Crazy 8's!

I bet you thought I wasn't going to post ever again, huh? No? I guess that was just me :) Well, not only do I have happy things to share, but I now have a happy obligation to do more than one tonight! So, if you ever wanted to get to know more about me, like my sweet sister-friend Kim, here's your chance! :)

Here's the run-down on the 8's:

• Mention the person that tagged you.
• Complete the lists of 8's.
• Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
• Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

1. Seeing my Savior and being with my Father and King FOREVER!
   
2. Family reunions. Hey...not all the things you hear about southern families is true.
   
3. Being with my DH for the rest of our lives
   
4. Being a mommy someday
   
5. Adventures with our first vegetable garden
   
6. To another beautiful day tomorrow!
   
7. Eventually expanding our little flock of chickens
   
8. Learning how to be a better servant, cause I'm not so great at it right now...
   

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY

1. I had coffee too!(lol Kim!) Decaf :)
   
2. Moved the 4 200-lb railroad ties all by myself. (this "bigger than acceptable" rear-end comes in handy!)
   
3. Played in the dirt with my flip-flops on
   
4. Broke one of our 2 eggs for the day
   
5. Finally cleaned up the porch
   
6. Worked on my cross-stitch
   
7. Read Blogs!
   
8. Enjoyed getting my "sunnin" in, the old-fashioned way :)
   

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO

1. See better without my glasses (almost the same as Kim's)
   
2. Sew really really well! (ditto for me too!)
   
3. Become a super-woman and guarantee my husband I can finish the class before July.
   
4. Blink my eyes and be 125 lbs again.
   
5. Not worry about my weight so much.
   
6. Meet all my blogging friends in real life! (ditto again)
7. Live with Mennonites for a short time and learn what real "sufficiency" is, lol
   
8. Take back the time I wasted chasing what "I" (read: what the world said I ought to) thought was best.
   

8 SHOWS I WATCH

1. Biggest Loser ( I'm sure this doesn't help my body image deal)
   
2. Super Nanny
   
3. 18 Kids and Counting
   
4. the really good Hallmark shows (example: I'm watching Little House on the Prairie right now)
   
5. Andy Griffith
   
6. Sorry I don't have more but that's about all the t.v. I cant stand
   
7. To be honest, it wouldn't hurt my feelings much if we didn't watch it at all.
   
8. I do watch the news and occasionally some FoxNews
   

8 BLOGGERS TAGGED
I'm tagging people I don't know very well, YET. If you do this please tell me so I can come learn more about you.

Actually, I'm going to skip this part. Not because I want to make anyone mad, but I feel kind of weird picking people out to do things I'm not really sure they'd be comfortable or even have time to do. I personally like doing these, I guess it's probably like my weirdness about not liking to drop in on people but not caring a bit for people to drop in on me. I know...weird.

So, if you see this and take a notion to, you're more than welcome to join me! It was really pretty fun :) Thank you for inviting me, Kim!!

Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb

From the moment man first disobeyed the Father,
We were then held captive by our sins.
The Law of God demanded a sacrifice
Restoring to Himself His own again.

So the Lamb, His only Son was freely offered,
Atonement for our sins forever made.
He, innocent and holy, still God and God only
Could ransom and redeem us back again.

Hallelujah, praise the Lamb
Hallelujah, praise the Lamb
My heart sings HIS praise again,
Hallelujah, praise the Lamb

So to the cross they carried Him
With all our guilt and all our sin,
The Lamb of God was slain for our transgressions.

And on the cross, those nail-pierced hands
Reached up to God and down to man.
And just as if I'd never sinned, He took me in His arms
Embracing me, He willingly forgave!

For mercy, grace, and love that knows no bounds.
Though guilty and condemned, I now am clean!
Forever I'm forgiven, for CHRIST the Lord is risen
And risen with Him we shall one day be!!

Oh, hallelujah, praise the Lamb!
Hallelujah, praise the Lamb!
My heart sings His praise again,
Hallelujah, praise the Lamb!!!

