Living a Blessed Life

Tonight's gonna be a good -good night!! We are going to the Toby Mac concert, and I am completely STOKED! I Love Toby Mac's music! Simply amazing!! And, I'm hoping that he will bless us with some Christmas rap considering the season. My dearest friend, and sister-in-law, Emily, and her husband The Michael bought us tix and we are pumped!! Leaving directly from work, and heading to the great state of Iowa!! (Go Hawkeyes) I'm ready for the road trip and some of the best White-Guy rap in the world! It is finally snowing outside, and beginning to look much more like winter. (It sure feels like it anyhow)!! I am feeling like a bit more has been accomplished around the house. We have a couple of our Christmas trees up and twinkling, and some garland on the railings. I will have to take some pictures when we are finished decorating (which will be by Saturday). We are hosting a very fun Christmas Gift Extravaganza. I'm really excited to host this event!! We will have a lot...

Although it's not really beginning to ' Look a lot like Christmas ' I am starting to get that Christmas spirit built up within me. I LOVE Christmas ! Not only do we have the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, but we also have the wonderful privilege of hosting and attending parties and gatherings. There is so much Joy in the air, and the love that is shown to others is simply amazing. It's interesting how a 'season' can make that kind of impact on the world. I guess it's really a great example of God's great love for his people. He has given us so many reasons to celebrate, of which Christmas is just one. Why and What I LOVE about the Holidays... The Smell of Fall The Change of colors Leaves gently falling and floating in the breeze Family Gatherings Giving Gifts Christmas Music Comfort Foods Desserts & Cookies Hot Apple Cider Warm Fires Snow twinkling and sparkling on the trees and rooftops Ice Skating Shoveling / Sno...

Where to begin? Jeepers! So much to do, and the time just keeps moving. We all have the same number of minutes in a day, it's just how we choose to use them that makes us productive / successful or not. I must constantly remind myself of this, as I often feel that being lazy would be a better option. I have a running list of the daily tasks needing completion, which never seems to dwindle. On Monday I decided I would rake the front lawn. There were so many leaves that I couldn't stand looking at it anymore. So, I brought out the rake with the intention of raking half on Monday and finishing on Tuesday. Well, I just couldn't stop in the middle, so I have multiple piles of leaves hanging out and rotting in my front yard. On Tuesday I started bagging the leaves, only to have a neighbor stop over and inform us of our other neighbor across the street's passing. His name is Dick Cook, and he and his wife, G.J. are amazingly nice people. He will be missed even though we did n...

After a long bout of trying to rectify a situation with American CarpetMaster , they have been completely unwilling to work with us, and downright untrustworthy. I write this in hopes that when other people search for a Carpet Cleaning company or Carpet Repair / Restoration company, they will find a bit of helpful advice. This company was hired and paid to patch two areas of carpet, only to leave the job unfinished and looking much worse in one area than before. They were unwilling to fix this problem and after filing a complaint with the BBB, they lied about the situation and were not willing to come to a decent resolution. This is very unfortunate, as I prefer to support small business and local companies, but I cannot recommend them, and would advise anyone looking for local repair or cleaning services to avoid American CarpetMaster at all costs . They may have the lowest price, but clearly, you get what you pay for.

Here I am - all alone at work today. It's a semi-strange feeling, and I am trying to think of things to do, but really, I'm pretty well caught up. So, I decided to update my blog since it's been about a week now. TIME FLIES! House Update: We are almost finished with the major projects we had going on. We still have some minor touches to work on, but the big stuff is complete. My mom called yesterday and told me that she purchased some nice curtains for our living room - What a wonderful surprise!! I am really looking forward to hanging them. :-) We have yet to prime the basement bathroom and paint it up. Once that is complete, we will have the biggest projects out of the way. The next large one will be the living room and dining room flooring. I think we are going to lay laminate in the the dining and kitchen, and repair the living room carpet. I'm not sure when that will happen, however. We have all new windows in the upstairs, back of the house. What a relief that w...

Oh My Goodness!! I am SOOOO Excited!!! (Can you tell)? The MN Twins baseball team has tied for 1st place in their division, and we will be attending the tie-breaker tomorrow! Woo Hoo! Yesterday we had the privilege of attending the 'last regular season game' in the Metrodome. Now we can look forward to outdoor baseball next year. The program after the game was great, as we saw many former players and re-lived some of Baseball's greatest moments in the metrodome. Now, we can look forward to possibly play-off games... Cheer Loud! Win Twins!!

Ok, Say it with me now: "Purses & Shoes" RULES!! At least when it comes to our first victory week in fantasy football. Honestly, I don't know if we will continue to win, but my goal is to win the remainder of the weeks and make it to the Superbowl!! :-) On another note, the Twins won their first game yesterday against Detriot!! YAY. Unfortunately, they lost the second (it was a double header) but that kept them in the same place, 2 games out of first. They must win the remaining two against Detroit, and I believe they will! Then they face KC, which should not be a contest. We will be at the game on Sunday - the final game of the regular season! It will be an awesome experience. The last regular season game in the Metrodome. Then it's off to outdoor baseball next season. The way baseball was meant to be played!!!! :-) (OK, I must admit that I, too, would like a retractable roof, but it was not my decision and I did not have the multi-millions that it would take to ...

