I ♥ Pixar More Than Ever Before

Before I launch into today's Video Wednesday, let me offer this friendly PSA:

PUT DOWN WHATEVER DRINK YOU MIGHT HAVE IN YOUR HAND.  RIGHT NOW.  I DON'T WANT TO BE HELD LIABLE WHEN YOU RUIN YOUR SINUSES AND/OR COMPUTER SCREEN BECAUSE YOU LAUGH SO HARD, WHATEVER YOU WERE DRINKING MAKES AN ABRUPT AND UNPLANNED DETOUR THROUGH YOUR NOSTRILS.  (AS I MENTIONED BEFORE IN A POST BACK IN EARLY APRIL, MILK IS MODERATELY PAINFUL, BUT SODAS BURN.)  OH, AND YOU MAY AS WELL TAKE A POTTY BREAK BEFORE PRESSING PLAY, SO YOU DON'T KILL YOUR BLADDER MUSCLES WHILST YOU ARE DOUBLED OVER IN HYSTERICS.  THANK YOU.

Oh, mercy.  I needed this SO bad!  *Wipes tears from eyes, still holding sides*

Short Post After A Full Weekend

Took the kids and Frank to a pumpkin patch and fall festival yesterday and basically had a fun Saturday at home.  Today was church, then Gran made lunch, then Husband and I baked 4 cakes with home made icing for the cake walk at tomorrow's HUGE Fall Festival that our church is putting on at the local park.  Some 3,000 people will come through between 6 and 9 p.m.  I will decorate the cakes tomorrow after my chiropractor's appointment and take them to the church.  I have a few errands that I have to run.  I have photos to edit, letters to write, and stuff to sew.  Then we will all dress up and go to the festival from 6 til 7:30, at which point I will bring the cute gremlins home and head back up there by me onesy to help out at the face painting booth from 7:45-8:45.

Yes, there will be pictures.

In snail mail news, I got a letter from my Mother-in-law and a cute Halloween card from a Facebook friend.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Also, husband's job is trying something new and letting them drive back and forth to the job this week, so that means a longer week for both of us (when he's coming home I make more of an effort to see that house is clean and good supper to eat, etc. etc.) but at least he will be sleeping in his own bed.  It's a backhanded improvement, but whatever.  Over how things have been, I'll take it.

I hate to have no pictures in a post, so I'll end with this:

Oh, so THIS is why they want to stop Saturday delivery...!

The Theatre, The Theatre

What's happened to the theatre??

No, not 'especially where dancing is concerned', as Danny Kaye muses in a musical number called "Choreography" in the classic film "White Christmas".

I'm talking about theatre etiquette.  But before I go off on that mini rant, let me first tie it in to my experience at the Fox on Sept 22nd, when Jake and I went to see "Wicked".

As I've mentioned (a million or so times, by now), my first date EVER was to see "Phantom of the Opera" at the Fox Theatre.  So that I don't repeat myself (much), here's my previous post on the Fox.

My Review of the Show:
1. Vantage Point:  There are no "bad" seats in this venue.  Period.  I've been in there a dozen times, and all dozen I have had the privilege of sitting in a different section than the other times.  The ONLY problem that I had with our seats for "Wicked" was that the balcony overhang slightly obstructed my view of the full set, so I didn't get to see the Time Dragon thingie billow steam from his nostrils, flap his wings, roll his glowing eyes or loll his head around.  Though cool effects, none of that is pivotal to the plot.  From our seats, I got to see every one of the actors, at all times.

Financially, we are on the bottom rungs of the societal ladder.  I think we might be that bottom "safety step" thing that can't even really be considered an actual rung.  But anyway.  It took us 2 months to set aside money for tickets.  $60 (+tax and processing fees) per seat, plus $20 to park, plus dinner out, plus something nice to wear, gas to get there, and a small souvenir mug, put us back somewhere around $300.  That's a lot of money.  But for a date night out to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary, it was worth it to us.  These were the cheaper seats in Orchestra, which ensured we could go without getting put in the last row of the balcony where we'd have to install a telescope on the back of the seat in front of us in order to see the details on the costumes. (I'm fairly certain the Fox has a "no construction of telescopes" policy somewhere in their rulebook.)  Closer seats, like the ones I saw PTO from the first time 15 years ago, now run $150 each.  We just don't have that kind of money to spend on one night out.  So, yes: for the value, the vantage point was awesome.


