd/782fbe

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• I'm thankful for my beautiful step daughter. She played in the jazz band last night and was honored in her achievements of honor roll.
• no cereal in the house; coffee's gone; no cheese for my eggs. Having a baked potato for breakfast.
• Happy 30th bday Sarah.
• Raining today. Testing the new roof.
• Line at USPS is out the door and only one window open.
• Eating dinner then into the Revolve Tour with Kym and Alex.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I'm thankful for my husband.
• 2 weeks until I go to Michigan.
• only one more month of being a hot, young 20something year old.
• What's the point of a large trashcan if the bag inside is too small?
• Just did half of Josh's Christmas shopping at lunchtime. I'd say that was a productive half hour.
• Deodorant or antiperspirant?

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today (and every day) I'm thankful for God's strength and faithfulness and provisions.
• Must ... Get ... Work ..... Done............
• Happy 81st birthday Mickey Mouse!

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The final word....

When in an argument or debate or heated discussion, it feels so satisfying to have the final word. It feels good to say, "I am right and you are wrong because of a, b, c and 1, 2, 3. And I will listen to you no more. Good-bye."

To our flesh, we feel like we've won. It's a statement saying that you will not be manipulated or told what to do or made to feel like a lesser person. And you've sent the other person a zinger and hopefully gotten the other person to shut his or her mouth. To think about what YOU had to say. What a satisfying feeling. What if the other person also wants the last word?

But is it really??? Maybe it's easier to just be done with it. Accept what the other person has said and not continue. Give in to the idea that there are different opinions and you are entitled to your own. There is no guilt for pushing needless buttons. No stress over the discussion continuing. No zingers sent back to you.

In our computer-centric society, it's so easy to send out all the harsh words and negative comments and not feel any regret or guilt over what has been said because "it's just the internet." Tone of voice and emotions don't translate easily through the internet the way they do via our mouths and ears.

When one has to have the last word, no last word is ever had.

But when you can just walk away from the discussion without saying anything more, you can show maturity and willingness to grow and learn and not always be right. The hardest part, however, is not saying, "I'm done talking about this, I will have no more. I'm going to be the bigger person and walk away," because that puts you down low again and shows you trying to have the last word, yet again.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I am thankful for my Dad. He's a rock and has always been there in my times of need.
• My baby is 6 months old today. WOW!
• Do you like yourself?

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Warning: Rant Ahead

There are a couple phrases that really irritate me beyond believe. Two of them are, "In all do respect," and "No offense...."

They seem like excuses for the speaker to say whatever he or she wants to say without getting in trouble because the statement was prefaced with "no offense....."

If you are concerned that what you are saying is going to offend me, and you don't want to have a dialog with me if I am offended, then don't say it.

Those are NOT magic words that take away any hurt feelings or pointed fingers. They do NOT soften the blow. In fact, they often make things worse. They make it so that I'm prepared to be offended or disrespected.

Very, very rarely can someone start at statement out with either of those two phrases and I am not upset, hurt, distraught, offended, etc.

No offense, but I think your hair is ugly today.
No offense, but your breath stinks.
No offense, but you're wrong in what you think and how you raise your child.

The third one is the gist of the statement I got today.
Basically I was told that I am overprotective, silly, my doctor is wrong, and I don't need to listen to him. And I'm supposed to be OK with being told all this because it was all prefaced with, "In all due respect."

Ummm ... telling me that I'm overprotective in raising my daughter is disrespectful. Telling me that my doctor is wrong without knowing my doctor is disrespectful.

GRRRRRR..........

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I am thankful for my mom and all that she's taught me.
• WooHoo!!!! baby took a nap first thing this morning. Now ... can I get some work done?
• "let me out!" pic.gd/287213
• It's so heart-warming that when I put Audrey in her little walker she "walks" until she is as close to me as possible. :)

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• new keyboard ... me LIKEY!!!! :)

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• my next set of thankful comments are dedicated to those I love. I am thankful for my friendship with Sarah B.
• Pumpkin scones for breakfast and then some Christmas shopping.
• And Christmas shopping is done for the kids.
• Pumpkin pie ice cream. Pumpkin pancakes tomorrow morning. Yay fall!

