How do you deal with a yo-yo attitude? You know, where you get your attitude adjusted and where it should be, and the next thing you know, you are back to having a bad attitude again. It is very much like my weight - I have gained and lost the same 5 pounds at least 10 times this year. I will get to where I am eating the right things, in the right portions, and then Easter comes and every malted milk egg in the house hops into my mouth......
I seem to be doing that with my attitude. I will read the right verses, pray the right prayers, make the right changes, and then, wham, I am back to needing an attitude adjustment. It can be so frustrating because I truly do want to have the right attitude. I want to be thoughtful and caring and hospitable and attentive and all those good things, but I keep back sliding. Is this just how life is, or is there a secret that I have not unearthed??
I am thankful that I realize my weakness, and I guess like most people, I will have to battle this monster for quite a while. Surely one of these days I will have mastered the yo-yo???
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Louisiana Friends in Georgia
On Monday, I was so blessed to have some friends from Louisiana come spend the day at our house. Kim and her children came, along with MaryEllen and her children. MaryEllen had been visiting Kim, who now lives in Huntsville, AL. Kim is now expecting baby #5!!! I just have to say that with having 10 kids in the house all day (it was cold and somewhat snowy) they were all incredibly well behaved and everyone seemed to have a fun time being together. They played games, ran outside, gathered eggs, ate lunch, played Wii, built trains with Legos, etc.
I haven't seen Chloe & Grant since we have moved, and they were both much taller and getting older looking faces. Neither one of them seemed too fond of the country life, while most kids that come to visit can't get enough of the chickens and the woods. Chloe & Grant made it clear that they were not interested in such things. They were good sports, though, and I think they managed to enjoy themselves.
Kim's kids seem much more interested in gathering eggs and running around in the woods. Anna Grace has really picked up some vocabulary words since we saw her two months ago. She is not shy at all and would often step in the room and say something very clever and it would make us all laugh. I can't wait to see them again!!!
It is still very surreal to me that Mark & Kim live in Huntsville. They are originally from NE Tennessee, and thus are closer to home now. But when I think of them, I think of LA and our wonderful church that we worshipped in together. That brings me to another point - our church. Oh my, how I miss it!!! I know Kim is feeling a lot of my pain as she is trying to adjust to a new church family. Our church in Baton Rouge, affectionately called South, is just plain unique. In every way and any way. In fact, I don't even think it is duplicatable. It is not perfect, but it has a real feeling of family and I always felt that it was full of joyful servants.
I made many friends while there and participated in almost everything. I loved being there, I loved our life group (miss you, Eddie & Judy!!!), I loved our song service, I loved our Bible class teachers - everything, or at least almost everything. And the longer I am away from it, the better it looks. We are in a church family over here, but it is nothing like South. It is friendly and full of people who love the Lord, but it lacks in so many areas...... We have one fantastic Bible class teacher. One. And he is 80, so who knows how long he will be with us. But he is one of the most energetic and captivating Godly man you could ever meet. Our song service frustrates me much of the time as they sing everything way TOO slow. We need George Myer or Shelby to come teach us how to sing a little faster. Please send them..... I'll put them up at our house and feed them very well, just send them. Oh, okay, I will quit complaining, I do feel blessed to find a lovely church in which we can serve God and worship Him. I know that in itself is something I should be very thankful for........
In June, we will have been in Georgia for 2 years. I could never imagine how at home we would all feel by now. And for that, I know I am truly blessed.
I haven't seen Chloe & Grant since we have moved, and they were both much taller and getting older looking faces. Neither one of them seemed too fond of the country life, while most kids that come to visit can't get enough of the chickens and the woods. Chloe & Grant made it clear that they were not interested in such things. They were good sports, though, and I think they managed to enjoy themselves.
Kim's kids seem much more interested in gathering eggs and running around in the woods. Anna Grace has really picked up some vocabulary words since we saw her two months ago. She is not shy at all and would often step in the room and say something very clever and it would make us all laugh. I can't wait to see them again!!!
It is still very surreal to me that Mark & Kim live in Huntsville. They are originally from NE Tennessee, and thus are closer to home now. But when I think of them, I think of LA and our wonderful church that we worshipped in together. That brings me to another point - our church. Oh my, how I miss it!!! I know Kim is feeling a lot of my pain as she is trying to adjust to a new church family. Our church in Baton Rouge, affectionately called South, is just plain unique. In every way and any way. In fact, I don't even think it is duplicatable. It is not perfect, but it has a real feeling of family and I always felt that it was full of joyful servants.
I made many friends while there and participated in almost everything. I loved being there, I loved our life group (miss you, Eddie & Judy!!!), I loved our song service, I loved our Bible class teachers - everything, or at least almost everything. And the longer I am away from it, the better it looks. We are in a church family over here, but it is nothing like South. It is friendly and full of people who love the Lord, but it lacks in so many areas...... We have one fantastic Bible class teacher. One. And he is 80, so who knows how long he will be with us. But he is one of the most energetic and captivating Godly man you could ever meet. Our song service frustrates me much of the time as they sing everything way TOO slow. We need George Myer or Shelby to come teach us how to sing a little faster. Please send them..... I'll put them up at our house and feed them very well, just send them. Oh, okay, I will quit complaining, I do feel blessed to find a lovely church in which we can serve God and worship Him. I know that in itself is something I should be very thankful for........
