Another new job

So in the last few weeks, I've gone from having one part time job, to 3 part time jobs. I'm still at aapc and will stay there forever if they let me :) so that will never change. After checking with my bosses there first, I started looking into PT seasonal jobs to work just Nov-Jan to get a little extra income. I applied to 3 retail places, and heard back from all of them with offers, but just accepted one. So I've made it through the orientation and 3 days of "training" and running the register again. I would have never thought I'd make it back to the world of retail after it's been almost 7 years since I swore I never would. The place were I'm at, the environment is very positive, most employees and managers are women, and that makes a huge difference in avoiding potential harrasment issues, etc. like I'd had in the past. So lucky me gets to work the evening on Black Friday, here's to hoping I survive that. Then a few days after I accepted this retail job, I got a call from a local hospital where I'd applied to a few weeks before offering me a job there. So I'll be starting that at the end of November/early December. It will be PT weekday evenings. I'll possibly stay on with retail just on weekends through December if I'm needed. I'm so excited about the hospital job though, because I used to volunteer there in HS for 2 years, and am very familiar with the building etc.

I was planning on going back to work anyways when Mr.B starts all day Kindergarten next fall, but this timing just worked out better than I thought. Since it's evenings, I'll still have days free during the school year and summer to do activities together like we always have, and then Seavie will watch them in the evening. So with this job and aapc, it will be like having a 32+ hr week job. Since we now have a car payment for the first time in 6 years, we are adament about getting our debt payed off asap. Our goal is to be debt free of all c.c. debt that is 99% home improvement related and our car loan, within the next 18 months to 2 years at the most. Then start knocking out our mortgage. After all the debt is paid, I wouldn't have to work anymore, besides aapc, and would have the burden of debt completely lifted. I'm so looking forward to that day. To hopefully be completely debt free by the time we're 40. I can dream right? Looking forward to the 30's being much better than the 20's in regards to living more freely and being able to give more than we've ever been able to. It's the last step in Dave Ramsey's plan that I'm looking forward to the most- Give like no one else. I just can't wait to get ahead for the first time in our married life after struggling with finances for almost 10 years, I'm just ready for that old chapter to be done with and actually feel like an adult.

Youth Group Reunion

This past Saturday I got to attend part of my old church's 50 year anniversary celebration. I only went to the Youth Group Reunion that was specifically for my old youth pastor Keith. He was my youth pastor from 1996-1999, but also did Seavie and I's pre-marital counseling in 2001-2002 and was going to marry us before we "eloped" a few months early. It was so great to see him again, it had been about 7 1/2 years since we'd seen him, when he officiated my sister in law's wedding. It was good to see old friends and faces. We all had lunch together, then watched this hilarious video from 1996 Hutch trip-Erin L., you were in it too :) Then we had a time of worship all together and sang some awesome old school youth group songs, which brought me to tears. It was so amazing being back in the place that was so formational to my youth and early years as a Christian. I felt so close to God in that place again worshipping like I had done almost 15 years ago. We also had a time of sharing what has been going on in our lives the last 10-15 years. It was a great time to tell Keith that even though Seavie and I's life took a different turn, that God has used it all for his glory and his plan. It was a great afternoon, and I was so sad to leave, knowing that I most likely won't be back there anytime soon. I pretty much grew up at that church 1989-2006, so it holds many memories from the past.

Women and Body Image

I've been more than a little irritated with the ads I've seen on tv lately directed at women. Maybe you've seen them as well... specifically in regards to body image. Yoplait is a big one that bothers me, and I believe one of the commercials got pulled after so many complaints, but it's something like this... The woman looking in the fridge wondering what to eat- should she have real cheesecake or yogurt? If she eats the real stuff, then she has to work out at the gym for so many hours, and burn extra calories, etc. So she just settles for the yogurt. Another big one is Special K. The ad to me runs something like this...I have a party tonight and need to fit into this cute little dress, but wait I can't eat hardly anything all day or I won't fit in my dress. So I'll just eat a small bowl of Special K! The "Special K" diet was the first and only diet I tried back in 7th grade, seeing all those commericals, I was like sure I'll try that. One the cereal tastes awful, and two, eating any plain cereal 3 times a day, would make anyone lose weight, because there is hardly any calories or nutritional value in it.

