Pickled Pink

Chicken & Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

2011-04-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Shirlene requested this recipe so I thought I would share it with everyone. It is one of the yummy comfort foods from The Food Nanny rescues dinner cookbook!

1 1/2 to 2 pounds, skinless chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth
6 medium russet potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled & cut into 2 inch chunks
2 Tbs butter
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
salt and ground black pepper
6 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (optional)
1/2 cup water (optional)
2 cups frozed peas, thawed (optional)

1. Put the chicken and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat, cover, and simmer 18-20 minutes, until the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the pot to cool, reserving the broth in the pan.

2. Meanwhile, put the potatoes in another pot and cover with water. Add a few shakes of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, decrease the heat to simmer, and continue cooking until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and, mash the potatoes in the pot with a mixer or potatoe masher. Add the butter, milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover to keep warm.

4. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, tear the meat into pieces with two forks. Stir the chicken pieces into the broth and place over high heat.

5. When the broth boils, add the noodles. When it boils again, decrease the heat to medium and cook the noodles until tender-following package directions.

NOTE: For thicker broth, make a paste by whisking 1/2 cup flour into 1/2 cup cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour a little of the paste into the pot after the noodles are cooked. Stir well until blended and boil for one minute, adding more thickening as desired.

6. Optional: Stir in the peas until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. To serve, mound the mashed potatoes in the center of the platter and ladle the chicken mixture over it. Season generously with additional salt and pepper.

Crappy Day Lessons and White Chili Recipe

2011-04-13T10:28:00.001-07:00

15 hrs grad school + Being mom+ track season= no time for blogging Not that I haven't wanted to blog, but it seems grad school has taken over my life. I was dwelling on the fact that I have missed out on so much of life this year as I have been stuck in the textbooks and behind the computer working on papers and class assignments. I have had to miss lots of church meetings and events, which really makes me upset. I have had to miss my kids activities, track meets, boys scout stuff, everything!! Yesterday I was having my own little pitty party. Man was I dwelling in it! I guess the end of semester action research paper, coupled with the rainy, cold, dreary day was really getting the best of me! I lost two very important pieces of research data. I burned dinner (in the microwave....how do you do that??) and to top it all off I broke my favorite serving bowl that my mom got me for my birthday last year (in the microwave...it cracked with the burned food in it.) So I had a good cry and then started praying. Praying...over a broken bowl, a broken attitude, a broken year. The Holy Spirit welled up inside me and poured on the positive and reminded me of the many blessings that I have been given this year, and just yesterday. I didn't find the missing data, but the Holy Spirit reminded me of the answers and I recreated the missing data. My bowl didn't piece itself back together....but He reminded me that there are 6 other bowls, smaller but still, it wasn't the only one, and my pretty red bowl just has a crack...I can still use it for something, maybe a flower pot? The kids had cereal for dinner..which they thought was super cool...and I punished myself for the bad attitude and ate nothing. I went and put on my fuzzy zebra print pajamas and got back to work on my research paper. You know what? I completed that research paper in record time! I had scheduled at least three days to get that thing done...instead I got it done in a little less than 24 hours! The Holy Spirit reminded me that it's satan that is trying to bring me down but my God is bigger than ANY crappy day that statan tries to bring me down with...and my God has the POWER to end any crappy day with VICTORY! So today I am thankful for that reminder. I am looking at the positives and the blessings, and reminding myself that God has POWER over my life. Nothing satan does or puts in my mind has a chance as long as I rely on God. He has promised never to leave or forsake me....{especially on the crappy days]. —Isaiah 26:3-4 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. I woke up today with a fresh outlook and God gave us a gorgeous, warmer, sunny day today! Dinner might have burned last night, but my house smells amazing with tonights dinner in the crockpot (recipe below). I have one research paper completed and only 7 more big assignments left. I only have 103 days until I graduate with my Masters degree! The flowers are blooming and summer is close.

I have a healthy new nephew...Cade Emerson Peters...what an amazing reminder of God's awesome power!

Dwell on the blessings and Pray when satan tries to get you dwelling on anything else! The Holy Spirit will rush to rescue you from the battlefield of your mind!

White Chili Crock Pot Recipe

1 lb great northern beans soaked

1 med onion chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced

2 4-ounce cans green chilies

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (I threw it in frozen then pulled it apart with form when it was cooked)

6 cups of water

6 chicken boulion cubes

Put all ingredients in crock pot. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover, cook on low 10-12 hrs, high 6-8 hrs.

A Prayer For My Friend

2011-02-03T23:30:00.000-08:00

Have a friend heavy on my heart today. This song says it all, so I will keep it short!

Busy Busy- Having a Merry Heart In A Martha World

2011-02-03T22:16:00.001-08:00

Spring semester of grad school is off with a bang. I have been burried with chapters and chapters and more chapters. I am also tutoring a struggling reading student for the semester as part of my requirements.

All this on top of an already hectic life. Is it ironic that in the beginning of January I started leading an online book club at FaithSisters.com? More like, it is just what God knew I needed! Another one of His fingerprints in my life, leading me to choose THIS book - Having a Merry Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver.

Have you ever read a book and thought, this was written just for me? If you are a busy person like me, then this book was written just for you! God is really using this book to speak to me about lots of things in my busy chaotic life.

This weeks chapter has released me from feeling guilty for giving up some of my "stuff" that I have taken on. While there are many needs, God has not asked ME to meet every one. Why do I always feel like I have to volunteer to do things? Then I have myself stretched so thin that when the Holy Spirit does ask something of me, I am either to busy with something else, or too exhausted to do what God really wants me to do...not to mention the fact that sometimes I am so busy with "stuff" that I don't even have time to hear Him calling me.

Last semester I was forced to let go of some things that I consider very important, like being an AWANA leader, due to my busy grad school schedule. I have felt so guilty about it, but deep down, I know that I am on the right path by getting my Masters in Reading. If I had any doubts about that, they were eased when I went looking for a student struggling with reading to tutor. Oh my goodness are there so many children who need help with reading. So while AWANA is good, and important, it isn't what he wants me doing right at this moment. And as hard as it is for me to accept, there are others who have taken over my role at AWANA while I am away. This chapter also helped me to realize that by always feeling like I have to be the one to do things and be in charge, I could be stealing someone else's blessing.

So if you haven't noticed, I am a Martha! I have the same spiritual handicap of busyness that left Martha unable to enjoy the intimacy of Jesus presence.

I cannot do everything, but I can do "one thing."
I cannot meet every need, but I can respond in obedience to the need the Spirit lays on my heart.
I cannot carry every load, but I can carry the load God has for me.
For His yoke, indeed, is easy, and His burden is truly light.

Friends, don't put off reading this book! I have had it laying in my house for a whole year. I wish I had read it sooner! Joanna Weaver was definitely God inspired to write this book. It isn't to late to join our online bookclub either!

It seems like after reading every chapter of this book I have a song in my head....
this time it was Lifesong by Casting Crowns.

American Idol Season 10 New Judges rock

2011-01-19T18:41:00.001-08:00

I spent the day doing homework, cooking a yummy new recipe that I will share later, going to AWANA and then relaxing with my favorite show!

Woohoo! The only show I ever watch on TV is back. I was really worried about the new judges but I gotta say it has been my favorite audition night ever. If this is any indication of how the season is going to go then WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! It is gonna be a fantastic season.

I have never watched the show for the judges. Simon actually really got on my nerves. All the naysayers have predicted this will be the last season since Simon is gone. I think we are off to a pretty good start with our new judges! Well with the exception of that one Brittney Spears wanna be that they put through tonight!

I love watching and trying to figure out who is going to go far. The past few years I have been right on. Chris Daughtry was my pick several years ago and well, I still think I was right on that one! What was America thinking???????

My faves for tonight were Robbie the 16 yr old, the 15 yr old girl, I didnt get to see the Kosovo girl but my friends say they loved her. My heart is pulling for Travis Orlando the last one on tonight...wow what a story and he can sing and is such a sweetie! Then his mom running in and raising her hand praising the Lord, she even said thank you God and it didn't get edited out! I was actually crying, I wasn't the only one because Ryan was crying too!

This was by far the best audition night ever. I usually don't enjoy the auditions much. This time they showed more of the singers and just a few of the bad singer clips...instead of killing us with tons of the crappy ones like the usually do.

So long Simon!! The show WILL go on without you!

I Love Cooking

2011-01-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

I was planning to post my Meal plan every Monday so I could use the cute Meal Plan Monday that I did so long ago...but per usual I forgot yesterday! This is the life of an overworked grad student...very FORGETFUL! That forgetfulness is the main reason I want to try and stay faithful at journaling on this blog!

An update about me and the Food Nanny! Well we haven't gotten along perfectly...but she is inspiring and I am trying my best to be more like her when it comes to meal time. I posted my menu for last week and was off to a good start by getting all my shopping done for two weeks of menus. Then wouldn't you know it...LIFE got in the way!

I didn't do so great of a job about planning my menu around evening taxi services and events. So we still ended up eating out once last week, and my menu got a little off kilter because I had chicken thawing the night we went out so we had to use that the next day...blah, blah, blah. So it hasn't taken me long to realize that we might have to be a little more flexible...every Thursday will not always be Mexican day, etc. But thats ok. Other than that my family is LOVING the Food Nanny and her recipes!

I have discovered that I am alot more like my Grandma Vinnie than I realized. She LOVED to cook. I have always dreaded cooking. But now I see that it is just i dreaded cooking the same ole stuff. When I made out our menu I planned it using all new recipes from the Food Nanny cookbook. I have enjoyed cooking dinner!! I think another part of that dreading to cook was simply not knowing what I was going to cook till the last minute and then not having the right ingredients when I did decide what I was fixing. With the Food Nanny's help I am no longer having that problem. I have two weeks worth of recipes ready and all of the ingredients for those recipes! It is amazing how just that simple prep of planning the menu, and immediately making the grocery list for those recipes and my once every two week trip to the store has made cooking enjoyable! I really am still in shock!

So today while waiting to pick up Tyler from school I was reading All You magazine. My next set of menus will be planned with some tips I learned in an article!

*Browse ads and sale fliers before making your menu. Try to plan your menu around things that are on sale.

*Gather coupons that match those sale ads and put them in an envelope.

*Sit down with the family calendar and map out easy, faster meals for busy evenings and schedule the more time consuming meals for the less busy evenings.

*Start a little notebook that you can keep in your purse to list prices, date and store so that you know the rock-bottom cost of items you buy most frequently. This will help me so much cause with my memory, I am constantly trying to figure out how much I usually pay to see if something is a good deal!

So here is our meal plan for this week:

Monday- Pork Barbecue, baked beans, mac and cheese
Tuesday- Hearty Chili and Homemade cornbread
Wed- Tuna Noodle Casserole, salad, cornbread
Thurs- Chicken Salsa Casserole, mexican rice w/fresh tomato
Fri- Savory Meatloaf, Baked Buttered Carrots, Mashed potatoes
Sat- Leftovers
Sun- Shepherds Pie, Spinach salad with fruit and cheese

Really excited for that Chicken salsa casserole

Busy Day and some Worship

2011-01-17T21:44:00.001-08:00

We woke up bright and early to head to Clarksburg to have lunch with Papa and Barb, and pick up some memorabilia from the Mountaineer Military Museum for Nic's Social Studies project on the Attack of Pearl Harbor.

Brooke drove us to Clarksburg. It was her first time driving on the interstate. And her first time driving in a couple of weeks due to all this snow. She did really well on the interstate...I only had to grab the door handle and use my imaginary brake a couple of times. She has trouble staying in the center of the lane and tends to drift over across the line on the right. She is getting better though!

Tyler stayed home and helped Brent and Christina lay their hardwood floor. Tyler is a worker and loves to help people. Such a sweet boy!

We stopped to visit Grammy Betty for a a little while before heading back to Parkersburg. When it came time to leave we got STUCK in her snow covered driveway. It tooks us quite a long time, and a neighbors help to get out of there.

We arrived home much later than planned. Then Nic and I spent the evening working on his Social Studies project display board. He has to do his class presentation tomorrow. Then Social Studies Fair is Thursday. He had so much fun doing his project...just kept saying, this is so much fun! I have to admit that I enjoyed helping him with it. I have never really studied much about Pearl Harbor...I learned a bunch. He is so excited that Papa loaned him a real World War II Navy uniform to wear during his presentation! Having a Papa that owns a military museum really pays off when you are doing a war related social studies project! Pictures to come when we get the display all set up at the fair Thursday!

Yesterday was an amazing day at church. It is so awesome to see all of the things that we have been praying for all these years coming to fruition! We have an amazing Pastor who is truly God inspired. We started a Prayer journey on Sunday night and will be having a focus on prayer the rest of the year....super excited about that. There is no better way to draw closer to the Lord than by praying. Our Praise band is just getting better and better, and we are having SO MUCH FUN leading praise and worship!! Here is a video I made for worship...

Arise My Love

2011-01-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

We went to Winter Jam last weekend and it was simply amazing as usual. 8000 people there to worship the Lord with some amazing bands. My favorite part of Winter Jam every year is Newsong singing Arise my Love. One of my favorite songs ever. The crowd ALWAYS erupts, not an eye dry and not a hand unraised when they sing "and the grave could not hold THE KING!!!"

I found this phenominal video that had me crying crocodile tears while watching it.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2: 20(NKJV)

How can she have this faith in God??

I have a personal relationship with HIM. Through that relationship he has revealed many things to make my faith in Him stronger and stronger!

Who would believe that a Rolex they came across just evolved on its own? No intelligent being would. It would be quite evident that a watchmaker had to be involved with its creation. The creation around us is just the same. The Master Creator....GOD... created the world and everything in it. This world did not just come to be from a big bang. Can people really believe that we evolved from monkeys? Why aren't monkeys still evolving and why aren't we evolving into something else?? Who created the monkeys to begin with??

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
~Hebrews 11:1

Fast and Easy Tortilla Soup

2011-01-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

WOW! This is a super fast and extremely easy soup recipe from the Food Nanny website.

1 can corn
2 can 14 oz chicken broth or I used 2 14 oz cans of water and 4 chicken boullion cubes
1 can chunk chicken
1 can 15 oz black beans
1 can diced tomatoe and green chilis drained

Pour everything into a stock pot and simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through. Serve with tortillas. Yum! And oh so fast!!!

The Right Path

2011-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

I know it is only normal to question if you are doing the right thing, following the right path, the path the God would have you to follow. During my past year quitting my preschool teaching/ director job and going to grad school full time I have asked this question many times...am I doing the right thing?

I know without a doubt that my gift is working with children. Always has been, even when I was a child myself. I have always had the gift of helping children understand things. Children have always been drawn to me. I have always been drawn to them.

I took another path for many years. I really enjoy business, direct sales, being my own boss. I did really well with my own business...if I could just keep scrapbooking companies from going out of business and therefore killing a business I worked so hard to build! Having that happen twice got me to questioning if I was on the right path, or if the Lord was shutting those doors because it wasn't the path he wanted me to follow.

After much prayer, I went back into teaching and working with children. While working in preschool my desire to teach children to read was strong so I decided to persue working on my masters in reading. Teaching reading was something I became extremely passionate about in my undergrad studies at Glenville. I had to tutor elementary students twice a week for one of my teaching reading classes. I LOVED it. The excitement that I got from helping a struggling child enjoy reading was exhilerating. There is nothing better than seeing a child unlock the mystery of reading and finally GET IT. Yet these past few months I keep questioning this path...is it really the right one?

So many opportunities have presented themselves, maybe not the easier path, because all of them take work...but maybe something I would enjoy more? Something that would bring in a better income? Kids can be a real pain sometimes...do I really want to spend my everyday dealing with other peoples unruly children? Do I really love kids as much as I think I do? My class last night left me questioning my ability to do this...there is so much to helping struggling readers...can I ever remember it all? Am I really cut out for this. Satan really had me on a roll there for a bit...and then the discouraging, stressful ride home in the snow didn't help matters ANY! The problem was, I hadn't even realized it was satan.

Why can't I ALWAYS remember that God is NOT the author of confusion?? Sometimes I am a little slow and need some help from others....

God confirmed alot of things for me today! It started out by reading Courtney Walsh's blog. Here is a little excerpt of her blog posting today:

"She grows. And grows. And suddenly, she looks in the mirror and sees that she’s wasted years running in the slow lane. She’s spent countless hours trying to please the people around her. People she thought mattered but didn’t. Trying to suppress her gifts, as if handing them back to God were a better idea than embracing them.

And she looks up to the sky and she asks, humbly…give me one more chance?

And God, in his infinite grace, bestows upon her a new opportunity. The chance to not shun the gifts he’d given her at the beginning, but to take them and use them… with all she had. To run faster than even she imagined she could."

That blog post ignited a fire in me. I wasn't really sure what was happening at first. I guess before reading that, I hadn't really realized this inner turmoil I have been having.

The Lord made sure to clear that all up for me real quick though! During class last night I learned that I had to tutor a struggling reader this semester. Starting out with a battery of assessments to detail the exact problems and then developing lessons to help overcome those problems. Everyone else in the class is taking one class at a time and are all currently still teaching. So they have no trouble finding a student who needs help. I was kinda worried about finding someone that I would have access to whenever I needed to get my school assignments done. I was worried about trying to do something at a school because I would have to work with the schools schedule and possibly not be able to get my hour sessions in during one sitting...which could make things complicated.

After prayer, I decided to post on my facebook to see if any of my friends happened to have a struggling reader I could tutor. WOW! Did I ever get a response! I had facebook messages, private messages and emails with people volunteering their child, a friends child, etc. One of my friends was willing to drive 2 hours to get help for her daughter. Many of these people saying that they had tried to find help but it is just so expensive to hire a tutor.

I went to bed and couldn't sleep just thinking of all those children struggling with reading, and wanting to be able to help them all. Some of these are children of my very good friends. While laying there, Courtney's words came back to me...."And God, in his infinite grace, bestows upon her a new opportunity. The chance to not shun the gifts he’d given her at the beginning, but to take them and use them… with all she had. To run faster than even she imagined she could."

I hear you God! I am on the right path, your path for me. While it may not be the path to make me the most money (have you looked at teachers pay??) It is certainly the path that can change lives.

I just had to get this all journaled so that when satan tries again to convince me I am not cut out for this I have it all here documented!!

Now to just figure out a way that I can help more of these kids. Is this idea of a ministry for struggling readers a path the Lord is leading me to follow? I know I don't have time for it right now with all of my classes, but it will certainly be at the top of my prayer list.

Thank you Jesus for being the light unto my path! Thank you Courtney Walsh for your inspiring words today! I love how the Lord uses other people to help you just when you need it, even when you didn't really know you needed it!

Snow Day 3

2011-01-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

Another Snow Day here in WV. As I type the boys are outside building a snow fort. They have already built a snow igloo for the cat, but I am not allowed to take pictures just yet because they are adding an addition! Cat igloo picture to come tomorrow!