2. Sound:  I will admit that I was a bit disappointed that the sound didn't carry as well, under the balcony as we were.  It was alright, and I didn't actually miss anything that was said (I don't think I did, anyway.)  But a few times I found myself straining to hear quiet dialogue, as though a mic wasn't on somewhere.  And "Defying Gravity" should always, always be cranked up just about as loud as it can go without actually making people deaf.  Just sayin'.


3. Costumes:  Hello, people!!!  I'm a costumer! (No, NOT 'customer', costumer.  One who sews and creates costumes!)  This is a Broadway musical!!!  This is a Broadway musical that WON a TONY AWARD for best costume design in 2004.  There are over 200 costumes in this show and I kept having to find a bucket to drool in with every scene change!!!  Here is an amazing page about all of the Wicked costumes from Stephen Schwartz's website for you to peruse at your leisure.  And here is a photo of me, before the show, with Glinda's "Bubble Dress" from the original show, that was on display in the front windows of the Fox.  This is me turned around for the brief moment of taking the photo.  The rest of the 5 full minutes he allowed me to linger, I was pasted up against the display like a kid at Christmastime, leaving nose and fingerprint smudges on the glass.  If it hadn't been raining, I would have forced Husband to take photos of me with Elphaba's and Madame Morrible's costumes too!!!  WANT!!! :D

Check out these breathtaking creations from the show too!!!

4: Plot/Acting: Easy to follow, without being boring in any way.   Engaging and heartfelt.  Professionally well played by amazing actors.  Hilarious one-liners!  My favorite scene was the "cat fight" after Nessarose's unfortunate run in with the farm house, and this exchange between Elphaba and Glinda:

Glinda: "What have you been doing anyway, besides riding around on that [gestures to Elphaba's broomstick] filthy old thing?"
Elphaba: "Well.  We can't ALL come and go by BUBBLE!"


5: Recommend/See again?  YES!  I'm tossing all of my change into a jar (not even kidding) so that by the time Wicked comes round again to the Fox (next year?!  Please, Mr. Vella, please!!!), I'll have the extra saved up to go ahead and splurge on those 5th row Centre Orch seats that I wanted so badly but couldn't afford this time around.  Definitely. Going. Again!


Now that I've given my glowing review of the show, here is that little rant about the other patrons.

Hey, my generation-ish aged (and a little younger, like 20s or so) people who go to the Fox to see evening performance musical plays: You do know this isn't like TV, right?  That the stuff going on up there on the stage is not prerecorded and that the real live people who have spent their time and energy giving you a few hours of entertainment can also see you sometimes.  I'm talking to you, girl 2 rows up and a couple seats over who would not leave her cell phone closed.  The backlight on your phone was like one of those Hollywood searchlights.  No one needed Batman; TURN OFF THE BAT-SIGNAL!

To the other 200 people (mostly women) taking your sweet time in the restroom: the intermission is only 15 minutes.  It doesn't take that long to go pee!!!  I don't care how many drinks your date got you during the first Act! (I'll get back to that in a second...)  And you other people (also mostly women) who cut through the little cafe area there and back down the stairs on the other side to "merge" in with the line for the potties?  That's still cutting!!!  Also, coming back from the restroom, you hanging out in the doorways and not letting people through cost me the first song of the second act because I couldn't get back to my seat.  Being short, I couldn't even see it from the back of the house until the ushers took the rope down and let the 300 or so late-to-return-ers back in.  I missed Glinda's "Thank Goodness" number, with the cute one-sleeve angular cut dress.

Yeah, that one.  That was rude of you.  It really was.

What was with people getting up at random to get a beer?!  Seriously!  This guy in the row in front of us got up in the middle of "One Short Day" and came back about 5 minutes later with a beer for his girlfriend!!!  This is not TV, people!  Remember what I said a minute ago??  The actors (and everyone else trying to watch the show) can SEE you getting up, scootching past all the people in your row (blocking my view while you do it, thanks) and walking out.  What is wrong with you?!  Randomly through the show you'd hear empty cups being knocked over on the floor.  How is the beautiful Fox going to stay pretty and clean if you're bringing in food and drinks like it's your local Cinema 18?!
I remember when you weren't allowed to take food and drink into a fine arts theatre.  I still don't, and I wish you wouldn't either.

