~My Sweet Life~

ABC Meme

Sandy, over at my new favorite blog Wholesome Talk,  tagged me in this fun "getting to know you" game.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Share your ABC’s
3. Tag three people at the end by linking to their blogs
4. Let the three tagged people know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website
5. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag

Available or single? Married
Best Friend? My sister, Emily
Cake or Pie? Chocolate pie
Drink of choice? Unsweetened iced tea with 1 Splenda.
Essential item for every day use? iPhone
Favorite color? green
Google? Yes

Hometown? Memphis, TN
Indulgences? candles and a particular brand of (pricey) hairspray I could not live without! ;)
January or February? January. I get excited about celebrating a new year
Kids and their names? 3 kids--Taylor (19), Sarah (12), and Mac (5)
Life is incomplete without... having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
Marriage date? June 24, 2001
Number of siblings? one younger sister
Oranges or apples? Apples.  

Phobias and fears? confrontation

Quote for the day? “Obey God and leave all consequences to Him." Charles Stanley
Reason to smile? evenings spent relaxing at home with my hubby and ALL 3 kids :)
Season? Fall!  I love the colors, smells and the cooler temps.
Tag 3 people?

Amy @ In My Life

Liz @  Perfect Chaos

Karen @  kcreateslastingmemories

And anyone else who would like to play!

Unknown fact about me? When adjusting temp settings on my thermostat, I ALWAYS set it on an EVEN number. I have no idea why.
Vegetable you hate? English peas (yuck! too mushy)
Worst habit? eating mayonnaise...a LOT. Embarrassing... Let's move on, shall we?
X-rays you’ve had? teeth, ankle, chest
Your fave food? pollo adobe from La Hacienda
Zodiac sign? Scorpio

Here I am!

I have been wanting to blog, but to be honest, I've had no clue what to write about. I feel like I  have gotten so out of practice! Then I visited my friend Robyn's  blog today and got an idea from her--just to make a short and sweet list of what's up in my little world--since I'm sure the 4 people that read this blog are on the edges of their seats wondering! Ha!

• Today was my 3rd weigh-in at Weight Watchers and I have lost nearly 8 pounds. It feels really good.
• I had a chat with God this morning about spending WAY too much time on Facebook. Yep, it's gotten out of hand. Gotta cut WAY back. I figure I spend roughly 45 minutes to an hour each morning in my quiet time, so if I am spending more than that on Facebook--which I do--then we've got a problem and I am nipping it right now. That is one way I can fall right back into that SELF centeredness pit I so want to avoid. I need to wake up every morning and ask "What can I do for others today? What can I do to bless someone else today?" And focus on those things!
• Something really cool happened today.  While I was having this chat with God this morning, I mentioned to Him that I needed help being more disciplined...that I really needed to establish some good daily routines for keeping my home clean and orderly...then lo and behold I saw where Suzanne mentioned this very thing on her blog. She was even sweet enough to give an example of what her daily chore list looks like! I feel like that was totally a God-thing!
• So I have really enjoyed trying out new recipes--most of which I see on Food Network. My favorite chefs on that network are: Ellie Krieger, Giada, Rachel Ray, and Ina Garten. Tonight I am trying out these two recipes on family before I decide whether or not to serve them for some friends that are coming for dinner next month: Florentine Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken and Spinach Fettuccini with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce.
• I got a really cute idea for my son's valentines this year. I can't remember which scrapbooking magazine I found it in, but you basically take a small box of candy--like the little sweethearts and adhere a photo of your child to the front of it.  I can't find a picture of it right now, but it looked really cute.
• I'm really excited that we are going to our first-ever Superbowl Party this Sunday! I think I'm going to take a healthy snack and a not-so-healthy one. I got an email from WW with lots of low-point snack ideas for the big game. And I also picked up the premiere issue of Food Network magazine and found a recipe for a great-looking cookie called Tequila Bars. YUM. Will probably take that for sure!
• Stephen and I are having so much fun watching American Idol this season. I think there is a two-hour show tonight and the kids are looking forward to watching it with us! It's so nice when the entire family is interested in doing something together :).

"Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that His surprising power can break through at any point. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come in as He decides."

Oswald Chambers

Seven (Mostly Deep) Things

My friend Amy "tagged" me to play along with her in this game to share seven random facts about myself. Here goes:

1. I MUST sleep with a fan every single night...regardless of what the current temperature is...regardless of how much my husband complains...I have to have the fan blowing directly into my face to get a good night's sleep. I even take a portable one with me when we go on vacation...it's THAT necessary!
2. I have always worried way too much about what other people think of me. I know it's wrong and it's something I talk to God about on a pretty regular basis because I know that it is a form of pride...and I know how God feels about pride! Thankfully, God is patient and He has helped me come a long way in this area.
3. I LOVE to wake up early every single day--even on the weekends, to enjoy some quiet time with God and watch the sunrise long before everyone else wakes up...but I am most definitely NOT a morning person--which is probably why I know I need to get with God first thing! ;)
4. The things I am most passionate about are: encouraging/loving others, intercessory prayer, telling my kids I love them and complimenting them as often as I can, and sharing the things that God has done in my life. I never feel more alive than when I am sitting with a group of women--like in a bible study or similar small group--and encouraging them in Christ and sharing the unbelievable ways God has redeemed my mistakes...while watching their eyes light up as they realize there is hope...that God truly is faithful! 
5. When I was growing up, I lived nearly every single day of my life in paralyzing fear of my own DEATH. I am not kidding you when I tell you that it consumed my thoughts day after day, night after night for YEARS. I drove my family crazy, keeping them up at night as well. The ironic thing is that this fear that literally kept me up all night stopped when I moved out on my own...after my husband and I separated and my kids and I moved into an apartment. Now you would think the fear would get worse since I was "on my own" and no longer under mom and dad's roof or sharing a home with a husband, but that wasn't the case. I actually started sleeping all night at this point in my life...my theory is that when I became a single parent I was so worn out by the end of the day, I was too tired to lay awake and think about death! :)
6. I rarely watch tv. If my kids are watching a show on Disney Channel, I may watch it with them. Or if my husband is watching the Fox News Channel I may watch it with him. But there are NO shows that I watch on my own..no shows that I feel like I just HAVE to catch every week. How weird is that?
7. I turn 40 at the end of this year. And that just blows my mind. I want to begin that new decade of my life healthier and much slimmer. I have put on so much weight and I'm tired of just living with it, telling myself it's "too hard" to lose. I want my kids and my husband to be proud to call me their mom and wife. I'm tired of feeling like the biggest person in the room, no matter where I am! I want to conquer my fear of going back to school once and for all. I want to find out just what I can accomplish! I want to make a difference in the lives of others because of what they see of Christ in me. I want SO much to live out my faith in a way that makes others say "Look at her life...look what God has done in her and through her...He MUST BE real." I want to not only believe with all my heart that I have the power of the Holy Spirit inside me to help me accomplish all these things....I WANT TO PROVE IT BY THE WAY I LIVE!!!   

Update

As promised, I wanted to update you on my back pain...

The doctor said he does not believe I have a herniated disk, but simply a strained muscle. He gave me some exercises to do along with some meds that have so far done nothing but tear my stomach up--yes, even when taken with food.

However, my pain seems a bit better today, so I won't complain TOO much!

Thank you for your texts and emails and comments left here...I am so blessed to have such a great group of loving friends and family.

I have to catch up on laundry and then I hope to post more later. Have a great day!

Still Nothing to Report...

...that's why I've been absent from here! And to be honest, I've been really discouraged because of the pain and discomfort I have been having. I had a ct scan that showed a "possible, tiny kidney stone." But my back pain has spread from lower to upper including my neck area. I have a follow-up appt this morning with my primary care physician and I am going to talk to him about a possible herniated disk. I went to www.mayoclinic.com yesterday and I have all of the symptoms of it. I'll let you know what the dr says today...I promise!

