What to Say?

So, when I decided to start blogging I thought it would be very easy to come up with topics on a daily basis. As you can see, I haven't blogged since Monday. I can't think of anything important to say this week for some reason. So, I decided to just start rambling and see what happens...

Rambling 1...
I spent 5 hours yesterday cleaning my house top to bottom. All of this was done in anticipation of a showing scheduled yesterday afternoon. Of course, whoever came to look at the house didn't even take one of the color flyers off the counter. But at least the house is spotless and will be much easier to maintain.

Rambling 2...
Conference calls. Why is it that just sitting on a conference call and listening to other people talk is so exhausting? I've had 4 or 5 one to two-hour conference calls all week long and I am so tired.

Rambling 3...
When I was on my extended maternity leave with my baby, I started making my own laundry soap as a way to save money and stay on budget. A friend of mine posted a link to a book called Clean House, Clean Planet and also talked about making her own cleaning supplies. So - my copy of the book arrived Monday and I was able to use my own, home-made cleaning products yesterday during my cleaning spree. It was wonderful. I still need to get some oils for fragrance...my floors were a bit vinegary smelling yesterday. If you are at all earth-conscious or budget-conscious then I would highly recommend checking out the book. Its really nice to know that what I'm cleaning the bathtub with won't hurt my daughter later when I put her in the tub! And it was fun to make my own products and then enjoy using them.

Rambling 4...
I need to lose 37 pounds. I had big plans. My 20th high school reunion is in August and I had planned to be slim again for that. However, I get started...loose 5 to 10 pounds...and then gain it back. Most of this weight is baby weight (yes - I know she's 2 now)... and part of it is just from gaining a bit at a time after getting married and quitting smoking. (August will be 4 years!!!!!!) Anyway - then I think about having another baby and what would be the point of loosing a bunch of weight to only gain it back again with another baby? So, at this point I'm thinking I'll just have another baby and then go on a diet to loose all the weight. Its such a battle and I don't seem to have the will power....the will power to NOT eat and the will power to drag myself to the gym each week. I told my husband that I have a gym membership just so I can carry the little tag on my keychain. *let's out long sigh...* You may wonder why I started rambling about this...well a while back I read something on WW regarding motivation. One person said that her WW leader gave them a paperclip for each pound they lost. So I got out the right number of paperclips and linked them all together and put them in two groups - pounds to loose and pounds lost. I look at this everyday on the wall in my office. The paperclips are not moving groups. In fact, I think I need to start back over...I may even need to add a few. :-( I have always been a small person...and I've never had to struggle with weight before. I'm not sure I like this getting older thing...

I guess that's it for Thursday afternoon ramblings...
~Yvette~

What to do when you don't know what to do...

That was the title of the sermon yesterday at church. And, as is the case most of the time - it was a message that I really needed to hear. Chris and I are talking about a few big decisions for our life and our family. I told him, "we just have to pray about these things." The struggle is making sure we hear God's message for us. So when we sat down and I saw the title I was like...wow how appropriate is this since we were just talking about it.

The sermon was based on Pslams 27. I would recommend reading the passage and studying the meaning with the following points from the sermon in mind:

1) Do I Know the Lord? (verses 1-3)
2) Do I Love the Lord? (verses 4-10)
3) Am I Listening to the Lord? (verses 11-14)

We were reminded that if we look to GOD (even in really tough times) we will be OK. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." (The Message)

I think that's hard to remember sometimes. A lot of times when we get really frustrated and upset with circumstances it's easy to get caught up and blame God. Instead of looking to God to bring us through and make us stronger. It's Satan that wants us to worry and complain and loose sight of God.

So, all this to say that I have my answer now. Instead of just making decisions on our own and wondering if we are doing the right thing...I will focus on knowing God, loving God, and listening to God. Then I believe the answers and His will will be clearer to us. I'm sure at times we'll still have trouble discerning His will...but at least now I have clear steps to follow that will keep me going in the right direction.

~Yvette~

Budgets and Groceries...

I don't know about you but we always struggle with staying on budget. One of the big areas where we always go over is groceries. I've asked a few friends what they suggest and one thing I heard was - planning! Given my busy work schedule I've been having a hard time with that. But - I recently found the following site that I think will help a lot. This is pretty easy to use and very inexpensive so I wanted to share with all my family and friends.

http://e-mealz.com/

The have Weight Watcher options, vegetarian options, regular options, etc. And what I like is it is already planned out with a shopping list. Check it out and let me know if you want to join too as they do have a referral program and I would need to get a code.

