Friday Five

1. So, there was an election this week. And, enough about that!

2. We had a hurricane a few weeks ago, and boy, were we lucky. Our area didn't end up getting hit very hard by it, and we only lost power for two hours.

3. Moving on to something fun... Gus! I meant to have a special post when Gus had been with us for one year...but was caught up in my overly busy life and didn't get around to it. Work was so busy for a few months that I barely managed to do anything at home except for the bare essentials. Since I'm sure your curious minds want to know, August 5th marked one full year of our amazing kitty, Gus, joining our little family. He really is a great cat. I'm so thankful that my dog-loving husband actually loves our cat. A lot. Woot!

4. I can't believe its November already. How did that happen? It seems like last week was only July. I guess time flies when you are super busy. At least that means the holidays are around the corner. Love Thanksgiving. Love Christmas. Sure, it can be stressful, but I love time with family, friends, and food.

5. Speaking of things that are just around the corner...our 10th wedding anniversary is less than two months away. Wow. It somehow feels longer than that and not that long all at the same time. Ten years. Amazing stuff!

Flower Wall Art

Ah, Pinterest. You can be wonderful but also, well, let's just say that there are entire blogs based on your epic fails. You know it's true.

Anyway, I recently saw a pin that I wanted to attempt, but I wanted my wall art for my bathroom so I decided that I didn't want it to be on canvas - hairspray, steam, and dryer lint probably wouldn't be good for that.

Instead of canvas, I found a 12x12 frame at craft store and a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper for the background. I found six sheets of scrapbook paper that fit the color palette I wanted. Sunday afternoon I set up my crafting station.

• Clean table - check
• Cutting tools - check
• Double sided sticky tape (from Creative Memories) - check
• Background paper - check
• Colored papers - check
• Bathroom towels for color comparison - check
• Pinterest inspiration loaded - check
• 12x12 frame - check
• Music - check
• Iced tea - check
• Fudge - check

What? Fudge is essential to the project, no? Oh. Um. Moving on then (after licking chocolate off my fingers).

1. Cut a 2 inch wide strip off the bottom of each of your scrap book papers. Don't measure these cuts, just eyeball them (this was hard for me - I like things to be exact (I may be anal that way)). Then cut that strip into 2-3 inch rectangles.

2. Starting at one corner of the square make a curved cut to the opposite corner and back again to create a petal. Repeat this process, making some smaller and some larger.

3. Begin to lay the petals out, starting with a center circle. You may want to trim some petals smaller or cut larger ones. Rearrange to your heart's content.

4. Carefully pick up the center circle, add some scrapbooking tape, and put it back. Work your way out doing the same things on the leaves. I ended up taking a bunch of the petals from their original placement and permanently placing them on one by one. Do whatever works for you!

5. When you get to the sides, let them hang over until you are completely done placing petals and then trim edges off.

6. Put into frame. Viola! Flower Wall Art! Goes well with my towels, right?

Dear 14 Year Old Me

I'm linking up to Chatting at the Sky today (because of my friend Thelma - she made me) to write a letter to my teenage self. This should be fun?

14 years old - Freshman

Dear 14 year old me,

There are several things I would like to share with you. Take this stuff to heart. I know a lot of this will be hard for you to accept, but please try.

First I want to talk about your confidence, or lack thereof. You've already spent far too many years wondering if your friends like you as much as you like them. They do. Stop being so afraid of what everyone thinks of you. Most people genuinely like you, not just your good friends. When you see that group of kids that you want to join, don't be afraid to go over to them. They are not secretly wishing that you would go away. There will be some people that won’t like you, most of which will be outside your control. Don’t lose sleep over it. No one can actually be liked by everyone they ever meet. Not only do most people like you, you will eventually be one of the more popular kids in school. You won’t know it, but you will be.

Stop overanalyzing what everyone says to you by trying to figure out what they really meant. Stop overanalyzing everything you do and say. It will be ok. People will like you for who you are, but that means you have to actually learn to let go and be yourself. Stop holding on so tightly to your every thought and action that you can’t be who God made you to be.

