What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

All the comments, tweets and emails I've received regarding my post yesterday. It honestly took me about an hour to work up the courage to post it. After hearing some of your responses, I know that I'm not the only one feeling that way (or who has ever felt that way). I was also told I wasn't the only one who needed to read it. God is amazing, isn't he?

I'm loving...

This sweet card that my friend's daughter M made for me. As I mentioned before in my post Monday, my company picnic was at 6 Flags last weekend. A while back I told M (who is 5 years old) that I would ride the Judge Roy Scream roller coaster with her at the company picnic (she LOVES roller coasters and is just tall enough to ride most of them). Since I was unable to ride any rides (by order of my chiropractor), my friend B rode it with her. She made cards for both me and B. Here is mine! :)

I'm loving...

That I just have one more week until I go to my folks for Thanksgiving. We usually get out of work about 3pm the day before Thanksgiving. I plan to have my truck packed and ready to go so I can leave straight from work. I can't wait for family time!

I'm loving...

These pictures of my great-nephews C and E. They had Christmas family pictures taken last week. Pictures were stolen taken graciously borrowed from my niece's Facebook page!

I'm loving...

My friends. That includes friends that I know personally, blogging friends and Twitter friends. I've been blessed to have met some of my blogging and Twitter friends in person this past year. They are amazing and I'm thankful for all of them! :)

I'm loving...

This video. It's about 6 minutes long, but it's SO FUNNY!!! :)

 
I'm loving...
My new toe socks (it's the little things in life that make me happy!)

What are YOU loving today??

Oh yeah. Don't forget to enter Judy's soap giveaway!! Deadline is THIS Friday!! :)

XOXO!

Are You There God? It's Me, Rachel!

I know my blog is silly a lot of times, because, well, I'm a silly (but delightful and charming) person. But I'm gonna go all serious on y'all for just a minute (I promise to return you to my normal silliness soon, just give me a second here). I've been struggling with some issues lately (no, I'm not going to go into them, I have to keep SOME things private), but it's gotten to the point where they are almost wearing me down. I try to be a happy-go-lucky person and not show that anything is wrong (I sometimes succeed at this, and I sometimes fail miserable at this). Lately I've just felt so...lost. Honestly, I can't even really put it into words, but I've almost hit a breaking point. I posted last week on Facebook that I wanted to write a book and call it, Are You There God, It's Me, Rachel! Although I have a feeling if I did, I'd get a lovely letter from Judy Blume (well, her lawyer at least) letting me know I couldn't do that.

I never try to make people think I'm this perfect Christian (because you know what, there aren't any. If anyone claims to be a perfect Christian, tell them to read the Bible. And if they are on TV and say it, don't send them your credit card information). You know y'all, I make mistakes. I screw up on a daily basis (yes, daily). I AM NOT PERFECT. There, I admitted it. I really hope I don't lose followers for admitting I'm not perfect! ;)

This morning I was catching on my daily Bible reading (I may or may not have been a few days behind on it). BTW, I love my Bible app on my iPhone because it has the audio version, so I can listen to it while I work. As I was listening to the scriptures for today, I realized that it's been a long time since I just sat and talked to God. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I've prayed and all, but I realized I haven't just spilled my guts to Him about what's on my mind (which is funny because He already knows it, it's not like I'm hiding anything from Him). I have no problem when it comes to praying for my friends' problems, issues and heartaches, but I tend to skip over mine when praying. No, I don't know why, I just put my heartaches and issues to the side.

Confused? Well, the best way I can describe it is like this: you know how you can comment on a friend's Facebook status (or "like" the status), so you've been "in touch" with them, but the two of you haven't really sat down and had a heart to heart talk? That was how I was feeling about God. I've "liked" His status and commented on His page, but we haven't really spent time together. (Yes, God is up there shaking His head that I just compared my relationship with Him to Facebook). I find it funny that I'm asking God where He's been when he's like, "um, helloooo, I'm right here, where are you?" Okay, I really don't think God ever uses the phrase "um, helloooo", but you know what I mean. I realized that God hasn't put the distance between us, it's me. Now, how do I go to Him with my problems/issues/heartaches when I haven't really been talking to Him in the first place?

