Freedom

Freedom. That word has really been on my heart and mind for about the last month. And then this past week I was thinking about the Puritans and their quest for freedom. Can you imagine what it must have been like for them? To have such strong convictions for what they believed and what they were searching for that they were willing to walk away from everything they had, from family that weren't willing to make the same choice. To give it all up and get on a boat and head out across the ocean to what was essentially the unknown. They couldn't have really known what they were getting themselves into. Im sure they had some thought of the difficulties they would be facing but they couldn't have really known.

What is must have been like to feel so strongly about their belief in God to be willing to do that. And yet there are so many of us that have basically given up that freedom that our ancestors so desperately seaked all out of fear. The fear of what someone else might think.

We don't invite someone to church with us because they might think badly of us. We don't really let go of ourselves during worship service because we worry what someone else may think if they see us. We don't share the blessings that God has gives us for fear that someone will question it and then think less of us because we give God the glory and don't keep it for ourselves.

I know these are all things that I struggle with and they are things I'm working on. I like many people like to say that I don't care what anyone else thinks but deep down I think we all really do. I'm trying really hard to just give it all to God and let him worry about it.

So after all that had been going through my heart and mind the past few weeks I was a little surprised when the sermon at church this morning was on the topic of freedom. And one of the first questions asks was "What were the Puritans looking for when they came to America?". The sermon really stressed on freedom from financial bondage and that really set strong with me as well. I posted a while back on how God had really impressed upon me that this was our year to get out of debt. And I have been obediently working on it. Paying my tithes on my income (my husband isn't there yet). Anyway, paying my tithes and paying off our debt. Little by little it's getting smaller. In January and February (all be it with the help of our tax return) I was able to pay off a third of the total. What a freeing feeling!

And while so many people are worried and concerned about where their jobs may be going I'm honestly not worried about it. I am having faith and believing that as long as I am obedient to what the Father has told me to do that He will provide the means for me to do just that. And you know I'm already seeing the blessings come forth. The lessened stress in my life is amazing. No more worrying about wither or not I can pay this or that. As well as a few other blessings that we have been given to us that we are so very greatful for.

One of the things that was stressed this morning was not to get complacent. When you get to the point where you are no longer in bondage (wither it be spiritual, financial or whatever) and have reached the point of being in freedom from (those things) keep moving forward towards having the freedom to (do whatever it is you are supposed to be doing). Because if you get complaincent it's a slippery down hill slide back into bondage.

Busy months ahead

I was sitting yesterday and thinking about all I have planned between now and summer and thought "Holy Cow I'm going to be a busy girl".

I'm on the committee for Relay for Life. Our Kick Off Party is April 8th. That is really the start of our fundraising and getting everything ready for Relay. I am chairperson for sponsorship and team captain for my team. So I have to get our sponsors organized and my team as well.

For my teams big fundraiser this year I'm planning a "Relay Idol" competition. I would really like to get that together and done in May. There will also be our "flockings" that will begin in April.

My grandma will be celebrating her 85th birthday in June so I'm planning a party for her. We haven't had a family get together since 2001 when my grandparents celebrated their 50th anniversary. So I think it's time for us to get together again. As well as thinking that an 85th birthday is a big deal.

In July I'm taking pictures at a class reunion. The classes of 48, 49 and 50.

Then in August we finally get to Relay for Life. I'm so excited about it again this year. Kimmie and I had so much fun last year. And I think it's so important to get her involved. Then finally we will be celebrating her 5th birthday and getting ready for school again.

The summer is going to fly by. But it will all be fun and well worth the work.

A winter storm warning? What? Are you kidding me?

We are so close to the end of March. What's that old saying? March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. So then what is happening that tonight we have a winter storm warning that is predicting 8 to 14 inches of snow by lunch time tomorrow. Oh I do so pray that they are wrong. The snow in my yard is almost gone. I have actually made plans to get rid of whatever may be left in the front yard on Saturday. Even if I have to shovel it out into the street I am getting rid of it. So please no more snow. I'm really trying to get out of my winter blah mood and more snow certainly won't help me in that process.

