Newly wed life

Batman and Tinkerbell

2012-01-24T09:01:00.001-06:00

For the past few weeks we have had an ongoing discussion between a few of our four year old preschoolers about Batman and Tinkerbell.
During playtime:
Emma: Why won't you play Tinkerbell with me? I don't want to play batman!

Lane: Because batman is real and Tinkerbell isn't.

A Couple of weeks later during snack time:

Emma: Why don't you like Tinkerbell?

Lane: She is not real.

Tyler: Yeah, fairies are not real. Only the tooth fairy is real.

Emma: Batman is not real either!

Lane: Well maybe he is not real now, but someday he will be because when I grow up I'm going to be Batman.

Amazing Grace 2012

2012-01-02T21:55:00.000-06:00

I remember hearing that John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace, wrote and used that hymn as part of New Year's sermon in 1773. Knowing this does put this hymn in a new light. I've been reading over the lyrics and verses 3 and 4 stand out in particular:

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

I wish I could know what his text was for his sermon, but my guess from these verses would be one of these two verses.
Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Lamentations 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

They are both good verses to meditate on as we enter 2012.

Reviews of Love Wins

2011-04-05T21:31:00.001-05:00

If you are not familiar with the controversy about Rob Bell's Love Wins and the criticism it has received from the likes of John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Kevin DeYoung, let me enlighten you a bit. Love Wins first created a stir with this video by Rob Bell promoting his new book. It was then critiqued (or blasted depending on who listen to) by aforementioned people. They warned against the universalist teachings in Rob Bell's book. They were then critiqued/blasted by various members of Rob Bell's following.

I've read a few reviews on the actual book, and I'm here to tell you it ain't pretty. Rather than repeat what others have said I will direct you to some good reviews on this book:

A review by Kevin DeYoung

God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins”

Tim Spivey of TimSpivey.com writes his review in 3 parts. I really liked this. It makes it easier to read 3 shorter posts than one long post.
Another reason why I like Tim Spivey's review is because he actually liked Rob Bell's previous books, but he is bold enough to speak out against the message in Love Wins.

God Wins - A Review of Rob Bell's Love Wins, Part 1

God Wins - A Review of Rob Bell's Love Wins, Part 2 - The Good

God Wins - A Review of Rob Bell's Love Wins, Part 3 - Scripture and Atonement

Then finally purely for laughs My Review of Love Wins by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. It won't be what you are expecting.

An update on my mamaw

2011-03-30T15:03:00.000-05:00

My grandmother has finished her six months of chemo sessions. There is still a little cancer in her lungs, but the cancer is not in the adrenal glands and lymph nodes anymore. She is feeling much better, and was able to return to part time work last week. This is a picture of her before she lost her hair.

Chrysler: the best car commercials

2011-03-29T20:54:00.000-05:00

Kind of makes you want one. . .

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2011-03-27T23:12:00.000-05:00

I went up to visit my parents this weekend for my dad's birthday. We had a great time, too bad I left my toothbrush there. Story of my life.

I also had a nightmare. I dreamed I went to visit my family on the weekend that I was supposed to keep the nursery. Thankfully it was only a dream, because it would be very bad for the assistant nursery director to skip town on the week she was supposed to take care of the kids.

27 years ago. . .

2011-03-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

I became a big sister. I could not pronounce her name. I did not like being asked to throw away her dirty diapers, or to share her baby food (mom did these things on purpose to get my reaction). Still, I loved having a new little sister.

It was like having a live, round, cute, baby doll who grew up into one of my best friends. Bethany was my opposite: talkative where I was quiet, bold and friendly when I was shy and timid. She loved animals, and I did not. I could go on but I won't. It seems that because of all our differences we've made a great pair of sisters/friends. We complement each other. Bethany, I love you and I hope you have a great day, and a wonderful year!

Monday February 21, 2011

2011-03-10T15:41:00.002-06:00

Running across a bridge along side a semi-busy road was not what I planned when I got up that morning. Still, there I was following my husband at a steady jog trying to stay as far away from the cars as possible. How did this happen?

It was President's Day, so Daniel was off work. He decided to use this time wisely and study for his upcoming midterms. I decided to take advantage of having the car, and go grocery shopping before our dentist appointment at three. So I hopped in the car and headed for Kroger, only to have the right wear tire blow out on me. I rode on the rim until I could stop and park in a medical center parking lot.

I got out to check just how bad the damage was. It looked terrible, horrible, no good, very bad.

A man in a sedan pulled up and offered to help me. This is a blessing from God, so far, whenever I have had car trouble God has sent someone along to help me. I popped the trunk and we took and looked for the spare.
Yeah, guess what? It was flat too.

That was when this kind person offered to drop me off somewhere. I called my husband first catching him up on the situation and then took the offer for a ride home. I thanked him for a ride and hurried up the steps of our trailer.

Now we needed to get our car to a mechanic and get the tire replace. We had flat spare, and I'd just left our only car at a medical clinic parking lot, and this was our only car. So what to do?

Daniel's plan: Walk down to the medical clinic and see if the spare tire was really flat.
My plan: shove a telephone book inside my purse just in case we need to call a tow. I'm glad my purse is large enough!

Thankfully we were only a mile away, if we took the long way, which of course we did. After all we wanted to avoid some of the traffic!

That is how I found myself jogging along the side of the road, crossing a bridge, and trying to stay as far as could from the traffic. I had to laugh at myself lugging an overstuffed purse toward our car. Daniel did not find the situation funny. He was thinking about how much money a tow truck would cost. We arrived at the car only for Daniel to find out that the spare really was flat. Imagine that.

That is when he turned to me and said, "Do you have any change?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because, I want to carry the tire down to the gas station and pump air into it. That way we won't have to call a tow truck." I love my husband. He likes to save money too.

I got out my change. He pulled out the spare tire, and we were off. It was not long before we stopped though. The nearest gas station was across a busy highway, and neither of us really wanted run across that intersection.

That's when I noticed just up ahead of us the Honda Dealership. "Hey, why don't we just stop there, don't they fix people's car's too? Surely they could pump some air in our tire." That is what we did. The guy at the Honda dealership gladly pumped air in our spare while laughing at us.

So we were able to walk back to the car. Daniel put the spare on, we drove the mechanics, and I rescheduled our dentist appointments, and went grocery shopping while they put a tire on our car.

Tune in for Wednesday, Feb. 23 when we are put on a boil water alert. . .

a review of the past few months

2011-02-03T15:04:00.000-06:00

A lot has happened since I last posted.

We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary November 22, 2010. Two lovely years together.

Daniel had a biopsy on his foot. He has had a growth on his foot for years now; he finally checked out what it was. Nothing is wrong. It is just a fatty tissue, called Neurofibromatosis (NF1). It is benign/harmless, so there was no need to remove it. It is genetic.

I had two moles removed off of my back in December. Thankfully these were benign too. They looked like they might be cancerous. It has taken a long time to heal. Scar tissue is now starting to form.

We spent Christmas with my family and then went to Myrtle Beach to spend a week with Daniel's family. We had a good time with everyone.

Now the new year has started, Daniel is very busy with school work. I've been keeping myself busy by helping out with our church's mission conference.

Our trip down the Upper Gauley

2010-11-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

Last Month Daniel and I took a long awaited trip down the Gauley River. Why long awaited? Well this is not just any rafting trip. It is more expensive than the creeks and rivers around us, and the drive would have been a little much for our overworked jeep. Still we've been wanting to do this for a few years and this seemed like the right time to do it.

I love rafting. White water, and speed gives me a thrill. I've enjoyed every trip down the white water rafting trip that I've taken. It is great. Daniel also loves rafting and he is a thrill seeker. So when we heard about the Gauley River's class five rapids, 2nd most powerful river in the nation and 7th in the world we knew we wanted to go.

We rafted down the Upper Gauley with River Expeditions rafting company. We left around 7:30 Monday morning Oct. 4th, in the cold weather. We'd rented wet suits and jackets. Then we were told by a fellow rafter to go buy some extra warm shirts and stuff. We did just that I was very grateful, because I would have frozen without the extra clothing.

