Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas

This Christmas was so good! Josh came on Christmas Eve night and we all enjoyed a great evening just spending time together as a family. It was sooo nice! We also watched "Despicable Me", LOL. If you haven't seen it, you have too! Its really cute! Christmas morning we all slept in and lounged around before opening up gifts. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of monkey bread and started getting ready for the events of the day. The Majors came over and again we feasted sumptuously....big surprise there right?! We wanted to have less dessert than we had for Thanksgiving, but for some reason more and more desserts were added to our list so we ended up with quite a few. Oh well, better to have to much than not enough. ;o) Right after I sat down and started eating, Selena says from the kitchen, "The Rawls are here!!!" A family from Oak Harbor surprised us on Christmas day, boy, they really got us! We were all so surprised and had a wonderful time of fellowship with them!

Praise the Lord for sending His Son for us! Jesus Christ...the true "Reason for the Season."

Josh taking off with the Monkey Bread....

We played this fun "Hedbanz" Game....we look like dorks but its really fun! 


We even got the "Parents" to play!


We all thought this was very fitting for Chris :o)

Lilly really took to Isaiah, they were budies for the weekend

~The Girls~

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Crocheting

Ok I just have to add this......Kali has this crocheting pattern on line that she is working on. (It's on another tab on the laptop while I am on it) Anyways, she asked me what was on Row 2, so I read it to her.....whoa! It was so confusing reading it out loud!! I have trouble already, good grief, crocheting patterns are like a foreign language. "Double crochet, turn left, triple crochet then do a double hand stand, do a push up while doing a double crochet then go right...." lol

Just for fun, here is the one she has.....

Row 1: Double crochet in 4th chain from hook, *double crochet in next chain, 2 double crochet in next chain; repeat from * across.

Row 2: Chain 3, turn, double crochet in same space, *double crochet in next 2 double crochet, 2 double crochet in next double crochet; repeat from * across.

Row 3: Chain 3, turn, double crochet in same space, *double crochet in next 3 double crochet, 2 double crochet in next double crochet; repeat from * across.

Row 4: Chain 3, turn, double crochet in same space, *double crochet in next 4 double crochet, 2 double crochet in next double crochet; repeat from * across

 
I dare you.....read it out loud! At least for a good laugh.....

Christmas is almost here!

I love this time of the year, especially since we have snow on the ground! Its looking like it will be a white Christmas for us, hurray!

Everyone is running around stores trying to find the "perfect" gift for so and so. Today I had to go to Walmart, wow......you feel like sometimes you have to crawl over five different people to get to the thing you need! It was sooo busy! I was on my lunch break so I was planning on taking it easy and just roaming around after getting the things I need. Well....that didn't happen, I roamed for a couple minutes and was like "Ok, this is crazy!" I am happy to report that I don't have to go to Walmart any more before Christmas, hurray!!

Something that really bothers me is when people say "Happy Holidays" or "Merry X-mas". ARRG! I realize that some places you work don't allow you to say "Merry Christmas" because they don't want to "offend" anyone. Seriously, for people who may say them, do they not realize they are taking "Christ", the whole reason we have Christmas, out of it? I know some people are aware of it, but I also know that others do it and don't even think about it. I don't mean to sound harsh or anything, it just frustrates me......

Side Note: I found out tonight that Alyssa and her family are coming next week!!!! Hurray!!!

If I don't post anything before Christmas.....everyone have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Friday, December 17, 2010

My evening.....

Wrapping presents......


Enjoying a Eggnog Chai Latte......


Listening to Handel's Messiah.........


Feeling a little bit jealous that the Singles in Oak Harbor are getting to enjoy a live concert of Handel's Messiah tonight.......

-Post Edit-

I did have a picture of my Aunt's Christmas present on here, although I just found out that she does indeed read my blog from time to time. Soo...I guess you all will just have to wait to see the picture of it until after Christmas, don't want to spoil the surprise!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Struggles....

This week has been a hard week at work. Not because of difficult customer's, but there are some things going on with the company that is affecting our store. Thus, causing difficult and frustrating situations in the workplace. Not really with MY co-workers but just frustration with the higher up authorities and the fact that we have no bearing in decisions that are being made, about us! Needless to say, Sarah and I have shed a few frustrating tears this week. Which brings me to the Bible Study tonight......

