Eddie called from work this morning (Praise the Lord he still has a job!) saying his boss told him to keep doing what he was doing, that he would be ok for now. We don't know how long that is going to last but for now we're Thankful!!! In the meantime, we're going to be using our time wisely & still downsize!
Another Praise is we were able to get a refund for Matthew's "lost books" we had to pay for before we could withdraw him from public school to home school! The check was exactly what our car insurance payment is!!! Hallelujah! We knew it would come when we needed it!
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We are so thankful for my parents & family. Mom has been collecting boxes for us to help us when the time comes to move! We are so Blessed!! Not to mention the fact they are willing to put up with us AGAIN whether it be us living in our camper in their backyard or living in the house with them, if/when it comes down to our move.
Another Blessing in our life is our dear friend Ashley who I've known since she was about 5 years old. She's the greatest! She's helping us get a great deal on a Christmas gift & took some sweet pictures of us. I can't show them too much because some of the pictures are going to be for Christmas gifts! We're frugal this year for sure!!
Well, Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Something is coming...
We don't know what, when, where or how but we know things are happening for a reason. I got "downstaffed" again which means no work, therefore no pay...I haven't worked in a couple weeks. Normally, the lack of a paycheck at all is rather scarey. We are at Peace about it because we know the Lord is taking care of us. I do have an interview tomorrow with a home health company that specializes in kids. I was supposed to work tonight & then go for the interview tomorrow. Then the lady I'm interviewing with called me to say we could meet earlier if it was ok with me. Then I got downstaffed. Hopefully this is going to be a good thing!
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Eddie went & checked the mail & brought in an envelope that had a letter in it with the amount I had in "retirement" from when I worked as a school nurse. I didn't even know there was anything really invested that I could get out...I called & the man I talked to was so nice & said it wasn't hard to do, offered me several options, etc. It's not a huge amount but it will be a Blessing to have, hopefully won't be a big enough amount to affect our taxes next year, cuz ya know Uncle Sam is going to get "his". It's like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it's taking awhile to get caught up. We're so Thankful for the folks we have to work with when it comes to our "debt". Our landlord is a Christian man who has been wonderful & the place where we bought our van has been gracious & understanding as well. Now if we can get some things paid off altogether, life would be a bit easier. It's happening slowly but we're thankful it's even happening at all!
I got to talk to my precious friend/"sister" in NC today. She's such a "love" & has blossomed into a beautiful Christian woman, mother & wife. I always knew she was a great person & we had so much in common but years ago, I didn't know if she was saved...I should've ventured out to find out but I wasn't as strong as I should've been. She called me one day to tell me she'd been saved!!!!!! What a relief that was!! Unfortunately she's having a rough time in her marriage right now. We got to talk awhile today & we were able to encourage each other. She's such a Blessing to have in my life!!!!!!!
I'm thankful everyday for my dear husband. We will have our 5th year wedding anniversary in February & 7 year anniversary of togetherness in March. I don't tell him enough but I am so Thankful for him, his dedication to our marriage/family, providing for us & now he's taken over the "budget" to lessen some stress & anxiety on my part. It has been nice to not have to deal with it & nice to have an "allowance" to get groceries without the headache that goes along with crunching the numbers. Thank you, Baby! So another thing to be thankful for is he's such a Jack of all trades! I now have more ram in my computer & his self-taught abilities have come in so handy! He's definitely been given talent in so many areas from our wonderful God! We hope to put these talents to use in the near future especially if it's in a foreign country!
I hope whoever reads this has a wonderfully Blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!
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Eddie went & checked the mail & brought in an envelope that had a letter in it with the amount I had in "retirement" from when I worked as a school nurse. I didn't even know there was anything really invested that I could get out...I called & the man I talked to was so nice & said it wasn't hard to do, offered me several options, etc. It's not a huge amount but it will be a Blessing to have, hopefully won't be a big enough amount to affect our taxes next year, cuz ya know Uncle Sam is going to get "his". It's like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it's taking awhile to get caught up. We're so Thankful for the folks we have to work with when it comes to our "debt". Our landlord is a Christian man who has been wonderful & the place where we bought our van has been gracious & understanding as well. Now if we can get some things paid off altogether, life would be a bit easier. It's happening slowly but we're thankful it's even happening at all!
