My new purse, and yes you can make fun of me

I worked at the bookstore last night, and about 8:50 I started helping this woman find a study bible. As I was checking her out around 9 she plunked her purse down on the counter and my world was stilled. It.Was.Beautiful.
Now, I love purses. I'm not really talking about designer purses, I just like cute purses. Large, small, as long as they're cute I really like them. Another sign that I'm slowly but surely turning into my mother. Since I've bought the house I've put myself on a purse ban, and it's difficult, more difficult than I thought it would be.

Her purse was brown, it was large had a zipper in the center with compartments on the side. It was awesome and I told her so. She said she got it at Target, just a few days before. The purse was $24.99. I was immediately a flutter, I was shaken to the core, I wanted that purse. But blast! I had placed a ban on all purses!
Then, I remembered. I had just gotten a gift certificate to Target in the mail from the lovely LaCourses as a housewarming gift. (my first gift from Ryder!) Now, Lisa had written something about a hammer, or a wrench...but I didn't really understand what those words meant I've never heard of them before. (kidding, kidding) Of course, I could always use the gift certificate for toiletries, or some food, or clothing, or some tool like device. But what I ended up using it for was THE PURSE. I had to pay the taxes ($1.61). Let me tell you, it is the best damn house warming present I've yet to receive!
I worked until 930, came home, and jumped on target.com. As I was looking through the purses to find it I noticed, that they came in different colors. The brown my customer bought, black, and RED. RED! RED! The decision was made, the purse was to be mine and it was going to be RED!

Target opens at 8am. Did you know that? I had to be at church at 845 for Washington Project, so I had just enough time to grab the gift card and head to Target. I arrived at 805.


At approximately 807 I saw it, THE purse.



Hooray! I literally switched my purses while driving the rest of the way to church this morning. It's so lovely and so beautiful, and SO roomy!
Here I am with my lovely new purse!


I love purses. I've never been this excited about a purse before, but I am, I am just so excited about this purse!

Gratitude unexpressed is pretty much useless

If we wait for our emotions to dictate/prompt our actions/attitudes then it will never happen. We are growing numb to the things we should be grateful for everyday.

When we're first in love, it's easy to go out of our way to do kind things for the one that has captured our affection. When we make a new friend, it's easy to lavish attention and spend tons of time together, or on the phone, texting, IMing. We get a new job, the dream job even! It's perfect, we work so hard for the whole 8 hours and often off the clock because of the passion we feel for what we're working towards
But then, the glow wears off. What drew us to our spouse, friend, job, whatever has transformed into what annoys us, gets under our skin, and drives us absolutely insane. We begin to campaign to change that which we fell in love with. We berate it, we beat it up, we ignore it, we talk badly about it to others.
What is it that made us forget what we fell in love with?
Was it that we captured it? That we got to be part of that which we loved everyday so it stopped being something unexpected and special, and became something ordinary and mundane?

Why did you fall in love with your significant other?
Why did you seek out a friendship with someone?
Why did you love spending time with them, getting to know them?
What was it that first took your breath away in those first years with your kids?
What are you holding onto that you won't let go of in order to get back to that falling in love, can't wait to spend as much time as possible with you feeling?

How about God? Why did you first, if you've ever, seek Him? Pursue Him? Listen for Him?
Do you still?

Some days, I don't feel like concentrating on all those things. Some days, I sort of feel like forgetting all the reasons I love people and all the reasons my heart is broken by the damage that is in this world. Some days, I just want to be mean, selfish and nasty.
But then I am reminded, of all that I have been given, all of the love that I receive, all of the kindnesses that are extended by people...and most of all I am reminded in ways both small and large of the grace that was freely given, without condition to me, to all of us, by God.
It's then that I think, how can I not be kind, loving, and thankful? How can I not seek that which I fell in love with in my friends, family, and in God?

So remember why you fell in love, why you're friends; remember the good more than the bad, and remember to listen for God, because he is there, moving, speaking.
Better than remembering, express your gratitude for everything that you have, everything you've been given, and give something to show that gratitude. Tell people thank you in a way they understand.

Show your gratitude to God by loving his people.

