Read the Label

For those of us who have food allergies we are very aware of what is in our foods because we're reading labels of EVERYTHING we eat. As a vegetarian my first red light is meat (although I'm okay with animal products like eggs, milk, cheese, etc.), my next red light are tropical fruits (like pineapple, mango, kiwi, etc.) because I have a food allergy to them, but other than that it's just good to know what kind of poison I'm consuming (okay, okay, if there are too many chemicals I tend to put it back, but on occasion I'll go ahead and get something because let's face it... it's yummy).

As far as my food allergy I've only had a few instances where it has been a problem. I first realized maybe my reaction after eating pineapple isn't just a bug was when I was in high school. As a kid my mom would make a pineapple upside down cake 3-4 times a month. I'm not sure why I didn't eat it, but on the occasions I did, I'd get violently ill that evening, but would be fine the next day. Because we weren't sure why I was ill I'd skip school the next day thinking it was a 24 hour flu or something. Looking back now had I realized it was from the pineapple upside down cake I think I would have eaten more... then again, my parents would have known too and I would still be sick and then be hit with a double whammy and still have to go to school the next day.

When I was in high school I ate a pineapple chunk at Disneyland during a hot day. I became ill at Disneyland and the whole ride home. We chocked it up to maybe the pineapple was bad from being out in the sun. Then while at a friend's birthday sleep over I had pineapple pizza... where again I became ill and lets face it, being the one who got sick at a sleepover is not something you want to be remembered by in high school. It was quite embarrassing. After that I realized while eating the pizza my tongue felt tingly and maybe that wasn't normal. I told my mom about this and she said it wasn't normal. After talking to the doctor he said it was a food allergy and to stay away from it, so I have.

While on a missions trip in Japan I had mango and had the same reaction of the tingly tongue and fortunately stopped eating and didn't get to the ill stage. It's one thing to be ill at Disneyland and a teen sleepover, but ill in another country is not on my bucket list!

Well, at 29 years old, I'm fully aware of my allergies and do a good job of reading labels to ensure there isn't anything I don't want to eat or can't eat. While at Costco with my sister the other night she ordered a Chicken Bake and bites in to enjoy her dinner when she realized there was bacon in the Chicken Bake (she doesn't eat pork). I told her to read the labels (well, in this case the ingredient list) very carefully. She kept telling me it was my fault because I suggested she eat the Chicken Bake. I told her she's an adult and can read her own labels. We do our shopping and find a new food product that is like a Lunchables for adults with hummus and crackers, meat stick and crackers, trail mixes, seed mixes and a little chocolate for dessert. We figured we could split the pack that came with 4 boxes, two with hummus and crackers and two with meat stick and crackers. I glanced through the label, but didn't throughly read the label figuring I would later and we could split the pack even more if there was something either of us didn't want.

The next day I grab my box and head off to work. My friend bought me an unexpected lunch, so I figured I'd save my box lunch for dinner before the meeting. I sit down to enjoy my box lunch (now box dinner) and the hummus and crackers were so delicious. I'm really excited about my new box lunch and I'm thinking of how often I'd like to take them to work. I eat my trail mix with dried cranberries and think the cranberries are a bit sweeter than normal, but they are so yummy I don't think twice about it besides how yummy they taste. The nuts were coated in a spice so there was a bit of a kick, but not too much I can't handle my trail mix. I then start eating my seeds and remember I didn't read the label of any of the little packs, so I read the seed label: toasted edemame, pepitas, toasted watermelon seeds - awesome all foods I can eat. I go to the trail mix: jalapeno spiced almonds and peanuts, dried cranberries, and dried mango - mmm... so that's why the dried cranberries were so sweet they were mixed with mangos.... MANGOS... OH SHOOT, MANGOS!

I instantly start looking for signs of a reaction, but realized in the past once past the tingly tongue it takes an hour or so to become ill... my meeting was in about an hour. I'm then thinking do I chance it and go to the meeting and hope I don't get sick? I've never had dried mangos, will I have the same reaction as the fresh stuff? I text my boss to let him know what just happened and I might not make it to the meeting or may have to leave early if I do make it, but right now I feel okay. Twenty minutes pass and I my eye itched. I went to scratch it, but realized this was a reaction. I looked in the mirror and noticed my eyes were a little puffy and red. I send another text to my boss and let him know I'm not going to make it. I'm heading home. As I'm driving all I can think of is Will Smith's face in Hitch when he eats shellfish without knowing he's allergic. I call my mom and she tells me she put the medicine on the counter in the bathroom, but she's leaving for her meeting. I get home take the pill and still feel itchy all over. When my sister got home about 10 minutes later before even telling her what happened she comments on how red my skin is... of course I now have a rash all over my body, but all I can do is wait and hope the medicine kicks in faster. At this point I'm feeling a little funny in my head, but figure it's the medicine. When an hour passed and I was ready to go to bed I realized it was the medicine and called it a night (at this point the itchiness had started to lessen, but I still had the rash and puffy eyes).

In the middle of the night I woke up and realized the medicine was still in me because my head felt really funny. I went to roll over and my arms felt really funny too. I then remember thinking, or maybe even said it out loud, "My arms feel funny. They are like spaghetti. I have spaghetti arms." All the while waving my arms around as if they were spaghetti being stirred in a pot of hot water. After waving my spaghetti arms around for a bit I finished rolling over and went back to sleep.

This morning I'm realizing I should always read the label of every food I'm going to consume BEFORE I consume any and all foods. After all, like I told my sister, I am an adult and it is my responsibility to read my own labels.

The Caterpillar Promise

There once was a little boy who was going to visit his relatives. While in the car on his way his mom told him about all the great things he could expect while visiting at his aunt and uncle's house. Besides seeing his family and enjoying a great meal his mom had mentioned how he could ride on his uncle's caterpillar. Imagine the great things you could do riding a caterpillar! After all,  the caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar had a great time eating through all those foods, right?