My dad gave the Bible Study on the Israelites and how they kept complaining when they were being led through the desert. They would complain about not having food and water, even though right under there noses God was doing AMAZING miracles that they didn't care to take real notice of. It made me think of how God will lead us into a desert, but why would He lead us all this way then just let us die?! God leads us into different directions in our lives and its for a reason. Why would He lead us in that direction and say "Ok, well I'm going to take off, hope it works out for ya!" Nope, God is going to be there to help and strengthen when the road gets tough because that is what He wants for us. Just like He promised to care for the Israelites in the desert, He will care for us in our deserts too......

Well, I am off to go finish a Christmas present for my Aunt. Pictures to come soon!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

100th post!!

I feel like I'm at the Oscar's or something...."I want to thank my fans for all their support without you I wouldn't have a reason to keep writing, my family for always being supportive of my blog even though sometimes it results in me being somewhat of a computer hog at times ;o)......"

I decided to go ahead and do the "100 things about me" post. Some of these things you may know about me and others might be a shocker :o). Since it is so long I will try to keep it as lively and interesting as possible so I don't lose you at 25....ok here goes!

  1. I am the youngest child in my family
  2. Sometimes I talk to other drivers on the road, asking them what in the world are they doing!? For some reason talking to them out loud helps.... :o)
  3. I had braces for 2 years of my life
  4. At the SAME time I had braces I also wore glasses....can you say, "WAY too much metal going on?!" Yikes! No...I will not post pictures....
  5. I'm a little bit of a clean freak
  6. I have been to the Czech Republic
  7. I got saved when I was 10
  8. I like dogs, just not their hair that ends up everywhere
  9. I don't like cats, the only exception to that rule is when they are kittens, they are cute at the small stage
  10. I finished HS 6 months before I was scheduled to graduate
  11. My favorite way to eat cupcakes is to cut it in half horizontally, flip the icing side down on the cupcake and eat it like a sandwhich...perfect!
  12. I am an ardent lover of Jane Austin movies
  13. Love kids....
  14. Very much dislike spiders and bats
  15. A good book, and sitting by the fire is what I call relaxing
  16. My cell phone goes with me everywhere
  17. I love any occasion where you have to "dress up"
  18. Recees peanut butter cups are my favorite candy
  19. I have been to Costa Rica
  20. I really like veggie chips
  21. I wear contacts
  22. Don't mind doing laundry
  23. Enjoy cooking/baking
  24. Very much family oriented
  25. My dream car, at the present, is a chevy traverse :)
  26. I love going outdoors, hiking, fishing, hunting, long walks....just getting out in nature and enjoying the beauty our Creator has made
  27. Play the piano
  28. Rather would live out in the country than in a big city
  29. My real hair color is dark brown
  30. Just kidding!!! I go all naturrral
  31. I have never had a broken bone
  32. One of my pet peeves is someone interupting me when I am talking
  33. I love, love, love all the four seasons. Usually by the end of one I am super excited about the next one coming up
  34. I like nice, big, spacious houses
  35. I don't like to clean big houses, is that a contradiction?
  36. I think when I get married, eventually, I will definitely be content with a small house
  37. I have had stitches before
  38. I'm almost convinced that I don't want a pet when I have my own house
  39. I love Christmas music playing in the stores while you're Christmas shopping
  40. Yes, I love dried mangoes....
  41. When I used to take a whole apple for lunch, I would put it in a plastic bag to keep it from getting dirty, especially when I had a library book in the same pocket as the apple
  42. Does that mean I'm germaphobic?
  43. I sunburn way to easily...fair skin
  44. Use hand sanitizer after leaving the thrift store, hey, who knows what was on all those things I touched?!
  45. Love classic musicals
  46. There is something else I want to tell you, but then I would have to kill you, so let's skip that one.... :o)
  47. I have something called Raynaud's disease, which means that whenever I get really cold my fingers will turn white....I mean whiter than what they normally are
  48. I have never been pulled over while driving
  49. I have been in the car with people who have been pulled over....no names...hehe
  50. I have been to Washington D.C.
  51. I eat pizza with a fork, most of the time
  52. It is very common in my house for me to be singing some song out loud
  53. I have many friends
  54. Yet, only a handful of close friends
  55. I used to be in the choir at BBC, that goes well with #52
  56. Never have had a ride on a snow mobile
  57. Been snowboarding before, was mostly on the ground doing face boarding :o)
  58. I don't like to leave the house without having at least foundation on
  59. Once I was driving down the highway with my emergency break on (but didn't know it was) and couldn't figure out why my car was shaking.....true story
  60. I have caught a fish before
  61. When I was younger I used to pretend I was a gymnist
  62. Both of my parents are one of 7 children, so I have A LOT of extended family
  63. I cannot drive a stick shift, well I havn't been taught that is
  64. I have a super cool blog, did you all know about it?!
  65. At one of my previous jobs I used to make Lavender Wreaths for the shop
  66. Cranberry Sierra Mist and White Fudge Covered Oreos are some of my favorite "seasonal" treats
  67. I think it would be fun to at least try to ride on a motorcycle
  68. I am seriously considering sky diving
  69. I have been white water rafting
  70. "The hills are alive with the sound of muuuuuusic" :o)
  71. I have been to a "Handel's Messiah" Concert before....one word....AWESOME!
  72. I think this list is too long
  73. I miss the "Singles" group at our church
  74. I didn't pierce my ears until I was a teenager.....well, not counting the time when I was 6 and they got infected
  75. I'm a chap-stickaholic
  76. I used to have a third eye....another story for another post...if you all want to hear the story that is
  77. I have never had caviar, and don't wish to
  78. Sometimes I get creeped out when dogs sit like humans
  79. I really enjoy going four wheeling
  80. Once while fishing I hooked my brother's shirt with the hook
  81. Not long after that, I cast my fishing pole in the water
  82. I used to be a member at the gym......notice the word "used"
  83. Love teryaki flavored meats
  84. Oh, which makes me think of  P.F. Chang's.....oh how I miss thee....
  85. Love coffee
  86. I can get competitive at games, namely Sorry Card Revenge
  87. My favorite accessory in the winter is a cute scarf
  88. Started learning the guitar, haven't played in a while
  89. Enjoy singing specials for church
  90. Always had the smallest room in our house among the kids, but now I have the biggest
  91. Did I tell you all I got a queen size bed?!
  92. I drive a GMC Jimmy
  93. Tea has grown on me over the years and now I really enjoy it
  94. Making up songs is my forte
  95. I have blue eyes
  96. Monk and Pysch are my favorite tv shows, so funny....thank you Shannon and netflix....
  97. I've been on a "virtual" trip to Texas
  98. Planning on going on a real life trip to Texas this year
  99. Sometimes I laugh so hard that I cry
  100. I have been paintballing

