Southern Living and other peeks into my psyche

Let Your Light Shine - 2012

2012-01-02T15:27:00.005-06:00

My friend GeorgiaGirl has prompted us to pray about assigning a life verse (of God's Word) to this year; for ourselves, for our families or both. I guess I've always been intimidated by mission statements because you have to first quantify what it is that you want to accomplish and then you have to set about doing it. It's not like a to-do list of practical, needs-based action. It's about what you want your life to mean. What you want your life to stand for. That's pretty deep territory my friends.
I'm feeling compelled to this idea. Perhaps because I am getting older and the meaning I see in things, places, people, actions is changing. Perhaps because in my growing older, I have more to look back on and more of a view of what my legacy is. When you're 19, you look back to see how many things you've gotten to do YOUR way since you became an adult. When you're 39 you look back to see what the things you have done YOUR way have gotten you and how they have impacted others. That reflection is for another post, but it does cause you to question, "Where do we go from here?"

We go to Matthew as he recorded Jesus.

Matthew 5:16 (NASB) "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

This is a little ironic considering that this was part of the theme verse for PWOC last year. What can I say? This is my verse "for such a time as this".

And, because I am who God made me to be, I must have a theme song as well!

We Are by Kari Jobe...

Every secret, every shame
Every fear, every pain
Live inside the dark
But that's not who we are
We are children of the day

So wake up sleeper, lift your head
We were meant for more than this
Fight the shadows conquer death
Make the most of the time we have left

We are the light of the world
We are the city on a hill
We are the light of the world
We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine

We are the light of the world
We are the city on a hill
We are the light of the world
We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine
Let the light shine, let the light shine

We are called to the spread the news
Tell the world the simple truth
Jesus came to save, there's freedom in His Name
So let his love break through

We are the light of the world
We are the city on a hill
We are the light of the world
We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine
We are the light of the world
We are the city on a hill
We are the light of the world
We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine

(she wrote this song based on 1 Thessalonians 5)

I'm going to live in the light, make the most of the time I have left, remember that I am meant for more than this so that my light will shine in such a way as to glorify my Father in heaven.

I plan to live this out by:

*Getting more acquainted with the Bible. The format this will take in 2012 is reading it through in a year. Since my beautiful day planner has it all laid out for me, I'm hoping that will help me stick to it.

*Taking time to pray. I mean, I pray. Every day. However, I often miss the opportunity to stop and pray over decisions. Big and Little. I tend to use logic first. Jesus gave us a model of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and that helps me incorporate the current PWOC theme. :)

*Getting healthy. Mainly through losing *cough* 50lbs. But also, by eating well and being active. (Let's face it, unless you actually ARE expecting, it sucks to be asked when you are expecting.)

Blessings on your 2012 my friends,

Backdoor Bluebird

2011-09-26T09:23:00.003-05:00

Saw this little cutie out my new backdoor...

Blessings on your day,

What Do You Do When....

2011-09-22T10:26:00.010-05:00

....you have a 2-car carport that weighs a ton and needs to be moved a couple of acres away?

Dismantle it and put it back together where you want it? NO! Of course not. Silly.

You chain it to itself and then hook it to the John Deere and drag it where you want it!

Here you can witness hubby pulling it backwards and already about 1/4 of the way to where it needed to be...

WHOA Nelly!! A little too close for comfort. (Don't tell the parents - that's their trailer.)

Then hubby had the idea to pull from its sides...it was just like tractor skiing!

Here's where it ended up. Yes, it did bow in a little bit but was easily corrected once the chains were removed.

Blessings on your day,

A Lesson In Godly Friendship ~ A BFF Chat Transcript

2011-09-02T11:48:00.004-05:00

BFF: .....when you look at it through God's eyes
you are going to be able to see that 'greater love has no man than this... that he lay down his life for a friend"
you are getting to sacrifice for your husband.
you have the honor of laying your life down for him
and what satan would have you do is to focus on getting your needs met
instead of trusting that God will meet all your needs according to his riches in Christ's glory

S4J: you are being rude.

BFF: (that was a bunch of stuff that earns me a punch in the nose)

but honestly, that is the truth and you know it
every time it goes through your head that people aren't meeting your needs or considering you, you need to take those thoughts captive because satan is trying to take from you the joy of serving your husband

S4J: you have left me with no choice but to order pizza
with extra cheese
and pepperoni

BFF: of this great sacrifice you made for him...

HAHAHA

...and he is using the same thing that you did to bless your husband as a device to make you bitter toward him
so remember that you are not fighting your husband
you are fighting satan
when hubby asks you to walk one mile, you are going to walk two.
and then satan loses
and God can be in charge of what you need

S4J: you have lost your mind

BFF: hahaha. i have not.
you know i am right.
you know it as well as i know you would say the same to me
because i love you

Blessings on your day my friends,

116 Degrees And An Epic Update

2011-08-06T08:51:00.005-05:00

Hi y'all! It's been a long time hasn't it? I know you mostly know the bits from being friends on facebook, but I thought I would dust off the old virtual stationery and sit down and give an update.
The weather here in North Texas (as in everywhere else in the nation) has been hot! Yesterday the thermometer on the back porch read 116 degrees! It's all that people can talk about (including me.)
It has been about a year since the kids and I moved from Fort Polk while hubby was finishing up his final months of a 20 year career in the Air Force. When he retired, we had been married for 15 years. Added all together, the deployments and separations due to his job equaled 4 solid years. 4 years of our 15 year marriage spent apart. This past year has been such a blessing of having him home and the sure knowledge that we won't be facing those kinds of separations anymore. I would never undo those years and I am thankful to be in a new phase.
During the past year we saw many changes. We have already moved 3 times. Our second Daughter joined the Air Force and was medically disqualified and sent home after several months of making a go of it. She moved in (next door) with Grandma and Grandpa and is working several jobs to save up to get her own place and waiting for school to start this month so she can work on getting a degree in physical education. 18 is proving to be a lovely and difficult age for us to watch her be. I say, "watch" because that is all we can do now. She's a precious girl, finding her way and making some choices that make us wince and duck and get on our knees in prayer. I remember those years in my own life and thank God every.single.day that He pulled me through and out of those onto a solid foundation of believing and trusting in Him.

Our oldest daughter will be leaving her teen years behind next week. You want to talk about pulling through. Her son is 2 1/2 and she is a good, good Mommy. Again ~ a child making choices that sent us to our knees. Of course, we would love for her to be married and we are very fond of her boyfriend. Even so, we are ever thankful and proud that they are working together in love to raise their son and making him a priority.

The twins. Oh my the twins. They are starting their sophomore year in High School. And their second year in North Texas. They will be 16 in November and will be learning to drive soon. TWO of them. Learning to drive. Aaaaannnnnddddd back to my knees I go. :) Boy twin stands 6'3" and girl twin 5'4". No, they are not identical. Yes, people still ask me that.

Along with our daughter, Hubby will be attending college in the fall to earn a degree in welding. He has been wanting to do this for many years, and thanks to the GI Bill, he will begin working that dream into reality in just a few weeks.

We are coming upon a challenging life situation, which, of course, is nothing new. We have been living in the rental house next door over to our property for the past year and we received a letter stating that we are required to sign another year rental agreement or move out. We will be moving out.

We are making some bold choices about what to do next that will certainly take dedication, patience and prayer. (Is there a theme here?) The ideas that we had about what life would be like on the outside aren't the reality that we are living. Although I do have 3 jobs, they are not providing the income that we thought I would be able to achieve once I could work outside the home full-time and although Hubby's retirement pay is enough to live on if one has no debt and is not trying to build a new home, it is not enough to live on if you do have debt and are trying to build a new home.

So, we are now entering the beginning phases of plan "D". We are outfitting the barn with some living space and looking into bringing a travel trailer to our property to supplement that living space and we are moving onto our own land. Finally. Plan D allows for us to be investing back into our own future, rather than the neighbor's future and will allow us to easily live within our means. The plan is to work our debt elimination plan to completion and then build our house. Now don't get all wound up about, "Living in a barn?? Living in a trailer?? With four people and two dogs???" I did say it was going to be challenging. We have agreed that we will do it as long as we can possibly stand it and we are trying to make it as comfortable and doable as possible while staying within the budget we have for this endeavor and when the day comes that we can no longer deal, we will make other arrangements.

I celebrated my 39th birthday. I tell you what folks, I have really enjoyed my 30's. I will live this last year of them with joy and look forward to my 40's being even better!

I have had amazing blessings in this last year that I have been able to travel for photography and worship and although these trips have not been money-makers, how many people get to go to Hawaii for free and spend a week taking pictures of their friends and making new ones? And how many people get to say, "I got to travel to lead women to Throne of God in worship and all needs were taken care of." Well, I suppose a lot of musicians get to say that, but not me. 'Til now.

We have been attending a local church for some time now and I have begun to sing with the Praise Team. This is a church in transition and we are treading carefully on letting our hearts get too deep until we know for sure this is where we are supposed to be, but the people are so dear and the doctrine is sound. We shall see.

Blessings on your day my friends,

Cohabitation

2011-05-21T14:11:00.003-05:00

How cute is this?

Blessings on your day,

Did I mention....

2011-05-19T13:19:00.004-05:00

Not sure if I mentioned that my in-laws bought the laundromat in the next town over. For the time-being, I work there. It's a good clean living. Hahaha. :) I had to.
The problem is - we are located right next to a donut shop. Um. Yum. This is no good for my waistline OR my allergy to soy. Today I had this idea....
I am going to take myself over there and see if she can make me a batch of dough without soy that I can freeze at home and fry up in canola oil ~er~ once in a while.
Worth a shot right?

Alabaster Box

2011-05-16T12:47:00.003-05:00

Heard this song at church yesterday. Really struck me.

" You don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box..."

You can watch the video here and find the lyrics below.

The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind
She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There's no place here for her kind
Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last, she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the Master
From her box of alabaster

Refrain

And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When he wrapped his love all around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box

I can't forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days
Poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box
I'd thought I'd found
Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul
With the wonder of His touch
So now I'm giving back to Him
All the praise He's worthy of
I've been forgiven
And that's why
I love Him so much

Refrain

And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And dry them with my hair (my hair)
You weren't there the night Jesus found me
You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped his loving arms around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
Oh, you don't know the cost of my praise
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box

Well, I tried...

2011-05-07T12:34:00.005-05:00

This is part one of my very healthy, completely soy-free, low calorie lunch on my lovely fiesta dinner plate. (Part two is in the oven)

Green beans soaked in chicken stock, grapefruit with one packet of stevia for sweetening, scrambled egg whites and iced tea sweetened with Stevia.

I have been craving those fried green beans that you can get at TGIFriday's that are absolutely delicious, and, well, to be perfectly honest, not all that healthy for you. So I took it upon myself to attempt to recreate these things using only ingredients I could have. This is the result...

It took me an hour to prepare and cook these.

They were awful. I think I can modify my recipe in the future and they will be good but I may just decide to follow the fried recipe (using canola oil) a great once-in-a-while so that I can have quality over frequency.

Please don't ask me for this recipe. You will not like it.

Strays!

2011-02-23T21:09:00.003-06:00

Haven't we all had a stray dog in our yard? Us too!
Guess who visited us the other day....

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We had a stray pig!!

Blessings on your day,

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 6

2011-02-16T08:11:00.007-06:00

This week we read through Joshua chapter 6. Now here's some fun. So, up until this point, the Israelites have been working pretty hard to gain ground in life. Fighting or struggling through every forward motion. Well, except at mealtime. Now, they have crossed the Jordan River and are ready to take the city of Jericho and all that is in it. This is a mighty city with mighty warriors in it and it is shut up tight like a bank vault. How on earth are they going to even get through the fortifications, let alone taking over the city itself with mighty warriors protecting it.

"No worries Joshua ~ just walk around the city once a day for a week, blowing horns. Then on the last day, go around 7 times, blow horns and yell. The city is yours. done."

Um.

What?

I imagine the people of Jericho, although they have heard about God and the blessings He has bestowed upon Israel, are watching from atop the wall on the first day, turning to each other in disbelief, "This is what we've been afraid of? Have they had too much wine?" "Seriously? They're making a parade and that's how they're going to defeat us?" I also imagine that at least some of the Israelites felt silly presenting this 'attack' and must have wondered if God wasn't just trying to humble them or even have a laugh at their expense.

What I find really really cool is that they obeyed anyway. At least there is no mention in chapter six of naysayers or ill-behavers.

Our focus this week is that God is omniscient. He's a know-it-all. No, not like S4J is a know-it-all, or your teenage son is a know-it-all. He is THE Know-it-all. He really does, know.it.all.

(m-nshnt)
having infinite knowledge or understanding

God knows, understands infinitely. So when He is prodding you, or even giving you very clear, step-by-step directions you can be assured that He already knows everything that will follow. He already knows how my seemingly strange and useless actions will affect the circumstances and people I am surrounded by at any given time. So that's the big stuff - God knows how to win wars, take down walls, stop rivers.

And He knows the small stuff. Be still my heart. He knows every grain of sand on the shore. He knows every star in the sky. He knows every time my heart has been broken. He knows my secretest secret dreams. He knows my strengths and weaknesses (He made me!) and how to use them to His glory.

Who do you want in charge of your life? Someone who read, "Being in Charge for Dummies" or someone who knows every word of every book ever written? I'll take door number two.

