Just As I Am

Lets Simplify

2011-12-01T18:49:00.001-08:00

I haven't been blogging at all lately. Am I busy YES! But even at the height of my blogging I was no less busy than I am now. I just haven't felt inspired to write anything so I'm making some changes & trying to simplify my blog & finding what it is that about my life that I want to share now. So I'll be back with changes anew...

A give away

2011-11-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Because I'm broke...
And because Christmas is around the corner...
And because Riley & I need Christmas cards...
I entered a give away over @ Provident Woman's blog.

You can enter too by clicking on the link above, but be quick there are only a couple hours left.

Good luck, but I have super cute plans for me & Riley's card this year, so I'm really hoping that I am one of the chosen ones.

Star Wars Nerd

2011-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a long time, I've been busy with school again. But this commercial cracks me up so I have to share it. I'm a Star Wars nerd what can I say!

Wishing on Stars

2011-08-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

I saw a shooting star last night driving home from dinner with Nicki. I didn't send a wish up on it though, because I know that my heavenly Father has everything under control, instead I'll just decided to enjoy that which He had created...Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (KJV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Psalm 19:1

It's all about perspective

2011-08-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a new book, Clouds of Adversity-Valleys of Despair by Shirley M. Starr. It's a short book, but good so far. The synopsis of the book can be summed up as this, what we perceive to be problems in our lives, God sees as a means of growth and maturation. Though we won't always understand why God brings situations, or Clouds, into our lives what matters is who we are looking to in the middle of the storm. Below was the poem that closed out the chapter that I read this morning and I wanted to share it.

God said...
If you never felt pain, how would you know that I'm a Healer?
If you never went through difficulties, how would you know that I'm a Deliverer?
If you never had a trial, how could you call yourself an overcomer?
If you never felt sadness, how could you know that I'm a Comforter?
If you never made a mistake, how would you know that I'm forgiving?
If you knew all the questions, how would you know that I will answer your questions?
If you never were broken, how would you know that I can make you whole?
If you were never in trouble, how would know that I can will come to your rescue?
If you never had a problem, how would you know I can solve them?
If you never had suffering, then how would you know what Jesus went through?
If you never went through the fire, then how would you become pure?
If I gave you all things, how would you appreciate them?
If you had all the power, then how would you learn to depend on Me?
If your life was perfect, then what would you need Me for?
(Author Unknown)

Does Jesus Care?

2011-08-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Does Jesus care when I've said goodbye to the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks; Is is aught to Him? Does He see?
O, yes He cares I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.

Just my thoughts for today.

Need a Skirt???

2011-07-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time sometimes finding skirts. I forget how I cam accross this site initially but I can assure you that it will soon become a fave. Apostolic Clothing Company...and...the just came out with a modest skirt for the purpose of working out, a running skirt. Now I don't know about you, but that's pretty cool. Considering I abandoned my gym membership because I didn't feel comfortable working out in pants in mixed company. I this may change things for me entirely.

New Link

2011-07-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

There is a new link in my Modesty Matters page for a blog that I found called Pure Modesty. Head on over to the page to link over to her.

Dinner

2011-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I just have to say that I really look forward to the day when I get to cook for someone other than myself. I enjoy cooking, but I don't always cook for myself like I cook for my friends. Frankly, it's just not as much fun. I enjoy dinner parties & the social aspect to eating. But tonight I actually did make some real dinner, not just a sandwich.

I had some chicken that I needed to use. I got it at Safeway the other day & it was half off since it they were making room for the other sock to come out. So my dressing for it was super simple. During lunch I came home & put some EVOO on it, tossed some paparika & Mrs. Dash on it at put it in the crock-pot. High for 4 hours. The trick to making it really tender, I've found, it to cut a lemon in half and put that in the cavity. The acidity from the juice totally breaks down the bones and so the meat litterally falls off of the bone. Then I needed to use the last of my potatoes so I made some mashed potatoes & then I didn't really have any greens, so I took a chance on doing something a little different. I chopped up some of my romaine lettuce, that's right I said lettuce, sauted some shallots & garlic tossed in the lettuce & dressed it with a little S&P & a couple TBSP of beef stock. I never would have thought to do the lettuce intially except I saw it on a cooking show & that makes me really happy because I hate it when my veg goes bad because I couldn't go through it fast enough. Trust me when in doubt try the lettuce, you won't be sorry.

Alas the social aspect of sharing my how to is limited to this post, but I was really happy with how the lettuce turned out so I had to share it with someone. Hope your dinners were just as exciting as mine was flying solo.

Modesty Matters

2011-07-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

I have a new link underneath my Modesty Matters page, it's called A Girl & Her Appearance By: Julie Fink at Journal for Women. Lately the Journal for Women that I read had been posting a series on how young ladies aught to present themselves, called The Girl Gone Wild, the Girl Gone Wise and the Girl Gone Weird. Which girl are you? And how do you want to appear to the world? Think it doesn't matter? God says otherwise.

1 Thessalonias 5:22 - Abstain from all appearance of evil.

I hope you enjoy her thoughts as well.

He's to clever for his own good

2011-06-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

This is the face of a mastermind. Sure he's cute, sure he's a good buddy, but man o man he's a character. The more that he starts to feel comfortable the more he lets his personality start to come out and this week I got to learn a new facet of it.

See Sunday was my graduation from Bible Institute. YAY!!! I'm done...until a new class gets added. But that's another story. However, some of my friends chose to bestow certain gifts upon me to congratulate my efforts and included in one of those gifts were some Hershey Kisses...Yum!

Well Monday night we had a baby shower for Selena and I came home to discover that I am not the only one that likes them. Strewn accross my bedroom floor were about a dozen opened kiss wrappers, which was odd because I thought that I had more in the bag. Now chocolate is not good for dogs, and since Riley is the first dog that has stricly been mine I was concerned about what might happen to him (as a side note I'm happy to report that Riley is doing fine). It was amusing, I thought, that he should have thought to discard the foil from the kisses to get to the good stuff. So that's it right, I thought I'd just keep an eye on him and the next day he was fine. Well at least until Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon I arrived home after work to see, what I thought were torn up papers on my couch. Torn up papers I thought, until I went over to go & see what exactly it was. Wanna take a guess as to what it was? If you guessed Hershey Kiss wrappers, well then you're right (sorry no prizes on this side). That's right, my clever little guy hid the rest of the kisses (where I don't know), but the thing of it is that he hid them so he would have them for later! Again it wasn't really funny, because who's to know how more chocolate would have affected him (again he's fine), but I had to laugh because he's just too smart for his collar.

So now not only his he a good buddy & a character, but he's also clever, sneaky and has quite a sweet tooth. It's nice to see more of his personality start to show through & that he's letting his fur down as he gets used to his new set up.

T is for Talent

2011-06-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

P is for Piano...

and R is for recital...

This was where I was at on Tueday night, at my talented friend Alyssa's piano recital. I'm really happy that I got to go to this one. Alyssa played 2 pieces of music

Faure- Berceuse from "Dolly" Suite

Debussy- Arabesque No. 1

I just love watching her play. He posture is so straight & knowing her personally she works really hard to make sure that she's always playing her best. I hope you enjoyed them too. It was a nigth well spent with friends.

Riley gets his groom on

2011-06-06T23:37:00.000-07:00

This pic is mostly for Selena since she said she was wanting to see my boy. Since I'm not sure if he'll be coming with me up there is August here is Riley freshly groomed. I can't believe he stayed still enough for me to get it.

I'm happy I found a groomer that is willing to be patient with him as he continue to learn that being touched is OK. The other night I was working on touching his paws (which he hates), but he was humoring me with it, when I found another sign of his old life. Now the same back paw I knew at some point had been broken because it never properly healed & has a dent in it where the bone sort of pokes out, but on the bottom of his paw, one of his peds looks like it had been burned, pretty severely too. I can hardly even tell that that's what it was it was so scared over. I only know it was one of his peds because the bottom of his other paws look all the same except for that one. So sad that people will hurt something that's basically helpless against them.

Even though I liked his hair a little longer, he was getting to many knots in it for me to keep up with brushing them out. Not to mention that all that fluff made him look pudgy (hmmm, to bad I don't look thinner after my haircuts). But a plus with the shorter hair is that he's been sneezing a lot less around the house, as I'm sure that the pollen & grass was sticking to his coat. So I think I'll be keeping it short. Not to mention that for the $35 I spent he got his fur washed & cut, teeth brushed, ears cleaned & a MUCH needed claw trimming. And all the grooming he'll get at the there will hopefully add up to touch therapy for him so he can start to relearn that people are OK. Seriously now, for my $35 hair cut the other day all I got was a trim, of which I had to actually ask the hair dresser to give me a blow dry, and a lot of attitude from the receptionist at the salon, something's wrong with this picture. I think I need to find myself a new groomer too;)

Priorities

2011-06-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

So as a general rule people know that most men aren't that great at multi-tasking but this guys priorities are all outta whack

My favorite part is probably when the girl pushes her Dad away. She known what his priorty is and sadly it wasn't her. Eph 6:4a - And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.

However, here's a mom (not at the same game) that really can have her baseball and catch it too.

Let's see now...Mom protected her offspring & caught the ball. Dad sacrifices child for the sake of his own glory and misses, bruising more than his ego. I think it's pretty clear that when you have the right priorities you can get the things that you want. And that includes a base ball.

My Heart in His Hands

2011-05-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is just the latest book that I have endeavored to read. It's the account of Ann Judson and her life as it was spent with Adoniram Judson, missionary to the Burmese people and the transcriber of the King James Bible into Burmese.

I got this book a couple of years ago after Sherri had given me a an Amazon gift card as a secret prayer sister gift. And yes, it's taken me a little bit to get started in on it, but now that I have read I'm very happy that I did.

I've always enjoyed reading biographies. Little snippets of peoples lives. Historical figures, like George Washington or everyday ordinary people, like Carolyn Jessop (Escape) etc. Anyone that may have something worthwhile to share I consider reading. I've recently enjoyed reading the biographies surrounding lives of missionaries, like George Muller and today was able to finish the afore mentioned biography.

I sometimes think that there needs to be more books written about the women that stood beside their husbands and great men of the Christian faith. Like their husbands lives, these women have a lot of wisdom to share and there is a lot that young Christian ladies can learn from the character and trials of their lives. Part of the reason though, at least I believe, that the accounts of their lives are in short supply is because they were in large part busy with the running of their households and the work of supporting their husbands ministry that I don't think they thought of or had the time to keep tabs on the daily events of their lives. But whatever the reason for the absence of their voice Sharon James, the author, does an excellent job of weaving her voice throughout the book, by using her letters to her family and accounts from Adoniram's diary & letters to tell of the extraordinary life she shared with her husband in one of the hardest places on the earth geographically, politically and spiritually speaking. Proverbs 18:22 a says, Whosoever findeth a wife, findeth a good thing. To say that Ann was a good wife puts it mildly.

From what I can gather in reading the book, from the excerpts of the letters that were shared with us, and from the testimony of her character she was a spirited and godly woman, that desired to please the Lord with her life. She was accomplished in studies and, uncommon for the day in which she lived, she held a career as a teacher. She had a mind and an aptitude to learn, and I was particularly charmed by her diary entry...

"Have taken charge of a few scholars. Ever since I have had a comfortable hope in Christ, I have desired to devote myself to him in such a way, as to be useful to my fellow creatures. As providence has placed me in a situation in life, where I have had an opportunity of getting as good an education as I desire, I feel it would be highly criminal in me not to improve it. I feel also, that it would be equally criminal to desire to be well educated and accomplished, from selfish motives, with a view merely t gratify my taste and relish for improvement, or my pride being qualified to shine. I therefore resolved last winter, to attend the academy, from no other motive, than to improve the talents bestowed by a God, so as to be more extensively devoted to his glory, and the benefit of my fellow creature."

This outlook on life I'm sure was far from the norm for her day. Most girls being preoccupied with marriage & cultivating a family. From what I know of the early 19th century career and service to others in such a fashion was not championed. She admittedly enjoyed the sense of adventure that the Lord would lead her in her service to him. Truth be known I don't know how a person, especially in that time period could not posses that quality in their spirit. There was so much that was unknown about that part of the world; customs & language being among them. Now I love to travel but for a 19th century woman to want to go there, even if it was with her husband, took a person of unique character to be sure. Well didn't men back then first address the father for marriage? Yes they did, and Adoniram was no different? His proposal to her father, after only knowing Ann a short while, was direct and mixed no words for he knew the seriousness of what lay before them....

"I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death? Can you consent to all this for the sake of Him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?"

Most fathers would probably not take a letter like this to heart, but understanding the nature of the work that Adoniram was called to he left the decision in Ann's hands, a radical idea for the time.

Knowing that a person that would be called to that part of the world would not likely ever return to the home of their birth, see their family & friends again. Burma, now known as Myanmar, was a world away from the "comforts" that 19th century New England offered Ann. Having been to this part of the world myself I can attest to the fact that the climate is brutal with it's humidity, multiply that with 19th century modesty standards and I'm sure that it was down right stifling, but this was hardly a care that Ann ever expressed. Her only cares were for Adoniram and for the service that she desired to give to her Lord to see souls won for Christ.

Something that should be appreciated about the early work of their ministry to the Burmese people is that they first sought to learn Burman customs and ways of doing things, rather than force their American customs on the Burmese. Any person evangelising in another culture should take this into account. An example of their efforts in doing this was when the Judson's realized the zayat's, buildings along the side of the roads that the Burmese used to stop and worship in, could have a practical use in their evangelistic efforts. So they set one up for themselves, once they had a grasp of the language. But rather than having a monk occupying the space, Adoniram would use the opportunity each time someone stopped to witness to them about Jesus Christ. By recognizing a symbol that the Burmese had an understanding of, and using it in a way that would help them to be able to reach out to the people they were called to, Ann and her husband were able to share the gospel with people that they would otherwise not have contact with. But they were able to accomplish this because they had the foresight to take their time by learning the language and observing the Burmese people, rather than going in with guns blazing & no plans outside of sharing the gospel with them. Had that been the plan it might not have fared so well for them, and things for the couple weren't that easy to begin with. Upon their initial arrival to the country they were initially prevented from going in due to war & the British East India Companies outlook on Christian missionary work, and were therefore requested to return to America. Talk about discouraging.

While her husband spent his days in deep translation & study of the language, Ann was also able to take the time to ingratiate herself to the viceroy's wife in the Rangoon province. I was thinking about this move of hers the other day and it was an intuitively calculating move on her part. They were foreigners and had no real claim to any sort of society in the country, but she knew that should there be a political upheaval (as there were many) that even if she could not get an audience with the viceroy himself, that by at least holding court with his wife that an "ally" could be made and should her husband need help that she could get him an audience with the viceroy, through his wife. Talk about the gift of gab being put to good use, and yes boys it is a gift. And we ladies are good at it for reason such as this. Hey, that's my story & I'm sticking to it;) But seriously, this calculated move on Ann's part actually came in handy for Adoniram when he wanted to get an audience with the King of Burma during a particular time of political unrest. Ultimately it did not work in their favor, but the fact that they were even able to have their voice heard was remarkable to say the least.

Ann's life in Burma was never really easy, she was sick a lot. She was so ill at one point that she had to return to England & ultimately America so that she could receive the rest of a cooler climate & modern day medical care, which actually made her condition worse. She was ultimately gone for 2 years from her husbands side & their work in Burma due to this retreat. But because of her respite she was able to report to the Missionary Society that supported them, and gain more support for their work by having the time to pen An Account of the American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire, a task that she would not have had the time for if she had not been on bed rest. Her writing skills also lent to her by God helped her to write catechism material for children in Burma, she was able to open a school there for helping children to read, in which her material was used, and she helped to translate the book of Matthew into Burmese as well.

Her status as a helpmeet in the work of God didn't stop at transcription & writing though. Because of her devotion to the souls in Burma & her husband, she fought with abandon for 2 years for her husbands release from his unjust imprisonment. Due to the war between Burma & England foreigners were treated with suspicion, regardless of their reason for being in the country, & ultimately Adoniram was taken as a prisoner of war. The accounts in the book are harrowing to say the least. By all accounts she was a lady acting upon the presumption of others ideology. She had no one with her except 2 foreign charges & her cook, she was pregnant & then continued to campaign for her husbands release once she gave birth, she saved & preserved his translation work that he was doing with the King James Bible during this time, she brought him food in prison (I otherwise believe he would have had none), and when he was taken to what was to have been a death camp she followed him again to petition for his release & to take care of him as best as she could at the prisoners new location. I am half inclined to believe that there are not so many women today that hold their husbands so dear to their lives, in the ministry or not. Not having my life tied to another's at this point in my life I struggle to think of what it mush be like to be that devoted to another person? To set aside everything, even her own health, to ensure that your husband can survive. The character of most people today doesn't allow for that. It's all about making sure that "I'm #1 and taken care of". But that is exactly what Jesus asks of us, is it not? I dare say that it is. In the final days of this 2 year ordeal she was so ill that she was said to be a ghost of her former self, almost unrecognizable to her husband. Her head had been shaved due to her fevers that she was enduring, her body emaciated from malnourishment, unable to feed her infant daughter. And yet upon her slight recovery of body & husband. Her thoughts were towards how to move forward with the mission work & converted souls in Burma.

A brief encounter with a sailor that had been recovered from the river, upon the Judson's release from prison, gives details to the state of her countenance...

"...My eyes first rested on the thin, attenuated form of a lady...That lady was Mrs. Judson, whose long captivity and severe hardships amongst the Burmese have since been detailed in her published journals. I remained two days with them, - two delightful days they were to me. Mrs. Judson's powers of conversation were of the first order, and the many affecting anecdotes that she gave us of their long cruel bondage, their struggle in the cause of religion, and their long adventures during a long residence at the court of Ava, gained a heightened interest from the beautiful, energetic simplicity of her language, as well as from the certainty I felt that so fragile a flower as she in very truth was, had but a brief season to linger on earth."

