|
Users viewing this topic:
none
|
|
Login  | |
|
My birthday - 11/14/2009 9:01:52 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Yesterday was my 31st birthday. Erick and the kids bought me 30 tealight candles and one large candle (31 candles altogether) and some age defying body wash.  Since I was caught up on my schoolwork for the week, I decided to read a novel, and spent most of my day doing that. Then I fixed a special birthday dinner--grilled steaks, asparagus, baked potatoes with all the toppings, fresh-brewed peach tea, and cherry cheesecake. I also put hot fudge on top of the cherry cheesecake, and it was really good! My grilling turned out very well, too. Erick said I'm going to put him out of a job.
Then our friends watched the kids and we went to this little movie theatre that's in terrible shape, but they have cheap movies. We saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and really enjoyed it. Then we went up to Maynard's and bought all the trim we needed for upstairs (nearly $700 worth!) and then went to Walmart so I could pick out my birthday present. I chose lavender flannel Tinkerbell pajamas.
So that was my birthday! It was a really nice one.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Erick Wrecks a Truck - 11/23/2009 7:34:30 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Today started out a fairly normal day, although it looked like it was going to be a fairly relaxing day. I'm on fall break, and had a library book I wanted to read. I noticed early on that Erick forgot to take his cell phone to work. Normally when he does that, he runs into some sort of crisis. Today was no exception.
After lunch, a friend of mine called and asked if I could watch her two little girls for her. She was starting her first day of work, and hadn't called ahead to schedule the daycare, and they were full and wouldn't take them. I told her that would be fine, since I didn't have any plans for the day other than read my book and later on help with trim in the house.
They were here for probably less than an hour when the phone rang. It was Erick, and he told me he'd been rear-ended by a van. I thought he was joking at first--he sounded so calm. He said he needed me to come out there. I wasn't really sure why--he didn't sound like it was very bad, and I guess I pictured a dented bumper or something because I figured he could drive himself home.
I sent my older kids over to another friends' house, because with the kids I was babysitting I didn't have room in the van for all of them. I loaded up the others, although I didn't bother with things like shoes because I was in a hurry, and I also didn't think we'd be getting out of the van anyway.
When I arrived at the scene, there were emergency vehicles everywhere, and the road was blocked off. They were directing traffic around the wreck, and I could see that the whole back half of the truck was all bent up. It looked a lot worse than I had expected. I rolled down my window and talked to one of the men directing traffic and asked him about my husband, and he told me they'd taken him to the hospital.
While I was sitting in the waiting room at the emergency room, holding a baby and trying to keep the other three little ones from tearing up the emergency room, our pastor from the church we attended all summer came in. News travels fast around here--someone we knew had seen the wreck and calls had been made. He took care of the little ones for me while I went back and saw Erick. He had a bandage on his head. The nurse joked that she used to work for the Taliban, and that he shouldn't get on an airplane. The glass window behind him in the truck had broken and basically scalped him--took the skin and the hair off the back of his head. (And this is just two days after I gave him a haircut!)
A car in front of Erick had stopped suddenly to turn, and the driver of the van behind him had reached down to get a drink from his cupholder and hadn't seen Erick stop. After Erick got out of the truck, bleeding from the back of his head, the emergency workers strapped him to a gurney and rushed him to the hospital. They picked the glass out of the back of his head and then let him go. We went to Walmart and picked up the prescriptions for him, and also met the mother of the girls I was watching and she took them home.
And on top of that, Abby is sick. She started throwing up soon after she went to our friends' house and was still throwing up just a few minutes ago. I'm actually glad that I dropped her off, though, even though I felt bad for my friend. I don't know what I'd have done if I had a kid puking in the emergency room on top of everything else.
So that's my interesting day. It didn't exactly turn out the way I expected!
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Video of our house - 12/11/2009 5:12:07 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
We finally finished our house and had it appraised today so we could roll our construction loan into a regular mortgage. It's so nice to be done with it! I love our house--it's so warm and cozy. I made a video tour of it and uploaded it on YouTube so you can all see our beautiful home. :)
Our House
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Christmas Play - 12/21/2009 9:12:42 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Last night was our church's Christmas play. I wasn't going to do a play at first, since we only started going there in September and hardly had any children. I had thought of doing a live nativity, but as we got closer to Christmas I started to want to put on a pageant. Since most of the main roles from last year's pageant--"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", at our old church were played by kids who now went to our new church, I decided to just do that one over again. We only had a few weeks to put it all together, and I gave the other speaking parts that we were lacking to some of the other kids that have started coming. The main role is played by my girls' best friend, and she still had all of the lines memorized from last year.
The church had a trunk full of costumes up in the balcony, and they were all beautifully made costumes, too. From what I've heard, this church used the be *the* church in town to attend. They have so many nice things in storage that haven't been used in a long time. There was a beautiful manger in the basement, so we dusted it off and brought it upstairs. Some of the costumes were really big and we had to pin them up so the kids didn't trip over them.
