Thursday, March 29, 2007


So last night while John was at school I was hard at work (well sorta) making pink cupcakes and trying desperately to race to the end of this Harry Potter book. It's just so dang good and I can't imagine how their going to make it out of this mess. They will mind you. I'm just so astounded at JK's incredible writing style. Very detailed but not enough to get you bogged down in the story. Keeps it moving pretty well and makes sure to reflect back on previous story (just in case you haven't read the previous books) to help you get the full picture. I've got one more to read before July. That's when the next and final book comes out. It's bittersweet.

So it's Thursday. The sun is coming in and out of the clouds here. It can't decide if it wants to rain or be sunny. BE SUNNY! Tomorrow night is tax night at the Martin house. I'm not looking forward to it. It seems it's always very tedious and makes us all grumpy. Must be done though.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Boy if there were anything ever written to call me out, this would be it. I've been noticing a lot of that lately. God just has a way doesn't he?! =)

Radiant Certainty
by Jon Walker

“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:20-22 NIV)
Worship/Fellowship — There are some days when, frankly, I don’t feel much like worshiping God. There are probably more days like that than I’d care to admit.
But usually those are days are when I’m staring at my circumstances and making faithless judgments about what I see around me. And I struggle with the God-truth that he is in the circumstances that surround my life – all the circumstances.
Have you ever considered that heartbreak is part of God’s plans for you, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”? (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) We put so much energy into avoiding the hurt when God would have us embrace it. He wants us to know that he can heal our hurts, even use our hurts for his benefit, and for us to faithfully believe that sometimes the circumstances we think are harming us are actually positive situations God is engineering.
God, who is omnipotent, sees the breadth and depth of our circumstances, and he knows his plans for our lives. Thinking, then, like Christ, we can slowly, ever so slowly, begin to understand that avoiding the pain in our lives is actually an act of faithlessness. God calls us to faith in him during difficult circumstances; we’d rather place our faith in avoiding the circumstances.
As always, Jesus shows us the way – because he is the Way. Jesus embraced the pain of God’s plan for his life, and he did it with full faith that God was still working the plan to bring a “hope and a future” to your life and mine. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) Christ was so sure that his grief would turn to joy that he showed a radiant certainty in God’s faithfulness (“Radiant certainty” is a phrase William Barclay uses to describe the attitude of Jesus at the Last Supper).
Our Brother Jesus, who is also our King, was heading into a crisis that would cost him His life, yet He was so certain – radiantly certain – of God’s faithfulness that not one of his disciples even discerned the gravity of the crisis! Jesus was so certain of God’s faithfulness that it radiates throughout his whole being.
And we, too, can have this radiant certainty about God’s hand in our lives. We can say, when it comes to God’s faithfulness, “I know because I know that I know.” That’s radiant certainty! The Cross was Christ’s glory, not His penalty – and the same is true of difficult circumstances in our lives.
So what?
· God’s faithful character - You will develop this radiant certainty in God when you learn to trust in his faithful character. Your daily worship of God is irrevocably tied to your faith in God.
· Praise God anyhow - You must choose to praise and worship God every day, no matter what the circumstances of your life. Developing a radiant certainty in God begins with simple steps of faith and obedience.
· Respond to God, not your circumstances - When faced with a painful or difficult circumstance, ask God, “How do you want me to respond to this?” Keep your eyes wise for the ‘Why me?’ traps that lay about your circumstances.
You can be radiantly certain of this: Difficult circumstances are opportunities for you to intentionally focus your faith in God and to see what he will do to give you hope and healing.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Ok. So it's Monday again. Kinda draggin today. Not feeling great. The weekend was awesome! Weather was so good. I spent as much time as I could out in it. John was sick most of the time, so sadly he missed a good portion of it. We did manage to get out for a walk last night though with the girls in tow.
Gran arrived safely back on Friday night. Saturday was filled with errands and then we did the monthly play at Crown Center. It was a good one this time. I cried and cried. Sunday was spent getting ready for the week and trying to enjoy the weather. We stopped off at the grocery store and they had the most beautiful flowers out. The colors were so great!


So after John being sick all weekend and me feeling fine, last night I jumped out of bed feeling rather gross and ran to the bathroom. Took some meds this morning and I'm pushing through it. Don't really want to but am push at this point. I really could use some sleep though. Stomach is just aching so much. Seemed to only last two days for John. So it will be over soon at least.


One more picture to share for the day. She's just so dang pretty...

Friday, March 23, 2007

Beautiful Inspiration

So with such wonderful quilts like this out there I just simply can't WAIT to get old!!!!



















Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Boing! Spring Has Sprung...


So today was turning out to be promising. I was working along getting so much stuff done. I mean really workin it baby! And then...the system crashed. Now I'm stuck here doing...um..this. Sigh. Guess it gives me an excuse to take a break and check out some cute shoes or something. I am looking forward to all the cuteness that comes along with spring though. Our plants are starting to bloom i noticed and the lovely soaking rain we got yesterday should speed that along nicely. Oh! I was also treated to so yummy grub from the cafe her at work. They sometimes treat me to lunch when they wanna try out a new recipe and need a tester.

Lucky for MEEE!!!!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

So What's My Obsession With Summer All About?

