Plugged Back In...

I survived. The world did not quit spinning. And no one died..not even me!

Honestly, this was an awesome task and challenge...I unplugged from pretty much everything. Blogs, Email, Twitter. All of it!

What did I learn? That I use up alot of time on these things and that although I do quite well at multi-tasking, checking email & blogs, while reading a twitter and running an invoice for work and thinking about what's for dinner is making me crazy!

The silence of not hearing that *ping of an incoming message or text was absolutely heavenly.

Will I do this again?! You better believe it!! I can see this being at least something I do on the weekends and quite possibly one day during the week. I'm not sure my family really noticed and that's ok...I noticed.

Check out A Soft Place To Land blog for more inspiring stories of Unplugging! Maybe you'll be inspired to join in on the challenge!

Unplugged....

I'm joining Kimba and unplugging tomorrow (Friday) for the entire day.

What does this mean for me?
*I won't be checking emails or blogs
*I will turn my Twitter's off for the day
*I will not respond to text messages
*I won't veg out in front of the television

Why?
*because life is full of enough distractions
*because I need to focus on some areas
*because God wants my best & I need to recharge by unplugging

In The Mean Time...
I will be spending the day in my normal routine, just without the technology distractions. I plan to use this "redeemed" time in God's Word and in prayer. Also, my family will get some much needed undivided attention. I'll be posting on Monday what I learned through this process and who knows...this could become a weekly challenge for me!

Interview With My Teenagers

Ok, I snitched this idea from Meredith...should be interesting since my children are teenagers! And no, I did not edit their answers.....and I did not prompt any responses. So..here goes....an interview with my teenagers.....

1. What is something your mom always says to you?
Mallorye-clean your room or your grounded
Blake-brush your teeth
(both were right)

2. What makes your mom happy?
M-scrapbooking
B-doing the work she tells you

3. What makes your mom sad?
M-fights
B-when I get hurt

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
M-trying to be cool (so much for that, huh?)
B-by tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
M-craazy
B-wild & rebellious
(ok..they might both be right on this, but I wasn't too bad I don't think...mom??)

6. How old is your mom?
M-34 till Wednesday (she's right)
B-36

7. How tall is your mom?
M-5'8" (right again..sorry Blake)
B-5' 7-1/2"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
M-clean...just kidding, read
B-clean

9. What does your mom do when your not around?
M-I don't know, I'm not around (typical sarcasm)
B-clean

10. If your mom became famous, what will it be for?
M-singing
B-singing

11. What is your mom really good at?
M-singing
B-singing & cleaning (ok, I'm starting to get a complex about the cleaning thing)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
M-keeping things alive (hey now...I've kept 2 kids alive)
B-letting things that are out of order, stay out of order

13. What does your mom do for a job?
M-accounting
B-work for an electrical company
(their sort of both right, but not really...I work for a contractor...electrical, plumbing, HVAC...and I do some accounting, but really more of an administrative assistant to the boss)

14. What is your moms favorite food?
M-not Mexican
B-chicken
(it's actually chocolate...one of the major food groups)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
M-she stands up for what she believes in
B-coming to most of my games in every sport

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who should she be?
M-Wylie Coyote
B-the maid on the Jetsons (complex again)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
M-watch House
B-go to games

18. How are you and your mom the same?
M-we look alike
B-we both like sports and we both play basketball

19. How are you and your mom different?
M-I'm not OCD (now she's starting in on the cleaning...)
B-she likes to clean and I don't

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
M-cuz she writes about me :)
B-cause she tells me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
M-I have no clue (isn't that encouraging?!)
B-that he protects our country

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
M-somewhere comfy with a book
B-Lifeway Christian Bookstore

Ok...so according to my kids...I love to clean and read...I'm good at singing...and not very good at being cool. Wasn't this fun?!

It is interesting to see their perspectives on things...kinda makes you stop and think about what your not saying actually says, huh?

10 On The Tenth (March Edition)

Meredith over at Life at 7000 Feet is hosting "10 on the 10th" and since this is my birthday month, I thought my 10 things to share would be "My Wish List".....

1. This Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera....I think that I could definitely take some very cool pictures with this!!

