DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS WAY?!

LITTLE STARTER HOME

At the beginning of May I put an offer on this home (cute, yes?) and have been trying to put it in the back of my mind since everyone has told me that it takes months and months to get an answer on short sales. Well I just heard back from my realtor today and found out that I should have the information in a couple of weeks. Hooray!! I don't like not knowing whether it's a yes or a no, and the thought of having to wait until July or August to even find out is no bueno. If I get it that would be AWESOME, but if I don't it gives me plenty of time to look for something else. I'm trying to not get too excited, but I LOVE the floorplan and would REALLY like this to work out. Fingers crossed! Is there anything in the world that works out how you want it to?! Experience tells me no, but the beauty of it is that it usually works out even better than how you thought you wanted it. Sweet, sweet life......

LOVE VACATIONS

I just got back from a week long adventure in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. When I say "Adventure" it's because we did 3000 things in the span of a week and would even travel for hours almost every night to get to the next place so we could get up early and play. Such good times! I'll post some pictures later on (at which point you'll need to disregard the hair. It's hard being a girl in humid climates), but here are a few of my favorite highlights.....

Middleton Plantation: Charleston, South Carolina: This was one of my favorite spots because it had miles and miles of BEAUTIFUL scenery with gardens, lakes, rivers, marshes, etc.. We took a carriage ride throughout the entire plantation and learned all about it's history, which I really enjoyed. Plus we spent the afternoon kayaking down the river and as we came around a bend there was an alligator directly above us on the side of a narrow channel, not even 10 feet away. It snapped it's jaws as we floated towards it unable to stop, scurried down into the river, hit it's tail at us in the water, and swam under our kayak. I'm proud to admit that I didn't scream, despite the fact that I had sort of let out a squeal earlier when we got the kayak place and they said there were hundreds of alligators and thousands of snakes throughout the plantation. We had spent the entire time looking for their beady eyes to poke up out of the water, but after taking pictures of a lot of floating logs we had sort of given up. When I finally did see one it happened so quickly, so I just put my paddle above my head, sort of froze in place, and said "Wayne! An alligator!" That was followed by me semi-calmly saying "I'm not freaking out a lot, but I am freaking out just a little!" (I had been coached before our rendezvous about not startling the alligators). Wayne immediatley started trying to paddle away from it, which obviously made sense since it was directly under us, but I just sat there, paddle in the air, not breathing. Ha, ha, ha! Sorry about that, buddy!

Mrs Wilkes' Boarding House: Savannah, Georgia: We found this restaurant in our "1000 Places to See Before You Die" book and it is truly one of my favorite places I've eaten. There are 10 of you at a table, 18 or so different Southern dishes to share, and you get to sit around and talk with random strangers while you eat. It was fantastic. There was a man who sat with us that had been going there regularly for over 40 years, and he used to go with his dad when he was little. The food was unbelievably good (I bought the recipe book) and the atmosphere was so much fun. Again, one of my all time best eating experiences ever.

Biltmore Place Estate: Ashville, North Carolina: We weren't sure what to expect when we got here and they told us it was 50 dollars to get in (cue the pow-wow to figure out if we REALLY want to see the estate) but after driving 3 hours to see it, it made sense to bite the bullet and fork over the cash. It was absolutely worth it! The house was enormous and it took us almost an hour just to walk through it, and then you had the gardens, the lakes, the forest, the walking paths. There was a ton of stuff to do, and that didn't even count boating, off-roading, churning butter, horse rides, etc.. If we'd known it was going to be such an incredible place we would have definitely come earlier, but we still enjoyed the time we had. This is somewhere I would absolutely love to come again, but plan better for, and maybe stay the night in the Inn that is on the property.

There are some highlights and more to come later. We literally went non-stop the entire time and would pull into the hotels exhausted every night, and fall asleep watching the basketball conference. It was a great combination of sight-seeing, exploring, relaxing at the beach, "world famous" restaurants, outdoor adventures, etc.. Something for everyone - the ideal vacation!

PICK ME!! PICK ME!!

How does one become a part of something like this?! I LOVE the Sound of Music...

BABY STEPS

Today I put in my very first offer on a new home!!! I've already started to think of how I'd decorate it if I get it, so I'm trying to contain my giddy, in case they don't accept my offer or I get outbid. Either way, it's helping me get past that initial fear that comes with making significant life choices and it made me EXCITED at the prospect of having something of my own. Hooray for growing up!!!

