Trick or Treat...Smell My Feet...Give me Something Good to Eat!

I could not come up with a clever title if you couldn't tell. I was using all song titles or movie titles but my brain isn't functioning so well this fine Friday afternoon. Not much is really happening right now. I realized after all the fall festival stuff and my trip to Hawaii I really have nothing to say. :) So this blog should get really interesting.

Can I just say that the TV show "The Office" is probably one of my favorite shows ever? It is absolutely hilarious. Last night their show was their Halloween episode and there was only one scene in it where they all dressed up. By the way, Phyllis's costume of Raggedy Ann is the exact same one that I already own. How funny is that? Pretty awesome actually. It's just so funny and that John Krasinski...man! That is one good looking guy. He's a little younger than I am but that doesn't matter does it?

Speaking of age differences....does age really matter? There is someone I know through my brother that wants to fix me up with a guy that he's met. I know this guy, sort of (the guy that I'm to be fixed up with). We've met on a few occasions and he has attended my church every now and then. I don't really know what kind of person he is except that he's been exceptionally nice every time I've had a chance to talk to him. Everyone that knows him speaks very highly of him. He is also very easy on the eyes, ladies. He's one of those tall dark and handsome kind of guys. Anyway, he's quite a bit younger than me...seven years to be exact. So here's my question...does age matter? Does it really? I know when the guy is that much older no one says a word but when the woman is older comments are made. Why are people's perception of couple's have to be that the men should be older? Does it say anywhere in the Bible that men should be older? I know God didn't make it a commandment so does God care who's older as long as you are both in the same place and that God is in the center of your relationship? Look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. She like 42 and he's 28 or 29. That's a huge difference but somehow they are making it work. Courteney Cox Arquette is seven years older than her husband, David Arquette. My mom is a year older than my dad but really that's not much of a difference. I wonder if it does really matter to men? Maybe I should ask a guy. Just something that has been swirling in my mind lately.

I went to get my hair cut and colored last night. It was in serious need of it. I didn't get it done before vacation because I was trying to save money so I finally was able to get in yesterday. After my stylist finished coloring, blow drying and fixing my hair we realized that the color did not stick like it was supposed to. I like my hair very dark to where it's almost black. Well, it just didn't hold the color even though she used the same shade of color as last time. Then she figured out why it didn't take. The whole time I was on vacation I was outside all day everyday. Of course, it's always sunny in Hawaii and I never wore a hat. Why would I wear a hat? It would ruin my tanning. I had noticed that when I got back my hair was very light. When I was a child I had blond hair during the summer because the sun would always lighten it up several shades. Evidently it still does that. So I'm going to do some oil treatments on my hair because the sun damaged it so badly that it's very dry and almost brittle. I go back on Tuesday to try to recolor my hair the shade it's supposed to be. At least I don't have to pay for the second color. I have a great stylist. She used to work with my sister (in law) until they moved to Alabama so I started to go to her. I love her so much. She's a sweet lady and now my mom and I got several ladies in my church going to her as well.

I don't have anything planned for Halloween this year. I usually try to get the Ladies Prayer Group to do something fun. Several years ago we had a costume party and a scavenger hunt. That was so much fun. Two years ago we went on the Ghost Walk Tour in downtown Nashville and then last year we went on the Confederate Walking Tour at some famous cemetery close to downtown. They were both really cool! You learn so much about the history of Nashville and I learned alot about the Civil War that I didn't learn at school. I realized that in school being from the North that I only learned the northerners side of the war and down here at the cemetery I learned the south's side. It was interesting to say the least. We will probably do one or the other next year. So tonight I'm just going out to eat to a Barb-b-Que place with a friend and then go home and do an oil treatment on my hair. Sounds fun and exciting right? I hope I can find a good movie to watch since I have to do the treatment for an hour. I won't even tell you what I have to put on my hair...tomorrow perhaps!

Happy Halloween! Be safe!

