Our Weekend and Thank You

I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions with Vindaloo, our cat. It's been two days and she has not peed on the bed. We had changed her litter and we're beginning to think that was the issue. She's back to her old litter and she's good to go.

How's your weekend been? We've had a really nice, but super busy weekend. WE DROVE A SMART CAR!!!! I freaking LOVE Smart Cars and we borrowed one through Zip Car (we don't own a car). We needed to rent a car to get to Central Jersey to have our fake Thanksgiving. We had a really nice time, but it was a LONG day. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Today, we gave a talk about tithing to church. Steve HATES speaking in public, but he was good. He was great, actually. And I'm just getting geared up to bake cakes and cook food for our Consecration Sunday (which is why we were talking about tithing).

Counting down to seeing my family! So close and yet...

Here are some pictures for you. :) I always like to see pictures in posts.

Peeing The Bed

Who?! Me?!

First off, it's not me. Or Steve (maybe). Vindaloo, in a day and a half, has peed on the bed THREE times. Twice, she has done it directly in front of Steve.

She's now afraid of him, but still loves me even though it was ME who 'punished' her this last time for it. Even though I don't really know how to punish a cat. But she made me cry, so maybe that's why she feels bad and is nice to me (you should see the scratch marks down my back at the moment). She even sleeps on my pillow (which my grandmother was like, 'That has to stop!' but I kind of like it...) and RIGHT NEXT TO MY FACE all night long...and she will not pee near me. Good girl.

So now we're taking her to get a check up and to get a behavioral consultation on Wednesday while the exterminator is finishing up his second round. I'm still a little confused as to how the behavioral thing will go. But Steve has already said that he hopes that, if it's a behavioral issue and not a medical issue, she can be brainwashed to stop being on the bed.

Have you ever had these issues with your cats? And, if so, how did you get it to stop? Steve seriously wants to give her away. I'm looking at other options at the moment like she has a urinary tract infection or anything else. But my husband is allergic to her and has, it seems, been the subject of her pee attacks. I told him that if he gave her to a shelter, he'd just have to deal with me being mad for a bit, but that I'm leaving it in his hands.

I feel like I can't argue on this one because I fear he's worrying so much about everything that he's going to have a heart attack and put himself in an early grave. I've never seen him worry so much since we moved into this new apartment and it really makes me nervous/upsets me how much it's effecting him.

To me, it's just some sheets. But we all see the world/things differently, you know?

Either way, how are you doing? How are things?

Thankful Thursday!

Oh, how I love Thursday! It used to be pay-day. Today I have a voice-over and it means that I only have one more day of work before the weekend. :) So let me give thanks!! If you'd like to join in, visit Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey!

1) Voice-Overs. They really do make my day. I get paid to talk. Umm...hell yes! :)

2) My husband has been talking through me about my faith and where I think our lives are headed together. And about farting. And I appreciate all of those conversations and that he's willing to talk to me and is still opening up to me more and more each day.

3) That, even though I've been an idiot and all these things have been happening to us, I have some great friends who have been seeing us through and who think God is preparing us for something bigger. I certainly hope so.

4) That the stripper for the linoleum floor (which right now has giant neon yellow stains all over it) is coming soon and hopefully we can close that chapter of the last few weeks.

5) That there are 36 days until I get to see my family again!!! And it'll be on a beach. So that's even better :) To the Philippines!!!

6) I am thankful that Jesus is patient with me. Because I see these things that remind me of Pulp Fiction miracles and I still am like, 'Could I have, you know, just one more sign, to know that this is right?' It's like I want Jesus to come and beat me over the head with a stick to just GET IT sometimes. But fortunately, he's being patient and I wholly appreciate that.

What are you thankful for?

A Leap Of Faith

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" -Erma Bombeck

I'm 24 years old and maybe I'm a little bit crazy. I know that I've done a lot of things in my life, but I feel like...sitting at this desk (yes, I am at work right now) and trying to make sure that the 500 people who absolutely LOVE John Mayer hear his CD are just...not important.

