December Snow Flakes

I live in Texas, so rarely do I get to see snow. However, growing up in South Carolina we were practically guaranteed 1 to 2 snow days a year. At one point we got three days of snow IN A ROW! My very creative little brother soon realized that a recycling bin was the true key in building a “Southern Igloo” and so our roofless Igloo was built. It reached 10 feet tall (no I’m not exaggerating) and someone even called the local news to come out and film the experience. It made the rolling credits at the end of the 6 O’clock WIS news that day.


Ever since those three days of winter wonderland I’ve been OBESSED with the idea of getting snow. Each year I pray for snow and then each time its get super chilly I check the local weather report for ANY possibility of snow. I’m serious when I say ANY, even if the only mention of snow is 10% precipitation and a possible low of 32 degrees…Its enough for me!



So imagine my surprise on December 2nd when I just happened to be checking the local weather report for the 5th time that day and I noticed……the possibility of snow! Now keep in mind that the possibility for snow wasn’t actually for my town, or city, or county…..nope somewhere many miles away. That was still close enough for me. I spent the evening updating my excitement on Facebook and later dreaming of my winter wonderland.

I awoke in the morning to complete sadness when I noticed nothing by soggy grass and slick wet driveway. I decided to make the best of the day despite my disappointment only to look out the window thirty minutes later to discover SNOW!

I posted the pictures so you can enjoy my early winter wonderland as well. I’m planning for more this year.

The Game

This evening I watched her do it again, she was really putting forth an effort. Crying loudly, as if she was going to starve that very moment, she wove herself in between his feet flicking her tail wildly. She worked this method for a few minutes without success before dramatically throwing herself to the ground and giving him those sad, pitiful eyes.



Pitiful she is not. Weighing in at 16.91 lbs, Menya lives a VERY blessed life. With an abundance of premium cat food, toys and endless love you would never guess that she was once a scrawny, underweight kitten with a lot of attitude! She is certainly not scrawny or underweight anymore, but the attitude is still there (although she is much sweeter than she used to be).

Tonight was all about the Pizza and she wanted it! Now it’s important to note that she doesn’t actually EAT Pizza. Had Paul relented and given her some she would of have sniffed it, glance back at him and then stalked off with her tail held high in the air. You see, it’s a game and one she plays well, very well.

Unlike Paul, I have played into her little paws many times. In the past month I have given her a grape, onion, squash, apple, and bread. Each time she gave me those pleading eyes and made me believe that all she needed to be happy was a piece of whatever I was eating. And each time I got to stare in amazement at that high and mighty tail as she pranced away laughing (yes, cats laugh). Once I even gave her a cat treat as an alternative since she had so quickly lost interest in the grape. She rejected that as well.

Menya 6 – Me 0 – Paul 1

Forget and Not Slow Down

My husband has been listening to his OVER AND OVER again! Its the new song from Reliant K and its pretty good!



"Is it time I befriended all the ghosts of all the things that haunt me most"

Listen here!

I'm Still Alive!

I'm still alive and kicking! LOL

Sorry for the EXTREME delay, it was not intentional. Paul & I just moved into the new house and its been crazy busy ever since. PLUS I got my wisdom teeth removed last week so I've been recouping ever since.....

On another note, Today I became a Power Corp Member for 89.7 PowerFM, The Christian Rock Station. If you've never heard of them, jump over to their page to listen live!

I'm off for the moment, but plan to return full force!

Man sues Bank of America for $1,784 billion trillion -- DailyFinance

Man sues Bank of America for $1,784 billion trillion -- DailyFinance

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My sister, The Bride

Statements, Stubs and Returns OH MY!

The pile of paperwork required by our mortgage appears to be never ending. We are scheduled to close in four days and it has been non-stop for the past several weeks. In addition to sorting my way through mounds of paperwork, I've been day dreaming quite a bit. It is going to be so nice to have a yard!Every time something breaks I won't have to go on crazy cleaning sprees to avoid strange looks from maintenance. Its going to be great!

Some Good Preachin'

Watch Live!

Feelin' Artsy

Since I was the only at home, I got to be my subject.

The decision to Try to Try

For a while now I have held aspirations to become an accomplished writer. This particular desire has turned out to be slightly different from my other aspirations such as....running for President, joining a group of cat whisperers, completing a triathlon, winning the National CLUE tournament (do they even have those?), joining NASA on a mission in space....you get the gist. I have thought quite a bit about focusing on my writing, day dreamed about it, read as many books as I could and called it research. The one thing I haven't actually done is focus on my writing! Each time I forced myself to step outside the hectic schedule and attempt to actually write something I've been hit with writers block.

Now, I have read there is no such thing as writers block and I have even ponder how it could possibly be called writers block when I really haven't actually written anything !?! So last night I got serious with myself. I faced the fact that if this is really something I want do I have to find a way to practice ACTUALLY writing.