Hawaii - Pearl Harbor

I'm finally at the end of my trip. Aren't you excited that I won't be telling anymore about Hawaii after this post? I know you have been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for me to get back to my real boring life. :)

On Monday morning we had a shuttle come and pick us up at 6am to take us to Pearl Harbor. It was so early and since this was at the end of our trip I was exhausted but it was worth every minute of it. We were going to go do this on our own but we found a Pearl Harbor tour so we decided to book that and not have to worry about finding our own transportation there. The tour entailed a trip to the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Missouri battleship and the Punchbowl Crater which is a military cemetery.

You hear that you need to be at Pearl Harbor early in the morning or you will have to wait hours to get in and I understand why. We were the second bus to arrive and it wasn't long after us getting there that bus after bus was arriving and the line wrapped around the block. Evidently it is like this everyday there. So if you ever go to Pearl Harbor....go early...very early. When you go in you are put into a group number and then you wait for your number to be called. Luckily we were in group one so we didn't have long to wait. They usher you into a room where they have you watch a short film about Pearl Harbor with the events leading up to the attack. They showed actual footage of the attack. After the film they put you on a boat driven by the navy that takes you to the memorial. Since I've been back people have asked me my thoughts on the memorial. I actually have no words to describe the moments when you are on the memorial. It's a very quiet and reverent place. There is no talking except for an occasional whisper. It was very surreal to be there. The whole place becomes more real to you and you began to understand a glimmer what those men and women had to endure that day. I can't describe the feeling I felt when I stood at the edge of the memorial and looked in the water and saw the Arizona sitting there...being a tomb for over 1000 men. I can't tell you what I felt as I saw and smelled the oil rising to the top of the water from the ship. It's impossible to explain the feelings and the lump in your throat and the tightness in your chest when you see all the names etched in the wall of the men who are still entombed in the Arizona. It's a moment I'm so glad I got to experience and one that I will never forget. I have a new found appreciation for the men and women in uniform and what they have sacrificed and our still sacrificing for our freedom. It was a humbling experience. Here are a few photos:

The two men in the above picture are two of the last remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack. I can't imagine the images that these two men saw on the horrible day. If you ever get a chance to make it to Hawaii and you go to Oahu, I urge everyone to fit Pearl Harbor into your plans. You won't regret at all! It's a fantastic experience.

After we finished our time at the Arizona Memorial we made our way onto the military base to tour the USS Missouri. Let me tell you that ship was HUGE!! It's as long as 3 football fields and was at least 20 stories high. It was huge and I felt so small being on there. We toured all through that thing. We climbed ladders, we stepped over guns. It was awesome. This particular ship was active during Operation Desert Storm back in the 90's. It was also the ship where they signed the Peace Treaty with Japan to end WW II. It was a cool thing to see. I know that I could never live on a ship like that. It was very claustrophobic. We were able to spend a good amount of time there just exploring this piece of history. After we toured the ship we made our way to the Punchbowl Crater. This was interesting but we never got off the bus. We just drove through the cemetery. It was a pretty place.

We were dropped off at our hotel around 1pm and so we decided to spend the rest of the day at our hotel pool and hot tub. We wanted to work on our tans a little bit and just spend the rest of our time relaxing and that is exactly what we did. It was nice. The next evening we were flying back home. So the next morning we packed our luggage took them down to the holding room and spent most Tuesday at the pool. We were pretty tired of sand and salt water so we decided to stay at our pool. It was very relaxing and it felt good to not have to be anywhere or do anything. Our plane took off at 5pm so at 3:30 we headed to the airport. We flew all night from Hawaii to Minneapolis, MN and then took a flight from there to Atlanta and then from there headed to Nashville. I had never been so happy to see Nashville in all my life. I was so exhausted after the long plane rides and endless connections.

