It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday I donned my new Olympic shirt (sorry - bad hair day - no pictures!) and sacked out in front of the TV to watch the Olympics. Oh my goodness. What a lovely day. Sundays are lovely no matter what. Add the Olympics and it's just perfection in a 24 hour period.

* Monday I had the EXTREME embarrassment of being part of some Christmas music video for work. I say embarrassment because...did you see the part about it being a MUSIC video? At least I got to look festive:

* Tuesday was a good day. We had our Kitchen Caboodle show at work, and I got to interview Denise Jones from Point of Grace. (EEEEEE!!!!) But my favorite part was that night when I had dinner with one of my college roomies, Christi, and her family. I haven't seen Christi since my Florida trip last year and I have missed her so much. We had our picture taken but it was on her husband's phone and he hasn't sent it to me yet, so just imagine it here....

* Wednesday was Chick Fil A Day and Sheryl and I went! I am not a political person (as I'm sure you have figured out by now) largely because I am not smart enough to understand politics and I prefer it that way, but I do love Chick Fil A. I love their food and I love the way they've stood by their faith (historically...not just this week). So I wanted to support them. Spent a half hour waiting to get into the building and another half hour waiting for food and in that time, did not hear ONE PERSON complain. That might be a world record!

* Know what I had to do on Thursday? Mow the yard. I shouldn't complain since I'm pretty sure the last time I did so was over the July 4th break...which was a month ago now. But I hate mowing!! It's a good thing I had that new day planner that committed me to doing it or I'd have weaseled my way out of it FOR SURE.

* Friday was SUCH a fun day. It started with this gorgeous sunrise on the way to work:

We had a VERY fun show on Friday, and as a bonus, we had in-studio guests! A group from IWU came to watch Mid-Morning and then invited me to eat lunch and share a bit with them. That was one fun Friday!!
* Yesterday I went to the zoo with some blognonymous friends, so I can't post pictures of the whole adventure, but check out this "three-headed giraffe." LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Thousand Gifts: I am so thankful that I reached the 1000 mark!! I have loved doing this journey and learning all the ways God speaks love into my heart through little gifts - like the beautiful mama and baby deer I saw by the side of the road this week as I drove to work!

Pinterest Inspiration: I was a PINTEREST FAIL this week. No projects. Sigh. Please do not misunderstand...I spent plenty of time ON Pinterest....just didn't make effort. Judge me. :)

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday afternoon, I got to go swimming!! I was house sitting for a friend of mine who has a pool (always say yes to house sitting for pool owners!) and it was a pretty warm afternoon, so I decided to take advantage of the pool at hand. Not gonna lie - it was pretty fantastic.

* Monday evening I had dinner with Jenny! Hadn't seen her for a long time and bless her precious, long-suffering heart, she sat for far longer than she should have listening to my stories.

* Tuesday evening I hit the kitchen to make apple cheesecake bars...which I made a couple of weeks ago for work. MAN they are good. And for the first time ever in my cooking career, I cut myself with the big bad knife. (Don't worry - no harm came to the food.) But I learned an important lesson: purchase band aids BEFORE you need them.

* Wednesday evening I went to see Julie Crandall and we went out for dinner - just the three of us. (Three being Julie, me, and her darling baby boy.) So good to catch up with her - and on the way home, check out this amazing sunset!

* Thursday morning I drove to work in a HORRIBLE rainstorm. Weeks and weeks of no rain and when it does show up, it has to be a downpour you can't see to drive through. I slowed down to 35 on the interstate and turned on my hazard lights to make sure people could see me. I'm little!!! I didn't get a picture of the rain. Just imagine the heart of a car wash, minus the soap. :)

* Friday afternoon I worked with my friend Sheryl at the station booth for the Children's Fest. More on that to come, but it was a fun afternoon with a good friend!

* And yesterday I was thrilled to spend the entire day RESTING. It was such a beautiful day and I loved not having any scheduled plans for the whole day. Just got to sit, relax, write, do laundry, clean up, cook, and ENJOY. And since I didn't do my hair - there will be NO photo.

