7 Reasons Why I LOVE MIA Board Meetings

Have you ever been to a bored meeting... I mean board meeting? Well, if you have and you were bored that is totally understandable. Most board meeting are a snooze fest but let me let you in on a little secret. Moms In Action board meetings are almost my favorite things to go to. Sonic, the Caribbean, and amusement parks are my top three but MIA board meetings are forth for sure.

First, the leader TCC is a riot and always knows how to have fun but yet we still have order and get things accomplished.

Second, the other ladies ( Promises, Hands Free, Thrills, Classic, Christine, Say Anything, Don't Make Us, and Tammi) are truly a fun mixed group. I can't even begin to tell you how much I have grown to love these women. They are all different but yet put them in a room together and the mesh like mash potatoes.

Third, I laugh so much that I burn enough calories to eat as much cake the next day as I want. And who doesn't like burning calories and eating cake?

Forth, We eat a pregnant lady's dream snack... chocolate pudding, cheese and apples. It is the perfect match... Dessert, Dairy and Fruit!!!

Fifth, You get a night off from the kids... enough said.

sixth, You get to make crafts sometimes... not really my thing but the other ladies are fantastic at it.

seventh, Do I even need to continue on...

Let me just add that if you ever feel like God is calling you to the MIA team, you will not be bored or disappointed. I love being a part of it and hope they don't kick me off any time soon! hee hee

Embracing the "New"

1Co 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--


I was pondering this today well actually this morning because I feel as though the Lord is moving us into new places. With new places comes new things. "New" can be scary but if you walk by faith then you lean on the Lord and not your own ability. I certainly don't want to try to do anything on my own even though at times I feel as though I take the reins from the Lord. I have to learn to give them back and trust he can steer me better than I can.

New can look different to us and so we tend to judge new. But what would happen if we embraced new and instead of judging and took it before the Lord to prove it right? I know I am guilty of searching the scriptures to find fault rather than searching to find truth in the new. I want to be able to move past that and say just because I've never seen or heard that before doesn't mean it isn't from you Lord.

I have to be honest with you and tell you that I have made judgment on many people at my church because they were doing something new. I've had to repent many times because you know God has a sense of humor and starts using the new on me. All of a sudden the very thing I thought was the devil is actually the Lord revealing Himself in a new way. OOOPPS!

I feel as though a big change is on the way and I want my heart to be in the right place when it comes. "I don't want to be an expert in the old but a novice in the new." (quote from Pastor Dave)

Hair Help!!!!!

Please help me... I am in dire need of a hair cut and I am lost right now. I don't have a regular hairdresser I go to. I have been trying different people out but I'm not really sold on any of them. I don't want to pay too much but I don't want my hair to suffer because I am too cheap to go to someone who is actually good at cutting hair. I want someone young enough to give me a modern cut but not someone right out of beauty school. The last cut I got was awful and I will never go back there again. I won't mention any names just in case someone might know her. Let me add that she does amazing color just find someone else for the cut. Anywho, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. My hair will thank you! Oh and while your at it, if you have any suggestions on how to cut my hair, I'm open to anything!

Friend

I have this friend who is like no other friend I've ever had. She amazes me almost everyday. There is so much about her I would like to share but i am having a hard time deciding where to start.

I met her in June 2006 and only had a few weeks to be around her before I left for maternity leave. But, when I came back 2 months later I wanted to get to know her. It didn't take long before I called her friend and soon after that she was my sister from a different mister. I loved being around her so much that I felt like a stalker but she had something I didn't have and I wanted it. She had and still has a peace about her that calms the toughest storms. And an acceptance of those she comes in contact with. She might not always agree with you but she never judges you. I try to be like that but fail a lot of the time.

No matter what you go through she is always there for you even if she has never walked through it before. It just seems that her attitude is positive even when she faces difficult tasks or difficult people. I don't think I've ever heard her bad mouth anyone although she has had to listen to me go on and on about how I was done wrong by someone. I love her heart and how pure it remains because she chooses to keep it that way. When I ask her to pray for me I know in my heart that she will take it before the Lord and stand with me.

I hesitate to tell you who it is because I know she will think I am silly for edifying her this way but I am going to anyway. Her name is Nomi and I am blessed to be called her friend. If you don't have a friend like this or if you don't know her, you need to get to... trust me you won't regret it.

60 facts about me you probably don't want to know!

First let me apologize for my last post because that is not something I would usually post about but I needed a filler because I couldn't post 59 things about myself... it HAD to be an even number. So, because I really couldn't think of 100 things about me and even struggled with 60 I thought I would spare you 40 useless details of my life. Enjoy!