We had 14 kids altogether in the play, and a really good turnout to come see it. Since no one could play the piano, I found instrumental songs on the internet for free and burned them into a CD. It turned out really nice--much nicer than last year's play. One little angel wandered about on the stage, picking her nose, but at the age of three anything you do is cute. 
Today we have snow on the ground. It looks like we're going to have a white Christmas. I have four days to cook and clean. It's nice to have a break from school. I start up again on January 11th.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Christmas - 12/27/2009 5:39:43 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
It's hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone. This year my family came down and spent Christmas with us, and it was so much fun having them all here. I fixed so much food for everyone--turkey and ham, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, jellied cranberry sauce, salad, green bean casserole, cranberry bread, blueberry lemon poppyseed brunch cake, pumpkin pie, cookies, baklava, egg nog, and apple cider. My mom also brought in two more kinds of pie--lemon meringue and pineapple cherry. It was unreal how much food there was!
We woke up pretty early--not 3:00 am this year like we did a few years back, but it was about a quarter to five when Erick woke me up. He's such a big kid on Christmas morning. We had saved up over the last few months to buy bikes for all the kids, and so we were very excited to see the kids' expressions when they saw their bikes. We'd purchased a couple of smaller gifts, too, so they'd have something under the tree to throw them off that they were getting something major.
A couple of them did figure out they were getting something. Jay saw one of them in the garage--I guess someone didn't shut the door all the way. Joy knew she was getting something big, because we were in a hurry to make her go away when we had the garage door open once. But the rest had no idea and were so surprised. They all had such good attitudes about only getting two small presents each, too.
Our families came at lunchtime. We had twenty people here altogether--eight in our family, plus my mom and dad, my sister and her husband and my niece, my brother and his wife and my niece, my sister in college, and the three siblings that still live at home. Only one sibling was missing--my sister who is in Israel for six months. We talked to her on Skype while she was here, though.
We always do a family gift exchange and draw names, even the one in Israel. She had my brother-in-law and sent him a shofar and little Jewish hat. He spent all day trying to figure out how to play that thing. He even watched a YouTube video to try and learn how and had absolutely no success. It was hilarious. It just made a pathetic squeaky sound like it was dying.
Most of them went home that evening, but my sister and her husband and my adorable niece stayed overnight. My niece is so cute and smart and she kept saying, "Wisa! Wisa!" to me. I wish I could keep her.
So now Christmas is over. Today the District Superintendent came to our church and spoke for Erick's installation service here, and it was really good. It's really snowy out now, though. Too bad it didn't snow like this on Christmas. My family would be all snowed in and then they'd have to stay here longer. :)
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Funny things my kids said - 1/12/2010 9:38:38 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
I was driving back home this evening and Rachel was with me. She was talking about how long it would be before she would be old enough to drive (she's seven) and she said, "Wow, Mom, it'll be forever until I'm as old as you! I'd have to have like a hundred birthdays!"
I said, "A hundred birthdays? How old do you think I am?"
"I don't know--how old are you, anyway?" she replied.
"I'm thirty-one." I told her.
"Is that more than a hundred?" she asked.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Truck - 1/18/2010 6:33:01 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Erick finally got his truck replaced after his accident last November. The insurance company took forever to settle. He only had liability on the truck, but since it was the other driver's fault it was his company's commercial insurance that had to pay for it. It was three weeks before they even contacted us. Then it was two more weeks before they sent an adjuster out to look at the truck. Then they realized that at the place they towed it to it was costing them $30 a day to store it, so they called up Erick asking for permission to move it and promising that they'd call him Monday about a settlement. They never called.
All this time he was borrowing a truck from his boss, but his boss needed it back because his other truck needed to be worked on. We finally decided that since it wasn't costing them money every day, they needed an incentive to get busy, so he called them and said he needed a rental vehicle. They set us up with one and we got a brand new Nitro--it had only been driven from Indianapolis to Terre Haute once and had less than one hundred miles on it. It was kind of neat driving a brand new vehicle. After a couple of days Enterprise sold the Nitro and asked if we could come swap it for another one. I don't remember the name of this one, but it was what used to be a Suburban. It was even nicer. I wish we could have kept that one! But the rentals were costing the insurance company $80 a day, and so they finally settled with us and we got our check Friday. On Saturday, we drove up to a small town in Northern Indiana called DeMotte and bought a burgundy Dodge Dakota. It's really pretty. We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry while we were up in that corner of the world and took the girls' best friend with us. We were up there for a couple of hours and then we went back to DeMotte to pick up the truck (we didn't want to drive separately in Chicago) and came home. It was a long and tiring day, but I'm so glad to be done with truck shopping. Erick takes forever at shopping. If it were me, I'd have just bought the first truck I could have afforded instead of driving a couple of hundred miles to get one!
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Auditions - 1/22/2010 9:35:36 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Yesterday we had auditions for the play I will be directing this spring for our homeschool co-op. We'll be putting on Anne of Green Gables. We had 27 students try out and I was able to give everyone a role. Some of them were double cast, since I had only five boys try out.
