Being who God created me to be!

I Moved my Blog to Wordpress!

2009-01-23T09:23:00.002-05:00

Hi all my wonderful readers! I just wanted to let you know I made the jump to lightspeed! Just kidding! But, I did make the jump from Blogger to WordPress! You can still find me under http://marylutz.com! I added Feedburner to my WP blog over there, so be sure to subscribe there so you get all my amazingly awesome posts!!! LOL. See you at WordPress!

Details of Kaleb's Race

2009-01-22T20:51:00.002-05:00

This evening I had the awesome pleasure of dressing up like a great big pink and brown marshmallow and standing on a ski while my toes went numb and my knees, back and hips stiffened up! LOL. Yes, I went to my son's ski race at Boyne Mountain.

It was interesting to say the least. Kaleb got second in GS, but the interesting part was his slalom race. His first run he did amazingly awesome...until the very end. He slipped, missed a gate, and almost went through the finish gate, but was able to stop himself, climb up the hill couple of feet and go around the gate and then through the finish line. It only took him a couple of seconds to do that.

Well the time keepers are supposed to restart the clock when something like that happens. I heard them announce Kaleb's time at 28 point something but that wasn't written on the board for a really long time. The score keeper missed his time and had the boy whose name was above Kaleb's had a time of 22 point something. Well there was no way there was a 6 second difference between his and Kaleb's time. Kaleb is one of the fastest skiers in his league. Even one of the other fast skiers had a time of 28 point something, so we knew something was askew. Eventually the score keeper wrote in Kaleb's time of 28.05, but then shortly thereafter crossed it off. Everyone was confused about his time because of him missing the gate. Finally one of the race moderators went into the time keeping shack to supposedly get it all straightened out. When he got back, it was an even bigger mess.

They gave Kaleb a time of 36 seconds, which is totally ridiculous. Supposedly the time keeper restarted the time clock after he missed the gate, but everyone knows it didn't take him 8 seconds to go back up the few feet, go around that gate and then through the finish line. The finish line was only 2 meters away from that gate, which is a whole other story! We think Kaleb should have gotten a re-run, but they didn't give him one. They stuck him with the 36 seconds. When Jeff looked at the video, from what we could tell it only took him 4 to 6 seconds from when he slipped to when he went through the finish line. But, Jeff just tried to upload the video from the SDcard and it's corrupt, the whole card!!! It keeps saying it needs to be formatted, but if you format it, it will wipe it clean! Ugh!!!!

So, for the record, Kaleb got second in GS and we're not sure where he placed in slalom. We still think he did pretty well, but not first like he probably would have done. Oh well. Crap happens. What can you do? Nothing, just carry on and do your best next time.

I'm so Honored!!!

2009-01-19T21:02:00.003-05:00

I was going through my 1000+ items in my Google Reader (Why yes I'm behind! How can you tell....lol) and my email notifier popped up with a message from Cindy, aka Mom Maven! She nominated my blog, this one, the Cool and Fabulous Award!!! How cool and fabulous is that!? I think its pretty cool and fabulous!!!
The Fabulous-Coolest Butterfly Blog award comes with a few rules: Put the logo on your blog or post. Nominate at least 10 blogs which you think are fabulous and cool. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link back to this post on MomMaven where I nominate your blog.

Okay, so now the hard part! Choosing 10 cool and fabulous blog! It's hard because I know a lot, and I mean a lot of blogs that deserve this award! So, here are the 10 I choose in no particular order!

Two Blocks Ago, by Lisa Block. An amazing blog by a great mom, wife, person and friend! She is open and honest and a great writer!

Adventures of a Single WAHM, by Tishia Lee. Tishia is my friend, and her blog is amazing! She too is open and honest with her feelings. She is also ver humorous!!!

At Home Mom Blog, by Genesis Davies. Genesis is a WAHM with a really cute and cool blog! She has a lot of great ideas and tips for working at home.

All 4 My Gals, by Nicole. This is a fairly new read in my Reading list, but it's so inspirational, it truly deserves the cool and fabulous award!

Not Your Average Soccer Mom, by Brandy. This woman is a lot like me believe it or not! She is an out of the box mom, writer and blogger. Her writing makes me laugh out loud!!!

The Homesteading Housewife, by Dana. Another great and funny writer! Her blog is also full of great recipes and other fun stuff!!!

My friend at Too Many Hats. I just love her and I don't even know her name :( I might but it's not on her blog, so anonymous it is! But, she has an awesome blog, funny and inspiring!

Baby Boogers, by Kelly. You can probably tell by the title that this is another hilarious, out of the box kind of mom! You can probably also tell I love these kinds of moms and their blogs!!!

Becoming Me, by Mrs. Naz. This is a favorite because it is so inspirational and I get a true sense of peace when I read it!

Only one more...geezZ! This is go hard!!! And the winner is...

It's Time for the Burkulater by Burkulater. Again, another hilarious mom writer! I just love reading her stuff!

I hope you will all take time to visit their blogs and be sure to visit Mom Maven too! Thanks Cindy for this awesome award! I truly appreciate it!

So, I was just proofreading this post before publishing it and noticed it said I must nominate at least 10 blogs for this award, so that means I can nominate more, yeah!!!! Here are some more, again in no particular order!

Ooh La La Mama, by Cindy. You guessed it, funny and hilarious blog! She uses terms like fart, butt and junk! I love it!!!

His Boys Can Swim, by Tarzan and Jane, seriously!!! A very funny blog, who'd of guessed, by a husband and wife who are blogging their entire pregnancy journey!

So, THERE you have it!!! I'm glad I got to add the other two!

Using the Internet for Weight Loss Success

2009-01-16T10:47:00.003-05:00

As most of you know and for those who don't know, I am fat! LOL. Not funny that I'm fat, but do you like how I just come out and say "I'm fat"? Well I am. I love everyone who says "You're not fat", but come on, I am about 80 lbs overweight and have had it. I'm over it. I am ready to get this extra poundage off and start eating healthy and exercising!!! I've already started and have been doing it for 3 days now.

So, what am I doing to lose weight? Oh, you want to know? Okay! No, not some fad diet (I hate the word diet anyway!) and diets don't work. Oh sure you might take off some weight, but unless you really change your eating habits and lifestyle, you aren't likely to keep it off. I've successfully lost weight in the past on those diets, but obviously I didn't keep it off. Why? Because I didn't change my thinking about food and what I was putting in my body. I knew what I could and couldn't eat and how much I could eat to take the weight off, but I didn't stick to a healthy eating plan after I took the weight off. For some reason I thought that once I was at a decent weight, I could go back to eating like I was and wouldn't gain it back. How silly is that?! Have any of you ever done that??? And quite frankly I get tired of eating "diet" food. I got tired of measuring and counting and all that stuff you have to do on a "diet". When I am hungry I just want to get something that tastes good to eat! Period.

Well that's where the mindset has to change! And that's where meal planning comes in. A little thing called discipline. I wish I had one of those personalities where I planned everything automatically, it was a way of life for me. But, I don't. I have the personality type where I am spontaneous, fly at the seat of my pants on a wing and a prayer. I do have a little bit of planner in me, but the spontaneity usually over rules the plan. I am good at thinking things through to see the most likely end result and I am organized but I like to have fun, and often if something fun comes up, it over rules doing something not as fun.

What I'm getting at is meal planning is an effort for me. Planning meals ahead of time takes a conscious effort and I don't always take the time necessary to plan meals properly like I should. But, I am going to work at!!! This week when I went grocery shopping, I picked up a ton of veggies for salads, and I made a big bowl of salad that is convenient for lunch or dinner. That's what I had yesterday as a matter of fact, for lunch and dinner. For dinner though I added some ham and turkey and cheese for extra protein. It was yummy!!! And easy, since the salad was already prepared!

There is a great article called Healthy Weight Loss Success you can get for FREE here: Free New Years Success Pack for Moms. There are also other great menu planning ideas and guides there you can check out as well!

I've also been keeping a journal on a social networking site (Ning) called Open Talk Mom. I've posted my before picture (what I look like now) ugh, and on my blog there I posted my current weight and my goals. I've been journaling every day what I eat, how much water I drink and any exercise I've done (not much!!!). I will tell you that having that picture is a BIG motivator for me!!! I hate looking at it!!! You can join Open Talk Mom Ning site as well and use it to record your weight loss progress too, meet other mom's who are losing weight and all kinds of fun stuff!

I also went to Weight View and had a virtual weight loss picture created for me. Using the "before" photo I mentioned above,Weight View created a picture of me 50 lbs thinner. I have it on my desk top. Weight View is free to use and you can get a picture of you with whatever amount of weight you want to lose too. The highest they go is 50 lbs. though. But, what a difference 50 lbs. makes!!!

Another thing I'm doing to help motivate me is I receive a weekly newsletter from Your Total Wellbeing. It's free as well. Yep free! When you go to that page, a pop up box will appear where you sign up to receive the weekly newsletter in your email. They have great tips and recipes to help you on your way to a thinner you! You also get a free 32 page ebook all about metabolism; what it is and how it affects you!

Good stuff that will help get you started, keep you motivated and reach your weight loss goals!!! I encourage you to click on all of the links above and check out all the free information available to you, literally at your finger tips!!! I did and now I'm motivated and really on my way to weight loss success!!!

I am Animal!

2009-01-13T00:18:00.002-05:00

My friend at 2 Too Many Hats had this fun little quiz and so of course I had to do it too!!! Yes, I am Animal. Not surprising. I can talk like him quite well! Ask my hubby and kids!!!

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts.

You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary.

But you sure can beat a good drum.

"Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

My First Online Interview as a WAHM!

2009-01-12T23:14:00.003-05:00

It's pretty exciting when you are chosen for an interview. Genesis Davies (I love her name!) sent out a call to WAHM's for a possible interview, and I quickly responded. So, it wasn't like I specifically got called for an interview,non the less it was my first and it got published, so I'm pleased :) If you'd like to read it, click here!

So proud of my Son!

2009-01-10T01:02:00.002-05:00

Gonna brag a bit on my son, Kaleb who is a senior in high school and 18. He's an amazing skier!!!! My hubby posted this blog about his latest ski meet, that we missed!!! Darn it! Kaleb lives with his dad, and Jeff and I hadn't printed the ski meet schedules off yet from the school's website so neither of us were prepared to go. Trust me, it takes a lot of mental preparation, work preparation, dinner preparation and so so to go stand out on a ski hill. I love seeing him race, don't get me wrong, I just need to be prepared and we didn't find out about the race until the mid afternoon. The race was at 5:00.

Anyway! As Jeff pointed out in his blog (for those of you who haven't clicked on the link above yet) Kaleb took first in the meet!!! He came in first in both the GS and Slalom. He's doing awesome and I'm very proud of him. Next time we will go for sure and have the camera!

Christian Women Tweet Up Tonight!

2009-01-08T10:27:00.002-05:00

I am a Twitterer! I have "met" so many new people on Twitter; people with similar interests as mine, people with totally different interests from mine, other WAHM's, Christian men and women, single parents, single people, married people, and on and on.

Every once in a while someone will host a 'tweet up' which is where twitter people meet up. Tonight there is a tweet up hosted by Take Root and Write. Take Root and Write is a site where Christian Women come together for inspiration and encouragement. If you are a Christian Woman and have a blog, you might be able to add your blog to the blog roll, or even be a writer for Take Root and Write.

The tweet up will connect more Christian Women with each other and will be focusing on "the word for January, Cleanse". I'm excited about it and can't wait. You can join the fun and inspiration too! Just click here; all the details are on this page.

It's not hard to join in on the fun if you have a Twitter account. If not, get one here! You don't want to miss out on the CWTU!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

2009-01-06T18:04:00.002-05:00

I'm changing my template and background again! I get bored with the same old same old, so bear with me if you come upon my blog and it looks, well, unfinished for a bit. Hopefully it won't take too long for me to find something I like!

I'll let you know when it's done!

Memories of 2008

2009-01-05T18:20:00.006-05:00

The holidays are officially over now (according to me anyway) and a new year is well under way. 2008 was a pretty good year overall and we had some exciting times, some down times and some normal times (whatever normal is). Here is a photo journal of the past year around the Lutz house.

Alyssa Noel Grace was born Dec. 31, 2007. She and her mom came to live with us a couple of weeks later.

January of 2008 Trisha announced her 2nd pregnancy!

The end of March, I went on a mission trip to Nigeria Africa. An experience that changed my life forever!

The end of May, our God daughter Briana (one of the girls from youth group who came to live with us) graduated from high school.

June of '08 a bunch of us from the youth ministry visited the graduation open houses courtesy of the Chaffee mobile. It's a 1983 motorhome we all piled into. What a blast. In this photo: Barb Sewell, Sandy Chaffee, Cheri Porta and me.

In June we helped out at the Big Ticket Festival. What an awesome time that was!

July 4th we spent at the beach during the day and then went to see the fireworks in the park in Boyne City. Great family fun!

In July I got a great visit from my friends from Missouri and North Carolina. Lori, me and Rhonda grace this lovely photo.

On September 11, Dylan Richard Stefanic, my 2nd grandson entered the world!

September 30, the family got together to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday! A fun time was had by all, especially the birthday boy!

Christmas 2008 was Dylan's first Christmas, and Ethan's 2nd. Ethan was a joy to see opening his presents and trying to help others open theirs!

These are the highlights, that I have photos of anyway. Somewhere around Thanksgiving we lost our digital camera. The photos I have after then were taken with Trisha and Ben's camera.

I can't wait to see the exciting changes 2009 brings!

Make Money while you Shop on Line

2009-01-04T20:15:00.002-05:00

Before I started my Christmas shopping this year, I joined Ebates. Ebates is a website that pays cash back for any shopping you do through their site. They have thousands of popular stores and some great ones you may not have heard of. It's very easy to use too! All you have to do is bookmark Ebates in your favorite browser and everytime you do any shopping on line, go to Ebates, find the store, or search for a specific product. Once you find the store you want to shop at, click on it through Ebates and you will get an automatic tracking ticket and then directed to the store you chose. Once you make a purchase at that store, Ebates tracks it and in a couple of days, credits your Ebates account according to the cash payout percentage. The payout percentages are shown on the page with the list of stores on Ebates. Ebates sends you a big fat check every quarter or credits your PayPal account.

Signing up is simple and quick, so go to Ebates now and start earning cash back now on all your online purchases.

I've already earned a nice little chunk of money from my Christmas shopping, and now I will be doing more of my shopping through Ebates as well. A lot of the stores on Ebates have every day items we use at discounted prices. So, in addition to earning cash back you will also most likely save money using Ebates. You have nothing to lose! There are no strings attached, so be sure to click on Ebates whenever you do any on line shopping.

Adapting to the New Routine

2009-01-02T18:40:00.002-05:00

If you read my last post, you know I set some new goals for myself and my work at home business. Today is still officially still the Holidays according to some, but even so, I started practicing my new routine between Christmas and New Years Day. New Years Eve and New Years Day I took a little break from my writing because I knew I would be diving in today and even more so by Monday, if not sooner. Although I am going to try to take weekends off, or the days off my hubby has.

The biggest part of the adjustment in this new routine will be fluctuating with Jeff's schedule. One of the main advantages of working from home is being able to set my own schedule. This past week was his turn for evenings, so I would stay up late working while he was working, and when he came home, I would stay up with him until we were both ready to call it a night, then sleep in till about 10 or 11. I prefer staying up late so I think I'm actually going to start enjoying when Jeff is on evenings. I used to hate it because when I was working out of the home, I would have to go to bed by 10 or 11, Jeff would get home about 1am and stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning and then I would have to get up and go to work and he would leave for work before I got home, so I would never see him vertically the whole week he was on evenings, except on Saturday and Sunday. Now, I'm going to have to adjust to his day shift because like I said, I like staying up late, but he won't be able to when he is on his day shifts. But, it will be okay, because I will get to bed by 11 probably and get up around 7 or 8, if not earlier. Then I can work while he's at work and then put the laptop down or work on one of my tutorials.

