Halloween…

me.jpg  Yes this is me today.  I hate the way I look, but who cares?  It’s Halloween.  What does Halloween mean to you?  I think of Halloween as another day to spend with kids.  I don’t think of it as an “evil” day.  I love watching the kids dress up to go trick or treating.  I can’t wait until tonight to see what everyone has their kids dressed up as.  I’m sure my son will be going out with is friends.  My daughter and a friend are coming over for dinner tonight.  Yes, I made my spaghetti sauce.  YEAH!!!  Finally.  All I have to do is stop by the store and pick up some garlic bread and a salad.  You can’t have the spaghetti without garlic bread.

Right now we are eating pizza and getting ready to play Ghost Bingo.  Apparently, they do this every year.  Julie has made all the bingo cards and we are ready to go.  If you get bingo, you get a prize.  We have several prizes available.  Julie took the picture of me this morning.  You can’t tell, but I have made freckles on my cheeks and nose.  There were only 5 of us that dressed up today out of 30 people.  LOL Oh well, it’s all in fun and games.

Today’s Bible verse is:

1 Peter 5:8-9

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Keep alert and be aware of your surroundings.  The enemy is just waiting for you to let your guard down.

Have a great day and see you all tomorrow!!!  XOXOXO

Back to the ole’ drawing board…

Well yesterday and today I have been typing up comment sheets from the Platte County Profile.  Some of the writing is so bad that I have had to stop and ask other people what they think a word is.  Some of it has stumped all of us.  Then there are the ones that can’t spell things correctly.  It is just to funny.  Considering Platte County has some of the higher education in the region, they can’t spell worth a hoot.  I know it is bad of me to say, but I can’t help it.  Oh, I’m just glad I’m finally done.  It is 4:05 pm and I just finished.  Whew!!!  I think I’m blind now.  LOL, just kidding.

My son is looking for a new job.  He has been working for McDonald’s since June.  Before that he worked for Target and was there for 1 1/2 years.  He would like to get his job back but if you don’t give your 2 weeks notice, you are not eligible to get your job back.  My husband made him quit without giving his 2 week notice.  So he is going to go there to ask for his job back.  He really did like that job and he knew it like the back of his hand.  He also put his application in at O’Reilly auto parts warehouse.  They haven’t called him yet to come take the test.

One of the guys here at work, Jim, just got back from Vermont and he said he brought us back something.  Julie instantly popped up and said “Did you bring us Lobster or Ben & Jerry’s?”  Jim said, “I brought you both.”  Julie and I just looked at each other.  He brought us a lobster sucker, Ben & Jerry’s lip balm, a huge bar of chocolate, and a tin of Vermont organic Maple syrup.  We thought that was so sweet of him.  We really weren’t expecting that at all.  I’m going to put it on my shelf in my craft room.  It is awfully cute. 

Today’s Bible verse is:

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Being saved by the grace of God through faith is so awesome.  When I was saved, I became so radical for Christ, both my husband and I, that we were persecuted by our families that we were in a cult and maybe we were even the cult leaders.  We always try (key word, try) to do God’s will.  Not always do we listen to him, but a lot of times, I wonder if it is just me.  Then I have to think that it isn’t all about me.  It is all for God and his glory.  You can’t be saved by works.  Just going and being a good person and saying look what I have done, God will tell you that he doesn’t know you.  You have to be saved by the grace of God.

This past weekend was great…

I hope everyone else had a great weekend.  Ours was busy but very productive.  On Friday when I got home from work, I got the dryer fixed, yeah, I can do laundry.  Then on Saturday, I got a whole lot of stuff done and put away, and I got my craft room painted.  Yep, I finally got that done.  It looks really good.  I was just glad I didn’t have to buy paint to do it, I actually had left over paint to take care of it.  We got the twin bed in there and my mother in law gave me some Burgundy colored curtains.  I’m going to embellish them and make them the way that I want them.  All I need to get is a comforter for the bed.  I will be hanging up the shelves and doing all the wiring for the computer tonight.  Friday will be cable/Internet/phone day.  YEAH!!!  We have been back in the house just over a week and it really does suck not having a phone or Internet.  I can live without the cable, but I can’t get on line to type my stuff up except for here at work.  That is why I missed the last 2 days.

So anyway, last night I saw my daughter at the Halloween bash we had a church, and she said that a kid she went to elementary school with, who was also her sweetheart back then, got in touch with her.  She thought it was really sweet.  He moved away back then and apparently has thought about her for a long time.  He came into Walmart where she is working, he never thought he would see her again, then low and behold, who was his cashier?  Yep, it was Amanda.  She didn’t recognize him, but he has changed a lot.  He told her that she still looks the same, her facial features haven’t changed at all.  AWE, how sweet.  So anyway, she might be moving back home to try to save a little money.  It will do her some good to get away from living with Brandon’s parents.  They smoke like fends and I hate her being around that all the time.