The little boy began thinking about all he see on the back of the caterpillar his mom had told him he would get to ride. Would the caterpillar be a giant caterpillar - after all, it would have to be since his mom said he could ride on it! How big would this caterpillar be? Would he get to feed it as well as ride on it? How fast could the caterpillar go? How far could he ride the caterpillar? How fast could a giant caterpillar move? Do giant caterpillars move quickly or slowly like little caterpillars? He wondered what kind of butterfly the caterpillar would turn in to one day. He hoped it wouldn't go into a cocoon just yet because he wanted to ride on the caterpillar, but then he started to think of how cool it would be if he could ride on the butterfly the caterpillar would turn into after it became a butterfly.

As he was thinking about all the great adventures he could have riding on the caterpillar they arrived at his uncles house. He couldn't wait to get out of the car and see the caterpillar he was promised to ride on. After greeting his uncle he anxiously asked where the caterpillar he could ride was kept. He could hardly wait to ride on the caterpillar. His uncle said it was around back. With pure excitement he took off running to see his promise. When he got around back he stopped in his tracks. With a look of disappointment he asked his uncle, who was making his way around back to catch up to the little boy, "Where is the giant caterpillar?" When his uncle pointed in the direction of a machine the little boy realized the giant caterpillar wasn't anything he had dreamt it to be. He had imagined a giant caterpillar that would one day become a butterfly, but before him was a machine - a big dirty metal machine. What the little boy didn't realize is the promise his mom gave him of being able to ride on the caterpillar was actually his uncle's Caterpillar tractor. Here he was standing right in front of his promise, but didn't see it because he had imagined something totally different. 

His mom kept her promise because that boy was allowed to ride on his uncle's caterpillar. Although initially disappointed he realized how cool it was to ride on this Caterpillar tractor - even if it wasn't the same caterpillar he was thinking of when he was given the promise.

This story was based loosely on a true story from a friend's real life adventures. It got me thinking about how the promises God has given me and how I turn them into something they aren't supposed to be turned in to, but should just be the promise as it was given. Sure it's fun to dream, but at the end of the day the promise is simple and I don't know if the caterpillar is one that will turn into a butterfly or a tractor... both of which would be super awesome to ride as a seven year old little boy!

Spiritual Potty Training

I’ve been processing the maturity of Christians recently and came up with an analogy I think works pretty well. I was thinking about what would equate to the maturity of Christians which would be outrageous if we did this in our current society. I started to think about potty training. Maybe I’ve cared for children a little too long when I can create an entire analogy based around the excretion of body fluids, but the more I thought about it the more I saw the connection in the analogy. 

I began thinking about how infants don’t know better than to relieve themselves at any moment and any time. They have yet to gain control over themselves and find nothing wrong with making a mess of themselves. As a society we provide a socially acceptable solution to their lack of control by diapering the infant. In the same way I was thinking of non-believers who have never heard of the word of God. Not that we physically diaper them, but we realize they are going to defecate and understand how they can see no problem with this act, but want to help them. They do not see it as disgusting and not a problem - after all, this is how they were made.

Then when the individual becomes a Christian they notice the sin they have lived in and committed and become disgusted with their choices and would like to change. This is the start of potty training where the child becomes aware that when they relieve themselves it is uncomfortable and want to be changed, but are still unable to change themselves. The training begins at this stage. The child is shown the potty is the place to go in order to not make a mess of themselves. The trick now is to go to the potty BEFORE they relieve themselves. As a Christian this is where we realize what leads to sin and change the way we live to not commit sin. 

Occasionally there are accidents and fortunately for the child they have loving parents who will help them clean themselves as well as help them recognize the early signs before they have an accident. The awesome thing is our Heavenly Father is the same way. We may still have a consequence to our sin, but the Holy Spirit is here to help us learn to avoid sin and what to do with sin that is committed - take it to God and let him flush it away.

Think now of the mature Christian who is able to recognize when they have sin and what they do with it - they immediately take their sin to the toilet and flush it away by asking God for forgiveness and letting go of the sin. Once a child is potty trained the child should have fewer and fewer accidents the older the child becomes until they are fully potty trained. This is process is the same for Christians.

I began thinking about the age of when children are potty trained. I began thinking about how most children by the age of two have began potty training, usually by the age of four have very few accidents, and hopefully by age six (hopefully sooner) have mastered controlling their bowels. Imagine if there were a twenty year old who has been toilet trained, but refuses to use the toilet. This would not only be a huge societal faux pas but society members would not be as patient with them as we would with a three year old. Unfortunately there are people who never reach the spiritual potty training because they are okay with their occasional accidents, let alone don’t mind to master what needs to be done to prevent accidents.

I don’t know about you, but I sure am glad I’m physically potty trained and have fewer and fewer spiritual potty training accidents. 

Life

As my 29th birthday approaches next month I begin to think back to when I was 12 years old and someone asked me what I thought my life would be like in 15 years. Of course my idea of living on a cruise ship traveling around the world married to a chef who would bring home wonderful dishes he'd prepared for dinner was a bit out there in dream land, but at the same time when I realistically thought about where I'd be has ended up not nearly as close as I thought it would be.

I guess that's the hardest part about growing older... the realization life will not be as perfect as we plan it to be. I think it was the movie Curly Sue where the main character tells his daughter how they can dream themselves into a million dollars and a mansion, but until they start acting it's not going to happen. It's been a while since I've seen this movie, but the point is a good one. Of course sitting around making wishes isn't going to accomplish much so getting up and acting is going to be more beneficial, but there is something else the main character in Curly Sue missed... seeking God's will.

I can think about where I wanted to be and how far away from this dream I actually am, but then I have to stop myself from feeling sorry for myself and realize where God has lead me and how I've been obedient. No matter how far from my own dream I may feel I am I know I'm right where God wants me.

When I think about my obedience to God I can't complain about where I am in life and how far away from my own plan I've ended up. I've learned I can have a plan, but when God chooses to change it I know to follow his plan. I choose to make this choice for two reasons: (1) in the end God's plan is always better than what I've planned and (2) I know I'm going to end up where God leads so I might as well go the first time I'm asked. I've read about Jonah... I know what God can do and, frankly, I don't want to spend any time inside a fish.

"Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."  

Jonah 1:17

If you've read Jonah you know Jonah ended up going where God asked, but resented the reason he was sent. This is another area where I'd like to part ways with Jonah. I'd like to recognize the ways God is using me in places I'd rather not be.

Nail Designs

I was once told I have a story for everything. The more I thought about it I realized I do have a story for everything. Maybe it's because I want to share the meaning. Maybe it's because I like to talk. Maybe it's a combination of both. Regardless of the reason here are some nail designs I've done in the past few months and a little meaning behind the design. 

Cow Spots

My sister likes cows (well, specifically their spots) and had asked me to paint her toe nails. We've experimented with the spot colors, but we both like the traditional white with black spots the best. On this occasion she was going on a week long vacation so I decided to paint my nails to match. We both had so many compliments on our nails. Who knew so many people would like cow spotted nails?

Plaid Nails 

This plaid design sparked my creativity. I've even created a how to video to instruct my niece how to copy this design. Start with a solid color. Add a plaid design with 3 stripes going in each diagonal direction. Add a second color of strips in between the first stripes. Simple, yet it looks so complicated at first. A steady hand is helpful, but if you look closely, you'll see not all the stripes are perfectly straight, but you can't tell because there are so many stripes. 

Princess Nails 

I started with a solid pink as the back drop to this design. I added pink glitter plaid (just like the first color in the Plaid Nails design) and then used a magenta pink to add the dots in the middle of the plaid formed diamonds. I loved the way my nails sparkled. I felt like a princess all week with my sparkly pink nails.  

Ladybug Nails

This little girl likes ladybugs. How could I not put a rainbow of ladybugs on her nails? I've copied this design on my own nails. It is so easy to do and gets so many compliments. I like when the ladybugs go in different directions, but they are just as cute if they all go in the same direction. 

Vintage Rose Buds

The Vintage Rose Buds is a design I copied from Pintrest. I'll do my best to describe how I made the rose buds, but I'm not sure how well I can paint the picture with my words. For each rose bud start with  your lighter color and make two "C" shapes so the tails of the "C" interlock with each other. So you end up with a lopsided circle-ish shape. Then do the same thing with the darker color on top, but 90 degrees of the original interlocking "C" shapes and spaced out a little so they are not so close together so you can see the first "C's" interlocking. I liked this design. The only down side is it takes a while to master the design and it takes a while to do. This is one of the longer to complete designs I've done recently.

Broken Arm Nail Design

Okay, I know the title of this design is not very creative, but it is what it is. When I had a cast on my arm I still wanted to paint my nails. After all, I was sitting around doing nothing, so I might as well paint my nails and then sit around and let them dry. My doctor requested I not paint my right nails because he needed to see if my nails were changing colors and not with paint. To compromise my desire to paint my nails and to honor my doctor's request I used clear polish as my starting base. With the limited motion of my casted arm I knew my design had to be fairly simple. I had three stripes in one direction and two stripes in the other. The picture is hard to see the details, but with a casted arm this was the best I could do. This design allowed my doctor to look at my nails without having to remove my polish. Not to mention the nurses all raved on my creativity. 

Vanuatu Flag

My friends are missionaries in Vanuatu and their family is going to celebrate their completion of translating the Bible in Naavar. The 11 year old asked for the Vanuatu colors and I suggested we paint the flag. We googled the flag and I copied what I could (the blue is actually green, but the lighting changed it to a blue color). After talking to my friend in Vanuatu via Facebook she told me a little about the flag. Here's what Wikipedia says about the Vanuatu flag:

The flag of Vanuatu was adopted on February 13, 1980.

When the Vanua'aku Party led the country to independence as Vanuatu in 1980, the colors of the party flag - red, green, black and yellow - were chosen to be the basis for the national flag. A parliamentary committee chose the final design based on submissions from local artists.

The green represents the richness of the islands, the red is symbolic of the blood of boars and men, and the black of the ni-Vanuatu people. Vanuatu's Prime Minister requested the inclusion of yellow and black fimbriations to make the black stand out. The yellow Y-shape represents the light of the Gospel going through the pattern of the islands in the Pacific Ocean (Vanuatu is approximately 90% Christian).

The emblem in the black is a boar's tusk - the symbol of prosperity worn as a pendant on the islands - along with two leaves of the local namele fern. The leaves are supposed to be a token of peace, and their 39 fronds represent the 39 members of Vanuatu's legislative assembly.

Cool, right? I love the Y represents what my friends have been doing for the past 10 years!

American Flag

My sister and I will be in Washington DC for the 4th of July and figured we might as well show our patriotic side with American Flag nails. Here I was experimenting with a few different ways we could paint our nails. It worked out well and we will be sporting our patriotism in our nation's capital this 4th of July. Happy Birthday America!

Tasty Strawberries

Okay, okay, these are not real strawberries. In fact they aren't all that tasty, but they are super cute! A fun summer design.

Thank's Pintrest

I found this design on Pintrest and loved the concept. The picture doesn't do this design justice. The pointers are silver (which you can clearly see) and my other fingers (and thumbs) are pink. What you can't really see are the dots in a swirly pattern in the opposite color. Super cute and hard to make a mistake. If you make a dot where you didn't want it, just add another dot to follow along. Simple and fun.

Rainbow Nails

This little girl loves to have Miss Alice paint her nails. On this particular day we didn't have much time, so we decided to paint her nails while she was in her car seat waiting for her siblings to get out of school. She had to stay still long enough she ended up falling asleep while I was painting her rainbows! Talk about a challenge - tiny 4 year old nails while she is sleeping and kept clinching her fists! In the end they turned out so cute. When she woke up she was so happy to see her rainbows! 

Boston Red Sox

My sister is a Boston Red Sox fan. When she was heading out to go to Boston she asked if I could paint the Red Sox logo on her toes... apparently I can.

Cupcake Nails

Another Pintrest inspired nail design. A lot of the cupcake designs on Pintrest included a cherry, but who puts cherries on their cupcakes? Cherries are for ice cream, not cupcakes! I figured I'd give this design a try for my birthday and I'm very pleased. 