One Thousand Gifts. Friday evening when I drove home from work, I got 1/2 mile from my exit and got held up in traffic. Took me a half hour to get that last half mile and later I found out further down the road there had been a 3 car pile up that resulted in a fatality. My heart ached for the people involved and I was reminded that safety in and of itself is a deep gift. So thankful for God's protection on me as I've driven around this past year!

Pinterest Inspiration. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect waffle recipe. (Got a waffle maker for Christmas.) This may or may not be it, but it was good!

Source: allrecipes.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

10,000 Reasons

This year, I'm taking the 1000 Gifts challenge from Ann Voskamp's book by the same name. I'm actually about to reach the 1000 mark and have loved developing an attitude that looks for the beautiful things in each day. And my GOODNESS are there ever a lot of beautiful things in each day!

And for all the searching for even the tiniest of 1000 gifts...it doesn't end at 1000.

I adore this song. Makes me cry.



The part that gets me is in the final verse: Soon my soul will sing your praise unending; 10,000 years and then forevermore.

Can't even wrap my mind around an entire existence that is entry after entry in a gratitude journal. Blessing, praising, and knowing that every second with Him is a gift. Praise unending.

 Not just 1000 gifts.

Not just 10,000 reasons.

10,000 years and forevermore.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday some friends of mine invited me out for lunch after church. I resisted taking pictures, as I would like to associate with them again and didn't want to forever be pegged with "Remember that time we took Bekah to lunch and she took pictures of everyone's plates?" :) But can I just say that was one rockin' good tenderloin? (I love a good breaded tenderloin. MMMMM.)

* Monday I was thrilled to have Lynne back in the office with me. MAN I missed her last week. Loved giggling with her all day. The day itself, other than loving having her back, was pretty basic. Nothing exciting to report.

* So Tuesday night I decided to head to the fair! (As you already saw...) Didn't plan to go this year but I really like walking around (read: eating walking tacos and sugar covered almonds) so I went with my friend Amber. We had a great time walking around (eating walking tacos and sugar covered almonds) and running into friends!

* Wednesday, I'm not sure what my deal was, but I could not get my brain to work right to save my life!! I was crazy distracted all day at work...kept forgetting things...and a couple of times made a complete idiot of myself. (If you're going to be an idiot, be a complete one, right?) So that night I made cake mix cookies. Haven't made those FOREVER. Chocolate happiness on a cookie sheet. YES PLEASE!!!!!

* Thursday at work, we had a cookout, courtesy of our leadership team, to thank us for our hard work. It was SO good. Burgers on the grill and fruit and chips and salads...and best of all...for dessert....my very first time EVER with a chocolate fountain!!!! Not gonna lie....LOVED IT.

* Friday was a rather exciting day...purchased a new swimsuit (much more on that to come)....had two humiliating moments at work...more on that later, too. And speaking of work. Remember the sign on my desk that keeps mysteriously getting altered? It continues:

* Yesterday I came full circle in my job...and was in the Three Rivers Festival Parade, which was the first event I was ever in when I came to work at the station! It was a hot one out there - but I had fun carrying the banner with the lovely Lynne Ford!

One Thousand Gifts: Seems silly, perhaps, but I've been grateful to have cooler temps this week. For a broken thermostat girl like me, any day that's merely two digits is a gift! I remember walking out the door each morning and NOT feeling smacked in the face by heat already. Grateful for the relief!

Pinterest Inspiration: Mine is still a work in progress...but here it is! I needed a way to display some bucket-ish list ideas. (It's not a true bucket list but it's an accomplishment list. Found this idea:

Source: thefoleyfam.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

And here is my version of it:

I bought the basket at the dollar store and I had the clothespins left over from the clothespin mirror I made earlier this year. Once I have the pins written on, I'll dump them in the basket and as I pull out "near future" ideas, I"ll clip them to the side! So excited to see what all it brings about!

It's the Weekly Recap!!

