God is Rad.

I am in day two of my six month no personal item buying and guess what? A friend of mine gave me a whole bag of clothes. Holy, Moses- I know. I almost didn't want to accept it because it's only day two!!! It was so obviously God looking down at me and reminding me I am doing the right thing and he will absolutely take care of me. Not even "take care", I have tons of clothes. He just blessed me. How freaking awesome is that?!?!!? If this is day two I cannot WAIT to see what God has in store for the next six months!

"Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.
-Luke 12:22-30 

A New Beginning.

Anyone who reads what I write, be it here or another blog, or who speaks with me on any level beyond surface knows that I have been spiritually stagnant for a long time. I am not sure when it began, how I went from being uber self-righteous to reading material put out by the "emergent church" in order to make myself feel better about the current condition of my heart and lifestyle. Somewhere in there I did some wicked painful counseling where I allowed myself to get really angry with God, ask a lot of questions to which there are no answers and despite His complete healing and peace throughout that, I just didn't come out of it the same. Instead of dealing with my- whatever I was feeling, because I still can't put a title on it- I gave into it. I just accepted and stopped trying to push through. Here and there I have tried to start journaling, or reading the right things, or saying longer prayers- whatever I could think to do that might make me feel closer to God again. None of it worked and I just became more stagnant.

Recently a book I love appeared from the closet it had been hidden in and I picked it up. It is a great book all around and I was enjoying reading all of it, but a few things really hit me. The first was that I never talk to people about Jesus. Not really. I might engage in light debate about religion as a whole, but the last time I really shared the truth of the cross with anyone (aside from Travis)...I cannot remember. I mean, years it has been. What I have been doing is talking about my own self. My testimony, my thoughts on religion, my stories. Don't get me wrong, these are important sometimes, but I'm not saving anyone and I definitely haven't been talking about the guy who can. Secondly, I spend a lot of money on crap I don't need, and spending money on crap makes me way happier than it should. I get high from shopping. It may only be a sweater from a thrift store, but that sweater has me freakin THRILLED. Spending money on nonsense brings me joy- however giving the small amount of money I give to help a kid in India, or as a tithe, makes me not so thrilled. I don't mind doing it, because I know I should....but I could do all sorts of other stuff with that money too. Do you know how many thrift store sweaters I could buy with my tithe money??? And I don't even tithe all that I feel like I should because I have an unsaved husband and we had to meet in the middle.

God showed up this week. Maybe not the way I would have liked Him to, with the showering of love and adoration for who I am. He showed up in a book and planted an idea in my heart. He then solidified the planting of that idea through both His word and a church service. I have already had a few people tell me this idea is silly and unnecessary, and I have battled with them being right. They aren't. Starting today and for the next six months I will purchase nothing that caters to my vanity. I will not buy a sweater, a shoe, a tube of lipstick, a new hair clip or anything of the like. I will not be taking pictures of myself. (This is so embarrassing.) I take pictures of myself for Facebook or wherever else and it is RIDICULOUS. No one person needs as many pictures of themselves as I have. Pictures are for memories and family, not vanity. I am excited about what God will do in this time. I don't have a goal as to put a certain amount of money into anything needful right now, and I figure if I am supposed to God will let me know. I am thinking this is step one in my hurtle of loving Jesus the way I am supposed to again. I think I fell out of love a little there for awhile...and probably never loved him the way I should have to begin with. Cheers to challenges that change hearts and new beginnings.

PS. I will update what God is doing on this blog- stay tuned.

Something New.

I've been beginning to forget about this blog- as in writing it everyday. I think I have come to a place where I have a great deal of thoughtfulness towards being thankful, and because of this I will begin writing weekly instead of daily. I know God put this concept on my heart for a reason, and I am sure His plan concerning me and learning to be thankful for little things has come to fruition. That to say, I do love this blog and it's keeping me accountable for things, so I plan on keeping it. I am in the midst of having a new challenge handed to me by the man upstairs and it is bigger than this one. Whenever He and I work out the logistics, I will use this blog to journal as well as a weekly thankfulness writing. I will write my weekly thanks blog on Sundays, not starting tomorrow because, well that's dumb. Other than that- I will see all of you, whoever you are, soon with an update about the new challenge I am facing!!

