Did I mention...

...how amazing our trip to Arizona was? It was beyond fantastic for a boatload of reasons. First and foremost, we got to visit Uncle Matt. Prescott is so beautiful and has such a peaceful atmosphere about it. I was in love and we will definitely be spending more time there in 2011. Their Christmas Service was over the top awesome. We are so proud of Matt for the light show he was a major part of. Not only because it was ridiculously awesome, but because of his work ethic that is one to be admired and his heart. He truly did it to glorify the Lord, not for selfish ambition, recognition or any other earthly desire. But I can brag about him because he inspires me and he has such warm open heart for the things of the Lord and for his family and friends. I love seeing the man he is truly stepping up to be and to see him fall so much more in love with the Lord. It was great to meet his friends and church family, to be able to fellowship a little bit with other believers and to be in a place where the holy spirit was definitely in the midst; there at the Heights. It was inspiring to see how much this church opened its doors to the community in hoping to reach them with the Gospel message. The snow was amazing. This may sound strange, but I'm glad the kids were with their Uncle Matt while seeing it snow for the very first time. Such a cool moment for all of us. The Lord truly blessed our time together as family. We hope to make this specific trek an annual one. We will definitely stay longer than a day and a half. Thank you, Matt, for having us and being more of a blessing than words can describe!

Speaking of Blessings...Did I mention that 2010 has been the best year of my life by FAR? Last night at Prayer Night we talked about the many blessings that came in 2010 and I could've talked allllll night about how much the Lord has blessed us this year! I wanted to share those blessings with you and give all the credit to the Lord because He gives and He takes away. None of what has happened would be possible without him.

My relationship with the Lord has turned into something so much deeper and more intimate than I've ever experienced before. I can't help but become teary eyed when I think about what He did on the cross for me, what he's doing in my life now and also when I think about how he is right by my side when I'm going through the valley. I just can't comprehend his love for me, but I relish in that thought. I am more than grateful for his presence in my life and his hand being on me and my family

I am so grateful for my health and the health of my family. We are all in good health and I am 25 years old still have my parents and ALL my grandparents. Throughout the season I have seen posts on facebook from those that are missing loved ones , especially during this time of year and it really reminded me to not take the time we have here on this earth for granted. We also have friends going through, literally, the fight for their lives. It rips my heart out of my chest to see what they are going through.

I am so grateful for my husband that loves me and cherishes me and three beautiful, smart and loving babies. All 4 of them melt my heart on a daily basis. God has truly kept his hand on the 5 of us. We're are also grateful for all the rest of our family. All of our parents who support us and encourage us and especially to my parents who opened their home to us this year. Our siblings who lift us up and pray for us and who are more than siblings, they are our best friends and we love them dearly, especially Holley, Justine & Matt I am also so thankful for our extended family. I have some seriously awesome aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, in-laws, etc!

This is the year the Lord has began his work in restoring my family. The Lord brought healing that only the Lord could and softened our hearts. He has poured an overwhelming amount of love into our family, I feel like it gushes everytime we are together. My sister Justine has such a beautiful heart. Seeing her as a mom is such a blessing to me and is so precious. This reconnection has been an answer to years of prayer for our family. And we are still praying for my sister Heather. I hope 2011 is the year the Lord will complete the restoration, put a hedge of protection around our family and seal it from anything ever tearing it apart again.

We are so thankful for Lakeshore City Church. Our cup overfloweth with all the friends we have made and how blessed we've been by everyone there and the ministries it provides. Everyone and everything is Christ-centered. Everyone looks out for each others needs. I could write and entire blog about the blessings that have poured out of Lakeshore. Prayer night, the Marriage Study, the Women's study, all the times Moulton's have opened their home. ALL of you at Lakeshore have touched and impacted our life in some way in just the few months we've been there. Thank you to all of you who heard the call and answered. You are touching lives all the time and it is a ripple effect for sure!

Our business has boomed this year and it is nothing short of the Lord opening all the doors and providing all that we need to make thins happen. We have been able to go full-time and it be off to a GREAT start. Each and every one of our customers is a blessing as well as those who have shared our name with others. Thank you to Blake, Travis & Josh for all your help, as well.

Thank you to all of our friends. 2010 brought us so many wonderful friends and it also sustained some wonderful friendships. We love you all and you are all an encouragement & blessing to us.

Linda Thompson. Sooooo much of what we've done wouldnt be possible without Linda opening up her home to us. We love you, Linda. I will express more of my gratitude in pies and lemon bars ;)

addendum: We're also thankful for our friendly neighborhood Chick-fil-a. We love Chick-fil-a food, people and opportunities. They've been a huge blessing ;)

2010 has been amazing and I'm looking forward to starting off 2011 with a fast and allocating big chunks of time to much needed prayer and to seeing all the Lord is going to do in our life and the lives of others. If you haven't made your relations with the Lord a close, intimate one don't let one more day, let alone another year, go by without doing that. Commit yourself to him, it will be the best decision you ever make. You will never be alone. You will never be empty. He loves you and he wants to be close to you!

Hallmark Card to my Savior

When it's someone's birthday we often do things like buy them a nice card that says nice things about them and often we add our own personal touch or we give toasts at parties and share what we love about them. For many of our loved ones, there aren't enough words to describe the impact or wonderful characteristics about that person. Well, this season brings about the Birthday of someone very close and near and dear to my heart, in fact they own my heart. I'm talking about the birthday of my Jesus, my precious Savior. If I were to buy a Hallmark car for my Jesus, I would buy a blank one and inside I would I would say...

To My King,

Can't believe it's already been a year since your last birthday, the years seem to be flying by now! Wow, what do you say to the Lord you owe your life to? Lord, I am overwhelmingly grateful for what you've given me. You chose me and you knit me together, nothing about how you made me was an accident. You gave me a husband who loves me and cherishes me and loves you, too and 3 beautiful babies that are healthy and are already learning to love and acknowledge you. We have more family than we can count and friends that are more precious than any material thing this world has to offer. Today, Josh was saying one of the things he has probably taken for granted the most in the past is his health. This year more than ever I have never been more grateful for my health and the health of my family as so many friends are battling very difficult battles with their health. Lord, I don't know why, but you do and you are still on the throne and you have it under control and you have my friends and their families wrapped up in your arms of love and you are taking care of them. Thank you for that and please, Lord, continue to watch over them.

Thank you, Father, for continuing to restore my family. Thank you for blanketing us in a love once undiscovered, but now crashing over us like the ocean tide. It's one of the most beautiful earthly experiences I've ever had. It blows my mind that it's YOUR birthday and you've ALREADY saved us and yet you continue to bless me more than I could have ever imagined. You don't even have to. You've already done so much and yet you continue to just pour into my life and soul. You fill us physically, providing all the material things we need and then some to share with others. You fill me emotionally and hold me together when I'm weary, when I'm aching. You are my defender and I don't have to fight for justice. You give me the words to encourage others when they are down. Lord I pray you continue to use me and refine me.

