Book Tour- what women want-must own

Okay before I begin, go get this book. Dudes, go get this for your moms, wife, sisters and friends. Its that good! Its sooo good, I am going to recommend our church do this as a small group sometime.. Can you tell I liked it?

This book is one you need to own, not just borrow. I will be reading this again. The ladies have taken my thoughts and written a book about them. There is guest authors through out the book and its just so full of great info!

About the book: From a deeper relationship with God to harmony in the home, from stronger marriages to more satisfying work: Women Want More.

In What Women Want, bestselling author Lisa T. Bergren and Rebecca Price invite readers to thoughtfully consider their soul-deep longings—and pursue God’s best in every area of life. Using in-depth interviews from a national survey and hundreds of personal interviews, biblical narratives, their own personal stories and inspiring quotes, the authors point fellow seekers toward the kind of wholeness God desires, providing lots of fun and inspiration along the way. They explore friendship, how and where to find happiness, health, and more with an eye on physical, emotional, and spiritual matters.

A Bible study, designed for personal or group use and tested with dozens of women’s ministries around the country before publication, is included at the end of each chapter.

Young or old, married or single, with children or without, striving in the workplace or working in the home, readers will resonate with Lisa and Rebecca’s descriptions of the life women crave, and learn how God fulfills the very desires He stirs.

What women want is no secret. But discovering the God who satisfies might just be the adventure of a lifetime.

About the Authors: LISA T. BERGREN is the author of twenty-eight books that have sold many more than she ever believed. She writes a lot from the heart and in whatever category that currently interests her–from gift and children’s books to medieval fiction and Bible studies. She is a wife to Tim, an artist, and mother to three phenomenal children–Olivia, Emma and Jack. The Bergrens live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and worship at Trinity Lutheran Church in Monument. For more specifics on Lisa, see her Web site at http://www.lisatawnbergren.com/.

REBECCA PRICE credits her long career (”Twenty-five years–yikes!) in the Christian publishing industry as providing opportunities to meet and learn from many gifted teachers and authors. She has worked in marketing and executive positions at NavPress, Word, Multnomah and WaterBrook Press. After moving around the country (and to London and back), she returned to her home state, embarked on a business venture with Lisa, and is now a publishing and marketing consultant. Rebecca lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and is actively involved at Fellowship Bible Church.

Buy the book link: http://www.amazon.com/What-Women-Want-Crave-Satisfies/dp/140007245X/

Website Link: http://www.satisfiedheart.com/

CONTEST

Okay enough of my love of the book, of course there is a contest! If you tell them about your sister of the heart and email it to amy@litfusegroup.com you'll get this story published on their blog ( http://www.satisfiedheart.com/blog/) . Okay it gets cooler...the story with the MOST comments will win a copy of this incredible book, a soundtrack of your choice for your 'sister of the heart' AND will be entered to win $15 at Starbucks

Let me know if you participate, I'd be happy to post a comment!!!

another honest one

HI friends.

Laundry is done. I am back on the Weight Watchers Wagon and have been to the gym 3 times this week.

First of all before you read this post, I am in no way depressed, just want to be honest. Sometimes, I get comments about me being so positive and cheerful and most of the time I am but then there are sometimes when I just feel blah!

Sometimes things just weigh on your heart and your head. You dont know why but everything hits you at one time. Sometimes it what we consider good things and sometimes not so good. Last year I realized it was a year of self-awareness. I learned how to be honest with myself and to really talk to God. I saw things that others saw. It was a cool thing and it continues. I know that God has been working in my heart and will continue to do so. I hope that next year I am a totally different person. Well maybe not totally different, but with less fluff and a bigger heart!!!

My biggest weakness is seeking approval. I have done this all my life. I want my friends, coworkers to like me so I do what I need to do to get them to like me. My parents always felt like I was taken advantage of and I am sure to some degree they were right. That has never bothered me. I think I am smart enough to know better now.I am now 33 and have finally realized that the only approval I need is my Heavenly Father's. That's where my focus needs to be on. I just feel like God is looking down sometimes and is saying " My precious child, You've got it all wrong". Anyone else feel like that? I try to protect those who love me. If I think you are hurting a friend or family member, I tend to act before thinking and I warn you, I am not that nice.

I love my God. I consider myself a Christian, although that title immediately causes judgement from others. I love to read the Bible, but I will honestly say I do not know like I should. I can not quote scripture like a lot of people. I wish I could.

Another weakness of mine is jealousy. Many of you know that, I have talked about it before. Its mostly of people who seem to have it all together. I know in my heart and mind, that no one has it all together. If I could figure out how to just simply focus on myself and not on others, I would probably be a lot healthier mentally. Sometimes I wonder why goood things happen to everyone else and not me. Is it because I am not praying enough? Is it because I haven't done anything to work towards those goals? Mind you, I know that God will grant the desires of my heart. In time. In HIS time. You know whats funny? The wait of our adoption has increased and I am still okay with this. Its the other things in life that have me worrying. Poor hubby. He knows I am stressed and I am not sure he knows what to do with me but to love me. Yeah hubby!

Recently I have been kind of sad about some things. I feel like I have lost some friends and I wondered why. Did I do something wrong, perhaps it was me who wasn't a good enough friend? Its a very hurtful feeling to think I have lost so many friends at once. I really don't like this hurt heart feeling. It really sucks .This is where my coworkers would call me a bit paranoid. I panic over friendships. As much as I desire deeper relationships with others, I have not found time to pursue those. Do you have that problem? A couple of years ago, I found a great friend at work. We are still friends but life has changed. She now has 3 kids and although we talk at work and at email, I miss what we had. I can not let life get in the way of developing friendships. I love getting to know people. I love being real with my friends. I love friends who want to get to know me. What I have loved about some of my friends this year, is they actually have known what I have felt and thats pretty cool.

So I am hoping to be a bit more real with my blog.

Then there was last week. Vacation. With Family. On a Disney Cruise. Simply wonderful. It was sooooo nice to put worries behind me and spend time with the people who made me who I am. I once again realized how loved I am!! Yeah for family!


Hoping I get out of this blah feeling soon. Mind you, I still love life. I love laughing and I still love my job, my dog and my house. I love the blogging community. Many of you I have not met, and you have given me sooo much encouragement. I love my church friends. I look forward to what God has in store for the Christopher family. This past year has rocked. I am sooo thankful for the path He has led us down.

Your blogging friend
Amy

Disney pics

Trip pics via a slide show are over at www.valtool.blogspot.com

Dont forget to nominate someone for a prize while you are over there!!!!

