The Great American Eclipse

A big huge shout out to my auntie Analise, she took these photos from her backyard in Lebanon, Oregon.  

I just cannot get over how incredible these pictures are. Thank you for sharing!

Wordless Wednesday

Our white Christmas

Wordless Wednesday

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of one tiny snowflake with a cell phone camera? Regardless, this just reminded me of how very small we are, yet God created us as individually as snowflakes. If He took the time to create each flake, don't you think He did the same for us?

A Gift Grateful

Today's prompt is "a gift grateful." I try so hard to be grateful for what I have on a daily basis and even on this blog I do a weekly Thankful Tuesday post. I would say overall, I am a pretty grateful person.

I think the biggest gift I am grateful for is the gift that our Heavenly Father gave each of us. This time of year we spend a lot of time focusing on the baby Jesus who was sent. Birthed by a virgin woman. It in itself is a miracle. But I think beyond that one to when God allowed his only son to be crucified in a horrible manor. He let him die for my sins. He knew that for this world to be saved, he would have to do something big, we are his children and he wanted to make sure that we could spend eternity with Him. So, he allowed his son to die as a sacrifice so we wouldn't have to do all the rituals to be cleaned. We are daily washed in the blood and that allows us to be in His presence and have a promise of eternal life.

I am not going to apologize for being "preachy" because it's something I am passionate about. I know not everyone has the same beliefs I do, but if you are questioning and want to know more, I encourage you to reach out to me. Send me an email or comment that you want to know more. I read every comment and will get back to you.

I thought I needed a picture for today, so here are a few from when it was snowy in Boise. I couldn't stop looking at these trees. Just love how they look!

Thankful

I am going to change things up just a little, my sermon notes from yesterday need a little more work to be ready to hit publish so I am going to do my thankful Tuesday post today and my sermon notes tomorrow. Here is a list of five things I am thankful for this week:

• I am thankful that Natalie's dental work went well. She is doing just fantastic right now and I am so glad. I was really worried this would cause her pain for awhile, but she didn't even need any Tylenol yesterday! 
• I am thankful that despite the bad roads we were able to get together and worship with our church family. And it was a wonderful message (just wait until you read about it tomorrow!) 
• I am thankful for my jamberry business. As I mentioned last week, I had a party on Friday and it is doing wonderfully. I am loving the extra money I will have for the wedding from just a couple hours of work at a home party. 
• I am thankful for the beautiful snow. I can't stop looking out the window. It's like a winter wonderland! Does make me really, really glad I'm not driving to Oregon for the wedding though. ;) 
• I am thankful for all the family and friends who have come together to help us with wedding stuff. I can't wait to share pictures with you of our day. There are only 8 days until the wedding and only three until I see my love next. Just a little excited if you can't tell. :P 

1000 Gifts: Three gifts of laughter

• It is a gift to hear my girls laughing and playing together in the other room. Their laughter is really the most beautiful sound ever. 
• It is a gift to have tv shows to watch that make me laugh. Sometimes you need a break and it's nice to have a few shows in my Netflix que that just make me laugh. 
• It's a gift that my girls have great humor. Sometimes they come out with the funniest things without even knowing it. For example, yesterday we were doing our memory verse in Sunday school and were filling in the blanks. We were trying to get the kids to answer "trustworthy" and started with the T sound and Alivia blurts out "terrific!" I don't think I have laughed that hard in Sunday school before. The Lord is absolutely terrific, but he is also trustworthy. Just loved her answer. 

Snow Day!

Like the rest of the United States, Idaho has not been left out of this winter storm. Thursday morning at 8 am the snow started and hasn't really stopped. As of Friday morning we had four inches by  my house.

Here is a pic I took Thursday night around 8:30 pm

Yes it's dark but it's a great comparison for this picture I took at seven on Friday morning. Before this picture, it took me over and hour to get home. It's usually a 20 minute commute.

You can no longer see any of the grass, you can barely see the rocks (totally took this from the wrong spot, sorry. But you can also barely see the tree behind that car. It is fallen because it was so full of snow! My commute to work took me 40 minutes and I don't think I broke 40 mph the whole way, and I take the freeway!

