giving my life to the only One who makes the moon reflect the sun.

HI FRIENDS!

Do you miss me yet?

I miss you, too!

No, Chemistry is not over yet (WOMP WOMP), but I only have 4 weeks left.

Yes, I am wearing a sweatshirt in the Summer, but it has sunshine on it, so it's fine.

I had a great time in Nashville.

Good music, good people, good food.

What's not to love?

I came back for a moment to share some ways God has been working in and around me lately.

Over the last two weeks (that have felt like several months long), two people I love have been faced with some serious difficulty.  Saying 'serious difficulty' is an incredible understatement, but we'll use it for lack of a better phrase.

I've cried, prayed, cried, and prayed some more for the majority of the last two weeks.

I cried when I got the news from both of them.

I prayed for answers to 'why' this is happening.
I cried when I didn't hear anything.

I prayed that I could take some pain from them.

I cried when God reminded me that He is in control and this pain is for a purpose.

I prayed to question why bad things happen to good people.

I cried when God revealed that none of us - 'good' or 'bad' - are deserving of his blessings and grace.

I prayed and PRAISED God for the gifts in my life and prayed to be used in these situations.

I cried when I realized He was already using me.

My sister and brother-in-law got some news that rocked all of our worlds at the beginning of last week, then my sister-in-law got some news that re-rocked it at the beginning of this week.

As unrelated as both things were seemed, I was floored when I realized how much they could get from one another - even viewing one another's pain/circumstances from afar.

I have never during my bumpy, hestitant walk with Christ felt such a need to glorify Him in all things, but it's sure there now.

I'm literally watching everything unfold.

No one, no matter how big or difficult the problem, is ever alone.

Nothing is coincidental with God; it is all purposeful.

My sister and brother-in-law were 'given' the support of people who have been there.
They were 'given' a chance to make her marriage stronger.

My brother-in-law was 'given' the chance to know Jesus more.

They were 'given' friends and family that offered tremendous support instantly.

They were 'given' the chance to praise God in this storm.

My sister-in-law was 'given' 4 children to love and uplift.
She was 'given' communication to put her at ease, if only for a moment.

She was 'given' an opportunity to move and start over (SOON!).

She was 'given' a mended relationship with her mother when she would need her most.

She was 'given' the chance to meet God in this storm.

We are all rich with something and it's very rarely money.

To those who can't walk, a person who runs is wealthy.

To those who have a learning disability, a person with knowledge is wealthy.

To those who can't concieve, a person with many children is wealthy.
To those who don't have a spouse, a person with someone to lay with and love is wealthy.

I've felt very little worry about anything these last two weeks.

I'm not sure if it's because the Spirit changing me or because, compared to others, I have no worries.

Maybe it's a combination of both, but some pretty in-your-face things have happened since I decided just to give it all up to Him:

- the sermon from Pastor Pat in TN was about Joy; finding joy in everything - even in trials

- I didn't pay my car insurance this month and was driving home late Monday and saw a deer on the side of the road.  Generally, I don't slow down.  Maybe because I want to get outta there or because I'm stupid, but something...or someone AHEM...told me to slow it down.  That deer looked right at me and ran straight out in front of my big old Explorer.  I was inches away from hitting him.

- I was feeling a little down about being broke as joke this week because I really wanted to do something nice for Big Steven for being such an awesome Dad and almost instantly got a text from my mom's friend that she had 4 tickets for the Nationals game on Father's Day in a close section AND we get to go on the field afterwards.

That's certainly not odd...

It's God.

I WENT THERE!

I keep going straight back to this passage from the bible every time I think about my sister, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law:

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.

- Jeremiah 29:11-14

What a trip!  All of these revelations during 4 little days.

Until next time, Pfunky Griddle...



temporary hiatus.

I start my Chemistry class tomorrow and plan to take my TEAS test next Friday, so I must say farewell to you all for a little bit.

My class is only 8 weeks long, but it's twice a week from 5-10pm.

This will surely cause mucho stress on my little family, but we're good at crushing obstacles.

Chemistry is my hardest subject; I've never really 'gotten' it, but I must get an A.

Or I will die.

So, prayers and well wishes are welcome!

I'll see you in 8 weeks! 

We will have so much to catch up on!

CIAO!

grievances & sayonara.

After work yesterday was interesting.

And by 'interesting,' I mean 'hell.'

My allergies this year are absolutely ridiculous.

I started with seasonal allergies a couple of years ago and they gradually get suckier and suckier.

