Happiness: new grill, steaks and his truck

How Do Others See Me?

Often you go to a fair or street festival and you will find an artist or two set up drawing Caricatures, a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person to create an easily identifiable visual likeness.

In literature one of the key features is the Character Sketch. Here you are introducing the reader to someone. You want your readers to know that person’s characteristic ways of doing things, to know something about their value system. Character sketches only give a snap shot of people.

This is true in life, when we are trying to describe someone to another person we often describe that person using exaggerations of certain characteristics or even oversimplification of others.

So how am I described to someone who hasn’t met me before? Is it by my physical features, my expressions that I use or by my character? Do others see what I am or what I try to be?


Others determine your reputation. You determine your character.
Character is defined by integrity and at the heart of integrity is the idea of wholeness.

Psalm 25:21

Who Has the Best BBQ

Today Kyle and I decided to take the scenic route home from Leavenworth, WA. We left and headed over to Chelan and then to Ellensburg for lunch. At TRC there are a whole lot of folks that rave about a BBQ place in Ellensburg so we decided we needed to check it out.

I have eaten BBQ in at least 47 of the 50 states and at least 3 of the Canadian providences. I really like good BBQ and was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about at Rodeo City BBQ. I usually get my BBQ fix these days from 3 Pigs in Bellevue. Not only is it good BBQ, but it is also less than a mile from where I work.

So after eating a helping of Baby Backs, two sides and a piece of Cornbread here is the result: Rodeo City has really good BBQ, it is smoked a little more than I tend to like it, the top is a little tough from the smoking, but overall the meat was cooked well, tender and flavorful. The Sauce was a sweeter sauce and I was never offered a HOT version so I had to use Tabasco sauce, but that is not unusual. However, I think 3 Pigs is better.

3 Pigs has wonderful sauces that come in mild, medium and Hot, they smoke their meat with a dry rub so there is no toughness on the top layer. The meat is tender and easily peels off the bone.

Rodeo City has much better side dishes then 3 Pigs and the Corn Bread will be enough to bring me back.

I would rank both of these places in the top 10 of the best BBQ I have ever eaten.

The top 5 are:
San Antonio, TX on the River Walk. I was there for 5 days and at BBQ three times.
Memphis TN, Jack Neely’s Intersate BBQ
Oxford, MI – My sister Linda’s
Atlanta, GA – Dreamland BBQ
Chicago,IL – Russell’s BBQ.

So what BBQ is your favorite?

99 and Counting

This past Sunday my husband ‘s Grandmother celebrated her 99th birthday so we went to visit her and bring her some flowers.

We were sitting and chatting when Kyle asked her how she met Grampa Herb, her 1st husband. The smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye made me wish I had thought to bring the video camera to record this memory.

She giggled once and then started in:

I met him at church you know. It was when the church was down town and I used to walk to church.

I was all dressed up and walked in and looked at the clock to see what time it was, he was sitting right under the clock all by himself. I thought, “Oh look he is sitting by himself”. I went and sat next to him. Neither one of us got anything out of the preachers message because we talked through the whole service.

The service ended and I started to walk home. Pretty soon a car drove up next to me and it was him offering me a ride home. I told him no, I wanted him to know that I was independent. [Those of us that know her would probably laugh a good one at that, stubborn is more like it]. But after some prodding, not much really I got in and let him drive me home. And that is how it all started.

Another little giggle, big smile and the story was over.

Memories like these are often lost; I was so blessed to be let in on that little story.

Deuteronomy 4:9

What Do I Think

Thinking involves the mental manipulation of information.

What information are we allowing into our minds, what are we doing with that information?

One morning last week as I was getting ready for work I caught my image in the mirror. I stopped to look. What I saw actually made me happy. I have been working out at the YMCA for about 11 months and in that time my body has slimmed down, toned up and is starting to look like one of the athlete I once was and not the grandmother I am now. I have lost weight, my clothes are fitting much looser and in general I am pleased with the results of my hard work.

So the information my brain was manipulating was all good and I only saw good things in the mirror.

Later that night as I was preparing to go to bed for the night I stopped to look at myself in that same mirror. This time I saw the scars, mutilation and defects in my body.

It was the same body, same mirror and two totally different results.

That night my brain was manipulating new information and it wasn’t good and I only saw the bad things in the mirror.

My mind ran away with all of the possibilities for the five days that it took for the test results to come back. I struggled to keep my mind focused on the positive and not the negative.

Now that I have gotten the best results possible I can reflect on what I saw in the mirror both times that day. I look at my image today and still see the positive changes and yet rejoice in the trials and history that the scars mark.

Lord, I thank You for all that You have done for me.


2 Corinthians 10:5