God, when I've had a bad day and feel like the biggest let down on the planet, You come and whisper in my ear that I'm forgiven and you love me and you've broken the chains of bondage and set me free. I'm no longer a prisoner of my own sin. You help me push those feelings of inadequacy and insecurity far away so I can get back in the race to run with endurance. Thank you, Lord for your unending forgivenes and reassurance.

Jesus, you are my best friend and I long for the day I can see your face and throw myself at your feet and praise you all day and spend your birthdays face to face. Can we still have Christmas in heaven? Every Day? Ahhh, that would be amazing! Thank you for being the Ultimate gift and, Lord, my prayer is for those who have forgotten or do not know you will discover You this Christmas, your love and forgiveness and the blessings you have in store for those that love you. Thank you for what you have already done this season and what you will continue to do in the kingdom.

I can't get enough of the 'winter snow' song because of the lyrics. It captures the essence of your humility and grace. You came so humbly to the earth and you never push your way into anyone's life. You are my King and you came just to show me how much you love ME and so that I can spend forever in paradise with you. Your presence in my life is so real and the only thing that I can ever be sure of. You are enough for me, Jesus. Abba, I love you and I pray I honor you on your birthday and everyday. And forgive me for the times I fall short, Father. You are the most precious gift I have, Jesus. And I pray, Lord, you give me boldness, humility and your light shines bright through me so I can share you with others so that they may come to know you, too. To really know you; closely & intimately. I pray we only get closer this year, God. I need more and more of you. There can never be enough. I wanna be more like you in every way. I want my shortcomings to be less and less frequent. I am ever so grateful that you are so patient with my Peter-like ways and mouth. I pray that you take every part of my being and use it to glorify your holy name.

Thank you so much, Jesus. I hope you are glorified on your birthday and everyday this year by your servants here on earth anxiously awaiting your return. I pray as we go into this new year Lord that I have an ear to hear and a willing heart to do whatever it is that will draw me nearer to you, Daddy.

Your Daughter,
Priscilla

It's been awhile...

Taking leaps of faith has really paid off and so has making my prayer life/relationship with my savior a priority. God is blessing us beyond our wildest dreams since Josh quit his job just a few short weeks ago. We have a great support system of amazing friends and family. I'm so excited to see what the future holds!

We celebrated Madison's 5th birthday on Saturday. It was a blast! Pictures to come on FB. I cant believe my baby will be 5 on Thursday, but I LOVE that I'm only 25 with a 5 year old. LOL. We had a bouncer, some Chick-Fil-a, of course, and most importantly lots of friends and family. We truly felt blessed by those who came to celebrate our little Madison. Thank you so much!

God is in a work of restoring our family and it has been beyond awesome, I cant even describe it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my seesters and what God is doing. We just did family pics yesterday and it was hilarious. The rain, the kids, Linda looking gangster with her hood on....HILARIOUS. Pictures also coming on FB.

Yesterday 12/5/10, Pastor Jeff's message about being joyful was so refreshing. I think "joy" is one of my favorite subjects. I definitely recommend listening to it, especially if you are going through hard times.

ok, I'm semi caught-up...maybe more blogging later...what do you want to hear more of?

Blessed be your name, Jesus!

ugh, my poor blog has been so neglected! Oh well, it's been BUSY! Our life is not even the same as it was a week ago, I'm not even sure that this blog has enough space to write down all the things going on and the prayers being answered. Over the past month or so God has laid some serios things on my heart to pray for and I have and I see him working and answering those prayers in mighty ways.

As I'm sure many of you know, we have been wanting to take our window business full time for awhile. As of lately we have been praying about it and talking to Pastor Charlie and getting prayer to be in Lord's will in doing so. This would be a HUGE step of faith. I had a lot of fears and really no reason for them. God is God and he is in control. Josh spoke with Pastor Charlie on Thursday at lunch and then after Josh left I starting dusting shelves and rearranging books. I took a stack of books and put them on the shelf and made sure they were tidy and pretty and I noticed before I placed them, one of the books was 'The Prayer of Jabez.' I knew the book had something to do with a small prayer asking for blessign and I thought to myself "I should read that", but I just went on with what I was doing. I placed the books, grabbed a dusty silk plant and took it outside to dust. When I came back in 30 seconds later, I went back to organizing the shelf and where I had stuck the group of books previously, The Prayer of Jabez was pulled ALL the way out. Whoa. Weird. I JUST PUT THOSE BOOKS THERE AND THEY WERE PERFECT!! I sat and read it and the prayer is this:

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request."

That pretty much sums up our cry to the Lord. So we continued to pray. On Friday, we had Bible Study (keep in mind that before thursday, there were many other things pointing to this being a good decsion for us, as well, but the direction became much more clear as of last week) Louise's message was so good, as always, but one thing I heard was her say, "As Christians we are not meant lived these contained, secure lives." I iprayed with Rachelle and then went home to talk to Josh more and we prayed some more and then he spoke to Pastor Charlie for more prayer and wisdom and then he put in his one week notice. PUT IN HIS ONE WEEK NOTICE!!! EEEEEKKKKK!!!! And the fear disipated. It's gone, I'm stoked and God had just laid blessing after blessing on us, IMMEDIATELY after we took that step of faith. We got a ne customer who was amazing and shared our info with many friends and we've already received phone calls from her referrals. A 4th Chick-Fil-A CALLED US!! CALLED US!! And boom! 4th Chick-fil-a! We are doing another significant quote on large commercial area tonight. Sunday we sold 'Bondage' (the ranger). Thak you, LORD! Josh's female boss who is known for tearing people down called him into her office yesterday and wanted to know why he was leaving. Of course Josh was braced for the worst when he walked in, but she did nothing but praise him for the work he's done there and asked him to quote the building and their personal residence!! WHAT?!?! WHAT?!?! PEOPLE, this is nothing short of an act of God. None of this. This is all God. God could slam all these doors shut as fast as he opened them. Josh and I are striving to be obedient and be good stewards of what he gives us. It's all his anyway. None of it's ours. None of it. He gives and he takes away and I will say "Blessed be your name". God is on the throne in good times and in bad. And we have had some valleys.

GET READY TO SWITCH GEARS.

Speaking of valleys, we have some dear friends in the valley right now. We have had 2 people close to our family be diagnosed with cancer in the last week. and another who relapsed about 3 months ago. And I want you to know friends, that you are on my heart 24/7. We are grieving with you and praying for you and your loved ones. The Bible says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28. It's hard to conceive how any of this can work out to be good, but God is faithful, he is on the throne, he is in control and his plan will prevail. Death was conquered at the cross and we have the hope of eternity. No cancer is going to take away eternity with our Savior. He loves you and he has his arms around you and he is weeping with you because this was neverpart of the original plan. He will NEVER let you go. I have never been more heavenly minded in my LIFE and pain and sufferin falls on the believing and the unbelieving, Paul says we have can have an "inexpressible and glorious joy" in our time of suffering. Rejoice bc "I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Hang in there, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. GOD HAS A PLAN. He is faithful. I love you and so many others love you. We are hitting our knees and praying for you!

