This Ain't Your Daddy's Hard Hat

I remember wearing my Daddy’s hard hat when I was very young. It was heavy, dusty, dirty, and smelly. As I was looking for a hard hat to use for a prop in a speech to symbolize the fixin’ up I needed to do, I was amazed. (Order I'm a Fixer-Upper here.)

I figured they were expensive. I mean if something is to protect your head (Like your brain is important, right?) you would think it would cost quite a bit. After asking around to borrow hard hats, a friend phoned and said he was in Lowe’s and I could buy one for just . . . $7. What? I just knew I had heard him wrong. Then he said, “Alene, they even have different colors?” WOW!

Hubby and I rushed down to Lowe’s, as I was envisioning how awesome a pink hard hat would be. I didn’t want to miss this bargain – JUST $7. Plus, being the girly-girl that I am, I had to have hubby with me for fear of me walking in there and looking like a deer in the headlights. We made our way to the hard hats. Yep – they were only $7. Hubs picked one up and handed it to me. It was so light and seemed so fragile.

Where was that thick, heavy, hard hat my daddy use to wear?

I have to say, I was impressed. My friend was right, Lowe’s did have different colors to choose from. There was your standard white, yellow and even neon green. I sat there staring. Pondering. Wondering what to do. NONE of those were my colors – Hello???? Where are the pink ones?

It’s been a hoot learning about hard hats this week. Who would have ever thought this girl would even care about hard hats?

What I have learned is . . . If I can’t have Daddy’s white, heavy, greasy, and musty, old, hard hat, then by George - - -

I want a PINK one!!!

The Kid has a Mullet

I asked Blake awhile back if he thought he should get his hair trimmed. As a mom I know what looks good, and I was just making a suggestion. Hehe He didn't look bad, just a little shabby. Blake sweetly answered he would as soon as he finished his college finals.

Yesterday afternoon I get a call, it was Blake. He was relieved and excited he had just finished his last final and had completed his first year of college. He said he’d be over later because he had something he wanted me to see. I figured it was a bad test grade or something. You never know with this crazy kid!

He eventually walked in the house spouting, “Hey mom, you like my mullet?” I didn’t scream. I ran to him and gave him a big hug and said, “I never knew you wanted to be a Billy Ray look-alike!”

I love this kid because he could careless what anyone else thinks. The picture explains it all -- holes in the jeans, tattoo's, dingy white t-shirt, all that and a mullet to boot! You can tell he's not too picky about things that don't matter - for cryin' out loud he let a friend cut his hair!!! But on the other hand, he's extremely sensitive to the things that do matter and God is using that to raise him up to be an incredible worship leader for his generation. But for this week, Blake will be sporting a mullet while he shoots a video (of himself, I guess) for church.

You have to love all the surprises that come your way. These kinds of surprises I can handle, it’s the life-altering ones that throw me for a loop.

Facial Blemishes and God

The past couple of weeks have been extremely stressful. Pressures and worries have built up on every front of my little world. Don’t you just love the saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Such is life.

However, it’s one thing to feel the pressures on the inside, but when they start popping to the outside through facial blemishes – ooooh, that’s not so good. I was experiencing such the ugly phenomenon. Stress pimples. Urgh!

Thankfully, I’ve had years of skin care training as I use to teach classes. I knew how to handle this. I babied my skin, made sure I was following ever step properly, and making sure my face was clean at all times. But these stubborn pimples were NOT budging. They were not even shrinking!

In desperate need of relief (I was fixing to be in front of a bunch of women), I borrowed a different cleanser from a friend. My goodness, I think this made the problem worse. If you know about skin care, you know any change in skin care products can make the situation worse at first. What was I thinking?

But I was still in DESPERATE need to be cleansed and free of these blemishes. Time was running out, so I went to the local supermarket and bought some super-duper heavy-duty acne free cleanser and toner.

Forget being gentle! I was going to scrub these bumps off. I cleansed as harshly as I could and decided to just douse my face in the toner. In my half-crazed mind I thought, that should do it.

By the next day, my face was on fire. By evening my skin felt like leather. I had fried my face trying to get rid of the blemishes. As the days went by, my face began to peel. It was horrible!

NOTE: DO NOT EVER TRY THIS! Stick with your normal cleansing routine.

What I learned about God and life from this experience: (I've had a lot of thinking time as I was hiding out.)

We all have blemishes and/or sins – they just seem bigger when they are ours.
We can try to hide our blemishes – however, we know they are still there.
We try drastic measures to feel cleansed – alcohol, drugs, money, relationships.
Using the wrong product for cleansing does make the blemish worse.
God is the only cleanser who will alleviate all blemishes.
Our responsibility is to come to HIM for cleansing – daily.
God’s cleansing program might not seem like it is working – but it is.
Cleansing is a process.


