"Your Hands" by JJ Heller.

I have been fighting some undiagnosed illness since mid-January. Today I went to see the infectious disease doctor. Low and behold I have mono. I was told I had mono in high school but this doctor says there is no way that is true. My Epstein Barr numbers clearly indicate that this is a first time occurrence and not a re-activation. Crazy! I wonder what I had in high school... Anyway, so life has been quiet for me. Lots of napping. :-)

Today I found this video from KLOVE and it is just so beautiful I had to share.

Snowmaggedon 2010

33" Inches over the weekend.
10-20"+ predicted for tomorrow night...
No school until February 16th!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for my marriage and husband.

Oh sure we don't live a glamorous life and sometimes life gets pretty mundane and other times totally bizarre, but through the thick and thin we stand by each other. We choose each other over anyone else on this earth. I am extremely grateful for that.

You all know, I can get annoyed with my husband (and he can get annoyed with me) but one thing I have always known is that God gave him to me. I try my best (and my best is far from perfect) to cherish that gift. I can see almost every step of my life leading straight to him and knowing almost instantly that he was the one for me.

KLove is doing the Love Dare until Valentine's Day, I have been intrigued by this dare since we saw the movie Fireproof (which was excellent by the way) but of course my marriage was/is not in the turmoil of those characters. But the Love Dare is for anyone. I probably won't post about this again, but I am challenging myself to this Dare so I can better cherish the gift God has given me. Will you challenge yourself too?

Amazon Kindle

So for Christmas my dear husband got me a Kindle. I had initially poo pooed such a thing but then I saw the Barnes & Noble Nook and I got all hyped up on the fact that they said you could share books with your friends. I admit, I was coveting.

I then noticed that the Nook wasn't shipping for weeks after Christmas and then one day at ES's fencing class there was a mom with a Kindle. She spent a lot of time talking to me about it and how FANTASTIC Amazon has been. She also said that she and her husband could share books. Hmmm... wasn't that Nook's claim to fame? So I decided I should actually research digital readers! I know, novel concept (pun not intended)!

After researching the Kindle, the Sony and the Nook I decided the Kindle was the way to go. Apparently most of the book publishers were not actually going to allow B&N to share books on the Nook and if they did you could only share it once and for TWO weeks. Oh as if Blunoz or any of my other friends had time to read a book in less than two weeks! As long as the Kindles are linked to the same Amazon account, you can pass books back and forth, so yea I can't share with my friends but I can share with my husband (if and when he gets one of his own). The other thing I liked about the Kindle was that is actually has international capabilities. Now I don't plan to travel internationally but Blunoz is going to deploy in the next few years (no this is not imminent) and maybe I will get lucky and be able to go join him at an exotic port call, or maybe someday I will be nice and get him his own Kindle. :-) The funniest thing I read was that B&N released the information about the Nook so far in advance that Amazon was able to upgrade all the Kindle software to compete before the Nook was even released! The mom at fencing said all her software was upgraded automatically and without problems.

My MIL knew I was getting a Kindle for Christmas so she cut out an article she read in the newspaper comparing the Kindle to the Nook. Once again Kindle was on top. The one new thing this article told me was that it takes 3 seconds for the Nook to turn a page and 1 second for the Kindle. I think that would drive me CRAZY, but what do I know? :-) The other thing that article says is that yes, B&N lists more free books but the books they are listing Amazon also has as free but the quality is so low on them, Amazon doesn't count them as books (but they are available to download for free).

Once I got my Kindle I stumbled upon the Amazon Best Sellers in Kindle list and there is an RSS feed to it, so I added it to my Google Reader. I have downloaded some fantastic FREE books from this list! Such as Conspiracy in Kiev and Midnight in Madrid, neither of which are free now, but they were when I got them! :-)

So there you have it, my Christmas Present from Blunoz in a nut shell. :-) Thank you my dear husband. I LOVE it!

Half Full or Empty?

Awhile back a friend got stuck listening to a woman complain for an entire swim lesson. She had no way to escape.