Brooke is curled up on the couch with her book. The girl is a book worm, which I love! Just goes to show that all those children's literature classes I took at Glenville while she was in the womb rubbed off on her!

I hate to admit it but I am sitting here at almost noon, still in my pajamas! I had a very stressful drive home from class last night. Therefore, I decided to allow myself some relaxation time to recover this morning!

The drive from Charleston to Parkersburg typically takes around an hour and fifteen minutes. Last night it was close to three hours. The roads were completely covered with snow. To make matters worse, the snow was coming down extremely hard. All you could see ahead was WHITE. A couple of times I got lucky and was able to follow tail lights. But for the most part, there were very few cars on the road, so I got to blaze the trail up Rt. 77. The snowflakes whizzing toward the windshield gave me the feeling that I was in a rocketship flying through the stars in outerspace. I am glad I didn't decide to become an astronaut because I didn't do so well in outer space! The whirling snow made me dizzy while I drove. I actually got car sick driving through the snow! It was horrible, and not a feeling I ever want to have again. So if Marshall decides to have class during another blizzard anytime soon, they will be doing it without me!

My friend Jacque is having to let go her fury best friend Jinger today. I haven't heard from Josie to find out how her fury Bubby is or if they had to let him go. Having so many friends saying goodbye to their pets has made me hug my fur baby Toby(pictured below) a little closer this week. Just like people, we never know how long we have with them...so we need to cherish every minute that we do have. Prayers for the Henry family today, because I know they are devastated with losing Jinger.

I better go get the hot chocolate on the stove and call in my popsicle people. I am sure they won't be happy about leaving their igloo construction....but it is FREEZING out there!

A goody from my Bible study today:If you don't feel like you're getting the love you should get, then maybe you should ask yourself if you're giving the love you should give. Why? Because you reap what you sow. If you give love, you'll receive love. If you give friendship, you'll receive friendship. If you give mercy, you'll receive mercy.

Galatians 6:7-9, Paul writes, Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Staying Warm at home

2011-01-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

Woke up with a phone call of a two hour delay for wood county schools. An hour later school has been cancelled. There was no snow falling at the time but by 10:30 it was coming down hard. I had to take Brooke to the dermatologist at 11:30 and by that time the roads were already covered. So glad that we got back home safely and have no reason to go back out the rest of the day! Camera battery is dead today, but in the spirit of snow, here are some of our 2010 Winter Place tubing pictures(no laughing at Tyler's pink snow pants! He grew out of his and I hadn't realized it so he had to wear Brookes old ones. He is such a good sport and didn't even complain, although he was none to happy about wearing hot pink!)....

My neighbors had their twins this morning..what a great birthdate 1/11/11. Congratulations to the Butterfields. I can't wait to meet my new little neighbors. Please keep them in your prayers because they are preemies born at I believe 30 weeks.

While there is excitement at the birth of our new neighbors, cousin Josie and her family are mourning their sick kitty Bubby. It is going to be a rough day for them so prayers for them would be greatly appreciated...Bubby is more than just a cat, he is a part of their family.

It is hard to do school work with my kids at home, but I was thankfully able to complete an assignment and get my planner organized with all of the assigment dates. That whole planner thing got me a little freaked out....wow...I have some hard work this semester!

Had a little change of plans in our menu for this week! We are still getting used to the Food Nanny meal plans! We didn't cook our roast that was planned for Sunday so I needed to get it cooked. So I have had roast in the crock pot all day and the smell of it has made me starving all day long! I do not like using the crock pot when I am going to be home all day! The good news is I have all the ingredients for all of our meals for this week and next. I have to admit..it feels great knowing what's for dinner and knowing I have everything I need to get it on the table, even if someone else in the family has to cook it! Little Chef is itching to get in the kitchen on his own...so I just might have to plan something easy for him in my next set of menu plans!

If we get all the snow they are calling for I am sure I will have sledding pictures to post for tomorrow. There is enough snow on the ground from our last snow...but the kids are waiting for some fresh snow..picky sledders!! Better get my camera battery charged up!

Hoping to work on my Providence 365 challenge this evening.

A little goodie from my bible study today....
Where He leads, He commits to provide. Where He reroutes, He creates the necessary resources. Where He shuts doors, He opens another with greater Kingdom possibilities.
Praise the Lord!!!

Back to School

2011-01-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Spring semester of Grad school starts today. Can't say that I am real happy about it, but I am going to try not to complain to much. Instead, I am looking toward the bright side, by the end of summer I will have my masters degree!

We had a FANTABULOUS weekend! Friday evening was relaxing with the family. Saturday Brooke and I braved the snow and headed down to Charleston for the Winter Jam concert with some friends. It was awesome! 9 great bands! Red was amazing...loved it! Newsboys....WOW what a show! David Crowder Band was probably my next favorite. Kutless rocked! Fracesca Batestelli,Chris August, Chris Sly, Newsong, Sidewalk Prophets and Tony Nolan preaching. I am hoping to go again at the end of the month in Colombus...it was that awesome!! I didn't take my good camera because I was afraid they would have camera restrictions and didn't want to have to go back out in the cold to return it to the car. I was bummed because everyone else had their DSLRs and I just had my little point and shoot....but I still got some decent shots. I used some of the shots last night to create a worship video for church! If there is a Winter Jam coming near you....GO!!!!

Sunday we had an amazing worship service at church...the Lord was there without a doubt! Then Sunday night we had family fun night at the YMCA. My camera battery died so I didn't get to capture the exciting HORSE basketball tournament between Roberta (aka Michael Jordan, because of her game winning lay up), Angela, Betty and myself. We had fun and maybe even burned a few calories! The kids spent the whole evening in the pool. We all had a great time and came home worn out. Everyone overslept this morning...man we coulda used a 2 hr delay!

They are calling for 4 inches of snow to fall tonight on top of who knows how many inches of snow and ice that we already have. The kids just might get their snow day tomorrow!

40 Things To Do Before 40

2011-01-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

I remember when 40 seemed so OLD and so far away. I celebrated my 36th birthday this past December so 40 is creeping up pretty quick. I guess maybe it isn't that old after all.

I decided I wanted to set some goals of things that I wanted to do before I turn 40. Many of them are little things but I am a list girl. If I don't write them down. I will simply forget many of them. One of my favorite things to do with a list is cross things off as I complete them! 40 things seems like a lot...but I think most of them are achievable.

1. Learn to crochet using a pattern so that I can make more than a scarf and keep Grandma Vinnie's hobby alive in our family.

2. Take down the wall paper in my entryway and paint.

3. Paint the front door. (I hope to do this one this summer!)

4. Take my whole family on a cruise. Chad and I went on our first cruise for our 15th anniversary in 2010 and LOVED it. Can't wait to take my kids on one too!

5. Get out my paints and canvas and start painting.

6. Complete my Masters in Reading. (should be done with this one this summer if all goes as planned.)

7. Buy a Mustang...trying to convince Chad it would be the perfect graduation present when I get my Masters!

8. Take down the border in Tyler's room and get it painted the way he wants it.

9. Paint Nic's room

10. Redecorate Brooke's room.

11. Get new living room furniture.

12. Get new countertop in my kitchen.

13. Finish the landscaping on my back hill.

14. Get at least a couple of years completely scrapbooked.

15. Make Brooke a Baby Scrapbook.

16. Visit my last living Grandma at least weekly.

17. Spend more quality time with my parents.

18. Get a scrapbook layout published. Which will require me to actually submit something, which requires me to also take the time to scrapbook!

19. Get better at sending cards to people. Birthday, get well, thank you, etc.

20. Get together with old friends that I havent seen in years. We have all been so busy with our kids and life that I have so many friends I never get to see in person. Certainly in the next 4 years I can catch up with some of you!

21. Keep a journal daily. Which is what I am attempting to do with this blog.

22. Find something to help my memory...I am really worried about how forgetful I have become.

23. See my husband with a new knee. He has suffered with this bad knee long enough.

24. Learn to play the piano. I have always wanted to do this. Somehow I am gonna find the time but it will have to be when grad school is over!

25. Go to UT to see my friend Sunny. Or at least meet up with her somewhere for even a weekend!

26. Paint my laundry room.

27. Make new seat cushions for my breakfast nook.

28. Practice saying “I am forty” so that I can learn to not freak out a little while I say it.

29. Create a family room/ gameroom in the basement. I have a start on this but we are gonna need some furniture and a lot more work. And getting rid of some stuff.

30. Get rid of things that I keep saving because I might need them someday. I have started this too....can't wait till yard sale weather! Maybe I will sell enough to go toward my new living room furniture in #11!

31. Learn to be a lot more like Jesus.

32. Spend at least 15 minutes a day at the very least in God's Word. Which should help with #31!

33. Keep a book list of the books I read each year. (Gonna start a blog post with that so I can just update it when I complete a book.) I have wanted to keep this list for quite some time but I just always forget to write down the books when I am done.

34. Try my best to avoid gossip. Man this one is so hard because it is everywhere. But in order to accomplish #31 I am gonna have to get better at walking away!

35. Take my kids to the Exhibition Coal Mine.

36. Take my kids to Greenbank National Radio Astronomy Observatory. I had to spend a week there during my undergrad studies at Glenville for a science class when Brooke was a baby. I have always wanted to take the kids there sometime before or after a Kumbrabow camping trip since it is so close.

37. Do something nice for someone every day. Even if it is just letting someone out in traffic, opening the door for someone, etc. I really need to learn to slow down and look for ways to serve others.

38. Sell a piece of artwork on Etsy. Which again requires me to do said art work and then also to set up an Etsy shop....another item which will definately have to wait till after the grad classes are complete!

39. Stop complaining.

40. Get more involved helping my boys accomplish their Boy Scount goals.

The Baby Hog - That's Me!

2011-01-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

Oct 16th 2010 we welcomed a new little princess to the family. My sister Julie had her first baby, little miss Aubrey Anne Reagin.

It has been 15 years since we have had a baby girl in our family. Mom and Dad had 3 girls before they finally got their boy...but in the grandchildren department they are loaded up with 5 boys and now 2 girls!

My sister Christina is expecting her second baby this coming April....and it's another boy.

So many of my friends and family are having babies. People keep asking if I would like another one. So here it is for the world to read, NO WAY! I am perfectly content with my three wonderful children, and I don't feel like I can give them enough individual attention the way it is.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE babies. However, at this stage in my life I am content to love on my niece and soon to come new nephew, and all my friends babies. They call me a baby hog, but I know how fast they grow up and I love cuddling, and bonding with them when they are babies. Just wish my princess Aubrey lived closer than 8 hrs away.

Grandma McDonald is in Atlanta babysitting because Julie had to go back to work this week. Grandma is going to go down to stay for her at least a month to prolong Aubrey having to start daycare. It breaks my heart that she is going to have to be in daycare. I was so blessed to be able to stay at home with my babies, or have family here to watch them. Saying lots of prayers for Julie because I know it is hard on her having to leave her little sweetie.

The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner

2011-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Had a lazy Thursday hanging out with my heating pad because I didn't feel well. We spent the evening celebrating at the Court of Honor for Luke, one of Tyler's fellow boy scouts, who earned his Eagle rank! Got me very excited to help Tyler continue to work toward Eagle, he has been working hard, but I think seeing a friend accomplish it really motivates all of the boys to work harder.

Dinners are planned for the next month thanks to my awesome new book!

The great thing about the Food Nanny is that she helps you plan out your meals, and the cookbook is organized by themes. She reccomends that you have a food theme for each day of the week. My kids are really excited about this and got super stoked when looking at our menu for next week! They are excited to help in the kitchen too. Since Nic has decided he either wants to be a baseball player or a chef when he grows up...he is the most excited about helping in the kitchen! We will see how long that lasts.

I printed out the Menu plan from the Food Nanny's website. I went through the cookbook which is organized by these themes and built our menu for the next month.

Then I printed out the shopping list from the Food Nanny site, which is organized by product type, why did I never think to do this before??? That shopping list is what I have been needing for a long time...so much better than my long list of unorganized stuff and having to run all over the store when I get to the bottom of the list and realize I forgot something at the back of the store. (last time I was at the grocery store I had to run back to places I had already been like 3 times! UGH!)

So here is what's on the menu for this week. I am gonna list the pg. numbers from the cookbook in case you decide to get the book, but you can find some of these recipes on a new food nanny site from BYU. I can't get anything to print from this site for some reason...I hope they get it fixed soon though because it would make the food nanny meal planning so much easier!

Monday- Comfort Food- Beef Stroganoff (46), Mashed potatoes, carrots, applesauce.

Tuesday- Soup- 6 Can Tortilla Soup (Recipe on Food Nanny Site), beer bread, mandarin oranges.

Weds- Meatless- Bow Tie Pasta and Cherry Tomato (7), Garlic Bread, salad, Pears.

Thurs- Mexican- 3 Cheese Quesadillas (114), refried beans, mexican rice, apple sauce

Fri- Family Favorites- Sloppy Joe, french fries, fruit cocktail, salad.

Sat- family night out

Sun- Family Traditions- Crock Pot Roast (172), carrots, potatoes, red and greens salad (191)

Monday also starts the new Spring Semester of graduate school...so the chaos will begin and we can see how well this meal planning helps out. Chad has committed to sticking to the meal plan and following the recipes if he ends up having to be in charge of dinners this semester! He swears he can't cook...but I think if we have all the ingredients and he just has to follow the recipe, he will do fine, and the "Chef" aka Nic can help him if all else fails!

2010 Book List

2011-01-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past several years I have meant to keep a list of the books that I read. Especially since my memory is getting so bad. Sometimes my mom or sister will give me a book and I will be halfway through it before I realize it is one that I have already read. There are too many good books to read to be rereading ones that I have already read!! Plus it will just be neat to know how many books I actually read in one year....I have never kept track.

I am sure it will not be as many books this year due to the lack of time for pleasure reading while be a full time grad student. No, I will not be adding the textbooks to my book list! UGH....those I do not want to remember for the most part!

1. The Telling by Beverly Lewis - This is book 3 in the Seasons of Grace series. I read the other two from the series in December of 2010 when Fall semester finished.

I love every single Beverly Lewis book I have ever read. She is one of my favorite authors. I am pretty sure I have read every book she has written, aside from her youth books, and her newest release The Thorn, book 1 of the Rose trilogy which I am waiting for at the library!

2. Love Letters: Love Notes/Cookie Schemes/Posted Dreams/eBay Encounter (Heartsong Novella Collection) I actually started this toward the end of December but I finished it last night! Great book. I love these short stories that entwine the same characters.

I will be updating this list for my personal records as I complete more books.

A New Year 2011

2011-01-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

A new year brings a fresh start it seems. So many people are figuring out their new years resolutions, promising themselves that this year really will be different and they really will stick with their goals. I decided that I was NOT going to make a new years resolution this year. However, since the start of the year I have been pondering several things that I would really like to see change this new year. I guess the newness of a new year really does naturally make you want to make some changes.

1. Being a full time Graduate student was a new thing for me last year. It was a lot of hard work last semester having 18 credit hours. There was barely time for anything else. So many evenings I was deep into my school work trying to meet deadlines. So many evenings it would be dinner time and my poor husband would be scrambling in the kitchen trying to put something together for dinner...or just running to grab some fast food.

Before this semester starts with it's 15 credit hours, I have started meal planning for the next month. I have my daily dinners planned right down to the recipe page number. I even have the two week shopping list for these meals planned out for the next month as well. All this thanks to my friend Sunny telling me about "The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner" cookbook and meal planning that she has been using! I ordered my book on Tuesday from Amazon and had it the next day! So Wed when I got home from AWANA I sat down and started planning out our dinners for the next month. The Food Nanny makes it so easy! I will be sharing more about that in future blog posts because.......

2. I want to be better about journaling this year. I have been so concerned about my memory. It seems that I can't remember anything these days. I am not getting any younger, but jeesh I just celebrated my 36th birthday in December...am I really old enough to be forgetting so much all the time? Some peoople say it is due to having so much on my plate with graduate schoool and raising three kids. Well at any rate, I hope to take a few minutes a day to try and journal a little here on my blog. Not only will it help me to remember, it will be a recording of some of the things going on in my life which is why I originally began this blog to begin with, another thing my friend Sunny inspired me to do! I hope this will also help our long distant family stay a little better in tune with the things going on in our family.

3. Bible Study. I go to church every Sunday Morning, Sun Evening and Wednesday night....but that isn't enough. I like to do bible study every day. This past couple of years with me working at the preschool and then starting graduate schoo,l my bible study has been lacking. So this year I am determined to get back to daily bible study. I have started the Providence 365 challenge at Faithsisters. My goal is to complete at the very least, the bible study and journaling for this challenge each week this year. If I am lucky I will also be able to keep up with making a page each week so I can get it bound in a book at the end of the year. I taught myself to digital scrapbook earlier this week while I have some time off between semesters. I did some digital tutorials that my friend Karma recommended. It was pretty time consuming but I have completed my first two pages for Providence 365 using photoshop elements!

For someone who wasn't planning to make new years resolutions this year, I sure have quite a few! As the Spring semester begins next week, we shall see how it goes. There will be no more of these lazy days sitting and relaxing that is for sure! But only this semester and then the summer semester and then I will have my Masters in Reading!

Happy New Year! I hope we all have a very blessed 2011!

My Lifetime Story Challenge 1: My Life Collage / Title Page

2010-01-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

The first My Lifetime Story challenge went live at Faithsisters.com today! WOOHOO!! I have been counting down the days to this challenge!

You are creating your own autobiography. This is the best story out there, it is your story. You have created many pages about your children, family, pets, vacations and holidays. Now you can focus on you. This has been a great experience for me and a chance to focus on me! I created these pages with much more passion, it helped me see my childhood in a new light, discover things about myself, my life, how I spend my time and what my priorities are.

The first challenge is to create a layout that will be the title page to your "My Lifetime Story Album". You will see I created a layout that is a collage of images of my life. From baby, childhood, teens, and adult years showing all the changes to where I am now.

Since this is your autobiography you will want to make a special title for your album. What do you want to name your own autobiography? This can be the title of your collage page.

Next we will be starting the chapter on your roots & heritage.

Be sure to follow this challenge in our forum and post your page in our gallery under the appropriate category! If you are a digital scrapbooker, be sure to find some great products in our shop to help you with your project!

Here is my Title Page:

2009-11-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Faithsisters Creative Team Call

FaithSisters.com is searching for Creative Team members, to start in 2010 with the My Lifetime Story Challenges that will be posted weekly Jan-Dec 2010 due every Tuesday. This call is for paper, hybrid & digital scrappers, with possible publishing opportunities. You can view this challenge introduction on our blog here.

If you would enjoy being part of a Christ centered, fun, friendly,inspirational community, and love to share your talents, then this is the place for you!

To apply for our creative team and to get more information, send an email to creativeteam@faithsisters.com with the following information.

* Your Name
* Your Faith Sisters username
* Email address
* Lists and links to current Creative Team's if you are on any
* Link to your most up to date gallery (or send us a few of your layouts) & Link to your blog if you have one.

