Kitchen BEFORE renovation: February 13, 2010
Kitchen AFTER renovation: April 14, 2010
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is THE last time I will mention our kitchen.
(I hope).
Daily Walk
This is how long I walk, on average, on a daily basis.
Well, maybe not daily, more like five or six times a week.
It works out to be about 3.25 miles.
I’m back on my walking kick.
But before you become too impressed, let me pop that balloon right now; I’m getting back into shape for purely selfish reasons.
One: My pants are too tight again and buying a larger size is NOT an option.
Two: Vacation. As in, vacation pictures. We are planning a trip to New York and then catching a boat to Canada in July. This means? Lots and lots and LOTS of vacation pictures. That will likely be posted here, and passed around at family get togethers and will stick around for years and years and if I don’t look halfway decent in them? Well …
I mentioned vacay pictures are around forever, right??
So. I force myself to get on the treadmill every morning after dropping the kids off at school. I walk and watch 45 minutes of either a TV series or half of a movie, get cleaned up and THEN start my day. My walk is over with for the day and I can concentrate on what I need to do and not what I OUGHT to do.
You know?
I’ve just about built my stamina back up so that I’m ready to tackle some toning exercises – either Turbo Jam or Wii Fit.
I only have about 12 weeks to go before our trip – no pressure.
(And I would like to apologize for my gritty, nasty weighted gloves – they ARE rather gross).
What about you – are you getting into shape for the summer months?
Emily at Chatting at the Sky hosts a weekly “noticing” party – giving us a chance to unwrap and share the little gifts that God gives to us on a daily basis.
Flash Fiction: Flashback
Fiction under 250 words.
_________________________________
“And this is the smaller bedroom.” Belinda stepped to one side of the door to allow her clients to move past her and enter the room.
Beads of sweat began to form on her upper lip and she felt sick to her stomach.
It had been fifteen years since she had been in this house and yet seeing the aged homestead, driving through the old neighborhood, was like stepping back through the hellish threshold of her childhood.
“Oh … this could be Courtney’s room,” the well-dressed woman said enthusiastically over her shoulder. Her serious-looking husband merely nodded while pacing aimlessly around the bedroom.
Belinda smiled, or at least, her lips curled into what she hoped resembled a smile. Why had she agreed to show this house? Why hadn’t she gotten someone else to cover for her? This was a mistake. She thought she could face her old demons, she thought she had moved past the abuse she had endured during childhood.
She was wrong.
The man moved toward the closet and Belinda frantically grabbed at the doorframe to steady herself. The darkness that oozed from the opening slowly wrapped itself around her brain and she felt her vision tunnel.
“Nice big closet … Good lord, it goes on forever.” The man said, his voice dissipating as he moved deeper into the opening.
“And you’ll stay in here until we let you out,” a voice sneered in Belinda’s head. She tightly closed her eyes and willed herself back to the present.
Monday Mingle: Tattoos, Politics, Wedding Memories
This week’s questions (submitted by Karie from The Five Fish – thanks Karie!):
1. So you must be a little on the wild side somewhere…how about any tattoos? Piercings? Show us your wild side. If you are free of any taintings do you want any? Piercings or tattoos?
2. Considering the state of our world today what is one thing you might change, suggest, or push for or against if you were to be elected to office?
3. Reminiscing about my impending 10 yr anniversary, can any of you recall your wedding day? Vows? Any funny or memorable moments from your special day?
(I apologize for the quality, or lack thereof, I was in a hurry to get this online before the day was over).
The infamous “hiding his white basketball tube socks” picture:
NEXT WEEK’S QUESTIONS:
From Robyn – Robyn’s Online World:
1. If you could visit 1 city anywhere in the world, what city would it be?
2. What is your favorite vacation you went on as a child?
3. What is the best museum you have ever been to?
Test, Loose, Paint, Deadline
Dude took the ACT test for the first time Saturday.
He’s known about this test for a month. So of course, Friday night he panicked.
Him: “I’m totally going to bomb the math portion.”
Me: “Did you study any of the problems in the book I bought you?” (I bought him a book specifically for the math and science sections of the ACT).
Him: “No.”
