I have met friends in real life who I initially met online before, but this was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting up with someone I met through the “blogging world.”  So fun!   I love meeting new people, and I have a blast putting a 3-D face to a name.  

Noooo, no pictures.  I completely forgot before we got in the pool and I’m not about to show you my post-pool face.  Scary.

Angela of Becoming Me is such a sweetheart!  She and her family were vacationing a bit south of here, so the kids and I packed up some swimwear and headed down for a short visit today.   Her children are just precious and talking to Angela in person was like talking to an old friend.  I could’ve ran my mouth for hours, except I had a hard time keeping a thought in focus as my own children continually risked their lives jumping off the edge of the pool.  Non-stop.   (I really am better at conversation, Angela!  Ha!)

Then there was the time we were in the indoor pool and a creepy dude invaded the personal space of us and our children, asked too many questions, even seeming to reach for them and I thought for sure my mama bear claws were going to come out and get really ugly really fast if he didn’t back off.   I’m dangerous that way.  I won’t speak for Angela, but from the look in her eye and the unspoken communication happening, she was getting the same heeby-jeebies.

Funny how even when you haven’t “met” in real life before, fellow mama’s can just instictively communicate without saying a word.

Angela:  “Looks like the sun is shining, let’s check out the pool outside before the rain comes!”

I ran with it.  We all did.  

Creepy Dude:  “Don’t leave on account of me.”

Um, yea, I think we will, thanks.  

Angela, is it ok to secretly hope a college nearby has an opening for The Professor?  Loved meeting you, sweetie, and we didn’t have NEAR enough time!  We could probably talk all night, huh?  :)  Hugs and enjoy the rest of your vacation!

I think she was relieved I wasn’t a stalker or an ax murderer.

I won’t be ’round much this week as Chris and I take some time to ourselves at a B&B while the grandparents take care of (ie spoil rotten) the kiddos.  They are in hog heaven while I type this.  

I can’t wait to share pictures and tell you all about it when I get back!

And we’ll be changing hosting companies this weekend.  Oh joy.  

My sincerest apologies if this caused any problems for any of you!  Please come back!

You may get a warning from your friendly virus protection software about a trojan virus on this website.  I’m working on it fast and furiously and appears to be coming from our server.  I’ve contacted our hosting company.  My apologies.  Be back soon!

This award totally made me grin, especially as I groggily got myself up from the couch and tried to motivate myself to do some chore while the kids asked for healthy and delicious apples.  Aaaahhh, the distractions of the internet…but more on that later.

Shannon at See-Saw Faith/Focused on the Center gave me this award today and her words about me just made me smile.  Really big.

1. First, you have to meet Tara at Giggles n’ Gulps. She is so random and funny. And did you know she started her own resource website on post partum depression? She is inspiring as well, Ladies!

She definitely read my post about being a superhero geek in disguise that I posted last night.  There could be no other explanation.  Ha!  

In all seriousness, Shannon is a doll and I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know my new bloggy friend.  Her writing is real and honest and I love that about her.  She recently shared her PPD testimony on my Out of the Valley blog as well.  It is really beautiful if you have a chance to check it out.  

The Rules.   1. Confess 5 things you are addicted to.  (That won’t be hard…only five?)  2. Pass the award on to 5 deserving bloggers.  (This one either!)  

Ready?  Set.  Here we go.

1. You remember my comment above?  Oh yes, I am addicted to the internet.  I am blog-stalking connoisseur and probably know way too much about people I will never meet.  Fun stuff.  Facebook, blogs, instant messaging, email – those are my must-checks when I wake up in the morning.  Texting is starting to get easier…which means it will soon become dangerous.  I have a rationalization for this.  I have to stay ahead of the game so that when my children are of age to be dealing with technology, I can keep up with them.  And you know you are addicted when the internet goes down and you are quite certain the sky is falling and blood pressure sky-rockets.  
2. Footrubs.  As a newlywed, I once quipped, at a large family gathering no less, as Chris was giving me a footrub, that “this is almost better than sex.”   My family laughed for days.  That is one of those mouth before brain moments.  I have many of those.  But you are not surprised, are you?  Don’t answer that.
3. Music.  But is it more of a passion than an addiction?  Food for thought.  Speaking of food…
4. Chocolate.
5. Books, books, books and more books.  

Five Fabulous Bloggers:

Shannon herself is a fabulous blogger, but I told her I wouldn’t make her do the list again…but just so she knows.  :)  I have no idea if the wonderful ladies on the following list will even see this and if they do, in no means are they obligated to participate.  Just enjoy!  

