Visual DNA

This is really neat...try it! When you click on the link, a series of about 15 pictures will come up. Click on a photo in that category that appeals to you. Again 15 pictures will come up, click the one for you and move on. Just continue to keep picking. At the end it will give you a profile of yourself.... It's called a visual DNA.... Your choices dictate your profile. Click on the tabs on the right. I thought mine turned out pretty accurate.....

Recent Grant Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of my favorite nephew. Of course, the fact that he's my only nephew doesn't mean anything. :)

I asked Grant to smile and he winked at me. What a little ham!

My brother in law was washing the car. Grant couldn't believe his luck that he was able to "help" his daddy, and get soaking wet in the process! He kept saying, "Splash!"and "Wash". He had the best time!!

Grant came out to meet me when I got home from work. I asked him if I could take his picture. He first said, "No" and then smiled and said "Yes". But the stinker wouldn't smile for me.

This is from a few months ago. I asked Grant to be an elephant. Usually, he'll "trumpet" like an elephant, but this time, he decided to "be" an elephant. Aren't kids so creative??

Silly little boy! This time he did smile for me!


My sister, Stephanie

His favorite playground activity... swinging!

He likes to sit in my lap and watch the videos I've taken of him. After each one, he'll say, "More." Every now and then, I try to surprise him and take a picture. It's not often he's still anymore!

God forbid

The more I know your power, Lord
The more I'm mindful
How casually we speak and sing Your name
How often we have come to You
With no fear or wonder
And called upon You only for what we stand to gain

God forbid, that I find You so familiar
That I think of You as less than who You are
God forbid, that I should speak of You at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

Lord, I often talk about Your love and mercy
How it seems to me Your goodness has no end
It frightens me to think that I could take You for granted
Though You're closer than a brother
You're more than just a friend

God forbid, that I find You so familiar
That I think of You as less than who You are
God forbid, that I should speak of yYou at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

You are father, God Almighty
Lord of Lords, Your King of Kings
Beyond my understanding
No less than everything

God forbid, that I find You so familiar
That I think of You as less than who You are
God forbid, that I should speak of You at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

God forbid
God forbid

~ Point of Grace

Santa Rosa Beach

Here are a few pictures I took on my cell phone, from our beach trip to Santa Rosa (near San Destin)

My Mom, who never goes into the ocean, went for a walk with me.
We decided to look for shells. She knelt over to get a good one and... fell in!

Mother's Day

My dad took us out to the swanky restaurant at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for Mother's Day.


Me, Mom and Grant
(It was unusually chilly that day and I was freezing!)

Grant and Dad (whom he calls "Pops")

Stephanie and Carl

Grant... playing next to the very prickly rose bushes.

What a Mighty Fine Day

Let's talk about my crazy day, shall we?

I set my alarm early, with the intention of getting up early (obviously), so I could get to Starbucks for a special treat. However, when I looked at the clock this morning, it was after 8:00!! The first words out of my mouth were, "CRAP!" I threw my covers back and took the fastest shower of my life. I was still late to work, but surprisingly, not very. No Starbucks for Mer.

I haven't been at work too long, when I'm sent on my first errand of the day. My poor coworker has a double ear and sinus infection. (Hello! Why aren't you home in bed?) So, my boss asked me to go fill her prescription. I was actually able to get three things done, in one feld swoop. Her drugs. Deposit a check. And, get a peppermint mocha at Starbucks! Yeah!

I get back and dig into work. Unlike most mortgage companies around town, we are SLAMMED! From day to day, I never know what my day will look like, but I'll most certainly be busy. Example, over the course of about four days total, I stuffed 700 envelopes. Yes, you read that right. 700!! I edited, printed and folded the letters... Separated all the magnets... Stacked the letter and magnet together for ease of stuffing... ran the envelopes through the postage machine (that alone took a few hours!)... Stuffed them... taped them all closed... and finally put address labels on. That didn't even include all my other random work.

