This one or this one~~~I had permission

In all the stress of packing up his stuff, Eric stopped for a moment to give me a fashion show with his BCG's.  At this point, we will use anything for a laugh and stress relief.  Although I'm not sure I'm laughing so much as shuddering with horror. 

For those of you that don't know, the glasses Eric is wearing are his new army issue glasses more commonly known among soldiers at BCG's or birth-control glasses.  Had Eric worn these around the house in our early marriage we might not have had so many children.  Yikes!  From my standpoint, they work very well.  :)  (When he first put them on a couple of months ago, my neighbors could probably hear me yelling, "Take them off! Take them off"! )

But we just thought we'd put it to a vote.  Which one should he wear?  Which one do you think would look best with his ACU's (army combat uniform)?  Amazingly, the top picture is with his actual basic training BCG's and the bottom picture is the 25 year later update.  Update?

Seriously?  Really?  Really?  In today's world of some of the most amazing technology this is the best they can do?  Fortunately for Eric, he also received a pair of normal glasses.  But he is packing these just in case.  As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't need to pack them for the return trip!

All in good fun
love,
Monica

Lesson from a robin

The day after we brought the new vehicle home we noticed this robin protecting his territory from the "bird" in the reflection.  He did this for about three days.  A short time after we would pull up, he would appear and continue his attack.  It was quite entertaining for us.  God sent me this bird with the following thought.

How many times do we fight with happenings in our life incessantly when our work is futile? 

So stop and take time to notice the little birds in your life and the lessons they have to teach.  Choose to attack the things that progress us in life, love, and spirituality and not just things that wear us out.

Prayer requests:
1) Praise for everything getting done.
2) Wise use of time as time is running out.
3) Emotional stamina to handle saying goodbye.

Luke 12: 6-8 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.

Love,
Monica

Blessed by a stranger

Yesterday morning Eric took Ayden with him to Camp Dodge.  Ayden needed to get his military ID renewed and it was just a good moment for him to spend time with his pop plus we were picking up the new car.  On the way they stopped in DeSoto to get gas.  Eric was driving the Bravada and he filled the tank and I will assume they also got a couple of breakfast items. Cost: $45. When he went to use his card it wouldn't work.  He had done some messing with it the other day because it's about to expire and he had not activated our joint account card yet.  So he left his drivers license and told them I would come up and pay when I came through.  Back on the road, he called me and said I needed to stop and pay when I came through.  No problem.  I was heading up right behind them with the silver van.  I got to DeSoto around 9:15 and went in to pay.  I picked up a couple of items and approached the counter.  I stated I needed to pay for my husband's gas.  Both cashiers looked at me kind of funny and then one said, "No you don't.  The lady behind him paid for his gas".  What?!?!  I looked at him confused and then said, "Are you kidding? Was it because he was in uniform"?  To which they replied yes and I started crying... and became rather speechless and had a hard time figuring out that I still needed to pay for my items.  I left dumbfounded and called Eric who was incredibly touched.  She waited until he left and then paid.  He would have refused her and she didn't want any recognition.  Pretty cool, huh?

So to the woman who was a good samaritan even when there was no need....THANK YOU!!  You touched my family's hearts and I am blessed by your kindness.  I hope that I see and seize any opportunity I have to bless someone else someday.

Praise and prayer requests:
1) Praise for both of our non-running vehicles to be gone!  Today the Honda and the Dodge conversion van were hauled away (we had the van for 10 years and it served us well..kinda sad to see it go...lots of family memories in that van including our trip to Seattle and back)
2) Praise for things getting done and continued prayer for stamina and all to come together and be done by May 24th
3) Prayer for my neurologist appointment on Friday
4) Prayer for the kids....this is a lot for them to bear at times even though they don't show it and maybe even know it

Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

God Bless,
Monica

Ba-bye!

There are so many things going on right now in our lives.  Many of those things are not much fun.  But the back of my van is fun.  Most of you would never consider putting this many stickers on the back of your van.  I have never had that many on the back of any vehicle I've ever had.  And I plan on never having that many again.  However, how many silver minivans do you see on the road?  Yes, everybody seems to own one.  And this is where my problem started.  Too many, many times I have gotten in the wrong van!  The first time I did it I actually climbed in and there was a plastic frog on the dash staring back at me.  Confused about the placement of this frog that never rode on my dash before, I quickly realized  I was in the wrong van and jumped out.  This trend continued for a long time.  If I didn't get in the wrong van, I at least walked to the wrong van.  Remember we live in Winterset and many people don't lock their cars.  But then I started having problems in larger parking lots.  And then my sweet Melody acquired a silver van.  She drives a white van and a silver van.  One time she parked her white van behind my silver van at my house and when she left she jumped in my silver van.  When it was too quiet, she realized her kids were sitting in her white van behind her!  Silver vans are everywhere!