Bondage to Freedom and back again

The word 'disappointed' hardly seems to capture how bummed I am, but I guess it will do. Bought a truck this weekend only to find out it needs quite a bit of work put into it. I was fine with spending some money, but I'm afraid it will just be the beginning of a money pit. We listed it back on Craigslist to hopefully be able to recover what we paid for it.

I feel almost petty that this is my biggest personal issue right now, but Josh and I have worked so hard to save money. I'm pretty sure the Lord is trying to teach me something in all of this mess. I was so excited to not have to share one car anymore. And now that just went 'kapoof!' for now. We'll see what happens...

Onto more important things. So many people need prayer right now. My heart is so grieved for families dealing with illness or death. We talk about suffering and pain and death all the time in church growing up, you know it's a part of life and it's gonna happen and you know it's gonna hurt and be sad, but when it strikes it hurts like you never even knew it existed. We wait and hope for blessings and for God to come through for us in prayer on the things we ask for, but then when suffering hits it's like being hit with a bus. And then the bus backs up and pounds you again.

Today I thought about when Lazarus was raised from the dead, but before Jesus raised him from the dead, the Bible says he wept. Why on earth would Jesus weep?? He knew he was bringing him back. I love that he does weep because that showed one of the most beautiful qualities about Christ which is empathy. He is weeping with us and hurting with us. You know why? It wasn't supposed to be this way. Nope, nope. BUT it is. we're rotten, awful sinners and that's just the way it is, but PRAISE THE LORD that we WERE created for something more and that Jesus died for us so one day we will be in heaven and NO. MORE. TEARS. PAIN. HURT. SUFFERING. No more shooting police officers and dying soldiers. No more cancer. No more divorce. No more surprise freak deaths. No more financial woes. No more child abductions, rape and abuse. I can't wait. I can't wait to be held safe and sound in the arms of My Savior. I am so grateful for what he did on the cross so we can have the promise of heaven with Him.

If you don't have that hope and haven't asked Christ to come into your life, Say a prayer asking him to. Confess your sins and ask him to come live in your heart and to transform your life. BEST decision you will EVER make!!

Go Me!

I was going back and forth between 2 potential blogs. Potential blog #1: (wait for it)"Why do people who are not Christians quote Jesus?" I find it very interesting. You certainly don't see me going around quoting Joesph Smith (no offense, mormon friends). But people like to quote Jesus to tell us how us Christians how we have our Christianity all wrong. Hello?? You don't believe in Jesus, you don't believe in his word and you certainly don't live by it and yet you attempt to use to back up your non-biblical beliefs? Fascinating. haha, ok, I'll stop because Potential blog #2 is Getting Organized and that's the one I settled on (pause for everyone's collective sigh of relief)

I'm REALLY sad I did not take a picture of my desk pre-organization, albeit embarrassing. I was tempted to mess it all back up again, add about 30 lbs of useless papers from the last 2 years to give you an idea cuz that would totally be productive, right? Nah, it wasn't that bad, but it was definitely unkempt. I still hadn't found a home for things since we moved. When I feel overwhelmed and disorganized it's impossible hard for me to function. So today we got it alll straightened out.


My favorite part about getting organized is stuff that I utilize to get organized. First of all the 2 baskets that you see, those were clearanced at Target for $6.48. I don't know if you can really tell by the pics, but these are great sized baskets. I was more than thrilled to get them at such an awesome price. I used one basket for Josh's stuff (quotes, business cards, etc.) and the other to hold some of my desk necessities. They fit Perfectly in the slots in the desk FTW. See the little tin in the 3rd picture? That is a tin from Brighton, I used it to store cords. The rubbermaid storage container is holding some our Disney pins that were floating in the drawer waiting to stab the next unsuspecting fingers. and I just used a ziploc to hold batteries, where as before they were floating in the bottom of a big plastic storage container that was holding other garbage. That storage container went on to do great work and its only job now is to hold our video camera, charger and extra discs. Work with what you got, ladies! Now as far as papers go, I pretty much have a spot for all of them, but they weren't getting placed there. {refer to first picture for a better idea,but its still hard to see} The big black and white filing box is our business filings, the black folder is our house hunt filings and the purple one is for personal filings. You can't see them but there are a couple of loose folders which hold papers which are items that need immediate attention such as a bill, a receipt to be filed, etc. So everyyyy piece of paper has a place. HALLELUJAH!

The drawer before was being taken over by pins, stationary and cords. UGH. Most useless drawer on the planet! So I emptied it, stuck a basket in there. I filled the basket with the stationary, checkbooks and a pencil box. There are few other miscellaneous things, but they allll have a place and thats alllll that matters. Those stickers are stamps that got put on an envelopes that never ended up getting mailed out so I peeled them back off the envelopes and kept them. Heck no, techno, am I throwing away .44¢ x 4. That's just wasteful. They'll get used. Eventually. div>

I was inspired by someone else so I hope I've passed along the inspiration. Christmas is EXACTLY 2 months away. Make room for all the new goodies!

Do you have $40? Join in Operation Christmas Child

Because if you do, you could make a child's Christmas on of the Best Ever!!



Operation Christmas Child. Basically, you fill up a shoebox (your own or one you can pick up from a church or other institutions)




When you pick up a box, they give you instructions on what to pack and what not to pack. You get to choose the gender and age group of the child you would like your box to go to.

We chose a girl age 2-4. I chose this because Haylie and Madison are 3 and 4 and they got to pick out a majority of what went into the box. They really got into it which really made my heart smile. They totally understand that this is going to be some little girl's Christmas gift who isn't as fortunate as they are and they can be a small blessing to her. The joy of giving is one that can hardly be matched and I hope my kids will all grow up to feel the same. I have always wanted to do the box, but we've never followed through on it, sadly. I think next year we'll have all 3 kids do a box for a child of their same gender and age.

One year I remember my dad packing a box and he spent about $80 and that amount always intimidated me from attempting to pack one. That was before the $1 section at Target. Hello, Bargains! We got mittens, socks, a notepad, markers, stickers, coloring book, etc. And no I don't feel guilty shopping in the deal section because I buy my own little girls stuff from that section ALL the time. Then they have a section of mini toys (aka PERFECT shoebox size) for $2.49. Again, stuff my kids ALWAYS want i.e. harmonica, oversized bouncy ball that lights up, paddle ball, etc. Then we headed to the hygeine section, more specifically, the trial size section and picked up all of our hygeine items that were all good quality for an awesome price. I also grabbed a little dress off the clearance rack.


Altogether, I spent less than $40 and my box is packed to the gills!




After you get it all packed you can throw in a letter and/or a pic of your family. If you put your address they may write back. They also ask that you throw in $7 for shipping if you can.

This is such a great opportunity for your whole family to get in on. For $40 you can turn a child's world upside down and you are also opening the door for the gospel to be shared with them!

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO THE WEBSITE

Worship: Sing and Give, at the same time if you want...why not?

I've had a blog brewing the past few days and now that I have quiet time and chance to sit down and write I'm hitting a wall. Oh well, here we go...