We have all met them, those people that never have anything positive to say. Those people that focus on all the wrong going on in their lives. We have even been that person sometimes, I know I have my moments. But we often come upon those people that are ALWAYS that way. People that seem as if they are not happy unless they have something to complain about. It can be a huge downer, but it started me thinking about the glass is half full theory. I like to try to always find the fullness in my glass (but of course have moments when I can't seem to see it). When faced with a perpetual complainer, is it possible to sit there and listen to someone complain about all the things going wrong in their lives and focus on all the things going right in our own?

On a similar note, I think I can see too much the half full glass. Are people like me annoying as well? I have another friend that had a valid complaint that she was tired of having a wrist in a splint. I said "well, at least it hasn't been amputated". She thanked me for putting it into perspective for her, but it still doesn't get her wrist out of a splint. :-)

We may be equally annoying but I am going to continue to focus on the positive aspects of life. Life has way too much to offer to focus on the things we don't like about it. God has blessed me in so many ways and these are the things I choose to focus on. Of course life is going to have its valleys (the bad) and mountains (the great), but don't the valleys make us appreciate the mountains all the more?

Happy New Year! May you always see the half full glass in front of you!

Wild Olive Follow Up

Last spring I had been coveting the Wild Olive T-shirts and finally succumbed and bought two when MckMama was doing a fundraiser with the Unfolding T-Shirt. I have to tell you, I LOVE THEM. They have held up great and always start my day off right when I wear them. I am currently wearing my Such Things t-shirt layered over a long sleeve t-shirt. Now that winter is coming (here) I am excited to see that they have new long sleeve t-shirts. Again, I am coveting. This is bad, the Bible tells me not to covet. Dang you Wild Olive! :-)

Can We Have Some Discipline Please?

To the Mom at the Bus Stop:

Yes my son hit your son on the playground last month, but this was after your son hit mine multiple times and would not stop, even after being asked to. My son was punished, was yours? Did you even ask him if he hit first? Hmm, going to guess not since from our phone conversation I got the impression you did not believe me. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the multiple red spots on my son's back.

Today, I now understand you think my child is evil, but really he is a sweet little boy who only wants to protect himself and have fun at the PUBLIC playgroun.

Today your daughter picked up a stick and was swinging it at my son, so he made fists and put them up in front of his face to protect himself. He never once made actions to indicate he was going to punch your daughter (you know, the one with swinging the STICK).

It was unnecessary for you to keep telling your son to tell his friends not to make fists at his sister, over and over again, when no one was making fists!

Yes, my son was kicking mulch, he was clearing a spot on the ground and NO ONE was around him. Your daughter ran up to him as he was kicking, so dirt went towards her. She then ran back to you to have my son stop kicking dirt at her. He was NOT kicking dirt at her, he was kicking dirt, she got in the way. It was not appropriate for her to come over to me to have him stop and to indicate she wanted me to have him stop by screaming at the top of her lungs "STOOOOPPPPPP!!!!". She is old enough to speak with respect to an adult. She is also old enough to ascertain she should NOT run towards someone who is kicking dirt. She is also old enough to learn she doesn't always get her way, but I suspect this is something you are not teaching her.

My child is NOT perfect. But he is not the brutal bully you make him out to be on a daily bases. Spend some time watching your own children and stop blaming EVERYTHING that goes wrong on my child.

Fullfillment of the Feasts!

Last spring I did a Beth Moore Bible Study called Stepping Up: A journey through the Psalms of Ascent with the ladies at my church. I have been wanting to write about this for some time and I have finally have!

Now, I need to preface this blog post by saying I am NOT a Bible Scholar. My faith is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is just that, FAITH. I have never needed proof that the trinity exists, I just know that it does and Jesus is my Savior. One person described this as a child like faith, I am not sure that is the right description but I definitely do not know the Bible backwards and forwards, I take some truths to just be self evident. I see God working in my life all the time.

