My weekend project

Scored 3 little chairs for the front porch of our new home. Thank you Craigslist!

After some serious quiet-Mommy time with the paint brush....

Poor Caden was still napping when the chairs dried, but I think they turned out great! Can't wait to rough them up a bit. I'm not a lover of perfection. Used to be. Went to counseling for that. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Ha! Oh the stories I could tell... ;)

A New Look

It's still the same old me. Just with a makeover. :)

Adding a few...

In case you haven't noticed, I've added a few new "friends" along the side. I tend to be extremely picky when it comes to blogs. If they are not exactly what I'm looking for in home decor, I just don't waste time. So please be prepared to see a lot of "white" and "chipped"! :) These are absolutely gold mines, in my opinion, and I hope you enjoy them!

p.s. Shabby Homestyles is based out of Germany. Feel free to find the "translate" button on her blog. Unless you are fluent in German, that is. :)

A few photos for your viewing pleasure...

She was plumb-tuckered out after a morning full of swimming and...

strawberry pickin'!!!

I think they ate just as much as we took home :)

A Sneak Peak

I'm really not into showing you tons of pictures of our new house, mainly because it's not ours yet. But I thought since so many people have asked, I could maybe put up something to give you a small idea of what it looks like. Remember the fridge that dropped from heaven into our laps? :) Well, here's where it will go....

Just rambling...

I am supposed to be packing, but the Moutain Dew hasn't kicked in yet. :)

New quilt from grandma! Our little lady squealed with joy when we showed her....both of her brothers have a special quilt made by grandma, and paisley was starting to feel left out. But grandma came to the rescue, and now she is a happy camper. :)

We had an exciting trip to the emergency room with 2 1/2 year old Caden on Monday night. We woke to the sound of him coughing and gasping for air. The ambulance came, his breathing resumed, and we thought he was out of the woods. I tried to lay him back down, but his chest would get tight again and he'd start wheezing. We decided to take him in around 2:30am, afraid he was having an allergic reaction to something he had eaten for dinner. Turns out it was just a bad case of croup, and now the poor kid has to be on steroids for 5 days.

The week only got more exciting when Paisley developed a terrible diaper rash. Diaper rash cream wasn't cutting it, so I was researching holistic treatments. I found the best diaper rash remedy known to man-kind! Keep her dry, clean, and wrap her poor little bum in a very loose cloth diaper. Waalaa! It was better in 12 hours. :)

I am not a yard sale girl. Never have been. But I think that's about to change. I attended a "barn sale" on Saturday, fully expecting to find wheelbarrows and rakes. Have you all been to a barn sale??? It was amazing! No farm equipment to be found, but rather an entire old barn full of antiques. Most of the stuff was way too over-priced for me and my new owning-two-homes budget, but I did find this little thing to bring home and show the fam....

We will have two porches at the new place, so I'm giving this little chair a scrub down, a paint, and then a distressed finish so some miniature me can rest her weary bones at the ole homestead. :)

Hope you all are having a great Thursday! We went to our first orchard this morning, picked our first local strawberries, and the kids were in their very first "real" pool. Pictures to come!

Now I get it....

Okay, so if we are friends on facebook, then you have already heard the news. We are moving! Too many details to cover. Too little time. I have witnessed countless ways where God is showing Himself evident. Here is just one example:

