Bright Future

I love listening to Focus on the Family via podcast when I do chores at home or streaming at work while I push papers. I listened to one last week that is sticking with me. It was just a little comment at the end of the show, but God is continually whispering it in my ear. I hope it lifts you as well:

I have a heritage that I cannot yet see,

but the hands that bled are holding it for me.

My favorite song lately has the same message:

Jeremy Camp Lyrics – There Will Be A Day Song Words
Song Words by Artist / Band : Jeremy Camp

Title : There Will Be A Day

Available on Album : Speaking Louder Than Before

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have

But I feel the weight of what it brings,

and the hurt that tries to grab

The many trials that seem to never end,

His word declares this truth

That we will enter in this rest with wonders a new

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings

That there will be a place with no more suffering

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,

we’ll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long

You feel you’re walking on your own

But there has never been a step

Where you’ve walked out all alone

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,

we’ll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart

Cause joy and peace he brings

And the beauty that’s in store

Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting
I cant wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always

will wipe awaythe sorrow that I’ve faced

To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery

this is why this is why I sing

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,

we'll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we'll hold on to you always.

http://www.jeremycamp.com/

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/

One Foot, Two Foot

So, I did it!
I joined a running group AND signed up for a 1/2 Marathon in December! I have been running with the running group on saturday mornings for a month now.... yes, I have gotten up at 5:00 every Saturday for the last five weeks and went running! Hubby thinks I am an alien being who is just a substitute for his adorable, sleepy, grumpy in the morning wifie.
I must say, I am actually addicted to running now and love chatting with new friends while I am out on those longer runs (only up to four miles, but hey - race day isn't until DECEMBER!). I love the running group so far and have learned a lot of new things about the sport. The typical Saturday morning routine is:

• arrive at 5:30 and stretch for 15 minutes with the instructor while people are trying to pry their eyes open. My trick is to just use the toothpicks to keep them open - thank you Tom & Jerry, you did come in handy! (although the coffee does help! :)
• Walk / Run for the determined amount of time per your own customized training schedule (some people are just crazy and are doing the whole marathon, and everyone is at different skill levels). The running group uses the Galloway Method, which is walk 3 minutes, then run 2, repeat for duration of run. Every week we switch the minutes walking / running until we are running 4 minutes, walking 1 for recovery. It's great, I always thought you had to RUN, no wonder I always got frustrated. It's nice to be able to enjoy it and breathe!
• Finish at local Trader Joe's who provides us with bananas and water.
• Cool down walk back to the Sports Club.
• Stretching and more stretching while a local fitness professional gives a lecture and hands out tons of samples! Yay! Love this part! We have listened to a Kinesiologist, Physical Therapist and Shoe Store Owner Guy. Who knew there was so much to running?!
• Home just in time for little ones to wake up and start the weekend!

I went and bought new shoes last week, got a gait analysis done and Shoe Store Owner Guy recommended totally different shoes than I have been running in.......

I now have blisters on the backs of my heels and muscles hurt from running that haven't hurt before. I guess it's my first dissappointment with this new sport and I am irritated. Now I need to drive all the way across town and complain about how my fancy shoes that the gait machine told me would be perfect for me don't like me. Shoes that cost that much moola shouldn't eat your feet for lunch. Just sayin'.

I really don't want to lose my momentum and let this get me down. After all, this is what I am doing for ME AND ONLY ME. This busy life of mine can be exhausting and frustrating and running has become my outlet. So, rather than be grumpy, I guess I should drive back to the shoe store and try new shoes tonight so that by our run on Saturday I am looking forward to the run and can pry myself out of my comfy bed and into friendly, cushy, spiffy new shoes!

So, to end on a positive note - I will focus on the fact that I have logged 30 MILES this month and I'm just getting started! I have noticed my shape changing and tightening and have lost several pounds, so what if I have a couple of blisters. They'll heal, and I'll run!

Forever and Always

I looked up "Infiniti" in the dictionary.

It said "Laundry".

I swear.

Literally.

Ya win some, ya lose some....

Paid off our vehicle this month. YAY! No more car payments for a while. Good thing, because....



We are going through this weird phase that happens every few years (to everyone, I hope.)



Every weekend for the last two months something has broken. Here is a little synopsis:

• Brakes on Expedition -$300


• Pump on Pool - $400


• Air Conditioning in Expedition - $800


• Washing Machine not spinning - $free$ loose something-or-other tightened!


• Battery on Expedition - $150


• My bedside lamp - $20 (I know that one is odd, but my night-time ritual demands that my lamp works - it's a quirk.)
• Pool Cover (child protection cover) - $65


• Grand Am - today's finding - will need two new tires $200-ish I'm sure.

That's all I can remember for now, but isn't that enough people?! I am so grateful for my handy-dandy husband who has done all the labor and has the brain power to fix all the above for free! Yes, the dollars you see are for MATERIALS only. Yikes.

Hubby is working towards a new guitar (I tease him that in 5 years he will have put in enough labor hours to earn his dream Gibson Les Paul) but I say for now he has enough things to do around here, mister.

I love him. He is my fixer and he has cute muscles, too! He DOES deserve a Les Paul - if only I could afford one. It seems I just spent all my money.

Gilmore-isms

Attention all Readers!!!!!

Customer Service is still alive and kickin'!

Shout out to Best Buy!

