A week of being sick...

Nothing much has been going on this week. We have all been sick. I think Lauren brought something back with her from Atlanta last week and we have all taken turns passing it around. I think she and I have had it worse than Megan and Noah. Noah just had a little runny nose and a slight cough. Megan is stopped up and blowing her nose. But Lauren and I have been really stopped up with a congested cough and feeling awful!

Because of this our week has been pretty slow and filled with drug induced sleep and hazy thinking and very little conversation. We have all pretty much found our own little spaces in the house and nested. Noah has enjoyed more time on the wii this week. Mario Kart can keep him satisfied for quite some time.

The girls did spend all day one day this week working on Lauren a new photography blog site. Megan designed it and did all the necessary computer magic to make it come together. She is really good at that. She taught herself all the codes and computer language to get the colors and designs and everything working together to make the site work. I am amazed at how she does it. I wish I could find a class that she could take that would give her a little more instruction and she could have her own website design business. She is really good at it. Check out this site:

www.aloimagery.blogspot.com

I have been doing some reading this week. I read a humorous book about southern mama's

Now I am reading one of Jon Katz books. I have never read any of his work, but picked this one up at the library and thought it sounded interesting. So far I am not disappointed.

My reading interest seem so varied that I usually end up with a stack of book at the library that are so different from each other. The librarian even commented about the wide range of books that I was checking out. I never know what I will be in the mood for, so I try to cover all the bases. Right now I am not really doing a lot of fiction reading. I usually have a stack of books by the time I make it back to the fiction section and I usually say the same thing every time...next time I will start in the fiction section and work my way back up. But I never do, something always catches my attention in the nonfiction and I get carried away into book land...

Since I was a child, I have always loved the library. My mom took me to the library and got my first card when I was around three years old. From that point on I was so amazed that you could go to a place with all those books and get a stack and bring them home...then go back next time and get another stack and bring them home to read. Yes, I suppose I was easily amazed by simple things...

From the time I was old enough to read, I have wished that there was some type of machine that I could hook to my brain and go through the library and take in all the words and read all the books...like scanning them with a computer but understanding and retaining each one. There were so many I wanted to read, but not enough time to read them all. I am still that way...I have to limit myself each time to a tote bag full. I know in my heart that I will not have the time to read all of them but I have to attempt it.

So I leave the library with wide eyes and pounding heart...hardly able to wait until I get home to start the first one. I often look through them while stopped at red lights on the way home. Deciding which one will be the first. I usually know that by the time I get home. I have picked out the one that I will devour, like a hungry wolf devouring its prey. The first one gets read quickly, usually by the second day I am ready to begin the next one on the list. This book will take me a little longer to complete, and on and on it goes down the line of books until it is time to return them to the library.

Usually I am a few days late returning them. I always have a fine at the library...it's just my way of helping support such an awesome place. One dollar here, seventy-five cents there...sometimes it may even get as high as three or four dollars depending on what is going on in my life at the time. In some places that we have lived you can renew them online, and I will do that, but in other places you have to call to renew. I'm not much of a phone person, so I just let it go and willingly pay the fine.

Once I even had the privilege of working at a library. I loved it! I got to see all the new books that came in before they were put on the shelves. I actually got paid to do something I loved. I was able to read, read, and read some more...It was great. For a small town, it was one of the best libraries I had seen.

Of course, living in Little Rock was great...there were so many branches of the library that it was like an adventure. Each branch had its own feel to it, but they were all great with lots of great books. I could even visit more than one a day! Wow! Yes, I am easily amused...

I do love books and stories; reading and writing them. I am looking forward to starting this creative writing class on Monday. I just hope this sinus mess is all cleared up by then.

Well this wasn't the most interesting post I have written, but just a record of our week. Like a journal entry for my future self. One day I can compile all of these posts and sit and read them and remember how things were...I am sure it isn't of much interest to anyone else.

My Bucket List...or God's Purpose for Me.

The photo has no connection with the post...just a picture I took in Pike Place Market in Seattle last summer. While looking through my photos this one made me think of spring and made me think of Seattle...so it brought a smile to my face...in this cold, dead of winter, these flowers and the memories of Seattle were heart warming...

Well, I finally did it...being the commitment phobe and the semi-recluse that I have become, I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something I have wanted to do for a very long time.

