My Journey to Heaven

"Where are you on your road to Heaven?"

A question asked to me when I was a Freshman on my first day of CYO. CYO stands for Catholic Youth Organization, and it was how most high schoolers were involved with their Catholic Church.

After thinking for a while, I answered in my head "probably about half way."

You see, at that age, I had never really been tested in life. I was incredibly blessed to have a wonderful family, warm home, good food, success in school and sports, and many other reasons to be at peace with my life and my faith. I talked to God everyday and was incredibly proud to be Catholic.

I still believe to this day, that at that time in my life I was "half way." But being only half-way, I couldn't see the rivers to cross, mountains to climb, and valleys to try and avoid. That second half of the "road to heaven" is tough.

Somewhere along the way I took a wrong turn. I don't believe that I fell completely off the path, but I definitely took the longer route. I was very good at rationalizing and make excuses why I didn't make it to church every Sundays, why it was ok to do and say things I never did before, and why I no longer prayed at night.

It wasn't working for me. I was not happy.

Then, late one night, I returned a phone call from my brother that I had missed while coaching a basketball game. Little did I know that not only was that phone call going to change his life, but mine as well.

My brother was a Sophomore at Pratt Community College and was in the middle of a very exciting recruiting experience to see what school out of state would pay him to come play baseball, but all of that changed when he found out that he was soon to be a father. Unexpected, unplanned, and upsetting. We both cried that night. He was scared, sad, and disappointed. I was very sad for him and angry.

I was not angry at Joe. His life was going to change dramatically and suddenly. I was angry with God. All I had ever wanted was to be married and have a family, and I was doing things "right." Or what I considered more right than my brother was. He was getting what I wanted (not exactly, but at that time, it's what I thought of).

I prayed that night. For the first time in a long time. I talked to God and asked Him why things weren't turning out the way I knew they were supposed to. And then it dawned on me. Almost instantly...

If everything that is good happens through God, He can't be put on the "back burner" of life. He has to be upfront where your attention is focused. Once I came to that realization, my life started to change. I tried to make my way back to that path toward Heaven.

I started out by going back to church, every Sunday (I don't think I've missed more than two Sundays since that phone call from Joe). I started praying again...when I don't accidentally fall asleep before I finish. And you know what I found?

Life was better.

Not immediately, but slowly through the months, I was happier.

It was after that pivotal moment in my life. After that phone call, after returning to my path that I met Ethan.

Now I try to think often of where I am "on journey to Heaven." Now the challenge has become not only how do I get to heaven, but how do I help my life partner to get there as well. How do we work together to have a family and begin the path for each one of our children. I know there are many more hills, mountains, curves, and valleys along my path, but I truly believe staying strong in my faith and walking with my Husband, we will eventually make it all the way to the top. All the way to paradise.

Easter Fun!

They say you never stop learning, and after this weekend home with my family, I'd say that is true.

The things I've learned over Easter Weekend:

10. Sneezing with a mouth full of cottage cheese will propel it far enough to touch 8 people sitting at a table.

9. Ducks can be spanked.

8. It is possible to get 10 people, 4 dogs, 2 ducks, and one Easter Bunny in one house for a weekend.

7. We are loud.

6. The Easter Bunny is like Santa Clause, he sees you when you sleep and makes sure you are good before bringing you candy.

5. Baby ducks don't bite, but they do poop...a lot.

4. There are more slug bugs in Wichita than in Burlington. It's easy to get out of practice.

3. Belonging to a wine club is definitely the way to go. If you can't afford to join a wine club, make sure your brother does so he can bring home the wine.

2. In order to hold a fish, insert thumb into mouth, squeeze the rest of the fingers around it and hold up.

1. There's nothing like a weekend at home with the entire family...we are fun people. (I've known that one!)

Lost! Please Return if Found

I had a perfectly good lunch I took to school a couple weeks ago.

Yep, a couple weeks ago.

It was a breakfast burrito, yogurt, and girl scout cookies.

Yep...it was a breakfast sort of day. So I thought...

I walked in to school that day with the lunch sack in hand. Normally I walk straight into the teachers' work room, grab the newspaper out of my mailbox, put my lunch in the fridge and then walk down the hall to my classroom.

On that particular day, I forgot to put my lunch sack in the refrigerator. But no worries, I figured I would just take it back to the workroom when I went to make copies.

That's where the trail runs cold.

At lunch time I am very disappointed to find no lunch in the fridge, no lunch in my classroom, no lunch in my car, not even in the restroom...yes I even checked there.

No lunch. Anywhere.

Gone.

Audios.

Disappeared.

Me? I had to eat the school's lunch for the day. Beef stew, salad, and bread sticks. Definitely not the breakfast burrito I had my heart set on.

And today?? Still no lunch.

Gone.

Never coming back.

And by this time...the only reason I want to see it, is for my piece of mind.

"Hot Dog!"