In my lifetime, I've had friends that have done one of the following things: They'd look in the mirror and exclaim to themselves, and for everyone to hear, "I look so fat!" Of course they were not in the slightest bit, and were the skinniest little things ever. But my immediate response to that was, well if you think you're fat, then what exactly does that make me? Obviously I'm not as skinny as you. Should I be concerned with the way I look? And more times than not I was generally confident in my young body image, and began to see a pattern of insecurity in friends through the decades that were wanting attention brought to themselves by people saying " no you're not fat, or you're so pretty." Or, I need to lose 5 pounds, I'm so fat. Well no one is perfect, and at some point you have to come to a place in your life that you're comfortable with your body. The fat jeans, the skinny jeans, etc. My solution to this scenario is just buy a bigger size jeans and deal with it. Personally I've ranged between 2-3 sizes in my teenage/adult life, and I've come to be okay with the fact that I'll probably never be as skinny as I was in HS, and I'm okay with that.

When I was in 6th grade, I had a good friend who had a cabin next to my families at the Lake of the Ozarks. We'd been friends for years. This year in particular was more disturbing. My friend invited me over, we ate like queens and stuffed ourselves silly, but then she immediately felt guilty, went to the bathroom and made herself throw up, and then we had to go running for miles and miles so she could burn it all off. That was my first real exposure to an eating disorder. Bulemia. Fast forward to my freshman year of college. I had a roommate who was a Barbie doll. Long blond hair, tan skin, fashionable clothes. Sure she looked happy to everyone on the outside, but she was one of the most insecure people I've known. We'd go eat our meals together. And then afterwards, she'd stop off at the bathroom and be in there for a good 15 minutes, and then come back in the room and dry her face off with a towel, because she had just washed it off in the bathroom. You guessed it, she also had Bulemia. She would scarf her food down, immediately feel guilty, throw it up, and then say she had to go running or work out at the gym for hours and hours because she felt so guilty eating all that food. She did all these things, and by observing her that year we were together, I could tell that she had a serious problem. So this taught me some very important things. Just because these friends were beautiful and skinny, did not mean that they were happy. They felt so insecure with their body image that they had to work out constantly to stay at their ideal. Not that there is anything wrong with exercising, but if you live your whole life saying, I'm so fat, or I wish I was skinnier, and that consumes you, then it's anything but healthy. For body image and self esteem.

When I was a Sophmore in H.S. I went on my first date for Homecoming, and we went with my best friend and her date. For some crazy reason, I fell into the oldest cliche that was widely known that girls should eat salads on dates. So I ordered a salad. Did it make me happy, NO. Was I starving afterwards, YES. Did I ever do that again on a date, Heck NO. So then fast forward to Seavie and I were on our first date a year and a half later, and what did I eat, but a nice big hamburger. Maybe this is why Seavie said it was love at first sight :) Probably not, but he was SO happy that I wasn't like so many girls he knew, and didn't order a salad. Honestly it might have been a deal breaker for him, if I ate like a rabbit, always whining about my weight and body image. So the only other time in my life that I did the salad as a meal thing was several years ago with a group of friends at the Cheesecake Factory. Of all the delicious things to order from there, I just like my friends, ordered a salad. It was expensive and awful, and I immediately regretted giving into that long standing girl cliche of eating Salad. So never again, will I fall into that again. I don't know what it is, when women get together for meals, that they are immediately worried about their personal body image, and how other people portray them. Will they pick at their meals and appear to be happy, while starving on the inside, Will they eat all their meal without feeling guilty, and be okay with that, or will they have to face the judgement of others who can't believe a friend of theirs just ate all that food. Stop the pretending and the whining and just eat food that makes you happy. It will make yourself feel better, and maybe even your spouse feel better, because they don't have to hear you constantly say you don't feel good about your body.

Then there is the issue of comparison. Women generally feel heavier around skinny people, and skinny around heavier people. And then the mental comparisons begin. I have a recent new friend who is bigger than me, and said, oh I wish I could be as skinny as you, to which my response was, well I wish I could be skinnier. Why can't we all find contentment with our own bodies. I personally know that there is no way I could be as thin as some people I know, because I'd be all skin and bones. There is an actress on a new nbc show that we love, but the actress is tall, but looks like skin and bones, with no body fat. Unhealthily skinny. So why is it that our society is so incredibly focused on making women feel insecure? Whether it's the food they're eating or not eating, or the clothes they should buy, or friends they should surround themselves with. Making women feel like they're living in a totally insecure world. Women should not be living their lives that way. I personally have never really dealt with insecurity issues dealing with food, besides my 2 salad slip ups. If I'm hungry, I'll eat. I'm not going to whine to my friends later about how fat I feel, or how I need to go work out at the gym. I work out when I have time, but my world is not consumed with it. There is a healthy balance. I've been eating better, and eating less and have still lost a little weight, even with not being consistently working out.

