Two by Two

I thought this was cute. Thought I'd share:

Two Names You Go By
1. Mrs. Root
2. Sheryl

Two Parts of Your Heritage
1. Czech
2. German

Two Things That Scare You
1. speaking in public, and sounding stupid
2. Sing solo in front of people I admire (hopefully, that will change soon)

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1. praying
2. singing

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. jeans
2. comfy t-shirt

Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists
1. Barlow Girl!!!!!!!!
2. Amy Grant
and so MANY others!!!!

Two Things You Want in a Relationship
1. love
2. humor

Two Truths
1. God is Real
2. I am not perfect

Two things You hate (i prefer dislike with a passion):
1. Drinking & Driving
2. Rude people

Two Physical Things that Appeal to You
1. eyes
2. if they make me laugh

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. listening to music
2. watching movies

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1. to go to Australia/New Zealand
2. my music ministry (to bring more Christian concerts & events to Fresno!!)

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. Australia/New Zealand
2. Nashville

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. Go to Australia & New Zealand!!!!
2. Be able to bring my favorite Christian artists back to Fresno!!

Two Ways that you are stereotypically a Chick/Guy
1. I love chic-flics
2. I have my moments of 'blondness' (eventhough I am a true blonde).

Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit
1. Anything too personal - that's nobody's business but mine.
2. That, you'll never know

Two people I would like to see take this quiz
1. anyone who wants to
2. same as above

Halloween - Good? Or Evil??

In comment to my friend Malia's blog, regarding Halloween.

I agree that for the kids, it's all about the fun of getting dressed up and eating the candy! I know that was my favorite part! I dont like the scary or gory costumes but some I've seen in the past are very imaginative. I don't think we've gone to many costume parties but I would go if we were.

My mom, albeit a 'proper Christian' still LOVES to dress up. She's actually won awards for her mummy costumes! She's a crack-up! I love watching the kids come door to door. Some are appreciative and say thank you, others just take the candy and run. It's also a time that neighbors can actually talk to and socialize with one another. In our busy lives, we don't have the type of friendly neighbor relationship that our parents used to have with their neighbors.

Nowadays, I don't personally do anything as far as decorating outside, but Troy and I enjoy going over to his parent's house and handing out candy there. We sit out in the front patio area with our basket of candy, a talking skeletin and hackling (and moving) witch to greet everyone as they come in. The fun part for us is watching all the kids jump & scream when the witch goes off (it's motion sensored) when they get near her. It's very funny!!

This year, we have a concert on Monday night, so we won't be doing anything for Halloween.
But hope everyone has a safe one! Be careful out there!!

Coffee never tasted so good!!

Oh, the delicious aromy... the first sip of nice, hot, MOCHA! Aaauuughhh!!
It's been nearly two weeks since I had a cup of coffee.
Today, I had to go get one from the campus cafe. Oh, it was so good.
I caught a cold and have been on strictly hot tea and O.J.... until today. I didn't sleep much last night, so I gave in to my desire, no correction - my NEED - for coffee.
Oh, how I've missed that great cup of java!

Hello? Can you hear Me??

When God is really trying to tell us something, it's amazing how deaf we can be to His voice. Sometimes, it takes drastic measures to get us to listen. We're so wrapped up in our own lives, and doing what WE think is His Will, when in fact, it may not be.

For instance, the unfortunate accident of my dear husband. It took a stupid mistake like that for him to realize that he needed to slow down. We came off a busy weekend, got home late Saturday night, and was overly tired Sunday morning while setting up for church that morning. It took severe pain for him to take a day or two off and rest. Although he worked from home via his laptop, it was considerably low key and he napped off and on.

Then, there's when I get so run down, I get myself sick. I don't get sick very often but whenI do, it's usually when I least need it. When I'm busy with work, church, concerts, and just life in general. It's God's knock in the head that's telling me I need to slow down. You would think that after a time or two of realizing this, that I would get it. Blame the blonde hair, or blame just simple human nature. Whatever it is, I need to stop doing so much and just listen. Put aside MY will and do HIS will for me. With all the 'noise' in the world today, any amount of silence is uncomfortable. It's in those silent moments that God speaks to us and we can have such a great connection with God. We all worship and relate to God differently, but it is known that when in silence, God can tell you that He Loves You.

A favorite verse of mine, and a favorite worship song, Psalm 46:10
"Be Still, and Know that I Am God"

I know I am guilty of not being still for very long.... maybe I'm spiritually A.D.D.
Lord, Help me Be Still!

