Thankful Saturday in the Snow!!!

For Today:

Outside My Window: Well......you know! Snow, Snow Snow!!! I'm sitting at the computer and from here I can look to the left and see out the front picture window. Look to the right and see out the den window to the back yard. It's soooo pretty!! Rethinking that picnic outside today though, it's wayyy too cold!

I am thinking: about all the plans I have for today. Finishing this blog, cooking, cleaning. Would love to have a day of lounging around on the sofa in my pj's, but I just can't make myself do it. Only when I'm sick, and then it kills me not to work (especially on eBay!!!!)

I am thankful for: The beautiful snow and the fact that I DON'T have to go out in it!! My wonderful hubby, who ran around with me all day yesterday. We needed a day together to just do "whatever", and it was great!!! All the sales I've had recently on eBay. God still provides!! My hubby is doing the laundry while I'm blogging, and he cleaned the bathroom this week!!!! He is sooo awesome! I'm thankful he sees when I'm overwhelmed, and helps out without being asked!

From the Kitchen: Well, just finished French toast and sausage. Gonna make Egg Salad and Tuna Salad later. Then steak and baked potatoes for dinner, Sarah's request. Maybe homemade bread, and either Brownies or Williamsburg bread!!

I am hoping: things are not as bleak with eBay as I've been seeing lately. For those of you who didn't see on Facebook, eBay has "decreased" their fees (that's how they sold it to us anyway), which is gonna cost me an extra $42 dollars a month, unless my listings get more exposure and therefore more sales come April. We'll see, I'll give it a month or two before I really start complaining!! Robert Lee is jumping ship though, moving on to another selling site. Can't wait to see how he does so I can possibly move some of my inventory over too!!

I am reading: Love is a Decision (awesome!!), A Home that says Welcome, online devotionals, The Bible.

I am creating: I'm TRYING to create an orderly home with help from the FLYLADY, but so far, I only read the e-mails and think I'll get to it later. It's kinda hard to do when you have inventory AND your son's bedroom in the living room. But, things are coming along. We picked up Bobby's floor yesterday, and the sheet rock primer. Can't wait to get that room put back together and get my living room back!!!! Also creating another ebay strategy of course. Selling off everything that is not jeans or new bathing suits. Gotta get the inventory under control so I can put the jeans outside and get ready to remodel my living room (ok, might be a year away, but a girls gotta dream!!)!!!

I am praying: to keep my sanity in the chaos!

I am hearing: Bobby just came home, boy his truck looks pretty in the snow, lol!!! All the animals are soooo happy to see him!!

One of my favorite things: SNOW!!!! Today anyway. When I'm ready to go somewhere and can't, it won't be so great anymore!!! Also, the new friends I've found and that have found me on Facebook that have SB or kids with SB. I've gotten lots of great info and even found some going through the same thing Sarah just went through. It's awesome to connect with people who understand and have advice to give!!

Around the house: Sarah's still snug as a bug in her bed, Bobby's home and in the shower, Rob's doing laundry, I'm blogging, and Reb's and Mitzi are being extremely lazy as usual! Other than that, not a whole lot!!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Sarah has a Drs. appt in Richmond on Tuesday, maybe!!! Depends on how the roads look. Otherwise, just the same old same old (which is GOOD!!).

Here is the picture I am sharing:

Candy Love Note from my hubby last year!!!!
He's so romantical!!

The boys asleep in THEIR bed, lol!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Gaskins

Congrats you guys, the wedding was beautiful!!

That's all for now folks! Remember: Your words are a window to your heart, so speak words of kindness today and share the love of Jesus!!

...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Matthew. 12:34b

Thankful Thursday!

What a week! I don't usually say this, but I'm glad it is almost over. I have so much to be thankful for, but this week I've let the little things really get me down, and I'm ready for a change of attitude and scenery. Looking foward to my cousin's daughter's wedding on Saturday. That will get us out of town and away from the chaos of this crazy house for a while!

They have given me a job to do at this wedding. Serve Punch. Jack says that because of my ability to serve some pretty crappy dinners, he would keep me away from the food, but he thinks he can trust me with punch. Oh boy, just wait till you see how I can screw up a bowl of punch, lol!!!! Don't say I didn't warn ya.....Just kidding Kim!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm honored to help and can't wait to see these two love birds tie the knot!!!!!! Will you be posting a Facebook status update from the alter? Just wondering, lol!!