Chapter 6 of 'Crazy Love' was all about falling in love with our Savior. It's so easy to see God as this enormous being with just a bunch of rules and regulations, but even the rules and regulations are made out of his abundant love for us and setup to protect us from some obvious consequences and even some that are unforeseeable. I love the way Jason Gray describes how an ideal relationship with the Lord can be, "More like falling in love than something to believe in, more like losing my heart than giving my allegiance." Are you in Love with Jesus? Have you lost your heart? One of the best parts of Chapter 6 was that even the days we aren't feelin' it, we can pray and ask God to put that passion and love in our hearts. How awesome is that? What if you told your spouse, "Eh, I'm not really feeling very in love with you today." Most spouses are not gonna say, "Oh, honey, thats alright, how can I help you be more in love with me today?" Haha. I know I would be uber-offended. LOL But not God. His love is that unconditional and unfailing he is even there to help us love him more. Matthew 7:7 says "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

I love Music, especially worship music. It ministers to my heart so much. That is definitely a way I go to the Lord and spend time with him. I meditate on the words of the songs. So many songs are on my favorite list, but different songs minister to me at different times. Right now I am focused on just falling in love with the Lord and building that intimate relationship with him. Phil Wickham's song "Divine Romance" is the most beautiful love song. You can listen to it on my play list.

The fullness of Your grace is here with me

The richness of Your beauty’s all I see

The brightness of Your glory has arrived

In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance

Rejoice in this divine romance

Lift my heart and my hands

To show my love, to show my love

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You

Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room

Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life

The church is the bride of Christ and one day when it's all said and done and our "wedding day" comes, I hope this is the song of our "first dance" together. What a beautiful celebration, it will be. Think of all the amazing weddings money has bought on earth. Imagine what the Creator of all things has planned for us! The colors, the Angels, the saved souls, the WORSHIP! And most importantly, our Father on the throne. It's gonna be out of control! Can't wait!

God has been so incredibly faithful in recent weeks. In the Bible, God tells believers to test Him in one area and that is the area of giving. Malachi 3:10 says, '"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"' Have you tried it? Have you taken that leap of faith in your walk? I can tell you God has blessed us with so much and it's not always monetary. Sometimes it's an answer to prayer, sometimes it's in restoration of relationships. To be honest, we should just do it cheerfully because everything belongs to the Lord anyway and he commands us to do it, but how awesome is it that he will bless us for it?! I know for many, including us for a long time, it seems impossible to give 10% and you won't be able to afford it. Friends, you CAN'T afford not to. It's a system that makes no earthly sense, but has priceless heavenly rewards. I have seen so many friends struggling financially and we have BEEN there, bought the t-shirt. Had our gas turned off, maxed out every single credit card we had, had a night we didn't know how Josh was going to make it home at 3 am bc we didnt have a penny to our names. We were 92k in debt. Almost $100,000 in debt at 21 and 24 years old! When we decided to get on the Dave Ramsey program we decided we would start to give to God, too. How? We was BROKE with a capital 'B'. So the first month of our new plan, we gave $25 a week and we were freaked out about that. The next month we bumped it to $50 a week and eventually worked our way up to 10%. In 2 1/2 years we cut our debt in half and saved a small chunk of money. God opened doors right and left for us and we've even been able to start a small business in one of the worst economic times our country has seen. God also brought much peace to our marriage and restored our relationship where it had been damaged and brought us closer than we had ever been. I earned a trip to Hawaii during this time, also, so Josh and I got the honeymoon that we never had, ALL expenses paid. I give ALL the credit to the Lord. Some days it still doesn't make sense to me, but the Lord's plans are the Lord's plans and we're along for the ride. Trust me, your flesh can work as hard as it wants, if it's not in the Lord's plans it aint gonna happen and even if God does allow you to wander down your own path it's nothing compared to the plans God has for your life when you desire to be in his will.

Funny, when I started this blog I had no intentions of sharing our little journey. Most people who know us, know it, but I just felt led to share it. I hope it encourages at least one person who hasn't taken that step of faith or is maybe struggling with their finances. God WANTS to bless you. Do you have kids? It gives me ridiculous amounts of joy to take my little girls shopping. They love pretty clothes and new accessories for their kitchen or a new game or new book. They LOVE it. They definitely get the shopping bug from me. Shocker, I know. God is the same way, he LOVES to bless us. Step out in faith, friends. You won't regret it. You CANNOT outgive God.

oh and BTW Giving is a form of worshipping the Lord. So this blog totally makes complete sense and flows! Have a phenom weekend, Lovies!

30 Days of Truth: Day 2 - Something I love about myself

I love that I'm forgiving. I can't say I've always been this way, it's not natural to be this way. The more appropriate thing to say is "I love that I have let God work in my heart so I can be forgiving towards others.' I really cant take credit for God's work. The more I learn and see how much God loves us and how far his grace extends, it blows me away. I constantly let God down, I give in to my sinful nature and take matter's into my own hands and He still forgives me, all the time, washes me white as snow. When I think about what my Savior went through on that cross (even tho I cant begin to conceive the complete horrendousness of it) it has really made me think, "If God, the Creator of all things, can forgive me time and time again even tho I am a no one, who am I not to extend that same grace and forgiveness towards some one else?" And it's not always easy, but it sure does give me peace and it is also a way we can be Christ-like and set apart. I just want to reiterate, on my own, I am not a natually forgiving, let's-sing-kumbaya person. God has really grabbed my heart in this area the past couple years and worked on me being forgiving. When you get into the practice of it, you realize that forgiving others benefits you more than the other person. It frees you and allows you to grow so close to the Lord. Whenever you think 'I can't do it, I can't forgive them.' Think of God allowing his Only son to be mocked, spit on, beaten, tortured, humiliated and ultimately nailed to a cross just to OFFER you the gift of salvation and forgiveness. It's wayyy easier to forgive when you put it in that perspective. God's love for us is something I will never completely be able to wrap my head around, but I don't have to. All I know is he created me to love Him and for Him to love me and I just want to focus on falling more and more in love with him and I don't want my petty unforgiveness to get in the middle of that!

Matthew 5:43-48 says:
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Friday fun

Today (technically it was yesterday, but still feels like today because I have insomnia) was SO busy. I'm not used to crazyyy busy days like today. I was hustlin' and bustlin' from one place to the next. Bible Study was amazing! Words can't describe how much I love meeting with these ladies who are all so warm and welcoming. Today we talked about having an ear to hear when the Lord is speaking to us. So important that we're not just always blabbing, but we're listening and hearing what God is trying to communicate to us. It definitely ministered to my heart.

After, we had lunch with my dad then picked up Josh from work and then I came home to get crackin on dinner for Rae and Fam. I <3 that family. Continue to lift them up in prayer as decisions need to be made and comfort and peace need to flow abundantly.

When Josh came home at 3, we hopped in the mini (van, that is - mini sounds way cooler) and headed to Gma Rutherfords, dropped the kidlets off, then dropped the dinner off and headed to a Memorial for Kris Allen's Dad. Always puts things in perspective when some passes away so unexpectedly. I'm glad that we could go for the sole purpose that I got to give a huge hug to Gayla, Kris's mom. She is one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. It was also a mini Crossroads reunion afterwards. Seems like we've been alternating weddings and funerals. So glad next up is a wedding.

