Happy President’s Day!
It’s a gorgeous one out there today….
“If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“America is too great for small dreams.” ~ Ronald Wilson Reagan
*****
Hoping your Monday {and every day, for that matter} is full of BiG dReAmS.
{backyard chalk art by Elliott, age 7}
Happy Valentine’s Day!
xoxo
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart ~ Hellen Keller
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Learning that she will always make mistakes.
Knowing that HE will always make it right.
{Sacrament of First Reconciliation with Rev. Malcolm Ambrose ~ Feb. 4, 2013}
Last Friday morning I was driving to West Hills {San Fernando Valley} to deliver shoes that some local friends and I lovingly gathered and passed along to Tracy and her family in order to help bring sweet Sofi home from Eastern Europe and into the Jensen’s loving arms.
As I was driving down the 118 to exit Topanga Canyon, I all of a sudden, experienced some warmth in my chest and a quick shortness of breath. This has happened once before in early summer ’12 along with a couple different symptoms and I had Jay take me to our local ER where everything checked out normal and I was sent home with a diagnosis of general anxiety. Needless to say I was thrilled that was all it was. In the meantime I have tried to simplify our life and try not to be so stressed.
{I need to add that I was NOT feeling stressed, overwhelmed or “put out” by any means while I was delivering Shoes for Sofi! I am not implying that by ANY means. I obviously do not know what triggered this, but it just so happened as I was en route to make the shoe delivery.}
Well, when this happened again on Friday morning while I was driving, alone, thirty miles from home, I got a little nervous. I took deep breaths and continued on my way to deliver the shoes and planned on knocking on the door of the person who I was delivering them to and ask them to maybe take me to a nearby urgent care. When I arrived at the house and rang the bell, nobody answered so I unloaded the shoes and a note that I had written for Tracy and left them on the porch. It had begun to rain and I didn’t think it was safe for me to get back on the freeway and drive home so I drove to a medical building and walked into the pharmacy and asked if there was an urgent care nearby. The girl behind the counter told me there was a hospital “right down the street, turn right on Sherman Way, pass Fallbrook and you will see it”.
Fast forward about 15 minutes……
{not the kind of bracelets I enjoy accessorizing with}
I parked the car and walked into the ER/Chest Pain Center entrance and was immediately escorted by a security guard into a triage room where the nurse began firing off questions and ordered an EKG while i was sitting there answering said questions. Shortly there after, a young Asian woman {probably younger than me ~ wah!} came in and introduced herself as Dr. Shum. She was sweet and gentle and kind. She had a PA with a digital notebook taking down all the information she was getting from me and then read the EKG. She said it was completely normal and that my blood pressure and pulse were slightly elevated which is completely normal when you are sitting in a triage room ~ imagine that!
She said she wanted to also get a chest x-ray, but before that I needed to give a urine sample so they could do a quick pregnancy test. My mind immediately flashed forward to an episode of “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant”. As much as another baby would be lovely, the test was negative and I soon found my way following the request of a sweet little older gentleman who introduced himself as Alex and led me down the hall to radiology. He asked me about myself as we strolled and was so kind. He quickly took the x-ray and we were back on our way through the automatic double doors to the BUSY emergency room.
By this time I was getting a little nervous about being able to get home in time to pick up the kids at 2:09 when they got out of school. I had already called Jay at work and reassured him that I was OK, but I was at West Hills Hospital waiting on the chest x-ray results since I had the same symptoms from earlier last year. He had a co-worker bring him to the hospital {he works close by the hospital, but takes the bus into work so he didn’t have a car}.
I didn’t really want him to come into the waiting area since many people were sitting around with masks on and a few of them were holding barf bags. Not quite the place you want to be during flu season. Or ever for that matter. I took the car key to him in the lobby and he headed home to pick up the kids which was such a relief to me. Yes, we have people that we can call on in an emergency to get them from school, but just knowing that daddy was on his way to get them made me so much more at ease!
Right after Jay left, Dr. Shum came by and informed me that the chest x-ray was completely clear and there was no sign of anything. She mentioned that since I had sat there for almost 3 hours for them to observe me she said she thought I was good to go. I told her that I was there for a good 2 plus more hours since my husband had just left to go get the kids and she agreed that since we had time that she would do a blood draw just to rule out anything else.
Next comes the kind and gentle phlebotomist who took 5 or 6 vials of blood from me almost without me even knowing. How did I get so lucky with such caring healthcare professionals on such a busy Friday in the ER?
