This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius….

Everyone who knows me well knows that I love music. My life is lived to a soundtrack and I can pretty much tell you what was going on in my life and what I was feeling when I hear a song from way-back-when. My friend Kathryn and I used to break out into song at the drop of a hat during most any situation. She is one of the few people in my life who have the same “soundtrack to my life” kind of thing going on.

A couple of days ago, Bella and I decided to watch the movie “Hair”. It’s a pretty old movie (made in 1979) and I used to LOVE to watch it. I know my mom didn’t ever watch it because if she had, she would have never let me watch it – mostly due to some of the topics (and lyrics) in the movie. Aside from the naughty things in the movie…that movie really calls to me on a base level. I think it’s the wild-child freedom of the 60’s it portrays. That’s why music is such a part of my life. I am a flower-child born just a little too late. I have always been a free spirit…just a little different from everyone around me. I have a tendency to be a little crazy. I know a lot of people around don’t know that about me, because I’ve learned to hide it pretty well when the situation calls for it. But ask the people who know me best and they’ll agree. There’s just something not right about me.

Looking back at my life, I can see God’s grace in this too…

First off, being such a free-spirit, I definitely needed a firm hand on me growing up. God chose the perfect family to adopt me. It consisted of a father who was a nice straight-laced auditor and a quiet, demure, godly mother (think June Cleaver only even sweeter!). Even though I was raised in California, it was in a small, upscale, sleepy little town called Redlands. We walked to school past the orange groves, came home to home-baked chocolate chip cookies, and played in the back alley until my dad whistled for us to come home for dinner. Sometimes my quiet parents probably wondered what they had gotten into with this lively, free spirit that they brought home.

Second, God gave me a love of music. It always grounded me back where I needed to be when I was flitting around. It makes me happier when I’m sad, it calms me, it excites me. When God drew me to Him, music definitely taught me deep truths and allowed me to worship Him with wild abandon. It even gave me a place to plug in and get to know people via singing in the Adult Choir. There are not many strong memories in my life that don’t include music. I love that I can still hear a song I heard as a child or teenager and I can feel those feelings like it is right now. It gives me a way to remember the important things in my life.

So that being said, I’m going to turn on some music right now. I think a nice, eclectic mix of worship, contemporary Christian, old rock, a smidge of country, and a little sprinkle of pop should do the trick. Who’s ready to dance?

What’s Up?

As usual, my life has been a whirlwind of activity and I can’t seem to slow down long enough to even blog about anything. So here I go again with another post that encompasses a couple of three months of stuff.

November:

Bella and I took a long overdue trip to visit family in California the week of Thanksgiving. We had an amazing time visiting with my Father, Stepmother, Brother, and Niece, as well as spending a fantastic day with my bestest friend growing up.

Bella and I actually had a really early morning flight out, so we were able to go on over and spend the night in Atlanta. We had a nice drive over and fun just hanging out at the hotel. We were able to leave the car parked at the hotel for the duration of our trip (bonus: the hotel ended up not charging us for the week of parking either!).

We got to California and got to catch up with my parents. We even ran by my old favorite donut shop to pick up a few munchies!

Just a few highlights from our trip:

• We spent a day with my brother working at his church’s food pantry. Since it was the week of Thanksgiving they were giving away whole turkeys with all the fixings. They had a wonderful church service with lunch and communion too.

• We spent a day with my best friend growing up, Brenda, and her husband and son. We went into Palm Springs and got to see the sites and even ride the tram up to the top of the mountain. There was a lot of snow and even more wind, brrrrrrrrrrr. It was so much fun.

• My brother, Bella, my niece Dani, her boyfriend, Kenny, and I went to visit my mom’s grave. This is only the second time that I have gotten to go see it. It was a special time for us all.

• We took my stepmom out to Red Robin for her birthday and also got to tour the museum of natural history. I held a snake and my brother held a huge cockroach (yuck).

December:

While we were in California, we found out that Bud was being hired by Hyundai Power Transformers USA! It was very exciting but also a bit scary because it meant he would be going to South Korea for some training (more on that in January).

We had an extremely busy, but fun, December with the usual holiday preparations, the annual Christmas Celebration at church, which Bella and I sang in, and trying to get Bud ready to travel.

We had a wonderful family Christmas. It was strange for Joey not to be living at home and figuring out the logistics of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Bud was off for two weeks at Christmas, so he used that time to try to get a lot of stuff done at the house.