*DEADLINE for CT Applicants is November 27th.*
New Team Members to be contacted on the 28th and will be announced on the 29th!

Please register and introduce yourself in our forum and get to know us and see
what we are all about. We would love to get to know you!

*Faithsisters.com is a place for PAPER, DIGITAL and HYBRID Scrapbooking/Faithbooking.

My Lifetime Story Challenge

2009-11-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

As the year is coming to an end I am busy planning for next year. Most of you know that I am involved with the Faithsisters.com ministry. Each week we post challenges. In 2010 we are going back to the basics of leaving a legacy of faith at Faithsisters.com. This years challenges are all focused on YOU and your lifetime story. When you join us in this challenge you will be creating a mini-autobiography. I am counting down the days till January 6th because I am so stinkin' excited about the My Lifetime Story challenges!!!

Wouldn't you love to know what your grandma's favorite toy was as a child, how she felt when she met your grandpa, her favorite scripture and the song that expressed her heart? Your children and grandchildren will have that treasure when you join me in this challenge!

We will start out with your family roots in January and move into your childhood in February. We will continue throughout the year with your teen and adult years as well. The last challenge of the year will be a letter to your future generations or anyone who reads your book.

Each of our stories is important. This is a book that everyone should create about themselves. It will be the most treasured album of your family. As you create this album about your lifetime story you will be leaving YOUR LEGACY OF FAITH. This is an album that can make an impact in your life as you create it, but it will also create a major impact in the lives of your family both now and in future generations. As your children read your story in this scrapbook that YOU created, they will take your stories to heart. Your stories may have more impact on them than even Bible stories, because they are personal and from someone they know and love. When friends and neighbors pick up your storybook and look through it you will be witnessing without even saying a word. They will read your lifetime history and discover your love of Jesus, and His forgiveness and faithfulness in your life!

The My Lifetime story challenges will begin the first Wednesday in January. A new challenge will be posted each Wednesday all throughout 2010. The last challenge will be posted the last Wednesday of December. Just because the challenge series ends at the end of 2010 doesn't mean your lifetime story album is finished. We will continue to offer periodic challenges to continue your autobiography and keep it current.

Please join us in this year long challenge! Some of these challenges may be layouts you have already completed. That is ok! We need to get these all compiled in your lifetime storybook. Everyone deserves to be the star of their own book, including and most importantly YOU! If you don't put some time aside to create your My Lifetime Story album now, you may never find the time. If something were to happen to you, would your legacy of faith be lost forever? Take action now, join us as we create our lifetime storybooks for the next generation to see the glorious work the Lord can do in the life of a woman that loves God!

Begin thinking about what size album you would like to use for your My Lifetime Story challenge. I started mine in an 8x8 but now have decided that I need more space so I am moving up to a 12x12. My friend Sunny is doing hers 12x12 also because she knoys she has a lot she wants to fit into this album. What size do you prefer? Start gathering your supplies now so you will be ready to start when we kick off the first challenge January 6th!

Click here to join discussions about My Lifetime Story challenge.

Next week I will post a Photo List so you can start gathering photos that you will need for this challenge

First Day Of School

2009-08-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

The kids went back to school today. Brooke started 9th grade at Parkersburg High School. We live about 10 mins away at the most, but it took us a half hour with traffic! YIKES! Hoping it was just first day traffic and things will settle down a little!
Nic is now in 4th grade at Worthington. He was so excited that he got the teacher he wanted!
Tyler is now the big man on campus at Worthington. He is in 5th grade this year! He is very happy with his teacher too!
They all had a great first day! After school we went to Sonic to celebrate the first day of school!

Fresh Tomato Salsa Recipe

2009-08-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

It only took an hour and a half to uncover this recipe! So here it is Kevin and Lawanda!:) This is the recipe that I use for Fresh Salsa. Christina and I are canning salsa tonight and trying a new method, I will post our completed canning recipe as soon as we get it figured out after our experiment tonight! We just used this recipe below before but it turns out runny because you have to cook it to can it. So hopefully this new way will be just as yummy and thick as the fresh!! fingers crossed!

This recipe is for one cup of fresh salsa...so just adapt it to the amount of tomatoes you have!

1 large ripe tomato, cored & peeled
1 green tomato
1 clove of garlic
4 sprigs of cilantro, leaves only
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
salt
hot pepper sauce to taste

Place the tomato, onion, cilantro and lime juice in food processor. Process 15-20 seconds, or until chopped fine. Season with salt and hot pepper sauce to taste.

Free To Be Me

2009-07-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

I looooove this song and it's message! Describes me pretty good!

Album: My Paper Heart
Artist: Francesca Battistelli

At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream
A war's already waged for my destiny
But You've already won the battle
And You've got great plans for me
Though I can’t always see

‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me

When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out
My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow
But things don't always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt

And you’re free to be you

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe
Even though

My Fairy Garden

2009-07-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post a picture of my finished Fairy Garden that I gave my mom for Mother's Day. It turned out so adorable. Unfortunately, the herbs are growing like crazy right now and if I were to post a picture of it as it looks today, it looks like a fairy jungle! My mom needs to get brave and trim her herbs!!!

I am hoping to get another fairy garden made for me to keep too. Gotta find another large part or bucket or something. Nic is wanting an Army garden now too! LOL. They are just too fun!

52 Blessings {7} My Healing Miracle!

2009-07-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have been leading a Bible Study at FaithSisters.com from the Power Of A Praying Parent book by Stormie Omartian. A totally awesome book that every parent should read and study.

Well chapter 12 a few weeks ago really has changed my life and I just have to give a praise! The chapter is on Enjoying a Life of Health and Healing. Here is the link at faithsisters site if you would like to check it out more. http://faithsisters.com/forum/index.php?topic=10015.0

I had been so nervous about having an upcoming surgery that was scheduled for June 24, 2009. I just didn't have a peace about having the endometriosis surgery and kept feeling like maybe I shouldn't be doing it. I had been praying for direction on what to do. Then comes this chapter!

This chapter showed me that I had been praying for the Lord to heal me, but not truly believing that he would miraculously heal me without the help of Drs. and surgery. While I was reading this chapter I began praying immediately. I had a hard time with the believing part and even asked that the Lord show me with a sign to cancel the surgery. The fleece that I was putting out was that I would start my monthly and have no pain. Then while doing the questions in the study for this chapter, question 5 immediately reminded me that I didn't need a sign....that if I was going to believe in FAITH for healing that I needed to just step forward in faith and believe that I am healed and cancel the surgery. So I had decided first thing in the morning I was throwing away the pills and calling the Dr office to cancel the surgery. By the way, question 5 was to read 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight."

God is such an awesome God! He saw my heart and knew that I was truly believing and stepping out in faith. He gave me that sign I was asking for, even though I had realized I didn't need it! That very night, I started. I had no idea I had even started because there was absolutely NO PAIN! The whole week was no pain! Typically I am out of commission for the week because of severe pain and cramping. I have been almost a whole month pain free! Praise the Lord! So I am not in doubt and totally believe that the Lord has touched me and healed my endometriosis! I am amazed at how the Lord used this book and this bible study, that I thought I was doing to help other parents, to show me exactly what I needed to be doing. Between reading those reccomended scriptures and Stormie Omartians words in her book....the Lord spoke through it and straight to my heart. I love when he does that and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is speaking directly to me! Reading that chapter has truly improved my faith and reminded me that NOTHING is impossible for God....he is just waiting for us to believe that he can and will do it without a shadow of a doubt. He is still in the miracle business my friends!

A miracle? ABSOLUTELY! I am still amazed and I can't even begin to tell you how big of a fingerprint from God this has left on my heart! I can't wait to get this story into my faithbook!

Swiss Deer Steak

2009-07-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Super Yummy recipe my sister wants me to give her so putting it on here to share with my friends!:)

2 lb deer steak (or any steak)
1/2 c flour
1/2 c olive oil
1 med onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 jar stewed tomatoes
2 TBS Worcestershire
salt and pepper to taste
Roux= (2 tbsp flour dissolved in 2 tbs melted butter)

Heat oil in skillet. Dredge steak in seasoned flour and brown on both sides slowly over med. heat. Remove meet and set aside.

Add 1 cup water, onion, carrot and worcestershire and stewed tomatoes. Stir while bringing vegetables to a boil. Reduce heat. Add meat. Cover and simmer until meat is tender. Remove meat and carefully place in a serving bowl.

Remove sauce from heat and stir in roux if needed until smooth. Stir constantly, heat to boil over medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened. Taste, adjust seasonings. Pour over meat.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Summer is Finally Here

2009-06-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

I have been out of school for over a month but I finally feel like summer is here! Things have been so hectic. Last Friday we finally were able to come to agreement with the commercial building and our uncle is taking over the payments (still in our name) but hopefully this will keep things good, and get the stress out of my life! Praying he will get it out of our name ASAP.

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him....." ~Psalm 37:7 NIV
It is so hard to wait and to give all the worry over to Him. I tend to always take it back and keep worrying. I am so thankful that He always takes care of everything...even though it isn't always in the time frame that I would like!

Chads Birthday Surprise

2009-03-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

March 25th was Chad's birthday. His mom REALLY surprised him with a car! She got a great deal on a 2003 Toyota Camry with less than 10,000 miles...so it is almost like brand new! His mom was so excited about it! She called me a few weeks in advance because she needed me to get insurance on it so that she could drive it here from Clarksburg (about an hour away). So I then had to keep it a secret! When she gave me the serial number, make and model and year, I wrote it all down on a smal sheet of paper. It was my bookmark. Well somehow I lost it out of my book and Chad discovered it! EEEEEEK! Luckily I was reading when he discovered it he said..."what is this? Is it from my mom?" ....so I played the.....let me finish this page when he asked me what the paper was. His mom had told him about this car to see if he was interested and he told her it sounded like a good deal but he was gonna drive his Grand Am until it was a pile of rust in the driveway. OK, so with that in mind, he finds this slip of paper aka my bookmark and asks me what it is...I used my let me finish this page tactic to give me a few seconds to think of what that paper could be!! I told him it was my aide Jaques and I was using as a bookmark cause it was trash. Then I said..."why did you ask me if it was from your mom?" He said, "Oh nothing, she was telling me about a car but that was a long time ago. I don't know why I thought it was from her." WIPE SWEAT FROM BROW!!!!!!!! About three or four more times I almost slipped up. Like the time he mentioned something about tires on the Grand Am...kinda freaked thinking he was gonna get new ones and almost slipped. Then I as the day approached I almost slipped and told him his mom was coming...and she wanted that to be part of the secret too. He was getting off work early that day cause he wanted to watch the big WV game. Well she wanted the car to be in the driveway when he arrived with the bow on top and banner in the windshield. She wanted the kids to be there for the surprise too so I had to pick them up early from school since Chad was coming home from work early.

We had everything ready and were hiding in the garage where we could see. Chad was arriving home when I would have typically been picking up the kids from school (if I hadn't already gotten them early!) When Chad turned down the road he said he saw the big yellow bow on top of the car. His first thought was who is in the driveway...Michelle is picking up the kids. Then he thought..and who is laying no top of that car. He thought the bow was a person!

When he pulled into the driveway he saw the banner that said Happy Birthday Chad. He yelled out the window, "Are you serious?" He was in total shock! He just kinda sat there for a minute then got out of the car and headed straight to hug his mom! What a fabulous Birthday surprise!!!

Seeds Are Sprouting!

2009-03-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! My cucumber seeds are sprouting already! WOOHOO! Now if everything else will sprout!! I still haven't planted my herbs or flower seeds yet. Best be doing that this weekend I guess!

Christina and Angela are going to a worship conference tomorrow. I can't take off work so I am just going to the concert part in the evening. Heather Sloan and I are driving up as soon as Heather gets off work. I am hoping we will have a little extra time so we can stop at Micheals!:) I have a coupon!! I am so excited for a girls evening!

I am working on a fun new project for my mom for Mother's day! While Chad and I were at Amish country I fell in love with these little Fairy Gardens. I found a FREE big clay pot on the curb last weekend, thanks to Diana for calling to tell me about it!! So I am getting ready to start mom's fairy garden. I have already been to Crafts 2000 to buy some miniatures to decorate it. Now I just have to find the right herbs to plant!! This is going to be fun. I am posting a photo of the garden I saw in Amish country. I hope mine will turn out as cute!

Sick of Sickness!

2009-03-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Who invited the cold back to WV? It is freezing outside again. Yesterday it was a warm 74 degree high. I want spring!!

When will everyone be healthy again? For the past two days I have had a splitting headache, dizzy, fevered and just feeling plain awful. After work I came home and slept the rest of the day. I was awake long enough to watch Idol and then back to bed. Thankfully I am feeling some better today. Brooke missed school yesterday with the same headache, dizziness and fever as me. Thankfully today we were both feeling well enough to go to school. Poor Nic is looking like he might be next. He overslept this morning and just wasn't himself. I have been expecting the school to call for me to come pick him up all day. Praying that he has gotten better and won't be sick!

I thought that Danny and Chris both did excellent last night. Scott really blew me away too. My guess is Anoop and Jorge will be going home tonight. To me their performances were the weakest.

Well I am off to prepare my bible story for Awana tonight. My little Sparks (K-2nd grade) are so much fun and just love their bible story time at Awana. I do my best to make it special for them:) I am thinking maybe puppets tonight!

Beverly Lewis Books

2009-03-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love every book I have ever read by Beverly Lewis!

The past couple months I have read the whole series of Summerhill Secrets. Which are actually teen novels...but very good! I passed them along to Brooke and I hope she will enjoy them as much as I did. These are from an "Englisher" point of view living beside Amish.

I just finished The Redemption Of Sarah Cain. Another fabulous Amish story. Now I can't wait to get the movie!!

My favorite Beverly Lewis series is Abram's Daughters. This is the series that really got me back into reading for pleasure!

I recommend Bevery Lewis books! I talked Josie into starting Abrams Daughters. When she comes to visit this summer we are gonna head to Amish country for a day! I had such a good time at Amish country after reading these books!!

Now I have to find a new book to start. Hmmmm...could always reread Twilight I guess! Can't wait till March 21st when the DVD is out. Gotta see it again!!!

My American Idol Top 13 Favorites!

2009-03-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have never been so happy with a Top 12 or 13 as it is this year! There were only a couple that came through that I didn't pick. There was one, Felicia Barton, that I feel got ripped off. Why in the world didn't they pick her for the wild card at least?? so i was pretty bummed about Felicia.

My top two are Danny and Chris. Both are worship leaders at their churches which is just awesome in itself! I am praying that they will be able to show Jesus in all that they do. Danny has such a strong voice. I gotta admit he is truly my favorite and I was so excited when they announced his place in the top 13!!

Go Danny and Chris!!

Starting My Garden

2009-03-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

So where oh where did my weekend go? The weather was in the 70's and oh so beautiful! It really got me in the gardening mood that is for sure!

I garden using Earthboxes because I have very little yard space that is flat enough for a garden. With the earthboxes I can plant on my patio. I get way more veggies from my earthboxes than I ever got from planting in the ground though because the earthboxes have a selfcontained watering system. I have to water once a day or sometimes twice a day when it is really hot...but wow we get a huge abundance of produce all summer long!!

I usually purchase my veggie plants to plant in the earthboxes when it is time to set them out. However, this year I decided to try growing from seed to save some money. We shall see. I have been researching and reading about starting from seed. Oh I so hope that I can do it! I have planted 216 seeds in jiffy pots. Cucumbers, red peppers, green peppers, beefstake tomatoe, cherry tomato, spaghetti squash, yellow straigtneck squash, scallions, acorn squash, zuchini. I usually grow eggplant but last year I didn't have much luck so I am switching to spaghetti squash this year to give it a try!

So this is day one for my planted seeds! Maybe the seed thing can keep me content while I wait to get outside to garden. Come on SPRING!!! I am so ready for the cold to be long gone! These past two days of nice spring weather have me itching for it to last!! I will try to post pictures of my seed project soon!:)

Creamy Ramen Noodles

2009-03-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

My kids love Ramen noodles. Here is a new twist that we are loving! Fast and easy is what I love about it!!

Creamy Ramen NoodlesIngredients
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, any flavor, with seasoning packet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk

Directions
Bring water to boil in a small sauce pan. Add dried noodles and cook 3 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Stir occasionally.

Drain away water. Return noodles to sauce pan.

Add butter, milk and contents of seasoning packet. Heat on low heat and stir until butter is melted and noodles are coated with creamy sauce.

Time Flies 2009 update!

2009-03-06T21:19:00.001-08:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already March! The weather was so beautiful here today, in the 70's! WOOHOOO! I am so sick of the snow and freezing cold. Welcome spring!!!

Life has been pretty calm here. I have been feeling better with my new treatment. So hopefully the pills will continue to control the endometriosis. I have a little pain here and there but it is manageable now at least.

Chad has a fractured sesanoid(sp?) bone in his foot. It is all caused by his right knee that needs a partial replacement. We went to the Dr in Cincinatti yesterday and he recommended orthodics in his shoes and if it isn't doing better in 3 months, surgeryt o remove the sesanoid bone from his foot. Apparently it is a bone you do not have to have, we are doing our research on that still. So prayers for his foot to heal with no surgery are greatly needed!

I finally have my scraproom somewhat organized with what I have to work with for now. I am really hoping for some cabinets and countertop to really make it how I want it...but for now I am settling with what I have. It doesnt look beautiful but it works and I am able to get things accomplished without feeling overwhelmed by a mess! I am currently working on an album for our pastor. He is retiring from our church so we collected some photos and I am almost done putting the album together.

The boys are both playing indoor soccer every Saturday. They love it. Especially Tyler, and he is doing great. Last week he scored the only two goals to win the game for his team! Nic has been doing good too, just hasnt scored any goals. He is better at defending the goal!

Brooke is playing volleyball at the YMCA and will be starting up her track season next week with hurdles and long distance. She is also singing in the county honor choir and will be performing in front of the whole county in a couple weeks.

All the kids had great grades! Tyler and Brooke both with straight A's and Nic with straight B's! They were all listed in the newspaper for their awesome grades! I am so proud of them for working hard and doing their best!

I am loving my job as a preschool teacher/director. I couldn't think of a better job for me right now! The hours are perfect because I can take the kids to school and be out with plenty of time to do a few errands and then be able to pick the kids up from school. The only thing I wish is that I had retirement. Then it would be perfect! But it is pretty close to perfect and I LOVE teaching 3 and 4 yr olds. I wish I had a little more time to devote to our FaithSisters website but hopefully I can get everything caught up over the summer break!

52 Blessings {Week 6}

2009-03-06T20:54:00.001-08:00

I am so blessed to have the most wonderful husband. We have been married for 13 going on 14 years! Wow it just doesn't seem that long! Looking back at these pictures though...wow have we aged! We looked like kids when we got married!