Pick A Color Any Color...

Here is just part of my nail polish collection. The top row are special stripe polishes with thin brushes. My collection is ever growing because I think of a design and need to add a color or two. I think I may have a problem with how many nail polishes I have, but then again if I didn't have this many I couldn't create my fun nail designs. 

Glass Bottle

I have tried using many different bottles to help with the eco factor as well as the save money by refilling the same bottle factors. My trouble came when I tried a few different kind, but I don't like them for various reasons. 

I started with the plastic bottles, but I don't like the aftertaste they leave not to mention the funny smell. I had friends tell me it was because I wasn't getting the right one (I needed to make sure they were BPA free). I got the ones they suggested (as in more than one because there are quite a few out there), but still no luck on the after taste and funny smell. Another friend suggested using metal water bottles. Although those were better, they still had a funny aftertaste. I did like how the metal water bottles I got came with a sleeve so it helped with the sweat my cold drinks would give off, but I couldn't get past the funny smell and after taste.

I had heard glass bottles don't give off the funny smell or have that icky after taste. The downside was I had became so frustrated with the cupboard full of water bottles I gave up searching for a water bottle I could use to be eco friendly. A few months ago I was visiting with a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer and had made life altering decisions to help fight her cancer. Among changing her diet and consuming an insurmountable amount of pills she is also very aware of anything chemically that can aide in the spread of her cancer and avoids it at (almost) all cost. One of those things is only drinking from glass containers. At the cancer treatment center they have the lifefactory glass bottles and after a discussion about how fantastic this bottle is I made a comment on how I would love to have a bottle that wouldn't leave the funny after taste or have that water bottle smell that makes me not want to drink anything from that bottle. She told me she would get one for me, but knowing all that she is going through I figured she would forget, which is totally understandable, not to mention she doesn't need to get me anything. After all, I could be doing more for her and her family during this time - even if she insists I do so much already - there is always more I can do to help.

It's now a few months later and I was so excited when she gave me my bottle tonight. I haven't had a chance to drink from it, and realized I should have waited to make a blog post about my new glass bottle, but I'm just so excited I had to share.

My new pearl white glass bottle.

I am SO excited about my new glass bottle! I love that it has a wide mouth to it so I can add ice cubes and easily pour into the bottle. I love the pearl white color. Although there were many other great colors to chose from - I love the white color. I do love white and it's a pearl color so it has a shiny tint to it... what could be better? I guess the fact it has the dots in the silicone sleeve which are like the polka dots I love so much (heck, I wrote a whole blog about polka dots!). I'm so excited about my new glass bottle and I'm excited to have a reminder to pray for my friend every time I use my new non-funny smelling, non-yucky aftertaste glass bottle.

Thank you friend (you know who you are)!

UPDATE:

Oh, how I love this glass bottle! It is so wonderfully awesome I can't tell you how much I love it!

First of all, the handle on the lid is amazingly awesome. I can easily hold on to it with three fingers - or one finger if I'm holding other things. Then when I take it off to drink it easily fits on my three fingers while I hold onto the bottle with the same hand without any drops of my drink getting anywhere... awesome! I was a little concerned about having to take the top off each time I drink and juggling with the cap and the bottle, but it was so easy to do... even while driving! Again... AWESOME! The design of this bottle is amazingly wonderful.

I loved drinking from it so much I needed to refill it by the time I got to work! I'm getting more liquids than before... bonus! In the morning I poured in some tea and thought, "Dude (yes, I call myself dude), I could totally add some cranberry juice and have some awesome tea right now!" FYI, it was SO delicious! Try it! I also loved how at lunch I was able to fill it with soda from the soda machine - with ice and all (of course I paid for it, although I had a few dirty looks from onlookers -  I had my receipt to show I paid for a drink, but didn't need the paper cup)!

The only downside is I'm still getting used to the wide mouth while drinking. While driving I was overly excited about drinking and holding my lid all in one hand I didn't notice the break lights ahead of me and in the process of drinking I slammed on my breaks all the while still drinking. Needless to say I had tea all down the front of me, but it dried and no one could tell (except I'm now telling the world... but you won't tell, right?). I'm hoping I will learn how to drink from a big girl bottle soon and won't need to get the flip top lid or the sippy lid they offer on the Lifefactory website (which is amazing, right?!).

What I'm super duper excited about is the taste of my drink... it's the taste of my drink! All day yesterday I was trying to use my bottle for different things only using water to rinse it out... and you know what... I only tasted the new drink I poured in! How fantastic is that? With my old water bottles I'd use water to rinse it out, but the new drink would taste like the old drink plus the icky taste. The true test came when I put water fountain water in my bottle. I'm not a fan of water fountain water. I don't like the taste (it's got that metal worse than tap water taste), but last night I wanted to try it out. It wasn't my favorite, but drinkable. It was so drinkable I actually didn't pour it out and get something else. This morning I looked at my half drank water bottle with water fountain water and thought, "Man, I wish I could drink you and you'd be drinkable like last night, but you'll probably have a funny taste and be REALLY gross." I figured why not go for it and try it... I was so surprised to taste and see it was the same as last night! Still not my favorite water to drink, but it didn't have the yucky taste like my other water bottles would have the next day! I then was thinking about how it's actually not THAT bad and if nothing else I could drink that water fountain water again.

The only down side is I am a little concerned about dropping it - it is glass after all. I know there is the protective silicone sleeve, but I'm still worried about dropping it. Last night I was caring a lot of things in from the car: my phone, laptop, and glass bottle in my hands among other items. As I'm juggling all these things I rank what I would want to save first, second, third and so on if I needed to drop something. I then laughed at myself as I thought, "Save the bottle, then computer, then phone..." WHAT??? A glass bottle I can replace for $8 (lid and sleeve would probably be okay), but drop the $2,000 computer???? Obviously it's not like I'm choosing what I'd drop, but if I'm willing to mentally save the glass bottle before the computer I either really love my water bottle or have lost my mind! Fortunately, I was able to make it to the house without dropping anything and mentally scolded myself for not thinking computer then bottle.

