Vinny's Five Questions

Thanks to Vinny from the COUCH …check my first link over on the right if you haven’t been there already today….for the questions.

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1) You state on your blog that you run two businesses. Tell us about them.

I started selling Avon back in 1981….managed a couple hundred sales reps for a short time and decided to back it off somewhat and I’m hooked on it…at this pace. This is the one job that I never ever thought about quitting. Through all the others sales jobs that came and went…I could never stop this. Orders are sent in twice a month and I believe that I only ever missed maybe 2 or 3 order placement dates.

The Outreacher is a Christian newspaper that my husband and I started back in June ’05. It’s a monthly publication with distribution of 10,000. Hubby pulled together a lot of the details at the beginning….was the much needed encourager….and now it’s pretty much my graphic designer and myself keeping it going. I have people in the community that write articles and there are over 100 churches involved in the paper that will contact me with events of interest and then I work with the advertisers…We have contests and monthly features. The community has definitely embraced our dream and for that we are very blessed! I could mail you the current issue if you’re interested. Anyone out there want to be our postage benefactor? **giggles**

2) You obviously are very spiritual. Tell us about the most inspirational day in your life.

Okay Vinny, first of all…to me “spiritual” is a driving force that demands you to be a better person. My driving force is obviously God and I do want to please Him. But “inspirational” would be that “feel good occurrence that you never ever want to forget”… a life changing moment…that defining turning point that screams, “Hey baby, it’s gonna be just fine”.

Undoubtedly that moment goes back to April ’04. I had just left Jeff….yup you read that right….details not needed in this format….we had gone 4 days without seeing each other and he called me on my cell phone.

It was a Sunday around 12 noon and his voice was different. It was calm, heartwarming and utterly wonderful sounding. He said that he had something that he wanted to show me. I told him that I didn’t want anything and that he should save his money and stop trying to “buy” me. He assured me that he hadn’t bought anything yet he had “something” to show me.

Against my better judgment along with my need to move forward and away from him, I told him that he could stop and visit. His voice had obviously got the better of me! I kept looking down the road for his vehicle and when he got out of it he looked more handsome then I had ever seen him look. Even more handsome then the day we wed.

It wasn’t because he had dressy clothes on either. He had just come from church and told me that he had finally accepted Christ into his heart and that he was changed….that he WAS going to be a better husband, a better dad, a better man. I didn’t believe him....oh I believed that HE believed he could be all that and more…I just didn’t think that he would make it last.

I stayed on my own with Nathan and Sara for four months… watching him become the man that I knew he could be. We worked on our relationship and started attending church together. With God’s help and great determination we stopped doing many things that we felt just weren’t right.

We still have problems…but now we know that prayer works and as long as we continue to keep God in our marriage we’ll be just fine.

3) We know you like Taylor Hicks, but tell us the one artist or band you have never seen, that you would drive more than 3 hours to see live.

Wow! Now that’s a tough one…..I would love to see Joe Cocker but I’m just not one for the crowd and the huge venues. In addition to my desire to support Taylor Hicks I would love to see Elliott Yamin just because I think he’s real. His style is very different then anything I’ve ever had before yet I think he’s going to do very well. Drive 3 hours to see him? I don’t know about that. It would have to depend who I would be with on the trip or who I would see after I got to the venue!

4) Tell us what ABOUT your favorite food in the world.

Oh Vinny! Favorite food? Sheesh!!! I’m truly not picky…just make it, put it in front of me and I’ll be happier then pigs in slop. Hmmm pigs in a blanket are mighty tasty though! Okay, okay…MILKDUDS!! There, I said it!

5) OK, you did this one yourself. Tell us about your “favorite big white shirt cover-up”.

Well, I suppose you’re right! For those of you that may feel lost refer back to a posting earlier this week. **sits back and sighs** Okay the” Favorite Big White Shirt Cover-up”…let me see….I love pockets! And I use them…all the time.

I love big white button up shirts. I found a great white shirt at a local second hand store. Bright white, 100 percent cotton and just begging me to pull a couple bucks from my purse. This was years ago and the longer I had it the more attached to it I became. I would wear it for a swimsuit cover up. I would toss it over a skimpy top with a pair of jeans….we were inseparable.

One day I took advantage of the left chest pocket and tossed a couple milk bones in it. I forgot they were in there and tossed it across the bamboo “fruit bowl” chair as I climbed into bed…the next morning it looked as though a Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction had occurred sometime throughout the night. I know who did it this time those! Cali hadn’t been born yet!

Thanks once again for these thought provoking questions, Vinny. I hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

If you want me to ask you 5 questions just let me know!

Hugs, Happiness and Harmony!

Julie