Snap,Crackle,Pop

I couldn't ask for better gal pals than these two fine ladies.

I refer to them as my "kelli(y)'s". Cuz they're mine.

I don't think I could have survived this last year without our weekly chatting sessions on the phone.

We all went through a lot of the same life transitions at the same times. The three of us (and our families) all moved within a 3 week period of one another. We split in 3 totally different directions.

But somehow we've gotten closer through the separation. We've laughed hysterically, blubbered uncontrollably, and just talked about whats on the grocery list this week. All over the phone.

We were blessed in December when we all got to meet up in Temple for a whole weekend together. I can't believe I'm just now blogging about it. I really do love ya'll... I swear.

We are doubly blessed that our hubby's are great friends as well. What a God thing. I am amazed that he has put such wonderful people in my life that make me smile every time I think about them. Of course Adom and Gabe (Jeff and Kelli's little boy) love each other as well. Gabe is one of the very few little guy pals that Adom has... it's so much fun to see them play together. And very soon Adom will have another little guy pal cuz Kelly C. is due to have her little boy on March 10th!

They complete me... *cheesy grin*

Seriously though, they bless my socks off.

And that's saying a lot cuz I never wear socks.

rambling...rambling.... Okay I'm done. Good night.

Love,
The Ramblin' WOman

A Proud Moment Indeed

Alright, this was bound to happen sooner or later so I'm going to get it over with.

Collective Soul.

No this is not some spiritual metaphor... it is the most awesomest (yes I said awesomest) band... to me (and Greg).

This band actually brought Greg and I together (well them and God).

We had mutual friends and one evening while chatting the subject came up about music and I mentioned Collective Soul. Ryan gasped. "You like Collective Soul?!"

Little did I know the next day Ryan and April had started planning our arranged marriage. See Greg is equally obsessed with this band. Almost.

It started in the 5th grade for me, this obsession. It allowed me to skip all the teeny bopper stuff. Puke.

One of the best days of my life was when Greg called me up from work one afternoon right after our 2nd anniversary and said, "guess who's gonna be at Stubb's BBQ in Austin?" I said, "what's a Stubbs?" he said, "thats not the point," anyways long story short... Collective Soul.

I think I may have screamed into the phone all I remember is waking up on the floor in our carport. not really. How pathetic would that me? haha *nervous laugh*.

It was so freakin' cool. It was a small audience so we were right up close to them. I had waited since the 5th grade for this moment. This band had a huge part in defining who I am today. Seriously.

And that night I felt like I was in the 5th grade all over again. I was a silly giggly girl who couldn't stop dancing like an idiot... and I totally couldn't have cared less.

Okay so to the point of my story... :)

The other day while listening the above mentioned band in the car I hear Adom in the back seat SINGING ALONG!

I couldn't have been a prouder momma.

Greg also beamed with pride when I shared the wonderful news with him later that day.

If you've never heard any of their music... that makes me very sad indeed.

Apparently...

I'm already the annoying mother...


My 2 year old told me I was annoying today.

While watching the movie "cars" today I was singing along with the opening song (the one by Sheryl Crow) and Adom told me to "stop it".

So I did. For a while...

As I resumed my melody Adom looked at me again and said, "momma stop it, annoying."

To be told this by a child who watches the movie Cars probably 8-10 times a day says a lot about myself.

Of course I chose to ignore him and therefore "annoy" him even more.

And I wonder where he gets his little quirks from...

10 Minutes or less (sort of)

Lately my favorite blogs have been decorating blogs... what with the new house and all. By far my favorite one is The Nester! She is so incredibly creative and she does it on my kind of budget (She's a Dave Ramsey gal too).

I don't have any before photos but it was just a blank wall before. This took a little more than 10 minutes, just because I had to buy the scrap paper and take the time to get up to date pictures in all the frames as well. Plus, having a 2 1/2 yr old boy "helping" me with hanging stuff on the wall is always such a time saver!

It looks kind of blah against the white background... but that'll soon change! This wall will soon be Tobacco Road (The Nester's favorite color by the way).

All of the picture frames were ones I already had. I went to Hobby Lobby earlier this week and bought various black and white scrapbooking paper to add umph to pictures. The plates on the wall were all Goodwill finds!

This is just the beginning of the wall... I will definitely be adding splashes of color in as well. *hint* Orange you glad I did this? heehee!

Reminiscing

This picture totally made me cry last night. In case you didn't know this about me I like to periodically torture me and my poor husband with hours worth of old picture reminiscing. He was so squishy! And he didn't go anywhere very fast. Now I can't even catch the kid. Look at that round squishy head and tummy... oh.

