What God is doing in my life.....

Hey all.

I just need to talk. I am freshly amped with caffeine, so I think my fingers will keep up with my mind. However, this might become disjointed in spots, please forgive my rambling.

Have you ever done something and then when it's not this amazing, exciting new thing anymore you start to question the heck did I just do? Yes, me too. But, we pick up our boot straps and pull up our big girl panties and MARCH!

I love Florida. I really do. It is the antithesis of Wisconsin in almost every conceivable way. Oh wait, they do have cows...and roosters. This I know because a couple of streets over there is a cow pasture in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I'm thinking they were there first...? lol And there is a rooster a neighborhood or two over that crows every morning. When I have my windows open, I can hear him.

Moving here has been the hardest thing I have ever done. Some of this I may have whined to you already but, to top the list, the emotional aspect has been heart wrenching. I miss my parents so much some days I could just lay in bed, in a pool of my tears and snot, until I crust over. Thank God my parents learned how to text before we moved or I don't know what I would do. I hate sitting on the phone. I miss my friends. I miss my scrapbook Saturdays. I miss going to the drive-in. I miss card night at our house. I miss cooking in a kitchen that's big enough and having people over. I miss canning salsa with my best friend...... You don't realize how comfortable you are in your life until you have to start over from scratch for everything. Even down to the basic need of friendships. I don't need a lot of people close to me, but when you have no one.......it gets lonely. In the last month or two we have begun to forge friendships with people in our church. Not that we necessarily do things outside of church right now, but it's nice to know that there are people that are happy to see you. Really, the only thing hard after that would be the financial aspect. I don't think we have recovered yet. But BOY!!!! has my faith in God's ability to take care of me grown. Leaps and Bounds!! We are never without what we need.

I am greatful that God has placed me here, in this place, in this time. It would have taken me years to reach the faith level I have gotten to just by moving away from everything I've ever known.

The bible says that if you will give up mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and properties for His sake, you will be blessed a hundredfold (Matt 19:29)....I am expecting that. We did not move only because we wanted to live somewhere warm. We moved because we felt like God placed us here for a reason. Couldn't tell you what it is right now. We see things developing and are excited about the possibilities. But, no matter what, we are in training for the next season of our lives and we are going to learn all that we need to know. One thing we are certain of is that we are to finish getting our kids through high school. We will not be released to move on until that has happened. They are loving Florida Virtual School so far. It's a great program. Teo actually likes school this year.

We have begun to have devotion time with our kids every night. I know that it is assumed that if you homeschool and you are Christians that you have devotions with your kids. I was never one of those "do it all right" kind of moms. There are lots of things I've fallen down on. Devotions was one of them. We noticed a really bad pattern of bad behavior coming out of our kids. God showed me that is because I neglected my first mission field. So, every night we have family prayer with prayer requests and issues we know of that we pray for others, as well as, ourselves. And we read a book out of Proverbs every night. I want to branch out from that and start adding a chapter from other books. The kids are disappointed if they only get to read once and there are all kinds of things to learn in the bible, so why not? I see the change in programming working. My kids are more pleasant to be around. They are becoming kinder to each other and they are getting the Word in them. Even if its in small doses, it will change their lives. I'm expecting great things.

I received an invitation from a gentleman at church to come and sing with his personal ministry group. He talked with both Tony and I about it and I am going to start going to practices on the 19th. He told Tony the first time he heard me sing, he knew instantly that I had to come sing with him and that God has given me a gift and I need to stop hiding it. Wow. That is humbling. Tony told him that I have been singing in church since I was 12 and he asked "And she's never done anything with it?" It floors me that this man, who performs for and with great talent, loves my voice. I honestly don't look at myself as stacking up to other people's talent even though I've been asked most of my life when I was going to start recording. Fear and insecurity have always held me back. But no more. I know that God has created my voice for His glory and for such a time as this. I think nothing has happened with my voice up till now because it wasn't the right timing. In my life and in my walk with God.

Ok. Time for me to end my rambling. I pray you have a blessed and prosperous day. That you have favor with everyone you come in contact with and you are able to touch someone in a positive way! Shine on, Cities on a Hill!!

Visitors

I know that I mentioned this before, but I have a nephew and a future niece visiting till this Friday. It has been an intensely fun time! We have spent much time at the beach. I have just a few more pictures to share.

Riley and Stefani. BFF's sittin in the surf.

(essentially filling their suits to capacity with sand)

The sand castle. An ambitious bunch aren't they?


Kyle and Teo decided to save it and create a moat. Or wall.

Either way, it was a complete act of futility. The surf kept wiping it out.

