It's Father's Day for all of the dads in the world, but my dad gets to double the fun by also having his birthday today. In honor of this momentous occasion, I wanted to write the 10 things that I love about my dad because I can't imagine having a father who's better than him. Plus, I wrote one about my mom on Mother's Day and I don't want him to get gypped out of his own top 10 list :).
1) He loves Jesus more than anything and goes to Him in prayer for guidance in his decisions.
2) He takes amazing care of my mom and has proven over and over that he takes the "in sickness and health" vows seriously (i.e. she's had a ton of surgeries and he's known how to help her every time).
3) He's so proud of his girls and doesn't have any problem telling us that.
4) When I was in graduate school, I got to go to his class and observe him with his students. He's so patient and consistent with the kids, so that made them respect and admire him as their teacher.
5) He's very active and adventurous... surfing (in Indonesia and CA), playing tennis, riding his motorcycle or biking up and down the coast with my mom, going to the gym on a regular basis, etc.
6) Doing acts of service out of love... there have been times when I'd go to visit my parents and I would come outside to find that my car had been washed, he has helped me move spontaneously(more than once), and has helped me put things together in half the time that it would take me to do them by myself.
7) Showing Emmy and me how important it is to keep the spark alive in a marriage. My parents had their weekly date nights while we were growing up, they still hold hands, and it's obvious that he's still as smitten with my mom now as when they were in high school.
8) Keeping our annual father/daughter fancy birthday dinner tradition going. We've gotten to eat some amazing food at some great restaurants (Duke's! Ruth's Chris! The one next to "The Pirates of the Caribbean"!) and I think we've been doing that since my 13th birthday.
9) He gave me a love of Led Zeppelin and great worship music.
10) Pulling Emmy and me out of school when we were kids (and occasionally work as adults) to do something fun like going to Disneyland because he realized the importance of quality time.
I know that I'm a very lucky girl because of the dad that I have!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Forgiveness (lessons from a 3 year old).
Harley is a little girl at the CDC who stays after school until about 4:30 every day... i.e. Kim and I spend a LOT of time with her. She tries to go barefoot on a regular basis, but we never let her because it's against the rules. We're on the playground today and she's taken off her flip flops again. I tell her, "You need to put your shoes back on or we're going to have to go back inside." She doesn't do anything. I say, "You have until the count of 3 to get your shoes back on or we're going inside... 1... 2... 3." She gets her shoes in her hand and is putting them on in time while whining about it. Then she says, "I'm mad at you! You counted at me!" I replied, "Well, you weren't putting your shoes back on, so that's what I needed to do." Then I left her alone while she played on the jungle gym.
A few minutes went by and she said, "I want to race you." I responded with, "I thought you were mad at me." To this she said, "I'm not mad at you." Kim and I laughed about how easy forgiveness is for a 3 year old and I went over to race her. Then she told me, "You're my best friend," and my heart melted a little, of course. I think our lives would be so much better if we could forgive and forget as easily as that little girl.
A few minutes went by and she said, "I want to race you." I responded with, "I thought you were mad at me." To this she said, "I'm not mad at you." Kim and I laughed about how easy forgiveness is for a 3 year old and I went over to race her. Then she told me, "You're my best friend," and my heart melted a little, of course. I think our lives would be so much better if we could forgive and forget as easily as that little girl.
Semi-violent kid story
Yesterday, as the kids were lining up to go outside after playing on the playground, Kameryn (she's the one with the best twang) was holding a caterpillar. She stated angrily, "This caterpillar PUKED on me!" I had to stifle my laughter because I didn't think that it was possible for someone to know about a caterpillar's bodily fluids and then I told her, "You need to leave the caterpillar out here because you're not allowed to take it inside." She looked at it for a few seconds, then threw it down on the ground and stomped on it a couple of times. I told her to stop doing that and said to Susan (one of the other teachers), "Oh my gosh... I wonder what she'll do if one of her kids pukes on her once she's a mom." Then we all went inside for nap time.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day! (shout-out to Mama Boyd)
When I started writing this blog back in August, I said that I was going to write some stories about the people that I admire. My mom has been one of the most important people in my life and I figured that today is the right day to write a blog about her... especially since she's one of the 3 people who actually read this :). Here are the top 10 things that I love about my mom:
1) She loves Jesus more than anything and I know that she has spent a lot of time covering Emily and me in prayer.
