23 Minutes in Hell? Say whaaaa?

Driving in to work this morning, I heard a commercial on KLTY about an upcoming speaking engagement at a local church with gentleman named Bill Wiese who claims to have spent 23 minutes in hell. From what I can tell, he wrote a book entitled 23 Minutes In Hell and goes around discussing his experience in churches. Heaven and hell are mysterious and I think naturally, we are initially drawn to anything we can get our hands on regarding either subject. Anyway, I made a note to Google him and his book when I got into the office because, well, I was curious as to what all this was about and I usually tend to be a bit skeptical on stuff like this.

Of course, when searching his name on Google a video came up in the results. It is about a 1.5 hour video of him giving his presentation and telling his story. Because it's Friday and things are slow at work, I pulled it up just to see what he had to say.

In short, he claims that while he and his wife were sleeping one night after returning home from a prayer meeting, he suddenly found himself dropped into a prison cell which he soon realized was the bowels of hell. He said that God hid from him the fact that he was saved during his ordeal so he took it in as if he were an unbeliever. He then talked about the smells, sights and sounds of hell, not leaving out the description of several demons and the torture they mercilessly inflicted on him. He talks about the lack of water, the extreme heat, the gut-wrenching smells, the pain, the fire, etc.

I watched the video for about 15 minutes and was feeling kind of... off about the whole thing so I turned it off.

First, I don't doubt that God can reveal things to us, whether physically or via dreams, but a couple of things about Mr. Wiese's story really bother me.

1. The fact that he claims God hid his salvation from him. I take issue with this. From the moment Mr. Wiese said that in his spiel, it bothered me. He claimed to know everything else about his life, even to the point of knowing his wife was lying in bed asleep at the moment with no idea where he was. Why would God hide the fact that he was saved from him if he chose to allow him to keep every other aspect of his mind? I don't see the purpose in allowing one of His children to supposedly experience hell, even briefly, if he/she has already been saved from that. How does that "help" his story other than to add a new dimension of fear? I can find nothing scripturally that can back up his claim that he "lost" (for lack of better word) his salvation for 23 minutes. Furthermore, if God did in fact hide Mr. Wiese's faith from him, would that not make God a deceiver or a liar in a sense? Something that God absolutely is not??(Hebrews 6:16-20; Titus 1:2; NLT) (John 10:28-30; Romans 8:38-39 NLT - Not even the powers of hell!)

2. I do not like how he seemed to be adding to the scripture by giving his account, giving so many detailed descriptions about hell. While we do have some insight into what hell is like throughout scripture, God chose not to give us specific details. (Matthew 13:49-50; Mark 9:48; all throughout Revelation NLT)I take comfort in the fact that he did this for a reason. If we were to know all these details, I really think it would be in Scripture. I believe with all my heart that I have been saved by my faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection. Snatched away from the devil's grasp by God's mercy and grace alone, therefore I will never see hell (though I most definitely deserved it). I do not need an elaborate description of every facet of hell. I believe that he revealed just enough of a glimpse for us. While I cannot fathom the mind of God, I just feel as though had he revealed all the horrors of hell to us, people would be coming to Him based solely on their fear of going to hell, not because of the amazing gift in Jesus Christ. I think that is the wrong motive. Yes, we are to fear God, but fear of hell is different in my opinion. Please someone correct me if I'm off base here!

I have no doubt that hell is a very real, terrible-beyond-description place, but my focus is not on hell.. it is on Christ and the sacrifice he made for me. And how I can be a light so that others can see his love and mercy and humbly come to know him. Of course, I do not want anyone to experience hell! I pray that people come to know the joy and Truth that is Jesus! I guess my focus is more on the peace and ... well, joy.. that comes from knowing Jesus, rather than the torments of hell. A healthy amount of fear is good of course, I mean he IS God and he IS to be feared!!!, but I think God draws us to him in love, not in total fear. If he was going for fear, it would've been better to just open the pit of hell for 10 minutes for the entire world to see/experience it rather than go through the excruciating pain of allowing his only son to be murdered and die for us. I mean, show people the bowels of hell and I bet you get instant believers... know what I mean?

