Happy Birthday!

Today is Jasper's 2nd birthday! He slept downstairs last night, but I brought him up early this morning to snuggle and I sang "Happy Birthday" to him :-) I am going to give him a new toy and a water bottle. He is the best dog ever! Your mom and dad love you, Jasp!!!! I can't believe you are TWO!!!

Realization and Tea

So I had a realization this morning - God made me the way I am for a reason. I may not know what that reason is, but there's a reason I am the way I am. And so even thogh I don't always know what He was thinking or what He has planned, it's reassuring to know that He did it on purpose. It's also nice to know that I'm not the first person to realize this... "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

Also, I got a new tea to try last night, and I wasn't sure how much I would like it, but I tried it this morning and I think I really like it! It is Stash Tea Lemon and Ginger, and when I sweeten it with honey, it tastes like Trix cereal! I think it would taste less like that without the honey, but since I like Trix and I like sweetened tea, it's kind of a win-win! :-D

Hawaii!

Hawaii was great. Adam and I both prefer Kauai, but Oahu was fun, especially the beach (of course) and Waikiki. I got an AWESOME swimsuit there, it fits perfectly and is so cute! We went to Pearl Harbor, the Dole pineapple plantation, a bunch of beaches (including Sandy Beach, which has the highest number of broken backs and necks in the nation... I pretty much stayed on the shore there!), and the world-famous shave ice place on the North Shore (in Haliewa). We had such a great time, and it was really relaxing. Really good to see Rob and Jenni, too :-)

I will try to get pictures on here soon...

Trust 2.0 etc

I think I am doing better on the whole trust thing. Ask me again later, but for now, I'm doing better :)

On Saturday (May 12th) we are leaving for Hawaii!! Adam, Joe (his brother), and I are going to spend a week in Oahu visiting Rob, their other brother, and Jenni, his wife. It is going to be awesome! I hope to spend a lot of time just laying on the beach, and I fully plan on returning to Wisconsin a lot browner than I left! (yes I use sunscreen, but still!) The main thing I want to do besides the beach is to visit Pearl Harbor. Veterans and the Armed Forces, and the appreciation and memorialization of them, always get me choked up, so I might get a little teary. We'll see! Apparently we are also going to go to a pineapple plantation, or something like that. Which is another thing I definitely want in Hawaii - fresh pineapple! Pineapple here on the mainland doesn't even hold a candle to fresh Hawaiian pineapple! I could eat it all day, except that I would get crazy canker sores, and even then I probably still would!

We leave Saturday May 19th in the evening and get back to Chicago around noon on Sunday. That is going to be one l-o-n-g day, but totally worth it :)

Probably won't write while I'm gone, so "see" you when I get back!

Life

So far, so good :)

Trust

I have been a Christian since before I can remember. (I don't actually remember asking Jesus "into my heart," but I remember when I was about 5 years old at an Awana event, they had a time at the end when you could pray the prayer with them to ask Jesus to forgive your sins. I remember telling my leader that I had already asked Jesus into my heart, but I did it again that night "just in case." And she explained to me that I only needed to do it once and then I'm forgiven. I don't remember her name or what she looked like, but that instance has stuck with me.) But it can still be hard to trust in God. I have learned time and again in my 26.33 years of life that things go inifinitely better when I do trust in God, instead of trying to do things my own way. I know this. I even teach my kids in Sunday School that God has a plan, and even though we can't see all of it and we may not understand it, His plan is best. However, it is still hard to be patient and just trust. I guess it comes down to... I trust in God, I just want to trust in Him more, if that makes sense. I'm a work in progress, and thankfully, that's ok.

This weekend/ Sad/ Happy

So this weekend, Adam and I went to a marriage retreat at a camp we have been to before as chaperones/leaders for our church's high school group. It was nice to have some time just for us, but there wasn't as much "free time" as we had hoped. It was very session-heavy. We learned a lot of tools to help us fight intelligently. There were a lot of opportunities for us to practice using the tools, which was good, but we didn't really have a lot of unresolved issues, which is also good. So we did practice using them and I think when issues come up, this will help us address them before they become huge blowout problems. It just got me thinking how sad divorce is. I mean, I have always known that, as a child victim of divorce (I don't want to use "victim" to make me seem all pathetic and what-not; I just mean that literally, my parents divorced, and I was a victim, not a "participant"), but this weekend got me thinking about the husband and wife that go through a divorce. Of course it's difficult, but can you imagine if you wanted to try to make it work, but your spouse didn't? And there's nothing you can do, once it gets to the point of the other person giving up/wanting out. They don't need your permission. It doesn't seem fair, because you got into marriage together, but you can get out of it alone. It makes me really feel for the person who wants to make it work, if that is their situation. It also makes me really happy that Adam and I said before we got married (possibly before we even got engaged), that divorce is not an option. It's just not. We are together till death do us part, and thankfully he is a wonderful husband, and I know that when problems come up, we will work through them. Easy for me to say now, right? But it's true. And it's comforting to know that. I feel very God-lucky to have him, and not only that I have a caring husband, but that we both have a personal relationship with Christ, because without that, I can see how it would be so much easier to give up. I love him.

Why

Why is it so easy to slouch???

If you ever see me, remind me to sit/stand up straight, ok?

Thanks.

TMI

So this post may be a little TMI, so if you decide to skip it, I won't be offended.

So... I kind of sweat a lot. And recently, I decided to switch to natural deodorant. I won't go into details, but it was not a very good mix. I tried a couple of different deodorants with little success. Not that normal, mainstream, "unnatural" deodorants worked all that much better. One day I bought this new "natural" deodorant on a whim, figuring it would probably work about as well as the other natural deodorants (meaning probably not great). I tried it a couple of times with my other deodorants and didn't really notice much. Then, yesterday and today I used it alone...

It works!! Yesterday was a moderate success but today was GREAT! I should clarify that what I'm using is not an antipersperant, so I still sweat, but now, I smell fresh all day long!! This is amazing... I can hardly believe it!

The product is just mineral salt and water. I spray it on right after getting out of the shower (which the past couple of days has been in the evening instead of the morning), and I believe this morning I sprayed again just to be on the safe side... and no B.O.!! Amazing!! If this keeps working, it will be the best thing ever!!!

In case you are wondering, here is the one I'm using :)

Kinda bugs me

I'll say up front that I'm not saying that my opinions here are "right" and if you disagree you are "wrong" (at least, for this post!! ;-)  ). I am merely going to state my opinion and personal preference.

At a church I used to attend, the worship team (of which I was a part) would frequently, pretty much consistently, come up on stage after the message during the closing prayer. I don't like that. Yes, it makes a more "seamless" transition, but prayer is a time when you are talking to God. Prayer isn't to allow for a transition time. Of course you can listen and still be praying while you are walking or getting your instrument ready or whatever, I'm not saying you can't. It just seems to belittle prayer, making it a filler time when the congregations' eyes are closed and then when they open them after the "amen," voila! The worship team has magically appeared onstage! Just take the extra minute and go up after prayer! Thankfully, the "wait until after prayer" approach is the practice my current church uses. I just like to keep prayer a time to be focused on God. Also, I don't like it when someone plays music during the closing prayer. I'm not trying to say anything against the music or the talent of the musician, but again, I feel it is more of a distraction, or like it is trying to make you feel a certain way during the prayer. Don't try to elicit an emotional response from me, prayer does that on its own. I can see how some people might like it, but for me, I just don't like it. Just let the person pray!

Anyway. I'd be interested to hear how other people view the "prayer as transition" or "emotional music during prayer" topics. And for now, I'll get off my soapbox :)