But wait, I have something to say...

Fear not!

2012-01-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Lucy

2010-08-12T12:34:00.001-07:00

Dear Lucy,

It's hard to believe you've already been gone a whole week. I miss your sweet face so much! I felt like everything happened so fast when we had to make the horrible decision to let you go--I still can't think about it without sobbing. But, what has bothered me is that I never got the chance to honor your life. You were a part of a quarter of my life and your absence has left a huge hole.

I will never forget the day I met you for the first time. Daddy gave you to me as a Christmas present, but I didn't get to meet you until January. What a perfect choice--your sweet, soft brown eyes, your velvety ears and that nose with the crooked markings. Grandma always teased you that the angel that painted your face didn't do a very good job :-) Who knew all the enjoyment you would bring us over the years.

It didn't take long for us to see your true colors. Within weeks you had eaten big holes in the walls of our laundry room (your room) in our brand new house. In the first year, I think we took you to the emergency room at least three times--cutting your toe, eating my eyeglasses, and polishing off a whole bowl of Halloween candy. You were meant to be a Glenn, no two ways about it!

One of the worst mishaps was when you broke your leash and ran off while we were inside a restaurant up in the mountains. It took us 13 days, miles of traveling, and hiking circles around the towns of Silvercliffe and Westcliffe before we found you. Amazingly, we seemed to be in worse shape than you when we finally got you back. What a celebration! I will always remember how the people of those tiny little towns supported us and did everything they could to help us find you.

My favorite thing we did together was going for runs. You LOVED it. I couldn't believe how far you could go. When I had the hair brained idea that I would train for a marathon, you went with me on every run--even that ridiculous 14 mile run I went on in the middle of the afternoon on a hot Summer day. What was I thinking? What a champ you were to finish it with me--we were both so thirsty when we got home.

Your favorite thing to do with Daddy was play hide and seek. I have never heard of a dog that did that. But, then again, you didn't know you were a dog. You would sit at the top of the stairs while Daddy would hide downstairs, then when he would whistle for you, you would tear down the stairs barking and yapping, searching everywhere until you found him. So much fun--by far your favorite game.

There were the rides in Daddy's jeep, the fishing and camping trips, and watching the Cowboys games. You never did figure out that Daddy was yelling at the TV, not you. You were our child long before we had children and we spoiled you rotten. But, when our children did come along, you adjusted beautifully, taking them on as your own and loving and protecting them. Morgan asks about you every day. It hurts to have to explain to him that you won't be coming home again, but I'm so glad that he got to know you.

Oh Lucy, it hurts so much to think about all of these memories, but it hurts even more not to. I will miss having your head in my lap in the mornings while I have my quiet time, I will miss tripping over you in the middle of the night, I will miss watching our boys tug and pull on you while you patiently allowed them to do whatever they wanted--you were so good with them. I have told everyone how you didn't trust me to do this "mommy" thing on my own. While they napped, I wouldn't see you, but as soon as they were up, there you were too. I appreciated the "help" most of the time.

I wish we would have had a little more time together. I knew your time was coming soon, I justed didn't know it would be this soon. I would have liked to been able to spoil you rotten for a day, apologize for the times that in my sleep deprivation, I was just impossible to be around, and let you know in my words and actions how much these last eleven years have meant to me. Lucy Lou, you were one of a kind and I will miss you so much. Good-bye sweet girl.

Lucy Lou Glenn

11/1999-08/2010

Diet Experiment #3: Lean Cuisine

2009-12-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

Let me just tell you right away that this was, by far, my most favorite and least favorite plan. It was my most favorite because it was FOOD! Blessed food, and a nice variety too. No shakes, no meal bars, just nice, pre-packaged meals. I was in heaven. "You can lose weight eating like this?", I thought to myself. WRONG!!!! That's why it was my least favorite. I gained 3 pounds over my two week trial. Yes, GAINED. I was so mad!!

It turns out that these delicious meals come with a price--sodium, and lots of it. I was so bloated and felt so gross after two weeks that I just wanted to drink water and eat salads and fruit just to flush out my system. It was not worth it to gain weight while still limiting my calories on diet food. Whereas their meals are good, it's still a small amount. If I'm going to gain weight I want it to be eating all the greasy hamburgers and french fries and chocolate I can consume.

