Merry Christmas!

With my younger brother starting his career as an Airman in the US Air Force, we had to postpone Christmas this year. Sam had to work on Christmas day, so they packed up that adorable nephew of mine and came to town early this morning. We had a wonderful belated Christmas morning, complete with a fun Jumburrito breakfast, lots of fun presents and tons of just hanging out. Between Jack and I we took tons of great pictures, but one stands out as my favorite. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families. Pin It

Grand Canyon

Yesterday morning the long awaited trip to the Grand Canyon became a reality. Bill and his dad drove off into the cool morning, and started on their 13 hour drive to Flagstaff, Arizona. They got in late last night and settled into a nice hotel for their last night of sleeping in a bed for the next 3 weeks. This morning they drove to Lee's Ferry, near Page, AZ and will spend the day there. They will be setting up their gear and getting everything ready to get on the river tomorrow morning. They will be camping on the beach tonight with boat within reach. When I checked the weather for them this morning it was -1 where they were, but 40 degrees where they would be spending the night. This again makes me ask the question....are they crazy?!?! So he promised to call in the morning from the Sat phone and let me know they were setting out. Then the plan is a brief 10 minutes call every 3 days or so to check in and makes sure everything is going great. I think they are a little crazy, with it being so cold, but I know that they are going to have an amazing time, fun, exciting and unforgettable. Can't wait to see and the pictures and here all the stories when they get home in three weeks. Pin It

Magnets with Personality!

So my mom and I are always thinking of some fun craft that we can do together. Two days ago we decided that we were going to make magnets. My aunt in Missouri makes magnets that are similar, we looked at all of her resources and thought, we can do this a little cooler. So, we made a trip to Micheal's and bought our initial investment. We spent the evening making all kinds of magnets, Alphabet letters, numbers, high school logos, and adorable pictures of my nephew. Mom took them to work displayed on a cute magnet board and took two huge orders! We spent the evening watching Julie and Julia and making awesome magnets. Fun time with my mom and making a little extra moolaa. So, if you want an adorable custom magnet and one of our many predesigned logos let me know. Pin It

Favorite Websites

I love to have a party for any occasion. Recently I have found a few websites that are AMAZING!!! Thought I would share them with you guys.

http://www.hostessblog.com/

http://www.busybeelifestyle.com/

Check them out, I bet you will love them as much as I do:) Pin It

Snow!

I honestly can't remember the last time it snowed in Midland. It was great to wake up last Thursday morning to a beautiful blanket of snow covering everything. The schools were closed, so I am sure there were cute snowmen everywhere, but I had to head into work and didn't get to enjoy them. Maybe we'll have more this Winter. With how cold it is outside it wouldn't surprise me. Pin It

With Thanksgiving

When I say Thanksgiving I think of the holiday of course, but this week I am focusing on something different. I am thinking of the word as two separate topics. First Thanks, I have so much to be thankful for. A wonderful family, that is supportive of each other, cherishes their time together and loves one another. I have wonderful parents who are Godly, supportive, caring and dedicated to being the best parents they can be. I have two brothers, a sister-in-law and a nephew who are amazing. I have a brother away at college, who has had to face the challenges of growing up this year. It is great to see him turn to my parents for guidance and assistance as he makes these changes to becoming an independent man. I have another brother, who has made a huge commitment this past year and joined the US Air Force. What an amazing amount of strength and faith that must take. He and is family are going to be leaving for Korea in the Spring for a 2-3 year station. This past month I received the greatest gift God could have given me, I started a family of my own. Bill and I got married after 6 years of being together. I have seen amazing changes in our relationship, as we grow closer to each other, as we focus on Christ and grow closer to Him. I have wonderful friends that I love and cherish. Thank you God for all of these wonderful people in my life. I am thankful for the freedom I have to worship my God any time I choose. I am thankful for the job, and the shelter He has provided me with.
The second thing I have been trying to focus on is giving. Something that I don't do as much as I would like to. Bill and I have recently had a few days off and have gone to the Midland Soup Kitchen to help serve lunch. I wish that this was something that we could commit more fully to. Not only is this organization providing food, temporary shelter, and clothing to anyone who needs it. They are offering the biggest gift of all, Christ. Every meal begins with a salvation message, that is about as down and dirty as it can get. There is no sugar coating this message, and it appears that people are being attentive. What a great ministry! Remember this holiday season all of the people less fortunate than you are, if you don't have the time to give, spend the money. Salvation Army has their Dress A Live Doll campaign going on, the Soup Kitchen needs, blankets and work gloves to provide their families with. Greater Ideal Baptist Church has the need for food baskets that will be distributed to families in need during their Miracle on Tyler Street.
Get involved, think of all the things you are thankful for and what you can do for someone else. Pin It

Workout Overhaul

So I have decided that since I make a commute to Odessa for work and often don't leave until 7:45-8:00 in the evening to head home. That working out is pretty much a no go on work days. I get home just in time to shower, check email, spend a little time with Bill if he's home or visit some with my parents before I fall into bed. To make up for all of these no workout days I have convinced myself that I need to have major workout days on my days off. About a month ago I changed my COM membership from cool lap swimmer to not as cool water aerobics. My new friend Alanna and I tried it together and enjoyed it, most weeks we can manage 1 or 2 days that we can meet for a water workout. I know what you are thinking, I thought only old people did water aerobics? Well for the most part this is true, Alanna and I are by far the youngsters of the group, which is mainly from 50 years and up. Our first week we were corrected in how we kept our shoulders straight and tummies in. Very entertaining. I thought that this would be a nice time for Alanna and I to catch up, but have found that it is hard to breath much less carry a conversation when you are trying to keep up with people 3 times your age. It's more difficult than you think. Last week Shea and I got on our bikes for the first time in over a years. We contemplated how far we should ride our first day back in the saddle and ended up with "the churches" on 191. If you are from Midland you know exactly what I am talking about if not, there are a group of three churches that have all been built next to each other about 4 miles from Sam's club on Hwy 191. There was a slight head wind that made the ride a little more challenging than was planned for, but the ride was great. Finished with a total of 9.23 miles and felt great. So the new plan for my days off is 45 minutes of water aerobics followed by just under 10 miles of cycling, followed by a huge nap:) Two weeks in a row it has worked. Hopefully we can start to increase the milage on the bikes soon. Pin It

What happened AMAZON.COM?

I promise that I won't use this blog as a gripe space, but something happened today that really bothered me. I use amazon.com all the time to sell used books. I think that I am very conscious of how I list my books. I very rarely say "like new" and usually list as "very good" or "good." I love books and take very good care of them. So last week I made my first amazon.com purchase of a used book. I recently decided to join a local woman's book club and had to hurry to pick up this months book. Barnes and Nobles was sold out so I hit up amazon, and I found several copies of the book listed. I picked out the only one listed as "very good." What a joke. Apparently my interpretation of this and the sellers were very different. I received my purchase in the mail today and was excited to open it. You can imagine my surprise when I pulled out my "very good" used book, the book had obviously gotten wet at some point and had warped pages, the spine was broken completely so that pages are about to fall out and the last page of the book is ripped in half. Now I paid very little for this book, but still thought I was getting a usable product. I'm not sure if the book will survive my reading it. I think I will stick to the used bookstores for a while and think hard before my next amazon purchase. Pin It