Happy 27th Birthday to Me :O)

Today I have officially celebrated my entrance into my 27th year of life :O). Mom took the day off work and we went to see "You, Me and Dupree" which was a cute movie, but definitely not something I'd take a child to see! Then we went and got pedicures this afternoon. My phone rang all day and my internet beeped with well wishes and I appreciate them all, it always makes me feel special to be remembered, every year I get older, but I feel more blessed because of the number of thoughtful gifts, call and gestures coming my way from such an incredible support group of friends and family :O). This evening my family and I headed out to the Magic Time Machine for dinner, if you have ever been there it is a restaurant where all the waiters dress up in costumes, tonight we had GI Joe as our waiter, in addition you sit in different thematic rooms, we sat in the dunce cap this evening. Dinner was good, and the cake and more gifts were excellent afterwards....another great start to another great year! P.s. Today it was 107 degrees, it is the hottest day in the past 3 years!

Clean Sweep

This morning: Mom, Lois, Holly and I went down to the Bon Ton District (just learned the area's name) of Dallas.....we volunteered via the Global Day of Prayer to go and clean up the community in this area. It is 102 degrees today, so you can imagine it was a HOT day. It's always interesting to be able to reflect on your life versus those in your local areas. It was a sad thing to witness. We, personally, filled over ten bags of trash and then some, including glass beer bottles, a few glass beer bottles, and a couple glass beer bottles. When I heard about this project and I heard they were expecting 1500 volunteers to clean up this one community I imagined walking down a street and picking up a bottle here or there, and I thought the rest of us would be fighting for pieces of trash....how could one community need 1500 volunteers, right? I just can't believe the number of unsafe objects we found, I kept thinking about my childhood and the neighborhood I grew up running around in. There were fields of glass and sticker beds everywhere in this area, debris and all sorts of trash. It was sad, but rewarding....I think we could do this for the next twenty days and still not have it all cleaned up, it was like a landfill of trash where dirt and grass should be, I think in the end it does look a lot better, everything got a little bit cleaner....except me :O). We saw very few cars and even fewer people and no children this time.....it was so silent, but the evidence of the residents was all around. After that we swung by the downtown Farmer's Market, which I vaguely remember going to as a child....it was very neat. There were four looooong rows of covered vendors with their fresh goods and samples. I think we bought enough fruit and veggies to start our own farmer's market in Plano....

Globular

I just finished reading "The Case For a Creator" by Lee Strobel. I've read "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith" because I was fascinated by Lee Strobel's story. If you don't know he was an athiest who believed in Darwanism etc growing up and only after his wife became a Christian did he start exploring Christianity.....his intention was to prove to everyone why there was no way it was a rational, valid stand and in turn he discovered there is no worthy evidence against Christianity and all signs point towards God and specifically Jesus. This latest book had a lot of 'big terms' for me, it really dealt with the different theories regarding how the universe was created and in the end science points towards a Creator, God and not scientific processes, though it also deals with how God reveals himself through His Creation so we know Him better and what we learn about him through each element. It's actually amazing (and not so much when you think about how evil is so rampant) to see all the scientific 'coverups'.....I learned about these scientific theories in junior high and high school that so many rely on that are never really portrayed 'scientifically' (the things that went wrong, the substances that were controlled, the elements of the experiments that had to be manipulated and twisted that in any other circumstance nobody would ever allow to to be a valid experiment.) In fact, I was thinking about the lessons still being taught in our science book in 6th grade that doesn't address the different variables. They have been so manipulated and controlled to try to fit into the other theories it's insane, and the longer I'm a Christian, the more I see how saying you are a Christian or bringing up anything regarding your faith can offend people like no other subject, which seems like a lot of evidence for Christianity in itself. I was at a dinner party last fall where a similar line of discussion came up regarding scientific evidence, and though the point is never to win a debate, you can win a debate and definitely walk away without making the impact necessary, it's always good to have more knowledge so I decided to add this book to my summer reading list. My brain literally hurts after some of the chapters b/c of all the technical and scientific terms. There were a LOT of times the scientists he interviews for the book use phrases like: zillions upon zillions (3 lines at times of the word zillion) of the likelyhood of things like-planets in other clusters that could be like earth, life coming from nonliving elements, the mind (soul) versus the brain (my favorite chapter, actually)....it was fascinating, I'd recommend the book, it's well written, very 'journalistic' (Strobel's career was a newspaper reporter). I think he had a good point though, there is so much evidence that so many people refuse to look at because if they do "the truth you uncover is going to demand a response." Just be ready to think....and yes, the term 'globular' is used....it made me smile.....it describes a star cluster, or am I the only one that didn't know that? I'm going to add it to my vocabulary list of favorite words to use.

"Spring" Cleaning in July...

Some of you have received the DAILY updates on my cleaning projects (which I know you have been waiting breathlessly for), but I've completed project one "The Utility Room", my crowning glory. As I told a couple of people this week I knew I had a problem....I mean, I was on a cleaning streak when I found myself cleaning the cleaning products. It's so clean you could lick the floor.....trust me, Max was my test dummy and he's still standing.....though when I say you, I only mean if you are K9 and already have a reputation for eating gross things....but I think you get the point......so my next project is my room.....I'd take pictures, but you would want to move in....so this is as close as I can get. I found a great deal on a couple of baskets, but it looks like I've found other uses for them and need to go grab a few more.....

Once Upon a Time....

Some of you may not know this, but July 5th is another holiday in the line of FABULOUS events to be celebrated in July :O)! Happy Anniversary to Maurine and Jeff....3 years ago I was getting my hair done in Tampa, Florida after spending the 4th rehearsing and eating Spaghetti....regardless of time passing, I'll always remember the wedding with a smile and many vivid details due to the thoughtful planning included throughout each part of the day! I listen to the cd I got as a favor on every road trip (or plane trip) I take....and anyone that hears it wants a copy, you can only imagine how much more meaning it has with such fabulous songs and fabulous memories to go along with them....and your picture sits in my office in my favor frame! I can't wait to see what year 4 brings into your lives! I hope to see you sometime in the coming year....These are the ONLY shots I have saved on my computer, and who knows where I even scrounged it up(but don't post just seem more fun with pictures?)....I'm including them so other's can 'imagine' and so you have a face on my blog! :O) Have a great one...enjoy your traditional chicken dinner, and I look forward to hearing the details of your anniversary!

Here's Something Original....

HAPPY 4th of JULY! I love this day! July 4th and Thanksgiving are just so jam packed with fun traditions. Today, family (including Taylor and Xavier who are here for the month of July) came over for a BBQ (a not so fabulous attempt at twice baked potatoes (though they looked good), I wouldn't recommend them; brick hard (forgot about them) rolls and crispy sausages (that 'looks like Max,' my favorite)) and an ice cream sundae bonanza afterwards. Evening activities included games: HORSE (JULY 4 in this case), heated Ms. Pacman tournaments and a rainy walk (I truly am soooo glad it finally rained though) and finally firworks :O)! July 4th is just the essence of what summer is all about. The only thing missing was a swim, but there was too much cooking going on for that today.....never fear, I'm sure I'll catch up later this week! I hope your July 4th ended with a bang!