Me: “I seem to recall suggesting to you that you might look over the material in the book and on the ACT website so you would be prepared, so you could avoid this panic the night before business.”
He shrugged.
“Well. It’s too late now. Just do your best and we’ll see what happens.”
We looked at this test as a practice test. We (and by “we” I really mean “me” because he really doesn’t give a rip at this point) have every intention of taking it again his senior year. In fact, he’ll probably end up taking it again shortly after, or during the semester of, the math class he’s scheduled for next year. That way, the math / science sections will be fresh and he’ll probably do better.
But at any rate, I didn’t push him. I reminded him, at times, that “the ACT test is coming up in such-and-such weeks, are you ready?” But other than that, I didn’t MAKE him sit down and study or anything, I left it up to him.
And he blew it off, apparently.
I dropped him off at the school at 7:45 Saturday morning. He had his ID (driver’s license!) and his admission ticket, two #2 pencils, an approved calculator, his cell phone (which was off. The ACT website was very explicit – if the phone vibrated or went off, the student was disqualified) and some money for snacks at break.
He was physically prepared – I’m not so sure of his mental preparation.
He finished a little earlier than I expected, so I wasn’t up there to meet him when he finished. Kevin and I went to pick him up. Though he wasn’t exactly chatty (Dude has never been the chatty sort), he did voluntarily give us some information about how the test went. He’s pretty sure he aced the English / Reading portions (which I knew he probably would), but didn’t feel overly confident about the math / science sections. He was surprised by the science section. He was expecting questions about … well, science. Instead, he said the entire section consisted of four graphs and all of the questions were based around those graphs. He didn’t feel like he bombed it, but he wasn’t overly confident about it, either.
He said he saw a few of his buddies there. When he named the kids I had never heard of them before. I’ve always wondered how Dude got along with other kids, did he have a lot of friends, etc. (Jazz always talks about his friends so I knew he had a lot of friends, but I wasn’t sure about Dude since he doesn’t talk about stuff like that), but now I’m pretty certain that there is a side of Dude I’m not privy to, a more confident and friendly side that he doesn’t show me. And I’m getting that feeling from just some little tidbits I pick up here and there.
Anyway, it was nice to hear him talking about his friends and that he had some people to hang with at break. It also served to show Dude that taking the ACT test was just another brick in the maturity wall – that it was a necessary process to an independent goal. I don’t know that he thought we were mean for making him take the test, but I do think he thought it was not necessary. After running into some of his friends, I think it reinforced, in his mind, that it is necessary and he’s involved somehow. I think it made him feel good.
So, now we wait to see what his score is. He has very adamantly told me that I’m not allowed to tell anyone his score. And we set it up so that not even his high school will receive the score. For now, he just wants to wait and see how he did and we’ll take it from there.
I’m totally okay with whatever happens. He can always take the test over again (and he will), I’m more concerned with the fact that he DID it. He now knows what to expect and he now knows that all of this talk about college and getting a job thing is REAL.
Welcome to life, son.
******
Unbeknownst to me, Jazz bit into some corn on the cob at Easter dinner.
You don’t bite into ANYTHING when you have braces.
As a result, a bracket broke off as we were on our way to school Friday morning.
His orthodontist doesn’t work on Fridays. (That’s so annoying). So, Jazz went the whole weekend with wax stuffed in his mouth to keep the bracket from flopping around and making him cranky. It’s not hurting him, it’s just annoying. And it’s affecting how he plays the saxophone.
I just called the dentist’s office. Apparently, they can’t simply glue the sucker back on, they have to make wire adjustments, blahblahblah (I sort of zoned out of the process, quite frankly, I was more concerned with the when can you fix it sort of thing) and it takes time, time they don’t have in their schedule right now. But, since he has a regular appointment coming up, they said they would fix it at that time – killing two birds with one stone.
Which I’m normally okay with, but this thing is sliding around and is really quite annoying, so I’m taking him after school today so they can remove it. At least it won’t bug him until he can get in for his regular appointment.
What is really weird about this whole situation is that Jazz LOATHES vegetables. I have to make him eat them, and by make him eat them, I mean I have to sit there and watch him chew and swallow the five that I make him eat.