If you're going to eat Lean Cuisine, limit it to one of their meals a day. There is easily a days worth of sodium in one of their meals, let alone two. I personally love their mini pizza's for lunch every now and then. I guess the lesson is that if it seems too good to be true, it usually is. Oh well. On to my last experiment...

Diet Experiment #2: The Slim Fast Plan

2009-12-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

I was feeling pretty good about my weight loss success, but then my family and I went on vacation and let's just say I "slipped" a little in my eating habits :). That's the way it always seems to be with me; one step forward, two steps back. But, in my defense, there was a GREAT hamburger joint in Breckenridge with the best onion rings I've ever tasted.

My second diet experiment was an oldie but a goodie: The Slim Fast Plan. Whereas everything with the Special K plan is cereal, cereal, cereal, Slim Fast is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I thought I would be in seventh heaven since I am a confessed chocoholic, but I'm telling you, I was SICK of chocolate by the end of two weeks. The shakes for breakfast were chocolate, the snacks were chocolate and carmal, the meal bar were, you guessed it, chocolate and peanut butter. I was consuming so many sweets on this plan, my teeth hurt. My poor lil guy, Grayson who is still nursing also didn't seem to fair so well on this plan. We were both pretty jittery from all of the sugar.

The good news was I lost another five pounds, but the bad news that it was just....too.....much....chocolate. I honestly didn't know those words could come out of my mouth. This is a also a really good plan to lose a few pounds quickly. I didn't feel nearly as hungry on this plan as I did with Special K, but I was still hungry a lot. Their meal bars brag that they will control hunger for up to four hours. Yeah, I never made if four hours--two was my maximum. I would love to meet the person who isn't hungry. My guess is they are some little pip squeak who doesn't need to be concerned about dieting anyway.

Diet Experiment #1--The Special K Challenge

2009-10-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I wrote about how I was going to try a series of diet experiments in an attempt to lose my baby weight. My first experiment in this dieting madness was to try out the Kellogg's Special K challenge. You've seen the commercials--"Lose a jean size in two weeks". Sounds promising. In checking out their website, I found out that they offer a variety of cereal, meal bars, and snack bars as part of their plan. You choose two meals, two snacks and then eat a healthy dinner. You're also allowed to snack on fresh fruits and vegetable throughout the day.

One word describes how I felt for two weeks--HUNGRY!! I'm not kidding. I was constantly hungry. All I thought about is "when can I eat again?" I tried to keep my snacks and meals to every two hours, but I was counting the minutes in between. On one day, I was so hungry I ate a whole canelope in one sitting. I figured since the plan did allow for snacking on fruits and vegetables and it didn't say how much....

The good news is I lost 5lbs (and a jean size) during this two weeks. If you are trying to drop a few lbs quickly, I think this is a decent, short term diet. The down side is that you are eating cereal for almost every meal or some sort of cereal snack bar. They try and "church it up" by offering different types of fruit cereals and chocolate meal bars, but cereal is cereal. I was REALLY tired of cereal after two weeks.

All in all, they keep their promise to lose a jean size in two weeks and it was fairly easy to follow. Just be prepared to be very hungry. And try not to eat whole canelopes for a snack--I'm pretty sure that's not what they have in mind :).

Diets

2009-09-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I had a new baby almost six months ago and in a previous post I mentioned that the baby weight doesn't come off very fast. So, I've decided to experiment with a few of the cheaper diet plans, just to see if any of them work and I can get some of these stubborn pounds off. I'm going to write a post on each one and give a critic of the plans. I've chosen three different diet plans and am going to give each one a two week trial. All three of them allow me to eat a regular dinner, which works very well into my life style. Also, I've started running again (very s-l-o-w-l-y) to get some exercise in--usually about 45 minutes a day. My goal is to get within 5 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight by the end of October ( about two lbs per week). I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

Is 40 REALLY the new 20?

2009-05-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

I turned 40 a couple of months ago. Forty. Maybe it's me, but something about 40 just seems so...old. To be honest, I was dreading the whole thing. Everyone I knew that had turned forty told me that, physically, they started falling apart within weeks of turning the dreaded age--knees going out, wrinkles more pronouced, skin sagging every where. In my mind I was saying "No Thanks".