* Last Sunday I drove 500 miles in one day, through five states, to get home from vacation, THUS MARKING - my longest solo drive ever at one time. (Pathetic but true.) There was one furry little occupant of this house who was so excited to see me that she skipped eating her treat. (No occupants of this house often skip food, so that's kind of a big deal.) HOME SAFE! Praise the Lord!

* Monday I made my first pilgrimage to the lake (this year, anyway) and had a BLAST out on the water. And um....got totally crispy fried, DESPITE two applications of sunscreen and wearing a beach towel over my legs and feet for the last hour of the adventure. Still, important lesson learned: if you're going to get burned, take the band-aids off your feet first. (And sorry for the rest of the view. I am not a foot model! ICK!!)

* Tuesday I drove to Indianapolis to visit one of my college roommates, Jenny and we spent the day together! Her little boy is HILARIOUS and he cracked me right up. I also stopped to see my sister, Julie, and we had dinner together. And....guess what this girl did to continue the vacation adventure? Want a hint?

Second piercing! That is as close to the edge as I live.

* Wednesday was my last day off work, and my first day to be completely lazy. I slept in...watched TV...did some scrapping...you know, lazy stuff. Had some help with it too:

 Yep. She missed me. I went to visit my old office and then (sniff, sniff, moment of silence) I had to take my precious Sammy back to the rental place. Man, I loved that car. Wanted to keep him.

* Thursday I returned to work and actually enjoyed doing so!! (Hope you were sitting down for that!!) Lynne welcomed me back in style:

And we shared the airwaves for a show all about weddings. We had a blast. I just love working with her. Have I mentioned that?? And Thursday was also the day it was 106 degrees IN OUR STATE. That's about the hottest I ever remember it being in my adult (or ever) life. You can imagine my joy.

* Friday was a very full day. We had a ridiculously horrible storm in the afternoon. It blew up out of nowhere and Ms. Scared-to-Death-of Storms was in actual tears at her desk. I hate crying at work. Especially over dumb things like storms. This was Lynne's solution to my storm-drama:

It's not there if you can't see it, she says! It lasted a while and resulted in TONS of downed trees and debris in town...and 50,000 people without power...and much cooler temps! In other news...Lynne and I went to our party palooza winner's luau party (dressed for the occasion) - and I ran one mile without stopping. In nine minutes. Thankyouverymuch.

* Saturday night I hosted game night at my house!!! I had to miss the last one because I had the flu, so it was great to be back with my friends! And by that, of course, I mean getting my tail KICKED. I cannot win with these people. But I'm very good for their self-esteem!! :)

One Thousand Gifts: I will write more about this later, I'm sure, but on Friday, when Fort Wayne got blasted with the horrible storm, there were 50,000 people/places without electricity throughout the county. It was the night of our party palooza winner's party and despite the closed roads and lack of power, everyone was able to make it to the party, and both the store hosting the party AND the restaurant providing the food had power. I call that a miracle.

Pinterest Inspiration: People. Prepare to be amazed. (Are you prepared???)

I had to make a dessert for work this week, for a co-worker who is an amazing cook. Nothing puts fear in a girl like cooking for a cook. So, because THIS is a smart solution to that problem, I thought...hey! Let's try something brand new! (Never claimed to be intelligent, my friends.) So I made this:

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Here is mine:

They. Loved. It. At. Work.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday I was SUPPOSED to write. And I did. I wrote a lovely dream for over two hours in the afternoon. :)  And then I got caught up on all the things I got behind on throughout the week. And then...I concluded the day with a little baking goodness...

* Monday was a rainy day (at least in the morning) so I opted out of the "is she going to work or to the beach?" outfit I'd planned and wore this instead:

Two people asked me if I was going to a hoedown. Good grief. Also had my first moment of something-is-wrong-with-the-board-and-Lynne-isn't-on-the-air panic too. Thankfully Jim hadn't left the studio yet and bailed me out. Lesson learned? Panic awakens me more rapidly than coffee.