I couldn't ask for a better husband. Of course we have our moments but for the most part we see eye to eye on most everything. He does so much more than most husbands. We are truly a team. I thank the Lord for him every single day.

I am so blessed!

52 Blessings {Week 5}

2009-02-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed to have a healthy, smart and beautiful daughter. She just turned 13 and I keep thinking to myself. Only a little while longer to keep her here at home with me. They just grow up to quickly. Doing my best to train her up in the way she should go. Praying that she will always stay on the right path, the one that God has planned for her.

Brooke is super smart. I homeschooled her for 7 years. Then she started public school last year for 7th grade. She has done so well in school! Straight A's with an occasional B in math. I feel like she has such a strong foundation both educational and spiritually. I pray that she will always remember to put God first!

52 Blessings {Week 4}

2009-01-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

My little sister Julie lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Chris. She is the youngest of us girls but my brother is the youngest of the family. Julie had a sickly childhood. She had horrid allergies and terrible asthma. Life was often crappy for her. She was allergic to so many different foods, including corn (all forms of it) and corn is in nearly everything. She was allergic to milk too. Those are the two that I remember the most. She was always on medicine. Some of the medicines gave her hallucinations. One time she was so mad at us because we were all floating in bubbles and she couldn't figure out how to get in a bubble too.

She has grown up to be a healthy girl! She still has allergies but thank the Lord they are much milder than they used to be. I am so thankful that she is so much healthier now.

We don't get to see each other much, but when we do we always have loads of fun. Our favorite thing to do is play Canasta! We even formed a Canasta club!:) If we don't get in at least one game when we are together we feel ripped off! So we usually find the time for at least ONE game! We also love to play sing star and American Idol!

Love my littlest sister!:)

52 Blessings {Week 3}

2009-01-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed to have FaithSisters in my life. I knew with all my heart that the Lord wanted us to pursue our ideas for FaithSisters. The way things came together it could have only been God. The way things have grown it is obviously God! Each day I am so blessed to chat with likeminded Christian women and see how their day has gone. To pray for their needs. To know that when I have needs they are praying for me. My FaithSisters are the first prayer warriors that I head to when I need prayer. We have seen so many answers to the prayers we have lifted up.

I knew FaithSisters was going to be awesome, but I never really imagined it could be this awesome! I am so blessed to have met so many wonderful women who I call friends. I have only got to meet a few of them in person. Hopefully I will get to meet more of them here on this earth, but if not I know that someday we will all be celebrating together in heaven!

Scrappy Organizing - ordering albums

2009-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! It has been a long weekend already and it is only Sat night! My friend Diana came over Friday morning to keep me company in my scraproom while I cleaned and organized. She was scrapping, which of course made me quite jealous! But I did what I so desperately have needed to do for the past year! It is now almost midnight Saturday but I feel like I have accomplished SO MUCH! WOOHOO! My scraproom is organized...now I didn't say it was beautiful or anything (hoping for cabinets and countertop someday- watching the bulletin board for a good deal!)but it is at least better than it was and I can scrap in there now! Finally!

I had over 100 layouts made without pictures! From conventions, classes I have designed and taught and then last year I made a new kit each week at Get Crafty Studios. Wonderful scrapbook pages, mostly two page spreads...with no photos and journaling. So that stack has been laying in my room, piling up with more and more all along for the past few years...and really grew last year with creating all those layouts for the kits every week! I FINALLY tackled the stack! I went through boxes of pictures and just worked most of the day Fri and Saturday putting pictures onto those already scrapped pages. I still have 13 single page layouts and 3 two page spreads that are pictureless. I need to print some of my digital photos, but I at least know which ones I need already so that is a good thing! Not only did I get pictures on these layouts but tonight, I just put all of them into the proper albums!

Putting all those layouts into albums has caused a huge problem though! I am now out of album space and page protectors! So I am placing an album order! Anyone who needs 12x12 We R Memory D ring albums, let me know and I will add your order to mine. I will be placing the order hopefully by Wed of this week.

I have lunch in the crock pot for after church~ Creamy Chicken and Noodles (if it is good I will post the recipe later!) Diana and her family are coming to eat after church. Then we are playing a game of Canasta. The boys will then watch football while Diana and I escape to my scraproom for some serious scrappin time!! I am treating myself to a day of actual SCRAPBOOKING since I accomplished so much. That attatching pictures to already finished pages was pure torture...I just wanted to scrap! Which is exactly the reason that I haven't tackled that stack before now! Whenever I think I might, well I just start scrapping and lay the stack aside! WOOHOO. I am just so excited to have that stack dwindled down and into my albums!

52 Blessings {Week 2}

2009-01-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a wonderful and relaxing day. We had a great service at church with Preacher Jack from Peacemaker Ministries. I took a long nap after church and then started working on some My Prayers For You Challenge stuff for FaithSisters.

52 Blessings {Week 2}

I have been so blessed for the past 34 years to have a wonderful Christian grandfather. We lost grandpa on New Years Eve. His memorial service was just breathtaking. There were more people in attendance than we ever would have imagined. The parking lot was overflowing and cars were parking along the road on both sides with people having to walk quite a ways to get to the church. Some people have even told us that they didn't know what to do since the parking was so far away and they decided to just leave. We know know there were over 200 people in attendance at the funeral. That is alot of people at the funeral of a 79 year old man! We shouldn't have been surprised though becaue grandpa was a very well liked man.

He was very quiet and soft spoken. As a child I remember him always singing. He lead singing at church. Grandma babysat all of us while mom worked. When grandpa worked night shift we would have to be very quiet. Sometimes we would hear grandpa singing and think that he had gotten up...but he was singing in his sleep! He loved to sing. The last song that we sang at his memorial service was Sing and Be Happy. That is my favorite song of all of his favorites and I can remember him singing it years ago as he lead singing at our church.

My grandpa was such a blessing to so many people. He fought a long hard battle with Parkinson disease but through it all he always did all he could to attend church and set a Godly example. I am sure that the angels were rejoicing when he joined their choir on New Years Eve!

52 Blessings Project Week 1

2009-01-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

It was a freezing cold day here in WV. We had a Snow Day! No school. So good for me because I was feeling very bad today. Would it be to much to ask for a snow day tomorrow too? Oh I could sure use another day off;)

I am so excited to be starting the 52 Blessings Project from Faith Sisters. The challenge is to Post 1 Blessing for each week all year long. Maybe this will help me to be a better blogger too:)

52 Blessings Project Week 1
There are so many blessings in my life. The first one that I will spotlight is my wonderful family. I feel so blessed to be married to a wondeful Christian man. Chad is such a great husband and loving father. I could not ask for a better husband. Sure, he isn't perfect, but he works hard to be his very best. I admire him for his commitment to everything that he does.

My three children are healthy. They are the joy of my life. They are smart and talented and so sweet. The Lord blessed me with the most wonderful family!

Not the Gall Bladder

2008-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

Test results are back from my lovely gall bladder function test Wed morning. As much as I wanted it to be my gall bladder causing all of this...after all they could take it out and I can live without it and be pain free...well the test is showing that it is functioning at 90% so that is most likely not the cause of the pain. NOW WHAT??? I don't know. I go back to my surgeon net Wed. maybe he will have some other ideas. My chiropractor is wandering if it still might have something to do with my kidney...so my guess is my next stop will be a Kidney Dr. I think I need to start some kind of third job so I can pay for all of the tests they are doing to get to the root of this pain. Not to mention that with every new test is another week or two of waiting. Why can't they do the tests all in one day and get me out of this pain instead of dragging it out?????? OK I am whining. I am sure I am suppose to be learning something from all this. Patience? Tolerating pain? Being Strong? Only time will tell I guess.

ON to some happy news! My family is participating in the New Hope For the Holidays Christmas program with our church this weekend. Tonight is the first performance. Chad is a tree, Nic a gingerbread man, Tyler a paige and a present(at seperate scenes), Brooke a candy cane and she is also singing a duet of "Where are you Christmas". I was suppose to be an angel...but I had to turn in my halo because was afraid I wouldnt be able to stand on the stage that long without falling over in pain. Plus, we have a retreat this weekend so it would have been difficult. The first performance is tonight so I will get to go take pictures and watch my family perform:) Should be a fun night!

We are having a scrapbook retreat this weekend at the studio. It should be fun because a few friends are coming too. My friend Heather from church is having a birthday on Sunday so going to have a little bday party for her. Us December babies have to stick together..nobody ever throws us parties cause they are to busy with Christmas..so I will live my birthday party that never happens through her!!;)

Well Brooke is begging to go to the mall before church so I am heading back for more shopping fun. Was already there once today...but I can't complain...Aeropostle was having a HUGE sale! Shirts and sweats for 1.99 and 2.99 and jeans for 5.99!!! WOOHOO!!

Thanksgiving and Shopping

2008-12-01T19:32:00.001-08:00

What a great holiday! I can't upload my pictures though because my camera battery died! I only ended up getting a couple of pictures of Grandpa playing Rock Band. He has been so sick with his Parkinsons...we never expected him to make it to Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Well if the camera battery had to die I am thankful that I got these couple of shots with grandpa playing the drums! I will get them uploaded just as soon as I remember to charge the battery...can you tell I am sick...what scrapper let's the camera battery die and then leaves it uncharged this long. This pain is seriously overwhelming me.

My little sister and her husband came in from Atlanta. All of the family was there! We had 31 family members at Thanksgiving dinner. That number is down about 8from last year! Can't believe I missed all those photo opps :(

After Thanksgiving dinner my sisters, aunt and I devoured the black Friday ads. It is tradition for us to go shopping on Black Friday. Crazy but true! Christina, Brooke and I left at 3:30am to head to Kohls. Oh my heck, there were only more than 1,000 people already wrapping around the parking lot standing in line! We got there later than expected due to traffic at 3:30am! EVERYONE is looking for the deals THIS Christmas it seems! Well we shopped for 11 hours, well maybe I should make that clearer. We shopped for 4 hours and waited in lines the rest of the 7 hours! That may be stretching it a little on the waiting in lines, but it has to be pretty close! I was feeling quite dead and lived on pain killers the rest of the weekend trying to recover. Even my arms were sore! I did get most of my Christmas shopping done. Still have a little to do but I am so happy that I was able to get great deals on the majority of the presents this year!

My little sis, Julie never comes home for a visit without us playing Canasta. Our alltime favorite card game. It just wouldnt be right to have her home and not play. We even have a Canasta Club notebook with scores from the last 3 or 4 years of games..most of them are when Julie is in town! We have a blast playing Canasta. Remember how I said I lived on pain killers after the shopping...well the pain killers alter my memory! Or should I say make it nonexistant! Julie and I are rarely beaten as a team. In fact, they rarely let us play together cause we dominate the Canasta club! I wouldn't be surprised if they don't stalk up on some pain killers to push on me the next time we play! Everyone but Julie was thrilled with my lack of memory, we got beat 3 out of 4 times. It was 12am when we started the final game....cause we refused to quit playing until we won at least once!

Although I am not feeling at my best...well far from my best...this was a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. I hope to be feeling better by Christmas though so I can enjoy the feast!!

The Pain continues

2008-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Just back from the surgeon. He is not at all worried about the catheter in my liver. Says that sometimes they put small catheters in like that to relieve pressure in cirrhosis patients...so he thinks it should be just fine and not cause me any problems. The problem is, I am still having pain in my right side! So what is causing it???? I almost feel like they think I am crazy, and because I know the little thingy is in my liver I am making up the pain. UGH!

So anyways...he says he thinks it sounds like classic gall bladder. So now more tests to see if the gall bladder is functioning. The ultrasound on my liver also studied the gall bladder and they said it looked normal already. He sent me out to eat some high fat and greasy food and see if the pain got worse. It has been an hour since I ate and the pain is still just the same. I go on the 3rd for gall bladder function test.

I do have to say I feel a little better knowing that he isn't concerned about the catheter. He said that it will likely cause much worse problems trying to remove it than it would to just leave it. I am still going for a second opinion at Cleveland Clinic in the near future.

I am so exhausted! I think I am going to take a 20 minute power nap before I start working on my Thanksgiving desserts to take to moms house! My little sister is traveling from Atlanta, typically a 8 hr drive but will most likely be much longer tonight with all the traffic.

I can't wait to go Black Friday shopping! It is a tradition for my sisters and I to head out around 4am to shop the day away! I sure hope there are some good deals on the things my children want this year for Christmas! I am looking specifically for a good point and shoot camera for Brooke!

Have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Twilight

2008-11-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't read the books yet, but Brooke and my cousins Kacie and Jodi and I went to the premiere on Thursday night. Wow! FABULOUS movie! Of course everyone says the books are better. Aren't they always?? So I am ready to dive into the first Twilight book! Sunny sent it to me in my surprise box! The Dr has ordered me to just relax and do nothing....so I am hoping to spend some time relaxing and reading! I am going to do some scrapping too. I think if I scrap in small intervals it shouldn't bother my back. I am sure hoping at least!

It is FREEZING here. Seems like winter has come early. I don't understand why we never have FALL anymore around here. We go from HOT to FREEZING. Where oh where did fall disappear to?? We have already had our first two hour delay with approximately 3 inches of snow covering the roads. It was pouring down big HUGE flakes when we were going in to see Twilight. We were all hoping for lots of snow when we came back out so there would be a two hour delay...but no such luck! We got out of the movie at almost 3am and then back up by 6:30am. EEEEK! So yesterday was a tired day. I worked and then took a twenty minute nap and went to crop club! I slept in till 10am this morning!

Well I really wish I could get my house cleaned up...but as per Dr orders I am heading to the lazyboy to start on my Twilight book and relax:)

My New Bathroom

2008-11-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

It has taken me about as long to put up pictures of my new bathroom as it did to get it completed! Lawanda has been waiting for me to put up pictures for a very long time! So here they are my dear friend:) Lawanda's husband
The Cabinet Maker made this beautiful vanity for my bathroom. Chad did all of the rest of the remodel. Unfortunately, I forgot to take before pictures. Imagine the old mint green tiles and the little 1 inch white tiles on the floor. I love my new bathroom!

I went to my chiropractor again today. Everything was out of place again. He is wandering if my preschool job is getting to me? Hmmm, hadn't really thought of it but I do alot of bending and I sit on the floor alot too. Who knows?? Another thing I thought of is that I am getting alot more sleep now that I have started teaching preschool. I try to make sure I am in bed no later than 11pm. Sometimes I get 10 hrs of sleep. That makes for a lot more laying in bed than I have ever been used too! Up until I started teaching preschool I typically got 4-5 hours of sleep tops. Maybe the extra time in bed is bad for my back? Even though I have a sleep comfort bed? All I know is I hope we can get something out so the pain will go away!

Chad has scheduled for me to go to a liver specialist at Cleveland Clinic. John Fung is suppose to be #1 in livers. Hopefully that will give us some answers. I go to Dr Roberts here in Parkersburg Nov 26th, he is a general surgeon, but my Dr wanted me to go to him so he would be familiar with my case if there was an emergency situation.

Snow Day

2008-11-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

The weather outside is frightful...but we only had a 2 hr delay. Since my preschool is only open for 4 hours we just do a one hr delay when the county calls a two hour delay. At first I thought a delay would be nice, an extra little bit to sleep in....well I got to sleep in, but the day at preschool was a little chaotic to say the least! The kids were out of their routine, and things were just crazy! one little boy slipped and fell and hit the back of his head so hard. I was so thankful his daddy was still there when it happened! In about 5 minutes he was smiling and back to normal, but he had a huge bump on the back of his head.:)

I got two early birthday presents in the mail! One from my dear friend Sunny in Utah. She sent me three shirts and a bunch of scrappin goodies! I hope to create something with the new pebbles stamps she sent....I will post a photo as soon as I make something with my new goodies!!:) Oh she also sent me the cutest card I have ever seen! ADORABLE...it has a little slider on it! Gotta figure out how she made that so I can make one too!

My other present was to myself...hehe...Bad I know! We placed an order for the studio and I splurged and bought the Page Maps book. I just love sketches and this book is full of fabulous scrapbooking sketches! I have been wanting it for a while...and now it is mine!

Now to just get my scrapbook room organized so I can sit down with my Addison Road CD and get some scrapping done! Maybe someone will want to send me a professional organizer for my birthday...hint, hint!!:)

My scripture for the day "For with God nothing shall be impossible." ~Luke 1:37
Hmmm...maybe I can accomplish getting my scraproom organized:)

Great Concert

2008-11-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Jenny from Addison Road and Me!

Wow! I wasn't feeling well Sunday. I went to church and came home exhausted. I took a nap for a few hours in hopes that I would feel up to going to the concert to see Addison Road. Thankfully, with a pain killer and the nap, by 4:30 I was feeling a bit better. I headed to the concert. My sister had volunteered us to help at the merchandise tables for the bands. Heather Sloan and I worked the After Edmund table. I had never heard of this band...but wow! They rocked our socks off! I was totally impressed with them...and had I been feeling good I would have probably been up there bouncing around in the front row! I just had to get their CD. Love this new band and I am totally sure we are going to be hearing lots more from them! They put on an AMAZING show!

Brooke and Nic with After Edmund

Addison Road was awesome too. My sister and Angela Marshall were working the merchandise table for Addison Road. When Jenny came up for autographs at the merch table I was excited to tell her how Hope Now had really blessed me. When I started to tell her about it she said wait, you are the girl from the blog! Her mom has google reader and gets messages whenever someone posts about Addison Road! So "HI to Jenny's mom!!!" Leave a comment:)! Anyways, she had texted Jenny to tell her to look for me at the concert!:) that was so neat! This was probably one of the best concerts I have been to...and I have been to alot. All three bands were phenominal!! Remember, I wasn't feeling that great, so the pics of me are not the best...my hair was looking a little slept on because of the long nap! LOL Me, Brooke and Nic with Addison Road

Today has been a crazy day. It started out all wrong and just kept going crazy! Tyler woke up sick, so he had to stay home from school. I called mom to see if she could come stay with him but she had to go to the hospital because my nephew Cole was having tubes put in his ears. So Tyler stayed alone with my sister, Chad and my mom calling frequently to check on him until I got home at noon. I went through McDonalds this morning for breakfast since the morning chaos left me rushing and not grabbing something on the way out. I paid at McDonalds and then drove off without my food!! DUH! Here is the crazy thing, I was already at the mineral wells exit, approximately 10 miles from McDonalds, before I even noticed I didn't have my food! That was probably the dumbest thing that happened all day but more random craziness has been going on all day...our lights in the upstairs level of our house just quit working, everyone one of them except the bathrooms! Chad is trying to fix that right now. The most recent thing being that our studio downtown has been broken into and someone apparently slept there last night????? CRAZY! So anyways, thinking I might just go to bed early and hope for a more pleasant, normal day tomorrow! Get behind me satan!

Here are some more photos from the concert!

Heather Sloan, Christina, Jenny, Angela and Me

Me with After Edmund- those guys are a blast!

