Western Prayer

Something to think about! I was visiting one of the "stranger" blogs I often go to (naked pastor) and came across this cartoon he drew called Western Prayer. After Sarah told me a bit about the book that she is currently reading and the things it is making her think about, when I saw this I could not help but post it. I think it really cuts to the bone and has sad truth in it! It's provocative...do I really appreciate the environment and provision I have been graced by God with? Do I deserve it? I get into funks with things that do not even compare to the atrocities that are happening all over the world. Reality Check Time!

Finish The Sentence...

So normally I think these things are semi-lame...but sometimes I can be semi-lame...so bring on the lameness.

1. My ex...all of them not even close to the amazingness that is Kirk!

2. Maybe I should be...sleeping, I have been going to bed SO late the past few weeks.

3. I love...my family, friends, artichokes and the sound of baby giggles.

4. People would say that I'm...funny.

5. I don't understand...why people watch the Bachelor, why some parents do not teach their kids basic common courtesy and etiquette, how we are going to get ourselves out of what the current administration is getting us and our children into, ugg boots with skirts...the list could go on for a LONG time.

6. When I wake up in the morning...I wish I could go back to sleep.

7. I lost...my obsession with shoes. I have not bought a new pair in months.

8. Life is full of...the good and the bad and you learn from both.

9. My past is...what got me to where I am, so I would not change it.

10. I get annoyed when people...cut you off on the freeway while you are in the fast lane only to then reduce their speed by 10 miles or anyone who acts like a DB!

11. Parties are...the best when they involve games and cocktails.

12. I wish....I was able to spend more time with my husband.

13. Dogs...would be awesome if they stayed puppies forever. (See photo above)

14. Cats...awesome because they don't give a rip and don't drool, smell or sniff your private areas.

15. Tomorrow...I am working from home. I love work from home days! No shoes and I wear glasses instead of contacts.

16. I have a low tolerance for...people who speak for others when they have NO clue what they are talking about.

17. If I had a million dollars...I would "buy everyone a Coke" :) For those of you who did not get that one, I would change professions to something I am more passionate about. Working with special needs kids.

18. I'm totally terrified of...I can't think of one thing. There are things I am scared of, but nothing that totally terrifies me.

19. My spouse...is sleeping via a NyQuil induced coma. Poor sick guy!

20. I would rather be...on an all expense paid vacation, paid by someone else.

For the Birds

This morning the fam (well, 10 of us) went out for brunch in Laguna Beach. It was nice (overcast) which is my favorite weather and cousin Sheri was out visiting from AZ. On the way out of the place there are these birds that the restaurant owns that just chill on the property. They were on Sheri's purse like white on rice and when you get close to them they strike at you...kind of like a slow snake. Kirk put is hand out to see if one would jump onto his arm and nope...it just bit him on the finger. Did not break the skin, but left a pretty good indentation that is now purple. In true Kirk fashion when asked "Did that hurt?" he responded with "It didn't feel good!" Anyway, guess who will not ever be getting a bird as a pet? Here are some pics of the beasts we encountered.

Labels: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

About once a week I go to this website http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/ that is basically a bunch of comics that the author creates and posts for the blogging world to see and discuss. I am not on board with all of the messages/politics portrayed in his comics, but from time to time they do get me thinking about things. I was talking to someone at work today about labels and how once you give yourself one or one is given to you...it is very hard to get rid of it. It made me think about this cartoon above that he created a few months back. Labels can be both good and bad. I have a label from one of my coworkers as an "over-thinker"...this one cracks me up because I view it as a positive, but he means it as a negative. God forbid I would think something through before acting on it so I will be prepared and hopefully have to do less work in the long run. He views my thoughts as stumbling blocks and they deny his "easy" way of getting projects done, but that is a blog for another day. Anyway...I am sure there are other labels for me and for others at work too, but back to the comic. I started thinking about how the label "Christian" is absolutely something that I have, but sometimes feel like I wish I didn't. I feel this way for 2 reasons; there are times when I am just NOT a good example for Christ and during/after those moments I wish that people didn't know me as a Christian because I may have just hurt the "label"...which brings me to reason 2...what connotation do people (believers and non-believers alike) have when they hear you are "Christian"? I sometimes chicken out in discussions with people about being a Christian because I fear the eye rolling and holy roller reference that sometimes comes along with that statement. I get why people have that reaction though...I am a sinner, I gossip, make jokes that seem to only be funny to me at times...the list goes on. But I am also compassionate, a giver, loyal and dependable and have faith in God. When you get me, you get the good and the bad...and that is fine with people who know me and people who love me. But I want to become a better example of the label "Christian" for my friends, family and especially for strangers. I want to be knowledgeable, daring, aware and conscience of the message I am sending to these people in the name of Christ. It is funny that as I am writing, the thought "duh" keeps repeating in my head. I guess that is the point though...it is a concept so easy to grasp and is what we are called to do, but so hard to be mindful of in the moment. Like the comic, I just want to be Julie (Margaret). I don't want people to judge me by what I am, but instead by who I am. I want to redefine what it means to be Julie, and redefine it in a way that brings the Glory to God instead of away from him.

