Random Friday

Well Good morning dear ones!! I am feeling better, kind of. I was feeling like things were definitely headed in the right direction yesterday, and then yesterday afternoon ate some toast with nuts and dried cranberries in it, and that was bad. Apparently nuts and dried fruit don't agree with an ulcer. Why don't I listen? anyway...

Sir Cuteness came over yesterday and is here for the weekend. YAY!! He is not feeling well, boo. He has a stomach bug. We thought he was getting over it, but got sick through the night last night again. Poor guy. He is sitting in his high chair eating peaches right now, and seems to be feeling better than when he woke up. So hopefully he will just get to feeling better as the day goes on. His mama now has it, so we're hoping she gets to feeling better soon too.

Since this is Random Friday, I can switch gears expectantly right? Yep, that's right, so hold on to your computer =)

First of all let me say thank you for all of your sweet comments, e-mails and prayers. I so appreciate it. When I am having a bad day, y'all make me feel better. Thank you.

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I'd like to share a verse with you that God has been speaking to me through lately.

Romans 7:5 (New International Version)

^"5For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death."

The part that really spoke to me through this verse is the part that says "the sinful passions aroused by the law". When Adam and Eve were in the garden they were given free reign of the garden, except for one tree. one. They could go anywhere they wanted in the garden and eat from all the other trees and play with all the animals and frolic and be with God every single day in perfect harmony. I don't even think in our wildest imagination that we can truly understand what that was like, at least not this side of heaven.

They had one rule, don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Leave that one alone A & E. Enjoy the garden. Enjoy the animals. Walk with God and enjoy Him. Know Him. But DON'T eat from that tree. The one thing they were NOT suppose to do, they did. How like us now huh? The law told us (collective humankind) what to do and what NOT to do, and what do we want to do? That which we shouldn't, and not do what we should.

So why is God speaking to me about this? For me it's an issue of dying to self. That is the real issue for me right now. The flesh is still with me even though I am a born again believer. I am a child of the King, and yet my flesh still wants time from me. It's crazy. So in pursuit of being all that God is calling me to be I am calling out my flesh.

If you read on, verse 6 says:

Romans 7:6 (New International Version)

^"6But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."

Because the Truth is that we have been released from the law so now we serve in the Spirit. And if you want to know what Paul says after these two verses, please read the rest of Chapter 7. Because he talks about the law and that it is not sin and that it is holy. I'd love to teach a whole series on this Truth. Because I'm telling you, when you understand this concept in Scripture it helps you in your walk so much. Or at least it is helping me tremendously.

This struggle is one Paul talks about extensively in his Epistles. I will be journeying through some of these Scriptures on dying to self and just how God wants me to do that. I'm sick of me. Ya know? Blech. So I am pressing on to talk hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (Philippians 3:12b). I am pressing on.

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Well I am off to pick up my house, check on the cutest g-babe in a crib, and nurse my aching tummy, which is getting better. Slowly but surely.

Oh and by the way, ulcers are the pits....the serious pits. Shame on me for worrying myself into one. Oh brother. This situation is giving new meaning to the hymn Trust and Obey ...... for there's NO OTHER way .... to be happy in Jesus ..... but to Trust and Obey.

Love you have a Blessed weekend,

The Truth about who you are...

"The truth about who you are in Christ makes such a big difference in your success at handling the challenges and conflicts of life. It is imperative to your growth and maturity that you believe God's truth about who you are." "Victory Over the Darkness" by Neil T. Anderson

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by this life? Does it ever just get to you? Yep, I've been struggling lately. My instinct is to jump on here and put on the happy face and "appear" that all is fine, but that just isn't the truth. I am still sick and feeling yucky. Other situations in my life are still there, and I am tired.

and yet....

what keeps going through my heart is: "Remember who you are in Christ." Because if I am to grow in Christ I MUST know who I am in Him. And knowing that helps me to handle the challenges and conflicts of this life. I MUST believe what God says about who I am in Christ. It makes all the difference in the world.

So although right now is a tough season, I am more than a conqueror...I am dearly loved...God has plans for my life....He will NEVER leave me nor forsake me....

God is good, no matter my circumstances. Now there is some truth you can sink your teeth in to.

Love you ~~ have a Blessed day,

WOW What a week it's been!!!

Well hello again my blogging lovelies!! How are you?!!

