Friday, December 25, 2009

O Come Let us Adore HIM.

Yes, another blog post about Christmas.  I can't help it.  I'm going to get right to the point.

I don't like singing Christmas songs at church.

Weird, isn't it?!  The reason we go to church is because of Christmas!  Singing Christmas songs at church....I just don't like it.  I know, I know, it's ridiculous.  That is why I was SO happy when one of my sisters told me the other day, out of the blue, "I don't like singing Christmas songs at church."  I said, "oh my gosh!!!!  Meeeeeeeeee neither!!!  I thought I was the ONLY one!!!"  It was good to know that I was not alone in my thinking.......although I suppose it could run in the family..... ;)

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago at church we sang O Come All Ye Faithful.  Nice, classic tune.  I was REALLY focusing on the lyrics, which is what I do most of the time when I sing a song.  I like to be aware and mean what I'm saying.  The lyrics hit me.  So hard.  I was doing all I could to hold back the tears.

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
COME AND BEHOLD HIM,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him
,
Christ the Lord.

Do you ever think about the different perspectives of people at the nativity?  Think about how Joseph felt....the girl he was with was pregnant, not by him, but by a miraculous act of God.  The baby was going to be the Saviour of the world.  They were traveling.  Trying to find a place to stay.  Going here and there.  Looking for a vacancy.  It was cold.  It was dark.  Every place they went - no room.  Mary was in labor.  In pain.  Suffering.  Imagine Joseph tired and weary from traveling and chaos from not being able to find a place to stay.  He knew that this was part of the plan, but after things seem to NOT be working out, was he wondering, and shouting out to God?  "THIS is your plan???  God of ALL creation, This is YOUR plan?!!  Why are you letting her suffer?!  This is supposed to be the King of the world!  This is supposed to be a happy moment!  She isn't supposed to be in all of this pain!  Help her!  You say you're in control!  DO SOMETHING!!!"    "I AM."

Sometimes we forget that He is in control of everything.  We don't think He is working on our behalf.   We don't feel like He is there.  We feel like we're alone and He isn't listening to us and hearing our cries.  We blame Him for things that happen in our lives, when things go wrong, when bad things happen, when tradgedy strikes....He's the first one most of us get mad at.  Things don't work out as we all have planned.  They don't turn out the way we all would like them to turn out.  Things don't happen in our timing.  He knows what is best.  Things always work out no matter what things look like on the outside.  The next time I get irritated and aggravated and annoyed and question why He isn't moving, I always want to hear Him saying, "I am".



O Come let us adore him!

I was imagining myself there.  At the miraculous birth of Jesus.  What would I do?  What gift would I bring?   How close would I be able to get to the King?  What would I be feeling?  What would I see?  What would I say?  What would I smell?  What What would it be like to be there???  What would MY perspective be?






I hope everyone is having the most wonderful Christmas ever!!!!














Thursday, December 24, 2009

♪ ♫.....Christmas time is here....♪ ♪

...and this year it has been really difficult to get in the Christmas spirit.  It's been strange.  I mean, I'm thankful for so much and enjoy this time of the year, but just have not been "feeling it" this year.  It's even sad to admit it, but we didn't even put a Christmas tree up....time escaped.  And, having no heat made us not want to do anything.

A few weeks ago we watched A Charlie Brown Christmas.  It's one of our favorite Christmas cartoons.  One of my favorite parts is when they decorate the tree.  All of their arms go up in the air around the tree and just move from left to right really fast, and bam!, it's decorated.  The tree was so pitiful, and they made it beautiful.  Mike said something like, "we didn't even get a tree this year."  Then it hit me, "hold that thought", I said.

A minute later, THIS was our tree.




Last week as we were sitting in the living room, Mike and I were talking about Christmas trees again.  Talking about how we wish we would have put one up, but it was too late to get one, and we wouldn't have time to enjoy it.  So Mike said, "well, I guess I'll we'll just have to enjoy our Christmas Jar!"  We laughed so hard.  He plugged it up, and enjoyed our Christmas Jar and a glass of wine. 

Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of the year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times and ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here
We'll be drawing near
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year
Oh, that we could always see
Such spirit through the year...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Baby it's cold outside....and inside.

We are so blessed.  Sometimes I think that is a cliche' that is over used.  It is used so often that I think most people don't even realize what it means anymore.

This year has been kinda crazy for us.  So many things have happened.  Good and not so good.  But, Mike and I have grown so much this year in so many ways.  We have been tested in so many things....too many to write about in one post.  In all of our trials and triumphs this year we have learned one HUGE lesson.

Pray.  Believe.  Receive.
AND
God answers our prayers through others.

The most recent events can be understood from this picture.  Mike will probably not be thrilled with me for posting this, but it's what I saw every night for almost 2 months straight.  And, I didn't get any pictures of myself during this.  (I love you, honey.)




Our heat went out.  We had our trusty heat/air guy come out and look at the unit.  Yep.  It was basically dead.  Had a mind of its own.  If the heat was turned on, FREEZING cold air was blowing out of the vents.  The cost of repairs?  More than we could ever think of having in our account.  We kept praying for God to make a way for us because as time was ticking the weather kept getting colder and colder. 

It was NO fun being in our house for more than 15 minutes because it was so stinkin' cold.  We had 2 space heaters - 1 new & 1 old - borrowed from family.  The sad thing is we could only use one of them (the new one).  The old one blew the circuit (that's another story in itself) when we used it.  During the day and evening, the space heater was in the living room.  At night, we moved it to our bedroom and kept the door closed to stay as cozy as possible. Sounds nice, right?!

Well, there were about 5 nights that it got REALLY REALLY COLD.  God performed a miracle.  Our heat came on 4 of those really really cold nights!  That was the ONLY time the heat worked in the past couple months.  No joke.  During this time, full gear was worn chillin' in the living room......sweat pants, 3 pair of socks, 1 short sleeve t-shirt, 1 long sleeve t-shirt, a polar fleece hoodie, and a scarf.  Mike normally wore his coat, 3 t-shirts, sweats, and socks and shoes.  Again, no joke.  It was flippin' cold!  Seriously, I even considered purchasing a Snuggie.......okay, NOT REALLY........  Every night, laying in bed, praying to God, through the tears, to hear our prayers and perform a miracle.  PLUS, I was getting really tired of heating up my toilet seat with the hair dryer!  I was so thankful for that hair dryer though - it heated up my clothes before I put them on every day, and some nights even heated up the sheets.

Heck, even our CATS were freezing!
                                                                        
Blossom sitting in front of the heater that blew the circuit.                                                                        


Biscuit even welcomed some covers on the couch.










We kept believing that God was going to do something.  We weren't sure what, but 2 weeks ago we received an email that said the check was in the mail.  We were blown away!  Seriously?!  Yes!  A miracle!  Sent from Heaven above from someone who is so kind, so giving, so selfless, so obedient, so angelic, so beautiful, so dear, so loving, so miraculous, and SO MANY MORE THINGS!!!!  You know who you are, and we CANNOT say THANK YOU enough!!!!  Thank you for being our answered prayer!!!!  We love you so so so much!!!  xoxoxoxooooo

We are SO BLESSED.
and
SO WARM.



Monday, November 16, 2009

Refine me

I've had this song on my heart all day.  I can't seem to escape it.


I come into this place
Burning
to receive your peace
I come with my own chains
From wars I've fought for my own selfish gain
You're my God and my Father
I've accepted your Son
But my soul feels so empty now
What have I become?

Lord, come with your fire,
Burn my desires; refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Refine me

My heart can't see
When
I only look at me
My
soul can't hear
When I only think of my own fears
They are gone in a moment
You're
forever the SAME

Why did I look away from You
How can I speak Your name?


