Heaven

Today I was sitting in my living room reading in Ben's chair when I stopped and thought to myself how happy I was in that moment. I was off work with the entire day ahead of me sitting quietly in my own home with my Christmas tree all lit up and the dogs napping beside me. I thought, "This is Heaven." Then it occurred to me that if it was really Heaven, I would throw my family and friends right there into the living room with me. That would make it even better.

When I think of Heaven there are some things that are truly beyond my comprehension. For example, we will be in the presence of God. Everything that I know tells me that this, in itself, will be able to fill us with great joy for ever and ever. However, I can't really concieve of what that will be like. It's kind of like how I know that 770 Billion dollars is a lot of money, but I can't comprehend how much that really is. Sad analogy, but you get the idea.

Then I think of things about Heaven that I can grasp and I think how wonderful it will be....
I think of being with all of my family and friends in the same place at the same time. Oh, what wonderful times we will all have together! Each one my friends and family members is unique and special in their own way and they each bring something different to the mix. I think of all of the laughter we will experience and the fun we will have.
I think it will be so peaceful to be in a place where there is no anger, frustration, anamosity, pride, resentment, bitterness, lonliness, prejudice, sickness... I could go on and on. So, top that all off with the fact that we will be there with Jesus, God, and all who came before us..... I can't really fathom it.

Anyway, don't think I'm going all crazy for writing about Heaven. I'm not looking to go there any time soon. I just know that when we all get there, we'll never want to come back.

Blog Disaster

So no one actually informed me that I had this giant unproportional picture for my header and a blah gray background for an entire month. How embarrassing. I have really dropped the ball on this whole blog thing. My friend Ross facebooked me about my blog and it was then that I realized I haven't updated in a while. Turns out, the pictures and backgrounds I was playing around with and thought I had deleted actually stuck. Oh well. Maybe someone got a good laugh.

Anyway.... Christmas is upon us. That is officially insane. I mean, it's almost 2009! I cannot believe how fast this year has passed. I have only just begun shopping for Christmas presents, but the house is decorated and I'm really proud of how it looks. I'll post pictures as soon as I upload them from my camera. I am very blessed this year to be able to take the whole week of Christmas off of work to spend time with my family! I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to go home this year.

So, a brief update on our life here in Pike Road....

1. Ben and I placed membership at church here that we love. We have joined a "lifegroup" that meets on Sunday nights that has been the biggest blessing. More on that to come. We have also started helping out some with the youth group. It's funny because I think some of the youth group kids actually thought I was IN the youth group.

2. I am reading the Twilight Saga. I'm on book two now and I can't put it down! I know, you thought it was for teenagers... well it is. It actually sounds like a really dumb story, but these books are very well written and interesting to read. Think Harry Potter. I mean, they aren't equal to Harry Potter by ANY stretch of the imagination, but they have the same feel to them in that you continue to think about them when you aren't reading them. If that makes sense to any of you Harry Potter fans out there.

3. We had our first yard sale about a month ago to get rid of all the old stuff that we don't need after combining households. I was going to make that it's own post, but it's too far gone now. Needless to say, it was interesting. Come to think of it, I will post about this later too.

Ok, this is getting long so I'm just going to have to actually keep up with this blog better in the future so I don't get so far behind. And in closing, the next time my blog is HIDEOUS, please someone, let a girl know.

Here's To Pandora

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been so busy with traveling, working, and studying that I haven't had time to be creative. I have a lot of updates coming when time permits, but today we're going to talk about Pandora.

A friend of mine told me about Pandora a couple of years ago and I thought it sounded cool, but several months went by before I checked it out for myself. After Ben and I started dating, it quickly became one of our most favorite websites. In case you haven't heard of it yet (and you may have because I think it's become quite popular), it's a website that plays the radio. However, it's not just any radio. On pandora you can create your radio stations based on the artists or songs that you like. For example, Ben and I have created stations such as, Smack Dat radio (rap), Chris Tomlin radio, Tim McGraw Radio, Brass Bed Radio (based on a song we like), Usher radio, Frank Sinatra radio, Nora Jones radio, Enya radio for low key hanging out and relaxation..... you get the point. So Pandora will take the song or the artist you like and play other songs by other artists that are similar. It's awesome because you can listened to uninterrupted music that you love and find new groups and songs that you like as well. You can even rate the songs to fine tune your radio station. If Smack Dat radio plays anything by Master P, I can give it a "thumbs down" and they won't play anymore Master P. Thanks Pandora. Well, who plays Master P anymore these days anyway? Ugh. Also, if Smack Dat radio plays Miss New Booty, I can give it a thumbs up and so Pandora will know to play more songs like that. How cool is that?