Uh oh, here comes application. If God, the greatest kindle of all times, is in charge of me, then I have to submit to His leading. When He asks me to do something outrageous or completely ridiculous in my mind, I can and should obey in full confidence knowing that He's 'got this'. The best part of applying this truth is the comfort I can take in knowing that, along with the big stuff, He knows the little stuff too.
P = Putting it out there

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done for God's glory? Washed the dishes. Yes, I think washing the dishes is ridiculous. But, to glorify my Father in heaven, I will do it.

Have you ever NOT done something you knew God wanted you to do? Yes. God wanted me to apologize and ask forgiveness of someone who had tortured me for nearly my entire adult life. He wanted ME to apologize. ME to ask forgiveness. Um. No.

What was the result?

For a couple of months I refused. I stopped taking communion, I nearly quit music ministry. I knew I was wrong, I knew I was being a hypocrite, and I knew that I could not serve in that condition. But I was willing to live the consequences rather than be the one to say, "I'm sorry." What a mess. I 'knew' doing so would not change any behavior on the other end and felt I was justified in the things that God was asking me to confess and repent of. What a mess. Did I say that already? Then God said this to me, "I suffered a horrible, excruciating, death on the cross for you and you cannot say two simple words to someone I love?" Um. Yes.
So I did.
It went down pretty much like I had expected but the thing I have to remember is that I do not see everything. I do not hear everything and I do not know everything. God knows how He is working in this person's life and how He used me in it and I certainly hope it brought Him glory that one who professes to know and love Him, put down her pride and humbled herself before someone who does not.

W=Worship

Backpacking Through Joshua - Wk 5

2011-02-11T10:10:00.000-06:00

Focus: God is holy

P = Putting it out there

·Have you ever met someone that you could tell was a Christian by first impression?

This has been a tough question for me to answer.

I can't say that there has never been anyone who I could tell by first impression, was a Christian, but I can tell you that I can't think of one. Been trying all week. Let's be honest, if you take away settings that you meet people in, such as church, or at Bible study, or prayer shawl knitting ministry; if you take away outward physical markers such as jewelry, bumper stickers, long skirts, long hair, white collars, etc.; if you take away activities such as handing out tracts, preaching in the town square or huge crusades, what first impression indicators are you left with? A smile? A certain 'light' in the eyes? A soft but sure posture? The fact that they didn't curse in the first 3 sentences they spoke in your presence?

I've met people who I thought were Christians and found out I was wrong. I've met people who I thought weren't Christians and found out I was wrong.

Just don't remember meeting someone without any of the outer physical indicators that I knew was a Christian by first impression. Which brings me to the next part of that question.

Do you think you are easily recognizable as a Christian? Why or why not?

I suppose, you could easily assume I am a Christian when you see me at church. You could assume from the cross hanging from my neck that I am a Christian. You could assume because you only ever hear Christian music playing in my car that I am a Christian. As far as by first impression, I don't know what people would say about me in this area.

Except for this one lady.

She came through my line at work and after a bit of conversating about I don't even remember what, she said to me, "I can tell you're a Sister." I thought she meant that she could tell that I have a sister! Then she clarified, "I can tell that you are a Sister in the Lord. You just have this way about you." I told her that indeed I was, I thanked her for her kind words and told her that I hoped I would see her again.

Lord, please help me to always have that way about me.

·Modern Christianity tends to value ‘blending in’ more than standing out– agree or disagree? Why or why not?

This one is also a toughy for me. I suppose it depends on your surroundings and what you view as "blending in" and "standing out". And how do you measure "blending in" or "standing out" against being set apart, holy, salt and light? I can stand on a box and yell to all who will hear that Jesus loves them. People have been reached this way. I can quietly listen to someone talk about their deceased love-one with earnest interest and care. People have been reached this way too. I say, in answer to this question, God has gifted us all differently, given us different temperaments, different 'hot buttons' and aside from direct directions, like the ten commandments, has set us to reach the lost in different ways. We cannot ever discount or sideline Scripture that doesn't fit into our idea of how things should be, but if we were all flies, there would be no bees to make the honey to catch us.

We can reach the lost. Some will do it by blending in. Some will do it by standing out.

W = Worship
The first two songs are about personal holiness, being set apart for God. The second 2 are songs of worship to a most holy God.

The Results Are In

2011-02-10T11:13:00.003-06:00

It is with a tinge of let-down that I announce that Sing 4 Joy did not place in the Department of the Army level of the 2010 Digital Photography Contest. *sigh*
Can't wait 'til they open the 2011 contest!

On a less let-downy kind of note, Sing 4 Joy is getting branded! Pretty soon I will have my very own custom logo. Yahoo!

Thank you all for your encouragement and well-wishes!

Aloha With A Kiss

2011-02-08T13:07:00.005-06:00

Did you even know that Hershey's makes Kisses with macadamia nuts in them??

I selflessly bit into one to prove it to you...

and look at the little banner!

Have I mentioned that I am going to Hawaii?

Aloha my friends,

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 4

2011-02-03T09:55:00.009-06:00

This week we are reading out of Joshua Chapter 4; but before I stop at camp, I was so excited to read Amber's encouraging comments today about making it to week 4. I know that I have felt pressed against and pulled away from my time in God's Word while doing this study, so it was especially excellent to have that acknowledged and addressed by our head backpacker! Remember - we wrestle not against flesh and blood....take a few moments, get your groove on and remember we serve a mighty God, a powerful and holy God.....

Week 4's Focus - God is Unchanging

So, the Israelites have crossed over the Jordan and God tells them to erect a stone memorial so that this event can be remembered (paraphrase strictly mine) "that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever."(Joshua 4:24)

Amber says this in our text, "Sometimes I lose track of my experiences with God's unchanging character and start to do a 'Peter in the middle of the sea who forgot to look at Jesus and started sinking' style panic attack. But when I remember that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow I can weather storms much better." Then she lays it out there....
"I'm looking forward to hearing how you intentionally remember what God has done in your life and how you use that to teach your children or the other people in your life when we reach CAMP."

...intentionally remember....gulp.

It is now Thursday, and I have been unable to post anything, save for 2 worship songs. I have struggled all week with answering this week's questions because I continually draw a blank.

How do you keep your memories of the Goodness of God alive?
Do you feel comfortable sharing the things God has done in/through/for/to you with your children? Your friends? Your family? Your coworkers? Why or Why not?

I have been picturing all week the lack of stone memorial in my front yard. The lack of 'Jesusfish' sticker on my car. The lack of Billy Graham style crusades I have led.

And I was all prepared up until just a few minutes ago (after adding a couple more worship videos) to come humbly before you all and admit that I cannot think of one.single.way in which I keep my memories of God's goodness alive, of how I share these memories with my children or those around me and then it hit me.

HELLO WORSHIP!

I SING 4 JOY! *jumps up and down and giggles and claps* I sing all.the.time of God's goodness, His faithfulness, kindness, love, patience, power, greatness. I sing to my children. I sing to my family. I sing to my friends. I sing to my coworkers. I share, with you, the bloggy world, how I am moved by God to repentance, good behavior, forgiveness, loving others, etc, through the music that I share with you.

And so-----without further ado----

W = Worship

Blessings on your day,

Seasons

2011-01-31T09:45:00.006-06:00

I remember when she fit on my lap.....

Today she walked through the door to her future...

Our daughter has committed the next 6 years of her life to service to this great nation. Aim high and Godspeed!

Blessings on your day my friends,

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 3

2011-01-21T18:48:00.008-06:00

Here we are in week 3. I had a little more steam this week. Conviction will ^hopefully^ do that for you. I say "conviction" not "guilt".

Focus: God is our leader

M = More to read
Follow God
Week 3 ~ here we are at the banks of the Jordan river "at the time of harvest, when the Jordan overflows all its banks" (Joshua 3:15). God says, ' okay guys, its time to get this done. See that overflowing river? The Levites are going to carry the Ark into that river and stand in it while you all cross to the other side. Get clean. GO!' (paraphrase strictly mine). I'm a visual sort of girl so I wanted to SEE what I am reading about to have an idea of how big their following-faith would have to be. I found this picture of the Jordan River, although I don't think it is yet overflowing its banks.

'Sooo, You want us to step in and then stop? In that river there? And be still? While holding the Ark?' I don't know about any of you, but I have had a couple of unpleasant experiences with being swept away or pulled under by water that otherwise seemed fairly benign and I have a little idea of what it can do. I can already tell you that I would have a really hard time with this instruction. I can feel the fear taking over and causing me to list all the reasons why this is a bad idea.

fol·low

v. fol·lowed, fol·low·ing, fol·lows

To come or go after; proceed behind

To go in the direction of; be guided by

To accept the guidance, command, or leadership of

Aha. This is not God telling the Israelites to go into the Jordan River. This is God telling the Israelites to proceed behind Him, to be guided by Him, to accept the leadership of Him.

Also, let me make this clear ~ this is not ME telling the Israelites to follow ME into the Jordan River. That would be stupid. Plus, I really would be frozen at the banks. We have already established that the God who is leading the Israelites is a God who keeps His promises and is worthy of our trust. The Israelites already know that God can stop a mighty water from flowing because He has already proven it. I suppose I could make the argument that the circumstances of the Israelites' faith in the time of Joshua, and the circumstances of my faith are very different. I do not have God, through a cloud, leading me and I do not have manna showing up daily for me to pick up and eat and I did not SEE the Red Sea parted, blah blah blah. I HAVE however chosen to believe in God and, through His Son Jesus Christ, receive forgiveness of my sins and live in eternal relationship with Him. I believe that God is who He says He is and does and has done what He says He does and has done. Therefore, my faith should be no less equal than that of the Israelites. If God led them, He will lead and is leading me. Now where's that river??

P = Putting it out there

1. Are there some areas in your life in which you allow God to lead more than others?

Most definitely. To be perfectly and, well, embarrassingly honest, I do not ask God to lead in most areas of my life. Sure, the big stuff I go to Him about. And I do mean, BIG. We're talking crisis level. The rest of the time(and the reason I am in this study) I just.handle.it.myself. ~working on that~

2. Tell of a time you followed God's leading into an unfamiliar territory.

Several years ago I was asked to pray about taking on the role of Worship Leader for our military women's Bible study. So, I laughed. Then I agreed to pray (although, I really felt that the answer would be a resounding "You are not qualified!"). You know what? I prayed and God said, "You are who I want to be there at this time." (notice the period? end of sentence?) You know what else? I WASN'T qualified. I couldn't even read music OR play an instrument. How does one LEAD worship in these circumstances? You don't. You step aside and let God lead. I heard once that God does not call the equipped but that He equips those whom He calls.
Ps ~ where my journal pages started for week 3, the scripture quote is this, "For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." Proverbs 3:26
Thank You God.

Worship =

By His hand He leadeth me. Ahhh.

Where You go, I'll go. Where You stay, I'll stay...

Blessings on your day,

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 2

2011-01-20T22:11:00.008-06:00

Well. Here we are in week 2 of our hike through the Old Testament book of Joshua. Can I be real here for a second? Is anyone else already losing steam? I hate this unruly pattern I have of being so, so excited about a Bible study and then, gradually finding more and more things to occupy my time.

So ~ isn't it interesting that this week's focus is about how God is worthy. Worthy of what? Well, specifically in the lesson this week, worthy of my efforts to be a good witness to who He is. And you know what else He is worthy of? He is worthy of my undivided attention. Do you think that God was distracted by facebook when He was creating me? Of course not. Did He take the time every.single.day to feed the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness before we picked up their story in Joshua? Yes He did. Did He, knowing full well every sin I would ever do against Him, create a way from the beginning of time for me to be forgiven of those sins that I might be in full relationship with Him. In awe, I say to you, yes He did.

And where does 'your witness' come from? Is it in your countenance (your facial expressions)?. Is it in your tone of voice? Is it in your willingness/unwillingness to forgive others? Is it in your reactions to circumstances? Is it in the way you treat people? Is it in the time/effort you devote to getting to know your God better?

Yes.

Really poking at my heart tonight. What does it say about my God to the outside world that I am caught up on all my friend's statuses on facebook and I have the reigning score on Zumablitz AND Bejeweled Blitz, but I cannot even list all of the books of the Bible? Not because I have tried and lack the memory skills mind you, but because I have barely tried and then moved on to other things. Don't get me wrong, this is, by no means, a post about the evils of facebook, blogging, tv or whatever else. Nor is this me shaking my finger at you because, you also cannot list the 66 books of the Bible because you have the reigning score at a game I have not played against you :). (Or maybe you can) But I do have to ask the very real question of what of ME is my God worthy of? Answer = everything. Next question = Would people, through knowing me, believe that my God is worthy, like Rahab did, of turning from everything they have grown up doing and believing and rest their very survival in Him? I can't answer that question. But I can say this...I wish that is true.

Wishing is not enough.

Is our witness important? Fo shizzle. Are we always going to get it right? Of course not ~ there is no one perfect. Not one.
But being a sinner is not an excuse. We still have to try.

Geez. Did I even address this week's questions?

Worship =
In addition to You Are My God, which I posted at the beginning of the week, take some time to ponder this song...

You Are My God

2011-01-14T15:35:00.003-06:00

Got the material for Backpacking Through Joshua week 2 and the focus for this week is "God is worthy"

Get your praise on backpackers! (And any one else who wants to praise too!)