None of this is to say that God can't or won't reveal things to people. He has done it in the past (the apostles Paul, John...) and I believe he still speaks through dreams, but I think we have to be so cautious about such things and approach them with much prayer, earnestly seeking wisdom and discernment... especially, in my opinion, when the person receiving the vision or dream has so much to gain by discussing it. That's also not to say that the Lord can't work through people he reveals things to. It's a matter of discernment in my opinion. There are a lot of false prophets out there. Satan himself will do anything to fool people (Mohammad, Joseph Smith...). He's a roaming lion and preys on us constantly...

So, whether Mr. Wiese's experience was a true experience, a vivid dream, a vision, or a ploy I don't know. I haven't finished the video detailing his experience and I probably won't to be honest. I prefer to get my information from the Bible and I feel as though if God wants me to know other details, he would've revealed them in scripture. That's just my opinion and I'm sticking with it!

90 Minutes in Heaven (which I have read) and Heaven is for Real (haven't read) are two other stories similar to this in that they are stories of people detailing their afterlife experiences. Because heaven and hell are so mysterious, I think we are drawn to them. I've yet to meet anyone that doesn't fear the unknown to some extent. Even believers... I don't fear hell because I have faith that because of my belief in Jesus, I am going to heaven, but the thought of actual death and exactly what happens when I die (do we just *poof* show up? do we rise up to meet him? does Jesus physically come take our hand and lead us?) is slightly unnerving. (maybe "fear" isn't the best word, but I can't think of another way to put it). I am one of those who likes to know what the plan is when I do things. If I am driving somewhere, I need to read through the entire route first (left on Street A, go through 3 lights, right on Street B, merge onto C, exit D and arrive at E which is on the left after about 2.5 miles) and then stay a step or two ahead as I'm going. Not knowing exactly how it all goes down is a huge hurdle for me. AND, as an anxious and panicky person, I over think things. It's something I'm working on and I'm trying so hard to let go of my fears and rely on God alone. Sorry, tangent. All that to say, I think we as humans are naturally curious and are drawn to explore the unknown, whether it's a healthy curiosity or out of fear, and we often cling to stories like this regardless of whether they are indeed fact or merely embellished stories.

Good cow, this has gotten long. Wrapping up... all that to say, anyone else heard of this guy or have any opinions on his story or any other life and death story out there? I'm curious as to what others think of stuff like this.

Red River - Part 1

I figured since I've been such a sucky blogger lately, I could update on our trip! This will be done in several parts though because I'm lazy like that. This will be the longest one probably!

On the 11th of this month, we packed up the Wrangler and a borrowed pop-up and headed off to Red River, NM! As a kid, my family went here quite a bit in the summers and it is also the place where my deep fear of bears began. Needless to say I was a bundle of nerves the entire time since we were staying in the same campground we did when the bear came in years ago. Yikes! I felt a little better being in the pop-up though.

Anyway, the beginning of the trip was actually quite eventful...

We were caravanning with my parents (thank goodness!!) and didn't get off until almost 7:00 PM on that Thursday night since Josh and I worked all day, and stopped in Childress because we were just tired. When we pulled in that night, we noticed the Jeep's radiator was sputtering and spewing. The temperature gauge showed cool though so we didn't worry about it.

The next day we got on the road and made it to Amarillo. That's when everything went downhill!

To make a long story short, we got to Amarillo around 11:15-11:30ish AM and we finally left Amarillo at around 11:30 PM. The first issue was the radiator. We ended up having to replace the entire radiator and thermostat thingy (technical, I know) while sitting in the Pilot station on the loop around Amarillo. The boys worked while my mom and I hung out in the shade.

Once they got that fixed, we left the Pilot station and got about a 1/4 of a mile before we overheated again. Since we just replaced the radiator, we had no idea what it could be. I still don't know everything (because contrary to popular belief, car repair isn't my speciality!) but I know the ended up replacing the fan clutch and basically taking apart the entire cooling system. The fan thingy was a pain because it wouldn't disconnect from the clutch part. Don't ask me what that means in regards to how it all works. Then, once it was apart and the new stuff was put on, something kept banging.