It was though one of the best times in my life. We were able to do so much in a relatively small amount of time. I believe that I was able to see the entire island and do things that I normally wouldn't do here. I'm so glad that I had the chance to go and I would go back in a heartbeat. I still can't believe that I was there. It still feels like a dream. The next time I want to make sure that my family is there with me. I would like to share that experience with them.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I will pick back up with my everyday ins and outs of my life. You really haven't missed much this past month really. It's all been catch up from me being gone. Things at work have finally slowed down and I'm back on my regular routine. Today I'm using my Crock Pot for the first time. Can you believe it? I bought one of those frozen Crock Pot meals. So I've been making Chicken and Dumplings. I'm excited to try it. I'll let you know how it goes. Tonight I have Bible Study at church but I'll spend the whole time in choir practice. We are trying to get ready for our Christmas program in December. We are doing the same one as last year so we are just really going over with a fine tooth comb this year and working out the kinks. It should be good...I hope. :) Have a good night!

Hawaii- Kualoa Ranch

So I realized that I didn't blog yesterday. Sorry about that...I completely forgot. I've been sort of busy at work and then sometimes I just don't feel like typing. But I'll try and pick up where I left off on my Hawaii trip. On Saturday we had a full day tour to Kualoa Ranch on the North side of the island. Kualoa Ranch is owned by one family and it is also known as Movie Row. This is the part of Hawaii where they film all the movies and the TV show LOST. They filmed Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, Mighty Joe Young, 50 First Dates, and Pearl Harbor at this ranch. It was so cool! This was probably my favorite day. It was a blast! The ranch is absolutely stunning, breathtaking, and beautiful!

Because we were there the entire day we got to do four different tours with each being an hour long. So the first tour we did was the Jungle Expedition Tour. It's what it sounds like. We hopped into a jeep and drove into the jungle. We had the best guide. He's name was Robin and he was awesome! He found out that my friend and I are huge LOST fans so he pointed out to us all the spots where they film the jungle scenes. He told us that we missed them filming there by a two weeks. They were there two weeks before our tour and they were coming back the next week. I was so disappointed. They were there on the island filming just not at the ranch. Robin was telling us that sometimes they have to hold up their tours for up to 30 minutes waiting for them to finish filming a scene. Oh, to think I was where Matthew Fox has been!! *Sigh* :-) So here is a jungle shot that you might recognize on the show if you watch it.

So the tour just took us deep into the jungle and it was really just a cool ride up the mountain and down. Our guide would point out the different trees and flowers that were unique and it was a great experience. Now on our way up the mountain he stopped the jeep for us to look out over the ocean and there we saw a fisherman's pond that is over 600 years old. That was awesome. Then he pointed out to a really long pier that went out over the ocean. This was the pier that Drew Barrymore ran down crying on 50 First Dates. So here is a picture of that if you can make out the pier.

After our jungle tour we went on an Ocean Voyage Tour. We took a small boat across the fisherman's pond and after a short walk through the trees we found our way to the catamaran that we would be riding around Chinaman's Hat. That was a great experience! It was so much fun. First of all the dock that we had to walk on to get to the small boat is the same dock where on LOST Locke blew up the boat! So here is a picture of that! So cool!

The ride on the catamaran was so fun. He booked it out to Chinaman's Hat and it felt like you were on a roller coaster. Then on the way back to land he went so slow so we could see the sea turtles swimming. That was so cool! After the Ocean tour we broke for a buffet lunch and then we did our Horseback riding tour. That was nice. My horse's name was Cookie and he was beautiful! The ride was uneventful but the views were stunning. After the horseback riding tour we went on an ATV driving tour! That was may favorite part of the day, I think. We couldn't go over 10 mph but I sure wanted to. It was first time driving one and I was really nervous about it but it was so fun that I would love to own one. Where I would drive it...I have no idea but I would like to own one. This was also where we got to into the actual valley of the ranch. This is where they do the bulk of filming for most movies but it is also the most spectacular view I have ever seen. It was so beautiful here. The picture's really don't do this place justice.