I don't like to complain, especially because my hubby is working sooo hard to get this house finished, but I'm really feeling overwhelmed by all the EXTRA clutter and mess right now. Bobby's bedroom is in the living room along with all of the eBay stuff, and Sarah's doing good to be able to squeeze through a tiny path to make her way to the kitchen!! I know that this too shall pass, and I keep trying to remind myself of that. All I know is I NEVER want to undergo another BIG project in this house as long as I live. New paint and furniture will do me just fine from here on out, lol!!!! Ok, enough about that, I don't want to get all blahhh again, let's move on!!

Since the last time I blogged:

Bobby got his job back at Great Dane!!!! Yay, another glorious miracle from our Lord and Saviour! One whole year we prayed about that job, fussed about that job, and almost gave up on that job but God is faithful!!!!!! He got his insurance reinstated right away, and he's back with his bestest friend!!! Now if Brandon would just stop trying to convince Bobby to move in with him, we'd be all set!!!!! Doesn't that boy know just how close Bobby is to FINALLY having a GREAT big bedroom?????? I don't think he's going anywhere for a while, lol!!!!!!

Sarah got final clearance from her last doctor, the plastic surgeon. He said NO MORE SURGERY! Thank you thank you thank you Lord!!!! He also said we should go to him for pressure sores and not mess around with PCP's who have no idea how to treat them in most cases. Thank you Lord again. That was what we were talking about on the way to her appointment. Wondering who we were supposed to go to now, not wanting to go to the PCP, and never even thinking it would be him!!!!!

Rob and I have starting attending the Lifetime Covenant Marriage classes at Church. They are AWESOME!!! Mark and Catherine do a great job! So far we've played with Playdough, watched Barney and Andy Griffith, and wrote our mates a love letter!!!! Oh what fun!! Here's a plug: If you want a FUN and life changing experience with your mate, head on over to the Enon Church of God on Sundays at 5:00. It's open to anyone, and it's very casual, laid back, fun and informative!!!!

Jeez Rebel, I coulda went all day without smelling that!!!! You made me lose my train of thought............anyhoo

Bobby's room is looking amazing, and I'm so thankful that Rob has been able to take lots of time off this week to work on it! The drywall is up, the old carpet is up, new doors are in, now we just have to pick out his wood floor, which we haven't been able to agree on yet!! We also don't agree on room color. I want taupe cause I think it would look awesome with all his camo bedding, but he wants white, and alas it is HIS room Crystal, so put your big girl panties on and deal with it!!!!!

As far as my resolutions go, oh don't even go there!!!! Stress eating has been my friend this week. Yes, I know exercise is a great stress reliever, but trying to find my gazelle in all the clutter is even more stressful, so..........I really need to work on getting the clutter out. The bad thing is Mom and I are cleaning out and storing things up for a yard sale in the spring. That means more clutter until the sale, grrrrrr!!!!!!! It never seems to end. Why do I keep going back to this? I guess this is my ugly cross to bear this week!!!!

Let me make a conscious effort to think about what I'm thankful for this week:

My family, who puts up with me through the mood swings.

My wonderful hubby who holds me at night until he's sure I'm okay, cause he says he can't sleep until I am. I love you baby!!!

My mother, who makes life easier by going above and beyond what she's paid to do at my house!! Where would I be without you?????

My Church family, just being in God's house lifts me up! I have a wonderful Church and thank God for the way He's moving among His people!!

My eBay job, even though stressful the last couple of weeks, sales have been steady and great!

That everybody is back to work which gives me some alone time during the day. I sure did miss that, and it's nice to have it back, even if I'm still just working while they're gone!!!

That Bobby came back to Church Sunday!!! For the longest time there was not much there for kids his age, but that's starting to change, and I'm thankful he honored God for answering his prayer about the job by coming back!!!

Oh my, look at the time! Gotta run take Sarah to work now. I have sooo much more to be thankful for, but I'll stop for now!

Take time today to count your blessings! It really does help to bring you out of the blues when you think about all you have been blessed with instead of what you don't have for a change! And don't forget to pray for the people of Haiti, and help out if you can! God called us to service for others ya know :-)

Love and Joy to you!!!!!!

Crystal :-)

New Year, New Resolutions!!!!!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started blogging! Well, almost. That first blog took me 2 weeks to finish, so next week it will be a whole year!

So much has happened in that year, and if it’s not in the blog, it’s splattered across Facebook! For somebody who doesn’t like to talk (really, I’m not kidding!), I never thought I could ever say so much! That first blog talked about my New Years Resolutions, so I want to go back and revisit all those great intentions I had and see how well I did. Pfft, okay, see how miserably I failed is more like it!!