Right now, I'm taking Blog Evangelists, which is an online workshop that teaches how to customize a WordPress blog and how to market your blog business to your local community. It's a course I can work on at my own pace, so it's easy to fit it in my schedule.

Jeff got me two Photoshop books for Christmas, so I am studying those as well. Obviously those are at my own pace, so I can work on those whenever I want. Sometimes I take a break from writing to work on my tutorials and study Photoshop, which is nice because now that I am writing a lot more, I need to give my brain a break...lol...so I can get refreshed and be more productive at writing.

There will be more adjustments to my new routine as time goes by I'm sure, especially when Jeff is on midnights...we will see how that goes! Probably the same as when he's on days because I will work while he sleeps and then put the laptop down or work on a tutorial in the evenings. But, I'm really loving working at home full time now and will just keep plugging along, learning more and building my online presence.

New Year! New Routine!

2008-12-29T18:02:00.002-05:00

I am on a New Year kick!!! It's a New Year (almost) so time for some new routines! Especially since I'm working from home full time now, I have to get my writing routine down so that I am sure to get them all done. The other thing I'm working on is my health! I'm over being unhealthy and fat! So, I am going to start exercising every day for at least 15 minutes, drinking a lot more water, and eating smaller portions!

The other thing I'm adding to my daily routine is reading my bible everyday when I first get up! There's no better way to starting your day than in God's word. Jeff got me a new bible for Christmas that I LOVE, so I will be digging into it every day! I already started today off with reading a few morsels from it today! And have I had a blessed day!!! It's amazing!

Another thing I'm going to start doing is eating breakfast within the first hour after I get up. This boosts the metabolism, gives you energy and brain power for the day.

I noticed though, that now that I'm working from home full time, it's actually harder to get the laundry done and the dishes done! How weird is that?! I definitely have to work on that.

Speaking of laundry, I better get up and to get it started right now. My hubby is out of clean underwear!

New Year, New Goals

2008-12-28T21:23:00.002-05:00

If you've been following my "tweets" on Twitter you saw that I've been posting a lot today! The reason? A new year, a new goal! I am working from home full time now, which I LOVE, and so I've set a new goal, inspired by my friend over at 2 Too Many Hats. The new goal? To write a post a day on my blog. Well, I have 3 other blogs, besides this one, plus I'm a contributor for 4 more! So, that's 7 a day! A pretty big chunk to bite off and chew, but since working from home and writing is my passion, then I know I can do it. Each of the blogs are different enough to be able to come up with different topics each day for all of them.

On Efficient WAHM, I write reviews, post about giveaways, saving money as well as finding tools on the web to help other work at home mom's be more efficient in their business and personal lives.

I started Open Talk Mom so that other mom's would have a place to come and be open about what's going on in their lives. I also find resources, news and articles on disease and disability. I started it for my sister who suffers from MS and diabetes.

I also have my Virtual Assistant site, that has a blog as well, so there I write about everything from starting a VA business to why a small business owner or other work at home mom needs a VA. This one will probably be the most tough to come up with fresh and new ideas for everyday!

Two of the sites I contribute to are Profitable Mommy Bloggers (my first paid writing gig) and Show Mom the Money. Profitable Mommy Bloggers is fairly easy to write for as the writer of the A to Z Internet Glossary. Show Mom the Money is also quite easy as we are usually given a style of writing, or a goal to reach each month. Plus I write in the category Stay at Home Sanity, so it's pretty easy to come up with content to write about.

The next one I am a contributor for is They Call Me Wahmmy. I love this site and am the "teen expert" so I get to write about my kids, raising teens and my experience as a youth leader.

I just received the prestigious award of being an editor for Type-A Mom. I am the Stages Editor for Grandmothers! I give advice to other mom's from a grandma's perspective, write about being a "young at heart" grandma, and I get to write about my two grandsons! Needless to say, that one won't be very hard coming up with stuff to write about!

I think I will enjoy this new goal! It will definitely get my creative juices flowing! Won't you take the plunge and set a goal to write at least one blog post a day? If you do, please leave a comment and let me know so I can encourage you. Maybe we can give each other ideas to write about!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T01:39:00.008-05:00

It came and went fast! I can't believe it's over. We will keep our tree up until the New Year, but it's weird Christmas came and went. It was fun, all the preparations I've been working on since Thanksgiving, but it's so hard to believe a month has gone by already! Anyway, here are the highlights, as I remember them.

Christmas Eve was the day we planned to celebrate Christmas with the kids this year so Trisha, Ben and the boys could open presents at their house Christmas morning, then go to Ben's parents and then to Trisha's dad's. I can just imagine all the scheduling that will have to be done when my other kids get married!

Christmas Eve day I got up, got showered and ready for the day. I knew it was going to busy, but I didn't expect the business to start as soon as I got up. Jeff was working, so I had to do the last minute running to the store and then back home to cook. Fortunately, the store wasn't too overwhelmingly packed, although it was busy. I knew what I had to get, so I just went in and got what I needed. The lines weren't horrible either, surprisingly for Christmas Eve!

I came home, did some picking up (I'm always amazed how fast the house gets cluttered!). I did have some time to relax before I had to start cooking, so I did just that. We were having a simple dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole, so I didn't have a ton of cooking to do. We also made Jesus a birthday cake and some brownies.

Trisha and the boys got here about 3:30 or so, and we started cooking. I got the ham ready, made the glaze and put it in the oven. While that was baking we put in "It's a Wonderful Life." I had never seen it before, so it was a real treat and made it feel all the more like Christmas.

Then we made the cheesy potatoes, the green bean casserole and the desserts. Jeff got home a little after 6, at which time we ate. Then after dinner we opened presents. Everyone got some nice things and things they were wishing for. We also got some nice surprises like scarves from Scotland from Jeff's parents and hand drawn pictures from Brandon!

Karlie got a new camera which she was hoping for, Kaleb got a book by Brandon Boyd, the lead singer of Incubus. Jeff got the Nooma videos he wanted and some books and cd's from Amazon. I got some Photoshop tutorials I wanted, and Trisha got some books as well. We only gave 3 gifts to the kids this year in keeping the focus on Christ.

Here are some photos of Christmas 2008 at the Lutz house.

Two Year Old Laughter

2008-12-23T21:05:00.002-05:00

I posted this video on flickr, but wanted to share it here too, as most don't usually go to our flickr account.

We were at Trisha and Ben's the other night and Kaleb and Ethan were throwing a big, blue ball up the stairs and when it would bounce back down, Ethan would laugh this cute, little two year old laugh. I don't think you can watch it without laughing yourself. Laughter really is contagious, especially when it's by little ones!

I Received My First Blog Award!!!

2008-12-20T23:03:00.003-05:00

I was going through my Google Reader items, as I try to do everyday, but don't always get through them all, and saw that I won my first blog award! It's the "I Love Your Blog" award. My friend, fellow WAHM and fellow Twitterer Tishia nominated me! Thanks Tishia!!!

Now what I have to do, and so will you, is:

I pick 7 blogs that I love and mention them here.
If I mention your blog, you take the graphic and announce via blog that you have received the “I Love Your Blog” award.
Link back to yours truly as the one who gave you the award.
Choose 7 blogs to pass this award on to…you know those ultra cool blogs you like to read.
Make sure you let your award recipients know about the award by posting on their blog comments or otherwise giving them the heads up.

Here are the blogs I give the award to (in no particular order):
Mom Maven
2 Too Many Hats
Bearable Deals
Christian Stay at Home Mom
Gohn Crazy
Simple Mom
Nicole Dean

There are a few others I wanted to give this award to also, but since I write for them, I wasn't sure is that was okay or not!

Karlie's 2008 Winter Choir Concert

2008-12-16T22:10:00.002-05:00

We just got home from Concord Academy Boyne's annual winter concert. They have to call it that to be politically correct, but it's a Christmas concert! Concord is a charter school and a school of arts. There are no official sports teams, no Phys Ed, no cheerleaders, etc. There are however musicians, singers, artists, dancers and actors!

This year's concert was the first with the new music director. It was quite good, though it was certainly different from past years with the previous director.

We watched the 5th through 7th grade choir, then the beginning, intermediate and high school bands, and then finally the high school honors choir, which Karlie is part of. She is a soprano so it is easy for me to hear her voice above others and can that girl sing! She even got a solo part in one of the songs, which is in the video below. The picture is of her and her new boyfriend, of almost 2 months, Evan. We had to take the video and pic with Jeff's phone because we've somehow misplaced our camera!!! Booooo! I'm so sad about it! I hope we find it soon. I will hate to have Christmas without a camera!!!

Anyway, enjoy as best you can!

Fun Picture Meme

2008-12-15T20:12:00.003-05:00

As you may or may not know, I love memes! My friend at 2 Too Many Hats tagged me for this meme, so of course I had to participate!

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.

2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

This is my son Kaleb in one of his senior pictures. This was taken behind his dad's house, at the stream all of my kids have played in, near and around growing up!

I tag:
Tishia Lee
Lisa Block
Christie Garcia
Briana McGlinchey

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

2008-12-13T00:21:00.002-05:00

Today, well technically yesterday, December 12, is Jeff's birthday. We got up around 10AM and went to Traverse City. Jeff had a coupon for one of his favorite restaurants, BD's Mongolian BBQ, for a free meal! We needed to go during the day because I had an Emmaus meeting at 7 this evening. So, we went and enjoyed a nice lunch with dessert (it came free with the coupon as well!). We only spent $20 on lunch! That's a steal of a deal, especially for BD's! And that included the tip!

After lunch we went next door to a new Apple store and looked around and dreamt. We did pick up one stocking stuffer there. Then it was off to the mall for some more dreaming and another stocking stuffer. Jeff also picked out a CD for his BD...lol.

We headed home after stoping at BK to get a drink and arrived about 5:30PM. It was a nice day, just Jeffie and I.

Happy Birthday hun! I love you! Your! Mary Karen

Christmas Meme!

2008-12-11T16:34:00.002-05:00

I saw this on Christian Stay at Home Mom's and it looked like fun!

1 . Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Defintely eggnog!!!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

They are all wrapped! I love the surprise factor!

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white?

This year, I have colored lights on the tree and white lights elsewhere. It changes from year to year though. I love all the lights!!!

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Haven't in the past, but 16 year old with boyfriend suggested it....hmmmm wonder why that is?! LOL

5. When do you put your decorations up?

By Thanksgiving or shortly thereafter.

6. What is your favorite Christmas dish (excluding dessert)?

Cheesy Potatoes!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?

Ugh hard one! I think it would be the year I got my first bike! I was in 2nd grade, and the bike was all set up in the living room when I walked out. It was green with a banana seat!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I honestly don't remember.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

The kids always ask to open just one, and I usually give in. This year we are opening gifts on Christmas Eve!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

The more lights the better! This year I have lights, a couple of ribbons, some silver ball garland and some green bead garland, along with all silver bulbs, and gold bows. I also add some fake snow. I usually have more but my kids complain my tree is too "decorated". Whatever that means! LOL

11. Snow. Love it or dread it?

Love having it at Christmas, love the way it looks, Hate driving in it!

12. Can you ice skate?

Nope, tried it once, almost broke my ankle.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

Not specifically, but I truly appreciate any gift that's well thought out. Not just something someone picked up because they thought they had to get me a gift, but something someone saw and thought "Mary would really like this!"

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Keeping Christ in Christmas!

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Christmas cookies! Me and my oldest daughter and maybe a friend or two get together and bake all day. Cookies, fudge, chocolate covered pretzels.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

It used to be this game I named Pick and Steal. But, we're not doing that this year. I think it's going to be playing games like Speed Scrabble, Balderdash, Guesstures and so on.

17. What tops your Christmas tree?

A lighted star. The lights are different colors and twinkle.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?

GIVING. Christmas should be all about giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Oh Holy Night

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck?

Yum!

21. What do you want for Christmas?

Just to see my kids and grandkids blessed!

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party?

Our youth ministry has a Christmas party every year, one for the students and one for the leaders. My husband's work also has one, but it seems to fall on something else every year so we don't always go to that one.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ’s?

This year we will be opening presents on Christmas Eve and I want some good family pics! So, we will probably dress up a little.

24. Do you own a Santa hat?

I thought I had one, but I don't think so

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?

My hubby and kids. But this year, we are spending Christmas Eve with the kids and they are going to their dad's on Christmas, so it will just be me and my hubby this year!

One Stop Shopping

2008-12-08T12:44:00.003-05:00

As an Amazon Associate, I have the ability to add an Amazon store (aStore) to my web site. I did just that at Efficient WAHM!

There you can get everything you need, in one spot! I love one stop shopping for the convenience, and money savings. One stop shopping on line is even MORE convenient and money saving because you definitely don't have the stress of large crowds and traffic, and you save money by saving gas not driving from store to store. Plus, there are so many great deals on line that aren't usually in-store.

So, head on over to Efficient WAHM and get all your shopping done in one spot!

My Blog's Personalities

2008-12-06T01:14:00.002-05:00

I "tested" my other blog, Efficient WAHM's personality type on Typalyzer, so of course I had to here! Next will be my "professional blog". It's interesting the different personalities that are coming up for each. Efficient WAHM's blog personality is:

ISFP - The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

This blog, my "personal" blog's personality is:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

And ProVBS, my "professional" blogs personality is:

ESTJ - The Guardians

The organizing and efficient type. They are especially attuned to setting goals and managing available resources to get the job done. Once they´ve made up their mind on something, it can be quite difficult to convince otherwise. They listen to hard facts and can have a hard time accepting new or innovative ways of doing things.

The Guardians are often happy working in highly structured work environments where everyone knows the rules of the job. They respect authority and are loyal team players.

It makes sense that each blog would get a different personality type since they are all 3 different in nature! Interesting!

What If We Treated Our Bibles Like Our Cell Phones

2008-12-06T00:20:00.003-05:00

As you may or may not know, I am more of a work at home mom now, and am only working my part time job one day a week. This has given me lots of time to really promote my on line business more and get lots of writing done for the other blogs I write for. Through my travels on the web, I have found some awesome blogs and websites of other WAHM's. I also have made several new friends and acquaintances via Twitter.

One new acquaintance I made just now had this awesome thought posted on her blog. The author is unknown, but it really does make you stop and think: What do we value more, our bible or our cell phone? Before you answer that, read this:

Cell Phone vs. the Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated the bible like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back when we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?
This is something to make you go...hmmmm...where is my bible?
Oh, and one more thing, we don't ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

My Son Is Now an Adult

2008-12-03T19:10:00.002-05:00

Kaleb is stepping into adulthood like most typical teenage boys; he's got that "I can do what I want attitude" right now, and we keep warning him, it will come back to smack him in the face. He doesn't believe us. Ha. I guess he's going to be one to find out the hard way, unfortunately.

As a senior in high school, he's trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. He's thinking about film school or working skiing into a career. He's an awesome skier and was in the junior Olympics his freshmen year. If he disciplines himself, he definitely could do something with skiing.

Right now, he's talking about getting a tatoo, and something pierced; his arm? Weird to me, but I guess it's cool amongst his peers. I don't have a problem with tatoo's and piercings, and have told all my kids they do what they want to their bodies when they are 18 and can pay for it themselves. My other son, who is 23, has 3 tatoos and gauges in his ears, and has plans for more tat's. It will be interesting to see what tatoo Kaleb gets.

My prayer for my son is that he finds his way back to God and that he lives out his calling as an evangelist. This was spoken over him when he was 6, when I first got saved. I know God is faithful and that He is protecting him, so I am keeping the faith that Kaleb will return to God as well.

Happy 18th Birthday Kaleb! I love you!
Mom

Accepting and Letting Go of the Past

2008-12-01T07:27:00.002-05:00

In my Google Reader this morning was this article by a fellow mom blogger and WAHM. She's writing a series on her blog called "Insight" all based on lyrics from songs by Mary J. Blige. Very good stuff!!! I encourage you all to go there now and read them all!

