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Interrupted

2009-06-26T12:21:00.005-05:00

Here's another book I'm excited about reading. From the author of the last study I did, being released next Wednesday is Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith by Jen Hatmaker. Here's a link to a little synopsis and a video. I can't wait to read this book. I hope you check it out.

Colds?

2009-06-24T15:32:00.012-05:00

This has been our lives for the past week. Roger had some post nasal drip last week that led to congestion in his lungs. And I guess I caught his 'cold' Monday of this week. So he's going on a week of the junk and I just started. He kept us both up every night coughing. I'm keeping him up coughing this week. This week his lungs seem to be working on getting all that junk out. Lovely. Roger stayed home from work two days last week. But he's plugging away regardless. Poor thing. I've had to cancel about three engagements I was participating in this week and one birthday party. Boo. That's no fun. I hope it doesn't last long. We have lives to live. We don't have time to be sick. I feel like I'm not getting anything done. We do have some good news to share and I'll get to that soon. When I have more energy.

A Little Rain

2009-06-12T13:57:00.012-05:00

Austin and the surrounding areas received quite a bit of a storm last night. Of course, we got very little of it. North Travis County and Williamson County got the worst of it. Three tornadoes were spotted up there. We were at Butler Park, a cool new park near Auditorium Shores and the Long Center, with a group of neighbors when the storm rolled in. We had just enough time to run through the drive through at Sandy's for dipped cones before the drops began. It started to come down pretty hard as we approached Mopac (Loop 1), but of course, as we drove south, closer to our homes, the rain began to let up. South Austin always misses out on all the good storms and rain. We were all hoping it would be coming down at our homes, but no, it was not. So we went inside as the lightning and thunder rolled around us. We finally heard rain drops, but knew it wasn't going to be a lot. But I'm not complaining. We'll take any rain we can get. I checked the rain gauge this morning when I was mowing the back yard. It said we got 3/4 of an inch of rain. I was kind of disappointed but glad we got something. That meant one or two days I wouldn't have to water the lawn. Then I walked over to see how much water was in the rain barrel. I figured it might be half full from only 3/4 of an inch of rain. I couldn't believe my eyes as I approached the rain barrel and saw water around the top edge. It was over flowing with rain water! Whew-hoo! I had used almost all of the water from the last rain and now it was completely full again. I am so glad we finally got the gutter downspout redirected to the rain barrel. Roger had mentioned when we finished that he wondered how he could connect two barrels up so one would over flow to the other. I pretty much laughed at that because I was like, "Yeah right. Like we'd ever get enough rain to have overflow much less fill up two barrels." Now I wonder...

Outdoor Curtains Project Done

2009-06-10T14:16:00.010-05:00

Roger and I got the idea from several HGTV shows about turning outdoor spaces into another room of your house. We also thought it could add some privacy on our deck. Since our deck is up higher from the ground, we can see right into our neighbors' backyards and homes. We started this project a few weeks ago and I was finally able to hang the drapes today. Three weeks ago I shopped around for outdoor fabric, brought home swatches and we decided on a striped fabric for color and price. Then I sewed the panels and tiebacks. I might have enough fabric leftover for some bench cushions. Two weeks ago Roger and I began the task of hanging the outdoor drapery hardware. It wasn't easy. We went through several ideas before we figured out they wouldn't work. The space between the arbor joists is only 2-3 inches wide so we really had to get creative to be able to fit our hands and tools in the space to hang the brackets. Finally it dawned on us how to make it happen and we did. And I was able to find outdoor quality drapery rods on sale plus I had a coupon. You know me, I never pay full price. They look really cool and add a little more privacy and shade on the deck. I really like how they turned out.

