Dogs

I have been so bad with keeping up with this blog and reading my friend's blogs. Whoops

Today I heard something weird. The discussion touched on how dogs lick your legs, cheeks, hands...Then the topic expanded to "what do you allow your dog to lick on you"? As I listened to this I was reminded why I do not want to own a dog (or for that matter any furry animal). You may not want to read this, I was almost literally gagging when these were mentioned. SO beware!!!! One person said they allow their dog to lick their ears and clean out all the wax. Another person said she let her dog clean out her nose.

Exciting but scary

Since October I've been on a new eating plan which I LOVE!!! I eat more now than ever (and I've dropped a few pounds). I can still go out to eat and eat some of my favorite foods. I have thoroughly enjoyed trying new recipes and taking recipes that I love and making a tasty but healthier version of it. And if you know me, it has to taste good or else I won't eat it!

With that being said I ripped apart my closet and drawers today. I tried on all my clothes. I have a few piles that are ready to be dropped off to Plato's Closet so that I can get a few bucks and shop for new clothes.

I am so thankful and excited for the new look, feeling, and changes...and of course to shop! Yet, at the same time it's a little scary getting rid of so many clothes, clothes that have memories, years of my life attached to them. Oy! There is also that fear of going back to the "old" look. I will just continue to keep on doing what I'm doing and continue to have fun with food!

Conspire

I had the amazing privilege to attend the Conspire Conference. It is a children's conference that attracts people from all around the world to unite, connect, and inspire.

I encourage and challenge you to check out http://www.willowcreek.com/conspireconference/ which is the website and you can find live blogging that is going on during and after sessions and breakouts.

One of the speakers I heard today was Larry Shallenberger. He spoke on the area of volunteers in your children's ministry. Here are his 3 main points that I found intriguing.

1. We need to change who we are recruiting.

Application: Instead of going after "moms" we need to recruit retiring boomers and Generation Y people.

2. Volunteers are facing overwhelming economic pressure.

Application: Help them overcome this hopelessness by providing purpose in influencing children's lives. Provide opportunities for people to donate their skills instead of money.

3. There is no universal platform for communication with volunteers.

Application: Know the best way to communicate effectively with each of your volunteers, is it a text message? an email? a phone call? a facebook message?

I love when you are stretched and challenged to think creatively and differently to improve your children's ministry!

Lately

This past "school" year I have had my fair of jobs. My main stay is subbing and tutoring but sometimes that just isn't enough. I find it interesting and at times comical what God will bring in my path, it could be dog sitting, stuffing envelopes, organizing peoples rooms, data entry, babysitting, office work...I love seeing God provide these random yet totally thankful things my way. I'm reminded that God sees every detail and aspect of my life. As I pray that He continues to reveal my passions and His plan for me, I rest knowing that at this point in time, He has my steps planned and I trust in that. Some days are frustrating just wanting to know what I should be doing with my life, but I believe that He will use all of these things in my bigger picture. Oh, and as I kind of laid to rest my cupcake business with going back to school and then moving last year, it may start up again. I have some real exciting possiblities ahead of me. I wonder what God is doing?!?! :)

A joke

So what's the difference between a Cubs fan and a Sox fan?


The Sox fan is headed to the White House (Obama) and the Cubs fan in headed to the Big House (Blagojevich)!

:)

Adios 2008

As I reflect upon this past year, sad to say that I wasn't a big fan of it. There were many ups and downs and I felt like I was in the valley more than on the mountain tops. It was a year of change, disappointment, frustration, and an array of emotions. Despite trying to make lemonade out of lemons, I look forward and anticipate what lies ahead in 2009.

My motto for 2009 is "EXPECT GREAT THINGS" (yes, it is the saying from Kohls, but I think it's pretty Biblical as well!)!

Pray this with me, as I look forward to seeing God move and guide my life.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas filled with hope, love, and peace!

I'm trying

Going to bed last night I was so tickled to know that I could sleep in, have a low key day, and do some baking since I have the day off. With the ice and snow storm hitting it would keep me stranded inside. I was so looking forward to it.

After going to bed early after an exhausting day, I woke up a few hours later (about 1 am) hearing the storm roll in with rain and hail, I could see the house windows were iced over and I began to worry for my parents drive to work and others who would be driving. After getting back into bed I tried to get toasty again and said a few prayers before falling asleep.

At about 4:15 I woke up again and I heard my parents talking. It sounded like my mom was on the phone. I went down stairs to see what was going and was a bit chilly. I soon found out that our heat was out. The man who we were renting the house from was on his way over to check things out.

I don't know about you but this wasn't how I had planned for my day to start. Being up most of the night doesn't put me in the best of moods and currently I'm trying to snap out of it. I'm waiting for a heating guy to hopefully make it out today. I want to take a nap and wake up with how I had planned my day. As I'm feeling a bit grumpy I'm realizing that I don't want this to ruin my day and I remind myself that things don't always go according to how I want them too, but with that I need to roll with the punches and not let it affect me. I guess this is a lesson that I have to continually learn.

Foods

Today I got my first taste of teaching a foods course to high school students. Now granted I only taught for 2 periods, but it was fun. We baked and frosted some cookies and then prepared the dough of snickerdoodle cookies. I enjoyed using my knowledge of baking and incorporating it into teaching. I hope that I have more opportunities to teach foods and maybe a few other courses in that department like parenting, teaching, and early education.

