You or Me...?

When I go to my hair dresser and she has pictures of her and her friends partying taped up at her station, I don't blink even though I don't condone or agree with a partying lifestyle. I'm there to get an amazing cut, which she gives and I gladly pay and tip for. When I called a tree service I didn't ask them about their political views, not because I don't talk about those things, but because I don't care who he voted for when he is laying grass for my kids.

I'm sick of people trying to censor me or strip me of my 1st amendment rights. I received a fb message from a fb friend who happens to also be a customer. I have known this family for 20 years. And they let me know that I shouldn't talk about religion or politics because it may cause our clients who are our fb friends to rethink their decision to use our window washing service, especially since my views were narrow-minded. I was also told this life is about kindness and diversity. I have lots of points so I am going to number them to keep it organized.

#1. This person is a fb friend because they are friend, NOT because they are a client. I do NOT friend request "clients".

#2. Our "religious" (i hate that word) or political views have NO bearing on our integrity as business people nor how hard-working we are. Did you know we have multiple gay households that use our services? And we treat them with the kindness and integrity we do any of our other customers. We also have buddhist and mormon customers we also treat with respect and serve them as equally we do anyone else. We don't even THINK about these things when we conduct our business.

#3 As a Conservative Christian, I cannot think of ONE TIME I have not used someone's service because they did not share my same views or because they shared them, period.

#4 I'm almost positive if my views matched this persons, I would not have received this msg. And that makes me narrowminded?? Couple of subpoints on this one.
a. Doesn't that make YOU narrowminded? If you feel so upset because I dont share your views and you threaten to not use our companies services? You only want to use business people that always keep their views to themselves or share the same ones? This is MY personal fb. We have a business fan site and we have NEVER put anything controversial up whatsoever and never plan to.
b. The Bible says "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way." Matthew 7:13 I can live that. Can you?

#5 Kindness and diversity. The definition of diverse is 'differing from each other: very different or distinct from one another' Welp, looks like my view also classifies as "diverse". As far as being kind, not sure how I was unkind to anyone. Is it because I dont want gays to marry or because I don't care for Obama or because I believe Jesus is the ONLY way to Salvation with no room for interpretation? My husband and I are very kind and compassionate. Especially, when conducting business. Having conservative views does not equal unkindness.

#6 You may want to do your hw on the places you choose to shop. Many of them are politically skewed and donate money to support lots of different causes that you may or may not agree with. Welcome to America. If we were using our profits to support a measure or a candidate or anything controversial, I would understand not using our services, but we dont. Pristine Solutions is nonpartisan & non"religious". I, however, am a person with thoughts and emotions and convictions.

#7 Why not just "hide" me...? Or delete me?

Let's face it, YOU are the intolerant one. And I don't mean "you" the person who wrote me, I mean, I do, but I also mean all others who have attacked me. I have never wrote someone and asked them to please SHUTUP because I dont agree with them. I have never called someone a name because they shared a different view. I have never put down other people personally because they shared different views. And I sure as heck have never turned down someone's services because they have different views or because they simply shared them in a public forum. If I had a $1 for everytime I was trashed, attacked or been discriminated against by the truly NARROWminded people, I'd be loaded.

If you need to have your windows cleaned by someone whose wife you dont happen to know, then that's ok. That's a decision you have to make. We are truly grateful for all of our customers from every walk of life and we offer the same exceptional service and charge the same price to everyone, no matter what religion, political affiliation or walk of life they are. I hope people choose us because we have integrity and work hard and take pride in our work.

Bras, Lawns & Weddings

This weeken was awesome for a plethora of reasons.

Friday night I went shopping and bought a dress. This may be a regular ritual to many of you, but not to me. I went to Forever 21 and got a bangin' dress for a mighty $17.80. We kind of ran out of time that night so it had to put on hold until Saturday.

Saturday morning we went to Bruce & Lucy's house and we helped in the garden. We pulled up all the old squash plants. And then I came home with more strawberry plants, a chinese grapefruit tree and an orchid. This made me very happy =D Happy to help and come home with so many awesome goodies!

After the garden adventure we went to a meeting for the Christmas Program. Both girls are in it this year, along with Cousin Rachel. All 3 girls are ecstatic.