Lord, come with Your fire,
burn my desires; refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Come rescue this child
For I long to be reconciled to You

It's all I can do
To give my heart and soul to You
And pray, and pray, oh I will pray


Lord, come with Your fire,
burn my desires; refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Come rescue this child
For I long to be reconciled to You

Refine me, refine me
Refine me, refine me

Does your soul feel empty?   I'm being completely honest and open......I've felt like that.  I've tried figuring things out on my own.  I've tried to do things MY way -  even when I've heard that voice telling me "let Me handle this".  Why don't we listen to that voice?  Why has our LAST resort sometimes been God?  Why hasn't He been the first choice?
The words in this song hit home with me - WHY did I look AWAY from YOU?  HOW can I speak YOUR name???!!!!  After trying things out my way and usually failing, how can I even speak His name?  How can I even go running back to God?  It always makes me feel so unworthy, but.......
It's all I can do, To give my heart and soul to You,  And pray, and pray, oh I will pray.  Refine me.






 

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!

If you all know me, you know I am SO fond of Bradley's!  It's one of my favorite shops in town.  Every year, one of the big events for the shop is their Christmas Open House.  It is always amazing!  Each year, Joy finds more and more incredible items for her friends.  I call the customers her friends because she becomes friends with everyone who enters the quaint little shop.  She is such a sweet, genuine, beautiful woman who values every person who steps foot through her door.  Joy is just that.  A pure joy!  You won't feel like just another number walking through the door.   If Joy isn't there (which is rare), you will still be welcomed and valued in the same way.

 The images below are a couple of the pictures found on Bradley's Facebook page.
Look at this cuteness in the storefront window!!!!!   


 


I was so happy to see she was able to purchase more of these ornaments again.  I bought several of them last year, and will definitely be purchasing more again this year!!  (This is one of the ornaments on my tree last year)  They're simple, but the messages are so beautiful!  They could also be used as adornments on your beautifully wrapped Christmas presents.



Check out the fun stuff on www.shopbradleys.com.  Did you know that you can order some of  Bradley's DELICIOUS chocolates in all different shapes, sizes, letters, etc.?  For ANY occassion?  Just give them a couple days notice, and they'll take care of it for you!  (I recommend the dark chocolate.)

I'm not promoting Bradley's today because of any kickbacks.....there aren't any in it for me.  I'm promoting Bradley's today because:  1.  It's a great little shop that is FABULOUS!  2.  I want to see them have more success than they already have.  3.  They're local.  4.  It's an incredible treasure. 5.  Brad and Joy have values and integrity and it shows in everything they do!  6.  When you walk out of Bradley's with a bag of treats, you just feel good about it!  7.  And they have LOTS and LOTS of chocolate!!!

If you enjoy blogs, you should check out Joy's blog!!!!  You'll enjoy it, I promise!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

It was a graveyard smash.

The leaves are GORGEOUS here right now.  Today or tomorrow I'm planning on getting out of the house and taking more pictures.  I'm SO excited about that!
Yesterday it was nasty and rainy and chilly.  My sweet husband was so accommodating in taking me to a couple locations so I could snap some shots.  This is one of the locations.  I think this picture is so cool.  
It's obviously at a graveyard AND it was Halloween, which made it more cool.  

I hope you all have a great day!  My best friend is coming to town today and I can't wait to see her!  Yay! 

Friday, October 30, 2009

New do!

Okay, so it's actually about two weeks old. I was getting a little tired of my long curly hair. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the hair I've got. Thankful I've FINALLY figured out how to tame it after all these years. But, I needed to do something with these scraggly ends.

I totally trust my friend and what she does to my hair. I went in and told her I'd like to chop a lot of it off, and that I trusted her to do what she thought would look good on me.
After the first snip, I felt some weight drop. I got a LITTLE nervous, but there was no turning back.....it will grow back, right?! This is what I look like now.

I must say, I liked it at first. I liked it a lot, but what would Mike think about it? Oh no.....my heart was beating when I walked out of the salon. When he saw me, he said he liked it. Later that day, he said he liked it even more. The next day, he was hooked! He said he loved it! Every single time he saw me that first week, he'd say, "honey, I REEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLLY love your hair! I think it looks great!" He STILL loves my new do, and I must admit, I do too!