Freshman again - that's me on the far left with the BIG hair

You are sweet and nice. And no, that doesn’t make you boring and it doesn’t mean you have no personality.

You are smart, even though you have never thought so. Tests make your brain cramp up and you don’t have a photographic memory, but you are still a smart chick.

You are funny. Let yourself go a little, and more people will notice.

Stand up for yourself – for what you believe and what you want. You are worth it. Don't let your insecurities paralyze you.

And, believe it or not, you are beautiful. You might not be as skinny as many girls around you, but you are not fat at all. Your butt is not huge. And your face does not look like a boy’s, no matter how that short boy haircut made you feel as a preteen. (By the way, super short hair will always make you feel less pretty, and the volume in your hair will never work with the super short styles you try. Don’t go there again.)

Sophomore

You will have a great time in high school, but improving your self-image will make it even better and will serve you well for years to come. Enjoy every moment. Take advantage of living overseas in your beloved Taiwan. You won't go back nearly as much as you hope.

Start taking better care of your teeth (floss, for crying out loud). Try running (even though you truly don’t think you can). Step away from the perms (why did you ever think that was so awesome). And for goodness sakes, clean your dorm room!

Junior

Once you have taken the Myers-Briggs personality test multiple times as an adult and scored precisely dead center on the extrovert and introvert line every time, you will finally realize that you are not one over the other - you are both. Lots of things will fall into place in your brain at that point, like how you can be shy and quiet when first meeting people yet have them wondering why they ever thought you quiet after getting to know you. You are both energized and drained by being with people and being by yourself. That does not make you weird, it’s just who you are.

Senior

Boys. You will not seriously date any boys in high school. Take a deep breath. It will be ok. You will also not seriously date anyone in college. Trust me, it will be ok! In 1999 you will meet a great man that will challenge what you thought you wanted in a guy - in good ways. He won’t be ready to date you for a couple years, but trust me, he’s worth the wait. In 2002 you will start dating that great guy, and will marry him in a year’s time. He will make you laugh like no one else ever has and will love you fiercely. He will be incredibly good for you, giving you deep roots you didn't know you needed. The two of you will have a number of bumps in the road, but you will get through them together.

College. This is a toughie. College is going to throw you for a number of big loops. You will think you are prepared, and in many ways you are, but being independent isn’t enough. You're going to start feeling lonely and misunderstood. The reverse culture shock back to the States will last longer than you expect. You will think you are ready, so it will take you by surprise. Stay involved in things on campus, even when you feel like withdrawing. It will be hard to find a church where you feel you belong. Keep trying. Ask for help when you need it and accept help when offered. Stay true to who you are - sweet, funny, and kind.

Spend a little more time figuring out what you want to do with your life, in case you don’t find that job traveling the world. Ask more questions – about careers, resumes, and interviewing. Take more computer classes. Don’t let your one terrible experience with that professor that couldn’t teach discourage you.

Unfortunately, I can't steer you away from every challenge; you will need many of those trials to become who God wants you to be. There will be many difficult days ahead of you, but God will be there to walk you through each one.

Love and no-more-perms,
Your 37 year old self

Friday Five

1. The night before we left on vacation, there was a huge storm. Rusty was asleep and I was beginning to doze off when I began to hear the sounds of a storm. At first I dismissed it as a normal thunderstorm, but the howling wind kept getting louder and louder. I sat up in bed, unease giving way to worry. Rusty stirred and I asked him, "Do you hear that?" I got out of bed and grabbed my iPhone to look up local weather warnings as the wind continued to roar.

"Is that a tornado," Rusty wondered out loud? That's all I needed to hear. I speed walked to that bathroom, still fumbling with my iPhone in search of information. The wind raged as I sat shaking in the still damp tub with Rusty crouched beside me. I prayed for safety as branches and twigs hit the roof for what felt like an eternity. The power went out at some point. As the terrible wind finally died down, I had the presence of mind to find our local news station's website on my iPhone and touch Listen Live.

I used the light of my iPhone to find the camping light we had recently purchased on a whim (or what it?) which Rusty then used to find our big flashlight. He walked around our house, checking for damage and then shone the powerful flashlight out the front and rear doors. We had lost the top half of one of our 100' tall trees. Thank you, Lord, that the tree fell in the yard and not on our house. We shut the house up tight and let Gus out of his room, since we were now wide awake.