Springtime on the Hill

First, I want to share with you how thoughtful my husband can be. The other day, when he was close to a "computer store", he stopped in to get a new mouse for his computer. While he was in the area, he stopped by Hobby Lobby and had a look at what they had on sale. He felt bad that he had bought himself something that he wanted to pick a couple of things for me. Is that great, or what? :)

He thought this little box was "me", lol. I thought a couple of little flower pots might fit in there.

And this cute little table for my little green buddy! I have been sitting the pot on the window sill and he was afraid it might fall off one day. He's so sweet!!

And speaking of my little green buddy, look how pretty it's gotten! Oh....and what do I see...?

A baby green buddy!! :)

And I thought I would share a few pictures from the past week, spring is definitely in swing, no matter that we had flurries in the state later that week!

These guys have been popping up all over the hillside, I just call them "umbrella plants". :)

"And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Matthew 6:28, 29

A nice azalea bush ready to burst into bloom!

The greenery is returning to the hillside.

Wild strawberries :)

The sun through the plum tree leaves

Not really sure what this tree is, but I like it :)

Just a little taste of spring on our hill in Tennessee. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!! :)

So honored

My dear sister-in-Christ over at Evening Shade Morning Latte informed me this morning that she had something for me over at her blog. What did I find? A gift! All I could do at first was think "Awwwwww". I've had a crummy couple of days, but to know that this lady who I do think alot of myself would consider me worthy of something like this (something I never expected), well it did bring a smile to my face.

It is the "Love Award" and the following description accompanies it: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find & be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

The rules of the award are as follows: Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to 8 bloggers that then need to choose 8 bloggers of their own to pass the award to. Include the following text depicting the award..."Each of the following ladies, I simply love. They each have faced their own challenges in their lives & the way they encapsulate their expierences endears them greatly to my heart."

The 8 ladies I would like to pass this one on to are:

Rebekah at Cowgirl For Jesus

Jamie at Homeschooling Baptist Brood

Natasha at Growing in grace and knowledge

Ashley at Jonash...Two of a Kind Working on a Full House

Sarah at As Lilies Sewing

Mrs. B at A Home Keepers Journey

A different Mrs. B at Her Peculiar Life

LadyofVirtue at Large Family Mothering

I know that it's possible that some may receive this twice. I certainly do not want anyone to feel obligated to pass this on. I simply felt like these ladies deserved some recognition, 'cause they've been blessin' my socks off! Again, Nichole, thank you. I truly am blessed.

*****EDIT: I don't know how I could have done this. I feel so awful. This beautiful woman deserves to be included, more than I can describe, so I am going to have to add a ninth linkie :)

Sweet Mrs. Denise at Shortybears Place

What's the point??

I am almost at my wit's end. I'm certainly very nearly at my will's end. As most of you probably know, my husband and I have been attempting the South Beach diet. I am very proud that my DH has lost at least 15 lbs so far. I think I've lost 8..and then the scale said I gained a couple...and then I'll lost a couple. Granted, this is without either one of us exercising (don't you just love how men don't have to do hardly a thing to lose weight?). I did okay on the first couple of weeks, I was pretty bored at the end of those 2 weeks, but aside from one day, I did pretty well. Then came Phase 2 and it all went downhill from there, and not in a good way. I really don't know what my deal is. It's like I have to be one or the other. Either I can't eat anything but veggies and meat and not even look at anything that might have starch and carbs (aside from the ones in fruit) or I can't restrict myself at all. Either I have to go to the gym 6 days out of the week for at least 2 hours a day and take gobs of supplements and lift heavy every time I go or I do nothing. Apparently I am a woman of drastic-ness. All or nothing. And I'm tired of it! I love veggies and fruits and super healthy foods, truly I do. But I want my choclate and cookies and brownies and "stuff you know ain't great for you but it's what you were practically raised on and by golly, you love it!!" This stuff is giving me anxieties and I'm tired of having anxieties! It's just food, for crying out loud, but if I don't have a perfect diet I won't have a perfect body. At least that's what the world keeps telling me. I try not to be a glutton, but I am sometimes. That is something I am working on. But so long as I am not pigging out on the stuff, why can't I just have some foods that I enjoy? And I know that others enjoy them too. It's hard to deny there is an emotional response to foods...I mean come on, who doesn't get a great big grin at the smell of fresh baked brownies or some good ol' fried chicken? Is that a bad thing? Ugh!!

