There's a first time for everything

Until tonight, my driving record was clean. My license had no accidents, traffic violations, nothing. It had never even been looked up on the police system. But...there's a first time for everything. Yes, I was pulled over! I'm 30 years old and this was my first experience with it. Call me lucky or a good driver, either way tonight was my first pull over.

As I was driving through a left turn light as it turned from yellow to red, heading north on Franklin Road, who else but a wonderful cop was sitting at the light waiting to drive south on Franklin Road. I didn't mean to drive through a red light. It was one of those times where you approach a light with just enough time to drive on through, even though it will turn red before you make it completely through the intersection, or you slam on your brakes, hoping to come to a complete stop before the line.

I chose to continue on...and the cop did a U-turn in the intersection and pulled me over. I felt horrible. I know this is a small incident compared to many traffic violations, but I still felt bad. No ticket, just a warning...thankfully!

Birthday memory

My Grandma New was a wonderful baker. She could make the most amazing pies and cakes! Yum! Since I lived down the hill from her, she did a special thing on my birthday. She did this for my brothers and cousins that also lived right there. I got a pie baked especially for me. She knew our favorite one and that's what we got on our birthday.

If you know me at all, you know what pie she made. For those of you who don't already know of my love for a particular food...peanut butter is a gift from the Lord! So, grandma made a peanut butter pie just for me. I could share it with the family or I could eat it all myself. It was her way of making each of us grandkids feel special and loved.

I miss that birthday touch. I miss her.

A real vacation

How many of us can say we take a vacation and return home more rested than when we left? Most of the time, we plan so many appointments or outings that we come home exhausted or at least as tired as when we left for a few days away. I took a couple of days this past weekend for a real vacation, I purposed to return home feeling more relaxed.

A friend joined me in Pigeon Forge, TN for an over-the-weekend trip. On my agenda...nothing. There was one thing I planned on doing in Pigeon Forge. But beyond that, nada, nothing. It felt wonderful!

A highlight from the weekend was meeting up with a dear friend from my Life Action days. Daniel traveled with me my first and second years. We were good buds and I've missed him these past seven or so years. We had the ability to sit down and catch up with each other. What did Mindy forget to do? TAKE PICTURES!!!!! Why did I not remember to snap a pic or two of Daniel and me? I don't know. But anyway, Daniel is doing well and it was great to spend time with him.

If you are in Pigeon Forge, go to the Miracle Theater. Daniel co-stars in the role of Jesus. Yeah, I have a friend that plays Jesus in a program. hehe

Calorie count

This morning while giving my oldest cat her treat, I noticed these words on the front of the package: 2 calories per piece. WHAT?! Why does it matter how many calories are in my cat's treat? Has our obsession with diet, shape, fat and calories found its way to pet food?

I understand our pets need a health diet. I make sure my cats (I have two) get the necessary nutrients and water. My oldest cat, Boots, seems to do very well in eating proper amounts of food. My little one the other hand (four month old kitty, Sugar) will eat anything in sight! Of course, she is growing everyday and needs the extra food.

I just don't know why I need to know the caloric intake for the cat treats!

Prayer request

Geneva, a close family friend, fell last night and broke her hip. Geneva is getting up there in years and suffers from Alzheimer. My grandma Smith passed away before any of us kids were born and grandpa Smith has been a close friend with Geneva my whole life. So, Geneva is somewhat of a grandma to me.

She is having surgery this morning. Grandpa Smith is worried about her being put under because of heart issues. Please pray for wisdom on the doctors part, peace for the family members and healing for Geneva.

Thanks!

Requested by Mandy

Mandy will definitely comment about that title. I'm writing this blog at this exact moment because a friend told me to update my blog. I agree, it's time for an update.

For those of you in Nashville, have you been inside the Parthenon? In my book, it's a must! For those of you who live elsewhere, Nashville has an exact replica of the Parthenon in Athens. Inside is a statue of Athena...and the only word that comes to mind is breathtaking. And I mean breathtaking in a literally sense, my breath escaped me for a second.





I'm on my way home to Kentucky when I leave work. Mom's birthday is Sunday and she is so excited for me to come in. On Saturday night, my two brothers and I plan to watch The Bourne Ultimatium. It is a rare thing when I want to see a movie that both my brothers would want to watch. Here a picture of my dad and youngest brother, Steve, and my mom.