We hurried back, grabbed the kids and headed home for baths and then we shortly took off again to go out tonight. Josh and I were skipping and high-fiving when we made Friday night plans and then we enjoyed a good laugh at how ridiculous and delirious we are! HA! I love that man! So we went to Chipotle, then to a mini-improv night at Crossroads. It was pretty fun, definitely not bad for free entertainment. We got to hang out with Jarrod, Kelly, Jonathan, Mark, Candice, Geoff, Brenda and Andrew. Most of us went to Denny's after and we had ourselves a fabulous little dessert and coffee! Got home a little after 12ish. Why I'm not dead on my feet, I have no idea. Today was a long time away from the pookies. I missed them, but they were in good hands =]

Feels great to get out and hang out with friends! Weekend is definitely off to a great start.

30 Days of Truth

I decided to participate in the 30 days of truth.

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.

Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.

Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.

Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.

Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.

Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.

Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.

Day 08 → Someone who made your life miserable or treated you badly.

Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.

Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.

Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.

Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.

Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough days. (write a letter.)

Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)

Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.

Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.

Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.

Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.

Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?

Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.

Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?

Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.

Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.

Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)

Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today

Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?

Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?

Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?

Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.

Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

Something I hate about myself? Hate is such a strong word. There are definitely things I don't like or care for like stretch marks, bills and chores, but even those have their up sides. I think one thing I hate is failure. Failure when it comes to letting God down, failure of not holding up my end in relationships, failure as a mom or as a wife or in endeavors. I know failure is a part of life and there is an opportunity to learn and grow in our failures if we allow ourselves to, but the feeling of missing the mark takes a toll on me. I don't even mean monumental failures, sometimes it's just little ones, like losing my patience or saying something I shouldn't. But my theme this week and always is 'I'm a work in progress'. And I know the Lord is going to grow me, especially in my failures. Ideally, I'd love for the Lord to bestow vasts amounts of wisdom, love, grace and all the other things the good Lord provides, upon me and I was perfect. Unfortunately, that's not gonna happen, but over time I'll be less of a 'failure' and molded more to what the Lord wants me to be.

To my audience of One

I dont think anyone reads my blog anymore after yesterday. Lost a few 'followers' and was taken off blog rolls. What can you do? I write just because I love to write. So even though I may encounter cyber silence, I'll press on with my thoughts :)

I was blown away by some of the responses yesterday and loved reading all of it. And I posted every single comment I received. To the person who thinks I'm not happy, clearly you don't know me. =] I really wish I knew who some of the anonymous responses were, some of them were awesome. Thanks to all who participated.

I couldn't sleep last night. It was a perfect storm of having chai tea late and having lots on my mind. at 12:30 I saw my nana was online on facebook, so I was like, "why not?" Gave her a ring-a-ding dong and talked to her for an hour in the middle of the night. Pretty sure she's the coolest Nana. She's wise. I love talking to her.

Read about Zacchaeus today..."Zacchaeus was a wee little man..." anyone remember that song? What a GREAT illustration of what it means to be Christ-like! A friend of mine posted THIS video (it's the 2nd one) and made me want to really dive into the story of Zacchaeus and when I did this is what I got out of it: (I'm reposting my response from his page so I don't have to re-write it all)

"This guy has such a great heart and more people definitely need to be more delicate and loving towards others, me included. After I watched this I went to Luke 19 to read the story of Zacchaeus and some commentary about it. I think it's im...portant to understand the entire story that played out. Jesus wasn't reaching out to some begrudged tax collector with a bah-humbug attitude. Zacchaeus went to great lengths just to catch a glimpse of Jesus. And when he called him out of the tree it says he came down IMMEDIATELY and welcomed him GLADLY. Jesus knew his heart.

Unfortunately, there are people out there that we turn a blind eye to because we don't agree with their lifestyle or because they don't look like the type to "join our country club" (when I say 'we' I mean christians) and some of those people have climbed the sycamore tree and are just waiting for an invitation. It's so important that we don't discount anyone.

However, I brought up the state of Zacchaeus' heart because that is also so important. So many try and cover up their sin under the banner of "God is a Loving God" and anything goes and that is simply not the case. Zacchaeus didn't pick and choose pieces of what Jesus taught to suit him. He was ready for the real deal. He signed himself up for giving back 4 times what he took from people, the highest price to pay in those times and Jesus never even asked him to do that. His outward action supported his inward faith. Not that we shouldn't also be loving to those people who are half-hearted, but were doing them a disservice by just kicking back and letting people slap, "God's cool with this" label on anything. As disciple's of Christ it's important that we share the WHOLE truth in a loving matter of fact way, even if it's not received well.

I could go on for days! The story of Zacchaeus is an awesome example of Christ's unconditional love that extends to us and He DOES see us when we are chillin' up in the sycamore tree. BUT we have to be able to leap in his arms and say GLADLY, "YES, Jesus, I'll leave my sinful ways behind along with the material things and follow you wholeheartedly anywhere and everywhere, Lord." - So much easier said than done. The story of Zacchaeus really made me examine my own heart, in making sure I always approach people with an attitude of love and not to just assume people are going to reject what God has to offer because of their lifestyle or whatever.

Something that never ceases to amaze me is when you take the time to really look at a piece of God's word is how much substance there can be to it. The story of Zacchaeus is a mere 10 verses long and yet you could write an entire book about the lessons to be learned there, the commentary, literal meanings and the history behind it. The other day I decided I would start really going through the book of James and doing one chapter at a time. WRONG, I think half a chapter a day is gooooood. So much in that small book.

Some awesome little financial blessings have happened in the last week. They aren't monumental, but they are in the sense that they are small reassurances that God has his hand on us and what we do doesn't go unnoticed by Him. Someone asked me what I do to reach out or help others in my last blog. Wish I could make a list for you, but I won't. God knows.

Were watching the mine rescue right now. Unbelievable. Praise the Lord for a good outcome! Amazing. Waiting for the 3rd guy who is making his way up right NOW!

some suggestions!

I am working on sight words, penmanship and reading a lot with Madison and some with Haylie. I am open to any and all advice, suggestions and ideas. I'd really like to head to CM school supply and look for some cool stuff, as well.

Also, we are considering buying bunk beds for the girls. A twin on top of a full. I have been looking at prices and websites and lots of furniture stores, but I'd like some feedback. Josh and I have been married 5 and a half years and the only piece of furniture we have ever bought is a couch. And I hated it. So, I want to buy the girls nice durable beds. Not pieces of garbage. There are many out there for like $199. Eh, I dont think so. And then you get the high end stuff is like $1500. DOUBLE "i dont think so"! Suggestions are very much wanted and appreciated!

ps. church was amazing yesterday. harvest.org I LOVE digging into God's word! And that's what I'm gonna do right now as you all fill my inbox with the best suggestions ya'll have to offer!

