Mother's Day Mod Podge

Thank you Pintrest for making this year's Mother's Day gift one of the best and easiest to date. Like with most things in the LaSelva household, Mother's Day is a competition. Every year the siblings compete for the best Mother's Day gift. This year I was so confident in my selection that I even sent my brothers the Mother's Day reminder text the week before Mother's Day.

My mom loves her Pintrest account and I love it too because after only a few minutes of browsing her recent pins, I found a project that would be easy to complete and ship and because she pinned it herself I knew she would love it.

The first order of business was gathering the supplies: a cardboard "L" from JoAnn Fabrics, (obviously for "LaSelva") a glue stick, some black paint, and Mod Podge.

The task of resizing, editing and printing family photos was definitely the most difficult and time consuming, but after a few attempts I had a good selection and was ready to get started. I would suggest that for this project you print the photos on regular paper and not the photo paper.

I started by painting the top and bottom of the letter, but then decided to cover those two sections in scrapbook paper instead. Either works fine. I just preferred the look of the paper.

Then I cut and pasted the photos on the "L." I put photos on all sides except for the very top and very bottom of the letter.

After all the photos were pasted on the letter, I painted Mod Podge over the whole thing to give it a glossy finish. 

Thankfully the letter survived the trip to Florida, courtesy of the USPS. 

Mom loved it! 

When Mom opened the package my brother said - and I quote, "She does this every year! She always has to show us up!" That can only mean one thing - WINNER! :) 

The Script

Back in March while Elway was busy "helping Tim in the offseason" which one would think means offering advice and helping with plays and throwing motions, but in reality means pursuing Peytonosaurus, Timmy Touchdown was sending invites to his celebrity golf tournament in order to raise money for his foundation.

I know this because he extended one of these special guest invites to Bailey Knaub. Remember my grand surprise back in January thanks to the Knaub family?

Needless to say, Bailey was a little nervous for the one-on-one time with Tim. Plus, there is the fact that this golf tournament has more true celebrity participants than Dancing with the Star and Celebrity Apprentice combined.

I saw this as not only my opportunity to help Bailey, but to get answers to a few of my top 10 questions. My contribution to the event, was a script for Bailey, which my friend Natalie happily passed along to the rest of the Knaub family.

The Script

A Day in the Life of Bailey and Tim

A ‘how to’ Guide to Get the Answers to the Questions We All Have

Scene 1 – Bailey sees Tim for the first time in several months

Tim: (with smile that could melt hearts and the enthusiasms of a kid who has had way too much candy) Hey Bailey! How are you?

Bailey: Great! Thanks so much for having me! (with cunning smile and a hint of sarcasm) So, are you excited to be a Jet?

Scene 2 – the pet conversation

Bailey: So Tim, do you have any pets?

Tim: Yeah, I have a dog.

Bailey: I love dogs. (this can also be substituted for ‘I am more of a cat person’ if applicable) What is your dog’s name?

Tim: His name is Bronco.

Bailey: That is kind of awkward. Are you going to rename him Jet?

Scene 3 – I heart New York

Bailey: I’m really sad you won’t be playing in Denver this year!

Tim: (no idea what he will say here but it will no doubt be something positive and include the phrase ‘excited to be a Jet’ at least twice)

Bailey: So have you already moved to New York? What are you going to do about your house in Denver?

Scene 4 – The Heisman note: VERY IMPORTANT!

Bailey: So, can I ask you a question about football?

Tim: Sure Bailey, you can ask whatever you want. (inevitably said with a smile and a laugh)

Bailey: I know that you won the Heisman while you were at Florida and I was just curious where you keep a trophy like that. I heard it’s really big and heavy.

Tim: (I have no earthly idea what he will say but you need to remember every single word)

Bailey: So when you were in college did you keep it in your dorm room, or what?

Tim: (again, no idea what he will say but you need to remember every word and report back)

Bailey: Is it true that if you win a Heisman than you get to vote on the Heisman winner every year?

