Lost Characters Ana Lucia and Ilana

When they first brought "Ilana" on the show I thought it was "Ana Lucia" ... oh I was SO confused!

I hadn't taken the time until tonight to actually find out that these are two completely different people!

Side by side pictures help a lot! :)

The CHAMPION of upright vacuum cleaners!

Ten years ago I began my quest.

It began in Denver, at the home of a family that my best friend nannied for. They also had a housekeeper. I asked her (the housekeeper) what vacuum she recommended. She didn't hesitate. A Bissell. Hands down... don't even look at anything else.

So I bought a Bissell. It worked good at first, but after a few months it lost suction and its performance plummeted.

Some good friends of ours recommended a Hoover Windtunnel (bagless) - saying they had never had a vacuum they liked so well. So we got one of those. After 6 months or so of taking it in for service every month the service technician asked me why I was wasting my time with it. I, of course, had no idea... but he asked me if he could show me something. I obliged him.

He stood my vacuum beside a floor model of a Simplicity. He plugged mine in and had me feel the suction on the end of the hose. Then he did likewise with the Simplicity. There was no comparison. The Simplicity blew the Hoover out the door! I walked out that day with a Simplicity vacuum & never looked back. It was by and far the best vacuum cleaner I had ever used.

But along the way, other vacuum cleaners started looking more interesting. Some other good friends of ours bought an Oreck and swore there was not a vacuum that could out-suck it. I, of course, didn't bat an eyelash at this possibility, knowing that my Simplicity was still the best vacuum around! But my husband's curiosity got the best of him and he bought one. I learned that the Oreck worked really well on my hard floors, but for my carpet, it just couldn't beat the Simplicity.

Then, a little over a year ago, a friend told me she got a Dyson. Oh how she sung its praises! She spoke of its sleek design, colorful parts, handy hose, ... and I succumbed. I bought the Animal. It was sooooo pretty! And the hose .... wow. I reallllly liked the hose!

BUT

After using the Dyson and the Simplicity side by side for over a year, I still found myself going for the Simplicity. The suction was a toss-up. But the Dyson was a little too short... and the hose (as handy as I originally thought it was) was kind of a pain to use b/c you had to unravel the entire power cord to be able to use it. Ya know, sometimes you need the hose for something quick and you don't really want to unravel the entire power cord. It was little things that kept bringing me back to the Simplicity. If there is ever a problem with the Simplicity, it has an indicator light. And if that light comes on you know you need to look at it. And it was incredibly easy to work on! I could do it myself!

Recently my Simplicity started petering out. I noticed a decrease in suction, and the red light on the side (indicates a problem) was on & I couldn't find the problem & decided it probably needed serviced (after 7 years of operation).

And THEN my Dyson started acting up! IT lost suction! Even the hose was acting weird! Then it started having power issues. It wouldn't turn on. Then it would turn on, but as soon as I put it in the upright position it would turn off.

So, the Oreck being the only operable vacuum in the house ... and not one I prefer on carpet ... I made the trip to the vacuum place yesterday with my Simplicity in tow. I was just going to get it serviced.

But there was this floor model ....

It was sparkly ....

And it spoke to me ....

Ok, it didn't actually speak to me.

The owner of the shop told me I would get a good trade value from my old Simplicity.

So I came home with this:

The Simplicity Synergy. You can read about it HERE.


It has rubber lined wheels. Lays completely flat. Metal foot pedal. Metal cord hook. Does carpet and hard floors. Separate hose power. TWO motors! LIFETIME belt! SEALED HEPA Filtration!
LED lights. And a SIX YEAR bumper to bumper warranty!

siiiiiiiiigh - I think I'm in love!

So, if you have also embarked on this journey... the quest for the perfect vacuum cleaner... look no further! I've tried the Bissel, the Hoover, the Oreck, the Dyson ...

