mosses monday: preface sunday...

(henderson first united methodist church)


it is going to be more difficult  than i thought-  introducing you to my beloved mosses.  as they were such a gift from God  i'm fearful i cannot do them justice  with my words. 
i met them,
and,  just like that,  they were mine, and
i was theirs.

~@~
 i stood before the first united methodist church's congregation and took vows to join and be a member of the church. in return, they took a vow to welcome and support me in my Christian journey. afterwards, i joined the reverend bob rice at the back of the sanctuary to be presented to and welcomed by my new church family. there was a very long line of warm welcomes, hand shakes, and hugs...

at the end of this line there was a darling, elderly couple. i had noticed them standing in the very back pew greeting those in the line. she was wearing a 40's style, pink suede, tailored skirt-suit. he was donning a dove gray suit, crisp white shirt, and a mauve tie, which perfectly matched her pink suit.

when they finally made their way to me, she took my hands in hers and paused. she looked into my eyes (in a sort of way no one ever had)- i was sure she was looking into my soul.

then, in her gravelly, sophisticated voice, she asked, "are you sherry gaines' daughter?" 

i tilted my head, smiled, and answered, "yes, ma'am."

she continued, "you don't know me... but i am lucy moss, and this is my husband george."

my skin got unusually warm, and i could hear my heart beating...

although i had never met the mosses,  i had heard much about "mr. and mrs. moss".

i knew lucy moss had been both my mom's and her mother's (my mamaw's) 8th grade math teacher. i knew george moss had been president and chairman of the board of the first national bank of henderson for years.  i also knew my mother had dated their only child, mike, for several years in high school,  they had broken up, and he had been killed shortly after in an horrific car wreck. 
further, although my mother married my dad, i knew she NEVER got over her first love,  mike moss... tomorrow, i will begin a collections of entries of my time spent with george and lucy moss. feel free to comment and ask questions. there may be a looming question you ask yourself... you won't be the first. in time, i'll answer it too.
(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx
ps you will find all entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

my taste buds are broken!!!

a little over a week ago i was visiting suz's blog. she commented that she has lost her taste for food. i thought to myself, AGAIN, i have too...
my taste buds are broken!!!

~~~i had already decided that my toothbrush was to blame.

ROTFLMAO!!!



my last toothbrush purchase was a colgate® 360°® (the one that has the "unique cheek and tongue cleaner"). i had decided that i had scrubbed away my taste buds!!! no, REALLY, i was sure that i had... for, my chicken had begun to taste like wood, my granny smiths had begun to taste like gold and delicious (no longer sour), and my green vegetables??? they had just offered texture (no flavor at all)!!!~~~


so, i commented as to what i thought my problem was.

that afternoon i received a sweet email form suz's sister, "j", who kindly told me that i could be experiencing a sinus problem... i replied that she could be right...as i do live in the ohio valley (allergy central).
THANK YOU, J:)

well, i think she was right!!! a couple of days later, my olfactory shut down completely (maggie's feet stopped smelling like fritos;), my chicken and apples tasted the same (they had NO taste), and my voice left the building. since then, i've been sneezing, wheezing, and coughing.
YUCK!!!

welcome to fall in the mid-west!!!

on the bright side of my predicament,
my diet has become much easier.
further, when this passes
(as it ALWAYS does:),
maybe... just maybe
i will welcome the flavors of
chicken and apples again...
or maybe not:b

i have only lost 2 lbs this week,
which means that my goal is shot
all to hell; dang it!!!
but, next week IS a NEW week:D

love and blessings,
dani xx

who is sarah palin???

(sarah palin)

"Sarah Palin, mother of five, is Alaska's first female governor and the first woman to run on a Republican presidential ticket!!!" msn

l,
d xx
ps. i'm shocked!!! are you??? what do you think??? feel free to post your opinions... i'm totally non-judgmental and find ALL opinions interesting:)

thread in time thursday...

(george and lucy moss)

over the next few mondays,  i look forward  to introducing you  to two of the most beloved people  i have ever known  and sharing our love story  with you.
(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx
ps you will find all future entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

walking a little funny...

(a close-up of our contention)


well, john informed me last week that he was going to take a little trip on his motorcycle...

"are you going to ride the natchez trace?" i asked.

he looked at me a little puzzled and responded, "yes, how did you know?"

"well, mom said something to me about it," i said. "i was wondering when you were going to let me in on it."
(i knew he would wait til the last minute so that i wouldn't have time to do much objecting;)

"oh," he continued, " dale and i are going to leave on saturday morning; and i'll be back on tuesday."

at least he wasn't going by himself!!!