There are cows just roaming everywhere. It's cute. The road behind us is the road where they filmed 50 First Dates. You know the scene where Drew Barrymore gets out the baseball bat and starts chasing Rob Schneider? That's the spot! I can't wait to watch the movie again so I can see all the places I've been in that movie. They also film alot of LOST scenes there as well so that was really cool. I could have stayed in that valley forever. It's beautiful. There are just no words to describe it.

The ATV was our last tour of the day so after that it was time to board the bus and head back to the hotel. It was about a 45 minute ride back and so after we got back to our hotel of course we hopped in the hot tub for another couple of hours. I recommend after a long hard day to jump in a hot tub. It's just the perfect ending to any day. Then we got cleaned up and decided to find something to eat close by so we just went a pizza place in the village. It was good.

The next day (Sunday) we decided to go parasailing and snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. This was a great day as well. I made the mistake of calling my mother the day before and telling her our plans for that day. She was not amused and made me call her when I was through so she knew I made back to land safe and sound. I had never been parasailing and even though it was unbelievably scary...it was the best fun I've had.

Snorkeling was alot of fun. It took me awhile to get the hang of it but once I did, it was alot of fun. The colors of the fish were so vibrant and amazing! I couldn't believe all the different types of fish we saw. We were only there for a couple of hours and when we came out of the water for a rest we realized that we only had 30 more minutes before the shuttle came to pick us up. So we decided to go back out in the water for a little longer when we heard this couple say that they just saw some sea turtles. So they pointed out where they went to go see them and we found them!! It was amazing! I swam with sea turtles. It was by far the coolest thing. Here is a picture of us snorkeling.

So we did that for the rest of our time and then we headed back to the hotel. After another few hours in the hot tub at our hotel we decided to go eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp. That was a great place to eat. I think I like the atmosphere of the place more than the food. It's named after the movie Forrest Gump and had all sorts of memorabilia from the movie. After that we went back to the hotel to go to bed early because the next day we were being picked up at 6 am to go to Pearl Harbor. So I'll pick back up there tomorrow.

Tonight I'm going to my parents for dinner and to watch NCIS with my mom. That is our favorite show so we have to watch it together. Hope you all have a great evening!

Hawaii - Pt. 2

I tried to post this blog yesterday but there was something wrong with blogger so I saved it to post today. So enjoy yesterday's post today and tomorrow I'll continue on with my Hawaii trip. :)

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Yesterday I started telling you about my trip to Hawaii. I only got two days into the vacation. So I will try and tell you about the next few days. The after the luau was Thursday and it was the day we picked to go on the Circle Island Tour. This was an amazing day. The shuttle picked us up at about 7:20 am (which by the way, the shuttle picks you up for everything...it was wonderful and the best way to get around.) Our tour guides name was Kauna (pronounced "Cow-nah"). He was a riot. He was so hilarious. He was born and raised on Oahu so he knew everything about the island. We first drove through the Beverly Hills of Hawaii. They were beautiful homes that belong to some guy I don't know so I really didn't pay that much attention. :) After that we made our way to Hanauma Bay. This was a gorgeous place. Here is the best picture I have of it.

It was so pretty here and we ended up snorkeling there a few days later. I'll tell you more about that when I get to that part of the trip. But all I will say is...sea turtles...amazing! So after we went to Hanauma Bay we went to a different beach which I forget the name of but it's the place where "From Here to Eternity" with Burt Lancaster was filmed. You know that famous beach where is making out with some beauty. It was a really pretty place.

After that we made our way up the eastward side of the island. We stopped at several other beaches and locations that were simply breathtaking. I was so mesmerized by the scenery. We couldn't have asked for a better day to do this. The weather was simply wonderful that day. We finally made our way up to the Northshore where we saw more spectacular views and we saw Chinaman's Hat. That is simply what it looks like. Here's a picture of it.

