What do you do when you come across a pile of laundry?...

Doc says you lay on it and make yourself comfy!

Funny thing is that before Justin and I were married, Justin would and still does take his clothes off and leave them in a pile on the floor - never did the clothes make it to a dirty clothes basket - and so Doc would always just sleep on Justin's pile of clothes. I seperated my lights and darks to be washed lastnight and he suddenly made himself comfy...he just couldn't resist. Needless to say the clothes quickly made it to the washer! Silly pup.

Quirky

I was tagged to share 6 quirky things about me. I'm sure that Justin could do this without effort for me, but here is my first attempt.

1. I love my shoes off - I will take them off anywhere I go, except public places. If you invite me over to hang, my shoes will come off at some point. I love being shoeless
2. I actually like going to the dentist - how weird is that?
3. I think better and can process my thoughts best if I am holding a pen or pencil
4. When I have a plate full of different foods, I will have a bite of everything and decide what I like best and save a bite of that food for my last bite....nothing like ending on a good note right?
5. I read or look through magazines backwards to the front. But I never read the ending of a book before I should...My mom does this, she will read the end so that she already know what happens as she is reading the book. To me that is wrong.
6. I get frustrated when people take the last of something without letting you know that it needs to be replaced. I work with an office full of guys and when they take the last of something and don't tell me it frustrates me, especially when I go to get or use whatever they took the last of.

There you have it. Not sure that it is very exciting, but it is me!

I tag Lindsey and Steph.... BooYa.

I am loving this weather and I know that I am a broken record on this statement. All weekend we opened the house and just enjoyed the crisp air throughout our home. It is just so comfy and cozy and makes us want to snuggle on the couch. Well, we didn't exactly do that but I could have all weekend. We had a great weekend surprisingly full of football. Saturday we watched game after game after game until I finally crashed. Today, I was a little slow getting up and I didn't even shower until 5...shameful yet so wonderful. We also joined a small group with our church and we had our first dinner tonight (which is why I had to shower :))I was thrilled to meet new people and get to know more people in our church. Seems like a great group of couples and I am looking forward to getting to know them through this year.

We are wrapping up our study of Job this week. It is hard to believe that we have made it through Job in 7 weeks. It has been such a great study and I feel that what I have learned most about is how powerful God is. He has it all and knows it all. It is very easy for me to keep God in my 'big picture'. It is the small and tiny details that I seem to try and handle on my own and leave Him out of...which is wrong. I was greatly reminded of the infinite details that God is in. Again, He has it all and knows it all - that is simply amazing. He knows the grains of sand on the beach and the number of hair on my head...how does He do that? If you could see how much hair that I loose every day that is a task in and of itself. I have been fortunate enough that I haven't yet experienced the kind of suffering that Job went through. I just hope that, when a time of hardship does come my way that I will remain faithful and true to God.

Oh, I also wanted to tell yall that I tried to set up my bake sale at my local polling location and my county voting office said it was illegal to do a fundraiser on election day...WHAT? I think that is silly and I don't know the official law on that. So, I did start working to find another location and it isn't as easy as you might think. Needless to day, I'm still working to find a location and I may or may not make election day. My goal is sometime in November. I'll keep you posted. If you have any ideas of locations please let me know. I'm going to try WalMart on Monday...I called the Galleria and Publix and they both said NO.

I hope you have an awesome week. I'll leave you with one picture....she is so NOT supposed to be on the couch yet she seems to make her way up and usually in our lap! Are we suckers or what?

Cookies Anyone?

I'm not sure about you, but I personally love Blogging and my love started by reading others - long before I had one of my own. I can sit for hours reading blogs, and even of people that I don't even know. Someone coined this as "blog stalking" and I'm guilty! One of the blogs that I stalk is Darby Stickler. She and I don't know each other but I love reading her blog. I want to be like her when I grow up...she is so creative, crafty, not to mention she is a great mom and loves the Lord.