The water was 60 degrees and the air was 45 degrees. We ended up in a yellow raft with our guide and two other people. The trip was five hours long.

There were over thirty rapids on the upper Gauley, five of them were class 5 rapids. Each rafting company have their own names for the smaller rapids but the big 5 are all called by the same names:

1. (Insignificant) While this is the first of the big five, but it is hardly insignificant. They call it a highly technical entrance from a rafting perspective because there are limited ways to enter this rapid, most people enter from the left at the widest part of the channel.

2. (Pillow Rock) We had to paddle straight towards an enormous rock and the force of the water swept us on buy. I thought we were going to flip on this one but we made it. We did end up rescuing a couple of people after this rapid.

3. (Lost Paddle) I think this one was my favorite. It was a long rapid with four different drops. Called Lost Paddle because so many people lose their paddles on this one.

4. (Iron Ring) This one has an interesting history dating back to the logging period in West Virginia. It is a class 5+. They used to classify it as a class 6 (which means unrunnable) but they finally figured out how to run it so we went down instead of walking around it. This is the rapid we flipped on. This was not a good thing as there is a big eddy to left and a strong undercurrent to the right.

When we flipped Daniel and I were momentarily trapped under the boat. Daniel worked his way out and headed downstream where he later hit a rock. There is a reason for required helmets! In the meantime I was still trapped under the raft and breathing in water. I thought I was going to drown. When I finally came up I don't really remember what was happening other the coughing up water. I started to get some thought process going when Chris (the safety kayaker) came up to me and told me to grab onto the end of his kayak. He then guided me over to the raft. I grabbed the raft, but I could hold on. I felt like I was being torn in half, since the raft was pushing me one way and the undercurrent was pulling me another way. My back was in incredible pain, so I let go. I was sucked under the raft again, and that is when I lost my right shoe. I was however able to get a breath before I went under so I did not breathe in water.

I came back out on the other side and Chris found me again and told me to grab his kayak and kick. I did and then he told me to swim towards the rocks. I would not have done this if he had not told me to, because I'd been warned beforehand that swimming towards the rocks could be dangerous because of the strong undercurrent. When I got up on the rocks Chris took my paddle and gave it to a group of rafters nearby. Yes that is right, I'd managed to hold tight to my paddle the entire time that I was out of the raft. This was not a good thing because it was hindering my swimming abilities. I guess I just kept holding on because I wanted something to hold on to. The group who rescued me was the same group we had rescued earlier after Pillow Rock. I was the last one to get back to the raft. Daniel had been rescued earlier after being sucked under the raft 3 more times (that was four times total for him). It was just that hard to hold on. He was rescued by another rafting company. I believe this happens all the time. They have each others backs and try to make sure that everyone gets home safely. Trust me when I say this was the most exhausting and frightening experience I have had so far.

After we all got back in the raft, we stopped for lunch. We had to hike up a rocky trail holding onto a rope that had been tied to trees, so we could have support. I did this with only one shoe. Other people saw me and made fun of me on the way up. "Hey there what happened to your shoe?" "I fell out of the raft and lost it" "Ha, Ha, great story." These people were crazy.

After a lunch of hot tomato soup and hamburgers we went back to the river for another hour of rapids. Getting back into paddling really helped the pain go away. You know walk it off? Instead it was paddle it off.

The Last of the big 5 was

Sweets Falls. This is a powerful rapid that we were given a lot of instructions on running. All I really heard was if we go to far to left we'll die and if we go to far to the right we'll die, so we are going to make it. Well all right. Sweets Falls is a fourteen foot waterfall. We did make it, and we did not tip at the rock waiting for us at the bottom. I was very grateful for this. I did not want to have to be rescued twice.

There were a few other rapids after this (class 3 and 4). One of them called Bloody Fingernail or Fingernail, but I can't remember that names of all the others. I just know that I had a good time. I'm really glad that Daniel and I did this. I don't think I'm ready for more right now, but I know I would have regretted not going down the Upper Gauley while we had the chance.

Edited to add: We were very sore for the next couple of days, five hours of paddling will do that to you.

I found a Video Tour of the Rapids of the Gauley River here. We are not in these videos, but this is the river we rafted down.

Outlining (or not)

2010-09-01T15:28:00.001-05:00

I am not the sort of person who typically uses outlines to help myself write fiction. They help me when I am sorting through research, writing speeches, essays, and articles, but when I want to tell a story that comes purely from my imagination an outline does not help me.

When I was a child, I used to write stories and plays with my sisters. We would act out these plays for family members, or turn them into radio drama's by recording them on cassette tape. It was fun! I did not think of these things as hard or scary. I just wrote down what I wanted to write down and did not worry about my story. It was a carefree past time and I actually completed plenty of stories. I won't say that they were all good (they were not), still they were for the most part complete. I got my characters to the end of the story.

When I got older, wiser, and more educated, I learned about outlines. I learned that outlines were, supposed to help me develop a story, organize it and write it down. I decided to give it a try, and sure enough it really helped with my school assignments. I could write speeches, lesson plans, essays, articles, legal briefs etc. without a problem.

So I decided to try it out on the novel that I was starting to write, and it did not work. I ceased to write. I spin stories inside my mind all the time, but none of them come out of me. I know where I want to go with the story, I know the gist of the plot, the main events, and so I write out an outline for myself and it takes me no where. It seems to me that I have not completed a single story since I was seventeen years old, and I believe it is because I have forced myself to use a system that is obviously not working for me. Well you know the saying, if ain't broke don't fix it? What about returning to my little self? They artistic child who had fun with her stories. That might work, and it is worth a shot.

These are all revelations that came to me recently as I've been working on my novel. I'm still not against outlining. I think it works for many people, and it might even work for me if I tweaked it a bit.

I read a book called Writing Fiction for Children: Stories Only You Can Tell. In it Judy Morris, the author, has a lot of information on forming and organizing your story.

Since reading her book, I've started asking myself questions about my story, to help me write it down and (hopefully) not leave out the important stuff.

What is my story about?

What does my story center around?

Who drives the action forward?

What needs to happen in this chapter to get my mc to the next big event in the story?

How are my characters changing? How are they staying the same?

What is important to them? How am I getting this across to my reader?

These are just some of the questions I ask. It is not a true outline and allows me to feel the freedom of exploring my story while writing it, instead of feeling boxed in and unable to write what I want. I hope that they will help me to finish my novel.

I survived

2010-08-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

Recently, well on the last day of VBS, our jeep broke down on me. It has been sitting in the driveway taunting me ever since. We are planning on getting rid of it soon.

Now we are down to one car (again!). I am the nursery aide at our church, and I had nursery duty today, and I'll have it tomorrow too. Since I don't have the jeep to drive anymore, I had to drop my husband off at work so I could have the car and drive to the church.

Back when all we had to drive was the jeep, I dropped Daniel off at work so I could keep the jeep to run errands. I did this once. Why only once, in an entire year? Because getting lost is my super power. After I dropped him off from work I made a wrong turn going back home. I became very lost, so lost in fact that I never really found my way out, (not the right way). By the grace of God, I finally stumbled upon familiar territory and found my way home.

Because of this one incident, I've been afraid to drop Daniel off at work and keep jeep/honda ever since then. Until today. I had to today, because had to go to work myself. I did not have a job last year, so it was not a necessity.

Today, I made it though. I battled my way through Jackson traffic, dropped Daniel off at work, and went to church where I helped take care of three babies and three other youngsters. I will be helping take care of 8 children tomorrow, so I hope we have three people instead of just two tomorrow working with those sweet, but energetic kids.

New Mexico Trip 2010

2010-07-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

We start out our trip by going to the cake walk, and helping raise money for the community.

Mrs. Becky Inman, my mother-in-law, mingling at the cake walk.

Ladies tea

Craft time at the Ladies Tea.

At Just Move it, the community 3 to 5 K walk or run. It is the campaign to promote health and exercise among the Navajo's. It is our chance to meet more of the people in the community.

One of the work projects.

Leah in the green shirt gave Daniel and me a beautiful piece of Navajo pottery as a belated wedding gift. This was at one of our evening services. Daniel can't keep his eyes open for pictures.

