It's a race...

to see who can blog about it. 

That's what it's like sometimes in this house. ;-) With two bloggers under the same roof, doing alot of the same things, how do you decide who blogs about what? That's where it becomes a 'race' to see who will blog about it first. Sometimes you'll see Maggie post about things, sometimes me, and sometimes both of us. As for today...Maggie go to it first.  So head on over to read about our fun afternoon baking with Lilly & Olivia! 

The voice of the Lord...

(from Psalm 29)

...is upon the waters (3)
...is powerful (4)
...is full of majesty (4)
...breaketh the cedars (5)
...divideth the flames of fire (7)
...shaketh the wilderness (8)
...maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests (9)

What an awesome God we serve!

Psalm 29:2 ~ Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Faith

Every year our home church participates in what we call Faith Promise Missions. For those who are not familiar with it, it's where we make a commitment to God by faith that we'll give a certain amount of money per week to missions.  This is a decision that is made between you and God and it a faith-grower as you see God supply the money when you don't necessarily know where it's going to come from. 

I'm truly amazed at what the Lord has allowed me to give over the years, and it's exciting to think of how that money is being used to send men and their families all over the world to share the Gospel in places that I'll never go to.  So while I may not be able to physically go share the Gospel with certain people groups...my money can help send others who are able. It's also because of the same commitment to give in others that we are over here starting a church!

I'm coming up on almost 5 months without a job, and I'm not going to lie...it gets discouraging at times.  My parents have been a huge blessing by taking care of some of my bills during this time. (Put it on my tab...haha)  One thing that was really discouraging to me though was not being able to give my faith promise.  I knew that the Lord knew my heart and that I really desired to give it, but just wasn't able.  One afternoon I expressed such feelings with my mom and so we prayed about it.  Although the Lord hasn't provided a full-time job yet, He has provided the babysitting job...which is turning out to be longer than the anticipated 2 weeks!  It doesn't pay much, BUT it's giving me money to give towards faith promise!  Praise the Lord!  So, as mentioned before it's a faith growing experience, and I look forward to seeing how the Lord will continue to provide for my needs. 

Hebrews 11:1 ~ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.


Philippians 4:19 ~ But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Little

little fingers...little toes...little lips...little nose

They're so much cuter when they're little!

It's time...

There have been a couple of things I've been pondering for a while. 

#1 - Start commenting on blogs that I stalk read which are written by people I don't personally know. 
#2 - Have you, my blog stalkers readers, identify yourselves!

I've started commenting on blogs...now it's your turn.  Whether I know you or not...you've been reading for awhile or it's your first visit...please make yourself known!  If you still wish to remain anonymous...it's ok, I forgive you. :) 

Ready, set, comment!!

God Wants To Hear You Sing

Maggie, Chris & I sang this on Sunday.  It's a great song!  There were a few hiccups in the second verse, but I'm posting it anyways because it was requested. ;-)

Update

I'm still plugging away at looking for a job.  I'm constantly checking worksource and have applied for several position recently, but haven't heard anything back from them.  I know God has a reason for me being out of work this long.  So, I'm just trying to be patient and trust in Him! 

In the meantime...I start babysitting on Monday for a 7-month old little boy (my dad's coworker's grandson).  It'll be Mon-Thur for the next 2 weeks.  Praise the Lord He has allowed me this opportunity to make some cash and be a witness/testimony to this family!  

How much wood...

Before



During





After

We spent a busy 5 1/2 hours today cutting wood.  Praise the Lord for log splitters!  Much thanks to Brother Otto and Arthur for coming over and letting us use it!!!  We had a great time of fellowship with them and now have plenty of wood to get us through the winter. 

