My Family Loves Food

My family loves food - probably too much!! There doesn't have to be any reason for us to get together and eat, but we know that any time we are going to do something for the day, or even a few hours, there will be a meal involved.

When we get together like this we always go out to eat, we don't cook at home. This can be good or bad...good because we don't have to visit over cooking a meal and we have more time to visit...bad because we end up eating out way too much.

In addition to these restaurant visits, end up eating out a lot of other times because our son plays baseball, both high school and select. The seasons start in March and go through mid November. There are up to three games a week sometimes, which means late nights. Often times we stop on our way home to eat out vs. coming home and having to fix something at 9:00 at night.

It hasn't always been this way in our family though. My grandma always cooked at home, and it was a special occasion to go out and eat. That is how I grew up. We only went out to eat for birthdays, and the birthday person always got to have their pick of the restaurant. That is when it was fun to eat out.

Now when we eat out, though it may make life easier, is actually hard. We have a difficult time agreeing on a place to eat, either because someone just ate there, they've eaten there too much, or nothing sounds good to anyone because we rarely eat at home. My aunt and I just spent eight weeks in Cleveland, and we ate out every day. Once we got home I couldn't stand the thought of eating out...that only lasted a couple of weeks and we are right back at it.

Speaking of my grandma, it reminds me how much fun it was to know we were going to her house. We always knew she'd either have one of our favorite things waiting on the table, or she was going to ask us what we wanted and make it once we got there. She did the same thing for my son when he was little. When she thought he wasn't eating enough she'd make him is favorite thing for breakfast and dinner if he wanted it, and she'd be so happy at how much he ate that day. She did this for everyone that came into her home. There was always food ready, or would be ready soon upon their arrival. My husband used to pick up our son from their house once a week, and he'd do so after working the graveyard shift. When he got there she'd always have eggs, sausage and hotcakes ready for him. There was a period of time when my Dad loved spice cake, so once a week she'd bake him a cake and bring it to our house. She loved to make sure we were all getting our tummy's full, and with things we loved to eat.

I rarely cooked while I was working, because I spent too much time away from my family. In November and December, prior to going out of town, I began cooking often. I've gotten out of the routine since I came home, but I actually went grocery shopping tonight, and it consisted of food to cook for complete meals.

Church is a Community

Church is a community. It is something I'm very proud to be a part of, and love very much. At Pilchuck Valley Chapel (PVC) we are a community made up of approximately 70 people, but we are a small number in comparison to the church community worldwide. Our community at PVC is held together by Pastor Brady, his wife Bobby, the church elders, and the volunteers.

The people in my church community want to know God, through his Son, Jesus Christ. We come together each Sunday to get another lesson from the Bible, to pray for our families, friends, the soldiers, and other people we don't know. This community of people learn to show love to people they don't know by praying for them in a time of need, offer them food and clothing when they are homeless or can't afford to feed their children, and tell them the word of God. Our values are honesty, love, faith, and family.

There are many faiths and religions followed in our world. This is OK, except when someone of a different faith tries to tell me that mine is wrong. The same would be true if I did that to someone else. It is sad to me that not everyone finds faith to follow. There is a lot of sin in this world, and the church community faces it every day. Our faith leads us to prayer for these people, but we still have to listen to derogatory comments, or that there is no such thing as God or his Son, Jesus. There are television shows on Discovery and the History Channel where the researchers are doing everything they can to prove that there could be no such spirit or Son.

What I hold dear to my heart about this community is the unconditional love I receive from each and every one of the people that belong to it. Love is the first thing you receive as you walk through the doors, because every week you are greeted by a hug or a hand shake. The only thing you need to do to fit in is come to church and listen to the Word. Even if you walk through the doors and aren't sure whether or not you believe, or you haven't asked Jesus into your heart, the people in my community will share with you their personal experiences and knowledge from the Bible. There is no pushing, shoving, or hovering that happens at PVC, only love.

In Loving Memory of My Mom

Last weekend I lost my Mom to liver disease. None of it seems real yet.

