Praise

I will praise you in this storm. I will lift my hands. You are who You are, no matter where I am. Every tear I cry, You hold in Your hands. You never left my side... Though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm....

I lift my eyes unto the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. The Maker of heaven and earth...

The Power of Prayer

The power of prayer never ceases to amaze me. Lately, we've had a trial to bear that at times seems unbearable. The past week it seemed to be getting worse daily. Then, Monday night things were looking really bad. On Tuesday morning Dale and I got down and prayed together before he left for work and the difference was like night and day. The trial isn't gone, but I know that God is there and working. I have all confidence in Him and in His plan for me. I have so much to be thankful for. I am SO thankful that I have the privilege to call on His name in my time of need. He is my Father and he cares for me.

Gooooood Morning!!

I am not much of a morning person, to say the least. I am normally up before Dale leaves but we barely speak because I am basically sleep walking through a routine. After he's gone, I head back to bed to enjoy some precious alone time on the computer before the girls get up, which is between 7 and 8. I ignore the house in the morning, choosing instead to get our schoolwork accomplished. This morning however I have my house picked up, dishes done, floors swept and mopped, showers cleaned (we deep cleaned the rest of the bathrooms yesterday), breakfast done, laundry started, and I'm writing a blog post all by 8:30! I am feeling quite accomplished! On days like this I always tell myself that I should keep this up and start the day like this everyday. I have been married for 22 years though and at this point, I know it's only a dream. So I will just enjoy today!

Decisions, Decisions....

I am a planner. Yes, I know, you are in shock, right? I love making a schedule and in fact, I just finished one for us this morning that takes us through the end of April with our extracurricular activities. What a feeling of accomplishment!

That being said, you might be surprised to learn that I am terrible at making decisions. I need to mull things over and over.... and over, torturing myself in the process. Just when I think I have decided what I am going to do, and I let the whole world in on my plan, the doubts begin. The current big decision is about a trip to see my mom. We normally spend Christmas with her, but just couldn't make it this year. I assured her that we would plan a trip soon. I had convinced myself that now was the time, but there are so many factors involved. Namely, leaving Dale on his own during a very busy and stressful time, but there really isn't an end in sight to the business and stress of it all. So, do I stay home to be a help to my husband, postponing my trip indefinitely or go be a good daughter and visit my mother??? Currently, I am supposed to leave on Friday but I still seeking God to make sure this is the correct decision for the time being.

What's for Dinner??

My Saturday morning routine includes a trip to Safeway to check out their clearance items. It's a great place to score things like discounted yogurt, bread and cookie dough on a regular basis. These are some of the great deals I got recently:

wheat bread $.38 a loaf
Pillsbury cookie dough $.25 a package!
2 count pie crust $.99
A&W 10 rootbeer FREE!
large Digorno pizza's 28oz 2.60 each
Glide dental floss $.25
colgate toothbrushes $.50 each
gas rewards enough that I got my gas down to 1.68 a gallon!! (No that's not a misprint. I got 1.20 off at the pump to bring the price down to 1.68 :-)
free frosting flavoring
lots of other amazing deals...

Here's a list of what's to eat at our house in the days to come, because of some of my discounted purchases.

Main dishes-
Clam Chowder
Fish
Sour Cream Enchiladas
Minestrone
burritos
Fajitas
bbq Chicken
breakfast
stir fry
fish sandwiches
fish tacos
curry chicken
pizza

Sides-
Hot Wings
corn dogs
selected frozen veggies

Desserts-
brownies
chocolate chip cookies
sour cream heart cookies- Made these today. Yummy!
pumpkin muffins