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I'm thankful for FRIDAY!
• Found and listened to my TAPE of Psalty the Singing Songbook ... #3, where we meet Psaltina, Harmony, Melody and Rhythm. I'm such a kid.
• Just streamed a movie from netflix through my ps3. YAY! Netix membership paying for itself all over again.

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You're only as old as the music makes you feel

I'm such a dork. And a forever kid.

I found my old walkman and one cassette tape of "Psalty the Singing Songbook." I was so excited I plugged it into the speakers and listened to it (with Audrey, of course). I still know ALL the words to the songs and dialog. I grew up on Psalty, much like today's generation has Veggie Tales.

I had 5 Psalty tapes; I'm not sure how many there really were. I learned so many lessons from them. And so many great praise songs. I just LOVED listening to them. OK, I confess, I still do. Now that I have a baby, I have an excuse.

I would love to find all of my Psalty tapes, and my copy of "Bullfrogs and Butterflies" and "Music Machine." I finally figured out a way to make them digital, and I plan on doing that when I find them.

My copy of Bullfrogs and Music Machine was copied from a RECORD. Yes, record. So if I manage to convert that to digital and put it on CD or on my ipod, that will be a 30 y/o album converted from record to tape to digital. Nice.

Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I'm thankful for pumpkin and all the wonderful things that can be made from it.
• FB on my phone having issues again.
• Lost my earbud squishy again and I can't find my backups. gRRrrrrrr!
• I want things to go back to normal soon. Tomorrow would be good.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I am thankful for Veterans and the hard job they had by protecting our country and freedoms.
• If all are in agreement that comb overs are bad, why do so many men do them?
• Bumper sticker of the day: save the earth. Its the only planet with chocolate.

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Daily Contemplations

Today's contemplations, thoughts, questions, or other rambles.....

• Today I'm thankful for a roof over my head.
• And I'm thankful for the USMC! Happy Birthday Marines.
• You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
• What's your favorite candy?
• What's your favorite pizza topping?

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Daily Contemplations

• 11:51 woo hoo!!! 70 miles run since mid-July!!!! #
• 15:22 Audrey's first time in her high chair. pic.gd/7472b0 #
• 05:56 Today I'm thankful for a roof over my head. #
• 05:59 And I'm thankful for the USMC! Happy Birthday Marines. #

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Daily Contemplations

• 05:48 SFGate.com Mobile Edition bit.ly/23iohH Drive the speed limit! #
• 05:56 Thankful for a baby who only fussed once during the night and allowed mommy and daddy a quiet night! #

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Daily Contemplations

• 14:48 Irritability runs high today. Time to be home. #
• 19:43 @SapphireSBN sure. Can you repay the favor some night? #
• 07:01 Thankful for a great husband who cleaned the house top to bottom when I was out yesterday! #

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Daily Contemplations

• 08:16 Just saw an ad for Organic Infant formula. Isn't that what breast milk is!?!?!?!?!? #
• 13:53 took my keyboard apart to clean it and found a needle and a penny inside. #
• 06:29 I am thankful that its Saturday and I get to go to a free seminar then spend the afternoon with my awesome family! #

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Fun Foto Friday

It's FRIDAY! Time for a fun photo! Well, three this week.

We pulled out the penguin Weeble Wobble from the garage last night and Kymi and Audrey played a little bit with it.

Audrey is so close to truly sitting up on her own. She can do it for 15-20 seconds at a time.

She's also eating solid foods. We've had rice cereal and sweet peas. Yum!

 
 
 

Twitter....

I've set up an account on LoudTwitter to automatically sent my tweets to my blog once/day. The weird post with the # is that. If you follow me on Twitter, or are on my FB page, then you'll probably get a double/triple dose of those. If not, well, now you can see my random contemplations throughout the day.

