Sunday, October 31, 2010

Twenty-Two Years

Twenty-two years ago today, I married the love of my life. Many people ask me why in the world we picked Halloween to get married on? The truth is, we didn't pick. We decided to get married in a small ceremony with a justice of the peace and in all honesty we didn't look at the calendar. When we were about to give our vows, the JP asked us if we cared that we were getting married on Halloween. We both said, "It's Halloween? No, we don't care." The with not much fanfare we said our vows.


It has been a wonderful life that we have had. 


Not perfect, but wonderful nonetheless. 


So, today I thank the Lord for bringing Larry into my life.  Through it all, I would never pick another and I would never change a thing. 


Thank you Larry, for being the most wonderful husband, father, and friend that a gal could ever ask for. 

Friday, October 29, 2010

My Vote

In light of the upcoming elections on Tuesday November 2nd, I'd like to give my own political opinion. 

I hear some Democrats asking people if they want to go back to "Bush era", basically the era and policies that go us into this mess. I'm not exactly sure if those make these claims are totally ignorant to the fact that the Democrats have been in power in Congress since 2006. The President does not vote or control the budget, it is the Congress. Since the Congress has been run by the Democrats for  four years, is it really all Bush's fault that things are going down hill or as President Obama likes to say, "in the ditch"?  

I do not think so. 

In my opinion, we need to vote out the political elite who really seem to care less about the Constitution and more about keeping their own pockets lined.  As far as I'm concerned, that can be both Democrats and Republicans alike. We need common sense fiscally conservative men and women, who actually know what it is like to balance a checkbook and live within their means. No more racking up trillion dollar debts, that we cannot pay for.  

Yes health care for all sounds nice, but who is going to pay for it? 

Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL, period. 

Social Security is a joke, it is only going to go so far and it will be bankrupt. Let the people decide what to do with their own money. 

Raises for Congress? No way! If anything they should get a huge pay cut or at the minimum a pay freeze. Better yet, instead of them voting for their own pay raise, let those who they work for decide (the voters). 

Lobbyist? No! I think that each Congressman/woman or Senator should work for those that hire them, the voters. They should not be beholden to special interests in manner. 


Bail Outs? No! Nothing is "to big to fail" in the free market system. If the government was hot to give out money, then each citizen could of gotten a check and no doubt the economy would of been spurred. 

Although I am pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-gun ownership those are not the issues that are driving me to vote in this election. The main issue is the debt, it has to get under control. 

My vote will be for those candidates who are fiscally conservative, my vote is for my children's future. 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Fear or Faith

I am writing this post at 11:48 pm. Maybe 11:48 pm is not late for some people, but for me it is late and I should be sound asleep. Why am I not sound asleep? One word:

Anxious

Money is tight and the mortgage is slightly behind, and I really mean slightly as in a week. However, in this economy and times of foreclosures I am anxious. The logical side of me knows or hopes that everything will be okay, but the illogical side is very concerned. So concerned and anxious that I cannot sleep. When I do go to sleep I wake up with the fear of dread and doom. 

I do not want to be anxious, I know where my hope is. It is not in this house or even in money, it is in Christ. So tonight as I was online I started looking up scriptures for not being anxious. Before I share them, I want to share the definition with you.

Anxious:  Characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind, brooding fear about some contingency. 

That definition is from the webster-online dictionary and it sums up exactly how I feel. 

Here are some Bible verses that I found:

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." Proverbs 12:25

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philipians 4:6

"Cast all your cares on the Lord, He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

"...your father knows what you need before you ask Him." Matthew 6:8

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important then food and the body more important then clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in the barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they?" Matthew 6:24-26

"Who of you worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Luke 12:25

As I read those verses I am calmed by the fact that God has it all under control. I cannot do a single thing at this moment about changing our circumstance, the mortgage is late and that's all there is to it. I can however choose not to worry and not allow anxiety to reign in me. There is no room in my mind for both fear and faith , it honestly is one or the other. 