The next two pictures are of a cousin on my mom's side, Suzanne and me with her son, Noah. Isn't he just adorable?! These were taken on Father's Day weekend. They were in town the same time I was, which is rare. It was so good to see them.





That's all for now, have to get back to work!

New home

Wendi and I moved into an amazing duplex/house last weekend. We LOVE the place! Hardwood throughout, 50's-style tile work in the bathroom, great patio/deck, wonderful location. Here are some photos of the new place: (I can't figure out what the text above the first picture is coming from.)

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The kitchen



You can tell the house was built in the 50's with these pine cabinets.



Pink is not my favorite color, but I like this bathroom.



My bedroom



My bedroom again...the rest is messy so that's all you get to see.



My favorite part of the house! The pictures look so good against the red wall!



The bookcase is a built-in.



Another shot of the living room.



The landlady has so many plants and flowers on the patio.



This is what I wake up to everyday. :)

Adventures on ice

Over the weekend, a group of friends and I went ice skating. We had a good time, even if our feet and ankles were pounding with pain! A time like this jolts you into the reality that your body does not take well to falls and bumps like it did as a child. Amazingly, I did not fall but many of my comrades did. :)

When I do things such as ice skate I feel like a child again. I remember going to the roller rink in the 80's, loving every minute! I was quite good at Limbo...probably couldn't get past the first round now! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the evening.

Thoughts after lunch

Before I return to work, I will share the typical exchange of comments, statements and questions at lunch with some coworkers. I'll explain what all this means after I quote a few.

Mindy: I'm so excited about my vacation that starts July 3! I'll be moving into a new place during it, but I'm ready for a week off!
Coworker: Yeah, at the end of July, I get to take ONE DAY off! But some around here, not you Mindy, get to take a whole week at a time. Oh, poor them.

Mindy: Do we know when the new Zeus light parts will be here? That will be a nice product.
Coworker: Well, whenever it gets here, I'm sure the bosses won't think about how much more work there will be for us. No, they'll just bark at us and demand we get the new stuff out immediately!

Mindy: I got stuck in traffic while grabbing something to eat for lunch. Thought I'd never make it back.
Coworker: At least you get an hour for lunch. I barely have enough time to shovel it in then get back to work.

Mindy: The long weekend was nice.
Coworker: Would be a lot better if we didn't have to come back.

Do you see the pattern? No matter what I say, the coworker always has a negative comment. Nothing is ever right or good or fine or promising or fun. Their remarks don't leave me in a mad mood; instead, I feel sorry for him/her. Such a sad thing to go through life with that outlook. Never happy, always complaining.

My relationship with Jesus makes all the difference. I have a joy the coworker does not. I have the ability (God's grace) to live life with an optimistic attitude. I'm pessimistic by nature but The Holy Spirit enables me to see the glass half full.

One more thing...the reason I get to take a whole week off at a time is I don't take a day off every other week! I save them up then take a real vacation. We get so many hours each month for time off. If you don't use them as soon as you get them, eventually you will have a good amount of hours to take off.

New Bible study

Hello all out in blog-land...if anyone actually reads these things :)

Last week marked the start of a new Bible study I'm in at church. We are diving head first into Daniel! My mom raved about this study the whole time she worked through it back at my home church in Kentucky. When my church here in Nashville decided to offer it on Wednesday night before choir practice, I jumped on the opportunity.

Only one week into the lessons and I am already loving it! Beth does such a wonderful job of bringing out things in a verse that you've simply looked over for years. She doesn't make up stuff, she just helps you clearly see the wonderful depths of scripture!

I'm excited to study this book with Beth Moore and the ladies at church who are taking the class. It is nice to be around other women in the church. I find myself only associating with the ones in my Sunday school class. That's not a healthy habit for my Christian walk. Maybe I'll make new friends through this study.

Home sweet home

Hello from Kentucky! Father's Day is tomorrow and I drove into Somerset today to be with my daddy. I couldn't wait until tomorrow, so daddy got his gift today. I was so excited to give it to him because I knew he would actually like this gift. My dad is extremely hard to buy for. Many people say this about their dad, but it is so true for mine. Anyway, dad got a book called "The Nascar Vault". The book is filled with pictures and memorabilia from the past and present of famous Nascar moments.