(an idea he'd recently vocalized)
now, i'm not really sure if he was ever really thinking about going by himself or if he just threw that idea out there so that when he told me he was going with dale i would think that him travelling with someone would be the better of the two ideas or not; but, it wouldn't surprise me, ha!!!

anyway, i didn't object...

but, i told him on thursday night that he needed a gel seat if he was going to be riding that great a distance and that it looked like hurricane fay was going to be affecting the area to which he and dale were heading.

"eh, we'll be ok, he replied, "and i don't need anything for my seat. i'm used to it now. it won't bother me." he left first thing saturday morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~quick phone log...

saturday night: we made it!!! in one piece!!!(in other words, he told me so.)

sunday night: ummm, i think we're going to head towards knoxville tomorrow because hurricane fay is not going to allow us to go down into louisianna. we were only able to bike about 75 miles today because of all the rain...(in other words, you told me so;)

monday: well, we are in alabama. did you see all the tornado warnings out for here??? but, we're ok; you don't need to worry...(in other words, YOU TOLD ME SO!!!;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VROOOM, VROOOM, VROOOM...

i heard him pulling into the drive way last night.(THANK YOU, GOD!!!)

i met him at the front door where he greeted me with a kiss.

then i turned around to follow him into the house. he was walking a little funny...(actually a whole lot funny;)the next thing i knew, he was rubbing his bum...

picture: the brady bunch, alice after her mule ride down into the grand canyon!!!


"i'm going to get me a different seat before i do THAT again," he announced.

WHEN WILL MY GUY EVER LEARN TO LISTEN TO ME???

i'll tell you when...
WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!!!

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
bless his sore bum:b

love and blessings,
dani xx

one word...

i was tagged yesterday by gorgeous baby esmé's mom over at mozi esmé to post a one word meme:)

The simple rule of thumb is that you have to answer each question with one word, and one word only. So lots of this doesn't make any sense, because I can be a rather wordy person at times. Not intentionally, of course. I always try to get right to the point, of course.


So enough already. Here we go.
Where is your cell phone? bed
Where is your significant other? cycling:S
Your hair color? brunette
Your mother? sherry
Your father? ollie
Your favorite thing? katherine:D
Your dream last night? hmmm...
Your dream/goal? heaven
The room you’re in? bedroom
Your hobby? blogging
Your fear? loss
Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
Where were you last night? home
What you’re not? skinny
One of your wish-list items? tile
Where you grew up? kentucky
The last thing you did? coffee
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? on
Your pet? snoring:b
Your computer? dell
Your mood? content:)
Missing someone? d:(
Your car? commander
Something you’re not wearing? shoes
Favorite store? 1890's
Your summer? gone
Love someone? absolutely
Your favorite color? green
When is the last time you laughed? earlier
Last time you cried? weeks
Who do you want to tag? bloggers

love and blessings,
dani xx

a real dilemma...

(poor kat)

well, katherine got her cell phone taken away from her at school on friday. it is against the rules to have them at school. so, when hers fell out of her book bag, it was confiscated. once it was confiscated, she also received detention, which she will serve this afternoon.

my dilemma is this...

as her parent, i want her to have her phone with her!!!i feel way more comfortable (this day and time) with her having the phone at school with her at all times.

our high school is the biggest in the state with 2000 students on the roll.
the school has had problems with fights, drugs, guns, bomb threats, and, yes, even rape!!!

is it wrong of me to send her with the phone to school???

katherine has only EVER gotten into trouble at school 2 times in 13 years (including pre-school). both times it has been over the cell phone.

last year, she got detention for having it at school when her alarm went off on it in her purse. (she uses it as an alarm to awake in the mornings. she had had an orthodontist appointment the day prior and had reset the alarm for later than she normally did. she forgot to reset it, hence it went off in the middle of her first period class. she had it turned off; but the alarm will sound regardless of on or off.)

friday, as i said, it fell out of her book bag (they are not allowed to have book bags that zip).

she was not USING it either time.

the other thing is this... some of the teachers allow the kids to not only have their cell phones on them; but they also allow them to use the phones for texting and the such when they have completed their class work. katherine has several teachers that allow them.

now, i don't know whether to let it go or whether i should talk to someone about changing the rule. i really think that the rule needs to be changed for safety purposes. i don't think the phones should be used for play. they should be turned off and stowed during class unless allowed (teacher's discretion).

what do you think???

love and blessings,
dani xx

well, hey!!!

(just me checking in for my diet report;)

if it is true that "you are what you eat",
then that would definitely make me
a granny smith with tail feathers!!!