Remember a while back I was sharing my frustration about having to use all of my savings on medical bills? I had saved every penny I could and actually ended up selling our bedroom furniture. Remember that? And then we got 2 enormous medical bills in the mail and away went my savings. I was so upset. Broken-hearted, as my boys would say. :) You all were SO encouraging with your "God has a bigger plan" comments. Well, that original stash of money was supposed to go to a new, stainless steel refrigerator. The house that we had our eye on had brand new appliances, but did not come with a fridge. So we'd have to purchase one. It was just one more expense that I didn't want my hubby to be stressing over, so I put my big-girl panties on and got to work. Needless to say the money paid the bills (or at least part of them) and I no longer had a fridge account. Or bedroom furniture. We put an offer on our dream home (okay, so it was our dream home in this price range) and immediately started thinking about refrigerators. I got a very sudden urge to look on Craigslist for one. Seth kind of gave me that look like "What? Lowe's has refrigerators. Why are you checking the internet?" But I checked anyway and LO and BEHOLD I found exactly what I was looking for! I was trying to save $1,000 for a new refrigerator. Those were the cheap ones at Lowe's. I know financial topics can be a bit personal, but I want you to realize how God worked this out. I found a refrigerator online for $500. So immediately I thought about what an amazing blessing this was! I emailed the guy, told him we wanted it, and Seth drove down to south Philly Tuesday night to pick it up. Little did we know, until we got it home, that the original price tag was still on it. It retailed for$1,699. Folks, I desperately wanted a $1,000 refrigerator. I thought God had taken away my money. And then I was thankful that He provided one for $500. But after I found out that I actually got a $1,699 refrigerator for $500, I was just about on my knees with disbelief. It's perfect. It's clean. It's beautiful. It's mine. God not only provided, He blessed!

Sorry for the bad picture, but here it is! Cluttered garage and fingerprints to boot! :)

What he wants....

A few posts ago I wrote about all things white, chipped and shabby. Remember that? We've been seriously talking about moving again (surprise, surprise) and I was bound and determined to have a completely different looking house the next time around. But then it suddenly occured to me that maybe "he" didn't want to sit on white linen ruffles. What if he doesn't want creamy chandeliers and soft grey walls? Hm. What's a girl to do? So I asked. Guess what? I got the exact answer I was expecting. His vision of our next home...

And now my vision of our next home...

Lola B's

Lola B's

Lola B's

Lola B's

Now I have to figure out how to make these two worlds collide! Or just go with his vision, with hopes that he'll let me pick out the chicken coop. :)

The Recipe

Here it is, as promised.

The basic instructions are: combine everything but the cornstarch and water in the crock pot. Place the roast in and turn to coat. Cover. Cook on Low 7-8 hours. Remove roast and keep warm. In saucepan, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Stir in juices from roast. Bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Serve with roast.

I modified it a little bit for convenience sake. I added baby carrots and large pieces of potatoes to the crock pot so it could all cook at the same time. I also omitted the gravy part. Too much work for me. :)

I am IN LOVE with this book.....don't know how I'd survive without it, or my crock pot. I absolutely abhor cooking dinner at the exact moment when everyone is waking up from their naps miserable, and Seth comes home to cranky neglected children and a kitchen that's a mess. Instead I use crock pot meals (a lot!), put it together in the morning, clean up the kitchen, and we are good to go whenever he walks through the door. It just works best for us, at this stage of our lives.
The boys gave it a thumbs up. Don't they look excited about life? :)
We are headed somewhat across the state this afternoon to look at a vehicle. Oh the luxury of finding things on the internet! Keep an eye out for an entire post and pictures if the SUV is really as good as it sounds. :)

p.s. If you are wanting to cook this recipe gluten free, just watch out for your soy sauce. A lot of them contain gluten. Make sure to double check!

A Day in the Life

Today was dreary and rainy. I loved it. :) It always make me extremely giddy and energetic. My husband... not so much. That's one of the many, many, many ways that we are different. Here's just a glimpse at a day in our life...

The boys said they were making lunch. Their race cars are in the toaster oven. It occupied them for a good 30 minutes. There's few things better than the sound of brothers playing sweetly with each other.

This little lady has been miserable. She has a little bit of a cold, but I think it's her teeth that are making her fussy. She went from this....

to this in about 45 seconds. Typical girl. :)

With a casein free/egg free child in the house, and now a gluten free momma, there are few tasty treats that we can all enjoy. This chocolate chip cookie mix is insanely expensive, but we still purchase it every once in a while. Rainy days are good for things like this.

