A Postcard from the beach! :)

Top Five Highlights so far:
1. The obvious...relaxing at the beach with a good book, family, and lots of fun!
2. John (2 1/2) and CJ (3) running up to me to tell me "I went pee-pee in the sand!" with the biggest grins. ever.
3. Ridin' the waves.
4. Yesterday, while my cousin and I were in the ocean she said "I think it might be raining." I stopped paddling but didn't feel or see anything. She starts laughing because she realized it was her own splashes hitting her in the face. :)
5. Showers after a day at the beach are simply amazing.

A couple lowlights:
1. When I found out we were going to St. Augustine, I googled Chick-fil-a to see if there was one. The only one listed was in the college in St. Augustine, which Chick-fil-a college food is sometimes a little iffy. So, I looked in Jacksonville where we would be flying in. There are 12 Chick-fil-a's in Jacksonville, so I looked to see which ones might be on the way the condo, googled directions to one and printed them out. Chick-fil-a, here I come! We got the rental car and were on the road in record time. Followed the directions to the exit for the Chick-fil-a, took the first turn. I was a little suspicious because it was right downtown and there were no businesses around. Took the second turn, into the hospital complex. So, sad. We used my aunt's phone to try and find another Chick-fil-a. Long story short. No Chick-fil-a for me. So, almost an hour later we were on the road again for the condo (it should have only taken about that long to get there in the first place). We were about 10 minutes from the condo passing through town when I look to the left and see a Chick-fil-a. Too bad we had already eaten lunch! Teresa and I were able to laugh about it while it was happening, but I'm not sure if it's still all that funny to Mom because she was starving while we were driving around trying to find the Chick-fil-a.
2. Yesterday, all of us were on the beach (by all of us I mean about 14 people, although, come to think of it, we were missing about 6 people who were in the condos for different reasons). We have quite the setup on the beach. 3 beach tents, about fifty chairs, twenty coolers, enough sand toys to dig up the whole beach, and all the other paraphernalia that comes with taking 3 toddlers to the beach (the only non-exaggeration in that sentence was the 3 beach tents and maybe the toys). All morning some pretty menacing clouds had been coming and going, but then the sky got pretty dark. All of a sudden it started POURING rain. WE decided to wait it out and began to lower one of the tents to get all nice and cozy under. But then one of the tents started coming out of the sand, so Mary and stood there and held it down. One of the Chris' was starting to lower the middle tent when it flipped and started to blow away, so he, in the pouring down rain, collapsed the tent. The whole storm passed over in about 15 minutes and then the rest of the afternoon was completely sunny and gorgeous. It was quite the adventure.

And one for the road:

Turns out, name selection is not our strong suit in this family. There are currently 15 people in our little entourage. Among those 15 people there are 3 Chris's, 2 Teresa's, and 2 Jennifer's (well, technically a Jenniefer and a Jennifer) It gets a tad bit confusing! :)

Having a great time! Wish you were here!

Praying for Others

There are random things that happen throughout my day that cause me to think about other people and pray for them. Some of these things are long-standing and others are new. Today, I had a couple of new things that happened for me to think of someone to pray for.

But first, an example of a long-standing reminder. When I was little, my dad drove a semi truck for Yellow Freight. I have no idea how long he had this job, but ever since then, it was a game to see who could see a Yellow Freight truck and call it first. To this day, when I see a Yellow Freight truck, it reminds me of my dad and often I take that opportunity to pray for him.

Today, I saw a Mazda 6 which reminded me of my friend Lisa, which caused me to take a few minutes to pray for her. Which led me to look at the clock and see that it was 4:50. 4:50 our time equals 4:50am in Bangkok, which means that my friend Celeste was pleasantly sleeping (at least I hope she was). But it allowed me to pray for a productive day for her, time with the Lord, and an opportunity for her to minister to the Ladyboys in the bars.

What a mighty God I serve that He would give me reminders throughout my day to pray for others!

