Bucket List Update!

7 Down, 44 to go!

Things I want to do before I die: (to be continued)

1. Go to NYC, stay out all night & end with breakfast at an all-night diner dive.

2.  Fly around the world.

3.  Visit all 7 continents.

4.  Get married.  October 10, 2009

5.  Become fluent in another language.

6.  Dance on a bar.

7.  Own 1 ridiculously expensive material item (and only one!)

8.  Follow the Nile and climb the Great Pyramids.

9.  Go on an African Safari.

10.  Jump off a waterfall somewhere exotic.

11.  Stay out all night and watch the sun come up.

12.  Visit all 50 states.

13.  Spend a night somewhere haunted.

14.  Visit an active volcano.

15.  See all 7 Wonders of the World.

16.  Go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

17.  Drink Guinness in Dublin.

18.  See the Galapagos Islands.

19.  Go on a Gondola ride in Venice.

20.  Get soaked by the spray at Niagara Falls.

21.  Jump in a New York taxi and yell, "FOLLOW THAT CAR!" May 5, 2012

22.  See the Amazon Rain Forest.

23.  See the Sydney Opera House.

24.  Watch Wimbledon.

25.  Float on the Dead Sea.

26.  Ride in a limo.  February 24, 2011

27.  Stay in a 5 star hotel.

28.  Celebrate New Year's in Times Square.

29.  Have $1 million in the bank.

30.  Put my feet in all of the oceans.

31.  Go skinny dipping.

32.  Sing karaoke.

33.  Be in a food fight.

34.  Go kite surfing.

35.  Go zorbing (google it if you don't know what that is). August 11, 2012

36.   Read the entire Bible.

37.  Slow-dance in the rain.

38.  See a movie in a drive-thru theater.

39.  Ride a mechanical bull. (Don't remember the exact date, but I think it was in 2007)

40.  See the Northern Lights.

41.  Hear the Tran Siberian Orchestra play live. November 2008

42.   Stay in a bungalo on the water in Tahiti.

43.  See the Playboy Mansion's grotto, in person

44.  Place a bet at the Kentucky Derby.

45.  Play BlackJack in a Las Vegas Casino & win.

46.  Swing on a trapeeze.

47.  Sit on the top of a double decker bus in London.

48.  Ski in Colorado or Wyoming.

49.  Have a glass of wine in Napa Valley.

50.  Spend an entire day with no clothes on. 

51. (write in!) Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride October 6, 2012

Bucket List Update!

6 Down, 44 to go!

Things I want to do before I die: (to be continued)

