| Your 80s Heartthrob Is |
 John Stamos |
Thirteen sounds I can hear right now:
1. An irritated barking dogAh, it’s a Friday night in a small town!
I have totally lost my cotton-pickin' mind! I cannot believe I did this. For months, as I have seen it coming, I have tried to persuade myself that it was no.big.deal. Our tiny little town, the one that is just a blip on the radar, where if you blink you will miss it, that has only a hole in the wall BBQ joint and an Express Mart - yep that one, was getting a Dollar General! The shining yellow sign lights up the area around it like an airport. I told my kids, "Four days." We were not going to go and check it out until it had been four days. "Why?" they asked. Well of course I did NOT want to seem too eager. It opened yesterday and guess who was there today? You guessed it - Miss Inconspicuous. It wasn't so cool when I walked inside the front doors and screamed, "Oh my gosh!" at the top of my newfound southern lungs. Oh yeah, and as if that wasn't totally humiliating enough to do in front of the whole town, who were all there, I called a shopping cart a "buggy"! I think I am in one of those Stephen King movies where the small town slowly annihilates the newcomers. If my blogging drops off suddenly, you'll know what happened.
The above is pretty much what my day looked like yesterday in a picture. Kullen and I sat outside of dressing rooms looking at two sets of feet and any various color and texture and much fluff over and under the dressing room stalls. Whew! Wore me out. There was the good. the bad. and the ugly. Most of what they have out there for teenage girls to consider wearing to these formal events is not fit to wear out in public. Thankfully they each found a very tastefully beautiful 
dress that they were in love with. Here are some other random photos of the day, none of which include THE dresses. Those will be unveiled at the formal on May 4th. They are gorgeous - Kaitlyn's has a Cinderella flair to it - and Kendra chose a vintage look. I will post more pictures here when I am allowed! I can't wait to see them all gussied up!
PS - The guy I married is much cuter!
Today we are going shopping for formal dresses. My girls are pretty excited. I am too except for the fact that the place they want to go is in a mall that is almost 2 hours away! When some of our friends first started talking about hosting a "formal" Spring Fling for the homeschooled kids in our area (in WV) the hubby and I weren't sure what we thought of that. One of the reasons we homeschooled our kids was to keep them from some of the dating standards of the public schools, the social pressure of the boy/girl thing, etc. Not that in any way we thought they would not have an interest in the opposite sex but that it wouldn't be driven 
by peers or the social pressure to fit in. But of course, the idea of dressing up and having a fun evening with your best friends is always irresistible. As far as I can remember there was only one official couple at this formal dance. The rest of the kids kicked off their shoes and danced their socks off! There was a great meal, and very little of the drama I remember at my high school proms. It was a blast - so we are headed back for another "formal" this year! We can't wait. Now if only we could just get this dress shopping over with!
Lest you forget - I must remind you about the Quirky Quote Qontest. Jump on over there right now and be #20! Does your blog need spruced up? The prize is a fabulous new blog design by the amazing Goofy Girl. My quote collection needed some pizazz and y'all have certainly provided it! Don't stop now. And current contestants, remember that there is a TWO quote limit, so enter again!
the game is very realistic in some ways. Paying taxes, and buying a house, but what about the little things like, um toilet paper, groceries. These little plastic peg people never eat! What about the cost of living? I don't think that things could have changed all that much. My daughters were police officers and teachers each making $90,000 and $70,000 respectively - how unrealistic is that? My son got very upset that he landed on a spot that made him pay $20,000 for a home gym he didn't even want. I mean in real LIFE those kinds of things are choices. I think that we need to work on a more realistic version of this game. However, I never got a "baby" in the game - and noticed that I ended up with more money and was more relaxed in general. Whatddya make of that?
Here is my "front" door - at least part of it. The front porch is shaped like the letter "L" - and this kitchen door is on one side and there is a door on the other side that goes into the living room. The living room door has an old doorknob without a key so we use it less often. (It has a manual lock from the inside!) At our house in West Virginia one day, I read Deuteronomy 6:9 that says to talk about the Lord's commands when you sit and stand, binding them on your head and writing "these commandments" on the doorframes of your homes. I took it literally. I couldn't wait to get settled and do the same here in our new home. I wrote the 10 commandments and ended with Deuteronomy 6:9. It is a symbol to all who enter of the standard that we hope to live out within the four walls of our humble abode!
I am totally loving the Texas Spring. Everywhere I look there are beautiful things blooming. This is a picture of Wisteria that I saw hanging over the fence at the Chinese restaurant where we ate yesterday. It is so gorgeous, and it seems to be growing everywhere that I look, in bushes, vines, and even large trees - everywhere except my yard. I intend fully to have some in my yard shortly! I have seen it in a lot of Victorian era art but never in person. I think it is just lovely.
