Back at it again ...

Do you get so beyond yourself trying to do things for others that you forget about yourself?

I have recently taken the huge step of finishing my Masters degree. All I needed was my internship and I am finally doing it! Way to go Me! Well, along with "working" full-time, being a full-time "single" mom, and trying to live a healthy life ... something falls to the wayside. Unfortunately its usually the last thing isn't it? I am so tired that I dont wake up on time. That one little act, affects so many different parts of my day. I don't have the time to do my daily devotionals, I don't get a chance to eat breakfast because I'm running behind, I don't have time to pack my lunch or healthy stuff and if that happens, I end up eating poorly.

I am also taking my personal trainers certification exam on the 10th of April and am studying for that right now. That has to wait until my daughter is in bed, which is usually when I would lay out our clothes for the next day and pack my lunch. Can you see where it all gets put to the side because of that one "little" act of hitting the snooze too many times! Its just crazy.

I need to change it. So tonight, this weekend ... I am setting up a schedule of how I would like my days to go. What is best for me and my daughter right now. When to get up, what to do in the morning and what to do after work etc. I'm going to make a plan of when to pack my lunch, what to eat for my meals (so I can continue to eat clean and feel healthy and not resort to unhealthy options), when to clean and what to clean on what days. Seems like its a little rigid? Too spelled out, no room for error? EXACTLY ... I'm not doing it and I'm letting a whole bunch of error seep in ... Not anymore! It all Changes this weekend!

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Catch Up ...

Definately need to do that here .. Its been F-O-R-E-V-E-R since I posted something! Well obviously from the last post you know that my hubby came home ... He got to spend some good time with the kids and they both loved it so much! It was really good to have him home for the little time ... I'm really excited to see what the Lord has planned for us in the next 7-8 months. The Lord has definately been moving in my life lately, too much to really discuss but Just want to send major Kudos to the Good Lord!!! He totally rocks and is about to blow my mind I can feel it!

So I started my Internship for my Masters Degree finally! Its been about 5 years since I finished my classes. Right before the Hubs came home I sent out my resume to MWR here on Post and the day the boss got it, he emailed me and said YES! ... No interview or anything he just said come on in so we can talk logistics! So I officially started March 1st, after trying to find Karsten day care, find financial aid and register ... all of which definately succeeded because of God!

Its been going pretty well, really slow for the first week and a half. My supervisor hurt his back the weekend before I started and was out the whole first week, back the second Monday but moving very slow ... You could pray for him to be healed, he is still really sore and in a lot of pain. But slowly but surely I am learning and getting more responsibilities. The frustrations come in when I dont have access to a laptop at work (Interns are not authorized to have a government computer). So when I am not able to use a computer there, that happens to be free at the moment, I have myself another project to work on that wont need a computer too much ... yet at least! I'm really excited to see where God is going to be leading me once this is done. There is "talk" of the main boss over our department wanting to hire in the next few months and lets pray that is the truth because I've been searching for a job here for about 5 years!

Well, I seem to be asking for quite a bit of prayer in this post .. but you can keep them coming! I found out sometime early last year that I had PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Its a whole complex condition that most doctors dont even really know about yet because its so vague yet complex and very difficult to diagnose. Anyways, I'm learning more and more about it right now, trying to figure out how I can become healthier once and for all ... its very hard for me to get healthy though because of the PCOS ... thats the thing, it requires you to do certain things but makes it very hard to do it! All of the information is very interesting but I could sure use some prayer about that too!

Okay, I'll end this for now. I was going to add something else but my mind really isnt working right now! Working full-time (while not getting paid for it) and being a full-time mommy and a Full-time Army Wife is really making me a little tired! Thanks for stopping by! I hope to be more current in this now that I started again! Peace and Goodnight!

Hes Home!!!

Well my hubby is home on leave! That is why I have not posted for a few days! God is Good with having him come home to spend his leave with us for 2 weeks as well as every other blessing he has bestowed on us! There are so many that I am counting and thanking the good Lord for as often as I can! I wont really get into details on here but just know that no matter what you are going thru in your life ... God is there, turn to him and he will guide all your steps, bless you beyond belief and be your ultimate joy! Well I'm gonna go, dont want to spend too much time on the computer! I'll try to update alittle bit in the next few days or so! God is Good!

Not knowing is the worst ...

