I should blog...ok I will.

It's been awhile, I thought I would blog sooner than this, but pretty much the last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind!  I had planned on blogging so it would help me to stay accountable with my weakness, but life just got too busy for any extra.  I'm happy to report though, that I have been doing great practicing self control and I am feeling absolutely wonderful and energized!  God is so good!  He is faithful.  I've been walking with a friend in the morning, working out to Slim in 6 Beachbody.com video and eating mostly healthy, by choosing fresh fruit and nuts to curb my sweet and snack cravings.  I've lost 8 pounds so far since I started and really I'm down 11 pounds from my highest summer weight.  I am not stopping, I am determined to keep practicing self control until I reach my goals and I have to continue even after I've reached my goals, in order to maintain and in order to glorify God in my body, it belongs to Him.  I'm trying to die to myself daily, it's a process and only possible through Jesus.

So why has life been sooo busy?!  Well let's see, school started for one thing and I'm driving my kiddos to and from everyday.  I love them and I enjoy every minute of my time with them, even if it takes almost 3 hours out of my day.  One of the greatest highlights of my day?  My daughter and I have been laying on a blanket in the park reading a book together every morning before school, it's absolutely wonderful! Walking and working out daily takes a good 2 1/2 hours of my day, then of course I need to get ready so I don't stay in my workout clothes all day, like I did today.   I've been out of town a lot it feels like and I still have 2 more trips coming up, will be fun I'm sure!  I hosted a Pampered Chef party for a friend,  I'm facilitating a ladies Bible Study small group, doing the Newsletter for P.T.A as well as other Historian duties like taking pics, that's a fun one.  I still have Piano lessons, I'm co-directing a children's musical for church, helping out with the women's ministry team.  I'm involved in another life group, a bunko group, a book group as well.  I have to be honest I was feeling really overwhelmed the last couple of weeks, everything seemed to need to get done all at once and I just seriously felt like there wasn't enough time in the day, or days in the week to get everything done.  My house was completely out of order and I felt like I was running on empty.  Thank God, I was able to spend time in His presence, where He filled me back up and gave me the endurance to press on.  I went out of town last weekend with friends to Kay Arthur's "Revive Me" conference, and it honestly could not have been more perfect in timing.  I was needing that get away in a bad way!  It was good, I was fed as Kay Arthur submerged us in the Word of God...it is definitely true, The Bible contains words of LIFE! God met me there in a real way, I was struggling deeply with something and He gave me peace and revealed to me that I was living in fear and not trusting in His sovereignty, in His will and in His provision.   He pretty much made it clear as day, what I needed to do, so now I just need to pray about the when, where, why and how.  I know it is in His perfect time. 

Well do you ever write and then just feel like ending it abruptly?  That's how I feel right now.  I think I've said all I wanted to say at this time, but I just don't know how to end the this post. LOL...so I think I'll just end it now.  5 AM comes fast, but it's so worth getting up that early to meet with my Savior Jesus and spend time at His banquet table.  He always serves up, exactly what I need for the day.  He is AWESOME!

Month 7-Last Day of 7 was yesterday!

When I started the 7 experiment 7 months ago, I thought the last day of 7 would seem to take forever to come. Not surprised that the last 7 months really have flown by, because by talking to my friend the other night, I know I'm not the only one who really thinks time seems to be going by soooo much faster these days!  Why?! It's just plain weird... Anyway can't believe  my 7 experiment is already over now.   The things I will take with me are simple things but overall great things when practiced daily.

1 -I need to practice self control when eating and not over indulge too often if at all.  I need to not overbuy on food and let it go bad. I need to buy more healthy choices than not, God's all natural food really is the best, most satisfying and better for our bodies.  I need to always be thankful and say thank you to God for providing all the food we have...more than half of the people living on this earth do not have access to all the amazing food I as a wealthy American can so easily take for granted, especially when we go to a Vegas buffet!  I need to remember to give out of our abundance, fasting one day a week and giving the money for those meals to others who can't afford is one small way to help make a difference.

2- Having lots of clothing really does make life more complicated and spending hours and hours on doing laundry just isn't fun.  I can wear my clothes more than once if I managed to keep them mostly clean throughout the day. It helps cut down on water and soap usage as well as save time because there is not too much laundry to do.  I need to keep my closets maintained and for every new thing I buy I should give something away.

3- Possessions are a hard one, as there always seems to be something new that I want or "need". Like clothing I need to manage by giving something away each time I buy something, so that I won't accumulate an excess and so I can help others who don't have as much.

4- I need to make sure I am not letting media of any form hinder my relationship with Jesus or others. In Mentioning how fast time seems to be flying by, it especially flies by when media such as surfing on the internet is involved, it's like a big black hole and after the time has passed you wonder where it went and can't believe how fast it went.

5-  I need to do my part in taking care of God's beautiful creations by being a good steward with our resources. Conserving energy, recycling and reusing where possible...need to keep up shopping with reusable bags and really continue to cut down on the amount of waste my household produces.

6- I need to stick to a budget, cash one preferred and not excessively spend money out of control...luckily with the help of my church offering a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University for my husband and I to take, this one was already pretty much in place before I reached this month.   It's soooo important to be on the same page with your spouse, especially about finances. It's amazing how communication is so much better and arguments with eachother are almost non-existent, when you are on the same page with finances.

7-And one of the most important things I take away from 7 is to continue to cultivate my relationship with my Savior.  Pray without ceasing! Talk to my God regularly about anything and everything. There is nothing that He can't handle and He cares about every aspect of my life, much like  how I care for my own children, the only difference is, He is absolutely flawless at it! I need not worry or stress out about anything. I just need to trust and know that God is in control and He will work everything out for our good. 

And an additional praise is last month I made a public confession of my sin...since then God has completely forgiven me, as well as filled me with His spiritual gift of self control once again. I have worked out everyday except Sunday over the last two weeks, as well as have only eaten healthy all natural foods...I truly cannot do this out of my own will power, it is definitely coming from God's supernatural power and I give Him all the glory for it. Praise God, He is soooo good!!!!

Month 7, Day 19-Fat and "HAPPY" ????! Confession time!

As hard as this is to do, here it goes, confession time.  I have not been practicing my God-given gift of self-control for awhile now.  I have been practicing foolishness and not using the wisdom God has given me and guess what it shows.  I have gained all the weight back that I lost plus more because I have not been eating healthy consistently and I have not been walking or working out like I should.  Everything that I learned in the first month of "7" when I strictly and successfully ate only 7 of the same foods everyday for a month, I had pretty much forgotten.  Today I went back and read my blog to reflect and remember what God had revealed to me. Here is an excerpt from month one of my blog in February Day 29...

"The most important lesson I have learned through this experiment is that I do have the Holy Spirit given fruit of Temperance, also known as Self-Control! It is definitely a gift and now I recognize it as such and need to be responsible to use it the way God wants me too. I need to use it daily, anytime God prompts my heart when I feel excessive tendancies trying to take over!
In everything I do, even in eating and drinking, I need to do all things unto the Lord in such a way that He is glorified and honored in it.
I've learned so much just in this first month of seven and I am already making drastic changes in my walk and relationship with Jesus my Lord. I'm excited to see where this next month will take me. Change me to be more like you Jesus, that is my hearts desire!"

Bottom line, I have been living in sin.  I have not acted responsible with the gift God has given me and I have given in to excessiveness with sweets.  WHY do I love sugar so much?  It is soooo bad for me?  I don't want it, but I still eat it because I really do want it!  You name it, I love it...candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, pie...if it's sweet I want it, and very rarely say no to it.  I am a glutton with sweets, and I am fat and I am not "HAPPY". 

For a couple of weeks now, God has been convicting me, working in me, stirring my heart and shining a light on my sin by using my pastor who I admiringly call Rev Kev.  He just finished preaching the entire book of Ecclesiastes to our church....WOW...what a great sermon series, it was seriously EPIC! (just so you know this is the first time for me using the word "epic" ;) 
Now, I know every person on this Earth has sin and every Christian struggles with overcoming their sin which appears in many different forms, but in order to overcome our sin, we must first acknowledge it and confess it, so that is what I am doing.  This morning before church I decided that I was going to be brave and bold and make my confession public through my blog and during the sermon in church this morning God confirmed to my heart that yes, I definitely needed to share.  I had a chance to share how God was working in me at my life group tonight, but I just didn't even know where to begin or how to put all of my thoughts into words, so I said nothing.  A public speaker I am not, sometimes I wish I was though.

