love em and leave em

anybody who knows me, knows that i love things very very intensely. one look at the "less than perfect" relationships i have hung on to in the past, and you see the sorry truth in that statement.

this kind of endearment carries over to my material possessions also. that's why i have a house named mabel and a car named ernie.

ernie is the subject of this post. i bought him on the way to hyvee for groceries about 9 years ago (can you say "impulse purchase") - he is a 1997 ford explorer. not really a glamour vehicle, but he's been good for me. he is shiny red - even now - and hauls everything i need from menards with ease. he has a cd player that doesn't work, and some rusty running boards, but you know - we are friends. he is cheap to drive and up til now has been relatively maintenance free.

this summer, i had to put about $800 into the brakes. i figured this out when i came sailing onto an off ramp on the interstate, and could not stop. doh. good thing i live in south dakota and NOT ONE other person was in the area when i whizzed thru the red light. $800 was a small price to pay to ensure THAT won't happen again.

then, i bought new tires. $400. not a big deal, except that for some reason - they don't hold air. i'm not a tire genius, but it seems to me that holding air is one of the more major functions of a tire. needless to say, i have learned to operate the fancy air machine at my neighborhood gas station, because i have to fill them up about once a month.

so, fast forward to this morning as it is 2 degrees outside. i had an out-of-the-ordinary 9:00 meeting - usually i don't schedule anything until at least 10 or 10:30, because, hey - i don't have to. but i go out to start ernie at about 8:30, and NO GO. okay, that sucks! i had some troubles last year, and no, it's not the battery. but when i called a guy to jump start me last winter, he just held his foot down all the way on the gas and got ernie going. so, it took 3 trys, but yes, that seems to work.

i cannot imagine myself doing this kind of thing repeatedly all winter long. #1 - it seems like a "maybe it'll work, maybe it won't" kind of thing, and i like a few certainties if i can have them. #2 - don't i deserve a new vehicle? i mean, really, i think i do. #3 - i know that we live in a disposeable society, but is throwing away a ten-year-old vehicle with 112,000 miles really throwing it away? is love really love when you decide you don't anymore?

nevermind. i know the answer to those questions. just wish me luck that i'll call a repairman, and not go buy one of these.

the tomato garden

maybe it's a story only a gardener would love, but i don't think so. So here goes:

An old Italian man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love, Dad
**********************************
A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad, Not for nothing, but don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.
Love, Vinnie
*********************************
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love, Vinnie

crazy grandma lady

i have never been much into recycling. for one thing, it's a pain in the butt. for another, i am pretty sure my garbage man just throws those recycle bins into the big compartment with all the other stuff, so what's the point?

which makes my latest little obsession all the weirder. i have taken to saving glass jars. you know, pickle jars and smuckers jars and stuff. i have even found that some of my candles come in very cool jars! i am also bummed that they put peanut butter in PLASTIC now, that is just stupid.

i'm pretty sure this little quirk is directly correlated to my obsession with canning. i can just imagine all the pretty little jams and jellies i'll make and you never know, maybe i can put some in these weirdly shaped jars i'm saving. memories of my grandma's "cellar" and about a thousand jars of stuff in that musty smelling place come to mind. i always sort of dreaded the jars of pickled "whatevers" that got passed around the table at christmastime. now, the memory has turned precious.

so, if you're into recycling and feel the desire to save your glass jars, just drop em off at my house :)

wicked

I hate to drive. i especially hate to drive at night. and i ESPECIALLY especially hate to drive at night in bad weather. so last night as i came home from brookings, i was doin' alot of praying.