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thanksgiving Thursday

Instead of doing my normal "list" of things that I'm thankful for, I will just share with you one HUGE thing that I am praising God for!

Sarah was asking me today at work was salvation was again. I explained it to her again and then she proceded to tell me about last night (or early this morning). Without going into all the details of our whole converstaion.....its sounds like Sarah GOT SAVED in the wee hours of the morning today!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! She is already experiencing the peace of the Lord, she is all smiles when we talk about it and is so excited!! She said after she was praying that she was telling her fiance about it and he was like "I think you got saved....". (A little side note here, I have not talked to her fiance about salvation.....so obviously she is telling him about our Bible studies...which is GREAT!!) Anyways, she said she was asking him if he thought she should call me....haha....at 3 or 4 am!! I guess he told her that he probably thought I was asleep, but just the fact that she wanted to call me at that early hour is so exciting!! We have already talked about going into the next lesson in the E-Life Studies which is talking about the assurance of salvation and she is really excited to do that one! It looks like Saturday is the desired day for that Bible Study. I'm hoping to get her to come out to church now too, she has been wanting to come and just never made it yet. With all that the Lord is doing in her life, hopefully now she finally makes that desire turn into action!

I am SO thankful that it was NOT by my own power that Sarah got saved. It was all by the Lord Jesus Christ that He convicted her of her sin and showed her the need for Him. I am so excited to see how God is going to work in her life AND in her families lives! (If I havn't mentioned it before....she has 3 precious little kids ranging from almost 5 years old to 7 months.) Hopefully we will see her fiance get saved, even through the changes he will be seeing in her life and the things she is telling him. Hey, who knows, we could have another wedding and baptism's before we know it! God is really working in the people over here and I am so glad He is seeing me fit to be a part of it! Praise the Lord!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.....


