Where did the time go?

Do you ever wonder where the time went to in your day, or month, or even year?  Well, that is me tonight.  I was talking with my husband last week.  He is wanting to start blogging.  It made me realize that it had been a while since I have been on my blog.  Tonight I had some time and thought I would get on here and see what is going on, only to realize I have not been on here since the beginning of this year.  So many things have happened to me this year.  I don't even know where to start.  I will not bore you with all that has gone on this past year with me and my family.  I will say that it has been an adventure and I am sure I will have lots to share in the upcoming year.  For now, my goal is to get on here once a week and share my thoughts with anyone who is listening.  Looking forward to a great new season of life!

A new year!

My goal for 2011 was to get back to the basics in my life.  I am still working on that goal, so now it is my goal for 2012.  It is a new year though, and I am much closer to being where I want to be.  I began by cleaning out and organizing my home.  We had too much stuff!  I have had many conversations with friends about how I did this and what I did so I am going to write about it.  It may take me several posts, so bear with me.

I went room by room and made a list on a legal pad of paper.  I do much better when things are written down and this also helped me to let it go.  As long as it was down on paper, I did not have to think about it.  After I had my list for every room, I asked my husband what was the room that bothered him the most.  That is where I started with my de-cluttering and organizing.  Our house has an open floor plan, so our first floor is a great room.  One room leads into the other, and this is the room he picked. It was overwhelming to me, so I took that room and broke it down into parts.  There are many things that are going on in this area: kitchen, school, my desk and our entertainment (television, couch's).  I found quickly that in order for me to organize this area I had to get rid of some things, but mostly I had to relocate them to other areas of the house.  This became a problem because I had no where to go with them.  I wrote down all my ideas for this area and then had to shift my efforts to the basement.  We had so much stuff in our basement that we had path's to walk through it all.  Yes, we had quite a collection of boxes and stuff!  I took it one box at a time, with a goal of at least one box per day.  There were days that the box was easy to go through so I did more than one box.  Soon, it became really easy for me.  I got into a rhythm and was ready to get rid of most of our stuff.  I even got my husband excited so he came down and helped me.  There were some Saturdays that we were down there as a family going through boxes and putting them into the piles (give away, trash, keep).  After a month of working down there almost every day except Sundays, I had cut our boxes down by more than half.  I was so excited and it was fun crossing things off of my list for the basement.

We then organized our basement to make it more functional.  We now had enough room to bring some of the kids toys downstairs that would work and give them more room to play.  I also set up 2 shelves so I can have a pantry which helped me to organize my kitchen better and set up an area for my school supplies and books so I have an area in the basement to keep the stuff I don't use on a daily basis for school.  I will try to get some pictures tonight and give you more details on how I have organized these two areas of my basement.  I will say this, I was in the basement the other night and decided that I am ready to get rid of more stuff.  I still think we have way too much stuff that we are not using.  This time, I will take before and after pictures.  Please let me know if you have any comments as I want to be a help in any way I can.  You may have things to add that may help me too!

School...

It is that time again. I love this time of year. School starts, football games, friends old and new. It even has a different smell to me. Fall is coming and it just gets me excited. To be honest, I love buying school supplies. This year I am teaching all three of my children. My youngest is going to start kindergarten and he is super excited. The exciting thing is as I am preparing to start school with my kids, I am also getting ready to go to my 20 year class reunion. I am looking forward to seeing my friends from High School. It is kind of exciting to see where I have come as a woman, wife, mom and now teacher and to see the hope that I am passing on to my children as not only their mom, but their teacher. This school year is going to be the best one yet as the Lord has allowed me to teach my children again from home!

Change...

Change is a constant thing in our lives, especially with kids. God is really moving in our family and it is exciting and hard. Our daughter is giving us some new challenges as she is developing into a young woman, and they are not easy ones. The cool thing is how God is using this situation to really change our family, in a good way. Through this trying time we have come together and become stronger as a family. Other things we have done is turned the television off and not watched it much at all. It has forced the kids to become even more creative and given us more time to do family things. Well, actually, it has given us more time to pack up our house because it is now for sale. So, in my goal of trying to simplify my life this year I am doing pretty good. I am super excited to see where God is going to take us on this journey and can't wait to see our new home.... where ever it will be!

Simple life

What does that really mean? To live a simple life? How about just getting back to the basics of life. What is the basics of life? For several months now I have been in this purging stage. Just when I think I have gotten rid of enough of my "junk" I realize I still have too much stuff and want to get rid of more. This has been going on for so long now that I think I just want to get rid of everything. I am tired of cleaning around it and having no place to put anything. I realize some of this comes from having 5 people in our house and having a small house, but really, this is because I like things. I want my life to be simple, to get back to the basics. I love the old time movies, where their houses are small and they really don't have anything. Kind of like the Amish today. Eat simple, live simple, enjoy each other and have fun! That is where I want to be. I am on a mission to get rid of more stuff, enjoy my kids way more, and just have more fun! I want to teach my kids that it is not important to have "stuff" but that it is important to be with the people you love and enjoy them and have fun with them. I don't want them to miss out, and I don't want to miss out on them either. So, here is to living a simple life, getting back to the basics, having less stuff, and playing more with my kids!!!!