Much Love!

I'm Not Pregnant!!

I forgot to write yesterday. I would have said I was thankful for finding ways to be productive.

Today I am thankful for mint chocolate cupcakes.

It wasn't as minty as I would have hoped. The icing tasted less like mint and more like butter-cream but look how terribly adorable it was!!

I am also happy to announce I AM NOT pregnant. I am late in my monthly woman time, so it has been a fraction of a concern this week.

We went thrift storing today which is one of my most favorite things and among many awesome finds was this:

It is a 1960's Halloween horn. We paid 49 cents for it. It sells on vintage type sites for $20+ and that is not even in good condition. It is always a treat to come across cool retro products!

Southern Fried.

Today was much more productive than yesterday. I made myself a daily chore list so that all the house cleaning is broken down instead of done in one manic 6 hour Thursday. Jesiah came home with math and reading homework and he did it, no fighting! He read to me for 35min and did a page of math with no help. It was GLORIOUS. After a year of homeschooling that caused nothing but constant arguments, it was SUCH a blessing to do some reading with him and ENJOY it. To look over his math and know that he understands what he is doing and there is no need for conflict of any type. THANK YOU JESUS! Also, tonight I made a southern fried dinner that would do my Nanny proud. I made two kinds of fried chicken tenders: my kind and Chef Robert Irvine (from the Food Network) kind. Mine won, everyone liked it better which was AWESOME!!! I also made fried okra and apple jelly/brown sugar sweet potatoes. Calorie shamlorie...sometimes you gotta take it back to yer roots.

Lessons, Dick Tracy, Boob Capes and Clovers.

Although I did more of nothing today, I have plenty to be thankful for. I will start with a lesson in thanks I have undergone in the past 48 hours.

I know what you are thinking, "How could someone who dedicates time every day to write a blog about thankfulness have anything to learn?!?!!" Here's the deal: I live in a beautiful home. I remember driving by these homes when they where being built and saying to myself, "...if only I could live in one of those..." I also remember when I first got it. Sitting in the empty living room on the floor with my mom, looking up at the 24 foot ceilings and feeling so blessed. Fast forward to the past year or so- most of what I do when complimented about my home is complain about how enormous it is and how tired I am of cleaning. I whine about how it was built too quickly and in settling everything has cracked. The grout wasn't sealed so it is perpetually dirty, and the huge windows on 25 foot wall in the family room cause sunlight to reflect on the TV so for about and hour everyday you can't see the screen. AND, the grass sucks. These are the things I talk about when someone mentions how lucky I am to be in this home. What an ungrateful fool I have been. My family and I have had the opportunity to live in an unbelievably nice home that we could never afford outside of this situation. This all become abundantly clear to me when we started looking at what we could afford when we get to San Diego. Everything is for the most part, apartment living. Base housing is primarily town homes, with little to zero backyard and looking to be fairly outdated. Outside of base housing, we can't afford much more than that and at least if it is base I know the neighborhood is legit. I feel like a shmuck. I feel I am not winning in the way of being thankful for an enormous blessing in my life. I am glad to have learned this lesson- even if it took way to long and is pretty embarrassing. I am trying not to beat myself up.

Now, for something way cooler and less guilt ridden....Jesiah discovered a raincoat I bought for P a million years ago when she was much too small to wear it. It is a 4T, 4 inches from his wrist in the sleeve, yellow, vinyl, squeaky and impractical trench style. Jesiah thinks it is a Dick Tracy jacket and wanted to wear it to school. I told him he could, but I was fairly sure he would be made fun of because he looked goofy, and I wasn't going to feel sorry for him since he had been warned. He wore it anyway, which was a really proud moment for me. He genuinely did not care what anyone might think, because anyone who is anyone should know an awesome Dick Tracy when they see it. When I picked him up he said lots of kids said they liked his jacket, one kid said he loved it and a grown up told him he looked snazzy. Way to prove mama wrong.

Presley put a bra around her neck and told me "I'm a super hero cause I have boobs on my back!!" Having a redhead in my life makes for constant entertainment....and frustration, but mostly entertainment!

 Last but not least- two things: First I found a free essay contest for a magazine that I am going to enter, and second, while picking food for Elvis I found a four leaf clover!

