Women Who Eat Chocolate

This article is taken from the Stuff Christians Like website by Jon Acuff. He makes me laugh so hard sometimes and teaches us Christians not to take ourselves so seriously. Read on! #4 in 2011: “Wait, what???” Bible verses. Sometimes, if I am reading the Bible too quickly, I have a Wile E. Coyote moment. Often when chasing the Road Runner, Wile E. would get so focused on what he was doing that he would run 15 feet off a cliff without realizing it. Then he would pause in mid air, look at the camera, then at his feet and plummet. I feel that way sometimes while reading the Bible. I’ll get in a rhythm and start making progress. I’ll be cruising through Genesis and Exodus, moving along at a good clip, flying by the material, until out of nowhere I’ll pause, mid thought and say, “Wait, what???” I’ll go back a few verses and realize that I breezed past something outrageous that at first glance I took as commonplace. Recognizing my error I’ll push pause, reread the verse and then fa

Below is my newest  Bargain Hunter  blog.  In thinking about what to blog about this week, I thought about how much I enjoy the time between celebrations.  When our Christmas Eve family fest is over and it's not yet Christmas morning.  Read and enjoy... That Hush How do you describe the hush that descends upon the world Christmas Eve? Shoppers still scurry out of stores clutching last minute packages, harried brows knitted in anxious urgency.  Candies and cookies may still be sitting on waxed paper, waiting to be scooped onto a platter and cozied up to the other pecan tassies and Mexican wedding cakes.  Preparations have been in full swing for weeks for the culmination of this night. Have you ever gone outside on this night, though, and stared up at the sky in wonder?  A “midnight clear” isn’t even enough to describe it.  The world hovers in expectation of something, and some still don’t know what it is they are waiting for.   I remember a Christmas Eve we came home to

Christmas, you've snuck up on me once again. I knew you were coming, but once again p.r.o.c.r.a.s.t.i.n.a.t.i.o.n reigns supreme in my world.  ...and I love it.  To me, there's nothing like Christmas shopping and discovering wonders, deals, and snapping items up happily on a whim. Lights, one by one, have been strung on my porch and throughout my home.  The manger scene is twinkling on top of the TV cabinet where it's held court for as many years as we've lived here.  Chipped camel and all. My decorations aren't spectacular, things are chipped and cracked.  But they are mine.  Loved and worn to a perfection that lives in my heart.  The old Christmas balls are the only things my kids will put on the tree.  Red, gold, green and speckled with age.  Every year they are dragged out and the kids gently hang them on. I don't aim to compete, or feel inferior when it comes to decorating for Christmas.  I just know I need to feel it in my heart.

What do you think?  I think it's high time.

The following article is from the blog called Mom's Plans .  I recently started following her and her take on life/work/money is so exciting and refreshing.  She challenges me to be more than I think I can be.  Take the time to read this great article - you won't be disappointed.   How Do You Behave During Financial Booms? by  MELISSA  on  NOVEMBER 15, 2011 Recently, when researching my staff writing post about the current job boom in North Dakota, I ran across an interesting article, “ I Doubled My Salary in North Dakota .”  The article is about a man who had formerly worked in a factory in Nebraska, but lost his job thanks to the recession.  He took the leap of faith and moved to North Dakota and took a job in the oil fields.  He is not afraid to work hard and takes advantage of all of the overtime available.  He averages “on the low end. . . $92,000 a year, and [on the] high end. . . $130,000.”  Because I like good rags to riches stories, I was excited for him.  By working

I love October, especially for the fact that it's my birthday month.  Although I'm getting slightly older, it still holds all it's mystique for me.  I've described just how how I feel about it in my newest Bargain Hunter blog.  Check it out here .

Life throws stuff at you.  Hard. I'm sitting at a window on the 3rd floor of The Cleveland Clinic main campus waiting for my girl to get discharged.  We went in on Thursday of last week to see if we could get the infection on her incision site taken care of.  They went in surgically, and she went under.  We'd been unsure if she would have a total "surgical" procedure, but it sure was -- with all the bells and whistles. Selena has worked so hard.  She's been dedicated in all her stretches, exercises, and rehab appointments.  This infection was a hard knock on the head that, thankfully, was nothing more than superficial. Her ACL/Knee area was not infected.  In fact, when Dr. Saluan went in surgically on Thursday to clean it out, he went in with a camera to look at that area.  It looked strong.  In fact, so strong that they were suprised and very pleased at the progress it had made.  I told them Selena was stubborn and wouldn't be held down. For now, af

Pumpkin cupcakes w/cream cheese frosting Smores Cookie Bars Red Velvet cookies w/cream cheese filling Pizza in a cone!! This is definitely not a Wordless Wednesday post.  I'm thinking about food today even though I'm trying to eat less of it.  Not sure that these luscious photos will help me.  Sigh.

