My next project

I think next time I have occasion to make a cake, I might give this little project a try...

The Internet is Cool

Yes, the world wide web has it's share of troubles, problems, and downright evil things, just like anything else. But there are a lot of great things about it, too.

Where else can you find a long lost best friend from back when you were 12?

Where else can you buy a cable for your ipod for a mere 10% of retail price?

And where else can you find a super cool interactive map of Disneyland like this?:




Nowhere, my friends. And that is why the internet is just so darn cool.

"Thank You" seems so insufficient

Take a moment today to remember.







As trite as it sounds, THANK YOU to all of our military, past and present, for all the sacrifices you and your families have made for me and mine.

Countdown to Wall-E

It's easily one of my top two favorite movies of all time, so in anticipation of Wall-E coming out on Blu-Ray next week, you'll notice a change in my layout. :)

We've already got our copy on order from Amazon and will hopefully get it shortly after Tuesday. It should look awesome in high definition Blu-Ray. Anybody who wants to come watch it, let me know! We'll make a party out of it. :)

8 days to go...

Proud Family

Today we are celebrating with Colby as he was recognized at chapel for the character trait of "Genuineness- living the way my heart feels toward God."

Here's Colby with his incredibly sweet teacher:



And with some of his fellow honorees (who are all in Kindergarten also):

From the heart of a child

First, a disclaimer: there have been no preceeding lectures, discipline, or complaining on the subject at hand by the Mama in the following story. Cross my heart.

Colby, being in an especially lovey mood tonight, was spreading the love to all of us tonight. After declaring Tyler the best brother he's ever had and promising never ever to forget him, he felt like he wanted to pray and thank God for all of us one more time. Shortly after that, he said to me, "Mama, thanks for all the food, for cooking it for us. It seems like you do all the hard work... and all I do is play."

I so cherish these moments where I can see the influences of Colby's earthly and Heavenly fathers meshing together to mold him into a godly man.

Heads up, ladies... he's going to be a keeper!

The decision has been made

Since I had asked for hairstyle input earlier last month, I figured I'd post an update. After several discussions with Brian, I felt confident he was being truthful when he told me he'd like me to get my hair cut any way I wanted. So last night was the big night!

Here's a photo of me last Saturday:

And here I am last night, conveneintly wearing the same shirt I wore on Saturday!

I know I look less than happy in that last picture, but trust me, I love it! I got tons of compliments at Colby's school this morning, which is always nice. :)

On the other hand, the kids were less than enthusiastic. Tyler said, "Your hair doesn't look like yourself," and Colby's reaction was, "It looks ugly, but I still love you." Good thing I have thick skin! ;)

The day after

Well, we have a new president-elect. I know a lot of people are upset, and probably rightfully so. I voted against him myself. However, today the verse that's been going through my mind is Ephesians 5:20:

"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Yep, it says "for everything." So I found myself thanking God that President-elect Obama is our next president. As a lot of Christians have been trying to remind themselves today, nobody gets elected and God goes, "Ohhh.. shoot! That was today??! Should have been paying more attention." Our ways are not God's ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.

So how could I thank God that Obama won? Well, there are a couple of things I thought of.

1) The purpose of our lives on earth is to glorify God, right? Well it could be that the things that are about to happen in our country will cause people to fall on their knees and glorify God.

2) Maybe God is showing us just Who is in control here. We Christians sometimes think we know more than God. Maybe this is a wake-up call that there is a big picture at work, and that we don't know every part of it.

3) Maybe it's time for Christians in America to face some persecution. Doesn't the Bible tell us in Philippians 1:29, "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him"? I would hazard a guess that not many of us have been truly suffering for Christ lately. Many are very afraid of liberties that could be taken away under Obama, but we were never promised an easy life. In fact, quite the opposite. So instead of fearing persecution and suffering, I propose we try to be thankful for it since it identifies us with Christ.

4) And lastly, it might be to show us Who we need to rely on. I think we all say we rely on the Lord, but when the rubber hits the road, do we really? What if all of us start getting taxed like crazy and we have no money left to feed our families? What if the health care system becomes totally socialized and turns into an utter failure? What if we get attacked by terrorists again? If any or all of these things happened, would we still rely on the Lord? We may have a chance to find out. I don't think it would be a bad thing for our faith to be put through the fire. I pray we'd come out refined and more emptied of ourselves than ever.

These are just a few of the thoughts going through my head today, the day after. Yesterday I was all about standing up for the Lord and opposing evil. Today I'm faced with what I thought was the worst possible outcome, yet I'm asked by my Lord to be thankful for it. Praise God that this world is not our home.

My better half

Brian started a new blog; check him out at www.find-the-words.blogspot.com.