To be 11 again :)

Last week I had this conversation with my brother Josh:

Me: Did you swim a lot when you were on the cruise?
Josh: Not really.
Me: When I went on a cruise, we didn't swim at all.
Josh: You've been on a cruise?!
Me: Yeah, right after I graduated from high school. But I'd like to go on another one, maybe next year.
Josh: Who's going to pay for you to go on a cruise?
Me: Well, I will.
Josh: You can afford a cruise?!
Me: Well, I would have to be the one to pay for it, unless my imaginary husband wants to pay.
Josh: Well, that's not gonna happen.

Doesn't he boost my self-esteem well? :) Then, today we had this conversation after he found out I'm going to Florida next week:

Josh: Are you driving to Florida all by yourself?
Me: Actually I'm flying.
Josh: You can afford to fly?!
Me: Yes, I can. What's with you not thinking I can afford anything?
Josh: Well, you live in an apartment.
Me: Yes.
Josh: You don't even live in a house. You can't afford one if you live in an apartment.
Me: Actually, I don't own a house because I don't want the responsibility of a house, but I could afford one if I wanted to.

I don't know what his obsession is with me not being able to afford things, but the logic that it all boiled down to me living in an apartment cracked me up!

my "moment"

Okay, now that we've gotten 500 posts out of the way, on to the more serious things in life.

Tomorrow after work I am heading to Dad and Amy's to spend one last evening with Daynah before she leaves for Arizona on Wednesday. I am so excited for the adventure she is going to have this next year. As is natural (I think) I worry about her adjusting to a new school, making new friends, being away from her parents for over a month. Mostly, I am still just being selfish. I am going to miss her. Many of you know her as shy, quiet, and contemplative. But I know her as crazy talkative, with a dry sense of humor, who can make my name about 8 syllables when she's frustrated with me. She can make me laugh just by looking at me. I love playing games with her. I love fighting with her about who has to do something. I love having the never ending "I'm taller." "Well, I'm older." argument. I love these things about her when I am close to her. The hardest part about her leaving is that on the phone she becomes quiet and contemplative even for me. Getting her to answer with more than one word is a lot like pulling teeth. I guess I should just become a dentist...then maybe the teeth pulling will be easier!

As I was reading through my blog, I found this post from several years ago. These are the types of things I will miss about living close to Daynah:

This is what I came home to on Friday. Daynah (on the right) and her friend Jordan were laying on the kitchen floor. Why, you ask. I have no idea. They wouldn't tell me. They just giggled a lot. Then when I got the camera, they got all shy and hid their faces, as if that would stop me from doing anything with the pictures : ).
Okay, now that I've shed enough tears while writing...

Did I mention I am excited for her? I really am. :)

Dilemmas

Hmmm...now I have a dilemma. I got on here to be sappy and have a "moment." But when I signed in to blogger, I realized that this is my 500th post! Wow! I feel like I should have a completely different "moment" now. So, here's my solution. Make this about 5oo and then post again right after it... :)

Who would have ever thought I would have kept up my blog for almost 2 years! I love to write. I love the idea of keeping a journal/diary. I am a horrible failure at actually doing it though. So, when I started this blog, I honestly expected it to be something I would do for a couple of months and then get tired of and not do again. I guess I was wrong.

Other than that, nothing profound to say on this, my 500th post. Don't worry, I won't bore you with 500 things about myself, like I did on my 100th post.

Vacation in less than a week

Yesterday was one week until the beach. This is the conversation I had with my roommate.

Me: I think I'm going to do laundry today instead of Wednesday.
Me (a little while later): But since I'm doing laundry today, the dilemma becomes whether I hang the clothes I plan to take on vacation back in my closet or put them in a pile to pack. If I put them in a pile does that make me too much like my mom?
Emily: Well, since you won't be putting them into your suitcase, but just starting a pile, then you're not actually packing them. I think you're safe.

My mom started packing a week ago. I just couldn't do it, though. The clothes went into the closet. I'll pack on Friday. I'm going to have to do laundry again anyway. Whew, I'm not turning into my mom after all! :) (I love you Mom!) I did start my normal packing list last week, which is probably a trait I got from my mom, but I'm not sure it's ever been confirmed or tested.