On a much more positive note, I listened to one of Dr. Charles Stanley's messages yesterday that REALLY helped my perspective. It is seriously one of the best sermons I have ever heard. PLEASE listen to it!! It's called "The Courage to Face Life's Trials~Part Two" and in it, he talks about the power that is available to us through the Holy Spirit who dwells IN us as believers. And because this power is available to us, we can face trials with courage. What I loved so much was the reminder about what a powerful testimony it is to the world when we respond to our trials with courage. Because the world wants to know that faith in Christ really works!! PLEASE take about 15  minutes to listen. You will be glad you did, I promise! Here is the link. Just be sure to click on the message titled "The Courage to Face Life's Trials-Part Two" dated April 18th:

Click here: Audio Archives - In Touch Ministries - Dr. Charles Stanley

Random Ramblings

My goodness, I've been gone so long, I don't even know how to get started again, except to share some random thoughts floating around in my head!

• a HUGE thank you to my friend Amy! You made me smile the biggest smile when I read your comment from last night! I'll just admit to you right off the bat here, I'm having a rough day, so I needed that! :)
• I'm having back pain which I am not at all used to, so I would appreciate your prayers for healing.
• I did something so stupid. I hurt someone's feelings and I want to apologize, but my husband is advising me to leave it alone. I want to respect what he's saying, but I want to be obedient to God, too, so I am just kinda trying REAL hard to wait on God. In fact, it feels like I am waiting on God for lots of things. It feels like He is silent right now. I don't mean for this to sound boastful, but usually I can sense God's presence throughout my day...I see His hand everywhere...I hear Him speak to my heart...but right now...nothing. I am praying and asking begging Him to reveal what is causing this distance I feel. What am I doing or not doing that is hindering our relationship. I miss Him.
• I recently helped my daughter with a research paper on The Civil Rights Movement and I seriously enjoyed it. After I read one of her books I felt so bad for the way blacks were treated back then when all they were trying to do was go to the same schools, ride the same buses, eat at the same lunch counters, etc. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I would like to believe that if I had lived back then I would have been one of the white people that joined them in one of their "sit ins", refusing to leave a restaurant until they got served. Is that silly? And it makes me really sad to realize that Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated when he was MY age...it makes me even more sad when I think about how much hatred still exists 40 years after his death. (please don't leave me mean comments...I'm not blaming blacks and I'm not blaming whites...I'm saying there's a lot of hatred that still exists and that is sad. period.)
• Mac is finally sleeping all night in his own bed in his own room. Yes he is 3 1/2 years old. And we've almost potty trained him. (that last part was just a joke--but I'm in a weird mood today, so it really wasn't that funny).
• In 11 days my oldest child will be 18 years of age. I have not yet come to terms with this. How is this even possible??? I'm still just a youngster myself!
• Mac told me the other night that I have a fat face. I cried myself to sleep. And wondered why it is so hard to lose weight.
• I need to come up with something positive now, because this post has been mostly a downer, huh? As my friend Ree (aka the Pioneer Woman) would say, I'm just "keepin it real"!
• something positive...something positive...ummm...speaking of the Pioneer Woman, I am happy to report that her lasagna is excellent, her chocolate sheet cake is indeed deserving of the name she gave it--"the best chocolate sheet cake ever", and I actually made one of those meals that made my entire family happy. This is it. I was a hero that night and I loved every minute of it.

Maybe my day will take a turn for the better and my next post will contain more positive comments than negative! :) Until then, may I ask you to please pray that I will hear God's voice again soon and feel His pleasure? Thank you!

Surrendering an Idol

Sorry it's been so long since I have updated my little blog...I guess it's been a combination of not having much to say AND yet having SO much to DO!

If you are interested in playing along again this week, here is the FlyLady's cleaning plan: Sneak Peek of the Week.

