2 More Mobile Uploads

I've taught my niece how to flash gang signs. She's pretty cool.

This is how Morgan has decorated while my folks have been gone. I call this look, "Revenge."

Poor Morgan

I took this pic of Morgan last night when she and I hit the proverbial hay. My folks are visiting my mom's folks which means that Morgan is now my roommate. Roomate? Roommate.

Well, when I shut my door last night, Morgan laid on her bed, squashed herself against my bed, and cried(whimpered). It was so pathetic. Look at those sad, pleading eyes begging for her mommy and daddy to come back home.

Poor Morgy.

Getting Pulled Over.. Yes, That's Right.

Adam and I had a great pre-marital session last night with Tom and Suzi. Hi Suzi! We got to talk about communication and finances. Adam and I are so thankful for Tom and Suzi and how they listen to us and guide/shepherd us in our hearts and in our relationship with each other. It has been such a gift from the Lord having them in our lives in this way. We are very blessed to learn from them.

After we wrapped up our meeting Adam asked me if I wanted to debrief the session at Target. It was like 9:35 and Target closes at 10 so I said sure. We got in my car and I pulled out of Starbucks.

Normally I turn behind Target and take the backroad in, but for some reason I went to Magic Mountain Parkway and turned at the light there to go to Target. As Adam and I waited to turn we were talking through the session and I noticed a police car behind me. No lights it was just simply behind me. No biggie. I said to Adam, "There's a cop behind us." The light turned green and we made the turn and then made the turn into Target's parking lot. I made sure to use my blinker. =) As I got in the turn lane though to turn into Target I said to Adam, "The cop is still behind us."

When I said that all the sudden the cop car lights flashed and the siren 'Whooped.' I was like, "Am I being pulled over?" and Adam said, "Yes, just pull up here." I pulled into a spot and put my car in park. Then a second cop car came! I rolled down my window. As the officer approached I peeked my head out the window. He asked me to turn off my car. I did. He asked me for my license and registration. I handed him my license and proof of insurance. Oops. I said the registration was in 'here' as I pointed at my glove box and opened it. I pulled out the registration and handed it to him. The cop said, "Did someone peel off your registration sticker?" I looked at him and said, "Oooh" and as I said that I turned to Adam and said, "Maybe they did?!" and I turned back to the cop and said (referencing Adam), "He lives by the DMV and we saw a sticker on the ground but it was in FRONT of my car so we didn't check to see if it was mine." The cop told us he'd be right back.

I said to Adam, "Even if I get a ticket, I will totally know this is from the Lord, because I HAD a registration sticker. So if I get a ticket for not having one then this is just something the Lord wants us to deal with somehow." Adam said, "I know you had a sticker, you fell down and got bruises last year. And when you got one and you had to miss work to get it."

(Total side story there. From a Feb blog post.)

February 13, 2009

Every Wednesday night I go to 'Date Night at Grandma and Grandpa's." I was sitting at the dinner table. And I got to thinkin'. I haven't gotten anything from the DMV for registration renewal... So I casually mentioned it while we ate. And then in my head I said "I haven't received a stinking thing and I am 99% sure my tags expire in Nov." That was it I had to go check. So I ran down the stairs and jogged over to my car. Sure enough. EXPIRED! -AYYYE WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY LIFE?- I turned to jog back inside and back up to the dinner table. I made it about 3 steps, my shoe slipped off my foot and I tripped.. and then.. I fell down. It wasn't a pretty fall. I fell ALL THE WAY DOWN. Flat like a pancake. Not to my hands and knees. Straight down. Belly to the ground. I popped back up. Man my hands stung. My hip. I went back inside. Grandma put bandaids on my hands. =) What a good Grandma!

So we waited. The cop came back and handed me everything and said, "Ok. Everything checks out. Make sure you contact the DMV to get a new sticker."

PHEW!!

We parked at Target. Got out. Looked at my sticker. Here is the killer..

THE STICKER WAS THERE!! NOV 2009. Not expired. Not missing.

I have no idea what that was all about other than God. I was like, "Adam, this didn't 'just happen.'" I've been trying to really think it through. What am I supposed to pull away from that?