Hope Now

2008-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

This past month has taken me through many emotions. I experienced sickness like I had never dealt with before...scared me pretty bad to say the least. I am still not certain what is going to happen as far as the catheter that is now in my liver. The Lord has used this song "Hope Now" by Addison Road to give me a peace with life right now. I have been belting this song out all the time lately. My little Nic said a few minutes ago, "mom, you really love that song don't you."

Tomorrow, Addison Road will be here in Parkersburg, WV with Building 429. My sister picked up our tickets today and I am just so stinkin excited! I don't think it is a coincidence that they are coming here...I am looking at it as a another comfirmation from the Lord...I am not my own, I've been carried by Him all my life:) No matter what happens, everything is going to be ok.

Hope Now by Addison Road
If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours

I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

Still Alive!

2008-11-12T19:50:00.002-08:00

Hello Blog world! A bit beaten and battered but still alive.

I have been sick. They thought I had kidney stones and in the process of testing for stones they found that I have a catheter in my portal vien in my liver. Apparently the catheter is the result of a blood transfusion I had as a newborn.

My doctor had the hospital pull my birth records. My mom was mortified to find out that I am truly lucky to be alive. The Drs had told them that I had spit up a bit of blood. According to the birth records I had uncontrolled internal bleeding. They gave me not one but two blood transfusions. My parents knew about one. Then apparently...considering I have a catheter in my portal vien. The catheter broke off into my vien. Interestingly enough there is no mention of the said catheter in any of the medical records.

So I go to a surgeon on Nov 26th to see if the catheter needs to come out or if I can keep it since I have already had it for 33 years.

Really stinks that we are having to pay all these medical bills for all the testing they have done. Seems that the hospital should be covering it free of charge. I am just praying that I stay healthy and don't have to have surgery.

So that is what I have been up to lately. Been pretty freaked out. Found out that I have had a rib out of place...so that might be what was causing the pain that lead them to find this catheter. So now that I have been to the chiropractor several times...I am now feeling better and hopeful that it isn't the catheter causing my pain.

I am also teaching preschool now! I have been since school strated in September. I am loving my job. Just wishing I could be feeling good so I could really enjoy it more!

I hope to be a better blogger now that I am feeling better!

Faith Sisters Birthday Bash Cyber Crop

2008-09-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Join Faith Sisters for our Birthday Bash Cyber Crop!

Who: YOU are invited!
When: September 26-28th
What: Challenges, Prizes (traditional and digital,) Sales,
Chats, New Goodies and MORE!
Where: http://www.faithsisters.com/
Why: To celebrate our 1 year birthday!

Earn points toward winning prizes by doing challenges, purchasing digi kits from our shop, and more! Earn an EXTRA 5 Points for inviting a NEW friend to the crop and have them sign up and participate in the forum!

Download this mini kit that is a part of our Birthday Bash Collab Kit for
FREE for a limited time!

Summer Reading

2008-08-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

This summer has been so swamped that I haven't had much time to read! When the kids had tennis I would read while I waited for them and that was about all the reading I got in until vacation! While on vacation I read 3 and 1/2 books!

I am reading the Lauraine Snelling, Red River of the North Series. They are FABULOUS books! I finished book 4 while Brooke had Cross Country practice today.

I had a huge surprise in the mail on Monday! Laura Childs, the author of the scrapbooking murder mysteries that I reviewed at Bella a couple years ago, has a new book coming out in September! She sent me the proof copy...without the cover even. So I have another book to read and write a review for BellaOnline Scrapbooking!

Meal Plan Monday

2008-08-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my favorite poses at the beach! I am going to turn this one black and white or sepia...haven't decided yet and blow it up prolly to about 16x20 to frame and hang in my family room.

I have been flying by the seat of my pants lately when it comes to cooking. That is not always a good thing...especially when everytime I think I will make something I go to the kitchen to discover I am missing ingredients! That drives me nutzo!

My earthboxes are really producing...I will post some pictures of them later. We have harvested lots of squash, tomatoes, banana peppers and cucumbers (my favorite)! Our eggplants are just now about ready to harvest!! WOOHOO!

In the hopes of getting back to better menu planning so I can grocery shop accordingly I am gonna try to start my meal plan Monday's posting again! If you want one of my recipes just let me know!! Oh yeah...my sister and I are contemplating a cooking evening where we cook up a bunch of our favorite dishes and then freeze them for future busy evenings. Anyone tried that and have advice??

Menu Plan
Monday:
Tyler's Choice of Birthday dinner ~ He chose eating at Grand Ranchero..our favorice Mexican place!

Tuesday:
Curly Noodles, squash & onions, sliced tomatoes

Wednesday:
Grilled chicken, grilled corn on the cob, baked beans and more squash (my squash is really producing what can I say!)

Thursday:
Eggplant Parmesian (as long as the eggplant are ready to harvest...I think by Thursday they will be! Fresh green beans in the pressure cooker.

Friday:
leftover night because I have crop club!!

Saturday:
Grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob and you guessed it ~ grilled squash!!

Sunday:
Deer steak with tomatoe gravy, some more fresh green beans.

Back from the Beach

2008-07-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an awesome vacation we had at Myrtle Beach, SC! Such a relaxing time to say the least! We have officially been labeled Beach Bums! Our friends Randy and Diana Riffle were vacationing at the same resort with us. They were shocked at the amount of time that we spend ON the beach. Pretty much most of the daylight hours!

The boys LOVE to dig holes in the sand. Brooke and her best friend Jennifer spent their time in the ocean or at one of the 6 pools at the resort...the loved having some freedom! Chad mostly hung out with the boys either in the ocean or digging holes..he did get a a little reading in as well. I am a sun soaker! I wade into the ocean just enough to get cooled down and then I relax in my beach chair with a good book!

I read two and a half books while at the beach! I am reading the Red River Valley Series of Lauraine Snelling books. EXCELLENT author...I have loved every series I have read of hers so far! So I read the first two books in the series while on the beach and I did stay up a couple late nights to finish them as well! They are just so good I can't put them down! As soon as I am done with this post I am going to go relax in my recliner and read some more of the third book!:)

I am uploading pictures right now as I type. I took LOTS of course! I had planned to get some photos with all of us in white shirts and jeans on the beach but that didn't work out so well. I got pretty upset by the lack of cooperation from my family so the day that we were leaving the beach I was pleasantly surprised that Chad wanted to have more family photos taken. So we weren't in our white shirts and jeans...but the pictures turned out great!

I will be posting pictures throughout the week! I am really hoping to have a couple of great quality ones that I can have larger sizes printed for frames in my living room! Keeping my fingers crossed! They are taking forever to upload!!

Worship - Much Of You Jesus

2008-07-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! God is so awesome!

We had an amazing pool party to get the kids excited about VBS coming up! We expected maybe 100 and had WAY MORE than 100! We never really did get a count with so many running all over the place and going under water etc! Now just praying that all of these kids will be at VBS and many of them will come to know Jesus as their personal savior! Such an EXCITING night!

On the way home I heard this song by STevin Curits Chapman...then I got on FaithSisters.com and my dear sister Kay had posted the lyrics and youtube video of this song! Reading those lyrics and singing that song just sets my soul to worshipping and I was sitting here in front of my computer just singing and praising the Lord.

As I spend tomorrow prepping some more for VBS I just want to keep on praising Him. I want all of us to be making MUCH of Him at VBS!!

I hope this song will lift your spirits and set your soul to worshipping too!:)

Steven Curtis Chapman - Much Of You
From the album All Things New

How could I stand here and watch the sun rise
Follow the mountains where they touch the sky
Ponder the vastness and the depths of the sea
And think for a moment.
The point of it all was to make
Much of me
Cause I'm just a whisper
And You are the thunder and …

I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your
I want to live today and give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of you

And how can I kneel here and think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear
The infinite cost to purchase my pardon
And bear all my shame
To think I have anything worthy boasting in
Except for Your name
Cause I am a sinner
And You are the Savior and…

I want to make much of You, Jesus
I want to make much of Your
I want to live today and give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of you

Eggplant

2008-07-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Cleaning, packing, finding pet sitters, finishing up VBS stuff, completing my last online class! That was yesterday...and most likely today too.

Last night we had a Cub Scout party at the water slide! The kids had a blast and I got some fun photos!

Here is a picture of Brooke from our photo shoot the other day! She is getting so grown up looking:(

Josie is needing my eggplant recipe...so here's to you Jos! I have two eggplant recipes that we really like.

Here is what we call

Eggplant Lasagna
2 med eggplant
1 lb ground chuck
1 lg can tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 lg bell peper
1 lg onion
Parmesian Cheese
Mozarella Cheese
3 eggs
1 c flour
1 tbs oregano
olive oil

Slice eggplant 1/4 inch thick and soak in salt water for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute onion and pepper. Add burger and brown. Add tomatoe and paste. Cook until sauce thickens. Add water and season as needed.

I do this assembly line style! Mix flour and oregano in flat dish. Dip eggplant slices into egg and then dredge in the flour mixture. Heat oil in large pan and then
add the slices as go. Lightly brown each side.

Layer sauce, eggplant, parmesian cheese and mozzarella cheese until the pan is full.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Eggplant Parmesian
2 med eggplants (sliced and fried)
2 cans of Italian tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
salt
Mozarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese (I prefer fresh)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 1/2 tsp butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line the bottom of a buttered baking dish with a single layer of fried eggplant slices. Top this layer with chopped tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt, a generous sprinkling of mozzarella and a tablespoon or parmesian. Sprinkle a pinch of oregano and cover with another layer of sliced eggplant. Continue building layers of eggplant, tomatoes, cheese until you have used up all the eggplant. The top layer should be eggplant. Sprinkle the remaning parmesian cheese over it and dot with butter. Place in the upper third of the preheated ove.

Bake for 20 minutes. Pull out the pan. Press with the back of a spoon to check if there is an excess amount of liquid. If there is, tip the pan and draw it off with the spoon. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Allow it to settle and partly cool before serving. It should not be piping hot.

Note: this is a great dish to prep ahead and refrigerate. It also makes for fabulous leftovers!

Enjoy! I need to get back to my school work! I hope to get my final lesson plan completed today so that summer school will be over before I head off to the beach! WOOHOOO!

Catching Up!

2008-07-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

Jeesh! The summer is just flying by like crazy! I can not believe that we will be leaving for vacation this Friday! Myrtle Beach...here we come!!

I have been super busy as usual. Working on my online classes for continueing Ed to renew my teaching certificate is taking a lot of time! Getting ready for the This Is My Story class that I am teaching at church-an awesome faithbooking class that I am so stinkin excited about! It started this past Sunday night. Also trying to get stuff ready for VBS which starts the Monday following the Sunday that we get back from the beach...so everything has to be ready before I go! I am seriously going to be ready for that vacation come Friday!!

Friday we took the kids to Forever Memories photography for a photo shoot. Stevin will be leaving on the 28th to go back to Seatle for the year with his mom so we needed to get our Cousins photos taken before he heads back. Cathy Freed did an awesome job on the photos! I can't wait to show some of them off! But for now..here is one that I took after the photo shoot with Cathy! Since I had all the kids matching and photo ready...I ran over to the park where we spend all of our time at tennis lessons! Beside the tennis courts is this tree that the kids LOVE...so we got a few shots in the tree! Now I just need to get some photoshopping tips so I can brighten them up a bit!

Family Visiting and the Motherload

2008-06-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting and busy past two weeks! First of all cousin Josie and her three children came to visit for a week. While Josie was here I got a call from one of our scrapbook customers mothers. My scrappin friend Teresa Wince passed away from a long battle with a pulmonary disease. Her mother was calling to tell me that Teresa wanted me to have all of her scrapbooking stuff. Josie and I dropped the kids off to visit my mom and we headed to Ellenboro (approximately 45 mins away). I had commented that I hoped it would be worth the trip since gas is so ridiculously high.

When we walked into Teresa's home there was TONS of scrapbooking stuff. Her mom was giving it ALL to me! We put the seats down in my stow and go mini van (man I love those stow and go seats...they sure come in handy!) and packed the van full from front to back and top to bottom. The whole way home Josie and I were just giddy! When we pulled up to the garage we immediately started sorting and trying to organize and oohing and ahing over all the new stuff! It was better than any Christmas presents I have ever had. Teresa had more scrapbooking stuff than I have had in my personal stash...and for those of you that have seen my personal stash...I am sure you are amazed that anyone could have more than me! LOL

So I inherited the motherload! I am still trying to organize all of it but thanks to Josie, it is somewhat under control! I am not sure what I would have done without her helping me!

Josie came on Monday and then left the following Monday. We didn't do much more than organizing the motherload all week! Well ok, we did take the kids to tennis lessons every morning. Brooke to Cross Country practive nearly every evening. Wed night we took the kids to church and then went to the Drive in to see Indiana Jones and Speed Racer. Other than that we organized and then got a little scrapping done at crop club on Friday night...which by the way, turned into an all nighter. Josie and I didn't get home till after 7am! EEEK!

My little sister Julie arrived for a weeks visit the Sunday before Josie left. We spent the evening playing canasta. We had a little INCIDENT involving a sleepwalking child...but I will not go into that because I am sure he would kill me when he was older if he found out I blogged about it!

Julie stayed with mom and dad but visited me everyday. It was so nice having her in town all week. She is usually just here a few weekends of the year. So having her here for a full week was a treat! We got lots of Canasta games in this past week! We also took the kids to the Marietta Aquatic Center. Wed night we went to the Drive In to see Kung Fu Panda and Spiderwick Chronicles. Both of which were super!

Julie headed back home to GA today. Was bummed to see her go back but hopefully we will get to visit GA before school starts in the fall.

So now the company has all returned home and we are trying to get back to normal. My laundry is overflowing. My house is kinda messy. I am overwhelmed with my two online classes and all the work I need to accomplish before vacation. I have to get stuff together for the "This is My Story" faithbooking class I am starting for the summer session at church. Plus, I got all my VBS materials tonight and have to start getting ready for that because it starts the day we get back from vacation! EEEEK!!

Well, writing that to do list has made me exhausted! I better sign off for now!

States I have Visited

2008-06-13T23:34:00.001-07:00

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Karma had a map of all the places she has been on her blog...or wait. Maybe that was places she has lived? hehe!

Anyways, I thought it was kinda neat so here is mine! I have been to all the pink places. jeesh I still have lots of states to visit!

Decluttering and Online classes

2008-06-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where has the week gone? I have cleaned and decluttered my week away! With the exception of a laundry, cooking, dishes, a couple baseball games, a tennis tournament, church and an orthodontist appointment...I have literally been decluttering and cleaning all week....oh yeah throw in a little sleeping too!

The sad part is that I am still not done. Even after a weeks worth of almost non-stop decluttering there is still more! ARGH! We have to much stuff. And why in the world did I want a big house?? So...have come to grips with the fact I will never be completely caught up with all I need to have done around here. It sure feels good to have gotten this much done though! Still have my storage basement (with tons of homeschool curriculum that needs gotten rid of), my office which is almost done, the game cabinet and last but most certainly NOT LEAST my scrapbook room(might take me a week all in itself!)

I am taking 6 graduate credit hours this summer. Thankfully the classes are completely online. I need the six hours to renew my teaching certificate this year. With the cost of gas and the poor economy it looks as though I am gonna have to start applying for full time teaching jobs. I enjoy teaching and being with kids..but I really hate the early morning part of it all! Why can't school start at 10am?? I am a night owl you know...mornings are just HARD on me!

Learned something really neat in my Read/Write Web 2.0 class this week! Have you heard of Social Bookmarks? It is so cool. It is just like the ole favorite on your personal PC except that you can add your favorites and categorize them and share them online! It's pretty cool and I have all sorts of fun ideas running through my head for this! Here is my start using the del.icio.us social bookmark...pretty lame so far but hey I just found out about this...and you know...I haven't had much online time cause of the nonstop cleaning spree this week;)

My goal for Saturday is cleaning the scrapbook room...cousin Josie will be arriving Monday and since that is the room we will be spending most of our time in (I hope!) I better get it organized so we can both have a place to scrap! Oh yeah...Nic has double header baseball games starting at noon....so will be getting some serious sun too. You know it has been outrageously hot here lately?? Mid ninties with extreme humidty. What is up with that? It isn't even officially summer yet!

Amish Country

2008-06-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

Chad surprised me with a romantic weekend away this past weekend. The boys were both going to Camp Cowan church camp for the weekend...and Brooke had plans of her own. The last time the two of us were on a trip alone together was before Brooke was born! So this was a long overdue weekend away! I have been begging and begging but Chad refuses to leave the kids with someone so we can run off by ourselves. Thank goodness for church camp! ;)

We had a fabulous time in Amish Country! We left home around 2ish Friday. Our first stop was Lehmans and WOW! It was awesome! So many things you can by there! Some of the things brought back childhood memories of things my grandmothers used to have at their houses! I was super excited to be able to gather some canning supplies that we most desperately needed! I got a jar lifter ( no more burning our fingers!) I also got a boiling basket and a Ball canning book! So I am ready for the garden harvest this year! We will be canning in style!

When we left Lehmans we headed down the Amish byway to Millersburg. we stayed at the White House guest suites and had the whole downstairs and porch(complete with porch swing) all to ourselves! It was fabulous! I loved how it was decorated!:) Funny thing....the bed was one of those super tall beds and the comforter and bedskirt are exactly the comforter and bed skirt on our bed at home!

Once we had checked into our hotel we headed to Troyers Amish resteraunt for dinner. YUMMY! I was so stuffed when I left that it hurt to walk! Once we were back to our house we decided to take a little walk in Millersburg...even though we were stuffed! Then we stopped at the little ice cream parlor beside our house and Chad got ice cream...I took a couple licks but couldnt handle anymore than that...I am not sure how he could have possibly fit in his stomach after that Amish dinner!

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30am! What is up with that??? Well there were only mini blinds on the windows and I am used to it being fairly dark in my room. So I guess the brite room woke me up?? Yes, I know...it was totally weird cause I never ever wake up on my own at that crazy house of the morning! ;)

We headed to Boyd and Wurtham Amish Resteraunt for breakfast and once again were STUFFED! I didn't even eat my whole plate of food. They serve enough for two Amish farmers on one plate! Delish but gosh...my belly!! Right behind the resteraunt was a scrapbook store...but since we were such early risers they weren't open yet...yes I even woke up Chad early! Now that is unusal..he ALWAYS is up before me! LOL

We drove into Sugar Creek but there wasn't anything open there either. On our way back to Berlin we saw a sign for Yoders Amish Farm. We decided to head out there and it ended up being our absolute FAVORITE of the whole trip! We were able to tour a Dawdi Haus (were the grandparents live), a main house, the bard complete with all the baby animals, an Amish school house and even take a buggy ride on a real amish buggy driven by Mr Troyer(a real amish dude!). The funniest thing happened while we were on the buggy ride! Mr Troyer asked Chad what his occupation was. Chad said "I am an electrician." Then for the first time of the whole buggy ride there was silence....it was like he had said I am a voodoo witch or something! LOL Chad broke the silence by saying, she is a teacher. Mr Troyer then said..."oh that is good" and started up conversation with me! Too funny! I told Chad he better just tell anyone else that he works at Dupont..and just leave the electrician part out! LOL

After the amish farm tours we headed to the Holmes Country flea market. I found so many things I would have love to have brought home with me...but my lack on income right now reared its ugly head! I bought some yummy incense, some cardstock and a necklace. Chad hates flea markets and was done in about 10 minutes..when I was only at the 3rd booth! So he went out to take a nap in the car and ended up sunburned! I was in there like 1 1/2 hours. Could have stayed longer but felt bad that he was waiting for me!