Rain Barrel Project Done

2009-06-05T13:23:00.014-05:00

We brought the rain barrel from our old house with us to the new house. There was no way I was leaving that rain barrel there. I bought it through the City of Austin. It's a really nice rain barrel and I would have never paid what it costs retail. But through the City of Austin I got it half price. I got it all set up in the back yard a couple weeks ago. We missed out on some really good rains before that. Well this week we finally found the time in the evening to work on diverting a down spout from the house gutters to the rain barrel so we can take advantage of all the rain that hits our very large roof. The rain barrel on its own does not collect much water from our infrequent rains here in Texas. But with a down spout from the gutters it can collect a lot. The night we finished diverting the down spout it rained a little during the night. We were so glad to have the down spout done because the rain barrel had a quarter of water from that little rain. And I have plenty of rain water to water my potted plants. We always intended to do this at our old house but never got around to doing it because we didn't have gutters at all on the back side of the house. I love being able to water my potted plants and eventually my vegetables with free, healthy rain water instead of paying for treated city water. Although Roger wasn't sure about this rain barrel when I first brought it home, he loves it now. I think he thought it was going to make the back yard a little too eclectic, hippy, Austin-ish for his tastes. But the savings, how cool it is to take advantage of our large roof to collect rain water, and the fact that it's not that unsightly warmed him up to it. If you are a City of Austin water customer you should really take advantage of this deal. Even some surrounding water districts are eligible for the rebate. There's always a waiting list for the rain barrels, but it's definitely worth the wait.

Serve Austin Sunday

2009-06-04T10:12:00.012-05:00

This past Sunday, May 30, 2009, was the fifth Sunday of the month. So you know what our church does... we serve the community. This Serve Austin Sunday (SAS) there were four choices as usual: downtown grill out, an illegal dump site cleanup, block party at our East Austin church plant and an extreme classroom makeover. Roger and I decided to beat the heat by serving indoors this time. We helped perform an extreme makeover for a Communities In Schools classroom at Rodriguez Elementary School to create a more conducive environment for learning. And it was out of this world! We had a lot of fun doing the work and hanging out with our brothers and sisters. We have some really creative people at our church. Sorry we didn't post about this one ahead of time to be able to give you an opportunity to join us. I promise next SAS we'll give you advance notice in case you might want to join the fun and serve Austin. Check out the pictures by clicking on the picture above.

Life SUCKS

2009-06-02T18:00:00.010-05:00

I get a weekly newsletter from USAT emailed to me with articles and tips about endurance training, fuel, and gear and news about triathlons and triathletes. There are always interesting and educational articles. And they always have pieces about people's personal lives. Usually they are about professional and seasoned triathletes. And especially stories that are very inspirational. Today's newsletter included an article in the headlines section about a wounded soldier competing in an Ironman. For those of you not aware, an Ironman competition is the ultimate test of physical fitness. It's longer and harder than the triathlons in the Olympics. The one this warrior will be competing in is a total of 70.3 miles of swimming, cycling and running. So the thought of a wounded Iraq war veteran participating in one was intriguing to say the least. I had to check it out. I hope you do too. It is super inspirational. I want to take his motto of "Life SUCKS" and paint it across my wall.

My First Grill

2009-05-28T21:39:00.006-05:00

Okay, so the title sounds like a Fisher Price toy like My First Kitchen. But it's not. Tonight was my first night to grill completely by myself. Roger had to work late so I decided I wasn't going to wait for him to get home to start dinner. I didn't want to be eating at 10:00 p.m. And I didn't want the meat that was thawed and marinating in the refrigerator to wait any longer before we cooked it. So I grilled all by myself. Yeah! I tried to remember everything Roger does so I didn't miss any steps. Like preheating the grill, oiling the grates before, probing the meat with the thermometer and setting it for five degrees below the desired temperature because it will continue to cook once you remove it from the heat. I even remembered to turn all the burners to high when everything was done cooking so that the stuff stuck on the grates would burn off. And I brushed off the grates when it was done. I grilled southwestern marinated turkey tenderloin and corn on the cob seasoned with this stuff. It was very tasty. Man, I'm good. The only bad thing about grilling by myself is that Roger now knows I can grill on my own and I can't use it as an excuse to not cook and make him do the grilling now. Darn. The grill has cooled down completely so I have to go cover the grill back up. Oh, I forgot to turn the natural gas off at the house. Oops.

Tune In

2009-05-22T11:24:00.012-05:00

While we were so busy these last few weeks, I totally forgot to tell you about a great book my women's bible study class covered this semester. And we hosted it weekly at our new house which was really cool. What a blessing to be able to host groups and meetings again in our home.