Another option we do quite often is The Dinner A'Fair. You make 12 meals in 2 hours. The cost is a bit more than it would be if you did all the shopping - but you don't have to do all the shopping. That makes it very nice. The big issue then is just remember to lay out the meals. :-) This is also a fun "girls" night. If you are interested in that - let me know and we could plan a girl's night out.

If you have other helpful tips for staying on the grocery budget - please post and share. I can use all the help I can get.

Also - we heard about the e-Mealz site while listening to Dave Ramsey. If you aren't familiar with him - I would recommend checking out his site too. We are very much on our way to getting gazelle intense with our debt reduction plan!

http://www.daveramsey.com


~Yvette~

Keeping my mouth shut...

You know the saying... "If you don't have anything nice to say then just keep your mouth shut." So - I started this very long topic and then deleted it...as I have nothing nice to say at the moment. I'll just recap the issues at hand...and you'll get the picture.

1) Purse AND car stolen from Mr. Cue's on Chamblee Tucker July of 2006. Car was found 4 days later trashed, burned, wrecked, etc. (Granted - my fault for taking my purse into a bar and not chaining it to my person.)

2) New navigation system install in Expedition months later. Drove to dinner at Discover Mills mall that night. Returned to car at 9:30 and the whole unit had been ripped out of the car.

3) Dash Express (GPS) unit purchased for truck 3 weeks ago. Driver-side door busted in and unit stolen last night IN OUR DRIVEWAY. (Again, our fault for assume our stuff would be safe in our car in our driveway.)

My husband said to me, "I guess I just don't get to keep nice things."

At this point - I'm usually just happy to see the cars in the driveway when I go out each morning. But it's getting to be ridiculous.

Chill-Ville...

Tonight is a women's Bible study at church called Chill-Ville. Several Sunday's ago we saw the pastor and his wife at lunch after church and she mentioned this event to us. I was excited because it wasn't an ongoing lesson - where if you missed one you felt a little behind. So, Chris is going to watch Jessica tonight and I'm going to go. I had wanted to make sure that my friend was going too...but now I've decided I'm going to go anyway. (I'm actually a bit shy in groups when I don't know anyone and am always nervous about going to this type of event by myself.) But I know too that once I get there I will enjoy it and learn a lot.

My hope is that I can get more involved in church and have attending church become the norm instead of the exception. It seems I always let life get in the way. Or I'm constantly telling myself - we'll start next week - there's too much going on this weekend. Or, we'll be out of town the next weekend so we'll start after that. I know that should not be my attitude and that I need to put God and my faith first. I know that during the times in my life when that was the case - everything was better. Not always easier...but easier to handle. And I was happier. I guess the question for me now is...how do you get that back when it feels like its an eternity away? I hope I'm making the first steps by going to church more regularly and starting this women's Bible group/night.

~Yvette~

Finally the Cupcakes...

In addition to being inspired to start my own blog based on Heather's daily blogging... I also finally broke down yesterday and made some cupcakes. Heather is obsessed with cupcakes and is always talking about them in her posts. She puts up wonderful pictures of the ones she makes and they make my mouth water just looking at them. After weeks of reading about her cupcakes I couldn't resist any longer. I looked up the recipe she mentioned, bought the ingrediants, got one new muffin pan, and for the first time ever made the batter and the icing from scratch. Well...all I can say is Yummy. However, I cooked them a bit too long and the icing is not quite the right consistency. I think I'll just have to make more and continue to perfect them as I practice. The icing is basically pure sugar - which is a bit too much for me. I'll have to see if I can find some alternate recipes for a frosting not so rich. They are better today than they were last night as the icing has "set."

Getting ready to make the cupcakes with a great assistant...



The first attempt at completely home-made cupcakes...



And finally...what makes all the mess worth while...

The very first blog...

Well...I've always thought of keeping a journal and have even given it a try from time to time. Being as I'm on the computer all the time - I've also thought of an electronic version. So I've been inspired by reading some of my friend's blogs (Heather and Yazmin) and have finally decided to give it a try. I'm not sure I'll be able to post daily as I see she does - but I'm going to try. It will probably be boring thoughts that will be of no interest to anyone else - but I'll be able to say I'm finally doing some journaling.

I'm sure some of my topics in the future will be related to being a wife and a mother; as well as being a stuggling Christian. There will probably be some other topics regarding friends, family, work, hobbies, and other every day stuff.