We went to Heinis Cheese Chalet and were able to sample over 50 different cheeses. That ended up being lunch for us! All we needed was some crackers!

We then headed back to Berlin. Chad took me to some great shops. His allergies were going haywire because of all the scents in the shops. So once again I tried to rush through them. we walked around and explored downtown Berlin and some of the bulk food places that the Amish shop.

We ate at Der Dutchman for dinner and had another wonderful meal. I didn't want to be stuffed again so I opted for some side dishes instead of a full blown meal...and also got the salad bar. Then Chad and I shared a wonderful piece of cherry pie. MMMM!

The Amish people were so wonderfully friendly. It was just so neat being around them. Especially since I have read all the Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunsetter books about Amish! I felt like I really knew alot about their lifestyle...and was able to tell Chad a good bit too. It was so cool to just be driving down the road and see Amish buggies traveling with you.

After dinner we went for another drive on the Amish byway. I must say that I was totally shocked at how NOT plain the Amish homes were. You really can not tell them apart from the other homes...aside from the fact that they do not have automobiles in the driveway or electricity running to their house. I was expecting the houses to be plain...so the picture in my head was obviously wrong! Actually though...the farm house and Dawdi house at the Yoder farm we toured...those were older homes and looked much like the picture in my head! Apparently the more modern houses are allowed to look just like the "English" neighbors houses!

Remember how I said our bed was really tall? Well Sat night I was getting up to head to the bathroom and forgot how tall the bed was, went to get out of bed how I get out of my own bed and landed hip first onto the hardwood floor! YOUCHERS! I have a nice bruise and woke up Sun morning feeling like I had been in a fight or something!

Sunday morning we slept in till 8:30am and then packed up and headed to breakfast. None of the Amish resteraunts or businesses...or pretty much anything in Amish country was open! We ended up eating at Shoney's in Dover. Then we headed to Parkersburg because we had to pick up the boys at the church at 2pm.

It was a fabulous trip and I was so thankful to have been able to spend a relaxing weekend alone with my most wonderful hubby! Hopefully we will be able to do it again soon!

The Marriage Protection Amendment- Send a letter to your Represenative

2008-06-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

We aren't hearing about this in the media...so wanted to make sure that you could let your voice be heard. It is very easy to send off an email to your representative asking them to back this. If we Christians don't step up to the plate...nobody will. I have provided a link down below that will take you straight to an already typed up letter...and all you do is put in your zip code and they will find your congressman for you! It's totally easy to do.....so Just Do It!

A constitutional amendment making marriage legal ONLY between a man and a woman introduced in U.S. House

The Marriage Protection Amendment of 2008 needs your support!

Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia has introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment of 2008 (H.J. RES. 89). This amendment to the U.S. Constitution would make marriage legal only between a man and a woman.

If you haven't heard about this, it is because the liberal media opposes it. So if they simply refuse to report it, citizens will know nothing about it and will not act on it.

As you know, Massachusetts has already legalized marriage of homosexuals, while the California Supreme Court has ruled all laws restricting homosexual marriage illegal. In both places, the courts ruled by a one vote margin. The goal of homosexual activists is to see homosexual marriage legal in all 50 states.

Rep. Broun needs co-sponsors for H.J. RES. 89. Please contact you Representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor H.J. RES. 89.

Homosexual activists are determined to force homosexual marriage on America by using activist liberal judges, like those in Massachusetts and California.

A Federal Marriage Amendment will finally put an end to activist judges tampering with the will of the people.

Click here to send an email to your representative! http://capwiz.com/afanet/issues/alert/?alertid=11451996&type=CO

New Recipe- Beef and Curly Noodles

2008-06-04T22:30:00.001-07:00

I tried this new recipe. It doesn't exactly look pretty...but it sure was YUMMY! Everyone loved it, including my picky eater!

This is one that will go into my cue of fast to fix dinners!

Ingredients: (I loved this cause the ingredients are things I always have in my cabinets!)
1 lb ground beef or ground venison
2 3 oz packages of ramen noodles (I used chicken but expect any flavor would work fine)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
1 cup of water

Heat a large skillet to med-high heat. Crumble the ground meet and brown, stirring frequently.
Drain off grease.
Break up the noodles before opening by crunching them on the counter (careful cause the end might burst)
Stir in the flavor packets from ramen noodles.
Add tomatoes, corn (with their juices).
Add water.
Add broken up noodles to the skillet.
Bring to a boil, then reduve heat to love, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Stir occasionally to break up any noodle clumps.

Bad Blogger!

2008-05-29T22:14:00.001-07:00

I have been such a bad blogger! My goal in my blog was to try and keep a journal of things going on in life...and I have failed terribly up to this point!

Have been substitute teaching pretty steadily...which has been tough getting used to! I am so spoiled from working at home all these years. Now that I am finally getting into the swing of things the school year is winding down. I am in need of 6 CE hours so I will be taking online classes this summer. Two classes for a total of 6 credit hours. I am kinda nervous about being a student again! It has been so long so I have had college classes. I am especially about the whole online class thing....they were just teaching us how to log onto the internet back when I was in college....let alone having the entire class online! Should be interesting! My classes start June 8th.

We have been having terrible computer problems. A virus hiding out and attacking every so often. I am not sure if we are totally rid of it yet but I have said a prayer and hoping that the troubles are over before my online classes start!

Brookes activities for the end of the school year are finally over. Now to start her summer schedule which is pretty full with camps, tennis and who knows what else!

The boys are both still playing baseball. We have lots of make up games to catch up once the regular scheduled games have finished. Looks like we might be playing baseball most of the summer at this rate!

Have been busy helping my sister get her new house painted and refurbished. Seems I have spent most of my time off there. I finally had to take a break so I could clean my own house which seemed to be falling apart all around me! Now I have to get back to helping her get things done! We are painting a mural on Dereks walls. He has a racecar bed and wants his room to have a race track on the walls! Such fun! We are nearly finished with it...will post pictures when it is done!

School is out next Thursday. Worried about the loss of income but also very excited to have the summer to spend with my kids! We got a trampoline so that should give the kids something new to do this summer. So far they have already spent LOTS of time on it! Hoping the excitement doesnt wear off!

Hopefully I will be having a little more time to keep up with my blogging! Just imagine how far behind I am on reading all of my friends blogs and the posts at Faith Sisters! EEEEK!

So Thankful...

2008-04-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful that I have a relationship with my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that my relationship with Him is growing deeper and deeper every day. So thankful that every single day my faith grows because I am awakened to the fingerprints of God on my life.

I am so thankful that I am saved...I do not have to prove that I am a "good person" because Jesus Christ died on the cross to save me from my sins. No matter how "good" I am...I could never be sinless. Thank you Jesus for saving me from my sins!!

Just feeling so blessed to know Him and trust in His Word! If he can create the entire universe and everything in it....I know that he has the power to keep his word in tact!

Did you know that over 40 men wrote the Holy Bible? They wrote it over years, and at different times, yet all of them agreed. The Word is inspired and God breathed and I am so thankful that it is alive and means so much to me when I read it!

Making Memories RAK

2008-03-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wow! I haven't been able to keep up with anything lately! Life has been busy!

Karma...one of my bestest friends came from SC to visit for the week! We scrapped most of the day yesterday! YAY! I was working on my album for the Making Memories Challenge at Faith Sisters This is my first time making a circle album. It was lots of fun! I have had this poem sitting on my scrap table for quite some time and have been wanting to make it into a mini album. I am happy with how it turned out!

Click on the picture to see the rest of the album.

Faith Sisters has a great gift R.A.K. for our contest sponsored by Making Memories for this weeks challenge winner! It is the Fresh Anthology Paint Set and you will be sure to want it for your own! Winner will be based on the use of Making Memories product, creative design and theme.

Easter Challenge at FaithSisters.com

2008-03-19T21:28:00.001-07:00

The Easter Challenge has been posted at Faith Sisters!

Here are my two layouts for the challenge!:)

The 80s Rock!

2008-03-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

American Idol celebrated the 80s this week. Oh how I love music from the 80s!!

I didn't get to watch the guys last night:( The girls rocked tonight though! I think the first girl that sang I wanna Dance With Somebody might be the one to go Thurs. Either her or Ramielle (sp?)

Here is a layout I made for the Challenge at Faith Sisters that was just posted tonight.

Here is a little fun for you!

You might be a child of the 80's if...

You wanted to be on Star Search. (Didn't we all?)
You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
You wore a banana clip or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
You wore French rolls on the bottom of your splatter painted jeans.
You had slouch socks, and puff painted your own shirt at least once.
You owned a doll with 'Xavier Roberts' signed on it's butt.
You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout."
You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
You can remember watching Full House and Saved by the Bell for endless hours.
You have seen at least 10 episodes of Fraggle Rock.
You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."
You'll always hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool. (Was there an 80's movie she WASN'T in?)
You know what "psych" means.
You fell victim to 80's fashion: big hair, crimped, combed over to the side, and you wore spandex pants.
You wanted to be a Goonie ("Goonies never say die.")
You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince."
You ever wore fluorescent—neon if you will—clothing...
You could breakdance, or wished you could.
You know, by heart, the words to any "Weird" Al Yankovic song.
You remember when ATARI was a state-of-the-art video gaming system.
You own any cassettes or albums.
You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living on the moon.
You remember and/or own any of the Care Bear glass collection from Pizza Hut.
"Poltergeist" totally freaked you out.
You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ET lunchbox.
You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
You inserted the word "like" into, like, every sentence.
You know what a Doozer is. See Fraggle Rock.
You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
You ever had a Swatch Watch.
You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare.
You had a crush on one of the Coreys (Haim or Feldman).
You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
You had Wonder Woman or Superman Underoos.
You have worn a Banana Clip, or knew someone who did.
You actually thought "Dirty Dancing" was a REALLY good movie.
You have heard of "Garbage Pail Kids" (and perhaps still have a collection of them).
Extra point You have seen the Garbage Pail Kids TV show. (Only one episode was aired.)
You had a crush on Bo Derek.
Punks actually "shocked" people.
You wanted to be The Hulk or Rainbow Brite for Halloween.
You believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power!"
You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
You know what a "Whammy" is. ("No Whammy, no whammy, stop!")
Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.
Songs by Debbie Gibson still haunt you to this day.
3 words: "Atari" "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?

You remember "Friday Night Videos" before the days of MTV.

You remember when music that was labeled "alternative" really was.
You were shocked and horrified at the Challenger explosion (which you were probably watching in school at the time).

Schoolhouse Rock played a HUGE part in how you actually learned the English language.
You ever dressed to emulate a person you saw in either a Duran Duran, Madonna, or Cyndi Lauper video.
At one point during your teenage years, you walked with a noticeable tilt to one side due to the number of plastic rings on that arm.
"Celebration" by Kool & the Gang was one of the hot new songs when you first heard it at a school dance.
The first time you ever kissed someone at a dance fell during "Crazy for You" by Madonna.
You ever owned one of those embarrassing crimping irons.
You used to hold in your head the thought that all those gold chains on Mr. T actually looked kinda cool and the thought that Mr. T made millions seemed rational to you at the time.
You remember with pain the sad day when the Green Machine hit the streets and made your old big wheel quite obsolete.
You've gotten this far on the list and aren't totally confused.
The phrase "Where's the beef?" still doubles you over with laughter.
You're starting to believe that maybe 30 isn't so old after all, and it's those people over 40 you have to look out for.
Your hair, at some point in time in the 80's, became something which can only be described by the phrase "I was experimenting."
You've ever shopped at a Banana Republic or Benetton, but not in the last five years, okay?
You ever wanted to be gagged with a spoon.
When someone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end.
You had a crush on Jon Bon Jovi, or knew someone who did.
You thought eating Reese's Pieces would attract your own Alien.
You have ever called 867-5309.
You had a poster of Rob Lowe, Kirk Cameron, or Michael J. Fox on your wall.
You held the top score on Pac-Man.
You HAD to have your MTV
You know what a "burnout" is.
You owned a Jordache anything, or you remember when Jordache jeans were cool.
You remember when Madonna was just hitting the scene.
You remember the original version of Windows: Macintosh.
Chevy Chase was really funny in those vacation movies.
You actually know who Rick Springfield is .
You jammed to the Miami Vice theme and thought Jan Hammer was cool.

Did I leave any off? Please post in the comments if you have any other to add

I'm in a Commercial

2008-03-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

I am in the Scrapapalooza commercial! Was kinda nervous that I would look like a big dork but they really did a good job with the commercial. My kids have been watching WTAP to see it come on! LOL It will be running all week. I am going to attatch it here but not sure if it will work or not!

>

American Idol Girls?

2008-02-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

Snow day here today! So there were kids running around all over my house! It was one of the those kind of days that I had so much planned to do...but never really got to it cause other things kept coming up to do. UGH! It still turned out to be a pretty productive day though.

The Idol girls didn't impress me tonight. Actually, I was really unimpressed. I am with Simon tonight! They all need to pick better songs for next week. Can they not tell that the songs just don't work for them? Who will go tomorrow night? Hmmm I just can't say.

Not sure if the kids will have school tomorrow or not. I am hoping for a productive day tomorrow. Planning on doing some scrapping for upcoming classes I am working on.

American Idol Guys impress again!

2008-02-27T09:17:00.001-08:00

I have been a littler under the weather the past couple of days. I decided to take it easy so have been working on some little projects that needed caught up. Then I indulged in another great read The Parting written by Beverly Lewis. Beverly Lewis is by far one of my favorite authors.

For the first time ever I have decided to keep a running list of all of the books that I read this year. I have never done this before. I decided to do it when my mom had asked me if I had read a book...and even though it sounded familiar I just couldnt figure out if I had read it or not! LOL So thought it would be fun to record all the books that I read. Believe it or not this book is the first one I have read in 2008! I have just been SO BUSY!

I really enjoyed last nights American Idol! Will have to say that Robbie did not impress. However, I was really impressed with David Cook! He got my vote last night for sure! Brooke and Nic are voting for David Archaleta (sp?).
I was also really impressed with Chickezee! He rocked! I especially loved his come back to Simon...about only Simon wearing the same thing twice on TV! I was laughing so hard that I spit my drink!!

I think Luke did well also last night and David Hernandez...wow that was good!

Tyler's Baptism

2008-02-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

Tyler decided at Awana a few weeks ago that he wanted to be baptised. We were all thrilled to pieces that he has given his heart to the Lord. He is such a tender hearted little boy. Such a blessing in our lives. We are so so proud of him! Here are a few shots from the baptism.

After church, Grammy Betty took us out to the Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Tyler's baptism! Grandma Sarah, Papa Ed and Uncle Matt joined us too. It was a long wait since we had nine people...but the food was sure yummy and worth the wait!

Snow Day

2008-02-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

The kids had a snow day today! They were so anxious to get outside and play...but it was misting nearly all day. After lunch they went outside and had a blast. Nick and Derek made a giant snowball and had a blast rolling it around the yard. Then they made a little snowman. They wanted to make a snowman for each person int he family! They were running out of snow though!

Tyler was my little cleaning helper. He cleaned up the entire toy room and got it looking GREAT! I owe him a Webkins for all that help;) He is a Webkins collector now! This will be his third. After cleaning he went out to build a snowman.

Diana came over and we scrapbooked. I worked on some upcoming Faith Sisters Challenges...felt so good to get those done!

Chad wasnt feeling well today. He never ever calls off work but today he did. I woke up at 6:45 and he was still in bed. Very unusual! Say a prayer for him. He is totally stressed about what to do with the surgery...and I think he might be getting an ulcer from all the stress and worry. Hoping he will schedule the knee surgery soon.

The boys had their Blue and Gold banquet tonight. They were so thrilled with all the badges and belt loops they got! It was a fun evening. I took tons of pictures! Lots of boy scout scrapping to come!

Chad's parents are coming this weekend. We are celebrating Tyler being baptised! His big day is Sunday!:)

Lovin American Idol!

2008-02-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

I spent the entire day cleaning, laundry and more cleaning. So much fun! What a relief to have things sparkly and smelling fresh though. I hate the process but the outcome is just so refreshing!:)

I think I have the nagging urge to start ripping off wall paper in the entry way. My laundry room and downstairs bathroom are in much need of some paint too. Why can't I just be content with how it is! So I expect that any day now I will take on the task of stripping wall paper and painting. My whole entire house was wall paper when we moved in. It is very nice wall paper though...no big flowers or antying crazy. Just marbled and very subtle. The entry way though...well it looks like a dirty dog came in and shook all over the walls. Just little brown specks everywhere. I have always hated it....if I can get the energy I might start ripping it off. The only problem with ripping it off though...in the bathroom upstairs when I ripped off the wall paper I discovered bare walls. They didn't even finish the drywall before putting up the wall paper. Yeah! A mess! So I am terribly afraid what stripping off other wall paper might reveal! If I knew it would just be adhesive removal and then painting I would have done it a couple years ago. However, it might require hiring someone to come in and finish the drywall.....UGH! Well we shall see cause I expect that as soon as I get going on the laundry room and get it finished I will start on the entry way. Chad is going to love it that I have this painting bug......hehehe....being totally sarcastic. He recently said he is done working on the house for a long while. We have truly done tons to this place since we moved in. The floors were our major project. We ripped carpent out of the entire place and put in hardwood. No matter what I have to get the laundry room and guest bedroom painted. All of the baseboards need a good coat of paint too. When we did the floors we used the primered baseboards....since they were already white I just left them! They are starting to show the wear though. It's time for them to be painted....ugh I hate painting trim work! However, I am very good at it so it is always the job that I get when it comes time to paint.

So how about American Idol! I am so loving this season. We have such great talent to choose from! I think America did well with the voting. Garret and Colton were two that I wasn't real thrilled with. I am glad to see that Luke gets another chance. Is it just me or does he remind you of the dude from 90210? LOL I am thinking his name was Luke too.

I really liked Amy. Sad that she had to go. I think she will get picked up as a model or something though cause she is just beautiful and Paula is so right...the camera loves her! I really liked Joanna too. That was not the best song for her though. I have decided that it is going to be hard to see any of these girls leave. They are all so talented. I do really like Amanda though. She may be rough around the edges...but she can most definitely ROCK!

Can't wait till next weeks idol!!

American Idol Girls

2008-02-20T20:05:00.001-08:00

I am kinda stumped on the girls. There are some really good ones this season.

