The 5oz Foodie

Christmas is my most favorite time of year... It's the retelling of our saviors birth, the gift giving and the special times we spend with our loved ones... It's a time of blessings and love... Last night I spent an amazing evening with my Core Team Family... Our Core Family Matriarch recently had emergency surgery and so we had to postpone our original party night... On Thanksgiving Eve she was not feeling well and by early Friday morning she was feeling so terrible that her husband had to take her to the ER, where they discovered her appendix had ruptured... She immediately prepped for surgery and taken in... After her surgery she asked her husband to please call the training trailer to let the Core Team know that she would not be able to join us for the Party... That totally touched my heart and the hearts of the rest of our team, that she thought of us in the middle of all of her own problems... We immediately decided to postpone the party because we really wanted h...

I am a hopeless romantic... I love Christian Romances, Hallmark Movies and chick flicks... I love their predictability, their happily ever after and the true love found... I love the feeling it gives me in my tummy and in my heart...  I have never been "in Love" but I know what love is...it is beautiful and special and it should be unconditional...  I know it doesn't always happen over night either, sometime it takes it time and comes softly like a whisper on the wind... Musicsongbird

Yesterday I spoke a little bit about uncovering some past hurt and today I think I need to explain it a little further... I have said this before but it bares repeating... Parents you need to teach your children that words hurt... Calling another kid; stupid, ugly, gay, fat, whale, grouch, I think you get my point, is unacceptable... They are especially unacceptable coming from you... Words like that stick with children... Around the third grade I started emotional eating and thus began gaining weight... By the 8th grade I was 185 pounds... I was called fat, whale, lard ass, you name it... I didn't wear jeans until maybe my Junior Year in High School because they didn't make them for plus size girls back then... Thankfully or maybe unthankfully, I grew up with a very outgoing personality... So any pain I experienced from the names was buried down beneath the food and the fat and I became the funny, crazy girl... I realized early on in life, if I was the center of attention, ...

I have a new niece in my life... She is 8 years old and as cute as a button... Today was only the second time I have gotten to see her since she became a part of my borrowed family... The first time I met her, earlier this past year; we had gone to her little league practice and then out for pizza... We bonded over video games... Then I didn't see her again until this morning, when I walked into the condo they are staying at this morning, she got up and ran over and gave me a huge hug... I didn't realize I had made such a connection with her... I know BFF had told me that when she had come up to Disney in November she had told her family that maybe she would see me when she went to Epcot... But the hug was just the beginning... When she found out that I was going to have leave then for awhile this afternoon, due to a pin cushion appointment, she wanted to make sure I was going to meet up with them again... When it was raining and everyone was sitting at a table with an um...

We watched a great mushy Christmas love story tonight, and there was this great advice the father gave his daughter about finding the right one... He said, "There are a lot of people you can live with, but there is only one person you can't live with out." It's sad that more people don't believe that. I have friends that have spent their adult lives jumping from one relationship to the next, not taking the time to get to know the person before "getting to know" the person. They are more worried if they are physically compatible before knowing if the rest of their lives are... Maybe I have read to many Christian romances or watched too many Lifetime or Hallmark Channel movies but I truly believe that when you meet that one person you can't live without, your world changes... You can't get through your day without thinking of that person, you don't remember what your life was like before you met them and you don't know what you would do...

My heart was sad today, a good friend of mine lost her Grandfather unexpectedly. It made me realize so many people don't know how to react in situations like this. When I first received the news I sent my friend a text letting her know I was so sorry for her loss and I was thinking about her; the typical thing we all say. Then I text her a bit later asking for her to let me know when the service was going to be. After speaking with another friend of mine I decided to let our team know what was happening. As I began to write the email I decided that I remember what it felt like in the hours after losing my Dad and then my grandmother and how it comforted me to hear from my friends. So I picked up the phone and called her. Sometimes as the friend it is our job to help our friends grieve. Very often some people need to be told that it is OK to be sad or mad or to share their memories and even laugh.  Be the friend you would want if you were in the same situation. Love, peace and...

So very often we feel sorry for ourselves and the things we go through in our lives... Today when BGF and I were out on an adventure of Outlet proportion I was talking about my blog and how ever since I started writing and opening up about myself to the world, others I have met have been opening up to me, which some of those stories I have already shared in the past few months.  I love that others want to share their stories with me, just as I have been sharing mine with all of you. I believe God has others share these stories to help them get through things but also to teach me things I may need to know about myself or maybe to tuck away for a later time.  One of my favorite movie lines, besides, "Quick, take off my Van Halen t-shirt before you jinx the band and cause them to break up." - The Wedding Singer, is from Evan Almighty.  " Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportun...

If you know me I have this interest in the Chinese culture and I love talking to the new cast from there and learning more about how they think and learning new things about their culture and lives. There are so many stereotypes about our friends from the other side of the world, some slightly accurate and some completely inaccurate. In the Chinese culture, respecting and revering your elders is such an integral part of their lives. It is very rare for a child to say no to a parent about choices that they want to make in their own lives, they generally go with what the parent wants for them because they do not want to offend their family or bring shame. I'm assuming for boys it isn't as unheard of but for girls, at least the girls I have met, they are afraid to disappoint their parents.  Even when it comes to dating and marriage.  So, when my friend shared with me how she ended up working with me, I knew what I needed to share... my appologies if I don't have everything...

Isn't it crazy how life works? Your Mommy and Daddy meet, they fall in love, they get married (or not), they make a baby, YOU. They spend the next nine months preparing for your arrival. Buying clothes and diapers, a bed and blankies and bunnies. When you arrive they spend their time caring for you, bathing you, feeding you, loving you. As you grow they continue to love and care for you. When you fall down they are there to kiss your owies. When you get great grades, they celebrate with you. When you fall in love for the first time they cautiously watch and usually except them, and then when you break up with that first love they help you through the heartbreak. They watch you grow into the adult you are and are still there through good times and bad. The sad thing is when the time comes for them to need you, some aren't so willing. Some children leave it to one sibling believing their lives are just to hectic forgetting who was there for them from the start. They forget that...

Picture with me if you can,  A little girl in a younger land Running, playing, laughing  Growing stronger Now the aging limbs have failed,  And the rosy cheeks are paled Look behind the lines till you remember She’s still the same girl,  Flying down the hill She’s still the same girl,  Memories vivid still Listen to her story,  And her eyes will glow She’s still the same girl,  And she needs you so Picture with me if you will,  A long white dress and a wedding veil Two young dreamers pledge their love together Now her lifelong friend is gone,  And she spends her days alone Look behind the lines till you remember She’s still the same girl,  Walking down the aisle She’s still the same girl,  With the shining smile Listen to her story,  And her eyes will glow She’s still the same girl,  Same girl She’s still the same girl,  Wiser for the years She’s still the same girl,  Stronger for the tears Listen to her story,...