Friday's Letters - Woop woop!

Dear Friday's Letters,

I'm so glad it's Friday.  I'm almost always glad it's Friday! :) The week has been a mismash of work and play, but all in all, it's been ok. Let's start on these letters, how about it?

Dear God, Thank You.  Although my news isn't perfect, it's better than what I feared.  I've tried hard to just breathe and have faith that You have the larger picture in mind. I failed many times over the past two months, but you keep picking me back up and giving me a hug. Thanks for your love. And thanks for surrounding me with so many great Christian people who encourage me and pray for me - it's so wonderful. THANK YOU.

Dear Week, two DR appointments in one day isn't exactly fun.Especially when I discover I need READING GLASSES in addition to my contacts? What what? So I'm on a quest to find cute reading glasses. I really want purple.  AND then the tummy doctor said all my tests continue to be normal. *sigh* Yes, that's good! But it also leaves us somewhat shooting in the dark to address the pains and sickness I get sometimes with eating. Fun stuff.

Macy at the Children's Museum

Pink fingernails and piggies

Sweet niece #2 and me. :)

Dear Macy, you've been such a sweetie and I've enjoyed every moment with you.  The Children's Museum and lunch with MawMaw, PawPaw and your Mommy was such a treat! Then painting your fingers and piggies - you are too cute!! I love you and your sister so much!

Dear Timehop, I love seeing what I was posting about or talking about this same day in years past.  I find it interesting that this is the blog I posted 365 days ago:  Listen. Pray. Faith. 

Can you see him hiding??

There he is!  

Dear Great Pumpkin, Ok so you had us fooled for a while thinking you were a squash plant. Then you showed your colors and you are a volunteer pumpkin, in our flower bed at work! I toss my frufru pumpkins in the end of the flower beds at the end of autumn, so I guess that's where you started.  However, since you are dangling over the edge of the flowerbed, you aren't going to last too long.  We have to figure out how to get you back in the bed or support you somehow. (see here and here for FruFru Pumpkin tutorials)

Dear SheReadsTruth, Congratulations on your new app! It's beautiful! I'm currently going through Ruth, and I so enjoy it.  I am disappointed in having to pay for plans (sorry, being honest) when YouVerison plans are free? But the beauty included in everything you have to offer, it's great. And the community I can plug into is also great.  Check it out if you haven't already folks!

Dear Weekend, you promise to allow for little rest, so let's get out there and enjoy ourselves!  Ya'll have a great weekend and we'll see you back here next week!

My First Kickstarter Gift!

I'm pretty excited, ya'll.  I've given to various places/charities.  I've found teaching things online at the Donors Choose and helped out a school project.  But this is my first Kickstarter Campaign and I'm so excited!  Mainly because it's one I really get behind and believe in.

Ok OK! So what is it?!

She Reads Truth

What is She Reads Truth and why do they have a Kickstarter Campaign? Weeeellllll, I'm glad you asked. :)  I stumbled upon #SheReadsTruth from someone else's blog and checked into it.  Basically, it's a devotional for women, by women, and it's really cool. I first started reading the plans using my Bible App - YouVersion.  Loved it.  They have a writing style that I "get."  I started understanding the Bible through these devotions and things really started opening up for me.  It was exciting.  And the folks commenting on the website were great, too. It would be so encouraging to see someone else read and understood the same thing I did!  This is what put me onto reading my Bible on a daily basis.

They've moved away from them and are running the devotionals solely from their website at this point (or so I think).  It's a little more cumbersome, still the great messages and energy, but just a little more cumbersome.

Needless to say, I'm over the moon about this app.  Because this, my friends, will be awesome.

So I'm sharing the info with you for a few reasons - one: if you have wanted to get closer to God, to learn what He says, what He wants for you, what He is all about - this may be a good place for you to start.  It really helped me.  It's definitely made changes in my life. (Not #SheReadsTruth, but the Lord through this avenue.) two: if you find you like it and would like to help promote God's word to people - specifically women - all over the world, please consider a contribution.

I'm excited. I'm a dork, I know. I've been wanting to find something to endorse on Kickstarter... so happy to have found my avenue to do so! :)

Go check out She Reads Truth!

Friday's Letters

Dear weekend, I'm very excited about the pottery show you have in store for me!! Fun time with my mom and sister, too, so Come On Weekend, Let's Get Started!!  Dear Sweet Nieces, last weekend was wonderful with you both home. I'm so very thankful God brought both of you into my life. Dear Pintrest, I'm really happy to see so many felt food tutorials posted on your site. Sweet Niece #2 will have a Felt Farmer's Market before I'm done! (for her Christmas present!). Dear Crafty Coworker, your hats are looking so adorable! I love them so much and can't wait for Sweet Niece #1 to try her bright colored hat on next weekend! Dear cold weather, I hate you. Just an FYI.