Some of the kids were really, really good! We had a hard time choosing who would be Anne. There were four of them that did exceptionally well at that part, and three of them had dark hair. The other girl had short hair and braces. We ended up choosing one of the dark-haired girls, so she's going to have to wear a wig or something. There were a few people who looked closer to the part of Anne but wouldn't have played the part as well.
Jay is going to be Gilbert Blythe. The girl who is playing Anne is actually a girl who has a crush on him, and I think he likes her, too. Joy is going to be Jane Andrews and Sarah is Josie Pie. Abby will be Bessie Wright, and Rachel will be an extra.
The kids are really excited about the play. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I think it's going to be good. I only took four classes this semester so I'd have the time to work on the play, and these classes are pretty easy anyway, at least so far.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Jay saves the day - 2/11/2010 4:31:53 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
We had a co-op Valentine's Day party to go to today. I also had scripts for Anne of Green Gables to pass out to the students, and we'd made homemade cupcakes to take. I started the van to warm it up and went back inside to get everyone ready to go and turn off lights and everything. While I was in the house, one of the kids somehow hit the lock button and shut the van door. So it was time to leave and all of my stuff was in the locked, running van.
I called our friends that I was supposed to pick up and take with me and told them the situation, and her husband said he guessed he could take some of them, but they didn't have enough room for all of them. So we were trying to figure out who would get to go and who was going to be really, really late, since Erick was going to have to come all the way home from work and unlock it before I could go. I had called him and he'd told me he thought there was an extra set of keys in a box on the front porch, but I looked all through them and the only keys I found didn't fit.
After making all the arrangements and waiting for the friends to come over to get two of our kids, Jay came in with a set of keys! Apparently we had put them in the lock box and hadn't thought to look there. We managed to call Erick back before he left to come rescue us, and our friends before her husband had to get changed and get ready to go, and amazingly enough we were only ten minutes late after all that. We were all very happy with Jay. Even the girls thought he deserved a dollar or something.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
So much going on! - 3/10/2010 9:23:18 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
I figured I'd better take some time and update my blog. We've just been so busy lately! I'm on spring break this week, though, so I had a little extra time.
At the end of February we went ice skating with some friends for their daughter's birthday party. We really enjoyed doing that. Jay went to Paoli Peaks and went snow tubing with the youth group that same weekend. We started practices for Anne of Green Gables about that time, too, and they are going really well. We have a church reserved for it with a stage and a curtain, and all sorts of people volunteering to help, including a professional hair dresser. An antique store is going to be lending us furniture and props.
Jay turned 13 on March 1st. He got a new bass amp for his birthday, and Erick gave him the guitar I gave him for Christmas a couple of years ago. His best friend gave him a much nicer one not long after, so Jay has been using the cheaper one for quite some time anyway. Now it's his. Jay and Erick are both doing really well on the bass and are working on learning guitar, too. Sarah has a natural gift for the drums and plays at church on Sunday nights. Joy often helps lead worship, and even Abby and Rachel sometimes help.
We got a PowerPoint for the church, finally. We got a lot more back on our taxes then we thought we would, so we donated the money for it. Our church is still financially tight, but God is blessing. We were able to help out a single mother for the last few months until she was able to get back on her feet. She just recently moved out of state, and I'll miss her and her kids. Kids' Church will be a lot smaller now for awhile!
This last weekend I went to a Minister's Wives retreat in Indianapolis. I just got back from that yesterday. I drove the kids up to my mom and dads' house because Erick needed to work during the day Monday and Tuesday. While I was up there I borrowed costumes and props for Anne of Green Gables. They also have some sets we can borrow, but I didn't take them with me. We'll have to make an extra trip up there to get those.
The retreat was wonderful. It was in a really nice hotel, and my room was on the 7th floor. I'm a little afraid of heights, so I didn't go out on the balcony too much! It was so beautiful, with fountains and walkways and a parrot that said "hello" to me. There was also a swimming pool and a fitness room, both of which I spent some of my free time in, and the meals were all served there at the hotel. The food was really good, too, especially the chocolate cake and the key lime pie.
Marsha Wooley was the speaker at the sessions, and she was so good. She was funny, too! She was raised in Africa as a missionary's daughter, and she had some of the most amazing stories to tell. It was such a blessing to hear her speak. The worship was awesome and the presence of God was so powerful. Everyone was so blessed.
I stayed up really late playing games on Monday night. I learned to play a card game called "Ninety-Nine" and I won it, too. It was so much fun.
This week Ellie-Mae and her family are coming over, and we're going to Kentucky to Mammoth Cave with them. Then the rest of us are going to Tennessee to Cade's Cove as a late birthday present for Jay. He was born near there, and I went hiking there two days before he was born. He's eager to see his birthplace. Then the week after that I'm being inducted into the honor society at our school. So we've got a lot still on the calendar!