This is the casein free/egg free child who still chose a pretzel after taking one bite of the cookie. :( Oh well. I tried!

What do your kids eat for lunch? This was their lunch today. Raisins, peanuts, and carrot sticks. Is that weird? Maybe normal?

Daddy came home from work so that we could all pile in the van and vote for Sam Rohrer for Governor! These are the voter-assistants who were cheering for Jackson, Owen, and Olivia's grandpa!

The happy voters. :)

Dinner tonight. Teriyaki pork roast with potatoes and carrots. One of the best dinners I have ever made. It's egg free, casein free, gluten free, and delicious! I'll post the recipe later.

Today is my grandfather's 85th birthday. His mother sailed the seas here from Poland. He has experienced wars, almost getting burned alive when a terrible accident happened at the glass factory he worked at, months of living at the hospital from his injuries, having almost his entire body skin grafted, raising 4 sons, losing a daughter, watching his wife suffer and die from breast cancer, hearing the words that his own son (my dad) had been killed in a plane crash, and watching 21 great-grand children be added to this family. He is a hero, and doesn't even know it. Happy birthday, Poppop!

I've started something....

and now I can't stop! :( Do you all remember me saying I had some medical tests done a month or so ago? I was having some weird symptoms, and they decided to do blood work and an ultrasound. Some of the conclusions were this: low iron and vitamin D levels (which, by the way, what woman living in the northern half of the country does not have these problems???) and I have the gene. The gene I was hoping I did not have. The gene that my grandmother has. The gene that my mother has. The gene that my son has. And the gene that my great-grandfather probably had because he died of stomach cancer. I've got the celiac gene. In case you are new to celiac, let me give you a beginner's course, Reader's Digest version. :) Celiac is an autoimmune disorder that tends to strike those of Irish or English descent. It is a genetic disorder. If you don't have the gene, you don't have a chance of ever getting it. Your intestines are lined with little finger-like projections called villi. These villi are responsible for absorbing nutrients into your body. If you have celiac disease, wheat and gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.) attack those villi and make them crumble and die. :) Therefore, you can no longer absorb nutrients the way you were meant to. The only cure for celiac is a GF (gluten free) diet. If you stop consuming gluten, the villi repair themselves and your body can work like it's supposed to again. Some people know they have celiac because they've always struggled with irritable bowl syndrome, or they have had multiple miscarriages or have trouble getting pregnant at all. Others have constipation, mood swings, and chronic fatigue. There is no right or wrong symptoms. It can affect everyone differently. My doctor got the results from my blood work and I was called in for a follow up appointment. As she looked over everything, she finally said "wow. it almost looks like celiac might be in your family history somewhere." No DUH! So of course she suggested I go gluten free. This was about a month ago. It took me this long to part ways with warm, homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. :) I took baby steps at first. I went a whole day GF. No real difference. I had gluten a few days in a row, and went back to feeling "not right". Then I went 2 days GF. On day three I laid my kiddos down for their naps and grabbed a homemade roll for a snack. The roll was delicious but I got a headache immediately following. Weird, I thought. I went another day or two eating the SAD (standard american diet). I tried again, 2 days GF, before having a homemade cinnamon roll for dessert. I was SO not prepared for what came next. My brain felt so fuzzy, like I was distracted or had a hard time concentrating, along with the usual headache. That's when I knew. It was time to make the change. My body was throwing huge red flags at me, showing me that it just couldn't tolerate what I was eating. I've been GF ever since. :) And guess what? I've already lost 5 pounds. :) :) :) Weight = Waste. That's what my holistic doctor told me. It looks like my body is finally able to work properly. And let me tell ya....I feel terrific! I wish everyone would get tested. Fertility problems? Get tested! Chronic fatigue? Get tested! Constipated? (I can't believe I just wrote that...) Get tested! IBS? Get tested! Growth delays in children? TEST THEM! Check out this site for some other very common symptoms. It's only a simple blood test, people! And something to think about....both my mom and my grandmother tested positive for the gene, but negative for the disease. They were continually having health problems, so they went for further testing (other than blood work....G.I. specialist, etc.) which eventually resulted in the diagnosis. Point being: if you have the gene as well as some health problems, go gluten free anyway! PLEASE remember though, if you want further testing, DON'T CHANGE YOUR DIET until your tests are done. If you start eliminating gluten, your villi will start repairing themselves and your upper or lower GI will not show destruction to your villi which will look like you don't have celiac. I really hope at least one person found this interesting. :) Betty Crocker just came out with a GF brownie mix, which I just happened to have made today. Let me tell you, you can't taste the difference! Please excuse me while this GF girl goes and enjoys a brownie and a glass of milk. :)