This is our Christmas Tree this year, I like to call it our "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree", but a much larger version. Its large but very sparse in the branches, which is fine, just not what I'm used to having! It looks very "Christmas-y" and fills up the room quite nicely.

When we were decorating the tree tonight I figured out something. "I" get the ornament, find a place on the tree, and stick it there. DONE. "Kali" gets the ornament, looks at the tree for a little bit, finds a spot, makes sure that within 10 ft of that spot doesn't have any ornament even silmilar to the one she is putting on, THEN if its safe....puts it on the tree. hehe I was teasing her about that! I'm not saying that its a bad thing, its good because she helps all the ornaments be all spread out and makes it look nice. I have to say.....its fun to tease your siblings :o)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Backgrounds....

For some reason, I am having a really hard time settling on a background for Christmas. I find one that I like, then I apply it to my blog and am not a fan of it. I will try to stick it out for a couple days then decid to change it. So, if you are a frequent flyer :o), hang on with me because its going to be a bumpy and confusing ride. Come on with me as I try out different backgrounds......

One Wedding & Two Baptisms

Dennis and Lindsey, the couple that I have mentioned a few times here before, got married AND baptized today!! It was so great seeing a couple following the Lord in these ways. It was an all around great day in the Lord's house and look forward to many more like this!

                                         Kali and I made the cake :o)


Mr and Mrs B, their baby Caroline, and Chris

After the cake and punch we went to an Inn where we used their pool to do the baptizing.....it was nice and warm which is so much better than having to use the river.....*teeth chattering*


Its so exciting to see two people following the Lord in TWO areas of there lives in the same day! Praise the Lord! We are all looking forward to how God is going to work in their lives in the coming days.....

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sisters.....

I was planning on doing a post about all the snow that we have been getting....wellllll.....hop over to Kali's blog because she got to it before me. She even did the same you tube video I was planning to do...hmm...coincidence?! I shall let you all decide ;o)

Anyways, here is a video that perfectly demonstrates mine and Kali's relationship.....I am the one on the right and she is on the left :o) enjoy!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving At Home

Since we are farther away from my Grandma W (we get together with my dad's side of the family every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas), we had Thanksgiving at our house, a first for our family! It was great! We had the Majors over, Josh drove over AND my Grandma and Step Grandpa B came!

Thanksgiving morning started out wonderfully, Grandma B made biscuits and gravy!!! Mmmmm....so thankful for southern roots! Please tell me someone out there has had Chocolate Gravy?! Everyone I mention it to they scruntch up their nose...but its soo good! Or maybe you just have to grow up with it to truly enjoy it ;o)


 It was a great time of fellowship and LOTS of food! Lets see, what was on the menu......Turkey, Ham, 2 kinds of sweet potatoes (one with PB and one without), green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes/gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, black olives and fruit salad! Whew! We all got PLENTY to eat! I think some of us needed to roll out of the room, but we all made it out! After dinner we relaxed and played on the Majors Wii. (I don't know if those two things can rightfully go in the same sentence....) It was a lot of fun, I was beating Josh and Chris at tennis which is always nice. :o)

After we got our appetites back up, ready for some dessert, we dove in! Lets see, dessert involved.....Pumpkin Cheesecake, Sour Cream Coconut Cake, 2 Pumpkin Pies, 2 Coconut Cream Pies, and Banana Pudding! Did I tell you we had A LOT of food/dessert?! We could have ate an entire meal out of all the dessert alone! After dessert we enjoyed a game of dice, 10,000 to be exact and it was very fun! Even though I did HORRIBLY! The fellowship with family and friends was so good that it was ok I was doing so awful. :o)

                                            All five together again!!!

Lilly's face is soo funny....

"The Adults Table"

"The Kids Table", for old times sake :o)

Lilly just turned 6!

We showed Olivia how to put olives on her finger....my Aunt taught me as a kid, so passing on the torch :o)

Brother and Sister <3

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Oh my!

Today I had a Eggnog Chai Latte and the title fits the feeling I had while drinking that. OH MY! It was SOO delicious! I have had an Eggnog Latte before but something about the Chai being thrown in makes it ohhh sooo good! You all have to go try it.....

