Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming

I don't know why I had to write that three times. It just seemed appropriate so I did.

This weekend started off awesome. Friday was running, food, errands then home to discover I forgot to get the hot dogs out to thaw...so I scrambled to get at least one package of 30 thawed before heading over to the CODA (Christians On Deployment or Assignment) BBQ that a couple from our church was throwing. Of course the whole congregation was invited too! About 40 or so people showed up and it was a blast! The kids couldn't stop playing on the slip and slides down the hill.

                                 (Photo from the facebook of Pastor Andy Schwartz)

Saturday we mostly stayed home. I had taken the kids off their allergy medicine a week or two ago since I was doing good without it and we had been out running every other day or so. The BBQ flared up Ric's allergies and he had drainage galore in his belly from overnight. Luckily after 2 times of throwing it up, he was back to normal. He slept for a couple hours on the couch in the early afternoon and still had no problems so I took the kids to the Fathoms O' Fun parade in downtown Port Orchard. The Navy Band played in it and I cried.I knew I shouldn't have talked about daddy to the kids, but luckily I had my sunglasses on and no one noticed, including my kids. Later I cried again when there were members of the military from around our area carrying banners of those who didn't get to come home to their families. The last time I cried was when the Submarine Vets went by...walking and on the first and second "floats". I was so proud of them in a way I am not proud of other military members (I am proud of them all, of course, there's just an additional proudness for Submariners). I wish I had some pictures from the parade on my iPad so I could upload them here...maybe another day I'll do a picture entry or something from it.

Today was a great day too. We went to church, like usual, sat with one set of adopted grandparents and fellowshipped after service. Once second service started I ran over to McDonalds to pick the kids up some lunch. Came back, sat with them while they ate then helped a bit in the nursery.

At 12:30PM the SWAT (Servants With A Testimony....our Teen Group) Mystery Dinner started. This is a really fun event they hold every year. This year it was a beach theme. The menu consisted of quite a few things...to name a few....Jellyfish (jello), Bait (gummy worms), Thing a ma jig (spoon), Catch of the Day (fishstick), Booty of a Pirate (Pirate's Booty), Trident (fork) and a few others. I don't have the menu in front of me anymore or I'd write them all down. There were 12 items and 4 courses. You had to figure out how to eat it all with what you ordered. If you didn't want to eat it, smuggled another item or opted to receive something to aid (or add to) your meal, you had to sing a song. If you were caught cheating, tattle tailed on someone not eating something, or knew of someone cheating but didn't say anything, you had to go to the mic and sing a nursery rhyme in pirate-ese. It was quite enjoyable.

In the middle of the dinner we were told to look for a golden coin under our chairs...if we had one, we won the chance to either keep the fish or give it to someone else. I won a fish...I was going to give it to someone else but my kids (of course) begged me to keep it regardless of me reminding them our cat would probably try to eat him. They continued to bed and I caved...so we now have a new member of the family.

Meet.....wait for it.....Barnafin Red

 Alaric didn't like the name Barnafin and wanted to name him Red so I said they both got their names and gave him a first and middle name. They seem happy with it and there was no more screaming from either of them when they both got their names chosen. Again, there is a better picture on my camera, but I haven't put those pictures on my iPad or the computer yet. I'm lazy...and it did just happen today.

So after the dinner we took Barnafin Red home so he wouldn't bake in the car while we were at WalMart. We then headed over there to buy him a new tank, some food, rocks and a shark to put in the tank (which I forgot to do). I also bought some special water to start him out in. I'll buy another bottle in a week or so when I clean his home. I do need to do some research to see if the gallon sized baby water is about the same as this stuff...if so...I'm totally buying baby water again.

Does anyone know if there is anything else I have to do for this thing? I haven't owned a fish since I was about 13...and my parents took care of everything except the feeding which whomever wanted to do it did.

After WalMart we went back to town to visit Best Buy for some new movies. We ended up getting 6...one for each kid and four for me and Josh (well one was Space Jam so it's technically for the kids). Now if only I could ever find a chance to actually WATCH these movies! I can't even keep up on my tv shows (especially when it's so hot outside and the kids are sleeping with me).

Tomorrow I am running again. I am going to die for two reasons. 1) the temperature (73-ish by 8:30AM!) and 2) we haven't run since Friday! EEK! My shin splints are going to make me cry again. I'm hoping Wednesday will be a little better. If it gets too warm that early in the morning (or even tomorrow if it's too hot for me) I think I'll pay to get us into the Y to use the track (I have a membership already so it won't break the bank at least!)

I'll let you know how it goes sometime! Have a great week y'all!

Stevie

Reverse Thinking

I found this through the Christ The King Elder's blog this morning. It was forwarded to them by a member of our church, Dawn Kropla.

I watched this, and as I did, I realized how well it summed me up in my teenage years.

I was born and raised Catholic. When I was 15 I was raped by one of my best friends. I halted and backpedaled in my belief of/in God. If he could let that happen to me, he must not be real and if he was real, he must not truly love me.

The reverse thinking came into play when I was 18 and started going to church with Josh. I had already started going back to the Catholic church with my Pipi while my Mimi was sick. One week I decided I would go to church with Josh instead. I was completely hooked on his church from that first week. The sermon touched me and I had an overwhelming feeling of belonging and understanding. I knew I needed to be in that church in order to live a happy and truly full life.

I started going to their membership classes soon after and when I was 19 I was confirmed into the church. We have only missed a handful of services since I started going at 18. Josh had stopped going to church before he met me also, and he says he was happy that I came into his life and got him to go back to church. My first church with him was Zion Lutheran Church in Monroe, MI. We came back to the Lord there, I was confirmed there, making me a member of the church, we were married there, we go there when we're back in Michigan. Our second church we attended was a mission church in Summerville, SC called Beautiful Savior. I never felt as close to the members of that church, but we went every week regardless and also participated in their different fellowship activities. We are now members of Christ the King Lutheran in Bremerton, WA. This church welcomed us and felt like home from the first time we stepped foot in it. The members here were part of the decision making process for Josh and I to buy a house and stay here after he gets out of the Navy (we took the church and the members into consideration when we were making the decision, we didn't really talk much to them about it, but just let our feelings towards them guide us).

We have grown close to a few members and I consider them truly a part of my family. There are others that I wish we were closer to, and it's mostly my fault for not putting myself out there and inviting them over more and asking them to go out with us more. I need to work on that aspect of my relationships, I also feel it may be because at least one of those couples doesn't have kids and we do mainly kid-geared activities. I don't want them to get bored with us or frustrated with us and our kids when they get unruly. I need to get out of that mindset and just go for it anyway.

In the end, I just had to share this video. These were my beliefs when I was 15 and the reverse thinking is when I started going to a WELS church. I am thankful to God for pointing me in the right direction without me even knowing it.