I have no idea where my husband is. I know he left his FOB ... But, thats all i know. Its driving me crazy, I keep thinking hes going to just show up at the house, but he cant because I have to pick him up from the airport. I know God is in control, I know hes got his perfect timing and I just have to wait. Anxious ... let me tell ya! Okay, I'm gonna go pray :)

Gratituesday!

Today really ... I only have a 5 word gratitude to share with you ...

Hes on his way home!!!!

Thats right, My hubby is on his way home for R&R ... I am excited to see what the Lord has planned, how I am going to grow from this experience and to see the Joy on Karstens face when she sees her daddy ... Oh my goodness I know its going to be so amazing to see her run up to him! How precious just to even think about. Granted he has only been gone for about 3 months and we have quite a bit more to go before he comes home from this deployment, but ... hes coming home! I just know its going to be a blessing, somehow. Dont know how or exactly whats going to take place, but I know the Lord will bless us!

Have a great Gratituesday!! God is Good!

Muffin Tin Monday

As I've been perusing all the mommy blogs out there I have come across some really cool ones. Some have to do with Preschool activities (amazing crafts and learning activities I really want to do with Karsten) and some daily specific ones like Word Filled Wednesdays, Say it Saturdays, Flashback Fridays (theres your plug Alysha!) and todays ... Muffin Tin Mondays! What Muffin Tin Mondays is all about is putting the food into the muffin tin that your child is going to eat. Usually I do believe there are themes ... Christmas foods, New Years (she made the food look like the year 2010), Thanksgiving, different colors etc etc. Today however there was no theme which is good becuase I dont think I could have thought of a theme! But here is Karstens muffin tin meal :)


We have from the top left Pudding, Cheese Circles, Star PB and Nutella Sandwich.
Bottom Left: Another Star PB&N Sandwich, Cheese Roll Up and more Pudding



She loved it! And she ate EVERYTHING ... which is a great thing lately because she hasnt been eating very well! I think I might have a Muffin Tin Meal EVERY DAY!

Jonah and the Whale!

Karsten has been watching the VeggieTales Jonah and the Whale okay? Well today shes watching it and here is the conversation:

Karsten: Mommy?

Me: Yes?

Karsten: Why didnt Jonah go to Nineva?

Me: Because he didnt want to I guess baby.

Karsten: I want to

Me: You do huh?

Karsten: Yeah, I'll go to Ninevah for Jonah!!

HaHa ... isnt that cute?! Move over Jonah here comes your replacement! She also asks why Jonah got inside the belly of a whale and I say because he didnt obey God and if you choose to not do what God wants there are consequences and she usually says, Jonah didnt listen to God? And I usually say thats right, now are you going to obey mommy so you dont end up like Jonah?? Is it bad to use bible characters to scare your kids into listening to you? LOL

Its here??

Spring?? Are you there?!

Oh my goodness it feels absolutely wonderful outside! Its sunny, bright, cheery and WARM! in the mid 60's so far, at least according to my Desktop Weather. After so long of that disgusting deep freeze (yes I realize northerners get it for way long than us but thats what you get for living in the north LOL), its so nice to finally see our normal temps again! And it *should* be getting warmer and warmer!

So thats all, I just wanted to talk about how nice it was outside! Another post might be coming later today ... not sure. I have a Farewell Party to go to for a wonderful couple in my small group tonight and I plan on taking K outside to play for a bit and MAYBE a nap becuase she woke up at 645 am today!

The Battlefield of Motherhood

Motherhood is exactly that sometimes ... a freakin' Battlefield! LOL No wonder they tell you to choose your battles. But what battles do you choose and which ones do you just let go? How do demand respect from your child as well? Demand obedience? I want to raise our daughter to be a God fearing woman whose one goal in life is to do HIS will and serve him wholeheartedly. But how do I raise a Godly child when I cant even get to pick up her toys, go to bed or obey me any other time without talking harshly (which she says is screaming) ... or screaming at her? Its like my blood boils over sometimes because she just ... will ... not ... listen!

I try to be calm, to "conduct myself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ" (Phillipians 1:27) but dang it is just so hard with how she acts! "Karsten go to sleep" ... "Karsten be quiet and go to sleep" ... "Karsten stop playing, be still, be quiet and GO TO SLEEP" ... Over and over and over again ...

