Exciting News I Have

Things I need to say:

I could eat a caprese salad every day of my life. Fresh mozarella, tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar...these are my kind of people. I know I have a German heritage, but is it possible that I was Italian in a past life? Maybe Jenny Boyardee?

Joey and I have now reconciled a terrible grievance that could have wreaked havoc on our marriage. Thank goodness we caught it early. The things that marriage counseling just doesn't cover, sheesh! Yes, he has finally watched the Star Wars' Trilogy. It is a miracle that we are married. What can I say? The Force is with us and it's about time because my random Yoda speak and Wookie jokes fall flat with him. Ready we are.

Things they should tell you when you purchase a yoga mat online: they put some kind of oil on it so that it doesn't stick together when rolled. Apparently you are supposed to wash this off. Again, things they should say before one tries to use it in yoga class. I was so excited to use my new mat, but let's just say that many in class probably thought I was doing the Drunken Downard Dog as my feet and hands would NOT stay put. It was more Downward Dog meets the Scooby Doo run.


Now that we have these important things out of the way, I must tell you something:

I GOT A NEW JOB! Tomorrow is my last day at my current place and I start on Monday! I'll give you more details soon.

P.S. You know that I really don't believe that I was Jenny Boyardee in a past life, right? Nah, it's more like Jenny Ragu. That's amore!

Joy to the World

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

It is Good Friday. Early on Good Friday. This song woke me up today. I'll tell you about it later.

But first, a few things I want to share with you about my family.

My Mom and Dad were different. Of course, by default and as a family - we were different. And that meant, that much to my dismay I was different. I mean gosh, we were already a large homeschool family which at the time was the epitome of weird and then you throw in this? It's only inevitabe.

What do I mean by this?

My parents lived by Joshua 24:15, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That meant that EVERYTHING was different.

The "But" implies the difference. While everyone else lives for that, we're going to live for this.

My parents met in college in the late 70's. The quirky music major fell for the pretty and popular art major. (Mom says she wasn't popular, but I don't think this is true. I've seen her in her yearbooks. And I've seen the other people in mine.) They married in 1979, toward the end of a Christan revival that swept across the nation as part of the counterculture hippie movement and changed the contemporary view of the church. One of the things that came out of this movement was contemporary Christian music. I'll get back to this.

Growing up, my Dad moonlighted as a part-time youth minister at our church and sometimes worship leader.

We were in church A LOT. For many, church may have began and ended on Sunday, but not so for the Hanks' family. Mom and Dad let us know that this was a time for worship, not Jenny's social hour.

They made the at the time unpopular decision to homeschool myself and three younger siblings because they wanted to be able to teach us about Biblical truths.

We prayed together and had evening family devotionals. It was quite normal to find my parents reading their Bibles at the kitchen table. If my sister and I got in a fight Mom would throw out things like Matthew 5:9 in a gentle voice "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Well, great. You can't argue with the Bible. I mean, what do you with that? The funny thing is that she would turn this on my Dad when he was stirring up trouble among us kids. The gentle voice then said "Fathers do not provoke your children to wrath..." Ephesians 6:4. This is really funny to me now. My Mom was wise.

You may think this is crazy, but it's true - I have never heard a curse word come out of my parents' mouths. There were a lot of TV shows we were not allowed to watch, music we couldn't listen to, attitudes we were forbidden to have and skirts I was not allowed to wear. And do not even think about asking to spending the night at a friend's house the night before Sunday. Mute point.

These were things that in the mind of an already awkward teenager, made us weird.

These are the things that to the outside world may seem restrictive. But may I say this? The thing that I remember most from my childhood was joy. My parents had joy. Joy in the hope of Christ.

I also remember music. My Mom and Dad both played guitar and sang worship songs often growing up. Our house was filled with music, but music with a purpose. We listened to KSBJ before it was cool. My parents favorite artists at the time consisted of Keith Green, Second Chapter of Acts, Sandi Patty, Amy Grant and Michael Card. At least that's what I remember. In particular the song that characterizes the memories from my childhood is the Easter Song by Keith Green.

The video below is of Keith Green live, although I encourage you to listen to the actual record track because it's pretty amazing with strings added, I wanted to show you his heart. I would turn over the back cover of my parents' Keith Green record album to read Keith's story. There was a picture of Keith and his family on the back cover. Not too long after this video was made, Keith and two of his children perished in a plane crash. As you listen to Keith, don't be sad because I think he's alright! Death has lost its sting for those who believe. I have to remind myself of that.

Get past the 70's hair and take a listen to the simple lyrics. This is the hope we have in Christ. This is our joy.

This joy is what makes us as Christians different. It is beyond just actions - it is the joy that gives birth to the choices we make.

And as I woke with joy on Good Friday of not only thinking of the cross, but the resurrection that followed, I am so grateful to my parents chose to not live like that, but like this. Isn't great to be set apart for Christ? Isn't it great to be different?

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

Matted

Sigh...

The day is almost finished. I'm yoga'd, showered, read and prayed up. And now, I'm feeling reflective and quiet.

And looking at yoga mats to purchase.

I know, I'm really getting into this yoga thing. Maybe it's because I can touch my toes for the first time since 8th grade. I did this accidentally when I was telling Joey how much I was improving. I said look what I can do! And much to my surprise and his, I touch the floor with straight legs. I was quite impressed with myself to be quite honest! Now of course let me add a disclaimer - this was just after yoga class so please know that if you ask me to demonstrate my moves, you may not always get this result.