Still with me? I promise this train of thought has a caboose, thank you for bearing with me. So, I was actually trying to get motivated to write a Tuesday Tunes post today and starting thinking about an artist to feature and I thought of Jeremy Camp (I love him). In my YouTube search to find videos of his songs, this one came up. 

For those who don't feel like listening to the lyrics, here they are (but I really think you should listen to the song, it's good):

The reason why I stand

The answer lies in you

You hung to make me strong

Tho my praise was few

When I fall I bring your name down

But I have found in you

A heart that bleeds 

Forgiveness replacing all these thoughts of painful memories

And I know your response will always be

(Chorus)

I'll take you back, always

Even when your fight is over now

I'll take you back, always

Even when the pain is coming through

I'll take you back

You satisfy this cry of what I'm

looking for And I'll take all I can

and lay it down before

The throne of endless grace now

that radiates what's true

I'm in the only place that erases

all these faults that have overtaken me and 

I know your response will always be

(Chorus)

I can only speak with a grateful heart 

As I'm pierced by this gift of your love

So, why did I feel the need to post this particular song? Honestly, I don't know. To me it's a reminder that God is always there, ready to "take me back", no matter how "distant" I've been. Maybe there is someone else out there who needed to hear/read the lyrics today (I can't be the ONLY person out there feeling like this, can I?) I don't know who all reads my blog. Maybe you have been a follower for a while. Maybe you found my blog through someone else. Maybe you saw the link on Twitter and thought you would check it out. Maybe you are a lawyer for Judy Blume. Whoever you are, I would like to think I wrote this post today to help at least one other person out who might be struggling.

Wow, that was a long post today, sorry about that. Wait, you know what, I'm not sorry. I truly believe I was meant to write this today. Thanks for reading my friends!! Love you all!

Oh, before I forget, you MUST go check out my friend Judy's AWESOME homemade soap giveaway!! (No, NOT Judy Blume). :) Click here (or on the picture below) to be directed to the link. If you want more information on her soaps, click here. Giveaway ends THIS Friday at 10pm. While you are checking out her giveaway, take a look around her blog and tell her howdy! She's one of the sweetest people I know. She has posts of the best recipes (warning: she usually includes pictures of what the dishes looks like, so beware, you will get hungry just looking at them!) :) I also love her pictures of her vacations to London. I told her next time she goes, I'm sneaking in her carry-on luggage! :)

Photo courtesy of Cranberry Morning

XOXO!! Have a blessed day y'all!

Weekend Recap...

I was trying to think of an exciting topic for today's post, but I couldn't think of one, so I decided to just recap my weekend. Sadly, it wasn't ALL too exciting, but bear with me! :)

On Friday afternoon I had an appointment with my chiropractor (I'm having neck issues since my wreck two weeks ago). Can I just say that having a neck adjustment is quite possibly one of the scariest medical procedures out there (okay, maybe not THE scariest, but still, the scariest one I've been through). My chiropractor was telling me how he was going to twist my neck for the adjustment. I told him that is how they kill people in ninja movies when they break their necks. He laughed at me (yes, he actually laughed when I said it). Thankfully, he knows what he's doing and it all turned out fine, he didn't break my neck (obviously, since I'm typing this post). This was my first time seeing this particular chiropractor, he was very nice. I do have two follow up appointments this week (per his request). Yeah, being in a wreck is a pain in the neck (sorry, bad pun, and yes, it was totally intended). :)

Friday evening one of my besties and I had a movie night at my apartment. She saw that I own a copy of Letters to Juliet (yes, Rachel actually owns a chick-flick) and she wanted to watch it.

