And I think to myself, what a wonderful world....

Today we remember September 11, 2001.  Forever etched in our history.  I will remember that day forever.  So, to give honor to this day I'm not going to post a whole lot of words.  I'm going to remember those lives lost.  But I'm also going to remember how amazing our country really is.  How amazing our citizens really are.  How the world joined with us as we mourned.

There's still a lot of evil out there.  But I still see how amazing this world really is.  I'll leave you with a couple of quotes and a few photos of our amazing, wonderful world.

""We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

"It's not what you look at that matters.  It's what you see."

"Savor the goodness in life."

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world....

Keep calm and remember you're Wonder Woman...

Growing up I always thought that quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it turned out to be....

One of my favorite shows when I was a young girl was Gilligan's Island.  I loved the "exotic" location filled with sand and sea water.  A place that was always warm.  And my most favorite character of all was Ginger.  She was so pretty.  Her clothing was gorgeous and never got dirty.  In fact, she probably inspired my love of animal prints ;) She could sing. She had a small mole on her face that was fascinating to me for reasons unknown.  And, if truth be told-- she was overly dramatic and I loved it!  In fact, I was so enamored of her and the show that I made all my little friends spend countless hours re-enacting scenes from the program.  I, of course, always played Ginger (which is a riot considering I couldn't keep my clothes clean to save my life and I really didn't like wearing dresses all that much).  And, We always re-enacted the show where I was saved from quicksand, and by quicksand, I mean a brown blanket thrown on the floor.  So, Ginger was probably my first "girl" heroine. Hmm....

"Keep calm and remember you're Wonder Woman."

My next heroine was Wonder Woman.  She was funny and super strong. As strong as most men. She had the lasso of truth-- which was way cool.  And, Her bracelets were more than stunning accessories, they were defensive weapons.  Best of all was the invisible plane (which now that I think about it, didn't help her that much since you could see through it and see her).  Whatever.  She fought injustice and looked cool while doing so.  I should probably apologize now to my brother and any of my friends who were forced to endure my version of the lasso.   Also, apologies to anyone I hit with my headband while throwing it like Wonder Woman threw hers.  Hopefully I didn't leave a scar.

Probably my last childhood heroine was the Bionic Woman.  Now she was cool.  She was a courageous woman who overcame a life-threatening accident.  You see, she didn't have just any accident, it was a sky diving accident. Sky diving was probably the most daring thing I could think of someone doing at that time. Part machine, she could outrun anyone (with very cool sound effects).  She had this amazing bionic ear that allowed her to listen in on conversations. I so wanted that bionic ear, especailly when adults were having whispered conversations in the next room.  Her day job was as a high school teacher, but her real job was as a spy.   Ooooohhhhh awwwwww

Being Normal is overrated.

These three examples all have one thing in common.  They weren't what we would consider "normal."  Ginger was more beautiful, more talented than a so called "normal" girl.  Wonder Woman was a super hero, and the Bionic Woman was made better because of mechanics.  None of them would fall into the category of a conventional woman.

What I find interesting is that as I grew older I began to strive to be what would be termed "normal"    and learned to shun anything that would stand out as different. The goal was to blend.  You wanted to make sure that you wore the same clothing as others (and this was in the 80's-- the clothing was interesting to say the least), listened to the same music, liked the same icons, and watched the same movies.

"If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be."

Here's the deal, even as an adult there is often pressure to conform.  And sometimes that leads us to the point where we suppress the parts of ourselves that make us different and unique.  Maybe we  don't do what makes us happy because it isn't considered "normal."  Or we feel like we have to defend our decisions to others because we are being criticized for being different.

"You are living your story."

Very often we forget that it's our story to write, not someone else's.  You should,

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right for you'll be criticized anyway."

Your gifts and talents are probably different than someone else's.  That's ok.  Just because your gifts are different, doesn't mean they are wrong.  Make your decisions based on what works for your life and your family, not based on what someone else thinks you should do.  They do not have to live with those decisions, you do.

