My Journey Begins Now

PIR
GNOC
LMIR

Do you know what any of these acronyms stand for? Chances are your texting teen does. My teenager has a cell phone. He's had one since he was 8-yrs-old. We didn't have a home phone so everyone had a cell phone instead.

Now that he is 13 he texts constantly with friends. His phone is not off-limits and I've been known to pick it up at anytime and scroll through his messages. Thank God I have never found anything questionable on there. Prayerfully I WON'T ever find anything!

As parents to teenagers we have the obligation to stay on top of these things. We should stay informed and up-to-date on these issues such as sexting. By the way...those acronyms stand for:
Parents In Room
Get Naked on Camera
Let's Meet In Real life

I am headed to GA to celebrate my precious Bailee's 3rd birthday. She is an angel. I love this sweet baby so much!
She and Tina came and stayed with us for a week in October. Bailee's daddy (a Marine) has been traveling a lot the last two months and he was going to be gone for the whole week so Tina decided to come to town and spend that week with friends and family.
Unfortunately I had to work a lot during that time. I worked a couple of really late nights trying to clear my schedule for Friday so I could be off and spend the whole day with my Bailee-boo before they left the next day. Friday was our day...YaYa & Bailee. I laughed so much that day. The things she says are hilarious!

Bailee and my puppy Raven are "best friends." She calls him Ray-Ray. Here she is tickled because of one of Ray-Ray's habits...drinking out of my birdbath!
After she watched the dog drinking from the birdbath she decided she would play in it too and she proceeded to make leaf soup for my birdies.
We had the chance to visit the fair while they were in town...Bailee loved the petting zoo! (Poor bunny!)
She enjoyed the big ferris wheel until we reached the top everytime and then she snuggled close to her mommy...it was extremely windy that day and the wind was much worse the higher we went.
Her daddy is going to be out of town this weekend working so he won't be there for her birthday party. He took his little princess out for a date one night this week. She was so excited to go out with her daddy!

During the course of my life I have worked at probably hundreds of conventions, festivals and trade shows. When I was a child/teenager my dad and step-mom set up every weekend at the flea market and at festivals around the area. It was exhausting work but lots of fun. We got to know fellow vendors who traveled around to these same events year after year. As I got older my parents purchased paints and things for me to earn money by painting children's faces.

In my 20's, I traveled one summer with my mom who worked for several years installing computer systems into funeral homes. We spent our time setting up trade show booths at Funeral Director's conventions. That was an experience! Some of the items displayed were a little too much for my young eyes to take in and it put a whole other spin on those who work with "the dead."

As I entered my 30's I was a Creative Memories Consultant for about 6 years. My mom was a CMC too - for approximately 9 years. We worked together at a number of events during that time. It was always frustrating for me trying to set up a booth. Mom likes to get dramatic and go all out...I'm into simpler, cost-effective displays. I despise using disposable items (that cost a small fortune) and then just tossing them after one event! I can't tell you how many table skirts we purchased during that time.

I wish I knew back then that you could actually purchase items - banner stands, pipe and drape setups, and table skirts - and keep these items to use from one show to the next! It would have made life so much simpler.

My dad and stepmom eventually opened several stores and got out of the flea market/festival scene. After 20-something years of running stores they closed them all a couple years ago and decided to start setting up at the flea market again every weekend. It's hard work because they have to set up and take down their products every day but the overhead is cheap compared to a brick-and-mortar store and there's no labor costs (since they do it all themselves.)

Dad just told me a couple weeks ago he is thinking about opening another store...this one will be their biggest one yet. Hmmm, I think my stepmom will probably divorce him if he continues with this plan! :-) Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens and if he opens it I'll be sure to let you all know where you can go shop.

Here's a GREAT song to get you going this morning...LOVE LOVE LOVE this song!

Satan would try to convince us that we're not able to partake of God's blessings. But we should listen instead to Jesus, who tells us that God is happy to bless us.

Can you guess what these snazzy little doo-dads are?
Pretty strange looking aren't they? LOL

I see a rheumatologist regularly for my fibromyalgia. When I went to see her about 6 months ago I told her my hands/thumbs were really bothering me a lot. She took xrays of my hands and gave me some medicine to help with the pain and inflammation. She told me I have moderate to severe arthritis in my thumbs - called Basal Joint Arthritis.