It's actually one of the 5 chick flicks that I own. I'll be honest, I think that Christopher Egan (the blonde guy) is cute, it's one of the main reason I bought it. Although for the most part, it's not too bad of a movie (except the ending, which kinda makes me gag a little and reminds me why I don't normally watch chick flicks). I know, I'm a weird girl. Regardless, my bestie and I had a lot of fun. We don't get to hang out that much anymore, so it was fun spending time with her! Also, it's fun being able to watch a movie with someone else who makes snide comments and notices the little annoying things in the film. :)

Me and "the BFF" (as she likes to be called). This picture is a few years old, but I think it's a cute one! It makes me miss my long hair though!

Saturday was my company picnic at Six Flags Over Texas. Sadly, due to my neck injuries (and on orders from my chiropractor) I was not able to ride the roller coasters I normally ride. :( I did have permission to ride the Merry-Go-Round though.

 

Am I the only person who rides a Merry-Go-Round and hopes that the horses will jump off and end up at a horse race where Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews sing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? Maybe I've seen Mary Poppins too many times! :)

Anyways, Saturday after I got home, I relaxed and finished reading a book I had started on Friday afternoon.

After church yesterday, I went grocery shopping and spent the afternoon working on Christmas craft projects (due to the fact I'm not sure who all reads my blog, I can't post pictures until AFTER I give them the gifts). Last night I may or may not have watched some episodes of season 1 of Roswell on Netflix (special thanks to my friend for letting me use his Netflix account). Back story: On Friday my bestie and I were talking about the old school WB show (Roswell, Felicity, etc) and how it seems most of the actors we like today at one time starred or guest starred on one of those shows. We decided there was a six degrees of separation from the WB. So anyways, she mentioned Roswell and we both talked about our love lust admiration of Max, especially future Max. **sigh**

Jason Behr (who played Max)

Future Max. This isn't the best picture of him, but Google Image search was no help in finding the picture I wanted.

So, what did you do this weekend?

XOXO!!

Friday Confession...

First of all, Happy 11-11-11. Since I won't be around the next time it happens, I had to mention it! ;)

I have a confession of something I've been watching for the past few weeks. About a month ago I came across a new channel on my Uverse called FamilyNet. They have "family friendly" shows like The Bob Newhart Show, Mr. Belvedere, Newhart and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. While flipping channels one day I came across a rerun of Remington Steele. Now, I was pretty young when this show first aired (I think I was maybe four), but I remember the show being on TV. Does that make sense? I THINK I might have watched an episode or two with my sister Mary (she has yet to confirm that). I remember that someone in my house watched Remington Steele and Scarecrow and Mrs. King. So yes, I confess: I set my DVR to record Remington Steele reruns every day.

Yes, it is kind of cheesy, but I can't stop watching.

And might I add that Pierce Brosnan was quite the looker back then (not that he isn't now, but still, look at him then). ;)

It's been FOREVER since I've participated in Five Question Friday, so, here we go!

1. What's the last thing you spent too much money on?

I wouldn't say I spent too much money on it (because it was on sale), but a few months ago I bought a new flat screen TV. That has been my most expensive purchase lately. If all goes well and I have the money, I'm hoping to buy another Rangers mini ticket plan for next season!

2. What celebrity chef would you want to make you dinner?

I'll be honest- I don't watch cooking shows so I don't know many. Maybe Jamie Oliver, but just because I love his accent! :)

3. Where do you hide things when visitors pop over or do you let them see the real deal?

Most of my friends know my apartment is rarely spotless, so I let them see the real deal. It's funny if my friends come over right after I clean they are like, "whoa, something's different." I'm not a slob by any means, I just have a lot of stuff, and it won't all fit in my apartment. :) Right now I may or may not have laundry on my couch. And my living room chair. And I may or may not have craft supplies on the stairs up to my loft because I was too lazy to walk upstairs the other day and put them away.

4. Who is your oldest living family member?

In my immediate family, it would be my dad (my grandparents have passed away). But he has a cousin who is in her 90s, so if we are including extended family, it would be her.

