Work, Dishwashers, and Other Stuff...

Hello dear friends. I am still here. Things have been very busy around here and I have been meaning to post many times in the past few weeks. In fact, everyday I write "post on blog" on my to do list for the day. But for completely obvious reasons, other things take precedent. However, I am back for the time being.

The last few weeks have been very busy. The week before last, I had a very large project for my job with our church. I coordinated about 50 to work on 4 different community service projects for 2 days. Needless to say, it was completed without a hitch and a great relief to me.

This past week has not been good on our utilities. This past week, my our dishwasher began smoking one night when I turned it on. My DH put in a new dishwasher for me and I am very happy with it. It holds about twice as much as my previous one did so, I am only have to run the dishwasher half as much. I will have to post pictures of it soon. Today, right before lunch my DH and I noticed that the house was very warm. When my DH went to turn down the thermostat, he realized that the AC was not working at all. So, being that we live in Texas and it is hot as anything, we decided to spend our afternoon out and about because we couldn't bear the thought of sitting in the hot house all day. Tomorrow the AC repair man is coming to see what is wrong with it. Hopefully he will be able to fix it very quickly.

On a positive note though, I am getting to go home (to Florida) for a visit on Friday. My mom, sister, and I are having a girls' weekend while attending the Deeper Still Conference. I am really excited about the weekend and getting to see my family. I still have to pack, but I am going to try to travel lite. We'll see how far that ambition goes.

I hope that you have a blessed Monday!

Game Fun...

When I was growing up, my family often played games. It was a family pastime that we all enjoyed and has become part of my family's leisure activities. For Christmas, my sister bought my DH and I a game that we had seen at the mall. The game is called Ticket to Ride and it is a real blast. My DH and I played it almost every night after we came back home from our Christmas travels. We enjoyed it so much that we purchased the Ticket to Ride Europe Edition for my family and sent it to them for Valentine's Day. Often times when I call them in the evenings, they are playing Ticket to Ride. With the end of the semester that last month or so, my DH and I hadn't played it in a while, but now we are back to playing it every other night. In the game, you make a train that will connect various destinations. It is a lot of fun to play. I just thought that I would pass the fun along, this isn't a paid advertisement or anything like that.

If you are interested in learning more about the game, click here. If you are interested in buying Ticket to Ride, click here because they have a better price.

Food and Family...

My Mom and I this past November cooking in my kitchen.

I am not sure how it is for most people, but for me food and family are never too far from each other. Before my DH and I moved to Texas, leaving my family behind in Florida, every Sunday after church my family would go to my Grandmother's (aka Gram's) house for lunch. She always fixed yummy meals and it was fun to spend time around the table with those I hold most dear. Even though my DH and I are no longer in the area, my Mom, Dad, and sister still go over to Gram's house for lunch. When we travel home, it is always a highlight to once again gather 'round the table at Gram's on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes, either my mom or Gram will send me recipes that they tried on Sunday and I get to try them out myself.

When my DH and I were dating, he would often come over to my parents' house (I lived at home throughout college) and eat dinner with us. It was during this time that my parents and my sister got to know my "future DH" and I had the chance to get to know him in the family setting.

This past week, my DH's parents came for a visit. A week before they came, I was working on my menu for the week that they would be here. I went grocery shopping and got all (well minus that one little thing that I always forget to put on my list) the ingredients I need to prepare the meals. I enjoyed getting to prepare these meals and have everyone sit around our dinner table.

One night at dinner, I had a thought and I became truly thankful for my new insight. I began to see how my Gram's and my Mom's hospitality and joy of having people around the table had had an influence on me. I had the chance to cook recipes that had been shared by both of them or cook from a cookbook that one of them had given to me.

I am so thankful that my Mom took the time to teach me how to cook and to use recipes.
Not only did she enrich my life, but she has given me the opportunity to enrich others' lives as they sit around our dinner table and share in food and fellowship.

Prince Caspian...

Today, my DH and I went to the theater to see the next movie in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian. It was really good and I completely enjoyed it. The first movie "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was such a wonderful movie that I feared the sequal would be a let down but it wasn't. I think that it is really neat how even through the movie God spoke to me about having the courage to trust Him. I don't want to give the story line away, but it is so neat how C.S. Lewis used Aslan as an allegory for Christ.