But as I did this study I was struck at how amazing it all is. First came the Old Testament, and here God spoke to his people and actually told them his Son, the Messiah would come someday and how he would come. I know there are many specific prophecies throughout the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled, proving that he is in fact the Messiah but I have never looked for them as proof for myself.

But at age 36, I think it is about time I made myself a more solid foundation of faith. Here I am going to see if I can pick out a few passages from the Old Testament and the fulfillment of them through Jesus in the New Testament. Too me it is just amazing and wonderous!

Christ predicted to be born in Bethlehem, a small town in Judea.
Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

though you are small among the clans of Judah,

out of you will come for me

one who will be ruler over Israel,

whose origins are from of old,

from ancient times.Or from days of eternity

">

Luke 2:4-7
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Christ to be born to a virgin:
Isaiah 7:13-14
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Luke 1:26-35
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

The Messiah would be Pierced:
Zechariah 12:10“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spiritOr the Spirit

"> of grace and supplication. They will look onOr to

"> me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

John 19:33-34 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could go on and on about how the Old Testament speaks of Jesus, the Messiah, coming. There are so many passages of the Old Testament that are fulfilled by the New Testament. But what I found most interesting in the Stepping Up study was the way Jesus' death and resurrection followed all the Feasts of the Jewish Calendar. Jesus has and will fulfill all the feasts.

Passover:
Exodus 12: 3-6
3: Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household...6: Take care of them until the 14th day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the house where they eat the lambs...

Why did they take the blood and paint it on their doorframes? So that the Angel of Death passing through Egypt striking down every first born of Egypt would pass over the homes of the Israelites.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Jesus was being crucified at the same time as the lambs were being slaughtered in preparation for Passover!

The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Leviticus 23:6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.

Yeast/Leaven is a symbol of sin used throughout the Bible. This Feast of Unleavened Bread leads us to the sinless life of Jesus. He then takes our sin from us through his sacrifice on the cross.

1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

The Feast of First Fruits:
Leviticus 23:9-14 9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil—an offering made to the Lord by fire, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.
1 Corinthians 15-20-21 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

Jesus was resurrected on the day of the Feast of the First Fruits.

Weeks of Pentecost
Leviticus 23:15-16 15 “ ‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The Pentecost after the crucifixion, was the actual day that the Church was started, the day the Holy Spirit came down.

There are still three more feasts that have not been fulfilled by Jesus.

Trumpets:
Leviticus 23:23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.

The New Testament prophesies the Rapture of the Church. Each reference has is signaled by the sound of trumpets!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-1813 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

The Day of Atonement:

Leviticus 23:26-28 26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves,Or and fast; also in verses 29 and 32

">a and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. 28 Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.

Romans 11:25-32

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

27 And this isOr will be

"> my covenant with them

when I take away their sins.”Isaiah 59:20, 21; 27:9; Jer. 31:33, 34

">b

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may nowSome manuscripts do not have now.

"> receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Those of Jewish descent who deny Jesus, the Son of God, will be given another chance to repent and believe. They will once again look upon the One that they have pierced and BELIEVE! How awesome is that?

Feast of the Tabernacles/Booths:
This is the last Feast that God described to the Israelites.
Leviticus 23:33-36 33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present offerings made to the Lord by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.

I believe that the Lord our God is going to return and we are all going to live together, to dwell in God. We are going to Tabernacle together. Thus fulfilling ALL the Traditional Jewish Feasts!

Now as I said, I am not a Bible Scholar and I would encourage you to explore this on your own and/or ask me some questions if you so desire. I am just so amazed by God and all he does for us and all he HAS DONE that I wanted to share.

Thankful Thursday

As some of you may have ascertained, ES can be a peculiar child. We don't have your typical household of running around to soccer, baseball, football or any other big team sport. Any sport I have attempted with ES has been met with a resounding NO! I force him to swim. Somedays it is a fight to get him there but I feel like he needs to MOVE and not just sit around and read or play video games and he always seems to enjoy himself once he gets there.

