Boring Old Blogger

As you may have noticed I'm a boring old blogger. I don't post often. I don't post pictures.



Boring old blogger.

**As a side note, I keep typing "blooger" instead of blogger. To me that is quite funny.**

I have been doing so many projects at home. Lot's of "art's and craft's" so to speak, some no-sew projects and very little organizing.

I've become a regular at Goodwill, Salvation Army, Value Village, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, JoAnn's, Michael's, Lowe's and Home Depot.

I've been taking before, during and after shots. My camera is quite full.

Which reminds me, when my cousin (who is now just shy of 10) was quite younger I was taking pictures of him. He came up and said, "Can I see the pictures?" I said, "They're in the camera buddy." He moved the camera around to see the 'screen' - only problem, at the time I refused to have a digital camera. He didn't understand the concept of film. It was so cute.

Anyway, back to my list of excuses...

My goal the last two weekends has been to get the photo's off my camera and on to my computer so I could do some proper posts - so far I have yet to meet my goal.

A guy I work with has a confirmed case of the swine flu and 4 other people are sick (I'm not sure with what). I'm trying so hard to not get sick. Mind you, I don't care what barnyard animal flu it is, I hate being sick. The last couple of mornings I've had a stuffy nose and that is not alright with me. What really gets me is that I work with adults who don't know how to cover their mouths/noses when they cough and sneeze. What's up with that? Isn't that a required skill to graduate from kindergarten?

Ooo, I just found a picture on my computer that I'll share. I was inspired by this post (Still haven't learned the fancy linking method yet)

http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/2009/08/letter-wreath.html

Here's my attempt:

At first I didn't like how poofy and full it was - but it has grown on me so much and now I love it. I keep pulling autumn looking weeds and sticking them in there.

Take Care,

Jenny

Multitude Monday's

This morning I have a verse running through my mind. It was one of the one's my dad always said to me as I was growing up:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Jesus, help me to remember that when life gets tough and the path forward seems scary, bumpy and unclear.

50) Persistence
49) New clothes (my hubby treated me to a bit of a shopping spree this weekend)
48) My glasses, without them the drive into work would have been horrid and I wouldn't have been able to see the basketball game last night
47) Alright, I'll be honest, I'm thankful for my TV
46) Slippers (I have a blister on my toe...)
45) Family and friends who care enough about you to get in your face
44) Lazy weekend's, so needed
43) The Lord's protection
42) The Blazer's won!
41) Free Blazer tickets that include: free parking and free food

Multitude Monday's

Welcome! It's Monday morning. The air is crisp, the tree's are showing off, fall is here!

Here is my list for this week. What is one thing that you're thankful for?

I need to spend more time in prayer - I've only been at the Multitude Monday's thing for 3 weeks now, but it's getting harder to find things I'm thankful for. Seems a bit early in the game so to speak.

40) My relationship with my dad - he's a great guy and we're the best of friends
39) Color's of fall, they are so captivating
38) Washer and Dryer (being without one for 3 years really makes a person appreciate having clean clothes whenever you want them)
37) Living in a free country where worship music and reading the Bible are allowed
36) The Bible
35) Worship Music
34) Popcorn
33) Crisp fall mornings
32) Lazy day's on vacation - the best!
31) Vacation's - had a wonderful time the last 5 days,

Multitude Monday's (a day late)

Yesterday was a perfect example of what happens when I get all wrapped up in myself instead keeping my focus where it needs to be. Yesterday was Multitude Monday and it wasn't even a blip on my radar - didn't even think about it. I was so focused on being grumpy about being an adult that I completely forgot to be thankful. Not good. So, my goal for today is to find at least 1 thing that I'm thankful for about being an adult.

30) Socks (specifically the kind with fun designs on them)
29) Hope. I am so thankful for hope.
28) Presence of mind to not buy one of everything at Michael's (see point #27)
27) 40% - 50% off all Fall decorations at Michael's
26) Being awake early enough to watch the sunrise. It's so cool that God gives us that gift every morning. It reminds me of the verse, "His mercies are new every morning."
25) My husband, he cleaned the kitchen yesterday. What a man!
24) Down comforter's - there is something SO wonderful about being all snugly toasty in bed
23) Vacation (tomorrow through Friday) yeah!
22) As an adult, I get to love on kids and learn from them.
21) Early morning drives to work by myself. Quiet, peaceful, restful.

Take Care,
Jenny

Adulthood

Alright, I have officially entered the age where adulthood is NO LONGER FUN.

Actually that's not entirely true - I was there a few years ago but I didn't have a blog then so I'll share now.

