This Ain't Matlock, Baby!!

Well, I am fulfilling my citizen duties this week by being a juror! I have only been at this 1 day, and I have already experienced quite a bit.
I have been called for jury duty in the past, but due to family needs (ie - a nursing baby) I was excused. So when I got my summons to appear for another possible case, I was excited! I'm one of THOSE people who actually enjoys this type of endeavour! (I get it from my dad....thanks Pops!)
So I had childcare arranged for today (thanks mom!) thinking that I would not be called, and if I were, that it would be a day case. I really just wanted to experience the process and see what it was like. So we all gather in a room and we are called into line by a certain order determined by the court.
The court was looking to fill 7 juror spots, and there were a possible 23 jurors in our group. The first 14 potential jurors are put into the jury box and asked questions by the judge and the lawyers, while the others sat in the "audience". (Sorry, I don't know the technical term for where they were sitting)
As they were asking questions, it came about that one person has narcolepsy(!), one young gal has her voting rights taken away for having commited a felony(!) and one guy has some weird nerve damage so he has to take narcotics(!). So that cut the number down by 3. Some had experienced lawsuits, some had experience with the lawsuit topic, and some had work and/or travel obligations, so one by one, the panel was being narrowed down. At the end of the questions, they named 7 of us to stay and informed us that we were the jury selected. I felt like I had won a pagent or something! Bad news.....the trial is going to last all week!! (Sorry Kent!)
Well, with some schedule scrambling, we have childcare all worked out, so I will be able to fully enjoy this time. I will write more on my experience later, but nothing regarding the case. (That's a no-no)!
Stay tuned!

Hole in One...Or Two!

Ah, I love 2nd chances - don't you? I love 3rd and 4th and 5th chances even more!
During a particular difficult time in my child raising, I knew that I needed to gain more patience. And I asked God to please, oh PLEASE(!), grant me that. Well, come to find out, God doesn't really work that way. He gives us the free-will to change ourselves - with HIS strength.
As I prayed (ok, begged) for help with my patience one day, something inside of me realized that God was NOT going to just automatically change my heart, but instead, provide me with situations in which I would have to practice my patience. In my heart, I knew that God understood that I really wanted to change and he would supply me the opportunities to do so.
Then I realized, what an awesome God we have! He has faith in me...he believes that I can do this, since he provided me with opportunities to practice what I was asking for! And how nice is it that we have a God who will provide opportunities over and over again until we get it right!
He doesn't just give us a chance or two. He will give us as many as we need until we get it right, and have achieved what he wants us to achieve.
Have you thanked God for all of the chances he gives you? When you see an opportunity open up to change or better yourself, thank God for having as much faith in you as you do in Him, and for giving you the abundant opportunities to grow and to be more like him.

Buongiorno!

Here are some pictures of our trip to Italy. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them!

I like this one...it looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa is just peaking around the church!

We bought some really good home made pesto in this little shop.

Here's a picture of our boat through some ruins.

Another picture of our ship.

Here is a small sampling of treats that awaited us around every corner! There were shops like this everywhere we went!

These were some fun tomatoes I found in a small market.

This statue was made in the modern day, but made to look like an old ruin. I got a kick out of this one!

These, um, strapping young men were outside of the Colosseum for pictures. You could have your picture taken with them for a small fee. Somehow I doubt that the gladiators back then were that scrawny and did not smoke cigaretts with filters on them!

Here's a picture of me and Kent at the Colosseum.

Outside of the Colosseum.

A picture of me and Kent at dinner the last night we were there.

This is the town of Portofino. Lots of fun little shops right along the water's edge. There were tons of fishing boats and private yahts to look at, too!

This is one of my favorite pictures I took. This was a little villa in one of the cities and it had this beautiful covering of white flowers on the side!

Things I LOVE!