During all of this, a storm was swirling around us.

We were very blessed though to breakdown where we did. Much of the drive to Red River is open nothingness so the fact that this all happened in Amarillo is awesome. Much more, we broke down just down the street from a big truck stop. And there were O'Reilly's shops within 2 miles. Hallelujah! There were also other interesting thing that happened... first, a guy named Jesus pulled over (yeah, really his name) and helped out. He also had some tools in his car that the boys apparently needed. Then some random lady stopped and gave us an iced drink from McDonalds (so sweet of her!) She said something like "i don't know why I got two, but I did!".

Later, Josh and I took my parents car (praise the LORD they were with us) and went to O'Reillys to get the clutch separated from the fan. The folks there were SO nice and helpful. When they couldn't get it fixed, the manager called some random car repair guy he knew who came up after hours and worked on it. Finally he gave up and told us to follow him to his house and he would burn it off basically. So we did. And he did. And then when we asked him how much we owed him (in between our millions of thanks) he said "nothing.. just have a good vacation!". SO AWESOME! We'd already spent several hundred unexpected bucks on other parts so this was a blessing. It was probably at least $75-100 worth of labor this guy did!

All that to say, we are blessed and so grateful to the Lord for taking care of us. There were big storms all around and they never hit where we were, but provided quite the lightning show.

Since we'd been stuck there all day, we just wanted to get OUT of Amarillo so we drove for a little while and stopped in Dalhart. OMGosh... that place stinks. Literally. There are feed lots there and I seriously thought I was going to gag it smelled so bad. Not like cow poop, but more like maggot filled rotting carcasses. It was that bad.

Enough talking. Here's some pics from our first day of vacation.

Mother fanning the boys as they worked

Below is a picture of when Jesus was helping!

Mi madre and I watched the lightning storm swirl around us. I did a few timed exposures just for kicks.

Update

It's been almost 2 months I think since I blogged so I figured I should update a little, especially since I'm not doing the FB thing anymore so people can't keep up with me there.

Well, kind of.

I'll start there.

I deleted my facebook account a month or more ago and I don't miss it one bit. I actually DO have an account, but I only have family and out of state friends on there. I have several people that live overseas that I just can't bear the though of not being in touch with them on a regular basis! For the rest of FB though, I found that I was spending too much time on it and was getting too caught up in the drama of it. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to not have all that crap on there anymore! Plus, this way I can see who my real friends are because they have to put forth an effort to see what's up! haha I'm kidding :) kinda ;) Not that I've been much better. We've been spending most of our free time with family lately it seems! Not that that is a bad thing at all!

We've also recently totally overhauled our vehicle situation. We sold Josh's high school truck (sad day!!) and traded his motorcycle in and got a 2003 Jeep Wrangler. So much fun! We're loving it, and I finally have a vehicle to practice driving a stick shift in. It came at a perfect time because we're gearing up to go to Colorado soon and take on the four wheel drive trails. (more on that later)

We also traded in our Crosstour. While we both LOVED that car and only had it for about 15 months, we didn't love the payments on it. They weren't breaking the bank or anything, but we just wanted to downsize our monthly expenses. Plus, I always kinda felt like such a yuppie in that car. It was TOO nice for us... I know that's weird, but whatever. I felt out of place in it. Anyway, we are now the proud owners of a 2007 Jeep Commander! What can I say, we always were Jeep people. This is now my fourth Jeep (including the wrangler) and I couldn't be happier with it.

Back to vacation... we decided not to go to the beach this year (so sad!!) but instead are going to go to Red River, NM and to Lake City, CO before the fall. When I was a kid, my family would alternate going to LBI one year and then to the mountains the next year. I've spent many summers traversing the crazy four wheel drive trails of NM and CO and I can't wait to take Josh up there! There's something amazing about going over scary ridges with sheer drop offs right outside the door and exploring abandoned ghost towns and gold mines.. it's just awesome. I can't wait.