I've got a lot to do today still, though, so I'd better wrap it up. I've got to unpack from yesterday and sometime I really need to move clothes from winter to summer. It's so beautiful outside now! I can't wait to plant flowers. But I'm also teaching the Bible Study tonight at the church here in town since the pastor will be in Texas, so I need to prepare for that. Busy days, but I just praise the Lord for all of the blessings He's put into my life. I am blessed beyond measure.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Our trip - 3/17/2010 3:44:08 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
We had a great time on our trip with the Penners this weekend. They arrived Saturday at noon and spent the night. They attended our church the next day, and after the fellowship dinner we loaded the boys in one van and the girls in the other and drove to Kentucky. The Penners had rented a 2-bedroom unit of a cottage at Nolin Lake Park. The kids slept on sleeping bags and each adult couple took a bedroom. Lisa and I and the vanfull of girls stopped at Walmart on our way in and picked up groceries, since the cabin had a full kitchen.
On Monday morning we went to Mammoth Cave. Our tour was at 10:15 and we took the Snowball Tour. As we were loading the bus, Lisa P. noticed that her youngest son was missing. We looked out and saw him skipping across the parking lot. I don't know where he had gone, but he didn't even see that we were boarding the bus and was heading back towards the visitor's center. That was kind of a heart-stopping moment.
It was a pretty easy tour except for the 183 steps we had to climb to get in and out of the cave. Some of the people on the tour had a difficult time with that. Two park rangers guided the tour and pointed out the various features of the cave, explaining how it all got there. Surprisingly, not once did either of them mention the words, "Billions and billions of years ago." They simply said, "A long time ago." Erick talked to one of them and found that they are Christians. One of the men on the tour asked the guide how long it had been since the river had flowed through it, and the guide said, "Most geologists will tell you about five billion years ago, but I personally don't believe the earth is that old. I'd say it happened no more than eight thousand years ago at the most." It was really cool to not be fed the evolutionist dogma on this trip.
Our tour took us to an restaurant inside the cave. They even had a modern bathroom and drinking fountains down there.
Here are a couple of more photos from the cave tour. I have lots more on Facebook. This next one is of the historical entrance. We entered the cave through a man-made entrance, but before our tour we did a little hiking and saw this entrance as well.
Here are the last few people coming up out of the cave at the end of the tour, after climbing up 183 steps.
We spent the rest of the day watching TV, talking, eating, and resting. Oh, and Lisa Penner picked on me a great deal. She can really be ornery.
The next day we got up early and drove down to the dam with the Penners. They were going canoeing, and so they wanted us to take their van downriver to the place where their canoe trip was going to end so they could drive back to the cabin.
I was glad it was them canoeing and not us, because it was kind of cold. It was very beautiful, though, and I did call them later on the day to make sure they got back safely. No one drowned or froze to death, I am happy to report. We lined up the kids and took pictures before we left for Tennessee, like we always do when we get together with the Penners.
Then we drove on to Tennessee. It took us longer to get to Cade's Cove than we thought it would. At one point we stopped to get some food and Erick got on the interstate and turned the wrong direction and we went about twenty miles out of our way. The weather was chilly and it started to rain. We were starting to think it just wasn't going to work out. Then we found out that Cave's Code Loop Road, the one that you could drive on and see all the historical buildings, was closed because they repaving the roads! We were so disappointed, but we figured we'd see if there was anything we could do since we drove all that way. We asked the guy at the information desk if there were any trails we could go on, and he showed us one that actually went to one of the buildings we wanted to see. Amazingly, the weather wasn't cold anymore, and we decided to hike to it.
After a little bit the trail ended at a stream. We could see the rest of the trail continuing on the other side, but there wasn't any way to cross it. We almost turned back, but then we decided to go off the path upstream a bit and see if we could find a way to cross. We hopped from rock to rock, went around a big fallen tree, and continued on the path. Three more times we had to creatively cross a stream. Some were pretty easy, but others were a lot more difficult and we weren't sure we were going to get across.
Here is one of Rachel and Joy crossing one of the smaller ones. They are going in different directions because Rachel thought it was so much fun crossing the stream, she liked to cross each one two or three times.
Finally we made it to the cabin. It was worth the effort. It was so beautiful there, we all wanted to just stay there.
But we didn't have time to stay long. It was already nearly 5:00 p.m. and we had over eight hours of driving to do until we got home. So we took some pictures and then hiked back.
Erick drove until about 10:30 p.m. while I slept, and then I drove most of the rest of the way home, although he did drive another hour after that when I was getting too sleepy. We got home at nearly 3:00 a.m. I slept in this morning and I haven't done too much yet! It was such a nice trip with a lot of beautiful memories. I wish I could post all of my pictures here, but I've got over eighty of them. You can look at the rest on Facebook if you're my FB friend.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
Job - 3/29/2010 7:36:00 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Well, it looks like I'm going to be going back to work sooner than we had planned on. Erick has really been wanting to put more time into the church, plus he's so tired when he gets home from doing construction that he doesn't have the energy to do any outreach or anything besides preaching. We had planned on waiting until I graduated until I got a job, but we decided to see if maybe there wasn't something I could do part time at least to free up some of his time.