lol!!!

after dieting just a little over two weeks,
i have dropped 10 lbs:D

thirty more pounds to go in 39+ days!!!
i can honestly say that i am getting
a little tired of chicken and apples.
but, that is good because i am eating
less of each now than when i began.

i cannot tell a lie, though...

i have cheated a little here and there:S
i have eaten bread occasionally...
and i have eaten melons and grapes
instead of apples several times...

not TOO bad of a cheat; do you think???

i hope all you other dieters out there
are having luck as well!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

let your well wishes float...

i don't like putting two extremely emotional posts back-to-back; but, i feel that today it is quite necessary to do so...

a week ago stephanie and christian nielson were in a small-plane crash... both survived but are in very bad shape due to burns and trauma...

here is an article about their plane crash:

click here.
and this is christian's and stephanie's love story in pictures set to music:




***"Some of you may know that Steph and Christian have a family tradition of writing wishes on helium balloons to release them in the air (see: here). On Saturday, we'd like to invite people anywhere, everywhere to write thoughts of faith and hope to be released at the same time. (Nie is going to love this!) Lets do 5:00 AZ time (6:00 MST/7:00/Central/8:00/Eastern). Will you all take pictures of the release where you are and e-mail me so we can post them on Monday?" c jane (stephanie's sister)
love and God's blessings,danixx

remembering the superprincess...

on what would have been her fifth birthday...


(click on image to enlarge)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUPERPRINCESS!!!





she looked up
rarely down...
rarely with feet planted
upon the ground.

feet that wiggled
feet that danced
feet that toddled
feet that pranced...

feet that jumped
feet that grew
feet that ran
feet that flew...

ava's feet were created
for so much more.
they were created
so that she could soar...

soar, ava, soar!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

(original photos by sheye rosemeyer, ava's mummy)

ava's site

thread in time thursday...

it's almost that time of year...

football homecoming!!!


(katherine, jacob, and hannah: 2007)

***in the usa, all the high schools play football in the fall. football homecoming is a night that the high school's alumni is especially invited back to their alma mater to watch the game and take in a special halftime show where a queen and king are crowned (seniors chosen by their peers). there is then a big dance/party/pictures after the game for all the high school students.

love and blessings,
dani xx

tons of love tuesday:D

i have been honored with several awards,
which truly mean so much to me,
over the past months!!!

i haven't followed the rules with each
because i haven't wanted to leave out anyone...
now that i have several, i want to pass them
on to you all, my dear friends
along with lots of love...

so, here goes...








please choose an award or awards
that you like and may not already have.
and have a wonderful day!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

one room complete!!!

here are a few pictures of katherine's room
(aka the "kat kave";)...









(mia, the spooky kat, enjoying the kave:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

watch out for that pole!!!

the name has been left out to protect the innocent:b

the following is the 100 m-fly for those who haven't been watching the olympics. on this particular clip there is a line that shows up in red (at about 42 seconds into the swim) marking the current world record time. that line was green on the television i was watching last night.

keeping that in mind, here is the clip and the conversation that ensued while watching this swim live...



innocent one: what is that green thing???

me: that??? (pointing to the green line on the television)

innocent one: yeah...

me: that is used to show how fast the swimmers have to swim to beat the world record.

innocent one: oh... how do they keep from swimming into it???

me: into what???

innocent one: the green pole...
me: ROTFLMAO!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

elise's birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELISE!!!

(my beauty full friend, elise:)

although it is not quite elise's birthday here in the us,
it is already her day in australia:D elise, if i were there
this is where we would have to go...


(carousels cupcakes in brisbane, australia:)

and wouldn't it be just sinful but delicious to get one of each of these...



to split so that the next time we were to go...
we'd know which one we'd like best;b

i'd love for you ALL to go too:D

have a lovely day!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

(photos are used from carousels cupcakes blog spot)

playtime on the lane...

tania commented that maggie had a dreamy look in the photos of her i took yesterday...

tania was right!!!

little maggie was dreaming of being able to go out on the deck with katherine, chico, alex, and drew... she was sooooooooooooo sad that she wasn't invited to go "play" with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

katherine came home from school on wednesday, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "mom, chico wants to know if he and alex can come over and show me how they wax the hair off their chests and backs. is it ok if they come tomorrow after school???"

ok, there are a lot of questions and requests for which a mother prepares herself; but, this was not one i EVER foresaw coming!!!(waxing chest and back hair??? WTH???)

"what???"