I can deal with the congestion and stuffy nose, but my eyes both itch and hurt.

So, I finally gave in (like I've done for the past few years) after 3 weeks of this nonsense and went to the store to get some allergy meds.

I took a sleepy Stevie to the store with me.
Worst.Idea.Ever.

My biggest regret is that I didn't video/photograph the lovely episode because, surely, this will be funny someday.  I'm still not laughing today, but someday I might.
Stevie saw some trucks/buses/car that he just had to have.

The stupid things were $6 each (holy inflation), so I told him he could have one just to get him to stop crying.

Normally, I would never have given in to this type of fit over a toy, but my eyes were on fire - much like right now.

So, we paid for everything and Stevie noticed I'd only bought him one bus.

He was NOT happy and proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs,

"I WANT MORE!!!"

I might have been embarrassed if my left eye wasn't swelling to the size of a balloon and I CERTAINLY would have returned the toy on the spot if I wasn't anxious to pop some pills.

He cried the whole way home, which is only like a minute and a half, but felt like an hour.

When we got home, I had to usher (read drag) him in the door as he kicked and screamed the whole way,

"GO BACK TO STORE!  I WANT MORE!"

Again, I would have gotten this on video if I wasn't about to flip totally out because I can hear my mom saying, "he would never do that, Suzie Q."

Annoying.

Big Steve realized that I was at the end of my rope and stepped in to calm Stevie down.

He even took him out of the room to play and closed the door behind him, which either means he's a considerate lovely man or that I was being a complete lunatic and he was scared.

Either way, the 10 minutes of silence and waiting for meds to kick in did the trick.

In other news, Big Steven and I are going white water rafting tomorrow.

I know.

I am both excited and terrified.

My sister's story about how she witnessed someone go overboard and thought it was so funny didn't reassure me at all.

Pray I don't drown.

If I do, it's been real.

Sayonara, folks.

crock pot sweet & sour bbq pork bits.

Sweet & Sour BBQ Pork Bits

1-1.5 lbs Bone Out Pork Chops
1/2 bottle Franks Sweet & Chili Hot Sauce
16 oz Grape Jelly
2 cups Frozen Corn

Are you ready for this?

Place your Pork Chops (can still be frozen!) in the bottom of your Crock Pot.
Add your Franks Sauce and Grape Jelly

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Add Corn 1 hour before serving.

Cut into bits and serve with a starch (we had potatoes).

By the time these are finished, you can cut the Pork with a wooden spoon.  They are THAT tender.

That's it.

No, seriously.

wth is in my purse?

I was reading up on/stalking Lindsey (from the Pleated Poppy) over on Kate's blog today.

I kept thinking two things:

1.  She is so dang cute!

2.  Her purse is super organized.

Then I thought it would be fun/terrifying to show you what's in my purse.

Here she is:

She weighs about 100 lbs and has multiple huge rips inside, likely from bearing such an enormous amount of crap.

Here are a few things that I consider for use in emergeny situations.

Miscellaneous toys given to Stevie that end up in my purse for ages and a bottle opener juuuust incase.

Toiletries.

No, I'm not joking and yes this is all really in my purse.

I have eye issues during the Spring in that they swell up like crazy, so all of that eye stuff seems necessary to me.

Rubber bands for my braces (sexy) and floss for my braces (also sexy).

Tissues, hair brush, lotion, chap stick, breath mint, smell good stuff, and a stain remover pen. 

Completely necessary.

Plethora of meds.

Yes, those are diet pills of a sort and no they don't magically make you lose weight.

They do give you tons of energy in a pinch.

Allergy stuff that I try not to take because I know it just makes the following Spring worse.  Plus, the ones in the bottle are expired.

Excedrin bottles that are filled with all kinds of things, none of which are actually Excedrin.

Tums?  These aren't mine.

Now I shall wait for my all natural amiga, Ott, to tell me to stop taking this stuff.

And I will tell her I will.

And the rest of it...

A planner that is still in the month of February, an file with coupons, misc. coupons for free or cheap stuff, pay check stubs, a notebook w/ pen, a heavy-a wallet stuffed with receipts I can assure you I will do nothing with, random papers that include, but are not limited to: info for our white water rafting trip next weekend, requests for transcripts, medical paperwork, and more.

And there you have it.

I promise I am organized in other areas of my life that do not include my purse or closets anywhere in my house.

Now go off and feel better about your cleanliness...

whatchu said?

By now, I don't need to tell you who Whitney is.

Unless you just started reading, then you can find her here for reference.