2) She loves my dad so much and knows that she's a lucky woman because she has him as a husband.
3) Her ability to find out the life story of pretty much anyone within 10 minutes of meeting them.
4) Her willingness to drop everything and listen when I'm struggling.
5) Her ability to drag information out of me when I don't know how much I've bottled up inside (I usually end up crying, which is good because that doesn't happen very often).
6) She's never tried to give me her opinion on the things that I should do with my life and has always supported my decisions.
7) She's taught me that sometimes you can cheer up by eating frozen yogurt or buying something cute.
8) She's great with kids, especially when it comes to being consistent and following through on what she says.
9) She knows how to make awkward situations more comfortable by saying the right things.
10) She's great at spending quality time with those she loves. Some examples: going to Hawaii for my high school graduation, going to New York for Emmy's high school graduation, Tuesday night "date nights" when I was growing up, Thursday night "date nights" with Daddy, etc.
I'm so thankful that God picked her to be my mom and wish that everyone could have one just like her!
1) She loves Jesus more than anything and I know that she has spent a lot of time covering Emily and me in prayer.
2) She loves my dad so much and knows that she's a lucky woman because she has him as a husband.
3) Her ability to find out the life story of pretty much anyone within 10 minutes of meeting them.
4) Her willingness to drop everything and listen when I'm struggling.
5) Her ability to drag information out of me when I don't know how much I've bottled up inside (I usually end up crying, which is good because that doesn't happen very often).
6) She's never tried to give me her opinion on the things that I should do with my life and has always supported my decisions.
7) She's taught me that sometimes you can cheer up by eating frozen yogurt or buying something cute.
8) She's great with kids, especially when it comes to being consistent and following through on what she says.
9) She knows how to make awkward situations more comfortable by saying the right things.
10) She's great at spending quality time with those she loves. Some examples: going to Hawaii for my high school graduation, going to New York for Emmy's high school graduation, Tuesday night "date nights" when I was growing up, Thursday night "date nights" with Daddy, etc.
I'm so thankful that God picked her to be my mom and wish that everyone could have one just like her!
Friday, April 24, 2009
And then a hero comes along...
Here's a little story about how every person can be a hero in someone else's eyes, even if they don't necessarily know that they are...
About 1-2 days per week, the garbage man comes to the CDC in order to empty our dumpster. Whenever this happens, quite a few of the kids will run to the window and yell, "THE GARBAGE TRUCK IS HERE!!!" They get SO excited every time they see that truck, even though it comes on a weekly basis. Kim and I think it's hilarious, so we've also taken to shouting sarcastically across the room to each other that, "THE GARBAGE TRUCK IS HERE!!!"
The garbage man probably has no idea that there are 31 preschoolers who are ecstatic about seeing him and his truck every week. He may even think it's a job that doesn't deserve a lot of recognition, but I know a bunch of 3-5 year olds who think that he's the coolest.
About 1-2 days per week, the garbage man comes to the CDC in order to empty our dumpster. Whenever this happens, quite a few of the kids will run to the window and yell, "THE GARBAGE TRUCK IS HERE!!!" They get SO excited every time they see that truck, even though it comes on a weekly basis. Kim and I think it's hilarious, so we've also taken to shouting sarcastically across the room to each other that, "THE GARBAGE TRUCK IS HERE!!!"
The garbage man probably has no idea that there are 31 preschoolers who are ecstatic about seeing him and his truck every week. He may even think it's a job that doesn't deserve a lot of recognition, but I know a bunch of 3-5 year olds who think that he's the coolest.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Cute kid story #3
Here's the conversation that took place on the bus today:
Savanna (holding up a penny): Is this a penny?