Have you ever heard of the World Race?

A friend told me about it awhile ago...Like a year ago. Maybe more. And, for some reason, it just popped into my head.

It's a pilgrimage, a mission trip. 11 months and 11 countries.

I think it would be amazing. And terrifying.

I think part of that is because I have a job, I'm married. Steve is certified in his field. And then you up and just leave for a year? What do you come back to?

I don't know. Steve is saying that I could probably go and he would stay. But it's 11 months without my husband and I don't know how much I would/should/could do that.

Like Erma Bombeck says, I just want to use up all He's given me. I think that He's given me love and I'd really like to use it.

Maybe something will happen after we visit Vashti and her orphans this coming May. I guess we'll see where God leads us, right?

The World Race from Adventures In Missions on Vimeo.

P.S. I hope I'm not bringing anyone down. You know how you reevaluate everything you do sometimes? It's been one of those months :)

Friend-Makin' Mondays

Woohooo!!! I do enjoy friend-makin' Mondays! Though I do not appreciate Mondays in general. ;) If you'd like to join in, go visit Amber!

What are your favorite candles/scents?

Well, I might skip the candle part. I love candles, but I was never allowed to have them in college and I haven't really had any since. But, of my favorite smells they are...

1) Freshly mowed grass. I actually had more than one bottle of perfume that smelled like this. Does anyone else remember that the Gap had this scent?! Too bad I'm allergic to the real thing.

2) Chocolate cake. I baked a chocolate hostess cupcake cake this weekend and it smelled delicious!! (And it tastes great too)



This is not what I was baking this weekend, but similar. Except my cake was more lopsided and messy. There was cake EVERYWHERE.

3) Steve. Yes, I do enjoy the smell of my husband. Quite tasty, if I do say so myself.

And yes, this is my beautiful, wondrous husband here:



Feel free to be jealous.

4) Raspberries. I love the smell of raspberries so very much. And I love to devour them as well.



5) Rain. I love the smell of rain in the fall. Something about it mixing with the leaves. It just makes me happy.


WAIT! Don't go yet. I wanted to share this with everyone. I've shared it before, but I wanted to share it with the Friend-Makin' Monday crowd :)



This is Baby Paxton.

He was born with only half of a heart. At 4 days old, he underwent heart surgery. 4. DAYS. OLD. That is so crazy to me. I pulled some glass out of my foot today and I was a big baby about it. He would have done WAY better then me if he can do surgery at 4 days old.

The ladies over at Baby Be Blessed (who are super awesome) have chosen Baby Paxton as their Give A Blessing recipient for November.

Of course, they are trying to raise money. But it's more than that.

They want your prayers too.

If you can't donate, that's fine! Prayers are probably more important anyway. We can give in so many ways, whether it be money or our words to God.

If you'd like to help out, here's what you can do (From the Baby Be Blessed website):

FIRST~SEEK GOD ON HOW HE WANTS YOU TO HELP!!

~PRAY! Visit their website and let them know you are praying!

~DONATE!

~SPREAD THE WORD!! Grab a copy of the chipin widget below and place it on your blog/website!!

If you'd like to track the progress with me, you can view it here:

God Is Good And It Will Be Okay

What a day.

Steve and I think that it's the Devil at our heels right now because God isn't all up for torture. At least that's what Steve said. I don't believe that God likes torture, but I've been reading C.S. Lewis and he, at one point in his book 'A Grief Observed,' compares God to a surgeon or a dentist - a surgeon, knowing that if he continues cutting you he will cause pain, but also bring healing, will continue to cut, no matter how much you scream. Because, he knows, that by the end, you will be better.

Of course, it could also be my stupidity.

To make a long story short, my spices (in a plastic box because of the freaking bed bugs) were on the stove, I turned on the wrong burner, burned through the plastic and...got enough smoke to spark both the fire alarm and the fire department to show up. My curry powder spilled on the floor along with my almond extract. The issue? The curry powder had turmeric in it and our floor is now a bright yellow. We scrubbed for 2 hours and...we still have a good amount of it. We have 11 months to get it off the floor.