There are things about adulthood that my mean parents never warned me about. Wait, they're not mean they're awesome. Oh, and they did warn me - I simply didn't feel that I would EVER fall into that category.

Here is my list of "cool" things I looked forward to when I was a kid:

• Not having an enforced bedtime
• Not having to follow the rules
• Not having to go to school
• Having a job
• Having my own money (see above item)
• Getting to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted
• Not being forced to do chores
• Not being forced to take naps

Here is reality:

• Staying up too late only results in tired, cranky people the next day with bags under their eyes. Not pretty.
• Strangely even though I no longer live under my parents roof I still have rules to follow
• If I HAD gone to school when I was free to I'd be a nurse right now - making a decent living.
• Having a job isn't as cool as I thought it was - it means you're supposed to be some where kinda' early in the morning and stay there for kinda' a long time. (However, with that being said, I am so blessed to have a job right now in the current economic situtation that America finds itself in - so I'm not really complaining)
• Sure, having my own money is great. But I have a problem - where does it all go? Oh, that's right, bills.
• Getting to eat whatever, whenever - I'm sure it is a great thing - but who's doing the cooking? Oh, thats right, me... :)
• Not being forced to do chorse. Well, that results in a messy house and a "conversation" between husband and wife about who's turn it is to take out the trash and do the dishes.
• I don't have a daily nap time any more. Sad.

All in all:

• I HAD IT GREAT as a kid and I didn't know it - just like mom and dad said
• Hindsight really is 20/20
• NAP TIME should be required at work

I suppose I should have prefaced this post with a warning that I'm cranky today and not really wanting to be an adult - but doing so would have been very adult-like of me and I don't want to. So there. And, you're not the boss of me. And all the other childish things I could say... :)

Jenny (the not so grown up)

P.S. Sorry if I offended anyone with the "you're not the boss of me" statement. My brother and I use to say that to eachother all the time and it's become the family joke.

P.S.S. If there are any children reading this post - please, please, PLEASE, listen to your parents about how good you have it now - you really do. I promise. Also, anytime you're given the oportunity to take a nap - DO NOT PASS IT UP. Trust me.

Friday...

... it's here! In my opinion Friday's can't be ruined. Or, at least, it takes A LOT to ruin a Friday.

Next Wednesday, October 7th, me and the Hubb's are celebrating our 3rd Anniversary. This is honestly a miracle. The first 2 years of our marriage were miserable. But the Lord is FAITHFUL! And I am so thankful!

I feel the need to post a picture or two - liven this place up a bit - I was looking for a wedding picture but I don't seem to have one on this computer. Let me see what I have in my bag of tricks...

Above: Me, Hubb's and the dogs at the beach

Below: Hubb's in his mountain gear, I can't resist this look

The Dog's

Yesterday as I was perusing blog-land I found this cute little blog - sadly I don't remember which blog. Sorry.

The lady had a picture posted of her dog with the title "Every Blog Needs a Dog" and I thought that was great - so I'm stealing her idea. If you know who it is - please give her credit. I firmly believe in giving credit where due - I just wish I remembered.

Anyway, these are my dogs - they are litter mates, brother and sister. The tan and white one is Taz, he's the concerned puppy. He seems to feel that his job is to carry all the worries of the world. It is so sweet and endearing. The black and white one is Ellie and she is the mastermind behind the operation. She is always plotting and planning. Both of them add so much humor and joy to our days.

Do any of you have pets? If so, do you care to share a picture?

Take care,
Jenny

Multitude Monday's

How wonderful to start my week with praising my Savior!

20) Left over paint - that I like (I can refinish a $7.50 Salvation Army chair for free)
19) Early morning drives, I get to see each sunrise now with my new commute, and I love it
18) Cool, crispness in the morning air
17) My job
16) Alright, I'll be honest, I'm thankful for coffee
15) Running water
14) Weekends
13) My car is fixed (thanks to the mechanic, see last Monday's post)
12) FALL, I love this time of year!
11) My husband, he's so understanding and willing to help me (he hung SO many things on the walls for me this weekend)

Missed Opportunity

I've been at my job for over 5 years now; for my company that makes me an "old timer". There is a core group of us who were all hired within a year of each other. We're quite close. We've been to each others kids' games, helped each other move, fixed flat tires in the rain, moved monster TV's and attended weddings. Out of this whole bunch I'm the only Christian. For a while I was hard hearted and didn't consider it my job to proactively 'witness' to these people - I figured my life would be enough. Only thing, I was quite the hypocrite. The last 2'ish years Jesus has worked an absolute miracle in my life. He's shown me that I'm not perfect like I thought I was (that was quite a blow to my pride) and He's also shown me that I can trust Him and go to Him for everything. These lesson's have been hard learned but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