Birthday Celebration & Scooter Fun

On Friday morning we headed out to Vegas...scooters in the back of the truck, ready to celebrate dad's 63rd birthday and for Kirk & David to have some fun at the High Rollers Scooter Rally. We made very good time and made the important In-N-Out stop for lunch in Barstow! The first night we went to a BBQ place in our hotel and the boys got an obscene amount of meat on a platter...check out David's blog later for a photo of that madness. Anyway, we love going to Vegas and we love it the most when we get to go with my dad. We had a great time celebrating his birthday and went to a really tasty b-day dinner at this Italian restaurant called Trevi in Caesar's Palace. They brought out a killer birthday dessert and poor no dairy twin just had to watch all of us down it. Below are some pictures of the celebration dinner.

Our other reason for being out in Vegas was for Kirk & David to go to the yearly scooter rally out there (which will be followed up by this upcoming weekends Rides of March scooter rally up north). It is really fun that Kirk has someone down here now that can do the scooter thing with him since all of his scooter friends are all far away. Way to go David! You will soon be fixing up your own vintage scooter...well, when Wendy approves of the $$ investment of that endeavor. Below are some of the pictures from the scooter fun!

How cute is this little one by the way? Kirk made sure to snap a few pictures...still trying to get me on the "let's get a bulldog" bandwagon. It's going to take more than this though :)

This is the scooter that Kirk took to the rally...I know it may not look like much, but believe it or not Kirk won an award for this sucker at the last rally he went to. It does not look like much, but it runs like a champ! And really, for guys...that is what really matters. For me, I spent the time I was there picking out my favorite paint job.

These last 2 lovely photos...a precious old couple were the proud owners of the Barbie scooters. They even had a "Barbie's Panties Storage" bin on the side of one of the scooters. Wow! Although very entertaining, it was not as good as the British guys from 2 years ago at this rally...they all rode up on their scooters wearing nothing but helmets, shoes and diapers. I had no words.

The mini-vacation was super fun and it was nice to be away from work for a little while. I am somewhat dreading the sound of my alarm going off in the morning and having to go through a ton of emails and voice mails. It's official, the blues just set in. Peace Out!

One Day I Will Post About My OWN Kids, But Unitl Then...

Below are some awesome pictures of Addie on Kirk's skateboard. She really is one of the most adorable kids of all time!

On another note...Kirk and I are a few years away from having kids of our own (we are thinking that 2011 sounds like a great year for baby havin'). But I am so thankful that I have a husband who truly loves kids, loves being around them, loves teaching them things and loves to laugh at and with them. It was one of the things that made me fall for him. I don't think I could hang with someone who did not like munchies (kids). Just like I am happy I got married later than most of my peeps and got to see the things that they do in their marriages that are admirable...I am also happy that I get to spend time with my friends and family who already have kids. I get to learn from them very handy and loving parenting tips. Here's to all the parents out there making it happen with your little ones and teaching me things that I know I will use later for raising our little baby Snells! And here is to Kirk for the dad I know he is going to be!

Kirk & our God Daughter (Niece) Sam!

Kirk & Caleb then with Jonny wrestling in Indy

Kirk & Mason at one of his BMX Races

Kirk & Julia after her soccer game!

Pout & Stout

Yup...I hit that milestone - 100,000 miles plus on my pretty little Volvo. It's a 2004, oh yes...I have quite the commute. I do love my car, although I will never get another Volvo due to the insane amounts of cash that flow out of my bank account for just standard maintenance. I mean, the cheapest amount of $ I can get out of the dealership for has been $250+ and that has only been once. But, let's not get me started down that road of ranting.

Today we had a St. Patrick's Day Potluck at our office. I made a not very Irish inspired stew and some really good Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes. People seemed to really like them, although I was not the hit since a co-worker made Creme Brulee from scratch - even used a torch to caramelize the tops. She made a bunch of little individual portions and they were AMAZING!!! I am determined to get that recipe and master it. Creme Brulee is Kirk's FAVORITE dessert and I think I will score major "awesome wife" points if I can make that happen. The day was very fun until I finished it off with working the night shift...did not leave the office until 9:30pm. Kirk had a late night soccer game (which his team won 3-0) and naturally when it is that late there is no traffic. So, getting the mass amount of work done in those extra 4 1/2 hours was worth it. I realized tonight that checking off items on my To-Do List is one of the greatest feelings!

