Friday, March 28, 2008

Saturday Photo Hunt - High


This is a Catholic church we visited in Eger, Hungary last August 4th while on a mission trip. That's our family in the middle of the picture. It was beautiful and certainly had a lot of HIGH places!!

Fill in Friday

So I was visiting Forever Daisy's and saw this fun meme so I thought I would do it. It's called Fill in Fridays. Here goes:

1. Some relationships are meant to last a lifetime.
2. John Mayer (may have been??) is the last concert I saw; it was full of a lot of cuss words.
3. I will be planting my garden starting soon.
4. Oh no! I forgot to send thank you cards again!
5. I've recently started trying to be compassionate to other people's souls when I think about handing out tracts. It makes me not so resistant to do it.
6. My daughter's laugh never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I will probably be over at my in-laws, tomorrow I have an appointment for a Lasik consultation, and Sunday I will go to church and a suprise party!

Go here for more!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

10 Smile Tuesday

So here we are again. I can't believe it's been a week already since I've blogged. We have been pretty busy around here lately though, so lots can explain it though. Some of my smiles can to so here goes...

1. Lunch. On Thursday after storytime at the library my best friend took the peanut and I out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. That was a nice suprise and always such fun to spend time with her and her daughter, who is the same age as the peanut.

2. Coloring Easter eggs. Yes, it was messy with two 2 year olds, but still a sweet time and a walk down memory lane. It had been years and years since I had done that and it was fun to watch the girls do it for the first time.

3. Time with Maddie. The peanut's cousin is 6 months older than her and they just love, love, love each other. On Saturday we took her to my parent's house with us and the girl's just played and laughed, well, and fought some too. But it's just so neat to see them growing into little girl's that love each other.

4. Sunday's sermon. Wow! Wow! Wow! My parent's preacher really preached the gospel and the need for evangalism in his sermon. I was bowled over by how good it was. I know it touched my heart, I hope it touched many others too!

5. Easter bonnets. I got the girl's Easter bonnets from the dollar spot at Target and they were so adorable in them! Very few people where them anymore so it was so cute to see everyone's reactions when they walked into church. And, how proud the girl's were of those $1 hats!

6. Easter egg hunt. The peanut has never had one before and it was so fun to watch her in a bit of confusion but still thinking it fun, to go on the hunt! Maddie searched like a pro though and had a blast too!

7. Easter dresses. How fun to dress up the girl's in their prettiest dresses of the year. They looked so fancy and fun! The peanut's dress is one of those you'd only wear for Easter or a wedding so this was probably it for the dress. :( It was so cute!!

8. Dancing. After getting ready for church I came out to find my stepdad dancing with the girl's. It was so adorable to see the laugh's and giggles on their faces!

9. Biscuits. It was just the easy way with bisquick, but the peanut and I made them for the first time and she loved it. She is becoming quite the cook lately and independent to boot. There was a lot of, "I do it!" going on!

10. Water softner. We have well water, for which you really do need a water softner and we haven't had one since moving in this house. Well, this past week we found out we have to get one, and it was going to be over $1000 for it. We had it ordered when Michael talked to a guy at work and he said he had an almost new one that he bought and then decided he didn't like soft water and we could have it if we wanted it. I'm still in disbelief over that!! I'm so thankful for God's provisions!!

What are you thankful for this week?

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

You say it's your birthday...

Yep, it's my birthday. Oh my gosh people, how did 33 sneak up on me so fast? It seems like yesterday that I was celebrating 16, now I'm over twice that age. WHAT??? Over twice the age of a 16 year old? Man, it goes by so fast. Too fast I tell you.

For some reason this birthday has hit me harder than any birthday has in the past. I think it's because I feel like time is slipping away to have another baby and it just hasn't happened for us. It's been really hard on me lately as everyone around me seems to be getting pregnant and having babies. Yesterday my best friend told me she's pregnant. She was resistant to tell me because she knows I want another child and it's hard for me. It was so sweet of her, but I want her to know that I will share in her joy. After all, that's what the bible tells us to do, and she's my friend. I am genuinely happy for her.

I've been thinking a lot about this being sad thing lately. I do it way too much with the why me thing. Just like my ring. Why me? Well, why not me? In fact, if I got what I really deserved, it would be death. I have so many things to be grateful for in my life, and I want to be faithful in telling God thank you for them.