My second 'errand' is to go pick up lunch. Since I haven't made it back to Walmart since my last debacle, I've been eating out. Spending money like I had some. Ha That's besides the point. Since I helped my coworker with that mailing, he said he'd buy my lunch for the next while. So, I picked Jason's Deli for lunch. I have a new favorite there: Chicken Club Wrapini with fruit on the side. Ohmygoodness. So yummy. Usually, whoever picks the place, has to pick up the food. I'm not sure how that started, but that seems to be how it works. Although, come to think of it, I'm pretty much the designated food getter. Which has its perks, but often, just a pain in the patootie.

Craziness ensues after lunch. The phones ringing off the hook. I'm copying large files, one after the other. Many things are going on and I'm in the thick of it, when my boss says, 'Hey, you want a drink?' 'Sure, I say.' (Which usually means he or someone else wants one and doesn't want to go get it.) He plops down I'd say around $3 in quarters. His underlining expression is that he wants me to drop everything I'm doing and go get. I don't "obey" immediately and he comes back to check on me and gives me this 'look'. "I'm leaving," I say. Good grief. So, that makes errand number 3 for the day.

I felt like I was out of the office more than I was in it today. Not sure, but I think I used 1/4 tank of gas! Geez.

Oh, I forgot to mention. My router arrived at work some point in the day. My first thought was, "Oh man, I hope this works." Surprisingly, when I first get home, I didn't race upstairs to try it out. Instead, I cleaned up my car some. I've been meaning to clean the windows for a while now. I put washer fluid in the car and RainX'd the windshield. I also armoraled (is that a real verb?) all the leather parts in my car. Now, I just need to vacuum it out and give it a bath.

Back to the router. I'm not going to go into all the details, as it'll just frustrate and make me mad all over again. But let's just say, my apprehension from the other night came to fruition. Dang it. I broke down and called Tech support.

Why in the world are all the options leading up to speaking with a human, in perfect English, but once you reach a human, it's someone from India? Please, answer me this question?!?!?!?!?!? I understand the need to save money, but please, give me a break! Are you really doing the American public a service by making everyone mad who calls for help? There's GOT TO BE a better way!!! I mean, seriously. OK, I'll get off my soapbox for tonight.

I'm talking with this woman in India. I'm speaking as clearly as possible. Spelling things out, using names for letters, so she'll know what I mean. (M for Mandy. E for Elephant. R for Richard. E for, well you get the idea. But I have 16 letters in my first and last name, so this 'game' went on for a while.) Once we she had my name down, I began to tell her about my problem. Which, by the way, I explained to her AT LEAST THREE different times. Each time, she'd come back and tell me the very same things. Ohmygosh. I thought I was going to scream. I finally said, "Ma'am, you aren't listening to me. This is getting me absolutely no where. Hope you have a good night." CLICK!! I am not easily angered, but whew buddy, this pushed me over the edge!

I unplugged everything and walked away... and called my mom. haha Then made dinner, chocolate chip pancakes and watched Olympics. Which leads me to now, 1:04am. I should have been asleep about an hour or two ago. Oh, this is funny, I was fast forwarding through commercials and I fell asleep. LOL Thankfully, I wasn't out long. Ok, off to bed for me.

Happy trails!

I Heart Seattle

I thought a lot about Seattle today, for some reason. I went consecutively for nine years, but haven't been back in two. I really miss it. I come alive in this way I don't even know how to describe. It's like the closer I get, the more my heart races, the more I feel alive. I don't know what God has in store for me next summer, but I'm definitely thinking about my Suquamish friends. Though, they are in my heart, so they aren't too far from my mind. Here are some pictues taken three years ago! Wow, has it been that long?!?


Jessica and me on the ferry

Christy, Jonathan and Austin

Christy and me

Just a sample of the gorgeous flowers at Kiana Gardens on the Suquamish Reservation

ARV & Mer

Amy and I realized we don't have very many pictures together, so we were inspired to be silly.

One of my few friends whom I see eye to eye with.