Ann passed on into glory at the age of 37, while her husband was again away on ministry business. Her daughter passed away a few days later. And yet, for all the pain that she endured in this earthly realm, Ann's was a life well lived. I closed this book wondering if she had even considered the words that she had written so early in her life, about being in service to others. I'm sure those diary's were all but gone from her possession when she was in Burma, but it is obvious, by the example in which she lived her live, that the principles of devotion to God and service to her fellow men, were never really gone from her heart. In reading about her life, though we are separated by 222 years, I felt very akin to Ann. Her desire for self improvement, her love of people & the ministry and her desire to serve others and God are not far from my own ideals, although mine might have taken more time to cultivate in a godly direction, rather than a selfish one. I only now wait to see what use I can be and what doors the Lord will open for me in my life as it continues to progress.

In case you haven't figured it out, I RECOMMEND this book with all sincerity and hope that if you so desire that you will afford yourself the opportunity to read it.

Quinoa Salad...A new recipe

2011-05-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

O man! It's been a long time since I have posted a recipe. I wish I had taken pics so you could see it for yourself, but let me just say that it is yummy! But first, a little background on this great grain.

Quinoa, is actually pronounced keen-wa. The Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or 'mother of all grains', and it was the Inca emperor who would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season using 'golden implements'. During the European conquest of South America, the Spanish colonists scorned quinoa as 'food for Indians', and even actively suppressed its cultivation, due to its status within indigenous non-Christian ceremonies. In fact, the conquistadors forbade quinoa cultivation for a time and the Incas were forced to grow wheat instead. Quinoa originated in the Andean region of South America, where it was successfully domesticated 3000 to 4000 years ago for human consumption, though archeological evidence shows a non-domesticated association with pastoral herding some 5200 to 7000 years ago. Quinoa grains contain essential amino acids like lysine and good quantities of calcium, phosphorus, and iron.

One of my favorite moments since making this salad was to serve up some to my co-worker Sarah, who admittedly doesn't like to try new foods. And so when she saw it she was at first concerned because it didn't look like anything that she had seen before, but after she tried it she said "You are a good cook". Even though there's not a lot of cooking involved in making a salad, I took it as a complement because I love getting people to eat things that they would usually have an aversion too.

When cooking quinoa it's 2 parts water to 1 part dry quinoa. So simply if you want to cook 1 cup of quinoa you need 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup of quinoa would need 1 cup of water and so on. Quinoa expands & like rice makes enough for more than one serving so just know how much you want to make. For the recipe below I made enough so I could have enough for a couple servings.

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients
1 cup of dry white quinoa
1 can of kidney beans
1 red onion finely chopped
Chopped cilantro about a couple of handfuls/to taste
1/2 cup EVOO
1/3 cup of lemon or lime juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put dry Quinoa in water in the pot and then bring to a boil. Once quinoa is boiling cover and reduce heat to a simmer, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. While quinoa is cooking prep the rest of the salad. Open can of beans, drain & rinse. Chop onions & Cilantro. Measure oil & juice & whisk together. Set ingredients aside until quinoa is done cooking. Empty cooked quinoa into a bowl & allow to cool. Add other ingredients, add salt and pepper and then top with the oil/juice dressing. Mix & serve.

I got the recipe from one of my Rachel Ray magazines. The salad is really simple and you can feel free to play with different ingredients for it. I've made it with red quinoa & white beans. Tonight I added some bay shrimp for a little extra protien factor. It would probably also woth with some finely diced tomatoes, kalamata olives...the possibilities are really endless. It's GF friendly and really makes the body feel good and satisfied upon comsumption. Serve as a side or a main course.

Foodie Friend

2011-05-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

I'm really happy to have as many friends as I do. I've befriended them over my many travels and on of them just happens to now be a pastry chef at Abacus in TX, a very well known restaurant in the foodie world. I sent a couple friends of mine there a few months ago and they raved about the food. I hope to be able to eat there one day myself. Especially since I know a chef there and she can accommodate my GF needs. Today Abbey had a gig today on the local news channel making marscapone tarts. Here was her presentation...

Mascarpone Tart with Summer Berries
Chef Abbey Renegar of Abacus shares this recipe for Mascarpone Tart with Summer Berries.

Link:
Cooking Classes:
http://www.duoallthingsculinary.com/

Mascarpone Tart Filling
16 oz Mascarpone cheese
4 oz Sour Cream
3 yolks
1/3 c AP flour
2 oz Butter, room temp
¼ c Sugar

Blend all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor until smooth fill tart shells and bake at 325 until set.

Filo Shells
1 package filo dough, thawed
4oz Butter, melted
¼ c Raw sugar

Brush sheet of filo with butter, layer another sheet of filo. Butter this layer and sprinkle with sugar, top with one additional sheet of filo brush with butter. Cut to desired size and line tart mould (or muffin pan.).

Obviously this not a GF recipe, I just wanted to brag on my firend for a bit.

This Weeks Billboard

2011-05-22T23:37:00.000-07:00

After all the other billboards that have been put up regarding the Lords return, I think this photo pretty much says it all for any future response that Mr. Camping needs to make.

WOW this thing is GREAT!!!

2011-05-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Seriously it is!!! If you don't know what it is let me enlighten you. It's called Roku. It's a wireless entertainment box and my Dad got it for me for my Birthday. I initially liked the idea of getting one simply so I could stream Netflix from my TV instead of my laptop all the time. But let me tell you it's so much more.

It took me about a week or so to get up the energy to want to set it up because initially I thought I would have to plug it into my router which would constitute me rearranging my furniture & not something I was really keen on. In a place as small as mine you want to maximize your space as much as possible and once the furinuture goes down you don't want to move it (I now have to re-evaluate the BR setup...but that's another story, for another time). However, in the process of the set up I realized that I could setit up wirelessly to my router & then that made me want to use it even more, not to mention I could still keep everything in it's place.

So after the set up, I connected it to my Netflix and then realized that Roku has it's own channels that you can subscribe to. Some you have to pay for, but they also have quite a few free ones that are actually pretty useful. Like I was able to connect my Pandora (music) account to their Pandora channel & have music play through my TV, totally cool! Lest anyone thing that Pandora is strictly for "popular" music, I happen to have my stations setup for classical, hymns, musicals & opera, so there is quite a variety. And it's come in quite nicely today as I've commenced my Saturday cleaning. I haven't had to stop & switch CD's etc. It's really nice. I also downloaded some more spiritual channels, like thier Sermon Audio channel! Now I can also listen to sermons that my church, and others like ours, have downloaded. It was a little weird last night when I was scrolling through the information and I ran accross Pastor Sargent & Pastor Jeremiah's pictures from their Sermon Audio accounts. Haven't found Bro. Geist on their yet, but I there's time for that. The one channel that I did opt to pay for is called The Streaming Bible, I can listen to the Bible being read anytime I want. It was pretty neat last night just to check it out and to have it on in the background. Scrolling thought their radio channel was also pretty interesting, because now I can listen to my talk radio through my TV as well. Gone is the static of my antenna! Definitely a fun "toy" to get. And just so you readers know, no you don't need a fancy LCD or HDTV for it to work. I'm using my old tube TV for it. Thanks to my Dad for thinking of it. I'll never pay for cable again after this.

No Man Can Know

2011-05-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the rapture happening on Saturday. Ummm, sorry to tell you, and by you I mean people that believe this, that's not going to happen. Now don't get me wrong, it will happen one day, but according to the Bible no man can know the day or the hour of the Lords return, Matthew 25:13
It's been a lot of talk on the radio station that I listen to during the day, and while I don't believe this rhetoric, it's still very waring on the mind when I know the truth. Below is the letter that I wrote to the radio station that I listen to during the day. They newver read it on the air, but it felt good to get it off of my chest.

Dear Dave & Luke,

I am a Christian and believe in the rapture. I’ve taken a bit of time to compose this email so I hope that you will take just a bit of time to read it. After listening to on air conversation the other day, and with all this fear mongering about the end of the world that has been going on over the past few weeks I feel compelled to over up a much more logical counter argument and to point out one simple Bible verse that completely negates this man’s prediction, Matthew 25:13 - Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Simply put anyone who says that they can predict the return of the Lord, or that they know for a fact when this event will happen is lying, because Jesus himself said no one could know when that time would be. Only God himself knows when that time will be.

I heard the interview that you and Luke had with this man, and if he was so confident why did he not give his method for figuring this date out and the verses that would back this date up? Not an unreasonable question, and IF he had the answer there should be nothing for his to with hold. God has given us everything that we need to know in the Bible that pertains unto life, 1 Peter 1:3 - According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; and if God thought it was really important for us to know the exact date of his return, I have no doubt that he would have made sure that the writers & translators or the Bible made sure to put that exact date in there. However, since it’s not in there I highly doubt that this man knows what he’s really talking about.

He was also predicting an earthquake, which is easy to do since there has been a lot of movement in the earth with those lately and very easy to scare mass amounts of people with, but 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. I don’t know about you, but when I picture a thief in the night I picture a couple things. First, I don’t picture him making to much noise, unlike an earthquake, but rather coming in silently, which brings me to point #2 and back to the fact that this man can’t know the date of the Lords return, and that is that no one knows when a thief in the night is going to come, just that he will at some point and so the best they can do is prepare for that thief. And for that reason people should make sure that their relationship with God rests solely on their standing with Jesus Christ for when he does return as that thief to rapture up those that have put their faith and trust in him by repenting of their sins and seeking the Lords forgiveness.

Don’t get me wrong, as a Christian I look forward to this day with great anticipation. I just want people to know that based on what the Bible says about NO man being able to predict God’s return that this man, however well intentioned, is wrong and by his own admittance from the interview was wrong with a previous date as well, something else to take into account about this man and his credibility.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Please feel free to share as you so desire.

My former Pastor preached a message this past Sunday on the topic and WOW, what a difference to listen to something that actually makes sense in accordance with scripture. Click on the link to listen for yourself, Why the Rapture will not happen on May 21st, 2011. He's also having a "We're Still Here" BBQ at his church, Silvercrest Bapstist Church in Waterford, MI, in case anyone readingthis is able to go.

For those that believe like me you'll find it a blessing, for those who don't know what to believe it may give you some perspective and call to your attention maybe your own relationship with him that you need to take care of, and for those that actually believe that you can know the day and the hour you will probably find it irritating at first and then alarming that you may have allowed yourself to be taken in by a charlatan. His followers have cashed in their retirement savings & stopped paying their mortgages & other bills that affect their earthly tenure. This behavior does not bode well for them come Sunday morning.

I'm so thankful that God is faithful and true. That he left us his word, the King James Bible, with full completeness that we can have the confidence that everything that is in there is what we need to live a life that is honoring and glorifying to him. Granted, I'm far from perfect, but his word gives me the knowledge on how I can live a life that he is pleased with. Which will include my life on Sunday morning. After all I have a Sunday School lesson that I'm preparing for:) Until the next post...

What was he watching?

2011-05-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Wanna know what OBL was watching right before Seal Team 6 stormed in... Click the link below...

What was OBL watching?

Just a silly article

2011-05-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

In light of recent events with public enemy #1 taken care of now, it seems that the galaxy is looking to exact justice with everyone. Including the Darkside.

Say what...

In light of recent historical events I found this article, sent to me by a co-worker, by the NY Times amusing. I'm not sure that Obi-Wan Kenobi is the person that should be hunted down, but I do find it humerous that the Times would parody our President as Darth Vadar.

All good things...

2011-05-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

"All good things must come to an end". Or so the saying goes anyway. Well for me that is partly true, for while I'll never stop learning about the Bible or what God wants to teach me, I do have to say that at this time I am officially done with Bible Institute!

My final paper was on this book. George Müller was an amazing prayer warrior, and though I had a hard time initially getting through the book I'm happy to say that it was worth it. One of the reasons that I can say that I did enjoy it was because I'm a big biography nut. One summer I read so many biographies from the library that I scored tickets to an Oakland A's game.

The entire time that I was reading the book I kept thinking about Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

In every facet of his life George Müller sought the Lords will. He never entangled himself with debt and all the while maintained multiple Orphan houses on nothing but that which the Lord provided for him through means of monetary and physical gifts, such as food. There is much that I could go on about regarding this mans life and his testimony, but for the sake of time I'll just share with you his thoughts on prayer.

Müller had a method that he called the 5 Prevailing Points of Prayer:
1. Entire dependence upon the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground of any claim for blessing.
2. Separation from all known sin.
3. Faith in God’s Word of promise as confirmed by his oath. Not to believe him is to make him both a liar and a perjurer.
4. Asking accordance with his will. Our motives must be godly: we must not seek any gift of God to consume it upon our own lusts.
5. Importunity in supplication. There must be waiting on God and waiting for God, as the husbandman has long patience to wait for the harvest.

This book was an encouragement for me while I was reading it. One way it encouraged me was for me to examine, what possessions I had, and were they really necessary. When I began the book I was in the process of moving. The place that I ultimately ended up signing a lease on was substantially smaller than wither of my previous two apartments and the thought of downsizing seemed daunting. Where would my things go? Is there enough room? etc. I had purchased things over the years that I would be saving and needing to keep for some time, specifically my dishes from Italy, which I bought many years ago with the intent of using them for my family, but would the cabinet space be deep enough, and my closet could challenge the smallest broom closet for which one holds less. However, at this same time in reading this book I was reading chapter number 5 and Pierson explains the desire that Müller and his wife had to not lay up treasure for themselves on earth based on Matthew 6:19-34 & 19:21. The Lord used this part of my reading, and Müller’s convictions on the matter, to help me to see that my worries were pretty juvenile. That my desire to be attached to certain possessions was silly and that ultimately the fact that just because I have them in my possession does not mean that they are not His to begin with since He was the one to supply me with the funds for them to begin with. Once I was willing to accept that downsizing became less of a burden and more of a desire & challenge to see what I was willing and able to go without. I still think I could probably get rid of more, maybe I will.

In my research for writing my paper I even found a blog that is only on the subject of him and his life GEORGE MULLER. It's pretty interesting, but that could just be because I'm on a kick right now. Regardless, I know that if you take the time you'll enjoy it too.

Bible Institute was a lot of work, but so worth it when you get to learn more about the Bible and what faith in Jesus Christ means, not just for ourselve but for those Christians that came before us as well (I'm thinking of my Church History class). Of course if things change and something new comes up, or I just want a refresher in a subject I can always take the courses again, but for now I'm done...whew! I'm only the second lady to graduate, Sherri was the other lady, from our Institute since it's primarily set up for men going into the Ministry. However, all are encouraged to attend, I just never sat in on certain courses since they were for men only.

I almost can't believe that I'm done with it, since I've been engaged in it since I got out of the Navy in 2005. See back then my plan was to go off to Bible college, probably meet up with some of my friends from Sig, get married and live "happily ever after". See the caveat to that statement was MY PLAN. The Lord saw fit to show me differently. Through a series of steps. First, through prayer and meditation the Lord showed me that if I was to go to Bible college it would be for the wrong reasons (mainly to get my MRS. degree). However, when the Lord designed me he also gave me a mind that enjoys learning and so the thought of me going to get my MRS degree seemed to be leading to a vapid existance since I rather enjoy learning and challenging myself in new areas. Rather than shoulder the burden of disobedience I resolved to follow wherever he would lead me.

Shortly after this revelation I also realized that in order for me to be the woman that God desires me to be I would have to get out of the Navy, a daunting prospect at best, and not one that an instution of buildings could mold, but that only from the institution of faith in Jesus could He mold me into a new creature. Then I sought the Lord as to where I would go after, I wanted to stay up here in WA, but was unsure of how to make it on my own. Alas a silly thought, for that has hardly been the case. Yes, I have to work to provide for myself, but on my own? I think not for the Lord has paved the way for me, with my jobs (both good and bad) & with my ministries. No, I can hardly say that I'm on my own, for I am bought with a price, 1 Corinthians 6:20. And once I realized this then I decided to place all on the Lord and let him guide me where he wanted me to be, which was here in WA, and in Bible Instute so I could learn those things that I desired to and have a deeper root grounding me to my faith as well as stimulating my mind.

There were various tirals and disappointments along the way, but all to make me a BETTER servant, not a BITTER servant. Graduation is on June 12th, and while I'm done with this phase I look forward for more to come. Diligently seeking after the next opportunity that the Lord has in store for me, with prayer and dependance on Him.

Justice Served

2011-05-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

Also on my Birthday...

Another event took place, which I've only now had time to contemplate. On May 1st, a day that will now be shared in the collective memory of the world, is the day that Osama Bin Ladin's life came to an end. An honor of dubious distinction I guess. For while our boys in blue, GO NAVY, have taken down a prominent American enemy there still many other enemies in the Al-Quida & Taliban circles that would seek to do us harm, not to mention the number of "American" terrorists that have tried to attack this country as well. So really the battle is far from over even though this was a VERY successful fight in the battle.

Also, as a Christian, it is important to remember that Proverbs 24:17-18 admonishes us not to rejoice in the misfortunes of our enemy.

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

Don't get me wrong, when I heard the news for me it was just like hearing the accounts of other times in history when God's will met with the perfect timing. Like the Lord guiding George Washington's decision to cross the Delaware river & to go into the enemy camp. The Lord provided the fog that rolled in so that George Washington's troops could surprise their enemy and turn the tide in the American Revolution. So too in this situation did the Lord guide the leadership that made the decision to go into the compound, the blindness for any potential enemy to get wind of the operation, and the men that went into the enemies camp to complete a long sought after goal. The poetry is goosebump worthy for sure.

Lest any person out there think that America was somehow in the wrong for the actions that were taken on this fateful day there is clear guidance that the the Lord gives as to the modes of how he executes justice, why it is right that justice is executed, and who we should really be praising because of the justice that was executed.

First, God has given man government to execute justice angainst evildoers.

Romans 13:3-4, For rulers (goverment) are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not e afraid of power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he (government) is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
1 Peter 2:14, Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Secondly, He told us how that justice should be exectued.
Genesis 9:6, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Third, the Bible does say we are to rejoice when justice prevails, but it also says who we are to rejoice in.