Tune In: Hearing God's Voice Through The Static was an amazing book to study. I highly recommend it. I learned a lot about hearing God's voice and being able to hear what he's telling me through relationships, people, circumstances, spiritual gifts, His word and the Holy Spirit. I learned about His will for us and His kingdom. The author, Jen Hatmaker, was our leader so that was really cool. She utilized all of the Bible, Old and New Testament, in her study. I read scripture I had never read before. I even read scripture I had read before but the Holy Spirit revealed something different to me. I love it when that happens.

And it was super funny too. Our group of women did some crying but a lot more laughing. It was great. Getting to know more women from our church and making new friends was awesome. I can't wait to do more of her studies. You should check them out. I'd let you borrow mine, but I already loaned it out. Sorry.

Can We Say Busy?!

2009-05-21T09:25:00.001-05:00

Oh wow, talk about busy. We have been so busy lately we have completely neglected blogging. Starting at the end of April and going to the end of May, we have had at least two, sometimes up to five events per weekend. We don't always get to all of them but we try. And we will have to split up once to cover all our events. Week days have been filled with work for Roger as usual and lots of projects, volunteering, serving and house duties for me. Of course I drag Roger into as many of those as I can. Here's a run down of what we've been doing lately.

For Easter our church held a Passover Seder celebration. It was so cool. You know I did my research on a Passover Seder meal before we attended. I have to know what I'm getting into before I get into it. Although it is a Jewish ritual feast, there is a Christian version of it which is what we did. It was amazing. Full of knowledge about the Old Testament, God himself, his character and his promises and about the Good News. I highly recommend everyone attend one in their lifetime. I want to go to Jerusalem even more now.

On April 26th I participated in my first sprint distance triathlon that wasn't canceled at the last minute or turned into a dualthon because of bad weather. I was so happy to finally do a sprint triathlon. I had a disastrous start, but my finish was great! Although swimming is the hardest part of a triathlon and I was more than prepared for it, the swim leg of the race did not go well for me. I learned a lot during this triathlon. And I mean a lot about every part of triathlons but I definitely learned I need to practice open water swimming a lot more.

I borrowed Roger's truck one day to get some over sized garage organization materials home and he was rear ended on the way home in my car. He suffered some pain in his right hip and was sore and stiff for a few days. But he's a lot better now. This would be the second time the rear end of my car has been damaged since we got it. The first time a teenager backed into it. But all repairs have been made and the other person's insurance covered it all (both times). Thank God we were hit by people who had insurance. Speaking of garage organization, we are finally finished with all our home improvements and decorating of the new house. We are basically done. All we have left is one chair to replace whenever that happens. We started trying to host gatherings, dinners, bbq's before it got too busy this month. We hosted a grilled pizza party for our community group and a happy hour with Roger's coworkers. Having the new deck and back yard landscaping done is working out well for socializing and grilling. Especially since our back yard faces East and is in the shade in the evening unlike our last house. We plan to host many more especially with our neighbors.

We have also been very busy volunteering and serving with our church. One week I volunteered eleven hours. We have served families that lost everything in an apartment fire, helped people move, washed cars for a free single mom's car wash, edited a video for church, hosted a birthday party for homeless children while their parents went to a class, signed in children to childcare before church, ran the lyrics and message during service, helped tear down after church, and cooked and delivered dinner to a couple with a new baby. Tonight we are delivering and assembling a baby crib for a single mom and Friday we are helping babysit for a fundraiser for a wonderful young lady in our church to go on a mission trip this summer. I'm sure there will be more serving and volunteering before the month of May is over. I know there will be. Our church has another Serve Austin Sunday coming up on May 31st. And you never know what else will come up. I'm just thankful our church is service oriented. They let us know when there are people in need and how we can help. "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:27

Last but definitely not least, our family is keeping us busy lately. We have quite a few birthdays in the month of May which means lots of parties and none of them are local. One special birthday party was my cousin's Quince Anos this past weekend. We traveled out of town to help decorate and attend it. And it was so much fun. It turned out to be a mini family reunion too. It was such a blessing and so great to see so many family members that we haven't seen in so long at one time. We did a lot of dancing. And if you know me well, you know how much I love to dance. I hope to have pictures up soon. The other birthdays celebrated and will be celebrated are another fifteen year old, a six year old, a one year old and I won't mention how old my brother-in-law is. That's just the last week of April through the end of May.