Also...Praise the Lord He held off the rain long enough for us to get it all done!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday!  Unfortunately he had to work, but I guess that's what happens when you grow up. =)  We sang to him this morning like we always do, and crawled back in bed while he went off to work. *sheepish grin* 

I made enchiladas for dinner and Maggie made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert...two of his favorite things!  We played a couple rounds of Rummikub and then watched some Cake Boss & Hoarding. (Cake Boss makes me want to decorate cakes....Hoarding makes me want to clean! haha)  Oh, and we also got his weight machine put in our excerise room...completing it for now...until we get a treadmill.  Yay!!  I think the only thing that would have made today better, would have been to have Josh here.  :( 

Joyful
Easy-going
Faithful
Friendly
Reliable
Efficient
Youthful

Happy Birthday, Dad!  I love you very much!!!

My Little Messenger

Brother Majors came over last night so he and my dad could begin watching the last Bible Institute class.  While us girls were upstairs we decided to finish watching Emma.  We had disc 2, but wanted to finish disc 1 first even though we've seen it many times over.  The only problem was disc one was downstairs with the guys and we were *ahem* in our pjs!

We started joking around about sending Max downstairs to retrieve the desired DVD, and I decided to try it out!

I put a bag around his neck with a note attached and sent him downstairs.  At first he tried to eat the note, so I moved the bag around so it was on his back.  He wouldn't go down the stairs all by himself...so I went with him down to the landing and a couple steps more just to get him going.  He went all the way down and turned into the office.  Wrong direction! :)  He quickly realized they weren't in there and went across to the family room this time partly carrying the bag in his mouth as shown by the pictures. Haha...I was cracking up!!!  He walked in and the guys were like, 'Hey Max what you got there?  Oh, it's a note...they want the DVD that was in the laptop.'  By this point I was dying!!  They put the DVD in the bag and sent Max back my way.  I had to call him, but he was more than happy to help. :)  He loves carrying stuff around....it's so funny!!  I wish I had the whole thing on video, but oh well.  I did take pictures afterwards!

 "Please put Emma in the bag.  It was in the laptop."

 

Dinner

This week has been my turn to plan the menu and cook.  Here's what I came up with!

Monday - Italian Chicken, Homemade Mac & Cheese, Green Beans
Tuesday - Taco Soup, Homemade Artisan Bread
Wednesday - Chicken/Bacon/Avocado Melts, Fries
Thursday - Leftovers :)
Friday - Chicken Stirfry

So far, everything has been delicious!

Fun with the Howers!

As you may have read on Maggie's blog, Alyssa and some of her family came to visit us on Monday!  It was so much fun to see them again and spend time together. 

(To spare everyone from reading the same stuff 3 times...I'll tell you about our adventures floating the river!)

The weather was so nice while they were here and we were sure to take advantage of it!  On Tuesday we had great intentions of floating the river, but it was not to be.  Once we got to the drop off point, the wind was picking up.  Wouldn't you know it was blowing in the WRONG direction!!  We were determined despite this, and got out on the water.  At first we were having complications with paddling the boat. Haha...teamwork wasn't so good!  So we tried different combinations of paddlers, but that didn't seem to make much of a difference.  =)  We didn't make it very far before we decided that it was going to be to difficult with the wind against us, so we turned around and headed back to shore with the intention of starting at a different spot further down the river.  Thankfully our ride hadn't left yet!!  As we got ready to leave, we found out it was just as windy further down the river, so we decided not to float after all.  Instead, we spent the afternoon at the lake, but you'll have to go to Alyssa's blog to read about that!

Ahhh...good times!  Looking forward to their next visit when they'll *hopefully* get to stay longer!

Alyssa and Maggie were 'chauffeuring' me around for a bit. :)

It's here...It's here!

Fall is officially here as of yesterday!  Time to break out the sweaters, scarves, pumpkin pie flavored candles (and everything else deliciously flavored pumpkin!), soup recipes, pie recipes and whatever else reminds you of fall.  I have to say, I think fall just might be my favorite season!  I don't know what it is about it.  I LOVE it! 

Here's something I made today that was absolutely delicious! Apple Crostata with Caramel Sauce....Mmmm!