Dear wonderful pen pal and friend, Thanks for the GREAT pick-me-up ... and for Macy's bows! What a special person you are to be so thoughtful! And it arrived on my doctor day, so it couldn't have been any better timing. Dear Minute Clinic, I love you and your speedy visits. I'm hoping I like your price better than my regular doctor, too. Dear #SheReadsTruth, I can't express how much I am enjoying (in a very painful way b/c my toes are being stepped on!) this study in James. Thank you for your efforts for all of us. Dear Private Prayer Request - I could really use some help from our Prayer Warriors. I am not at liberty to say why, but God still hears and knows. Thanks for your help.

Have a good weekend! :) I'll share mine with you next week. :)

31 Days - Day 3 : Wondering Where to Start

Isn't there a Disney movie that says something about starting at the beginning? A very good place to start? Wait - let me google that, I'll be right back. .... .... ....

source

ARGH! It was the Sound of Music! Not Disney at all!  I love that movie, how did I mess that up? Grr... part of the Do-Re-Mi song. *sigh*

Anyway, enough of that rabbit trail - so maybe you are wondering how to get into a daily devotional. One that appeals to you, speaks to you, isn't all stuffy and over your head but is still meaty enough that you gather something from it.

That's the place I was in about a year ago.  I wasn't comfortable with many devotionals because I'm not a Bible guru.  I haven't done devotionals in the past and I wanted something to bring me closesr to God and teach me what His word said about me. I wanted something personal.

I will say, I found it in #SheReadsTruth. I tried a few others that were seriously great devotionals. (I also recommend Girlfriends in God to have an email sent to you everyday with a devotional) - but She Reads Truth just hit home with me.  They are short themes easily accessed through You Version app on my phone. Usually lasting 14 days or 12 days or something like that.  Right now I'm in the Women in the Bible, part 4 - which I'm loving!! Proverbs really woke me up and got me totally hooked on #SRT.

So to start at the beginning, I'd say download the You Version app for your phone or tablet - Apple/Iphone here and Droid here. Once there you can search Plans and then Devotionals and look for She Reads Truth.  Pick one that you like and off you go!

You can also follow along on the She Reads Truth community on their blog, where folks comment on what they gained from the devotional that day. Sometimes the remarks are ... well, annoying to be honest. But more often than not, especially in the Proverbs theme, I gained so much from the other people's comments.

So there. Maybe that will help someone out there find a place to start in their quest to get closer to God. :) And one more entry into the 31 Days event. :)





Return to the first
31 Days entry! :)

Monday Muses on a Tuesday

Ya'll know me, I'm behind the curve about half the time, including yesterday when I didn't get this blog written and posted. :)  You still love me though, right?

So here are my thoughts from the weekend and beyond:

1- Refrigerator Oats aren't that bad!! What are Refrgerator Oats? You mix oats, yogurt, fruit and other stuff together, put it in the frige overnight and it's ready for breakfast in the morning!  http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal  Check into it. Eating better isn't quite as hard as I thought it would be.

2 - I can sometimes be a cooking queen. This weekend I made 80 stuffed pasta shells with the most delicious cheese mixture, bagged them up and froze them for later; huge pot of soup, dessert, slaw, veggie dip, and these white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for my Dad. :)  It feels good to get in the kitchen and make something yummy for family.

3 - I have the most adorable niece in the world.  Just an FYI. These were taken this weekend and let me tell you, I totally realize I am NOT a child photographer.  Oh my gosh, I was running around after her and she was NOT cooperating! But she's still adorable.


4 - Lying in bed on Saturday and Sunday morning, I just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the day. I love my house, where I'm located, my family and my life.

5 - I'm reading She Reads Truth - their series on Women in the Bible.  Then I stumbled on a video of how to tell if he is "Mr. Right."  GREAT tips.  Then I stumbled on more videos about how to know if you are ready to date, how to date, etc etc.  It was really good. So maybe all this is leading up to me actually finding a date??! Maybe not, but it still made me think and appreciate the message.

Ya'll I'm rambling. Go forth and have a great week.  :)

He has Risen!

Happy Easter! I have so enjoyed She Reads Truth this week as they guided us through the lead up to Jesus' death on the cross and then His resurrection. It really helped me see the despair and deep sadness of this day, as well as the beauty, love, and great gift that it is. I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to understand Easter on another level.

Jesus arose. He isn't in that tomb. He is alive and in heaven, and He wants you to join Him in heaven one day, too. Believe in what you can't see, have faith that He is your savior, open your heart and acknowledge there is an empty space crying out for Him. He loves you and He will hear you.