So I went to a career fair at my college last Thursday to check out the local businesses that were hiring. There were several tables and I put in a few applications, but the one table I kept coming back to was the one for the local TV station. I had actually put in an application there a year ago on a whim, but they hadn't called me. I looked at the jobs they had available and I didn't fit the qualifications for any of them. I talked to the guy there and mentioned that I would love to work there, but that I had majored in office administration, not broadcasting. He didn't seem to think that would be a problem and told me to wait around because the news director would be in soon and he wanted me to talk to him. I did, and he encouraged me to apply for a job as a production assistant. They offered to give me a tour of the station when I brought back my application.
I called to find out when the best time to go there to drop it off would be, and the first guy I talked to, who is the operations manager, called me back today and invited me to go over there for a tour. He showed me all the equipment and the studio, which was really cool. Then he asked if I wanted an interview right then, and I said I did. He said he was definitely interested in hiring me and that he had to leave the job open for two weeks, but to give him a call in a couple of weeks if he doesn't call me first. The job they are offering me is from 4:00 p.m. to midnight, and I would be running the camera and filming the news and stuff. I wouldn't make as much as Erick does, so he'd still have to work probably two days a week to make up the difference. But he'll have time to work at the church and won't be so tired all the time. I should be able to get my school done in the morning if he helps teach the kids and takes over cooking the meals. He's a good cook anyway.
I'm excited--I think I will really enjoy working in a TV station. They mentioned that I could have opportunities to move up, too, once I learned the behind-the-scenes stuff, and that eventually I could be a reporter. I would love to do something like that.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Cute things my kids said - 4/6/2010 9:03:37 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
I posted this as my status update on Facebook, but I wanted to put it here, too, since it's more permanent.
Rachel was trying to make an instrument out of Timothy's Frisbee and was making him cry. Tim wanted his Frisbee back. Rachel yelled at him and said, "Timothy, if you ever want to be a parent someday, you need to stop thinking about your toys and think about what's good for your family!"
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Strange day - 4/16/2010 8:39:54 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Yesterday I had "one of those days." It didn't start out too bad. We had co-op and drama practice, and it's coming along just great. Almost all of the kids have their lines memorized and we're starting to put together props and sets now, and we're still two months out from the play. We tried having practice in the basement of the building this time, because none of the kids ever wanted to play down there, and there was more room. Of course, today all the kids wanted to play down there and it was pretty noisy. That basement echoes something crazy. I'm not sure where the best place to practice is!
After practice I went home and made supper, and then I had to go up to the school to take an English test. I had actually tried to take it the Tuesday but you have to be there an hour before they close, and I didn't make it in time. So they wouldn't let me take it. This class is one from another campus, and the teacher e-mails it to the testing center. I have a total of five tests for this class that I have to take on campus, and this was the fourth. The first test they had all sorts of trouble getting from one campus to the other; no matter how many times the professor e-mailed it, it never showed up in the testing center. She finally had to use a different e-mail address. The second and third tests came in just fine. When I got up there yesterday, the fourth test wasn't there again. The lady at the testing center had to call the professor at home and left her a message on her answering machine.
In the meantime, I decided to go to Wal-Mart and get some plants for the garden and some potting soil. The potting soil was too heavy to lift, so I asked the man at the check-out counter if he could assist me with that. He looked up the bar code in his little book and tried to scan it was his hand-held device, but it wouldn't scan. So he went and got a shopping card and put one of the bags of potting soil in the cart and brought it back to the check-out line. While he was putting it into the cart, he tore the bag and was pouring potting soil out all over the floor. He tried to scan the bag with the hand-held device, and it still wouldn't scan. So he picked up the whole bag and dragged it across the scanner. At the point he grabbed it to lift it, he finally discovered the hole in the bag by sticking his hand in the dirt. There was potting soil everywhere.
He finally got it scanned and loaded two bags (ones that weren't torn) into my van. I called the testing center and they still had not received my test. Since Wal-Mart didn't have bell peppers in the size I wanted, I went to Lowe's to purchase some of them and give my professor some extra time to return their call.
While I was standing in line at Lowe's, the man behind me was standing way too close to me. He was in my personal bubble. I tried to step as close as I could to the next person in line without invading his personal space. The guy behind me was so close that the cashier thought we were together. Then she heard a ding or something and said, "Customer service, how may I help you?" She laughed and said, "Why did I say that?" I thought that was odd.
When I called the testing center again, my test had actually arrived! I went back and got my padlock for the locker for my purse. Just as I was about to click the padlock, I stopped myself and thought, "Now wait a minute--what did I do with that key?" I checked through all my pockets--nothing. Finally I opened the locker back up, took out my purse, and checked in there. I ended up emptying the entire thing onto the table before I found the locker key. I couldn't believe I had been so close to locking the key inside the locker.
Even on the test I kept doing dumb things. Twice I circled the question instead of the answer. I just hope I did okay on the test!
