A Lineage of Grace

I just recently finished reading A Lineage of Grace, by Francine Rivers.  It was very good, and it's been a while since I've read a good book.  In this book she has written about 5 different women of the bible and tells each of their stories.  One of the stories was on Ruth and Naomi.  The other was on Rahab the prostitute in Jericho.  All of the stories were good.

I have read all of these stories before in the bible, but it was neat to see a glimpse more into what their lives would have been like.  This book gives you some description on what they were wearing and what the culture was like, which then always makes it more fun to read the bible, when you can visualize the people in it better. 

So if you are looking for a new book to read this month, I would definitely recommend this one.  You will get interesting and fun stories along with your bible stories.  2 in one.  Talk about multitasking.  ;)

House tour

This morning as I was picking up the house after getting the kids off to school, I decided I would take a few pictures and give you a tour of our busy little house. 

This is our Master bedroom.  We built it fairly small since I didn't want it too big.  I wanted it nice and cozy.  I am hoping to repaint the walls in the near future.  I'm thinking of a dark brown for the top half of the wall and then leave the bottom half white. 

 Dan calls this bedding, "ugly and funky."  I wanted something different last spring, and I found this set on sale for $24.  So I will be looking for something else eventually, but I think it will do until I find exactly what it is we want.

This is my wedding bouquet that my Mother in Law had freeze dried and put in this frame.  They used to be pink, yellow and white roses 13 years ago.  I love having it in our bedroom.  I won't ask Dan what he thinks.  Ha!  Poor guy!  ;)

Someday I will find a better spot for my exercise bike, and then I would like some kind of a lounge chair and table to take it's place by these windows.  But for now... I need the reminder to exercise.

This is our living room, and the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. 

 The front door

The open door off to the right is my office.

The "Sisters are forever" sign is a gift from my sisters.  I'm still trying to figure out where I want to put it, so in the meantime, it's just sits here waiting for me.  My older sister actually made it, so that makes it special.  But besides that, it is so special to me because that was one of the things my Grandma Ole constantly told us... "Sisters are forever."  When we found out that we were pregnant with Emma and that she was going to be a girl, I was sooo excited and thankful that Gracie would have a sister.  My sisters are my best friends, and I want that so much for my girls.

 We don't put out a lot of fall decorations.  I like to put out a few to make it look festive, but not too many that it feels crowded or cluttered.

And here is my kitchen...  the busiest room in the house.

Dan and I built this house and moved into it 8 years ago.  We love our house!  There are things that we would probably change if we had a redo, but with us building on a budget and being 8 years younger than we are now, I'm sure that's to be expected.  ;)  

I picked up this sign a couple months back and to me it fits my family perfectly.

Oceans

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your name

Keep my eyes above the waves 

My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

These lyrics are from the song "Oceans" which is one of my favorite songs at the moment.  It is by Hillsong United.  If you haven't heard it before, you need to look it up.  It is beautiful!  

Our Friday Morning

                              Today I'm linking up to Andrea's blog with my Friday Favorites.

This morning feels like a Saturday morning, or what a Saturday morning used to be like before the kids played sports.  :)

I love early mornings when it's quiet in the house and still dark outside.  A couple of soft lights turned on and kids snuggled up on the couch watching a movie, while I drink my coffee and read my morning blogs.  It's such a nice way to start our day.

Gracie was watching the movie with Emma before she had to head into practice.  She was chilling, waiting for her ride.  I used my phone to take these pics... she had major red eyes so I tried to fix them, but it didn't work too well.  I was too lazy to get out the big camera... next time.  ;)

Emma only made it halfway through the movie Atlantis.  She wasn't a fan.  She was hoping it would be scary.  Strange child.  Ha!  ;)

 Jesse loves to sleep in and since there wasn't any school for the kids yesterday or today, I've been letting him catch up on his sleep.  So needless to say, he missed out on our nice quiet morning.

Dan comes home this evening from his business trip and he will be thrown right back into our crazy schedule.  Jesse has a soccer tournament tomorrow morning and Gracie has to be at the school in the morning to get on the bus for their teams first basketball game.  Gracie's foot has been hurting and we've found out that she most likely has plantar fasciitis.  So she's decided to just be a manager this year instead of playing.  :(  I had never even heard of plantar fasciitis, until 2 weeks ago, and now it seems that everyone and there dog has it or has had it.  It's another, "quite common" that I've just never known about.