This worked out amazingly well. I set the self timer on my cell phone. (Isn't technology crazy?) I only had 5 seconds to get into place.

The Nature of the Beast

Remember a few months ago when my internal network card went capooey or something of that nature? And I had to go through the "trauma" of figuring out what to do next? Well, wouldn't you know it, the replacement external thingamabob broke recently. Without getting too technical, there's a small prong which holds the Ethernet cable in place. But, it wasn't made very well and somehow the flappy thing broke. After much frustration, I finally found the connection and decided to duct tape it in place. Which, in theory, was a great idea. But it's not a completely secure connection, so every once in a while, if I move just right, I lose connection. Arg.

I'm back at square one where I was a few months ago. Do I purchase another external thingamabob, but with a better connection port? Or do I spend a little bit more and get a wireless router? That's the question of the hour. I've done a lot of thinking and it just makes sense to 'splurge' and get the router. I'm not that concerned about the price - only because I have an unexpected $50 gift card from Toyota for the test drive that I didn't take. (I think I talked about that in an earlier post?) Not to say I'm just throwing money away, no, not at all. I want to use it wisely and think this is the way.

My other concern is that something will go wrong while I'm installing it. Because, let's face it people, my life is like that theory of relativity or whatever it's called. Anything that can go wrong, will. It's just the nature of the beast in the Quintana family. So, while I trust my computer skills, as I'm somewhat of a geek and know my way around a commuter. I didn't do so hot in networking class. In fact, I think it was the only C I made my whole time at Virginia College.

Therefore, I enlisted the help of my friend Amy's husband, Tommy. I told him about my situation and asked his opinion on what I should do. He agreed with me to go for the wireless router. In the long run, it'll add a tremendous amount of freedom for me. (I'm currently trapped in my bedroom, as far as the Ethernet cord will reach. Which given the fact I have to move my laptop v-e-r-y c-a-r-f-u-l-l-y in order to maintain connection, as previously mentioned. I can't get too far.)

So, I purchased this one from NewEgg.com. Hopefully I made the right choice. It's not like me to just purchase something without doing a ton of research, but I trust Tommy's opinion. He said he's had this one for years and hasn't had a problem with it since he bought it. Plus, another good thing, he'll know how to help me should something go wrong. Which, well, you know. Speaking of which, my "L" key just went flying off the keyboard. I kid you not!! Do you see my apprehension? hahalooolollll (That's what happens when mashing the L back in place!)

My Ambition In Life Is To

Written for a free write assignment in English class. I just started to write, and this is what came out. Reminding me once again of my real job here on Earth. ~ January 23, 2002


My ambition in life is to, first and foremost, follow God’s will. Though, figuring that out is have the fun. Someday, if God blesses me with a husband and children, I would love to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. After watching my mom for the past 24 years, that is who I want to be. I also want to design web pages for Christian organizations. I would love to be able to someday, work from home. So, I could be there for my family if they needed me.

I think ambition is something that carries me throughout life. Without it, I would have no drive or will to succeed. When I was younger, I wanted to be the one to kick the kick ball the farthest, so I could get all the runners home safely. At that age, it was a real ambition; one that I could see and reach. Although, now I look back and I just smile. As I grew and matured, my ambitions became bigger. They grew from child-like dreams to, hopefully one day, grown-up realities. I often struggle with what I want my ambitions to be, and what God really wants for me. Are all my motives selfish? Are they the best for me? I often wonder.

I often wonder about the things that I do. How do they affect the people I know? I often wonder if the things I aspire to do, will make a difference in people’s lives. I know that I will, and I know that I have. This weekend is the direct proof that I do indeed make a difference. One poem could quite possibly change the lives of strangers for eternity. It’s true; people really do hang on the verge. How selfish of me not to realize this more often. I get so caught up in the things I want to accomplish, that often it becomes hard to stop and think about others. I am not here for me. I am here to serve my Creator, by winning souls for Him. That is what my ambition should be. That’s all I should ever care about. How dare I forget that!