Blessings on your day,

Backpacking Through Joshua (C)

2011-01-13T10:07:00.001-06:00

(P.S. ~ I started writing this post last week.) Today is an exciting day. A good friend of mine heard the heartbeat of her little bundle today. She is an amazing woman and you would be blessed to be friends with her. Some of you are. :) You can get to know her here, where she is Standing On Hope.

Also, today I embark on a Backpacking adventure with a huge group of women. So huge, in fact, that we had to be divided into smaller groups. I am in the Red Group. Go Big Red!!

Some of these women I have never met, which is okay because our leader, (I would say fearless, but I won't because she is not, but she IS faithful) is my BFF, and more importantly our mighty and patient and faithful God is at the helm.

You might not know this about me, but I like tools. And sometimes, accessories. Here are my supplies for Joshua...

There are four components to Backpacking Through Joshua...

C = Commentary (This is where the author speaks a bit about the material we will cover that week)
A = Asking God (This is where we ask God ~ in our quiet/prayer time ~ specific questions about where we are and how we can improve)
M = More To read (Further study)
P = Putting It Out There (Answering group questions with the group)

M = More To Read

I decided to do a word study on Faithful, as it pertains to the faithfulness God has shown, not the faithfulness I/people have shown.
I didn't get very far in the breakdown of the word from the Hebrew, etc etc but as I was researching this, I heard a sermon referring to Joshua 1:8 - specifically where God talks about meditating on the Word, ~let it never leave your lips~ and it struck me that right here, in the very first chapter of our study, God is repeating a command that so many of us in the study have admitted to failing at; being in the Word, meditating, studying, sharing. To me that shouted of God's faithfulness when He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and personal knowledge of me (and all of His children). It's as though He said, "Yes, you do struggle with this, and yes I know it. And right here, in the study that I have brought you to, we will address it." God even felt it necessary to remind Joshua to keep His Word in his mouth and mutter it (meditate) day and night. Joshua had already proven himself faithful to God's commands and God STILL reminded even him. (That makes me feel like less of a dolt and, somehow, more motivated to do better.)

P = Putting it out there

1. What made you decide to join this adventure? There are lots of factors I could list ~

I know the author,
I am not currently in a group study,
I need to do more studying in the Old Testament,
Lots of my friends are doing it,

and they would all be true. However, the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit has been seeking me on the issue of making decisions based on my own knowledge, out of my own understanding and reasoning, rather than my knowledge of God and His character and commands. Amber addressed this issue IN THE INTRODUCTION of this study. So there you go. God reading my mail again. What do you hope will come from the study? Less of me. More of God.

2. In what ways have you found God to be faithful recently? read here

I have decided that I am going to add one more component to my study each week (without author permission or approval) :) and that will be

W = Worship (I will post for my benefit and yours a song that goes with the week's study)
Today is a song called He's Always Been Faithful by Sara Groves. (Thank you AR for teaching me this song!)

Two Years

2011-01-08T00:01:00.001-06:00

Today marks 2 years since the birth of our first grandchild. This year we had the privilege of visiting him and celebrating with him (last weekend). It has been a beautiful two years of healing a relationship that was in tatters before this little guy came along. He is the light of our lives. A bright, handsome, sweet and funny boy who loves his Mommy and Daddy and just about everyone else he comes in contact with.

When I first saw this, I didn't believe I would ever see it in person or hold it for myself. Although I prayed and prayed that it would be so. I was already in love with him. He came into the world about 2 weeks later.

And his hand was even more beautiful...

Then, somewhere in there, God manifested the miracle of healing in our relationship with our daughter and then I got to see this hand in person. He was almost a year old.

Then he came to see his Auntie graduate and we got to take him on his first trip to the zoo. Of course, he had to try his hand at driving the safari jeep.

This is his hand today; which I got to watch use a fork and eat his birthday cake with. His Mother and Father are both so gracious to allow us to be a part of his life and theirs. I love this boy. And his Mama.

Today marks two years since the birth of our very first grandchild.

Old School Shout Out

2010-12-27T21:19:00.003-06:00

This one goes out to S4J's BFF HisGirl.

Please ignore the video. Just listen to the song.

It's A Giveaway!

2010-12-19T00:46:00.007-06:00

It's that time of year again for the Department of the Army Digital Photo Contest. I submitted several entries through Fort Polk And some of them won! These are the selections that have been forwarded on to the Department of the Army level.

Beautiful Reflections

Frozen Gate

Snow On A Fence

Sitting Alone

Now for the giveaway....
Leave a comment voting for which one you think might win. Then, if that photo wins 1st, 2nd or 3rd place at the Department of the Army level, I will send you a free 8x10 of that photo!! The results are usually released around February.

Ps ~ Even if you don't want a print, you can still vote. :)

Blessings on your day,

A Day Off

2010-12-15T17:12:00.003-06:00

It's been a beautiful day in Texas. Sunny, in the 70's and windy. Reminded me of growing up in Southern California and the Santa Ana winds coming up in the afternoons. Today was my first day off in a long time. I started the day connecting with some of my loved ones. It was a sweet time of chatting about nothing and that feeling of belonging. The rest of the day has been spent with the husband. We popped in on his Dad just to say, "Hello". Funny how we live next to each other and I barely see these people more than when we lived 7 hours away. They actually had to come through my line at Hobby Lobby just to get some face time! We almost finished up our Christmas shopping, had lunch together at the Olive Garden and walked the back 40 together. As we were walking along the back fence, we came upon our neighbor. Funny that we had to go all the way back there to meet her. She was friendly and telling us tales of how she was checking the fence because one of her cows, who is actually her friend's cow, freed itself from the pasture and was roaming the neighborhood when she came upon him on her way home from work. My husband's barn is coming along so nicely, although not as fast as the framing. It's a much slower job working on your own. It's a beautiful place to me (and I hope to my husband as well). He is now officially retired from the Air Force and stays home full-time handling the main portion of the household duties and the child-rearing. He's a good, good man. We are preparing to receive our first pension payment; that in addition to my part time pay at Hobby Lobby is somehow going to sustain us and build the big house. I see through my bookkeeper glasses that we may not have our home built any time in the near future and I am truly okay with that. We have all that we need, and the rest will come in its due time. We have managed to set aside enough money to go up and celebrate our Grandson's second birthday with him the first week of January and we are just ecstatic about that! As I write, dinner that my husband lovingly prepared is cooking in the crazy 1950s oven that never has the right temperature. The little artificial Christmas tree is shining and we are blessed to have gifts underneath it. The laundry is going and I even have time to put some thoughts down on cyber-paper. I still have lots and lots to do on my 'day-off-to-do-list' and I have this assurance: If I do not get to it today, it will still be there on my next day off.

I will leave you with the view out my front door this very minute...

Blessings on your day my friends,

New Generation Evangelism

2010-11-24T09:35:00.002-06:00

I have been published!! PWOCI has been working long and hard on a cutting edge way to reach women with the message of PWOC, which is the message of hope - the Gospel - Jesus Christ. I had the most humbling privilege of participating in this new tool. Some of my pictures have been used to help portray the thoughts and feelings in the magazine!

You can read a little more about the process HERE

and you can flip through a digital copy HERE

It Is Well...Continued

2010-11-21T19:11:00.004-06:00

Fall has come to our little neck of the woods. I say that lightly because it's not cold yet. But the leaves are changing color and falling off of the trees anyway and this very week Thanksgiving will arrive.

There have been a LOT of major changes in the Sing4Joy household these past months and there are more to come in the near future. I don't deal well with change generally speaking. I am most assuredly a creature of habit. However, these words have been the theme of my heart for these last months.....It is well.

Come December 1st, my husband will be unemployed. We have picked up stakes and moved to Texas after 8 years at Fort Polk, LA. There are a lot of things about military retirement that we didn't fully understand such as; we still get medical coverage, but we now have to pay the premium. That comes out of retirement pay. Then there is SBP. We opted in for it, but we have to pay for it. That comes out of retirement. We are still carrying a little bit of debt that we want to pay off before we begin building the big house. And until the big house is built, we pay rent at the shanty next door. I have a new job at 38 years old at Hobby Lobby that I love but it is quickly becoming apparent that at my current rate (seasonal, part-time) it will not pay the bills. It is also really hard not to see everything in terms of how long I have to work to be able to pay for that. On my feet. For hours.

On November 11th-14th I attended the MOST AMAZING CONFERENCE EVER in Dallas, TX. I have been planning all year for this conference. Transcribed hours of sermons to pay for it. And waited and prayed and waited and prayed for it to finally come. There are a trillion things to talk about this weekend but the main themes for me are this....

Kari Jobe led worship for us. Also, I met her and she signed my sheet music. She is truly a gifted worship leader. I could be friends with her.
Priscilla Shirer was the keynote speaker. Wow. Just wow. She is intelligent, funny, well studied in scripture and totally relate-able. I met her too. I could be friends with her too.
Engage your strengths. Do what God has designed you to do and watch and listen for what God has for you to do. Just be ready. He will provide the opportunities.

The most striking thing that happened to me happened as I was leaving the conference on Sunday morning. It hit me like a freight train out of nowhere that this was it for me. This would be my last official PWOC function. I was saying goodbye for the final time to a way of life that I have known for about six years now. I was saying goodbye to so many friends who I will not likely cross paths with again and I will no longer (as far as I know) have the identifier of being a PWOC'er. Hello tears. Where did you come from?? I was waving my hands in front of my eyes and trying to exhale the overwhelming emotion out like all those other ladies who I usually do not identify with. I'm pretty sure some people ran away from me.

We still haven't found a home church here. It can be a discouraging process. I don't have a group of women to connect with on a spiritual level, to dive into the Word of God with, to join in ministry with here.

With all these major changes going on in my life, my identity, my place in the world, with all the unsurity that there can be in the world (yes I know that's not a word). I am truly content.

I honestly do not know what the future holds for us. I do not know how the bills are all going to get paid or the big house is going to get built or how my feet are going to survive or if I will have any room to continue my photography career, how the housework is all going to get done ~ and yet ~ I am content. I know that God is sovereign. I know that He loves me. I know that He has a plan for me because He has told me so. I am truly excited to see how my future unfolds and where He takes me.

It is well with my soul.

It Is Well

2010-11-19T09:12:00.002-06:00

I had a post to go along with this, however, I am compelled to let this video stand alone. The post will be for another day.

P.S. If I weren't happily married and madly in love with my amazing husband, I might be in love with Guy Penrod and David Phelps. Just sayin'

A Poll And A Pic updated for clarification

2010-08-23T20:19:00.005-05:00

Well, we've sold our house. We've moved all our contents to storage. We've begun the process of building our new "estate". We've permanently moved part of our family to Texas while the rest continue to travel back and forth between Texas and Louisiana (Except for our darling oldest daughter who has settled ~at least for now~ in another state). So, the first order of business....*(Here comes the poll)*
Does North Central Texas still count as the South? Cause if not, I have to rename my blog.*(Here ends the poll)*

Okay and here is a picture of the beautiful pages of one of the beautiful new books I bought. (Hopefully more on that later)

Blessings on your day,

Facebook Killed My Blog

2010-05-20T09:37:00.004-05:00

I used to have so many words to say. Words to describe my day. Words to describe my feelings. Words to describe the color of the sky. Words to describe behaviors, emotions, sentiments, activities. Now I think in blurbs. "How quickly can I update people on what I am doing and can I do the whole thing in the third person?" I blame it all on facebook.

I suppose there could be some room in there to blame the unbelievable level of busy my life has been these last months, but then you would want me to tell you all about it. And this is the best I can come up with....

Sing4Joy's BFF came to visit and they went to a wonderful wedding together
Sing4Joy's husband returned from the final deployment of his Air Force career and is preparing for retirement
Sing4Joy attended her last PWOC gathering ever
Sing4Joy's second daughter graduated from High School and enlisted in the Air Force
Sing4Joy is trying to get her house in order to sell and move to another state
etc, etc, etc.

Things don't really promise to slow down any time soon, and facebook continues to be a 3 minute option for updating my people so I don't know how much life is left in Southern Living and other peeks into my psyche, but we shall see.

Blessings,

Home

2010-04-30T10:21:00.002-05:00

This laundry doesn't seem so bad anymore.

New Day

2010-04-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Blessings on your day,

Letters From War

2010-03-18T15:29:00.002-05:00

Mar 1, 10

Dear Honey,

We're almost done with this separation. This will be my last letter because I'm short on time here, and have only one more envelope.
...I'm really looking forward to getting home to you. When we started our marriage I really did not foresee so much separation. I always knew that the possibility existed, just didn't think much about it back then.
The good news is that I haven't turned crazy on this deployment...so I should be just about the same person I was when I left.
My mind is wandering now though, so I am going to close this for now.

I love you and will come home to you soon!

Vloggin It Up

2010-03-14T22:15:00.003-05:00

I think I am going to do one big post about all of our adventures cause I can't seem to organize my thoughts just yet. For now, I direct you to HisGirl's posting of our vlogs.

S4J & His Girl- Caught in the Act Edition

2010-03-13T23:46:00.001-06:00

Find the VLOG here

Well. Okay. Yeah. Hm.

