Flashbacks

I'm sitting here (when I should be going to bed) watching College Flash Classics. This particular one is Ol' Miss vs. my beloved Bulldogs from 1996. Now if you know anything about Georgia football history, you will remember that wasn't a great year for the Dawgs. I know the outcome of this game from over 14 years ago, but as I'm watching this game, I react to the plays just as if this was a live game! What kind of person does that? Oh wait, I do!

This is not the first time I've done this watching this program.It doesn't matter if I remember if we won or lost that particular game they are showing, I still react as if it is a live game. I know the outcome, but yet I act like I don't know what's going to happen. I don't remember all the plays that happened to lead to that final outcome.

I think my walk with God is like that. I know what the outcome, ultimately, will be for this world. I know that His Son will return. I know that He will defeat the enemy of my soul. However, my faith clearly shows that I don't know the outcome. I question God about why "bad things happen to good people." I question why good things happen to those that probably don't deserve it. I don't talk to others about my Savior like I should. I know the outcome of the final game, but I don't know how all the final plays will come about. Knowing the outcome should free me up trust that God knows what He is doing. "The LORD works out everything for his own ends- even the wicked for a day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4

No matter what happens, He is still in control. It doesn't matter what I think, God can use whatever happens to bring others to Him. I need to start putting my faith in the outcome when it seems like the "plays" aren't going the way I want them to. I know that all of His "plays" are meant to bring about the final outcome.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

What did I sign up for???

About two years ago I decided to take up "running". I have enjoyed this very much. I started just running a few days a week. Eventually I was running 5 days a week. Now what I mean is I would run/walk. I started doing 5ks and I really enjoyed them. Then I read an article about doing a mud run. For those of you who know me know that I like doing things that are, well, unusual. I had a blast doing this run! Granted I had to go to Knoxville, TN (ug, WAY too much nacho cheese orange!) but I still had a good time.

 

 

Just a few pics from the mud run.  After I signed up, but before I ran this race, I somehow got it in my head that I wanted to do a half marathon. Yes, that's right, I decided to do a race that is 13.1 miles! I signed up for the Chickamagua Battlefield Half Marathon. To this day, I still can't believe that I did it. It took me almost 4 hours to do it because I ended up hurting my foot (shoes were worn out!) and had to walk a bit over half of it. And when I finished I was so emotional! Not because I was hurting (which I was), not because I was exhausted (which I was worn slap out!) but the sense of accomplishment! That is a very long distance to attempt when you are still a novice runner.

 

 Showing off my finisher's medal!

So now I haven't been  running as much as of late. I have been unusually busy this past year plus a few injuries to sideline. But the desire is still there, I just have to get motivated again. And such motivation came in the mail about 2 weeks ago.

I received a brochure from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society about their Team In Training(TNT) program.TNT is a program that will work with training people to participate in an endurance event (half and full marathon, triathlon, century bike ride, etc. while you raise money to go to the Society) I looked through it and found it peaked me interest. I signed up to attend an informational meeting to get more information about this program. After I sat through the meeting, I made the decision to attempt to do this. I know physically what I am getting myself into but the fundraising basically scares me to death! I've never attempted to raise this amount of money before. So this is going to be an interesting adventure for me! 

Please click the link I've added to my blog and donate any amount you can. I know times are tough right now, but this is a great cause. Many of you have known someone affected by cancer. Thank you very much!

Top Five

A guy I went out with a few years ago asked me once who were my top five men. It took me a bit to come up with a list but I did. The list has changed just a bit from them but as of January 11, 2011 here are my top five men:

#5 Daniel Craig

I mean, hello! James Bond?? And of course he has the accent to go with it! And the shower scene in Lara Croft Tomb Raider is a very nice scene!

#4 Ryan Hurst

Oh Bertier, the All-American in Remember the Titans! Yes, I like the jocks, which is a role Ryan Hurst typically plays. He also has quite a few tattoos which I like too! I hated the show Wanted was canceled that he played in. He worked for the ATF which means he used guns, another thing I find sexy!

#3 Jeffery Donnavan

Oh yes, Michael Weston! Looks and brains! Oh yeah, did I mention guns too? He is also an amazing actor who can play a very convincing bad guy too (Hitch, Changeling). Did I mention he uses lots of guns in Burn Notice?

#2 Jason Statham

'Sigh' he plays in many movies with, yes, guns. Plus he has that Brit accent! I never had watched a movie of his until I saw The Expendables. It was an ok movie. Not much of a plot but it was my a good introduction to Mr. Statham. And yes, he used lots of guns! (I don't know why but there is something very sexy about a man with a gun!!)

And for my Number One.......................................................................................................................

#1 Dwayne Johnson

I mean, do I need to say anything at all about this man? He is the most beautiful man in the world! And oh, those tattoos!  Oh, and his smile! I love that smile!! 

So there you have it, my top five. I hope this has given you a few seconds entertainment!

Remembering

I have been watching and reading about what has been going on in Arizona since Saturday. My heart is breaking for the families that lost loved ones. My heart goes out to the families of those that were injured and I pray that Rep. Gifford will make a full recovery.

A lot has been said about this whole situation. Much of it political. Both sides seem to have come out swinging trying to blame each other for this happening. From everything that I've read about the shooter, this wasn't about a political party. This is someone who has some serious psychological issues and has focused his attention on Rep. Gifford. Politics has nothing to do with what he did to harm so many people and their families. All of this brings back so many memories from almost 25 years ago.

August 20, 1986. That was a day that would change the world not as I know it but also for everyone. On that day a new term would be born. The term "going postal" came into being. Many of you have used that term and have no clue what it really means. On that August day in the post office of Edmond, Oklahoma a disgruntled employee walked in, locked the doors and started shooting. He killed 14 people, wounded six, and then finally turned the gun on himself. One of those that was killed was my daddy's first cousin.

I know how it feels to have tragedy strike and to have it plastered all over the media. It is difficult to try to process all the emotions you go through when every time you turn around you have it thrown into your face. You don't need a constant reminder. I know that I have followed this through the media but I so wish they would give it a bit of a rest. And I hope, hope, hope when those six are laid to rest the media stays away. Every family deserves to lay their loved ones to rest with out a media circus surrounding them.

As a side note, please remember where the term "going postal" came from. It's not a funny term about someone getting angry. It came from a real, although rare event, that took the life of one of my family.

Standing on a Wall

Those of you who know me know I love a man in uniform. Well a more accurate statement would be I have an obsession with men in uniform! I have always liked the uniform so this isn't a recent obsession. As a teenager I remember being excited see the Riverside Military guys at the mall (yes, this is before I knew why so many of them were there!). There is just something about a man in uniform! But tonight's post isn't so much about my obsession as my respect for those who wear a uniform. 

I have always been relatively patriotic. I'm not sure exactly where it comes from. My family isn't exactly a military family. I had some great-uncles who served in WWII, but that was because they were drafted. I had one uncle who served in the Air Force back in the 60s. He did it so he could travel and see the world. The kicker? He never left the US! So where does this sense of patriotism and pro-military come from? I sometimes wonder if it is due to me having been a child during the Bicentennial celebration. I remember learning God Bless America, America the Beautiful, Yankee Doodle Dandy and other songs that celebrated the USA. Maybe this is where it started. I don't really know.

What I do know is I have a tremendous about of respect for the men and women who serve in our armed forces. I can't imagine what it must be like to leave everything you know to go and serve our nation. I can't imagine what it's like to say, "Yes, I will defend this Nation and it's citizens even unto my last breath." 

Now, I'm not trying to romanticize those that serve. I know every man and woman that serves has different reasons for joining. I know that some have other reasons than just being patriotic. But whatever the reason a man or woman chooses to serve, I am eternally thankful that he or she chose to serve. I am so thankful that he or she protects our nation from those that would wish to see us wiped off the face of the earth.

A line from the movie A Few Good Men sums up my feelings for our military.

"Why do you like them so much?"

"Because they stand upon a wall and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch."

Daddy Rabbit

My Daddy. Try as I might, there are few words to describe him. Unpredictable is one that usually comes to mind. You never know what he is going to say or do! One time I had come home from somewhere and Daddy is stitting at the kitchen table eating. He turns to me and starts yelling at me. I'm trying to figure out what it is that I had done recently but I couldn't think of anything. Then Daddy suddenly stops and with out cracking a smile he says, "I'm just kidding." And goes back to eating!

Another time we had gone to visit my grandmother in Young Harris (this is where Daddy grew up). While we were up there Mawmaw gave my mother a pair of coolots (yes this was way back in the 80's!). After we get back hone, my mother had placed those fashion monstronsities in her bedroom. I sat down in the living room and was reading. The next thing I know here comes Daddy wearing those things along with a pair of black socks, no shirt. Needless to say our family had a good laugh that afternoon.

Daddy is also a very entertaining story teller. Most of the time it's not the story that he is telling is so great but the way Daddy tells it. He will often get to laughing when telling a story and I will get to laughing at him instead of the story. One story that he tells makes me laugh just thinking about it because I remember him laughing the first time he told it to me. The story is one of his customers was coming home from the airport and he somehow got of on the wrong exit. It was dark and there weren't many other lights other than the car's head lights. Suddenly the guy hits something and there are flames and sparks flying all over the place! He couldn't figure out what it was and he stopped to make sure nothing was wrong with his car. Turns out these two guys were crossing the street with a grill they had stolen, a lit grill!

Now that story may not be as funny to most of you reading this as it is to me. I just remember how much Daddy was laughing the first time he told it to me. He was laughing so hard he could hardly tell the story! This is one of my favorite memories of Daddy.

Daddy is getting close to 70 and I don't know how many years I'll have him around (hopefully many, many more!!). I recently bought a Flip camera to start recording his stories. I want to still be able to hear them after he's gone and to hopefully share them with my own children one day. I also want to be able to share Daddy's wisdom with others. He and I haven't always gotten along (still don't sometimes for that matter) but one thing about him is he is very wise. I still go to him for advice. I am so grateful to have a Daddy! :)

Daddy at Cloudland Canyon October 2006

Daddy looking at some old pictures at a family get together, August 2008

My parents and me after my graduation from UGA, August 2009

Daddy outside The Grill

Just to give you a visual of what Daddy wore, lol

Teenaged Dream

Tonight I went shopping at Goodwill for a prom dress. Yes, a prom dress. I teach the college Sunday School class at church. Our "get together" in February is going to be a Thrift Store Prom. Organizing this event has brought back memories of high school.

As with most things in my life, I didn't do things in high school the typical way. I always went to dances with a group of friends, I didn't go on my first date until the summer before my Senior year, and I only went to prom my Junior year.

I loved going to school dances. I'm not exactly a great dancer but I just had a good time dancing. The main reason I had a good time, I think, is because I wasn't stuck having to dance with just one person. I could dance with whoever I decided to dance with. Prom was a different story!

After spring break that year, the prom talk really started to pick up. My friends were starting to go dress shoping and discusssing their dinner and after prom plans. And being that I was not dating anyone I didn't think I would go at all. I felt left out. However, I didn't let anyone know how I felt.

People suggested different guys I should go with but none of them, welll, I don't like to they didn't appeal to me, but it just didn't feel right. So as the day of prom gets closer, I really think I'm not going to go. Then for whatever reason this one guy gets suggested to me. He had only started at our school that year and I had a couple of classes with him. I didn't know him at all but I guess since it was the week before prom and I really wanted to go, I asked him to go. His answer- yes.

Looking back on it over the distance of 20+ years I wonder why he said yes to me. He didn't know me from Adam's housecat. I guess maybe being a new kid at school he didn't think he'd go to prom and being that he was a fairly shy guy he wasn't going to ask anyone.

So how did the night turn out? Well he picked me up in his mom's car (thankfully since he drove a jacked up truck!) and we drove to Atlanta for dinner. Sounds nice right? Well our prom was at the Botanical Gardens in Athens! We drove a long way that night. Dinner was nice but I don't even remember what I ate and even though I asked him, he paid for dinner.

We arrive at the Botanical Gardens and we get the obligatory pictures made and then we go find my friends. I don't think, now that I have started to really think about it, I even asked him did he have any friends there he'd like to see. We just hung out with my friends. And we only danced slow songs. Yes, just the slow songs. After we left  we wet to Shoney's for breakfast and I was home by 1 a.m. The one night I DIDN'T have a curfew and I get home relavtively early.

So, did I regret going? No. I think it's something you should go to even if you don't have a date. Do I wish I had gone solo? Well yes and no. I think I needed to experience a dance with a date. However I wished I would have danced more. So I'm looking forward to our Thrift Store Prom! No date and I can dance all I want. :)

Here is what I looked like in high school. If I find my prom pictures I'll try to scan them in. Oh the big hair!