Week 3

I have done pretty good these past three weeks. We have had some tough things come at us, and through it all I have managed to watch what I eat and not go off my eating plan. I am so proud of myself. This morning when I weighed myself I am down to 222.5 and am super excited. I have lost 10 pounds and am beginning to feel better. I have not been able to walk due to my knees acting up, but am getting that taken care of and hope to be walking by the end of the week. I am excited to see how this is changing my life for the better. So, for now, I am trying to figure out what my desires are and trying to get my life back to the basics. It just has to be easier than this!

Where will you be?

Death. It is a word that really makes you think and evaluate your life. Have you ever watched someone take their last breath? Have you prayed for someone while they were laying in that hospital bed not really sure what to pray but knowing that it may be the last time you get to pray for them or with them? How do you comfort the family who is there and not really walking with the Lord while they watch their loved one die? I am a thinker and I was faced with all of these this past week. Thursday morning we received a called informing us that my husbands step dad went in for emergency surgery for his colon and was okay for the moment, but they were trying to get him stable from the surgery. Thursday evening we got a call telling us that they were not sure if he was going to make it through the night. Friday morning we drove out there to support his mom and brother. We found out that they were waiting on us to take the respirator off and wait and see what happens. He lived for about 20 minutes after that and died at 12:10 on Friday. That is the second time in my life that I have watched someone take their last breath here on earth. The first was my Grandma who had fought for 7 days in hospice before giving in and running into Jesus arms to wait for the rest of us. Friday, seemed completely different to me. Maybe it is because I am in a different place in my walk with the Lord, but it was a tough day for me. Death seems so final. There is no more praying for the person. They have made their choices and are now in eternity somewhere. There is no more encouraging them, loving them, guiding them, praying for them. Now, the only thing left is to love the family that is left behind and pray that somehow through this experience they turn to Christ and change their lives. You never know when you will take your last breath and spend the rest of eternity either in the pits of hell or sitting next to Jesus in heaven. I know that I am living my life to the best of my ability to follow the example of Jesus so that when my body finally goes here on this earth I will have a new one in heaven and spend my days gazing into my Daddy's face! Where will you be for all of eternity?

One week later

Here is a picture of me at 232 pounds. It is the heaviest I have ever been. This was taken last week. I wanted to take a picture of me now so that I remember where I have come from. I have kept to my diet and have been having great success. Today I weighed in at 226. It is more than I expected. Basically, I have watched what I have eaten, high protein and low carbs. I need to drink less diet Pepsi, so that is one goal I have for the future. I drink about four to six glasses of water each day, which is a huge improvement for me! Also, I have worked out each day. Nothing really intense, but got my heart rate up and sweat a lot. I am proud of what I have done! I will continue to post my progress and hope my journey encourages someone to start their weight loss journey too!

Here I go...

Well, my weight loss journey is finally becoming serious to me. This week (Monday) I began a high protein, low carb diet. I have had the help of a dear friend. She took me shopping and hooked me up. She has been giving me support each day as to what I can eat, and what to do if I am hungry. She has been a huge blessing. So, since Monday, I have stuck to the eating plan, I have drank more water, and I have walked each day. I will walk tonight as that is the best time for me right now. I am so excited. I have weighed myself each morning and am looking forward to seeing the pounds start to come off. My goal weight is 150. I am thinking about taking a picture this week so I can see how far I have come. It is hard for me to post things about me personally, but I am trying to be more transparent, so this is a first step for me. When I get my picture up I will post my weight too. I want to document my journey mostly because I want to be able to see with my own eyes where I have come from so I wont go back again. Looking forward to sharing my journey with you!

Miracles...

I have been reading in Genesis and Luke lately. So, today I was reading in Luke 8 which was just packed with some pretty amazing stories. The one that I have been thinking about the most though is the last one, Luke 8:40-56. It begins where a man comes and begs Jesus to come to his daughter who is 12 and dying. As they are walking a woman touches the fringe of his cloak and she is instantly healed. Jesus addresses her, but this is not where I want to focus right now. During His conversation with the woman someone from the mans house came to him and told him that his daughter had died and not to bother Jesus anymore. So they make it to this mans house and Jesus only allows Peter, John and James, the girls mom and dad to go into the house. He told them to stop weeping because she is not dead. Then He took her hand and told her to get up... and she did! Now, Jesus instructed the parents not to tell anyone about this miracle that had just taken place. This is what I have been thinking about all day. They just witnessed a miracle and then told not to say a word about it. I can only imagine how hard that would be. I wonder why Jesus tells some people to run and share the miracle with everyone and others He tells them not to say a word about it to anyone else. Maybe, some miracles are just for the person or persons that are involved. It is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I think it is pretty cool how Jesus is revealing things to me that I have not thought about before. I know this much, I am so thankful that He is still in the healing business and am so excited to see my miracle come about!

