Christmas

Well Christmas is come and gone. I am kinda glad but sad. I love Christmas but we have had soo much family things last week I am tired of people!!
Last weekend we started out Christmas with Chadds grandparents here. They are from Tennessee. We got some cool gifts and it was so nice to get to visit with them again. . .


Sunday evening Chadd and I did our own christmas. I got a new Bible and cover and Chadd got a PSP charger (our dog ate the last one. . dont even ask), coffee and of course we both got new cell phones.



Monday started out just here at home. Tuesday we went to my Mom and Dads for our christmas. We usually do that on christmas eve but we had a church service Chadd had to be at. Dad and Mom made Fried Fish and Shrimp and the peel and eat shrimp. Its been our tradition for years. My dad makes the best fish! Yum!




(Cooper trying to play with Whiskers)


Wednesday we were just here at home then that evening we had christmas eve service at our church. After church we made popcorn, chips and salsa and Apples and that was our supper. Lol. We pulled a air mattress out and slept on the floor of the livingroom by the tree and watched movies.

(My new walmart village piece)

Thursday was Christmas at my Dads family. All kinds of yummy food!
(Chan and Clint- I think he had too many photos taken of him that day )

Friday we went to walmart to get some christmas stuff 1/2 off . I got some rope lights 1/2 off and hung them from my bed frame in our room and now there is a cool glow under the bed. I love it. Friday night we went to Chadds Parents for christmas. We got all kinds of cool handmade gifts this year. My MIL is making me a knitted afghan, FIL made chadd a hat rack we have been wanting, SIL made me some cool pottery and candles and her and my BIL made Chadd a really neat clock.


Saturday was christmas with all the Smiths. Its was fun getting to see everyone again. Again LOTS of good food!


(Sweet Baby Marrah)

Yesterday we went to church then went to Wendys for a salad for lunch. After lunch we just hung out just Chadd and I and played games and of course watched the Colts game. Last night we decided to go try out Buffalo Wings and Rings, a new restaurant in town. It was yummy! They have awesome fries and there BBQ wings are really good. We also tried the Teriyaki wings but they were gross. It just didnt taste like wings, it tasted like something that should be served on rice.
Today I am doing laundry since I didnt do any last week, Chadd is working on his truck trying to get it running and we both have Chiropractor Apps at 3:30.

Crap

Now my garbage disposal in the kitchen sink died today. Anything else that could go wrong for us right now???

You have our attention Lord, What do you want from us???

Matthew 6-
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

**UPDATE** Praise God the garbage disposal works now!! Chadd took it apart and found a screw had fallen in it and was lodged. !!!!

No!

NO NO NO! I WILL NOT let myself fall into dispare over a bad week. I will continue to pray my God through it all!

Praise You in This Storm
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say amen and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls I barely hear You whisper through the rain, "I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried You hold in your hand
You never left my side and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain "I'm with you"and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20

Thats my rock this week!! My strong foundation. I let myself get down this week when I should have stood strong and said No, I wont let you get me down!!!

Everything is going wrong

Well, I am struggling today. Its been a hard week so far, so many things all at once.
First of all, Chadds truck broke down tuesday night and we havent been able to get it to run since then so we are down to one car. I have a Dr appointment tomorrow,Chadd has to be at Pike central to work on something . Still not sure how that will work out. Then this morning our dumb heater started blowing cold air. I turned it off and reset it and its fine, then it started doing it again. . . 3 times so far this morning. Not sure what its problem is. So A repair man will be called sometime this week yet. Why is it everything seems to go wrong/break at the same time? Plus Im struggling with some personal issues/problems right now. So My morning is not going well.
I have been painting the spare room. I started it thursday and got all the primer on before the weekend then I worked on it yesterday now I gotta go get paint to finish. I think I will wait to get the paint til tomorrow and work on getting my house back in shape today. I have neglected the laundry and everything so it needs to be done.
This weekend Chadds grandparents are coming and we are celebrating christmas with them. Im supposed to make supper on saturday for them all and I dont have anything around yet !Lol.
Well I need to go get a shower. I have been waiting for the house to warm up now that I got the heater running before taking my shower.

