CostCo

“When ramming people at the sample tables at Costco, do you prefer to tiptoe up for a sneak attack, or do you prefer to get a running start from across the store?”

~Corin

For those of you who do not know about me and the sample people at CostCo, let me give you a brief run down on my feelings about them.

I LOATHE them!

Okay, so I don’t loathe the actual people, more of the job they do and where they are located.

CostCo has them place their sample tables at the ends of the side aisles facing the big main aisles.  This causes huge traffic jams as people try to maneuver their carts around the sample tables without hitting them or the dozen or so people eating around them.  You also have to get around all of the abandoned shopping carts that people have left behind when they catch sight of one of these sample tables.

There is something about free samples that makes everyone within a ten foot radius leave their carts and head towards the table with the mini toaster oven and miniature white cups sitting on a red tray.  I haven’t found the draw, thankfully.

Instead I am left to navigate the sea of abandoned carts, wandering children and adults standing in odd locations eating out of little white cups.

How hard is it to move your cart to one side and retrieve a sample not only for yourself, but for whoever else is in your party as well?  If you have questions stand in front of the table, not to the side where you will narrow the aisles so much that only one cart will be able to squeeze by at a time.  If you abandon your cart in the middle of the aisle do not become offended when someone comes to move it to one side so they can get by.  When someone says “Excuse me!” they’re trying to kindly ask you to move your cart or person (or child) not excusing themselves from a belch after consuming their own micro-portion of fiber filled quiche.

For years this has all been part of the CostCo shopping experience, recently though the people running the sample tables have started to use State Fair techniques when hawking their goods.  “ALL NATURAL, LOW CARB., SUGAR FREE, ORGANIC, LOW CALORIE, HOT PINK SUGAR CRYSTAL WATER WITH NO FLAVOR!!!!!”  They scream it out to the crowd of shoppers meandering aimlessly through the store.  What joy to find not one, but two of these people screaming out their current products side by side, you get lost as to who has what.  Did they just say they’re serving meatless beef steaks?  Or was that protein enriched cookies?

My preferred method of breaking through the wall of people blocking the end of the aisle is the running techinque.  Starting at the end of the aisle you work up to a good run, at the last minute you step up on to the cart and ride your cart through the sea of people.  If you’re feeling especially compassionate you can give a warning cry of “INCOMING!!!!”.  The further along the store you get the better your cart will be at breaking through the sea of people since you will be adding weight to your cart.

If you live near me and are one of these inconsiderate people who hovers round the table, consider yourself forewarned   Watch out for the cart filled with 100lbs. of dog and cat food, meat to feed the masses and assorted canned food to help keep the cart balanced.  You may also want to avoid the girl laughing maniacally running behind it

Word to the wise, they fold up their sample tables at 7:00 pm.

End Times

#2 Give us an overview of your take on whether or not you think we are in the end times….how close to the end, etc.

~ Bren

This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  I bet you didn’t know that, Bren

It seems like so many Christians are obsessed with the end times.  “Are we living in the end times?”, “Are we about to enter the end times?”.

Here are my thoughts.  IF we are living in the end times what would you do differently?  Generally people want to get their lives all squared up if they are in fact living in the end times.  They want to be prepared for when Jesus returns.

Question: Shouldn’t you already be striving to live a life that is pleasing to God?

What if you should die tomorrow?  That, for you, would be the end times.

Are you living in such a way that God will say, well done, good and faithful servant?

In Matthew 25:13 it says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Do I think we are living in the end times?  I don’t know!  Maybe.  How many times though over the course of history have people thought “THESE are the end times”?  I don’t think we should be running around trying to guess when it is and wondering if we’re living in the end times.

Do not live in fear, but seek to live boldly for God.

Funky shoes

“Why do you always look cute in funky shoes, when they look awful on me?”

~ Corin (my beeeeyoootiful seeeeeester)

Confession time, I love shoes.  I REALLY love shoes!  I enjoy clothes shopping a lot, but shoes, well, they’re my weakness.

