I haven't been to visit all of you and I apologize. I've been without a computer and still, without one.....keep reading for more info. 1) Time may fly by when you’re having fun but it drags when all hell breaks loose. 2) On the 27th day of October, my true love handed me, one Kleenex for crying, one blown head gasket, one fried computer, one chewed up cell phone, two burned fingers, one paper cut and a cute puppy grinning ear to ear. 3) I will never attempt to make kale chips again. If left in a freezer bag, by the next morning, it turns into spinach. (And tastes like cow poop.) 4) Why oh why are Christmas lights and decorations up already? I'm SO not humored. 5) Oregonians refer to women as "gals". It takes some getting used to. 6) Every now and then, I have an extreme urge to either rob a bank or to do a money dance. (You know the kind where for no explained reason, it begins to rain money?) 7) My favorite white noise lately is the trains going down the tracks....

I like to fix things. Actually, I take fixing things seriously and in fact, when things are broken, I am on a mission to figure out ways to fix "it". This weekend, J and I looked forward to some time alone. I woke up excited about the time we'd spend together. The first stop by my request was to see where he grew up and went to school. There's just something about listening to people as they reminisce. I thought that the day was getting off to a good start when suddenly, huge clouds of white poured out of the hood of my car. Thankfully, we were right by the driveway of a strip mall and pulled in enough time to open the hood as the steam (looked like smoke to me) poured out. Long story short, 3 hours later and the car was towed back the house. After determining that it was more than likely the thermostat, J installed it the next day. Excited, I tried to start the car and it wouldn't start. I wanted to cry. We waited and waited and jumped it to no avail. By then, I ...

I see this in every blog friend I've made. You ALL fall into my "people I admire". As I wrote this, I realized that I know and see so many of these qualities in all of you and for you, my friends, I've written this. I admire you because you held your dad's hands last night as he was welcomed into heaven. You were strong enough to face death of someone you loved so deeply and still have the courage to wake up and face another day. I admire you because you have the courage to be a missionary, raising your family to serve others and love them, and give your all for the sake of the Call. I admire you in the midst of your chronic pain suffering, that you find time to think of others and to put others needs before your own. I admire you because you have the gift of stretching a budget, clipping coupons, cooking food to last the whole week and still find time for YOU. I admire you because even after the loss of your hair as a result of chemotherapy, your smile radiates t...

Not THAT word but this word... When I stop and think about sex, I still blush (a little). When I was growing up, I had no clue about sex. In fact, what I learned, I learned from Judy Blume's Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? I totally could've written that one...Are You There God, It's Me, Simone...Again. As I got older, I came to the conclusion that "it" must be bad because it wasn't commonly discussed, especially in church, where all the do's and don't were always talked about. To me, it was just plain ol' taboo. But, now that I'm married and older and some what...just a bit, wiser, I'm wondering why it was such a hushed topic. I mean, although I don't expect my pastor to announce to the congregation that his wife gave him a blow....j..b, I do wish that it was talked about, openly and not meant to be harmful but beautiful. Sex is all up in our faces...on tv, in music, on billboards and definitely, the internet. For the very fi...

She walked around with an animal cracker box (the kind with a shoe string handle) and called it her purse. She would announce to any stranger walking by, "My daddy fawted!" She was stubborn and refused to say "Sorry" when she was the one that smacked another kid because he just looked at her. She wanted to change her name to Erica. She turned a cartwheel on the balance be am when she was 4 just because she wanted to see if she could and she did. She plastered herself with Vaseline and came out naked during a visit with a prospective daycare family. She loved Elephant Show and would play the video over and over, singing every song. She was afraid of the dark and would cry and say she was scared of the "big bad wolf". She wrote like this: elppa (apple) or yppah (happy) and said that she like writing that way. Those were some memories that I cherish of my daughters, as their mommy but now, I'm cherishing memories as their friend. I think back to when the...