So about that "love" thing

I've read two posts already today mentioning love and it's not even February!  :)  I've been wanting to do a post about Valentine's Day.  I was talking to a girl the other day who is here at the college at our church.  We are the same age and we're both single.  A comment she made about Valentine's Day was kinda-sorta like she was dreading it because she knew she wouldn't get flowers or anything.  This year, I have come to the realization that Valentine's Day is ok even if you're single!  {I told her that.}  I think partly the reason I feel this way is because I'm not in a college setting to see all these girls with dates and flowers, etc...

People, they had Valentine's stuff out in Target on December 26th!  I walked in there and could not believe my eyes!  But I had an epiphany in the month of January.  Seeing that Target is my favorite store and they have adorable Valentine's stuff I realized that Valentine's Day is ok!  It's pink + red + hearts....what's not to love?  :)

Today, I was itching for a new background {again...I must have a disease!} and once I uploaded this new one, I actually read the tag on the right.  "Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale."  That may be a little premature for me...but here's to hoping {I mean...knowing} that someday, my Heavenly Father will give me my "fairy tale" {whatever that means}!

Since this blog is also my journal of all the interesting things I do {riiiiiiiight}, I thought I'd do a post on my Wednesday.  What made me think of this is that I'm eating lunch and it is leftovers from my lunch yesterday.

Here goes.

I had a doctor's appt. in downtown Chicago.  I didn't even look up directions because my Mom knows where to go.  It was very interesting trying to get there.  We didn't get lost but we had to take some detours.  We took our jerky {as in bumpy} little red van because the parking garages there are smaller than what we're used to. 

And it was very cold downtown yesterday.  I wore my high-heeled boots.  The warmth factor is literally 0.  My Mom looked h-o-t in her plain, black coat and warm Blondo boots.  Let me tell you about my Mom's "plain, black coat."  My Dad bought my Mom's Christmas gift early.  She needed a new coat and they picked it out together.  So when they came home, they kept saying {literally said it several times}, "It's just a plaaaaaaain, black coat, nothing fancy, just a plaaaaaaaain, black coat."  I'm imagining in my mind this 90's-era black coat with weird lapels and a deep V-neck {get the picture}.  After it got altered {because she's so tiny}, the plaaaaaaain, black coat came home.  It is h-o-t.  It has an optional tie belt.  It buttons all the way up with a smart little collar.  Absolutely adorable.  Anyways, back to Wednesday.

So then for lunch after repeatedly missing the exit and/or turns for one restaurant, we ended up going to a Jewish restaurant.  I've been there once.  And when my Mom was sick the first time, this particular restaurant was in the vicinity of the hospital where she spent a lot of time.  My Dad would pick up Matzo ball soup for her. 

I am NOT a meat person.  I'm absolutely not a vegetarian but I'm not huge on eating a lot meat.  I will eat vegetables and bread over a steak, any day.  But I had this huge urge for meat yesterday.  So I ordered a Reuben sandwich.  There was literally enough meat for 3 1/2 sandwiches.  The guy behind the counter looks at me and says, "You sharing?"  I'm like, "Nope, not me!" Rye + cornbeef + saurekraut +swiss chees = goodness!!  The sandwich was so huge that I have already eaten 1 1/2 sandwiches for lunch today and there is still more left over!

It was a great day! Plus I worked in the late afternoon. 

I love my Mom.  We have so much fun doing things together.  I'm so lucky + blessed that she's still here with us.

Plans for the rest of the week include:

*church tonight
*work tomorrow
*going downtown again tomorrow night - whoop!
*making 30 pre-assembled crafts for Jr. Church on Sunday - joy!

ok, so last night...

Well, you must know that my parents go to bed "early," {whatever that means}.  And the kitchen is right above their bedroom {thank you, Mr. Bi-level}.  And as teenagers, we carefully avoided being too loud in the kitchen for fear of waking my dad @ night.

So, after work night at church last night, my brother went to get Chinese food at a local place.  I had a penchant for some ice cream to "soothe my stomach."  :)  It's 10:30pm, and my parents are in bed because my dad has to get up at the unearthly hour of 4am to get to the airport on time. 

Geoff and I are standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, not talking, just munchin'. 

Then we hear the quiet shut of the bedroom door downstairs, and hear my dad coming up the stairs.  We both just paused, hands poised above our bowls with eating utensils in hand and say, "Hi Dad."

He says, "I can't sleep so I thought I'd get some yogurt and granola."

We were absolutely cracking up.  Here it is, 10:30 at night and 3 of the 4 of us are standing in the kitchen, eating, and having a gab-fast.  It was so fun! 