Can someone PLEASE help me out?! lol I need some wise counsel please, because I cannot do this on my own! lol

Ode to the Flip Flop!

Oh Beautiful Flip Flops! Its been a few bitterly cold weeks where I have not been able to wear you! I have missed you!! But today, I can put you on and not regret it when I walk outside! Hopefully I will not have to put you away until next Dec/Jan and only for a short short time!

Gratituesday!

On the Heavenly Homemakers blog she does a Gratituesday blog where she discusses what she is grateful for. So today I"m going to do it! Because there is LOTS I'm thankful for today. Lets begin with this situation I am in ... (I should really think of a name to give it so I stop calling it the situation I am in lol) .. anyways, it hasnt been good lately. Its alot of stress, alot of heartache and alot of ... well everything else. Anyways, God worked mightily yesterday. I cant really discuss what exactly happened but I know it was definately God that worked in the situation. I wish I could discuss more with you all about what it is that is going on but I dont feel its the right time yet? I dont know. Anyways I'm just thankful that the Lord moved the way he did yesterday! You have no idea how huge it was for me.

Also, today I am thankful that it is WARMER! Okay so living in SE Georgia you would think it would be warm all year round, well its supposed to be. But this Jet-stream is sitting so low that its bringing all the ARCTIC weather all the way down here! Usually its 60s during the day and 30's or 40's at night ... well lately its been 20's or lower at night and 40's during the day. Definately colder! BUT NOT TODAY!!!! Right now its 53! Whoo hoo! Thats close to 60 for me! Going to the gym today (another reason I'm thankful!) I was actually able to not wear freeze on the way in! So thank you Lord for a beautiful sunny day, let the warmer weather come!!

SO ... here it is! The long awaited purse I"ve been making! Its definately not perfect, yet, but I know why and I know how to fix it next time! It will take a little bit longer to make but thats okay because it will be done properly and look 50x better! So all it is, is the bottom of my husbands ACU pants (one leg) cut off and sewn on the bottom. It was hard because I already had the form for outside but had to make the lining according to that. The lining is alittle bigger than the bag but next time I'm going to take the outside completley apart and almost start from scratch. But anyways I really like how it turned out for the most part!



So today Karsten was playing around and wanted to wear a pretty flower sun dress. So we put it on and then she ran out of the room saying "When I get married I'm going to wear this!" Its the first time she's ever mentioned anything about when she gets married! It was so darn cute!



This was before the whole "wedding dress" ... she was making "Moosic" with all her stuff, like a big ol' drum set! I think its so adorable because she looks like a hippie in her "crown" :)

Inspiration ... lol

So lately I've been inspired to take pictures of my food! I dont know why, maybe its the thrill of seeing it in photography looking all nice or ... well I dont know! But here ya go .. why not? So the other day I made some chicken salad, SO yummy! It has celery and grapes and dried cranberries .. really good!

Then last night I made a Chili Potato with cheese on top! So simple actually and quite delish too!

THEN at about 9pm last night I decided to start making an applesauce bread for breakfast this morning. Unfortunately I didnt get a picture of the actual bread but I got a pic of me eating the first piece! It was so good, and totally clean too!

What a Great day!

Today was such a great day! Completely filled with the Lord, not because I spent the whole day praying or soaked in the Word or in church. But because HE filled me with His joy. Today I cleaned up a bit, spent time with Karsten, baked (applesauce bread, will tell you how it tastes tomorrow!), cooked a few meals for this week, did a little sewing and crocheted! There was nothing special about today at all ... Just that the Lord blessed me!

Well there was something great about today, the Lord decided to reveal to me something that I have been struggling with for a while now. I had so much confusion and anxiety about this topic and major issue that I really believe it was holding me back from completely trusting Him in this situation I am in right now. I trusted but always held back alittle, always thinking of this thing that was confusing me. Well not now!!! Thank God! He opened my eyes to it and it is perfectly clear to me now! Scripture was actually coming alive to me after this revelation and it was like OH!!! I GET IT! ... what a great feeling!

It reminds me of a song called "Alive Again" by Matt Meher? I'll have to look it up to be sure but its something like that! Anyways, its a great song and it talks about that! If you can youtube it, its an amazing song! And lastly, thank you Jesus for everything you are doing in my life! You truly are changing me for the better ... no matter what the world throws at me, it IS for my good and for your glory!!! God is Good!!!