2010-03-12T19:12:00.004-06:00

Let's face it. I am a cold fish. Truth be told, I prefer it that way. Emotions are messy. So, what on earth made me think it would be fun to drive for 6 hours to see my dear friend celebrate wedding nuptials? The same friend who I have walked with since the moment her young husband died and left her with 2 young children 4 years ago. The same friend who I have watched praise the Lord that she did not grieve as those who have no hope. The same friend who I watched as she slowly, with fear and trembling yet beautiful hope, open her heart to the possibility of new love. I couldn't even make it through the rehearsal this afternoon without turning into a mess. I don't like it people. Tomorrow I will watch a man, a good man who's eyes sparkle when he looks at her take her hand and accept the gift of her beautiful heart. I will watch him accept the hands of her children and promise to love them as he loves her. I am feeling absolutely overwhelmed at the intensity of my joy and hope for her and her future. I don't cope well with this level of emotion. It feels like an assault and apparently, I did not behave well as a result. I wonder if I could watch the video of the wedding from my closet with a box of tissues and some chocolate chip cookie dough truffles where no one could see me. And then I could just stay there for like a week while I recover my composure. I think that's reasonable.

Come high noon tomorrow, if you do not see me at the Chapel ~ I will be here. Hiding. My new house for the next 2 nights...

They graciously offer this water bottle right in your room. They claim it will relax and refresh you for only $1.50 but I checked the ingredients list and nowhere did it say "valium" or "medicinal marijuana" so I do not believe the claims.

Ps - Tomorrow I get to post a couple of the Bridal Portraits I took of her. :)

Blessings on your day,

No Time!

2010-03-11T22:25:00.004-06:00

Lordy! Busy day! I have only time to put up some pics from today. I will try to do more as we go, but geesh. I just don't know. Maybe Whimzie or Hisgir l will have a better story about today with more details...

These are what fun look like. What a wonderful day and I have made a stack of memories that will touch my heart and make me smile in the future.

I am blessed to know these women. And look how sweet they are to me....

No Good Title.

2010-03-10T12:00:00.003-06:00

I have this friend. She loves me. Exactly me. In the world of understanding me, she is only second to God. ALL of me. And loving me. ALL of me. She doesn't ask me to put down who I am, or to stop being who I am or to change who I am (or any parts thereof) because she loves who I am and she loves to be with the me who is who I am. In her love, she joins me in my muck, but never lets me stay there. She points me to the Cross when I look to the flesh. She is that person who would drop her life upon one simple request to come to my side (and has), and she is THAT person that you would WANT to drop their life to come to your side because you know she will make things better for having been there rather than be another person you have to care for and she will never make you feel burdened or guilty for the great sacrifice it takes.

She is on her way here. I will have her full-time for a week. A week of merriment, MIRL's, festivities and a whole lot of being ME.

I heard an interesting theory about Paul the Apostle in Bible study yesterday...the basic point that I took away from it was that Paul was looking for just the right way to describe what he wanted to describe and had to keep trying different words because they didn't quite give the full depth of understanding that he was trying to convey. Hence - his writings are rather wordy.

That is what I will have to say here. There are no good words that can describe to you who HisGirl is to me. There is no good title.

Worship In The Waiting - Music To Wait To; The Playlist

2010-03-10T00:08:00.003-06:00

Well, the list seems to keep growing but I wanted to publish it here for your pleasure anyway. I have already experienced a new sense of peace and even fun when waiting to this music. I pray that you will as well!

1. Enough ~ Chris Tomlin
2. Wait ~ Big Daddy Weave
3. In the Waiting ~ FFH
4. So I Will Trust You ~ Sovereign Grace Music
5. Everlasting God ~ Chris Tomlin
6. Psalm 40 ~ Steve Bell
7. Wait ~ Anthony Evans
8. While I Am Waiting ~ John Waller
9. I Waited (Psalm 40) ~ The Maranatha! Singers
10. Waiting Room ~ Shane & Shane
11. The Remedy ~ Ayiesha Woods
12. Waiting Room ~ Jonny Diaz
13. Unwritten (from "The Sing-off") ~ Voices of Lee
14. Wait (Psalm 40) ~ The Message: Psalms
15. Be Still ~ Kari Jobe
16. Fight ~ Ayiesha Woods
17. Dear Friend ~ Charlie Peacock
18. Psalm 40 ~ NewSong
19. So Good To Me ~ Cory Asbury
20. Glory ~ Selah & Nichole Nordeman

*A prize is being delivered to me tomorrow* More on that later...

Blessings on your day,

Evicted With Extreme Prejudice

2010-03-05T17:56:00.005-06:00

The kids have been sick. It's been like slow-motion dominoes around here. One gets sick, I disinfect like crazy, a few days later the next one gets sick - rinse and repeat. With sick child number three the nurse told me to be sure to throw her toothbrush away once she has been on the antibiotics for 3 days. WHAT? HUH?
#1 - I can't BELIEVE I did not think of their toothbrushes sitting all together bumping each other and all rubbing on one tube of toothpaste.
#2 - I REALLY can't believe that none of the health officials dealing with us until now thought to mention this little tidbit about avoiding a recurrence of extremely contagious and raunchy strep throat!

Behold the streptobrothel...

A hotbed of communicable disease. This tenant has now been evicted from our property with extreme prejudice!

Meet the new tenants...

blessings on your day,

Me And GGG Vlog - Jesus Lord Of Heaven

2010-02-14T18:52:00.004-06:00

Worship In The Waiting

2010-02-10T11:07:00.005-06:00

Waiting. My.very.favorite.thing.to.do

or not.

We've all been there. Waiting for answers from the doctor, waiting for our insurance to approve a referral, waiting for that special someone to propose, waiting for our spouse to come home from far away lands, waiting to know if we got the job, waiting for our kids to move out. eh hem. You get the point.

I've been doing a lot of waiting in recent days, and in all honesty - I am ALWAYS waiting for something. Whenever the circumstance of having to wait arises my first response is an audible sigh of impatience and my toe starts tapping.

I had an "AHA" moment today. Another one of those times where a commonly used scripture moves (in my mind) from the 'placation' category to the 'THAT'S God's plan and it is good' category.

Today that scripture is Isaiah 40:31:

Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. (NASB)

The Message Paraphrase begins its emphasis on this verse
in verse 27

Isaiah 40:27-31
Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

Hm. Why would you ever complain? Can I tell you that I am not now, suddenly happy to be waiting for the things which I am waiting for (With the exception of GGG's wedding cause the anticipation of that absolutely wonderful event is like electricty! - but it sure wasn't fun waiting for the proposal. just sayin.) However I am purposing today, this moment that I will worship IN the waiting because I know that God is good and His timeline, His plans, His will are perfect. He can and does do far better than I can ask or imagine, and more to the point - He can and does do far better than I can do myself. "Knowing this, S4J - why would you ever complain?" I will work to rejoice when God says, "Wait."

And to that end, I am posting this video of a song that makes the idea of waiting feel good and right - and I am making a 'waiting' playlist on my ipod. Another thing I know about God is that He doesn't leave us without tools to do the things He asks us to do. I challenge you today to find as many uplifting and/or godly songs about waiting and bind them together in a way that will see you through and encourage you in the waiting.

In fact, leave the titles in the comments so I can add them to My playlist too!

Blessings on your day,

Letters From War - IM Edition

2010-01-27T09:12:00.003-06:00

Mr. S4J: hey, i meant to tell you this before

Mr. S4J: but i was also thinking of keeping it a secret surprise

S4J: oh?

Mr. S4J: but anyways, i thought that since it is our 15th year of marital bliss, we could have a vow renewal ceremony

Mr. S4J: do you want to do that?

S4J: oh crud! you just made me cry!

Mr. S4J: haha, sorry

S4J: I would love that

Mr. S4J: ok, we'll work it out

S4J: okay honey

Mr. S4J: i was thinking that if our anniversary was on a sunday, i would surprise you with it after services

Mr. S4J: but it would all be too hard, so i am just telling you

S4J: butthead

Mr. S4J: plus my old vows need to be renewed

S4J: oh?

Mr. S4J: they were good and all, but my dumb job got in the way of them sometimes

S4J: to make new ones or to reaffirm?

Mr. S4J: i'll make new ones, or reaffirm the old ones so you can know that my new dumb job won't get in their way

Mr. S4J: how is that?

S4J: I'm not sure

S4J: what do you mean by that?

Mr. S4J: i mean that sometimes i can't be there for you in sickness and in health because i am doing war

Mr. S4J: since i'll be retiring i will be able to be there more, and want to officially remind you of that

S4J: oh good Lord. Go to dinner before I turn into a pile of mess.

Mr. S4J: hahaha, sorry

Mr. S4J: have a good rest today

Mr. S4J: i love you

S4J: I love you too.

*sigh*

Letters To War - Deja Vu

2010-01-20T06:10:00.002-06:00

I posted this nearly 2 years ago to the day ~ Another time that my husband was deployed.

I love you even more than I did then Honey!
"Just remember 'til you're home again, you belong to me."

Oh No! Frozen Pipes! Epic

2010-01-10T16:18:00.019-06:00

Been rather cold here in the South this winter. Freakishly cold in fact. So cold that one of the outdoor faucets froze solid the other day causing half of the house to be without cold water.

"A HARD FREEZE in Southwest LOUISIANA?? You are making that up S4J!"

I kid you not. Here is proof:

See that it was already insulated with foam? And see the pile of pinestraw? I guess it had fallen away from the pipe and that was all she wrote. I piled it back up and added more to it. (Cause it's free and plentiful at our house.) Mercifully, last night we discovered that the pipe had finally thawed and we could run the dishwasher.

While loading up for church this morning, we first heard; then saw THIS:

Yes. That is a ~~really expensive ice creation~~ broken pipe spewing its contents for about 10 feet. Not knowing what to do about this, (I grew up in Southern California and have lived in Southern LA for almost 8 years now people! Give me some slack!) but knowing that someone at church would know what to do, we loaded back up into the car and off to church we went.

During Sunday School and then second service, we got advice about how to handle the situation and several offers of help.

When we finished church, we came home and the efforts began in earnest. People said, there is probably a separate shutoff for that water source since it is back at the barn. So I set out to find said shutoff and, well, shut it off. I checked all of the pipes/faucets on the back of the house. Nope. Then I tried here:

And I successfully BROKE.THE.HANDLE turning it to the opposite of what it was set on.

Nope.

Then I went to the ~~stinking gushing lame excuse for a faucet~~ leaking faucet to see if I could spy a valve there. However, if you check the second picture, you will see that these pipes are cleverly disguised inside a wooden box. (which, you would think, would have protected those bad boys from freezing. Not so my friends. Not so.) The box ~ well-built by my awesome, handy, and very thorough husband ~ had no intention of going quietly into the night or peacefully giving up its contents other than the water it freely allowed to pass out of it in extreme fashion. So, I pounded the top off. Then found that I had to pound the front to convince it to open. While I was doing that, the strangest thing happened. One of the 2 faucets attached to the pipe was no longer attached to the pipe, but instead, flying through the air at a high rate of speed until the garden hose which it was still attached to wrestled it to the ground. I am sorry dear faucet.

Oddly enough, this did not stop the water from spewing. Not only did it not STOP the water from spewing, it seemed to encourage a much heavier flow of spewing.

And P.S. - there was no valve hidden in the box. Sorry honey.

So, okay - only thing left to do, shut it off at the main. *slightly defeated exhale of breath*
I went in the barn and grabbed some tools that I thought could possibly help me to man-handle the water valve to the entire house into the off position.

Have I mentioned that I was still in my Sunday best? Except for Hubby's boots which I changed into from my church shoes. So now you can use your mind's eye to picture me in my Sunday finery crouched in the middle of the front yard for the entire world to see (except you because no one took a picture) trying to convince the main water valve to shut off. While talking nicely to it, eh hem, I heard a car stereo. Then I heard a car door. Well, truck to be exact. In my driveway; and out climbs a big guy, and his little guy. This is the husband of one of the people at church I told about the fun we had this morning.

"I heard you were having a little trouble."
Thank you nice man for not saying, "I saw you crouching like a lunatic into a hole in your front yard and decided to stop and laugh up-close."

So, I walked him back to the spewing barn. Showed him all the places I tried to stop the water and he agreed that the thing to do now was to shut off the main. So we trekked back up there and he man-handled the water valve to the off position.

Then we returned to the scene of the crime. He grabbed the remaining faucet, and it came off in his hand. *HEY - it wasn't me this time Honey!*

He said many man things; "This is an easy fix. Need some pvc pipe. Cut it. Cap it off. Grunt grunt." etc. From a search of the barn, we determined that we did not have the needed supplies on hand. I asked him if this was something I could do myself and he said I certainly could. He graciously cut the pipe down for me with the hacksaw and instructed me on exactly what supplies I needed and what to do with them once I brought them home.

"Call if you need any further help. Goodbye." Thankyouverymuch!!. You have now joined the distinguished, "Heroes among us" alumni. God bless you and have a nice day.

I went to the local DIY/Hardware store and picked up a 1/2" pvc cap and some pvc cement.

I dried the pipe. Slathered it and the cap with the cement and placed it, followed by heavy tapping, onto the severed pipe. Not the most attractive work, but done is beautiful. Then I made my way back up to the water valve to man-handle it back into the on position. While putting the cover back on, a fierce red ant crawled up my sleeve and bit my wrist. OUCH! During the long walk back to the barn, I prayed that should the work not have been successful on the first try that I would not lose heart, or any now frozen appendages.

It worked!!! All spewing is gone!! Thank You Jesus!!

I re-wrapped the remaining pipe with foam insulation

and later, piled it high with pinestraw.

Here is the graveyard:

Unfortunately for my husband, when he returns home from war he will have to rebuild the faucets for use. I am resigned to not having a hose at the barn until then and also not having a live ice sculpture exhibit at the barn either.