Some friends of ours loaned us their pop-up trailer to take, which I am forever grateful for. I really do LOVE tent camping, but you see... I am TERRIFIED of bears. And there are lots of bears in NM and CO. And since my family had a run-in with a bear once, I refuse to tent camp in NM. I would not sleep a wink if I had to. Not that a pop-up provides that much more protection, but still.. I feel a tiny bit safer. I'm betting I get about 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of that added layer of protection. Plus, we're buying bear deterrent. Yes, they really do sell it. And it really does work! And if you make fun of me for it, I will cut you. www.udap.com It's just pepper spray, but you better believe we're getting some. I don't think people realize the extent of my bear-phobia. Some people are scared of heights, some people are scared of death. Some people are scared of spiders. I am terrified of bears. Oh, and roaches. :)

And.. a word to the wise... if anyone tries to scare me at night by making bear noises, you will regret it. You'll either end up with a face full of bear-strength pepper spray or I'll kill you. Trust me.

That's pretty much the extent of our lives lately. Pretty boring eh? We don't do much. It's too HOT to do much. We've been spending time with family and trying not to melt!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am so ready for October/November weather! This 115 degree weather is for the birds!!

Treat your mother right!

Thanks, Mr. T!

The Girl Scouts Plan for World Domination

They're smart, those Girl Scouts, but I'm onto them. I've caught wind of their plot and it stinks.

Let's start with the basics.
There are two types of Girl Scouts - The kind that immediately hand over the boxes of joy, providing you with instant gratification and a free pass to the sugar overloaded highway of bliss, and then there are the Girl Scouts that take your order and make you wait several weeks or even months for you cookies to come in. Both are deadly and I'm not sure which is worse. I'm of the belief that they are equally dangerous. Not that it matters, because they're in cahoots, working towards the same sinister goal which I will get to later.


Allow me to break it down for you.


The first variety of Girl Scouts are the ones that sit outside Walmart or Kroger or wherever they can bat their long eyelashes at a store owner and convince him to let them sit out front with their big puppy dog eyes and adorable pig tails, harassing every patron of the store not only as they enter the store, but again as they exit. Here is a photograph from a typical scene you may encounter (you may need to click to enlarge in order to see the gory details):

Please note: this is a reenactment. All actual names and faces have been changed for their own protection.

They have boxes upon boxes of Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites (my poison of choice), Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Lemonades, Shortbreads, Thin Mints and others just sitting there in giant stacks, waiting for some unsuspecting store patron to hear the eerie music in their head, go into a trance, impulsively buy 35 boxes and then get swept away in a coconuty euphoria.. or lemon euphoria if you like that variety... though I think you're crazy to waste to calories on lemon cookies when you could have Caramel deLites.


The Girl Scout gurus know that this is America and we are BIG on instant gratification. And when I say big, I mean enormously huge. It's like this raging monster comes out when we pass those tables of cookies and says "I WANT CARAMEL DELITES AND I WANT THEM RIGHT NOW!!!" and our inner child screams and throws the mother of all temper tantrums until we hand over those dollars and get our precious boxes of cookies. Which, by the way, have far too few cookies in them for the price we pay! I swear, it's like you get 10 measly cookies for that $3.50. I digress...


Back on track. Let's move on to the second type of Girl Scout.


The second type are the ones that take your order and then promise you deliciousness in about 2-4 weeks. Sometimes they show up on your door step, catching you off guard while you're in the middle of dinner, on the phone, or watching the Bachelor (not that I would watch that smut...). You're blinded by their sweetness and are tricked into buying a box or six, because you're weak and can't say no to cute little girls with pigtails. And if you're lucky enough to not have them show up on your porch, you almost undoubtedly have 4 or more friends or co-workers constantly badgering you to buy cookies from their kid. C'mon... we all know one of "those" moms (or dads or aunts or neighbor's mother's friend's daughter's sister-in-law) They are relentless!


I think this type of Girl Scout is almost WORSE than the first type... Why? Because you spend $42 on cookies but because you haven't gotten them yet, it hasn't satisfied that deep longing for chocolate coated peanut butter yet so when you are headed into the grocery store to buy your organic chicken, lettuce, snow peas and other healthy things (hey, you ARE on a diet, remember that resolution?) you pass by the Instant Gratification Girl Scouts (that just sounds bad...) and go ahead and pick up an extra box or 4 to satisfy you until your other cookies come in. So see? They're banking on both ends of your gluttony. They get your cash twice! And we get twice the fat! Doesn't seem fair, does it?