Thanks Liz for the recommendation!!!

Also, I just made a pumpkin cheesecake for tomorrow!!! Yum...can't wait!!

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving! Eat as much as you can because this day only comes once a year! Well, at least thats what I tell myself when I have my plate filled to the max ;o)

C-C-Cooold!!

Currently it is saying it is 1 Degree outside.....1!!

It looks like we will get to 5 degrees today....a whole 5! yippee! ;o)

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Weekend in Pictures

SNOW!!!





Kali and I made two Birthday cakes, one for Lilly (her 6th Birthday was Sunday) and Dennis (his is tomorrow)! We had a lot of fun making personalized cakes for them!

Dennis loves football and the NY Giants are his team....he LOVED it!!

Lilly really liked her Princess Cake too! 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Thanksgiving Thursday

  • Friendships blooming with Dennis and Lindsey and looking forward to the big day coming up fast!!
  • Another Bible Study with Sarah scheduled for Sunday afternoon
  • Yummy Oreo Klondike Bar ;o)
  • OH OH!! Since I'm on the subject of food......Nicki (visited us last weekend) brought Cranberry Sierra Mist and dried Mangos!!! ahh..... my mind was thrilled for all those yummy treats, but my hips are not so happy now....
  • Its almost the weekend
  • Speaking of the weekend...my parents and the Majors will be out of town this weekend (leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Saturday night), so its a girls weekend with Kali, Lilly, Olivia, and I! fun fun
  • Christmas presenting for friends and family starting to be purchased and ideas being formed
  • Thanksgiving is nearing and we will be able to see some family soon!
  • Weekly phone chats with a friend

Monday, November 15, 2010

How it went...

Sarah wasn't able to make it today until almost 12 which only gave us about a half an hour...(I had to go to work at 1 today). Which I was disappointed with not being able to have as much time as I hoped but I wanted to definitely do as much as we can without trying to rush. She hadn't read the Bible in quite some time so I was able to kind of give a refresher course on how to navigate through the Bible. We got about 3/4 way through the first study about sin. She understands she is a sinner and that even though you may have only commited one of the 10 Commandments, you are guilty of all of them. James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Its really neat to see someone who is searching and truly wanting to learn!

We were discussing getting together next Sunday afternoon, which would probably work better for her. In that one I plan on going through the rest of the study and going into the next one talking about the Gospel! I'm really excited to get into that!! First obviously, she needed to understand completely that she is a sinner IN NEED of the Savior.

Thanks sooo much for all the prayers and words of encouragement! I will keep you all posted!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Bible Study

Tomorrow at 11 am my co-worker Sarah is coming over to do the first of the E-life Bible Studies with me!!! (I talked about her and all the questions she has been asking me in this post.)  I ask that you all pray for her heart to be open to the sin in her life that is separating her from the Saviour (that is what is being covered in the first study..).  Also, that God would give me wisdom to answer any questions she may have and to be able to explain things in a clear and concise manner.

Thanks for the prayers and I'm excited to see what the Lord will do in her life!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thanksgiving Thursday

  • For all those men and women who have given their lives in service to our country
  • All the men and women STILL serving our country
  • Yummy oreos ;o) (see previous post)
  • A friend visiting for the weekend
  • A wedding and baptism is planned for Dec 5 for Dennis and Lindsey!!!
  • Cute movie AND clean (such a rarity these days)
  • God working in lives in the midst of heartache
  • A good refresher course and new ideas on effective prayer, its sooo easy to fall into a routine with prayer...(guilty as charged....)
  • Kali still has both of her kidneys :o), there is a story with that one......
  • A large group of family coming for Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

GUESS WHAT?!

I was picking up some milk at Walmart after work and this is what I saw at the end of one of the isles.....


Of course I grabbed a box! These only come out this time of the year....if you havn't tried them before, go get some!!! They are delicious!!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I'm on a Quest....


