maasenyourface

its about time

2012-01-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Its about time I posted...don't you think? I do not have any pictures for this post just words so hopefully you will stick it out and read.

Wrapping up 2011.....
The month of December went quickly and was jam packed with things.
I have been going to the Chiropractor since right before Thanksgiving (I am still currently going), I had some serious pain in my hip/leg/lower back, it is getting much better in fact it is pretty much back to where I was before the pain. The most annoying part of the injury was I unable to work out for about 6 weeks - this was super hard on me for several reasons but mostly because I enjoy exercising and I also have great alone time with G-d!! I chose to do an enzyme test with my Chiropractor, mostly because he felt that some of my muscle pain and issues was due to nutrition. So I did the test at the end of December and the test was hands on and I could tell a difference as the doctor went through the test which was confirmation for me as the patient. The results came in and I am super low in Vitamin C, and my body has difficult digesting carbohydrates and proteins. So I am eating slightly different - lean meats, lots of veggies, and no coke (Sad FACE) and I am taking some supplements. I get rechecked on Tuesday to make sure that the supplements are working correctly in my body.

I moved into an apartment in Peppertree (6806 Antioch Rd. #236) on December 18th. The move is good but it was sad to leave the TBlake home. The apartment is coming along, I still have some decorating to do - which will most likely be lots of my photos, the problem is deciding which ones and where to put them! I miss coming home to people especially fantastic people like Tom, Leah, and Cassidy. It was just nice to hear people say things when you came in and to hear about their day and share about my day. But with that said it is also nice (at times) to live by myself. I know that I am suppose to be living by myself for awhile so my heart feels good because I am doing what I am suppose to be doing. It is just a tad hard, but thankfully I see my roommates a lot still at least until February 15th. Then it will be super hard but thank the L-rd for Skype!! I also helps the TBlakes move their stuff to 2 locations and clean up 6860, it was lots of work but I enjoy work and it was quality time so I was in a good place. It also meant I got to hang out with the Franz clan which was a super time. They are such great people!

The year ended with a pretty great Family Christmas. I had a hard but good conversation with my dad. Then on my moms side of the family I got to speak good truth to my cousin Kyle. On my moms side we just enjoyed each other and good food! We took some family pictures, mostly because my grandma is going to be 88 and she has not been feeling so great - so we felt it was important to take a large group photo.

Okay I think that is all for the end of the year wrap up - I am sure I forgot something but oh well.

The beginning of 2012....
On New Years Day I went out to my Uncle Gary Maasens house for his 60th birthday. This is the first time I have seen any of the Maasen side of the family in 2 years. Since my grandma Maasen passed away we haven't really done any family things on that side (or at least that I know of). It was fun to see my cousins, aunts and uncles that showed up. Just like all Maasen events it was loud, crowded, and not everyone was there. Still is was great to see those who were there.

I have been doing more things to get settled in my apartment, which is a long and boring process. I have been trying to exercise on a more regular basis now that I am released to do so. I did play some soccer with the KL Kickers last week - found out my body is really not ready for that yet, i was really really sore! I have a freshman girls group that I am leading and we met just the other night, it was great! We are doing a study on Winning G-ds Way, it talks about still choosing G-d and His ways through athletics and high school situations. It is a great study for me as a coach as well as for them the athletes. I enjoy my time with them and I think that G-d is going to do great things with them and our group - I already have some 8th grade girls that are counting the days until they are not my students so that they can join the Bible Study group!

As far as the year of 2012 here is what is on my plate for it:

spend lots of time with the TBlakes before the move
Blog once a month or more
get my body and nutrition figured out and stay on task
spend lots more time reading His Word
More daily quality time with the L-rd
Trip to see Yoh - maybe a few times
Trip to Italy this summer
softball season
a few coaching clinics
photoshop class
learn more about photography before my trip to Italy

What A Blessing

2011-11-20T18:59:00.001-08:00

I was awarded the Excellence in Education Award in the Blue Valley School District for the month of November. I felt so honored to be chosen by my principal as the winner. I love my job almost everyday for several reasons, too many to really name. It is just an amazing feeling to be recognized for what I think is fun. I work in a great building full of wonderful teachers and students, it is truly G-d's work that I am even there to begin with. Many blessing have occurred in my life since He gave me that job. I love trying to be a righteous teacher for an Awesome G-d!

Here are a few pictures from the night.

My certificate and my engraved school bell

My family

My Hero - Charlotte Marlin

My amazing mother who helped raised me right

My fantastic dad who helped raised me right

6860 REPRESENT

My principal

My brother

My shortest roommate

Funny

2011-09-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

A tragic example of an in-bread dog!

September Update

2011-09-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am super behind on blogging and updating my photo of the day. I am sure I could come up with lots of reasons on my lack of blogging, but i won't bore you. Anyways here are some updates - in bullet form - to keep my readers happy!

school is in full swing, progress reports go out Friday - which means that 1st quarter is almost over...FAST!!
I am coaching 8th grade girls volleyball right now, we are 1-1, we recently just beat up the Oxford Knights, my roommate Leah went to school at Oxford so it is ALWAYS fun to beat them. The girls like to beat them because Oxford also feeds into the same high school where my students will go...so they can rub it in for 4 years. :)
I help co-lead a group called FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at my school. We meet on Friday mornings at 7AM. We have had 2 meetings and 50 kids have showed up both times. It is so fun to watch middle school kids talk about G-d!
I am going to a coaches Bible Study on Wednesday mornings at 6AM. It is a great way to fellowship with coaches around the district. It is early but always a great time. Tomorrow one of my new volleyball coaches is going to go. I am excited for that, plus that will bring the female number up to 4. There are usually more guys at coaching type functions in case you did not know this.
In the photo business: I have 3 family photo shoots lined up for October so that is fun and great news for the photography side of my life. I would like to do more but people just aren't signing up, which is fine. Whatever happens-happens.
I've been reading a few books lately: Covenant Relations and Captivating. I am doing a Bible Study with some freshman girls on Captivating - super great to be with them. Covenant Relations is a great book, if you haven't read it you should.
My roommates are going to Israel soon(ish) - most likely for 3 years! Whoa! I am excited to for them. BUT I will miss them all a TON. Skype is an amazing thing and I will be using that often.
I can get on blogger at work now - which is great news on days I don't have much planning to do or meetings.
I am still working out - however I am not doing as much as I was this summer. I am still not at my goal, however the lack of motivation is not as strong as it was this summer. I am hoping that changes soon.

2011-07-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

Lots going on here in Michigan/Ohio/a trip to NC. I have done some fun things throughout July while I have been away from Kansas. I have added the best photo of each day to the POTD section, I will also add some on this post for those of us who like photos and words. I have gotten lots of quality time in with my best friend which is the main reason I come to Michigan/Ohio. We have gone to the pool, gotten pedicures, watched some movies, eaten out at some fun restaurants, gone to her mothers house, gone to 4-H Camp, gone to 2 beaches in North Carolina, been to an aquarium, fed 2 horses, played with little girls, moved out furniture so carpet could be ripped up from water damage, played some games, ate ice cream, and lots more. I will be here for about another week which is packed with fun already which includes some pudgy pies, cedar point, cowboy boot shopping.

Here are a few photos...in no particular order

quick one

2011-07-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Okay so I finally updated my POTD Page!!
I know! I know! I was far behind.
I am also working on a real post about some things that we have done in Michigan so far. You can look at Big Cassie's page to see a little of what has been going on!!
Thanks for checking out the photos.

Who Is Diving in....

2011-06-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

The answer is Big Cass and Angie Welton!

Here are some full process-diving-in-shots...

Summer 2011

2011-06-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well I believe that lots of people wont read my blog if there is not any pictures to grab the attention first. Let's be honest pictures are more fun than words! Anyways so here is a picture of two of my friends diving into a pond, can you guess who?

So it's summer - my favorite time of the year! It has been my favorite part of the year my whole life not just because I am a teacher. I use to play lots and lots of softball games in the summer and spend all day at the pool with my friends - -loads of fun!

Lots of people have been asking me so what do I during the summer or all day since I don't work. To be honest my first reaction is usually I RELAX! Mainly because during the school year I work 50-55 hours per week during my non-busy seasons (August-February) and I work around 65-72 hours per week during my busy season (March-May). So relaxing is something I don't do much of from August-May!
Other than that here is what I have going on this summer: (bullet points to keep you focused)

relaxing with my roommates
some pool time
updating and enhancing my photo business
working out - I have been told I am working out a lot and I probably am but I have a goal and I will not have the use of a fitness center in July, so I need to get my time in now. I have reached some of my short term goals so that keeps me motivated. But I still like drinking cokes! I will probably have one this week.
reading books (currently Covenant Relationships)
working 2 softball camps (one for BVNW and one for FCA)
doing a small group/Bible study with some of my students that are now technically freshman girls
going to Michigan for the month of July to see my best friend Yoh (this is always super relaxing and fun for me)
maybe playing a softball game or 2 while in Michigan with Yoh's sister
going to North Carolina for a week with Yoh's family
staying up late
sleeping in
going on some photo taking trips

Best Friends

2011-05-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

TCTWWMD

2011-05-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

So April 28th was National Take Your Child To Work Day (TYCTWD - what teachers use for this day), well as you know I do not have a child, however I have a fantastic 4 year old roommate so we made it Take Cass To Work With Maasen Day (TCTWWMD)!!
Words really cannot tell you how much fun we both had - that is why I am going to post pictures too. All my students wanted to talk to her and wanted to know how I knew her, I had to let them know that she was not my child, but my roommate who I love dearly, she is one of my most favorite people on earth. She had fun too she was giving out high fives and hugs like it was her job! The students loved it, she even hugged a few 7th grade boys - super awesome to witness that. Most of my students could not get over how cute she was!
We ran and played a game called gladiator and Cass jumped right in after she woke up and played with the big kids. I think she had a great time - I am pretty sure her favorite part was the size of my fridge in my "study"(which is really my office but she kept calling it a study - like Papa's) "The fridge is just my size Maas", she kept saying. It really is the little things in life!
Here are some pictures of the day - too bad I didn't take a picture of the fridge! ENJOY!

Eating breakfast together at my desk

A quick stop to pick some flowers

Getting her ball ready for Gladiator

8th grade girls she played with

She had to test out the pencil sharpener

Adding some lessons to my calendar for me

Eating lunch with some 6th grade girls

Two cool chicks at lunch

Talking to the 6th grade girls while stretching

Playing Gladiator like a champ!

MUD-D

2011-04-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well softball games have started. The following pictures are from our first game, it was so muddy that we could not even get in both games. It was also super cold - I was wearing gloves, a stocking hat, several layer, and using hand & foot warmers!! We have played 5 games, only have won 1 game however the other games we have played pretty decent. Some errors and leaving runners on base have kept us from winning in my opinion. Enjoy the muddy pictures, some of the pictures you will notice are of the girls being silly - mostly because there is someone with a camera close by. :)

Spring Break - Part 2

2011-03-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the spring break photos that I promised my readers. I had a great break and got lots of rest and watch some serious college basketball. Both of those things made me very happy. It always feels great to rest and relax especially with my Best Friend Forever On The Planet!! Now I am back in the swing of things and softball games start up these week - I am praying for some warmer temperatures and some sun!!

Nayah and AJ - can you name the movie?

Brynn and Gabby

The Rodriguez Family and their Pastor

Nayah and Me

Nayah

Brynn

Brynn got a little sleepy hanging out with Maasen and Aunt Bobby

Joey

Barn cat at Pat Yoh's (1 of 40)

Mason Thomas Yoh

Spring Break Part 1

2011-03-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well I am on spring break in Michigan/Ohio. So far it's been great. Quality time with my best friend,staying up late,sleeping in and I've gotten some serious reading time in.
We went to her sisters house (Schmoops)to see the new baby girl Nayah she is two months old. So cute, she is a great mix of both parents. We cheered on the Jayhawks as the won the Big 12 Tournament. That was fun. I did get some baby puke on me ....funny stuff. But I did leave with some freshly cleaned pants.
Sunday we watched all three girls get dedicated to their new congregation! I was really excited to be a part of that. We are planning on going down there again on Wednesday. Should be fun times again...I am hoping for no baby puke this time.
I do apologize that I am not posting any pictures, for some reason Blogger is not allowing me to post them from my iPaD. It could be a user error, who knows. So you will just have to wait until I get back for photos and my updated POTD pics.

