Tuesday, November 29, 2011

1000 gifts: the first map ever made

Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey (from Ann Voskamp's book and her blog, A Holy Experience).


368. The stars are the first map ever made
My seven year old, Dreamer, had to sit in my office one day while I finished working on a map. She asked on of my co-workers, "Does my mom make nice maps?" and he answered, "the best." Then after a while, she came up with this gem, "Mom, are the stars the first map ever made?" It's true, actually, if you think about it.

369. Beth Moore live
A bunch of my friends from church carpooled up to Casper, WY for one of Beth Moore's Living Proof conferences. She shared wonderful insights gleaned from Acts 3:1-10 and Acts 14: 8-13 about the two occasions where the apostles healed lame men. She had fun stuff to share too like how her grandson learned sign language for "WOW!" (unofficial version, like this picture), and how she loves visiting Wyoming even though the wind blew the bleach right off her hair.

370. Strange violin tunes
One night Blaze was practicing her violin and started this awful, off-pitch version of Mary Had A Little Lamb. "You're playing that wrong!" I call out to her. "No Mom, I'm playing it right. This is "Mary Had A Dying Lamb."

371. Bridal shower - Famous couples game
Here's Blaze oogling all the shower gifts
I hosted a bridal shower for N.L. at my house and had a lot of  fun involving everyone in the Famous Couples Games (we had 35 guests!) Everyone got to pick the names of a famous couple out of a basket: Adam & Eve, Romeo & Juliet, Scarlett & Rhett, to name a few. Then they had to mark who they thought was N.L's favorite couple, least favorite couple, and which couple she thought was most like her & her fiance. Their choices cracked me up!! She picked Shrek and Fiona, but some of the popular votes were Beauty & the Beast, Han Solo & Princess Leia, unfortunate lass & pirate Jack Sparrow, and Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice.

372. The "cut store"
When anybody complimented twins on their new bob haircuts they got this month, they would happily say, "yeah! We went to the cut store!"

373. High school jokes
This is an example of the kind of jokes that Stars brings home from high school.
"Ask me if I'm tree." (she poses as a tree, holding her arms out like tree limbs)
"Are you a tree?"
"No." (with a roll of her eyes).

374. Mary Jane jokes 
So Stars was sharing some of her "duh" jokes with N.L. and N.L. shared some of her favorite Mary Jane jokes back. (I've never heard these before, and neither had Stars. They're so awful we had to laugh)

Mary Jane was walking on the beach one day and saw a shark swimming around a man. The man was screaming, "Help me! Help me!"
And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew the shark was never going to help that man!

Mary Jane burnt down the barn one day, and her mother said "Mary Jane! You're in big trouble when your father gets home!"
And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew her father was in that barn.  

375. Made-up songs

This is what I heard Dreamer singing one day (and teaching it to the twins):

"Sister, sister, what do you say? We praise God and pray, pray"

376. CRS syndrome ("Can't remember stuff")
We visited the in-laws for Thanksgiving and this is what my sister-in-law Melissa claims she's suffering from . Except her version is "Can't remember sh**"
I thought it was hilarious because I have this syndrome pretty bad, too.

377. Cousins riding horses together
Grandpa B. got his horse Red and Joy's horse Little Bit out for the girls to ride. Blaze and Bre were soon riding them all over the yard - Blaze riding bareback, showing off of course!

378. A bible on the lamp table
I noticed that Joy had a bible sitting on the lamp table next to her favorite chair and I asked her about it - she says she is reading it regularly. She also talked more about her beliefs than I've ever heard her share before. I know two of her daughters, Monica and Crystal, have been trying to encourage her with verses as she struggles with fighting cancer and how sick the chemo is making her. 

379. Footprints in the Sand poem
An old friend of the family, Chris, called me up out of the blue this fall and we've been in touch ever since (mostly via texting). He and his family have been going through some really tough times this year. At one point I told him I was a Jesus freak, but I didn't say anything else: I like to wait and see if other people have any questions or comments about it before I force any more on them.

