A Few of my Favorites...

Thought I would share. Enjoy...!

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” --Mother Teresa--

"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better."

"Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens."
--Frank Herbert--

“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--

"Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger." --The Problem of Pain (200) C.S. Lewis--

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." --Jim Elliot--

"Perhaps it would be a good idea, fantastic as it sounds, to muffle every telephone, stop every motor and halt all activity for an hour some day to give people a chance to ponder for a few minutes on what it is all about, why they are living and what they really want." --James Truslow Adams (1878-1949)--

It Gets Me Everytime

Today I watched the movie Pearl Harbor (with Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck *sigh*) and it never fails...I cry everytime.

I am such a girl.

"Hey, My Man..."

My brother, Tim, is in town this weekend. So today, my mom, Tim and I went out to lunch to Port of Subs and then we went to Longs Drug Store.

While inside Longs my mom went off looking for various items so my brother and I were just walking around. This conversation between my brother and the store clerk made me laugh. Now mind you, this is word for word...

Tim asks the store clerk: "Hey my man, do you guys have any cereal here?"

**Now at this moment Tim is standing directly in front of a display of different cereals. No joke--directly in front.

Store Clerk: "Hmmmm, yeah, it's right there...in front of you." (but he said this in a very nice way)

Tim: "Oh, sorry my man, I'm new here"

This may not be funny to other people, but if you know my brother you can just see this scene being played out.

Good times. And my mom bought me a bag of pretzels. I love pretzels.

I Feel Old

The other night I helped out with a Youth For Christ high school scavenger hunt. I arrived at the house and got to see a lot of students I hadn't seen in a while. My heart was filled with joy as I saw many familiar faces and many new ones.

Jesus is surely at work within that ministry.

But I felt old. Here's why: As I was standing around talking to kids I noticed a girl walk in. Now there were lots of kids there, but this girl stuck out to me. She was tall and beautiful and I knew I knew her from somewhere.

As I stared at her trying to place her in my head, it clicked...

I used to babysit her and her brothers like 7 years ago when she was 7 years old...and now she's 14--and a freshmen in high school!

Wow. Time moves quickly...and in that moment I felt slightly old...just a tad bit.

Top Three

This gentlemen, Art Negrete, is on my list of top three co-workers of all times.


Art is great. We work so well together and have so much fun while working! We worked together all last year and in the summer some too and always had a good time. Here are just a few of the reasons why I appreciate Negrete so much and why he will always be on my top three co-workers of all times:

-- He appreciates and gets my sarcasim.
-- He can give and take a good joke.
-- He truly listens and values the ideas of others.
-- He is a hard worker and will go the extra mile to get the job done right.
-- He is so easy to talk to--we can talk for a long time about really random things.
-- He is a God-fearing man.
-- He knows how to make a darn good batch of cookies--with a pinch of nutmeg.
-- He is very relational and helps others to feel comfortable.
-- He likes Chipotle.

These are just a few of the reasons why Art is in the top three. I hope to one day have the opportunity to be co-workers with Art again--somewhere, someday, that is my hope!

And yes ladies, he is single. You can reach Art at 559-709-8867.

Just kidding--that's not his real number...or is it?

Ha. No really, it's not.

The Last Batch...

I finally did it. I finished off the HUGE bag of pancake mix that I bought over a year and a half ago. I bought this big bag of pancake mix for a weekend youth retreat I was heading up. I had a ton of the "just add water" mix left over which was great for when I was in college and usually had very little food to my name, I could just open the bag of pancake mix and simply add water and I had myself a tasty little meal.

Well tonight, after getting back to my apartment late, I decided to make some pancakes and found that I had only enough mix left for one more batch.

I think the bag of mix cost me about $5.98 at Costco and that is by far the BEST $5.98 that I ever used. Never before have I got so much out of spending so little. You could seriously feed over 100 people with that bag of mix...no joke.

