Update on Rebekah

Hey everyone!! This is Brooke.....one of Rebekah's friends. She wanted me to let everyone know that she's still alive, but has been VERY busy recently. She did get a job at Chick Fil A and is doing well. She does need some prayer in some private matters though. She doesn't know when she'll return to this world of blogging, so we'll all have to be patient. :) Well, guess I should go! Take care everyone!!

If you find me, could you please let me know where I am???

No, I'm not back from bloggie break yet. Sorry to say...just been so busy busy busy busy...stressed stressed stressed stressed... No time for blogging right now. Which makes me very sad because I really want to get around to y'all's blogs, say hi, catch up on news...and I have no time at the moment. In fact, I really need to be doing homework right now, not posting a meaningless... OK, not meaningless. I really just came on here for a few minutes to ask for prayer. I'm not going to go into any detail, if you know me in real life you probably already have a good idea of what all is going on, and if you don't then you know that the Lord knows what's going on and that's all that really matters. Just please keep my family and I in prayer, especially for the next few weeks/months, as we wait, as we pray, as we hang in there and do our best to get through each day by His love and grace. Please pray especially for our minds, that we not fall under depression or anxiety, but trust Him every moment of every day, no matter what happens.

If you're in my private blog, I'm about to head over there, and I'll use a little more detail there...also, my email address is on that blog, please feel free to email if you so desire. I can't promise I'll reply right away (in fact, I owe several of you emails at the moment and just haven't gotten around to answering them yet -- sorry about that), but I do read all emails :)

I wish you all a blessed day in the Lord!

Yep, I know...........

....that I missed this week's Simply Snickers.

....that I missed this week's Sunday Stills.

....that I haven't posted in awhile.

....that this is getting really repetitive and boring.

So I'll keep from boring y'all with an apology and just say...

HI!!!!

How are ya?

;)

Yeah, I know -- that didn't do a whole lot either, did it?! Hehe!

I don't have a lot to say at the moment, just trying to get through these first few weeks of getting used to a new (and full!) work and school schedule...and just not having much time for blogging these days. In fact, I do believe I may take a bloggie break in the near future.

In other words, if you don't hear from me within the next few weeks, you'll know I took a bloggie break. ;)

I apologize for not getting around much to read y'all's blogs either...lack of time, etc....

And to those of you to whom I still owe an email? Sorry about that. I'll get back to you soon, I promise. That whole lack of time thing again :P

So yeah. I'm sorry I don't have anything earth-shattering to share at the moment...

Oh. Did y'all hear about the rains? We here in Southern California are buying snorkels and inner tubes like crazy...or maybe should be!! We've been hit, and are going to still be hit, by some major storms this week...like EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Raining and raining and raining.

I happen to think it's lovely, I love the rain. I love to walk in the rain. I love to sing and dance in the rain. I actually really like the rain. I'm weird, OK?

The main part I DON'T like about the rain is working at the afterschool daycare -- we don't have a building, we are generally outside (by the lunch tables), so when it rains we have to go inside the multi-purpose room. So then you have 80-100 kids, grades K-6, cooped up in a room for 2 hours with practically nothing to do but watch a movie or something like that. Unsurprisingly, the majority of them don't like it, get restless, talk, move around...you get the idea. And if we don't watch a movie, we've got to do something -- organize games to play or something. As for trying to play games...let's not go there. It's a mess.

Oh and something else -- there was actually a tornado in southern California! Yeah I know, shocker isn't it? When somebody first told me there was a tornado warning out for our area, I said, "Um, this is California..." Haha, I was wrong -- there really was a tornado!!

Plus the earthquake a few days ago... It's been pretty interesting here lately. I was just talking to a friend recently, who agreed with me that most Californians are pretty much over earthquakes -- not that big a deal. If you're type A, scared, or just plain paranoid, you might run under a doorway or something...otherwise you generally just stand there and wait for the shaking to end. No big deal. Of course, for this Arizona-bred desert girl...it's taken me awhile to get to be OK with earthquakes. Even the small ones are...interesting.

Yeah. I'm rambling. It's time for me to go to bed. I'm signing off, folks. Talk later.