We came to Cleveland on January 1st, to live here until she received her new liver, aortic valve replacement and a bypass. None of the surgeries could take place without the other, and the Cleveland Clinic was the only place in the country ever to perform this type of surgery. She was placed on the list January 5th, and was #5. The Cleveland Clinic performs approximately 10 transplants a month, so the time would've gone by quickly.

Unfortunately, my Mom got ill a couple of days after we got to Cleveland, and finally had to go to the hospital. Her kidneys were not functioning well and her heart was working really hard. They had to try to get her better in order to give her the transplant. This didn't happen. She peacefully went to Heaven, my Aunt and me by her side. We were able to call home in her last minutes and people could speak to her on my cell phone. She couldn't respond, but I know she could hear them.

Next week we will take her home and bury her next to my Dad, in Arlington WA.

I love you Mom... thanks for everything you did for me and the unconditional love you showed me. I will miss you forever!!

Kris

What My Wallet Says About Me

Looking through my wallet people would see that I'm an organized person. Everything has a place, and they are always in their place. I have a checkbook size wallet that zips open and has two sides, divided by a zippered section. I have a change compartment on the outside of the wallet which also zips. On one side of the wallet are my drivers license, a couple of credit cards, my EvCC student ID card, and gift cards. Behind those is a slot I put money in. On the other side are my insurance cards, grocery store cards, movie cards, hotel and travel reward program cards. In the slot behind those are receipts from my debit card. In front of the cards, on either side of the middle zipper compartment are notes which are reminders of things I need to do, coupons I intend to use within the next couple of days, and at this time a hotel card for the Residence Inn I'm staying at.

Specifically, other than organization, there are other things my wallet say about me. My drivers license shows what I look like, how old I am and where I live. The EvCC card would tell someone that at one time I attended this community college. The fact that I only have two credit cards in my wallet shows that I don't charge many things. One is a gas card for Shell, the other is the debit/credit card I have from my checking account. There are no actual credit cards for department stores, etc. The gift cards symbolize that I have some money to spend at Target and Nordstroms. Since it was just Christmas someone would assume I got them as gifts, they would be correct. I also have Zune cards to purchase songs. This would tell someone that I own a Zune. At this time I have cash in my wallet, because I'm out of town and just went to the bank today. Normally at home I never have cash; people who know me know I never have cash. I don't know what others would think, or if they would assume that by the absence of it. The insurance cards show that I have family members. There are no pictures in my wallet, so this would be the only way they would know this. I don't normally carry pictures in my wallet, they get bent and worn; I picked this up from my Dad. The travel and hotel cards would tell someone that I travel often; my hotel of choice is the Marriott and I fly NWA. I have grocery store discount cards for Safeway & Haggens, which would tell someone that is where I do my grocery shopping. The coupons would show where I do some shopping, at this time it is a Petco coupon. That would tell someone I have at least one pet. I have a couple of to-do notes, unfortunately those are about the passing of my Mom and the things I need to do with the funeral home, etc. The receipts show where I usually frequent. At this time I only have a few, but they are from Starbucks and the rental car company.

The things I don't carry in my wallet are my social security card, this is for identity protection in case my wallet is lost. As I mentioned, I don't have any pictures of my loved ones. While the insurance card tells of my immediate family it doesn't indicate anything about my parents, siblings or other family members.

What's in your wallet, and what would it tell about you as an individual? What would you lose if you dropped your wallet without knowing it? What things would people not know about you because those items are not represented in your wallet?

Gettin In the Swing of Things

Well, I've made it through my first two weeks of school. A couple of days have been so overwhelming to me, and it left me wondering if I'd made the right decision. In hindsight I've gotten through both days, I'm fine at the end of them, and I can see clearly again.
I want to be in school and obtain my goals. School is like anything else, no matter how badly you want to do it, there are times when we question our abilities to get through the tasks at hand.

A New Leaf

When I graduated from H.S. in 1989 I was a new mother and not able to go to college. Recenlty I lost my job from an employer I spent 15 years with. I spent alot of time thinking about what I want to do next in my life, and I decided to go to college. I plan on getting my degree in Veterinary Medicine. I love animals and would enjoy spending every day at work with them.

So off I go.....