2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 20!

WHAT???? The 20th verse???? You know what that means, don’t you? Those of you who have clocked in every single time so far have accumulated enough verses to qualify for the celebration! However! If you’ve gotten this far, you surely want to see it all the way to 24 and not just for the celebration but for the fortification and fruit of 2 dozen Scriptures in your darling head. Scripture memory has meant so much to me this year. Except for a full-on-crisis season of time when I promise you I would have lost my ever-loving mind without it, I have never sensed more of a harvest deep in my soul from the process.  I so hope you can also testify that your year would have been altogether different without it.

I will get right to it because I am expecting a ton of family over to celebrate Amanda’s 32nd birthday and I have a Texas-size pot of chicken and dumplings to cook! Here’s mine:

Beth, Houston. But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. 1 Peter 3:15-16 The NET Bible

Let’s hear it, Siestas! Hey, don’t be alarmed if it takes me a good while to moderate all the verses or even if it sits on zero for a little while. I’ll bring them in every couple of hours so I can still get the most out of a Saturday off. I hope you have some Sabbath time this weekend, too!

Talk to you very soon.

You’re a big deal around here.

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An Assortment of Things

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A Little Friday Fun, Anyone? Let’s Play 20 Questions!

OK, you guys, I’ve got a window just to have a little fun. I’m going to take the first 20 questions you ask as long as…

1) They are questions that have short answers (In other words, this is not the time for an explanation of TULIP).

2) They’re not heavy questions. (Remember, this is mostly just for fun. That doesn’t mean you can’t ask anything spiritual. It just means that we’re not going to handle heavy topics like, for instance, my abuse background. That’s for another time.)

3) I actually know the answer. (If I don’t, I’ll try to do you the favor of not acting like I do. Grin.)

Only one question per person! I’ll take the first 20 that I can answer in my time frame! Oh, and I’ll just post the questions I hope to be able to answer so that it’s not frustrating to you to have your unanswered question dangling there. Make sense?

I love you guys so much. What this really means is that I wish you and I were just sitting around talking this afternoon over a cup of coffee…or tea for you tea drinkers.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

 

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iPhone Dump: In Honor of Steve Jobs

By now you know that all of the world is buzzing about the death of Steve Jobs. Every unique quote has already been said about him on twitter, blogs, articles, or facebook so I have nothing new to say, but I am grieving the fact that we lost a very brilliant man who changed the way we use technology. Not only did he change it, but I bet he has made his way into each of our lives in some way, shape or form. Currently I’m writing this from my MacBook Pro, with my iPhone perched on top of my Bible and iTunes is open just waiting to be played. I’d say he’s most definitely invaded my personal space. He was genius and I am honored that I get to use his products daily.

Truth be told, I was the girl that always bashed the iPhone until I gave into peer pressure two years ago and purchased my first 3GS iPhone, since then, I am the girl that’s trying to convert everyone else. It wasn’t until this past May that I actually purchased my first MacBook Pro after my computer saw its final days, so I can’t say much, but it goes without saying that now that I’ve gone Mac, I’m not going back. I love it.

About a year ago, however, I started doing a series of iPhone dumps on my own personal blog and I think it’s only appropriate to visit that series once again in honor of Steve Jobs. After all, without his brilliance, there would be no iPhone dump. I have a serious problem when it comes to the camera on my iPhone and I’m not exaggerating or lying one bit when I tell you there are currently 1,857 photos and 62 videos on my iPhone. It’s sick. But if you’re like me, the convenience of that camera is what makes it so popular. And need I even mention all of the really fun camera apps? All of the apps can take an ordinary photo, and make it look nearly professional in two seconds flat.

Without further ado, please bear with me as I share some very random photos off of my iPhone thanks to Steve Jobs.

I recently celebrated a friends birthday at Dave & Busters. Simply stated, it is a Chuck E. Cheese for adults. After eating, there is a fun arcade with games that you win tickets for. Typically, I wouldn’t care less about the number of tickets I had, but when I realized there was a chance we could take home a coffee maker, I was all about it. Thanks to our friends and their tickets, the roomies and I took home this gem. So cheap, but it produces some mighty fine tasting coffee. We have no idea how long it will last, but it’s a fun memory. I think I was the only one overly ecstatic about the coffee maker, so much so, I needed my picture made with it.

This picture was taken from my balcony at my apartment a few weeks ago when the fires were raging. Y’all, those aren’t clouds you’re seeing, that is smoke. Beautiful, yes, but so sad. This picture was edited using Instagram, a really fun photo app.

