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!!!

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!!

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!

Thanksgiving Thursday

• I passed my test today to be able to work with customers!
• Some much needed (and really enjoyable) practice on the piano last night :o)
• Sunrises (this week I have been getting up pretty early...they are beautiful!)
• A working car (Monday, on my first day of work, I went out to start my car and it WOULDN'T START!!! OH NO!!! Thankfully I was able to take the suburban, my dad checked it later and it was out of gas...hehe....I'm just thankful it wasn't anything big!!)
• Good books
• The warmth of the fire, oh, and the great crackling sound
• God strengthening me when things get hard....
• Fun times with the Majors
• My mom <3, what a blessing she is to me......such a great example.....
• So many resources we have to know more in-depth and detailed about the doctrines and teachings of the Word of God!
• A fun "virtual trip" to see a good friend ;o)

Because she got to it first....

A couple of my peeps :oP asked to hear the song Kali, Chris and I sang on Sunday. Kali posted it first, so I will just put a link to her post :o) Enjoy!

God wants to hear you sing

Hide and Seek

Kali and I watched the girls while the men were hunting and the moms were visiting people. We had a great time hiding in all sorts of weird spots!! We were on teams, Kali and 'Livia, then Lilly and I. We enjoyed being able to stuff the girls into little spots seeing how little they are! I actually found some really good spots to hide and they couldn't find me for quite a while, it was great!!

Counting and waiting to go look for the hiders....oh, the majors got a new dog (lilly is holding him)! He is so cute, only 3 months old!

They are in a larger cupboard in our laundry room. Lilly was hiding in there, but once they found her olivia wanted to go in as well!

All twisted up

Just because I love 'Livia's face in this one.....lol

Inside of our coffee table...yup...we got pretty tricky!! hehe

Monday

I got a call this morning and my background check came through! So, my first day is Monday and I start at 10 am.! Yay! Its exciting but also kinda nerve racking starting a new job, at this point I'm more excited than nervous though. Actually, on Monday it will be exactly 4 months of not having a job, Wow! Praise the Lord on the other hand that He has now provided one for me!!

Thanksgiving Thursday

• The Lord blessing me with a job!!!
• Talking to my brother over the phone, it was great just to talk for a little bit!
• Having the opportunity to encourage my counsin going through a rough time right now
• The men and women willing to sacrifice to serve and protect our country
• Picture editing abilities :o)
• The little things in life that make me laugh!
• Hunting Season :o)
• Getting all that wood cut last Saturday
• The wonderful ability we have to have a PERSONAL relationship with our Father
• Good friends with whom you can laugh AND cry with
• God never lies
• How small the world really is...
• God is always faithful to provide for our needs

Job Update

I GOT A JOB!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!! Hehe...is that enough of an update?! For those of you who may have not heard the story concerning this job, here goes:

Several weeks ago, I noticed a job pop up on Worksource for a Customer Service Representative at Payday Loans. After talking with my parents and Bro. Majors about it, also praying about it. They all told me they thought that it was no different from giving loans at a bank, people know exactly what they are getting into and its their choice. I picked up an application and filled it out, waiting to see if I would get an interview. I got a call that day asking for an interview on Friday, the next day! The interview came and went and now I was just praying that if it was God's will for me to have the job, He would work everything out. Today, I got a call from the manager asking me some more questions and said that it was between me and two other girls! YAY! I was encouraged just to hear I was one of the top candidates, but trying not to get my hopes up, just in case. He told me he was going to have an answer tomorrow and call me then. Well, not even an hour later he called me and offered me the job!!! Its full-time WITH benefits (after the trial period), and it pays well too! I am SOO thankful to everyone for praying for me concerning a job! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

~Psalms 34:1 "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."~

~Psalms 75:1 "Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare."~

Do I see smoke?!

Sunday evening my dad decided to get a fire going upstairs, first time in the upstairs fireplace! He got it going and we noticed that all the smoke seemed to be spilling out and going into the house. (I guess the damper wasn't open all the way.) So, since the fire was going already we just had to wait it out and see what we (or should I say, my dad) could do later. Needless to say, the upstairs smelt horribly of smoke all night (even with the windows and doors open for a little while). So, we all ventured downstairs to do our Spanish lesson and the dogs were down here to. (The Majors brought their dog Luke.) Anyways, we really couldn't win because Luke was (hmm....) expelling?! (hehe) and it was AWFUL! We were constantly plugging our nose or covering it with something. Sooo, smoke smell upstairs or stinky stinch downstairs...hmm...tough choice!

