i have been quite excited about the arrival of some house guests that were here over the weekend. [i LOVE house guests...hint, hint] my mom and the behr parentals road tripped to kc to watch matthew wrestle in the lee's summit holiday invitational, because i can't think of a better way to celebrate the christmas season than spending two days watching a bunch of scantily clad high school boys roll around on top of each other.
we love those viking...
December 19, 2010
December 14, 2010
i never thought i'd say this, but...
in an unusual and somewhat shocking turn of events, i have found myself employed as a full time teacher for two and a half months. not a substitute, but a real kind of teacher with my own class and my own district provided laptop. the kind where i have to come up with lesson plans and inspire the next generation.
last friday afternoon i was minding my own business as a sub at my favorite school, when i was called into the principal's office. she assured me i hadn't done anything wrong,...
November 26, 2010
a shopping extravaganza
i'm not really a black friday shopper, but i do love a good deal. so as the clock struck midnight to start thanksgiving day, i was heading to cvs with lindsey, her mom and her sisters. the whole outing was kind of hilarious. only two of us were seasoned cvs-ers so we were showing the ropes to the four newbies.
we had a very detailed plan of attack that was a bit thrown off by two missing items, so at one point we all plopped down in an aisle to regroup. we definitely amused a few of...
November 23, 2010
100 birthdays for picklepuss
my friend edith turned 100 today. she is hilarious...and kind of feisty. i kept pointing out the fact that she is now 100 [because really, how often does that happen?] and she kept pointing out the fact that she is now older than dirt. during her birthday dinner, she paused to sing us the star spangled banner. just because she loves living in america. she told lots of stories, the most memorable being the one about how when she was younger she was given the nickname picklepuss at work...because...
November 1, 2010
nobody puts jesus in a corner
yep, that was a dirty dancing reference with jesus thrown in. no i cannot take credit for the hilarious-ness of it. that belongs to one of my new favorite people - jonathan acuff. seriously, whatever it is...he's got it. he just got hired by dave ramsey (another of my favorite people) which is how i found out about him. i immediately checked out his book from the library and promptly laughed my head off. it's a quick read and pokes some hilarious fun at the church and the things we...
October 22, 2010
October 13, 2010
just another israelite
the israelites. possibly the most forgetful people group in history, and they were really, really good at complaining.
here's basically what went down...the israelites are God's chosen people. this is a good start for them. life is good for while, but then there is a famine and everyone ends up in egypt. fast forward four hundred years and the israelites actually become slaves to the egyptians. big bummer. but, lucky for them, God hasn't forgotten them or the promises He made to them....
October 9, 2010
tiny little dancers
marni and i have been friends since way back in the day. we graduated from kindergarten together at weldon spring school [which we will love evermore] and graduated from francis howell together thirteen years later. as you can imagine, we made quite a few memories over the years.
class parties . balloon day . girl scout camp outs . brownies . dance class . field trips . new kids on the block . slumber parties . six flags . our birthday parties [or maybe not] . francis howell show choir...
September 19, 2010
a day @ the zoo in the lou
missy, sophie and i took a quick road trip to st. louis last week to go to the zoo and introduce sophie to the joys of my vintage collection of my little ponies, complete with the dream castle. we had a great day with our long-time friends...the big ones and the little ones!
jen . shelly . missy
sophie . shelly . jonah
...
September 7, 2010
honduran happiness
i read a good article the other day about finding happiness, here's a bit of what it said:
"...one of the keys to happiness is strong relationships with other people. so when you're deciding how to spend your money, consider whether the purchase will strengthen your relationships. if you're trying to choose between spending money on a train ticket to visit a friend or on a new pair of boots, the visit to your friend will bring more happiness in the long run. experiences tend to make us happier...
August 26, 2010
weekend o' fun
last summer i traveled to the carolinas for jenn's wedding and while i was there i met some great new friends, who just happen to live in kc too. we've had a lot of fun outings together this past year and last weekend jacob, nickie and i headed back to north carolina to visit jenn and tyler [and hershey].
there is never a dull moment when you're with jenn, which is one of the [many] reasons i like her so much! she loves playing games and is full of fun outing ideas...plus she's pretty...
August 15, 2010
golden beaver fever [continued]
the number of road trip participants tripled for phase two. we were joined by the arden family, some of my favorite friends of all time. tara and i met at sbu when we were both on the croatia mission team and her husband matt is also a fellow bearcat. she is definitely what you would call a kindred spirit...sometimes we're so alike it's scary. they have welcomed me as an honorary member of the arden family and i couldn't be more pleased. along with them came two of my favorite little people,...
August 7, 2010
golden beaver fever
phase one [the mother-daughter portion] of the golden beaver fever road trip is now complete. we flew into sacramento, california and drove south along the sierra nevada mountains. here's the highlight reel from the week:
visited the jelly belly factory
ate at in-n-out
took a barefoot stroll through sequoia national park and visited the general sherman tree
ate dinner at a fancy restaurant overlooking the kaweah river
climbed on the rocks in the kaweah river
drove across yosemite national...