Chris didn't say much in response, until about a month later, he called me up again and asked me a bunch of questions about why I was a Jesus freak. I ended up getting to share my whole testimony of coming to know God with him. It turns out, he had a near death experience, and is now thinking that it was God who spared his life.

Also, he said that while he's heard about the Footprints in the Sand poem before, recently he saw it again some place and suddenly it had a great impact on him. (Reminds me of how I always loved the song Amazing Grace, but it wasn't until I believed in God that I really understood what the words of the song were saying!)

380.  Finding the verse you've been searching for 
This one is so monumental to me I'm saving it for a whole post of its own... 

Sunday, November 6, 2011

1000 gifts: tea fixes everything

Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey (from Ann Voskamp's book and her blog, A Holy Experience).


356. Tea fixes everything
This is an amusing quote from a book I recently read (Illusions, by Aprilynne Pike):
As far as her mom was concerned, tea fixed everything. Have a cold? Have some tea. Broken bones? There's a tea for that too. Somewhere in her mother's pantry, Laurel suspected, was a box of tea that said, 'In case of Armageddon, steep three to five minutes.”


357. Finally, a truly great candidate for the presidential election

358. Dinner at Turtle Rock Cafe
B. got  a gift certificate for a free dinner for us at Turtle Rock Cafe, which by day is a coffee house, by Wednesday night transformed into a charming Italian restaurant. I about melted over the chocolate torte for dessert. 


359. Fundraiser for finding the cure
Stars' mom is running in a marathon to raise money for cancer research. Her own mother died of cancer. When she found out that B.'s mother is also fighting cancer now, she graciously added her name to her "in honor of" ribbons.

360. Fun with four-wheelers
B. was able to trade for a used four-wheeler and get it running again (he is a mechanical whiz!). It's big enough that all four girls can pile on the back and ride (at least at slower speeds) - we've had so much fun with it this fall. Perhaps that best fun was chasing Jewel around our pen with it! (She's the spunkiest of our horses - not afraid to kick up her heels at the noisy beast chasing her)

361. Party cats and pandas
Here's Stars dressed up for Halloween (top left) with her friends - she was a Party Cat (kitty ears with a party hat) and her best friend Chesca (bottom right) was a panda. I loved their creativity!
362. Pinning hair up with chopsticks
Blaze is an expert at twisting her hair up, and keeping it up with just a single pen! But for Halloween she wanted a pair of chopsticks to pin her hair up, and a Japanese kimono. I did find a Japanese robe that worked for her. Dreamer was an Egyptian princess, Starlet wore Dreamer's bride costume from dance recital, and Serious wore a Tinkerbell costume.

363. Riding reinless
Blaze and Stars participated in a training show and Stars decided to ride her horse, Roy, in one of the classes without reins, just to show off. She would have won, too, but the judge said that reins were a requirement. It was still neat to see her horse perform beautifully with only leg cues! Both girls also wore pink ribbons on their saddles, for Grandma Joy, fighting breast cancer.

364. Daddy's solution to kids fighting over toys
He got the Bible out and gave them a bible lesson! Love it! 

365. Swan Lake ballet
Mom and I took Blaze to see the ballet Swan Lake a few years ago. This year, it was Dreamer's turn to go - she loved it! I still love it too, I could go see it every year. Sleeping Beauty is actually my favorite of the great Tchaikovsky ballets, but Swan Lake is my second fav, then the Nutcracker.

366. Walking to work
We have had such a beautiful fall this year, that I started parking at different locations  around campus so I could walk a different route to work each day - enjoying the "tree area" of Laramie with all the old houses, many of them refurbished and landscaped with gorgeous wildflower and rock gardens, some of them even with little streams, waterfalls or miniature ponds.

367. Lyrics from Always, by Kristian Stanfill

My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Troubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
From You Lord, from You Lord

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always, always