**Sad news, though, I cannot fix it curly right now. I knew that was going to be part of the deal. Just for fun, I fixed it curly......JUST to see what it looked like. Yep. I was right. Freaking Carrot Top. NO THANKS. I'll flat iron it for a few more months, thank you.**

I'm hoping to post more often. Stay tuned.
My next post is going to hopefully be about my trip to Idaho! It was a BLAST! It was so much fun! And it was definitely a memorable trip! That post is LONG overdue, but I can't help but share it with you! :)

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Surprise!

Today on my way home from work I called Mike. He told me he had 2 surprises for me. One was my sister-in-law and brother-in-law were coming over. WITH dinner(which was great, by the way). :) The second one he said he couldn't tell me....I'd have to wait until I got home. I was begging him to tell me. The only thing he told me was that I got a package in the mail today. He wouldn't tell me who it was from, and every guess I took, he gave the same reply, "I'm not telling."

Doesn't everyone love surprises?! The suspense was ridiculous. I wasn't expecting a package from anyone......who could it be?

I got home, and there was the package sitting there with the mail from the day. It was a bubble-wrap envelope from..............my sweet sweet Grandma!!!! I could hardly wait to open it. I had no idea what she would send to me. I opened up the envelope and this is what I found.

A letter along with some booklets. What were the booklets? My Grandma went to the horse races in July and again last weekend. These are the booklets she got from the park. There are so many things about this that are cute. She circled the dates on the front. Circled the category of race that she was betting on.


The letter she sent was so sweet, and to anyone who knows ME, KNOWS that I read the greeting out loud, in HER voice. "Hiiiiiiiiii Mike and Jaaaaaanet." That is what made this so cute. As well as the fact that when I picked up the booklets, all of the tickets from the horses she bet on fell out. As I looked through the books, I saw she also circled more races she bet on.


One of my favorite parts of this, is how she ended the sweet letter. "See you in November. Love, Grandma. Say hello to everybody." She has a hard time writing because of arthritis, but it didn't stop her from sharing the excitement of the horse races!

This is my sweet Grandma. This picture was taken in April when she came down to visit for a week. We had a birthday party for her, for her 87th birthday! Doesn't she look FABULOUS?! She was so excited about having a birthday party, and later told me that this was only the 2nd birthday party she has ever had! Knowing THAT made it even more special!!! And made me even more thankful we planned this! I love this precious lady!!!!!!!
XOXOXOOOOO


Thursday, August 27, 2009

Private eyes are watching you.

Last week I met a lady who is a private investigator. She gave a business card to each of the girls I was with so we could check out her site if we ever needed a P.I. No big deal. Stuck it in my bag.

Well, Wednesday night Mike couldn't sleep. He got out of bed and decided he'd watch some tv. That's when he remembered the Powerball drawing was a few hours earlier. His curiosity got the best of him and went to look for the ticket in my purse (that was in my bag).

He came back to bed as I was rolling over to get comfortable. He laid down on the bed and he said, "I can't sleep. I was going to check the Powerball numbers but I didn't know exactly where the tickets were." I said, "they're in my wallet where they always are." He said, "well, I opened your bag and found.......a card.....for a private investigator......" I burst out in laughter!!!! I couldn't stop laughing!!!

He said, "well, I'm glad YOU think this is funny because I don't." Before I was able to get any words out, he said, "Did you hire a private investigator to watch me? Do you think I'm cheating? If you do, I want you to know that I have never been so in love with you as I am now. I am not cheating on you." I said, "oh boy!!! This scenario couldn't have played out any more perfectly than it just did!!! I told the girls it would be funny if this happend!" He said, "I don't know what is so funny."

Then I told him that we "met this lady who gave us each a business card, told us she was a P.I. and if we ever needed someone, to give her a call. I don't think you're cheating. End of story. As soon as I put that card in my bag, I told the girls it would be just my luck if Mike found this card AND it would be SOOOO HILARIOUS!" He still didn't find it as HILARIOUS as I did.