So tonight I am going to keep working on the house and try to get things done in the next couple of days.  I would like to have my craft room done so I can do some sewing projects for Christmas presents and have my kitchen done to make dinner.  I can still make dinner, but I would like more room.  That would be a good thing.  Oh and by the way, no I did not get to make my spaghetti this weekend.  I got overly busy, but I will make it this week.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Romans 12:1

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Embrace the things that God gives to you.  Make yourself a sacrifice to God and show him that your heart is true.  Put aside your daily duties and listen to God for a while.  Listen to what he is telling you and trying to show you.  Give God all your praise.  I praise him every day.

Take care and God bless!!!  XOXOXO

TGIF…WooHoo it’s Friday!!!

I am so glad it is Friday.  I get off work at 12:30 pm.  I have so much to do today, but first off, I will run by my husbands job to pick up the car to put gas in it, especially since he called me to let me know that he only has about 1/8th of a tank.  He just laughed since we haven’t had to fill it up at all this week yet.  When we were living in Platte City, we were putting gas in the car every 2 days.  It was costing us a lot.  We were at Quik Trip this morning and he didn’t even look at the gas tank.  He is so silly.  Then after I do that, I will go home and start working on the house.  We have to go get Gabby tonight from my mother in law.  That is our other bird that was so noisy that we couldn’t take her to the apartment with us.

I got tons done last night.  It is starting to look like a house again.  I also decided that when I go home, I am going to run by the store and buy stuff to make my famous spaghetti.  I told my husband that we were going to have that tonight for dinner along with garlic bread.  YUMMY!!!  It is good that I will be able to start cooking again.  I really am excited about that.  I know, I’m crazy, but I can’t help it.  I almost hate eating out now.  I think the whole time we lived in Platte City, I maybe cooked dinner 2 to 4 times.  I made breakfast every morning, but never had time to cook dinner.  Now it only takes me about 10 to 12 minutes to get to work and home.  So now there is plenty of time for cooking.

Anyway, I am also going to try to start painting the spare bedroom.  That is going to be our guest room/my craft room/computer room.  It will be good to have my own space.  I am also very excited about that too.  It will be great to have a space to work on my photography, crafts, sewing, etc.

One of the guys here at work and I were just talking about thrift store shopping and how much fun it can be.  He is going to look for his Halloween costume at a thrift shop.  I think I’m just going to get a big pair of overalls from my dad.  He never wears them anymore so why shouldn’t I.  While going through a bunch of clothes and stuff, I have about 15 bags of clothes to give to the Salvation Army or Good Will or whoever I want to give it to.

Well, I won’t be able to type anything till Monday.  I still don’t have my Internet and home phone hooked back up yet.  That will be all hooked up next Friday.  So I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Today’s Bible verse is:

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Thank goodness the weekend is around the corner…

Yep I said it.  I’m glad the weekend is coming up.  I have so much to do in my house that I need to get done and it will probably take the whole weekend.  Both the boys will be at band practice tonight for the Halloween bash that is taking place this coming Sunday.  So I should be able to get a lot done.  But I also need to fix our closet so I can hang clothes up.  We are living out of storage boxes.  It is really an attractive sight.  I also have to fix the plug on the dryer.  It is an electric dryer, but the plug is supposed to be a 4 prong and it is a 3 prong.  I’m hoping to get it all done by Friday so we can have the weekend for ourselves.  OK, that is when we aren’t doing things for the church.

In the last 2 days we have had 4 people walk in through our back door.  So today I put a big sign up saying “Employee Entrance Only…Front door is around the corner.”  If they can’t read that, I think they better get their eyes checked.  Personally, I think it is funny.  But being in this office, people can’t just wander around.  It is crazy.

I was just reading stuff about The Biggest Loser.  I love watching that show.  Being a large woman myself, I would go on The Biggest Loser just for the help of losing weight.  I do have 2 of their DVD’s but when we moved to the apartment, I couldn’t really do them because of being on the top floor.  I know what it is like to lose a bunch of weight and then gain almost all of it back.  I absolutely hate it.  I feel like bad that I have gained all of this back.  But I think, now that we are back in our house, it will be easier.  I will be able to make dinners where living in Platte City, we didn’t have time to cook.  I am so sick of eating out.  I think as a matter of fact, I will make my spaghetti sauce tomorrow so we can have some Italian food tomorrow.  YUMMY!!!

Today’s Bible verse is:

Ephesians 5:19-20

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I always make sure that I praise God and thank him for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  There isn’t any other way to thank him.  What a wonderful God we have.  I honestly don’t feel as though I can thank him enough for what he has done for me and my family.

