Christine's Contemplations: November 2009

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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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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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Monday, November 23, 2009

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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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.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

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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Saturday, November 21, 2009

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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Friday, November 20, 2009

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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Thursday, November 19, 2009

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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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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..........

Monday, November 16, 2009

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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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Daily Contemplations

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

new keyboard ... me LIKEY!!!! :)

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

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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Friday, November 13, 2009

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.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

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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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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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Monday, November 9, 2009

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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Sunday, November 8, 2009

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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Saturday, November 7, 2009

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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Friday, November 6, 2009

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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Thursday, November 5, 2009

This is a test....

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

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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.