Kayakin' Queen

okay, so not really...I'm hardly Kayaking royalty...but pretty dang close! A friend from church called me up very last minute yesterday afternoon to see if I wanted to join a group of people for a couple hours kayaking down Minihaha creek...well...I had to tell her I'd call her back because I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do it and I wasn't sure I had enough time to run home and change. When I remembered a few minutes later that I had thrown a work out outfit in my car on the seriously off chance that I would decide to start working out (been sayin' that for...a while...a long while...) well, I figured that I just had to do it because the chances of my going kayaking on my own really don't exist...so I seized the day so to speak.And ya know what? it was actually fun and I didn't tip over and it wasn't nearly as much work as I always imagined it to be. A leisurely trip down Minihaha on a beautiful night with fun people...yeah, I could do this again...It did get a tiny bit exciting at the end though...we were coming up to a waterfall so of course got out and carried our kayak's past the falls and then got back in for the final leg of the journey at the bottom of the falls. Well...the bottom of the falls was quite choppy and there was a tunnel and then a left turn right after the tunnel...all flowing very quickly...so two people went before me, one of the guys was holding me and positioning me so I wouldn't immediately fly into the wall of the tunnel and off I went...I made it through the tunnel but the turn was so sharp I couldn't quite get the kayak turned enough...I ran into a log and thank the lord above only bounced off of it with a slight wobble to the left...I really thought I was going to tip over...well, after I righted myself and kept flying down the last little bit I realized that the bugs I was flying through were not stopping...constant bugs for a couple minutes...gnats...I think I ate enough gnats to last me a lifetime! and everyone else on this little adventure agreed as we all coughed them up and wiped them from our eyes...good times. I would say minus the bugs at the end, and even with the last crazy little leg of the journey it was a blast and I loved it. My arms are a little sore today but not to bad...good times! Of course I ran and grabbed my camera at the end to get a pic of myself after this adventure...I knew my family would never believe it with out proof!
I declared this the year of living in bright red and this definately qualifies!!!!!

burn baby burn

...so after only three hours outside in the sun yesterday, today I hurt...
here's my random story from yesterday. after the BBQ I was at and church I decided to drive around the lakes in my jeep...top off, music up, ballcap on, off I went. Somehow I ended up driving behind the park police and after about 5 minutes a police car ended up behind me...well, you better believe I was obeying the laws of the road at that point! so tooling around with the law enforcement of mpls was all of a sudden more interesting when the popo in front of me starts flashing his lights, pulls to a stop and gets out of the car to confront some guys with rap music blaring out of their car...so of course I have to stop behind him...top off, music turned way down so I could eavesdrop of course...didn't hear anything but as I was sitting their the cop throws his lights on too and climbs out of his car...so lights in front of me and behind me, cops..guns..power trips...what the..! basically it was a non-event...two seconds after the cop got out they both climbed back into their cars and off we all drove...but you can imagine what someone like myself with an overactive imagination was thinking...pretty much as soon as I could get a chance I turned off the road so I would no longer be sandwiched between these two guys any longer.
And that concludes my adventures.

Shocking

First, I'm going topless starting as soon as I leave this building. (It's a JEEP thing!!!) It's supposed to be beautiful and perfect outside all weekend!!!!
Second, I actually did yard work yesterday!!!!
(I told you it would be shocking!!!!)

Phantom Phans

So tonight I have book club, we are having a masquerade party with yummy food and then we are going to watch the new Phantom of the Opera movie...I'm sure I will have pics soon and some fun stories to tell...unless of course I am sworn to secrecy...which is always possible with my book club :-)
check out my new profile design...and my song is in honor of my evenings festivities of course!!!

whatsoever things are lovely...

so yesterday my allergie pills came in the mail and I feel wonderful...I can breathe again and my perma-headache is gone. just lovely!
yesterday I also bought a chimney cupboard for a ridulously good price, it matches my bedroom that I have been slowly trying to get put together perfectly. just lovely!
last night I left church and went to a friends house to help her with a major remodel of her brand new teenager's bedroom...I painted a huge hibiscus flower on the wall that turned out just lovely and helped hang ikea mirrors that look like waves and a few other odd projects. just lovely!
today I went to visit a few people from church who were having a huge yard sale and I found a darling bird house and an old weathered shutter and a window with the glass panes still in it that is distressed...just lovely!
This whole week I have brought a lunch with me to work and walked for half of my lunch hour each day plus I have been drinking water...something I normally don't like...just lovely!
tomorrow I am going scrapbooking and saturday I am going yard sale-ing and have a wedding and a wedding shower to attend...it is going to be just a lovely weekend!
Philippians 4:8 is a lovely verse to read if you are interested!