This was Karen, me, and Martha, at the VBS registration table.

The first grade class in VBS during Bible time.


2nd-3rd grade class in VBS during Bible time.


4th grade class for VBS, during recreation.

Mr. Bill Inman, my father-in-law, supervising during 4th grade crafts.

Some of the youth during crafts.

More of the youth during crafts.

Meljorie, Brittany, and Melissa, my sister, at lunchtime, and dismissal time.

Daniel and I cooking lunch for VBS kids.


Group picture at VBS, on the last day.

Missions trip July 8-17

2010-07-06T08:23:00.000-05:00

I will be going on a missions trip July 8-17. I will be without a computer, cell phone reception or any technology whatsoever. Our team will be going to Crystal, NM, on Navajo Nation. We will be working with the Navajo children and trying to reach the community out there.
This is my third year to go on this missions trip. This year I will be sharing my testimony, and a devotional, so all of you prayer warriors out there can pray for me (please?). I will also be teaching VBS to K-1st . I'm looking forward to this trip. I need to pack now, and buy sunscreen, and get my haircut.

Writing challenge: who wants to write?

2010-06-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer …
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire,
For we have some flax golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

Shel Silverstein

I have found it very difficult to keep my mind on writing my novel, my supposed Work in Progress. I've thought of a different idea and it is very interesting to me. I want to write about these new characters instead, but I know where this leads: to an unfinished novel. I need to write down my idea for the new story in a file and leave it alone until I finish the story I'm writing now.

In order to motivate myself to write the novel I'm supposed to writing I'm creating a challenge for myself. This is not like the insane nanowrimo challenge that I've tried twice and failed. This is a challenge to myself to work on different things inside of my story while I'm writing. I will give myself writing prompts in hopes of increasing my word count. You are welcome to "come in" and join me if you want.

What is up with us

2010-06-17T08:16:00.003-05:00

I've been up to my ears with things to do recently, this is why I have not had time to actually write a blog entry. I figured I needed to solve that problem.

I've been helping plan a missions trip out to Crystal, New Mexico this year. This is part of Navajo Nation, the Navajo Indian Reservation. This is the third year that my husband and I will be going on this missions trip, but it is the first year that I've actually been involved in the planning process.

Each year we go out and have a Vacation Bible School with the kids. This year I've helped with the planning process by getting out and recruiting help, writing VBS rotation schedules, writing the VBS curriculum with help from Karen Freeman, another missions team member. We also have a Ladies Tea and I've been busy helping plan that. I'm currently in the middle of mailing out invitations to our Ladies Tea. I just hope we are not forgetting something in all of this.
The main thing is prayer. Daniel and I have been praying for these kids ever since we left, but now we are also praying for our trip out there. I feel like I'm losing momentum, I was so excited about the trip and now I'm just tired and the trip has not even begun yet. I'm praying that God will renew my sense of excitement and anticipation over this trip.
There is so much to be grateful for. We started out with only a few people signed up on our missions team and now we have the largest group we've ever had. We started out struggling to find teacher's for all the classes and now we have teachers and extra people to help on the work projects. The things that are killing my sense of excitement are is that we still need some money for vans, and supplies. I'm praying that God will see us through. He provided the people, He can provide the money. I just have my doubts some times, I'm like the man saying "I believe, help my unbelief." You can pray for me in this, and pray for all of us as we prepare for the missions trip.

Other things that are going on:
My in-laws are here for a week and half. They are staying with Nathaniel and Susan and helping with Jack. I know Susan needs that help. She and Nathaniel need sleep. Jack needs to learn how keep his meals down so he won't have to nurse as often. We've been coaching him on this but he does not seem to be paying attention. In spite of losing his meals so often he's still managed to gain his birth weight back plus some. He is now 10 lbs 2 oz. and 23 inches long (He was 9 lb. 6 oz. 21 and 1/2 inches long at birth).

Daniel found out that Mississippi State University is now offering a distance learning Master's Program in Applied Meteorology. He has started the application process for it. He needs two letters of reference before he can complete his application. Please pray for him and us as we make plans and decisions about this.

Why I have a count down going: Free Online Writer's conference

2010-06-14T12:10:00.000-05:00

Who? Any and all writers of YA

What? WriteOnCon, FREE Online Writer's Conference

Where? http://writeoncon.com/

When? August 10th-12th, 2010

Why? Because StevenMalk, Catherine Drayton, Michelle Andelman, Suzie Townsend, MarkMcVeigh, Joanna Stampfel-Volpe, Kathleen Ortiz, Lindsay Eland, DanEhrehaft, Mandy Hubbard, Lindsey Leavitt, Josh Berk, Anica Rissi, JodiMeadows and many, many more will be joining you.

Please read more about this at

Lisa and Laura Write

Shelly Moore Band - "Jesus, I Am Resting"

2010-06-12T23:03:00.001-05:00

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,

And Thy beauty fills my soul,

For by Thy transforming power,

Thou hast made me whole.

Refrain

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

O, how great Thy loving kindness,

Vaster, broader than the sea!

O, how marvelous Thy goodness,

Lavished all on me!

Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,

Know what wealth of grace is Thine,

Know Thy certainty of promise,

And have made it mine.

Refrain

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,

I behold Thee as Thou art,

And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,

Satisfies my heart;

Satisfies its deepest longings,

Meets, supplies its every need,

Compasseth me round with blessings:

Thine is love indeed!

Refrain

Ever lift Thy face upon me

As I work and wait for Thee;

Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,

Earth’s dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father’s glory,

Sunshine of my Father’s face,

Keep me ever trusting, resting,

Fill me with Thy grace.

Pictures of our new nephew

2010-06-05T07:27:00.002-05:00

This is my sister-in-law, Susan, with her new baby boy Jack.

Me holding Jack.

result for The Caffeine Addiction Test...

2010-06-04T16:49:00.001-05:00

Your result for The Caffeine Addiction Test...

Wasting a Good Drug

You're 3% Caffeine-Addict!

You're not consuming nearly enough caffeine. What's your problem? Why bother with clean living and a responsible lifestyle to keep yourself feeling energetic when you could just drink a magic beverage to do the same thing? Like all of nature, the reason why God made caffeine in the first place was so that humans could abuse it.
Go get yourself a cup of coffee right now!

Take The Caffeine Addiction Test at OkCupid

Melissa, I'd be interested in seeing your results if you take this quiz. :)

We did not forget our feet

2010-06-02T08:50:00.001-05:00

We went floating down the Black Creek this past weekend. We had a lotof fun. It was so much better than last year's trip. Last year we wentduring July 4th weekend, and it was hot and dry. There were some placesthat were so dry we had to get out and push the canoe. Not this year!

Here is my list of things that made this year's trip better than last year's trip.
The water was deeper.
The air was cooler.
We had Daniel's home made beef jerky.
We had an ice chest.
We had an air mattress (instead of just a sleeping bag like last year).
We lathered up really well with sunscreen, and this year we did not forget our feet.

Something that will make next time's trip much better:

Too bad it is $300.

No rearview mirror

2010-05-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my rearview mirrorfell off on the way to the gas station. After I got gas, I had go homeand duck tape my mirror to the window shield so I could get to churchby 10:15. The duck tape really was not that helpful. I ended up having to resort to using the two side rearview mirrors more and more.

I went to Walmart, to buy some rearview mirror glue but I could not find it in the Auto Care section. I finally returned home frustrated, with a rearview mirror dangling on my wind shield by a few pieces of duck tape.

I will try again today. Sometimes you don't know how much you use something until it is not there anymore.

Let Out the Creative Beast

2010-05-24T13:27:00.003-05:00

This is a cute presentation about the "creative beast." I found it through a writer's group on yahoo. Enjoy!

Let Out the Creative Beast

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter.

