Kids Prayers

"Prayer doesn't change God, but it changes him who prays."

Some of these really cracked me up!!




1. I had been teaching my three-year old daughter the Lord's Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some E-mail. Amen."



2. And one particular four-year old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."


3. A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."


4. A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."


5. The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel microphone, & as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mike cord as he went. Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord & nearly tripping before jerking it again. After several circles & jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother & whispered, "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?"


6. Six-year old Angie & her four-year old brother Joel were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang & talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church & said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."


7. A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother & said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"


8. A father was at the beach with his children when his four-year old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, & led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died & went to Heaven," the dad replied. The boy thought a moment & then said, "Did God throw him back down?"


9. A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, & shouted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."

10. At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny, a child in the kindergarten class, seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs. Later in the week his mother noticed him lying as though he was ill, & asked, "Johnny what is the matter?" Little Johnny responded, "I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife!"

11. This last one is out of the mouth of my co-workers 3-year old son Reese: "Our father, who does art in heaven, Howard is his name...."

IHOP and Why it mattered!

"I've learned your college friends become a kind of family, You eat together, go to games, laugh, fight, cry, and do absolutely nothing together until you can't seem to rembember how you ever lived your life without them in the first place."

Request #3: College Roomie asked me to blog about IHOP moments. Allow me to explain. :) In college, we used to have these crazy 2 am breakfasts at IHOP. You never knew what would happen, but it would always be a packed house with people who were friendly, loud, and happy. The last couple weeks of our senior year, they hired a security guard---a little old man in like his 70's named Woody. You can imagine how the guys enjoyed that!! :)

This got me thinking....why was IHOP such a big deal? What made those nights so special? I think it was because we were forming our college family. I remember graduating from high school and being sure I'd never have better friends than those. And while my high school friends are still great, I understand now when people say you make your best friends in college. You truly do become a family with your friends in college.

You're on your own, figuring out what you want and who you want to be and your college friends are the people who help you do that. I don't know how to even put into words how much my college friends mean to me. You guys were always there for me---good times, bad times, crazy times. It was like having five houses that were all home and having a huge, crazy family be there for me.

You made college the best time of my life and I will always be grateful for you!

From a Corduroy Jacket to an Armani Suit

"People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates." ~Thomas Szasz

Well, if you know me at all, you realize that I'm exaggerating in the title of this blog. I totally don't own an Armani suit. I'm cheap so I never will. I did see the Armani store in Rome and take this picture! :) Anyway, I thought it was a catchy title.

So...this is Katrina's suggestion from the "I'm taking requests!" blog. Her actual suggestion was: "You should blog on looking/dressing/feeling like a professional woman. You're from a small farm town, probably were in FFA, and now you've got to wear suits. Does it change the way you see yourself?"

I tell you.....I feel every morning like I'm playing dress up. It still makes me laugh that I put on my "lawyer clothes" and go to work. This became even more clear to me when I had essentially no pictures of me in a suit to include on the blog! I don't see myself as being a professional woman....and I would be way more comfortable wearing that FFA jacket and boots to work every day!

This leads me to a related issue. I think that Reese Witherspoon put it best in Sweet Home Alabama. She and Jake were in the coon dog cemetery. She said, "I love my life in New York Jake, but I come down here, and this fits too." I feel exactly like that! Like there are different parts to my life....and maybe more than just two....all of which are great, but that really don't fit together. I think that trying to find the happy medium is how I'll find what really makes me really happy.

Still have room for a couple more suggestions.....let me know what you want to hear about!

Do dreams change?

"Dreams are like stars...you my never touch them, but if you follow them they will led you to your destiny."

The requests begin!! On Saturday I blogged asking for suggestions for the blog---I have three---but I need more! Please let me know what you want to read about!

Stefanie wanted me to write about how my dreams had changed. Presumably this is referring to the fact that I grew up in a tiny town, a village as my friends like to point out, and now I'm an attorney practicing in the big city.

So....this got me thinking. I do not really think dreams change. At least for me, I think my dreams have stayed the same throughout my life, but the vehicles to achieve those dreams have changed. I think my dreams have always been to be happy and successful and have people in my life who love and support me. I don't think that has ever changed. Now, I do know that the way in which I decided to pursue those dreams changes all the time. Fortunately, I am a person who is genuinely happy with whatever I am doing, wherever I am, and I have people in my life who love me and support me during whatever vehicle I am currently experiencing!

Trust me, when I was 15, I had no idea I'd be lawyer ten years down the line. In fact, I used to drive the career counselor people that would come to school crazy. Once a year they would ask what we wanted to be. I never knew, so I'd just tell them something that sounded cool that day: Radiologist, News Anchor, Teacher, Anesthesiologist, Banker....you get the idea. I didn't know that they kept a record of this ever year since the 4th grade. When I was a senior, the guy looked back over my many years and many aspirations and said, "You just made these up as we went along, didn't you?" My answer? "Yes sir. I did."

My point is, I think that no matter what path we decide to take, we can all end up fulfilling our dreams. In ten years, I might still be practicing law, and hopefully I'll be happy and successful and have great people in my life. On the other hand, in ten years, I might never want to read a law book again, but hopefully I'll still be happy and successful and have great people in my life.

I'm taking requests!!