she started laughing. "i'm serious, they actually want me to do it because they didn't get it even the last time they waxed each others'!!!"

against my better judgement, i told her they could come but that they would have to do it on the back deck... as i didn't want the mess in my house:I

so, last night at 6:15, chico and alex came into the house sporting a bottle of... nair!!!

i read the directions aloud to katherine (who was totally not paying any attention), who was obviously going to "wing it"... when chico's cell rang. i heard him giving directions to our house.

"dani b, drew's coming over to watch, " he informed me as he closed his cell.

this is going to be a zoo!!! i thought to myself...

a few minutes later, drew arrived and the 4 went out on the deck.

thank goodness chico decided NOT to let katherine do the honors!!!

chico lathered up alex's chest. then the next thing i knew, drew was lying on his stomach having chico nair his initials on the back of his legs???

i cut my eyes over at john and said, "do you know what they are doing, NOW???"

john said, "oh, just leave them alone. they're just 'playing'..."

playing, i thought to myself... did he just say playing??? oh, yes he did!!!

wth:b i got out my camera:

well, that was life on the lane last night...

love and blessings,
dani xx

my maggie-doodle...

three photos thursday...






18 pounds of pure sweetness:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

j.k. rowling ALWAYS makes me laugh...

(tampon angel i found on google images)

i was just over at juz's blog and read that j.k. rowling is coming out with a new book in december.

as soon as i read the author's name a big, dorky smile came to my face.
then i literally laughed aloud:D

several years ago, john, katherine and i were returning from vacation and were driving through nashville, tn. i turned around to katherine (who was sitting in the back seat of the van) and asked her if she wanted to go at midnight to get the harry potter book that was coming out that night.

she said she did and that she wanted me to call the notorious d to see if she and will (kat's bf) wanted to join us.

i called and d said, "are you kidding??? go at midnight???"

"yes," i replied. "i thought we'd go for the experience and in order to make a memory."

after a moment of hesitation, she asked again if i were really serious. i assured her i was. "ok," she gave in, "we'll go with you..."

anyway, we picked them up and headed to walmart with an hour to spare. we were probably one of the first 10 or 15 people to get there for the book. the cashiers had us all stand in a group in the middle of the store.

after about 30 minutes, d and i got tired of standing; so, we went over and were leaning against a bunch of unopened boxes full of things that needed to be stocked. we'd only been standing there for a few minutes when this goofy guy walked up to us.

he began to shove his glasses up(which were barely hanging on to the end of his nose) with his pointer finger; and as he did so, he looked at d and me and said in his goofy voice, "so, i guess we are all here for the same thing???"

d and i just smiled and pleasantly nodded. he stood there awkwardly for a few minutes and then went on his way...

d started laughing (she was cracking herself up;)!!!

"what???" i asked.

she pointed to the box behind us. it was a box of always feminine pads... she then began to laugh hysterically. "iii should have HAHAHAHAA... told that guy that i didn't know what he was here for but that we were here waiting for HAHAHAHA snort, snort (yes she did!!! HA!!!) the always with wings!!!"

i thought i was going to wet myself!!!

katherine turned around and naively said, "huh???"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the notorious d had already moved to florida before the next book was released...

so, katherine and i went by ourselves.

on our way to walmart katherine said
(THIS IS PRICELESS!!!):
"mom call miss dana and ask her if she's at walmart right now waiting for...

FLYING TAMPONS..."
(she was a little confused about always with wings,
me thinks;)

ROTFLMAO!!!

i love that daughter of mine!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

***megan sent me this commercial i had to add it... as it is friggin' hysterical!!!

(BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!"

(my SWEET dryer;)

this morning while katherine was getting ready for school, i put a load of clothes i washed last night in the dryer. i then made my way to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair, and washed my face. katherine let me know she was leaving. i went about doing a few more things around the house. 
as i walked past the laundry room, i thought to myself, "didn't  i start that load of clothes?" well, i had. our dryer is just so quiet, it is difficult to hear when it is running...

we have this dryer because our last one fell completely apart! have you ever seen a dryer fall apart (i mean literally "fall apart")? no? when it happened,  it was a new one for me, too.

you see...

a while back, i put a load of clothes in my old dryer (which, by the way, wasn't really old). after some time passed, i went back to unload and fold the clothes inside only to find the clothes were still wet. what? i shut the door and pressed the start button, but it didn't start.

dead silence. 

when john returned from work that afternoon, i told him about the dryer. the next thing i knew, he was pulling it away from the wall. nervously, i asked him if i should call wally, our handy man. he said, no, that he was sure he could fix it.
