Time Keeps On Slipping...

I have good intentions to blog, I even take certain photos for the blog, and then never sit down to actually blog! Even now, my kitchen sink has dirty dishes in it, my floors desperately need to be mopped and the laundry basket is calling my name. I choose to blog. I choose to so that a year from now, or ten years from now when I can't remember what we did, I can look it up! Or even better years from now my children can look back and not just have a memory or a photo but a blog of their life! So here's to blogging (raise your glass) now on with it.

Saturday I was asked to speak at our first Women's Ministry Event for the year. We hosted a Tea. It was a lot of fun. My favorite food was the cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese and fresh dill. yum. Makes me ready to plant our garden! We are going to try to do a small garden this summer. Maybe even one of the gutter gardens that I've seen on pinterest (using housing gutters)
We had a great turnout at the tea, right at 20 ladies. I had ladies that aged from 18 up through their 70's. I spoke on SHOES (what women doesn't like or own a pair of them!) I had a whole bag full of different kinds of shoes. From bedroom slippers to high heels, and everything in between. I spoke on how we all have our comfortable shoes that we like and we like going places in those shoes- but God may be asking us to try on a different pair of shoes and reach out of our comfort zone and do something for him, that will require HIM because you know if it was your choice you'd rather be doing something else! The ladies received it well. Then I had them all fill out a form that will help me get to know them better and what they enjoy doing. I hope we have many more events to come! Including Craft night! Fun. I pray that this group will grow so that we have to eat in the fellowship hall and then move to the sanctuary for the rest!

I left right at 12:15 and we rushed to Gulfport to see our niece Kristen play soccer against Bekah and Kaitlin in our youth group. They played the other night, but it was hard to take photos, so I wanted to go when it was daylight! Our niece will be 18 this next week, hard to believe. I met her when she was just 5 years old- my time goes by SO FAST!

 Then Sunday we had church, Chris preached (and did good considering he woke up sick as a dog and spent the first two hours of his morning in the bathroom) After that we left and went home then headed to a birthday party for one of the girls from church.

 They have two dogs that had puppies within 2 weeks of each other- so all together they had 19 puppies! I told them they needed to name them all the names of the Duggers babies! They could be the Doggers. Yes I'm that whitty. Chloe has her pooch picked already. I'm not so ready for a dog. We have a cat and that is working out nice, but a dog requires more attention. And when we travel we have to have someone come care for the animals and that is a burden to people.

After the party we had to go to the church and load up a group of teens and head to Biloxi for a Speed the Light Youth service. We took 5 teens with us. It was nice because 4 of them had never been to a STL service so it was good to get them educated on the matter.

Monday the kids had school and Chris and I just worked around the house a bit. I went back to sleep after the little ones went to school and slept until 10 am! It was A-A-A-mazing! I rarely get to fall into a deep sleep after 6 am, so it's nice! That evening I surprised Chris and took him out for his birthday. His special day was Wednesday, but with church I knew we wouldn't get to do much. So we celebrated all week long! That is how I was raised!

Our first stop was this store

(Can't rotate these photos like I could in live writer- any suggestions?)

We left there and headed to Chirs' favorite place to eat (we haven't been there in yearrs!) Someone from our church gave us a $50 gift card for Christmas!!! I saved it for this night!

 We went to Dick's sporting goods after that and found these great softball shoes for cheap cheap! They are normally over $50 and we got them for.... $6.23 So cool.

Chris also got two shirts, one was an Ole Miss shirt for $3 and the Reebok one was $2. What a deal!

These are Chris' new running shoes! They are super neon orange. He likes them. He went for a run as soon as we got home.

Tuesday is a blurr, I can't remember much of anything from that day! Oh yeah I did get an amazing gift from Leland in Alabama!

And Wednesday I took Eli to Walmart early while the little ones were in school. Then Chris took all three kids to the circus while I worked at the church! I taught the Faith Kids Club upstairs and Chris preached for the adult class. Then gave Chris a surprise party after church! Sadly Chris didn't remember to take the camera to the circus and so he didn't bring it to church either. But I did grab a few photos with my camera phone- the quality is poor because I have a cover on it... didn't have time to take it off and clean it before snapping this photo:

Well it's taken me forever to complete this- I've rescued Eli from the swingset, wiped a bottom, picked up a few things from the floor, and closed the door about 3 times! But it is finally FINISHED!!! Time to keep moving! Today is Thursday and I have a concert to take the youth to, so I need to get the house picked up and get my shower and pay a few bills! Not sure what Friday and Saturday have in store! Sunday will we say goodbye to our Pastor and his wife- and Monday starts a new adventure for us as we wait to see who will become the new pastor!

Photoblog!

My helper!

 Time for Wii

 Hot Chocolate anyone?

 laundry day is everyday here!!!