* Tuesday evening, I had plans to work on some things at home, but God had other plans. Was working through some heart matters and ended up spending the entire evening in prayer and Bible study:

* Wednesday was the day I got my hair in a ponytail (of sorts) - the one I told you about that looked more like a bird's nest? It was also the day I purchased my very first (and probably very only) golf skirt. And again - I'll not elaborate at this time. It just makes me feel very fancy to say I own a golf skirt. (This from the girl who has to manually deposit the mini-golf ball INTO the hole after 293048230948230498 attempts to hit it in...fail.)

* Thursday evening, the station had a Sticker Stop pretty close to my house, so even though I wasn't assigned to work it, I crashed it:

I stopped on my way home from work and then may or many not have gone to Ivanhoes with Sheryl, Amy and Anna, who were working the Sticker Stop. (Fruit serving for the day: strawberry shortcake.)

* Friday afternoon I had some visitors at the station! My friends Fred and Bev stopped by - and brought me a milkshake! YUM!! After work, I went to an art show that featured the talents of my kiddos Liam and Savannah. Savannah was completely attached to me all night. Loved that. Nothing beats a great kid-hug! (Sorry we're blurry. It was a bad night for self photography.)

* Yesterday was an all-purpose day. Sleeping, scrapbooking, running errands, cleaning, you name it. It is so rare that I have time to do whatever I want...and I completely cherish it when I do!! In the evening, I made Dad's Father's Day present...and look who felt that I couldn't do so without help:

One Thousand Gifts: My Experiencing God study was really hard this week. It uncovered a lot of uncomfortable things in my heart that I SO wanted to skip over, but I had promised God I wouldn't shortcut my way out of this adventure. So I canceled life two different nights this week to work through all the heart-mess. Life is busy and I found it to be a gift that I had the time this week to spend doing that necessary work.

Pinterest Inspiration: Well, this week's Pinterest fun came in the form of making the Father's Day gift. (And I made one for myself too. Not a Father's Day gift. But one of these.)

Source: familyfun.go.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

And here is the version I ended up with:

I used berries instead of leaves...and mine looks far less attractive without the glimmer of sunlight on it. But my photo shoot came during the only sprinkling of rain we've had in two weeks. I am going to get birdseed to put in mine, since I have an actual bird bath. Dad's can be used whichever way he wants to use it!

869 Gifts

It's been a really REALLY long time since I posted about the One Thousand Gifts journey. I'm so excited to be drawing close to that 1000 mark. Here are some of my faves since the last time I posted about them:

* Barefoot running through thick grass

* My 2011 scrapbook arriving in the mail: JOY!

* James reaching for me.

* Lunch in the park soaking up the sun.

* Opposition from Satan - must be doing something right!

* It's not 1993 anymore (saw an old picture of myself!)

* $5 earrings when I forgot mine

* Grace-saturated discipline

* Backup alarms

* Snuggling baby Amos

* Lynne's imitation of my "delightfully dorky" march

* Neatly organized piles

* Naps nestled in the fat chair

* A skinny day

* Quaint town filled with character

* Giggling with my sister on a late night shopping trip

* Hammock swinging from a tree

* New Bible smell

* Color coded lists

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Sunday morning, we started a new Bible study in our Sunday School class. Well. It's not a NEW study. It's been around forever. But I've never done it before. We're doing Experiencing God. I've been really looking forward to this because I've needed some refreshment in my heart, and I believe God is going to use this in a great way!

* Monday night was the exhausting car mess of 2012 - which did make for great blog fodder. It also resulted in me going through the drive thru at 10:30 at night to get some dinner, WHERE I was promptly flirted with (think Joey's How YOU doin?) by an approximately 8 year old manager. Seriously dude? I was a smelly, sweaty mess from my workout, with makeup sliding off my face and hair in the worst ponytail attempt known to mankind. Shaking head...

* Tuesday evening, before my Bible study call with Olivia, I tried this yummy frappe mix.

Marie gave that to me as part of a coffee themed birthday gift (oh my word...the love of a gift like that!) and I didn't even know Tastefully Simple MADE a frappe mix. I gotta tell you - it is coffee-shop good. REALLY really good. Great. Now I have a new addiction.