So here's my advice for the week: Next time you are at Costco spend the $5.98 and buy yourself a bag of Krusteaz Pancake Mix (be sure to get the "just add water" kind). It's great to have on hand and it last F-O-R-EVER!

I had my bag for a year and a half and it still didn't expire until August 2007! I still had a few more months left on it! Oh how I love pancakes!!! Now only if the milk I bought would last a little bit longer...

My Sincere Apology...

I have come to find out that I dissapointed my #1 reader of my blog by not posting something worthy for my 100th post. I am deeply sorry.

So here, my friend J.lo is the top 100 reasons why you are my friend:


1. You make me laugh
2. You know me better than I know myself sometimes.
3. We have inside jokes that could go on for days...
4. You know the all of my different "facial expressions" and what they mean and I know yours.
5. I know what your "Becky, what do you want, I'm getting ready voice" sounds like.
6. ...

Maybe I'll have to break the top 100 down into smaller bits. Although, I could think of 100 things, something tells me you and I would be the only one who would understand 90% of them.

Maybe I'll start doing a top 10 list each week...you never know what could come from that. Stay tuned.

Shot gun bang...what's up with that thang?

I was at my parents house last night and for some reason my dad was in a "let's look at old pictures" kind of mood. So we did. And we came across this picture:


For some reason, my dad LOVES this picture. He wants to get it blown up into a bigger size and have it framed. He's so funny. I myself, don't think this picture is frame worthy, but he obviously sees something more in it then I do. Now watch, next time I go to my parents house this picture will be framed and hanging above the mantle. Ha. I laugh, but it is very possible.

I love my dad.

One Zero Zero

Some of you may have thought I feel off the face of the planet....I haven't posted in almost a week--not like me. I don't know what happened--I guess just being busy.

BUT this is a monumental post because it is number one zero zero. That's right...this is my 100Th post. Now we're looking ahead to 200. We'll see if we get that far.

So to all of you out there who actually read this blog, thanks for sticking with me. Together we can move forward towards the bicentennial post!

Shake It Like A...

I came to the conclusion after watching the Grammys with j.lo that I hope to marry a man who likes to dance. Now I'm not saying he has to be "Dancing With The Stars" material, but as long as he likes to have fun and "can shake it like a polaroid picture" or at least attempt it, I'd be happy with that.

Lord knows I'm not the worlds best dancer, but I can bust a move or two...or at least I like to think so. Ha.

Speaking of dance parties, j.lo you need to get on that...

Product of the Week

This has quickly become one of my new favorite products. I always feel like I need to drink more water, but sometimes it's hard to drink it plain. Crystal Light On The Go is great and there are various flavors you can add by putting a simple pouch in a bottle of water and you're on your way!

It's convenient and tastes good to me! So if you're looking to drink more water...try it out! I found it's the cheapest at Wal-Mart.

I Could Barely Lift My Arms

I woke up this morning and my arms hurt reeeaaally bad. I thought I got hit by a car. Two nights ago, I went to the gym and for some reason decided to do more arm exercises then usual. I decided to use the "assisted pull up" machine and I did my 3 sets of 10 and felt pretty good. Then I did a few other exercises on machines and with free weights. When I left the gym I felt great...but when I woke up this morning, I didn't. I got up and stretched my arms up and let out a loud sound of pain. Probably a similar sound that a possum would make after it was hit by a car. I could barely lift my arms above my head!

I went to the gym tonight, grabbed a weight, did ONE tricept exercise and put the weight down. I couldn't do it.

Moral of the story: don't think you're cooler then you are when you're at the gym--your body will talk to you LOUDLY about it later.

Not Even A Week!

Tonight I held a 6 day old baby in my arms. Yes, that's right, only 6 DAYS old. She (Jenna Elise Obwald) hasn't even been in this big world of ours for a full week yet.

Talk about holding a miracle and trying to grip my mind around knowing 7 days ago she was still inside her mommy's tummy and now I was holding her in my arms...

