Good Laughs

I found a website yesterday that cracked me up. My kids thought I was crazy and I cried I don't know how many times. What could this website be you ask? Well technically it's not a website, but a blog. Yep, I found a blog that had me rolling. The blog is called, Cake Wrecks, and is dedicated to high-lighting confectionery disasters people have paid for. I'm not talking about ugly cakes, but cakes that never should have left the paper design, cakes that the decorator (or wreckorator as they are called in the blog) should have known better than to attempt. Now this isn't just a snarky little blog that puts down the creations of others. People willing send in their creations with stories attached to them. The blog has also been nominated for and won quite a few awards. Jen, the blogger, does her best to keep the blog as family friendly as possible, so comments full of profanity are deleted. She doesn't accept lewd or pornographic pictures, but if there are any cakes of a questionable nature she is always quick to let people know before the picture is displayed. So, if you're looking for a good laugh at work, home, or wherever, try here. Just don't do it on Sundays because Jen showcases cakes that are sublime and in no way considered a Cake Wreck.

To check out the blog, click here.

Working out & working through

I didn't work out yesterday, and let me tell you, I felt like a complete bum for not doing so. Sunday night was a long one and I didn't get to bed til after 1am, so I slept in. I don't like working out when the kids are up because it's so distracting, so I thought I would work out last night. Well, David starting running a fever around 5:30 or 6:00, so I spent the night snuggling with him and a workout never happened. I got up this morning though, and I went at it. I rode the elliptical for 20 minutes, did an ab workout, lifted a little bit, and then rode the elliptical again. Needless to say, I'm tired, but in a good way.

Last night I went to the store to pick up some Suda-Fed, because we're all being plagued by our allergies. When I got home, David was curled up in a chair with Carlo. He stayed there for a few minutes and then came and got in my lap. The first thing I noticed was that he was hot. I grabbed the thermometer and sure enough, his temp was 102.2. He fell asleep in my lap for about an hour and the Carlo carried him upstairs. When I checked his temp again it was 101.2. By 10pm he was down to 100.3. The beauty of all this was that the only medicine he'd taken was Suda-Fed. I didn't have any Tylenol or Motrin in the house so I just let him sleep and prayed, and waited to see what would happen. That's what was done in days before all the drugs we have, right? Well, his little body fought and his fever broke, and now he's good as new. Thank you Lord for touching David's body and restoring him as he slept!

Complacency = Death

I had a conversation with my mom about self-motivation yesterday. I was telling her how I've wanted to start working out again and get back into some sense of shape, but have lacked the motivation. While waiting for students to show up for summer school today I thought about lack of vision and complacency. I realized that my lack of motivation was really my being complacent. I know I wasn't content with my weight & body shape, so why wasn't I motivated to work-out? Lack of vision! I couldn't see 2 weeks down the road when riding the elliptical would get easier or 2 months later when I'd start to see some definition in my arms and notice that my clothes were fitting looser. Once I started seeing those things, I realized that I could work-out every morning and right now I'm motivated to do so. Lord help me keep my motivation!

We need vision in our lives. Why work to graduate high school if you don't see yourself going on to college? Just drop out at 16. Why graduate from college if you don't see yourself moving onto a career and impacting the world in someway? Just quit high school at 16. Why read your Bible, pray, tell people about Jesus, take the time to disciple someone if you aren't anxiously waiting for Him to come back and call us home to glory? Quit doing all these things and let yourself and countless others die and go to Hell. This last one sounds extreme doesn't it? In my opinion no more so than the first two. While the first 2 seem a little far-fetched, when you think about it, that's what lack of vision does. When we allow ourselves to get complacent we lose vision. When we lose vision we quit moving forward. We stand still and stagnate. When something becomes stagnant (like water) it can become poisonous and we all know what poisonous things do to us. They = death. Are you moving forward?

Tis the Season

As I move into the 2nd half of July and 2009 (can you believe that?) I also move into an extensive birthday season with my extended family. From the end of July until mid-Feb there are at least 2 birthdays a month with a break until May. So let's run trough the list shall we?

July: 7th - My sister Dani, 31st - My niece Arielle

August: 13th - My niece Aubree will be 1!! 17th - My sis-in-law Steph will turn 21

September (otherwise known as "The Motherload"): 8th - Me & my Aunt Dorothy, 12th - my sister Carol, 17th - Tony (he'll be 10!!), 24th - Carlo & I celebrate 11 years of marriage, 27th - my bro-in-law Eddie, 30th - my niece Alyssa Johnson

October: 5th - Carlo (he'll be 30, give him a hard time about it, please), 12th - my nephew Jalen (Ashlei still owes me $5 for winning the pool on the day he would be born)

November: 4th - my niece Ariana, 12th - my grandmother, 14th(?) - my niece Erynn, 27th - my mother-in-law

December: 9th - my sis-in-law Sylvia, 31st - my bro Kenny

January: 28th - David will be 5!!

