These quotes come from the book Beauty by the Book, by Nancy Stafford. It's a wonderful, positive, uplifting book for Christian women. Have you ever wondered how God, our Savior, really sees us? Then read this book! It's all biblically based and its truth speaks profoundly.
"Every woman should know that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents. Her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over!" Nancy Stafford
"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us." --Virgil
After weeks of planning and designing, I now present my main centerpiece for our master bedroom. I worked a total of six hours on this project. It's 1:45 am and I just finished! I'm so excited to hang it on the wall and put all of our new decorations up.
Late this afternoon, our pastor, brother Mike, called and asked if I could babysit his youngest child, Emma. Of course I said yes! She is such a doll- we had a delightful time. She's about two, I guess, and full of spunk. We spent the evening watching cartoons (a first for me in a while), drawing, singing 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes', playing with my air conditioning vents, and eating lots of Popsicles. Yummy! She ate two all by herself! She was hilarious. She had on a sun dress, so the air would puff out her dress when she stood over our air vents. This was the greatest thing to her. She'd run from vent to vent, stand over them, and squeal with delight. You can ask her to "Show me your pretty eyes", and she'll look up and bat them at you- so sweet. My ribs ached from laughing at her so much! I think my afternoon with Emma has given me the baby bug- oh no! I told Mike and Amanda not to hesitate to let me keep her- anytime! Mike assured me he'd take me up on that offer. I have a funny feeling he meant what he said! Here are a few pics of sweet Emma....
Today I had an appointment with my beautician, Leslie. She's the best you'll ever come across! I've been using her since my wedding three years ago. Anyways, I'd been thinking of getting my hair chopped off - remember my blog on how much I loved Tori Spelling's short do. Well, we took that style and made it my own. It's short, layered, and it's tapered at the bottom. Take a look.....
This is a family favorite of mine. When I take it to a cookout or party people always ask for the recipe. I found this recipe from a church cookbook- it's Bobby's grandmother's recipe. Nanny has several pasta recipes that we love. This happens to be my favorite. It's especially good during the hot summer months- it light and cold. Give it a try!
BLT Macaroni Salad
2 c. uncooked elbow macaroni 5 green onions, finely chopped 1 lg. tomato, diced 1 1/4 c. diced celery 1 1/4 c. mayonnaise 5 tsp. white vinegar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/8 - 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water; drain well. In a large bowl, combine macaroni, onions, tomato and celery. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour over macaroni mixture and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, add the bacon. YUMMO! Enjoy!
This weeks quote comes from a Frank Sinatra song entitled "What are you doing the rest of your life?"
"What are you doing the rest of your life? North and South and East and West of your life I have only one request of your life That you spend it all with me"
In my previous blog I mentioned the humongous picture frames I'm constructing. This quote will be on the one that goes in our master bedroom above our bed. I'm putting one of our wedding pictures in it. I'll post pictures when it's done. Our anniversary is Tuesday of next week, the 22nd, so I'm hoping I can somehow manage to finish it by then.
This is a pretty random blog, but oh well! Bobby and I love, love, love KLOVE radio! To me, it's the best Contemporary Christian station I've come across. We've been faithful fans for years. It's fully funded by listeners- so no commercials or offensive language/remarks. For those of you in the Meridian/Butler and surrounding areas, we pick the station up on 98.9 FM. We also listen to it online at www.klove.com. I love the morning show with Jon and Sherry Rivers. It's a great place to hear good music, scriptures, and thoughtfuls to brighten your day! So, tune in and check it out!
Here's Jon and his "lovely bride Sherry", as he calls her!
This week's quote comes from a fortune cookie. Yes, that's right. A fortune cookie. There is a story behind this one in particular. One day during my sophomore year of college I was ready to drop out of school. At the time I was going to school full time during the day and working the evening-night shift at a hospital full time. During the week I would only get between 4 and 5 hours of sleep! I only saw my husband on the weekends- this was during our first year and a half of marriage. Anyways, I was ready to quite school and decided to go grab some lunch and think it over. I was particularly worried about being able to afford two more years of college. I had begun wondering if paying oodles of tuition was really worth it. God truly does work in mysterious ways- sometimes even through a fortune cookie. After enjoying some Chinese and spending the lunch hour in prayer this is how God spoke to me- through a fortune cookie that read:
"Education will never be as expensive as ignorance."