Out done by a two year old

2010-05-13T14:37:00.007-05:00

Last night we went to the Brandon Reservoir for a picnic. It wasnice and not crowded like it had been on Saturday. We were able toscope out a spot near the water and grill our hamburgers and hot dogs,next a Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.
We fed the ducks after we finishedour supper. They have lots of ducks out near the Rez. We found a mamaduck with her two ducklings and fed them too.
Then we pulled outour kite to fly around. I bought a Peanut M&M Kite fromWalmart, so we could take advantage of the breezy weather and fly akite. Triangle shaped, M&M, kites were the only ones availableat Walmart.
This kite would not fly for us though. We tried andtried, and Daniel was getting very frustrated. Meanwhile there was this2 or 3 year old girl right next to us who was having no trouble at allflying her kite. Daniel tried a tried, but then he turns and says to me "We are being out done by a 2 year old." He was right too; If this had been a competition it would have been: 2year old winning - Inman's losing.
Her family left early, butthey felt sorry for us and gave us their kite. (Sad) Still, we were able to fly thiskite! It was great, Daniel and I took turns flying it until sun set.The difference? This kite was a diamond shape instead of a triangleshape. Who knew?

A funny clip from Gilmore Girls

2010-05-06T00:11:00.002-05:00

Spring Cleaning for the allergy ridden, safe, green ways to clean

2010-04-30T16:13:00.001-05:00

I've been spring cleaning lately, and I've come up with a few tips for helping those (like me) with allergies clean their house.

Clean the dust off of surfaces, fans, etc. with a wet cloth or wet paper towel. Why? The wet cloth actually removes the dust from your house, the dry cloth just moves the dust around and stirs it into the air.

Vacuum instead of sweeping, once again this removes the dust and debree from your house instead of moving it around.

Mop to remove anything that might have been left behind by the vacuum cleaner.

Clean the carpets in addition to vacuuming them.

Wear a protective facial mask to prevent and allergic reactions.

If necessary take an antihistamine before starting to dust.

Remember to dust in those places that don't normally get cleaned; just because you can't see the dust does not mean it is not there (waiting to cause you all sorts of breathing problems, and rashes etc.).

Use "green" or all natural products when you clean. The harsher products can leave chemicals in the air that cause just as many allergic reactions as that dust and mold you are cleaning away.

I don't bother with buying the green products in the store. I make my own at home.

Gently stir together 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 cups water, one squirt of dish washing liquid, and pour into an empty spray bottle and use it to wash windows with. Use newspaper, or old phone book paper to clean glass. Paper towels and cloths tend to leave a specks.

Use Borax to clean counters, etc. (If you can't find Borax in your local department store try Alice.com)
Dissolve 3/4 cup borax (or more) into 1 gallon of hot water. Pour some of this solution into another empty spray bottle and use for a multipurpose cleaner. Use the rest of this solution to mop your floors (you can also use some of this solution help clean your carpets).

This stuff is great on grease and grime, but not so good for stain removal.

I plan on trying out a lemon method I read about for stain removal. Roll a lemon gently on the counter and then cut it in half dip the flesh of the lemon into either salt or baking soda. Rub the lemon over your counters or other surfaces in need of cleaning and stain removal.

Late night blog

2010-04-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot about my poor little blog. I did not even update to let people know how my birthday went. I turned 28 this year, and I hit a period of introspection around my birthday. Some people think about there life and plans for the upcoming year in January, but not me. I think about it when my birthday rolls around. What am I doing with myself? What do I hope to accomplish this year? Why? Are these really worthy goals/ideals?

I went to my church library, and checked out Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper and I'm nearly finished with now. It is a good book and helps me sort out some questions for myself. John Piper seems to have a theme in many of his books about Desiring God, delighting in Him. This book is no different in that respect, but it has an overall tone that helps you think about your life as something to be spent not just wisely, but well.
We can be wise with our money and still not enjoy it. We can also be wise with our lives and still not enjoy them. We can enjoy our lives and delight in God. We can work somewhere besides the missions field and still fulfill his purposes for ourselves.

I hope I will update with a nice chatty blog soon. Something with news about what I've been up to, but for now I just needed to air out my thoughts a little bit.

Happy Birthday to. . .

2010-03-02T22:11:00.001-06:00

His full name: Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.

Born on: March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts (if he were alive today he would be 106 but he died in 1991)

An interesting fact: His first book And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected by 27 publishers. The 28th publisher, Vanguard Press, sold six million copies of the book.

A good quote: I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. - Dr. Seuss (of course).

We like your nonsense too. Happy Birthday!

It generally happens on Tuesday. . .

2010-02-23T10:40:00.000-06:00

What generally happens on a Tuesday, you ask?

Driving errors.

Today, I'd like to go grocery shopping, and go to a writer's workshop at the library. These things happen on a Tuesday so I'm a little concerned.

Allow me to tell you what has happened to me in the past (always on a Tuesday).

I missed the last writer's workshop I tried to attend because I got lost going to the Public Library. It meets every other Tuesday evening for three weeks. It was different library than the one I normally go to and I've never been to this library at night. Suffice to say, I passed the library in the dark and then ended up going home because I was going to be really late to the workshop.

Yet another time, when going grocery shopping one Tuesday, I pulled out a little too far onto the road when I stopped at the stop sign, and people had to dodge me until it was my turn to go. I made it to the gas station and tried to put gas in the car, I hit the unleaded gas button over and over and could not figure out why gas would not go into the tank until I realized I was holding diesel gas pump in my hand. Whoops. At least I did not actually manage to put diesel in the tank. Later, upon returning from the grocery store, I nearly went to Walmart on accident due to taking the wrong exit out of the parking lot.

Today, I'm wondering whether I should even bother, but we need food. I'd also like to see what this writer's workshop at the library is going to be like. . .

The common denominator seems to be Tuesday, but it could be me (possibly). I've already told Daniel that he will be teaching our future children how to drive (just in case the problem is not Tuesday).

Snow Day!

2010-02-12T15:56:00.002-06:00

I know I only seem to blog on snow days. Honestly, though, it does not snow very often in Mississippi!

We have had at least 5 inches of snow here, I think. You will have to ask Daniel for an exact measurement.

We made a snowman. This is the first snowman I have ever successfully made. Daniel decided to turn it into a "viking warrior snowman" by putting two sticks in its head. I thought the snowman looked like a bunny rabbit after that. I think he agrees with me. I have a lot more photos on my facebook album here.

5 question survey

2010-01-24T22:05:00.000-06:00

1) Answer 5 questions with 5 answers.

2) Tag five other bloggers.

Questions:

1. Where were you 10 years ago?

1- I was 17 years old.
2- Living at home with my parents, 4 sisters, and 1 brother. (I stole this one from my sis, but it is true for me too)
3- I was getting ready to graduate from being home schooled.
4- I divided my free time between reading, cooking, and exercising.
5- I was torn between majoring in Culinary Arts with a nutrition emphasis, or Communications with a minor in English (Teaching English as a Second Language certificate).

2. What is on your to-do list for today?

It is about time for me to go to bed, so I will post for tomorrow.

1- Cleaning the living room and kitchen (anyone want to help with sweeping and mopping?).
2- Do some laundry.
3- Take a walk if the weather is good, work out on my exercise ball if it is not.
4- Read. Things I'm reading: The Safe Haven Marriage, The Bible, a sewing book I checked out of the library.
5- Plan and cook a good supper (even though I really want to make some tiramisu!).

3. What 5 snacks do you enjoy?

1- Toast, what I put on it varies: butter, or peanut butter, or nutella.
2- Crackers with hummus, or cream cheese spread.
3- Cheese.
4- Reece's Peanut Butter cups (I rarely buy them but they are my favorite).
5- Fruit, (usually Bananas, but recently naval oranges).

I could list others, but these are my favorite!

4. Where are 5 places you have lived?

1-Eupora, Mississippi. I was born there.
2-Covington, Louisiana.
3- Sparta, Mississippi. (we called it the "snake house", because a snake scared me and my mom in the bathroom one time, and then my mom found another snake on the screen door.)
4- Tupelo, Mississippi.
5- Columbus, Mississippi.

5. Name 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire:

1- Give money to missions and reputable charities. (another from my sis, but this is true too!)
2- Be a world traveler with my husband, go rafting down the Nile River, visit New Zealand's countryside and see it's volcanoes (the countryside would be for me the volcano would be for Daniel).
3- Pay off all debts and buy a lovely house with plenty of land, and build a smaller guest house on that land (good for renting out to young couples in need, or saving for aging parents someday).
4- Set up scholarship funds for people at my Alma mater and at various Christian colleges.
5- Spend some on family and future kids without worries. :)

Honestly, I may be able to do some of these things without a billion dollars. I hope so!

