Focus on the Family webcast.

I found a Webcast of Sara Horn on Focus on the family from last year. It has been interesting to watch thus far. Check it out if you like. She also has a radio interview with Focus on the Family, "God's Hope and Strength for Military Wives" will re-air Aug. 1. Check local listings for times.

http://www.focusonlinecommunities.com/community/webcasts/2010/0707

In the midst of darkness.

As you may have noticed I haven't been around much. My mind has been consumed with a million things this last few weeks. I am trying to be patient as I wait for the arrival of my husband. But in the mean time I have felt an overwhelming amount of sadness, anger, frustration and anxiousness. Mix them all together and that is one big stress shadow that goes everywhere with me.

There are are few things I have found out about myself during this last year. Like I find myself quitting things because I have no motivation. Two I don't ask for help so I have no time for myself, Bad thing to do to ones self. If I don't have plans, it is live each day as it comes, and with kids, that isn't always so good.

I attended PWOC fall, winter, and spring. But during the summer with no child care I haven't been. I knew that before summer came I would have to keep my time with Christ a priority other wise I would slip and hurt my... well everything. I can now look back and tell you I did a terrible job of that. I can actually tell you when my devotions started taking last place in my life. When my daughter stopped napping! Right around 2.5 years old she no longer took naps, which made this year alone much harder. I am not a faker, but I can tell you I wasn't myself, I likely made my life look better to others then it really was. Going to church once a week wasn't doing it, and though I new all the right things I should be doing somehow it just wasn't on the for front of my mind to do them.

Recently, with the impending arrival of my husband, I felt a flood of emotions. I was so excited that it was finally "soon". Then the next day like a ton of bricks, I wigged out. I was scared. What was to come? How had we changed and would we be OK? Will we fill like a family still? Was he OK? How would he be around our kids, when he wasn't used to having them around? So many things suddenly, like never before, took control of my mind and I cried. Why wasn't I more happy about this? Why wasn't I jumping for joy? Well let me tell you what I finally came back too. About a week ago I was cleaning out a book shelf and found a book excerpt from a book called 'Tour of Duty' by Sara Horn. I reread this short first chapter and wondered why I hadn't picked it up sooner. I talked to a friend who said she would do this book with me. So a few days later I was out getting two books. From the moment I started (three days ago) I felt so connected to what she was saying, I understood just what she meant, and all the verses touched me on such a deep level, I felt like... Why didn't I do this months ago. The verses below are what I have been leaning on for strength the last couple days, and I am sure will continue to use as my family comes back together and we find a balance. I am feeling better, and am glad I choose to do this even if I feel like it is way over due. God has it all planed out anyway right? So there is a reason to every season. That is my prayer tonight, and someday I will find out how I grew from this year.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 27:1

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and sound mind!

2 Timothy 1:7

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

Watch, Stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong!

1 Corinthians 16:13

We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair, Persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed!

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Therefor submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!

James 4:7

I will try to keep you updated on my study in this book. I have loved every minute of it thus far. If your interested here is her site. http://www.sarahorn.com/ She has also written a couple other books as well.

Stress.

I am not one to normally admit I am getting stressed, but I have so many things on my mind I can't seem to organize any of my thoughts, and it is driving me crazy. I have blogs I want to share, I have a life that is changing lots in the next month and I have two little boogers that keeps me on edge at every minute of the day.

I feel like a roller coaster again and I hate that feeling, random emotions and thoughts with no valid reason drive me nuts. When did I become a person that needed someone at my side to keep me, me? My wedding day?!

Anyway I really hope my mind clears up soon. Maybe I can get something done soon. But here are two Blogs that I found and want to share. was very excited about the first.

http://biblicalhomemaking.blogspot.com/

If you listen to Christian radio you might have heard him.

http://takingaminute-jasonanderson.blogspot.com/

Enjoy.

Pictures from our Savannah Trip. What a great weekend.

Delightful new meals

This last Tuesday I made home made salsa and canned 7 pintes and 3 half pintes. It is mild cause I don't like too spicy, but it was good. Now I have it around for when ever I want it.

I also made home made pesto. I made some pasta and added red peppers, onion, eggplant, chicken,corn and lastly some feta on top. Boy was it good. Even better then I expected!

Lastly, today I made eggplant sandwiches for my lunch. It is breaded eggplant grilled in a little EVOO. With feta chese, basil, tomato, yellow bell pepper and letiuce. I really enjoyed it.

Our own real princess.

I was born after Prince Charles and Diana got married, But I do remember when she died. I remember sitting in our living room watching the news late one night, while they talked about the awful accident that happened late that night on a London tunnel. I remember feeling sadness and disappointment about what had happened. I was 12 years old when she died, so I know about her kind heart and wanting to give to others. It was apparent to me the disconnect she felt, even though she was beautiful, she had a sadness in her eyes. Having Prince William and Harry near my age it has been interesting to watch them grow and blossom and not be quite so shy. When they announced the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, I have to say I wasn't really all that excited. I didn't really care. But as I got to watch more of them in the spotlight, I started to get a little more into them and got excited about watching them in the future. I am glad that they waited and seem to know each other better then Williams parents did. Catherine also seems to be much more open and not shy in public, she is imbrassing her new life. It is hard not to love an amazingly beautiful woman. Truly I can't get over how beautiful she is, William couldn't get luckier.

Have you seen this head line?

"Kate Middleton brings back pantyhose. Bare legs are so 2010."

