Reading....

I'm not an avid reader; however, when I read a book it must captivate me from the beginning. Well, I borrowed a book from a friend that has totally captivated my attention. The name of it is "The Love Languages of God." Wow.....I've just begun this book but my eyes/heart has been opened to so much! I've always struggled with the fact that I can't sit and read God's word for more than 10 minutes. I always look down on myself for not being able to sit for hours and be captivated by His Word. Don't get me wrong, because there are times that I can sit and do this, but for the majority of the time, I can't. He revealed to me through this book that He speaks to us through our very own love language. I can sit for hours listening to songs and praising Him in the car. I also praise Him through servanthood. This is how He speaks to me very clearly. So what is your love language? Does He speak to you through scripture? Does He speak to you through servanthood? Does he speak to you through songs?

Photo Journal from this past week

The fatty batty pumpkin that we carved. Wow........spooky!

OOOpppps

This feels oh not so good!

Really?

This was a breathe taking picture taking one evening as the sun was setting. I was cooking dinner and looked out the window! Wow.....what an unbelievable sight to behold. It absolutely blows my mind at what an amazing artist my Heavenly Father is. He can create scenes & colors like I've never seen. Although this picture is breathe taking, it can never fully show the beauty that He has created.

3rd times the charm...

Ok, so how does the old sayin go? The 3rd time is the charm. This is the 3rd attempt of writing a post for today. There's so many thoughts going around in my head. So, since I can't get all of my thoughts together. I'm going to list 10 random thoughts.....ready....set....go!



1. I absolutely love Fall!
2. I love pumpkin spice creamer! *hence the blog name!*
3. I am very thankful for everything that we have!
4. I'm missing my brother tremendously as the holidays approach.
5. I am so pumped about my trip to Kenya next month!
6. I love my husband with all of my heart! so blessed!
7. I love my son with all of my heart....again, blessed!
8. I crave being like Jesus and being His hands and feet!
9. Next month, going to become a Tastefully Simple Consultant! excited!
10. I am blessed beyond measure with family and friends!

These are 10 randoms thoughts for the night......let me hear a few of your random thoughts for the night.....ready.....set......go!

Our very own star!!!!

We have our very own So You Think You Can Dance star in our family! Jack and I went to see Jason at work and have dinner with him tonight. Well......Jack started playing all the display phone ring tones....and broke it down. He played a variety of genres! Wow.......twist and shout! He was a whoot! He was dancing on the Verizon dance floor. He didn't realize it that there were some high school girls that was outside watching him at one point. It was absolutely hilarious when he realized they were outside...he went and hide behind the counter. I love our little star!

It's been awhile.......

Well....it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. There's been a lot going on lately. For one week, Jack spent his springbreak with his grandmother. Jason and I had one whole week together!!! I must say that not much of anything held my attention that week except....Jason! We had an abslute blast! We had a different date night each night. It was wonderful!

When the week was up, we headed to NC to my sister-in-laws. We had a family birthday party for Jason's side of the family for Jack. We ate Easter lunch with Jason's family. It was nice!

We have also been busy in renovation mode with the house. One room is painted!!woohoo! I'm starting another room this weekend! This is so exciting! We will begin to lay our floors in early June. This is the part that we're super excited about!! Of course with new paint and floors, comes new pictures & nic-knacks!!! I will try and do better at bloggin!!! Until then...

to do or not to do? that's the question....

OK as I sit on the back porch with my sister in law, my husband and her husband are watching the race. We are reclined in the recliners trying to figure out what we want to do. We want to go and do something;however, we can't figure out what or if we want to exert the energy to do anything! We are super bored.....so what do we do? This is the question?!?!?!

My lion...

I first of all have to explain the title. My husband and I are apart of a home group from Newspring. The book that we're doing is titled, "In a pit with a lion, on a snowy day." I have grown spiritually by leaps and bounds since we've started this hg(homegroup). God has shown me some areas in my life that I'm having to deal with face to face. In the book it comes from Benaniah facing a lion and defeating him with bare hands. We are challenged to take a look at our life and face our lion. The Lord places these things(lions) in our life to build us so that we will have a stronger and deeper relationship with him. It teaches you to open your eyes, mind, and heart to see as He sees. I had to tell you this to preface the next paragraphs.

I have deemed a co-worker my lion. I've never had a co-worker that I can't get along with or work well with. Well, I have a lion and it's a co-worker. I've always wanted to be a person that confronts a situation head on. Well, after doing some reading in Samuel & the book.....I have to face this lion head on with God's help. I can't take matters into my own hands. I must be still & listen to Him speak to me. There was a situation this past week that really got to me. I went to a co-worker to vent, and then I heard God speak very loudly! "Go and confront her." I of course, had a battle with God......and as always He wins. I went to her office to confront her. I look back on it and know that the strength came totally from Him.