Black Friday

Cheers! What a day Black Friday was! I had been looking forward to this for a while and it was fantastic! My mom, sister, sister-in-law, and I headed out on the road at 4 am where we hit Woodfield. As we entered the mall, there were TONS of people already there. People were waiting in line for stores to open. Most stores had some great bargains and we were out of there by 11. Next we hit a few surrounding stores and then we stopped at Yorktown. Following that we headed to Fox Valley where we hit a few stores for my sister since they weren't at any of the other malls. Our last stop was the Coach Outlet which had some amazing deals! That wrapped it up and we were home by 6 pm. Most of us got a lot of Christmas shopping completed. Oh what a good feeling that was. A few more gifts to go and then onto wrapping. Couldn't this day be more often?!?!?!

Dilema

With the economy as bad as it is, I still want to purchase Christmas gifts and give to different needs around the holidays. BUT there seems to be a guilt for me. Not sure what it is. I feel guilty that I'm spending money on gifts, instead of saving it for if the times get worse or whatever. I really enjoy buying gifts and seeing people smile. Does anyone else feel this way? Where is this coming from? I need to get past this so that I can enjoy what I love to do, shop.

Youth of today

I feel really old writing this post but here it is anyway.

I've had the opportunity to work with high school students over the past few weeks. I wasn't sure what I'd be getting myself into, but I thought I would try it despite the unknown.

And boy I was shocked. The swearing that is used is like a part of their normal vocabulary. Boys and girls just hanging all over each other like they will never see each other again. The lack of motivation and disrespect was also very evident.

What is happening to the youth of today? Where are the parents? Is it only going to continue to get worse? How can we change this?

With having a sibling in high school and one that will be there next year, I'm scared and concerned for what they have to encounter on a daily basis. How strong will they be? Will they be able to resist temptations? There's a million questions, it's time to get back on my knees.

That's right, lets have some fun!

A quote that I recently read and enjoyed:

"Fun in the wilderness is a matter of perspective, God is greater than all our turmoil, God is the only One who knows and holds our future and we can lighten the grip after all and enjoy the moment at hand!"

Spewing thoughts

My mind is filled with so many thoughts about one topic. I'm torn inside. There are so many pieces about this topic that I love and I miss. It's comfortable, loving, enjoyable, easy, encouraging, good memories...But then on the flip side, I was badly hurt by it. I was betrayed, taken by surprise, beat up... I know that I've worked through the pain, but my dilema is if I should allow myself to open up to it again. It's scary, is it worth it, what do I have to gain or lose? Big stuff to prayerfully consider. sigh

It's that time

I'm sure some will criticize me for this post while others will agree....

I am SO in the Christmas spirit. The weird weather with snow flakes, wind, frigid temps, rain, and overcast skies just seem to solidify that Christmas will soon be here. I searched and found a radio station online so that I can listen to Christmas music, it was so fun to here those tunes. At the malls, the decor is all set up and everything looks beautiful! I have even started a little Christmas shopping. And to look forward to wrapping gifts, baking, seeing the Macy's Christmas windows, drinking egg nog...the list could go on and on.

I absolutely love this time of year! Yet, I know that we haven't even gotten to Thanksgiving yet, but I want to soak up every moment that I can and savor it until the end. Wanna join me?!?!?!

An opportunity for YOU!

In the past I have enjoyed serving people, children, teachers, and families on mission trips. It's been a little time since I've gotten to do this and I feel like it's time to go on another one. But in the meantime while I figure that out, I would still like to serve. There are a million reasons why I enjoy this but I won't go into them. :)

I found out about a place called Feed My Starving Children. This organization packages dried food (chicken, veggies, rice, and soy) and sends them to the outer parts of the world to children who have no food, are starving to death, are ill...Currently they are shipping the food to Haiti. And considering that I've been to Haiti and have seen so many children digging for food in garbage dumps, I couldn't be more thrilled that those kiddos will get some nourishment.

What I love about Feed My Starving Children is that I can go and package the food and help those who are in need. All it takes is to go on a volunteer night (it's about once a week) for two hours and give your time to help. Also, it's right here in the suburbs, Aurora, so you don't have to go far!

I find that giving up some of my time to help bless others helps me too. I encourage any and all to try it out one night. There have been lots of families that do this as well. Check it out at http://www.fmsc.org/

Election Day

As I continue to hear more and more about the presidential candidates (which I'm pretty tired of) and about how people are voting, I can't help but think about President George Bush. Despite whether you thought he did a horrible job, a good job, or decent job, this man led our country for 8 years. How is feeling? What is he thinking? Is he relieved to be out of the White House? What will he do with his time? How will he make the transition from being the leader of a country to now a normal citizen like you and I?

Eating Healthy

I've been on a kick lately of cooking and baking, it's been a lot of fun. And the bonus is that it's healthy!

Here are a few things I've made which have been big hits: BBQ turkey meatloaf, chicken pot pie, a chocolate cake made with diet pepsi, and blueberry scones.

It's been fun to experiment and then I cross my fingers hoping others will enjoy it as well. Back to looking for recipes.

The little things

Today was so encouraging, I got three fantastic calls for random jobs that I would love to do!! All in the same day, how great. Watch out here I come.

This time of year

I am SO into fall right now. I love that the trees are turning color, the weather is getting cooler, and the thought of the holidays is floating through the air. Recently, I have fell in love with the flavor of pumpkin (I still can't stand pumpkin pie). I have not been a fan of it before but I love that maybe some of my taste buds are changing. So far I've had pumpkin soup and I have made low fat pumpkin bread. Both were delish! This weekend I'm making a pumpkin roll, I hope it turns out yummy. I'm curious to try other pumpkin foods, we'll see what I come up with.