A BIG birthday surprise!!!

Please excuse me for "posting" once again about my 50th Birthday, but it still is my "birthday month". ;o) My boss and his wife (who are also our good friends) gave me quite a BIG birthday surprise - A NEW KITCHEN FLOOR!! I was speechless when I opened the present, and there was a black and white checkered floor sample. Yesterday, Design Time and Tile came and installed my new floor. Check out the before and after pictures:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My long-time dream of having a 50's diner kitchen has come true!!!

Women's Retreat

This last weekend I was part of a committee that put on a Women's Retreat at beautiful Lassen Pines. This retreat used to be sponsored by North Valley Baptist Church, and the purpose was to minister to small churches that were unable to have their own retreat. When NVBC decided not to do the retreat anymore, a group of six ladies (who had served on the retreat committee many times over the years) took it over. Shasta Bible College has now become our sponsor.

What a weekend we had!! It was exhausting for the committee and the Lassen Pines staff, but the end result was that women from 20 different churches felt spoiled, pampered and encouraged in the Lord. Our theme was, "Let's Take A Coffee Break!" We had spiritual workshops, skits, a fun craft time, lots of door prizes, a coffee mug exchange, Coffee Bean Bingo, a picture scavenger hunt, fantastic food (that we didn't have to cook or clean up), time to ride the go-karts, and a "Coffee For Dummies" workshop. Most importantly, we had lots and lots of time to fellowship with our sisters in the Lord.

Leslie Hall was the speaker, and she was AWESOME!!! I personally think she was the best speaker we have ever had at a retreat. At the four main sessions, she talked about taking a break from fear, worry, controlling, and doing - based on Psalm 23.

Here's some pictures from the weekend:

Alyssa Gorman and I doing the "Coffee For Dummies" Workshop
(She is a manager at Starbucks, so she was the coffee expert, and I was the dummie!) ;o)

Karen and Patty at the Registration Table

Carmen and I at registration (writing names on the name tags)

Our cute craft that Arla Breshears helped us with (A memo board with magnets made in a cookie sheet.)

Our speaker, Leslie Hall

Leslie, her friend Ruth, and the Retreat Committee

A Belated, Special Birthday Greeting!!!

Do any of you remember my post from May 4th? If you don't remember or you were not reading my blog then, I'll post it below:

POST TITLE: I'm So Bummed!

As most of you know, I am a HUGE Randy Travis fan!! I love all of his songs!! I attended one of his concerts years ago, and I would absolutely love to go to another one. Well, today is Randy Travis' 50th birthday, and I am so bummed he didn't invite me to his party :) It's not like he can't afford to invite all his fans. Doesn't he know that I had planned to invite him to my 50th birthday party in October?

Happy Birthday, Randy!!!

P.S. Since you didn't invite me to your party, could you PLEASE call me in October and sing "Happy Birthday"?

Well...guess what? My brother, Wes, called his friends, Greg and Lisa (who worked with my brother at the San Francisco Chronicle for years and still works there), to see what they could do. Lisa wrote Randy a letter (on S.F. Chronicle letterhead, of course) and sent him a copy of the above blog post.

AND, GUESS WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL?? You guessed right!!! An autographed picture with a birthday greeting.

Now I know that I wanted Randy to call me and sing Happy Birthday, but this is better. Happy Birthday contains 16 words, and we all know that a "picture paints a thousand words".

Law of the Garbage Truck

My friend, Michael, shared this with me recently. I loved it, so I wanted to share it with y'all:

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car backed out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. Sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

100th Post

For a week now I’ve been thinking, "What should be my topic for my 100th post?" Should it be something profound and insightful or something funny and lighthearted? Honestly, I still have no idea. I figured that I would just write as I usually do.

My blog was created for so many reasons. The main reason was so that our out-of-town family could reap the joys of our experiences. I cannot believe I have people who visit my blog and read the entries that I write. I must admit that I never thought I could write anything worth reading. This blog is a connection to my family and friends. On it I share my triumphs, celebrations, interests, opinions, and failures.

