You Challenge!!

Two songs:

1. The Greatest LOVE of all!
2. that's what friends are for!

Thankful Sunday!

A Thankful Heart is not only the GREATEST virtue, But the parent of ALL other virtues!  ~Cicero
Sunday has now become my "day of Thanks,"  I give thanks EVERYDAY for all of the gifts that God gives me, BUT I use sunday as my day to sit back, reflect and write down all the things that I was grateful to have been able to give, as well as all of the things that I was able to receive...  Today I had the opportunity to remember how thankful I am, that there are still people out there who are willing to give without expectation, I wish there were more of these people out there EVERYDAY!!  ;)
We had a giveaway for the customers at the store yesterday, a regular customer of ours won, she said she didn't "need" it, and that she was certain there was someone out there who was in more dire "need" than her...  she put a $20 bill in it, and told the checker to give it someone in "need."  they decided to give it to one of the girl's that works with us, and on the way home, (today was one day that we got off at the same time) she told me that they really needed it, times are hard at her house...  EVERYDAY I am thankful for what I have, food on the table, a permanent roof over my head, LOVING parents, family, and friends!  and I am also thankful for the generosity of others! :)

.... What else to be grateful for??  paper crafts, constructing angry owls, building this haunted house with Miss Ella, playing real live angry birds with Lukey, baking a cake with Jake and Brody

...spooky houses and chit chatting with the girls, heart to heart conversations over tomato soup and bread, knowing in your heart that you have made lasting friendships and forever friends!  and being ABSOLUTELY GRATEFUL for that!  :D

Friends who believe in your enough to give you a challenge like this....  haha!!!  I did almost take the challenge, but I was REALLY short on time... next time!  ;)

....feel good books, and time to read!  Believing, and "feeling" a child's story!

early birthday gifts...  to myself!!  haha!!  LOVE, LOVE my fun package, and ALL of its contents!  ;)

...and this fun and so true saying about friends!

Here's to understanding that no matter how much our lives change, and that no matter how much we change, there are friends that we make along the way, that fill our lives with joy and happiness, who will be there for us no matter what the circumstances, and here's to being thankful that God has put these type of people in our lives....  :)  Happy Sunday everyone!!  :)

Heaven is For Real, A Review........

The Book

It's Description!

A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven.

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

The Review!

Have you ever held a book in your hand that ABSOLUTELY sucked in after the first few pages??  I have a few times, and those are my favorite reads...  THIS book did just that for me...  I meant to just read a few pages, and move on to the rest of my day...  and 3 hours later, I was at the end...  I couldn't bring myself to put it down! I must admit that it WAS an ABSOLUTE beautiful sunday and reading it poolside may of made it better...  ;) 

Heaven is For Real really hit close to home, I think it's a book that "speaks" to us, as long as we're open and willling to hear what it is telling us... 

Colton's "story" is nothing short of AMAZING, and it reminded me of something my aunt told my mom when my dad was really sick in the hospital, while we were waiting and unsure of what the outcome of his surgery would be...  (This is something that I haven't shared with a lot of people, it's something that again, can only be "believed" if we are open and willing...) 

My mom and Aunt have got to be the most Faithful people I know, we were waiting for his incision which had reopened to heal back up...  It had to have been the MOST, and I mean the MOST stressful few days EVER for us...  Basically they had told us, we could wait and hope for it to heal on it's own, if not they would have to go back in and try to close it, and the chances of him making it out of THAT were pretty slim...  We decided to wait a few days...  and on the last day we all prayed and pleaded for a miracle some more, and one actually came...  It came to my aunt though...  I still remember my mom telling me she got a call on her way to the hospital, my aunt told her she had a dream and she saw the "hole" close...  just like that, then she woke up...  weird...  at least we all thought it was, for a little while....  I'm not sure I was a complete believer then...  UNTIL the surgeon came back in and told us that the incision was in fact healed and they wouldn't have to go in...  she couldn't believe it, said she couldn't explain why...  WE ALL COULD though, it was our miracle, the one we had all prayed for...  God had heard us and everyone that had been praying for us...  During his stay at the hospital, my dad, who is also very faithful in his own way held a miniature child of prague in his pocket...  THE WHOLE TIME!  He said it was him that kept him safe...

We all have our beliefs, our ways in which we communicate with God, Our own personal ways in we choose to see the things that God places before us... 

Colton's story is also a reminder that God is always looking out for us...  I can't say that I have ever read another christian type story before...  This one I LOVED, I already let my friend borrow it, I told her it was a MUST read...  and it most definitely is, EVERYONE should read it...  and if you want to borrow mine you're more than welcome too!!  ;)

Movie night!