When I got home, I put my keys into my purse and slung my purse over my shoulder. Somehow it ended up upside-down and the entire contents of my purse fell all over the driveway.
I wasn't the only one having an odd day yesterday. I saw a lady at Wal-Mart standing outside her vehicle that she had locked herself out of. Her car was running, too.
Oh, and by the way, I still haven't heard back about that job. I've called them every day this week and they haven't called me back.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Supernatural Joy - 4/23/2010 10:01:49 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
"One of those days" turned into "One of those weeks." By Friday we were having problems with our laptop. After three or four minutes of running, everything would stop responding. I couldn't even shut it down--I had to take the battery out to get it to shut off. We had to borrow a friend's laptop to show the PowerPoint at church on Sunday--which was the same day the transmission went out on the van. I also found out this week that I didn't get the job I had applied for. Another girl that used to work for them and had left for a job at a bank now wants to come back, and since she has experience and I don't, they are hiring her over me.
So now the van is in the shop, and so is the computer. We had just paid off the van and now we're going to have to take a loan out on it again to put in a new transmission. I'm disappointed about the job, but I know that God holds my future.
And you know what? I've just been filled with joy today. I can't stop singing and praising God. I can't even explain it except that He gives me joy and peace in our circumstances. The Holy Spirit just swooped into my life and filled me up with Him. It's possible to be disappointed and full of joy at the same time! They aren't opposites.
Sometimes, as Christians, we feel that we should never feel sad about things because we are supposed to be full of joy. So we fake a smile and say "God is good" even though we don't feel it. We don't want to damage our witness, knowing that how Christians handle things in our lives speaks volumes to those around us. It's easy to be torn between trying to "rejoice in the Lord always" and to also be genuine. A non-believer can tell when we're faking it, and that can be a turn-off from Christianity just as much as the Christian that falls apart when things go wrong. The problem is that we see "negative" emotions such as disappointment and grief as being the opposite of joy.
Jesus experienced those "negative" emotions, too--but as the Son of God, He never sinned. He walked continually in the Spirit and set an example for us. The Bible tells us that He endured the cross "for the joy set before Him." Even while He was being crucified for our sins, He experienced joy. That joy is a supernatural work of the Spirit that only comes from abiding in Christ. It has nothing to do with our circumstances. In fact, bad circumstances offer more room for God's joy to work. When His Spirit comes swooping in while things look down, we know where our joy comes from. When we feel good because things are going well, there's not as much room for the Holy Spirit to demonstrate His power.
It's not incompatible with the fruit of the Spirit to feel emotions, even the ones we feel are "less than spiritual." If we feel grief, we can remember that Jesus also grieved. When we feel disappointed, it's okay--Jesus also experienced disappointment. I'm sure I've disappointed Him many times in my life. Even when we are angry, we can remember that Jesus was also angry. Run to Him for comfort. Pour out your soul to Him--He understands and He's been there. He will give you an unexplainable, supernatural joy. You can't manufacture it. You can't "pretend" it into existence. It's real, it's powerful, and it's breathtaking! Praise the Lord for His joy!
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Job - 5/10/2010 3:50:08 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
So I finally got a job. I'm going to be a part-time cashier at Walmart. It's not terribly exciting, but it'll work. I'll be working with several people I know from the church near here, so that's good. I have to wait until my drug test and background check get back before it's official, but since I'm sure there won't be any problems there, I think I'm pretty safe in saying I've got it.
The play has been going well. Had some drama with one of the parents (why do drama groups always involve so much...drama?) but nothing show-stopping.
I finished up the last semester with all A's, and we're just about done with the kids' school for the year and getting ready to start up 4-H again.
Other than that, I'm sad today for a friend who lost her unborn baby in the 30th week of pregnancy. 
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Crazy busy - 5/25/2010 4:46:56 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
I have been busier than snot lately. (Although I have always wondered about that expression, since I didn't know that snot was busy, but whatever.) I started working at Wal-Mart Wednesday, the day after we came home from District Council, which was, as always, wonderful. Today was my first day on the registers by myself, and I had fun. I had one couple who came in with a zillion items (10 of this, 20 of that, etc.) that they wanted discounted because of an advertiser's price. We match competitor's pricing, so I had to hit the price comp button, scan the item, select the option that says I'm changing the price because of a competitor ad, put in the right price, and hit enter as many times as the number of that particular product they were purchasing. They saved so much money that the amount I discounted was more than the total price of the items purchased and I had to have a supervisor approve it! It probably took a whole tree to make the paper for that receipt.
The play is coming along nicely, although I'm starting to get a bit stressed out because it's only two weeks away now. I don't know how it happened, but it seems like it went from being two months away to two weeks away overnight. I have a list of lists I need to make still, but I'm nearly done. We have to find a couple of small loveseats somewhere. I still need to find shoes for them, so I have to hit some yard sales soon. The slates I ordered look nice, but they aren't real slate so I'm going to have to get to Hobby Lobby and get some that Anne can smash over Gilbert's head.