Changes in my girl

I'm happy to say that I am definately seeing some changes in my little girl's behavior. Twice this week we have had to run to the store and normally she would be running off and thinking it's a funny game to run away from me trying to get me to play a game of chase that in turn just makes me angry and a fight insues. Well she started to run ahead of me and I just said "Kimberly" and she stopped and turned around. I said "you need to come back here and stay with me". And much to my amazement she walked back to my side and held my hand all the way through the store. I was totally shocked and wanted to know who this strange kid was.

Tonight she was laying on the floor in my room kicking the door. Her dad told her to stop and a while later she started in again. So I took her by the hand and led her to her room. Told her to sit on her bed until the timer went off. There was no fit. She sat on her bed and when the timer went off we talked about what she had done and then she apologized for not obeying (to both of us).

I'm in no way thinking that this sudden Stepford child is here to stay but I'll certainly enjoy it and hope that the good behavior continues.

On another bragging note. I was so proud of her today. At her school they have been having "Spirit Fridays" this past month. I think they have been looking for things to get the cabin fever and dullness of the end of winter. So today was King/Queen day. The kids got to dress up and wear their "royal attire" to school today. Of course my girl went as a Princess. She had been telling me this week that she was going to take two extra tiaras to school with her incase someone didn't have one to wear. Sure enough 2 little girls in her class didn't have tiaras today and she shared. I was so proud of her thinking ahead and making sure that no one in her class was left unable to dress up like a Princess. I surely hope I can continue to cultivate that in her. The ability to think of others and share what we can when we can.

Feeling better

After spending the day at home Monday with my sick girl. She shared her germs with me so Tuesday I sent her to school and spent most of the day in bed. I'm feeling much better and Kim is on the mend as well. She still has a bit of a cough so I took her to the doctor yesterday. The poor thing has bronchitis. Thankfully the meds don't taste to bad so I didn't have to fight with her to get her to take it.

We are looking forward to tempatures in the 50's finally. The snow is melting and spring is coming. I'm so looking forward to cleaning up the winter grime and getting some warmth and color back around our house.

Sick Little One

Well I'm home today with a sick little girl. She was running a fever Saturday night and most of yesterday but seemed ok by bedtime last night. Then I had the rude awakening this morning at about 4:30 to vomit in my bed. Why is it always in my bed? So I called in to work and kept her home. No fever today she just can't seem to keep anything down. Before 8:00 I had given her 2 baths, washed 3 loads of laundry and stripped my bedding. She's all snuggled up on the sofa now with a cozy blanket and a cup of water watching a movie. Hopefully this is a bug that will pass quickly and she'll be back to normal very soon.

I think I will get a few things finished up around the house and maybe work on my sponsorship letters that need to be sent out for Relay for Life. It would be nice to have those finished up and checked off my list of things to do.

Is it possible to go from below 0 to 50 in a week?

We had a cold snap this week. A couple of days of below 0 temps but they are saying that it's supposed to warm up. They say 50 degrees next week. Is it even possible to go from below 0 to 50 in a week? I sure hope so. Friday is the first day of Spring and I'm so needing the warm weather and sunshine. I'm really looking forward to yard work and planting flowers with Kimmie.

This has been a rough week for us. Kimmie and I have had a few pretty good battles but I've held my ground with her and we got through each of them. I'm really learning so much about myself as I'm reading more of the book I'm reading. I guess just one day at a time and one battle at a time. And I'm so looking forward to the ending results.

I'm still working on my spring cleaning. I was able to get one more room finished on Tuesday and today I got a storage area completely cleaned out and reorganized. My trunk if full of stuff that needs to be dropped off at Goodwill. Another 2 big bags of little girl clothes for a friend and 2 boxes of brand new baby clothes (still with tags) that I will be mailing off to a couple of friends. One just had a little girl and antoher is due next week. It really feels good to get that stuff out of my house.

It's definately a Monday here

I spent last night fighting with the blogger code trying to update the look of my blog. Finally after having to put it down and walk away for a bit I got it to work. It was time for a new look.

This morning I think the time change caught up with us for sure. I really didn't want to get up and Kim struggled to wake up as well. It will definately be an early bedtime tonight for her.

We have more snow today and the bitter cold is supposed to come in tonight along with some bone chilling wind. So I'm going home and fixing dinner. I'm going to finish up a little bit of cleaning that needs to be done in the rest of the house so that tomorrow I can tackle the computer room with my spring cleaning. That room has become a catch all for everything and it's time to clear it out. That should take me most of the day. Scarey how even a small room can consume an entire day when you get to doing a deep cleaning on it.

