The Ferocious Lion & His Dairy Queen Obsession

Yesterday our church held it’s third annual Blessed Fest/Chili Cook-off!  It has quickly became a favorite tradition!  Last year Higgins made his debut as a rooster for our Connect Groups Mexican themed decor for the chili cook-off.

This year we added a Trunk-R-Treat to the festivities and Higgins decided to I decided that he would join the fun.  We had to decorate our vehicle as a Bible story, so we chose Daniel and the Lions Den!  Of course Higgins was the ferocious lion and Joey was Daniel…check out these cutie patootie youngins.

Higgins had a ball being a lion, mainly because he was receiving so much attention….Daniel, aka Joey, not so much.  The things this poor kid does to make his mom happy!

After we left, we went to Higgins favorite place to celebrate his being such a good boy…..can you tell where we are??

 

About a month ago, we swung through Dairy Queen for a milk shake and when they saw Higgins, they gave him a small ice cream treat with a dog bone in it.  Well that began a love obsession with Higgins.  If he rides with us to town, he whimpers until we go.  The amazing thing is he know right where Dairy Queen is! 

Last night the whimpers turned to lots of excitement when we pulled in, and he hung out the Jeep’s windows with great anticipation with drool dropping out of his mouth, like a leaking faucet (my dog has issues!)!  It was so funny!!  When we finally had our turn at the window, I though he would jump into their window for his treat!  In true blogger fashion, I had to snap a picture!!  The Dairy Queen worker said this was a first!  HA!

Middle Of The Night

I am sitting here in bed wide awake and it is nearing 2:00am.  So I did the Facebook thing, read my e-mail, stalked a few blogs and played with Higgins, who is also wide awake.  Should make for an interesting morning when my alarm starts blaring at 5:45…

My mind is everywhere right now and not so much ready to be turned off for a restful night of shuteye.  Instead my thought are else where, thoughts of my life, a son in college, kitchen floor that needs to be mopped, work, house on the market, my kids that lay sleeping upstairs, the husband snoring beside me and thoughts of smacking him….HA.  Really it is just one on those middle of the night, can’t rest, because I have so much racing through my head.  You’ve been there, you know what I am talking about.

I have been reading tonight about children that are being smuggled from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and feel so helpless.  If you want you can read more about it, go here.  I can not get my mind to slow down and rest because I am so frustrated that this is happening.  I was just there and I keep thinking of the children that I saw that were walking between cars on a busy highway begging for money, darting from car to car trying to sell things and waiting for a chance to wash a windshield of a waiting car.  Never did I think that they could be the victim of human trafficking. 

Funny how I get so wrapped up in my perfect little life, worried about things that seem so large and let them consume my day.  Then I read about this and my perfect little world and my trivial little problems seems so, well small, insignifant and so not that life shattering anymore.  I take for granted so  many things.

I am not meaning to be so deep and so depressing, but as of late my heart is heavy for those that are in Haiti, the Dominican, Ethiopia, even here in the states and other places that are in need.  Those that struggle everyday for food, for clean water a place to sleep.   So tonight I am feeling a little heavy hearted….

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11: 28-31)

Once In A Blue Moon RD

It’s been a while, but today I thought I would link up to the Random Dozen!  Hope over to Linda’s to see more!!

1. Do you prefer to read the book or see the movie?

I rather read the book!  In my experience the book is always ten times better than the movie!!

2. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Hands down Christmas!!  I love fall and Thanksgiving, but at Christmas life seems to slow down for my family.  Of course we do the hustle and bustle of running around but for the most part it’s all about family, hot chocolate and the fireplace….it an honor to  celebrate the season and the significance of the birth of Jesus in our lives!!

3. Which do you like better - the mountains or the beach?

This is such a hard one….I love both so much that I can’t decide.  In the summer, the beach.  In the winter the mountains!!  When I am wealthy and have lived my life to the fullest and it’s time to settle down, I will have two houses one in the mountains and the other at the beach!!