Here is my list of 33, one for every year of my life:
1. Salvation
2. Life
3. My husband
4. My daughter
5. My home
6. My church
7. Freedom of Religion
8. Living in the United States
9. Freedom of Speech
10. Employment for my husband
11. God's provision to pay our bills every month
12. My sister
13. My mom
14. The rest of my family
15. My husband's family
16. My best friend, Carrie
17. The ability to read
18. Chocolate, I know, I know...but I really do love it!!
19. Hot showers
20. My blog friends for being so supportive
21. MOPS
22. Music
23. My car, I'm totally serious, I love transportation!!
24. The opportunities I've had to do missions
25. The opportunities I've had to travel and see more of the world
26. Myspace, totally lame but it has connected me with many old friends
27. The military, who really sacrifice a lot for us (and are not paid accordingly at all!!)
28. My pastor, who seriously brings the Word every Sunday
29. My former pastor for teaching me so much!
30. Bible Study Fellowship
31. My dogs, who drive me insane but I love them!!
32. My pictures, they provide me with some really warm memories
33. My camera, with which I've been able to capture the life of my little one!!

What are you grateful for today?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Ten Smile Tuesday

Here we are, another Tuesday already. I thought I would start early before I forget. Here are my smiles for the week:

1. On Sunday night, as we were driving from church to Wal-Mart in the back seat we hear a little voice singing the entire words to There's Just something about that name. Without prompting, nothing, the entire song! Pretty cool for a child that just turned 2 last month! More than that though is just the warming of my heart. It was the loveliest rendition I ever heard!

2. Last night we had a ladie's tea for St. Patty's day with the women at my church. It was nice to get to know people better and spend some time with a 93 year old woman! Oh, the stories she has to share!

3. Corned beef and cabbage yesterday. Michael doesn't eat cabbage and I love it so it was so nice to enjoy it yesterday!

4. Spring. It starts in 2 days people! It doesn't completely feel like it here yet but the grass is really starting to grow again so it's on it's way, I know it!!

5. On Friday night the peanut and I turned on our Laurie Berkner DVD

and just danced around our living room laughing and chasing each other. It was just so much fun and exactly how I want her to remember her childhood!

6. Easter decorations. I love the lighter colors and the bunnies all over the house, it just lightens up my world and makes me smile!

7. Girl scout cookies. I got mine finally on Sunday and I'm telling you, oh my goodness, so worth the wait. I'm glad I only ordered 3 boxes though, they are so addictive!!

8. Telling the peanut about the real Easter story. Although she can't completely get it, she's on her way and it's thrilling!! The bible says that a knowledge of God is placed in all of our hearts, even the rocks cry out to him, isn't that wonderful to know?

9. The baby bunnies, rabbits and ducks we visit at our local feed store. I mean really, what is not to love about new life? It's beautiful!!

10. This week in church we sang a song that I just love. Humble King. If you don't know it, you should. It just really touched my heart. There's a line that says, "You are the God of the broken, the friend of the weak, you wash the feet of the weary, embrace the ones in need." I mean really, what is not to love about such a God?

Have a good week all!

Amy

Just a meme, Just a meme

I saw this meme over at Life is like a box of chocolates blog and thought...why not play along.

So...What I was doing 10 years ago: I was just getting ready to graduate college in May. Yep, it's been 10 years already! I was half heartedly looking for employment and just having fun with my friends. Oh, actually this is spring break week for my alma mater so quite specifically, I was in Panama City Beach, FL on Big Break with Campus Crusade for Christ.

5 Things on my To Do List today:
Clean-always!
Laundry-always!
Finish bible study lesson for bible study fellowship tomorrow
Make a pork roast
Call my friend to find out if she's pregnant (I really hope she is!)

Snacks I Enjoy:
Croutons (Maybe not a snack to some but I could eat boxes!)
Girl scout cookies (specifically Tagalogs, Samoas and Thin Mints!)
Cool ranch doritoes
Granola bars
Any kind of fruit pretty much

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:
1. Pay off the credit cards and house
2. Pay off my families houses too
3. Buy hybrids for my husband and I
4. Tithe it (very important)
5. Travel, a lot!!
6. Do a lot more missions work, possibly full time if it was God's call

3 of my Bad Habits:
1. Talking on my cellphone while I'm driving
2. Not folding the laundry so clean stuff piles up and needs to be washed again as it is all wrinkly
3. Talking way too much when I'm nervous

5 places I have lived:
1. Lombard, IL
2. Liberty, IN
3. Indianapolis, IN
4. Lynnwood, WA
5. Seattle, WA
(No, I do not live in any of them now!!)