Lastly, even the inexpensive seats were a $50 date.  At least.  So what is up with you not being bothered to put on appropriate clothes?  Cut off jeans and t-shirts with flip flops?  Really??  This is live musical theatre!  I understand that not everyone may be able to afford a tux and an evening gown.  But you dressed up for prom, didn't you?  Isn't this at least fairly comparable??  Do you not care at all? (Obviously not, but this is a rant, so let me fume!)

Jake and I worked hard to save up the money for tickets.  This was an evening show at the classiest venue in Atlanta.  We wanted to show our appreciation to all of the people, from our dinner waiter to the ushers who helped us find our seats to the actors we saw as we left the show, that we appreciated their efforts to give us a nice evening out.  So we dressed to the nines.

7 years of being married to a photographer, and I still can't get Jake to relax in front of a camera.  Sigh.
Anyway.  We looked hot.  We were on time to the show when the overture started and the curtain rose.  We didn't get up during the show, except at intermission.  We didn't lean our heads together and talk.  We put our cell phones on silent and didn't get them out until we got back to the car.  We gave a well deserved standing ovation at curtain call.  We tried to show grace, courtesy and class to the actors, Fox staff, and other patrons.  (Well, except for maybe those 5 minute stints with my nose against the display glass, like I said earlier.  Admittedly, that may or may not have exactly exuded "class".  But at least it was outside the theatre.)

Wicked the musical was a wicked good date night!  Thanks, Fox Theatre!  Top marks again! :)

In Which I Snatch 5 Minutes To Post For NaBloWriMo...

Today is:

And we went to:

And then we ate lunch at:

Around 3, we dropped the kids off at home with Grandmother, and went with the whole church (who had bought out a theatre) to see:

I am still using:

It was alternately hilarious and heartbreaking.  PLEASE go see it!!!  

I'm off now to print off some job apps for tomorrow, and to spend some time with my family before the kids go to bed.

Go see the movie!  Now!

See y'all back here again tomorrow...

"Wicked"-ly Good!

I promised several people that my review of the musical "Wicked", which I went to see at the Fabulous Fox Theatre last Thursday night, would be up today.  One of those people was Mr. Allan Vella, the manager of that glorious venue which has been the topic of a recent Go Here Thursday post. (Hi, Mr. Vella!  I hope you got my letter yesterday!)

I must offer up my apologies to all who are waiting for the review and details- it was a hectic and packed weekend after that Thursday date, which culminated in my 3rd child coming down with a stomach flu on Sunday afternoon and redecorating the interior of my van on the way home from church with his breakfast.  He was kept home from school on Monday, with me playing referee between him and his younger sister.  I stayed worn out trying to keep her out of his space and spraying every tangible surface of the house with Lysol so that I didn't end up with a puking pre-schooler today.  (Thankfully the Lysol really does what it says and kills the germs, because she's fine!)

Then there was work this morning (a very part time, but much needed gig) for a few hours, followed by a Grandmother in need of help cleaning the kitchen, moving stuff in the garage, and defrosting the freezer. Add to that some matters of a personal nature, related to the parting of ways between long term friends (see yesterday's Music Mondays post for a glimmer of insight at that one), and it makes for one heck of an early week!

So.  I promise that I am working hard on a really good review piece of what I saw experienced on Thursday.  These things always take longer to compose than I think they will.  I have woven a bit of a rant on the absence of common courtesy and etiquette in today's theatre goers into my review piece too, so you won't want to miss that.  In the meantime, thank you for your patience, and I will get all of my postings caught up just as soon as possible!

...Yep.

Lots of ups and downs right now, but this still made me laugh. :)

August Gratitudes

August is over already??!  I had a lot to deal with, but I also had much to be thankful for!