Where it all started

2011-03-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Yep I am pretty sure I was hooked after I won these trophies at the softball Olympics. I was 8 years old here. Softball season is underway and we have made cuts and teams. I think that we will be pretty decent. If we made it to state I would be thrilled and shocked. I think we will more games than we did last year, I am thinking 500 record or better. To be honest I am praying for success, improvement, and no huge emotional situations that impact our team. Now will we get 2 trophies like I did several years ago, who knows. However I do know that this first base coach is going to do her job to get them ready.

enjoy

2011-03-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

Okay so i will admit I missed a few days on the Photo of the Day Journey last week, please forgive me. Hopefully this video from a few Fridays ago will make up for my missing photos. Thanks for reading and checking out my photos.

Cheesecake

2011-02-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

So I like cheesecake ALOT!! So I decided to buy some on Wednesday February 23rd, 2011. Why? To celebrate. Celebrate what? BEING DEBT FREE!! Yep I am officially out of debt! Praise the L-rd. I have been working on getting out of debt for 1 year and 22 months. I am pretty excited - let the saving begin.

Lemon Raspberry and Peanut Butter n Chocolate

It was just as tasty as it looks - I promise!

Random Things

2011-02-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

I started on February 1st taking a photo of the day. I am going to try and a take a photo every day for 1 year. I added a page (look up) to post them on. I cannot guarantee that i will post them everyday however I will try to, however I tend to have a pretty busy schedule. When the year is up I do plan to organize them and make a book out of all the photos. Should be fun
I have started playing some soccer on Saturday nights with some friends, there are some pictures further down this page. Anyways 3 weeks ago I was playing goalie and I was trying to block a ball with my hands and it sort of bent my wrist back. It hurt then and for a few days then it got better. However the last week it started to hurt lots so today I went to get an x-ray and it is not broken however sprained. So the doctor said I should wear a brace on my wrist/thumb for most of the day for awhile to rest it. Now I am going to try and follow these rules mostly because it does hurt and softball season is coming up and I really really like coaching softball. I like to play catch with the girls, hit grounders and fly balls. All of those do involve my left wrist so it is key that I take good care of it so I can be the best coach I can be! So that is the news on that, but remember the doctor did say most of the day - not all of the day! I will say that wearing my watch on my right arm is pretty annoying.
I have been coaching 8th grade boys basketball and it is fun and we are doing pretty great! My team of 12 boys work really well together and seem to be understanding the TEAM concept. We have 5 games left so we shall see how the rest of the season goes but as long as they keep playing like this we should finish on the positive side.
I have been missing Wyatt a lot lately! Different things seem to make me miss him.
It is weird to not live with a dog. I have lived with a dog my whole life except for like a year and 1/2. Weird right!
I got an iPAD for Christmas and I enjoy it. I still use my laptop more, however it is nice to take the iPAD to and from work, to coffee shops, etc. It is fun.
I am almost out of debt - so so close - very exciting! Then the saving will begin, lots of saving.
I am going to Italy the summer of 2012 for 11 days.
Okay I think that is enough for now.

Woody the Woodpecker???

2011-02-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Snow day fun. I have another snow day today and one again tomorrow due to the winter blizzard of 2011. I like snow days they are fun, relaxing, usually involved some quality time with some people I love. Today we saw a woodpecker outside on our tree so I grabbed some quick pictures of it. I also played in the snow with Lil' Cass which was fun and I worked on her softball sliding skills...for more on the snow part of my day off check out Leah's blog. I will say though that with all these snow days I might have to be teaching during July. Oh well I enjoy the hot weather so I am sure I can handle it.

Snow Day #1

2011-02-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hawk on Mastin

Close up of Hawk on Mastin

Mastin Street trees

Some ducks & Geese on the pond at Antioch Park

Some of the bridge and the creek

Snowy pathway

Fence posts

Frozen pond

Snowy stepping stones

New Blogger - Angel

2011-01-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

Okay my dear friend from college started blogging today.
You can follow her if you want, I know I will be.

http://journeytobethebestpossibleme.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the blog world Angel (McAdams) Prescott

Soccer Night #1

2011-01-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots that were taken on the first night of soccer play.

Enjoy the photos that were either taken by me or Jessica Youmans!

One of our cheerleaders.

Check out Keith & Joel's reactions!

I really like everyones movements in this picture.

The face of a happy girl! Exercise is fun!

Keeper move of the night!

Timber!

Bald Eagles

2010-12-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

Went to Squaw Creek the other day with Allison to take some pictures of the Bald Eagles that stay there.

Squaw Creek is a National Refuge located in Northwest Missouri. We saw about 6 Bald Eagles, lots of Muskrat homes, a few eagles nest, and 1 raccoon. This pictures really do not do the experience justice. One of the Bald Eagles was really close to the road we were driving on - - so cool!!

Holiday Luminary Walk

2010-12-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

The Overland Park Arboretum has a HOliday Luminary walk. Lots of people at my work rave about how awesome it is and how I should go and take some pictures. So I talked some my friends into going as well. Come to find out it was good but really I think it could have been way better! It was for sure something different to do. Anyways here are a few pictures for you to check out.

Pretty sweet bridge

Noah and Cass in the little house for the kiddos

Noah and Cass in the Corn walkway. I think this one is funny because Cass is trying to squat/kneel down - because I am squatting to take their picture. Funny girl!

My buddy Sam - peeking out through the tunnel!

The littlest bear we took with us!

Mom/kid picture

Mark Maasen in the KC Star

2010-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

My brother has been in the paper twice this last week and in a Pet Magazine! He is getting quite the publicity for the winter show he is in. I went and saw the play on opening night. It was really good, however he is my brother so I am obviously going to say that. It is funny and clean.
Here is the link to the spotlight he got in the Sunday paper:
These players bring holiday treats to the stage - KansasCity.com

If you are interested in going to enjoy some good laughs and want to check out the play here is the information:
The Martin City Melodrama & Vaudeville Co
9601 Metcalf Ave. (Metcalf South Shopping Center - by Sears)
November 20-January 2nd
Call 913-642-7576 or www.martincitymelodrama.org

No Words

2010-11-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

This was taken at Wyatt's 3rd birthday

Fritz's

2010-10-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

So the other day we went to what I think is one of the best places in the world. Fritz's! This is a restaurant that is in KCK (the original one) and that I went to a lot when I was a child. This restaurant is one that I went to with my Grandma Marlin pretty much all my life. It is the famous restaurant that brings your food to you on a train! So fun - for all ages!! My grandma (86) still gets a kick out of it and she has been going there for a really long time. If you decide to go I highly recommend the Gen Dare burger, it is a cheeseburger (a thin one like Winsteads), with grilled onions, pickles, mustard, ketchup, and hash browns - yep hash browns that is the key. You can get something else however it is the best item on the list, and they are famous for it. I also recommend the onion rings and the root beer also very great there too.

Leah, Cass, my grandma, and me went to eat lunch there on Friday. We all had so much fun. Leah even ventured out and tried the Gen Dare - she liked it! Cass thought it was pretty cool how our food came to us on a train. All in all it was a very successful trip with great people and amazing food. It was fun that Leah and Cass got to meet my grandma.

The Gen Dare and some great sides

A fake Fritz's train

The little engineer

This is our food! Being delivered by the train!

Cass watching the train and our food

The satisfied customer.

a little closer

2010-10-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Today I made a huge payment on my car and it is all paid off. Paid off early even.
It's pretty exciting! I have 2 more things to pay off and I owe my mom some money.
Then let the saving begin. Who knows maybe when I am out of debt I will have a celebration with good food - I am probably saying that because I am on the cleanse and I really want the rice crispy treats that are sitting on the counter. :)

Maase & Cass Ice Cream Date

2010-10-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Cass sitting outside of Baskin Robbins for the first time EVER!

First spoon full of ice cream, the flavor she picked was cotton candy

"Wow, Maase this is great stuff!"

Pink & Purple - her favorite colors together in one!

Big Bite!

Time for scoop #2 - no worries we shared this one, bubble gum flavor

Tasty

She is showing me the bubble gum pieces in her mouth

Still showing me the gum pieces in her mouth

Really - this is so fun!

Maas & Cass after ice cream date #1

So my little friend Cassidy Faith Blake was having some issues with having accidents in her pants. The problem is that she was potty trained or toilet trained and then sort of reverted backwards. Lets be honest she has been a tad under stress lately. So anyways I wanted to do something to help her out. So I told her that if she went 4 days in a row without any accidents then I would take her to get ice cream. She could have any kind she wanted to have. She said "Do they have purple?" I said of course. She said, "What about pink?" I said yep they have pink with bubble gum in it. She was pretty pumped and excited to do it. She actually told other people about going to get ice cream if she didn't have accidents. She went 4 days in a row - technically she is still going strong with no accidents. So the big day came and we went to get ice cream!! Yippee I was just as pumped because I REALLY REALLY like ice cream! The best part was probably the smile on her face when she saw all the different kinds of ice cream! Priceless! Then she saw the purple and pink ice cream in one!! Cotton Candy flavor. Man she was pumped! "Maase, they have a kind that is both my favorites - pink and purple, whoa!" It was such a great date, so much fun to watch her eat it up and say how good it was. After she was done with the first scoop I asked if she wanted to share another scoop with me. She said "Yes!" and her eyes were all lit up. :) So she picked the famous pink bubble gum flavor. I taught her how to eat it like I use to when I was a kid. We got an extra cup for the gum pieces and we spit the gum pieces out into that cup and then eat/chewed the gum when we were all done. Truly so much fun - prolly some of the most fun I have had in a long time.

Hot Air Balloon Fest

2010-10-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weekends ago the Great Midwest Hot Air Balloon Fest was here in Overland Park. So Jessica and I got up really early to go and take pictures. It was fun, super foggy as you will see in the photos, but still a fun experience. It got so foggy that we could not even see the hot air balloon until it was on the ground. They actually stopped all flight activities for the morning because it was so foggy. So here are a few photos that I got from the day.

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON.

2010-09-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

He's at it again

2010-09-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Colorado for a wedding

2010-09-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

So I spent my Labor Day weekend in Ft. Collins Colorado for Jinger's (Tres as I call her) wedding. Jinger is a girl I met around 12 years ago when I was her sophomore basketball coach. She was and is such a great person. Well she got married this past weekend to a guy named Chris - I really think they will be a great pair. I of course was going to go to her wedding regardless because we have remained friends over all these years. However, she asked me to read scripture in her wedding so now I was going to the wedding to watch and to be a participator. I was honored to be part of their big day! While I was there of course I went around town a little - I did not have a car so walking or tagging along with others was my way around town. So here are a few pictures from a fun weekend get away.

A pumpkin patch at a local community garden

I thought the sky looked cool in this shot

A biker with the mountains in his background - awesome

Pretty

This is my favorite flower shot I took while there

This is Hops - an ingredient in Budweiser beers (went on a brewery tour)

Tour de Fat - a bike event, people dressed up, the tiki torch gets my points for creativity

Maase & Tres

where i spend my days at now

2010-08-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well school/work is in full swing. I am back to teaching middle school P.E. and coaching 9 months out of the year (really 10). Right now I am coaching 8th grade volleyball, the girls are awesome and we should have a pretty decent season that is the coach is decent. :) Here are some pictures of where I hang out some of the day time, the rest is in the gym or on the football field.