This particular post, Accept Your Past, really meant a lot to me and hit home. In my steps of growing, accepting the past was one of the biggest steps that really made a difference in my relationship with God and in my life.

I accepted Jesus in my life when I was 32 years old. Prior to that I had been raised in a cult religion, Jehovah's Witnesses since I was 8. I was taught that it is the only true religion and all others are from the devil, especially Christianity. JW's believe they are the only true Christians. Because of this type of brainwashing, even after I accepted Jesus, I still had times when I wondered if they, JW's, were right. I had to let go. I had to seek God on this and everytime I did, He answered faithfully and showed me I was on the right path.

Another thing I had to accept and let go of was that I was molested by my step father from the time I was 8 years old until I was 14. If I hadn't stood up to him and told him he was never going to touch me again, it would have gone on longer. Once I found the truth through my relationship with Christ, I was able to forgive my step father (not in person, but in spirit~I have no idea where he is now) and move on with my life.

When a child is sexually molested, it has lasting effects, effects that can last a lifetime if not dealt with properly. I had 2 years of counceling after Mom and I turned him in, but that didn't help much. I was in such a place in my head, heart and emotions, I didn't allow the counceling to help. I only went throught the motions, which is something I learned being molested; I think it was how I dealt with most things...I just went through the motions. After Mom and my stepdad were divorced I became a wild child. I was free from being molested but had no idea what true freedom was. I started "partying" a little at 15, more at 16 and even more my senior year in high school. I lost my virginity at 17 and was looking for love in any boy that would have me. That's the thing with molested girls, especially if they've been molested by a father or fatherly figure. I thought if I gave myself sexually to boys, that meant they loved me. It took a really long time, even through a 17 year marriage, to understand that wasn't true. I got pregnant at 18, had my first child at 19 and married a month after she was born. Even though I was married to her father and the father of my other 3 kids for so long, I never felt loved or fulfilled. I was still looking for something. I went back to the Kingdom Hall time and again, took my kids, got baptized and went through all the motions, but never found what I was looking for...true love.

That's what Jesus is, what God is; True Love. Once you have God in your life, a relationship with Him, only then do you know what True Love is! Only then can you accept your past, let go of it, and experience the new, truly fulfilling life God has to offer.

I'm not saying things are perfect now, they won't be until we're in heaven, but I know I've found True Love, I'm fulfilled and no longer seeking other gods to fill that hole that only God can fill. He created it in us; He created us to have relationship with Him and nothing else can take His place in our hearts and lives. Nothing else will ever be able to fill that hole, no matter how hard we try. Rejecting God won't, drinking and drugs won't, sex won't, a man or woman won't, a child won't, a career won't, money and success won't. The only thing that will EVER truly fulfill us is when we let God into our hearts, allow Him to be the leader of our lives and the director of our paths.

I love the saying "Let Go and Let God". It means let go of the past, let go of all the things, any thing and everything holding you back from doing what God created you to do, to be. Let go and let God be your Pilot! Let Him direct your steps. Who knows us better??? No one! He created you and me for a specific purpose on this earth. Whether your 12 or 92, it's never too early or too late to allow God into your life. He's just waiting for you to say yes! Say Yes to God today and start living a fulfilled, meaningful life!

God created us, you, me every single person on this earth to have a relationship with Him. You weren't put here to live 70 or 80 years, make a few dollars, get married and have a few kids. He didn't put you here to have a successful career, make a ton of money and then die and leave it for your family to fight over. No, He created you to have a relationship with Him, to build His Kingdom, and to live eternally with Him here on earth and in heaven. He created you because He loves YOU! No matter what you've been through in the past, no matter what you've done in the past, you can let go and let God! Let God be the writer of your book, the director of your movie, the pilot of your plane, or the captain of your ship. Start today.

At the bottom of this page on the right side, is a prayer; it's the prayer of salvation. If you want to start living a truly fulfilled life, all you have to do is ask Jesus into your heart. That prayer is just an example of how to do that. From your heart, just ask Him to forgive your past and to be all of your future. He is waiting. He is patient, but don't think you have to have your life straight first. He accepts you right where you are, right now. He's waiting with open arms, just for you. Go to the Father and rest in his arms. He's waiting, He's patient. He loves you.

A Few of My Favorite Things ~ D

2008-11-29T18:45:00.006-05:00

A fellow mom blogger and twitterer posted a list of her favorite things starting with the letter "K", so I accepted the challenge and she assigned me the letter "D". So, here we go, a few of my favorite things starting with the letter D:

The first one is oh so easy: Dylan, my 2 month old grandson!

Number 2 is: Digital camera! I love taking photos of my family, friends and events!

Which leads me to number 3: Digital scrapbooking! A new-found love of mine!

Number 4 would have to be: Decorating for Christmas. I love the lights, candles and everything about Christmas!

Five would have to be: Discovering great deals and bargains! I love to bargain shop and find great deals on stuff. I feel so "proud" of myself when I do. LOL.

Six Geese a Laying...just kidding! But this is a little harder than I thought! I'm really having to think hard about things that start with D! Okay 6: Drummers drumming...just kidding again! LOL. At least it started with D! Oh I know, 6: Delirious? No, I'm not delirious, yet, it's the name of one of my favorite Christian Rock bands!

Seven: We're on a roll now! David Crowder! Another awesome Christian rock artist.

Eight: DC Talk. They are not together any more, but I still love their music!

Nine: Dying my hair! Technically its called coloring, but hey! I love having my hair dyed because my natural color is drab and turning gray...boo.

And last but not least: Dog. I love my Mia girl.
She annoys me sometimes because she's so needy, but I do love her!

So, if you want to get in on the fun, just let me know and I will assign you a letter!!!

Win Over $6000 in HP Products!!!

2008-11-29T12:13:00.002-05:00

I've posted about this awesome giveaway on my VA Blog and my WAHM blog already, but it's such an awesome giveaway I want everyone to know about it! (Plus I get more entries for each posting ;0) )

Click here to enter for your chance to win 4 computers, a wireless printer, Kung Fu Panda DVD's and more! (Yes you read that right, 4 computers~one for each of my kids!!!)

I'm praying I win! This would really help us out this Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving-the day after

2008-11-28T15:52:00.002-05:00

Hope you all had an awesome and thankful Thanksgiving. Here's the wrap up of ours.

Making our Thanksgiving feast was much more relaxed this year. We planned on eating at 6PM because Jeff had to work until 5. I got up at 7AM, took my shower and put on capri's and a t-shirt. It always gets way too hot when I cook, especially all day. I began by making a pumpkin cheese swirl pie, butternut apple casserole, cranberry relish and greenbean casserole. I also peeled the potatoes and put them in water in the fridge to cook later for mashing. Then I prepared and had both turkeys in the oven by 11:30. After that, I arranged the tables, set them and did a little Holiday decorating. By 1:30 I was able to take a little break which was awesome. My mom and niece arrived about 3 or 3:30 with the pies and beverages. We set those up and then started the potatoes, baked an acorn squash, made yummy stuffing and started warming up all the previous things I made.

Jeff got home at 4:45 which was a nice little surprise. Trisha and Ben showed up about 5:30, with more mashed potatoes...lol and rolls. Somewhere after Trisha and Ben arrived, when I was right in the middle of switching hot dishes in the oven, Trisha told me Karlie jumped off the stairs and hurt her foot pretty bad. I went to the front room where Karlie was lying on the couch, crying. Evan, her boyfriend of a month now, was sitting next to her, comforting her as best he could. We looked at her foot, which had a spot on it that looked like a vein was going to pop out of it. She could move it though it was tender to the touch and painful to put weight on. We determined we didn't need to take her to the doctor just yet, but decided to wait it out till today, to see how it was. It's the same, only more swollen and blue where the puffy vein was, only in a larger area. Kaleb brought his crutches over this morning so she can get around without hopping everywhere. She is keeping it elevated and icing it and we will see how it goes over the weekend. If it's still too painful to walk on then we will take her and have it x-rayed.

After all that excitement, we prayed and had the long-awaited for dinner. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. Both turkeys turned out good, moist and flavorful and all the other dishes made the feast complete.

After dinner and clean up, 3 dishwasher fulls, some of us played Guesstures. For those of you who don't know, Guesstures is a timed, cherades game. You choose 4 cards from the deck, each card has 2 words you can choose from, you put them in this holder that looks like one of those things that directors use (you know, they smack it together and say "Take 5"...I obviously don't know what they are called...lol). Anyway, each of the cards falls one by one so you determine the order you're going to act them out from easiest to hardest. We just played for fun and didn't keep score. Jeff hung out with the boys, except for Brandon who played Guesstures with Mom, Kara, Trisha and I. Karlie and Evan watched The Holiday upstairs, while resting her foot.

Everyone left about 11 I think and we hit the sack. Overall it was a nice Thanksgiving, except for Karlie's foot. Today Karlie told me that Evan felt bad about her foot because he was chasing her, which was why she jumped down the stairs. She told him not to feel bad because it was her choice to jump.

You'll have to read a post one of the other sites I write for on our thoughts of Evan. But, I will say this; we really like him!

Enterting Contests & Giveaways Does Pay Off!

2008-11-27T22:43:00.002-05:00

I was going through my Google Reader before hitting the sack and saw that I won the $100 Home Depot Card from At Home Mom Blog!!! I'm so excited!!! Not to mention I won the $25 gift card to Tiny Prints just a few days ago!

God is really blessing us this Holiday season. I've been entering these giveaways because money is so tight this year and my hubby and I made the decision not to go into any more debt with Christmas. These cards and the great deals I've been finding on-line will really help!

So, thanks to all the WAHM's out there who have all these contests and giveaways!

On my new site, Efficient WAHM, I post links to other WAHM's that are having contests and giveaways, so be sure subscribe so you can be kept up to date and enter too!

Giving Thanks!

2008-11-27T13:19:00.002-05:00

It's Thanksgiving Day, 2008. The turkeys are in the oven, the side dishes prepped and ready for warming and I'm taking a break. I've been going since 7AM, it's now 1:20PM, but it's been fun. I enjoy getting the Thanksgiving meal ready, and my house smells awesome! That's one of the things I've been looking forward to, the smell of the turkeys in the oven! MMMMMMMM.

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, so I thought I'd share what I am thankful for:

Jesus Christ dying for my sins; I have been forgiven, and someday I will be with Him in heaven.
I live in the glorious, God-blessed country of the United States of America.
I am thankful for my husband; his patience, understanding and most of all that he is a man of God.
For my children; even though there have been some rough roads, I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. That includes my son-in-law.
For my 2 cute grandsons!
My family; Mom, my sister and her family, my brother and his family, and all the rest.
My in-laws, even though they are so far away, they are in my thoughts and my heart.
My church and being part of the youth ministry.
And Life!

Christmas of Dreams Giveaway!

2008-11-26T00:03:00.002-05:00

This is the biggest Christmas giveaway yet!!! Look at all these sponsors!

So head on over to MomDot.com to enter! You don't want to miss out on this one!

Efficient WAHM

2008-11-25T23:31:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed the new button on my sidebar. It's another web site I started for WAHM's, SAHM's and all other women. My desire is to help women, no matter what walk of life they are in, become more efficient in their business and personal lives. I will have tips and advice for making lives easier; Holiday planning-including recipes, links to great Holiday giveaways, etc.; Money Saving stuff-including links to other great money saving WAHM sites, coupons, etc. And much more!!!

If you have any tips, advice, links etc. that you use to help you be more efficient in life, please submit them to me via email so I can post them in the appropriate area.

The site is new, and I'm adding content every day so be sure to check back often.

My Thoughts Exactly, Only Worded Better

2008-11-24T14:26:00.004-05:00

As I was perusing my Google Reader items, I came across this post which expresses some of my thoughts as I tried to lay out in this previous post of mine. If you read my previous post, and the comments, you will see I was asked some very pointed questions by my bro-in-law. Shortly after I read the comments, a few days later, I wrote a very long response to each of the points he made, only to lose it through some internet glitch.

In her post, Cheryl Ingram states: "She [Oprah] accepts the New Age Bible, A Course in Miracles, as being one of her sources of truth. It states that there is no sin. How convenient. If there is no sin, then one can behave in any way they deem appropriate. That is the theory of relativism. Everything is relative. What may be sin for one is not necessarily sin for another. Hence, a mother’s right to have control over her own body trumps the right of the life inside her womb.

The Bible is clear concerning the issues of the life of the unborn child, Homosexual acts, and living together before marriage. Passages relating to these important Christian values are not based on “obscure” scriptures as Barack Obama has mentioned in his book, The Audacity of Hope. Yet, the philosophy of Oprah and Obama is permeating our culture with a vengeance. Traditional Christianity is viewed by these pundits as old fashion, out dated, and ignorant. Christians are being led astray and coerced into silence or compliance by the mere fact of a media or political person’s powerful communication abilities."

In my previous post, I said: "I'm really sad how our state (Michigan) and country are voting for ungodly values and morals like embryonic stem cell research and legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. The second one I'm sort of torn about because I think if marijuana can help ease pain and such, then why not. But, when I look at the statistics from other states that have already legalized it, I don't think it's a good idea. There have been increases in robberies and thefts, murders and so on."
(I found the statistics from other states on the Michigan Family Forum Voter's Guide, which is not longer up.)

The point of the above statement was along the same lines as Cheryl Ingram's: "Traditional Christianity is viewed by these pundits as old fashion, out dated, and ignorant. Christians are being led astray and coerced into silence or compliance by the mere fact of a media or political person’s powerful communication abilities."

Another point in my previous post: "It also concerns me that the road this nation is heading down with its ungodliness and immorality that we will no longer be able to say "God bless America". I truly believe the reason God has blessed America is because we built this nation "under God". He's been our covering, our protection. If we take God out of our nation like we have our schools and other public places, He will no longer bless us or protect us. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah in the bible. Those cities became so immoral and Godless that God destroyed them. Think about it people."

If we, as a nation, start living any old way we want, going against Godly principals and guidelines laid out in the bible, then I believe God is going to withdraw His protection and blessing away from America. Therefore America will no longer be saying, "God bless America". This nation was built "One Nation Under God", and it is our responsibility to keep it that way. Choosing to live, therefore voting to live any way we want, is stepping out from "under God". God has truly blessed this nation with it's economic resources...our being selfish, greedy and gluttenous, is again on our shoulders, but God has provided this nation with them. Not that the resources are not in other nations, they certainly are, but because the national leaders are not God followers, God is not blessing them. My trip to Nigeria was a real eye opener to this! Nigeria has tons of natural resources, but their leaders are selfish and greedy, so the people suffer because of it. If the national leaders would turn to God and start living by his prinipals and guidelines (found in the Bible) I believe their nation would see more blessings from God. The Bible clearly shows that He blesses obedience.

Like Cheryl stated in her post: "Be not silent. Observe, pray and communicate. Stand up for truth.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

2008-11-20T16:55:00.003-05:00

...Type A Mom gave to me:

$480 in gifts just for Mom!!! Click here to enter too!!!

There are several ways to enter so go check it now!!!

Meme: 7 Random or Weird Things About Me

2008-11-20T15:52:00.002-05:00

My friend Tishia tagged me for this meme. I love these things and this is an easy one:
Here are 7 random or weird things about me:

I am really good at word games; like Scrabble, Boggle, Speed Scrabble, etc.
I can't work in a dirty or messy environment. My surroundings have to be neat and organized, otherwise it drives me nuts and I can't think straight.
I am addicted to coffee.
I am addicted to twittering, blogging, and giveaways!
I LOVE finding a great deal on something, like groceries or household items.
I'm a youth leader and love teens! I have to be careful saying that because someone might take it the wrong way.
I just recently discovered I LOVE to write!!!

Those are pretty random and a little weird, right?

Now, I am going to tag:

My husband! (That's a new one!)

Earn Cash While You Search!