After the meeting we swung by the mall. I was lookin' all sorts of trashy from the gardening. Dirt caked on my legs. Dear Heavens! Sorry folks, I needed accessories. I was horrified by the terrible service I got at Reflection. HOWEVER, I was in a time crunch so I had to overlook that. So I got awesome wedges for my dress and boots for Carrie Underwood. THEN, I went up to Victoria's Secret and perused, not sure if I was getting anything, but I DID reallyyyyy need a decent strapless bra. Since Josh and I sold everything when we were trying to get out of debt and started to be uber-picky, I go the cheap route on just about anything I can. But I am learning that there a few things that you get what you pay for. One of those things is haircuts, another are bras. I am in awe of my new bra. It is a multi-way bra and when I wore it as a strapless, I did NOT have to tug it back up into position, EVER. AH-mazing. Well, I really needed this bra in 'nude', but they only had 'cheetah'...hmmm...what a dilemma, well the lady found me a 'nude' bra of a slightly different style almost as equally awesome. 'cheetah' va-va-voom or 'nude' necessity? Ugh. I let Josh pick. He said "both, honey." SCORE! Then I gathered me up some 5 for $25 britches and got in line a happy camper. Ladies, if you haven't treated yourself to some fancy undergarments recently, I suggest you do. I'm positive my self-esteem has jumped a couple notches!

After being completely spoiled, we went home to get ready for Jarrod & Kelly's wedding! We had such a blast. We caught up with so many people we haven't spent time with in a long time. Jarrod and Josh are long time friends, but I had never met Jarrod's parents or his little brother. The whole family was awesome and welcoming. Kelly made a stunning bride and Jarrod cleaned up SO nice! They were super cute! Ashton and I both agree the DJ was phenom and will definitely need to hire him for something...not sure what exactly! In the video montage, there was an old picture of Eric, Jarrod and Josh! Adorbs! So we made sure to take a pic of the 3 of them together that night! What a handsome trio! I'm sure Ashton and Kelly would agree! There were some slightly awkward moments LOL, but we're going to focus on the positive! hahaha :) I got a lovely picture with 'the Situation' err I mean Corey right after the not so private dance he gave...LOL and there's a pic of Tiana and I and 'the bump'! I seriously could go on and on about how much fun we had and we are def going to be getting together with these peeps more often!

Sunday we went to church and just had a relaxing day altogether. I got to spend a good portion of the day just chatting with Josh. It's seems so few and far between where we can just talk without being interrupted every 6 seconds so that was golden. Later we hung out with Lauren Kathryn and let the kids run around at the Crossings. We also started our Christmas shopping, that wasn't the plan when we left the house, but we saw some things we couldn't pass up, bc they are perfect for 'mystery recipient''s A &B. LOL then we came home and brainstormed about Christmas and the budget and gifts! I'm very excited!

Now, before we get carried away with Christmas talk, we need to discuss fall. Especially since it's making it's official debut tomorrow, in which I will be ringing in with a homemade pumpkin pie tonight! You, too, can have some of my delectable pie for the low price of $13 OR pumpkin loaves for $6 or 2 for $10. I will deliver for the low price of $2 (I have some limitations to this LOL)!

I will be doing this throughout the season for leisure, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don't let the holidays go by without having some of Priscilla's Pies! I gotta pay for them Christmas gifts some how! haha :)

My title is "Bras, lawns & weddings" and I forgot the lawn part. I mowed the lawn today. Go me! Well, truth be told, I did it for selfish reasons. I did it to get my compost pile started and then the dadgum bag didnt catch any of the clippings! Josh is gonna rake some up for me. What a peach!

I'm so happy and content. I'm always content bc I know God is in control, but I am just so happy. He's been so good to us and keeps our motor running constantly, in spite of the negative nancy's & debbie downer's that are around us. We are RIGHT where we should be right now!

My garden has come to fruition!

And so it begins...my garden, that is...

Nana and I went to Armstrong's nursery in Yorba Linda today to pick up a tree that will be a gift for my Dad & Yi in honor of her father who is a very passionate gardener. I say 'is' because he is still gardening, I'm sure of it, only in heaven. Bet that garden is AH-MAZING.

Since we have moved to Linda's we have had great intentions of starting a garden and today was the perfect opportunity to get started. I'm a smart girl, but when it comes to gardening, I'm quite ignorant. I really enjoyed the nursery. I totally thought I had to buy seeds and start from scratch, but nope, they have the plant in little cups all ready to go for you! SWEET! I bought some compost and some sort of round wired supportive thingy for my tomatoes. Just give me time, I will have the 411 on this gardening stuff. When I'm ready to invest a little more money, I want to get a compost pile going. I've been researching it a little. If you have any tips, I'm more than grateful to hear them.