It's almost hard to believe that today is the 23rd of September! As the saying goes - "time flies when you're having fun!" I guess I could say that if you average out the days in a year, 99% are good ones . :-) I was really looking forward to, and hoping for a nice relaxing weekend with no company - and nobody to entertain. It seems that this may happen, minus a possible visit from Darek's uncle Mark (which we would totally love, by the way.) We have had 'company' every weekend it seems since we moved to our new home in July. Don't get me wrong; I really appreciate the help with fixing up our new home, but I could use a little R&R for a weekend. I completely enjoy the parade of homes tours, and hope that I can make that a reality this weekend, as well as church on Saturday!! We will see, though. We do have plenty of projects yet to complete, but as I have been told by the older and wiser folk; You will ALWAYS have projects to complete. Just when y...

Pardon the pun, but I had to choose a title that would bring some humor to the day. I now wonder, is it ever easy to grieve? My Grandpa Ford (Dad's dad) passed away on Friday night. Yes , he was in a nursing home, and yes he has been struggling with his health for a while, but does that mean it's supposed to be easier when the news of his death comes? Does that mean that there is no need to grieve this loss of a life? Should we just continue about our ways with no thought or need for peace or condolence? Should we write off a life once they forget who we are? Should we grieve at that point, and stop caring waiting for the inevitable to happen? It seems that this world can be so cold sometimes, and there is little regard for the subtle suffering of survivors. Do I know that he is "in a better place?" No, I don't. Maybe that's why this time is a little more difficult than other times. Maybe it is because I place such a high value on life that this does not dig...

There are too many topics weighing on my mind, so I am going to do my best here to get some of them out. I am so proud of so many people and things, and I want to give the credit to the ones that deserve it. I must begin by saying that I am personally proud to be a free American. I do not, and will not take that freedom for granted! I am proud to have family and friends in our great military protecting us every day. I am proud of my amazing husband! He is an incredibly hard worker, and has a drive and determination to make things happen no matter what obstacle might come his way. He dreams big, and is the best encourager / motivator I could ask for. He has a skill to see things from a very neutral perspective, and make an unbiased judgment - which I believe takes tremendous patience. Darek NEVER complains about his current situation, regardless of how many ridiculous things or people he has to encounter each day. He is a positive and powerful force in my life and the lives of those ar...

I guess I have reached that point in my life where many (if not most) of my friends are starting their families. I always had this idea that I would begin my motherhood journey at the age of 22, but that has come and is now Long gone (despite the fact that Darek and I were married at the age of 22.) I really don't know why that age was in my head, but for some reason it was, and that is where I began my desire for motherhood. We were the first of our friends to take that step in marriage, but are taking our time on the baby step. :-) I must say that I LOVE kids, hence the reason I chose Child Psychology as my major in college, and babysat as much as I did during junior high and high school. I definitely have that 'itch', but I think the timing will be right when Darek and I have that 'itch' together. All of that is the pre -cursor to my bragging about the babies and children that I currently have the privilege to love on. First, I will begin by mentioning my 3 nep...

Over the past 3 years I have become a football fan, particularly rooting for the Indianapolis Colts. I think my love of football began when we moved into a home with a fireplace in the same room we used as a T.V. room, and by default I watched (or fell asleep to) many football games. As the season continued, however, I started asking questions and learning how the game worked, and who the players were. I must say that I am certainly no expert, but I now understand why Darek and 'the guys' are so into watching the games. In reality, it's a great way to spend time together, rooting for victory or amazing comebacks in the teams we love. That being said, I am thrilled that it is the first football Sunday in 2009!! We will watch the Vikings game, of course - considering that they are our home team - but I will be following my Colts online. :-) Who knows, maybe someday my love for the Colts will be that strong for the Vikings as well. It's really Tony Dungy that made the diff...

Yes, I am finally entering into the realm of blogging. Initially I was not overly keen on the idea of posting my personal thoughts or feelings on a website, allowing myself to be a bit vulnerable to the opinions of others, but have recently realized my passion for writing. I enjoy journaling, but find that I do not give myself the time necessary to sit and write on a regular basis. SO... I thought I would give this a try, considering that I sit at a computer during a large portion of my days - and tend to have some periodic downtime. (wink, wink) Now that I have justified my desire to blog, let's delve into my little slice of life... I have been married for almost 5 and a half fantastic years to the love of my life, Darek. (May 22, 2004.) Many couples speak of the up's and down's of married life, particularly in the first years, but I do not feel that we have had that rollercoaster experience. We dated for nearly 4 years before we were married, and knew each other well enou...