The next morning, as I was leaving for work, I walked in the dining room and saw that business card neatly placed on the edge of the table. I just busted out laughing. :)

I hope everyone is having a great week! It's almost Friday!!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Search is Over.

Hello blog world! I can't believe it has been so long since my last post.

Several of you have been asking about my camera search. Well, first, I am EXTREMELY happy to say that the Office Max customer service people are awesome. After I sent an email to them telling them my story, someone called me a couple of days later. They cancelled the giftcard and sent me a check for the entire balance!!!! I was overjoyed.

As far as the camera search goes....I have not made a purchase yet. I had my decision made, I wanted the Nikon D60....UNTIL I started talking to some photographers and doing research online. One of my friends told me about www.dpreview.com, which has been very helpful. It has TONS of information about practically ANY camera imaginable. My main goal is to find a camera that I am going to enjoy using for a very long time. I have come to a completely different decision in my search.

I want a Canon! I can't believe I'm saying that since my heart was set on Nikon. One of the main reasons I'm going with Canon is b/c of lens compatability. (Granted, I really know nothing about lenses yet, but I'm sure that will be my next area of interest/study.) Seems as if most, if not all, Canon lenses fit all the Canon bodies. NOT true with Nikon - there are only certain lenses available for specific bodies. I don't want go 5 years down the road only to find out all of the lenses for my camera body are discontinued. That won't happen with Canon.

This is a HUGE purchase for me, so I want to make sure, 100%, that I am making the right decision. After all of my research, I've decided that this is going to be mine.....


Ladies and gentlemen: meet the Canon Rebel T1i (picture courtesy of Canon, of course).

Once I decided on Canon, I was planning on going with the Rebel XSi, and I was confident in that. Until I heard about the T1i. The main difference between these two is the T1i records HD video. The last camera I had included video recording, and I used it often. I'm going to spend a little bit more to get HD video on my new camera since I'm going to have it for a LONG time.

......Now, will someone PLEASE put this camera on sale?......... :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!!!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Happy AND the Sad.

How has everyone been doing? I must say, I've missed being away, but haven't been motivated to blog. By the time I get home from work, I've been tired and not in the mood to share my feelings with the world. Until today.

Many of you know I enjoy taking pictures. I take my camera with me almost everywhere I go, hoping to get some great shots. I don't know that much about photography, settings, effects, etc, but I love taking pictures. Well, the camera that I've had for about 2 years messed up on me. I bought it at Office Max, and purchased the Max Assurance to go along with it. By purchasing the Max Assurance it guarantees that if/when your purchases tears up, you send it back and get the FULL purchase price PLUS sales tax on an O/M giftcard. So, I sent my old camera back. I've had my eye on this camera.


The Nikon D60. It is basically a dream. I was going to have to add some of my own money along with the giftcard to make the purchase. I didn't mind though b/c I've been wanting this for a while.

I decided that tonight was the night. I was going to purchase this D60. I go to www.officemax.com to make the purchase. When I added it to my cart, a pop up window asked for my zipcode. After I put that bad-boy in there, a window popped up that said the camera was DISCONTINUED in my area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?!!??!!!!!
I did a couple other things to make sure. Nope. Discontinued. Why would officemax.com keep this on the site??? So, I called the customer service # b/c, well, I want this camera. I talked to someone who was kind of giving me some hope, then she said "oh, this is an online only product, i can't help you." ARRRRRGH. Seriously??? I told her that this giftcard was useless now, and I had NO use for it.
As a customer service person would, she said, "now don't say that, they never expire, and you can use it on future purchases." This does NOT solve my problem. I am 1. Camera-LESS right now 2. not planning on making any large purchases from office max except for this camera. YADA YADA YADA YADA YADA....... I sent an email to online customer service, asking for some serious assistance.

I'm crushed. Yes, I can be a little over-exaggerative at times, but I am crushed. I felt like my dream was stomped on by the jolly green giant, but he wasn't jolly.