So far in the garden we have tomatoes and artichokes,

basil, rosemary and thyme,

and a berry basket!

This mad me soooo happy. I think I am going to love this! To just be able to go out into the backyard and pick what I need, thrilling! Eek! I will keep you posted on it's progress!

Going back in time a little bit, we got to see Uncle Matt this week! Uncle Pat is also here for a month while his foot heals. Not sure how much we'll see hime since he's planning a wedding and all! The girls are going to be flower girls, it's gonna be a blast! Congrats Pat & Katie!

Anyhow, Uncle Matt flew out to pick up a car to drive home. It just so happened to be his 25th bday on Monday and I made Edna Mae's sour cream pancakes (from PW cookbook) for everyone, but of course I added chocolate chips. And we met them for lunch at Miguels. I'm so grateful that even with Matt living in Arizona, our bond as family just gets stronger. And the girls just adore their Uncle Pat even though He's in Texas. When I told Madison we were gonna get to see him, first thing out of her mouth was, "is his foot feeling better?" How sweet is she? She totally remembered and she hadn't even seen him since he had injured it. Nate and Erin were able to come out a little bit this last weekend, too. Unfortunately we never did get everyone in the same place at the same time, but it was still good to see everyone. Madison took the pic with nate and erin in it. Photography skills are shaping up!

Rewind a leeeeetle bit more and you can see my delectable chicken pot pie. I hope this picture is worth a 1000 words because it was GOOD. PW's recipe is to DIE for! I used my own recipe for crust though, because in my humble opinion, my crust is bomb :) I may try hers in the future.

That is all for now...pretty sure every little excerpt of my blog had food in it...yep. Must be this whole cutting back what I'm eating thing...it's getting to my head and all I think about is foooood. HA!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES! COME ON!

I think I'll have a glass of wine tonight to celebrate the fact that I can have wine for the next 9 months because I am NOT pregnant. After a freak positive and irregularness (that's as far as I'll go withthat bc I am not a TMI person), I was gearing up for #4. We had names on the horizon and were bracing to tell family who would undoubtedly greet us with their disappointment and questions about the birds and the bees. Thank the good Lord, he spared us from those moments of pure awkwardness about birth control and our personal finances!

In celebration, I went shopping on Gap.com for the Princesses that are already outside my womb! I got them some cute hooded shirts and I got them these little beauts.

The black one is for Madison and the pink one is Haylie's. They'll look so adorable with the layering shirts that I got with them! Oh and of course, no matter how gung-ho about being unpregnant I am, I never forget to get a good deal. I got 15% with a code and then another 20% off for using my VISA debit card (also a code) and I used another code for free shipping! I easily saved almost $40! Double "go me!" for getting a fantabulous deal and not being PREGNANT! WOO!!

Well, now that you are clued in on the VACANCY in my uterus, me and my 3 perfectly wonderful, sufficient, already walking & talking, sleeping-thru-the-night children are going on a playdate where I will be leaping for joy thru the park like I've lost my marbles!

Ciao!

letter

Hi God, it's me Priscilla. I couldn't wait to be here, Lord, right Here. Here, with an amazing husband and my amazing babies and our amazing life we are building together on you. You're the foundation. Thanks for that. I never lived in the moment as a kid, I just couldn't wait to grow and now a small part of me wants to go back. Go back to a time when I was oblivious to truly hard times and heartache and sadness. When the saddest thing I cried over was some dumb boy and thought it was the end of the world. Oh to only feel that degree of sadness over the sadnesses these last years have brought. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, Lord because you truly have answered my prayers tenfold. It's just these degrees of sadness that I would switch out if I could, God. The heart-broken-by-boy sadness versus the agony of death, disease, the breakdown of our family sadness. I really do trust you are in control and I know none of what happens is an accident or a surprise to you. Trying to be like you is a daily challenge and task. It boggles my mind how imperfect I am and yet you can see us as perfect because of the blood shed that covers our multitudes of sins. It's so cute when I see something in my kids that reminds me of me. I hope sometimes you see a glimmer of you in me, Jesus, in spite of my wretched sinful nature. I cry a lot, Lord. A lot. Not like uncontrollable burst into tears at inappropriate moment cries. More like my heart has a tug string attached to every human being I come in contact with and when they ache, I ache. I think your kinda like that, too, Lord. When we are suffering and hurting and going thru trials in our lives that string you've lassoed on our hearts tugs back at you and you go thru it with us and weep with us. It's such a comforting feeling. You are totally in control and you totally allow things and I just make sure I work daily at trusting you and the plan you have for us. And yet even though you are the almighty God that's holding the universe together, you have the time to weep with and comfort me, those I love and everyone else that calls on you. I don't know what others do without a Dad like you in their lives and all they have to do is ask. The peace you give is enough for me to believe. That peace that passes understanding amidst the pain and tears is enough to solidify You are the great I Am. The comfort you give in some of my loneliest moments is not a figment of my imagination or anything other than your presence and arms wrapped around me. You give me the courage to be bold and live out loud, sometimes too loud. I know my meekness is a work in progress. You already know all this, God. You knew every word I would type before time ever existed. But I wanted to write it anyway. I wanted to get it all our there as my own reminder and reference of where I am today and our journey together, Lord. You are the potter and I am the clay and I hope you will keep molding me. Take me for who I am right Here, today, and continue molding me. Thank you for keeping me and comforting me in all the sadnesses of today.