Ben and I have really enjoyed putting on Pandora in the evenings when we are cooking dinner or just hanging out. Paying extra for the nicer speakers when I ordered my laptop for pharmacy school really did pay off for something..... Also, Ben and I don't have cable ( I know, 'YOU DON'T HAVE CABLE?!!!") so we never have the t.v. on. (Unless, of course, we are watching Lost.) Pandora makes for some really nice background music that we can sing along to.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on the good news of Pandora so that all can enjoy.

Fall Fever

Fall is in the air and I am loving it! Over the years I have come to love what I call the "changing seasons" the most. I think that all of the seasons are wonderful and special in there own way, from the hot days spent at the pool in the summer time to the soup, cocoa, and Christmas festivities of winter time. However, it's the return of green leaves and warmer days in the spring and the beautiful colors of fall that make me the most excited. I call fall and spring the "changing seasons" because when they arrive, you can feel it in the air. Something changes. The picture was taken at Mentone last November on our family get away that has become a new tradition. It was so beautiful there with all of the leaves in their vibrant colors! My family will take another November getaway this year to the mountains in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Here are some things that I am enjoying about the coming of Fall so far:

1. Football season is here! There is just something so exciting about getting together with friends and family to cheer on your team. I love making dips and trying out now appetizers to take to the get-togethers and tailgates! War Eagle!

2. The cool weather. The past several days have brought perfect weather! The temperature was cool, but not too cool. Ben and I have been opening our windows at night and early in the mornings and just turning off the a.c.. I love the smell of the outside and the breeze is just enough to cool the house to the perfect temperature. This weather also nice for running. Strap on that ipod and go for a jog at sunset!

3. Burning candles and my Bath and Body Works Oil Burner (also pictured). Don't get me wrong, I am sort of obsessed with candles and my oil burner and I burn them year round. However, I couldn't resist stopping in Bath and Body Works and checking out their new fall fragrances. They have every fall scent you can think of from "Freshly Fallen Leaves" to "Caramel Apple." If you don't have an oil burner from Bath and Body Works, stop what you are doing and go buy one. These things can scent your whole house in a matter of minutes. Warning: in confined spaces the smell can get too strong quickly so you may want to only burn in it for short periods of time. All you need is a bag of tea lights and your favorite scented oil to go with it!

4. Caramel apples. I love caramel apples but you really only see them for sell at specialty candy shops and fairs. Thus, if I want a caramel apple then I have to make it myself or shell out about five dollars for one of the fancy ones. I can honestly say that Ben would die if I spent over 1.50 on a caramel apple. That leaves me with the option of making my own. During the fall you can find these nifty little caramel apple making kits that are very easy to use. You take the apple, wrap the caramel sheet around it (that's right, it's like a big flat circle of caramel), stick the stick in it, bake it for 5 minutes, and wa - la! Caramel apple for me.

5. Apple Cider. As soon as the cartons of apple cider start showing up in the produce section, I know that fall has arrived! I've noticed that not a lot of people are apple cider fans, but I love the stuff! I found a recipe for Cider Mill Punch in my yellow "Calling All Cooks" cookbook that my grandomther gave me. I make about a gallon (sometimes two gallons on accident) of it at least once a year for all to enjoy. However, I'm usually the only one who really drinks it with the exception of an occasional guest who would like to give it a try.

6. Fall decorations. I love it when the brightly colored mums and the bright orange pumpkins start lining people's porches when fall comes. I just had to grab a few yellow and orange mums to add some color our front porch. I'm going back today to get some for the back porch as well. They are $4.15 at Wal Mart and easy to care for. Some people get really creative with their fall decorations with the gords, hay bells, fall leaves, etc. I'm not quite that creative, but I'm working on it.....

I hope that everyone else is enjoying the start of Fall as much as I am! Take advantage of the wonderful weather!