2 Samuel 22:1, And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.

Exodus 15:1, Then sang Moses and the children if Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Lastly, we are also to remember that those that die because of their wicked actions still have souls.

2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slacjness; but is longsuffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We only get to rejoice in these days post OBL's death because the Lord put the right people in place in order to have it done at this time. If it were to be sooner it would have been, but now was the time in His providential wisdom.

Some men are very happy about this day for more personal reasons. Like this teacher in WA that decided not to shave until OBL was brought to justice. Here is the Before & After photos...

Now, I'm not against facial hair on a man, but it has to look appropriate. And in this case it definitely does not. Unfortunately this poor man ended up looking like Osama Bib Ladin! I can only imagine the comments that he must have endured for the past 10 years, albeit self inflicted. No WAY would I want to go around looking like public enemy #1. Suffice it to say that his wife is happy as well!

My former Pastor was also interviewd on this matter by his local news station in Lubbock. Click the button to see what he says.

As for my own thoughts, well I am satisfied that justice prevailed. But we have a long way to go. OBL was just the posterboy for this particular gang of thugs. We still have men & women that are serving oversears in defense of our freedoms and sadly, for those of us that knew a life pre-9/11, we will never go back to the old normal. I can almost remember those days and they really are gone for good. Let's never forget those that have valiantly served our country, those that are still fighting, and those that still need to be reached with the gospel.

On my Birthday

2011-05-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday May 1st, was my Birthday. I turned 32! YIKES! However, it gives me comfort to know that somehow the older I get the less people believe me. It's always a statement like "No way!!! Your can't be 32?!" Followed up with "O yes I can be". Where I then proceed to date myself with pop culture & historical references to the time frame that I have been alive in. I've earned every one of my 32 years, and am starting to get the gray that shows that too:(

The celebration started on the day before when I was at out monthly SPG meeting. I was busy cutting the GF Honey cake that I had made when all of a sudden my friends behind me started singing "Happy Birthday" and presented me with a monster rice krispy treat topped with chocolate.Our SPG leader Tim graciously held the flaming candle above it, since he could not penetrate the chocolate layer. I was so concerned with the wax dripping or the flame buring him that I was secretly hoping that the song would hurry up, even though I love a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. Sunday though was a great day to celebrate not just my birth, but that of my friend Daisy, as well as the 400th Anniversary of the King James Version 1611 Bible, which we were doing at church yesterday. Complete with a picnic and full day of preaching. For 400 years the King James Bible has been the Lords preservation of his word (another post will be following more about this soon). The day finished off over at Alyssa's house with us video chatting with Kali & Maggie and watching BBC's North & South. It's a really good story:) Sigh, complete with the the line "I don't wish to possess you! I want to marry you because I love you!" Like I said REALLY GOOD! Thanks Alyssa for the fun night. To wrap it up, Linnea, Levi & Isaiah called to sing me a happy birthday:) LOL!!! It was a total surprise and very nice of them to do that:) The Rawls are great friends to have.

I have many more thoughts to talk about on the events of May 1st, but for now I just wanted to revel in what was a good day that the Lord blessed me with. Hopefully, with the Lords help I can enjoy another 32 years.

What are you listening to?

2011-03-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

I've been absent for quite a bit now. I just haven't been feeling the desire to blog. Until today as a friend sent me a link to read that brought some thoughts to my mind.

Let me begin by stating, just in case you all haven't figured it out yet, that I'm extremely blessed to be in a church that wants to do things the Bible way and not mans way. That the leadership of our church desires to please God rather than man. Yes, in times past that may have cost us potential members or even chastisement from the community, but in the end it's all served as a purpose for growing and maturing the saints here at Bible Baptist.

One standard that can be a point of contention, besides dress, is music. Christian music is designed to be just that, Christian. Not worldly, or having the "right Bible words" while sharing a rhythm with a electric guitar. If that sounds weird to some of you might I remind you that God has called Christians a peculiar people. 1 Peter 2:9 exhorts us to be so "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" and we are also exhorted to not be a part of this world and it's snares as well, Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Part of that perfect will involves listening to music that edifies the spirit. In my experience the CCM movement has not achieved that separation from the world, nor does it edify my spirit.

In the email that I eluded to earlier Alyssa sent me an article written by Bro. David Cloud, a man who does his research supporting Bible doctrines, like the one that I read today on music and the direction that a well known Bible college seems to be going with their music. Here is the article for your own perusal. Mark 3:25 says "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand". A "house" like West Coast has already set itself up for failure since it's not doing what the Bible says to like in Ephesians 5:19, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" and Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord., yet it tries to promote Biblical values. At this point and time there are songs that I enjoy from the WCBC choir that do not fall into this category, but sad to say that usually where there is smoke, there is also fire. SO it might not be very long before I stop listening to their music.

SO if not this music that what? Well...it just so happens that I know a man who has put together a terrific series on messages on this topic, and taught it to our church back ion 2009. There's a series of 5 messages, which are all listed below, or you can also access them from Sermon Audio, along with a few other messages that I enjoy.

God's Music #1
God's Music #2
God's Music #3
God's Music #4
God's Music #5

Have I lost my voice?

2011-03-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

I pose this question as I've not really found writing at this particular time very engaging lately. I know I have plenty of stories to tell, but when my fingers touch the keys nothing comes of it. Have I lost my voice? I guess I have for now, but since I'm writing here is terribly unclever update as to the goings on in my life.

My days lately since I've moved in have been spent either with my dog or working. Since T's salvation she and I have started working on discipleship studies as well. Which even though we've had to reschedule most of them have been going along fine and lately it seems as though the messages that are preached piggy back our lessons very well. I've been asked to perform a monologue for our Easter cantata. I'll be the woman at the well. I also have a singing solo as well. I'm more memorized up with the song right now then the actual monolgue though. Riley and I have started obedience classes. He's doing OK but refuses to perform the "lay down" command. Except for right now as he's passed out next to me on the couch. TOmorrow he goes to get his claws clipped since he won't let me do it. And tonight he discovered the joy of rifling through the garbage can. I found him with 2 corn cobs early this evening. Greedy little bugger, but he's a fun companion to have right now.

I think that seems to be about it for now. Maybe I can get past this writers block sometime soon and give a better update on Riley and his personality. Because let me just tell you he totally has one, cheeky fellow that he is. Anyway, TTFN.

I'm Still Alive

2011-03-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

WOW it's been a long time since I've written anything. A lot has happened, but being tired like I am tonight what I have to share is not very clever, just an update on the things going on for me right now.

I am now officially moved into my new place, and slowly unpacking, not because I like having all my stuff in boxes, because I really hate that. But more because I'm trying to figure out where everything should go. Last week I discovered that the shelves that were left behind for the "pantry" were only cut large enough for them to fit in between the opposing walls, not the actual brackets that they should go between. Argh, it was very agravating. So I went down to Home Depot to see what I could work out. Normally the HD in my town is sub par when it comes to customer service. However, I came accross a helpful guy that was able to have some particle boards cur down for me and they've worker perfectly! I still need to find a way to make room for all the various GF flours I have though. For some reason sticking them on the shelf next to the bathroom just doesn't seem kosher. Other than that things seem to be coming together. I have another couple refurb projects that I'm going to get started as well, but I'll post on those on my other blog.

Riley is trying to get used his new home and we've come up against some issues, but I'm hoping that he starts to get over those as he starts to get more comfortable in his new home. Right now I think I'm more of an food resource for him than anything else, but he loves his walks in the afternoon and his squeeking Kong toy, oh and peanut butter. It's hilarious to watch him lick his chops when he gets going.

Well I hope that can suffice for now. More to come when I can think clearly.

WIN an Egagement Ring?! Say what???

2011-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

This was the title of my email from JCPenny's tonight. On a personal note I think that entering a contest is really kinda cheesy in order to give a girl an engagement ring. It should be something that comes from the heart and is thought about considering what you can afford, what she might like and what might look good on the third finger of her left hand.

However....how could any girl not like this on her finger?

Really...I'm just asking? I might condone my future husband entering a contest to get me my engagement ring if it looked like this!

And no I'm not materialistic...I just call it good taste;)

In Every Thing Give Thanks

2011-02-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

This is where I have found myself over the past couple days, and having a thankful spirit has been harder than normal. It's mostly surrounding work, nothing extra ordinary just feeling like I can't do anything right. I know that's not true, and that any pity I may feel the enemy loves to perpetuate even further in my own mind. This is not a fun place to be. Which is why when I woke up this morning I made it a point to continually thank the Lord for my blessings, like my job, my new home (another source of recent stress), my Riley:), my friends, my Bible, even the recent trip to the Dentist office which had me diagnosed with TMJ (I clench my teeth at night) got a praise because now that I know why my jaw hurts I can fix it (hey, no cracks about how much I talk;)).

See yesterday I made a couple mistakes on some of my write-ups, and with business being slow right now, it didn't make the boss to happy, which bummed me out because they were really ridiculous mistakes (I like my job and I always strive to do my best so I took it really personally, probably more than necessary). Then I found out that my new land lord decided that she wanted to change her mind on me not paying last months rent, although she is giving me a little more time to pay it since I wasn't prepared for it. This was a major disappointment though, because I had planned on using it to make a big payment towards paying down my credit card, especially since my rent is more expensive now and bigger monthly payments will be a bit more challenging. This was my day yesterday. The only pleasant thing about it was that it ended with me sitting in my usual pew at church for mid week service and prayer, boy did I need it. The message didn't relate to my situation at all, but just being where I could hear from the Lord was all I needed to end my night on a peaceful note.

Thank you Lord for my long exhausting day.

Today was better at work, although I was still mad at myself. I accepted my plight with the rent and I got to take Riley on a walk before the rain came.

Thank you Lord for holding back the rain so I could walk my dog and gain some perspective. It may have been gray outside, but it wasn't snowing like it is on my friends & family back east and it was over 40 degrees.

Shortly after the walk I decided to go to H&R Block and ask them a question about my 1098-T from WSU. I only usually file a 1040EZ, but I wasn't sure what to do with the new Tax form from the school. So the lady explained it to me and I basically had to do a 1040A (well really Tax Slayer did it for me online). I inputted my information when I got home, and the outcome was good...at first, but then it turned GREAT!!! Without talking actual numbers lets just say that after using the education credit I'm getting ALL of my $ back from school and that will help me make an even BIGGER payment on my credit card then I had planned, and pay for my last months rent, AND have maybe a little left over for some paint for my room:)

Thank you Lord for exceeding my expectations and for making me patient, even if I was whining a little. I apologize. It may be the IRS doling it out, but no one can out give God!

If you're facing your own set of trials I hope that you remember to take the time to thank the one that gave them to you, you never know where the blessings will come from.

My new buddy

2011-01-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I have long sought after a canine companion. It has been a long process mostly due to the fact that I haven't lived in a place where I couldn't have one. But with my new place this is no longer an issue.

On Thursday Nicki sent me a link from a local rescue that had a dog named Phoenix available 3yrs old, house trained and good with other dogs and kids. He seemed pretty ideal, but I wasn't wild about the name. However, after Saturday church clean-up Nicki and I went to the shelter to go take a look, and he was just a bundle of cuteness. He was dropped off at the shelter and his fur was in a matted mess, so they had to shave him, and he's not that wild about men right now, but with a little more training and a suitable name he'll be the perfect pet.

I had decided to name him Bo after Boaz in the book of Ruth. But then I realized that the name "Bo" rhymes with "No" and he may get confused if I have to scold him, and I don't want him to get a complex. So if you have any name ideas you want to contribute feel free to do so. I'll let you all know what I come up with/decide on.

Purging & Packing

2011-01-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been a whirlwind of packing activity, not just me, but my roommate as well. Seeing as I have another couple weeks here I thought it advantageous to not make it more hectic around here than necessary. So tonight starts the first efforts to officially purge my stuff. You know all that little petty clutter that eventually ads up to a lot of petty clutter. The trechery of idle papers or receipts that just accumulate out of "know where". You know what I'm talking about. Especially us ladies, our purses are full of them, but I digress.

At first I thought that getting rid of stuff would be hard. Don't get me wrong, it's no picnic as far as time invested is concerned, however, with each decision I make in what goes or stays I find myself leaning more to the going, rather than the staying. You know like all those projects I was gonna start, but only got half way with...GONE. Those clothes that I just know I'm going to fit into again...GONE.

Some decisions have been given a little more thought. Like my sewing machine. Once upon a time when I was a younger me I was actually learning this skill. But then the lady that was teaching me up and left her husband and that was the end of the lessons. I bought my sewing machine a few years ago, with the honest intention of re-learning, but the business of school and Bible Institute and that little thing called time has kept it at bay. So I had decided to get rid of it, until my friend Kim said that she would teach me. So it stays. Which is good because I've had a long designed project in my mind to take my old Navy uniforms and turn them into a quilt. It can be very cathartic to turn something that was a source of stress and angst into something that is useful and hopefully beautiful too. Yeah that's just dripping with irony because as anyone associated with the military knows that to beautify a uniform is pretty difficult. Stay tuned.

Another dificult decision, and one that I'm still up in the air on is my hope chest. Really people before I get an onslaught of advice on this one I REALLY don't have the room. My place is small and so I must decorate vertically, and a hope chest can take up a lot of room. I'm going to hang onto it at least until I get there just to see (Nicki's mom's advice). If it works maybe I can turn it into something that will have a dual purpose, like a window seat, but if not it's gonna have to go. It's nice for storage, but it's not like anyone built it for me so there's no sentimental value to it, and if I think about it for too long a single 31 year old woman with a hope chest just seems kinda sad. Even though it mostly olds memories from my childhood and not things that I would use when I get married.

Surprisingly easy to decide what goes was some other of my furniture items. My Kitchen table, my coffee & end tables, my desk & large bookshelf to start with. The other night I was on Craigslist and I found a woman who is trying to make a fresh start with her and her sons (no I don't know the whole story there) but she posted a listing asking for some of the items that I had available and so I contacted her and am hoping that I can find a friend with a truck that is willing to help with that. Paying it forward I guess you could say since I was given a free W&D last week. But it felt satisfying to make that decision and to know that those items will be appreciated.

Purging and packing. Because I can't take it with me when I go. Matthew 6:19-21 - Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Hook Ups

2011-01-21T19:11:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of my new abode is the fact that it has washer & dryer hook-ups. If you're the average renter you know how rare this benefit can be. I have a washer & dryer in my current appartment and it has been such a treat over the past year. I was devastated at the prospect of giving that up. And I never really thought that I'd be able to find another place with that benefit that I could afford, at least not without huge sacrifices in other areas of my everyday life, except that when I saw my new place and that it did have the W&D hook-ups I was pleased, but it would be a while before I could afford a set (even a used one) right?

I'm happy to give a resounding NO to that question.

Some time ago, in the throws of my bereavement in having to look for a new place, I was sharing my angst with Sarah, a friend & co-worker, and she asked me if I had any "absolutes" only list of desires on places to look at. Now her question was completely reasonable, and asked in a genuine way because she just wanted to try and help me look at the good possibilities, rather than the horrid dilemma of what awaited me in apartment hunting. However, I have long given up holding out for "absolutes" within the prospect of anything regarding something that isn't mine, which includes renting a property. It's a reality that I came to accept a long time ago when I first started living in apartments. Unless the property is your own you really can't hold out for much demanding, and in depending on where you live even hoping, for a whole lot. That may sound sad to some of you, but being the pragmatic person that I am it just seems best to find the best that you can for what you can afford and make the best out of it. Setting "absolute" standards on that account just don't work well and only serve to be a disappointment when you think about what you would rather have, instead of what God has blessed you with, Philippians 4:11 - Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Now one day if I'm able to settle down into a home purchase, there will be things that I would like to have (2 words: IKEA kitchen), but until that day comes I believe my outlook is the sanest one for me at this point.

But I did indulge in a private thought or two of things that would be nice: possibly a pet and possibly a W&D were on there, but I dared not linger to long there.

Well, if you read my last post you already know that I am able to get a pet & there were W&D hook-ups, but now to get a washer & dryer. How long that would take only time would tell depending on cost and what was available on Craigslist. Well today I got to find out how long that wait would be.

A few weeks ago Sarah told me that she was using her W&D set as a bonus for people to come & look at the apartment that she no longer was renting, but that if they didn't need it then she wanted me to have it, free! Well last night she got the call that her old apt had been rented. And since they weren't needing the W&D she told me today that I could have it.

Now...no lie...in a 500ft2 space that W&D is gonna be in close quarters, however I HATE washing my clothes at the laundry mat; and while I know that friends would probably let me use theirs, but they need to wash clothes too and I always feel like I'm imposing, unless it's at my friend Kali's. What I'm sayin' is that it's just nice to have hook-ups in life, with friends and appliances. A humble thank you goes to the Lord for paying attention to the "little things", and a special thanks to Sarah for her generosity.

And for any of you that may be interested here is my dream IKEA kitchen: brushed nickle appliances, white cabinetry, a sky blue paint job, and black marble couter tops that SPARKLE!!! Literally, they really do.

New Diggs

2011-01-14T18:29:00.001-08:00

So as I mentioned in my last post I've found a new place to call home. And below are just a few pics. It's small, a whopping 500ft2. It's the smallest space that I've lived in since being out of the Navy, and usually that space was shared with another person. But this one will be all mine.

It's also a period that I'm using to get rid of my STUFF (I'm gonna come up with a mnemonic device for that word...standby). But if I can't use it, I gotta loose it. And then there's this one that I like, because it's a play on Johnny Cochran's closing argument from the OJ trial..."If it doesn't fit, it's got to git". HAHAHA

At first the thought of it freaked me out a little, but now that I've accepted it I'm looking forward to the challenge and have plans for it, but more on that later. Pros for the new place...1) A yard, because it's a duplex, 2) I have the opportunity to get a DOG!!!, 3) Pergo flooring, so no creepy formerly used rug to deal with, 3) A smaller space to clean, 4) Washer & Dryer hook-ups and 5) Close to work again (this time I may even walk since I won't have any hills to climb). Now trust me the pics make it look bigger than it is, but here are a few below for your voyeur pleasure.