I have a friend who wore running shoes under her wedding dress.  Why?  First of all, they are comfortable, she was able to be on her feet all day with no pain.  Second, they were something she knew she could wear again and again.

If I was to choose what shoes I would wear under my wedding dress, it would be a pair of Dr. Marten’s 1460 boots.  I seriously love their shoes, they have some great Mary Jane styles as well.  Keen has some great tennis shoes.  The only reason I don’t own a pair of these shoes yet, is because I have not been able to talk myself in to spending that much money on my feet

Corin, you should know my philosophy about shoes by now.  If you like them, wear them!  I’m sure they would look great if you would just put them on.

What are funky shoes?

They usually have something a bit different from the norm.  These always remind me of what you see maids wearing in movies set in the 1920’s.  The detailing is similar to a man’s dress shoe, but with a 3-inch heel they’re definitely a woman’s shoe.

Funky shoes often have a chunky heel like the ones above and below.

Sorry, the heel is lost in the grass, these are only about 2-inch heels.  I like the lace-up sides on these.

I always like to have a pair of chunky oxfords to wear with my jeans when the weather gets wet.

Funky shoes do not have to be expensive.  So far I have paid no more than $25 a pair for the above three pairs of shoes.  They are all made by MUDD (one of my favorite shoe companies).  Their shoes usually retail for $40-70, so far I have been able to swing in to local stores when they have them on sale and pay no more than half price for them.

For even cheaper funky shoes, there is always Payless.

Okay, so these really aren’t funky.  These I picked up for a friend’s wedding last Fall.  I needed them to go with the lavender dress pictured a couple posts ago. For $16 they got me through the day and have sat in my closet ever since

The most expensive shoes I own are these.

I LOVE my black Converse Chuck Taylors .  They are some seriously comfortable tennies!  I had some store dollars from a recent purchase from Kohl’s which made them less than $40.  I would love to own these in gray, brown, red… pretty much every color

So, Corin, wear the shoes!!!  If you ever need/want company for shoe shopping, you know where to find me

Special thanks to my photographer, Will.

As you can see, he was a great sport, even willing to wear my “Congress” shoes.

Thanks also to my mom for the final two pictures.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.

“Ship and court. Umm, court and…!!!! Courtship! He writes to me about courtship?!?!”

“#1 What are you looking for in a husband and what are your dating/courtship beliefs? Throw in any tips for a mom of a 12 year old daughter….hint hint.”

~ Bren

What I am looking for in a husband, the short list.  I want a God fearing, Bible reading, family leading man

First, I do not date.  I do believe courtship is a great way to go for finding a future spouse.  There is less likelihood of romantic emotions being awakened before their time.  It’s also wonderful if you have parents to oversee the courtship process.

For those of you who are not familiar with my sister’s courtship story let me give you a quick rundown on the beginning of it.

My sisters eighteenth birthday landed on a Sunday, and at the church we were part of at the time it was common to announce birthdays.  When my dad announced my sisters birthday she stood up, embarrassed, but beautiful as always.  My now brother-in-law saw her and knew he wanted to marry her (swoon).

Fast forward a year and a half.  Rob’s parents have been noticing friendly Corin, they like her and by this time our families are seeing a lot of each other on Sunday afternoons.  We meet together in the park with several other families from church every Sunday afternoon to have a picnic lunch and fellowship.

Mid-October rolls around and our parents go to dinner with Rob’s.

Sweet, beautiful Corin and I head out to milk goats that evening (this is before I was the ex-goatmilker ).  Corin says “I think the dinner tonight is about a possible courtship”.

Me:  <grunt> Why thinka you that?

Corin:  I don’t know, I just think so, don’t you think it is weird that they went out to dinner with only them and Mr. and Mrs. _____?

Me:  Ugh, me guess so.