Contest Winners

Okay, so here we go

The top number of posts goes to


Jose

and

April


I had a guest judge pick out the best question and answer and she said

Donna and Andrew for the question regarding FOod Network or Do it yourself? and for an answer she chose

Amy and Laughing with Tears for her answer regarding Kleenex and saying that sleeves were not a choice

So we have
Jose
April
Donna and Andrew and
Amy
as our winners

But, I bought 5 gifts so I am going to just randomly pick a winner. I am chosing Pam and Jeff for being so excited about the contest..
Winners, email me your address to amyschristopher@comcast.net and I will get prizes out to you. They are random gifts so if you do not like your gift, I hope you will pass it out..

WooHoo!!! Like contests? Go see www.valtool.blogspot.com and he has come up with a selfless contest which could be a lot of fun!

the trip

Pics coming soon along with contest winners.

Our vacation

Thursday morning we woke up and left for Orlando. We took our time and had dinner with Michael's brother Tim and his family. Basil, who is almost 3 is getting ready to have a little brother and it was neat to hear him tell me Bible stories and communicate pretty darn well. Had dinner at Tijuana Flats..YUMMY. We made a surprise visit to one of Michael's friends and spent the night with Michael's mom. Its always nice to visit her.

Friday arrived and we made a stop at Subway before visiting our friend April, and her 2 girls. it was the first time we had met Smiles and she and her older sister Love truly entertained me. April, I had so much visiting your girls and spending time with you. Thank you for the sweet sweet gift!

After lunch we hit Edgewater to spend the next 7 days with my family. We got to Mom and Dads and the niece and nephews were in the pool. We had dinner at a sports bar and did one more shopping trip. Michael played trivia on the NTN box while we ate ans he won 1st place in the round he got to play from start to finish. At this point, I was just too darn excited. Now I hope you are still reading and didn't skip to the boat.

Saturday morning, we woke up and relaxed. We are about an hour from the port and this time I was in no hurry to get there. We packed my Honda and Dad packed his truck and we headed to Port Canaveral. Anticipation was quite high and yes, I teared up when we drove across the bridge and saw the Disney Magic. You would think either I was a kid or had small children. So we get our luggage out and park and walk to the check in. This was sooooo smooth. We saw Mickey and had our picture taken with Goofy. Dad and the gang came in about this time so we grabbed Janie and Seth and got a pic too!!!

We waited a short time and walked on the boat having had "the Christopher family" introduced. Michael being the supportive Weight Watcher husband coarsed me into walking the 6 flight of stairs to the lunch buffet. He even suggested seeing how long we could go without using the elevator, which was quite cool of him. But that didn't last long. After a crowded lunch, we hit our room and quickly unpacked.

We went to the traditional drill and after that we grabbed Owen for a while. This was very fun. Michael and I and almost 3yo Owen went to the sail-away party and he got so excited to see Mickey and the gang. It was so awesome to see the joy in his eyes. I just can not explain his face.

We dropped Owen off with Kelly and got ready for dinner. Dinner was good and we went to the first show of the week. WooHoo! We did a lot of walking around, visited the stores and watched part of Mary Poppins on the big screen outside. Yummy pizza too! In case you are a WW friend, I took the week off and until I have a weigh in, I don't feel guilty at all.

Woke up early and I hit the gym. Woohoo. I was proud of myself. This was a day at sea so I spent 35 minutes on the treadmill staring at the ocean. It was too cool. I woke up Michael and we had the character breakfast and went to the morning worship service. I'm so glad Michael mentioned this. It was such a neat experience. The man who lead the service was from the Phillipines and had some broken English but played The Lords Prayer and As the Deer. His heart was beautiful and talked about how when earthly fathers may fail you, your Heavenly Father never will. We then went to the pool. Before the worship service, we had breakfast with several Disney Characters who were sooo much fun with the kids. Owen got so excited and Janie and Seth also had fun.

I keep forgetting a lot of stuff. But we had a lot of pool time and buffet time. HeeHee. I think we had a sit down lunch on this day. We got resevations for the adult only restaurant and it was formal night so we had to go get ready. If you ever do this, Palo is just an awesome place and the service is fantastic. We did not make the show this evening, but thats okay as we had seen it before. I forgot what we did but Michael's report may be a it better.

Monday was another day at sea so I got up early and did the treadmill thing and had breakfast with my husband. Movies, food, swimming and sun was today and it was a blast. Dinner with the family and Twice Charmed was the musical for the day. Michael and I spent the most of our pool time in the adult pool. We met sooo many cool people. We had dinner with the family and went to watch the adult program which was an amazing dude who played the guitar and could sing any song you screamed out. Totally worth and it was so much fun..

Tuesday was St. Maarten. I had no interested in this island so Michael explored the island and Kelly, Mom and Dad went on a fishing excursion. I stayed on the boat and stayed "on call" in case Owen needed out of the nursery. Usually anyone under 3 has to go to the nursery but since Owen is potty trained, they let him stay in the kids' club. They didn't call me once.!! Yeah Owen. Also during the cruise, Michael and I played a lot of general trivia during the day and that was fun. there is plenty of stuff for adults to do on the Disney Cruise. Fun Fun!!!!! Dinner and show ended our day.

Wednesday was St. Thomas Day. We had to get up and be in the auditorium by 7:00 for an immigration check. We still had time for breakfast and to stare at the sky. This was a beautiful island. We did something different. Michael, me, mom, dad, kelly and her 3 kids all did an excursion together. We took a bus tour of the island really saw the island. BEAUTIFUL. We took some amazing pics on top of the mountain and enjoyed talking to each other during the ride. Even though, I booked the trip, I had no idea we were stopping at OceanWorld, a small aquarium of sorts. This was cool. We got to see sharks and touch stingrays and you could swim with sea lions if you wanted. We had 2 hours here and I think it was really worth it. The kids enjoyed it. We got back from the excursion and Michael and i walked around the shops before heading onto the boat for some chill time, which was quite limited. Dinner was good and we headed to a family show before going to bed.

Thursday was a day at sea so breakfast, pool, lunch, dinner, pool movies. Michael and I actually took Seth and Janie to the arcade and that was a hoot. Oh they were sooo funny. Meals were good today. Seth actually beat Janie at air hockey and then they loves it that Michael beat me badly (7-0).

Friday. Our last full day. This was Castaway Cay day, which is Disney's private island day. This was fun as Michael's picture will show you. Disney knows how to do an island. The Piratesof the Caribbean boat was there (The Flying Dutchman) and after spending some time on the family beach, Michael and I spent the rest of the day at the adult beach, where I had a Konch Cooler. Dude, those are soooo good. We got back early to the boat and spent the rest of the day at the adult pool on the boat.

We had dinner, packed and went to Pub night where the staff put on a show for the adults. We watched some of POC on the big screen and went to bed. Got up early, got sad leaving my family and headed over to Orlando..

Saturday we took long naps, had dinner with Michael's mom and went to bed. Sunday we got up, had lunch with some new adopting blogging friends and headed home!!