Daily Contemplations

• 10:33 Testing ubertwitter now. Twitterberry didn't work for me. #
• 06:21 Today I'm thankful for a generous and understanding boss! #
• 06:24 Cellphone inventor says they've become 'too complicated,' rock-n-roll too loud ... As I tweet from my phone. viigo.im/1p0V #

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This is a test....

....of my new RSS feeder on my phone.

New Friends

 
Our worship director (Brian) and family (Lara and two kids, Hannah and Josh), are fairly new to the area and the church. They moved here in March-ish, when he was hired full time. Josh has been playing drums with the church since July and has really enjoyed it. We've been wanting to have them over for quite some time, but our schedules are so crazy that it was a magic trick to find time that worked for both families.

They came over on Sunday for lunch and stayed for a few hours. We visited over lasagne, cake, brownies, wine, drums, the dog, Nick Jr, a baby, and the activities of a 5 and 3 year old who have no toys of their own.

We had a great time visiting, enjoying each other's company and getting to know each other on a more personal level. Lara really enjoyed getting to spend more time with Audrey. The kids, Hannah and Josh (aged 5 and 3), both really liked the baby too. They kept trying to play with her, but Audrey isn't really at a full interacting stage yet; they still thought she was pretty cool.

We introduced the kids to Sheila (our dog). They were very timid at first, but Sheila is a nice dog and really good with kids. They warmed up to her nicely. Then they quickly got bored and wanted to go inside.


Josh has been saying for several months that he really wants some good friends from the church. We're both thinking that Brian and Lara are good people, similar in age to us, and also new to the area and the church. We're trying to actively cultivate a friendship with them.

I wish real life were like Facebook and I could send a friend request to them. "Will you be my friend?" Then we can see each other's daily thoughts and activities and our friendship would grow. But alas, we must do things the old fashioned way...........

I wish I had taken more photos of their visit, but I was too busy ... visiting. Next time.

Due to the corrupt world in which we live, I have made all my photos of Audrey private on my flickr page.

If you would like access to them, join flickr and become my friend. From there you can receive emails about my updates, or just go in and look for yourself. Flickr is free. All you need is a yahoo! account to join.

Or else, you can join totspot and become friends with Audrey and me there. If you need more information on either totspot or flickr, email me or leave me a comment and I can email you.

Also ... if you follow my blog and use Google products, please click on the "follow me" link off to the side. I'm just curious how many people do follow my blog. Or if you don't want to "follow," leave me a comment so I know you are reading. Lastly, if you don't already know, there are many ways one can get automatic updates to blogs. Sites like Google Reader or Bloglines are just 2 that I know of that will automatically tell you if you have updates to any blogs (or any site that has an RSS or XML feed). I'm a Google user, so I personally use Google Reader.

That's all the business items for today. Thank you for contemplating with me.

Happy Sunday.
2 months until Christmas
1 month and 25 days until my (30th) birthday

Book Review: Beautiful Lies, by Lisa Unger

I'm reading again. Finally have time and found a book that held my interest.

Beautiful Lies: A Novel by Lisa Unger


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love books that keep you guessing. Ridley Jones had a good life. She had good parents, a good job, a dead rich uncle who left her an inheritance..... Then one day she made a series of choices that changed everything and left her wondering about everything she had known to be true.

I was captivated at the first page. I kept trying to figure out if Jake, Ridley's neighbor turned lover, was the good guy or bad guy. I answered the main question of the book pretty quickly, but I think that's the intention of the author. But I was taken back at the end by the final twist.

There are questions left unanswered. Not sure if that means there will be a sequel, or if it just means there are questions unanswered.

I was left with a feeling of privilege for the life and upbringing that I had. I was left with a feeling of safety.

This was a good book, and for more than just the story. The backstory to the story was important and made me appreciate my baby girl and the laws that have come to be for cases of abuse and abandonment, etc.

View all my reviews >>

Fun Photo

All decked out and ready to watch Monday Night Football!

 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for my beautiful baby girl!