When I went back to see her last week we discussed my xrays and my options - surgery (CMC Joint Arthroplasty), cortisone shots or physical therapy and wearing splints.
I chose physical therapy & splints -
I went to the physical therapist last Thursday. My insurance doesn't cover physical therapy. The PT I saw is the only hand therapist in town and he feels sorry for patients like me for two reasons 1)the pain is debilitating and our thumbs have to do 80% of the work of our hands and 2)we pay a lot for our monthly insurance and for them not to cover PT is crazy!

So this wonderful PT didn't charge me for the splints he made me AND he spent 2 hours with me going over all the things I can do at home to help this problem - paraffin wax treatments, hand exercises, and using assistive devices for buttoning, zipping, opening jars, etc. He also explained the surgery thoroughly and encouraged me to really consider having the surgery - he said everyone he has worked with that has had the surgery has come back and said "why didn't I do this sooner!?"

I left there so thankful for his time, directions and explanations! I also left there with strict orders to wear these handy dandy splints when I sleep, drive, type and write. LOL They keep my thumb from moving around and force me to use my other fingers more. I have to say though they really do the job - I've been virtually pain free since I started wearing them!

Artist's comments:
This week's cartoon depicts a lifeguard running into the sea to save a drowning swimmer. People in the world are being swept away in a tide of sin. We, as Christians, have the message that can save them.

People don't need to be beat on the head with the bad news that they are condemned for being a sinner. We should be telling them the good news, that Jesus loves them and died to redeem them from condemnation.

Halloween - Trick or Treat - Nutrition

If you are like most parents, nutrition is not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Halloween and trick -or-treating. Halloween has to be the WORST holiday for our children as far as nutrition goes. What kind of "treats" do you give out? Candy, stickers, raisins?

I am so thankful Dakota doesn't like candy; anything we get normally just ends up in the trash after Greg & I pick out a few of our favorites. Dakota isn't the best about brushing his teeth without me constantly reminding him but because he doesn't eat a lot of candy or sugar-laden foods he is blessed with not having to deal with a cavity (so far.)

One other way I try to keep the sugar down to a minimum is by limiting the types of drinks Dakota has. He is allowed juice, unsweet tea, as much bottled water as he wants and milk. Chocolate milk is his favorite! Don't all kids just love chocolate milk?

Did you know you could give out chocolate milk this year as an alternative to all the candy?
Trick or Treat Me has information (and a coupon!) about this boxed chocolate milk that keeps on the shelf until you are ready to refrigerate it. This chocolate milk is by Hershey's and Organic Valley - both trusted names in the dairy industry. Head on over to Twick or Tweet Me to get all the details about this nutritious substitute for Halloween this year.

I went to the movies last weekend to see Tyler Perry's movie I Can Do Bad All By Myself. This is one of the Madea movies Tyler Perry is famous for. Personally I did not enjoy this movie as much as Diary of a Mad Black Woman or Madea's Family Reunion both of which had me laughing hysterically throughout their entirety. This newest movie was rather sad and I found myself crying more than anything else. I don't want to give away too much information in case anyone reading this is planning on seeing the movie so I'm not going to say anything else about that movie.

The main reason I am writing this is because when I went to the movies last weekend there was a trailer for a new movie coming out the beginning of November. I can't get that movie out of my mind. I know it is just a movie...but unfortunately for thousands (maybe millions) of children it IS a reality!

The movie is called Precious - watch the trailer for yourself...


I will go see this movie when it comes out. I already know I need to take a box of tissue with me and I may need to go see it by myself so I can sit and cry silently without anyone looking at me. I am curious to see how this movie will end. Will Precious succeed in life because she is shown love and encouragement by a few people around her? Or will she forever be stuck in the wretched lifestyle she was born into because she has been shot down and torn down from every angle?

This is hilarious...watch this boy dance!

We can be joyful in the midst of tests and trials, because we know that God is allowing them to make us stronger in the faith.

I mentioned in a previous post that Greg & Dakota were sick. Greg has a "cold" whereas Dakota has the flu I believe...he's got all the yucky symptoms anyway. They both spent the day in bed yesterday.

I've moved my computer desk from my bedroom out to the living room so I can work in peace without having to listen to the TV my husband loves to watch. Dakota made a pallet on the floor in the living room at my feet by my computer desk instead of laying in his bed or in bed with his daddy. I had to chuckle at this. He's 13 yrs old - that hard in-between age where he is beginning to want his freedom and make his own choices, yet he is still just a young boy...MY young boy. :-) Now here he is sick and he is curling up on the floor at my feet because he wants his mama to be close to him.
I was supposed to go to a concert last night with a friend. I ran to the store to pick up some food/soup, etc and while I was gone I called my friend and bailed on her and her teenage daughter. She is a mother and completely understood why I just didn't feel right about leaving Dakota.