4. If money were no consideration, what vehicle would you drive?

A loaded  Mercedes.  Never been in one, but that is what I would drive!  HA!

5. What is your favorite cold-weather beverage?

Hot chocolate with marshmallows.

6. How do you communicate most often with your friends: phone, email, text, face-to-face, or Facebook?

It is not by phone, the phone is so yesterday!  HA!   Sadly, mostly Facebook , email and text.

7. How do you receive your mail? Mailbox on the porch, at the end of the driveway, down the street, or post office box?

Mailbox at the end of the driveway.

8. Of the four basic personality types - sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric - which is your strongest? Which is your least evident? (See definitions below.)

This was fun, because I learned new words today!!  My personality without a doubt is Sanguine! 

9. What do you miss the most about being 20?

My skinny body and my get up and go!  HA!  I so do not have that anymore.

10. How long from the time you get up, does it take you to get ready to walk out the door in the morning?

If I focus on getting ready and do not get distracted by the computer…less than 20 minutes and that is taking a shower, hair, makeup and the whole nine yards!  I rock in that area….at least I think it do…

11. Who handles the car maintenance and pays the bills in your family?

Car maintenance is done by my husband and my middle son.  I pay the bills.  Both yucky jobs in my opinion, so I guess we split the yuck!

12. For those in the US, how many states have you visited? For those outside the US, how many provinces/other countries have you visited?

Hmmm, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, drove through the tip of Alabama, Kentucky, drove through West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

So I guess 10 all together that I remember! 

Finding Love

Here is a daily Bible Study that was sent to me today by a friend….

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19, NKJV

Our world is looking for love. As human beings, we need to love and be loved. But we're looking in all the wrong places. We look for it from a parent, from a child, from a spouse, from a friend, But our parents grow old and die, our children grow up and live their own lives, our spouses are too busy or too tired, our friends are superficial or selfish.  Who can truly understand the need of the human heart? Who can meet the need of our hearts? Where is love found?

Love is found in the heart of God.

This was sent in just the nick of time for me to read.  I have had an unsettling past couple of days.  I was down and out needing love and feeling very unloved and alone.  Truth in the matter, I was not being neglected or mistreated, it was just I having bad couple of days.  (Not to mention a bad dream that kept the pity party going….tisk, tisk)

Today is a new day, a day filled with love and joy.  It takes far more energy to be unhappy and unloved, so out with that!!  I am looking forward to a busy productive day of being loved!

I am living today to the fullest.  Each minute is a blessing from God.  The people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.   They are the ones that care for us.  The best of all is I am loved by God!!

Interrupting For This…

Okay, I was getting ready to write the Dominican Part Three post when I had to tell you about this…

Our house went on the market Saturday, it went live on the internet yesterday morning and also had it’s first showing yesterday at 2:30pm!!  Yikes, we were not expecting it to be shown so quickly!!  Now it is a wait and see what happens kind of thing!  There is so many mixed emotions that I think we are all going through right now.  We love our home, but it does not represent what it used to represent.  We have come to realize that it is just four walls and our home is where ever we make it, whether it here in the states or in another country, as long as there is love, we have a home!

On one other note, just because he is mantastically handsome and we love this dog so much, here is a little of Higgins and his cuteness…every night he gets a snack and most nights there is a little drool involved….

Look closely, you’ll see a little drop of drool….

Do you see it still???  The pillow hides it some, but it’s there….Ahahahahahahahaha!! 

Still waiting!!

Chomp!!!!  I know, we are pathetic, but we are ridiculously in love with this dog!!!

Dominican, Part 2

My trip out to Piedra Blanca, where I was staying was pretty much uneventful.  The trip is a distance out of Santo Domingo and the country side is beautiful!   God’s handiwork is so evident and for a country that is so poor, they are rich in beauty!  I was greeted by my beautiful sister, Lisania with a meal of beans and rice with chicken.  She was so excited about me coming to stay with her that it was absolutely evident by the hospitality that she and her family showed me!

