dear.9

dear kraft foods:

this may be america, but that is most definitely not my cheese.  or "cheese food" as the packaging says.

signed,

one who isn't buying that commercial

dear finn:


you are so sweet, cute and adorable.  however, taking off both your pants and diaper first thing in the morning...while still in your bed?  not so charming.  funny.  but not so charming.


signed,
thankful it was just wet...

dear cable company:

i have been your advocate for the last 5 years.  when others complained about crappy customer service and bad experiences, i stated i'd never had a problem with you.

well, not so much anymore.  since april, i've faithfully paid my bill every month, and you've faithfully cut off my service every month.  come to find out (shocker) you screwed up in the first place.  and from july through the end of september i've been calling every week to try to figure out when you're going to fix the problem.  and let's not mention the number of times you've cut my service off in that process.

pretty much, i hate you right now.  save that one nice person i talked to last week who gave me her personal extension and days/hours she works.  believe me, i'll deal with her from now on.  except when you cut my service off in the middle of the night like you did tonight...

please restore my faith in the system and just STOP CUTTING ME OFF when i'm freaking paying you.  the end.

signed,

if i wasn't sharing space with someone else i'd have SO cut you off by now

dear cancer


would you just back off my friends please?


signed
tired of you

dear fall weather,

could we make a deal and YOU just stick around til spring?

signed,

loving these cool breezes

dear social networking,


i can barely keep up with facebook and twitter...and gave up myspace loooong ago.  now there's something called foursquare, not to mention skype...what?!  

but seriously, i'd like the job that controls the twitter and facebook accounts for a company.  i mean, seriously -- how do you get hooked up with that one?!

signed,
i was late to the twitter party, so expect me at skype in 2014

Thursday's Ten: fall stuff

last week i shared one of my favorite fall things

fall tv

this week...the rest of the good stuff :0)

for the record, i'm not a huge fan of what comes after fall.  but these initial days of breezes blowing through the screen door, tickling the wind chimes, crisp leaves to crunch, warm beverages to delight in...they are what i like.

winter can be skipped.

(although, yes, i'll try to come up with a top 10 list when winter comes too.  most likely #1 will be 'tennessee's is short')

soooo,

my favorite things about fall

1.  bonfires and outdoor activities

2.  starbucks: pumpkin spice latte.  yes please.

3.  actually, pumpkin anything.  and the cinnamon pumpkin fragrance mixes...to.die.for

4.  gorgeous scenery to capture in a picture

5.  pumpkin delights from little debbie.  i haven't seen them yet this year...i hope they're actually back!

6.  being able to walk/run/jog without being completely drenched in sweat from the moment you step outside

7.  football...yes, i'm hooked.  love going to NFL games, love watching it on tv

8.  blankets on the couch and robes at the ready.  and slippers.  ahhh.

9.  fall clothing.  i do love me some comfy clothes

10.  soup season.  oh, how i love comfort food.  oh, how i love an excuse to make soup!



join me, yes?  what are your favorite things about this season?

abundance.2

so, a few weeks ago i remember chatting with God

and telling him, offhandedly, that an extra $xxx a week would be awesome

and was even looking for other part-time nanny gigs to bring that money in

nothing really was materializing

but i wasn't panicking

because i'm pretty solid in the knowledge

that He provides

so

last week i started noticing little things

really little

like going through 2 different fast food windows and ordering ranch for my fries

(i know, SO unhealthy...whatever)

and instead of receiving 1 package, i'd get 2 or even 3

i texted a friend saying

"abundance is following me!"

last night i dreamed
that i was moving into an apartment with my old college roommates
and that we were trying to cram stuff into kitchen cabinets
and every time we made a decision and filled a cabinet
we noticed more and more cabinets
until finally, we had an entire row of cabinets that lay in wait for us
because we had nothing left to put in them
and an extra stove as well
abundance

and then today the final piece of the puzzle

when the office manager for the studio i teach at

called me

as i was sitting on the couch

enjoying the breezes wafting in

watching mindless tv

and editing pictures

enjoying this wonderful day off

and she asked if i were able to take 2 additional students each week

and could i start that as early as tomorrow?

i held back my laughter while we chatted

about the special needs of one of these students

and the time management involved

and when i got off the phone i started thinking

"ok, so with my existing students, the ones that were added last week and these two...

that brings the total to $xxx/week..."

and that's when it hit me

and i REALLY laughed

God.is.Good

don't you ever doubt that one

curveballs that life throws you

don't hold a candle

to the ones He has tucked away!

on the road again!

the month of september has been full of travels

and i've mentioned every trip here (i think)

but haven't really shared much about them.

so here's the very quick run-down.  if you're friends with me on facebook you can see the full photo albums!

first up was labor day weekend.  anthony and i climbed into a car and headed with our friends andy and mandy to the awesome city of st louis.

there we

stayed in an awesome hotel

 

(where we played cards -- and slept a few hours)

found angry birds

went to a cardinals/reds game

ate AMAZING food

visited the zoo

and got in a tiny tram and rode to the top of the arch

later that week, i traveled to downtown nashville

where i got to see a bunch of politicians

including...

bill clinton!!

(i'm such a political nerd.  and it doesn't hurt that i kinda love the clintons.)

the following weekend i went with our youth group to the annual retreat.

middle of nowhere

no connection to the outside world (no cell phone service or wifi)

and absolutely a blast

upon returning from the retreat, natasha and i went to our local barnes and noble

where we met

max lucado!

 

fast forward to the following weekend

where anthony and i jumped in my car and headed to indiana

we visited my parents

and hit holiday world with our friends brian and angie

(who got married this past may)

it was SO fun

and has changed a lot!

we'll definitely be back, hopefully once a year at least :)

 

and this past weekend natasha and i went to arkansas

where she showed me all around her college town

we got hit on at sonic

had some great cookies at her favorite little shop there

and shopped a little

and then

we saw jason mraz in concert!

and then

we got soaked by sprinklers

and THEN

we met jason mraz

and on the way home, we stopped by memphis zoo

where i saw penguins

 

 

(i dubbed these two anthony and lora.  heh )

so yes.  if you've kept track that means that in fact i have not spent one friday or saturday night this month in my own bed

and i gotta say,

it's been a FUN month

but i'm so glad to be settled down for the month of october

with only one possible trip out of state

(i think the cat might stop being mad at me too ;-))

monday's memory: the one with the friends at retreat

once upon a time

i went with my friend lajuana to be her "tech support" when she spoke at a retreat

this picture was taken 4 years ago, at the end of that retreat

she and her husband moved to atlanta almost exactly a year ago

and i still miss her

though she's very much a part of my life

phone calls, though more infrequent than in the past, still happen

visits up to nashville are somewhat often for her

and i have plans to go down and hang out with her as soon as humanly possible.

and one of these days, i look forward to her involvement in my wedding

(and as i've told her often, i can't WAIT to introduce my kids to her)

:)

it's a great day to get stuck on a golf cart

 

so, i'm in arkansas with my friend natasha this weekend

we drove out for a jason mraz concert

(yes we live in nashville)

(yes he comes there often.  ish)

we are staying with a family she used to live with when she was in college here

this morning we took their golf cart out for a drive

it didn't end well

battery dead, two girls listening to an iphone waiting for help

we ended up in the back of a pickup truck towing the cart

funny

tonight we see jason mraz

tomorrow we return to tennessee

road trips rock

(although some more than others.

this trip would be in the "some" category)

road trips with friends: good times