2008-11-18T18:42:00.002-05:00

See the banner on the top of my page that says "Search & Win"? Well, it's a really cool site, that if you use it to do your basic, everyday searches from, you will earn "swagbucks". With those swagbucks you can then purchase stuff from the site! And when you shop from the site, using the Swag Store, you earn swagbucks on your purchases!

Click here now and go check it out. You've got nothing to lose! They don't require address or credit card to register and start earning swagbucks!

Nintendo Wii Giveaway!

2008-11-17T09:39:00.002-05:00

Here's another great giveaway! Classymommy.com is giving away a Nintendo Wii! That's right, a Nintendo Wii! The person with the most votes wins! I'd like to win one for the family for Christmas, so won't you click the link below and go vote for me?!

You can enter too, and I will vote for you :)

Here's the link to vote for me:

http://www.classymommy.com/wii_giveaway/vote.php?contest=wii&name=Mary

Keeping Christ in Christmas!!!

2008-11-16T19:53:00.002-05:00

Now here's a giveaway that shows what Christmas is all about!!! Click on the button on the top of my sidebar and check out the awesome gifts!

Here are the answers to my questions:

At what age did you recognize you were in need of a Savior?

That's a loooong question to answer but the short answer is I found the true Christ at age 32.

Who shared the Gospel with you (you don't have to share names unless you just want to)?

My great friends and co-workers at the time: David, Rhonda and Lori

What was your first reaction when you heard the Gospel for the first time?

Again a loooong answer but the short answer is I was amazed how deceived and brainwashed I was and was happy to finally be seeing and knowing the truth.

How long did it take you to understand Jesus is the only Savior, repent and trust Him with your life?

Not long, I've always known that, I just had to get out of a cult religion.

How often do you share the Gospel with others?

As often as I can. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel and am very open about my beliefs with everyone.

What plans do you have to become more committed to sharing salvation in Christ with others?

Continue living my life for Christ and letting His light shine through me.

What scares you the most about sharing the Gospel and what Scriptures have helped you overcome those fears?

I just get sad when others don't understand how or why I love God the way I do. If they would only allow Christ in their lives, then they too would understand. But, so many are closed off and simply won't allow their creator in their lives.

Video of Snow

2008-11-16T14:57:00.001-05:00

This was taken from inside our house. It's a little blurry but it gives you an idea of the snow we are getting!

Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let It Snow!

2008-11-16T11:40:00.003-05:00

It's a gorgeous day outside!!! White, wintery and very Christmassy!!! It's snowing big, huge flakes right now. I'm sitting in our front room which has 3 windows, so I get nice glimpses between the openings in the curtains.

My husband, kids and I walked to the small, local diner for breakfast since we didn't go to church. The roads were too slushy and slippery.

We also organized a couple of closets and straightened up the house a bit. What a great thing to do on a snowy November Sunday afternoon!

All this snow has put us in a Christmas mood! My 16 year old daughter and I were singing Christmas Carol's in the diner...embarrassing my 23 year old son....lol...it was great!

Well, it doesn't look like the snow is going to let up any time soon, so I better take advantage of the mood while it's fresh!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

WAHM Blog Contest

2008-11-15T19:11:00.001-05:00

My friend Kelly, momtrepreneur, WAHM, coach, etc. etc. is hosting a WAHM Blog Contest on Sparkplugging. There you will find a list of WAHM Blogs that are either tips, resources and links for WAHM's or simply talk about being a WAHM. You can vote for your favorite WAHM sites by listing them in the comment section.

I've been clicking on all of the links and have found some really cool WAHM sites that I'm subscribing to!

So head on over and vote for your faves!

$100 Home Depot Gift Card!

2008-11-15T17:34:00.003-05:00

Who wouldn't want this!?! At Home Mom Blog is giving away a $100 Home Depot gift card! Who couldn't use that at Christmas! I know I could!!! I could use it as a gift or use it to buy the much needed paint for my house! Oh the decisions!!!

Go there now and enter! All you have to do to enter is comment about your favorite Holiday memory, Stumble the site or subscribe to her feed. (Oh I forgot to do that but will head back over there as soon as I'm done with this!)

I just love all these giveaways!!! I hope I win some!!!

Giveaways and More Giveaways!!!

2008-11-15T12:11:00.003-05:00

As you've probably noticed in my blog posts and sidebars, I've been promoting a lot of giveaways lately! Why? Because they are awesome and will really help save $$$ this Christmas, if I win. The budget is super tight this year and most of the giveaways I enter are for gifts I will give to my family and friends.

One of the coolest giveaways is this digital photobook! I have so many pictures of my family, friends and events on my computer, these books will make a great gift to just about everyone!!! And with this cool giveaway, you can get one free!!! All you have to do is pay shipping which is about $7 to $9!!!! How awesome is that?!?!

I'm off to start creating my first book now! Go get yours before deadline-Nov. 30!

The Truth about Christmas

2008-11-11T23:11:00.002-05:00

Here's an interesting video. Get's me thinking about how to celebrate Christmas this year, and how we should celebrate Christmas every year!

Band Name Meme

2008-11-09T22:27:00.002-05:00

My hubby had this on his, so of course I had to do it! I can't resist these things.

My Band Name is: Nemo (this isn't really what came up. Some long scientific name for sea cucumber came up and sea cucumber reminds me of the movie Finding Nemo...cheating I know)

Album Title: Easily Under the Flesh

Album Art: below

1. band name comes from a Random wikipedia entry
2. latest album title comes from the last four words of the first quote on the random quote generator page.
3. album art - taken from the interesting photos page of Flickr

Holiday Countdown

2008-11-09T21:54:00.001-05:00

In the Spirit of the Holidays, I added a countdown to Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can see them on my sidebar.

With the snow hitting today (first snow of the year!) I am really in the mood for Christmas! Karlie and I were singing Christmas songs on the way home from church! I wanted to start decorating for Christmas, but I won't until Thanksgiving. I will deck the house out for Thanksgiving for now though. I just love the family time, the food, the parades, and yes, even football on TV. I told Jeff last year that it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving unless the football game is on. Not that I watch it, but something about it playing in the background. It must have always been on when we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house on Thanksgiving.

I'm watching the papers for sale items I can buy ahead of time and freeze or are canned for the Thanksgiving meal. I already have some whipped topping on my grocery list for this week since it's on sale. Figure I can start stocking up now so there's not a big budget crunch the week of. The good thing is after Thanksgiving we will have lots of leftovers to feast off of for at least a week!

I don't know about you, but I love the leftovers! I love to make hot turkey sandwiches, with the gravy and mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I love cold turkey sandwiches with mayonnaise. And then a turkey casserole with the remainder of the leftovers mixed together and warmed up! YUM!

Well, only 17 days and some odd hours now! Can't wait!!!

Chosen Youth Conference '08

2008-11-09T21:27:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday after the Chosen Youth Conference. It's a little after 9pm. I am very tired, yet I blog. Why? Because this year's Chosen Youth Conference was AWESOME!!! For now, here are a few of the testimonies we heard:

Does Chosen partner with Acquire the Fire? This conference is so well run that we thought it was part of ATF. (the answer is no, Chosen is not part of ATF, although Chosen supports ATF and vice-versa)
That was very informative; just what I needed; I really enjoyed that (said by youth pastors and youth leaders after the youth pastor breakout session)
The pace is very well organized; perfect for teens (mentioned by a youth pastor)
Most of our teens have stayed in the auditorium the whole time; they have not gone wondering around the venue during the messages (a youth leader referring to the teens in her youth group)
My daughter and her friend can't wait to come back next year!

Those are just some that I personally heard. I know there are more and after I get together with the other coordinators I know there will be more, by teens themselves especially.

The venue holds 1100 people, and we were filled with 900! We already have almost 300 registered for next years event which will be held in the same place, for now. So, if you'd like more information, or would like to purchase tickets for next year's event before it sells out, click here.

Once I get them, I will put up some pics!

More Thoughts about the Election

2008-11-09T21:05:00.001-05:00

We all know who won the presidential election and if you read my previous post you know how I feel about it. Over the past few days, I've had time to think about it.

Although I have strong feelings about Obama being president of our nation, God's word tells us to pray for our national leaders, so that is what I am doing and going to continue to do.
I also believe that God's word tells us that He puts our national leaders into place for a reason. So, I am trusting God, not man. I just pray that Obama's heart is open to receive from God and then act.
I'm really sad how our state (Michigan) and country are voting for ungodly values and morals like embryonic stem cell research and legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. The second one I'm sort of torn about because I think if marijuana can help ease pain and such, then why not. But, when I look at the statistics from other states that have already legalized it, I don't think it's a good idea. There have been increases in robberies and thefts, murders and so on.
It also concerns me that the road this nation is heading down with its ungodliness and immorality that we will no longer be able to say "God bless America". I truly believe the reason God has blessed America is because we built this nation "under God". He's been our covering, our protection. If we take God out of our nation like we have our schools and other public places, He will no longer bless us or protect us. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah in the bible. Those cities became so immoral and Godless that God destroyed them. Think about it people.
If people don't like what I'm saying or how I feel, well I'm sorry. I'm not sorry for saying it or feeling it, but I'm sorry for you and our nation. I will be praying. This nation needs to turn back to God and our leader needs to be led by God.

Election Day-51 days to Christmas

2008-11-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

I just want to say that I love keeping a count down to Christmas! It helps me stay focused getting prepared for the Holidays! I've been scoping out stores for sale items. Rite Aide has some Holiday home decor 50% off! I didn't need any of it, but I thought that was awesome having Christmas stuff on sale BEFORE Christmas!

So, here I sit, laptop on lap, typing this blog post, watching the election results on Fox, Twittering and Blipping, praying Obama does not win the election. I think the man is a terrorist in disguise. I know Jeff thinks that's a bit of a strong statement, but it is how I feel. He came out of nowhere and his background is scary, and honestly a bit unknown. But, even if he does win, I know it's in God's hands. God's Word says that He appoints the national leaders and sets them in place for His purpose, so if Obama does win, I know it's in God's hands I trust in Him! If McCain wins, that too is in God's hands.

I think I will post more AFTER the election.

Adios for now!

I Won!!!

2008-11-01T18:47:00.003-04:00

Since starting my online business and doing a lot of social networking to promote it and this blog, I've come across some really neat mom sites! One of them is Mom Spark. I love this little social networking site, and all of the other one's I've joined. (You can see the complete list on the sidebar.)

Well, Mom Spark was having a cute little giveaway and I won the cute bowl set you see above! How fun is that??? I'm excited. It will go great in my dining room!

Thanks Mom Spark!!!

If you're a mom and you'd like to join, just click on the link above or on the sidebar button. There's always cool stuff happening!!!

Budget - Month One Update

2008-11-01T13:55:00.002-04:00

A month ago or so, Jeff and I decided we needed to sit down and work out a budget. Let me rephrase that: A month ago or so, I finally sat down and worked out our budget. Jeff and I actually have talked about doing it for some time.

How's it going, you ask? It's tough, that's for sure, I'm not gonna lie. It takes discipline and perserverance and I have to stay on top of it every day, or almost every day. What do I mean by stay on top of it every day? Every day or just about every day I enter receipts into Pearbudget. This helps keep track of items like groceries and gas that we used our debit cards for. Jeff and I use our bank's web bill pay for all our regular monthly bills, and we have direct deposit for our paychecks.

I've discovered that budgeting every two weeks works best for us. Every time Jeff gets paid, I figure out what monthly bills are due and what we have left for groceries, gas, entertainment and so on, and then withdraw the actual cash from the bank and put that in our cash envelopes. I'm still working on that part. To me, its just easier to leave the money in the bank and use the debit card, keeping track everyday in Pearbudget. I shouldn't say "easier"; it's what I'm used to. I haven't gotten the knack of going to the bank and withdrawing the actual cash yet. But, I will. I just did our budget for the next two weeks and know what we have to spend on food and gas, so I will go withdraw it from the bank. It just makes us be more disciplined when we know the exact amount of money we have to spend, as opposed to using our debit card.

Today I am going to go through all my Money Saving blogs and find all the printable coupons I can for groceries, plus cut out the ones from our newspaper that I know I'll use. I'm also going to take a look at what stores have on sale and make a plan. I'll let you know how that goes too. I've done all of this in the past so I know I can do it again...lol.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:36:00.003-04:00

Although Halloween will be over in about 20 minutes (at the time I'm writing this), in the spirit of 100 days to Christmas and getting ready for the Holidays, I thought I'd write about Halloween 2008~my experience.

Jeff is working (till midnight), Brandon, Karlie and friends went to a Christian rock concert downstate and Trisha and the boys went trick or treating in Petoskey with my ex-husband's family because her uncle is moving to North Carolina soon. So, I was left all alone. Now, normally I don't mind being left all alone, it gives me time to write! But, I didn't want to be in the house all alone on Halloween, and I didn't want to give out candy all alone.

So I hooked up with my friend, boss, and partner in crime, Sandy. We went to her mom's house in Gaylord and handed out candy for a bit. I got to meet some of her family and we saw a few people we knew. Then we went to the post office to get some Chosen tickets out in the mail and then we headed to her house to go hot-tubbin'. It was awesome! Warm, relaxing and good conversation while watching the stars! I needed it.

So, it wasn't your typical Halloween, but it was fun. I hope my daughter took lots of pics of my grandson's in their costumes. If she did, I will post them later.

Happy Halloween!

55 days till Christmas!

Which Classic Dame are You?

2008-10-31T15:42:00.001-04:00

This was a fun, stupid quiz to take...I'm not sure about the "fruitcake" part...oh wait, it does describe me well...

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Carole Lombard

You scored 19% grit, 10% wit, 57% flair, and 33% class!

You're a little bit of a fruitcake, but you always act out in style. You have a good sense of humor, are game for almost anything, but you like to have nice things about you and are attracted to the high life. You're stylish and modern, but you've got a few rough edges that keep you from attaining true sophistication. Your leading men include William Powell, Fredric March, and Clark Gable. Watch out for small planes.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the
Take The Classic Dames Test at HelloQuizzy

God is moving in the Chosen Youth Conference

2008-10-31T11:33:00.004-04:00

As some of you may or may not know, I am involved with the Chosen Youth Conference. The conference is a week from today and the cut-off for getting tickets at a reduced rate ends today. We've also had contests on the local radio station, Northern Christian Radio and Smile.fm. Today we received a very awesome story from one of the listeners at NCRadio.

"I just have to share our unbelievable God experience this morning...We live north of Harbor Springs, but can't pick up NCR from home. We can only get it in our vehicles. We are monthly supporters and love what you do even though we can't listen all the time. We have 2 daughters (aged 13 and 12) and work very hard at teaching them that giving to God is first and foremost with the financial blessings that we recieve.

My oldest daughter, Sara, has been wanting to go to the Chosen conference, but I have not felt led to purchase a ticket for her. I kept assuring her that she could go, but that I just was sensing that I shouldn't buy a ticket in advance. As only God can do, we were able to pick up NCR on our Super Radio at home this morning. We have lived in this house for almost 4 years and have NEVER been able to get your station. Of course I know God's purpose - Sara won 2 tickets to Chosen this morning!!! It allowed us to show the girls how amazingly God gives back when you are faithful and a good steward of your money. Sara is on cloud 9 today and is feeling incredibly blessed! I can almost assure you that when I turn on the radio when we get home from school today, we won't be able to get NCR. I can only shake my head and praise God!!!I pray that your day is touched by God even more abundantly than ours has been today!"

I, too, have an awesome story from yesterday when taking a ticket order over the phone:

A church in St. Louis Michigan, New Beginnings Ministries, ordered the buy 10 get one free tickets, and as we were closing our conversation, I mentioned that Chosen was offering 2 additional free tickets to help churches and youth ministries reach out to those who might not be able to afford a ticket to Chosen. The lady was shocked! She said, “Are you serious? That’s such a God thing because we are a mission based church and most of our kids are from broken homes or single parent homes, and we even have some foster kids. We’ve been raising money by collecting pop-cans for the last two months for Chosen. This is such a God thing because there are a couple of kids that fell short of what they were supposed to raise, but now they will be able to come and we may have enough money to buy another ticket or two at the door”.

