Still Alive and Kickin'

Life has been busier than normal at our home. We started going to a new church and our new friends have turned us into socialites. Who knew!? We are enjoying making new friends and strengthening some very fun, wholesome relationships. Yay God!

Today, I sat down in my chair to ponder the lessons I've been learning lately. A few of them are as follows:

1. Look for joy and you will find it.

2. It's easier on yourself to have a good attitude about something you don't want to do than to exhaust yourself and everyone around you having a bad one.

3. Friendship, real friendship, is a rare and precious gift. Treasure it!

4. Generosity is about more than material possesions. It's about sacrificially giving of yourself so that God can teach you to love people. Generosity glorifies our wonderful Father!

5. Giving away your stuff makes you worry less about it. Stuff becomes meaningless, and that is such a wonderful feeling.

6. Relationships are meaningless without total honesty. You aren't friends with some one if you won't let them walk into your house with a messy kitchen, you hair unwashed, in you pj's, and having a bad day. Friendship comes from knowing about the shortcomings of others and loving them more for it.

7. Very few things are actually worth arguing over. Bite your tongue and move on.

8. God never lets pain go to waist. -Pastor Mark

9. People are more interested in what you're for than what you're against. -Pastor Mark

10. Stop to gaze upon the beauty of God's creation. I love thinking about the things God made which appear to serve no other purpose than to teach us of his beauty.

A quick update. Daniel gave me the grunge this week, but (praise God!) it seems to have cleared up. I was pretty concerned that I would develop pneumonia again. We LOVE our church family! We have never been so happy in a church and it's absolutely breathtaking to watch Daniel's heart (and mine) begin to burn with Christ's passion. Nothing new to report about my fertility, except that I am more regular than I have been in years. My attitude about my circumstance continues to improve. I am SO excited about Christmas this weekend. I am chock full of Christmas cheer this year, and I love it! That's all for now. I have to conquer Mt. Laundry and make dough for cinnamon rolls and French bread this weekend.

God bless!

Stars

I stepped outside this morning to get something out of Daniel's truck. I looked up. We don't see a ton of stars in M-town... too close to a few large towns, but I could clearly see a couple constellations. Breathtaking.

I've always been enamored by stars. They're a testament to how small we are. To me, they've always been a stark reminder of God's love. We don't need the stars. The don't really provide any light at night, even in places like Wyoming where it's pitch black at night and all you can see above the horizon is billions of diamonds set in the black velvet. God just put them there. He scattered the stars across our sky so that we could see incredible beauty even in total darkness. What a reminder of his grace. Even in the darkest times in our lives, he is with us. God uses the scariest, and hardest experiences to refine us into shining beacons of his love for the world.

Tomorrow night, just step outside and look up. Admire God's gift of beauty for his children.

A Day with My Man

Daniel finally took a day off. He needs it so badly. I kind of hope he'll take off tomorrow too, but we'll see.

I'm going to have a cooking day with a friend. I'm so excited!

I made biscuits for breakfast and I ate mine with my sweet mommy-in-law's apple butter. Carol always stocks our pantry with jars full of fresh, homemade yummies.

Yesterday, I watched the "Secret of Kells." It's an animated movie about the Irish legend of the book of Iona. It was very good and the animation is gorgeous. I was very inspired to bust out the pencils and sketch pad... I really wish I were better at drawing.

All that really needs done in the house today is the kitchen and a load of laundry. In the words of my dear friend Jule' "Sweet action!"

I hope you all have a great day!

Playing Catch-Up

I think I posted that Daniel and I have joined a new church that we love. We really do love it. WE are in the College and 20s group and there's only a few married couples in that age bracket. Daniel and I have fallen in love with our new church friends. It has been such a great month for us... we're actually hanging out people now. Last weekend we had everyone out to our parents' house for roasting marshmallows over a campfire. We even had hay bails to sit on. It was a great time! Tonight we're going to our Life group study. Every other week the guys and girls split up. I'm excited about the girl time.

