It's Sunday and I actually got to attend Church for the first time in a long time. I didn't realize until I was there how much I missed it. Our church is awesome! They had the worship team who normally does the music in the Cafe which is in the same building as our church but at another end of the building from the sanctuary. It's more hip, laid back, young perhaps. They have coffee and doughnuts and most of the people are younger and are wearing jeans. We have never been to a service in the cafe but we have definitely snuck a doughnut or two from the cafe, don't tell! Our pastor preached about how most churches, ours included, are trying to find new and exciting ways to attract more teens to the church. He then said we do a sucky job once we get them into the church. Thinking back to my teen years, he's absolutely right. I went to a Catholic church/school so my story is a bit different, but the same in so many ways. So he's challenging him and the church to make a change. We need to stay connected with our young adults even after they are out of high school. We need to always be impressing on their hearts how important it is to have faith. He gave a statistic, but I'm not a numbers person so I don't remember it exactly, about how many young adults go into college and still believe in God but are drinking and smoking and jezebelling (that is one of my favorite movie quotes but I'll be darned if I can rememeber the movie....anyway, I digress.). It made me think of my time as a young adult. I went to church every now and then but I wasn't living the life. I guess I mostly felt like a fraud. I considered myself to be a "believer" because I always knew Jesus Christ died to take away my sin and church was always a part of my life. However, until I found my current church I was talking the talk but wasn't walking the walk. I sincerely hope I can teach my children how to walk the walk. If I can save them even 1/4 of the hurt I went thru trying to belong and turning to drugs and alcohol and sex to try and find happiness it will be worth it. It's going to be a long, hard, tough road, but I am going to do everything in my power to help pave the road for them.

So even though Dad is gone, it is Sunday, which means after church we eat! But before that we needed gas. Ever since Bryce was old enough to reach the window he would bang and bang and bang on the window whenever I was pumping gas. He would sit inside and yell, "MOM! MOM! MOM!" I could never figure out why he felt the need to yell at me from inside the care. Maybe he thought it was cool that he was in there and I was out here and I could still hear him. Well, he's old enough to not only knock on the window but unbuckle his seatbelt and open the window. And now he has an accomplice! I'm pretty much walking around with my Canon point and shoot lately so when they poked their heads out of the window I snapped a shot. As much as it irritates me I can't help but find them utterly adorable. They do look like me after all! ;)

This shot of me was taken by Bryce. I would so love to pass along to him my love of photography. His birth father also had quite a photography passion, so hopefully it's in his blood.



Hello Golden Corral! I wasn't sure what to do for lunch after church and then realized a buffet was a great choice. It just amazes me everytime I go to a buffet the kind of people who are there. To be honest, I sit in awe at the different types of families. My uncle Mike always liked going to buffets and he insisted on sitting close to the desserts. He said he liked sitting there so he could watch the kids get their dessert at the buffet. One time we were at OCB and he pointed out some kids to me. They were licking their fingers and sticking them into the food and eating food right out of the bins. It was amazing and disgusting all at the same time. So now whenever I go to a buffet it's kind of like a horror movie...it's scary but you can't look away.

As long as there is mac and cheese, shrimp and chicken legs we are good! And score, the Golden Corral had it all today! It was so nice to enjoy a Sunday without worrying if my phone was going to ring or rushing off to an open house. I did stop by the office on the way home to clean out my desk. I wasn't sad at all. But I did steal my name plate to put on my desk at home! We came home and rested together in my bedroom for a bit before the kids each ran off to do their own thing. A king bed all to myself is a very lonely place. I can't wait until Friday when my bed no longer feels so empty!