Farewell to the Beat of Eye of the Tiger

Tonight we bid a fond farewell to Sunny. She was gold and had fins and was such a delight. She was not noisy and she minded her own business. She was a delightful little gold fish.

I regretfully had to deliver the news to my daughter who fell out in the floor when I spoke the words "Sunny is no longer with us." It was a very impressive display of grief especially since she had only had Sunny just shy of two weeks. She won Sunny at the Fall Festival at church. Apparently their bond was deeper than I thought.

I suggested that we have a funeral to help ease my daughter's grief. My son escorted my daughter to Sunny's final resting place (a.k.a. the toilet in our hall bathroom) As they walked, he hummed the wedding march. I told him it was a wedding song and not a funeral song, but he just kept on a singin.

I spoke some kinds words on behalf of Sunny and then asked if anyone had anything they would like to say. Mind you we are all gathered around "the sea". My son delivered a very, very moving eulogy. It went something like "So long Sunny, we will miss you even though you weren't very smart. In fact, you were pretty dumb." (He did not understand why she couldn't swim through the treasure chest. She would get right up to the hole in the chest and then swim around it.)

My daughter had very few words. She just say goodbye. At this point her grief had turned to laughter.

I said that we should have a song or something to end the funeral. My son suggested Eye of the Tiger. My daughter loved that suggestion and so we ended the funeral by humming Eye of the Tiger.

My son did the honor of flushing her to the deep blue yonder.

Please let us know if you would like us to handle any of your farewell arrangements. Clearly we know how to do it up right!

Contagious

With so many things going around these days, when you hear the word contagious you usually want to run. I know it makes me want to reach for the antibacterial hand santizer and take a step or two back. However, I ran into someone tonight that had something that I really wanted to catch. I hugged her and even grabbed her hands in hopes that I would catch it.

Have I lost my mind?

Well maybe, but I don't think so.

She was all a glow because God had been doing some really amazing things in her life. She began to share with me what her days had held and how God had spoken to her. It really was contagious and I was really hoping to catch it.

It really got me thinking about what I exude.

Am I a display of His splendor?

Is He what people see when they look at me or do they see me?

I was reminded of what I need to be doing and that is dying to myself, feasting on His Word and listening for His still small voice. When I get myself out of the way, then He can truly shine through!

May the splendor of the Lord shine through us all today!

Before and After

Finally I have finished the make over of our bedroom. It was quite a sight to see me trying to move a king size mattress by self. But I managed and I really love the way the room looks now. So here is the before picture.

Don't adjust your eyes. Yes, you are in fact seeing a Christmas tree laying under the window. And yes, it has been there since we took it down in December. I think I mentioned before that we were not able to find a box to fit the 9 foot beauty. We are hoping to find something this year.

And I just noticed the sock under the bed. We are classy folks I tell ya!

Another view of the before. Our walls are a light blue green color. I don't really know what the color is called but I love it. It is a very soothing color. Our bathroom which is right off our room is painted taupe and the curtains and towels are this green color. The rugs are chocolate brown.

And here comes the after pictures!

I really love it! The comforter is the same color as the walls. The chocolate on the comforter really makes our furniture look rich. I also really like the curtains. I think my curtain rods need to be higher and the rods also need to be heavier. That will be another project for another day.

And now you get a much better view of the Christmas tree. It really adds alot doesn't it! If you look out the window it looks like someone is standing on the deck. It is not really a person, it is just my husband's hunting clothes hanging from the gazebo. Apparently the gazebo doubles as a hunting closet. Who knew it was so versitile! We make a good redneck joke. Classy I tell ya!


Have a great day!

What Have I Been Doing All This Time?

I never intended to be gone this long. It was not a decision I sat down and made, rather it just happened. Life has been happening.

