CUP of Healing

Ahhhh today I'm so thankful for friends, insurance and to quote "Oprah" paying it forward. I have had a gland problem with my face (I'll spare the details) that has left me incredibly frustrated and very insecure with my skin lately and it was only getting worse. For those of you that know me, I hate the doctors with a passion so I tend to put it off and deal with the discomfort but this one was really getting to me. Well the day I asked God to give me the courage to just "deal" with it the flood gates opened wide. I got a few referrals but then my friend Ronnie suggested I call her friend who works for a dermatologist and see her....so miraculously I called her within minutes (trust me this is a miracle in and of itself that I made this call). This was all last Wed and today I had my diagnostic appointment and while in the chair for a simple diagnosis - they did all the treatments right then - they gave me over 30 little treatments (okay it was full fledged cautery if you want the truth) and ALL was covered thanks to a friend and insurance....truly a miracle!!! It's money I would not have been able to spend right now that's for sure!

A few weeks ago I did a very simple favor for this friend-of-a-friend and designed and printed some birthday invitations for her - a little favor but to her it was a big blessing. I did it having no clue that 2 months later I would actually be calling her to help me with what she considered a little favor but to me an ENORMOUS blessing!!!

I have dozens of little sores that need to heal but the key word is heal!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel blessed and had to share (especially since Sandy shared the other day about "procedures" and I'm sure more will keep coming since I'm getting old.....sighhhhh!).

Little Kendall Sharp also had a "procedure" today and thankfully hers went well, she's home healing and her sweet Mom, Jen, is relieved!!! YEAH!!

Cheers to Procedures (I think??!!)

CUP of DVR woes

So I cozy up on the sofa last night (my first night I've been able to do this in weeks) and was excited to catch up on some DVR recordings. I have Uverse at home - that's a story in itself converting everything over from SBC and Time Warner......so I remotely recorded (via the internet from my office) a couple of shows I really wanted to see (mind you the remote recording has worked just fine before). One of them was the WSOP Final Table that I've been waiting for weeks to see and avoiding any website about poker so I didn't find anything out. So last night I got comfy and searched and searched through my "recorded TV" and nada....I get so bummed when technology fails!! So if anyone has it recorded still, please keep it for me and I'll come over to visit you - I'll bring the starbucks!! :)

Cheers!!

CUP of Yakima

Last Friday Jen and I travelled to Yakima, Washington to visit my dear friend Jenny who moved there with her Groom 2 years ago :(. She has a beautiful little girl Olivia that I loved being Auntie AA to. I couldn't resist giving a sneak peak of her 1 year old photos I took.......I'll let Jenny show the rest :)








Thanks to the "Jens" for an amazing weekend. I loved everything - our chats, tears, stories, laughter (especially the really good ones Sunday night) , shopping, lots of coffee but mostly just hanging out together....it was much needed for all of us - like Jen said it was time with dear friends that "know" us.

Jen, we survived the trip home after so many changes and cancellations and missed connections - it just meant more time together!!

Cheers!

Friday's CUP

I've been looking forward to this day for awhile and I'm even more excited for it since it's at the end of a full and eventful week....I'm heading to Washington in a couple hours (the state - no political rallies for me in the other Washington) to see my dear friend Jenny and a bonus, another dear friend Jen decided to come too - these are two friends I don't get enough time with. Yeah for airline miles and free trips but even better little getaways with wonderful friends!!

Today I'm thankful for 3 other dear friends (Jodi, Kailey and Melissa) who stuffed and stamped the very "eventful" invitations last night so I could pack, helped me juggle cars around AND had homemade sushi waiting for me when I got home from work last night.......God is good to me!!!

Well I'm off to the state where coffee comes out of the faucets......wahoo!!! Cheers!

CUP of Mud or CUP of Stars?

(this picture of my sweet niece is again so appropriate for this post :))

Jodi reminded me last night of a story I read when I spoke at our women's retreat in May:

"A young bride's life was not what she had hoped or expected it would be. When she married her beloved, who was in the Marines, she thought it would be romantic and exciting to live in foreign countries and travel the globe. But two years later she was lonely and deeply discontented. She wrote a letter full of complaints to her mother. She had no friends, she couldn't speak the language and figured it wasn't worth the effort to learn since they could be moved from one country to another at a moment's notice. Worst of all, her groom was never home. She ended with "I can't take this any longer. I'm coming home." Her astute mother faxed a reply consisting of just two lines:

Two women looked through prison bars
One saw mud, the other saw stars."

Ahhhh a secret to contentment in two short sentences. We all have a choice of how we look at life. At times we all feel as though we're standing behind prison bars but it's what we focus on that matters. Am I choosing to see the stars or am I only focusing on the mud? So often I only see the mud and ignore the nuggets of light and joy that is always at my fingerstips - it's so easy for me to write this but at times it can be so hard to live out. God wants me content now, not just content once my cirucmstances improve.

Thanks Jo for reminding me of this awesome story!! Cheers!

CUP of Time

So some people call them crackberries or my icrackphone but I have to admit I've always loved my electronics and especially today when a simple trip to buy some stamps for some wedding invitations (no not mine sillies.....) took 25 minutes....who has time for that?! But.....with my electronics close at hand - the time flew by and multi-tasker-me got several messages and follow-ups done. In fact, I was so into what I was accomplishing in line that when they said "next" I actually said to myself..."darn it's my turn and I was almost done with this email". :)

However, the fact that I was the one buying the stamps for these invitations is another story completely.....

• paper sent for invites was damaged
• had to pay overnight shipping for non-damaged paper-project delayed 2 days
• company didn't score cards correctly
• had them fixed (sort of) at Kinkos
• Kinkos messed up so they said no charge (hmmm thank you - I guess??)
• finally finished the 10 piece set invites (125 of them) last night at 11pm and due to the kinkos change - they didn't fit in the envelopes....yes I cried (and a little panic and prayer too)!!!!!!!
• had to order new envelopes today and pay overnight shipping - project delayed another 2 days while I wait for shipping

Sooooo I'm mailing them for the bride-to-be (thankfully a dear friend) to save a couple days!
Thankfully in the 2 years of my biz - this has NEVER happened before!

Time to refill my CUP! Cheers!!

CUP of RED!!!

One of my absolute favorite days of the Fall is today......Starbucks RED CUP DAY! It means the holidays are here and it's my favorite time of year (and what an even better day for it to happen, election day, so I can be distracted from all the politics and think about happier things....you know CUP things).

Well I'm thrilled to share red cup day with all those who love it like I do.....

CHEERS (red cup style of course!)

CUP of Treats

I didn't get to see my niece and nephew on Halloween (just couldn't do the Burbank to OC drive on a Friday afternoon) but I couldn't resist these photos my sister sent to me of Jack Sparrow and Tinkerbell. Ahhh the joys of being a kid and getting to dress up - I'm sure at some point in my life I loved wearing costumes but it's hard to recall because today costumes and me together.....ehhh not so much!! Happy Monday!

Cheers!