February: 14th - my mom (her b-day & Valentine's Day are two separate occasions), 15th - my nephew Aaron

So what does this say about my family? My brothers and sisters love vowels a little too much, that's what!!

Truly Random Thoughts

This is my first ever list-post of truly random thoughts I've had or been having:

• Have you ever noticed that if big-rig truckers have any kind of sticker or support something on their rigs they are like "It's not a choice, it's a child." or "Freedom isn't Free." or "These colors don't run?" If they outwardly show support for something it usually has a kind of God & Country type theme to it. Next time you're on the road, see how many you can find.
• Today Tony leaves for camp. Next summer he'll start going to Youth Group.
• Don't tell anyone, but when I think about the above, I feel old.
• Started working out today. I did a personal best on the elliptical plus some abs and light weights for toning on my arms.
• Having an iPod when I work out helps so much.

That's all for now...I think.

Father's Day

I know I'm not a dad, but I have a dad, and I'm married to a dad. I think that qualifies me to say a little something on the subject.

This year I was able to surprise my husband in the gifts he got. That hasn't really happened in years. He always seems to guess or he knows before-hand. I was able to give my husband an iPhone for Father's Day. If you know us, we've wanted iPhones for awhile now, and if you've talked to me at all in the last couple of weeks, you know I was supposed to get mine first. Well, I got it, but then I gave it to Carlo. I was really adamant and a bit selfish when I got my MacBook, that it was mine and I wasn't giving it to Carlo, even though he really could have used it. We both are in need of new phones & I was due for an upgrade. We got a sweet deal we couldn't resist and all in all ended up paying like $5 for an iPhone. Well, I gave my iPhone to Carlo for Father's Day. I have to say it felt great to do so. Thanks to a good friend I'll be getting one for myself in a few weeks.

Tonight in service, our Youth Pastor, Charlie, preached a message entitled, "Dad, If You Only Knew." He basically talked to dads about how important it was for them to love their kids and to tell their kids they love them. He spoke to those without fathers reminding them they had a Heavenly Father who loves them more than they can ever know. This really got me thinking about the man I call Dad. While he may not have helped to make me, he's always treated me like he has. If you know any of my history you know things were jacked up in a few areas. If you don't know, I'll be happy to share about what God has done in my life. I like to think that God has given me a second chance with an earthly father. My biological dad was a good dad when he was connected. There were times when he was available and I felt like a Daddy's Girl, but after my parents' divorce, he let drugs and alcohol take control of his life and he became a nonentity in the lives of my sisters and I. Our stepdad really stepped up. He's never been one to show lots of emotion (hard in a house with 4 females), but I knew, even when I was doing my best to not show it, that he cared. When I stole his car and wrecked it, my mom was at the end of her rope and wanted to let the police arrest me. The man who owned the car and had no legal relationship with me told her, "No, there's something going on and having her arrested won't help her. We're going to sit down and talk and figure out what's up so we can help her." This was coming from a man who didn't have a relationship with the Lord and would have been justified in pressing charges. I call Alvis Johnson "Dad," because he's been nothing but to me. In the darkest of times and the happiest he's been there. God may not have given him to me first for a dad, but my second chance has been wonderful. I'm proud to say he's my dad, and I'm proud to have him pour into my sons' lives. If you ask, I'll tell you, "He's my dad & I love him!"

This is the end my friend...

Carlo has been blogging about this already, but it's my turn since it's weighing on mind. There are only 5 days left officially in the 2008/2009 year of Master's Commission Clarksville. My first year with Master's full-time is almost over! It has been a wonderful year. I can honestly say that I have woken up every day of the last nine months and been happy/excited to go to "the office." I haven't had that in a long time. That joy for teaching died an early death in me last year (one of the things that prompted my move to Master's full-time). I am going to miss every last one of our students. I know that 2 will be back, and one isn't going anywhere, but that doesn't make it any easier. I've still got a little spark of oh I don't know, call it hope, optimism, whatever, that the other one will decide they want to come back as well. As far as a leadership team, it would be great, not only for Master's but for Next Level as well. I know that God has everything in control, and He knows what he's doing. I've just got to let Him do what He does, and know that everything & everybody will be okay in the end.

Below is a picture I took a couple of days ago and played with in iPhoto. Carlo calls it the "prison picture." I call it just plain funny!