So I started with an ISU sticker on the corner on the front windshield.  It wasn't enough.  And then I just got carried away.  The first time I went to Fareway with all of my stickers I still lost my van.  I walked to my van and all of the stickers were gone.  Some of them are magnetic so I wondered who had taken all of my stickers!  And then I realized my van was the next one over.

Today my lost van issues end.  I am trading for an ink blue Ford Edge and I am soooo excited! There are only a couple of them in town and no one has an ink blue one.  I should be good.  That is if I remember I have an Edge and not a silver minivan!

Thank you for all of your prayers about our vehicles.  Having a very reliable car while Eric is gone greatly reduces my stress and our van was starting to have issues.  We still have the Honda and the conversion van to deal with as they haven't sold.  But shortly they will be donated if we don't see any action.

We have lots of information and an address for Eric.  Our time is quickly running out because once he goes active in a month he will not be able to come home except on his leave days.  I will post more about this very soon.

Love,

Monica

Make me smile, laugh, and laugh until I cry....or tinkle a little :)

Now that Ayden has broken his arm, he really needs help delivering his papers.  So on Tuesday I loaded up one of his bags and decided I would listen to a deployment prep CD while delivering; good exercise and quality learning time combined.  Except I found myself crying while delivering which actually ended up making me laugh.  I finished the first street and saw my friend, Annie, heading my way doing her morning power walk.  Of course, someone would find me while I'm delivering papers and crying.  So, it's just God's way of giving us all something else to laugh about.  Friends are great for reminding you later about stupid things you have done.  And some stories are worth retelling just to belly laugh once again.
Things that make me happy.....
my dogs (I waited a long time to have my bichons and Isabelle our lab..well, she's just such a sweet girl)

my sons, my daughter-in-law, and my hubby....nothing like dinner with them all home and a rousing game of Last Word  :)

my friends make me smile, laugh, and belly laugh!

puppy feet that smell like Fritos, morning glories, and clean cars....and seeing Eric find that little treasure in the woods..happy moments

my dad's 'member that? story...I can laugh and giggle just thinking about it..if you ever get a chance to have him tell it in person take the time for sure because his facial expressions are priceless

silly things and customers at the restaurant...working in a restaurant produces at least one laugh a night
(last night an older gentleman said, "wow..you keep getting new people working in here...and I had no answer because it was our regular long-time servers working....so I just agreed with him and then he said...oh, but we don't come in too often... :x?*!?! what? )

leaving our children places...particularly Laramy in the Pamida parking lot while he was kindly putting the cart away for us...

deciding to go TPing for the first time at the age of 40 and watching a ginormous roll of industrial TP hit your friend in the mouth as it came down....yeah, way tooooo funny even though she had a fat lip...sorry Renee!

stories about gas always are useful for a good laugh....smelly coleslaw...how Isabelle can clear a room with her gas while she's sleeping even though she is such a sweet girl....my boys in shock if I let one loose (I tell them I learned from the best...all of them!)...and Eric being discrete but then fluffing the covers so it comes up and hits you in the face... irritating but good for a laugh...Brady and Laramy have been known to clear a car a time or two...

driving to Texas with my Melody and her four kids straight through....yeah, what else do I need to say here?  let's see..speeding ticket, taking a picture of the lights in the rear view mirror while getting the ticket, my cautious driving, Shocktarts..... memories I'm so thankful we made

things I think I hear or don't hear... Monica-isms... need to start keeping a log... I heard "Who's stupid salad is that?"...he said "Who's soup and salad is that?"  and so many many more... Please feel free to add your own comments to this

Most importantly I have learned that when you do something stupid or funny it is best to have someone around to enjoy the laugh.  Otherwise it is just wasted.  And retelling the story just isn't always that funny.  However, some are worth retelling.  Examples: 1) my friend, Charlene, taking the garbage to the street on an icy night and slipping and falling spread eagle into the middle of the street...totally wasted just on her 2) me being all dressed up for work, feeling kinda sassy, and then realizing while I was getting gas that I totally missed a strip of hair on my leg... wasted on just me 3) and me in a public bathroom hearing a toilet flush thinking.."Oh, someone else is in here" and then realizing it was just my automatic toilet flushing behind me... totally wasted on me.

So if you're going to do something funny over the next year...invite me! but, make sure I have gone to the potty first!

Here's to having a year of laughs....

Job 8:21  He will yet fill your mouth with laugher and your lips with shouts of joy!

Prayer requests remain the same for now.

Love and laughter,
Monica