Moral of the story: I love my glass bottle!

The Blanket

If you know me then you know I've been one busy woman lately. I'm trying to blog more often, but I can hardly find the time to sit down and think of what I'd like to say let alone actually formulate what I'd like to say and actually post it to my blog! When I blog I like to include a picture, so most of the time when there is something for me to blog about and I don't have a picture I just don't blog about what ever it was going to be. There was one thing this week I thought was interesting and figured it might be worth blogging about. I didn't get a picture, but I found one on google to help me out.

I was babysitting this week for a family I've known for a while. When their now four year old was a new born I would put her in what we called "the blanket" - also known as a baby wrap. She would want to be held, but I would need to help the older kids with homework or make lunch or do anything else that would need a hand or two. The baby wrap was great! So great in fact I got two of them and put one in the church nursery where it has been used and borrowed by many. When the now four year old was about two years old she would call the wrap "the blanket" and the name has stuck. 

I haven't used "the blanket" in a while because the babies have grown up to be big kids. I have loaned out "the blankets" to friends with new borns and even used it once while dog-sitting when the dog was afraid of the wind and wanted to be held all day.

Okay, so here it is. The baby wrap with a dog in it. 

Sure this may be the silliest thing you've ever seen, 

but if it works why not go with it!

Anyhow, I had "the blanket" in my car to return to the nursery from a friend borrowing it, but hadn't had a chance to remember to put it away. This past week I was babysitting and while driving around after taking the kids roller skating (which would be another blog in itself - try taking a 4 year old skating and try not to fall yourself!) the four year old who named "the blanket" fell asleep in her car seat. We needed to go into the store and I was faced with waking her up, leaving her in the car with her 11 year old sister (which I was highly debating against), or using "the blanket" and taking her into the store to continue her nap. 

I wasn't sure if she'd be too big since it has been at least a year since we've last used it, but figured why not try the side hold. I wasn't going to leave her in the car with her sister, so she'd be woken up either way, but at least this way she might get more of a nap (she was SO warn out from skating... or should I say falling and getting up only to fall again). The 11 year old helped me get her into the wrap and off we went.

The side hold with a baby wrap for those 

who have NO idea what I'm talking about.

With the wrap there are multiple holds you can use

and on this day I used the hip hold or side hold.

It wasn't until we were in the store she groggily wakes up and asks where we were. I told her we were in the store and we are almost ready to leave. She then lays her head back on my shoulder and mumbles... "I like the blanket." 

I love baby items you can use from infancy to 4 years old! I wonder how much longer I could use "the blanket" with her. I'm guessing not much longer considering her feet were dangling at my knees! (Again, for those who know me and know I'm not the tallest person you'll ever meet this isn't surprising. In fact I've had many conversations with this four year old on how little I am. One of our conversations included a debate on why I should have a car seat when I'm driving because I'm so "little.") I think it's time for "the blanket" to be passed on to new babies, but it's good to know I can use it with a four year old if I need to! 

Trust with "BLIND" Faith

Tonight I had a very personal object lesson in trusting the Lord with all your heart and leaning not on my own understanding. Let me explain a little background before I get into the actual object lesson.

I have a friend who is blind. His name is Daniel and he's an amazing guy. He is more than just a blind man. He has a heart to serve and seeks every opportunity to help. People often ask how he became blind and I don't remember exactly what it was that caused him to need a surgery when he was an infant, but the scar on the side of his head implies it was a major surgery. The result was he was healed of what caused the need of surgery, but he is now blind. I knew of Daniel a few years ago from church, but our friendship has really blossomed in the past few months. We attend the same service and when he was asked about coming to Bible study he informed us it's difficult for him to come to church because he needs rides and someone to guide him. Myself and others in the young adult Bible study worked out a way for Daniel to be a part of our group no matter when or where we meet. This has been a blessing for not only Daniel, but our entire group.

Part of having Daniel in our group allows us to ask questions about being blind and learning of the tools he uses to help him live life. For example, a few weeks ago we were in a restaurant and the topic of signing for a credit card came up. For us sighted people we take for granted we can see the little line on the paper and give our signature. We asked Daniel what he does in this instance (he usually pays with cash and uses a special system for his money by folding the bills different ways and has learned the different feel of coins to distinguish between them - imagine counting out your money with YOUR eyes closed!). He said he has learned how to write his initials when asked for his signature, but has a credit card sized card with a rectangle cut out to use as a guide.

When Daniel needs to sign his signature he asks the clerk to place the card where he needs to sign and uses the rectangular cut out as a guide. Curious we asked if he would show us. We pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and placed the card on the paper. He then blew us a way when he moved the card after signing his name and gave his same signature without the card and it was written just as neatly as it was with the card - if not neater! We asked if we could try to sign our names with our eyes closed using his special card. A few of us did a decent job with only being a little crooked in writing our signatures with our eyes closed and only used the rectangular shape as a guide. We all laughed at the person who wasn't able to judge the spacing and could only sign half of his name. It has been fun and interesting to learn of the tools Daniel has to help him with everyday activities we take for granted. Most of the time we just watch and listen in awe of all the tools and the special systems he has. Tonight I had the opportunity to be "blind" and fully depend on someone else for five minutes. 

After our Bible study at a restaurant we were walking to the parking lot when the conversation came up again, for the hundredth time, of the time I led Daniel off a curb because I forgot I was leading him (I'm sure I will never live this down!). As we were all laughing, for the hundredth time, Daniel starts reaching for his cane and says, "Why don't I lead you? Then you will know what it is like." Instantly I find myself closing my eyes super tight so I wouldn't be tempted to peek and saying, "OKAY! Let's do this!" 

Side note: I didn't get permission to use other names beside's Daniels in this blog entry, so I will use initials for the others who were in the group. 

