Tomorrow is the 8th anniversary of my wedding, and Friday is the next FOCUS seminar. Both changed my life, but since you probably already know how to get married, I'll explain a little about FOCUS. Let's see...it's like a counseling session on steroids. It's more refreshing than a vacation. It's like a ladder leading to the life you really want to live.

The idea started with Dr. Phil's family and was bought by a guy in Kansas City. Then a guy here in Boise went to the seminar, decided he wanted to bring the training to our town and quit his job to do so. (There is a picture of my hubby holding this guy above--Steve Caven. I'm second from the left in the picture with the ladies.) Since then tons of people have gone through and we still get together to party.

So what did it do for me? My husband and I went into it rating our marriage a 7, we left rating it a 10. It enabled me to find balance (some days better than others) so I could fulfill my dream of writing a novel--now being considered for publication. And it has released me from a desperation to perform/achieve.

FOCUS is a tool I recommend to everyone. It's tough at times, but you deserve the reward it offers. And they do have a money back guarantee--not that anyone has ever asked for a refund. The web address is listed under MY LIFE ONLINE. Check it out. Get focused.

Being Oregon Duck alumi makes it hard to cheer for the home team here in Boise. Yes, the Broncos are a Cinderella story, and the coach is coach of the year, but my husband argues that it isn't fair to rank them over bigger univerisities that play tougher teams all season long. He's even brainwashed our children to believe that being a Bronco fan is a sin.

I can't tell you how many phone calls Dan got after they beat Oklahoma. The whole church party put Dan on speaker phone, and a woman from our home group called to see if we needed to set up a suicide watch. But Dan's own brother, John, got him the best. New Year's Eve he came over to our house when we were gone and painted our yard orange and blue--with paint used for construction so it won't wash off. The front lawn says: GO BRONCOS, and the side lawn says: I LOVE BSU.

We had an appraisal on our house this morning and Dan's planning to tell John that the lettering brought the appraisal down $10,000. The truth is the appraiser joked that here in Boise, people might pay extra for that kind of grafiti. And even though we are here to stay, we're still pretty excited about U of O's basketball record so far. Go ducks!

I like to go to my kids' school chapel service on Wednesdays. Today is was about persistence. Besides doing a really cute (the Kindergarteners laughed a little too loud) puppet show, the speaker read a story from the Bible about how a widow kept going to a corrupt judge and asking for justice. He was not a man who feared God or loved men, but he did give the woman justice just so she would leave him alone. How much more will our Father in heaven grant us if we are persistent in asking?

And last night, Dan and I went to a dessert at a friends new house where I read this scripture verse hung on their bathroom wall: But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance; perserverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

They also had a buck head (is there a name for that?) hung on the wall wearing sunglasses, but that's another story. Hmm...maybe I'll put that into one of my manuscripts. But for now, I'm focusing on perserverance.