My stand out favorite is the Rock n nurse Amanda. I think she is unique and talented! Will be interesting to see how she does in the other genres.

Carly is one of my other tops but I wasn't as impressed with her tonight. She was one of the sick ones though.

I don't think that the girls did as well tonight as the guys did last night though. The guys rocked last night! I am gonna have to wait and see with these girls. We do have some really great ones to choose from!!

I got Tagged

2008-02-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by my good friend Lawanda.

You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

My middle name is Michelle! Hehe!

M-mom to three wonderful kids!
I Love Pickles!
Christian
Hildebrand was my maiden name!
Everyone says that my daughter and I look exactly alike.
Laugh easily
Love my wonderful hubby Chad
Enjoy scrapbooking way to much!

OK there you have it! So I tag Sunny, Karma, Tammy,
Dahlia, Eva, Kim, Anne, Jamie

My Top 3 American Idol Guys

2008-02-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

I just gotta say that I am impressed with the talent of these guys on season 7. Every single one of them are good. It is tough competition this season to say the least!

I have picked my favorites! I always lean toward the rockers of course!

My top pick is Robbie Carrico. Do you know that he was born in Beckly, WV! A good ole WV boy! He also has a pet Yorkie! Kinda sealed the deal for me. He has a fabulous voice with a great range.

My next pick is Jason Castro. Not loving his dreads...but he has a great voice! Very talented guy. Seems a tad bit shy...hopefully he will overcome that quickly!

Micheal Johns has a great voice too. However, I kinda liked David Cook as well. So my third place pick is a tie right now!

So I wander who will be sent home? My guess is Garret and Luke. However, I really wish it would be Danny. He just gets on my nerves! Sadly he has a good voice...but oh that attitude. UGH!

Can't wait to see what the girls bring tomorrow night! My favorite is already Amanda..hoping she blows them away Wed night!

American Idol Junkie signing off!

I'm Back!

2008-02-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a rough few weeks! Both of our computers were attacked by viruses! Seems that our virus protection expired....oops....that will NEVER happen again! This has been a nightmare! MAKE SURE YOU HAVE VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE!

Chad had to totally wipe out my computer and start from scratch. It has been terrible! The computer is finally working again! My laptop is still a little slow...but at least it doesnt' have all the popups!

For Valentine's Day Chad got me an external hard drive! WOOHOO!! I have now backed up ALL of my digital photos on the the external hard drive. Now to just get them uploaded to the Kodak Gallery! It's the perfect time to get them uploaded because they have a promotion going on! you can get 150 prints for just $15! Make sure to put in the coupon code: GETPRINTS.

Now I am just trying to catch up with everything! It seems that everytime I go to look for something it is missing on this computer! I have lost MS Publisher, Microsoft Office, all of my Favorites! UGH>>>When will the nightmare end!!!!

American Idol

2008-01-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

Ok I admit it...I am a bit of an American Idol junky! It is the only show that I really ever watch on TV. I don't get to catch every show of the season ever but I have been watching regularly for the past two seasons. We don't have Tivo so I don't get to save and watch later...but it's ok.

The auditions are not my favorite. I feel so terrible for the people that really think they can sing. They are so heartbroken when they are turned down. That poor guy with no front teeth that sang the moses song. That was sad...and the judges just shattered him laughing so hard.

I also really have a hard time with the crudeness that they allow during the auditions. Falling the people around that are having a bad attitude...just encouraging them get even worse. UGH! That is just not needed.

The only part I like about the auditions is trying to pick who I think will make it to the top 25!

I don't know their names yet...but so far my picks:

The girl with the daughter that has the disease that was on the first night. Her family even prayed around her before she went in to audition.

The guy that said he has a style like Red Hot Chili Peppers. Great voice...I think he will go far.

Drew the farm boy. Love his country sound and he just seems like a great wholesome, well mannered guy with a good voice. Simon needs to open up and accept country...I can't believe he said no to this one!

The girl that immitated Britney Spears. She has a phenominal voice. She really nailed all the songs she sang!

I think I might be forgetting a couple. I will come back and add them later! LOL

I did get pretty miffed both nights. I do not think they should have let that old guy get on and sing his R rated song. He said it was about abstinence....but it was uncalled for. Then tonight I got mad about the judges bashing Bruce...the guy who had agreed with his dad for abstinance until marriage. I absolutely can not believe the judges bashed him...and then Ryan had the voiceover as Bruce walked away...that said kiss some girls so you can come back next year as a man. Are you kidding me? That was just wrong. Do we wander why the U.S. has so many teen pregnancy problems?? The nations #1 show even bashes good moral decisions. That guy should have made it on to Hollywood. He had a much better voice than a couple of the ones they sent on. Plus, he would have made a great role model for teens of this day and age.

The one thing that I have been impressed with both seasons that I have watched, is how God has used this show to plant seeds. As well as to spotlight some Christian artists. Melinda was amazing last year...and she has went on to do some great things in the Christian arena. My favorite by far though is Chris Daughtry. HE ROCKS and he is proud to be a Christian! Even on the past two nights of auditions there have been Christian songs sang, and so many people proudly wearing their cross necklaces. Families praying together. WOOHOO! On national television!

Praying that the Lord will use this season of American Idol to bring him glory! Let's support the Christian talent! I am ready to start voting!

So who are your picks so far?

Partially Hydrogenated Oil

2008-01-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

If you know me...you know that I have been trying to avoid partially hydrogenated oils in my families diet for at least the past year. My dad, being the health nut that he is, started reading articles about it and telling me to stop giving it to my kids. I did a little of my own research and then understood why he was so determined to make me listen! This is the reason that one of my goals for 2008 is to cook more meals for my family. From scratch....not boxed or bagged stuff full of junk even though it looks healthy.

In short, trans fats are poisons. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function. And that is the definition of a poison. Your body has no defense against them, because they are not natural. Partially hydrogenated oils do not exist in nature.

Substances that are literally metabolic poisons like partially hydrogenated oil are banned in Canada and Europe. And even some US cities like NYC, Boston, San Francisco have banned it in their resteraunts. However it is still widely used in many resteraunts all over the US and in nearly everything you pick up off the grocery store shelves. It's used instead of butter because it adds texture and flavor to foods and is much cheaper than real butter.

It is seriously hard to avoid this stuff! When you start reading food labels, it is astonishing how many products you will find that contain partially hydrogenated oils. Most chips, crackers, instant coffees and cocoas and oh so much more....even frozen meals! I rarely buy anything anymore without first looking at the label. The stuff is even in some candy!

Here is what you can do: For starters, read food labels and avoid anything that contains the words "hydrogenated". That means partially hydrogenated oils, hydrogenated oils, or anything of that kind (and mono-diglycerides,Interesterified Oils as well- these are just new names they are giving hydrogenated oils to confuse people). When eating out, avoid deep-fried foods at all costs,most resteraunts deep fry with partially hydrogenated oil because it is cheaper! Buy real butter and NOT MARGARINE....margarine is full of the bad oils.

Not only are Partially Hydrogenated Oils bad for you...they also make you get fat. Ever wander why the US has such an obesity problem when other countries do not?? Hmmm....cause this junk is banned there! When you eat normal fats, the body metabolizes half of them in 18 days. When you eat trans fats the body requires 51 days to metabolize half of them.

Tell others to boycott foods containing Partially Hydrogenated oils. There are dozens of references in scientific literature documenting the ill effects of trans fatty acids especially in relation to heart disease. If you have difficulty in convincing someone of the value of avoiding trans fats, the extensive references now available in the scientific literature are helpful.

Here are just a few links to some of the info I have read:
http://www.bantransfats.com/index.html

http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html

http://www.recoverymedicine.com/hydrogenated_oils.htm

http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/conditioncardio/135/

Resolved

2008-01-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

The new Faithbooking challenge at Faith Sisters is set to go live tonight. The challenge is to Create a layout or piece of art that can be displayed to remind you of your New Years Resolutions. So I have been thinking today about my goals for 2008.

1. Scrapbook at least 20 mins a day. Hopefully more!
2. Read my bible daily.
3. Be a shining light in all situations...no more gossiping and complaining!
4. Provide homemade nutritious meals for my family everyday.
5. Attend Intercessory prayer on Thursday evenings.
6. Attend Bible Study Fellowship.

I am so looking forward to a wonderful 2008!

Thought and picture for today:
"Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent and notice." -Matthew 10:29

I took this picture in my mother-in-laws backyard. The whole tip of the tree was filled with birds when I went out.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone! My prayer is that we all have a very blessed and prosperous 2008.

It is our tradition to bring the New Year in with a music party at my mom and dads. Every year for as long as I can remember Dad and Mom have hosted this music party. All of dad's music friends come over and jam all evening. Other friends and relatives also join us to enjoy the music and fellowship. Those of us who don't join in the music jam usually end up playing games.

This year we played Canasta....which is a game taught to us by Grandma Vinnie. It was her absolute favorite game. Christina and Brenda played the new Life Twist and Turns game with the kids.

The musicians are all getting older and each year it seems that they pack up earlier than the last! Once they left the rest of us watched New Years parties from the past that dad had recorded. The party that was last recorded before this year was 1998. Brooke was really into shaking maracas that year and Grandma Vinnie was right there dancing and shaking with her. PRICELESS! It was so great to see those videos of Grandma! Tyler was a 5 month old baby. There was a few minutes where Grandma was singing to him. It made me realize how neglectful I have been with videotaping. Ever since I got heavily into scrapbooking I have taken bazillions of photos. Yet I rarely ever pick up the camcorder. In fact our camcorder got broken in 2006 and we have never even replaced it. I want to try to save up for one now. Even if you don't watch the videos until 10 years later! It is just so awesome!

Both of my nephews are now learning to play the violin. Yes, those tiny violins are real! They broke out there intruments to join in the jam session! We had such a great time!

What I have learned in 2007

2007-12-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

1. Everything happens according to God's plan.

2. Being content with what the Lord has blessed me with, instead of always wanting so much more.

3. I am blessed with some pretty extraordinary children! Brooke and Tyler both got straight A's. Nick doesn't get grades yet but he got all high scores! They have so many talents and gifts. The Lord has great plans for their lives.

4. Change isn't easy, but it can be a blessing in the end.

5. Girlfriends can bring you through even the hardest of times (Amy, Sunny, Karma, Diana and my sister Christina)

6. When you hear that small voice telling you something....you should listen and discern....if it aligns with God's word...it is the Holy Spirit. LISTEN!

7. Prayer is powerful. Pray, Pray, and Pray some more.

8. Working from home is the best job in the world...and I kinda took it for granted. How I long to be working from home again.

9. Even after all these years in the business, I still LOVE scrapbooking more and more!

10. My parents were right about how preteens turn into miserable creatures to live with! It has only just begun with Brooke...but I am praying that I will be able to keep an open communication and loving relationship with her even through these difficult years.

2007 was one of the hardest years of my life. Leaving Prints went out of business....which in turn took away my entire income. I ended up having to go back to work as a substitute teacher.

Our studio was flooded in Feb when a water pipe froze and burst and did over 200 thousand dollars in damage. I spent countless hours with the remodel and had to sacrifice so much family time. Things are moving along at the studio....we are nearly finished with the remodel and it is just beautiful!

Due to the children department lacking we felt the call to change churches and searched for a month to find a new church home. It was a hard change and we don't get to see our old church family as much as I would like...but we now have a whole new church family and are truly blessed by every aspect of our new church home. Praise the Lord that when we left our old church some changes were made and now they are thriving again as well!

Even among all of the chaos and hard times...the Lord was at work and I saw his fingerprintes nearly everyday. I know that it all happened for a reason.

Leaving Prints Closed and I lost a very good income- but now instead of trying to get rich...I have learned to be content with what I have. Karma, Sunny and I have put our scrapbook industry expertise into an even better use by starting www.faithsisters.com which has truly been a blessing to us...and to all of the sisters that have joined! Had we still been with LP then we may have never moved on with this endeavor.

The Studio was ruined- now we have a newly remodled studio!

Had to leave our old church family but have gained a new family and feel so at home at our new church.

Did I see the blessing right when it was happening? Absolutely not! But the Lord was never far away. Every time I felt overwhelmed I just went straight to prayer...and he kept giving me those little reminders that I needed....those fingerprints to show me that he was right there leading me along the path He wanted me to take.

I am looking forward to a blessed and great 2008!

So what did you learn in 2007?

Thankful For My Family

2007-12-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been so busy that I haven't been blogging much. It was good busy though because most of the time has been spent with family...doing family stuff!

We had Thanksgiving at my moms house. There were a total of 29 of us gathered together for Thanskgiving dinner. It was a fabulous day of yummy food and family fun. The rest of the weekend was spent visiting with my little sister who was in from Atlanta. Whenever Julie is visiting we spends lots of time playing Canasta. It is our favorite card game ever! We only had time for a couple of games during the whole weekend cause we also spent a lot of time shopping!

The day after Thanksgiving...otherwise known as Black Friday...Christina, Brooke and I got up at 3:30am. We shopped the day away. That was until we had to sneak Christina off to her getaway.

Brent had booked a special weekend at the Blennerhasset hotel for their anniversary. Christina had no idea. Julie and I went over the night before and packed a bag of her stuff. While we were out shopping, Brent got everything ready and the plan was to meet him there by 3pm at the hotel. We were to bring Christina into the hotel lobby where the only Starbucks in the whole town is located. Julie was to pretend that she had a Starbucks craving. Well we couldn't get Christina to stop shopping! Finally we got her away from the store and headed to Starbucks. Brent was there waiting. His car was in the parking lot. Christina was riding with mom in her car. Brooke and I were driving my van. I pulled into the Blennerhasset parking lot and immediately saw that Brent had parked right in the front of the lot. So I started to turn to go out of the lot so that mom would follow me...and she didn't but instead went right up beside of Brent's car and parked. I alerted Julie about the car by pointing as discreetly as possible! We thought mom had realized too....but apparently she hadn't. Julie and I had tried to get everyone to follow us, Julie was walking by Christina trying to block her site of the car! Mom was trying to get us to walk right in the direction of the car...eventually she decided to follow us! We got Christina in and when she saw Brent she said..what are you doing here! Needless to say she was super surprised. She had no idea what else he had in store for her. At 6pm we were all to meet them at the Actors Guild for a play "The Pump Boys and The Dinettes". She was really shocked when they walked into the actors guild and there we were!

The play was really good. We all really enjoyed it...even Chad liked it!

I don't have any pictures to share because my camera is broken. :(

Christina had a great time on her anniversary! She is lucky to have such a great husband who plans fun surprises like that for her!

Things I love and Things I don't like

2007-12-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

Things I love...
Jesus, pickles, my hubby, my kids, talking, being a mother, Gods Word, pedicures, scrapbooking, our church, reading, a clean house, necklaces, blogging, diamonds, talking, sweet tea, massages, talking (but not during a massage), being with my friends, KLOVE, vacations, Casting Crowns, mexican food, fonts, Oliver Garden minestrone and salad, Dr. Pepper, the beach, Canasta, eBay, Live Concerts, Google, scrapbook conventions, my parents, American Idol, my preschool kids, the magic eraser, my laptop, my lazyboy loveseat recliner, fresh vegetables from my earthboxes, cheeseburger soup, pickles, shoes, hanging out with family, Girl Trips and Mustang Convertibles.

Things I Don’t Like...
Clutter, bugs, dust, long lines, sassy preteens, math,people chewing with their mouth open, politics, smacking gum, commercials, being late,chipped nail polish, barking dogs, complaining, jealous people, cold weather, cleaning and bills.

33 Miles

2007-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

Sunday 33 Miles lead worship in both services and then had a concert Sunday night. It was amazing! I mean...I love their CD but seeing and hearing them live was just amazing. Jason's voice really is that awesome...just all by itself with no digital additions! They are one talented group of guys.

We ended up having a packed house Sunday night! Almost 600 people in attendance! Youth groups from all over and lots of adults too!

Then after the concert those of us that helped with the concert had a pot luck dinner with the guys. They are such sweet, awesome men of God. I sat across from Chris the guitar player during dinner and chatted with him about his new baby. His wife is due any day now...he was hoping to make it home before the birth so he wouldnt have to spend money on an emergency flight!

If you haven't heard 33 Miles then I strongly suggest that you head to their site and at least hear There Is A God. It is my favorite song by them!

What Its All About!

2007-11-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

My kids were just too cute this evening. The boys begged and begged after dinner to scrapbook. See what having a clean scrap room can get ya! So they both made a couple of pages. Chad even came to sit and watch them. They both really got into inking! Nick especially!

The Tyler Swimmin page was done completely by him! I was quite impressed!

They both did a Chuckie Cheese Layout! I know someday they will love looking back to see that handwriting! For some reason I can't get those two layouts to upload..could be cause of the photos uploading to snapfish right now? Guess I will post them later!

After we finished their layouts they wanted to look at their albums. Nick absolutely LOVES to look at scrapbooks. He is so funny! "oh look this is our first ice cream cone." "This is our first time riding bikes." To him every page is about the first time doing something! So cute! He does get really upset looking at his baby book though...seeing all the wires and stuff on that tiny little body. Tonight he said,"mom, I don't even remember being in all that pain." Broke my heart! I assured him that I don't think he was really in pain..most of the wires were for monitoring him to make sure that he was ok. He has looked at his baby books a hundred times and tonight he finally discovers that he still has a bunch of the wires that were hooked up to him! He just thought that was so cool!

I started this blog as a place to journal everyday happenings so that I would have something to look back on for more scrapbook journaling and such...however I haven't done a very good job. So trying to get better. Decided to jump on here and get this fun evening scrapping with my boys documented!:)

I have been uploading photos to snapfish ALL day. It is taking forever...of course it probably wouldn't take so long if I didn't have 4 years worth of photos to upload! I have some of them backed up on CDs and some of them aren't....my digital photos are just in a MESS! SO trying to get that all taken care of and started out with uploading them to somewhere besides my hard drive so I can have a backup. Then to figure out which ones have been burnt to CDs and which still need to be! Then to get a better storage system figured out for all the CDs!

Thursday Catch Up!

2007-11-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

I have been a bad blogger! Things have just been so busy with the Studio remodeling and all that fun stuff I just haven't been online much. The worst thing about not being online is missing my FAITH SISTERS! I could just spend hours on there trying to catch up with all that has been chatted about in the past week since I have been online! Some gorgeous new layouts in the gallery too! WOOHOOO! Faith Sisters also went over 200 members last week! AWESOME! There are lots of freebie digital designs added to the faith sisters shop as well! So many awesome things happening there! Gives me goosebumps to think about it!!!:)

I have been making myself spend time cleaning up clutter and organizing my scrap room! YAY! I still have a ways to go but I am happy to report that my room is now scrapable! I even spent last night scrapping for a few hours! Working on some Christmas Presents!

Tyler stayed home sick yesterday and I kept him home again today because he was so sick last night. He seems to be doing better today. Praise the Lord!!