Suzanne, my cousin, and Philip, her husband, came to dinner. I was cooking up dinner when they stopped by so they joined us. Sometimes I like spontaneous gatherings like this one. And the guest of honor and the one who held everyone's attention was Noah, their six (or so) month old boy. Oh! He is precious and downright adorable! Suzanne took a good one of me with Noah but I have to wait for it.

Last night while driving home from the mall, I heard a dedication on Delilah for a friend of many years. It got me thinking of my dearest and best friend Christina. We have known each other our entire lives. We grew up together, went to the same school, same church. We are even related when you go back a few people. Christina and I became best of friends by high school and the friendship has grown stronger through the years.

I cherish that I have a friend who has known me through every phase, every boy-crush, every turn, every joy, every heartache. What a privilege and treasure to have such a dear friend in my life.

Steve, my brother, and I went to Stacy's house to watch a movie. Stacy is a life-long friend of my brother, as well. Runs in the family, I guess. Anyway...I noticed on the walk by into my parent's house the scent of home. I can't even give a description of it. It simply smells like home. There is a big difference between the smell of pavement and lots of cars to the smell of open spaces and fragrances from nearby flowers and grass. A twinge of homesickness came while I enjoyed the clear sky above Somerset, Kentucky. The stars are so bright here.

On the prowl

An adorably cute kitty has been on the prowl around our apartment building the last few weeks. We had ignored it up until last night. I noticed how desperate it was to get into our apartment. Then I noticed how thin it looked. Once you got past the fur coat, the cat was mere skin and bone. I HAD to feed it.

At this point, any of you who have fed a cat or dog that was wandering outside your place knows the struggle I had last night. If you feed a kitty, it becomes yours. The cat proceeds to stick around your place, waiting for food and water. Eventually, I had to admit to this and feed the cat. I don't really need the new cat but I couldn't leave it out there with no food. My heart strings were being pulled big time!

So, I don't know if the cat will stick around. It may wander off eventually. If not, I'll keep it as an outside cat since it still has its claws. I will ask around my apartment complex about someone missing a cat. The cat appears to have been an inside cat, it is friendly, lets you pick it up and pet it. Hopefully, I find the owner. If not...I might try to find a new owner. I'll keep it in the mean time.





The picture below is of my cat, Boots, and the new one meeting through a locked, closed door. :)

This is for all my married friends

Stop asking when I am going to get married. Stop asking me why I'm not dating. Don't mention how I need to have children soon before age catches up with me. Stop saying I should date a certain someone. I'm amazed at how married people say things like this as though I want to hear it, or need to hear it, or that it is appropriate.

I'm sorry if this sounds blunt, rude or anger-filled. It's not. But I hate being reminded of my single state and how little control I have over it. I desire all the above mentioned things and am FULLY aware that I don't have them. The struggle to be content as a single adult is an ever-present battle.

Ok, I'm done.

At face value

This post reveals me; and that can be nerve racking and uncomfortable. It addresses a subject I rarely talk about with people other than close friends and family. My birthmark. While reading the following article excerpt, I thought of how the opening paragraph deals with something I struggle with everyday...looking people in the eye.

Have you ever notice that I don't look people in the eye while walking down the street? Over the last few years I have worked on maintaining eye contact while speaking with someone; yet, I still usually avoid eye contact in public places. Once you read the article below you will more fully understand the struggle.

I just wanted to share a small sliver of my life.


Published Date: May 14, 2007
By Alison Benjamin, The Kuwait Times

James Partridge greets me with a hello, a handshake and makes deliberate eye contact. Nothing unusual there - except that for someone with a severe facial disfigurement this every day exchange can be an intimidating experience. Staring, curiosity, anguish, recoil, embarrassment and dread - what he describes as "SCARED syndrome" - sums up the feeling of people meeting you and your face, wrote Partridge, author of Changing Faces: The Challenge of Facial Disfigurement, and founder and chief executive of the charity of the same name that supports and represents people who have disfigurements to the face or body. Since its launch in 1992, the coping strategies and confidence-building techniques detailed in the book have formed the basis for the social skills training provided by the charity.