My Yard

Small Living Room

Tiny Kitchen

Micro Closet
(no really it's only as big as it looks,
behind those doors there is no extra storage space)

Well anyway, all this change has inspired me to start a new blog. Now normally I'm not all into the whole "working multiple blogs angle" of blogging, but this new endeavor has me thinking that of the specific niche that this lifestyle offers and what kind of creative adventure there are to be had from it (who knows I may even write a whole post on the challenge that the closet offers). I don't have anything posted yet, but if small space living and my adventure of using space creatively sounds like an interesting topic to you cruise on over to A Cozy Place and become one of my first followers and then you can join in the adventure from the beginning.

I'm still keeping this blog going though for all my random thoughts and experience in this life I enjoy, Just As I Am.

Worry Not

2011-01-08T22:33:00.000-08:00

Just in case any of you out there need encouragement, remember Matthew 10:29-31...

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?
and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Something I should have remembered when I wrote about my plight in having to find a new apartment, and something that I know I'll need to rememebr in the future. More to come on my new digs later.

Girls Night Out

2011-01-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

In the past 3 yeafs that I've had this blog one thing I don't think that I've divulged about myself is that I TOTALLY enjoy going to the theatre. I love the whole thing about it. Dressing up. Going to dinner, and then hopefully enjoying a good performance. If I lived in Seattle, or any big city for that matter, I would probably be a season ticket holder.

Last month the SPG's went to go see Handles Messiah again! I wasn't feeling so hot that night, but it was still enjoyable and Messiah is now one of my favorite pieces of music.

Last night was a much over due girls night out. A celebration for Alyssa's Birthday. We had dinner at Bennihana's first and then we went to Bennaroya Hall to go see Lang Lang (pronounced Long Long). I had honestly never heard of him or seen him before, but I was not dissapointed! He was a great showman and his passion for playing the piano translated throught his whole body. My favorite piece that he played was from Iberia the final movement. The note that he ended on and the way that he played it was poetry and very moving.

I took a chance and scored some photos during the evening too.

The Piano

Taking a bow

After a rousing encore!

Here is the piece that I enjoyed. Look at his enjoyment and how his fingers seem to dance along the keys!

There's always a price to pay

2011-01-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well, the apartment search continues. I thought that I had found one tonight, but every instinct in me is screaming NO!!! Why??? Becuause the price may just be to high. I'm not talking about the monatary price, no that's price is quite ideal. There's another price to be paid that may be just to much, and that price is the cost of my own peace.

I've work hard to let my armor down over the past few years, to not walk around with my defenses up all the time. And you know what? I like it. Scratch that, love it! It's very liberating to not have to be on guard all the time. To know that the people that encompass my life are trust worthy and that my friends are not just friends, but family. But if I choose this new place to call "home" all that could be in jeapordy. I REALLY don't want to have to move again until I get married.

Moving is a hassle, and I don't want to move again after this unless I know that there is a purpose to it. For example: 1) I get married. Now there's a purpose I can get behind. Moving is very necessary in order to estabish a family and home together; 2) My future husband is a missionary. Now I don't know that to be a fact because there is no one in my life at this point, but moving would definitely be necessary in order to GO to the people that the Lord has called him, and really us, to; 3) The Lord provides me with a job somewhere else in the world (this is also not in the cards at this point), but again neccessary because I would have to move to work. Right now I just feel like a vagabond, moving just to move, and I hate that feeling. If I wanted that feeling to persist I would still be in the Navy letting them drag me every which way they desired. I like the feeling of staying put, having a community to go to and knowing what to expect. I'm a person that likes rules, and knowing what the expectations are and rising to the occasion to meet them. I do well with a clearly defined purpose and moving from place to place randomly impedes upon that.

There's always a price to pay for that thing that you want, but at what cost? For me, for now, that's a cost that seems just to high.

New Year & a New Faith

2011-01-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

No that title doesn't mean that I've found something new to put my faith in. My faith is firmly planted in Jesus Christ. However, it does not mean that the Lord cannot renew my faith as I've entered this new year.

Never satisfied in staying in one place, I always seek new growing opportunities today I received a fabulous one, for the Lord allowed me to show His saving grace to "T" and she chose to receive Christ as her saviour.

A new faith for a new year. What a fabulous start!

Auld Lang Syne

2010-12-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

I should first say that I've never really understood this song. But upon looking it up on Wikipedia I've at least learned what the phrase means.

Auld Lang Syne = "Days gone by" or "Old times"

and that seems a bit fitting for my last post of 2010. What has happened in this year, these days, that have gone by? How has the Lord taken care of me? And what have I learned along the way? (sidebar: not every month will be covered)

February: I moved from Coupeville to Oak Harbor and helped in the blessing of the Sweethearts Banquet at church. The SHB is one of the highlights of the BBC callendar, and in serving those couples that I love I get great joy and satisfaction.

May: My Birthday! Another year older...and hopefully a little wiser. I can be a pretty selfish person at times (it's something that I'm working on), but being 31 has me thinking outside of myself and looking at how I can try to be a blessing to others.

June: I go to Washington D.C. to attend LTIA & give Senator Cantwell a "talking to"...well maybe just a little. June had the SPG's traveling to DC to learn about our country, it's foundation of Biblical values and how to lead effectively (that is it in summary, because really it was so much more). I also got to finally meet Julie!!! My e-Buddy for the past 3...almost 4 years now. You never would have known it was our first time meeting each other.

July: I said so long to one of my SS girls as she moved with her family to the Methow Valley. We miss Lilly, but I know she'll be a blessing to her fathers ministry as she grows up there. I said goodbye to my other friends for the ministry as well. The Lord had me reimursed for a discrepancy that I made in paying back the FAFSA people for my loan, it was a NICE payback. I needed the money right at that time too. Now if I had not have made the oversight I would have kept the money that is true, but I probably would have squandered it, and I know exactly what that money is for and haven't touched it since I got it (trust me it will come in handy in the coming months). And I also started my involvement with the Central Whidbey Republican Women (that's right Nancy), and the campaign for Kelly Emerson as Island County Commissioner. Call it inspiration from the prior months activities. I'll call it the summer of sign waving.

Summer: The summer also had me working with Alyssa on photos for a book that she was contacted about for her vertical garden and taking photos for A Knot in Thyme for the new brochure that they wanted to put together. A busy fun summer of taking photos, but it was satisfying.

September: After a stressful month prior at work I made my way over the mountains to visit Kali & Maggie and our evangelists over in the Methow Valley. I even got an extra day off of work! It was a very restful Labor day weekend and the Lord encouraged me with my visit over there.

October: The Lord spared my job. That's right folks. Just a few months prior Pastor Sargent had preached a message and within it made a point about working and how we should be thankful for the work that he does give us. Well during that message I was going through a time where I was not happy about what I was doing and it was affecting my work ethic & motivation. During that time also though things were changing behind the scenes at work. Well The message that night changed my thoughts and so I changed me actions accordingly and was rewarded with getting to keep my job.

November: I house sat for 2 weeks (during Thanksgiving) only to have the tool shed of my friends house topple over in a huge wind storm, which was followed by snow a few days later. I battled frozen spickets and icy roads. November also brought an old friend to WA from Michigan and it was so great to see her. Her father was the Pastor of the church that I was saved in back in Sicily and the last time I saw Joyce she was 16. Now she's a young woman in her 20's, man time flys! It was great to fellowship with her for a couple days.

December: Brought a new ministry opportunity with the Bible studies with "T" and a trip to go see my family in CA, and the apartment ads in the paper as I look yet again for another place to live. Hopefully one of these days I can make one last move and call it HOME for real.

Through all my travels the Lord kept me safe, and brought me back to home. He provided in some pretty miraculous ways and I look forward to seeing what He sets in motion for me in 2011.

Happy New Years everybody!!!

Christmas in California

2010-12-25T17:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still sick:P I feel aweful and though my fever isn't very high it's enough to make me feel VERY uncomfortable. Last night I found myself having cold sweats. Not fun. However, before I decide to pass out on the couch to hopefully get well enough for church tomorrow, I thought I'd post one of my favorite cartoons I found on You tube as my Christmas post.

A lot of people have seen the digital Nativity (hilarious). And the little girl telling the story of Jonah is really great also. But how many of you have seen "Small One". I'm guessing not many. Produced by Disney (of all companies) it's a fictional, albeit, biblical inspired story of the account of Jesus' birth. It's really good and I bet you can't get through it without getting a little misty, if not outright shedding a tear. I know that I can't.

The first time I saw it I was 2 when it showed as a double feature with Cinderella on one of my first Father daughter dates. I then had it (and still do) on vinal, yes that means a record. You know those things that are about 10x's bigger than a CD. Yes, those. And I would listen to it for hours in my room (along with stories about Annie Oakley, Little Orphan Annie and the Nutcracker Suite). It's about 25 min long in it's entirety. Enjoy!

And thank you to all of you who thought enough to get me a gift for Chrismas....

Dad: Shirts and Jane Austen DVD's
Nancy: gluten free girl and the chef: a love story
Matthew: Little House on the Prarie DVD
Jack: Sound of Music 40th Anniversary Edition
Mom: Jewelry
Sam: The Muppets Season 3
Kali: handmade red scarf
Maggie: Slippers & a purse hook
Nicki: a waffle maker
Alyssa: a wall hanging of the Serenity Prayer

Other gifts recieved were: The Flavor Bible (for me mixing flavors together while I cook), The Pricess by Lori Wick, Will Write for Food (about food blogging) and a Barnes & Noble GC.

My family also enjoyed the homemade presents that I made this year. Here are my borthers wrapped up in their no sew blankets. Really it was the first thing they opened this morning.

Update

2010-12-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

O how I've missed writing! See a couple weeks ago my hard drive went down on my laptop. And thankfully it's still under warranty but that means that I had to send it to Kentucky to get worked on. I miss it. Especially since I have work that needs to be done for the SPG's on it. Sadly I think I'll have to start from scratch with a lot of my stuff on there. So how am I able to write right now? Because I'm using my step-moms laptop. I have so many things to share but not enough time so I'll just sum up the past couple days...

-Bible study #2 with "T" went great! #3 is scheduled for the 30th. She's hung up on works though and working for salvation. so that's something that we'll discuss further.
- Left WA yesterday and now in CA. Of course I ended up waking up yesterday sick! 3 outa the last 4 times i've come back here I've gotten sick. This is not cool. Especially with 100 degree temps kicking in. I'm basically doped up on asprin, for the aches and pains, and OJ right now.

Maybe I'll write some more tonight after I'm done wrapping presents if I have the energy.

What is grace? and other good questions

2010-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

Last week you may remember that I talked about a Bible study that I was going to hold with "T", a recent visitor to my church. Well that took place last Thursday as planned and although we had a few interruptions, it was a great Bible study! And it all started with the above question...What is grace?

Right as the study was about to begin she posed this question to me. REALLY! (and that's not said sarcastically) See, Bro. Geist just started preaching a series on Grace at church on Wednesday nights and last Wednesday was the first study on it titled Grappling with Grace. Basically he spent the evening defining grace and what it means to the spiritual life of a Christian. Without rehashing his entire lesson the definition of grace can be summed up as unmerited favor and devine influence on a heart (click here to see Webster's full definition). But her question was not something I was expecting and so it was nice to have the previous evenings notes in my Bible cover, which we did.

Then, she wanted to know about her Bible and what was in it. Well, the way it started was she was reading the first paragraph of the e-Life study we were working on and this was the first sentence "Although the whole Bible is the Word of God — all 66 Books — the Gospel according to John and the Epistle to the Romans were given specifically to show how you could receive eternal life." Well "T" read the line about 66 books and wanted to know more about them and so I naturally just did what I know to do and explained that the 66 books combined both the Old and New Testaments. Which led to her next question, What is the difference between the two testaments? WOW, it made me think about how much I take for granted. Of course though it was a great question! And so I broke it down even more, by explaining that the Old Testament talked about everything before the Birth of Christ and that the New Testament included everything about His birth, life and the reason why he came into the world to die for mans sins.

Now the other part that was refreshing/surprising was that these are usually questions that people ask when they want to tear the Bible apart, but this was not "T". She was really asking because she didn't know any of these things. But that's fine because after all that's why I was there.

So we continued and arrived at the portion of the study that talks about the 10 commandments. "T". Again another good question arose. She wondered how it was that God didn't judge sin like we do, you know BIG sins and little sins? Well, when we got to James 2:10 that verse was covered in full "For whosoever shall keep thewhole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." And then I was able to explain to her by this is the fact that a lie that someone tells is just as bad is God's eyes as someone that is in jail for murder. That seemed to be all that she needed, or wanted, to know. If the Bible said it and she had a scripture to back it up then that seemed to be enough of an answer for her to accept. And really that about sums up about how the rest of the evening went with the rest of her questions, God said it and that settled it ofr her.

The 10 Commantments also left "T" thinking though about how fall she's fallen short of them and in "T's" own words "How much she has to work on." The hope is of course that she can see that faith in Jesus is the solution for her sin problem, not works, as the lessons progress. Our next on is this Tursday night. She already texted me this evening letting me know she was looking forward to it, and so am I. I hope she has some more questions.

Now for a little nugget on how small this world is..."T" and I actually used to live in the same apartment complex a year ago, back before we both moved to OH. I'm tellin' you, only God can script this stuff! I can't wait to see what's next.

We seem to be experiencing technical difficulties

2010-12-07T23:22:00.000-08:00

At least that's how it seemed tonight. Let's see...where to begin...

One of my ministries at church involves editing video for our Bible Institute. Well can you believe that it wasn't working the way it was supposed to tonight (naturally I'm dripping with sarcasm)?! It's not that I don't like trouble shooting, because truth be known I DO. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment that I feel when my hard work finally pays off. It's just that it was adding more work to my otherwise long day and I really wanted to get home to dinner and more study time for Thursday's Bible study. So first, I had to split up the video into 2 different DVDs, no biggie a little extra work, but nothing big; then it ended up that I was getting an error code when burning the DVD, so I had to create a completely different file...extract it...and reload it for burning, that did take a little bit of time. FINALLY, once it was all finished I headed over to the office to burn the DVD's only to find a scratch on the Part I DVD, which only let the DVD burn 50% of the necessary information that I needed. Seriously at this point I was loosing my sweetness, hey I'm only human. It was a quarter to 9 and I still hadn't had dinner yet. All work and no food make Carolyn a whiny girl. Because lets face it in another life, pre-GF I would have just headed out to BK to curb my appetite but that was not in the picture.

Then after arriving home my Dad called me to ask me a strange, but well meaning question. Wanna take a guess? He asked me if there were any special Christmas cookies that I wanted him to make for me for Christmas. My reaction was pretty dumb struck as one could imagine. Then as I started to give my answer it completely dawned on him that Christmas cookies, at least the regular family Christmas cookies were not to be had by me. Actually last year my mom made GF snowball cookies for me and they turned out good. So instead he asked about what candy I might like...mmm...chocolate covers a multitude of cookies;)

And as for my DVD's I called Sherri to ask her if she would help me out tomorrow. She graciously obliged my request and I don't know what I would do without her sometimes. All she needs to do it copy them and she should be all set.

Hopefully the technical dificulties don't persist...unless there is a lesson that the Lord wants to teach me...in which case I hope I pass.

Promises

2010-12-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

Something that I like to do is mark down all the promises and commandment that I find when I am reading my Bible. I haven't even scratched the surface, but it sure is a lot of fun. I'm a methodical person at heart and when I first set out to do this exercise that's exactly what it was to me, an exercise. I had devised that I would systematically go through and find all of them and then I would know them all. Well the problem with that is that the Bible was not meant to be a systematic book. It's a book that is alive with truth and meant to meet peoples various needs as they come up. To stifle something like that with my lovely vision would probably not bode well for future spiritual growth. I mean half the fun of a journey is the process in getting there, right? And for me there is no better journey then the one that the Lord leads me on.

So instead of ruining the journey I simply mark a "P" or a "C" in the margin next to it and it usually is something right that I need at the time.

I bring it up because tonight I was reading John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". What a fabulous promise from God's word. That we can know truth and that it will free us. John 14:6 makes what truth is pretty clear "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me".

I was especially struck by this promise tonight because I was preparing for a Bible study that I will be holding with a lady who was a recent visitor to my church. She's burdend with many troubles, but I know the Great Physician that has the power to heal and I'm hoping that she will want to know him as well. I won't mention her name for her anonymity deserves to remain intact, but for the sake of future updates we'll call her "T". It's really a blessing that the Lord is allowing me this opportunity because for a while now I've been asking the Lord to avail me of the opportunity. Which brings me to another promise, Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not".

If you pray I'd ask that you remember "T" and that she would allow the Lord to show her His truth and that it would make her free.

If you're interested in the study that I will be going through with her click here for the e-Life studies and you can work on them as well.

Sometimes you need a reminder

2010-12-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

There are things that a person sometimes forgets. But when that happens there are hopefully friends there to give you a gentle reminder, and sometimes, like tonight, it's accompanied by a lot of laughter.

There is in my repertoire quite a few phrases that I like to utilize. Like ....

- It's not my first Rodeo: Used to express my experience in a certain area, and can be in reverse when something does turn out to be my first "Rodeo".

- Adapt and Overcome: This one I started using when I was in VP-46. Things there weren't always the greatest and with all the changes that were taking place that was just a truth that I adopted in order to get through the day. Meaning that you can never really change anyone and not every situation you find yourself in will be enjoyable, but the best a person can do is adapt to the situation, and overcome the hurdles that hold them back from really succeeding.