Bible Study

We've been attending our church for more than a year, and attending regularly for just under a year. Josh has found his niche and ministry and is starting to really make some friends and serve in the church. Now it's my turn.

Last month I received a bookmark with a list of monthly meetings for "Presbyterian Women." They are studying Joshua. I thought that was a great start for finding a bible study and meeting some other people in the church. (We don't have a small group program as it is under renovation.)

Last night I attended the first meeting, ready to learn about and study Joshua. (I felt studying Joshua so appropriate since I started to read it a few months ago.)

I was initially quite nervous. I arrived about 15 minutes early and didn't want to be the first one there, so I sat in my car a bit. I saw another car arrive and two white-haired ladies exit the vehicle and go up to the front door. Suddenly I thought I should go home. I didn't want to be the only non-grandparent there. But I sucked it up and went inside.

I recognized 2 of the 3 women who where there already. One woman, however, I've had a couple of notso-positive encounters with. I tried to keep an open mind. The Presbyterian Women are VERY active in the community and with community events and ministering to those in need. One of the ministries is delivering blankets to the shelters; so we sat there and tied knots in blankets while listening and planning.

There were a total of 6 of us there. They all recognized me as the "woman with the baby," or "the wife of the drummer." It became painfully obvious that I need my own identity. And as I suspected, I was the only non-grandma in attendance.

Presbyterian Women is also an organization, nation-wide. I've never attended a denominational church that was so heavily reliant and involved with their denomination. I've attended several E-Free churches, which operate very independently from their denominations. So seeing a nation-wide organization through the church is a little weird for me.

At any rate, it became very obvious that at least at our church, Presbyterian Women are an organization first and a bible study second. We spent the first 20 minutes just chatting. Then we went over business items. Basically a summary of what was discussed at the last business meeting with the church leadership. That lasted probably 30-40 minutes. THEN we passed around a pouch to collect membership dues. I was really caught offguard with that. Membership dues for a bible study?? That was when it dawned on me that it's not a bible study, but an organization. I don't carry cash with me, so I had to pass it and say I'll catch up next time. Then we FINALLY started the bible study.

But we didn't even open our bibles. We didn't read the passage. We didn't open in prayer. Nothing. We read the from the book (which is written specifically for Presbyterian Women) and answered only a couple of the questions. Then we closed in the pre-written generic prayer at the end of the lesson. It felt very cold. The bible study aspect of the meeting only lasted 20 minutes, maybe.

I am very hungry for a BIBLE study. A fellowship of believers. Prayer time with other sisters. I don't feel like I will get it from this group.

However, I was encouraged (by my very supportive and awesome husband) to go again next month.

The Presbyterian Women group in our church is responsible for all the craft activities and many of the local outreach ministries in which our church participates. I have been wanting to join some of those outreach groups, so this might just be the way to do it. I just have to accept that this is more of a ministry/outreach group than a bible study.

I have a month to pray about it and decide if I want to go back.

And nothing is stopping me from reading the passages and praying on my own.

Monday..........

It's Monday. Did you know that????

Audrey was fussier than usual early this morning, so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. I overslept and didn't get up until almost 6:00. Not that big of a deal since I'm working from home today. I fed her (and she was extra hungry) and got ready to go running. Haven't run like I should recently, so I had a hard time running. Had to walk more than I have in the past.

Got home and found myself locked out of the house. Both kids had gone to school already and either started or didn't have a phone. So I had to find an open window and take out the screen to get in. (I usually take a spare key with me, but it was removed from the jogging stroller when we had house guests.) I finally got in and scrambled to get ready to start my day.

I finally got working. Audrey was asleep. Now where are my glasses??? Still haven't found them.

Took my break at 10 to feed Little Miss. Just as I'm finishing up and ready to get working again she blows out her diaper. So I had to give her a quick bath. Now I have to do laundry.

sigh.....
Monday's exist even when not in the office.

SF Bay Aquarium

I took a couple photos of the aquarium. I really liked the starfish!

 

 

 

 

Fun Foto Friday...

