Parade Time is Here Again!

Last year, right before I came to work at the station, I got an email from Jamie asking if I'd possibly be able to participate in a parade the very first week I worked. So after about 4 days of employment, I got up early on a Saturday, headed to Fort Wayne and worked the Three Rivers Festival Parade.

I was pretty excited to find out I was assigned the parade again this year! This was the official parade crew: Ken, Lynne, Ross, moi, and Scott. (And of course a little Michael W. Smith and Natalie Grant just for kicks.)

Want to know what I did NOT do in the parade? Ride the trikes. They were no easier to navigate than they had been last year! (They steer with the back wheels, which is backwards to me, and as you can see, they were set for someone MUCH taller than I!)

Ah yes. Something more my capability level. :) Carrying the banner! I was so excited to carry it with Lynne this year. (Any day I get to hang out with her is a good day.)

Yeah. We weren't doing this AFTER the parade, let me tell ya. We were lucky to have that thing off the GROUND. We were entry #152 of probably 170 or so....so the parade had been underway for a full hour before we even started moving. By that time we were sweating and the sun was h.o.t.

To run/walk/keep pace/wave/smile/carry the banner (evenly...when we're two very different heights) was a challenge. Halfway through, Lynne said to me, "Was this easier to carry when you weren't with someone who was different in height?" I said, "Well, last year I carried it with Larry." (Larry is over 6 feet tall, I'm sure.)

Scott and Ross CAN navigate the trikes. :)

It was SO HOT out and by the end of the parade, I just wanted water and air conditioning. It took me a while to feel good again, but it was still SUCH fun. (Especially when people who don't know you at all yell your name because it's on your shirt and they can!!)

The funniest part, though, I gotta tell you, was this. I texted Lynne the day before and said, "Hey can you DVR the parade so I can take pictures for the scrapbook?"

She answered, "Yes my dear Bekah. I can do that for you." I knew she was laughing at me. It never occurred to me that she wasn't familiar with the concept of taking pictures of something on TV for the sake of the scrapbook. Oh I have so much to teach her. :)

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!

4H Fair, Baby!

One tradition I have every year is to go to the 4H fair in the county where I grew up. I've never been to any other county fair but I hear from those who hobby at such things, that it's one of the better ones!

Last time I went was two years ago, with Isaac. I needed a new memory. So...earlier this week, I made my way to the fair with my friend Amber in tow!

What do you do at the fair, you might ask? (And you might not. But for the sake of the blog post, let's pretend you did!)

Well, there's always the pig racing. You know. With the Swifty Swine. We watched...no participation.

And eating a walking taco. I love the tenderloins in the Lions Club building and usually split one with my mom (since they are the size of North Dakota) but this year mom wasn't there to share with me, so I did the walking taco instead. YUM. I also ate an entire bag (it was small; don't lecture me) of sugared almonds. Yum. Next year I aspire to try fried mushrooms and fried pickles. And an elephant ear. (Love those. Just ran out of room in my tummy this year!)

Found me a new house. At least it won't take long to clean!!

Watched the acrobats. The person on the right is riding a motorcycle around a track suspended in the air. The person on the left is an acrobat. Praise the Lord this is not my job! (The trailer in the front is the medic trailer. Appropriately placed, no?)

Amber and I went through the 4H buildings to see the projects...and this was my favorite. Mini 4H, so this kid is SUPER young. But isn't it just darling? In case of emergency....Kall P11!!!!

A great night...ran into some people I knew....saw some people wearing TRAGIC outfits...and loved every minute of it!

Confessions of a Pack Rat

I've mentioned before that I'm a bit of a....uh....ahem....well-packed traveler when it comes to going to work. I'd love to blame it on the commute, but truth be told, I carry no more with me now than I did at my old job.

It's a 3 bag process to get to work most days. (Plus a coffee cup, which is too precious of cargo to trust to any pocket in a bag. It must be held in my hands.)

I was discussing this yesterday with one of my friends who doesn't quite understand the need for so much stuff just for work.

I'm sure you'll understand.

First there is the Mary Poppins bag. That's my purse and travels with me wherever I go. I have lovingly dubbed it the Mary Poppins purse because it's big enough to hold a lamp and a mirror! (And whatever else she hid in there. The spoonful of sugar?)

Then there is the work bag. It carries:

* Lint roller. (HEY. I have a cat. All black pants days require the lint roller.)

* Pencil bag full of pens, pencils and highlighters. (Because you never know when you'll open your Bible and need to mark a verse.)