I got to talk to my precious friend/"sister" in NC today. She's such a "love" & has blossomed into a beautiful Christian woman, mother & wife. I always knew she was a great person & we had so much in common but years ago, I didn't know if she was saved...I should've ventured out to find out but I wasn't as strong as I should've been. She called me one day to tell me she'd been saved!!!!!! What a relief that was!! Unfortunately she's having a rough time in her marriage right now. We got to talk awhile today & we were able to encourage each other. She's such a Blessing to have in my life!!!!!!!
I'm thankful everyday for my dear husband. We will have our 5th year wedding anniversary in February & 7 year anniversary of togetherness in March. I don't tell him enough but I am so Thankful for him, his dedication to our marriage/family, providing for us & now he's taken over the "budget" to lessen some stress & anxiety on my part. It has been nice to not have to deal with it & nice to have an "allowance" to get groceries without the headache that goes along with crunching the numbers. Thank you, Baby! So another thing to be thankful for is he's such a Jack of all trades! I now have more ram in my computer & his self-taught abilities have come in so handy! He's definitely been given talent in so many areas from our wonderful God! We hope to put these talents to use in the near future especially if it's in a foreign country!
I hope whoever reads this has a wonderfully Blessed Thanksgiving!!!!!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Our weekend
Each day Eddie still "has to go to work" is a blessing. We're thankful he still has a job at the moment. The "big meeting" is tomorrow so I guess we'll find out more then.
We loaded up 3 toy boxes with some toys & took them to the Salvation Army. Atleast it's one less thing to have on my list of things to do. I've managed to make a list of what we're getting rid of & have plans for alot of it, thank the Lord! There's still alot to do but we'll get it day by day.
Things have been happening gradually whether it is motivation to take care of some stuff, thoughts of how things are going to work out, even feeling led to participate more at my dad's church (in a near town, about 30 minutes away) & then in hopes of not sounding morbid, our single gold fish who's been lingering in his 10 gallon aquarium, finally gave up. It seems like things are falling into place & we are receiving some Guidance. The reason I say that about the fish is I'd been needing to buy some distilled water to add to his tank because with the filter running, it was sounding like a waterfall since the water level was about 2 gals short...It was kind of getting on my nerves, but I knew he wasn't exactly the healthiest of fishies because he had a small "growth" (like a wart) on the side of his head. I figured it was a matter of time. I also hoped we wouldn't have to "find a home" for him if he lingered. I guess that sounds selfish to not want to have to deal with the fish/aquarium during all this. Now it's just a matter of emptying the tank, etc & finding someone who wants it.
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Another thing is feeling led to start helping with my dad's church. We'd been to the church where he is pastor but not regularly since we've had our "own" church that we all love, plus the drive is about 30 minutes away. Tonight I took Matthew & our nephew to dad's church for their Thanksgiving dinner they invited us to. They also had 3 young ladies from Erskine College who are going to Taiwan in December! One girl went to India last year & has felt the "call" into missions since she was in High School. I hope they will come back with stories & pictures! We can't wait to go "somewhere" ourselves! We had a great time & we look forward to being more involved with the church & youth. So we'll see where they need us! There's so many things & feelings that seem like we're getting some confirmation in the direction we're heading...It's really hard to explain but I guess to say we're at Peace about the inevitable lay-off, says ALOT!
On a different note (sort of), we've had the awesome priviledge to hear some more frequent news from our friends in Paraguay! Please check out the link to the Hagermans blog on my blog list!! You can donate to their mission & they could always use your prayers!!!