We are planning one more trip to Arlene Williams BBQ on Pace Street in Pensacola. Oh yeah, baby! Best BBQ on the planet, bar none. (**What does bar none actually mean and where did it come from?) The kids and I are taking one more trip to the Naval Air Museum on the base today. We went there Monday and didn't make it to the second level. It's free, so why not go back? We are, also, going to be visiting the Pensacola Lighthouse today. It's apparently haunted. LOL...yeah, ok. It's going to be fun no matter what. The kids are stoked about going so that's all that matters.

It's breaking my heart that I have to send Kyle and Riley back. I cry when I think about it. I love those kids so much. BUT, they have people that are depending on them and they are going to be a man and a woman of God and fulfill their duties and expectations. I thank God for them and know that they will be blessings to everyone they come in contact with.

My kids are going to be going back to Wisconsin for a nice long visit with Grandparents and friends this Summer. They are excited about ditching their mommy for a few weeks. *sniff* My husband keeps talking about "oh, lets do this when the kids are gone"....and..."let's do that when the kids are gone"...and..."three weeks without kids, baby...." Really?!? I keep thinking..."oh my gosh, what am i going to do without my kids for three weeks?"...and...."my babies....they are going to be gone for THREE WEEKS!!!!!"....and..."i'm going to be so bored, i need to volunteer somewhere"-Obviously Mom's and Dad's run down two totally opposite thought paths. LOL

One thing I know I am looking forward to in their absence is the lack of mess. My house will actually be clean for three whole weeks! LOL

Socks and Tears

I started Teo's socks Tuesday night after work. I managed to get through the cuff watching tv. Thank goodness he likes a short cuff. Then yesterday at work, I got through the heel flap. And I worked through the turn heel and started on the foot watching tv, talking with Tony and snuggling in bed last night. I am determined to get these buggers done before the weekend is up. Stefani has declared she needs another pair of slippers. These are my favorites to make and they are the sturdiest little sock slippers! I just add a few stitches and use a bigger needle if I'm making them for a man. Otherwise they can be a little skinny for slipping on and off.

Bubba's Socks in Toasted Almond by Red Heart "Heart & Sole"

I have one thing to say about the next picture. You, people, humble me.


I can only attribute this to the free pattern sites that have picked up on my patterns...but all I can say is Thank You to those of you who have stayed and continue to come back time and time again. I received an email from a reader this morning that brought me to tears. Thank you for allowing me to talk and for giving me a voice. I hope that this blog helps your day in some way.

Be Blessed!!

Month of January

The month of January seems to have gone by in a blur, now that I am sitting here on the 24th thinking backwards. Yet, I remember good chunks of it going so slow it almost seemed like time stopped.

What have I done this month?



First up, I read the newest post on my favorite funny blog. Just click on the picture to go read Allie's latest post @ Hyperbole and a Half. If it doesn't have you peeing yourself or getting a charlie horse in your stomach because you are laughing so hard, then I am going to seriously question the presence of your funny bone!





Next, My daughter competed at the Osceola Powerlifting meet. She busted her butt to get down to the weight class she needed to be in and found out, in the end, that she went too extreme and lost her strength. She ended up scratching out of the meet because she bombed on her squats.

The gang rolling knee wraps.


Stefani - 280lb squat. Just couldn't get it back up.

120lb bench

Rockin' the 320lb deadlift. A personal meet best for her.

Then, the love of my life moved away. He has been in Florida for a full week now. Most of the time, I'm ok. I'm living for the weekends because I have things going on and it helps me "tick off" the dates on the calendar until he comes back. I just keep reminding myself that this is all for a reason and that I can do this. I am very good at being strong in the face of adversity.

On a really good note, the closing date on our house is officially the 18th of February. :)

And last, but certainly not least, I had the pleasure of taking my daughter to Bloomington, MN to the Mall of America to celebrate her 16th Birthday! :) She actually turned 16 on January 10th, but there was too much going on to fit in a trip to MOA. She got to bring a couple of friends with her, so she brought her BFF, Riley and her cousin, Bekah.

The girls ready to go shopping, eat chinese and get an ice cream cake!

Some time spent in the hot tub!

The girls went shopping for dresses for the "Snow Ball" happening at the beginning of February. Stefani's was easy, but Riley had a hard time finding one. We were finally able to locate a nice stash of special occasion dresses at Macy's and then we were having fun! :) MOA was so packed with people and the shops we wanted to go to were so far apart that it pretty much sucked all of the fun out of the day. The girls were exhausted and cranky by the end. They came to the determination that "small malls are better!" I would have to agree.