He never voluntarily eats vegetables – ever.
So when he told me that he ate corn on the cob over at his grandmother’s on Easter, I was both shocked and ecstatic. Maybe NOW the kid will eat his veggies without me harping on him! Maybe he’s FINALLY outgrown this aversion to veggies!
Um, no. He only ate the corn on the cob because he knew that I would ask him if he ate any vegetables and nag him because he didn’t. So, to avoid the nagging session, he ate corn on the cob.
Only, he wasn’t supposed to, not with his braces.
So this means that the bracket coming off? Is indirectly MY fault. Naturally.
*sigh* I can’t win.
******
Kevin and I spent part of our Sunday painting.
We painted the soffits first.
Before paint, sink side:
Before paint, range side:
Kevin rolling on the eggplant color on our soffits:
After paint, sink side:
After paint, range side:
This paint is really funny. One angle, it looks dark purple. Another angle, it looks brown. Which is exactly what we wanted to happen. We’re really pleased with how it turned out. It really contrasts nicely with the cabinets and gives the whole room a splash of color.
Kevin and I painted the rest of the kitchen a medium khaki color. He trimmed, I followed with the roller. You can’t tell that much of a difference until you see it up against the white beam, but I think it gives the entire kitchen a “warm, welcoming” feel and I just love it.
We’re nearly done with this project. We still have to repaint our trim and put that back on, then look for some artwork to hang on the walls. But I’m going to go ahead and stamp this project DONE because I’m sick of talking/thinking about it.
As I’m sure you’re equally sick of hearing/reading about it.
******
I also spent some of Sunday traveling to two client locations and taking pictures of their structures so I can put them on their websites. I have a client waiting on templates now and another expecting templates very soon. This week will be very busy for me.
Now that we don’t have any income coming in, I’m really going to focus on trying to obtain more clients, that way, I’ll have income from both my home business and an outside source (when I get a job outside the home).
I think Kevin and I are both getting a tad nervous about this money situation. We’re not hurting, but we do need to cool it on the spending.
It’s time to tighten our belts.
We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again.
I Think My Heart Just Stopped
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Can you imagine your life, NOW, without Internet?
I can’t.
Teaching: Magnifying God’s Love For You
Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.
If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.
Let’s get started:
[The following article was taken from The Contender, a bimonthly magazine that was published by Spirit & Truth Fellowship International.]
Hey, here we are again on the edge, so we had best read the theme verses for this column.
1 Peter 5:6-8
(6) Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, [so] that he may lift you up in due time.
(7) Cast all your anxiety on him, because He cares for you.
(8) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.No doubt you alertly noticed the words in all bold, which I will be expounding upon as we go. Certainly our Lord Jesus Christ epitomized obedience to the above verses, and in this month of April when we celebrate his resurrection, I am moved to dwell upon his magnificent accomplishment on my behalf. I hope that my standing in greater awe of it will inspire me to follow in his steps in my own life. If there were ever anyone who had to believe that God cared for him, it was Jesus.
From the moment Jesus realized who he was — the “Last Adam” with a chance to do it right, he came to see his mission clearly set before him in the pages of Genesis through Malachi. He also saw his kingly destiny, pending his obedience to walk the path set before him—a steep path strewn with gut-wrenching temptations as it led up to the ultimate challenge — the Cross. He saw that unless he chose to humble himself by obeying the will of his Father and laying down his life via a horrible death, God could not lift him up to newness of life, a life he could then pass on to all who would believe in him and his “one righteous act.” What motivated him to get through Gethsemane and walk out his agonizing decision to submit to torture and death? I think it was because he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God, his father, cared for him with infinite, detailed and relentless love. Possibly the following verses contributed to his faith that God was not only able, but also passionately willing, to care for him:
Psalm 62:11 and 12a
(11) One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,
(12) and that you, O Lord, are loving.One of the worst things about the lie first told by Satan in Genesis 3 that “you will not surely die,” that is, the lie that there is really no such thing as death (defined in virtually all dictionaries as “the end of life”), is that it gravely (get it?) dilutes the glorious truth of resurrection, as contrasted to the hideous reality of death. That lie, coupled with the lie that God became a man named Jesus, also greatly diminishes the magnitude of God’s love. How so? Because, as I think you will agree, especially if you are a parent, it took far more love for God to watch His only begotten Son suffer than it would have for Him to somehow violate all the laws He had set up and turn one-third of Himself into a baby so that He Himself could go through the torture and death. [For further study read Does the teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, not God himself, demean him?]