So whoever even made up the phrase "fat and happy"? In my opinion the two words can not exist together. I feel anything but happy right now.  For the last few weeks, I've honestly felt myself feeling slightly depressed, uncomfortable and even feeling anti-social where I just want to stay away from friends and people.  I have forced myself a couple of times to go out with friends or to schedule social times and even to NOT cancel my already scheduled social plans, but honestly I pretty much had to force myself and that is soooo not like me as I really love people and I just really love to be around people.  I love listening to friends stories and laughing with them or even just being there to listen when they need someone to talk to... it has been a rough few months, but admittedly, it's all my fault for not being obedient to God.  He has given me wisdom and I need to walk in it, no one else can do it for me, the descision and choice is up to me.  I praise God that He can and will carry me through, I will not walk alone, but I do need to walk upright. 

So today begins a new journey, a journey with God, to truly live the way I KNOW I should.  A journey to a healthy lifestyle and this time, I will continue until I have reached all of my weight loss goals.  Starting tomorrow I have my first goal... to work out for six weeks straight doing my "Slim in 6" video and eating healthy lower carb and  weighing myself daily.  I will definitely blog my progress, because it really does help to keep me accountable.  I must do this not only for my physical and mental health, but for my spiritual health as well.  I must also do this for my husband who needs a wife who is healthy, happy, and confident. And for my kids who need a mom who is active and fun, not someone who is tired all the time and sore because her body is out of shape!

LORD Jesus, Thank You for revealing to me and shining a light on my sin.  Please forgive me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness and help me to change from the inside out.  Please give me the strength and endurance I need to be all that You desire me to be for You.  I desire to be a clean vessel so that You can and will use me for Your Kindgom and for Your glory.  Please make me a reflection of You.  I humbly ask in Your precious and Holy Name that is above every name. Amen.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)  "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

Day 15 Mutiny against Stress :)

I haven't blogged like I thought I would this month, but I haven't stressed about it either. This month has been wonderful so far. Spending as much time with my kiddos as possible before they return to school, I always miss them so much when they go back.  This month has also been wonderful due to my quiet moments with my Savior, I haven't been strict on the actual times, I'm keeping in mind relationship not ritual...but any alone moment I have, I open His Word and talk to and listen to Jesus, definitely an increase than normal. It's so nice to have a Bible app. on my phone so that every where I go, His Word is accessible and of course I can talk to Jesus  and bring my thoughts, concerns and prayer requests to Him anywhere, even while sitting under a roller coaster! :)   It really is amazing how trusting in God, in every situation, can bring peace to my mind and spirit. God really is so good and faithful!!!  He has taken away a fear I've been holding onto for a few months now concerning my son and middle school.  God is in control now, actually He always was! I just decided I would take my hands off of it, turn over my worries and just fully trust Him in it! He knows all things! He knows the beginning and the end, He knows the whole story already, I (and my husband) simply need to trust God, pray for and love our son and continue to live and lead by example.  That is really all we can do, God is faithful and I know, no matter what fiery darts get thrown at us, we are safe with God on our side.  Looking forward to an exciting school year for my kids...they are really growing up soooo fast!!! I have decided I'm just going to try and enjoy every change around the corner. Like in the words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in awhile you could miss it."   I choose to stop and look around ALOT, I want to enjoy life's journey as much as possible! Life with Jesus is a fulfilled life, especially because it's everlasting! :)

July 31- Last Day of Month 6

Well I wish I could say I did perfect this month, but that would NOT be truthful.  Fact is, it was a harder month than I thought it would be for me, especially since I don't consider myself a big spender and I have changed as I've matured and I really don't enjoy shopping as much as I once used to.  For a few reasons though, I didn't do as well as I hoped.  One of the first instances in which I failed was when I took my girl shopping for a bday gift for her friend from school.  Not even thinking, I took her to Kohls, which was not on my 7 list, the crazy thing was, I didn't even realize until the next day sitting in church, it just dawned on me all of a sudden that I totally cheated without even thinking.  Then the next night my honey and I had a chance for a date night and we took it! Dinner and Batman movie and this time I willfully cheated, and Chipotle was worth it, Yum!!  I didn't count Batman as cheating since I listed the movie theatre in my seven.  So then a couple of days go by and  yep cheat again, this time for dinner  with a friend, Pei Wei, de-lish!!!  The food and company both were worth cheating for and since I never ate at Panera or went to Knott's, both places listed under 7 then I should've been ok......BUT we went out of town for a beach weekend trip so I failed some more.   Oh and I ordered Anne of Green Gables movies on DVD off of Amazon, another not thinking instance.  Wow, I guess I'm a bigger  spender than I thought I was!!! Learning so much about myself through this experiment. I highly recommend it to anyone!  I also joined Pinterest this month, what a fun online window shopping experience! Only been on for a couple of weeks and already have re-pinned 95 things!  I can see how beneficial the website can be, but I also see how it can harm too.  The verse that comes to mind...
1 John 2:16-17 KJV

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. "
I need to be careful I don't become addicted or excessive with Pinterest, just like with anything I must practice self control.

So August 1st starts the mutiny against excessive stress month. I'm loving this month already!! And i might blog more to keep me accountable....so here it goes... :)

Day 13- CHALLENGED

So its "Experimental Mutiny Against Excessive Spending Month" and as I sit in the eye doctor waiting room I realize already I'm going to cheat on my 7 places of spending this month. I NEED eye wear though, I'm blind without it! Thank God for contacts, I'd be miserable without them.   I won't cheat too bad though, I am determined to do my best! I don't see needing too many other things that I can't get at one of the 7 approved places I listed for this month.
So the Dominican Republic/Haiti mission trip was even more wonderful than I expected it to be. God was in every little detail of it. He always amazes me and I love it!  We had the best group of servants on this trip ever! God definitely put the team together and everyone of us put God's glory ahead of our own.  It was so awesome to see the team work and the new friendships for life that evolved in the process.  Yes of course there were times when some could have chosen to be offended and let mis-communication and hurt take over, but they didn't. Instead they chose the higher road, God's road, and extended grace, compassion and humility realizing that God's way is the best way and that we were there to please Him.   The week was fabulous, seeing and learning even more of what G.O. Ministries is doing to help those in need on the Island of Hispaniola to the glory of God, was so humbling and inspiring. 
CHALLENGED... the word that keeps coming to mind and with it a song that God laid on my heart the night we returned back to the D.R. from Haiti, Josh Wilson's - "I Refuse" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbH0IWZL05s (hope the link works)  Really a great challenging song that I listened to over and over and over again that night. I know what God is calling my family to do and it's time we act on it.  I'll say it publicly soon, but for now only those I actually speak to face to face with will know the details.
The trip was amazing. I just wish my family could have been with me,if  they were I would have wanted to stay longer.  I look forward to the day we can all go together.  Haiti has my heart for sure. I NEED to learn Creole and Spanish!!!! Need to make it a priority.   Still so mind boggling to think about how they survive day to day, but realizing even more how great their need for Jesus is.  The Haitian kids... I still can't get over how utterly insane they get over cute little smiley face and heart stickers...simply mind blowing and how I would love to be able to give them something even much more valuable than that...Jesus, He is the greatest treasure of all, nothing is more valuable than having a relationship with Him.  I've learned so much from the little village in Phaeton, so much more than I ever thought possible. I'm Challenged and I'm called to act on it and I will.    

Month 6- Spending:July 1st?! How did that happen?

Wow, the first month of summer is gone...just like that!  It was mostly a good month I didn't do as well as I could've on certain things, but I will be carrying on the good habits I was able to change for the rest of my life.  Such as having a separate recycle container and a trash container in my kitchen, it really does work good that way and as a family we've definitely cut down on the amount of trash we have and that's a good thing. Every little good thing we do when combined with every little good thing done by others, turn out to be great big things that we all did together! :)

So this month is focusing on spending.  I am to spend money in ONLY 7 different places this month.  This month of July could quite possibly be the best month for this, but I'm going to allow grace for myself the first 10 days as I will be traveling with my church on a mission trip to Dominican Republic and Haiti with G.O. Ministries.  When I return however, it will be back to only the 7 places.  So my 7 places are...