Oh So Close To SUPER Embarrassing

I am sure that most people will agree that you just don't wear jeans one time and then wash them...you get a quite a few good days out of them, work them out, stretch them...I would say I sometimes get 4-6 super cozy wears out of a pair until I put them in the hamper. (Unless I spill something on them or they get too stretched out...but lets be honest, my pants are not fitting big these days). Well, this morning as I am getting ready for work I grabbed a pair of jeans that were laying across my dresser that I wore on Tuesday, put them on and finished getting ready for work. I drove to the office, walked all the way form Egypt (aka - the parking lot that the worker bees have to park in since we are not big league enough to park in the structure right next to our building) up to my office and worked for a few hours. I got up to leave the office around 11:00 to go meet a friend for lunch and noticed I forgot my phone...so I went back in to get it. As I was walking out of the elevator door I felt like my pant leg was stuck up in the back, like when it gets stuck in the back of your shoe. I looked behind me down at my pant leg and it was NOT STUCK UP...at that moment I realized what I was feeling...as I am sure some of you already know (especially the ladies). I took 2 steps into my office and got right behind my desk as a pair of bright blue undies fell out of the back of my right pant leg. Praise GOD that it did not fall out as I was leaving a coworkers office or in the elevator with one of our CEO's.
The classic thing is...this has happened to me before, but only a few times while I am still in my room right after I put them on...somehow I did not realize them for a whole car ride, walk from the parking lot and 2 hours of working! My girl Erin's old roommate had this happen to her as she was crossing the street in public...home girl did not even break stride and just left her undies sitting in the road and got in her car and left! Love it!

OLD, GOOD Friends!!!

Tonight I got to spend some time with Mariah at her place, along with little Isaac :) Isn't he squishy? He LOVED his auntie Hoolay tonight! I also think it helped that I have the darker hair, I think he thought I was Wendy...who he adores. Anyway, on my way home I was thinking how it is such a great perk to have her so close - I mean home girl is on my way home from work...no excuses not to spend time together and I love that. I think I am blessed beyond belief with amazing new and old friends. I was specifically thinking about the old friends on my way home though. Getting to hang out with Carrie so much the last few weeks, Mariah so much lately, Candie over the phone on 2 hour plus conversations. I feel like not many people keep up old friendships through moving away, getting married and all of the other things that cause you to loose touch and I am so grateful that I still have such good relationships with gals that I have been friends with for 12-15+ years. So, a little shout out to all my oldies but goodies...LOVE YOU!

A Few Pics of Hangin' with my Twin & my soon to be Neighbors!

Addie the swinging machine! Silly Ladies - Sarah is the only one of us who makes silly still cute :)

No more blondes in this group of gals.

The new do...

So cute...LOVE Addie's outfit!

Ben on David's Vespa!

The Hiding Place

I finished reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (pictured) this morning - thanks Sarah for letting me borrow it...I mean, making me read it before I borrowed any other books from you :) Seriously though, it was SO GOOD, about a woman named Coorie ten Boom and her family during the Holocaust that put their lives on the line to hide and save the lives of many Jews in Holland. It is definitely on my top 10 book list, up there with Blue Like Jazz, Redeeming Love, Traveling Mercies, The Robe, Escape...!

There were so many moments in this book where I stopped to think about the line I just read and then read it again and again until I finally wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper or anything near by. I have decided that I am going to start a book journal of sorts to track my favorite parts or my favorite books and what they made me think about when I read them. It sounds a little nerdy, but hey...I am a little nerdy! Here is a sneak peek of a few of those soon to be journaled parts:

"To Tante Jans, the clothes in fashion when she was young represented God's final say on human apparel; all change since then came from the style-book of the devil." This part literally made me laugh out loud on the plane ride to Sacramento when I was reading it. I mean, the irony that she was disturbed by "the mutton sleeve and the bicycle skirt" (pictured), when they show barely any skin compared to the skinny jeans, spandex, mini-skirts etc. that I see 14 year old girls and older wearing out in public today is just crazy! If Kirk & I have a little girl...I think Mutton Sleeve dresses will be the way to go.