I suppose I have begun to realize that I need to get to work on that "life list" or as some affectionately refer to it; "my bucket list". Or maybe I just ran out of excuses why I couldn't do it...

I signed up for a Creative Writing class at the local community college. It is a continuing ed course, and not one leading to a degree. I'm not seeking a degree, I already have one of those...I think it is in my dresser drawer upstairs...anyway...

I have always been an aspiring writer. I started making up and writing stories when I was old enough to put pencil to paper. Often times just making up stories without writing them down.

So I finally decided today was the day, or yesterday to be exact.

I went and signed up on the spot. I was so pumped and excited, ready to learn...but for some reason the instructor didn't show...they couldn't get in touch with her, I hope it wasn't anything serious. Last week I was looking at taking another class and the following day I heard on the news that the instructor was killed in a car crash.

Anyway, they will be in touch with us to discuss a make up day and next week there won't be class being that it is on Monday and next Monday is MLK day.

Which means we won't start for two weeks! I hope by then I haven't found some excuse for not continuing to take the class. However, the fact that they already have my money is a pretty good incentive to continue.

In all honesty, I am looking forward to it. I am hoping that I can hone my skills, learn some techniques to improve my writing and learn how to go about submitting my writing for possible publication.

The instructor is a long time writer for the newspaper and probably has lots of stories to tell about the business. From her photo she looks like a very pleasant, engaging person. She seems like someone who is encouraging and a mentor. The type of woman who is easy with a laugh and someone with whom you feel comfortable immediately. A confident person, comfortable in her own skin, someone with wisdom and compassion.

To think I got all that from looking at her photo. A photo that probably reminds her of the DMV photo on a drivers license that no one likes. But I have always been insightful that way, you know, reading things about people just by looking at them. Feeling their spirit...Oh, I never shared that talent with you? Well, that is one of many that I have been hiding, waiting for the right moment to share. Stick around, you never know just what you might discover about me next.

So for now, this being a new year and my theme being NEW YEAR, NEW ME, this is one thing I can cross of that list of mine...On my death bed, when I am 103, I can look back with fondness and remember that I did follow some of my dreams, I took a creative writing class...only God and the future knows if anything actually came of it...if I actually learned something and used it to pursue the dream of being a writer, well a paid writer...I have always been a writer...the point of this exercise is to see if I have the stuff to actually make it pay for me...we will see. In the meantime, I hope to have a good time, meet interesting people and broaden my horizons; or as Bruce Wilkinson says, allow God to expand my territory.

Started reading The Purpose Driven Life yesterday. Day one is a reminder that it isn't about me...I am here for a purpose, God's purpose to be exact. So even with all of my talk about following my dreams or doing something I've always wanted to do, I realize that above it all, I need to pursue God's purpose for this life.

God put each of us here for a specific purpose and like most people, I got sidetracked along the way, seeking my purpose. Now with the New Year, New Me mindset, I am not just marking off items that I selfishly want to do, I am seeking Him in each of these things...using the items to move me toward where He envisioned my life...Although some of them may cause you to ponder; how could running a 5k help you reach the place God wants you to be?

Well, I'm not sure, but I feel God's leading in that direction for some reason... I only have a little light to shine on the first step, I don't see the whole journey laid out before me. God usually doesn't work that way...it is about faith, trusting in Him that He knows where He is leading you...He sees the end from the beginning.

I truly believe that when you start in the right direction God will continue to give you a little more and a little more detail about what you are suppose to be doing along the way. The bible says that if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart. That doesn't mean that He will grant all of your wishes and life will be grand. Sometimes I wish it did...well maybe, sometimes...

It means that He will put into you the desires that He has for your life. They will become your desires. They will replace the old, self serving desires that you once had for yourself. But He will put into you new desires, desires that you can pursue to take you further along the journey God put you on.

He gave each of us talents, and with those talents, He put desires to pursue those areas. He gives us an inclination toward those things. I don't know how becoming a runner or a writer could profit God or further His plan in my life, but I believe that He gave me those desires. I suspect it has something to do with the people I could meet while participating in these activities...because after all God is in the people business...and I don't believe you meet anyone by accident. I believe all of our encounters are God ordained...you have something to offer that person, or they have something that God wants them to share with you. I believe that you have a connection with certain people over others, because God has a purpose in that...

