Mac or PC

Have you ever seen those funny Mac commercial about people choosing a mac over a pc? I think they are hilarious mainly because I am a mac person. There is a man at our church that knows a lot about computers, but he hates macs because he has really never worked with them before, so he says he feels lost on one.

My daughter, Abigail took her birthday and Christmas money to buy a netbook. She got a cute little Dell that she loves. When I was helping her set it up though it drove me crazy...yep, I'm a mac person. In fact, even my dog is named Mac!

I don't know why but I understand how they work. The place and format that come natural to me on a computer works on a Mac. I also love my Iphone...a lot. Like, it is probably not healthy to love an inanimate object quite so much. :)

Why do some people love Macs and the others PC? Fords or Chevys? Pepsi or Coke? I think it is because God made us all differently and gives us likes and dislikes accordingly. The world would be a very boring place if everyone's favorite color was green. There needs to be those reliable blues, prissy pinks and crazy oranges too. But, the very things that make us different and unique tend to drive us crazy in other people.

Acceptance and Tolerance are such overused words in the world we live in and I am NOT at all saying that we should accept sin, but when people chose things based on the way God made them or called them to be, then I think it is Biblical to accept and understand. Like maybe adopting a baby when you have three healthy kids or a deciding to homeschool.

Maybe there is someone that read my blog that is praying about taking a leap of faith in a direction you are sure God would want you to go, but are afraid of what others might say or think of you. Sometimes standing alone and being different can be a really good thing. Just ask Steve Jobs.

this and that

School is going amazingly well the past week and a half. It is crazy, but I feel much better about everything when we are doing school. I think it is the routine where I have just been kinda lazy all summer.

Abby starts volleyball games next week. My in laws are coming to visit and Pioneers clubs begin at church! Busy September. I am excited though because I felt a hint of fall while I was on the porch yesterday. Whoo Hooo!

We are still asking the Lord to give us direction on adoption. We have looked and prayed over different countries and agencies and we still feel led to Ethiopia. I believe we will use America World as our agency. We have actually signed the paper work and it is waiting for a recent picture of our whole family and the application fee. Greg posted his motorcycle on Craig's List and if it sells then Greg will have money to continue restoring his bronco and we will be able to begin the paperwork process too! Praying for a quick sale!!

I have come up with a new weekly organizer and am working on a post about it...soon!!

Beth did it again!

Some of the ladies at church and I are doing a summer Bible Study by Beth Moore based on the Book of Esther. I have been privileged to do several of Beth's video based studies and every single one the Lord used to teach me and this particular Bible study seems to relate so well with what is going on on my life.

Last night was on chapter 5 of Esther when she has Haman and the king come to a banquet and when the King asks her what she wants, she tells them she wants them to come back tomorrow for another banquet and most of the Bible lesson was on timing and waiting on the Lord. Beth ended with a verse that was very familiar to me, Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Honestly, until last night when Beth shed new light on it, I could not think of this verse without thinking of cheesy early 1990's posters of eagles flying over the Colorado mountains that every girl in Bible college seemed to have on their wall and the matching bookmark in their Bible. I think it was the mantra verse of those looking for a husband!

Waiting to me doesn't seem very strengthening..it seems exhausting! I hate to wait on anything...anything! Our adoption journey and anyone else who has went through it will tell you it is all about waiting. Waiting on paperwork, on lawyers, on birth moms to decide, on babies to be born, on rights to be terminated.....lots and lots of waiting. Let me tell ya, it has not been very strengthening to me I feel just the opposite, winded and ready to quit. I have shed many tears cause I am tired of waiting.

My problem is, I have been waiting on the baby not on the Lord. My aha moment last night was when she said, "When we wait upon the event, not on God we lose our strength..... never in our wait is God inactive"

The verse says that they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. I have been waiting on this precious baby I feel like God is calling us to adopt and I have been so wrapped up in the goal of adoption that I have missed the blessing and lesson of waiting on God. The expectancy of anticipation and the blessing of God's moving has been lost on me with my tunnel vision for the goal.

There have been a few broken roads and many closed doors, but the call has not changed for us to adopt. God has called us to make a difference in the life of a child. To live out the pure religion spoken of in James 1 :27. I am excited to know that He who called us to it will see us through it. I am eagerly waiting on HIM to answer our prayers and bless our home.

When God Calls

When God call sometimes it is as a billowing wave

We know His voice and see his strength

And then there are times it is a still small voice

A nudge, a desire and an inexplicable pull

No matter the way His call comes to us

Our path is already set on course

for as His children, we have no choice

He has set us apart to do His will.