One thing is for sure, we have had a lot of fun staying busy. God gives us joy in all of it. "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:11 I know I have said this many times before, but I will try to blog more often so these things won't be so long. I know, you are all laughing right now.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T15:17:00.003-05:00

May your Mother's Day be a happy one!

May she who gave you birth be happy. ~ Proverbs 23:25

Free Car Wash for Single Mom's Saturday!!

2009-05-07T17:09:00.001-05:00

In honor of Mother's Day, Austin New Church and South Austin Cares (www.southaustincares.org) is hosting a FREE car wash for SINGLE MOMS, this Saturday from 10am-2pm at the Corner of South 1st Street and Slaughter Lane. In addition to a clean car, there will be Bounce Houses and "Mothers Day" crafts for the kids, and a few freebies and special offers for the moms (like $5 haircuts at the barbershop next door)

Fredericksburg Pictures

2009-04-19T11:03:00.005-05:00

Okay, I finally posted pictures from our sixth anniversary weekend in Fredericksburg on Flickr. Click on the link to the right to see them or go straight to the set here. We had a great time. I highly recommend checking Fredericksburg out on a weekend. We hit four vineyards, two free dances, the Nimitz Museum and a bunch of stores, restaurants, shops, galleries, etc on Main Street. We didn't do all we planned but we planned more in case we had more time. Obviously we only had enough time to do what we did. It was great. We'll just have to go back to finish the rest. And we had so much fun together. It's definitely been six fun, adventurous, wonderful years. The pictures have more information and links in the captions about our weekend getaway. Enjoy!

It's About Thyme

2009-04-15T18:25:00.019-05:00

I went on a little field trip of sorts today to a nursery right down the road from our house. I have been anxiously waiting the need to go buy compost, mulch and plants from them. And today I was finally ready. In anticipation for the sod coming next week in the back yard, I wanted to get some flower beds installed so we wouldn't have to pay for grass that we would eventually dig up later. So before the guy came out to measure the back yard yesterday I put in my edging around the deck below the benches so he would know not to measure that area. And today I got to the point that I was ready to fill those bad boys up.

It's About Thyme is a local nursery which has been open for 28 years. The people that work there are not only super nice, but have tons of wisdom and knowledge about landscaping, gardening, etc. And they love to share it by hosting free classes. Any question I had they were able to answer with good advice and accurate knowledge. It helps that I have been doing this for years so I know some, but can't always remember it. I felt totally welcome and appreciated there. Even with my maroon A&M cap in a sea of burnt orange caps and shirts. The gentleman who helped me load my truck even gave me a pat on the shoulder when he said goodbye and told me to come back again. They were great and their selection is unbelievable. Their plants are in great condition and they have lots of everything. I had no idea where to start but all I had to do is ask and they took me right to it. And there was always someone nearby or they appeared right when I had a question. Unlike some of those national stores where you can never find anyone to help you. That drives me crazy. Plus I felt great putting money back into my local economy. Not only was it a local business, but they supported local businesses as well. All my compost and mulch came from the local area, Austin and Cedar Park and one from Slaton which is close to Lubbock (still Texas!). And to make it better, all the packaging for the compost and mulch was recyclable. Awesome!

You definitely need to go check them out when you need any gardening and landscaping products or have questions. And just to give you some secret information. If you buy local farm eggs on Saturdays at the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market, you can get them $1 cheaper per dozen at the nursery anytime. They have a refrigerator in the little shack where you pay for everything. And there's a coupon on their website. The nursery is full of funky yard art and cool stuff inside the house. So shop local, help out your neighbors and have a great time while you do it.

Our New Deck

2009-04-11T14:45:00.010-05:00

Well, our new deck and arbor are almost complete. I'd say it's about 97%. All that's left is the skirting around the front bottom of the deck. The gentlemen who built it, Art & John from Aust-Tex Fence and Deck, were awesome. They are super skilled master carpenters. They reminded me a lot of my dad. Roger didn't get to meet them until day five and as soon as he met them when we walked back into the house the first thing he said was they reminded him of my dad. I seriously could sit there and watch them they are so talented. You could tell this wasn't their first deck. But it was best to leave them alone to do their thing. They did like to talk too so it was better to be out of sight and out of ear shot. But they were great and did an amazing job.

