25 Random Things About Me

If you're a Facebook fan you've seen this kind of thing on there. Like alot of other folks I've ignored it for as long as I could but the day comes when you wonder to yourself if you can come up with that many things so a few minutes ago I sat down and jotted down the following. It's interesting what rises to the top! I kept them in the order they came to mind. I haven't posted them on FB yet and don't know if I will but I feel comfortable putting them on here. So anyway, here they are...would love to hear your 25, your 10, your 5??

1. I was named Maribeth after my oldest brother’s kindergarten girlfriend. I don’t have a middle name.
For most of my life I didn’t like my name and spelled it M-a-r-y, but now I really like it.
2. I’ve kept diaries and journals since I learned to write and can’t imagine not being able to process life without them. I prefer fine point pens and really random journals from McKays Used Books.
3. I could live without a television. I could not live without books.
4. I went hang gliding for my 50th birthday and wish I could freeze frame that experience.
5. For the longest time I sensed we wouldn’t live in Michigan for the rest of our lives and was excited to see the Lord leading us to move to Chattanooga, TN seven years ago.
6. My favorite seasons in order are spring, fall, summer, winter.
7. I love rummage sales, used bookstores, thrift stores, road trips, Community coffee, New City worship, smoothies, my mom’s white robe, walks with Dale Allen, John Denver, Macrina, solitude, family time, pesto, kettle corn, phone calls from my brother Mike, fresh flowers, candles, Facebook, the “Hallelujah Chorus”, the smell after rain, YL leaders, solitude, GTCA conversations, Bach’s cello suites, paper, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, Pandora.com, the smell of sun tan lotion, jigsaw puzzles, musicals, quotes, campfires.
8. Some of my favorite vacations have been to warm Paradise places like Cozumel, Cancun, and the Cayman Islands and I realize now they were timely gifts from God.
9. I have 3 amazing sons and I love the women who love them. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a wife and mom. Being a grandma is one of the best roles I’ve ever played.
10. I enjoy baking more than cooking.
11. I feel like my job at Young Life has been divinely picked for me and I love it! I’ve always enjoyed being around young adults.
12. Dale and I met at a small Bible college in MI called Reformed Bible College aka Romance Blossoms Constantly. It did!
13. 2005 was one of the hardest years of my life as I lost both my parents to cancer and I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
14. When I turned 40 I ran a 25K – that’s 15.5 crazy miles. I haven’t run since that day.
15. One of the best things we did when the boys were little was camp together at the Conference Grounds, Tyler Creek, Gun Lake and Brower Park.
16. I am married to the kindest man in the world who never loses his cool or faith even in the toughest of times. Some of his wisest, truest words are “It will be all right.”
17. The day of my first date with Dale Allen I was driving my big gold Chevy Impala and ran a red light because I was so busy gushing to my best friend about him. My dad tied down the hood with wire and didn’t ever get it fixed. From then on the car’s nickname was “The Dead Chicken” since farmer’s hung dead chickens around the necks of dogs who had a tendency to get into chicken coops – it was supposed to help them never do it again.
18. One of the neatest things I’ve ever done is to sit directly under a waterfall and feel it pounding on my head and then later to float on my back in the eddying pool at the bottom of it.
19. I was raised on a farm and did all that stuff like raise cattle, ride ponies, drive a John Deere, gather eggs, feed corn cobs to the pigs, etc.
20. I love taking pictures of big and little events and always tell my reluctant subjects, “Someday you’ll thank me” and a lot of them have already.
21. My favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have gained an appreciation for the observation of Lent and attend an Episcopal church on Ash Wednesday.
22. My favorite places in Chattanooga are the Walking Bridge, McKays, Coolidge Park, the Riverwalk, the Mtn. Opry, Clumpies, the Hang Gliding launch, but I especially love having coffee by the tables on the Bluff View by the bocce court with a good friend.
23. I was the speaker at Joe’s 8th grade graduation.
24. I spent some time last spring at Thomas Merton’s monastery in Kentucky and I hadn't felt that peaceful in a long time.
25. I love life and I really do live in a heightened awareness of its beauty and brevity since the bout with cancer.