But, my day turned out to be great. I was greeted by bright, fun pink and yellow balloons trailing down our stair case and found our kitchen smothered in more balloons and steamers everywhere. What fun! No black decorations announcing my age making me feel ashamed, just lots of cheerfulness. My wonderful husband also held a surprise birthday party for me. My whole day was just awesome! Something my husband said to me that day is so true. Turning 40 is not all that bad, but announcing it to everyone is the hard part.

The truth is 40 is does not feel like 20. Not even a little bit. When I was 20, I was in college and didn't really have a care in the world. My only concerns in life were keeping up with my homework and choosing my social schedule. I was in a lot better shape and even if a few extra pounds snuck on, I could drink Slim Fast for a week and they would be gone. My hair was naturally blonde back then and I could look at my face up close in the mirror without cringing about all of my wrinkles.

Now, at 40, I have a lot more concerns in life and tons of responsibilities. I enjoy all that has changed in my life, but I would definately not label it as "care free". My husband and I just started our family a couple years ago and it is so wonderful. But, my social schedule consists of playdates with toddlers and trips to the grocery store and that extra pregnancy weight does not melt off my body the way it does for my 20 something and 30 something friends. My hair now has to be highlighted to maintain any hint of what it was twenty years ago and I am so grateful for my failing eyesight because when I look in the mirror I can't see how deep the wrinkles go unless I'm really close up (which I avoid unless I'm trying to put on mascara--which brings up another issue: where the heck did my eyelashes go?--ugh!).

To be honest, I'm not as upset as I thought I would be about turning 40. My grandma told me many years that you never stop feeling about 28 on the inside, the only thing frustrating about getting older is a failing body and not recognizing yourself in a mirror. I always liked her outlook on life-- she was never afraid to try new things, meet new people and keep up with the current times. Should I get to live as old as she was, I hope I'm the same way.

Let's face it-- getting old stinks. None of us likes getting wrinkles and gray hair. We would all prefer to have the energy of our youth but, I would rather take on what getting older brings than to stress out over it and get even more wrinkles. Hollywood has turned getting older into some sort of freak show. I don't even need to mention Joan Rivers to point out how ridiculous plastic surgery has become. Some people don't even look human any more. I sometimes wonder if that's what people are really seeing when they claim they've seen an alien. Maybe it's just another person who took plastic surgery and a face lift a little too far.

So here's to all of us who are turning 40 this year. May we all enjoy it and learn to laugh at ourselves and what aging brings.

Contest!

2009-05-06T10:09:00.001-07:00

My husband is hosting a great contest to give away some music and restaurant gift cards. It's called, I think rather cleverly, the Beats and Eats contest.

Basically, we need your help selling some CDs. But rather than just asking you to help us sell, we're giving away prizes for the people who sell the most!

Click on the picture below to learn more about the contest:

Goofy knows my name

2009-03-19T21:36:00.001-07:00

Big Bang Dance

2009-03-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

My husband and I have several TV shows we enjoy watching every week and our son, Morgan is usually still awake for one or two of them. He has a GREAT passion for music (just like Daddy) and any time music is playing on the TV he will stop whatever he is doing and listen. Recently, however, one song in particular has captured him. If you've never seen "Big Bang Theory", I highly recommend you check it out--it's a great show. Morgan absolutely goes nuts for the opening song. Here's a video of his Big Bang Dance.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

OK, this is a Facebook thing and I am happy to comply. But, I have to say, it took me FOREVER to come up with 25 things. I hope it helps you to know me better. Enjoy.

1. I am a closet "Murder She Wrote" watcher--I just love the cheesy old murder/detective shows from the 80's (Matlock, Simon and Simon, etc..)my husband gives me so much grief for this, now you can too.

2. I am always nervous about others reading what I write--I've had this fear as long as I can remember and is probably why I have such terrible spelling and grammar errors.