*And speaking of Bible, it's in there too. And I don't have the thin line travel edition. I have the study Bible with 60,932 translators notes in it. Because I'm a word nerd that way.


* Toothbrush. Because sometimes you just need THAT.


* Water bottle. Because I heart water. (Was that even believable???)

* Body spray. (Never know when you might need a pick me up!

* Camera/phone chargers. (Self explanatory.)

* Umbrella. (Not needed THIS summer, apparently!!!)

* Journal. (Because I might need to write something down.)

* Journal. (Yes again.)

* Journal. (Stop asking!! YES! They're all different.)

* Experiencing God workbook.

* Whatever book I"m reading at the moment.


And then there's my lunchbox. It carries my lunch. (Sometimes whole loaves of bread if I forget to have time to pack the night before.)

What!

Is this NOT your  work luggage??

Because Sometimes You Need Joy

I spend a lot of time hurrying. Hurrying through the store so I can get home and do chores...which I hurry through so I can go work out...which I (attempt to) hurry through so I can be done...so I can hurry somewhere else.

Hurry, hurry, hurry.

And of course, at every turn, are interruptions. Slow lines and stupid drivers and people who have somehow awakened with (no doubt) the goal of being my number one annoyance of the day.

Where did joy go?

Where did the smiles go? The pausing to find 1000 gifts hidden in a life? Am I too busy to see them? Sometimes I am.

Yesterday, one of the girls I work with sent this video to the office, and Lynne and I stopped to watch it. The music itself gave me goose bumps, but what I loved most were the people in the crowd.

The kids climbing up light poles to see...

...the babies bouncing to the beat...

...the just-as-hurried-as-I-am men and women pausing to catch their breath and smile.

We need those moments.

Seriously. Need them.




Find some joy in the little moments today?

Bekah Meets the Golf Course

Last Saturday was another new adventure in Bekahland.

Golf.

Lynne's husband loves to golf and he was in charge of organizing a golf outing to raise scholarship money. He asked if I'd be willing to be the photographer for the day.

Let me think. A chance to hang out with Lynne all day, say I've been to a golf course, and play with my camera? OKAY!!!!!!!!!

And so it was that I made my way to an honest to goodness golf club. (I felt so official.)

Aren't they cute? All the little golf carts lined up in a row with labels on them for who would be in what cart. (I'm sure the guys would just die if they knew I called their carts "cute." So do me a favor and don't tell them.)

This outing was quite well orchestrated....the TV station showed up for an interview and everything! Even had little drink holders for it...

Y'all - it was HOT. HOT. This girl does NOT do heat, so I did everything I could to keep cool. I sported my new golf skirt (see, I told you I bought it for a reason!) and my ruffly little tank top. (And yes, I asked first if tank tops were allowed. I'm a golf idiot but I know there are dress code rules and I asked about my entire outfit before I wore it.) No jewelry (other than rings and earrings) so as not to get a weird tan line. Mom bought me a visor to complete my look, and I crammed my hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of my way!

I call this piece "Lynne and Bekah work the sign in table." My shirt was soaked from sweating just sitting there. That is 30 kinds of not right.

My one bit of relief: we were this close to a really big hospital. HA!

Did I mention this was an AFTERNOON golf outing?????? Oh my word. So hot. Anyway. Lynne and I were in charge of the drink cart. (Non-alcoholic beverages only, thankyouverymuch.) Isn't it the cutest cart in the whole world????

Ummmm. Yeah. About operating the cart. If I could have taken video footage of Lynne trying to get that thing going the first time, you'd absolutely DIE laughing. We were parked on a little porch outside the clubhouse and we looked like Steve Urkel trying to get that thing going. We almost took out a table, a massive potted plant and a couple of roof supports making our way to the road. By the time we got to the path for the carts, y'all, we lost the golfers. We were laughing so hard!!!!

We finally found them and then....we realized the operating instructions were buried under a piece of paper taped to the steering wheel!!

Just to prove I actually did take pictures of the event and not just goofy pictures of us....

Our cute little cart. We were GUZZLING iced tea and water. It was blistering hot. (Although on the cart, it wasn't so bad....we went fast enough to get a good little breeze generating.) (And then there was the one time we sideswept a set of bushes.) (On my side.)

I rode like this so as to work on wiping out the band-aid tan lines on my feet. This might be how I almost fell out when we took that one corner kinda fast....