First, i prayed for the Lord to protect me. Then, to protect the deer that inevitably get run over on our little stretch of interstate on the prairie. then, as i saw the stream of lights coming from the other direction, i began praying for safe travels home for all of the cars.

i was pretty sure it was going to be an uneventful trip, until i got to the Baltic exit, just outside of SF...it was misting lightly, and i wasn't sure how slippery it was. the car in front of me (my angel?) slowed WAY down, and because i am a chicken to pass anybody i just decided to follow him along since i was close to home anyway. people started flying past us, and a huge semi truck barreled by me in the passing lane, throwing lots of water on my windshield. when i started to come out of the slush, i saw IT, and it was very much in slow motion. i saw headlights up ahead of me "bouncing" head over tail, coming across the median of the interstate from the other direction. the guy ahead of me and myself just took our feet off the gas, and slowed down to a crawl. the crazy semi driver had just made it past ahead of the "toy truck."

when i got to the truck, i saw that it was a large SUV, laying on it's side just off the left lane of the intersection. the windows were shattered and "stuff" from the truck was spilling out on the highway. i wanted to stop, but it would have been dangerous. traffic slowed WAY down, and we all crept into town at about 40 mph. i later saw the air ambulance, so i imagined that they were heading to "my" crash.

oh thank you Lord, for keeping those people alive. i heard on the news this morning that NO ONE was seriously injured! how many times we take for granted His protection around us as we go about our lives in this broken world.

now, i just need to stay at home until spring :)

colorful friday

so, it was black friday i guess. for me, that hardly rang true. for the most part, i stayed away from shopping, except for a few "must have" items for the christmas decorating.

Mabel (my house) likes to play dress up. every year i have to change things up a little. this year, i emptied one of the big ceramic pots i have out on my patio, and propped the little charlie brown tree up into it, so it is alot taller. ohhhhhh. ahhhhhhhh. it turned out so pretty!

i am too scared to climb around the house and put lights on the outside (i did the 1st year i lived here!) but the living room is looking pretty snazzy!

now i think i'd actually like a touch of snow to look out the window at ;))

oh happy day

Happy Thanksgiving all my blogging friends (you know i mean YOU when i say this :))
I pray God's goodness and abundance in all things for your life and your family. I pray that He blesses you with His peace and His heart through all that you do today. I pray joy for each one of you. And I thank God for you; I am grateful for the moments in time (and cyberspace) that He has allowed us to share.

Have a great day!

oh. i want THIS for christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ep66hYNS74&mode=related&search=

break time

well, it must be that time of the day again, when slacker creatives like to walk around the office and bug everybody because they don't feel like working...oh carey, how i miss being able to come over to your little blue cube :))

so, in lieu of actual officemates to bother, i just went and got the mail, ate a cookie, woke up the cat and petted him, and wrote JESUS in a funky font i found this morning.

is it 5:00 yet?

all my pretties

sure, it's not even thanksgiving yet, and sure, it's been hovering around 70 degrees here in SD, which is kind of refreshing for november.

but dang, christmas IS coming, and hobby lobby DID have an awesome 50% off sale this past weekend!

oh, i can hardly wait :)

chunky again

well, i have new hair again, this time it is not exactly what i was expecting, but it does match alot of my outfits :)

Tammy, my hairstylist, is a wonderful woman. she is tall and youthful and beautiful. she has a nose piercing that is really pretty, and is way way more hip than me. i think she is finally at the point of comfortableness in our relationship, that she does what she wants with me!

usually, she calls it something exotic, like "adding dimension" or "giving it texture" or even just "chunking it" which is not really all that flattering.

i kind of prefer just calling it what it is, which is what phillip does when he says "hey, babe, i see you went for stripes again" when he sees my head.

:)

cant you guys just stay?

another day goes by in this crazy week, i have been checking the blogs of some of those people who have become "regulars" around these parts lately...soon, they will be on to their "other" lives.

i cannot remember what it was like back then, but i know it will not be the same without them ... thank you, bound 4 life!

http://mlockett.blogspot.com/

dawning of a new day

this morning i am watching the sun peak over my neighbors trees, and thanking God for His light.

yes, i know that this election was a long, hard-fought battle for some. And i know that in worldly terms of "winning and losing" - this would appear to be a loss for life. but thankfully, God doesn't deal in worldly terms. His ways are unique to Him, and His paths are often not predictable by us. One thing that IS predictable is that for those of us who believe, He is not a changing God. He is the same today as He was yesterday!

what i know to be different on this day is me. somehow in these past months, my heart is unexplicably changed, i cannot imagine being that "other" person who existed just a few months ago. no longer can i stand by and remain uncaring about life and also about people who are hurting. no longer can i keep the Gospel in, when the Spirit inside of me chooses to push it out. no longer will i "go to the mall" without the feeling that life is meant for more, for prayer and intercession and interaction and embracing the One who made us.

that is what God has done on this day. that is what He came for, He died for, and what He will continue to do! Be blessed everyone, i love you all :)

well, duh.