And since I've been so quiet, here are some tidbits of what's been going on:

• Just finished Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book called Surrender: The Heart God Controls. It was amazing. She mentions in the book 4 different reasons that followers of Christ don't live their lives surrendered to God. I think I fall mostly into the category of not completely understanding the implications of what that looks like. This book was such an eye-opener for me. And it was a very quick read, so I highly recommend it. But be warned, you will probably feel a good bit of conviction!
• I know I sound like a broken record, but I am still in awe of how God impresses things on my heart...how He speaks to me. Now that I am all about getting my house in order for Him, He is speaking LOUD and CLEAR to me about my weight. Or, maybe I should say He is speaking to me about my addiction. That is very strange to say. But if I am being honest, I have to say that I am absolutely a food addict. And not proud of it either. I can't even believe what an "idol" I have made out of it. Yet, it is very obvious that when I am the least bit anxious, my first reaction is to run to food instead of God or His Word. I would appreciate your prayers as I made a commitment to Him this morning to turn this over to Him. It is out of control. I think for a long time I'm going to HAVE to say a prayer before every bite I put in my mouth. I am praying that He will help me not overeat.
• My sister is coming this weekend, hooray!

Hey, since I have been painfully honest with you about what God is working on in my life, does anyone out there want to share what God is doing in YOUR life? I love hearing from you!

Enjoy your day. :)

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Tidbits

It seems like it's been awhile since I've really posted anything! Life's just been moving FAST! I think today is the first day this week that I really don't have anything going on! Anyway, here's some tidbits about what I've been up to during my "blog absence"...

• Mac and I made these cookies Wednesday. I'll just admit to you right now that I ate half of them while in the process of making them. They were THAT good. Mac had lots of fun "assembling" and decorating them, but he wasn't wild about the taste of them for some reason--probably because they weren't chocolate!
• Sarah asked me to make her valentines again this year, so of course I was flattered...but I was also exhausted from staying up so late to make 24 of them in these three designs. She wrote a Valentine's message on the back and taped a piece of candy--and get this...I noticed she gave the girls chocolate hearts and she gave the boys DUM DUM suckers!!
• 

• Stephen and I went out to dinner last night and we had a really nice time. I gave him a card that PERFECTLY stated how I feel. One thing it said is that "real love is not in the falling, but in the staying..." And the card he gave me was gorgeous--white card with black flocked flowers and red roses on it. And the front of it said "To My Wife...Strong, Beautiful, Compassionate." I looked at him and said "You think I'm strong??" And he was like "of course!" (that made me really happy for some reason!) And can I tell you...I am at this moment more in love with my husband than I have ever been?! It's amazing to me how God has used him in my life and all of the ups and downs we've had to draw me us so much closer to Him.
• Speaking of Stephen, my friend Mary texted me yesterday and said "Remind me to tell you how God led me to pray for Stephen today!" And she emailed me later and said that she had felt led to pray that Stephen would take advantage of his long commute to and from work to get quiet with Him and pray. That was very nice...but the even better part was that I HAD BEEN PRAYING THAT VERY SAME THING ALMOST WORD FOR WORD for Stephen!! And Mary did not know that! :) I love that God put that on both our hearts to pray!
• Did I mention I love my husband??? ;) He came home from work yesterday with cards and candy for the kids! I was so touched that he thought of them!
• Bible study Wednesday was great. I am LOVING our study and I am especially loving the ladies in our group. They are precious. I want to write lots more about the things we are discussing. This past Wednesday God showed me that really great things can happen when I allow His Spirit to lead me as I lead others. Instead of walking into our class feeling like I had so much I could share, (ha!) I clearly felt God leading me to do something a little different. I took our homework assignment and turned it into an "icebreaker" of sorts and the result was ALL the women shared! Even the ones who normally keep perfectly quiet. It was such a special time we had together. And because everyone shared so openly with each other, some women commented that we now know better how to be praying for each other! What a lesson for ME on how God blesses obedience...I heard Him and I LISTENED! And frankly, instead of being prideful--thinking only about all the things I could contribute to our lesson--I "turned the mike over" to everyone else, giving THEM preference and we ALL learned a great deal from each other. Very good lesson for me in putting others first! (note to self:"It's not about Amy...It's not about Amy...It's not about Amy! :)
• Last night as I was tucking Sarah in bed, she asked me "Are you still going to your Friday morning meetings?" (Moms in Touch--where moms meet together to pray for their children and their children's school/teachers/administration, etc.) And I said "No, I haven't had time...I've been busy doing other things." She said "well, I think you should start going again." I asked her why and she said she liked knowing I was with the other moms praying for her and her friends. (alrighty then!) I hustled this morning and got myself to the meeting. It was good to be back and I of course shared what Sarah had told me last night. When it was one of the other mom's turns to pray for Sarah she prayed that God would let Sarah FEEL our prayers today and I loved that!

