bock, bock, ba-gock!!

Yet again, I have waited entirely too long to post on this thing. I am always amazed by those with the discipline it takes to keep them updated. I guess I haven't had much of a story to tell til now. As with most summers for me this one was a busy one. I went to two camps and a mission trip to Nicaragua with the youth that I work with. I loved every trip and wouldn't trade any of them. I did manage to come back from my stay in Nicaragua with a little friend I now refer to as "Sal". You see she has suffered somewhat of a name change. She was once called "Mal". AKA MALARIA. Yes my sweets, I was diagnosed on Tuesday with Malaria. Last time I checked that was a pretty big deal. I got this diagnosis after a night of toiling with death (or so I thought). I really thought I was going to die. I planned the funeral and everything. I managed to put together some words for my husband, parents and brother as a final good bye. I mean I really thought that the angel of death was holding my hand (really). I guess that's what a really high fever will do to you...Make you crazy. Upon finding out my diagnosis I was told to get to the hospital immediately for treatment of my new friend.

After arriving to the hospital and checking in I managed to go from a 99.8 fever to 103.3 in about 20 minutes. I knew it was the angel of death coming for me. Maybe I wasn't so crazy. Finally the doctor came in to break the news that I did not in fact have malaria, but a gram negative rod bacteria that formed in my blood (that's a fancy way of saying you have something, but we don't know what it is). This started a night full of blood tests, urine tests, and other tests that are just too gross to talk about...not to mention the iv and antibiotic drips that have really bad side affects (just use your imagination) After spending three days and two nights in a luxury hospital room I was finally diagnosed with Salmonella poisoning. Sent on my merry way with antibiotics out the wazoo and more to come when I got home. I knew I was ready to be home, but I still felt horrible. So I decided today to get on the information network and google salmonella. You'll never guess what I found. Apparently when salmonella is so bad it's in your blood death is very possible. Yet again, I knew I wasn't so crazy. So after calling my dad in uncontrollable tears and proclaimed to him that I was in fact going to die he managed to talk me off a ledge. So my new friend Sal has brought many a laugh from death to sponge baths (that's a whole other story). Now as I type this still salmonella infested I feel a little bit better. I won't be eating any chicken or salad for a while, but I'll be fine.

I love shoes...

If you know me well at all, you know that I have a somewhat sick passion for shoes. I have more shoes than I care to admit. Buying, wearing, and trying on shoes are by far my biggest guilty pleasures. So imagine my excitement when I found tomsshoes.com. This is a company that puts shoes on the feet of children in poverty. When you buy a pair of their shoes a pair is donated to the kids that live in the village where they are made.

This is exactly what I want to do for the kids at the dump in Nicaragua. I contacted the owner of the company to see how I could get involved and low and behold he responded. Not only did he respond, but he said we could set something up so that the kids at the dump get shoes.

Check out his website...www.tomsshoes.com. I will update you on the status of the kids at the dump getting shoes and how you can be involved.

I am beside myself with excitement...

Do you want fries with that?

Are You Hungry?
Originally uploaded by carlpuentes.

It's not often that I use my blog as a soap box, but since it's my blog I guess I can use it for whatever I want. I was discussing an issue with one of my very wise bosses today that gets me fired up. I mean my blood starts to boil, my head starts spinning and my feelings get hurt. We were talking about church loyalty. You know, going to more than one church. I am a firm believer in you go to a church, you get ministered to at a church and you turn around and minister to others all at the SAME church. It really, really bothers me that people say well I get more out of so and so's sermon, but I really like the worship at such and such. Since when did going to church turn into the foodcourt where you can pick and choose all the good things(not my phrase). I understand that in the big picture we are all a part of the Bride of Christ, but really. Can you honestly tell me that the same church that is pouring into you doesn't need you to pour right back into it? Besides,where do you invest your time, money and heart? Seems to me that your heart has to be divided. Let's just say that there were things about my husband that I didn't like (he is Mr. Wonderful) and John Doe made up for the areas that my sweet husband lacked in. If I entertained the thought of going somewhere else to be fulfilled in areas my husband lacked I would be called an adulterer. I see the church in the same way. There's going to be good and bad in every church because the church is made up of imperfect people. I think you have to stick it out and make it work. The Bride of Christ is beautiful and when you fall in love with it, it somehow meets your needs even when you don't think it can. It does because the Bride Groom is amazing!

girl & food

girl & food
Originally uploaded by ratterrell.