It's a simple message, but full of truth. To this day I still have that fortune cookie tucked away in my wallet. So, how did the story end? Well, I "put my big girl panties on and delt with it!" I knew that "This too shall pass"-and it did. The Lord provided ways for me to pay for college and I just recently earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Teaching was God's plan for my life, thus, he provided a way for me to fulfill that plan. I'm now in graduate school and things are working out great for me. Moral of the story: never give up! Oh, and eat lots of Chinese!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
I've officially completed my first term of graduate school. I'm about to do a bit of shameless bragging- sorry! My GPA thus far for graduate school is.......a 4.0! Hooray! Two classes down, and only ten more to go! I'll start the second term tomorrow- this time I'll only be taking one class. If I stay on track I'll finish up next July. I know bragging isn't a good thing- however, after the time I had finishing those two classes, I feel I deserve my fifteen seconds!
Where do I start......Wednesday morning I left to spend a few days with my grandparents. I had a wonderful time! I drove home early Friday morning to spend the Fourth with our family. Here's what we've been up to these past few days.....
When I arrived Wednesday afternoon my grandmother had a delicious lunch for us. After we ate we headed out to the Grimes Family Camphouse. I helped my grandparents work in their garden and shuck corn. This was a messy job!
Thursday was a bit of a lazy day. My grandmother prepared a delicious breakfast consisting of pancakes and sausage. Needless to say my healthy diet was non existent this week! Marlene is a wonderful cook though and so I couldn't resist! I was lazy the entire day. I read my newest book and Marlene and I watched 'The Bucket List'. It's a really good movie- if you haven't seen it I would recommend it. Once the movie was over we headed out to the camphouse again. This time we were on a mission to catch some fish! We had a blast! I caught seven and my grandmother caught two. At one time she walked off and I caught two at one time! Now, I must admit that I was doing some very southern style fishing using a cane pole and hot dogs! Hey, it must be the best way because I caught the most fish by it. Here are a few pictures of the event.....
I caught two at the same time!
My grandmother, Marlene!Gorgeous scenery
After catching enough fish, we then had to clean them. This was a sight! When we finished I had fish scales from head to toe! Yuck. We decided to take the fish back to town and have Poppy, my grandfather, deal with the guts! After getting cleaned up we had a scrumptious fish fry!
Friday morning I headed home early enough to make a BLT pasta salad for the cookout festivities we would visit. First, we headed to Big Bobby's house. There, we had ribs, chicken, baked beans, potato salad, pasta salad, homemade sourdough bread (yep, that's me!), and a blueberry dessert! Yummy! After eating until we were about to pop, Bobby and I played a few games of pool. I wish I could say I won at least one round, but I didn't!
Next, we headed to my dad's house to enjoy grilled hamburgers and a fresh cut watermelon- grown and picked just for the Fourth! Then, we sat around for a while and listened to Daddy's childhood stories- very interesting to say the least! Here's a picture of our Fourth of July watermelon....
Saturday morning I headed back to my dad's house to help make homemade ice cream. YUMMO! I spent the entire day just hanging out with my dad and eating ice cream. Once again, the diet was long gone by this point! Then, that evening Bobby and I headed to Meridian to browse around the stores- we didn't want to sit at home! All in all, we had a fabulous holiday weekend! I hope everyone had as much fun as we did!
Classes for the first term of Summer officially ended today! Lately things have been a bit chaotic to say the least! Grad school has taken me for a crazy ride. My next class for the second term doesn't begin until next Tuesday. So, to celebrate finishing my first semester of grad school, and enjoy a mini vacation, I'm going to spend a few days with my grandparents, Marlene and Poppy. I bought a couple of new books to read and I plan on being lazy and relaxing. I'm going to unplug for a few days- no internet, email, myspace, or even blogger (sorry faithful readers). The cell phone usage will be sparse to say the least! I'm really looking forward to spending quality time with my grandparents. I'll post pics when I'm back on either Thursday evening or Friday morning! I hope everyone has a great week!
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." Charles W. Eliot
I plan on painting this onto one of the frames I'm making and hanging it in my office above the bookcase. (Blog on current creative projects coming soon)
Welcome to the life of a 30-something Southern momma who is striving to follow Jesus, soak up every minute with my family and friends, choose contentment daily, find joy in the little things, eliminate debt, grow as a homemaker, and live life in simplicity.
Follow me as I walk this busy but blessed life on the sunny side of the street.