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Arby's is Different
2. Administrative Assistant at an Enviornmental Agency
3. Cleaning lady at a resort (that lasted all of about 3 seconds once I learned what a strong gag reflex I have!)
4. Case Manager at a low income preschool
5. Guardian for adults with MR/DD and serious mental illness

If you play along too let me know and I'll stop by for a visit!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Wrapped Around Your Finger

Ugh, ugh, ugh....I'm just saying. So as if the loss of three months of pictures was not bad enough, oh do I have something that could top that by about ten BILLION (and yes, I mean BILLION) miles. On Thursday the peanut and I were running around town all day, you know, the library, the feed store to see the baby animals, groceries, Goodwill, all that good stuff, and then back home again to play outside while the weather was still warm. I was out taking pictures and having fun, came inside to put the peanut down for a nap, starting vegging to Reba when I suddenly noticed something missing. And when I say something, I only mean THE most important piece of jewelry I've ever owned. Yeah, my wedding/engagement set. It's gone. And I mean gone. I did not take it off. I am sure of that. It wasn't loose. How did it get off my finger? Not a clue I say. Not a clue. The only guess I even have is that since the peanut is always falling, maybe at one point I reached down to pull her up and her little hand pulled it off my hand. That's all I got. I have called all around, put an ad in the paper, searched the VERY LARGE yard a million times. It's gone. And, I'm just devestated over it. Clearly, I mean who would ever wish their wedding ring gone. I really wanted it to be the peanut's one day. It's just crushing. I just keep praying it will turn up. If you want to join me in prayer, why that would be super swell of you!! I think we are going to try to get a metal detector (they are like $200!!!) to try searching the yard. It's still just unbelievable to me that this could happen. So, that's the bad news for this week.

The good news, is that I won at the blog party again this year! Woo hoo! Last year I won a $15 gift card to Starbucks. I was number 100 out of nearly 1500 and I got an even better prize than last year. How this happened I have no idea. People must not have understood how super swell the prize is. You can go to Who Can Ask For Anything More, check out her page and see how terrific it is. A super cute bag, 3 cookbooks, and a totally terrific part, a $25 gift card to Target. Woo hoo! Mama needs a new pair of shoes! So, there is good news in an otherwise not so great week.

How was yours?

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

10 Smile Tuesday


"Enjoy life, this is not a dress rehearsal!"


1. Yesterday, at dinner I was getting frustrated with the peanut once again as she just refused food, AGAIN. So, I started praying for patience when I hear this little voice, "Mommy, I pray Jesus." OK, so just melt my heart why don't you. So I started her off, "Jesus (she repeats what I say), I love you." She then told Jesus she loved Him. Wow, wow, wow. Could there be anything sweeter?

2. The sunshine yesterday and today. It's been streaming through the windows all morning and I am just loving it!!

3. A new refrigerator. So, we are not major purchase kind of people, but we were at Fry's Electronics on Friday and saw this Maytag they were just trying to move for $500. I think the normal price was like $1200. Our old one was, well, old, to say the least. The door was crooked, it kind of cools things unevenly, it was smaller...blah,blah, blah. Anyway, we got the new one yesterday and wow, it is nice. It's funny because it just barely fit so they had to squeeze it in, but we are loving it. Oh, and now we have an extra one for storage in the garage.

4. My little drummer girl. She got this for her birthday and just loves it.
She just walks around the house playing her drum all day long!

5. MOPS. We had such a good time on Friday just spending some time with other girls and learning about making our house a home with simple decorations. It has totally inspired me to "create".

6. Conversation with my husband. We've been learning more about evangalism at church and it has really spurred my husband and I on to thinking more about it. The other night we just lay in bed talking about it and how important it is to us and to God. Now that was something worth staying up late for!

7. Reconnecting with old friends. I signed up for a myspace page 2 years ago to keep in contact with my little brother and sister in Florida, but it has really been an avenue to find old friends. Some friends from junior high contacted me this past week and it was so fabulous to catch up with them! Love it!

8. The blog party. I've really enjoyed getting to know some new people and spending a bit of time on their blogs. I love a good party!

9. Books. We recently got the peanut some Dr. Suess books from Kohl's (they are on sale for $5!) and I have seriously enjoyed them. Particularly Horton Hatches an Egg. They are funny, have lots of words and fun pictures and they are a great way to end the day!