The worst thing that's happened so far is that my Anne Shirley popped her knee out of joint today and she's on crutches. I'm praying that she heals up quickly! Please say a prayer for her if you feel so inclined. I suppose it's selfish that my motivation for wanting her healed lies in the success of my play more than her own well-being and happiness, but I can't help it. There's no way I can get another Anne at this point.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Honor Stars Crowning - 6/5/2010 7:52:21 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Today Joy and Sarah were crowned Honor Stars in the Missionette's program. They've worked so hard to meet all the requirements, which included reading the entire New Testament, memorizing 27 verses (one for each unit they had to complete), memorizing the statement of faith, writing an essay on integrity, keeping a prayer journal, and more. Joy was actually almost finished last year, but the church they've been working with doesn't have the Honor Star program, so they've had to finish it up on their own. She finished it up this last year and Sarah finished in the three years it usually takes. I told them if they did all the requirements, I'd do whatever it took to get them up to the crowning ceremony at the District Level.
I just wanted to share one picture of the girls in their white dresses and crowns. Out of the 40-some girls that were being crowned, I thought my girls were the prettiest. I am so proud of them.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Anne of Green Gables - 6/13/2010 7:17:10 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
We survived play week! Yay! It was really crazy, because not only did we have a dress rehearsal, tech rehearsal, and two performances last week, I had to work and my summer classes started up. So I am glad in a way that it's over, because I'm really tired, but it's also kind of sad that it's over.
The play was amazing, though. The girl I had cast as Anne wasn't able to do it because of her knee, so a week before the play we agreed that Joy should learn the part. She worked very hard and memorized the entire lead role in seven days. That beat my record of learning the part of Tevya in ten days--plus, that was only a one-act play and this was a two-act one.
She did such a super job. I think she made an even better Anne than the girl I had cast in the first place! The play went so smoothly. Of course it had it's little glitches like all plays do. The first night the audience laughed when Matthew died. They couldn't help it--he was so funny when he died. We coached him some more on how to be less funny and they didn't laugh the second night.
The best part of the whole play was when Anne broke the slate over Gilbert's head. The audience was not expecting it at all! Joy loved being able to do that to her brother.
I really enjoyed doing this. It was the first full-length play I've ever directed, and we had so many positive comments that it was as good as any of the high school plays they've been to. The costumes and sets were beautiful. The co-op parents were surprised at how big it was, too. I guess they were expecting a skit and didn't realize we were putting on a major production! We had close to 200 people show up to see it. I think we'll have more next year.
Here are some of the pictures we took. I have lots more on Facebook, but here is a sampling.
Here's Anne Shirley and Diana Barry:
Here are some of the little girls in the play--Mary Jo (the French maid), Minnie May Barry, Tillie Boulter, and Rachel (who was an extra school girl).
The whole cast backstage, waiting for final instructions before the play.
Anne goes to Sunday School
Anne saves Minnie May's life
Right after Anne has broken her slate over Gilbert's head
Minnie May Barry, Josie Pye, Ruby Gillis, Diana Barry and Mrs. Barry all dressed up for the Christmas concert.
Anne Shirley getting ready for Act 2 (yes, we dyed her hair red)
The Green Gables set
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Anne of Green Gables - 6/17/2010 10:06:24 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
I just wanted to put up this picture of our local newspaper, since the play was in it. :)
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Bike Show - 7/10/2010 9:01:02 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
We just got back from the first big event we've done since we took our church in September. The central attraction was a bike show. We also had free hot dogs and our band played, and then we had a local band (Altared) come out and give a concert. We also had corn hole and face painting. Erick did almost all of the planning and legwork on this one. I tend to be a bit of a control freak sometimes and try to take over projects, so I just really backed off and let him do this one himself. He did a great job. He went around town passing out flyers and really got the word out. He went to local businesses and got door prizes to give away, too. He put an article in the newspaper and got donations for cash prizes for the bikes. He consulted with a guy who leads a local Christian biker group about how to actually run the thing, since we're kind of clueless about bikes.
I was starting to worry that no one would come. I dreamed a couple of nights ago that no one showed up. Even an hour before the show, we were starting to wonder. I looked at all the food we had donated and thought we had way too much.
Then the bikes started rolling in. I was completely in shock how many bikes showed up. I was worried that we'd have enough bikes to fill the categories, but we had between 30 and 40 bikes show up. I think around 32 actually registered, but some came in later on and didn't sign up. It was so beautiful, all those shining bikes. We still had some leftover food, but not too much. The concert was wonderful and everyone enjoyed it. It was exciting to be a part of it, and I'm so thankful to God for bringing people in.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Yesterday - 7/13/2010 9:39:11 AM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
Yesterday I met with my advisor from school and switched courses from Office Administration to General Studies. I've decided I'd like to transfer to a 4-year college and complete my bachelor's degree. I'm still a litte torn on where I'll go from here and what major I'll be going for at the moment, though. It can be tricky to find something that has online courses, for one. I'm leaning towards a private college that's rather expensive, and going for a major in journalism and a minor in theater. There are a couple of other options I'm considering as well, though, such as a public college about an hour and a half away that has a degree in communication. It's not as expensive, so I wouldn't have to apply for as many scholarships. If I keep my grades up, though, there are scholarships to many schools through Phi Theta Kapa. There's also another public college that's not too far away, but I'd have to take campus classes there. I guess I've got more time to think about it, but I do need to make sure I make good choices in my General Studies program.
