Hair Today, Colored Tomorrow!

Yesterday, I did something very unlike me! I got two bleached blond streaks in my hair!!! One of them is underneath other hair on the side of my head, and the other is right in front on my bangs!!!!


This whole idea started when my 2 girlfriends, Sally and Crystal began talking about getting colored streaks in their hair. I am the oldest in our threesome of friendship, but I don't usually feel that way until they started talking about different colors in their hair. Pink streaks! Green streaks! Yikes! I just didn't know if I could pull that off. I love those girls so much and am so glad that they are 2 of my very best friends in the world, but that was almost too much for me!!!!!


Well, I talked to my hairstylist, and she had the idea of adding more blond to my hair. I decided to go for it, and without hesitation, I made the appointment for change! I also decided to take Kiki with me to get her hair done. She has been asking for months for us to let her get a purple streak in her hair. After much resistance, Shawn gave her permission, because he had allowed Jake to get a mohawk for the summer!


As we sat in the chairs getting our hair done and laughing at each other, I was reminded once again at how blessed I am that God gave me a beautiful, healthy, happy daughter who loves to hang out with me! A simple thing like coloring our hair together created a lasting memory that we will most likely look back on someday and reminisce about.

By the way, I'm the only one in my circle that has done anything really different to my hair as of yet, but I'll keep you posted on if the other two follow thru or not! Heehee!

Absolutely Orlando!

So, I was thinking about all the celebrity deaths last week, and it was really weird! I sat and watched or read about each of them (Ed McMahan, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Karl Malden) and thought about them for the first time as real people. After just recently losing my beloved "Mother", it hit me that these people were more than just the stories surrounding their deaths. They were fathers, a mother, spouses, siblings, and friends just like us! What a sad week for their families!


On a lighter note, we had a great time in Orlando with our friends and family and got to see some "old" friends, too! Kiki was elected to a very prestigous position in our denomination, and Shawn represented our district well. We enjoyed 2 days at SeaWorld which was so fun and amazing and spent lots of time at the pool!
We went to the Sunday morning service at the Orange County Convention Center with 18,ooo or so other Nazarenes from around the world and many more were watching via satellite or internet. We heard a great farewell message from the retiring Dr. Paul Cunningham, and then took communion together. It was pretty cool to be a part of! I had talked to my mom a couple of times about what we were doing, and during one of our calls, she said that she kinda wished she was Nazarene, so she could go to cool events like we do. I think that most of the time, I take for granted what I have been blessed to be a part of. I am so proud to be a child of God and so blessed that he led me to the Nazarene denomination where I am a part of something so much bigger than Valparaiso Nazarene Church!
....and speaking of Valparaiso Nazarene Church, we are having our farewell to the current sanctuary service this Sunday in preparation to begin worshipping in our new Worship Center next week! More to come on that subject later!

How Time Flies...

I've been thinking a lot about how fast time flies this week. My Kara Anne graduated from 8th grade and will be in high school next year! Wow! That means that she is just four years away from leaving home and me. It seems like just a couple of years ago, we were watching her walk in the school for her first day of kindergarten while Shawn wept in the parking lot. Now, she is moving on to high school! I realize more than ever that we have to trust her to remember what we have taught her and to trust God to remind her and take care of her.


She is not perfect by any means(none of us are), but she is a joy and a blessing from God that I will forever thank him for.

Now, a little about me...I don't really feel old enough to have a high school student. I mean, didn't our parents seem so old and uncool when we were in high school? I'm still young and cool! Ok, maybe not that young, but still cool! Well, maybe not that young or that cool, but surely I'm not a total wash out already!


I mortified my daughter last night, because I got out of the car to introduce myself to a parent of her friend who was having a party. What's the big deal? Am I that much of an embarassment? I could definitely be much worse! As I got back in the car after pretty much being ignored by my precious daughter, my mind went back to when my dad used to grill the boys that I wanted to go out with in high school...without me present! Now, that is mortifying!!!!!!

How did time go by so quickly that now I am that parent causing such inner turmoil in my child? Good grief, this could be a long four years, at least!

So, I'm going to begin dealing with the fact that I am not necessarily what I perceive myself to be in other's eyes (like my kids). I love my kids with all my heart, and they both know that, but suddenly it has occured to me that I hold more power over them than I ever have! Therefore, if I am now an embarassment, I will definitely not let that fact go to waste, and instead, use it to my advantage. Watch out, kiddos...Mom still has a few tricks up her sleeves and is not afraid to use them! You are now faced with the age old dilemma of facing your greatest asset in life or your most destructive enemy! MUAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

This is what I choose....

I've been thinking alot about choices lately. What a huge responsibility that God allowed us to have for ourselves. It is amazing to me that the God of Creation made the choice to allow us to accept or reject him even though he already knows the outcome. I have sometimes struggled with indecisiveness over many things like what to wear today, what to cook for the family, should I drink a milkshake or have a coffee...you get the idea!

As I have gotten older, the choices just seem to get more difficult, too! Now, I have to make choices not just for myself, but for my family and my job. What is best for my children involves such difficult decisions and teaching them how to make good choices is so important! God has blessed me with two wonderful, healthy children who love him and love life. One of my many prayers for them is that they would make good choices and seek God's guidance when doing so.

I once told my mom that I was feeling really guilty about something that happened years ago, and she looked me in the eye and said, "Feeling guilty is a choice." What???? I can't help it if I feel guilty!!! Or can I?

I am learning that most of what I do or what happens to me in life is about choices. What does this mean to me? It means that I don't have control over everything that happens to me or around me, but how I react or what I do is my choice. Today, I choose joy.

Today, I choose love.

Today, I choose peace.

Today, I choose friendship.

Today, I choose Jesus.

Thank you God for giving me the choice!

Here goes...

I've never really thought of myself as being very interesting, because there are so many people that I would love to get to know that have more interesting things to share. I, like most other people, do have many random thoughts based on my experiences or circumstances that some have told me are worth sharing. My husband thinks that I'm hilarious, although I'm usually not trying to be. He says that is why I'm so funny! My friend, Courtney, likes to hear my stories. My friend, Dana, doesn't think that I'll stick with a blog. I guess we'll see who's got me pegged!

Stay tuned...there's more to come!