In Awe... (part 1 of 2)

In a previous post I shared about my desire to really live "In Awe of the King" and today I had no problem doing just that. Oh, what a day, it was filled with favorite things and touches of Jesus and I didn't want it to end and I can't wait for what tomorrow may hold.

Here are some happenings and thoughts from my day.
February and 75+ degrees, I think God himself is bringing my tropical dreams to the midwest! I am thankful.
I had some reading and thinking to do today, which was great because I always do my best reading and thinking in my favorite place and the weather (actually God) provided that very gift today. First I went to my fav. coffee hot spot that also happens to make the World's best fresh squeezed lemonade (I challenge anyone to find better), I treated myself to a large lemonade to go and took a few min. to check out the photography display on the walls. This week's art display is several beautiful, colorful photos of people, places, animals and plants in Africa. For various reasons, I especially enjoyed looking at the photos of people. Looking at these images immediately brought to mind a friend of mine who is passionate about Africa. She has been there and is returning this summer and has a love for African people and culture that is infectious. Anyway, the photos drew my heart to worship and be in awe of the passions/loves that God gifts our hearts and how knowing the passions of others brings an awareness to my own heart. Knowing Nessa's passion and seeing the images of the people and culture she loves, reminded me of her desire & ultimately God's desire for the African people to know, believe, and embrace the intimacy and love of Christ. So because of Nessa I was able to see the photographs more deeply, they weren't just beautiful pictures they were springboards for my heart, springboards for prayer. Also I was stirred to rejoice with Nessa and for a moment share her passion. I called her and said,"oh there is something special for you to see at Radina's. I want you to go see what it is and then call me." Her immediate response was, "Oh, I'm excited and curious. I think it's probably something about kids or Africa!" I haven't heard from her yet but I am excited to know her response to the photos.

After my unexpected art/worship experience, I loaded my work in a backpack, grabbed my drink and climbed to the top of KSU's Old Stadium. Once I got to the very top I settled in, did some reading, thinking and enjoyed the amazing weather, sky and time with my Jesus. Oh, and I did enjoy a few great moments of people watching, I love that!
Later, I finished my newsletter, walked my dog and saw an incredible sunset. I snacked on frozen Girl Scout Thin Mints, a personal fav. snack. I finished the evening having a great chat with my sweet friends Joy and Athena. You ladies bless me, I love sharing life with you. Thanks for the chatting and the laughing...oh the fun.

Oh the Muppets

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

New Tag...

In the previous "tag" post I was asked to share 7 things I say.
As I was thinking about it I realized there is a word that I wish I could add to my vocabulary, but I won't because I'm sure no one would take me serious and I'm not sure I could take myself serious.
Q: What's the word?
A: Holla
Or maybe I could start saying Holla at cha girl...

Think I'll just stick to "Hey, what's up?"

Tagged

Blythe "tagged" me so I guess I'm it...Here are my answers.

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Go to Italy (b/c my grandparents immigrated to the US from there)
2. Take a cake decorating class
3. See a Broadway show, On Broadway
4. Go to Hawaii again, or even live there
5. Cheer the KSU Wildcats to a National Championship
6. Have the kitchen of my dreams
7. Marry a man who loves me and is somehow convinced I'm amazing! Of course I will love him and think he's amazing and we'll have the world's most beautiful children. :) (I know this is 3 in 1)
8. Bonus dream: have dinner with Bill & Sharon Snyder

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. Discipline myself to be an Olympic athlete, or marathon runner
2. live alone for a long period of time (I need roommates or something)
3. Avoid looking at cookbooks when in a bookstore
4. Smoke cigarettes (never tried and never want to - even at 95, Tryon!)
5. Eat foods with a soggy bread like texture or mushy, i.e. pancakes, cooked carrots, french toast
6. Watch the Disney on Ice Nemo commercial, or watch it live for that matter...freaky! It's fish with legs and a human head atop it's fins...Ahhh!

Seven Things That (Would Be) Attract(ive) (to) Me (in a potential) Mate
1.Passionate about living for and knowing Jesus
2. Passionate about others living for and knowing Jesus, finds joy in investing in others
3. Will let me freak out when I need to, and then calm me down
4. enjoys to travel
5. loves to laugh and doesn't take life too serious.
6. Thinks I'm pretty great and likes to find special surprise ways to express that to me.
7. he's good with money and willing to take care of the budget, bills and check book.
(this keeping things to a top 7 stinks! I want to break the rules.)

Seven Things I Say:
1. Oh My
2. Totally
3. Fo' Sho' ("For Sure" the cool way, I've backed off this one some, but I do love to say it)
4. No Way! (My way of saying, "I can't believe it!"
5. You are kidding me.
6. Do you love it?
7a. Well, I love ya!
7b. That's awesome/that's so great
(I could add more, I usually have something to say. :) )

Pics

X-man went with me and Justice (my dog) to the local dog wash. He was such a great helper!




