It’s Friday…YEAH!!!

Well, I get out of work in a little under 2 hours.  YEAH!!!  I need to get home and just straighten up the house and do a few things.  The house is good otherwise.  Then I’m going to work on my photos that I took.  I took some interesting photos of a couple of my husbands guitars and other instruments.  I would really like to go out to some nature place and get some good shots.  Maybe I can in a little while.

So last night I didn’t get to make my Cheddar Potato Chowder.  I think I will make it this afternoon for our dinner.  We have to be at the church for our Group Leadership Community tonight at 6 pm.  They are going to have fajitas, but I am not in the mood for fajitas.  I will have to pass the recipe on to everyone.  It is a good comfort food.

Well, I better go, I will write more later.  And I will share the recipe and a couple of my instrument photos. 

Love you all!!!

Today’s Bible verse is:

2 Peter 3:10-11

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives”

Awe, the sun is shining…

It looks beautiful outside.  The sun is shining but it is about 28 degrees out there.

Well, let me tell you what happened at work last night.  I couldn’t believe it.  One of the guys had gone to the Argosy Casino, played 5 hands of poker at $5.00 bets and he wound up winning the progressive pot.  Guess how much it was…No really guess…OK I’ll tell you.  He won $125,000.00.  I am very happy for him, but I know that he makes some really good bucks here at work.  So after taxes he wound up with a check for $86,500.00.  They took out the taxes and the tip to the dealer.  He was shaking like a leaf.  I can’t blame him, I would be too.  He said he would like to pay off both their cars, a few personal loans, and what ever bills he has out there, have them stamped “PAID IN FULL” and give them to his wife for Christmas.    Can you believe it.  I would love to have all my debts paid for.

Well, last night was our couples group and we had great discussions.  I started leading the group with our questions that we had from the book we are reading.  Things were definitely deep.  We also had a new couple join the group.  They seem like very nice people.  They have 2 kids and their son is having issues with joining any kind of youth group due to other kids at the other churches they would go to, making fun of him.  We are going to introduce our son to him so Lil’ Brian can get him involved.  I think he will enjoy it once he gets to know some of the kids.  We all had great discussions about our relationships with each other and our relationship with Jesus. 

I hope everyone has a great day.  Much love to all!!!  XOXOXO

Today’s Bible verse is:

Psalms 136:1-2

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”

It’s 50 degrees out, the wind is really starting to blow…

It is really starting to look and feel like winter outside.  I still feel like crap today.  I’m starting to take some of the generic Mucinex.  I think I spelt it correctly.  Everyone here at the office is getting something.  I don’t like being sick and I get sick maybe once a year.  That is better than being a complete sickling.

 Well, today is the 3rd day of our “life style change” aka “diet” and it is going pretty well.  I have been journaling on what I eat everyday.  I have been keeping my calorie intake around 1600 to 1800 a day.  I am drinking more water which is good.  It kind of helps fill me up when I start to feel hungry.  The bad part is that we keep a huge bowl of candy here and it is a struggle for me to stay out of it.  So I have limited myself to the hard candies and I can have no more than 4 pieces a day.  I don’t think that is unreasonable.  I need to get this weight off before I become diabetic or wind up with high blood pressure.  I want to be healthy for myself, my husband, my kids and my future grandchildren.  I will weigh in next Monday and will let you all know how I did.  I know it isn’t always a good thing to start a “diet” around the holidays, but we thought it would be good for us.  That way we aren’t gaining all the weight that everyone puts on at this time of year.  Last night we made our own version of chicken enchiladas.  They turned out to be very good and very filling and our son loved them also.  Although he is a bean pole, he still needs to eat better.  He is a junk food junkie!!!

I just got a call from my son and he is going to try to get a job at Wal-Mart.  He used to work for target but when we moved to Platte City, he needed to quit and find a job there.  He has been trying to get his job back but they have been giving him the run around, so he is going to try some where else.  Right now he works for McDonald’s and he hates it.  Only because the one he transferred to isn’t busy at all and he loves to stay busy.  The one in Platte City was always hoppin’.

Today’s Bible verse is:

1 Chronicles 16:8

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

Blah…I feel terrible…

So yesterday I started hacking really bad.  Last night before I went to bed I took some Nite Time syrup.  Can I just tell you that stuff is nasty!!!  Anyway, I guess I slept like a rock.  It was great, but I had a hard time waking up this morning.  I feel kind of feverish, I have a headache that started yesterday, and I’m not coughing as badly as yesterday, but it gets worse at night.  I really would like to crawl into my bed and just sleep the day away.  I know I would feel better in the morning.  Maybe I will just go to bed early tonight.