• 8.31- Crane Paper Co.'s Pen Pal idea
• 8.30- The life and shining light of Sheila Richards
• 8.29- Counsel and reason
• 8.28- Getting to know the new church
• 8.27- Spending the day out and about with the kids
• 8.26- Tech Swing Dance Epicness
• 8.25- iPod dock/charger/alarm clock on massive sale! Yay! I feel like one of the cool kids!
• 8.24- 2 hours of work, then 4 errands finished all before noon!
• 8.23- Nap after a sleepless night.
• 8.22- Nice customer service reps when I have to work out insurance stuff
• 8.21- A new friend at church
• 8.20- Epic KSU swing dance with old friends and some new ones!
• 8.19- Being able to partner with my favorite Christian radio station. J93.3 rocks! :)
• 8.18- Blessed with a formal dress ($45 down from $160) like the one I wanted last year but couldn't get. A few adjustments and I can wear it to the Fox Theatre to see Wicked!
• 8.17- Remembering my Dad. Today would have been his 56th birthday.
• 8.16- Benadryl! Allergic reactions where I can't breathe are not ok.
• 8.15- New part time job!!! Also got a big chunk of photo editing done!
• 8.14- Epic and Fantabulous photo shoot with a swing dance friend. Confidence over my photography skills spikes to an all time high.
• 8.13- Quiet time to write posts and plot photo shoots and whatever else
• 8.12- Call from husband to say he got back to the job safely and misses me already
• 8.11- AMAZING marriage conference. Kirk Cameron. Warren Barfield. God is moving in our lives in a big way!!!
• 8.10- Husband came home from out of town job!
• 8.9- Alarm clocks that work
• 8.8- Positive feedback on top photos to go in my portfolio
• 8.7- 7th Anniversary. Husband and I have thus far managed to not kill each other. ;)
• 8.6- Mani-pedis with Christina before she goes back to Iraq
• 8.5- New favorite movie score
• 8.4- Kids to the bus on time; going to be a great new school year!
• 8.3- Long visit with Dad's mom
• 8.2- Old friends are Jeremy's new teachers this year
• 8.1- Friend Christina is home on leave from Iraq!!!

Missing My Beloved

Jake's still working in Birmingham.  We hope he will get to come home by the end of this week at the latest.  For any of my readers who have to be apart from someone you love for a little while, here's a sweet love song that reminds us we can wish on the same stars and all you have to do is look up and meet at the moon...

Worth Fighting For (Part 2)

So when I left off a while ago, I had just told you about last year's conference and my growing feeling of trepidation that this year would be any different or actually get through both of our thick skulls and do any good.

Jake got in at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night.  I was sewing new buttons on one of Emily's favorite dresses and I had to scramble to put it aside without sticking my fingers with the needle or losing the buttons because I knew as I heard him walking up the stairs that there wasn't anything more important at that moment than letting him know I missed him.  For those of you who may be reading this who aren't married or in a serious relationship, that involves jumping up, meeting him halfway (while not posing a hazard of falling down the stairs and hurting ourselves) and kissing like crazed, hormonally charged teenagers until we are forced to come up for air. :)  (Hey, no one is forcing you to read this. Don't be such ninnies. LOL)

We spent a few hours together talking and telling each other happy anniversary (that we both hated he had to miss.)  We exchanged cards and I gave him the tickets to Wicked that I had purchased the week before.  Then it was after midnight and I had to get up at 6 to see the kids to school, so we went to sleep.
Thursday morning came WAY too early.  In fact, here's a little true something about morning people (I'm not one) and the birdies "singing" outside the window...

But I digress...

I got my butt up out of the bed (whiiiiiiinnnne.  Complaaaaaiiiiiinnn!) and got the Cute Gremlins up, ready, out the door and on the bus.  By then it was getting late in the morning, you know- nearly 7:30! and we had stuff to do so I got a shower and dressed and then got Emily dressed and put her hair up in pigtails and Jake said "It's so cuuuuute!  UGH.  It's disgusting!" :) LOL

We took Emily to Jake's Grandmother's house for a while so that we could spend time together looking at some furniture/antique places.  There's this French style dresser I want for the room redo and I found a pretty good one for a really great price over on Clairmont Rd.  If it's still there when he gets back from the Birmingham job, he said we'll bring his truck and come get it.  If it isn't, it wasn't meant to be.  I can live with that.  We went to a few other places in Tucker, though, just to see what else there was available (nothing!) and we had lunch in this little cafe that has great BBQ.  I didn't really want BBQ though, so Jake got that and I had the chicken salad.  It was  really good!

