Reuse Reduce Recycle!

I'm not against reusing, reducing or recycling... I've done it my whole life, I learned it from my mom and my grandparents. These are people who knew what it meant to conserve. They weren't wasteful and they taught me not to be wasteful. It makes sense for families to be mindful of every aspect of our lives, I always did it so that we could save money to buy school clothes and Christmas presents, or take a vacation.

Several years ago, Oprah had a "special" program to teach us all how to conserve energy and make our planet HAPPY! She had a family from Chicago on to share their words of wisdom on how to conserve within the home.
They let us know that it's really important to not wash a load of laundry unless you have a full load, don't run the dishwasher unless it's full and be sure to turn off the lights whenever you leave a room. Oh, and make sure you donate your unused clothes and belongings to charity...

My first thought was that these folks are all so seriously out of touch! This is not breaking news... unless you're super wealthy and have servants to take care of your every need... seriously, the proportion of folks that this applies to is almost not measurable, in fact I don't know anybody who doesn't already know how to conserve. I do know a lot of wealthy people who are probably more conservative in every area of their lives than we are. You don't get wealthy by spending every penny.

So, here's the real reason for this blog...

Like I said, I'm not against conserving, I raised my kids to understand the importance of conserving, but just to be clear, it wasn't so that we could safe the planet... it was because it's the right thing to do for our family. Oh, and I taught them to always buy on sale... if it's not on sale, we don't need it.

So, here's the reason for this blog today... I am so annoyed with the indoctrination of "safe our environment" to our children. My granddaughter has spent the night once a month or so since she was really little, she'll be 5 on June 2nd. Needless to say we've watched a lot of child programing since she was born. I started noticing early on that the cartoons she was watching were very different than when my kids were little. In the midst of teaching the ABC's and counting there always seems to be this seriously overt and obsessive focus on the "environment". My sweet little Layla was here a few weeks ago and she was watching some cartoon, the entire program was about reuse, reduce and recycle! I told her that we would find her a show that would actually teach her something that would help her when she goes to kindergarten this August, when she asked why, I told her that her mom would teach her everything this cartoon was teaching her. She was just fine with my answer and I changed the Chanel!

"Being frugal does not mean being cheap! It means being economical and avoiding waste." --Catherine Pulsifer

Say what you mean and mean what you say!

I know that a few members of my family read this silly little blog of mine, probably just to humor me...and I thank you for that:) And there are others who read and won't tell me who they are.... shame on you:) I just want to say that everybody needs a little feed back every once in awhile, so leave a comment... Thank you Jesse, Aunt Kimberly appreciates you:)

Here's my deal today, I have a man in my life that is very sick, he is terminally ill. It's the most difficult thing I've been through so far in my life, this man is my husbands father. I lost a father, and a grandmother... on the same day. But they both hated me!(sorry that sounds so harsh, but it's true) So, though it was hard, it wasn't like this. I'm so fortunate to be able to say that this man has loved me like I was a treasure that he found in the sand, or like a rare diamond that has just been discovered. He has always made me feel like I was worth a million dollars. And today I was honored to be able to sit with him today for a few hours. As I gave him his pain medication and asked him what I could do for him, he said to me, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.... 4 times times(i counted) he repeated that he loved me. Today he spoke a blessing over me that will last for eternity. So,... I'm crying and really can't think of how to end this blog, but just to say ..... Please, seize the moment, don't wait one second longer to express your love to those who deserved to hear it from you.

~Purpose to live without regret~
~Kimberly McCleskey~

Happiness

"Happiness is a moral virtue" Dennis Prager

So, I don't know why I listen to this guy on the radio but occasionally I come across him- mostly he irritates me with his pseudo morality. But a few days ago I heard him say that happiness is a moral virtue. I have to say that this is probably one of the most profound things I've ever heard.

Happiness is fleeting, really. It seems that we can never really lock it in on a consistent basis. We're good if something is pleasing us at the moment, but when something is uncomfortable we easily loose our happy state.

Happiness is a virtue that I need to work on daily!- My pattern is that I can easily loose my happiness when I get stressed, or as of recent- when I get lonely I suddenly feel very unhappy-

Guess I have a choice to make--- daily!

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go”
~Oscar Wilde~
Ha- that's hysterical!

Take Time To Show The Love

Today was an extremely emotional day. My husband is about to leave on a very extended trip... it's so extended that I really don't know when he'll be back, somewhere between 3 and 6 months! No, he's not in the military, he just loves God and wants to serve Him, on another continent!...and I'm good with that. But honestly, I'm struggling a bit, feeling protective with the last few day's we have together. I had the day off today and we planned to spend the day doing all the things we love to do. We were headed to take care of some needed errands, oil change, banking, lunch and a few shopping errands then off to see True Grit(with popcorn heavily coated with butter and M & M's, all of which we enjoy doing together, well, he doesn't eat the m& m's...). We had just left the mechanic's and were headed to pick up a few items from David's parents house when his dad called, saying that he thinks he needs to go to the emergency room. His mom had just flew out earlier this morning to celebrate her mothers 100th birthday in Texas. We spend the next 4 hours in the ER, sitting/waiting. I was so disappointed that we missed our day of "memories"... until I realized what a blessing it was to have been the ones he called to take him to the ER, and that every moment with him is precious, I have loved him so much, and he has loved me so well for 28 years now. He is one of two great men in my life(outside of my husband, that is), the other is my step father. Both of these men have had life threatening health issues that are game changers... Whatever I 'think' is important will always pale to their needs, I'd drop everything to make sure that I'm there for either one of them. My dear father in law will spend the next few day's in the hospital. He had some sort of heart failure and fluid on his lungs and they want to watch him (amen)! He is happy to be there, happy that if he stops breathing that they will be there for him.. Which makes us able to sleep tonight.

