I Have Decided...

Confession: It's been a couple of weeks since I've been to a Sunday service at our home church. Between traveling, holidays and being so sick that I declined movement beyond the path from my couch to the bathroom for nearly two entire days.

My parents were in town for the weekend and nobody was sick. We were finally all assembled in town for a weekend, so it seemed a perfect a time as any to find our seats and be fed with a morning of worship and lesson.

Have you ever been in a service that speaks so clearly to you that you're almost certain it was written specifically for you? Well, this was one of mine.


No, it wasn't emotionally riveting. It was practical. It's an understatement to call it practical, really. It's applicable, realistic, achievable and above all, an integral part of how we as Christians are expected to live. Rob and I have a lot of financial changes coming this year, and we need as much wise guidance as possible. 
I went back and studied the notes again today, from yesterday's service. There's some excellent stuff here, packed into just an hour message with our senior pastor, Jeff. 
I said I didn't have any real New Years Resolutions for 2016. After yesterday, I'm not certain that's entirely true. I said that if we made it through the major events of this year with our sanity and a couple bucks left in our pocket, that'd be good... BUT, after yesterday, I'm challenging myself to not only saving, but better allocation of what we have. We're fortunate enough now that we don't live strictly paycheck-to-paycheck, but we certainly don't do nearly as well as we should with discipline in our giving, saving and spending. 
So there it is folks: last Monday of January and I just changed my mind that I do in fact have one new years' resolution, and that will be the one that helps propel my entire family in the right direction. 
For the time being: Pray, plan and perfect it. Stay tuned; I'm pretty sure our next step in this plan will involve Dave Ramsey :). 
For now, take a listen [& a watch] to that message, and see if you don't get something out of that, too! 
G'Nite blogbots.. 
xo | cmd

Syd The Shopper

Am I crazy for thinking it's a slightly strange phenomenon that my daughter has been given money by me [not that part], and continued on to spend it as she saw fit?

Well.... maybe I am crazy for getting a little emotional about that - it just seems like something of a landmark. What it is really, is that we've been working very hard on the idea that she must earn money for non-essential things that she wants - i.e., dolls, headbands, etc.. We are at a point now where she is finally beginning to graps the concept that the world isn't a free place, and that she must be responsible and within her means when it comes to budgeting.

So ANYWAY, I sent her off to school this morning with $20 for her school's bookfair, and not only did she return with 3 books that she had hand-picked, but she had change. I asked her if she had leftover money, to which she replied,

Yeah, because I didn't want to spend it all. I wanted to save some of it for later! 

Am I a proud mama or what?!

proud of this girl!! 

[Remind me in 10 years when I'm 8 layers deep in prayer that this same daughter will stop spending my money.. haha.. ;) ]

Anyway, we celebrated the day and the onset of the long-awaited weekend with some homemade, healthy-alternative cooking. This one's a favorite in our house, even though this is only the second or third time we've done it. We mainly went for it because of the turkey pepperoni; let's be honest. 

homemade pizza! 

Oh, and that's vegan cheese. Don't shrivel your nose until you've tried it - and remember whose house this came out of ... I mean are any of us really surprised? Haha. 

Sydni shared the spoils of her bookfair with us tonight, which consequently consumed the rest of the evening. I mean,.............

................ STICKERS. 

Stickers. Everywhere. 

my little pony 

That's a wrap, folks. Happy weekend to you & yours!! ♥

xo | cmd

Expressaversary | KONY2012

Oh my word.

Happy Expressaversary to meeee..... again! Haha.

celebrate ;)

My track record with my company goes back a couple years now, but today was the 1-year mark of my tenure at this office. I was met this morning with a cute little cake and a white board decorated in my honor. It wasn't elaborate, but it certainly started the day off right. (:

What I was even less prepared to get was a handwritten note of gratitude from my owners, containing kind words and a little something extra. They really, really shouldn't have; I'm grateful and very blessed.

oh my word. unexpected. | many many thanks.

It's already felt like such a discombobulated day; it's Thursday but feels like Monday to those of us who had yesterday off only to return to work for two days. Joe departed again today for another short round of store visiting. We'll see him shortly, but it's going to be one heckuva jampacked week in the meantime. VBS starts on Monday, and that'll last until he gets back. I'm sure I'll be exhausted by that point, but that's the joy in being part of any good VBS.

kony2012 | liberty triangle | invisible children

Oh! And I almost forgot! This little guy came and surprised me today as well. I'd forgotten all about it, so it was a great little perk when it showed up in the mailbox. This is part of my effort to support the KONY2012 campaign initiative for Invisible Children. I would highly suggest you check it out. It's easier to turn a blind eye in the swamp of "noteworthy causes," but this is one I've chosen to follow. It really is the least I can do. 

Today's winding down; time to go hang with the mini before bedtime.... TG[Tomorrow's]Friday!

xo | cmd