1. Food 4 Less ( never thought I would be a shopper there, but it's really close to home and they have an awesome fundraiser opportunity for G.O. Ministries when I use my Kroger re-loadable gift card, 4% of everything I spend goes directly to the Christian missionaries in D.R. so it's worth it!)
2. Gas Station
3. Movie Theatre ($1 family movies on Tuesday and Wednesday, it's air conditioned fun in this heat!)
4. Jason's Deli (A fast kid friendly restaurant for those times when we just need to eat out!)
5. Knott's Berry Farm (Just in case we go again! :)
6. Wal-mart ( I wish I could put down the Mall! ;)
7. Panera Bread (Latte Ladies Bookclub is at Panera and they have really good oatmeal now! :)

So even as I list these places I realize just how spoiled I am... Who wants to meet me at Jason's Deli when I return from my mission trip?!  I'm sure I'll have great stories to share.  Reallly looking foward to all that lies ahead for our team.  The medical team is going to be such a blessing to the Dominican people and I'm sure the construction team will be working extra hard to leave an impact and make some progress on various projects.   Praying God will use each one of us going in the exact way that He desires to and that above all those we serve will tangibly feel and see the love of Jesus,  May God be glorified.





 

Day 12 of Month 5 Already?!

Wow this month is flying by, slow down time, slow down!  Blogging after my piano lesson as I sit here listening to my girl have her lesson. 

Recycling is going well, I can not believe how little trash we have now. I found a recycling center in town that recycles practically everything! Why did I ever put this off for so long, it's really not hard and makes me feel good that our family is doing a small part to help our earth.

Doing good using reusable bags at the stores, I thought the store clerks would hate me, but they have all been so obliging and kind, yay!

Haven't been able to cut driving down as much as I wanted to, might have to scrap that one from my list...it's impossible! My girl is attending a cooking camp at church, which she is loving, so now I'm driving her back and forth to that this week, it's farther then her school...oh well, I'm looking forward to her making our family dinner afterwards! :)

I've bought nothing but groceries and gifts lately so I haven't made it to any second hand stores yet...and right now I'm window shopping online for great deals on toys and sports equipment for our mission trip team to take to Haiti in a few weeks...it's coming fast! So much for only shopping locally ;)

I am being more conscience of turning off lights and using less water by taking shorter showers so that's good.

This seven month experiment has been good for me, it's making me appreciate everything we've been blessed with so much more. I really desire to be a blessing to others...it takes time, and I'm sure I'll never feel like I've arrived.  One thing for sure there are numerous people in my life that have been a blessing to me, and I'm truly grateful to God for all of them!

Month 5, Day 1- 7 Habits for a Less Wasteful Life

Starting month 5 focusing on the area of "waste" this entire month.  I'm positive I'm one of the most wasteful people on this planet. How do I know? I can remember even as an adult with my kids still toddlers,  while cleaning the house in a hurry and "accidentally" throwing away a penny or even a nickel, mostly I was too lazy to fish it out of my own trash can after it had fallen in somehow.  How wasteful is that?  Thankfully I've matured some since then, and now I truly appreciate all God has blessed me with.  I've learned I need to be a good steward, and literally throwing money away is not being a good steward, so I don't literally throw money away anymore, but I still have a long way to go before I will call myself a good steward. 
So this month I will focus on 7 habits for a less wasteful life.  I need to think "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". I wanted to garden this month, but that just never happened, previous posts explain why, but basically it was going to be too expensive for what I wanted to do... So this month I will shop Farmer's Markets instead, which I never do, so I'm actually excited about it, and since the kids will be on summer break, they will be coming along to shop with me on those days.

I will not overbuy! I do this so much!! I think, oh we'll eat that before it goes bad, and then we wind up throwing it away! Right now I have to throw away 2 bunches of bananas that we never ate! I also forgot to throw them in the freezer this time and I never got around to baking banana bread with them.  It's not "literally" throwing money away, but it is throwing money away and not being a good steward! What a waster I am!!

I have a couple of reusable grocery bags, but I've NEVER used them to buy groceries with, so this month I'm going to be using reusable grocery bags. 

We will be conserving energy and water more, I'm the worst at turning lights off that I'm not using.  I love to have lights on all over the place, I've done a poor job at teaching my kids to conserve energy, because well I can't tell them to do something that I never do! So this month, they are going to learn, and so will I.  I'm going to set up a timer with a buzzer by our showers to help limit our shower time. My kids take too long in the shower sometimes, and I'm sure I could cut some time off of mine as well.  Confession time, last summer on my mission trip to DR/Haiti, we took showers out of big buckets of cold water by using a cup to wet ourselves and rinse with, so one of the things I said I was going to do when I got back home, was to continue taking showers that way by turning the water on only when I rinsed, instead of having it run the entire shower time.  Um....yeah I failed miserably at that, it lasted for about a week when I got back and I tried to do it occasionally after that.  The only good thing that came out of that failure, is that every time I am in the shower I think about the Dominicans and the Haitians and all those in this world who need fresh water, and I pray.

We will be recycling EVERYTHING this month.  I have the 3 little red, white, and blue recycle bins still,  somehow living in a gated community has kept us off of the new city wide recycling program and we have never received the huge new recycle bins where you don't have to sort any of it.  So as of now, we still have to sort and our bins are usually overflowing, especially because we always miss recycle curb pick up days, so overflowing bins make me not want to add anymore recycables to it and I wind up throwing stuff away that I shouldnt. I just haven't made it a priority, but I need to, so this month, I will!

This month I will be shopping garage sales, thrift and second-hand stores for any items we need.  This will not include gift items though, unless they are practically brand new!  I will not be shopping online this month, I will only be buying locally.  This does not include Itunes for music, I just love music!

Driving will be cut down considerably this month, one good thing is I won't have to drive back and forth to school this month since school will be over for the summer in just 4 1/2 days. I will try as much as possible to stay in my little area of town too.

So that's it 7 areas to work on cutting down on waste this month.  Looking forward to new wonderful habits being established in our family.  We all need to do our part in taking care of Earth, it's God's amazing, spectacular, beautiful creation,  that we all call home.

1. Shop Farmer's Markets
2. Do Not Over Buy
3. Use Re-usable Grocery Bags
4. Conserve Energy and Water
5. Recycle Everything
6. Shop Local
7. Reduce Driving Frequency and Distances

Day 31 Month 4- Last day of "7" Media Fast

Tomorrow the kids get their TV back! Not sure I want that to happen, I mean just look at my son before school these days. Instead of eating a bowl of cereal while watching TV, he's now eating it while READING!

We will be limiting how much TV they watch though, especially with only one more week left of school, they absolutely will NOT be watching TV entire summer days.  There is so much more to life than television!  I'm glad this month proved to them that they can survive without Disney and Nick TV shows, those are really the only shows they watch, and they are funny, but I admit they were watching them too much!

Am I happy this month is over?  Yes and no...always mixed feelings for me.  I'm happy I'll have the radio back in my truck while driving, it really is weird how the drives can feel so much longer when there is no music to sing along to while driving.  My daughter and I tried singing on our own and that worked fine, until we couldn't remember the words and just kept singing the same parts over and over again.  I'm so thankful for God's gift of music to us!!!

Twitter, I still can care less about. Fun phone apps, I can live without, but of course will be fun again. Fun websites, there have been a couple of times I wanted to play on one with my kids so that will be nice to have back. Texting, will be nice to have full access to again, it was hard to limit, but I think I did ok. Phone conversations, those don't happen to often these days anyway, texting takes their place, I would much rather have a face to face or walking conversations over both of those though.  Youtube, that's where I failed the most, it was just too much fun watching the comedians on there, I'm glad I'll be able to watch it freely now and not feel guilty for it! Facebook, yeah I want it back I have no clue what's happening in some of my friends/families lives or the world for that matter! HA!!! I definitely will be limiting it like I will be limiting TV for my kids though.  The hard part, I have my phone with me constantly which will have facebook access once again, unless I decide to just keep it off of my phone and only access it through the computer...hmmm, I'll have to think about that one.  It's a good idea but I'm not sure I want to!  It just provides something to do on those times when my honey is driving me around places.  I would read a book but for some reason, I get sick while reading a book, I don't get sick while reading a phone screen though.  Has anyone else experienced that?  Maybe I need a Kindle! :)  Well enough about Media, it was nice to unplug, but I'll be happy to have it back.  I'll have to catch up on the news, anything interesting happening lately?!