This is me and my buddy with our famous cupcakes, Yummy!

Favorite Things

I was watching the Ellen show the other day and it was all about her favorite things. I don't usually watch her show but I felt drawn to know what are some of her favorite things? I enjoyed finding them out one by one, what would be next?

I am not surprised that I loved learning what her favorite things are because one of my favorite of all favorite things is knowing the favorites of people I know and love and even strangers for that matter.
Here are a few more of my favorite things...I would LOVE to know yours.
Warm days, sunshine, ice cream, k-state football, warm coffee paired with any rich smooth dessert, Dr. Pepper especially from Rock-A-Belly deli or Sonic (It's the best there!), Sitting at the top of Old Stadium on a warm day with my Bible, journal and just meeting with Jesus, favorite sound - little kids laughing really hard, a vase full of fresh flowers (even just the cheapest pre-made arrangements at the grocery store and even if I just bought them for myself) sitting on my kitchen table welcoming me home, sharing a homemade meal with friends, pink - I love pink, experimenting with new recipes, staying up late, reading some pretty cool blogs, my community of friends - you are all amazing and I love ya! Oh I could go on and on...
Most of all, my favorite thing is sharing/doing almost all of these things with friends.
Can't wait to know a few of your favorite things...and if you can't keep it to a few well...
Go ahead, do some blog blogging on my comment page.

Evidentially...

I'm a plot writer.


What kind of writer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks Jill (friend and fellow blogger) for the quiz, it was fun...I have no idea how accurate it is since I rarely write other than this blog.
I did try to think how I tell stories orally (we all know I'm a talker) and I think that plot is important to me, I also think I do value character development but whatever. :)

The Buffy and Lord of the Rings questions were cracking me up!

Rejoicing! Can I get a Witness?!

Oh friends, I have to share this testimonial with you!
Thursday evening my right eye started twitching, my upper eyelid in the corner near my nose. At least I think it was my eyelid, but it may very well have been my actually eyeball - too gross to think about.
Today was the 6th consecutive day of the eye twitching and it has twitched on and off all day. Today around 2pm I started getting this incredible headache. When I say headache I mean so painful I couldn't get comfortable enough to just fall asleep and ride it out, standing up and walking across a room sent waves of pain through my head, my stomach felt queasy, etc.
If I were to diagram the pain for you I would draw a line from the right side of the base of my head where it meets my neck this is start point. Now picture a line of pain that goes straight up the back of my skull, over the top of my head and finally picture a circle around my entire right eye socket. An intense line of pain and even in the depths of my eye socket. When my roommate got home from work I asked if she would apply pressure to the base of my head. The pressure actually felt good in a deep-tissue massage kind of way. She started pressing around and discovered I had many large knots around my neck. I finally caved and called my chiropractor, I say caved because my back has been bugging me on and off and I just haven't been willing to shell out the $25 co-pay.

Here's where the rejoicing begins. My Chiropractor does not use traditional chiropractor techniques. He uses this thing called an Activator, I don't know much about it, but I do know I believe the activator activates miracles and that my body doesn't have to be twisted and turned and cracked to be healed.
I called the doctor's office at 5pm and thankfully they were able to get me in at 5:30 today...yippee!
As I told the doctor about my headache, I also shared that my eye had been twitching since Thursday night and wondered if it could be related. He told me that for many of his patients the first warning sign that a headache is coming is the eye twitching (here I just thought I needed sleep or water or potassium - which I have been doing to no avail). Then Dr. Mike told me I probably had a pinch nerve in my neck. After about 5-8min of him thumping around on my neck, head and back with the activator, I left his office. Less than an hour later I began to feel the tension leaving (although I am sure I still have knots) and finally the headache was gone, my eye is no longer twitching and physically I can't remember the last time I felt this good. I'm so loose and pain free and twitch free.
You have got to check out my doc and Alternative Health Care and see if you can find the Activator in your area!
Please note that I do see a regular physician when I have health problems, I do believe in medication. In this particular case I knew the pain was related to my back problems and that Advil wasn't helpin' a girl out.
I just can't believe how wonderful I feel. Also I love it that my eye is twitch free!
Now I am off to bed for what I hope will be a wonderful night's sleep.

My Buddy

This maybe something that "you had to be there for," but I had too much fun so I have to share it with you....