A book that I highly recommend: The Gluten Free Girl.

Cancer's Cure

What if the cure for cancer was actually just prevention? Factors such as genetics and stress-handling skills play major roles in the risk you have of getting the disease, but we so often forget what can keep us from it. I got this email the other day, and rumor has it John Hopkins put it together. I'm not guaranteeing this, because anybody could've written it. But I believe that it's definitely worth sharing with all of you! And please please please stop filling those bottles and sippy cups with cow's milk! It's doing so much more harm, than good. Here's the article....

John Hopkins Update - Good article

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size...

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size.... However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can alsocause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11.. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes likeNutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful.. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus... By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Pa per isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life

A Change of Heart

I am having an identity crisis, people. Starting to freak out a little bit. I've always loved traditional, dark, tweed, wool, and heavy. It's really all I've ever known. I come from a whole line-up of professional-worthy decorators, so I just assumed I'd never stray from my roots. But I have. Ohhhhhhh baby I have. :( I'm slowly learning to never say never. I SWORE I'd never be involved with Pensacola Christian College. Well guess where that landed me??? Right smack dab in the middle of it! I SWORE I never wanted anything to do with Bob Jones University ( a whole lot of history with church friends who were "mightier than thou" because of graduating from aforementioned school). And might you guess where that one landed me? Marrying one oftheir students! Sheesh! I promised myself I'd never accept it if my mom wanted to get remarried. I must be getting weak with my old age, because I just had "the man" over for dinner last night! I was oh-so-certain that I'd end up with 10 children. I'm saddened to share with you that my husband is "fixed", after only 3! :( And now this! This hugely enormous decorating faux pas! Here it goes.... I think I have fallen into a love affair with all things old, chipped, white, shabby, and chic. It makes me laugh, when I think about it, because of how opposite my sister and I are. We can spend hours together and have the BEST time, but we are so very different. Her home's decorations are new. Zebra. Cutting edge. Trendy. Glitz. Glam. Beautiful! And here I am, considering sanding, priming and painting everything white! I want slate greys (or is it gray? hm...if only Seth was here...), creamy whites, ruffles, hydrangeas and chandeliers. And slipcovers! Does anyone know how to do slip covers???? I am not interested in the throw-a-white-sheet-over-the-couch and tie it in the back approach. I want the entire couch reupholstered....and with super girly, ruffle-y pleats on the bottom! And I want it reupholstered in white linen! Goodness gracious, where did I come from!? I just don't even know myself anymore.....

Check out Lola B's for an idea of where I'm coming from. Also Pink has a couple GORGEOUS things. Maybe she can come do my slipcovers. Can we say CHA-CHING!? :)

Here is the chicken coop I posted a few days ago. It's just so feminine. I bet those chickens never smell. I'd look so cute walking through the yard to gather those eggs in my long prairie skirt. ;)

Can't remember where I found this photo, so I'm sure I'm breaking some law by not giving them credt, but this is what my new girly back yard would look like. I'd pick my tomatoes in a dress, with flowing hair down to my waist. And yes, before you ask it, I romanticize everything.

Here's Pink's slipcovered wonders! I love it all....the white. The pleats. The distressed, thrift- store-find coffee table. Ahhhhh....