That afternoon after her husband came home from work, I went with him to the grocery store.  The grocery store was such a different experience than what we would ever see in America.  If I was not so taken back by the armed guards with machine guns, I would of snapped a few picture, but did NOT want to upset those guys!   I am not sure if there is much theft there because I forgot to ask, but I am assuming there was because of they guys with machine guns!  The amazing thing is I never felt scared or threaten and neither did anyone else, so that must be a common security practice.

The fun thing about the grocery store is seeing some very “American” items.  General Mills, which is where my husband works, has many of their cereals there.  Also, Nabisco and that silly rabbit was there with chocolate syrup and other items…so that was a little bit of home right there in the DR!  Of course there is a lot of the same packing, but also things that I assume they get from local people that were in clear bags.  There were no refrigerated items I am guessing because the electricity and the lack of  a regular schedule of it being on.  Again, I was so immersed with the surroundings that I did not get any pictures, plus I did not want to upset the security!!  :o)

That evening at supper was a very simple meal of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, with a fruit smoothie, and I will have to say, that fruit smoothie was out of this world yum-o awesomeness!   With every meal there was a different variation of a smoothie.  The first night it was mango, the next we had one with papaya, another night with oranges and on and on.  It was great!

After supper were drove to many different houses to pick up clothes for a clothing sale that the church in La Cumbre was having on Saturday to help raise money for windows for the church.  That was a cool experiences to see so many different types of houses and meet so many new people.  That took up the rest of the evening and upon arriving back at their house, I was pretty much excited about falling into bed!  The difference of sleeping there and at home, home is very quiet…no horns beeping all night, no music coming from the disco’s that are round every corner and no bugs….

More to follow!

Dominican Trip Day One…

Thursday morning was a very early morning and overall whirlwind of a day.  As mentioned in my previous post I do not like flying and the first flight was rather bumping,  As I sat and sat dreading waiting for the second flight, I was pretty much at peace with dying when it was time to board and walked on the plane with the thought that this could be it, I might not make it. 

The  first thing my radar  grabbed onto were the police men in the hallway thingie that connects the plane to the building (not sure what it is called) and they were checking passport information.  The lady that was ahead of me informed me that she has never seen that EVER and she has traveled a lot to the Dominican….great!  I am going to be on the plane with someone with a death wish.  My first thought was maybe I will get a seat all by myself so when we do encounter the mad man mid-flight, I’ll have the seat next to me so I can brace myself for the crash!   Nope, there was a person next to me on this super jumbo flight.

Well all I can say is it’s amazing that God pust the right person in your path at just the right moment…He is just awesome that way!  I met a girl named Nehanda she was flying in from New York and immediately she started up a conversation that lasted the most part of the trip.  She was going to the Dominican because of a documentary she saw on TV and asked her dad to meet her.  They were heading into the community of La Romana to work and observe.  Before the flight ended we shared our story, laughed, connected and prayed!!  I tell you it was awesome.  I can not wait to get home and talk with her to see how her trip went.  Yep, this looks like a long friendship has started!

Once getting there and getting to my destination for the evening, Metchie, the wonderful Dominican “mom” of World Servants took us out for dinner, Dominican style Chinese Food!  I will have to say it would of not been my first choice, but it was awesome!!  Who knew that Chinese food prepared in the Dominican Republic made by Dominican people could actually taste better than homegrown Tennessee Chinese food!   Ha!!  I would of snapped a picture before we started eating, but the smell was so scrumptious that all you get is a peek at the after math…

On our way back to our house, we were hit by a car….great end to a long day…if you have even be on the streets in a third world country you will know what I am saying when, each and every time you have to get on the road, you pray the hardest you’ll ever pray!!   Luckily it was not that bad and in true Dominican style everyone gets upset and then we drove off!

There was my first day in a not shell and can’t wait to share more in the next couple of days!!