According to the news, there were no tornadoes, just a crazy storm with 80 mph straight winds. We got power back on late the next day (Saturday) before we had to leave on vacation (thank you, God). And the tree? It would have to wait until we got home from vacation in...

2. ...Virginia Beach! Ah, yes. I love getting away for a few days where the biggest decision is whether to start our day by floating in the pool or enjoying the beach. We all need that kind of relaxation every now and then, don't we?

3. The other important decisions while on vacation revolve around food. What should we do for lunch? PB&J in our room or eat out? Where should we go for dinner? Most of the places we went were successes. In fact, the only bomb was the Chinese place, where nearly everything was so overcooked it was nearly inedible. I still don't know what was in those deep-fried dumplings (they are supposed to be pan-fried, people, PAN-fried)! :shudder: (And no, I don't mean what kind of animal meat...they were meatless.)

All the other food we ate was fabulous - gyros and stuffed grape leaves at Ammos; topped crab flounder with a white wine lemon sauce at Il Giardino; steamed king crab legs at Captain George's, and table-side guacamole and fish tacos at the Side Street Cantina. Drool.

4. We came home on Thursday to a lonely 11-month old kitten, piles of laundry, and the tree in our front yard. On Saturday, Rusty and our brother-in-law, Barry, fired up chain saws while my father-in-law and I carried logs, limbs, and sticks. With their help, we got it completely cleaned up even though it was so hot I thought I was back in tropical Taiwan.

5. The only bad part about our vacation (beside the cost of it) is that Rusty ended up with swimmer's ear. Ouch! His right ear began hurting enough on Sunday to cause him to ask me to make him a doctor's appointment on Monday. That is saying something about the amount pain and irritation that Rusty felt, folks!

Friday Five

1. We've decided to change up Gus' room. Yes, our cat has a room. What? Doesn't every cat? We are going to be getting rid of the single bed in that room. It's not usuable with Gus in there anyway, so it's just taking up space and being generally useless. We are getting a new piece of kitty furniture - a nice tall cat tree. I bought some new plastic tubs to better organize the stuff in there. Gus loves jumping up on them, so it will be fine if they sit out in the room. Gus isn't spoiled. Nope!

2. We received a package in the mail from my mom this week containing some Heralife products. I'm looking forward to mixing up a bunch of different yummy shakes.

3. I helped organize a cornhole tournament at work this week. We had 32 teams sign up! Good times.

4. I had a horrible migraine this week. It was bad on Tuesday and terrible on Wednesday. It was mostly gone on Thursday (finally). I haven't had a migraine that bad in quite a while.

5. We are going on vacation soon. I'm really looking forward to it. And by that I mean, I'm counting the days. Ah yes, the pool, beach, and relaxation. Fun dinners out with Rusty. It cannot come soon enough. We need some time off in a bad way.

Friday Five

1. I think we finally had a birdie visit our new bird feeder on Wednesday. We heard Gus go a little nuts and then Rusty saw the feeder swinging back and forth. Yesterday afternoon Rusty saw a cardinal munching away. Finally some success!

2. It has been very cool this week with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s. Wonderful! Glorious! Beautiful! It certainly doesn't feel like June in Maryland.

3. We decided to stop taking Gus outside until the weather cools off and the bugs die down (even though that is actually his favorite part). We were getting eaten alive out there! Also, we found three ticks in the span of 2 weeks, when neither Rusty nor I have ever had a problem with ticks around our house (even though we are surrounded by woods). We decided that it was the best thing for us and for Gus (even though Gus wouldn't agree). I was afraid that Gus would be inconsolable, but he's taking it like a champ. I suppose it helps that he's a cat and he therefore doesn't really know how long it's been since he's been out? It's not like he can tell time, right?

4. This week has been painfully slow. When the annoyingly loud alarm (which, by the way, has to be loud to wake me) jarred me awake Wednesday morning, I groaned inwardly thinking that it surely must be Thursday and not only Wednesday. (I'm not at all melodramatic in the wee hours of the morning.) Thursday wasn't any better - it felt like Friday. I imagine today will be, um, interesting?