Seriously people, if you are or know of a good slip-coverer who doesn't mind being paid in homemade chocolate chip cookies or fresh free range chickens, send them my way!

Well that explains it!

My hubby was at a convention in Harrisburg all weekend. He called home to inform me of something new he learned today. Left handed people think with their right side of the brain. (this was not the new part. hehe...) The left side of the brain is responsible for controlling emotions and mental stability. It only makes sense that right handed people have an easier time keeping their emotions in check. So therefore, left handed people are more prone to mental issues. Well then, I thought! I've had problems with depression because I'm left handed! He was sure to inform me that I wasn't allowed to use this for an excuse of future "mental issues". Darn it! ;)

A Skanky Sippy cup

Our family was first introduced to the pink world on December 2, 2008. She has brought countless pairs of shoes, hair bows, and toenail polish with her. It's been wonderful. It's also been eye-opening. What image do I want portrayed to her? Where do I want her to find her acceptance? Her security? Her attention? Most of these things need to come from her daddy. It's that father-daughter relationship that I was blessed with, growing up, that I want her to have as well. But other things, like modesty, might need to come from me. This all started out so innocently. Her cute, purple sippy cup was looking very worn and needed to be replaced. Daddy took it upon himself to go sippy cup shopping. He's very proactive. For this, among other things, I am thankful. :) But what he came home with that day was a little disturbing. He stood in that Target aisle and thought to himself, "which one is pink? which one is purple? which one won't leak? which one lacks race cars and dump trucks?" He brought them home. I washed them up. And then I saw it. Looks like an innocent sippy cup, right?

Wrong! Since when does Tinkerbelle have cleavage????
Before you all start throwing hissy fits, please remember how NON ultra-conservative I am! Jeans to church? Check. Nose ring? Check. Host a houseful of ladies for a sex toy party? Done that! But for my daughter to have this visual in front of her every time she feels thirsty???? I won't have it! What if she doesn't turn out to be "well endowed"??? Will she feel pressure from society to be surgically enhanced? Absolutely. But do I want her to feel, at 17 months old, that this is normal. This is good? Nope. Sorry. Can't do it. Don't even get me started on the impression this cup could have on her brothers' opinion of a certain standard of beauty.

I have considered closing the comments for this post. I really, really don't want to read a single post about how this is our culture, and we all need to expose our children to it now so that they are not shocked later on. I am 100% for not sheltering our children. Our kids listen to Patch the Pirate just as much as they do Miranda Lambert or Coldplay. But when it comes to modesty, I don't necessarily want them to have a skewed representation of what's "marketable". Their hearts and minds are young and tender. I like to keep a close eye on what impressions they are receiving. Thanks for not judging me. ;)

A quiet heart...

I have too much on my heart to entertain you today. There is a 10 year old girl dying in a hospital. We are asking God for a miracle. I am thanking Him for the reminder that my time is better spent with these 3 little ones He has given me. So I direct you here today. May you have the wisdom to shut down facebook, or twitter, or the blogs in order to invest in their time today.

