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| ...so yesterday on the way out to my family's house, I stopped in at Panera Bread to get coffee, smoothies and bagels for breakfast. The kitchen was the first thing the movers were going to pack, so making breakfast at home wasn't really an option for them. Dad showed me around as the walls are more bare than I've ever seen them (I was in Chicago when my family moved here). Here he pronounced that "This is a home that is quickly becoming just a house." Yeah, that kinda started the emotions for me.  As I walked back towards my older sister's former room (where my family had set up their headquarters to be out of the movers way), I heard the following:
Younger sister: I'm gonna miss this.
Mom: But I'm sure there's Panera Bread in Florida!
Younger sister: But there's not a Kelley there.
I quickly walked out the back door, around to the side of the house, and the tears flowed...
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| Can you believe I'm really updating?? 
I have to brag on my favorite man
in the whole wide world...Yesterday, just as the tornado sirens struck
noon, he and I were headed down to our storage room. Normally you go to
a storage room to get something. We headed down to our storage room to
pull every belonging we ever put down there out into the hall (into
categorized sections, mind you), clean it up, consolidate some
kitchen items into larger boxes, and put everything back into the
storage room in an orderly way so that, for once, we can know what's
where.
Big job.
Lots of Superman muscles being used.
Lots of cheering from the wife.
"Hey, I forgot about this!!"
Packing peanuts statically sticking to everything.
"Can we please throw that away??"
And a vow to keep it neat and clean so that we will never. ever. have. to. do. that. again.
We finished about 9:30pm, showered and headed to Macaroni Grill for some belly-satisfying supper.
We discovered that I have a lot
more...shall we say...stuff...than Joshua has. (No comments, Dad!) But
Joshua has moved 20+ times in his life (2 of those were to Russia and
back) and I think that when you move that many times, you tend to
travel lightly!
Our pastor has been preaching on
"Oneness in God" and what are essentials and non-essentials to
Christian doctrine. Very, very good. Every one should hear this sermon
series. If everyone could hear it, there would be a lot more
brotherly-lovin' going on and not so much judgementalism going on.
I think it's amazing that God has
created friendships that hold so fast that you can go for more than a
year without talking, change the day/time for talking for the first
time after said year+ more times than you can count on one hand
and her response to you is to laugh and shake her head at your quirky
personality and still love you for it!!
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLS AND AMY JOY!!!!!
Still alive and still here, but not enough time to update! I guess there's really not much to update about.
The campaign is going fabulously well! We had 20 volunteers participate in a flyer drop yesterday--thanks y'all!  I set up a volleyball/badminton net and no one used it, but while setting it up at the park, I was able to bless many homeless people with bottled water and granola bars which had been purchased for the volunteers. One woman was so grateful that she went and told all the other homeless within 5 miles of the park where I was and what I had to offer. (hey molls, there were the "you're looking good tonight, baby!" type  ) Next Saturday, we are having a pancake breakfast for constituents to have a time to talk with Joshua. Should be very interesting. We'll be frying (or whatever the correct term is) the pancakes on propane powered griddles, so if you hear a little explosion, just carry on with your day and rest assured it was only me! If anyone can help pass out flyers on Monday, July 24th (the day before primary elections), we'd be grateful for your help. Oh, and we take help from out-of-state-ers too!
I made it through the BLB and BLL the week before last; wasn't terribly hard since the numbers were down due to people being gone for vacation. I'm convinced that Erin Swayze is the best kept secret!! When she was in the dining room helping, she figured out how to clean up more efficiently, when she's cooking or baking she thinks about presentation and makes the food or dessert look so nice, she can sew anything and it looks like it came from Dillards, she's *hilarious* and just a great chum!! I hope she sticks around for a long while...
I missed Molly's birthday, but her present will be in the mail tomorrow, so does that make it OK? Amy's birthday is today (her first birthday since being married, so I'm sure it the best one ever!) and her present is about to be delivered to her desk. Sheri's birthday is the 23rd and I'm trying to think of something real creative to give her.