I also had another incident with the same lion. Once again, I was told to confront it by my Father. I once again, listened to Him. Wow......at the strength that He gives us when we let Him. I can't wait to see what the next chapter is about so that I can grow deeper and deeper! Thank you Jesus!

Our home..

Our home is going to take a whole new look within the next year! I've started by changing little things in the kitchen. I've made new things with the marvelous Cricut for the kitchen. We use to have grapevines, glasses, & wine bottle above the kitchen cabinets. I've taken all of that down. I've started cutting shapes and things with the Cricut and framing them. It's taking shape!!! I also got rid of the grape curtain that my mom made. I couldn't find a curtain that I liked. My mom and I went to Target and found some dishtowels that I absolutely loved!!!!! I've draped them over my curtain rod to make curtains. I absolutely love them!!!!! I have also taken the grape hook down and replaced it with a brushed nickel hook. It's taking shape!!!! I'm ready to get to painting and redoing the floors!!!! I'll keep ya posted and maybe one day post some pictures! :0)

Newspring

I can't say it enough! I'm so thankful and blessed to be apart of what God is doing at Newspring!!! It's absolutely amazing to see the people flock to hear God's word, fellowship, & volunteer! Wow....what a blessing! There is life change all around us!

Wow!

I must say that I've taken a break over the past couple of weeks from blogging because I've started journaling. I can't explain how much my eyes have been opened the past couple of weeks. I've drawn closer to my Heavenly Father, I've taken a few steps away from some technology to get to know Him better. My prayer has been teach me to see as You see. My eyes have been washed clean and wow......I just can't seem to put into words what I've been shown. I'm taking a journey through Jeremiah. My heart has been burdened for some people.....and my prayer has been give me an opportunity to share with them what Christ has done for me.

The first thing that has totally blown me away is......as parents, we all know that we influence our children tremendously! Well, I had been doing my QT in the bedroom; however, one morning I went to the living room b/c my love was still sleeping. Well, our son came into the LR, saw what I was doing.....and went to his bedroom to grab his Bible and began to read beside me. Wow what an impact! I was floored! He spoke to my heart & said not only do you not need to do this in secret b/c your son needs to see the example before him. He also showed me what kind of an impact as a parent I truly have. I still can't get over this......it has made a lifetime impression upon me. So guess where I do my QT now? :0) You got it....in the LR. Jack knows this is my time with God and respects that. He doesn't bother me....just watches and soaks it up! AMAZING!

I could go on and on......I will start to post a little more each week sharing with everyone what the Lord has been teaching me. Until next time.....

The Cricut!

It has arrived and I'm having a blast!!!! I have been "playing" for the past week! There are endless and countless things that can be made! Have you ever done something the simple way and you've cranked millions out in a short amount of time. And then there's this great invention that gives you countless of other ways of doing something. Well....this so describes the Cricut. I use to could crank out about 4-5 pages an hour prior to getting the Cricut. And then when it arrived. I could only crank out about 5 pages in a span of 8 hours! There are so many ideas swimming around in my head. I can do this....no wait....I can do that....no, I can add this....or I can add that! That has been in my vocabulary for the past week! I made my first card that I would consider sending to anyone this past weekend! I better get to cranking those out because Christmas will be here before you know! I have vowed to make out Christmas cards this year! I can't wait!!! I love the Cricut!!

Birthday love letter.....

Happy Birthdayto you, my love! You are a true gift from God! I have cherished every moment that I've been blessed to share with you! I can't wait to see the Lord has in store for us as a family! We will enjoy this journey to the fullest.
You are a loving husband, a father, a son, a brother, a uncle, a friend, and most important, a child of our Heavenly Father! I feel so blessed to be called your wife. I love you with every ounce of my being! I will love and serve you as I have been commanded by our Father!
I ove the way you look me in my eyes! I love the way you make me laugh after a long day! I love your touch! I love the way you wear your mohawk!:o). I love the way you open a bottle with one hand! I love the way you play the guitar! I love it when you wink! I love your sense of humor! I could go on and on!! I love you for being you!! Honey, I love you and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Honey! Today is Jason's birthday. We have started a tradition around our house of celebrating the entire birthday weekend. So....the party started Friday when Jack and I got home with the one and only requested Burger King in hand. This was the birthday boy's choice for the evening. His other choice for the weekend was to stay at home and do NOTHING! And that's exactly what we did! I can't remember the last time that we did this! We also had a full weekend of none other than NCIS! We have finished the first season and ready to move onto season 2. In between an epispode or two....there of course was some Rock Band to be played!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

It's here!

