Sometimes an ending is a perfect way to have a beautiful beginning...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

What My Paddle Got Me

Hi everyone! I will be away for a few days... Mom and I are going to the Women of Faith event for 2 days! Yea!!! I wait all year for this or for women's retreat! I'm sure I will have either funny stories or at least inspirational stories to share with you. I actually bid on our tickets at Bug's big fundraiser for school back in March. What fun it was to lift that paddle up in competition (I'm a VERY competitive person) to achieve 'winning' success! Well, I didn't actually 'win' them, I had to pay for them but I got to bid on what I would pay. For our two tickets for the two-day event, a $100 voucher for our hotel and $25 voucher for a restaurant was $300! Not bad, not bad if I do say so myself! The auction took place during a dinner at Bug's school and there were tons to bid on and baskets full of goodies to win. We came home with a ton of neat stuff! We also bid on and won my dad a golf package complete with custom-made clubs! To see his face as Hubby and I kept raising our paddles was priceless! 
Now, don't go thinking we are made of money and just spent a ton for the fun of it. Nooo, nooo, nooo, we decided to use the money we spent as our tithe to help Bug's school and gave away much more than we won. But the winning and raising my powerful paddle were awesome! I can't wait till next year's event! Hmmm, what kinds of great things can I bid on while wielding my powerful paddle this time?!?! I'm addicted, I tell ya, addicted! I will be donating something to the event this year but have yet to decide what, any thoughts?
I won't be here till at least Sunday, maybe even Monday. I'm off to go get my spiritual tank refilled... have a good weekend yourself.  

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

My Most Mortifying Moment

Just found another blog that I am totally in love with... it's called Pioneer Woman and she's on blogspot.com also. Seriously, go check it out! She's hilarious! She has a whole section devoted to embarrassing moments. I read a few and it got my juices flowing! I'll share my most embarrassing moment if you'll share yours... c'mon, it'll be fun... plus self-deprecating humor is good for the soul and laughing till you wet your pants is the best way to have a good time! "What, you're asking, the beetle-bug-down-your-blouse wasn't your worst moment?" No, very funny. Here goes...
Hubby and Bug and I were with very good friends and their kids in Hawaii, specifically Kauai. We loved to have fun with these particular friends and let our hair down a bit; laughter always accompanied the four of us wherever we went. Now, if you know me you know that I can come across a little prim and proper, I don't mean to, it's just how I carry myself. Hubby, though, loves to see me let go of that 'stuff' and be myself (ok, the prim and proper me is myself) and just have fun. So, we are there on vacation, relaxing, enjoying ourselves at the beautiful pool where there are waterfalls all around and lush foliage. My best-girlfriend-in-cahoots and I are looking fetching in our suits with something with an umbrella in it in our hands when a 'local' strikes up a conversation with us. We are flattered, he's not being overtly flirty just talking to 2 beautiful looking bathing beauties (read; almost middle aged married women who take kindly to stranger's ways) and our husbands are right there anyway! So, he turns to BOTH of us and says, "ok, who's going to step foot into the waterfall just for fun with me?" Now, mind you, said waterfall was all of five feet from where we were sitting and completely within view of hubby, no questionable tactics for me. And hubby just said he wished I would be a little less reserved so, and yes, you're right to shout at your computer, "don't do it, Mindi-girl, nothing good can come from this", but, alas, it is my most embarrassing moment... I walked over to the fake waterfall put one foot on a very slippery rock under the water and, with my hubs, my bestest girlfriend and her hubby watching (not to mention flirty stranger man) I went down like a sack of potatoes. There was a hedge around the waterfall and all my traveling companions said that one minute they could see me, the next I had just disappeared out of sight, quickly. Mortified and drenched and hurt (ok, the ego was bruised too) I hobbled back to hubby who looked just as mortified that I actually belonged to him. 
After healing some scrapes (and my ego, a bit) in our hotel room we all decided to go out karaoke-ing that night. It was good to get the day's events out of my head! We walked into the bar/grill and guess who was there??!?!! Yep, flirty stranger man! Thank the good Lord he wanted to forget he ever 'knew' me just as much as I wanted to forget what he saw... he ignored us the entire time! Whew! 
Ok, I thought that would be freeing to tell y'all that but now I'm just mortified all over again of what y'all will think of me but, remember you have to tell me yours now! I promise, I won't think any different of you! And, no, I don't have a picture to go with this.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Lessons in Faith... in many areas