Oh, and I promise I'll reply to the emails soon, but I don't promise anything about blogging within the next few...months. LOL!! ;D

Sunday Stills -- Best Shot of 2009

Today's Sunday Stills challenge was to go back through the Sunday Stills posts of 2009 and find two of your best shots. Here were my favorites of 2009's challenges:

The title of this post was Sunday Stills -- HORSES!! and my favorite photo of it was this one:

My other favorite of 2009 was this one from a post titled Sunday Stills -- Feathers, Fins, and Fur, the favorite being:
Hmm, I hadn't noticed that both my favorite shots were of animals (well, fish, but you know what I mean)... Somebody might think I was an animal person -- haha!! ;)

Two Awards and a Fun Tag!!

In the last two weeks, bloggie buddies have blessed me with two awards and a tag!! :)

The first award:


Rules
1. Thank the person who gave the award.
2. Copy the award.
3. Post it on your blog.
4. Tell seven things about yourself that your readers don't know.
5. Link seven new bloggers as recipients.
6. Notify the winners with comments on their blogs.
7. Keep being awesome!

Ashley gave me this award, thank you so much Ashley!!

Hmm, seven things y'all don't know...that's tough!!

1. I may be...ehem...'of age'...but I still love playing with younger kids!! (which is why I have a job at a daycare, lol)
2. I love working in the nursery or kids' Sunday School at church.
3. My birthday is coming up soon.
4. I have NEVER been good at math or science.
5. I'm blessed to be pretty good at English, grammar, writing, etc.
6. I don't have a lot of friends, but that's OK, because the Lord has blessed me with several REALLY good friends!
7. Most of my good friends live far away... :(

I give this award to:
All the followers of my private blog (minus the two Jonathans - they're manly men, not lovely ladies!):
1. LeAnna
2. Jennifer
3. Michelle, City Girl Turned Country Girl
4. Becky
5. Moira
6. Theresa - except she's no longer on the blogosphere, so I can't award her :(
7. Brianna
And to these I add:
8. Paula
9. Kryssy
10. Kate
11. Danielle
12. Sara
13. Sarah
14. The Cowgirls
15. Ranch Wife
God bless each one of you, lovely ladies!



The second award:
This is from Brooke, thanks Brooke!

The Lemonade Stand Award is awarded for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude.

There are just a few rules for accepting this wonderful award:

- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.

- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

- Link the nominees within your post.

- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Here we go again -- you know, I always have a hard time picking out other people to tag for things, you know what I mean? So many folks, so few tags, so little time!! Especially since I just tagged people for the award above, plus I recently gave out another award to most of my friends. So instead of dealing with picking out people for this one, I'm just going to tag all the same people that I tagged for the award above!! I wouldn't have tagged them if I didn't like them!! :)


And now the tag:

Here are the rules:
1. Do quick post about the person that tagged you saying thanks
2. Answer the 10 questions
3.Tag 6 people
4. Follow 3 new blogs and list them
5. Challenge one person to do something fun or crazy

Well I didn't quite exactly get tagged, but I was one of the ones that Lakota started following, so I consider myself tagged :) So I'm going to do it and have fun!!! The newly followed blogs should have tagged privileges :)

Here are the 10 questions:

1: Have you ever been to a rodeo? You better believe it!!

2: Have you ever tried to ride a cow? Nah, my sisters didn't think it was a good idea...after all, longhorns have a reputation for getting ticked easily... ;)

3: Have you ever milked a cow or goat? Mmm hmm

4: Have you ever been to a Demolition Derby? um, I don't think so, but I sure would like to!

5:
a:What is your favorite Country song? tough question...either Me and God, or Long Black Train, or Amazing Grace, or Little Moments Like That, or...any number of favorites!!

b: Who's the artist? of those listed: Josh Turner, Randy Travis, Brad Paisley

6: Do you like to hunt? you betcha!!!

7: Have you ever cooked your breakfast over an open fire in your backyard? In my backyard? Nah. Home owners associations and landlords get kinda unhappy about that lol!!