"What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be."

We waste so much time trying to figure out how to make our lives match up to someone else's ideal that we forget to consider what would make life ideal for us.  Have children, don't have children.  Have one child, have more than one child.  Work outside the home, don't work outside the home. These are but just a few of the endless decisions you face.  And everyone will have an opinion as to what the right choice is.  Like they have some secret formula for a successful and happy life, if only you follow their plan.  I like this definition of success by Maya Angelou:

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

The older I get, the less I base my choices on the opinions of others.  Now, don't get me wrong, I still seek advice from people I trust, and I find great wisdom and value in that.  However, I do not  set the whole balance of my decision making based on whether or not I have someone else's approval.  I pray about it, I do research if I can, I discuss it with those closest to me, and then I move on.  I am not striving to be normal, I'm striving to be true to me.  I encourage you to do the same.  Be the hero or your own life. Don't make decisions based on what everyone else thinks you should be doing.  Pray about.  Ask God to give you the wisdom to make the best choice for you and your family.  Don't be afraid to explore and use the talents you are given.  Be proud of the talents and gifts you have.  They are not less than someone else's talent, just different than their talent.

"My biggest influences are strong, creative women that chart their own path, lead their own lives, and drive the course of history."

Now, having said all that, I still have heroes that I look up to.  Some of them are probably not what you would conventionally call heroes, but there is something unique and different about them that I admire.  They consist of people, well known and not so well known, that posses a character trait or talent that I am drawn to.

And, if truth be known, I'm still in love with Wonder Woman's lasso of truth.  I can think of countless situations where that lasso would come in handy.  And, I would love to have the Bionic Woman sound effects to follow me around when I am working in the house to make my chores feel extra special.  Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to have Ginger's wardrobe ;)

With that, we recently went to D.C. and had an opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery.  Therein lie some of the biggest heroes and heroines of our nation.  I'll leave you with a few photos.

Good Food, Good Life

Good morning.  I hope you are set to enjoy this beautiful Saturday!  Jeff is back home and so we are going to enjoy some family time today.  So, I'm not going to do a long blog.  Really, it's just about some of the delish food we had over the past week or so.  Truthfully, it's going some photos of the food we've eaten.  So, without further delay.

Yummy pan seared Tuna with a Toasted sesame seed ginger crust.  Spinach and fresh greens salad.  Arborio rice with lime, peppermint, and baked Pineapple.  Herbed focaccia bread.

I brought back a whole bunch of spices from Turkey and have been dying to use them.  So, I used the meatball spice to make some  Turkish meatballs out of ground lamb with a lemon mint  Greek yogurt  dipping sauce.  Whole Wheat garlic couscous.  Fresh spinach and greens salad.  And a little bread drizzled with balsamic and olive oil.

Made two loaves of blueberry banana bread for breakfast.  Put one in the freezer to pull out later to enjoy.

Made a small peach Galette to enjoy as well.

Now for the confession.  Jeff was out of town for the week and we spent last weekend in D.C.  So you may notice I'm a little light on how many dishes I prepared.  Well, when Jeff is gone, Keagan and I tend to scrounge.  We had some Tomato Soup a couple of nights.  But honestly, one night was microwave corn dogs and another we stopped at McDonalds after his band practice.  The meals were not entirely balanced.  A couple of them were downright unhealthy. Whatever.

Enjoy your weekend!

When I told you I was normal I may have exaggerated a little

Ok, so today's blog is going to be total fluff.  Nothing serious, because, I just don't feel like being serious today.  I've already talked about my weird sense of humor so you have been warned.  Have you ever laughed at something and then thought immediately afterwards, "Wait, does this make me a bad person?" Well, that's the kind of mood I'm in so let the weirdly funny quotes begin (and I apologize in advance if my sense of humor offends you).  Don't judge me.

"I'm always disappointed when a liars pants don't actually catch on fire."

"Your call is very important to us, so please enjoy this 40 minute flute solo."