During my absence I celebrated my 17th Wedding Anniversary. We celebrated by going to the Cheesecake Factory and a movie. We had a great time together. We also discussed my desire to celebrate 20 years together by having a second honeymoon. For our first honeymoon, we went to Disney World. We had a great time but I really have this strong desire to sit on a quite beach somewhere in the Carribean. My feet really want to dangle in the crystal blue sea. So we will see if it really happens. Hey a girl can dream and if nothing else drop lots of hints! This picture is from our beach trip this summer with my family. From the looks of my knees and legs, you would think we had been wrestling in the sand. Which is sorta how it felt to get 4 children to behave and convince a total stranger to take family pictures for us.


Also during my absence our church hosted The Real Me conference. This was the reality of a vision that God gave me back in May. It is the first time that I have been a part of anything that I can look back on and say that I would not change a thing. I saw God work in ways that I never have before. The theme or purpose of the conference was for women and teen girls to realize who we are in Christ. It really was an amazing weekend!

I have also done some redecorating around my house during my absence. Right now it mainly looks like piles of junk was the decorating theme, but soon it will look good. We sold my son's bunk beds and bought him new furniture. Last night was the first night that he got to sleep in his new bed. I was a little sad when I tucked him into his bed because I realized how fast he is growing up. We bought him a full size bed and he just looked so big in it. This is the fourth bed that my son has had. First was his baby bed. Then we moved him to a toddler bed which can I just say for the record is a total waste of money. Next was the twin bunk beds and lastly the full size bed. I would also like to state for the record that these past 8 1/2 years have gone by entirely too fast. Hopefully this will be the last bed transition.


Last Monday my husband was off from work and our children had school, so me and hubs did some things around the house. My husband goes through periods of wanting to clean and throw things away. Monday was that kind of a day for him. I really wasn't feeling like it but was not given another choice. We attacked our bedroom. We cleaned under the bed, flipped mattresses, inhaled way too much dust and threw aways lots of junk. As we were wrapping our cleaning project up, I heard a sentence that I had been dreaming of "I hate our comforter and bedding." I asked him to repeat himself because I thought the dust may have caused me to momentarily loose my mind. I do not hate our bedding but I am just a little tired of it. We have had it for a little over 9 years now. He repeated himself and encouraged me to go purchase a new set. Let me just say that it does not take much encouraging to get me to go shopping. My friend calls it retail therapy and I love every minute of it. So I went and purchased a new set. Currently it is in a pile in the floor but I do want to get everything switched out this week. I will do a post with before and after pictures soon. I know you will be on the edge of your seats waiting on that!

Have a great week!

Never The Same

I found a treasure the other night. Since our water heater died several weeks ago, the contents of our attic are in the bonus room. I am waiting for some cooler weather before I put everything back in the attic. Remember I don't really like to sweat and the attic makes me sweat.

Anyway, I was looking through some of my old boxes that I brought with me into my marriage. They were mainly filled with pictures, scrapbooks and several very random things. But I did find a little treasure disguised as a Garfield diary.

The diary was started back when I was in the sixth grade. To this day, I am not much of a journaler (I think I just made up that word) which is apparently the way I have always been. The diary was started in the sixth grade and I continued to write in it on up into high school and I wasn't even half way through the diary. I guess I just reserved it for what I thought were major events.

The diary started off with my feelings for a certain boy in the sixth grade. The entries made me giggle because they were just so innocent and such huge events in the life of a sixth grader. You know who you like and who likes you are life altering events!

I knew it was about to get good when we got to 1986 and the ink color changed. 1986 was a very big year for me. I was 13 years old and I went on my first mission trip that summer. My youth group went to Virginia Beach, Virginia. We did back yard Bible clubs in very poor areas and we also had to stay in the homes of complete strangers. The stranger part was huge to me.

My friend, Heather, and I stayed with this young 20 something woman whose husband was away in the millitary. I just remember she had dogs and she left us alone in her house everyday when she got up and went to work. Here we were just 13 and 11 and a stranger is trusting us in her house. It was a big deal to me.