The Writer's Workshop

So I sat myself down in front of my computer and began to type. I typed about how I have no idea what to write, I type about how I really needed some idea of how to get past this and I even typed the alphabet just to feel like I was actually writing something. Then I decided to pray, "Lord, your word says that you give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), if this is you lord please show me how". I wandered off to brush my teeth and think about something different and then it hit me!

In order to work on my writing skills I need to be writing SOMETHING, ANYTHING! It doesn't matter if its earth shattering or an original idea. I don't plan on attempting to get published tomorrow and I have plenty of time just to develop the skills necessary to be a good writer. It dawned on me that I really need to write about the things I am familiar with so that I can develop my skill without obsessing over the actual plot.

I know my life and myself better than anyone so who better to write about? I've made a commitment to writing about the boring daily rituals and attempt to make them interesting, exciting, create detailed images with words. ITS GREAT!

Here is a sample of what I wrote last night:

Nichole turned the faucet on recalling one of the many reasons why she was so desperate to move, the top of faucet knob fell off again. Ignoring the top that was now rolling towards the wall-mounted mirror, she plunged her long fingers under the icy cold current of water with her face quickly following. It was the same ritual each evening; rinse, exfoliate, tone, wait for toner to dry and moisturize! She made sure to dry her hands on an old towel since her moisturizer carried one particular ingredient that just had to be a member of the bleach family. Many towels had entered her bathroom only to leave with discolored scars etched throughout their fibers. Each night she wondered if this towel destroying formula could be any good for her face? However, six years of using this exact same formula had left her with nothing but a clear, smooth, blemish free complexion. She shrugged, again pacified with her answer to the nightly dilemma.

I hope to look back on this post months, even years later and enjoy seeing the development and improvement in my writing. Thank you lord for showing me how.

Update

I believe this might be the two ranges I'll be pulling colors from.....

Warm Tones



Cool Tones

Color, a difficult decision

We have six weeks left until closing and I am beginning to feel the pressure. I have dreamed of decorating my own house for the past seven years, the time is finally here and I'm struggling. I believe the problem is that I like TOO MANY different styles as opposed to one particular type. Maybe this means I really an eclectic at heart?

To add to my dilemma, we have scheduled a paint party for the weekend following our closing. For those of you who are wondering what a paint party is, its a party filled with fun, great food and plenty of paint brushes to put to work. Paul & I have NEVER painted before so we are calling on the great experience and skill of our friends.

So I need to have my mind made up on the basics of each room. When I've looked at paint colors I have found myself leaning towards cool tones..blues, greys and such



HOWEVER I've always said I preferred a warm tones in a house. It makes it me feel all warm, cozy and friendly.



(RafterTales)


If I HAD decorator, they would probably think I'm slightly nuts!

A friend loaned me "The New Color Book" by Mitchell Beazley. It suggest deciding what kind of mood you want your house to create. Peaceful, dramatic, efficient (is that even a mood?), comfortable, welcoming, somber, studious, etc. After a long day at work I believe peaceful is that mood I want my house to exude (Ha! That rhymes).According to Beazley, colors in which blues and greens predominate are perceived as cool, relaxing, passive and calming....exactly what I want!

Perhaps I should try a Monochromatic color scheme, maybe just sticking to one color or different densities of the same color is the best way to go for a newbie!



(Cotedetexas)

I asked someone to clear the table.......

and this is what I got instead. Ha!

Praise God!

Last week was the South West Believers Convention here in Fort Worth, TX. A powerful week filled with God's Word If you missed it, watch online now!




Click Here!

The House is almost done!!!

Wow! It seems like the summer is just flying by. Paul & I have been very excited to see the develop of our new house. Its amazing how quickly something this big can be built. I'm am very impressed!

223 Years Strong

Sometimes I go on these kicks.......

For those of you who don't know, I'm adopted. Which for me means my life is completely normal...except everyone once in awhile I want to know more. I'm very comfortable with who I am, but sometimes I would like to know if I look like either of my birth parents, if we share the same quirks or even if our values are the same.

I have to admit it bothers me to know there are people out there who believe I have no right to know where I came from. To think that circumstances that occurred before I was ever born is the reason I deserve no answers, a sigh on the other line when I request non-identifying information, or my personal favorite "your lucky to be here" response. Its sad to think that a heritage is something people take for granted to the point they don't believe others are entitled to it.

Just for kicks: Baby Girl born West Palm Beach, Florida 1984
If your out there, feel free to leave a comment

For he so loved the world.....

that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

My Focus Is Off

"When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness." Proverbs 11:2

Sometimes I find myself thinking FAR too highly of me, instead of him. I notice this is when things start heading down hill very fast. I notice that I depend less on my relationship with the lord and attempt to lean on my own understanding. Suddenly, Life seems dull, lackluster and my patience becomes shorter. I spend less time in the Word and then I am focusing my attention on things that are just time wasters. This is when I know I'm heading into dangerous ground.