10. Fresh eggs. Our chickens have started laying again in the last couple of weeks and it has been so great. Just this morning I went out to find two more of these delightful eggs. You can see the one has some chicken fuzz stuck to it. Now, that's what I call fresh!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Spring is here, the sky is blue...

OK, so spring isn't actually here, but we did get a bit of a peek at her today. We ran around, played with the melting snow, got on the swings, scooped up doggy poop (which, clearly, was not my favorite part!) and just enjoyed the sun on our faces. Lilla's pants, shoes, gloves and behind were completely drenched and muddy from being out there, but I still had to drag her in. I think she's about as ready to be out there as I am!


Our chickens are producing again so that has been another fun part about the impending spring. We hadn't had eggs from them since the fall so it is nice to see those brown oblong shaped yummies once again! I love when they produce a lot because then we are able to share them with friends and family and they are always well received!

What do you enjoy about the warmer weather?

Friday, March 07, 2008

Let's Get it Started in Here

Hi all party girls! I want to extend a warm welcome to you and thank you for coming to my little corner of the net for the party! I am a little late joining, but I've been out of the loop for awhile and didn't realize it's party time yet again. I had a great time last year visiting so many of your sites and I look forward to coming back around to you all again!

Well, let me start by introducing myself. I'm Amy, as you probably gathered from my blog name. I am married to Michael and we have a two year old daughter we affectionaly refer to as the peanut. We live in a small town in Indiana, which we really enjoy. We also have two dogs and four chickens.

I stay at home with my daughter and usually keep super busy with story times, bible studies, MOPS groups and playdates. Along, of course, with just keeping up on the house, cooking and laundry. It all keeps me on my toes, but I would have it no other way.

My little girl last fall, isn't she a beauty?

My husband gives people on the interstate this sign in his rear view mirror when he's irritated. Isn't he silly?

I've been blogging almost 3 years now, although I really didn't get into it until about a year and a half ago. I've had three different blogs in that time but this was my first and I wound up coming back recently.

I usually blog about just life in general. Whatever is on my heart and in my mind at that time. That could be a new recipe I've tried, website I've visited, something the peanut has said that I just had to share and it usually consists of lots of pictures. I actually just lost my last 3 months of pictures so I'm still recovering and need to download some new ones soon.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the prizes I would really love to win from 5 Minutes for Mom. Last year I won a gift card to Starbucks and that was fabulous!
They have some fun ones this year too and my favorites would be:
1. $25 gift certificate to Target from Angela at MommyBytes
2. A $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com from Judy at Welcome to My World of Dreams
3. A $20 gift certificate to Amazon from MommyDaddyblog
4. Chocolate from the Chocolistas
6. 50 Fun Family Nights from Essential Family Living

Please leave a note for me to let me know you stopped by and I look forward to visiting you too!
Our family last summer in Tennessee

Thursday, March 06, 2008

There's just something about that name

Every day at naptime and bedtime, the peanut has a real struggle going to sleep. She fights it and, to say the least, is not happy about it. So, we've created a routine that we turn the lights off, grab her baby and bankie (blanket) and cuddle up with her in the chair and sing praise and worship songs to her. It's always just been a sweet time of worshipping God and thanking Him for the good things in our lives.

One of the songs I sing to her is There's Just Something About That Name. An old song I learned many many moons ago when I was a little girl. For those who don't know it, it goes, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, There's just something about that name. Master, Saviour, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim, Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there's something about that name."

Well the other day as I sat singing to her, she sweetly looked up at me and said, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." So, I started singing the song to her and you can not imagine how my heart melted when as I sang to her the words, "Master, Saviour, Jesus." came out of that child's mouth. I cry even now as I think of it.

Thank you Jesus, that you are already placing a love for you in my child's heart. Thank you for answering and hearing our prayers. My own heart sings out to you, my wonderful Jesus!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Ten Smile Tuesday

My friend, Amanda, over at http://theyakfamilyblog.blogspot.com, does this thing called Ten Smile Tuesday. I'm pretty sure she made it up herself. It's just a great way to remember your blessings, at least once a week. After my last post, I thought maybe I should do that to show I really do have much to be thankful for. So, here goes...

1. Although we had a serious problem getting the peanut to smile and take pictures both times at the studios, there were a couple of cute ones that I'm excited to receive next week. I'll post them once I get them, but they are adorable, ecspecially when put together! She's playing peek a boo!

2. Saturday we had dinner with some of my husband's co-workers, a Turkish meal of Gyros and other yummy stuff. It was nice to get to spend some time with people from another country and the other couple who was there, which are Christian friends of ours.