 Yard work!!!

 Who is that man? Lol

 Great book that I read in no time at all.

This plus this.... equals

 yogurt of your choice! My kids loved picking out their own colors!

 Crafting time with movie!!!

 Oreo balls (found on pinterest) They are really good if you have an addictive love for Oreo's!

Uniforms

I have only worked at one store that required a uniform. It was for a bookstore. I liked it because I had 3 pairs of pants that I could choose from and two shirts. So I didn't have to stress about what I would wear to work. I know uniforms can get boring, especially if you are a nurse and have to wear them every single day, but it makes dressing up in everyday clothes more fun when you can! I like the Marcus nurse uniform on marcusuniforms.com they have a great selection. I don't see myself going back into the workplace any time soon- as it is my goal to stay home while my babies are babies! Not sure when they change to big kids, but when that happens, I will return to work. At this point I don't even know what kind of work I would look for! I just know that I would be willing to work most 9-5 M-F jobs. I would actually like a 6-2 or 7-3 job better. That way I could be home when my kids get home from school! I sure enjoy being home though. Did your mom stay home with you when you were growing up? Or was she a working mom?

Passion...

Passion doesn't pay the bills! I know that several people are driven by passion- it is what will get you out of bed most days! Sadly it doesn't pay the bills. You have to have money to make money. That is where lending companies come in- or rich family members! I don't have rich family members so if I wanted to start a business I would have to contact someone who specializes in business funding! I would need help making sure that I was using the right company to help me start my own company! I am not at a stage in my life where I'm ready for such a big adventure, I'm just trying to keep my house clean and the bills paid and the kids fed! Hopefully one day my passion will take a front seat and I will see things come to life! What are you passionate about?

Techno-savy

I've always had a love for technology! I remember when cd players came out and then better yet a portable cd player! What a great idea! I didn't think it would be any better, the only bad thing- was you can't carry around all those disc and you can't jog or run with a cd player. So some amazingly smart person decided to create an MP3 player. Ah pure genius! I was sold right away! The shuffle was my first ipod. I owned it a few years after the apple nano came into stores. I was able to buy one cheap from an online auction. I bought two of them! Then I ended up buying a 2nd generation snuffle, a 1st generation nano, and a 4th generation nano. They are great for long trips. My husband uses his at the church when he cleans. He will pop in his head phones and blast the music in his ears! Do you own an ipod of any kind?

My Little Sister

My little sister Jessi has expressed interest in being a lawyer. She has a few careers that she has considered. When you think of Legally Blonde the movie, that is what I picture my sister being like as a lawyer! She would probably make a better actress that portrays a lawyer than an actual lawyer. Though she could apply herself and become part of the leading raleigh business lawyers in North Carolina. I could see her living in Raleigh and making a living there. Though she's a country girl at heart- so maybe the big city won't be for her after all. She has all of us backing her up, so whatever she may choose, we will support her and love on her through it all! I just pray she doesn't under estimate herself!

All things New...

Tomorrow the kids will start back to school, and I will be back into my weekday routine. I am looking forward to getting the kids dressed and ready to go. I'm a bit nervous about who Chloe's new teacher will be. She thinks she is starting first grade now, I keep telling her that she will just have a new teacher for a few weeks. Her teacher just had her baby, so it will be six weeks before she returns. I am also going to have to make a run to the DG or the DT to buy some party supplies. I am hosting a party for the boys in my Kids Club at church Wednesday night. I am proud of the boys winning. Usually the girls win when we do contest, so it's nice that the boys won overall. They raised over $60 for missions. We will have a BGMC theme party. So I will have all things yellow and orange. I have one mom helping me bake cupcakes and another mom is going to decorate, so I just need to pick up a few yellow or orange foods to add to the party.

I started the Joyce Meyer devotional on my bible app for my Kindle. I enjoy it. It's short for me, but it's at least a nugget of wisdom. Today was about temptation- how fitting. I love the verse that she used- 1 Corinthians 10:13.... he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. To me that speaks volumes. I love that. Yes the Lord expects us to turn away from temptation- but he never asked us to do that alone~ He will make a way for us! That is exciting news! We have to call on Jesus for the help though- yes he knows our needs, but we are a free will spirit. We can choose if we want help from the Lord or not. Though some times he will just intervene without our permission (like when he raised people from dead!) I'm encouraged tonight.

I'm also excited that when I wear my tennis shoes my foot doesn't bother me so bad! I have a heel spur and standing on my feet is misery after 1 pm. I usually walk on my tiptoe or with a limp. Today I wore my tennis shoes (not my favorite fashion statement) but wow it made a huge difference on how I felt! When your feet hurt, everything is miserable. So if you see me sporting my tennis shoes- don't hate- just know that I'm trying to keep from hurting! Comfort over beauty- yes I like that motto.