Bored

So, week 1 not Babysitting. . . . I am bored out of my gourd!!! Lol. There is only so much to clean in a 900 sq foot home. Yesterday I cleaned out my fridge and my stove. Today I will probably do some laundry and sweep my floors again. (My dogs have a habit of chewing stuff up right after I sweep the floors) I might throw my sheets in to wash later too. Tonight we have caravan with the church and its a christmas party for the kids. That should be interesting. Friday Chadd is taking off work at noon and we are going to ring the salvation army bells at walmart for 3 hours. I am praying its not too cold!! Friday night we have tree hopping at church. We have 6 families from church, different people each year and we go to there houses, have snacks , see there christmas deco. . .
Saturday night we are going to the Living Christmas tree in Evansville and Sunday night we are going to my Step Grandmas house to celebrate with her. Next weekend Chadds Grandparents are going to come and we are celebrating Christmas with them. . . . Christmas eve is with my family, christmas day is with my dads family and the Smith Christmas is sat after christmas with Chadds family christmas in there sometime yet!!
I need to get moving and get somethings done. Hope you all have a good week!!

Baby Jessica

The baby is here!!! Jodi (Sarahs mom) caught the flu and was dehydrated and started having contractions so she went to the hospital and the babys heart rate kept dropping so they went ahead and took the baby. . .So Jessica is here!! We went to see her saturday, she is so tiny! Like 6#. .
Such a cutie. I cant wait to watch her now. .

Weekend

I just have a few moments to post this while waiting for my clean floors to dry. I dont have sarah today so I am trying to get all my cleaning done. Then at 5 tonight we have to go to a viewing for our pastors wife's mother. She died thursday morning. Tomorrow we dont have much going on which I am thankful. I woke up with a stiff neck this morning and wouldnt you know, my chiroprator took the day off and wont be back in until monday . :-( Im bummed.

Its been a long week! Sarah came tuesday morning and they said she had been vomiting and diahrrea all night monday night. She was fine tuesday except for diahrrea. Then yesterday she started in with diahrrea really bad. 9 diapers between 7 am and 11am. She was fine other wise except for that. I almost wonder if she is getting teeth cause that sounds like a lot of diahrrea for just a bug. So needless to say yesterday was spent changing diapers every 5 minutes. .

Next week is my last week with Sarah until the end of january. Her mom is going in for a C-section on Thursday and will be off work 6 weeks. I am excited I get to watch the baby then but also kinda blue about not getting a pay check those 6 weeks.

Back to work

Personally Im glad its back to work today. It sounds bad but I like schedules. Chadd has been off since thursday and I have been off work since wednesday, so we had a long holiday weekend. It was nice and relaxing but Im glad to get back into a routine.
We put our tree and christmas decorations up on Friday and it looks so nice. I love to sit here and watch the lights on the tree twinkle. I am so in the mood to make christmas cookies now!
Saturday I woke up with a horrible headache and stuffy nose. So saturday was on the couch all day for me. I think I had a touch of what Chadd had last week I think. Anyways, while on the couch on saturday Chadd decided to get out the old nintendo and play. So we spent hours saturday playing Mario and Dr Mario and Duck hunt. (I stink at duck hunt by the way). We were hoping to go see Madagascar 2 but I just didnt feel well enough to get out. Sunday I was hoping to go to church but woke up feeling crappy again so I stayed home and slept. I am feeling much better today.
Sarah came back this morning and was all over the tree. "oh piddy tee" . She loves the christmas lights. I need to get moving and do some dishes up before she wakes up from her nap this morning. Everyone have a wonderful week!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Life.Is.Good.
This week has been pretty easy. I only had Sarah monday and tuesday this week and we only have to clean the library mon, tonight and fri night. Chadd was home yesterday sick. The dr put him on something to help the congestion in his head and he seems to be feeling better today.
Today I slept in til 9:30! Love it! Took a hot lonnnng shower, goofed around on the computer a while. Then ran into Jasper and messed around the library for awhile and stopped at the health food store to pick up some vitamins. Now I am sitting here procrastinating on here while I should be dusting my house. My swiffer wet jet died last night so I cant really do much moping and we vaccumed last night so I just need to dust the wood and tidy the bathroom a little.
Tomorrow we are going to My Mom and Dads for lunch and Chadds Mom and Dads for supper. We are supposed to take family photos at both places so it will be a long day. Chadd and I both have off work Friday so we are going to sleep in then put up all our christmas stuff. Im sooo excited! I love decorating.
I started making Christmas cookies yesterday. I always make 5 or 6 different kinds and give them to the neighbors. I made Monsters and O Henry bars yesterday. I will post the recipes on my Food blog sometime this week yet.
I need to go. Thank you all for the prayers. I havent had a headache for 3 weeks now! I am going to start taking something from the health food store called "Feverfew" that they recommended. They said it helps alot of people with migraines so I thought I would give it a try.
I tried all kinds of pills that my Dr prescribed and none of those helped so Im willing to give this a try.