Anyone know how to get turmeric off of hard surfaces? Linoleum in particular.

In the end, it's not so bad. I'm just tired. But there are so many worse things, so I need to buck up. :) What's some yellow neon stains on a kitchen floor? God is good and it will be okay.

Okay...you don't have to read on. This next part is kind of an argument with myself and such. But feel free if you want to.

My friend and I were talking on Facebook about gay marriage. We both support it. Then someone wrote the next below.

"i think you guys are on the right path, and we should extend open arms to those that have abortions, have sex with children, and the list goes on. are they not already in our churches, but we are blind to gods word for that we are arrogant to do what he has intended us christians to do. god sancitfied marriage for man and woman, told his followers of the immormal acts that are beind done as wrong. it is wrong, there is no middle ground to it."

It was funny, I wasn't actually upset. I used to get REALLY upset when people would tell me that I was wrong, especially about this because I'm afraid that God will hate me.

But doesn't Jesus ask us to open our arms to those people? To love all people. One thing I always think about is that Jesus loved prostitutes, tax collectors. He said that the healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick. What about those who commit some of the worst crimes and then repent or find their faith and change their lives, like Son of Sam.

Yes, Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, the man who killed 6 people is a born-again Christian. Many people don't believe him and just believe he's doing this to get out of jail. He has been turned down for parole 4 times. He has written letters to the family of his victims to apologize and is trying to stop the sale of murder memorabilia.

Do you believe him? To be a Christian, we need to forgive him and accept him. But how hard is that?

I guess I see Christ's message as love. Love for all people and I guess, as an American, I see that we are all equal, all created the same by one God who, for some reason, loves us. I guess that's why I believe in gay marriage.

But when I see messages like above, I turn to pray. I need direction. God, what do you really want? Let my heart love like Yours.

I talked to my pastor and she said to me, 'I don't know what's right. But when I meet my Maker, I want to be able to stand in front of Him and say that I loved as much as I could.'

I just want to love as much as I can. I hope God can forgive me for that if I am wrong.

Men's Deodorant And I Can't Find...

Hi guys!
Sorry, it's been a bit. The exterminator came on Wednesday and everything had to be boxed up, bagged up, sealed, etc. You should see our apartment. I should totally take some pictures. It's ridiculous.

All of our things need to stay sealed until...February.

Well, they said that we can put our kitchen and bathroom back together, but they're coming again in two weeks, so we may as well not put our stuff back.

...minus the fact that I've decided that I'm baking three cakes tomorrow and making an artichoke bean thingy for dinner. I bugged Steve until he agreed to the grocery store with me and we spent too much on groceries, but half of our stuff had to be thrown out when the exterminators came. Or we just can't find the things I need.

It's ridiculous now, how much we CANNOT FIND. Thursday morning, I couldn't find my deodorant, so I wore Steve's. I've worn mens sweaters for the last two days because all of my sweaters need washed. Steve always meets me at the PATH station and last night, he saw me walk up and took off his coat and gave it to me. All of my winter coats are at the cleaner right now. He gave me his coat this morning too. My old boss always noticed when I was wearing man clothes, but he isn't here anymore, so at least I won't have get a hard time about it. ;)

And it really sucks, sitting on our couch. Mainly because it crunches. They wrapped it in plastic and the plastic has to stay until February too. But it makes our cat sleep with us. She is SO cute! I wish I could take pictures. My husband and I were spooning (is that weird to say? I was going to say cuddling, but it's better with the cat when I say spooning...), getting ready to go to bed and Vindaloo lays down right against me and just stretches out with her front paws above her head and her back paws by my feet. She is a HUGE cat when she does that. It was like three spoons in a drawer!! Love it. :)

How are you doing? How's your week been? I am SO thankful that it is Friday today!