Disneyworld

Yep, I went to Disneyworld yesterday with my friend, Stephanie. No, my Disneyworld is not in Florida, it's right here in Colorado, and not too far from my house. My 'Disneyworld' is also known as Salvation Army. What a fun and exciting place. The treasure that you can find there puts excitement in me! Since Jason was laid off last year and we had to tighten our belts, along with the tanking economy, the price of gas, groceries, etc., school fees and just raising three kids (two of them teenagers) has made us step back and realize that we need to watch how we spend our money. We have stopped going out to eat...only on a rare occasion do we splurge in this category. I rarely leave the house just to "get out of the house" because when I did, I would usually come home with something that we didn't "NEED". We want to be responsible with how we spend God's money.


So, last September I lost weight and went down four pant sizes. That requires "new" clothes. Ha ha...you should see some of those clothes on me. You know those diet/exercise commercials where it shows someone standing in a pant leg of their old clothes? Well, I can't quite do that, only lost 42 lbs, but it's still funny to try on those clothes and see how far I have come in these past months. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I have realized that I have NO summer clothes that fit. So off to "Disneyworld's" half off day! Yep, everything in the store is half price.


I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty exited for the adventure to begin.

So off we went.

In we went.

Let the fun begin.

Shoes, clothes, knick knacks, oh my.

We each went our own separate ways and occasionally we would "run into eachother" and compare and share what he had found. This type of store is not one where you can shop together and look at the same things, because each person has their own "treasures" they find. That is why it's so exciting. I ended up with four short sleeve shirts (hey, it's a start), 7 work shirts for Jason, a pair of shoes (sprayed liberally with Lysol when I got home), and a few glass jars that will help in my home organization category. All for $28! (did I mention that several of the shirts I bought Jason were top name brand that probably sold for $60 brand new and they all still looked brand new?!)


They rest of the day was fun also. Got to eat yummy Panda Express for lunch with my friend and got to take secret pictures of people we saw out and about. ha ha...yes, we did in fact drive around the Target parking lot so I could take a picture of a lady walking out of the store. Did I mention that it was St. Patrick's day? This lady was decked out in her HUGE green hat and a very furry green feather boa and she acted like it was "normal". I had to get that on camera!

Last night I came home and washed all our "new" clothes. Now it's time to get some of them ironed, errands ran and, oh yeah, get dressed first.

Happy Friday everyone!
BTW...it's half price day at "disneyland" tomorrow aka Goodwill. Happy shopping. Here's to you finding your treasure!

Don't throw stones...

Let's set the scene:

Jesus was at the Mount of Olives, in the temple courts, with all the people gathered around him, teaching.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. Now what do you say?"

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away, one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared, "Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:3-5 & 7-11

Just a reminder that we are all sinners. Lay your stones down... none of us can throw a stone at others.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

THANK YOU, Jesus!