Well after reading the article, it kinda made me laugh, because she talks about how that last time Pantyhose was in style was in the 80's. Well when was the last time we had a princess that had to follow rules that so many looked to. Well the 80's, so it makes since to me that Kate would bring back such a out of date style.

To find out more about the new Duchess, look here.

She really will have everyone dressing with style. I have to say It kinda makes me feel like a little girl again and believing in Fairy tales, and wanting to be a princess. I wish them all the luck in the world and hope they really do know each other and stay connected.

The Princess and the Kiss!

I have been wanting to tell you about this book a friend of mine got for my little girl when I was pregnant with her. It is called the "Princess and the Kiss". I was reminded about it recently as she is now really into princess's and dress up and all sorts of girly things. It is about sexual purity and waiting for the one man God has set aside for her. Even at her age I know it is smart to start telling her early about keeping our hearts pure. We think it is so cute when they go up to a friend and give them a kiss on the cheek, but I can't help but to wonder if we are instilling a deep seed about saying it is ok to just kiss whom ever. The author also wrote a version for boys, you can see it on the video below. Hope you enjoy.

In Love!

I am not much into Fashion any more. But I can't help myself with this outfit.

I am IN LOVE!

I want this dress SOOOOOO bad! I just think it is the cutest dress. I have been trying to find out how to get it since I found it. But as it is a designer dress it is super expensive. So I am trying to find separates that look similar that I can put together. So far I am doing ok. But the next time I will go anywhere that I could wear this would be to the Winter Army Signal ball or the summer Army ball. In either case we are kinda a ways off. But I just love it. I love to dress up and do fun things I just never have anywhere to go. So this is what I have so far what do you think:

This is from Buckle and costs 29.95$ Catch it here.

This skirt is from Amazon and would cost me 49.90$. Check it out here.

If you know of a better shirt or skirt, let me know I would love to check it out. Like I said I am in love with this outfit. But I really try and be thrifty when buying new clothes. Especially when I may not where it much.

Parenting! What a struggle!

What a responsibility, do we even realize what we are getting into when we have kids? We look at our own lives and usually know what kind of mom or dad we want to be, we at least know what kind of parent we don't want to be. I remember my mom telling me that she learned what to do when she had my brother, (the first) and then you kinda take it from there. seems a little unfair for the first somehow. I don't think we even know how much if an impact we have on our kids...until they do something we don't expect. My daughter, Erica, when she can't get something to work, she gets frustrated, and she make this, UMPH! sound. Just like me. That weirded me out when I saw her do that. My son, Glenn, when he gets frustrated at his sister, he does this low deep dragged out voice when he says her name. Just like me.

Why do they take the not so good attributes??

I heard on the radio this morning that a man's friend had a yard time in life because he wasn't told by his father how proud of him he was, and he didn't get to spend time with him either because he was always working or out of town. Doesn't that make you think?! I try hard to tell my kids that I love them often and that they make me proud. But it is kinda scary that those words have so much impact on our lives.

If only everyone knew about Jesus Christ. Have you ever been healed by God's love? If someone that felt hurt or incomplete by poor parenting they could be healed by His love. They wouldn't have to search for that constant positive feedback and acknowledgement that they are doing something right. That person with Gods love can go out and live the life God has designed for them to live and impact others with His love. If you have Gods love in your heart when you have kids, they will see that, because they are gosh darn super observant.

Of course none of us are perfect and we all sin. as hard as it is to admit as an adult, the littlest things can still be a sin. So how much do we watch what goes in so that we know what comes out will be a positive impact on our kids.

It is so hard to be a good teacher when I am always learning myself.

This is my prayer tonight as I head to bed,

Lord, help me to make wise and honest choices. Keep me truthful and away from temptation. Let my children see your glory in my life so I can guide them in your truths and on your amazing path for their life. Help me to teach them now so that they will know your guiding light when they leave my home. Your loving Child, in Jesus name Amen!

Service for others! How do you give?

I am in a small life group at our church. We just recently started giving each family a month and they choose a service project. This last month we went to the coin laundry and paid for peoples laundry. People were really surprised, and dumbfounded, they wondered why we would do this. I remember for the short time I lived in an apartment how frustrating it was to save quarters to do laundry, I thought this was a great way start for our group to get out there and help out. I was trying to think of what I was going to do, and God put this in my heart. I would like to collect any toys, hand me down clothes, and shoes to give to the shelters during November and December. I know many parents get rid of and go though a lot of what there kids have before they buy for Christmas, so I am putting this out there now. If you want to help out and live near the Augusta Georgia area, let me know if you would like to donate anything for this project.

I have done it again!

I just can't seem to stick with a background. I have this idea in my head of what I want it to look like but I don't really know how to get there. Kinda sounds like life doesn't it! Any way tell me what you think of this new one, should I have stuck with the blue?

Busy week?!

Has it really been a busy week? Well it sure feels like it. Not sure how much has really got done though. I have been staying up way to late to edit some pictures I took of my wonderful friends. Come check them out. (This is why I haven't wrote on my blog in a few days.)

Home canning

Last Wednesday I attended a Ball canning home party. I had been wanting to learn to can for about 6 months now, it just seemed like a neat thing to start. I had been put it off because it seem overwhelming and intemadating. Well after this party I felt like I could do it, it wasn't to hard. So I used the coupons I had to buy the jars and I also bought a large pot. I followed the instructions ..... and ta da! home made Strawberry Margarita Jam.

This was the one we made at the party last week, we ate it while we waited for the cans in the water bath. If you live near me, I will be having a canning party possibly in August, so let me know if you want to come.