The BIG THREE resolutions were weight loss of course, get better at eBay, and improve my prayer life/Bible study habits. Last January, I complained about gaining all but 7 pounds of the 30 pounds I had lost in 2005. Well…….now I’ve gained all but 5 pounds back. On the bright side, I only gained 2 pounds this year!!! Honestly, I gained more, lost more, and evened out at gaining 2 pounds for the year. Last year I wanted to lose 20 pounds by the time our Campground opened so I wouldn’t be miserable in my tight clothes. Okay, I’m keeping this resolution for this year, and I already know that I will make it this time! How’s that for determination?????? I’ll also add that I want to start exercising regularly again this year. Last year I only did it sporadically.

Ok, enough about weight. The next resolution was about eBay. I did pretty good with this one. I managed to finally figure out a strategy that works for me, and business has been excellent lately, but on the down side…..my house still looks like a warehouse, and Bobby says I CANNOT use his new big room for storage! How rude……. :-D

The last resolution was to improve my prayer life and Bible study. This is the one I am most thankful for and proud of. I was able to do this, thanks in part to reading the Bible every day on the computer. Rob and I also started doing nightly devotions together and praying together before he leaves for work in the morning. All these things have brought us closer together and closer to the Lord this year. Which is good, because this has been one of the toughest years we’ve had in a long time. I can’t imagine how stressful it would have been if we hadn’t been united by prayer and God’s promises to see us through!

Here is my list of Resolutions for this year, and it‘s a LONG one. I’ve posted them, so now all of you will help to keep me accountable, right??? RIGHT??????

Health:

• To cut WAYYY down on sugar and carbs and save them for special occasions, like going out to eat.

• To only drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning, and replace the rest with hot green tea.

• To eat LOTS more veggies and fruits, cause if I had my way, the only veggie I would get would be in ketchup!!!

• To eat one pro-biotic yogurt a day, cause Dr. Oz told me to!

• To eat more low fat protein.

• To exercise at least ½ hour 5 days a week.

Well, so far so good. I’ve managed to lose 2-½ pounds and exercise twice this week.

Home:

• To reduce the clutter in this house!!!!!!

• To use up the groceries I have before I have to throw them away. Hoping to get much better at this cause it makes me sick to throw away good money I coulda used for a new outfit, lol!!!!!!

• To only buy the best of the best of jeans and list them on eBay. That will help me to not spend as much time working, but still make a good profit!!

• To work on getting my living room back in order, and get eBay out of here. My goal is to have new furniture and maybe (?) new flooring by next Christmas, if my furniture will hold out that long. I’m serious, it’s REALLY REALLY bad!!!

Ummm, well…….right now Bobby’s bed is in the living room and it’s so cluttered with his stuff and eBay that I can’t find a thing, but Rob’s working hard as he can on getting Bobs room done in between working 10 hour days. It’ll get there, I have faith!!!!!!!!!!!!

Personal:

• I plan to spend more time on taking care of me, and I started by finally removing the toenail polish I’ve had on since Summer. Hey, that’s a great start, dontcha think!!!

Spiritual:

• To spend more time reading God’s word and actually studying what I read. I bought a great book to help me with that, it’s called “The Bible for Dummies”. STOP LAUGHING, THAT’S NOT NICE!!!!! GO TO YOUR NAUGHTY CORNER!!! Even that book makes me feel like a Dummy, but at least I WANT to learn, that’s gotta count for something!!!

• To continue doing nightly devotionals and reading great relationship building books with my sweetie. That time together is precious, and it we need it to help us recharge after some grueling days.

• To put into action some plans Rob and I have talked about concerning ministry to others.

Well…..geez, once again, there’s a slight problem. I’ve misplaced my Dummy book, the last time I saw it was when Sarah was in the hospital. I hope I didn’t leave it there. But I plan to get right on that as soon as it shows up! In the meantime, I’ve subscribed to four daily devotionals online, so I’ll keep up with that for now.

I guess that’s all for now. I know it’s Thankful Thursday and this wasn’t really a “Thankful” blog, but in a roundabout way it is. I’m thankful for the blessings God poured on us this past year, and I’m thankful for all we will accomplish this coming year with His help! I'm thankful that I was able to keep some of my new years resolutions, and I'm thankful God has given me the desire to keep even more this year!!!!!!!!

My prayer is that everyone reading this will have a much better year in 2010. Of all the posts I read on Facebook, soooo many people had a tough 2009 for one reason or another. I pray that God will bless you and prosper you spiritually, financially, and healthfully (is that a word?).

Below is the reason for much of our prayers:

Bobby keeps us on our toes and on our knees, lol!!!!
I'm a little jealous though, looks like it was GREAT FUN!!!!