People are NOT born 'gay'

I believe this for a number of reasons and will back it up with facts as best as I can, many have referred to me and others as ignorant and have yet to produce any facts other than, 'I know a gay person.' Good for you. Trophy is in the mail. My points are mostly geared at those that refer to themselves as Christians and yet still condone homosexuality.

1. Homosexuality is a sin, according to the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." If you call yourself a Christian then you must also believe that the Bible is holy and completely true. EVERY word of it. “… from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-17). If you don't then just stop here and don't proceed to argue or comment. I believe according to what God has put in his word, if you don't then of course we're going to disagree. Also, there are plenty of men with more feminine qualities and women with more masculine qualities. Everyone is made different. Also, if people are "born gay" then why do some not act on that until they have a midlife crisis? Or how is it that there are recovered homosexuals that have come out of the lifestyle? People who are born black dont grow out of it. I use the "black" analogy because homosexuals rights are often compared to those of an African-American. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and most African-Americans would find this offensive.

2. If you are interested in what GOD'S WORD has to say about homosexuality check out THIS site or THIS site. OR you can just continue in your rejection of TRUTH.

3. When a discussion about homosexuality came up, someone brought up the term 'a loving God.' Isn't he tho? Isn't he just ridiculously amazing? So why would a God who loves us more than our brains can fathom create a human to already be wired to be a human that can never enter the kingdom of heaven? We all have free will. Creating someone who is 'gay' would be taking away their free will wouldn't it? Just a thought.

4. Just because someone is choosing to live the homosexual lifestyle does not mean they don't deserve love and respect. In fact, I think they deserve more of our love and prayers and thoughts, because if you look at the STATISTICS they are often very broken people who have been abused in one form or another or come from very broken homes. This bullying epidemic that is going on is so much deeper than someone jumpin off a bridge because they are gay. When I stand up and say what I believe about homosexuality, I will instantly be bombarded with 6-10 people who disagree and almost no one else will stand with me, even if they agree! Christians are being silenced, it's more popular and accepting to be gay than it is to be a Christian who lives according to the word.

I believe it's a deeper issues. Loneliness, emptiness, brokeness! This is an epidemic in our youth! DID YOU KNOW that suicide is the FOURTH leading cause of DEATH for ages 10-14?? HEARTWRENCHING! Unfortunately, I believe the media is manipulating (shocker!) these horrific tragedies for their political agenda. There are young people hurting EVERYWHERE and Killing themselves or using drugs or sleeping with everyone and their mother to find love. WAKE UP, AMERICA! WAKE UP, CHRISTIANS!! Don't just stand there and whine about intolerance. Crack open your Bibles and read about what is right and what is wrong and then go read about how to reach out and LOVE those broken lonely people, whether they are gay, addicts, promiscuous, etc. THEN go find out how you can dig into your community and your church and reach them with God's love and TRUTH. And by truth I dont mean bash them over the head with your Bible, I mean the message of the Gospel and how Jesus died for our sins and all we need to do is accept that gift of Salvation and TURN from our sin. (I think many people miss the "turn" part) And FOLLOW JESUS. Keep your eyes on Him.

Ok thats all, I'll limit myself. I really could go on for days ;)

***there are many links throughout my blog to take you to numerous sites with statistics and information. Feel free to use them :)

mini-update

So it's been awhile since I've done a run down of what we're up to so I thought I'd update you on all the madness we are partaking in!

Tonight is the 1st Christmas program practice. The girls are so excited! Cousin Rachel will be in the same class as Madison so she is extra excited. Haylie seems a little apprehensive about not being in sissy's class, but she'll be ok.

Mr. Handsome's vocabulary has expanded quite a bit. He now says the following: hi, bye-bye, doggy, daddy, blanky, binky, please, thank you and very seldom he'll say mama. He nods his head, too. He's almost 18 months. I LOVE this age! They are as adorable as it gets!

Madison and Haylie are starting piano lessons. Madison has a natural pull towards music and she is super excited. Haylie is along for the ride on this one. I think Haylie may be my little tomboy and lean towards sports later, we'll see. She is just enjoying being a princess who is as giggly as she is emotional.

We are paying off our van. Our goal is to have it paid off by the end of November. We have already been able to throw almost $2000 at it and we are eager to get rid of that car payment!

The book 'Crazy Love' is radically changing my life and my heart and my desires. I challenge anyone who calls themselves a Christian to read it. It will really make you ask yourself, 'Am I really a follower of Christ'? It has lit up such a desire in me to live so much more by faith and stop trying to have my perfect plan of how things need to go down. To make my life and the way we live it day to day focus so much more on my relationship God and what I am teaching my kids about a relationship with God. It's been awesome. Read it.

Next Friday will be our first day of trying out a MOPS group. If we like it, we'll sign up for the semester and that will be every other Friday.

I've been baking pumpkin pies like crazy and plan on baking some pumpkin bread for some special people in my life this week, too. Dont forget: I sell both, so let me know if you have a sweet tooth!

Welp, I think were semi-caught up. Hope everyone's Fall is off to a Fab start!

You or Me...?

When I go to my hair dresser and she has pictures of her and her friends partying taped up at her station, I don't blink even though I don't condone or agree with a partying lifestyle. I'm there to get an amazing cut, which she gives and I gladly pay and tip for. When I called a tree service I didn't ask them about their political views, not because I don't talk about those things, but because I don't care who he voted for when he is laying grass for my kids.

I'm sick of people trying to censor me or strip me of my 1st amendment rights. I received a fb message from a fb friend who happens to also be a customer. I have known this family for 20 years. And they let me know that I shouldn't talk about religion or politics because it may cause our clients who are our fb friends to rethink their decision to use our window washing service, especially since my views were narrow-minded. I was also told this life is about kindness and diversity. I have lots of points so I am going to number them to keep it organized.

#1. This person is a fb friend because they are friend, NOT because they are a client. I do NOT friend request "clients".

#2. Our "religious" (i hate that word) or political views have NO bearing on our integrity as business people nor how hard-working we are. Did you know we have multiple gay households that use our services? And we treat them with the kindness and integrity we do any of our other customers. We also have buddhist and mormon customers we also treat with respect and serve them as equally we do anyone else. We don't even THINK about these things when we conduct our business.

#3 As a Conservative Christian, I cannot think of ONE TIME I have not used someone's service because they did not share my same views or because they shared them, period.

#4 I'm almost positive if my views matched this persons, I would not have received this msg. And that makes me narrowminded?? Couple of subpoints on this one.
a. Doesn't that make YOU narrowminded? If you feel so upset because I dont share your views and you threaten to not use our companies services? You only want to use business people that always keep their views to themselves or share the same ones? This is MY personal fb. We have a business fan site and we have NEVER put anything controversial up whatsoever and never plan to.
b. The Bible says "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way." Matthew 7:13 I can live that. Can you?

#5 Kindness and diversity. The definition of diverse is 'differing from each other: very different or distinct from one another' Welp, looks like my view also classifies as "diverse". As far as being kind, not sure how I was unkind to anyone. Is it because I dont want gays to marry or because I don't care for Obama or because I believe Jesus is the ONLY way to Salvation with no room for interpretation? My husband and I are very kind and compassionate. Especially, when conducting business. Having conservative views does not equal unkindness.

