A Good Time in Redding

A few weeks ago, Danika and I went up to Redding for my best friend, Jaimie's graduation! Things went well on the way there, we only had to stop once, and it was only 10 minutes away from Jaimie's apartment. So that was really nice!

The graduation was great and the weather was perfect! There were clear skies and a nice breeze to keep things from getting too hot. I was very happy to get to introduce Danika to some of my friends from Simpson, whom I had not seen since I went there.

Danika 13 Months Old "Draft"

I still cannot believe that Danika is 13 months old. It seems like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time. Memories come to me in flashes, and I laugh so much thinking about them. Like how I somehow got out of changing Danika's diaper until she was about 2 weeks old. Mom and Jamie just took over and volunteered all the time. My mistake was mentioning it and joking about it, lol!

Or the time when we took Danika to get her one month pictures at JCPenny's and she had the worst diaper she ever had. Her tights were full and we had to wash her dress in the sink! And she didn't even crack a smile until after everything was done. I tried so hard to be mad at her, but with that little smile how can anyone stay mad?

Then the time that Jamie and I freaked out because we thought that Danika had rolled over onto her side at only three weeks old! It ended up that Danika was laying on the couch sleeping, and my sitting next to her made the cushion go down and roll her. Lol! We had been so excited haha!

And now here she is walking a little and talking like crazy. Making faces and making us all laugh so much.

(OK. In reviewing my blog I found drafts and thought I would  post this one anyways. 12/27/12)

I Pledge Allegiance...

Today at Danika's school's chapel Danika lead everyone in the pledges. Because I am the only employee at work I could not be there. My heart was breaking on the way to work knowing that I was going to miss this big moment. I called around and coordinated with family to get it as documented as possible. Thank goodness for digital cameras that can record videos!

My heart is so full right now with pride. I am soo proud of Danika for being selected from her class to do something so important. I hope she understands the importance of the pledges to the American and Christian flag. Even if she does not now, I hope that she learns and recognizes it as she grow older.

Our country was founded by godly men to give us freedom to worship God. We can't even begin to understand the type of oppression that other countries have about religion and worship of God. Some lose their lives over it. But we can stand together and publicly worship Him and thank Him for this country and our freedoms.  Danika helped her school do that today.

So, so proud of my little girl. As Claire Huxtable would say from Cosby Show, "My baby! My baby!!"

Will post the video soon.

A Great Start

I realize I have not posted in a very long time. With working full time and then trying to give Danika as much face time as I can (and sometimes being selfish of "me-time") I do not get to blog as much as I would like sometimes.

But yesterday Danika and I had a conversation that I knew I would regret not writing down and sharing.

I have been reading Elisabeth George's Raising a Daughter After God's Own Heart. One of the "tasks" she greatly encourages is preaching/teaching your daughter. That we should be the farmer casting out seeds of salvation to our children and praying daily that a seed would land on good soil and grow to a desire to know and love Him. She continues to calm down those worried about preaching and encourages us to just talk. She even said how easy is that to ask women to talk! :)

Yesterday after I got home from work Danika and I were snuggling on my bed. As we laid there and she told me about school I felt like I really should try to turn the conversation towards God. So I asked her what her favorite thing about God was. In the past I have asked her this and her answer would be "He plays with me" or some other cute answer. But this day she said "I love how He takes care of us". Just this answer alone fills me with joy knowing that at 4 she knows that God watches over us and protects us.

As we talked more about how God protects us and that He does so because He loves us so much, she turns the conversation over to how He died for us and His blood covers our hearts and makes them white. I had taught her class at church for Valentines Day a version of the wordless bible using hearts and the colors (black=sin, red=Jesus' blood, etc.).

While we laid there on my bed we went through what each heart meant again and talked about sin and heaven and Christ's blood. I told her that Jesus would clean a person's heart if they asked and believed that He died for them and rose again. Danika sat up, looked up (towards the ceiling) and said "Jesus, clean my heart."

I have to admit I was rather surprised. I was not expecting such a reaction from my squirrelly little girl. She turned to me and said, "Mommy, now you need to ask Jesus to clean your heart." I laughed and told her that I had asked Jesus to clean my heart and long time ago and that He lives in me. Not know how she would respond, or if she truly understood I asked her if she believed that Jesus died for her and rose again, that He cleaned her heart and made a place for her in heaven. To all these questions she answered yes. We prayed together quietly and talked about how angels would be cheering and singing. Danika pointed to different parts of the ceiling and said "angels over there are cheering, and angels over there are singing to Jesus!"

Such a sweet, sweet moment. I do now know how much she truly comprehends or if her prayer for Jesus to live in her heart was sincere or if she was just going along, but as my mom told me it is a great start, and I'll take it. :D

I look forward to more great conversations with her and will continue to pray fervently that Danika comes to know God and desires to grow closer to Him everyday.

Reeling

Today was a nonstop day at work. I feel "dizzy" and exhausted.

Too many calls and interruptions when there is deadline and today didn't start that great anyways. Not to mention I forgot my glasses at home. Yay me! Haha!

Truly it wasn't that horrible, I've had worse, but such a tight deadline takes so much out of you. At least tonight is Dani's swimming lessons so that will be relaxing and fun. :)

Thirty-Day Blog Challange: "Day" 6: A Blog

Recently I have found that I am loving more and more fashion. I have the fashion bug. I want to buy new clothes quite frequently and I have to say this blog is partly to blame: College Fashion.


This blog shows great ways to make outfits, sometimes with one main piece (i.e. a summer dress) or just different looks and styles. What hooked me to this blog was a series they did on the Disney Princesses. I was googling "Tangled" for Dani, looking for the soundtrack online and found this blog post.

Fabulous right? I love it! I could spend hours on this blog going through their archives and finding new ideas! Gotta find good pieces from Salvation Army or Ross or somewhere cheaper than the actual items they list!

http://www.collegefashion.net/inspiration/fashion-inspiration-walt-disneys-tangled/

30 Day Blog Challege: Day 5: A Person I Miss

This didn't take me long to figure out. Right away a name popped into my head: Jaimie.


Jaimie is one of my best friends. We met at college and became fast and close friends. We had a tradition of a certain day of the week we would study, watch Alias and have goldfish and Dr. Pepper (and sometimes jerky). *sigh* Wonderful times. We both love movies, though her collection far surpasses mine. Probably by 500 or some crazy number like that. I remember once she sent me a list of all her movies. It was at least 3 pages long single spaced! I want to buy her movies all the time, but who knows if she already has them!


After I went home from college we talked almost everyday on the phone. And we kept that up for a very long time. Things slowed down a lot after Dani was born. Eventually it slowed down to nothing sadly (phone-wise). We email back and forth occasionally, but it isn't the same, and we both know it.


I keep hoping that I can save up money and see her during the summer, since she lives down south. So far it hasn't worked out. I saw her for an afternoon when my family was driving back home from Disneyland, but it wasn't enough. I think the main problem is that I am not taking enough time to keep in contact. I get too distracted by other things. I keep on trying though and I don't think I will ever give up staying in touch with her. She just means too much to me.