We stayed up until a little after 11:30 talking about mortgages, mortgage companies vs. banks, buying houses {not my Dad}, and I don't even know what else.

Good memories! 

PS - And my Dad said today that he wasn't even tired even though he only got 4 1/2 hours of sleep.  (??..that definitely would not have been me.)

why? why? why?

WHY do I have hard time trusting God?  It's easy to trust in [this area] but harder to trust in [this area]. 

What in the world?

Once again, an excellent sermon was preached in church tonight.  The theme at our church this year is centered around revival.  Our pastor has a burden for our church to see revival. 

The sermon tonight was about seeking/needing the presence of God.  One of the areas preached on was that we cannot have the presence of God if we have an idol in our life.  The specific idol preached was the idol of self.  The Holy Spirit absolutely smote my heart that my idol of self is distrust.  I'm hanging on to whether or not I feel a certain way or have a specific emotion.  When the problem is that I am holding up my self idol of distrusting God.  I think sometimes God takes away a specific emotion so that we give all and simply trust Him. 

One of my fears in my little etsy business is that I get so used to looking up Scripture and giving it others that I fail to apply it to my life.  Scary.  Of course, I still read my Bible every day but my etsy business started because of a personal goal, a personal burden. 

I just want to say that I really need God.  Really, really need Him.  And I am scared of getting cold towards the things of the Lord.  Ever feel that way?  Do you have a hard time trusting?  I plan to memorize Scripture verses to combat that.  What do you do?  Do you have a favorite verse?

The Simple Woman's daybook

FOR TODAY
JANUARY 21st

Outside my window...grey skies, snow, a little ice-covered {beautiful, bright sunshine popped out a minute ago but now it's gone.}
I am thinking...about how it will be very soon until the Lord returns {just read today in Mark the words..."earthquakes in divers places."}
I am thankful for...a friend who called me yesterday
From the kitchen...I made a TX Sheet Cake earlier this week for above friend
I am wearing...nothing glamorous
I am creating...some type of blanket-creation on the Knifty Knitter
I am going...to church tonight
I am reading...through Mark
I am hearing...the computer hum
Around the house...I need to hang some {cute, bird} pictures in my bathroom
One of my favorite things...my cute Valentine's latte cup from Target {that I bought on December 26th...a little early for Valentine's day, wouldn't you say?!}
A few plans for the rest of the week...work tomorrow, normal weekend
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

me and my beautiful Aunt Sue...it's her bday this weekend!








Credit goes here

my new favorite quote

Heard this quote today:

What have you done today that only a Christian would do?

-Corrie ten Boom-

So here we are!

This is me and Sara Smith.  We were best friends in kindergarten.

We found each other yesterday through our blogs.  Crazy!  And it was her that found me.  I can be so dense that I did not recognize her name on her blog.  And I do not have my last name on my blog so she had to ask me.  Wow!  It truly is a small world.

What do I remember about her?

Going to her birthday party which was themed as a dress-up tea party.

Going to her house to play.

I remember being best friends.

After she moved, the house she lived in on Calumet Avenue turned into a beauty salon.  I went to that beauty salon when it first opened because that's where my friend had lived.

Yesterday was so crazy!  There were lots of flurried emails being exchanged for almost an hour.  I had such an adrenaline rush that I was tired the rest of the night. haha!  :)

The only thing I can end this post with is WOW!

contemplating...

...what I should write on.  Let me just say that I love blogging.  I have always been a terrible journal-keeper.  But I love that I love to blog; it's {kinda-sorta} like an online journal for me - in some ways more than others.  I love looking back in my archives; it's such a great reminder of things that have happened or trials/victories experienced.

Anyways, so I could blog about how today was c-r-a-z-y {forgot a pick-up on my shuttle list, woke up late, unbeknowingly and accidentally dropped half of my story for jr. church out of my bag} and hilario {hilarious little 4 yr. olds in class today} and happy {saw my blog friend Anne today at church}.

Or I could do a post about my current knifty knitter project.  Boring.  Anyone interested?  Probably not!  haha!!  :)

Or I could blog about how I miss my younger brother so much.  Hurts so bad. 

But I'm gonna write about what was on my mind on Friday night.  My youngest brother and I went to a wrestling match at the school on Friday night.  It was the first wrestling  match that I have been to in a very long time.  My brothers grew up wrestling but then our school started a basketball team when I was in 8th grade.  Then, they started the wrestling team back up again after I was out of high school.

Saying all that to say that the verse that says "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world" came into such a clear word picture for me the other night.