Seems like a simple thing...but it surely reminded me of how BIG our God is and how he knows exactly what He is doing. How could someone say we weren't divinely created? Babies are a miracle. I don't think I want one of my own yet--because as soon as Jenna started crying I handed her back to mama and that is the beautiful thing about it. You get to enjoy others babies and then go home...to a quiet apartment. One day though, waaaay down the line, I hope to be blessed with babies of my own...someday.

My ABC's...

So the point of this is to use the alphabet and create your own categories for each letter. Below are the ones I picked...you never know, you just might learn something new...

A--Animal I'm most afraid of: Hippopotamus
B--Best Friend: J.lo (aka Jen)
C--Cousins: Caroline, Gretchen, Dave, Mahgen, Lori, Leigh
D--Dog: Rudy
E--Exciting moment: When I received the job offer for my current job.
F--Fresno Memory: It being 113 degrees and seriously sweating as soon as I walked outside.
G--Greatest Movie: The Sandlot
H--Hope for the future: To visit all 7 continents someday
I--Interesting Fact: I've never had a cavity in my life (knock on wood!)
J--J.lo Memory: Cover Girl Theme Song--"Fresh ideas, fresh face to the world, easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl!"
K--Kindest person: My mom
L--Last movie I saw: Pans Labyrinth
M--Memory from childhood: My brother, Brandon and I playing three flys up in the backyard and the ball came down and hit me smack in the mouth. Needless to say I was bleeding for a very long time. It also shows how good I was at catching a fly ball...
N--Nicest Scent: Fresh Rain or freshly baked bread
O--Oldest people in my family: My grandpa, he's 87 and still mowes his own lawn (front and back!) and my Great Uncle Elmer who is 93.
P--Preferred Diet Cola: Diet Pepsi
Q--Quote of the Week: "Men are like microwaves and women are like crock pots".
R--Reason why everyone should visit Fresno: It's the raisin capital of the world!
S--Saved By The Bell Character: Zach Morris
T--Tattoos: None
V--Vacation Memory: Getting lost in the mountains in Santa Cruz or was it Watsonville...? I don't know, but it was really funny and there were a whole lot of hills that we went over and over and over...again and again!
W--Weirdest Habit: Starring at people
X--X-rays I've had: teeth, back
Y--Youth Group Memory: Sneaking out of the window of the Jr. high youth room and sitting out on the roof LATE at night and as people would walk by Jen and I would lay REALLY still so no one saw us. OR...the drive back home for DC/LA...the hottest drive home ever.
Z--Zach Morris or AC Slater?: Zach Morris hands down!

Wow, you were right Eric, this was harder than I thought! Hope all enjoyed!

Nap Time...All The Time...?

It seems like I'm always tired and I don't know why...

I don't like this...

Sorry for the lack of exciting blogs lately...as soon as I get more energy I'll try and put more thought into it and post more.

$90 Is Worth It To Me...

My friend and I hung out today and we cracked walnuts for 4 hours. As the favors for her wedding, her mom is going to make candied walnuts and put them in small boxes with ribbons for each of the guests. A very cute and creative idea.

They live on a walnut orchard, so they have a lot of walnuts at their disposal. I enjoy eating walnuts--though having to crack and take out the nuts of over 500 of them, is more work then one thinks.

It was calculated that they needed 18 pounds of walnuts for 300 favors.

We worked about 4 hours, cracking and picking out walnuts and ended up with about 3 pounds.

When purchased already cracked and ready to eat, walnuts are about $5/pound.

Thus, one could buy 18 pounds of walnuts for $90. Aren't you impressed with my math skills...?

I would easily pay $90 and save myself all the time cracking over 3000 walnuts.

That's just my thought though.

I STILL have a bruise...

I have to get my blood drawn again on Tuesday and I'm not excited, to say the least.

When I went in this past Wednesday, they drew my blood and it took them not one, not two but THREE times to get it right and actually get the blood they needed.