A Literal Birthday Month

Today marked a grand day in my life :). It was the day we chose to celebrate my birthday at work!! A little late, yes, but still in the birthday month time frame, so it was okay. Apparently, moving to a new building the day after my birthday put a little damper on having time to celebrate a birthday. I assured everyone that I did not mind...it was all within the realm of who I am, and the longer I can celebrate, the better. (In case you were wondering, we went to the Dynasty Buffet. Sometime around January I announced at a team meeting that I knew exactly where I wanted to go for my birthday lunch and that we wouldn't have to stress over the decision when the time came. In case you weren't wondering, I'm just curious...why do you read my blog anyway?! :) It's all in the details.)

Now, in my birthday card from my aunt, she promised ice cream for my birthday when we are on vacation. Technically, that will be the week after my birthday month. But would I deny her the pleasure of buying me an ice cream cone? Of course not. That would be silly!

Plus, one year, I celebrated a birthday season. Two friends had ideas for birthday presents that took a little planning and I don't think I actually finished my birthday season until November. Definitely didn't complain that time either.

So, the conclusion I have come to is this...while my birthday is the day to celebrate my birth, it really doesn't inflate my ego at all to celebrate me all year long. Go ahead, celebrate...I won't object!

Still processing but now I can share :)

Those who know me well know that I don't always handle change very well :) And I've had a lot of change in my life in the last 3 months. The Lord is faithful. He will not give me more than I can handle. That is the pep talk that I give myself most days. Some days it works well and some days it doesn't. Thus, the emotional roller coaster I mentioned earlier.

In February, my dad and stepmom applied and interviewed for a missionary position to a children's home in Arizona. Two weeks ago they found out they were accepted. They will be house parents to kids who live at the children's home. My sister leaves in a week and a half with her grandma so that she can start school in Arizona. The rest of the family will go as soon as they get everything settled here, which mostly depends on the sale of their house.

I am excited for them as they follow the Lord's leading and leave the comfort of where they have been for 10 years and embark on a new adventure that will stretch them in ways they cannot imagine.

Right now I am grieving the loss of having my family 10 minutes away. I moved to Illinois, and Peoria specifically, so that I could be close to my dad. I wanted to be around to watch Daynah and Josh grow up. I assumed that if anyone would move away, it would be me. I am sad that I will miss being close to Daynah for her last two years of high school and being close to Josh as he enters into his teenage years.

Here are the things I am trying to remind myself:
1. This is the Lord's will.
2. Planes travel to Arizona all the time.
3. People keep telling me it's a great place to go in the winter (I tend to disagree, only because I will probably visit at Christmas, and I don't really want to be in 70 degree weather for Christmas)
4. I have done this (been away from my family) for all but four years of my life. And for 3 1/2 of those years I was in a state where none of my family lived.
5. God has graced me with an amazing church family. They are not moving away :). I will need to rely on them in different ways and I look forward to learning the meaning of the body of Christ in a whole new way.

Many have asked me, "So, what are you going to do?" Some of that I have already answered above. But my first answer is that I'm not going to follow them to Arizona. I have no immediate plans to move anywhere. I have a job I enjoy and a church family I love. My mom is 3 hours away. For the time being, I will trust that this is where God wants me, with or without my family. And I will (this is partially a pep talk :)!) enjoy the journey!

Kids say the darndest things

Today I was playing with Play-doh with a client. I was making feeling faces with my play-doh.
Client: What are you making?
Me: What does it look like I'm making?
Client: It looks like you!

I'm still not sure whether to be flattered or offended that she thinks I look like a play-doh smiley face!

Just because

This story might fit into the "I shouldn't universally share it" category, but hey, I'm living on the edge today!

Half of the time I left the bathroom today, I realized that I had not tied the tie on my new capris. I was beginning to think I had gone crazy. Until I realized something about my old capris. I have two pair of capris that just tie. I have one pair of capris that just button. This new pair of capris button and tie. So, as soon as I buttoned the capris, I assumed I was done, because that is the case with my other buttoning capris. Not so much. I must retrain my brain.

Also, my new capris are white. So far I have survived the day without getting anything on them!