Maybe I was just meant to be a cuddly gal? If having the body everyone else says I ought to have means depriving myself and obsessing over food so much it makes me miserable, do I really even want that body? If I have to lift heavy (at one time, when I was about 125 lbs, I could squat my own body weight for 3 sets of 10 reps...I'm talking heavy lifting) and in the process lose things that make my body look feminine or gain muscularity that, even though it wasn't bulky muscularity, might make you wonder if I was a grown woman or a young man, is it worth it?? And the thing that makes me worry the most about it...my husband hasn't seen me at my heaviest, but he has seen me at my "leanest" and I'm afraid I might never "look that good" for him again. I'm in danger of either falling into something close to diet-worship, or like before: self-worship, or just not caring. I really kind of hate this. If I'm eating healthy foods more often than not, what's the big deal? I'm tired of being hungry :(

Regarding the last post's comments...

I really didn't want to leave a humongous comment in my last post, but I did want to continue the subjects covered in the comments section. (Off topic, but that's probably the biggest gripe I have with communicating via blogs and over the internet in general versus in-person or phone conversations...the gap between responses and not really being able to express myself as well as in person.) Where I live in beautiful Tennessee, our frost-free date is around the middle of April, so I am waiting on getting my hands really dirty in the yard...however our lawn could definitely use a trimming if and when the rains pass long enough to let the grass dry some :) Not complaining, mind you...we're actually in a rain deficit according to the "all knowing" weather people.

My mother-in-law and I went to visit a delightful woman yesterday who starts and sells garden veggies to plant where I bought a few marigolds and a zinnia along with 6 okra plants and a few lettuce plants, all for $4.00. I think I will probably be buying a few more plants from her later in April, and she said something that makes alot of sense to me now and probably explains why my little green ones aren't doing so great. She said that while she's never used a "grow lamp" that a good reason my cukes are falling over is because it isn't natural light and being in a closet they aren't getting as strong as they would being out in the "real world" :) So, I'm already cooking up ideas for next spring and trying to save the ones I can from this year.

My corn isn't going to make it, I'm afraid. I potted (yes, potted) 4 corn plants, and those are still looking okay, but the others I had inside are looking sickly. I also potted 3 cukes, one of those is still growing with it's "real leaves" coming in, so there's some hope for those.

Rebekah, I wish I had a better answer for your comment. But, alas, the rumbly in my tumbly was just for some munchies. I'm still praying for a little one, still hoping. And you better believe it'll be posted here when it happens!

Mrs. B, I am SO glad you mentioned fertilizer! I hadn't even thought about adding it in, but I will certainly be buying some to put in my beds now.

I took a trip to Wally-world recently and saw a few lovelies I hope to buy soon...they are selling blueberry and blackberry and raspberry bushes this year! I've never seen them selling these before, but that could just be me. For $10.00 a bush, for a plant that could live for years (as long as I don't kill it) that sounded like a pretty good investment to me. And!!! (oh I was so giddy about this!!) I wish I had taken a picture yesterday...on our little trip out yesterday the MIL and I also went by a local hardware store owned by some Mennonites (I think...) and wanted to see what they might have put out in their greenhouse and as we pulled into the parking lot I saw they had what I will be calling my "very early birthday/anniversary gift". It appears that a local man has started building chicken houses! For $359.00, plus tax, I can get a house that would accommodate 8 regular sized chickens, or 12 bantams, with 3 nest boxes on one side, a skylight for ample light, and one side lets completely down for easy cleaning. It is up off the ground probably 1-2 ft. I took DH by yesterday when he got home to see what he thinks about it, and I am fairly confident that once we get our tax refund in that I can put in my order for one; it takes about a week to build.

And speaking of chickens, today is Chick Day at my favorite hardware/feed store. They started getting in chicks, ducklings and goslings in late this week and I admit to making a trip solely to see them *sheepish grin*. They are precious. I was going to get just chicks, a little further down the road, but after seeing my MIL's reaction to the little ducklings, I may have to order a couple just for her :) I'm so excited, I can't even express it. This is going to be a beautiful spring.