Day 26- Youtube Media fast?! Really? Are you sure?!!

Ugh! I can't do it! I just can't give up certain forms of media for an entire month! I failed again today and I only have less than a week left! I was doing mostly good on this Saturday hanging out at home. First I went on a wonderful brisk morning walk with friends, read the Bible, then cooked my family some sausage, egg and cheese scramble with chocolate chip pancakes. Then helped the kids clean up their toy room so their friends could come over to play.  Sore and tired from the walk, I relaxed as I organized files on my new laptop and did some research.  All was going pretty well... after eating grilled hamburgers for dinner, we continued reading one of my son's favorite books of the moment, the first book in "The Mysterious Benedict Society" series...which so far is a fun read! We are really enjoying it as a family.  Then it happened, my mind went back to a conversation with a fabulous friend from my morning walk, I had asked if they knew of any stand up comedians that my son would enjoy, because that is what he really loves, comedy. To laugh and make others laugh.   So my friend suggested Brian Regan. I had never heard of him and tonight we just HAD to Youtube him. So as a family, we sat and watched an hour long show. It was HILARIOUS! We laughed soooo hard! I'm a Brian Regan fan now, and my son loved it!  So I'm failing my Youtube portion of my media fast, BUT, we are making some priceless memories together as a family, and so....it's worth it!!! Now go Youtube Brian Regan if you've never heard him!!! :)

Day 22 month 4-now, what did I miss?

Yeah not really liking this media fast...I'm seriously the last to know anything that's going on! I think Facebook kept me updated on more than I thought. Weather, News (including family and friends news), sales,  my calendar of events, solar eclipse phenomenas etc... I'm missing out on so much!I didn't even know about the upcoming solar eclipse and I usually love knowing about stuff like that happening. I'm fascinated by this world God created. I love learning new things about it and love seeing new things even more. I am definitely one of those who feel close to God through nature and creation. Anything natural that God created just excites me! Feeling very thankful for media in all forms. We have it really good here in America, don't ya know?! :)  Luckily I was told about the eclipse right as it was happening so I was able to look directly at the sun and see it!  Ooops, they didn't tell me not to look directly at it until AFTER I already did!  It was so cool though, loved seeing it, and my eyes are still ok! Crazy thing is I've been looking directly at the sun since I was a kid, must be why I'm blind! LOL!
  
I'm driving the car around this week because something is wrong with the truck, (cha-ching!), don't tell my honey, but I think something is wrong with the car too (cha-ching cha-ching, cha-ching!) When I arrived home after lunch with my mom and running around doing errands for the kids the rest of the afternoon, the garage immediately filled with smoke...uh-oh, I'm no mechanic but I don't think that's a good sign, (sigh) I hate when things stop working right. Ice Maker quit last week, outlet with second refrigerator plugged in went out and we lost lots of good meat  and outlet is still not working right. Then truck problems, now car problems. I know it's satan trying to get me down and make me think I can't afford to pay for the rest of my mission trip to DR/Haiti...he's not going to win though, so he might as well stop trying!  God will provide, He always has and I have faith that He always will!!! 
Used my Hobby Lobby Mother's Day gift card and bought a new floral arrangement for my dining room table, Thank you Sister, I've been wanting one for years now!!! <3  My son was stung by a bee last night INSIDE our house! The kids say the bee came in the house because it thought my silk flower arrangements were real, then when it discovered it was fake, it must have got mad so that's why it stung my son.  Crazy kids! I'm just glad he wasn't allergic and I was so proud of what a tough guy he was about it. He's really growing up. I love my sweet young man!  :)
God is good....All the time!!!

Month 4-Day 19 Surviving a "7" Media Fast

So how have we (especially the kids) been surviving this media fast? Easy with hamsters, reading and basketball of course!
We love our hamsters. We taught them how to go up and down the stairs.  We made them a maze to run through out of cereal boxes. It wasn't the best so we decided we were going to make a better one soon. We need to make the walls higher so they don't try to cheat their way through the maze by climbing over them! Little rascals, they're fast too! 
Basketball, playing Risk and wrestling after reading their books and finishing homework, seem to be what the kids have been enjoying this week with Daddy.  They really love their Father! Me too! :) Going on 4 hours at the pool today, the weather is sunny and warm and the water temperature is perfect, especially in the spa! Picked up my cell phone to "play" on it and realized it's boring now with all the fun apps deleted off of it! Might as well not even have a smart phone this month. That's ok though the kids and their cousins and an extra 4 year old girl whom I love a ton have been keeping me quite entertained. Love these little people wish they would just stay little! :)

Day 17 of Fasting "7" types of Media

I still miss Facebook! LOL...I know I'm pathetic! I just love how it keeps me feeling connected with my family and friends in the midst of everyone's busy lives though! I normally have fb notifications come to my phone if anyone writes on my wall, tags me, or sends me message. I still have fb messenger which I figure is more like email or texting. It's private communicating and really I've only used it a couple of times for PTA meeting info. I normally have selected 50 people on fb that I follow and all their updates are sent through a text notification. I love that feature because you don't even have to be on fb to know when someone updates, having that turned off is really keeping my phone quiet. Twitter I can do without, pandora and radio I can do without as long as I have my Ipod which I constantly forget while driving and driving in complete silence is not fun! So as long as I have my Ipod it's all good. The Ipod is better anyway because I have more control over what I am listening to. The news....well I've not been the best at avoiding that completely, I still have to check my email and the first thing that I see is the news, I just can't help but read some of it! Youtube...I gave in the other night and watched lots of stand-up comedy bits of Anjelah Johnson with my mom. We were painting our nails together and I remembered about the funny nail salon one and I just HAD to show my mom, of course we couldn't stop there and wound up watching probably every one of her bits on Youtube. I have no self control! It was so fun though, my mom and I laughed together, I would do it all over again :) I guess that means I can't live without Youtube. I already know I can't live without my mom! I love her so much!!!

Let's see fun websites- I've done pretty good at avoiding those, I was tempted to play on Webkinz with my daughter, but I didn't do it! My awesome husband got me a brand new laptop for Mother's Day so I can't wait for Media month to be over so I can really play with it. I have so much I want to do on it! One of the main things I want it for is to be better at scrapbooking and organizing my pictures. I might even try digital scrapbooking or order some shutterfly type books. My honey doesn't know it yet, but I might even make him do some digital scrapbooking of his own, I would love for him to help me journal on them, he has a better memory than me, or maybe we just compliment eachother well, he remembers things that I don't and I remember things that he doesn't.

Ok what else, I have used the internet to look up recipes, it's so much faster than looking through cookbooks, I just had to! The kids are doing wonderful with no TV shows. Since the first day of May when I unplugged the TV's they have not really complained about it at all. I am sooo proud of them. We have plugged in the TV in the family room for popcorn bar family movie night though, but only for those special times which was well worth it. Here are some pictures of the popcorn bar my girl and I just decided to make on a whim :)

First time ever making Caramel Popcorn and I looked up a super fast microwave recipe...It was Delicious! Turned out GREAT!

So what am I forgetting? Texting... well it's been limited, I think! Seriously though that one is extremely hard to give up! And phone conversations, I've only had a couple. I deleted Skype on my phone, which really didn't work right anyway but now I have it on my laptop. I can't wait to try it out, should be fun, anyone want to skype in June? ;) Ok well all this media talk is making me want to stop blogging and go do something productive. Time to get back to work going through every closet, drawer, and cupboards...this is taking me longer than I thought it would, slowly but surely, at least it's getting done right?!