Everyone take care and have a good night!!!  XOXOXO

Lovely…

Yes again today I am looking at the beautiful scenery outside my window here at work.  I won’t describe it again, I know it will just make you all jealous.  Awwww, I love this time of the day.

I can honestly say that my morning didn’t start out good at all.  I went downstairs to the basement and noticed that the dog threw up 4 times on the carpet.  Nothing like cleaning that up before I had to be at work.  YUCK!!!  I feel really bad for him though.  Nothing like feeling like crap then getting sick all over the place.

My son bought the filter for the furnace yesterday and turned on the furnace just to take the chill out of the house.  He called me and told me that he set it on 75.  I told him to set it to 68.  If we leave it on 75 we will roast.  He was like, “oh ok!!!  I will turn it down.”  He is such a goofy kid.  But I love him to pieces. 

My husband got the basement all done and every box I emptied in the kitchen, he would replace with something from downstairs.  I said, “Hey, I’m working here, quit putting all this crap in the spots that I just cleared out.”  He said, “You can finish this later.  I want to get one room completely done, then we can finish the rest.”  That was so irritating.  Do you know what it is like to cook with all kinds of crap under your feet?  It is horrible.  Not that I cooked a nutritious meal, but I did make grilled cheese and tomato soup.  That is what sounded good to him.  I was thinking, that is an easy meal to cook.

Tonight we have our couples group.  We are supposed to bring our favorite hors d’evours.  I think I will just bring some chips and salsa.  I don’t think I will have time to make anything.  I might be able to though.  I could always do a big pot of spaghetti, or chili, or rotel dip, or even 7 layer Mexican dip.  Maybe I will make that.  It doesn’t take long at all to make.  We are going to be praying for the group going to South Africa today.  2 of the people in our group are going.  I really would like to be able to go at some point in my life.  I think that would be a really humbling experience.  Especially seeing how they live, act, interact with others.  I would love to help educate them on AIDS.  One thing that we were told is that they believe that when they pass it on to a person, they no longer have it.  That is very sad.  All the orphans just tug at my heart strings.  We do sponsor a child each month. 

Today’s Bible verse is:

Proverbs 9:10

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

I am freezing…

It is so cold outside right now.  Well, when we left the house at about 6:45 this morning, it was 37 degrees out side.  Brrrrr!!!  The house was even cold.  But then again, we haven’t turned on the furnace yet.  I need to get a new filter before we do that.  I will have my son go grab one after school and have him install it. 

But, looking outside from here at work, it is just gorgeous out there.  I love looking out my window at this time and seeing the sun shine off different objects.  The way it bounces off the leaves, and shines in the grass from the dew, is just beautiful.  I love looking at Gods beautiful creation everyday.

Well, last night I got a lot done with getting things in it’s place.  The kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen again.  I just need to get all my food put up, and all the cooking utensils, and get the other crap that is just in there out and in their right places.  My husband thinks that I am very anal about everything being in a particular spot.  I can’t help that I like things to be organized.  He just likes to laugh at me. 

After doing all that work, I was just so exhausted.  We wound up going to bed by 8:45 pm.  I was sound asleep by 9:00.  I actually sleep like a log and I must have been sleeping hard, cause my face was swollen and I looked like a chipmunk.  I had to laugh at myself.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Galatians 6:2

“Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Always forgive your brethren.  No matter what they have done, you should always show the love of Christ, and do not criticize them for their actions, and let them know that you love them no matter what.

Oh boy…

I am so sore today.  Every muscle in my body is screaming.  My husband, son, and I moved back to our house in Gladstone this weekend. 

Friday I did get the big areas in the basement painted.  Then we went and picked up CT from the hospital.  He was getting out from his surgery.

Saturday the boys started moving all the big stuff and setting them up in the house.  I was packing all the small things and loading up the truck.  Thanks to Lil’ Brian’s friend Scott, he came over with his trailer and help us get the majority of our stuff out.  His other friend Jeremy helped with moving the furniture in the house and I can’t thank both of them enough for helping.  Those are 2 great kids.  We got almost everything moved in on Saturday. 

Sunday morning, Brian got up and went to play the drums and Lil’ Brian played his cello for the church.  I stayed at home and waited for the plumber.  Yep, that is correct, the plumber.  Our system was backing up so badly that it was coming up through the basement shower, and he pulled out a ton of roots from the line.  No wonder it was backing up, YUCK!!!  While he was working on the plumbing, I finished painting all the trim, and now the basement is freshly painted.  YEAH!!!  What an accomplishment, that room is huge.  OK, not that huge, but it sure seemed that way.  I was so happy to get that done.  So after all that was completed, I ran and got us some food, scarfed down my food, then Amanda (my daughter) and I went back to Platte City to load up the truck.  It wound up being 2 truck loads, not just one like we originally thought, but don’t think I didn’t try to over load the truck.  Isn’t it amazing how much crap you can accumulate in such a short time?  We were only in Platte City for about 5 1/2 months.