#6 You may want to do your hw on the places you choose to shop. Many of them are politically skewed and donate money to support lots of different causes that you may or may not agree with. Welcome to America. If we were using our profits to support a measure or a candidate or anything controversial, I would understand not using our services, but we dont. Pristine Solutions is nonpartisan & non"religious". I, however, am a person with thoughts and emotions and convictions.

#7 Why not just "hide" me...? Or delete me?

Let's face it, YOU are the intolerant one. And I don't mean "you" the person who wrote me, I mean, I do, but I also mean all others who have attacked me. I have never wrote someone and asked them to please SHUTUP because I dont agree with them. I have never called someone a name because they shared a different view. I have never put down other people personally because they shared different views. And I sure as heck have never turned down someone's services because they have different views or because they simply shared them in a public forum. If I had a $1 for everytime I was trashed, attacked or been discriminated against by the truly NARROWminded people, I'd be loaded.

If you need to have your windows cleaned by someone whose wife you dont happen to know, then that's ok. That's a decision you have to make. We are truly grateful for all of our customers from every walk of life and we offer the same exceptional service and charge the same price to everyone, no matter what religion, political affiliation or walk of life they are. I hope people choose us because we have integrity and work hard and take pride in our work.

Bras, Lawns & Weddings

This weeken was awesome for a plethora of reasons.

Friday night I went shopping and bought a dress. This may be a regular ritual to many of you, but not to me. I went to Forever 21 and got a bangin' dress for a mighty $17.80. We kind of ran out of time that night so it had to put on hold until Saturday.

Saturday morning we went to Bruce & Lucy's house and we helped in the garden. We pulled up all the old squash plants. And then I came home with more strawberry plants, a chinese grapefruit tree and an orchid. This made me very happy =D Happy to help and come home with so many awesome goodies!

After the garden adventure we went to a meeting for the Christmas Program. Both girls are in it this year, along with Cousin Rachel. All 3 girls are ecstatic.

After the meeting we swung by the mall. I was lookin' all sorts of trashy from the gardening. Dirt caked on my legs. Dear Heavens! Sorry folks, I needed accessories. I was horrified by the terrible service I got at Reflection. HOWEVER, I was in a time crunch so I had to overlook that. So I got awesome wedges for my dress and boots for Carrie Underwood. THEN, I went up to Victoria's Secret and perused, not sure if I was getting anything, but I DID reallyyyyy need a decent strapless bra. Since Josh and I sold everything when we were trying to get out of debt and started to be uber-picky, I go the cheap route on just about anything I can. But I am learning that there a few things that you get what you pay for. One of those things is haircuts, another are bras. I am in awe of my new bra. It is a multi-way bra and when I wore it as a strapless, I did NOT have to tug it back up into position, EVER. AH-mazing. Well, I really needed this bra in 'nude', but they only had 'cheetah'...hmmm...what a dilemma, well the lady found me a 'nude' bra of a slightly different style almost as equally awesome. 'cheetah' va-va-voom or 'nude' necessity? Ugh. I let Josh pick. He said "both, honey." SCORE! Then I gathered me up some 5 for $25 britches and got in line a happy camper. Ladies, if you haven't treated yourself to some fancy undergarments recently, I suggest you do. I'm positive my self-esteem has jumped a couple notches!

After being completely spoiled, we went home to get ready for Jarrod & Kelly's wedding! We had such a blast. We caught up with so many people we haven't spent time with in a long time. Jarrod and Josh are long time friends, but I had never met Jarrod's parents or his little brother. The whole family was awesome and welcoming. Kelly made a stunning bride and Jarrod cleaned up SO nice! They were super cute! Ashton and I both agree the DJ was phenom and will definitely need to hire him for something...not sure what exactly! In the video montage, there was an old picture of Eric, Jarrod and Josh! Adorbs! So we made sure to take a pic of the 3 of them together that night! What a handsome trio! I'm sure Ashton and Kelly would agree! There were some slightly awkward moments LOL, but we're going to focus on the positive! hahaha :) I got a lovely picture with 'the Situation' err I mean Corey right after the not so private dance he gave...LOL and there's a pic of Tiana and I and 'the bump'! I seriously could go on and on about how much fun we had and we are def going to be getting together with these peeps more often!

Sunday we went to church and just had a relaxing day altogether. I got to spend a good portion of the day just chatting with Josh. It's seems so few and far between where we can just talk without being interrupted every 6 seconds so that was golden. Later we hung out with Lauren Kathryn and let the kids run around at the Crossings. We also started our Christmas shopping, that wasn't the plan when we left the house, but we saw some things we couldn't pass up, bc they are perfect for 'mystery recipient''s A &B. LOL then we came home and brainstormed about Christmas and the budget and gifts! I'm very excited!

Now, before we get carried away with Christmas talk, we need to discuss fall. Especially since it's making it's official debut tomorrow, in which I will be ringing in with a homemade pumpkin pie tonight! You, too, can have some of my delectable pie for the low price of $13 OR pumpkin loaves for $6 or 2 for $10. I will deliver for the low price of $2 (I have some limitations to this LOL)!

I will be doing this throughout the season for leisure, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don't let the holidays go by without having some of Priscilla's Pies! I gotta pay for them Christmas gifts some how! haha :)

My title is "Bras, lawns & weddings" and I forgot the lawn part. I mowed the lawn today. Go me! Well, truth be told, I did it for selfish reasons. I did it to get my compost pile started and then the dadgum bag didnt catch any of the clippings! Josh is gonna rake some up for me. What a peach!

I'm so happy and content. I'm always content bc I know God is in control, but I am just so happy. He's been so good to us and keeps our motor running constantly, in spite of the negative nancy's & debbie downer's that are around us. We are RIGHT where we should be right now!

My garden has come to fruition!

And so it begins...my garden, that is...

Nana and I went to Armstrong's nursery in Yorba Linda today to pick up a tree that will be a gift for my Dad & Yi in honor of her father who is a very passionate gardener. I say 'is' because he is still gardening, I'm sure of it, only in heaven. Bet that garden is AH-MAZING.

Since we have moved to Linda's we have had great intentions of starting a garden and today was the perfect opportunity to get started. I'm a smart girl, but when it comes to gardening, I'm quite ignorant. I really enjoyed the nursery. I totally thought I had to buy seeds and start from scratch, but nope, they have the plant in little cups all ready to go for you! SWEET! I bought some compost and some sort of round wired supportive thingy for my tomatoes. Just give me time, I will have the 411 on this gardening stuff. When I'm ready to invest a little more money, I want to get a compost pile going. I've been researching it a little. If you have any tips, I'm more than grateful to hear them.

So far in the garden we have tomatoes and artichokes,

basil, rosemary and thyme,

and a berry basket!

This mad me soooo happy. I think I am going to love this! To just be able to go out into the backyard and pick what I need, thrilling! Eek! I will keep you posted on it's progress!