Self esteem and body image are important issues to come to terms with in your own life, of how you view yourself. Especially if you have a daughter. They can pick up on little insecurities like that. When Grace was at a friend's b'day party last year, one of the little girls who was a gymnast, was eating a piece of cake. Just enjoying being a kid. Her dad was there, and saw it, and directly told her she should not be eating it,and that she would have to run an x number of laps to burn the cake off. She was 8! I wanted to slap him. Men, especially dad's should never bring up an issue like that to such a young child. I've seen moms do it to, at restaurants. Don't eat this, it has too many calories, or don't eat this it's not healthy enough. Where is showing the child that you love them and want them to be happy with themselves. Obviously it's good for them to learn self control and balanced eating habits, but public criticism of your childs eating habits is inexcusable. I feel sad for girls in this generation surrounded by tabloids and magazines of nothing but super thin women who appear happy. What is that projecting to them? Positive body image is something that is learned at a very young age. Moms and Dads showing love to their kids,not telling them they wish they were this or that. I'm glad I never fell into the trap of my young friend who always said she was fat, when she was anything but. So with all my random tangents of this topic, I'm just saying be yourself, don't worry about what friends or society views you as. As long as you're happy with yourself that's all that truly matters. I'd rather weigh a little more and be happy and content, than be super skinny, or always saying I need to lose 5 lbs, and living life miserably. But that's just me.

Children dealing with Spiritual Warfare

So with Halloween 5 days away, I wanted to write about this topic. It was on my mind yesterday when I saw/heard 2 disturbing things. First, my daughter said that a friend of her's from school was playing "vampire" at school and going around and trying to bite people. In general this little girl is a little disturbed, and I'm only saying that because I know her well. She is 8, her older sister is 10, and she has told me that they have seen the Twilight movies. The older sister has a dark quiet personality, that she's had a lot to deal with. I just can't get over the fact that their parents would be okay with them seeing these movies, when it's obvious to me that it's having a negative affect on their lives. The second thing was that Grace brought home a spelling list to organize 6 different groups of words that were all Halloween related. I'm okay with simple little things, skeleton, mask, scary etc. but some of the words on this list were s*ance, w*rlock, g*oul. Grace asked me what a w*rlock was, and I told her it was an evil magician that is not real. I was a little horrified at this assignment, so I wrote her teacher and asked to opt Grace out of any activity dealing with witches, ghosts,etc and to have an alternative assignment. Yes, she goes to public school, but this has never ever happened before. All 3 of her teachers previously have been either Jewish or Christian, and have never really pushed Halloween activities. Her new school doesn't have Holiday parties, which I've taken an issue with the PTA about. But I was shocked by this assignment, I wanted to throw it away, and tell the teacher she wasn't going to do it.

So this is where I'm coming from on all of this... anytime the kids happen to be in the room with us watching a family friendly tv show, and a horror movie preview comes on, I make them, close their eyes and plug their ears or leave the room. I do the same thing, and always have. Even on the radio with haunted house commercials, scare me to death. seriously. I do this because I have a very sensitive spirit, and it's due to what happened when I was growing up.

So when I was 5, I was at a friends house, and his dad was watching "fright night" the original one. I watched it not once, but twice. I had nightmares for months and months about vampires and werewolves and bodies in trashbags. To this day, I am scared to death of the 2 of the aforementioned things. So then in elementary school when I was about 8 or 9, my dad was watching "carrie", and said I could watch it with him. My mom would always say it wasn't good for me, but my dad vetoed her. I wish she would have fought for my spirit more. So that movie is traumatic no matter what age you are, and especially girls who haven't started their time of the month yet. Then a lot of stuff went on even in my girl scout group with "Christian" leaders. One halloween party in particular, they made fake tombstones for every girl, and mine gave me nightmares for months. It said here lies Megan, who choked on the strings of her pajamas. Awful awful idea. Then they played this game which also scared me to death, the one where they say, she looks sick, she looks pale, she looks dead, and then raise your body up to the sky. Totally messing with the supernatural in not a good way. I was terrified. Luckily my mom had a 6th sense that I was in trouble and came and rescued me from the party without me even calling.

