Sixth Folder, Sixth Photo

Janet tagged me a while back...I'm always a little slow!! So I went to my picture files, opened the sixth folder and chose the sixth photo. This is my brother LaMonte at our 2004 George Family Reunion...it was actually our first one! He's obviously wrestling with Scott...and Scott is loving it! I first thought it was Jake that he was wrestling but no...time flies!! So now, I'd like to see photos from Christine, Jenny, Rosita, Jill & Heidi. And whoever else wants to do it!!

To Kill A Mockingbird

Rance took me out on our Valentine's Day date...just a week late! There was a bi-stake youth dance on Valentine's Day evening that I needed to attend so we saved our date for the next Saturday night! Rance got tickets for us to see "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the IRT (Indiana Repertory Theatre) and it was FABULOUS!! I had never read the book until last year when Scott & Chloe had to read it for English. Once they had finished, I picked it up and loved it! We rented the old black & white movie with Jimmy Stewart and loved that too! After the show, we went out for sushi so it was a PERFECT evening...except that it was cold out and we had to run in the cold wind to get to the parking garage...I love my Valentine!!

Too Close For Comfort!

Tonight in CASA training, we talked about Understanding Families. There were many facets to this subject but we started out with an activity where we thought for a moment about our own families and named a strength and a weakness. After we shared our thoughts, we examined the illustration above. We were asked to note 12 to 15 POSITIVE aspects of the household pictured. I'm certainly thankful for this experience because this is very similar to what I observed in my own home upon my return from training...I didn't make the comparison right away but as I was finally scraping the moldy bean soup out of the crock pot (it had been on the counter since SATURDAY) and cleaning up the cracker crumbs from Scott's night of cooking on MONDAY, it dawned on me that my house could be substituted for the one above!!

Granted, I don't smoke but my boobs are about as saggy...

I think I'll go to bed now and hope someone doesn't turn me in for neglect!

My Lil' Sis

I know I've already posted today but I just had to shout out how cool my little sister is!! I've got a yucky cold and these are the items I found on my doorstep this evening! She is the best sister ever (and I'm not just saying that because she's my ONLY sister!!) :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

You can't beat Cracker Barrell for a Birthday Breakfast! It was fun to visit with Mom and celebrate her birthday a couple of days early. We are so blessed to have Mom in our lives.

She is the glue of our family.

Becoming a CASA

I took my third step towards becoming a CASA today. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. I took the first step last November when I called the Johnson County CASA office and requested an application to become a volunteer. The second step happened a couple of weeks ago when I interviewed with the director of CASA. And tonight I went to my first training class. I loved it and felt an overwhelming confirmation that I am doing the right thing even though life is busy and how could I possibly fit another thing into the schedule?

I first heard about the CASA program from a sister in my ward. She was the Relief Society president before I was called. She told me a little about what a CASA does and I knew then that I wanted to volunteer. That was about three or four years ago. There is a time and a season for everything.

If you are curious...go to www.nationalcasa.org to learn more. I copied this quote from the website:

Thoughts from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Anna Quindlen "You go into a courtroom and you will see lawyers who know the law and have dozens of kids' files, or you have social workers who know the regulations and have dozens of kids' files. But if a CASA volunteer is in the room, you will see they have just one file, and what they know is that one child. And that can make all the difference to a judge's decision regarding how the rest of that child's life is going to go."

I'm excited for this new journey to begin. I'm looking forward to meeting families and helping children. I am tired of crying when I hear and read stories of children who have been abused, neglected, killed...I want to do something.

Stay tuned...