Oh, as I change my blog background, my dear, sweet husband has to find the time to "fix" what I mess up like the "hide/more" button at the end of the post. So bear with us! =)
We loaded up 3 toy boxes with some toys & took them to the Salvation Army. Atleast it's one less thing to have on my list of things to do. I've managed to make a list of what we're getting rid of & have plans for alot of it, thank the Lord! There's still alot to do but we'll get it day by day.
Things have been happening gradually whether it is motivation to take care of some stuff, thoughts of how things are going to work out, even feeling led to participate more at my dad's church (in a near town, about 30 minutes away) & then in hopes of not sounding morbid, our single gold fish who's been lingering in his 10 gallon aquarium, finally gave up. It seems like things are falling into place & we are receiving some Guidance. The reason I say that about the fish is I'd been needing to buy some distilled water to add to his tank because with the filter running, it was sounding like a waterfall since the water level was about 2 gals short...It was kind of getting on my nerves, but I knew he wasn't exactly the healthiest of fishies because he had a small "growth" (like a wart) on the side of his head. I figured it was a matter of time. I also hoped we wouldn't have to "find a home" for him if he lingered. I guess that sounds selfish to not want to have to deal with the fish/aquarium during all this. Now it's just a matter of emptying the tank, etc & finding someone who wants it.
More...
Another thing is feeling led to start helping with my dad's church. We'd been to the church where he is pastor but not regularly since we've had our "own" church that we all love, plus the drive is about 30 minutes away. Tonight I took Matthew & our nephew to dad's church for their Thanksgiving dinner they invited us to. They also had 3 young ladies from Erskine College who are going to Taiwan in December! One girl went to India last year & has felt the "call" into missions since she was in High School. I hope they will come back with stories & pictures! We can't wait to go "somewhere" ourselves! We had a great time & we look forward to being more involved with the church & youth. So we'll see where they need us! There's so many things & feelings that seem like we're getting some confirmation in the direction we're heading...It's really hard to explain but I guess to say we're at Peace about the inevitable lay-off, says ALOT!
On a different note (sort of), we've had the awesome priviledge to hear some more frequent news from our friends in Paraguay! Please check out the link to the Hagermans blog on my blog list!! You can donate to their mission & they could always use your prayers!!!
Oh, as I change my blog background, my dear, sweet husband has to find the time to "fix" what I mess up like the "hide/more" button at the end of the post. So bear with us! =)
Friday, November 21, 2008
Reality
(This info is from our local paper) "Friday’s lay-off brings the total to 521 jobs lost at Solutia just before the holiday season is set to kick in.
The latest lay-off entails 101 direct Solutia employees and 23 employees who work through contractor Mundy Maintenance and Services." Eddie is employed by Mundy. He's on his way to work now, but we're waiting for the axe to fall. We're not afraid because we have God on our side, a wonderful family & each other.
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Thankfully, Matthew isn't a very "needy" child when it comes down to Christmas. He's getting older & only has one true "want" this year, for that we're thankful. Our main wish as a family is to give to others who have 'nothing', so hopefully we can do more of that than anything. Focusing on the true meaning of Christmas will make it all 'ok'!
Please join us in prayer for all the families affected by this lay-off and especially the economy in general.
The latest lay-off entails 101 direct Solutia employees and 23 employees who work through contractor Mundy Maintenance and Services." Eddie is employed by Mundy. He's on his way to work now, but we're waiting for the axe to fall. We're not afraid because we have God on our side, a wonderful family & each other.
More...
Thankfully, Matthew isn't a very "needy" child when it comes down to Christmas. He's getting older & only has one true "want" this year, for that we're thankful. Our main wish as a family is to give to others who have 'nothing', so hopefully we can do more of that than anything. Focusing on the true meaning of Christmas will make it all 'ok'!
Please join us in prayer for all the families affected by this lay-off and especially the economy in general.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Just a thought...
Have you ever REALLY thought about where you came from, and have you seen where God was molding you to be where you are today?