These are my parents...who I love

These are my parents, who I love. Who are more generous then almost anyone I know. They met in 8th grade at St Mary's church camp. My mom said she remembered seeing dad across the drop off field and thinking he was "so cute". My dad said he remembered seeing my mom and thinking, "she has a lot of luggage for just one week". After the week was over they wrote each other letters. ( mail, it was called mail!) They lived two towns away but dad would visit mom. They went to each others proms, and stayed together through college. Dad was visiting mom in her dorm room (scandalous!) and mom's parents came to pick her up. Dad snuck down some stairs and was standing by the car when mom's parents came out. So he did the most logical thing, he hopped in their trunk and shut the lid. When mom's dad opened the trunk to put mom's suitcases in, out popped dad, "Hello Mr Z******" he quipped, then casually walked away.
They got married the week after mom graduated college, on December 16th 197something or other. (What? I always get confused if it's 72 or 73)

My parents worked hard, and still do. Our vacations as kids were 6am-midnight with little rest for the wicked. My parents worked hard to overcome a long line of bitterness trying to barrel like a freight train through their lives, they worked hard to overcome alcoholism and abuse. They did an excellent job and my sister and I reap the benefits every day of their intentional turning away from those choices.
When I was a little girl, I would eavesdrop a lot. (I was very good, I think it's a spiritual gift). I would hear soft conversations, fights, I love yous, and what is wrong with yous. My parents weren't perfect, but they were often the only exception to the lies being shoved down my throat by so many other adults in my life.

These are my parents, who I love.
I found this picture when I was looking for a new picture for blogger, and thought it was a great pic and had to share.

*disclaimer*
I thought none of this when I was younger. When I was younger I of course was stifled, no one understood me, they just didn't get it and they obviously never would. So for those of you struggling with the drama that is having kids, they might not get it now, but one day they will.
disclaimer*

I think you would be surprised at how unremarkable many remarkable moments are.

♫ I read that on a blog today. Sometimes I don't know how I stumble on these things, but I'm glad that I do. I know nothing about medicine, but I love how this woman relates her stories.
But this line just jumped out at me:

I think you would be surprised at how unremarkable many remarkable moments are.

It's so true. It actually reminded me a lot about what Greg spoke about on Sunday. How little we actually express our thanks for each other, and especially to God about what they, He, does in our lives.
There are so many extraordinary things happening every day in my life, that I don't even realize in the moment. In the busy I forget to stop and breath in the lovely.

A friends encouragement
Laughing and sharing over clearance sugar cookies and skip-bo
Taking the trash to the curb at my house (MY house!)
Mending fences with someone where there was previously only burnt embers
A break at work
Having a job
Inside jokes
Celebrating a friend getting older and being around for another year
Kind words uttered unprompted and unexpectedly

What are some of your unremarkable remarkable moments?

Soles4Souls

Anne Jackson posted this the other day so I thought I would spread the word. Click Click Click and give away some soles.

i’ve been talking about a secret project i’ve been working on the last few weeks…today’s the official launch day!

IT’S THE LAUNCH OF 50000SHOES.COM!

soles4souls is an amazing charity here in nashville that has one mission: get shoes to people who need shoes. over 300 million people around the world don’t have shoes and are forced to walk around unsafe and in potentially life-threatening conditions. not only is it unsafe physically, but having to look down all the time causes these people to also live without dignity and confidence.

just a few weeks ago, i was meeting with wayne elsey, the founder and CEO of s4s and he asked me what is the craziest thing we could do using social media to meet this huge need? what kind of ridiculous goal could we create? and literally ten minutes later we had the answer.

let’s get money raised for 50,000 shoes in 50 days and make it as easy as possible for people to not only donate online, but to spread the word about the campaign. the only way this goal can be reached is if you not only donate $5, but spread the word!

HOW DOES IT WORK?
go to 50000shoes.com. a $5 donation buys two pairs of shoes.

everyone has $5 (or more!). and everyone has 2 minutes. from start to finish, donating is literally three clicks. no fluff. no hassle. anyone can donate. it is so, so easy!

and it’s easy to spread the word. use the graphics on your blog. email everyone you know. join the facebook group and ask your friends to do the same!