3. I really want to run a marathon some day--I came close about 3 years ago, but just couldn't do it.

4. I've climbed 2 "Fourteeners" in Colorado and would like to do more--I LOVE the mountains and going hiking.

5. I snuck into a Def Leppard concert about 8 years ago--they were playing here in Colorado Springs and I never got tickets, so I snuck out in the middle of the night (without my husband knowing) and got to see them for about an hour. I fully intended to pay at the door, but no one was there--I still feel guilty about it, but it was SO AWESOME!!

6. My favorite candy in the whole world is Hot Tamales--I cannot watch a movie without them. Peanut M&M's are a close second, but I can polish off a whole big bag in a day, so I don't get them very often.

7. I hate the way my hair looks when I style it--I have been going to the same stylist, Carrie,for about 13 years now and LOVE the way it looks when she does it. I wish I could afford to hire her to style my hair every day.

8. I'm really bummed about turning 40 this year--I have never been bothered about turning another year older, but this year is different. Probably because the wrinkles are getting more pronounced.

9. I enjoy my Dad's jokes--I have given him grief about them as long as I can remember, but if he ever stopped, I would be so sad and disappointed.

10. I am a HUGE Beth Moore fan--I've participated in almost all of her Bible studies and read most of her books. I love her ministry to women and get so much out of the research she does on the Bible.

11. My husband is my most favorite person to hang out with--He won't believe this when he reads it, but it's true. I never laugh more than when I'm with him and his opinion on things is the one I value the most.

12. I like to debate issues with other--I love playing the devil's advocate and hearing others opinions, but it always annoys me when the other person gets uncomfortable and tries to change the subject before I'm finished with it. Come on--There's no crying in debate!!!

13. I like to spend time alone--I crave company if I am isolated for too long, but I really enjoy having a lot of time to myself.

14. One of my biggest fears is of being be-headed--I'm not sure why, but I just really don't want to go out that way.

15. I cheated on a test once in college--It was French class and I hadn't studied at all. The bad news is, I got caught, the good news is that my professor was very kind and didn't expel me from college. I felt just horrible!!

16. The shortest time I've worked at a place is two days--I was a kitchen designer for two whole days before I got a call about a job doing model homes. It was a no brainer because the kitchen design place built their own cabinetry and the whole place reeked of varnish-yuck!

17. I love being a stay-at-home mom--I don't feel any urgency at all to be a career mom (except when finances get tight). It is truly the best thing I've ever done and the most fun.

18. I sing in a band sometimes--it's my husband's band and I sing background vocals when he needs me to and love it.

19. I collect angels--my husband travels a lot to foreign countries and always brings me back a new one for my collection.

20. I am computer illiterate--it's sad, but true. It takes me forever to figure out what I'm doing and if it's not easy--I just give up.

21. I love Television--seriously, I could watch all day and night and not feel guilty. I have my favorite shows (Big Bang Theory, 24, etc.), but I can even watch the same shows and movies again and again and be entertained.

22. I like to sew--I've made several things over the years, but mostly for myself or for gifts. I recently made some throw pillows and sold them at a craft fair. It's the first time I've ever profited off of sewing.

23. I had my own interior design business for ten years--It was a lot of fun, but I'm not a very good paperwork person which is kind of important. I may go back to it some day.

24. I love surprises--Life seems so predictable sometimes. I like to be surprised--in a good way, that is. I remember praying for excitement in my life a while back. Let's just say God's definition of exciting and mine are two different things. I will never pray for that again.

25. Spiders terrify me--We don't have a lot of bugs in Colorado, but we do have spiders. They just creep me out for some reason.

My favorite chair

2009-01-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

We just bought a new (well, slightly new) leather chair and ottoman. Boy, is it comfy!! Seriously, it's the kind of chair you could just melt into and never want to get out of. The thing is, I'm feeling conflicted.

We have always just had the one chair. It's a nice big chair & 1/2 and I have enjoyed curling up in it for nearly 10 years now. It's the place I have met with my Lord every morning for the last 9 years. It's where I have had my first cup of coffee. It's where my husband and I have sat close and watched countless movies. It's where my dog, Lucy, has always come to me to get a little head and chest rub while I'm having my quiet time. It's where I've sat for hours enjoying our fireplace in the winter and gazing out our trees in the summer. It's where I've shared my deepest heart aches and greatest triumphs with God. It's the first place I sat holding my newborn son, Morgan, when we brought him home from the hospital. It's the place he and I snuggle every morning when he first wakes up. It is my favorite chair.