Me: Yes it is... do you know whose face is on the penny?
Savanna (shaking her head): Noooo
Me: That's Abraham Lincoln... do you know what state he was born in?
Savanna (shaking her head again): Noooo
Me: He was born in Kentucky... do you know what state you live in?
Savanna (shakes her head one more time): Noooo
Sydney pipes up: Tucky
Me: Yep, we live in Kentucky.
Savanna: What state does Barack Obama live in?
Me (laughing and wondering how she knows who the president is): Well, he lives in Maryland now.
Savanna (holding up a penny): Is this a penny?
Me: Yes it is... do you know whose face is on the penny?
Savanna (shaking her head): Noooo
Me: That's Abraham Lincoln... do you know what state he was born in?
Savanna (shaking her head again): Noooo
Me: He was born in Kentucky... do you know what state you live in?
Savanna (shakes her head one more time): Noooo
Sydney pipes up: Tucky
Me: Yep, we live in Kentucky.
Savanna: What state does Barack Obama live in?
Me (laughing and wondering how she knows who the president is): Well, he lives in Maryland now.
Friday, April 3, 2009
3/25-4/2
The past week or so has been pretty up and down, so I wanted to write about it. Here's a list of my highs and lows from the past week:
Low #1: Kim dropped me off at the airport to go back to CA last Wednesday. I got in there to find out that my flight had been canceled due to thunderstorms in Dallas, which was where my layover was supposed to be. They said that my flight was going to be the next day at 1pm and that I would get into Orange County at 4:30pm. I was REALLY disappointed about that because I had planned on visiting NHS during lunch on Thursday. I told the nice American Airlines lady that the time was going to be too late and she started looking for flights on other airlines.
High #1: She ended up finding one with Delta that was leaving at 6am on Thursday and landing at 10:15am that day. It ended up working out in my favor because I got to spend the night in a hotel. I went to the gym, took a long bubble bath, and slept in a gloriously comfy bed.
High #2: The flight on Thursday morning went well and it turns out that Delta is a great airline to fly on. They have individual TV sets for each seat, so I spent some of the flight watching reruns of "Saved by the Bell" and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (including the one after Trevor bungee jumped to his death and Hillary spends the episode grieving for him in her black wedding dress... Ashley with the yo-yo gets me every time).
High #3: Emmy picked me up at John Wayne immediately after I landed, so she was the first person I got to see when I got back to CA.
Low #2: Emmy had a meeting at 11am and my luggage wasn't there yet when she came to pick me up. I decided to go back with her to Vanguard and come back for it after I had her car. This would have been a great idea, but I found that I'm not so great at finding my way around that airport anymore... first, I missed the sign that was supposed to take me into the arrivals/departures section and I ended up going back around to the street where I had come in. Next, I found the arrivals/departures section, but I couldn't find the entrance into the parking structure and had to go around again. Finally, I decided to find an entrance on the upper level and go down into the parking structure... I ended up parking on the 2nd floor, which would have been fine, except for the fact that I couldn't find the stairs. This was the point when I started crying while I was walking because I just wanted to get into the airport to find my luggage and couldn't find my way in there. It was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back because I was wanting to make it to Northwood in time for lunch with my students and I think I was still kind of upset that my flight had been canceled the day before. I know that I normally wouldn't have had that reaction, but I was being whiny because I felt like things weren't going my way.
High #4: The rest of Thursday was great because I got to visit my old students and catch up with the other teachers who are still working there. In-N-Out for lunch, quality time with my mom, Rubio's for dinner with all of my family, quality time with Emmy, and then catching up with Liz at 2 Canal.