The Chase?

Have you ever been told that you should chase after the Lord? Do you chase after him? If you do, what does that mean to you? It is something that I have been pondering and questioning this past week. It is actually something new to me that I have been trying to do in my life. If He is jealous for me, then I should want to chase after Him. One thing I have changed this past week is to give the Lord the best parts of me. I have been dancing with Him, talking with Him, writing love letters to Him and giving Him the best part of my day. It has been amazing to see the transformation in my life by doing these little things, and in my families lives too. Every day, I have set aside time in the early afternoon just to sit at His feet and talk to Him with no agenda of my own. I want to know every part of Him. Have you ever thought about all of His names? There are many, and if He has that many names He must want us to know all about them too. Have you ever wrote Him a love letter, just telling Him how much you are in love with Him? Let me just say, I am more in love with my Jesus today that I ever have been! He is so amazing! Thank You Jesus for loving me!

The scales have been removed...

Wow! So much has happened in the past couple of months. I have changed, my kids have done some pretty amazing things, and I am married to the most amazing husband ever! It is late, and I am tired, but there will be more to come in the future. Hang tight and check back soon because you won't want to miss any of it! All I am going to say is that the scales have been removed and I am seeing things in a new light. The only way to describe it is.... WOW! Thank You Jesus for loving me and not leaving me where I was. For being jealous and wanting to spend time with me. I am so in love with You!

My Daughter!

I am such a blessed woman. God has blessed me with a daughter that is more than I could have ever hoped for. She is so talented. In January she has had two competitions for trampoline and tumbling and she has done a great job. The first one was in Kentucky. She was excited that we had to travel and spend the night in a hotel and that her Grandma was coming with us. What should have been a 3 hour trip ended up being over 5 hours because it decided to snow really heavy when we left. So, the hotel stay was not what she wanted, but turned a great day on Saturday during her competition. She earned a 3rd place on the trampoline and floor and a 1st place on the double mini. This is her posing to take a picture for her Daddy who did not make the trip with us.

Today, she had her second competition and more family was able to make it because it was here in Columbus. She was really nervous, but did a good job. She earned a 3rd place on trampoline and double mini and a 1st place on the floor! It is so exciting to watch her compete. I think as her Mom I am just as nervous as she is. I felt like I was going to compete. It is so cool to see where she has come from in such a short amount of time. She started going to the gym in March of 2010, and not even a year later has had three competitions and two 1st places! What is even more amazing to me is how she learning to God the glory each and every time. I am one proud Momma, and I love watching her grow!

Early Christmas!

Today I had some time and I got me an early christmas present. I am so excited about it too. It is a new cell phone, the Droid 2. I needed a new calendar because my Palm pilot is wearing out and I really did not want to go back to a paper calendar. I have been playing with my new toy for a few hours and now realize that it is going to take me a while to figure it out, but I am having lots of fun with it!

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New Friends

It is not always easy making new friends. I am an extrovert, and have lots of friends, but mostly I keep people at arms length. I don't like to get real personal with people. I am learning that there are only a couple of people who "really know me". Anyway, a couple of months ago a new pastor at our church introduced us to a man and his son. Instantly my husband and him seemed to hit it off. Shortly after that we met his wife and daughter. In just a short time our lives have changed and it is a blessing to watch. My oldest son is very interested in our new friends, and references them often. See, the man we met is deaf, and therefore makes it a challenge for us to communicate with him. However, God is moving our family in ways that I could have never imagined. We have begun to learn sign language, and I must say, I am impatient. I am enjoying getting to know this family, and I really wish that I could sign. His wife is hearing, which makes it a little easier, but it frustrates me when I am not able to talk with him. Anyway, it is really neat watching this relationship develop and watch as God moves in our family. All 3 of our kids are enjoying learning sign language, and one day, we will be able to carry on a conversation with this new friend of ours. So, to my new friends, what a blessing you are to us in so many different ways that I can't even put them into words. I look forward to getting to know you all more and learning more signs too! Thank you for being patient with us as we learn :)

Super Hero Powers

My 3 year old is priceless. Lately we have been watching Curious George in my bed before we start they day. This morning he says to me "Mom, I am thirsty". I say "can you wait a few minutes until the show is over?" He says, "no Mom, I need water so I can have more super hero powers and it can't wait!" I must say that all of this conversation happened over a commercial, and right when I was getting up to get him some water, because he has to have his super hero powers, Curious George came back on and he no longer needed his water. What a blessing he is! I never thought of water giving us super hero powers, but I have a friend who has been encouraging me to drink more water. All I can say is that if I would have known that I would have special powers from drinking water, I would have been drinking more of it! It also got me thinking about the Living Water that we need. I am thankful that I have that to drink and to quench my thirst, because I do not know how I would survive with out my Jesus!

First times...

It is easy to forget what it was like when really started to understand what Christmas was exactly. When your parents would bring out the tree and start to decorate it, how exciting that was just because you knew that it something exciting was going to come. Then, when it was all done, we would turn the lights off and just look at our masterpiece twinkling and sparkling, and giggle with excitement. As the days went on and the end of the month would get closer, I would begin to get even more excited, just wondering what exactly I would be getting under the tree on Christmas morning. Finally, it was Christmas eve! We would get through the day, then go to church, and then it really hit..... Santa was coming!!!!! Christmas eve night always seemed like such a long night to me. The excitement and anticipation would be more than I could handle sometimes. I am sure over the next month I will share more stories with you, but tonight it is all about my kids. Mostly about my youngest, little E. He is 3 and he is so excited about Christmas he is about to bust. Today after church we were walking through Walmart and "Santa" was walking down the isle. Little E just got so excited that he ran up to him and gave him a big hug. This is huge for him because he does not just go up to anyone, but for some reason, this year, he is really into Santa. Later we saw him in the back of the store and he sat on his lap and just smiled. It was precious! All little E wants for Christmas is a new choo choo (he is very into Thomas the train) and that is all he is talking about too. Little E keeps adding to his story about what is going to happen during this Christmas season, and I am loving his story each and every time too. He gets so excited ever time we talk about it, or watch a movie about it. He is starting to get that he will get presents on Christmas morning and I think I am more excited to see his face than anything. He was telling me today that he is not really going to go to sleep, but fake it so he can get up right away and get his presents. I don't know how this year is going to play out completely yet, but I do know this much, it has been such a blessing to watch him discover this holiday. It has also been neat to listen to my older two explain what is going to happen, and tell him that Jesus is really the reason for Christmas and how all of it makes Christmas special!

blah...

This week has just been blah. It is now 3am and I am wide awake! So, here I am on my computer thinking of something to write and wishing I could get to sleep. Tonight was a great night to end this week with. I was blessed to be able to have dinner with my Mom and finish up my Christmas shopping. Well, I still have some dollar things to put in the stockings, but other than that I think I am finally done! While I was out, my hubby and kids put up our tree. It looks so good! I think I am finally getting excited about Christmas.... finally! My goal now is to have everything wrapped by the weekend before Christmas so that I can sit back and enjoy every day of the holiday season, and celebrate the real meaning of Christmas... JESUS!!!!

Friends :)

I am so thankful that the Lord gave us friends. They are always there when you need them, and when you think you don't need them. The older I get, the more I am learning about myself. One of the things I am learning is that when things get really difficult for me, or there is something going on in my life that is really tough for me I shut myself off from everyone. I don't get depressed, but I don't really share anything with anyone and try to "work it out" on my own. Well, that is not working anymore and the Lord is using my friends to show me this. He is revealing things to my friends and they are asking me about them and they don't even know it. I can say this much, I am so very thankful for each and every one of you! You are so very precious to me. "Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul." Proverbs 27:9 To you, my dear friends, thank you for refreshing my soul and helping me get back on track. For showing me that you can be trusted and that you love me. I LOVE YOU TOO!!!!!

Pumpkin Seeds :)

I love pumpkin seeds. I love getting big pumpkins, scooping out the slimy seeds, washing them off and baking them. Most of all, I love eating them! This year the kids helped me with all of it. Little E loved getting his hands wet and playing with the slimy seeds in the water. He had water everywhere and was really upset when we were done. J and T loved scooping them out of the pumpkin. I tried a different way of baking them this year and I think I found a new way. I dried all the seeds before I baked them. Then covered them with some butter and salt and then baked them until they were golden brown. Yummy! These were the best seeds I have made in a long time. I have 2 more pumpkins to cut into and I can't wait. They are a special pumpkin that is not supposed to have the shell of the seed on them, just the seeds. They are used in making oils, but are really good to eat the seeds too. I cannot wait to try them. I am also going to attempt to make my first pumpkin pie completely from scratch. I have a couple of pumpkins that are good for baking, so I am hoping to get to that here in the next few days. I love this time of year and can't wait to try my new pumpkins!