Then today, as I shared the story with James Scheer, he was so moved by the testimony that he had me call the church back and offer them free registrations for any more students they may have that wouldn't be able to pay. So, I called, while fighting back the tears, and the youth leader was blown away because she did have 6 more students that she had to tell yesterday that they wouldn't be able to go. The tickets being bought by this youth ministry have come out of the pockets of the youth leader and her husband and they simply could not afford to purchase any more due to the fact that she just had 2 surgery's in October (and she's still bringing a group of teens to the conference-amazing!)

Isn’t God so amazing how he is moving through this conference to reach those who need it most! Praise God for all he is doing through Chosen and through all those involved!

If you want to come to the Chosen Youth Conference or get more information, please visit the website or leave a comment on this blog. God bless!

Flippin' Sweet Giveaway!

2008-10-30T14:08:00.002-04:00

The Domestic Diva is giving away this flippin' sweet camcorder! I would totally LOVE to win it!!! It would be a great Christmas gift to give...or...um I might actually keep it! LOL. Not sure yet, but i would definitely use it to record my cute grandsons, not to mention my daughter's choir concerts and my son's ski meets!

And with our budgeting, every penny counts, so this would be a great way to save money!

Halloween Fun eBook

2008-10-28T22:12:00.004-04:00

Halloween is just a few short days away! Are you looking for some great, last minute ideas for your family? Check out this ebook filled with great recipes, crafts and family activities. The ebook is free but spending time with your kids is priceless!

Halloween Fun Brandable Rebranded - Upload a Document to Scribd

Holiday Spirit

2008-10-27T20:17:00.004-04:00

As you can see, I updated my background to be more fitting with the fall and Thanksgiving season. I am part of 100 days to Christmas and so I will be showing my Holiday Spirit by changing my background periodically. I like changing my background anyway and this is a good excuse. Besides, it may help others get in the Spirit of the Holidays as well.

So, here we are 59 days to Christmas! I'm already wanting to bake pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and other things that smell like the Holidays!

What is your favorite thing about the Holidays? Let's start a fun little meme by posting on your blog and linking back to mine what your ONE favorite thing is about the Holidays - it can be Thanksgiving or Christmas or a combo of both. We all know that spending time with family and friend is probably everyone's so let's not use that one. Tag your friends and family just to see what everyone says and maybe it will get you in the Holiday Spirit if you aren't already! Elaborate too...don't just use one word answers.

I'll start by saying my favorite thing (other than family and friends) is:

The smell. Yes, the smell. I love the smell of the spices used during the Holidays, the smell of the Christmas tree and the one thing that reminds me of my childhood Christmases is the smell of the "snow in a can". You know the kind used to make your windows look frosted around the edges. My mom must have used that because we lived in New Mexico and West Texas and didn't have snow. But, still today, that smell really reminds me of Christmas!

I tag Tishia, Kelly, Lisa, Briana.

Holiday Preparations

2008-10-26T23:04:00.001-04:00

Yes, it IS that time of year...or pretty darn close! This year I decided to start my Holiday prep EARLY for a change!

This evening I had Jeff (the wonderful) bring in all my Christmas decorations in from the shed so we could inventory them. I knew I had a lot of junk and some crappy, old stuff that needed to be pitched, and plus since we've been budgeting I needed to go through them to get a good grip on what I NEED and don't need this year.

Last year we bought about 5 sets of indoor/outdoor lights to decorate the porch and windows with. We discovered they all blew out!!! Jeff thinks the shed got hit with lightening because they all worked when we put them away last year. The only ones that work are the tree lights, and they were in a more insulated box with some white fluffy pillow stuffing. So, I don't think we will use lights outside this year...boo. I really love seeing the house all lit up and decorated at Christmas! I don't know, maybe I can squeeze a set or two out of the grocery budget.

In addition to that, I sat down with my mom and went over the Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas menus. We celebrate all the Holiday's at our house because it's the biggest. We planned out what everyone was going to bring for each of the big meals. Christmas Eve, we play a game that I named $10 Pick and Swap. Some people call it a white elephant or pauper's Christmas, but we don't play with used gifts. We each buy 5-$10 gifts, wrap them anonymously, and put them in a big pile in the middle of the floor. We put numbers in a hat, everyone draws 5 numbers and as your number comes up you can either draw from the pile or steal from someone else. We set rules like a gift can only be stolen 3 times because otherwise you could be there all night with a stealing back and forth deal going on. Anyway, we are having a Mexican bar that night! Yum. Thanksgiving will be the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls and pie! Christmas we will have ham, potatoes, salad, rolls, and some yummy Christmas desserts I have to find online yet! We are also having hot chocolate with ice cream! Have you ever had that??? It's the best!!!

I'm feeling somewhat prepared now for the Holidays and can't wait for them to start! I think I will decorate the house for Christmas on Thanksgiving. This year if we get a tree that early, like last year, we will definitely have to make sure it gets lots of water. Last year our tree's needles were falling off bad really early. We watered it but I don't think the water was getting into the trunk. I think you're supposed to drill a hole in the bottom of the trunk so water can get up into the tree.

Anyway, hope your plans are going well! Happy Holidays!

Rock Band 2 Update

2008-10-25T11:25:00.001-04:00

My hubby found out from this site that Rock Band 2 is going to add songs by Kutless and Underoath via free download Nov. 4! Cool, some great Christian artists and music teens like. If you didn't read one of my prior posts about an issue with having Rock Band 2 at youth group, go read it here.

My First Mammogram

2008-10-18T13:02:00.001-04:00

Well folks, I had my first mammogram yesterday. I must say it was quite smashing! LOL! If you don't want to read about my boobs, I suggest you stop reading now because I am going to be talking about them an awful lot in this post.

I was a bit anxious over getting my first ~~boob smashing~~ mammogram. Everyone I know who has ever had one talks about how much they hurt. My appointment wasn't until 2:00PM and I had to work, so my mind was occupied most of the time until my appointment.

When I arrived at the hospital, I really didn't have any idea where I was going, but quickly found the right place. The nice lady took me in her office for the preliminary registration. During the registration she mentioned that I don't look 44, that I look good for my age; that made me feel very happy! I had to walk a few feet down the hall to the radiology department. I checked in, and was asked to have a seat in the waiting area. I waited and waited, and watched other people come and go, and wondered if they forgot about me. Then I remembered I was in a doctor's office/hospital and one usually does end up waiting and waiting. Anyway, as I was sitting and waiting, my mind was wondering what this will actually be like, if I will have to run around the hall in a hospital gown with my buns hanging out, if a man is going to do the boob smashing, and on and on. I had about 45 minutes for my mind to wander so you can imagine the thoughts!

Finally, I get called in, by a woman; whew! As we walked down the hall she kindly explained that she would explain everything as we went along, since this was my first ~~boob smashing~~ mammogram.

The first thing I had to do was put on this ~~gown~~ cape that barely covered my tummy and only snapped at the neck. I was wondering how far I'd have to walk in this thing! Luckily it was not far, and I got to leave everything below my waist on, so it wasn't too bad. The walk to the room where the boob smashing actually takes place wasn't too far and we didn't pass anyone in the hallway. I was relieved. I wanted as few people as possible to see my muffin top hanging out over my jeans!

We got to the boob smashing room and the boob smasher asked me to have a seat because she had MORE questions for me! You'd think that the information would travel from department to department with computer technology these days, but no. I have to tell my doctor all my history, the lab, the radiologist and so on...sorry got a little off track there; back to the boob smashing! After answering all the questions again that I already answered a 100 times, the boob smasher directed me to the boob smashing machine. Here's where the fun begins.

The ~~boob smasher~~ nice lady asked me to pull the ~~gown~~ cape aside to expose my right ~~boob~~ breast. She then ~~grabbed~~ gently held my boob and began moving it all around, while telling me to relax, pull my chin back so it's not in the film, turn my body but not my head, etc. etc. Finally, my boob was just right on the boob smashing machine! The boob smasher told me that it's not supposed to hurt (that's the first I EVER heard anyone say that!) and if it does to let her know because that means the boob isn't laying just right in the boob smashing machine! So good so far. As she walked around the corner to take the first shot, she told me to hold my breath and for a few brief second there was some pain, but it was over quickly.

Onto the left boob. Same procedure above, but when the boob smashing machine clamped down, it hurt! I let the boob smasher know right away and she readjusted my boob. Hold my breath, a few seconds of pain, and we're all done. WRONG! Two more shots of each boob but from a different angle. This time I have to stand with my side to the boob smashing machine while the boob smasher tries to get my boob in the boob smashing machine just right again! Turn my body, but not my head, hold onto this bar with my right hand, keep my chin out of the picture, blah, blah, blah. Hold my breath, pain, done. Oh except for the left boob! Repeat same steps above.

Finally my girls and I are done! After sitting while the boob smasher checks the pics to make sure they are okay so I don't have to re-take any (could you imagine?!) I go and put back on my clothes and the ~~boob smasher~~ nice lady is looking at my pics and tells me that I might qualify for a something boob density something??? I thought she was telling me there was something there, and I was starting to worry, but as my hearing cleared up, I realized she was saying I have dense boobs and I might qualify to part of a boob density study and that my boobs could be stars! LOL. Will I get paid??? That would be cool!

If you are young enough not to have had your first boob smashing party, don't worry. It really isn't that bad and the small amount of pain there is only lasts a few short seconds X 4! LOL. So, relax before you go in, listen to the boob smasher's instructions, and remember why you are getting this done: to help detect breast cancer while it's still early.

More Mom Blogs: Saving money

2008-10-14T13:37:00.003-04:00

Updated 10.19.08 to add another link to a great saving money mom blog!

In my last post, I mentioned some of my favorite Mom Blogs! I'm adding to that list here, but I am going to start organizing the posts by category, as done in the title of this post.

The reason I'm doing this is so there is an easy spot to find all my favorite Mom Blogs and to get the word out to other moms too. I know my daughter (mother of a two year old and a 1 month old) could use a spot for all the mom blogs!

http://www.couponmom.com

http://www.frugalfreebiesanddeals.com

http://freebies4mom.com

If you are a money saving mom blogger, leave a comment with a link to your site!

If you want more info on monetizing your mom blog, just need to update your Internet lingo or need more info starting a mom blog, check out Profitable Mommy Bloggers!

Some of My Favorite Mom Blogs!

2008-10-14T00:52:00.001-04:00

As some of you may know, I just started my virtual assistant business in June of 08. I've been learning TONS about marketing my business on the Internet and have run into so many great Mom Blogger's out there. I'm working on adding them to my blog roll, or following them, as I come across them. But, I thought it would be fun to show some link love and list them on my blog. That way you can easily check them out yourselves and, if you like them, you can follow them as well!

Here we go: (in no particular order)

http://maritez.blogspot.com/

http://godsshiningstars.blogspot.com/

http://www.babygetgreen.blogspot.com/

http://lifefrommylaptop.com/

There's a few to start with for now. I will post more as I run across them on the net. If you know of other great mom blogs, leave a comment here with their link!

Also, if you're looking to monetize your mom blog or just want to learn some Internet lingo or just want to learn more about mommy blogging, be sure to check out Profitable Mommy Bloggers!

Rock Band or No Rock Band

2008-10-11T23:48:00.002-04:00

As some of you may or may not know, my husband and I are youth leaders in our church. We are assistants to our youth pastor and are very involved with the youth ministry. I am the administrative assistant (voluntarily) for him as well and my husband is head of security on Wednesday nights. We also minister to the youth and are there for them to talk to us. There are a lot of unchurched kids who attend youth group every week, and we get some that come and go. Last year, our youth pastor asked us to step up in the ministry and be part of the "eldership" of the youth ministry. There are two other couples in this "eldership" as well.

At our leadership retreat back in September, we were brainstorming ways to reach more of the youth in the community. Our youth pastor has always wanted to stay away from "youth groupie" things like video games, pool, foosball, etc. and focus more on discipleship and ministry. Well, since we've done that the past two years when he took over the youth ministry in our church (he has over 12 years experience in youth ministry) we have seen tons of unchurched kids come once or twice and never return, so we began questioning why. As we discussed the possible reasons, we came to the conclusion it was because we weren't doing those youth groupie things. Our youth pastor is a great speaker, there are lots of adult volunteers (although we could use more-what youth ministry couldn't?), several student leaders, a cafe, good Christian rock music, etc., but it just wasn't holding the kids attention. So, we decided to spruce up the hang out area (the "dome") with some video games! We had just enough money in our youth account to buy 3 plasma screen tv's, and two video games. One video game was donated! We all agreed we should get "Rock Band" and Nintendo's Wii. The game that was donated was a Wii as well. We have the perfect place to set up Rock Band in the dome. There is a stage and with the speakers turned just right, only the people playing Rock Band can hear the music from it, and the rest of the people in the dome can only hear the music being played through the speakers. We've had this set up since Sept. 24, so about 3 weeks. We've monitored the songs that are played and have weeded out the "bad" ones with swearing and such. Most of the songs are from the 70's, 80's and 90's and are ROCK. The kids LOVE it and it really has drawn some of the kids who have come once or twice before and some new ones. We also separated the service into two: the Junior High students go in before the Senior High, giving each age group separate time to hang out and their own service. We've gotten about 20 new Junior High students over the last three weeks and about 8 or 9 new Senior High.

The problem, and the reason for my post, is that when we were setting up for service last Wednesday, some parents were in the church early in the afternoon. The guys had just set up the video games for the night and on the Rock Band screen there were some skulls with wings. One of the parents must have mentioned something to our Senior Pastor about them and he asked that it be taken off or shut off, that it wasn't very Godly. So, my husband changed what was on the screen.

Later that night, after youth group was over and most of the kids gone, one of the parents (same ones mentioned above) pulled our youth pastor aside and spoke to him about having Rock Band as part of our youth group. He thought it wasn't sending a good message to the kids and that it could cause other problems because of the images shown and some of the lyrics in the songs.

Now, I have not played Rock Band, but I have watched others play it (all Christians). My daughter plays it (sings), my husband plays it, the youth pastor plays it, our youth band worship leader plays it. Why not let the kids play it? Why not have it in church? Some people say the skulls with wings are demonic, but I say, as does my husband, that skulls and wings are God's creations! Some man came up with the idea to use them as "evil" symbols.

My husband specifically prayed Wednesday night that if we weren't supposed to have Rock Band as part of our out-reach to unchurched kids, for God to give us a sign, and vise-versa. The next day on our way to work (we carpool), we heard on one of the podcasts Jeff listens, to the scripture in Galations where Paul is talking about being legalistic. He felt that was a sign from God that it is okay to have Rock Band in our church so we can reach others for the gospel of Christ.

What do you think? I'd really like to hear from other youth pastors, pastors, leaders and parents. Is it wrong to have Rock Band, to have students playing Rock Band in church? Do you have any video games in your church or youth ministry? If so, how's it going? Do you think it helps draw unchurched kids so you can minister to them?

The 4 week mark

2008-10-10T09:08:00.003-04:00

Dylan was 4 weeks old yesterday! My how time flies! He's doing really well. At his last weigh in, about a week ago, he was up to 8 and 1/2 pounds. He's had a little jaundice, but it's going down now. They had Trisha pump for 48 hours and feed him formula to make sure it was just the bacteria from breast milk (which is common I guess?) and not some other serious issue. During that 48 hour period, his bilirubin dropped from 13.9 to 11, so they were satisfied and Trisha could start breast feeding again, and they don't need to do anything further.

Dylan is becoming more and more alert and is starting to follow people walking by. He's focusing on faces more and loves it when you talk to him or sing to him. He loves to be swaddled and usually when he is fussy that's what it takes to calm him down.

He is very strong and holds his head up very well! He puts his lips together like he's going to whistle, so I'm sure he will be "cooing" soon. Right now it looks like he's going to have blue eyes. They are bright blue! I think he's going to have thick, blondish hair. Of course, all this is too soon to tell, but that's my guess for now.

Ethan loves Dylan and gives him kisses and hugs him without any prompting. Actually, if we try to get Ethan to kiss Dylan, he won't. I think they will be great brothers! We can already tell Dylan has a different personality than Ethan. Ethan is very sanguine, outgoing, loud, cute, likes to be center of attention. Dylan seems much more laid back. But, hey, that could all change! After all, he's only 4 weeks old...ha. Tomorrow, on the 11th, he will be 1 month old. I am babysitting them tonight so Trisha and Ben can have a date night, so I will hopefully get some pics to post of the cutest grandbabies EVER! LOL.

The Budget

2008-10-10T08:47:00.002-04:00

In a previous post I talked about how we were going to start budgeting, and we have. Actually it's gone pretty well. There have been some confusing things about it, just because we are trying to get our envelopes figured out. What I mean by that is, we are having to adjust the actual cash in the envelopes as we go along, and we have to juggle money between two accounts.

I'm using Pearbudget which works really well and is simple to use and the cash envelope system, which also works really well. Basically, I plan our budget for the month in Pearbudget, then I fill the envelopes as we get paid. I leave enough money in our bank accounts to pay the regular bills, like the mortgage, vehicle payments, utilities, credit card and equity lines because we have those set up in our banks web bill pay, which works really well for me. When I get those bills, I just enter them in the bill pay system and set the date to be paid, which is usually the due date. I also enter any other bills, like doctor bills and the water bill and bill pay will send out a check for me. So, I don't have to sit down every month and write out checks for those bills and worry about balancing a check book.

Because I get paid every week and Jeff gets paid every two weeks, and because we have 2 different bank accounts (we kept the ones we had when we got married), we have to do a little juggling of money to fill the envelopes with cash and make sure there is enough money in the one account to cover the bills paid by web bill pay. So, that's what's been taking some getting used to. But, overall I like it.

I like being in control of our money rather than our money being in control of us. AND, since we started this whole budgeting thing (about 2 weeks ago) I've seen God move in our finances already!!! That's the most exciting part. We've had some extra, unexpected, miscellaneous income come in to help us out. Not a lot, but just enough...imagine that. So, I'm actually excited about budgeting and happy to keep doing it!

Celebrating Ethan's 2nd Birthday!

2008-10-05T22:23:00.001-04:00

Today after church, the family gathered at Trisha and Ben's house to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday. Click here to read all about Ethan at this stage in his life.

Trisha chose the theme, "Yo Gabba Gabba" because that is one of Ethan's favorite shows. Trisha's mother-in-law painted the characters faces from the show on balloons and hung them from the ceiling with streamers in the dining room and then hung some more streamers with the cut-outs of the characters right over the table. She also had some cut-outs they printed off the Internet and taped to the plastic table cloth. Pretty cute, and inexpensive way to decorate!

All of the grandparents were there, Trisha's 3 siblings, Ben's only brother and his wife and 6 year old son, my niece and her 9 month old daughter and my 5 year old nephew were also there. So there were lots of small kids running around and it seemed very noisy in the house, especially from the 3 boys!

Ethan got some cool toys! He got a guitar from Grandpa Rick, some Yo Gabba Gabba vehicles and people from Grandma and Grandpa Stefanic, an Elmo video from Uncle Andy and Aunt Rachelle, a Speed Racer steering wheel and Elmo ball from cousin Cory, and a Diego trike from Jeff, I and the kids. He loved all the toys!

Trisha made chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and white cupcakes with vanilla icing with sprinkles. It was all very yummo!

Ethan and Auntie Karlie

Opening the present from Uncle Andy and Aunt Rachelle

On his new Diego Trike!

Future Rock Star!

Learning to blow out candles!

Dylan, trying to sleep through it all!

Trying AGAIN!

2008-10-04T19:48:00.001-04:00

My hubby thinks my issue with my Blog feed not feeding into Twitter right is in Twitterfeed. So we went in and reset Twitterfeed.

Testing 1, 2, 3!

The First Test Failed...trying again!

2008-10-04T19:11:00.001-04:00

Trying to fix my Blog Feeds to Twitter. My Title posts but not the link. Grrrr

Testing My Twitter Feed

2008-10-04T17:46:00.001-04:00

One of my Twitter Followers Virtual Freedom, pointed out that when I post a blog, the Title posts, but not the link. I think I fixed it, so this is a test to see if I actually did!

Five Reasons I Love My Husband

2008-10-04T00:07:00.001-04:00

One of the blogs I follow is a fellow WAHM and she has this cute meme posted on her blog that she got from her friend Arika, so I thought I 'd play along because I like these things and I LOVE my hubby!

If you want to play too, here is all you have to do:

Grab the graphic up there and insert it, along with these rules, in your post.
Give at least 5 reasons why you love your hubby. List more if you want.
Tag 5 people (or more) to play along and link to their blogs in your post.
Then visit those women’s blogs and leave them a comment on any of their posts.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here's why I LOVE my husband:

1. He is a man after God's own heart.

2. He is the most awesome step dad to my kids.

3. He helps keep me on track with my goals and desires.

4. He has a heart for the youth, as do I.

5. He can sing!!!

6. He loves to help others out.

7. He never minds running to the store for that head of lettuce or ice cream!

8. He supports me and the kids 100%.

9. He is the most awesome Papa Jeff to Ethan, Dylan and Alyssa!

10. He's CUTE!

I tag Lisa, and anyone else who wants to play. Please link to my blog, and the other two mentioned above! Have Fun!

Ethan turns 2!

2008-09-30T22:43:00.001-04:00

Two years ago today, Trisha gave birth to Ethan Gabriel Stefanic. I can't believe he's already 2 years old!!! My how time flies!

We are having a party for him Sunday after church and I didn't get to see him today so I don't have a 2 year old picture. The one above is just a couple of weeks old, so I guess it's okay to use for now. He's holding his baby brother, Dylan, who was born Sept. 11.

Ethan is so smart! He talks up a storm and repeats everything we say. My favorite things he says are:

"Hi Nana!" when I walk into his house
When we say, "Are you cute"? He replies, "Yes I am", in the cutest 2 year old voice EVER!
He says "Diwan" for Dylan, "Baby Brudder" for Baby Brother, oh and the best thing ever, he says "I wub you!" for I love you. It's soooo cute!

Ethan's favorite shows are Yo Gabba Gabba, Blues Clues and Veggie Tales. His favorite movies are Nemo and Da Munks (Alvin and the Chipmunks).

Ethan is learning to count and can count to 8, sort of, with a little help. His favorite number is 6.

He can jump up and down, lifting both feet off the ground at the same time! Something most kids don't do until they're 4!

Ethan knows the sounds of animals like bears, lions, doggies, cats, horsies and frogs! When he "ribbits" like a frog its oh so cute!

He knows all his body parts, and Dylan's and Alyssa's and Papa Jeff's and Nana's and everyone elses, and is sure to point them out as he names them.

His favorite foods are bologna, pizza, chicken, pickles, and cheese.

Ethan LOVES to play outside! He loves to run around in the grass and would stay out all day if he could. He also likes to play "catch me/hide-n-go-seek" with Karlie in the house. He loves it when she crouches down and then suddenly jumps up and says "BOO"!

Ethan is a born drummer, like his daddy. He makes "sticks" out of anything and everything that remotely even resembles a stick: forks, spoons, butter knives, rolled up paper, anything and everything. He even plays the air drums and air guitar!

He also sings some of his favorite songs from his favorite shows and "Jesus Loves Me"! I'll have to try to get some video of all this cuteness to post in the near future!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan! Nana loves you!

Budgeting Woes

2008-09-30T17:41:00.001-04:00

After struggling with our finances because we have 2 mortgages and 2 Home Equity Loans, I finally found a budgeting system that I think will work for us: Pearbudget and the old fashioned envelope system. I signed up for the free 30 day trial on PearBudget. It's simple and easy to use! Then I was reading another blog, Simple Mom, and she really lays out how to use the envelope system. So combining the two ought to make it budgeting a little easier for me and the rest of the family.

I set up our plan for October and when we get paid I will be taking actual cash out of our bank accounts to fill the envelopes with. When we need money for groceries, personal items, haircuts, fun money (yes there is an envelope for fun money), lunch money, gas, gifts, or miscellaneous, we will take out the cash from the envelope and use that money and only that money.

Because our income isn't exactly the same every month, we will have to adjust accordingly. And we are going to have to be very frugal when it comes to things like groceries, gas, personal items, dining out, fun money and miscellaneous. But, I know once we start sticking to it and get used to using cash only, we will see how much money we are saving and we will like it! Ha ha.

I will keep you posted as to how it goes over the next couple of weeks.

Walk To Emmaus-Men's Walk #34

2008-09-29T21:21:00.001-04:00

I spent the last weekend in Indian River at the United Methodist Church, serving men "taking their walk" and those on the team. It was a God thing that I was even there. When I was asked back in July to serve on the walk, I accepted a little hesitantly. I was only hesitant because A. I knew Trisha was expecting her baby on September 17 and I didn't know how all that would play out. Two years ago when I was working a walk, I had to leave early because Trisha had Ethan. B. because we are so busy with my new VA business, youth ministry, The Chosen Conference, work, kids, family, etc. etc., I just didn't think I'd really be "into" spending 4 days away from home, away from the world. So, as the time approached, sure enough a meeting got scheduled for Chosen the first night of the walk, so I had to arrive at the walk late. I didn't think it would be a big deal, as I was only scheduled to help in the dining room; I wasn't head of a department or anything.

After the Chosen meeting, I headed to Indian River; it was about 8 or 8:30 when I arrived at the church. I unloaded my suitcases and headed for the dining room. As soon as I got there, the head of the dining room, Betty, informed me that I was head now because she just got back from a long trip. Apparently someone was supposed to contact me to let me know I was going to be the leader of the dining room team. That is why I live by the motto, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break".

I have worked in the dining room several times, as leader and as a team member, but I have never had such an awesome team as this! Sue and Jim were amazing and needed very little instruction. The awesome board members just went through and totally reorganized everything, including the manuals. Sue and Jim just looked at the manual and took it from there. We were able to get everything done an hour or two ahead of schedule! It was amazing and the dining room looked great!

Friday night, Trisha called me and told me she and Ben were fighting, so I told her I'd pray for them. Well, recently I have been struggling with some stuff from my past. I was raised a Jehovah's Witness, and I've had some thoughts along the lines of, "What if they have the truth; What if what they teach is right and none of this (Christianity) is?" So as I was praying for T & B, I told God; "If you are the God I am supposed to be worshipping and that I am going to the right church and doing the right things, then give me a sign! God, show me some how some way, so I know that what I'm doing it right!"

Saturday morning I got up, had some coffee, awaited the rest of my team to arrive (they all stayed at their homes or with nearby relatives), and got the drink cart ready to serve. Betty, Sue and I were standing, waiting for the Pilgrims (those taking their walk) to enter. Frank, one of the pastors helping with the walk, entered. He headed over to me, stretched out his hands for mine, and started to pray. In his prayer, he said that I was going to minister to those hurting, that God would show me those who need His comfort. He also said that I "was right where I belong." As soon as I heard those words, I knew God answered my prayer! I was so excited and happy, and felt a huge sense of relief! I knew I was on the right path and I knew that God was guiding and directing me. And I knew that the God I worship is the true God! Frank doesn't know me, and I don't know him. My prayer was silent, so no one else heard it, so it couldn't have been faked. Only God heard my prayer, and only God answered it!

If you have any doubts about the God I serve, just ask me about all the miraculous things he's done in my life! I don't know why I ever doubted, when I look back at what all he's done in my life, for my kids and my family. I know it was Satan attacking me, trying to get me to lose my faith in God.

The Road to Better Health-Update 1

2008-09-23T23:34:00.001-04:00

Well its been only a few days, 4 to be exact, since I got my health report from my Doctor. I've been doing really well with taking my meds and sticking to the protein diet! I picked up my script for the thyroid medicine on Sunday, so I didn't start taking it until yesterday because you have to take it on an empty stomach. So, I take the Synthroid in the morning when I first get up, and the Niaspan at night. The flushing isn't so bad any more. I had a night of "flushlessness" the night before last, unless it just didn't wake me up, and a minor episode last night around 4AM. It only lasted about 15 minutes, and seemed to affect the upper half of my body only.

I have noticed I've been -excuse the term- peeing A LOT. I'm not sure if it's the meds or the protein diet, but I don't mind. I feel like I'm cleaning my system out and the pee is pretty clear. I go regularly about every hour. I feel like I'm in the bathroom an awful lot, but it also makes me feel like I'm losing weight.

I've decided to stay off the scales until my Doctor's appointment in 2 months. I will know I'm losing weight by the way my clothes fit (or should I say don't fit-hopefully they will be too big in 2 months!).

I've been eating as much protein as I can. I have a Revival Soy protein shake every morning and then another around 11AM or so. I make one in the morning before I go to work and take the rest with me for my morning snack. I have a salad for lunch and usually cheese and/or tomatoes for a mid afternoon snack, and then high protein for dinner, like meat and a salad or veggies. It's been pretty easy so far. We did get pizza for dinner tonight because my son and son-in-law were painting the family room and it was just too chaotic to try to cook something. I did only eat the cheese and meats off the pizza and was pretty satisfied.

I've also increased my liquid intake. That attributes to the extra peeing I'm sure, but I know I'm not drinking THAT much to increase it so much. I bought a bunch of those powdered mixed you add to a water bottle. I made sure they have no calories or carbs and I usually drink 2 of those a day, plus my regular intake of coffee which is 2 to 4 cups, plus the 2 protein shakes. The liquid helps keep me satisfied between meals too.

I will keep you updated periodically as often as I can find time to post!

Three Years of Marital Bliss

2008-09-23T20:26:00.001-04:00

Three years ago today, I married Jeffrey Scott Lutz, the man of my dreams! Literally!!! The last three years have been exciting, interesting, and challenging. Exciting because we've grown together in Christ, watched our family grow in Christ, had two grandsons (Ethan and Dylan), moved from Gaylord to Boyne Falls, changed jobs (Mary - twice), started a new business as a Virtual Assistant (Mary) and have become more involved in the youth ministry as leaders. Interesting because we've helped some others out financially and spiritually, are commuting from Boyne Falls to Gaylord, have a third driver (Karlie) so we are working out ways to get everyone where they need to be. Challenging because we are renting out Gaylord house out which isn't working out how we hoped, are commuting from Boyne Falls to Gaylord, working out driving challenges, and all the stuff that goes with raising a family!

Jeff is the man of my dreams because he is Godly, strong, loving, patient, funny, dorky, goofy and CUTE!!! And he has a gotee!!! All of the things I asked for when I told God what I'd like in a husband. I lived by Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." As did Jeff (which we later discovered after we started dating). That scripture doesn't mean that God gives you what you desire, but when you lay down your life and delight in the Lord, your wills and desires become his and line up with his Word. When I laid my life down and surrendered completely to Him, only then did He and could He bring the man of my dreams, the man he created for me and knew would be everything I need.

Jeffrey Scott, I love you and I would marry you all over again!!! Thanks for being the man God created you to be! YOUR! Mary Karen

On the Better Health Bandwagon Again

2008-09-20T22:33:00.001-04:00

Friday, yesterday, I went to the Doctor. I had gone 2 weeks prior to get all my issues checked out: achy hips, achy foot, numbness in foot, light headedness, etc. My dr. said the light headedness was probably because my ears were full. I have an appointment with a foot dr. on Monday to get that checked out. But, I haven't had an annual exam in over two years, so she had me get my blood work done and come in for the lovely pap-smear.

My blood work results were: My sugar is good, my blood pressure is good, my bad cholesterol is somewhat high, but not terrible; but my good cholesterol is "dangerously low", my tri-glycerides are high, and my thyroid is low. So, she prescribed me some Niacin tablets and some thyroid medicine. Not to mention the medicine she prescribed for my achy hips. Oh, and not to mention the anti-biotic and Mucinex-D I was on for the sinus infection I ended up having in the middle of these 2 visits! (I went to Quick Care for that.) And I am taking a pro-biotic for digestive health. I feel like a walking medicine chest!

The Niacin medicine is weird. It causes "flushing". Flushing, for those who don't know (like me) is when you experience warmth, itchiness, swelling and faintness ALL OVER YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE BODY! I experienced it at 6 o'clock in the morning this morning!!! You take the Niacin at night and the directions suggest taking aspirin or ibuprofen 30 minutes before you take the Niacin, as these help the symptoms of flushing. Well, I didn't take it before I took the Niacin, but I did take some aspirin when I was experiencing the flushing. Flushing is an awful feeling and if I didn't know what it was I would have freaked out!!! When I got up to take the aspirin, I felt like I could have passed out, my whole body was itchy, swollen and hot! Thank goodness it only lasted about 1/2 hour! The Niacin is to help raise my good cholesterol and lower my tri-glycerides. If she hadn't said my good cholesterol was "dangerously low", I probably would have chosen not to take it.

The other advice she gave me was to get on a high protein diet, like South Beach. Those of you who know me, know I have done the South Beach diet before and hated it. I just hate all the meat and cheese! I get so sick of it. Well tonight, Kara (my niece) and I went grocery shopping and we picked up lots of salad fixings, some good meat, lots of nuts and some yummy drink mixes with no carbs. Kara would like to lose a few pounds too so we decided to work on this together.

It's difficult to adjust your lifestyle, especially your eating habits! I love breads, cereal, tortillas, chips, and stuff like that. The sweet stuff like cookies and ice cream aren't so hard to give up, but the bread and cereal are for me! I got some soy milk to make my Revival Soy protein shakes with since I can't mix any fruit in them. But I did discover I can put peanut butter in them...yummo! I also got some summer sausage for a snack with cheese. Tonight Kara and I made a tomato soup of sorts with tomato sauce. We seasoned it with garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper and cilantro. It was yummo! We added a little mozzarella cheese and it was like eating cheese stix, but without the breading. A nice little concoction!

Anyway, I'm on the road to getting healthy and losing some weight! I really want to stick with it this time. I think with Kara doing it and our friend Kim, I just may be able to! I'll try to keep you all up to date with my progress each week, as sort of an accountability. If anyone else would like to join, that'd be great. I'm competitive, so if I know someone else is doing it too, I will stick with it better!

A Birth Story-Dylan Richard Stefanic

2008-09-20T16:27:00.001-04:00

As promised in my previous post, I am here to tell you most of the details of the birth of Dylan!

~~It was a typical Thursday~~ It was September 11, 2008, a beautiful day in Northern Michigan, but I think everyone in America thought of the events of September 11, 2001. I know I did. However, I got up as usual and went to my part time corporate job as a bookkeeper for a charter aviation company. I was ~~busy working,~~ talking to my boss who happened to stop in for a few minutes, when my son-in-law who also works there as an airplane mechanic, came in and informed us that Trisha was having contractions 20 minutes apart. She was calling her mid-wife and Ben was waiting to hear back from Trisha what the mid-wife had to say. A few minutes later, Trisha called and said the mid-wife said to just stay at home for now, unless the contractions get closer together and stronger. They weren't very painful yet. Well of course Ben and I couldn't concentrate on work any longer so our boss said we could go. I went over to Ben and Trisha's and just hung out. This was about 11:45 or noon-ish.

About 2:00 the midwife called back because she hadn't heard anything from Trisha. Contractions were still about the same. The midwife said she wanted Trisha to come in so she could see what was going on. So, Ben's dad came over and got Ethan (their almost 2 year old). I headed to Jeff's office to pick him up because we had ridden in to work together. When we got back to B & T's, I got in the car with them and headed for Petoskey, while Jeff headed home. Karlie was at school, and Jeff was going to wait to see what the midwife said before he got Karlie out of school. T planned on Karlie being in the delivery room for the birth.

When we arrived at the Dr's office, they checked her cervix right away and she was dilated to 6 cm and 70% effaced. Then they hooked her up to the fetal heart monitor to see how the baby was doing and monitor the contractions. She was having contractions a little closer together now, but still not very strong or painful. So, the midwife gave her her options: She could go home with the chances greatly being she'd have to turn right around and come back or they could admit her, break her water and go from there. Trisha really wanted to stay and have the baby, so she chose the second option.

Just as the decision was being made, Jeff called to see what was going on. So, he waited for Karlie to get home from school as it was about 3:30 now. Ben, Trisha and I headed for the OB dept. They checked her in, put her in a gown and pretty quickly the midwife came in and popped her water (about 4:00). They then had her get up and do some walking around and some nipple rolls to stimulate the uterus. Karlie had arrived by then, and she and I waited in the room while B, T and the midwife were out walking.

After about 1/2 an hour they came back in the room and Trisha was in active labor. You could now see the pain in her face when the contractions came and they were much closer together. Trisha laid on the birthing bed and didn't move from it until Dylan was born.

After just a couple of hours of "hard" labor, the midwife checked her and said the baby's head was right there so she could start pushing. She pushed just a few times (not nearly as much as she did with Ethan) and out came his little head. I noticed the umbilical cord was over the top of his head and wrapped around his neck. They immediately unwrapped it and then they let Trisha continue to push him out the rest of the way.

The baby was born at 6:44 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. But we didn't find that out till later. After Trisha delivered the placenta, the midwife noticed she was bleeding continuously and not from the uterus. So she had Karlie and I leave the room "for just a couple of minutes". After about 1/2 an hour, I headed back toward the room Trisha was in, but was stopped by the midwife. She said it was going to be a few more minutes. Of course I was getting worried. Ben's parents, Ben's brother and his wife, my mom, Jeff, Karlie and I were all in the waiting room, waiting to hear what was going on. And we were all starving. So, we called Pizza Hut and Jeff went and got some pizza. Still no word. This time Karlie and I went to the room again, only to be stopped again. We went back to the waiting room and after I don't even know how long, the midwife finally came in and told us what was going on. The baby had knicked her cervix on his way out so they had to have a surgeon come in to stitch it up. She said it was just a small knick requiring only a stitch or two.

So, finally after a few minutes again, they said we could go in. Of course as soon as we got in there, they chased us out and made us wait in the hallway by the door. Ben came and got Ethan first so they could have some family alone time. We waited patiently for that and then it was our turn to go in.

Trisha was a little loopy from the drugs they gave her while they stitched her up, but she was doing well, and so was the baby.

Then the nurse came in and wanted to bathe the baby (who still didn't have a name at this point) and I got some photos of the bath. They got him all cleaned up and then we all headed to the room where Trisha would spend the rest of her hospital stay. We stayed only a few minutes because now it was like 10 pm or something like that and everyone was tired.

Baby still didn't have a name.

The next morning, we got up around 11 and headed to the hospital. We were meeting Ben's parents there so we could take Ethan for the night until T got out of the hospital.

Baby still didn't have a name when we arrived, nor did he have one that whole day. Finally, on Saturday, two days after his birth, Trisha and Ben had to decide on a name for the birth certificate. So he was named Dylan Richard Stefanic. Dylan is just cute and Richard is after Ben's dad's middle name and Trisha's dad. And Dylan goes with Ethan really well-ha!

So, now 9 days later, things are going pretty well. Trisha is doing just fine, losing her baby belly quite nicely and Dylan is gaining weight well and nursing really well, which Trisha is excited about. Ethan is tongue tied so he didn't ever latch on very well. Dylan has been a little jaundicy so they had his bilirubin checked and he's been wrapped in a bili blanket for the last few days. Trisha had him checked yesterday, and his bilirubin count went down 2 steps so he's doing better, but they want him to be wrapped in the blanket over the weekend and go in for another check on Monday.

2008-09-17T15:54:00.001-04:00

Getting back to a somewhat normal schedule now. Daughter had her 2nd baby on Sept. 11. See pics http://ping.fm/QFXlL or http://marylutz.com

2008-09-13T12:41:00.001-04:00

My new Grandson finally has a name! It's Dylan Richard. Richard is after Trisha's dad and Ben's dad's middle name.

2008-09-12T09:19:00.001-04:00

Getting ready to go to the hospital to see my new Grandson! I wonder if he has a name yet?

2008-09-12T00:09:00.001-04:00

Grandson #2 arrived today at 6:44 pm. See http://marylutz.com for more details!

Grandson Number 2 Arrived Today!

2008-09-11T23:52:00.001-04:00

Here are the highlights: I will post a more detailed story later, but wanted to get some info and pics up now.

Baby Stefanic number 2, (called so because he does not have a name as of yet!) was born at 6:44 pm, today, September 11. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz., he is cute as a button! I didn't even get his length, bad Nana! Ethan already loves him!

Trisha's labor was much shorter than with Ethan, but she had a minor complication afterward. Baby boy was sunny side up and when he came through he knicked her cervix so she had a small tear in it, which was oozing non-stop. So, they had to call in a surgeon to stitch it up. We all were a little nervous about what was happening because we didn't have much information. Finally the midwife came in and told us what was going on. Jeff, Ben's parents, my mom, and Ben's brother and his wife, were all there, waiting patiently, faithfully, to hear that everything was okay.

Finally we were allowed to go back in the room. We took some more pics, got to see the baby bathed for the first time, then we helped move Trisha to her room for the remainder of her stay. It was a fulfilling day.

Here he is! Baby Boy Stefanic, number 2. (I can't wait till he has a name!)

Ethan hugging his mama! Awe!

Awe! Here he looks a lot like Ethan.

For comparison, this is Ethan fresh out of the womb!

And back to baby boy number 2

Nana holding her new grandson for the very first time!

Papa Jeff and ...

Auntie Karlie

2008-09-10T10:04:00.001-04:00

At Brother's, just finished meeting for http://chosennow.com, working on stuff for Youth Group tonight and leadership

Highlights of the Fall '08 Youth Leader Retreat

2008-09-08T22:02:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was the youth leader retreat for the main leaders (aka planners, visionaries) of our youth ministry, //twentyfourseven. A couple from our church kindly let us use their summer home on Burt Lake for our retreat. They cooked dinner for us both nights and supplied the food for the rest of our meals. It was awesome.

Here are the pics and explanations that will pretty much describe the weekend!

This is the first meeting on Friday night. We are all busy taking notes (aka doodling!).

Our fearless leader, James. He looks so official with his flip chart!

Um, supposedly they were making us breakfast! LOL. Zach and James

Out on the "veranda" (aka the deck). Yea, yea, we were planning and focusing on youth ministry! Yea, uh huh!

This is Jeff, trying to get Zach to focus! LOL

The view from the back deck. Awesome!

The beach! (This is their back yard!)

Cherie on the dock.

The view of the back of the house from the dock.

Me and Jeffy!

Cherie and Terry...oh so cute!

More focusing and planning (yeah right!) on the beach. The fresh air helped clear our heads. Sounds good, right???

Zach and James need a little extra fresh air! They took the row boat out. It was hilarious! Windy and wavy!

Zach. His tummy needed more fresh air, eh

Nick, Sandy, Cherie and Terry. Awesome youth leaders!

Zach and Carson, the homeowner's son. Carson loves Zach and was his little shadow!

Speed Scrabble, oh yeah!

More Speed Scrabble!

Planning by campfire! Somehow campfire's on the beach really do help you focus better!

Proof we really were working! See the laptop screen!

Here we are. I'm typing away on my laptop. After this, my laptop smelled like campfire! It's better now.

The fire. Mmmmm warm and toasty!

Zach and Sandy, paying attention. (miracle of miracles!)

Ah, James. See, we really did work! See all the papers hung on the fireplace and railing?

2008-09-08T17:34:00.001-04:00

home from the Dr. No strep for me or daughter :) but I have a sinus infection and she has a cold/allergy type thing going on.

2008-09-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

Last day of the retreat. Just had breakfast, getting ready for meeting, then church, then back for final meeting and clean up.

2008-09-05T16:18:00.001-04:00

I will be on a retreat all wkend, but if you need a VA, email me! I will get back w/u on Monday!

2008-09-05T16:13:00.001-04:00

less than an hour b/4 leaving for the retreat! I cannot wait!

Why Should Teens and Youth Leaders Attend the Chosen Youth Conference?

2008-09-04T18:52:00.001-04:00

First of all, what is the Chosen Youth Conference? Obviously it's a conference for youth, but it is more than that. It is not just another big teen event with bands and speakers created to draw a big crowd of teens, get them fired up for a weekend, then send them home just to go back to doing the same things they've always done.

The vision of the Chosen Youth Conference is to have students and adults alike have a life-changing encounter with God, like never before. All of the bands and speakers at Chosen will be performing and speaking on the issues that teens and youth leaders are facing right now and how they can be over-comers, enabling a closer relationship with God. When teens and youth leaders leave the Chosen Youth Conference, they will be equipped with the tools necessary to be an over-comer in their schools, communities and youth ministries that will not fade away after a week or two.

How do I know this? Because I attended last year's Chosen Youth Conference and I've seen great changes in my 16 year old daughter that I know come from the things she heard at the conference. She still talks about some of the messages she heard from both speakers and musicians. And yes, I help (voluntarily) with some of the administrative duties for the conference, but I would not even begin to work for an organization that I did not believe in. And I believe in the Chosen Youth Conference for both students and youth leaders.

Go to ChosenNow.com, check out the videos, read the bios from the speakers and musicians, and register your youth group, students, family or church friends for this life-changing event.

A Day at the Spa

2008-08-16T20:43:00.001-04:00

This morning I had the awesome opportunity to go to the day Spa at Boyne Mountain. Trisha and I both had gift certificates from past various holidays and we finally made appointments. It was awesome!!! It's the first time I've ever had a professional massage and I chose the deep tissue massage. It was GREAT! It did hurt in some places, but it felt good to get the knots rubbed out. It was sort of nerve wracking at first because I didn't know what to expect, but as soon as I told the massage therapist that I was nervous, she made me feel right at home and explained everything. I really liked that they let you dress down as far as your comfortable with and if you wanted you could leave your robe on while they did the massage. I chose not to do that because she explained I would be under the sheet the whole time, and that only the parts she was massaging would be uncovered. I got a 50 minute massage but I could have gone much longer!

After the massage, I met Trisha in the relaxation room. My therapist gave me some water, grapes and a cold wash cloth. Trisha and I enjoyed those and chatted about our experiences (Trisha had the mommy massage). After chatting for a few minutes, we went to the changing room, put on our swimsuits and I sat in the hot tub. Trisha put her feet in. I felt bad she couldn't get in too. It was so relaxing. I could have fallen asleep!

After the hot tub we out to the pool. It wasn't as relaxing because there were lots of hotel guests there. But it was nice. After that, we went in and showered. They have Chi hair products you can use, plus blow dryers, curling irons and straighteners.

After a great day at the spa, I just wanted to come home and nap! But, no. It would be great to be able to get one once a month, but no, the budget won't allow. But, Jeff does need to get one for his knotty back!

Mission Trip to Chestertown, NY in the Adirondack Mountains

2008-08-11T22:52:00.001-04:00

To sum it up, it was awesome! For those of you who didn't read my blog about how I got asked to go, click here.

Saturday, the 2nd of August, Jeff dropped me off at the First United Methodist Church. We loaded the van up, and headed down I-75 to Port Huron. We crossed into Canada without much ado, but when we crossed back in to the US in New York, they grilled us! They wanted to know everything, and questioned the girls if they wanted to be there or not? It's understandable, but it was highly annoying especially when they said we should have had our permission forms notarized!

We arrived in Chestertown about 4/4:30 PM on Sunday. I, having no idea what to expect really, went along with the flow. We were the 2nd group to arrive and the smallest. We set our luggage in the luggage room and then set up our air mattresses in the sleeping room. I felt unorganized all week, just because I had stuff in two rooms. Way too inefficient for me! But, I managed.