I also have a meeting tomorrow afternoon and then Kim and I have hair appointments tomorrow afternoon. We are going to a gal that used to cut my hair years ago. Maybe I'll get a new look. It is about that time. Kim just needs her usual trim. She keeps telling me that she wants her hair cut short but I'm not going to do that. I don't think she really knows what that would mean and I can't bare the thought of cutting off her curls.

What a way to fill up a day off. Cleaning, meetings and appointments. I guess that's what a day off is used for. Oh how nice it would be if it was warm and sunny out and I could get outside and enjoy the day.

How was your week?

This past week has been a long one for sure. After our car accident last week we were truly blessed when a dear friend offered us loan of her car so I didn't have to work to figure out how to get Kim to and from school and myself to and from work. My sister was very willing to work it all out with me but I was so thankful for my friend's offer. It's just so hard to work out 2 trips to and from town a day and 3 peoples schedules with 1 car.

So my car was ready to go from the body shop on Wednesday. I happy that they were so quick. Just six days and now it's looks brand new again. I got a new bumper, new headlamp, new radiator, new air conditioner condensor, and a small ding worked out of my fender. The air conditioner recharged and complete 4 wheel alignmnet. All for the grand total of $2600, thank heaven for State Farm. My car looks great now though and even runs and drives better then it was before. So there are a few things that would have needed done before summer was over so in that respect the accident was really a bit of a blessing.

We've had typical March weather. Near 50 degrees early in the week and then a blizzard yesterday. The blizzard gave us another 4 inches of snow and was so bad at one point that I couldn't see across the street. I was not thrilled. I'm not a fan of winter anyway and by this time in the season I'm really done with it.

I also got a new parenting book from church and have been working on some issues with Kim. She really can be such a sweet kid but definately has issues with thinking that she is in control and can do whatever she wants. And She doesn't listen to well when I'm trying to get her to do what she needs to do. So we are working on these issues. And today was definately a battle day. We got to church and the fit started. Unfortunately we ended up spending nearly the first hour of church in the car while she threw her fit. Finally she settled down and I gave her the final choice of going in and sitting on my lap in the back prayer room where we could still hear the service over the speaker or staying in the car until service was over. She of course wanted to go home but that wasn't one of the options. She finally decided that we could go in and sit in the back room. It was definately a rough morning but I won that battle. We are now one step closer to where we need to be. I hadn't realized that we were really child-centered parents. And that is really hard not to do when you have an only child but we will get past this and get to the next step.

So how was your week? Anything new and exciting in your world?

Spring Cleaning

I love this time of year. When I get the chance to go from room to room cleaning and clearing out each room. Today I started in Kim's room. Clearing out toys that she no longer plays with or doesn't need. There really wasn't to much since I had just done that before Christmas. But I did get rid of one trash bag full. I was only able to get that one room done today but it's one room done. My plan is to take a room a week until it's done. I would certainly prefer to get it all done more quickly but getting the time together to do it can be difficult at times. But I'll get it all done.

March Menu

I sometimes really struggle with deciding what to fix for dinner. After 16 years of marriage and having to make that decision every night it's no wonder. But I've been trying to get a monthly menu set in place at the beginning of the month and man has it ever made my life easier. I am loving having it already worked out and not having to think about it every day. So here is the menu for March. I still have a couple of days that I haven't a clue. Will probably have to pick Larry's brain and see if there is something we haven't had in a long time that he's been wanting.

1 Goulash
2 Stouffer's is cooking tonight
3 Steak, baked potatoes, cheesy brocolli
4 Ham and Eggs
5 Clam Chowder and Grilled Cheese
6 Pizza Night
7 Ham and Beans
8 Chicken Enchiladas
9 tacos
10 Inside Out Mushroom Swiss Burgers
11 Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
12 Pork Fried Rice
13 Take Out
14 Chili
15 Chicken and Green Olive Spaghetti
16 Beef Fajitas
17 Parmesean Chicken
18
19
20 Pizza Night
21 Tostados
22 Pork Chops in onion gravy and mashed potatoes
23
24 Chunky Chicken Rice Soup
25
26
27 Stouffer's Frozen Dinner
28 Chicken Corn Casserolle
29 chicken fried steak
30
31 Take Out