While I was working all day, the girls got to have a snow day and play with daddy. He sent me quite a few pictures. Looks like they had fun!

1000 Gifts: Three Gifts Golden

• It's white gold, but my wedding band and engagement rings are a gift. They are a constant reminder that I have an amazing man in my corner who will always be there. 
• My ring from my mommy. A gift that continually reminds me that she will never really be gone, so long as she is in my memories. 
• The beautiful golden sunrise over the snow. I think it was even more beautiful then the ones we have when it isn't white. The glow against the white snow is just amazing. It's a gift to be able to see beautiful things like that. 

Thankful Tuesday

1000 gifts: three gifts acorn-small.

• My beautiful engagement ring and wedding bands. I love them and love the symbol they share. 
• The opportunity isn't, but the jamberries are acorn sized. I am so glad for this gift. Seems God opened this door just at the right time for me. 
• My eyes. They are a constant reminder of my mom, also a reminder that my mom's legacy lives on in the form of someone else's sight. Not sure if I shared on here but we were able to donate her eyes to the Lyons eye bank. Truly a gift to know they are helping someone else. 

I don't want to leave it just at that, I still want to keep with my thankful posts, especially this month, the month of Thanksgiving, a time to really reflect on things we are thankful for. Here are five things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful for the jamberry opportunity. I feel successful at something that is all me for the first time in a long time. It's given me a boost of confidence that I missed. I am sure my mom would be proud of how well I am doing. I am still pushing to meet my goal for November. I would love to help you have pretty nails for the holidays or give the gift of jamberry to a special lady or little girl. (yes, shameless plug for my business here). 
2. I am thankful for teachers who care about my girls. We didn't get the best report from our parent teacher conferences. Alivia is doing well, she is a little behind but catching up quickly. McKayla is doing good as well. Still needs to work on slowing down and doing her best work, but she seems to be adapting to third grade. Then there is my Natalie. Oh how I love that child, but she is struggling. Please keep us in your prayers, that we would find the best way to help her with school. It is so important to me and her father that she be successful in school. 
3. I am thankful for my weekend babysitting gig. I love watching Miss Mia and her mom is wonderful. It has been a blessing financially and also keeping my girls a little busier. They played all day Sunday and my girls were asleep less then an hour after she left! 
4. I am thankful for the sound of the rain on the roof. We had quite a bit of rain on Saturday and it was so nice to be able to just listen to it gently (and sometimes not so gently) pattering on the roof. Reminds me of Oregon and makes me extremely glad that I live in a place where it isn't such a frequent occurrence. 
5. I am thankful for my Stephen. He has been so amazing through this whole planning process. I have started getting a little worried about things but he knows just the right words to bring me back. I just want this to be special. I feel pretty helpless all the way over here when all the stuff that needs to be done is in Oregon. But I have no doubts that with Stephen's help that we will make this wedding an amazing night. 

Wordless Wednesday

Its gonna be a hot holiday weekend! 

Thankful Tuesday

I have been overwhelmed with blessings lately. I think it's important to talk about the things you are thankful for and the things you feel blessed by. Here are just a few of the things I am thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful for the great weather. 
2. I am thankful that I finally have summer childcare figured out. It will be three different people, three different places the three days I need help, but they will be cared for. 
3. I am thankful that my new blood pressure medications seem to be working better. 
4. I am thankful that it's garage sale season. Last weekend I was able to get six shirts, two shrugs and a pair of boots for 6.50! I was also able to score 4 un-used scentsy bars for 50 cents a piece. 
5. I am thankful that Stephen got a position in the area he wanted to work. He will be happier at work this way and that makes me happy. 

Thankful Tuesday

Another week, another opportunity to count my blessings and name just five things I am thankful for this week.

1. I am thankful for the wonderful spring weather we have been having lately. My girls can play outside, I can take walks without worrying about losing a finger to frostbite and I really enjoy the beautiful spring flowers. 
2. I am thankful that even though our marriage is over, that Jimmy is still willing to come rescue me and take me to the doctor when I need to go. I'm not sure who I would have called if he said no. 
3. I am thankful that my doctor (who I work with) is willing to let me just come in and talk to him about things without making me schedule an appointment. I really appreciate the break on the $25 copay, they are starting to break the budget! 
4. I am thankful for two friends who have been helping me with my divorce paperwork. I am planning to file first thing this morning and Jimmy is planning to meet me there making the process an entire step shorter (neither one of us having to serve the other, we can both sign right there) so hopefully we can get this taken care of! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers please. However expected this is, I am sure it isn't going to be easy on me. 
5. I am thankful that I found a new baby sitter. It's another girl who works for the church, so I know she passed a background check and she is just wonderful with my girls. 

