A visit to the Dr.

I haven't been feeling good for close to two weeks now and I'm tired of it!! It started with a cold about two weeks ago; including: sore throat, hurting ears, nasal drainage, etc. That all went away in a few days but left a nasty cough. I have to say I wasn't surprised that a cough appeared as I am very susceptible to bronchial problems and have been my whole life.

A few days ago I noticed additional symptoms that weren't related but pointed to a UTI or bladder infection. Now, I have never had a UTI/Bladder or Kidney infection in all my life. So I kind of ignored those symptoms for a few days.

However, today I decided to go to the walk-in clinic and see what was going on! I have a low grade fever, upper respiratory infection (which the doctor just called the "Puyallup Crud") and my first ever UTI!

Yeah!

How exciting!

NOT!!

Although I do have to say the front desk was very efficient, I didn't have to wait very long (not usually the case at the walk-in clinic) and the doctor was nice and actually examined different things (I have gone in before and just had them talk to me, look in my ears and listen to my chest then say, "Yep, you have a problem"...duh George!).

Have to go pick up my prescription in a bit...hopefully I'll feel better in a few days!

If God is Good

by Randy Alcorn

Summary:

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Author Bio:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Are you interested in reading this book? You can purchase it from Random House!

Wickedly Fantastic!!!

To finish up my birthday week, my Mom and I went to see Wicked at the Paramount in Seattle! I have been waiting forever to see this musical...

If you haven't read the book you need to...

...then you need to go see the musical.

I'm telling you, you will never watch the Wizard of Oz the same way again!

Something Wicked this way comes....

The Paramount Theater!

We had great seats down on the floor and I was riveted the entire two hours and forty-five minutes!!

And before the show?

We had dinner at the Melting Pot. If you aren't familiar with the Melting Pot it is a fondue restaurant where a full dinner consists of a cheese fondue appetizer (with bread, apples and veggies), a salad, the main entree (chicken, different types of steak, shrimp, ravioli, sausage) cooked in broth, and dessert...we had bananas foster (white chocolate with bananas flambeed at the table). It takes at least two hours to eat and it is fan-freaking-tastic!!!

All in all...a great evening. Thanks Mom for coming with me!

Opening Day of the Fair

My sister Camille, nieces Dajia and Elly and their cousins Darin and Natalie all went to the opening day of the fair with me! It was packed, it was hot and yet we had a ton of fun! I will be going back this week before the fair is over!!

This is a view overlooking the fair from the Sky Ride which goes from one end of the fair to the other

Me in the Sky Ride!!

Dajia

Natalie!

She was actually able to find Camille down in the crowd! And amazingly enough...Camille knew which car we were in! She wasn't able to ride because she had a stroller with two little ones, so they walked across and met us on the other side.

The girls were allowed to go on just a few rides (they are simply expensive) and since Natalie was too short to ride the Gondola Ferris Wheel they chose to ride the Giant Slide!

Here is Natalie sticking her landing!

Dajia thought the slide was fantastic!

Here they are in front of the Mama pig and her piglets!

Elliana...cutie patootie

You definitely can't go to the fair without having some cotton candy!! Yummy!!

Just outside the grandstand, where the rodeo was held, they had a big Brahma Bull for people to visit with!

Dajia and Natalie are four days apart (Natalie is actually older); however, Dajia is just tall, tall, tall! If you saw them together you'd think Dajia was at least six months (or more) older than Natalie.

We all had a tons of fun...but really?

Can you go to the fair and NOT have fun?

I think NOT!!!

Puyallup Fair Parade

The first day of the Puyallup Fair always opens with a cattle drive and parade leading to the Fair!

Holly brought her Grandpa Al to watch the parade with us...

He is the older gentleman in the middle with the white shirt and hat...

This picture cracks me up!

I was trying to get Al's attention and waved at him; however, the guy in front of him must have thought I was waving at him because he (and Al) both waved back to me!!!

Holly and I saw our good friend Jen and her little girl Ava so we sat with them to watch the parade! The main draw of the parade is the cattle drive (the rodeo is the opening activity in the Grandstand before all the concerts)

Later that day I found out that a few of these cows diverted from their pre-determined parade route. As they were clip-clopping down the street a few of them decided to detour into a gas station for a snack! LOL

A wrangler on a horse actually rode in after them to herd them out...

nothing like a little excitement to start the day!We had an Elvis impersonator, uni-cycling, juggler to keep us amused!