BLESSED COUPONS

As most of America has figured out by now, you can go onto Oprah.com and print off free coupons for KFC Grilled Chicken dinners. In fact, you can print off up to 4 of them! Before leaving work today I got my little magic pieces of paper and went to our neighborhood KFC to give them a whirl. Here's what I discovered:

1. As it turns out, sometimes things aren't too good to be true
2. Expect to stay in line for a very long time when there is free food involved.....or at amusement parks.....
3. KFC's grilled chicken is surprisingly good
4. Fast food giveaways make the employees of those chains REALLY cranky
5. Food tastes even better when you know you don't have to actually fix it at after getting off of work (When did I become one of those people who comes home after work, falls onto the couch, and sighs about how long the day was?!)
6. Free food makes people happy! I also had a free lunch today. Pretty much I'm living the good life.....

Here's to you, Kentucky GRILLED Chicken

TENDER MERCIES

I have been blessed, these past few days, to witness first hand the healing affects of the Atonement in the lives of those who seek to be forgiven, and of those who bestow forgiveness. I hesitated to share this in such a public setting, only because I consider it to have been something sacred that I was able to experience, but it is the kind of story that reminds me that the Lord's hand in our life is greater than our own hand. I would hope that it is a reminder to whoever is reading this as well.

As most of you know, I work as the Director of Social Services in a Skilled Rehabilitation Facility. I see a lot of different people who come and go. Some are happy, some are angry, others are content with how their lives have panned out and then there are some that have been given the proverbial short end of the stick for most of their life. There is one particular resident, who I'll call "Jane," who had experienced just that. When she came into our facility she had been through a string of nursing homes that either didn't want her back, or that she didn't want to go back to. Jane was very pesimistic and would immediately become emotional or defensive if you talked to her about changing habits that were hurting her or affecting her care. She had a string of mental diagnosis that made it difficult for her to understand reason, and as the years went by working with her, it became obvious that Jane's background had led her to how she was. Without going into detail, it could most simply be put that her lack of love and human decency received in her childhood made it difficult for her to function rationally, trust openly, or even feel as though she was worth anything.

One of the things that Jane would occassionally talk about was her children. She let staff know that while she had no immediate family, she used to have two children that were taken away from her when they were very young. For almost forty years she hadn't seen or heard anything about them, and wasn't sure even where they lived or what happened with their lives. It was obvious that there was a lot of pain and heartache when she spoke of the past, and she wasn't questioned further as to why things turned out the way they did. Kinlock, who is Jane's social worker, had offered on numerous occasions over the last 5 years to try and locate her children for her, but she always refused and stated that she didn't want to look for them.

About a month ago Jane approached Kinlock and told him that she wanted him to try and find her children. She gave him the name of her son, who was 6 years old when she last saw him, and told him the last known state he was in. With Kinlock in my office, I got on the phone with my mom and had her look up some information for me at her work. After some searching we located a man with the same name, but different spelling, and roughly the same age as Jane's son would have been. We typed up a letter indicating who we were, the request of our resident, and asking if he would be able to help provide us with any information as to if he was or wasn't the person that we were looking for. Jane read the letter before it was sent out and we waited. She became anxious about it, asking Kinlock regularly if he had heard back from the man, but almost a month went by and still no response.

Last Friday as I was sitting at the desk I received a phone call from a woman in the midwest, identifying herself as Jane's daughter. She stated to me that her brother had received the letter that we sent and that he immediately called her. Jane's daughter was incredibly emotional, stating that she never expected to receive news like this, and indicating that she had been told when she was a young girl that her mother had died. She was notably shocked by the thought that her mother was still alive, and there was a feeling of anger as to why it took so long for her mother to look for them. I asked her if she was at a point where she would feel comfortable talking to her mother, but she indicated that she wanted to talk to her nurse first and see how she was doing. I explained that Jane would have to give verbal permission for that to take place since she was responsible for herself, and stated that I was willing to talk to her about it. After a brief pause, she stated that when I talked to her she wanted me to let Jane know that she and her brother were happy and had done well in life. She wanted me to tell her that she wasn't angry about the past and that she had forgiven her. She also wanted me to let her know that between her and her brother, Jane had 6 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Jane's daughter took the phone number to her mother's room and said that after she talked with the nurse she would decide if she could talk to her or not. I took down her number and let her know I would call her back.