With that being said, she posted an amazing story on her blog this week. Click Here to read the entire post. It is all about Cookies for Kids Cancer - a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of and funds for pediatric cancer research through local bake sales. What a great idea! The site for the organization is http://www.cookiesforkidscancer.org/. This struck a string and interest in my heart. I do not have kids yet - I love children so much - but I can not imagine what these precious children and their parents must go through when battling cancer. I look around at my family and friends who have children and how hard it would be if any of them were faced with such a horrible situation, yet our hospitals are full of them. I know that God is sovereign, but I also feel that if I can contribute just a little bit of time, effort and money that maybe it could make a difference for just one of these families. I do not personally know a family that is affected by cancer and for this I am blessed. I have been telling myself for a long that I need to volunteer or just contribute to some organization and this maybe just the one.

I am going to start tomorrow in contacting some people about doing a bake sale on election day at my local polling location. As I proceed and know more I'll add more details. Stay tuned and lets keep these families in or prayers in the mean time. Have a good evening.

On The Plains

Saturday we went to Auburn for the day. It was so much fun - even if the game was horrible and Auburn's football team is falling apart. It makes me sad that they are awful and it was honestly painful to watch the game...so painful that we left at the end of the 3rd quarter... and therefore we didn't even see the worst of it. That is all ok though, because I had a blast being in Auburn and seeing my friends. We made it to Tiger Walk, visited with so many people and even made it in time to see the Eagle Fly before the game. For those of you who have never experienced an Auburn game. To watch the eagle fly around the stadium and then land in the middle of the field - it really is awesome. I don't care who you cheer for, that is just really cool. I do want to give Justin some props because he was such a good sport for the entire day in Auburn. He went to Tiger Walk and the game and supported me in enjoying every minute of it. He of course was harassed by all of my friends (and their husbands) but it was a perfect and fun day. He even wore blue...NOT RED CRIMSON. How great is he!

It was honestly soothing to my soul to see and be with my friends. There is just something satisfying about being with girl friends....I'm talking about the girl friends who know you and even if you don't talk to them daily that you know that they know you and that they love you no matter what. You can just pick up wherever you last left off. As much as I love my husband, there is just something special about a girl friend. I am blessed with lots of wonderful girl friends. You know who you are ladies and I love you and thank you for being the friends that you are to me.

Sunday, I helped to host a baby shower for my dear friend Kristin. It was a beautiful shower and she got lots of great things. She is due in December with a precious little boy on the way. I also got the opportunity to see more sweet friends on Sunday. Over all it was a fabulous and fun weekend. It was a busy one, but I loved every minute of it.

Here it is....

Ok , so I finally finished. I have to admit that I always get great ideas...or should I say I fall in love with other peoples ideas...and then I get the thought of 'I can make that'. Well 90% of the time I get materials and then realize that I can not figure out how to pull it together or I just never finish it. I always have such good intentions and usually it is to save some money b/c the actual product is more than what I am willing to pay for it. In this particular case. I got the idea off of BHG.com and theirs was actually a ballerina - but I liked the idea of doing a witch instead!

So. I am really proud that this one came together and that I am pleased with the outcome.

So, these pumpkins became this.....

Yeah. Isn't she cute. The picture actually doesn't do her much justice, she is adorable sitting on my porch. I really do love her. It did take me several hours but it was fun - every minute of it! She needs a name...any ideas?

I hope that you enjoy her and if you can, stop by and say hello! hee hee. The sad part is that since we live on a busy street we don't get any trick or treaters. We love Halloween and seeing he precious kids dressed up in their costumes. But, we have to go to Mom and Dad's to see any Trick or Treaters. That's OK though, we still love the season. One last pictures to share of her with my handsome Doc.