After my blood draw, Dr. S came by and cleared me to go to the cafeteria while we waited for the results. I must’ve looked trustworthy because I’m not sure that is standard practice that they let patients leave the ER. I promised her that I would run down, grab a soda and come right back….although the thought of sitting in the cafeteria was much more appealing that sitting out in the halls with masked folks and watching all the sweet senior citizen patients being wheeled in from ambulances. {sad face!}
Long story short, the blood work came back negative {praise God!} and I was discharged. I waited out in the main lobby for Jay and the kids to drive up. I watched a woman {and her daughter} demand a cast for the mother’s broken wrist and then storm out of the ER when it was explained to them that there were other people that needed attention first. Why do I mention this? Because I know that our healthcare system is broken. I know that there are people that take advantage. I don’t know this woman’s story, of course, but all I could do was pray that she receive the care she truly needed. It stood out to me because she and her daughter treated these healthcare workers with such disrespect and threw out obscenities at these people who were there to help them. I viewed my time {over 5 hours} and situation there so much differently. I was there for them to help me. I was patient. I was compliant. I was kind.
James 1:19-20
This you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Yes, I was there by myself. I wanted to save the battery on my phone for Jay to be able to get a hold of me, so I mostly just sat and observed and prayed. I was calm and comforted by Jay’s warm and gentle soul even though he was going back and forth on the freeway {in the rain} to get our babies and bring them to me ~ the time when I needed my little family the most.
*****
I share this experience not because I want anyone to worry about me {I promise I am fine}, but because I have learned so much. Don’t ever take your health for granted. I am guilty of that and I am trying so hard to change.
And I share this because I’m curious to know if anyone suffers from or has experienced these in the past. They are scary and this link describes mine to a t.
I am fortunate that I feel comfortable with my/our healthcare providers and I feel comfortable opening up to them. I am {anxious} to work with my PCP and find out why these are happening and trying to prevent myself from having another one.
Sometimes it’s scary to realize that maybe you’re not as healthy as you think you are. Maybe you won’t live into your late 90s like your maternal grandparents did.
All I can do is take it from here and know that I have the best doctor there is….
And with my doctor, the Lord God, it doesn’t matter if you have a PPO, HMO, Medi-cal, or currently don’t have insurance, his care is FREE.
3 John 1:2
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Well, this morning I got up and packed 2 little lunch boxes after having 3 and a half weeks off! Again, I found myself feverishly roaming the aisles of Vons and Ralphs over the weekend searching for lunch box worthy items that my kids will eat and that are not complete junk.
We made it up and to school on time in the freeezing So Cal temps and it feels good to start back into our weekly school routine. No more late to bed and late to rise. No more jammies ’til noon.
Our Winter Break was wonderful and even though it was almost a month long, it flew by. I was thumbing through my camera roll this morning while sipping my coffee and couldn’t help but smile.
Our break was full of…
{package shipping}
{advent candle lighting}
{cookie baking}
{manger viewing}
{blessing bag delivering}
{sno-cone slurping}
{gallery wall hanging}
{In-N-Out lunching}
{fro-yo play dating}
{Vegas date night laughing}
{Lolo & Lola enjoying}
{pearly white polishing}
{prayer bead making and reconciliation preparing}
*****
Twenty-Thirteen is already proving to be a busy one…the pages on my new Much Ado About You planner already have glitter gel penned commitments into the month of May! I love having big things on the calendar to look forward to, but at the same time I like quiet, family weekends where we work around the house and go on outings to Hollywood, LA or Santa Monica.
Right now I’m enjoying preparing for Holden’s 6th birthday party. How can it be? I recall printing the invites and gathering goodies for his 1st birthday celebration like it was yesterday……
Here is a hint to this year’s theme {because you KNOW there is a theme, right?}…
I’m so excited. Elliott’s 1st birthday was jungle/safari themed so I am loving coming up with similar {wild} ideas, but for an older crowd this time ~ kind of bittersweet because this is the last big party for Holden. From here on out, the birthday festivities will be much lower key and include just a few friends.
Still with a theme, of course.
Happy Monday, all!
XO
Hi friends!
Happy Friday…we’re already 10 days into the new year and I’ve been meaning to share my/our word for Twenty-Thirteen.
This is the first year I’ve done this, but I think it’s a great way to focus and a good reminder to what it is that you’d like to accomplish in the upcoming 12 months…
I love this word because it can be used in so many different ways.
REACH out ~ make that phone call to someone you haven’t spoken to in awhile. Send a note in the mail just to say “Hello!”. Drop off dinner to a friend that is having a hard day/week. Meet a friend that you haven’t seen for awhile because of your crazy schedules for a quick cup of coffee and get caught up.
