Sometimes God gives you a sign. And sometimes, that sign is neon green. Also, green means GO.

We're moving. Sometime between now and a year from now, my husband and I will pack up all our belongings and move to a place I always said I wouldn't want to live. My hair will be frizzy and I'm sure my allergies won't be any better but this is what God is telling us to do.

Rob said a few months ago something along the lines of "we're moving to Atlanta to start a new church, think about/pray about if you would like to join us". And I said "okay" because there's no harm in considering a possibility, right? And I prayed about it and thought about it and slowly my days and thoughts evolved into a position in which this move resonated with my core. I told God years ago that I would go wherever He wanted me to go and I would do whatever He wanted me to do. I really meant it. Until now, He hadn't drawn my heart towards anything.

Gradually, I began trying to warm Tim up to the idea. He thought he wanted to move to L.A. So I just told him to at least keep his mind and his heart open and pray about it. He said he would. Slowly, little signs came to us that tugged on our hearts together, telling us both that this was what we should do. Tim got a new phone and installed the GPS. It said his default location was Atlanta. Little things like that kept coming up, still he balked. I said, "have you prayed about it?" He said, "Yes." I said, "what does God say to your heart?" He said, "Move." I resisted the temptation to give him a V-8 slap on the head. I figure I'll just let God give him a metaphorical slap.

This is the part of my blog where you start to think I'm crazy. You have been warned. Oh, who am I kidding? If you've known me for any length of time, you already think I'm crazy. But in a nice way. I hope. Anyways...

I have a gift. My grandmother had this gift, she had visions of the future. She was spot on. I have this same gift. I see things in my dreams. I'm not saying I'm psychic but I think that God speaks to me through what I remember from my dreams. I've seen trivial things like who wins a reality TV show. I've seen important things, like an old friend's wife almost dying. I have not yet managed to see things like lottery numbers. (I wish!) One night, I saw the kitchen of Rob & Christina's new house in Georgia. I was sitting in the kitchen with Christina, discussing the repulsiveness of gelatin. But we were there. We weren't visiting. I woke up and I knew - I just KNEW. I told Tim we were moving, and I told him why. He's been through enough, "I had a weird dream about _____ last night" and then it coming true, he knows better than to doubt me.

As we plan our move, we have a few ducks to get in a row. One of them is what to do with my car. Right now it just sits, nobody drives it. It gets excellent mpg but it's too small to be a family car. So it just sits. I need to sell it. I am having a hard time with selling it. That car, "The Olive", is the very first car I have ever bought on my own. It is symbolic of my independence. It's the last piece of what was just mine before we became "we". Also, I don't know where the title is. It's in a box somewhere in storage, as yet unpacked from when we moved here a year ago. I really need to sell it. I really don't want to. I'm not trying to sell it. It has to go. See my inner turmoil here? So I prayed, "God, please show me what to do with my car because my will isn't to let it go."

And then yesterday, we arrived home from dinner to this on our front door:

You can't tell from the craptastic cell phone photo, but it's on a neon green post it note.

As you can probably imagine, I was stunned.

God speaks to people every day. He might be that gentle prodding in your heart to call an old friend or He might give you a peek into your future in a dream. He might not use a burning bush, but He will find a way to get your attention. Sometimes, he leaves you a little Post-It note.

I was out shopping this afternoon, when I came across this. Logically, it makes no sense to buy more knick-knacks when you're preparing to move but the sentiment meant too much to me. I couldn't leave it in the store. So for now it's on my living room wall, dispensing valuable advice.


Like I said, green means GO.

Crabby Tuesday!

I suppose it's emotionally healthy to get all the stuff that bugs you out of your system...so here's my list for the week:

1) The price of gasoline as compared to the record setting profits the oil companies post. Seriously, is there nothing we can do about the racketeering involved here?

2) Bear hair. Let me explain. Bella's (our yellow lab) full name is Isabella. Isabella Heather, if you want to be specific. Tim's mom loves the name Heather, I'm not the biggest fan of it. As a preemptive strike, I used the name for our dog so we just couldn't use it for a baby. Heh heh heh. I's sneaky. Anyway, as Bella has grown up, the texture of her fur has changed everywhere, except her ears. On her ears, her fur is still soft and silky like her puppy fur and she feels like a teddy bear. So over the years, Bella became "Bella Bear" and now usually just "Bear". It is Bear shedding season. I have dog hair on my dog hair here - it's insane. I can't vacuum or dust enough to keep up with it. It's just everywhere! Argh! Darn Bear Hair!