8: Have you ever thought that the muck was shallow and when you stepped in it, you sank knee deep? well not quite knee deep, but yeah :)

9: What is the hardest thing you have ever done? June 2009 -- for the entire month, my mother was away and I took care of our household, doing everything for my dad and myself. Now that was hard. I think it will be a lot easier, when I start my own family with my husband, because we will create our own routines and habits and necessities -- but to step into my mother's shoes, and do everything for our family for the entire month (cooking, laundry and ironing, bill paying, etc. etc.) -- that was really hard. It was also tough because I was missing my mom something fierce, that was the longest time we had been apart up until then.

10: (The question is optional) What's one of your most embarrassing moments? I haven't had a whole lot of really embarrassing moments. There've been a few times, though, when I've said something odd, or something came out of my mouth sounding different than it did in my head...and my face and neck, especially my ears, get really red, and they itch like crazy. I can always tell when I'm blushing because I itch.
For this I tag:
1. The followers of this blog!!
2. And anyone else who wants to do it!

And I challenge Kryssy to a triple pirouette!! :)

And I start following, and also tag:
1. Lakota and Ashley have just started following me, so I am going to start following them too. In fact, Ashley originally made up this tag, and Lakota passed it to me! I did also start following Ashley's creative blog, Cowgirl Creativity, which I encourage everyone to go check out! It's off to a great start and should have a LOT of really fun creative stuff on it within a short time. :)
2. Sarah started following me a while ago, and I've been meaning to start following her for awhile, so now I am! :)
3. The Cowgirls also started following me a little while ago, I'm following them now too!! :)


Oh, and one more thing before I'm done. This is to those of you who are part of my private blog:
Folks, I know I've not been the best about posting on that blog lately...I kind of let it go for awhile. But I'm back to posting on it, and I will continue to do so. :) Thanks!!

Simply Snickers: Children's Storybooks

First of all, thank you all for voting on the photos below, by comment or email! If you haven't voted yet, there's still time -- I won't close voting for another week or so :) Yes, I will tell y'all which one I eventually choose, but since I haven't actually chosen yet, you don't get to know quite yet. Yes, I'm being evil -- any other questions?! *wink*

I will say that at the moment, as I am writing this, the current tally has photo #1 in the lead with 12 first pick votes, and #3 right behind with 10!! :)

Before I post any more (and don't forget, Sunday Stills soon), I wanted to get my Simply Snickers poem up. This week's prompts were linger, love, look. And this week's featured artist is Joan Walsh Anglund, author and illustrator of children's books. So this is what I came up with (copyright, etc., etc.)


Children's Storybooks

Little hands with little fingers
Turn the pages of little books
Little eyes so love to linger
Love to look, and look, and look

A butterfly, a firetruck
Three blind mice and a farmer’s wife
A boat, a bird, a rubber duck
On these pages, come to life

Words and pictures tell the tale
Of Humpty Dumpty’s tragic fall
Of the milkmaid’s upset pail
Of how the beanstalk grew so tall

Mother Goose’s rhyming pages
The diligence of Little Red Hen
Stories loved throughout the ages
To be read, and read, and read again

Copyright 2010, Rebekah N. :)


Ta ta for now!

...I always wanted to say that...

Photos -- please give me your opinion!!

OK, I need y'all's opinion. I had some photos taken of myself by a friend of mine, with the object of having ONE for a special-occasion photo. However, now that I see all of them, I'm not sure which one I like best, which one to make THE photo. I narrowed it down to the 7 best, now I need your opinion. Please leave me a comment and let me know which, in order, are your top three favorites!! Thank you so much!

1.

2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
7.

Keep in mind that because this is a special occasion photo, it will be sent to friends and family as well as kept forever as the special photo!! :) Thanks!

Sunday Stills -- Food

Today's Sunday Stills challenge is Food...to which I said, "Yeehaw!!!" You see, I have an odd habit of photographing what I eat. Yeah I know, some people think it is very strange, but it's just one of those things. Anyway... :) These are all from the archives of 2009, and they all have stories behind them.

January. My birthday, at Claim Jumper restaurant, with my parents. Steak, mashed potatoes, etc. Mmmm.

July. Texas. Sonic with my Aunt M.

September. California -- Long Beach, to be specific. We had gone out as a family to see the Aquarium of the Pacific, but first we had breakfast at a restaurant called Bake N Broil, a place very special to my parents. This was blueberry pancakes -- and to the side you can see the hash browns!! :)
October. Arizona. Bread made by my Lebanese grandmother.