And now I am supposed to tag 5 people but instead I'm going to say:

If you want to do this consider yourself tagged. Otherwise you are off the hook.
(I know I'm breaking the rules here, but I just can't think of anyone to tag.)

It snowed!

2009-12-07T15:08:00.000-06:00

It snowed on Friday night. Being in Mississippi makes snow a lot more exciting. It rarely snows here and even when it does it always seems to be in January or February. It was beautiful.

These are some pictures of the snow from our back yard. It was so cold that the snow stayed frozen through the night and we were able to get pictures the next morning. Daniel went out and measured it and it turned out to be one inch of snow at our place.

It was so cold on Saturday morning and the snow was piled up around the jeep so much, that the door to the passenger side of the jeep was frozen. I had to crawl through the drivers side to get into my seat when we went shopping for a Christmas tree.

We got our tree from Home Depot. There was cold wet snow all over it. Sorry if I am too exuberant over the snow. I'm like a kid! Our tree is a Douglas fir and it smells very nice. I will try to post some pictures of it later.

I've edited this post to add pictures of our Christmas tree.

A few thoughts on the providence of God

2009-11-10T13:28:00.003-06:00

This past Thursday, Daniel and I were at Newks playing Go with some friends and members of the Mississippi Go Society when we became involved in a discussion about predestination and the providence of God. This set me thinking once again about the providence of God and why it is so comforting to me, and why it is sometimes so difficult to understand or believe.

Why is providence comforting to me?
It sets forth God created me and knows me through and through and he will provide for me. A lot of people like to use the terms predestination and providence interchangeably and in truth they are synonymous, but I like the term providence because for me it holds that connotation of God's provision.

How does it differ from freewill?
Many people who believe in freewill focus on the way they chose to follow Jesus, but they are only speaking about half of the story when they do this. God does not wait for us to choose him; when we are lost and far from God he seeks us out.
I think of the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 (verses 3-7) when I think of God seeking us out. He finds us and carries us home in his loving arms.
Luke 19:10
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Once we have been sought out by God, he uses his spirit to draw us towards himself, we are then responsible for praying and receiving his provision of salvation.

I like the example one pastor gave of it being like a marriage proposal. God wins over the love of his life (the lost/sinners) and proposes to her (offers her salvation) now it is up to this sinner to accept. We do seek after God, but only after he has sought after us.
1 John 1:15-19
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
We love, because He first loved us.

Can we say no to a marriage proposal from someone who loves us even though we don't deserve it? I know I can't say no. This is what some refer to as irresistible grace.

Does God know all about me? Has he always known?
God knows us through and through. I love these verses from Psalm 139:1-6
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

He has always known: Psalm 139: 13-16
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Once we are brought into his fold he has specific plans for his people.
I would love to quote all of Ephesians 1 and 2 but I don't have room. I do encourage to read those chapters and read this verse in context.

Speaking to believers: Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Now that I have talked about God's providence a little bit, I'd like to talk about the flip side of that which is human responsibility. I already touched on it. Now I'm going to try to make a little chart.

God’s Sovereignty or Providence
God created us and we chose to disobey him.
He sent His Son to die for us and rescue us from sin. He seeks his lost sheep out and will not rest
until we are found.
God sends out His Spirit to win sinners to himself.
He prepares the hearts and minds of people for His Word.
God moves and works in our lives changing us and making us whole.

Human Responsibility
We have done sinful things in the sight of a Holy God. We need to be grateful for His provision of redemption.
We must accept his offer of salvation. He does not force us to accept Him.
We as believers must share the good news of God’s salvation with others. We are his witnesses. He uses His word, His Spirit, and our testimony to bring others to Himself.
We follow after him walking in newness and light.

Hyper Calvinism
This is the belief that takes God’s sovereignty farther than it is outlined in the Bible. People who believe in God’s sovereignty but like to cut out their own responsibility in the process are Hyper Calvinists. Usually they don’t even realize that they are falling into this trap.

I know I'm leaving out a lot. This may be too simplistic for some people. I'm not a theologian. This is as much as I understand about the will of God and the will of man as explained to me from the Bible. I may never understand more than this, this side of heaven. Then again I might have a clearer understanding next week.

I like this quote on this subject though:
I know men who are wise in their own eyes, and very well assured of their own
intellects, who, while palpably ignorant of everything that is rational, are conscious that they know everything that is spiritual. Their acquaintance with theology is thoroughly exhaustive; they have learned long ago to count to five, to reckon them at their fingers ends—one, two, three, four, five. These mystic figures comprise all the doctrines of the gospel. They know them, and they are ready to fight anybody about them. They are men of a great deal of wisdom,—seeing men; but I think a man that gets a little nearer to God discovers that he does not know everything; and he is quite clear that he can no more compass the whole of divine truth, than he can hold the ocean in the hollow of his hand. I have long felt that I shall never understand where the two great truths of free agency and predestination meet. I believe them both—believe them with equal faith; but how to reconcile them I no longer wish to know, because I do not think that God intends we should know. - Charles H. Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Daniel's Hair cut

2009-10-26T13:36:00.001-05:00

I gave Daniel a hair cut on Saturday. I think I could have done a better job, but still I did not do too bad for my first hair. Well technically it is the second (or third?) hair cut that I've ever given, but we won't count the time when I was five and cut my younger sisters hair and my own hair.

Here are the pictures.

English Conversation Ministry: explaining the gospel from square one

2009-10-16T14:13:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday night , we had our second English Conversation meeting at church. This is our church’s ministry to international students in our area. At our last meeting we only had one student show up, because most of our students from last semester have moved.
Anyway, we had two more students show up this week and one of them was a new student. She just arrived in the United States two and a half months ago. She is a Chinese student studying at Mississippi College. I don’t know her real name, but the English name she has chosen to go by is Lydia.

She had a question about something she had been studying in one of her classes. She asked us about the passage in Matthew 5:43-48 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

She asked us how anyone could love there enemies? She is an intermediate English student so her question did not come out this clearly. At first we misunderstood her and thought she was asking us for a translation or a simpler definition of some of the words in the passage. So we were saying ask Yiban, (he is a more advanced English speaker, who is also Chinese).

So, Karen and I ended up sitting and talking with her about this very issue. Karen is another woman from our church helping with the English Conversation classes.

I do not know if we ever were able to get this great concept across to her or not. I hope she comes back next week so we can talk about it again. The truth of the matter is that no one can love their enemies without Christ.

I wanted to show her the passage from Matthew 19 where Jesus said with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible, but I could not remember the reference. Also the context of this passage is when Jesus was speaking to the rich young man about how to have eternal life. I did not want to muddy the waters even more by bringing up yet another passage to have to explain.

I believe the real problem is that she comes from an atheist background and has little knowledge of the Bible. She does not understand that Jesus was expounding on the law given to the Jews by God through Moses. She does not understand that Jesus was trying to break through their self righteous attitudes about following the law so that they would realize that no one can be right with God apart from Him (Jesus).

We tried to give her more background by telling her about the connection between the Fall and the need for Jesus. After we explained that Jesus is God’s son sent to save the world from their sin, we also had to explain that not only is Jesus God’s son he is God too. A discussion of the Trinity to add to our problems!

There is much ground to be covered with her. I found a Bible study help called The Story of a Kingdom that is a simple explanation of the Bible. It also has a Chinese translation to go with it. This is great, but it might take to long to go through with her. Especially since we do not know how often she will come. So I want write up a brief overview or time line of the old testament and its connection with the new testament (and Jesus) to give to her. I hope this might help clarify some things for her. I am praying that God will help her understand the way to Him, and that he will use us to help her see Him.

I am selling my wedding dress on ebay

2009-09-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

Sleeveless Sweetheart Wedding Gown

I'm just updating this post to say that it did not sell. I'm not re-listing it at this time either. I'm glad I set a reserve on it. I was a little torn over selling my dress, but I want someone else to be able to wear it. I'm glad that I set a reserve price on it though, because if I'd sold it for 15 dollars (highest bid) I would have been upset.