5. What is your favorite DQ treat and/or Sonic drink combo?

I honestly don't go to Dairy Queen or Sonic all too much. I guess at Sonic I might get a cherry slushie, but nothing too fancy.

Happy Veteran's Day to all of our men and women who have served and who are serving in our military. My grandfather's both served in World War II, one in the Coast Guard and one in the Army. God bless America!

Have a great weekend friends! XOXO!!

It's OK...

It's been a while since I've participated in It's OK Thursday with Neely and Amber, so here I go!

It's OK...

...that the only thing I had for lunch today was a Chick Fil-A milkshake (courtesy of a sweet co-worker who bought it for me. He knew I was having a rough day.)

...to avoid talking about the issue at Penn State because it disgusts, angers and upsets me.

...that I owe my friend Brian a steak because the Cardinals beat the Rangers in the World Series (he still has to come to Texas to get the steak though- that was the deal!) I have learned my lesson- God doesn't want me to gamble!

...that the Rangers didn't win the World Series. I'm okay (seriously, I am, thanks for being concerned though). I'm not a bandwagon fan. I've loved them too long. Third times the charm next year, right? :)

...to be amused when two celebrities that I follow on Twitter are tweeting each other.

...to be excited that the new Muppets movie is coming out in two weeks! (Yes, I will be seeing it!)

...to totally support the campaign to have the Muppets host the Oscars (I would actually watch the Oscars if they did).

...to have my neighbor save his empty beer bottles so I can use them for craft ideas I found on Pinterest.

...to be bummed that Teen Nick only aired a week's worth of Are You Afraid of the Dark reruns.

...to be really tempted to buy Joey McIntyre's Christmas CD.

...that this is quite possibly my favorite Psych-Out from Psych.



...that my post yesterday was very silly, but I still had fun writing it!

What's OK with you today??

XOXO!!

Cause When You're A Celebrity...

I'm totally stealing borrowing using this idea from my friend Tonya.

The Celebrity Challenge: Just for a moment, pretend you are a celebrity. Answer the following questions based on your "celeb" status. And yes, I did have too much fun filling this thing out! Oh the things we do when we are bored...

What kind of car do you drive? A Lexus GX. I let my friends borrow it for Rangers games so they can have free parking (Lexus vehicles get to park for free in the Lexus Valet parking lots). Because of my celebrity status, I have a driver take me to and from the games.

Where do you live? I live in an undisclosed neighborhood in the Dallas area. Although a celebrity blogger recently "leaked" a picture of my house on their website.

What are you known for? Acting. I got my start playing a dead body on CSI. I went on to play dead bodies on four other crime shows before my first speaking role in an episode of Psych. From there I went on to star in a Hallmark original movie with Zachary Levi.  

Are you nice to the paparazzi? Yes, I'm very nice. The story that I roundhouse kicked a photographer while coming out of a Chick Fil-A was a lie started by TMZ and my personal attorney is handling the lawsuit. I cannot comment on it at this time.

What is your favorite vacation spot? I have two. A nice private ski resort in Colorado and various beaches in the Caribbean (depending on my mood).

What is your favorite retail shop? I have remained faithful to Kohl's. I may or may not be in the works for my own line of clothing there in the spring.

What was the last thing your purchased on your AMEX Black card? Season tickets for the Texas Rangers. In fact, I got a whole section of season tickets behind home plate. That way my friends and family can go to any Rangers games they want to. :)

Do you read gossip magazines about yourself? Of course (who doesn't?)

Who are you dating/married to? The rumors that Zachary Levi and I were dating for a while are true, but we split amicably a few months ago. For the past few weeks I have been spotted numerous times out in public with Rangers outfielder Craig Gentry. Neither one of us are making a comment on the status of a relationship at this time. 