From there we headed over to Fernbank Museum to see the Mythical Creatures exhibit.  That's my "Go Here Thursday" post*, so look for that to show up a little later.  (I'll post links, don't worry.)
It was a great exhibit but it wasn't overly huge and we spent maybe 2 hours looking at and reading everything, after which we picked Emily up and headed back to Douglasville.

We dropped her off at home with my mom and Grandmother.  I grabbed my Bible and the conference tickets and we were off to the Church at Chapel Hill for the event.  It's a good sized venue and we sat around the middle (ish).  I got the nice people in front of us to take this:

Yes,  Jake really is that much taller than me. :)

We also got shirts that say "I love my husband" and "My wife rocks".  I'll get a pic of us in them soon and post it. :)

The event started off a little different than the last one, because they showed this short text on the screens and the guy reading it came out from one of the front rows and proposed to his girl!  It was sooooo sweet!

Warren Barfield came out on the stage then to lead the worship.  He said "I'm glad she said yes, because it would have been really hard to follow that if she'd said no!"  :)  We sang this song to get things going:

Then he introduced Kirk Cameron and we settled in for a couple of hours of AMAZING teaching and worship.  I seriously can't even put it all here, because it was just such an experience more than a lesson or anything.  I cried a lot because of the topics that hit home, but you know what, that was ok because I wasn't the only one.

Warren came back out after intermission with this song, which was the theme for the Fireproof movie.  He didn't write it for the movie.  He wrote it for his wife when they had gotten in an enormous fight and things looked pretty bleak.  I've looked for the story on you tube, but I couldn't find it.  He tells it with humor, you know, like looking back on it there were funny parts.  But then he gets serious about it and honestly tells the audience that he understands what he almost lost that night. I bet he's told the story over 100 times by now and he is so humble and affected still.  He means every word about how he's sorry for what he said to her and how he acted and there is such honest emotion in the song as he plays it.

I wish I could tell you how many couples came to the front when Warren played "I Surrender All" and Kirk gave the alter call to kneel and pray.  But I couldn't see where I was going, because I was still crying, and Jake led me up there with him and honestly, I wasn't event staff taking a head count. (None of them did either.  They were all up there with us, praying.)  It was a lot, because there wasn't much room to maneuver, but somehow we all fit up there, on our knees.  We were allowed to stay up there as long as we needed to, to ask forgiveness and a fresh start from the Lord and our spouses.

Jake wants to go again next year, only he wants the VIP tickets that give us front seats and a 30 minute Q & A with Kirk.  If you are able, PLEASE attend this conference when it comes near you.  God will show up and He will change you and your marriage.

Lord God, give my Jake a new wife in me.  I will fight for him against anything Satan can think to throw at us.  This is a battle and I'm not going anywhere.  I'm fighting.  Because our marriage is worth fighting for.

*The Mythical Creatures exhibit closes tomorrow in Atlanta, but check your local Natural History Museum to see if it's coming somewhere near you.  It's been to other cities like Boston, NY, Sydney and Ontario.

Worth Fighting For (Part 1)

PART 1: How it all came about

Alright, y'all.  My mom has taken the kids to play at Chuck-E-Cheese and I'm taking advantage of the quiet to catch up on the posts I missed this week due to crazy schedules.  I'll write a short "This is what you might have missed in your feeds" post that includes links for all the other posts later.  Right now, I have to tell you about this conference!!!

It was going to be my "Go Here Thursday", and it will probably still get a tag as such.  But the focus this time is going to shift from "Hey, I think you should do this" to "I have to share this awesome thing that the Lord did!".  It's long, (so I'll break it into 2 parts) but it's from the bottom of my heart and I hope something in it touches your life and gives you hope and a smile.  It's more personal than most of my posts, and there are friends (you know who you are) who would caution me to not publish some of it.  But I can't tell the happy ending without the story of the hard part, so thank you for your concern, but understand that I prayed and thought and edited this carefully before hitting the Publish button and it's exactly how it needs to be.