Hmm.. where was I going with this? Oh yes. Girl Scouts and world dominion. I'm getting there....


And as if them just selling the cookies wasn't bad enough, they pick JANUARY to do this fundraiser! This timing is integral to their plot.You see, they know that everyone makes New Years resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. I mean really, like 94.686% of the population probably does this. So in January, everyone is mean, and grumpy, and starving, and CRAVING junk food. This just makes everyone more susceptible to their tactics. I don't know about you, but if I'm downright mean when I'm hungry. Just ask Josh. Or my parents. So if I'm already pissed off hungry and you wave some chocolate coated peanut butter in my face you better watch out. I may just rip your arm off while going for it. The Girl Scouts are banking on this!


Their ultimate plan is to get you to consume hundreds and hundreds of cookies, thereby making us all gain tons of weight and go into sugar comas. Remember the movie Wall-E? Where everyone got super fat and couldn't walk or do anything for themselves anymore? Well, picture that.... except we aren't on a space ship and we don't have little hover chairs to get us to and from. If we all weigh 800lbs, then chances are slim that we're getting out of our beds much less out of our houses. Now, some would be content with this plan... laying in bed with boxes of Caramel deLites and Peanut Butter Patties strewn about while watching Jerseylicious and Bridalplasty reruns (again, I would NEVER watch such shows...)

...but I know better. I'm not falling for it.


OK. I'm getting tired of writing now and I am sure the 3 or so people that read my blog are tired of reading this junk so I'll get to the point. The rest of their plan for global domination involves a robot named Cookie that runs for President, France and Atomic Thin Mints, dancing unicorns with laser eyes, and bacon. Because every story is better when it includes bacon.


Look, I even drew a picture of President Cookie. Since I wasted 15 minutes drawing it, I'm including it... even though I didn't really explain it. It would've been a good explanation too.

Oh well.

So yeah, I'm on to them. I've got their number. And I'm not falling for it! I've had years to study their behaviors and finally caught on. I haven't bought a single box this year and I will resist! So when the rest of the world is 800lbs and stuck in their Barcaloungers with coconut in their teeth, I will go out and save the world!

My favorite unheard of Christmas songs

Pretty much no one has heard of either of my favorite Christmastime songs. And, sadly, they're both pretty hard to find. But thanks to YouTube, I managed to find them to share! Enjoy

This is one of my favorite songs - Peace Child by The Normals. I've loved it since I first heard it, so much so that years ago my brother, sister, and I performed it for our church. And no, I am not posting video from that! I've only ever found it on one CD and the rest of that CD completely SUCKS so I don't recommend it!



I also love this one - Carol of the Fryers. It's definitely unique, but you have to listen all the way to the ending (it's worth it!) As silly as it is, the ending has made this anti-mushy gushy gal tear up a few times.

Silent Monks Singing the Hallelujah Chorus

I shared this on Facebook as well, but it's worth sharing here too. Especially since I've been so lax in posting lately. Last year our church did a fantastic presentation of the Hallelujah Chorus and I think that this version should be done this year :)

I hope this makes your day as much as it made mine! Oh, and if anyone ever wants to do this, you can totally count me in!!!

Emily and Michael's California Jewish Wedding!

I finally snagged our computer long enough to upload some pictures from Emily and Michael's California wedding! I've known Emily and her sister Anna for about as long as possible. They've always been a part of our family's life and they are like little sister's to me. When we were kids, my mom used to babysit them on a regular basis and then when I got old enough, I babysat them quite a bit. They are such sweet girls and it was so wonderful to spend some time with them and get to see Emily's new husband, Michael, again!

The wedding was so much fun! Michael is Jewish and Emily recently converted and the wedding was chock full of Jewish traditions. It was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've been to. I loved how there was GORGEOUS singing throughout the entire thing. I have quite a few videos of the singing, but Blogger takes forever to upload so you're missing out. Sorry! And the reception? Wow... they know how to party!! Josh and I had never been to Jewish wedding before so it was interesting to see.