I've been thinking about when Paul talks about how life is kinda like a race and how there's a prize at the end and he says something like "so run, that ye may obtain". That has really been encouraging to me when I think about the race in terms of Joshua's senate race. There is a prize at the end, be it Joshua being proclaimed "Senator Jantz" or rest and resuming to 'normal' life. Either one will be a great prize. And remembering that there is a prize at the end helps me to run much more faithfully and positively.
I've decided that I'm not going to worry about the protective layer of dust covering our posessions, because I'm going to be behind Joshua 100%, not just behind him 50% and behind my house 50%. I just wish my time could multiply as fast as the dust does... 
Sundays are now my most favorite days because I get to see people I know at church, not people I don't know that are hiding behind their door. And I don't have to sweat on Sunday if I don't choose to because I can spend all day (aside from church) in my house. And I can read, cross-stitch, work on my Creative Memories album or absolutely whatever I want to do because I don't do housework on Sunday. I don't stress out on Sunday because there are no time limits or deadlines; life just happens as it will on Sunday. After working the campaign 6 days a week and having 1 day to rest, I now am so grateful for God's wisdom in giving a day of rest. If we didn't have a day of rest and we just campaigned day after day after day after day, I wouldn't make it. I count down the days left till Sunday when the going gets hard because rest is such a wonderful thing to look forward to.
Well, I'm off to go do some of that resting now...
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| How have my last few weeks been?
Well, that "protective layer" that I wrote about is still there, still
welcoming fellow dust particles. In fact, I think those dust particles
are having a family reunion of some kind. On my dresser. Seriously.
Life is good; I have absolutely no time to get in trouble. In the last
2 days I have dropped our campaign cell phone, dropped my digital
camera and dropped the big spoon that was in the macaroni and cheese we
ate for breakfast and it put that nasty, fake bright orange cheese all
down my clothes before spattering the floor and all within 3 feet. Oh
and I was watching a movie while sitting in bed and eating a Coke
float. There was a particular spoonful of ice cream that I wanted. So I
reached in with my spoon. Turned the cup side-ways.... (yeah, you know
what's coming!) Got the spoon of ice cream that looked so good. Also
got a Coke bath. And I
had just minutes before put fresh sheets on the bed. Earlier this week,
one of the mirrored doors fell off of our medicine cabinet. It is
currently leaning up against my bed-side table. And my fish named Rover
died. And I realized that I missed my friend's birthday.
This week is the Business Leader's Breakfast and Luncheon. You know,
the ones I set up and tear down for here in the OTC dining room. I
think I'll do black and silver napkins this month. Is that acceptible,
Jeremy? Molls? K. Todd? Anyone else? We're starting to run low on
napkins and I get to order more soon, so we'll get back to some good
color combinations in a few months.
Still campaigning away. It gets harder as it gets warmer. I now
officially have a farmer's tan, on my arms, at least. Janae's got me on
some Mary Kay stuff to keep my face from getting burnt. I'm so glad she
has that stuff. We're drinking lots and lots of water and praying that
sun-stroke or heat exhaustion have no place in our adventures. A few
days ago, we were on the northern tippetty-tip of the district and as
we drove by Penn Square Mall, the sign confirmed our fears. It was
100*. The heat has been dry for the most part, but as it starts cooling
down, the humidity has been rising, so the sweat factor doesn't
decrease. I hope I don't forget my Degree one of these days.
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| Do these colors remind you of
anything? You know, something political? That's near and dear to my
heart? Like a campaign? A campaign that needs help...And moolah...And
sanity? If it doesn't remind you of that, it's OK because I don't
always make connections either. This was a very full
weekend for us, Saturday being the busiest of all. We set up a table at
the Republican Rally, went door-knocking, attended the luncheon at the
rally to hear the perspectives of the 3 republican gubernatorial
candidates, Joshua spoke to the rally, went campaigning for several
hours, met up with our campaign manager for dinner, ran some errands,
watched a short movie and literally dropped in bed.