Tonight at, 12:14AM, I am choosing faith. 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

My "To Do" List

I will confess that I am a list maker. The older I get, the more lists I make. This helps me to keep things in semi order, keeps my refrigerator semi stocked, helps me prioritize, and helps me maintain my household chores. Next Monday I will be starting two more classes, so this week I have been busy with homeschooling and housecleaning. Yes, I live a very eventful life!! :o}  Here is my to do list for the rest of the week:

  • Clean the computer room.
  • Go through the books and bring them to Planet Aid box. I want to do this every time I go to Littleton, I have a lot of books. 
  • Go through my clothes and donate to the Planet Aid box or the local thrift store.
  • Laundry, laundry, and more laundry.
  • Clean out the refrigerator.
  • Clean out the cupboards.
  • Organize under the bathroom sinks.
  • Clean out my van, which has been much cleaner lately due to this tip
Make a list of Christmas gifts, what I have and what I want to get.

I think that is it for now. I feel a cold coming on and though I am taking Zicam, and expect to recover quickly I don't want to push myself. ;o) 

Monday, October 18, 2010

My View on The View

Due to the pace of the news, it is more then likely that the majority of people know about the walk off of Joy Behar and Whoopie Goldberg.  For those who don't know, you can see a clip here. What I find extremely interesting is how Joy Behar can look into the cameras on todays show and say that she was basically sticking up to a bully


I find it interesting, because Ms. Behar has, on more then one occasion, used her pulpit to bash those she does not agree with.  Take homeschooling for instance, Ms. Behar referred to them as "demented". I wonder if she actually knows a homeschool family, or if she is just being a bully?


Then she made a comment that when people pray, they are not thinking. Which means they let go of their intellect, because they believe in and talk to God. Once again is she being nice or being a bully? 




Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham has lots of Ms. Bahar's language and what she has said in regards to those she disagrees with. 






My view on the view:


1.)  They should apologize to Bill O'Reilly for being plain rude.


2.) They should apologize to their viewers.


3.) If they cannot handle different opinions, then they are in the wrong line of business.









Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sunday Seven

My blogging originality seems to have gone on vacation, so as I was looking around I found this Seven Sunday meme that I thought sounded fun. It is basically 7 things that happened this week that I am thankful for, so here it goes:
  1. I finished up my first semester of school, and I think it went really good. 
  2. The momma cat brought her kittens upstairs, so now we all can see them and hold them. 
  3. Though my van broke and is in a shop a couple of hours away, the Lord provided a way to still see Emily and get home. 
  4. My nephew and his wife visited from North Carolina. It was especially nice to see him, since he just spent the whole last year fighting in Afghanistan.
  5. We got a cute little wood stove for free!! :o) Not sure exactly where we are going to put it, but it will certainly help on cold mornings. 
  6. I talked to my 104 year old grandmother. 
  7. I saved the best for last, my son asked his girlfriend to marry him and she said yes!! :o) 

Friday, October 15, 2010

Announcement

My son asked the girl of his dreams to marry him and she said yes!! :o)  I am so happy for them!!! :o)  In all honesty I knew she was the one for him, before they even dated. It is an exciting time, indeed. :o)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Woman's Day Book ~ October 13th

Outside my window...beautiful fall colors on the trees and lots of sun! :o)

I am thinking...about how the Bible really needs to be read in context and how much of what was said may really not be totally for today. Not my thinking about Jesus and salvation, just some other things that I may write about once I wrap my brain around them 

I am thankful for...my Theology class. I have learned so much, and my faith has grown tremendously! :o)

From the kitchen...umm...honestly, not too much.

I am wearing...a blue sweatshirt, black jeans, and sneakers. 
I am remembering.....how far God has taken me. 

I am going...to pick up Shannon at some point.

I am reading….lots of stuff for school, nothing for fun. 