When White Girls Use Black Girl Hair Products

We have here a small tub of Marula Natural Therapy Hair Strengthening Moisturizer made from the oils of the Marula fruit found in Africa. Ok, the words "oil" and "Africa" should have clued me in on this particular day at work.... There was a woman with a table set up in front of the pharmacy handing out samples to all of the women who passed by. I had seen her out there all day and when I left the pharmacy to put up a box of Protonix the woman asked me if I would like to sample this hair product. "Well, what is it?" I asked. The woman (who was white) proceded to tell me about all of the forms and functions of the Marula oil products. I didn't think anything of it when the lady handed me two samples. "Thanks." I said as I headed back to the pharmacy reading the sample packet. "Hmmm, 100% Marula Oil...Africa's exotic moisturizer.... Keep the look...At Home Salon Care...this might be nice to try..." Then a little voice in the back of my mind said, "Is this for white people or black people? I don't know. Should I ask someone? Then I might look stupid or offend someone. I'll just wait and see what happens."

It's no secret that white people and black people have totally different hair. I learned from first hand experience when a black girl asked me to french braid her hair. I knew how to french braid (I thought) and after I'd finished her hair she looked at it and said, "That looks terrible." She was right. We both got a good laugh out of it. Besides, she should have known that white girls do not hold a candle to black girls when it comes to braiding. At least I don't.

I continued to watch the lady hand out samples to all women, white and black, who passed by.

So, on Friday when I worked a half day I decided I'd try the hair product after work. What harm could it do? I followed the instructions on the package: Pour a small amount into your hands, rub together and massage evenly through hair. Set or style as desired. What I didn't notice was that the instructions say nothing about your hair being wet. Oops. So, with wet hair, I rubbed a small amount of Marula through my tresses. Suddenly they became strait and stiff as if weighed down with glue. "Weird," I thought to myself, "maybe it softens out when you dry it..." So, I dried my hair. I had great difficulty getting the brush to go through it, but I managed. At last it was dry. The final product...not exactly as I had envisioned. Let's just say my hair still looked wet in areas and whenever I touched my hair for the rest of the day my hands came away with a greasy residue on them. So I'm left to wonder, do the sample ladies at Wal Mart have any idea what they are doing with these products, or is it just a joke? That lady was probably laughing to herself all day.

I Evacuated and I Want Fried Chicken

There are about sixty four shelters in Alabama that opened up to house thousands of evacuees from Louisianna. Among those shelters are a few local churches here in Montgomery. The people of these churches gave up time during their holiday weekend to go and prepare food for those currently residing at the church. For the most part the response was great. Many people were very thankful to be taken care of. However, other evacuees were asking why they were having to eat hamburgers and hotdogs instead of fried chicken. They wanted someone to literally leave what they were doing and go pick them up some fried chicken. Ok, let's back up.... These people were taken by bus (at no cost to them with the raging gas prices) all the way up to Montgomery, Alabama, given a free place to stay, and given free food. All they had to do in this process was get on the bus. Did I miss something?

And to be fair, not all evacuees are demanding fried chicken. I met a very nice woman from LA who came to the pharmacy yesterday to ask a question. She is in town staying with her sister until they get the ok to go back home. This lady talked to me about how she believed in the power of prayer and that she knew God was taking care of them. She said she had a peace about the situation and knew everything would be ok. She didn't complain about having to leave her home and all of her belongings without knowing when she could return to them. So, as you can see, we have a couple of different types of evacuees on our hands.....

My question is, why are the evacuees receiving all the free stuff complaining and asking for more? Perhaps it's because they are spoiled by government hand outs... I dunno.

Advice Needed

Exactly where does everyone get these cool blogger templates? I haven't had time to search for them, but I'm feeling out of date here....
Any advice?

Alzhiemer's at 25

Sunday morning began just like any ordinary Sunday. I woke up before Ben and decided to let Pete out to do his business. Pete is obsessed with fetching so I thought I'd throw his tennis ball to him a few times before putting the coffee on. Having just woken up I was still in my p.j.'s so I just stood inside the door of the back porch and threw the ball out for Pete to chase. After throwing the ball a couple of times, I realized that Pete would be we and dirty from all of the grass and I decided to let him wait on the porch for a little while to dry off some before coming back inside. So, watching Pete chase the ball down one last time, I shut the back door and locked it leaving him outside to play on his own. Then I proceeded with the coffee making.....

I had washed out the pot and I was about to reach for a coffee filter. I turned around and there he was... Pete. He was standing behind me in the kitchen, ball in mouth, tail wagging. He stared at me and I stared back. I shot a quick glance at the door. Still locked. The other doors were closed and locked as well. I stood there for a full minute taking in the situation. I know I locked him outside. How did he get in? The only explanation is that I let him in, cleaned him off, blacked out, and woke up at the coffee pot never knowing what had happened. I am completely baffled. Baffled, and already losing my mind.