- It is what it is: This one I started using just by virtue of the fact that I would hear it all the time in the Navy. It's amazing how things can set in subliminally because though I use this one, I don't really like it. I try to use it cautiously because it's a phrase that sticks in my craw. Why don't I like it? Well because when a person uses it they are saying that change is not possible. That a person cannot rise above their circumstances and that it's better to accept what's in your life then to try and do better. As a person who strives for, but falls terribly short of, perfection you can see where the contradiction would come into play. Yet I still get up every morning looking for ways to improve who I am, where I'm going, and what the Lord wants from me. Basically this phrase kills hope, which the Bible has much to say on the subject. It's appropriate to use when stating an actual fact about something, but not so much when you have a problem to overcome.

This brings up my final phrase, which I actually had to be reminded of tonight by some dear friends.

- You'll be strong: I know I started saying it was when I was in Sicily, and I can only assume that I started saying it as a personal mantra to keep me motivated when I was working in NAS Sigonaella Security. That was definitely a place that I needed to exercise personal motivation in. Whenever someone would complain about something my retort "You'll be strong", another version of "Adapt and Overcome". But as the years have gone on its fell out of my vernacular. However, I have to say that I like this one much better and am thankful to Joyce reminding me about it tonight. Why do I like it better? Because I can actually reference it to scripture, Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. This was the way I started using it once I got saved, and what my friends remember about it. Something not going right? "You'll be strong", thinking about giving up with that trial that you're facing "You'll be strong". Strong in the Lord that is.

There have many times this year where I have not felt strong, but here is 2 Corinthians 12:9 - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. When I am weak then the Lord is stronger than I am and more capable of working things out for my improvement. Coming through a challenge? "You'll be strong". Rest in the Lord.

Really I'm a little ashamed that I forgot about such a great saying that I did use to spout off pretty much all the time. But all I can assume is that as with anything time and people change and different phrases arise to deal with different situations. This one though, is making a comeback. Sometimes a person just needs a reminder from some friends. And I write this knowing full well that I may need to come back to it in the future for another reminder.

Think I can't handle it..."I'll be strong".

2 Corinthians 12:10 - Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I just had to add this photo because it made me laugh!

Chicken Recipe

2010-11-24T20:58:00.001-08:00

For those that read my post about my chicken I appologize for not posting the recipe sooner, but it was in a bag that I had put in the fridge, even though I thought I had put it in my purse so I' posting the real recipe. Hopefully you all can find your own way it make it as juicy as I had it, but how you do that is up to you.

Ingredients
- 3T of fresh rosemary or 1T of dried rosemary (I prefer fresh)
- 1/2tsp of paprika
- 1/2tsp of salt
- 1/4tsp of black pepper
- 1 4lb. chicken
- 2 lemons cut into quarters
- 1 stick of butter - 2 heads of garlic

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 & spray pan (hopefully its the Pampered Chef covered baker).
- Remove the inard parts of the chicken. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
- Combine the half the rosemary, paprika, salt & pepper. Put a good portion of garlic in the bottom of the pan you are using keeping some on reserve for the inside of the bird.
- Truss the chicken and put it in the pan you are using.
- Put lemons, the other half of the rosemary and a couple cloves of garlic in the chicken cavity
- Make sure the butter is soft and add the herb mixture to it. Microwave for abt. 10 seconds. Just enough to make it spreadable and spread over the chicken.
- Now if you're using the covered baker cover the chicken and bake for 60 minutes. Then take the cover off and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180 deg. so that the skin can become crispy. If you're not using the covered baker cover the chicken with foil and bake for the same amount of time. When you take the foil off make sure to baste the chicken abt. every 10 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 180 deg.

ENJOY!

Hallelujah Chorus Flashmob

2010-11-24T15:47:00.000-08:00

I Love a good flash mob! As long as they are wholesome, which is rare, but a lot of the silly ones are great. Improv Everywhere does some of the best ones. This one s not by them. It was sent to me by my friend Vicki today. I hope you all enjoy it as well. I'm totally looking forward to seeing Handle's Messiah again this Christmas season!

Winter Wonderland & other wonders

2010-11-22T21:27:00.001-08:00

Finally, I got to enjoy this view from the porchlight last night! And let me tell you, it was hard earned. It was just supposed to be a simple snow day right? Let me begin at the beginning...

See we rarely get snow on the island because well it's an island water usually adds an element of warmth to the air and so the freezing that tends to happen to most places where it snows doesn't really tak place. And I should probably qualify it to say that it almost rarely snows because it seems to be more frequent in the past couple years. But while the temps had been freezing in the past week, the weather men in the area were only calling for light flurries. So Monday morning I made my way to work as usual, but desperately wishing that I had my Isotoners with me.

No sooner had the 8:30 crew joined the office did the skys open up dispensing the cold, white snow and it did it plentifully. At first we weren't to concerned, because usually when it does snow, it takes a while to stick. But not this time. The ground was primed and freezing, which only compounded the anxiety of when we would be allowed to leave work. Where I work just happens to be at the bottom of 2 hills and I don't have 4WD either; none of us that were allowed to leave early did. Eventually, probably around 11 we were allowed to leave, but the damage was already done. The initial hill that I tried to climb had me sliding back down it. Thankfully the second hill I tried had a better success rate because it had been diven on all morning, but had it not been my friend & fellow church member Tom was on speed dial to come & get me out of a jam. However, once I reached the HWY it wasn't much better. All we could do was inch along the HWY and a normal 10 minute drive turned into a half an hour drive, for my co-horts it took an extra 30 minutes into Oak Harbor. It was treacherous on 20, there were at least 5 spin outs and the big rigs had to pull over to chain up. Now spin outs are never fun, but on an island...surrounded by water...that just adds another element of fun, right? Nothing like a water hazard to add to the excitement of inclement weather travel.

So I finally made it to the house that I am staying at, house sitting for actually, and here was the side yard/street view at abt. 11:45. It's Probably abt. 4" at this point.

Now the previous evening, not knowing about the gift that the Lord had in store for us, had decided to wait until the afternoon "after I got off of work", to go back to my place to get the ingredients in order to make the pie for tonights pie fellowship at church. At this point, after the initial hill debacle I had just decided to pack it in for the day...except that my wonter boots were also home and those I NEEDED. My tennis shoes were not holding up well. So I called my friend just to let her know about the snow and without asking her anything, she told me to use her van to drive in the snow. Her van is much heavier than my car and holds up well in the snow. PTL! so now I had a way into town, but I knew it would be another 30 minute drive. SIGH...here I go again...scrapping down the van...heating it up...and off I got into the crawl.

It's weird how when the snow comes it makes everything so still that when your crawling on the road at 25mph it can feel like you're flying. I know of at least one other person that shares that senitment, anyone else out there?

Well I made it to my apartment almost without incident. However, I failed to remember that one does not stop at the top of an icy hill, stop sign or not, when trying to navigate a snow covered terain. Thankfully, again, a passerby saw my plight and took pity on the situation and gave me a push up the hill. He seemed kinda irritated, so I guess chivalry only died a little within his heart. O well, at least I made it up the hill.

Still hangin' with me? OK, got my stuff and made it back to the house unpacked and now I'm ready to bake! Right? You'd think.

If that had been true I would have started right away. Instead my friend called again and reminded me about the fact that the hose needed to be unhooked from the spicket so that the pipes didn't freeze. OK, no biggie...NOT! I was able to find an allen wrench in a drawer and set to it. All to no avail. The thing was already frozen solid! YIKES!!!

Remember people, righty tighty...lefty loosey (the wisdom dispensed to me by my mech friends from my Navy days).

So now what??? I tried to call anyone I knew who had lived in a cold climate (remember people I'm an original California girl). First, I called my friend to see what she wanted me to do. After all this hasn't been the easiest house sitting job, last week we had a major wind storm that toppled over one of her sheds! But alas all I got was her voice mail. Second I called my Dad. He's from Pittsburgh, PA and he'll know what to do, right? Answering machine. Really?! (if I couldn't laugh I'd cry. Not to ironic that Sunday evenings message at church was about how not to worry.) So what's my 3rd option? Think, think, think. Ahhh HA, Tim & Katie! They're from the frozen tundra, a.k.a. Minnesota. They'll totally know what to do. So I rang them up. Katie was home & her advice, a blowdryer and extension chord. That way if I can't get the hose unstuck at least it doesn't re-freeze with warm water on it. At this point I'd try anything!

Blowdryer? Check. Extension chord, well naturally the extra long one that I needed was in the shed that was still standing, but it was all tangled up since it had originally been in the one that toppled over. I tried and tried, in the dark and the below freezing temp last evening to work out the kinks and tangles, all to no avail.

*Sidebar* I hope my friends that know me are enjoying the mental picture of this struggle.

OK, time to regroup. So in the end all I could find was a bunch of smaller extension chords that I attatched together.

But that endedup not working so well. Finally, my friend called me back and told me to just go ahead and use the hot water idea, and if I couldn't get it off then we'd just pray that it wouldn't freeze. Well that's fine, but really I just couldn't deal with it if I had to contain another disaster, especially busted pipes. So again, here I go. But finally...Ta-Da!!! I am smarter than a frozen water spicket! YES! I was super relieved that the hose came loose. And my tools that worked? HOT water and an Allen wrench. Definitely have to remember that for "next time".

This one I took just for fun

YAY, for snow boots!

Finally, after all was said and done, I got to start & finish my Oatmeal Pie (click the link for the recipe, I got it from another blog). And those that chose to partake in it tonight found it YUMMY!

My evening day may not have been ideal, but I learned a couple things:

1) Why worry when you can pray?

2) Oatmeal Pie is YUMMY
3) That God's plan will always cause a person to wonder. Why? Because in the prevailing thought that stayed with me throughout the evening and that I expressed to my friends is that, I just had to wonder what the Lord was preparing me for. Because it just seemed to be one thing after another. It's definitely gonna be something, but what only He knows in the end. Whatever it is I wonder if I'll be trudging through snow doing it. If so I'm definitely more prepared than I used to be.

Cooking again

2010-11-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted any recipes...a long while! It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that I haven't really made anything that has excited me. Most of it has been repeats of my stand by list. However this past week I received my Pampered Chef products and I was fully inspired to use my new stoneware baker! So as I was waiting for Nicki to come over and help me make my Christmas presents I set to work on making dinner....Roasted Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, I only took pics of the chicken process though because I wanted to highlight my new cooking tools.

It all started with this little gem. I decided to make it one of my 1/2 price items from my Pampered Chef party the other week. A while back this covered baker was only available to hosts, but now everyone can get it. I've only used it once but I know that I will be using it a LOT!

The Covered Baker

Then I peeled the garlic. I love garlic! I just don't like it making my hands sticky. So the peel removerreally helps that.

Garlic

Isn't this just a lovely picture of tastey goodness! The restaurant is not longer around, and I can't even have traditional Pizza anymore, but I remember Peter's Pizza in SF and specifically the aroma of the toasty garlic, Mmmmm....Seriously! I can't have it anymore:( WHAAAA

Rosemary

In a word...shredded!!! I loved this knife! There is nothing that is so much fun as cutting with a sharp knife. Can I get a witness from the other cooks?

Diced Rosemary & my new knife

The recipe originally called for EVOO and the spices sprinkled over the chicken, but as much as I like EVOO if I need a fat to cook with, I prefer butter. All the way! Butter makes everything better. Well, nit my wasteline, but my tastebuds sure dig it.

Butter and herbs in a bowl Remember all that garlic I rolled? Well I decided to use it as a spice on the bottom of my baker as an aromatic (I've been watching food network alot, can you tell?), and then some in the crevis of the chicken as well.

Toss garlic in the bottom of the baker

I know this looks like a hot mess, but trust me it was totally NOT! I melted the butter slightly, for abt 10 sec. in the microwave. Just enough to make is spreadable. If I could have handled my camera to take a pic of my hands I would have. Again I've fallen vicitm to Food Network nirvana. See I'm house sitting this week and my friend has the FN channel!!! It's also Thanksgiving week, and everytime they get the Turkey ready for the oven they but the spices in the butter and then spread the butter over it with their hands. I guess I just didn't allow enough time for the butter to soften. But still you just make it work.

Before...

After.

The carnage!

Are you carrying any baggage?

2010-11-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I've done one of these. Not since the days of my list, and I don't even think I reviewed this book back then. In any case, this was the first of my books that I had to read for my completion of Bible Institute.

You may be asking yourself why I would re-read, and re-do a book report that I had already done for a previous class? well for a couple reasons. The first is because it had been 2 years since I had taken our world evangelism class (where I first read this book) and it's always good to brush up. The second is because I couldn't find my original graded copy, we had a different Pastor teaching that class and he graded it, not my current Pastor. Lastly, because after reading my original book report, I could hardly see why my Pastor back then would have given me and A. I missed a lot of talking points in the original paper. This would not be acceptable for this assignment. So I chose to re-write my paper. I did use most of my old paper to bring the two assignments together though. Hey, I like to work under the phrase "work smarter not harder".
This time I feel like I have a much better paper. Maybe I'll post it once I get the grade back.

Like the title suggests this book is mostly about the ideals that Americans hold to and how they can be hindrances when dealing with other cultures. This is an especially important consideration for a person that is ministry bound to consider. And that is in escense the objective of the author.

Nussbaum starts off by pointing out that there are about 10 commandments that Americans live by, which are:
1. You can’t argue with success 2
2. Live and let live
3. Time flies when you’re having fun
4. Shop ‘til you drop
5. Just do it
6. You are only young once
7. Enough is enough
8. Rules are made to be broken
9. Time is money
10. God helps those who help themselves

He then continues the book through a seies of American proverbs that illustrate how Americans act in, and re-act to situations (for better or worse). Some of the proverbs to consider are “Live and let live”, Winning isn’t everything”, "Just Do It", and “Home Sweet Home”. According to Nussbaum all of these sayings focus on the three major goals of success, self-esteem, and fun that, he says drive Americans to make the decisions that they do. What do these proverbs/saying mean to you? Do they evoke any thoughts on how you make your decisions?

It's a really good book. And I'm happy that I decieded to read it again. I got a lot more out of it the second time around. If you're interested you can find it on Amazon.

Veterans Day

2010-11-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

In all my antics in growing up, and with all the titles that I ever thought I would hold, Navy Verteran never would have been one of them. However, that is one of the titles that I hold in my life. I shouldn't say proudly, because the Lord does hate pride, but I can say that I honorably served in the USN for 5 years (I have the DD214 form to prove it).

This picture was taken in 2000 and I was 20. Oh how much I had yet to learn, even though I thought I knew it all back then. Who would know that within a years time I would be stationed in Sicily (a country I had always hoped to go to), standing watch on front gate (on the look out for terrorists) and that I'd come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.

However, this leads me to a thought. While those of us who have given up chunks of our lives, yay even some lives entirely, in order to protect both hearth and home; serving in the armed forces for our Nation is nothing like serving in the Lords armed forces. Once we enlist in those there is no DD214 separation paperwork, and our honorable service is only recognized upon our promotion to glory. We can only hope to hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant", Matthew 25:21.

The word Veteran is a noun & means - One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has grown old in service and has had much experience.

Sadly I believe that there are all to many Christians that fall out of the spiritual battle before becoming seasoned enough to hold the title of Veteran. I believe primarily because alot of people don't ever learn to use their sword, Hebrews 4:12, and because of that they don't know how to use their weapon against the attacks of the enemy. Just like a military service person, the Christian has been given a weapon in order defend themselves, which is the Bible. One way to hear the afforementioned scripture is to know your Bible. And while I admit I have a lot to learn from it and that I'm still learning how to use it better. It is has by far been the best means of defense that I've had in the past 9.5 years.

11 years ago I joined the Navy to serve my country and get money for school. A year and a half later I was actually saved to serve in a much greater capacity than I could have ever imagined. The serving has not stopped and I hope one day that I can count myself worthy of that Veteran status.

Until then however, let me just say that I am happy to be called a Veteran of my country and want to thank all of those that have served and are still serving in our nations Armed Forces. Let yourselves always be counted Semper Fi.

Time to Vote

2010-10-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to join a letter campaign and help endorse one of our local island candidates so I did, and it was recently printed in our local news paper. Here it is...

Bailey listens, earns my vote

It's important that candidates listen to their constituents and it's a quality that I look for in who will get my support. November 2nd is right around the corner, I hope you use your vote wisely.

It Is Well With My Soul

2010-10-20T23:55:00.001-07:00

When I got out of the Navy the original plan was to go to Bible college. Me and all my pals from Sig were going to meet back up again and it would be just like the old days. However, I serve a BIG God and he had other plans in store for me.

As time started to elapse between my time back then and my time here on Whidbey the Lord started to show me that all my motivations for attending a Bible college were motivated by the flesh, i.e. my desire to get married, which I still have just in the Lords timing and not mine but I digress. So I knew that my church had a Bible Institute, but I didn't know what to make of it. A church that trains men for the ministry?! Can a lady even attend? So I talked to my Pastor at the time, Pastor Prisk, and he said that ladies were of course welcome to take the classes, just not the ones that train the men for preaching, based on 1 Timothy 2:12 and the qualifications for a man being the one to preach found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. So I started going, but was quickly snatched away for deployment. I already knew that the Lord wanted me in WA so I decided rather than intermitantly attending classes that I would wait until I got out of the Navy, which actually worked out because shortly after returning from deployment I was put on night check. It would have been very difficult to attend Bible Institute at that time.

So in 2005 I got out and set to work on Bible Institute training. Training to use the information that I learned to use in my Sunday School classes, which I have; to share with friends to encourage them, which I have; and ultimately to use that knowledge to better serve the Lord and understand His words with, I'm still working on that but that's life it's a constant work in progress.

It was easy at first to see my progress because I basically needed all the classes that were offered, but as time passed by more classes were added, turning a 3 year program into a 4 year one, and then all the classes were re-set to accommodate the Preachers In Training here. Not that I was upset exactly, I mean they are the men that would be preaching and the institute is designed for that, but it did start to get discouraging after a while because slowly all the classes that I have already taken have started to resurface and I started to get lost in the classes and what I needed (some of the classes kept me in limbo because they had yet to be defined). Eventually it really started to affect my spirit. Each time someone would stand up in the pulpit and expound on the program and how long it was, I would sit in my pew and stew about it, knowing that I might very well be in the institute for a few more years and trying to accept that, after all the world is not the stage for the "Carolyn Show", but never quite coming to terms with it. So at the beginning of the month I finally decided that rather than continue to stew about it I would just ask Pastor so that I could see the big picture and continue to stay motivated.