Do you have a favorite "homeschool" blogger? Get on over to Spirittbee's blog (or you can click on the graphic on the left and go directly to the award post) and check out the wide array of categories and make your nominations. There are many bloggers who invest their time and energy to make blogging fun, educational, informative, and helpful for the " homeschool blogosphere" - so go on over and recognize those blog-authors that you admire. Bless somebody by letting them know how they bless you!
If I were to be dropped on a deserted island, and the only thing I could have is my personal DVD player (equipped with several extra battery packs – okay suspend disbelief for a minute would ya?) and only 13 movies, here is what I would take:
1. The Passion of the Christ - when I need to remember Jesus’s sacrifice
2. Little Women - when I need to remember the value of family
3. Facing the Giants - when I need encouragement to “keep going”
4. Spiderman - when I feel like climbing a wall – or a palm tree – whatever!
5. Return to Me - when I lose heart
6. The Titanic - when I feel like I’m sinking in a cold world
7. Tuck Everlasting - when I faint at the thought of growing old
8. Oliver! – when I feel like nobody loves me
9. Cheaper by the Dozen – old version - when I think I have too many kids!
10. The Astronaut Farmer - when I need to remember how to dream (Okay – I know it is not on DVD yet
11. The Prestige – when I am bored and need to stretch my brain a bit
12. Gone With the Wind – when frankly my dear I don’t give a – oh yeah this is a family friendly blog!
13. The Sound of Music OR Fiddler on the Roof – when I feel like singing!
This list could have a few variables on any given day – but this seems to be a good mixed list of movies I’ve seen recently and ones that I’ve loved for a long time.
I love my crock-pot. It makes cooking so handy. I was so thankful when I found Diary of a Stay at Home Mom hosting Slow Cooking Thursday. If you're like me you can always use more good recipes that are tried and tested by other moms! Speaking of which, I made this yummy recipe for Taco Soup in my crock-pot today that I found on somebody else's blog - and I just had to take a taste when we got home from co-op! It is sooo good! And while you're at it, hop on over to Life on the Rocks where she's posted a yummy meatless (alright it has chicken broth though!) version.
This is our cat Rayne (I call her "Princess Sushi"). The suspicious bulge you see in her mid-section is not too much tuna. This girl is seriously pregnant. We took her to the vet last week because I was worried she may have worms or something and he said we would probably have baby kitties in about 2 weeks. As you can see she is a most gorgeous feline specimen - and we all love her so much. I am about to go crazy worried about her. She is just around a year old. When we got her she was literally a "wild cat". She lived across the street from my mother-in-law's house, behind 
Uncle Raymond's house. He told me he had a beautiful siamese mixed kitty that we could have if we wanted, and I thought Kaitlyn would adore having a new friend in Texas so we got the kitty for her birthday. Aunt Vonda who is a TOTAL cat lover offered to hold the kitty on the ride home in the car - but the little brier patch hissed, and pawed with claws bared so we decided the kennel was a better alternative. (I could see the leather seats in my new mini van in shreds by the time we made the 2 mile drive!) Kaitlyn fell in love with her and we took turns pulling her out of hiding and holding her and loving her through those first couple of weeks. She is still a bit skiddish - but we couldn't love her any more. We'll have to keep you updated on the kitten saga. She is laying around a lot, and crying (the one "siamese" trait that she has the strongest), so we should have babies any day now. Anybody want a kitten?
I made this scrapbook page in memory of my father-in-law who went to be with Jesus in July of last year. I woke up this morning thinking of him, and had these exact thoughts on my mind. The hutch is because he loved woodworking and in the last year of his life he refinished a hutch just like this one that was his mother's, the cross because he was a Christian - and the son of a Congregational Methodist minister, and the quote because he was an avid gardener and loved to nurture and grow plants and trees of all kinds. BTW - just in case you didn't know - you can click on the image to make it larger so you can actually read the journaling.
The rules are:
I have a glorious love-hate relationship with TV. TV scares me. It makes everything seem credible. If everything seems credible, then nothing seems credible. TV puts everybody in those boxes side by side. On one side, there’s this certifiable lunatic that says the holocaust never happened, and next to him is this noted, honored historian who knows all about the holocaust, and now there they sit, side by side. They look like equals. Everything they say seems to be credible – and so as it goes on nothing seems credible anymore. We just stop listening!