I am hoping…to get Max a ticket home soon for Christmas break. 


On my mind…finishing up things for the semester. I'm done with Theology, but I still need to finish up Bible. 

I am hearing...a teaching on fashion, believe it or not.

Around the house...I'm all alone!! :o)  I cleaned the house, did some school work, got hay for the animals, and now I'm online.

Noticing that…family is so important. :o)

Monday, October 11, 2010

Christmas Shopping

I am one of those people who says every December 26th, "I swear next year I will not wait till the last minute to get presents."  Yet every year what do I do? You guessed it! I wait till the last minute and some times it really is the very last minute. Last year my husband and I were out shopping on Christmas Eve after he got out of work. It was stressful, to say the least.

Now, before I go to far I want to clarify that I do know why our family celebrates. It is more then the presents, that is for sure. However, I enjoy giving presents and to be honest I also enjoy getting them! ;o]  

With that out of the way, I will get to the point of this post. 

This year I not only have determined in my mind not to wait to the last minute, I have actually put some action to it! I have been picking up presents as I see them or as I have the money. It is very freeing to know that if something financial happens, the people I love will get something.  

It is not in my nature to buy things for people and then hold onto them. Since I love giving presents, I actually want to give them to the people when I get them. It has been a challenge learning to actually put the things aside and wait. Patience is not my forte. 

I still have plenty to get, but I feel rather accomplished having a few presents stashed away. ;o) 


Saturday, October 9, 2010

College Preparation, the Homeschool Way

My daughter, who will be our third homeschool graduate, has been diligently preparing for college.  My mailbox has been inundated with mail from various colleges and universities. I can honestly say that she has taken the time to look into the ones that she was interested in, and then whittled them down to three choices:

Houghton

The Art Institute of Boston

Liberty University

Since she excels in and loves art, her major will be something in that area. She is tossing around ideas of graphic art or art therapy, and she has looked into each of those areas herself.  I remember when my son was getting ready for college, it was pretty much me doing the leg work. It is funny to see the differences in the kids, even though they are siblings.  

Along with all of her leg work, I still have to make a transcript for her. One of the colleges listed, expects a rather detailed transcript for homeschool students. That would include not only the list of subjects and grades, but also a list of all the books used for each subject. That will be a huge undertaking, because the majority of her school work has been done through books and not just text books.  Fortunately I have a list of the majority of books read, already saved on my computer so I won't have to totally trust my memory. 

Since she is so diligent, all of this needs to be done within the next few weeks. Fortunately I am heading into the last week of my college courses, and then I have a one week break. During that time I plan on gathering all the information she needs and making a detailed transcript. Once I do that I will post the steps here, for those who may be interested. 



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Gotta Love Fall!! :o)

Living in northern New Hampshire has many perks, one of them being the wonderful scenery that is available 24/7 and is always FREE!! :o}








Sunday, October 3, 2010

Neat Organizational Idea

I read this idea somewhere online, and I thought I would share it here. I would love to give credit, where credit is due so if it sounds familiar to someone please let me know. 

My husband hates going in my van, he says it is always messy and he is pretty much right. Not only do we have people in the van, but it is also my 'farm vehicle' for getting hay, grain, and other feed items. Though my son does an excellent job cleaning it out, it can get pretty overwhelming so without further ado, here is the idea:

Every time I go to get gas, I clean out the van!! Yes!! It is that easy!! Every gas station has large receptacles for garbage, so why not use them?! I used to feel guilty, like the garbage had to be from the actual place but that is not true. I believed a lie!! (said in jest)  Now I can go and clean my van out and then once a month my son can do a big cleaning and get a little extra money. Isn't that an amazing idea??!! Okay, so maybe I need to get out more but it really thrilled me. :o) 


***Update***


I read this over at MaryBeths site. She has some other great tips there too!!  :o)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Photos


Willow


Silver Pumpkin 


Moose 


Moose and Vader


Bucky 


Toby