BOO!
Shocking, I know. I'm back. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I feel life coming back to me so I thought maybe I could attempt to revive the ole blog. I was looking for a new blog template and I couldn't resist putting this one up. Mitch and I always joke that if anything happened to him I would be that lady with 80 cats. I LOVE cats! When I saw this template I just couldn't resist. Of course I will change it soon, but will leave it up for now. Maybe shock value will retain my 2 readers from 2009. I look on 2010 with some hope. Hobby Lobby no longer makes me sad because we are finally moving into a house, our house! Happy New Year to all.

Some Vision For My Valley

I read this yesterday while soaking my sorrows away in the bath. I have desperately needed some perspective while trudging through this valley and this helped nudge me to get up and keep walking:
From The Valley Of Vision: God the All

"I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,
and it delights me to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise,
and all I can do is to adore and bless thee."

Today I will choose to praise Him. God knows my heart. He knows my desires. Today I will find rest in that. God is good.

Hobby Lobby Made Me Sad

I know, Becky. Shocking right? For the craft lovers, it the happiest place on earth! Well, today the kiddos and I embarked on a journey at Hobby Lobby to find some fun surprises to play with to help the rainy day pass more quickly. After parusing through the isles at the back of the store, we headed towards the checkout with chalk, erasers, and pipe cleaners - $4 worth of fun that is working wonders even as I write. On the way to the front of the store we passed all the the halloween stuff which kinda got me excited. For those who know me well, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall and all the things that come with it -the warm clothes, the baking, the leaves, football. Then we passed the isle with the Christmas wrapping and my excitement was quickly replaced with a sudden pit in my stomach. Well, maybe it's best described as heartbroken. I am heartbroken for home. Oh how I miss home. MY home. I want to decorate my home, celebrate the Advent season in my home, make chili in my home with my crockpot. I know some of this may seem silly to you, but a year with all of our belongings in storage and living in transition is really wearing on my heart today. We are approaching the 1 year mark of when we moved back to Birmingham last year. The year has gone by somewhat quickly, but it really has been a hard year filled with transition, longing and disappointments. I was in tears on the way home from Hobby Lobby, begging God to change our circumstance soon and allow us to be in our home, with our belongings, with just our family. Some days I feel like a broken record as we have asked the Lord for this many many times. Even still, we wake up each morning and by His grace we have the faith to continue walking, trusting and believing that His plans and His timing are perfect. Friends, would you pray with us that God would change our circumstances soon? That Mitch would find a suitable job to support our family and that we would finally be able to make a home for our family?

Psalm 143:5-8
"I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my sould thirsts for you like a parched land."
"Answer me quickly, O Lord!
My spirit fails!
hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul."

EATING SIMPLY
For most of my teenage and adult years I have been somewhat obsessed with food. Some of those years I was obsessed about not eating it. At other times and seasons food became a close friend which was not healthy either. Over the past several years I have enjoyed learning more and more about the health benefits of different foods and teaching others what I have learned. That brings me to what I want to share with you today.

About 4 months ago Mitch and I decided to make a major change in our diet. We have always eaten pretty healthy, but with all the transition that had gone on over the past year we had gotten off track a little bit. One of our friends, Forest, told us about a diet called the Paleo Diet. It's a little out there in some ways because it talks alot about evolution, but the principles it taught were things I knew were right - having a diet based on what is naturally provided to us through nature. This meant having diet that consisted of only fruits, veggies, lean meats, and a few nuts. A few weeks ago I came across a book that I have had for years, "What The Bible Says About Healthy Living." As I have revisited the pages of this book, it has verified from a Biblical perspective they way Mitch and I have desired to honor our bodies with what we eat. The author points out 3 basic principles:

1) Eat only substances God created for food. Aviod what is not designed for food.
2) As much as possible, eat foods as they were created - before they are changed or converted into something that humans think might be better
3) Don't let any food or drink become your God

As Mitch and I have been trying to eat at leat 80-90% of our meals this way, we really have experienced such freedom. Freedom from not worrying about what we are eating. Freedom to enjoy exercise instead of being burdened by trying to burn of something we shouldn't have eaten. And for me, freedom in my schedule because menu planning and grocery shopping is so easy and simple. In the past month, we have added some grains back into our diet, like brown rice, Big Sky's whole wheat bread, and I have started making homemade granola which has a base ingredient of rolled oats. We do still splurge on the weekends and eat out, enjoy a DQ blizzard :), and I get my baking tank filled by trying to find healthier alternatives to not so healthy treats. Interestingly, though, we have found that the less we eat junk the less we want it.

I wanted to share all of this because I really do feel like God designed our bodies to eat food that He created. Good clean food. When we eat this way, we lower our risk significantly for disease. When we eat this way, we allow ourselves some freedom from the bondage that our love for food can have over us. I hope that you can find some encouragement to make some changes in your eating habits and make choices that will greatly benefit you and your family.

2 quotes that have changed my perspective on how I live:

"There are 2 ways to have enough:
1) keep buying more things or 2) desire less"
-Richard Foster, Freedom of Simplicity

"The less I want, the less I need."

Surprise! I have decided to change the name of my blog. Since the start of my blog, it's purpose has been to keep family and friends informed while we lived in Tennessee. Now that we have been home for a while I felt like it was time for a change...A change to something that was more reflective of me and my family. Those who know us know that we truly enjoy living life simple. What does that look like? For us it means making choices for our family that don't complicate life- that involves how we eat, where we choose to live, what we choose to commit to, how we use our money, etc. Mitch and I have found so much joy in living this way. I know that this lifestyle isn't for everyone and, as we have discovered, living simply looks different for some than it does for others. Regardless, I hope that this blog may encourage you to find a little simplicity in your life.

Livin' The Vida Loca
Okay, so not really. Our life right now is anything but that, just wishful thinking I suppose. Why would I want my life to be crazy you ask? Well, when life gets crazy again for us that will most likely mean that Mitch has a new job and we are excitingly looking for a new place to live. It has been 2 months and 3 weeks since we moved in with my parents (who's counting?) and we are praying that the remainder of our stay here won't be quite that long.
So, what will we be doing for the weeks ahead now that school is out?
-Play outside as much as we can before the heat wave hits
-Visit with our friends at the Homewood pool and maybe even take swim lessons :)
-Enjoy the amenities at Mt. Laurel which is only 3 miles from my parents house. We love to take evening walks over there and have recently discovered Spoonwood Lake which has a fun little beach area that the kids love. The Lake is for residents, but we happened upon it while exploring some of the wooded trails out there. Shhh...dont tell!
-Teaching Neily to read. She loves putting letters together and is always asking me to spell things out for her. I am so excited for her to get to read books during her rest time. It will open a whole new world for her. Once we learn to read, she has already requested that she wants 11 books on coyotes and 3 books about deer. Hmmm, I think she has been watching too many animal shows with daddy!
-Summertime also means no TV for us. Every year we try not to start any new shows once the regular season is over (I will say that every summer I am tempted to get hooked on "So You Think You Can Dance"). We like to use the summer evenings to read and play games. I would love to know some of the books you are reading and some of your favorite games to play.
-And last but certainly not least I will continue to enjoy the women's Friday Bible Study at church. Great study, great women. I will be so sad when it's over!

Until next time...