I don't do well with needles to begin with, so by the time they dug in my arm the second time, I was having a really hard time.

Needless to say, I still have a bruise on my left arm where they dug in twice.

I'm going to request a new nurse if I have the same one again.

Here was the 22 year old girl walking out of the lab with tears running down her cheeck. I felt a little silly, but hey, it hurt and I wasn't feeling good to begin with. I deserved a slurpee after all that. I treated myself to a jamba instead.

Sex

Ha...I bet when you read the title, it really sparked your interest. It's okay, keep reading...

On Saturday I took about 30 college ladies to a Biblical Sexuality seminar at Fresno State. Brad Bell the pastor of The Well Community Church went through a four part series on the Song of Solomon. Now, I had heard this series twice before, the first time being about 5 years ago. Brad is a dynamic speaker and has a very modern and influential way of teaching and speaking biblical truth in love.

I don't think there was one person there who regreted going. Brad walked through Biblical Sexuality in four parts: Meeting, Dating, Courting, and The Honeymoon Night. I think the truth that hit home the hardest for many people there was the fact that so many of us do dating wrong and set ourselves up for failure.

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that no body enters into a relationship, let alone a marriage hoping it will fail or end up in divorce someday down the line. But the reality is, by the time a person's wedding day comes, they will most likely have already been emotionally married and divorced mulitiple times. We meet, date, get physically or emotionally involved and after a while when we're bored or just figure out we don't really like the other person as much as we thought, we move on. And do it again and again and again... Ouch.

I know there are a TON of views on how dating should and shouldn't be done--which is why my ultimate goal for the day was to simply open the eyes of many of the girls to see that there are better ways to navigate through the waters of dating far beyond what our world offers to us.

I was able to treat them to dinner as Old Spaghetti Factory during the dinner break. Good food and good conversation flowed.

I too, was reminded of a few things that God gently placed on my heart to think about. I was convicted in a few areas and am reminded daily of God's pure desire to protect his children from the dangers of the world--though we are the one's who make the choices to open those doors or keep them shut. Go with me here...I think many would agree that sometimes those doors are so tempting to open. But then again, there is a reason why God didn't lock those doors up--but rather we are free to open them if we so choose...

Brad also reminded everyone that ALL of us are broken people living in a broken world and we ALL are in need of God's grace EVERYDAY that he offers freely to us.

Say it with me...PTL!

Don't Pick The Green One

I came to the conclusion tonight that the green colored "Conversation Hearts" are the worst tasting of them all! I'm not a fan of the oh so popular "Conversation Hearts" that always apprear in the month of February, but I really don't like the green ones.

If you find yourself in reach of some, don't pick the green one. I don't think I'll willingly eat them again, but if I had to (like if I was on a deserted island and had nothing else to eat but scorpions, then I would) but here is the order of best to worst tasting colors, starting with #6 being the worst...

6. Green
5. White
4. Purple
3. Pink
2. Yellow
1. Orange

Happy candy eating!

Wisdom From a Starbuck's Cup

I go to Starbucks every Tuesday morning with one of my RA's. It's a beautiful thing to have a latte and start off the day with some good converstaion. I don't usually read the quotes on the cups which are called "The Way I See It..." but for some reason this week I decided too and I pondered what I read.

The Way I See It # 182

"In my career I've found that "thinking ourside the box" works better if I know what's "inside the box." In music (as in life) we need to understand our pertinent history...and moving on is so much easier once we know where we've been." --Dave Grusin - Award-winning composer and jazz musician.

So basically I interpreted this as, you need to understand your past and the things/issues/hurts and pains that are behind you, so that you can better understand things that come before you.

I'm not one who thinks we should dwell on our past. And there comes a point where you can't really blame your past for your actions--I think it's important to have an understanding of how your past has shaped you or predisposed you to certain things, but there comes a point in life when understanding and ownership must merge together and we start to look ahead and not behind.

I am a firm believer that our past shapes who you are but it does not have to define who you are. Big difference there.