It started out with us attending the Tish. This is where the bride is in one room with all the women and the groom is in another room with all the guys. I don't have any pictures from this because I forgot Josh had the camera in his pocket.

Anyway, in the girls' room, we all introduced ourselves and how we knew the bride and then just offered up any stories about Emily or offered advice. It was very laid back and really, pretty cool. There were only about 15-20 of us in there.

I hear that the guys' room was a little more.... entertaining. Something about the groom and groomsmen taking shots, a lot of "advice" and what not. We heard them hootin' and hollering through the walls! Josh said it was pretty crazy.

Oh, and I didn't feel bad taking pictures or video during the ceremony (I didn't use a flash!!) because like half the other guests were!! Normally, I wouldn't dream of it, but since it was so laid back, I did it anyway :) Plus, my parents weren't able to go so I knew that they'd want to see!

After the Tish, we all went up to the rooftop for the ceremony. While we were all making our way up there, Emily and Michael were downstairs signing their Ketubah. Here's the setup on the roof. Very simple, but it was really pretty. Their Chuppah was really pretty too. Michael and his dad made it and the canopy for it was made out of old t-shirts from Emily and Michael's childhood. The ceremony started at sunset and it made for a gorgeous evening.



How did that get in here??



Here is their signed Ketubah. I wish I had a good close-up picture of it... it was GORGEOUS.

Michael's parents walking him down the aisle

This little flower girl was hilarious. She came out of the door just squalling. When she reached the end of the aisle, she just stopped and had this petrified look on her face. Poor thing! Michael had to go down and grab her

Ahhhh... the beautiful bride, Emily with her aunt and uncle! I just love the smile on her face. She was positively beaming all night

Here's Emily doing the Hakafot - the bride circles the groom 7 times.

This is them standing under the Chuppah, wearing the prayer shawl Emily gave Michael that morning. While they were wearing this around themselves, the Rabbi (who was female, by the way... I found that interesting! I didn't know a woman could be a Rabbi) recited and sang the Sheva Brachot (7 wedding blessings) over them .

The ring exchange. I found this interesting too... They put the ring on the index finger closest to the guests. After they recite the ring stuff, they can then switch it over to the normal finger.

They did break the glass and everyone yelled Mazel Tov, but I was taking a video of it so I have no pictures. It was pretty fun

Here's a close up of the top of their Chuppah. Very fun!

Me with Anna, Emily's sister. I just LOVE these girls!!!

Us. Cheesing for the camera

This was one of the most delicious wedding cakes I have ever had. I'd almost say it rivals our wedding cake (which I thought was amazing).

The Challah. They did a blessing over it and then passed it around to eat

The inside of the ballroom was decorated so elegantly. So Emily!

Here's the Hora!! So fun! We were all dancing in circles around them.

I have more videos of the reception than I do photos because pictures just didn't do it justice. Those guys know how to PARTY. Seriously, as soon as the music started, the dance floor was full and they were literally jumping around and gettin' down. It was really fun. They also did a lot of dances where we all had to join it. It was way fun! We left before the party was over because they just kept going and going and going!

The newlyweds and us

They both gave a little speech before cutting the cake. Very sweet

Despite cries of "Smash it in his face!!!" from Anna, both Emily and Michael were good little newlyweds and appropriately fed each other nicely. These two are major foodies so they actually ate almost the entire piece of cake which I haven't seen many couples do!

Anna caught her sister's bouquet! (Notice the shoes she changed into? This girl is the most tomboy chick I have ever in my entire life met!)

They had a brunch the next morning at the hotel we all stayed at, which was fun. It was nice to get to visit with them again since we'd come all the way out there. Emily looked absolutely fabulous (as usual... she's actually a stylist in LA) and like she'd had hours of beauty rest. In reality, from what I hear, they had an after party after the reception so they were probably going on like 3 hours of sleep!

Emily and Michael at brunch. Aren't they adorable?

It was a simply beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple. Josh and I were SO glad we got to go. I pray that the Lord blesses their marriage and works in their lives!

Observations on California

We made it back from our trip! It was awesome and we got to see and do so much. I hope to put up some pictures soon, but in the meantime, I would like to share a few observations...