Things to remember: It isn't about me...It's all about Him...
Colossians 1:16 reminds us:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

That means that we were created by Him and for Him. We were put here to fulfill His purpose...I know that I haven't been fulfilling that purpose...I have fallen far short of that purpose.

Do I know for what purpose I was put here? Not all of it, but I know that He is leading me in that direction... the more I shed of me, the more I seek Him, the further down that path I go. I don't see the whole picture, but that's okay...each day, if I seek Him He will direct me a little more and a little more. Will I ever be able to say, "this is it, this is the thing I was placed here for?" I don't know. There are probably many things we are placed here for; not great big things, just a lot of small, everyday things. Things we don't think of as purpose...but are things that in the end add up to a life pleasing to God...I think it is about relationship, about finding relationship with fellow travelers along this journey...

God put in me His Spirit, He gave me the revelation of Him, who He is and how to find Him...just as He gives to all that seek Him. Armed with just that is enough to keep someone busy for a lifetime. Sharing that with others...I use to become a bit overwhelmed with that task, trying to find a way to share that truth with people I meet. It isn't always easy for someone like me, someone who is shy and reserved. Someone who often feels intimidated by social situations...

...did I happen to mention that I have a tendency to be a border line recluse...

So at times relationships tend to be my problem...I have to push out of my comfort zone in order to reach out to people...yes, it is a big character flaw of mine...I understand that no man is an island...but some of us try, we eventually make ourselves a peninsula if not an island...(a little of my nutty geographical humor.)

But there are times when I know it is God pushing me, and I stretch myself to accomplish the task...but the last few years, I haven't been doing that...I have given in to that reclusive side and allowed the devil and my flesh to keep me from responding in the way I need to for God to use me to reach others for Him...

...so the task of sharing His word and His gospel becomes overwhelming to me. But God begins to deal with me, that it is about relationship, building relationships and allowing God to shine through me and He would draw them to Himself. But no one is going to see Him in me, if I am not doing the necessary work of building relationships.

My heart has always been about missions...I ALWAYS cry endless tears when a missionary comes with their stories and slides of the people in other countries who are in need of God. When they share their burden, I feel that burden, I have always dreamed of mission work and being the kind of person God could send... But I understand that my own choices have limited me in that area...I understand that I haven't allowed God to use me in that way, even though that is where my heart lies...

But I also realize that the lifestyle we live; the gypsy lifestyle, that takes us places we never knew we wanted to go, allows me the opportunity to fulfill that desire. Since Andrew works as a general contractor on government jobs, we travel and move around, a lot...it brings me in contact with so many people, so many people that like in those missionary slides, are lost and needing God...I used to understand that God was allowing me to follow that aspect of my heart...somewhere I lost that...somewhere I began to get bogged down in the day to day...I forgot what God had given me, the purpose for this way of life...if I couldn't go to foreign soil and share His love, He could move me around this country, bringing me in contact with so many people, so many hurting people who need His love...

...the question I posed to myself Sunday after Bro Mitchel did such a marvelous job of preaching about our purpose...Are you fulfilling that purpose that God put you in each of these places to fulfill?

Unfortunately, the answer had to be NO! A loud and resounding NO! My spirit yelled out NO, NO, NO!

Where does that leave me? Back on my knees, back to repentance, and back to seeking His purpose for me...Understanding again, as so many times, I am in much need of Him and His mercy...I am in much need of Him...without His help, I can do nothing...but through Him I can do all things.

God doesn't require more of us than He equips us to give...He places in us the desires to follow His leading...the interests He puts in our hearts are to help us come closer to that dream He had for our lives when He created us...

I am again recommitting my life and purpose to Him, Asking Him to put His desires in me and give me the necessary skills to be successful at the tasks He gives me...Whatever and where ever that may be.

Christmas gifting, new year, and cold weather

Wow! We are already eight days into 2010! The days have been like a blur to me. The first week of the year is almost over and I am not even settled in yet.

My parents left on Tuesday heading back to Louisiana. So we are just trying to ease our way back into the usual routine of life. Megan started school again yesterday, and I did some catching up on laundry and a few other items around the house. I really need to clean my carpets, but with this cold weather, I think I will hold off on the carpet steaming until it warms a bit.