"One day an insane person is going to threaten me with a gun and I'm going to make some stupid joke and that's how my life will end."

"If anyone ever texts me, "who is this?" I always answer "Jake from State farm."

"19 Kids and Counting, Sister Wives, Toddlers and Tiaras, and Honey Boo Boo are all on The Learning Channel.  What exactly are we learning?"

"I don't have an Instagram or Twitter account so I just go around announcing out loud what I'm doing at random times.  I've got 3 followers so far, but I think 2 are cops."

"Mirror: Oh, you look so good today!  Camera: LOL, no.."

"Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?"

"Thank you for voicing that terrible idea and making this meeting last even longer."

"The question asked, Have you ever been convicted of a crime? followed by Explain why.  So I put "no" and "good lawyer."

"I need to talk to you" is the one sentence that has the power to make you remember every bad thing you've ever done in your life.

"OK, so I danced like no one was watching.  My court date is pending."

Ok, so now on to one of my favorite funny stories from our big European trip this summer.

It involves this photo.  And, I must admit, I'm laughing so hard just looking at this I almost can't type.  I will stop right now and apologize to my son and husband for this photo.  I don't have one of me or I would put it up also. 

Anyway, I had signed us up for a tour while in Izmir, Turkey that would take us out to tour Ephesus  and then ended with a traditional Turkish/Roman meal.  Sounds good so far. The tour of Ephesus was amazing!  Our guide was fantastic as she walked through and told us about the historical and Biblical significance of this city.   After spending about 4 hours walking around, we climbed into our tour bus and headed to a nearby hotel for our lunch.  As we pull up, the hotel looks gorgeous.  I'm starving and had recently discovered a deep love for Turkish food while in Istanbul.  I'm excited and we all  agreed that I booked a great tour!

Then, we step inside.  As we walk down the hallway to where we will be eating, we begin to see various men and women dressed up in togas.  Okaaaaay.  It's a little weird, but we will play along.  They smile and say, "Merhaba" which is hello in Turkish.  The  men and women are divided up.  Women with women, men with men,  and before I can even blink they are  taking my camera off of me and placing a toga on me.  WHAT?????   I look over at Jeff and Keagan and see the same thing happening to them.  Of course, they are staring at me with a look of "What did you sign us up for?"

I'm trying not to offend anyone, but of course, this whole thing has caught me as funny.  I held it together pretty well until I saw them slap the fake olive wreaths on top of Jeff and Keagan's head.  Then they slap a fake floral wreath on top of my head.  Now I'm full on cackling!  This is the funniest thing EVER!  And, we don't speak the language, and my poor, poor teenage son is not nearly as amused by this as I am.    Then, in all seriousness, we are asked if we would now like to take a family portrait, standing there, in this hotel, with fake togas on, olive and floral wreaths slightly askew.  We totally should have done it.  I would have turned it into my Christmas Card.  But, one look at my son and husband, and I knew I couldn't do it to them.  I did manage to snap this one photo.  Just look at their faces!  We were then ushered to a table to sit with 9 other stunned and embarrassed looking tourists, all dressed in the same manner, with floral and olive wreaths slightly askew also.

The meal itself was fantastic!  Great food, and we were able to meet some fantastic people from around the world at that lunch.  But best of all, what a great and funny memory.  This will probably keep me laughing all day.

Have a Fun Friday!

Not my circus, not my monkeys

Have you ever been caught in that place where you are torn between feeling compassion and just wanting to tell someone to get over yourself?  I've caught myself in that place a few times recently.  Actually, if I'm honest, I was probably leaning more towards the get over it side.  That spot where you think, if they bring up that subject one more time I'm going to lose it.  Where you are just tired of hearing about all the stupid nonsense.   The relentless rantings, the barely concealed snide comments, the competition, the political postings, and the shaming of others.  Do you want to say to those who are dealing with the same problem month after month, year after year, "Maybe YOU"RE the problem?"

"Oh, that sounded a bit harsh, let me add a 'LOL' to the end."