OH and I just remembered! Between the Bissel & the Hoover I owned 3 different KIRBYs! Oh, I forgot about them! OH MY GOODNESS- what a royal pain those things were! UGH. Heavy. Cumbersome! And to use the hose...... wow. I really hated those things. And the reason why I had 3- they were all hand-me-downs. One refurbished from a friend. And the other 2 were from my MIL, who upgraded.

So anyways, I hope this helps you in your own quest to find the perfect vacuum! :)

~Suzi

Finally!

20 days later .....

Grandpa met Jesus last night!

My sweet Grandfather went Home to be with Jesus last night. He was an amazing man. A true blessing to many. I know he is fully restored in Heaven now- and here's how I know... He trusted in Christ & Christ alone. He walked with the Lord in his daily life. I remember going to visit as a child and singing with Grandpa & Grandma "This is the Day". I am at a Women of Faith Group Leaders Conference in Dallas right now and as I entered into the conference room this morning we were being led in worship- "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!" The tears fell as I sang and worshipped God for the life of my Grandpa.

Thank You Father God for blessing me with my Grandpa- using him in my life to always point me back to You. Thank You for bringing him home to be with You & giving him perfect healing.
Amen.

Love You Forever

I just spent an AMAZING evening with Women of Faith Group Leaders from all over the country! We laughed & we cried as Luci Swindoll sang in her beautiful voice to us, Sheila Walsh shared the angst of her son becoming a teenager, Anita Renfroe serenaded us about the beauty of underwire ... ohhhh, I could go on and on and on! But at the end, after singing us many lovely songs (including the Cinderella song), Sandi Patty (who also sang a very very cleverly written song about the spelling of her name) read to us a story. It was familiar to many ... but not to me. It was such a sweet ending to a beautiful evening, and I wish to share it with you.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

......................................................................................

So tomorrow I return home to my babies. I'm sure they've grown up noticeably in the 2 days I've been absent. They always do.

I have no idea why this is all underlined,,, or how to un-underline it. Crazy stuff.

ETA: After publishing this post I see that these last few lines are only underlined when you hover over them... making them look like links. Well, I can't figure that out either. Go figure!

So much to blog about, so little time!

I've got this much figured out- I'm not a good blogger. There. Said. I want to blog, I think about blogging, and then I feel guilty about even thinking about blogging when I know I have a gazillion other things to be doing.... like cleaning off the island. :| Ugh.

In 2010 I hope to get my act together enough to be able to blog more regularly & not feel guilty about it. In other words- I need to be more responsible with my responsibilities as a homemaker so that I can blog and not feel guilty about it. Seems like an impossible task right now, but I've got my sights set.

Now, however, I sit in sweet, blissful silence. Alone. In a plush hotel room in Dallas. That I'm not paying for. And I just said goodnight to my babies over the phone. And I can blog to my hearts content!

I was just treated to an amazing concert by Mandisa- WoW! Tomorrow I'm looking forward to spending a full day with a couple thousand Women of Faith Group Leaders from all across the country. Women of Faith has flown us all here to Dallas for a Group Leader Training Conference.
Hopefully I'll have another opportunity to blog all about it before I return home to my messy island!

True confessions: On the Group Leader registration site we had to take this test and submit our answers to WOF. Marcus Buckingham is here and I believe we will get to hear him tomorrow. He will be referencing the results of all of our tests. Well, the test gives you your "lead role" and your "supporting role"... but I kinda thought that my "supporting role" sounded more ... "me-ish" ... so when I submitted my answers to WOF I switched them around. So this evening I'm sitting next to a lady and we're talking about this test ... and she says that she thought it was interesting that her "supporting role" was more "her-ish" than her lead role. And I went ... uh oh. Maybe it's supposed to be like that! And I reversed my answers. Whooops.

Well, I know it wasn't much. But it was a blog post. :) Progress. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something better....... maybe.

Tackling a "Hot Spot" today....

UPDATE:
Yeah, I'm totally lame and haven't accomplished this task yet. I'm in Dallas now, so maybe next week when I'm home and refreshed!
**********************************

My island - it's covered in clutter...

My goal this afternoon is to clean it off.


Then I will update with "after pictures".