Crocheting

You may remember me talking about crocheting in this post.  I've been kinda playing around with it the past few days. I had some yarn that I bought several years ago for something and decided I would try out a pattern I liked.  I didn't have the correct gauge of yarn or the correct size hook, but I thought I'd give it a try anyways.  It still turned out like it was supposed to...just a mini version. :)  This is what I was making Saturday night, while listening to the rain. <3

Flirty Ruffle Scarf

Selena gave me some more yarn the other night, so of course I had to make something with it!  Once again, I don't think it was the correct gauge but I think it turned out really well.  I would make it longer and with a softer yarn next time. I skimped on size since it's a scratchy yarn and I probably wouldn't wear it as often. :))

Morelli Scarf

I've been having quite a bit of fun exploring the world of crochet.  As I learn new things, you'll probably be seeing them every once in a while.  Do you know how to crochet/knit?  What's your favorite thing to make? 

Bummer!

I got a letter in the mail today that my claim for Unemployment was not valid.  Their reason was I didn't work the 680 required hours with the base year given.  What??  I worked well over that amount.  So I called and found out it was because I worked at a church and churches don't pay into unemployment.  Ohhh...why couldn't you just say that in the letter?  Oh well. 

Although this whole process is frustrating at times, God's been good!!  Administrative jobs are few and far between in this area, but I've been able to apply for 2 jobs last week and 3 more this week.  Hopefully I'll hear something soon!  I know the Lord has the perfect job out there for me...it's just a matter of His perfect timing. 

Do you hear what I hear?

I'm sitting on my bed...I've been experimenting with crocheting...I need to go to sleep...tomorrow morning will be here before I know it...but wait...what's that sound I hear...it's RAIN!  I LOVE the sound of rain!  It feels like home. <3

Friday...

Got a call today that 3 other applicants were chosen for the 2nd interview. I'm disappointed about it, but I know that it's God's will.  I was praying His will would be done, and it was!

Applied for unemployment today.  Feels kinda strange.

E-mailed my resume in for a Health Unit Secretary position at a nearby hospital.

Filled out an application for a Health Information Management Clerk position at the hospital here. Will be sending it off tomorrow.

Went driving around the backroads looking for some good spots to get firewood.  Maybe we had a little too much fun doing that. ;-)

Frustrating

Doesn't it seems that whenever something goes wrong...it all seems to happen at the same time. 

On the way to the island this weekend, my car started acting up.  Looks like my transmission is starting to go out.  I've had my car for 5 years, and was enjoying the fact that I hadn't had any major problems and no more car payments!  I guess that's about to change though. =)  While I can't do anything until I get a job secured, I do know exactly what I want!  I currently have my eye on a 2003 GMC Yukon Denali. Ahhh...it's SO nice!! Not too different from what I already have, but a bit bigger and way more features! 

I need a job first...I need a job first...I need a job first

Tonight my computer decided it wasn't going to work.  It looks like I can restore to factory setting, but I'm going to lose almost a years worth of pictures...not to mention other things.  I had plans to eventually get a new laptop, but I'm not exactly in the position to do it right now.  For now, it's been put on the shelf until I can get someone to look at it and see if my pictures, documents, ect can be recovered.  Once I get that taken care of I'll be restoring it back to factory setting until I have the money saved up for a new one.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. ~ Psalm 72:18

Job Update

For those of you who don't already know...I had an interview yesterday morning!  It's for a secretary position with a construction company.  The interview went really well and I think they were very impressed. 

I was their very first interview, and they would be finishing up interviews the rest of the week.  I should hear back the end of this week or beginning of next about a possible second interview. 

Things are looking up!  Thanks for your prayers!

Carolyn...

was here this weekend!  It was so much fun to spend time with her.  With it being Labor Day weekend (plus an extra day off!) she was able to stay until today!! 

On Sunday we spent the afternoon in a nearby touristy town.  It was fun to walk the wooden sidewalks and check out all the neat little shops.  One store we stopped in had a bunch of hats.  We couldn't help ourselves...we had to try some on!

Labor Day was very laid back.  We went for a drive to check out some of the other towns nearby that we had never been to.  Later that evening we played a game of Phase 10....my dad had beginners luck...need I say more?!

We're so glad you were able to come Carolyn! Looking forward to next time!