My big office window - that looks out onto the locker room - I know exciting! If you are in need of a good window view someday just stop on by and I will share my office view with you.

This is the view I have of my office most of the time

This is the view you get when you first walk in my office

i taught this kid

2010-08-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

KC ROYALS DRAFT PICK: With the fifth pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, the Royals have selected Jason Adam, a local prospect out of Blue Valley Northwest. Adam is 6′ 4″ and around 225 with a blazing fastball. He was named a 2009 East Kansas League All-Star and a 2009 All Sun Baseball Team honorable mention last season. He has a lot of room to grow and can improve his power dramatically over the next couple of seasons in the minors. The consensus amongst most baseball scouts was that Adam would be a second round selection, so the Royals may have caught a huge break by him falling to the fifth round and can get him to sign.

I tried to find a picture of Jason however I cannot locate one. I know that people read the posts when there are pictures!

I liked Jason when I taught him he was one of those good kids. He was always doing the right thing, he even participated in the FCA huddle that I helped lead.

I am pumped to cheer him on when he is wearing the powder blue!! Heck I might even buy a jersey!

dog wash

2010-08-14T17:39:00.001-07:00

So a week or so ago Leah took Yuma to the dog wash - that is set up like a car wash (sorta). I went purely to see what it was like and to take pictures to blog about it! There was a small scary moment but we survived it. If you decide to take your dog here I highly recommend taking another person with you since it is very hard to manage solo.

The dog was area

The different options - check out the one in yellow! :)

For some reason Yuma was not to willing to climb the ramp!

It's go time, Yuma is getting the oatmeal shampoo wash! Her skin loved it!

All finished: blow dried and clean!

Buh-Bye Summer 2010

2010-08-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

I did some pretty sweet stuff this summer, but I am sad to see it go mostly because I like to hang out, stay up late, and sleep in! However duty calls and I know that I am here on earth to be a teacher, coach, and a role model for young people - so off to work I go!

A few things I did this summer: an amazing trip to the South Pacific, hung out with my fantastic roommates-Friday night roommates included, played with little Cass (alot), ate lots of great food prepared by Leah, went swimming, went to a craft fair in Westport, did some random photo taking in the city, the list keeps going. Here are a few pictures of a few things.

Cass and Malachi at the shaved ice place.

A fun night out with Jess and Cass at the park.

Yoh and I chilling at an island in Fiji

Markus and I being silly in New Zealand

Butterfly day

2010-07-31T19:21:00.001-07:00

So awhile ago we went to The Family Tree Nursery to see the Monarch Butterfly exhibit. You might have already heard about it if you read Carlye's blog. Here are some of the pictures that I took on our fun outing.

Cass and Lily laughing at their own stories

Cass and Lily still enjoying chatting while looking at fish

Butterfly

Cass and Lily

Lily is in a Cass sandwich!

To touch the water or not to touch the water that is the question

Sweet shot of the butterfly

Another butterfly

Why I don't do dishes

2010-07-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

Suds coming out from the little crack

More suds

The towels are really not helping too much

An important homeowner purchase. A wet vac!

So I was trying to be helpful and load and run the dishwasher - however I made one tiny mistake and it took a little while to fix and I needed some back up help from my teammates at 6860! So do you have any guesses on what the tiny mistake was? Or where this is at?

No worries the problem did get fixed and the dishes, the dishwasher, and the floor are all in tip top condition - or at least they were when I left!

Dad Life

2010-07-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

Okay this video is pretty funny! I couldn't pass it up.

Hawaii

2010-07-20T20:34:00.001-07:00

Palm trees and sunset = amazing

Just one palm tree

Pearl Harbor

The flag at Pearl Harbor

Some scenery

Things we did here:

Pearl Harbor
Beach time
A Luau
Beach time
Firework show over the beach

Australia

2010-07-18T12:03:00.001-07:00

A Humpback Whale's tail!

Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the background

Mark with a Wallaby

Feeding a Wallaby - some grain inside of an ice cream cone

A Koala bear - that we got to pet, his name is Charlie

Kangaroos that we got to pet while they were sunbathing

Sailboats in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge (I climbed that bridge!)

A surfer at North Bondi Beach

Things that we did here:

Did lots of photo taking by walking around, going to the tip of the Sydney Tower, Ferry ride
Bondi Beach
Sydney Eye Hospital (Yoh had to get her eye re-check - not the most fun 4 hour wait)
Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb (a huge highlight of mine)
Whale watching
Went to a wildlife place where you could pet koalas, kangaroos, and wallaby
We went to a war memorial it is a replica of Washington D.C.

New Zealand

2010-07-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Mt. Eden

The Gondola Ride.

Yoh and I at the top of a huge hill over looking the city.

This is inside a thermal village. The steam you see is coming off the geyser.

Seagulls on the bench. My brother likes to say I had them pose like that for the picture.

Just a landscape picture right outside the airport.

A very hairy sheep.

Things we did while in New Zealand:

enjoyed a cultural dinner at the hotel
a jade factory tour
a duck tour around the city of Rotorua
random souvenir shopping
a sheep show
a gondola ride
Mt. Eden
walked around by the harbor to take pictures

Fiji

2010-07-11T20:26:00.001-07:00

This is a shot of our pool from a balcony. I like to call this shot my screen saver shot.

This is a little river that went around our resort.

Just an amazing sunset!

A place to sleep

A private island we went past before we went to our private island.

Lilly pad

Things I did while in Fiji:

went to a farmers market area to see local produce
swam in our amazing pool
ate some traditional Fiji food
tasted some Fiji beverages
went to a private beach area for a whole day: snorkeled, swam, and worked on my tan

Harley (Hars)

2010-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

December 20, 2000 - July 3, 2010

2010-06-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is what i see sometimes when i go to bed. Yuma trying so hard to get as close to the downstairs as she can. Yes she is laying in a very very tight small area - the area after the last step and before the door. She doesn't sleep here all night, well at least I don't think she does. Silly Yuma!

magnetic

2010-06-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

magnetic [mag-net-ik] adjective

- exerting a strong attractive power

or charm: a magnetic personality.

alright so as long as I can remember - way back to when I was 5 years old - I have had a strong pull towards kids, doesn't really matter what age they are, if they are kids I know or strangers, they like me and I like them. My family use to call me the kid magnet. I just naturally go to kids no matter where I am (church, parties, work, coffee shops, etc.). I have always enjoyed this part of my life that the L-rd has blessed me with. Until the last couple of weeks. I will be honest having the little Wy-Guy go to heaven is super hard on me. I mean I love him and looked forward to hearing him say my name when I walked in the door from work. Playing with kids and getting close to them is so fun because then they like you more and interact with you more. However if the L-rd chooses to take them away from us then it is way hard. So I know that me being a kid magnet is not going to go away but I will admit I don't like playing that role right now. However I know that the L-rd has me as a kid magnetic for a reason so I will continue to fill those shoes and continue to play with the kids that are here and around me. I am just expressing that being a kid magnet is sometimes hard too.

losing wyatt blake is really hard on my heart - words cannot even really express my feelings. To be honest I really don't even know what to say. I do know that I miss him telling me stories and playing in my closet. He use to get so excited when I would be wearing orange (our favorite color) or anything with jayhawks on it. I do like to think that I did help with his love for the jayhawks. :) I do know this I will always remember that one of the last super sweet things he said to me was this "maase, papa is my buddy best friend, but you are my buddy best friend that is a girl"

welp that is all i got for now on my Wy-Guy there could be more later - who knows. here is one of the only pictures that I have of me with Wyatt. Also thanks for everyone who has been praying for the TBlakes.

softball

2010-05-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

some of the coaches that I spend almost everyday with: Kinney, Orrick, Berberich

i just like this shot. the girls are warming up before the game

just a cool shot - i mean really how many times is there a hot air balloon in the air, let alone during my softball game

Ellen: our voice and our catcher. I put her picture on here because she is going through a tough time right now and is not with our team 100% right now due to somethings going on in her personal life. We miss her but understand what she is going through is more important than softball!

this is how the girls act all the time when a camera is around so i wanted to show you their real side - silly high school girl side/weirdos

Serious picture for the parents - notice how the coaches were not in the silly one :)

this bat got broken at practice while Kelsey hit an inside pitch off the hitting machine. too cool not to post it on here in my opinion. i have never seen this happen in real life, i have seen many pictures of it though.

well the softball season is almost over. it has been a difficult season. I knew it was going to be more about building up the team and not about wins. However i thought we would have at least 8-10 wins. we had tons of trouble getting multiple hits in a row or when people we are on base. so we have ended the regular season with a 2-15 record. we won our first game and our last game - ouch long season. we have gotten better and there were lots of games where we were right in there fighting the whole time. we have also had some drama - which really is no surprise I am coaching girls :). we had a pitcher quit half way through the season because we were going to move her down to JV. Yes that is hard to do as a coach, however when the pitcher is hitting more batters with the ball then they are hitting into the field it is time to do something different. Then just a little over a week ago an emotional/difficult event happened that involves our catcher emotionally. A junior at the high school tried to take his own life. his girlfriend is our catcher. the boy is still hanging on, he is in a coma. Ellen (catcher) is doing okay considering. i text her and try to help keep her chin up. she is reading the Bible - yippee, and told another player that i am her favorite adult to text. i just wish our team did not have to walk through both of these experiences I just wish sometimes i could just stop all of it and they could just practice and play softball games. however that is not what sports is all about. i am reminded multiple times of "this is why i coach" - not for the victories but for the life that happens outside of sports. i sort of wish right now i was one of those coaches that didn't care about the life/relationship part and only cared about the wins/losses. i know that wont happen I am just saying my heart would not be so sad right now if i thought like that.

next week we play our regional game on Wednesday 4:45pm at the CBAC (college Blvd. activity complex - its by Olathe Northwest) and we play Olathe East! this is the make or break it game, you lose you are done - you win you keep playing. now i am sure most of my readers do not know about Olathe East Softball - in fact i am pretty sure only 2 of you do (leah - cause i told her and she comes to my games & maybe because her sister played softball, yoh - because she use to come to my games & listens to me talk softball) So I am here to give you the facts: they have won 6 state championships (2007,2006,2005,2004,2001,1998), they are typically the best softball team around here. they have 4 seniors that are going on to play softball in college. they are just plain GOOD!! They should by all means beat us if you just compare us on paper. however sports fans things happen. for example last 2 softball seasons we should have gone to state because we had 3 division 1 softball players on our team. but we didn't - why? because we made mental errors and the underdog beat us! Also if you remember that KU men's basketball team was ranked #1 and was suppose to win the championship this year - did they NO they lost to who - an Underdog. So on Wednesday night I will be coaching first base for the underdogs! I will be praying/coaching the underdogs - however they are my girls and i think that they deserve this victory for many reasons all physically and emotionally. so yes on paper we should not win but when it comes to softball 1 little bunt, 1 overthrow, 1 pass ball can change the whole game. so yep I am praying for a victory of course and I am praying that my team THE HUSKIES show up in full to dominate the game, to not make physical or mental errors and to get more hits than the other team, and of course more runs than the other team.

LET'S GO HUSKIES!!!

Exciting

2010-04-26T16:40:00.001-07:00

photo by Lauren Blake

So the big day is here!! My little brother has moved back home or at least for now! I am super stoked for many reasons: he will be close, he can hang out with me and/or my friends, he will be at the family events, he is cool, he is funny, it will just be plain great. He is moving home with out a job - currently- however I fully believe that the Lord is going to bless him in his boldness and give him a great job right here in his home town. So please pray that his auditions he has May 1, 2, 3 all go fantastically and he will land a great acting or technically job. There is a slim chance that he would look for jobs elsewhere if he doesn't have a job when we get back from our amazing 2 week trip to Australia, New Zealand, Fuji, and Hawaii. Even if that happens I am okay with it because he will have been here for a few months. If the Lord wants him to go somewhere else for the job of his dreams I'm cool with it as long as I get my quality Markus Parkus time while he is here in KC! I love you little bro - and WELCOME HOME!