October. Arizona. Meal made by my Lebanese grandmother and aunt. I don't know the spellings of the names of these foods, so forgive me if I spell them wrong. Kibbe, a meat dish, with leban, a kind of yogurt-like sauce. A kind of rice, I don't know its name. And stuffed eggplant, I don't think it has a special name. Let me tell you, I could eat this stuff ALL.DAY.LONG. Yummmmmm.

Also October. Arizona. My favorite restaurant in Phoenix, called The Chino Bandito -- it's a mix between Asian and Mexican. I know, it sounds kind of weird, but it's actually really, really good! This is my favorite thing there, Pork Carnitas on rice. This, obviously, is a closeup of the dish, including the chopsticks!!

October. California -- home. My mama made a special treat one morning, a real country-style breakfast of eggs, bacon, and biscuits (with orange juice). Ohh my oh my. Soooooooo good.

That's all for now!

...you can wipe that drool off your chin now... ;)

OK, I really don't feel too good. Actually, I feel better than I did at about 2:45ish today. I think I got hit by some kind of flu-type buggie. Not fun. I hate throwing up -- with a passion. I can deal with a lot of physical, um, issues...but throwing up is not on the list. I don't like it. Like, really don't like it. Like, really REALLY don't like it.

After which I had a popsicle and promptly fell asleep. Which was a good thing. I've been consistently getting 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep, but last night, what with the church New Years Eve party (of course we stayed up till midnight) and all that...well, I got about 6 hours of sleep last night. So I was really tired. And I slept...and slept...and slept.

So then I got up a little while ago, and I was hungry but my stomach can't decide whether or not it's still upset. I ate 6 saltine crackers, and another popsicle... And obviously now I'm on my computer :)

I figured as long as I was on here I'd better be useful. Below is my poem for this week's Simply Snickers. Oh and by the way, you may have noticed a few surveys on my sidebar. I'm trying to decide whether to switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox as my internet browser. Can y'all give me any feedback on which one you like better (or if you use something different and better than both of them)? Also, I have had some issues this week while using Firefox, it will not let me leave a comment on some people's blogs. So if you haven't heard from me in a little while, I'm not being rude or anything, I've honestly left several comments each on about 3 or 4 blogs and none of them show up :( I'll have to figure out what's going on, maybe there's a setting wrong or something. It's only blogs that have the comments embedded below the post that I'm having trouble with -- blogs that the comments are a popup or that go to a separate page for the comments are no problem. This is kinda frustrating, but one way or another we'll figure it out. :)

OK, so here's the poem. Copyright 2009 (I just gotta say that to make sure nobody would do something rude like steal it or anything like that -- I know y'all would never do that, but who knows who might find the blog and try to do something like that?) First are a few photos I found on the internet (no I did not take them), and I'm sure they're probably copyrighted somewhere too, I just don't know where. I would credit their source but I'm not even quite sure where they came from, so I can't do that. Forgive me.
Wheatfield

Western sky a dusky pink
As slowly sets the summer sun
Amidst the wispy cloudy streaks
Another Kansas day is done

Stalks and stalks of waving wheat
Shimmer in the sunset glow
Proud the farmer’s heart now beats
Gazing o’er the golden flow

The hearty sun and gentle rain
Diligence, and the hand of God
Nurtured wheat on the open plain
Blanketing the gritty sod

The day is done, exhausted now
The farmer rests his aching bones
Wearied from the scythe and plow
And summer’s heat and winter’s cold

But first he stops to proudly stare
The wheat is waving in the breeze
His heart lifts up a simple prayer:
“Lord, help it grow, I ask Thee, please.”

The sun has set behind the wheat
The earth in stillness gently rests
Peacefully the farmer sleeps
His heart content, happy, blessed.

Copyright 2009 Rebekah N. Yeah, you know that already. But repetition is a good thing, even if it's redundant. :)

Well, that's all for now. I think maybe I'll go lay down or something. I wish this stomach would settle down. I'm actually pretty hungry, but I'm not sure I dare eat much for fear of...ehem...seeing it again. You know what I mean.

So I'll be back later. :)