Interviewing Karsten

So I found another blog, I dont remember which one unfortunately, a mother that interviews her child every few months to see the difference in how they answer a few questions. So I decided to try it with Karsten. I can see we have a few things to work on ...

What is your name? Karsten
When were you born? (shrugs shoulders) and says I dont know ... BIG!
How old are you? 3 (and holds up 4 fingers, then 2 then 3)
Who is your mommy? You are!
What does your mommy do? Make muffins (havent in a while but I plan to!)
Who is your daddy? That one! (and points to something obviously not her daddy)
What does your daddy? Go to work
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite food? Chocolate and cheese (so very true!)
What food do you not like to eat? I dont know (shrugging shoulders)
What is your favorite animal? Puppy, and giraffe, and elephant! NOT tiger and not bear
What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor (never new that!)
Where do you want to live when you grow up? A doctor house
What do mommy and daddy do after you go to bed? Rub my back
What does daddy say? I love you and miss you little kid! (Daddy is gone right now)
What does mommy say? I dont know (how can she say this? I say tons of things to her every single day! LOL)
What is your favorite song? (holding arms really wide and in a soft voice sings) "Airplanes coming to me!" (never heard of it either!)
What is your favorite movie? Spongebob and Strawberry Shortcake
What is your favorite ice cream? Pudding (?)
Where is your favorite place to eat? I dont know
Who is your favorite person? Birpa (Aunt April)
Who is your best friend? Abby and NaNa
What is your favorite book? Frogger says Duckie
What is yoru favorite thing to do? I dont know

She has MANY I dont knows ... Is that teenager phase already starting? It was so funny when she started singing the airplanes coming to me song! While I think its really cute the answers she gave, it kinda makes me wonder if I need to work on some stuff with her. Like, do we not read enough that she doesnt have a favorite book? THAT is one of my goals this year .. work more with Karsten on stuff; art projects, "school work", learning different things etc.

Finally ... Sleep

Sleep, baby, sleep
Our cottage vale is deep:
The little lamb is on the green,
With woolly fleese so soft and clean-
Sleep, baby, sleep.
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Down where the woodbines creep;
Be always life the lamb so mild,
A kind, and sweet, and gentle child.
Sleep, baby, sleep.

Aerobic-Thon

What a great freakin day!

So today was the big ol' Aerobic-Thon at the gym on Post. Its when you go to the gym and experience every single class they have to offer right after the other. When I woke up this morning I had decided to not go because I didnt want to use the free hours of ChildCare for this and not be able to go later in the week. Well it started at 9am alright ... We got out of bed at 9am! We both got dressed and ate and I made a snack for me then we headed out the door. Look at this awesome snack ... so delicious!!!


I got there at 945 and started stretching with everyone. The first class ... BELLY DANCING!! Oh my gosh, how hysterical it was to see everyone try to belly dance, even old men that were there! That is definately a work out but I dont think I would ever do it again in public! Too embarrassing I think!

The next set of classes, was a type of dance thing then a class called beat it (another dance type class) where she played all Micheal Jackson music! Step and then a type of Zumba class then another Zumba class and Yoga! It was such a great day, I never thought that 1. I'd be able to do any type of classes becuase I dont think I'm coordinated enough and 2. That I would be able to go that long doing classes! I exercised for over 2 hours today and I feel great!

So the point of this whole post ... go out and exercise!! You will feel amazing, I promise! It might suck buckets while your doing it but afterwards ... WOW ... God fills with you an incredible feeling! God is Good!

Taking my thoughts captive!

"Take every thought cative to the obedience o fChrist" 2 Corinthians 10:5


Take every thought ... every little thought, captive. Satan has been putting some mighty thoughts into my head today. Thoughts of this situation I'm in just getting worse, making me THINK there is no hope, that not even God can change whats going on. Did you read that right? Satan is making me believe GOD can not do something. Typing it is like a 2x4 hitting me in the head. OF COURSE God can change any situation. MY God is bigger and better than anything Satan could ever dream of being. MY God is greater than he that is in the world! Take every thought, even if its an "innocent" thought, dont linger on it! Dont believe the lies that Satan tries to tell you and make you believe... the only one you need to believe is God. The ever faithful God!