I tried to think of something clever to title my segments about the crap Whitney says on a daily basis, but I'm not clever so 'whatchu said?' is all you get.

It works because that's generally my reaction to her accompanied by uncontrollable laughing.

If you are funny (and not at the expense of others), I love you already.

To fully understand Whitney, think some combo of Jess and Rachel:

 

via.

via.



In response to me asking if she wants to make a video for my sister's birthday

(yes we still do that):

"can we dress up like the 80's/early 90's

  OOH we can make shirts thursdsay night

or we can just dress up and do the video

  like we're actually dressing up to make a music video"

"can we choreograph dance moves

  esp for at the end when it's all the drum beats"

"and lets not lip sync, lets real sing!"

" i'm gonna tease the shit outta my hair

  it's going to be awesome"

In response to dinner for Thursday (the night we plan to make the vid.):

"lets make it something easy so it doesnt take away from our dancing and craft time"

Some things never change.

And I sure like her that way.

More of these to follow...

women who ruin lives: the literature turned movie edition.

You may or may not have read my rants on women who ruin lives here, here, or maybe here.

As a lover of literature, or books as some may call it, I decided to do a special edition:

Women Who Ruin Lives:

The Literature Turned Movie Edition

Katniss.

via.

We'll start with my favorite female characater to date: Katniss.

On pretty much every level, I want to be you.

Not only can you shoot a bow better than any man in the Hunger Games series (or any man in NOVA for that matter), but you look dang hot doing it.

And that braid?  HELLOOO!

On top of your hotness, badassness, and intellegence, you get to have Peeta - arguably the greatest fictional character ever imagined.

I spent many a night dreaming about Peeta and his baking/decorating skills.

What a man!

And you have stolen him. 

Without even knowing the effect you can have, evidently.

To top it off, your back up plan is Gale.

via.

Oh, yeah.  Such a hard life you lead.

I don't feel bad.

Hermoine.

via.

First of all, when did you become a sassy woman?

Weren't you a little girl?

Like 20 movies ago?

Anyway...

You're a genius, a mud-blood (best of both worlds, if you ask me), and you have delicious wavy hair.

Then, after about a zillion books of making fun of Ron, you suddenly want him?

I don't think so.

I realize it took 7 books for Ron to actually prove that he has a brain, but it only took about 4 movies for this red-headed, blonde-brained tween to turn into a smokin' hot ginger.

via.

Am I right?  I'm always right.

But, ladies, you can't have him.

Apparently, Hermoine thinks she can waltz right in and take him for herself.

And she can because J.K Rowling said so.

via.

LE SIGH.

Bella.

Like you didn't know she was coming.

via.

This picture alone makes me want to cuss you out.

But, I love Jesus, so I won't.

Where do you get off making werewolves and vampires fall all crazy in love with you?

Furthermore, where do you get off getting all knocked up?

Why do you think you're so special you get to live forever?

Let me tell you this, Bella, you made one crucial mistake in your little world:

You chose one.

WHAT WOMAN IN HER RIGHT MIND WOULD CHOOSE?!

Take 'em both and let 'em fight amongst themselves.

When they fight, they generally take their shirts off, so this is a win-win situation.

You big dummy.

via.

The fact that you get to have one in real life makes you extra annoying.

Juliet.

First of all, congratulations to Claire Danes who isn't necessarily the greatest actress (I'm being kind here), but landed some awesome roles (My So Called Life and, namely, Romeo and Juliet).

You can now take your place next to Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst (think Crazy/Beautiful).

I actually wanted my name to be Susana when Leo fell to his knees in the field to scream your name because 'Susan' isn't enough syllables.

I heard it in my head.

When he screamed my name, Susana, I'd come running and hug him and likely make out with him.

Actually, I'd never cause him such grief to begin with.

I get it.

The whole idea of the story is that you're both selfless and in love, but once Romeo was Leonardo (or vice versa), it just became stupid.

Why do anything to make such a hot man drink poison and die?

Maybe you didn't plan it that way, but I still blame you.

via.

On a side note, I'd like to thank the producers of the movie for making Shakespeare cool.

I've always thought he was cool (SHAKESPEARE FTW!) and, though it did nothing to help my popularity whatsoever, I felt like I had a leg up at this point in my life.

via.

I wonder who would win in a fight.

I'll take Katniss out of the equation because she's an experienced fighter and would kick butt, and I'll take Juliet out because, well, she killed herself once and I don't doubt she'd do it again.

Hermoine v. Bella?

Riddle me that.