Hmmmm....Aren't I just all sunshine and roses?  Do you think I'm maybe feeling a little judgmental here?  Maybe a little tired and worn out over some of the foolishness? I know I'm not the only one that sometimes feels this way. And, I do feel  guilt over thinking and feeling this way.

"Not my circus, not my monkeys."

 Have you found yourself a little hardened to someone's problems?  Have you ever looked at someone and thought, you brought this on yourself, now you get to deal with it.  Have you ever just wanted to run so far away from their mess so that it doesn't accidentally spill over on you?  I have thought every one of those thoughts, plus a few more.

"Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps."

As these thoughts and feelings were swirling around in my crazy, weird little brain, this story of Elijah in the Old Testament came to mind.  Now, the background is that Elijah had just finished being used by God in some of the greatest miraculous events of the Old Testament.  Yet, chapter 19 in I Kings finds Elijah, weary, tired, running for his life, having lost his compassion for the people of Israel,  and feeling destitute and alone in the desert.  In fact in verse 5 he asks God to let him die.

God gives Elijah time to recuperate physically.  Elijah sleeps and is given food.  His body is allowed to rest.

But what I find interesting is what God does next. He gives  Elijah a way to vent his frustrations by asking him, Elijah, what are you doing here?  Here's what Elijah said,

"I've been working my heart out for the God of the Angel Armies.  The people of Israel have  abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets.  I'm the only one left, and now they are trying to murder me."  I Kings 19:10  the Message

God listened to Elijah.  Really listened.  Then, he showed himself to Elijah.  For me, in order to feel like I've been truly heard and understood by someone, I need 2 things.  I need them to listen quietly and I need to face them/see them.

Only after after God heard Elijah did he then explain what was going on.

"God said, Go back the way you came through the desert to Damascas.  When  you get there, anoint Hazael;  make him king over Aram.  Then anoint Jehu; make him king over Israel.  Finally, anoint Elisha to succeed you as prophet.  Anyone who escapes death by Hazael will be killed by Jehu; anyone who escapes Jehu will be killed by Elisha.  Meanwhile, I'm preserving for myself  seven thousand souls; the knees that haven't bowed to the god baal, the mouths that haven't kissed his image."  I Kings 19:15-18

You see, God gave Elijah what he really needed in those three verses. God proved that He had truly listened to and understood what Elijah was saying.  First, He takes care of Elijah's fear of being marked for death by using the anointed Kings as protectors.  Secondly, He helps to ease Elijah's burden by sending him someone who will help him in his work.

But, at least for me today, the most important piece of the above scripture is where he reminds Elijah  about having compassion for the people.  You see, Elijah's statements were ones of disgust for what the people of Israel were doing/had done.  He had basically given up on them.  A " they made their bed, now let them lie in it" kind of attitude.  His compassion for them had been hardened.  God simply reminded Elijah that compassion was still needed, warranted, even.  That even though Elijah had given up on them, God hadn't.

It's a good reminder for me.  I'll still probably get annoyed at some of the crazy posts I see, or at the actions some people take.  But hopefully, I can temper that annoyance through the lenses of compassion.  Never once forgetting that God looks at me with eyes full of much needed, and underserved, mercy and grace.  And the reminder that though I may have given up on someone, God hasn't.

I'll end with a few photos from some of the amazing, peaceful cathedrals we were able to visit in Europe this summer.

Catedral La Seu, Barcelona, Spain

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Pisa, Italy

Basilica at Montserrat, Spain

Notre Dame de la Garde, Marseille, France

St. Peters, Vatican

Greek church in Mykonos, Greece

Cathedral, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Be Spiderman

I love this quote from one of the Spiderman movies:

"Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice... It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right."

One of the greatest challenges in life is to do the right thing when no one is looking. Make quality choices.  To do the right thing even if everyone around you isn't. Doing the right thing isn't always easy.  Sometimes it involves more work, more risk, more courage.