High #5: The rest of the weekend was great because of Phil and Tiffany's wedding. It was a perfectly beautiful day and everything went so smoothly. I got all choked up when I saw her in her wedding dress because I was thinking of all of those talks that we had about who our future husbands would be and wondering if the right one was out there. It was so surreal because I knew how badly she had always wanted to fall in love and get married. She's an amazing example of why it's so important to wait for the right man and why no woman should settle for less than God's best for her.
Low #3: I got really sad at a few points during the weekend because I was trying to picture my own wedding day and couldn't. There were times when I was being, "Bitter: Party of 1," because of starting to really doubt that I'll ever fall in love. I know that God has a wonderful plan for my life, but I continue to have a lot of difficulty trusting that I'll ever get to experience love and romance, even though it's a desire of my heart.
High #6: Once I got back from CA, I came home and packed my stuff for YouthFest. I had signed up to go from Tuesday-Friday, so I decided to get up really early on Tuesday morning and drive the 2 1/2 hours to Camp Caleb (where I had gone 2 years ago with Christian Mission) in order to go with the team to the work site that morning. I woke up at 4:45am and was on the road by about 6:15am, dreaming of the hot chocolate that I was going to get in London on my way there.
BIG Low #4: At about 6:30am, my car started making funny noises, which I tried to ignore. They started getting worse, I pulled over and found out that my left rear tire was completely flat :(. I decided to try and keep driving to the next gas station, but it sounded worse and I knew there was no way I was going to make it the 6 miles or so to Livingston. This led to Jenna's Meltdown #2 for the week because I didn't know what to do... I called 411 and asked for phone numbers to places that could fix my tire, but it turns out that not very many are open at that hour.
High #7: After call #3 to 411, I found a place that was open, they came out to change my flat, then followed me to the closest Wal-Mart in order to get a real tire put on there. They changed it, I still got hot chocolate in London (to cheer myself up), and got to Camp Caleb around noon (instead of 8 or 9 as I had planned).
High #8: I found out that my work site was in the next town after Blaine!
High #9: Once I got to the work site that day, I found out that YouthFest isn't just for youth and discovered that the youngest person on our team was 27.
Low #5: I discovered that it's better to start off the week with a team and not join them in the middle of their time there. Otherwise, one feels left out quite often. They were a very nice group of people, but I lost my name while I was there and felt like I was back in Mr. Vinyard's 4th grade class again... I was Jenny, Gina, Jennifer, blank stare because I can't remember your name, and, every once in awhile, Jenna.
High #10: Being at Camp Caleb and going through Blaine every day made me realize that I really do love living in Kentucky. I'm happy that I'm now living in the place that God randomly opened the door for me to go to two years ago and that there was a larger purpose for that trip in my life.
I think that was the majority of my highs and lows for the past week. It turns out that there were a lot more highs than lows, so I have a lot to be thankful for!
Low #1: Kim dropped me off at the airport to go back to CA last Wednesday. I got in there to find out that my flight had been canceled due to thunderstorms in Dallas, which was where my layover was supposed to be. They said that my flight was going to be the next day at 1pm and that I would get into Orange County at 4:30pm. I was REALLY disappointed about that because I had planned on visiting NHS during lunch on Thursday. I told the nice American Airlines lady that the time was going to be too late and she started looking for flights on other airlines.
High #1: She ended up finding one with Delta that was leaving at 6am on Thursday and landing at 10:15am that day. It ended up working out in my favor because I got to spend the night in a hotel. I went to the gym, took a long bubble bath, and slept in a gloriously comfy bed.
High #2: The flight on Thursday morning went well and it turns out that Delta is a great airline to fly on. They have individual TV sets for each seat, so I spent some of the flight watching reruns of "Saved by the Bell" and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (including the one after Trevor bungee jumped to his death and Hillary spends the episode grieving for him in her black wedding dress... Ashley with the yo-yo gets me every time).
High #3: Emmy picked me up at John Wayne immediately after I landed, so she was the first person I got to see when I got back to CA.
