#4 & A Little Confetti in My Pillow

Some people will think this is cheating, but I think it's genius!

I took #4 on my 2012 Bucket List and turned it into the perfect Father's Day gift.

#4- Fly a Kite with my Daddy

So what did I do?  I bought six el cheapo kites from Wal-Mart and prayed for wind!  It was SUPER fun!  We sang the song, and we flew kites, and we enjoyed each other's company.  Best Father's Day I can remember. 

Here is a picture of us with our kites, and I promise that my dad really DID like the gift... even if this picture may lead you to believe otherwise... 

Last weekend, Laura and I kidnapped Caleb & Carah (Laura's Summer brother & sister) and brought them to the land of Nowhere.  Needless to say, we had WAY TOO MUCH FUN!!! 

We ate food. 

We took them outside to listen to their echoes (which was very popular), to the Dutchman's Store (not quite as popular), to play on the new "furniture" at the park in Keo, to Misty's for ice cream, and to little Podunky town's fireworks spectacular.  

And we ate food.

We educated them on the finer points of old school television with I Love Lucy reruns and the Lawrence Welk Show. We took them to church and introduced them to people. We played barbies (Caleb was SUCH a trooper), baseball, and Sorry.

And we ate food.

Oh, yeah!  And I also learned that the reason my pillows are NOT filled with confetti is because of my unbelief... and that apparently it's a biblical concept.

I also learned what a good thing it is that Caleb isn't planning on being a preacher.

'Till Next Time! :)

The Results & A Confession

The Total Body Cleanse is over.

I lost exactly... ZERO pounds.

I grew much closer to the Lord.

I memorized 8 out of 23 verses in Romans 6.

I can now run (light running) most of a block.

I did NOT keep up with it AT ALL during the entire last week.

I am totally OK with that last statement.

I would definitely recommend it for anyone who is looking for a focus change.

It takes a lot of work, but it was totally worth it!

I'll post again soon about life in the general... soooo much has been going on!

Thanks for all the prayers said on my behalf as I went on this little adventure!

Changing & Growing

Things rarely go exactly as planned, am I right?

Well, the Total Body Cleanse is no different. I haven't done exactly what I planned, but I can still tell a definite difference in my life!  About the only thing I haven't done is refrain from watching movies.  I haven't watched any on my own just because, but I spent Sunday afternoon being lazy with my sister, Helen, and we watched a movie.  Then Sunday night, I watched a movie with Helen & her host family.  Well... I kinda watched it.  I wasn't a huge fan of the Dark Knight (Batman movie).  Too dark for me.  So I probably only actually watched about half of it. Tomorrow, Helen's host brother Caleb (who is quickly  becoming one of my absolute most favorite people) is having surgery, so I'm heading over there tomorrow evening for a movie night with him.  I've gotta say... I'm looking forward to it!

With the exception of the movies, I've pretty much kept up with everything else.  I've been doing my devos every morning, and with the exception of today (I wasn't feeling very well yesterday/this morning) I've been exercising every morning as well!  I have been listening to Christian music and reading christian books.  

The whole purpose of this cleanse was to change my focus.  To take my focus off of me and my material goods and ON to Christ and my walk with Him.  I can definitely tell the difference in my spiritual life, and that EXCITES me!

I'm not getting through my memorization of Romans 6 quite as quickly as I planned, but I've still managed to memorize 8 verses so far, and for me... that's pretty great!

As far as a life update, the last few weeks have been quite busy! Two weekends ago, Helen and I went to a wedding, which was wonderful.  Then I spent all day Sunday resting because I wasn't feeling well.  

This past weekend was in a word: AWESOME!!! I had SOOO much fun!  Friday night, I watched Fireproof with Bob & Joy (the couple that so graciously rents me a room in their basement).  Saturday morning, I had a meeting at work, and then I headed over to the Peterson's (Laura's host family & our pastor's family) to spend the rest of the day helping with Caleb's graduation party.  Sunday consisted of church, where I was able to catch up with a few faces AND hear an excellent message, followed by laziness.

Well... that's all for now.  Helen & I head home Friday evening to spend the weekend with our family.  Saturday we'll (most likely) be helping with VBS/VBS program, followed by a nail party at my sister's house.  Sunday is Father's day, so we'll spend the day with the best daddy in the whole entire world.  I got my dad something... sentimental... for Father's day this year.  I'm praying that God will work with me on the weather... we'll see!

Total Body Cleanse

Today I started a self-made program I'm calling the Total Body Cleanse.  Basically, I'm spending three weeks making little changes in my life physically, mentally, and spiritually.

My friend recently did a lemonade diet called the Master Cleanse or something like that, and I realized that just like she cleansed her body of all the bad gunk in her system (you can look it up online by googling the lemonade diet... not that I recommend it), I needed to cleanse all the bad gunk out of my life!

So, for the next three weeks, I will be saturating my life with Christ.  I have banned secular music/radio, books, movies, etc., and replaced it all with Christian alternatives. I am only allowed to watch one movie and one tv episode per week (one of which should be Christian, the other of which should be Lawrence Welk... lol). I plan to memorize Romans 6, read several Christian books I've been putting off, and focus on doing longer daily devotions accompanied by prayer. Monday through Friday I will be getting up earlier and exercising before work.

I BEGAN today.

I will complete the CHALLENGE on June 22.

It IS going to be harder than I thought.

I AM going to need people praying for me.

I WILL be calling in reinforcements to keep me accountable.

With GOD'S strength, I will successfully complete this program and make some permanent life changes.

I can't wait to let you all know how it turns out!

Stay tuned for progress!

Family Time

I say it all the time, but it's always worth repeating:  I have the BEST family in the whole entire world!  Usually when I say this, I'm referring to my immediate family, but I must admit that it goes for my extended family as well!  I am so incredibly blessed to have amazing family on both my mom's side AND my dad's side.  I don't know any other family that is as close as ours.  Honestly.  I'm sure there are some out there, and I know some that come close, but we have a pretty tight-knit little (ok... large, obnoxious, & HILARIOUS) family.

Last weekend, I spent my entire Saturday with my dearest cousin Daniel and his siblings.  He left on Sunday to spend 11 months serving the Lord in Peru, where he will also be doing his Junior year of college.  So, on Saturday, we gathered to have a "farewell" for him.  On the river.  In Canoes.   Now, for those of you who know me, you know how I generally feel about being in nature.  However, I absolutely LOVE being on the water, so this little nature-venture was great!  Here are a few pics of the crew:

Roster: Aunt Julie, April, Daniel, Joshua, Caleb, Amber, Alisa, David, Lacy, Laura, Leah, Sarah, Megan, & Jared  (Megan is Daniel's girlfriend, Sarah is her sister, and Jared is our friend)

Sunday afternoon, Joshua & Caleb graduated from the local high school:

Congratulations, Josh & Caleb!  

PS- I always had faith in you... lol :)

And last, but not least, I checked on my Mother's Day gift to Mamma:

Looks like they're doing just great!  I told my mom when I gave them to her that I hoped she'd think of me every time she sees them and remember how much I love and appreciate her being my mother and my friend. Looks like a good reminder to me! 

Well, that's all for now!  Stay tuned for more summertime fun!