In awana's when I was in 5th grade, we heard a story of a black cat that had been possessed by the spirit of a ouigi board. Once again gave me the worst nightmares and I'm scared to death of black cats as well. I was also told the B*oody Mary story (not at awana's-most likely in girl scouts) developed a fear of mirrors in the dark, which I still have today. Then I went through a phase in middle school watching horror movies on tv, probably when my mom was at work. They would scare me, but I would still be intrigued. When I was 14, we went to Disney World, and went to the Haunted Mansion- I was shaking and crying the whole time because it disturbed me that much. Then HS, saw the Scream movies (became afraid of bathroom stalls for a while), and the I know what you did last summer movies. I never watched a horror movie/scary movie again!

So fast forward to a few years ago, when I read 2 books by the Christian author, Frank Perretti. "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness". I highly highly recommend them both to anyone who is interested in learning about the real world of spiritual warfare. It completely opened up my eyes to the daily battles that go on in the world of good and evil. How seemingly innocent things can slowly but surely take over your spirit, until it's too late, and it has a hold on your soul. Scary, but true. In my community bible study, we're studying Acts. Today there was a passage about this man whose name was Simon, and he was a sorceror. One of the verses we had to look up was in:

Deuteronomy 18:10-14

"Let no one be found among you who... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in w*tchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist who consults with the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.... You must be blameless before the Lord your God."

Obviously I don't know anyone who does these things, but I think it can apply to the tv shows and movies we fill our mind, and eventually our spirit with. Slowly becoming desensitized to the fact that God finds these things evil. Adults all make their own decisions and everyone has different tastes in what they like and don't like. But my biggest issue with all of this, is that as parents, we need to protect our children from these occult influences in the world. It may seem fun and happy, but it can be harmful to their spirit, if they are really sensitive to these things. Grace knows that all these things of Halloween are pretend. But in a sense, the evil is alive and thriving in the world, but she doesn't need to know the intensity of it now, just that God doesn't like those things. So no, I'm not one of those people who doesn't recognize Halloween, but I don't celebrate it either. The kids know the only thing we focus on is dressing up in a fun costume and going out to get candy. That's just my opinion. I've always had an overly sensitive spirit with these types of things, and I really feel like God has given me the spirit of discernment to tell what is good and not good, real and not real. I'm just trying to be the best parent I can be, and protecting my children from potential harm that could be caused to their spirit, by avoiding these scary movies, and anything occult. I wish that my parents could have guarded me from all of that, or taken a stronger stand for me. It's my turn to make a difference in the lives of my children.

Creative re-use of a vintage stereo cabinet

Got this off of craigslist for $10. I know I'm a big spender. It's a vintage Magnavox Stereo Cabinet with the record player and stereo still intact, with speakers on the ends.But we're going to take that all out, and turn it into our new entertainment center. It's going to be amazing painted antique white, with a distressed weathered look on the detailing. New hardware as well. Hubs is going to re-design the inside so it can fit our speakers and stereo equipment, and make the doors functional. Right now they don't open. So eventually, and probably not until next spring, we can put our yet to be purchased flat screen tv above this on the wall, so it won't take up as much space.

It's the perfect size- 30" tall, 19" deep, and 60" long. Same size as modern entertainment centers for flat screens, but very a very small fraction of the cost. There is no way that I'd buy the same thing for several hundred dollars, when I could get the same effect from this vintage piece for only $10.

This old stereo cabinet was from 1965. It has hints of Neo-Classical detailing as seen by the fluted ends and legs. Which is funny because our piano which is from 1977, is more French style with cabriole legs. And if I get the coffee table that I love, that would add some Mediterranean style in there. They actually blend really well, it's just kind of funny to me.

I just love adaptive re-use projects. Our soon to be repainted living room is just full of them. When we paint this piece, I'll get all my empty frames painted as well, so they'll be all ready to go for the living room re-do. Stay tuned for after pics!

Erin's Wedding- Texas Trip 9.10.11

A picture of my dearest friend Erin and I right before her wedding. We've been the best of friends since we were in 6th grade. I was overjoyed to be able to be there for her special day. She was a beautiful bride!

New look for the Living Room

So we finally took the door out on the E side of our living room, and replaced it with this new picture window (24"tall x 33"wide) that we designed to have the look of an old leaded glass window, but with modern energy efficiency. The piano will be moving directly under this window, after the drywall patching/paint is all done. And in honor of the piano moving, I thought it was time for some new decor for the living room....