The irony is that the ice that was formed during this fiasco was really quite beautiful. Sadly I was only able to snap pictures of it after I had finished my work and it had long since started melting.

After all that drama, I rewarded my hard work with an oven-baked sandwich from Domino's. Well done S4J and great friend from church! Well done.

In Loving Memory

2010-01-07T14:00:00.002-06:00

In loving memory of Hubby's Grandmother Pauline Tibbetts.

Pictured here visiting us in Germany in 2002

In Loving Memory

2010-01-05T17:21:00.005-06:00

In loving memory of my Grandfather. Henry Woerner. 1915-2010

Grandpa and I goofing off just a few days ago.

Our Vacation Statistics

2010-01-04T11:20:00.004-06:00

We drove approximately 4,000 miles through 5 states (4 of them twice) in about 16 days, attending 3 family gatherings, 1 airport, 2 church services, 4 amusement parks, 2 lakes, 2 Starbucks, 4 hotels, countless restaurants(including Jack-in-the-box in 4 states) and gas stations, using approximately 209 gallons of gas averaging approximately 19 miles to the gallon pulling 1 little blue trailer.

Highest price for regular unleaded gasoline: $3.09 in California
Which is still less than $5.00 for 16oz of Starbucks mochawhatever
Vacation Tally: $2500.00
Time spent with family and friends: Priceless.

Bestie Adventures ~ MySpace Style

2009-12-28T20:24:00.010-06:00

Meet my very angelic BFF

I got the pleasure of an entire day with her. I present to you:
Bestie Adventures ~ MySpace Style

Okay. Just kidding. THIS is my very angelic BFF!

Got up in time to make it to second service at church. As is the tradition - everything was different than normal. Happens every.single.time I visit. Or, almost every.single.time.

Breakfast at Jack-In-The-Box. Cause ~hello~ I'm in California.

We stopped at Brandy's House. It's not really Brandy's house.
But we want it to be Brandy's house.

Lunch at PF Chang's. Be thankful we took our shot at this end of the horse. The other end is heart-shaped. Not making that up.

Here we found a reflective door and became obsessed with ourselves as one is wont to do when looking at such beauty.

Dinner at The Spaghetti Factory. It's not really a factory.

I took this picture especially for my sweet Mother-In-Law. This statue is for sale in the biggest indoor flea-market I've ever visited. See him holding his own pricetag? You're welcome.

Say What??

2009-12-05T22:45:00.001-06:00

It snowed at my house. And it stuck. Overnight.

Uh Oh

2009-11-16T08:50:00.003-06:00

I was playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook this morning and saw my score after a round and thought, "Oh that will never cut it in the real world."

Uh oh.

Remembering Our Veterans 2009

2009-11-11T09:24:00.004-06:00

Thank you to all who made the choice to serve. Thank you Dad. Thank you Honey.

The Remedy

2009-11-09T17:44:00.001-06:00

Hearts @ Home And Milestones

2009-10-27T18:26:00.007-05:00

I am blessed to be a part of what I believe has to be the best chapter of PWOC in the entire organization. There is a sub-ministry at our PWOC called Hearts@Home. It was piloted by an awesome lady several years ago for the purpose of supporting and encouraging PWOC sisters whose husbands are deployed or geographically separated for extended periods, and has blessed over a hundred women since its inception. I have been one of those women, and am currently again. It takes different paths depending on who is in charge that year and how God is leading them. Can I just tell you that this is an amazing ministry?! Today I went to PWOC and was handed THIS!

Isn't that cute?? Well WAIT! There's more! Our lovely H@H Ministry Team Leader said, "This is dinner for you!" "It's WHAT??" That's right. Dinner. I hugged it. I would hug her, but seriously. This was dinner. Already planned and made. Right in my hands. And I had to do none of the thought or preparation. Let me unwrap it for you so you can see inside...

Underneath the bag of rolls? A giant container of home-made corn chowder.

But WAIT! The wrapping was a table cloth! So, we set the table up RIGHT. Scarecrow and scripture note became the center piece, and we busted out the fauxfiestware dishes.

The scripture the scarecrow is holding is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you..

We added butter for the bread, milk to drink and green salad. The plates were empty at the end. There was also just enough left that will serve us another meal!

Do you know those days where you dread the dinner hour? The ones where you haven't planned for anything, don't know what you're going to do, and then you get to the dinner hour and have to face the music? Have you ever been able to apply Jeremiah 29:11 to that?? "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.

I did! And let me just tell you people, this was NOT one of those days for me! I spent almost the entire day knowing that dinner was planned AND made ~ and not by me ~ and that caused me glee every time I thought of it!

But, S4J - "What's the milestone you speak of??"
I'll tell you!

None of us have EVER eaten ANY manner of chowder in our lives. Let's face it; the word 'chowder' itself is gross. It gives a yucky connotation and does not make one want to eat it. Nevermind the fact that it is often preceded by the word 'clam'. EW. Just EW. And if I am being perfectly honest, when I saw it, I was a little bit afraid that we would be starving that night because none of us would actually eat. But we all braved up and tried it. Which is pretty amazing AND we liked it too! How about that?

PS - although I am speaking about H@H specifically here, I want to also let you know that I have been blessed by friends who have brought us a meal (or me a pleasant treat in a cute little bag) - and mind you we do not live on post or even close to post - or prepared us a meal in their home. For some people, this is a nice blessing. For me it is a MAJOR blessing. I feel incredibly cared for and loved over by the people in my life and wish that I could truly describe to them what they are doing for me. It's a way that they have come alongside me and "helped me carry my books" if you will. I'm not talking about the spelling workbook either. I am talking about the American History textbook. It's not the whole backpack, but that's a big chunk of my load.

To S4J, Dinner meal = American History textbook

I am so relieved and thankful to have it carried for me once in a while.

blessings,

Is This Weird?

2009-10-27T17:01:00.003-05:00

Walking through Walmart with the twins and my new fly glasses on and walked through the Men's section. I walked up to a coat and hugged it and asked, "Do you think it's weird that I am hugging this and thinking of Daddy?" Girl twin nearly melted right into the floor of embarrassment. That had me laughing all the way home.

Still laughing actually.

Blessings on your day.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-10-26T07:55:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to work into a healthier lifestyle. Practically speaking, it's not realistic for me to think that I am going to be able to maintain a diet free of sweets and fats, sooooo I am working toward healthier alternatives that will actually satisfy and not just annoy me for having wasted my time on something I didn't like and did not take away my craving. Today I baked these cookies and I find them to be a good alternative to my favorite fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies. I actually feel full after having had 3.

WHAT? I had to taste-test them.

According to the recipe they are 80 calories each and have protein AND dietary fiber in them.

You can get the recipe here www.delish.com

My substitutions:
Light Brown Sugar instead of Brown Sugar (cause that's what I had on hand)
Diabeti Sweet instead of Granulated Sugar
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (I like it, but it's only 37%) instead of Trans Fatfree vegetable oil spread (60% to 70% oil)
Whole Grain Wheat Flour instead of All-purpose Flour
Milk Chocolate Chips instead of Bittersweet (62% cacao) or semisweet chocolate chips (because I like them better and they are the same value)

Epiphone

2009-10-23T17:36:00.003-05:00

Beautiful lines of a beautiful instrument.

And So It Begins

2009-10-12T02:18:00.003-05:00

Hello friends!

We have officially entered a new phase in our lives: We are in the first week of what we believe to be the last deployment we will ever have to endure. It's so cool to be able to look back over the last fourteen years of our marriage and the separations that we have made it through and know (barring an act of God or stop-loss) that this will be the last. It's also a new experience for us. Every separation before this one, we knew there would be more. If my calculations are correct, by the end of this deployment we will have spent the equivalent of four years of our marriage geographically separated due to my husband's job. I am so proud of the man that I have married and the way that he has unselfishly and unfailingly served his country and provided for his family.
Blessings on your day,

Kimpo Revisited

2009-10-07T08:23:00.002-05:00

I have been given the amazing privilege of writing for the international level of the Christian women's organization I am a part of, Protestant Women Of the Chapel and today they posted a blog that I wrote a while back. A very timely reminder. Go have a look, and stay a while. It's a great place to be....

PWOC International Blog

Clouds

2009-10-02T18:22:00.004-05:00

I pulled off the Highway to take this picture today.

He Da Man! My Man!

2009-09-23T07:25:00.002-05:00

On this day 14 years ago I married a great guy.

I'm not going to be all mushy with you, I'll just share with you my hope that he wears his Dickies Painter's pants today.

My most fervent prayers on the continued success of YOUR marriage!

Evicted!

2009-09-05T12:30:00.005-05:00

Hubby discovered this on our tomato plant.

He let me take pictures of it and then he evicted it. And its little yellow friend there.
How crazy is the hair from the tomato vine??

Barium What? Part 1

2009-09-03T08:09:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of having an Upper GI Series with Barium swallow and baking soda crystals.

"What NOW S4J? Seriously, don't you have something else to do besides go to the doctor?"

I really do. But the reality is I have an earthly body that has seen some natural destruction due to life, genetics, aging and environment and general misuse and abuse on my part and that means sometimes things fail.
My current ailment list is kind of lengthy and boring so I won't list them now, and I promise to update when test results are in and we know something conclusive. For the purpose of today's post I will tell you that I have been experiencing chronic severe heartburn (at least it feels severe to me) so I went for a series of x-rays in which they take pictures up and down the upper gastrointestinal organs; esophagus, stomach and something else I can't remember the name of. This is not a medical show people. This is done in different ways depending on the particular purpose of the tests. In the case of this series for me, they first gave me some baking soda crystals to 'shoot' (not kidding. that's what the tech said) She described these as being just like pop-rocks candy from when you were a kid. Except you don't keep them in your mouth, you need to get them straight to your throat and swallow them so they can start making lots of air in your tummy and you are not allowed to burp it out even though you will really feel like it. Swallow it back down.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's back up a little....

My day started like any other;
Wake up, Husband is not there - he's in another state for work
Take a shower
Load the twins up into the van and follow the 16 year-old in the little purple car as she drives herself to school. *faints*
Oh dear, I've already forgotten what I did next.

Okay fast-forward a little...
I drive up to post to go to the hospital and see the yellow and white canopies that get setup for big events like redeployment ceremonies and fests and the like lined up along the blocked off half of the brand new additional parking. And that's when it starts. You folks who have been at Fort Polk know what's coming; the drive that will make you late for your appointment up and down and up and down and up and down the parking lot looking for a place to park. I kid you not, unless you were a childcare worker or a motorcycle there was not one empty space to be found in the first parking lot. So, I began the drive of doom through the second parking lot. God said, "My gift to you this morning is a nice long leisurely walk in beautiful weather. In order to receive this blessing, you will have to choose one of the last available spaces at the very end of the overflow parking. You're welcome."

Thank You Lord. I actually had plenty of time and was not feeling stressed other than being slightly aggravated at what seemed completely nonsensical blocking of parking they purposely built to help alleviate problems like this, I mean there was no country star with a big black hat and an amplifier crooning from those empty blocked off spaces, but who I am to say?

So to add pleasure to pleasure,(no really, it was a super lovely morning) as I was getting close to the entrance I came upon a friend who has been here a little longer than me and I don't see very often anymore and we had a lovely chat about the woes of facebook, friending/unfriending, crazy updates and the the two giant scars on either side of his ankle where he has had surgeries to correct what he broke in Korea. And then I saw that I now actually only had 9 minutes until my appointment. Okay okay time to go indoors.

Getting checked in was all very pleasant. I waited no time at all to be taken back and start the fun. "Here is the gown you need to change into, you may only keep your underwear and socks. Everything else must go. I will give you extremely quick instructions on how to install the gown with three arm holes onto your body and then send you off to work it out. Yes, you really have to lose the bra too even though it has no under-wire. You will be completely covered."

Some of you may know that I like to take pictures. This visit was an absolute gold-mine of photographic interest to me, but I figured (correctly) that I wouldn't really be able to get good shots of what I was doing and seeing while still making it possible for the techs to get the good shots of my insides that they needed. Plus, I really have no idea how, if at all, x-rays would affect my camera and whether cameras would even be allowed in. Given those odds, the camera stays at home. *sigh* However after manufacturing a third arm and getting all the little holes filled and in their proper places, I sat down in the chair and waited for the tech to finish her prepping and asked her if I could have brought my camera.

"Uhh, well....I don't think there are any rules against it...although no one has ever wanted to take pictures before....I suppose it could be done...."

*Methinks they have and just never asked*

I see that this post is turning rather long, so I will end here and get back to the story later because I have exciting news to share: I am published. :) PWOCI Blog . Look for "McWitness".

AND, I also wanted to share this song with you. It's a Hillsong United song, but I chose this video because these two are just too cute and sweet. It's a bit long, so turn up the volume and get some dusting done while you listen!

Train Of Thought - S4J Style; A Series. Maybe.

2009-08-24T23:07:00.004-05:00

So I got to thinking.

I'll just wait a moment and let that soak in.

Well, first a little instruction. These posts are going to be just my thinking as it is ordered in my head, from one tangent to the next. When you see this ..., that is code for, "And then I thought..." And starting in the next post, the title will include the beginning and ending thought in the 'train ride'.

ALLLLLL ABOOAAAARRRRD.....