The Disney Magic has a really nice movie theatre and we were able to watch the newest National Treasure movie and Superdog, I liked both!

BTW, I skipped my weigh in today but will be back next week!

Michael has posted a few pictures already and has started his first post-cruise contest, so head over to Valtool's Box at http://www.valtool.blogspot.com/ to learn about and participate in his giveaways.

Anticipation
Awe
experiencing new things
Hope
Joy
self awareness
happiness
Proud
seeing families in a new light
Fun
intimate conversations with God
'being real'
stuffed
tan
burn
hugs and kisses
belly laughs
silliness
happy tears
sad tears
love of family
encouragement
dreams

We are home (well Orlando until 1pm). these are things I experienced this week on the Disney Cruise. my trip report will be up Monday afternoon and Michael will post his pics sometime tomorrow on his blog. Wowsers, the contest rocks! You guys are doing great and I did pick up some fun prizes. Keep it up, contest will close this evening at 8pm!!!!!

Our trip was truly magical!!!!!!

Contest as promised beginning Thursday morning

-Alrighty, this contest is going to last from Thursday morning until Sunday May 4th!
-Prizes will be from our Disney Cruise. How fun is that?

-Its simple. Its easy. its fun and I know that because you guys have told me that? What are we going to do????

THE COMMENT GAME

rules below Prizes will be given to the following
1)the most posts- if there is a tie, there will 2 winners
2) the most creative post
3) the most creative answer
4) the one that makes me laugh out loud

I will not be chosing numbers 2 and 3, one of my bloggy friends will do that. Rules You can not post directly beneath your post. There must be at least 2 answers and questions before you play again. Seriously, I am giving yall over a week. Spread it around. There is no reason why we should not have a ton of answers plus I love comments (hint hit)


HOW TO PLAY

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.


WE ARE OUT OF HERE!!!!
CONTEST IS OVER!!!! WILL CALCULATE AND ANNOUNCE WINNERS SOMETIME TODAY. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

So it's now Wednesday April 23rd and in 24 hours we begin one heck of a vacation. Do you think Im just a bit excited?

First, Michael shares some of his favorite photos he has taken. The dude is talented. So, go visit www.valtool.blogspot.com.

I hope we will continue to share his talent..

It looks like Michael and I will be both be holding blog contests while we are gone. Make sure you check both blogs out starting tomorrow!!!!

Dont forget, prizes for our contests will be coming from our Disney Cruise. WooHoo

Last weigh in before cruise

blinkyou.com

That's right, Mondays weigh in was awesome. I was soooo hoping to hit the 1.8lb loss but I went over that. Rock on. This means that since March 10th, I have lost 22.4 pounds. Okay, I am bragging but I do not care because I am soo stinkin proud of myself. I made good eating choices and the times I didn't, I just went to the good ones again next meal. Thanks for all of your encouragement. I wanted to lose 20lbs before the cruise and I did. I have sooo much more to lose and I will probably gain on the cruise. But you know what? that's okay, because now I know I can do it! Hubbys been helping as well. He weighed my steak the other night. Yeah for supportive husbands. My plan was to have some reward goals. NO, I didn't have one for 20 pounds because well I am sure I will reward myself on the cruise!!

So, whatcha think of the new blog? Oh and there is a contest coming. Details later but it will begin Thursday morning and will last througout my vacation. its simple and fun!!

comment game

Click here for the comment game!

A Mothers Heart- book tour

Welcome to the A Mother's Heart Knows book tour! Its my first time participating!

What a sweet book this is.

A Mothers Heart Knows by Margaret McSweeey is just delightful!! Its full of beautiful word and pictures!

About the book: What better way to tell Mom how much you appreciate her on Mother's Day than with this lovely reminder of thoughts about the loving, selfless attitudes that fill a mother's heart?

The text and original four-color illustrations will be a beautiful and touching reminder to Mom that her love is never forgotten. The text is a reminder of those things that only a mother's heart knows, with some special emphasis on a Christian mother. Appropriate Scripture verses will be incorporated into the design element.

All royalty proceeds from this book go to WINGS (Women In Need Growing Stronger) and a student missionary scholarship fund. WINGS is a non-profit organization that provides a domestic violence shelter for women and their children in addition to transitional housing and programs.

I was given a copy of this book and its just beautiful. As a future mom, I can only dream of some of the thoughts the author has put in this book! Its just fabulous!

Want to visit the book tour? Just visit http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-favorite-mom-blog-tour.html

Margaret is having a book giveaway over at her site so make sure you go and sign her blog!!!

Margaret's websites: www.margaretmcsweeney.com

www.margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com

Link to buy the book: http://www.margaretmcsweeney.com/book1.htm

About the author:

Margaret lives with her husband and two daughters in a Chicago suburb. Her book, A Mother’s Heart Knows was published by Thomas Nelson in 2005. Go Back and Be Happy, a co-authored book will be published by Lion Hudson in July 2008. Margaret has been featured on Greg Wheatly’s “Prime Time America,” TLN’s “Aspiring Women,” and LeSea’s “The Harvest Show.” Margaret writes freelance articles for The Daily Herald, the largest suburban Chicago newspaper. Notable interviews include Wolfgang Puck, Thomas Kinkade, Susan Branch and Dr. John Gottman. Margaret also wrote a feature article for crosswalk.com. With a master’s degree in international business, Margaret became a vice president in the corporate finance division of a New York City bank and worked there from 1986-1993. Supporting charitable causes is important to Margaret. For the past five years, she has served on the board of directors for WINGS, an organization that helps abused women and their children get a new start in life.

Vacation and comment game!

I never post on Saturday but I have a few minutes before I leave for work. Did I tell you we go on vacation this week? After tonight, I have one more day to work before we pack up Thurday to head to Florida!! Saturday we will be on the Disney Magic with my family! I am totally excited, really I am. You would think we would have kids I am so excited! HeeHee!

Doing well on the weight loss, I will weigh in Monday for the last time before vacation and I will be good on vacation but I will also enjoy myself. I will not hate myself if I gain a pound or 2 on the boat, because I know I can get it off!!!!!

Comment game!

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.

weight loss, blah blah blah

Morning friends!

Worked last night for 4 hours and its the first time I was in a really bad mood at work. Ouch I was just irritable. I think I was just tired, but it was an easy shift, and I got out on time. It was also the first time I have actually noticed I have lost weight. The scrubs are quit loose now. That felt good. Dinner was Trader Joe's Shrimp Stir fry and its yummy. Only 175 calories for the whole bag and when I got home I had a weight watchers cheesecake!!!

This morning, I woke up and had my 2 waffles with low cal syrup and headed to the gym and then did a few garage sales. That's always fun but it seemed like there were smokers everywhere. My parents smoke and it usually does not bother me, but today it did.

