Lessons from Ronde Voo

One of the things I anticipate most about my day is coming home to see my dog Ronde. You wanna know why? Because I get the best greeting in the world from him. He is so overly excited to see me that he can't contain himself. He hurls his body up, jumping towards me to give him a rub on his belly and a pat on the head. His tail swings about ferociously and he's just super excited to see me. I can be completely down and out or have had a tiresome, miserable day and just seeing his hyperactive welcome brings a smile to my face.

So why am I posting about coming home to my dog you may ask? Because a little while ago the Lord revealed something to me, on one of the many occasions I came home to my ecstatic dog, that just totally blew my mind. Ronde's reaction to me is how the Lord wants us to be with him. He longs for us to be completely overcome with joy and excited to be in his presence. Just think about it for a moment. I supply Ronde's every need and because of my love and devotion to him, he reciprocates those same feelings everday. Now imagine the very being who created you, who supplies your every need and spared your life for the sake of his only son waiting for you to acknowledge that he's there. I don't know about the rest of you but knowing He's got my back like that and loves me more than any human on the face of this Earth brings me an overwhelming amount of pure, unadulterated joy and in turn I want nothing more than to reciprocate that love and adoration, as much as humanly possible, to the one who made me!

With all that said I leave you this scripture:

But let all those who take refuge and put

their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing

and shout for joy, because you make a

covering them and defend them; let those

also who love Your name be joyful in You and

be in high spirits.

-Psalm 5:11

Shine On,

MG

Joy!

So, it's no secret that I love music... and I really take pleasure in finding new artsit and sharing their talents with others. With that said I came across one of the most fantastic Christian albums I have ever heard and I urge you all to check it out. Her name is Beckah Shae and the name of her album is Joy. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Beckah's lyrics alone will truly move you as she belts out spiritual truths on her sophomore effort. For your listening pleasure, I have created a playlist with three songs from Joy that I adore. Please listen and enjoy!

Joy-Beckah Shae

Shine On,

MG

Tis The Season To Be...

... THRIFTY? RESOURCEFUL? Whatever you want to call it! With the way things are today, it's smart to spend wisely. I know, this may seem like I'm jumping the gun here, as Christmas is only about two months away but bear with me... there's a clear point to this post.

I for one LOVE this time of year. It reminds me of warm nights chatting it up with my family, reminicing about times I never knew with my mother and aunts. Sadly, for quite a few people, it is a time of depression and dread. Our capitalist society place so much stock in "stuff" to the point where people are willing to do any and everything to get "things" for their loved ones. Possessions... things with absolutely no lifelong value occupy our minds, desires and ultimately become our personal idols. Don't get me wrong, gifts are nice to receive and give but they are not long lasting and I'd rather not stress myself out trying to buy material things. So, this year, I've decided to make gifts. Yes I said make, as in handmade, home sewn, sculpted, crafted goodies, from my stash of craft stuff, for my family and friends. Not a small feat but I'm going to try super hard to get everything done.

Here's a list of items I think I can pull off before Christmas:

* Scarves (This scares me a bit. I'm just learning how to crochet)
* Tote Bags (My specialty. I have new patterns I want to try out)
* Wallets (I have a tutorial to try out and tons of scrap fabric)
* Journals (I made one for a swap once and loved how it turned out)
* Spa Kits (Bath Bombs are so much fun to make)
* Eyeglass Cases (Another first)
* Polymer Clay Magnets (Ones shaped like donuts in particular :)
* Polymer Clay Earrings (This will be a first for me as well)

That's about it I think... if anyone has any suggestions, please send those my way!

Shine On,

MG

A Long Time Coming

It has been many moon since I've posted to this blog and at one point I thought I would retire it completely but I suppose it wasn't meant to be deleted. In the past months I've had a desire to start this thing back up and be more devoted to posting. I had a purpose for this blog when I first started and I just found my motivation:

find the potential in every situation, whether its good or bad. find the potential in people, whether friend or foe. find the potential in yourself, whether you're courageous or fearful. find the potential in your surroundings, whether the grass is green or a wilted brown...

This is what it's all about. Viewing the world in a more optimistic way. Truly searching for the good in the people that inhabit our world and being mindful of the way I decide to live out my life. I want to be a reflection of Christ and maybe bring others along for the ride. Thus the updated blog. It's got a new look but the content shall be the same... just more of it! :) Anyway, that's it in a nutshell. There will be more adventures to come.

Shine On,

MG :)

Attack of the Sweet Tooth

OK... so in the past I have really tried to watch what I eat. I usually do really well for about a week and then I don't just fall off the wagon, I tumble off, bump my head and slip into a coma... and it's all caused by my love of sweets! I just can't say no. As a matter of fact, instead of working out this weekend, which I try to do at least one day during my days off, I made cupcakes. The picture at the beginning of the post is one of the lovelies I baked. (Isn't it pretty?) My love for sweets has brought me to a full on obsession with cupcakes. I can't get enough of them. They even have bakeries that are dedicated to this delicious goodie. In Vegas there is this cute little shop called The Cupcakery. The treats are expensive, so I don't go there often. There are also places like Sprinkles in L.A. which I think have branched off into franchises in other cities. At any rate, I love sweets and just thought I'd rant and rave about my battle with not indulging my sweet tooth (too often :)

Shine On,
MG

Slackers Don't Open Pandora's Box

It has been quite some time since I've posted anything. I have no excuses, just been a wee bit lazy I suppose. Anyway, I decided to update the look of the blog to fit the current season! Hope you all like! :-)

Anyway, to the post I go! So a co-worker of mine is also a music enthusiast and turned me on to two online personal radio stations. The premise is that you type in an artist that you like and the system finds songs/artists similar to the artist you initially searched and places their music on your personal station. I've tried both and prefer one over the other. They are, however, very similar.

Pandora seems to be the most liked, but not by me. Pandora now comes as a free feature, I believe, with the new iPhone. I found Pandora weak in many areas. I would search for an artists and their songs/albums would be blocked and Pandora would play an array of songs by artists it deemed similar that I just didn't dig (some really weird stuff IMO). And you don't have the option to completely ban an artist. Oh and then there's that whole you can only skip so many songs thing (which is also a con for the other online radio station).

With Slacker, on the other hand, you can manipulate and control your custom stations better. You can select as many artist as you want for your custom station and it gives you lots of really good recommendations. You can ban a song or the artist if you don't like it/them. In my opinion it's just all around better. If you like to listen to music at work these are two great options and I think you should certainly check them out and see which one fits your musical needs.

Pandora

Slacker

Shine On,
MG

Savory Sumos

I was cruising around one of my favorite blogs, Hostess With The Mostess, and stumbled across a tiny add advertising these delectable goodies. They are gigantic gourmet fortune cookies made by a family owned company based in Dallas, TX called Sumo Cookies. They come in 2 sizes and you can even get them stuffed with treats. If you like you can even personalize the fortune.

When I say they are gigantic I mean they take up about half of a standard dinner plate. I'm sure it would take a good week or two to finish off the big sumo. If you check out thier website you can see all the different types of sumos and even a little video of their tasty treats that was featured on the Food Network.

Shine On,
MG