He never said His ways would be easy

He never said the path would be smooth

His promises are clear throughout His word

Obedience is commanded

His constant presence is assured

And Love is promised

Being Prepared..not really my strong point

So we have had a crazy July. People staying with us, us travelling every weekend plus church things and kid activities. I have a list of chores and "to do's" every day, but the one that I have been putting off is cleaning my shower and it is nasty.  It is in the master bedroom in the far corner of the house and nobody goes in there much, so each weekend when we are packing up to go somewhere I think," Oh, I'll just do that Monday."

Well, this weekend we went to western NC to visit Greg's parents and then we brought his grandmother, Mammy, back with us for a few days. Before we left, I made sure the guest bedroom and the main bathroom were pristine ( well, as clean as you can get with three kids and two dogs). My bathroom, same story. I decided to put that at the top of my list for this coming week.

We get home tonight and Mammy gets to see our house and mentioned to Greg that she would really like to take a shower, but doesn't see how she can climb over the bathtub in the bathroom , does the master bathroom have a walk in shower? Why, yes it does! It just happens to look like the before picture on a Tylex commercial!

So, I beg Greg for 20 min to stall and I run to the bathroom with the puny little cleaner that I have on hand. ( Another reason for my procrastination is I was out of the heavy duty scum cleaner) As I try my best to clean this bathroom, I  realize that getting it clean enough in 20 minutes with this wimpy dollar store cleaner is about as possible as me baking a 12 layer cake in that amount of time....Impossible.

Mammy would more than likely not say anything about the bathroom, but I know how clean she likes things and how the bathrooms in her house look. Not to mention, I wouldn't even let my own mother look in the shower stall for fear she would ground me for a week for my negligence.  As I scrubbed my little heart out, the Lord reminded me of how often I unfortunately go about His work with the same attitude and preparation.

Soooo, this is a busy month for us, but 2 reasons it's so busy is we are taking our church youth to teen camp and also we have VBS coming up. Two important events that I should be diligently praying for and asking God to work in young people's lives through. If I go into these weeks with very little prayer time and thought, I am going to feel a lot like I did tonight when someone I loved wanted to use my shower.  Ill prepared, off guard and scurrying to make it better.

I very much want camp and VBS to be a time that no matter what the enemy throws at us, we can walk right through it. I want to be mentally prepared to face difficulty, answer hard questions, impact young lives for eternity and have the patience needed for two long weeks. 

The Lord reminded me tonight with my crazy cleaning fit that I have 8 days until camp and now is the time to stock up on the heavy cleaner of His Word and put a little elbow grease into my prayer life. Just being on my to do list isn't enough...I have to actually do it!

That way maybe I won't get caught on my hands and knees at dark trying to do something that could have easily been taken care of earlier if I would have only given it some priority.

School is finished

Well, we finished school this week. The kids are excited and I guess I am too. I do need a break, but I look back at this past year as my favorite of the 4 years I have homeschooled. I was more relaxed in some areas and it seemed to make the year flow much more smoothly. We discovered workboxes (Yay!) and did more nature journaling. We joined a co op that has been so much fun and finally found a math curriculum that meets both student and teacher needs! (Math U See).

I would like to do some summer school, but my kids are totally against it, so I do believe I will slip some school into our summer by calling it book clubs and field trips. Esther and I are reading some American girl books and I am hoping to finally make it to Sciworks and to the NC Aquarium.

We have canoe and river rafting trips planned. I am trying to get up the courage to tent camp. We have Vacation Bible School 1 week and 1 week Greg and I are going to teen camp and the kids will spend a week with my parents. I am going to begin the New Beth Moore Esther study with some ladies from church. Throw in plenty of swimming and cookouts and that will be our summer!

I am already planning my first month back in school in August and am so excited about some of the new things to incorporate into our homeschool.

Tomorrow is our official end of school day and we are going out to dinner to Moe's and then to see the movie UP. We are all looking forward to that. Happy Summer!!

I agree!!

This is a letter from Shannon at http://www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.comRocks in my Dryer. All I have to say is amen sister amen!

An Open Letter To the People In the Fashion Industry Who Design Clothes For Grown Women
Dear Fashion People,

Today I went to the mall to buy a shirt. Just a shirt. Something girly and springy to put with my khaki capris, something dressier than the solid knit shirts that serve as my spring and summer uniform.

I looked and I looked and I have finally reached a breaking point on an issue that has bugged me for some time:

The camisole.

Everything requires a cami, seemingly by design. It's a vast layering conspiracy, and the salesgirls are in on it. I come out of the dressing room wearing a shirt that plunges down to there. "Is it supposed to be this low-cut?" I ask.