Not sure what lunch and dinner will be, but Monday is my last weigh in before the cruise. Peaked at the scale last night and it rocked..Lets hope it stays that way until Monday!!!

What going on with you? What are you having for dinner?

Another question, a lot of people give themselves goals and rewards during weight loss. Im close to my 20 pound goal, but do you have any suggestions on goals and rewards? I think I will start with
25 pounds =?

35= ?
50 =?

Tradition

SO yesterday, I head over to church for my last week of Women's Bible Study. This study is divided into 3 years, and by the time you are done, you have studied the entire Bible. SO this was a Spring celebration plus the first group to "graduate" from our church. Our church is so fun. Anyway, I get there and usually there is food and I am worried about that but then I see fruit, fruit and cheese. Rock on! I believe I had a 3 point breakfast..Thanks North Metro.

Anyway, we walked into the main room. Okay, I find it hard to call it a sanctuary (that's a whole other story) but it indeed is our place of worship. There were tables decorated as usual with unusual stuff on the table. I saw a goblet and thought, oohhh we are taking communion with our small groups..Awesome. Okay, I was a bit wrong.

I saw down to find our program, which had Spring celebration on one side. The other side said Passover Haggadah! Interesting. Our speaker got up and said we would be having a Seder (Sader) meal and incorporating all of the traditions. I am over half way done with studying the Old Testament, and thought this would be awesome.

So our speaker put on the traditional prayer shaw, and explained the morning to us. First of all, the reason the Passover Haggadah was on the back of the program is because that's how its supposed to be read, from back to front. Our leader put a veil over her head at the proper times, and we shared the meal, going from right to left. We had beautiful music performed by the home school kids at the church and as the meal continued, we learned about
Lighting the Candles
The 4 Cups of Wine
The Cup of Sanctification
Parsley
Karpas
The 4 questions
The Matzah
The Maror including the bitter herbs
Dippinfg twice and the Charoset
Recline
The story of the Passover
Dayeinu- beautiful song
The Afikomen
The Cup of Redemption
The Cup of Elijah and
The Cup of Praise

But as we took communion at the end of the morning, most women had tears in their eyes as we shared this together.
The women took the time to prepare this wonderful opportunity which ended up being an awesome worship experience.

Seriously, this rocking, contemporary church turned back time and taught me how to celebrate the Passover. You gotta love it!

If you are in Atlanta, check out www.northmetro.org

Michael and I disagree on a few things, but we both love the teaching here. They teach from the word in very creative ways. Wow!
We ended the morning with a video about the women's conference coming to Atlanta which will include Kay Arthur, Mandissa and Beth Moore. entitled Deeper Still. I am the only chick in our group who has never heard Beth Moore, but that's another story as well.

not to bring on the tears but

For weeks, I have been following a blog. I know, I follow lots of blogs. But this is oh so special. Its not because the daddy is a bit if a celebrity in the Christian music world. But because of what they have shared with the blogging world.

This family found out they were pregnant with their 3rd daughter. During an ultrasound, they found out their sweet Audrey Caroline, may not make it and they were told to abort the baby. They chose not to, but knew that Audrey would not live a long time. They shared their journey on their blog. They shared their hearts and what God was doing to their family. This is an awesome, humble family and I am thankful for them. I am once again thankful for the blogging world and that I was encouraged once again.

Sweet Audrey passed away a few hours after birth and today, her momma wrote her the most beautiful, heartfelt, letter I have ever read on a blog.
If you would like to read more of their story, click here. They have embraced the blog world. If you have listened to the group Selah, this is the lead singers family!

Idol, IPOD, need music

ok David Cook rocks the house! and the drama with his family this week is just heart breaking..The dude is awesome
thats really all I have to say about that!

Today is update the IPOD day. I shall be deleting and maybe adding. Whats on your IPOD or do you have a cd that I must listen to?

I like a lot of stuff, mostly Contemporary Christian, pop and country with music soundtracks included. Come on friends, show me some love and tell me what I need on my IPOD!

dreaded Weigh In

I avoided it. Didnt want to go. Did not do my best this past week, but I went. Down 1.8 pounds, which means I have lost over 18 pounds and there is a good chance I will hit the 20 pound mark before next week! Plan is to enjoy the cruise, with wise choices of course, and exercise with sister every day on the boat..

SO, the weight loss has slowed down but its mostly because of my choices..I even had spaghetti and pizza this weekend.

So we will start again tomorrow and hope my knee is feeling better as I really am enjoying my workouts with my IPOD

Gotta work tonight and Monday night so weigh in will be Tuesday.


A lot of people on WW have blogs and have included what they call their "staple foods". so I thought I would share my list. Hope that you will help me add on.

Added 10 more minutes to my exercise Saturday. Its finally fun to exercise and I know I will feel better afterwards!

WooHoo

WW- weight watchers

WW Yogurt- only 1 point
WW Ice Cream toffee bars- 2 points
FF shredded cheddar Cheese
Low fat Mozzarella
Light BabyBel cheese
2 point snacks
fresh veggies
frozen veggies that just need to be steamed
skinless boneless chicken breast
FF sour cream
Cant believe its not butter
Egg whites
Bacon
prechopped onions and pepper
WW English Muffins and Bagels
WW and South Beach frozen meals
Trader Joes Orange Chicken
Cereal
bananas

Ask me, ask me anything

Ok, I am a copy cat but I too, like blog interaction.

So, I took the idea from Steven and I say to you,

What do you want to ask me? Anything, really. I will be as honest as possible!!!!

weight, loss,exercise and food

Thursday 13 posted below


Had my first bad eating day..Got up late for a meeting at work but brought a 3 point muffin with me and a big cup of water which I refilled almost hourly. For lunch I had a McDonalds Asian salad with grilled chicken and light dressing for an 8 point total and might I add was rockin awesome!
Came home and had 2 GS cookies (hey had plenty of points left, so I thought) and then 2 more and then 2 more making it a grand total of 6 cookies which I couldn't even find the box becase they were just in the plastic wrap making it quite difficult to find the points..I did and yuck! Those were soooo not worth it..
Trivia night. Had some chips and queso, actually had a lot of chips and queso. But for the actual dinner, I had the grilled chicken sandwich without the bread and steamed broccoli. One day isn't bad I guess.

This morning, I have already been to the gym and did an extra 5 minutes on the stair thing and had a WW bagel and cream cheese and will have a potato and veggies for lunch with some protein for dinner.
Actual this dieting thing could be a lot of fun. I just need to get some creativity.
Tymm, I bought that stuff from Trader Joes. Just gotta figure out what to cook with it. A lot of people had heard of it. Where have I been?