I want to go to Hawaii...there are lots of people I know there right now...I bet GGG would know all the right places to go...She would make a great travel writer...because *1* she loves to travel, *2* she is a very eloquent writer, *3* she is willing to try stuff...my travel book would be totally the opposite. It would have stuff in it like, "So the bathroom here at exit 2 was so clean! Be sure and schedule your stop there. Pick up snacks because you will be hungry once you get to the top of the crater. And there might be a restaurant at the top but it could be closed or it could only serve food that you would never in your life allow to pass your lips, and then you would starve and become cranky. Or dead. And don't forget bottled water and sunscreen. Don't dally looking at souvenirs on your way up or you won't make it to the crater before dark and then you won't be allowed to go. If souvenirs are that important to you, you can schedule some time on your way to the airport"...it might be fun to write a travel book with several writers who are friends and travel in different ways and do a Hawaii from four perspectives a day or something like that...what am I going to make for dinner tomorrow...oh it is 11:31pm and I am not nearly ready to go to bed...

So Good To Me

2009-08-18T16:08:00.003-05:00

Today I have the honor of wishing my husband a happy 37th Birthday. God has blessed me with a wonderful man with which to share my life. He's been so, so good to me.

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket Day 4 Part Deux

2009-08-16T00:32:00.002-05:00

Captain's Log: stardate 16 Aug 12:32am; No sooner had I closed transmission on Captain's Log then the offending illusive creature made its presence known. It was as though it was saying, "Can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." Well folks, I grabbed the closest thing I could find which happened to be clorox cleanup and served that sucker a cocktail. Now it is asleep and maybe I will be asleep too. 1st service comes mighty early.
Happy Sunday all.

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket Day 4

2009-08-16T00:21:00.003-05:00

Captain's Log: stardate 16 Aug. 12:21am - There have been no sightings or 'hearings' of the enemy ~~vulcan~~ cricket. Crew thinks the diet coke frightened it straight out of the ~~ship~~ house. I remain skeptical. I will retire to quarters and let the next shift take over.
out.

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket

2009-08-15T01:31:00.002-05:00

As our story this evening begins, we find our heroine on night 3 of trying to locate and remove the LOUDEST CRICKET THAT EVER LIVED from her kitchen. In the beginning, she thought that the cricket was outside the kitchen window. But alas, the origin of the sound has moved each night to somewhere else in the kitchen. It knows she is looking for it. You can tell by the dead silence that occurs when she comes within visual range of its hiding place. But alas, attempts thus far to get it to interact with an online decoy have failed. (that was a reference to the OTHER Catch a something show). Desperate and tired - but what's new there - she goes to the trusty world wide web to find recipes for poison that the cricket will eat but the dog will not. Well, maybe she only thought about poison and researched how to catch the cricket instead. She is now trying the first piece of advice. Drink most of the drink - any drink - out of a plastic bottle, leaving just a smidgeon for the cricket to take interest in. It will - according to the wonderful world wide web reference, enter the bottle thirsty and desperate for a drink of what our heroine is willing to share with it and find itself stuck and unable to exit.
We leave our heroine slightly longing for that last swig of diet coke but rubbing her hands together in excited anticipation.
Merry Friday to all and to all a good night.
Well, except the cricket.

Ten On The Tenth - S4J Joins In

2009-08-10T09:45:00.008-05:00

School starts on Friday.(Don't ask)
Praise God for mandatory education!
In honor of the closing of Summer, here are

Ten pictures I took throughout the season.

1.

2.

4.
5.
6.

10.

Whoa Nelly! (I found it!)

2009-07-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

Hey! I found the post I had written about where I've been. It was saved as a draft in my photography page. I think maybe the other one was better.......

I have 1900 unread posts in my bloglines! Mercy Sakes! I always think that I am going to have all this time during the Summer months because all the activities go on break. This is NEVER so! There is always something to fill my time. At the end of may we drove up to see our oldest daughter graduate and meet our grandson. We left the second oldest there for the Summer. Then we drove back down and dropped the twins off with their grandparents. My friend and I JUST drove up yesterday and returned with them today.

"But S4J - WHAT have you been doing with ALL that time and no one to take care of but yourself??"

We continue in home ~~destruction~~ construction. We completed gutted the 13 year old girl's room; re-wired, hung new drywall, remade the closet, painted the walls and ceiling, and my husband just today finished installing the flooring. When are finished, I will post pics. And maybe, someday, if our room gets all the details completed, I'll post pics of that.

My photography business has taken off and is keeping me happily busy capturing people's moments.

Also, I am the Matron of Honor in a friend's wedding which will take place on Saturday, but has had lots of details and running to see to. I also will be singing a love song with another of the bridesmaids. Should be a lovely day.

So just a quick update and I am off to edit photos and get to reading! (a little at a time)

It's Not Dominos But It'll Do

2009-07-11T13:13:00.009-05:00

Text from S4J to Hubby in the barn: Oven baked sandwich from Dominos?
Hubby's response as he walks in the door: No
Text from S4J to Hubby across the living room: So, no oven baked sandwich from Dominos?

I am starving! And I want an oven baked sandwich from Dominos. Greasy, melty, cheesy, bacony, crispy, clog your arteries but you can't care because you're so happy goodness.

What's a girl still in her pajamas to do when her Husband refuses to retrieve her heart's desire for her? Fend for herself I guess.

This horrible craving is relentless in its pursuit of my tastebuds. I must have garlicy flavor. NOW.
You may already know this, but I am not a cook. I am perfectly capable of cooking and can make a good meal, but I have no love of the art form. I don't enjoy the process or the clean up. In fact, food usually tastes better to me when someone else has cooked it. And when people talk of how they made this wonderful meal from scratch and it was such an enjoyable experience, I'm sure I look at them like they are aliens. Poor aliens.

Today, for lunch, in the grips of intense craving, yet unwilling to go out for myself to retrieve lunch(I'm in my pajamas) I had to do that very thing; provide myself a meal from scratch using only the ingredients we had on hand (pajamas, pajamas - stay with me here.)

I made myself a fantastic meal. I had wheat spaghetti noodles boiled in chicken broth, cajun seasoning and garlic salt. Slathered them with I Can't Believe It's Not butter and grated parmesan cheese. Like Jenster, I forgot to take a picture before I ate it. Well, okay Jenster just takes one bite and then remembers. I was just.so.hungry.

I pulled a loaf of some sort of fancy italian bread that I had gotten on the sale rack at W*mart out of the freezer. I thawed it, then sliced two chunks from it, applied ICBINB, garlic salt, and parmesan cheese which I cooked in a pan with roasted minced onion and finally melted some mozzarella string cheese on the top. Served that with my version of bruschetta with the first harvested tomato of the season from our garden.

That was a super delicious lunch! Made from scratch. By me. AND I have enough noodles left for lunch tomorrow. It wasn't Dominos, but it'll do.

Hubby redeemed himself by running down to the corner to get me a diet coke.

Then my daughter asked, "Why didn't you just have Dominos deliver?" She's grounded.

Adventures In Letterboxing

2009-07-03T22:57:00.005-05:00

Guess what??!!?? I finally had that good Mommy day! The twins had their first letterboxing adventure and it was a great success. (If you do not know what letterboxing is, read on. If you DO know, you can skip down to the row of # signs; Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting subsequent letterboxers see who have visited. )

############
We also took my friend A on her maiden voyage with letterboxing. Our clues led us to a bird sanctuary in Texas. I didn't see any birds, but I did see a rabbit. And children. Children on a field trip. I made it out okay.

Our adventure took us over bridges and paths

to this tree stump

we were instructed by our thoughtful cluegiver to remember to poke the area with a stick and to even wear gloves before searching around with our hands to find the box in the event that there were snakes or spiders also searching for the treasure.

It was looking a little bleak until A saved the day and found the box! The red areas look to be attempts at entry by wild animals..

Then my son removed the lid to inspect the contents and bunches of bugs proceeded out the top. What happened next is a bit of a blur, but I am certain there was a high-pitched scream coming out of my son. Then I saw this...

Did you notice my daughter wielding the 'sword' at the docile container on the ground?? The notebook and stamp were safely in its water-tight bag. No harm no foul. We all happily stamped in the notebook and used the stamp provided to stamp in our journals, made certain that the container was devoid of all life forms, and then A stealthily and successfully returned the box to its hiding place to be found and treasured another day. All agreed it was an enjoyable activity and would like to do another in the future. *sigh*

For Real?

2009-06-25T14:55:00.008-05:00

I have just as much going on as ever. I noticed this moment however, that I am just not sitting down to write about it. (Also not sitting down to do much reading.) I really enjoy the medium of blogging for relieving my brain of my thoughts, and also to keep people up to date on what's going on with our world. So - it seems that sometimes I just need to be more intentional about it. Which is the case with a lot of things in my life. I'm certain I am not the only one. There are only 24 hours in a day - you can't change that so you have to choose how you would like to use them. Anyway.... maybe I'll write more about that later. Right now, I wanted to tell you about this cow....

We are continuing the renovations in our home (no I have not forgotten to give the final reveal of the master - I am just still working on making it swanky) and the current major work has been taking our 13 year old daughter's room down to the studs, reconfiguring, rewiring and rebuilding to beauty and ever so cute teenager domicileness. My daughter is a saver of things. Like; everything. Empty rolls from papertowels. Shoe boxes. Things, things and more things. No clue where she gets that from. "PURGE IT" is what I always say.

Anyway....

The rule is that nothing is going back into that room if it does not have a place to be. I mean NOTHING. And there were a few things that went straight into a box labeled, "Not even if it has a place!" The cow was one of those items. It's atrocious. It is a bank. And as you can notice, the giant hole next to the giant purple udders is missing its plug. Therefore it can't even be functional. It's just a blight on my view.

My daughter noticed the cow in the, "No way on God's green earth" box and promptly proceeded to make a case for it. Really? For real? I tried to talk with her about how really and truly ugly it is. Unphased. How she couldn't possibly care for it as much as she thinks because she didn't use it for anything. Unphased. How the fact that it has 2 inches of dust on it tells me that she really doesn't love it at all (yes those are dust streaks from the cow on the table). Unphased. She is certain that this cow must remain in her room. She has promised that she WILL give it a prominent place of display and she WILL keep it clean.

What's a mom to do? The cow stays. However, the girl has been informed that the first time I swipe dust off it, it goes straight to the trash. Not.even.a.yardsale.

God help her future husband.

Whoa Nelly!

2009-06-18T21:11:00.004-05:00

I have 1900 unread posts in my Bloglines! And I just wrote you a whole update post about what I have been doing that has been borrowing my time. But I got ADD and left the page without saving. So BOOOO, the whole post is gone!

I've been working quite a bit and will leave you with a new pic. I'll try again to write soon.

Into The Light - Organizer Extraordanaire

2009-06-10T20:38:00.005-05:00

I LOVE to organize. I find beauty in organized things and comfort in knowing where to find something when it is needed.

So it is with consternation that I admit to you today that I HATE putting things away. I really want to just wiggle my nose and have things BE in their perfectly labeled places. I think this is partially why I have been feeling so overwhelmed by stuff. There is always something that has to be put away. Like all.the.time. Even for an organizing obsesser like me this can become a sheer battle of will. I want to win the battle. Also, I don't want to become completely crazy and get freaked out every time there is junk mail in my mail box or a stack of school papers that the kids have brought home.

The good news is that God is a god of order. Which means I am not left to my own devices, and I do not need to be crazy afraid of being overtaken by stuff. An example of this can be found in Numbers Chapter 2 where He lays out the entire plan of how the camping was to go down, who would be placed where and in what order. If the God of the universe took the time to help the Israelites get and stay organized, He will help me too.

And now...brought to you by the Old Testament book of Numbers AND Woman's Day July 2009 Issue....

I really liked this suggestion and will now share it with you, all my millions of readers...

"file it right. We really only need about 20% of the papers we file. Here's Lillard's method for weeding things out: Every time you retrieve a file, put it away in the front of your filing drawer. At the end of the year, the most frequently used files will end up in the front, and the ones you never look at will be in the back. Give those hidden ones a quick once-over and toss whatever is unnecessary."

It's Not Just For Swine Flu

2009-06-05T09:18:00.007-05:00

Photo courtesy of SupplyLineDirect

Not only does this product help stop the spread of the dreaded ~~swine flu~~ ~~h7ybn2~~ airborne communicable diseases, but do you know that you can hang around all day with your jaw wide open and no one will even know?! They'll just think you're either being productive or prophylactic.

Straight Up Hamper Scamper

2009-06-02T08:46:00.004-05:00

Choose 5 picture frames and clean their glass. Inside AND out!

...and have lovely day.

The Climb

2009-05-30T23:30:00.006-05:00

I loved this song from the first time I heard it in the Hannah Montana movie. What? I have girls.
N E WAY....

When we were up visiting our daughter, we were all in the car returning from our family photo session at The Picture People (whom I love) and my 13 year old daughter was singing along to this on her iPod and the other two joined in. Then my 17 year old played it on her phone so everyone could hear and there they were all singing along. It was such an easy and peaceful slice of time. So I cried. Those moments have been few and far between in these last years and it was such a beautiful gift.

Thank You Lord.

The Road To Healing

2009-05-24T19:48:00.006-05:00

Back in December I shared with you (in a rather dark-humored way) that our eldest daughter (who has been estranged from us) was expecting her first child. I also shared with you my hope that there would be a day that we would be allowed to hold his hand. I knew that God could bring healing to this situation, but I had no idea if He would and certainly could not see how it could be done. It felt so far gone. This is where your faith is tested, wouldn't you say? I have prayed for healing, friends and family have prayed for healing, and then we sit and watch and wait and trust.