Last year on J93.3, I heard this commercial for a conference by Feed Your Faith ministries called "Love Worth Fighting For" featuring Christian actor/speaker Kirk Cameron and musician Warren Barfield.  It was coming to Marietta, which is fairly local, and promised practical, scripture based, solid support and encouragement for a Godly marriage and moving things from the way they were, closer to the way they should be.  This all came in the wake of my own marriage being more or less in ruins and I was desperate for anything that could possibly help save it.

We went and it was fantastic.  We were up at the table meeting Kirk Cameron and thanking him for the event and he asked us if we had seen the movie Fireproof.  We had, about six months before then, but this was a really sensitive point for me, because not long after we had watched it and cried and promised to do better and love each other, some catastrophic choices were made that left me broken and hurting inside.  I didn't want to talk about it because I felt like saying "Yes, but it didn't help at all!"  I didn't say that, of course, but I was having a hard time staying composed.  Kirk was so perceptive to the fact that there was so much happening there that wasn't being said out loud.  So he asked us if we had done the Love Dare book from the movie (knowing full well from me falling apart what the answer was).  We told him, no, we hadn't.  The truth of the matter was that we had only barely scraped up the money to go to the event.  We had nothing left to buy any more books, whether they would help us or not, but we were embarrassed to say so.  What happened next blew me away:

He reached into his wallet and handed us the money to buy it right there at the next table over.  "From me," he said "but for each other.  I hope things work out with you guys.  Let me know how it goes."

I was astonished and grateful.  We thanked him and headed home.  Fast forward a few months and the book was still sitting on the nightstand where we left it.  We were in counseling, but with Jake's job taking him out of town at a moments notice (or sometimes no notice at all), I often went alone.  He needed to be there.  He needed help and therapy to fix what was wrong (and more issues came out later in a big blow-up-in-your-face kind of way that took us backward more than a few steps) but I felt like I was the only one doing any sessions or caring about it at all.  Almost a year passed, but the wounds were still raw and I would pour my heart out to God daily and ask Him why I had to deal with this mess.  One night I got this answer: "I'm sorry and I know it hurts.  I love you.  Watch Me make something amazing come out of all this.  Trust Me."

I thought about the Love Dare book, sitting there on the nightstand day in and day out, unopened.  I decided that instead of waiting on Jake to do it and be changed and suddenly be Super Spouse, that I would do the Love Dare for him and see if God would do something with me and change my attitude.  I got to the second day and then more or less had a nervous breakdown.  "I CAN'T," I yelled at God.  "IT HURTS and he's not even HERE for me to do these acts of love and kindness.  THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"  I yelled some more things at God and more or less threw the book in a pile of other marriage and self help books that I knew Jake had ignored and left to collect dust.

Even in my rage against Him and Jake and life in general, God held my heart close.  I cried and cried and cried and He kept reassuring me way down in my spirit "Then don't do the Love Dare if you can't.  There are other things I can give you.  You have everything you need, but you have to trust Me and let Me move."

I asked Jake one night if, since we were having such a hard time making the counseling sessions, we should try to go to the conference again.  I didn't know what else to do.  He said yes, to see when they would be coming this way.  I looked for tour dates, but the closest one was in Opelika, Alabama.  Still, Jake's parents live in south GA and we could have made it work.  So I watched and prayed and wondered where the ticket money would come from.

View Larger Map

2 hour drive one way. Doable, but a hassle.

Then, in the week after that blow-up-in-our-face thing that happened, God provided a miracle:  I got an email from the event enews updates that a new date and venue had been added: Douglasville, GA.  God brought the conference TO US!

View Larger Map

20 minute drive.  Much Better!!!

What's more, it was the week of our wedding anniversary!  The event was exactly 40 days away.  The Lord was speaking to my heart saying "Do you need anymore proof that My hand is all over this??"  He also answered the question of tickets: a wonderful friend of mine, who has been so supportive of my Lucy Jane endeavors, ordered 3 more stuffed elephants in order to send us to the event.

I was so nervous this time.  I kept fighting to push away doubts.  We had done this conference last year; why would this time be any different, or help in any way?  Jake had to miss our anniversary on Sunday, because of work.  He called me twice from Birmingham to tell me Happy 7th Anniversary and he couldn't wait to get home for the conference (he had cleared that day with his bosses in order to make sure he came to the event).  I'm going to leave you in suspense here.  What happened at the conference, night before last??  Part 2 is coming right up!