My alma mater...Sumner High School (Go Spartans!) High School Marching Band

There were also wagons, carriages, military men and other marching bands leading the way to the Fair. After the parade you were able to get in free to the Fair for the first couple of hours. My sister Camille and I took advantage of the free admission!

Fishing

I went fishing with my Dad a few weeks ago out on Puget Sound and was expecting big things; however, I went home empty handed...I guess that is the life of a fisherman! LOL!!

We were fishing for Silvers...which means you put your line in the water sink it down towards the bottom and then troll the waters looking for a fish to bite your line!

A few times my Dad pulled the lines to check them and a few tiny fish (2 inches or so) were stuck on the hooks; consequently, the big ones we wanted weren't biting...little suckers!

This is a shot of my Dad's fish finder...

It's kind of cool...shows you the depth, how fast you are going and some other things! Those little fish symbols are actually fish!

WOW!!!

Look at all the FISH!!!

Sadly, these weren't silvers but rather pinkies...and we weren't fishing for those....my Dad doesn't really like how they taste.

He did spend about 20 minutes fishing for these just so I could possibly take a fish home...yet, nothing!

That's ok...it's good just to spend time with my Dad!

Bruce Wilkinson Book Review

You Were Born for This

Miracles

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe they can happen to anyone and everyone? I do! In the book You Were Born for This Bruce Wilkinson (author of The Prayer of Jabez) and David Kopp talk about what would happen if everyone walked around expecting miracles to happen. We pray and ask for miracles; however, many of us don't really expect a miracle to happen. I personally believe in miracles and have seen them happen in my life, in the lives of friends and family and in the lives of people I don't even know! I just need to be more open to expecting miracles to happen everyday!Summary:

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn the “protocol of heaven.”

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can be a “Delivery Guy” from heaven in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and I expect to!”

Author Bios:

One of the world’s foremost Christian teachers, Bruce Wilkinson is best known as the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez. He is also the author of numerous other bestsellers, including A Life God Rewards, Secrets of the Vine, and The Dream Giver. Over the past three decades, Wilkinson has founded several global initiatives, including organizations that recruited and trained thousands of Americans to address hunger, AIDS, and poverty in Africa. Bruce and his wife, Darlene, have three children and six grandchildren. They live outside Atlanta.

David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on over a dozen bestselling books, including The Prayer of Jabez. He is an editor and writer living in Colorado.

You can watch a video clip of Bruce introducing his book to readers: Click Here

If you are interested in purchasing this book, you can purchase it from Random House

I have an extra copy to giveaway! Simply leave me a comment and you are entered to win!! If you follow me I will give you another entry; however, you must leave a separate comment stating that you are a follower! If you blog about it and leave me a comment I will give you another entry. Due to the size and weight of this book (much heavier than usual) I am limiting this giveaway to US Residents only (I will have more giveaways in the future when I will ship internationally!). I will draw a winner Friday September 25th!

Good Luck and Happy Reading!

Yeah Me!!!

It's my birthday, it's my birthday, it's my birthday!!!

Yeah, I know...I have no shame in telling the whole wide world that it is my birthday!

I'll even tell you how old I am!

35

Wow, almost 40! It's a good thing that I am comfortable with my age.

If you know me, you know that I LOVE, absolutely LOVE my birthday!!! It's really celebrated all month long...I have no shame! I've been going out for free meals for the last week or so (there are so many free coupons you can get on your birthday..google free birthday coupons).

This morning I went to Denny's for a free Grand Slam with Holly, I'm going to Sushi Town for lunch with my Daddy and for dinner I'm heading out to the Spaghetti factory with Charlie/Barb and Rodney/Holly! YUM!!

Saturday is really exciting...my Mom is coming up from Vancouver and we are going to the Melting Pot and to see Wicked!! OMG...I can't wait to see it!!!

PS...I take cash! **SMILE** Gotta pay for my vacation in December somehow!

Stop...Don't Drive Around!

Today, my friend Holly and I decided to head over to JoAnn's and Michaels to check out the sales and get some Halloween stuff (side note: we are having a Halloween shindig this year...more about this later!).