Lately, All I can think about is warm weather and the cute clothes that go with it. I get giddy at the sight of grey linen summer dresses and bermuda shorts. In turn it makes me wear totally not for the season clothes to work almost everyday. So I sit freezing at my desk with ten cups of half full hot tea sitting around me while I look at pictures online of bathing suits. I'm sick in the head people! I really can't stop myself however. I am what I am.

So despite the weather, things are looking up. I've been doing this new work out tape that's making me feel wretchedly sore but I know it's a good thing, I've got a new favorite hot tea, Lemon Mint (bought at the amish store in Tunas, MO), AND I'm getting a lot of work done today (despite my brief break to blog my little heart out).

So here are a few things that are inspiring me today:




























































































Thursday, March 15, 2007

He's Not Staying But...


Look how cute he is! A friend found him running around on the road and he appears to belong to someone. He's got a collar (but no tag) and he's really well behaved. He's gonna come chill with us for a few days till we find his owners. They are calling him Ted but I don't think it suits him. I'm gonna call him something else. I need to meet him first though.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

And We're Back...

So we're back. Since most of the people who read this blog where actually there (and the other half I'll be seeing in a matter of days) I probably won't go into massive details but I do want to share some pics for the trip. I somehow forgot a million times that I had a camera and missed shots I should have gotten. Oh well though.
I will say that we had a wonderful time while in the great state of TN. It's a lovely place with lovely people (and some pretty good food too). The weather was just fabulous the entire time. Couldn't have had a better time.

Downstairs bath at David's house. It's original tile work from the 30's. So cool. Lovely aqua green color. Love the black mixed in too. The floor is a mosaic of the green and blacks of the room. So cute. So 30's.








John pre-pirate party. I was so excited to see him dressed up like this. It actually looked pretty natural. He had a great time.




Other pic is of the actual party. It was a great time and Dad had a good time.

And me.











And this is Little Don. He tried to run away with me because well, he's a world traveler you know. Anyway, he was a gift from Peggy Govan. He's just truly the cutest thing. He comes complete with a gun in his belt and a knife in his boot. He'll shank you in nothing flat me maties!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

So I found this to be very funny and wanted to share with you all. We seem to have a cat/dog relationship similar to this at our house...

http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20070228.html

Monday, March 05, 2007

Summer Skin

So this weekend flew by at light speed but it was absolutely lovely. We spent Friday night with Gran. We got some of her last minute errands done and ate Chinese food at the bar of her house. We talked and laughed till we cried. It's always nice to have something fun to remember her by when she leaves for a long time. Three weeks this time. Paris. London.

Saturday morning I was up early bathing dogs and rushing around trying to be a good momma for them. Going to Granny's house is always exciting but they get so nervous when we leave. The drive was nice. Snow flurries made the extremely dull journey a bit magical. That and my Ipod. We had a great lunch with M&G and spent some time just talking. The drive home was equally good, although we were minus the babies and it wasn't the same. I didn't sleep all that well Saturday night because I kept missing them being there. It felt weird to have the two extra spots of bed I normal lack. I could move freely and without worrying about knocking them out of bed. I didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

Sunday we slept in. I woke up to sunshine and read till John woke up. We made breakfast and got our list for the day lined out. We spent the day cleaning but it was strangely relaxing. No rush. No deadlines. We cut his hair too. It was just wild and out of control. He looks and feels so much better. We had a lovely day. I didn't want the weekend to end.

It did however and I'm at work now. The day is almost over for me now though. I've spent it doing a few minor things but mostly just getting caught up from the weekend. I did however stop off at one of my favorite websites for some sewing inspiration. I sat down to work on my grey dress last night but my sewing machine is so touchy. I have to work on it more tonight. I'm hoping to get some cotton fabric for a hippie tank to take on vacation.

Speaking of, it's only four days (counting today) till we leave. I'm getting things all lined out for that. Lists of things I don't want to forget, clothing options, things to do before we go. I'm excited because the weather has really warmed up here and I'm hoping it will stay nice for our time.
Anyway, BACK up to the inspiration for the day. Wanted to share some things I'm in love with right now:

Friday, March 02, 2007

And For My Next Trick...

So it's Friday finally. Sheesh! Thought it would never get here. The sun is out at least today. That makes is a little more bearable that it's FREEZING out! I'm ready for warm. I know it's pretty much all I talk about these days but still...WARM.
So tomorrow we head down to mom's for the day. We're dropping our dogs off and we've got to get back because I have to have some time to get things done. Seems like every night this week we've had some "thing" that had to get done. None of it however involved cleaning my house or doing our laundry. I am looking forward however to the car ride for some reason tomorrow. I'm sure about two hours into it I'll be over it but right now, I'm looking forward to it. I love just traveling, listening to music together, talking about nothing important or sometimes really important things, stopping at gas stations for water and skittles. I am not however excited about leaving my babies at mom's for two weeks. I just don't want to be away from them. I miss them so much when they are gone. I know they will have a good time without me but still.
Seven days till we're on vacation. I'm so excited I could just pee my pants but that would be messy and embarrassing. So I guess I'll just squirm in my chair like a giddy school girl instead. I hope like heck it's warmer there than here.
Ok back to work. I've got a lunch today and then a doctors appointment. So much for workin...

I get teased at work here for always writing a wall of text. In the spirit of NOT doing only that...

Here's a cutie pie picture for your weekend.