Then I found this picture... it made me cry too.
Ouch.

kooky kid

Yes I have a kooky kid... he never had a chance.

Once in a while Adom and I get to go pick up Greg and have lunch with him. And it's always "chicken & Fwench Fwies" "Chickfiway" .

So about a week ago we were on our way to lunch and out of no where Adom starts hooting like an owl.

Can you guess which restaurant we passed?

I bet you can.
Ah, the joys of the city...

Some would be appalled... us? We laughed our rears off.

The message I was speaking of

http://www.jamesavenue.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=1000006943&file_id=1000008216

Here is the link to the message I was speaking of that we heard at church. The man's name is Matt Bomhoff and he and his wife Sonia are leaders at our church's ministry school. It's kind of long but if you have the time to listen it will bless your socks off!

The Spirit of Poverty

Sometimes telling people about Jesus is meaningless when the abundant life isn't being lived out in front of them. --www.Spiritledwoman.com

I've been meaning to talk about this for a long time but a conversation with my wonderful mother-in-law inspired me to share it with everyone on this blog.

The Spirit of Poverty

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

God has done a lot of stretching in me this last year and one of the major things I've learned from him is that there are so many different seasons in life. Good and Bad. The bad is usually always for teaching purposes :) So... worship Him in good times and in bad, because seasons end, good or bad.

Greg and I made the decision to move a year ago this month. Move from everything and everyone we knew and loved because we felt with every bone in our bodies that this is what God wanted us to do. There have been many times since then that I've questioned if what we were hearing was God. It was.

Being an only child and growing up on ranches in the middle of nowhere my entire life I was accustomed to always being with family. Whether that be my parents or Aunts and Uncles. Then I married Greg... I inherited this wonderful family and friends galore. I experienced for the first time in my life how it felt to have a friend love you back as much as you loved them. That was powerful. So then God tells us, "move to Fort Worth". WHAT?!

You mean I won't be able to just spend the day at Verna's (MIL) anytime I'm feeling bored? I won't be able to pop in at friends house any time I like? Lord, I won't have any friends! You know I crave relationships!

So that's pretty much where I was at. For a long time even after we moved here. Before long though we found an amazing home church and started to feel a little more at home every day.

Then came the revelation one Sunday after hearing a message at church. It was about the Spirit of Poverty and how our tithes were never ours to start with! It was like a light bulb went on in both mine and Greg's spirit. It all just made sense and why the heck had we not thought of it like this before?!

Webster’s Dictionary defines poverty as: Dearth, scarcity or lack, lacking in money or possessions, inadequate.

If the enemy can keep you in bondage to the spirit of poverty, keep you in debt, physically and spiritually barren, then he is able to stop the flow of blessings in your life and keep you from being a blessing to others.

From then out Greg and I felt a desire, not a "ok well I guess I'm supposed to do this", to give back to God's kingdom what was not ours to start with. So we did. And it has been a GOOD season ever since.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

We have also been admirers of Dave Ramsey's for about 3 years now. He has an amazing Financial Peace University that we have gone through and would recommend to any person in any walk of life. It really taught us how to manage our finances in alignment with the Kingdom of God. He teaches you to "live like no one else now so that later we can live like no one else." Learn more on the I'm weirder than you sidebar to the right.

So I felt it was my responsibility to share with you our experiences in this area. We've only scraped the surface and I wanted to share with you the shavings.

A friend explained it well this last weekend. He said, "I want to be able to say to my children's children, I followed and listened to the Lord to the best of my abilities."

Me too.

quick update

We are officially moved into our new home here in Fort Worth! We love it!

We have had a few plumbing issues but God is good and is working all the kinks out for us in his perfect way.

We are up to our eyeballs in boxes needless to say and it seems like we're never going to get unpacked, much less fill this huge house with furniture. I'm sure we'll get there.

There's no way in Toledo that I would post pictures of the house in it's current state even if I could. Which I can't.

Can't find the flippin' cord to download any pictures.

Adom is loving "our new home" as he calls it. The first couple of days he got a little scared when he couldn't find his way around but now he's warming up to it. The back yard is great. Just having a backyard is great! Our neighbors are sooo nice and have lived in the same house next door for 30 years. I see many mornings at their home having coffee at their breakfast table :) I love it!

We also joined Costco... which I LUHV! (I love it that much)

Lot's of work to be done around here but it's gonna be a lot of fun. Thanks for all the prayers sent our way, I know they counted with the big guy!

I might be posting pictures soon... don't hold me to that.