Tonight we attempted something new. Fencing! We first watched fencing during the 2008 summer Olympics. One day, I caught ES with a stick jabbing at a bush and I commented that he looked like a real fencer. Since then he has been asking to fence for and they do offer it at the local recreation center. The kicker was that he had to be 8. Well, now he is 8 and I was sure he was going to change his mind, but he didn't. I signed him up and he started tonight. I actually saw my child LAUGH and put on stinky clothes willingly (he won't bowl because of the shoes)!

Blunos, ES, Myself, and YB before fencing began.

I am sure part of the fun it is that Coach Geoff of Have Blade Will Travel truelly enjoys what he does. He even had the parents laughing in their seats.

Don't let him poke you ES! :-)

The Have Blade website says that:
"Fencing has often been referred to as physical chess because of the high mental discipline that it requires. It is a great alternative sport to those that may not feel like they fit in with the mainstream sports.".

I am thankful we seem to have found something ES will enjoy that does not involve a controller or a book. :-) Only time will tell if we found a perfect fit, but for today I am thankful I got to see ES laugh and enjoy himself off the couch. :-)


Ok, so it technically isn't Thursday, I tried to schedule the post for tomorrow and it didn't work and I don't feel like messing around with it, so here it is. :-)

Some Advice

Don't do sit-ups for the first time in MONTHS when your allergies are starting to kick into a higher gear.

Sneezing = PAIN!!!!!!

Make it go away, please! Pretty please, I asked nicely?!

Strictly Ballroom

Way back when, I wrote a post about my favorite movies.

My two best friends from college are visiting this weekend and they went downstairs to check out the movie selection to watch a "chick flick" while the boys watch a manly movie (after all the kiddos are asleep of course). P came up laughing holding Strictly Ballroom! Oh my gosh, I had forgotten about that one!

One of my dear friends from High School dragged me to see this movie at the Loring Theater (also found here) in Hingham (my hometown), thinking it was Swing Kids. I kept telling her I thought she had the wrong movie and when it started we both looked at each other wide eyed and said "what is this"? But after watching the entire thing we were in love! So I of course had to subject P to the torture while we were in college. How J missed out on this torture, I do not know. But we took care of that tonight!

If you are in the mood for a seriously cheesy movie, this is the one for you!



Now of course we are watching The Wedding Singer. :-)

My Vacation - A Reading List

One of my favorite things to do on a vacation up at "The Lake" is to read. The boys are happily occupied with other people and there are no requirements for me to clean, make dinner, etc. I just read and sit in the sun and take a dip in the pool or lake once in awhile. So here is a summary of what I read this week.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson

• I actually have been "reading" this one all summer. It has been stashed away in my pool bag so I was getting through it bit by bit at our short stints at the community pool. In a nutshell, Greg Mortenson saw a need for schools in the rural of most rural parts of Pakistan. He struggled and struggled but found a way to meet that need. He strongly believes that the best way to fight terrorism is through education. One of the Taliban's greatest recruiting tools is the large schools they set up in countries such as Pakistan. To give another option for education to the Pakistani people is to fight terrorism. This is a well written and intriguing book. I was ready to donate all my cash to the CAI, if only had some extra!

Finger Licken Fifteen by Janet Evonovich

• I have read this entire series of Stephanie Plum series. She is a bounty hunter in New Jersey who can't seem to do anything right. She always looses a car to some kind of fire, there are relationship issues and a whole host of wacky characters. If you are looking for a funny mystery series, I recommend this one.

Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

• Another light hearted mystery series. Hannah is a cookie bakery owner but in every book she happens upon a dead body and helps solve the murder. The books all include recipes of food mentioned during the story. I have yet to try one but I have been intrigued to do so. :-)
  

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

• I really enjoyed his first book, the Kite Runner and I equally enjoyed this book as well. It was different from the first but equally well written. There were many moments when I cried. It gives you a real heart for the people of Afghanistan and the turbulence they have been experiencing over the past 30+ years.
  