The total of these 7 items was a whopping $22

1. Green vase (free with my turnstyles rewards)

2. Decorative box-something like you find at World Market ($7)

3. Yellow jar ($6)

4. Carved Walnut architectural salvage piece (purchased a few years ago)

5.Ruby Red vase ($5)

6. Bronze cross ($4 )

7. Blue bowl (free with my turnstyles rewards)

So I'm all about symmetry. Tallest items in the middle, with balanced items on each side. I also wanted to alternate colors (green, yellow, red and blue) with the brown/bronze items. I chose the 4 colored items as accent colors from the oriental rug that I got for the living room. With a mix of color/texture- the items have much more detail up close.

reflections of my car accident

So as most of you know, I was involved in a car accident, just down the street from my friend Jeanna's house on 9.9.11, when we were out of town. This week has been off to a better start. Last week I was feeling completely overwhelmed. So last night, Seavie and I were talking about the accident again, and he tells me all the names this woman who hit my car was calling me. From the moment she struck my car, she started cursing me. Once I got out of the car, he said her strains of profanity continued, like m.f, and dumb s. And her said her young teenage daughter kept telling the police that I was a dumb b. Um excuse me. How nice is that, honestly. They didn't even ask if we were okay. They just threw a big ol' scene.

Which made me reflect that of the few accidents I've been in, that they were all anything but normal. When I was 16, I had my very first car, it was my grandma's old 1986 Honda Civic. A hispanic man, who was 40, and only had a learner's permit, turned right in front of me when I had a green light, because he couldn't read the sign that said yield. My car was crushed up like a tin can, by his steel boat of a car. This was only going 35 mph. I had major whiplash, and bruised ribs, and took me several months to recover, physically. Mentally much longer, that made me jittery driving. So my poor car was completely totalled.

So my dad bought me a big tank of an 1984 Suburban, that would protect me in my young driving years. Within a few months, another incident. I was driving to work,turned R on the green light, and this small pick up truck comes flying over the hill going 65 mph in a 45 mph blowing through a red light, and instead of rear ending me, goes to the L side of the car, and up on the median, and side swipes my car. He steps out of his car, and low and behold he's wearing a long black trench coat (in summer time) and has about a dozen different piercings in each ear. I start yelling at him, because seriously, didn't this just happen to me a few months ago, when a man in a car pulls up in front of him. I guess the guy in the truck that just hit my car, almost just hit this man's car earlier down the street. So they get into it yelling and arguing, when who should drive by but my dad and sister on the way to the bank, when my sister says, isn't that M's car? So my dad's there, and all the guys are yelling at the crazy guy in the red truck. Luckily I had a mere scuff across my car, but had I still been in my Honda, I would have been seriously injured, and most likely gone to the hospital (no air bags in the 80's cars)

Fast forward to 14 years later, and I'm getting cursed out by some grumpy old lady in a van. Driving in a construction area she wasn't supposed to be in, and the pd didn't record construction cones that caused accident in their report, and they won't return my insurance agent's calls. How nice is that. Thank goodness I took lots of pictures, that clearly show they're lying and it's not my fault. So with all that said, those are the negative things of these life circumstances.

Here are the positive things that I've been reflecting on this last week. When I was 16 in my first wreck, I was just a few blocks S of my church youth group building. When people started leaving, they drove by, saw what happened and stopped to make sure I was okay (Seavie was one of those people), even the assoc.pastor showed up and prayed for me while I was shaking and sobbing. The 2nd time, I was just across the street from where I worked, and less than a mile away from my house. My dad, was there to protect me from this crazy guy, and make sure I was taken care of. Just last week, the accident was as we were turning onto Jeanna's street, only a block away from their house. Jeanna and James walked down to see us, and comfort us. James drove Seavie and I around town to get some things taken care of, and Jeanna called rental places for us. She also contacted friends from their church there who so graciously let us borrow their car to drive another 250 miles down to TX for my friends wedding.

So throughout my feelings of being depressed and overwhelmed from all of this last week, this specifically came to mind. One of my very favorite verses of all time.