Yesterday both girls got to feeling bad with headache and just that yucky feeling. This morning I woke up early with a headache across my forehead and drainage down my throat. I got up coughing up stuff again. (I know you just wanted to know the gross details) Then when Noah woke up he told me his forehead hurt...so apparently we all have the crud...

Megan had an art class yesterday, but I called and cancelled due to all of us feeling under the weather. I didn't want to drag Noah out in the cold, and Lauren didn't feel like getting out either. I think she had a temp last night.

Not the best way to start the new year...but this freezing cold weather isn't either...so I suppose there are somethings you have no control over and must just work around it.

I am reading Max Lucado's, Cure for the Common Life. I started reading it several years ago but got sidetracked somewhere without finishing it. So I decided to try again. This year I am looking for my sweet spot.

Last week I read The Shack and Chosen by a Horse, A memoir. I started Julie & Julia, but I suppose it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, so I put it aside. Just not my type of book. To much uncalled for language and well, just didn't feed my spirit. Sometimes I am just in the mood for certain types of reading, and it just didn't meet the need.


I spent the last couple of weeks working on some Christmas gifts to send back to Louisiana with my parents. I crocheted some of them and sewed some of them. I am now working on a scarf for a gift for someone else and a baby blanket that needs to be finished today. The baby is scheduled for delivery TODAY! So I need to spend most of the day working on it. I was also working on a doll and a stuffed animal for the baby's brother and sister, but while working on the Christmas gifts, I had to put the others aside, now I am running behind schedule on these. I have another baby blanket to do by next month and some birthday's I was trying to prepare for, but something will have to slide...


I have several other projects/gifts that I wanted to complete before the end of January to send, but I don't know if I can get them all accomplished with everything else I need to be doing.


Sometimes there are so many things I would like to do, that I have to scale down and pick and choose. Noah is at a stage where he talks about friends. One day he will tell me I am his best friend and then another time he will tell Andrew that he is his best friend...So some days Noah will say to me, "your not my best friend"...Lauren is, or Megan is or Daddy is his best friend for that day...So I say to him, "well maybe tomorrow will be my day"... If you didn't get something from me all I can say is that maybe next time will be your time to be surprised with something in the mail from me...


Like I said earlier in the post, January is just racing by...I will be glad with the weather gets better. Andrew and I are wanting to start running, but there is no way I am going to START running with the temps as low as they have been. It will be hard enough to get out and run, without adding freezing temps and tons of clothing on...so when the weather returns to the norm for this area, we plan to get started on our goal of running a 5K this spring or early summer.

Here are a few of the gifts I made this year.

Dishcloths I crocheted

After I bundled them for each recipient

A Kool-Aid pouch bag for a little girl

I put some goodies inside for her also

A scarf I crocheted to put in the bag for a special little girl

And finally, a hot/cold rice neck pillow with lavender for a hard working LSU fan. Believe me it wasn't easy to find LSU fabric in North Carolina.

I tried to go "greener" this year. So I decided on these handmade gifts along with stainless steel water bottles for everyone. To help promote a healthy lifestyle, while being nice to the planet.

Now on to the baby blankets...

of resolutions and new years...

Well another Christmas has come and gone...now to close out the old year and bring in the new. With the new year comes new possibilities, new plans, dreams and resolution.

Although I have never been much for publicly announcing my resolutions, I have in years past made them. I have at times even written them down and attempted to make them happen. But often times, I have done as many do, reverted back to my old habits and ways shortly after the new year.

According to "experts" it takes about 21 days to create a habit, or 30 to 40 repetitions of a behavior for that behavior to become a new habit. I have also read that you can develop a taste for a food you don't like after trying it as few as seven to as many as fourteen times.

So if these facts are true and accurate, then many of us don't repeat our desired new behavior that long into the new year for those resolutions to become our new habit. I know with myself, changing my eating habits and preferences took time to develop. I didn't wake up the first morning craving yogurt and fruit and passing the biscuits and bacon without my mouth salivating.

And the first few days I didn't have my usual morning dose of Dr Pepper weren't easy...the headache alone was enough to send me running back to Sonic for a route 44 size of my drug of choice. But after a week or so the caffeine was out of my system and I no longer had that desire for the dark brown fizzy stuff. Now, I don't know if I could finish a glass of that sweet syrup-y drink or not. Just so you know, I'm not going to try...because with anything, it can become a habit again. I haven't been delivered from my human nature yet, so I realize that the whole act of creating new habits works in reverse also.