1. I love being a mommy
2. I married my best friend and I love being his wife.
3. I hate any fruit that is a berry (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry)
4. I love all veggies!
5. I love action movies, murder mysteries & romantic comedies
6. Every time I bend my thumbs they crack
7. I have moved 14 times and I am NOT a military child.
8. I love laughing… it’s one of my favorite things to do.
9. I love water…I can swim anywhere… and I mean anywhere!
10. My dream home would be on a huge lake with a boat slip and dock, with mountains in the background
11. Since becoming a mother I no longer like having pets…sorry all you animal lovers.
12. I have to have coffee, unless you want to meet the beast inside me that only comes out when she’s not fed her caffeine.
13. I love free stuff, no matter what it is.
14. I love to bargain shop.
15. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister
16. I am the oldest of 4 children…therefore I am the boss. LOL
17. I was very bossy growing up… what can I say, I was born a leader. At least that’s my excuse.
18. I was saved when I was 8 years old… 8 days after my youngest brother was born.
19. I laugh the hardest when I’m with my sister… we are funny together.
20. My favorite color is green, not a dark green but a sage green.
21. I have owned 5 vehicles in my life so far (85 Nissan Sentra, 92 VW Jetta, 99 VW Jetta, 00 Jeep Cherokee, 03 Saturn L200) In that order
22. My husband took me horse back riding before he proposed to me. We wanted to go back for our 1-year anniversary but the place closed down.
23. I love planning parties!
24. I hate talking on the phone… I like to see the person I’m talking to.
25. I can’t sing at all but took voice lessons.
26. I love to sing while I am taking a bath… not in the shower.
27. I loved giving birth!
28. I have this horrible habit of biting my tongue or the inside of my cheek.
29. I have the smallest bladder on Earth. I seriously pee way too much.
30. My maid of honor lives in the woods and is a naturalist. She used to be like me then after college she met a guy and things went to the woods!
31. I hate shaving my legs but for the sake of others I do.
32. I love change.
33. I let my husband name our first child because he wanted a girl and I wanted a boy, and we had a girl. He did a great job!
34. I love helping my husband do projects around the house but he rarely lets me because I talk too much.
35. I love talking unless I’m in a bad mood or tired.
36. I used to work for an ear doctor...I hate hairy ears!
37. I can belch really loud.
38. I really don’t look good in the color purple.
39. I sometimes wish I could have been born with flawless skin so I wouldn’t have to wear makeup. Ok, I lied I always wish that!
40. I am addicted to food!
41. I seriously love eating food!
42. I have to eat all the small chips first and then the big ones.
43. I hate drinking water
44. I am running out of things about me…
45. I once peed myself laughing while stuck in a tree
46. I blow my nose 12-25 times a day
47. I wash my hands about 36 times a day… I am not a germ-a-phobe… I pee a lot
48. I had colon surgery but was told that they were removing my appendix so imagine my surprise when I woke up and realized my appendix was in my gut.
49. I will be 30 in 2 years… and I am looking forward to it!
50. Right now I am planning 3 baby showers
51. I rock at cartwheels unless I’m pregnant… do NOT try that!
52. Kids love jumping with me on the trampoline.
53. I am going gray at the tender age of 28
54. I have a silverware fetish… I stand and examine the fork or spoon to see if I will like using it. Weird I know but I can’t stop. It helps when people own all the same set cause then I’m ok.
55. I have a bad memory
56. I honestly think I have the smelliest feet on earth… ask my husband, he agrees with that statement.
57. I hate answering the phones and even though I may sound happy I am thoroughly annoyed inside.
58. I have no patience when I drive unless someone else is in the car that I don’t know very well.
59. I love throw blankets (especially the soft fuzzy ones) but Mr. Clean only allows me to have 3 at a time.
60. I really don't like to blog most days but really enjoy reading all your blogs because you are good at it.

Fun Stuff

Make Your Own Crayons

(Courtesy of "Ripples" newsletter - produced by SCARCE for the DuPage County Environmental Education Program)

This project is a great way to recycle your broken crayons. You can do this for fun, or you can make gifts for your friend or a favorite teacher. Please ask your parent or other responsible adult to help you with the project, as it involves handling very hot materials.

What you will need:

• Old and broken crayons
• Mold (you can use any shape you like)
• Crock pot
• Spoon to ladle melted crayon wax
• Needle and thread (optional)

Remove the wrappers from the old crayon stubs, and sort by color. Then place the stubs into the crock-pot, set at "high." Stir; heat until melted; reset heat to "low." Spoon liquid into crayon molds. Let them cool and harden - and you have new crayons! Color a box or a coffee tin, and put your crayons in it. A box-full of homemade crayons makes a nice, useful gift. You may wish to include a mold and these directions.

To create a colorful holiday ornament, pierce a still-warm crayon with a threaded needle, or heat needle before piercing it through a cooled crayon. Remember to use a strong enough thread to make a looped hanger.

What great gifts - for teachers, for kids, and for the environment! A happy planet is a clean planet!

Baby Noah

I hesitated to post this much personal information but decided that Baby Noah needs prayer and I have never been the kind of person to keep things personal unless need be. My life is pretty much an open book and I like it that way. With all that said...

My doctor called to let me know that there were some abnormal readings on the ultrasound. One, they found his Kidneys to be enlarged but my doctor was not too concerned with this because boys usually have larger kidneys but just to be safe they will do a another ultrasound in 6 weeks. The second thing they found were choroid plexus cyst in the brain which are common in babies with genetic abnormalities. He did stress that there is only a 1 in 500 risk and that the cyst do not actually sit in the brain, they are in the ventricles. Please pray that God will heal Noah completely and that when we go in for our second ultrasound on February 8th that the report shoes no sign of any cysts or enlarged kidneys and that he is 100% healthy.

Mr. Clean and I are praying that Noah's healing will be a testimony to those who hear it. We are standing and believing that God CAN and WILL heal him! I know some of my family don't know the Lord but we asked them to pray because we want them to witness a miracle. So ladies (all 5 of you who read this) please pray for our baby Noah and his parents. We feel like the Lord has blanketed us with His peace but we also know that sometimes we still struggle with fear. I do have to tell you that I am really excited about the ultrasound in February and can't wait to share with you the results!