Month 4-Day 7 of "7" Media Fast

Well I'm realizing as I sit here in the truck waiting for the kids to get out of school....I miss Facebook!  I should bring a  REAL book to read while I wait, but I guess I can blog! This media fast hasn't been too bad though, I've got plenty on my to do list to keep me busy, and fasting media I would think I would have more time in my day, but I haven't noticed a difference yet!

Well now it's bed time and I'm laying in bed watching the cool lightening and listening to thunder. Feel's like it's been forever since our last storm here in the desert.

Ok, so I need to share a story that happened Saturday at our Piano Recital... We arrived just on time for the show to begin, we literally found our seats and the show began. Now the way it worked is each pianist was listed on a program sheet and when it was your turn on the sheet you just go up, introduce yourself, your song and perform away.  Because we didn't arrive early, we sat in the very back. As I was looking over the sheet I realized my name was not listed on the sheet, so suddenly I was filled with different emotions, I was already nervous because I HATE playing for people, but now I was also confused, unsure about what to do and relieved that maybe I wouldn't have to perform afterall.  I might just get the wish I had been wishing just an hour before... to attend a recital where I could just go and enjoy watching my girl perform instead of me having to stress about playing my song without mistakes!   My girl played perfectly by the way, "It's a Small World" duet with her teacher, so proud of the progress she is making.   So after all the kids went, it was the adults turn.  I just didn't know when I was going to stand up and tell everyone it's my turn and that I was left off the list...it just never seemed like the right time to do it.  Can you imagine? I would have made myself 100 times more nervous by having to stand up and interrupt the whole flow of events...I honestly just couldn't do it, so I didn't. I never played my recital song.  So after the recital my teacher comes up to me, gives me a hug and says, "You played great, you did a great job."  When I looked at her blankly, she said, "Wait, did I forget to put you on the program?"  Lol!!! It was so funny, I said to her, "yes, you did, but that's ok! It's really not a big deal, trust me, I don't mind!!!"  And I really didn't mind, a part of me wondered how I would have done, but mostly I just don't care. I actually have the song memorized which is a huge accomplishment for me in itself, so really, all that matters is that I'm learning to play for me and my God, it's just another way I desire to worship Him. :) 

Month 3 Day 30- Tomorrow is "Media Month of May"

Well it's here! "7 Media fast" month starts tomorrow! I know I should be happy about it, and just a couple of weeks ago I thought I would be happy about it, but right now I find myself not happy about it. I knew all along Media month would be hard for me, it's one of the main reasons, I didn't commit to doing this "7" fast right away in the first place. It's going to be hard, but I can do it, right?! I'm going to start by deleting certain apps from my phone. Facebook being the first one! Then Twitter, my Social Network app, CNN(I'm old now I enjoy the news), then Pandora, Emoji, Skype Mobile, Youtube, and any other tempting app...I'll just re-install them later. Along with changes on my cell phone, I'm going to un-plug all our T.V.'s. My 11 year old son was NOT happy about that... I warned him back in February it was coming, so he just needs to get over it already! I'm so mean! ;) Also going to keep the radio off, and limit my texting, emails and phone conversations to important ones only...important meaning only if they involve family situations, ministry or the kids school :) So....we'll see how it goes! I will blog from time to time, it counts as my journaling, so I'm ok with that, plus if you count up everything I listed there is way more than 7!

Well had a great day today, after an even greater weekend! God is moving in the hearts and lives of the women of SHCC and I am loving the stories that are coming out of our retreat weekend. Jesus is AWESOME!!!! Here are pics of a few things I was busy working on before retreat.

Before Retreat Get Together

Decorative Gum Cases

Chocolates for pillows.

Picture Frame Craft

Rose Cake Pops, made by my talented sister!

There was much much more that our ministry team did. They all did an amazing job making every little detail of retreat special for the ladies that attended. The worship time was beautiful and the teaching times were Holy Spirit led! Prayer times during retreat were definitely orchestrated by God, no doubt about it. And We had the super chef Sally, who is a wonderful person by the way, preparing our meals for us, which were sooo delicious! I ate like a queen over the weekend and it even ended with Texas Roadhouse with friends, which was perfect! :) My only regret of the weekend, was that I feel like I didn't get to spend as much time getting to know new friends like I wanted to...I did somewhat during craft time, but I just wanted more time, so now I'm looking forward to the next SHCC ladies event, I hope there is one soon!

Well it's been a long non-stop day, and I'm ready to crash and catch up on some sleep, Just have to say one more thing. It was embarrassing today when I couldn't find my debit card to pay for my groceries, which I really needed in order to take dinner to a family tonight. Of course I didn't notice until all the groceries were rung up! I think God is trying to teach me a lesson, stick to the Dave Ramsey cash envelope system, it works!!!!

Month 3, Day 22- Baptism

I had to post this mainly because I never want to forget! My sweet girl came up to me and her daddy this afternoon and told us she wants to be baptized. So Awesome!!! I was not expecting her to say that, but I'm so excited she wants to!  We asked her if she knew exactly what it meant, and explained that it is a public profession of her faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior.  We explained, it is not for salvation, but is symbolic of what Christ has already done in her. She is a new creation in Christ Jesus, a child of God now, adopted into His family.  I can't wait for baptism day... A reason to celebrate for sure.  I still vividly remember the day a couple of years ago when she proclaimed Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  It's so wonderful watching her love for God grow, parenting is a most rewarding gift. Love my girl so much!  Once again thanking my LORD God, King Jesus for His faithfulness, His love and His salvation through grace alone.

Day 21- wait! What day is it again?! This month is flying by!!

Been so busy with different projects for the church Womens Retreat coming up, that I haven't had time to even focus on "7" much!!! So far I'm failing this month! It's not too late though, I can get caught up...and I will!! AND I'll post pictures of all the things we'll be giving away too, it just may take a couple of weeks is all.  I'm really looking forward to retreat though, I just know all of us ladies are going to have an amazing time drawing closer to eachother as we draw closer to Jesus. I'm looking forward to meeting new sisters in  Christ, that I can call friends :)

Speaking of friends, I went out with friends last night to celebrate a beautiful person. She really is FABULOUS & 40! I love her and praise God for her and our friendship.  We all had a great time together, really need to get together more often.

This morning two huge Yellow Labs made my kids late to school. We walked outside to leave and they just walked right up to us. They didn't have collars on so I didn't know who they belonged to. Now usually I am terrified of big stray dogs and I'm justified because I have been bit by two neighborhood huge German Shepherds once at age 4, then 7. And when I was in 6th grade I was bit by a Pit Bull on the school grounds...so yep, justified. Anyway these big dogs were soooo sweet! The kids and I fell in love instantly. I should have kept them. So we got in the car to leave and the Labs immediately went and laid right next to my car in the  shade, and close to my tires! I just couldn't leave. So we brought them in the house and gave them water. I thought about leaving them in the house until I got back home, but didn't think that was too wise. So back outside they went. We got in the car and one of them followed us out to the middle of the road and watched us drive away. After dropping kids off, I came  home immediately, but they were gone. I just pray they found their way back home.

My girl and I did some shopping tonight, I needed more paper and ribbon for my projects. We went to one of my favorite stores EVER! Hobby Lobby! I love the music they play in the store, so many songs that bring back memories from my childhood with Maranatha praise albums. Also love all the beautiful fun and funky home decor. I wanted to buy stuff! Then I remembered, I'm supposed to be giving stuff away, not buying stuff for myself! There is one thing I really must buy though, I just have to wait for a sale or a coupon. There is no way I am going to pay full price for it.  After Hobby Lobby we NEEDED to buy toilet paper. Can you believe we were on our last roll, yikes! So I had to stock up again, and My girl, well she was a little embarrassed about how much we were buying. Ha ha! Love it. Especially when the check out lady teased us about it saying "Are you hoping this will last you a week?!" The embarrassed look on my girl's face was priceless.  It is fun embarrassing the kids sometimes. It's one of our jobs as parents, right?!

