All things pumpkin

Just further proof that during the months of September through November, if it comes in pumpkin/pumpkin spice flavor, i will buy it. I just love fall. Happy fall ya'll!!!!!

Finding the little things

Today I found myself in a sad frame of mind because I had SOOOO much to do and so little time to do it. Sometimes I get to the end of my day and I have to ask myself, "Did I get to have a bathroom break today?" You laugh...but some days it is that bad. It has been a hard month for me as well because I know that by now, I should have had a tell-tale little bump on my belly and that rosy glow on my checks. The only glow I have is from running up and down the halls at work at a break-neck pace and still finding at days end that I still have a pile of work on my desk that seems just as high as when I originally sat down. Just about the time when I sit down and wish I could just cry from sheer exhaustion, I get little reminders that there is still plenty to smile about, even if it is over something small. God is still good. He is too wise to be mistaken and He is too good to be unkind. So, I have a list of things that have made me smile this week. Some are serious and some are silly. I hope it causes you to reflect on the good things in your life this week.

My dad bought this book for me online and made a hilarious joke about it. Everytime I look at this book it makes me smile and think of that joke. This book also brings a smile to my face because it represents a new phase of my life at work. I have asked and asked to teach Psychology to our kids from a Biblical perspective (because you know if the "real world" (which is a term I HATE) they will not get any Bible...only lies). So, this year I get my chance to prove I can do it. Pray for me and with me over that, will you?



This is my new found breakfast. I love this yogurt. It has enough protein in it to keep me full, but the calories are low and the granola on top is outstanding. AND, the newspaper puts coupons out almost weekly for these. Happy lady...that is me.


I found these in the dollar bins at Target. My friends in New Jersey would call this a trinket and a very good "trinket" it is. The reason it is a trinket is because it was something that I loved at first sight and in all practicality I will only remember to use it probably once or twice in its lifespan in my purse. But hey, that is the joy of a trinket. I love candy corn and I love small little tissues in my purse. It was a win-win and a no-brainer purchase all in one.

My parents brought these back for us from Canada. I loved them. They were delicious. They are just fizzy raspberry sodas...but oh they were yummy. I am sad this is my last one, but am so thankful my parents brought me some back.

On a serious note, I recently in my devotions in the morning have been studying the life of Hannah, Samuel, and Eli the prophet. What a great study. Hannah desperately wanted a child and her "adversary" constantly mocked her and told her she was a lesser person because Hannah had given her husband no children. Hannah's adversary was a person that Hannah had to face daily. I too have an adversary, but it is not a person of flesh and blood like you and me. That Accuser of the Brethren comes to me all the time and tells me that "You are worthless because you have not made your husband a father" or "You have let everyone down." I am so happy that God included Hannah's story because when her accuser got her down, she went to God and begged for His divine help and mercy on the situation. Oh may I have a heart like Hannah! As for Eli, he had let his own sons slip into total depravity. No wonder the Bible talks in I Samuel that words from the Lord were hard to come by in those days...no one had their ears on God. Until little Samuel hears the Lord one night while he is on his little cot. Old Eli is so out of touch, it takes him a while to even get the clue that God is the one speaking to Samuel. Oh may I have Samuel's ears to listen! Praise the Lord, He has never left me in the pit of despair. Even in my darkest days...He has encouraged me beyond what I could have ever hoped for. Its those little things He sends our way...take delight in them.

If you still have not smiled yet, then you need to go and watch this video on youtube. It is random and silly, but it always makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too! I have no idea why someone would make this video or even think of this video, but a couple of my students forced me to watch this video and suddenly I found myself laughing. My favorite line you ask? "Guess what I do for adventure? I hang glide on a Doritos." See....I have you interested, don't I? Go on...watch it...I dare ya!

"Grumbles" to "Glories"

This very afternoon I was lamenting to myself. I was thinking about all the tasks that were left un-done on my desk today. Each day, the responsibility seems to pile on deeper and deeper and my stress level goes higher and higher. Two weeks ago in Sunday School my teacher brought up a passage in Nahum. I thought to myself, "Hmmm..interesting book to draw from." I challenge you to read the first chapter. It has some amazing things to talk about when it comes to God and His Omnipotence and Omnipresence. It describes God's IMMENSE POWER in that He has his way in the whirlwind and can make the mountains shake. Yet, in the very next verses it talks about how God is slow to anger, a refuge for those who trust in Him and cares for them. What a God!!!! It got me thinking. If God can control a whirlwind (I am guessing that would be like our tornadoes and hurricanes...which humans cannot control or really avoid) then should not this same God also be able to multiply my time and help me with the day to day tasks with which I struggle to manage? He can and He will...if I but ask. I wonder how many times He stood ready to help and be my refuge in time of distress and I just did the task, worrying my way through the entire time. How many times? Oh dear reader, let Him be your refuge today as I am learning to lean on Him and make Him mine as well!!!