....On to the next story.
Yesterday I was doing laundry. A normal weekend project for everyone. Right before we started a movie, I threw a load of laundry in the dryer. About 30 minutes into the movie, Mike, the "sound police", said "what is that in the dryer?????!!!!" I said, "I don't know, probably your cargo shorts." Nothing else was said about it.

Tonight I turned the dryer back on tonight with those same clothes in it. Fluff them up, get the wrinkles out, and fold them. After the dryer stopped, I opened it up, and noticed a nice minty fragrance (and it wasn't the Downey Simple Pleasures Lavender and Vanilla). I wondered for a split second what the aroma was, then thought, "well, I HAVE been missing my Burt's Bees chapstick for about a week". And, THERE it was! Yep! This is what was left. ***This was taken with the camera on my phone...since I'm CAMERA-LESS right now***





Needless to say, after a heartbreaking moment, there was a hilarious one! I'm STILL wondering what my lesson is in all of this. Especially about my DREAM camera!!!!

Any thoughts? Anyone? I'm sure the reason will come to me soon, but I'm REALLY REALLY sad right now. REALLY.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Let the sun shine in.

This weekend we're supposed to have INCREDIBLE weather! Tomorrow it's supposed to be 86! It's April and it's going to feel like summer, and I can't wait. I'm not sure what the weekend will bring, but I'm sure at least one day Mike and I will go out for a drive. I'll be taking my camera, of course. Seems I'm a little obsessed with taking pictures of trees lately. Not sure what all that is about, but yet I do. I'm hoping to do a blog about trees soon. It's going to be a great one.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Monday, April 20, 2009

busy, shmbusy.

Okay, so that's NOT the best title. haha.
So, I've been getting messages to post more blogs. I must admit, it makes me smile. I'm glad there are people out there who enjoy reading what I've got to say.... Another big entry is in the works. I've been busy recently with different things, some of which I will talk about very soon.
Stay tuned.......
Wishing everyone a FANTASTIC week!
Janet! :)

Monday, April 6, 2009

I'm so excited.

And I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control..............

So, there are SO MANY things I'm excited about! (To all of you who know everything about me, no, I'm not pregnant. YET. That I know of.)

There are tons of things going on in the next week or so that I am so excited about. I can't tell you what it is yet.

Ok, well, I can tell you ONE thing. Faith Promise Church! Easter Sunday! At the Coliseum! 10:30am! COME AS YOU ARE! NO dressing up required! Leave the easter suits and dresses at home, or at the stores on the racks, for that matter. UNLESS, of course, you'd just like to dress up, then that's fine too. Come as you are, dressed in denim, shorts, khakis, board shorts, flip flops, tanks, skirts, dressses, whatever. God doesn't care what you wear. It's not about the outside, it's AAAAAALLLLLLLLLL about the inside! It's going to be incredible! The first time in about 10 years (that's what I'm told) that the ENTIRE church will be together all at once! Doors open at 9:30am! Get ready to ROCK!!!!!!

I'll post more soon! You all have an incredible week!

AND, as this being the week leading up to Easter, watch the below video, crank up the speakers, and listen to the words to the song. THIS is what Easter is ALL about! (For those of you who watch the first 10 seconds and think it's going to be generic, forward to about 1:10 and start from there)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Survey says!

Mike and I were at Target a few weekends ago breezing up and down the aisles. We heard 2 employees chatting it up. We had to stop and "shop" the dairy section just to eavesdrop on this hilarious conversation.

There were 2 guys talking. The older grey haired guy said to the younger guy, "hey, let me tell you one last story then I'll let you go." The younger guy hung around for a minute, but you could tell he was eager to get back to what he was doing.

Older guy: Let me tell you what I've been doing. You know those surveys you get in the mail that companies want you to fill out?
Younger guy: Yeah.
Older guy (in a sneaky, whisper-ish, secretive way): Well, where it asks how much money you make, I always check $250,000.00 or more.
Younger guy (amused): Really???
Older guy: Yeah, man. I also check off that I drive a Mercedes. I also check that I use ALL top of the line products.
Younger guy: Are you serious? What's the point of doing that?
Older guy (in a serious and excited tone): Man! The junk mail you get is SO MUCH BETTER!!!! I got junk mail a couple days ago with a 10.00 gift card for Ruby Tuesday!
Younger guy: But you're not telling the truth.
Older guy: Hey, they don't ask if you're telling the truth on those things. It's helping ME out.