Valentine's Day

Not a holiday that I enjoy celebrating. Not because I don't love and want to be loved. Mostly because my birthday is a week before and our anniversary is the week after. That's too many gifts to give and/or receive. Not to mention my mom's birthday is a day before mine and our daughter's birthday is two days after. That's a lot of "gifting" going on. So, needless to say, Valentine's Day is just overlooked in our house.
Actually, I enjoy giving so much that it is hard to not give in some way or another. So last night I spent the evening baking chocolate chip cookies for our 9 year old to take to school for his all-boy Valentines Party. Then I baked some cinnamon muffins for my family for breakfast this morning. After they cooled, I placed them neatly on a cute little make-shift 2-tiered platter on the bar and then put a little wooden cutout that I found at Michaels that says "Love Muffin". I got up this morning and only two muffins were gone. I KNOW it was my husband who ate them both, because I had to keep him out of them last night. I don't think my kids appreciated my "love" gesture. I also made their lunches last night. I neatly used a knife and cut out a heart shape in one of their slices of bread....made their sandwiches and put them neatly in the fridge with their initials on the baggies. Again, I got up this morning with two of the three sandwiches STILL in the fridge. UGH! So much for my efforts that got ignored and shunned. Maybe this is why I don't like Valentines Day. It's just disappointing.
On the flip side, yesterday's sermon was about being thankful. It got me thinking that I have just been pretty grumpy lately. Not necessarily being grumpy to others, just feeling grumpy and ungrateful. As I sit here alone in my house, the sound of the washing machine in the background, I am overwhelmed with all that I need to be thankful for. SO MUCH! So, for today, here is my top ten:
1. My amazing husband that I have loved since I was 14 years old! He's my best friend, the love of my life, my hero, my supporter, my partner, etc. We will be married 17 years on the 25th. I love you, Jason
2. My wonderful kids. Even though it's the toughest job I'll ever have and most of the time it's really, really hard, it's all worth it! I love you Cody, Peyton and Sam!
3. Shelter. A beautiful house to live in, with the most important people in my life. It's not just a house, it's become our home!
4. Friends. Wow, what would I do without my friends? I have so many wonderful friends who I can laugh with, cry with, share my feelings with. I love my friends!
5. My mom. She has been there for me in so many ways. To encourage, love and support. She is a strong women whom I wish I could spend more time with and give her the hugs she deserves! I love you, mom! (if it wasn't for her encouraging me, I may not have been married to my hubby today. She's the one that encouraged me to tell him how I felt)
6. My church. I can't even put into words what our church family means to us. Our amazing family of God.
7. Living in Colorado. Ever since I was a really little girl I have wanted to live in Colorado. We would come out to Denver and Loveland to visit my uncles and family and I always knew I wanted to live in this beautiful state. THANK YOU GOD, for allowing this to happen!
8. For my wonderful craft room that my hubby just helped me redesign and organize. I love crafts. Scrapbooking, jewelry making, holiday decorations, etc. I love it all. And now I have a little piece of heaven right on the other side of the wall where my hubby and family gather to watch television.
9. For my health. Most of you know that I have recently lost 42 pounds since the end of August. I feel great. I now love to take care of this body that God designed just for me!
10. Last, but most important. I am thankful beyond any comprehension for the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father. October 2005 I gave my life to Christ. My life has new meaning since then. I don't know how people can go through life without Him in their lives. I mean IN their lives. Not just in their minds and saying, "Yeah, I believe in God". I mean really IN every little part of everything they do each and every day, hour and second. He has given me unconditional love (remember what Jesus did for us? Read John 3:16 & 1 John 3:16 Now THAT'S LOVE), power and strength that only comes from Him, comfort, encouragement, hope, joy, happiness.....I could go on forever. I cannot imagine my life without being able to kneel at His feet daily and just talk to Him. My favorite way to think about praying is thinking about a little kid crawling up on his/her daddy's lap and having an intimate conversation about anything! THAT IS MY GOD! MY HEAVENLY FATHER! AND HE LOVES ME! I can crawl up into His lap at any moment, and He is there to listen, help, encourage, love. How can we not be thankful for that?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

~Happy Valentine's Day~

Another week...gone!

Well, I made it through another week. It is now Friday. It's been an okay week. The temperature is rising, which makes everything sloppy, but on the plus side, I hate wearing a coat and was able to leave the house without a big bulky coat on. Yeah for temporary warmness.

Monday was my birthday. I have mixed feeling about my own birthday. It's exciting, but very disappointing. It's just not the same as when I was a kid. You know when you are really excited about an upcoming event and then it doesn't happen and then you have to go thru a let-down. I am not sure what I was expecting. Actually I wasn't expecting anything. I did get a few nice surprises from some of my good friends, got to go out to lunch with some other friends and my hubby took me to a burger joint. So, now I'm another year older.

Wednesday was my 15 year old daughter's birthday. Wow, I don't really feel old enough to have a child that old....but actually I have a 17 year old too, so that's even worse.