Of late in my life, I have been asking myself the question, “How big do I really see God’s love for me?” Since Scripture seems to indicate that our love for God (and thus our obedience, and thus His ability to bless us Ephesians 3:20-style as He so desires to do) is directly proportionate to our understanding of His love for us (“We love him because he first loved us”), it may be a relevant question for you also to ask. Perhaps, for each of us, the answer hinges on how big is our God, or, more accurately, how big do we see Him? The bigger God looks to me, the more faith I will have in Him. The more faith I have in Him, the more He can do for me. The more He can do for me, the bigger He will look to me. The bigger…ad infinitum blessum.
Here’s another question I’ve been asking myself: “What would I be like if I really, really, really believed that God (as in Creator, Big Daddy, nobody messes with) loves (as in fervently desires to do every good thing for me that He can) me (as in yes, the dirtball I know myself to be)? I’m sorry to say that I don’t think I know the answer experientially. But verses like 1 John 3:1 inspire me to continue to pursue the quest of knowing it up close and personal: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (NIV). What would I be like? I think I’d choose the road to Ephesians 3:20ville rather than the one to Margaritaville (I heard the song and I just wanted to say that — I’ve never even had a margarita). I think I’d be more fun to be around (even without a margarita). OK, so I’m running it into the ground, this is the end of the paragraph.
Recently, I heard it said that God is a “benevolent schemer,” meaning that He is constantly thinking and planning how He can thrill our hearts, blow our minds, knock our socks off, or however you would choose to say “show us His love.” When I heard that phrase —“benevolent schemer”— I thought of Santa Claus. Not because I still believe in the guy, or still send letters to “The North Pole” (When stamps went to 32 cents, I said, “That’s it!”), but because if you, like I, used to go to Wonder Mall and sit on Santa’s lap and rattle off your incredibly greedy list of 197 things you wanted for Christmas, you may have ended up by saying, “and some surprises,” just in case you forgot anything.
But I always did get some “surprises,” and I now realize that “Santa” was really my dad. Well, what kind of wonderful surprises do you think your father, God, wants to give you? And that brings up yet another question I’ve been asking myself (I sure hope I can answer some of these questions), given that God, my loving Father, just happens to be the Creator: “Am I excited about the no doubt many scintillating surprises God wants to give me today, and am I expectantly and faith-full-y anticipating them?” I think I’m supposed to live in perpetual wonder. And oh yeah, I remember, I’m supposed to live each day looking for the biggest surprise of all — Jesus Christ, in person, in the air!
So then, how can I see God bigger? Yes, Jesus did say that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father, so it is imperative to press into intimate fellowship with the Lord. But for now, let us think about the biblical exhortation to magnify God. Have you ever thought about what that means? Sometimes I think that my God is too small. Huh? Well, in terms of Him being able to do for me, and for others via me, all He longs to do, He is only as big as I “see,” i.e., understand Him, and I’ll trust Him only that much. I want to see God as big as I possibly can, so that I have as much F-A-I-T-H (Fabulous Adventures In Trusting Him) as possible.
Picture yourself scrutinizing the finer details of a local insect under a magnifying glass. Suddenly you find yourself back in a 1950s horror movie, before special effects were made really special through computer graphics, etc. In those days, movie “monsters” were actually grotesque-looking union insects hired to have their ugly faces filmed through magnifying lenses. To elicit fierce facial expressions, directors would threaten them by saying that if they did not comply, they’d see to it that the only parts they ever got after that would be in Raid commercials. Anyway…the point I am circuitously making is that when the bugs were magnified, they did not actually get bigger, but they did look bigger. Ditto for God, so how do we magnify Him?
You can read the rest of the article here.
If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page, their YouTube Channel, or follow them on Twitter.
Thanks for reading.
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