With exercise it takes more than just a few times of pushing yourself to get up off the couch and putting on your gym shoes and pushing your body beyond what it wants to do. Even after months of repeating the behavior, there are times when I really don't want to get up and "just do it". But once you see the results of your hard work, and you know how much better you feel after the workout, your more likely to get up and repeat the behavior for the reward...not necessarily because you want to exercise, but the reward becomes the motive to propel you to repeat the action again and again...At least I find this true for me.

The way I feel after I complete a workout is what drives me even on the laziest of days to get up and move. I have so much more energy and feel more mentally alert and the endorphins kick in to lift my mood to such a level that I want to repeat this feeling again and again. It gets to the place that on a day that I can't workout for some reason or the other, I am actually upset or disappointed that I missed that workout. Along with the pleasure I get from seeing the results on my body and watching the pounds fall off and my clothing size shrinking.

I am at a point now, where I want to push beyond my current physical level and see what else my body can do. I want to change my idea of what a women of 43, 44, 45 and so on can do. I want to show my children that they don't have to become a statistic. They don't have to become over weight, under active and plagued with health problems...

Instead of trying to start my weight loss journey at the beginning of a new year, I find I do better by just picking a time and doing it. So I chose August of this past year to really get serious about my health and weight issues. So far, I have lost twenty-five pounds and feel so much better physically and mentally. I still want to lose fifteen to twenty pounds in order to reach the goal I set for myself. And to reach the goal that Wii fit said I needed to be for my height and age.

As New Years Resolutions go, I suppose mine would include continued weight loss and fitness goals. Continue to incorporate clean eating, getting more natural and pure with my food choices. Which would include adding more fresh real food, cutting out more refined sugar and flour products. But one resolution I have is to grow more of our food this year. I am planning a raised bed garden for our backyard that will provide fresh vegetables for the family. I want to find a source of fresh eggs, milk and meat. I plan to eat more locally produced foods, and rely less on the standard grocery stores. I want to help support local, small farms to help keep their lifestyle part of our culture. Since I can't have my own farm like we did a few years back, I want to help those who do, continue their way of life. Perhaps by helping them, I can come closer to living the life that I desire.

I want to continue to simplify my lifestyle. To not only rid myself of excess things, but to set aside ideas, thoughts, behaviors, habits and attitudes that no longer serve or support the lifestyle that I am seeking. I don't want to be bogged down by things that are contrary to who I am becoming and the direction I am headed. Knowing however, that a mind that is to wide open can be filled with garbage and untruth, so I will continue to hold to those truths which will never become old or outdated, but will always remain...I don't want to be led astray, down a path of deception, so I will continue to seek Him in all my ways...

My plan for this year is to start to train for a 5K. I want to run my first this year, hopefully in the spring or early summer. I know this will require more discipline of me and demand more physically from my body. I feel that I am ready for this challenge more so than I have ever been. I am ready for this next step. I am hoping that this is something that Andrew and I can do together, something that we can work toward as a couple as well as individually.

Some books that I plan to begin to reread in the coming year in order to refocus and renew my convictions and passions in these areas are:

Because it is my road map for this life and the one to come.

This one inspires me each year to plant, even at times when I have been unable to do so.

Because I need to readjust my priorities ever so often.

Because this is the way I want to live my life.

For inspiration and a reminder of how we should be eating.

There are many others I will add to that list. All of these are ones I have read before, more than once, but continue to find inspiration and something new with each reading. I have others on my shelf I will list at another time, for now, life is calling, and that is one call I want to answer!

Christmas Eve...

It is a beautiful sunny day in North Carolina. It is currently 51* and a very nice day so far. I have spent most of the day in the kitchen. Taking my time, enjoying the process.

I have my cornbread dressing mixed and ready to bake. I baked some blueberry muffins and pumpkin muffins. I also fixed a chocolate chip/caramel cookie bar. I am cooking sweet potatoes now to make a casserole like I made for Thanksgiving. I have a small Cajun style turkey breast to cook tomorrow and a small honey glazed ham to heat and serve. I plan to put together a sweet pea salad and have rolls. That will be the extent of our meal for tomorrow.