The Shack by William Paul Young

• This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. Blunoz's mom sent it to him and I still was not interested in it. But I have a new position on our church's council and I received an email saying I needed to read it by the next meeting. So I went out and picked up another copy. The premise of this book is intriguing. A man experiences a parent's worst nightmare but in the end meets God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a very personal way. I am not sure what to write about this book. I do agree with the overall ending theme of the book that God is not responsible for the bad things in our lives but he always uses them for some sort of good, though we might not ever know what the good is. At some points I thought of the old poem of Footprints in the Sand as we often have a hard time seeing that God is with us, but He is alwaysALWAYS with us.

Me, Myself and Bob: A True Story about Dreams, God and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer

• Do you know who Phil Vischer is? He is the creator of Veggie Tales! I love Veggie Tales and I remember when we were living in San Diego that Veggie Tales went bankrupt but then the videos kept coming. Well, now I know why. But I digress... I highly, highly recommend this book. Phil is FUNNY! Phil is Honest! Phil had a dream to be the "Christian Walt Disney" and God apparently had other ideas. If you are looking for God in your life, I recommend this one over The Shack (ok, so I prefer happy uplifting stories). Phil you need to write more adult books (though keep writing the kid stuff too)!
  

So there you have it, my vacation in a nutshell.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the gorgeous weather that God provided for us on Saturday for Blunoz's Wetting Down and all of our wonderful friends and family.

I was having heart palpitations all week over the thought of 75+ people in my house but the Lord provided a beautiful day. At the end of the night I was sure that someone who had RSVPed had not actually shown up. So we went through the list and, yes indeed, everyone who said they were coming came! I swear there was only about 40 people here. :-)

As scary as the thought of 75 people in my house was, we were truly honored that everyone wanted to come share in this accomplishment with us. When throwing a party, the rule of thumb is that about 1/4th of the people you invite are not going to be able to make it. In the case of this party, I think maybe only 1/16th or 1/20th of the people we invited were unable to come.

It is hard to believe that Blunoz has reached the rank of Commander. When we met, he was a Liuetenant, junior grade (an O-2) and now he is a Commander (an O-5). I wonder where the years have gone and I wonder what the years ahead of us will hold. But I know that no matter what the Lord has in store for us, we will be surrounded by people that love and support us. Thank you our friends and family (even to those who were only merely here in spirit)!

So I guess, in a nutshell, I am thankful for where we have been and where we will go!

Thankful Thursday (A Day Late)

Hmm, I missed Thankful Thursday last week! How rude of me and even though I wrote this yesterday, I am a day late in posting! :-)

Blunoz is pinning on Commander this weekend so the in-laws have flown in for the big event (ans my mom arrived yesterday) and we spent Wednesday getting the house ready for a HUGE Wetting Down party (umm around 70 people to be exact).

So what am I thankful for?

I am thankful for my in-laws. Yes, you heard me right. My in-laws. I was feeling pretty nauseous over the entire thing but since their arrival I have been feeling better. My MIL is actually an event planner, so while that does add some stress because she thinks of things I would have never thought of, it is good to know someone is taking care of those little details.

I am not only grateful for the help they are providing (I was sitting here listening to my FIL vacuum the main stairway) but I am also thankful for the role they play in our lives and our children's lives. I love that they are so involved in our lives and visit often. With Blunoz's schedule, it is not easy (next to impossible) for us to go visit them. This is their second trip out here since we arrived back in NoVa and a third is planned for October (they live in Oregon, so it is a long trip for them). I always had such a close relationship with my grandparents, I am glad that my boys will have the same thing.
And yes, I knew when my mom arrivds she would also be very helpful (can we say "dusted house") and I will be thankful that she is here as well. I know that YB is looking forward to a good game of Garbage with Grammy!

New Computer

My wonderful husband met me at the allergist on Friday and took the boys and my fried computer to Best Buy while I endured round two of my allergy testing at yet another allergist. This was at least my 4th round of testing since I graduated college, but I digress...

