tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11304910960908567842023-11-16T05:12:18.407-06:00Becoming a Vessel of HonorI have given myself over to the Potter's hand, that He may mold me into a vessel that brings Him honor...I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-53387337252898034772011-03-09T09:50:00.003-06:002011-03-09T10:18:53.893-06:00I am still here!I must be the worlds worst blog owner and/or keeper! Why do I even have a blog? I don't think that I can answer that, at least not completely! I will however say that I think I keep my blog so that I can, if I want to, write something, for posterity of course! :) No, seriously, I keep my blog so that I can leave comments on other peoples blogs and if they wonder who I am then they have a face to stick with my 2 cents....Ah well, there you have it. <br /><br />At any rate sometimes I have to pop on and say something, not necessarily something worth saying, just something! Last time I updated I was in the middle of a 14 week challenge to lose bodyfat! I succeeded, it wasn't a walk in the park either, I attained the goal that I set out to reach! So, that was a success, now, I need to come up with some loftier goals to keep me focused and moving forward. I mean goals that go beyond the normal things that I expect from myself such as spending ample time with my Jesus praying and reading, lean on Him to be a good wife and mom, exercise, eat without being a glutton(this one is hard!), school my children well, and a smathering of other odds and ends that I expect of myself. I have learned in the past year that when I have goals and I write them down I am WAY MORE PRODUCTIVE!!! Not only am I productive I also have a tendency to accomplish what I set out before me! Thank you Jesus!!! I am under NO illusions that I could NEVER accomplish ANYTHING apart from Him! It is just that something happens when you write down the goal....I never knew that. <br /><br />Now, I am contemplating new goals one of which includes finishing up my personal training certification and perhaps specializing in working with older people. I am enjoying this, school brings some pressure that I need and work better with! Maybe that is why goals written down work!?! I feel pressure to follow through! There may be something to that! Another goal I have in mind is to dig deeper into my relationship with God, I have been feeling a real drive to attain this, so I have been immersing myself in Him. Chasing after Him if you will.<br /><br />Well, I have to go and be a mom and teacher now! I hope that all is well with everyone! God bless!<br />SI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-26295645297805541862010-08-06T10:07:00.003-05:002010-08-06T10:40:32.809-05:00Hi. My Name is Sarah.....And I have been away for quite a while! <br /><br />I have been busy doing a 14 week challenge(for fat burning and muscle building) on a forum that I have to journal/log weekly/daily and that has been about all this girl can handle in the way of typing/writing!!! If I could just talk to you people(is that presumptuous of me???!!! ;) )!!! That would be so much easier--because I assure you I am not nearly as quiet when chatting as I am on the old blog!<br /><br />As I said I have been utilizing my time off of homeschooling to finally indulge in some selfish behavior, as in exercise and diet. By selfish I am saying that the me me me aspect of this challenge that I am in is almost unbearable....it reminds me that physical well being is only part of the package when it comes to improving! And that when one is out of balance in the physical/spiritual aspects of life then God is quick to bring it to the forefront! I don't know why, but I have a hard time being balanced with those two aspects. I suspect that that is a human characteristic?! ;) At any rate I have been focused mainly on the physical part of Sarah, I wanted to once and for all lose the baby weight from my first child(nearly 10 yrs. old) and then maintain(I have proven that I am a great maintainer over the past 10 yrs!!! ;)). I am happy to report that I have successfully achieved my goal! I am down to 163 lbs. with 16.5% body fat which puts me at a lean body mass of about 136 lbs. give or take a little! I am in better shape than I have ever been in in my whole adult life! Now, I hope that I win a free trip to Maui--because that is the prize for the challenge that I am in! AND all of this is just in time for.....SCHOOL to start!!! :)<br /><br />School. I love homeschooling for SO many reasons, but I don't really like homeschooling for other reasons! Most of the reasons that I don't like it have to do with the training up of my children ie. the doing ALL things without grumbling and complaining.....is is just me and my kids or do others have children that are not all that excited about having school????!!!! I mean I hate to hear all the complaining....makes me cranky, just thinking about it!!!! ;) <br /><br />We will be using Sonlight, again! LOVE LOVE LOVE Sonlight--I can teach multiple kids for several subjects and THAT my friends is what makes this momma happy! Math-u-see for math, again. And some other extras as my daughter needs some more challenges. I think that I will be encouraging her to write more book reports this year, she LOVES to read and devours books like nobody I know, so I think that a book report every now and again will be a good thing!