Eddie & I were talking about that this evening. Eddie has such a great testimony about his past & how God saved him even after all that was in his past. He says I 'saved' him but he knows it was only by Jesus' blood that he was saved. Our life as a couple hasn't been easy in different ways but the Lord has made our hearts strong. Once we married after about 2 years of living together, we could feel an immediate Peace about our relationship. We had fixed what was wrong & became a marriage of 3 instead of 2. Our hearts, dreams, and goals have changed periodically over these last (almost) 7 years.
Have you ever thought about places you've been/lived, encounters you've had, people you've met, things you've done for others or yourself, even if it wasn't pleasant? Do you think any of it helped you get to where you are in life or atleast prepared you for things to come? We both can see times in our lives where God was guiding us thru even when we weren't where we should be with our Christian walk. So even then, He was with us, helping us get to where He had our full attention. It's amazing to us how God could love "even" us in all the things of our past & still "want" to use US to glorify Him.
As a nurse, I've had patients thank me for being NICE to them!! Isn't that absurd?? Aren't nurses & any other medical staff, imparticularly, SUPPOSE to be "nice"?? Can you imagine being at someone else's mercy when you have no control of a situation or are completely dependent on someone else for your everyday needs? What if the type of care you receive is depending what kind of mood someone was in?? Do we 'live', work & play where others can see Jesus in us? When we do, we're helping others! I know we don't all have perfect days but we can all try...
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At this point in our lives, we feel like "something's coming". After all the molding God has been doing to our hearts & lives, we know He's still working on us. We've heard the call to be foster parents...maybe the 2 placements we had were all we're meant to do as foster parents...maybe the kids we had were to help US know how to deal with certain people or situations in our future...Now, that calling has been put on the back burner, really much to our amazement since it's only been a few months.
We found a church home that we all love. We'd talked about wanting to go on a "Missions Trip" & just toyed with the idea of being ready to jump on the next trip planned. Everytime we stepped foot in the door, we were spoken to in one way or another, especially about missions...THEN my dear friend, who is now in Paraguay, had posted on her Myspace about having a blog about their missions future. I just "happened" to go check my Myspace page...I think we know "who" guided me to do that...As I read her blog, I had a feeling I'd never felt before. I can't really explain it but I told Eddie about it. He asked if I was worried about them going or if maybe I was jealous. I told him I didn't feel worried but didn't know if it was so much jealousy. I'd never really entertained the idea of leaving the country to go be a missionary. I just know the feeling I felt was so overwhelmingly 'heavy'. We "teased" about going to South America because it seemed so far fetched for 'us'. We still don't know what the Lord has planned for us but we're now seriously willing.
One of the next changes in our life has been the realization that my dear grandma might "need" us. This made us realize that we aren't deeply rooted where we are right now. We started thinking maybe we needed to start downsizing & preparing. Maybe this realization was God wanting us to be ready, not necessarily 'for' grandma but helping us prepare to do His work...
So here again, "our plans" have changed from dreaming of a little "farm" to call our own to not knowing where we'll be. We feel the experiences we've been thru in our past are going to help us in what's to come. Whether it is interacting with people of another race/culture or helping others learn to raise farm animals as their way of survival...Maybe we're supposed to take our talents to another country & help win others over for God. That's huge!!!
I know this is a long one but I have one more thing. As we're down-sizing & simplifying, we're facing a very possible job lay-off for Eddie, needing to save money, get bills paid off & considering moving out of our home, even if it means living in our camper for a few months. We don't know if this is the next step in leaving for missions or just a restart in saving money to buy a mobile home to call our own, eventually getting some land to build a farm...So our future can go either way. Would you please pray for us as we face the unknown? ONLY God knows what is next & we're 'game' for the ride ahead of us!