The Cricut has arrived!!! I'm so stoked! I played with it last night and can't wait til the weekend!!! I knew that I would enjoy it, but never thought I would this much in less than 24 hrs of having it!!! I best to get takin more pics so that I can scrap more often!

I know this may sound a little crazy, but I'm going to start this weekend on our Christmas cards!!! I'm just a little bit excitedn if you can't tell!!!!! Woohoo

It's here!

The Cricut has arrived!!! I'm so stoked! I played with it last night and can't wait til the weekend!!! I knew that I would enjoy it, but never thought I would this much in less than 24 hrs of having it!!! I best to get takin more pics so that I can scrap more often!

I know this may sound a little crazy, but I'm going to start this weekend on our Christmas cards!!! I'm just a little bit excitedn if you can't tell!!!!! Woohoo

Loves....

I love this pic!!!!!

Love.....

I'm going to wrap up the weekend of love with a few more loves......

-I love the cranberry muffins at St. Francis!!!
-I love the fact that I have 8 nieces and nephews!
-I love the fact that the Lord has blessed us with some wonderful friends!
-I love watching NCIS with my family!
-I love a beautiful sunrise!
-I love that my God is so awesome and BIG!
-I love that Jesus died on the cross for me!
-I love that He loves me no matter what!
-I love that I will spend eternity praising the Lord that designed/created me!
-I love that He embraces every part of me!
-I love the fact that Jesus is jealous of me and wants me to serve Him!


Wow........as this "love" weekend has wrapped up.....there's so many things that I love, but these are only a few. What do you love?

Patience!

Patience? What is that? I'm being taught that today!!! I have drooled over the Cricut scrapbooking machine for the past month!!! There's been a few times that I've almost gotten the machine. Over Valentine's weekend, Jason and I looked at the smaller one.....I had finally talked myself into just getting the smaller of the two. However, today since we were at church all day, I had a friend that recommend I check out AC Moore. She said that often times they have a bundled package. Well....low and behold! They had the bigger Cricut with 4 cartridges on sale!!!! So.....after lunch...I dropped Jason and Jack off at the church...and headed to AC Moore. Ok, I knew that one day I would have one of these, so after setting up the craft table last weekend....I left room on the table for the Cricut and also plugged the powerstrip up so that it would be ready for the new home of the Cricut!!!! Well.....God has a sense of humor......got to AC Moore and they didn't have it in the store!!! What? Not in the store? So, I rushed back to the church to order it online! I'm holding the order confirmation for my new Cricut Expression!!!! Woohoo.....I'm so super duper excited!

More loves....

As I continue with more loves for the season of love.
-i love the way my husband knows the name of a song and artist in the first bar of a songm
-i love the way that he sings!
-i love the embrace of his arms!
-i love the way he makes me laugh after a long day!
-i love the hugs and kisses from Jack!
-i love the homemade vday card from Jack!
-i love our Friday family nights!
-i love that Jack and I have our coffee bond on Sunday mornings!
-i love the bond that Jack and I have!
-i love to hear Jason call me my nicknames!
-i love when Jason and I play cards!
-i love my job!

LOVE

It's that time of year again for Valentine's Day. So I'm taking a friend's idea and listing things that I love.....
-the love of my life-jason
-my son - jack
-mymom,dad,brother,sisters,neices,nephews!
-my relationship with Christ
-my church- Newspring
-scrapbookin
-good cup of joe w pumpkin spice
-flip flops

Tune in for more loves!!!!!

Maintence!

As I sit here getting my oil changed the Lord just spoke clearly to my heart. The word that keeps coming to my mind and heart is maintence. As I'm sitting here, He spoke to me and said just as you have to maintain your car to keep it runnin....you must maintain your relationship with me. In the last two years my relationship has grown and blossomed into something unimaginable! I want and have the urge for my relationship to grow and nourish! I am so blessed in my life and don't want to miss out on the opportuities that I have to worship, serve, and bless!

Newspring....

I know some of you might get tired of me talking about Newspring and that I absolutely love Sundays! Well.......that's not going to shut me up! I absolutely love my church and you may ask me why? Well......it's very dear to me because Jesus used Perry and Newspring to change my life. It has made a huge impact in my life. I have drawn closer to Jesus and turned my life over to Him 100%. I have gained not only a relationship with Christ, but I've gained a husband, a child, lifelong friends, and life change. Every week I get to be apart of lifechange! This is absolutely awesome. I hurt and ache for those that aren't close to Christ. I stay awake some nights just begging God to open their hearts and eyes.