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. (in a house named Mabel!) Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. (some days, all three :))

What's Your Personality Type?

four things about me

I know we've all done this kind of stuff before, but i've never done it on the web :) if any of my blog-girlfriends wanted to do this, i would love to read!!

have a blessed day!

a) Four jobs I have had in my life:

- kmart automotive dept. cashier

- futon salesperson

- sdsu graphics person

- self-employed woman of the world


b) Four movies I would watch over and over:

- what about bob

- the notebook

- okay, I only really watch tv


c) Four places I have lived:

- lake campbell, sd

- brookings, sd

- sioux falls, sd (five different places, does that count?)

- wow, my whole life in a 50 mile radius!!!


d) Four TV shows I love to watch:

- now you’re talking!! top chef!

- flip that house

- little people, big world

- project runway


e) Four places I have visited:

- san francisco

- dallas

- chicago

- denver


f) Four websites I visit daily:

- argusleader.com arrrrrrrrrrrggggh.

- keloland.com

- homeviewsiouxfalls.com

- sfhumanesociety.com


g) Four of my favorite foods:

- popcorn with melted butter

- toast with apple butter

- homemade potato soup

- bagels from bagel boy


h) Four places I would like to be right now:

- “exploring” with phillip in the black hills

- having coffee out on my sun porch with beener

- in colorado on the side of a mountain

- at hobby lobby, with a cart

The art of nothingness

This post is for my friend Rani, who blogged about this subject recently, and for myself as well. I found this while "haunting" some Christian blogs, I love the Hebrew meanings!

I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances (Philippians 4:11).

In Hebrew, you can’t really “have” anything. You can’t say, “I have this” or “I have that.” At best you can say, “There is to me a house” or “There is to him a car,” but you can’t “have” anything. As Messianic Jews and Gentile believers, we need to learn this lesson.

What is our inheritance here on earth as children of Abraham? Nothing. We have nothing. But having nothing is a blessing. We are not children of this world who own things. We must teach our hearts this lesson. It is the blessing of our hearts to “have nothing” to worry about, to “have nothing” to be burdened down with, to “have nothing” to be chained in bondage to, and to “have nothing” to be upset about. It’s so good to “have nothing”! It makes our burdens so much lighter.

So, as children of Abraham, we need to teach our hearts to think and speak Hebrew! We must unload and let go, taking the “my” out of our hearts and rejoicing in the wonderful freedom and blessing of “having nothing”! For to such belong the Kingdom of Heaven and the one real treasure we do possess—knowing God.

…teach my heart Hebrew and let go of my possessions and burdens.

Amen! Have a great day

when i grow up i wanna be ....

this morning, i found myself in a contemplative state of mind. it seems for the last few weeks, i have been immersed in the world, looking at the issue of abortion, and trying to see God's face in it, to hear his voice. i read alot, websites and letters to the editor and blogs. i see the anger and the hurt in people's words, and i wonder how the Lord would respond to them, what i could do or say to be His voice? i am a marketing person, but i know it's not about ads or evidence or pretty graphics or convincing someone of their sin or blindness. i wonder what the Lord would look like in me, if He totally had His way with me?

i came across a very poetic blog this morning, and the words struck a chord:

And so, I just have to ask the question:

Why would any Christian who claims to follow Jesus not model and lead others to do what he did on a regular basis? If I’m not mistaken, he was known for laying low and for seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go. He could usually be found looking for the places only they would know.

This was a man who traveled dusty roads with sandaled feet, choosing not to walk lightly upon pampered, favored floors, but to press flesh to earth with its grit and grime, to conquer pre-conceived notions of a pristine existence.

And so, our charge is much the same. We must learn—in fact we must train ourselves—as Christians to accept with grace our mission to redefine who we are. We must communicate that we’re not just about what’s happening on the inside of a church building where we typically gather. We must stop hiding behind agendas and platforms. Who we are is out there, where congregating brothers and sisters find incarnation at the street level.