At this point I hear C, A, and K laughing and then saying things like, "Oh, we are really going to do this through the parking lot?!?" and "Here's your chance to get her back for leading you off the curb!" Before I could even really process what was going to happen I hear Daniel tell me to hold his hand. The only problem was my eyes were closed and I could tell he was near, but I couldn't tell exactly where he was. So, on one arm I have my purse in the crook of my arm and am holding three Bibles to return to the church. The other hand is franticly searching for Daniel who at this point has clicked his cane into place. Although we hadn't moved I could have sworn the world was spinning around me. I couldn't tell which direction I was facing and a tinge of panic overcame me. After finding Daniel's arm and holding onto his elbow (like he does when we lead him) he starts moving. 

Here it goes. There's no turning back now!

My eyes are tightly closed and I'm holding onto Daniel with one hand and Bibles with the other. What more can I do, but walk? So, off we went. One step, then two. I'm getting the hang of this. Another step followed by another. I hear C, A, and K talking and giggling at the sight of the blind leading the "blind." I hear the clicking of the cane tapping the ground as I'm being pulled into a direction I could have sworn was the wrong way! I wanted to open my eyes to make sure, but thought, "No! Don't do it! Daniel doesn't have the choice to open his eyes and see what is going on. You better not open your eyes!" I then hear A or K yell out, "YOU'RE HEADED FOR A PARKED CAR!" and I'm jerked into another direction as the clicking of the cane finds the car. I knew we had made it past the main crossing of the parking lot and now we're near the cars. At this point I'm a little concerned as my mind starts thinking about being led into the busy street by a wrong turn to avoid a car or a car speeding through this quiet parking lot. I'm now realizing what I've just gotten myself into! I'm fully trusting someone who can't see to lead me through the parking lot! My mind starts racing at what could go wrong! I then realized I hear Daniel talking to me. I realized I can't focus on my thoughts because I need to be paying attention to the little direction I'm being given by Daniel.

Daniel is telling me there are cracks in the ground coming up. There is "something" to the left of me. Another "thing" to the right of me. I can tell C is in front of us to ensure we are headed in the right direction, but not really telling us what is coming up. I can tell A and K are following behind us. I wanted to focus on what they were saying. I was grasping for anything that might give me a hint as to where I was going and what was coming up. Again, I quickly realized I can't focus my attention on anything except for Daniel because I need to be paying attention to the little direction I am being given from the one who is leading me.

I hear Daniel say we are now between two cars. I yell out for him to slow down! I feel like he's going too fast! He's gaining more confidence because he can tell what is ahead. He is using his cane to determine where things are and listening to C tell him the direction to walk in. All I can do is walk faster to keep up. I'm trying to listen to C so I can know what to expect, but I'm also trying to listen to A and K who are commenting on the whole experience, but not giving any specific directions. 

C calls out, "There's a slight raise in the road." I thought, "Why would you tell me this? I won't be able to tell a slight raise in the road. That's not good advice and direction! Tell me if there is a curb or something that can cause me to fall!" About three steps later I feel the slight raise in the road. I wouldn't have normally noticed this slight rise, but tonight I did. Even though I originally thought it was silly advice I could tell this was helpful. If nothing else what he's saying is true and we can continue to follow his lead (not that he would lead us astray, but that little advice had a larger meaning). 

About this time I realized my stomach was clinched and knotted. I realized I had been holding my breath. I realized how scared I really was in walking through a parking lot with my eyes closed being led by someone who can't open his eyes at a moment's notice if he get's confused at where he is going. I knew I'd be okay, but I didn't have control of the situation. I had to fully trust in Daniel to not lead me into danger. I had to trust C, A and K to direct Daniel away from danger. I didn't know if we would go straight to the car or take a detour around the shopping center. I had no control over this situation. As one who likes to know what is going on and take control this situation was VERY difficult!

Just as I'm reminding myself I need to breathe normally I hear C call out. The car is right here and a tapping on the car. I feel a final jerk to the side while taking a few steps and C, A and K yell out, "YOU DID IT! Look how far you went! You made it to the car!" I couldn't open my eyes any faster. I let out a sigh of relief and then realized I'm the only one who could open my eyes to see how far we went. A little guilt came over me when I realized how relieved I was we were at the car and I could open my eyes where Daniel doesn't have that luxury. I immediately tell Daniel I have a new appreciation for him. 

While I'm telling him how scared I was because I wasn't sure what was going to happen I instantly thought about all the times God has asked me to trust him and follow where he leads. I realized how so many times I'm so eager to follow God's plan, but as I get going and realize I'm not in control how fear comes over me and I stop walking so quickly. I ask to slow down. I allow fear to turn my stomach into knots all the while trying to figure out where I am and what I'm doing from others who are not the one I'm holding on to. 

The more I thought about this scenario I began to think about how Daniel is like Jesus (although Jesus can physically see where I'm going) and C was like God keeping us in the right direction. Without Jesus we can't come to the Father. I need Jesus to bring me to the Father. Although Daniel didn't sacrifice himself in this scenario, Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Jesus gave his life on the cross so I can be with God. Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." All those times where God leads us into things where we think it is silly and not as meaningful as something else or even those difficult times in life where it is painful and confusing - these are the times we trust and learn we can depend on God. God knows the direction we need to be going and he'll lead us one step at a time. We can trust Him. We can trust with blind faith God will not let us fall.

Polka Dots

Remember Retro Wednesday I had a few months back? My cute polka dot dress with the red ribbon, red shoes and my hair cute and retro? Well, I believe I've already told the story how the then 3 year old came into the office and commented on how we were not matching (in the blog titled Potluck Blog Post) because she has a red polka dot dress.

(Her face has been blurred to protect her identity)

The following Sunday we both wore our polka dot dresses to church and I've never seen a smile so big! The next Sunday she told her mom she had to wear her polka dot dress because I'd be wearing mine. Her mom had to explain Miss Alice won't want to wear her polka dot dress every Sunday, but maybe once a month we can match in our polka dot dresses. She was so patient in waiting a month until we could match again. Her mom and I got to talking and realized her birthday was coming up the following month and that would be a good day to match. 