2. A relaxing full body massage....need I say more??

3. A vacation on the beach somewhere....coupled with the above massage would be pure bliss!

4. Some new jeans...I'm loving the Taylor Boot Cut from Maurices...great fit and affordable

5. A Cricut Expressions for my scrapbook obsession!

6. And to go with that some awesome Scrapbook Storage solutions

7. And a New Desk!

8. Cool Purse like this one in a Fun color....yellow, green, or fire engine red!

9. Some new running tennis shoes...so I can get in shape?!

10. And a wedding band ....much like this one...which has been on my list for the past 5 years!!

So...go check out what other cool 10 things people are talking about....it can be anything...and maybe you'd like to play along!

God Povides!

God is definitely good to my children.

They both have signed up (on faith) for a mission trip to Nicaragua over Thanksgiving 2009. The cost for each of them to go is $1500 and for us...well, that's just a miracle stretch. However, I didn't discourage them. I just told them to sign up and "prepare for rain." We have prayed that God would provide and He is doing just that!

Last week, we were told that both children had been given $250 each, to go toward their cost. We were blown away. Well, God just totally blessed our socks off yesterday.....we were pulled aside after the first morning service and told that someone had donated $1500 for Mallorye to go on this trip!! The total cost...including her spending money! WOW! The anonymous donor apparently has been watching Mallorye on Wednesdays and has been impressed at the way she conducts herself and her attitude. Let me tell ya, as a parent, that is the biggest compliment you could receive!

We transferred the $250 that had been previously given to her to Blake and so now he has $500....only a $1000 to go!

This will be the first time that either of them have been on a foreign mission trip and I'm convinced it will be life-changing for them. We covet your prayers on this endeavor and I plan on updating regularly as we travel this journey.

So, a few beginning details;

Trip Location: Leon, Nicaragua
Trip Date: November 21-28, 2009
Trip Cost: $1500.00 each
Trip Agenda: Building a new church, VBS, Street Evangelism, Fiestas....the kids will be sharing their faith on a daily basis....our youth pastor just went this past December and seen nearly 1,300 people accept Christ! That's making a kingdom difference.

Please pray that God continues to bless Mallorye & Blake financially and that He prepares them for sharing their faith in a foreign land.

February 29 Snow

I think all sickness has finally left our house and since it's a beautiful 73 degrees here in Arkansas, I thought it'd be a great day to share last weeks snow pictures. Hey, it makes sense in my brain! LOL

So, here's the front of our house...we don't get much snow here which explains why the steps would still be covered with snow in this picture. Lucky for the mailman the snow came during the weekend and was pretty much melted away by noon on Monday. Gotta love Arkansas!

Our neighbor's house...just because it was a much prettier view. White house..white snow...cruddy picture! This really was a pretty snow...nearly 8"!!

Little Miss Priss...she loves a photo-op!

I have no idea what Blake is doing....

Ok, so I try again and now Mallorye closes her eyes!!

And this is the best family picture I could get...yes, hubby is taking the picture...and we all need to tan before summer!!! WOW!

Just Keepin' It Real

Well...I had intended to post some beautiful, fun photos of our family playing in the nearly 8" of snow we got....but it was not meant to be...

Blake has come down with a horrible stomach bug. He kept telling us all through church this morning that he didn't feel good (this is where mommy guilt enters) and I thought he was just being whiny because he had spent the night with a friend and didn't get enough sleep. I blew him off all throughout church. He has been known to exaggerate an illness to get out of doing something. Well, our worship pastor invited us over to play in the snow...ride 4-wheelers, build snowmen, etc....but Blake didn't bite. I thought for sure that would bring him out of his funk. We stopped at Mickey D's for a quick lunch...and again, Blake didn't bite...he didn't order anything (this is where it gets fun)...while waiting in the drive-thru lane he just upchucked all over the van. (I know that's a little graphic for some, but I'm a mom and just keepin' it real) I was like "wow, he might really be sick." Again, I thought he might perk up a little. No dice. He's been in bed ever since with his bucket companion nearby and has used it more times than I care to talk about....or you care to read.

Please pray for my little man...he's not a very good patient....(he gets that from his dad) {{grin}}

All that to say we didn't get to play in the snow and it was a pretty snow...perfect for building snowmen and throwing snow balls. (this is really a record for us in NE Arkansas...we've had 2 snows and one ice storm this season) I will try to post pictures later of our snow and the pictures I took of us before church and the whole stomach bug thing...

Ok...mommy duty is calling...