(ohmyword, my john is NO fixer!) 

the next thing i knew he had the top opened. he turned around and looked at me. with sweat dripping from his nose, he asked me to come hold the tumbler so he could work on it.

oh, no. i obliged.

he started unscrewing the bolts holding it in place. the first couple came out fine; then, it seemed every other one fell to the bottom of the dryer:0
other things sounded like they were falling, too. 
after an eternity about 45 minutes of me holding the tumbler while john attempted to identify the problem, i looked at him and asked, "what are we going to do now?"

looking up at me, he furrowed his brow, wiped the sweat from his nose and chin and gave me a nervous chuckle. he proceeded to tell me he didn't know... it wasn't what he thought it was... (whatever "it" was?)

mind you i was still holding the now boltless, much heavier tumbler. "what about this tumbler?" i asked.

"i don't know," he said as he nervously chuckled again.

"i cannot hold this thing much longer!?" i told him (not chuckling at all).

he said he didn't think he could get it lined back up to replace the bolts.  (not mentioning the obvious - 1/2 of the screws were "gone" to the bottom of the appliance never to be seen again!) 

then he said, "i'm getting hungry; let's go get some supper." 
he didn't have to tell me twice!
"ok," i said as i let go of the tumbler.

"BANG!" was basically the sound the tumbler made as it hit the bottom of the dryer. 
later at rookies over zin and maker's-and-coke,  john told me not to worry... he would fix the dryer. (honestly, after my second glass of wine,  i was really not worried at all;) i nodded and smiled.
the next morning (it was a saturday), i awoke and made my way to the den where john sat reading the paper. i thought i heard a noise coming from the laundry room. i asked john what it was. he grinned and said, "it's the dryer."

"no, it's not," i said to him.

"yes, it is," he continued.

"you did not fix that dryer," i stated as i opened the door to the laundry room.
there sat a brand new dryer (the "sweet" one in the photo above). 

"could they tell what was wrong with the other one?" i asked him.

ohmyword...  you should have seen his face!

"WHAT?" i asked.

"well..." he began. when the guy brought this one in this morning and hooked it up, it wouldn't run, either." he continued. "we had a blown fuse."

BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 
poor john has yet to live that one down... he gives gave a whole new meaning to the old adage...

"IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!!!"
love and blessings,
danixx

float, my friends, float!!!

a continuation of yesterday's post:

may this be worthy of your time:)

1. what does this passage (just john 3:16) mean to you???
until i was 30 years old, this passage meant to me literally what it says. it meant that so long as i believed that Jesus Christ was the son of God that i would go to heaven because Jesus died on the cross so that i would have eternal life (if i believed).
but, for all those years, although i believed,
i felt like there was something missing.

2. can it stand alone in encompassing the basic nature of Christianity???
it can stand alone. way more often than not, it does, and i believe that those who publicize it, truly believe that it encompasses the essence of Christianity.
although i think it is a beautiful piece of scripture, i don't think it should ever stand alone because there's something missing.

3. do you think that taken from context it is misleading???
i find this verse very misleading. why??? it misled me for a very long time. and, i have found, since, that it misleads others.

4. should it be taken from context???
in my opinion, it should rarely be taken from context because it is more of a "chicken soup" remedy than an antibiotic (if you will:)...

5. do you think that this passage is used so often that it has lost the affect it was intended to have on john's readers???
i believe that if you see anything too much and in too many places it becomes commercialized and loses its value.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i believe that john, in his third chapter, conveys EVERYTHING someone searching for God needs to know.

John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]"

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You[c] must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e]

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."[h]


i will try to be brief in explaining
how it happened for me...

Jesus says "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."
water is a cleansing of sin, one needs to ask GOD with a true heart to ask for forgiveness for one's own sins (one by one) no matter how long it takes to do so.
why??? it clears a path straight to GOD for communication!!! (no road blocks)

the SPIRIT of God is sent to those who ask. the SPIRIT of GOD is real and is JESUS. and HE promised to send it to those who asked...even his disciples had to receive it in order to truly understand (Pentecost).without the SPIRIT, the disciples would have never had the truth, understanding, and boldness to go out and spread the WORD!!! the SPIRIT is essential!!!
Jesus doesn't walk the earth anymore. so, the only way i believe you can know Him is through the gift of the SPIRIT.
further, many can believe THAT Jesus walked the earth and THAT He is the Son of God.
but, in order to believe IN Jesus as the Son of God, one has to know HIM. that can only come through a personal relationship with HIM, which can ONLY come through the SPIRIT, which can only come through clearing the road to GOD and praying that he send you this MOST precious GIFT.
the Spirit is what is needed to understand the whole truth of Jesus!!!
the Spirit is awesome!!!
the Spirit didn't take away who i am!!!
the Spirit increased me by giving me what i was missing...
the blessed assurance that my eternity was with God in heaven who loves me...