This is the mat that Melissa, my favorite teacher, recommends:

This is Manduka's eKO Lite Mat. I'm hoping that with this mat I can do this:

But there's a good chance I'll still be doing a lot of this:

Thank goodness for child's pose.

Sister Act, Otherwise Known As Stay Away From My Barbies

How can anyone in their right mind think that mint and chocolate are not MFEO?

My sister, JoAnna, that's who.

And it makes perfect sense that I love mint and chocolate and she doesn't. And that I love black olives and mushrooms. And she doesn't.

And that she loves Lady Gaga. And I think that wearing dead meat as a dress is grounds for detracting musical points.

If you knew us both, you would know that this makes sense.

She has pretty feet. I have two very crooked toes that make me self-conscious during sandal season.

She has a love for dark poetry that as a pre-teen was slightly alarming, but much to our relief it is just a hobby.

She used to give my Barbies haircuts. That made me mad. Then she decided to cut her own hair. That made my Mom mad.

She loves ecclectic music and may be able to sing the Evita soundtrack from memory.

She carved our brother's name into stuff all the time. Only problem was that was that he wasn't old enough to write. Classic mistake.

I'm jealous of the freckles across her nose.

And the natural honey highlights in her hair.

One thing we both have in common is that we love to write. She has recently been given the privilege of writing articles for the local newspaper and I couldn't be more proud. I just ask that she not mention my crooked toes.

We celebrated my sister this weekend and her birthday. I am so thankful to have her as a sister and a friend. Love you, Jo!

P.S. Mint + chocolate = destiny

Fools Rush In

Are you as excited about the weekend as I am?

Apparently, my co-workers know how much I am looking forward to this weekend as they played me for the fool this morning. They sent me the most serious email ever explaining that a crazy situation had come up and I would have to make an out-of-town trip to San Antonio for the weekend.

And I completely fell for it. Like a dork.

I wish I could say that I had totally forgoten that it was April Fool's Day, but we had talked about it the day before and then a million times this morning.

April Fool's! Just kidding, I mean who would be so gullible to fall for this joke! A sucka, that's who!

Aww, man...I tried. Just go ahead, pity the fool.

Shake 'n Book

Last night our little book club met at Steak 'n Shake's in Katy. This was my first time at a Steak 'n Shake and I chose the shake over the steak - the Butterfinger Shake to be specific. It was de-lish! We had a great time over milkshakes and books and I bet we are the first book club to ever meet at a Steak 'n Shake. That's just how we roll.

This month we read The Scent of Rain and Lightening by Nancy Pickard.

It surprised us all by how much we enjoyed it! This is our first mystery as a group and it had all of us stumped until the very end! I felt like I was trying to play Clue - you know, Colonel Mustard with the wrench in The Library? But in a small town in Kansas so it was more like Grocer Billy with the lasso in The Piggly Wiggly. I loved Clue growing up. Sigh.

Next month we are reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand which will be our first non-fiction book.

I know, we're just living life on the edge right? First a mystery, then Steak 'n Shake and now non-fiction.

This is what I would have had to say about last night disregarding books:

Abby has the cutest Kindle cover. And get this, she made it. By hand. These kind of things amaze me. Abby, post a pic if you haven't already. And patent it. Before I learn to thread a needle.

Liz is the most adorable pregnant person ever. Little Matthew is being carried well.

Lynn has the cutest side braids. And discovers great words like 'higherest' (extreme adj., def. higher than high). I love it!

Ashley is the only one of us who doesn't have a blog? C'mon Ashley, everyone in book club's doing it! Now, that's some serious peer pressure.

And finally, I will be revisiting Steak 'n Shake and let me just say that is has nothing to do with books or milkshakes. I'm talking about eating. A burger and Fries. Despite the fact that my tummy was aching from a giant milkshake, those Fries were calling my name! As I believe in God's perfect sovereignty, I know it just wasn't our time. Until then Fries, until then. Tear.

Post-mortem?

Although this is my longest absence from the blogosphere to date, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive. But surely you know that. Surely, one of my friends would think to have contacted Joey in pure blogger etiquette to put up a post in memoriam - upon which, this blog would become instantaneously famous if my story were tragic enough. What is it about us that we are drawn to such tragedy and violence - shows like CSI and Bones and Law & Order and Criminal Minds and Project Runway?

But alas for you, there will be none of this tragic violence on this blog. At least not for now. I am still alive and kicking - just not blogging much.

In all honesty, I've just needed to be quiet for a while. Unwrap from myself a bit. Do you ever get that way?

I've taken up quiet things like yoga and gardening. And it's taking me places, let me tell you. I torture plants to their deaths with amazing agility and nimbleness.

Anyway, I need to get back to it - blogging, that is (not ninja plant homicide). It's my therapy. People ask bloggers why they blog. Maybe it's to keep up with family, friends, or memories? Because you have a hobby you want to share? We all have our reasons, our therapy. I think I keep this blog in order to make myself laugh or think - and in that rare moment, a combination of the two. It's an amusement, but it's also an exercise. And plus, I'll have a hobby to fall back on if yogardening doesn't work out.

Here's your laugh for the day at my expense:

What I discovered after being at work for almost an hour and only after a co-worker discreetly pointed it out to me. (thank you, Christy)

True love looks at his I-Phone while standing in your closet to find the shoe that matches the picture and then brings said shoe to work for you to save you from further embarassment.

- Anonymous