It's the Little Things

Have you ever noticed that it is some of the simplest gestures that make you feel the most loved?

So this doesn't sound like much, but it is one of those "little" things that makes true love so amazing. Dave just got home from work. Yes, it is after 10:30pm and he just got home. I guess a server went down or something; who can really understand computer talk anyways? Though it is obvious that he has had a long stressful day. When he gets home I am already in bed just catching up on reading a few of my favorite blogs. I mention to him that my knee is hurting again. Then he turns around, after just reaching the bedroom only minutes ago and goes back down stairs and returns a few minutes later with my heating bag all warm and cozy for my knee. What a thoughtful wonderful husband!!!!

It is funny how a gift of a trip down stairs when your knee hurts can be more precious than some crazy expensive gift.

Trip to Atlanta

So this is going to be a rather long drawn out entry. It is the blow by blow of my trip to Atlanta. I was sent with a team of about 9 other people to help open the 2 new Atlanta stores for Barbeques Galore.

Monday - The shuttle picked me up at 6am to take me to the OC Airport to hop on a 7:55am flight. I got on the plane and got all settled in. Then as they went to close the back door of the plane the inflatable slide that is only supposed to inflate when you make a crash landing in the ocean inflated. We all then had to deboard the plane. I was of course in one of the last rows and therefore was one of the last off and the last in line to get a new flight. I stood in line for 2 hours. After an hour and a half they announced that the 11:45am flight was not full and my only hope was to get on the 1:40pm flight. Considering the 4 hour flight and the 3 hour time change this would put me in Atlanta pretty late. By the time I reached the front of the line I had pretty much resigned myself to the fate. I handed the guy my driver's license and a copy of my original itinerary. A few moments later he handed me a ticket for the 11:45am flight. I couldn't believe it! I began to thank him profusely. He got this concerned look on his face and told me to "shhhh". Whatever, I didn't care. I raced to the same terminal that I had already used once this morning. I finally arrived in Atlanta sometime after 8pm. Elizabeth (Trainer) and Lisa (Auditor) came to pick me up. We met the rest of the BBQZ team for dinner and then back to the hotel for some serious sleep. However, when I went to check into the hotel they didn't have my reservation. I'm telling you...this is the LAST time I let a VP make my travel arrangements! They only had 3 rooms available and they were all handicapped. Once I got to my room all I wanted to do was fall into the bed since I was exhausted from the long day for travel and had to get up at 5:30am (2:30am in CA) the next morning. Unfortunately the first thing I did once in the room was proceed to drop the coffee pot leaving shattered glass all over the floor. It was 11pm by the time the guy finished cleaning up the glass.

Tuesday - This day was spent at our store on Roswell Rd on Sandy Springs. In the morning I conducted an orientation for all of our newly converted employees. The rest of the day was filled with cleaning, organizing and filling out forms. We left the store at 8pm and went to dinner at a wonderful Italian place. This time I was able to get to bed by 10pm.

Wednesday - I had 3 interviews in the morning. All three were totally atrocious. Then I called Lisa to pick me up for lunch. This was my first chance to see my surroundings since I arrived since all other traveling had occurred in the dark. I was really impressed. It was really beautiful! Lisa, me and Michelle (Trainer) spent the rest of the day at the Duluth store reskuing and pricing. We worked really hard and were totally exhausted by 8pm when we finally got to leave the store. It was Elizabeth's birthday so we went to Dave and Busters for a dinner celebration. Everyone was so exhausted it was difficult to convince people that it was time to celebrate. There ended up only being 6 of us that had enough energy to go; me, Michelle, Elizabeth, Lisa, Monica (Auditor), and Dale (Store Manager from VA). It was a great group. We all squeezed into Lisa's Buick. By the time we finished dinner and got in the car to go home we were all so tired we were delirious. I car ride to the hotel was filled with nonstop laughter.

Thursday - I had 8 interviews scheduled, however only half of them showed up. It was the longest most boring day. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything because I never knew when one might actually show up. I filled the hours by watching TV in the lobby, making phone calls, and collecting pretty leaves for Dave. Yes, I later got made fun of extensively for the leaf collecting. Everyone got back to the hotel around 8pm and then we went to dinner followed by another laughter filled car ride. I love these people!