You can kinda see the smoke, but believe me, it looked much worse in person....

 
                                                            The Culprit

 

I guess 'Livia didn't like the sound of the fire alarm going off! Lol Her face is priceless!

Thanksgiving Thursday

• My dad
• I have another interview tomorrow! I'm going to be a pro at these interviews by the time I finally get a job! lol
• My mom teaching us kids the importance of keeping a house clean :o) (We watched hoarders last night, OH.MY.GOODNESS!! WOW! Thats really all I can say, that and GROSS!!!)
• An unexpected person showing up at our doorstep asking when church was, (we havn't heard from this lady in quite a while), she and her girls came to church Sunday!
• Dad getting the weightlifting machine up in the excerise room, with a tv to do videos and the machine, its ready to go! I've already been exercising in it this week....its so nice to have an extra room set apart for working out....
• Playing games with the family
• Answered prayer
• Text from a previous co-worker/church member with a picture of one of the kids from my last job. I guess he kept saying my name over and over :o) He is two years old and so cute! He is the one that I talked about in this post towards the end of it. I didn't realize HOW MUCH I miss all those kids until I saw that picture.....
• Exchanging emails with a friend that I havn't talked to in a couple years....fun times catching up!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today, October 6th (hey, I havn't gone to bed yet so its still the 6th for me) is my dad's birthday! One more year to enjoy being in the fourties....then the teasing begins :o) What can a daughter say about her dad?! Here are just a few of the things my dad is: he is fun to play around with and giggle together about silly things, he is there to hug me when I'm having a hard time and lets me know he is always there to talk to, he is a great example of how a Godly leader of the home should be, he is grrreat at fixing things :o), he is such a great source of encouragement when I need it the most, he so graciously accepts the many food offerings I have given him over the years (whether it turned out good OR bad, even with the food that didn't turn out so great he is so sweet about it)! God really knew exactly who I needed as a father! I love you so much dad!

  I made one of his favorites, pineapple upside down cake! Mmmm

Dad and his girls :o)

Baking

Chris and Selena were telling us about Chess Pie and how they thought it was SO good. I had never heard of Chess Pie before, I guess its a southern thing. They grew up in Tennessee and I was surprised I had never heard of it because my mom is mainly from Arkansas. So, I found a couple recipes and decided to try it out. I did a regular Chess Pie and a lemon one, because we all love lemon flavored things over here! :o) The regular one wasn't my favorite, it tasted almost eggy, maybe the recipe or maybe its how its suppose to taste. The lemon one was actually pretty good! I think that was everyone's favorite!

    

 I had to try a little piece of both..... :o)

This morning I made Oatmeal Bake for breakfast....mmmmmm!! This has been made in our family for many years, it is soo delicious! Here is the recipe if you would like to try it!

~Oatmeal Bake~

3 c. oats

1 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 c. milk

1/2 butter (melted)

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and put into greased 9 in pan. Bake for 40 minutes and Enjoy!!

Some of my family (myself included) pour milk right over the oatmeal in the bowl, almost like cereal. It's good just eating it plain too!

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Can it be.....

....that its October already?!?!?! Wow, time really does fly these days! Today, being the first day of October, this is how my day panned out.....

• This morning I took a jog around the neighbourhood and it was beautiful! The sun was out and with an iPod in my pocket I was really able to enjoy the run.....gotta love these things....

• 
  
  Went over to Selena's to help her paint Chris' office as a surprise to him while he was gone today. The color was bonnet blue...lol...we have to tease him about that!
• 
  
  Finished Jane Eyre, I had never read it before and when Alyssa gave it to me for a birthday present this year, obviously I wanted to give it a shot! After quite a while without reading it, yesterday and today especially, I tackled it and really got interested in it! Its really good and I loved the ending, a good book HAS to have a great ending!
• 
  
  Finished out the night with a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, oh yeah, there baaaaack!!! Love those things.....fall is here people!!!