He paid the price for me. Nothing I could do would get me to heaven, but He gave me my way in.

Happy Easter, everyone!

In everything give thanks - 2012.

found here

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

My spiritual life has really taken a turn for the better this year.  We've seen some bumps in the road during 2012, but God pulled us through every single time.

I'm so thankful that God has brought me closer to Him this year through #shereadstruth.  This devotional seems to click with me and make sense to me in a way I haven't had individual devotionals work for me before.  It's a joy, eye opening and life changing.

I tell you, 2012 hasn't been easy. Describing it as a roller coaster would be pretty appropriate. A group of six people prayed for my family - they would drop everything and pray the moment a text message or email was received from me.  They will forever be special people to my family... we call them our Prayer Peeps.  They have taught me so much about faithfulness and prayer. So very grateful for them.

Something I'm still trying to learn - how to be thankful in all things.  Just the word "cancer" scares the poop out of me. Especially when it's associated with my dad, my awesome, wonderful, larger than life Pops.  How can he have cancer?  And I have struggled with how to pray about it - asking God for His will to be done, but please let that will be for dad to be cured of this horrible disease!

But Dr. Charles Stanley's monthly devotional came out and there it was written out for me: Be thankful in all things. All things. Not just those that I like. And so, I'm finding ways to even be thankful for the bad things in life, because they do serve a purpose and good can come from them.  (Blind faith in God's plan being one of them.) So I pray still for him to be cured, but I also thank God for the time I've already had with dad, for the guidance he's given me over all these years and for helping me find the priorities in life again. Sometimes you need a reminder. (I didn't say it was easy, but I'm learning...)

The day after

A selection of stickers from friends tagging me on Facebook. Love it!

What does an election official do the day after the election?

Leave work at 5:15pm, play with Macy, have dinner with my parents, take a two+ hour hot bath/nap and head for bed.

Let me say this about elections - it's a huge team effort on a massive scale. Our office of 5 full time employees and one part time employee turned into more than 30 temporary workers in the months leading up to the election, 950 people working the polls on Election Day, 15 people helping pick up and scan in election materials as they came back into our office that night, 20 people opening mail-in absentee ballots, 20 technicians keeping our 89 polling locations running smoothly...are you getting the picture?

Not to mention the county employees who have given of their time. Those who ran to Wal-Mart and Office Depot over the weekend for us, maintenance guys who got us into buildings over the weekend and created shelves where we needed them, the mail girl who prioritized our ballots when the machine was running low on postage money, the purchasing people who dropped everything to issue emergency POs. Officers on call for emergencies, directing traffic to keep things safe, the list goes on and on.

This one manager at Office Depot actually got together a massive order by raiding all regional stores I in one day. A Saturday night/Sunday at that.

The food...oh my. We are too busy to leave, too tired to cook and sick of fast food. We live at the office for about two months, eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack. Our mail lady brought goodies every week, twice baked potatoes, cheese crispies, cakes, cookies. Then we've had soup, sandwiches, cakes and more cakes, spaghetti, pizza, hot dogs, just all types of generous folks keeping us fed.

We have about a month of clean up ahead, but it's ok. It should be normal hours and I can sleep again. :)

....

I can't express how happy I am that it's behind me. I'm ready to celebrate the blessings God had given to me. We've had a few upsets in our happy little family, but God's plan is greater than my understanding. I do my best to trust in Him.

For this moment, I'm heading to bed. Tomorrow, I dive back into #shereadstuth. I've missed it sorely.

Night ya'll!

posted from Bloggeroid

Friday's Letters

This week has been a tough one. We've received some difficult news, on top of being physically and mentally exhausted from work. Of course, there have been plenty of blessings, too. Send up a prayer for me, please? Thanks!

Dear Macy, my mornings with you are what keep me going, thanks for being so dang cute. I do hope you grow some hair soon...



To the two temp girls in the office, I wish we could keep you forever. You are such hard workers, friendly, competent...it's awesome.

Daddy, you are awesome. You came over at 8 pm to check out my messed up kitchen light and threw away the bug in my bathroom light. And you took my trash off and changed my air filter. Then congratulated me for changing my own toilet seat. ha ha!

Muffin, the cooler weather is making you want to snuggle again, which makes me happy.



#shereadstruth, I'm always behind you, so I'm in Galations and I'm really enjoying it. Proverbs really rocked!

My pen pal, Raynore, you are awesome fot all the letters you send! My mail box loves having something there! Thanks!

Thank you, gas station, for carrying my drink!



And thanks to the Dollar General for hand sanitizer. Too many people, too many germs.