Here's a joke

This is cute... had to share. '
Little Old Lady "Speeding"
An older lady gets pulled over for speeding...

Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?
Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.
Older Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer: Can I see your license please?
OlderWoman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.
Officer: Don't have one?
Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.
Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please?
Older Woman: I can't do that.
Officer: Why not?
Older Woman: I stole this car.
Officer: Stole it?
Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.
Officer: You what?
Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see.

The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please!
The woman steps out of her vehicle.
Older woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner. Older Woman: Murdered the owner?
Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.

The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.
Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?
Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.
The officer is quite stunned.
Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.
The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer.The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.
Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Older Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

MORAL:Don't Mess With Little Old Ladies!!!

My Space is your space

I've discovered a new way to meet new people, chat online and stay connected with my favorite people. It's called MySpace. Have you checked it out?
I've been able to find old friends, connect with current ones, and even get connected with my favorite musical artists... most of whom have a myspace site.
So, check out

Emergency? No Rush...

Sunday was a choir Sunday and I had every intention of singing that morning, after my several months of busy too busy to go to rehearsals. I had a hard time getting up, but I did and got to the church around 7:20 am for morning rehearsal. Well, I got to church and a friend of mine, Pennie, was hysterical. She was motioning for me to come over across the caferia (we currently meet at a HS cafeteria) and was mumbling something. I finally got out of her that Troy had severely cut his finger while putting up a banner and had to be rushed to emergency for stitches. Although it wasn't as drastic as she was making it out to be, he had cut it pretty deep, almost cutting the tendon, and had to have 4 stitches put in his left index finger. We only spent a few hours in emergency (only a few patients, but the staff was slower than snails and looked like only 1 doctor working), then I took Troy home to rest. I was able to make it back for our 2nd service, and of course, all the choir and crew was asking me how he was. He'll be off major load-in/load-out duty for a few weeks, which will give him some good time to rest.

Today: he's fine, but still in a lot of pain. He attempted to go to work this morning, but was in so much pain, he's working from home. He does have pain medication he's taking, as well as an antibiotic to prevent infections. He even got a note from the doctor to stay home for 2 days to recoop, but knowning Troy, he tries to go, in spite of the pain.. this time the pain won out! You never realize how much we take things like a finger for granted, til it's injured and it can't be used.

Please pray for quick healing! I'll keep you posted on the patient's condition.

Google me??

Ok, I tried to google myself. I found some interesting info. I actually googled my full name.

I received an MS degree in business through Stanford University's Sloan program.
I am achieving my PhD from the University of Warwick, Centre for the History of Medicine, in England. I am currently working on a research project on the careers and attitudes of women healers in Britain between 1890 and 1950, and will be looking at medical professionals, those involved with alternative medicine, and those with informal caring functions within the home. My rearch link

I have been a speaker at several women's organizations including the Women in Technology International (WITI) seminar and the California National Organization of Women.

I'm a leader in Stanford's Executive MBA Program, Director of Hewlett Packard's Executive Account Management for Business Strategy, Director of the Strategic Change office at HP, and owns a winery in Napa Valley. (I'm still researching which winery)

In my current role as owner of Root Analysis, consulting in business strategy creation and execution, I work with HP, PeopleSoft, Santa Clara University, Novell and Phillips. My projects have included developing strategy and process for defining business growth in Brazil, Russia, China and India for HP, and creating an organizational structure and new business strategy for Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. I am a visiting lecturer at Stanford University for marketing and engineering programs and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Stanford Institute on Research in Women and Gender.

My husband Tom and I are Florida distributors of Team Calibor merchandise, used in NASCAR.
Preferred Line Motorsports. We stock a large inventory of racing collectibles for Dale Jr,Dale Earnhardt,Rusty Wallace,Mark Martin,Jeff Gordon,Matt Kenseth,Jimmie Johnson,Ryan Newman,Greg Biffle,Tony Stewart,Dale Jarrett,Kevin Harvick,Elliott Sadler,Bobby Labonte,Kurt Busch,Kyle Busch,Kasey Kahne,Carl Edwards,Dave Blaney,Jeremy Mayfield,Brain Vickers,Joe Nemecheck and Scott Wimmer.

Wow! I'm pretty impressed with the other me! She's a busy woman!