When I got back to the house and told Greg what I had done he said "WHAT?! Hello!! I'm here!" I told Greg "I'm a mom, that's my job and I love it...so I'm staying home and taking care of our boy." There will be another concert down the road. I am slowly "losing" my children to life...they are all growing up and moving on (Praise God since that's as it should be!) so I'm not passing up this opportunity to love on and nurse my son back to health.

This is the group I was going to see last night - Skillet - I've seen them once before in concert and loved it. I must admit I LOVE Christian rock and enjoy going to these concerts. They are sooooo energetic!

I've been working long hours/long days the last couple of weeks...it's a job stocking Halloween candy in all the stores in my town. Great money but long hours. I'm off every day this next week except Tuesday (Praise God!) and then the last two weeks I'll be working every day right up until Halloween.

I was so looking forward to just kicking back this week and catching up on some school work with Dakota and spending extra time with him. He's been doing school on his own while I've been working lately...glad he's doing it, but it's not the same.

This morning I woke up early before Greg & Dakota and decided to catch up on some long overdue emails before I started getting ready for church. Greg woke up about an hour later - I heard him speak and said "Ugh! Are you getting sick!?"

His answer..."Yes, I feel terrible."

Being the loving wife I am, I told him "Well stay AWAY from me! I don't want whatever it is you have!!"--and then I got the bleach spray bottle out and started wiping down doorknobs, light switches and all the surfaces he touched.

About 30 mins later, Dakota woke up and he is really sick. "Awww, my poor little man, do you need some medicine, can I get you a drink..."

Hmmm, took me about a minute to realize the difference in MY attitude towards my sick hubby & son. Wow! Where did THAT WOMAN come from? Did I not realize my honey bunny needs just as much loving and sympathy as my little man? Thank you Lord for opening my eyes quickly this morning so I can take care of, love on and nurse the two males in this house back to better health! Oh yeah....and please please please don't let me get sick!!! ;-)

Whatever enemies we may be facing, be it sickness, poverty, loneliness, fear, etc., we can be safe from them in Jesus, just as this joey is safe from the dingos in his mother's pouch.

This is something I've been thinking about lately and just wanted to put out there to share with whoever happens to read my blog...all 3 of you. ***snicker snicker***

Dakota just turned 13. That is a hard age for any 13-yr-old. Because Dakota has always been homeschooled and never gone to public school and because he has 5 much older brothers/sisters and four sets of grandparents he has been around adults his entire life. That's not to say he doesn't have friends his own age, he has several friends he plays with regularly and he has never had any problem hanging out with kids.

The problem comes with adults. He is so used to his family treating him with respect and allowing him to do and think for himself. When we are "out in the world" and I'm trying to teach him things or I take him with me on jobs so I can teach him skills that may be useful later on, it's so frustrating when an adult looks at Dakota and sees a "kid" and forms an opinion like "oh great, a bratty kid to deal with" and is not helpful or completely overlooks him BECAUSE he's a kid! Grrrr, I get so frustrated with this!

Trying to teach him skills of how to ask questions politely and find out information only to be met with a rude, obnoxious adult who quite obviously doesn't want to be bothered by a "child"...just burns me up! Then the next time we are faced with this situation Dakota is scared to ask questions or go pay for something...because of the ignorant adult he had to deal with the previous time. Unfortunately, Dakota is a people pleaser so he takes things like this to heart - it weighs heavily on him, therefore weighing heavily on me. :-(

There have been several instances of this happening lately and I just don't understand why some adults feel like kids are not worthy of the same respect they themselves expect?

I posted about how I got started with Merchandising last year. I've been working more and more the last few months. Currently I'm employed by five different companies and there's never a week I go without some sort of work.

This is the perfect job for me because I set my own hours, pick which jobs I want to work and complete them on my time schedule. Since Greg & I are still sharing a vehicle, this works out wonderfully.

There are a couple of different job boards and websites with a ton of information about Merchandising if you are looking for some side jobs or extra income. You can start your search here:
Volition - read the forums, look at the job listings
NARMS - create a profile so jobs will be emailed to you or just search the job bank
If you have any questions or need more information about merchandising, feel free to leave me a comment.

Image by Neil T via Flickr

I pay the majority of our bills online using my debit card. I do shop online too. I've been doing this for many years and fortunately have not had any problems...until recently. Twice within the last two months my debit card has been "hacked."