So take every thought CAPTIVE ... dont let Satan control your thoughts. I read something by Kay Arthur and she says "Take every thought captive so satan cant take you captive by your thoughts". So when that nasty, stupid, ridiculous thought comes into your mind, you dismiss it ... proclaiming Gods truth and not satans lies. Because if you dont, Satan is going to take you captive and Kay Arthur describes it this way "Pretty soon you will be face down in the dirt with his combat boot holding you down" ... Picture it, Satans combat boot pressed firmly against your head holding your face into the dirt .. not letting you up, no matter how badly you want to get up and punch him in the nose! (or someone else I wont mention on a family oriented blog!) lol.


Its not just to protect us from his evil schemes but its to be in obedience to Christ. God wants to keep us as pure as possible, as holy as we can be, because in order for us to be Christlike .. we have to be Christlike .. that means keeping our thoughts captive. God said that even if you just think about killing a man .. its like you have already done so. So when a thought comes into your mind ... dismiss it, call Satan out on trying to take you captive and proclaim the Truth of God!


Now for me specifically ... wow this is definately something I needed to reflect on. On the way home from church Satan kept trying to put thoughts into my head, trying to get me discouraged and take back my stand. My stand to do what is right, my stand to team up with God to get things done in my life. If I let Satan take me captive with my thoughts, I could become so incredibly overwhelmed with certain thoughts that I wouldnt be able to function, but I'm not going to. I'm not going to let my circumstances determine my joy, I'm not going to let anything steal my joy. Nothing.

The hardest thing to do is ...

... Trust God. Trust. It is just one little word, one little command the Lord has for us. But trust is the biggest thing we can do for Him (well I guess one of the biggest things). It requires letting go of ALL responsibility, all control. Making no decisions on yoru own, not having your own will be done, but the will of God. its incrediblly hard to trust when you dont know what you are To trust. Trusting in a situation for Gods will to be done, for everything to be "okay" is great when you know what you are trusting. I guess that is why it is called trust, not knowing yet believing. Believing that HE is making the paths straight for you, even if looking up it seems like a jumbled mess, the Lord is making your paths straight and bright, he is lighting the way. Thats trust. Thats the hardest thing for me to do these days. Yet one of the most important!

Starting out ... AGAIN

Hey ya'll, I'm assuming if your coming this site; you know me. I could be wrong and if that is the case, let me introduce myself to you! My name is Laurie and I am a Stay-at-home-mom, and a VERY proud Army Wife! I have been married for 5 years and my husband and I have a 3 year old daughter and a 4 year old son (our dog Homer!). My husband is an NCO in the Army and is currently deployed for the 3rd time. This deployment, by some craziness of mine or I dont know ... I am the FRG leader for our company. What that means is I am the leader for our Family Readiness Group which helps support the family members left at home while our wonderful soldiers are fighting overseas. I take great pride in the Job that the Lord has brought before me. It is something I've been wanting to do for a while and He is definately giving me the capabilities to do so!

So I've tried the whole blog thing before and I'll do really good for a while then slack off. (It seems like that is a common thread in my life with multiple things ... Lord Help me with that!). So I am back on the "Bandwagon" as another friend mentioned about her blogging. :) I want this blog to be a true and complete reflection of me ... my journey! And while I"m waiting ... waiting for perfection, waiting for His blessings, waiting for the glory of God to rain down on me ... You can hear about all the other stuff going on in my life.

There are so many things going on in my life right now. I'm not going to go into detail on one of them, but it does require lots of prayer and I would greatly appreciate your prayers for this situation if you could. But I'm trying to become healthier, working out and create an overall healthy well-being. As well as my journey, there is the journey I am helping create with Karsten. I would love to be able to raise a God fearing young lady that's main desire and goal in life is to please Lord, any suggestions on how to do that? :)

Well to end this ... I was looking on a previous blog of mine and found that the last thing I typed on it was this .... "I've been thinking on Gods will lately, timing, purpose, etc. We have to focus on what HE wants, not us. He sees the big picture, knows what is best for us and what will serve his purpose ultimately. I just think we all should probably try to focus on THAT more than what our own agendas call for no matter how "Christian" you are, I know we all fall short on that aspect of it sometimes. Increase your faith and you will increase your blessings by the One that provides us with everything we need!" What a great reminder ... TO ME ... with everything that has been going on in my life recently. I need to focus on Gods purpose, His will and his plans for our lives. Amazing how God can bring something back up as a little reminder for ya! God is Good!