Zachary Levi

Me and Craig Gentry

What is your favorite restaurant? Fogo de Chao. I love any place that let's me have all you can eat steak! :)

Would you really want to be this person? Not really. Well, I would want the dating life. Oh, and the Rangers season tickets, but that's about it. If I was famous, I couldn't go to the drive-thru of Whataburger in my pajamas. Not that I do that now. But if I did, I would have to worry about being photographed! :)

Yes, this is silly, but it was fun. I dare you to try it! Come on, you know you want to!! Please leave me a link if you participate in it! :) Happy half way through the week my friends!

XOXO!!

Family Time

First of all, thank you for the sweet comments and emails. I am doing a little better since my wreck. I will have to see a chiropractor though due to an ongoing injury. :/ I'll post details on that whenever I can.

So, one of the posts I wanted to get to last week was a recap of my great-nephew E's second birthday party back on Oct. 29. Oh yes, he is already two, hard to believe. Only my niece Alice (E's momma) knew I was coming to the party. It was a surprise for everyone else, including my parents, who didn't think they were seeing me again until Thanksgiving (and yes, my mother was VERY excited I was there). I love surprising people like that, don't you?? Now, E is really into bugs and creepy crawlies right now. Yes, bugs (ew). So the decorations included bugs everywhere, including on the cake and in the punch (calm down, not real bugs, plastic bugs). :)

The "bug" cake.

Spider Oreo cookies

Apples with gummy worms coming out of them

Yum...cake!

Making sure he got all the icing off the plastic bug.

E and brother C were waiting  for their dad to hang the pinata from the tree. At one point E punched a hole in the top and got a sucker out. He's so smart! :)

Trying on his new glasses.

Opening Aunt Rachel's present

As soon as he opened it he said, "Bob!" He loves Veggie Tales! This is really cute. It's a pillow of Bob the Tomato and inside of  it (zipper pouch) is a Veggie Tales blanket. I got it at Family Christian Bookstore.

Reading the details of the Veggie Tales movie I also gave him (okay, maybe not actually reading it).

The birthday boy was too busy to pose for a picture with Aunt Rachel.

C and I were taking pictures on my iPhone. He liked that he could see himself while we were taking the picture.

C and Aunt Rachel

Aunt Rachel showing C how she reacts when she sees a bug!

E waiting on someone to drive him around in his new car.

Me and my lovely sisters

Later that evening we took C and E to a "Trunk and Treat" party at a local church (it's where kids can dress up and go around and "trick or treat" at all the cars in the parking lot.) It was fun, they had some bounce houses and food.

My little elephant!

C the Lion (he didn't want to have the headpiece on).

Hope everyone is having a great week!! XOXO!

 

My Whereabouts...

Believe it or not, I had ideas for a post for every day this week. I really did! I had plans of starting my week of fabulous mind-blowing world changing semi-decent posts Monday afternoon. My plans quickly changed when a friend from work and I were in a wreck on Monday during lunch. First of all, we are okay (we have a few injuries). I don't want to go too much into the accident right now since we both have an ongoing bodily injury claim against the person who hit us (granted my last name is not associated with this blog, but still, I'd rather keep it offline for now). Whenever the claim is settled, I will go into the gory (well, not really) details of what happened. We did have to go the ER. And I might add that television lies. The ER was NOT filled with hot, single doctors. There weren't even decent looking, single doctors. So disappointing. 

My ER bracelet

Anyways, I wanted to give a quick update to what's been going on around here and why I have been offline.

I know several people who will be disappointed and shocked if I don't do the following birthday shout out. You ready for this? I want to wish a very happy 50th birthday to Ralph Macchio!

Ah yes, the Karate Kid himself. Such greatness, I might watch this movie tonight!! Wax on...wax off.

Speaking of lines from the movie, you have to check out this video (well, you don't have to, but you should, it's funny. Especially if you have ever seen The Karate Kid! :) It's about an 8 minute video, but the ending is worth it! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get to my well thought out posts next week!!

XOXO!!