It's Tuesday night, Hubby is gone to Sacramento for the week and I'm here with the girls and Sadie. They are both asleep... hallelujah! Buglette had a bit of a rough day for some reason; she was just very clingy. Bug had to study for a spelling test and that always causes 'waves' for us. She's like her dad... incredibly smart in so many areas but spelling isn't one of them, bless her heart. I, on the other hand don't have any problems with spelling or any language arts but would die a thousand deaths before taking any kind of math class again. Just send me to glory. Hubby has always been great at math (remember, I can say always because we are HS sweethearts) and science but had a difficult time in English etc... seems like Bug is following in his footsteps. So now is my peace and quiet time!
I've been giving a lot of thought as to what to write tonight. I have no funny anecdotes or stories about the family (I have plenty just not in the mood to write them) but wanted to write something a little more serious (I can to be serious). I was listening to my favorite Christian talk station today and heard a great message about how to handle difficulties in life and this particular pastor's perspective really made me think. I'd like to share it with you. He said that the Lord allows difficulties for many reasons, for growth, for a lesson to be learned, for others to come to Him through that trial, for our increased faith, the list could go. But because God allows the struggle, He Himself is there in the struggle. Our natural inclination is to try to escape the struggle, end the pain, stop the process but we should consider that the Lord Himself is there in the difficulty. Just knowing and remembering this can be so helpful when the winds are blowing and the seas are tossing us about. In this day and age there are so many things to struggle with, what with the economy, the lack of employment opportunities, government situations, family problems and this list could go and on. But as long as we are turning to the Lord for His will in our lives and seeking His guidance then in the midst of our trials and struggle He is there. I don't know about you but I just want to learn my lesson quickly, grow in the area quickly, have other's be saved through my trial quickly, and to increase my faith quickly but I need to remember to stop and allow God to do what needs to be done. What a hard lesson! 
By the way, speaking of the economy, does anyone need a home (or two?) we have our home in my hometown (see Small Town Girl) that we would like to sell (4 bedrooms, 2 baths sits on half an acre, 2400 sq. ft) and we have a manufactured home about 30 minutes from LA that needs to sell (2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, nice park, beautiful yard and view, cute interior). We got stuck trying to sell both of these when the economy took it's nosedive. We certainly don't need three houses! Leave me a message on the comment section of the blog if interested! What's that? You say I have no shame leaving that here on my blog? You're right! But it is my blog!   ;)     

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Park, a Clean Car and a Messy Baby

We've been having a great Labor Day weekend at home. Besides my delightful Saturday we have been going to the park in the evenings and playing with the girls and doing things around the house. We are getting ready for Hubby to go away for the week on business. I know for 'law enforcement' that sounds a bit unusual but he is in a specialized unit and they send him for training and to provide training for other agencies as well, so off he goes. In one year he's been to New Jersey, Georgia, Nevada and other areas in California on business.
Today we went to church and then out for pizza. Bug got to play some arcade games for tickets and got prizes for her sister... she's such a sweet kiddo. Then we came home and Bug and I colored! I love coloring and so does she. It's a fun thing for us to do side by side while we talk; aka mom gets to ask questions about her life and 'check in' and she has no idea I'm doing it. Afterwards we decided to wash the car. Now, Hubby is really good at doing the outside and I'm really good at doing the inside... good teamwork. I don't do well on the outside because I reach maybe up to the side mirrors (ha ha) I'm 5'3'' short. It always takes me forever to clean the inside because I'm been carting kids around in there. Sure enough I cleaned enough crackers, pretzels and dried fruit out of there to feed a small nation. Lift the car seat and, holy cow, more goodies! But once I was done I got to put in my new Autumn Wreath scented hanger from Yankee. There's nothing like driving a clean car with a heavenly scent in it!
We promised the girls another trip to the park after all the work so off we went. Bug has a blast on her bike and Buglette actually sat on a 'big girl' swing all by herself and let Daddy sit under her and lightly push her. She held on and everything! To top off our day we went to McDonald's for ice cream cones and because we were in Daddy's truck Buglette got to have her own cone! She loved it, had it everywhere and would hold it for awhile then want me to hold it while she let her hands warm up! What a great day! Hope you're enjoying your weekend too!