1. Leslie at wild olive shoot.  She is also a real-life-friend.  Her posts are inspirational, she expresses herself so well and so transparently.  I love it when bloggers are transparent, especially in their spiritual journey.  It is very encouraging.  She also finds and particpates in the neatest memes.   We actually had lunch today at a local fast food place with a playground and my daughter latched on pretty quickly to her.  I became chopped liver.  Love you, Les!
2. JanMary at Welcome to My World.  I love this blog as well.  Beautiful photographs!  She and her family live in Ireland (one of my dream vacations) and I find it so fascinating that the blogging world brings women together who otherwise would never connect on a personal level simply because of an ocean.  How else could I learn and see about her family, her life, her country?  And what a sweetheart.  JanMary, when I finally get my dream vacation to Ireland, I am looking you up.  :)
3. Heather at Faith, Family & Farm.  I have never met Heather in real life but she is awesome and I have known her for quite some time in online circles.  Her blog posts are about exactly what her title says and she always ends on a positive and inspirational note, no matter how difficult of a day she may be having.  I love that.  Probably because I am not good at it, but I want to be.
4. Dorothy at Faith Hope Love Infant Rescue – Wow, where do I start?  Pray for them.   She is a dear friend that we used to go to church with and now runs an orphanage in Haiti.  Go to the blog and pray for them and their needs and the precious babies.  Practical needs are important as well, but more importantly they are waiting to find out if their house will be knocked down.  I cannot imagine having to worry about waking up and wondering if a bulldozer will be running through the living area.
5. Real Life with Leslie Nease – This is the wonderful Christian lady who was on Survivor: China.  She came and spoke at a ladies’ event at our church and subsequently led our women’s retreat as well.  I enjoy her blog because she takes real life situations and draws amazing spiritual lessons from them.  

I wanted to update my blogroll because it was seriously outdated.  It soon became apparent that the list was quite, um, extensive.  Since I am not one for clutter on my computer screen (my husband would bed to differ – oops, beg to differ), I decided to move the entire list to a separate page.  You can find the link at the top of the screen or you can click on the link below for your viewing pleasure.  

Please take no offense if I inadverdantly left you out and please let me know so I can add you in, or if you would like for me to remove your blog please let me know.  (But who doesn’t like lots of comments?  If you say no, we need to have a talk. ) 

Now go read a blog and comment somewhere.  The blogger will love you for it.  Trust me.  

tara (at) outofthevalley (dot) org

Blogroll

My friend Leslie at Wild Olive Shoot gave me this award – thank you so much, Leslie!  Leslie has been a true blessing to get to know “in real life” and in “bloggy world.”  Her honesty and transparency on her blog is a real blessing to read.  

I’m not sure where the award originated or what its original intentions were for, but from its title – I suppose, honesty?  Part of the rules are to tell you ten things about myself.  How about ten honest scraps of random information?  

I’m so clever.

(This is where you roll your eyes at me and grin.  Or just roll your eyes.)  

1.  I am not fond of the dark.  Nightlights are my friends.  We’re best friends, in fact.

2.  I don’t like hearing my own voice on recordings.

3.  I am a pianist with two degrees in music, but I cannot sing at all.  When I get to Heaven, I am going to sing.  A lot.

4.  You probably already know this, but I hate pickles.  I know hate is strong word.  That is why I am using it.

5.  And no, I did not even eat them when I was pregnant.

6.  Oddly, I like watching humorous, off-beat monster movies.  Think Tremors.  Hilarious.

7.  God has a sense of humor with me.  He makes sure that I do exactly what I said I was not going to do.  And love it, too.

8.  I am stubborn.   (Shhhh, don’t tell Chris I admitted it.)

9.  I like to watch tv crime dramas and then try to figure out who did it before the characters figure it out.  Ah, the challenge of problem solving.  

10.  Chris and I have a line from the movie The Princess Bride inscribed on the inside of our wedding bands.

I’m passing this award on to my friend Becky at Elephant Juice!  We’ve been friends for a long time now and met in South Carolina.  And I love her honesty.  Love ya Becky!

Many thanks to Liz at A Dusty Frame for this award!  This is the Lemons to Lemonade award.  Here are the details:

Now, the way the “When Life Gives You Lemons, make Lemonade” Award (for short, The Lemonade Award) works is:

1) You must link back to the person you received the award from.

2) You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award!

Lemons to lemonade…it’s all about giving God the glory, is it not?

Genesis 19:20  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 

Romans 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Shouldn’t we all turn every lemon in our lives into lemonade, no matter how small the lemon?  

The biggest lemon in my life, by far, has been postpartum depression.  God has blessed me incedibly through it, as well as taught me and stretched me far beyond my imaginings.   The biggest blessing, however, is being able to minister to other ladies and help them get through what I went through.  You can see my glass of lemonade at Out of the Valley.  

Gosh, I’m so bad at picking people to win an award.  You know, I believe that each and every person has a situation in their lives where they have had a lemon and turned it into lemonade.  So instead, I challenge each of my blog readers (all 10,000 10 of you) to take this award, post it on your blog, tell everyone about a situation (no matter how big or small) where a “lemon” was turned into “lemonade”, how God sustained and helped you through it, and then come back here and link your post in the comments.  

Bold challenge, I know.  I guess I’m feeling bold this morning. Must be the rain and storm outside.  

I do believe it’s all about giving God all the praise and glory for every work He has done in our lives.  I, for one, do not do enough of that acknowledgment.  Thus, I challenge you as much as I challenge myself.

What is your lemon to lemonade story?  I cannot wait to hear it!

First, the rules:

That is a record for me.  

Let’s not talk about how long it would take me to figure out how to do one small step.  There were some online video tutorials, a few help files, google and wordpress searches, and many trial and error changes to figure out what was what along the way.   

I think I have a new obsession.