Tim: Yes, that is true. (The answer to this question is ‘yes’ but sometimes you have to ask questions you already know the answer to in order to provide a segue into other questions)

Bailey: So how does that work? Do they send you a scantron every year or something? Do you call in your vote?

Tim: (no idea what the answer will be)

Scene 5 – A day in the life

Bailey: So what does an average day look like for you when you are in the off-season?

Tim: (answers questions)

Bailey: So how is it different while you are in season?

Scene 6 – we are family

Bailey: How many kids are in your family?

Tim: There are 5 of us – I have two sisters and two brothers

Bailey: Did you like growing up in a big family?

Tim: Yes, I loved it. There was always something to do.

Bailey: Do you think you will want a big family some day?

Tim: (no clue what the answer will be, but I would guess that he does not want 5 kids)

*Side note: you and Tim are both the youngest in your families and both have siblings that are much older. If you run out of things to say, you can always default to talking about what it’s like to be the youngest. That should take up some time.

Scene 7 – the Wonderlic

Bailey: What did you shoot on that last hole?

Tim: (doesn’t really matter what he says)

Bailey: So is that number higher or lower than your Wonderlic Test score?

Tim: (I pray that he says ‘lower’ or either a)his golf game needs serious help or b)he is much dumber than we thought)

Bailey: Did you think it was a hard test?

Tim: (gosh I hope he says ‘no’)

Bailey: Did you hear about the guy who made a 4? (with a smile) Typical LSU.

Tim: (He will give a courtesy laugh because he doesn’t want to talk bad about another university, but in his head he will be rolling with laugher and LOVE you for it!)

Additional Questions in Case of Awkward Silences

• Besides football, what is your favorite sport? (I believe the answer will be baseball)
• What is your favorite movie of all time?
• Now that you’ve made a name for yourself in the NFL, what is your next big goal?
• What is your absolute favorite thing to eat?
• Is it hard to live so far away from your family?
• What did you do for Easter?
• Are you still close to your coaches and teammates from the University of Florida?
• Tell me about the process of writing your book.

Claudia, Meet Colorado!

A few weeks ago, my friend Claudia, traveled to Denver for a teacher's conference. Claudia lives in Arizona and we rarely get to see each other so I insisted she stay a few extra days and spend the weekend with me in Colorado Springs.

I drove to Denver on a Saturday evening to meet up with Claudia after the conclusion of her conference. As luck would have it, two of my closest friends from Texas Tech were hosting their Birthday party just a few blocks away from Claudia's hotel. If Claudia were to meet any of my friends from college, I would want her to meet Kristine, Blake and Matt, so I was pretty excited for her to have the opportunity to do just that.

I met Claudia in 2008. We spent one, crazy summer together doing camps for Student Life.

Some of me and Claudia's best stories come from the thousands of miles we traveled that summer. Imagine a cross country road trip with 2 vans, 2 pickup trucks, 3 Penske trucks, and 24 people between the ages of 19 and 27. The stories that came out of those miles are the kinds of stories that we can laugh about now only because we are 4 years removed from the whole situation. Claudia and I were in van world which means we traveled with the vans, pickup trucks, and the majority of the team. There were plenty of times that Claudia would be driving one van and I would be driving the other, and I kid you not, every time that scenario occurred, it would start to rain. And when I say rain I don't mean a few drops; I mean a downpour - the kind where you can't drive faster than 30mph. It became quiet humorous actually because the downpours only happened when I was driving.

I guess I should not have been so surprised when Claudia and I got caught in a snow storm on the drive from Denver to Colorado Springs. For Claudia the Arizona girl, it was a horrifying experience, but we couldn't help but to laugh that after all of these years, our curse lived on.

Sunday I was excited to introduce Claudia to my church family. Of course one of the kids in the nursery pulled the fire alarm right in the middle of worship resulting in a very awkward ending to the church service and the sad fact that Claudia didn't really get to meet any of my church family.

