My 300th Post... Wow! *UPDATED*

*Update* ~~ I decided to go ahead and put the border up in the kitchen after church tonight. This room is becoming my favorite room in the house which really, really scares me! I might have to start cooking! ;)

I can't believe this is my 300th post. I really didn't realize that I had that much to say!

We are just chillin' out around here this weekend. Yesterday I decided to get my Uppercase Living things hung up. I really need to be careful because I could EASILY get sucked into this stuff. :)

Here is the frame that I did. This is the first thing you would see if you were walking into my house. I love it.
I couldn't believe how easy it was to get this one on the wall. It has added so much to our kitchen. Tomorrow I am going to hang the border up. I didn't hang it up when we painted because I had hoped to not be in this house much longer.

God had different plans... And that's okay.

Friday was a busy day for me. I had three kiddos to watch while mine were at school. This is Cassidy. Isn't she getting so big? She will be 4 very soon. I really don't know what I am going to do when she goes to Kindergarten. It will seem as if someone is missing from our family.

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there! :)

This is my new precious bundle that I am watching. Isn't she sweet? You can't tell here, but her hair is curly all over. She is going to be a beautiful little girl!
Here is precious Kylah. She is still amazing me. Her blindness hasn't slowed her down much at all! She really had fun with the baby. She loves to scratch my back, which is a bonus for me!So that is kinda what's up around here. What did you all do?

I am an heir of God, my life is not left to chance

I believe with my whole heart that there is no such thing as luck. Yes, sometimes I will use the word luck or lucky but in my heart I know that everything in this world happens not by chance but as part of God's design.

It is hard for me to wrap my mind around that fact. God knows when and why everything has or will happen in my life.

That is huge!

I am so thankful to know that my life is directed by God. Sometimes... I decide that maybe I can handle things on my own and I am quickly reminded, as I stumble and fall, that I am not able ...and He would rather do it anyway! All we have to do is make the right choices... I know, it sound so easy, doesn't it?

Then why do we fight that sometimes?

That stinkin' sin nature!!

Okay, that was a rabbit trail...

Anyway, back to my post.

If you would have told me two years ago that someone was going to come into my life that would become so special and that it would all happen over the internet, I would have laughed and said, "yeah, okay!"
Little did I know what the Lord had in store for me! I think it was back in May or June of 2007 that I stumbled upon Beth Moore's blog. After I read the entry for that day I decided to take a look at some of the comments. I didn't have a blog of my own at that point, at least not one that I was updating. It took me awhile to figure it all out!

As I was "lurking" on the blog I noticed a comment that someone had left about how her husband and brother-in-law had been floating down the street in tubes after the flooding that took place in Texas and were both pulled under by a drain and spit out 100 yards away in a creek.

I know!

This story caught my attention so I clicked on her name, "Suzi", and found her blog.
I finished reading the story about how the Lord kept these two men safe through this experience. Praise God for that! I was looking at the pictures and I kept telling myself that I recognized one of those guys. It was the brother-in-law, I just knew that I knew him from somewhere. But where? Surely I was imagining it.

As I continued down Suzi's blog I noticed something else that confirmed my suspicions. I did know him! It was Jake! The Jake that traveled for two years with one of my best friends in the world in a singing group called Encounter. I was just in awe that I actually had a connection with this girl!

I e-mailed Suzi and told her who I was and how I knew Jake. She responded and we talked about how crazy it was that our paths crossed!

A few days later I was checking her blog again and she had posted some pictures from where she lives, which just happens to be a place that I would move to in a heartbeat. The things is, I wanted to move there before I knew she lived there. Once again, crazy! We knew that this was a friendship that was meant to be.

There was one more thing that happened that solidified in our minds that God was all over this relationship. Hold on to your hats, ladies! This one gives me chills every time I think about it.

I was doing my quiet time one morning and at the end of the devotional that day there was a challenge for me. The author said that if I didn't have an accountability partner, I really needed to pray about finding one. I had never really had one before, so I decided that I would pray.
Later that evening, as I was checking my Facebook page, I noticed that I had a message from Suzi in my inbox. Here is what she wrote:

Hey friend!I have an idea!You'll have to let me know what you think!We should become accountability partners. Do you have one already? If so then we could just be prayer partners. If not then we could be both! Let me know whatcha think "k"!Love Ya,Suzi

Chills. Instant chills.

All I can say is that it's a good thing we loved each other from the start because we didn't have a choice in this one. It was clear that this friendship is a blessing from God. I love Suzi and her family so much!

Well, last weekend was the first time that Suzi and I got to see each other face to face and it was amazing how comfortable it was and how I felt like I had known her my whole life. We had such fun at the Siesta Fiesta and then I spent a few days with her and her family. They are truly one of the sweetest, cutest, most loving families that I have ever been blessed to know. We've already made plans to get together next summer, this time with my hubs and kiddos.

Thank you so much Jeremiah and Suzi for your Texas hospitality! You all took such great care of me while I was visiting. Thanks, Dr. Fabry, for getting me all aligned again! You're the best!I hope that everyone is falling back into the routine and I hope you finally got all of your sheets washed...you poor girl! I love you both!!