I think, what Adam and I have come up with so far, is something so simple. I think it was God just showing me, and showing Adam, that I need Adam. Adam is needed. Adam and I have been talking about my independence lately. It needs to bite the dust because I'm walking down the aisle very soon. I was able to be so calm and safe going through that scare with Adam and it was just so great not to have to experience that alone.

By the way, this was the first time I've EVER been pulled over.

Cherry - Dark Chocolate - Grenadine

I bought these. From Ralphs. I had recently tried the Raspberry Chocolate and the Coconut Dark Chocolate bars and they hit the spot. They satisfied my early morning hunger until I could take my lunch break. So when I saw these I thought "I'm gonna try them. They look pretty good." I think they might have been old and they were NOT good. The cherries were too sour, and I could barely taste those tiny chocolate chips which had that light chocolate thing going on that happens with age. I'm still eating them. But I don't look forward to them and afterwards I feel like I need to eat something else or chew a piece of gum. It's sad, because food is supposed to satisfy and these, do not.

__________________________________________________________________

Speaking of satisfying.. Cherry Coke. No, not this kind: (But doesn't that look soooo good?)But, THIS KIND!! Roy Rogers! Grenadine in Coke. I can hardly stand to look at it right now, cooped up in my office, on a Friday, after sweating out in the lumber yard.

This is what I didn't know, though. Grenadine is not made out of cherries. It's made out of pomegranates. Grenadine - A brilliant scarlet non-alcoholic syrup made from the juice of pomegranates. Used to color and flavor drinks and desserts. Called "grena dine" because it was originally available only from the island of Grenada in the Caribbean.

Pour that into some coke and give it a stir. OR pour it into some Sprite and squeeze in a wedge of fresh lime.

I have to go now.

2 Mobile Uploads

1. I took this pic. It was me, entering something on some site that I can't even remember anymore and it had one of those confirmation things where you have to type in words to make sure you aren't a spammer. Well the first word was obvious right? Timeless. But what about that second word on the right? What the . . . What is that? It looks like a cat, or some flowers, but what letters? An 'A'? Fail.



2. And this, this is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And it is mine. This marks a HUGE journey's end for my life. I LOVE Harry Potter. The books are so amazing, so creative. I determined that I would never buy a book for retail price, but that instead I would find all 7 of them at thrift stores. It worked. Last week I completed my collection. I found book number 7 at Goodwill for $1.99. In all, I think all 7 books cost less than or equal to the purchase of one paperback Harry Potter book. They ranged from $0.95 - $1.99. I'm thrilled. I will read them to my kids one day. But first I'll be practicing on Adam. He told me (after I gave him no option, see, I said, "I'm gonna read the Harry Potter books out loud to you.") I could.



I love life.

For Fun

Because my niece is super cute.. (all are unedited and taken by Adam. <--- I love him.)

Sept 11, 2001

I pulled this from an email my mom sent me. Made me cry.
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK..I am ready to go.'
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said. 'Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now.'
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan . I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do.. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you . But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are 'ready to go.'

Ground Zero, New York City, N.Y. (Sept. 17, 2001) -- An aerial view shows only a small portion of the crime scene where the World Trade Center collapsed following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. Surrounding buildings were heavily damaged by the debris and massive force of the falling twin towers. Clean-up efforts are expected to continue for months. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Eric J. Tilford. (RELEASED)

Yesterday's Viva La Vida

Yesterday Adam had to rush over to work and as the afternoon progressed I decided it would be fun to visit him at work when I was off and I wasn't sure if he had time to grab lunch or not so I decided I would swing by Starbucks and pick up a banana chocolate Vivano for him on my way to his store. I took the time to order something for myself as well, a grande iced mocha with 2 pumps of hazelnut. Yum-O as Rachel Ray would say.

Fast forward to 10pm.

I was in such a great mood! Seriously I should drink coffee more often! I told Adam if he ever needs me to stay awake with him to just get me a drink like that and we will be set for the night. But I also was a little louder than normal. My brain was FLOODED with versions it had created of Viva La Vida. I sang them all to Adam.

By flooded, I mean 4. The Erin-Playing-Double-Stops-On-Her-Violin-Mimicking-The-Amazing-Strings-In-The-Song Version, The Karaoke Singer Version - not off pitch, just someone who can't sing it the same way as Coldplay does, The Jazz/Lounge Version, and The Hart ShowChoir Version. These included clapping and snapping.