The ball is slightly rolling

2010-04-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well friends I have someone who wants to buy some of my photos. Exciting! I made some greeting cards a few weeks ago, these greeting cards are blank on the inside and have some of my photos on the front. So I took them to work and have been kind of showing them to some of my co-workers and one of them wants to buy 10 however she wants it to have my name on the back (it currently has Shutterfly on it and my name handwritten on there). So I have gotten a few suggestions on how to do that now I just got to finalize on a name. Right now I am just thinking Maasen Photography, as my mom said wow that creative. So any suggestions from my readers would be beneficial.

The Summitt

2010-03-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to go to the 1st round of the women's NCAA tournament, in Tennessee home of my favorite basketball coach. The game was great the Lady Vols won 75-42, the seats were great too: mid-court 11 rows up. Company was good: my mom, peanut, mary ann, shirley, brad, elizabeth and jason. All big hoops fans. During the second half I went with Shirley to try and get right behind the Tennessee bench to take some pictures - and we did! Nobody even asked for our tickets or anything. I took lots of time out pictures. I was so close to the bench I could hear what Pat Summitt was telling her players, I don't really remember what she said because I was so excited I was shaking. I posted a few pictures for you readers to see. It was a great weekend. I almost forgot I did see myself on TV during the ESPN highlights!!!

the Tennessee court - named after Pat Summitt

the pre game dance/huddle

a timeout huddle, I heard her coaching them so awesome

I am pretty sure she is waving at me and saying "thanks maasen for driving down to watch the game. Maybe next year we can have some dinner together and talk strategy."

after the game prayer with both of the teams

Why Do I Coach

2010-02-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

Not because I expect you to be P.E. teachers, though some of you will be.

Not because I expect you to be coaches, though some of you will be.

Not because I expect you to play in college, though some of you will.

Not because you are Olympic athletes, though some of you might be.

Not because we will always be State Champions, though we hope to be.

Not because the competition, any competition, is the big picture, or the final goal.

Not just so you can have fun, though I hope you do have fun.

Not just so you can be entertained, though we share many games and trips.

Not just to channel your excess energy, though I will.

Not just so you are out of your parents' hair for a while.

Not because of the financial empire I am accumulating.

Why Do I Coach?

Because life is more than academics, grades, and homework.

Because you are the future.

Because the season's journey is more important than the result.

To help you find self-worth and self-confidence in all you do.

To help you develop strong character and solid ethics.

To make you believe that "Together Everyone Achieves More."

To teach you that each member of the team is significant, and everyone contributes.

To watch you grow from 6th grade runts, to graduating Seniors.

So you can have something to cling to when life is turbulent.

Why Do I Coach?

So you will always remember how to dream big dreams.

So you will experience life, learn from it, and be better because of it.

So you will learn responsibility and time management.

So you will learn sportsmanship, teamwork and cooperation.

So you will learn mutual respect and courtesy.

So you will learn the importance of commitment and follow-through.

So you will learn to face failure and humility, but not crumble.

So you will learn to show pride without arrogance.

So you will learn that disappointment and success are both part of life.

So you will know it's alright to need help and to ask for help.

So you will have positive peer group and be strong enough to stay straight.

So you will learn to trust the people in your life.

Why Do I Coach?

So you will have a way to relieve anxiety, anger and stress in rough times of life.

So you will begin good habits to stay fit for life - and always be in great health.

So you will learn how to work hard, and play hard, and have fun doing both.

So you will always know there are people who love you.

Why Do I Coach?

So you will cherish each moment, and get the most life has to give.

So you can always "Do What You Love to Do."

And because your smiles and hugs are worth everything.

---------------------

So I found this poem that someone gave to me when I became a coach. I found it and I feel like it is how I truly try to coach. Here are a few other reasons that I would like to add.

Why Do I Coach?

So you can see that people other than your parents and friends love you and want what is best for you.

So I can do my best to be involved in your life so that later on we will be friends.

Its not about the scoreboard at all it's about accomplishments.

Its really about life after sports: the weddings, the phone calls, the visits.

I love coaching way more than I love to win games.

beautythrualens

2010-02-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

Okay fellow readers the new site is up and running. Allison, Jessica, and myself have been going out and taking pictures at different locations throughout the city. We are calling this 'beautythrualens' - anyways we have a website where we are posting these photos for you to look at. We hope that you like them and can enjoy them. If you see something and would like a print or a digital copy then just email us and we can hook you up.

How to get to the website: www.beautythrualens.tumblr.com (you can also click on the link I have on the right side of my blog page) Keep in mind we are still working out the details of the website and learning how to use it to our and your advantage.

Things you may or may not know about me

2010-01-25T15:52:00.000-08:00

So here are some random things about me that maybe you may or may not know. Enjoy!

I know how to juggle
My favorite athlete is Cal Ripken Jr.
I can ride and own a unicycle
I am 32 years old.
My favorite color is orange - because it is so bright and bold!
I have been a KU Jayhawk fan since the day I was born - even though I was born in Missouri. My mom grew up in Kansas and went to KU.
My favorite ice cream is Peanut Butter and Chocolate from Baskin Robbins. Birthday Cake Remix for Cold Stone is a very close second.
I have a younger brother who is truly amazing and thankfully we have a very close relationship - it was touch and go there for awhile when I was in middle school.
I never really like to run until I signed up to run a marathon in 2004-2005.
I use to work at the Cookie Factory and Baskin Robbins. So I can decorate a tad on cakes and cookies.
I love taking pictures. It is so fun to see things in a different view.
I will never be able to cheer for MU even if they ever make it to the national championship.
I think it would be fun to be a personal trainer.
I am going to Australia this summer.
Comfort food: cookie dough and macaroni and cheese
I enjoy coaching softball the most.
My favorite place to visit right now is Ann Arbor Michigan - but that will change if Yoh moves.
Favorite vacation I have been on as an adult would be Jamaica.
Favorite vacation as a kid would be Disneyland! We got to take the airplane - pretty cool.
I have never been water or snow skiing.
Every Valentines Day my dad gets me something and delivers it to wherever I am that day (home or work) - I wonder what will happen when I get married? I hope it continues I like it and look forward to it.
I helped my dad rebuild my first car - a 19701/2 Camaro - super cool and super fast.
I get to go to the first round of the women's basketball tournament this spring in Tennessee with my mom. Check that off the 'bucket list' next is the final four for men's!:)
I really think that I want to look into selling my pictures.
2 of my roommates are under the age of 5!
Coca-cola classic = awesomeness.

Lil Char

2010-01-23T19:51:00.001-08:00

January 22nd was my grandma's 86th birthday! This is my grandma Charlotte Marlin, I spent tons of time with her growing up and I honestly still do. Her opinion matters to me in a very big way, she is one of my heroes and probably my first hero or at least close by my to my dad - I was a daddy's little girl - (Mom no worries you are one of my heroes as well but this post is about Granny so you will have to wait your turn). Every time I hear that song by Bette Midler Wind Beneath My Wings - i think of my granny. She will always hold a special spot in my heart.

To be completely honest my grandmas birthday did make me a tad nervous, only because my grandma Maasen died on her birthday back in November. Then I just realized that I was being fearful and I should not live life like that. So anyways today I went over to her house to hang out with her for a few hours. Yep at 86 she still lives in an apartment all by herself - she is amazing and fully alert and is able to do more than me most days. We hung out and watch some basketball - I love that she watches sports - I think it is because my grandpa made her watching them when he was alive (he died when I was in 7th grade). I need to ask her though because she knows a lot about sports and watches all kinds! (She loves golf-watches it a lot, and she watches a ton of Atlanta Braves games, but that is because they are on TBS all the time). I brought lunch for me and some onion rings and a root beer for her from the famous Fritz's (the original)! It was great to just sit and talk to her about all the things that were on her mind. A few of the topics-which are always discussed-were: money, what's new with me, coaching, my trip, Melissa Yoh, and my roommates. My grandma did tell me that I should just ask Melissa really nicely to move back and maybe she would :) and she told me to get Cassie and Belle something nice for their birthdays - because everyone likes presents especially kids. I asked granny then if my present for her birthday was her favorite of course she laughed and didn't really answer but I know it was. It was coffee and coffee mate - FROM COSTCO!!

Here are some things that I will always remember about my grandma:

weekend sleepovers, oatmeal with cinnamon sugar toast, spaghetti and meatballs, swinging on her porch swing, coloring and water coloring with her, playing cards games (old maid, rummy, and the circle game), shopping trips (millions), the trip to Vegas, falling asleep on her lap on the couch, the many trips to Fritz's, watching sports, her being the 1st one to always call me on my birthday at like 7a.m. or earlier, i know that there are many more but it is making me kind of sad so I am going to stop.

Granny I love you and I am thankful you are still in my life so I can still get some quality time. Thanks for being great and loving me unconditionally. I hope that if I live to be your age that I can do things for myself and still be strong and alert like you! You make me proud to be your granddaughter.

PS. The title is Lil Char because Yoh nicknamed her that and I think that granny secretly likes it!

Top 10 pictures from 2009

2010-01-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Here are MY favorite pictures that I have taken over the last year. I put them in order #1 being first. Enjoy! Comments, concerns, and suggestions are always welcome of course. I am sort of pondering making some of these pictures into cards and maybe even selling them. Who knows how that will go.

#1 - A Bridge in Ann Arbor, Michigan

#2- A Yellow Rose (yellow roses are my favorite, so this is probably why the yellow rose won out of all the flower pictures I took this year) - Loose Park

#3 - Niagara Falls

#4 - an abandoned barn - West Unity, Ohio

#5 - A railroad track - Merriam, KS

#6 - The Beginning & End Results of a Rose - Loose Park

#7 - A fall tree - Merriam, KS

#8 - Corn Stalk - West Unity, Ohio

#9 - Walk Way with Roses - Loose Park

#10 - The Grassy Meadow & Bridge and in the Background - Champaign, IL

THE WEAF

2009-11-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

Go to this website and read the story and then vote for Kyle Weafer!! He is an amazing person and he is m favorite student of all times. You have to click on the "get Inspired" section on the left hand side. Then click on the "inspirational story" spot then click on the "kyle inspires me" to vote for him. You can vote once an hour. I honestly think that you will want to vote for him once you read the story his dad wrote about him. It really will be the highlight of his life!!

www.highschoolrudyawards.com

Photo Shooting Day with Yoh

2009-10-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

i went to Ann Arbor to visit my BFFOTP Yoh and we went on a hike and a photo taking adventure in the nichols arboretum. It was great fun. I really am starting to enjoy taking pictures. it is so neat to see God's creation through a camera. Here are some of my favorite shots from the fun hike.

This one is cool because they are all different colors and in the same yard. Nice, plus they were super vibrant and grabbed my attention.

Part of the trail that was covered with leaves, it just looked cool.

The 'steep' part of the trail. I was just trying an different angle.

One of my favorite pictures I have ever taken. We were talking about how this place would be such a fun spot to spend time with the Lord whether it was reading, praying or just sitting with Him. And then bam there was this sign!

A little gate that went to someones backyard. I thought it was sort of like something I would see in a different country

Love Hurts

2009-10-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Shark tooth? Bear Claw? Dog Tooth? Those are the questions? Well the answer is dog tooth. Harley had her two front 'fang' teeth (a.k.a. Canine teeth) pulled on Wednesday morning. No her mother did not do this for cosmetic reasons, she did it because it was the cheapest way to fix the injury. On Tuesday afternoon I had to run a quick errand to the post office, so i put the dogs out back to play while I was gone which I do often. When I came home like 10 minutes later (at the max) I went to the back door to let the dogs in and they were happy as could be to see me - but they both had blood on their faces and paws! I knew this was gonna be bad so I ran across the street to get Lauren for some clean up help. As we were trying to figure out how to go about cleaning them we noticed that Harley's tooth was sticking out sideways - so i knew I had to take her to the vet. Leah came home to check out Yuma and she also had to take her in for a cut on her foot. Both dogs had to stay overnight at the vets.

