Under The Big Top

Last Thursday we took Marissa to her very first circus. It was amazing! Until we bought tickets to go, I did not realize that my husband had never been to the circus either! I can remember going as a kid with my mom. I always loved everything about the circus, except the clowns. They always...even now....freak me out.

These were made before the show.

We got there early, for the meet and greet.

The animals were amazing!

All in all, we had ONE HAPPY GIRL!

Guest blogging

Hi everyone,
I want to invite you all to begin following a new blog called Hope on the Horizon. It is written by a good friend and sister in Christ that I had the honor to meet a few years ago. Although the military life has moved her to the opposite side of our great country, we are working together on some exciting endeavors.

Please check out her inspirational blog here. I will be a guest blogger each Wednesday. My first post for her is called "What is Sin", and it is a two part blog. Please read it and let us know what you think! Lastly, post a comment here and on her blog to give your feedback.

Have a great week!

Totally random here.....

A list of total random current happenings:

• Took my daughter and my husband to the circus Thursday. First time for both of them. Pics to come. They both loved it and said they liked it more than they thought they would. I remember going to the circus with my mom as a kid. My biggest excitement was over how much the elephants peed. Still amazed me this week.
• Mom and PaPa are renovating some rental property that Mom owns, the house I grew up in actually. The guy who moved out left it TRASHED and now they are working hard to try to make it livable again. Jamie helped all last week as well.
• Bible study started up Tuesday. Although I was not feeling nearly well enough, I led it and we had a great group. Looking forward to the next 5 weeks with these ladies!
• Marissa had her "friend" Barry over last night. It was great to see them practicing their band music together. He encourages her like no other. They took pics of themselves....more of those to come also. I can tell you the encouraging "friend" role has changed a bit :)
• Sleepover tonight......my childhood best friend and her two daughters are coming to stay. We will watch G Force and eat pizza. They are going to church with us tomorrow!
• My beautiful daughter donated 10 inches of hair today for Locks of Love. She looks so grown up! Pics of this to come as well. 

Thanks for being patient, it has been a crazy week and I am STILL not completely well. I have a doctor appointment Monday, hoping for a good report.
Have a great weekend!!!!!

Under the weather

Sorry my blog has been rather quiet this week, but I have been under the weather. I will be back with you ASAP! In the meantime, check out my blog list and go read some of the stellar stuff over there!

Another wow!

You won't believe this, but I have been asked to do a weekly guest post on a new blog! I am so excited! I will get to share a corner of the blog stage with an AWESOME and accomplished writer, who happens to be a great friend and a MIGHTY WOMAN OF GOD! I am excited beyond belief! More details to come SOON!

Please pray for me, and for my friend, as we earnestly seek God's purpose for us in this ~NEW~ season of our lives!!!!!

New Scrapbook Layouts

This first layout celebrates the game night traditions we have around our house. Since Jamie is so money hungry in his gaming, he earned the nickname Donald CHUMP. For future reference, I printed a small pic of The Donald and a brief bio of his wealth and success and secured it to the back of a layout. Sure everyone knows his name now, but in 50 years? Maybe not. Marissa and I also earned similar nicknames which are used on the very rare occasions we win. Of course Julio has to be a part of EVERYTHING so he gets to play the game too.

Oh yes, my sweet obsession. I have always loved a Hershey's kiss, and I had to document my sweet obsession with this sweet treat. I had inspiration and used the actual flag thingie to make the "hershey" ribbon on my page. Inspired? Maybe. Cheap?You betcha.

Ah yes.....my handsome husband. My gift from God. The fabulous father of our daughter. The spiritaul leader of our home. And best of all, he is my very best friend.

Of course I used PageMaps sketches for these, but everythign else was my own brainchild.  Scary huh?

*****GASP*****

Oh my goodness! I was so shocked and honored when I read Moira's comment on my post "A Friend Indeed". I wrote the post straight from my heart, describing the pain my daughter was going through with middle school girls, and somehow she read my blog and decided it was worthy of being used as devotional materials at her school. Through my squeals of delight I read Moira's profile, and learned that not only is she an avid and talented scrapbooker, she is principal of a Christian school in AUSTRALIA!

Ok, so big woop, I had somebody like my little ditty who happens to live on the other side of the world right? Seems like a kinda neat thing, but no big deal until you know the following.....

Less than one week ago, a very wise person prophesied over my life. She spoke words of life over me, and the thing that hit me hard was that "my creativity and writing would be used to reach many souls for the Kingdom". She went on to say that this was only the beginning, and that what was about to happen in my life was going to be huge.

Moira's email kind of takes on a different air here doesn't it?

When I went through my Tres Dias weekend, our theme was "Such a Time As This". The leader of my weekend contacted me after seeing my post about this on facebook and reminded me of one of our songs that weekend, with lyrics that said "If you say go....I will go". The same friend who prophesied over me last week told me recently that I would go to the nations.