We are so excited about it. It's huge and beautiful. And once we get sod next week and I plant some lantana in the flower beds below the benches our back yard will be gorgeous and done! I can't wait. The sand lot back there is unbearable to be in for more than a few minutes. It doesn't help that there's an empty lot next to us and there's still a large part of the subdivision vacant and under construction. But at least we won't have the tornadoes of sand in our back yard anymore. We are so ready to have some grill outs. So get ready for an invitation!

SCUBA

2009-04-10T11:04:00.002-05:00

When I was at Walter Reed, I took free SCUBA diving classes and was on my way to getting PADI Certified, but my doctors said they would not approve it since I could have a seizure underwater and die. I was heartbroken, but understood. I hope that some day the risk will decrease and I might be able to try again.

Today, I came across this news snippet. It was interested because of my try before and experience with the SUDS program. I watched the video and lo' and behold, they interviewed Roy, one of the guys I had Aquatic Physical Therapy with and we were in the same SCUBA class together. I'm glad those guys got some media attention! Go Roy!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Pot of Gold?

2009-03-25T19:55:00.003-05:00

After a storm passed through South Austin, I saw the sun was out in the west and it was still raining east and thought... RAINBOW! Here's a picture I snapped from the back door of our house.

My parents and sister live in North Austin and had golfball to baseball size hail. There was some vehicle damage but none to their houses - Thank God!

Serve Austin Sunday

2009-03-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

If there is a fifth Sunday in any month of the year our church, Austin New Church, does not have church at 5:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Facility of Akins High School as usual. Instead we have church out in our community by serving others. There are usually three or four choices to choose from to volunteer. Roger and I have helped serve burgers to the homeless at a grill out downtown and helped landscape a butterfly garden at Houston Elementary in East Austin. This Sunday, March 29th, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. we will again be helping landscape but this time it will be the back yard of a training center and transitional home for Foundation for the Homeless. The Restore Community (aka community group) Roger and I are members of hosts a birthday party every month for the children of families who are being served by Foundation for the Homeless while their parents attend trainings on transitioning to self-sufficiency. The back yard of the home is very steep and full of rocks. It's not a safe place for children and not as usable as it could be. We utilize the parking lot of the church next door to play games with the children at our monthly birthday parties. So our community group has a personal connection to this Serve Austin Sunday project and we can't wait to make the back yard great for them. And we could use your help. If you are interested in joining us, just let us know and we'll give you all the details. We would love to have you help us. And we're supposed to get a "cold front" this weekend so the weather will be great for landscaping. Come join us!

Spring Break

2009-03-24T18:21:00.018-05:00

Well, it's really over. Spring break for Austin was last week. It went by too fast. It was crazy here in Austin. Not only was it spring break, but it was the first week of the Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo and South by Southwest, a huge international music and film conference. There were over 1800 bands performing in the area the whole week. It was a crowded, crazy place but it was fun. We had some fun of our own with not one, but two families visiting us during spring break. The first weekend of spring break our friend Kezia from DC went to Houston to visit her sister and family and they all headed to Austin to visit us. That was so sweet of Kezia to share her family time with us. It was so much fun. There was a lot of wine tasting, appetizer eating and game playing with a trip to the capitol and history museum plus some good barbeque thrown in. Good times. Then the last weekend, my brother and his family came to visit us and we went for a ride on the Bertram Flyer with the Austin Steam Train Association. We have been trying to do this together for many years. My five year old nephew Cole said he has been waiting 30 years to ride this train. He is a hoot! It was a lot of fun and very neat. I hope we get to go on a longer train ride next. It was awesome to be able to host entire families in our new house. We love our house even more now that we know we can accommodate more people. So come visit us why don't you?!

The Shack

2009-03-21T23:46:00.019-05:00

I finally finished the book, The Shack, tonight. I know, it took me forever it seems. But with life, moving and my other studies, I had to put it down for a bit. But I am so glad I picked it back up. I highly recommend it. It's amazing, wonderful and unbelievable. I don't usually read fiction, especially Christian fiction. I've always thought to learn about God I need to read non-fiction, you know, real stories, real life, etc. But I am so glad I read this book. I feel like I've learned so much about God in this story compared to the other non-fiction books I've read in a long time. Except for the Bible of course. It has truly touched my life and given me a 'magnificent glimpse into the nature of God.' Even if you aren't a believer or a Christian, it's a thrilling story that you will not want to put down. If you don't believe me, believe this. It is a New York Times best seller and has sold 5.5 million copies!

