I am reading a book right now that I'm sure some of you have read before. It is Home Improvement by Dayle Allen Shockley. It's a really cute, practical every day living book. It compares home cleaning and organizing skills to our actions and daily living. The last chapter I read was Wash The Windows, and it was about keeping a cheerful attitude. I loved the way she ended the chapter, and thought I'd share.
*Hi, my name is __________, and I am a full-fledged, bona fide grumbler.
*I am solely responsible for my irritating behavior. Not my spouse. Not my children. Not my mother. Not my father. Not my circumstances.
*I have chosen to allow other people's behavior and life's annoying situations to dictate my mood and my reactions.
*I have chosen to speak the words I speak and the tone of voice in which I speak them.
*Therefore, I can choose to stop allowing other people's behavior and life's annoying situations to dictate my mood and my reactions.
*I can choose to speak with a gentle and cheerful voice, even if I think it might kill me.
*I can choose to speak positive and uplifting words to my family, friends, and strangers.
*I can do all things through Christ.
*I will start today.
She also goes on to say, "Life is not the way it's supposed to be, it's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."
Excited About Cooking
I am so excited about this blog I came across yesterday in search of a specific recipe. I love to cook, but a lot of times I need motivation because I get tired of the same things. My husband really gets excited about new recipes so I usually try for one or two new things when planning my two week menu. However, this is always such a big job it seems. I use spreadsheets for almost everything I do, and that includes my grocery list, & menu. So I sit down with my computer in front of me and piles of cookbooks surrounding me in search of new recipes almost every two weeks. I truly love cookbooks and looking through them, but mostly if they have pictures! Well even in doing this it is so much work to make my menu, because another thing about me is I love variety. My friends that have shopped with me know this is so true! This "variety" carries over in my menu planning. I will not plan two similar meals in a two week period. This goes for things like Italian, Pasta's, Casseroles, Mexican, etc. I also will not cook the same meat two consecutive nights in a row. I know that is kinda crazy, but I like to have different things if I'm going to take the time to cook. So now that I have said all that I can tell you the reason I love the new blog! For the Love of Cooking has lots of pictures! I love how she even takes pictures of the ingredients for most of her recipes. Sometimes it is hard to find a new ingredient that you have never used before so this works great to be able to see it before going to the store. Not all of her recipes are totally healthy ones but with what I have seen it is obvious that she tends to think healthy in her cooking. I noticed she uses mostly organic foods and does things to avoid frying. I never have been a big frying person my self because it is so bad for you and it makes such a big mess. She has several different categories of foods which makes for tons of options. I love that I can just sit down and within clicks, cutting and pasting I have recipes with pictures in my documents, and I can put the ingredients into my grocery list easily. I'm sure there are a lot more cooking blogs out there, but this happens to be the first one I have even looked at I think and it meets so many of my likes that I am just excited about it!
HAIDEN'S B-DAY, WHICH MEANS....
Well today is finally here, the day Haiden, Dad, & Mom have talked about for months now, his birthday! This has been the birthday that's been anticipated for sometime now, because he turns twelve today. As we all know at Life Tabernacle, this means he is officially going to be part of the youth group! Not being raised in church and experiencing this anticipated day when I was a child, I don't really know what kind of excitement it holds for a young person. I feel excited for him though. I feel like making jokes with him, laughing with him and being crazy because "HAIDEN, YOUR IN THE YOUTH NOW", lol! Maybe a little crazy for mom, but oh well. I think about the memories he will make over the next 6-8 years of his life, the challenges he will have, choices he will be faced with, becoming more of what God wants him to be, and I can't help but be excited. This also means that we as parents will have many challenges and things to learn in parenting as well. I'm so glad that we will have God to help us learn through it all! It is hard to think about letting go, and him being off with other people on various trips, but I know we must let him spread his wings and fly so to speak. He just seems so young, and he is, lol! I will say I'm glad he is our first to learn these things with. No one is perfect, but there are some days my husband and I joke about Haiden being the perfect child. Up until this point he has been easy to teach and train. In so many little things about him I am constantly reminded of the miracle he was in my life 12 years ago, and still is!
A Storm That's Like a Dream
I came to my blog tonight to glance over it and think on making a post. I updated a few things that only took a moment, and then sat as I felt there was nothing to write. I really wanted to update my post seeing it had been almost two years since doing so, but felt like where do I begin or what do I say. As I thought about what has been going on in our lives, I began to think it almost doesn't seem real, but yet like a dream. Here we are in February, and January is over. From the very first day in January throughout the month it was a storm for us. When thinking about this, it came to me, how a storm to each person is different. There are so many things that factor in within the storm, that it affects everyone differently and works different things in there life. At the same time, many different storms bring the same feelings to us all while in them. How we deal with those feelings, depends on whether or not we are seeking and trusting God. There have been many thoughts rush in and out over the past month, and even the "why" & "what are you doing God", but in the midst of all that an unexplainable peace from God is what my husband and I both felt. We laughed, we cried, we talked, we prayed, and knew that God was there the whole time. We don't know why there had to be a mass on my husband's kidney, and how it was so large but never any problems, and why surgery to remove the kidney and mass, and why it had to be cancer, but God does! It was a storm in our lives that God was showing himself strong in our midst. Even on the days when it was hard to think positive, we knew God was there. As I thought of all this seeming like a dream, I found thankfulness in that. Many times when something is like a dream it is because it has been quiet sometime since that happening. Time has caused the situation to seem as if it were never real. I'm thankful to feel like this was all a dream, because I know without a doubt that God was carrying us through it all, and that He still is. When the storm is like a dream, then you feel that it has passed. Thank you Jesus!
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