Determined to find an adventure, Sunday afternoon Claudia and I set off for the Cave of the Winds, a tourist attraction in Colorado Springs. Claudia and I affectionally called it the Cave of Wonders. Pretending we were part of a scene from Aladdin distracted us from the painful awkwardness of the high school aged, tour guides in training who were leading our group.

 Does this not remind you of LOST?

 According to our trusty tour guides, there was something about rubbing this rock for good luck in order to make it up the staircase without falling to your death.

 I lost track of the number of times we got in trouble for falling behind because we were so busy making jokes and taking funny pictures.

After the Cave of Wonders expedition, I took Claudia to Glen Eyrie, a stretch of beautiful property that my office building sits on. The south section of the property is also used for conferences and events. I took Claudia on a self-guided tour of the castle and property. The big horn sheep were outside when we pulled into the parking lot. Imagine Claudia's surprise when we turned around to find these guys were just a few feet from us.

Before taking Claudia to the airport, there was one more thing I was determined for her to see - my Colorado family. A trip to Colorado Springs just wouldn't be complete without paying the Bhatt's a visit. Izzy and Liam anxiously waited for us by the door!

It was a quick weekend and I would have loved more time, but I have really learned to cherish those special days with special friends. Thank you Caludia for being my friend in real life!

Shots

As you might guess, when you travel to Africa, there is a long list of health precautions you have to take in order to minimize your risk of contracting some crazy disease. After a week or so of hunting down shot records, online travel health research, fighting with our HR Department about preventative health coverage, and a number of phone calls to find the one and only in-network doctor (an allergist) who is authorized to give the Yellow Fever vaccine, my appointment was set. I thought this would be a pretty simple, in-and-out, kind of appointment, but nothing ever seems to be that simple for me.

While filling out paperwork, I couldn't help but notice everyone else in the waiting room was 100 years old which I found odd.

After a few minutes in the waiting room, the nurse took me back to an exam room but before I could even sit down, the doctor popped his head in and said, "The receptionist said we owe you a bag of chips" and then left the room. About 2 minutes later (before the nurse even had a chance to take my vitals) the doctor came back into the room, handed me a bag of chips and told me he hadn't stopped laughing about some funny thing I said when I called to make the appointment and that the receptionist thought I was so entertaining she wanted to give me a snack when I came in for my appointment. Then he asked me to remind him what country I was traveling to and left the room. I have no idea what I said to the receptionist; although I do remember being a little overly excited that I found someone who could give me the vaccines I needed.

The doctor came back a little later with paperwork in hand ready to talk about the vaccine options along with his recommendations. I told him that after my research I had decided against the Rabies vaccine. He was surprised by my attention to research. I was surprised he thought I would walk into a doctor's office without any understanding of the possible treatments.

We debated on the flu shot, but in the end I just flat out refused to get it. I didn't feel like I needed to explain that I had never received a flu shot in my life because my Dad has a theory that the flu shot is some government/medical conspiracy to kill off the elderly and weak - like the host of 100 year old patients he had sitting in the waiting room.

Final decision: I needed 5 shots and 3 prescription drugs

The doctor said there was no pressure to get all of the shots on the same day and that I could come back and get the vaccines over several appointments. I didn't really understand though. He didn't have a compelling medical reason against knocking it out all at once other than, "it may be painful." I opted to get them all that day - 3 in one arm and 2 in the other.

After the final decision was made, I was left alone in the exam room for 45 minutes. When you tell someone they are about to become a human pin cushion, it is just plain mean to leave them to think about it for 45 minutes. Praise God for iPhones and Parks and Recreation on streaming Netflix.

The nurse finally came in with my cocktail of vaccines and the fun began. Typically, as long as I do not see the needles I am ok so I told the nurse I needed to look the other way and focus on something else. After the very first shot she said, "Oh gosh you are bleeding!" Now why on earth did she feel the need to say that? Just take care of it and move on. Shot number two was ok. Then half way through shot number three I felt myself lose control of my arm. Before I could even say anything the nurse said, "It feels so weird when your muscle goes into spasms with the needle still inside of it." To which I responded, "Yeah, it doesn't feel too great on this end either." When we switched to my right arm, that one went into spasms too. I told you, nothing can ever be easy for me.

