Cajun cookin'

This California girl had a Cajun treat this evening! Crawfish, gumbo, boudin sausage straight from LaFayette Louisiana! I was woefully unprepared for this experience in my crisp white professional shirt right after work! I have to admit, looking at those googley eyes and then hearing people suck on their heads made me nauseous! But it all tasted very good in the end! I am willing to try just about 98% of any kind of new food, but I did not suck on the crawfish heads. I could never be on fear factor!

It's warming up, how good is your air conditioner?

What Don does to keep cool in East Texas....



Now Don is a fine specimen of an East Texas man. That clip was taken from a documentary of an East Texas contest called Hands on a Hard Body that Jason and I have grown to love. Check this clip out to get a better idea of it all....

There are two kinds of people in this world.....

I find myself often thinking the phrase, "There are two kinds of people in the world...." followed with something relevant to my current experience. At that moment, it's just that simple. Then I chuckle at the thought and wait for the next opportunity to fill in the blanks.

For example:
There are two kinds of people in the world...
...those that use their turning blinker and those who don't.
...dog lovers and then everyone else.
...chocolate lovers and the mutants.
...considerate drivers and inconsiderate drivers
...people who like coconut and people who don't.
...athletes and then the rest of us.
...people who like running and then people who would rather stick pencils in their eyes than run.
...people who like to go to weddings and people who hate them.
...people who like the ocean or people who like the mountains.
...those who like the Florida State Seminoles, and those who don't.


I would love to hear what two kinds of people you think are in this world! Please share with me!

Beaver's Bend Camping Trip

So, I am going to try to blog a little more often than once every five months :o) The most notable, photographed adventure I've been on recently was to Beaver's Bend Oklahoma. Jason and I went with a few couples from our Sunday School class and had a wonderful time! This picture makes me laugh and sing the song in my head, "One of these things is not like the others..." Being tall has it's blessings and curses! During our two night camping stay, we were visited by a friendly raccoon who attempted to steal our graham crackers from our picnic table one night as we were sitting around the camp fire. We heard a rustling and chased him down with our smores skewers. The next night, one bin was left unsecured and he managed to successfully steal the box of graham crackers and a loaf of bread! He also left many little muddy paw prints on all of the coolers!

When in Rome.......

Why "hope restored?"

As a medical social worker, I frequent meetings with people who have not taken care of themselves. The technical term for this kind of a person: non-compliant. These kinds of people do not, for example, take their medications, or follow the speical diet required to keep them well. When I talk to these people, I explain to them that they are engaged in self-destructive behavior that can eventually lead to death, if they do not make some changes. What I find in so many instances, is that there are deep-seated wounds that these people bear that had brought them to this place of non-compliance. Many times, their life experiences leave them without hope. One particular patient in this circumstance really touched my heart. As we were talking, I made efforts to extend some hope to him about the value of his life. And, he started to understand. He asked me, before he left the hospital, to be sure not to forget him. I assured him I would not. I had planned for sometime to visit him, but just never made time for it. Friday I was notified that he had passed away. I pray that in the little time left in his life after our meeting, that the hope that I feel was restored to his soul brought him some comfort and quality of life. There is something powerful about hope....my hope is in the Lord. It is a precious gift that motivates and comforts and gives strength. I consider it a part of my calling to extend and restore that hope to others.

My new blog!

So I decided to ditch my husband's blog and make my own new cooler blog all about me! well my awesome husband is helping get it set up, so maybe he's not so bad...he's actually typing this right now. haha.

Post coming soon about why it's called hope restored.