5. We are going to a Thai restaurant for dinner tomorrow. Yum. Oh yum! One of my bosses was warming up a frozen dinner of the Thai variety earlier this week. I have been craving Thai ever since.

Gus vs. the Frenebee

It was spring.

The sun was warm and flowers were blooming.

Rusty opened windows throughout our house to let the pollen cool breeze float in. Gus did what kitties normally do when windows are open – he ran from one window to the other, sniffing at the tantalizing air.

Meanwhile, a bee was flying around outside near the flowerbed, enjoying whatever it is that a bee enjoys. It flitted about the side of our house until it flew up towards a window. It managed to find a small hole, and like most bees around our house, felt compelled to check it out. It crawled in and found itself inside a window sill. The bee couldn’t possibly know how dire its situation was about to become.

Gus, being a ferocious bug stalker/attacker, noticed the bee straight away and thought, “Bug! Must check out flying bug!” Gus slowly stalked towards the bee and lifted his face to the window so he could sniff at the bee. Then he slowly lifted a paw up to the bee, sniffing again at this very curious thing.

Rusty saw the scene unfolding and, worried the bee would hurt Gus, smacked it to the floor with his strong hand where it lay dazed and confused. Here is what happened next…

Gus: Thanks for taking the bug’s flying power away, daddy! It was fun while it was flying, but now I can get it even better! Ok, here I go…I'll crouch down so it doesn’t see me…flick tail…wiggle butt…aaaaaaand POUNCE! Ha! Gotcha! Now I shall pick you up in my mouth and spit you back out. Take that! And again! BOOYAH! Oh wait, where did you go? Come back here. I wasn’t done playing!

Scratchity scritchy scratch…

Rusty: Stop clawing at the duct vent cover, Gus. Stoppit! It’s bad enough you spit the bee out and it fell in through the vent cover, now stop scratching!

At least Gus didn't get stung.

______________________________
Other Frenebee Posts:
Flying Frenebee
Early Morning Frenebee
Neon Frenebee
Night Time Frenebee
The Mowing Frenebee

Friday Five

1. So, sorry about disappearing...again. Whoops. Life has been so busy! Let's see, what have we done since I last blogged?

2. The biggest thing is that my parents came to visit us. We had a wonderful time together, but boy were we busy. Rusty can usually take off a day or two while my parents visit, but that wasn't the case this year.

3. This year my dad took on a very big project. Daddy built me a 7' x 40" bookcase for my kitchen. The weather was wet and cool, which made the process of staining long. See how beautiful it turned out?

4. Another big thing is that I took on the role of being Assistant Director of Hannah's Prayer Ministries. It is such an honor to serve the beautiful women of HP.

5. I attended the Chick-fil-A Leadercast that was simulcast at my church. It was a fantastic experience!

The Mowing Frenebee

Rusty, being the uber responsible man that he is, takes care of most things around his company’s office. You name it, he does it.

Take out the trash? Check.
Clean the bathroom? Check.
Clean the gutters? Check.
Go to the bank? Check.
Mow the lawn? Check.

You get the idea.

One Saturday morning last year, Rusty was dutifully mowing the grass as usual. Now, he’s been performing this task for many years without any mishaps, so you can imagine his surprise when when things went a little differently that day.

All he could hear was the roar of the lawnmower as he angled around a low tree stump, bumping into it as he went. His brain barely registered a slight pinch on his face as he brought his hand up to brush his cheek. He became aware of a low hum and things flying around. When he glanced down he saw a swarm of ground bees coming out of the stump.

At that moment, pain began registering. Rusty let go of the lawnmower and began swatting at the bees in the air, ducking about to try and avoid the ones flying at his face. More yelling. He saw one coming towards his face, swung, and – SWAT! – smacked himself silly. At that moment he decided there were too many bees and he needed to high tail it out of there. He ran and managed to get inside the office. As he glanced down he saw a few dead bees clinging to his clothes. He assessed his battle wounds, aka bee stings. There were about four or five.