Finally, after all five shots were complete the nurse decided to tell me I had to stay so they could keep me under observation - something about cardiac arrest.

I hung out in the waiting room with the geriatrics until they cleared me. I had left work at 12:30 and did not get back to the office until 3:00. It was so ridiculous.

The next day I realized why the doctor tried to talk me out of doing all of the shots in the same day. I was in constant pain. Just sitting at my desk and typing was painful, but after a day of pain, I started to feel like my old self again.

Today is post-shots day 2 and both of my arms look like disasters. I'm wondering if they lined my Band-Aids with acid. I thought it might go unnoticed, but after being at work for 5 minutes this morning I was asked if I had ring worm.

Whatcha Ghana Do?

I have been so hesitant to blog about this, or even tell anyone, but because I am one month away I feel like I can confidently say it.

Drum roll please...

I'm going to Ghana, Africa in June! Freshman year of college I was planning to go to Toronto for a mission trip and then backed out to go to New Mexico instead. My senior year of college, I was planning to go to Nigeria and then it all fell through. After that I temporarily gave up on world travels. I knew I would go overseas someday, but I was tired of being broken hearted after plans changed. Bottom line: the Bible tells us over and over to have a heart for the nations, but it's really hard to have that kind of heart when in my mind, the word nations doesn't stretch further than the continental U.S.

I have sponsored Eugene through Compassion International since the summer of 2008 and this past November I received an email to inform me that Compassion was planning a sponsor trip to Ghana, where Eugene lives.

After a few months of going back and forth looking for a burning bush telling me to go or stay, in January I signed up for the trip.

Since January I have been so hesitant to mention my trip to anyone because deep down I believed it would probably all fall through just like it had with my previous two attempts. As of today, I have my passport, vaccinations and flights and I'm starting to believe this is actually going to happen. Plus, I am blogging about it. How much more official does it get?

I have enjoyed buying gifts for Eugene over the past few months knowing I will get to personally deliver them to him. I always have my eye out for things a 9 year old boy might enjoy. It has been a challenge because even though I love this little boy and he is one of the biggest joys of my life, I do not really know him. I have a few ideas, but the two most important gifts are already purchased.

There are probably a million things I should be worried about, especially since I am going to Africa with 20 people I have never met, but I have been surprisingly calm. I have just adopted the philosophy that stressing out isn't going to help or change one single thing.

Do not be too impressed though. I am not completely worry free. In fact, here are my top 3 fears in order of least to greatest: 

3) Getting Malaria - It turns out there is not a vaccine for Malaria. The best you can do is take preventative pills and try to dodge mosquitoes. It's kind of like birth control pills but if you miss a few you run the risk of getting a life-threatening disease instead of a baby - and like with birth control, even if you do everything right, you could still be that one in a million who gets a surprise. 

2) Not Connecting With Kids - I have said it a hundred times on this blog. I am not a kid person. I think kids are strange, little people who could bind together and overthrow us adults if they ever decided to get organized. This trip is going to be all about loving on kids and their families and I'm really nervous that I will be the one awkwardly standing in the corner for the entire trip.

3) Crying My Face Off - The only thing worse than crying is crying in front of other people, especially people you don't know. I hate crying. I just hate it! It does nothing for me except make me feel embarrassed and stupid. Unfortunately, one of the few things that makes me cry aside from a really emotionally charged football game, is human injustice. I sobbed through the entire second half of The Help and I still have no idea what happens in The Pianist. I can't make it past the first 30 minutes of the film. All of that to say, the chances of a complete emotional breakdown are frighteningly high and I am scared to death. I have decided though, that if someone dares to mock me for one of these breakdowns I will shout back, (between sobs) "Don't you think Jesus would be upset by this?" What now!

So there you have it, the countdown to Ghana has officially begun. Welcome to the journey.