Daniel's blog

2009-09-25T07:53:00.000-05:00

Daniel has started a weather blog: theanticyclone.blogspot.com

I have a problem. . .

2009-09-15T08:43:00.001-05:00

Last week Daniel asked me about a particular story I've been writing. He said he had an idea for it, and told me an amusing little idea. He is a great person to brainstorm with because he is so funny and creative. He has a ton of ideas that just pop into his mind at any time, but he hates to write so he never uses them. He also does not have story ideas, but just ideas that might work in someones story.

Anyway, it was then that I admitted to him that I had actually not written anything on that story in a few months. We started discussing it and I started listing all the things I am "working on."

1 young adult fantasy novel (probably the first part of a series). I've written maybe three chapters so far.

1 children's play - written 1 scene so far

2 fantasy short stories

1 science fiction short story

1 historical fiction short story

2 contemporary fiction short stories

1 poem - I finished the poem in one afternoon. Poetry is the only thing I seem to finish.

I guess you can see the problem now. I write a little of this and then a little of that, and I never seem to finish anything. I need to pick one thing and finish it and then move onto the next.

My plan of action:
1. Pick a main writing project.

2. Start an "idea" notebook for all of my works in progress. So, when I get an idea for a different story I can go write it down so I won't forget about it. Then I can go back to the main writing project and not stay side tracked with something else.

3. Create a writing portfolio of all my finished works. Even if it is just a first draft, at least I've made it to the end of that draft. This might motivate me to finish things even more. Then when people ask what I'm writing, I can just show them my portfolio. I will also have things I can submit for publication.

I think my main project right now should be the children's play.
a. I've already written a plot synopsis, an outline and the first scene.
b. I've already named all the main characters (this always seems to bog me down).
c. I've already written it out twice before, once as a poem and once in story
form. Now I just need to write out dialogue, stage directions etc.
d. I know of a theatre that I'd like to send it to when it is complete. That
does not mean that they will produce it, but it is a start.

In a way this is a good problem to have: No Writer's Block Here! Or at least not the kind where you are trying to think of something to write.

Canoeing down the Okatoma

2009-09-14T10:12:00.002-05:00

We went canoeing down the Okatoma in Seminary, Mississippi on Labor Day. The Okatoma has a few rapids. Rapids make canoeing more interesting. We did not flip over, but we did run into things (and we nearly ran into some swimmers!).

There were places where we got out to swim. We let ourselves be carried downstream in the rapids. This was a lot of fun. Daniel went swinging off a rope swing out into the water. He did this three times, but I only got one good picture.

All in all it was a lot of fun. It was a good day canoe trip.

An update on Amy

2009-09-14T10:01:00.002-05:00

Amy is back from the hospital. They managed to stop the contractions and keep her from going into an early delivery. They also flushed out the kidney stones, but now that she has returned home, she has developed more kidney stones.
The doctors prescribed muscle relaxers and pain medications for her. She is hoping that this a plenty of fluids will help prevent more kidney stones from developing.
She will not be returning to work. She loved her job and will miss everyone, but this is undoubtedly for the best. She was a teacher's aide for a special needs class. I doubt there was any way for her to keep this job and get the rest that she needs.

Please Pray for my friend Amy

2009-09-11T10:55:00.002-05:00

Amy Nelson, was admitted to the ER last night with strong contractions. They think it may be related to the kidney stones. They put her on an IV and pain medications. She is only 5 months along in her pregnancy.

Amy's Baby Shower

2009-09-08T10:07:00.001-05:00

I went up to Hamilton, MS for my friend Amy Nelson's baby shower on Saturday. Amy and I met at East Mississippi Community College in Fall of 2002. We had Intro to Sociology and American Lit I together. We've been good friends ever since then.

Amy has been married for over five years now, she struggled with infertility and this year (after much fertility tests etc.) she is pregnant with her first child a baby girl. They are naming her Ella Grace. Amy, I am so happy for you!

You probably can't tell from these pictures, but Amy was in a lot of pain due to having a kidney stone. She says she is feeling a lot better now though. I'm so glad.

Amy

The cake was decorated like the napkins.

Yes, she really is that much taller than me.

Her friend, Courtney, holding one of the gifts I got her:
Boudreaux’s Butt Paste®.

Me picking out a prize for winning baby shower bingo.

Loaded with gifts.

Group picture (Daniel took this one)

Me and Amy

Waging War on Ants

2009-09-03T07:45:00.000-05:00

We have had ants in our house all summer. Fire Ants. I've been trying to get rid of them by using multipurpose cleaner with bleach, and keeping all food sealed off tightly.
It is not working, and now that the summer is just about over more ants are coming in than ever before. I have ant bites all over my legs. I killed about six ants in bed the other morning. Something must be done.

Daniel and I bought foggers and ant killer on Tuesday. We plan to set the foggers off over the weekend when we head up to Columbus. Other plans for getting rid of these ants, going around an killing all the ants outside so they won't continue to move inside. I've heard boiling water works, so I'm trying that first.

In other news, I've launched a cooking blog thelovingbistro.blogspot.com Check it out. I'll have more recipes, tips, and food/eating trivia up soon.

Happy Birthday to our niece Lily

2009-08-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

Lily is four years old today. Happy Birthday to her. :)

Good home made Pancake Syrup

2009-08-27T14:39:00.000-05:00

In an effort to avoid high fructose corn syrup I have been making my own pancake syrup for a while. Don't even mention buying real maple syrup. That stuff is too expensive to buy on a regular basis. My mom and I started making pancake syrup before I was married, and I've continued this after I got married. However, I've been mostly disappointed in my attempts at making good pancake syrup. It is always too watery or it has too much or not enough flavoring in it. Well today I did it! I made a good batch of pancake syrup. Something that satisfies me. :)

Here it is:
1 cup of water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon of maple flavoring
1 tablespoon of smart balance margarine (or butter if you like)

Boil the water and mix the sugar, maple flavoring and smart balance in it, cut the heat down a little bit. Cook the syrup for 5-10 minutes. Then let it cool. It will thicken a little as it cools. A light film will develop on the top, just stir that back into the syrup before you pour it into a bottle to serve later. I put my syrup in an old pancake syrup bottle and keep it in the refrigerator.

Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine

2009-08-25T13:39:00.000-05:00

From the 1961 Operation Coffee Cup Campaign against Socialized Medicine as proposed by the Democrats, then a private citizen Ronald Reagan Speaks out against socialized medicine. There is no video because this was an LP sent out by the American Medical Association.

Navajo Missions Trip 2009

2009-08-11T16:27:00.003-05:00

We went out to the Navajo Reservation and we stayed in Crystal New Mexico, just like last year.

We had a great turn out this year. We had record numbers in Vacation Bible School with 67 on our largest day. We also had record numbers with the evening services, and we had a good crowd show up at the Ladies Tea.

Daniel and I taught the Kindergarten through First Graders class and we ended up having about 15 kids in all come to our class. We also had Jeremy Ward as a helper.

This was our group (minus Jeremy because he was helping another class that day).
Here is a photo album of the missions trip online.

The Navajo need prayer. There are many families that have no men in the home. The women depend on their families and a government check rather than the men in their lives for financial support. It is easy come and easy go with them. The children need their fathers. I had a little boy in my class telling me that he did not have a dad anymore because his mom "ran daddy off."

There is a lot of superstition and hanging on to there traditions in the way of faith.
It is a Matriarchal Society so the people are not open to the biblical model of the man being the head of the home.

There is also a Morman Church only a short way from the Crystal Bible Church and the Baptist Church. The Mormans are not as strong a presense as they would like to be, but they are still competing with us for the hearts and mind of the Navajos.

Crystal in particular needs prayer, it is like the ghetto of Navajo Nation. The churches in Crystal seem to be having little impact on the youth as most of the people attend them are senior adults.

The things that did encourage us this year were the sheer numbers of children who came to the Vacation Bible School, and the fact that there have been other missions trips in the area (Christian sports camps etc.). These had large turn outs as well.