Idle Hands and 9/11. Don't Hate Me After This.

I have done nothing this weekend. Ab. So. Lut. Ely. Nothing. I am not thankful for this fact. I am thankful for my Magic Bullet and the homemade frappuccino topped with half a can of whipped cream that I was able to have after my 2.5 hour sleep like your dead nap yesterday.

It has been such a long boring weekend because we cut up credit card, which means we are living within our means, which means we are broke. It feels good to not be building up debt, and I am proud of us for making it through the first pay period without a CC- but hot damn if it is not hard.

Now onto something that matters. Today is 9-11, and that means we are supposed to remember a terrible day in our nations history. I don't disagree with that. It does bother me though, that terrorist attacks are not uncommon in other parts of the world. There are governments ruling over citizens with iron fists, and enough mass genocides to fill up history books. Shouldn't we be remembering all of these things everyday? Shouldn't a part of our daily life be to recognize how blessed we are, and say a prayer for those who aren't no matter who's soil they have built their house on? Shouldn't we weep for the nations where families are losing sons and daughters and moms and dads everyday to guerrilla warfare or corrupt politics or terrorism? We aren't just Americans- we are humanity, and although 9-11 was a terrible terrible tragedy- and PLEASE don't think I am discrediting that- I think if we are to give so much time and thought and remembrance to that event, we should give an equal amount of said things to what is happening in places that we don't call home.

Amen to Quick Easy Dinners.

For dinner tonight I made ham&cheese roll ups for dinner. The recipe came from the same magazine I got my killer potato salad out of. I want to share this recipe with all my mom friends because not only was it delicious, it was SUPER easy and something that can be played around with in terms of ingredients.

2 TBLS olive oil
4 flour tortillas, 10inch
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 lb thin sliced salami
1/4lb thin sliced ham
1/4lb provolone
1/2 cup roasted sweet peppers
1 cup shredded part skim cheese
marinara sauce optional

1. Brush 1tbls oil on one side of tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parm. Layer tortilla with ham, provolone, salami, red peppers and mozzarella. Roll em up!
2. Place seam side down on baking sheet. Brush tops of rolls with remaining oil and sprinkle with remaining parm. Bake at 425 for 9-12min. Serve with marinara if desired.

I doubled this because I live with eaters. I don't know what "family" would only need 4 of these suckers, but I made 8 and all of them are gone. I imagine they would be good reheated too. Next time I am going to use chicken, feta, mushrooms and spinach, I will let you know how it goes!

PS. I do not have a picture because they were gone before it even occurred to me to take one, sorry folks.

School Days, School Days...

Jesiah began the 2nd grade today- in school, not at home, which was far more emotional than I had planned on it being. I didn't get all choked up in front of his class or anything, but I came home and looked at the pictures I took of him this morning and sat on the phone with my mom and cried. Time goes by so quickly it is terrifying-  BUT I am so thankful that despite having a baby young, and with a practical stranger, Jesiah has grown into a little man I am proud to call mine. I am proud to send him off to a class full of kids because I know he will bring nothing but light.

I am also grateful for the alone time with Pizee. As I mentioned above, they are only little for the blink of an eye, so to have one on one time with her now means a lot.

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller is one of my all time favorite books- and the other week I came across it on my hallway floor. I imagine it came from somewhere when I was preparing for the yard sale, but I wasn't reading anything so I decided I would read it again. God put that book on my floor, and I am very thankful.

Oh How I Long to Whine,

This is the first day I have posted here that I feel like saying, "Today sucks," and proceeding to tell you why. Instead I will stick to my plan, even though all of me is screaming, "WHINE!!".

My mom was here for the day and got up with the kids, which allowed me to sleep a bit later than usual, and I got to hang out with mom all day. Jesiah had an awesome last day of summer spent with his friends. I discovered my turtle gives kisses.

The End.

Not Going Into A Hypoglycemic Coma RULES!

I didn't die today when my blood sugar dropped from a long run which I did not nutritionally prepare for- I am thankful for this fact. I am also thankful for Tasha who came over and made a collage while I cooked THE MOST AMAZING POTATO HAM CORN CHOWDER ever, from scratch. It was supposed to be clam chowder from all the clams we dug yesterday. I cooked them and shucked them and they grossed me out phenomenally. I am pretty sure they looked exactly like they were supposed to- but preparing clams is something I now know I cannot do, if I want to actually eat them.