3. I don't normally go to my in-laws, just because there are always tons of people there and it makes me a little anxious, but after the pictures on Friday, we were in the neighborhood so I decided to stop by. I didn't call first so everyone was so happily suprised to see me, it was a really nice feeling for everyone to call out, "AMY!!" when I walked in.

4. Being healthy again. After our family being sick for so long it has been wonderful for us all to feel just normal again.

5. Lemon cake. I made it for Saturday's get together. A yummy bundt with a lemony frosting that was just fabulous. My husband said the ladies from work went on and on about it so he's insisting I make another one this week. That's a nice thing to hear!!

6. Shopping alone. On Sunday I dropped Michael and the peanut off at his parent's and just ran around shopping for nothing really. It was just so nice to spend some much needed time alone where I could just look and veg out. I love days like that as they are just so few and far between.

7. New sheets. I know it seems small but I really love clean, white sheets. We buy ones that are like soft t-shirts from Target and we love them. The dogs are always jumping on the bed so there were a lot of marks on the old ones that bleach wouldn't even take out so when they went on sale this week I was all over that action. Good stuff!

8. Carrie. I have a friend named Carrie that I can just call to say hi and we can talk forever about everything and nothing. That happened yesterday and it just made me really happy. I love having a friend like that.

9. Spring. Sunday it was so incredibly warm out, it really felt like Spring. It was so nice to have the sun on my face and the window rolled down. It was really fabulous!

10. Tax return. We found out ours would be enough to pay for the siding we need to replace on our new house so we'll be getting it fixed soon. Between what is left over and my husband's bonus, we will be able to pay off the car too! Yahoo! We just bought it a few months ago and had not had a car payment for quite some time before that so it's nice to not have one again. It's just really a load off of us. There really is something to be said for buying older cars!!

So, thanks Amanda for this idea, it was nice looking back and having things to smile about today!

For the rest of you, what can I smile with you about?

Monday, March 03, 2008

Bye, Bye, Bye

I actually do have a good excuse for not blogging in so long this time. Last Wednesday, I was rushing and I turned off my laptop with the button instead of the start menu and I found out, you should never, ever, ever do this. A file got corrupted and I lost EVERYTHING. Included in that everything were over 3 months of pictures. Pictures that can never be replaced. Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Birthday...it's just heartbreaking to me. I am thankful that I have this blog as I've put some pictures out there but the last few months I've been pretty bad at blogging so it doesn't even touch the amount of pictures I lost. And, I have been so good at taking pictures of Lilla every week since she's been alive and all those photos are just gone. I wonder in some way if the Lord was teaching me to be humble because I was really proud of that. And, I defintiely believe that pride comes before a fall. It certainly did in this case.

It kills me to think about it. Fortunately I figured out I had videorecorded Christmas morning here when Lilla first came down the stairs and opening some presents. That was the part that really killed me to lose because I put no Christmas pictures on my blog and it was our first christmas in our house. I was just devestated so figuring out about the camcorder really gave me some peace.

For those who are wondering about recovery, we tried. It didn't work. We could have paid Best Buy $500 to try a different way but it wasn't a guarentee and we honestly couldn't have afforded it even if it was a guarentee. So, we had to wipe the drives clean. It took Michael a couple of days to wipe it and then put the stuff I needed back on it but here I am again, blogging. With a heavy heart though, with a very heavy heart.

Here's more of an update on everything else:
Sickies: It's finally over for our family. Everyone is healthy again and it is beyond wonderful to say that. It's hard to want to leave the house now knowing how many other people are still sick. I can just feel the germs a crawling.

Photos: Friday I went to get the peanut's two year picture taken. It didn't go well. So unwell that I refused to even look at them. Today we went to try again. It was about the same. We did get a couple of good ones in this time. Unfortunately they were in her play outfit, not the lovely dress that I couldn't wait to get her picture taken in. I will post them once I get a hold of them next week.

Time Away: Michael and I did get to have a one night getaway last week. Full paid for at a really nice hotel and restraunt downtown and breakfast in our room in the morning. It was really a lovely time and a good time of refreshing. Besides, of course, being the night I lost all my info, it was really perfect.

Spreading the Word: We are starting a new Sunday night evangalism course at our church and it is really good. We are so excited about it and how it is already lighting a fire under our tooshes. I'm not sure why but I sure get energized when I let God work through me.

So that's the news from this end, I will be trying to visit sometime soon. Drop me a line and let me know how you are doing too!