A year ago this November I was in a car accident, our truck was totalled, then I was in physical therapy for 5ish months, then I had about a million doctor's appointments, then we decided it'd be a great time to buy a house, then 6 weeks after we're in our house the transmission on our car breaks, to the tune of $3000.00. That's just MY stuff, that's not even my family's stuff - which we seem to have a lot of (cancer, lost jobs, death, chronic long term illnesses). Anyway, all of that to say, the last year of my life has stressful and challenging. But the Lord has been SO amazing, He has taught me so much and carried me and given me a peace that is beyond amazing and totally complete.

So, back to the work story. Earlier this week when we found out it was going to be $3000 to fix the car one of my co-workers was talking to me (someone who I've prayed for opportunities to share my faith with) and commented on how I've not been fazed by all the "stuff" that's been going on - how I've not been freaking out and how that is so unlike me. My response was, "why stress out?".

"Why stress out?" The Lord opens the door and I decide to walk through it with "why stress out". I couldn't have said, "Why stress out, I know who's in charge and I know that He's got it covered."

I realize that the Lord is sovereign and my co-workers salvation is not dependant on me. I realize that there is grace for my humanness. But, I still feel as if I've lost an opportunity. I've worked with him for 5 years now and I can count on 3 fingers how many times I've had an opportunity to share with him.

Lord - open my mouth and my heart to share YOU with these people that you love so much. Forgive me for letting 'fear of man' overtake 'fear of God.' Amen.

Multitude Monday's (a day late)

I've joined the Gratitude Community (I'm still learning how to link things - see the address at the end of the post). What a wonderful challenge and reminder, to have a heart and mindset of gratitude. Isn't there a quote somewhere that states that attitude is 90% of life? I've gone through a great many season's of negativity and "poor-woe-is-me", why would I ever want to live like that? Why would I ever want to willingly make life harder?

My goal is to update my gratitude list every Monday with at least 10 things I'm thankful for.

And so, I'd like to post a challenge to all my blogging friends - join me. Let's focus on all of the good things in life - these things don't have to all be spiritual - just things we're grateful for.

There have been times in my life when the way out of the darkness was imperceptible to me. This happened to me about a year ago in my marriage - I was certain it was over and I did not see a way out. I knew what the Bible said, and I knew what I had been taught but I didn't know how to live those things. I didn't know if God was going to honor His promise to me to provide for me and protect me. Then, He challenged me to focus on what is true and He showed me this verse. I began to recite this verse over and over, and as I did I began to do what the verse instructed and my whole attitude changed. This verse isn't specifically about being thankful, but (I might be treading dangerously close to taking a verse out of context but I don't think so) I think the heart - the intent - of this verse also includes being grateful. Or maybe being grateful is a byproduct of doing as this verse instructs us to do.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

10) Coffee
9) The reminder to be grateful
8) Mechanics, I'd never be able to fix my car
7) Gas grills - makes dinner in a snap
6) Sunset's
5) Today is the first day of fall, oh how I love fall
4) Knowing, really knowing, that Jesus is my Provider
3) Water to drink
2) Life's hard learned lessons, painful to walk through, but so invaluable
1) My Salvation, where would I be without it


As promised, in lieu of a fancy link - here is the website address:
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2003/06/gratitude-community.html

Take Care,
Jenny

Under Construction

I am working on updating the format of my little blog... if things look catywhompus for a while I apologize. I promise, as soon as I know what "HTML" is and how to edit it and save it, things will look better.

Take Care,
Jenny

Multitude Monday's

60) Scarf's
59) Eyelashes (can you imagine the gunk that would get it your eyes without them?)
58) Toothpaste
57) Tights - wish I had some on now so my legs wouldn't be cold
...Wow, I really don't have any "deep" and "meaningful" things this week, but I'm still thankful...
56) Cold Pizza
55) Revlon ColorStay Lipcolor (stays great and doesn't dry your lips out)
54) Spray Paint (transforms ugly into pretty)
53) Hot Coco
52) Friends who are true friends
51) Honesty

Unexpected Feelings

As mentioned in my earlier post, I am now living in a town that I swore (yes, I swore) I would never live in. I've been here about 5 weeks now and I have learned some very unexpected, and unwelcome, things about myself. I am prejudiced and a snob.