The next part comes from when Corrie was younger traveling with her father and asked him about sex. "He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case and set it on the floor. "Will you carry it off the train Corrie?" he said. I stood up and tugged at it. "It's too heavy," I said. "Yes, and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you." She goes on to say how she was totally at peace with that answer...that there are answers to all of our hard questions, but she was content to leave them in her father's keeping. - I often think that even though I am not a child anymore, some knowledge is still too heavy for me. There are so many questions I have that go unanswered and I am very certain that some of them are meant to go unanswered and challenge me to strengthen my faith that God is in ultimate control. In time, when I am ready, the answers will be revealed.
While Corrie & her sister Betsie were in a concentration camp seeing a woman being beaten...Corrie said to Betsie, "What can we do for these people? Afterward I mean, can't we make a home for them and care for them and love them?" Betsie replied with, "I pray everyday that we will be allowed to do this. To show them that love is greater!" It was not until later in the day that Corrie realized that she had been thinking of the feeble-minded, and Betsie of their persecutors. This got me thinking that I am more like Corrie, praying for victims...not that this is bad, just that we need to pray for both the persecuted and the persecutors for they are both loved by God and need to see his love and forgiveness.
Some other quotes that made me stop and think!
"This was the great ploy of Satan in the kingdom of his; to display such blatant evil that one could almost believe one's own secret sins didn't matter."
"How rich is anyone who can simply see human faces."
"This was evil's hour: we could not run away from it. Perhaps only when human effort had done its best and failed, would God's power alone be free to work."
"You say we could loose our lives for hiding this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family."
"I had believed the Bible always, but reading it now had nothing to do with belief. It was simply a description of the way things were - of hell and heaven, of how men act and how God acts. I had read it thousands of times the story of Jesus' arrest - how soldiers had slapped Him, laughed at Him, flogged Him. Now such happenings had faces and voices."

Well, sorry for the long post...and bravo to those of you that stuck with it till the end! I highly recommend the book - 5 Stars, I am pretty sure that some of you have probably already read it.

Waiting Game...and Red Heads

Since Kirk & I are officially in escrow now, there are so many questions we are trying to figure out! When should we give notice to our current landlords, wondering how long it is going to take for the loan to go through, scheduling the inspection, paint colors, new carpet, home owner's insurance, furniture and appliances we need. It is a little overwhelming to think about all of it because it all involves $$$ and time - 2 things we are trying to budget very carefully right now. It is CRAZY to think that we are going to be in our home probably in the next 30 days or less.

On another note, I went a little nutty on Tuesday night and went to Mariah's house to get dinner with her and dye my hair. Like I said, we are on a budget - so my normal almost $200 hair appointment felt a little crazy during this time. Instead Mya and I went to Target and spent quite a while picking out a color for me. I almost chickened out and just bought blonde, but decided that since I have been dying my hair some shade of blonde for the last almost 16 years it was time for a change. Well...it's a change! We went with Mahogany...it does NOT look like the woman's hair on the box. I am pretty much a brownish red head now. I know...insane! I will post a picture soon so you can all see the results.

Escrow...Escrow...Read All About It

Ok - I am about to go into a meeting...but we got the call that our offer was accepted!!! Praise the Lord! More deatils to come, but just wanted to update everyone! Thanks for the prayers!

Anticipation for Monday...

Kirk & I spent Saturday morning signing all of the papers to submit an offer on a house in Mission Viejo that Mark found for us. (Picture Above) Oh, and Shout out to Mark and his amazing realtor skills! The offer is being sent to the bank on Monday morning and we were told that we should hear back as early as Monday afternoon or at least by Thursday. We are very excited about this house for many reasons...but are also trying to be content with the possibility of not getting it because we don't want to be super disappointed. Is this where God wants us? If we don't get it does it mean that he has something better for us? I am pretty nervous since it is such a big purchase and so many unknowns. There is something to be said about the care free feeling of renting...if something breaks, you call the land lord, but I think I am getting ahead of myself. Kirk and I agreed last year that 2009 would be the year that we would find a place to call home, even if that meant moving out of the state. We just wanted to be settled. Well, much to our family & friends desires, we are staying put in Cali and hopefully our "have a place to call home in 2009" will become a reality with this house. Things we like about this house:

• It is not a cookie-cutter track home, which is something that I would be fine with but something that Kirk was really against.
• It is one level...another plus for Kirk, who wants to bring furniture upstairs?
• It is move-in ready - even though we will want to make a few changes right away and over the next few years to make it our own, we could move in tomorrow and it would be livable...this is not the case in quite a few of the places we have looked at.
• It is in a neighborhood we really like...and is like 2 houses down from the Fitzpatrick's! What? I know...how cool would that be?

On that note, please pray for us and the offer we made. We will keep you posted when we hear anything!