Well the kids are in bed, and I feel like watching a little TV. I have a ton of stuff on the DVR to watch, but I'm sure I will crash soon! So maybe a show or two can be squeezed in! Goodnight all! I hope your tomorrow is amazing!

Celebrate!

I don't like when Christmas falls on a Sunday, but adore when New Year's Day is on a Sunday. Sounds silly, because I know I can't have ONE without the other. They will always work together on the same day. I didn't get to do anything "fun" for New years Eve, but I enjoyed being home. I loved the FRESH START feeling that I got today at church. I enjoyed the worship service- I was teaching Kids Club after worship, so I had to make the best of my time with the Lord during worship. Each year I set the same goals- and I never actually follow through with them. I'm great at starting but terrible at finishing. So this year instead of making a big list of things I want to change or do, I am just keeping it simple. I want my house to be in order, because when it is in order I feel free to do other things- such as read or write (blog) or just sit and play with my children. When the house is a wreck I feel guilty for doing anything other than cleaning. So the goal is to clean it and keep it clean. I would like to think that a year from now I will have shrunk physically and grown spiritually. That is the goal every single year... I am slowly growing spiritually and slowly growing physically! I can't seem to get the discipline down to crave more of the Lord and less for the flesh. I bought the book MADE TO CRAVE last year and read most of it. See there I go, starting things and not finishing them! I'm pretty sure I suffer from Adult A.D.D. I have all the signs and symptoms. Even as I type this I've got tons of things distracting me, and none of them are children- just things in the house- or the fact that my feet are cold, or that the curtain by the front window seems crooked. My mind is so distracted, and when I eat I'm that way too- just distracted and not focused on what is going in my mouth, nor am I really listening to my tummy to see if I am full. I have three friends on Facebook that are in a weight-loss journey. None of them are losing naturally, but have all lost 100 pounds. It's amazing to see their progress. One had gastric surgery, the other is using the HCG hormone diet plan and the other is using some kind of body visual shakes. They've all posted pictures that make me jealous! I want to be thin like them, but don't want to pay the price of surgery (out of pocket would be outrageous I'm sure!) I'm afraid of the hormone diet plan and the shakes to me would not work with my family and they are costly too. I just have many options, yet no desire for those things. I want to lose weight naturally and in a positive way that glorifies God and so that in time I can help others do the same (just like the Made to Crave book) so time will tell. Well i've washed my face, done my bible reading and now I'm ready to cuddle deep down under my comfy covers and sleep a few zzz's. My kiddo's went to bed at 8:30 pm, we are trying to get them back into school time routine. The bad part is I want to go to bed early too! We did have a long day today too- so I guess it's okay to turn in early- or better yet, get under the covers and cuddle up with my KINDLE FIRE! Sounds like a plan.

Saying Goodbye

Saying Goodbye is never easy and the whole idea of saying “See ya later” is tough when you are not sure when you will see them. When I left last time I knew I would be back in less than a month! This time around I have no idea. I may try to come up in the spring if my family can’t come to me. Though I’m sure I would have to come alone. We’ve checked our schedules, and we are hoping to get together soon, but it will probably be summer before it all happens with everyone. Our van is packed, so we ask that you pray for traveling mercies! I tried to hug everyone a little longer tonight, so that I could remember my time with them. I dread the phone call that comes from NC that says someone I love is no longer with us. Living away from your family is hard. Though I do feel that when you are away and return, you spend more quality time with them. We’ve always felt Quality over Quantity was important. I still feel that way. Though with Chris’ family we do spend each Sunday with them. I hope our kids will always remember spending Sunday afternoons with their grandparents. So as I wrap this up and wait for my clothes to finish in the washer, I will say goodnight. Here is to a great NEW YEAR! I’m excited to see what 2012 has in store!

Buy Buy Buy!

This time of year I always say I'm not going to buy a lot or do a lot, but some how I always end up spending more than I anticipated! I still have some shopping to do. Some Christmas, and a few other gifts. Birthday shopping, oh and I need ideas for engagement gifts too! I also have baby gifts to purchase too! I love giving gifts and making gifts! I just get in over my head real fast and then go into debt. I've got a plan to get out of my current debt, but I need to see how my taxes fair this upcoming season. We have to pay our taxes out of our check by ourselves! It's a required discipline. Tough but it's the only way to do it. We are seen as "Self Employed" so it's our job to save the money for our taxes. I'd rather pay quarterly taxes like we did in Texas and then get money back, but so far we haven't set our account up that way. So are you finished with all your shopping? I will do a little more shopping on Christmas Eve. My mom and I always go that day and have fun together early in the morning and end it with breakfast. We are usually home by 9 am.