Eddie & I were talking about that this evening. Eddie has such a great testimony about his past & how God saved him even after all that was in his past. He says I 'saved' him but he knows it was only by Jesus' blood that he was saved. Our life as a couple hasn't been easy in different ways but the Lord has made our hearts strong. Once we married after about 2 years of living together, we could feel an immediate Peace about our relationship. We had fixed what was wrong & became a marriage of 3 instead of 2. Our hearts, dreams, and goals have changed periodically over these last (almost) 7 years.
Have you ever thought about places you've been/lived, encounters you've had, people you've met, things you've done for others or yourself, even if it wasn't pleasant? Do you think any of it helped you get to where you are in life or atleast prepared you for things to come? We both can see times in our lives where God was guiding us thru even when we weren't where we should be with our Christian walk. So even then, He was with us, helping us get to where He had our full attention. It's amazing to us how God could love "even" us in all the things of our past & still "want" to use US to glorify Him.
As a nurse, I've had patients thank me for being NICE to them!! Isn't that absurd?? Aren't nurses & any other medical staff, imparticularly, SUPPOSE to be "nice"?? Can you imagine being at someone else's mercy when you have no control of a situation or are completely dependent on someone else for your everyday needs? What if the type of care you receive is depending what kind of mood someone was in?? Do we 'live', work & play where others can see Jesus in us? When we do, we're helping others! I know we don't all have perfect days but we can all try...
More...
At this point in our lives, we feel like "something's coming". After all the molding God has been doing to our hearts & lives, we know He's still working on us. We've heard the call to be foster parents...maybe the 2 placements we had were all we're meant to do as foster parents...maybe the kids we had were to help US know how to deal with certain people or situations in our future...Now, that calling has been put on the back burner, really much to our amazement since it's only been a few months.
We found a church home that we all love. We'd talked about wanting to go on a "Missions Trip" & just toyed with the idea of being ready to jump on the next trip planned. Everytime we stepped foot in the door, we were spoken to in one way or another, especially about missions...THEN my dear friend, who is now in Paraguay, had posted on her Myspace about having a blog about their missions future. I just "happened" to go check my Myspace page...I think we know "who" guided me to do that...As I read her blog, I had a feeling I'd never felt before. I can't really explain it but I told Eddie about it. He asked if I was worried about them going or if maybe I was jealous. I told him I didn't feel worried but didn't know if it was so much jealousy. I'd never really entertained the idea of leaving the country to go be a missionary. I just know the feeling I felt was so overwhelmingly 'heavy'. We "teased" about going to South America because it seemed so far fetched for 'us'. We still don't know what the Lord has planned for us but we're now seriously willing.
One of the next changes in our life has been the realization that my dear grandma might "need" us. This made us realize that we aren't deeply rooted where we are right now. We started thinking maybe we needed to start downsizing & preparing. Maybe this realization was God wanting us to be ready, not necessarily 'for' grandma but helping us prepare to do His work...
So here again, "our plans" have changed from dreaming of a little "farm" to call our own to not knowing where we'll be. We feel the experiences we've been thru in our past are going to help us in what's to come. Whether it is interacting with people of another race/culture or helping others learn to raise farm animals as their way of survival...Maybe we're supposed to take our talents to another country & help win others over for God. That's huge!!!
I know this is a long one but I have one more thing. As we're down-sizing & simplifying, we're facing a very possible job lay-off for Eddie, needing to save money, get bills paid off & considering moving out of our home, even if it means living in our camper for a few months. We don't know if this is the next step in leaving for missions or just a restart in saving money to buy a mobile home to call our own, eventually getting some land to build a farm...So our future can go either way. Would you please pray for us as we face the unknown? ONLY God knows what is next & we're 'game' for the ride ahead of us!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Our near future
There's been rumors that our main source of income is in trouble, thanks to the sinking economy. It has become official now that part of Solutia has closed, leaving 300 people out of work. I've seen it on the news happening in other places, not completely surprised it's happening "to us" but hoped it wouldn't. We're expecting the second half to close anytime now, which would officially put Eddie out of work. We'll probably know something by the end of this week. It's kind of scarey but in a way we see it as a possible "next step" towards our future. We still are hearing the call into missions, we don't know where or when but it's still in our thoughts & prayers. This "permanent layoff" may be our solution to pursue another path towards that call, only God knows.