I was once again having a great conversation with my Mom on Saturday night about how the d*vil fights us.  I honestly think that Christians think that the Christian life is just easy-breezy wonderful, smelling the roses, and walking on clouds all of the time.  That is not reality.  If we're trying to serve the Lord and trying to stay holy, I think the d*vil points his big guns at us because we're a threat to him.  Whether it's sickness, discouragement, loneliness, temptation, we are under attack.  OF COURSE, we have the answer and the strength for every trial that is found in Christ alone.

But I'm telling you, watching those guys wrestle just reminded me of how my life is sometimes.  It is a tiring, knock-down, drag-out fight sometimes between the world, the flesh, and the d*vil.  Ever feel that way?
Some of our guys pinned their opponent.  For this to happen, the guy has to hold his opponent on his back for a certain number of seconds.  To declare a pin, the referee blows the whistle and slaps the mat.  And then everyone cheers!  I was thinking about how that applied to my life. When I do get the victory, I know there are people cheering for me!  I know God is on my side! 

I have a quote in my Bible that says, "It's the suffering in this life that causes us to long for Heaven."  Amen to that!  Except, I'm not ready for Heaven yet.  I don't feel like I would get a "well done, thou good and faithful servant" from my Lord.  That's convicting but oh-so-true.

Hopefully, this is just an encouragement to you if you feel like you're never going to get to the top of a problem or situation.  We have the victory in Christ.  You are not alone.  In the end, you will win!  Don't give up! 

PS - Now, maybe you'd better watch a wrestling match so you know what I'm getting at.  :) haha!!

call me political

Today, I went to our Congressman's town forum.  Remember back in August when I went to his "town hall meeting?"  Oh yes, I was very energized after that! 

After that meeting, I signed up for our local tea party's updates. They keep us very informed and I have attended several of their events.  Have any of you been to a tea party event?  They are so fun to go to!

Well, after my first initial dive into staying informed {back in August}, I had determined in my mind to remember first and foremost that I am a CHRISTIAN.  It would be easy for me to become very involved simply out of momentum, excitement, and patriotism. 

Today, my purpose in going was simply to hear what Congressman Pete had to say.  I didn't want to ask any questions.  My conclusion:  I think he is all things to all men.  He sounded good to me today {in some areas} but I know he is simply a politician.  Actually, one citizen called him out on something that he had said in August and then said differently today.  Very keen observer! 

I could go on about all the things he said today and it would bore you but I do feel once again the urge to remind my readers to stay informed and contact your Congressman and/or Senators.  A friend sent me a link to a new website called Repeal It.  The idea is to continue to fight the health care bill and if it is passed, to begin efforts to repeal the bill.  Here is the website:  http://www.repealit.org/. 

I would love to know if any of you stay current with a tea party!  Our tea party is very energetic!  :)

I.

TRUST.

GOD.

even when I don't understand
even when the way is dark
even when life is not perfect
even when it seems like I'm all alone

*because HIS ways are higher than my ways, and HIS thoughts are higher than my thoughts {Isaiah 55:9}
*because even though it may be dark, if I am upright, there will arise "light in the darkness" {Psalm 112:4}
*because HE "will perfect that which concerneth me" {Psalm 138:8}
*because HE will cover me with his feathers and under HIS wings I will trust {Psalm 91:4}

Today is going to be a GREAT day.  The sun is shining.  It is glistening off the brilliant snow.  It will be a wonderful day, even though I still have puffy eyes and I have to get my picture taken for my passaporte. :)

endless gifts {196-210}

196. work
197. provision
198. really warm boots
199. fun kids who ride our bus to church {I mean, HILARIOUSLY, FUN to be with.}
200. excellent, appropriate message in church last night
201. interesting, exciting, challenging lesson in Sunday school yesterday {plus, it will be continued over the next several weeks!}
202. getting to stay home all day
203. Mom giving me tips as I start my quilt
204. my cute, little, sweet Granny
205. sweet note from my Oma
206. waking up with a smile and actually being WIDE awake - yes, this did happen!  :)
207. coffee that was pre-set, already brewed, ready when I wake up
208. fudge coffee - can I hear a YUM?!
209. little candles in the windows sending out a warm glow
210. anticipation of my cello lesson tomorrow - yay - it's been forever!!

snowman clips

 the front

The more years there are between me and student teaching, the less ideas I feel that I have for bus route and jr. church.  We didn't run our bus last week because of extreme snow in the county where we pick up, so I was able to delay the winter decorations on bus by another week. 

I had an AHA moment earlier today!  {love those!}  We pass out worksheets each Saturday for the kids to do and we encourage them to bring them on Sunday morning.  Sometimes, my Dad will hand out a prize for bringing their worksheets back but not always.  He does it randomly. 