Praise the Lord I've changed the way I handle my bank accounts the last six months so I didn't lose any money both times my card's security was breached. The credit union just cancelled my card and issued me a new one both times without me even knowing it (although they did try calling me and couldn't reach me.)

I used to use my debit card for absolutely everything...never carrying cash on me at all. The last six months though I've been paying our bills on payday (online) using my debit card so the money comes out instantly and then I transfer some to savings and pull the rest of the money out of the bank. I have found that we are better able to save from week to week if the money is sitting in a safe place at home as opposed to sitting in the bank where we can see the available amount at any given moment. If we do need to use our debit card while we are out, I just call and transfer the money from savings.

Because of this habit I've started the credit union knew something was up when a very large charge was trying to be made using my debit card and the money wasn't in the account to cover this charge...so they tried calling me and when they couldn't reach me, they declined the charge and cancelled my card. When I returned their call the next day and found out what had happened AGAIN I was so appreciative they had been pro-active in their efforts to prevent me from losing a lot of money and going through a lot of hassle!

Now, I'm on my third card in two months...this time they sent me a keychain card too. Hmmm, not sure if I like this thing yet or not.

The United Nations has designated the 1st Monday of October each year as World Habitat Day.

According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people in the world today are homeless. Millions more face a severe housing problem living without adequate sanitation, with irregular or no electricity supply and without adequate security.
I can't imagine what life must be like for the people who have to live in these conditions day in and day out year after year. As I sit here in my comfortable padded chair in my air conditioned bedroom and type this post on my computer, which I can do because I have electricity, cable, etc, I can't help but feel guilty when I think of the children in this picture below...
Look at what they are faced with every day! The sad fact of the matter is this problem is not only abroad...it's right here in the United States! According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (2004) - about 95 million people, 1/3 of the nation, have housing problems including a high-cost burden, overcrowding, poor quality shelter and homelessness. The number of low-income families that lack safe and affordable housing is related to the number of children that suffer from asthma, viral infections, anemia, stunted growth and other health problems.

The Global Poverty Facts are even worse -
According to UN-Habitat (2006) - One out of every three city dwellers – nearly a billion people – lives in a slum. (Slum indicators include: lack of water, lack of sanitation, overcrowding, non-durable structures and insecure tenure.)

By the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)

So, what can we do to help?

Advocate for decent housing for all by submitting a photo of yourself holding a sign that says “It all starts at home” and submit it to Habitat’s photo petition on Flickr.com Habitat’s goal is to collect a minimum of 500 photos to deliver to the White House. Submit your photo by Friday, September 25, 2009.

Urge your legislators to support the Shelter, Land and Urban Assistance Act of 2009. Tell Congress to pass the SLUM Assistance Act!

Educate your community with Habitat for Humanity’s World Habitat Day handbook to learn more about the importance of secure tenure and neighborhood revitalization. Get even more information about the issue of insecure tenure by reading Habitat’s Shelter Report: building a secure future through effective land policies.

Brainstorm ways to get more people involved. Learn from the successes of last year’s campaign, and come up with brand-new ways to celebrate and publicize the important work of Habitat for Humanity.


Donate to be a part of making the world a better place and support Habitat’s efforts. Donate online today!

Greg's daughter, Brianna turned 18 on Saturday. I met Brianna when she was a toddler. Greg and I got married when she was 4 yrs old - it's hard to believe she is 18 now! She is a beautiful young lady.

We have not seen her in a few months and when we got to the party Saturday, she was shocked to see how much Dakota had grown...he's now taller than her. Both her brothers will be towering over her now before much longer! Haha

Happy Birthday Bri....I love you sweetie!

As Christians, we should be developing in our lives the fruit of the Spirit, those traits of Godly character, so that the world around us can see by our words and our actions that we have been given a new life in Jesus.

Image via Wikipedia

This gets thrown around so much in the wrong context - it's frustrating when people try to use this as an argument of why there shouldn't be prayer here and there or the Ten Commandments displayed here and there or other nonsense such as this. People, do your homework for goodness sake! There is a widespread belief that separation of church and state was created to keep people from practicing or expressing their religion or beliefs in state/public buildings/areas/functions, etc. This is NOT what this was created for!

Separation of church and state comes from the First Ammendment:

• Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by the Congress or the preference of one religion over another, non-religion over religion, or religion over non-religion.

In essence, what this all means is Separation of Church and State was created to KEEP the STATE'S nose out of people's individual religious beliefs and NOT ALLOW the state/government to make a one-world religion.

You can read more about the laws here, here and here.

