Feeling old...

So I agreed to hang out with a few of my girlfriends and a couple teenage girls Saturday evening. I started to feel my age when we were screaming music on the way to the outlet stores. It was kinda fun, but the fuddy duddy side of me was thinking...this is so loud...I'm going to get a headache. I felt even older when we were shopping. I mentioned wanting to go into Anne Taylor, and some comment was made about me being old. The store has super nice dressy clothes. I know...no teenager is interested in those. Some of the funky clothes they looked at just didn't interest me. I mean, they look fun, but I don't think I could pull them off. What really made me laugh was when we watched High School Musical 1 and 2. The movies were a bit cheesy, but I thought they were pretty fun. The teenagers were SO funny when the lead guy would come on. He is cute. If I was their age, I'd probably be gushing over him too. It's just hard to take myself back to a teenager's brain. I do remember being pretty hyper around 15. Of course, that's also when I disovered Mt. Dew. I don't remember being so mushy when it came to guys, but I do remember having some New Kids on the Block pins on my jean jacket. We didn't have High School Musical back then. We thought Zach on Saved by the Bell was cute. Man...that seems like ages ago...

Good friends

Last night I drove up to Holland, MI to see my best friend Erin. She was there for work training. She goes up there almost every year, but we're never able to hook up. After seven years it finally worked out! We enjoyed a nice Italian dinner then headed back to her hotel to catch up on life. We talk through e-mail and the occasional phone call, but it just isn't the same as talking in person. Erin knows me better than anyone else. She has been with me through some really tough times in my life when other people probably would have left me behind. I can never fool her. She always knows the right questions to ask. Her husband Jesse is such a great guy, and I love to observe them when I'm back in Kansas. They're so much fun, and you can tell they really love and respect each other. I hope to have that with someone in the future.

God has given me great friends here too. I've been through some not-so-great friendships and some that just ran their course. Through all of them, I gained wisdom and had a lot of fun. As I get older, I learn the importance of having great female friends. I'm not knocking any of my male friends who are reading this, but let's be honest...you guys really don't like to hear me blabber on about my life. :-) I truly believe God puts certain people in our lives to help us get through. I'm sure he uses them to prod us toward decisions we don't want to make, or to stop us from doing something stupid (or at least He tries :-]) Lately, he has used my friends to help me see things a little clearer. I thank Him for that, and I thank all of you for sticking with me through the good and the bad.

Good insights

I was talking to a good friend today about a dilemma I have. She was telling me how most of us would probably say that when we pray we believe God will answer our prayers. But...is that really true? I think she makes a good point. There have been times when I've said, I don't even know why I'm praying about this...God's not going to do anything about it. For the most part, I believe in the power of prayer, but I think I really doubt God sometimes. My friend and I also talked about asking for signs when we pray. I've never wanted to do this, because I thought it was selfish of me. It would seem like I doubted God. It's like saying, I believe in you but can you still give me a little proof that you are all powerful. She reminded me of Gideon and how he asked God for signs and God granted His prayer. What makes me think God wouldn't do that for me? Hmm.....

Relaxing Saturday

Today was the first Saturday in a while where I didn't have something planned. My friend Kerrie called me around 9:30 a.m. to say she could meet me at the Farmer's Market. It's a good thing, because who knows how long I would have slept! I got a yummy whole wheat pretzel and some homemade lemonade to snack on while we looked around. I only ended up buying some green beens and honey. I really shouldn't have spent money today, but the green beans looked yummy. Bet my mom never thought I'd say that!

After I came home, I joined my landlord's wife and daughter in the garage sale they were having in the front yard. It was nice to finally meet them and hear about their history in the area. I found out my neighbor's side of the house has wood molding that came from the house Oprah Winfrey bought near here. It was remodeled before she moved in, and my landlord got the old stuff. Also, the grape vines along that side of the house were planted by my landlord. They are Concord grapes, which they tell me are really good. I'll be watching those babies! My last neighbors pretty much got kicked out, which is what I thought. I'm getting new neighbors next week. My landlord's wife says they seem nice. I hope so.

Now I'm doing some cleaning, which isn't terribly exciting but it will make me feel better about my house. If I don't do it now, my house will start out the week looking like a pit. No fun.