* Wednesday was a big day at work! That was the day I got to interview Bruce Marchiano. And it was the day our air conditioner ceased to participate. And it was the day this little guy worked on his Olympic tryouts, apparently! (This was outside the station.)

And after work I had dinner with Jenny and then I ran four miles in 45 minutes AND walked a fifth mile, completing all five in an hour. I was happy!

* Thursday night, Rachel came over to spend some time with me. Now that Grey's is over for the season, we don't get to see each other anymore. So she came over and we made a mess in my kitchen - which resulted in very yummy scones - and we drank coffee, ate scones, and caught up on life. Perfect night.

* This week was VBS at our church, but because of my schedule, I couldn't participate. I did want to see the program though, so Friday night I went to hear the kids sing their songs and watch the (HILARIOUS) closing skit. And there may or may not have been ice cream after....

* Saturday was a CRAZY busy day. Started out with a baby shower for my friend Lisa...

...followed by a run past the church car wash fundraiser (more on that later) and an afternoon with my fave little guys - Liam and James. Whew!! Those two are such sweethearts. I love em!

One Thousand Gifts: Yesterday when I met up with Chris and Trudy to pick up the boys for the afternoon, Liam started to jump out of the van to meet me. Before he escaped, I said "HEY! Do I get a hug?" (After all, he's not 2 anymore. Might be getting too cool for hugs.) He buried his face in my side and hugged the daylights out of me and said, "I was getting ready to do that! I love you!" m.e.l.t.

Pinterest Inspiration:  The grass in this state is dying a slow, painful death, but the weeds in my driveway are ALIVE AND WELL!! And I know they're getting bad when they even start to bug me! Weed killer is one of the most annoying things on the planet to buy. It's expensive, it's poisonous, and it stinks. And in a month...you have to use it all over again. So...when I saw THIS on Pinterest....

Source: thefrugalgirls.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

(Wow that's really big!)

I thought I'd give it a try. Spraying white vinegar on weeds to see if they'll die. So this week, I tried it - on a sample area of my driveway. Observation #1 - it stinks worse than the weed killer!!! Observation #2 - it didn't die as quickly for me. After two full days, I saw that the edges of the weeds were brownish. Middle is still good and green. But it's a start! I guess my thought is...it's not what I use for quickest results, but I already have vinegar on hand, so I'll save the money from the weed killer and just try this for now!

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday, Lori and I visited our parents' church in the morning, where Lori played a piano solo and I shared devotions. And we coordinated because we're cute that way.

We had lunch at Mom and Dad's and then came back to my house, where we took it easy the whole rest of the day. Naps...walks in the park...episodes of Bridezilla...a restful little Sunday!

* Monday was a holiday for me (thank you, Memorial Day!) and Lori and I spent the whole day together, shopping. We loved it. I kind of went a LITTLE crazy on the shopping - but that's okay. Right? I don't do that very often. Here we are taking a break on a swing at Lowe's. It was very comfy but I resisted the urge to purchase it.

* Tuesday night, after work, I met up with the fam again for...you got it! MORE FOOD! Lori had her tenderloin, which is always part of the Indiana pilgrimage.

After dinner, I sprawled out in the hammock for a while (oh yes! There's now a hammock!) and then went for a run. Run + blister = ouch. (Just in case you weren't sure.) It was a PERFECT night for a run!

* Wednesday evening I had dinner with my best friend, Lynnette and her husband! So excited to see them. It's a rare treat! Know what else is a rare treat? This:

(Rare because it was FREE. Not rare that I was eating chocolate.) Seriously. All I did all week: EAT.

* Thursday night (I'm embarrassed to share more food talk), I met my old co-worker Rachel and her kids at Moe's for dinner. It had rained all day and I had Monica Gellar hair, so there are no pictures of this event. :) But we did have fun talking over dinner. (Dinner for one of her daughters meant rearranging the chips in the chip bowl. Perhaps that would be a good diet technique for me!)