WOW I haven't posted in more than a week. So unlike me. In fact I don't think I've done that since the onset of this blog almost two years ago, even with my surgery I was able to blog, but this last couple of weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y!!

I have not been feeling well for a while. I've been just feeling very tired and have had very low energy for a few weeks. Last week, I started getting very nauseous and started having pain in my side. So I went to the doc on Thursday and she put me in the hospital thinking that it was appendicitis.

Well I was admitted and then it was time for an IV and some fluids. I have never been a hard stick until Thursday. Apparently I was dehydrated and that is not conducive to getting IV's started. They tried twice and couldn't get it in either place, so they called the IV people and this lady, Mandy, came in with a machine, an ultra-sound machine. She found a vein up high in my arm, like on the inside up around my bicep. I've never had one there before (and I've had a lot of IV's in my life). She numbed it up first, so I really didn't feel it go in. I was so thankful for that. It's a tender spot.

Well with IV in, the fluids started coming as well. That was good. Well they did the CT of my appendix and it came back okay. (We really didn't feel like it was my appendix, but knew because of where the pain was that we needed to make sure). What they did find was that I was very backed up. (Yep it is what your thinking =) (I know A LOT of sharing today ;) So they gave me some medicine to get things a movin' (if ya know what I mean), and then my doc came in on Friday morning.

She feels there may be two things going on here. First she thinks I have an ulcer. I'm now on medicine for that and it is helping. But she doesn't know why I am having the other problem, because an ulcer wouldn't cause that. She said that as far as diet goes, I am one of her healthier patients. I eat EXTREMELY well. I pay close attention to what I put in my body. I'd say that's a good thing. Can you imagine how I'd feel if I didn't? EEK!!

So I go back to see her in two weeks and then we will see how I'm feeling then and discuss options for tests. She mentioned a colonoscopy and an upper-GI. Neither one seems fun to me!! Hopefully I'll be feeling much better by then and no need for either one, but we will see.

I'm still feeling pretty bad, but I'm hanging in there. Hoping that today will be a better day. So far it's yuck, but I'm praying it gets better as the day goes.

Thought I'd leave you with a couple of pics. This first one is, of course, Sir Cuteness. I mean seriously have you even seen a cuter spelunker? This was taken a couple of weeks ago at Dick's dad. He loves that light. So cute!!


And then this one was taken yesterday. Dak felt the need to put his Halloween wig on my head and take pics. This one was probably the least scary!! I am very pale, didn't want to scare you =) so thought I'd just give you a "peek" of me right now. Yes, of course, that is a smile. God is still good, NO MATTER WHAT!!! I am learning so much right now. He is teaching me so much. I've just had wrong ideas in my head, wrong ideals in my heart, but God is working those out in me and helping me to see Him for who He truly is. Amazing.

Well, hopefully I will be blogging more regularly this week. I've missed y'all. And hopefully I'll be visiting more too. I received a very sweet blog award from Kat recently, and I'd so love to share it with you and pass it on. So hopefully I'll feel more like being on this week and passing on some fun.

Love you all ~~ Blessings to you,

Random Friday...

Random Friday is back!!! YAY!! Don't you just enjoy some Randomness once in a while?

And look who has come to visit!! Yep, that's right Sir Cuteness is in da house!!! (In my best rap voice ~~ Dak will be cracking up when he reads this ~~ hahahaha)


Yep Sir Cuteness is cracking up too!! heehee ~~
Hey Sir Cuteness is that part of your Halloween your wearing?
Why yes Grammy it is, I love it!!!
Look what I received in the mail today. Now can I just say how impressed I am with Amazon right now? I ordered it last week, but it didn't go on sale until Tuesday. Out on Tuesday and in my hot little hands on Friday. You've gotta love that!!! Thanks Amazon!!

I will be participating in the study via The LPM blog, who will be joining us?



Well you will notice when you leave a comment, the ever popular, "comment will be approved after blog owner approval" will appear. For the last couple of weeks I've been having suspicious comments popping up, and now I had a comment on my last post in Chinese, so I'm gonna have to moderate. So what does that mean for you? Well nothing really. Keep commenting and I will moderate and put those bad boys right on up =) because yes my friends, I am just cool like that.

So on another note....anyone ready for the SUPER BOWL? How about you RJ are you ready with your yarn to throw at the TV for all the bad calls against my beloved Colts? (That's the team in Blue and White =)

I really enjoy watching the game and fixing yummy snacks. I haven't decided for sure what I'm fixing this year since it looks like it will be just me and hubs hanging out watching the game. We may have salad ~~ hahahaha jk-ing. Is that even possible? Salad on Super Bowl Sunday?!! Anyway, I'm thinking sliders, but I've never made them, but I am intrigued so we will see.