Anyway, if you have any dieting tips or favorite WW foods that are pretty decent in points, let me know!

So regardless if you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, tell me one blog or website that you visit daily!

Thursday 13

This is my first Thursday 13 in months! Good to be back

Thirteen Things about Amy 13 websites I visit daily and why . Let me know if you visit any please 1. Valtools Box- its my hubbys blog OOOOOh, hes got a good Thursday 13, today..If you like anything Disney, check him out! 2.Taking You Back- hubbys 80s blog 3.Cf Husband- just go visit, what a blessing 4. bloglines- gotta keep track of the 400 blogs I try to read. Thank God not everyone updates daily. I cant list all the blogs I read so this covers everyone! Let me clarify, I do not read 400 a day, thats just how many are on my bloglines list! This includes a lot of adoption blogs like www.babyhoffman.com (sorry Laura) heehee! 5. Ragamuffin Soul- awesome, must read blog! Fabulous blogger who is a daddy and worship dude in Atlanta. Quite entertaining. 6.Weight Watchers Message boards 7. Disboards- going on a Disney Cruise in 2 weeks, this is for any Disney fan ..message boards about parks, cruises and just about anything 8. CHOA- my work, CHildrens Healthcare of Atlanta. usually just checking email, great info for parents 9. China Adoption Sites- Links to blogs who are close to travelling to get their sweet babies 10. When Love Takes You In- Our adoption blog 11. Steven Russell- a fun guys with a cool blog who gets his readers into thought provoking conversation. Likes sports 12. Yahoo groups- involved in lots of adoption groups 13 CNN-ok I look at the main stories and then I click on the entertainment section, heh at least I am being honest Rounding up the list is Jeff, since I listed his friend and didnt want to hurt his feelings in case he reads this and I doubt he will so I might as well erase this since I get a comment from him once a year but perhaps by putting his name and link here, you guys can visit him and tell him to stop by. Fun guy!

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weight watchers,Shelby, and blogs

Please keep praying for Shelby, she is still in the hospital hoping she will eat and drink a little bit more!

Today, got home from work and made a WW English muffin with low sodium bacon, egg whites and chopped onions and peppers.Not bad for 6 points.

But then, I woke up and was starving so I ate 4 girl scout cookies, actually had 2 more when I woke up which is a total of 9 points.

Dinner was a KFC mashed potato bowl which I have been wanting for a while. Now this was a big pointer at 16 points...

I actually have points left over. So, I didn't eat the healthiest today but I am full and semi stayed on the program..

Looking to redo my blog with the blog fairy and shes helping raise money for the Starfish Orphanage.
I'm not sure if I am going to stay with Random Thoughts or attempt something creative!!! Any thoughts my creative blogging friends!!!

weigh in and bullet posts

Got back from this weeks weight in and how do you think I did? Well, this weeks loss is 3.6 pounds making my start from 4/10 (less than a month ago) at 16.8 pounds woohoo!

Last night Michael did dinner and made yummy burgers with a salad and a potato where I added butter and fat free sour cream and cheese and then I added a Weight Watchers cookie dough sundae for dessert. Oh my gosh, that's good. If you are not doing weight watchers, you have to try these!

Lunch today will be another potato and maybe some soup and then a healthy choice meal for dinner with extra veggies and a couple of snacks like WW 1 point yogurt, some almonds and maybe some cheese.

Found out that work is reimbursing people up to 25 dollars a month who do Weight Watchers.

Poor Michael. He went back to work after having a pretty sleepless night. He was coughing sooo much. Pray for him that he returns to good health.

Our little friend Shelby should be out of surgery now from having her cleft palate repair! I get to see her tonight.

Still working on a contest. The prize will be something you can only find on a Disney cruise!! WooHoo

Watched the end of Return of the King last night. Is it just me or does the scene where the guys says to Frodo, "You bow to no one" and the in turns to bows to Frodo just incredibly moving? I tear up everytime that scene comes on!

Working on reading Blue Like Jazz. How convicting. I very much appreciate him writing this book and being so honest with his feelings. It makes you rethink the term "Christianity" and how the world now views it. I think a lot of us have shared some of his feelings before. I am reading about "empty passion" and it is making me think. I do not want to judge every human being, but dude, we are a selfish society. At least I am. Publicly you may not see my selfishness but there are those decisions that you make yourself that you choose to benefit only yourself. I sooo don't want to be like that.

I want sooo much to be selfless. I want to be transparent. I do not want to put on "an act" when inside I feel something so different. Sorry, for the rambling.

Got some baby time yesterday and worked in 7-12 month nursery..Too fun! I played with a Thunder! WooHoo!

comment game-again

Working this weekend. Will post substances later..Until then. Play the comment game. THanks

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.

comment game closed for now.

hi there

Hey! Updating my blogroll. Most of you are in my bloglines but let me know if ya want to be added to the list to the left.

I have decided that there is no reason for boredom. I have decided that every time I am bored and can not find anything to, I will just talk to God. Simple.

Well last night God and I had a chat. You know when you go to bed and you close your eyes, there is this silence (even with the radio on). Just very peaceful. I am trying to be a lot more honest in my prayers. God knows my heart anyone, might as well spill everything. I had a prayer jumbo last night. Meaning, it was full of everything, all kinds of people, all kinds of emotions. I have mentioned this week that I am feeling very convicted about telling people they are in my prayers and then not doing it I am working on this.

Well, my heart is really full right now. I am thankful for my husband and a huge decision he made. I pray for him daily. I pray that he will love others. I pray that others will love him and not judge him, but hold him accountable. I pray that he will grow into the spiritual leader he was created for.
I pray for my adoption friends. Tymm and Laura 's family. I pray for Shelby who is having surgery next week. Sooo many things.
Last night I prayed for Tricia and Nate or the CF husband family Now, I have not seen God speak through the internet until this week and it was not a whisper. God's voice has been raining down on this blogging community. If this man prayed that he would touch others, his prayer was answered. I have been inspired by my patients, my friends but friends, this is different. I will never meet this family. I have learned to pray with honesty and to pray for others in a different way. What a gift to pray behalf of friends. They were my prayers all night and I know others had them in their prayers as well.

Its not my place to tell their story but this is a family in which the mom has Cystic Fibrosis. They had a baby born very early. Last night, Tricia had a double lung transplant. You just need to go read. Not only is he a great writer, his photography just rocks. I don't know him. he doesn't know me but Nate and Tricia are my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Michael and I have a friend named April, who is now a rocking blogger. She was Michael's friend before we got married and she is a wife and mother. We now share a connection. Our hearts have been changed by this family. We have cried on the phone, we chat online making sure we are caught up. April just rocks. Now I know she will read this and she is quite a humble person, but before we were really friends, April came over and helped me get my wedding invitations ready. Anyway, where were we? This blog has strengthened my friendship with her.