True story:  Keagan is involved in the High School Marching band.  The band is large.  There are close to one hundred kids in the band.  With such a large band comes a lot of instruments, props, equipment, etc..  They practice hard every day.  Now, Keagan plays the Tenor Sax.  Technically, he's only responsible for putting away his own equipment.  However, he has taken on a greater responsibility.  The "Pit" consists of very heavy kettle drums and xylophone equipment.  These are items that are too big and heavy for one person to manage. Also, most of the pit are young, small girls,  who struggle moving the equipment on their own.  So, he's taken on the job of helping put that equipment away.  However, he's learning a good life lesson with this new responsibility he's taken on.  There are very few others who decided to take this job on with him.  This means that he is often the last band member to leave practice.  Sometimes a good half hour after everyone else is gone. He has asked for help.  No one volunteered.  So, he started coming to the car and complaining afterwards.  I let him vent for about a week about this.  Finally, I told him that I was tired of hearing the complaints.  That he had a decision to make.  He could decide that he wasn't going to help, and just go back to being responsible for his own equipment.  Or, he could decide to continue to help with the pit equipment.  But either way, he was not to complain any more about his decision.  No more placing blame on others.  He chose to continue helping with the pit equipment because, and I quote,  "The equipment is expensive, the pit is an important part of the band, and I am a part of the band and want us to succeed as a band."

I am proud of his decision.  He chose to look beyond himself, beyond his own personal responsibilities, and to expand his role for the greater good of the band.  Now, I'm not completely naive-- it probably helps that the pit mostly consists of girls.  However, I will point out that he did the same thing last year and the pit had a few more boys in it.  I'm also glad that the complaining and whining is no longer a part of our conversations about the band.

So I guess my challenge to you (and to myself) today is to do the right thing.  Not only for yourself and your family.  But step up and meet the needs you see in your community, help those around you.  Look beyond yourself.

"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility.  It's easy to say, it's not my child, not my community, not my problem.  Then there are those who see the need and respond.  I consider those people my heroes."  Mr. Rogers

So, if you have a choice on who to be this week, make the right choice, be Spiderman  :)  Besides, he's the first one to bungee jump ever, and that's just cool.

Cranky McCranky Pants

The other day, while driving home after picking Keagan up from band practice (which let out late, again) he said to me, "Boy mom, you are cranky today."

My first reaction was annoyance.  He did not know what my day had been like.

It had started with Jeff pointing out a new door ding on my car.  SIGH.  Now, I know it's just a car, but it's my first BRAND NEW, never been driven by anyone else, car.  I had waited for 43 years for this car.  I love my car.  And,  I might or might not have named her "Sasha Fierce."  Regardless, I'm a little annoyed at everyone else's failure to treat my car with the awe and respect she deserves. I begin to grumble.

And, it had been grocery shopping day, which, with my love for food should be fun, but it is one of my least favorite things to do where I currently live.

We eat a lot of seafood in my house.  But, because of where we live, good seafood requires me to take an hours drive (round trip).  I hit the road and am immediately cranky.  Seriously, when I get in the car and drive, it is because I have somewhere to go.  I'm not out for a slow, leisurely, pleasure drive.  I grew up driving in the city.  I still drive like I live in a big city.  However, I now live in a much smaller community.  I spend most of this drive talking myself out of justifiable homicide.  Seriously?  Who drives 5 miles UNDER the speed limit in the fast lane.  UGH!  And don't even get me started on 4 way stops.  I sit there and wonder how all these people passed the drivers test.  So, I do get to one of the bright spots in my grocery shopping day which is Joe's Fish Market and I just love this place.  Then, with my fish on ice for the drive back, I turn around and drive home. There's an accident and 40 miles of construction cones shutting down one whole lane for the 5 yards of actual construction work being performed. The grumbling and complaining has gotten considerably louder at this point.  I put the fish away and begin to mentally prepare myself for the dreaded grocery store trip.