Towards the end of December, Bud finally convinced his dad to go to the emergency room for several health issues that were getting progressively worse. His dad, Charlie, was admitted into the hospital where he was eventually diagnosed with colon cancer. He spent over a week getting various treatments to prepare him for a colostomy. That actually helped him feel so much better. That was followed by outpatient surgery to get a port placed in his chest in preparation for chemotherapy. The plan is to do radiation and chemotherapy for 8-10 weeks to shrink the grapefruit sized tumor so that it can then be removed. After the tumor is removed, the doctors will then do a surgery on his hernia. The goal is to get him better and able to walk more comfortably and have a much better quality of life.

January:

Yay 2011! Maybe this year won’t fly by quite so fast as 2010.

Bud left for Korea on January 8th. He was in a group of six that was the first wave of people going over to train. He started out in the Winding Department but has since been moved over to the Core Department. He is trying to learn the language and to get used to the food. We have learned that Skype is a wonderful thing!

Auburn – SEC Champions and 2010 National Champions…enough said!!!

Bella and I have been busy helping to care for Charlie and having the house a “girls-only” zone. That is changing this weekend, as Joey has decided to move back in. He is going to go back to school, plus still being a temp at Hyundai Motors leaves him unsure of his job status from week to week. All in all, this will most likely be a really good move for us all.

Bella and I are going to the Morningview Women’s Conference this weekend. I really look forward to learning a lot and have a great time fellowshipping with other women from church. I am taking a MIT class this semester and working my way through J.C. Ryle’s “Holiness” [fantastic book]. Bella and I have also decided to start a Bible study together. We will be picking one out in the next week or so, so if anyone has any recommendations, let me know.

As usual life is busy…but life is good.

Busy, busy, busy…

So, I’ve been really busy at work for the past month and Bella just reminded me I haven’t posted anything in awhile.  I am really bad about thinking I need to post something relevant or really well written.  But really, sometimes all I need to do is really just throw some thoughts out there.  So here goes:

* Our office moved in October.  It took approximately two weeks due to the massive amounts of inventory we have.  The first week we moved our offices.  I was supposed to stay at the old building with my computer hooked up while everyone else in the offices moved.  I was going to stay at the old building for at least 3 or 4 days of the next week to support the pickers getting orders out, etc.  Well, we forgot that once they moved the computer system to the new office building, I wouldn’t have access to it.  None of us had made that connection.  So, I had to do a quickie pack-up to move with everyone else.

The next week consisted of running back and forth between the two buildings and moving stuff.  Finally, we had our big warehouse move which went smoother than we could have ever imagined it would.  The biggest problem has been finding where things are located in this humongous new building.

* A couple of weeks ago, Bella and I found this pitiful lab in the street across from our house.   He was a sweet, sweet dog who was about to starve to death.  He was as skinny, if not skinnier, than Beau when we rescued him.

Our plan was to clean him up, cut his horrendously long nails, and feed him until we could find a place for him to go.  We really didn’t need another dog and our three were not really sure about this long, tall guy either.  However, after a week of not finding a home for “Brown Dog” and being told by the Elmore County Humane Society that he would probably be euthanized due to his age (they estimated him at about 12 years old), he became a member of the Epps Family.

Happily, our other doggies now accept him and maybe even like him a little.  He is getting fattened up and settled in.  He sleeps in Bella’s room and is pretty well behaved.  He does have poor eyesight (cataracts) so you have to watch out when you are eating.  Last night I was eating and pointed the remote control to change the channel and he tried to bite it =-).

* I am really excited to be getting to spend 1/2 a day with Grafton on Friday.  Bella and I decided that it would be easier if I just hung out over at Brandon and Kathy’s house with her and Grafton while she worked on Friday, since we are leaving straight from there to head to Atlanta for our trip.  I can’t wait to play with my little friend!  He is such a sweet, fun little guy.  Thanks Brandon, Kathy, and Bella for letting me hang with G!

* And speaking of trips – we will be in California with my dad, stepmom, and various other kin next week!!!  Bella and I will leave on Saturday morning for a week in sunny, beautiful Redlands, CA.

This is the first Thanksgiving I have gotten to spend with my Dad and stepmom since I was married!  Plus, I haven’t been “home” to Redlands (where I was raised) for approximately 10 years and Bella has never been there.  There is so much I want her to see of my childhood.  Plus, I’m totally looking forward to cashew pizza and Winchell’s Donuts.

I plan to have lots to post about and pictures when we get back!

What a Man, Part II…

Today is my Dad’s 74th Birthday! I wish I was in California right now so I could give him a hug but for now Happy Birthday and I Love You will have to do! So Daddy…thanks for being such a wonderful father. You have taught me so much and I’m your biggest fan! Love you so much and I’m glad you choose me for your daughter! Happy Birthday!

My Dad, me, Mark (my brother), and my Mom around 1968