There is something to be said about having a humble spirit. In Daniel 10:12 the lord tells Daniel to "Fear not, for from the first day that you set you mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come as a consequence of your words."

On the other end of that spectrum, in Isaiah 2:11 "The proud looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."

The truth is how can you depend on the lord when you envision yourself to be so great? You can't.

I'm off to humble myself before the Lord and get back on track.

Excellence.....

Are you in a reading rut? Do you feel as though every book your read is just like the last? I've felt that way for the past couple of months. Maybe the plot was slightly different, the characters had a bit of a twist...but I seriously felt as though I was reading a repeat. That is until I picked up a copy of " A passion most pure" by Julie Lessman. Supposedly this is her first novel, don't let that deter you...I didn't notice that until I finished it and I'm having a very hard time believing this is her first novel.

"A Passion Most Pure" picks up just before The United States joins the first World War. In love with a man who belongs to her sister, Faith O'Conner resists temptation and clings to her faith in God to deliver her. However, God has other plans.

Love, romance, rivalry, betrayal and a purity rarely seen today, "A Passion Most Pure" answers the call of the heart with God's plan for a pure love. Not only is this a great read, you find yourself celebrating with Faith as God delivers all he promised in his timing.

Redeemed

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement (needful to obtain) peace and well being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes (that wounded) Him we are healed and made whole. Isaiah 53:5 (Amplified).


"All have sinned" Romans 3:23
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life" Romans 6:23
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" Romans 10:13

If you've never prayed this prayer before, choose life:

Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. I give you my life. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. Amen.

Eye Candy

I can brag right?

I totally rocked at my Wii Fit Yoga on my first try. I've always considered myself to be athletic. In high school I was captain of the girls swim team, on the track team and always the P.E. teacher's pet. For me, exercise was an escape, I didn't really have to think..... which meant I didn't have think about my problems. I excelled at athletics, and then something happened. I wasn't in high school anymore, I moved past alot of my problems and suddenly sitting at home eating and watching TV with my awesome husband sounded WAYYYYY better than going for a run.

So, Paul gave me the Wii Fit for my birthday. As I was opening it, he had this "Don't hit me!" look on his face. Now, for the record I DO NOT ABUSE MY SPOUSE! No, actually he tried to talk me into requesting the Wii Fit for Christmas last year. To the point, that he was actually telling people that I wanted it (which I didn't). After threating to return any Wii Fits I received (which I didn't)something wonderful happened at my mother in law's. She had the Wii Fit when we were there for Christmas and I discovered that one of the balance games is Snowboarding....can you hear my interest peaking?

In fact the day I discovered this was also the day I tried snowboarding for the first time on an actual slope. I spent 99% of my snowboarding experience on my butt, attempting to get off my butt or endangering the lives of other boarders/skiers. I was mortified and being that I'm extremely stubborn I was NOT going to trade my board in for the ski's that I actually know how to use. Nope, not me.....I was going to make something happen that day ......and that something turned out to be extreme pain, bruising, a broken tail bone and my personal favorite...being "That Girl". You know that one people knew about long before they ever saw me coming (or in my case, falling).

So....living in Texas doesn't really give me the opportunity to work on my snowboarding skills (I say that like I have some, ha ha). However with the Wii Fit I can save all those extremely embarrassing moments for the privacy of my living room and maybe lose 10 lbs.



So back to the today's experience.....today was the first time I attempted the Yoga...something I've never done before and wasn't sure what to expect. According to Chuck, my Wii Fit yoga instructer (yeah, I named him)I am at a Yoga Master level on my first try! Kudos to me! He said something along the line of "You have great posture" and I'm pretty sure he wasn't hitting on me.....so I'm assuming I have, well, "Great Posture" until I played the balance games. We won't discuss those or the fact that my Wii Fit age is 31 (I'm also not going to tell you I'm 25) do the math, or don't...yeah lets not.

I also tried the running program, which I did somewhat well at. I think I could certainly improve some if I wasn't constantly thinking about my sweet neighbor that lives below me.....the one who thinks my cats are 100lb dogs fighting over a bone. Yeah, I'm sure she was wondering if I was training Circus elephants today.

Maybe the running will have to wait until the house is finished......

Bestest Birthday Ever!

So I turned 25 today and it was great! Since I don't have much to say on the subject....other than YAY I can now rent a car without those young driver fees. WhaaHoo! I will allow the pictures to do most of the talking. (The one from above & below represents my like for pointy shoes)





My husband doing some hardcore coloring at the Macaroni Grill.



Expressions of Love!

Because sometimes you just need to giggle....