Partridge, who, aged 18, was badly disfigured in a car accident, refused to look in the mirror for three months. "I knew it was bad from people's reactions," he recalls. "They would look into the hospital room and then turn away. When I finally saw myself, I was shocked to the core." What stared back at him was unrecognizable from the angelic-looking teenager he had been. "The thought of taking this face into the street and meeting old friends ... the self-consciousness level was of absolutely colossal proportions," Partridge says. "The face is so much how we communicate. It's our self image. It's what other people remember."

One of those moments

During the lesson on Sunday, a thought occurred to me. Ever have one of those moments when something from a passage in scripture dawns on you? Like you've never seen that particular point? Well, that happened to me yesterday as I sat in my home church on Mother's Day.

The Sunday School teacher taught on Exodus 2 where Jochebed puts Moses into the Nile and trusts God to care of him. The events that transpire bring Moses back to his mom and back to his Hebrew roots. What occurred to me at that moment was Moses' mom had him at the important formative years of life. The time when our personality, morals and values are instilled. Remember how Moses chose to return to his Hebrew heritage once he got older. I think that came from him being with his mom early on.

What if Moses had stayed in the palace instead of returning to his mom to be nursed and weaned? The Pharaoh's daughter would have indoctrinated Moses with Egyptian values. What would God had to have done in Moses' life for Moses to end up the leader of the Hebrews as they exited Egypt?

My mom instilled Christian morals and values into me from an early age. The Sunday School lesson reminded me of how important the role is of a mother and father in the life of a child. As I get older, I see the principles my parents taught me played out in my everyday decisions.

Plug for public libraries

One of the perks Nashville affords its residents is an amazing public library system. I know many, if not all, towns have libraries. But Nashville stands out with state-of-the-art computer based searches, multiple satellite branches blanketing Davidson County, online control of your check outs and a loaner program which allows you to check out a book from another location without driving there.

My home county in Kentucky has only the one library located downtown. They have a good selection but you first have to get there. There is a library branch right down the road from me here in Nashville! I can literally walk to it in less than ten minutes.

Avid reader is not a description of me but I do enjoy reading. My friend Mandy commented once that I have a wide range of reading material. My method for choosing a book? Walk up to the new releases and grab one. Now, I do enjoy biographies and a couple of authors but I don't stay with one genre or person. Eclectic might be a good word for my reading choices.

The point to my post today: Take advantage of free services your community supplies. You pay for them in taxes actually, so use what you pay for :)

Neti pot

The title of this blog makes you think I'm not writing in English. Neti pot is an invention that I'm sure tons of money is being made off of by someone. You may have seen this video on other sites but I had to post it here. This video makes me laugh every time I see it! If you don't at least grin at this video, you may be suffering from a serious, life-threatening condition; please seek medical attention immediately! ;)



The lady speaking sounds as though she might break into laughter at each phrase! I know I would struggle to speak those lines without a laugh.

A party and a flash back

Last Saturday night, we had Krista's bridal shower at the apartment. Everyone had tons of fun and the food was amazing! We all had a tiara to wear for the evening and Krista had a couple of boas.





While out on the town, we witnessed something very random. We stood around, chatting about this and that when out of no where, Abraham Lincoln walks by us. We all did a double take and yep, it was him. How often do you see Abraham Lincoln walk by you in Nashville?! So, of course the cameras came out and here you go....



Just to humiliate myself...



Can you find me in the above picture? I'm such a dork! This is from the church league, coaches pitch, maybe 2nd grade? I don't know how old I am in this picture but I look so 80's.

God amazes me

My heart is full tonight. God amazes me with how He works in and through us. Yet I shouldn't be surprised when God answers a prayer. Doesn't the Bible tell us to ask in His name and it will be done? Why do I assume a prayer will not be answered? Oh, my weak faith. Anyway...

I recently got off the phone with a friend whom I've prayed for the last two weeks. The prayers were specific. Unbeknownst to me, what God had me praying over for a couple of weeks was the very thing God was dealing with in my friends life. My friend called tonight to talk with me about the EXACT thing I had prayed for him! Wow!

What an awesome God I serve! My faith has been challenged tonight. May I continue to pray in faith.

In Christ alone

I want to share the lyrics to a song, lyrics by Stuart Townend. My heart is full of praise when I read these words.

"In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand."