Finger Print Friday...

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Here's how to join in.




I took this on the drive last week to Corpus Christi, I was not driving. I love the clouds, how fluffy they are. I remember laying in the neighbors yard when I was little with the neighborhood kids and watching the clouds go by, trying to pick out shapes and animals. As we were driving I thought back to thouse days, how everything was carefree and it was a great time to watch the clouds go by. I think that if we took a moment, to slow down, to let God show us the clouds again everyone would be so much happier, so much nicer because they wouldn't be so stressed out.

I love looking into the holes of clouds also, as the light shines threw I used to *and still do* thing that the rays of the sun were God looking down and sending a small reminder that no matter where we go, he is still there, shining for us.

Happy Friday friends!

Love,
KJ

Ruby Red Shoes...

So, I'm going to Kansas today... I'm soooo excited to be going. I usually only go about once a year and that is for Christmas but because of this little girl, her Mama, and her Dad I'm going twice this year...



I wasn't planning on going up twice so I planned another trip this year and used most of my PTO from work. So with the ONE day I have off and just missing some hours I am going because of this little girl and I love her so much. Clare is a great friend has made me part of Fiona's life even when I live so far away, I couldn't ask for a better "sister" (she is the reason I made it up twice last year, due to that baby girl being born).

So, this afternoon, I'm getting on an airplane and will go to KC where my dad will pick me up. I'm so happy that I'm going to get to see him, I wasn't sure that it was going to happen since this is such a fast trip (today - Sunday) and since I'm going for Fiona's birthday. He understands though, Clare and I have been friends since 1st grade, we have been through so much together and he knows how much I love her family. I'm trying to convince him to come and see me over labor day, I will keep you updated on that one ;). Anyway, after my dad picks me we will drive about an hour and a half to this place (Topeka, the capital, in case you didn't know). It's my home town, I used to hate it with a passion, along with the whole state of Kansas. Since then I've changed my mind. It's amazing how much your mind changes as you grow up. I love the green grass and trees, the hills, the flat plains, everything about it is so much more now that I don't have it everyday.



Friday, I'm going to get a phone call from Clare when she is on her way back to Topeka (Clare, JR, and Fiona have all moved to KC) to finish cleaning up the house here and to move some last minute things with the help of my dad's truck. So, I will meet her at the house, do what I can to help (or sit there and entertain her, sometimes that is all you need... but I'm willing to do my part), move the boxes, and *cross your fingers* we can go and grab a quick lunch at Old Chicago
(it is by far the best place to eat when I am home, at least in my opinion that is... and there isn't one here so, you get the point). After that she will follow me back to my dad's house so we can drop off his truck and then I will go to KC with her to hang out with Fiona, Mom, Dad, Clare and JR...



Saturday I will hang out with the Snyder's and Lonergan's and on Sunday they will take me back to the airport, where I will get back on a plane, say goodbye to my loves and come back to San Antonio. As I sit here and write this I'm already upset. I hate leaving them, I hate that I won't see anyone again until Christmas (maybe my dad if he comes in September). It breaks my heart they are so far away, it breaks my heart that I won't be able to see my dad for more then one short night but at the same time I'm so happy that I'm even able to go up for the weekend, that I was invited to celebrate Fiona's birthday with her. It's such a mix of emotions but what do you do? Well, I'm off for now, I need to finish my work up at the office so I can leave early and make sure I'm on the plane! Have a great weekend and Fingerprint Friday's will be up tomorrow!

Love,
KJ

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIONA

Happy birthday Fiona...

You're such a speical little girl, to me and to so many others. In your little life you have showen me so much joy throuh you, your parents, and through thouse who love you. You can make me smile so much just by looking at a picture or hearing you "talk" on the phone when you're supposed to be sleeping.

I can't belive that I've only gotten to hold you a hand full of time since you've been born but that doens't mean I don't love you more then you will ever know! I have told your mommmy a million time that I don't want you to grow up, that I don't want to miss out on this part of your life just because I live so far away BUT I'm so excited for you to grow up. For you to see life, to see how God leads you down your path and what that path will do for you! I can't wait until your old enough for us to convice your mommy that you can come down to see me, all by yourslef... we will do so many thing together but for now, I'm still in shock that you are 1 year old today.

You are an amazing little girl Fiona, I can not wait to see this next year of your life and how much more joy you will bring to those around you.

I love you little girl!

Love,
Aunt Kari


Happy Birthday 07/23/08


Fiona - 11 months old (I think... Clare might change this for me... I love you)!

I WON!!!

So... I just HAD to post about this!! I never win ANYTHING, EVER!! I always tell people that I don't even bother due to the fact it's not worth my time. Well, Beki from PapmeringBeki posted this blog one day and I thought why not! I LOVE these reusable snack/sandwich bags and I have a feeling when I get back from Mexico I will be buying more. I take my lunch to work every other week with me, so it would be nice to use this instead of baggies and causing even more trash in the landfills! WELL, when she posted this contest, I thought what the heck... I might as well TRY, I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't win... if I did win it would make.my.day. Well this morning I went to her blog and read this awesome recipes for lettuce wraps and at the bottom she posted the winner, and there was MY NAME!!!! I had to actually click the link to make sure it was ME... remember I never win anything and when I saw MY blog come up it was AWESOME!!! So, I just had to let everyone know that it is worth the effort to try to win because sometimes, you actually win! I can't wait to get my bag in the mail and when I do I will for sure tell you how it is!

Thanks again Beki, you have restored my faith in contests and I'm sooo stoked to get my prize!

Love,
KJ

Wish List Wednesday!

If you want to join in on the fun head over to The Foster's Family blog!

This week I'm going to wish for:

A boat! I think I would be in Heaven every weekend if I had a boat that I could be on, relaxing in the sun and being with friends. Plus, the bf is an avid Sailboat person... he was on racing teams and everything as a kid, this would make him sooo happy as well, always a plus!! :)


Rain.. yup, I'm going to keep on wishing for this until we finally get some!


More Stella and Dot jewelery... not only do I want that necklace I also am thinking that I would like this as well...

oh, and this (can you tell that this is my new favorite jewelery people, ever)!!

Fingerprint Friday...

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Here's how to join in.
**********************************************************************


It breaks my heart to see any child sick... even it's just the flu but even more when it's cancer. I know that God doesn't want his children (big or small) to hurt and I don't know why people do hurt but I do know that no matter what is going on God is walking with us. Holding our hands when we need it most, carrying us when we can not walk a step farther. It might not always seem like he is not there but he is, always.

Prayers are needed for this little girl, Kate McRae, she is so young and so very sick from the kind of cancer that has attacked her little body. It makes me so sad to read the updates and to see that she just wants to go home. She has such a long, long road ahead of her. BUT I know that God has a plan for her life and he will be with her. So Blog friends, I'm calling on you once again... please pray for little Kate, for her mom and dad, for her siblings, so they win this fight with cancer.



Love,
KJ

Just Another Manic Monday...

Wow, yesterday was crazy, I didn't even get to do my "Not Me! Monday!". It all really started Sunday night. Here is the back story to the craziness of Monday: Alan and I went down to Corpus Christi for a day/night to hang out and just get away from San Antonio. It was a blast, we went to the USS Lexington, had drinks at a local restaurant right down the street, then headed back to the hotel to hang out/cool off before dinner time. We finally headed down to the hotel bar, got some recommendations, and went on our way. We ended up finding an Irish Pub, we stopped, of course, hung out with the fun people there, then moved on (finally) to a place called "Crawdaddies" right down the road. The food was awesome, there is no way I could complain. After a late dinner, we headed back to the hotel, watched some TV and called it a night. The next morning we slept in, get read for check out, then wondered down the Marina for some Joe's. This was the start of my problems leading up to Monday! We ate lunch then decided to head back to SA, we needed to do laundry, and still go to the store for the week. It was an amazing trip and I can't wait until our next one together!

Well, Sunday as we are getting back into SA we decide to stop at Wal*Mart right down the road from me instead of going to my house, getting comfy then having to leave again. As we are shopping, my stomach decided it is going to tie it's self in a knot and pull from both ends, feeling like the knot is getting tighter and tighter!!!! It was horrible and I thought I was going to fall over in pain, I guess it showed because Alan could tell right away something was wrong. Being the best boyfriend ever, he unloaded the car, took care of my dog, and let me go right to bed and lay down. I tried to eat but that just made life 30000 times worse. Finlay feel asleep and woke up a million times but did get sleep! *This is also to come home and find that my AC had gone out at some point over the weekend... this doesn't help ANYTHING!!*

So, Monday comes... get up for work, still feel like crap but gotta pay the bills, right? Get to work and the first thing I notice is that one of the windows at the front of the office is broken. Come into the office (it's usually sooo cold in here, so remember my AC at home is broken so I'm looking forward to the nice cool office...) and it's 80 something degrees inside!!! THE AC AT WORK MANAGED TO BREAK AGAIN!!!! So, come to find out, sometime between Saturday and Sunday afternoon someone took a pretty good sized and heavy rock and threw it at our window. It broke through the outside glass (which was ordered thicker so people couldn't break in), a gap, another window, and then few across the room, hit the filing cabinet and dented it big time. My boss thought at first that it was some kids, with nothing better to do, breaking shit. I told him I thought someone did it, didn't realize these windows DON'T open and just took off instead of making more work for themselves. I had to file a police report (they did it over the phone, so much faster then waiting for someone to come over and it means I'm not taking an officer off the street where they could be doing something important), get the window people out here, and figure out what to do until the new widows come in and get fixed. As all of this is going on the "wonderful" AC dude comes by, looks at the AC unit, says what broke, and of course has to leave to go and get a part to fix it. I quote "I'm going to get the part, I will be right back...", in my mind I'm sooooo sure you will "be right back". Of course he takes over an hour to get back (by now it's 85+ in the office) to fix the damn thing. Fixes it leaves... now the AC has to cool down the whole office... it finally gets nice and cool around 4pm! Thankfully once I was able to get out of the office, I got to go home, hang out and just do a lot of nothing (besides a load or two of laundry), and try to make my stomach feel better (it was feeling a little better yesterday and a lot better today, I'm pretty sure it was the food I ate).


This is what you see when you drive up to my office now, a nice big hole in the window! This is also the first pane of glass the rock went through.


This is the second pane of glass that the rock went through


The rock that went through the window... we have a lot of rock (and stone) at the office but this is not one of ours, so who ever did this brought their own rock along.


My now dented filling cabinet... thankfully it still opens and closes!!

Now that Monday is over I'm crossing my fingers that the rest of this weeks is calm and flies by! There is a lot going on but I'm ready for a fun filled couple of weeks!! I hope that everyone had a nice calm Monday and it was nothing like mine!

Love,
KJ

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Here's how to join in.



This year I was amazed on the 4th of July. Maybe it's because I'm growing up and seeing things in a different light then I have in years past. I'm not really sure, this was taken at close to the time we got there, still not as many people as there was when we left. As we (my friend Louise and I) sat there you could hear the people talking, laughing, kids yelling, kids getting in trouble. There were two bands playing, both were amazing. I loved seeing all the men and women in their uniforms and BDUs (the open up Lackland Air Force Base to the public for the day), relaxing before tomorrow comes and it's back to training. It really is a magical thing to see, at least in my eyes it is.

Louise and I have a tradition, we have been doing it for about 3 years, we always spend the 4th of July together. It's always been the two of us, I don't think we would care if anyone else comes along, but I like the way it is... I'm selfish in my traditions, I like that we just sit there, talk, eat food, drink some beer, and die in the heat :)! Every year like clock work it rains, we crossed our fingers that this year the shy wouldn't let us down, it did... but we still had fun.

Anyway, back to the picture. The thing that got me the most and why it's my Fingerprint Friday post is the way this crowd was sooo noisy (not in a bad way) but as soon as the American Flag came out, and our National Anthem was started a hush fell over everyone, the kids, the adults, it even seemed the birds stopped singing at that point. It shows me that God is here, that he is always with us, uniting us as one. Showing that so many people that do not know each other were together in one place, to celebrate the things he made happen. Not only our Independence but our faith in him and the world he has created. It truly brought tears to my eyes at this point, it was surreal. I was amazed.

Not Me, Monday!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.



I've not missed you Not Me! Monday!, becuase if I've missed you that would mean that I have not done a Not Me! Monday in awhile (or a week) and that is NOT ME!! I'm always on top of my blogging and keeping up with everything, on time of course!

This week was a nice but crazy one, it really started LAST week at work!

The AC unit did NOT break one day, nope, things around this office always work like clock work, never breaking!

The temp in the office did not reach of 90 degrees before the boss came back to see how bad it really was. He did not then say "I thought you liked being hot...." I actually love the hot weather but we ALL have a breaking point and I've found mine is anything above 102 (not including heat index) so take 102 degree weather outside with 90 degrees inside... nope, not digging the hot at that moment at all!

I of course called the AC dude to come fix it, I of course did not HAVE to leave the office to go pick up plants (in 102 weather) so I would of course be at the office all afternoon, sweating to death. He of course couldn't make it out... I had to suffer until the next day... made the appointment for 8:30am

He of course showed up right on time: 9:45 am, I did not call with a major attitude at hand. Nope not me, I don't yell at people, ever. Especially when it comes to work people... I must always be professional!! Poor, poor people who make me mad :)

He fixed the problem, but NOT after he told us that there was a leak somewhere and to fix said leak we would have to TEAR DOWN A WALL to fix it... Nope, because remember things run like clock work around here!!

Oh... the plants thing.. my boss did not tell me to go to one place, I did not get to said place, call him and find out that I was at the WRONG place (he also did not tell me a name to ask for, I did not go to the wrong place, ask for said person... I did not get the most confused looks in the world.) I did not make these poor people take me around to look at the plants that I needed from them.... to then find out that I was of course at the right place.

Get the actually plant place, ask for guy, guy did not have a major attitude (remember it's hot... no ac at work, I was of course in the best mood ever)... I of course did not want to punch him in the face, nope, I'm not violent at all... I would NEVER THINK OF HITTING SOMEONE, EVER!! :) Of course on a real note... I just thought of hitting the guy, gave me major attitude back, got my plants, blasted the ac and went back the the hot, hot office.

The boss did end up letting me go home early that day, I of course did not go right home to relax in the cool, cool air of my house. I decided it would be great to run errands... Nope, I'm smarter then that, I would never put my bad, hot attitude on others!!

Now, skip forward to this past weekend!! :)

Friday I did not have the day off of work, I did not clean the bf's apartment for him in return that he did not get my well over due oil changed in my car. Nope not me! I wouldn't have to make that deal because I'm the best at getting my oil changed!!

I also did not go to lunch or a movie with my friend Jen. I also did not cry for almost 2 hours at said movie. I also did not suggest to people that if they didn't want to cry then they should not go see "My Sister's Keeper".

I did not get in another fight with the boyfriend, nope, we get along soooo well allll the time that it's just not me to be in a fight with him!!

Saturday:
I did not have the best time ever on the 4th of July celebrating a 4 year long tradition with another one of my friends. Nope, I'm not into traditions at all!

I did not sit in the heat (103) at 6:00 at night with her, people watching, talking, taking fun pictures, just hanging out until the sun went down and we could start to cool off.

We did not get upset at the family sitting across from us. We did not get annoyed to hear a parent encourage their child to squirt people with a squirt gun. We were not at an AFB, she was not squirting men and women in their uniforms!! I would never get annoyed at a child having fun, nope not me!

I did not have the best time ever though, celebrating this tradition with my friend. It was not well worth every second :)

Sunday:
I did not get into another fight with my bf, remember, it's Not me to fight!

I did not go to dinner with my another friend, then have ice cream. She of course did not pull me out of my funk.

Monday:
Oh how I love to talk about the AC at work! This morning I did not get into work, find it muggy and then of course be told that the AC until had broken once again. Nope, this wouldn't happen to me because the AC unit that wouldn't break wasn't just fixed the other day!

I was not told that the light flickered, buzzed, and then liquid shot out of the AC unit. I was not secretly happy that I was not at work when this happened.

I was then not forced to call the wonderful AC man that is always on time! I did not call at 8:30 this morning asking for him to come as soon as possible. He of course has gotten here... it's not 9:50am.

He also did not tell (with an attitude of course) I guess I will cancel the plans I had this morning to fix the problem... I of course didn't think to myself... fine, keep your plans, I will call someone else who will fix the problem right, the first time. Nope, not me... I would NEVER think something like that.

I also was not informed that the office had a broken water main down the street. I did not have to call SAWS to have them come out. I of course was not told I was not the fist call of the day, they will get there when they get there!

I of course am soooo happy to be at work this wonderful morning. I am not tired and a little grumpy, nope not me! I always go to bed at a smart time to be well rested for the week and what is ahead. :)

Happy Monday!