1) Being home again with my family!
2) That my super great friend, Katie, just got engaged to my brother-in-law Kevan!
3) The villages in the northern part of France and Italy.
4) Not having to be on an airplane right now, after being on one for over 11 hours.
5) My new found favorite treat, Gellato - especially from a small cafe in Florence - YUM!
6) Being home again with my family!

Kent and I just got back from our really great trip to Italy, and I hope to be able to post some pictures soon. We ate way too much and gained a few poundages, but it was worth it!

Can I Get an Amen?

Things I Hate....(ok, hate is a really strong word)
Things I loathe on a good day, and truly despise on a bad day:
(and for you eternal optimists out there, I will post what I love sometime....just for you!)

1) Paying $20 for a raffle ticket and not winning anything
2) When I have bad breath.
3) Finding the CUTEST pair of shoes, but not in my size.
4) When the Laughing Cow Light Herb Cheese is not on sale.
5) The cold - That should not come as a surprise to most of you.
6) Spiders - Especially the ones who disappear in the time it has taken me to go find a paper towel and come back for it.
7) Putting too much salad dressing on my salad.
8) Not putting enough salad dressing on my salad.
9) When my pen runs out of ink right in the middle of my note to someone.
10) Putting on my PJ's, hopping into bed and getting comfortable, only to remember that I forgot to brush my teeth.

Pink Angel Food Cake

Today our family had my mom, dad, Aunt Kathy, and Kent's mom and dad over for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. It wasn't anything special and we even ate on plastic plates (thank's mom for your contribution). I found old pictures of Kent's mom's mom (Grammie) and dad's mom (Mam-maw), along with my mom's mom (Granny), and my dad and Aunt Kathy's mom (Memaw) and put them on the table as a centerpiece.
But I think my most favorite thing about today was eating a big piece of pink angel food cake. What's so special about angel food cake? Well, nothing.
What's so special about PINK angel food cake?? Well, everything!
I grew up eating pink angel food cakes, baked by my very own Memaw. Everytime she made an angel food cake, it was pink. I'm not sure when and why she started making them pink, but I'm glad she did. It set her apart from the rest and gave us a wonderful tradition. Come to think of it, everything was pink when it came to Memaw. Her clothes, her decor, and even the marshmallows stashed in her freezer were pink. (The whole frozen marshmallow thing is a mystery to me, but hey)
To all the mom's - Hope you had a great day! Now, go clean up the mess everyone made while you had your day "off".......

God's Back Door Voice

These past few weeks have been a trying time in the Behlmer household. I am constantly trying to get my kids JUST TO LISTEN TO ME!!! For crying out loud! How hard is it to listen and do what you are told....the first time I ask?!?
We were coming upon our 3rd week of "selective hearing" with Ava, my oldest, and I was 2 days past my breaking point. The nagging, fighting, and raised voices were a constant around here and I was fed up. My tears were many and my solutions were zero. I cried to God so many times to "help me with my patience, help me with my kids, help me to get through this next hour...", but to no avail. I felt nothing. My spirit didn't change, my attitude didn't get better, and my kids got even worse! I read my devotions and said many prayers, all in the hopes of some divine intervention - and that my kids would miraculously be changed into Laura Ingalls and Wally Cleaver.
Then one day, as I spoke these words to Ava for the jagillionth time "Why don't you just listen to me and do what you are told?", I heard the very voice of God tell me "Why don't YOU just listen to ME and do what YOU'RE told?"
Wha...What?! Hello?!
Why didn't I listen to him? Take quiet time out and really listen to what he wanted me to hear? Maybe because that meant that I would have to change.....not my children, but me. Maybe because that meant that I would have to stop being so friggin' lazy and actually get down on the floor and play with my kids.
And I think, as many times as I get frustrated with my children, I still love them with all of my heart. And all I want for them is to just listen, because sometimes - just sometimes - I know what's best for them.
Can you even imagine how God just wants us to listen to him, because sometimes, well at all times, he knows just what's best for us?