I'll leave you with these pictures of their sweeties.

Noah took this one for us. I thought he did a pretty good job with it!

He's So Shy...

I know that I said I was going to post about my time with Suzi and her kiddos (Jeremiah, too!), but I want to get this one written down before I forget.

The kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now and they all love their teachers so much! We have truly been blessed with good ones this year.

Anyway, Ben is in first grade and he is growing up so fast. He loves to be a helper and he has been helping his teacher out with different things in the classroom.

Apparently the other day his teacher was having trouble with a students name and he helped her with the pronunciation.

After she thanked him he said this to her, "Aren't you so lucky to have ME in YOUR classroom this year?"

Yep, he's a shy one... and so humble!

Siesta Fiesta, Baby!

I just don't even know where to begin. All of my thoughts are jumbled up in my head and I can't seem to get them out. The last 5 days have been days that I will never, ever forget.

A year ago, Beth Moore decided that it would be fun to have us a little Siesta Fiesta in San Antonio, TX! How much fun would it be to gather as many of the ladies (and one miesta!) together for a big ol' meet and greet?

A year later, I can tell you that it would be F-U-N!! I have to say that hands down, this was the craziest thing that I have ever done in my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. I finally got to hug my Suzi-Q and meet all of these wonderful women that I now consider true life friends.

You know, I didn't go with the attitude that this was going to be a test to see if these girls were the people that their blogs portray, but they were that and more! An honest to goodness group of beautiful, loving, sweet ladies who love one another and the Lord Jesus! Sisters in Christ, and the love just flowed out between us.

I had to start my pictures with this one of Suzi and little Aliya. This is the most precious baby girl and so good. She hardly made a peep while Beth was teaching. I got to spend some time with them after the conference. I will write about that in the next post! :)

And what would a Fiesta be without Big and Boo? I had the opportunity to meet Melanie, aka Bigmama, and she is so sweet. We only had a couple minutes until the event started again, so we didn't get to talk much. Can I just say that she is absolutely beautiful? I would have loved to have met Sophie, but I could never find her. I am sure there will be another time!

On Saturday, we were able to have a little time with Beth, Amanda and Melissa. These three girls are such a huge blessing and so, so funny! Melissa and Jenny were totally cracking me up with the whole hair thing!
I'm kind of back-tracking here, but this was part of my group of bloggy friends. We were waiting to get in and it was very windy and a little rainy. We tried to bribe the VIP girls with cash so that we could get in early, but alas, they would have nothing of it! If you want to see a picture of that you can go here. I so enjoyed getting to know these beautiful ladies! Cheryl, thank you so much for carting us between the hotel and the dome~~ you and your hubs are the best! Jenny, what can I say about Jenny? I love this girl and she is a hoot and a half. I will never look at backscratchers and jumbo pencils in the same way again! I am looking forward to getting to know you better.
This is Teri and me. We were waiting once again to get into the Alamodome. I love Teri and I was so happy to finally get to meet her. She is just a sweetheart. Thanks for the chocolate, BTW!

Amanda was one of the people I was looking most forward to meeting. I love her blog and it has been so fun watching her son grow up over the last year. I didn't even know that she was Beth's daughter when I first started reading it. I so would have loved to see her friend Janelle and was sad that she couldn't make it. Amanda, you are a gem. Oh, and you are makin' me look SO short!
Ok. I'm not really diggin' this picture of me but I love me some Fran so I had to post it! I just wanted to squeeze this woman with everything that was in me! She has been such a blessing to my life. I know that I can count on her to pray for me. We haven't talked much about it yet, but we both have boys that just started middle school, so I know I will need her to talk to...soon! :)
Steph is such a sweetheart. I so enjoyed spending some time with her. I know that if we lived closer we would be great friends.


Then there is Travis. Travis is a great guy and I couldn't wait to meet him. He was so kind as to give us the name of a church to attend while my family was in TN this summer. Our kids are just about the same ages and in the same order, boy~girl~boy, so in other words... Travis, I'll be prayin' for you! By the way, it took three times to get this picture. The first two ended up as videos that will forever be locked up for none to see... because, well, we look kinda goofy and I promised that it wouldn't be on here, EVER! Did I mention that this guy can sing and lead worship like nobodies business? He's awesome!
Last, but certainly not least is Suzi. I love her so much. We met through Beth's blog. She was the first name that I clicked on the first time I visited the LPM blog. I found her blog, read her latest entry and figured out that I knew her brother-in-law, Jake. Can you believe that? I e-mailed her and the rest is history. We have become good friends and I spent a few days with her and her precious family. I will be writing about that in my next post.
I can't believe that it is over now. I will be watching for the next one...if there is a next one! Until then, I will enjoy the friendships that have been formed through the wonderful world of blogging!

To all of my roomies, Fran, Teri, Jenny, Steph and Suzi: I hope that you will look at your ring and remember this weekend and pray for one another. No matter how many miles there are between us, we know that we can always lift each other up to the One that brought us all together. Love you all!

San Antonio... Two Days and Counting

So yeah, I haven't done much packing yet, as you can see. I don't' know what's up with that.

