At the beginning of summer, Jessica picked out a pair of new sunglasses. James and I went to her room around 10:30 PM to check on her. She was sound asleep in the dark, wearing her new shades! It was so sweet and funny! It’s a good feeling when the kids appreciate their stuff.
Dollhouse Poo!
I have very resourceful children!
My hubby has started a blog about his business and his life. I feel as though we are on this incredible journey together. I must admit it’s been very difficult at times, but I really wouldn’t change a thing about our life together. I am so proud of him. I am proud to be his wife and I’m sooooooo excited about our future! Check it out!
The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both. ~James Michener
. . .the sun is always shining!
James, due to financial obligations / responsibitilty, was unable to do his annual fireworks “extravaganza”. He showed such self control that he did not purchase a single firework!
I know that the Lord blessed James this Independence Day morning. Our pastor treated James to a plane ride! Pastor is an avid pilot. He flew James all over our metropolitan area! They did three touch-n-go landings at different airports. Touch-n-go means you land, skim the runway and take off again. Pilots get licensing credit for doing this. James said it was an absolute blast! I am so pleased he had such a thrill on his favorite holiday!
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. . . . If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. ~Henry David Thoreau
In the last several years, while meeting and spending time with people who have become inordinately successful, I have observed several common traits among them. Two of those traits stand out. One is they have a calling, which they have discovered and are implementing. The other is they have made mountains of mistakes in the process of becoming “successful.” The gleaming mountain of success is actually a pile of trash–a pile of the mistakes we have made. The difference between the successful and the troubled is not error-free living; it is that by discovering and implementing a life calling, the successful stand on their pile of trash while the troubled sit under theirs. — Dave Ramsey, 48 Days To The Work You Love
This past weekend I found myself in Rocheport with 4 Aunties, my mom and 2 cousins. We gather each year in June. There are two rules: no men and no children. Of course we had a fabulous time. Our group grew this year to include Julie, my Aunt Marlis’ late husband’s daughter, my Aunt Linda and my Aunt Kathryn.
We left this message at the local coffee shop!
Help me, O’ God,
To listen to what it is that makes my heart glad
And to follow where it leads.
May joy, not guilt,
Your voice, not the voices of others,
Your will, not my willfulness,
Be the guides that lead me to my vocation.
Help me to unearth the passions of my heart
That lay buried in my youth.
And help me to go over that ground again and again
Until I can hold in my hands,
Hold and treasure,
Your calling on my life.
Ken Gire, Windows of the Soul
James has been collecting and reading books on finance, business and leadership. I’ve been reading them as well and have learned a great deal as a result. (So far I’ve really only read two, but I’ve listened to a lot of audio as well)
I’m currently reading 48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller. It’s been a terrific book as it has pushed me to think about my gifts and abilities and what I enjoy. I have not come to the place where I can list these things out in detail, but I’m better convinced now than I was before that I love being a homemaker. It’s not my job, or my career, it’s my vocation!
I don’t know what there is for me beyond this point. I just know for now I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I also understand better that self education can be as valuable, if not more valuable, than a diploma and that the sky’s the limit if you can dream it and set goals and make plans. James is proving that!
To help kick off the summer, I’ll share a cool, refreshing fruit salad for your warm weather menu. It’s super easy, so I’ve been making it a lot. It was given to me by Karen.
ORANGE SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
1 box dry orange jello
1 carton cool whip
1 carton cottage cheese
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 can well drained crushed pineapple
DIRECTIONS:
Add jello to cool whip, beat.
Add cottage cheese.
Add fruit.
Refrigerate.
I’ve had a wonderful spring! I was given the awesome opportunity to travel with Mom, Anjelia, my two Aunties and Uncle Gil to the Sweet South!!!!! The trip was a gift from God. I really, really needed a break away and I was blessed! It was the perfect vacation spent sitting around my Aunt and Uncle’s kitchen table - all day, everyday - eating and visiting with all the family coming and going. I came back feeling like a new wife and mom. I just wish I hadn’t come back bigger!
Traveling 12 hours with a four-year-old in a van with five adults can seem a little intimidating to a mom, but Anjelia was a perfect angel the entire week. I am not even exaggerating. I loved the chance to spend one on one time with my baby.