"Oh," she says, "just throw a cami under it."

So I try on something else. The bodice has a lot of eyelet-ish trim on it, and eyelet has holes. Holes, all over my abdomen, including one gaping open over my most impressive stretch mark.

"Oh," salesgirl says, "just throw a cami under it."

Round three. It looks like a safe-enough white shirt, until I put it on and realize it's almost completely sheer. Bridal-veil sheer.

"Oh," salesgirl says, (all together now) "just throw a cami under it."

But here's the deal: I don't want to throw a cami under it. I don't want two shirts. I want one shirt. My reasons are excellent:

1. I'm cheap and I'm out of closet space. A cami is one more thing to buy, launder, store and generally deal with. Let's keep it simple.

2. I live in Oklahoma. In the summer, it is hot. Melt-your-skin-off hot. Even-the-pool-water-is-too-warm hot. What's-wrong-with-the-A/C hot. If I have to endure that heat wearing two layers of clothing, I might be (*shudder*) tempted to remove the top layer, which brings me to point three...

3. Ever since I hit puberty, I have devoted a signficant amount of effort to making sure that my bra strap doesn't show. And even if your cami matches your bra, your bra strap shows. I don't like that. I suspect you would recommend I find a cami with a built-in bra, to which I respond that such bras were not created for women who have nursed four children, and that's all I have to say about that.

4. I'm a middle-aged woman. I'm not overweight, but still, I have a general layer of padding around my mid-section, and it is a cause of consternation. The last thing I want to do is add another layer of squishiness. Your cami fabric may be thin, but if I wanted to add two milimeters of thickness to my abdomen, I'd much rather do it at Krispy Kreme.

Perhaps you will say that you have introduced the cami as a "stylish accessory" which provides "fashionable layering options".

I don't believe you.

I think you want to sell two shirts.

And I'd march right up to Madison Avenue and tell you this in person, except I'm stuck in the dressing room in a see-through blouse.

Sincerely,

Shannon

Simple things

A simple thing, yet so sweet.... we will sleep good tonight! Everyone has clean sheets on their bed...dried in the Carolina sunshine. Spring is here and though it may not last, we are enjoying it! Crazy we had a snow sledding party just a week ago today!

My happy place

Greg went to make hospital visits this morning and brought me back a dozen heart shaped Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Now that's true love..who needs flowers!

My camera broke right after Christmas and so any pictures I have taken this month have been with Abby's new camera and I have just not borrowed it very much! I am hoping to get a new one before we go on vacation next month. I did a small slideshow below with some January highlights like our New Years bags and the winter's first snow. I will try to blog a little more this month...I am kinda missing being on here.

A Merry Christmas lecture

I like Christmas. In fact, I have urges to begin holiday music around August, but usually hold off.
I have read a few articles in different newspapers and magazines this year about "stress free' Christmas and "How to simplify the holidays" and money wise, I think that is a very smart thing to do. I know our children have so many toys that it would not hurt them a bit for the bar to be lowered.
The thing I don't like about these articles is that they suggest we could destress our self following these ideas:

Don't sending Christmas cards ~ Well I happen to love getting Christmas cards and so I don't want to stop giving them. This is the only time of year I am in contact with quite a few people on my list. It would make me sad if all the people I enjoy getting cards from took this advice. I would think they didn't like me anymore.

Cook premade or store bought~ If you are not going to cook real mashed potatos and stuffing, in my opinion.... just don't bother. I love to bake and Christmas is a good excuse to spend a day in the kitchen listening to carols and baking away.

Say NO to church activities ~ It happens to be about Jesus birth and all, so to me it would be good if we give some thought to the real reason for the season.....I'm just sayin.

Stop shopping ~ Well now, asking me to stop breathing might be easier....:)

Tell your family you are staying home this season. ~ At Christmas,if your not going to appreciate the fact that you have a family and they love and want to spend time with you, well then I just don't know when ya will.

I guess what I am saying is by all means don't stress the season away, but don't simplify it to the fact that it doesn't mean anything special to you and is remarkably forgettable. Cherish your family..cook for them, love on them. Sing in the choir, send out cards, sit and listen to your family together and enjoy the rewards of your labors.

So, here is my first Merry Christmas of the year to you all!

Moved!

We are thankfully all moved in to our new house. We love it here in North Carolina. The church has been so kind to us and we are excited to begin this ministry here with them. I almost have my house unpacked and decorated and I am so glad, because we will begin school on Monday!
We will be doing Abeka for reading, language and phonics, Math U See for math, Konos and Five in a Row for Science, History and Language and Bible and writing.