We've had to cancel both our women's bible study and our small group for two weeks in a row now because of cold temps and cold. I just found out today that I'm going to have to miss next Tuesday's women's bible study too. Confession time. I have not opened my bible for two weeks. And I can tell it. I have been kind of grumpy and just blah and that is how it always goes when I don't spend time with God, and reading the bible. So, now to get back on track!

I am currently doing 3 studies and just added another one on top of that. When in the world will I ever find the time to get them all done! But they are all ones that I really want to finish...so off I go to get some reading done.

Have a great weekend.

Good day

Well, today was a good day.
Took my oh-so-close-to-15 year old daughter to open a checking account, and then took her to the outlet mall to do a little birthday shopping. Hubby and small fry (our youngest son) came along also. By this time the snow was starting to really, really come down. Came home and had a really late lunch and then headed out to church.
On Thursday around noon, the fire sprinkler pipes froze and burst. Water was all over. Down walls, in the ceiling, on the majority of the carpet, etc. So the deacons, and a few other men and women, met out there to set things up for tomorrow's service. By this time the roads were really, really bad. But we got it all set and made it home. The evening was spent with Jason and Small Fry playing with Legos on the floor, me on the computer, our daughter in her room and Large Fry was working. We met him at work to make sure he made it home fine and he did a great job driving on the slick roads. I think I'm getting used to having a son who drives, which is a huge improvement from when he first got his permit.
God is good all the time! All the time God is good! I have really been focusing on this the past few days. Especially with all that has been going on with our kids, some other things in our life, and with the situation out at church. In all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Romans 8:26
Feeling very blessed to have friends who have encouraged us and given us some great advice in the past few days.
Tomorrow, is my wonderful mom's birthday. And Super Bowl Sunday. Go Packers!

One step forward, two steps back!

Well, I thought things were going to be okay for a while. But I am reminded tonight that we have TWO teenagers in the house. Which means we REALLY don't know anything and we are the WORST parents in the world who NEVER let our kids do ANYTHING!

Tonight, our 17 year old son came upstairs and asked if he could go to a concert next week. We asked what we THOUGHT were typical parent questions:

1. Where is it?
2. When is it?
3. Who are you going with?
4. Who is playing in this concert?

Are we wrong for asking these questions?
So we get partial answers. It's in Colorado Springs on a Tuesday night at 7:30 at a bar. Of course we'll let our 17 year old son go! We'd be the worst parents in the world if we said no, since ALL of his friends can go. ha ha, NOT! We then got on the Internet to look up this "venue". As Jason looked into things, in the comments was one comment that went something like this:
Great place to get crack and find some hookers in the parking lot. Well, duh, of course we'll let him go! NOT! So of course he got extremely angry and asked why. So we proceeded to tell him it is a parents job to ask these questions and protect our children. We then asked if he was in our position if he would let his kids go. OF COURSE HE WOULD! UGH! I need a super duper LONG mom cry, and then a vacation, far, far away! I want to give up!

A Better Day

Well, yesterday and today were better days than Sunday. Today we had a "snow" day because of the extremely cold temps.... 21 below zero as I'm typing this. Jason worked from home today too so we were all home and enjoyed snuggling by the fire, watching tv, playing on our computers and just relaxing. No school again tomorrow.
Jason and I just finished our 55 minute work-out. Whew am I loving this! Feels so good to get moving. We have been doing this work-out for over a week straight, minus 1 day when I was gone scrapbooking. 5 weeks to go!
Tonight I got all my card making supplies out and started making cards. 12 down....I love it when I get a creative streak and just whip out a bunch of cards in no time. It's really relaxing to sit in my craft room, watching Biggest Loser, and crafting away while my 9 year old sits at the desk playing on the computer. What a nice evening!
What will tomorrow bring? Two straight days stuck in the house all together. I'm hoping for another great day with my kiddos!
Hope everyone is staying warm and safe!