But we will also have nacho cheese dip, Christmas dip (cream cheese, green onion and dried beef) with crackers and chips. I will have hummus with my Stacy's Pita chips. I am the only one in the family that eats hummus, I can't imagine why, I think it is delicious, especially with roasted garlic.

Later this evening the kids and I will make a batch of cookies to leave for Santa. And I think that should do it for me and the kitchen...

Tomorrow I plan to get up and make some biscuits and bacon for breakfast so after the kids open presents they can get their bellies full and spend the long day in their pj's enjoying their loot.

Today is my dad's birthday. He is 68 years old. I have a small cake for him later today. For now, he and Lauren are getting ready to go to Aberdeen to do a bit of shopping...I can't imagine why, I would be tired of shopping, but after a couple of days, he gets restless and wants to get out of the house...I have never seen a man that loves to shop as much as he does.

Andrew is in the garage reorganizing the left over Christmas decorations and lights getting it all ready to put away in a couple of days. I usually don't leave my tree up very long after Christmas. I'm usually just ready to get it put away and move on to the next thing. I mean really, after Christmas Day the holiday is over and life goes back to normal routines. I guess that's just me.

Noah is in the living room with three dining chairs and a sheet. He made himself a tent and is in it eating popcorn and drinking orange juice. I think Megan is upstair reading a book or on the computer.

Well that is all I have for now. That is what's happening for the moment at the Thomason household. I think my sweet potatoes are done and need tending so I will post photos and Christmas info tomorrow. Hope each of you have a very merry and blessed Christmas. May God bless you and keep you through the new year to come. Just remember to always make room for Him in your life...

Christmas time...

Yes, I know I have been neglectful of this blog lately. There has just been so much going on lately that I can't seem to discipline myself to sit down and write...I know that is no excuse...laziness is the real culprit, but I don't like to admit it. I have also been sick since last Friday.

I feel much better now, only left with a cough and congestion.

My parents are here visiting for the holidays and the weather has for the most part been bad the entire time they have been here. I am hoping before they have to head south again that it will warm up and be sunny for a few days so we can get out and actually do something while they are here.

Christmas is just a few days away and I have pretty well done my shopping. I have a couple of items to pick up and little odds and ends like stocking stuffers to get, but other than that...I am about there. I didn't stress over it this year, just let it happen. I did most of my shopping online. The kids had small lists this year, there wasn't really anything major they wanted or needed. I told them early on that this year we were downsizing and weren't going to spend like we have in years past. So the girls were really good about keeping their lists down to a manageable size. Like Megan said, there really wasn't anything they needed, because they have so much already. I am glad that at 14 she can see that and understand how blessed she is.

I want my kids to learn to enjoy what they do have and find contentment in those things. And not constantly be seeking newer and better versions of what they have. I hope they will learn that the consumerist society we live in doesn't bring happiness. That you can't find fulfillment and happiness by getting more and more...what it actually does is leave you empty, unhappy, unfulfilled and wanting more...

For Noah, he only mentioned a couple of things he wanted, and that was when he would see something advertised, then he would forget about it later. I chose things I know he likes and would go along with the things he already enjoys playing with. The other day Megan asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said he only wanted one gift for Christmas. She asked him if he was sure that he just wanted one, and he said yes, he just wanted one...

For him, it will just be the excitement of the morning and as long as he gets a few things he can open, he will be happy.

For me, this Christmas is about being thankful for God's blessings...there are so many things to be thankful for this year. And I wanted the girls especially to realize those blessings, and appreciate them. I want them to see that there are so many people that have lost their jobs and losing their homes and that those are the big things in life. The things we have faced are minor in comparison to what some people are facing this year. I want them to see beyond their wants and see the needs of others, realizing that there are hurting people in this world and there is more to this life than satisfying our wants...

I would hope that they could learn to reach out from themselves to offer the love of God to others. Getting beyond the selfishness that this world promotes and really love others in such a way that they are willing to not only see the needs of others, but actually give of themselves to help.