My background. I grew up as a good little white girl who went to church every Sunday and Wednesday. My parent's weren't rich, but my brother and I didn't lack anything. If you ask my mom, she might tell you that when I was a kid I complained that I didn't have all the cool toys like my friends at school, but in hindsight we grew up quite blessed. The rule at home was basically you obey the rules, you do what's right, you follow God and you can basically do what you want. This worked great for my brother and me (not counting sibling squables and fights, of course :)) My whole life I've been a reader (thanks Dad for passing that on!), sadly I read mostly christian romance novels. This reading material encouraged my romantic tendancies. By the time I was 12 or so, I was convinced I was going to become a country doctor (anyone ever watch 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'? I was going to be her.) Anyway, I was going to go live in the Ozark mountains and minister to the poor and needy right here in America. Well, along the way, as us romantics are prone to do, I fell in love with a boy and my dream of being Medicine Woman went out the window. Fastforward a few years, now I am 28, happily married and living in surburbia. The only thing is that this surburbia looks nothing like what I grew up in. I am surrounded by people with mullets (no joke), smokers, drinkers, swearing like sailors, dirty people. (If any of my family members are reading this, I'm sorry if I've offended you - that is not my intent at all).

I don't want to shop in this city, I don't want to socialize in this city, and I certainly don't want to grow where I've been planted in this city. My fear: that I'm going to become one of "them". And yes, in my heart I do mean that exactly as it sounds. Horrible. The Lord, in His incredible wisdome (and humor I might add) gave me a picture the other day. In this picture I was sitting on my porch and He came and sat next to me - he flashed me a picture of the Ozark Mountains and the people who live there - and then He showed me a picture of the people I now find myself living amongst. And He smirked at me. He smirked. There was such gentleness though in His face. Obviously He's right, and I need Him to change this in me. But how does one love swearing, smoking, drinking, mullett wearing people without herself becoming one of them?

On another note, which I so needed to hear from the Lord today. I was thinking of the verse in the Bible about seeing through a glass darkly. And it dawned on me - on the days that I feel the MOST loved by God, what I'm feeling is only a glimmer of His full feelings for me. I only feel His love, and see His love, through a glass darkly. I can't even imagine love more powerful that what took place on Calvary - but if what we see is through a glass darkly then what does the full measure of His love look like? What does if feel like? What happens to us when we experiance it to the fullest?

Open our eye's Lord, clear the fog away so we can see You clearly. Amen.

Tree: Part 2

Afternoon to all my wonderful blog friends... actually I don't have any blog friends yet but I'm sure that one day I will. I thought I'd post a picture of my little tree. Currently it's looking a little sad and quite small. There is such such expectant hope in that little tree. I've planted it, watered it, mulched it, watered it, photographed it, watered it. Did I mention that little tree's require lot's of water at first?

I wonder if that's how God feels about us? I wonder if He thinks: "There's so much potential, so much life - now is she going to grow where I've planted her?" The only hope I have of ever growing is to be watered, daily, by the living water. I could go on and on with this analogy, but I'll spare everyone. I find myself "planted" in a place that I swore I would never live (you know what they say about saying never, right? It's true.) The challenge is to embrace this life that God has given me with all of it's growth opportunities (translation: challenges).

My current challenge is church. About a year ago I was in a car accident - recovery is complete minus the migraines. I now have a daily headache that spikes to migraine level about one a week. When we moved it became clear that commuting to our old church wasn't very conducive to being involved in church life. So we're church shopping for one that's closer to home. Lately my migraines have been happening on the weekend. On one hand that's nice because it means that I don't have to miss work, but on the other hand it means that I spend most of my weekends in bed. Not so fun. Anyway, I don't want to go to a new church and say, "Hi, my name is Jenny. I have a migraine." Then again, if church is about being real, transparent and living life with one another it shouldn't mater to me if I have a migraine. Right? Pride, stupid pride.

My little tree lost a couple of limbs in the process of getting planted yet it is still growing. I wonder if that's what God wants me to do with my headaches and church?

Jenny

P.S. I'm still learning how to blog so things look a bit goofy. Below is a picture of my little tree.

My First Blog...

As the title implies, this is my first blog. Currently there are exactly zero followers. :)

My name is Jenny. I am a Christian, the proud wife of Tyson, owner of 2 cats and 2 dogs, I'm a full time worker and a full-time-first-time homeowner. We just bought our house 1 month ago. Last night we planted our backyard tree. A Red Sunset Maple tree. It's a baby tree, it's growing and strangley it's already teaching me things. Or rather Jesus is using the tree to teach me.

More to follow on the tree and other things as well...

Jenny