So, what are you thankful for this week? Leave me a comment with one thing, it encourages me to see what others are thankful for. =) 

Wordless Wednesday

Thankful Tuesday

Another opportunity for me to write about the things I am most thankful for right now. 

1. I am thankful for my girls. They were somehow able to sell a stranger a rock, decorated with chalk for $1.50. Don't ask me how I am just impressed!
2. I am thankful for Final Kick events. Even if I wasn't an ambassador, I would still be doing their events. They have an amazing volunteer program, they are local and they work hard to make their events fun for runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. 
3. I am thankful for the time the girls got to spend with their dad last week. As difficult as it is not having them around, it was really nice to get some things done around the house including getting their room organized. I even made enough room in there for the twin bed we got from a friend. This means all three girls will be in twin beds! 
4. I am extremely thankful for the beautiful weather we have been having lately. I have been able to get out and walk and enjoy the sunlight. And with the longer days, I can enjoy more of it. 
5. I am thankful for the quiet neighborhood we live in. The girls have been having so much fun outside and I love that we are quickly becoming "the place" to hang out. There are frequently more children in our yard then I have given birth to. 

Thankful Tuesday

Another week, another opportunity to count my blessings.

1. I am thankful for the wet weather we have been having lately. As much as I dislike being out in the rain, we do need the moisture. Hopefully we won't be in a "drought situation" this summer. 
2. I am thankful for my girls' new friend. She lives a couple doors down and has been keeping my girls playing outside more. We brought her along with us to church on Sunday and she was really excited. I'm glad my girls have someone to share that with. 
3. I am thankful for google docs. I was able to create a family calendar so that Jimmy and I could both have access and edit it. This way we can coordinate things for the girls so we are always on the same page. I have also been able to create a budget and calender for my bills so I know what needs to be paid when. 
4. I am thankful that I keep a little pad of paper and some pens in my purse. It is great for those Sundays you forget your bible (and notebook). If I didn't have them in my purse, I wouldn't have been able to take notes Sunday, and I am so glad that I did. I think I learned just as much writing the blog post about what I learned as I did actually listening to the sermon! 
5. I am thankful for the book "When Happily Ever After Shatters: Seeing God in the Midst of Divorce and Single Parenting." The first chapter had me hooked and although her story has some serious differences from mine, it's close enough that I feel like I can learn through her experience. I have only been reading about a day and am about halfway through it. 

Another Random Mind Dump

It's been less then a month since the last one, but I feel like it was therapeutic last time, so I'm going to do it again. Just a few of the things rolling around this mind of mine:

• My girls have no concept of inside voices
• I hope the roads are not too slick, I have a to do list longer then I can ignore
• I also hope that the two pieces of mail I have been waiting on show up today. 
• Shoveling the sidewalk is much easier if you get to it in the morning before people walk on it.
• This is one week that I am glad I don't have the weather they are getting back home. We may have a few inches on the ground, but my parents (who normally are lucky to get a dusting of snow yearly) got 13 inches! 
• Diet Mountain dew is the best. I'm glad daddy was willing to share his with me! 
• It's really hard remembering to do all the little things that I used to rely on Jimmy for.
• I need to remember that my girls are perfectly capable of helping around the house and give them opportunities to do so. 
• I also need to remember that I don't need to help them solve every conflict that comes up. They need to learn to work through things themselves. 
• As much as I dislike having to put on Natalie's shoes every day (she got ones that need to be tied and can't quite get them) I love hearing her commentary of what she's pretending to be doing. Yesterday she was on a beach, which led into a conversation about why people lay on towels on the beach. Today, she was making snow angels in the grass. That led to a discussion about how you can't make snow angels without snow. Love that kid. 
• I love that we live on a quiet street again. I don't miss hearing the traffic at all. Except maybe the night the girls aren't home, but I'm finding the dryer or dishwasher gives me just enough background noise to not jump at every sound. 
• As much as I wish for time to slow down just a little, I wish this month would be over for a couple reasons 1) I am so over this crappy winter weather and 2) after February I will have two things paid off that will really give me some breathing room in my budget. 