After his much needed vacation he came back and yesterday asked our seceretary to bring him my permanent record. How the scenario played out shall remain within the walls of the office, but I know that there was some discussion with Tim about it and that a dear friend stepped in to advocate for me. So about 3:30pm I got an email telling me that I would have to do to complete the requirements for it was 2 more book reports! Really?! Completely! Totally!! Seriously!!!

I really don't know what else to say...I know a total shocker! But it's humbling and overwhelming at the same time to know that I'll have my Diploma after these 5 years. I do actually plan on taking any new classes that come up, just because I always like a good challenge and learning from my Pastors. Sitting under their wisdom and getting to absorb all that they have dispensed is priceless and I can only hope that I can allow to use a fraction of that as I continue to go forward in the life that He has designed for me. Suffice it to say, it is well with my soul!

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll.

Whatever my lot thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

New GF Product

2010-10-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

You might remember that last month I went up to visit Kali and Maggie and while I was there they had told me that they had seen Gluten Free Bisquick in their Super Wal-Mart. While I was intrigued, I kept my excitement at bay because I had yet to see this for myself. However, I am happy to report that this product really does exist!!! And I bought a box today while I was at doing my grocery shopping.

There is also a new GF only store in town. I definitely plan on frequenting it because I would hate to see it go away. Everything in there is GF! It's nice because everything in prominently displayed, unlike where I found the Bisquick displayed today, on the bottom shelf. I probably should have gotten a couple more boxes because there was only a couple left, but then again I know I'm not the only one who needs this great product. And besides that greed and glutony, both of which God speaks against.

I hope that if you are reading this in the states that you are able to go out and get it in your local super market. I do know of some people though who may be reading this from north of the border, in which case I hope you can find it online to purchase if it has not arrived in a store near you. And if your not GF but know of someone that is, don't fret about what to make because now you too can help your guests indulge in the fare in which you will make for them. Once I make something with it I will let you all know how it goes. Mmmmm, bicuits are now withing my grasp. I love those with some pot roast!!! And some strawberry short cake....it's really almost to good to be true!

I WON!!!

2010-09-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

I've had my blog for about 3 years now and off and on I enter various giveaways. Mosly to no avail. I don't enter them all because some things I don't have a use for and really I don't have enough time in the day to enter everything. I don't always care about winning and I don't wait by my email waiting to be notified, but there was a giveaway recently that I did want to enjoy winning as and I DID!

I follow Gluten Free Girls blog, aka Shauna & Chef Ahern. If you haven't read it you should, I mean really you should. I love the way she tells food stories. Seriously I cried when I finished her book. I find her stories engrossing and BTW, I love the recipes too. Well a couple days ago she was having a giveaway for some books, have I explained how I love books, especially food ones? Well I should sometime. But I digress. There were 3 up for grabs...Will Write for Food, Food Heros: Preserving Tradition, and Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen. Tonight I hopped online just to check my email and I had a note from Shauna letting me know that I had one the book below.

It really made my weekend! At least until I go to church tomorrow. When it comes I'll totally have to take a picture...or two.

A Giveaway

2010-09-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Beauty is having another giveaway for $100 worth of Marie~Madeline products. Below are jsut a few of the items that are sooo cute. I love the bag below! Here is the link to the Pioneer Beauty giveaway. Now you have your own chance to enter when you click on it and go there.

Jesus Love Me

2010-09-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Olivia singing Jesus Loves Me at church on Labor Day weekend. In a word...Precious! I hope you think so too. I can'r believe I got to hold her when she was just a day old. My how they grow!

A Jane Austen Giveaway

2010-09-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

I just found this blog and entered this giveaway for a beautifully bound edition of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

You can enter it too by clicking on the link for Pioneer Beauty! Good luck all...even though I'd like to win. Thanks Jennifer for posting it on your blog also. If you want to enter more than once just tell them Carolyn sent you.

September 11

2010-09-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

It's officially September 11. I'm sure that everyone remembers where they were on this day nine years ago.

I was in Sicily working out on the cross trainer and I looked up to see the strangest "movie" that I'd ever seen. Except as we all know it was no movie. It was America, under attack, by terrorists that would like nothing better than to see America destroyed.

I knew where I needed to be, and so to security I went...and the subsequently stayed until I had new orders given to me...8 months later. On top of the time I spent activated because of the USS Cole bombing I was there for a total year and a half out of my 2 year tour.

I was mad and angry at that time. Frustrated that I couldn't do anything and sad that we were now under a new "normal". My first trip back stateside was on my way through to Sacremento and as I got off the plane I sat waiting for my Dad to come to the gate and get me. It was almost 10 at night and a flight attendant saw me and asked if anything was wrong, so I told her what I was doing. She looks at me like I was crazy and when I told her that it was my first trip back to the states from overseas she had to explain the new protocol. No more walks to the gate and lounging about the airport allowed. It makes airport scenes in movies, from 10 years ago, seem antiquated.

I didn't have much to do tonight, but I felt like being creative and so I made this video on my new movie maker. I was inspired in part by the video that the VP of my CWRW club made, and by a request to post a flag picture. I had initially thought of just building a tribute around flags, but decided to use some other photos from that day, not just of the towers, but of the Pentagon as well and then realized half way through that I really wanted it to be for the heroes of that day. The Firemen and Police. The people that served during the event and after, because of it. If you're interested the song is actually called the Twin Towers Lament by Brandon Vance. I had it on a instrumental CD that I bought a while back.

It's 9-11. I'd say enjoy, but that seems a bit morbid so simply remember...And never forget.

Gotta love a long weekend

2010-09-08T17:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know about you all, but I LOVE a long weekend! Especially one that involves seeing friends...that have moved.

A few weeks back Nicki and I were planning on going up to visit the Waldron's and Majors families over in Okanogan. They moved back at the end of June to start a church over in Twisp and we miss them bunches!

Well as anyone who has ever made plans knows, that the best laid plans can always unravel and these ones did in a big way. Nicki got really sick the week prior to our departure, I ended up sitting with her in the ER waiting for test results last Monday, and even though we would joke about her need to get better by weeks end, my heart was not hopeful. I mean she was really bad off. Anyway, that meant that I was going up by myself, even though I was fighting off whatever was being passed around my friends lately (turns out it's been pneumonia, yuck). I ended up putting myself on a daily regimen of Emergen-C(for and immune booster) and NiteQuil (to sleep) along with anything else that I thought I might need (Echinacea anyone). However, I was able to leave on Saturday morning with no problems. The four hour drive was a bit lonely, as my mind wandered to all the potential fun conversations I would have shared with Nicki, but Alexander Scourby read the Psalms to me on my CD player and it made for a nice ride (note to all who have hid Bible on Audio CD's if you have a 4 hour drive to make, and need some way to pass the time, the Psalms will get you there with no left overs).

Finally, I arrived!!! Kali didn't even hear me ring their doorbell, but ended up walking by the door at just the right time. Whew, I would have hated to have been missed ;) She heated up some left over Pancit for me for lunch and we visited until Mags and Sharon got home, and then proceeded to watch Mags make desert for that night, flour less chocolate cake with a Mocha glaze. Seriously that girl can cook! The we ended up at the Majors for dinner (ribs, corn, potato salad & orange fluff). After we played a game of dominoes. Actually it was only half a game because we were going to have to rise early for church the next morning.

Pics of the Mountains on the way up to Okanogan

And we did. See even though our evangelistic team lives in Okanogan, they have to travel about a half an hour away to Twisp (where the work is actually going on) and set up for services (signs so that people know where to find them, chairs, sound system, hymnals, breakfast for in between SS & Morning service...etc.) But with 4 girls getting ready in the morning you know it's gonna be an early day. I mean beauty takes work people! But services were great!!! I always enjoy Chris' preaching. SS he taught lesson "C" out of the ABC's of Christian growth, which stands for church. Though I don't often speak of him or do a lot of comparisons, it really was like have Pastor Prisk teach the lesson all over again. Sigh, I miss him sometimes. But I digress.... Chris' morning message was excellent too. One thing that I like about his preaching is that he makes it easy to take notes. His message was on Daily Mana (Exodus 16:11-21). How God provides everything we need for everyday. His points were as follows 1) It's God that does the providing, 2) God provides only things that are pure and 3) Gods provision always leaves more for others. It was an awesome message. Followed by a wonderful corn chowder lunch. If you ever find yourself in the area here is the website for contact info.

After the morning we girls headed off to Winthrop. It's a touristy western town complete with wood board streets. We had a grand time complete with trying on hats and a stop at Sheri's Sweet shop. Everyone got ice cream, but me. I got a piece of rocky road and a dark chocolate covered rice krispy treat, which BTW I saved for the next day. I'm not that big of a glutton. And I'm glad I only had one piece of chocolate because that evening we went to another church and were treated out to DQ afterward by the Pastor of that church. It's fun to hang with the missionaries.

The next day was Labor day and we just relaxed. Bro. Waldron was finally feeling better and so we went on a drive up to Oroville to see what was "out there" beyond the Omak city line. Let me tell you it's not much, but it was a pretty, urrr rustic, drive. Lots of hills and open sky. We also scoped out the company where Kali had put in a resume to, which was on our route. After we got home it was time for some Man vs. Food and ironically dinner. Then for some Phase 10. Nope I didn't win this time, but there's always my next trip.

Tuesday was another 4 hour drive home, but I felt refreshed and ready to face the rest of the week. No Psalms this time, Proverb, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon & Esther got me back home safe and sound. I really wish I could have stayed. Being back in reality isn't always fun, but that's why you gotta love a long weekend. It gives you something to look forward to, like visiting with friends.

Proverbs 18:24 - A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

My commute

2010-08-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

For those of us that work we all have a commute that we have to deal with. Some are shorter than others, but most generally have one thing in common a boring view. HA HA, not me! Just as I rounded the corner to head on to my work I turned to see the sun breaking through the clouds. There was just a twinge of that autumn feeling in the air too. You know that feeling right?! The kind that makes you want to put on some apple cider and curl up with a good book. The feeling that lets turkeys know they better hide because Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And the feeling that makes you look at the calendar and count down how many shopping days are left until Christmas, which is 116 days (just so you know).

Anyway, this was the view on my commute to work this morning, breath taking right! Eat it freeway...God paints a much better canvas and he has the whole sky to do it in too.

Psalm 97:6 - The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

I know you're jealous. Try not to hate me to much.

Dinner

2010-08-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted any food pics or recipes hasn't it! I realized that tonight as I was making dinner. So here we go.

I was inspired this afternoon by Pioneer Woman's blog for fried round steak. If you're not GF this is a good recipe for you, but if you're like me and can't have all purpose four it might not be the best one for you so I decided to work on one for myself tonight. And boy it was Mmmm good!

So here's how it goes...

Season your cube steak. I used salt, pepper and onion powder, but use what you like best. Then dredge your cubed steak ing your fave all purpose GF flour. I like the mix over at Hey, that tastes good! You may have to do this a couple of times don't worry the more flour the crunchier it tastes.

Make sure that the skillet you use is nice and hot and has lots and lots of butter in it! Hey, I never said that this was a healthy meal, I just said it was good. Then plop the steaks in the pan and fry it up about 4 min on each side gets it nice and golden brown. Yummy!!!

While my steak was cooking I also had a bag of peas cooking up in the microwave and had already started some potatoes up in the oven ahead of time. I'm one of those people that likes everything done at the same time and planning is the key there. So if you want to do the same make sure that you start it all when needed so that your food finishes up within the same time.

After my steaks were done frying, and my peas were done heating up, and my potatoes were nice and golden crispy this was what I had! Dinner!!!

I was a little worried after I offered to make my roommate one, just because she's from Texas and knows her country steak, but this garnered two enthuastic thumbs up from her as she enjoyed her dinner. I wish I had thought ahead to making the drippings into gravy, but I've never really been good at making pan gravy so it was no major loss, but my steak was nice & crispy, just like I like it.

I really love cooking for people this will definitely be a keeper for my family one day, prolly for a Sunday afternoon or evening when some comefort food is needed. I hope all you GF friends enjoy it too. Thanks Ree for the inspiration!

MIni Epics

2010-08-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved going to the movies and that girl was me. Like I said that was once upon a time and I just didn't love going to the movies, I practically lived there. I mean what white 13 year old girl do you know that will voluntarily go and sit through Malcom X for two and a half hours, by herself. Not many I'm sure. Nowdays I don't really go, which is a good thing because, while some movies can be entertaining most of what is out there is not worth paying $7 a pop (back in the day it was on $4) save a few. The last movie I remember seeing at the movie theater was March of the Penguins, and that was only because I wanted to see the cinematography, which was worth it. If I want to watch a movie these days I just stay home ans watch one of mine or pull one up on Netflix through my roommates Wii (boy I'm gonna miss that, but a friend at church says I can get a DVD player that will do the same thing, but I digress).

However if YouTube had been in existance during my youth I would have been advantageous of me to save my money and watch these mini epics of Forest Gump & Titanic

Hahaha, aren't those funny! I wish I could get that money back that I spent on those movies, especially since I saw Titanic 4 times! O boy, what can I say I was 18 and lost.

My life today

2010-08-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

I know it took a while for me to post on my days spent in LTIA thanks for hanging in there. I also know that my stories and life has been kind of quiet up to this point for other things that have been going on. So let me see if I can play catch up.

I decided to get involved in the campaigns for this years mid term elections in my county. I pretty much support most of the conservative candidates, except for two running for local offices. In those cases the best qualified candidates really are from the opposite party. The one candidate that I'm actively involved with is Kelly Emerson, running for Island County Commissioner. Our current leadership within those offices needs to be reigned in, and Kelly's just the person to hold Island County accountable for how it spends it's money. For more information click on her link on my sidebar, or check out her blog at our news papers website. In conjunction with this endeavor I'm also working with the local women's republican group. I've stepped up to be the secretary for the club and besides promoting our political candidates we also have a program call pieces of home, which I love! Basically we get together and fill boxes of goodies to send to the troops that are stationed overseas. Naturally having served in the military this is a cause near and dear to my heart.

After the primary's on Tuesday Kelly is also ahead of the incumbent John Dean, in the polls 59% to 40%, and that was just for her district, which is a pretty Democratic one at that. Now that the primary's are over her race opens up to all of Island County. GO KELLY!!!

I'm also in the process of taking photos for some friends and their business so that they can create new brochures. If you haven't found the link yet, in my favorite tabs, check out their website here at A Knot in Thyme. This also opened up a new opportunity for me to take pictures of the Vertical Garden for Alyssa for a great opportunity that came her way to have the wall show up in book on vertical gardening! I took those pics last weekend and it was a lot of fun, even if it was HOT outside! I'll post some of them later for you to take a look.

This weekend I'll be walking with Kelly in the local Island County Fair Parade, while my friends are away on the HWY 20 camp out. It's weird not being able to go this year, but in choosing to take my vacation to DC earlier in the summer that also left me with not enough time to take off for a little while. Actually there are quite a few of the SPG's that fell into this category. I've made it a point to try and go to each one since the inception of the HWY 20 project, but if I were to leave here on Friday afternoon, by the time I got to the camp ground it would be time for me to leave again, and I don't know about all of you, but if I have to drive 4 hours to get somewhere I might as well get to stay for a spell.

I think that's about it for now, not a whole lot to say, just enough to keep the update real rather than focusing on the past.

Oh and if you're in the mood for a good sermon on what God says about changing click here "Change, but never change". This sermon comes from a previous Pastor of mine. Here is his synopsis of the message: Heb 6:1-20 God never changes because He is perfect, so to change would be to leave perfection. We are to strive for perfection. Hence, we ought always to be "changing" to be better, but NEVER "changing" in a backsliding direction. How many of God's people have surrendered precious ground to the devil? Allow this sermon to, at minimum, bring you back to where you once were in your Christian walk.

LTIA Part 6...Thoughts on Thursday, a Fantastic Friday & Sianara Saturday

2010-08-05T13:48:00.001-07:00

Thursday arrived and it was the last day that I had to memorize my verse.

Proverbs 16:13 - "Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right."

Our morning lectures were on how to answer those people that would criticize the Bible, Defending the Gospel and Humanism in education.

Today was the day that we also got to go to CWA (Concerned Women of America) headquarters and meet Wendy Wright, the President of CWA. Her testimony was pretty amazing. She was arrested once for praying across the street from an abortion clinic. She wasn’t even talking to the people, yet her concern for their welfare and the welfare of the unborn children were enough to cause her to pray and yet she was arrested and found guilty for her actions. Her words to us though were very encouraging and some of us at the end got to talk to her personally.

A print in the hall at LI
Karline signing the Declaration of Independence
Waiting for the elevator at CWA

Wendy Wright speaks

The Quilt Wall

Here are is a clip of her being interviewed by CNN last week over California’s decision on Prop 8.

She has another series of clips that I plan on putting up with her “debate” Richard Dawkins on the theory of evolution, but that’s for another time.

After our meeting with Wendy we made our way over to the Smithsonian, where Bro. Briney wanted us to see the display on evolution and its false teachings. But we spent so much time at CWA that by the time we got there we were running short on time and some of us had a hard time finding the display. On a personal note, museums of natural history are never really that interesting to me. When I was at the one in NYC, when I was in HS, the only real reason I thought it was cool was because one of my favorite shows back then was friends and that was where the character Ross worked at. Anyway, I found Tim & Bro. McHenry and started waiting with them, until he told me that the Hope Diamond was on display. Well, though I’m not voted “most likely to be distracted by something shiny” that was all I needed to hightail it up to the 2nd floor and take a couple pics of it. You know, just so that Mr. Right has an idea of what I like;) J/K Something smaller will do just fine, but isn’t it beautiful. 45 karats!