Of course, if I thought about it, I am sure I could come up with a list of things that I want, or could ask for, but for the most part, there really isn't anything that I need. Of course I could use a few more clothes, considering that most of mine are getting to loose on me, but for now, until I reach my goal weight, I will manage with what I have. I would also like to get a food processor or an external hard drive to store all of my pictures on, so I can get them off my computer...but really those aren't things I just have to have right now. I am sure with time those things will find their way into my life, but for this Christmas I want to really feel the true meaning of Christmas in my heart. For so many years, I have raced around trying to "do Christmas" that I never found the joy that Christmas is really about...this year, my wish is to really experience Christmas, to be present and feel the joy of it...

Lately...

It has been a while since I blogged. Just been busy and haven't taken the time to stop and write. We have been busy getting ready for the grandparents visit. They will be heading this way tomorrow. We haven't seen them since March so we will be glad when they get here.

Here is a photo of Noah sleeping on his bean bag with his teddy. He was getting comfy, waiting for the Polar Express. But he fell asleep before it arrived!

Yesterday was our Christmas tree trimming day. We always put up our tree the first weekend in December. This year we put up two trees. Simply because we had two trees and we had the room to do it. We have had the 7ft tree for several years, but when we moved back into the city of Little Rock a couple of years ago, we moved into a smaller place and didn't have the room for the larger tree. So we bought a smaller tree. Since moving to North Carolina we have a larger place so we decided this year to put the larger tree in the living room and the smaller tree in the dining room.

This is the smaller one. When we bought it a couple of years ago, we bought all new ornaments, red and gold. When we use to use the larger tree, we had blue and silver. But after a couple of moves and Noah...a few of the ornaments got broken. So the girls went yesterday to buy some blue and silver to add to the larger tree. But like trends go, this years blue isn't the same as the blue several years ago...because of this, the ribbon we had on it no longer match and the other blue ornaments don't go with the new blue...so the tree looks pretty naked right now. I am going to have to go to Hobby Lobby this week and buy new blue ribbon and a few new blue ornaments to completely dress the tree.

Here is something that has been taking my time away from blogging. I have become obsessed with crocheting again. I haven't done much of it in a few years, but this scarf got me pumped again...

It is called the Claudia Scarf. I found it here.

I just fell in love with it. So I tried my hand at it. Only in a different weight and color. Mine is black and done in 100% cotton yarn. It is a worsted weight instead of the fingering weight the pattern uses. But I really do love it. I am working on a couple more now in different colors and weights.

At Thanksgiving I found a recipe on the Cooking Light website for a lighter version of Sweet Potato Casserole. And I have to say it was delicious. I didn't get much chance to gorge on it, because others thought it was good also and it went very quickly. Here is a link to the recipe.






I was in Fayetteville on my own doing a little shopping early one morning and decided to stop in at Goodwill, or GCF as it is called. I used to go to Goodwill weekly in Little Rock and find all kinds of bargins...Since moving here I have picked up a few items, such as a wooden bird cage that I use to decorate my front porch. I also picked up a new dehydrater and some crafting materials. I usually don't buy clothes from there, but happened by and saw this gray fleece, hooded American Eagle pullover hanging out of place on the end of a rack...it looked brand new and looked comfortable. So for a couple of bucks I bought it. It has now become my favorite thing to wear around. It is warm and fuzzy! But on this particular morning I happened upon this...



I have an eat-in kitchen area that has been pretty empty and needed a table. I looked around for one, but didn't want to pay several hundred dollars for one. Thanks to Goodwill, I didn't have to pay but $59.00! This almost new, no scratches, dings or dents, looks like I just bought it new...all we had to do was clean the cloth seats with the steam cleaner to get the coffee stains out. Now they look like new.

It fills the space perfectly. The table came with four chairs but unless I need the extra seating, I just keep two out. It is the perfect spot to sit first thing in the morning and watch the sun rise in the window. It was an awesome deal!

Believe it or not, I had just gone to the bank before going to GCF and I withdrew some cash. For some reason I chose to withdraw $60.00...I usually don't carry much cash, instead use the debit card. However, that morning I just punched in $60.00 and when I got to GCF I knew why God put it in my mind to get $60...GCF doesn't take debit cards...only cash or check. I later realized that I had written my last check at church the night or two before and hadn't put more in my checkbook. Because of the trip to the bank, I had just enough cash on me to buy the table before someone else came along and snagged it. So I am very thankful that God not only takes care of our big things, but he is concerned with the little things that make up our lives also.

On a final note...here are Noah's latest masterpieces...I have them displayed on the wall by my desk in my creative space.