Psalm 23

1	The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2	He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3	He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4	Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5	Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6	Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know being in a car accident, is anything but walking through the valley of death, but more than anything, being in a scary place in life. I always pray for God's protection whenever we're out driving. So through this, I've learned that even though bad things happen, God promises to always be with us and never leave us while we're going through those times. To protect me from all this spiritual warfare of the mean spirit of this woman, and to even go as far as praying for her. Something I was never able to do when I was 16. I was angry and very bitter for a long time. I'm angry at her, but that anger hasn't consumed me,like it has before. Everything that has ever happened in my life, has happened for a reason. Now I'm just trying to see what the reason for all this was.

My newest project

Empty frame wall art... I've been looking for fun and relatively inexpensive ideas to do for wall art for our living room. We're going to be re-painting the living room soon, and need some new decor. So I came across this idea on a google search. Basically all you do is mix different shaped frames, with an equal number of plain, versus decorative and mix them up into a design. I layed mine all out, so it's balanced visually and with the patterns etc. Hoping to spray paint them this week with an Antique White. Not too bad for about $20 worth of thrift stores picture frames :)

Summer Vacation 2011

This last week has been very eventful, and just wanted to write it all down before I forget the fun moments we had as a family on our vacation this year.

We left to go to Table Rock lake on 7/16, I worked that morning, and Braden went to an awesome Star Wars party right before we left. We hooked up our gps, and we were ready to go. Everything went really well, until we were maybe 30 minutes out of town, and low and behold hit a giant coyote, I kid you not. I thought it was a deer, and we were driving my car, which is low to the ground. So I was freaking out.Luckily it clipped the very edge of my car, and with it went the fog light flying off the side of the highway. Good thing it was already broken from when we bought the car. ha. Seavie went back and picked it up, and found the coyote with a broken leg. Serves him right from sprinting across the highway right at our car. Everything remained calm all the way to the lake, until about 10 minutes til we arrived. We had eaten dinner at Braum's and the winding hills didn't sit well with poor Mr.B's tummy- chocolate and french fry yuckiness all over himself and his car seat. Add that to the fact that the coyote left a nice suprise on the front of our car. Let's just say that my car stunk. So when we arrived to the lake it was full scrub down mode of the car seat, the inside of the car, and Braden. We spent Sat. night watching tv and the kids had an early bedtime after the whole ordeal.

Sunday was nice and quiet for 1/2 the day as my sister in law and her family didn't arrive until about 2-3 pm that day. We just hung out and snuggled with her sweet new baby. And the kids went tubing that night. We had pizza for dinner and celebrated Grandma's 81st birthday.

Monday we had time out on the lake and at the pool. Lots of tubing with the kiddos. That night we went into town to a super touristy place (which I'm not a fan of) to meet my in laws friends for dinner. The food was awful-cold and chewy and my sister in laws food wasn't cooked all the way. We ended up with a free meal, so that made it a little better. The friends we met gave us free passes to "The Track" which is a fun place for kids in Branson that has bumper cars, and race cars etc. Us 4 adults, each got to take a kid with us and go on go carts on the wood track that goes up 4 levels, and is really a blast. It was a great night of nearly free food and entertainment. Then on the way home I got car sick, or at least very woozy- since I also do really badly with windy roads. So when we got home, I went straight to bed.

Tuesday morning, had a super yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy courtesy of my brother in law, who is a great cook. Then we all headed to White Water for the day, in Branson. Seavie's parents paid for us all, so another day of free fun! We had a blast, and rotated out during the day who took kiddos on rides and had kid free time. My favorite was a super tall 4 lane slide that you ride on a blue mat on your stomach on the water. It was a blast! The fountains in the kids splash cove area had freezing cold water which felt amazing after being in the hot sun all day. We all got thoroughly fried in the sun, despite all of our sunscreen. We even had a cool cabana to hang out in all day. Dinner was nachos and margaritas. Yum!

Wednesday morning, everyone woke up early except for me. I was completely exhausted from the previous day, and so I slept in until 10am. Rare for me. So I missed out on them renting a Pontoon boat for the first 1/2 of the day. Which I was totally okay with, because it gave me about 4 hours to catch up on design shows on HGTV, which I don't have the luxury of watching at home, since we don't have cable. Dinner was Spaghetti.

