fashion police

Been getting some retail therapy by shopping online. It's convenient, but still not the same as getting out in the stores.

Women's clothing designers must have designers' block because apparently they had to borrow their ideas from the maternity department. Most everything that is considered stylish resembles something I wore 19 years ago when I was pregnant with Kacie. So if you see a woman wearing a shirt that looks maternity-ish, DO NOT ask her if she is expecting. More than likely, she is just wearing the latest fashion. I will be glad when this fad is over!

And look...this girl didn't even want her whole face to be shown in this picture!

no means no

I experienced a random moment a few days ago while I was sitting in my car in Kroger parking lot, talking on my cell phone. This little Hispanic lady came out of NOWHERE and motioned for me to roll down my window.

Hello! Phone to the ear...lips moving!

I thought she needed directions or would tell me my tire was flat or something.

Her accent was so thick I could barely understand what she was saying until I looked in her hand and saw "The Watchtower" literature. Once I realized she was a Jehovah's Witness, I told her that I would not read that material, that I would only read the Bible. She was trained well and persisted to debate with me and I had to tell her no... again. She finally gave up.

It makes me sad for her. I am so glad that I don't have to get in people's faces to witness to them. Relationships are so much more meaningful.

I have had another JW experience and you can read about it here.

van. to the halen.

Alan just celebrated his TGIF birthday last weekend. That would be "Thank God I'm Forty". For his birthday, I bought him/us two tickets to see Van Halen in Charlotte tomorrow night. We both saw the Van Halen 1984 concert in Augusta and another concert with Sammy Hagar in Columbia in the '90s. So it looks like we're making the show once every decade.

This tour is different though. Shows are selling out like crazy! Tomorrow night will be the FIRST concert of the tour and the first time David Lee Roth has been with the band on stage in 22 years. Eddie's son, Wolfgang (I call him Wolfie) will be replacing bassist Michael Anthony. He brings some youth and freshness to the stage.

This will be a great moment in the history of rock and roll...and I have big expectations!!! I'm so excited I don't even know how to act!!

I know...I need to get a life. Pray for me.

Check out this commercial.

Van. to the Halen.

great football trick play

Maybe the Carolina Gamecocks should recruit this kid...or his coach!
Just kidding...not really.

trick it out

Alan has a new project and this is the before picture. My dad has had this 1965 Mustang in storage forever and Alan has offered to give it a makeover. Maybe he can get some pointers from the MTV show, Trick it Out. In my opinion, this thing is nasty. I think it has potential but it will require some Divine intervention. My only request is....can the new tires NOT have whitewalls?

parental control

I love listening to my Sirius radio! Even though I have access to 198 stations of various genres, I usually just listen to the nine that I have programmed on my preset buttons. My nine are Spirit (Christian), The Pulse ('90s and now), Sirius Hits 1 (Top 40), Alt Nation (Alternative), Totally 70's, The Big 80's, New Country, Radio Disney, and The Coffee House. I enjoy the variety since my music mood changes from day to day. I was listening to Totally 70's last week(ok...I admit it) and found myself singing along with Neil Sedaka's "Laughter In the Rain". I knew every word and I was embarrassed of my own self. I looked at my Sirius display and it showed that song was a hit in 1974, when I was only seven years old.

Why can I remember every word to a song that was made popular when I was seven and now I can't remember to get sugar when I'm at the grocery store? How is it that I forget to return a DVD to the movie store, but I am able to remember dance routines from my years of ballet and tap?

Because the human mind is easily moldable at a very young age.

Alan and I were watching a movie one night at home when Matthew (age 3 at the time) walked through the room just as a four-letter word was shouted from the screen. About one week later, as we were celebrating Mother's Day after church on a Sunday afternoon, Matthew gave his mother and grandmother a present that will never be forgotten...he screamed his new cuss word across the restaurant for everyone to hear. The sad part is that this word cannot be erased from his mind. But he knows now not to ever say it again.

It is a huge challenge for parents today to ensure that what their children are exposed to does not compromise the development of their young minds. From video games to TV shows and movies, to music and online activities, so many opportunities are readily accessible for their minds to be corrupted. I know that I want to be a more responsible parent by helping filter out the filth while my kids are young and before it is too late to correct the damage.