Anyway, that's it for today. Off to get started on that to do list =) Happy Saturday!

Snow!

We got a pretty decent layer of snow last night. So, like a good citizen I went out to shovel my sidewalk. In Boise, homeowners/renters are responsible for the sidewalk that goes along their property. So, I got the sidewalk up to the house done. Someone had started the main sidewalk for me, but I finished it

We have a LONG sidewalk, it goes all the way down to that telephone pole in the middle! I was glad that someone snow-blowed most of the white stuff away, so all I really had to was get the dusting off.  Because I don't get the chance to do it often, I decided to shovel the neighbor's sidewalks too. You can see the two strips of disturbed snow there.

 

Makes me feel good to help someone else out. =)

Our First Bowl Game

So, we got these free tickets to go watch The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl tomorrow. Only problem, it started snowing last night, as of 7:30pm we had a half inch. Should make for an interesting football watching experience.

30 Days of Thanks Day 22

This is what I get for not taking pictures when I think of it, the snow covered the foothhills for one morning! I tried to get
this picture on Sunday and the "inversion weather pattern" we have been having made them look blurry. Nope, not blur
just the polluted air that is trapped in our lovely valley.

I am thankful for the winter snow. Now, before you throw snowballs at me, let me explain. I am not a big snow fan. Lets just say in my years at 300 feet above sea level I might have driven in it twice. Not very experienced there. But, since moving to Boise, I have had a few more opportunities and am slowly getting more comfortable in it. That being said, I don't love snow in the valley, but I do love seeing the snow in the foothills. All year you see them and they are just brown, blah! But when winter finally arrives and the snow starts to fall, it coats that brown and gives it a lovely clean look. I also really love to see the different sunset colors right over those foothills. It is just beautiful. Nothing really compares to the beautiful Oregon mountains (at least to me) but this is a really close second.

You can really see it here. The beautiful blue sky is there, above the layer of air we are stuck in. Can you barely see
the snow just to the left of the center line? Yeah, that is Bogus Basin ski area.

30 Days of Thanks Day 20

Today I am thankful for the rain. Sometimes (not often) I really miss living in Oregon. The other morning I woke up to the sound of the rain pounding on the roof of our house. It prompted me to open the front door for awhile while getting ready for my day, just so I could listen to it. It rains here in Idaho, but not quite like it does in Oregon. I think the rain brings a cleansing that I don't think is possible any other way. The rain makes me think of the countless times I spent outside playing in the rain. I voice my complaints about Idaho drivers not being able to drive in the rain. Me, I can't drive in the snow. But rain? I got that one down!

30 Days of Thanks Day 12

Woke up this morning to screaming kids. Not because they
were hurt or anything, but because of this sight outside

I am very thankful for my mommy. Not only is she the reason I am on this earth (with a little help of course!) but she has been so supportive for my entire life. I can't remember a time we had a school thing (conference, concert, anything) when she wasn't there. Even when I really didn't want her there lol! I am thankful that she was my children's primary baby sitter when we needed help until I moved. I am thankful that she is still there for me anytime that I need to just vent. I just love my mom and can't imagine what Jimmy and I would have done if it weren't for your help. Without her influence, I don't know that I would be the mom I am. I pray that God will help me to be, for my girls, the mother my mom was for me.

Do you see what I see? Its a rainbow in the cloud. I'm not sure I would have seen it if hubby weren't driving. We were driving together for once on our way to date night! First one we have had in MONTHS! We went to a local theater that serves dinner while you watch, so we dined and enjoyed RED 2 (love Bruce Willis!). Made it possible to grab some ice cream after too. =) YUM! And while we were waiting in line Jimmy started singing to the oldies music playing in the shop. Not so loud that everyone could hear, but loud enough for one girl to hear and point him out to her friends. I couldn't help but smile. Sorry girls, he's taken!