We spent the weekend with the most wonderful group of scrappers EVER! I just totally loved them to pieces! Since they are only about an hour away I am hoping to be able to scrap with them more often! They were so much FUN!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving! We will be gathering at Mom and Dads. I am so blessed to have a large extended family who gathers together for the holidays. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!:)

Right now I am working on uploading the last several years worth of digital photos to snapfish.com so I have them saved somewhere besides my hardrive. I think this is going to take me FOREVER! Will also be posting some applebutter stir pictures here as promised.

Meal plan for the week...um I a get a big fat F! This is what happens when I do not plan out my meals for the week! Mon- ate at Logans, Tues- ate at Logans (2 dinners for $12.99 and kids are only $2 a piece you just can't beat that!), Wed- Sloppy joes and baked squash (the squash was leftover from the weekend!), Thur- was going to be roast but my crock pot is at the studio so now???, Fri- Leftovers
Yeah so next week I gotta have a meal plan ready on Sunday!

Calgon Take Me Away!

2007-11-06T22:18:00.000-08:00

SO TIRED! I worked all day at the studio. Accomplished alot so I am happy about that but I am so beat! My back was already tired from all of the sitting on the floor organizing photos this weekend. So I started out kinda sore and tired. Now I am REALLY sore and tired. Have I ever said how much I do not like be miss handy woman!

So today I painted ceilings. Glued cove base to the walls in the bathrooms and shower rooms, all 4 of them. Hung a bunch of ceiling tiles. Installed a flourescent light in the kitchen(that was a first!), cleaned the kitchen (health inspector coming Thurs for the every so often inspection). They had just worked on installing a new window and drywall in the kitchen so this wasn't your eveyday kitchen cleaning...oh no...it was the 3 hours to get it all drywall dust free kind of cleaning...and I am sure when I go back tomorrow some more drywall dust will have found its way back onto everything...does the stuff ever go away??

We didn't have take out...My darling brother cooked us dinner! He made a huge pot of chili and brought it down for us! Wasn't that so sweet of him! It was really yummy too. Perfect day for chili cause it was FREEZIN here!

Well I am so tired! If I wasn't so addicted to http://faithsisters.com/ I would have never have logged on tonight...but I just had to catch up with all my sisters! Tammy McClain posted the most awesome mini album for the Faith Prevails Challenge and I can NOT wait to scraplift it! If I wasn't so tired right now I would be tempted to go scrap in my semi-clean scrap room!

Meal Plan Monday!

2007-11-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my trick or treaters! Derek (nephew) batman, Nick storm trooper, Brooke Cat, Tyler Soldier, Stevin (nephew) spider man.

Been cleaning up my scrap room and organizing pictures. Still have a ways to go but it is coming along! So excited to be able to scrap in my happy place again!!!

OK so I am totally loving this meal plan Monday thing! Lawanda you are so right..it really does help! Even though things got switched around a little bit last week I wasn't stressed out every day trying to figure out something to fix. It was wonderful!

So to add a little twist to the plan every week I am going to start trying at least one new recipe out of one of my MANY cookbooks each week! (If we like it I will share the recipe for you to try out too!) see below for this recipe I tried today! YUM!

So here is the plan for this week!

Monday- Chicken Ole' (see recipe below) Just fixed this for the first time. We loved it!

Tuesday- Take Out cause Chad and I are working at the studio prepping for our upcoming retreat

Wednesday- Crock Pot chicken, potatoes, green beans (yeah chicken twice in one week...it is on sale at Kroger! LOL)

Thursday- Tuna Noodle Casserole

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday - Chad is on his own cause I will be at the studio all weekend cooking for the retreat....we will be having taco soup for lunch and Chicken Cattatorie for dinner(OK I have no idea how to spell it but I can make it and it is yummy!)

Chicken Ole'

This one is from my Desperation Dinners Cookbook (meals in 20 mins). Fixed it for the first time tonight and my family LOVED it!
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves2 teaspoons olive oil1 extra-large or 2 medium onions2 large green bell peppers1 can fat free chicken broth (or two boulion cubes and one cup water)1/2 cup white wine1 can diced tomatoes2 1/2 cups instant rice1/2 cup sliced pimento stuffed green olives (optional)1/2 cup frozen green peas (optional)1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic2 bay leaves1 tsp dried oregano1/2 tsp ground cumin1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste1/4 tsp black pepper
1. If the chicken is frozen, run it under hot water so you can remove packaging. Place the chicken on a microwave safe plate and microwave 3 minutes, uncovered, on high, to begin defrosting.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil, over medium heat, in an extra deep 12 inch skillet that has a lid. Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop.
3. Cut each breat into 3 strips about an inch wide, then add the chicken (fresh or partially defrosted) to the skillet and raise the heat to high. Cover the skillet and cook while seeding the bell peppers and cutting them into 1 inch wide strips. Cut the strips crosswise in hald and add the peppers to the skillet all at once.
4. Add the broth and wine. Cover the skillet and bring the liquid to a boil. Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes. Keeping the pan covered as much as possible, add the drained tomatoes, rice, olives, peas, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, salt and black pepper. Stir well.
5. Cook at a rolling boil until the rice is tender, 5 minutes more. Remove the bay leaves, stir well and serve!

Exhausted!

2007-11-01T22:27:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy week! With today being the very busiest day of all! Yesterday was jam packed too but after two days of it I am beat!

Tues- phone calls, cleaning, Applebutter with Lawanda (pictures coming soon)

Yesterday was spent on errands and cleaning. Had lunch at the Der Dog Haus with mom and dad before their house closing. Yay! The house is finally sold. Dad is having sellers remorse and wishing they would have just stayed there but I think it is the best thing. They now live closer to us..only minutes away. The old house was just way to huge for two people. Heck it would be huge for my family of 5! After lunch went to Home Depot to pick up some supplies for the studio construction...we are nearly finished..just those minor things....which still take forever to complete. Think we will ever be DONE? After home depot went to drop door knobs off at my uncles so he could take them down to the studio...then off to pick up Brooke at school. Then home to cook dinner and get the kids costumes ready. I decided at the last minute to dress as a farmer...such a shame that nobody got a picture of me :) Headed to Awana....it was a crazy Awana night with all the kids being so excited about trunk or treating afterward. The game room was AWESOME! They had black lights and glowy balloons floating around, it was really cool in there! (pictures later)

After Awana we went to the parking lot for Trunk or Treat. It was the first time for our church to do trunk or treat. We had 24 trunks....some of which were decorated so stinkin cute! Brooke decorated out trunk and passed out the candy. She did a fabulous job....all the kids loved it!!
After trunk or treating we stopped by mom and dads to trick or treat. Dad was having a band practice. He is now paid to fiddle in a blue grass band! Pretty neat huh! This was the first time I met the band.....the lead singer/guitar player said, "So these 4 are your grandchildren" Mom had to correct him that I was the mom and the other three were the grandchildren....keep in mind I was dressed as a farmer...and I had pigtails and a cowboy hat...maybe I should wear that get up more often???? hehe! The band sounds AWESOME! Can't wait to see them at a performance! So proud of my dad! Came home and checked emails and faith sisters. Then talked to sunny for hours! We got the new faith sisters challenge posted! Went to bed around 3am...cause Sunny made me stay up with her to finish her tribute layout for her grandma! It turned out beautifully!

Thursday- got up early, cleaned a little, checked email and faithsisters and then went to the studio to paint. Before I could paint I had to sand. In no less than 10 mins I looked like a snow woman. I hate drywall dust! Got all the walls that needed finished! YAY! Now just have to do a spot on the ceiling that had to be repaired tomorrow. Swept the floors in the bedrooms and then headed home for a shower. Got ready for the evening and then remembered that I had brought the wet paint roller home in a bag so that I could touch up a place in my bathroom....we painted our bathroom Gobi Dessert just like the hallways at the studio;) (YES....pictures of my newly remodeled bathroom coming soon...Lawandas hubby built me a beautiful vanity). So fix the wall in my bathroom...in my good clothes! Luckily I didnt get paint on me!

Then off to the store to find Brooke some shoes for her Choir concert tonight. She grew out of her black shoes! UGH! Had 15 mins to get shoes and be back at the boys school for family night at 5:30. We ate pizza and veggies and cookies and then looked at all the science projects. My nephew Stevin won first place with her How To Clean Pennies project! YAY Stevin!

Brooke and I had to leave for the Jr High so Chad and the boys stayed there at family night. Got to the Jr High at 6:15. The place was filling up quickly...had to save seats for Chad, mom and dad. I hate saving seats! The concert was great. Brooke looked so pretty in her chior robe. Chad made the comment that Brooke was by far the prettiest girl in the 7th grade choir. Maybe we are biased but I have to agree!:) Oh yeah....on our way back from getting shoes I stopped to beg my aunt to let me borrow her Cannon Rebel DSLR! Wanted to play with it to see how I liked it...since it is the one I kinda have my eye on. She didn't want to let me borrow it and said her stomach was sick when I left with it! Jeesh she has a whole lot of faith in me huh! OK So I played with it at the concert...and now I want one even worse! Chad played with it a little too....and tonight he asked me more questions about why I want that one. Crossing my fingers that I will be getting one for Christmas/birthday. PLEASE<>PLEASE! My camera is dead....won't work at all. Rather then spend a bunch to get it fixed I just want a new one...real bad!!

So after the concert we took the camera back to my aunt. I really didn't want to but I knew she would kill me if I kept it longer! LOL Then stayed there blabbing for way to long! Got home after 9 and still had to clean the house cause mother in law is coming tomorrow. YIKE! So got the whole downstairs cleaned up and swept...now just gotta clean the guestroom and upstairs bathrooms. It's good to have company so I am forced to get the cleaning done! Been so busy with everything else that the house has been a little neglected! well at least one level is straightened and cleaned now!

Now I am off to bed! JEEESH! ANd I thought I was tired before I started typing all that. I always get a little rambly when I am tired.....apparently when I am typing too! LOL

Meal Plan Monday

2007-10-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

So here goes for another attempt at meal planning for the week!

Last week didn't work out so well since I got sick!

Monday- Chicken and Stuffing Casserole, baked beans and biscuts
Tuesday- Cheesy Mastacolli
Wednesday- Hot Dog Roast after Awana for Trunk Or treat
Thursday- Grilled Chicken, green beans, noodles
Friday- Dinner out on Chad
Saturday- Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Sunday- Roast, veggies and biscuts

I have been Tagged

2007-10-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Karma

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My 7 facts:
1. I love music...any kind but mainly listen to contemporary Christian these days.
2. I worked at Hills Department Store for one year during college.
3. Have been forced to become a "handy woman" know how to hang drywall and install toilets among many other handy things!
4. I was a High School Wrestling Statistician for all three years of high school...none of the wrestlers girlfriends liked me cause I rode the bus with the team.
5. I LOVE PICKLES! Eat them nearly every day.
6. Canasta is about the only card game I know how to play...but I am really good at it! Chad won't play with me anymore cause he can't beat me.
7. I always thought I wanted to be rich but I have recently learned to be content and live simpler!

I tag:
http://luv2create.blogspot.com
http://marilee1951.blogspot.com/
http://everything-eva.blogspot.com/
http://www.sunnykohler.blogspot.com/
http://mama4joy.blogspot.com/
http://redheadscrapper.blogspot.com/
http://papercutzandpraisez.blogspot.com/

Relaxing Sunday

2007-10-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

It was a very relaxing Sunday! Started the day off with a wonderful church service and a great sermon on Bold Love. The pastor announced that a couple who just recently started attending church and was just baptised like a month or so ago had a premature baby today. The baby wasn't suppose to be born until January...so she is quite preemie. I requested special prayer for the baby and will be doing my best on Monday to find a way to get in touch with the family so that the church can help them with whatever needs they might have. I am sure that they will have a huge finincial burden because I know Chad and I did when Nick was born premature and spent time out of town in NICU. All the expenses of hotels and meals really can break you fast.

After church I relaxed with Chad on the love seat. He watched football while I took a Sunday afternoon nap! Still recovering from being sick the past couple of days. Going to church apparently wore me out! I had intended to get some scrapping done today!

Went back to church tonight for snack supper and then bible study. Then stopped at mom and dads for a quick visit and to get my plants that mom gave me! I hope I don't kill them with my brown thumb! Mom and Dad had an atrium room at their old house and now that they have moved they no longer have room for all their plants! Mom gave me the Burrows Tail which she has had since I was a kid. She also gave me another plant whose name escapes me right now! It is suppose to freeze here tonight so I also had to bring in my other plants that have been enjoying the summer outside!

An update on my attempt at preplanning our meals! It was a good first attempt but I got sick and ended up not being able to cook. I did try to cook chicken and noodles on Fri evening...I nearly passed out halfway through so Chad had to finish...but it still turned out very yummy and Satuday I was feeling some better...so maybe it helped!

Today I didn't do the roast cause I hadn't made it to the store as planned earlier in the week since I had been sick.....SO Chad requested Tuna salad sandwiches. I think the man could eat that every day of the week! LOL

I didn't get any scrapping done today but I did spend tonight preparing the handout for my scrapbook class at Crafts tomorrow night. Hoping to get my phone calls made in the morning and then spend the rest of Monday scrapping!

Pre-planning Meals

2007-10-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

I had another day off today! YAY! It's rainy again so I just couldn't resist a little nap. After my nap I got busy finishing up laundry. I feel like I have actually accomplished something today! I have the last load in the washer and even have half of the clean clothes put away! YAY! A productive laundry day. Even got the kitchen sparkling with fresh mopped floor!

In my attempt to get things clean and organized I have decided to try my good friend Lawandas menu planning idea. She has been posting her weekly menu on her blog every week. So here goes Lawanda! I am gonna give it my best shot to do this every week and stick to it!

Mon- Pizza (I only had a half hour between school and teaching scrapbook classes!)

Tues- Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Wed- Poor Mans Steak, green beans, cheesy biscuts, mashed potatoes and gravy

Thur- Veggie Soup

Fri- Grilled Chicken, brocoli and cheese, baked beans

Sat- Chicken Noodles, carrots, biscuts

Sun- Roast, potatoes, Carrots and noodles

So lets hope this helps me be a little more organized! I am hoping to start my routine of grocery shopping on Sun night again. I used to always do that but then got into this funk where I just scrounge around to figure out what to cook at the last minute! Lawanda has inspired me to do better though!;)

Rainy Day and Camera

2007-10-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

It has been one of the super rainy days here. Just when it seems like it is stopping it starts up again...so dark and dreary all day. The kind of day that just makes me want to SLEEP! Why is it that I get so stinkin tired on rainy days??

I had great plans of getting the laundry finished and the house mostly cleaned up. Well as I mentioned I was sleepy today so not so much got done. I have at least finished half of the laundry. Hoping that I won't have to work tomorrow so that I can get the rest finished. The life of a substitute teacher...never knowing if you have to work or not the next day. It does kinda get old!

My camera is kicking the bucket, on it's last leg, making me crazy! It all started while we were camping. Of course the leaves were such beautiful brilliant colors. The only time we have caught the leaves at the peak....and my camera goes crazy. I got a few good pictures during our hike but but missed so many opportunities for fabulous shots the rest of the weekend. I was so depressed.

I have secretly been craving a digital SLR. I checked out the Canon EOS Rebel XTi Digital Camera w/ 18-55mm Lens at Sams Club tonight when we went to get tires. It looks pretty yummy but I havent done my research yet. Trying to convince hubby that it would be the perfect Christmas/Birthday present. So anyone know anything about this camera? Would love some reviews! Gotta make sure this is the one I want to ask santa for!

Here is a fun little thing that was sent to me...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Snowball Grand Caravan

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Vanilla Macadamia Nut

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): SMcV

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Sage Yorkie

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born):Michelle Parkersburg

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): McVsa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The blue tea

NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers):Paul Lloyd

9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names):Anne Alroy

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Boso Boston

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Christmas Daisy

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”):

Mandarin Orange shirty

13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):Bagel Willow

14. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour” and the year): The Scrapbook Sun Tour 2007

Catching Up

2007-10-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know that the finger is healing...and I will soon be able to type better and catch everything up on here! I have been a very bad blogger:(

Life has been super fast paced. We had our trip to NYC then I subbed all week, then Scrap Camp Oct 12-14, subbed all week and then our annual primitive camping trip at Kumbrabow State Forest. Have lots of photos to share from Scrap Camp and Kumbrabow but for now will leave you with a couple. The one above is the van loaded down with all of the Scrap Camp stuff! YIKES! There was barely room for me!

I do love salad but really I wasn't eating the whole bowel!

Praying that this finger will be back to normal so I can go back to two handed typing! Even the shortest blurb takes me way to long!

The picture of my family is after a hike straight up the side of the mountain! As you can see from the background we are in peak fall leaf season! The colors of the trees was absolutely amazing! I have never seen the leaves in such vivid colors. The Lord surely painted a beautiful view for us!

Kung Foo Fighting

2007-10-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been getting such a kick out of my story I decided to just go ahead and share it...most of you will eventually hear it anyway...since I have been warned by many that I will never live it down!

So I posted on Monday how much I really did NOT like Chinatown! WELL!!!! Apparently I was still a little shook up about the whole purse experience because Monday night about 2AM I had a terrible nightmare! Someone was chasing me. I don't really remember much but just going on what my hubby told me! He said I was yelling and screaming and woke him up. When he touched me I bolted out of bed and crashed into either my dresser or the wall...he wasnt sure which. I scared him to death cause he thought someone was really in the house..he was ready to bust the glass of his gun cabinet! LOL He said he yelled at me and I got right back into bed and curled into the fetal position. I was immediately back to sleep...well I don't really think I ever even woke up cause I do not remember it at all! Poor hubby could NOT get back to sleep cause I had scared him to death! LOL

Well Tues morning I woke up with terrible pain in my hand! I was trying to get ready for work and everything that I did HURT like crazy. By the time I got to school my finger was looking purple and swelling. I thought..man I must have laid on my hand or something it is really hurting. I called hubby to tell him about it and he said.....you must have done that while you were fighting off whoever was chasing you! I had no idea what he was talking about! So then he told me about my performance and me scaring him to death! LOL He figured I must have hurt my finger on whatever I crashed into in my sleep!

The school nurse put a temporary splint on my finger and provided me with ice all day. I walked around with my hand sticking up all day cause if I let it hang down it throbbed even worse. The school nurse kept telling me to get it xrayed after school. Well I went and sure enough have a hairline fracture! ARGH!

Chad says he is going to make me a padded room to sleep in! he probably should! I haven't had much sleep walking since I got pregnant with Brooke....but when I was a kid I would end up anywhere but where I started out...I would laugh hysterically in my sleep..even walk outside, but would usually wake up when my feet hit the cold ground. I surely hope that this isn't the start of my crazy sleeping again! When I was a kid I never injured myself...getting old has its disadvantages!

Typing with one hand isn't easy so I will end here. Sweet DREAMS to all! :)