UNCONDITIONALLY... flaws and all!!!

when i say john 3:16 shouldn't be taken from context, it's only my opinion because of from where i come. but, i tell you the truth, "one must clear the path to God through asking for forgiveness (it's a cleansing for oneself (not for HIM)), and one MUST invite the Spirit of GOD to dwell within (because think about it; it's impossible to believe "IN" a someone you don't know personally; it's the same with GOD)!!!

thank you all for your comments yesterday; and i apologize if i've totally confused anyone with my opinion!!! hopefully and prayerfully i haven't...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps... i am only a Christian. my beliefs are my very own and are not affiliated with any particular denomination... as i went to both a catholic and a baptist church when i was younger and later joined the methodist church.
by the way, i found God...
in my very own bedroom!!!
lol, really!!!

sink or float...

(all you need to sink or float???)

john 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (niv)

for ALL of john chapter 3, click here:)

what does this passage (just john 3:16) mean to you???
can it stand alone in encompassing the basic nature of Christianity???
do you think that taken from context it is misleading???
should it BE taken from context???
do you think that this passage is used so often
that it has lost the affect it was intended to have
on john's readers???

please comment:)

it doesn't matter to me whether or not
you are a Christian.
i do not/will not judge.
be as open and honest as you want to be.
please, don't criticize others' views/comments.
i will give you my opinion on these questions
after i read yours:)

(i have written this post after reading (a stand-alone)john 3:16 at another blogger's site, i was actually going to share awards today, but decided that could wait. i really hope you will participate... as i think it could be very interesting reading. may we ALL learn something new!!! i'm really excited:D)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

2 lbs. in 2 days...

and, only 54 more days to go:S


(grilled chicken, apples, and spinach salad with fat-free ginger dressing:)

man, wouldn't it be nice to actually keep up the momentum of losing a pound a day on a relatively healthy diet!!!

if so, that would mean i would only have to eat chicken breasts, green vegetables, and granny smith apples for another 38 days:b (there was actually a time in my life that i could do it;) but, i think that metabolic train left the station about 3 years ago, HA!!!


(roasted chicken with apples: i use only the breast... 2 grams of fat per serving;)

for those who have wondered about the diet i have put myself on, i will tell you, it's really not as bad as it sounds as i am a chicken eater anyway... i have just decided to cut out all the junk (mainly carbs) i eat along with the chicken. and i use different sauces in which to dip or cook my breasts (all fat-free... like bbq, 57, sweet-n-sour, etc...) also, i bought several different kinds of green vegetables (green beans, asparagus, spinach, etc...) finally, the apples are just for snacking...

there's one thing about it though, in another 54 days, someone may have to pay me to ever look at another apple or piece of chicken, LOL!!!


(bahahaha-brock-brock-hahahaha:D)

have a good evening, and enjoy your brownies, cookies, and ice cream:b
i would if i were you!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

first date...

well, katherine went on her "first date" tonight...

"be home by 11 o'clock," i said. "that doesn't mean 11:05," i continued. "furthermore (i love that word;), that doesn't mean that you wait until the last minute and have to speed home. give yourselves enough time to get home safely."

"i'll be careful with her, dani b.," alfonso assured me.

"you better be," i got in the last word;)

at 8:25, i got out of the shower and put on my pajamas. i headed toward the den where john was watching the opening ceremonies of the olympicswhen i heard someone talking???
about that time katherine and alfonso
rounded the corner from the kitchen.

"what are you doing???" i asked, "have you already been to the movie???"

"yep, we went to see the mummy movie," katherine replied.

"i took her to buy her book first," in chimed alfonso... "by the way, dani b.,are my shorts too tight in the butt???"

wth??? i thought to myself!!!

"huh???" i said.

"these guys in barnes and noble kept staring at my butt,"he continued,"are my shorts too tight???"

katherine was laughing hysterically!!!

in an attempt to change the subject,i asked what they were doing home so early.
"did you miss me???" i also asked.

"no," katherine responded. "we are just hungry..."

wth??? i thought to myself, again.

i told katherine to go make frozen pizza and chocolate chip cookies.

alfonso replied, "but she's not very domestic..."

ROTFLMAO!!!
THAT BOY'S GOT HER NUMBER!!!
(HE WAS UTTERING WORDS
I ALREADY KNEW VERY WELL!!!)