-Man of the Year
Here is another scrapbook page I made of my brother-in-law. He is 50 years old and mentally challenged (whatever the PC term is). His life is a testimony to perseverance. The doctors told my mother and father-in-law he would never walk, talk, sit, etc. These "nevers" only fueled my MIL's determination, and he does many of the things they said he never would. Cary spent Christmas with us and repetitively said, "It's gonna be a Merry Christmas!" which provided the altered title for my page. This was a challenging page - I had too many pictures I wanted to include so having to narrow those down is always a difficulty.
Out of my two teenage daughters, Kaitlyn is the most, shall we say "particular" (not anal or picky or obstinate) about her stuff. Her sister has nicknamed her the "pretty kitty" because she has the take it or leave it personality of her cat! (which BTW she loves you to say as often as possible when you're around her!) She has these two huge windows in her bedroom that have been screaming for curtains since we moved in, and today I was finally able to make her some. We bought bedsheets to use because they were less expensive, but she had to have ta-de-dah ones - no plain flat sheets for this girl! You can't see this picture very well because the light coming in from the window wouldn't allow my flash to go off! I'll try and post a better picture later when it is a bit darker outside to give you a better look-see.
For any of you fellow digital scrapbookers out there that might like this kit - I GOT IT FREE at one of my favorite scrapbooking sites - Shabby Princess. It's still available so go on and snag it! Shop around and buy some other stuff too - they have such gorgeous stuff there!
Manifest plainness? What does that mean? I read it on my friend’s blog. She had it as part of a header and it just grabbed my attention. The header read “Manifest plainness. Embrace simplicity. Reduce selfishness. Have few desires.” It reminded me of a book about Saint Francis of Assisi that I read with a book discussion group several years ago. He was the epitome of humility. In fact, if he were alive today and heard me say such a thing about him, he would return to his monastery and have his “brothers” stand on his face so that pride would not take root.
Saint Francis wore a brown habit, owned no possessions, and worked hard at maintaining humility. I struggle with all of these things and at different times I get my thinking very twisted here. I want to “manifest plainness” so that others do not see me – but Jesus in me. I don’t like flamboyant clothing and jewelry, it feels too conspicuous. But I know other Christian women that are completely different in this regards – in fact, Beth Moore, my absolute all-time favorite Bible teacher is from Texas and she says things like “in Texas we believe, the higher the hair the closer to God”. (Now before you go off thinking I am saying Beth Moore is flamboyant - I want to clarify - I think she is a very classy, beautiful woman, who dresses immaculately and is a first class teacher of the word of God. What I am saying is "style-wise" we're different.)
I had it right between the eyes this Sunday. I walked into Sunday school and immediately felt under-dressed. Now mind you, I’ve been wearing jeans just about every single Sunday since we started going to this new church (about 3 months now) and haven’t felt awkward about it yet. I figured it was one of those things that the enemy was using to keep my mind off of what might be gleaned in the spiritual realm by diverting my attention to my shoes, my pants, and the sheer overwhelming elegance and sophistication of every other woman in the room. Ugh! I sat all the way through feeling very, shall we say for lack of a better word *dumpy*. After Sunday school I met up with Kaitlyn telling me “so-and-so’s mother makes her wear a dress every week and so-and-so’s father makes them at least wear dress pants – but that she’s glad I just let them be the same as they are every other day”. DID THE CHILD READ MY MIND? While her thoughts give me comfort now, they did little at the time to lift the oppressive feeling of being very shabby in contrast.
I have always had a big issue with hypocrisy. The people I knew growing up who called themselves Christians were always cleaned up on the outside – and after church (in the rare times that we actually attended), as soon as the car doors would slam to take us back to the reality of our lives, they were no different. In fact, in my experience, those who called themselves by the name of Christ were frequently more evil than the “non-Christians” who were often more kind, and loving than the Sunday school teacher looking down her nose at the rowdy little children with uncombed hair, boys with half tucked shirts and girls with soiled dresses because they were obviously “unsanctified”. These kinds of people did everything short of push me absolutely and totally out of the church – however, they could NOT push me too far to be gripped in the loving arms of my Savior.
As an adult, I walked through the doors of a little chapel on a mountain in West Virginia. My life was in utter shambles. I looked for God and I found him – among people wearing jeans and tennis shoes and t-shirts. I learned the reality of the verse that says “man looks at the outward appearance, while God looks at the heart”. I learned that real sanctification touches and purifies the blackness of our hearts – and often changes the outward as well – which has little to do with real spirituality. I take the verse to heart that says that instead of outward adornment we should be concerned with the “beauty of a meek and quiet Spirit that is of great value to the Lord”.