Well I best go to sleep, tomorrow is another busy yet fun day! :)

Day 14- Mutiny Against Excessive Possessions Month

"And we have overspent… We have not been responsible - we've bought things we didn't need with money we didn't have to impress people we didn't even like.... The biggest problem for all of our economic problems is our inability to delay gratification. I want it and I want it now, and I'm going to buy it even if I can't afford it. And not only have people done that, the government's done it."  -Rick Warren

So True!!!! We all share the problem, an "inability to delay gratification". As Christians we must stand up for what is right. God's Word is right, and the answers for how we should live regarding our possessions, is in there.

Acts 2:44-47 KJV

"And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

My favorite part of the above scripture, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved"!  That part is awesome! When the church loves on people fulfilling their needs, God is glorified by people surrendering their life and will to Jesus their LORD and Savior, and that is what it is all about! May God be continually glorified and praised, and His Kingdom increased with more and more and MORE of His beautiful people!!

Day 13-Month 3= What day is it?

Oops I keep forgetting to blog! Ok not really, I just don't really have much to say... My mind is filled with things I have to do lately instead.  "So much to do, so little time", that seems to be my life's motto alot of the time. I told my husband I am ready for a "Year of Jubilee", the sabbatical year, can you imagine a whole year off from work and canceled debts?...sounds nice doesn't it?! :)  Thank YOU LORD that in the spiritual sense we have that Year of Jubilee in Christ now. So wonderful to know how He has paid our debt and has completed the work for us too! Jesus is our sabbath and we can rest daily from the works of the law in Him! He is so AWESOME!  And now I'm reminded of how much I am really enjoying Galatians Bible Study! It's been so good, and each of the ladies that are attending, offer so much to our discussions. It's fabulous, I look forward to it every week!

Let's see what has happened in the last 10 days of not blogging... Nothing too exciting, well that I'm allowed to publicly share anyway! ;)

Easter happened! That's exciting! We celebrated the resurrection of our Lord God the King Jesus!!! We attended Sunrise service at 6 AM, then enjoyed breakfast together, then church service at 8:30 AM, then worked the 10 & 11:30 services at Kidz City. Fabulous morning of church! It was followed by a delicious meal and Easter Egg hunt at my sisters house. We had a beautiful day.

Oh and we bought two hamsters for our children. They are FANTASTIC with them too. So proud of how well my kids are taking care of them and, love how much they are enjoying them.  The hamsters Cinnamon and Sugar Baby are doing great, they are cuties!

I'm still working on gathering 210 possessions to give away this month along with a few other projects and responsibilities, this really is a busy month! May will be nice, things will slow down and I'm really looking forward to Mutiny Against Excessive Media!!! Right now, I would gladly give up my cell phone and the internet!

Well falling asleep time to stop writing for now.

P.S. The church I attend produced a worship CD and I'm really loving it!  It's called "Your Name in Lights" South Hills Church. You can find it on Itunes, if interested!  There are 3 original songs on it, they're so good!!!:)

 

Day 4- Month 3 Why?

Why is it so much easier or come so naturally rather,to live selfishly than selflessly?  On our drive back home from a wonderful little family vacation of 2 days at Knott's Berry Farm and 1 day at Laguna Beach, one of my favorite DC Talk oldies came on, "What have we become? Self-indulgent people in a world degenerating.....selfish people when you going to learn?" That is a good question when will we learn, when will I  learn? I know I'm selfish...Just by going on vacation and spending LOTS of money on food, fun and hotel just proves to me how selfish I am.  I can try and justify my reasons for it and they are great reasons such as we just needed a family get away,  it is Spring Break after all! We were tired and needed some R&R, we need to give our children lasting family fun memories, we only have our children in our home for a short time so we need to invest in their experiences and give them some great ones, so they can say, yeah I've been there, or yes I've done that or seen that before...But honestly all those reasons can be summed up with one, selfishness.  I'm the most selfish person I know.  I'm so glad God loves me in spite of my selfishness. I'm so glad His love for me, is not contingent on my worthiness. I am soooo not worthy.  I praise God for  His sacrifice for me daily and I am truly humbled and in awe of His unfathomable love for me and each of His children adopted into His family.  I serve a GOD like no other!

I know some of my writings can seem down, or maybe like I feel guilty, but truthfully I do not feel guilty for all of the blessings GOD has so graciously given me, I just feel responsible. Taken from a quote by my pastor, Kevin Wehr, the other day that I emphatically agree with, "You should NEVER feel guilty for being blessed, you should just feel responsible"  More and more God is showing me how to be responsible with everything He has entrusted to me. I'm learning, it's a slow process, but I am learning and I'll even say I am growing.  In my mind God is doing some pretty significant things that I just didn't even expect.  He is really teaching me to live my life with open hands, ready to give back to God and those in need when ever He asks me to. Everything I have belongs to God and I want to live my life in such a way, where even the smallest seemingly insignificant thing brings glory to the precious name of Jesus Christ.  This life He has given me to live, though not perfect by any means, is the most fulfilling life I could ever imagine!  My greatest desire is that all people in every nation, of every tribe and of every language could know Jesus  personally as their LORD and Savior and be set free from the bondage of their sin. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed. Nothing compares to freedom and to the amazing peace that comes with it.  So LORD help me to hear when you are asking for me to sacrifice and give away a possession no matter how small or large, and give me the boldness, the courage, the strength and the trust it takes, to be obedient to YOU!

Day 1- Month 3: Experimental mutiny against excessive possessions.

Month 3! Isn't it crazy how time flies?!  So this month is a challenge to give away 7 possessions a day. I started thinking about this challenge today and decided, I just can't do it!!!  I own way too many precious things that I just can't part with!! So no more "7 experiment "for me!

(((((April Fools!!!!)))) :)

I know, lame but at least I tried! ;)

So the total amount of possessions I must give away this month is: 210, which I think will be easy!; especially if I count the items I take from cleaning out closets and drawers.  I'm going to try not to count any clothing, but if I have to, then I will.

Well good night all! I am falling asleep as I write again.  One last thing I  want to say on this Palm Sunday is "Hosanna to the King of kings and Lord of lords."  So thankful for Jesus the Christ who came to this earth He created, to live and die for each of us.   Deeply grateful for the sacrifice my God made for my sins. Thankful for His love, forgiveness, mercy, and overwhelming GRACE!!!

Day 31- Last day of "7" clothing challenge

Cheated on clothing again Friday, that makes 3 times of cheating this month (I did better last month, oh well) it was all for my kids though! It was Field Day at their school and the PTA had special different colored shirts made for the whole school. They made a beautiful rainbow picture. It was worth cheating for, we had a blast! =D

Am I happy the clothing challenge is over? Yes and no. It was so nice having my wardrobe simplified. It was extremely nice to not have to think long and hard about what I should wear before going places.  I still really need to downsize all of our closets.  We still have an excess of choices.  My family did not join me in the clothing experiment and boy, did they wear a LOT of different clothes this month!!! It seemed like a crazy amount to me when I was doing laundry, of course I did let the laundry pile up a bit, but still it was a bit overwhelming!  Sooo ready to clean out closets more than ever now and start giving away possessions to those who REALLY NEED them!  This next month may  just be my favorite one!

Eggstravaganza at church was fun today. So appreciative of all the hard work the church staff and the volunteers did to make it so wonderful for the kids.  My kids had 4 friends from their school join us at the event, they all seemed to have fun! :)

We are officially on Spring Break now and we are planning on making it a real break! So thankful to God for blessing me with my husband and my children. I love spending time with all of them together, creating family memories to last forever! As long as I take pictures, I should be able to remember!! ;)

Day 28, Month 2- French Horn?!!!

Yesterday we took our son to band tryouts at the middle school he will be attending next school year. (Yes I wore my peacock blue dress again)!  It's interesting to me how depriving myself of things makes me appreciate diversity and variety that much more, our lives would be boring without them! Our God the CREATOR of variety and diversity, is soooo AMAZING!!!!! I'm so thankful for His provision for me and my family! He is truly awesome!!!  Looking forward to wearing anything I want again starting April 1st! :)

So back to band...  We went to tryouts, and after Eli passed the music test, he was able to try many different instruments.  First we tried Percussions since that was first on his list, he did wonderful, I thought for sure that's what he would pick...but then we tried a few more. I thought if he didn't play percussions, then maybe Saxophone, which is one instrument I love!  My 11 year old son did not want to try it, because of it's funny sounding name, but I made him try it anyway. So after trying a few, my son chose the French Horn. The French Horn?!!! I was not expecting that! He is getting more excited for middle school now, I really hope and pray he likes it!