Fast forward just a tich.  Rob didn’t know who his parents were going out with for dinner.  He did know why though, and he was footing the bill.  His parents returned home to tell him that my dad had given him the okay to ask him (my dad) to court adorable Corin.  Rob’s parents wanted to run the idea by my parents so that if it was an obvious no he could be spared any hurt feelings.  They didn’t know that Rob had already been interested in and praying about sweet, beautiful Corin.  He was then given the opportunity to pursue a courtship with gorgeous Corin, or say, gorgeous, thoughtful Corin’s not the one for me.

The following weekend he asked my dad and my dad put together a nice long list of questions for him.  Kind Corin still did not know anything about it.  After getting Rob’s answers and reviewing them to make sure there were no obvious clashes between he and sweet Corin, and that they thought Rob was pretty darn okay , they approached perfect Corin .  Here was where her opportunity was to say no, he’s not the guy, or yes I would like to pursue this courtship.

Obviously the rest is history, they have been happily married for nine years and have five adorable kids.

Here is one of the things I love about courtships where parents are involved.  Remember this is from a girls perspective.

It protects me from engaging in a relationship that my parents might see as bad from the start.  I don’t even have to know if someone asked and was turned down.  Who else knows me better than my dad and mom?

My dad put together a list of “deal breakers” a while ago.  It’s a list covering a large scope of views, politics, religion, family and even looks and food allergies that a guy might hold.   They want me to fill this out and write down which if any of their questions are deal breakers for me.  Some I may not have a problem with, others may be more “preferably not”’s.  I’ve slowly been answering these and just found out today the file saved none of my changes <sigh>.

Here is one thing about courtship.  There is not one way to do it.  Everyone is different, every one has their own personality and so on.  Every courtship will look different, even between Corin’s and (I pray) mine someday.    Here is the one thing that I think is the same with them all.  The individuals are trying to pursue a pure and godly relationship with one another with the goal of the relationship being marriage.

As far as hints for you and C.   If you are planning on her courting or even dating for that matter,  encourage her to keep her heart pure, share with her why you are wanting to help her follow this way.  Read encouraging books to her  and have her read books (and blogs) meant for older girls as she gets older.  Obviously as she becomes an adult she will have had to have made this choice for herself , you can not force it upon her.  I think explaining why is SO important.  If she does not know why you wish this for her than there will be no reason for her to follow your teaching.  Pray for her future husband now and encourage her to do the same as she gets older.

Teach her how to keep a home, teach by example how to honor and obey a husband.  Encourage her to give honor and obedience to her dad, and to treat her brothers with kindness.  It’s all part of the training of one day becoming a home maker!  Proverbs 31 is always a great verse to memorize as a standard.  Unattainable, yes, but still a good one to strive for!  Have her read books about homemaking, just because she does not have a home of her own, does not mean she doesn’t need to learn how to keep one.  After all, she is studying for her life’s career!

Supervise her interaction with boys.  No, this does not mean you will have to follow her every step until the day she marries. While she is young be careful to encourage her in healthy relationships with boys.  You may need to pull her back if she is spending too much time with them and not other girls or behaving inappropriately.  Even if you plan on letting her date as she gets older, it is really important to teach her how to behave when around young men.

Here are some books to look in to:

Stepping Heavenward.

Aunt Jane’s Hero

So Much More

Beautiful Girlhood

In My Father’s House

Raising Maidens of Virtue is written by Stacey McDonald.  Neither my mom or I have personally read it, but I have heard a lot of great things about it.

There are even a couple of picture books out!

Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God’s Gift of Purity for girls.

The Squire and the Scroll for boys.

A couple of blogs I enjoy:

Empowered Traditionalist by Christa- Taylor.  She also is a great clothing designer

Joyfully Home is written by Jasmine Baucham, Voddie Baucham’s daughter.

Visionary Daughters is written by Anna and Sofia Botkin.  I have clicked over here once or twice.  So far it hasn’t been a blog that I have added to my blog roll, but you may enjoy it.

If you would like to read a much better written story of my sister and brother-in-law’s courtship, click here to read it in her own words.

If any of these posts bring up more questions feel free to leave them in the comments or in the original blog post.