REACH to help others ~ Hold the door open for someone. Help the little old man reach something on the top shelf at Target. Hand out a random $5 gift card to a near by fast food restaurant to someone that looks like they could use a meal. Offer to buy someone a hot cup of coffee instead of washing your windshield {like we recently did in Barstow on the way to Vegas}.
REACH your goals ~ I don’t know about you, but I seem to have the same goals every January 1st and that is to lead a healthier life. Lose weight. Exercise more. Make healthier food choices. Look good in my jeans. Blah. Blah. Blah. I struggle with this daily and I hope that this year I can really come closer {or even actually REACH} some specific goals that I’ve set for myself. I know that I have it in me because I’ve seen it before….just need to get focused and sometimes that is the hard part. But, no excuses!
Most importantly, in order to accomplish the things listed above, I/we need to try to REACH out of my/our comfort zone. We all love our comfort zones {because it’s comfortable, ha!} and, for me, that is what prevents me from branching out and starting new routines or dabbling in something that I’ve been interested in. We can’t SEE a change unless we MAKE a change.
So, with that said, I’m going to post this word-of-the-year around the house as a reminder to stretch, push, forge ahead when things get tough.
REACH.
*****
Do you have a word or a slogan for the year ahead? If so, please share. We can all motivate each other.
Have a blessed day and WEEKEND!
XOXO
Happy New Year!
Twenty-twelve was unique and held many new and wonderful moments, however, we can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in Twenty-thirteen.
As in the past couple few years, I challenged myself to come up with 12 photos, one per month, that represent just a dozen moments in the past year and again, it wasn’t easy ~ there were so many.
{January morning in Redondo}
{Big Top Birthday for this 5-year old}
{Reading award for this 1st grader in the month of March}
{Little prayers at Easter Mass}
{Birthday sleepover to celebrate our mermaid who turned 7}
{Celebrating Popsi’s 80th at the Happiest Place on Earth in June}
{Meeting new friends in HOT July}
{Two full time scholars in August}
{Legoland with Nor Cal cousins over Labor Day Weekend}
{Annual Yosemite trip over Fall Break}
{This long haired boy and the start of the season in November}
{A small, comfy, cozy & perfect Christmas!}
*****
It always saddens me when we box up the ornaments and vacuum up the pine needles, but when I look back on this year and recall all these moments in time, I realize that life is going by all too quick. In what seems like a matter of a few months, we’ll be digging the Christmas boxes out of the garage again. As much as I love the holiday season, I need to remember that there are eleven other months out there that we can make just as beautiful.
Again, thank you for following along here this past year….my hope is that in 2013 this little blog will share lots of new ideas, thoughts, recipes and ideas.
As you visit this space in this new year, please know that I appreciate you!
Let’s do this…..
XO
P.S. I’ve included links to 2010 & 2011 month-by-month posts, too!
Yesterday we decided to climb out from under the wrapping paper remnants & crushed gift boxes and take a stroll around Santa Monica to deliver the blessing bags we assembled last week. I wish we had hundreds more of them, but we agreed to find five recipients and hand them out along with a smile.
Next we saw a gentleman sitting on a park bench with a big suitcase and a Subway sandwich he was about to unwrap. The kids were running a little ahead of us and were skipping and screaming near where he was sitting. He looked up and shouted “Get your family away from me!” a couple times. Of course, we have our children’s safety in mind at all times, so we quietly walked by him and sought other folks in need of a little blessing. I look back and should have maybe went over to him alone and just placed a bag on the bench where he was sitting, smiled and walked away, but at the time I was a little put off by his outburst.
We moved on and I noticed a man with a big McDonald’s bag who was handing out hamburgers by the dozens. Some people were sleeping and he kindly left them a sandwich on their belongings. I saw him hand one to a sweet woman who responded with the most grateful smile and immediately followed it up with a blessing bag. She was so darling and thanked me so genuinely.
She didn’t even study what was in the bag, but immediately said, “Oh, I can use everything in here!” She embarrassingly asked me for a quarter…she said, “I know I’m not supposed to ask you for money, but do you have a quarter for the bus?” I fished around in my wallet and handed her two.
She was so sweet and interested in the kids {who, at first, stood over by Jay, but then made their way over to us} and asked how old they were. She said that was so nice that they came out to do this because surely they would rather be doing something else. I wanted to stay and chat with her….listen to whatever she had to say and take in as much information about her that she was willing to share.
Was she a mother? A sister? A wife? A Widow? A grandmother?
What brought her to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica overlooking the pier, the ferris wheel and the big blue Pacific?