3) Stupid Comcast. We have lived here for a year now, and over the course of that year I think Comcast has had to be out here in excess of a dozen times. Our cable goes out, or the sound goes out or our internet goes out (which means the phone goes out too...) this service is just totally worthless. I am praying that when we move Comcast won't be the provider of fine televised entertainment. I know we could switch to AT&T or Wow, but I had DSL at my old house & hated it and Wow's broadband speeds aren't as fast as Comcast's, which is important to have when Tim works from home. I had a Comcast guy out here again this morning, he was late, he tracked mud in the house, and he didn't fix it. He said he needed a "Level 3 technician" to come at another time. I'm about ready to have a Level 3 Conniption Fit over this. We're not building a better atom, people! It's just TV! *insert swear word of your own choosing here*

4) Slow builders. I was promised a new Whole Foods 2 miles away from this house when we looked at it before we moved in a year ago. WHERE IS IT???? Granted, it is finally a structure with signage but as long as I have to drive to Wheaton to go grocery shopping, I am not a happy camper.

Thank goodness Trader Joe's has a minuscule selection of organics. I picked up a 6 oz. pack of organic blackberries there today and they are fantastic. How many of these is a serving? *nosh* Who cares, they're delicious. Tim would love these. *nosh* Does anyone know how many carbs are in 6 oz. of blackberries? *nosh* I wish these came seedless like that watermelon I bought. *nosh* Oh, I am seriously not going to eat this entire package of berries, am I? *nosh* Yes, yes I am. At least it's only fruit.

Lust Friday!

I like stuff. I like new stuff, I like good stuff, I like stuff that doesn't do things that my current stuff does. Here's my list of stuff that I am pondering procurement of this week:

1) The Topsy Turvy Hanging Tomato Basket. How amazing does this look? No more rotten tomatoes on the ground? Score! No more tomato baskets, stakes or tying? Sounds awesome! I am thisclose to ordering an "as seen on TV" thing. The last time I did this, (the Debbie Meyer Green Bags), I was so pleasantly surprised. Must. Control. Mouse. Finger. It doesn't help that I have my Visa number memorized, including the CVV number on the back. Does. Not. Help!

2) That $10 PedEgg thing. It's basically the best part of the pedicure, for $10. I saw it at Blood Bath and Beyond this week, and it's on the marquee outside my Walgreens. Plus, I have to go to The Wall to pick up my free 8 x 10 Mother's Day photo print. I'm pretty sure I'll be coming home with a picture and a PedEgg.

3) 98 cents/gallon gas to come back. Hey, a girl can dream right? I have seen $4/gallon gas in my community and it's sobering. In the meantime, at least I have GasBuddy to guide me to the best gas prices in the area.

What's that you say? It's LOVE THURSDAY? Yippee!

It's been too long since I've done a Love Thursday post. Too, too long!

So, here's what I'm loving this week:

1) My pink hair. It's super fun. I'm so thrilled to be out of corporate America so I can finally do fun, funky things to my hair. Sometimes I forget I have pink hair and I find someone looking at me kind of funny and I think I must have something on my face. Nope! I have pink hair!

2) My cute husband. We dined out last night because we had too many errands to run after our Chiropractor appointments that I honestly didn't have time to also prepare a meal and clean up afterwards before bed time. So we were deciding where to go & I suggested Sweet Tomatoes, which just opened by us. And he said he didn't care for tomatoes that much. He thought all they had was food made out of tomatoes. Tomato pie, tomato kabobs, fried tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato sandwiches...you get the picture. I laughed, promised him that there was more than tomatoes there and dragged him in. How can someone so brilliant be so silly? He cracks me up!

3) Gardening. I'm doing some container gardening on my back deck with some veggies in pots - and I have a strawberry pot too. Yum! On the front porch, I've got some moss baskets that I put together with impatiens, salvia, daisies and petunias. It looks so festive! My spring tulips are fading so it's almost time to put some annuals in the flowerbeds out front. Playing in the dirt is totally relaxing.

4) Drying clothes with the Power of Nature. I've been hanging stuff out to dry as often as possible - I asked for an actual clothesline for Mother's Day (and a new mandoline, a microplane box grater and a new salt pig) so I don't have to use drying racks. Jackson's last load of diapers was dried outside, and now all his diaper laundry is perfumed with fresh air, sunshine and the sweet lilacs blooming on the side of the house. Ah, perfection!

I think I'm going to bring Love Thursday back as a regular weekly installation. And I'm adding Lust Friday, when I list the stuff I'd love to have (on the list this week, that Ped Egg thing for sandal smooth heels). Maybe we'll add Crabby Tuesdays too, so I can vent about the stuff that drives me nuts! Like people who can't drive and talk at the same time, or people who use the express lane with clearly more than 10 items in their cart. :)

a boy and his dog

He's so precious I could eat him up. Here's Moose with his stuffed yellow lab (he calls it his "Ella" because he can't pronounce the "B" in Bella's name) that I bought him when I was 9 weeks pregnant...