This here is as big as you’ll ever see my hair. I was ten here and this was one of my glamour shots. My mom sent this to me one morning with a caption that said, “I bet Beth would LOVE to see your BIG HAIR at age ten!” Ha ha! I, however, think this is quite the scandelous picture. I was ten, y’all. Ten.

My roommate Michaela (on the left) is a high school art and photography teacher and a few weeks ago we went to the homecoming football game with her. My other roommate, Bethany, is on the right. We had so much fun soaking up some Friday Night Lights! (Because I know I’ll get asked, I used the app “Diptic” to split the photos and then used “Instagram” to edit it. See ladies? Isn’t the iPhone camera so fun?)

The other night I had the urge to bake my mom’s famous banana bread. If you’re an expert baker like I am (insert sarcasm), you know that the trick to finding out if your said item is baked thoroughly, is to poke a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, all is done and well. Obviously, I needed only one toothpick, but ended up with 50. It was a toothpick disaster. This right here is proof why I don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. When in a battle, the kitchen typically wins.

While at Hobby Lobby the other day I kept singing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas..,”. Hmm, I wonder why?!

That same day, I purchased and took this lovely mug home with me from Hobby Lobby. You can thank the clearance rack for said purchase. Isn’t it so cute?

Kelly Minter recently sent Beth some coffee. Beth so graciously made some and shared it with us at work one day. It did not disappoint.

Here are a few of us enjoying said coffee. From left to right you have Diane, Susan, your Siesta Mama, Kimberly and me.

This was on our way to lunch one day. Me, Beth and Diane were crammed in the back of the car. I am sure you can tell that we were already moving based on the blurriness of the picture.

A few Saturday’s ago I had a hankering for some Chick-Fil-A. It had been at least two weeks since I’d indulged in the blessing of it, so I drove myself over to the nearest Chick-Fil-A. My feelings were immediately hurt upon arrival. How dare they shut down for 19 days? I was so, so sad. No worries, though, I kept the car moving and drove to a different CFA. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

I’m not sure if any of you have ever heard of the restaurant in NYC called Serendipity. They are not only known for the movie named after them, Serendipity, but also for their frozen hot chocolate. This summer I got to experience the goodness of it all while I was in NYC. Y’all, it was the best dessert I’ve ever put in my mouth. Fortunately, for us, you can take it home with you. Well, not the frozen part, but the mix. The other night we busted out the mix and relived every moment all over again. It may not be as good as sipping it in NY with your best buddies, but it will do. A little known fact you may want to know is that it can now be purchased at your local Williams Sonoma.

I was at Costco the other day and had to take a picture of these ginormous dates. Why, you ask? Because they look like roaches. Who would willingly eat these? Ew.

This past Friday night I was able to attend the David Crowder concert with some friends at the House of Blues here in Houston. This is their last tour as a band, so it was really neat to be there. Touring with them was John Mark McMillan (who wrote the song, How He Loves), Chris August and Gungor. It was a great night and a great concert.

The other day at lunch we were talking about fish and I was telling my co-workers about this fabulous salmon from Costco, of all places. Later that week I purchased some and sent a picture to my boss who was curious. If you’re a fish lover (which I’ve just recently become), you may want to check it out as well. You just stick it in the oven for 20 minutes and you’re good to go. Enjoy!

We here at LPM enjoy a good piece of Dove Chocolates. The best part, however, is the inspirational quotes you find inside each wrapper. This was my quote yesterday. It made me sad because I would most certainly take the time to notice the colors of the leaves changing if in fact I didn’t live in Houston. Here, we’re lucky if they change by March. It’s very unfortunate.

This is my sweet family. We all happened to be in one place at one time. We were at a dear friends wedding. I have two brothers, Brien and Kevyn, one older and younger. And those are my parents, Sam and Kristy. I dearly love these peeps.

Last night my roommate Bethany and I decided to go on a bike ride. The entire evening ended up being comical, but we at least enjoyed being outside preparing to go on our ride that lasted all of eight minutes. So why the picture? Because we believe in safety first.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for sharing your gifts and creative talents with the world. I clearly am blessed by them as the iPhone has brought me endless entertainment.

Happy Thursday, y’all!

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Howdy from Amanda

Hi Siestas! I sent Mom a text a few minutes ago asking if I could drop in and say hello today. I’ve missed y’all! How is everyone? I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in January at the SSMTC. I was just at LifeWay’s Dot Mom conference in Birmingham and enjoyed seeing a handful of our Siestas there. It’s funny how we feel like old pals by now! Speaking of that event, if you’re a mom you must find a way to get there next year. It was phenomenal. I recapped it here on my little family blog if you want to see what it was all about.