If course, the famous Sheryl (spelled correctly with an 'S'), is the wonderfully, talented Sheryl Crow! She's musical, she's beautiful, she's engaged to Tour de France champ, Lance Armstrong. She rocks! Sheryl's website

No prize for 2nd place

Ok, so we didn't win the office decorating contest, but we are still in good spirits. According the the judges, we only lost by one point, and they even commented that we put in more time and effort into our decorating. We're a bit bummed but our potluck today will brighten our spirits.
There's always next year!

Looking forward to a great game tomorrow night!
Go Dogs!!

Ms. School Spirit

Ms. School Spirit
I was never a cheerleader in high school, but I always longed to be. I'm a super-fan when it comes to Bulldog sports. This week is homecoming and the campus has been all a buzz with activity. Monday, there was a mini-bike race, where many of the administration (the president and VP's) all raced to the finish on little bikes. It was quite a scene. And I'm proud to say that our boss, the VP for Advancement won the race to continue his title as champ!
Today, there's an office decorating contest and we've entered. We've really gone way out with the red and blue! If we don't win the contest, someone has WAY too much time on their hand! This is my way of showing my school spirit. Some of us even baked to try to bribe the judges! I made brownies with red frosting and little decorative letters that spell out GO DOGS! Another co-worker made cupcakes with red and blue sprinklers on them. Should be a fun time! (Will post pictures later)

There was a pep rally this afternoon at lunch. A group of us from the office went and cheered. I answered a trivia question and won a Cd case. Woo hoo!! The question was, "What 4 Fresno State quarterbacks are playing in the NFL." Actually, there are only three - Trent Dilfer (Browns), David Carr (Texans) and Billy Volek (Tennessee)... In my opinion, the 4th is on his way.. our senior QB, Paul Pinagar, is a rising star! Not as good, or as cute as David Carr, but he'll be a great player!

Friday, our office is having a little potluck, and Satuday is homecoming. We go up against the Utah St. Aggies. What the heck is an Aggie?? They couldn't figure out a good mascot name, so they thought of 'Aggies'?? Didn't know there was much Ag land in Utah!!

Anyways, should be a good game for another Bulldog Victory!! Go Dogs!!

A Picture Especially for Malia

As promised... here's the most recent photo of us. This is from our anniversary pre-party.

A Worldwind Weekend

Troy went to Promise Keepers in San Jose this weekend. While he was there, Our friend, Larrin, and I went to the Rock of Ages festival in Calistoga, which is near Napa, CA (aka wine country).

Troy left Thursday night, worked from Santa Cruz Friday, and attended the first session of PK Friday night. Larrin and I left Fresno right after work on Friday and drove to Santa Cruz.
Saturday morning, we all left and went our different ways. Larrin and I drove 4 hours to Calistoga to only spend a few hours there. I usually let Troy drive the busy highways because I hate driving around a lot of traffic. Since he wasn't with us, I drove the whole way. Thankfully, traffic wasn't bad. The main reason why were were going to the festival was to see our friends, the Barlow Girls. We caught a lot of traffic going into Napa, due to all the wineries having their wine tastings. Stop & go traffic on a two-lane road for about a 1/2 hour. We got lost in Napa and finally arrived at the festival at 1:30 pm.

We had hoped we hadn't missed Barlow's perform, and we hadn't... thank goodnes! We hung out with them back stage for a bit, then enjoyed some of the other bands there, including one of my other favorites, the Newsboys. (they're from Australia, so of course, I love them!) Picture is of me and Newsboys bass player, Phil Joel.

We left the festival around 5:30ish to head back down to Fresno. Yes, we drove all the way back to Fresno that night. Troy also was heading back that night, due to needing to be at church the next morning. Troy arrived home around 9:30 pm, and Larrin and I got into town around 11 pm. Boy, we were tired after that drive!! Troy was up at 5 to go set up for service. I slept a few more hours & joined him for 2nd service. We both left around 1:30 and went immediately to an open house for our new church office. This was the first step to our church moving to our new facility. We're so excited!! Following the open house, we had our Crown Mininstries bible study that we were leading. We finally got home around 6ish and Troy immediately started napping.

The weekend has come to an end and time for another busy week.
Many blessings to all my readers.

A chill has hit Fresno

Had to share this photo with everyone. I thought it was a crack-up! I would hate to get stuck behind these coffee drinkers! :-)

The Lowell Whiteman School riding club, led by instructor Trenia Stanford, rides through the Starbucks drive-through on Wednesday to show there is still a way to get a cup of coffee on horseback in the growing city of Steamboat.