Low #2: Emmy had a meeting at 11am and my luggage wasn't there yet when she came to pick me up. I decided to go back with her to Vanguard and come back for it after I had her car. This would have been a great idea, but I found that I'm not so great at finding my way around that airport anymore... first, I missed the sign that was supposed to take me into the arrivals/departures section and I ended up going back around to the street where I had come in. Next, I found the arrivals/departures section, but I couldn't find the entrance into the parking structure and had to go around again. Finally, I decided to find an entrance on the upper level and go down into the parking structure... I ended up parking on the 2nd floor, which would have been fine, except for the fact that I couldn't find the stairs. This was the point when I started crying while I was walking because I just wanted to get into the airport to find my luggage and couldn't find my way in there. It was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back because I was wanting to make it to Northwood in time for lunch with my students and I think I was still kind of upset that my flight had been canceled the day before. I know that I normally wouldn't have had that reaction, but I was being whiny because I felt like things weren't going my way.
High #4: The rest of Thursday was great because I got to visit my old students and catch up with the other teachers who are still working there. In-N-Out for lunch, quality time with my mom, Rubio's for dinner with all of my family, quality time with Emmy, and then catching up with Liz at 2 Canal.
High #5: The rest of the weekend was great because of Phil and Tiffany's wedding. It was a perfectly beautiful day and everything went so smoothly. I got all choked up when I saw her in her wedding dress because I was thinking of all of those talks that we had about who our future husbands would be and wondering if the right one was out there. It was so surreal because I knew how badly she had always wanted to fall in love and get married. She's an amazing example of why it's so important to wait for the right man and why no woman should settle for less than God's best for her.
Low #3: I got really sad at a few points during the weekend because I was trying to picture my own wedding day and couldn't. There were times when I was being, "Bitter: Party of 1," because of starting to really doubt that I'll ever fall in love. I know that God has a wonderful plan for my life, but I continue to have a lot of difficulty trusting that I'll ever get to experience love and romance, even though it's a desire of my heart.
High #6: Once I got back from CA, I came home and packed my stuff for YouthFest. I had signed up to go from Tuesday-Friday, so I decided to get up really early on Tuesday morning and drive the 2 1/2 hours to Camp Caleb (where I had gone 2 years ago with Christian Mission) in order to go with the team to the work site that morning. I woke up at 4:45am and was on the road by about 6:15am, dreaming of the hot chocolate that I was going to get in London on my way there.
BIG Low #4: At about 6:30am, my car started making funny noises, which I tried to ignore. They started getting worse, I pulled over and found out that my left rear tire was completely flat :(. I decided to try and keep driving to the next gas station, but it sounded worse and I knew there was no way I was going to make it the 6 miles or so to Livingston. This led to Jenna's Meltdown #2 for the week because I didn't know what to do... I called 411 and asked for phone numbers to places that could fix my tire, but it turns out that not very many are open at that hour.
High #7: After call #3 to 411, I found a place that was open, they came out to change my flat, then followed me to the closest Wal-Mart in order to get a real tire put on there. They changed it, I still got hot chocolate in London (to cheer myself up), and got to Camp Caleb around noon (instead of 8 or 9 as I had planned).
High #8: I found out that my work site was in the next town after Blaine!
High #9: Once I got to the work site that day, I found out that YouthFest isn't just for youth and discovered that the youngest person on our team was 27.
Low #5: I discovered that it's better to start off the week with a team and not join them in the middle of their time there. Otherwise, one feels left out quite often. They were a very nice group of people, but I lost my name while I was there and felt like I was back in Mr. Vinyard's 4th grade class again... I was Jenny, Gina, Jennifer, blank stare because I can't remember your name, and, every once in awhile, Jenna.
High #10: Being at Camp Caleb and going through Blaine every day made me realize that I really do love living in Kentucky. I'm happy that I'm now living in the place that God randomly opened the door for me to go to two years ago and that there was a larger purpose for that trip in my life.
I think that was the majority of my highs and lows for the past week. It turns out that there were a lot more highs than lows, so I have a lot to be thankful for!
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