"My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot." ~Ashleigh Brilliant


I can't believe some people actually read my blog. Like every day. I was at a dinner tonight with some fellow UNM alums and students and two different people said how much they enjoyed reading my blog. Thanks Julie and Day! Makes me wonder what I'm going to have to say next week!

So....I'm taking suggestions. That's right, it's request time!! Anyone have topics they want me to discuss? Pictures you want to see? Stories you want to hear? This is your chance---next week's topics are all up to you!

What Really Matters?

"This life is simply the title page for the main story that is yet to come." ~ C.S. Lewis

http://www.1000thingsthatmatter.com/

The website challenges people to tell what matters to them, in two sentences, an image or a video. Reading through some of the entries on the website was really interesting to see what different things matter to different people. It made me think, first off, about what does matter.

But then it got me thinking even more about whether or not a person could really fit everything that really matters into two sentences, one picture, or one video. When you really think about the things that matter in your life--the people, experiences, places, ideas, beliefs--that are important to you, don't you feel like you are blessed beyond belief to have so many things that matter?

Brett Favre

"You're never guaranteed about next year. People ask what you think of next season, you have to seize the opportunities when they're in front of you." ~Brett Favre

Well, because OSU's football season seems to be blowing up on smoke (see Exhibit A http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/10183726/Oklahoma-State-All-American-Bryant-is-inegligible .... and believe me there are plenty more similar stories) I have turned my blogging attention to the NFL.

For those of you who might not follow football....who is Brett Favre? He played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for 15 years. Now, he plays for the Minnesota Vikings. When the Vikings won the game on Monday Night, Brett Favre became the first quarterback in the NFL to beat every team in the league. Pretty cool record.

I think what's even cooler is that this guy genuinely loves the game. He's won the Super Bowl, been the league MVP, probably has more money in the bank right now than I'll earn in my whole life, and he still loves to play football. He's old and banged up and tired.....but he still loves playing. When a reporter asked him recently if he still felt like he needed to be at practice, he said of course he'd be at practice. He said he was just thankful he was able to be there playing.

Maybe some of the other athletes, both college and the pros, should think about why they play. Seems like those who play for the money or for the fame end up in trouble or burned out. It's the ones who play for the game who end up being remembered as great.

FRIENDS Returns???

"See? He's her lobster!" ~Phoebe

According to this article, a FRIENDS movie may be in the works. http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=433916&gt1=28101 Of course, this is based on information from Gunther.....but I always felt like he was reliable on the show. :)

I loved FRIENDS! I still do---seriously, I will sit on my couch watching an episode I have seen 57 times and can quote word for word, and still laugh my head off. I think everything in life can relate back to an episode of FRIENDS.

Here are clips from some of my favorite episodes....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGWNQm0xh8M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiUDDkqdLkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rp73AJIwHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyvRjF0NBeM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSUxmIyMHIk

And here are a few of my favorite quotes....

"They don't know we know they know we know!" ~Phoebe and Rachel

"I'm getting married today!!" ~Monica

"Oh, I wish I could. But I just don't want to." ~Phoebe

"We were on a break!" ~Ross"I thought it'd be great, you know? Have some time alone with my thoughts....turns out, I don't have as many thoughts as you'd think!" ~Joey
"YOU COULD DO A LOT WORSE THAN JOEY TRIBIANI!" ~Phoebe

PLEASE COMMENT and share your favorites as well! :)

The Amazing Race!

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” ~ Mark Twain


So.....I really don't watch much tv. I have probably a total of 5 shows I watch frequently (college football doesn't count....we all know I waste every Saturday for 6 months!). One of the shows I have come to love is The Amazing Race.

Check it out: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/




(Whitney and I backpacking in Geneva!)

The show has pairs of contestants who race around the world. At each stop, the last team to complete their tasks is eliminated. The winners get $1 million. But even without the million dollars, these people get an amazing chance to travel the world, to places that they would not go otherwise, on someone else's dollar. They get to meet people from all over the country who they are competing against, and meet people from all over the world on their journey.
(Map of this year's race)



So......I really want to go on this show and have beentalking to my friends about who my partner should be. Major concern for me is going to be the whole car-sickness sitution. These people are always in cabs going a million miles an hour then on a plane then on a bus, then on a boat. Looks like a disaster for someone who is motion sick. Anyway, hopefully I'll trap someone in to applying with me. Even if we didn't make it on the show, how cool would it be to have applied??

(Me at the Coliseum in Rome, Italy)

Stay tuned......maybe you'll see me puking my way across the world some day!

Going to the Drive In

"Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life." ~Pizza Place Sign

Because I am really no fun, I live my life vicariously through my dear friend College Roomie. Isn't she adorable?








Anyway, last weekend she went on a date to a drive in movie! I didn't even know they had these, but this has now totally been added to my bucket list. Here's the scoop: It only costs $5 per car!! So, you could jam like 10 people in there and the movie would cost each of you like 50 cents! I mean, that might sort of rain on the romantic aspect of it, but it would be a party!! Oh, yea, one more detail. You have to drive 2 hours one way to get to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Those of you who are downers are probably thinking, for what you'd pay in gas, you could afford to go to regular movie here. And that's true--but going to a regular movie isn't on my bucket list.

So, everyone keep your eye out for a boy to take me to the drive in movie in Las Vegas. You'll get credit for helping me cross off that bucket list item!