Anyway, my heart and mind are full. There are many things I want to blog about, but I think it would come out wrong. So I will stop here.

Do me a favor? Pray for someone you don't like today. Sounds odd. I know there must be someone who has hurt you. Perhaps a friendship ended because of words. Pray for them. They need it. Just felt like saying that

Nate, if you read this. I know you had over 1000 comments yesterday. Please know that I am thankful for you and Tricia's hearts and thanks for being so open with us!

pray for tricia, shes getting new lungs..its a go!

www.cfhusband.blogspot.com

woohoo

PRAY PEOPLE!!!!!

its a small world after all!

As we get ready for our Disney cruise the end of the month, I thought I would ask this question to all of you.

Who is your favorite Disney Character (animated or real life and why?)


Rumor has it that Jack Sparrow has been spotted on the boat..Im so excited!!!!!!

today

Okay, so this morning I had a bite (okay a big bite) of FF angel food cake. That was it and then I had lunch with my friend Elizabeth and her new baby Ethan. I had 7 chips and salsa and chicken fajitas with no S cream or cheese or guac but did have beans and rice..Good stuff!!

Came home with a sub for sick Michael and headed to the gym and that felt good.

Then to Publix for supplies (Like WW toffee bars, the WW ice cream is on sale) We are having baked potato's for dinner and adding soup for Michael.

Other than that its just a chill out day. Ive met some new WW blogging friends and that's been cool and a few of them live near me. Hi new friends!

Working Thurs, Fri and Saturday and then nursery duty on Sunday. Not sure if I will be in China or Australia though..

Keep praying for Tricia and Nate. She had to have a chest tube put in to help with some pain.!!!!

By the way, I feel a contest coming on!

Weigh In

Todays weigh in showed a loss of 2.8 pounds bringing the total so far to a bit over 13.. I am assuming i will actually notice a difference with another 10-15 pounds but so far this is great.

I am learning that my eating is really a mental problem right now. I can do this.

This afternoon I had WW English Muffins with mozzarella cheese and tomato's..yummy. I have a new WW buddy, Erika who is a member of our small group. We met at Applebees and ate off of the WW menu. My tilapia rocked.

Anyway, I am having some strawberry shortcake tonight and I will still short points. I was able to subtract a point from my daily total which is fabulous.

Poor Michael has the flu, the nasty flu after he got the vaccine. The flu is bad this year and hoping it will end soon.

Thanks for praying today guys. Hoping to hit the gym tomorrow.

Today I found out that my weekends are going from a Friday/Sat weekend to a Friday/Sunday weekend meaning I will always be awake from church! WooHoo

2pm today peeps

Please join me at 2pm Atlanta time to pray for Nate, Tricia and their sweet baby Gwenyth Rose
Let's talk to God together. What a cool thing!

weekend

****** Pray for CFhusband and Tricia***** she may be getting her new lungs! Oh my gosh, this is better than any post. If you have not been to http://www.cfhusband.blogspot.com/go visit. Pray Pray Pray! I love this family and I do not even know them. What a story they have!!
*** update, the lungs are no good, no transplant today but we are having prayer time at 2pm for this family. Head over to www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com !!!


Back to your regularly scheduled blog post!
Hello friends and whoever else that reads this?

Friday night I made Trader Joes tilapia with risotto and a veggie

Saturday I was off and had TJ orange chicken with brown rice. Michael loved it. The dude at TJ said this was their most popular product and I can see why.

Sunday. no breakfast. woke up late. Went with Michael to a bookstore volunteer luncheon at the church and had a nice time watching people. They had lasagna, breadsticks, salad and cookies. I was good and had salad and the Italian dressing with one breadstick.

Snack- WW cookie dough Sundae..Yummy

Dinner- Shrimp stir fry with added chicken breast. Iced tea or water..

Poor Michael. We thought he had allergies but he is down right sick. Coughed almost the entire service. If I had known he was so sick, I would not have pushed him to go to church. It was nice to be back though.

Hes been resting and will be the rest of the night. I leave at 11 for work tonight and tomorrow is weigh in. Although I have followed the program (even using my extra free points last Wed) I feel very full and know I have not lost like the last 2 weeks. That's okay. We are working on new lifestyle so this is okay.

Whats new with y'all???

Tomorrow, no breakfast as I get off work at then hit WI at 10am. Lunch and dinner with friends with Weight Watcher menu restaurants.

You guys rock!

3 word Sunday

Each week if I remember, I will post a pic and 3 words that describe my week. Im not sure who started this, but its really taken off so I thought I would join. Usually you dont write this much since its my first time, I thought I would break the rules. I will do better next week and its hard to see my 3 words but
I AM BLESSED

This is sweet but sassy and naughty Lucy with sick Michael snoozing!

food and weight watchers

Ok, so this Weight Watcher thing may work. its really not that hard, yet. I think the easiest thing for me to do with this will be planning meals and snacks according to work and social stuff and incorporating drinking water and exercising.

Tonight, we had a total Trader Joes dinner with orange chicken, brown rice and Asian veggies. For those of you who have done weight watchers, it was 11 points, and I still have 10 points for the rest of the evening.

I will probably journal some of my meals and stuff. I have found tons of WW bloggers and getting some great ideas. So Monday will be weight in number 3, and as long as I don't gain, I will be okay. I know that I will eventually get to no lose weeks or just a pound or 2.

We have 4 weeks until our cruise and I plan on doing well until then and enjoying the cruise. I should be in good habit by then and will probably feel guilty if I eat too much.

If you are a new reader feel free to leave me your favorite meals and snacks and points.

Rock on! Good bye fluff!

Update

Little boy still in ICU, will check on him tonight

The resident dr apparently looked for me Tuesday morning and was vey ugly to the other RNs. I was helping with an IV on the other side of the floor and she said." I dont care who she is and what shes doing, when I need her, I expect her to be here pronto. Tell her I need her now!!!

Well, I mentioned it to the charge nurse and the Chief MD took care of it and she is no longer allowed to work at the hospital..

If you have no idea what I am talking about, see below

Long post

See title and scroll down for this weeks weight loss!


Ok, worked Thursday, Fri and Saturday night. Still doing WW, going well. Anyway. Thursday night perfectly fine. Friday night, fine. Admitted a little boy with decreased drinking. had some other issues but still should have been an easy admission. At 6am, he had his very first seizure. Ok, pretty scary. Actually, very scary,especially to a family who has never seen them. But I am a seizure nurse, and we dealt with it. Parents were very anxious. Physician was in to talk to them. Rude resident came in and said, "Before this nurse decides to talk again, let me just tell you that i think this is the beginning of a seizure disorder. this is what you need to remember but, Ill let the neurologist come in and talk to you. Ok, talk about stressing a mom out. I was soooo angry I had to leave the room. I had spent hours developing a relationship with this mom, she was starting to calm down and this resident just freaked her out. Ok, Greys fan? Had the demeanor of Christina. Ugh. That stressed me out. He was a sick boy, but I was ready to go home.