TIMBER!!!!

Last week we had a few big old trees cut down in our yard and it really looks different! They weren't very healthy and any time it was windy they'd lose more branches. Dale wanted to get them out of here before a big branch came through the roof. We also got rid of the cherry tree that dropped cherries all over the deck and stained it terribly.

The trunk of the oak tree in the front yard measured 52" in diameter and the tree guy estimated it was between 100 - 125 years old!

I suppose it was a sensible idea to cut down these trees but I feel a little sad for them which Dale thinks is silly. And he assures me that the wood will be used for wonderful things like tables and chairs and keeping folks warm on cold winter evenings - but still......

Biscuits Anyone?!

Went here for breakfast this past Saturday.......love the sign (and the biscuits!!)

a moment

Yesterday the morning sky was on fire and I ran outside in the frosty coldness in my woolly robe and bare feet to capture it on film! By the time I got back inside the sky had changed again to a much more subdued scene. And I thought.....how many moments of beauty have I missed because I chose common sense over wonder?

IKEA - always a good IDEA!!

I went to IKEA in Atlanta yesterday with Bailey! We had such a good time in this very fun store! When I was there last October with Tara I had seen this cute little bookcase and wanted to get it but couldn't fit it in Calmesha the Camry (you do name your vehicles,don't you?!)

I was disappointed when we didn't see it yesterday on the floor with this type of furniture and had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it was gone. I had found lots of other fun stuff so no worries!

Right before you get to the checkout there's a room full of Clearance items and we went in there to see what we could find and there was my cute little dream bookcase for a very reasonable price! Bailey earned points by grabbing her camera out of her purse and saying "Let me take your picture with it!" (that's my kind of woman!)

Since it was all put together we had to figure out how to fit it in her CRV (I don't know its name) and it was a tight squeeze but we were determined it was coming with us!!

It's just a perfect fit in the corner of the breakfast nook and holds some of the overflow of books with a few shelves left over for fun photos! We moved the baker's rack to the other corner and it looks so cute over there. Recyle a valance and voila - a fresh look for the nook!

Yay for fun day trips and happy endings!

How cold is it in Chattanooga?

It's

so

cold

the

parking

meters

are

wearing

scarves!!!

a wordle

Remember all my babbling about the wonders of wordles? Here's an example of one I made with an earlier blog entry. It's just a very fun website for a word nerd like myself :-) Click on it for a larger view and then go make one for yourself!

Spring Signs

A purple crocus peeking through!
Daffodils making their debut!

On my way out to the car today I noticed these guys bravely sticking their heads out of the cold January soil, a sign of spring, of hope, of renewal, of the cycle of life.

We continue to receive pictures via email of beautiful baby Grady and we visit the funeral home to grieve the loss of Shirley's dear mom.

We rejoice with Anne & Lucas, we mourn with Shirley and her family.

A life begins, an unknown script full of possibilities and potential.

A life ends, a well-lived life with its share of twists and turns.

Both lives given and taken by the hand of a loving Creator.

I am glad to be part of the wonder of Creation - to live out my particular season here - and to know that each day is a step closer to where I began.

I am glad for the lessons nature will teach me if I am aware enough to learn.

I am thankful for courageous crocuses and determined daffodils.

Welcome to the world, Grady James!

This precious little guy is my niece Anne's new baby boy, Grady James Galaviz. She and Lucas have been eagerly anticipating his arrival and he came yesterday, a little slowly, but safe and sound and that's a big blessing we don't take for granted.

How fun to watch the next generation forming in our family! With mom and dad gone my siblings and I are the matriarchs and patriarchs at the family Christmas party and that seems a little strange but also very wonderful as we watch our kids become parents and see the cycle of love and faith continue.

Speaking of cycles......today my dear friend Shirley's mom passed away. Grady arrives, fresh from heaven, and Shirley's mom arrives there all within a 12 hour time period. It is alot to think about and process and probably write a little more about but for tonight I rest in God's perfect plan for His children's lives, from our first breath to our last, we begin and end with Him.

All clear for another year!!

Just found out that the mammogram I had yesterday is absolutely fine!!