Our showers were in the fire house, about 100 yards away from the church we were staying in. So, everyday when we loaded up for our work sites, we had to take our shower bags because we would be dropped off at the showers right after working. I needed a bigger shower bag, but again, I managed.

The work we did for others was great! It's such a good feeling to do something for someone else, expecting nothing in return.

Each day we'd work from 9 AM to about 2:30 PM, depending if we had dinner set up or dinner clean up. We got to leave a little earlier if we had either of those.

Monday and Tuesday, we scraped, sanded, stained and painted (touch up work) for this elderly woman whose husband recently passed away, and she was taking care of her son, who has a broken neck. Our crew also cleaned out metal, glass and brush from the woods around her house.

Our crew consisted of Paul and I, our girls, Hannah, Kyrie and Megan, Travis from Massachusetts (an adult leader), two girls from Connecticut and 4 boys also from Massachusetts.

Wednesday, we stayed at the church facility because the brakes had gone out in the church van, and painted the dining room and office. That was fun!

Thursday, we got to go out on this amazing trail and make water bars. Then we hiked up to a nearby lake (13th Lake is the official name of the lake) and had lunch. We hung out for a few minutes after eating then hiked all the way back, which was roughly 2 miles.

Each evening there were activities for us too. Monday was a 4 mile hike to Palmer Pond! And hike it was! It was no easy, schmeezy hike! It was hilly and rocky! Fun but what a work out!!!

Tuesday evening we got to go on this amazing train ride along the Hudson River. Beautiful!

Wednesday was a campfire at Ray's house. Ray let Youth Works store the paint in his shed needed for all the projects; he played music for us on the train ride and we had our campfire there. We played volley ball and sang songs. It was amazing!

Thursday was the community cook out at the church facility. We invited all the community to come for the cookout. Several people showed up including Ray and others that projects were done for by other crews during the week.

Friday morning, we got up, packed up, cleaned up and loaded up and were on the road by 9 AMish. (The van was done Thursday afternoon.) We had dinner in Niagara Falls at the Hard Rock Cafe and got to see the Falls a bit. We hit Port Huron right about midnight, stayed the night there and headed home after sleeping in on Saturday. We got home about 5 PM Saturday evening.

The whole trip was amazing. Our digital camera died, but Paul bought us all disposable cameras, so as soon as I get the photos developed, I will post some pics. Also, I hope to get some from the other girls on the trip as well.

It was a great bonding experience, especially between the girls and I. They will now be a regular part of our game nights, as will Paul and Lisa. I learned 3 new games while on the trip; Speed Uno, Speed Scrabble and Egyptian Rat Screw (which we call Egyptian War for obvious reasons). So far, Speed Scrabble is the favorite new game amongst the family members.

This is definitely a trip I would do again. I'm thinking about checking it out for our youth group for next year.

Other awesome things gained from the trip are: "Wicked ___________!" (Fill in the blank with awesome, sweet or other descriptive word.) Thanks to the boys from Mass. for that one.

"Across the Universe" is a must see movie.

Joe (from Mass.) knows all the words to "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood and sings it with passion.

The boys from Mass. are all musically talented and break out in song randomly; something we have in common!

Another Mission Trip!

2008-07-30T17:42:00.001-04:00

This time it's in the US! Two weeks ago when I was at Alpenfest with my family, Paul Block, the youth pastor for the First United Methodist Church in Gaylord asked me if I could be the female chaperone for their mission trip to the Adirondack Mountains in New York. It was a last minute request, as they have not been able to find a female chaperone from their church. The lady who usually goes is having her gall bladder out, and Paul's wife Lisa is staying home with their 7 month old baby girl. Since Paul and Jeff have been friends for a long time and Jeff was a youth leader under Paul, Paul felt lead to ask me. I'm honored he did. I know this is a God because last night at the meeting everyone was excited that I was going and one girl even did the "Yes" thing! And all doors were open for me to be able to go!

I'm hoping to pick up a small digital camera of some sort to take since ours died a couple of weeks ago. And I need to get some good tennis shoes for working and hiking!

This is going to be a totally different experience for me than Nigeria was. I can't wait! I think we will actually get to do some ministering to the un-saved!

Trying a New Blog Tool - Blog Editor on Flock

2008-07-30T00:33:00.001-04:00

What is Flock? It is a social media web browser. I've had it for a few hours now, but have only had a few minutes to fiddle with it. It supports almost all your favorite social media sites, except myspace. It's cool looking and seems pretty easy to use so far, but like I said, I've only had a few minutes to play with it.

As I'm typing this, I'm using the blog editor. It's nothing that fancy, I think I like Windows Live Writer better.

I do like that there is a flickr photo stream across the top of the browser, and the fact that all my twitter and facebook updates are all in one place!!! I just wish myspace was supported there too.

Well, I will keep messing around with it and let you all know what I think!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

My 200th Post!

2008-07-26T02:32:00.001-04:00

Wow, I've been blogging here since 2004 and this is my 200th post! I want it to be special so I will recap the last 4 years, because they have been pretty significant!!!

I'll start off with why I started blogging, and how! My then boyfriend-now husband, Jeff introduced me to blogging. Before we started dating, when we were still in the 'talking' stage of our relationship (because we don't talk now??? LOL) I was checking out his web site and he had a link to his blog. Of course I clicked on it, read his blog, and thought "I want one of those". So, I signed up here on Blogger and have been blogging ever since.

The first couple of years I averaged probably 3 to 4 posts a month. Then I had a lull of blogging about once a month if at all from February 2007 to October 2007. Then in December of 2007 I posted 10 times to my blog! Ever since then I've averaged about 15 posts per month with April 2007 having 25 posts!!! Wow, I must have had a lot to say in April. Actually it was after my mission trip to Nigeria, and I was really digging into starting my VA business. I posted 15 times regularly May and June and this month, July I have 9, this will be my tenth. I've been super busy this month, so it's been hard to get creative and think of something to post. Actually that's not true, I think of stuff I want to write about all the time, I just haven't had extra time to post.

Enough about stats! Now on to the recap! The first few posts were about....me. What blog wouldn't be complete without an introductory post! I have 2 of them...LOL. I even have 2 posts about Personality,the first is the 3rd or 4th post and I then have a more recent post about Personality. Interesting...lol.

The next several posts were about the beginning stages of mine and Jeff's relationship. Sooo cheesy, but cute! The December posts were all about Christmas that year. And the next several posts until September 2005 were about Jeff and I and life. The two posts in September 2005 were about getting ready for the wedding. All other posts since then, have been about love, life and God.

October 22, 2005, Trisha and Ben got married. September 30, 2006, our first Grandson was born and now our second one is due September 17, 2008! We moved from Gaylord to Boyne Falls in September of 2006 as well. We've been through two teens getting their driver's licenses, and had a young girl from youth group live with us her Senior year. Our niece, Kara moved in with us in January of 2008, along with her new baby, Alyssa. Summer of 2007, Chelsea and Brandon started dating and are still going strong.

Jeff and I have become more involved with the youth group at church, becoming "elders" to our youth pastor. We've helped coordinate taking over 200 people to Acquire the Fire each year, attended 3 Big Ticket Festivals, and this year is our second year to help coordinate the Chosen Youth Conference. I have been to Nigeria Africa and back and Jeff has been to Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, both on mission trips.

Spring of 2008 I started my own WAH business, Professional Virtual Business Solutions. I discovered how much I love blogging and how much I love working on the Internet!

Be sure to stay tuned for more exciting adventures from this wild and crazy Christian WAHM youth leader! LOL.

Ethan 21 months old, Alyssa 6 1/2 months old

2008-07-24T20:15:00.001-04:00

Ethan will be 22 months old at the end of this month, so only a few days away, and Alyssa will be 7 months old, also at the end of this month, so I thought it was a good time for developmental updates for both of them.

Ethan:

Talking up a storm! He repeats EVERYTHING we say. He is putting several words together, mixed with his language to make a sentence. Usually, when asked a question, he responds with, "No, I shldilsdkfajdfjj the water (or whatever you asked him)." It's really cute, and he almost always starts with, "No, I", even if he means yes.
He knows when he poops and has sat on the big potty several times. However, actually using it has been accidental for now.
He feeds himself with a fork or spoon quite well, although still a little messy.
Ethan has been holding and drinking out of a "big" cup for quite some time. He usually manages quite well, unless he gets excited and forgets he's holding it, or knocks it over accidentally.
His favorite movies/shows/videos are: Blues Clues, Alvin and the Chipmunks (aka da Munks), Veggie Tales, Finding Nemo
He plays air drums and air guitar, and he claps on beat (takes after his dad in these areas).
Ethan is learning to count and when you say one, he says two. Sometimes he will say two, six.
Ethan can throw a ball, jump, dance, run and climb.
He likes to dance and sing. He sings along with some of his favorite shows and does some of the hand motions.
Ethan weighs 30 lbs.

Alyssa is:

Crawling
Cutting her 2nd tooth, (right behind her first one that just came in a week ago)
Beginning to pull herself up to stand while holding on to furniture
She says Dada which we have directed to being Jesus
She's getting better at not crying when Mama leaves the room. She starts, but quickly stops now.
She's been sitting up for quite some time (since 4 months I think) and can go from sitting to crawling and vice-versa.
Sasa (as Ethan calls her and so has become one of her nicknames) eats almost anything as long as it's small (obviously)
Alyssa is a people person and loves people! She watches people and likes to be around them at all times.
She weighs 20 lbs. 12 oz. as of her last appointment which was 3 days ago. The Doctor said she is doing exceptionally well!

Pretty soon we'll have a third little one to update on. Oh, I guess I could do that right now! Baby boy with no name yet, has a heart rate of 144 and mom measures 32 cm which is right on! That's all I know...lol. Trisha is due September 17, but I'm hoping for the 22nd as that is my birthday!

Dilemma

2008-07-22T19:10:00.001-04:00

I need to write about something but I can't just yet. It's frustrating. It has to do with ministering to someone, but if I write about it, I may put her in danger. So, this is all I'm going to say for now. Oh, that and pray for this person. God knows who this person is and the situation.

My Niece is a Cabbage Patch Doll!

2008-07-17T16:18:00.003-04:00

Want to see something cute and funny? My great niece looks like a Cabbage Patch Doll! I mean she's got Cabbage Patch nose, Cabbage Patch cheeks, Cabbage Patch mouth and Cabbage Patch hair!!! I've been trying to figure out what she looked like for the longest time and then my friend Rhonda mentioned she looks like a Cabbage Patch doll!!! And she does!!!! So cute!

Visit From An Old Friend

2008-07-16T22:59:00.001-04:00

The past few days, I have been blessed by a visit from some old friends of mine. Rhonda, her husband Pat, and their 4 kids, came to Michigan for a few days. Before moving to Missouri 8 years ago, they lived here in Northern Michigan. When they moved they only had 2 kids.

Lori and her husband, Ray, were also here from North Carolina. They too lived here before moving away. They had no children when they left, but now have two adorable toe-heads, Caleb and Bailey.

Saturday night everyone was at my house, including Ben, Trisha and Ethan (my daughter and her family for those who don't know). We ordered pizza (cheap and easy!), caught up on each other's lives, reminisced about the old days when we all lived in the same area, and played PIT (a cool card game).

Sunday evening we all met at Pennsylvania Park in Petoskey where Ben's band (the Andy Stefanic Band) played. This is the second year they've played for the Genesis church in the park. The Genesis church is a new church in Petoskey.

While we were waiting for the service to start, it started to rain as we were walking to get some coffee at Roast & Toast. When we got back to the park, it had quit raining, for a short time anyway. During the message, it started to rain again. Some people left, but most stayed, finding shelter under the trees or just sitting it out.

After the church service, we all (and by all, I mean about 30 to 35 of us) headed over to La Senorita for dinner. I called ahead to let them know that there was going to be a big group of us coming, so they could be prepared. They don't take reservations, but when some of the group started to arrive, they told us they wouldn't seat us until we all were there! There was no way we were all going to arrive at the same time, especially the band members and their families. It was a big hassle getting us all seated; they wanted to put some of us in one room and some in a completely separate room! No way! We all wanted to be together, which was part of the reason for calling ahead! Anyway, Rhonda threatened to take our business elsewhere, and then they were much more accommodating. We had fun chit-chatting at La's and stayed pretty late.

The next morning, Monday, we had agreed to meet in Charlevoix at 11 AM. Everyone was late, but me. But, that's normal...lol. Once everyone arrived (everyone but Trisha and Ethan) we walked down town, which is beautiful! We were told the temperature was going to be in the upper 60's (and it was) but it was so sunny it felt a lot warmer. Rhonda's oldest son, Gabriel, forgot to put a t-shirt on under his sweatshirt, and she wanted to buy some Northern Michigan memorabilia, so we went to one of the t-shirt shops down town.

Then we decided we were all hungry and wanted something cheap and kid friendly to eat so we opted for McDonald's. Trisha and Ethan caught up with us there. It was a little chaotic, as it is a very small McDonald's and it was busy, so we all had a hard time finding tables for us all.

After Mickey D's we headed for a re-sale shop, spent about an hour in there and then went to the park. The kids loved it, and we all got to just hang out and chit-chat. But, that is where we said good-bye to Lori and Ray as they were heading to Alpena on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening, Rhonda, Pat and her youngest, Elana, met us at the Alpenfest Queen's pageant, the kick off to Alpenfest. Alpenfest is a 5 day long festival complete with a carnival, concerts and food! Rhonda wanted to meet some of my friends and church family, and that was the perfect place! Our youth pastor, James, was the Emcee for the pageant, and two of our youth group girls were running, so lots of church family was there!

After the pageant (and one of our girls did win!) we went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. (Another late dinner!!!) It was not busy, and it was nice to have some Mary and Rhonda time. Pat and Jeff got to know each other better and Rhonda and I got to reminisce some more. We stayed for quite a while there and then went to Trisha and Ben's and hung out till about 1 AM. Then it was time to say good-bye as they were heading to Alpena today (Wednesday).

I'm praying Rhonda and Pat decide to move up here (they are thinking about it, and want to!). I miss my friend!

Here are the few pics we took...I wish we had taken more!!!

Me and Elana (my Lana Loodle) My BFF Rhonda

Lori, my good friend Ethan (aka E-doodle)

Gabriel, Rhonda's oldest Emma, Rhonda's second child

Chase, Rhonda's third Pat, Rhonda's hubby

Jeff, my hubby Trisha, my daughter

The kiddos,

Caleb, Bailey, Gabriel, Emma, Karlie and Chase

BFF's

Lori, me and Rhonda

Alyssa (aka Suhsuh)

Little Lana Loodle

The Secret Life of the American Teenager-Episode 2

2008-07-08T21:33:00.001-04:00

I just watched the 2nd episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I posted my my thoughts on the first episode, so here they are on the 2nd.

I have to say, I liked the 2nd episode better. Not that I didn't like the first, I just thought the characters were portrayed way too "over the top". I think what I'm having a hard time with, more specifically, is the way the Christian characters are portrayed. I think they are fake. Not all of them though. Okay, for instance, the mom of the teenage Christian girl, I think she is portrayed so sweet and so nice and soft spoken. Again, I think if non-Christian people watch this show and see this mom, they are going to be turned off by Christianity because they may think all Christians are like that and/or that they may have to act like that to be a Christian. On the other hand, I think the Christian dad is portrayed a little more realistically - like a real human Christian. He was firm with the Christian boy who cheated on his daughter and actually told him he was going to "slug" him (I don't think that was the exact term, but I can't remember the term he used right this second). Anyway, he seemed more real to me than any of the other Christian characters, so far.

I do like the stats they are bringing out in the show; percentages of teens having sex, pointing out how teens look at oral sex, etc. And I think it's funny how they use a character in the show to report the stats.

I'm not ready to recommend this show, but I'm not ready to give it up either...guess I'll be watching episode 3 next week, or recording it anyway! Next week is the Queen's Pageant at Alpenfest!