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers

Friendship

I have this friend that I've known for almost 15 years. I adore her, and value her more than I can say. I tear up thinking about how full my life has been because of her. What a blessing it was that God gave her to me. We have stood by one another though life altering events. We've prayed for each other and been there for each other when times were tough, and I mean really tough! God has used her in my life so many times, He uses her to speak truth to me when I can't see it for myself, He's used her to encourage me when I need it most. I pray that I have been the friend to her that she has been to me, there are times where I have had my doubts about that! There is not enough space to write about what we've watched each other go through. But through every difficult season of the last 15 years I've always known that I have Rachel, I have Rachel to stand with me as I face whatever crisis came my way, and whatever crisis she faced I stood with her.

Rachel is also my hero, in so many ways, really. She and her husband Kevin have just gotten home from China, they adopted a little 6 year old boy that they named Hudson, after the British missionary to China, James Hudson Taylor. What's better than that is that 9 years ago they adopted a baby girl that they named Holly. This child has stolen my heart since the day I first saw her. David and I have so many pictures of her when she was little, precious!

We now face another season of life, Rach needs me to stand strong in prayer with her. Our little Holly is really struggling with adding a little brother into their family...... My gut feeling is this, she is first and foremost a very tenderhearted little girl, I know that there are many things that an adopted child goes through that I will never understand, but what I do understand is that she wanted this little boy in their family, I know that her mom and dad have taught her what is means to care for orphans and what God says about how He would have us do that. She knows that her mom and dad have loved her and worked very hard to rescue her from an orphanage when she was an infant. This is a hard time for her,,, and for her mom and dad as they watch her process this journey, knowing that the only thing that they can do is to reassure her that she is wanted and dearly loved.

Now, about Hudson... He is a precious little 6 year old boy! What a breath of fresh air- today when I met him he graciously approached me, he wrapped his little arms around my waist and hugged me. I melted like butter. He didn't understand me when I cupped his little cheeks in my hands and told him how precious he was. He didn't know how full my heart was when I looked at him and thanked our awesome God for giving him to Rach and Kev.

Time

Sometimes I feel like time is going by so fast- like, unusually fast! Seems like our little granddaughter Layla was just 6 months old and we were teaching her all kinds of fun stuff. She's 4 1/2 years old now, and teaching me all kinds of fun stuff:) she reminds me of what's really important in this life.

Don't even get me started on how fast my children grew up- honestly, I could weep about that! Somehow I didn't seem to understand how fast our time would go with them.

Now, here's the real kicker- The first 6 months of 2011 will likely be spent wishing the time would go faster. My husband will be leaving the country to work in Uganda, Africa for 6 months. If all goes well that time may be shortened, we'll see!

I do have a plan to help fill my time while I'm alone for 6 months. I'm taking a photography class, a weight lifting class, and volunteer at a local hospital or nursing home. I plan on having my little Layla spend many nights, oh, and my little niece Katie has already asked to come and spend the night when Uncle David is gone. I will definitely be having dinner with friends and lunch with my precious daughter, and most likely dinners with my son,,,, as long as I'm buying!!

I'm thrilled that we'll be able to talk on the phone and that we have skype and email, and of course we can text for 5 cents. I'm praying that the time will go faster than ever until he returns home... but not when it comes to our little Layla growing up!

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure.
~Winston Churchill~

I LOVE Thanksgiving!

I'm feeling a bit obsessive about Thanksgiving! I'm obsessing about what everybody is doing for the big day. I keep asking "so, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? What is your favorite food? What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?" Seriously, that's me... It's all I've talked about all week, and Thanksgiving isn't for another week, hope I don't drive everyone around me too crazy!!

I just love this day, this day where we come together and laugh and visit, where we make new memories that last us until the next year. I love that we live out the traditions we've developed for our family. There is nothing like a group of people that come together every year and know exactly what to expect, they know that there will be turkey, mashed potatoes, and my perfect gravy (that my mother in law taught me to make, kudos to her), greenbean casserole, rolls that are perfectly browned on top with real butter, and of course pumpkin pie with whip cream, and my new fav that my daughter has made for the last 3 years .... the now famous...must have every year from now on.... Peach Cherry Pie with lattice crust that she makes from scratch, and is perfect every single time! Oh my goodness, it's amazing and I wish everyone of you could try it. She actually made it for me for my birthday this year because I love it so much. Really, there is nothing like Thanksgiving..... Well,  Christmas eve is pretty darn close! I get pretty excited about my sister in law's cream cheese tortilla rolls, and her husbands banana bread, and his no bake cookies that he calls "unbaked" cookies, oh and their decorated sugar cookies and their famous peanut butter cookies.... Then there's breakfast the next morning, well- I could just go on and on.... I love to anticipate a day filled with everything that we have had for as long as we can remember- Memories- it's all about making memories, isn't it?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. 
                                    ~H.U. Westermayer~