Vitamin, anyone?

I willingly admit that I take a Flintstones Complete vitamin every day. Juvenile - yes - but I have a difficult time swallowing pills, and feel as though some sort of nutrient complex in edible form is important to my health. I bring this up for no particular reason other than to encourage you also to take a form of supplement that will enhance your daily diet. As I grow older, I become much more appreciative of my health, and truly believe that vitamins help!! 10 million strong, and growing...

Heart for Service + Plumpy Nut = Ramblings

Deep down under a thousand layers my heart has been driven towards serving others in some form or fashion for as long as I can remember. Given my inherently sinful nature, this has often been suppressed or replaced by feelings of selfishness, apathy, impatience, stubbornness. I also struggle with how to exercise my desire to be a better person and make a meaningful difference in this world. In high school, I went on mission trips, volunteered, etc., and after college went through a phase where I seriously considered joining the Peace Corps. By seriously considered, I mean went to an informational meeting at Central Market, and drafted a couple answers / essays as part of the lengthy application process. Fear then set in, the "you are out of your mind" thoughts arose, I couldn't imagine being away from friends, family...

Whenever I am around people that are extremely mission oriented, my heartstrings tug and the curosity begins again. I've often felt as though my spiritual gifts are not being best utilized within the banking industry, but have never been able to finger point what it is that God will ultimately call me to do in my life. This personal view of a "calling" assumes that my entire journey is culminating into one, defined purpose, which could very well occur; however, for the time being I feel called to be "extraordinary at the ordinary," to not give in to the repetitive nature of my daily life. To not be consumed by routine, but to remain fervent in prayer and continually thirsting for God, seeking to glorify Him and not becoming comfortable or complacent in my faith. These are the little things I can strive for in preparation for the big things, should they come in the future.

These ramblings and thoughts were birthed from conversations with K's uncle R who lives in Colorado. He is deeply passionte about helping families in Africa, primarily through providing funding and drugs for a local AIDS clinic in Nigeria. His latest mission is to raise awareness about plumpy nut. This is a simple concoction made mostly of peanut butter, powdered milk, and a chunk of vitamins that benefits malnourished children.

R is working on creating a simple way to manufacture a similar version of plumpy nut at his church as a pilot. He then hopes to take the plan to Nigeria so they can make their own formula, without having to worry about the cost, labor, and repair involved in maintaining heavy machinery. I am greatly encouraged and inspired by the impact he's making on those less fortunate.

So I guess in sum, the purpose of this post is to 1) briefly raise awareness of plumpy nut and 2) to express the conflict I feel in my heart over what it looks like to be a true servant. God has blessed me with an amazing husband who also has a strong desire to help people, and I'm hopeful that one day we'll recognize the means through which we've been called to serve - whether it be monetarily, or with our own physical labor and hard work, on a scale that is beyond our present capabilities but primarily as a result of grace and guidance from above...

Thank you, Gigi

As a follow up to my January 28th post, I'm happy to report that Gigi has worked out fabulously. Her reputation for producing quality work has been fulfilled, and our house is now cleaner than it has ever been before.

Not only does Gigi clean, she takes care of the little things. My most favorite recent example of this occured during the second week of her time in our home. In a frenzy to get packed and out the door for a ski trip to Colorado, I left a rose I received from a kind co-worker on Valentines Day out on the counter in our kitchen. Kevin and I came home to the following:


A used / recycled Dannon Light & Fit yogurt container seems like the perfect vase in my mind too. Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Gigi. You're the greatest!!

"Yeah, the flu shot really just didn't work at all this year."

I'm sorry, what? You're telling me that the doctors who have been inventing flu shots their whole lives just completely missed the mark this year, causing a pandemic across America from a mysterious "strand" that was unforseeable?

"Yeah, the flu shot really just didn't work at all this year."

This is a direct quote from my doctor in response to me asking how in the world I could have the flu when I made an extra effort to get a flu shot this year. How nice.

Not only did she tell me I had the flu today, but she was wearing a mask as she relayed the news because SHE even had the flu. After having my nose swabbed out with the longest cutip I've ever seen in my life, I got to wear a cool mask too on the way home.

Let's see - skiing in Colorado this week, or recovering from the flu due to irresponsible vaccine inventors assigned to cover the 2007/2008 flu season. That's a tough one...

Pictures I love from around the world

Paris:

The Dallas Arboretum:

Virgin Gorda:
Santa Fe (yes - that's a mouse on top of a cat on top of a dog):

Lake Ray Hubbard:

Colorado:Ireland:

Consider yourself warned...

As K and I were watching Flip that House on TLC today, I casually asked during a commercial break, "So what should my next blog post be about?" His response was, and I quote, "Plastic cheese - we should send out a warning - it's disgusting."

Background: In an effort to shift our eating habits to a healthier standard, I purchased fat free cheese during my last visit to the grocery store. I've made 2 dishes with the same bag of Kraft Free Cheddar - king ranch chicken and cheeseburger pie - both of which appeared to be coated by a thick layer of plastic upon pulling them out of the oven. Thankfully the bag is almost gone, and I've come to the conclusion that regardless of how fatty, the real deal when it comes to cheese is the only way to go...

Throw me somethin' Mister!

Fat Tuesday is almost here!!! My anticipation stems from having a brother who actually lives in New Orleans, which makes Mardi Gras a much more exciting holiday. To live vicariously through him while he experiences the temporary insanity that permeates the city for one of the most festive and traditional times of year is pure greatness.

Two years ago I attended the celebration in person with my childhood friend Mandy. It was the first year after Hurricane Katrina, so people say it was a toned-down version compared to prior years; however, in my mind it was still absolutely crazy and out of control. Despite the crudeness, I believe it's one of those things that everyone should attend at least once in their life - kind of like going to Vegas.

Mandy and I began the treacherous 8 hour drive to nola on a Friday afternoon. We stopped in Lafayette to hear one of my all time favorite artists - Marc Broussard - promote his Carencro CD in concert. This guy is amazing, and I would highly recommend checking him out. He's a little white guy with a huge black guy voice - VERY talented with a lot of soul. Picture #1 below is of us before the concert outside a burger shack on the side of the road called Frankie's. Thank you, Frankie, for the thumbs up.

After the concert we made our way to my bro's, who ended up being an amazing host for the weekend. Picture #2 is of us at the actual parades on St. Charles St. The 2 guys on the left are Donnie and Paul. Donnie, aka Dperdue31, is one of my most special friends from A&M who now lives in Chicago and is a doctor. Paul is his friend who I'd never met, but gave us sunscreen that day, which I very much appreciated.

The bulk of our memories consist of, "you had to be there" moments. I could elaborate and try and explain further, but they just flat out wouldn't be funny. For the record, no flashing was involved or even contemplated for that matter, and we still obtained a plethora of beads by screaming the title of this post at the top of our lungs on a non-stop repetitive basis. Alas, here's to both the holiday itself and the annual reminiscence of my own historical experience at Mardi Gras New Orleans style...