(i told you all alfonso has eyes.)

kat did manage to bake a frozen pizza. however, while i was taking some snapshots of the two, my darling maggie stole the last piece out of alfonso's plate!!!

alfonso was bummed until i reminded him that there were chocolate chip cookies yet to be baked. then he was all smiles. as i left the room katherine was putting the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet to be baked.

15 minutes later i smelled the cookies...
yep, she burned them, HA!!!


(burnt chocolate chip cookies;)

alfonso's learning quickly about my not-so-domestic-diva!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we (john and i) have katherine's "first date" behind us,

and all is well on the lane:)

love and blessings,
dani xx

thirteen things thursday...

lol, i titled this before i even counted to see if i have 13 things to tell you... at least i'm not going to bore you with thirty (i'm all about alliteration;)!!!

1. the only things i have left to do in "kat's quarters" are put up the new blinds in her room and den and hook up cable tv in her den:)
2. i am cleaning out all the kitchen cabinets tomorrow. (salvation army and dump, here john comes again!!!)
3. katherine is going on her first ever "real date" tomorrow night:S
yep, you guessed it...
with "no eyes" (aka chico)!!!
ROTFLMAO!!!
just kidding, but he's yet to open them (his eyes) for a picture;b
4. elizabeth katherine's school got their air conditioning fixed for 2 hours; it is broken again. (at least there has been no heat advisories nor ozone alerts
but it still needs to be repaired, PRONTO!!!)
5. there is still nothing under my bed:D
6. i am starting an 8 week diet tomorrow (only apples, chicken, and green beans).
7. i would love, love, love to lose 30 lbs;
hopefully, i will!!!
8. i found some awesome, all-natural breath treats for maggie; they are made with mint, rosemary, and parsley.
9. maggie's breath smells MUCH better:D
10. i have finally gotten all of katherine's school paperwork filled out and completed.
11. all of her school clothes have arrived with the exception of a box from hollister.
12. our 5 year-old cherry tree has cherries on it for the first time, but it is NOT a good thing as a cardinal who likes to look at himself in my side, rear-view mirror on the jeep has been eating them!!! UGH!!! you have got to love bird shit with pits:[
(my neighbor thinks the bird just might be her husband
(who was my dearest friend growing up);
thus, i cannot "get rid" of the bird:S)
13. i saved the best for last...
THE NOTORIOUS D GOT SOME REALLY GOOD NEWS TODAY CONCERNING HER DERMATOMYOSITIS!!!
ACCORDING TO HER SPECIALIST, SHE HAS A RELATIVELY MILD CASE.
THANK YOU, GOD!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

an update on nick...

(nick at the stratosphere in las vegas)

first, i want to thank all you sweet souls so much for your thoughts, well wishes, and prayers. please, if you have the time, keep them coming. i often ask for and offer prayers because i truly believe in their power!!!

you will never know how much i appreciate youand the time you take to answer my request:)

i received a little bit of information this morning.it is second hand but reliable...

A good friend of Bill's (nick's dad) said that he last spoke with Bill on Saturday. Bill had indicated that they were going to try Nick off the ventilator for a little while because they needed to get fresh air in his lungs. He also said that they would not do dialysis on Saturday because his counts were a little better. Bill indicated that at best they thought the vision in Nick's left eye would be 20/400. It is my understanding that they anticipate no vision in his right eye. Although he had sent Bill an email on Sunday, he has not yet heard back from him. I asked if he was doing any better. He said that it is basically status quo. When Bill asked the doctor if things were improving, the doctors were very reserved in their response and said that he has a long, long, long way to go. I didn't send this to all of IM because it is kinda "unofficial" since it is me telling you what his friend told me. I have, instead, forwarded it to those who have asked me for updates. Please let others know as you feel appropriate. Please continue to keep them all in your prayers.

obviously things are not great;but they don't seem as bleak as they didin my previous post concerning nick...

(nicholas gaddis:)

here are some of nick's own words (just to let you know what kind of a wonderful person he is;):

If I could meet anyone in the world I would have to say I would love to meet my donor. I have/had cancer. I have Hodgkin's lymphoma which as of right now has a 90% cure rate. Well I was diagnosed February 7th, 2000 and I am still fighting it. I have had numerous amounts of chemotherapy and radiation, I have had an experimental CD-30 antibody study, and I am currently approaching the end of my third transplant. The first 2 transplants were otologist transplants which meant that I got my own cells but the difference in this transplant was that it was allogenic which means that someone had to donate their cells to me. The reason I want to meet this person is because in order for me to get this transplant, I had to get my blood typecrossed with donors in the donor registry. Out of all the people in the world that were registered in the blood donor there were only 2 people that matched me in the world. After the doctors determined that I needed this transplant one of the 2 donors was contacted and they accepted. The big deal about this is... this is not like the donor goes and gives a sample of their blood and that is all they have to do. The person who did this had to go through weeks of immunotherapy, taking extra pills, going in for injections periodically and then to give their cells they had to go to the blood bank and sit there all day for 2 days with a catheter running out of both of their arms to save my life. This person has never met me, doesn't know what all I have been through or anything yet they took time, money, and pain to save my life. That is the type of person that I wish I could be and I wish I could meet. Technically at the moment I am cancer free but my immune system is still building thanks to their cells. (nick)

that is the kind of dear person for whom i've asked you to pray...