I had a great time with my daughter yesterday.  She and I had a lot to talk about.  It really enjoyed it.  She also really pitched in and helped me get things together and prepared to bring back to the house in Gladstone.  She also might be coming back home to stay for a little while.  She is wanting to get an apartment on her own.  I told her she could live with us until she saves enough money for first and last months rent, plus the security deposit, and for what ever furniture she would need.  There are always sales on furniture on craigslist.com or in the paper.  She doesn’t need new, as long as it is descent.  She would like to have a room mate, but I think she should go with a studio apartment and be by herself.  That way she isn’t fighting with who ever she lives with and they won’t be bothering each other.  She said she would prefer to have a room mate.  If I was her, I would do the whole studio apartment thing myself.  Easy and convenient and just right for one person.

Well, that was our exciting and crazy weekend.  At least it was a beautiful weekend and it waited to rain last night.  Now we just have to get the house all back together.  It looks like a tornado went through it.  It is horrible to have just a pathway that you can get threw. 

Then I find out from Time Warner Cable that they will not be out to hook up our cable/Internet/phone service till November 2nd.  WHAT???  2 weeks…You have got to be kidding me.  I can’t believe they are backed up that badly.  To be honest, I kind of stewed over that for a little while, then I got to thinking that it’s not that bad.  We can live without it.  It would be good God time for us.  We will sit down together as a family, eat dinner, get into the word and share what we read with each other.  We will also pray together.  We always feel better when we pray as a family and that has been slipping from us since we have been living in Platte City.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Proverbs 15:23

“A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!”

When I am talking to a friend and they tell me that what I said really touched them or helped them with what they have been going through, I just say that the Lord led me to what was being said.  They were the right words at the right time.

It’s a beautiful day….

Today is absolutely gorgeous.  It is going to be 68 degrees and partly cloudy.  Right now, I am freezing here at work.  My hands feel like ice cubes.  But looking at the sun and it shining through the windows, makes me very happy.  I am looking outside at a tree across the street and the way the light is gleaming off the leaves is just beautiful.  I wish I would have brought my camera so you could see what I get to look at everyday.  What a wonderful fall morning.  I need to get out and take some pictures.  But I know that this weekend is going to be very busy for us.  I get out of work today at 12:30 pm and I will head straight to Wal-mart, get my prescription, and the extra paint needed for today and this weekend.  I should have the painting done in no time.  I’ve become a pro at it.  I have a couple of colors picked out and I think it will be really good.  I love to redecorate things.

It will be great if we have a rain free weekend so we can get a whole lot done.  Moving things should require a rain free weekend.

OK, I just got a really strange request from our corporate office.  They wanted to know how large our sign is outside.  I was like, I have no idea.  So I had to run outside to get the measurements and let them know cause our Sioux City branch wants one just like ours.  Kind of strange.  So just in case you were wondering, the sign itself is 2′ x 4′.  I knew you would be thrilled with knowing.

It is only 9:30 am and I am so ready to get out of here to do my work.  I have several errands to run before I get started and I want to leave now.  I hope everyone has some great plans for the weekend.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Psalms 37:4

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I truly believe this scripture.  I know that God has fulfilled several things for my family.

Have a great day!!!  Much love…  XOXOXO

Sunshine and lots of it…

Right now, where I sit in the office, the sun is just shining in and it is great.  But the funny thing is, everyone that is walking down the isle is squinting their eyes and nearly covering them saying: “This is hard to deal with since we haven’t seen the sun in such a long time.”  I just laugh.  I love the sunshine, it makes me very happy.

Tomorrow after work I’m going over to the old house to start doing some painting.  It shouldn’t take to long.  I think when I do the basement, it will probably take me about 2 hours.  If I can get that done, I will be completely happy.   That will be one room down and several more to go.  I think I am going to go with just a neutral beige color for the basement.  I still have some paint left over from when we painted the apartment, so I can use that in the laundry room and the bathroom downstairs.  I think I will go with the yellow in the laundry room and the rosemary green in the bathroom.  Now the big struggle I will have is the color to paint the front room and kitchen.  They are together so they will have to be the same color, and I might just carry that up to the hallway.  As for the last 2 bedrooms, I will have Lil’ Brian help me choose those colors.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Psalms 27:14

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Show the Lord how needful you are.  Waiting on Him make the Lord rejoice that we are doing what He expects us to do.  It is very hard to wait, but sometimes you just have to.

See y’all later!!!  XOXOXO