Biting my tongue

Have you ever had a day, or a week, where you keep hearing the same things over and over and know that God is trying to teach you something? Well, for me it's been the past couple of months. I am not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of a girl. I'm also not a let-it-roll-off-your-back kind of a girl. And it just so happens that I tend to be a it's-my-way-or-the-highway kind of a girl. I always gravitate towards stating an opinion or proving someone wrong. This "me", this completely terrible, sinful, wicked part of myself has reared it's ugly head in the past few months when I took it a step forward and decided that if you all weren't doing it the way I would do it, then you are just not doing it right. I even contemplated writing a book but had numerous family members advise me not to, on account that I'd probably lose all of my friends. :) I'm not one to lash out and say it like it is, right then and right there. No no no, I've got more class than that. I choose to store it away in that black crevice of my heart and just vent about it later. Dirty looks and sighs are also a favorite. I bet you all are so thankful that you're my friend right about now, right? :) I've had certain, um, "issues" with certain, um, members of my family for years. I've just recently started having similar "issues" with friends. I really think it all comes down to love and respect. I have a really hard time (sin nature) accepting and respecting someone who has completely different values and opinions than I do, so much so that I have a hard time looking past it all and just choosing to love. This is even uglier when I feel very little respect and love from someone else because of differences of opinions. It's the crazy cycle! I feel disrespect from them, so therefore I treat them with disrespect, and on and on it goes. Let's just say for example that you're a working mom. Let's also say, for example, that you didn't breastfeed your baby, that you're planning on sending your children to (gasp!) "real school", and that you let your scum bag of a pediatrician shoot any and all forms of chemicals into your babies body via vaccinations. The former Megan would then cross you off of her "friend" list and move you over to the "such an ungodly woman, I can't even believe God hasn't struck her dead yet" list. You are laughing because you think I'm kidding, right? Hm. My mom is the only one reading this who is nodding her head in agreement. :) Anyway, all of this to say that God is showing me that just because someone does it differently, doesn't mean they are wrong. Whoa! Did I just say that!? I can't believe that my mind even knew how to process that sentence. Now it certainly helps (A LOT!) if "that person" can also respect and love me for the decisions and lifestyle that I have chosen. I'm not quite to the point of being able to love and respect someone who doesn't love and respect me. Just trying to be honest! I'll get there. But for now, I am learning that I can throw the judgmentalism out the window and just love you for who you are. God has not chosen everyone to live the same life that I am living. Earth shattering, I know! But this is new to me. Also, a question if I may. How do you all feel about confrontation? I happen to absolutely, 100% love it. I'm sure that shocks you, right? :) Do you know how many friendships have been saved by one person taking the risk of confronting the other one about a misunderstanding? I mean, seriously people. This world would be a much better place. But I've also had many friends advise me against confronting. Opinions are appreciated, and I promise not to judge. :) So thankful God is merciful, and never expects perfection from me.....

Thankful....and bitter.

I am back. But not with a vengeance. Seth was away for a very long time, and as you can see, I have absolutely no motivation to write unless he is home. I have two things on my mind today. First of all, do you have any idea how thankful I am for his job? Probably not. Words can't express. Tears can, and I've come to that point very often. He completely respects the people he works for, and that, folks, is a first. He has never come home with a bad word to say about anyone in the entire office....or company, for that matter. Another first. We've been able to afford a night away at an expensive Inn. Again....a first. And he has a future. Can you guess what my next statement will be? Yep....a first. So while he's been away, as in the fact that he spent more time on the road in the month of April than he did at home, it's totally worth it. Good thing I didn't write this last week while he was in Utah, because I was totally thinking "screw it! he can apply for a job at Lowes!" :) Thankfulness. Check! Now the next one is not so much fun. Remember how I have all that cash stashed away for my super exciting goal??? Well there's something you don't know. I had some very weird health problems the last couple of months which resulted in a whole slew of tests. What they don't tell you while they are fumbling around, pushing, prodding, and sticking needles where they don't belong, is how much it's going to cost! We received a cute little envelope in the mail last week. A cute little envelope that held a cute little bill. A cute little bill that is almost the exact amount of cash that I've stashed away. Sniff, sniff. Will you take a moment of silence to grieve with me? Goodbye, sweet little bundle of dreams. Goodbye exciting blog post about what I've been up to. Goodbye weeks and weeks of scrimping and saving and SELLING OUR FREAKIN' BEDROOM FURNITURE! Sheesh....I'd better go calm down....."oh chocolate??????" And because I can't end this post on a bitter note, I'll add one more "thankful" thing. For the past 5 years of our marriage, I've spent every scrimped and saved penny, and occasionally even some birthday money, on food, or diapers, or the electric bill. I'm thankful that I've been able to stash away that money this year, so that we have it to pay the medical expenses. Still bitter....but trying. :)