After passing by Chinaman's Hat we moved up further the North Shore and stopped at Sunset Beach and went to where the Pipeline is. The Pipeline is the big waves on the North Shore that come in at around 15 ft. All the pros come to surf it and I believe several people have died trying to surf them. They are supposed to be the biggest and most dangerous waves in the world. But when we passed by it they were only 3-4 ft high. Not very impressive but it was still cool to see it in person when you hear about it so much. After the pipeline we stopped at Waimea Falls. This was the coolest place! It's a reservation park and to get back to the falls who have to hike for 30 minutes. It was so hot that day so by the time we got back to the falls we were soaked in sweat. But they were so worth it. These are also the falls for all you LOST fans where they filmed a scene with Sawyer and Kate. In the first season they found this waterfall and jumped off them and when they jumped in the water they found two people still strapped in their airline seats with a case stuck underneath a seat. Well, the falls they jumped off of is Waimea Falls. I didn't get in to swim out there but Melissa did. It was so beautiful. The falls were really only a trickle and not pouring as much water because Hawaii was experiencing a drought when we were there but here is a picture of the falls. It might look familiar to the LOST fans.

After the stop at Waimea Falls we went through some pineapple fields and stopped at Dole Plantation. That was a neat place. We really didn't have time to look through the entire place but it was neat to visit there. The pineapple there was so delicious. That was pretty much the end our of tour. By the time we got back to our hotel it was around 5 or 6pm so we stopped off at our hotels hot tub and stayed in there for a couple of hours. Once we ready to get out we got cleaned up and decided to go find something to eat. We decided on Benihana's Japanese Steakhouse which was right next door to our hotel. It was so delicious. I love Japanese food but for some reason that particular food did not like me. I was up the entire night throwing up. I know that's gross but that was the reality of it all. I didn't not sleep at all that night. Luckily the next day was a beach day. So I slept in and tried to feel better. Melissa and her mom went to the pool to lay out and I stayed in bed. I was feeling a little better after a few hours so I decided to join them. I only stayed out there for about an hour and went back to bed my stomach was hurting so much. Then Melissa's mom came up to the room to take a nap and I met Melissa out at the beach. We had met a couple of British guys on our tour the day before and we all decided to hang out at the beach together. I was feeling a little better so I ventured out into the water and then after a little bit I went to go lay out some (I still was trying to work on a tan). I ended up dozing a bit and being out in the sun was making me feel awful so I went back up to the room to sleep some more. After a few more hours I felt like my illness had finally passed. Melissa found her way back up to the room and we all got ready to go find something to eat and shop. We found a little cafe place where they served some light sandwiches where I thought I could find something "safe" to eat. After we ate we went to the International Marketplace to do some shopping. Now this is the place to find a bunch of goodies and gifts for friends and family. There were so many little shops and you can even barter with them but I was too tired to do it. But I still feel like a got some good deals on my purchases.

I'm going to stop here. The next day we went to Kualoa Ranch which was amazing. So I want to give that a blog all it's own. So I want to leave you with a picture that I took of the sunset when we were walking to the International Marketplace. Have a great night!

I'm Back!!

I know that's its been a really long time since I last blogged. Please forgive me! Since I've been back from vacation, I cannot get back in the swing of things. I've been home for exactly one week now and I'm still exhausted from being in Hawaii.

Hawaii was everything that I had hoped it would be. It was beautiful, relaxing and so fun! I'll try to give a description of the trip as best as I can. I've been debating on how best to tell it on here so I'll try and condense it some.