In honor of the song I was going to post the youtube video of it, but the embed link is disabled, and I am realizing that is a good thing because the dancing in the video just does NOT jive with the song. Sooo, in keeping with the theme, here is a different version (it's pretty cool! and if you know me well you will understand why I like this.):

Article.

Over the summer I was helping Adam with one of his homework assignments by researching some articles for a paper he needed to write. I found an article titled:
TOO MUCH, TOO SOON, TOO OFTEN : Raising children in America - Brief Article
Commonweal, Oct 20, 2000 by JO McGOWAN.
I read it fully (it's not long) and thought it was great. In the meantime Adam's classes have ended and summer has continued to move on but I keep thinking of this article.

Today as I sat in Subway I was again reminded of the article. The emphasis it has is on raising children in America and offers 3 topics to think on. It's not extremely well written but has some really thought provoking items to chew on.

The 3 topics and a quote I like from each topic are:
Too many choices - "Having too many choices...inflates our sense of self-importance."

Portions that are too large - "The idea that more (much more) is better persuades children that they are entitled to whatever they desire. But isn't the secret to treats limiting them?"

Too many distractions - "The average American can do all of these things simultaneously: drive, talk on the phone, drink coffee, eat a bagel, listen to music, and smoke a cigarette. In India, most people do one thing at a time. Maybe they could do more, but they don't. This gives their lives a stillness, a mindfulness, rarely seen in the United States...[C]hildren, who are, after all, the world's original conservatives..Much as we may hate to admit it, to a baby there is nothing boring about the same old mother or father putting her to bed every night, over and over in exactly the same way."

And .. Some quotes for free:

"The distractions which are an inherent part of life in America make it seem that we are never accomplishing all that we can. There is always some other activity we could add to the one we are engaged in to make it more productive and efficient."

"Fewer choices, smaller sizes, one or two things at a time. "

A Ponder

2 mornings ago on my way to work I watched a leaf blow across my lane.

Yesterday I noticed myself singing Jingle Bells.

I'm starting to get that holiday fever.

Hello September. Why are you only September.

Life in Technicolor ii

I LOVE this song. It gets all stuck up in my head and there is no way around it so to make it easy I just listen to it on repeat.

Things

-It's just been impossible to blog lately. Work has been insanity. I worked Saturday and Sunday. Celebrated my B-Day. Had family in town. Travelled to San Diego. And Adam and I have been sick. Adam is better now but I am still feeling crummy.
-On top of the busyness that leaves me a LOT less time to think about things and ponder blog topics and so I'm coming up empty handed as far as new things to write that are even remotely interesting or thought provoking.
-In light of that though, I realize that it's at least better to just get on here and blab a little and make my presence known rather than just continuing to post nothing.
-My lungs are having a hard time dealing with the smoke from the fires. I'm sure it's because I've had a cold and been run down, but more than ever my lungs have been bothered. Plus I work in Canyon Country which is closer to some of the fire than the house is. I've been thankful that I've had my inhaler.
-I've successfully turned 26. I was able to have my free Birthday Burger from Red Robin. Adam and my folks and I went there on my BDay and it was a really nice time. I also made peanut butter pie and this year I added some extra peanut butter to the mixture PLUS mini chocolate chips. The pie was the best it's ever been. I highly recommend the extra PB.
-I was unable to go to Disneyland for free on my birthday because of work. I tried to convince my boss to give me a free ticket to make up for the mandatory work schedule =) I knew it wouldn't happen.
-Adam started school. He's taking 4 or 5 classes. Be praying for him as he takes those and also looks towards Clepping. Masters just increased the Clep fee by like 300%.
-Work is going super well for him. His boss is giving him an overarching training on running the store and also really encouraging him in his photography. He refers to Adam as his "Right hand man.' and told Adam that as long as he is in Santa Clarita he will make sure he has work. We are so thankful for this!!
-Our Monday night Jesus study has 2 regular attenders.
-Wedding planning
-Pre-Marital Counseling
-Started looking for wedding rings
-Working on bridesmaids still
-Netti-Pot