After that side of the Smithsonian we went to that American History side, which was across the street. Here was much more enjoyable for me, Although we couldn’t take pics of the actual flag, here is where they have stored the original Star Spangled Banner, yes the very on that Francis Scott Key penned out national anthem about. It really was a sight to behold at 30’ x 34’. I also got to see the ball gowns of our first ladies, the Ruby Slippers, Carol Burnett’s dress from her “Went With the Wind” skit (if you haven’t seen it yet you need to, it’s a classic! I’ve provided clips below for your enjoyment). I saw the Bradford Dollhouse as well as the diner counter from the first civil rights sit in (sorry no pics of that one, the battery in my camera died by that time).

The Star Spangled Banner

Mrs. Tafts nagural Ball gown

Mrs. Bushes Inagural Ball gown

Went With The Wind

The Ruby Slippers

The Bradford Doll House

After the Smithsonian it was back to LI for dinner and a short rest before we were off to meet with Congressman Boozman from Arkansas at the Capital building. Here we got to have a private after hours tour. It was really quiet without all the tourists and the Congressman actually had to come and go a bit during the tour because they were in the middle of a vote. We learned some pretty interesting facts, like how in the old Senate floor there is a whisper spot, where a person standing on the opposite end of the room can clearly hear “secret conversations”. It’s said that John Adams, known for falling asleep during senate meetings on the floor, was seated in that spot and because of it he could know what was still going on though he was not awake.

We also got to go up and sit in the Senate gallery. While Senate was not in session, there was a Senator that was arguing, for the C-SPAN cameras, against Obama care. Plastered above the seating area are profiled faced of different heads of state which vary from Napoleon to Washington. However, the only face which is allowed to face the Speaker of the House is the face of Moses, the first judge. A note of irony here is that the government would very much like to deny God in their actions, yet there are proofs of our founding fathers reverence for Him and His guidance everywhere in Washington.

The coridor walking towards the Senate

The Capital Rotunda

The Whisper Spot

Walking up to the Senate Floor

Paul working a deal with the Congressman

Upon our return to LI we had one last chance to work on our project before the following day’s presentation.

A fantastic Friday was how our last full day started and ended.
Brother Jim Love brought us a special devotion on the influence of Baptists in the founding of our country, and after it was time for our presentations. We were the first group up and actually it made me happy to just get it over with. Everyone else did an excellent job on their presentations as well.

After the presentations it was time to split up to take a tour of things that we wanted to see but didn’t have the time to see during the week. Some went back to the Smithsonian. Some went to go take pics outside the White House, while some still went shopping. Me and my group, comprised of Tim, Josh, Joel, Joyka, Grace and Anna, went to Arlington cemetery. I never realized how close it is to the rest of the National Mall. The place is huge and there so much more there I want to see, but we did get to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was very moving in its silence.

The Marine Memorial a.k.a. The Iwo Jima Memorial

By this time my feet were so swollen and it just hurt to walk, but I made it and I’m glad that was the tour that I chose to go on.

After our day it was time to freshen up for graduation. All but 2 people graduated with honors. It was a great evening. After graduation we went to Barnes & Noble around the corner from where we were at and hung out in the little park that was in the middle of the stores.

Finally Saturday we left, but not before I finally got to meet my friend Julie. We started our friendship as E-buddies on FB, and started following each other’s blogs. Her brother has been a guest preacher at out church a couple of times and so finally after 3 years, though it was a short lunch meeting I’m glad that we finally got the chance to meet. It was a great afternoon.

My head finally hid my pillow at home around midnight, tired but happy that the week had been fulfilling both spiritually and personally.

Sign Waving

2010-07-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't picked up on the themes from my latest blog posts, LTIA has renewed a political fervor in me and as such I've decided to get involved with one of the local mid-term election campaigns.

Her name is Kelly Emerson and she's running for Island County Commissioner for Dist #3. Here's the link to her blog.

Today was out first sign waving effort. I live in an area where we do mail in ballots and so making sure that we get out there as people are going home and will receive their ballots is part of the plan. Who can miss the bright yellow:)

It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for sign waving, thing is though that I was the only one out there with the signs. Yup, just yours truly. There were supposed to be more of us, I had people RSVP, but something must have gotten lost in translation. But it's hard to miss someone waving a bright yellow sign on the corner of the only major 2 lane HWY on the Island, in front of the major National Park. I'm just sayin'

In any case, I'll be out there again for the next couple weeks as long as we're in primary season. I hope that I get a couple more bodies next week. It really matters that people volunteer. The only way that officials can "hear" your voice is by letting them know what you stand for and becoming active. Otherwise that's how people become doormats, letting people dictate to them how their lives should be run and what they should and shouldn't care about. I'm also helping out with a couple of fund raisers for Barbra Bailey, our WA state representative in Olympia, and I have stepped up to try and be the secretary for the Central Whidbey Republican Women. It's gonna be a long election season, but it will be worth it when we have fiscally responsible and sound representatives leading our state.

LTIA Part 5...Wandering thru Wednesday

2010-07-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Half way to graduation...

Memory verse. . .Psalm 11:3 - If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

We were all set to meet with the State representative for Ohio, Jim Jordan, on the steps of the Capital building. But the meeting times kept getting pushed forward, so that we were practically running to the metro and running off of it trying to get ahead of the crowd of people. We missed him though, by about 5 minutes. While it was a bit disappointing we did manage to get some great pics on the steps of the Capital. Some people just look political, don't you agree?

Though we were a little bummed about having to rush around and still miss out it did make it possible for us to get to our next destination on time. Where were we going now? The Macedonia Embassy. Here we met with Ambassador Zoran Jolevski. He showed us slides of his country and spoke to us about their economy and political system. Macedonia has a tax system that taxes everybody straight across the board. When they went to this system they realized that people were no longer trying to cheat on their taxes an because people were paying them they were actually about to close their deficit substantially. Hmmm...ideas? They also have it set up so that women who become mothers have an average of 6-9 month maternity leave, but the more Children you have the longer your maternity leave is able to be. Oh, and it's all paid leave to!

After the presentation they hospitably opened up their staff and Embassy for lunch. Everyone got to eat except for me because it was Pizza, but they broke out the china and everything for the occasion! We took a picture with him before he had to leave, it was also published in our local newspaper in a story that Levi wrote (here's the link for you to check out for yourself), and then we were off to the Metro again to go back to LI for some more lectures and dinner, which ironically was pizza again for the group. They were definitely on carb overload.

Meg getting interviewed

The Embassy before it was renovated

After the renovation

Our evening lectures were brought to us by Maureen Wiebe, from the American Association of Christian Schools, and Seton Motley, from Less Government & News Busters. Maureen spoke to us about how the government has started to gain control of education and the effects that have come about from that. She gave a really great example of how we can get involved, by citing Daniel and his friends as examples. How even though the were held captive in Babylon they were still able to maintain their testimonies. The same could be said about Joseph as well, and his testimony was so trusted that he got to basically run Potiphars entire estate, and eventually the entire land of Egypt. Seton Motley then brought us some disturbing information on how the sitting government wants to legislate away our first amendment rights. He was very effective in getting his points across an errr...colorful manner, but the information was very good to have and it's something that Americans need to be on the watch out for.

Maureen Weibe

After the lectures we broke away to work in our team projects. At the beginning of the week we were put into groups and asked to pick two topics from the Herritage Foundations 10 Transformational Initiatives:

-First Principles
-American Leadership
-Education
-Energy & Environment
-Enterprise & Free Markets
-Entitlements
-Family & Religion
-Health Care
-Protect America
-Rule of Law

We then had to research them and present them before the rest of the class at the end of the week. My group chose Energy & Environment and Enterprise & Free Markets.

With Wednesday behind us we were excited about the close of the week. We were all tired, but the experience was bringing us all closer together.

LTIA Part 4...Trodding through Tuesday

2010-07-16T11:13:00.001-07:00

If we thought our feet hurt after our tour of the monuments and standing around the Holocaust museum we had no idea what was in store for them. However, we arose on Tuesday looking forward to the days events. On a personal note I was super tired from the previous evenings gab session. I wasn't a part of it, I unsuccessfully was trying to sleep through it. Finally around 1 I had to turn around and sush them all to bed. It was rediculous, but a couple cups of coffee and a pep talk from some of the staff members and I was good to go.

My memory verse for Tuesday was Psalm 33:4 - "For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth."

Some of our lectures that we had were on Secular Humanism and Creation vs. Evolution.

It's the events of the day however that were the most exciting for me. We split off into a couple of different groups based mostly on whether or not we had a meeting time for our senators. Fortunatlely for the SPG's Levi took charge of that and called ahead to make our appointment time.

Our first stop though was at the Faith in Action building for a meeting with Tim Gueglin from Focus on the Family. The walk to the building was a hike from METRO and in order to make sure that we arrived on time we were walking at a pretty speedy pace, which only helped my make-up to melt, but once we arrived at our destination, the AC was nice, and as you can see below the brownstone that houses FIA was lovely. Mr. Gueglin spoke to us about the NEED for strong families in America and more pointedly the NEED for strong fatherly leadership. In the absences of true leadership people will look to anysource that they can to lead them, like government programs that take of their lives for them...hmmm, sound familiar to anyone. He also encouraged us to try and make a difference where we can by getting involved. Part of that naturally comes with knowing what the issues are that effect people and their lives.

After our audience with him we made our way to Senator Cantwells office. Honestly I had no idea what to expect in meeting her. Already knowing that we have two different world views I wasn't sure how exactly that would go down. To say that she was cordial to us would be about the best that I could say. Though she was a little bowled over that she had 10 constituents from he state in her office, much to her chagrin she realized that we were not on her side. We had unanimously come to a decision that Tim would be our intial spokes person. He wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of meeting her, and prior to meeting her he asked me how he should open it up. Well if there's one thing that I learned while being an enlisted person in the Navy, and being a woman in a mans world, it's that flattery will get you everywhere. Nothing overdone mind you, but if you find yourself in a conversation with someone who is in a position of authority like that the best way to engraciate yourself is to start with a compliment i.e. "Thank you for your service" something to that end. But he did a fine job of opening up the discussion.

Prior to us leaving for the day we were encouraged by the staff, on behalf of Concerned Women for America, to lobby against the passing of the Burris Ammendment. This ammendment was made by the Illinois Senator and it's a provision that would allow for abortions to start taking place on military bases, Bill No. NDAA-FY2011. For many years this has been against the DOD but alas that is not the way that our current leadership wants to see things go. And while it's advocate would have you believe that the ladies that get pregnant in the military have no options that is just not true. They have them, and it involves going off base, and in the case of over seas assignments being sent back to the states. However, this should not be an expense that is put on the burden of the tax payers to foot the bill for, which we will. So this was our mission: Lobby with Senator Cantwell against the Burris Ammendment.

Tim started to, but knowing that she wasn't going to budge he didn't hit it to hard, and instead started to talk to her about energy alternatives. Then he opened up the floor to the rest of us. Nicki wanted to bend her ear on the Durbin Exchange Ammendment, which would make it hard for credit unions to offer the free services that they do to their customers. They would basically have to start charging customers fees on their debit purchases, this was all done to help offset the cost of the bail outs. One thing that though, credit unions did not accept any bail out money and they did not help contribute to the financial melt down that other banking institutions did, because they did not lend to their customers irresponsibly. Nicki works for a credit union so that was her platform. Once she was done though I jumped in on the issue of the Burris Ammendment. My experience as a woman in the military put me in a unique position to speak not only from my faith POV but from one of practical knowledge of how it would affect the military in the long term should this ammendment pass.

Honestly I had no idea what I was going to say when I opened my mouth, and she did try and sway me with her own false flattery saying that I looked to young to have served in the military, please!!! Really, give me a break! 31 looks a whole lot different than 18 does and once I figured out that she was trying to throw me off my game something other than myself took over and I went to work, talking about how to begin with sex isn't even allowed in the barracks and then how and ammendment like this will have repercussions with command readiness. Seriously, it may have been my voice coming out, but those words weren't mine I barely remember all that I said. What I do remember distinctly is that the more glazed over her eye became the more I wanted to sit there and continue lobbying on behalf of the unborn lives that would suffer from this ammendment. I may not have been able to get through, but after that I was super pumped and wanted more. "Carolyn Pivarnik goes to Washington".

Once we all regrouped it was time to go to the USS Barry at the Naval shipyard. Which may seem close on a map, but not when you have to hike there, and yes I mean hike. Maggie was a trooper, she was in heels all day! I looked down at my feet as we were walking and my ankles were the size of grapefruits, no joke. They were huge! I sported cankles for the rest of the week. But those that had never been on a Naval ship before enjoyed the visit, we got there right before they secured for the day. I chose to stay on deck instead of move and melt some more from the heat. Resting in the shade of the battleships gun I talked with Tim R. about his experience with going to talk to the humanists. As an advanced student that was what he got to do that afternoon. Personally, I'd rather lobby, but it was an interesting experience at best for that team of students.

We returned to LI for dinner and fellowship. Our dogs were barking and Miss Nancy, upwards in her 80's, bless her heart made it through the whole day without complaining (she even got a ride from a kind stranger that saw our group) which definitely put things into perspective, but that knowledge still didn't do much to alleviate the pain from my blisters. However, if I lost sleep the previous night, this night more than made up for it. I forgot to add though that the girls dorm is right underneath a dance club. So every night we were accosted with the ever changing beat of 80's hip hop, country, and other various dance music. It was a flash back for me most nights of the party life style that I used to live in, every night that is except for Latin night, but still it was only by the saving of my MP3 player and some Joshua Bell (violinist) that made the reverberating beat drown out of my head and help me close my eyes for som much needed rest. Wednesday was just a few hours away, and no less eventful.

Whidbey News Time publishes LTIA article

2010-07-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the write up from the Whidbey News Times, just in case you didn't click on the attachment in my last post.

LTIA Part 3...Monday's Martyrdom

2010-07-09T21:56:00.001-07:00

Day number 3 was off to a bang to start off with for we started with the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag,
of the United States of America.
And to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, with liberty
and justice for all.

Really, who doesn't get invigorated by simply saying the pledge of allegiance? Sadly I remember it slowly getting faded out in school while I was growing up. Sure we had a flag hanging right above the blackboard, but little was done to recognize it. Sadly here is an article that talks about a town in Massechusettes that won't allow the pledge to even be said/

Memory verses for the day, Isaiah 40:31 ~ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up their wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. & 2 Samuel 23:3 ~ He that ruleth over men, must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

This being the first full day we first had our lectures on the Evidence for God, the Resurrection and in Inspiration of the Bible. Bro Ken also brought us a lesson on martyrdom, in preparation for our trip to the Holocaust Museum (you won't be seeing a lot of pictures from here because photography was not allowed, but here are some pics of us waiting outside).

When you enter the museum the first thing that they do is hand you an identification card. For the afternoon you are assigned a person that was affected by the Holocaust. Some are survivors, some are not, some (like mine) were able to escape the Nazi regime. The identification card takes you through 3 different stages of the persons life during the Holocaust. These stages correspond to the 3 levels that make up the time line of the museum. That way you can try and experience the museum on a more personal level than other museums. They also lined us up single file and escorted us to the elevators. From beginning to end the curators have the museum set up so that you can try and get the full "experience", which included shoving 40+ people into the elevator that came to pick us up, not unlike the cattle cars that the Jews experienced on their ways to the concentration camps. The person escorting us tried to claim that this wasn't the design, but please it was, and really why hide it. It's a very effective tool in trying to communicate what it would have been like.

My person was Dora Unger and here is her story.

Dora was born January 7, 1925 in Essen Germany. Dora, her parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and two cousins lived together in her grandfather's home in Essen. The Ungers were an observant Jewish family, and when Dora was 8, she began to regularly attend meetings of Brit HaNoar, a religious youth organization.

1933-39: In October 1938 a teacher, with tears in her eyes, came to me at the municipal pool, saying "Jews cannot swim here anymore." Just weeks later, on November 9, Jews were arrested and their property destroyed. A neighbor tried to protect us, but that night as our family huddled together, Nazis spotted our house. Suddenly, an axe flew through the window, landing on my head. A few days later, we fled for the Netherlands.

1940-45: In Amsterdam, as refugees, my parents were not permitted to work and so could not provide for me and my brother. I was sent by a Jewish aid organization to the Buergerweeshuis, an orphanage which had 80 Jewish refugee children. Just after the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, "Mama Wysmueller," a Dutch woman who worked to rescue thousands of children by arranging their passage to England, came and told all of us to get dressed. We were taken by bus to a pier and put on the Bodengraven, a boat. Dora spent the remainder of the war in England. Her parents and brother perished at the camps of Sobibor and Auschwitz. Dora emigrated to Israel in 1946.

There were quite a few moving displays. Anything that was blocked by a gray slab wall was only to be viewed if the person walking through chose to. There was sensitive material behind those walls. Like behind one was a video of the experiments that Dr. Mengele performed on the infirmed, the disabled and the children. Very tough. I did look behind all the walls though. Behind one particular wall was a display of shoes that had belonged to people that were sent into the gas chambers. And there was another moving display that was actually broken up between different floors. It was a display of photos from families that had lived in one town in Europe. This town was completely annihilated and all that is left of this place are the photos that were discarded and left behind during this tumultuous period in history. Not since that time has the town ever exhistedd again and no Jews have ever returned to that part of Europe.

I also had a surprisingly personal experience in the museum. With all the other walls that have different names of people that died, or did the killing, at the end of the museum there is a lone white wall that has the names of those people that helped Jews escape the Nazis. Now rewind with me for a second. Over 10 years ago I went to NYC with my drama club and during our tour of Ellis Island I misspelled my families last name in the computer system and was hence unable find my families history of going through there. Well this time I knew how to spell it and decided to take a shot at seeing if I had any distant family members that would have been on the side of the "good guys". And guess what (seriously if you haven't figured it out you haven't been following along)? I did find my families last name on that wall!!! How far removed we are from one another I'll probably never know, but it was pretty amazing to see it up there and to know i came for a family that was willing to do what was right. I am, or at least I like to think of myself, as the type of person that takes up for the "underdog" and fights for what is right. And i like to think that had I been alive back then that I would have done the same thing.