This week, we watched our daughter receive her high school diploma and not only did we meet our grandson, but sure enough - I was allowed to hold his hand. And now he holds my heart.

There is much, much more to this story that I may never be able to share. I can't begin to know how God softened her heart to even be in our presence but our time with her went so far beyond that. Our family is on the road to healing. To God be all the glory, honor and praise. AMEN.

My children. ALL of my children. Together. *sigh*
May 2009

The Laundry Room Shuffle

2009-05-20T20:04:00.001-05:00

Here we are a traveling and experiencing something that we are blessed to not have to do in our regular life. Share a public laundry-room. Even now, we are blessed that we have the option of using this facility without having to pay for the washing and drying itself, save for the detergent. I am witnessing an interesting phenomena. The leavers and the stayers. I am a stayer and I am glad to be. When I came into the laundry room, there were no people in here, however 2 of the 4 washing machines were in use. When I say “in use” I mean one of them is broken and the other has someone’s abandoned laundry in it. Seeing as how there was no one else, I grabbed up the remaining 2 washing machines and got started on my vigil. Then enters Chatty McChatterson (whom I have given this name because I cannot remember how she introduced herself to me but I AM enjoying her company) and finds that there are no available machines. This is where I insert a ‘facebook quiz’ type question. Are you a person who, empties the machine of abandoned clothes and refills it with your own, leaving the wet clothes in a pile on the next machine over? Or do you check the time and come back in a little while to see if the machine has been cleared? Or do you give up all together and go back to your room with your dirty chonies? I won’t ask you all the random facebook questions to determine your answer to this survery such as, “What color is your hair?” “Where did you attend school?” and “Do you like green tea or black tea?” I’ll just leave you to answer the direct questions. Mrs. McChatterson is a ‘take the wet clothes out and pile them onto the neighboring machine’. I am a ‘come back and check in a little while’ (in the wet department that is). So this is what she did. That was over an hour ago, and the pile has since been moved to another neighboring machine and still sits abandoned. Now, my first load wash finished and I was able to snag a free dryer and start another load of wash in the machine I freed up. When my second load of wash finished, it was my turn to decide. Dryers are a wee bit different. Do you, empty the dryer onto a neighboring machine and leave the clothes to get into a wrinkly pile? What if they are still damp? Do you remove the dry clothes, get your load in and then fold the abandoned clothes and leave them neatly on top of said machine? It was my turn to have to make this decision. Thankfully, the clothes in the dryer I wanted were all–the-way dry, and they had been there over an hour taking up valuable dryer space. So I pulled them out, put mine in, and folded the abandoned clothes neatly on top of the machine. When Chatty’s washing machine was finished, she set about finding herself a dryer. And once again, here is one stopped for at least 30 minutes. She claimed it. She talked about it first of course, “oh the people are probably going to be upset about this, but they’ve been done….” She took this particular pile of clothes and put them on a folding ledge or something for the person to come and claim when they decided they cared about their laundry. Well, Mrs. I-only-care-about-my-own-dirty-chonies came in to find her pile of abandoned dryer clothes sitting on the ledge and she was none too happy. Chatty McChatterson says to Dirty Chonies, “Oh – they had been finished for some time, so I put them up there.” Dirty Chonies was clearly unhappy about this situation, “Are they even DRY??” Chatty responded, “MMhm.” And then, “Are they still damp? I will remove my stuff so you can put them back in. It’s just that all the machines were full…” Ms. Chonies actually made Chatty empty her things out of the dryer so she could put hers back in. And she didn’t even say thank you. Then later she even suggested that there are OTHER laundry rooms here. Yes there are 5 laundry rooms in this building of lodging which houses at least 100 rooms. FAMILY rooms. I am learning that it is not my job to always correct people who are clearly (in my opinion) in the wrong. Dirty Chonies is being much more diligent about her laundry (to include throwing some of her clothes in MY DRYER WITH MY CLOTHES) (They are gone now.) However she is still being unbelievably rude to poor Chatty McChatterson. Tell me this, when you are utilizing a community, free, laundry facility – do you have the right to monotonize the machines while not tending to them??

Saw It Sunday

2009-05-17T19:24:00.002-05:00

Saw this today....

His Boundless Love

2009-05-14T10:24:00.002-05:00

I will heal you of your idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds.
Hosea 14:4

If you've ever had to listen to a knock-down, drag-out marital fight through thin apartment walls, then you've got the sense of the Old Testament book of Hosea. It's painful to read. And it is truly shocking. What is this doing in the Bible? God commanding one of his prophets to set up house with a whore?

Yet in this moving story that is precisely what God told Hosea to do; marry the town prostitute. And why? "This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me"(1:2). Devotion (or lack of it) is the dominant theme throughout this book: faithfulness on God's part, faithlessness on the part of his people.

With Israel already under Assyrian occupation for chasing after other gods, God pleaded with Judah to avoid a similar fate. He declared Israel "is no longer my wife, and I no longer her husband" (2:1). Yet, almost in the same breath, he said mournfully: "I will win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there" (2:14). It is a wonderful window into God's heart - a breathtaking glimpse of his incredible, never-ending love for his unfaithful people.

In the time of Hosea, Judah's idolatry was sapping her strength and causing her to behave like "silly, witless doves" (7:11). The people were continuing to come to the Temple to worship, but it was all a sham (8:12). Filled with anger, God knew he must punish his beloved, but wounded to the core of his being, he cried, "How can I destroy you...? My heart is torn within me" (11:8).

In a stunning picture of redemption, Hosea brought back his wife, exhorting the nation to see the larger truth behind his own odd, sad story: "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God...Say to him, 'Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise'" (14:1-2).

Taken from Integrity's iWorship Daily Devotional Bible

As I read this teaching this morning, I had several thoughts.

1.) Man! I need to read the rest of this Hosea!
2.) I see that this applies to infidelity. And the most touching part of it is that God is calling out to them, even as they drift further from him and choose sin and their own way.
3.) Ouch! This applies to me now in this moment. (Not in terms of infidelity - but does that make me any better? No.) I am coasting on my own laurels, showing up to 'temple', doing outward things that are correct, however NOT seeking the Lord. NOT reading His Word. But doing things MY way. Idolatry? You bet. Do I love 'singing to the Lord' over 'getting to know Him better'? It would seem so.
4.) How touching that even when I am skipping through my life, avoiding being close to my God, He is yet there, yearning for me and waiting.

Off to read more of Hosea!!

Letters From War - Appreciation Edition

2009-05-08T10:31:00.003-05:00

This letter came from my dear, dear friend. You can read the post in its entirety here. *sigh*

Dear Military Wife,

I wish there was something stronger, more sincere, more potent that I could use rather than words to express my gratefulness for what you do for our country, but in the absence of knowing what that something is, this will have to do.

Thank you. Thank you for the sacrifice you make. Thank you for sending your spouse into harm's way time and time again. I know you don't want to, ever. Yet, you provide something irreplaceable to our soldiers. Something to come home to. Something worth fighting for. A face to put to a cause. Thank You.

Thank you for enduring our whining about our husbands being gone overnight or for a couple of days without gouging our eyes out. Those of us whose husbands go on luxury airplanes to stay in cushy hotels to learn about the next trend in technology don't mean to be insensitive, we just don't always remember the thing you can't forget: the fact that your husband leaves for months, rarely comes home on schedule, and might not come home at all. Yet, you're patient with us most of the time. Thank you.

I see you, ladies. I notice you out there, learning how to get all that business attended to that those of us with husbands who come home every night take for granted. You mow the lawns, take out the trash, get the car fixed, kill scary spiders, and much more... all with a fever and a cough and a nagging worry about how close your husband is to the area they're showing on the news tonight. Thank You.

Often, I say stupid things. When you're moving for the umpteenth time, I say "I could never do that" or "I don't know how you do that" or "I could never make it as a military wife"- as if you have a choice. It's fight or flight... and you choose to fight. Thank you.

Often, Americans say stupid things. We want to show our support for our soldiers, but we're dumb. We blast the war for being pointless right in front of you. We call it senseless and say we should cut military spending when you're barely scraping enough money together to buy your kids the essentials. We forget that you are standing RIGHT THERE when we take the sacrifice for granted. Yet, you press on. Thank you.

You often endure crummy health care, undesirable locations, and long days of loneliness. You regularly leave behind friends, hairdressers, gardens, and lots of your favorite stuff that gets lost in the move. Your kids change schools, count down the days til Daddy comes home, and skip Father-Daughter dances. I know it's not all misery, yet the stuff that stinks, stinks a LOT. You put up with more than I even know. You endure these things because your husband has made a choice to stand up for my right and the rights of my children to live and play and worship and vote and dream how we choose. And he's able to do that because he has you, loving him, praying for him, waiting for him at home. Thank You.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12

Yahoo! A New Sisterchicks Book!

2009-05-02T21:51:00.005-05:00

I LOVE this series. I highly recommend you buying and reading them all. Or I suppose you could check your local library. But seriously, these books are fun and encouraging - a totally clean read. The author has several other series as well - one of them being the Christy Miller Series which is great youth fiction and a real favorite in our house. We nearly fell out waiting for the College Years!!

That's right! Robin Jones Gunn (whom I have met in person! Remember Robin? That time in Shreveport? I'm sure you do.) has penned another Sisterchicks novel, and right here I have the chance to win a copy!!

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes! by Robin Jones Gunn, in stores May 5, 2009.

"Summer and Noelle, two pen pals since 4th grade, meet for the first time in the land of tulips and windmills. An abnormal mammogram sends Summer on a quest to fulfill her lifelong wish before she begins the same struggle her mother fought against breast cancer. The story of these two Sisterchicks is brimming with hope and cheer and will bring encouragement for any woman who has faced a fearful future."

Can't wait!!

See? I TOLD you I met her!
(Those are some of my Chicas! - we were on a girlfriend's vacation!!)

The Quick Turn Around

2009-04-30T16:14:00.008-05:00

Isn't it ironic that my whole trip to see HisGirl took less time than it has taken for me to post about why it was so quick?! Okay so here's the deal....
I found out quite a while back that she was going to be heading closer to my world and we immediately started pondering whether it were even plausible for me to meet up with her. Seeing as how she was going to be in town for work and by in town I mean 6-7 hours of driving away. We had decided that through the magic of airplines and online booking, we would be able to meet up for one night in Houston(which is a mere 3 1/2 hours of driving for me). Then the news came.

There was a snafu with the tickets and she would not be able to go through Houston on her way to Dallas at all but would have to go straight there and have no rendezvous with the BFF of all BFF's. That was really disappointing!

Anyway, life was moving on. Appointments were getting scheduled. I kept wishing in the back of my mind that there was some way that I could see her but there was always, "It's too far. There's not enough time for that kind of trip. There's no extra money in the budget for that." and we came to about a week or two before her trip and I just started wishing out loud. My husband responded to my ponderings with, "You could probably do it." HUH? REAlly?? "Yeah. You could probably do it as long as you're back in time for my surgery." Well ya don't have to tell ME twice buddy!!

SO - HisGirl was flying into Dallas on Wednesday afternoon at 1:18pm. My husband had to be to the hospital for surgery on his torn meniscus on Thursday morning at 6:15am. I had to be present to drive him there, drive him home and care for him after surgery. I also could not leave before Tuesday because I had to be home on Monday to attend his pre-op appointments. So that left me Tuesday afternoon(gotta go to PWOC don't ya know) through Wednesday night to drive to Dallas, pick up HisGirl and Jtothe2nd at the airport on Wednesday, visit and drive all the way back home.

Crazy. Insane. Maniacal. Apparently that's me.

Here are some wonderful blessings in my life that helped me make that possible.

My wonderful Mother-in-law and Father-in-law live a really reasonable distance from the Dallas area and they are always kind to share their home with me.
They were holding for us a used-but-new-to-us television that we have been trying to figure out how we were going to get down here.
My wonderful and gracious husband allowed the risk of me not being home for his surgery to spend just a wee bit of time with someone who means a great deal to me.
So, I drove up on Tuesday night after PWOC and picking up my car from the shop and stayed the night with hubby's parents. I got a good night's rest and on Wednesday with the help of a crew we loaded up the tv into the van and I headed down to Dallas to pick up the girls at the airport.

Also - it was HisGirl's birthday. HELLO. Can there be a better birthday present. I think not.

So there you go. I'll fully inform you on my husband's ailments and what we have been doing to help him pass the time while on convalescent leave in the days to come.

PS - Hubby and I got the TV unloaded from the van when I got home in the middle of the night, but it sat on the wagon for several days until the kids and I figured out how to get it up onto the tv stand without the help of the strongest person in the house.

Where In The World Is S4J? - Day 2 Continued

2009-04-23T19:56:00.015-05:00

11:57am Heading South from here to the airport...

1:19pm Arrived at my destination! You guys are way too hip to me. You had me figured out right away!

1:29pm Picked up these...

HisGirl and Jtothe2nd

1:57pm Arrived at their swanky hotel and I spent some time taking pictures of the lovely lobby while they worked out the details of checking in...

3:10pm Time to eat and shop. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe...

3:15pm and because you people are harassing me about faces...

4:33pm After lunch we went around the Grapevine Mills Mall. We stopped in here...