* Guess what I did on Friday? Went for pizza with my friend Mark. We watched the movie Groundhog Day  - which, amazingly enough, I'd NEVER SEEN. Don't even talk to me about how behind I am. (I did recognize a lot of the hair in the movie as hair I'd had.) And again - I failed at a picture. Bad Bekah. I think my brain cells had been overcome by food. :)

* Saturday was a beautiful day AT HOME. I'd nearly forgotten such a thing exists. I slept in until my eyes popped open (via Braeya's hollering in my ear because APPARENTLY she was ready for her treat...2 hours earlier). I had much to accomplish at home - it was a hot little mess here. Got it all done!! And I grilled! Yes. More food talk. SORRY!! :)

One Thousand Gifts: Tuesday evening's phone call with Olivia...in the hammock...gently swinging...was a really beautiful moment. My life is pretty fast paced. It's not often I get the chance to just sit in a hammock (or anywhere) and rest. I didn't take it for granted.

Pinterest Inspiration: My friend Kari told me about this pin she'd found - and I had a blast playing with it. It's a website where you can plug in your starting and ending points on a trip, choose your route, and then it tells you places to eat, shop, and play along the way!! You know how I'm always vacation dreaming, so I had some FUN with this one!

Source: onthewayapp.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday was chaotic! I did something I've never done before in my life - I went to an early church service! (I've never been to an early ANYTHING in my life. Who are we kidding?) That afternoon, I went with my friend Amber to the Broadripple Art Fair in Indianapolis. 91 degrees + sun + no wind + little shade + sunburn + heat of the day = almost dead Bekah. We finally left when I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or pass out, but either way, it wasn't going to be fun. This could be a very long summer, my friends. (And there will be no photos of this endeavor.) You can however, look at my "cuddle up with the kiddo to watch last week's Army Wives" picture:

* Monday I had to go back to work to get some rest! :) And then after work I played the part of the responsible adult and mowed the yard and planted flowers. (That counted as half a workout, thankyouverymuch.) I won't lie. The flowers add a lot to the yard! And then in the waning moments of daylight, I squeezed in a one mile run, and y'all, I did it in 10 minutes. Again - for me - that is very good!

* Tuesday night I stayed in Fort Wayne with Lynne. I never know quite what to do with a night spent in the city because I always feel like I have so much extra time! I even went shopping for a little bit...because, you know...birthday gift cards!!

* Wednesday I went (with some blognonymous friends) to Shipshewana. If you're not from around here and have no idea what I'm talking about - it's an Amish community in northern Indiana. Tons of cool shops and a big ole flea market. There were definitely some adventures that day. More on that later! (Meanwhile - this was me resting on the porch of the Blue Gate Restaurant.)

* Thursday evening I got my hair dyed because it was um....pretty much completely white at the roots. I am TOO YOUNG for white hair, thankyouverymuch. My bangs are a little short, but that's okay. They'll grow! I took a picture but the lighting was bad and the color looked exactly the same as the picture above. But it's really a lot darker!

* Friday I had the chance to interview my Mom on Mid-Morning! We were both nervous, but I think the interview sounded pretty good. It wasn't her radio debut, but it's been a long time since she's been on the air.

And that night I ended my two year drought at Skyline Chili. YUM. That is some good food!

* And yesterday, I had a scrapfest with Miss Marie. We hunkered down at my house with homemade pizza, lots of snacks, and the Mary Tyler Moore marathon (because we're cool like that) and scrapped the day away! Then (check this out!) I hopped in my car and headed to Indianapolis (yes, the night before the Indy 500) to pick up my sister at the airport! We uh....got a little lost and look where we ended up:

One Thousand Gifts: You're going to laugh at me for this, but the night I got to stay at Lynne's house, I set the alarm on my phone and it said "this alarm will go off in 7 hours and 29 minutes." I could have cried! It has been WEEKS since it said anything more than 5 hours (most nights 4). I loved that night of sleep. It was so refreshing and definitely felt like a gift!

Pinterest Inspiration: I realize this may not be new for you, because there's no way it's a new idea, but it was new for me:

Source: oprah.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Storing sheets inside pillowcases! So when I did laundry this week, that's exactly how I stored them!