The girls and I went to Best Buy today to pickup the 4th season of The Gilmore Girls. This show came highly recommended by anyone and everyone who has possibly seen it.... so I borrowed the first season from a friend, and the Qcrew is HOOKED! I promptly went and bought the second season and we burned through it in a mere month (we have a family rule of no TV during the week when school is in session, so our viewing was limited to friday and saturday nights for a bit...) then bought the third season and the monkey on our back had to be fed!

Anyway...

We spotted the fourth season, and then Rose found a set of ALL THE SEASONS IN ONE CUTE PACKAGE!!!! Wait. We already have Seasons 2 &3. hhhmmmmm,

Teaching moment.

Talked about the math with the girls, yes we own season 2 & 3 already, but we need 4, 5, 6, 7 and 1. So, for the story problem of the day: is it more economical to buy the 5 seasons that we don't have OR buy the box set? Which saves you more money?

Meanwhile......

Cute little old man who works there saunters by and suggests that we look online to see if it is cheaper there, he is so nice and offers to look it up for us while we do our "Math in Action".

Answer - the math is actually a wash, so we decide to buy the set (small, cute package & size is everything when you have a houseful of kiddos!) and we can donate the two seasons we own to the library! We kinda wandered the aisles for a bit while I waited for Cute Little Old Man to return with the price on-line but finally decide he is not returning, and we head for the check-out. Oh, we spot him! Coming toward us with a big stack of papers in his hand and a grin from ear to ear that says "Mission Accomplished!" He proudly announces that indeed, BestBuy.com has it for $10 cheaper, BUT THAT AMAZON HAS IT FOR $30 LESS! Quandry. Do I put it back (do they not know the need for instant gratification that a shopper in the actual store holding the actual box set has?) or do I just eat the thirty bucks and buy it?

But, alas! Cute Little Old Man says, "Just go over to the counter and let the cashier know that it's selling on amazon.com for $30 less and they will give it to you for that!"

Gracias, Kind Sir! I Esteem You Highly! AND, then he handed us his stack of papers that he accidentally printed out, which was a synopsis of each episode! WooHoo!

Gotta go, don't want to miss a minute of the first episode of the fourth season of the most sarcastic, entertaining, endearing, feel good show on earth!

Technology is too cool!

My amazing hubby surprised me with a "netbook" a couple of weeks ago! It is the cutest little thang, and I have named her Daisy. Hubby also installed a wifi on our computer and just finished setting up a network in our house. Now I can surf the net, work on our budget, or update this little journal and print it out all while cuddling next to Hubby on the couch! AMAZING!!

Where have I been?

Time flies when you are having fun.

Don't know where I have been the last couple of weeks, it's a blur -

• Work work work... my assistant (a problem for the last 5 years) is in jail for repetitive DUI's and no longer works for my company. Is this an answered prayer or just consequence for action? Me thinks answered prayer that nobody got hurt, consequence that he is middle-aged and will have to start over after detoxing in a concrete cell. Didn't think I'd be this sad.
• New assistant! She knows how to do almost everything in the office and is a quiet, pleasant, wonderful girl! Yay! I taught her how to use an architectural ruler today and explained how plans are scaled, the different scales we usually use, how to see if the plan is printed out to scale. Such potential!
• Beautiful Boy is 5! Happy Birthday, little man! I love you desperately!
• Birthday party at.... Chuck E Cheese !! !*#@. Ha ha. It's not so bad, easy for me, dream-party for him!
• Funeral for a wonderful Christian friend from church. He had polio as a child and lived his life in a wheelchair and didn't consider himself handicapped. Had a beautiful wife and two adult children who he loved to camp and fish with and worked for the IRS. My hubby played with the praise band at his funeral and it ROCKED! The Pastor said it was a celebration of his wonderful life and we were to rejoice for him. By the way, our new, huge sanctuary was completely full and people were standing in the back. An old friend of his played "I can Only Imagine" on the piano, making it bluesy and changed the words to "Now I don't have to Imagine!" Unbelievable, and not a dry eye in the whole place. His life was a testament to Christ Jesus. Rest in peace, and dance for Jesus, my friend. Isaiah 40:31
• Oldest daughter is now a teenager. Happy Birthday my amazingly talented, funny, intelligent young lady! How did you get as tall as me? Don't grow too fast.
• End of the year craziness for school with awards ceremonies and crazy half day schedules. I am quite proud of my kids and their awards, this is good stuff!
• Parenting Conference. Learned new strategies on how to raise these four blessings by "Parenting with Heart" www.biblicalparenting.org/startwiththeheart.asp
• Confirmation!!!! I was blessed to mentor two girls, sisters who are 12 & 14, for the last four months. Wow. They really asked some great questions and we became very close, I guess that happens when you are discussing religion, politics, teenage issues, secular world issues, and not holding anything back. I love them and can't wait to see them grow in Christ and be there for them if they ever need me (or just want Sushi or Dairy Queen!) We also spent a weekend at the UMC camp in AZ for a retreat to discuss "Prayer, Presence, Service, Gifts & Witness" with kids from all over AZ and NV. Talk about preparing them for the decision to follow Jesus! On Sunday, 18 (EIGHTEEN) !!!! teenagers were confirmed members, including my two confirmands & my beautiful oldest daughter, Rose! Go God!

Ok. That's what I was doing. I am taking off a couple of days next week to visit with my Cali-girl who is coming to her time-share to relax and play. Can't wait to get our boys (husbands & sons!) together and just watch all of the kids splash and play and eat and drink!