Our plane left on the 7th at 5:40 am from Nashville. We were at the airport by 4:30 so we already knew this would be a long day. We flew from Nashville to Atlanta (2 hour layover) where we switched planes and flew to LAX in Los Angeles. Now, I have to say that I absolutely hate this airport. It was so confusing and we had no idea where to go and we thought we would miss our flight. We were almost certain that our luggage wouldn't make it on the plane either. We were flying Delta but then had to switch over to Northwest in LA. So once we found where we were going we realized that we had to go through security again! Ugh! This was so annoying. The line was so long...it was hot...we were hungry and tired! We knew this would cause us to miss our flight. We were meeting up with Melissa's mom here and she was waiting for us on the other side. We finally made it through security and had just enough time to grab something to eat and use the ladies room when we realize that our flight was boarding. We were so excited that we didn't miss our flight! So Melissa and I sat down and soon realized that we were sitting in the middle of 28 Polish people who did not speak a word of English!! Let me tell you....they were a noisy bunch of folk! They talked to loudly and talked the entire flight out there! I was in the middle seat and the man sitting next to me decided to serenade me by singing in Polish. Luckily he could carry a tune. :) So the entire 5 hour flight to Hawaii, he was either singing or sleeping! It was hilarious.

We finally touched down in Hawaii at about 5 pm their time which was 10 pm our time and we were exhausted. And to our amazement, our luggage all managed to arrive as well. On the shuttle ride to our hotel I kept looking out the window in amazement that I was actually in Hawaii. I couldn't believe it. It was so beautiful. Little did I know that I wasn't even seeing half of the beauty of Hawaii. I would see that 2 days later. All we did that night was check in, get our stuff settled in our room and find something to eat. We were exhausted. Oh, here was the view from our hotel room.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa. It was beautiful there. We stayed in the Kalia tower. The rooms were like a standard typical double bed room so I didn't take pictures of it. The next day we spent the entire day at the beach. It was beautiful! I hadn't been to the beach in a really long time so I was excited to be there. The water was beautiful...cold...but beautiful! We had our own private beach so luckily it wasn't that crowded. We were right next to Waikiki Beach. You could see Diamond Head from where we were also. It was a beautiful sight. I know I keep saying beautiful but I don't know what other word to describe it.

So after spending the majority of the day laying out and swimming at the beach (which by the way, I hate salt water...nasty) we went back up to our room to get ready to go out that night. We had reservations to go to a beach luau at Paradise Cove. That was alot of fun. We had front row seats to the dinner and show and it was spectacular! The native dancers were phenomenal. If you ever get to go to Hawaii....go to a luau!! They are wonderful. The food was really good as well. They had pork, chicken and fish. As Rachael Ray would say...YUMMO! Before the luau started we had time to watch several different native rituals like the shower of flowers, hula dancing, and some native fire dancing. It was really interesting. Then the sun was starting to set so we hurried over to get some pictures.

It was a gorgeous view. After being in Hawaii and seeing the scenery there, I can't understand how people can say there is no God. He was evident all through Hawaii. He's such an artist. Words can't describe the work He did there. Anyway, after the sun went down we ate our dinner and then the show started. It was awesome like I said before. The dancers were wonderful. I did get many pictures of the show but the one worth showing was the one I got afterwards. :) I was in heaven.

The men were very friendly and sweet. The luau ended around 10 pm and since we were still on central time we were so tired. I ended up falling asleep on the bus on the way back to the hotel. Our vacation was starting out great and it was only going to get better. I'm going to stop here for today. I can't tell the entire trip in one blog so tomorrow I'll tell about what we did for the next two days. We went on a tour of the island so look for that and more pictures.

I ended up taking almost 500 pictures while in Hawaii (thank God for digital cameras!) So if you are on Facebook, I have uploaded all of them there if you are already friends with me. I'll post a few more on here as I tell about my trip.

Since I've been back I've been swamped at work and I've been trying to get caught up and I'm still trying to get back on Central time. I'm almost there. I think after this weekend I'll be caught back up. I can't wait for you to hear about the rest of my trip! See you tomorrow.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

To take another line from that song, "My bags are packed and I'm ready to go." I am officially ready for my vacation. I can't believe that it's here already. I've printed out the boarding passes and I have everything lined up. It still feels like a dream though. We've been planning this trip since February so it has felt like it never would get here and now that it is, I still don't believe it.

