Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so looking forward to having a few days off this week. yay! I love Thanksgiving time...for many reasons. Yummy food, time with family, rest, the start of Christmas, but most of all, I love reflecting on the blessings in my life and the goodness of God. 2009 has been a very challenging year for us...but I have been able to draw closer to the Lord through everything. Good and Bad! A few things I recall off the top of my head....my kidney stone, tim's skin cancer scare, career changes (and everything that goes along with that!). However, I got through my kidney stone, Tim has no cancer to be found, and Tim got a new job and will be getting day shift at the first of the year! PRAISE THE LORD!!! Those are just the main things that just jump out to me first. Through those tough times, there were way more good times! We have found the Lord to be faithful in all times...in every season. I am so in love with my sweet hubby and love how he LOVES and serves the Lord and LOVES me second. I love my family with all my heart, I love my home, I adore my puppy, I'm thankful for good health, I'm thankful that the Lord meets our financial needs, I love my church, I love working with teenagers and sharing Christ with them, I am thankful for my job, I am thankful for my good friends, I love love the little fun tidbits of life, and most of all I thank the Lord for saving me and completly changing my life! Finally, I am hitting a mile stone birthday this Saturday......25! Boohoo! That really makes me feel like I am an adult or something. I must say, I'm a little sad. But, I love birthdays! I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving! xoxo

Starbucks & Thrift Stores

Good Morning! I am sooooo sleepy! I have some coffee started, so hopefully soon I will get a jolt of energy! I had such a wonderful weekend! Friday, Tim took his small group to Incredible Pizza...and I got to tag along! :) It was so much fun and ruled on the skee ball machine! With mine and Tim's tickets combined, I won a insulated travel mug! haha! And it's pink! Then Saturday, I got to sleep in finally. It had been weeks since I last slept in. Next we got up and got a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks (another very special treat I don't get very often) and we went to the thrift store to look for Halloween costumes. We hit the jackpot and are pretty much all set for Halloween! I can't wait. After that we picked Kim up and went to Pets and Pumpkin Days on the historic part of Commercial street. It was a blast and the dogs behaved very well. Jade also met us there with Rusty. It was perfect weather. Sunday we had our choir concert in Salem. It was a long drive but it was a great concert. I'm ready for another week. It's going to busy at work. We serve a great God and I love Him soooooo much! I am working on my list of "10" and will be praying! I pray that I can be a light to someone today. Happy Monday to you guys! loves! xoxo

Long Car Trips......STINK!

Hey everyone! Well, Tim and I are getting ready to leave for a mini-trip to Texas. Tim's cousin is getting married in Wheeler, TX. The drive will probably be around 7 hours. We are leaving early early in the morning and then driving back Saturday night after the wedding. We are cheap and don't want to pay for another night in the hotel....so Tim insists that we drive back Saturday! lol!! Even though we won't get back till the wee hours of the morning! oh my! I have offered to drive part of the way....but Tim won't hear of it! haha! We'll just see about that! He wants me to get some sleep in the car on the way back, but I won't be able to sleep cause I will be worried about him falling asleep at the wheel. Hopefully I don't annoy him too much. I get very bored on long car trips. I have plenty of things to do though. I am bringing my knitting, crocheting, crossword puzzles, circle the word puzzles, a book to read, my sunday school lesson and my lines for the christmas play to memorize! Surely ALL that will be enough to keep me entertained! Not to mention all the CDs we will get to listen to! Well, pray for us that we have a safe trip! And that I make it through the trip without getting too bored and asking Tim if we are there yet!!!!!!! :) Happy Weekend to you! xoxo

Thankful for today...

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was good! I had a small little case of the blues yesterday and had a little pitty party by myself. :( Sometimes it just randomly hits me when Tim is gone at work in the evenings. I start missing him A LOT! I don't like going to church by myself at all. To top it all off....I was having a "fat" day! lol! So, I was down on myself about that! Goodness me! However....I am much better today. Today is the day the Lord has made and I am rejoicing and being glad! I am thankful for so many many things in my life and am blessed way beyond what I deserve. I love the verse...Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice! Thank you Lord for today! One thing that made this Monday particularly lovely, was that Miss Terri sent Kevin to my work this morning with several bags of candy corn! What a sweet and thoughtful surprize. You SO made my day Terri! She had read one of my previous blogs about me giving candy corn out to the visitors that come into the church office everyday. So sweet. And it was fun talking to Kevin too! :) We had a great small group activity Saturday! It went well and I think my girls had a really good time. I posted the pics on facebook if you are interested. lol! I posted a few pics with the blog from this weekend. Is Izaak adorable or what??? Happy Monday to you! xoxo

Biggest Loser

Who watched the Biggest Loser last night? I was laughing and crying the whole time! Fun news....Tim came home early as a surprise! He normally doesn't get home until 1:30 am and he came home around 7pm! yay! Talk about a fun night! :) I think her name was Holly maybe....but the lady whole lost her entire family in a car accident! wow! I couldn't even believe it. That was terrible. She has such a wonderful attitude and I really hope she does well. I am so glad that Bob and Jillian are helping everyone together this season. I found this devotion for dieters online! haha! However, I always try to think of myself as a healthy person....NOT a dieter! That term is so terrible and makes you automatically think that you have to leave out all this stuff and have to be miserable all the time. I try to be healthy and make good choices. I feel like most of the time I make fairly good choices...but other times, not so much! :) I always try to keep my body hydrated and fit by getting some sort of activity in everyday. I might not be a size 2...but I try to be healthy! The verse for today on the devotions for dieters is a favorite of mine....Phillipians 4:13. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens ME!!! Praise the Lord! And the thought for today...."I become more spiritually, as I become less physically." Have a great day everyone! xoxo

Harvest Home

This week I got a fall harvest candle for my desk at work! It smells so wonderful! I also got a little pumpkin with lid to put candy corn in to welcome the visitors into the office! So far it has been a hit with the mailman and UPS man! However, some people come by and take way too much! So, I don't know how much longer I will be able to supply everyone with candy corn! This could get expensive! I liked the idea though. :) I will probably get out the fall goods from my attic next week some time! Way excited for that! I am also going to start working on another painting. I will probably do a harvest theme since I did a Halloween one last year. I also need to finish the blanket I have been working on! It's almost done....finally! Has everyone seen that Walmart has the Febreze fall scents out now? They had a two pack last time I checked. Everyone have a nice weekend! xoxo

Stretching my taste buds.....

Well, I have decided that I am going to try seafood!!!! crazy! If you know me at all....you know that this is a huge step for Amanda. I don't know what has come over me! I think it is because I have been watching a lot of Food Network and some of the seafood they make looks elegant...not fishy or oceany! yuck! I still will never ever ever try shrimp. I can't get over the look and smell. I still hate the smell of Red Lobster and other similar joints. I was watching Melissa D'Arabian's new show and she made salmon cakes. They looked good and the salmon had other things with it. I think that will be a nice way for me to start out this new food journey I am taking! Hopefully I don't vomit! This is HUGE for me! Ahhhh...I'm so proud of myself. Babysteps though. Babysteps. I went to Nikkie Mosher's wedding shower last night and I said NO to the cake! Whoohoo....Go me! It was a fun shower. I love weddings! I have also been committed to my working out this week. I did Taebo 4 times! Here is something funny, but embarrasing......Sometimes Billy Blanks (taebo) makes me cry! Not out of physical pain, but at the end of his videos he always gives this amazing pep talk. He is also a Christian. Soooooo, after a hard workout his pep talks brings tears to my eyes! hahaha! Truly he is motivational! Oh Goodness. Well, thats about enough of that. Talk to you later! xoxo