The problem with popping in every now and then is I don’t even know where to start! It seems like we have a brand new life these days. I’d say we are finally adjusted to having our firstborn in kindergarten. (I’ve stopped worrying that I’m going to forget.) He loves school but, I have to admit, his face lights up on Saturday mornings when I tell him he gets to stay home. Yesterday I got to help with the writers workshop in his classroom, which is officially my favorite use of my journalism degree. I cannot stop thinking about how precious his face was when he would look up from his desk and catch my eye. I wanted to give him lots of embarrassing hugs and smooches, but I controlled myself and waited until he got home. The highlight of the experience was at the end when the class thanked me by giving their “seal of approval,” which consisted of them barking like seals. It was pure kindergarten greatness.

Annabeth is the source of much laughter in our home. Y’all, she is funny. Curtis and I used to pray that our future children would not be boring and, Lord have mercy, He answered that prayer. I ordered Annabeth a butterfly costume from Zulily (moms, have you found that yet?) and when it arrived we all got a full display of girlish delight.  She was wearing her Christmas pajamas from last year  when I opened the package, so you can just imagine what she looked like with a tutu and butterfly wings on top. It also came with a wand, which she was desperate to sleep with. She was not about to let me pry that thing out of her sweet, sticky little hands. I forgot all about it until the next morning when I was greeted at my bedroom door by a cute little bed-headed urchin wielding a butterfly on a pink stick. Seeing her delight in all things girly is really a joy. We went on a long walk with Jennifer Hamm (Bible study coordinator at LPM) and baby Karis this morning and Annabeth wanted to bring five baby dolls with her. I talked her down to two.

There is so much more that I could say – especially about the journey we are on with our new church – but I will save that for another visit. Thank you all for interceding for us. We have needed and felt your prayers. I hope you ladies have a great Wednesday!
Much love,
Amanda

 

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Living Proof Live – Baltimore

Hi ladies! Here is the recap video from Baltimore. Thank you so much, Rich!

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2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 19!

Hey, beloved Scripture Memory Team!

I so hope you are blessed in the presence of Christ Jesus today. I am all the way in Baltimore, Maryland serving a wonderful group of women at our Living Proof Live. Our dear Lindsee is pinch-hitting for me this time around and she also has some great information for you regarding our upcoming celebration. Her portion will pick up immediately following my 19th verse. I’m choosing my verse this round from the theme Scripture God gave us for our Friday night session here at Living Proof Live in Baltimore. I want to remember it forever. You don’t have to hear the session to see why it is enormously relevant and a powerful Scripture indeed to have hidden in your heart. You’re welcome to share it with me if you don’t have a selection ready.

Beth, Houston. “I continually look to the Lord for help, for He will free my feet from the enemy’s net.” Psalm 25:15 The NET Bible

I love you guys so dearly! OK, Lindsee, take it from here!

Girls, registration for the SSMT is flourishing and we already have over 1000 ladies registered. Praise God! Don’t stress if you’re not already registered, we have plenty of room. Registration will officially close two weeks before the event, so know that you have plenty of time. We are so excited and can’t wait to celebrate with you! When we say you are highly treasured around here, we mean it.

With that said, we have had a lot of unique questions come in that are not covered in the FAQ page so we wanted to put them here and then we’ll put them on that page as well. We hope this is helpful to you as you plan your trip to Houston in January. We don’t want anyone to feel left out or lost.

Are my children welcome to attend the celebration?
While we all know how much our Siesta Mama loves little ones (grin), and understands that some of them might be memorizing scripture with us, her teaching is specifically geared toward women 18 and older. Please use caution in bringing little ones. As a reward, we encourage you to do a special party for your children if they have been memorizing with you. Make it a special time to celebrate their hard work.

Is there anything LPM can do to help Siestas in the same region connect prior to the January meeting?
We are blessed to hear you are coming to SSMT in 2012! As much as we would love to publish a regional list of those attending, we are unable to do this due to the confidentiality of each individual’s information. This is for your protection, ladies. Thanks so much for understanding. If you would like to put your Facebook page (not your email or phone number) in the comments section, we will post it, as we know you have more control over the privacy of that. We should all be very careful about what we post on the World Wide Web for all to see!