Anyway, tonight is the Biggest Loser.  I’m anxious to see who is getting voted off tonight.  Not that I would want anyone to be voted off, but it is down to the final four weeks.  I love the finale when everyone comes back and shows off how they are doing.  It is amazing to see those transformations.  You know what’s funny?  I actually got my husband watching them now.  That is really the only reality show I watch.  I can’t stand the ones they play on VH1.  The fights just get so annoying after a while.  I will admit, it is kind of funny at first, but it gets real boring and tiresome quickly.  So when I get home tonight, I will prepare dinner, get my PJs on, eat my dinner, and cuddle up on the couch to watch my program.

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable day.  I am glad the sun is out.  It is cheery looking at how bright it is outside, but it is pretty chilly out there.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Colossians 3:16

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

This weekend…

This past weekend was pretty good.  We didn’t do a darn thing all weekend long.  OK, well we did a couple of things, but our weekend wasn’t filled up like it had been.  We decided that we were going to take it easy all weekend long.  At first we talked about cleaning on the garage.  Well, that was shot down since we thought about watching movies and just cuddling all weekend long.  It was definitely nice.  Then we decided that even though Christmas is just around the corner, we are going to start watching what we are eating.  We have gained so much weight, it is pathetic. 

I’m going to look into seeing how much it will cost to join the YMCA.  After watching the Biggest Loser this year, I want to get on some kind of an exercise program.  I understand that they have nutritionists on staff and trainers so they can help me with a work out program.  To me, that would be awesome.  I know that I can do things at home, but for some reason, when I get home, I become lazy.  I need to be more active.  I was at one time, I even climbed a mountain in Colorado.  What is wrong with me?  Why did I gain so much weight back?  I need to get healthy again.

Well, I am getting myself and my husband on a budget.  I think what I am going to do is give each of us $20.00 each paycheck to do what ever we want with it.  I am going to try to keep mine held back so I can get a new lens for my camera.  That is $40.00 a month.  I will keep my eye out on deals for lenses.  I need a new zoom lens for my camera.  I have a Canon EOS Rebel XTi.  I love my camera, but I only have the 18-55 mm lens for it.  I would like to get up to 300 mm lens for it.  That would make me very happy.  For my regular manual SLR camera, I have 3 different lenses for it.  My old film camera is a Pentax MV.  Love that camera too, but honestly, who uses a film camera anymore.  I will be using it though only because I still have film left for it.  LOL.

Anyway, I have been having some really weird dreams lately.  I have been dreaming that Brian and I own a farm and we have horses, goats, pigs, cows, and chickens.  We thought it would be good to live off the land.  Then I also had a huge garden for us to get our veggies out of.  Then there is also a small orchard.  We have a large out building that we had a kitchen put into it and several large tables for us to feed people.  We also had 2 other large buildings that we were helping the homeless with.  That is why we had a large kitchen put into our out building.  It was very cool the way they all learned how to live off the land and work hard learning other skills, teaching the young girls and their mothers how to cook if they didn’t know how to, etc.  It was so awesome and that would be a dream come true for both of us.  I have always wanted a working farm, being since some of my family had farms and I loved going and doing things with them, and for Brian, his biggest dream is to help the homeless.

Today’s Bible verse is:

Hebrews 12:28

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

Brrrrrrrrr…

I can’t believe that 3 days ago it was 70 degrees outside.  Then this morning I get up and have to come to work and it is 19 degrees out.  Can anyone say brrrrrr???  Man, I hate this cold weather.  But, my adorable husband went out and started my truck for me, got the heater going, and my butt warmer.  What a sweetheart he is.

We got a call this morning from my mother in law letting us know that my father in law is in the hospital.  Apparently he has a lot of fluid in his system and his kidneys have started to shut down.  He had not been feeling well for the last 2 weeks and didn’t want to tell my mother in law at all about it.  He wanted to make sure that he could get the Christmas lights up, and all the other decorations, and he didn’t want my mother in law worry about him.  Now he is in miserable pain and they aren’t for sure what is going on with him as of yet.  Hopefully they will find out what is going on with him soon.

Oh my gosh!!  We have so much food left over from yesterday that it will probably take us 2 weeks to eat everything.  It is just so crazy, how much food we prepare and then how much we have left over.  But it is so good.  One dessert that my mother in law loved was the Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes.  It is a Paula Deen recipe. 

Today’s Bible verse is:

Psalms 100:4-5

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

I hope everyone has a good day and isn’t fighting amongst all the chaos out there at the stores on Black Friday.  Love you all!!!  XOXOXO

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving. 