I never thought that I would be going to Hawaii ever. A family friend of ours works for a company that has him traveling constantly so he has racked up some frequent flyer miles. He's accumulated so many that he has more than he knows what to with. So one day last year he told me that he wanted to send me to Hawaii. I was ecstatic...but he only gave me enough miles for one person. So he called me one day and said that he was giving me another set of miles to take a friend with me. I called my friend, Melissa, and asked her if she wanted to go with me and she didn't hesitate. Then when she told her mom she asked if she was able to find a flight out there from where she is for a decent price would we mind. We didn't care so tomorrow we all fly out and Melissa and I will be meeting up with her mom in Los Angeles and from there we will fly out to Honolulu together. I'm so excited! I can't wait. I doubt that I will be able to sleep tonight. We fly out very early...5:40 am! My dad wasn't too excited about that since he's the one taking us to the airport. At least I only live about 10 mins from there so it won't be too bad.

The only concern I have is that I woke up this morning not feeling well. I think I'm getting a sinus infection. It really started last night with my ears ringing and I had a little drainage issue going on. Then I woke up this morning and I couldn't swallow. My throat is still a little scratchy but it's not anywhere near it was earlier. I'm trying to talk my self out of being sick. Hopefully it will work. When I told my boss this morning that my symptoms, he started doping me up on Benadryl, so I'm fighting sleep right now. I'm so exhausted.

I'm also exhausted after the weekend. The fall festival went so well. I still didn't get all the workers I needed but the ones that were there really stepped up and did double duty. We had over 130 visitors there which is about 30 more than last year. We were excited. We had so many people tell us that they thought it was a fantastic festival and it was one of the best that they had been too. One lady had gone to another one earlier that day and said that ours as ten times better because it was more for the kids. So we were very happy with the way the day went. WE were burnt and tired but it was totatlly worth every minute of it. We got names and address and phone numbers of all the visitors and our visitation team at church will be visiting all them and inviting them to church. It was unbelievably hot. I prayed for good weather and the Lord sure did deliver. It was bright and sunny with no clouds in the sky. It was in the mid 80's...not October weather for sure. Here are a few pictures from the day.

My brother and his family and some friends of ours came into town this past weekend as well. It was so good to see them and we had a great time. On Friday we took the kids to a pumpkin patch farm and we all had a great time. They had a petting zoo there, a corn maze, a hay bale maze, hay rides, a huge play area for the kids. The girls were able to pick a small pumpkin for themselves as well. We were all exhausted by the end of the day but we had a great time. Saturday we all spent the at the church for the festival. I didn't for some reason get a big group picture. I was too busy taking pictures of all the kids so here are a few photos of the kids.

This will probably be my last blog for a couple of weeks. We found out that the hotel charges $9 an hour for use of there wireless internet and their business center charges about .15 a minute so we don't know if we will be able to use the computer. Melissa is going to take her computer and hopefully we can find a place fairly close by where we can use the internet. So if we do find a place and have some free time I will try and drop a line or two. If not I will see you all in about a week. Please pray for us that we will have safety of travel there and back. We are both huge fans of the TV show LOST and believe me the pilot episode keeps playing in our minds. :) Aloha!!

I'm So Excited...and I Just Can't Hide It!

So I'm pretty excited today. It's been a really good day so far. I've been pretty busy here at work but it's gone by so fast. Yesterday I told you about the man at my church who we found out is cancer free. Well, I want to share some more good news. There was a young couple who was attending our church but had to move back to New Mexico because she was suffering from Cystic Fibrosis and the air quality was too bad here for her. When they were living here both her lungs were only working at 25% capacity and they told her that she needed lung transplants. They also told her that her odds of making it past a certain frame even with the transplants were still not good. So they decided to move back home to be with their families.

Yesterday my dad got a text from her and she said that the doctors said that she does not need transplants now and that her lungs have seriously improved and her chances are looking better and better. I won't reiterate what I said in yesterday's blog but I will say that we serve a great and mighty God. He can do anything and heal anybody and our church is getting to witness these miracles!