July 29, 2010
livin' the life
July 9, 2010
ode to kids camp
June 29, 2010
first she was one
June 23, 2010
the timothys
for the majority of the time i've lived in kansas city, i've been a part of a really great bible study. we're kind of a random group, but i love it just the same. our game plan is simple, pick a book of the bible and study it in chapters and/or chunks until we're done. we usually jump around from old testament to new testament to keep things interesting. every time we finish one my friend joy comes up with an amazing acrostic to summarize what we've learned. [we're now on a mission to finish...
June 18, 2010
the family i love
this was the year for the fourth bi-annual meinhardt clan family reunion...and it was good times. in telling other people about this reunion of ours, i've realized how special it is that we both want and are able to spend a weekend together at the lake, just because. the 'elder' generation started with six cousins [one of them being my mom] and at this point we are adding members to the family on a pretty regular basis. we are all quite different, quite the same and somewhat amazed at how much...
June 1, 2010
May 17, 2010
simplicity
i am a nerd. not the steve urkel kind, but the kind that likes budgeting and loves to read about personal finances. i know…sounds thrilling doesn't it. so i often find myself reading financial books and blogs for entertainment. the other day at school i came across a book about retiring early and since i had nothing better to do while babysitting teenagers [aka substitute teaching], i skimmed through it.
now i am definitely a saver, not a spender. but even though i have 'financial peace' i...
May 9, 2010
happy mothers day
i love my mom SO much, i made her a 'new' laundry room for mother's day! actually, it was one of my goals for the year, and it just so happened that i was able to finish it on mother's day weekend. i completely forgot to take before pictures [can you believe it!] but here's the finished product...
...
April 27, 2010
me gusta mexico mucho
i have returned from a great week in the land of sombreros...complete with guacamole, churros and an infinite number of trips to the super chico for be-light.
we did quite a bit of manual labor at the orphanage...the main projects were:
painting, moving and installing a playground for the kids [which involved, among other things, lots of hole digging and the risk of being impaled by rebar]
cleaning up the property, removing thorny brush and shoveling rock
putting the finishing touches...
April 10, 2010
to mexico i go
a week from today i'll be heading back to the 'house of joy' orphanage in san pedro mexico. i was there last october, just two weeks after they officially opened their doors. on that trip our team of five helped make their new house a home by painting the interior and having fun playing with the seven kids who lived there. we also heard some sweet stories about our new friends ruby and lizeth, and spent a lot of time cracking up at little aneth's laugh.
our team has grown to nine and...
April 2, 2010
spring break: part deux
kim's spring break was this week so i made the sacrifice and went on a second spring break trip, because that's what friends do. if anyone else needs me to be their friend, i'm available.
we flew to kim's favorite place [aka las vegas] to visit the dyers and gamble away our life savings [kidding!]. we took mallory to the golden nugget for a girls night and spend the rest of our days hanging out, playing with maddie, and shopping [i watched]. then at night we headed out on the town. thanks...
March 21, 2010
just the eleven of us
one of the [many] reasons i was sad for college to end was the thought that i would never have the opportunity to go on another genuine spring break trip again. the kind where you pile into a caravan with a bunch of friends and head somewhere fun, usually the beach, to play in the sun.
luckily i was wrong.
we just spent a great week hanging at the beach with some fabulous friends who feel like family. here are the key players of "spring break extravaganza two thousand ten"...
the...
February 26, 2010
sledding is super
i love sledding. i love it a lot. unfortunately it seems harder to get some actual sledding in as an adult. luckily i recently discovered that snow creek has a tubing hill. it took some effort to actually get there, but my pal susan was up for the adventure!
we filled our shoes with hand warmers and had four fun hours of riding up the 'magic carpet' and sliding down the hill.
...
February 16, 2010
February 4, 2010
the wisdom of jimmy johns
have you ever read all those little signs on the walls at jimmy johns? some are hilarious, and some are kind of inspired. when i read this one i got real excited, because i so agree...and it's a good reminder that i already have everything i need.
the parable of the mexican fisherman
a fishing boat docked in a tiny coastal village in mexico. an american tourist complimented the mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.
"not very long,"...
January 16, 2010
i have the greatest friends
not only are my friends just super people in general, they are often kind enough to entertain me and my unusual ideas. one such idea is my insistence to celebrate half birthdays. i know it's kind of silly and doesn't really deserve much fanfare, but i just get excited when it's january 16th. last year my co-workers had a little celebration and this year did not disappoint. missy made me some special chocolate covered strawberries and my mom provided the bubbly. a little serenade from tori and...
January 12, 2010
little gtb
it was quite an eventful visit when i got to meet g.t. for the first time. it just so happened that the day i was in bolivar we found out that he had something called pyloric stenosis and would have to have surgery in springfield the next morning. he was a champ and did a super job, despite not being fed for twenty hours or so. everything went well, he's all better and sweet as ever!
me and gt just before he got the iv
cashed out after the surgery with his little incision
...
January 1, 2010
it's a new year
i've made a list of some noteworthy events of my 2009. it's not an exhaustive list, but kind of sums up the year...
finally made it to africa...and i loved it
celebrated turning thirty in great ways with great friends
spend a lot of time serving and traveling with my mom in st. louis, honduras, mexico and africa
enjoyed a "no work, all play" summer...and it has spoiled me
visited lots of friends all over the country
met two of my favorite friends...jacob and nickie
celebrated...
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