Final Outcomes:

Harley: lost the fight, had two teeth pulled, has to take pain medicine and antibiotics, has to have her food mushed up, and severely bruised neck and mouth area.

Yuma: won the fight, had to get some stitches in her front leg, has some punctured wounds that had to have the fur shaved away so it will heal properly, and the ugly cone around her head

"Man this cone thing is awkward and I run into everything"

"Yes it looks like nothing happened to me but just scroll back up and look at my tooth again"

long over due

2009-09-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Nemo and Spiderman

Tom & Leah

Wyatt & Cass

Well i have been meaning to do this post for awhile but i put it off for a few reasons mostly because it could be sad and i was waiting for some pictures. in august i moved in with some of my great friends the T-Blakes (Leah -the mom & the canoeamericana blogger, Tom-dad, Wyatt-super fantastic 3yr old, Cass-such a great voice & she is 2yrs old, and Yuma-German shepherd & a tad on the hyper side or should i say excitable side) i moved in with them for numerous reasons: they are fun, rent was good, leah is a great cook, i hang out there often anyways, the Lord told me I should, save money and pay off debt, help them out financial, and to just become better friends with them. So far most of it has been pretty great the dogs got along pretty well from the very beginning - huge blessing since that was most everyone concern. the family time is fun for me, i get to play with the kids on most days, they tell me stories we play games, etc. we eat dinner a lot together and socialize or let the kids tell us things. the food is great - that was NEVER a concern at all. sometimes the dogs bark often - mine might start this process- she likes to bark at people who walk their dogs on the sidewalk - i think she needs to repent of jealously. in fact today we got a notice from animal control that their was excessive barking this morning, now this is not so normal because usually someone is home to tell them to stop however I was at work and the TBlakes are taking a small vacation/getaway. So i will admit I am a tad irritated at that and hope that there are no more notices in the future and that my landlords still let us live here. Honestly it is sometimes weird to live here just because i use to have a whole house that was mine and now i have a room and a bathroom (which they painted orange for me- yahoo). but really what does a single person who is out there coaching most nights and isn't even home much need a whole house to herself for - no clue is the answer to that question.

well when i was moving good 'ol Leah was pregnant with baby #3! Which I was stoked for because he was going to grow up loving on me from day 1 and it was going to be great. I say that he was going to love me only because the other kids do, i was assuming that he would just follow their lead. it was going to be cool watching someone grow up so closely day to day. Well God had other plans for Big ZEKE! He was only here a short 10 days until he got to go to heaven. i must admit i am a tad jealous of that. I miss him already but know that i will see him so much longer when i get to heaven too. So as you can imagine living in the mix of the TBlakes going through the grieving process has been different - i wouldn't say hard just different. I know that God has me living here for a reason and who knows maybe it is just to be living and walking through this with them side by side or as much as they will let me in. I just do the best I can and do whatever it is that they ask of me without question only because I know it is what they would do for me. some days it is sad just because Zeke isn't with us, sometimes i am just sad for them and sometimes i am sad because i am grieving too. but i know that we will work through this or wrestle through this together and separately because we are praying and talking to the Lord and because we have amazing community support.

this week they are out of town and i am doing my best to maintain the fort. i have cleaned up dog puke two times - no idea which dog it is. one puke i stepped in and also ended up puking myself- pure awesomeness! then today as i mentioned animal control stopped in and one dog puked at least this time it was not on the carpet. they are going to be gone a few more days. i was planning on having a few parties here towards the end of the week - however I have now postponed them due to the dog puke and barking incidents. (really no parties were ever planned, we did have a game night though).

whelp that is all for now on the whole moving to Mastin street and living with one of my favorite families the TBlakes.

To-LA

2009-09-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am going to tell you a story about my friend Tola. I first met Tola when she was an incoming freshman at BVNW - she is currently a sophomore at Mary Washington University. I met Tola in the summertime while I was coaching weights and conditioning for all girls that were going to play volleyball or basketball at BVNW. Right away Tola stood out to me because she had amazing strength and stamina for a freshman, and because she had a fantastic attitude. So I just started talking to her and trying to get to know her. I asked her if she was going to play basketball - she was like well I am not very good and I only played last year and was on the 'B' Team. I said well you should think about it, I think that you would be great at it and I might even be able to be your coach. Hey I felt I needed to do what I could do to get this girl to go out for hoops so that I could be around her more. oh and I did really think that she would be a great basketball player. So I got to hang out with her and get to know her more over the summer. I went to watch a few volleyball games of hers also - which she was super great at.

Then came time for basketball and yes my few readers she did go out and made the team. I was correct she was a great hoops player and picked things up quickly. So quickly that during her freshman year she played on the Freshman A team, the Sophomore team, and the Junior Varsity team. She was a natural and a hard worker so she moved up the ladder quickly. She ended up playing volleyball and basketball all four years of her high school. She was a leader in both sports and was also involved in many other things in high school. She was also homecoming queen her senior year! Everyone just loves this girl.

Tola also joined a Bible study that myself and another basketball coach led together. Then one summer Tola and I did a Bible study together. It was really a great opportunity for us to get to know each other even better and also to just grow in the word together. This really was one of my favorite parts of knowing Tola and being friends with her.

Tola decided to go to Mary Washington for college. It had the best program for what she thinks that she wants to do with her life. Its far away but thankfully when she comes home she wants to see me! So we almost always have time to hang out if it is only for an hour. When she went to college one of the courses she had to take was a PE course, so she took a volleyball class. There were a couple of girls that were on the Volleyball Team that were in her class. After a few days of the course, her professor asked her if she was on the University team. Tola said no. He asked why not, she said that since she is far away from home and she wants to focus on grades that it was probably best to not participate in a collegiate sport. Well this professor talked to the Volleyball coach and told her that she should come by class and watch Tola. The coach did, then asked Tola to come and meet with her when she had time. Tola is thinking maybe she wants me to be on the scrimmage team or just a manager. Well as the conversation starts up with just normal things, Tola feels real comfortable. Then the coach starts asking her about her background in volleyball and why she did not try out for the team. Tola explains the same things to her that she did her professor. The coach then said would you want to practice with us and see how it goes and maybe if you want you could be a part of the team in the future. Tola is like sure why not, she is also thinking that if all goes well she can be on the team her sophomore year. Well she practices with the team and gets to know the girls on the team. Then the next day the coach says she can be on the Team THIS YEAR if she wants too. Tola is like heck yeah! She still thinks that surely she will not play much but she is just excited to know people and be involved in sports again. She plays the rest of the season and has a great time, she also plays a ton. It comes time to go home for the summer and she works out all summer and is excited to come back in the fall to start her sophomore year because the team should be successful and she is going to be one of the Captains!! I am not surprised, she has a lot to offer anyone let alone her teammates. Well last week she called me and she got injured, not good! She came down from a huge hit and landed just a tad funny on her left foot and BAM - she tore her MCL and her ACL. Dang - she was crushed when I talked to her. She was sad that it happened but honestly she was mostly sad for her team because they were sad that she was hurt. Figures a great kid like that automatically looks out for others. I was so sad for her and felt helpless. I was happy about one thing - she told me that of all the people that she wanted to talk to you she really wanted to talk to me. I would rather her call to tell me good news but those words really made my heart feel great and it reminded me that athletes do care about coaches. Tola is not sure what the future hold for her right now but she knows that God knows the way and what He wants for her in this season, though it maybe different than what she had planned. She is doing her best to keep her chin up and most likely she is still being a great leader for her team and trying to keep their spirits up and helping them stay focused and still win games even if her position on the team has temporarily changed.

If you have never met Tola I pray that someday the Lord will bring your paths together. She has truly changed my life and continues to all the time. To-LA I think that you are an amazing woman of God and I am very thankful that you are in my life. Continue to press into God's Word and know that He and I are always in the stands cheering you on no matter if you are playing in a game or sitting on the bench. We are your biggest fans. Love you for life my friend.

Volleyball

2009-09-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

well this year I am taking on a new different challenge and it is really almost over. I am the head 8th grade volleyball coach. I enjoy coaching a ton so it was sort of easy for me to say yes to this opportunity. I will admit to you guys - any of you that are reading this - that volleyball is the sport that I know the least about. I never played volleyball on a team only for fun and in P.E. classes. I chose to play softball year-round instead, mostly because I was WAY better at softball than volleyball.

Anyways the season opener is tomorrow and the last game is September 30th, fast season! My team is really great a few of the girls on my team were the national champions this summer in a 13 and under league. So we should be real decent and be successful. I know that I handle the coaching aspect of these girls but I am curious to see how the drama or no drama might play into this short season. Since a few of them play on a club team together and the other girls do not, it could be interesting. My outlook is that we will win most games and that the drama will start to rise the last week of the season and then I will not have to worry about it because the season will be over.

If you want to come catch a game just let me know and I can give you a schedule I will warn you that most games start at 3:15 - however they are free and the concession stand should be open.

Dream I HAD to share!!

2009-08-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

So the other night I woke up from a dream! It was a bad dream that something had happened to my Uncle Bobby. All I could see was him and that he had been in some sort of serious accident. I could not tell what kind of accident car, plane, or work related (he is a mechanic for airplanes). Then I could see me being super sad. He is my favorite uncle - I know you aren't suppose to have favorites, but he was always the one that would play with us kids and just showed me he cared about me all the time that he was around!

So when I woke up I prayed to see what I was suppose to do and I talked to Yoh about it. I tried to text one of his daughters but I didn't have her number so then I decided to get on Facebook and send his wife and two girls a message saying that Uncle Bobby need to be careful because I had a bad dream about him and to tell him that I loved him and I think he is a great man and father!

So then today I get a Facebook email from my Aunt Cindy - Bobby's wife saying this: "Bob says thanks for the note last week about being extra careful. Today he came within inches of a T-bone wreck with someone speeding on C Hwy. He says it didn't happen because he was being super careful after your note. We all love you and wish we could see you more."

Okay how amazing is the Lord!! I have dreams or moments when someone is on my heart often but I have never gotten to hear of anything like this. I just praised the Lord and thanked him for this amazing word/vision/dream that he gave me. I was thankful that I was obedient in emailing them! It was just so awesome that I just wanted to share and so that I would always have a record of this story of awesomeness!!

Crawling - long over due post

2009-07-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Okay so this post is long overdue and I apologize a ton. I saw Samantha Prescott several months ago and I of course was taking pictures of her and bam she started crawling for the first time, and I got it on film!! TOOT TOOT! So here it is.

Canada Vaca

2009-07-24T15:27:00.001-07:00

So I just got back from Niagara Falls, Canada with Melissa Yoh, Pat Yoh, and Jen Yoh. I took tons (around 200) of photos but that would take forever to post on this blog! :) So I just picked a few of my favorites to share. I enjoyed the 2 days we were there - mostly because we took photos the whole time and it was just amazing to see such an amazing creation of God. It was nice on one of the days we were there and one day it was sort of cloudy but not horrible. My favorite part was the Maid of the Mist boat ride that took us almost into the horseshoe falls, we got soaked even though they gave us ponchos.

This is what I was calling the "baby falls". It was a waterfall in this garden area we went to.

This is the very top of part of the Horseshoe Falls, I enjoy it because it shows the bridge way in the back and some of the rapids!

A bridge and some water out in front of a hotel - I thought it was a cool shot

One of the first photos I took it is from inside our hotel on the observation deck

I am pretty sure I tried to get this shot about 50 times, I think this is one that I took from the boat ride! I like the rocks at the bottom.