1. Go to NYC, stay out all night & end with breakfast at an all-night diner dive.

2.  Fly around the world.

3.  Visit all 7 continents.

4.  Get married.  October 10, 2009

5.  Become fluent in another language.

6.  Dance on a bar.

7.  Own 1 ridiculously expensive material item (and only one!)

8.  Follow the Nile and climb the Great Pyramids.

9.  Go on an African Safari.

10.  Jump off a waterfall somewhere exotic.

11.  Stay out all night and watch the sun come up.

12.  Visit all 50 states.

13.  Spend a night somewhere haunted.

14.  Visit an active volcano.

15.  See all 7 Wonders of the World.

16.  Go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.

17.  Drink Guinness in Dublin.

18.  See the Galapagos Islands.

19.  Go on a Gondola ride in Venice.

20.  Get soaked by the spray at Niagara Falls.

21.  Jump in a New York taxi and yell, "FOLLOW THAT CAR!" May 5, 2012

22.  See the Amazon Rain Forest.

23.  See the Sydney Opera House.

24.  Watch Wimbledon.

25.  Float on the Dead Sea.

26.  Ride in a limo.  February 24, 2011

27.  Stay in a 5 star hotel.

28.  Celebrate New Year's in Times Square.

29.  Have $1 million in the bank.

30.  Put my feet in all of the oceans.

31.  Go skinny dipping.

32.  Sing karaoke.

33.  Be in a food fight.

34.  Go kite surfing.

35.  Go zorbing (google it if you don't know what that is). August 11, 2012

36.   Read the entire Bible.

37.  Slow-dance in the rain.

38.  See a movie in a drive-thru theater.

39.  Ride a mechanical bull. (Don't remember the exact date, but I think it was in 2007)

40.  See the Northern Lights.

41.  Hear the Tran Siberian Orchestra play live. November 2008

42.   Stay in a bungalo on the water in Tahiti.

43.  See the Playboy Mansion's grotto, in person

44.  Place a bet at the Kentucky Derby.

45.  Play BlackJack in a Las Vegas Casino & win.

46.  Swing on a trapeeze.

47.  Sit on the top of a double decker bus in London.

48.  Ski in Colorado or Wyoming.

49.  Have a glass of wine in Napa Valley.

50.  Spend an entire day with no clothes on.
 

Amazeballs.

It really needs little introduction. But I love this. 

It’s easy to poke fun at some of the things churches say on their welcome sign. It’s easy to question some of the things that make it inside a church bulletin.

It’s easy to say “this is bad,” but it’s a lot harder to say “this is good.” Anyone can critique, but creating is a lot more difficult.

So what does a great welcome message look like? What does an awesome welcome message look like?

It looks exactly like what “Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community” has in their church.

My friend attended there recently, and I got a copy of what they hand out. I posted a photo of it below so you could see what it looks like, but the image got cut off so here’s what it says:

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.

We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too.

If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!

Bravo to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community! That should be made into a poster and hung in church offices around the world.

I love the thought that a few members of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community getting together and saying, “Let’s invite everyone to come meet Jesus!” And then they started writing their list.

And it got long. Why?

Because everyone needs Jesus.

Everyone changes when they meet Jesus.

And they wanted to make sure everyone knew they were invited to meet him.

Credits to:

I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin …

Political Rant.

I am beyond sick and tired of the political banter going back and forth on my social networking sites. I'm not a "Super-Political Person," but consider this an open letter from a regular 'ol "unaffiliated" joe who is already tired of this election:

Dear Democrats and Republicans,

Bashing your opposing party does absolutely nothing. Seriously. I mean, what, exactly, are you hoping to accomplish by putting down every single quote from the opposing party and taking every quote from your party as true?

Are you hoping to convert Republicans to the Democratic party (or vice versa)? I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's going to be a rare occurrence if that happens. Ever. And even if it did, I bet that posting lame links on Facebook aren't what did it.

Are you hoping to sway an Independent/Unaffiliated vote? Because let me tell you, from personal experience, all you've done is made me even more determined to never affiliate myself with EITHER party.

I'm so sick of it.

The Democrats throw every stinking quote and shortcoming from the Republican party back in their faces, overanalyze it and practically proclaim that their party would never do anything that outrageous.

The Republicans scrutinize everything the Democrats do, call them un-American and athiests, and practically proclaim that they are next to God.

• I'm Christian. I do believe that this country was built on faith and that it was a good thing. But we also built this country for the freedom of religion. I believe that goes for Christianity, Muslims, athiests and everything in between.
• I don't think that because I am Christian, I should be shunned or quieted. If I'm respecting your belief/lack of beliefs, I think you should respect mine.
• I believe in the sanctity of marriage. But I don't think it's my business or my place to tell two men or two women that they can't love each other. Because I'm a Christian, I'm also told not to judge others, but instead, to love them.
• I believe that my money should be my money. If I work hard, I think I should be able to do what I choose with my money. Not the government.
• I think ethics are extremely important in a public position, regardless of the capabilities the person has as a politician. If I don't respect you as a person, I'm not going to take you seriously as a political figure.
• I believe that no one should have a say with what I do with my body, especially the government. Every situation and person is different. There is no "one solution fits all" with pro-life and pro-choice situations.  
• I don't think the government has the right to tell me I may or may not use a gun if I feel the need to protect my home and family (this is a new one for me, but when it stares you in the face, it hops you off the fence in a hurry). If someone comes into my home uninvited , I will do what it takes to protect myself and the ones around me.
• I believe that everyone has the right to religion or not have religion.