Some of the extras we will be doing are:
Homeschool PE at the YMCA
LEGO club
Basketball
American Girl book club (for the girls)
Guitar lessons (for Nathan)
Church Christmas program

We also have some birthdays this fall! Abby will be 11 in November and Esther will be 7 in September!
I will post some pictures on Monday for the first day of school!

Random blogging

The Countdown has begun...13 days until Disney! 18 days until we move! 25 days until we start school! Until then, here is some random thoughts, opinions and updates:

*I have been reading this series of books by Stephenie Meyer called Twilight. The last book came out Saturday and has been criticized so much. I, for one ,just want to say I thought it was a good book. So many people said they didn't like it because the ending wasn't "real" enough. Seriously, the books are about a girl who falls in love with a vampire! How real can the be??

* If you ever need to move, the best place to get boxes are Bed Bath and Beyond. They have awesome boxes and they smell good! Just a warning, if you go more than 5 times, the stock boys might start asking you if you are married or if you have plans for the evening....not that I would know or anything!

*I am addicted to Panera Bread's Asian sesame chicken salad and baked potato soup. Every Wednesday this summer the kids have went to my Mother in Laws to play and I have had a day to myself. I go to Panera and take my teacher's planner and work on the coming school years plans. It has been so relaxing and productive to go there.

*We are going camping at Disney World for 4 nights. I toss back and forth from being excited to terrified. Camping? In August? It will either be a blast or a disaster...I'll keep ya posted.

*I really love my ipod touch that Greg gave me for Mother's Day. I am getting more and more comfortable with it and rarely leave the house without it. The only problem is it is making me into a bit of a tech junkie. I am looking at electronic websites and dreaming of computers, video cameras and cool cell phones...weird

* Never underestimate the power of a $20 pedicure. It really can lift your spirits and make you feel pretty.

Third Days new cd Revelation is awesome! It is so good I cannot even pick a favorite song. Mac just keeps getting better.

Hope everyone has a really good end of summer. 45 days until fall. Yippee Skippee

Moving

I have been hesitant to make this post on my blog until we were able to tell everyone that we needed to tell, but we are moving. Greg was voted in as the pastor at Goodwill Baptist Church in Kernersville, NC in June. We will be moving at the end of August or the beginning of September.

The 4 years we have lived in Florida have been such a learning experience for us. I am thankful that the kids were able to spend some time with Greg's Papa before he went to heaven, I am thankful that Greg was able to work with his dad, I am thankful that our marriage has survived my homesickness and is stronger for it. I am thankful for all the friends we have made, our Florida family and our church family.

Greg has felt that God was calling him back into full time service for a while now and we have prayed that the Lord would lead us to the church that HE wanted us at. A retired pastor from WV called us about Goodwill and thought we would be a good match, and so we prayed about it and went to visit...
It is so awesome when God gives you a peace about somewhere and that is what He did for us with Goodwill. We are excited to begin our ministry there. We are excited to get to know the people we have met in the church.

We are going to live in the parsonage and I am still going to be homeschooling. I will post a few pictures for those who were wanting to know where we will be. Please pray for us as we move and adjust and as the kids adjust. Right now they are very excited and I have a lot of cool activities for school planned this fall, but I would appreciated your prayers for them as we leave Florida.

Vacation

We had a great time in North Carolina and Virginia last week. The kids loved playing in Nana and Gramp's pool. Church on Sunday was really good. I can't wait until we are moved in and settled.

The Up side of soaring gas prices

Ok, I know you all are thinking there cannot be an upside to gas prices being so high. Yesterday I put $50 in my mini van and it barely hit the half full (or would that be half empty?) mark. We, as a family, like everyone else have been trying to cut back and I have noticed some improvements in our lives by this. So here is my bright side to the gas gloom:

~ I do more home cooking. I have always liked to cook, but now I am planning fun Sunday evening meals, like pancakes instead of McDonald's where for the grand price of $30 we can clog our arteries and fill up on msg.

~ We are staying home more on the weekends. No more trips down to the beach or to Orlando. We have been playing more board games. Last weekend Esther kicked all our booties in monopoly. Family time has increased and been sweeter
.
~ We are not going to see every movie that comes out! There are free older movies at the theater in the summer, so we will go to that and then when the kids get to go to see a new release it will be a treat. It also keeps the mind numbing Hollywood mindset away, but that is a far longer ,more serious post.

~ Appreciation for extras is beginning to take place. I have not bought any type of cokes for a long time and yesterday at Publix they were 5 cases for $11, so everyone got to pick out a case. There was great dancing and rejoicing in the aisle.