Productive

It always amazes me how productive that I seem to be when my husband is out of town. Justin was in Mississippi for a golf tournament this weekend and I was sad to be home for the weekend alone. But I seemed to quickly feel my time in his absence. I was able to get in some exercise, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Friday, I came home for lunch and decided not to go back to work..how great is that!. It was awesome to chill and relax. I was actually worthless, but loved every minute of it. I did get some outside time in and some laundry done. Saturday I decided to start a Halloween project - I'll post pictures soon - I'm almost done but not quite. But that of course was time consuming yet fun. I also cleaned up and threw away all of my summer vegetables, they were looking so sad. I then vacuumed, mopped, did several more loads of laundry, plus watched a bunch of football. I ate Brussels spouts and mashed potatoes for dinner - which I could never have done with my husband home. Today, I finished up cleaning and straightening the house, took both dogs for a walk and then bathed both of them, I've gone to the grocery, started my bible study, showered, have dinner on (Jambalaya in the crock pot), and now I am enjoying the end of Talladega.

I know that I have already clearly explained my love for fall, but I equally love Halloween season, which leads to Thanksgiving and then to the glorious season of Christmas. Hard to believe that it is already October and it will be December before we blink our eye's. I can't wait to show you my weekend project and I love having all of my pumpkin decor out. Hope that you had an amazing weekend.

Reoccurring Theme

In the matter of a very short afternoon I had a common theme to come to my attention. In reading my most recent book - Walking With God - this afternoon John Eldridge is sharing about a time when he was involved in an accident and broke both arms. The title of his chapter is 'Until God Becomes Our All'. He talks about all of the blessings and gifts that we have, from God, and that we often times focus our attention on what He has given us instead of ultimately on Him.

John says:
'We give our hearts over to so many things other than God. We look to so many other things for life. I know I do. Especially the very gifts that He Himself gives to us - they become more important to us than He is. That's not the way it is supposed to be. As long as our happiness is tied to the things we can lose, we are vulnerable... But we end up worshiping the gift instead of the Giver. We seek for life and look to God as our assistant in the endeavor. We are far more upset when things go wrong than we ever are when we aren't close to God.

And so God must, from time to time, and sometimes very insistently, disrupt our lives so that we release our grasping of life here and now. Usually through pain. Gos is asking us to let go of the things we love and have given or heart to, so that we can give our hearts even more fully to Him.'

Back to my thoughts:
It certainly strikes an interesting thought with me. Where do I place my value. Do I seek Him first in every decision or do I do what I want to do without asking for His guidance. So in my study of Job this question came up: If all of your belongs were taken away, your family killed and your health was no longer would you turn to God - who you know is all providing, all protecting and sovereign - or would you turn away from God? The way of the world says that suffering is a punishment (as does Eliphaz, Job's friend). But the truth of the matter is that we are here to serve God. He wants us to walk with Him and to grow closer to Him. He desires that we seek Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and spirit. Without God we are suffering, suffering for lack of eternal life. So. After I was done reading this afternoon I opened my bible study and here was the first thing that I read:

From CBS Job Bible Study:
'Life is characterized by change, and change often time means loss. Though everything we have is a gift from God, we tend to expect Him to always bless us and never take back any of His gifts. Our comfortable lifestyles, our good health, our loving relationships, our satisfying careers and pursuits, are all vulnerable to change.'

Back to me:
Our entire lives are vulnerable to change all according to God's will and purpose. He does love us and He certainly does want us to enjoy our lives (and things) on this earth. 1Timothy 6:17 says 'Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment'. But he also wants us to draw closer to Him. We all go through times of suffering and pain and in these times we become more like Him - He is polishing us. I have to answer the question (would I turn to or away from God if put in Job's position) honestly and tell you that my human spirit would question why this is happening, but I know that I would turn to Him. He would be all that I could turn to for refuge. He is the light of the world and I am thankful that He has called me to be His. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bles us and make His face shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation amoung all nations.