I've never thought of myself as a humanitarian or someone who is conscious of poverty in the world. I always blame my neglect to the issues on my ignorance of them. Since my trip to Nicaragua I am no longer ignorant. I always thought that hippies and liberals were the ones that took care of the war on aids and poverty. I guess Jesus was hippie then. I can't say that I am a follower of Christ and not want justice for the orphaned and widowed, the naked and poor. This is a new concept for me. I've always been concerned with MY clothes, MY food, MY well-being. I have little to no needs, all I have are wants. After seeing kids half clothed and hungry, living in a dump my wants seem pretty silly. My initial reaction was despair and shame and the feeling of needing to help. I wanted to give of myself, my things. Then I felt even more shameful because that was my first reaction. The children in Nicaragua don't need my things, they need hope. The hope that can only come from knowing that the Creator of the universe loves them. Now this doesn't mean that all I am to give them is a Bible and a tract. The Bible is clear that we are to meet needs. I have been researching ways to bring justice to the poverty stricken. I'm not sure what I can do, but I'm trying. Not knowing and doing nothing is one thing, but to know and do nothing is sinning. Last time I checked sinning broke the heart of God and I don't want to do that.

Too Many Things

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything on my blog. Now I'm stuck rummaging through all the things that I could blog about and I can't settle on one thing. The only conclusion I can come up with is to highlight some of my favorite parts of the summer.

1. The arrival of my kitchen aid mixer. This was a day that couldn't come soon enough. After much lusting, I found this power tool of the kitchen at a decent price on ebay. Which leads to my next highlight.

2. My discovery of ebay. My first purchase was my red, stand up, kitchen aid mixer. This led to several other fantastic purchases: guacho pants, shoes, tea set, etc. This bidding while you shop thing is a very smart idea. Mr. ebay inventor, you're a genius.

3. My trip to Maryland. My realization of the aging process that is taking place in my life was confirmed on this trip. We did a lot of sitting on the front porch, rocking, talking about the weather and drinking coffee and loving every minute of it (hence the confirmation that I'm getting old). I really enjoy my grandparents. They are two of the people I look up to most in my life and any time spent with them is a highlight.

4. The arrival of Kate Oliva Theriot. New life is always amazing to me and to watch (not really watching) one of my best friends bring her first child into the world was fabulous.

5. My trip to Nicaragua. Words can't really express what I feel about this trip, so I'm not going to try just know that it was life changing (cheesey I know, but it's true).

Those were my highlights of the summer. Random, but still highlights. Maybe I won't wait so long to blog next time.

The Veranda is Back...

My beloved patio table has been resurrected. After much thought and deliberation the conclusion was to make a new table top and cover it with ceramic tile. Of course, Mr. Wonderful as always, rose to the occasion and completed the project with ease and the table is absolutely fabulous. In fact, it's better than it was before. Now we're back to dining on the Veranda, having tea on the Veranda, and enjoying the beautiful weather (you would think that we're in our late 40's). It's so good to have our table back.

The Veranda

Matt and I had our one year anniversary on April 3rd. One year of marriage is a pretty big deal, so it calls for a pretty big gift. After much contemplation we decided to get something that we could both use and enjoy together. Off we went, in search of the perfect set of patio furniture. We looked everywhere and finally found the perfect table, chairs and umbrella combo at the old faithful Walmart. We both immediately fell in love with it. It has 6 chairs with cushions (very cool material I might add), a glass top table in the shape of a sextagon-it has six sides so that's what we called it, and a beautiful umbrella to shade us from the fuzzy fingers that fall from our oak tree. We have spent every evening since we got it sitting out on the newly named "Veranda". I love it, we have confirmed over and over that it was one of our best purchases yet.

Sunday morning I got up early, cooked breakfast and went and got a newspaper so we could enjoy the morning on the veranda. It was fabulous. With no further thinking I hurried up and got ready for church and off we went. When we got home, first let me add that the whole last week we have been going back and forth about the umbrella, I love it and want it out all the time, Matt doesn't think it's necessary. Back to my story, when we got home, we went to the fence to talk to the dogs and noticed that the umbrella had been blown to the other side of the yard. When we looked closer it wasn't just the umbrella. Some how the umbrella was picked up by the wind and apparently held onto the table for dear life so both were tossed to the other side of the yard where upon the glass was shattered, the umbrella was bent and I cried. The days of the veranda are over. And it's all my fault because I wanted to leave the stupid umbrella up. It was nice while it lasted. I knew it was too good to be true. Stupid umbrella.