If a blog could do a happy dance this blog would be doing one right now!!

Fun New Discovery!!

You just never know what you'll come across on this crazy little thing called the World Wide Web! Check this out.....www.wordle.net.

You simply copy some text into a box and it makes a design of your words. You can edit the font, color, layout, even the language! I copied some of my recent blog posts into it and they turned out so neat! You can print them - wouldn't it be fun to frame some?!

So turn your Pandora radio on at www.pandora.com (my other most recent discovery) and have a little wordle fun!

And that ends this morning's session of "Technology Tips With Mar".

Welcome Sparty!!

This is the newest addition to Dan & Bre's family - Sparty, a wirehaired yellow terrier they adopted from the pound right after they got home from Christmas in Michigan. Can't wait to meet him in person some day soon! Dan says he loves to play frisbee and fetch balls. The jury is still out as far as the kitties, Tonto and Ranger, are concerned - they thought life was just fine without a dog in the house :-)

Objects of an Obsession

Last night over supper I remarked to Dale Allen that I needed another bookshelf. He pointed out that there's a big bookshelf downstairs in one of the storage rooms and I should bring some of my books down there.

My immediate reaction was, "I can't have them that far from me!"

One of the things I love to do when we go to Michigan for Christmas is to peruse the used book section of Baker Book House. This year I was so organized and ready for the outing - I had listed by author in the back of my journal the 30 or so books I was looking for. When I got to Baker's the store was completely in the dark due to a power outage! The saleslady asked if I would like to borrow a little flashlight:-) This is what I love about bookstores and the people who generally choose to work at them.

So for the twenty minutes before the power came back on I shone that thin beam up and down the rows. Much treasure was found. When I find a book I've been looking for I always clutch it to my chest as if I think some bookstore mugger is going to try and take it from me. I also have to refrain from doing a little happy dance in the middle of the aisle. Weird? Yes. I'm just telling you this is who I am. Oh, and that slightly musty smell of used bookstores? Aphrodisia! Better than homemade bread.

The Blue Book continues to be a source of introduction to so many authors for which I will always be grateful to Jim Branch. Authors that I would never have known about but my heart is drawn to. Men and women who write outside the tradition I was brought up in but speak to a part of me that was waiting to listen and learn.

One of the books I found that has impacted my mid-life self is "A Traveler Toward the Dawn" by John Eagan, a Jesuit priest. It's one of those books that is underlined, page bent, the word YES! written in the margins (this is why I'm not allowed to borrow books from the public library).

It's his personal, honest journal about accepting God's love, the importance of spiritual directors in our lives, death, embracing our personal history, and filled with wonderful quotes from other authors.
I really love the following words he writes after sharing some of the titles of books that have influenced his walk, books he has "devoured". It really sums up how I feel about the gift of books.......

"Such books are companionship on a mysterious way, friends who meet you at dark intersections and who light up your life, buoyant travelers who call you to step out on the mountain trail, who give confidence and encouragement and inspiration on the journey. I search for such."

Yes.

Immanuel 2008

Still processing....the celebration of Christ's birth.....a week long birthday party....I'm all about long birthday celebrations! Birth day, birth week, birth month, birth year, birth life time! And that's what life in Christ is.....a lifetime of celebrating His presence in our lives!

God with us!

God with us in our relationships with family and friends and strangers. God with us in our past and present and future. God with us in the messes and triumphs of our lives. God with us before we knew He was with us.

God with us in the anticipation of Anne's baby and the passing of Bailey's grandpa. God with us in the huge Michigan snowbanks and the blue ridges of the Tennessee mountains. God with us in quiet one on one conversations and the loud decibels of "The Game" in Nancy's living room.

God with us in the memories of those missing from the circle and the promise of Sohui's impending arrival. God with us as we mature and grow in Him and learn little by little by little to accept each other's strengths and weaknesses and even rejoice in them. God with us in the form of an abandoned little terrier now known and loved as Sparty. God with us in the photos, tactile memories of a moment in our history. God with us in the taste and texture of time honored recipes made with love and care.

God with us in the hugs, the smiles, the tears, the songs, the prayers, the laughter.

God with us.