January 26, 2013: Chili and Pedicures

There was a chili cook off at Hot Rod Harley in downtown Muskegon. My mom and I liked the white chili from Coastline Deli. They have won the past 4 years. The other contestants were Just Klassics, Hennessy's, and Canary Inn. It was fun to go to this event.

Then, Mom and I had pedicures at Hairitage Day Spa. That was great. Found out later that my cousin Joy and Kim had pedicures. The same day. Also, my cousin Kelsey had bought chocolate and wine and treated she and my aut Charlene to pedicures for Charlene's birthday. That's so funny we all had pedicures the same day.

January 18, 2013: Harvest Bible Church

Last Sunday, I went to Harvest Bible Chapel, which is in the International Aid building off of Old Grand Haven Rd. Kathy Wynne, whom I met at Jerry Depoy Jr's church inside the Harbor Theater, had told us about this new church. As usual, I had a hard time getting up in the morning last Sunday, so decided would check out Harvest, as I was running late.

The sermon was called: Working for God. The lead pastor, David Wisen, gave some statistics from Forbes magazine as to how people liked/disliked their jobs and why. He said he taught his kids to work hard, so bought a bakery and the family worked early in the morning making bread. He wanted to teach them the value of work. He mentioned that he started out working at the Chicago Board of Trade right after college and how he worked hard, but the boss took all of the praise. Then, he did some work in investments and real estate. He worked for his father-in-law who owned VanKampen Investments. Then, he decided he wanted something more, so became a pastor, which he enjoys.

My mom mentioned that she had read something about him and that the father-in-law had wealth and started a church in West Olive.

I went to the pastor's house at 13151 Lakeshore Dr in Grand Haven. My friend Jen came with me, which was so nice. I had found out that his home was worth $5 million and overlooked Lake Michigan. We were both impressed with the home having elevators, a huge living room and kitchen. We didn't see the rest of the home, but I imagine it was pretty nice.

The church will be moving into the old Christ Community Church in Spring Lake around March 24th.

I found out that the Pastor also owns my favorite bread store in Grand Haven, Great Harvest Bread Company.

I have enjoyed going to Bridge Bible Church in Norton Shores. Eric Strattan is great. I have met some wonderful people there, so I am not sure I want to go somewhere else. I will trust that God will put me where I should be.

November 18, 2012: Carrie Underwood Concert

I bought Mom and I tickets to see the Carrie Underwood concert at the VanAndel Arena in Grand Rapids.    She performed a very nice show. I liked how they brought the stage up into the air and forward to the other side of the arena so the people in the back could see her more up close.  

November 16, 2012: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II

Tiffany Peterson and I had been excited about the opening of the final installment of the movie "Twilight". I am in love with the character, Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner. Taylor is originally from Hudsonville, Michigan. He and his family moved to California when he was around 10 years old. The other two main
characters, Bella and Edward were played by Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison.

We got tickets to ladies night for this movie. They gave us pizza and other appetizers. Plus, they gave us popcorn and pop. We had bought our tickets for the event in Muskegon, but the event was cancelled, so the event manager gave us our money back and free tickets to the same event at Celebration theater in Grand Rapids. There were over 400 people in theater #1.

On our way home, it was very foggy outside. I could not see in front of me. It made me a little nervous. Tiffany invited me to go to Mo'z which is the gay bar in Muskegon. I had always wanted to see a drag queen show there so thought I would go. It was comical seeing the pitchers of alcohol with two colored straws in them. I guess that would be for your partner.
Tonight, the theme was 60s. The emcee was quite funny. He liked to pick on our table. He/she gave me the nickname, bob, because of my bob haircut. Tiffany was called TJ. One of her friends was called Tiny Tim. Her friend is from Germany. Tiffany has two male gay friends who were at our table.

We got jello shots later and I could not suck that jello out of the container. I was cracking up.

Later on, the emcee said I looked like I came from a Seventh Day Adventist Church. Do I really look like a church lady?

There are many straight people who go there, including me. I have to say that I was impressed that no one hit on me and the people were just there to have fun and dance. I heard that you don't see bar brawls at these places like you do in a regular bar.

I drove home in the fog and was glad to get home safely.

November 12: Gordon Food Service Corporate Office

In observance of veteran's day, I didn't have to work. Mom and I went to Spring Lake to see Joan Morse's new apartment style condo. Then, we had a nice lunch at Two Tonys restaurant which was across the street.

Later on, I got dressed up in my business suit and headed to Grand Rapids to tour the new corporate office for Gordon Food Service which is located at 1300 Gezon Parkway in Wyoming.

There was an article in our local newspaper on Sunday about the new office. The building is gorgeous. They used mostly West Michigan companies to build the facility, as well as the inside furnishings. Each employee was able to pick out the type of desk and chair they wanted. I like the new adjustable desks.

Our tour guide, Erin, showed us around the building. There were some Art Prize pieces on the walls. The skillet display of North America was a copy of the original, as the original did not include Canada, which is the newest territory they are marketing. They also had the rain display which also was made special by the Art Prize artist.

This tour and professional development opportunity was hosted by a volunteer group called Blend. They do three events per year at different locations.

I asked our tour guide if it was hard to get a job there. He said for every 200 job postings, they get around 6,000 applicants. The typical work week is about 50-60 hours.

They served us some appetizers at the event.

Then, we listed to a speaker, Cliff, who has worked at GFS for 19 years. He said the CEO has an open door policy which is unlike any other company he has worked for. He can go to the boss's office anytime.

He spoke about being a victim or victor when it comes to life's obstacles. He was very inspirational.

After the event, I drove to Rivertown Mall in Grandville and met up with my bus driver friend, Tim Shelton and his lady friend, Katy Newberg. It started to snow last night. I don't care for that wet stuff, especially driving in it. Luckily, it melted right away.

October 14, 2012: Abundant Life Tabernacle

I met a very nice lady, Thelma Prather, at Barnes and Noble. She sits with our group on Friday nights. Her husband, Ron, is the pastor of Abundant Life Tabernacle on Hts. Ravenna Rd. This weekend, they were celebrating his 25th year of being a pastor. He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. He met Thelma at a funeral in Ohio and they fell in love. They got married in 1970.

I was surprised to see someone I knew there. It was Danuel German, whom I used to work with at Sears back in 2001. She left there a year ago and has a job now at GH Express in Muskegon Heights. It was great seeing her.

The church service was 2 1/2 hours. Towards the end, they have the congregation come up front and someone touches your head and prays for each person. I had never experienced that before.

After the service, they provided us a nice meal. I met Colleen Walther. She was very nice. She lived in Louisiana for many years but moved back to Hesperia. I got to talk with Danuel too. I got a kick out of her surrounded by 4 desserts. The food was wonderful and everyone was so nice.

September 20, 2012: Jennifer Wagenmaker's Book Signing

When I found out Jennifer Wagenmaker (Jerry Depoy's sister) had written a book and was having a book signing, I decided I had to go to Barnes and Noble and support her.  The name of the book is:  "Becoming:  All that God Created Me to Be".   I bought the book and had her sign it. I read it in about 2 days.  It was very interesting to read about her life.  

I asked her how long it took her to write and publish the book.  She said it took her a little over a year.    She gave me the inspiration to write my own book.