Can you SEE the prices of these items? Jtothe2nd really loved that bowl sink AND those sunglasses.

5:09pm A little more fun back at the hotel before I had to be on my way home...

5:40pm I didn't get a picture of this because I was literally standing at the door when we heard a key in it. It was my Chica Wen who had just arrived from California!! I got to say, "Hello" and hug her before heading out for the 6 1/2 hour drive home.

8:19pm YAHOO! J-in-the-B for dinner!!
Arrived home around 12:30am

More later on the reason for the quick turn around.....

Where In The World Is S4J? - Day 2

2009-04-22T09:46:00.004-05:00

Hey! Glad you came back to the South~ do you know that I blew right past my 300th post? This one marks number 302!
Anyway, Silly me, I went out without my camera this morning so you don't get any pics yet, but I will tell you these clues.

I stayed the night with family but this is not my final destination.

9:50am
I went to Target to buy some DVD+Rs (and can't we all just get along and not be (-) or (+) but just DVDR? Please? This is way more complicated than the simple folks like me can handle. I just want lots of space to store my pictures. I don't want to be out eighty bucks because my drive is a (+) but I bought (-) DVDs and already opened them before I even knew how wrong I was!
Anyway - so Target is your first clue. (You can deduce that I am not still at home)
After I left Target I went to Sonic for a breakfast sandwich and diet cherry Coke. I really like to eat at certain restaurants when I am away from home that I don't normally have the option of. Failing that, I will always go for what is familiar. I haven't had an opportunity yet to try either of my top 2. Which are Jack-in-the-Box and Del Taco.
Anyway, I need to get back to reloading the car and reprogramming the GPS and some other things before I am on my way. I will try to remember to drag out my camera soon.

Where In The World Is S4J?

2009-04-21T22:31:00.013-05:00

Oohhh yeah! It's that time again! Time for an adventure. Here are some clues.....

Started out here with a full tank of gas and fresh transmission fluid.

2:04pm playlist: Eminem
(the service department was kind enough to leave my radio tuned to this choice music)

Stopped here to rest for a few minutes and play some more with the remote control I got for my camera as a gift for Christmas....

4:40pm iPod playlist - Take Us To The River (Robin Mark)

Time to fill up.....

7:11pm iPod playlist - Slowly (Avalon)

Getting late - but what a view.....

8:03pm iPod playlist Come Now Is The Time To Worship (Brian Doerksen)

Stopped for the night.....

8:48pm iPod Playlist - I Stand Amazed (Candi Pearson-Shelton)

Any guesses?

Look What I Did! And Did I Show You This?

2009-04-16T16:54:00.012-05:00

Taking a page out of My Military Mansion, I made a super cute and useful project today out of all things I already had on hand!

My 16 year-old daughter got a Christmas gift of a tray loaded with wonderful bath items. She used the bath items but had no use for the tray. Tried it in the guest bathroom. No go. Tried it in the new master bedroom. No go. Then today it hit me, "It matches my craft corner!! HOW oh how can I incorporate it??"

So here's what I did:

Cleaned the tray, glued some cork to it...

and VOILA! A very chic cork board!

to replace this less than chic option:

Way cuter right?

And speaking of the craft corner; I can't remember if I ever showed you the finished product. Although it's not COMPLETELY finished, the stuff that is left, like possibly painting the desk and the chair, you'll mostly never notice.
But first, some before shots:

This is what the area looked like when we bought the house. I believe it was intended to be the dining area.

Then there was the intermediate craft/music/exercise area

And now the final draft:

Hamper Scamper

2009-04-15T14:49:00.004-05:00

Your Mission:
Time to open up the leaf/leaves in your table and give the cracks a good clean out!!

Yet Another Reason NOT To Work Out

2009-04-13T17:15:00.003-05:00

So - my ID card expired yesterday. We went to post first thing this morning to renew my ID card. It was about 8:30am and standing room only. I was faced with a very difficult choice. Stay and get my ID card handled OR join the torture club at the gym. There was no way I would make it to the gym if I stayed and handled my card. I chose to meet the ladies at the gym as part of my attempts at staying in the light.

Then I came home and showered to turn right around and have a girl's day out with my 13 year-old to join some of the ladies from the torture club At the viewing of the Hannah Montana movie. As soon as I was finished, I called hubby to meet us on post and get that ID card handled.

Soooo, tra la la - get to the front of the line to get on post and the guard takes my ID and scans it. Then he GOES AWAY. There I am - BLOCKING THE LINE and waiting and waiting. He comes back into view filling out paperwork and finally hands it to me but NOT MY ID CARD. "Your ID card is being confiscated because it is expired. Take this form with you to in/out processing to get a new one."

Moral of the story: I should not be working out.

My Redeemer Lives!

2009-04-12T07:51:00.002-05:00

From Close of service today....(I'm the one in the green robe and white collar)

He Didn't Die In Vain - Good Friday 2009

2009-04-10T18:52:00.004-05:00

Take a moment to just close your eyes and listen and reflect and receive.

My Savior My God - Maundy Thursday 2009

2009-04-09T09:14:00.002-05:00

My goodness but the time flies. We have come again to the time of year when we are looking hopefully and expectantly forward to Easter Sunday. But we cannot jump from the "Hosanna's" of Palm Sunday to the "He is risen's" of Easter. Today we remember Jesus' last meal on earth, the institution of Holy Communion and His betrayal and agony of heart leading to His final moments on earth. I have written about the traditions of this day and my experience through this time of year before, Maundy Thursday 2008 go ahead and get caught up and then come on back here.

Back? Feel all informed now? (I know I did)

Ponder this for a few moments here and as you go about your day.....

That's Why We Praise Him

2009-04-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

Into The Light - A Series edited

2009-04-02T21:46:00.007-05:00

I have started my 'feelings' post, and it is a monster. I need someone to reach into my brain, extract the details that are pertinent from every angle and then write them into a poignant, easy to read and understand, memorable forever blogger blogspot blog post. *coughs*jenster*coughs*hisgirl*coughs*gretchen*coughs*ggg*

Well anyway, HisGirl has been throwing down over at her place, just letting it all hang out 'in the light' and well, as I must do everything that she does, I am going to flip the switch too.

I am thinking it will be a series but not all deep and spiritual and relevant to others like HisGirl's writing always is, I am just going to show you the ugly and hope that by exposing myself, it will cause me to repent, change, grow, stop - or at least move in the direction of those actions. Feel free to gank my special made-by-HisGirl button and step into the light with me.

Here goes my first sunburn:

I hate going to the doctor. Really hate it. Most especially when parts of my body that are normally covered by clothing are involved. However, I would rather go to the doctor than go to the gym. Seriously. Even considering the high likelihood that the current state of my weight and diet could be responsible for some of the reasons I have to visit said doctor.

Wow! That worked immediately! I am leaving for the gym right now!

Not really. But I want to want to leave for the gym right now.

It's a start.

Becky left this insight that made me sit up and take notice. Snap.
Picking up the cross daily is much harder when we're out of shape spiritually speaking.

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

2009-03-31T21:19:00.003-05:00

I got the opportunity to attend the Women of Faith conference in Shreveport/Bossier City FOR FREE (Thank you Main Post Chapel!) and so I was gone for several days to that. What an amazing blessing! On my way home from that on Saturday night I had the privilege of retrieving a friend from the airport who chose to spend her spring break vacation here!

So, needless to say, renovations were on hold and are still not getting too much attention. I know that you are all waiting patiently for the latest update on our Master Bedroom, however Southern Living is just like those renovation and makeover shows where the final stages are hidden from the public so that the ultimate reveal can be appropriately dramatic. I am putting the finishing touches on the walls in the closet so that it can be painted and then the hanging and shelving structures will be installed. Not far now.
My friend Pendulum(the one I got at the airport) escorted me shopping yesterday to buy accessories for the bedroom and show me how to have taste and panash and we now have real-live bedside lamps. High fallootin. I will also share with you that Pendulum is an amazingly gifted worshiper so we have been going around singing and singing. LOVE it.

Until next time...

WOF - Quotes Of The Day

2009-03-27T22:39:00.004-05:00

"K Was tapping me with chips."

"Yesterday there were snafu's out the wazoo."

"I might have to soap up before I move in."

"To raise responsive children you just let them die."

"The nursing mother's room is located at the Bacardi Bar."

"That is a successful peep!"

"What I need is a little red motorscooter."

"Just lippin' off."

"Adjust to changing times by clinging to unchanging principles."

"When 8-10 thousand women tell you to do something, you just might oughtta pay attention."

"Wonder is the basis for worship."

WOF - Kimleigh and Laudi

2009-03-26T23:53:00.005-05:00

I am a stalker. I'll just put it out there. When I found out that I was going to be rooming with two girls that I know who are very good friends and I would like to be their gooder friend, I was so excited. So I set out on a mission...
1. Give them a name. Kimleigh
2. Make myself a nametag. Kimleigh Groupie.

That's me. And that's how I thought it was going to be for the weekend. And then there was a mix-up with the rooms. Which, in the end, got us a bonus roomie. Whom I ADORE. So I set out on a mission....
1. Give us a name. Laudi
2. Take a picture. See above.(Yes it is snowing in our hotel room in Louisiana)

First day of a weekend of fun, faith and fellowship! These are the funnest girls! Right now my partner is flying all over trying to smash a beetle to death, screaming and I am SURE upsetting the neighbors. Kimleigh is talking trash about Laudi, but we don't mind. Word.

Master Bedroom Renovation And Other Updates

2009-03-13T14:04:00.007-05:00

*Safety Remarks* FYI - no cameras were harmed in the photoshoot of It's Fashion. We take the utmost care here at Southern Living to insure the safety and comfort of all of our cameras. There is no need to alert PETC. Thank you.

Update on Hubby's Arm - He has been on antibiotics since Sunday for the cellulitis in his arm. It has continued to spread out from his elbow in both directions and reached halfway to his shoulder and halfway to his wrist throughout the week. It now seems to be very slowly subsiding while still making him feel crummy and looking generally macabre.

Update on Master Bedroom renovations - Can we just make this about me for a second? Okay thank you. I am so beat! Holy Cats. Tired. Tired people! Also, please note that Jenster called me HAWT

Update on Master Bedroom renovations for real - Although this is taking way longer than we wanted it to, it is coming together. The wiring is finished, the walls are finished and painted with Cincinnati Hotel Carl Tan, the flooring is 9/10 installed. We have the baseboard, crown molding, trim around doors and windows, painting of the doors, installation of the new ceiling fan, installation of switch plates and outlet covers, and the finishing of the closet left to do, but I do believe we will be moving our bed back in today(If I can finish the touch-ups on the bed frame).

*all the walls are the same color. Some of the pictures were taken with flash, some without.

It's Fashion

2009-03-09T22:47:00.003-05:00

Southern Living and other peeks into my psyche has always been a hub for style and fashion. I know that you all come here to gather wisdom and advice about steppin' out in style. Today I offer you fashion for home construction.

I recommend wearing dark shirts to sand drywall in because the effect is just stunning! Look how I managed to make this black t-shirt look gray. And one can never have too many do-rags. This beauty is actually a classic/retro from my hysterectomy days. I'm green like that.

Southern Living and other peeks into my psyche

Let Your Light Shine - 2012

Backdoor Bluebird

What Do You Do When....

A Lesson In Godly Friendship ~ A BFF Chat Transcript

116 Degrees And An Epic Update

Cohabitation

Did I mention....

Alabaster Box

Cece WinansAlabaster Box lyrics

Well, I tried...

Strays!

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 6

Backpacking Through Joshua - Wk 5

The Results Are In

Aloha With A Kiss

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 4

Seasons

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 3

Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 2

You Are My God

Backpacking Through Joshua (C)

Two Years

Old School Shout Out

It's A Giveaway!

A Day Off

New Generation Evangelism

It Is Well...Continued

It Is Well

A Poll And A Pic *updated for clarification*

Facebook Killed My Blog

Home

New Day

Letters From War

Vloggin It Up

S4J & His Girl- Caught in the Act Edition

Well. Okay. Yeah. Hm.

No Time!

No Good Title.

Worship In The Waiting - Music To Wait To; The Playlist

Evicted With Extreme Prejudice

Me And GGG Vlog - Jesus Lord Of Heaven

Worship In The Waiting

Letters From War - IM Edition

Letters To War - Deja Vu

Oh No! Frozen Pipes! *Epic*

In Loving Memory

In Loving Memory

Our Vacation Statistics

Bestie Adventures ~ MySpace Style

Say What??

Uh Oh

Remembering Our Veterans 2009

The Remedy

Hearts @ Home And Milestones

Is This Weird?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Epiphone

And So It Begins

Kimpo Revisited

Clouds

He Da Man! My Man!

Evicted!

Barium What? Part 1

Train Of Thought - S4J Style; A Series. Maybe.

So Good To Me

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket Day 4 Part Deux

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket Day 4

Dateline S4J - To Catch A Cricket

Ten On The Tenth - S4J Joins In

Whoa Nelly! (I found it!)

It's Not Dominos But It'll Do

Adventures In Letterboxing

For Real?

Whoa Nelly!

Into The Light - Organizer Extraordanaire

It's Not Just For Swine Flu

Straight Up Hamper Scamper

The Climb

The Road To Healing

Cece Winans
Alabaster Box lyrics

A Poll And A Pic updated for clarification

Oh No! Frozen Pipes! Epic

Into The Light - A Series edited