I'm off to catch a 30 minute nap...we are going to Sarah's school tonight for a "sock hop"!

Have a great weekend! 

Where's Room Service??

10 Sure Signs I Am No Longer On My Cruise Vacation:

1. I step off the plane that has just landed in Memphis, and along with at least 12 other passengers, moan "Oh my gosh!" as I realize 75 degrees is now a thing of the past.
2. There is no pot of hot coffee delivered to my bed for me to enjoy on my private balcony.
3. Wait a minute, come to think of it, there is not even a private balcony.
4. or an elevator to take me downstairs!
5. My kitchen is not nearly as well-stocked as the buffet on the ship.
6. No ice sculptures either.
7. (Thankfully) everyone around me speaks the same language.
8. It's the strangest thing...when I drop my bath towel on the floor, it stays there. No one has replaced it for me yet!
9. The sound of waves crashing has been replaced by the sound of Disney Channel.
10. Christmas lights are strung on Christmas trees, not palm trees. And I am actually comforted by that--the familiarity of HOME. Although the cruise vacation is over, I'm excited that there are still plenty of things to look forward to that I couldn't find anywhere in the Caribbean--Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church tonight in our NEW sanctuary; time with my sister and her family and other extended family I don't get to see very often; Christmas morning breakfast with my parents as we watch the kids open their presents; and through it all, rejoicing in the fact that the best gift of all is not a fancy vacation or giving your child that toy he's been wanting for months...or getting that beautiful diamond ring you saw in the ship's jewelry store...SERIOUSLY...there is no greater gift than the one that's been given to us already...the Savior that came very humbly, as a baby, to one day grow up and die on a cross for our sins so that we may have eternal life. How can any gift top that? 

random thoughts about our cruise

I have 15 minutes to kill...Stephen is at an art auction and the kids are having fun in the "kids camp"...

1. Not much beats waking up every morning to a pot of hot coffee, muffins, and fresh fruit at the foot of your bed!

2. So glad I found a bathing suit I feel comfortable in!!

3. Mac has a new girlfriend...she is about 20 years old, blonde, and her nickname for him is "Mac-a-licious"! (is that wrong??)

4. Barbados was a huge disappointment. Antigua has so far been the most beautiful. (tomorrow is St. Lucia)

5. Nine day cruises are perfect...7 days leaves you wanting just a little bit longer, so a day and a half more is just right!

6. Sarah and Mac LOVE going the kids zone while Stephen and I eat dinner! It's a win-win situation for all of us! They love to go play with their new friends and we get a quiet dinner all alone!

7. This is the most beautiful ship I have ever been on (NCL Pearl)

8. We figured out that this my 6th cruise and Sarah's 3rd! (Mac's 2nd and he's only 3!!)

9. The taxi drivers in the Caribbean are FAR more scary than the ones in New York City if that is even possible!!

10. We are all having a great time and I feel very blessed...I miss Taylor like crazy..esp after he texted me today saying "I miss y'all a lot...no joke"

Lots of pictures to come soon!