In conclusion, what I really want from this country right now is the option for C) None of the above on the ballot in November. Maybe America needs to take a breather for a year or two and go looking a little harder for suitable candidates to run this country.

*off soapbox*

Magic Mike

Here's the thing.

I never really had any desire to see Magic Mike. It wasn't a movie that I considered to be on my "must watch" list (although, to be fair, very rarely does a movie make that list for me). But when I was asked out for a "girls" night by my husband's cousin, her mom and my mother-in-law, I said sure, why not.

Look, I'm a Christian. I've read those blogs and articles about how Christian women shouldn't support these types of movies and they're detrimental to marriages. Sorry, I don't get it.

I didn't go to see the movie to "get my rocks off." I didn't go with a pad and pen to write down all the crazy new moves I could tell my husband to try. I simply went to watch a silly movie with some of the women in my life to giggle at a movie that we couldn't giggle at with our men. I bonded with these women over this stupid/silly movie. Doesn't that count for anything?

I think sometimes we take life too seriously as Christians. Everything is not black and white. Me going to watch Magic Mike will not destroy my marriage any more than any other movie with sexual connotations would. And okay, you can tell me that I shouldn't watch any movie like that. For the most part, I rarely watch movies. But let's be real, movies without sex these days is arguably only certain Disney movies. It's part of this culture now, like it or hate it.

It was a silly movie. If a movie destroys my marriage, then let's be honest - the marriage was standing on shaky ground to begin with.

Judge all you want to. But Magic Mike did not make me any less of a Christian. Magic Mike is not harming my marriage. Magic Mike has not changed my views of what I believe to be right and wrong. Magic Mike was a movie to giggle at and make a bunch of women feel like we're teenagers again.

I'm just saying.

Bucket List Update

5 down, 45 to go!

Things I want to do before I die: (to be continued)



1. Go to NYC, stay out all night & end with breakfast at an all-night diner dive.

2. Fly around the world

3. Visit all 7 continents

4. Get married  October 10, 2009

5. Become fluent in another language

6. Dance on a bar

7. Own 1 ridiculously expensive material item (and only one!)

8. Follow the Nile and climb the Great Pyramids

9. Go on an African Safari

10. Jump off a waterfall somewhere exotic

11. Stay out all night and watch the sun come up

12. Visit all 50 states

13. Spend a night somewhere haunted.

14. Visit an active volcano

15. See all 7 Wonders of the World

16. Go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef

17. Drink Guinness in Dublin

18. See the Galapagos Islands

19. Go on a Gondola ride in Venice

20. Get soaked by the spray at Niagra Falls

21. Jump in a New York taxi and yell, "FOLLOW THAT CAR!!"   May 5, 2012

22. See the Amazon Rain Forest

23. See the Sydney Opera House

24. Watch Wimbledon

25. Float on the Dead Sea

26. Ride in a limo February 24, 2011

27. Stay in a 5 star hotel

28. Celebrate New Year's in Times Square

29. Have $1 Million in the bank

30. Put my feet in all of the oceans

31. Go skinny dipping

32. Sing karaoke

33. Be in a food fight

34. Go kite surfing

35. Go zorbing (google it if you don't know what that is)

36. Read the entire Bible

37. Slow-dance in the rain

38. See a movie in a drive-thru theater

39. Ride a mechanical bull (Don't remember the exact date, but I think it was in 2007)

40. See the Northern Lights

41. Hear the Tran-Siberian Orchestra play live November 2008

42. Stay in a bungalo on the water in Tahiti

43. See the Playboy Mansion's grotto, in person

44. Place a bet at the Kentucky Derby

45. Play BlackJack in a Las Vegas Casino & win

46. Swing on a trapeeze

47. Sit on the top of a double decker bus in London

48. Ski in Colorado or Wyoming

49. Have a glass of wine in Napa Valley

50. Spend an entire day with no clothes on.

Holy smokes.

