ABC's of me...

A - Age: 32
B - Bed size: King
C - Chore you hate: Anything that I have to do more than once on the same day!
D - Dog's name: dog named Bo but we want to change it
E - Essential start your day item: pretending I don't have to get up yet
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Platinum
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: used to play piano, violin, and cello
J - Job title: Family therapist, taxi driver, house keeper, education director, event planner, organizer, nurse, Domestic Goddess
K - Kids -Blake 10, Caleb 8, Luke 5 next week, & Sydney 2
L - Living arrangements: house that needs organizing
M - Mom's name: Marit
N - Nicknames: Genie Weanie when I was a kid or Margarine
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendix
P - Pet Peeves: reading the end of book first
Q - Quote from a movie: And this is where the flying moron crashed into the star - Stardust
R - Right handed or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: 4 brothers and 2 sisters
T - Time you wake up: 7
U- Underwear: YES:)
V - Vegetable you dislike: Okra and asparagus
W - Ways you run late: When I think I can do one more thing before I head out the door.
X - X-rays you've had: teeth, neck, and spine
Y - Yummy food you make: way too many to list, that is why I want to lose weight:(
Z - Zoo favorite: tiger and gorillas

8 THINGS

Time to tag it up a bit...this one is from Cheryl...

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1. Not being sad about leaving YW:(

2. A clean house

3. Meeting my new sister-in-law and her kids:)

4. Reading a book (really lots of books!)

5. A temple in KC

6. A few movies this summer

7. A date night

8. Less stress

8 Things I did Yesterday:

1. Took Luke to speech for the last time w/ Ms Karmen

2. Made dessert for YW

3. Talked to Kim & Kaylene

4. Took Blake to Baseball (Only caught the top of 1st), Caleb to Scouts

5. Went to last YW activity

6. Got sun burned at Field Day

7. Did some PTA Stuff

8. Cried

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Be a better mom

2. Lose weight

3. Decorate and work on my house whenever I want...with no thought of expense.

4. Keep my house picked up

5. Be more supportive of others

6. Lay on a beach and read books for the rest of my life

7. Go to Disney World!!

8. Be better at healthy criticism of self

8 Shows I Enjoy: (this one is tough for me...I don't watch much tv)

1. Weather Reports

2. Sadly if one of those shows like Inside Edition happens to be on I watch it.

3. Backyardigans

4. Burn Notice (at least last year we watched the dvd's)

5. Really I would rather read a book. Now 8 books I love would be...

1. Jane Eyre

2. Anything by Jane Austen

3. Harry Potter

4. Hunger Games

5. Women in White

6. Twilight and The Host

7. Goose Girl

8. Most of Gail Carson Levine's books (Ella Enchanted, The Two Princesses of Bamarre)

This list could go on...

8 Friends I am Tagging: (I'm trying to not tag someone who's been tagged)

1. Janelle

2. Wendy

3. Chrissy

4. Abby

5. Kelli

6. Christina

7. Diane

8. Meghann

Off to start the day....I'll be watching for your 8 things!

Books on Vacation

My great plan on the little get-a-way I took with Jason was to read books by the pool and not cook or clean. I was able to do all of that and could have easily stayed a few more days! One of the interesting things about going on a business trip with Jason was seeing how all these people know him by name. Like when we walked in the smoothie shop and they said "Hi Jason and this must be your wife!" Or we walked into the hotel and he greets the lady behind the desk by name. That's when you know you have been traveling way too often. So Jason has been staying at the same hotel every other week for almost the past two years (part of the contract is that he has to stay within city limits). When we walked into the hotel one of the first things I noticed was a room off the main lobby that had books in it. I asked Jason what it was because it didn't look like a bookstore. He said "I don't know I have never been in there". I shouldn't be surprised by that, the kids didn't get their reading tendencies from him. But I at least thought he might have just stepped in out of curiosity. So the next day I went in to investigate...



It is an antiquarian that has a collection of ancient BIBLES. When I met the operator he told me that this collection of bibles all in one place can only be found here, a Hampton Inn in Goodyear Arizona.

I immediately recognized these names as some of the great reformers that laid the foundation for restoration through their amazing contributions of translation.

John Wyclif - early advocate for translation of Bible into "common tongue". His books were banned and burned and he was declared a heretic. His body was later exhumed and then burned.


Of course the invention of the printing press helped make it even possible that every person could have a copy of the bible for themselves. The bible was the major and iconic work of the Gutenberg Printing press.


Here is a first edition from the first printing of the King James Version of the Bible.


And a copy of William Tyndale's New Testament.


Through the works of men like Erasmus, Tyndale, and Luther, who dedicated their lives to making it possible that every man, women and child could read the bible for themselves, we all have the opportunity to read the bible in our own language.

I walked away from the room amazed at the collection that I had just seen. Priceless was a good work to describe what I had seen. But I realized that as amazing as the books are, they mean nothing if we don't read and heed the words available. The copy that I have and read is of more worth because it allows me the opportunity of knowing what I should be doing and how I should be living. I guess the best way for us to show our appreciation for their efforts is to take advantage and read!!

Irony

So we arrive early in Arizona. I, as usual, am putting my makeup on in the car as we drive to Goodyear. This takes skill to put makeup on in a moving vehicle while driving on Missouri roads as they are notoriously bumpy and uneven. So I notice that the roads in Arizona are really smooth. I guess that without the constant change in temperature it saves the roads from destruction. So the Phoenix roads were super smooth making even mascara easy to apply.

Later that day...




I found that there were bad roads in Arizona.

That evening we were headed to dinner and all of the sudden the road gets bumpy. So, I immediately turn to Jason and say, "Now this is more like Missouri roads."

The Irony is the sign I saw just after my comment:





So there I was laughing at the irony and driving back the next day to take pictures for my blog.