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In the meantime, I felt the nudging to encourage Eddie to call his dad (who he has little contact with) to see if we could get the camper back that we'd given him (when we moved back from Asheville). He was only using it for storage so I don't think we're being indian givers...I hope nobody's offended by that term...I'm not sure where that saying even originated & will make a point to look it up since it's something I've always heard as a child...anyway...He surprised us by saying he would clean it out & let us know when we could come get it!!!! We don't know if we'll have to "live in it" again but it will be an option atleast. We hope to be able to stay where we are for now but we plan to fix what needs to be fixed on the camper to make it livable, just in case.
In the meantime, I'm working on getting rid of stuff...my dear sister got our diningroom table (that we didn't eat at anyway) & a coffee table. So as I'm working on catching up laundry from the weekend of septic tank issues, I'm working on gathering stuff to get rid of.
Please pray for us!!
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In the meantime, I felt the nudging to encourage Eddie to call his dad (who he has little contact with) to see if we could get the camper back that we'd given him (when we moved back from Asheville). He was only using it for storage so I don't think we're being indian givers...I hope nobody's offended by that term...I'm not sure where that saying even originated & will make a point to look it up since it's something I've always heard as a child...anyway...He surprised us by saying he would clean it out & let us know when we could come get it!!!! We don't know if we'll have to "live in it" again but it will be an option atleast. We hope to be able to stay where we are for now but we plan to fix what needs to be fixed on the camper to make it livable, just in case.
In the meantime, I'm working on getting rid of stuff...my dear sister got our diningroom table (that we didn't eat at anyway) & a coffee table. So as I'm working on catching up laundry from the weekend of septic tank issues, I'm working on gathering stuff to get rid of.
Please pray for us!!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Our Saturday
After dealing with some stopped up toilet issues that started out as minor problems, our gracious landlord called these guys to come out & help us. We live in the country so we have the lovely septic tank. We've only been here about 2 years now, so it couldn't have been "all our's" (LOL) but the tank needed emptying. My beloved husband did all he could before having to call the landlord. He even uncovered alot of the tank to see if he could tell what the problem was. The 'guys' were greatful for that!
Well, the men got together & discussed a way to get this big truck thru our yard to get closer to the tank, which is in the back of the house. (It'd been raining off & on for a couple days, Thank the Lord for the rain!) As the driver was backing into the yard to go around the house, you can see what happened...if the pic comes thru. Bless his heart! I missed seeing it sink but Eddie was out there & he said it just sank, plain & simple.
After seeing the big truck wasn't budging, the big red beast came out in hopes of helping. We were praying it would save the day & almost made it. Eddie took the main guy back to their shop to get yet another truck to try pulling out #1. This pic is blurry thanks to my camera that needs replacing so hopefully you'll get the idea...
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THAT truck couldn't get it either...so we didn't feel so bad that the beast couldn't either. The guys ended up saying they would come back Sunday to get it & used the 2nd truck to empty our tank. They got about halfway done & the 2nd trucks suction quit working right...Atleast at that point we were given permission to flush toilets!! YAY!!
They came back Sunday morning around 11 A.M., jacked & blocked up the 1st truck in an attempt to gain some traction out of the hole...FINALLY it was freed! Ended up they used their big, Dodge dually to get 'er out! We all drooled over that big, pretty truck. With the truck finally freed, they finished working on our tank (from the parking pad/driveway)!
We are thankful for our landlord who called these guys to come out! May God Bless them all!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Our camping experience
I had forgotten how tired one can be after camping! I think our "age" is showing now! We had beautiful weather, a cool evening, LOVED the campfire & family time! We went to bed at a decent hour but didn't sleep very well. We had one air mattress that Matthew slept on (that leaked out some air during the night, poor guy). Eddie & I slept on ...twin mattresses from Matthew's bed!!! I forgot my camera or we'd have had pictures of our suburban packed tight! We are not "light packers" even for one night of camping.