That being said, I want to quote a part of the book here. I love how God works. He always meets me where I am, telling me what I need to hear, over and over again. He loves us that much. I hear you God, but I need your help.

"All I want from you is to trust me with what little you can, and grow in loving people around you with the same love I share with you. It's not your job to change them, or convince them. You are free to love without an agenda."

The Man Perm Is Back!

2009-03-20T16:05:00.007-05:00

I have to share this. It is so hilarious and so courageous!

Turning the Male Perm Into a Very Good Hair Day

And it's for a good cause. If you donate to it, you are super cool!

Jenny Haigh Fundraiser, Man Gets Perm To Help Friend

Messages From God

2009-03-11T11:30:00.014-05:00

I just wanted to share some things God has revealed to me since my last post.

Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown.
- George Shinn

My personal responsibility is to be a living sacrifice to God: Romans 12 (NLT). I would love to post the entire chapter here, but I've included a link above to a great website that has every version of the Bible. So if the New Living Translation version doesn't speak to you, try the Message version or any version you like. You can change it on the drop down box at the top.

I received quite a few emails and phone calls in response to my last post. I want to thank all of you for your prayer, your concern and your love. It was nice to hear from all of you and I appreciate it. Knowing I can depend on you helps enormously. I'm not having issues with my faith or having problems hearing from God. I am hearing Him loud and clear. I just don't know how to do what He's telling me I need to do and it's definitely out of my comfort zone. So I'm a little scared. But I have learned in the days since that I need to do it with others not just the person I need to do it with. I know God is going to use this for even more amazing stuff. I can't wait to see it.

Learning Through Struggles

2009-03-06T10:43:00.016-06:00

One of my goals in life is to never stop learning and growing in the Lord. I do not ever want to become one of those I know it all believers. They are not only dry and not pleasant to be around, but they have stunted their relationship with God. I hope I never do that. Please my brothers and sisters, kick me in the butt if you see me doing this.

So in order to keep learning and growing, God puts me through situations so He can teach me about Himself and shape my mind and character to be more like Him. So anytime you talk to me, I am most likely going through something to which I am learning about God and His ways in the process. That's a too simple way to explain how it works.

But I'm struggling in one area of my heart right now. Not that I haven't struggled with it before, but I think God believes I may be ready to address it now. I've been working on focusing on His Word and Him so I don't have any distractions from hearing His voice and so I can tell His voice from the other voice that tries to tell me things (and lies to me). And what I have been hearing from Him (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) in the last few months is it's time to work on that part of my heart. I am scared because it's a part of my heart that I don't want to address.

If you know me well, you know how I feel about needing and wanting. There's a huge difference between needing and wanting. I don't want to address this but I need to. It's so much easier to just ignore it, but I know I can not live with this much longer. Not only will it prevent me from growing in my relationships with people but it will prevent me from growing closer to God. And that's something I for sure do not want to do.

So there you have it. I don't want to go into any more detail than that. I'm shaking as it is just typing this, on the verge of tears. It's something I am really struggling with and I really want to let go of it but it's hard and I don't know how to let go of it. So please pray for my heart, for the Holy Spirit to teach me how, for Jesus' love to fill me up so I can love like Him and for God to continue to speak to me so I don't push this off any longer. Thanks.

3 Years!

2009-03-03T23:20:00.003-06:00

I had brain surgery on March 3rd, 2006. It's weird to think about where I was and how far I have come. I am so glad to be home too! I spent the last hour going through blogs from Feb 2006 and on for a few months. Maaan.. I am so glad that is behind us. If you're interested, go here Blog Archive Feb 2006 and start and the bottom and read up. The real action starts in March 2006. You can see the dates on the right.

A million thanks to my Holly for being there every single day. I think she had a harder time than I did sometimes. Thanks to my family and many atsnks to our church family at Grace back in DC. We love you guys!

And today also happens to be my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Mirna!