Immediately after speaking with Jane's daughter I received a phone call from Kinlock indicating that he himself had just finished having a conversation with the son. I told him about the conversation I had just had with his sister, and he said that the son's reaction was somewhat different. The son indicated that there was still a lot of pain that he was working through and that while he had forgiven her, that he wasn't ready to speak with her in person quite yet. He asked that Kinlock give her his name and address, and have her mail him a letter as a way of communicating at first. Kinlock and I went downstairs to find Jane and pulled her into the dining room, and away from the other residents and staff. We handed her the piece of paper with her son's address, her daughter's name and number, and the information about her grandchildren and great-grandchild. June was silent. She looked at the paper for several minutes with tears streaming down her face, and then back at me and Kinlock. She asked us "are these really my children?" over and over. Fighting back tears ourselves, we assured her that yes, they were her children, and that they now knew about her. I explained to Jane what her daughter had told me, about she and her brother being happy, and having families of their own. I didn't talk to her about the expression of forgiveness that her daughter had talked about though. Kinlock asked me later why I hadn't mentioned that and I told him that I didn't feel like it was my place to tell her that. I felt that it was something she needed to hear from them directly if they felt like expressing it.

This was last Friday when this took place and I called her daughter back and let her know we had spoken with her. After another emotional conversation, she asked that I transfer her down to the nursing station so that she could speak with her mother. The nursing staff indicated that June and her daugher talked at length on Friday, on Saturday, and again on Sunday evening. A lot of emotions were shared and June was able to hear from her daughter, who she hadn't seen since she was three-years-old, that they held no feelings of anger or resentment towards her. The nurses said that June spent the entire weekend telling everyone she came in contact with about her children, and her grandchildren, and how grateful she was to have found them again.

Today when I walked into work I was informed that early this morning June passed away in her sleep.

Kinlock had a heavy heart when he heard it, not only for the loss of June, but for the pain he knew that it would cause her children, who had recently gone through their own "coming to terms" with the reality of the situation. He was regretting that he had looked for them in the first place and had wished that he had left things as they were. I didn't feel the same. I couldn't help but believe that more positive was going to come out of this than negative. The nursing staff didn't have the phone number of June's daughter, so it was Kinlock who called her this morning to let her know that she had passed away. She wasn't able to speak. She was emotional, said she would call him back, and had to hang up the phone. When she did happen to call him back he was sitting in my office and June's daugher explained to him the reason that they had been taken away from June in the first place, and the effects that had on them. She then went on to thank him, over and over, for having allowed them the opportunity to connect with her again, and be able to express to her what it is that they had both been feeling, but never had the opportunity to say. She thanked Kinlock for having given her the chance to communicate with a mother she didn't realize that she still had. Shortly thereafter June's son called as well, regretful that he himself hadn't taken the time to speak with her, but as well, expressing profound gratitude for the opportunity they they had been given to share with her their feelings of love and forgiveness.

As Kinlock and I sat in my office with the door closed, and the reality of the situation sinking in, there was an overwhelming sense of understanding. For several minutes neither of us were able to speak, and our emotions took over. It became obvious to me that through the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father, June was able to experience for a small moment the peace that comes with knowing that she had been forgiven. Having learned the situation, and trying to imagine how it must have tore at her for all these years, I can't even begin to comprehend the burden she quietly carried. To know that her children hadn't suffered because of it, and to know that they led fulfilling lives, had to have given June a sense of joy that only she could understand. I imagine that in hearing those words from her daugher, her burden was lifted and that the Lord's tender arm of mercy was then extended to her, allowing her to feel free from the pain and guilt she was holding on to.

I am truly grateful for the Lord's hand in this. June's sudden sense of urgency can only be from what I imagine was a prompting from above. Having located her children, and them responding in the time that they did, was not a coincidence. The healing and peace that came from them expressing their forgiveness, and from her being on the receiving end, was truly a gift. Not only to the three of them, but to all of us as we sat in our meeting this morning, contemplating and discussing how important it is that we do the same in each of our own lives. I will always be grateful to June and her children for their examples to me and I will always be thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who extends his own tender mercies to me on a regular basis.

NOT SURE HOW TO TAKE THAT

I'm the Manager at work today and when I was on the floor one of the staff members said to me "I used to think that you looked so kind and sweet, but then I heard you talk." She realized how it sounded right after it came out, and quickly said that she can tell I'm protective of the residents and how it's good that I take my job seriously. It made for a good laugh, but there was some truth to what she said. Sometimes I can't stand being the Manager and Director. I dislike people's reactions when I have to talk to them about what they're doing wrong, and I especially don't like to feel that I'm being bossy or demanding when that's not my intention. My job as a Social Worker is to make sure that the resident's rights are respected, that they feel safe, and that they're taken care of appropriately. I've sort of adopted a mother bear attitude towards the Elderly I work with. If I feel like something is affecting them negatively, I don't hesitate to pull people aside and talk to them about it, or work with Administration to take care of it. What she said made me realize that I need to work on my approach, but it also reminded me that I'm not going to back down when it comes to things that are important to me. I like to think of her statement as a compliment....