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We had a nice supper of hamburgers, chips & baked beans, followed by weinies over the fire & S'MORES! The highlight of our trip plans! It was cooling off nicely so I didn't mind cooking with my cast iron skillet on the gas grill from the Hagermans! (THANKS again, y'all!) Matthew & I had gotten enough wood from my parents' wood pile for one good load. I didn't realize how fast an open fire would burn. It was 6:30p (too early to go to bed) & we really wanted a fire for alittle longer...so we made the trip back into town for more firewood!! (THANKS again, Mom & dad!!!) While we were at her house, we tried to console our German Shepherd who was spending the night with Mema...We now know she has seperation anxiety...She was so happy to see us & caused more grief before our trip was over. Bless her heart. Well in our trek for more firewood, we swapped vehicles at our house, accidently leaving our "goodies" in the suburban (at home). We had put the food stuff away to avoid returning to any wild life who might've been hungry...Well, when we returned with more firewood...we were missing our S'mores ingredients, weinies AND our flashlights!!!! How disappointed we were! I had given Matthew the food bag & the flashlights as we were leaving so "we" accidently left them in the Suburban when we got the van!!! Oh Noooo! Naturally, we HAD to give Matthew a hard time about not transferring our goodies from the suburban...I kept mentioning how 'I sure would like to have a marshmellow'!!!!!!! LOL Poor guy would swat at me or give me 'the look' when I was teasing him. Luckily we had already had one round of them before our fire got too low the first time, so I guess it kept us from being gluttons the rest of the night.
We settled in & even had a family reading time. Eddie & I are both reading the Left Behind series (Eddie's second go-round) and Matthew had a book to read. We had brought a lamp from our bedroom (told ya we were wimpy campers) so we had a light to read by...especially good since we forgot to re-bring the flashlights! LOL It was great family time. I think I heard every leaf fall from the tree above & land on the tent. I was enjoying the quiet of the State Park but just couldn't stay asleep. At first, there were 2 owls hooting at each other. Matthew said that was his favorite sound. But they evidently left...waaah! I didn't realize what a noisey sleeper Matthew was. Between groaning, talking & snoring in his sleep, (& I was right next to him)...I feel like somebody has beat me!
We were going to get up, fry eggs & potatoes & take our time packing up but got the call that our beloved dog was up to no good (again) at my parents house! Ugh! So we had to go round her up & take her home. Eddie & I went back to pack up...
What did we learn??? We now feel more re-oriented to putting up a tent, banking a fire when you have to leave it but want coals to come back to...we need an airmattress for Eddie & me (with a blowup 'headboard' to keep our pillows on the bed!...=)...don't forget the food stuff & flashlights when leaving camp & coming back...don't eat Lentils & rice the night before & then have baked beans the night of camping in a tent with 3 people...LOL!!! Also, we'll have to bring the dogs or have a 'sitter' at our house for the dogs...Ginger just doesn't do well when away from home...
We are so Thankful for a nice get-away, even for just a night...Thankful for our family & extended family...
We ask any readers for prayer for the Hagerman family who are on their way to Paraguay as we speak! They were leaving this morning to be Missionaries. We're slightly envious, taming the green monster...We hope the Lord will prepare us & take us some where we can be of good use for Him & a Blessing to others!
Maybe our camping experiences will prepare us to make due with what we have so we're better acclimated to not sleeping in our nice bed, etc. Use us, Lord!!!
All of this typed after a 2-hour nap...hehe...