Thank You Note Madness

One would think that three months is ample time to write all the thank you notes necessary following a wedding. I'm afraid that's not the case in the Lassiter household. However, we do have a few good reasons for this breech in social etiquet.

1. The husband refuses to write any thank you notes. For some reason, Ben could care less if not one single thank you note got sent out to anyone. Therefore, I am carrying the burden of this social obligation all alone. However, I am lucky that he does acknowledge my passion for writing the thank you notes and he takes care of other household chores so I can take time to write.

2. Moving - twice.

3. Studying for tests

4. More studying

5. Weddings every weekend. Literally.

6. The unfortunate back up of the thank you notes due to important school projects, moving, and starting a job during the same time that all of my showers were taking place.

I think that about sums up all of my excuses. None-the-less, I am well on my way to getting these thank you's knocked out. To any of you already married, congratulations on finishing your thank you notes. To any of you engaged (Ashley)....start now. Even if you haven't received a gift. Just write the note and leave little blanks to fill in the name and the gift. Otherwise you will end up like me.

I hope that this doesn't sound like I am ungrateful for my gifts or complaining about writing the notes. I really do enjoy thanking people for going out of their way to buy us a gift. Ben and I were overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of so many, that is why I feel bad that I am taking so long to let them know how much I appreciate it!

The moral of the story is: Stay on top of your thank you notes!!!!!

When is Your Birfday?

It is common practice at a pharmacy to write the patient's birthday on the prescription they are dropping off to be filled. Why do we need your birthday? So we can make sure the person that we are filling the prescription for is you and not someone else with the same name. I find it odd that two of the most difficult things for me to learn when I started working were:
1. the cash register (that thing is rediculous)
2. how to interpret people's birthdays

You can probably understand why the cash register would be somewhat difficult to get used to, but interpreting birthdays? How hard can that be, right?
When I ask for a birthday I'm expecting your standard reply, "1/7/83" or even "January 7th, 83" would be acceptable. Here are a few things I've heard in the past week.

• "the fifth, the fourth, of 79"
• "next month, fifteenth, 50"
• "first day, sixth month, in the 1963"
• "17th of the 10th month, 1968"

Really?? So, I get these responses and it confuses me and I ask them to to repeat it. Then they look at me like I'm stupid and say it again. "THE FIRST, THE TENTH, 1980." Ok. Got it.

So I've decided that when people give me their birthday in this manner, I'm going to tell them about their prescription the same way. "In the morning take, High blood pressure for, your medicine, refrigerate not." Any questions?"

Meet My Nephew

Henry Highfield, six month old maltese. Isn't he adorable?

When someone my parents know said they had to sell their maltese puppy to a good home, my mom immediately thought of my sister. Cara, who is currently earning her masters degree at Auburn, has been asking mom and dad for a pot bellied pig since the day she began college as a freshman. She began her masters program this summer, and at a time when everyone else in Auburn leaves, she is there coming home to an empty house. So, after years of saying an exuberant "NO" to their children having any pets in college, mom and dad had a change of heart.

After some deliberating and decision making, mom brought Henry, the name Cara chose for him, to Pike Road to surprise my sister. Cara thought she was just coming over to see mom and visit us for the evening. As Ben, my mom, and I all sat in my living room, we could not wait for Cara to arrive. As you can see in her expression, she was quite surprised when she realized he was hers. Since Cara is at the beach this weekend, Ben and I get to take care of our nephew! We are going to experience a four hour car ride with him so hopefully we'll all get back in one piece.

New Beginnings

My friend Ashley recently challenged me to start a blog and actually keep it updated and I decided to take her up on the offer. I feel that since every single thing in my life is new: my marriage, house, car, job, town, church, family, and even my name, a brand new blog would be fitting. It is currently under construction until I figure out how to get everything just like I want it.

In the picture above, my new husband Ben and I are proudly standing in front of our home during the building process. This was taken a little less than a month before our wedding. As I look back at that picture I can't believe how far we've come in such a short time and how much has changed since then! We are currently "playing house" getting things situated and we are both working really hard just to get on our feet and figure out how our life is going to be from now on. With new jobs and a new marriage there are a lot of interesting things to learn. So, read on to learn what I can figure out about life in Pike Road.