I thought of getting her blue shoes for her birthday so she'd have a red polka dot dress and blue shoes and I'd have a blue dress and red shoes. While shopping for blue shoes for her (which I was having trouble finding the right pair) I found a blue polka dot dress. I knew I had to get it. I gave it to her at her party the Saturday before we were planning on matching on Sunday. The week before her party I reminded her we were going to match the upcoming Sunday. She had no idea I had gotten her a blue polka dot dress and to match her I found pink glitter shoes in my size (which I know doesn't make sense I couldn't find simple blue shoes in her size, but pink glitter shoes in mine, but it was what I could find!).

Again, this little girl was so happy. What I hadn't thought ahead on was I'd look like a 4 year old because I was wearing glitter pink shoes with a blue polka dot dress all day because I didn't bring another pair of shoes! At the same time it was worth it to make a little girl happy.

I have so many hats I wear (or as someone pointed out I wear many purses and bags because each purse/bag holds another thing I'm heading up) I needed something to keep me organized and the calendar on my phone wasn't cutting it because I needed extra note space. While I was shopping for a day planner at Franklin Covey (which if you've never heard of them you should check out what they have to offer... for those who are organized you need their products... for those who are not organized you NEED their products!), anyhow, while shopping I was trying to decide on which planner to choose. My sister has a plain black one that zips up and although that seems awesome because you can then have loose papers, pens, etc. I didn't want to have the same as her because that would be a horrible mess to try to figure out if we set them next to each other. I looked at the pink one (because I LOVE pink!), but it just didn't scream "Alice," not to mention it was made of a canvas material and I thought it might get dirty and would be hard to clean. Then I saw this:

What a perfect planner that screams Alice! This clearly says, "I belong to Alice and if you see me and Alice is not near by there is trouble!" Then because I respond to color better than just notes scribbled all over I use my pens I had in college to take notes with that are 9 different colors (well there are 10 colors, but the yellow doesn't show up very well so I use 9 of the 10) to represent each hat, or bag, I wear.

The colors and what they represent are as follows:
Office - electronic: ie. email, website, Facebook updates
Office - print: ie. bulletin, newsletter, calendar
Education Director - Nursery
Education Director - Children
Education Director - Youth
Education Director - VBS
Bible Studies/General Church
General Work: ie. babysitting, housesitting, wedding coordinator, etc
Personal/Family/Friends

In college I'd use each color in my calendar to represent each class/activity I was involved in, but then realized when I'd take notes having the different colors helped me to remember because I could imagine what was written easier if I could imagine where it was on the page and the color I used (I'm a VERY visual person). There wasn't a real rhyme or reason in colors I'd use in taking notes, except I'd use one color that class session for what was on the powerpoint, another color for what the teacher said, another color for charts/tables, and another color if there was something a student said. People laughed at my system... but it worked and I'm all for what works.

I'm excited about my new day planner and what it is going to do to keep me organized, not to mention it's polka dotted and who doesn't like polka dots?

My, My, Where Has The Time Gone???

When I first started this blog I had such high hopes of blogging every week, or at least every other week, but lately I'm pleased with myself if I blog once a month! Sure I haven't had this blog for very long and it's easy to get carried away with other things in life, but I do hope I can get back to blogging at least every other week.

Although I'm currently working part time I feel like I'm rarely home. At least home long enough to throw in a load of laundry and then rotate it an hour later. I guess it doesn't help the situation I have enough clothes to last a month before I desperately need to do laundry so when I need to do laundry it's a HUGE undertaking of multiple loads for just one person's laundry (apparently this is not normal - most of my friends can go a few weeks, but not a month, before they desperately need to do laundry). I try not to be a bad roommate and leave clothes in the washer/dryer for longer than a few hours after they are ready to come out (more so the dryer than the washer... yuck I'm just imagining the yucky sat-in-the-washer-too-long smell!). When I get home I'm usually super tired and watch a TV program as I go to bed. In the mornings (I usually have more time in the mornings because I start late... love it!), I try not to get started on things I won't have time to finish... which means I waste a lot of time doing nothing rather than doing a little to get things done. The other thing that doesn't help my situation of feeling I have no time is Pintrest. Do you know about this website? Frankly, it's awesome! A time waster, but awesome nonetheless.

Pinterest is a website where you can "pin" things that interest you. You can create "boards" of different categories. You get these things to "pin" from websites, so while on the Pinterest website you can click on an image and it will take you to the original website so you can get full details of the image you're interested in. Genius concept if you ask me!

I don't have a Pinterest account because I know I'd spend even more time I don't have pinning things and get carried away with things I'd love to do or ideas for whatever could possibly happen in life, but I do love to check out what other people have pinned. Here's one I recently enjoyed on things this person would like to do in their spare time. I think if I had a Pinterest account I'd pin a lot of projects I'd like to get around to do some day.

Actually I saw a few things I'd like to do for Christmas presents (yes, I know it is February and I'm thinking of Christmas, but if I'm going to make something I have to give myself time to actually make these items). For this project I'm thinking of for Christmas if you have any magazines or junk mail that is colorful I'd love to have it. I'm not sure how much I need, but I'll be collecting these things (if you live in another country other than the US, please send me magazines or anything that has another language other than English - this would make my project all the more awesome!). I'll post pictures of the finished project so you know I'm not a crazy woman collecting trash. I so badly want to post a picture of what I'm thinking I want to do... but I can't because I know family members read my blog! I will show you a few pictures of other things I found interesting and want to try.

Here are a few art projects I'm thinking would be really fun to try:

Canvas Artwork

To achieve this use regular craft glue to create a design. 

Let it dry and then paint over the entire project. 

Super cute and easy. I will try this!

This could be done with children - I'm ALWAYS looking for projects to do with kids!

Cool Tile Artwork

To achieve this use ceramic tiles and dot melted crayons.

(melt the end of a crayon using a candle and then dab the melted crayon on the tile)

I'm not a big fan of word/phrases as decor, 

but I'm thinking an image like a bird or swirly design would be amazing!

Sounds easy... and who doesn't like playing with fire and melted crayons? 

Then we get to the things I honestly could be starting a load of laundry or starting one of these projects instead of looking at these things, but are just so stinkin' funny I must check them out:

Toilet Paper Origami 

I tell ya, I can't make this stuff up!

I do have to say though, I will be practicing my toilet paper origami when visiting your house!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The Jacket that is also your TENT!

Okay, this one doesn't seem so odd if you're a camper - it could be handy. 

Be honest, to think your jacket is also your tent does seem a little silly at first.

The Yarn Tree

Okay, don't get me wrong - I'd actually consider making a yarn tree to decorate my house.

However, I'm not so sure I'd frame pictures of birds to put "in" my yarn tree.

Wouldn't it be just as cool to just paint the birds, 

or use yarn to create birds to put in your yarn tree?

Okay... maybe this idea should be in my "I'd like to try this some day" section.

Well, there you have it. A small glimpse of why I have three loads of laundry to wash and another three that have yet to be folded and put away. Maybe on my "things to do" list I should include "go through clothes because you might not really need all of these that make up 6 loads of laundry!" - of course that will be right under "make really awesome Christmas presents from trash!"

NOTE: If you have any magazines or junk mail (any paper with printing -languages other than English would be AWESOME!!!- or photos on it, but no newspaper) you would like to donate to my project for Christmas presents I would LOVE for you to contact me and I'll let you know where you can send it. Thank you for your help. My family will thank you once they see how I'm collecting trash to turn it into something really amazing!

Potluck Blog Post

I've been thinking about what I wanted to share in my blog and came up with three things I'd like to talk about - working, VBS and God's plan. Rather than making three entries I'm going to combine them all into one. Think of this as a potluck of blog posts.


It has been a while since I've updated my blog. Life has been a bit busy since I've started working in the office. It is so nice to have a set time of when I'm working and can "turn off" my mind when I'm not at work. This was one reason it was so difficult for me to work and go to school at the same time and why I eventually stopped working while in school (besides a few hours in the church nursery once a week). It is also nice not to have the ever looming homework assignments awaiting my attention. I do think about the office when I'm not working and have small projects I'm working on that are in the back of my mind, but overall it is nice to know if I'd like to "turn those off" I can if I want. My current projects include cleaning out every cabinet and drawer. It's more so organizing than cleaning out, but some things that are obviously trash (like wrappers... who sticks wrappers back in a drawer??? and crinkled copy paper that if used will jam the copier) do get thrown out. Although I love organizing and making sure everything has a place and like items are together it is also nice for me to go through and learn what is already here so I don't go out and buy more. Overall, I love my job. I love I'm serving my church in a way that helps it run smoothly. I love I have time to visit with people when they call or come in. I love I get to send letters to people and hope it brightens their day. On a personal level I love I get to think of outfits to wear to work (something I didn't do when going to school, because it's school and who really needs to get dressed up for school?). On this perticular day I thought Retro Wednesday seemed fitting and tried a new hair style I'm digging!

Retro Wednesday

Side story: I had a little four year old visitor in the office that pointed out she has a red polka dot dress and we should match on Sunday. Who can resist that cuteness??? I'll be matching with a four year old, but it will be so darn cute!

Here's my hair from the back.

When my hair is longer and can all go into the "nest" it will be a cuter hair style, but I think I pulled it off. 

The other thing that is nice about working in the office is as the VBS director for this year's Vacation Bible School I'm in the office four days a week, so I can get a lot of things done while in the office. This year's theme is Incrediworld Amazement Park: A Thrill Ride Through God's Creation. I'm really excited about this year's VBS. I have to be honest though, at first I was really hesitant about being the director. I didn't want to take on this responsibility alone. Vacation Bible School needs a lot of volunteers to run smoothly and I was afraid I'd be heading it up alone. After praying about it I realized if this is what God wants me to do he'll provide the help I need. I still didn't say anything to the pastor because I was hoping somone else would step up and say they'd be the director.

As I was cleaning out the paper closet (which it makes me so happy to look at the organized closet every time I need paper) I kept noticing a pack of neon colored cardstock paper. I wondered when we'd ever use this cardstock, but thought of VBS. Last year I had used cardstock to make the nametags by glueing the name tags on the cardstock and attaching yarn for the kids to wear them around their necks. Although it wasn't the best name tag and some needed repair throughout VBS, it worked for the most part. Well, I figured we could use the neon colors for VBS if the colors matched up. A while later my pastor asked if I'd like the VBS catalog and put it in my mailbox. A few days after he did this I finally took the catalog out of my box and looked through it. What I didn't expect was the colors of a VBS theme to be the EXACT color of the neon cardstock in the closet I had already thought of using for VBS. At this point I knew I needed to be the director and went to my pastor's house where I talked about needing volunteers. Within 10 minutes there was a name for every area of VBS for someone to lead. I knew I was directing VBS and got planning. It has been so nice to know there is time to plan and get everyone on board. The first VBS meeting is in a few weeks and although February may seem early to start meeting for VBS in the summer, it is nice to know everyone will be on the same page.

I'm almost half way finished making the name tags for VBS.

(The green and some of the orange still need to be glued. All I have left is to attach the yarn.)

I like the bright colors of this year's colors.

The last thing I wanted to blog about is how God's plan is so good! I was really sad about not getting the job with MeySen and going to Japan to teach English. The more I think about it the more I realize how much I'm needed right here. Not only in the office and VBS, but to be here with my family and friends. I know someone else could have taken this office job and done just as awesome as I'm doing. I know somone else would have stepped up for VBS and make it just as rockin' as I'm planning. I know someone else would have been here for family and friends. But as I look around at my life right now I know I'm right where God wants me. I may never understand why God wanted me to apply for MeySen knowing I wasn't going to get the job, but I do understand I'm right where He wants me and I can't tell you how sweet this is to be here doing God's will in the plan he's planned all along. I could have moped around, cried, threw my arms up, and threw a tantrum after finding out I didn't get the job, but instead I mourned a little and then asked Him what I was supposed to do. If you feel like you're fighting in life I encourage you to stop fighting and listen to the direction God want's you to go. It's not only much easier this way, life is so much sweeter than ever imagined.