Poetry Wednesday: Love

Source

Next Sunday, August 7th, will be our 7th wedding anniversary.  This was read at the ceremony.  Throughout my marriage, there have been many times when I have clung to these promises as though my life depended on it.  Because really... it does.  The Bible is our instruction book, our road map and our promises from God Himself that He will give us the very best of everything, if only we trust Him and follow His example.

Have you loved someone or experienced love from someone like this?  These words are special to me because of my wedding day, but it applies to other aspects of our lives too- friends and family, especially, but how you treat the grocery clerk or your boss, a co-worker, or even someone you don't seem to get along with sometimes.  It puts all of our relationships into perspective, if we let it.  Take a few moments to let the words sink into your heart.  This is what real love is and does.  And it will change you forever.

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, 

but do not have love, 

I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 

² If I have the gift of prophecy 

and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, 

and if I have a faith that can move mountains, 

but do not have love, I am nothing. 

³If I give all I possess to the poor 

and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, 

but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, 

love is kind. 

It does not envy, 

it does not boast, 

it is not proud. 

⁵ It does not dishonor others, 

it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

⁶ Love does not delight in evil 

but rejoices with the truth. 

⁷ It always protects, 

always trusts, 

always hopes, 

always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails. 

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; 

where there are tongues, they will be stilled; 

where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 

⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 

¹⁰ but when completeness comes, 

what is in part disappears. 

¹¹ When I was a child, 

I talked like a child, 

I thought like a child, 

I reasoned like a child. 

When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 

¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; 

then we shall see face to face. 

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, 

even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: 

faith, 

hope 

and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.

Aug. 7, 2004

Dinner AND A Show!

Husband is going to have to be working out of town on our 7th anniversary.  It's on a Sunday.  The job is around 2 hours away, just over the state line.  But they won't let him come home.  This sucks.  So last week, we celebrated early by taking an hour after the kids were in bed and going on a dinner date.

If you are ever in my area, GO HERE!


View Larger Map


As it was a date, and as there was also a chef making big flourishes and setting a lot of things on fire, I didn't get any photos.  But I ordered the shrimp and steak, DH got the steak and scallops and it was all FANTASTIC!  Together, our date ran us about $50, which is pretty steep for us.  Since it was an anniversary date, however, I think it was a very well spent $50.  :)

Source

Here is their website.  Please plan a night out if you can!

Frank's Further Adventures in St. Simons

August 7, 2009
Mine and Jake's 5th wedding anniversary.  We went down to St. Simons again, this time taking Frank and our good friends Charles and Marilyn.

Frank at the SSI Historic Lighthouse

While we were there we ate at 4th of May Cafe.  Be sure to read my past Go Here Thursday post about it here.  Frank enjoyed cuddles from Marilyn and myself while we waited for our food (which was not long.)

While we were there, we saw the 6th Harry Potter movie, which had just come out.

And spent some time at the beach.  I don't have any photos of him under the canopy that day, but I saw these sail boats and I think the next beach trip, I will see if we can rent one and Frank can have a new adventure!

After a long, happy day at the beach, we ate dinner at the Whataburger.

While I was retrieving these photos, I found some from the last Frank Friday that I had missed, so here they are:
July 24-25, 2009

Frank hangs out in the sculpture thingie outside the Glynn Art Gallery

Outside the SSI Lighthouse

In front of the SSI Pier

Playing on the swings at the Pier playground

Frank with one of the SSI Tree Spirits

The whale on the SSI Pier playground thought Frank looked like a good snack.
Don't worry, we rescued him! :)

On our way home, we saw this. :)

Age Is Just A Number, Right? RIGHT??!!

It's after midnight, so today is officially June 11, which means I missed this week's Frank Friday.  Again.  I'm sorry, y'all.  Things are all going bonkers around here and I just haven't had time.  It also means that tomorrow I'll turn:

Or as I've also seen it:
29 ish
29.95 + tax
10,958 days old
18 with 12 years experience.