It was nice having my mom join us for dinner last night!. I love her and I'm so thankful for her!!

So after talking with my  wonderful Father-in-law about me planting a garden, he said right in front of my husband,  that "it would cost more money than what I will get out of it!", So...  I'm willing to shop at Farmers Markets for now, but I still want to plant fruit trees. Maybe even a small strawberry patch. We shall see...

Day 27 of Month 2- PTA

Sunday I cheated on "7" clothing again (gasp!) I wore my Kidz Praize t-shirt again along with all the Kidz Praize peeps. We served an outreach with our songs of praise and choreography at an assisted living elderly home.  I always love serving there, just the smiles and thank you's we get from the residents are soooo worth it! I love how our South Hills Church children bring them happiness :)

Yesterday was a cleaning and a little bit of Easter decorating kind of day...I'm surprised I decorated for Easter this early! So not like me! I usually wait for a day or two before, I'm working on being more on top of things though.

Had to cancel my scheduled PTA Nominating committee lunch today, due to their being only a couple of people willing to serve on the board next year...we need parents to step up! A few of us were talking and we're thinking parents just might not realize how much the PTA actually does for the families at school...we provide the family back to school breakfast, which is always well attended.  We help with Fall Festival, Pumpkins and Poems contest. We help provide for families who need Thanksgiving meals, Santa Shopping fun for kids, Nevada Reading week activities & books, Teacher Appreciation week of gifts and luncheon, Moms and Muffins, Dads and Donuts, Snow cone party's, field trips, skate nights, plus raise funds for wish list items for the classrooms & teachers etc.  The PTA supports the school in a big way!  What would the school do without PTA??? My son told me I had to be on PTA board again next year, I think at the time he forgot he would be a big 6th grader at a new school next year, but when he said it, I realized just how much it means to him that I serve and stay involved at their school. I do it for my kids, for my community and for my God.  May God be glorified in all that I do, for without Him I can't do one single thing.  Thankful for the life He breathes into me, may it be pleasing to Jesus always.

Day 24- weekend fun!

So I must have a lot of pride that God desires to change about me, because He keeps refining me, when I least expect it.  Refining hurts, but I'm truly ok with it, if it will change me to lean harder on Christ and become more and more like Him every day. I don't want to remain the same, and He is not letting me, so I can be thankful that my Father God is answering my prayers.   I left out details for a reason, some things I only share with my husband, so if you ask him and he decides to gossip about me and tell you, then I guess you'll know the details too! ;)  He won't though, he's a man of integrity I know I  can trust :)

Been having a great weekend so far, so glad for my peacock blue dress, it really is comfortable.  I wore it again today and my son asked me why I was so dressed up, he said I looked like I was ready to go meet the U.S. President; Apparently he didn't notice me wearing it last Friday, Tuesday, and again yesterday!  He's ALL boy alright.

Friday night was a great South Hills Church Womens Ice Cream Social, it was wonderful meeting new people and we stuffed 4700 eggs for our Easter Eggstravaganza coming up next Saturday. It should be awesome!  Praying for lots of new families to come join us!

Today my girl and I lived it up at Paradise Nail Bar getting pedicures and manicures, while our boys went to  watch the Monster Trucks.  It was splendiferus!! I want to own a massage chair now, It felt amazing!  I did learn I'm extremely ticklish when someone is  pumicing my feet though, and my legs are sensitive when rubbed with  a lot of pressure...ouch! Over all an unforgettable amazing experience.

We were happy to meet up with our family for dinner at Red Robin, then we went back to shopping for some really great deals! Ended night with Frozen Yogurt. Feeling so blessed to have a beautiful daughter that I can pour into, lavish with gifts and share a fabulous time with! Thank you LORD Jesus!!! :)

Day 23- Hunger Games

Got back a little while ago from a night out with good friends to see the midnight showing of Hunger Games.  Ummm, yeah, I didn't read the book so, Um yeah! THAT was a different movie!  I was thinking who was the crazy madman mastermind behind this story?! The movie was entertaining, kept my interest all two and a half hours of it.  Yes I would watch it again and maybe even read the books.  Made me really think about all the very young service men and women who have fought or are fighting now and giving up their young lives daily for our country. Offering up a prayer for each of them and I am so very thankful to them and their families for their many sacrifices for our freedom.

Day 21- Up late, so might as well blog :)

As I typed a smiley face in the title of my blog, I wondered, will there ever be better graphic options? Maybe there already is and I just don't know about them! I am kind of slow on technology, I mean I still have a regular Ipod, not a touch one. I don't own an Ipad or Kindle, and my computer is super old, I'm surprised it still works! Actually I'm not, it's because I've named it, just like my truck. I once heard from a good friend that if you name your items they will work better for you! As I was putting away my beautiful purple Ikea dishes tonight, I remembered how much I love stuff, and how much things actually do bring me joy. That sounds kind of sick doesn't it? It's true though! I like things, especially pretty things. I love teapots, hummingbird figurines, scented candles, picture frames, decorative crosses, oh and I just received a beautiful purple cross from my loving friend Molly, just because she loves me, the best reason for a gift! :) She's awesome! So putting away my dishes tonight got me thinking, If I love pretty stuff this much, those who don't have it would also love to have it too right? Do you think that's true? Do you think the beautiful little girls in Haiti, would love to have there very own pretty porcelain tea sets to play with? Or do you think it would be pointless? I actually think they would love to have one to play with! Much like the stickers we were handing out that they went crazy for and couldn't get enough of... I bet each of them would absolutely love to own their very own little tea set and I would love to sit down and have a tea party with them! That used to be one of mine and Belle's favorite things to do together, dress up and have a tea party, especially after her morning kindergarten, she would request that we have a tea party together for lunch... I really miss those days with my baby girl.

So how can it be done? Can it be done? Should it be done? I'm full of questions, I know. I know they still need fresh running water in Phaeton, Haiti, so worrying about how to get a tea set into the hands of each of the little girls just seems ridiculous in a way :( Is it though? Feeling like I want to do something...something bigger than what I'm doing now. Lord Jesus, please provide and help me to live with open hands all for Your glory.

Day 20 Month 2 of "7" Fast inspired by Jen Hatmaker

So it's now day 20 of wearing the same 7 pieces of clothing all month long... I still need to do laundry more often!  It's weird how when you iron a shirt you've already worn and haven't washed, the smell of deodarant gets stronger on it.  I'm bored with my jeans and t-shirts, so now any chance I get I will dress up in my turquoise peacock pattern dress that I chose as one of my 7.  It's so pretty and so comfortable it makes me want to buy more dresses like it!  Excessive much? Yes, I  admit, I am. 

Yesterday and today allergies have been getting the best of me.  Sore throats are never fun.   Too busy to stop though, so much to do and so little time. I did however spend a few hours in worship, prayer and study of God's Word yesterday...I was hungry and needed to feast at my Lord's banqueting table...and it was good. God is so good. I love that He will always meet us right where we are at.  Sometimes I wish I could remain there at His feet, in His presence forever... I'm holding onto His promises for eternity in Christ.

I might start blogging in the day...I just get too sleepy at night.  And we have changed our family nightly Bible reading and prayer routine to a more in depth one, which I am loving, yay! But it's almost impossible, for me to blog any earlier....well goodnight! My eyes are closing!

Day 17- St.Pat's Day and celebrating my husband!

