The Thrill of the Hunt November style.

As you walk across a crowded parking lot your mind bursts with ideas of the best strategy to tackle the enterprise ahead. You say to yourself, This is better than Garage Sale Season as you mercilessly bore holes through the other participants on their way into chaos with your eyes. As you size them up the briefest millisecond of eye contact is all it takes to speed your step. It's cold and I am trying to get inside you tell yourself. But inside you know the truth of it. After all, they are the enemy.

Yes. This is a true story. A story about BLACK FRIDAY.

You step through the double-glorious-doors, wrestle a cart, and speed off down the aisle knocking things down as you cut corners close. Every second counts. This is when your careful planning comes into play. Those poor first-timers. Ha! You have the map printed and memorized. In fact, you color coordinated it by priority last night. Not that you would admit that to anyone. I wouldn't want anyone thinking I am crazy or anything... You weave through the sale bins, picking up everything in sight that you may or may not need, throwing bows only when necessary. However, if someone else dares shove their bony elbow anywhere near me, they will pay. And I don't mean for the items in their cart. The sight of a little pigtail whipping out of sight with what seems like the last of the griddles stops your heart momentarily. Oh they want to play dirty, do they? You force a facade of calm concern over the fury on your face and go to confront the jovial, little cheater that is her mother. But no need, 10 other people had their eye on that griddle and they got the job done. Some didn't even bother with the facade. Is she crazy? You wouldn't bring a child into an adder's nest, it's common sense. This is no different. No matter. The next store opens in an hour and I like that griddle better anyways... But that store has campers. Campers infuriate you. You'd like to waltz up to them and tell them exactly where they could stick their tents, but a cop car roving the parking lot puts a damper on that plan. BFFs never get off easy anyways. (Black Friday Fighters) In fact you just got finished egging on a graphic fight over a pair of Princess Pajamas at JC Penny's. And people think that men don't get into shopping. Ha! It took 3 taser cartridges before the big man went down and you could sneak in and quietly snatch the PJs while everyone watched them being cuffed. But before you can make it to their carts, the crowds remember the first rule about BLACK FRIDAY. Never lose sight of what you want until it is in your cart.

Much Love!!

Awww :)

I love my job! I love the kids. I love laughing. I love the people I get to work with. (Well most of them.)
Yesterday this cute little first grade girl gave such an example of a humble, meek, submissive child that I just have to share. This little girl is a very small girl with a tiny, little voice and she is absolutely adorable. I work at a Catholic school and Mass is on Thursdays which means that Wednesday is religion homework. It had blanks where she could fill in what she wanted to say in her prayer to God. Hers was kind of like this.
Dear God, I am thankful that you love everyone. Please help us to love everyone. Amen.
And most of the kids will write it down and be done with it. But not her. She read her prayer and the other prayer on the page out loud in her little voice with her hands folded and it didn't even matter that anyone else was in the room. She was talking to God.
No wonder Heavenly Father loves the little children so much. How could we not?

Much Love!!

The Thrill of the Hunt

Palms sweating, she grips the wheel tighter and inches the gas petal subtly down. After all, 5 over isn't speeding yet. She just saw yet another sign and the anticipation is growing. Will this be the one I have been looking for or just another dud full of baby strollers and chipped old furniture? She cranks the air conditioning as if that will help the heat of pure adrenaline burning inside of her. Who knew that neon poster board bearing two hand-written words could be such an adventure? The speedometer is nearing 10 over as she searches frantically for another sign. Did she pass it? She considers turning back as the panic sets in. But wait, up in the distance is a yard cluttered with all sorts of items! Could this be it!?

This is how I imagine my mother feels as she hunts for the ever allusive garage sales on Saturday mornings. Stay tuned for a sequel: Getting out of the car and making the buy.

Love you, Mom!

Much Love!!

Food for thought.

Female truckers and nose-digging business men. The highway has about as many sights to see as any tourist attraction if you pay close enough attention. I can't promise the sights will be pleasant, but they certainly will be interesting.
What sets you apart from every other car on the highway? Are you weaving in and out to find the fastest route? Going at exactly the speed limit in the fast lane and infuriating everyone behind you? Or are you blasting your music so loud that everyone around you can feel your bass bumping? Do you have a tricked out paint job or squeaky brakes? Do you let someone in in front of you even if it slows you down minutely? You only spend a short amount of time with the cars around you, but what will they remember about you?
Ohhh am I the only one who sees a life comparison here?? Probably not. Hehe Well if you don't, here is your thought for the day:
What sets us apart from everyone else around us? Are we pleasant to be around? Do we cut people off? Is our "paint job" super awesome? It is not a good thing to always care about what others think of us, but maybe we should think about what we would think of ourselves if we were in the place of another.

Much Love!!

For the Beauty of the Earth

Today Dad and I went to the Forest Lakes to scope them out for a possible family day trip next weekend. It was a blast! Here are a few highlights:

I shot a gun for the first time!

The beautiful lakes were breathtaking!

We had lots of laughs. :)

Dad improved his climbing skills.... hehe

We got to appreciate the beautiful scenery that God made for us.

We had a blast and we are soo sore! But it was worth it! We probably hiked about 16 miles today and did a lot of hiking where there were no trails! But it was so worth it! Thanks, Dad! I had a lot of fun with you!

Much Love!!

The little things

Think back to when you were really little. Like a smaller size than I am. To reach the high cabinet or stand at the pulpit at church to "bury your testmoaney," you needed a little bit of a boost to get you to where you needed to be. (I actually just jumped up on the counter because I was a curly haired monkey...) The boost didn't need to be very big. Just something small.
The small things in life will get you far. This is a response to Aly Babwa's last blog. Thank you for being my "small thing" and boosting me up. I am so glad that I can be your boost too. :)

Also, as a side note. My days being wasted by watching hours of Veronica Mars have come to an end. For I have finished all 3 seasons. ;( The ending was very... abrupt and leaves you hanging, but I will now be able to move on to more productive things. Veronica Mars lives on in my heart. Haha And someday I will have a pink taser. I'll just have to get right on saving up for one as soon as I am done saving for college... which I cannot even imagine the end of.

All is well. :)

Much Love!!

For Mom :)

Mom, I had a really great time shopping with you today. Maybe it was because I wore jeans and a normal shirt and we didn't shop for clothes. A win win situation. :) Thank you for all you do and all that you don't do. (Like being a meanie pants extremist.) You help me through so much and I think you are one of the only people who reads my blog. (Not that that really bothers me at all. Haha I don't want everyone to know that I am crazy. :P) But thank you for always supporting me and trying to get me to go to school. Sorry for when I am so stubborn that you may have violent thoughts towards me. I love you and I am dreading the day that I will go off to college because I will miss you so much! So thank you for teaching me so much and even when you are being under-appreciated (as most mothers are.) you still do so much. I hope I can be like you when I am a mother. And I want you to know that I appreciate you. :)

Much Love!!