Trying to do some framing with the trees

I liked the spot at the top in the middle where it sort of separates a tad

Rodeo

2009-07-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

well on friday night i went to what I am pretty sure is my first rodeo. i might have gone to a rodeo as a child and i just don't remember. so the rodeo was fun, of course i took lots of pictures and i have picked a few of my favorites to post for you to live via my pics. i enjoyed witnessing many parts of the rodeo - i saw some guys wearing cowboy boots with the spurs on them - don't think i have ever seen this. i enjoyed the bull riding of course - that is considered the main event! i also like the barrel racing, it was awesome to see the horses maneuver that quickly.

Bull rider after he got bucked off

Yoh walking with Gabby

Horses in the pin - check out their jaw muscles

Bull rider - nice shot if I do say so myself

A cowgirl doing some barrel racing

Theodore

2009-06-30T22:24:00.001-07:00

Theodore eating some leftovers that the birds left behind

He is scoping out the scene!

Alright one of the fun parts of my day is watching this chipmunk. He comes around Yoh's patio everyday, I think that he lives in one of the shrubs in front of her porch. Well Harley has really enjoyed watching him. I named him Theodore. So everyday Harley spots him eating some leftover birdseed and she just stares at him and her whole body becomes stiff like a statue. She is weird. Who knows what she would do if she would actually catch him. But for now the sliding glass door will continue to separate them. I have always said that my dog is pretty smart, she really is - I am sure it is the bird dog in her! So just the other day she was laying far away from the glass slider and she was kind of asleep - and I saw that Theodore was visiting for his afternoon snack and I just said to her "Theodore is here" and man she jumped up and ran over to the window! So when Yoh woke up we tired it again and sure enough she went right over to the window to check and see if he was there!

coaching thought

2009-06-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was reading my friends blog about coaching through FCA , or simply put coaching with the idea of God first! So here is what got me thinking and processing:

"As a coach I have been given an incredible opportunity to live my life in such a way that over the course of a career, hundreds even thousands of people will be impacted personally by ME! This is a tremendous calling, and one that I was not intended to live up to on my own."

Now I have know for a very long time that coaching is a huge way to impact peoples lives, I had many coaches that have impacted my life in both a positive and negative way. That is one of the reasons I became a coach because of the coaches that I had in my life and the ways that they made me become a better person and helped make me the person that I am today! However I have always just looked at my coaching job as something fun to do and just try to teach my athletes something more than just the sport itself, I want them to gain something from me that they can take with them for the rest of their lives. Now I have no idea what that might be that is most likely different for each athlete. I also know that sometimes I impact some athletes in a negative way - mostly that happens because we don't vibe or I say something to them that they cannot handle. These athletes will always stick with me!

Since I have become a believer and a follower of Christ I try to treat my coaching style differently and I try to do what I think that Jesus would do in my position. I know that I do not always do this, but I honestly do try. Well then I came across this quote and it kind of blew me away! I guess you could say it had an impact on me. I would like to find some other Godly Coaching quotes that are out there to - so if any of you find some for me send them my way!! Well this quote also got me thinking about how many athletes I have actually been in contact with since I have started coaching back in 2000 - I am not counting kids I coached before then mainly because it was to spread out to try and figure out. I originally came up with about 320 athletes and Yoh said that I way underestimated that, see I didn't count all the track athletes nor did I count the athletes that I worked with during summer conditioning, nor did I count the athletes that I did work with however didn't really coach that team (tricky I know, basically I am saying that I worked with varsity kids but I only assisted that team). So I recalculated the number and the rough figure was over 1,300 athletes!! WHOA! Now I will be honest I am sure that some of those people overlapped since I coached them for multiple seasons and/or years! However the biggest thing is that I need to be doing a better job of how I interact with these athletes. So in the future of my coaching, however long that ends up being I need to do more of what the above quote is saying I need to make sure that I am impacted these athletes in a way that Christ wants me too. I need to understand this opportunity was a gift and utilize it and impact all these athletes in a positive way!

Well I just wanted to process my thoughts on this quote and let my followers know that I realize that being a coach is a huge responsibility and that I have never taken it lightly and from now on I am plan on doing more than just coaching and praying for my athletes - much more!

I will leave you with one more quote by Michael Jordan:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career, I've lost almost 300 games, 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Mark in a commercial

2009-06-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

okay so I had to brag on my brother. he is the one serving the food for the followers of this blog who do not know what my little brother looks like. Enjoy

Starting the summer off

2009-06-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well I am officially IN my summertime! As most of you know I decided to spend my summer in Michigan with my best friend on the planet - Melissa Yoh! I do want to say that I have been trying to post for a few days now however her Internet keeps kicking me off - LAME! So I am at panera and I have 30 minutes to use the free Internet here. So here you go. My trip was very successful we (Harley and I) went to Champaign, IL first to see my friend DJ (real name-Alicia/friend from college days) while there we went to a relay for life event, DJ works for the American Cancer Society and she had to do some educational things there at the event. Then the next day we went to church, a restaurant where we ate outside with Harley - she did very well, it was her first time DJ thought maybe it was something that we have done before since she was so good. Then after that we decided to spoil Harley a tad since she had been spending some time in the car with not much space so we took her to a park. This park has a very large paved path and it also has some off the paved path paths - which we did decided to venture to as well. While on the path DJ and I talked about all kinds of things and just enjoyed the weather and the scenery. DJ wanted me to take a few pictures of the nature so that she could load them on her computer and then later use them to look at to do some paintings. She enjoys painting and is getting quite good at it if I do say so myself. So the best part of the walk was during our talk about not so fun to talk about items that involved spiritual warfare and kicking spiritual things out of your house, and deliverance! All really uplifting topics - right? Well maybe once you are finished doing them they are. Well anyways while we were talking about those items out on the path about 8 feet in front of us was a beautiful deer. We immediately turned around - mainly so that Harley would not see it! Then I went up and captured some photos! So below are some of the photos that I took in the park. (no worries I wont post pictures with every post!)

A bridge in the middle of the meadow

A deer that was like 8 feet in front of us, Harley did not notice (whew!)

Orange daisies - what can I say I LOVE ORANGE

Trees and sidewalk - with a different approach from the photog

Okay so now that Harley and I are officially in Michigan and enjoying life with Yoh and Mason Thomas I will also give you some details about that. Mostly we have been just hanging out in the apartment and around Ann Arbor. You know typical summer things: staying up late and sleep in, going on walks with the dog, watching a couple of movies, journaling, praying. Yoh and I went out to eat and to a movie the night that she had off. We saw UP it was cute and in 3-D!! It has been kind of gloomy here so far so no pool time has taken place yet - but it will soon - i can feel it. Next week Yoh has 3 days off in a row so we are going to go to Pat Yoh's house and then head to Cedar Point which is an amusement park with at least 17 roller coasters!!! FUN! So I will keep you posted on that for sure! Other than that I am just hanging out with my best friend on the planet and enjoying the face to face time while I can - you know in between her working and sleeping times! :)

Loose Park Rose Garden

2009-06-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

So the other day my friend Lauren Blake went to Loose Park on a "photo" shoot! It was just fun to hang out with someone and take pictures. So we decided to post our top five shots. Hope you enjoy!

Little bud with the end result in background

Petite orange one

Daffy Duck on the waterfall

Yellow Rose

The Perfect Rose

God's Beauty

2009-04-24T05:53:00.001-07:00

I love tulips!! This little yello guy is awesome.

More tulips - on this angle I got a tad lower - i like it

Yep the sold sign for my house - it is pure beauty that only God could create.

Thanks for all the prayers over the past 5-6 months, Praise the Lord it sold!!

Whoa an amazing sunset

Tis the season

2009-04-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

WARNING: I have no clue why it is underlined nor do I know how to get rid of it!

Most of you know that I coach multiple sports, but this is my favorite season - Softball! I love being outside (even though it has rained more than it has been sunny this year), I love the game intensity, I love the athletes, I love the dirt, the double plays, the several ways to bunt, I love almost all aspects of the game the only thing I do not really like is the COLD weather!
This year the I am the Varsity assistant at BVNW. I am excited about this position, mainly because you get to work with the top team but you still get to coach the younger girls too. We have a great team this year and we should be state contenders this year - that is if we keep our heads in the game and there is little to no girl drama! We have 6 seniors and almost all of them have played at the varsity level all 4 years, 3 are going on to play in college - 1 at Nebraska, 1 at Wisconsin, 1 at Rockhurst! I think as long as we get our hits and runs in the first couple of innings no body will be able to stop us. However it is softball the score can all change with one swing of the bat!
So far we have played 4 games, we have had to postpone 2 games due to the rain. We are 4-0. We have a big game this week against another team in our conference that always gives us a run for our money. Then next Monday (April 20th) we have a super big game we play Blue Valley and they went to state last year and won the conference by 1 game and we got 2nd in the conference! I will most likely post again after that game because I know all of you will be wanting to know how it turned out.

Here are some pictures:

The team

Pregame equipment

Outfield/scoreboard/flag

Catchers view of the game

Michigan Trip Pictures Spring Break 2009

2009-04-05T14:20:00.001-07:00

Gabby with her big "I love the camera" smile
Mason Thomas just chill-axing

Yoh doing one of her famous poses for the camera

The sistas getting geared up for the wagon ride

Gabby climbing to the top of the slide at the park

Yoh and her favorite dog Cooper! Yoh is also mid dance

Brynn eating some grub

Brynn getting pushed by her big sister! Amazing facial expression

A goose and 2 ducks on the pond at Yohs apartment complex.
The second duck is the the cattails - can you see her?

Some geese on the pond at Yohs apartment complex

Some of my followers were looking forward to some pictures of Yoh's new place in Michigan. Well I failed to take any, my bad! I will do a better job this summer!

House Update!!

2009-03-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well I accepted an offer on my house on Saturday morning! The house is getting inspected on Wednesday! So please pray that everything from here on out is good news and that it is meant to sell to this person! Thank you in advance! I am not sure what the Lord has for my next step but I am ready!

"Early in the morning"

2009-03-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Okay so for awhile now something has been standing out to me when I read the Bible. It is a simple phrase or group of wording that I come across. "Early in the morning," "Early the next morning," "Rose early," and others similar to it. These verses have stood out to me for awhile, and I started praying into them to see if I was suppose to be getting up early to 'workout'/worship with the Lord again. (Background: I trained for a marathon a few years back and did quite a few early morning runs due to coaching high school sports after work - and I really heard from the Lord at those times.) So I talked to Yoh about it a bit and then today I did a key word search look on the phrases that I mentioned above and they appear in the Bible over fifty times. (And yes I did highlight them - with my favorite color!) So I just thought it was awesome how many time the Lord spoke to people in the Bible in the early morning and many peoples days started off with conversations, events, etc. with the Lord. So I am praying into what I should be doing. In the meantime if any of you - my fellow readers have any more insights, knowledge or studies in this area please pass it along to me. I think this is at least an area that the Lord wants me to gain knowledge in! You can either comment on my blog so that it benefits others or send me something via email. Thank you in advance.

Tues-Wed-Thurs

2009-03-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Okay well here is a summary of a few of the things that I have done over the past few days while on my spring break:

Tuesday: In the morning I did my usual routine (while Yoh got some more z's) went on a walk to a small pond, did my Bible reading, listen to a teaching on a CD. Then I added a walk to the REI store and Whole Foods. Then we ate lunch - leftover Macaroni casserole (tasty). After lunch we went on a long walk to Starbucks - for green teas and then walked back. After our exercising we decided we needed to run errands before the crew showed up for dinner. We were having a Mexican St. Patty's dinner! Okay not really that is just what I called it - although we did eat Mexican food on St. Patty's. Shauna came up for dinner and Schmoop and the girls were coming up also for a 2 day slumber party. We ate dinner and hung out with the visitors. Yoh went to work and I stayed to play with the girls and Schmoop - which consisted of us watching High School Musical 3 with Gabby - oh JOY! (I really am not a fan of these movies.)