Well I just had to cheat on my "7" articles of clothing today to wear my Kidz Praize tee and Leprechaun hat for the parade.  We had a great time. Things didn't go as well as planned with our music for it, but we learned something and will make it better for next time! :)  The kids ages K-5th grade were beyond patient, standing/sitting on the sidewalk waiting for 2 hours in the cold wind before we could begin walking in the parade.  A couple of tears from one of the younger ones but overall they all did amazing!!!  So very proud of them and really love working with God's precious children!  We passed out 2000 invitations to our church's Easter Eggstravaganza event coming up on March 31st 11-1. It will be so wonderful to see new faces attend South Hills as a result, and praying for God to do great things in the hearts and lives of all who earnestly seek Him!  www.southhills.tv/easter-eggstravaganza/

Today was such  a wonderful day with my family too. Celebrated my Honey's 40th bday a day early with a Calzone lunch, homemade popcorn, movie, chocolate cake and ice cream . So very blessed to have a husband who loves his Lord Jesus and desires to live for Him daily.  I couldn't ask for a better man and father of my children!  Life is full of ups and downs and unexpected twists and turns, heartaches and overwhelming joys.  And though he and I don't always agree on everything, we agree that we will love eachother no matter what and that our love and relationship is forever secured by a covenant with God that will never be broken.  Thank you Lord for my husband's life, a man of love, full of integrity, dignity, strength, wisdom and a confidence that only YOU can give.

Month 2 Day 14- God is keeping me humble

Everyday with God is so exciting. He is always revealing new things to me about myself and alot of it is not good....so why is that exciting to me?! It just really highlights more and more how amazingly awesome God is!  His grace is truly sufficient for me!!!! There is absolutely nothing I could do to earn my own righteousness, salvation or exaltation. Jesus has accomplished and completed the work on the cross for me and He said "It is finished" as the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, never to be put back up by any man or legalistic religious institution!  We are studying Galatians and I am loving our discussion times!  Galatians has to be one of my favorite books, and we are only through Chapter 1 verse 10 so far! There is liberty and freedom in Christ and if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!!! God spoke to me a couple of times today through a friend who has been walking with Christ and has gone through the flames, I love gleaning from her experience, insight and wisdom.  Thank you Lord for Diana and for her heart that desires to serve you and all people too!

So one of the things I keep seeing about myself is I am one of the most excessive people I know!  And here is the worst part, I see myself changing a little, but only a little and I don't think or know if I can ever change completely.  In my mind I have a whole list of things I can give away, but I also have a list of a whole bunch of things I would like to buy...again Thank God for His grace through Jesus Christ my Lord!!! Without Jesus I could never be worthy enough to be a child of God.  ONLY through my LORD and SAVIOR is the impossible, POSSIBLE! To Him who sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and power forever!!!

Revelation 5:12-13 KJV

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Day 13-Piano Song

I don't think I ever mentioned that our Piano recital which was supposed to be last Saturday, was rescheduled due to a death in our teachers family. (so sad & praying for her!)  Well now it is supposed to be on May 5th and here is the good news. I completely have my song mastered. I am confident with it now, although I just know that if I have 300 eye balls staring at me, my mind is going to go blank & I'll forget how to play it! Happens everytime!  The thought just came to me, I need to go to the senior living places and practice playing it in front of them first, maybe that will help me and maybe they would like it too, especially if I take my sweet girl with me so she can play her song for them too! :) Sounds like a plan!  Another good thing about the recital being in May, I can wear any dress I want to wear, because I'll have more than 7 items to choose from!   And if I win the weight loss challenge with my friend with the prize being $50 to Kohls, I may even have a brand new dress to wear! ;)

Anyone else feel like March is flying by super fast??? Slow down March! There are so many things I need to accomplish before this month is over. I need a vacation just thinking about it all! Good night! 

Day12 Month 2 mutiny against excessive clothing!

I am soooo sleepy tonight so if I accidentally fall asleep in the middle of a sentence or if I start sounding as if I'm drunk or something, I'm really not, I promise! I'm just not used to this time change yet!! This morning getting up and ready for the day was brutal for me and kids. We just didn't want to, it felt too early! We love it staying lit up longer in the evening after school though. Felt like we were able to accomplish a lot more for some reason. I'm already looking forward to summer break, I'm worse than the kids I think!!!
This mutiny against excessive clothing is waaay easier than mutiny against excessive food! I really could get used to this simplified wardrobe idea! I remember the first time hearing about a simplified wardrobe, when I heard Devi Titus speak at a Womens Retreat weekend years ago. I thought her ideas were awesome, but back then I also thought they sounded so boring! Now I only wish I had learned to put her ideas into practice. I see now how simplified living in many areas means less stress!! Less time consuming & less spending which frees up more time and resources for serving and giving. Here are some great ideas I came across on simplifying a wardrobe. For some reason I can't get the links to work right, so if you want to check them out, you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser. (sorry)

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/09/simplifying-the-wardrobe-part-1.html

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/09/simplifying-your-wardrobe-part-2.html

I still need to clean out my closets! I got distracted today with PTA stuff, podcasts, cleaning, and then printing pictures for a frame I was given back in November. We had a fun family night, went on a little bike ride with kids after homework, then the kids pulled out games to play: scrabble, Eli beat me at Checkers (I've never liked that game anyway!! ;) Perfection, that game makes me jump! And "You Gotta Be Kidding Me Game", a fun game which is so gross it makes us laugh alot. Enjoying studying the book of John together before bed, we are in chapter 3. It amazes me how much the kids can remember sometimes. I love it! :)

Day 11 Month 2- Missing my cousin

A year ago today my sweet 28 year old cousin Vince went to be with Jesus. It definitely does not seem as if it's been that long although it has not been an easy year, especially for my aunt and uncle who lost their only son.  My heart still hurts for them and I wish so bad that Vincent was still alive on this earth.  God has given me complete peace and assurance through a few tangible and real signs that we will be united in Heaven for eternity.  It is soooo amazing how God works sometimes, even when you aren't expecting Him to.  The last communication I had with my cousin Vince, besides in a dream a few months ago that seemed so real, was on March 9, 2011 while he was in Jamaica, two days before he passed.  He was giving me advice on how to learn Spanish for my mission trip to Dominican Republic.  He had taught himself to be fluent in Spanish, Portugese, and Italian and even learned some Russian and Chinese. I had told him I wished he could come with me as I would need help in the language department!  Well due to grieving and life, I never did learn before the trip, but today I was reminded, it is something I REALLY need to do!!! With prayer and God's help, I can and will learn. I'm not sure about Creole which is spoken by the Haitians but I would love to learn that too!  I really need to get ready for my mission trip coming up in July, it will be here before I know it. I need to be diligent and wise with my time so I can accomplish what God has placed on my heart to do. Staying Kingdom minded and focused is not easy, but it can be done and is beyond rewarding in this life and will be in the one to come!

Church, life group and bunko made today busy but fabulous! Nothing like being around so many people who love Jesus and get excited about growing deeper in relationship with Him! God is using so many people to encourage me right now, and for that I am truly grateful!!! 

Sky on Fire in Cabo da Roca
Cabo da Roca, Portugal
taken Febrary 22,2011 by my cousin Vincent Alesi
I love you my cousin and will miss you and remember you always!
(R.I.P. Michael Vincent Alesi July 16, 1982 - March 11, 2011)

Day 10-Springing Forward

Springing forward tonight and I'm definitely ready for spring, in more ways than one! I love the warm weather, I love the heat of the sun.  I guess that's why I've always been pretty happy living in the desert. I do LOVE the ocean too though, so I'm sure I would be just as happy living someplace warm and tropical.

I can't wait for blooming flowers everywhere.  Spring is just a beautiful time of year, I love the newness and freshness of it all!  Reminds me of a new start,  a new beginning, a born again experience with Jesus. Nothing compares to it, and I'm praying for it by name, for a few people that God has placed on my heart and that I love.

It was a nice couple of days break from blogging, I was just too emotionally drained.  God is working though! I see Him orchestrating in different ways, and I'm excited to see how He will use certain things to bring about changes in the lives of my loved ones!

About the "7-experiment", I changed my mind on a dress and traded it in for another pair of jeans instead. It was a fair trade, I hadn't worn my dress yet! I feel like I should have another shirt.....or do laundry more often. Oh well my honey still loves me! ;)

Yesterday and today were both wonderful family days: frozen yogurt, hiking, pizza, mani's & pedi's with my Belle, my sis and my niece, rebels game ( wish they would have won!), bike riding, fun at the lake etc.  Wishing everyday could be a family play day!! I LOVE my family!

Speaking of family, tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my cousin Vincent's death.  I will be praying for my Aunt and Uncle especially. I loved my cousin and wish everyday that he was still alive.  We will be joining together at Sunset wherever we are in remembrance of Vince <3