Hmmm.....an emergency? Nope, unless you call a yogurt stop at Albertson's an "emergency". Maybe some won't find this funny, but I couldn't stop giggling when I saw this the other day. Perhaps it the irony. And yes I was standing in line behind the officer with the yogurt munchies, still giggling as I was texting this picture out to EVERYONE in my phone.

What Fear?

My husband and I are in the process of building our first home. We've experienced a wide range of emotions since the day we decided to take the first step. You see we've been attempting to purchase home for years now, but there was always something not right about the timing. Once we came so close that we had an offer in on a house we had our hearts on only for it to fall through. God had other plans for us.

That was nearly three years ago and while we've looked at other homes, we have managed to keep a firm grasp on our apartment lease white knuckled and not ready to let go.

When the interest rates started falling and home builders began offering everything under the sun to sell, and then the first time home buyer incentive....well it was enough for us to step out and take another look. This time it was right, after prayer and three weeks of harassing our home sales representative (who has more than earned his commission) we took that first step....that leap of faith.

The evening we drove home after signing the contract it started, fear seeped in. It started with just one little thought.....what if? What if something happened to one of our jobs, how would we make our mortgage payments? In less than twenty four hours it went from "what if" to "this can't work". I'm not sure how we let that happen, fear doesn't come from god. Fear comes from trusting in things that are not of god, so place your trust in the lord and don't allow fear in your life. Seems simple and yet it happen so quickly. I'm very happy to say that as soon as we identified that we were in fear we ran straight to the lord. After prayer and renewing our minds, the fear was gone and peace had returned. Resist the devil and he shall flee (James 4:7)

What would of happened if we had allowed the fear to remain? Knowing how I have tendency to take control of EVERYTHING around me (still working on that one) I most likely would have gone back on our contract to build. I'm not even sure if you can do that, but I would have found out and lost our earnest money in the process. The worst would have been that I had stepped outside of the lord's will. I would of allowed the devil to steal the home God set aside for us and has been planning for us to have for these past three years.

Don't allow fear to control your life...God is in control.

Recommendation: Psalm 91- the whole chapter :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

So I haven't posted in awhile, still working on my consistency. Things have been getting busier at work, so I've been online less lately. Spring has finally come to North Texas and its beautiful outside. I plan to post again soon, hopefully with more purpose.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you sins?

Have you prayed this prayer?

“Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. I give you my life. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. Amen”

Then guess what, you are a Christian. The Vine’s expository dictionary defines "Christian," as a word formed after the Roman style, signifying an adherent of Jesus, and was first applied to such by the Gentiles and is found in Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Pet. 4:16.

This is the basics of Christianity, the very link that ties us all together. We have ALL sinned and have ALL fallen short, but by the grace of God we were redeemed by the blood of Jesus. You would think that you would find all of us celebrating together the beauty that is Christ and our victory that the lord bought for us. Instead you will find that we’ve become one of our own worst enemies and our weapon is persecution. Second Timothy 3:12 states very plainly “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”, yes as a follower of Christ you will see more and more persecution. However, this persecution is supposed to come from the devil, not from each other.

There are many denominations, faiths, doctrines and ministries that teach Jesus Christ is our lord and savior. They encourage people to give their lives back to god, to turn away from sin and develop their relationships with the lord. They each endeavor to spread evangelism and further God’s word in the world. Yet, they find themselves caught up in the petty, small differences between each other. Maybe they don’t see eye to eye on baptism, the Holy Spirit or whether or not God wants you to prosper. Instead of uniting and supporting one another they tear each other down. When they should be sharing a much needed word from the lord, they are flinging careless insults at each other.

It is no wonder Christian’s have such a negative reputation among non-believers. How can we say that we are followers of Christ when we can’t even abide by a simple commandment to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt 22:39)? We should be such an oasis of God’s love that people who don’t know Jesus Christ can’t wait to develop that relationship because they see his love reflected in our lives and want to be a part of it. Sadly many Christian just display the same strife seen in the rest of the world, the only difference is that theirs has a religious twist on it.

The word clearly states in Second Timothy 2:14 “Remind [the people] of these facts and [solemnly] charge them in the presence of the Lord to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good but upsets and undermines the faith of the hearers” (Amplified Bible). This battle of words has got to stop and the focus on sharing the message of Jesus Christ to the world needs to return.

The Friends Blogger Award!!!

Blogger Friends' award! I received this sweet award from MaryLu at Cross and Cutlass

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."
So please take a look at the following bloggers - I either look forward to seeing if they have read my posts and commented - or they are bloggers that I look forward to reading! And folks - if you have already received this award - then you are being Blessed again! Everyone should go visit these blogs to see the great stuff they post!


http://growinguptrifilio.blogspot.com/
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/
http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/
http://thewrightfive.blogspot.com/
http://crossandcutlass.blogspot.com/

*** So I kinda new to the blogging world and I only have 5 so far...I'll add more as I come across other great blogs.