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We had a nice supper of hamburgers, chips & baked beans, followed by weinies over the fire & S'MORES! The highlight of our trip plans! It was cooling off nicely so I didn't mind cooking with my cast iron skillet on the gas grill from the Hagermans! (THANKS again, y'all!) Matthew & I had gotten enough wood from my parents' wood pile for one good load. I didn't realize how fast an open fire would burn. It was 6:30p (too early to go to bed) & we really wanted a fire for alittle longer...so we made the trip back into town for more firewood!! (THANKS again, Mom & dad!!!) While we were at her house, we tried to console our German Shepherd who was spending the night with Mema...We now know she has seperation anxiety...She was so happy to see us & caused more grief before our trip was over. Bless her heart. Well in our trek for more firewood, we swapped vehicles at our house, accidently leaving our "goodies" in the suburban (at home). We had put the food stuff away to avoid returning to any wild life who might've been hungry...Well, when we returned with more firewood...we were missing our S'mores ingredients, weinies AND our flashlights!!!! How disappointed we were! I had given Matthew the food bag & the flashlights as we were leaving so "we" accidently left them in the Suburban when we got the van!!! Oh Noooo! Naturally, we HAD to give Matthew a hard time about not transferring our goodies from the suburban...I kept mentioning how 'I sure would like to have a marshmellow'!!!!!!! LOL Poor guy would swat at me or give me 'the look' when I was teasing him. Luckily we had already had one round of them before our fire got too low the first time, so I guess it kept us from being gluttons the rest of the night.
We settled in & even had a family reading time. Eddie & I are both reading the Left Behind series (Eddie's second go-round) and Matthew had a book to read. We had brought a lamp from our bedroom (told ya we were wimpy campers) so we had a light to read by...especially good since we forgot to re-bring the flashlights! LOL It was great family time. I think I heard every leaf fall from the tree above & land on the tent. I was enjoying the quiet of the State Park but just couldn't stay asleep. At first, there were 2 owls hooting at each other. Matthew said that was his favorite sound. But they evidently left...waaah! I didn't realize what a noisey sleeper Matthew was. Between groaning, talking & snoring in his sleep, (& I was right next to him)...I feel like somebody has beat me!
We were going to get up, fry eggs & potatoes & take our time packing up but got the call that our beloved dog was up to no good (again) at my parents house! Ugh! So we had to go round her up & take her home. Eddie & I went back to pack up...
What did we learn??? We now feel more re-oriented to putting up a tent, banking a fire when you have to leave it but want coals to come back to...we need an airmattress for Eddie & me (with a blowup 'headboard' to keep our pillows on the bed!...=)...don't forget the food stuff & flashlights when leaving camp & coming back...don't eat Lentils & rice the night before & then have baked beans the night of camping in a tent with 3 people...LOL!!! Also, we'll have to bring the dogs or have a 'sitter' at our house for the dogs...Ginger just doesn't do well when away from home...
We are so Thankful for a nice get-away, even for just a night...Thankful for our family & extended family...
We ask any readers for prayer for the Hagerman family who are on their way to Paraguay as we speak! They were leaving this morning to be Missionaries. We're slightly envious, taming the green monster...We hope the Lord will prepare us & take us some where we can be of good use for Him & a Blessing to others!
Maybe our camping experiences will prepare us to make due with what we have so we're better acclimated to not sleeping in our nice bed, etc. Use us, Lord!!!
All of this typed after a 2-hour nap...hehe...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Our first mini vacation of the year!
Thanks to Ken & Christie for the tent & all the goodies they included!! Thanking the Lord in advance for some decent weather tomorrow (we pray)!! We're all excited to have the opportunity to go camping! I've pattied up the burgers to grill, bought the supplies to make S'MORES & have the list made of things to pack & do before we leave home for the evening. So...how wimpy are we to plan on taking an air mattress?????? LOL!
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Well on another note, May God Bless America! We're gonna NEED it!! It's scarey to not know what's coming. I'm not usually politically involved like I probably should be. All we can do is PRAY for our country & President!!
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Well on another note, May God Bless America! We're gonna NEED it!! It's scarey to not know what's coming. I'm not usually politically involved like I probably should be. All we can do is PRAY for our country & President!!
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