~ I am shopping less for frivolity. We are making due with what we have and we are not lacking.....who knew that could happen!!

I know that there are a lot of people that are in a lot worse financial shape than us and I realize that the economy is serious, but I just wanted to list some good things this crunch has taught us in the last few month!

Summer Entertainment

I have been able to watch quite a few movies since it is summertime and I wanted to give my humble reviews:
Miss Potter ~ a delightful movie about Beatrix Potter that is just so sweet and Abby and I loved it. Even Greg enjoyed it.
Amazing Grace ~ I honestly can't believe that it has taken me so long to sit down and watch this movie! It was a very very moving and inspirational and thankfully, clean.
Prince Caspian ~ I thought it was even better than the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. My kids loved this movie and we will most likely be buying the dvd!
Kung Fu Panda ~ Not bad, not great. I would have rather rented it than go to the movies
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull ~ One of the dumbest, unbelievable movies I have watched in a long time! When it was over, I wished that I could perform mental bulimia and throw up the previous wasted hours! Take a tip...don't go see it!
We just rented The Sacketts mini series that I guess was on tv at one point in time. Nathan is on a western kick and I am trying to find some without the bad language and really bad violence (that knocks Clint Eastwood out!). I will have to let you all know if it is good in a later post.
Here is my Summer Reading List too:
The Crossroads by Bev Lewis
Tales of a Hollywood Nobody by my pal, Lisa Samson
Crazy Love by Francis Chan * I am almost through with this book and would highly recommend it * (Click on the title to go to his website)
Biography of Beatrix Potter ( see review of Miss Potter above)
Biography of Daniel Boone (we will be studying frontiersman in school this year and I want to be ready!)
Biography of William Penn
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
Growing up Plain by Shirley Kurtz
The Pillars of Earth by Ken Follett ( I have heard good things about this book and I am hoping to read it this summer, but it better be really good for me to stick with this almost 1,000 page novel)
The brides of Webster county by Wanda Brumsetter (4 books in all)

Any "must read " books or "must see" movies anyone would like to share with me??

My simple Daybook

I found this really cool blog and how women are posting a daybook once a week. Since I am going through a serious case of Bloggers Block, I thought I would give it a try! Just click on the picture if you want to see all who are participating (there is a bunch!!) Maybe I am just nosy, but seriously, I could read other people's blogs for hours!



FOR TODAY (June 17, 2008)...
Outside My Window... The sun is shining bright
I am thinking...I really need to go finish folding clothes
I am thankful for...My family and all the love I feel from them
From the kitchen...I made yeast rolls and chicken for lunch
I am wearing... a jean jumper and green top
I am creating...a new blog post..about time!
I am going...to the movies tonight
I am reading...The postcard by Beverly Lewis
I am hoping...we can sell our house soon
I am hearing...nothing, which makes me wonder what my children are doing!
Around the house...I am going through closets and getting rid of junk
One of my favorite things... is coffee on a cool morning
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:... finish decluttering my house, mop my floors, maybe even scrapbook a little.
Here is the picture I am sharing....

It's Summertime

We are in the heat of summer here in Florida and boy do I feel it! I have zero energy when it is so hot! I am trying to have a garage sale on Saturday, but every time I go out in the garage to work, I quickly find a reason to come back inside!! So bright and early Saturday morning I will be in the driveway selling "treasures". Love going to yard sales..having them, not so much!

The kids have VBS this week and seem to be enjoying it. We have a wedding Greg is preaching next weekend, and guess what??It's outside!! Abby said she is not going unless she can wear her bathing suit....can't say that I blame her. Poor Greg, he will have to wear a suit.

We have a few weeks of just being home before we fly up to Virginia for a few days. I am looking forward to swimming in mom and dads pool and hopefully enjoy some cooler nights.

We have only been out of school 3 weeks and I am already itchy to get back at it. I went to a curriculum sale in Orlando and scored a KONOS Vol 1 for $6 (new it is $99). I am working on my planner for next year and trying to plan out a year long calendar.

Greg and I had our 13 year anniversary yesterday. I am so thankful God let me marry my best friend. We had a good date night out last night. We went to Outback (my fav.) and coldstone. Lets just say I didn't keep up my ww points yesterday.

Hope everyone is doing good. I miss my parents and Virginia "peeps". I miss my new NC friends. Love you all and see ya soon.

Well, it is May and so I thought I would redo my blog a little and make it more springy! Greg said he did not like the "weird, bambo" look I had going on in April. :)
Ah, if only redecorating my house was as easy as redecorating my blog! Happy May Days Ya'll!