with Love, me.

service&deeds gone bad

I feel like I'm in the process of brushing myself off from yesterday & today. I've already gotten used to the fact when you go against our twisted culture there is going to be a huge backlash, but I am ok with that. Jesus wasn't popular either and something tells me he'd be pretty passionate about the well-being of children. It's funny because when people post things on their fb or their blog about things I don't agree with or aren't in line with my views, I sometimes think to myself "hmmm...I dont agree with that...what should I make for lucnh?" or sometimes I may throw in my 2 cents and have a healthy debate, but I try not to personally rip an individual to shreds or go write about them on the wall of other peoples pages or have my family update their status to reflect my disdain and personally attack their family. Hmmm...I wonder why people do that? Not gonna lie, I am human and it makes me sad, but people are who they are and are going to behave the way they behave. I will never make apologies for my conservative beliefs and I will continue to love and encourage those around me, even the ones with different viewpoints. I'm over this topic and I think I've said my point til I'm blue in the face so do what you want with it.

Moving on, I'm stoked for the weekend and to have lots of activities planned. I'm hoping I'll get to spend some time with my Dad and Yi and the rest of the family and take them some home-cooked meals and some baked goods. I stopped by for a little tonight and saw my Dad and Yi briefly. It still seems so surreal. I hate to see others hurting, but there is nothing you can do. I brought some soups tonight and tried to be helpful by straightening up the kitchen and stuff. [[my love language is service&deeds]] Well, I didn't get the memo that dishwasher wasn't in working order so after I took out the trash I walked back into the kitchen just in time to see a real life geyser going off in the kitchen. Great!! I came to help and flooded the kitchen. Totally on my game. Oh well, I got it all cleaned up and washed them by hand.

Totally Random: Watching Masterchef with my Love right now, yes, while I blog. I'm a multi-tasker like that. These judges are cah-razy. Dear Heavens!! I would for sure cry if I was on there. HAHA

night =]

Bruce

Maya Angelou said "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"

I didn't know Bruce very well. He is my Dad's father-in-law, Yi's Dad. Him and his wife Lucy are the sweetest people you will ever meet. They have made my sister and I feel so welcome into their home and into their family. The couple times I had been to their home, they were so hospitable and Bruce made my sister and I a cup of coffee. Coffee is the way to our hearts =] He showed us around his garden and let us take home whatever fruits we wanted to. I have never seen a man eat as much as this mad could put away. When all of us were more than done with our food Bruce would be heading back in to get his 4th and 5th helpings. It was rather amazing. He was also very funny. Sometimes we'd be sitting there at a bbq and he would be cracking jokes, but it was hard for us to understand him sometimes so we would just look at each other confused, but he'd be chuckling across the table and that made us chuckle. They are EXTREMELY generous and welcoming people and that will definitely not be forgotten about Bruce.

Yesterday after their car accident, they were air-lifted to the hospital. Bruce sustained too much trauma and if he survived his injuries, would still be brain damaged and in persistent vegetative state. The family decided they will not keep him on life support. Lucy's injuries include a concussion and whiplash and she will be ok, except she has to go home without her beloved Bruce. Bruce loves the Lord and will definitely be in heaven. Please keep Lucy and the rest of the family in your prayers.