Sunday, which has in the last few minutes become yesterday, I had a really great day. Two wonderful friends of mine have two wonderful kids that I love very much. Their oldest child is 4 years old and we have been friends his whole life. :) I usually stop by their house a couple times a week to hang out with his parents, and I try to always take time to do something with the kids. We color, or read books, or play with trucks or dinosaurs, whatever sounds fun to them.
For lots of reasons I hadn't seen my friends for 10 days or more. Their little boy was missing me and I was missing him too. I decided we should have a special day together since we hadn't seen each other for what seems like too long. So today my buddy and I had a special afternoon together. He came over after his nap and we made cupcakes in ice cream cones, chocolate ones! I also let him eat a frosted cookie he found leftover from Valentines Day - oh the sugar high he must be on.
He was such a good helper. He helped pour the cake mix in the bowl, he poured all the ingredients. We both got a kick out of an egg we cracked that surprisingly had 2 yolks in it...no kidding! In all my baking experience that had never happened before. I'm such a dork, I shouted, "Hey, Twins!" when I saw it. Of course he didn't get my joke, but he laughed at me, laughing at myself. Then we took turns pouring batter into ice cream cones and then baked them in the oven. While we waited we played with my dog, colored and ran around a bit, I think he also gave my dog some cookie...not common in this house. We washed our hands and started frosting the cupcakes, this was crazy but fun. He finished the cupcakes with sprinkles on top, many of which fell to the ground and were licked up by the dog; she may never sleep again or throw up before she does. Oh my.
After we finished our yummy creations, we loaded up the car and went to Pizza Hut. My roommate came along too and it was a blast.
He told us all kinds of crazy things. I asked him what the yuckiest thing was he ever had to eat, he quickly turned up his nose and answered "casserole, with corn and carrots and peas in it." I wish you could have seen his face it was a hoot.
We had pizza and pop (I know, more sugar! but no caffeine). We talked about silly things and laughed and laughed. He is a funny little guy.
After pizza I took him home and he shared his cupcakes with friends who had come over to play.
The car ride to his house was hilarious. He kept telling us that there was a snake in the car and he was making hissing sounds. I said, "Are you serious?" He answered, "Yes, I am serious!" I pretended to be very scared that I was going to get bit by the snake. He told me it was a nice snake and later told me the snake had left.
I then said to him, "I am really, really, really, really, really, really serious; did you know there is a crazy biting monkey in my car?’Cause there is!"
He said, "No way!" I answered, "Oh yes, a crazy biting monkey, and you better be careful or he'll get you." He said, "Are you really, really, really, really, really, really serious?" I said yes, and then starting making crazy monkey sounds. I'm sure my roommate thought I was nuts! We were all laughing and laughing.
In think in the end we had hissing snakes, crazy biting monkey's, a rhino, and an alligator who "doesn't even need water to swim," all in my car.
What a special little guy my buddy is. We had a great day!
Thanks friends for letting me be an extra aunt to your kido's. I love it!

The Mohawk

Here is an excerpt from an email I received from my friend Lisa. Some of you know Jason and Lisa and I just could not pass up sharing these pictures with you.
Here’s the email….
“It's true, it's true! Jason's sporting a new look.
We had a Valentine's party for Challenge Friday night and
did a fundraiser for our Spring Break trip to New
Orleans. There were two jars "Keep it" and "Shave it".
As you can see, "Shave It" was the victor. Thought you
might like to see (he has since shaved it the rest of
the way)”

Well, Jason, it looks…interesting. I would love to see your bald head.
Lisa, thanks for sharing these photos, I cracked up.
I look froward to hearing about your spring break experiences.
Miss you guys and hope to see you soon.

Great Idea!

This past week I got an email from Pillsbury with a recipe idea that is wonderful! Now at first I wasn't so sure about it, but my roommates and I tried it yesterday and I would say we were pleased with the result. You should know that there is nothing I hate more than soggy bread texture, and I did fear that these eatable bowls would become soggy and ruin my Chili, but that proved to be false and the bowls proved to be my favorite part of the meal. Keep reading because after the chili bowl recipe there is a great dessert recipe I thought I would share!

Pillsbury Golden Corn Bowls 1 (1 lb. 1.3-oz.) can Pillsbury® Grands!® Refrigerated Golden Corn Biscuits
4-8 Custard cups or Ramekins
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place custard cups upside down on a cookie sheet. Grease cups. Separate the eight biscuits. Use a small amount of flour to roll each biscuit into a
5 1/2 inch circle. Place each circle over the bottom of a custard cup, making sure the biscuit is NOT touching the cookie sheet.
Bake for about 15 min. Remove when golden brown. Carefully remove bowls from the custard cups and let cool. Fill each cup with approximately 1/2 c chili and top with cheese or sour cream. These bowls are surprisingly sturdy and very sweet and tasty!
It may be nice to even serve taco fixings in these bowls...I may try it.

Now for dessert:
Berry Lemon Mousse Parfait, compliments of McCormick & Company
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries

In a large chilled mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream, 1/3 c sugar, lemon juice and extracts (lemon & vanilla) until mixture mounds softly.
In a small bowl add remaining sugar to berries and mix gently.
Spoon layers of mousse and fruit into dessert dishes. Serve immediately or chill and serve later.
Makes 4-8 servings (4 if you use large parfait glasses, 8 if you use smaller glasses or dessert dishes)
Garnish with a whole strawberry w/ stem on top for a beautiful finish.

Tasty and wonderful, a little piece of heaven I think.