Also, there is now a youth pastor at a Baptist Church in Window Rock some of the youth said that they went to the church. So they youth are at least going to church somewhere, even if it is not in Crystal.

We hope to return next year and build on where we left off.

Canoeing down Black Creek

2009-07-07T13:38:00.003-05:00

We went canoeing down Black Creek on the weekend of the fourth of July.
We left our home at 8:00 am and reached Brooklyn MS after 10:00 am. Because of the drought we had to start our trip from Moody's Landing instead of Brooklyn like we had originally planned. This meant our overall trip went from being 20 miles to 15 miles long. The water level from Moody's landing to Cypress Creek Landing was pretty low too. In some places the creek was so shallow that we had to get out of the canoe and push it to where the water was deeper so we could start paddling again. We also got caught on fallen trees and other obstacles that were not covered by the water completely.

We stopped and camped at a sandbar about a third of the way in on our trip. There was a thunderstorm headed our way so we had to hurry. We ended up on a sandbar with lots of rocks and pebbles. This made for a hard night, we got very little sleep. It did not help that we had insufficient bedding.

Overall though the trip was very nice. We did not tip the canoe. We were able to jump out and swim whenever we wanted. The water was nice and cool. It was a peaceful trip. We saw plenty of dragonflies and other creatures out on the water. The dragonflies loved me. They would just come and sit on me while I was paddling or swimming.

We plan on going canoeing again down Black Creek. Next time we will check the water levels, and try not to go during a drought, we will pack better bedding, and more sunblock, so we will have an even better time.

playing croquet with the "group" at Nate and Susan's

2009-06-23T10:12:00.000-05:00

Nathaniel and Susan, Reuben Oates, Daniel and me getting ready to play croquet

Reuben

Robin Elliot

Albrey Elliot

Daniel making a shot

Another shot

Another one of Albrey

Jason Bullock

Daniel and me

Susan and Nathaniel

Jason and Kristen Bullock

Albrey Elliot and Reuben Oates

Bernie

Natchez Trace Ross Barnett

2009-05-08T13:20:00.002-05:00

We had a picnic out near the Natchez Trace on April 21. Daniel got this day off because it was Confederate Memorial Day and that is a State holiday in Mississippi. I did not even know it existed before I married him.

Anyway, here our some pictures from our hike on Cypress nature trail. We saw an alligator on the trail. I hope you can see the alligator in the pictures.

English Conversation Party

2009-04-23T11:52:00.003-05:00

This was our end of the semester party for the ESL or English Conversation class. We had the party at Anna's house, instead of Providence Presbyterian Church. She is one of our students, and she is from Russia.

Everyone took off their shoes for the party. The little girl in the picture is Anna's daughter. Anna has two other children, both boys.

Everyone brought a lot of good food. Anna made a Russian marble cake that was so good. I want the recipe. I brought strawberry trifle.

The older couple in this picture are Vesko and Lily. Vesko is ninety years old. I thought he was younger. They are from Bulgaria. Can you imagine trying to learn another language at the age of ninety? Vesko gave his testimony, but he had his daughter translate for him. He does speak English, but he was intimidated by talking so long in English.

This was when were getting ready to play Pictionary. The man in the blue and white striped shirt is Jose, he was my student. The man next to him is Ramon, the lady standing up is our hostess Anna, her husband Mark is sitting next to her. Elena from Kazakhstan is the woman sitting next to Daniel. I am sitting on the other side of Daniel, but all you can see is my sleeve. Mark and Elena were on our team for Pictionary.

Here are some more of our Pictionary team mates Betty, and Yifan Wang, and Caresse Ye.

This was us in the middle of the game. Daniel was good at guessing things.

We had a great time, and there were a lot of other people there. Hopefully I will get a group picture from someone.

Easter

2009-04-13T19:01:00.002-05:00

We had a lovely Easter. There was an infant baptism for a set of twins in the morning worship service, Maddux and Avery Farmer (Avery is a girl).
Then we had Children's Church and we had about 7 or 8 girls and only on little boy in Children's Church. They were pretty good. After the service we all went over to the Jeremy and Robin Elliotts house for lunch. I brought spinach, bacon, and 3 cheese quiche to go with lunch. Nathaniel and Susan were there too. I think there were about 15 people in all at the Elliotts house.

Daniel has gone into Summer Mode. This means he shaved his head. I helped him clean up the look a little bit, and got him to trim his goatee. It looks weird for someone to take the time to shave most of their hair off the head and not do anything to the facial hair.

Daniel has also been working in the yard a lot, and he came down with another cough this weekend. I think it is due to allergies. He came down with a scratchy throat and runny nose the morning after he mowed the lawn and then it turned into a really bad cough. Today he bought himself some masks to wear outside while mowing.
We bought a new weed eater on Saturday. Daniel tried it out today when he got home from work. He got an electric cordless weed eater, so he would not have to deal with gas and oil. He seems happy with it.

Ladies tea, fish fry, children's church, etc.,

2009-04-06T14:07:00.003-05:00

It has been a busy weekend for us. They had a ladies tea for the women in the church this Saturday. I rode over with, Susan, my sister in law. We arrived a little late due to traffic and detour through Jackson (trying to avoid the bad traffic). We did not miss much, they had just gotten started with the tea. We met at the Harrison's house. They have a lovely place. A large yard with a pond, and beautiful landscaping and gardening. Daniel and I went out there for a church picnic last year shortly before we got married. It was nice to be able to come back and see their garden in full bloom.

They had a Bible collection going for the African Bible College and they had a plant swap going on at the ladies tea. I did bring a Bible, but I did not bring a plant because I did not have any plants that I cared to part with.

It was nice to catch up with some of the ladies their and get to know people more. It was nice to get to catch up with Susan too, on the trip there and back.

Daniel bought fertilizer and more plants for the vegetable garden, while I was gone to the tea. He fertilized the garden, but he did not plant anything yet because it is supposed to get down to freezing tonight and tomorrow.

We went to help with the fish fry on Saturday evening at Providence Pres. It was a fund raising event for the missions trip this Summer. We were able to raise a little over $700 for the trip. We have another fund raiser coming up later I hope we do just as well at that one.

On Sunday, we had children's church. We have children's church for the whole month of April. We were teaching them about Palm Sunday and about how Jesus had to come to this world to save us from our sins. Then I asked,"Do you know what sins are?" I never know with children whether they understand this or not until I ask. One little girl's hand shot up and the she went into an explanation:
"A sin is when you push your little brother out of bed, climb up in his spot and then tell your mom that he fell out." I wonder how long ago this happened? I got a few more examples of sin from them. At least they understand what it is.
Daniel and I had a hard time keeping from laughing.

After church we went to lunch with the Elliotts. They are a great family and it has been a pleasure getting to know them. Robin Elliott is having a larger get together on Easter Sunday for lunch. Daniel and I plan on being there; I know we will all have a great time.

New trellis

2009-03-22T17:48:00.000-05:00

Daniel built this trellis for the muscadine vines on Saturday. I helped him when he needed an extra pair of hands, but I could not help him much because we only had one set of tools. The vines are very small right now, but they will grow and need their new trellis.

Happy Birthday Bethany!

2009-03-22T16:16:00.001-05:00

I sent this e-card to Bethany for her birthday.

Happy Birthday

She was born two years and one week after I was. I remember a lot of fun double birthday parties. There were a lot of identical twin comments (even though we do not look identical).

We've had some great times together and we will continue to have more. :)

2009-03-18T12:58:00.000-05:00

My sister put up some older pictures of us on her blog. It is such sweet post. Here is the link: Happy Birthday Jessica

Other stuff:

We have fire ants in our garden and the rest of our yard. Daniel is researching how to get rid of the ones in the garden organically since we do not want to kill our onions or any other plants on accident.

Some of our hyacinths are blooming now, and one of our daffodils bloomed too. I now have hope that the rest of the daffodils will bloom this year. I was afraid we planted them too late.

I am taking walks and enjoying the lovely weather.

Gardening and other projects.

2009-03-11T11:19:00.003-05:00

Daniel is over his cold and cough.