Glad I could participate, let's see if I can link up! :)

http://comeoneileen86.blogspot.com/

posted from Bloggeroid

Learning as I grow.

Sad Panda can be found here.

Oh... just as I'm trying to improve, I blew it big time today and totally ruined my progress. *sigh*  I did apologize, to the person and in front of the people I had blown it in front of, but seriously? Why did I get so annoyed so quickly and really messed up? Ugh. I hate feeling so bad about my actions because I know it hurt and annoyed the person I directed it to. Pooh.

So we've worked all weekend... I currently have a load of clothes in my washer that have been there since last night. Guess I'll be doing those again. My house is turned upside down because I'm just toast after work and don't have the energy to clean it.  My joy of the day was searching "Christmas Baby Photos" on Pintrest, hoping to find cute ideas to try out on Macy.

In trying to find cool tutorials, I stumbled upon this:

This can be found here.

The reason for the season, yes, but also the reason for living. What a great reminder that I needed today and it ties into my Galatians study on #SheReadsTruth.  Thankfully, I'm not saved by my works because I'd never make it. I will always fail.  But I'm saved by the birth of this tiny little baby, his perfect life here on earth and his triumph over death.  He fulfilled the promise that allows me to make mistakes and still have my place in heaven. Whew! I'm so thankful! Still Sad Panda for hurting someone I like, but thankful for forgiveness and grace.

So now it's dark outside again... it wasn't much after daylight when I came in. I think it's time for me to call it a night and head for home.  I need a break and a breather - I need to press my restart button and do it all again (with better results) tomorrow.  Sweet dreams, my friends! :)

Friday's Letters -11, on Saturday...

I missed out on Friday Letter's on its appropriate day. Sorry!

Dear nature, Thank you for making some beautiful days/weather.  I love the bright blue skies and puffy white clouds that we've had lately. It's making me extremely happy and ready for some FALL weather!

Dear Pressed Clovers,  I'm excited as I wrap up another book this week! In addition to working 50+ hours this week! Woop woop! It's ready to be sent to its new home.

Dear UW Peeps, Oh my gosh, you sent me flowers for my birthday! I was completely caught off guard and over the moon with happiness at these flowers! So they ARE BEAUTIFUL! THANK YOU!

Dear Lord, thank you for making me the type of person who can stop and smell the roses.  I know I haven't spent the time with You that I should have this week, but I can still see how You are working in my life and I'm very thankful.  #shereadstruth

Dear work, I know we are on the cusp of MAJOR WORK HOURS, but it's ok because I get to enjoy these foggy drives into work, which makes me smile.  It's almost like being in a fairyland... almost.

Dear readers - I appreciate you and your feedback, please drop me a line and say hello! :)  I'm off to get back to work now... and celebrate my birthday for the next two days! Woop woop!

Friday's Letters - 10

Dear Macy, girl, you are just TOO CUTE. Even if you did barf on me, bypassing my scoop-necked shirt to just fill my bra up with your regurgitated formula. Even after that, I still adore you. 

Dear Short Week, you are killing me. I have worked harder in this one short week than I did in the two weeks before it.  Well, ok, I was off most of the week before it, but OH MY GOSH. I need a weekend so bad... and honestly, I need my extra day back at work to catch up. 

Dear #shereadstruth, I can't express to you how thankful I am for your blog. I have finally found a devotional that I want to follow and I'm gaining knowledge and insight from. I love it. I enjoy it. I benefit from it. So thank you very much! 

Dear Free Font Friday, You are totally awesome and I can't wait to play with all my new handwriting fonts! EEEIIIKKKK!! You rock! 

Dear Sara, Thanks for being my first Etsy buyer! I can't tell you how honored I am that you considered Pressed Clovers for your gift-giving needs! :)

Dear Sundrop and Nutella, thank you for existing and getting me through this week. 

Dear Big Brother, Let me explain something to you.  When you have crazy cliffhanger episodes that involve two evictions, my body doesn't settle down and allow me to sleep for a very long time.  Also, let me explain, you better not send Dan packing anytime soon because the boy had played one heck of a game and deserves to at least get to the final two.  Just saying. 

Ok, this week has totally kicked my butt, so I'm throwing in the towel and off to enjoy a great weekend with both my nieces! :)  Ya'll have a good one and go link up your letter at Friday's Letters! 

Be careful how you think...

I'm trying to follow #shereadstruth as they go thru Proverbs. I'm way behind but I'm greatly enjoying the learning and opening to understanding.

Tonight, the verse that really got me was Proverbs 4:23
"Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts."

Another versions reads:
"Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life."

Very powerful. And I believe very truthful statements. So this is what I'm reflecting on tonight...

posted from Bloggeroid