as i said previously, i believe prayer is a very powerful tool, and the gaddises know that their son/brother, respectively, is being prayed for all around the world. i know that they are grateful and their hearts are being made warm and full with that knowledge...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

too hot to go to school...

as i was sitting in the car-rider line this afternoon, which i refer to as "purgatory", it seemed as though there had really been no summer break;
it just seemed like same-old-same-old only much hotter:S

the kids were 25 minutes late being released.
i began to wonder if the school was going to release them at all.
finally, i saw katherine and hannah heading my way:)
they got in the jeep, and i asked them why they were so late.

katherine said it was because of the heat index alert.
evidently, there was a bus running really late,
and the school didn't want the kids out in the heat waiting.

that was very interesting to me
given the fact that i'd just gotten off the phone
with 'the anonymous d', who told me there was no
air-conditioning at elizabeth katherine's
school, today!!!

our heat index reading reached nearly 110 degrees f.
and, we have been under an ozone alert as well.

in my opinion, our kids shouldn't start school
in august unless ALL air conditioning units
are up and working!!!

the safety and health engineer in me says,
"IT'S NOT SAFE!!!"

i hope the problem is rectified SOON!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

a silly, silly sophomore...

(chico and katherine)

and a "sophisticated senior"???

NOT!!!

i think they are both pretty silly:b

i have had a couple of blogger friends who don't live in the usa ask what a "sophomore" is (because katherine is going to be a sophomore in high school this year) and how the usa's school system works.

so, i will try to explain as best i can.
although my explanation is solely based on my experience with kentucky schools, i believe it is basically the same nation-wide.

if it is different in your state, feel free to expound in your comment:D

(most school years run from september to may.)

parents have the option of sending their children to what we call "pre-k" (pre-kindergarten)/"pre-school" for kids who turn 4 before october 1st. this schooling is usually only about 3 hours a day.

kindergarten is mandatory for kids who turn 5 before october 1st. however, parents may choose to start sending their child to kindergarten the following year if they believe that their child needs the extra year for maturity. kindergarten has been transitioning from 1/2 day to full day over the past several years; most are now full day instruction.

elementary education is grade 1 through grade 5.

middle school is grade 6 through grade 8.

high school is grade 9 through grade 12.
9th graders are called freshmen.
10th graders are called sophomores.
11th graders are called juniors.
12th graders are called seniors.

students graduate in the spring of their senior year (usually around the age of 18).

a bachelor of science/arts degree is usually acquired after 4 years of college.
students in college are referred to as:
1st year - freshmen
2nd year - sophomore
3rd year - junior
4th year - senior

a master of science/arts is usually acquired after 2 years of post college/university graduation.

a doctorate is an additional 2 years.

i think (with variations) that is about it in a nutshell...
if you have any more questions, feel free to ask:D

love and blessings,
dani xx

saturday night on the lane...

"A" is for...



("A"pple: granny smiths are my favorite;)

and...


(the "A"ngels)

and for...


(yes, he has eyes; they are just closed:b)

ALFONSO!!!
(the one and only...)

last night katherine had alfonso (aka "chico")
over for a play date...
i was lying in my bed (the one with NOTHING underneath it:)
when i looked up to see alfonso who had wandered in
and was checking out the portrait
hanging above the headboard of my bed (wth???)...


("floating heads")

"is that you and katherine???" he asked.
"yes," i replied.
"hmmm..." he hmmmm'ed. "i thought so," he continued.
"katherine calls it 'floating heads'," i added.
"oh, is that why you want a picture of us
in black turtlenecks???" he asked.
"no, my mom wants a picture of katherine
in a black turtleneck;
you don't have to wear one..." i answered and chuckled to myself.
"ah, good," he said then left my bedroom.

saturday night on the lane is usually interesting.
this week was no different:D

katherine calls alfonso a "piece of work".
i agree, lol!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx