What Giving should be like

On the Sunday before Christmas I got to do one of the coolest things that I have ever done. I got to play Secret Giver. I am first going to have to give you some background information so that it will help you understand the story a little bit better.
Background info: I have a friend named Don and he bakes amazing peanut butter cookies with the kiss on top of it. A few years ago around thanksgiving he asked me if I wanted to buy a dozen of these amazing cookies for $5. I said of course I love them. He asked me don't you want to know why I am asking you to pay for them, I said sure why not. So that is when he told me what he does with the money. Don bakes cookies from thanksgiving until the weekend before Christmas and he sells them to anyone he knows for $5.00 per dozen. Then when he collects all his money he goes to Wal-Mart in a lower end part of the Kansas City area and buys a gift card. Once he has the gift card or cards (depending on how much money he collects) and then he walks around Wal-Mart and hand them to someone and says "I just want to make your Christmas a little bit better!" And that is it - Don the Secret Giver/Santa. Well the last few years I have been helping by selling these cookies to people that I work with. Last year after the HOlidays were over Don asked me if I would want to go with him to hand out the gift cards next Christmas. I said oh that would be so awesome! He said I deserved it since I sold so many cookies.
Fast forward to present Christmas season: So this season the cookie business was good - -even with the economy the way it is. Don was able to buy 5 $100.00 gift cards to Wal-mart. AWESOME!! So we (yoh, don, his wife kp, and me) are in the car and headed to Wal-mart in KCK. As we are getting closer Don says he has to tell us the 'rules.' "Rule #1 - there are no rules!! Everyone can use a little help during this season. He said you will just walk around and you will see someone who needs it and you will just go up to them and say whatever you wish to and tell them Merry Christmas!" I said "Whoa - Whoa: we (yoh & I) thought we were just along for the ride - but you are saying that we get to hand them out to people." Don was like - "yep you each get to hand out two."

Maasen's person #1 - So I wanted to go straight to the toy section, I wanted to help someone out that had a child with them. We walked around for a bit - and we were both praying that God would show us who needed this money. I saw this lady with a little girl who was so cute. We took another lap in the toy section and I decided she was the winner. I went up to her and Yoh said excuse us. Then I said hi, I just want to make your Christmas a little bit better this year. Then handed her the $100. She smiled so big and tears started forming. She hugged me and said you just made my money stretch so much farther. I am on disablity and I really dont get paid enough to do anything extra - especially Christmas. Then she thanked me again and hugged me. Then the little girl gave me a high five and said thank you. I was of course crying too. We walked away and I looked at Yoh and I said man I just love eating those cookies but this is way cool and different than I imagined.

Yoh's person #1 - Yoh went up to two ladies, sort of looked like a lady in her forties with her mother. She stopped them and said she wanted to make their Christmas even better, and then handed them the gift card. She was shocked and so happy and hugged Yoh. Then the lady showed the older lady and she had so excitement in her voice when she told her what Yoh had just given her.

Maasen's person #2 - So we were walking around and we passed the clearance section and I looked in the rows and I saw a couple in their forties or so. As we passed them I looked at Yoh and said they are shopping in the clearance section for presents. So I turned around and went up to them and said excuse me I would like to help make your Christmas a little better and then handed them the card. The lady was like are you kidding -- I responded NO that would be a cruel joke. She said thank you I am going to cry and I said that is okay. She then told me that her and her husband have 5 kids between them and that I just helped them more than I will ever know. Then the both hugged me and Yoh. Priceless!!

Yoh's person #2 - Yoh felt she was suppose to give it to 2 women. It didn't take long to spot two. So we came up behind them and Yoh said excuse me. 1 lady stopped and 1 lady was a few steps ahead. Yoh said she wanted to make their Christmas better and handed her the gift card. The lady had a puzzled look on her face then she said thank you and then walked to her friend and said wow she just gave me 100 bucks!!!

The 5th person was a lady who was in the baby section shopping for her great grand baby. KP gave her the card and she was super excited and hugged KP!

Conclusion: I wish that this is something that I could do this every Sunday during the holiday season. No really I wish that I could do this on a regular basis. It was such an awesome experience and the expressions on those peoples faces was so priceless. It really makes me want to help Don sell enough to get $1000 next year - however that is a ton of baking - but I am pretty sure that Don can handle it!!

Welcome 31

So on 12/09 I turned 31 - which I lovingly called finally entering into my 30s. I had a fantastic day and I thought it would be fun to give you a run down of the day. Hope you enjoy a small glimpse of my 31st birthday!
On birthday eve I went to eat dinner with Yoh, the Bennetts, little Lori and her boyfriend Dave. We went to Montana Ted's where I had a Bison burger with some avocado slice on it. Tasty!!
Here is the run down of the big day
6:30am - woke up as a 31 year old
6:45am - found an itunes gift card on my light switch (it had a 'B' on it)
7:05am - got into my car to drive to work & found a Starbucks gift card (it had an 'F' on it)
7:30am - went to my work mailbox & had 2 bday cards - one from my friend Zena and one from my bday buddy Holmie
7:35am - voicemail from my mom & grandma telling me Happy Birthday
7:45am - text from a basketball and softball player telling me Happy Birthday and a bag of candy from a student
8:30am - the strings class came and played Happy Birthday for me
9:31am - Happy Birthday email
9:51am - Happy Birthday email
10:00am - FCA Ryan came to say Happy Birthday to me and gave me a subway gift card
11:00am - 5th hour students sang Happy Birthday to me and I got a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods and a card from one of my favorite special needs students
11:38am - ecard from tblakes
12:00pm - entire 6th grade sand Happy Birthday to me
12:19pm - 6th grade student gave me a birthday sugar cookie
1:10pm - ate lunch with my birthday buddy and others - Chipolte - - yummy!
1:50pm - Yoh came and interrupted a meeting to give my flowers-Gerber daisies (had an 'F' on it)
2:00pm - Happy Birthday email
2:25pm - Happy Birthday email
3:30pm - Happy Birthday text
3:45pm - a Hy-vee blue "green" bag-so funny to me and a 12pack of coke (had an 'O' on it)
3:50pm - a bag with a 'T' on it was on the door - inside the bag was a fantastic kansas jayhawk hat
4:10pm - Happy Birthday text
4:30pm - Birthday phone call from Markus Parkus
5:00pm - phone call from my December birthday friend - DJ
5:30pm - the 'P' present from Yoh - a brand new pair of tennis shoes! Wahoo!!
6:00pm - went to dinner with Yoh, Smithers, Andy, and little Mason at Barleys - love their spin dip
6:05pm - happy Birthday text
6:55pm - Happy Birthday text
8:00pm - came home from dinner

The day was super fun and I am sure that there is numerous things that I left out but it was just a great day. Sometimes as I get older I think that oh it won't be that great - its just another day or I have to work so really how much fun can it be. Well this year was a real good time. Thanks for all those people who helped make the day fun!

Trying to embrace change

Well there seems to be alot going on in my life. Maybe not really alot but some big changes are going to occur and hope to occur. I was talking on the phone with my friend just the other day and she said "wow Maasey you seem to be in great spirits and that your head is on straight with all these things that are going on. If I were in your shoes I am not sure that I would sound the same way that you do." I told her that I am doing my best and sometimes sounding positive is just a 'mask.' I know, I know not the best way to handle things - however sometimes these items are just too hard to talk about and at times I am not really sure how I feel or what emotions I am going through to express what I feel.
So with that being said the two big changes that are going on are 1. my best friend (BFFOTP-best friend forever on the planet..cause Jesus is really my best friend) is moving in just a few weeks to Michigan. 2. I am trying to sell my house in a bad market.
So I will discuss in short form my thoughts on item 1. In my deep heart I am excited for her and this move because I know that she is listening to the L-rd and that His plan is way better than mine could be. It is hard to be excited now though - I guess you could say I am excited for the unknown and her future, cause it is going to be super sweet. I am obviously sad because we do so many things together and share a huge part of our lives together. Its nice when we have a ton of the same interests. There are days where I cannot even imagine being much sadder than I am at that moment. It will be weird to live by myself again. The little things that you do with a roommate are just priceless. I know that we will do our best to communicate on a regular basis however we all know that talking on the phone or texting is not the same and most people in general are not really that great at keeping in contact. I will miss her greatly on a daily basis but hopefully we will do an amazing job of communicating.
Okay now for item 2. Selling a house is sort of annoying - mainly cause you have the realtor who just wants to sell it cause that is their job, but they want you to make changes to help it sell faster. Which I am all for it selling it faster, however if it doesn't sell I do not want to live in a house with boring paint colors such as universal khaki. True it is a nice color - I just do NOT want it in every single room of my house. So I have painted 3 rooms this far but that does not mean I will paint the others. I personal think that most people buy a house and then paint it the colors that they enjoy. So if my house does sell then someone will most likely paint over the universal khaki. So I just feel like that is a waste of my money and we all know that budgets are tight. So I guess I will wait and see if I need to start the painting again. I have only had a few people look at it so far so I plan on waiting a little while before I bring out the painting clothes. A popular question that people have for me is "What are you going to do when your house sells?" Honestly I am not 100% sure, the plan is to rent somewhere in Merriam - close to Mastin St. I would like to rent for awhile to pay off my student loans and other things. Then when those are paid off then maybe look to something else or move somewhere that it is warm all year long. Okay maybe not really on that last point but it would be fun. Honestly if I pay off some of my debt I would like to do some traveling to some places in the US that I have never been and just take a back pack and my camera and take tons of photos.
Okay well hope you had somewhat of a good read. More in a few days.

Field of Dreams

So on the way home from Wisconsin my good buddy Melissa Yoh decided to give me a surprise trip. I had no clue really until I realized it was in Iowa and then I had a hope that it would be where we ended up going (there really aren't that many great places in Iowa) She took me to see where the Field of Dreams movie was filmed. It was so cool. We actually missed the time frame of the place being open - due to a flat tire. So we could not go on the field however it was cool just to look at and take pictures of. If we could have gotten on the field I for sure would have gone into the corn and played catch on the field with my good pal Yoh. It was a super terrific surprise. I have loved baseball for a really long time I think since I started playing tee ball which was when I was five. My mom was a huge baseball fan so I guess you could say its tradition. Just thought I would share the pictures of the best surprise of the last few months.

October Wedding

So last month I was in a wedding for my great college friend Hilary Smith...who I lovingly call Hil-dawg. She married a really nice man named Tim. She asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding which was an honor, especially since we had been through a lot of "junk" in the past 7 years. So Yoh (she handed out programs and did lots of other things that don't really have a title) and I ventured up to Wisconsin for the wedding of the year. It was a resort on a lake. It was a really beautiful wedding site. I had a great time and I am very thankful that the Lord brought Hil-dawg back into my life. Here are some pictures of just wedding goodness. Beware I am wearing a dress in all of these photos. YIKES!

P.S. Sometimes I have trouble posting pictures on here-can you tell

New Blogger to the Crowd

Well my very good friend Brit Reid started a blog today. It is called Moms 4 Truth. I am sure that it will be amazing.
A little background on my friend "Reido" - a very rarely call people by there real name - as you know. She and I coached basketball together and did a Bible study with some high school basketball girls. Reido is the one who led me to become saved - so you know that she has to be AMAZING!!! She has great kids too..the only bad part is that she moved away, but when she is around she makes every attempt to hook up with me!
So check out her blog now and in the future.

Angela J. Maasen RN

Well the last week was a little different than most weeks. This past Monday my mom went in for out patient surgery on her knee, she tore her meniscus about a month ago, so she was going into have it fixed. I took off Monday and Tuesday to be with my mom. The surgery was real successful, the doctor said her repaired everything and that her knee looked good and that there was minimal bone on bone rubbing. So I thought great now I just got to take care of her and make her comfortable for a couple of days and then I will head back to work.

Well as soon as we got home from the hospital I was helping my mom get into her pajamas and that is when we saw lots of blood on the bandage and running down her leg! (sorry for those of you who don't like these kind of stories) My first thoughts were YIKES MY MOM IS GOING TO FREAK OUT! She did a tad but then she was on so many drugs that it really was not that bad of a freak out. So I helped her get in her pajamas and then I immediately called the only RN that I know - Melissa Yoh, she said "hmmm it is normal for there to be a little blood but not that much. Call the doctors office and talk to a nurse then call me back." The surgeon nurse was "like oh that's normal, apply pressure and ice and call me back in 10 minutes." I told her more than twice that there is A LOT of blood. But she didn't get phased. So I did what she said and it slowed down a little, called her back and she said it was fine. She said that it was just oozing out of the stitches area. I was thinking - this is more than oozing but hey she is the nurse, I am just role playing one.

So the next day there is still blood but less. I call the nurse again and she says its okay and to keep doing what we are doing - it is slowing down so that is good. Tuesday night it was pretty much done but still a little bit. So I decided that I should stay with her on Wednesday too just to make sure. Well then on Wednesday when she woke up and ate breakfast she noticed that she was bleeding alot again, it bled through everything again. So I told her that I was taking her to the Emergency Room cause I was tired of dealing with it and I needed someone else to see it. So we went and got seen rather quickly - I think that the bleeding helped that process go quicker. The ER doctor was like it is not normal that it is still bleeding but I am not going to do anything cause the surgeon should really be the one to do something - so off to the doctors office.

Thankfully at the doctors office she was still bleeding pretty good (I wanted them to see it so that they would know it was more than just a little blood). The nurse came in and said oh this is not normal (finally she believed me), the doctor came in after a few minutes and said that "he must of nicked a vein while he was in there and that is why it is still bleeding." AWESOME! - NOT! So he put another stitch in my moms knee, but it kept bleeding. He told my mom that she could bleed for a few more days or a few more hours - it was hard to know. So I talked it over with my mom and we decided that I should probably stay with her the rest of the week cause someone was going to have to change the bandage periodically if it kept bleeding.

The bleeding finally stopped on Friday morning. Thank the Lord! Overall my mom was a great patient and I am pretty sure that I did an okay job of playing a nurse/chef/house cleaner. I think that the patient was pleased with my work. I did learn a few things while I was doing this. I really enjoy a job where you can go outside throughout the day, that if either one of my parents ever need care later on in life I would rather pay someone to do it than do it myself. Not because I don't love them but because it is alot of work and a professional person would be much better for them - I might need to start saving for that.

The Power of Music

I have always enjoyed music, growing up I had a pink ghettoblaster (it was a gift, not a color I would have picked out for sure). I have mostly just enjoyed the words that comes with the music. However recently since learning how to play the drums I really have started to also listen to the instruments not just the words. That can sometimes be hard especially if you know and enjoy the lyrics. So anyways I thought that I would share some things from my iPOD - just random facts and tid bits really - just go with it and if you don't wanna no hard feelings.

• My iPOD has over 2500 songs
• my playlists are: bucks freebies and funky ads, drums, god is truth, hey dj..play that once more, IHOP-Not the Pancakes, Pat Yoh said so, Pop! Goes the Weasel, Power it Up!, Saddle Up Buckaroo, Shake Yo Booty, Speechless, Study Buddy, Summer Fling, Worship Tunes, Wuv...Twoo Luv. (I can't take credit for all of them, Yoh did name most of them - she is more creative than me at these things)
• One song that almost always makes me cry is Holy and Anointed One by Micheal Armstrong
• Some of my favorite artists are Misty Edwards, David Crowder Band, Third Day, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band.
• I love the song My Best Friend by Weezer...puts a smile on my face and reminds me of Yoh always.
• Oh What a Night by The Four Seasons is a song I enjoy dancing too.
• Anything by John Mellencamp reminds me of college and dancing with my friends Hil and DJ in their dorm room or apartment.

I could go on much longer but hey why not get introduced to more music. Okay so here's what you do post a comment on what song or artist or music you enjoy. Maybe give me your favorite song, or the song that makes you dance, or the song that you turn up so loud and sing like crazy in your car, or a song that makes you cry.

Introducing Samantha Anne Prescott

This weekend I went to visit my friend Angel McAdams Prescott, her husband, and there new baby Samantha. I took along my camera to take some shots of the new little girl. Angel and I decided to go on the campus of Northwest Missouri State and take a few pictures so that Angel and Sean could print one off as there announcement, well we ended up taking 80 pictures...it is easy to do when you have a beautiful subject oh and she was sleeping! No worries I am only going to post a few for you to view.

break is over

Okay well it has been awhile since I have posted a blog. I had all intentions to post after the first few days of school - however I had some internet problems at the casa and I cannot get on blogspot.com at work - it is blocked! Well needless to say that the internet is up and running here on the homefront. I must say the thing that I missed the most about not having internet is being able to read my friend DJ's blog while she is in Africa...its called myghanaexperience (you should see it on my blog list panel), she comes home tomorrow night, the other thing I missed was chatting with my friend Ray on IM. Other than that no internet was really no biggie.
Well school is back in session and so far so good. I enjoy the majority of the students and I love my new schedule. Its amazing what a small schedule change can do to your job. I now teach from 7:45am to 12 - then a 22 min lunch (which is where I do lunch duty and eat lunch) then back to teach one more class until 1:05pm. So then after classes are over I sometimes have meetings or helping out around the building to do. Check my mailbox, voicemail, and email. If I do not have meetings or anything else then I try to workout until 2 then do other random things. This really helps me cause then on nights when I have things like church, class, etc I do not feel like I have to squeeze a workout in. Which is super bueno for me.
So with all that being said: I love my job, I love the majority of the students, I love my schedule, but I will always love my breaks!!
Okay enough for now - peace out

Flowers and Plants Jamaica Style

Okay so I am pretty sure that this is my last post about Jamaica. It was a great trip so it deserved to posts. Well really the plants and flowers there were just so beautiful that I thought they should have there own post! Enjoy and the next post will not be pictures or about Jamaica.



A little pink guy.

This one just had zebra like stripes on it
A fan palm tree or traveling palm

This one here is my favorite one. Cool lighting.
The yellow was a little more bright in real life
Yellow combo plants

Some little purple guys

These ones are called Angel Trumpets - so I took them in honor of my friend Angel since she could not make the trip.
Some red ones

Crazy tree branches
Close up of the yellow and green leaves
Some pink ones
Close up of a single red one

Pics from Jamaican Me Crazy

Path to the main area of resort
View from Hil and DJ's room

Classic roommate photo
Cozy place to dine

Chairs on the beach with a little hut in case of sunburn or rain

Omar Jr. the beach crab
The pool area with the beach in the background

Sunrise along the beach in Montego Bay

Hobie Cat, very fun to ride on when it is wavy
View from Hil and DJ's room
Pretty fountain

One of the restaurants at the resort
Hil and me chillin after dinner, yes that is me in a dress
All the girls dressed up for dinner. Yep I'm in a skirt again

Well Jamaica was pretty amazing. I had the most fun doing the water events, such as snorkeling, kayaking, the Hobie cat, and climbing the waterfalls. Other than that we soaked up the sun and ate fun foods. We did do a little shopping in the city - that was a tad stressful. But overall the trip was amazing and it is beautiful there, maybe someday I will have the opportunity to go back.

A "Golden" Lady

A tribute to one of my favorite actress. Estelle Getty, also known as Sophia on the Golden Girls passed away on July 22, 2008 at the age of 84, just 3 days from her 85th birthday. The news reports say that she died from natural causes, she did however suffer from dementia and osteoporosis.

Estelle had a great career in television, she was most known for her role as Sophia, the mother of Dorothy on the Golden Girls. She also did some work on Broadway and as a comedian in her beginning days of acting.

Emmy Awards
1986 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1987 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1988 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Won)
1989 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1990 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1991 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1992 – Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)

Golden Globe Awards
1985 – Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)
1986 – Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy Series – The Golden Girls – (Won)
1991 – Actress in a Supporting Role – Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie – The Golden Girls – (Nominated)

Sophia has always been my favorite Golden Girl. I am glad that my mom has bought me all the Seasons on DVD, that way I can see Estelle/Sophia any time I want. I have enjoyed The Golden Girls for many many years. I enjoy the show because it is funny and in a small way I hope that parts of my life in the future as an elderly person is like theirs. I think it would be fun to live with some of my friends when our husbands are in heaven and just enjoy each others company...and of course eating cheese cake every night would also be amazing, since it so happen that cheese cake is my favorite dessert as well.
If you feel like celebrating Estelle's life as Sophia Friday July 25th Lifetime television is doing a marathon tribute from 12 noon to 5p.m.