I don't freak out at birthdays.  I usually pretty much revel in them and use them as justification for every indulgence I'm allowing myself.  I know that in the scheme of things, 30 is still just a baby.

Sure, there are moments this week when I've been thinking of Sunday looming ahead and realizing that there is a lot in my life that I thought would be different/better at this stage of the game.  I'm not in a solid career or even making a full time income (even by calculating with minimum wage as a starting point).
I thought surely I'd be out on my own with my family again and in our own space by now, after losing our house nearly 5 years ago, but we aren't and won't be for possibly another few years yet.  I had hoped that by 30 I would have been able to finish college, but that looks like it will continue to be put on a back burner for a long time as well.  So, no.  Things aren't what I thought they'd be...

I can't pretend that I'm not a bit disappointed with my mom's lack of interest in this milestone birthday.  She said in passing (those are the only conversations we have lately, unless it's her nagging me to clean something or handle someone) that she assumed I'd made plans with my friends.  All of my friends are scattered through different states, and have busy lives of their own.  We're too spread out for parties or gatherings.  I wanted to go with some girlfriends to the beach, but with gas being as high as it is... that more or less went out the window.

I know I'll get plenty of Facebook birthday love and comments, and I look forward to that.  But mom could have done something.  A cake. Or flowers.  Something to mark the big 3-0.  I'm sure it makes her feel older, to see me hit milestone birthdays.  So I guess I shouldn't be surprised or let down.  Our relationship is barely breathing and she makes it plain every day that my family living here is a huge inconvenience to her.  There are comments that start "If this were my house...".  But it isn't.  It's her mother's and Gran tells me every day how much she loves having us here and what a help we are.

Gran will offer to keep the kids so that Jake and I can go out for a date night.  She always does that on either of our birthdays or our anniversary, which is sweet of her.  We'll likely stay in and watch a movie or something.  Jake's working long, hard hours, and is completely beaten down by the time the week ends.  I hate to see him so tired and worn out, but that's the nature of his job and the summer hours are "get 'em while you can" because in the winter the days are shorter and the weather nasty, so the paychecks are smaller and have to last longer.

But I'm happy.  Money can't buy the awesome things that I have.  Like my 4 kids.  (Well, alright, so they are grossly expensive to maintain, but still.)  No income in the world would be worth trading for Emily's laugh, Charles' hugs, Jeremy's patience or Jennifer's sweet spirit.  They make me richer than any queen that's ever lived.  And my freedom to dream and create, too.  I love what I'm allowed to do with my time and talents and I keep learning so much as I go!

Earlier, I went through my big tote of photos that still need to be put into albums, and I laughed and cried in turns at baby pictures and memories.  I missed my Dad so much I almost couldn't breathe.  I looked back at my high school days and band camp and college.  I have been blessed beyond reckoning.

So bring it on, Sunday!  I'm ready to be a tricenarian, and make the next decade even better than the last!  I have a list of goals to be met.  I'm excited to get started and see where it all leads.

And there will be cake and cards from Jake's family.  Just the small group of us makes the best birthday parties EVER.

Happy Birthday to me! :)

UPDATE
Last night at Jake's Grandmother's house, we had beef stroganoff for dinner.  It was funny because the wind kicked up pretty hard and irritated a power line somewhere, so the power went off for nearly an hour.  As people were trying to cook ground beef.  On an electric stove.  So Heather (my amazing, wonderful sister in law who is determined to take over the world by saying please and thank you) took the pots out to the grill (yes, you heard correctly).  The power came back on just as everything was done and we were ready to sit down.  Of course. :)

After dinner Heather made a show of keeping me busy in conversation while Jake put candles on a cake that Aunt K had brought for me.  It had my name on it and everything!  They all sang to me and I blew out all the candles in one go.  I didn't get any pics before we ate it, though.  They put 24 candles in the cake (because that's how many come in a box, apparently) so we said I was 24 with 6 years experience.  And then cracks were made about how more than one entire box of candles on a cake is not recommended by the GA fire safety commission, etc. etc. Hardy har har. :D

We then played cards for the next 2 hours, at which I lost spectacularly.  Unless you like hoarding points, in which case I trumped them all. :)

It was wonderful and I have had a fantastic birthday.