So many things to blog about, so little time.......

Josh's dad and step-mom came out for a visit 2 weeks ago. They met Audrey for the first time. Sydney made a quilt for Audrey that won 2nd place at the Nebraska State Fair. Audrey was all smiles that weekend, which made Grandma and Grandpa very happy!



The day after they left, my BFF Sarah, whom I have known since 7th grade, came out for a visit. She was here to visit, meet Audrey, and walk in the breast cancer 3 day in San Francisco. We had fun playing.

Slight tangent:
I have a best friend named Sarah - Sarah Elisabeth. Josh's sister is also names Sarah - Sarah Elizabeth. It's only mildly confusing. Josh and I know who we are talking about when one of us tells a story about a Sarah, but the rest of the family does not. I mentioned that Sarah was coming about 10 times and every time somebody different said, "Auntie Sarah is coming?" or, "I didn't know my sister was coming to town..." It became very obvious that we needed to distinguish between the two. So Josh's sister is Auntie Sarah, since his kids and our niece have been calling her that for 15 years. My BFF Sarah's last name starts with a B. And to the kids, she's the second of the two Sarahs. So we nicknamed her Auntie B; she went one step further and decided it's Auntie Bee. So for future entries, Auntie Sarah is Sarah R, Josh's sister, and Auntie B (Or Aunt B) is Sarah B, my BFF.
End tangent.

Sarah did a lot of playing in the city by herself while I was at work. Then she walked in the 3day.



Then I took a couple days off and we played ourselves. We went to the SF Zoo, the SF Bay Aquarium, and we went wine tasting.

The zoo was great because it's off season and so there weren't very many visitors. Audrey laughed at the giraffe and the zebra. That was about all she could really see, though. All the other exhibits were either too far away, or she was sleeping.



She thought the aquarium was funny. There was a cylindrical aquarium of smallish fish that were just swimming in circles. Hundreds of them, swimming round and round. We got up close and she just laughed! She was amused by the jellyfish too. And the large fish in the other large tanks were pretty cool, but she was too hungry to really focus too long. But she got a kick out of the Giant Sea Bass.

Sarah and I enjoyed a nice day in Livermore, tasting the local wines. There were some good and some notsogood. We each bought a couple bottles. I plan on enjoying a bottle this weekend to celebrate our anniversary.

Also this past weekend, Audrey had her first solid food. We introduced her to some rice cereal. We started with a little less than a tablespoon. She wasn't sure what to do with it. She spit most of it out, but some made it down to her belly. We have fed her a little every day and she's now up to about 3-4 tablespoons a day, which is where she will stay for awhile. She now knows it's food and is helping me feed her. Yum!





And she surprised us last week by showing us something we suspect she learned in daycare. Josh was grabbing a bottle to feed her; she saw the bottle and her eyes widened. She reached out her hands and grabbed a hold of it. She HAD to help hold it. And held it herself briefly.



She's been congested too, which leads me to believe that my congestion from a couple weeks ago wasn't allergies, but a cold. She hasn't had a fever or been fussy or runny. Just stuffy. We've had to suck goobers out of her nose or wipe things away. Only one night was it really bad that she was snoring.

And she's been talking in her sleep. It's quite amusing, really. About 3:30 in the morning she just started with her little coos. I got up to check on her, put her binky back in her mouth, and roll her back to the center of the crib. She wasn't awake as I suspected. I guess she was having an interesting dream.

We are, briefly, guest free. After nearly 3 weeks of guests in the house (and at least one a month since Audrey was born), it's nice to have some quiet.

Thankful Thursday

I am very thankful for time with an old friend.

My BFF from middle school is visiting this week. She's in town to walk in the Breast Cancer 3day and is staying extra long to play in SF, with me, and meet Josh, Audrey and the kids.

My baby girl.....

Some days she makes me laugh.

Some days I want to curl up next to her.

I love watching her learn and experience and discover.

Some days I just want to take artsy-fartsy photos of her.

And she's always fun to watch!