Amazing you can learn from your blemishes.

Makeover Monday - What TO Wear

My daughter and I enjoy watching “What Not to Wear” together. She commented the other evening, “Mom, we should start dressing reee-ally bad. Then maybe we could be on that show.”

I’m beginning to think she is on to something. Oh my, I do need help!

I understand wearing your right colors helps you look healthier, thinner (woo hoo) and bright-eyed.

I understand that horizontal stripes make you look thicker, where vertical stripes are more slimming.

I understand you want to wear clothes that are comfortable and fit so you aren’t always adjusting and picking at them.

There is a lot I get, but what I don’t get is – what in the world do you wear when you are to be videoed or on TV? I’ve read some articles recently and it seems camera’s have their own set of rules. You would know. Urgh! This is most unnerving.

This coming Thursday, a friend and I will do a noon show on local television to promote the upcoming Living the Life Conference here in Corpus Christi. Oh man, have I told you how I hate cameras?

I am hearing Luke 12:22-23 in my head at the moment where Jesus said to his disciples:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”

I guess I shouldn’t worry about these little things, after all Jesus said NOT to. However, where are Stacy London and Clinton Kelly when you need them? I wouldn’t give this a second thought if they could show me what TO wear. Yes, it would be totally cool to have somebody dress me and groom me.



We should all have someone like Piper Palin in our life making sure we always look our best. This is too precious.







Do you have any helpful suggestions? Do’s? Don’ts? Are you by chance a Stacy or Clinton wanna-be? I’ll be your guinea pig!

I’d be most amazed if you’d help me out!

Senior Pictures

We did it! We took those senior pictures. It was like pulling teeth to get Blake to cooperate, but mom was pretty persistent.

Let me assure you, if you are a mom and are still wondering if there is a difference between boys and girls, once you make it through the senior year you will so clearly see without a doubt – there is a huge difference. I’m talking HUGE!!!

Blake could have cared less if we took senior pictures at all. He could care less if we ordered graduation invitations or celebrated his big accomplishment. However, my oldest daughter when she graduated “redid” her senior pictures at least three times, we had to have a party and everything was so exciting. My freshman daughter is already planning out her senior year, the pictures and the parties. They are all so different, I’ll say. But, oh, so cute!

This year, I really wanted senior pictures that reflected Blake’s personality. We already had the cap and gown pictures taken, and although he is very scholarly, those pictures did not capture the personality of Blake. Not at all.

To capture the "Blake" look, I decided to let him decide where we’d go for these pictures, what he’d like to wear and the poses he wanted. What I got was truly Blake! Seriously. Moms, get ready, you will so appreciate this – the wrinkled shirt, the keys hanging from his pocket, white socks with brown shoes, exposed boxers and his guitars. These pictures are not perfect by any means, but they are SO Blake, it just makes me smile.

Just to remind you, this is the kid that was voted Most Fashionable/Best Dressed. Do you think when he is older the wrinkled shirt and the boxers hanging out of his britches will bother him?

Probably not, right?

Makeover Monday's

For those of you hopping over from Makeover Monday’s, welcome! Today, I can’t help but copy a devotional I wrote earlier because it fits the theme of makeovers.

Do you ever feel unnoticed? Maybe you feel unattractive or just plain Jane? You’ve tried shopping for clothes and sporting a new hair style; however, they only content you for a while. If you are looking for a permanent change, you must learn to see yourself as God sees you. He sees you as "a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels." Isa. 61:10b

God sees you as a radiant bride. He sees a smile on your face and oodles of love in your heart. You must look to God to change the way you see yourself. Transformation happens when your eyes are on Him and not yourself.

The challenge is keeping your eyes on Him daily to find the radiance of the bride deep within your soul. If you have helpful ideas, let's hear them. You can use a helpful tip every now and then to help you stay fixed on the Lord, right?

Remember always, you are beautiful!

Mr. Fashion

Our son, Blake, came in from school yesterday pronouncing that he was voted by his senior class “Mr. Fashion.”

If you knew Blake, you’d just have to chuckle. He is definitely a cutie. He has always had his own style, but fashion???

Even Blake said, “Wow, I must have some really cool t-shirts and shoes because I wear the same jeans everyday.” He speaks the truth. :)

The thought that Mr. Fashion is the best dressed leaves me chuckling. I think what sells his “fashion statement” is that he knows who he is. He knows what he likes and is not easily swayed by peers.

As I continually learn who I am, I’m realizing there are many out there who are trying to find themselves just like I am. We all want to be something we are not. How frustrating?

We should probably all take lessons from Blake. Be who we are 24/7, dress how we want, and continue to be secure in our own skin.

We can take that fashion statement to heart.

Do you have any fashion stories you’d like to share?
I’d love to hear them.

Signing off ~ Mr. Fashion’s mom