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

As I sit here scarfing my lunch (soooper hungry) of leftover sauteed peppers, onions, garlic and zucchini with feta cheese and a homemade spelt pita....I remember the pictures of Toby that I promised to share with you featuring the Barnyard Gang.

There is only one picture of the carnage that I won't be able to show you. It is on my phone and although I carry a small media center around in my purse, the one cable I don't have is the one for my phone to connect to the computer. I will, however, describe the picture to you. It's a little blurry. Lola is dangling from my mother's cupboard by her tail, upside down, udder facing out. No one is quite sure how Toby, who is 13 months old, was able to coordinate such an effort. But, it made for a hilarious picture. One I really, really wanted to show you. :) It's a testament to the hardy structure of the toy itself. From the moment Lola came out of the bag, she was one of his favorites (the other was Jedediah's hat). He tried to behead her, de-tail her and rip most of the rest of her limbs off as well. Watching him play with the Barnyard Gang reaffirmed for me why I double sew everything on. It needs to last and not be a choking hazard. And Toby would have found a way to make it a choking hazard, if he could. LOL

Without further ado...here's Toby.

Notice that Bob is almost flat? He's gotten crawled over a few times...

So that was the Tobinator.

Next up: Baby Socks.

When I was looking through my yarn stash a day or so ago I came across little balls of leftover sock yarn. So, yesterday, I got a wild hair and decided that I needed to make some baby socks out of those little balls. The balls looked so small to me I thought, "I won't be able to get more than one baby sock out of each of those balls. This'll be a great way to stash bust some of this mess out of here, baby socks work up fast AND I'll be able to work my way back into sock making (I haven't touched them in almost 2 years)." Well. Let me share a little secret. Little balls of sock yarn make many baby socks. Because the little balls of yarn sit in my bag and reproduce...so they never end. Ever.

I did have a grand time surfing the web for baby sock patterns, though, and I printed off a pile of them to make. I am going to do with these what I did with the dishcloth patterns I printed off. I want to make at least one pair of every pattern I printed. I am 1 sock done on the first pattern. lol I know I made it sound like I had knitted 15 socks off of one ball, but I didn't. Only one sock...but I was so sure that darn thing would've taken up alot more yarn than it did.

Here's the picture and pattern of my fat, little baby socks.

Here is the extra yarn I brought with me today. Although if I don't get off this computer, I won't even finish the second sock to the first pair....

Here's the list of patterns I will be tackling in the next few days in an effort to **Bust the Stash** (insert loud, echo-ey announcers voice here):

1. Bamboozle Bambini Socks
2. Hunca Munca- Baby Socks
3. Just Your Basic Baby Socks (and hat)
4. Matthew's Leftover Baby Socks
5. Froggy Socks - I may have to go buy some yarn for this...darnit....

and some Just for Fun items from Lion Brand Yarn Company:

*You will have to sign up for free membership to view these patterns*

1. Norwegian Wristers

2. Foyle's Cabled Leg Warmers

Thought Stefani might enjoy a pair of the leg warmers. We'll see if I have enough ambition to get them done. lol

Tah!

Coming Soon....

Here's a sneak peek of a pattern that I will be posting soon (my flash washed it out a bit)....

Wonder if you can figure out what it is or is going to be??

Top 5: Things I Am Looking Forward To.....

1) My last day of work at job #2, tomorrow. :) Yay!!

2) Going to the movies Saturday night with friends. 1/2 of the group will be seeing Eclipse and the other 1/2 will be seeing The Last Airbender. While I am a fan of the vampire series, I am much more inclined to go see Airbender. I, personally, love the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon and I think a movie version is a brilliant idea. Besides, Jackson Rathbone (Jasper from Twilight) is in both of them. So, either way, I win!

3) Family vacation starting on Sunday. Going for a week's vacation to Wisconsin Dells. We are super stoked. This is the first real vacation we've taken in 5 years. By real vacation I mean: not related to any other event or for any other purpose than to relax and play. Sooooo excited!! We started planning this in February and I CANNOT believe that it's already here!!

4) Tony's 20th reunion is coming up July 17th/18th. We both graduated from Waukesha South. I was class of 1989 and Tony was class of 1990. No, I didn't really know him in high school. I knew of him and he didn't even know I existed. We met through mutual friends and literally haven't been apart since that first night. He told me he loved me one week after we met (he was drunk, so I blew it off). He asked me to marry him officially two weeks after we met (I said yes). And he put a ring on my finger exactly four weeks after we met. We will be married for 17 years on July 24th. Soooo, with all of that being in such close proximity to the reunion, we have decided to make that weekend away a Lover's Weekend. :) We will use that as our anniversary get away. We will also be visiting some old friends and seeing some people we love.

