My Adventures with Vampires

Back in high school I TOTALLY got sucked to the Vampire Chronicles series written by Anne Rice. Not too unlike what I hear people are doing these days with series that Twilight is based off of. I heard recently that Anne Rice had become a "born again Christian". SO COOL! After accepting Christ as Savior I realized my intrigue with her novels had much to do with my own search for something greater than myself. I thought the first three books were awesome. The following books got a little too spiritual for me so I never finished the series. From what Anne Rice's website says, she now dedicates all her new books to Christ. I will have to try reading one some day. Anyway, I just thought it was so cool. If anyone else is interested here is a link an essay she wrote on her site explaining the changes in here life and her writing.
http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-EarlierWorks.html

Something Silly

Because I need it. Random thoughts...

Today I burped up watermelon and thought cilantro would go really well with it.

The other day Brady came toddling through the kitchen with a dopey smile on his face. Even Haylie, who had been whining to me about something, had to smile.

They should SO make 12 and 24 packs of soda with a variety in it so when people tell you to bring soda to a small gathering you don't have to buy a ton of soda that won't get drank.

If I won A LOT of money I would fix our house up the way I've always wanted to and give it to our church so they bestow it to families in need.

I applied for a job at DQ today. Haylie was thrilled!

I'm annoying to watch the movie Spaceballs with because I have memorized so much of the dialog that I can't help but to repeat it. I was the same way with the Jane Fonda workout video I had in high school. One of the reasons I became interested in teaching aerobics.

I don't know how much more the "willabee wollabee" elephant can sit on.

I'm SERIOUSLY addicted to garage sales. I get excited when I see signs, I browse Craigslist all the time, I will scrape up change just to buy something, and am bummed when I don't have time to stop. I'm also seriously grateful for them, thank you to all that have them.

Sometimes I would much rather talk to myself because I ask all the good questions and am genuinely interested in the answers.

Can't Believe It

I love watching as Tommy challenges God and then God answers. We had another one of those nights tonight. Last week Tommy's semi blew a motor. A LOT of money later (we decided the best course was a brand new motor for his current truck instead of a junk yard motor or a new truck) Tommy is asking "WHY GOD?!?!". Tonight we were talking about it again. Then I left to workout because Tommy was done talking about it. When I got home Tommy tells me an member of our Elder board called and said they want to help. Not sure what the "help" is going to be but the call alone was an answer.

I have mixed emotions about receiving money from our church. I just don't feel like we need it THAT much or are worthy of it for that matter. I know it's not about that though. This is God's way of blessing us and showing us that He remembers us. We need to put our pride aside. We need to thank God. He made us worthy of the gift and that IS the gift.

1 Peter 1:3-9
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The B Word

In our Crown Financial class we were taking, the term "budget" was not used because of the negative connotations that come with it. We used the term "spending plan". After recording our spending for two fairly normal months, I have come up with a rough draft of our "spending plan". Holy S#*T!! We are truly a two income family. I can shave off a little with, what I would perceive to be, some pretty big changes. Bigger changes that would need to be seen could be selling a car, getting rid of cable and Internet, and selling the house. Actual lifestyle changes. What now? I find it hard to believe that God would somehow make money appear. Even to meet us half way is going to be hard, for us of course, not God. I know that anything is possible through God. It's our behavior and attitudes that make me doubt God would throw money our way. I don't feel that we, either one of us, are very good stewards of what God has already entrusted to us. Why would He then entrust us with more? To top it all off, Tommy's truck broke down near the SD border last night, leaving him stranded. From what Tommy has told me so far, it sounds bad. Tommy does not have a good track record when it comes to trucks, so this is pretty much par for the course. I do trust God's hand is in this. I'm not worried...yet.

Let them Eat Cake (P)

Pictures from Brady's first birthday.

My little helper who had trouble keeping her hands to herself.

Three bags of powdered sugar later...now I know why people have to pay so much to get a cake done for them, it ain't no piece of cake. I feel like it took all day. Of course that could be because I was also taking care of two children.

End result...he ate the whole piece and did so very seriously.