Validation

Hi to all who read this post! Since I am new to blogging, I realized that I needed to enable you all to make comments without registering as a blogger. At the bottom-right of each post is an underlined comment tally (it will read "0 comments" if there aren't any). Click on that to leave a comment or read others' comments. You should now be able to leave a comment "anonymously." If you choose the "anonymous" button, go ahead and sign your first name to the comment so I know who you are (unless, of course, you really want to remain anonymous!).....In fact, for fun's sake, try it out! Leave me a comment, so I know who reads this blog! Thanks. :)

I got a 10 out of 10 on my math quiz, and I got a 100 out of 100 on my ENG 101 evaluation essay!!!! So far, I have A's in all three classes!! Woo-Hoo!!! 7 more weeks to go!!!

As I'm sitting at my computer, I hear the GameBoy music playing. I look over, and Ben is playing it. Suddenly, he stops and says: "Mama? How did God get born?" I think: "Hmmmm...how can I make this make sense to a 6-year-old?" I say: "Well, God is our Creator, so nobody created Him. He's always been there." I pause to see how well that answer it taken. Ben makes a spitting noise, and continues with his game...... I guess it was a good answer!!

This is my doggy, Diego. He is a 6 1/2 year-old Rat Terrier. We put a deposit down on him before he was even conceived, and he turned out to be the only male of the litter. We would visit him every week at the breeder's, until he was old enough to come home. When we brought him home, I was 5 months pregnant with Ben! His first car ride made him nauseous, and it may be why he hates riding in the car to this day. Anytime we slow down, he starts freaking out, because he thinks we're going to leave him. Diego is sometimes the kind of dog you sort of love to hate. He is terribly territorial, so he barks A LOT when someone comes to the door. He usually rushes them, barking ferociously and sort of pounces them with his front feet. It scares the CRAP out of people. He also pretends to go potty outside. We let him out, he goes around the tree for a few seconds (to make it seem real), and comes back in. I then say sternly, "GO POO POO." He knows he should, and he slinks away an...

I copied an article to this blog's post about Church/Ministry/Spiritual Burnout from a website/ministry for wounded/burned out leaders at www.smolderingwickministries.com . This article is one of many written by Kim and Kathy Wenzel. I'm working on posting my own story, but I thought I might start with this.....Ever been in this place?? Are You Burning Out? How do you feel right now? How do you feel about God? Has He let you down? Are you disappointed with His faithfulness? Were you expecting Him to come through for you and He seemed very absent? Is there a growing resentment about the manner in which God has blessed you or failed to bless you? Are you getting disillusioned with the congregation? Do you feel there is far too big a gap between the Bible and the life most in the church are living? Does it seem your sermons are changing no one? Are you tired of preaching and seeing no evidence of it working? Do you see many in the congregation still living rather empty religiou...

Ahhhhhh.....a good day for me is completing the rough draft of an essay for English 101, Joe taking the kids away from the house, and soaking in my Lavender Vanilla foam bath......Oh, how I needed that break! Moms gotta take any chance they can get to refueled, don't they? But, back to Ben's 6th birthday. I thought I would share a few more pics of Ben's special day. Our gift to him was a trip to Build A Bear and dinner at Applebee's. Joe followed that by taking Ben to the Monster Truck show for a guy's day out. ....It's great to be a kid! Ben "cleaning" his new friend, Cody (a monkey) who was just "brought to life." Cody even makes monkey sounds! Cody is a very spoiled monkey. He got a Seahawks uniform (complete with helmet and cleats), Superman pajamas, sunglasses and a doctor's uniform. But, doesn't he look happy to be going home with such a nice boy? Amanda, Melanie, Ben and Cody with his Mariners shirt, denim shorts and Converse (...

In my profile, it mentions that I started back to college, which happened Fall Quarter. I completed Math 60 (yes, I had to start low) and Medical Terminology. I was very scared about taking math, as it was not my best subject in high school. The first test I took, I got an 86. Yet, every test I got back after that was 100 to 103!! I would laugh to myself about it, because it was such a pleasant surprise... Now it's Winter Quarter. I'm taking Math 98, English 101 (online), and Chemistry 100. It's a little crazy of me to be taking three classes, I know. But, I am determined to knock out these pre-requisites for the sonography program as soon as possible. The sooner I get these done, the sooner I can apply to the program. I will be finished with the pre-req's by Winter of next school year, and then I can apply to the program which starts the Fall of 2008. From there, the program is seven quarters (not quite a full two years). Anyway, I'm two and a half week...

It was Ben's 6th birthday last week, and we had a party for his friends at Burger King. I want you to check out the cake I made. I have to tell you that Ben REQUESTED I make him a volcano cake, so I had no choice. On the way to the party, I was THIS close to running into Fred Meyer to buy another cake and avoid the embarassment, but then it wouldn't have been a VOLCANO. Answer me this. If you stand back from your computer, doesn't it look a little like bleeding roadkill??? Here's a few pics from the party.....

Well, hello people! This is my first entry to my new blog. I am starting this blog to share my life with far-away friends and family, as well as express myself to better understand myself. Not proper grammar there - but who cares? It's my blog). I would also like to try to understand and even gain feedback on recent experiences with church burnout, as part of a healing process I've been in. (I'll post more on that later).....Anyway, I hope to post pictures of my family for those who want to see those pics! I've decided that I won't include full names, or other private, specific information. This is the world wide web after all!! All in all, I'm doing this for me - to validate my thoughts and experiences by posting them in type.....