I am so blown away each Sunday that I get to come to church to volunteer and serve others. I love talking to people to see how NS and Jesus has impacted their lives!!! I love every minute of it! I no longer dread going to church!!! I live for Sundays! I love transparent people!!! I'm so glad that I get to do this every Sunday! I'm so blessed!!

School projects....

Is Jack in elementary school or in high school? He has had so many school projects in the past week. I'm not sure who's having the most fun, me or him? He had to build a revolutionary battle scene. This was the first diarama that I had helped with. It was so flippin cool!! We got to make plaster rocks and paint them. This was my favorite part!!! I had a blast!!

The second project this week is the wax museum. He has to dress like a revolutionary blue coat. I must say that he has the best costume!!! I will have to post some pics! His whole costume is compliments of Goodwill.

I must say that I'm having as much if not more fun than he is!!! I love doing things with him!!! I hope he continues to want my help!

Sundays...

I absolutely 150% love Sundays!!! Sundays are the bestests day ever!! I love to go to Newspring on Sundays and see what God has in store for us to be apart of. There's tons of lifechange happening around us. It's awesome to hear the stories of where people were in their life. Some were at the end of their rope of life, some marriages were about to split, and some people were tired of "churchy" politics. It's awesome to see the hope and love that has restored these people. They have found the answer to life. The answer to life is Jesus. He opens our hearts and minds that life isn't about us. We have a higher purpose. One day we will step on the other side of eternity and see Him face to face.

I was where some of these people were. I was in a no good relationship, I was living for my glory, and I was living with no eternal purpose. The Lord opened my eyes one day to show me that on the other side none of those things mattered to Him. The only thing that mattered to Him was that I was living for His glory and proclaiming His name here on earth. Glory be to God!

During the three services here in Greenville, there's going to be over 100 people go public for Jesus. That totally rocks because each person represents how God dramatically changed their life and how it has changed for an eternity! I love you Jesus, Savior, Redemmer!

Restricted.....

I've been placed on restriction @ work. I no longer have access to update my blog daily. I'm having to do this from my blackberry. This makes for a great challenge! I guess this will help me limit long boring blog posts. It's just very interesting to have to update the bloggo from this handheld device. This is a true test to see if I will continue to blog. I look forward to Sundays to blog without finder cramps!! Until next time.......

Snow or lack of...

Well......as my 9 year old son put it this morning......"The weatherman lied to me!" Wow...what a statement! Yesterday on the news...the weathermen or weatherwoman (:0) stated we were going to get 1-3 inches of snow starting at midnight. Later in the day on Monday, a couple were saying 3-5 inches. So like any other southerner after I picked up Jack, we ran to the grocery store to pick up milk & bread! Ok, so it wasn't just milk & bread....but it was ridiculous! There were tons and tons of people that were going to have soggy bread because all they bought was milk and bread! lol.....I just find that super humorous!
On our way home, he told me that he wanted to stay up til midnight to watch the snow.....and then play in it all day on Tuesday. After coaxing him into bed around 9, Jason and I were like little kids at the windows. We got up every 20 minutes or so to see if there was any sign of it sticking. We rose out of bed before our alarm clocks rang out to see how much was on the ground. Boy, were we disappointed! There wasn't a sign of snow anywhere!!!! I couldn't believe it! With our fingers crossed, we turned on the news hoping there was a delay due to a blizzard on the other side of Anderson County. So you guessed it, we had to wake Jack up to get ready for school. He was so upset with the weatherman because he lied to him. I explained to Jack that they didn't really lie to us. It did snow....it just didn't accumilate. And it did accumilate in other parts of the state, just not here. Of course, that didn't sit well with Him.
Wow....that's a bold statement from a child. How many times have I "lied" to God? And He knows my heart and know my thoughts......that hit really hard!! Thank you Jesus for loving me!

Coffee

I must say that I'm addicted to coffee!!!! It's the greatest thing EVER!!!! Ok....so we're gearing up today @ Newspring for a third service(6pm). WOOHOO!!!! I've already had 2 cups of coffee and a cup of the bestest ever hot chocolate with coconut flavoring. YUMMY-O! This last cup of coffee....hhhmm....not really sure if it has a name. :0) Let's just say, I added a little bit of coffee with some extras! I think I put about 6 pumps of gingerbread syrup, pump of white chocolate, pump of caramel, and a whole lotta 1/2 & 1/2! Wow.........energy here I come!!! After this last cup of this & that.......I'm going to crash and crash hard!!!! I absolutely love being here @ Newspring on Sundays! I wouldn't be anywhere else! I love the people here that God has placed in my life and the life of my family!!! They are great, loving, and genuine!