5) The kids are going camping with their youth group the actual weekend of our anniversary. Couldn't think of better timing, honestly. LOL

So much is happening in the month of July I just know it's going to fly by and I'm going to be wondering where 2/3rds of our Summer just went. But, I am hoping that there are piles of memories to go along with the busyness. We are going to have to be faithful to take pictures and document it all so Stef and I can scrapbook it!

Tah for now!
Biz

Finished Graduation Gift

Just had to quick blog about a graduation gift I completed.

Slippers for the cold winter nights. She's going to Bemidji, MN. *rolls eyes* You would think people would go somewhere warm....I would!! lol All kidding aside, she has a great future ahead of her. :)


School colors are forest green and white. I used some creative expression and created a quick Babette style blanket in Deep Sage, Soft White and Warm Brown. I can't get the picture to load, but you can sort of see the afghan behind the slippers.

Slipper Pattern
Babette Afghan Pattern

K. Tah for now!

A New Look

I seriously felt the need for a new 'do.

Black was getting so oppressive. I also realized that I hadn't read very many of the crafty blogs in my "favorite crafty blogs" list in a really long time. So I decided to have a look-see. Let's just say, many of them got deleted. I don't want to have stuff on my blog just for the sake of having 'stuff'. My need to purge the junk out of my real life is overflowing into my online life.

I hope the new format doesn't throw anyone. It's a little hard for me to look at, only because I was so used to the old one. And I tried to put the info bars in a different place....but, i just couldn't. My info may never leave the right side of my blog.....:(

K. Tah for now. Have to get ready to go home for the day. New pics of my seriously wild jungle of a garden will be coming soon!

Weekend Silliness

At the wedding we attended on Saturday they had something called a Shutterbox for their guests. Basically, a photo booth from the mall that you can actually fit adults into. (Have you ever tried to fit your booty into one of those mall ones with your kids?? What a joke!)

First up we have Daddy (a.k.a. Tony) and Teo....the macho, macho men.


Next, the whole family. We got a smidge off-center, lol.


Awww. Romantic. Tony and Biz.

(I'm thinking we could have thought of another pose for the third picture. But, I was currently in a snit with him......so, ya take what you can get. LOL)

Here is Biz with Stefani and Teo. Yes, they Lord it over me that I am smaller than them. Their favorite line is : "Just let me get it, Mom, you're arms and legs are too stubby." HOW did I make it to 38 without them?!?


Last, but definitely not least, Daddy and Stefani. What a coupla hams.....

Congratulations Melissa & Alan!! And thanks for all the great memories!!

Good Weekend

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day. I certainly did. A very relaxing time.

We went to brother and sister-in-laws in Minneapolis for the weekend. We painted their living room, dining room, kitchen, front hall and stairs. They are painting challenged and it would have been a major production for them, so we were glad to help. :) We visited IKEA and Mall of America. *sigh* And enjoyed a relaxing Sunday napping and playing cards. Monday, we came home, picked up the dog, scrubbed him clean (he actually did it willingly and wagged his tail the whole time) and relaxed. I am super greatful for the men and women who serve me and this great country with such devotion so that I can have a weekend like that. Thank You!

I was able to get about 5" of knitting done on the "Elves" baby blanket I am currently designing. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Knit-Along for this blanket? I'm sort of loving it...to death...and I thought it might be fun to do with more than just myself. Just a thought....

I'll get a picture posted soon so you can make an educated decision.

New Adventures...again...

Well, I am on another new adventure.

I have gone back to work for my father's company three days a week to run his office. The reason I am needed is such a loooong and seedy-ish story of frustration, lack of trust and anger that I won't bore you with the details. Besides...I don't like to air dirty laundry in public.

So, needless to say, I am back to work 5days/week. On the one hand, I love having something to do everyday. On the other hand, I am afraid of what's going to happen to my house. I am already not a great housekeeper. Things get kind of cluttered. Now, with two teenagers home and no mommy to make them clean up after themselves....*gasp*...I don't even want to think about it. They have also expressed the fact that they are not thrilled about being home alone every day. While I can sympathize with them (my mom went back to work when I was 13 and I was lost), I don't see any other way of doing "this" without me having a second job.

My job for the last year and a half cannot guarantee me more hours each week. So I decided that I was going to pursue a second part time job. I don't really want to leave my current job. But, with powerlifting nationals happening in Corpus Christi, TX next year and wanting to go on a family vacation this summer...amongst many other things, like everyone needs new clothes and shoes, etc...we needed more income. We live very basic on our current checks...there just isn't anything more for anything else. Anyway, I prayed about it and asked God to provide a job that wasn't going to interfere with church and the plans I already have in place. Lo and behold, he provided me this one (where I really wanted to be anyway), for more pay than I was expecting. God is good, is He not?