Rusty reached for his cell phone to call me and came up empty…it had been lost during the Great Ground Bee Battle of 2011. He peered outside but couldn’t see the cell phone in the grass. After taking a moment to calm down, he tried calling me from the office. When I didn’t answer, he decided to go out to look for his cell phone. Watching cautiously for bees, he hunted for his phone and finally saw it laying about a foot from the tree stump.

He carefully pulled the lawnmower back away from the stump to restart. Once he got it started, he lined up his approach and quickly rolled the lawnmower over the low tree stump again and again, hoping to kill as many bees as possible. He reached down, grabbed his phone, and ran back to the office to call me and regale me with this epic story of man vs bee swarm.

______________________________
Other Frenebee Posts:
Flying Frenebee
Early Morning Frenebee
Neon Frenebee
Night Time Frenebee

Saturday Scavenger (on Wednesday)

Something blue - going back to the summer in VA Beach for this one...ah warmth and sun.

Your favourite mug - I got this mug in Chicago. It's a Georgia O'Keefe painting. Love!

Transportation - Do. Da. Dippity.

Friday Five

1. Both Rusty and I had dentist appointments this week. Mine was for a new crown and Rusty's was for a tiny cavity. I would rather have had his appointment.

2. I have wanted a lable maker for years. I found one at Target last Saturday for $18! Yes! I'm so excited to label, well, everything! Hee hee. It will especially come in handy...

3. When I organize our new filing cabinet today. I hate filing, but I love organizing! And yes, there is a difference.

4. Project Runway All-stars started last week. Luckily, they replayed last week's episode tonight right before the new one. I love this show! :)

5. Last, but certainly not least, I have a sweet friend, Thelma, that is posting a series on her blog called The Gap about her journey (with her husband) through infertility to living joyfully as a complete family of two. It's amazing, just like her.

Saturday Scavenger

I am linking to Thelma again for her Saturday Scanvenger...

1. An old book - the Hymnal I grew up with

2 & 3. For extra points, something that starts with the letter R (me) wearing my favorite color (red).

Saturday Scavenger

I'm linking up to Thelma's Saturday Scavenger again this week.

The clues for this week are:

1. Something well camouflaged
2. An animal that is not someone’s pet
3. A sunset

1. When playing with Gus the other day, I noticed that the colors of this jingle ball were very similar to our rug.

2. Bird!

3. I was lucky to get this photo - it was so cloudy and rainy this week.

Friday Five

1. You are looking at my department’s newest employee of the month! Yep. That’s me. The best part about it is getting a reserved parking spot. That’s a hot commodity here, people. HOT!

2. Seeing how today is Veteran’s Day, I need to pause and say a big thank you to the men and women that have served and currently serve in our military. Freedom is not free and I have each of you to thank for the freedom that I enjoy. Thank you!

3. We have some friends coming into town this weekend. Today the guys are all hanging out. I don’t know what they will end up doing. Us girls will be cooking a Thanksgiving feast to be enjoyed at dinner. Yummy! I am supplying the Green Bean Casserole (recipe to be shared later), Pumpkin Cake (also to be share later), and some other odds and ends.

4. Tomorrow the guys will be going to the Maryland vs Notre Dame football game. It’s a night game so they won’t be getting home until late. Very late.

5. And while the guys are doing manly football things, the girls will be going shopping! I really need to get cracking on my Christmas shopping.

Friday Five

1. I picked up a small vacuum last Saturday since we have to vacuum up kitty litter every few days due to an enthusiastic kitty. I got it home and excitedly took it out and put it together. It wasn't until I had everything out that I noticed that it was missing the charger. Great. A small cordless vacuum doesn't work well without being charged. Good news though - I was able to exchange the vacuum last night. And yes, I did check to make sure this one had a charger.

2. I am going to help my BFF tomorrow with a crafty project for her oldest daughter. We are decorating a paper turkey. Should be fun.

3. Have you started Christmas shopping yet? I have some things, and should probably pull it all out to make sure I remember everything I have. Shhhh, what I already have is classified TOP SECRET!