Can we do t-shirts, pink feather boas, etc to help connect with other Siestas in the airports and restaurants?
First of all, y’all are AMAZINGLY creative and fun! We love that and are so blessed by your anticipation for this special weekend. In light of these fun ideas, we have a special photo op planned on Friday evening. This will be your special keepsake from LPM for the weekend. If you want to make your own fun memory (ie. t-shirts, bracelets, boas, etc) by all means have a blast with it! We’ll look forward to seeing you in 2012!

I want to attend the SSMT Celebration, but I’m nervous about coming solo. What should I do?
Please come! We promise you will be blessed! Many women came solo in 2010 and left with new friendships and blessings in abundance. During the celebration, we will have you pair off with another Siesta sitting around you and say your verses. It will be a very rich time of celebration indeed. Don’t let coming alone keep you from coming. You will not be the only “one” coming!

Since today is the first of October, we are only three months away from the celebration. Can you believe that? We are so looking forward to January and know you are too!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Living Proof Live Baltimore – Ticket Giveaway

Good morning, Siestas! Or should I say good morning, Baltimore? (Hairspray, anyone?) I’ve been singing it all week!

Anyway, our Siesta Mama is heading to Baltimore today for Living Proof Live this weekend and we were wondering if any of you are planning on attending? She’s been hard at work this week and we’ve been praying for everyone involved.

Thanks to the Siesta Scholarship Fund, we are so excited and humbled to be able to offer 20 scholarship tickets for those of you that desire to go, but just cannot afford a ticket at this time.

If this is you, we will offer them to the first 20 of you that call the Living Proof office during regular business hours (8:30 – 4:30 central time). Ask for Kimberly at 1-888-700-1999 and she will get you squared away. If you call during the lunch hour, or happen to get the voicemail at any point during the day, leave a message with your name and phone number and she’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

We know that the Lord has handpicked each of those who will be there and we can’t wait to hear how God showed up!

We love y’all!

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Any of you remember this look??

A really good, lifelong friend of mine (Kim Gannon) emailed me this picture just for grins yesterday. (Her daughter, Shannon, is well into her college years if that tells you how old the picture is.) It not only made me laugh. It also made me smile, if you know what I mean. There’s a difference between something making you laugh and something making you just-plain-old-smile. I thought it was kinda sweet. That’s why I smiled. That’s one very subtle way to bear the Name, isn’t it? But, of course, now I’m wanting to laugh about it again. It’s too bad you can’t see the jeans underneath. I bet anything they came all the way to the waist where they were tightly cinched by a narrow band then did a very unflattering, pleated poof right around the tummy. They were hideous.That’s my house, by the way. It’s terrifying that I stood that close to an open flame with all that hairspray. My courage knew no end.

Do any of you older Siestas remember when we used to make these kinds of Christmas sweatshirts?? This one was amazingly understated compared to the others. (Kim made these for both of us as I recall.) Some of mine had so many 3-dimensional trinkets sown and glue-gunned onto them that I couldn’t even wash them. I just stunk for Christmas. Surely some of you remember the applique days. They certainly were not limited to Christmas but they were overwhelmingly thematic. You know how we put out decorations on our doors and in our houses throughout the seasons of the year? This was a way of actually wearing them on your person.

You young women on here have no idea what your big sisters have been through.It’s a wonder we don’t have to take medication to talk about it.

So, here’s a fun question: What do we (or you) wear today that you think we’re going to mock and scorn ourselves for later??

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I know this is so random but I love…

Hey, Darling Things!

I am under the books, studying for our Living Proof Live in Baltimore, MD this weekend. (And if you’re going, I can’t wait to see you and to see what God has a mind to show us. The rest of you please pray for us and we will be the far better for your intercession.) I came to a point in my preparation that I needed to look up a map and my heart did this ridiculous little jump. Why? Because I was about to reach for my Bible atlas…and I love my Bible atlas. I could honestly use it for a coffee table book and thumb through it every afternoon while I drink hot tea and have a Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookie. (Of course, I’m hardly ever at my coffee table in the afternoon, nor do I often get to just sit and drink hot tea and eat cookies, but IF I DID, and if I had neither daughter to amuse me, I’d do all of those things with my Bible atlas.) I don’t know how to explain it. I just love it.

Here it is. I’m smiling as I look at it.

 

I love things like maps and charts. They bring some organization to the chaotic mind of BTSPTB.

 

 

Random, huh? Well, that’s when I thought of you. I thought it would be fun to hear you complete this sentence today:

I know this is so random but I love…

What, Girlfriend? What random, not-hyper-serious thing do you love that maybe a ton of people wouldn’t necessarily love with you? Do tell!

 

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