Blueberry pie and Sunshine

Today was a fun day...my first day at my new desk/office location...I walked for a half hour at lunch and got to enjoy some sunshine...refilled my prescription for Allegra so I can keep walking outside and maybe even finish up some yard work...and found a fun song by Bette Midler for my profile...how very blueberry. I think I am going to go home now and eat some blueberry's actually. Doesn't that sound yummy?

mommy dearest

So last night at church we were trying to get some video footage of kids talking about their moms and the final question they were asked was "What would Jesus say about your mom?" well, we brought a little boy, three years old, out of his class to do this video...he was very chatty, talked about how his mom was fun and let him ride his bike as long as he wore his helmet and how she cooked him lunch so he loved her...cute stuff...along comes that final question to which he replies with an instant frown on his face "we're not talking about Jesus, we're talking about my mom" and he crossed his arms and wouldn't say anything more. priceless.
my mom is coming to visit this weekend...last year she came for mother's day and I got the flu...I am hoping this year is a different kind of experience :-)

Baldwink

So this morning at church this little boy, probably like 4 years old, winked at me a bunch of times and kept laughing...it was cute, he obviously just learned the art of winking and I was the lucky one he was practicing on. super cute.
It reminded me of a funny thing that happened to me in college once. My friend Beth and I were always playing jokes on eachother and others...just a way to pass the time and to get a few laughs at the same time. Well, one morning as I was running to class and still wiping the sleep out of my blurry eyes...a guy I knew fairly well winked at me as we passed in the hall. Well, I was sure I had seen it wrong...he wasn't the type of guy to wink at girls so I thought it must have been a twitching thing or something...well, before long I notice that almost every guy I saw that day would wink at me and then laugh and keep walking...even guys I didn't know. I figured something was up and so I cornered one of them and they told me they had been instructed by their RA to wink at me on this particular day. So I cornered and RA and he said that the assistant to the dean of men had left a message on all the guy RA's voicemail about the winking and to spread the word. So I cornered the assistant to the dean of men and he informed me that my friend Beth had convinced him to send out the message about winking at me. From that day on I was nicknamed Jamie Baldwink.

about me

Let's see...I am single, own a home, have a job, have friends. Most people who know me know I love to read, I am in a fabulous book club to prove it! I love music also, country is my first choice...anything goes after that though...I got to sing back up on my sisters album www.jessilynn.com if you want to hear for yourself. A few of my thoughts on life? glad you asked...I think most people never really say what they are thinking...and a lot of people expect you to guess...so I've made it one of my personal goals to say what I think so people aren't left wondering. I don't always do the best job but I try. I also believe whole heartedly that if you get to know someone, there is always a lot about a person to love and enjoy. First impressions are only a starting point...and sometimes you need to give people a second chance at a first impression because you never know what kind of day they have had. Usually someone's strengths are their weaknesses...mine is loyalty. I know it and I still can't stop myself from being loyal to people even when they treat me like crap...but thank heaven's most people don't...if you are important to me...it is almost impossible to change...so don't bother trying! I love chips and salsa...and Taco Bell...I would live on it if I didn't think I'd eventually die from heart disease or something...my favorite book as a child was "Bread and Jam for Frances" all about a little girl who didn't want to eat anything new, until one day she did...yes, this is a story of my life I suppose...wanting things to stay the same...until one day when I don't...hmmm...I have been craving a food from my childhood lately...no one understands...Taco Time...yup...another form of mexican food I love...another thing about me I cannot deny is that I love kids, I am typically surrounded by them...comes with my job and a lot of my friends have 'em...sadly my nephew who I adore moved away, but happily I still have gobs of little sweeties at my church to google over. My sister used to laugh at how even when we were grocery shopping I was drawn to the children around me...I can't help it, they are precious and full of hope if you ask me...I find myself expressing myself more and more through writing...I've never been that great of a talker...although, their are days I can't seem to stop talking, I usually get myself in trouble on those days....I am impressed almost daily with what people can live through....I have seen dear friends of mine face the hardest circumstances and come out smiling. I have seen God's hand on my own life and I am forever greatful and blessed by what he means to me.

life's like an hourglass glued to the table...

Some days I feel like I can't breathe. Is it my emotions or is it my allergies...maybe it's both.