4. Rusty and I are going to a church barn bash tonight. Should be a great time - pig roast, desserts, bonfire, wheelbarrow joust, games, entertainment, and more! It's going to be in the 40s this evening, so I am going to be sure to bundle up. Brrr!

5. If you have a few moments, can you pray for my friend and founder of Hannah's Prayer Ministries, Jenni? She had a stroke on Tuesday which caused a seizure and left her unresponsive for a number of hours. She is still in ICU but hopes to be moved to a regular room in a few days. She is having some double vision in her left eye and a little paralysis on the left side of her face, but she is able to talk.

{late} Weekly Scavenger

I didn't get around to posting my pictures yesterday. Whoosie! Here's my late entry.

1. Something black that fits in the palm of your hand
2. An electronic device
3. Something that rolls

1. Oreo! Yummy.

2. My least favorite device...the awful alarm clock. I do not like mornings.

3. Do you see the kitty in the background?

Weekly Scavanger

I'm joining up with Thelma again for her weekly photo scavenger. This week's categories are:

1. A cool leaf
2. Something we other than water
3. An arrow

1. One of the bazillion leaves in our yard

2. Diet Coke! Yummy!

3. I did pull over to take this picture

Scavanger Saturday

I am joining Thelma again for her weekly scavanger fun.

This week's clues are:

1. Something green
2. Something that opens and closes
3. The number 5

1. New kitty toy

2. Bags, freckles, and all...my eye!

3. I plead the 5th on how I got this pic

Saturday Scavenger

I am linking to my dear friend, Thelma, today. If you are wondering why today's post is title Saturday Scavenger, check out her post here.

Here's the basics:

• Thelma posts three clues on Saturday
• I (along with anyone else who wants to play) take a photo for each clue
• I post my three photos by Wednesday night and post a link on Thelma's blog
• Thelma will post some of her favorite photos and three new clues the following Saturday

The three clues from last Saturday are:

1. Something new
2. A group of three
3. The best place to eat in town

And here are my photos...

1. The kitty that I still can't bring home because he has a cold and the vet won't do their thing so the shelter people won't let me have him not that I'm bitter or anything...I don't know if that means he's new yet, but I'm going with it.

2. Three buttons...not exciting, but whatever.

3. Best place to eat in town...my house! Seriously folks, I can easily beat out fast food.

What's in the water?

Next week I will resume Taiwanese Tuesdays. Sorry for taking a break on that.
_______________________________________________

I went to two water coolers at work yesterday morning, but both of them were empty. I really don’t like to change the bottles on those coolers…not just because I’m a wimpy girl (which I totally am), but because it hurts my hand with carpal tunnel. I was walking down the hall, figuring I would just have to wait for some awesome person to take care of it, when I saw a coworker walking down the hall with a water bottle. Yes!

As I followed this man down the hall, however, I did a double take. It looked like something was stuck to the bottom of the bottle. "Well, that is odd," I thought.

But wait! It wasn't stuck on the bottom of the bottle, it was inside the bottle, floating around!

I hurried to catch my coworker as he set the bottle on the floor. "There’s something inside that bottle," I exclaimed! He glanced at me in surprise and then tilted the bottle to see what was inside. We glanced back at each other in disbelief and looked back down.

"It looks like a toy," I said. "Like an, well, an action figure!"

We looked around in stunned silence with a few other coworkers standing around, and tried to make sense of it. One woman wondered, "Did we win a prize or something? Like, is this a promotional thing?"

"I have no idea," I responded, "but we shouldn’t use this bottle." I looked at the man who had carried it down the hall and asked, "Would you mind taking this one back down the hall and exchanging it?" He graciously complied.

I chuckled to myself as I walked back to my desk, wondering how an action figure managed to get inside a bottle of water. It got even funnier to me as I recounted the story to a few of the ladies I work with. The woman that sits next to me called the water company to report it. I don’t know how she managed not to giggle while saying the words, "There is something in the bottle. An action figure."

I burst out laughing.

Would you like to see this thing of hilarity? You are in luck, because I just so happened to take pictures.

The company said that they would replace the bottle for us, of course. And the lady on the phone didn't find it humorous when we asked if we won a $10,000 prize.