Saturday night, I come in and find out he has had no seizures and a pretty good day. Still a bit lethargic or sick looking, but not so worried. 3am, we have another seizure, 4am, not looking good. By 5am, I am getting a bit worried and have already called 2 doctors and I am now calling the pediatrician in the hospital to come take a look. Now I am actually worried. She comes in and sees him and says this is not good. 30 seconds later, we call a code blue and within 10 minutes he is intubated and on his way to the ICU. What makes me sad, is during all of this, I didn't get to talk to mom until we are in ICU. More stress but he's in ICU and has the right people near him.

I get home and its Easter and I am sad and tired and anxious and just exhausted. I make the choice not to go to the 930 Easter service but still make my commitment to the nursery at church. Ok, the guilt kicked in but I know if I sat in the service I would have fallen asleep. Oh I am sooo sad because I love my church and I haven't been in a long time.

So thats my weekend. I am heading back to work, will go check on my sweet family and hopefully have an uneventful shift.

So we head out to church as we are both volunteering and head over to my China room (ages 6-12 months) but someone asks me to switch to the Australia room (12-18 months). Ok this worked out well. I had a blast for 90 minutes. I think I may be the craziest nursery volunteer as I played and sang and read books and colored and got a lot of happy belly laughs. It made my day. I now have new friends like Cameron, Emma, EmmaClaire, Braelyn, Calyn, Lucy (my favorite), Aaron and others.

ON the way home, we hit Taco Bell for lunch and I got some of the new Fresco (WW friendly) menu items. Not bad. Michael's family celebrates Greek Easter so it was just the 2 of us. I took a long nap and woke up to lamb and orzo (Greek tradition) made by my Michael. Seriously, this is the best lamb I have ever had (better than the Brazilian Steak Houses). way to go Michael. We watched some TV and went to bed.

My thoughts. Most of you know I am random so if you feel like trying to follow along, peace out. I love Easter. I love the fact that we get together around the world ans celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The fact that this happened is the reason I have the promise of eternal life. I do wonder though, why I don't celebrate it daily. The fact that Christ suffered the way He did so that I may be free, is something I can not fathom. His mother and friends had to watch his face as he took this pain, makes me sad. More than sad. The fact that a God who loves me (yes me) so much that he allowed His only son to die for the world. Thats bigger than big. That kind of love is too big for us not to acknowledge. Oh, I am a sinner and I am ashamed of things I have done and things I have thought. But to give up a child that you love, I just can not comprehend the gift I was given.


warning: another random thought
One emotion I struggle with is jealousy. I hate it. I really truly despise this emotion. I have struggled with it all my life. One of the things I have learned is when you experience jealousy, that emotion robs you of the opportunity to love and serve God. That makes me stop and think. One of the things I get jealous of his other believers. Huh, you may say? I sometimes feel that other believers are just spiritually better than me. Know what I am saying? They just seem to have it all together. They pray, they are positive, they are encouraging, they just rock. I know better. I dont know why I feel like this. I know its the way I perceive things and it just sucks. And because of my nasty jealousy, I miss out on my strengthening my wonderful friendships. Sometimes I almost feel like friends are trying to make me feel bad. I told yall on my first post I was odd but I wanted to keep this real. And I know my friends dont do that, but sometimes it just seems like that. I hate feeling like that.

Not sure why I am actually thinking about all of this right now. That emotion hasn't been around in quite a while. I think this adoption thing has really help. Ive been surrounded my awesome friends who get us. Friends who share some of the same fears, wishes, hopes and dreams as me.

I want to be better. A better child of God. A better wife. A better friend. A better sister. A better daughter. I no longer desire to be lazy. I want to make sure I take the time to get to know the people in my life. I want to embrace every moment, even the ones that dont seem that important. Because it is in those moments, I tend to hear God's whispers. To think the God of the universe wants to talk to me, is just the coolest thing ever.

I know some of you do not share the same beliefs as me and I know some of you are kind of studying this whole God and Christianity thing. Its more than just church or the type of worship you prefer, it just God. Getting to know God and letting Him have your heart. Its taken me 33 years to realize just how awesome my Heavenly Father is. I hope you will talk to Him.

Im ready to be honest. To be real. I want that peace that I have experienced before. When you are no longer hiding things in your heart. This is random. Sometimes I am like that. Hence the title of my blog.



You wanted to know me. Thats a part of me.

Weight watchers week total

Weight loss this past week 4.6 pounds
Rock in! Great meeting and got a recipe from a new friend for a new low soup


1 pound of chicken broth
1 can of salsa (any kind, any flavor)
16oz of frozen veggies


Just mix and warm

Ok. Go to Husbands blog and watch the video. Pretty Pretty please.

Craziness I tell ya!

Leave him a comment and tell him he rocks as well, ok Mandy? haha

Comment Game

Its the weekend. Ill be working.
Lets play the comment game like we did at Christmas time

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.

My visit to Trader Joes

Ok, for some reason, I decided to head on over to Trader Joe's in the rain. I have been looking forward to it and I had a good time. I decided to walk around and take it in before putting anything in my cart. I started talking to a gentleman about the things on my recommended list. He thing proceeded to embarrass me hollering " we have a first timer". Nice guy though. Okay. so its not as big as I thought it would be but dang its a neat store.

I got almost everything on my list except the chicken skewers which were the only thing that was a bit pricey. Seriously, this store is ridiculously inexpensive. So the pics above are what I bought, all for less than 50 bucks and that's a lot of food. Cant wait to go back, but it wont be a daily or weekly thing. I'll have to see what I like and what works for points. There is a cool shrimp stir fry and the whole bag is like 12 points. Wowsers!!! For those not on WW, that's pretty good!

So that's about it for now. This morning I had Special K almond vanilla cereal with FF milk and a banana. Time for Water..

Rock On!

Picture and TJ

This is what happens when you try to change eating habits. I threw out 5 bags of stuff from the pantry, fridge and freezer.
On another note, I decided to visit Trader Joes for the first time today. Anyone have any recommendations?

WW- week one

5.8- the amount of weight I lost this week on WW. Could have been more but I drank almost a gallon of water last night at work and then weighed right afterwards. Not bad though, I do know that most weeks will not even be half of that, so I am off to a good start

75 dollars- the gas card that my employer sent each employee to help out with gas prices

Good day and I still have 34 points to eat before tomorrow morning

Okay,here is a question I thought about while getting gas on the way to work.

