Meme and Awards

My jr high, high school, college and lifelong friend, Jodi, has started a blog and she has tagged me for "The Fantastic Four Meme". Head on over and say hi to her from me.

The rules to play the Fantastic Four Meme are simple:

Copy/paste the questions into your blog
Type in your answers
Tag four people on your list
Don’t forget to change the answers to your own!

FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER AND OVER:
WalMart
Shed (to do laundry - John goes after dark :)
On my walk
Church

FOUR PEOPLE WHO EMAIL/IM ME REGULARLY:
My Sisters and Mom
Hi-D
Facebook notices
Blogger notices

FOUR PLACES I LIKE TO EAT:
Taco Bell (seriously)
Pasghetti's
Starbuck's (coffee IS food, people, but only in the winter :)
With my family

FOUR PLACES I’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
In a house
In a house
In a house
In a house
(only because one of those winter storms that I don't like is outside and it is supposed to be 26 overnight)

FOUR TV SHOWS I COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
Survivor (the only one I watch regularly now)

I tag YOU!

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A few weeks back, I received an award from sweet Susan at Penless Writer. She has started the "Hearts in 1 Accord" prayer blog. If you are interested in praying, please click on the button on my left sidebar and email Susan to be a part of it.



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Finally, I also received this very nice award from my bloggy friend Kristin at Loving Life. Kristin always has a great attitude, wonderful tips for the kitchen and a beautiful new house that she and her husband built themselves.

This is the Lemonade Award and it is given for great attitude or gratitude. I thought of it also as being able to take Lemons and Make Lemonade. I am only accepting this if it is Turkey Hill Lemonade :) Just kidding!

I want to pass this one along to:
1. Susan - I know you received it from someone else before I sent it, but I am sending it anyway because I think you have a wonderful outlook on life. Watching you go through Mickey's heart issues with such faith, grace, patience, and even humor was definitely some mighty fine lemonade.
2. Paige at New Mercies. Her faith has carried her through some difficulties in this past year.
3. Ginger at Just a Thought. I always enjoy reading her blog - she has a wonderful sense of humor, a realness about her and she reminds me a LOT of my best friend's Mom. Although I am not always great at commenting, I do enjoy her perspective even when she is going through troubled times.

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16 coats...

For our family of four - we have at least 16 coats!!! The weather is crazy here in AL - one day warm, the next frigid.

So, why 16? That's 4 per person!

For each person:
1 cold weather heavy coat for public
1 cold weather heavy coat for working in
1 cool weather coat for public
1 cool weather coat for working in

Yeppers - 16 coats ... in a camper ... with no closet space.

I just had the really funny thought that our "master suite" in the camper is probably similar to the size of our walk-in closet in our last house. Now, that's funny (for me, at least :)!

One year ago...

I started this blog! We had just got broadband in the camper and a good friend from PA had recommended it (thanks, LA).

My intention, as is with most of you, was to update family and friends in our growing number of "homes".

Truly, I had no idea how much fun it would be - the most exciting thing has been getting to "know" so many people that I would likely never have met. Thank you for all of your comments, encouragement, and for just visiting! It has been my pleasure meeting you here.

My prayer is that you see Him here - that you know more of Him and praise Him for all He has done. My prayer also is that you know Him personally and that you seek Him. He truly is ALL we need!

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Oh how cool is this? I just went back and checked to make sure that this was in fact the correct date, ended up reviewing my first article and as only God would have it - the same verse came to mind tonight that I closed with back then. Full circle. Praise you Lord!

Positive twist to all of the cold...

Since it appears that almost the entire US is in a cold snap, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the positive sides of the cold :)

1. Soup!
2. Good excuse for coffee anytime - all the time (I know there are some of you that do that already)
3. Hot chocolate with whipped cream
4. I don't have to worry about laundry (my washer is frozen)
5. All the funny jokes about global warming. I really like the one I saw about "Minnesotans for Global Warming" bumper stickers!
6. Relaxing - both kids are reading for school right now. Aaahhh.
7. Computer time
8. Running all of this water has got to help our well :)
9. Kinda glad to be in AL where the temps are at least above 0
10. Crisp walks!
11. All three dogs enjoying being inside. Lilly has the most hair and normally likes just staying outside - even she has decided inside might be better.

What are you doing to combat the cold weather?

Kids say the funniest things...

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During school Monday, we were discussing History and a review of the US Presidents. I was trying to give them a background of what it means that we have a president - trying to explain about the major "parties".

Me:"There's a Republican Party and a Democratic Party"

Hadden (excitedly interrupting me): "Oh, Mom, ... and Birthday Party".

Ah, yes, son ... birthday party.

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Later on in that same lesson, we were going through a book that listed the presidents and had a little piece of trivia for each. About half-way through, Savannah says (in all seriousness)

S: "I don't know that I want to be president"

Me: "Oh, really? Why?

S: "It seems kind of stressful. Jetta (from Clifford) wants to be president, but I don't think I want to."