I am coming though and I am bringing a suitcase, hopefully with some type of clothing in it.

My MP3 is charged and my batteries for my camera are charged. That has to count for something, right?

I just noticed that I have an hour and a half layover in Charlotte. What on earth am I going to do for that long?

I am excited to meet all of my roomies and Suzi! I haven't told you all about how I found Suzi yet. It's pretty cool, NO it's VERY cool!

I must go now, obviously I have some things to get done!

Friday Fun~~What's In Your Cell Phone?

You know that commercial that asks, "What's in your wallet?" I think it's Visa or something. That is where I got the title.

Anyway, I thought I would ask you what pics you have in your cellphone.

Here is my list, in pictures! And if you're lucky, I will even give you a little explanation with each one!

Was that a collective "Oh, boy!" that I just heard? ha!


This one has been in my phone since June. We took an ice cream cake over to our friends house and shared it with all of Ethan's buddies. It was pretty much G-O-N-E by the time we were done with it! Thank you DQ!

And here are the buddies!
This was at a local Mexican restaurant on Ethan's birthday. We met our BFF's Scott and Tasha for dinner. YUM!
This is my nephew, Blake, at his first birthday party.
This is our youth pastor's daughter. I kept her and her brother a day while their daddy was at teen camp. Her mommy got the flu on the third day that he was gone so I went over and got them so she could sleep. She was SICK! We took this to send to Pastor Brian.
Here is her brother! I love his little blond curlies on the back of his head.

Ahhhh yes, and here we have some shots of Eric, Michelle (our pastor's wife), and Megan trying to move a couch from the garage to the basement of our pastor's house. Conveniently, he was is Michigan and wasn't there to help so I was sending him pictures as we went. We laughed so hard that night!
Just so you know, it is my blessed calling to give my pastor a hard time and he feels the same way about me!

Seriously, this is NOT going to fit!

Notice the door that is off of the hinges. We also had to take the legs off of the couch. It was a treat, let me tell ya!
WE DID IT! We actually made it all the way down without any damage to anything. We took this to make pastor feel bad but I don't think it worked.
Next is Avery Grace, Tasha's little girl. This was her first attempt at a smile for me...

Check out this cuteness! This is my wallpaper on my phone right now. How could you look at that and not smile? Tasha said this is the first photo that was taken of her smiling.

She is my doll baby!
My sister and her family went to Gulf Shores with my cousin while in Alabama a few weeks ago. They sent me a picture of them on the beach.

Here is what I sent to them...

Yesterday I painted this verse,

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

II Timothy 3:14

in the school room at church. It took me SEVEN hours total to do. Here I am multi-tasking.
Hey, you do what you have to do to get things done!

So there you have it. My everyday life caught in pictures!

Have a great weekend! This time next week I will be between here and San Antonio!! Yippee!!

Wordless Wednesday

Yep... that's a rock... in my fridge. (sigh)

Goodbye Summer Fun, It Was Nice Knowin' Ya

Backpacks, lunchboxes, menus, papers, papers and more papers! Yes, school is in session and the activity in our home is in full swing! After-school snacks, going through backpacks, getting back on a schedule~ I'm not ready for it all yet! I didn't even take pictures this morning.

It's bad, I know.

I will be watching a new baby this year. She actually started coming today. She is five weeks old and cute as a button. I think it's going to be more of an adjustment than I thought! I haven't watched an infant for awhile now. I will also continue to watch Cassidy and I will have Kylah one day a week.

Yep, our easy summer is officially over. It's back to the old grind for me!

Let's Do That Again!

Well, our first family camping trip was a blast! We had so much fun with our friends and all the kids. I have tons of pictures and I will post some more later. I am in the process of trying to scrapbook them before I forget some of the details.

I'm getting forgetful in my old age! :)

I can't believe that we actually got a good group picture. Too bad we all look like we've been camping for a few days!

This is a shot of me pitching my first tent. I think Michelle has done this before but we still had to get a little help. We needed a couple extra hands.

We opted to have french toast and bacon for breakfast on the first morning. I had never cooked over a campfire before this weekend. I only suffered one minor burn on my knee from the bacon grease!
One of the things we did a lot of is throw around the football. We even got a two-hand touch game in on Saturday. This is Pastor Tim during one of the many games of catch. I'm lovin' the backwards hat!
The highlight of the weekend for some of us was when we found these bike trails. This was another first for me. I actually rode my bike through a creek! And I didn't fall off! Sarah went with us and she did it, too. She almost made it all the way across. I was pretty proud of her.

This waterfall was so pretty. The kids had lots of fun here. I, on the other hand, almost had heart failure when I walk up and saw just how close to the edge they were!

This is at the top of the fall. It's a long way down from there! Andrew, in the front, is a goofball and doesn't like to have his picture taken. Can you tell?
One word: S'mores
Stephen gave us a good laugh around the campfire on Friday night. The campground that we were at had a raccoon issue and we were visited by more than one while we were camping. If you have ever seen "The Parent Trap" you will understand the next two pictures.

Although raccoons are not quite as dangerous as mountian lions!

We've already made plans for next year. One thing is for sure, we are adding a couple more days to our trip!