Beautiful Weekend Despite AU Football

Justin was out of town this weekend on his annual guys golf trip. Even though he was gone I had a wonderful, relaxing yet busy weekend. Friday night I took it easy - after taking care of a work obligation at 7pm - I sat and watched TV and caught up on my blog reading, which can take hours and it is so much fun! Thank all of you bloggers for entertaining me on Friday evening!

Saturday I woke up early and went for a quick run before I headed to babies R Us to purchase a baby gift for a baby shower I attended that afternoon. It was great and so funny to see how many pregnant ladies were at the baby shower. After the shower I came home and bathed my stinky children and then got dressed again to meet friends out to watch the Auburn game. It was so much to fun be with friends that I haven't seen in so long, and some that I see more often. We hoped to get more of the Auburn game, but since Alabama was only pay per view they had the Bama game on most of the TV. In the end it didn't matter because Auburn played horrible. Thank goodness for our defense because left up to our offense we are in trouble. I love Auburn and I love when Auburn wins...even if they loose I still love Auburn. But I hate to see them playing so bad. Hope that they will get it together this weekend before we play LSU this weekend.

Today I went to church with mom and dad and it was such an awesome service. The episcopal church is such a traditional service and really what I mean by this is in terms of the music. We have an evening contemporary service that I love, but I enjoy going in the mornings sometimes and from time to time the traditional hymns bore me a little. Sorry for my honesty....but today during communion they had some young kids who played the piano (instead of the organ) a little bongo drum and singing contemporary songs...it was awesome and so uplifting. I hope that they will do that more because it was amazing. They also did baptisms - 5 babies were baptised and they all did so good - non cried. Justin has made it home safely and I'm glad that he's home. I think that he is traveling this week, so its been nice to have the afternoon with him.

Off to cook dinner - Chicken Sausage and Pasta...Yummy!

I Love Fall

I love the cooler weather, and although it isn't quite cool yet it isn't blazing hot either. It was a beautiful weekend this weekend and a weekend full of football. Football always brings cooler weather, which I absolutely love. Fall is my favorite time of the year. Fall also brings schedules and routines - now that summer is almost behind us - and that means that CBS (Community Bible Study) starts and I am so excited. It starts tomorrow and we are studying Job and then Galatians and then Hebrews. It is going to be an amazing study and I am thrilled to be diving back into God's precious Word. God is so good and it is refreshing to gain knowledge in Him and to grow closer to Him.

I've been reading a great book by John Eldridge called Walking with God. It is truly a great book - very simple read - actually John's life stories of walking and growing with our Loving Father. It was been such an inspiration about the importance of talking and communicating with God about everything. God has all the answers so why not ask Him. Which brings me to the next great reminder that I've received through reading this book. Be still and listen. I have to be honest. It is just plain hard for me to stop and NOT be thinking about something..I think its a girl thing.. My mind is always running and running fast and when that is happening it doesn't leave much room for listening. But I have really been working on slowing down my thinking and really hearing God and it is amazing what all He has to say. I hope that you don't think I'm crazy, and if you do then I urge you today to say a pray and ask God to speak to you because you want to know Him better and then sit in total silence and just listen to see what He may have to say to you. It is truly amazing how The King of kings and The Lord of lords WANTS me to talk to Him, isn't that humbling? If you reach out to Him, He will be there for you to grab onto and then He will wrap His loving arms around you and fill you with comfort and joy. Wow, it really doesn't get better than that.

Today at church, my preacher spoke about confronting sin in others lives - not that we are judge them but we are to hold each other accountable. Sin is destructive and causes separation from Him. It got me thinking about times when I don't want to talk about God with others or when I just don't want to sit and have quiet time with Our Father or just when I am being selfish and lazy all of this is separation from Him. Which is not pleasing to Him. I am working on this to not allow separation (sin and evil) in my life. I want to be pleasing in His eyes and I know that I will always fall short but I strive to be one with Him and serve Him with joy!

I hope that all of you have an awesome and God filled week. Love you all!