The house of our dreams (in our price range) came on the market yesterday. I mean...DREAMS.

A two story stone fireplace.
17.5 acres (yes, SEVENTEEN POINT FIVE ACRES).
Views to die for.
A complete wrap around porch.
Amazing kitchen.
Unfinished basement (make it however we want).
A separate garage/workshop area.

We aren't even in the "market' necessarily to look right now, but we decided to go see it tomorrow anyway. I mean, this house...is 99.9% perfect. The only imperfection is that the master suite is on the bottom floor and the other bedrooms are on the second floor. That makes me nervous for when we start to have kids, but people with kids have that floor plan all the time. And find ways to make it work.

Because honestly? This house...I could come home to every night for awhile. Teasers:

My last few weeks in a not-so-nutshell...

Well, the last couple of weeks have been quite the roller coaster. I’m very happy to say that I’m finally on the upswing after a few couple of days. This is going to be a long one, but I promise, there’s happy news at the end if you can last that long!



The Thursday before Easter started out pretty normal. I was excited because quarter end craziness was finally over so I had scheduled a massage for that evening at 5. Brad’s family goes to dinner at the local Amvets every Thursday night. When Brad is home, I usually go with him. When Brad is working, I never go. I mean, I never go to dinner with them. Nothing against them, but I guess I’m kind of a snob about eating out in this town. There are very few things on the menus that I couldn’t make better by making them myself (and healthier!). Like I said, I’ll go when Brad’s home but never when he’s working.


For whatever reason, I told his parents I’d go that night. I don’t know, maybe I thought that the massage would make me mellow enough to enjoy it, or maybe God just knew I was going to need to be there. But that Thursday night, as we were all sitting there eating dinner and dessert…Brad’s grandmother collapsed.


At first I thought she was just choking. She seemed to just be trying to cough. But then it was pretty clear that it was much more serious than that. She couldn’t have been in better hands – her son (a trained paramedic) and her son’s brother in law (also a trained paramedic) were working on her within seconds. As Tara (her granddaughter) called 911, I called Brad at work to tell him that he and Michael needed to get away as soon as possible. Because their job is so complicated, I knew it could take hours for them to have relief come in for them. An hour later, I was at the hospital waiting for Brad. The doctors kept telling us they thought it was just seizures, but I think we all knew it was going to come back as another stroke. She’d had 2 already and we all knew it was only a matter of time before another one came along.


I went home that night in case I had to go in to work the next day. Brad got home around 2am and it became pretty clear I wasn’t going to work that day. We were at the hospital bright and early the next morning for the neurologist.


I’ll spare you all of the details, but hearing the doctors say what we’d all been dreading – that she wasn’t going to make it this time – was devastating. We took her off life support and we all said our goodbyes. Father Paul did the last rites (which, by the way, as a non-Catholic, this is one ritual that I fully support. I’d never been present for the last rites before but it was absolutely beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to be prayed over by their family and closest friends as they’re passing through this world to the next? I can imagine it would be peaceful to be the one they’re being administered to and they definitely gave me some peace).


But that Helen, she’s a fighter. She hung on until Monday evening, surrounded by her family. I’ve never watched someone pass before, but watching her made it seem not scary at all. Just a breath and then she was gone.


I don’t think there’s any way you could ever say that someone died “well”. But I think God’s plan for her was pretty well thought through. She had two people (who aren’t always present at Thursday evening meals) able to work on her as soon as we realized something was wrong. There will never be “what if’s” in anyone’s mind whether something more could have been done. There couldn’t. We all said our goodbyes on Friday but she hung on until Monday. Her children were able to spend all that time saying goodbye and finally coming to a place where they told her it was okay to go, they’d be alright. She didn’t go too quickly but she didn’t linger forever. I think God knew that nobody wanted it to be over that quickly, but they didn’t want her to linger forever. The people who “could handle” her passing were present. The ones who didn’t particularly want to be there when she passed weren’t. It was just all God’s timing and it was as good as good can get in that situation.