I really liked my new advisor. She's also the sponsor for Phi Theta Kappa, so I'd met her briefly before and she seemed to be a really "together" person. When I met with her yesterday I found she was terribly unorganized. She was twenty minutes late for the appointment and her office was a mess! I find that disorganized people are generally pretty nice. :)
On the way back, I was traveling in the southbound lane of the 2-lane highway. I noticed there was a wreck in the northbound lane--a couple of firetrucks, some police cars, a car sitting off to the side with its front end all smashed in. It didn't look very terribly serious, though. The traffic was all merging into one lane on my side, because of construction, and the light ahead was red so everyone was pulling up to a stop. People were a little distracted because of the wreck and everyone was stopping pretty fast. After I stopped, I looked in my mirror and realized the guy behind me wasn't even slowing down. He slammed into the back of my van and pushed me forward, almost into the car in front of me. I thought I'd hit her, but I found out later I didn't. When he hit, I saw his air bag go off in the mirror.
I pulled over and got out. The lady in front of me came up to make sure I was okay. I was shaking, but otherwise I was unhurt. The back of the van was all smashed in. I was glad that I was alone and none of the kids were with me. The man's car looked a lot worse than my van, though. He was sitting by the side of the road. The police officer told me later that he had broken his arm in the wreck. The fire trucks and emergency crew had just finished up working on the other wreck and came right over.
I was able to drive the van home, but something is seriously wrong with it. It doesn't want to accelerate like it should, and it makes this awful sound like a circular saw when I'm accelerating. So now we get to go through the whole claims process all over again. I hope it doesn't take as long as when Erick had his wreck. At least I'm not hurt. My arms are a little sore because I braced myself for the impact, but other than that I feel fine.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
4-H fair - 7/17/2010 7:48:17 PM
|
|
|
Consecrated2God
Posts: 3182
Joined: 4/4/2005
From: A red state once again
Status: offline
|
The 4-H judging was today. The kids didn't finish all of the projects they signed up for this year--just too much going on. After the play I didn't want to have to push them too hard. I wanted them just to be able to enjoy their summer and go swimming and have fun, too. Plus, with me working now and taking summer classes, too, I just didn't have as much time to work with them on their projects.
Jay got a champion on his Electricity project and it will be going to the State Fair. He made an extension cord this year. He also got a reserve champion in Foods on his dinner rolls. His other project was Photography and he got a blue on that. The judges at this fair in the Photography project are very strict--this is the only project where the judges give out white ribbons. Most judges give out blue and a few reds on the ones that are really bad. White is just embarrassingly bad. It used to be that blue was excellent, red was good, and white was fair, but nowadays blue is good, red is fair, and white is just flat out terrible.
Joy got a reserve champion in Foods on her biscuits. The judge really liked her biscuits. They were so tall and pretty. This is the second year she has won reserve champion in Foods. She also got blue ribbons in Scrap-booking (which I thought she did a fabulous job on) and her Personality project. She didn't have any projects that went to the state fair this year, but she did a very nice job anyway.
Sarah got a reserve champion on her Child Development project. She made a ring-toss game and it turned out really nice. She also got a blue ribbon in Foods with her feathery fudge cake. She doesn't have any state fair projects, either, but she went last year and was the only one in the family to get a blue there, so it's not like she has to go every year.
Abby got to be in regular 4-H this year instead of mini, and she was excited to get a champion in Personality her first year. It was a really cute poster about a family appreciation party she made for us. She had captions on all of the pictures with little speech bubbles of us saying what we appreciated about each other. She also got a blue ribbon on her peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in Foods.
Rachel was in mini-4-H and she showed her frog collection. She had several stuffed frogs, a frog salt-and-pepper shaker set (only one fell on the floor and broke) and a frog candle.
They all did really well and I'm proud of them. Erick came with us, too, for the first year. He kind of had too, though. Our van is still being repaired, and the rental company didn't have any vans available for now. So all we have is a car and a truck. We have to drive separately everywhere we go right now.
Later on we went to Burger King. We were planning on going boating this evening. There is a state park near us, and they have free boat trips in the evenings on Saturdays in the summer. Erick tried to take the kids a couple of weeks ago and they didn't get there in time (due to faulty directions from me). This time we were going to get there on time, but on the way back from Burger King, Abby threw up in the truck. So we piled most of the kids into the car and went home instead of to the park. It was starting to rain, anyway, so it probably wouldn't have worked even if she hadn't thrown up.
_____________________________
Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
|
|
|
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
 Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts |
|
|
Forum Tools
Printable Version