The last time I posted, I said I didn't think that week was going to be
very busy 'cause there wasn't much on the schedule....well, I should've
looked at the schedule before I said that. I had something that I don't
remember what it was on that Tuesday, a photo shoot at the Capitol
Thursday and a host of things come up last minute, just like I
predicted. So it was a very busy week, just like I know that this week
will be.
My afternoons and evenings are devoted to the campaign, so I only have
4 hours in the morning to do what I used to spend at least 8 hours a
day doing. I've learned that I work best under pressure because my
house has stayed cleaner when I have fewer hours than when I had all
the time in the world. I guess I dawdled too much. However, this week I
have to try and clean my house in my four hours a day in addition to
spending Monday's four hours setting up the Dining room for the BLB,
Tuesday's four hours hosting and cleaning up from the BLB, Wednesday's
four hours setting up for the BLL, Thursday's four hours putting the
finishing touches on and hosting the BLL and Friday's four hours
dusting, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathroom, doing dishes,
laundry, ironing, responding to e-mails and Xangas, and maybe throwing
a few stitches into the cross-stitch that I'm trying to get done for
Mom for Christmas. (I don't think it'll be Christmas of this year,
though. At my rate, it'll be Christmas of 2020 before the finishing
stitch is in place...) I don't imagine that it'll all get done. In
fact, I promise it won't. So, the little dust particles that are
providing a nice protective covering over our belongings will be
greeting more of their fellow particles during the week and will still
be there when I possibly update this again next Sunday. (We don't do
campaign or house work on Sunday, so it's really the only time I have
to write.)
That book I said I was reading "The Faith of America's First Ladies" is
an awesome book. The authoress was George W. and Laura Bush's webmaster
for many years. Mrs. Cook has put a perspective on the Proverbs 31
woman that has allowed me to admire her instead of hate her. I know,
hate is a strong word, but I always felt like a looser for not doing
enough or more, or for not getting up in the middle of the night to fix
breakfast, or for not being a real estate broker that could buy land
and grow a vineyard all the while delivering hand-made clothes of purple
material that I had dyed after I had sewn my family's wardrobes. I
mean, how did she really do it? This authoress has shown me of the
Proverb's 31 woman that:
- Her husband was a high-ranking political office holder (He is known in the gates [of the city] when he sits among the elders of the land.
- Because he was an office holder, she was also in a position of influence. So we're not talking about your average house-wife.
- She had maids!!! (She gets up while it is night and prepares food for her family and a portion for her maidens) OK, I think I could tackle a vineyard if I didn't have to clean my house!
- She could seek her food from afar because her husband's political
status would familiarize her with a host of international diplomats
that could direct her and even present her with gifts of food from
their lands.
- The part about 'she worketh willingly with her hands' doesn't
necessarily mean hard physical labor that required all the elbow grease
she could muster. When she worked willingly with her hands, she could
have been sitting down in the air condition working on a cross-stitch
or knitting socks or something, but not necessarily sweating in the
sun, stringy hair falling out of her pony-tail with dirt under her
nails--that comes in to play when she's tending her vineyard.
Anyways, the revelation of each
one of those things was an "Ah ha!" moment for me. But I have to say,
the most poignant thought that has hit me while reading this book is
that I am God's First Lady!
That's what kind of respect, love, fellowship and communication He
wants. As if He were President and I were First Lady, that's what kind
of access I have to Him, that's what kind of personal relationship I
have with him, that's how much He values my talking with Him, that's
how important I am to Him. Literally speaking, do y'all realize what
kind of influence the First Lady has over the President? There has been
more than one President that has changed his mind over crisis-level
decisions based solely on the words of his wife. Now, all I have just
said is for an analogy's sake, because God would not stoop from the
position of Almighty to be President, nor would I dare ask Him to. But
thinking of Him as the highest earthly authority of my world and
picturing myself as joined to Him has really changed my perspective.
I've said all that and I'm not even half way through the book yet.... I feel like I'm rambling, and because I'm not a theological brain, nor am I anywhere
near analytical, please feel free to set me straight if any of this
doesn't sit well with you, OK?
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