The quest is to learn (maybe even make myself :o)....) to enjoy broccoli. Ever since I was a kid, I strongly disliked broccoli, even to the point of gagging on it (maybe that was a little dramatic, but hey, now you know how much I truly disliked it). I would refer to it as a tree, tasting the same as one anyways. As I grow older,  I know how good broccoli is for you, so I am trying to make myself like it. I keep trying it different ways to see if I can come up with a way I prefer it. So far I've tried raw with ranch, on top of a vegey pizza (which was actually pretty good, of course on pizza right?! lol), then today I had cheesy broccoli soup. I think the best one was probably the pizza, it had a pesto sauce then vegey's on top, it was pretty good! So I guess if worse comes to worse I will just load it up on pizza to get my broccoli, I wish there was a better way (healthier that is) to eat it AND enjoy it. I really want to like it but my taste buds tend to go against me! Grr....well I will keep trying.....

Any good recipes or ways you like it?!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Thanksgiving Thursday

  • Two souls were saved this past week!!!! One was a man from the jail and the other was the fiance of the first convert from the jail! Dennis (the first man saved from the jail ministry since we have been here), got out of jail and he and his fiance (baby too) came to church, then yesterday she got saved! Praise the Lord!! Dennis even came to Bible Study tonight (Linsey wasn't feeling well..)! I'm excited to see how the Lord is going to grow in their lives!
  • Modern conviences like cell phones and internet...makes it easier to keep in touch with family and friends :o)
  • Sarah, my co-worker, (see previous post) having so much interest in what our families are doing over here, as well as what we believe....keep up the prayers and thank you all so much for the prayers already!
  • A good message on "Stress" tonight, how fitting is that considering my new job?! Although, I have to say the Lord is really helping me to understand more, but it definitely does have its times of stress ;o)
  • My brother is able to come over to our house for thanksgiving!! *Eeek*
  • Delicious brownies, when you need a little chocolate....Mmmmmm :)
  • Some really cool possible Christmas gifts found on the internet! Sweeeeet!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Can it be this easy?

Starting a new job your really not sure what to expect. One of the things thats really hard at first is getting to know new people and forming relationships with them. You kinda have to 'feel' each other out for a little while. The place I work for only has 2 other employees, besides me, working there. So its a pretty small business, although we have mutiple business locations in different states. Anyways, my co-worker Sarah has been asking me many questions the past few days about my "religion". (I really don't like to refer to it as my "religion", because its really not about 'religion' its about the relationship we can have with our Creator.) She was baptized Catholic but really has no idea what Catholics believe, a lot of the time I was informing her what they believe! She asked what salvation was (I kept refering to it), what I believe will happen when we die, questions like that. You have to just marvel at God bringing along this opportunity, you DO NOT get many people truly seeking like this and sincerely asking so many questions very often. She was under the impression that once she is baptized Catholic that you can't change religion's after that, which I explained to her was not the case. (I guess her sister wasn't baptized as a baby and was given the 'choice' of her religion and she was wishing she would have been able to choose.) She has asked lots of questions and I am trying to explain my beliefs to the best of my ability. I would really appreciate everyone's prayers for Sarah. She has a husband and three small kids as well, I am really anxious to see what God's going to do in their lives. Could this be the reason that God allowed me to get this job? If so, I am thankful that God is allowing me to tell her about Him and inform her that we don't have to go through a priest to talk to our Heavenly Father! Please pray that God would give me the words to say, be able to explain things to her, and even know when it is the right time to propose coming to church or even starting Bible Studies....thanks so much for the prayers! She seems sincerely interested in what I am telling her about my beliefs. The Lord is truly working in her heart and life!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

In the Kitchen with the Girls

Lilly and Olivia were helping to make their own pizzas today for lunch! They had SO much fun doing it. It was almost more fun watching them making it than even eating it....I said almost :o)






After lunch we cut out some sugar cookies! We each had a different color of dough so no one's would get mixed up with the others......


Lilly's are the blue, 'Livia's are the purple

Enjoying the fruits of their labor!


      Can you tell what theme Kali and I went with?! Kali's are the green and mine are the orange....these cookies not only look great, but taste even better!!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Singleness

This topic has kinda been going through my head off and on, the Lord has been reminding me some things about being single.

One day we went to a 'larger' city, Wentachee, and did some shopping. As I was thinking about all the people in that city, but then, all the people in the world. I kinda stood amazed at the fact that in this HUGE world, God has ONE special person FOR ME! In the billions of people in this world, there is one that God has specially picked out for me. Isn't that such an amazing thought?! Even for you married couples, thinking about how God brought about your relationship and the fact that God knew EXACTLY who you needed for a spouse. That's just an amazing thought to dwell upon.