Jesiah had orientation at his school today too. He got moved to Hillcrest because Olympic View was full. I am pleased with this. Esthetically Hillcrest is much nicer, and from what I have heard the academics follow suit. He met his teacher, who seems to be an eccentric man....first impression was good, and Jesiah is STOKED.

Non Laboring Day.

I woke up at 9:30am this morning which is the perfect way to start the day off thankfully! It is also Labor day, which means Travis is OFF! Everyday I get to spend hangig out with him pretty much rules and today was no exception. We decided to go to Double Bluff since he had never been. The weather was gorgeous and we had such a nice time. The tide was up, (which it never is), and we saw 3 jellies! One of them was about 1.5 feet wide. It was up on the sand and died when a group of girls attempted to move it with a plastic rake. The same group of little girls had a live one in a bucket.

The one my hand is on was also dead. I just kept thinking about Finding Nemo, when Marlin and Dori are hopping on the tops of all the jellies. It was awesome to see these guys up close and touch them. They look like cherry jello flowers. We also dug for clams and have about 3lbs soaking in our sink. We have never had them- I plan on attempting fresh, homemade clam chowder.

Jesiah's friend from our street Aiden came with us. He is really sweet and plays wonderfully with my little man. I feel like he is the first really good friend Siah has had, in terms of being a sweet, polite and thoughtful kid who just gets along really well with both Jesiah and Pizee....

Surprise. I Ate Cheesecake for Lunch.

I missed yesterdays thankfulnessanessaness because I didn't actually make it home till the wee hours of this morning. That to say I am SUPER happy Travis had a wonderful birthday surprise!! He had NO idea that I had planned a party for him at his favorite pub with his favorite people. I cannot believe a group of men held their tongues for weeks around him. His whole shop knew and not ONE person dropped the ball. He was thrilled. So that was yesterday- but leads me to todays thanks which is for a day stuffed full of both sloth and gluttony. All I have done all day is eat high fat, high carb and high calorie foods and take intermittent couch naps. I managed a shower and homemade dinner- but it was a stretch. I do not feel guilty for my lack of parental superhumaness- I am just blessed to have kids that stay busy when I obviously need a day off.

I also want to encourage you who are reading this to start purposefully being grateful. This blog has done WONDERS for my attitude about the monotony and boredom found in my everyday. I have literally been changed on the inside because of it. I know this because when my daughter projectile vomited all over my car the other day, all I could think of was how happy I was I had baby wipes- a few months ago I would have NEVER found joy in ANY part of that. You may not be a blogger, but go buy a notebook and just jot down a few things about your day you are thankful for. It is awesome.

Happy Day of Your Birth, Husband.

Travis is 28 today. He was 19 when we met. I am SO stoked to be with him this many years later to celebrate his birthday.

For his birthday dinner he wanted blueberry cheesecake pancakes. The store did not have blueberries, so I decided to pick fresh blackberries instead. (This is a picture Jesiah took, I think it's pretty rad.)

Everything about the pancakes were delicious- of course with whipped cream, cream cheese, buttermilk, graham cracker crumbs and fresh blackberries- how could they not be.

Then Travis got hold of the whipped cream...

Apparently I went a little easy.

Read My Blog YEAH! It's Awesome YEAH!

As soon as I woke up this morning I had reason to give thanks. Travis had the coffee pot loaded and ready to roll, which is SUCH a huge deal because he is always short on time in the AM, and rarely thinking of me and what I might want when I reluctantly drag myself out of bed. He even wrote a little note, which made me smile real big like. (The note read, "OH YEAH! GOOD MORNING YEAH! COFFEES READY YEAH!" Please read as if you are living in Pauly D's head.)

I also discovered the only potato salad I will ever make from this moment forward. The recipe came out of a magazine I was given for my collages- and it was AWESOME. Perfect amount of cream, zing and potato.

AND- this actually happened late in the evening yesterday, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy- Travis FINALLY agreed to cut up the credit card! It was the only one we had and it is in a million pieces!!!! It literally felt like weight lifted off of me. SO excited to be getting out of debt instead of wading deeper into it!!!