A Tuesday Morning

I will never forget. I will never be able to forget. I remember that Tuesday morning like it was just yesterday. The memories, the images, the thoughts, the raw emotion...it is etched in my mind forever. I woke that morning with a sense of anticipation. I loved Tuesdays. At that time, I was 15/about to turn 16 and I was painfully shy. My parents had encouraged me to join the Speechcrafters club (a speech and debate club...nerd alert...I know). So, Tuesdays were always a fun day for me. I woke early that day. My mom had already left for work so that meant I was fending for myself for breakfast, which I kind of liked because I loved to cook. So, I made my way into the kitchen. I had just put a pan of blueberry muffins in the oven when I heard my dad exclaim "Oh my!" from the basement. Now, in an ordinary setting, this is a normal, daily occurrence. My dad is a big news enthusiast and almost always he will read something or see something and he will make a comment like "I never would have believed it", "Oh Wow", or "Look at this." Then, of course, you will say "What is it dad?" to which you will get no response. In fact, normally he never answers but rather forces you to come over to him to see what he is seeing. It still makes me laugh when I think about that quirk of his. Well, this day, I called downstairs, "What it is dad?" No answer. I waited. I called him again. Nothing. Annoyed I left my post in the kitchen and tromped down the stairs. Once I reached the floor...I knew why he did not answer. The WTC was on fire. I stood there transfixed. "Dad, what happened?" "A plane hit it...the place is on fire." And then the unthinkable happened, I watched live on television as another jet smashed into the South Tower. I remember that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I did not understand anything about Terrorists...about people who hated America enough to purposely kill themselves and others for a cause. The rest of the day was a blur. I remember watching the television till my eyes burned. I remember seeing people, having to make a choice of burning to death or jumping to the ground, choosing the later of the two options...those images still to this day haunt my memory. I remember sobbing with friends as we considered the huge mass of humanity that went into eternity today. I remember the surge of hope and patriotism and a band of firefighters chanted USA while our President chocked back tears standing on top of a crushed fire truck. I remember his promise that "those who knocked down those two buildings would hear from all of us soon." I remember the dust-covered firefighters and first responders rushing TOWARD the WTC while others were running away in terror. I remember, for that day, being a New Yorker, even though I had NEVER been there. I remember it all.
I am a part of a unique generation, I feel like. Most of the people in my age group were young enough to be innocent of the caliber of evil we witnessed that day, but in that instant...we knew, we understood that America would never be the same. We worried if we would get to see our own wedding days, or if we would ever get to be parents. Through my 15 year old eyes, the future looked uncertain at best. I was also not yet a believer, so the terror I felt was intensified even higher. It would be another two years before I could say, "I know where my eternity lies."
So, here I am, 10 years later. The attacks of 9/11 changed my world for all time. In every generation, there are moments where you remember where you are, what you were doing, even sometimes what you were wearing when you heard "the news." I remember where I was when the radio started covering the Columbine tragedy, I even have a vague memory of the Oklahoma City Bombing. My parents remember the lunar landing (sketchy details because they were pretty young). My grandparents have even more of those moments...the Kennedy assassination, declaration of WWII, D-day, Pearl Harbor, and so much more. To my students, I told them that those moments leave an impact on you...it is part of being trapped IN history. Unfortunately, their life will have those moments too. It happens to all of us. We live those moments. We feel every agonizing emotion. I know that the events of that day may get fuzzier as the pages of my life get filled with more and more history. However, there are parts that will never grow dull. One thing I do know, I am still proud to be an American because with all our faults and problems...there is STILL no place like America.
On this, the 10th anniversary of that terrible day, I rest in the fact that I know the ONE who saw that whole tragedy and yet HE was not panicked or terrified. You cannot terrorize MY GOD. He is holy and righteous and the judge of all. HE knows the timeline of history down to the last second. Praise God I do not have to be afraid of tomorrow and the problems or even joys it may contain...I know the ONE who KNOWS the future.