Thursday morning we had a big breakfast of eggs, toast and juice. After we loaded up in the car, after about 3 miles, Braden started complaining that his tummy hurt. He was fine for a while. Stupid us for following the gps through the most winding lake roads in the world. He started complaining some more and then started spewing his breakfast all over himself. It was awful. Luckily where we pulled over on the side of the road, the owner was coming down the driveway and said we could use his water pump that was next to the car to clean off. Which resulted in Braden getting a cold shower on the side of the road. He seemed to be better. But then several miles out started complaining again. So we pulled over, this time he had time to get to the bushes. Seavie knocked on the door of an old bungalow and explained the situation to the little old woman who lived there, who was kind enough to give him some paper towels and a cup of water for Braden. This time we got a towel from the trunk and put it under and around his car seat just in case. He fell asleep maybe 15 minutes later and was out until we got to Joplin. We stopped for lunch at Braum's and then drove through the town to see the tornado damage. It was completely devastating running E and W of the main strip in town. The highschool and homes along that area were in complete ruins. It was very shocking to see it in person. After that we headed to Tulsa,OK to see my grandma and we got in town around 3pm. We just hung out for the afternoon talking and had a tummy pasta dinner and brownies for dinner.

Friday was a fun day. My grandma took Seavie and the kids and I to a place called Incredible Pizza. Which is kind of like a Power Play here where we live. It had a small movie theatre showing "Where the Red Fern Grows", a giant arcade, mini golf, bowling, go carts, bumper cars, and an incredible food buffet, which was the yummiest-in 3 different retro dining rooms! We got a deal on the buffet that came with a $5 gift card, so the kids each got $12 worth of game cards to play on which lasted them quite a while. They had a blast!!! We headed back home so the kids could rest for a few hours. That evening, my aunt took the kids to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie, and they loved it. Seavie and I went out on a mini date night to Applebee's for some dessert and drinks since we were so stuffed from lunch still. Then we got back and talked with my Grandma and Aunt for a few hours before bed.

Saturday morning we headed out to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. It was about 10 miles N of where my Aunt and Uncle live. They had aeronautical exhibits from local Tulsa history as well as space displays. The kids got to sit in an F-14 fighter jet, like the one Tom Cruise flies in Top Gun. They got to use the robotic space arm, and do a simulated flight launch, as well as fly a plane in an air tunnel. The highlight of it was the Planetarium show. For those of you who have never been to one, it has a domed ceiling, where all the stars and planets are on the screen. It went through a tour of the solar system and the planets, and Grace's eyes and mouth were wide open. She said oh.my.gosh. this is so cool. She was on top of the world excited! We watched a show about kids traveling through the solar system in their cardboard rocket. It was fun. After the museum we headed to the Oklahoma Aquarium. It was pretty crowded, but definitely worth it. It had all types of organized sections and exhibits. The kids loved the jellyfish, and the nemo fish. Braden got to touch the shrimp and a star fish. There was also an area where the sharks were that they had a domed tunnel that they were swimming overhead. They absolutely loved it! After that we all went to a yummy little Mexican restaurant called Ted's. It had great salsa and cheese dip-complimentary, and free sopapillas for dessert. I thought my grandma was crazy for wanting to get there at 4pm, but by 4:30pm it was packed. I guess people in OK eat dinner a lot earlier than they do in KS. After dinner we headed back home and hung out and talked.

Sunday-today. We left this morning after a nice big country breakfast courtesy of my Aunt's cooking and headed back to KS. Pretty non eventful trip headed back except for the check engine light coming on in my car right when we left town- almost 100% sure it's the exhaust system, which we already know we need to fix. Then right when we got into town, there was construction backed up on the highway and it took for.ev.er to get home. Then we got stuck behind the train by our house. And finally we were home. The kids went down for a long nap. and I just enjoyed being home. I thoroughly missed my sunflower shower and my foam mattress. Small luxuries that I've had to go without the last week. So now we're all settled back in. The dogs were thrilled to pieces to see Seavie again, and spent some time inside cooling off. Early bedtime for the kiddos, and it's movie date at home for Seavie and I. It was a great vacation and I wouldn't have changed a thing.

We had the best time ever with my grandma, talking and hearing her stories. My Aunt told us that she has slowed down since last Fall, and that was really evident. Her memory is staring to slip a little, and her handwriting. She has a hard time getting up, and is on oxygen. It was sad to see her not her normal self, but she was still her spunky self through it all. We got lots of great pictures with her, and of our trip, which I'll try and post soon. Keep her in your prayers, she's finally going in to have surgery to have a pacemaker and a defibrulater put in on 8-9-11. She told me if it doesn't go well, she'll be in heaven, which made me cry, because I would miss her so much. But also happy knowing that she would be going to a better place. I love my grandma so much and it was a great last few days spending some extra time with her.