I hope you didn’t give some guy in London 500 bucks today

2009-03-02T23:27:00.002-06:00

I got to work today and as usual, I start up all of my apps. I usually hop into my Gmail too just to cover the bases. At first it would not let me in… I just figured they had a server down or something. But after an hour or so it started to annoy me. How could Google, the monolith that runs Gmail have a server down? I’ve heard stories of people just losing their accounts… everything just gone. That really worried me. I emailed Holly from my work email at 10:56am just to let her know my Gmail was down. I tended to a few work items and tried again and it still didn’t work. I thought I’d try logging in to Facebook and it didn’t let me in either. It was at that second that I figured something was up.

I got out my phone and fiddled with it to see if I could access something… anything. And while it was in my hand, it rang. The time was 11:53am. It was a 703 area code. Nothing out of the ordinary… northern Virginia… where I lived for three years. I answered it and a female voice at the other end asked, “Roger?” I said yes. “Where are you?” I thought that was a weird question… “I’m at work” I told her. She relented, “but where?” “In Austin,” I was really confused at this point. Then she said, “This is Ava.” Then it clicked who she was. It was a former co-worker of mine whom I worked with in Washington DC. She began to explain that someone was chatting with her on Facebook saying that he was me, and he was in London and was mugged and needed $500 wired to him ASAP to catch a flight home. I sat in shock. How did this punk get into my accounts? That’s what confused me. She tried to lead him on for a while and asked him questions. He tried to answer by pulling information about me from my Facebook. After a while he gave up and stopped talking to her. It was at this point that I didn’t really know what to do next. I thought to myself that I need to get a hold of the banks. We talked for a bit longer, I thanked her profusely for calling me and I let her go.

I managed to get on the credit card and bank website and changed their passwords. I called Holly and we began working on changing all of the passwords to our online accounts… utilities and other email accounts. I finally decided to call Citibank, my credit card, and ask them what I should do. I was on hold for quite a bit, which is uncharacteristic for Citibank compared to my past experiences. I was finally connected to an agent and explained my situation the best I could. He then told me that they had been contacted by the VISA and MasterCard companies about an online merchant whose customer database had been breached. Citibank had already cancelled my cards and reissued new ones.

At first I was caught off guard. But then it made sense. Whoever got their data must have gotten the email address I registered with the site and password I registered with. Stupidly, it was the same as my email and Facebook password! It all made sense now. These guys look for credit cards too, but the number they had was worthless. I use a different virtual credit card number every time I make an online purchase – it’s only good for that one time. But I guess they know to see if you use the same password for the purchase for your email too. That’s where they got me.

I immediately went to Gmail’s site and found a page where you can report that your account was compromised. They make you answer questions about your email setup that only you know and then you just submit the form. I had no idea how long it would be until I heard anything back. I tried to do the same for Facebook, but it was a lot harder and I didn’t get very far. It was just after 12:30pm and I was late for a meeting. I really wanted to keep working on changing passwords, but I know Holly was on it and there wasn’t much else I could do.

I sat through that meeting not really paying very good attention. I was bummed but really more worried. I tried to think everything through that we were doing to make sure we were doing everything that we could do to make sure any damage was limited.

I got out of my meeting around 1:15pm and went right back to my desk. And lo and behold there was an email from Gmail telling me that they had locked my account and all I had to do was click a link to reset everything. I did that immediately and changed the password. I was feeling pretty pumped at this point and went to Facebook and clicked a link there to reset my password and reset it there too! What a relief!! I closed both accounts and called Ava again to ask her to see if she could still see me online on either account. She looked and I was offline in both. I was afraid that maybe he still had it open while I reset the passwords and wasn’t kicked out yet. Me not showing up in chat was a pretty good indication that it was over.

It was a little after 2pm when I was able to put a status update on Facebook telling people that my account was hacked and to let me know if someone contacted them asking for money. Then I went into Gmail and looked to see if he emailed anyone but it didn’t look like it. There were a few emails from ebay stating that my account was disabled due to possible fraudulent activity… that was good. Then I remembered that Gmail keeps a log of all chats and I checked those out. It looked like he contacted a few people – six to be exact. All of them looked like a short number of lines… just four or six. But one had about sixty… and it read like this (I have removed my friend’s name):

