Thursday, June 29, 2006

Jen and Ben's Wedding

A Bride/Groom Dance
Up the Stairs....
Cake in the Face!
Getting the Garter
Dan and My Husband
Throwing the Bouquet
Beth and Me

Bride, Groom, Matron of Honor
3 Bestest Friends!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Canes Win!!!!!!

Go Canes! I've been a loyal fan since they came here to NC in 1997. I am so excited about them! They are my team! Hockey is my favorite sport to watch. Late last night, after some meetings, I enjoyed watching the Canes win their first Stanley Cup. Even though this series has had me on my toes throughout Games 4-7 especially, I still believed in them and knew they would pull it off.

One piece of commentary... that call for the goal that would've been the Cane's second goal for the evening, should've been ruled a score. They should've been more patient and taken more time to review the play. Even with that bad call and a few more in the third period, the Canes dominated!

I do have to say that Oilers' fans are definitely some of the most polite fans I have ever seen. I heard comments from both sides on the gracious and polite ways each side treated each other.

Praise be to heaven for this win. In celebration, I wore my Canes jersey to work today.... with a skirt. LOL. Anyways, the celebrations will continue and again CONGRATULATIONS!

"And that's a hurricanes goal... Woo, Woo Woo!"
"We are the champions!"

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Beauty Tips by Audrey Hepburn

For attractive lips, Speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, Seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, Share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, Let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, Walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.

And the beauty of a woman, with passing years only grows!

Monday, June 12, 2006

The Gospel According to You

The most beautiful story given to man
Was written long ago
By Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Of Christ and His mission below.

And you write a gospel, a chapter a day,
By your deeds, whether faithless or true;
When others read it, what will they think
In the gospel according to you?

It's a wonderful story, the Gospel of love,
As it shines with Christ's life divine.
Oh, that its truth might be told again
In the story of your life and mine.

You are writing each day a letter to all;
Take care that the writing is true.
It's the only gospel some people may read,
The gospel according to you.

Author Unknown

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Lovebird Saga

Yesterday, I about had a heart attack. My lovebird, BeBe, is truly my child and I would have a hard time dealing with his loss, especially if it were my fault.

Carelessly, I was throwing some boxes outside of my door to take down to the dumpster later and the door was mostly open. BeBe took the opportunity, as he is flying now, to fly to me, landing on my back. I am supposed to be aware and attentive of his presence in regards to where he is, especially when the door is open. When he landed on my back, it freaked me out a little, so I quickly pushed the box that was in the doorway out making a loud noise as I did, which freaked him out and he took off.

This take off was not back into the apartment, rather out the door and out around our building, out of my sight. I, needless to say, freaked out! I took off down the stairs after him, not know where he had flown off to. The back of my building, where our apartment is, has a Food Lion on the other side of a mini-hill/hedge of bushes and trees. I didn't know if he flew somewhere over there or around to our parking lot.

I started calling out his name. Where was he? A neighbor in the building next to us saw me freaking out and asked what was wrong. I told him my bird had flown out the door and that I was looking for him. Like true maternal instinct, I continued to call out his name as my neighbor, Mark followed me.

Then came the sound that I was listening for. BeBe called back to me. At this point, I was still on my apartment building's side of the parking lot, but he was loud enough for me to home in on his call. It ws coming from the building across the parking lot from our building. I made my way over there, worrying that he was in the tree that was next to it. How was I going to get him out?

As I approached the tree, he kept calling to me as I called to him, and then I saw him. He was standing on the rail of the second story balcony. I kept calling him and calling him, but he would not come down to me. I couldn't reach him!

To make matters worse, an 18-wheeler hauler (the front cab of the truck) pulled up by us and it frightened BeBe. He took off again, circling out into the parking lot, but back around to the same building (thank the Lord!). This time he landed on the first floor roof apex. I still couldn't get him from there, so I kept calling out to him.

At this point, I was losing it. This was my baby, and I wanted him back. Mark asked me if I had any seed and I said I did but it was up in my apartment around the back of the building across the street. Besides, there was no way I was taking my eyes off of BeBe.

Mark walked away briefly and then BeBe took off again. Everytime he took off, I feared that was the last time I was going to see him. I didn't know where he would fly to. However, he wanted to be near me, so he circled around again and this time landed on the same roof but on the edge near the gutter. I stood there begging him to come down to me and he made the edging movements he makes when he wants to come down to me. He just didn't have the confidence to come down.

The second floor neighbor, whose balcony BeBe had originally landed on, came out onto the balcony wondering who was calling to "BeBe." That's when he saw me and I told him my lovebird was right at the edge of the roof there. He told me to calm down because BeBe is not used to seeing me upset like that, which he was absolutely right!

I edged closer and figured I might be able to reach him. But, not from the ground. I started climbing. BeBe is comfortable with me, so me approaching him did cause him to fly away; he just kept watching me, wanting to get to me. I climbed up the rail (in my skirt and dress shoes of all things) balanced myself and reached out.....

I got him! I quickly threw him into my shirt just as Mark was returning with seed and a fish net. I was praising God at this point. My nice neighbor up on the second floor watched me and told me to wait so he could help me get down, but I thanked him and just jumped down on my own.

I thanked both Mark and this other neighbor profusely for the encouragement and help. With BeBe still in my shirt (close to my heart), I walked back up to the apartment, which had the door wide open (I took off down the stairs, no regard to what I was wearing or where I was going).

I had my BeBe back. That was what mattered. Not the wood rash on my legs from climbing nor the aching feet from running in my dress shoes. I had my BeBe.

You sometimes don't realize how much you love something until you lose it, or at least in this case, almost lose it. Many lovebirds don't make it their full life span because of household accidents or from flying away. BeBe has no outdoor survival skills. He would easily be picked off by a predator.

All in all, lesson learned. We are his flock, his family, his mate, and I am just truly glad that he recognized my voice when I called out to him. He called back.

This directly parallels how the Lord is our flock, our father, our mate. He calls out to us. But we want to fly out and away, venture into the unknown dangers. We know that we want to get back to Him, but we don't know how or don't have the confidence to do so. We finally recognize His voice and call back to Him. He calls back to us. We wait for Him to rescue us and He does. He reaches out to us, puts us in His arms and holds us close to His heart. He has His child back....

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Destiny

endings are not natural
though we long for a better belonging
golden streets of happiness
a presence of Him almighty
reunions from beyond
knowings of beauty
uncomparable sights,
sounds,
smells,
emotions
a desire that pulls on our heart strings
an understanding of a true home
perfection never attained
until now
within the realm of eternity
gainfully gleeful
a heart fulfilled
brimming with love
praise forever untireable
predestined
accepting this fate
living in the now
yet,
living for eternity

© 2006 TRM