When they started making cars did they decide to alternate which side to put the gas?
WHy? Is it to help traffic in the gas stations?

Does anyone else ever think of things like this?

Told you I was odd

Now here is an interesting verse I read this morning

Proverbs 15:17
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Gotta love it!

whats going on

Boy,

I actually have nothing to say. Seriously. These days I am spending time on weight watcher board, bloglines, and the disney cruise message boards. Im soo keeping busy.

WW has been good so far. I get to go to the gym Mon-Thurs next week which will be good.

Still working on Blue Like Jazz and 5 Love Languages.

Still working on cleaning the house. MIL is coming mid-May so I need to get working.

Work is good. Love my patients. I love my patients and families.

Enjoying my community group (we met at Starbucks on Friday night and I got a treat) and my weekly Bible Study. This week we will be discussing Proverbs. Let me stop here. As we read Psalms last week, I kept singing Chris Tomlin songs out loud. its amazing how many songs are taken directly from the scripture, go figure!!!! Anyway, singing to Psalms is fun, try it!

I hope each of you is having a great day. Hope to have more meaningful posts soon!

whats going on

Did I tell you were were going on a Disney Cruise with the family at the end of April?

Woohoo

weight watchers day 3 in review

Weight watchers Day number 3 was also successful and ended with a Starbucks caramel macchiato! I dont need another one of those.. I once again had to find points last night.

8

Hubby did this meme and sort of tagged me for it so here goes


8 Things I Am Passionate About.
Husband
my relationship with God
adoption
learning more about pediatric brain tumors
getting more organized
contemporary Christian music
losing a massive amount of weight
blogging

Name 8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
Head to China and bring LynnMarie home
make wonderful memories for my Children
finally lose this weight and stay healthy
spend 2 weeks in Disney World
completely be out of debt
be in a habit of giving before wanting
have a professionally decorated home
have Lucy be able to roam the house and behave




8 Things I Often Say
Rock on!
Dude!
Hello my Michael
You rock!
Hi, my name is Amy and I will be your nurse tonight
No, I dont have any kids but we are adopting from China
Sweet!
Peace out!

8 Books I've Recently Read or am Currently Reading
5 Love Languages
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
Same Kind of Different as me
the Bible
Weight Watcher menu planner
Love Without Boundaries
The Amazing Collection the poetic books
Pediatric Brain tumors

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over
Popular from Wicked
What will you do? by Steven Curtis Chapman
Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
Lift High by Fee
My Wish by Rascall Flatts
Love of my Life by Jim Brickman
I could not ask for more by Edwin McCain
When Love takes you in by Steven Curtis Chapman



8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am- stole this from Michael
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am
The ability to make me laugh
the ability to be real
ability to be honest
common interest
they encourage me

8 People I Think Should Do Crazy 8's

Will you be one of them? Let me know if you do it, and I will link you here

Weight watcher Day 3

WW Day 2- SUCCESSFUL!

DAY 3, NOT BAD, HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET ALL MY POINTS IN

Womens Retreat

Seriously. Great time.

Started with a meet up at the church and arranged car pools. The people I rode with rock! Hi girls!

We had a blast driving up and we found a cute little diner to eat dinner. After dinner as we got close to the retreat place, we saw a deer. We slowed down and turned the lights on and then we saw 8 deer! In the fog and totally beautiful! Soooo cool. It was like God was saying "hello my children, I am here and ready to talk to you! It was just one of many cool moments. Lots of singing and worshipping and sometimes things didn't go the way we wanted but boy, God was everywhere.

What did I learn? Hmmmm, God wants an intimate relationship with me. Me! How cool is that? I really think that everyone heard Him differently, which is the way it is supposed to be. Anyway, I just find it awesome that the God who created me in such an intricate way, wants to be my friend. We were encouraged to pray about everything, not to hesitate at all. When things just come to your mind and you have no idea why , just pray about it. Talk to Him like you would a friend. He knows your heart, no need to hide things from him. I think when you can get to the point where you are really honest with him, you find peace. And that my friends, is an awesome feeling.

I learned that people who once seriously intimidated me are no better than me. I sometimes have felt that there are some church members (this is not just my church, this has been at any church I have ever attended) who are just so much spiritually better than me. What a yucky attitude. We are all sinners and are all working to be closer to God. If this doesn't make sense, I am sorry. We talked about how sometimes its hard to be friends. Friendships take time and energy. Unconditional friendship and not only do I want unconditional friends, I want to be an unconditional friend to others.

Lisa Whelchel also talked to us about meditating on scripture. She gave us some examples of verses and how she chooses a word that she finds interesting and just prays about it, thinks about its meaning, how its used in the bible and how it relates to her. It was quite eye opening and I appreciate it.
I made some new friends and its cool how some of our lives interact in such ways that its amazing that I had never met these people.

I was very hesitant to go. Ladies, if you ever have the opportunity, GO. Sign up. Arrange your schedule. Plan on being blessed.

WW Day one

Weight Watchers Day 1- SUCCESSFUL! Yippee! and that included dinner at trivia!


Day 2 has begun and so far I have been to the gym and had a lovely breakfast and hit the grocery store..

Any of you done the WW thing? Feel free to share your favorite foods and points and stuff.....

It all begins today

That's right friends. Today, Tuesday, the defluffination begins. I joined Weight Watchers yesterday and got a ton of info. Had my 5 points for breakfast (2 low fat waffles, 1tbs light syrup and a nana) and the rest of the day is planned out.

Anyone else ever done WW? Need help and suggestions. I'm still missing 10 points for today..Holy cow.

You will in fact never know my actual weight but I will give you guys updates.. the plan is do this strong for 7 weeks and then we cruise for a week and then get back on it. I wont totally screw it up while visiting Mickey and his friend, but also want to stay away from stress..

Pray for me guys! Might sound like a silly prayer to some of you but I need it!

Spiritual Saturation

Interesting phrase but I get this.. This weekend, God just poured his love and grace on this retreat. I mean, he poured buckets on us. I have never experienced any thing like this. My new friend gave me this phrase and explained to me that she feels like a sponge and just needs to soak this all of this amazing stuff that happened. I could not agree more. As much as I want to share the entire weekend for you, I do believe that sometimes God gives you moments just between you and Him.

I too, want to soak this in and spend some more time pondering the things I have learned. I will share some things in the next couple of days but I do want to spend time talking to my God and remembering everything He has promised!

If you feel like it, pray that what I have learned will not be a weekend retreat thing, but a life changing journey.

See ya

I am off on a womens retreat for the weekend. Our speaker is Lisa Whelchel or Blaire from Facts of Life. Should be a hoot. Hope you get the chance to see the pics below. Michael took some amazing pics of tigers in the Memphis zoo. Its so nice to have my own personal photographer..

See ya Monday!

Memphis trip