In June, we will have been in Georgia for 2 years. I could never imagine how at home we would all feel by now. And for that, I know I am truly blessed.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
To move or not to move.....
...that is the question of the day at our house. We love it where we are, but we really want to be more secluded and have more land. We do live in a fantastic location, but we only have 3 acres and our neighbors are closer than I would like. We knew when we moved to this house that it was not our permanent home - gosh, we only house shopped for a day and a half when we found this house. We grabbed it since it was the best option in our price range. No regrets; it has been a great 20 months, but we are really getting the fever to find our forever home. Or at least our next long term home until retirement.
It is lots of fun looking at houses and dreaming about the possibilities. I want to get some sheep and maybe a beef cow. Who knows what else??? I do feel very blessed that there are so many places to choose from around here with acreage, and many of them have a view of the mountains. I'll keep you posted on what we decide..........
It is lots of fun looking at houses and dreaming about the possibilities. I want to get some sheep and maybe a beef cow. Who knows what else??? I do feel very blessed that there are so many places to choose from around here with acreage, and many of them have a view of the mountains. I'll keep you posted on what we decide..........
Friday, March 7, 2008
Chattanooga
We spent the morning in Chattanooga on Wednesday. Andrew & Michael had a 3 hour art class at an art museum, leaving Chris, James and myself with some time on our hands. It was a very brisk morning, and we had no where to go........
Our first stop was a coffee shops called Rembrandt's. Being in the art district, I think that was a great name for a very quaint coffee shop. The shop was in an old building, loaded with great architectural details. I LOVE seeing master craftsman's woodworking accents and mouldings. And the coffee was quite good, too. 20 minutes gone, 2.6 hours to go...........
Let's walk to the aquarium, if it is open, we will go in! Drat! It is 9:15 and the aquarium doesn't open until 10:00. We are all wishing at this point that we had worn winter clothes. Let's go to our favorite book store. If you ever tour Chattanooga, you must go to THE book store. It is wonderful for any book lover. She has the largest collection of old books, and out of print books I have ever seen. She suggests we tour the FREE art gallery and outdoor art gallery.
Off we go, back up to the art district, only 6 blocks up the hill. The art gallery was indeed the best eye candy EVER!!! But, gosh, don't even think about touching anything or you could wind up the owner of $5000 piece of junk art. Or worse. The gallery did have some obviously beautiful, unique and delectable pieces. I would love to take a tour sans kids, for my nerve's sake. I LOVED it and received much visual pleasure.
Next we toured the outdoor gallery, full wonderful sculptures, gardens and a sweet rock-lined waterfall. It was quite fun - we loved trying to guess what the sculpture was.......... all this and a bluff view over the river. Ahhh!!!
Ok, let's go get the brothers....... What? Only 11:00?? I more hour to go. We decided to walk the zig-zag hill. You HAVE to walk it at least once, right? It was quite fun and brought us back down near the aquarium. It is such a fun city to walk around in, especially since you really have no fear of crime. We went in a really fun Fair Trade shop and saw many delightful, handmade items from people around the world. The hand knit finger puppets from Peru were exceptionally fun!!! Very intricate and whimsical. I could have bought 30 of them easily, but thankfully only 1 made it into the pocket of James.
I am not sure what part I enjoyed most; the galleries, the coffee, the fun walks (even across a glass floored bridge), the shopping, the awesome architecture, the zig-zag walk, or just being with Chris & James................ For me, it was the perfect morning.
Our first stop was a coffee shops called Rembrandt's. Being in the art district, I think that was a great name for a very quaint coffee shop. The shop was in an old building, loaded with great architectural details. I LOVE seeing master craftsman's woodworking accents and mouldings. And the coffee was quite good, too. 20 minutes gone, 2.6 hours to go...........
Let's walk to the aquarium, if it is open, we will go in! Drat! It is 9:15 and the aquarium doesn't open until 10:00. We are all wishing at this point that we had worn winter clothes. Let's go to our favorite book store. If you ever tour Chattanooga, you must go to THE book store. It is wonderful for any book lover. She has the largest collection of old books, and out of print books I have ever seen. She suggests we tour the FREE art gallery and outdoor art gallery.
Off we go, back up to the art district, only 6 blocks up the hill. The art gallery was indeed the best eye candy EVER!!! But, gosh, don't even think about touching anything or you could wind up the owner of $5000 piece of junk art. Or worse. The gallery did have some obviously beautiful, unique and delectable pieces. I would love to take a tour sans kids, for my nerve's sake. I LOVED it and received much visual pleasure.
Next we toured the outdoor gallery, full wonderful sculptures, gardens and a sweet rock-lined waterfall. It was quite fun - we loved trying to guess what the sculpture was.......... all this and a bluff view over the river. Ahhh!!!
Ok, let's go get the brothers....... What? Only 11:00?? I more hour to go. We decided to walk the zig-zag hill. You HAVE to walk it at least once, right? It was quite fun and brought us back down near the aquarium. It is such a fun city to walk around in, especially since you really have no fear of crime. We went in a really fun Fair Trade shop and saw many delightful, handmade items from people around the world. The hand knit finger puppets from Peru were exceptionally fun!!! Very intricate and whimsical. I could have bought 30 of them easily, but thankfully only 1 made it into the pocket of James.
I am not sure what part I enjoyed most; the galleries, the coffee, the fun walks (even across a glass floored bridge), the shopping, the awesome architecture, the zig-zag walk, or just being with Chris & James................ For me, it was the perfect morning.
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