Inspiration for Me

Another Book Rec

So after my last book post one of my aunts loaned me some books to read. The one was titled "MIRACLES FOR MARLEE" .Its about a couples journey to adoption. Its a amazing story. I really liked it. I am more of a fiction/romance type of book girl but I really liked this book. I read it all at once, I couldnt put it down. I Highly Suggest this book!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Marlee-Shannon-G-Turner/dp/1403366314/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227283702&sr=8-1

MRI RESULTS

Well, I got the results. Everything looks normal. So I am relieved but now we arent sure where to turn to now. I am going to call the Dr this week and see what all the blood work tested that he did a few months ago. Im gonna make sure he tested for Thyroid and Progesterone/Estrogen. Then if those are both fine, Im not sure where we will go.
We had a LONG week last week. Monday was a normal day, Tuesday Chadd had to go to Indy for a meeting then came home in time for my MRI at 4. Wed was a normal day again, church in the evening. Thursday and Friday Chadd was in Indy for a confrence, didnt get home until after 7 friday evening. Saturday we were in Evansville with our church for a family day and yesterday was church, home for naps then back to church. I was so tired this morning! We also started cleaning the library here in town last week and the first few nights were long and hard since the lady cleaning before us didnt do that good of a job. I think we finally got it all cleaned well now and this week we can go in and just maintain the cleanness. . Lol.
I cant believe Thanksgiving is almost here already! I have been working on christmas gifts all this week and should have most of them done in a week or two. I CAN NOT wait to put up my christmas tree and all my decorations. I wanted to put it up over the weekend but the tree is in our shed and I am terrified to go in there (Mice, snakes. . .) and Chadd wont let me set it up til after thanksgiving. . So I wait patiently. . (ha ha) I did play Christmas music the other day. . Hee hee. I took our christmas card photos sunday afternoon too. I was pleased with how well they turned out.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

MRI

My MRI went very well considering. The MRI Tech said it only took about 20 minutes but I dont really know for sure. I kept my eyes closed the whole time and it helped a little. The machine vibrated alot and sounded like a jack hammer. I felt very dizzy walking out of the hospital. I get claustrophobic so I was a little worried about how I would do, and there was a couple times I wanted to push the panic button but I kept telling myself I had to do it and if I pushed the button they would have to start over again. Now I am just waiting the results.
Thank you all for the prayers, I really felt the prayers as I was laying in the machine.

Today

Today is the day. I didnt sleep much last night. It was a hard night. I thankfully was able to sleep a little after Sarah went down for her morning nap. I am going to the hospital at 3:30 and the MRI is at 4pm. I will update on here when I get home unless I am drugged up. Thank you all for your prayers. I appreciate them more than anything right now.

My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:14)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. (Psalm 27: 1, 3)

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2)

O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress. (Jeremiah 16:19)

Cookout /Weekend

Friday night my cousins, Chanda & Kendra and I went out for supper at Applebees. We havent gone out since my birthday in April I think. We had a fun time. I love these girls. We went home and watched a movie then at my house. A HUGE congrats to Chanda who is getting MARRIED!!! I am so happy for you girl!! Love you a ton!
This weekend my cousin Crystal came down to spend with me. Saturday night we had a bonfire/cookout at Chadds Parents house for Jeannine's birthday, Amanda (my sister in laws) birthday and Crystal's birthday. It was sooo cold but we had a lot of fun. We went on a hayride in the back of Mark's truck but I didnt get any pictures of that.
Me and Crystal

Me and my Honey


Caleb
Caleb & Mandy- She was pretty excited about her smore
Jeannine and Chadd making smores AFTER she
poked him in the eye with the stick. . Lol



Also, our pastor had surgery this past week on a Ulcer on his side/stomach. He is recovering very well but he is having a hard time staying down on the couch, he wants to be moving all the time. So if you remember it this week say a little prayer for him.