Driving around Puyallup right now is a bit difficult as we have the Puyallup Fair going on and there is tons of construction work going on up on the hill. Today we were driving on the south hill going the back way to the stores. As we were coming to a four-way stop there was a huge truck/van stopped in front of us. We couldn't see around the truck and Holly thought they weren't actually doing construction work today. We tried to look around the right side of the truck and couldn't see anything.

So....

Holly decided to drive around the truck so we could go on our merry way.

OMG!!!

As we drove around the truck we saw a man was actually in the truck waiting...

Waiting for what you ask?

Waiting for the construction worker to turn his sign around from Stop to Slow....

Oh Holy Cow!!

It was the funniest, most-embarrassing thing I've been a part of for a long, long time...I was laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants. And then I didn't want the construction worker to actually see me so I was laughing behind some papers.

Holly actually rolled the window down and explained to the construction worker...he just laughed at us!

So some advice for you:

Please stop behind all vehicles and wait a long time before driving around said vehicle. Thanks Holly for the funny memory!

Book Review

Summary:

In Stray Affections, the last thing that Cassandra expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snow globe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home—even if means wrestling another shopper for it!

The beautiful snow globe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child, and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange—flurrious, as Cassie deems it—moment happens with the remarkable snow globe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.

“As a believer, I know the power of forgiveness and new beginnings, and of a God, and family and friends, who love me the way I am,” Charlene Ann Baumbich says. “The heartbeat of change flows through those wonderful gifts.”

With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites readers to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.

Author Bio:

Charlene Ann Baumbich is a popular author and speaker and an award-winning journalist. In addition to her Dearest Dorothy series of novels, she has written seven nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. A bungee-jumping, once motorcycle-owning grandma and unabashed dog lover, Charlene lives with her husband and rescued dog Kornflake in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves telling stories, laughing whenever possible, and considers herself a Wild Child of God.

You can watch a clip of Charlene introduce her book either on Facebook or Youtube.

If you'd like to purchase this book it can be found at Randomhouse.com.

Happy Reading!

PS...did you know September 20--26 is National Dog Week? This would be an excellent book to read in honor of all the furry animals out there!

Free Fair Friday....

Yeah!!!

It's that time of year again...

If you are native Washingtonian from anywhere near Puyallup you know that the Puyallup Fair starts tomorrow!!!

Woo--Hoo!

Is the theme song running through your head..

"Do the Puyallup!!"

Rides....Food....Animals....Corn on the Cob....Cotton Candy....Concerts....Piroshskies...Exhibits...

You can go for FREE tomorrow...the first day of the fair between 10am and Noon...Come on down and find me...

It's Official...

I received a big manilla envelope the other day with this logo in the corner!

It is from the Superintendent of Washington State Schools!

Do you know what that means?

It means my first ever teaching certificate arrived! I am officially licensed as a Washington State History Teacher!!

Yeah!!!

Too bad I didn't get a job this fall; however, I'm still believing that a door will open up this school year. Until then? I'll substitute teach!

Sad, Sad Day....

This ring is one of my most treasured pieces of jewelry. I wear it all the time! In the shower, at the lake, traveling around the world...get the picture? It doesn't come off!

It is also one of those pieces of jewelry that you feel all day with your other hand...kind of like a security blanket!

The other day I was touching it and actually looked down at it and noticed that the middle Sapphire was missing!!!

Oy Vey!!

I was devastated! It could be anywhere. I looked throughout the house and dumped the vacuum cleaner yuckies out; however, I didn't find it! The day I lost it I was still moving boxes, cleaning house, walking all over the yard, went to the store...etc, etc!

So now, I'm just a bit sad!

Traditional Hanbok

My understanding is that this dress my niece Dajia is wearing is a traditional Korean Hanbok. A lady that my Dad has worked with for over 15 years gave this to him for his grand-daughter. I guess she has two young grandsons and no grand-daughters to wear something like this.

Isn't it gorgeous?

The bottom has embroidered flowers and butterflies as well as an embroidered hem as well as hand-painted flowers on the jacket.

The hat is supposed to fit a bit more snugly on the head; however, Dajia has a slightly large head and it didn't go on all the way!