As I was looking through my crafting stuff this afternoon, I found a whole bunch of clothespins that I had used for something else a while ago.  Snowmen + worksheets + clothespins + magnet strips = an idea!!

I downloaded a clip to our Print Artist program from Microsoft Office and added the name box at the bottom.  Printed these cuties off on cardstock.  Cut, add a name, then laminate, cut some more, add glue to the clothespin, attach the snowman, attach the magnet strip and boom!...do this 35 times and I'll have one side of the bus decorated.  My idea is that when they bring back their worksheet, they can pin them up instead of taping {like we normally do}.

the back

As I've mentioned before, please feel free to use this idea for yourself.  I'm always looking for new ideas and would love to help you out, too!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY...January 7th

Outside my window...snow, snow, snow, snow and I am LOVING it!
I am thinking...about what I'm hearing on the radio right now; failures in the security department at the airport and it's extension into the current administration
I am thankful for...all of the snow we're getting...I've been waiting for it
I am wearing...green-striped elbow shirt, zip up sweatshirt, long jean skirt
I am remembering...about the b-ball game we went to last night for a teen girl that comes to our church
I am going...to church tonight
I am currently reading...through Matthew
I am hoping...I get everything accomplished on my list today
On my mind...a post I want to write
Noticing that...there are still leaves on one tree in our yard
Pondering these words...If God is putting you through a spell of submission, and you seem to be losing your individuality and everything else, it is because Jesus is making you one with him. -Oswald Chambers- {This quote meant a lot to me several years ago when I was going through a difficult time; I just recently came across the quote again and LOVE it!}
From the kitchen...I'm making scalloped potatoes & ham tonight for dinner
Around the house...the house looks great after some re-organizing efforts by my Mom the other day {I love getting rid of things.}
One of my favorite things...my warm boots
From my picture journal...

My Opa making our German rye bread last Thanksgiving...he is TOP DOG in our family for making rye bread!

CREDIT GOES HERE

so I can get my name entered FIVE MORE TIMES!!

I'm linking here to Beneath My Heart.

I first found her when a blog I followed mentioned some cute coasters that Traci @ Beneath My Heart had made.  I love her simple, can-do-it-yourself craft how-to's.

Have you seen Lisa Leonard's jewelry??

Oh boy, you are in for a treat if you have not.

That is why I'm typing up this post. 

Because I left a comment on Traci's post + being a follower + doing a post about the giveway = 7 entries in the giveway.

So hop over there if you haven't already (who hasn't anyways?) and take a look around!!

gotta love photo editing!!

before

after

before

after

before

after

endless gifts {177-195}

177. grace
178. conviction
179. salvation
180. prayer
181. a new year
182. new beginnings
183. my hilarious family
184. answered prayer
185. yummy food
186. useful, needed gifts
187. an encouraging note
188. free photo editing
189. gorgeous, sparkly snow
190. laid-back days
191. Christmas memories stored away for another year
192. another cute, adorable, sweet, funny cousin added to our family {yay, Janelle!}
193. chattin' with my cousin {yay, Sara Joy!}
194. an awesome Sunday school lesson that I heard
195. a convicting sermon I heard the other day on my ipod

just a little irritated

I cannot tell you how much I dislike our current internet filter. 

Ten minutes ago, I was checking my email.

Right now, it is currently blocked.  How convenient!! 

My email, people, I just want to get on my email.

Ri-di-culous!!

Of course, I'm glad we have a filter to squeeze out the bad stuff.
What internet filter do you use?  I am so curious because when I purchase my own computer, I will be campaigning for a different internet filter for more than one reason.

Sunday Scripture

But we glory in tribulations also:

knowing that tribulation worketh

patience;

And patience,

experience;

and experience,

hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed;

because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 5:3-5

on my ipod-love this song!

In my time of trouble when God seemed far away
He brought me down upon my back and humbly there I lay.
Then I reached up with heavy hands, placed myself in His Master plan
And cried out, "God of Mercy, don't give up on me.

Chorus:
"Lord, don't give up, don't give up on me.
I've failed You, betrayed You, draw me closer to Thee."
I'm yearning for those nail-pierced hands to hold me tenderly
"So as I pray, Lord don't give up on me.".

A glimpse of hope I now can see, a glimmer of His light.
He's opened the windows of mercy, gates of grace swing open wide
The devil tempts and tries to destroy my soul and then he tries to steal my joy
But God holds the master key.  No, He won't give up on me.

Chorus
Chorus, again!

"So as I pray, Lord don't give up on me."

Happy New Year's

Me and my 87 year-old Granny.

I bet she never dreamed that she would live until 2010. 

In the '20 & '30's, the new century probably seemed a lifetime away.