I go to the grocery store to begin the most frustrating part of the day.  You see, my grocery store likes to turn the shopping experience into a frustrating food version of Where's Waldo.  Every week, they like to move stuff around so that you must go on the craziest scavenger hunt ever to find the items you are looking for.  Only to find an empty shelf where the product should be.   Then, someone thought of the brilliant idea to narrow the isles so that on a good day, only one shopping cart can get through at a time.  They add to the fun by putting up displays of special items in the middle of the isle to form the craziest obstacle course you've ever seen.  So after an hour or so of frustrated shopping, and with an overflowing cart I proceed to the checkout lines.  They have 3 cashiers, 1 bagger and extremely long lines.  I get into what appears to be shortest line.  It becomes clear that I have chosen poorly.  I finally get up to the cashier and start unloading my cart.  The sacker takes one look at how much I have in my cart and decides it is time to go on break.  Brilliant.  So, after unloading the cart-- I step down to sack.  Except, there are no sacks to be found.  Finally, I manage to track down sacks and begin to bag groceries, while trying to answer the cashiers questions of how I plan on cooking the ingredients I am purchasing.  Another bagger shows up to finish sacking groceries so I can pay for the food.  He immediately puts my tomatoes on the bottom of the bag and piles in all sorts of heavy stuff on top.  Grumble, Grumble, Grumble.

 I go home and spend over an hour putting groceries away, cleaning out old stuff to replace with new.  Grumble about some of the food that we have let go bad.  Grumble.  I discover that because I forgot to take my list with me, I didn't purchase some of the items I needed.  And discover that I should not have purchased some of the items I did.  Grumble.

My day has been used up.  I set out the needed items for dinner and prepare to go get Keagan.  He is late getting out of practice.  Grumble.  This means that I will be late getting dinner into the oven.  Grumble.

Driving home, Keagan's comment begins to settle into my brain.  Boy, I really am cranky. You could call me Cranky McCranky Pants today.  I begin to think, why am I so cranky?  What do I have to complain about?  Then it hits me.  What I have been doing all day is focusing on the negative.  I forgot to be grateful today.  And I have so much to be grateful for!

My family all got up this morning healthy!  I'm so grateful to be blessed with an amazing husband and awesome son!  We woke up in the U.S.  As many problems as our country has, I am grateful that I live here.

I am so grateful that I can afford a car.  There was a time in my life where I couldn't afford to buy a car.  I am grateful that I have a reliable car.  There have been times in my life where I had cars that I nicknamed "Willit run?"  I can afford to fill my car up with gas.  There have been times in my life where I could only afford to put 5 dollars worth in and pray that it lasted me the whole week.

I am grateful that I can buy more than enough food for my family. And also buy food that we can share with others when they come to our house for dinner.  I remember a time when we didn't have enough money to cover the bills and food.  The food was put on a credit card that month.  I remember when we would eat pasta for days on end because it was cheap.  I am grateful that we can eat a reasonably healthy meal.  I am grateful that even though dinner will be a little late, we at least have food to eat.  Many people in this world exist on one meal a day.  We get three, plus snacks.

I am trying to remember every day to be grateful.  I have these quotes sitting on my desk to remind me to be grateful every day:

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say thank you?"

"If every morning you can find a reason to say, 'Yes, it's going to be a beautiful day.' And everyday you find a reason to say, 'Yes, it is a beautiful day.' And every night, you find a reason to say, 'Yes, it was a beautiful day.' Then one day you'll look back and easily say, 'Yes, it was a beautiful life."

Today, I'm grateful for all aspects of my life.  Hope you find many reasons to grateful today as well.

Ok-- so, I can't blog with out some photos.  So here are a few food photos from last week.

Keagan requested that I make him an Apple Crisp.  I didn't get a photo until after he got ahold of it, but here it is.

This is the reason I love Joe's Fish Market.  He got me some fresh Opah flown in from Hawaii, never frozen.  It is my favorite fish of all time!  Just cook it with a little olive oil, lime, salt and pepper.  YUM!

Remember, 

"Thankfulness disrupts complaining."  

and 

"Being grateful uplifts the soul."