WEDNESDAY: Well my morning started off with Gabby climbing into the futon with me and Aunt Bobby (this is what the girls call Yoh if you are unaware) putting in High School Musical 2 movie! Then the rest of the AM Schmoop and I entertained the girls while we waited for Aunt Bobby to wake up so we could go to the park! Finally we went to the park and had some good clean fun - okay well almost clean - Gabby got a tad muddy - but all good! We then went to dinner, came home and hung out, died Schmoops hair, Gabby took a bath and then bed time.

THURSDAY: Woke up to Gabby saying Good Morning Maasen and Aunt Bobby! We watched Gabs eat most of her yogurt and then Yoh and I went to Smoothie King for smoothies for Schmoop, Yoh, and myself: smoothies that taste like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - very good and filling - which is great for fasting! Then Schmoop and the girls went home, Yoh and I walked in and decided we should lay around and watch a movie until the MARCH MADNESS games started - one of our favorite times of the year! And basically ever since then I have been watching hoops and talking hoops with my pal Yoh! Then we ate dinner - pizza - a great basketball game watching type of food. Then Yoh watched "The Office"- I watched too - but I don't like this show really at all. Then Yoh went to work and I started some laundry for her - all the towels her guests have used! :) Oh and I am still watching hoops!! Love it! Okay off to finish a night of hoops. Only a 1 and a half more days left here in Michigan!

Michigan - first 2 days

2009-03-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well Spring break is finally here!! I am in Ann Arbor (A2 as we refer to it). I am having a great time of course - mainly because I am getting some face time with my friend Melissa Yoh! So I thought I would tell you what we have been up to so far.

I took the Megabus here from Kansas City and it was great however there were some college kids on the bus that were going to Chicago to party it up for St. Pats day! They were sort of loud - which is fine because I had my iPOD but I totally could have gone without hearing all the bad words - gee wiz they said a ton of them. Other than that the Megabus was another great cheap trip.

So when I got to Michigan Yoh picked me up and we went back to her apartment so I could take a shower because I was a little gross from being on a bus for about 15 hours. Yoh made me some of my favorite things and went to the store to buy some of my favorite things also. She made scotcharoos and beer dip, the fridge also has a supply of coke in there just for me!! She spoils me! After my shower we got in the car and headed to Pat Yoh's house for the night. At Pat Yoh's house we just hung out with Schmoop and the girls mostly. We fed the animals, went to Wal-Mart, went to eat at a restaurant called the Barn - which is basically a place that makes good old home cooking! Tasty. Then Sunday we went to church at Pastor Johns church, watched some hoops, took naps, watched/played with the girls ate dinner - then headed back to A2 so Yoh could go to work. While Yoh was at work I watched some cable television, ate tasty food - cheetos, scotcharoos, beer dip, and washed it all down with a couple cokes!! Then I went to bed around 2 am. So far my spring break has been delightful. That is all for now - more later!

A WOMAN'S WEEK AT THE GYM

2009-02-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Okay I got this in an email - and thought it was Fun-ny! So I did some slight editing and decided to post it. I hope you enjoy!

If you read this without laughing out loud, there is something wrong with you. This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine.

Dear Diary, For my birthday this year, my daughter (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.
I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.
My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

MONDAY:Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me. She is something of a Greek goddess - with blond hair, dancing eyes and adazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!
Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!
Belinda was encouraging as I did my sit- ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!

TUESDAY:I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then she put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it allworthwhile. I feel GREAT! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Belinda was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stairmonster. Why in the heck would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. She said some other crap too.

THURSDAY:Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late - it took me that long to tie my shoes. Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom she sent some skinny girl in to find me. Then, as punishment, she put me on the rowing machine -- which I sank.

FRIDAY:I hate that Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little cheerleader. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat her with it. Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

SUNDAY:I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year mydaughter (the little pain in the butt) will choose a gift for me that is fun -- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bendover, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

She's got it down "Pat!"

2009-02-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen Pat Summitt - women's head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee accomplished an amazing goal. She won her 1,000 game on Feb. 5th, 2009!
She is the first coach in Division 1 basketball to reach this number of wins. I am now going to give you some facts about Pat Summitt and her career thus far! I am only doing this because some of these facts are amazing even for those of you who really are not fact people or who are not that into sports (DJ!!), then when I am done I will tell you a story that happened to me involving a chance to meet this amazing lady on the day after her big win!!

From her first victory on Jan. 10, 1974, to win No. 1,000 on Feb. 5, 2009, 12,445 days passed.
A look at how long it took Summitt to reach each plateau:
Wins Length1-100 4 years, 4 days
100-200 3 years, 324 days
200-300 4 years, 32 days
300-400 3 years, 21 days
400-500 3 years, 300 days
500-600 3 years, 2 days
600-700 3 years, 12 days
700-800 3 years, 39 days
800-900 3 years, 5 days
900-1,000 3 years, 17 days
THAT’S SOME WINNING BASKETBALL

Through her first 34 seasons, Summitt averaged 28.9 victories and just 5.4 losses per season.
Summitt has been fond of saying, “Surround yourself with great people.” During her 35-year coaching tenure at the University of Tennessee she has worked with 153 Lady Vol basketball student-athletes and been assisted throughout the years by a total of 39 coaching staffers (assistant coaches, graduate assistants and operations directors), 53 student managers, 3 head athletic trainers, 2 women’s athletics directors, 1 media relations director and 1 secretary.
Over 35 years, Summitt has brought 153 women into the program (including this year’s team). Of that total group, 111 have graduated (including current starting post Alex Fuller), two discontinued playing due to medical reasons (knees), 23 transferred, and six quit.
Over 47 percent of ALL games coached by Summitt have come against Associated Press ranked opponents with the Lady Vols producing a 400-155 record and a 72 percent winning percentage. Imagine facing a ranked opponent in practically every other game in your career. Summitt has faced this challenge for 35 years, night-in and night-out. Summitt’s teams have also emerged victorious over unranked teams as well, winning 600 games (including tonight’s victory over Georgia) and losing just 32 contests. That’s 95 percent winning record over unranked opponents.
Never had a losing season
32 consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins
18 seasons with more than 30 wins
Head Coach Pat Summitt’s career record now stands at 1,000-187 (.843) all time.
She has had more WNBA and Olympic players than any other program
She has coached 153 women (including this years team) and 53 of them have national championship rings - some have more than 1!!

There are many more stats out there but I figured you have had enough.

Anyways a few years ago I met this guy named Peanut and he is a big wig for AAU basketball in Tennessee. Well long story short - he has season tickets, Pat Summitts phone number, eats meals with her, and has amazing hook ups when it comes to women's basketball. He got Yoh and I tickets to a game a few years ago - AMAZING experience!! Well I called him the night after the BIG win to have him give me the play by play because I know that he was at the game! And he did of course. Then He tells me that he will send me a t-shirt of the 1,000 wins - sweet I love t-shirts! Then he said that I needed to come back down to Tennessee, I told him that I would try really hard to get down there next winter break. Then he tells me this: "If you can get down here and you give me at least a month's notice on when you will be here I can take you to watch Pat in action - running a practice, yep that is right I can be in the gym while the practice. Then depending on her schedule I might get to meet her!!" I think it would be awesome - but if she is busy then it is okay but maybe I could shoot a couple hoops on HER court!! :) Then he said if they had a game when I came down he would take me again! Sweetness! Then he said if the final four is Nashville next year 2010 - that he can get me tickets and that they would be GOOD tickets - I just to have to say yes I want some and I have to get there!! NOW that would be an amazing experience for me, honestly if any one of those things really happen it would be so cool! I cant even explain it to you!

THE CLEANSE

2009-02-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

Alright so the cleanse is done/over! This is a 21 day process of detoxing your body and working your way to eating healthier. You know eating foods that really are not that tasty but are the ones that G-d created us to eat! Through the whole process I lost almost 9 pounds which is always a little motivation boost. My body doesn't feel as tired, my skin is healthier and over all I just feel better (minus the minor sinus infection that I have). I must say that I didn't cheat until today but that was under special circumstances - I had a coca cola classic today at work because I felt dizzy for several hours so I thought I would try a coca cola classic to see if that would help, that was my first coke for a month (which is really hard for me to do). It honestly didn't taste as great as I had hoped, but it did help for awhile.
During the cleanse I basically ate foods that are healthy for me and I watch my portion control and also take supplements throughout the day! So maybe if you are thinking about changing what you eat or being healthier you could follow a few basic steps:

Basic Rules On How To Eat
Rule 1- You MUST eat a healthy breakfast consisting mainly of good quality protein.
Too often breakfast consists of a cereal with milk, breads, coffee, and juices. These
foods strain the blood sugar handling system and set a person up for fatigue later in the
day.
Rule 2- Eat 5 to 6 meals spread through out the day. Eating every 2 to 3 hours helps
regulate the blood sugar handling system of the body giving you more energy. Skipping
meals taxies the blood sugar handling system and sets a person up for fatigue through
out the day.
Rule 3- Eat a balanced 40:30:30 diet with a ratio of 40% protein: 30% fat: 30%
carbohydrate.
Rule 4- Eat real food the God made and intended you to eat. This means fruits,
vegetables, lean meats, nuts, and seeds. Avoid processed, refined, and genetically
modified foods as much as possible. If it came in a box, it probably is not real food.
Rule 5- Eat protein with each main meal even if only in small amounts. This helps
regulate your blood sugar.
Rule 6- Eat low glycemic index foods when consuming carbohydrates. See
www.glycemic.com for more details on individual foods.
Rule 7- Avoid all foods that you know you are allergic to or have food sensitivity to.
Rule 8- Avoid inflammatory foods. These include processed grains, pasteurized cowʼs
milk, soy products, vegetable oils, modified fats and trans fats, refined carbohydrates
(cookies, cakes, candy, soda), and coffee.
Rule 9- Eat as fresh and raw of food as possible. Cooking and micro waving can
destroy foods living nutrients that are needed to heal the body.
Rule 10- Do not eat the same things every day. Rotate your food choices. This helps
avoid developing food sensitivities.
Rule 11- Cook with good quality oils. Oils that should be used include: olive oil, grape
seed oil, and coconut oil. Butter is not good to be fried in, but may be eaten.
Rule 12- Eat organic as much as possible. There is a difference!!!

Well happy eating! If you need some good recipes just check out my fellow blogging friends they have some recipes on their sites

Maybe a country band??

2009-01-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well I thought it was time for a drumming update. It is currently one of the fun things that I do that people actually want to hear about. I have continued my lessons with the amazing teacher Zach...he makes it fun and breaks it down so that I do not feel frustrated. I should add that every other hobby in my long life of 31 years has come very easy to me except for drumming. I think it is because the great Lord blessed me with the ability to be able to pick up anything that involves a ball rather quickly and He also blessed me with a great athletic ability. Soooooo with that being said anything with a ball takes me a little longer to grasp. Which is okay I am just not use to it. However Zach does not allow me to get frustrated he just shows me knew ways to do things. I have been working on several songs and a few I must say that I think that I am finally getting it down. I am almost positive because Zach said he was going to show me the fills to go along with one of the songs, so in my mind that means I must have the basic beat down for that song!! Whoo Hoo!! So the songs that I am working on are The Famous One, We are the Champions, Dr. Feelgood - by Aretha, I Told You So - Carrie Underwood. I am particularly getting the Carrie Underwood song down pretty quickly - this is the song that I am going to learn the fills for! Now I do have to admit I have not practiced as much as I would like in the last several weeks. I need to be better at that, but it is COLD in my basement at night!! However I do plan on sticking it out and getting at least 15 mins or so in each day!! For you drummers that are reading if you have any tips on how to get my foot to become better that would be fantastic - this is where I struggle the most! I have inserted to pictures one of me drumming and one of a future drummer his name is Noah Blake, remember this people! He looks way cuter but I think that is just because he is younger - gives him an advantage or something.

