Well I was spending some time with someone recently that I wasn’t particularly excited about. You know…. It is one of those situations where you are going to have to hear their story again, and it is kind of heavy. He had fallen on hard times, and had started questioning God. Continue reading “Keeping it Real – Job”
So what happens when you have to play “lighting assistant” to your hubby? Well you score another interview for A Study in Pink. I kind of ambushed Stevie Allen when she was getting some location shots done for promotional use. Mike has known her, along with the other assortment of Allen ladies for a while now, and I just met Stevie for the second time this last week. Continue reading “A Study in Pink – Stevie”
**While she is technically still on the path to her profession, I felt her story was worth telling. For some of it is more of a journey to find our place than for others.
“It was my goal in life to be beautiful,” she told me. Well my friend, I couldn’t help but think, you have reached your goal. Ericka Vega is a buddy that I’ve known for a couple of years now, and I wondered what she was up to these days. I messaged her on FaceBook and invited myself over for an interrogation… I mean an interview.
We sat in her backyard and relaxed as we talked. I asked her what work she was doing now and did I get an answer! She started off by telling me about her Mr. Dave. Years ago she started to clean his home a couple of times a month, for some extra income. That all changed when his physical needs changed. When he needed more of a caregiver, Ericka stepped up to the plate. “God is pretty amazing,” she told me. What started off as a cleaning job, had turned into much more for her. Since she grew up without a dad, she feels blessed to have in Mr. Dave in her life as a bit of a father figure. Now, she takes him to appointments at Stanford, and gets him out of the house. She also is getting him involved in another area of her life, weight training. Continue reading “A Study in Pink – Ericka”
So as I was reading John F. Westfall’s new release, I Didn’t Sign Up for This (Finding Hope When Everything is Going Wrong), I kept looking back at the cover to confirm I was reading a book about hope. If you are in the midst of a tough situation, I am not sure this is the book for you. It is not a quick shot of that “instant relief” type of hope for those in the midst of the storm, but more like lessons to be reflected on and tucked away for future use. The author takes both scripture, along with a lifetime of experiences and connects them to their effect on hope. It is not a simple equation where A + B = HOPE, but more like a recipe where all the ingredients combine to make the environment for hope possible.
I once had a dream where I was swinging a baseball bat. The problem? I wasn’t playing baseball. I was swinging away at things (I’m not even sure what?) just smashing objects at will. When I woke up and remembered my dream, I could still recall the anger and frustration I had felt. It was really weird to see myself that frustrated, even if it was in a dream. It was a bit scary to realize that this anger and frustration was buried in my sub conscious. Like I said, the first time I had the dream, I was dealing with teenage boys. I love my children and the men they are becoming, but there was a time that they were struggling badly. Really….it was hard! Continue reading “Of dreams and dementia”
**A Study in Pink is a series of posts introducing the professions of various women in California’s Central Valley. It is being written to showcase the possibilities for the up and coming young women in our small towns.
It was during Christmas time when I first walked through the door. I remember because it was my first time meeting Grace, and she was playing Christmas music. The station was not just normal carols either, as I can distinctly remember listening to Frank Sinatra belting out a tune.
Blue Door Massage and Spa is the brainchild of Grace Parreira and Ayla Tidwell. These two friends and certified massage therapists had a dream, but interestingly enough, it did not start with massage. Their stories are somewhat similar, as they both were using massage as a way to pay for college. At this point I was a little surprised, but I then started to appreciate their thinking. The thought was to be trained at a technical school, so then they would be able to work and earn degrees without going into debt. Continue reading “A Study in Pink…..Grace and Ayla”
When I was thinking about who I wanted to ask to be a part of this “study”, I was trying to think of people who have conventional professions, and then some that are doing things that seem outside of the box.
I met Connie Wenzel a little over a year ago in a bible study group, and I liked her immediately. She is funny, a little sarcastic and has such a compassionate heart. While she is retired, she has now moved into a new season of life as an author and artist. I was also slightly jealous, as when I first met her, she was just finishing up writing and illustrating her first book, “Is This My Home Now? Featuring Addy”.
So how do you keep a group of 5 and 6 year olds under control? You ask them a question, and let them all take turns answering. So what was the question?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
As I called on the kids and got various answers, I heard something curious from our girls. They tended to follow what their friends wanted to do. Our first girl wanted to be a mermaid, and all of a sudden we had five who wanted to be mermaids. The interesting thing was when other professions were brought up, some changed their mind and many of them chose to be something different. Oh except for the one who wanted to be a doctor AND a mermaid.
It got me thinking…. Not so much about these young ones, but about the young women in our area. Do they know the thousands of opportunities that are in their own future? Many moons ago, I know I didn’t!
That is where a “Study in Pink” comes in. It was something that I thought would be fun to explore. Women of all ages, backgrounds and the different types of work they do. To showcase the possibilities that are out there!
So I hope you join me and Mike, (who will be playing Jimmy Olsen to my Lois Lane) as we set out to uncover the many shades in this “Study in Pink”. Continue reading “A Study in Pink”
Is that really how we look at people, all good, or all bad? It seems that a lot of times we do. I think we can look into our own lives, and know that’s not that way it really is. Am I good, Am I bad, or maybe a bit of both? Continue reading “Good, Bad or both?”
Cheryl Mendoza 