The first time I saw the first movie, I was moved to tears by the direct correlation that Lewis tied to Aslan's sacrifice and Christ's sacrifice. I had seen the Passion of the Christ, but the Narnia movie showed the ultimate sacrifice in such a different light. If you haven't seen the first one, I highly recommend it. The Prince Caspian will make a lot more sense if you do.

As for the movie rating, it is rated PG. There is some violence and presence of mythological creatures which can be scarry for little ones. But, there are no gory scenes or anything like that. You can watch a trailer by clicking on this link.

I actually haven't read any of the Chronicles of Narnia; but, I really want to. I might make reading all of them a goal for this summer. We'll see.

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God...

I hope that all of you have been well. I have apparently taken an unannounced 5 month sabbatical from blogging. Things have been very busy and I hate that I have been absent for so long. I hope that this summer I will be around more and have more time on my hands. It will be fun to catch up with all of you.

I started a book a few weeks ago and I am absolutely loving it. In fact if I actually had the ability to read more than a page at a time I would have finished it very quickly. The name of the book is Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. It is a wonderful and encouraging book about how special our role is as wives and mothers. I am only in chapter 3 so I don't have a ton of information to pass on yet; but, I am thoroughly enjoying it. I hope you will visit the Passionate Housewives blog and check out the book. You won't regret it.

Getting Back in the Groove...

Hello friends. I hope that all of you have been well.

My DH and I are back in Texas now. We were able to spend four weeks at home in Florida with our families, but now we are back to our own abode and I have a whole bunch of work to do. Along with the normal unpacking from a trip, I also have to take down and store all of my Christmas decorations.

I am very proud of myself, I have been making progress with my daily Bible study and prayer time. I took on the exercising goal this week. So far, I have done my yoga exercise two days in a row.

I know that this is kinda' a boring post, but I think that something is better than nothing.

My to-do list for today...
~ unpack from trip
~ make dinner (Meatloaf, spinach mashed potatoes, ???)
~ wash 3 loads of clothes
~ clean out dogs' travel crates
~ put away stuff from Sam's and HEB
~ change sheets and wash the dirty ones
~ go to the church staff meeting

I will leave you with a verse for the day while you do your daily activities.

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord."
~Psalms 150:6

Resolutions (Not So Much)...

I have never really been one for new year resolutions. To me, often times, it seemed like they were more likely to be broken if for their name alone. However, now being at the beginning of a new year and knowing there are things that I would like to do differently than I did last year, I have a list of things that I do want to work on and change. So, instead of naming them resolutions and starting all of them at the same time, I plan on working on one thing a week and each new week adding a new thing to it each week.

I learned in the nutrition class I took this past semester that a person is more likely to stick to a plan if it is gradual and not to different. So, by changing things week by week, I think that I will be more likely to stick to things and not get discouraged.

Below is my list of things that I would like to accomplish (in no particular order)...
~ be diligent about daily time in God's Word and prayer
~ get on a routine
~ go to bed early and get up early
~ stick with my FlyLady cleaning (both daily and monthly)
~ drink 64 oz. of water (not Crystal Light) a day
~ make at least 3 posts a week on my blog
~ eat more fruits and veggies each day
~ complete a sewing project each week
~ make weekly menus and stick to them
~ do some sort of exercise each day

The first thing I am going to work on is being diligent about spending time daily in prayer and Bible study. I am going to work on that the rest of this week and next week.

A New Year...

Hello everybody, I hope that all of you have had a merry Christmas and are having a great start to your New Year.

My DH and I had a great Christmas. We spent the week before Christmas with my family and on Christmas morning traveled to my DH's parents' house about 2 hours away. It was so great to spend time with our families.

Our new year has started off well. I really can't believe that 2007 has already passed and 2008 is here.

I won't be posting very much over the next week and a half, but I really hope to be posting on a regular basis after that.

Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving Greetings...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Birthday Wishes Dad...

I would like to wish my Dad a very Happy Birthday.

I am very glad that God gave me such a great Dad!

Dad, I love you very much!