Help out Ghana and my friend Alicia

2009-01-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Okay will my friend Alicia went to Ghana in 2007 and ever since she went there she has been trying to help the kids over there that were living in the orphanage. She has posted something on her blog about helping out the organization and donating money to help the children over there get an education. Now me being a teacher I am all about it however I cannot give that much money at this time - yes I know every little bit helps. So I thought I would help out by also posting her blog entry onto my blog. So that my friends that read my blog will maybe feel compelled to donate any money that they or just to pass it on to those who also like to donate to great causes..it is a new year and all!!!
So all the information that it typed in the red color is directly from Alicia's blog and is her story. Enjoy and maybe you could send a little cash their way.

I have felt moved to help the children from the Save Widows and Orphans Development Center (SWODC) orphanage in Ghana. They are in great need of help as they no longer have the security of SWODC, which was forced to close its doors in September 2008. Since that time, sixteen of the twenty-one orphans were sent back their small villages and to the guardians/relatives that brought them to the orphanage originally. These are the same people who could not afford to care for them originally and most likely can’t do so now. Their daily safety, nourishment, and education is of concern to us.Fortunately, an amazing American volunteer I met back in 2007 has established a US-based foundation to help the children. Josephine Hopkins and her husband Randy (also met him during first trip) established the Hopkins Foundation just this past summer to guarantee that the orphans from SWODC are fully cared for now and in the future. The Hopkins Foundation’s mission (http://www.hopkinsfoundation.org/) is to enroll each of the SWODC orphans into a local boarding school and support the children throughout their education (through high school and beyond). We feel boarding school is the best option for the children given Ghana’s poor public education system and their current lack of a permanent home or orphanage. Our hope is to raise the necessary funds for the children to return from their villages and enroll into a boarding school next September. Boarding school will not only provide them with the best education as possible in Ghana, but also a roof over their heads and three meals a day. The cost to enroll one child into boarding school for the entire year is around $800.00. This breaks down to less than $67.00 dollars a month, less than $2.25 a day. Yes, they can live safely and well for less than $2.25 a day! Can you help us make this a reality? Can you make a contribution (of any amount) to help these children return to a safe environment and give them a real opportunity in life?If you can support my mom's and my efforts in placing the SWODC children into boarding schools and providing them with a safe home, please make a tax-deductible donation to the Hopkins Foundation (http://www.hopkinsfoundation.org/) by mailing a check to Hopkins Foundation, PO Box 190192 Boise, ID 83719 (checks should be made out to Hopkins Foundation and include SWODC in the memo). *The option of donating online may be added to the website in the future. Again, any contribution amount would help and be appreciated greatly. Donations to the Hopkins Foundation can be made as one-time contributions, monthly donations, or you can choose to fully sponsor one of the children (call Hopkins Foundation, 208-890-1296, my mom, or me for more information).These children have touched our hearts. We have held their hands, listened to their sweet singing, felt their loving hugs, and dried their tears. My mom and I can’t turn our backs on them. They are great children, they are real and they need our help and your help! This is an opportunity to drastically change lives AND be able to see the impact of your giving. We will follow (and hopefully visit) these children throughout their journeys and provide updates on their progress here. We understand firsthand that times are uncertain. But we ask that you look deep into your heart and ask God for guidance to determine if this is an endeavor you can support now or in the future. Any contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference. There are so many good causes and charities, so many lives we can touch. Whether you are able to support us in this one or not, we hope that you are finding your own way to show your love and give. Most importantly, even if you aren’t able to help these children financially, your prayers can help tremendously. Please take a few minutes to pray that Bernice and these children be blessed with safety, happiness and love.SWODC Background:SWODC was formed in 2000 by Bernice Nunyuie, a local Ghanaian widow with a huge heart and faith in God. After losing her husband in an automobile accident, Bernice recognized the need to assist other widows in learning pertinent work skills in order for them to gain independence and care for their families. As Bernice began to help widows form co-ops for the local crafts they produced, she also became the community go-to person for widows needing assistance for their children. They would come to her asking for help with school fees, food, clothes or if really in need, they would ask her to take the children into her home. One-by-one, Bernice began to take in children that other women could no longer care for, as well as orphans that had been being taken care of by aunts, uncles, older siblings, and grandparents that needed her help.Eventually, SWODC officially formed. Over the past six years, Bernice has taken care of more than twenty children with minimal outside assistance. Bernice not only provided shelter for these children, but also ensured they received adequate meals, enrolled them into school, paid their school fees and made sure they were clothed. She also reached out to volunteer organizations in the area to have volunteers come to the orphanage to help mentor and play with the children, which is how Alicia came to meet this wonderful woman and the children. Bernice has been a tremendously selfless person, giving up her life and taking in these children. Over the past six years, she has struggled daily with the stress and concern over where the money will come from to continue to care for the kids. Sadly, after years of putting others’ needs before her own and struggling to make ends meet, the burden has become too great and Bernice is no longer able to financially care for these children. In addition, she has developed several chronic health conditions. While we were in Ghana this past August/Sept, a number of major and unforeseen obstacles were presented to Bernice in a very short time-frame and unfortunately SWODC’s security quickly evaporated. Due to decreasing finances and the end of her lease, Bernice had no other option than relocate to a smaller home and send the children back to their guardians if they had any. Five of the children have remained with Bernice because they have no where else to go. Bernice is trying to stay updated on the other sixteen children, but they are spread far out and due to her current health issues she is unable to travel much.Bernice has done it on her own for quite a while, but now she and these twenty-one children are in need of help. My mom and I can only do so much on our own as well, we don't have enough to give them all the security and safety they so deserve. So that is why we have humbled ourselves and are reaching out to you to ask for help. Please consider contributing to the Hopkins Foundation at http://www.hopkinsfoundation.org/ If you are interested in supporting Bernice in her current efforts to care for the children in her house, please contact me directly.
These children have touched our hearts. My mom and I can’t turn our backs on them. They are great children, they are real and they need our help and your help! This is an opportunity to drastically change lives AND be able to see the direct impact of your giving. We will follow (and hopefully visit) these children throughout their journey and provide updates on their progress on my fundraising blog www.myghanaexperience.blogspot.com. We understand firsthand that times are uncertain. But we ask that you look deep into your heart and ask God for guidance to determine if this is an endeavor you can support now or in the future. Any contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.

What Giving should be like

2008-12-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T09:33:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

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.

Happy 4th of July!!

2008-07-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia says that Independence day is...An Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another state, more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Most countries honour their respective independence day as a national holiday and some countries or nations' independence-date honours are contested. Declaration of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776.
The 4th of July has always had mixed feelings in my own mind. As kids growing up we never bought fireworks except for sparklers. My dad had something against it; maybe it was cause he was in the army, for our safety, too expensive, etc. Not really sure. But man when we were kids it sure did suck and we did get made fun of alot, but thankfully are friends just let us light their fireworks (this did include bottle rocket wars). Also growing up we always watched fireworks in Gladstone while sitting in the back of my dads truck in the parking lot of my high school. They had awesome fireworks, it still is the best fireworks that I have seen in my 30 years.
As an adult I have spent almost every 4th of July at my friend Cameron's dad's house in Excelsior Springs, MO (a.k.a. E-town). In this environment we eat several times, play bocce ball, play golf ball toss, watch the kiddos swims or play on the slip in slide. We also part take in a fireworks display put on my Cam's dad David and his brother Brad. At times there are some things blown up such as watermelons and pumpkins. This use to be way cool - however I now think that there are too many kids around that it could be a tad on the dangerous side. I do not have much say though cause I am a guest with no kids! I have only missed this event 2 times, 1 time I made an unexpected trip to St. Louis and the year after that I did nothing.
I think that the 4th is kind of silly - we blow things up to celebrate our independence. However it is probably on the list of holidays I enjoy - why? - cause it is a holiday where you just show up and eat!! No gifts are needed.
Well enjoy your day of independence wherever you are and however you celebrate. Just be smart if you are lighting firecrackers.

Drum playing update

2008-06-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well I figured it was time for a drum update since I have been playing, maybe I should say learning to play for a little over 2 months now. I will say that I am to the point where it actually feels like I am playing something and keeping a beat. Am I ready for an audience - no prolly not quite yet. For the last two months I have been working on the three way coordination - which my teacher says is in many songs in some way. I just take his word for it. The three way coordination involves the snare, the bass drum, and the high hat. So I think that I have finally got those down at least at a slow speed with out making numerous mistakes. Then today at my drum lesson I learned how to involve the other three drums. So now I know a pattern that involves the snare, the bass drum, the high hat, the 2 toms, and the floor tom. It is a pretty awesome feeling I must admit. And next time I have a lesson (which is not for a month due to weddings, and the Jamaica trip) I get to bring my iPOD and play along with a song that I enjoy. So if anyone has any suggestions send them my way. I am hoping some of my favorite bands do something simple that maybe this chick drummer can handle. I truly am excited that I have found something fun to do and who knows maybe someday I will play a song in front of people and they will enjoy it!

3 weeks from today!

2008-06-26T20:18:00.000-07:00

Okay so at this time in 3 weeks from today I will be in sunny, warm Jamaica with some very fun friends (DJ, Dawg, and Yoh) celebrating our 30th birthdays. It is really hard to believe that it is finally almost here. We have been planning this for along time and it is really going to happen.

I still have lots to do before we leave. Such as continue to work on my base tan - don't want to burn when I get there, that would be somewhat of a downer, get a few shirts, a dress - my friends have decided that we should get "dressed up" one night, oh yeah and get abs of steal - it could happen - but doubtful, I have done 200 crunches in the last too days! I have always wanted abs of steal or a six pack (that you don't drink) so what better time than right before I go to Jamaica to celebrate being 30.

You might wonder what four girls are going to be doing in Jamaica for 6 days? Well we will be staying at an all inclusive resort so we will be taking advantage of all those amenities (4 pools, 4 whirlpools, snorkeling, windsurfing, sail boating, kayaks, hydro bikes, and hobiecats). This place also has chairs to layout in while you are in the ocean -SWEET! The resort also has many restaurants with good food, so of course that will be in the daily plan as well. Most of the days will consist of soaking up the sun as much as possible, partaking in the water activities and eating some good food.

Finished for now!

2008-06-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Okay so I will start by saying that I have been getting some flack for not posting for a month, or only posting when it has to do with Pat Yoh! So I will post now about some information that has changed and most of you might already know - if that is you then you can just stop reading or click on the comment section and say hello!! :)

About a month ago the high school basketball coach that I work under at BVNW decided that it was best for him to quit now and to go in another direction. This was very hard to hear because he was helping change the program in the right direction - however there were many people who do not agree with that statement mostly parents and the administration. So he felt that there was too much politics and felt that he was only going to be able to stay for one year and then the likelihood of him getting fired after that was highly possible. So then after he quit all the assistants then had to make our own decisions. I thought about it, talked about it, and prayed about it. And after about two weeks I decided that the best choice for myself and for the girls involved in the program was to quit coaching at the high school program. I am sad however I feel a huge peace over the decision and the choice that I made.

I am going to try to coach 8th grade girls at the middle school level if there is enough girls that go out. It is a shorter season and less of a time commitment. And you teach lots more fundamental things about the sport - which is really my favorite part, also the most important part! So with that being said I plan on filling up that time with church things, taking pictures, playing my drums, and of course hanging out with my friends.

This Past Weekend

2008-05-22T17:07:00.001-07:00

Some Kingdom Living supporters with the newest nurse in Merriam
The famous Pat Yoh and her graduate
Showing my unicycling skills to the Yoh family
Yoh and her friend Jay
After the big day of events we took the family to T-Rex for dinner

So this past weekend was filled with Graduation madness and other fun things. We showed Pat and Jen Yoh the city highlights and did our best to entertain them. I went to 2 graduations, 3 graduation parties for my b-ballers, dinner at my moms for the Yoh's, hanging out in Lawerence one of my favorite cities, rode the unicylce for Jen and Pat Yoh, and dinner at the T-Rex! As you can see the weekend was pretty packed but it was so worth it to celebrate my great friend Yoh's big graduation and the next step in her life.