You know, I don’t really care that I am single and don’t have a “valentine”–I know that will come in time. To me, Valentine’s Day is a dumb holiday anyway…I want my loved ones to know EVERY day that they are loved and special. Oh well…

So I was thinking about my best Valentine’s Day ever and my worst one ever…

Worst: 2006

I had just started at ADP (my second week), and as I’m parking my car that morning (in the really small spots that ADP has, grrrr) I hit the car next to me. I freaked out! It wasn’t that bad, but the car was a lot newer than mine, and it was a new job, so I was nervous. I left a note (with shaky handwriting), and waited the whole day to hear from him/her…finally, around 6pm, he called. He was super nice–turns out that he was a full-time pastor before working at ADP–and didn’t end up filing an insurance claim. Still, I ended up on the couch, by myself, with a bowl of ColdStone icecream that night…and that was my Valentine’s Day.

Best: 2004

I was very very close to a (former) friend of mine who was going through a really tough time. So, I decided to pull one of my infamous schemes and fly to Chicago to surprise him and spend the weekend there. The planning was amazing (I’m definitely good at event planning/scheming 🙂 )…and he had no idea. I planned everything down to the very smallest details, and it brought so much joy to me to see him filled with joy and surprise. On Valentine’s Day, we went to Chicago (and I think it was 14 degrees) for the day…had a great dinner…and then saw the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (amazing!)…I got to claim two more states on that trip, three total (Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan) because we went to his hometown to meet his family…even though I’m no longer friends with this person, that Valentine’s Day was the best one that I’ve had to this day…

In other news–I’m spending the weekend (beginning at 6am Friday) north of Santa Barbara, on a mountain with a “panoramic view of the ocean”…it’s going to be an awesome weekend, and I’m totally looking forward to it. All of the APU mission teams are heading up there, and I know that the Lord is going to move in mighty ways! 🙂

Have a great February 14th!

If you watch “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, and if you happened to watch it tonight, you saw this monster truck, “Bounty Hunter”, on the show…my dad painted this monster truck and still does the touch-ups and the body work/fiberglassing!! So awesome to see it (and the driver, Jimmy Creten) on this show!

If you click here , and scroll to the bottom, you’ll see where it says “Klouse”…that’s my dad. It’s an inside joke 🙂

Just had to post that…because I’m slightly proud of my dad… 🙂

Wow…This is what I’m pondering today…I don’t like the sound of this…

Thoughts?

Yesterday was somewhat difficult for me, as I had to decide who I could stomach voting for in the presidential primary…

…and I voted for Fred Thompson. Yes, I know he dropped out of the race…but I am a firm believer in principle over power, and I wanted to make a statement. According to the Sec. of State’s website, 45,000 other Californians felt the same way (about Fred). I just couldn’t handle voting for ANY other candidate.

I was glad to see that it appears Californians educated themselves about the propositions this year! I was pleased with the results.

Speaking of education (political), I realized something about talk radio this morning. It makes so much sense, when you consider the incredible length of time people spend in their cars in Los Angeles, commuting…that’s the way to get your point across. Get ’em when they can’t escape (except for changing the station) 🙂

Also, I thought it was interesting to read this article about “fabulous” Nancy Pelosi trying to woo the NASCAR fans…sorry, but as a NASCAR fan, I’m pretty confident in saying that it’s a losing battle. NASCAR culture is pretty stubborn! I did like, however, how the article says that the NASCAR vote is “coveted.” Awesome!

My thoughts on 2008: I would be willing to bet that we will have a Democratic president. It’s just how it goes–look back historically at presidents who were somewhat unfavorable…the other party wins… That’s my prediction. So, now my focus turns to somehow getting Obama the nomination. 🙂 Because I couldn’t handle Hillary in office. Not at all. Yes, I realize that God is completely sovereign, and I know that He is ultimately in control, not the president, but…I still want to do my part and choose the best person for the job.

In other news, three of my friends and I started our “lifestyle change” (i.e. diet) yesterday, and I’ve already lost 2.4 lbs. Woo hoo! My goal is to lose 10 by Easter, and if I do, I’ll buy myself a new Easter dress. 🙂

I’m sure there’s more that I could write about, but that’s about all I can do right now… 🙂

I think I’m in this picture…I sat in the same spot each session, and I think I can see myself! Anyway, just a glimpse of what it was like…

Spent yesterday in Watts, in “the projects”, with the Dream Center. I took a group from my church down there, and it was an incredible experience, as always. Very humbling…

Tonight we took our New Orleans team to a creole/cajun restaurant in L.A. to experience  a “taste” of New Orleans…such fun!

Still need to figure out who to vote for…two days!

More later…

This video is SO funny…it’s just ridiculous, but there are several life-lessons you could use this to teach…

Praise the Lord! Los Angeles received more rain last week (6.8 inches!!) than it did all of last year! Woo hoo! AND, more rain is coming. Thank you, Lord, for the rain…

Vermont never ceases to amaze me…why don’t they just become their own country if they’re so discontent? Now they are voting to arrest Pres. Bush and others if they ever set foot in Vermont…LOL…right. The best part is that they’d arrest them for war crimes…I kinda don’t think that states/towns can do that. 🙂 But, whatever. It’s Vermont 🙂

Life is still going well…we’ve made major progress on housing for New Orleans, and I’m getting more excited each day…

Oh, and I know it’s not Christmas yet, but check out this video of an awesome a capella group singing their version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”…and a bunch of other songs they throw in there…it’s 3.5 minutes–check it out!

Just when you thought the Bible couldn’t surprise you anymore…it tells you what to do about mold/mildew…

I found this tonight when researching black/purple mold, because we have some in our bathroom…it’s great. LOL! At least the Bible tells us what to do about it!

Well, I’m still learning how to use WordPress–but it’s really fun so far!

The Lord is doing some amazing things in my life right now…last weekend’s missions conference was incredible…this weekend is the “Passion” conference…and it’s raining–which I LOVE…

My theme for the year is “Be Uncomfortable”–which I know sounds SO pleasant. 🙂 I want to be challenged, I want to grow…and I know that taking risks and being “uncomfortable” can facilitate such amazing growth! So, my prayer is that the Lord would use this year to strengthen me, challenge me, refresh me, and to encourage me to take risks and GROW…

…and this new blog was part of taking a risk…

I have been revisiting posts from years past, and I stumbled across this one today…and I was so blessed by the memory of God’s provision! I used to blog all the time…and I want to do so again…

I love the rain…and I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed dry, sunny Southern California with so much rain lately…

Thank you for reading, and for joining me on this journey!

I decided that I wanted a fresh start, a new place to post…so we’ll see how this goes. I didn’t want to leave Blogger (because I LOVE Google), but I needed to be able to “hide out” for awhile, so to speak…

 So, here we are. 🙂

I was recently reminded of this bill signed by Governor Arnold…and I am just trying to remain calm. I cannot believe that he (or anyone) would sign such a piece of crap into law! I just don’t understand why it’s okay for reverse discrimination to occur, but we can’t have anything that might possibly offend someone.

Read the article to see what I’m talking about…I’m kinda frustrated. 🙂