Silence

I hadn't planned on posting again tonight but I started thinking about what we talked about tonight in youth. We talked about being still and being quiet. This is something that I find difficult to do. Not so much the being still part but the being quiet. More specifically my mind being quiet. When I'm driving, or walking, or even lying in bed my mind is constantly running. I've often compared it to a hamster in a wheel. It's always running, running, running. But that hamster is never getting anywhere.

One of the few times my mind is quiet is when I'm running. The first time it happened it freaked me out. But as I continued to do this, I found I looked forward to that silence. (This should be my motivation to start running again.)

So why are we so afraid of silence? I know I hate silence. When I'm working alone in my classroom I like to have a movie on. I'm not watching it but I like to have the noise. I also play a lot of music in my classroom when I have students. Even at home I have either music or the tv or movie on. And  I have to admit even when I'm trying to study the Word, I like to have some type of background noise. Why do I not want the silence?

I know that for me I think I'm afraid of what the Lord might have to say to me if I ever slowed down enough to listen to him. What if He tells me that I have to move to Siberia (I wouldn't like it there because of the cold, cold, cold winters!) Or what f He tells me that the dreams that I have is not His best for me and that I'm going to have to put them aside?

How often do we really "be still and know that He is God?" (Ps. 46:10). Yes we have our quiet times but are they truly quiet? I can sit still long enough to read a daily devotion and a few verses of scripture, but it's not quiet. My mind and emotions are not quiet and still. When I'm reading I'll start thinking of what I have to do next or tomorrow. I struggle to be still, especially my mind.

I heard once that God gave us one mouth and two ears. He wants us to listen twice as much as we talk. I am going to strive to listen twice as often to Him as I have been in the past.

Quotes

If you've ever spent any amount of time around me you have probably heard me at least once quote a line from a movie. Even tonight at church I said a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. For whatever reason I can remember lines from movies. So since I'm tired and didn't feel up to being very creative or witty with a post for today, I thought I'd post some of my favorite lines from movies. Please leave in the comments some of your favorite lines!

"Inconceiveable!" "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means" ~Princess Bride

"Are you threatening me with pee?" ~The Run Down

"Where all the white women at?" ~Blazing Saddles

"Louie, what's wrong man?" "I just gave yo momma a piggy back ride and she's twice as big as I am." ~Remember the Titans

"What, behind the rabbit?" "It IS the rabbit!" ~Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"She turned me into a newt.... I got better." ~Monty Python and the Holy Grail

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner." ~Dirty Dancing

"Yeah you." ~Sixtenn Candles

"And Leon is getting larrrrger.~ Airplane!

"Come see a old fat man sometime." ~Original True Grit

"I'll have to take your word for it." ~El Dorado

(spoken with a Swedish accent)"And dey hung him" ~El Dorado

"Croatan oil?! I'll be a sucked egg mule!" ~El Dorado

Gosh, so many more quotes but I think I'll call it a night. Again, please feel free to leave you own favorite quotes! (Or not :) )

The very beginning

I thought this would be an approrpiate title for my very first post. It's the beginning of a new year. 2011, if it's anything like the past several years, will be the beginning of more adventures of the Mandylicious life.

For those of you wondering I thought I'd tell about the very beginning of Mandylicious. I have had quite a few nicknames in my life. Spook, Miss Kitty, Manny, Miss Boo, Taz, Crackhead, and Miss Nannie are some that I have been given over the years. However, the one that seems to have stuck is Mandylicious. I am always amused at the looks on people's faces whenever they over hear me being called. Mandylicious. I'm sure some have thought, "Why in the world is that old lady being called Mandylicious.??" I myself find this nickname amusing. So just how did I earn this moniker?

Picture it, Toccoa, GA, the Georgia Baptist Conference Center,  June 2007. Imagine a young(ish) lady sitting in a bare yellow office early (for her anyway!) one Tuesday morning. First full day of camp. She is hearing the sleepy chatter of students heading towards their various places for the days activities. Three of her favorite girls pop their heads into the Impact office to tell her good morning. Suddenly, one of them says, "Mandy, we have to tell you something!" These young ladies count to three and the say (very loudly for 8 in the morning!) "Hey Mandylicious!"

So that's the exciting story of how I became Mandylicious. Not a very exciting story and it certainly did not foreshadow exactly how exciting and amusing (for quite a few of you anyway) my life will become. :)