Friday - We went supposed to work this day, but Mark (District Manager) called in a panic needing help at the Duluth store. So Michelle, Elizabeth and I backed up our stuff and went to the store to help. We cleaned all morning and I scheduled interviews for Mark. Finally at 1pm Rod (Assistant Manager from NC) drove us to the MARTA station in Sandy Springs and dropped us off. It cost $1.75 each to ride the MARTA all the way to airport. MARTA is like a mostly above ground subway. This was my big chance to really see Atlanta. I was in awe. Everything was so beautiful. There were trees everywhere and lush foliage. All the buildings are totally beautiful too. The rich brick and white of the buildings against the shades of green, orange and red trees and then the blue sky; It was just breath taking. There was so much history too. I would really love to go back and be able to explore. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing; or I guess I should say "flying". I got home around 9pm, hugged my husband, checked my e-mail and then off to bed.

It is so good to be home!

I Went on a Date Last Night

Yep, I went on a date with my husband. It was really fun. His idea was to go to the Irvine Spectrum, have dinner at Cheesecake Factory and then walk around looking at the shops. Well, the rain kinda messed that up. So we just adjusted the plans slightly and went to the Mission Viejo Mall instead and ate at P.F. Chang's. It was such a wonderful evening. I love hanging out with my husband.

Seems like lately we just haven't had very much time together and the time we do have together is usually shared with other people too. I just haven't had enough "Dave Time". So Dave had the great idea of implementing a once a week date night. So far so good :o)

There is nobody in the world that I love hanging out with more than my husband! Once again, I feel so lucky :o)

Pool Volleyball: My New Favorite Sport

Last Sunday I invited our community group and former community pastors over to my mom's house to celebrate my birthday with a little lasagna and pool volleyball. The lasagna was perfect, but the pool volleyball was stupendous! It was Me, Karen C., Lori S., and Cathy G. (aka - The Dream Team) against Dave T., Jeff S., and Mike C. (aka- The Boys). We had a blast! It took The Dream Team a little while to warm up, but we pulled it together when it counted. The Boys had won the first few sets, but we were really beginning to pull together our team work and strategy so we challenged The Boys to a "for all the marbles, winner takes all" final set. And...We WON 15-8! There was such a celebration that an onlooker might have thought we had just won an Olympic Gold. It felt extra great because each of us on the team had each made a number of awesome plays and it really felt like we won as a team.

Still hungry for competition we moved it into the garage for a friendly game of darts. Yes, the girls prevailed yet again! This time I got to make the winning throw that put us at exactly 701 to win the game. Karen told me to aim for the 11 and then seconds later I watched the dart leave my hand and travel directly to the 11 square for the win.


Thank you all for making it so special!

I talked to Jon!!!

Yesterday Cathy and I went to the Switchfoot concert at The Grove in Anaheim. It was so awesome!!!! The tickets were standing room only so we got there two hours early to make sure we had prime viewing. It worked!!! We were in the first row of the second tear; only about fifteen feet from the band! We were so close that we could see every facial expression. Let me just say that they are even better live than on the CD. They ROCK! They played almost all of my favorite songs and then even played some new ones that they are working.

Our friends Conner and Dianne are really good friends with Jon (the lead guy) so they had special VIP passes. So after the show we waited, as instructed, hoping that Conner could hook us up to meet him or his brother (backup vocals & guitar guy). Conner called and told us to meet them at the back of the venue and he would bring Jon around to meet us. We waited and waited and finally just started walking to the car. I had a 7am flight the next day and didn't want to wait around all night for something that might not even happen. The night had already been amazing enough without meeting the band. As we were getting into the car my cell phone rang. It was Conner. He told me to hold on and then another voice came on the phone. I said "hello", then he said "hello" and back and forth like that until I asked, "Who is this?" He replied, "Jon". I told him who I was and then we citchated from maybe 2 minutes (this may not be anywhere close to an actually time fame...1. I don't have a watch, and 2. I was talking to the lead singer from my favorite band). Then he told me to take care of Conner and Dianne and we said good bye.

The night was practically perfect (with the exception of sore knees and feet from standing 6 hours straight). I got to hang out with a good friend, see an awesome show and talk to Jon. What more could I ask for?!?!?

Older, but Blessed!

Well, I am officially 27 years old now. Funny how 26 seemed so young and now 27 sounds so much older.