So now I will have access to the internet and hopefully will be a MUCH better blogger and sharer of patterns and pictures than I have been up till now. As a matter of fact, I tried to plug my memory card into this computer and it was having none of it. So we shall see. I swear my patience is being tried with this camera!!

I have completed one of the afghans that I was planning as a graduation gift, along with the matching slippers. I have at least one more to go...maybe two, but I have a feeling I will not be completing those until after graduation. We'll see. I have a picture of the blanket, I really do, but I can't get it off my SD card right now. May have to wait till a different day if I am unable to figure this out.

Ok, I'm signing off for now. Have a great day!

Lillies of the Valley

I'm having another random moment.

The Lilly of the Valley. Probably one of God's most perfect flowers.

Delicate in it's appearance, yet resilient in it's strength. This little beauty will take over any space it is planted in. In Northern Wisconsin, it flowers in May. Which could be 65 degrees or 35 degrees. It braves any weather and any circumstance to make its presence known.

I happen to have a small bouquet of them on my desk right now. They are cheerfully dangling over the edge of a cheap, red plastic cup, giving off their intoxicating perfume. I braved a very cold rain as I was leaving the house this morning in order to enjoy this little burst of Spring in my cubicle.

How delicate is the human race? Yet, how resilient are we when we are facing a trial? Can we beat off the bad weather and force our way out of the storm to show our beauty and share our intoxicating perfume of triumph? Can we be a burst of joyful Spring in the dowdiness of everyday life? Who can we touch today?

Things to ponder.

Good News, Bad News and an Ode to my little store

Hi all.

I have good news and bad news.

Good News!!: I have sold my store. Hallelujah! I am now free to further pursue my dreams. Like, going back to school. I want to go back for Graphic Design. I have discovered that is something I really like and wouldn't mind having a degree in. Took me till I was almost 38 to find out what I wanted to do when I grew up...but, I suppose, better late than never.

Bad News: I will not have internet access for a while. So I will not be able to be on here for a little while. I am actively looking for an alternative to our local phone company. We have several internet needs between school for my kids and just keeping up with life in general. So, I WILL find a way.

I was so excited, relieved and at peace with the store selling. I am finding now that I am mourning it a little. I have spent time crying. Somebody put it into a neat perspective for me. She said "You birthed this." And I did. In lots of prayer and hard work. I knew I would never keep it forever. I knew that I opened it to sell it. And the fact that it has is an absolute testament to the power of the Word of God. I just feel so stupid for crying over something I've been aching to get rid of. Almost like never being happy even when you get what you want. Except I am happy. I am most moved and touched by how much God loves me and takes care of me. He has totally held me in the palm of His hand and has rescued me right at the point where I thought I would come apart at the seams. But, I'm going to miss my store. At least for a little while. And then life will get busy and I will be so glad for the freedom that the pain will go away.

So, goodbye little store. You have been good to me. I have learned many things and gained much experience. You are in a cherished little corner of my heart.

20 Year Class Reunion.

I totally forgot to tell you!

I went to my 20 year reunion in one of the three cities I went to high school in this weekend. It was my first high school. These were the kids I grew up with through grade school and middle school. I left October of my freshman year. And they invited me to come to the reunion. :)

It was so good to see them. Many people I couldn't recognize. I just didn't spend enough time with them when we were kids apparently. But, I readily recognized Michelle, Brenda, and Deb. They don't look any different. And I got the chance to sit and talk with Michelle for quite a while. Found out she lives only a few hours from me and we could actually get together for lunch or go shopping or something! Too cool. She was my closest friend at the time that we moved. Apparently she had been looking for me for years and finally found me on Facebook.

I never thought that they would remember me. They all did. It meant the world to me. I hadn't seen any of them for so many years that it was almost like Arcadia never happened. But, it did. This reunion meant alot to me. It completely validated my childhood.

Somebody remembered me. :) And quite a few of them had stories about me that I never even remembered!

We drove out to the valley I grew up in and drove all the way to the back of it and then turned around, so that they could see the whole thing. As we were driving along one of my kids (i think my son) said "Wow, this is a really pretty valley, Mom". And it is. It is still as beautiful as when I was a child. Maybe even more so. I love that side of the state. I miss living there. Someday, I want to own the place where I grew up. The old house is gone now and somebody else built there. But, I want that piece of land. So many of my memories are wrapped up in that valley.

Someday.