YOU CAN WIN A TRIP TO GIVE SOMEONE THEIR FIRST PAIR OF SHOES!
besides the fact that the blogging world can literally impact 50,000 people before the end of the year, one person (and their guest) will be chosen at random to hand deliver the shoes they purchased on a s4s trip to mexico. can you imagine handing someone their very first pair of shoes? it could be a child. or it could be a mother. or a father. or a grandmother. who knows?!

PLEASE DON’T CLICK AWAY…
we could have made the goal attainable - like 5000 shoes in 50 days. i have no doubt that could happen. but we wanted to show a watching world the positive power of social media. we wanted this to be a challenge for bloggers and people to unite in a way never before seen!

50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days. THAT’S HUGE!!!!!

please donate. please blog about this. please email everyone you know about this.

five bucks. three clicks. two minutes. that’s all and it can make a HUGE difference!!

THE MATH
if 500 people influence 10 people to donate, and those people influence 5 more, that’s 50,000 pairs of shoes (because remember - $5 buys 2 pairs!)…please help make this a reality! let’s blow it out of the water…can we raise enough for 100,000 pairs? I THINK SO!!!

300 million people around the world need you!

chris and i donated on friday. we are spreading the word today.

please join in! even non bloggers can help. just email everyone you know! take up a collection in your office or at your church. do you know someone in the press who can do a story on this? be creative!!!

forbes.com and cnbc.com have already picked up on this…and we have only just begun. with your help (and only with your help) this can be a worldwide movement. i truly believe it can!

are you in?

====

Nashville-based Soles4Souls(TM) facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.5 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in 61 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

I'm a widowed super agent living in a creepy house, and also a mom in a remoted Mexican village

That would be the short story of the dream(s) I had last night.
I was living alone in this big old rambling farm house, that was also in an urban neighborhood, with a door to the outside every 2 feet or so. Also, the shower was in the stairwell to the basement, which was unfinished.
I remember wandering around cleaning the house and being generally very important and glamorous. Then I needed to take a shower. While I was in the shower I kept thinking that someone was creeping into my house, but I didn't know for sure. While I was in the shower, the light in the basement, which was attached to a timer, went off. So I was showering in the dark, but also somehow illuminated from behind.
I turn off the shower and and crawl up the dusty basement stairs and crouch at the door. Which then flew open. Crouched on the other side of the door was James Eckhouse. Weird.
He threw a towel at me and said that I was in a lot of danger, that he was with the CIA and some associates of my dead husband were coming for me. Then he disappeared.
So I set about, wrapped only in a towel of course (oh and I was sooooo thin) to lock all the doors and windows. Well, not all of them would lock. Some of them were just held shut by hooks, others wouldn't line up right to lock. As I'm struggling with one of the doors I look out over my balcony and see Lukas Haas leaning against a tree. He came over and offered to help lock up the house.
While we were locking up the house he kept giving me all these padlocks and saying he confiscated them when he busted his mom out of prison. To which I replied....oooookay.
So that was finished and I walked back into the kitchen and mom, dad and Sharen were in there. Dad was telling them that they really needed to take over securing the house because I wasn't able to protect myself.
I was so mad! I proceed to explain to him that I was perfectly able to defend myself. After all, when I worked for the bank they used to send me on secret missions all the time! Once I killed a man in Paris after all! I told him that I almost stole some of the Queens jewels, but luckily one of her men stopped me, because it was just an oversight, nothing on purpose.
After I got done with my tangent James Eckhouse popped back into the kitchen and started yelling at me because I never told him I was a secret agent...because maybe it wasn't my dead husbands enemies that were after me but the Queen herself!

Weird.

I also had another dream that I had a kid, but he was Matthew's drawing from the other night. He was a tall tall tall skinny stick figure drawn in brown with orange hair, because it was on fire, with pickle juice in it.
He played basketball and was our remote Mexican villages hero because he was breaking out of the poverty cycle.

I would like to add that I didn't eat anything weird before going to bed! I had PB&J and some chips at 630 for dinner and that was it!

Set a drift on memory bliss

Does anyone else remember Lisa Frank?
Oh.My.Gosh. I loved her!