I had a great birthday weekend! Friday the HR Department took me to PF Chang's for lunch. Then Friday night Mike and Karen invited us to play tennis with them. It was an awesome impromptu evening. (By the way...Karen and I call a rematch; we will definitely take you guys next time!). After tennis we set up a gigantic screen and projector to watch Home on the Range in life size (the ONLY way to watch this action packed flick!). Then Saturday morning we totally slept in, which was much needed. That night Debbee came to The Gathering with us and then afterwards about ten of us went to Chili's for dinner. Sunday Dave and I went to Oak Glen to pick our own apples and stroll around the shops and museum. This weekend was so wonderful and relaxing.

I definitely feel older, but also feel appreciative of the many blessing God has provided. First of all, my husband. He is my best friend and perfect mate. Then my awesome friends and family. I feel so loved! And then countless other blessings like SCU, our home, my job, ect.

Older, but so blessed!

Instructions

Okay people...Let me explain to you how this blog thing works.

Step 1- I write something
Step 2- You read it
Step 3- You make a clever comment

Now I think we are doing pretty well so far with steps 1 and 2, however, it seems that step 3 is tripping us up a bit. Now it seemed like we were really on a roll for my first entry, but since there has been some loss of momentum.

So let's give comments a try! What do you say?

The Neighborhood Potluck was a HIT!!!

We were a little worried at first though. At 7:10pm the Cleary's had arrived, but no neighbors. So we left the front door open so it would look more inviting and the next thing we knew there were 15-20 neighbors in our house! It was awesome. There were so many people that it was difficult to really get to know everyone. I definitely felt a little awkward at times, but it was so reassuring to have Mike, Karen, and Straty there with us. In fact, the night ended with me over at our next door neighbors house having a glass of wine with another neighbor and Mike, Karen, and Cathy in a house across the street. I feel like we have really made some connections and am excited to pursue these relationships. Thanks Troy and Jenny Hadj for giving us the extra push :o)

Oh yeah, and the neighbor that was putting the notes on our cars for parking in front of their house was there. We found out that she didn't even know anything about it. It was her teenage niece that was doing it and just signing her aunts name. Can you believe that!?!?

Nervous, but Encouraged

So I am supposed to share deep thoughts and feelings on this thing. Alright, lets try feelings. I feel...Nervous. Nervous because tonight we are having a party at our house to get to know our neighbors. We have lived in this house since March and only know two neighbors. Now keep in mind that this has not been all our fault. Between nasty grams left on our cars for parking on the street in front of another house (mind you that it is a public street and we have 4 cars in our household and a red curb infront of out house), getting toilet papered, and being flipped off by young children, the neighborhood has not exactly seemed to have open arms. So last Thursday night Dave and I walked around our street and placed an invitation on the door or in the hand of every neighbor on the street (22 houses in all). At first people were stand-offish, but I once they figured out that we weren't selling them anything they seemed very friendly. But, the most encouraging thing happened last night as we were cooking and I was writing out Col. 4:2-6 on a card (I'll explain later). The doorbell rang and it was a neighbor. When I opened the door she handed me a box wrapped and tied with a bow. She said that she would not be able to make it to the party, but wanted to drop this off for us. It was a gift! A gift for us! Once she left I tore into the wrapping to reveal the most adorable ceramic salt and pepper shakers adorned with fall leaves. I felt so encouraged. I still feel encouraged!

So back to Col. 4:2-6. I love these verses and they have been a focus for the last few weeks since the Pastor's Retreat.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; making the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Col. 4:2-6

I was trying to memorize it, but it hasn't quite happened yet so I jotted it down on a 3x5 card so I could read it throughout the day today. Pray that our household is able to live out these verses tonight at the party.

Giving it a Try

Okay, so I really don't have too many deep thoughts so this might just be my first and last blog, but why not give it a try anyways. My friend Chaya has a blog. And, I have really been enjoying checking her blog out and commenting on her thoughts.

I went to the South County United "Walking with God" floor painting event last night. I went there just to help out and be a runner for the artists that were painting the floor. After a couple of hours of watching I got an incredible itch to paint something myself. However, this seemed like a bad idea since the last time I painted something, other than a wall in my house with a roller, as right around the 3th grade. But, then I found out that the paint could be whipped off! This was a liberating concept and so I convinced another leery painter to paint something together. Okay, so all I did was paint a sunflower on the floor of our church building (and not even the entire flower; Jenny Hadj. painted the stem), but it wasn't too bad. I mean, it had some texture and you could definitely tell that it was a sunflower(it's intended form). All in all I felt quite proud of myself. I even joked about quitting my job today and painting full time. So I have decided to do something a little less drastic and start a blog.