Going back in time a little bit, we got to see Uncle Matt this week! Uncle Pat is also here for a month while his foot heals. Not sure how much we'll see hime since he's planning a wedding and all! The girls are going to be flower girls, it's gonna be a blast! Congrats Pat & Katie!

Anyhow, Uncle Matt flew out to pick up a car to drive home. It just so happened to be his 25th bday on Monday and I made Edna Mae's sour cream pancakes (from PW cookbook) for everyone, but of course I added chocolate chips. And we met them for lunch at Miguels. I'm so grateful that even with Matt living in Arizona, our bond as family just gets stronger. And the girls just adore their Uncle Pat even though He's in Texas. When I told Madison we were gonna get to see him, first thing out of her mouth was, "is his foot feeling better?" How sweet is she? She totally remembered and she hadn't even seen him since he had injured it. Nate and Erin were able to come out a little bit this last weekend, too. Unfortunately we never did get everyone in the same place at the same time, but it was still good to see everyone. Madison took the pic with nate and erin in it. Photography skills are shaping up!

Rewind a leeeeetle bit more and you can see my delectable chicken pot pie. I hope this picture is worth a 1000 words because it was GOOD. PW's recipe is to DIE for! I used my own recipe for crust though, because in my humble opinion, my crust is bomb :) I may try hers in the future.

That is all for now...pretty sure every little excerpt of my blog had food in it...yep. Must be this whole cutting back what I'm eating thing...it's getting to my head and all I think about is foooood. HA!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES! COME ON!

I think I'll have a glass of wine tonight to celebrate the fact that I can have wine for the next 9 months because I am NOT pregnant. After a freak positive and irregularness (that's as far as I'll go withthat bc I am not a TMI person), I was gearing up for #4. We had names on the horizon and were bracing to tell family who would undoubtedly greet us with their disappointment and questions about the birds and the bees. Thank the good Lord, he spared us from those moments of pure awkwardness about birth control and our personal finances!

In celebration, I went shopping on Gap.com for the Princesses that are already outside my womb! I got them some cute hooded shirts and I got them these little beauts.

The black one is for Madison and the pink one is Haylie's. They'll look so adorable with the layering shirts that I got with them! Oh and of course, no matter how gung-ho about being unpregnant I am, I never forget to get a good deal. I got 15% with a code and then another 20% off for using my VISA debit card (also a code) and I used another code for free shipping! I easily saved almost $40! Double "go me!" for getting a fantabulous deal and not being PREGNANT! WOO!!

Well, now that you are clued in on the VACANCY in my uterus, me and my 3 perfectly wonderful, sufficient, already walking & talking, sleeping-thru-the-night children are going on a playdate where I will be leaping for joy thru the park like I've lost my marbles!

Ciao!

letter

Hi God, it's me Priscilla. I couldn't wait to be here, Lord, right Here. Here, with an amazing husband and my amazing babies and our amazing life we are building together on you. You're the foundation. Thanks for that. I never lived in the moment as a kid, I just couldn't wait to grow and now a small part of me wants to go back. Go back to a time when I was oblivious to truly hard times and heartache and sadness. When the saddest thing I cried over was some dumb boy and thought it was the end of the world. Oh to only feel that degree of sadness over the sadnesses these last years have brought. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, Lord because you truly have answered my prayers tenfold. It's just these degrees of sadness that I would switch out if I could, God. The heart-broken-by-boy sadness versus the agony of death, disease, the breakdown of our family sadness. I really do trust you are in control and I know none of what happens is an accident or a surprise to you. Trying to be like you is a daily challenge and task. It boggles my mind how imperfect I am and yet you can see us as perfect because of the blood shed that covers our multitudes of sins. It's so cute when I see something in my kids that reminds me of me. I hope sometimes you see a glimmer of you in me, Jesus, in spite of my wretched sinful nature. I cry a lot, Lord. A lot. Not like uncontrollable burst into tears at inappropriate moment cries. More like my heart has a tug string attached to every human being I come in contact with and when they ache, I ache. I think your kinda like that, too, Lord. When we are suffering and hurting and going thru trials in our lives that string you've lassoed on our hearts tugs back at you and you go thru it with us and weep with us. It's such a comforting feeling. You are totally in control and you totally allow things and I just make sure I work daily at trusting you and the plan you have for us. And yet even though you are the almighty God that's holding the universe together, you have the time to weep with and comfort me, those I love and everyone else that calls on you. I don't know what others do without a Dad like you in their lives and all they have to do is ask. The peace you give is enough for me to believe. That peace that passes understanding amidst the pain and tears is enough to solidify You are the great I Am. The comfort you give in some of my loneliest moments is not a figment of my imagination or anything other than your presence and arms wrapped around me. You give me the courage to be bold and live out loud, sometimes too loud. I know my meekness is a work in progress. You already know all this, God. You knew every word I would type before time ever existed. But I wanted to write it anyway. I wanted to get it all our there as my own reminder and reference of where I am today and our journey together, Lord. You are the potter and I am the clay and I hope you will keep molding me. Take me for who I am right Here, today, and continue molding me. Thank you for keeping me and comforting me in all the sadnesses of today.

with Love, me.

service&deeds gone bad

I feel like I'm in the process of brushing myself off from yesterday & today. I've already gotten used to the fact when you go against our twisted culture there is going to be a huge backlash, but I am ok with that. Jesus wasn't popular either and something tells me he'd be pretty passionate about the well-being of children. It's funny because when people post things on their fb or their blog about things I don't agree with or aren't in line with my views, I sometimes think to myself "hmmm...I dont agree with that...what should I make for lucnh?" or sometimes I may throw in my 2 cents and have a healthy debate, but I try not to personally rip an individual to shreds or go write about them on the wall of other peoples pages or have my family update their status to reflect my disdain and personally attack their family. Hmmm...I wonder why people do that? Not gonna lie, I am human and it makes me sad, but people are who they are and are going to behave the way they behave. I will never make apologies for my conservative beliefs and I will continue to love and encourage those around me, even the ones with different viewpoints. I'm over this topic and I think I've said my point til I'm blue in the face so do what you want with it.

Moving on, I'm stoked for the weekend and to have lots of activities planned. I'm hoping I'll get to spend some time with my Dad and Yi and the rest of the family and take them some home-cooked meals and some baked goods. I stopped by for a little tonight and saw my Dad and Yi briefly. It still seems so surreal. I hate to see others hurting, but there is nothing you can do. I brought some soups tonight and tried to be helpful by straightening up the kitchen and stuff. [[my love language is service&deeds]] Well, I didn't get the memo that dishwasher wasn't in working order so after I took out the trash I walked back into the kitchen just in time to see a real life geyser going off in the kitchen. Great!! I came to help and flooded the kitchen. Totally on my game. Oh well, I got it all cleaned up and washed them by hand.

Totally Random: Watching Masterchef with my Love right now, yes, while I blog. I'm a multi-tasker like that. These judges are cah-razy. Dear Heavens!! I would for sure cry if I was on there. HAHA

night =]