Now a new song is ringing in my head.....one we sang at our old Church:

"We speak to nations, be open
We speak to nations, fall on your knees.
We speak to nations,
The kingdom is coming near to you
We speak to you BE FREE."

In my Christian walk I am constantly reminded of the freedom I received in Christ simply by being obedient to His loving invitation and accepting Him into my heart. He has turned all of my baggage into joy, removed my pain and yes, so importantly to me is He removed all my shame. Now I can walk with my head high, facing the world, and showing His love.

So whether you are reading this is podunk Georgia or on the other side of this great world, I want to remind you that the love of God is reaching all corners of the darkness in our world. He loves YOU, and His arms are waiting to hug you and tell you what you mean to Him, and to help you get rid of all your junk that is weighting you down. So be free....and run to Him. It's just that simple. And you will never regret it.

My Sweet Obsession

My delicious obsession is Hershey's chocolate. I know there are many fine chocolates from all over the world, but my favorite, hands down, is Hershey's chocolate. And I will take that plain please, no Special Dark, no Krackle, no almonds or peanuts added. Just pure, smooth, delicious Hershey's chocolate.

I have always loved getting one of those big gigantic Kisses as a gift. I never buy one for myself, it seems it would lose it's magic that way somehow.

I have a system.

• First I stare at the box for a few days. (Or hours, depending on my mood....)
• Next I unwrap the kiss, smooth out it's paper flag thingie and uncrinkle the beautiful shiny foil wrapper.
• I pick it up and kind of grope it a little, admiring it's smoothness
• Then I pick it up and start scraping off the top with my teeth,.   
  

Sick.....I know......but I have done it that way since I was a kid and I see no reason to stop now!

Today I took photos of my beloved Hershey's Giant Mondo Kiss......as I systematically destroyed a little of it. Then I carefully wrapped it back up in it's foil, placed it back in it's box, and hid it in the back of the top shelf in the fridge.

'Til tomorrow my sweet obsession.....

A Friend Indeed

UPDATE: Today we had a conference at school, and my daughter was move immediately into another class. She is now with two kids she has known almost her whole life,, in a class without cliques and powerful girls. PRAISE GOD! The amazing thing is that He had it all worked out before we even asked for help. Isn't God good that way????

My daughter is a very studious, serious kid, with little interest in  what's popular or trendy....loves 80's music, thrift store shopping and wears sort of her own style of clothing that is a mix of grunge/Miley Cyrus/hippy chick. She is tall for her age, and very smart. She is not into rap music or partying or skipping school, and she loves to spend time with her family, reading, and watching Food Network which has inspired her to be a pastry chef when she is an adult. She is interested in pursuing a degree in culinary arts. She is active in our church, she helps with the little kids and is on the interpretive dance team and in youth group. Basically, she is everything a parent could ask for and then some. (I may be biased, but I am also right lol)

Lately, my daughter has had some issues with "mean girls" at school. Who knew middle school girls were so brutal???? They tease her and exclude her and say mean things about her shoes and lanyard and lunch box. (They wear uniforms, so they have to find other things to harass her about) This has been going on for a while, and over Thanksgiving break her closest friend in her class dumped her (by text message even) for not being cool enough to hang out with.

WHAT?????? How can kids be so mean? Who is raising these girls to be such snotty cliquish little brats? Why can't they all just go to school and get along and be happy? I blame hormones myself. But I also blame parents and media influences. We all know kids mimic what they see. I am willing to bet their Moms treat people the same way, forming relationships based on what the other person looks like or can do for them rather than what is real and true. And the media...oh goodness. We hear all sorts of stuff there, even from husbands and wives like Tiger and Elin and Jon and Kate. When people are publicized making fun of or trashing their spouse, what dignity can be left? And don't even get me started on Nancy Grace.....

However, my daughter has recently discovered a great friend at church. He is a really sweet kid, a couple of years older than my daughter, raised in a single parent home by a Godly mom. He asked his mom what was wrong with my daughter, what was going on, and his mom told him. He began texting her, telling her how he thought she was so cool and that the other kids didn't see what was really there in her. Then he had her begin looking up scripture verses about how she is so perfectly made, how she is unique and beautiful in God's eyes, and how she is created in God's own image.

A complete turn around is taking place. Yesterday I was fixing my hair in my bathroom, and my daughter was in her bathroom doing her daily chores. Through the wall I heard her singing. For the first time in a long time, my daughter is HAPPY.

The texting is continuing, and she is being encouraged and strengthened beyond anything I could have forseen. I am thanking God for sending my daughter a friend that we have prayed for, for the young man's obedience in what God told him to do, and for the young man's mom for raising such a wonderful son.

I am also thanking Him for unlimited text messaging......:)