He has started planting lots of seeds in planters, various tomatoes and peppers. He has planted three rows of onions in our garden. He also planted two blueberry bushes near the garden. These are the only things we can plant in the ground right now. We are waiting until the last frost to plant anything else.

I planted some petunias and impatiens seeds in hanging baskets. We also bought an aloe vera plant and potted it. I hope it does well.

I've started refinishing the furniture in our living room. I was going paint it black, but then I decided to refinish it instead because I like the wood look. If I paint over the maple wood, it will be a lot of work to try to get all of the paint off and refinish it later.

Off subject, I finally got the song uploaded that Kimberly and Lydia sang at our wedding. This is the RUF version of Beneath the Cross of Jesus (Christopher Minor music)
Here it is:

Birthdays, Colds and other stuff

2009-03-04T11:53:00.000-06:00

We went to visit my family for my twin niece and nephew's birthday party on Feb. 21 and we stayed through the 22nd. I had a great time. The twins were so cute. They turned two on Feb. 26. It was funny watching them with the candles on their birthday cake slices. They did not understand about blowing out the candles at all, and they kept reaching for the flame. Bethany finally had to blow the candles out for them.

This is a picture of Savannah and Isaac opening the present I got them. :) Bethany, I hope you don't mind that I stole this picture off your blog.

Other things that have been going on with us:

Daniel has a cold for over a week now. He is getting better, but his cough is still lingering. I've done pretty much everything I can think of to help him get better. I hope the cough goes away soon. I am starting to come down with a few cold symptoms myself, but it is not too bad for me right now.

I've tried submitting a few articles and query letters to places. I've only received rejection slips so far. I'm still waiting for a response from one magazine.

Daniel finished the marble look on the table he was working on. I'll try to get a picture of it put on here. I might try to stain the legs of the table. I'm not sure yet; I'm just trying to see what will look the best.

We may have a busy weekend ahead. The missions conference is starting at our church this Sunday and I think my papaw's birthday party is this Saturday. March is the birthday month in our family. It always has been, but now that I'm married it is even more so.

Here is the list:

March 6 my papaw's birthday

March 15 my birthday and Mr. Bill Inman's birthday

March 22 my sister Bethany's birthday

March 26 my sister-in-law Susan's birthday

March 27 my dad's birthday and my cousin Matt's birthday.

We can party all month! :)

My Funny Valentine

2009-02-14T11:37:00.000-06:00

25 Random Facts About Me (Daniel's)

2009-02-04T07:12:00.002-06:00

(We did this on facebook, now I'm just republishing them here.)

1) I married my wife Jessica on on November 22, 2008.

2) I am easily distracted.

3) I got sick on our honeymoon.

3.1415) When I was young I was afraid of thunder.

4) I review road plans for the state of Mississippi.

5) I like the mountain dulcimer and hope to get one some day.

6) I have chased storms in Mississippi and the Great Plains.

7) I (unsuccessfully) applied to be a Hurricane Hunter.

8) I tried out for the part of Forrest Gump (The part when he was a kid).

9) I have a degree in meteorology.

10) I have launched weather balloons for the National Weather Service.

11) My favorite color is green.

12) My right foot is 1/2 size larger than my left.

13) I use to take classic foil, rapier, cane fighting, and Karate .

14) I recently started playing go (an ancient Chinese strategy game).

15) I was born in North Dakota.

16) I lived at a rehab center form age 7 to age 19.

(Don't worry, it was because my parents worked there.)

17) I have been to the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico several times. My parents were
missionaries there.

18) My wife is notorious for editing my writing.

19) I painted my face maroon and white when I went to Mississippi State football games.

20) I like to garden. This year I am going to grow tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, bell peppers,
watermelons, blackberries, muscadine grapes, and a bunch of flowers.

21) me kant spel and got ungood gramer¿

22) I once sat next to a crazy lady on an airplane that tried to change my psychic frequency so I could
see the adamantine particles.

23) I have been on a train trip around the country. (Jackson MS, to Chicago to Oregon to L.A. and
back.)

24) I have never been to Vermont.

25) My penmanship is appalling.

26) I do not have a cell phone .

27) I am stubborn and don't know when to quit.

25 Random Things about Me (Jessica's)

2009-02-04T07:05:00.002-06:00

1. I got married on Nov. 22, 2008

2. No one decked out our car with Just Married on the back.

3. So I wrote Just Married on the back with an old tube of lipstick before we went off on our honeymoon (after we drove away though).

4. It still won't come all the way off, and Daniel has taken it through a car wash and even tried scrubbing it off with Windex.

5. I'm a bookworm.

6. I like to write too.

7. I'm working on writing a novel now.

8. I've been working on this same novel for so long that my family probably thinks I'm never going to finish it.

9. It is probably because of the way I write; It starts out a small idea and then grows sometimes meshing in with another small idea that seemed completely separate, a new character pops up unexpectedly and I don't want to leave him or her out. A plot line springs up out of no where and I have to follow where it leads.

10. I'm settling in to my new place. It is starting to feel like home.

11. I've started helping out at our new church with an ESL program. Last night was the first night. It is exciting to be part of a ministry like this. I've wanted to do this ever since I was 13.

12. I love to cook.

13. I've started using a piece of Moroccan cookware called a tagine/tajine. It is a slow cooker that you use on a stove top. It has a cone shaped lid that collects the steam and juices from the food you are cooking and then lets them run back down into your dish helping mix all the flavors together. It is fun.

14. I got this tagine for Christmas from Daniel.

15. I'm learning to crochet.

16. I'm learning to play a game called Go, it originates from China.

17. Daniel and I go every Thursday night to a Go club and play. Yes, this is nerdy; I know.

18. We are planning on going on another missions trip to the Navajo Nation this summer.

19. It was great last summer, and I hope we can save up enough money to go.

20. We are working on a garden, just turning up the soil and getting it ready to plant stuff.

21. We hope to plant vegetables on on side of the yard and flowers on another.

22. Daniel has already planted a blackberry bush and muscadine grapes.

23. We were busy in this month painting rooms and reflooring our bedroom.

24. I'm looking forward to visiting my parents/family next month.

25. Married life is wonderful.

I've already had this pointed out to me on facebook: mine are not so random. :)

January

2009-01-29T10:10:00.000-06:00

The month is nearly over.
What have we been up to?
We joined Providence Presbyterian Church early this month.
We've been asked to join the missions committee here.
We are planning to go back to the Navajo reservation for a missions trip this summer.
I've started helping out with the English Conversations/ESL ministry at Providence.
We painted our bathroom and bedroom in the trailer an nice tan color with some copper undertones. It was good to cover up the pink/purple/gray color that was there (although this was much better than the wallpaper underneath).
We tour out the carpet and put down new flooring in our bedroom.
We dug up our yard so we can start a garden.

Honeymoon

2009-01-04T18:58:00.000-06:00

We spent our honeymoon in Pigeon Forge. We went sight seeing, saw the Aquarium of the Smokies, and shopped at the Arts and Crafts shop in Gatlinburg.
We also got sick. I had a slight stomach ache earlier that week. Daniel came down with a bad stomach ache later after eating extra greasy green beans. He was throwing up and all he got for hims stomach was pepto bismal! I had to go back to Wallgreens to get him some Nauzene.

In spite of this less than fun (far less than fun) experience we did manage to make it look like our honeymoon was all fun.

We went by an Olde Tyme Photo shop and had our picture taken western style.

We also went to Cades Cove later that day. It was very pretty.

Our wedding

2008-12-08T14:10:00.002-06:00

These photos and video clips were taken by my cousin Stephanie Schefano

I have some pictures and video clips of our wedding. This was before the wedding.

Me and mom

Me with my sisters Lydia and Kimberly the wedding singers

Daniel and his dad

The wedding.

The Reception

This was my aunt Glenda's work

The cake my sister Bethany made for me

This was the poster we made of us.

The fruit display my mother-in-law made

Video clips

Entrance

Exchanging of vows

Exchanging of the rings

Prayer

Pronouncement as man and wife

Reception: throwing of bouquet.

Other pictures of our wedding and reception can be viewed at beth-sweetbabies.blogspot.com (wedding photos) (wedding photos 2) She has the family pictures and leaving the reception pictures up too.