But, my chair is getting worn out now. It creaks and crunches when I sit down, the fabric is worn out and it probably won't last much longer. We still have it and I still enjoy sitting in it, but the new chair... It's just SO darn comfortable! I suppose I should be grateful that I have a choice on which chair to sit in, but I feel a little guilty every time I choose the new over the old. I'm sure it sounds silly. How is it possible to get attached over something as common as a chair?

The truth of the matter is that my conflict is a moot point. My husband, Tim, has claimed the new one as his "Man Chair" and the only time I get to sit in it is when he' s not here. There is some relief for me in this, because then I don't feel guilty about neglecting my old chair. I know there will come a day when we will replace my old one with a new one. I will miss my old chair on that day. But, for now, it sits looking warm and inviting. I think I'll go curl up for a nap.

First peek at Grayson

2009-01-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We had our 3D ultrasound last Friday and got to see our lil Grayson moving around. Unfortunately, like his older brother, he had his hand in front of his face for most of the appointment. We tried everything: talking to him, shifting my position from one side to the other (not easy when you're getting as round as I am), and even giggling my belly. It was like his hand was super glued to his head--little stinker. We did manage to get this view of his profile and can see what a beautiful little boy he is. I think he's going to look a lot like Morgan.

We got some video too of him doing some pretty cute things like sucking on his hand and kicking around. We're going back again this week to see if we can get a better view of his face (without the hand stuck there hopefully) I love this technology and getting to have a sneak peek at him. I've always thought that pregnant women should get to have little windows on their bellies so that you could see your baby anytime you wanted. This is the next best thing, I suppose. Please pray that he'll show us more of his beautiful face.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

Wow! Where have the last two months gone? Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have whizzed by and I'm still recovering. I mostly just have some random thoughts today that I thought I would share with whomever cares to listen.

#1 Shouldn't we do wedding showers for anniversary's?

As I was preparing our Thanksgiving dinner using our 14 year old pans, utensils and bowls, I remembered when they were shiney and new. They are now old and out dated, rusted, and a little worse for the wear. It occured to me that it would be so nice to have a wedding shower again where I could register for all the things that I need that have worn out. Wouldn't that be fun--say for every five to ten years that you are married that your friends and family would throw a shower for you? I would love to start that tradition--with me, of course :) After all, marriage is hard enough and with divorce statistics unfortunately being what they are, how about giving each other a little more incentive and reward for sticking it out. Who's with me?

#2 Buy a seat for your toddler on an airplane ride--it's worth the extra money.

We traveled to Texas for part of our Christmas vacation this year. My brother-in-law Gary married a beautiful girl named Stacey. Whereas I was so glad to get to go and witness this miraculous event, the travel left a lot to be desired. Our son, Morgan, is 21 months old, and is still eligible to travel sitting in our laps on the plane. HA! Lesson learned, a 21 month old little boy does not want to sit in your lap peacefully reading books, playing with his toys and eating snacks for a 2 and a half our plane ride. He wants to climb, explore, and interact with all the other people. When he is not allowed to do that, he screams and cries and throws very dramatic temper tantrums. Yea, it was fun, especially since it was a sold out flight both ways.

#3 Throw away your New Years Resolutions

I'm a typical resolution maker every new year. I make grand lists and plans of how I want my life to change and be better and have great intentions of this being the year that I will follow through to the end. Unfortunately, I am also the kind of resolution maker that gives up after only a few days. My husband, Tim, writes posts on Compassion's blog and recently wrote a post on January 5th titled "New Year's Resolutions" that changed my perspective on resolutions. I encourage you check it out. I'm not saying that goal setting is not a good idea, but after reading this, I think you'll agree with me, that our goals can be a little out of proportion compared to some.

That's all of my random thoughts for now. Thanks for indulging me.

Upcoming next week: 3D pics of our lil baby boy on-the-way, Grayson.

The Big Day!