I love this picture!!!! My how he has grown!! This was our first family portraits taken in the summer of 2008. I have to wrestle with the two boys to have their pictures taken professionally! :0) I'm going to wait til fall of 2009 to try and get more family pics. I just wanted to share this one because I love this boy and can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Excited!

I absolutely love Fridays!!!! When we started our family, we deemed Friday as family fun night! We spend the evening together and focus on our family! We get pizza, movies, & anything FUN! I really enjoy these times together!!!! I'm super excited about tonight. We're doing something a little different. We usually stay home so that we don't have to contend with everyone else out and about on a Friday night. So.....going out to dinner with the rest of Greenville, Pickens, & Anderson county is going to be an adventure!!!

On my way into work this morning, I was talking to Jason & he asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch! Oh but yes!!!! I so can't wait to have lunch with my husband!!! I love that time together and I need that time together!!! He's the bestests ever!!!!! I thank God for him daily!!!

And last but not least......I'm excited because last night I got to witness a great work of God!!! I volunteered at our membership class last night for Newspring Greenville! We had 215 people to come to the class!!! It was awesome and exciting!!! It absolutely blew me away!!!! God is so awesome and faithful!!! Thank you Jesus that I get to be apart of that!!!

Family......?

The word family has so many different meanings to different people. What does family mean to you? Do you have to be a relative to be part of the family? Do we deny family? Do we embrace family? What in the world does that word mean to you?

To me.....Family has so many meanings. Here's only a few of them.....

Friends

Ancestor

Marriage

Interesting

Loss

Yearn to be one, one goal, one love

I believe that family is a community of people. It can be kin people, Christians, friends, co-workers, etc. It hurts my heart when families argue over worldly possesions. This could be within kin family or church family. There is a bond that is strained when this tension comes between family, which is called satan. Family is very important to me and I don't want it to be divided! I have lost a close brother two years ago. He lived his life like every breath was his last. He is my inspiration! I cherish every moment that I spend with my husband, my son, my parents, my brother & his family, friends, brothers/sisters in Christ. Thank you Lord for giving me another moment!

The year of challenges!

I still can't believe it's 2009 already!?!?!? It's only a couple of weeks into the new year and I've already set some challenges for myself. First and foremost is my spiritual walk. I have been challenged to STOMP IT! I have also challenged myself physically. I have struggled with my weight all of my life. I'm ready to get a handle on this issue. The only way to do this is not by only counting points (WeightWatchers), exercising, or drinking water. The only way to defeat this.....is by keeping Christ at the center!!! I can't wait to see what path He takes me on this year!!! I want to be sure to live each day like it's my last. I'm tired of being the "feel good" friend. I want to encourage, but I also want to speak the truth. I was challenged with this yesterday. And I was shown that people want to hear the truth and not something to "pump" them up. It's amazing what He allows to flow out of our mouths when we are faithful to Him!

On a side note.......

I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary yesterday......what a glorious occasion! You know....sometimes it only seems like a year and other times I can't remember what my life was like before Jason. I am so thankful for him and Jack. They are a true blessing to me. I know some ladies would argue this.....but I have the bestest husband ever!!! He's the greatest! I sat yesterday at my desk trying to wrap my mind around all the blessings in my life. We serve an awesome and generous God!!

STOMP IT! 2009

STOMP IT! We have been challenged by our pastor, leader Perry Noble(http://www.perrynoble.com/) at Newspring Church (http://www.newspring.cc/) to STOMP IT in 2009! I'm ready for this challenege. It's so amazing to see what our Lord and Savior is doing at Newspring! And I'm reminded daily that we see Jesus at work all around us because we're faithful to His vision, His calling, and His people around us.

Now I know you're wondering....what in the world does STOMP IT mean? For different people it may mean different things. When I say STOMP IT........I'm going to take my spiritual walk to the next level, let others see Jesus in me, be His hands & His feet, going to stand tall & bold for His name! I'm going to do things that I'm not comfortable with for the Almighty and be apart of LIFECHANGE for those that don't know Him as their personal Lord and Savior. We serve and awesome and mighty GOD!!! So in 2009, what are you going to do to glorify our Savior? Are you going to be apart of life change? Hebrews 10:36

Never imagined!

Ok..drum roll please......I never in a million years thought I would be doing this.....A BLOG!! What in the world? Just thought I'd try it out to see if I'd like it or not. Not sure how long I'll be doing this or if I'll even continue. I guess there's a first time for everything!!! I said the same thing about Twitter (froggy330)......but I have fallen in love with that....so who knows, I might do the same with blogging! Who knows.....I guess we'll see after today, if this continues!