I'm filled with a longing this morning to dip inside myself and find what I know I am.  I want to work from home.  I want to write and create and be self sufficient within the framework of our family.  I struggle with these truths, then turn the other way and know I love the check I receive from working outside the home.  Money earned on other people's time is easy. It's hard to earn a check from doing it yourself.  Or rather, I should say it's harder to stay on track and get things done that need done to work from home.  In the end though, it's what I long for.  I want an office that I can go to and write, unobstructed, letting fragments of thoughts pop to the surface.  Those fragments blossom and expand into stories and moments that I know I can catch and make into a story. A different set of thoughts and opportunities have recently been thrown around and talked about.  It's something that along with the writing, could make a decent cash flow. I know

Snapshot of my week: ~ work ~ fetch kids from various practices ~ attempt to make a supper that falls far below my standards ~ tell myself it's okay to have tuna melts, again, for supper ~ work ~ sit and listen to a girl who just wants to be back to normal ~ share tissues, tears, and good convo in the purple room with aforementioned girl ~ marvel at boy who has managed to sell $500 in Hiland soccer paraphernalia ~ get suckered into buying a more expensive Hiland soccer shirt by said boy ~ realize after handing over check he could sell dirt if he wanted to ~ work ~ drink coffee  ~ buy half & half for the second time in 3 days ~ make mental note to cut down on the coffee ~ brew more coffee ~ watch girl hold back tears as she comes home and tells me the soccer bus left without her to their Triway game ~ try to figure out what happened and know only that they thought everyone was there and must have left early because she was there right at 5:15 ~ pull weeds, tr

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand..."

Below is my latest blog on the Holmes Bargain Hunter . It's something poured from the core of my heart -- so basically I've left my heart for all to view. I guess that's nothing new from me! Cour-te-sy   “No one is too big to be courteous, but some are too little." I’ve come to believe that life is full of surprises. Like Forrest Gump once said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Wise words, Forrest.   Simple things in life make me happy. Hearing my children laugh with one another, standing in warm tropical waters with my husband, or a good meal seasoned with humor and love. It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy.   I also know what it takes to make my family happy. Hot meals, soft fluffy towels straight out of the dryer, knowing when to dole out a hug and knowing when not to. Our lives are lived with a healthy dousing of silliness, and an even bigger amount of respect and courtesy. Cour-te-sy:   a courteous, re

Our lives have been shaken up a bit in the last week.  Things were humming along nicely, but always when you think everything is perfect something comes along to shake it up.  You know, like how God likes to shake our foundations once in awhile?     Selena.  She is always the one I have had dreams about. She is so steady and calm, but the one I lost in the Schottenstein Center when she was 9 years old.  She said mom I wasn't lost - but I said to me you were.  I'm not sure why it's not the crazy older or younger kid that I have scary dreams about, but it's not. It's always her. She has crazy dreams too.  Dreams we talk about and dissect.  She is older and wiser than her 16 years.  She is meant for something higher, and God knew that when she was just a little girl. It's also I'm sure why He knew she could handle things. Injuries suck.  I'm just saying it how it is.  When she fell last week at soccer camp at Cedarville College and heard those three p

I will not label myself a bad blogger - even though all I've done is throw a few pictures on lately.  It's summer.  That means humid weather, barbecuing, taking random short road trips, and all around reconnecting with my family.  We've been watching alot of soccer, and the kids summer soccer schedules are also in full swing. It's also the first summer I've worked and my kids were at home.  :/   It's hard, but they aren't small anymore so they are pretty self-sufficient.  They make it easy because I'm not a clingy mom and they aren't clingy kids.  We raised 'em good. Our trip to Mexico was fabulous.  Having Belle fly in from West Palm Beach and meet in the Mexico City airport was like something out of a movie.  We didn't realize there was a new second terminal there, so of course she landed at the unknown-to-us 2nd terminal.  After a short train ride, we were reunited.  We flung our arms around each other and yes - it was just like ou

"i don't know what it is about you that closes and opens, only something in me  understands the voice in your eyes is deeper than all roses."  e.e. cummings

I want to lay down in these pillows and go to sleep. Thanks to Hidden in France  for putting these on her lovely blog.  I'm addicted to the colors.  One of these days I will be updating this blog with a story or two from Mexico -- I seem to be mourning not being there.  Until then, I will be obstinant until a story comes to my head or at least  until I stop being depressed. :/

Oh, how this sweet little post from a favorite blog speaks to me. It's hard getting back in the swing of things after being on vacation for two weeks. I just want to hang a hammock and sway away.... decoratualma

"And a nameless longing filled her breast - a wish that she hardly dared to own - for something better than she had known."  - John Greenleaf Whittier

Restless is definitely the word for me this week. I'm patiently counting down the days til we head south in a big jet plane. My feelings and the restlessness I've been feeling have been put down on paper in the Holmes Bargain Hunter for all to read - take a look.  Patiently counting down the days.... Restless

I have found a poet by the name of Mary Oliver.  Over the last several months I've been finding quotes that I just love, and realized they were all by her!  Just the way she writes touches a nerve deep inside me.  I used to write lots of poetry -- maybe it's time to start again? The Journey by: Mary Oliver One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, th

I have always had my dresser arranged with found things.  This treasure chest was found at Save n Serve and is exactly like one my dad had . The combination of this apple pic, one of my favorites, and the green walls never fails to make me smile. There's something about those apples.... I collect random glass containers to display bathroom items -- I find it lovely! Ok, I made this -- but it's inspirational and I love it. This is a collection of found things with a nod to George's Catholic upbringing.  Who said religious things can't be displayed in a funky unique way? I'm not even sure where this little box came from, but my collection of little bottles, birds, and random paraphernalia is pleasing to my eye.  I look at it daily as it sits on my bookshelf. Lastly, this grouping of wine bottles brings back memories of friends gathered around our table, anniversaries shared, and other good times had.    Thanks for taking a trip through the