The Lion King in 3D!

In case you didn't know...  I'm a sucker for Disney movies, I LOVE them all...  When I heard The Lion King was coming back to the theaters I almost lost my mind...  and it was gonna be in 3D...  AWESOME!!!  I tried to sign different people up to watch it with me..  Luke straight up told me NO, he didn't want to see it, and Jaime bought it for her kids so they watched it at home...  DANG IT!!  haha!  I finally signed up my sister to go with me, and we had a sister date night....

The theater was empty, so we had our pick of seats!!  ;)  YEESSSS!!

...and I was excited for our 3D glasses!!  ;)

.....AND it's not a movie if there's no popcorn and soda!!  ;)

...Now we were ready!!   :)  Movie was GREAT, I had forgotten a lot of it, and it was AMAZING in 3D!!   Here's to enjoying a WONDERFUL date with my sister!!!  ;)

The lucky one, a review...

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Nicholas Sparks?  I think I have read all of his books at least twice...  I think everyone should give him a try, his stories are seriously amazing, and this one was no different. 

This is a story about a U.S. Marine who finds a photograph of a woman in the dirt furing his third tour of duty in Iraq.  At first he thought of tossing it asside, but then thought twice about it, he tries to see if anyone will claim it, and when noone does he keeps it, and carries it in his pocket...  ALWAYS!  Soon he starts to experience luck, he starts winning at poker, and he even survives deadly combat in which some of his friends die...  his best friend Victor is the only one who seems to have an explanation for his fortune, the "lucky" photograph, his lucky charm.

Eventually, Thibault, the Marine, decides to go out and try to find the woman in the picture.  She ends up being a divorced mother of a young son, and she also ends up being the girl he's been waiting his whole life to meet.  Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, he keeps the story of the photo and his luck a secret.  As he and Elizabeth embark on a passionate love affair, the secret he carries threatens to tear them apart, destroying not only their love, but also their lives...  (that's the description on the back of the book!)

LOVE, LOVE this story, and I think everyone should read it!!  :)  let me know if you want to borrow my copy!!  ;)

You Challenge!!

Three Films:

1. Bounce
2. Slepless in Seattle
3. Beauty and the Beast

LACMA, Tim Burton

Angie and Charles planned a breakfast and museum visit for us today!!  :)  Breakfast was DELICIOUS!  BUT I must admit that I failed at finishing it all... 

Orange juice and cinnamon french toast...  Yummy way to start a sunday morning!  ;)

Waiting for Mattie and Heather...  might as well take a picture with the BIG green ballon man!!  ;)

Angie, Annie and me!

 LACMA + Tim Burton = Amazingness....

After Heather and Matt arrived we were off to the Tim Burton exhibit...  :)  Thanks Charles for getting us tickets EARLY!!  ;)

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside...  But these were on the outside...  pretty cool huh??  ;)  I had NO idea how much stuff Tim Burton had made...  Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the new one....  :)

haha!!  We spotted this from seriously a MILE away!!  Charles got his moment of fame...  with the SPAM artwork!!  :)

....and I got in trouble for "touching" the artwork...  ugh...  sorry lady, I didn't want to flash everyone..  AND I didn't know these stupid balls weren't glued to the ground!! haha! ;)

 We continued on to other exhibits, Five Car stud was one...  and let me tell you it was a little disturbing... 

 ...a little background!  ;)

after that I went ahead and treated myself to this little treat...  yummmm... an ice mocha!  :)

and while waiting for Brent and Annie, and the boys to come back from where ever they had gone, we took more pics!  ;)

Me and Heather!

 smile girls!!  :)

 heather, angie and me..   and the lovely waterfall!!

 ...finally the boys emerged, only to participate in this picture for me!!  haha!!  ;)

 ...then it was our turn!  ;)  Brent and Annie had left to go visit the street truck by this time...  haha!  did I mention we were STARVING???  ;)

...and the newlyweds!!  ;)

 ....leaving the museum...  in search of food!!  ;)

 after trying to all go our own ways..  No one could decide what we wanted....  We all ended up here...

 Casa Gamino in Paramount...  One of the best mexican food places around....  :)  gotta LOVE cell phones, it took one txt message to get Brent and Annie away from the street truck and tacos, and to Casa Gamino with the rest of us...  ;)  Good idea Matt and Heather!!  ;)

chile relleno and chicken taco...  YUMM!!

 ....and Annie's HUMONGOUS chile verde burrito!!  :)

Here's to a fun Sunday, complete with breakfast, the LACMA, a little Tim Burton, GREAT friends and a yummy dinner!  :)