Upon exiting that final display there is a quiet reflection room, where an eternal flame burns in remembrance of the dead and the survivors, and a place for people to sit and contemplate what they had seen and experienced for themselves.

After we returned to LI for dinner and a lecture from the LI staff on social networking. It was an end to our first long and emotional day. The picture below displays the sentiments of what we should all do in order to make sure that something that atrocious never happens again.

On a side note the article that Levi wrote to the local newspaper on our experience was published in today's edition. Here is the link for you to read it for yourself. Good job Levi!

ONLY...A Testimony

2010-07-09T14:03:00.001-07:00

Psalm 72:18 ~ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

Have you ever read something once and never had it register completely? Have you ever been in need or searching for some comfort and then found it in that exact same reading?

The answer for me to both of these things is yes.

Recently I've had some things come up for me that were unexpected and didn't go along with my plans and in so looking for comfort I found it, where I should have expected it, but didn't for my lack of faith.

I was tired from a long hot day at work, we have no A/C up north so when the heat does come there is little to take respite in, and I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Unable to do so my restless spirit opened my Bible and turned to Psalms. It's what I've been reading in lately. Though some are imprecatory, they are also a great source of comfort when searching for understanding and comfort. Psalm 72 was where I was at and though I was enjoying it, I also felt like I would probably be reading a while until I felt better, until I got to the end and v.18 was there.

In the silence of thoughts it felt like the first time that I was reading the word "only". Four little letters, but such a wonderful thought in the middle of the verse. God ONLY doeth wonderous things. Think about it. It's all He knows how to do. Now I can't explain why the unpleasant and even unfair things in life happen, which they do, except that God means to work them out for good, Romans 8:28 ~ And we that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. I fell asleep that night at peace and happy that the Lord had shown me something from his word. And as it happens most times, once God gets your attention with something it seldom leaves that thought behind. So Psalm 72:18 became my meditation for the rest of the week.

Now we arrive at Friday. The week got better. I got some of my financial things figured out and things were definitely looking up. I got my mail and there was an envelope from Sallie Mae, my previous money supplier for my school loan. Back in April, knowing that school was going to have to go back on hold for a bit, I made the point of paying them off first, for what I owed. They are ruthless at getting money back and I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have those loose ends tying thing up. So my first thought was "Great, another bill." However, to my surprise, it was instead a reimbursement check. Now I was never good at Math, but I know how to add. So how I made this mistake I don't know, but I did and boy O boy what a great mistake! A mistake worth $1,975. My finances are still being worked out, but this will be a huge help in setting up some new things that I need to take care of. It was also a blessing to know that I had something tangible to put to my latest batch of prayer requests. God is never a day late and a dollar short when taking care of our needs, and it lifted my spirits tonight.

Whether it's money, relationships, school, bills, car problems, lonliness, heartache, illness, or a new opportunity God cares about your "only", for He only doeth wonderous things, and it does my heart quite well to know that nothing the Lord does is mediocre.

LTIA Part 2...Liberty and Lightening bugs

2010-07-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 20th was Fathers day, and it was also our 1st whole day with LTIA. It was a scortcher. Really I don't know why we bothered putiing on makup because it really all melted off, but in any case resistance was futile and we caved in everyday. I also recited my first memory verse for the week 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

The day started with church. Decked out in our Sunday duds we attended services at Crossroads Baptist Church, where we listened to a rousing message from Pastor Kenny Baldwin on how men are to be mighty men of valour. Even though the message wasn't designed for women it offered up some encouragement as to what to look for and expect in the future from my husband.

LTIA Class 2010

After we returned for lunch, dinner and lecture on world views how they are formed, how to choose the right world view, and worl view warfare strategy. Intense, but necessary for what we would be facing the rest of the week.

After dinner we got ready and went on our night walking tour of the monuments. I've been to DC a number of times, but a night walk of tour of the monuments was new to me. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend it. For one, the heat is less intense, although the humidity still hangs around it's less brutal than when the sun is full on in the sky.

We started off at the Jefferson Memorial where Bro. Ken brought us a lesson on it's history and what Thomas Jefferson believed concerning the role of God in our government. We closed it off by singing a patriotic song (forgive me for forgetting the song we sang here the only 2 I remember are what we sang at the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument).

Jeffeson Memorial Fact: On the inside walls are four inscriptions of Jefferson’s writings describing his beliefs in freedom, education of all people, and the need for a change in the laws and institutions of a democracy.

Thomans Jefferson Quote: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever."

Sadly Joel did not have his hunting gear with him

After we made our way over to the Licoln memorial. Personally, and I have no tangible reason to feel this way, but the Licoln memorial is my favorite. I'd like to be there sometime just by myself and enjoy the silence between the columns and his speeches engraved on the walls. After our lesson here, we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Lincoln Memorial Fact: the 36 columns surrounding the monument represnt the 36 states that were in the union during the Civil War.

Abrham Lincoln Quote: "The best gift God has given man is the Bible. It is by all odds the most influential book (or rather collection of books) in existence. The Old and New Testaments have held men together spiritually through the centuries. Three hundred and fifty years ago, in 1611, fifty four devoted English scholars and churchmen, assigned to the task by King James I , gave to the English speaking world a monument of noble prose, on which so many of us have been brought up. The Bible has been translated into more than 1,150 languages. In short, the Bible has had the most dramatic career of any book in the world."

The Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's Inagural Address

Next it was onto the Vietnam Memorial. Unique to the last few monumnets is that there is no mention of God within their architechture. He is either omitted entirely or any referance is dwarfted by the uplifting of man over God. A stark contrast to the first where God is magnified. The silence surrounding this monument in particular warrents no hymn or song, because there is nothing to be glorified here. Surpisingly, I witnessed a slew of teens in tears. Over what I don't know, possibly a family member they never knew...they were all to young to ever grown up with the aftermath of recovery from the vietnam war. But still littered throughout the memorial are cards, flowers and stuffed animals letting the soldiers, sailors and airmen know that they are not forgotten.

Vietnam Memorial Fact: Designed by Maya Ying Lin, a 20 year old student at Yale University. Her design was the result of an earlier class assignment. She only received a B grade on the assignment, but a jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selected her design. There are 58,195 names on the wall.

USS Forestal Tribute

Reflections in the wall

As we travelled to our next destination, the WWII memorial, the lightening bugs started to come out. Half of the SPG's had never seen them before, so trying to capture them on camera was not as easy as they had hoped. We would have had an easier time if we had Mason jars with holes in the top. Seeing them brought back memories from the summer spent at my Grandma's in PA. Nice to see that the pleasure they bring to people has not changed.

I had never been to this memorial before, it was being built when I lived there, but I never got to see it's completion. Having family that served in this war made it a little more personal to me, rather than just a monument to commemorate people that I didn't know. I took pictures of the columns that had the states names, in which my family member had served from.

Finally we closed the evening off with the Washington monument. Facing the flags that encompass the monument with our hands over out hearts here we sang the Star Spangled Banner. Interesting to these hymns that were sung was that upon their completion we were rewarded with applause. Not that this was our goal, but it did boost our spirits a bit. Here we even had strangers join in. There is something about our Nations capital that brings out peoples patriotic spirits. Even if they don't want to be the ones that initiate patriotic fervor they recognize the need to pay tribute where tribute is due.

Washington Monument fact: No building in DC is allowed to be taller than the Washington monument.

George Washington Quote: "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

Today's government would like to have people believe that our founding fathers had no desire to have God involved in the affairs of government, but that is completely the opposite of what thier desire was. They knew that we needed His governance in our affairs and that because of God we could live with liberty in the land of the free and the home of the brave. David said in Psalm 119:45 ~ "And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts." Because our forefathers saught out the Lord precepts we have been able to enjoy liberty in this country for the past 234 years. Unless we let God back in the involvement in our affairs I shudder to think of what will happen in the next 234.

LTIA Part 1...Travel and Training

2010-06-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

The SPG's have returned from DC and with it a brain full of information that we must now apply unto wisdom. It's easy to come back with facts and things to know, but only acting upon them do we really gain wisdom and understanding.

Psalm 90:12 - "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

LTIA, short for the Leadership Training Institute of America, was a week cram packed with information and so rather than make one huge post with every single day included in it I'll instead opt for a series of posts of the events of the week, as well as intermittent posts on things that we learned throughout the week, which was A LOT.

LTIA was instituted in 1996, by Dr. Patrick Briney as an answer in training up young adults to address the problems that plague our current culture and competing world views through biblical principles and critical thinking, which is just a summary, because it's really brings so much more to a persons/students overall contribution to society (at least it can if they put the principles they have learned into practice).

The SPG's left SeaTac at midnight, yeah you read that right, midnight. But honestly had we not chosen that time, and chosen to leave around 6 or 7 am, we never would have made it to the opening of lectures of LTIA and then poor Doug would have been stuck at DCA waiting for us. So while it wasn't ideal, it was far better than the alternative because if you know anything about the SPG's, or myself for that matter, punctuality is paramount. I'm rarely late for an event and for me the mere thought of being late makes me anxious. So good on the executive decision made on that matter, courtesy of our fearless leader.

We arrived in DC zonked from the long flight even though we didn't have the longest one, that belongs to the crew from Alaska. We met Doug & Ken, staff members for LTIA, and 3 sisters that came from Chicago, Elizabeth, Anna & Grace. Their family are missionaries to the inner city of Chicago. Great bunch of girls.

Over whelmed and underfed we made our way to Baja Fresh (some others went to Subway) for lunch with Bro. Briney and some new people we had yet to meet. In the end I think it turned out to be Jeremy & John that came. Finally with a "little" rest under our belts we made our way up to the class room for some initial training before the week started.

We learned about the War of Ideas and how ideas are formed. We talked about how to use critical thinkking skills and our expectations for the week. Everyones was different. Some wanted to have fun, which we had in spades, myself & Paul wanted to work on our appologetics skills, but most everyone wanted to know how they could get more involved with their community and hone in on their leadership skills with political activity.

After the lecture we had fellowship time, which revolved around us playing a game called 'Never Have I Ever'. The premise of the game is for one person to stand in the middle of a circle and say one thing that they have never done, then all those people that have done that activity have to switch seats, while the person in the middle tries to sit in an empty seat leaving another person in the middle. Think musical chairs on steroids. Finally though it had to come to and end and that was decided when the same question was asked for a 3rd time. Wanna take a stab at what it was? "Never have I ever gone sky diving." Go figure.

We then met with our small groups. Mine consisted of Anna, Jennell and Joyka and our small group leader was Mrs. McHenry. She let us know what the expectations of LTIA were and asked us what we expected from her. I expected that she woul help me push myself into thinking more critically, which she did. Each night she brought out a devotional thought through someones testimony or through talking about the events of the day. Each night was different.

Our checklist of requirements was extreme too, although for better or worse I reverted back to my days in bootcamp in order to compartmentalize what I needed to do. I was there with a group, but I was also there to let the Lord work in my life and to that end I was on my own, for no two people have the same walk with the Lord. Here was our list. . .

-Keep a daily journal
-Clean bed
-Maintain a professional appearance
-Posture
-Be punctual
-Obedience
-Respectful
-Good handshake
-Keep good eye contact
-Participate in all activities with a good attitude
-Speak up & Speak clearly
-Talk to everyone at LTIA (yeah that one was hard;))
-Encourage speakers by asking questions
-Talk to guest speakers
-Send thank-you notes
-Write a letter to a parent or friend
-Share slavation testimony
-Keep a notebook of lectures
-Stay with group on tours
-No guy-girl paring up

And for Honors there was. . .

-Memorize six verses
-Read an approved article and write a 1/2 page summary on it
-Complete a camera interview

Obviously they weren't hard tasks, but in a week it's easy to loose track and focus of priorities. I tried to pick the verses I memoriezed based on the activities for the day. How was I able to memorize 6 verses in a week? With the Lords help of course because it wasn't because I got a lot of rest. That topic is for another post.

I laid my head down on the pillow and decided that I'd be kind to myself and re-memorize a verse I was familiar with 2 Timothy 3:16-17. My normal memorizing style is to write and the re-write it all out, but this was not Bible Institute and I did not have a month to do it in. LTIA was off and running I just wantedd to be ready to the task.

A wedded weekend

2010-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here was the alter of my church this weekend. Not your typical alter I know, however, it's with good reason that decorative adjustments were made. This Saturday marked the wedding of two former SPG's Chris & Anna.

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since Dave & Amber's wedding, but it has and with the end of that year the commencement of a new marriage took place. There were a few elements to it that were not traditional of most weddings, but it just spoke to the personalities of the couple and it all worked wonderfully. Sigh, it was a lovely afternoon.

The colors: Champange & Persimmon

This was a new element that I had not seen in a ceremony berfore. Rather than light a unity candle the couple braided a 3 fold cord. The scriptures that Pastor Sargent read from were in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12,"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken." And so with such a scripture it was fitting that this should be the sybol that they used to signify their unity.

Finally after many years of knowing each other it was all sealed with a kiss. Look at the flower girls though. Ha ha ha, she looks a little confused.

Also there was not a cake to be found for the couple had pie. Chris had always wanted a wedding pie, vice cake, and well...he got it. Obviously I couldn't have any, but look at how cute this idea worked out.

Shadows waiting on the get away car.

Like I said it was a lovely afternoon. Sunny and 75 degrees, not typical for this time of year, but great for a wedded weekend.

Oh and guess who caught the bouquet. . . that's right. . . yours truly. Before I start getting more jokes about how many people I had to pummel & drop kick in order to get it let me just say that is not my style. Honestly, I dread this tradition, and mark my words I won't be performing it at my wedding, but in the spirit of the day I participate. At least all the ladies standing around were age appropriate. There's nothing worse than being the only adult in a sea of children. So here is how I work my game. If the flowers come in my direction I'll reach my hand up into the air, but I won't dive. so if I get it I get it. So Anna tossed her flowers, they sailed in the air and really down into my hands they fell. This makes #2 for me, but I didn't dry them like I did the last ones. Simply because I don't have enough room. But aren't the pretty.

New Page & an Answer

2010-06-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

I have a new page on my blog listed as PR. What does PR stand for? Prayer Requests.

On this page I'll be keeping a list of prayer requests I have and answers that come my way. I don't plan on post every request I have, but the ones that I think of I'll post for others to know what I'm praying about and if you feel so inclined feel free to take one up for yourself.

So I've already received one answer. It is in regards to LTIA.

Anyone, anywhere, that has any sort of food allergy knows that traveling is not always fun. You are constantly on your toes trying to make sure that you either pack what you need, have the extra money to go to the store, and as always diligently scouring for restaurants that may be in the area that you are going to & perusing their menus to make sure that you can find something adequate. I am a person that loves to travel and I happily blame my mom for taking me to Pennsylvania when I was around 6 months old, my first, and not my last, airplane trip. However, with these new challenges it always makes traveling a little more stressful, and expensive. The stress can compound itself especially when attending a conference, like I will be doing in just a little over a week. Part of that stress is, and I'm sure weve all been there at one time or another, is due to the fact that I don't like to make a scene or bring undue attention to myself. Whether it's walking around on crutches because of an injury, falling down the stairs from the choir because you failed to pick up your feet (say what!?), or your 12 and you've just gotten your braces. No one like to be different and stand out in such an obvious way.

Crazy as it may sound I intially didn't have any plans to say anything about my need to be gluten free, and simply work on trusting the Lord to make sure that I would be OK. However, Friday night Tim (our SPG leader) asked me if I had said anything to the staff at LTIA about the food that would be there, and after I said no he advised me that I should. And he was right I know, I mean it's always a big deal and better to say something now then to wait until the last minute and to really make it an uneccessary drama for the week. I mean I'm already hording dramamine because of my motion sickness, what's one more drama? But seriously he was right.

So Saturday morning I set to work on an email to Bro. Briney to see what I could work out. I had already planned on bringing some homemade GF muffins or scones with me, because we'll be traveling during breakfast time, but I hadn't thought much beyond that. Well he passed my email onto the staff and a mere 72 hours later I now have something worked out, and honestly don't know why I've ever thought of doing something like this before. HELLO . . . Duh . . . just send my non parishable items ahead of me!!! This could potentially cut down on uneccessary grocery bills and bagage when I travel. Both of which will be a welcome relief to my budget and wallet. It is also a good thing that I did say something because after getting a low down on the food vendors that will be supplying the food it would litterally be a Celiac nightmare. Chinese, Pizza, Italian, Sandwiches just to name a few of the items. Oi, that could go very badly for my small intestine and I would end up being bed ridden for potentially the whole week, which is not why I'm going to LTIA. However, a wonderful staff member Mary replied to my request and here was the email that I received tonight . . .

"I will make sure that we have fruit, veggies, lunch meat, and salad for her at all times. It would be great if she could bring her own bread. I can definitely give her a designated shelf in the fridge to store anything she wants to bring with her as well. I don’t think that most of our restaurant vendors provide much in the area of gluten-free options, but I will certainly ask all of them."

That will be such a huge blessing and I'm at a lot more ease now that I have a better outlook on the whole issue. God is so good to care about even the little things and help me work out all the details. Yes, God does care about even the "little" things that affect our lives. He's not so consumed with what we envision as the BIG things in this world as to not pay attention to the things that affect His children.

So if you think about it when you arrive on my page feel free to take a look at what new requests are up. You never know how the Lord will be working. That's the exciting part.

One last thing . . . I just received an email from one of the other staff members that told me to hang on to my recept and give it the staff when I arrive. Very nice indeed!

Silly Saturday

2010-06-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

A while back I was going to start a weekly posting called silly Saturday. The notion spawned on one Saturday when I was sitting around Kali's house with her and we were finding some silly videos on YouTube. Well I've been grossly neglectful of that one so I'm starting anew. I wish I could take credit for finding this video, but I can't. My Dad sent it to me. It's a little weird and a lot funny. It definitely put a smile on my face. Dogs are so smart, aren't they!