Tuesday Tunes- Halloween Edition

It's been a while since I've done Tuesday Tunes. With Halloween less than a week away, I decided to make it a Halloween themed list today!

Thriller (I think I was about 4 when this video came out and it used to freak me out!) If you just want to hear where he starts to sing the song, go to 4:41 of the video, but honestly, you don't want to miss the bad acting and cheesy make-up at the beginning! :) For those who care, the Thriller "dance" starts at 8:24.

Monster Mash (it's okay, you can admit that you like this song, I won't tell anyone!)

Disney's Halloween Treat (anyone else remember this from the early 80s? Disney aired it every year at Halloween.)

Ghostbusters Theme

Somebody's Watching Me (it's such a cheesy video, and song for that matter, but Psych did a parody of it once, and it made me laugh!)

Halloween Theme

Freddy's Coming For You

I Put A Spell On You

XOXO!!

Manic Monday

I decided to steal borrow this little survey from my sweet homegirl Tonya. Hoping it takes my mind off this Manic Monday!

10 Places You Have Visited
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. New Orleans, LA
3. New York City, NY
4. Orlando, FL
5. Atlanta, GA
6. Mobile, AL
7. Santa Fe, NM
8. Phoenix, AZ
9. Greensboro, NC
10. Paris, TX

9 Items On Your Bucket List
1. Chase a tornado
2. Attend a baseball game at every MLB ballpark/stadium in the U.S. (and Canada)
3. Visit Europe
4. Swim with dolphins
5. Visit Disney World (or Disney Land). No, I've never been to either!
6. Publish one of my short stories
7. Visit Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame)
8. Visit Graceland
9. Go snorkeling

8 Things You Love to Eat
1. Steak
2. Spaghetti
3. Chicken
4. Mashed potatoes (with melted cheese on top)
5. Tortellini
6. Pizza (can you tell I like Italian food?)
7. Macaroni and cheese 
8. Black eyed peas (am I the only person who loves them?)

7 Items Currently On Your Desk
1. Texas Rangers calendar (I know, you are shocked)
2. Hand sanitizer
3. Bottle of water
4. Wheat Thins (I was having a snack)
5. Kleenex
6. Day Planner
7. Reports for work

6 People (Not Living With You) That You Talk To/Text/Tweet At Least Once A Week
1. My mom
2. Monica
3. Katie
4. Khrystal
5. Brandon
6. Donny

5 Favorite Songs
1. God Bless the Broken Road- Rascal Flatts
2. Honey Bee- Blake Shelton
3. Give You Glory- Jeremy Camp
4. I Can Only Imagine- MercyMe
5. Old Alabama- Brad Paisley

4 Things You Cannot Get Through The Day Without
1. Brushing my teeth
2. Dr Pepper
3. My iPhone
4. Chapstick

3 Models of Vehicles You Have Owned
1. 1985 Ford LTD (thus starting my hatred of the Ford Motor Company)
2. 1996 Dodge Neon
3. 2001 Nissan Xterra

2 Physical Traits That Attract You to Someone:
1. Ears (okay, not really, but all my friends will be expecting to see that listed). I'll say eyes.
2. Smile

1. Word to Describe Yourself
1. Unique (it sounds nicer than weird!)

Have a great day y'all!!

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving...
That my Texas Rangers are in the World Series (you knew that was coming, didn't you!) :)

I'm loving...

My 80s/90s country music playlist I made on YouTube. Pure greatness! I miss this "old" country stuff.

I'm loving...

That Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus loves Rascal Flatts. I love him even more now!

Country Songs Helped Elvis Andrus Learn English: MyFoxDFW.com

I'm loving...

These pictures of my sweet great-nephews in their Halloween costumes.

C loves lions!

Isn't E the cutest elephant you've ever seen?

I'm loving...

These Peanuts magnets I got at Michael's for 99 cents (it's the little things that make me happy). ;)

I'm loving...

That I was able to update my blog TWO days in a row for the first time in a weeks!!

XOXO friends! GO RANGERS!