This morning a friend of mine dropped off a birthday present for me.  I LOVE it!!!  This friend of mine has been teaching me to become a better rider over the last couple of years.  He pushes me every time we saddle up.  Whether it be a different horse, a different area to ride, something almost every time.  I am usually scared every time.  I'm a chicken by nature, but at the same time I am determined, and he knows it.  I don't ever say I'm scared, (well except one time when I said, "NO way" to a steep embankment, but even then I ended up doing it.)  I love that he saw this canvas and thought of me.  "Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway."  John Wayne

I hope you all have a fun, and relaxing weekend. 

Miss Homebody

Today I am going to try and be a homebody.  The kids are off to school.  I've got my cup of coffee.  Sheets are in the wash machine, and the rest of the house is calling my name. 

Yesterday morning I got ready and headed out of town as soon as the kids were on the bus.  I needed to stock up at Costco and run a few other errands.  Dan is out of town this week for business and my sisters, Mom and I are headed to Hawaii next week (WAHOO!!!), so I decided I needed to stock up at Costco and make sure we were set for all this single parenting business.  ;)

I stopped in Old Navy to find a few new tops for Emma.  She has been growing and it was time to add a few things to her closet.  Sometimes I will find a couple things that I like, and sometimes I've found nothing that I care for.  Thankfully I stopped this time... they are having a sale and I thought I'd check it out.  I found so many cute tops for her and she loved everything that I picked.  That is a big win in my book! 

In other news... I signed up last week to become a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils.  I can't wait to get my starter kit.  I have been hearing so many good things about them, that I am jumping on the band wagon.  If you use oils I would love to know what your favorite ones are and how you use them!  This will definitely be a learning process for me.  But one I am hoping will benefit my family.

Somethings that make me... me.

Today is my 32 birthday!  Wahoo!  In honor of a new year, I thought I would share a little bit more about myself.

My favorite movie:  You've Got Mail.  (I can watch it over and over.  Plus I would love a corner book store like she had.)

My favorite book:  Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Favorite drink:  Ice tea and/or a salted carmel mocha 

Favorite food type:  Mexican

Dream trip:  I have so many places that I want to see.  Finland, Rome, Greece, Texas, and Charleston, just to name a few.  ;)  I love to travel.  Any place I go that I've never been to before is always an adventure for me.

The Ocean is one of my favorite places to be.  I feel like my soul is being fed while I just stand with my feet in the sand looking out over the water and knowing that God has commanded even the waves where they can and can not go. 

I hate being cold.  Hate it!  I swear I am an 80 year old woman sometimes who is always complaining about my achy old bones and that I can feel a storm coming on.  Ha!  ;)

I love having my nails painted.  I feel so much more put together when they are done up. 

I am a fast talker who usually always has something to say. 

Not a lot of things make me happier than a good book.  I have read so many books, that I've actually been having a hard time finding new ones, and anything that is actually good. 

I would love to write a novel someday.  Even if I never publish it... I will write one.

Well... this is all I can think of right now.  I know it's not much, but if anyone has a question for me, let me know and I'll try and answer it.  :)

My week in a nutshell

This week I have been spending time trying to get the house caught up.  Cleaning and running errands.  I got a couple pumpkins to decorate our front porch with.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with them.  I am not good at this stuff.  But, hey... at least I try. 

And because I am so mature, I bribe myself with a treat for a job well done.  I may not have Starbucks, but I have Cheri and she makes a mean mocha.  #awfulselfietaker #ohwell 

So I've been getting stuff done, except for yesterday.  Yesterday, I did nothing but play around on ancestry.com.  I have been working on finding more about Dan's ancestors for a few years now, and I felt like I got a couple of new leads.  So I got sucked into the computer for most of the day.  Then I needed to hurry and get into town to watch the kids run in the 'fun run' at school.  After that I had a small window of opportunity to hurry back home, and get some things done so that it would look like I had been working away on the house all day.  I'm sure I fool no one.  Haha! 

This morning Jesse and I are headed out of town to go to the Orthodontist for a follow up.  He had his braces taken off a month or so ago, so now we just have to make sure that his retainer is doing it's job I guess.  It's a long hour and a half drive each way just to have them check it.  But it will be worth it, right?!  I'm hoping we can find somewhere fun to eat lunch.

Tomorrow is our homecoming parade and then our homecoming football game.  Gracie gets to be in the parade this year with her volleyball team, so she's pretty excited about that.  It's always so weird to attend parades, where I don't have any of my kids with me.  :(  It's such a bittersweet feeling having them grow up.