This week is going to be crazy! Tonight we start our new cleaning job at the library. I am pretty excited for that. Its going to be pretty easy, about 2 hours with Chadd and I both working.
Then tomorrow Chadd has to go to Indy for a meeting and also has to be back by 3:30 to take me to my MRI at the hospital. I am praying the MRI doesnt take too long. The nurse from the hospital called me this week and asked a ton of questions then said that it could take anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on how well they can see and what they see. So I am praying its 40 minutes. . Lol.
Thursday then Chadd leaves AGAIN for Indy, this time for a confrence over night. He wont be coming home until Friday evening. Saturday is a Family shopping day with our church in Evansville. So I am just praying and trying to stay positive and get through this week!!!

WE got the Job!!

YAY!! Im so excited. We applied for the Job of Cleaning the library here in town in the evenings this past summer and didnt get it. Well that person didnt work out so they are hiring again, they called me thursday and asked if we were still interested. I went in today for a interview and we officially have the Job!! We are soo happy. Its only 2 hours a evening 4 nights a week with both of us working. Its gonna give us about $500 extra dollars a month though so we are very grateful.
Also one more thing, I am going in sometime soon, dont know a date yet for sure, for a cat scan on my brain/head to see if they can find the cause of my headaches. They seem to be getting worse. I went to the Chiropractor this morning and he said I was really tense so that was part of it but I think there is another cause. So I called my dr and he is scheduling a appointment for a cat scan. Please remember me in your prayers, I am really worried about it, not necessarily of the actual scan but of the results.

**EDIT** Just got a call from my Drs office and they scheduled a MRI for Tuesday at 4pm at Jasper Hospital.

Product Recommendation

Ok, after going over my whole kitchen this morning and cleaning it til it shines I have to say I am totally in love with the Mr Clean Magic Eraser
I wiped all my white cabinets off with it and they look good as new, I wiped down our trashcan in the kitchen which was totally gross but it looks like new. And 2 weeks ago I did something to our bathtub and though I had scuffed it black but Mr clean Magic Eraser took it right off! I am convinced this this is magic.

Reading

I just finished reading a amazing book and I thought I would share it with you all. It was the book about the two girls that was in the accident in 2006 at Taylor University where they were mistaken for each other. If you havent read this book I suggest reading it. I found it at our library so you should be able to find it. Its really a amazing story! Here is a link to the book . . . .
http://www.amazon.com/Mistaken-Identity-Families-Survivor-Unwavering/dp/1416567356/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225210371&sr=8-2

Side note- Anyone have any suggestions for good reading? I am looking for books to read.

My Slap on the forehead moment

While cleaning my house today I had the tv on and was flipping through channels and came across this show "Secret lives women lead" . Todays show was about women who shop ALOT and have actually filed bank rupt because of it. They went through 4 ladies and there stories. It was incredible. The one lady got inheritance from her grandfather when he died in the amount of $50,000 when she was 18 and filed bank rupt at the age of 21 all from spending that money on clothes. I just sat here for a bit and thought what I could do with that much money. . .I could pay our house off!! Anyways, I just found it astonishing how much those women spent on clothing. It was eye opening to me at least.
Anyways, my cousin is coming this weekend and going to stay here so I have been doing laundry and cleaning and trying to get my spare room cleaned out.

Fall Party at Church

Last night our Church had a Fall party at a cabin of one of the couples that goes to our church. It started out really nice but got COLD as the night went on. I was about froze by the time we got home!! It was fun though. We are on the Adult Ministries committee so we had to stay and clean up too. I came home and took a hot bath to thaw out. I think fall is about over and winter in coming in strong!!

The Cabin we had it at

About 3/4 of the people that came

Little Luke "Wookey". This kid is adorable!! He cracks me up.

And of course my Husband

This couple is hilarious. First of all lets start with her Hat, Silliest thing I ever saw. Then the TV trays they brought to a cook out. . .Lol. She was so proud of that Orange pop. Something about its the best diet drink. We laughed so hard at them two.

The Pastor of our church on the hunt for a Hot Dog

Chadd and Jeff Grilling Hot Dogs and Hamburgers

He found his Hot Dog. . I love this picture!!

My Father In Law and Dave Smith, not sure why they were puffing out there chest. These two are nuts.

Lori- Luke's Mom and Norma our Pastors Wife