A blog is such a great outlet, though. I mean I could talk about Randy Travis, post a quote or joke, discuss how my favorite color is red, or gripe about people judging me. Why? Because this is MY blog and it gives me the freedom to discuss whatever I want to discuss. I can vent to my blog. I can put my thoughts out there and it is sort of liberating to tell the story of my life and have people from all walks of life read about it. It is mind blowing to me that people visit my blog, and for that I am thankful.

Thank you to my readers, family members, friends, and to my new community of bloggers. I want to take this opportunity to especially thank Kim over at Who’s Your Mama for faithfully leaving comments on my blog. Opening up your blog and finding a comment is like getting a note in the mail. Seeing that she has commented says to me, “I read your blog entry. I’m interested in you. I care about you.” and so much more. Kim, you are a beautiful person -- both inside and outside. This is for you, my friend:

My 50th Birthday Celebration

I survived turning 50! I decided to accept that it is inevitable so you might as well have a good time! I am so grateful for the last 50 years as they have made me the person I am today. The experiences I have had, the struggles I have fought (and won or even lost), the mistakes I have made, the successes I have had, the people I have met along the way.

Here’s to the next 50 years! I pray I age positively, gracefully, and meaningfully. I pray that I can accept that the wrinkles, sags, white hairs and achy joints are not defects but reminders that I have struggled, survived, learned, grown, and persisted in life through every day.

WOW!! What a 50th birthday celebration I had over several days. Here are a few of the many highlights of my birthday:

First of all, look at all the cards I got. I loved every card -- both the funny ones and the serious ones. Our family tradition is to display your birthday cards on the piano for a week:

On Thursday, Blaine and Colleen Hudson (the people Bob and I work for and our good friends) took us to lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant in Anderson. They surprised me with an awesome, wonderful, terrific, fantastic, "over the top" present BUT I'm saving it for another post in the near future. When you read about it, you'll see why I saved it!!

On Friday, Michael Black took me to Casa Romas for lunch. If you have never heard them sing, "Happy Birthday", you've missed out!! It is very unique, loud, and 100% embarrassing! Thanks, Michael, for telling them it was my birthday!

On Saturday, my dear friends (Carmen, Kim, Audrey, and Patty) and my husband gave me a surprise party. It was an Open House from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. at Adeline Hudz' home (We call her place the "party house"). I was very, very surprised! I had such a nice time visiting with everyone that came, and the food was delish!!!

Colleen Hudson bought me this hat to wear;

It says, "Golden Oldie"!

Kim and Audrey put together this picture board

(on a red background, of course!)

Then on Sunday evening, my Moma took us out to Olive Garden for a nice dinner:

After dinner, we went home and enjoyed a delicious apple pie my Moma made. My apologies to Marie Callender's and all you who bake pies, BUT my Moma makes the best pie in the world. She even won first place in a pie baking contest one time (Hilary entered Gramz first, and then sprung the news on her, but grandchildren can do NO wrong!).

Thank you to everyone who helped make my birthday a very special time. I will always cherish the wonderful memories on my 50th Birthday Celebration!

The Big 5-0!!

Yes, today is my 50th birthday!!

Don't Judge Me!

I ask you: "Do these look like two different shoes?" YES! Which shoe would you rather walk a mile in?

Remember that sayings, "Don't judge somebody until you have walked a mile in their shoes." Well I remember hearing my Daddy say one time, "Don't judge somebody until you have walked a mile in their shoes, and you had better be wearing the same shoes!!" AMEN AND AMEN!!!

I'm tired of being judged!! I "beat myself up" almost everyday over my parenting skills, so I don't need people's insensitive comments!!

P.S. I don't know why I am "venting" on my blog, when the people who need to hear this probably don't read my blog!! Maybe it's because it makes me feel better to "get this off my chest"!