2008-11-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

The big day is here! My husband, Tim has just released an awesome new album called "So Human". If you'll allow me to brag on him a bit-- his song "Open Up the Darkness" is getting radio air time on several stations across the country and is #17 on the Christian Rock charts. I am SO proud!

This Friday night (Nov. 21st) at 7:00pm we are doing his CD release concert and party at Rocky Mountain Calvary here in Colorado Springs. For those of you who live here, I hope you can make it and for those of you who don't but are interested in hearing the new CD, you can purchase it online through CD Baby or Itunes or if your paying by check you can contact us directly. Just visit Tim's website timglennmusic.com for all the details.

This concert is very much a labor of love and we are so excited about it. Please pray for this event and especially for Tim--his health and his voice. Thank you for sharing our excitement!

Best Halloween EVER!

2008-11-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Hey Gang! Just wanted to post some pics of my lil guy from Halloween. What a fun time!

Morgan helped carve his first pumkin this year.

We also went to the Harvest Fest at our church. It was so awesome to watch him have so much fun playing all of the games. I wasn't expecting him to enjoy it as much as he did. What a blast!

Grandma and Papa were also here to celebrate and enjoy our lil Mickey Mouse. I couldn't believe it, he seemed to love his costume and even wore white gloves--just like Mickey.

One of my favorite parts of the night was when we came home to give out candy to trick-or-treaters. This year was one of the best nights, weather wise, for Halloween I've ever seen in Colorado Springs, so kids were out in droves. Morgan loved helping us answer the door and spoke his jibberish to all the visitors. Hope you all had a fun one too!

I LOVE Fall

2008-10-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is, by far, my most favorite time of the year. Here in Colorado we have the most beautiful scenery with the Aspen's in their bright gold and the scrub oak in vivid orange. It just never lasts long enough. This is the time of year I want to cling to the longest--even more than Christmas!

I guess it brings back so many wonderful memories from the past. It's back to school time and all of us wearing our new corduroy pants and Buster Brown shoes, going to football games, deciding what to be for Halloween, carving jack-o-lanterns, going on hay rack rides and drinking hot apple cider.

I can't wait to start our own traditions with Morgan and our soon to be here "lil bean". Last year we went to a pumpkin patch and picked our own pumpkins. Morgan seemed to find more joy in eating the dirt, but we had such fun. I hope we'll do that again this year.

How about you? What are your favorite things to do this time of year? I'd love to hear about your traditions for Fall.

Big News!

2008-09-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry i've been out of the picture for a while. We just found out some really exciting news a few weeks ago. Baby Glenn #2 is on the way!!! We're so excited. Baby is due on April 10th. A week from today we will get to hear the heart beat and I can't wait! So, I've been having a lot of all day "morning sickness" and SO unbelievably tired. Poor Morgan has to endure his Mommy being a bit of a slug most days. But, we're making it through. Now we just have to figure out where we're going to put this new lil bean. Our home is starting to feel a bit cramped already. Please pray for health for me and baby, for Morgan adjusting to being a big brother, and for Tim and I as we try to figure out all the financial and space issues. Thanks for sharing our joy!

Mowing with Daddy

2008-08-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

Morgan absolutely LOVES pretending to mow the lawn with Daddy. We captured this a few weeks ago, complete with Daddy making the lawn mower noises and Morgan pretending to start the mower. Too cute!

Lessons from Lucy

2008-07-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

Push, pull, drag, lurch, tug, yank. This describes my walk with my dog, Lucy, yesterday. By the time we got home I was so aggravated that I found myself severely scolding her about what a bad dog she was and how it's not worth it to take her on walks anymore.

I was bothered later about how I reacted so severely to my sweet, rather dopey dog and how I had done it in front of my fifteen month old son. I don't want him to see me "barking" at the dog more than she barks at me. So there I sat, feeling guilty and not knowing what to do about it and, out of the blue, God showed me a picture in my mind.

In my relationship with Him, I often push, pull, drag,etc...trying to get Him to follow me rather than the other way around. The difference is, I know better. Lucy, bless her heart, has not been properly trained to follow me when she's on her leash. She doesn't know that she's not supposed to be the one leading. It's her nature to run ahead unless I specifically train her not to.