Mine has been very good, except my daughter came over sick and left pretty much right away.  I’m hoping that she is doing better.

Gotta go.  I’m going to spend more time with my family.

Love to all!!!  XOXOXO

The weather is very gloomy today…

As I look outside, from my office window, it seriously looks like it is flurrying outside.  I guess I haven’t mentioned to you all yet that, I hate snow.  I know it has been to warm for it to accumulate, but still I hate snow.  Sure it is lovely to look at when it is all around, but I don’t like having to get out in it if I don’t have to.  I’m 99% sure that it is snow.  YUCK!!!  Oh well, I guess there could be worse things in life.  OK, I just got a better look and yes it is snow. 

Well, I didn’t get to the store last night.  I am so in trouble about that.  I have to go to church tonight since I am the house manager on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month.  Plus with it being the Thanksgiving service, it is pretty important that I be there.  I really need to get the rest of the stuff needed for tomorrow.  I’m sure I can do it tonight after service.  That is as long as my hubby doesn’t chat with everyone.  I usually call him Chatty Cathy.  LOL.

Well, I probably better go since I am at work.  Not that there is anything to do, but I guess I shouldn’t be on here all day. 

Today’s Bible verse is:

1 Corinthians 1:4-5

“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.”

My husbands news…

Well, my husband found out yesterday that one of the guys he works with got fired.  I’m sure there was a lot leading up to him losing his job.  I also know that they are going to get rid of another guy either today or tomorrow.  But besides all that, his boss had told him that he is getting promoted.  The big bosses have been watching what Brian has been doing.  They have also noticed how Brian has saved the company thousands of dollars.  He was told that they are creating a new position for him.  He will be inventory control and may also be doing the other 2 jobs that the guys were fired from.  Now hopefully he will be getting the pay that they have been receiving.  Keep praying that all goes well for him.

Well, I have to go to the grocery store tonight.  I need to get the rest of my stuff for Thanksgiving dinner.  I am definitely having turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, homemade rolls, green beans, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin gooey butter cakes.  YUM, YUM, YUM!!!  I can’t wait. 

I like trying new recipes.  This will be the first time that I will be making my own rolls.  It should be interesting.  I would like to be able to make our own bread.  I love fresh homemade bread.  I could totally live on a farm and stay at home and cook for a large family.  I already wake up at the butt-crack of dawn so that isn’t an issue with me and I tend to go to bed early.  I love being outdoors so the chores wouldn’t be a problem either.  I have been having weird dreams of living on a farm and having time to take my pictures with a new Canon EOS Mark III.  That would be a dream to have that camera.  The cost alone is outrageous but how awesome would that be.  Awe, what a dream.

Well, I better go.  I have a few things to do here at work.  Hope everyone has a great day.  Much love!!!  XOXOXO

Today’s Bible verse is:

Psalms 95:1-2

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”

OK, so I didn’t know what the word “extol” meant so I looked it up.  It means to praise highly.  That makes sense.  I extol him with singing in my car and in my prayers.  He is the Rock of our salvation.

It is beautiful outside today…

Well last I checked a few minutes ago it was 67 degrees outside.  My son got the flower box all cleaned out and got the lawn mowed one more time.  The yard looks so much better. 

I have been doing all kinds of cooking.  I have made some Olive Cheesy Bread and OMG is it good.  I got it off of a blog that I read from The Pioneer Woman.  She has some really great recipes.  My husband even likes it.  But anyway for dinner tonight, I decided to make my famous Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas and for dessert I make Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cakes.  Let me tell you what, they are to die for.  YUMMY!!!  Tonight is the night we are having another couple over for dinner.  I have everything ready, all I have to do is cook the enchiladas for 25 minutes or so.

I am apprenticing in a women’s group on Saturday mornings called The Wounded Heart.  It is for women who have been sexually abused as children.  I went through it already in 2006 for myself, now I am wanting to start my own group with it.  It is amazing to me how many women there are out there that have been sexually abused or just abused period.  It is really sad.  Mine started as a very young child.  Not the sexual abuse, but physical and mental abuse from a family member.  By the time I was 8 there was a guy that came into our family and he would physically touch me inappropriately.  At the age of 13, I was raped by a so called friend, but the abuse from the family member still went on.  The older I got and the more he would come over, I learned to run and hide from him.  I think that I will stop there for now.  Like I said, I am just amazed how many people have been abused.

Well, I didn’t get to go take pictures yesterday.  I wound up getting home from work, had lunch and fell asleep on the couch.  What a lazy butt I am.  LOL

I have to go get cleaned up for our friends.  They will be here pretty soon.  Much love to all!!!  XOXOXO

Today’s Bible verse is:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”