1. Palm trees make everything look better, nicer, and less scary. Irving Mall really should invest in some tall palms. That place is scary.

2. In-N-Out is good, but it's still just a burger. Personally, I think Airways in Arlington is every bit as good.

3. There is apparently a new fashion trend for women where you wear tights and a short/crop top. I'm not talking about just tight pants or even leggings, but TIGHTS. Where every minuscule detail of your legs, thighs, and butt is on full display for the world to see. Half the time, they wear midriff baring tops too. I don't get it. I kept wanting to tell them that they forgot to finish getting dressed. So tacky. We even saw one girl that had a small hole right forming on each cheek, I guess from leaning up on the wall or something. Normally, I would inform a woman if she had an embarrassing situation going on, but honestly, she didn't appear to care. Besides, with her outfit, it's not like she was hiding anything anyway... I really, REALLY hope this trend doesn't catch on here.

4. There is WAY too much money in LA.

5. On the subject of LA, it is like a whole other planet. It's bizarre. The people are weird, the highways are stupid, and it kinda smells funny. I was so happy to get out of there and head down the coast! The only good things about LA are Kara, Emily, and Michael.

6. Arnold Schwarzenegger is waaaay shorter than I imagined him to be. I really expected him to be a lot taller.

7. Hotels.com lies. Ok, that's not an inclusive California observation, but it's still truth. We booked a room at a hotel in Santa Monica and when we arrived 30 minutes later, it was like night and day from what they advertised. They didn't even really have a parking lot and there were homeless people literally sleeping on the doorways. Now, I'm not judging, but I was not staying there. The entire neighborhood made me feel unsafe. Not cool. We called hotels.com to cancel and tell them their advertising lied. Long story short, we ended up still having to pay for the freaking room even though we weren't staying there. Then, rather than booking through them again, we called a hotel directly (after we physically checked it out!!) and got a cheaper rate than hotels.com quoted us! Yeah, I would NOT recommend using that website.

8. I think there are more homeless people in SoCal than anywhere else. It made me so, so sad.

9. All the guys and gals between 15 and 25 years old in Southern California look the same. Bleached blonde hair and dark fake tans. Oh, and tights. (Seriously, I still don't get this fad..)

10. Parking meters in Beverly Hills are stupid. Parking tickets in Beverly Hills are even more stupid.

11. Rodeo drive is highly overrated. I guess it was kind of cool to see but I was too afraid to go in any of the stores. I was afraid they'd treat me the way they treated Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman except, well, I'm not hooker. And I was fully dressed. And since I'm not a hooker, I obviously don't have a rich "customer" so I couldn't go back in and pull a Julia Roberts on them after spending beaucoup bucks elsewhere. Oh, and I don't really like that movie. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it all the way through. Just that part. And I'm really not a hooker. Promise.

12. This is also not strictly California, but, Jewish weddings are absolutely beautiful. Even the modern weddings are so steeped in tradition. Oh, and the singing was gorgeous. It really made me wish I could have witnessed an Old Testament wedding to see how things have changed and how they're likely still the same. Now if they would just accept Jesus Christ as the risen Savior...

13. Watching the sunset over the ocean is awesome. Don't get me wrong, I still love the bay sunsets of NJ, but this was a nice change.

14. Granville Cafe really, really, really needs to open a restaurant in the DFW area. I started craving the Uptown Mac & Cheese about 5 minutes after I finished my plate and the craving hasn't ceased since.

Dinosaur Playmat!

I wish I could claim creative genius on this project, but alas, I can't. I found a tutorial online here and had at it.

I made dinosaur playmat for a super awesome little boy who just turned 3. I had so much fun making it! I kinda want to make one for myself to play with!

Here's a full on view of the whole thing. The green material is grass, the grey is rock, there's a lake, a river of lava, volcano, palm tree, and that brown thing is a cave.



Close up of the cave


Here's a close up of the palm tree


Just a few different angles with the dinos

The backview where the velcro is

And here is what it looks when it's all folded up... a giant volcano with lava handles!

I really had a blast making this and it was fairly simple to make.