Mike and I thought it was hilarious. It made us laugh, and the expression on their faces were unforgettable.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Don't judge a book...

A couple days ago Mike and I were at, you guessed it, Target. We walked in behind an older gentleman. From looking at him I made a quick decision about him - he was a cranky old man who seemed to be beaten down by the world.

We did our shopping and got in line. Guess who was in front of us? The old man. In front of him was a dad and his two young daughters. The girls were around 7-9 years old. The oldest one bought something first and paid with her own money. The old man was standing there watching them and smiling. The youngest girl was SO excited about her purchase, anyone could see it in her eyes and by the smile on her face. She took her crumpled $11.00 out of her little purse and set it on the counter before she even saw her total...smiling the whole time. The cashier said "that will be $12.01." You could see slight panic on the little girl's face. She was $1.01 short.

The youngest girl was trying to get her dad's attention, "dad, dad....". He was busy talking to the older girl and didn't realize what was going on. The old man already had his wallet in hand, ready to pay for his purchase. He saw the frightened little girl trying to get her dad's attention to get a dollar from him. The old man dug deep into his pockets and pulled out a penny and gave it to the little girl. Then he opened up his wallet to pull out a dollar to give to her. The dad finally realized what was going on. He told the old man "thank you," (for the gesture) but pulled a dollar out of his wallet and gave it to his daughter.

The old man couldn't stop smiling. He said something like, "Oh, I thought I'd do a good deed today. You know, some people still do things like that." Then he went on to tell the dad, "I have a granddaughter who is 4 and I spoil her as much as I can, and I just thought, 'it's only a dollar'." Once again, the dad thanked the old man, and they went on their way. The old man was still smiling.

Mike turned to me with a smile on his face and whispered, "awwww, did you just see that?" I saw it all too well. I was smiling as I nodded my head, but was holding back tears. It was so sweet. So genuine. So nice. So heart-warming. So unheard of these days. It made me wish that times were simple again. It made me wish that MORE people were STILL like that.

I also must say I was also quickly put in my place about the opinion I formed about him. We all make mistakes, right? :)

I hope you all are having a FANTASTIC week!
JANET! :)

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day.

Just a little note to all of my blog friends....wishing you all a nice Valentine's Day. I do think it's overrated. When people ask me what our Valentine's plans are, my reply is a cheesy, BUT true, statement: Valentine's day is just like any other day to us. Mike and I celebrate our love every day of the year.

It's true, though. We both agree we have something very special. Mike and I were friends for about a year before we started dating. We were best friends. We only dated 2 months before we got engaged, and then married 6 months later. We've been married for almost 15 years!

Every day is not picture perfect, but it's perfect because that's the way life is supposed to be. And, I spend each day with the person I enjoy being around THE MOST. Not only do we still love each other, but we still LIKE each other.

I'll hopefully be posting a new blog this weekend.......
XOXOOO
JANET! :)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What talent?

The picture below says so much. It actually says SO MUCH, that I don't even feel like I need to write anything else after you see the picture (although I probably will). :) See for yourself.


This is another FAVORITE I purchased from Bradley's . I couldn't resist. THE SECOND I laid my eyes on it, I KNEW it was going to be mine on that visit! It could not have spoken to me more powerfully than it did that day. When I read it, I had to hold back the tears because I knew I was guilty of not using everything that has been given to me.

It made me question myself and I hope it makes you do the same. Are you USING EVERY talent you have been given? If not, why aren't you? You were given those talents for a reason. Are you one of those people who THINK they have NO talents? I USED to be one of those people until recently. I used to think I wasn't given an ounce of talent (well, besides making people laugh). I'm gradually discovering what my talents are and I hope you will begin the journey doing the same thing.