An alternative translation to the word "health" in the verse is "medicine". God's word is good medicine for our total being: spirit, soul and body.

I went on a road trip to GA over the Labor Day weekend to visit Tina and my granddaughter, Bailee. I asked my (ex) sister-in-law, Vickie and her daughter Maddy to go with me so Bailee could spend time with her cousin and we could just have a good "girls weekend" away from our guys.
We got in late Friday night and stayed until Monday morning. The weekend went by way too fast. On Saturday we went into Albany to the Riverquarium by Flint River where they were having a birthday bash celebration.
They had lots of activities set up for the kids including train rides, pony rides, bounce houses, people painting faces, etc.
While we were inside Riverquarium both girls had the chance to pet a snake and an alligator.
Their moms were shocked they did this! Both had had the opportunity to do this once before recently and had passed so to see them both of jump right up with no fear and start petting both of these creatures was funny. In fact, we had to say "okay, that's enough" when they were petting the snake...I think the girl holding it was getting tired of the girls petting it. LOL
It was so incredibly hot outside! We let the girls ride the train, ride a pony and jump in a bounce house but then we decided to go inside the Riverquarium and walk around in the ac. This is Vickie and Maddy at the park beside the Riverquarium.
This was one of those squirting fountains where Bailee played after we came out of Riverquarium - Maddy didn't want to get all wet.
After our day out, Tina cooked a great dinner and invited a couple of girlfriends over to join us. She had made a birthday cake for Vickie (which was DELICIOUS!) and we ate and laughed til late in the evening.
Sunday we finished up the weekend by running to Michael's and grabbing a few items to add to my supplies I brought with me and then we worked on making gifts and stamping all day while the girls played in the pool.



We had a great weekend! It was way too short!!

Cover of Fibromyalgia: A Natural Approach

I've posted about my Fibromyalgia before. I'm learning more and more how to deal with it and what my limitations are. The thing about Fibromyalgia is there is a broad range of symptoms and one person might suffer from one or two of the symptoms while another person might suffer from 6-7 of the symptoms. Fortunately the main thing I suffer from consistently is intense fatigue. I don't have a lot of the pains I used to have on an everyday basis anymore...either that or else I'm just getting "used" to them and dealing with it.

Some ladies at my church started a support group last week for chronic pain sufferers. Last Sunday was our first meeting. Discussing symptoms, treatments, how to deal with the aches and pains, fatigue and such with people who understand what I'm going through even when I look perfectly fine on the outside was a tremendous blessing!

One thing I wasn't prepared for was this little tidbit...a woman was discussing some goofy thing she had forgotten to do and she said "Oh I just blamed it on Fibro Fog."

"Fibro what?!?"

Several people looked at me and one lady said "Fibro fog! You haven't heard of that?"

"Well, no actually I haven't."

She continued, "It's an actual side effect of fibromyalgia sufferers. Do you ever forget your words, have memory loss, get confused about stuff...like have a cloudy brain?"

By now the flashing bulbs and alarms are starting to go off in my head because I am REALLY getting excited...."Why YES!! Like EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Is THAT what's wrong with me??!!"

I have never been so excited in my life to find out that I'm not losing my mind. Fibro Fog is a side effect, BUT it is not a neurological condition like Alzheimer's or anything like that. I can work on overcoming it and modify my diet to possibly help. After researching this and learning more about it now I feel so much better.

I can't begin to explain the frustrations over the last 6-9 months that I've dealt with (and Greg has dealt with) because of things I've forgotten to do, or I've forgotten I've already done, or I can't quite find the right words to say...my words get jumbled and I have trouble spelling when I've always been an excellent speller before...to know that this is caused by my fibromyalgia and be able to pinpoint the problem is a freeing feeling. Now I have something to work with towards making my memory and confusion better!

Image by foreversouls via Flickr

We survived our first week of homeschooling for this year. I threw some tough stuff at Dakota this first week because I'm trying to evaluate how much he can handle and what level he's at in some areas...I must admit he surprised me. He surpassed my expectations.

This is my 8th year of homeschooling him. Next year he'll be in 9th grade. So far he is still saying he wants to stay home and continue to be homeschooled, but there are times when I feel like he would rather be in school with kids his age now that he is getting older. I am trying to make sure he is adequately prepared to go to high school next year if that is the direction we choose to take.

I am very pleased with how this first week went!

I've been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately. This is one of those songs that just makes me want to lift my arms and praise the Lord! I LOVE this song! Hope it blesses you as much as it does me. Lyrics are below the song.


He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves

And we are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way...