I call this piece "caught in a sprinkler." It felt SO GOOD - but I (of course) didn't want to get the camera wet. So I shoved it under my shirt and stayed in the sprinkler!!

Such a fun day. I had taken about 100 pictures by the time it was half done, and since I still had to drive home and it was 100 degrees (not kidding) outside, Lynne said I could go. So I did. I smelled VILE. But I had a fun, fun day!! And I can say with much certainty that this is NOT the sport for me.

Invisible

A couple of weeks ago, our church sent a team of about 20 people to New Orleans to do some mission work. This past Sunday, they shared about their trip during the morning service, and I cried during THE ENTIRE THING. Good grief. I'm such a sap!

The very last person to speak was our pastor's wife, and what she said smacked my heart so hard and I've not been able to forget it.

She said so many people are invisible.

She went on to talk about some of the people she and the team met while they were gone and how they were invisible for different reasons and how grateful they were when someone from the team saw them. When someone dared to hug them or reached out with a meal.

And she said now that she's back home, her hope is to see the invisible around her and to let them know they're seen.

I literally scooted to the edge of my pew and leaned up to cling to her words because this topic is at the very front of my heart.

Because I was invisible.

There is another woman at my church who is married to a guy from my class in high school. For four years, his locker was three down from mine in the alphabetical list of 80 people.

He has no idea I was in his class.

She got out the yearbook and showed him my picture.

No idea.

I was invisible.

(And that's a significant feat when you factor in 90's hair.)

There were days in high school when I was actually secretly glad to be invisible. Sometimes it's better than being seen...because at least you're left alone.

But there's that part of all of us that doesn't want to be invisible. We want to be seen. Really seen. Seen for our hearts. Seen for our dreams. Seen for our potential.

Seen and accepted and chosen and loved. It's what we want.

And there are a lot of people out there who are walking around in full view...completely invisible.

There are days when I think back to Little Miss Chubby Poofy Bangs in high school and I would love to tell that girl it's okay. One day someone will see you. And life will be okay. You hang in there.

And whenever I'm seen for who I am...whenever I'm chosen as a friend...whenever I'm accepted for what I have to offer...whenever I'm loved...I do not for one second take that for granted.

Because some people never know that.

And I hope...oh my goodness, how I hope...I see the people around me.

Really see.

That no one in my path is invisible.

Random Catching Up

The down side to a vacation is that once I'm done blogging it, I'm completely behind on everything that has happened since then! That, combined with some blognonymous friends/outings makes it tough to do good posts on life in Bekahland!! So I'll just do a little potpourri post of what's been happening and we shall move forward.

Because my vacation to North Carolina ended earlier than planned, I ended up being able to go to the lake for a day, which broke my heart. (HA!)

Got to go out on the BOAT!!!!!!!

This sweet dog - darling, darling dog - which I would have loved to scoop up and bring home with me (but Braeya would never allow it) had THE MOST VILE GAS I HAVE EVER SMELLED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. You think I'm exaggerating. I'm not. Think of the worst gas you've ever smelled. Multiply it by 100 and you've got this dog. How can something so tiny and darling smell so bad????

 In that first picture, did you see how far away from the tube I was sitting? The dog was in the FRONT of the boat, I was in the BACK of the boat, and the people on the tubes gagged at the gas smell. Vile.

And in honor of that, my dear friend Katy penned a song (Malott and Christina, you ready for this one? You should be so proud.) This is sung to the tune of "Welcome to Our World" by Chris Rice.

Tubes are floating, waves are tossing, boat is rocking to and fro
Folks are waving on the Dixie, welcome to our boat
But this is not our boat

Hope that you don't mind his gasing, Kona's had a bit too much
Chicken salad and some trail mix, sausages and such
Sausages and such

So bring your young and feel the magic, take a dip for goodness sake
We hope that you enjoy your time here, this is Webster Lake
This is Webster Lake

We cracked up over that.

Then I went over to the little beach with Ronda and the little guys. Much fun in the sand.

Sweetness.

 After being duly fried at the lake, I came home and spent another day in Indy with my college roommate and her little boy. He wanted to feed the ducks at the pond near their house, so here he is driving the bread to the pond....

 And playing fetch with the dog.

Two very fun days to wrap up my time off work!!! Loved it. Had fun the rest of the week too - with parties and game nights and all sorts of goodness!

It's the Weekly Recap!