That was also the summer that Top Gun hit the theaters. We went as a youth group and one of the chaperons (a.k.a. my mother-in-law) got up and walked out of the theater because of the bedroom scene. She then got mad at us because we didn't follow suit.

Today I think back to the movie and the bedroom scene is really nothing, but back in 1986 it was alot to be showing on the big screen.

Well, my life changed at the end of that trip or atleast my heart did. We were on the church bus heading home and this fairly new guy named Cliff was getting all the attention. He and his family were fairly new to our church. I thought he was kinda cute but he was two years older than me and he really didn't seem to notice me. That was until the bus ride home. We were goofing off between our naps and then all the sudden Cliff stops in front of my seat and grabs my hand. He gets down on one knee and begins to sing "Sad Songs". The chorus goes something like this..."They'll be sad songs to make you cry. Love songs often do...They will touch the heart of someone new..." (That last line may or may not be accurate)

Here is what my diary said about this..."It may have meant nothing to him, but MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!"

While reading this the other night, I had to put the diary down because I was laughing so hard. I thought to myself, "Honey, you have no idea!"

One month from today, I will be celebrating my 17th wedding anniversary to that same Cliff that sang Sad Songs to me on the church bus in 1986.

I can tell you that when my little 13 year old heart flip flopped in my chest that day, I knew that one day he would be mine. I honestly knew it. I told my friend Heather as we got off the bus that one day I was going to marry him.

I finished reading the diary and then headed to bed. I curled up next to Cliff and thanked God that he still makes this thirty something heart do flip flops!

Christmas!

Are you a little shocked by the title? It is just a few months away and I have actually already bought two Christmas presents.

I know someone that has all their Christmas shopping completed by Thanksgiving. I am always amazed by her. Every year I strive to get more accomplished early on instead of having to wait until the last minute. So, this year I'm off to a good start.

The reason for my post is to actually encourage you to visit another blog. Teresa visited my blog on the Diptacular tour and invited me to visit her blog. Her blog is called A Baby Changes Everything.

Can you guess what Baby she is talking about? JESUS!

She is having a giveaway right now and will be giving away $100 worth of Christmas ornaments. Believe me, once you take a look at some of the trees she decorates, you will want them.

I really want you to go to a specific post of her's about the Jesus Tree. I love this idea and I am seriously thinking of doing a tree like it this year. I love Christmas ornaments and I can not think of a better way to teach my children about the real meaning of Christmas.

I hope you will go by and visit her blog. Enjoy her pictures and read about the Jesus Tree.

The Dip That Will Make You Slap Your Mama!

I love cream cheese and I love BooMama, who by the way also loves cream cheese, so I wanted to post my current favorite dip. I dedicate this to Suzanne, since it is technically her recipe. (BooMama - you and Suzanne would be instant BFF's because she can do amazing things with a block of cream cheese. It really must be one of her spiritual gifts.)

Here comes the recipe! Warn your mama because I promise you will want to slap her.

Cream Cheese and Olive Dip

1 - 8 oz block of cream cheese softened

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup green olives chopped

3 T olive juice

Dash of pepper (no salt)

Mix everything together and serve with crackers. Serves 4 to 6.

I just thought of another dip. So if you are coming here by way of BooMama, then you are going to get a bonus recipe. Consider it my blog welcoming gift to you.

This one doesn't really have a name so I just made one up.

Chili Cheese Deliciousness

1 - 8 oz block cream cheese softened

1 can Hormel chili (we prefer no beans but that is just our preference)

1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Spread cream cheese in the bottom of a backing dish. Pour can of chili over cream cheese. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven until cheese melts and sides bubble. Serve with Frito Scoops. Serves 6 to 8.

You can substitude Paul Newman's Black Bean and Corn Salsa for the chili and it is equally delicious. I prefer the salsa over the chili, but my husband prefers the chili. If you make it with salsa, switch out the Frito Scoops for tortilla chips.

Enjoy!