Even better is waiting for that special person. When its the right timing for God to bring along the man/woman "of your dreams", then He will! We don't have to search and look around because God has the perfect time and place where He wants it all to come about. I know sometimes it gets really hard to wait for the Lord's timing because we maybe had a plan on how we thought it was all going to work out (i.e. get married right out of school or at a such and such age....). Yet, if you think about when you initially thought would be a good time to get married, looking back and if your honest with yourself, it really wouldn't have been the perfect time. I have found, in my personal experience, its really a constant surrendering to the Lord. A daily thing. Just like surrendering your life to the Lord, its really a daily thing rather than just once and never again.

Psalms 27:14 "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

 Psalms 59:9 "Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence."

 Psalms 62:5 "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."

 Lamentations 3:25 "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."

Romans 8:25 "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

I truly believe that if we are waiting for God to bring that special person in our lives, then He will bless us for it. But wait, so what should we be doing while we wait?! Right now instead of chasing after that cute guy in church or the pretty girl at Bible Study, we need to be serving the Lord as we wait. Then, when the time is right, if that is the person for you, God will lead and direct it. For the woman, God will give your fathers wisdom if that young man comes to your father asking to get to know you. For the men, God will give you comfort and peace when it is the right time to persue a relationship. Get involved in the ministries in your church! What a great way to keep you busy, enabling less free time, which makes less time to think about what you don't have and more time focusing on what the Lord is allowing you to do for Him. Focus on serving the Lord during these years, there are some things in serving the Lord that makes it easier to do without a spouse. Even right now we should be trying to save money for our possible future marriage. Praying for him/her is a great thing to do too, even if we don't know the person, just praying that God will grow and strengthen them, even if they may not even saved at this time, (we really don't know who God has for us, so its good to cover your bases) that God would show them their need of a Saviour. When God does bring that person along, everyone will know it. Its so obvious when God puts two people together, sometimes other people will even notice it before you even think about it!

So, all that being said, I am not married or courting, so this is from a single ladies perspective. I truly believe that if you wait for the one God has for you then He will bless you for it and you won't have to finally give your heart to the right person all broken and pieces missing that you have given to other people.

Now, if you have had a past where you have been with several different people, there IS HOPE! Maybe you didn't really even think about it before or perhaps you were didn't really care at the time. The fact is that now you know that waiting is God's way and it will be so much better in the long run, I really encourage all those singles out there to wait......even if this concept is totally new to you, start today!! God will bless and strengthen you for the wait ahead!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Hunting

My Dad and I started off in the wee hours of the morning, heading over to Conconully. It was still dark by the time we got there, so we sat around for a little bit, drinking our hot beverages, waiting for the sun to come up :o)




The first place we went there was this little chipmunk in a tree behind us. That thing did not like us, it was seriously barking (squeaking?, I'm not really sure what you call that...lol) at us until we left! Looking straight at us! It was so strange, I guess it wanted to warn the deer that we were there!

We did A LOT of hiking yesterday, going up a steep mountain! We didn't walk up the entire thing but a lot of it. We saw about 5 or more doe in all and that brought some excitement, hoping there would be a buck near by. Yet, no bucks were to be seen...bummer! We reached the top of the mountain and saw a lot of hoof prints, but no deer where there at that point unfortunately. :o( 

At the top of the mountain......

Don't look too closely, while you are hunting, the primarly goal is not to look cute ;o)

It was so beautiful up there at this time of the year! Lots of trees changing colors.... 

Even though we didn't get a deer, we had a great time! Its so peaceful up there, being able to admire God's Creation! Its not very often Dad and I are able to spend time together, just the two of us. So, it was really nice and I enjoyed it! Dad wanted to make sure he didn't come back empty handed though, he picked up some wood on the way out....haha

               This was SO GREAT! It was almost 2:30 and my hot chocolate/coffee was STILL warm!! That was really nice coming into the truck and having a hot beverage to warm myself up with!!

Last night both dad and I were so tired! From hiking all day and getting up really early, we were beat! I started falling asleep at about 8 and then finally went to bed at 8:30, which is really early for me! Dad went to bed not long after too. With a full night of rest, we both woke up feeling much better, ready to go and worship our Lord!