Oh I also have some really cute pics of Dak to put up. As you can see from the header we took some in the snow one day and they turned out so cute, so I'm hoping to get those up maybe in a slide show on my sidebar, if I can figure that out =) and I'm sure I'll have some more of Sir Cuteness after this weekend of fun!!!

Have a Blessed and Beautiful weekend,

Updates and Questions for You....

Thought I'd give ya some updates on this fine Thursday.

1). The knee: Well I'd love to say it is back to "normal" whatever that is, but it isn't. Still given me fits, and I'm beginning to wonder if a trip back to Mayo next month is in our future. The thought of needles in this knee, at this point, thoroughly freaks me out!! But it is the next step if it doesn't start straightening up. I had shots in it before the surgery, another procedure to try to prevent surgery, but they didn't work. They didn't really hurt too bad though, but my knee didn't have pieces and parts foreign to my body in it, or been through the trauma it's been through, either. EEK!!! But I am pressing on....totally pressing on!!!!! I will NOT back down....I WILL NOT!!!!! I don't understand why it's not better, but I press on....it will be okay.

2). Reading my Bible in 90 days: It is going so well. If you have not done this and would be willing to sacrifice about an hour a day of something else, you should, oh you really should. It is the most amazing thing to read it in context like this. God Blesses and teaches, and you grow and learn as you sit at His feet. It is a beautiful thing.

Today I start the book of Psalms. I am so excited!!! I LOVE poetry (if it's clean and beautiful =) And I LOVE reading the Psalms, but I've never set and read the whole entire book in succession. God is teaching me so much through this time of consecration through His Word to Him. He is also giving me what comes next after the 90 day reading of Scripture and I'm excited, but more on that later.

3). Health and Wellness Blog: It is going well. I am still trying to work out the format. You know when you start a new blog there is a "getting the feel for it" period of time. And that is where I'm at right now, but it is going really good. I so enjoy the feed back and the outlet that it gives me to right down my thoughts about health and wellness. If you'd like to check it out, please do so here.

4). So this one isn't really an update, but a question: Do ya'll have any cute Valentine's Day ideas? I generally make some kind of fun desert or candy and decorate our table (for the fam, not just for Dick and I). Two years ago I made a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse icing ~~ Amazing!!! And just dreamed it up in this head of mine. It was fabulous!!

This year I've been surfing the www but as of yet haven't really found what I'm looking for, so thought I'd ask ya'll. So Hit Me With Your Best Shot!! Do you remember that Pat Benatar song? Oh yeah RJ, I know you do!! You're with me girl =) anyway...

5). Okay so another question: What about Super Bowl food? What do ya'll do? I'm thinking about making sliders this year, but Dak just told me last night that he has to work. WHAT? ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY?!!?! Oh the travesty!!! hahaha So it will be me and hubs hanging out, him eating regular sliders, me eating the vegan variety.....sheer bliss!!! Do ya'll have any good SB recipes that we might enjoy? Come on, share the love =)

Oh how I wish this was Not Me Monday with MckMaMa. Although, I've never participated I would today, because I didn't just wake Dak up to fix the TV before 7:00 AM because I messed it up and all he did to fix it was hit the input button. Ummm okay. I am EXTREMELY electronically challenged!! Poor Dak....back to bed he goes. Thanks Dak ~~ you're the best!!!

And speaking of Dak.....I wanted to show this pic again. Yes I know I just posted it on Tuesday, but I love it so, and these two. I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything so cute?!! These two make my heart go pitter and patter!!

Okay, so send me those recipes or link me, come on fire away!!! (That's for you RJ ..... you're welcome =)



Oh yeah I almost forgot ~~ I made Kelly's Beef Enchilada's last night for the fam and they LOVED them. Easy and delish and you can find it here.

I mean seriously...

Seriously....SERIOUSLY.....

Have you ever?!!....

Seen anything.....

So stinkin' cute?!!

I know....me neither!!!

Have a Super Blessed day in the LORD!!!
Love you,

Why yes, yes that is papa's sock cap (stocking cap? not sure what ya'll call it =) and one of papa's gloves. Yep he was completely taken with both, and we are smitten!!! =o)