* You know that whole thing about sometimes you have to come home from vacation to rest? That was my day last Sunday. I'd been going, going, going all week with my final days off work, my return to work, game night...so I spent the day resting. It was an amazing day...so good I forgot to take a picture!

* Monday went like this: get up and go to work. Get a text en route that the power is out. Call to get further direction. Go home. Get a text that power is back on. Go to work. Arrive to find that power is out again. Pack up car with enough material to work for two days. Drive home. Spend the day working in my home office, organizing the summer book giveaway. And this was actually SO FUN. (I'm such a nerd.)

* Tuesday I was allowed to work from home because we only had a half day, so I hunkered down in the fat chair with a pot of coffee and a stack of work. Spent the day also mourning the passing of Andy Griffith. How I love that show!!! I mowed my yard for the first time in a couple of months (not kidding). And then Mom and Dad invited me to meet them at Steak n Shake for dinner. Treats for Bekah!!!!

* Wednesday was my favorite stinkin' day of the whole year and it was TOO HOT to get out and enjoy it. So I stayed IN to enjoy it! Ahhhh the glory of Olympic trials on TV. I watched HOURS of them. I'm going to be in so much trouble when the Olympics start. I'll never leave my chair. But despite missing all festivities, I thoroughly enjoyed my day at home and....I did attempt festivity.

* Thursday evening I got together with Faith, which was much fun - we've not seen each other in way too long. It would have been fun to go mini golfing or something but oh wait. It was like 100 degrees outside. (ICK!!!!!!) So instead, I FINALLY went to JuJu Berry (frozen yogurt). How many times have I almost been there???? Happiness in a cup.

* Friday was just a beautiful day. I had a chance to be reaffirmed in why I love my job so much and why it's a good fit for me...I received THIS amazing treat from my co-worker Jeri as a "happy first anniversary of work" present....

...and I got to spend the night at Lynne's house! We watched episodes of Say Yes to the Dress and made chocolate chip cookies and did our nails. We're so junior high. I love it!! I love EVERY MINUTE!!!

* And then there was yesterday. Check this out:

Yep. That's me. On a golf course. ON A 100 DEGREE DAY, THANKYOUVERYMUCH. More on that later, but that was pretty much my yesterday! I helped Lynne with a golf outing. Bet you can't wait for the stories of Lynne and Bekah driving a golf cart. Good night nurse.

One Thousand Gifts. It's been 100 degrees every stinking day this week. AIR CONDITIONING IS A GIFT.

Pinterest Inspiration. This was a bit of a loose translation, but here was my inspiration piece:

Source: verybestbaking.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I was much too lazy to do the whole star thing. HELLO. It's a holiday. But never mind...they were still good:

And We're Home!!

The end of my vacation did not go as planned. (Which kind of matched the BEGINNING of the vacation, come to think of it.)

I'd planned to break up my trip home by stopping in Kentucky to visit a friend of mine I've not seen since high school, but Saturday night, I found out that was not going to work. So.....no choice but to drive home the whole way on Sunday!

Lynnette and I got up early and went to church (an early service) and parted ways about 11 in the morning. Cal's little trip estimator SAID I'd get home at 7 pm. Yeah right. Obviously, despite our longstanding traveling relationship, he doesn't know me.

The day was gorgeous for travel, and in no time at all...I was in Tennessee!

Guess what Tennessee has???

Be still my beating heart. (Not too still. I do need to drive.)

And then...Kentucky!!!

At which point I needed some serious caffeine. I ordered a latte and the lady said, "You want that hot???" LOL!! I know it's 412 degrees outside, but I'm in a frigidly air conditioned Sammy, so yep! Make that a hot latte!

The most harrowing picture taking I did the entire time was getting this Ohio sign. Good night, nurse. Why does it have to be planted in the middle of five lanes of crazy traffic????

Back home agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain in Indiana!!!

Remember that birthday gift from Olivia where I do something every week to celebrate? Well this Sunday's instruction was to do something out of the ordinary for dinner. So....I treated myself to Skyline, baby!!!! (Impossible to eat hot dogs from there while driving, so I pulled over and ate in a parking lot.

THEN I drove the wrong way down a divided road. Indeed.

I was making pretty good time actually - not the predicted 7 pm arrival, but headed for a decent time, when ONE MILE FROM MY EXIT, I got caught in my first traffic tie-up of the day and went this fast.

SERIOUSLY!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Ended up getting home about 8:45 and found a cat very EAGER to see me!! And very eager for me to never leave again - as long as I live.

Want to guess who will win that one?