This week I have been trying desperately to catch up on my house work. It got so far behind while I was in school, and the past two weeks we've been gone. We finally have clean clothes that are actually put away in a drawer. The kitchen is mostly cleaned, the sheets are fresh, the bathrooms are clean, the clutter is picked up, and the floors are mopped. It's wonderful. Now, I just need to clean the refrigerator, go grocery shopping and finish folding the laundry. Sweet!

update

School has started back and with it I have come down with something resembling the flu. I made it to my first class, but got sick on Wednesday night. I left halfway through purchasing, missed day one in the kitchen and only made it through two hours of kitchen work today. I'm exhausted. I was running 102 yesterday and the fever was back up to 101 before I left class today. Week one of school and already behind. Awesome. To top that all off, I still cannot access my textbooks, because some genius thought it was a great idea for them to be online.

Tomorrow, we are hopefully going on a motorcycle trip to Tyler. At this point, I'm totally not up for it. We'll see how I'm doing in the morning. I don't think I could stay on the bike feeling the way I do now.

Other than being sick, everything is normal. Except that my house is in a constant state of disarray. Oh well.

Oh! Daniel and I joined a new church last week. We love it. Already in love with our Sunday school class.

Ok, that's all my hands can manage to type. Nap time.

Almost Done

Tomorrw is my last day of classes for the quarter. I'm so excited! I'm working to finish all of my homework for philosophy today so I can forget about that nightmare... that class literally gave me shingles. I have an area, about the size of and apple, of huge blisters on the bottom of my forearm. It's been so painful and really gross. Shingles are caused by stress, and my philosophy class is the most stressfull thing in my life for a long time.

I'm having spaghetti for lunch in hopes that a real meal will cure my headache, where a full night's sleep has not. Since Daniel's not home, I made the pasta al dente... I really love firm pasta :) Meat sauce with grass fed beef too, it's so yummy.

Tomorrow, I have my first job interview in more than 2 years! I applied at the coffee shop up the street last week and they actually called me back! I'm thrilled and really hope I get the job. I'm not looking forward to the extra busyness, but I am excited to have a paycheck. Just in time to buy some new clothes for Fall!

That's about all that's going on with me. Same 'ole same 'ole. Say a prayer tomorrow at 4:00, I really really want this job. I've always wanted to work in a coffee shop, especially one that is walking distance from my house!

Cookbooks, Homemaking, and Visiting Sisters

I should be doing homework right now, but here I sit blogging. This is not a good week for feeling productive.

Last night I started a cookbook. I'm compiling my favorite recipes and some kitchen tips into a small cookbook to give out as Christmas gifts this year. Last year, we hardly spent any money on Christmas and were very selective as to who actually got gifts, and it was wonderful! It actually felt like Christmas. This year, I'd like to do the same thing. I'm trying to be very creative and frugal. I also want to have the bulk of the shopping done before Thanksgiving. (Fat chance, but I can dream, right?)

I survived September 13. It was the 3rd anniversary of the first miscarriage. So many awful memories. It was all I could do to make it through my class. I stopped in at the local coffee haus for something to calm me down, and ended up applying for a job. I really hope I get it. I'd love to have the spending/saving money. The coffee shop is almost walking distance from our house, which rocks.

Today, I desperately need to finish cleaning the kitchen, and the whole house for that matter. It's suffering. Also, Daniel's new slacks need to be hemmed and I need to mend his shorts. I really want to knock out a new book bag for next quarter too. Daniel's is too bulky and manly. I want something pretty. I have some great green floral that I've been saving for the perfect project... now I know what I want to use it for! I have to take advantage of my 9 day break and finish some extra tasks. I have no idea what the homework load is going to be like next quarter... I scared.

This weekend, I am going to Abilene with my hubby to stay with my sister and her hubby. I think her in-laws are going too... not so thrilled about that, but I'll make the most of it. Love my baby sister! I'm ready to spend some time with her.

Hope you are all having a nice week!