So Blunoz and the boys went off to Best Buy to visit the Geek Squad. There they discovered that my mother board was fried. UGH! Thankfully the Geeks were able to recover my hard drive and transfer it to an external hard drive.
While the boys played Webkinz on the display computers, Blunoz perused the computers and decided on two, a Toshiba and a Dell. I had three criteria, built in webcam so we can skype with our friends around the world; a screen that was 15" or greater and lots of hard drive space for pictures. After I sat through my itchy shots I went over to meet them. The decision... The TOSHIBA. The price was slightly less than the dell and it has some kind of feature that makes CD labels for you (still need to figure that one out).

Toshiba - Satellite Laptop with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology - Black Onyx

I am still getting used to Window's Vista and the different layout of the keyboard. But I am excited to have the number pad again. That was one thing I missed when I switched from a desk top to a laptop.

The best news is that as Blunoz was wandering around the store in his uniform a store associate told him that they have a military discount, 10% off! Wahoo!

So I am back up and running!

Spilt Coffee

Coffee and laptops apparently don't mix.

Yesterday as I was looking at the Wegman's Catering site in preperation for Blunoz's promotion next weekend and I choked as I was having some coffee. Next thing I know, I have the blue screen of death.

The computer had been vacuumed out with a wet/dry vac and has been laying upside down on some rice since yesterday. Fingers crossed that I will be back on my own computer soon (I am typing this on Blunoz's computer now). Otherwise we may be using the pay raise to buy me a new computer!

Air1

I used to listen to Air1 in Hawaii. They are KLove's harder counterpart. Yes, sometimes I am a rocker girl.

I discovered something new on YouTube today.
Air1 Live performances!!!

As much as I enjoy listening to WGTS here in the DC area (no KLove frequency), I have the same complaint Blunoz had about KLove. They play the same songs OVER and OVER again. I guess I just liked the songs on KLove better and Blunoz likes the songs on WGTS better. :-) I sure do miss hearing Jars of Clay though.

The Secret is Wine...

So I have been on again off again with this whole weight loss thing. Really not having the motivation/desire. But two weeks ago I obtained that desire and ended the week with points left over and a 0 lb. weight loss. BUMMER... so what was the problem...

Here is what I decided. I put my nightly glass of wine back into the routine. When Blunoz was at SCC, deployment and geobacheloring it, I had a huge successful weight loss. But every night I had a glass of wine and a small snack after I put the boys to bed. This is something I had not been doing on a regular bases with Blunoz home.

So this week I put that back in on a nightly bases. Results... 1.5 lbs down. Hmm, is the Secret really wine? Are there any studies out there saying that is the key, or maybe that is why the French are really skinny.

Okay so I had to google "wine weight loss" and wow, there was actually an article in a 2006 Prevention Magazine saying I may be right. Hmmm... I guess I need to go buy more wine. :-)

On a side note about WW Online, one thing I always thought it was lacking was a place to record your measurements and watch those go down. Today as I was entering me weight, I saw that they have added that in. So today I measured, I sure hope to watch my waist measurement go down. :-)

Thankful Thursday

Wow, is it Thursday already? Where has the week gone?

Today I stop to think about what I am thankful for...

• a child who loves to read (out loud to his brother and quietly to himself).

• safe travels for Blunoz as he went half way around the world and back in about 54 hours.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

I have noticed a trend with some of the blogs I read..."Thankful Thursday". This is something I should get into, taking a moment to think about the wonderful things of life.

So today, even though the North Koreans did some cyber sabotage and damaged Verizon FIOS and my internet has been sporadic at best. I am still thankful for the internet and the phone. More specifically, Webkinz.

I have been sitting here for quite awhile (I don't want to think about how long) watching and listening to my boys play with one of their best friends (also seen here, and here and many other places). The thing is, he is now in San Diego and we are in Northern Virginia. There has been lots of giggling, laughing, singing (and yes some whining) as they have been playing games such as Dogbeard Battles (Battleship), Bowling and Webkinz Supermodels while on the phone.

Thank you to unlimited long distance, Webkinz and the Internet for allowing my boys to stay connected with their friends, even when we live thousands of miles from each other!