<br /><br />We will be starting school a little late this year as we are going to be taking care of my dh grandparents after his grandma has open heart surgery at the end of this month, for a month or so. Since that will be priority then school will have to be put off for an extra week or so, and that is one of the reasons I love homeschooling!!! :)<br /><br />All in all it has been a wonderful summer. Hot, but wonderful. God is good and has been continuing His work in this vessel, albeit slowly(because of me not Him), but nonetheless He is still changing me from image to image and glory to glory!!!! Thank you Jesus for your patience with this vessel.....<br /><br />God bless!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-67218069431977947562010-03-04T12:07:00.006-06:002010-03-04T17:21:33.830-06:00I Started Wondering....Whether or not I was in fact right about my stats. I mean really? 5.5 lbs of muscle??? At first, I of course was VERY excited, but after the excitement dissipated, I started to wonder if that in fact could be accurate. I know for a fact that I am leaner and my muscle is hard! I know for a fact that the scale says that I have lost 14.5 lbs. But the fat caliper testing, have I been pinching the <em>SAME</em> spot <em>EVERY</em> time? I started to doubt, so I went back to the instruction manual and read it and looked at the demo and tried again....I think I may have been pinching in the wrong spot from where I first pinched....SO this Saturday I am going to have my sweet hubby do a 4 point skin fold test(I did one around the start) and compare from around the first part of January to March 5th how the numbers have decreased. I just don't know how I could have packed on 5.5 lbs. of muscle! It seems a little too much to me! I will just continue with that. Obviously, this bit of news was discouraging! I am probably not as lean as I was thinking and that in itself is a bummer! Oh well, just happy that I am at least on a path that is actually getting me somewhere instead of where I was! :)<br /><br />In other news, I get incredibly sick of myself. That is why I haven't posted on here for a while! I deal with me ALL day and why on earth would I want to get on ye olde blog and write yet MORE stuff about, you guessed it, <strong><em>ME</em></strong>! I know that in order to keep accountability, I need to stay in the loop! So, for those reasons I tell you that I have still been maintaining my cardio/weight training for 6 days a week for 3 weeks straight! I am planning on this being my 4th consecutive! AND I have been eating clean for about 80% of the time for the last 2 wks. In light of the fact that my eating has not been spot on I have amped up my cardio and ended last week with 20 miles logged in running! Not too mention the elliptical and the miles walked after my runs! I believe that because of this one fact I have still been able to lose fat, albeit, slowly, but lose none the less! :) <br /><br />With that I am signing off, I hope that you are all well and achieving the goals set before you! God bless each of you with His PERFECT WILL in your life!!<br /><br />SI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-17378520896929503182010-02-25T11:28:00.002-06:002010-02-25T16:04:02.146-06:00Just Need To Keep It Real....Real as in I am at a break in my progress. I(not surprisingly) am an emotional eater. That means that when I am not sitting perfectly on top of my proverbial mountain I need to feed on food that isn't healthy! I don't know about any of you, but health food is not the variety I grew up eating ALL the time. So, when I need some comfort it definetly does not comfort me to sit down with a BIG bowl of chicken breast and broccoli with a heaping side of brown rice!!! :) Just being real. So after 9 wks of meticulous eating I am struggling....And it is a vicious cycle--I am not emotionally on top of my game so I want to eat but the food that I should eat makes me sad.....Pathetic, isn't it?!! To have such a problem is so.....menial in the grand scheme of things. I mean look at how many children die EVERYDAY because they have NOTHING to eat....<br /><br />Which leads me to something other than my diet, thank God. The Lord has been bringing some SERIOUS conviction to this servant of His. I have been SO convicted over everything that I have not given up to serve Him. I(we in western civilization, actually) live in such abundance compared to over half the world population, and the sad part is that I find myself still wanting more....But I DO NOT need more, I have EVERYTHING that I could ever need and WAY more!!!!! While these people live in poverty, literally starving to death the people like me(and much of western civilization) say oh well, it isn't in my country, my town , my neighborhood, etc. etc.. But what if I had been born there? What if you had been born there, fighting for your very life, scrounging for food so that you could eat once a week? These people did not ask for their circumstances they just are what they are and what are we doing about it, better yet as a Christian, a follower and friend of Jesus Christ what are we doing about it? Because I bet you when it is our time to stand before the throne of judgement He is going to ask us why did you not feed me when I was hungry? and why did you not give water when I thirsted? and cloth me when I was naked? What will I say, what will you say? I have been praying that God would open the doors for me to be His hands to help the desperate and I know that whatsoever I ask in His name He will give......