I wished her a blessed day and we proceeded to leave three more bags on the meager belongings of two neighboring bench mates and a man on the grass who were taking naps under the late December Southern California sun.
*****
This is truly an eye opening experience and I’m so glad the kids were along and we could do this as a family. I am forever changed after speaking to this woman for only a few short minutes. I hope that when the others awoke from their slumbers that they felt loved and acknowledged when they laid eyes on their hamburgers and gallon ziplocs filled with small tokens from our family.
We look forward to making this an annual thing. Next year we’ll make up many more and focus on the streets of Hollywood.
Here is a link to last year’s post of what exactly was in the bags. {this year we added a bottled water, walnuts, trail mix and a pair of men’s socks}
Thank you to Leslie at Top of the Page and Julie at Joy’s Hope for sharing this act and opening my eyes to a way to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Here is the blessing bag post ~ as shared by Leslie.
I share this experience because I want to record it and remember it in years to come. I want to recall my exact emotions and the joy that it brought to these complete strangers just minding their own business on {their} park bench. I share this experience because it is so awesome and I want to encourage YOU to think about linking up with some friends and assembling some bags, now or next year, and give all the glory to HIM.
Yesterday was perfect.
May you experience the magic & splendor of today.
Our prayers for a blessed 2013 to you & yours!
*****
Thanks for reading and sharing our follies…I wish I could hand deliver holiday greetings and treats to all of you! I appreciate each and every minute you spend here and I look forward to all that the next 12 months will bring.
Enjoy the rest of this holy day with your family & friends celebrating the birth of our Savior.
** Forever I will Sing the Goodness of the Lord **
{click on the above link to hear a snippet of one of my favorite responsorial psalms}
Well, the last of our December weekend commitments have taken place and now I need to focus on baking, wrapping, delivering and enjoying.
Elliott had her Winter dance recital yesterday afternoon and we went to see The Nutcracker last night. This was our second year attending and I can tell that it would be something that I’d be so sad to miss each year. I love starting new traditions….thanks again Gramma for starting this special holiday habit!
{post recital}
Elliott did a jazz/hip hop number to a spunky Jingle Bells tune. Gramma and I were the backstage mamas for the show and had 20 6-9 year olds to account for. Fortunately they are a little more self sufficient than the 4-6 year olds we attended to last year! Our girls danced 22nd so there was a lot of waiting around before they hit the stage. They did so well, though, and Elliott already has her trophy sitting proudly up on her desk surrounded by the others.
{just a walkway was between us and the stage!}
Yesterday was Elliott’s special day and this morning we got to see Holden and his fellow 5 year old Sunday School friends sing “Soon and Very Soon” this morning at the end of mass. So precious….
He presented us with a special ornament for the tree after class. We were thrilled to have his sweet shepherd face on our ornament this year since last year there was a mix up with the packages and we got some other little boy’s ornament and were never able to get our hands on his.
{these are the ornaments that I will cherish forever}
After church we went to take this boy to get a haircut! It had been six months since his mop had seen scissors…
Just in time for Santa’s visit in about a week.
I have been looking forward to baking this week, but it’s a short week as far as school is concerned as the kids’ last day is Wednesday! There are two class parties, one Religious Ed party, teacher gifts and school staff gifts I need to get ready so I decided to get a start on the baked goods this afternoon. I pinned these Oreo lumps of coal and whipped up a batch this afternoon. Easiest things ever….I will definitely be making another batch with some peppermint Jo Jo’s from Trader Joe’s tomorrow! I bagged up about 5 pieces per person which I think is plenty to go along with the peppermint sugar cookie bars I plan to make tomorrow.
{one package Oreos, 5 cups mini marshmallows, 4 tbsp. butter…process the whole package of Oreos into a fine powder. melt the butter and marshmallows in a sauce pan until blended. mix the marshmallow mixture into the Oreo mixture and spread into an 8X8 dish lined with parchment and sprayed with Pam. let sit for 10-20 minutes before cutting}
It’s also Gaudete Sunday ~ the third Sunday of advent…
{rejoice!}
While our three candles were burning bright, I tried another Pinterest recipe, Lasagna Soup. The weather cooperated and it was the perfect night for this soup…
{stir the ricotta/parmesan mixture and basil into the soup for out-of-this-world flavor!}
I will definitely be making this again for Christmas Eve with some crusty bread on the side for dipping.
*****
I hope that you had a beautiful weekend doing all things holiday. I definitely stared at Elliott and Holden a lot and thanked God for giving them to us and bringing them home safely each day.
Prayers for Newtown and our broken world going up again tonight…..
Have a blessed week, friends!
XOXO