Preview of Spring

Well, I think it's about time I posted something, don't you? I have had these pictures uploaded here for more than a week, I think, just waiting to have some sort of explanation. And since it's a Saturday night and I haven't much else to do, besides eat (I am getting a rumbly in my tumbly), do some stitching (which I will probably do once I am finished with this post) and sleep (what I have done almost all afternoon), what better way to fill that time? I am kind of disappointed that we didn't get to go and enjoy the "Spring Fest" or whatever they were calling it down in town and across the river in Linden. I can still hear the really annoying....I mean, fresh local talent thumping away on the makeshift stage down the hill in town. I don't care for the redneck talent that seems to run a muck around these parts once it starts warming up, and I like it even less when all I hear is the bass and drum beats. Now, to clarify, by using the term "redneck talent", I mean that practically all you sing about is a "country good ol' time", which by accounts around here, involves the river and a case of beer and some scantily clad women. Basically the sort of thing I go out of my way to avoid anymore. Once upon a time, I would have been one of those scantilly clad redneck women, chugging 'em down with the rest of the guys. Now I see how pathetic that sort of thing is and it really grates on my nerves when it's all I hear about around here. "Redneck talent" would also allow for the fact that, while you have wonderful talent when it comes to playing instruments of your choice, you really only have 2 or 3 songs that you have written yourself and, oh I'd say, probably FIFTY cover-songs you do really well. All the while waiting to really hit the big time. But the folks around here really think they're something. Doesn't hurt that they're playing directly across the street from the local liquor store...I bet that guy stays open late tonight...

But anyway, back to the topic at hand...the pictures. At least that is what I am making the topic now :)

This is my first year of attempting a "real" garden. Last year I tried to grow a few things, all that made it were the little tomatoes I bought from Wal-Mart. But this year I am going to try again, and try a few more things, since I have some area I can put a garden in now. It's going to be interesting to see how things pan out, since I have all these little plants started and it's still about 3 weeks from our frost-free date, and I essentially don't have any experience. But, it'll be a learning experience if nothing else! So, here is my little "greenhouse" in the closet of the guest bedroom. I assure you all of it is legal...I've already gotten a couple cracks about growing stuff in the closet. Hardy har har. Most of the things in the styrofoam cups are peppers of some sort. I've made an attempt at some cayenne, bell, banana, serrano, chili ( I think), jalapeno. Oh yeah, I want some peppers ;) I used to have alot more in the cups, but, like a big dummy I left them no way for the soil to drain until recently, when I put some holes in the cups. LOL. Do they make a "Gardening for Dummies"? I could probably use it. My foxglove and larkspur consequently didn't make it. Actually, none of my flowers have made it, save the few that I planted in the peat cups and trays...I should probably make a note of that. So far, almost all my peppers are still showing signs of life.

I've also started some corn and beans. Those aren't seeds I've ever seen sold as being started, like peppers or tomatoes, but that's not to say it doesn't happen. I just haven't seen them. It'll be interesting to see how those work out...they're still beautiful and live and I'm tickled...hopefully they won't die and I can have corn and beans a little earlier! I've also started some cucumbers and tomatoes. Tomatoes are looking okay ( so much has changed since having taken these pictures, well, not a whole lot, but they have changed) but I've never started them before, so we'll see. Cucumbers have already experienced a couple of casualties; I had a few that had grown so tall they were leaning over, and still hadn't gotten their "true" leaves. A coworker of my husband's suggested planting them in deeper soil, maybe it was that they were growing too big for the little planter I had them in. So I did for 3 of my little peat planters and now two of them have shriveled up. I've got some spices that are peeking up out of the dirt now; basil, oregano, marjoram, a few others I can't think of at the moment. I've also tried a couple of peas, a squash.

My sweeties :)

And some beautiful blooms!

These were so lovely, but kind of smelled...bad.

I just love spring, and I am so thankful that it seems she is here to stay, at last! I can't help but think about the beauty that God has made in the new green life around us, and how He seems to bring out the best of so many things in this season. I am reminded that, like spring, He has made us new creations through His Son, Jesus, that we might be full of life and beauty, and not like the dead things without renewal. We were meant to be thus, and I am forever grateful.