We have two AMAZING dogs who are, at this point in time, our babies. We love them, their silly faces, how they love to play with the ball, go for walks, and give those "sad puppy eyes" when they want something.

They are wonderful!

Most of the time...

There is one thing that they do that continues to cause me grief.

They escape.

KC, the three-year-old black lab mix, has escaped from every single dog pin that we have put her in. She can squeeze through incredibly small spaces when she JUST HAS TO GET OUT! She HATES being put in the kennel alone, and will do anything to bust loose...

Breck, the almost-three-year-old yellow lab mix could probably leap a small building. Whatever kind of dog her full-breed lab mom got "mixed up with" HAD to have some awesome jumping skills. "Breckers" can leap up high enough to get her paws hooked over the top of a 6ft. tall dog kennel and that's all she needs to propel herself over the edge. CRAZINESS!!!

This causes me grief.

Why???

Because that means they have to be put inside at night or any other time we leave the house.

I hate that.

I hate them in the house...they are big, outside dogs, and they like it.

So...we finally broke down and decided to get an electric wire for our fence. Ethan and his dad just spent the afternoon installing the power box and getting the wire in place on a small section of the fence to try it out.

The result???

Awesome! It WORKS!!! It took KC one zap and Breck two in order for them to stay away from the fence! No more dogs escaping...no more late night searches...no more fear of possible "accidental pregnancies..."

Life is good!

Coupons...

I'm all about saving money. Who isn't?

Ethan and I do a pretty good job of trying to get the best deal when shopping, eating, or just buying anything. He is a very good comparable shopper, and that has rubbed off on me more and more.

One thing that I have always seen the advantage of and never tried is using coupons. I guess I never wanted to take the time to look for the coupons and cut them out or take up even more time at the grocery store checkout line while the cashier scans my hundreds of coupons. (You know you hate getting stuck behind someone like that in line).

However, things have changed. Groceries are getting more and more expensive, cost of living is getting more and more expensive, gas is more expensive...starting to get the picture.

As I look to the future, I don't see those costs going down anytime soon, and we would someday like to have a family. When I think about the amount of money my parents spent on groceries for us kids when we were all at home, I cringe when I think about our future store runs.

I am starting to come around to the idea of searching for coupons, clipping, and caring whether or not I make the person behind me in line wait a little longer to check out.

My "new" cousin Dana, sent me a link to another blogger who lives right here in Wichita and shops at the Dillons stores around me. She blogs about her coupon savings and shows that it can be doable without spending hours and hours. This blog has given me a reason to at least give it a try. Check her out at:

Money Saving Mommy

We'll see how this goes. I'm hoping to have some success with this!

"Unanswered Prayers"

That used to be one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs. One I grew up listening to, enjoying the melody, and singing along and wishing that my legs were long enough to touch the floor while I sat in the chair.

You know how sometimes you did things as a kid and didn't realize the importance of it until much later in life.

That was me, when that song came on the radio the other day and I began to sing along, just as I did when I was 8.

Now I get it.

I started to think about the meaning of the words "sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers..." and thinking about my life and how many times I prayed for something that didn't come.

That my parents wouldn't be so "old fashioned" and let me do what I wanted...

That I was friends with the "popular group" that went to parties and had boyfriends/girlfriends...

That I was skinny like the other girls...

That I would be a archaeologist...

That I would find a college out of the state of Kansas...

That the guy I thought I loved would finally "come to his senses..."

Now that I sit here thinking of that song and how wonderfully Blessed my life is, I can't imagine what I would be like today if any of those prayers had been answered.

That song was a great reminder for me, as my husband and I start to pray for things in our future, to keep in mind that God always has a plan for us. He may not answer our prayers the way we think...but He always has a better plan.

Red One!

Whack! Someone just got "Slug-Bugged"!

Two and a half years ago, that someone was me. For the first time in our relationship Ethan had felt comfortable enough with me to punch my left shoulder as I sat in the passenger seat of the truck driving through Wichita. Could this be the same loving and caring man that I was falling for???

But then it dawns on me...This is exactly the man I'm falling for. Part of what attracted me to him in the first place is his joking, sarcastic personality. Playing the "slug bug" game like we are kids is exactly up his ally!

So it began. The next year or so I was getting slugged much more often than I was doing the slugging. Playing constant "Slug Bug" with a guy who can tell the make and model of a car from half a mile away didn't give me much of a chance. He even was able to find probably the one and only VW Beetle in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...yep that's right, he even slugged me on our honeymoon!

However, as time has gone by I have become much more adept at picking out those little bugs and am now slugging him almost as many times as he gets me. It's an unspoken rule in our car...you sit next to one of us and you better be on the look out! (I even got my sister 5 times in one day while we went shopping!)

Sometimes I laugh when I picture us 40 years from now driving down the road scanning the road and parking lots just waiting for the opportunity to yell "Red one!"