Please don't learn from Jetta on Clifford! She's the one we don't want you to learn from!!

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In other news - we are in a cold snap (I guess like the rest of the country, eh?) so we ended up buying another space heater to keep warm. Ahhhh - now there is one dedicated to the "Master Suite" (as John calls it).

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I started my new Bible study tonight - Beth Moore's "Jesus the One and Only". I am excited to get back into a structured Bible study.

These were a couple of the verses that she pulled out that jumped out at me.

Amos 8:11-12 The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

This was in reference to the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments.

She had some really interesting things to say about famine coming before fullness - that perhaps "famine" comes in order to "encourage us into fullness". She left us with the question "what is your famine?" (I can't ever reiterate what she says very well - you'll just have to watch it for yourself :)
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Finally, UPS is straightened out with finding our address! Hallelujah! The driver is training us to "fetch", though, and finds it convenient for us to drive the 5 miles on the dirt road to meet him. I guess I don't really blame him :) I couldn't help but think today "you know you are redneck when the UPS driver asks you to meet him at the mailbox ... and the mailbox is 2.5 miles away ... from your camper :)"

How lovely on the mountain ...

We all took a walk together this morning. It was a beautiful, crisp, frosty morning here in AL and we were able to enjoy the frost on leaves, grass, and trees that were all glistening in the sun. There are also little "icicles" that heave up from the ground in the sandy soil and it is fun to crunch your way through them.

In the middle of our walk, Savannah found a flat stick about 1 foot long and covered with frost that she just "had" to have. I have to confess that I am not always the most patient with her when she finds her treasures - mainly because she wants to save everything! (side note: last week at my hair appointment, she wanted to save some of my hair - need I say more?)

I tried unsuccessfully a couple of times to get her to drop the stick - she was carrying it in both hands and it was awkward for her to carry. I was not getting anywhere, so decided to just "choose my battles" and let her learn the hard way. (can I get some sympathy from you parents?)

You really have to take the walk with me to understand it fully, but it is down a pretty big hill about 3/4 of a mile and then back UP that same hill for about 3/4 of a mile. It does roll a little for a few breaks, but nevertheless the first half of the walk is much easier than the second half.

So, she gets tired and wants to take a break ... (carrying a stick in both hands while walking up a hill - truly, it's tiring enough without carrying anything, let alone a stick in both hands)

Then, her hands are cold ... (hmmm - "Do you think that maybe holding onto a frozen piece of wood might have anything to do with it???") I again suggested that she let go of the stick and enjoy walking instead. To no avail.

Daddy also tried gently ... also with no success.

AND then it hit me - how much is that a picture of us and God at times? We want to carry the burden ourselves - do things our own way - be independent and stubborn, just because we want to have it our own way.

Well meaning people with our best interests in mind (I really did want to help her see that she didn't need that stick! I love her and wanted her to not have to be burdened down with it.) try to steer us back on track, try to show us the right way to go, try to help us ...

and.we.just.won't.listen.

I have so been there. Doing it my own way. Stubborn. Not listening to anyone - knowing they were right, but maintaining my independence - my right to choose for myself. Not pretty.

What happened next was just so tender to me (and John had no idea what was going on in my heart) -

Daddy stopped, turned around and came back and took her stick from her and carried it himself

... the rest of the way up the hill...

Do you see it? Do you see the picture that I saw? Our Heavenly Father is SO LIKE THAT - He desires to carry those burdens for us. He want us to let go and leave behind those things that hold us back.

It was no longer just about Savannah ... or me ... it is about us - you and I. If there is something in your life that He is asking you to let go of - LET GO!!! Let Him carry it. He is able and He wants to. Listen to those well-meaning people in your life - they love you and care about you and can see things differently than you can. Let go!

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I have a new profile picture!!!

If you are new to reading my blog, I am not normally this selfish and vain - but it's my birthday, so I am taking a little liberty - please bear with me.

I finally have a new profile picture! It has been over a year since I changed it, so it has been wayyy overdue. I finally got my hair cut this past week (also wayyy overdue) and with John's help, today was the day to get it updated!

Also - my dear hubby and kids bought me a flat iron curling iron (bless his heart, he didn't have a clue what that was when he went in the store - and still ventured to buy one. Now, that's manly!)

They also got me some other wonderful gifts - a storage cube (to get more "space" in the camper), a gift card for new sneakers (yippee!), a new game called Rummikub, a Farside book (already working on the laughing more :), and yet to be tasted - a brownie cheesecake!

Here is the picture that I chose to use - b & w version and color. I decided to go with color.





I also know that hair is not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things, but I have had my share of frustrations with finding a hair dresser here. (hence the reason for diy coloring and for my growing it out). I met a sweet lady at our church who is a hair dresser and decided to give her a try and I will definitely be going again. She was extremely reasonable and my hair feels SO much better. Also, instead of chastising me for coloring my hair at home, she actually gave me tips to help me do it better.

Hope you are having a wonderful day ~ I will back to less selfishness and vanity next time :)