11:40 AM me: Hey
Friend: what up dude?
11:41 AM me: Not too good
How are you
11:43 AM Friend: couldn't be better. What's wrong?
11:45 AM me: I Was mugged at gun point in london lastnight
Friend: What?! you on vacation?
11:46 AM me: Yeah
Those muggers took my wallet and bank card with my cellphone
Friend: did you get hurt?
me: Am stuck here at the moment and i need help with my flight ticket back home
11:47 AM Friend: you alone?
11:48 AM me: Am with my wife here
Friend: is she ok?
11:49 AM me: She is not
We need help right now cos we need to leave here in the next two hours
11:50 AM Friend: what do you need bro?
11:51 AM me: My Flight would be leaving in the next two hours i need $700 to complete my flight ticket back home
11:52 AM Friend: how would i get it to you?
me: You can wire the money online to me Via www.westernunion.com
11:53 AM Friend: How do i know this is really roger, tell me something only you and i would know
11:56 AM me: I Am Roger and Married to Holly Mommaerts
11:57 AM my high school X High 'xx
employer United States Army
Friend: k, let me talk to my wife really quick
me: Ok

---5 minutes---

12:03 PM me: Are you there
Friend: yeah, waiting for my wife to call back
shes at work
12:05 PM convincing her it's not a scam
...
me: Well am more than these
12:06 PM I Would refund the money back as soon as i return
12:07 PM Friend: i need a recieving country
im on the website
me: Ok
London Uk
12:08 PM Wire it to roger mommaerts
12:10 PM Did you get the message
Friend: Yeah, im registering with the website
12:11 PM me: Ok
12:14 PM Are you through
12:15 PM Friend: sending right now
gave me a number to call to complete transanction, hold on
12:16 PM me: You want to call western union
12:18 PM Friend: im on the ohone right now, she just has to verify everything for security purposes
12:19 PM me: Ok
12:20 PM Friend: she's saying she has to validate my identity
12:22 PM me: Ok
Friend: almost these
there*
12:23 PM she said the soonest you will be able to pick it up will be after an hour from now
is that alright?
me: Yeah
12:24 PM Give me the MTCN NUMBER
Friend: 76xxxxxx62
12:25 PM now get your ass back home
12:26 PM me: Alright

----6 minutes----

12:33 PM Friend: I'll stay online, if you can let me know when you get on the flight
12:34 PM me: Ok i would talk to you

That was it. He had a victim. I immediately chatted with my friend…

2:32 PM me: Friend - you there?
you got scammed
some guy hijacked my gmail and facebook
2:33 PM call western union back asap and tell them it was a scam
you there?
Friend: yes im here
me: it was a scam
Friend: what the hell
2:34 PM me: call western union back
i am so sorry
what is your hopne number?
i will call you
Friend: 5555551212
2:36 PM me: sorry man

I called him and explained what had happened. I urged him to call Western Union immediately and call me back. He called me back at 2:52pm and WU said they already picked up the money. They also advised him to contact the local police where he lives and also the London Metro Police. I asked my friend how he paid and he said credit card. I told him to call the credit card company to see what they could do.

Another friend from DC called me at 3pm to ask me if everything was okay because she was being asked for money earlier in the morning. I assured her all was well.

I was away from my desk and saw that my friend called me at 3:30pm and I missed it. I called him back at 3:45pm and he said he had talked to both police departments and his credit card. And that his credit card company said it would not be charged against him since it was fraud – what a blessing!

Holly and I did place a fraud alert on our credit too just to be on the safe side.

It was nearing 4pm and I had not had a bite to eat since just a banana around 12:30pm. I finally ate my lunch and got some work done. I hung around the office with a splitting headache until around 7:30pm.

The only pending issue I have now is that Facebook has decided to disable my account due to fraudulent use. No duh. I got an email from them earlier and it asked me a security question that I thought was correct. I just got an email that it was not correct and that my account will remain disabled. I replied with what I am sure it really must have been, so we’ll see if they give me another chance. I think it’s a bit weird that they don’t have any other way to reset your account and they just disable it. But that is not a life stopper. Life without Facebook isn’t a biggie. I really haven’t had much time to spend on there recently anyway.

Well, it has been a long mentally and emotionally exhausting day. I guess if there is one lesson I have learned from this it is to make sure all your important accounts have a unique password. Especially different from the ones you use to purchase anything online. I am very thankful that Holly and I were able to keep our wits about us, stay cool and hop on top of everything to regain control. Be very wary about anyone asking you for money, even if it is someone you think is your friend.

mommaerts.org :: blog

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