When all is said and done, I don't want to be one of the people saying "what talents?!" I want to use every talent I've been given. What about you?

Hope you all are having a great weekend!
JANET! :)


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Ch-ch-ch-changes

There are so many things I'd like to discuss today. I'm sure I won't have time to discuss everything. I am STILL planning on blogging about the New Year and my goals and everything. But, it seems like there are so many more things I need to talk about right now.

I was going to write about the MANY friends I have that are still employed by my former company, Goody's. How it stinks, really bad, to see what the company has turned into. It was once a GREAT place to work, but after the owners sold, it gradually went downhill. Well, I can't even say it gradually went downhill because it took a huge nosedive, actually. I have been thinking about what each and everyone of them are going through. I was in that same position 6 months ago. They will be fine. They will survive. They will get through this. They will all be better off in the long run.

As I've been thinking about the situation and praying for all of them for quite some time, guess what? Mike was laid off this week! Yep, from another company in town. Rumors had been circulating for a while, but there weren't exact details of when layoffs would happen. The layoffs started this week. It's crazy. Mike and I have both been praying about it...realizing that he could be one of them that were cut.

He called me at work Wednesday afternoon. When I picked up he said, "are you ready?" I was said, "ready for what?" (I was absolutely clueless) He said, "I just got laid off." "Oh, okay" was kind of my reaction. We both have a strange peace about the situation. It's not the end of the world. Yes, unemployment doesn't offer the greatest pay or benefits, but at least it's SOMETHING, right?! We made it through my unemployment for a little over 3 months this summer, we can make it through this.

I was going through old emails earlier and came across one that I sent my very good friend, Mishael, during the time that I was unemployed. I wrote the following words: "so, we're really not stressing. it's such a weird, unexplainable feeling. we both feel a peace about EVERYTHING. not to sound too crazy, but you hear the saying that god has you in the palm of his hand. that is how i LITERALLY feel. i've never felt anything like it before, but the other day i was sitting, thinking about what is going on in our lives, how we SHOULD be freaked out, and SHOULD be nervous, and SHOULD be stressing b/c as we look at it, the future is uncertain. BUT, as i was getting ready to sit down the other day, i just literally felt like i was sitting down in the palm of god's hand, legs hanging over the edge of his fingers...he's holding us up, protecting us from all of the elements.......like a bird protects her babies, spreading her wings out over them, not letting any harm come to them. it's a sweet, precious thing that i can say i have never ever ever ever felt before. it's pretty amazing!"

Like I said, we've both been praying and seeking God more than we ever have in our lives. It's a nice, peaceful feeling KNOWING that He is watching over us and is in control of our situation. If he watches over the little birds making sure they have food and shelter, how much more will he watch over us???

P.S. This is a picture I took while I was laid off and looking out my back window one morning.


Maybe I'll try to write more later.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
JANET! :)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Lunchity!

Today Mike and I had lunch with two of my great friends! It was totally spur of the moment, and it worked out that everyone was able to meet up at last minute. They told me to ask Mike to come along also. He wasn't going to go at first b/c he didn't want to be the only guy. But, they wanted me to assure him that he was MORE than welcome to join us. We're glad he did b/c he was able to take our picture. hahahaaaaa. Of course that isn't the ONLY reason we're glad he joined us....he's their friend, and MY ALL TIME best friend. :)

We had so much fun - catching up, good food, hilarious stories, lots of laughs, great conversation, and the list goes on. It was fun catching up after the holidays and before we all have to go back to work next week. We had a GREAT time! You girls are the best! xoxoxoxooooo

Oh, and I TOTALLY stole the title of this blog from the bestie in the middle. haha.

Happy New Year!!!!
JANET!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Counting Sheep.

That's what I'm going to be doing in about 10 minutes. Okay, so, I might only be able to count about 30-ish sheep b/c i'm exhausted. Exhausted from doing absolutely NOTHING today! I was planning on blogging about the New Year, but I'll be hopefully doing that tomorrow (or later on today.....like, 12-15 hours later today). :)
Chat with you soon!
JANET!