I love what Plato said in reference to childhood exposure to something as primitive as a STORY:

And shall we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tale which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we wish them to have when they are grown up? We cannot.... Anything received into the mind at this age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts.... (Plato, 374 B.C., p. 72)

spiritual gifts

The SHAPE series at TrueNorth Church has brought back memories of the Network book we studied before we launched the church. The core group was given a spiritual gifts assessment to see what exactly this small group of people was gifted to do. In case you didn't know, I love surveys and polls and assessments and evaluations, so I was all over this assignment! Once I tallied my results, I was surprised when I saw the outcome of my spiritual gifts. Thinking that I may have been too hard or too easy on myself, I asked Alan to evaluate me as well. The outcome was pretty close to what I came up with...my top three spiritual gifts were Administration, Knowledge, and Helps.

Three and a half years later, the SHAPE series has allowed me to reassess myself with another evaluation. I decided to use the same Network evaluation for consistency-sake. This time around, I discovered my top three gifts to be Adminstration, Leadership, and Helps.

Why the difference? I don't think our spiritual gifts change. I think what changes is our DISCOVERY of these gifts. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

As Christians, discovering our spiritual gifts does not get us off the hook with our responsibility of exercising those qualities that are near the bottom of the list. Just because Evangelism and Intercession might not be in my top three, I still have a responsibility to share my faith and pray for others. These things just may not be my GIFTS.

As we grow and develop and USE our gifts, we will have a clearer understanding of how God has shaped us to serve in His church. Make sure you don't miss the rest of the SHAPE series because...IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!

smart marketing

I can't stop laughing. Every time I see the Coke Zero billboard, it makes me LOL!

The Coke Zero website is fun too. Go to the site and watch the lawyers get punk'd. You can also sue a friend for personal taste infringement (ringtone theft, ordering the same coffee drink, etc).

pumpkin spice latte

Okay, so I'm a coffee snob.

It is that time of year when Starbucks offers its world-renown Pumpkin Spice Latte. Pumpkin, you say? A vegetable in my coffee? Don't worry, it doesn't really taste like pumpkin. It just tastes like fall with the perfect amount of cinnamon, pumpkin spices, espresso, syrup, and whipped cream. So, why am I sitting in front of my computer with Hazelnut Folgers? Glad you asked.

Although there is no proof of this, I suspect that the eleventh commandment says "Thou shalt not drink Pumpkin Spice Latte before October". It is still September and I am refusing to buy a PSL before October. It just goes against the rules of fall. I mean, it would be gross and weird to eat watermelon at Thanksgiving and Christmas, wouldn't it? "Dad, could you pass the cranberries and WATERMELON?" No. And you wouldn't sit out on the beach in 100 degree weather eating pumpkin pie either.

So, I am waiting in anxious anticipation for my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year. And it will be worth it!

what really happened

Bedtime conversation between Mommy and Matthew, age 6:

Matthew: "Mom, did you know that our Earth is the third planet?"

Mom: "Yes, and how did you know that?"

Matthew: "I told myself that. "

Mom: "Do you know what the first planet is?"

Matthew: "Oh yeah. The moon. And then the sun is second. The devil made the moon and God made the sun and there was light and the darkness went away. That's why we are the third planet."

That was deep.

nine eleven

With today marking the sixth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on America, I went back and looked at some pictures I took while vacationing in New York this summer. I really expected to be overcome with emotion while visiting Ground Zero. But I wasn't. It was hard to feel anything because the towers are gone and what is left is a fenced-in construction zone. Every picture or scene I had been exposed to for the past six years was one-dimensional. Seeing the site in 3-D could not bring it to life for me.

This is Trinity Church, located across the street from the Twin Towers. I wonder how many people have entered this church looking for answers.

As dark and depressing as those days were on this side of the TV, no amount of emotion could be compared to what was experienced on those streets.

how to be lame

I followed a bread crumb trail that lead to this great list called The 31 Refutably Irrefutable Laws of Lame Leadership.

Check it out...you might see some familiar faces within these laws. I know that I saw a glimpse of myself in a few and it was U-G-L-Y.

three out of three ain't bad

Okay, so a Bowden was bound to win the big Clemson vs. Florida State game last night. The Bobbytommy game was tense from the start with it being Labor Day, televised, and the first game of the season. I have been wondering this morning if things are tense in the Bowden family today. Is it okay to beat your dad in football three times in a row? I mean, does this qualify for a spanking or a time out?