In the midst of all of that…I was having interviews for jobs. I had 3 companies interested in me at that point – two of which had multiple positions they were interested in me for.


The next week, I turned in my FINAL PAPER FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL and Brad and I went to Charlotte so I could present a paper to a global public relations conference. I presented it on a Friday morning and then got to spend the rest of the weekend with my family and ended the weekend with an amazing sushi lunch with our good friend Beth.


The Monday we got back to MD, I went in to one of the companies for a third interview and on Tuesday was offered the job! It had been quite the ordeal. I originally applied for a Graphics & Marketing Communications Specialist position. After the phone interview I was told that I was a bit underqualified for that position…but that there was also a Marketing & Public Relations Assistant position open. I was overqualified for that one but it paid more than I currently made so I said I’d be open to it. They went back and forth for awhile, trying to decide which position they wanted me in and finally decided that because I worked full time while getting my master’s from Johns Hopkins (her daughter had been accepted and she felt the curriculum was really tough), that I would be able to handle the challenges. So now, instead of beginning as an Assistant, I will be going in as a Specialist, reporting to the Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations. Just my dream job. Nbd.


So that, in a nutshell is how I lost someone dear to me, finished my graduate degree, presented a paper at a conference, and got an incredible job opportunity in the span of 2 weeks.

I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.
- Philippians 4:11

That might slightly be a lie. I'm certainly not perfect and am not always content. But based on recent events in our life, I feel like I'm coping better with things than before.

There's so much going on that I can't talk about yet that involves our future. Personally, I'm surprised I'm coping as well as I am. It helps to have family that understands, friends to talk to and a husband who just wants me to be happy and to help build a happy life together.

I'm finding that taking a deep breath helps.

That stopping and smelling the roses truly does help.

That it's a lot easier to talk about putting everything in God's hands than actually doing it.

That as much of a plan as I think I have for my life, it's not always going to go my way. And I need to adapt to that.

Today I'm thankful for a beautiful day, for my family and friends who love and support us and that my problems are so miniscule for most people. That my husband is incredible at what he does and that he truly loves coming home to our little family.

2012 is not my year yet.

I'm trying to be grateful I have a job. Really, I am. I know there are a lot of people out there who would give anything to have a stable, steady job.

But, I'm just saying, it is not in ANYONE'S best interest to deprive me of this much sleep.

Saturday I went "shopping" with Brad for a few hours. Well, he shopped. I was on my blackberry the whole time, emailing and calling people about work.

I got home from shopping and went in to work from 6-9pm.

Barely managed to stay awake until midnight, watched the ball drop, and headed for bed.

Got a call at 12:30am Sunday, had to go in to work until 2:30am.

Got another call from work at 3:30, had to go in to work until 5:00am.

Got another call at 7:00am, was able to work from home from 7-12:30pm. (Thank goodness - in between phone calls, emails, and IM conversations, I was able to do some housework that desperately needed done)

Then had to go into work from 12:30-4:00. Realized I hadn't had lunch, so ran home to eat a quick bite.

Back to work at 4:30pm until 6.

Fell asleep on the couch for a glorious 20 minutes. Woke up to find 4 voicemails from work waiting on my phone.

I had a meltdown. I require 8 hours of sleep. Any less than that and you're playing with fire here. My temper is more likely to flare, my cheerfulness level goes way down and just overall functionality does not compute. If you add it up there, that's approximately 2 hours of sleep (knowing that I did not fall immediately asleep after getting home because my stress level was WAYYYY up) in about 36 hours.

Emails and IM's until 10, crashed into bed. Two more phone calls before finally, at 10:30, the last phone call came through.

Today? Not a holiday for us. At work like a normal day.

Insane.

.......

In totally unrelated news, we backed out of the house we were under contract with today. I'm actually incredibly excited about this. More later.