If it helps you, then imagine it so.

Imagine not a long train on the Bride’s dress, laid nicely and quite perfectly on the scarlet runway by prim and proper bridesmaids who purse their lips and shush away latecomers as they shut the door. Envision instead an outdoor wedding and the billowing of a gown that swells and fills with a welcoming breeze; where the Bride has one arm strapped around the Groom's waist, and with the other, she throws the lacey veil and her bouquet to the wind, beckoning all to her arms—all to a celebration!

If we truly begin to get this, then we can model it for others. Pretty soon, it’ll become second nature to all of us as we move to the rhythm of what this Bride—made up of Christians—was always supposed to look like.

And if you look at it that way, it really is about us.

To be sure, the lyrics of life are sad at times but there’s a place where the music of missional living can calm the beasts of infantile disagreements. It is a place where followers of Jesus choose to get beyond squabbles over minutia and imaginary lines; it is right there where the orchestration of saints reaches a crescendo and swaying arms strive in unison to love and serve a dying world.

I don't know about you, but that, my friends, is the kind of Christian I want to be.

new c r u s h

hi, my name is bobbi and i have an addiction to tv stars.

he he he. it started waaaaaaaay back when, probably with the Monkees and Davy Jones. and thru the years it's always kind of been there, running the gamut from Don Johnson on Miami Vice to Lynn Swann from the Pittsburg Steelers to Rick Springfield when he was on General Hospital to, well, you get the picture.

My latest crush is going to be on tv tonite :))

His name is Tom Colicchio (pronounced Ko-leek-eo). He is a judge on Top Chef. i was going to put his picture up to prove he is crush-worthy, but for some reason, blogger is not uploading my pics anymore. (note: updated - it went this time!)

So let me just tell you about Tom!! He is really very hot, in an "I'm older and i know how to cook" kind of way!! He isn't like that silly Michael Kors on Project Runway who scrunches his nose funny and says mean things. nope, not Tom. He is always pretty nice to the people, even if he clearly thinks some of them are nuts or bad chefs. he keeps an even keel, he's like a cross between john wayne and a chef. and he doesn't really show it a whole lot, but i think he is funny too. one of his restaurants is called "wichcraft" - it's a sandwich place. you don't come up with THAT kind of stuff, without being a fun guy.

anyway, i'm well into the 2nd season of top chef (bravo at 9 tonite), and it promises to be as engaging and intense as season one. and even if it isn't - i'll be tuning in just for Tom.

:)

apple pie and farmer dan

yesterday was one of those days that takes alot out of you. and even more important, put alot into me :)

let me explain: first off, it was busy...what's new, right? i swear i cannot handle everyday ordinary stress too well anymore, my head is okay (mostly) but my BODY just whacks out. i cannot breathe well, i feel like my heart has a giant weight on it. i was just waiting on some last minute deadlines and man, you would have thought my life was on the line. silly.

plus, i was on the way to becoming cranky. of course, one thing about stress is that it usually leads you to looking at other people negatively. i was heading that way with one particular client, until the funniest thing happened!

we needed to make an addition to a flyer i was making, and needed a visual - FAST. so i got a phone number to call, to ask for help. i gotta say, at first, i was not real pleased...this was the LONGEST voice message i ever heard, i sat there tapping my finger waiting to get to the FIVE options that would direct you about how to proceed with the call.

then, the funny part. first off, this company has a spokesperson named "farmer dan" - and farmer dan is from wisconsin. his voice is awesome, even tho i am mad. i am not being wooed by his good nature until he says - NO KIDDING - if you would like to hear a message from the Word of God, the Bible, press ONE!!!!!!!! can you believe that? and by pressing one, you get a great, actually ANNOINTED message! i actually downloaded it onto my computer later, and reread it!

Finally, i got to option 5, and got the nicest lady named Debby who said to me "you know, i think maybe we have a photo that the wall street journal took of us, how about i send that to you?"

5 minutes later, a perfect shot was sitting in my inbox :)

ha ha ha.
The Word of God from Farmer Dan. you cannot ask for much more than THAT, can you? plus, i hear his pie is pretty good :)

check him out:
http://www.elegantfarmer.com/dans_messages.html