Freedom

Driving home from a friends house today, just listening to music, worshipping and admiring the beauty of God's creation, I heard this song,

When I think about the Lord, How he saved me, How he raised me, how he
filled me with the Holy Ghost, How he healed me to the uttermost
When I think about the Lord, how he picked me up and turned me around, how
he placed my feet on solid ground
It makes me wanna shout, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, Lord your worthy, of
all the Glory, and all the honor, and all the praise

To think how my walk with the Lord has changed over the years is amazing. Everyday I learn something new about the Lord. Everyday I am compelled to rely only on Him for my needs. He saves, He heals, and He calls me His child. What more do you need to bring a smile to your face in the morning?

It's good to be free :)

The Game of Life

Dave and I love playing board games. We are night owls because of our jobs, so there isn't much to do at two in the morning. So we sometimes will pull out the board games and play for awhile.

I'm REALLY competitive. :)

I hate to lose and I LOVE to win. But then again, who doesn't?

Dave loves monopoly, but at two in the morning I'm not exactly in the mood to play a four hour game. So we usually either settle for Life or for Rummikub.

We played Life a lot growing up. I think my main goal in Life was to pile in as many kids as I could into my little blue car. I think Dave's main goal when we play is to beat me.

This last game of Life that we played was very different from our usual game. Dave was winning! He got the better salary, the better job, and more kids!

Well, we all know Life's not fair. I landed on a little square that read "trade salary card with another player." You can imagine the look on my face as Dave had to fork over his 80,000 dollar salary and I gave him my 20,000 dollar salary. And from there I just landed on all the right spots and made all the right moves. I even ended up with four kids!

My hubby was not happy. I left him with 5,000 dollars.

And I offered to adopt his kids for a small amount of money. Needless to say, I won with....

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

Wha ha ha!!!!!!

Greatest Moments

Imagine living in a world where you can't understand everything around you. You don't know how to describe things, how to get your point across to people. You talk to loud, you don't have the best manners. You didn't learn how to talk until you were five years old, and now that you know how to, everything comes out all jumbled up. People sometimes stare and sometimes make fun of you....

You're Autistic.

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects one in every two hundred and fifty children. It impacts brain development in the areas of communication and social interaction.

My husband and I were watching the ESPY's today. The ESPY's are ESPN's version of the Oscars or the grammy's. They celebrate sports and athletes just like the others celebrate movie stars and celebrities.

Most of the plays and things they showed were amazing, almost superhuman. You couldn't believe that these plays were being made.

Then they went to the award of greatest moment.

I cried.

The nominees were Kobe Bryant and his game where he scored 81 points in one game. They showed the Chicago White Sox winning the World Series, as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the Super Bowl. (NO, I didn't cry because it was the Steelers and not the Bucs!)

And then they showed a 17 year old boy playing basketball.

With Autism.

But he didn't play a whole season, or even a whole game.

He played four minutes.

The last Four minutes of a game on a championship team. He was the equipment manager on the team. He helped the coach set up for practices, helped with drills, and cleaned up afterwards. During games he kept water bottles filled and towels ready for the players. The last game before the championships, the coach let him suit up with no guarantee to play. They got ahead, and with four minutes left, the coach put him in the game.

His first shot didn't even hit the rim, the net, or the backboard.

But then a minute later, he shot a three pointer.

And made it.

And shot another, and made it, and another, and another, and another.

With two minutes left in the game he shot 20 points with a school record of 6 three pointers in a game.

The crowd went crazy, rushed him and threw him up on their shoulders. And for a couple of minutes, a boy that nobody every payed any attention to, got a couple minutes of glory.

And then the news heard about it. He was featured on ESPN, CBS, NBC. 35 different movie companies including Walt Disney have contacted him for movie rights. He met the President.

But without all that, just to see that boy get so excited about what he did. To see his face as his name was called over the loudspeaker as the winner of ESPY's Greatest Moment made me want to jump up and cheer for him.

It's good to see the underdog win.

HOT HOT HOT

ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE DEGREES!! ! 105... CIEN Y CINCO!!! one...zero...five.....

That's how hot it was today...

Not in Florida....

Not in Mexico...

Not in Texas....

IN TULSA OKLAHOMA!!!!!

It shouldn't be this hot here. I mean, you walk out of your house and the humidity hits you like a brick wall.

Last time I checked we were like, almost in the middle of the country...

Ok, before you think I sound like a total baby...

I grew up in Florida. Since I was seven years old I have lived there. I love the heat. Summer is my favorite time of the year. It's hot out, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the beach is waiting. Summer means pool parties, beach bum days, ice cream cones, bathing suits and tanning. I loved walking outside and feeling the heat blast you. I loved wearing shorts and a tank top and sandals. I"M SUCH A FLORIDA GIRL!!!!

But this is ridiculous...

I can take the heat...but I would rather take it on the beach, with an ice cream cone.


Poor Little guy...at least he's on the beach!

Dave's Family

I miss my family.


But it's nice that Dave has family here. His parents used to live here in Tulsa, but they recently moved back to New Hampshire.

I miss them to.

On the brighter side :) Dave has family here. His brother lives here and so does his aunt and uncle. Recently, one of his cousins came to visit and they stayed with his aunt and uncle. We had a morning off, so we were able to get together with them. It's funny, because Dave's family is so much older than my family. When I think of cousins, I think of little kids running around everywhere, and babies to cuddle with.

My dad is the oldest of ten. I think there is 17 or 18 years between him and his youngest baby sister. So I was the first grandaughter and the fourth grandchild in my family. The youngest cousin is about 10 months old and the oldest is 25. I'm 22, so I'm up there. So during family reunions I would always be one of the oldest, would always have to help take care of the younger ones or keep an eye on them. It was fun, and it's still fun to see all the kids run around nowadays.

Dave is one of the younger ones in his family. His dad was the youngest of seven, which made Dave fall into the fourth youngest of all his cousins. So... no kids running around at family reunions unless they are like second couins once removed (or something like that).

SOOO anyways....

We got together with Dave's family this week and it was great. It's just great to know you have people who love you and care about you. I miss family gatherings and things like that. We ate lunch and then just sat around and talked. Nothing special, just good quality time with family.

The far left one is my hubby (cute huh?) The middle one is his cousin George from California, and the far right one is Dave's brother. Yes... look closely, he does have orange hair. Used to be black like Dave's, but it works for him!

NEW TOYS!!!

Dave and I got new toys...

It's amazing what technology can do nowadays. With the simple touch of a button I can send emails, videos, I can use microsoft word and powerpoint, and have all my appointments alarm for me each day. I can search the web, use a gps system, or just use the phone.

I didn't plan on getting this phone. I was going to go with a simple, easy to use phone. Dave was the one who wanted this phone. But then I played with it in the store. And played, and played, and it was like reaching my hand into the candy jar. I LOVED IT!!!

So now Dave and I have the exact same phone. We haven't mixed them up yet, but i'm sure we will sometime. So if you call me and get Dave... sorry, he just thought he was answering HIS phone. (You probably got him all excited) So act like you meant to call him... chat with him for a while, ask him about the weather... THEN ask about me. He won't know the difference!

And of course, I will never make the mistake of thinking my phone is ringing when it's really his ;)

No Fun

Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, headache, sniffling, watery eyes.... Heat packs, ice packs, nyquil, dayquil, thermometor, water, fluids, tissues, tissues, tissues
And a lot of prayer....