When is teasing too much?

Just doing some late night thinking tonight reflecting on some things that I have noticed recently and figured I'd write some thoughts down to get it out of my head for a bit.

In high school I was teased alot. I was awkward and not very confident so many times I was teased. It hurt. It was painful. I cried alot and was depressed. I missed out on alot of fun times because of it. I look back on my high school years and don't want to go back for that reason alone. I look back at those times and realize that helped to make me the person I am today. Then I look around and see this happening everyday when adults who know better do this every day. They tease and pick on people's weaknesses by calling them nicknames, like shorty, fatty, brat and others "all in good fun". I'll admit I have been known to do this from time to time and have been reflecting a bit on what real purpose this does serve. If it is to show love then why not come out and show some compassion and lift them up rather than bring them down. The youth today have so many more pressures placed upon them and have so few positive role models and then they look at some of their leaders around them putting each other down? Again, what purpose does this serve

I remember one time when we were teasing my niece about something and she started to get upset. We told her that we were just teasing her and that everyone does it from time to time. She asked why. I didn't have a good answer. Because I love you? Not exactly the way to show it. That tore me up that something I said could have hurt her.

My hope and prayer for myself is to show more love and compassion without having to put anyone down and that others around me can do the same. Or give me a good reason why...

Facebook is for Lovers

Yes I admist it I am a Facebook addict. I check it probally more than I should during the day to find out what is going on in people's lives and all kinds of other stuff. Living all over the place most of my life, it was hard to stay connected with many people all over the country. I never really had that connection with the friends from my past until now. I have been able to see how they are doing and reconnect in many ways with so many. I have been able to share information about what I do at work and was even able to help a friend across the country find a RMH near them.

Recently I reconnected with an old acquaintance on there who sent a friend request and I reluctantly accepted. We kind of left on bad terms and I really didn't have an appreciation for how he was treating me and other people and the time. He was not really a people person!! I had heard that he had made some poor choices in his life and was on a rather destructive path, and honestly I was a bit curious. Neither one of us were believers at the time and we had some interesting conversations. I was a naive about my beliefs and he had turned his back on God. I have now learned he has been saved and is WORKING in ministry now. Not in a million years would I have ever guessed that this would be the path he would take. God is working through him to help young men not go through some of the same things he did.

We are MOVING!!

It has been ages since I have blogged, but not for a lack of stuff going on!! We have been limited on having a computer for awhile and blogger was being a pain on my laptop combined with laziness=no blog.

The biggest news in our family right now is that we are in the process of buying a house!!! After ten years of living in Greenville, we finally decided that it was time to settle down and stay awhile. We have been waiting and saving for the right time for us to make this next step and God really stepped it up to put things in place for this to happen. I look back on my life moving around alot and can appreciate many aspects of it, but I am more than thrilled to finally settle. Paint some walls, hang some pictures, look at trees and wonder what they will look like in 20 years. We close on the 30th and there is a lot for us to do between now and then (and celebrate Christmas!

Here is a picture of "our" house:


Until we meet again!!

The little tweet that could...

One week from today I will be in Chicago starting my new adventure. Every day there seems to be new opportunities emerging while I am there! A couple of weeks ago, we got a phone call from our national charity wanting us to share at the conference about our experiences with utilizing social networking based upon the posts and "tweets" they have been seeing. We are on Facebook & Twitter and have found it to be a great tool to reach out to families, donors, and the general community that supports us. None of my co-workers at the time had any clue about Facebook & Twitter so I was given the task to set it up and maintain it. I admit I am a novice, but am learning every day and the rewards are tremendous!

So now after 6 months of being linked, I have to present to a crowd of 200-500 people on why they should utilize social media in their charity. Me?? Really??? They must be confused?? Surely there must be someone more qualified?? Out off 300+ charities across the world they picked 2 of us ( one has already dropped out). I am trying not to think about the actual event too much because it is freaking me out a bit. This is an incredible opportunity for our House, me and the whole charity. No pressure.

So if you can say a little prayer for me next week at about noon (1:00 EST) that all goes well.

PS.....Through the magic of Facebook, I am going to try and meet up with Sean & Marietta who left our church and moved up to the Chicago area to start their ministry.

Cutest Picture ever?

Been a little busy the past few weeks, but have lots of time spending time with this little guy and his best bud and big sister.

Until next time....

Chicago Bound

Ok...well not quite for a couple of months.

Several months ago I attended a web conference for work. Honestly it was dull and boring, but I did learn lots of stuff that can help me understand my job and my company a bit more, so all was not lost. I think perhaps it was the 3 days sitting in front of a computer that did me in. At the end of the conference, the said they would e-mail a survey out to all of the participants and the first to answer all of the questions would win a grant for their house to send staff to the week-long international conference in Chicago. The survey was HARD and I got about half way through and said surely no one would have the patience to answer the 90 questions, so I trudged through not expecting anything........then I WON!! I only missed one question and got partial credit for it!!

This is an incredible opportunity where we are able to send 2 employees to attend the conference for a week in Chicago and all of our expenses are taken care of. How cool is that for a non-profit?? I have never been there before (except one train layover when I was a little kid) and am looking forward to being able to meet my counterparts from all over the world. We are making plans and reservations, and I am getting a bit nervous/anxious/excited about being able to represent an organization I love so dearly.

We finally decided at the last minute to head to the mountains of TN for our vacation. We have been there a few times before, but it is so beautiful and there is so much to do (or not do!) that we headed to our little cabin in the woods. It was quite an adventure as I am not much for driving in the mountains and spent most of the time with my eyes closed and clutching the handle on the car door (luckily Bill was driving ;-).


This was the view going up to our cabin. I don't think the pictures did it justice, but for this Eastern NC girl it was pretty steep!! I think one of the highlights for Bill was getting to meet Cletus from The Dukes of Hazzard. He just so happened to be signing autographs at Cooter's Place in downtown Gatlinburg, so we were able to stop by and say HI. He was a very nice man and really didn't look too menacing as he was trying to arrest Bill.

During our stay we did alot of nothing, getting up early to watch the sunrise then going back to sleep, eating all of our meals on the deck, perfecting our pool skills on our very own pool table, relaxing in the hot tub, exploring the Great Smoky National Park, went to the Dixie Stampede, and reading on the deck. ( I finished 90 minutes in Heaven and it rocked my world!) I think we have decided that this was one of the best vacations that we have had. Our schedules can be crazy at times, so it was great to spend so much time with my best friend and fellow adventurer!