In my case, God is the Leader and I know this. So when I choose to try to go off in different directions, it causes me pain. He doesn't change the path for me, He expects me to follow where He's leading. The problem is that I, like Lucy, want to run ahead to see what's coming or I get distracted by something over here, so I lurch to the side, or I want to yank back and check out what's behind me. I'm impatient to just follow along and yet, that's the only way He'll have it and the only way I can live in peace.

Ugh! Don't cha just hate it when God uses everyday annoyances to teach you a lesson? Just so you know, I apologized to Lucy with a good belly scratch and, like always, she was instantly forgiving. Ah, another lesson I can learn from her. Dang it!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

2008-07-04T20:11:00.001-07:00

I love 4th of July. It's what marks the beginning of summer and permission to eat all of the watermelon and homemade ice cream that I want, go swimming, and where flip flops.

I have so many great memories from my childhood of going to parades and shooting off fire crackers. As I write this, my neighborhood sounds like a war zone. Fire works are illegal in Colorado Springs because of the fire danger, but it never seems to stop folks from celebrating. I don't promote breaking the law, but I have to admit, I love hearing all of the crackles, pops, whistles and flares.

On this particular day, every year, I feel patriotic. I love hearing the choreographed music that is played along with the big fire works shows and as much as I am SO sick and tired of Lee Greenwoods, "Proud to be an American" song, on this particular day I don't mind so much. I get a little lump in my throat when they play it as the finale along with all of the big booms and beautiful showers of red, white and blue.

I am proud of our country, even with all of our flaws. I love our freedom and I pray God will continue to bless us with that. I can't wait until next year when Morgan will be old enough to participate and have fun with all of the 4th of July traditions. We had a great day of eating watermelon and ice cream and playing outside and he is sleeping peacefully now, even with all of the hoopla going on. However you celebrated our independance today, I hope it will bring lasting memories for you and your family.

My first post

2008-06-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Boy, I'm a little nervous because writing is a little intimidating to me. Usually, I write in my journal and it's my rambling thoughts and prayers-- it's basically the way I communicate to God. Writing my fears, hopes, frustrations, praises, and prayer requests is very therapeutic for me. I rarely go back and read what I have written, mostly because I have terrible hand writing but, I also like the finality of purging what's on my heart each day before the Lord and then moving on from it. Somehow, I fear that if I go back and read all I have written, I'll have to face all the old "demons" I've already overcome and have to relive the same lessons.

I'm always very thankful that God is the only One who can read my thoughts. He's the only One that is capable of handling all of my insanity gracefully without condemning or judging me. Can you imagine if we could read each others thoughts? You all would be sending the "Men in white coats" to pick me up in no time flat. Just today I was thinking that's what it will be like when Jesus comes for me. He is,after all the ultimate "Man in the white coat (er robe)". It'll be like a scene in a movie--Jesus slowly walking up to me using a very slow almost condecending voice "OK, come on Jennifer, we're going to go now to a 'special place' that's very safe" I can imagine Him, having heard my thoughts for that day, thinking "Man, we're going to need the straight jacket for this one." Lest you think I'm a psychopath and be in fear of what I actually might be thinking. Please understand that I take what the Bible says very seriously and when I read that if I have an evil thought about someone, it's the same as murdering them (Mathew 5: 21) it sobers me.

The person I am most nervous about reading this is my husband, Tim. He is an excellent writer and I feel so self conscious about the fact that he will read this. You can check out his blog at timglenn.blogspot.com . Really, all I want to do is share my thoughts, opinions, and observations. I'll also share a lot about my beautiful baby boy, Morgan.

You'll have to indulge me--I am a VERY proud Mama and am so priviledged to get to spend my days with him--he is a hoot! I'm terrible about keeping my friends and family up to date on our "goings on", so I'm also hoping to use this as a way to keep my family in the loop. My Grandma, who passed a way a few years ago, was so wonderful at writing a monthly letter that gave updates on all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. I can't help but think she would have LOVED this blogging thing.

There you have it my first of, I hope, many posts. I'm hoping for this to be a great forum for sharing because I love to hear what others think about things. Please forgive my misspellings, iffy grammar, and general mistakes (Tim :) ) Thanks for reading and let me hear from you.