The Fall Festival is Saturday and I have to say that I feel so much better about it than I did the other day. It's all coming together. Me and a few other helpers stayed at the church last night and got everything we needed organized and all we have to do Saturday is put everything in it's place. The concession stand is what will take the most time setting up Saturday but that is not my area and since my mom is the head of that, I know things will shape up quickly there. It's going to be so fun! It will be a great day. I'll try and take a few photos and post them on Monday. My family and some friends are coming into town today so I'm beside myself. Yeah, it's a good day.

I have tomorrow off work and with company here I doubt I will blog until Monday. Then I'll only be in work that day and off to Hawaii I go. I don't know if I'll get a chance to blog while on vacation and I probably won't worry about it too much. If I find a computer with internet I might. I can't wait for this. I am packed and ready to go! I was talking with my friend who is going with me and she said that this vacation couldn't have come at a better time for her either. She has been extremely busy at work. So busy in fact that she won't be able to attend the Fall Festival because she has to go back to work that day. I feel for her. She's going to miss a great day.

I told her on Tuesday a little about Ladies Prayer Group and how I saw God moving and working through it and how I also saw the Devil working his way in there. Well, today I had an email conversation with one of the girls who attended and where I thought I saw the devil moving wasn't the case at all! The Lord was working! That's not to mean that the devil wasn't moving at all because he was in another area of the night but God's presence was there and I just would like for you all to remember this one certain girl in your prayers. Her circumstances aren't important because God knows her situation but I know that she would appreciate your prayers. I have learned through this night that you can't always judge something without knowing everything and you just have to go with the flow sometimes. I know that but sometimes we forget. It's good to get reminded of that once in awhile.

I hope you have a great weekend!

It's Shoutin' Time!!

If you read my blog titled "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", you will remember me mentioning a gentleman in our church who is battling leukemia. Well, I just got a call from my mom who got a call from our head Deacon at church who had just gotten a call from this gentleman (still with me?). This dear man was in the hospital starting his next round of treatments when the doctors came in and told him he was cancer free and all he needs to do is take some pills everyday!! Praise the Lord!! Can you believe it? If there is anyone who tells you that God does not perform miracles than they are sadly mistaken. God performs them everyday and this is proof!! This man was not given much of a chance with this type of cancer and now it is gone! I'm so excited. That is best news I could have received today. It's going to be a great day!

I'm so proud of my church. When our gets committed to praying for someone those prayers are always answered. There have been so many people in our church who needed jobs and we would bring them to the altar and gather around them and pray specifically for them to get a job that week and they always would. They would come back to church the next Sunday and testify that the Lord dropped an unbelievable job in their lap! Our church really rallied around this gentleman with cancer. We prayed and prayed for Him. We prayed for God's will, of course, and that we were all ready to accept whatever God had in store but we also prayed specifically for a healing...and that is what God did. He healed him. I love when doctors shake their heads and say there is no hope and nothing else that we can do for you. I'm so glad that we know an even greater Physician who says, "Well, I had something else in mind." God is so good. Life is so hard sometimes...but God is good. He is so amazing to me and He just keeps proving Himself over and over.

Well, nothing new is really going on with me. I'm just tying up lose ends for the Fall Festival. A co-worker of mine also attends my church and bless her heart she helped me right when I needed it. Last night she, her husband and daughter went to the church and pulled all my fall festival games, signs, prizes and decorations from the attic and put them in a specific spot for me. See yesterday morning I had sort of a meltdown while on the phone with my dad. It wasn't just because of this weekend but of other personal things that, when all piled up, I just couldn't take anymore and my co-worker was a witness to this. So she thought she would help me by doing all that last night and that meant so much to me. I'm so grateful that she thought of doing this. It wasn't a small task either to carry those big bins down from the attic. The steps are so steep and narrow and you can easily fall down them. So I'm so appreciative that she thought to do this for me and risked a broken limb. I should buy her a Blizzard or Frosty or something. :)

Have a great day and don't forget to praise the Lord for all His blessings in your life.