I know that I have many areas in my heart yet to be transformed. I know that when the Lord looks at me he sees past the tennis shoes and blue jeans and see that Julie needs to work on envy, pride, malice, idolatry and thinks of little else other than making me more like Him. The next time the enemy tries to get my eyes on these things – I am going to remember that my goal in life is to be more like Jesus, so that when others see me they can see Him. Modesty aside (believe me this body was MADE to be covered!) what I wear really doesn’t matter.
I have to admit - I LOVE V-8 JUICE! I love the red stuff - and when I buy a big bottle of it - I just can't stop drinking it until it is gone. I even loved it when I was a kid - which I know is not common.This T13 list is actually inspired by the movie The Ultimate Gift. My kids and I saw it yesterday. I didn’t know it was put out by “Fox Faith”. It was a great feel good, family kind of movie.
13 Things I Would Do With a Million Dollars
1. Send a large check to some of my favorite missions organizations, including personally to any missionaries that I know.
2. Release my husband from the 9-5 daily grind, to free up his creative energies to do things he’s always wanted but never had the time or resources to do.
3. Plan a family mission trip to an impoverished country.
4. Pay for my mother-in-law and both of her sisters to have their homes and property maintained, or help them in any way needed.
5. Get my hair done by a hairdresser with ears. (Refer to previous post!)
6. Set up savings accounts for my children to use for college, a down-payment for their first house, have full body tattoos, or whatever they would choose to do with it that would make them happiest.
7. Buy an RV and make it homey to use on semi-annual visits to see friends in WV, and family in NC.
8. Take a cross-country trip with my family to see places like Yellowstone, Laura Ingalls Wilder exhibits in several locations, the Grand Canyon, DEFINITELY the Badlands, the Rocky Mountains, etc. including every beach, mountain range, plain and forest.
9. Go to Walt Disney World in Florida.
10. Use it lavishly for random acts of kindness.
11. Enroll in Bible college and immerse myself fully in word study, theology, etc.
12. Build a library in Baborigame, Mexico and stock it with good books written in Spanish.
13. Move my house to a more secluded piece of land, and buy our whole family 4-wheelers.
The truth of the matter is, regardless of how hard I stretched my brain to think, none of the things I could do with a million dollars would really make the world a better place. I would not be a better wife or mother, a more loving friend, a more faithful follower of Christ. I could not buy my dad a new back, or heal my mom's mind and heart. I know I wouldn't be any happier.
In the end, the only thing that truly touches the world in an attempt to make it a better place is an abandoned giving of self. The message I got from the movie, one I’ve always known, is that the best things in life aren’t things, and that what you gain when you give of yourself is far more valuable than what you can obtain with money.
It was fun to think about anyway!
Last night my son was asking me to take him to the store today to get something that he has been wanting. I have a day planned for errands sometime this week, but I wasn't sure whether it would be today or tomorrow (Thursday). Here is a little peek into our conversation:
He said, “What are the chances that we’ll go to the store tomorrow?”
I said, “Oh, about 50/50. I just don’t know yet.”
He said, “What does 50/50 mean?”
I said, “ Well 100% is a definite YES, and 0% is a definite NO, so 50/50 means it could go either way – 50% YES and 50% NO.”
I could see the thoughtful look in his eyes as he paused a moment and then asked, “Could it be 51 YES?”
BWaah haahahhha! I knew he “got it”! I cracked up. Of course I said it could be “51 YES” – and asked him how much a chance of NO that left him with and he knew it was 49 without much thought. So there you go there is a 51/49 chance that we are going to the store today. (I hate to tell him – there is a 100% chance we are NOT going – because I decided to do errands tomorrow.)
What I find most fascinating about this exchange is that math is one of the things I am most apprehensive about in our unschooling journey. It is the one thing that has the ability to wake me up at night with nightmares of them working as cashiers at the local Grub-mart and not being able to make change. But I was so thankful to see a glimpse that they are very capable of learning these things in bits and pieces and having a full understanding of it versus doing a pre-routed formula that someone else teaches them that may never give them a comprehensive understanding. I have been anxious about this – and had turned it over to the Lord. How good is He to show me this living example? It gets even better:
This morning, my 13 year old who has always disliked math asked me how many seconds were in a year. I told her that I didn’t know and that she could use the calculator to figure it out. After a few questions about the processes – when to add and when to multiply - she spent the next 30 minutes figuring out the seconds in the lives of every member of our family, including her 93 year old great-grandmother. She worked it out and learned how to say the numbers to as she read each of them to me. She calculated how many seconds she has had in her lifetime, and in mine. She also told me how many seconds there were so far in 2007. For a child that hated math this was amazing to watch.
I am so thankful to be on this delightful journey. What joy there is in watching my children learn all the time!