<br /><br />Amen.I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-43671944474827796722010-02-20T18:09:00.002-06:002010-02-20T18:17:56.771-06:00Still Going strong!So, I am still alive and going at it! <br /><br />I finished this week as ANOTHER week of 6 days of exercise!!! Very excited about that! In fact I did something that I almost always convince myself I don't need to do, I worked out/cardio 7 days in a row!!! I am notorius for saying to myself that "I should take a break, I deserve it"! But not right now, there will be time to take breaks once I am on my maintenance part of this adventure and that isn't for another 11 lbs of FAT!!!! I will be 14% body fat by Apr. 19th(that is when my sweet hubby and I will be on the beach in South Carolina without children!!!!!!)! :D That was the happy dance right there, did you see it?! :P Anyway, I must be looking good enough(not to mention be able to fit into my new size smaller than I am) to wear my new bathing suit!!!! I will do it you shall see! <br /><br />Thank you Jesus, for EVERYTHING! :)I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-45021414549772208752010-02-17T08:25:00.003-06:002010-02-17T09:23:04.799-06:00I AM SO EXCITED!!!!AND I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!!!!<br /><br />So, I am going to tell you about it--<br /><br />When I became pregnant with our third child at the age of 32, I decided that this pregnancy would be different in that I would exercise through out the WHOLE time I was pregnant. During my two previous pregnancies I used them as an excuse to relax because I was in a "delicate" way! Combine that with the "I can eat anything(not to mention ALL I want)I want" mentality and you have a recipe for some pretty severe weight gain! So, having learned my lesson I changed strategies. I did not gain as much with my 3rd as I had with 1 and 2, however I also started out 18 lbs. heavier! Needless to say each time I gave birth I weighed exactly the same! And trust me, it was not a pretty number!<br /><br />Ok, so after having exercised the WHOLE time during #3, after he was born and was the ripe old age of 7 wks I started running again. I lost about 37 of the 70 lbs. that were necessary to lose, so that I could be my pre-baby weight as per the 1st! I ran ALOT started training for a 1/2 marathon and everything, I ran for 2 yrs.(obviously not straight! ;)), trying to keep up a consistent habit of exercise. When I reached a point where I wasn't seeing ANY change in my weight not to mention the burnout of running, I started going to the gym and using weights. This helped, I lost another 8 lbs. or so, but after doing it for a year and pounding out the cardio 5-6 days a week I became desperate... I was starting to believe that I had thyroid problems or that my metabolism was shot! You can imagine how discouraged I was after 3 yrs of consistent exercise I was not seeing the kind of results that I desired!<br /><br />If you have read my blog at all then you know that my VERY best friend is Jesus Christ, I love Him. He saved me from a road leading to an early grave for sure! I tell you this because I pray about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. including my weight issues! I begged Him to help me get healthy--show me the path! That is when it dawned on me that the VERY best way to lose fat(which is my ultimate goal-not just weight-but fat) would be to google bodybuilder diets! This is when Tom Venuto and the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book came on this scene, that is my life!!! I cannot express to you HOW MUCH THIS BOOK HAS HELPED me! Thank you Jesus for leading me straight to it! I bought it, read it, started implementing the diet RIGHT AWAY and I am not kidding immediately started seeing results!!!<br /><br />So here is what I started doing, eating 5 times per day every 3 hours, having lean protein with EVERY meal, and eating what Tom calls A+ to B(he grades food based on whether they are in their natural form)foods only! I of course already exercised consistently, but now I was going to start lifting with HEAVY weights! :) <br /><br />I am happy to report that my muscles have not gotten bigger, but have gotten REALLY hard(dense!), thank God!!! And I have lost 8.4% body fat with a total loss of 18 lbs. of fat and gained 5.48 lbs of muscle!!!! AND since muscle burns more calories than fat that my friends is A-OK with me!!!! As you can imagine I am ecstatic! ALOT of hard work for not much payback is NO more! I am(thanks to my Saviour) no longer spinning my wheels on the exercise track!!! <br /><br />I just had to share ALL of that with you maybe it could help you! If it helped me, who thought I would NEVER lose another pound then I am sure it can help ANYONE!!! Just need to stay the course and eat that elephant ONE BITE AT A TIME!!!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-13774732064799632842010-02-15T09:30:00.005-06:002010-02-17T09:24:39.849-06:00I DID IT!!!!!I ended up going to the gym yesterday evening! I did 30min. elliptical, heavy weights for chest, shoulders and tri's then onto the treadmill for 3 miles! So, mission accomplished for the week! Thank you, Wendy for the challenge! Eating has remained clean other than the cheat meal of saturday evening with my hubby and children for V-day. <br /><br />I am tightening up my eating schedule as I believe that I have been eating too many calories according to my level of activity....oh well, just two weeks of not a whole lotta progress but didn't gain either!<br /><br />So, my stats, I need to redo them and post them later! BUT,my goal is soooo close I can taste it! ;)<br /><br />So far today I have gotten the workout business out of the way and now it is off to do laundry, manhandle a 3 yr. old(who is as we speak smearing playdoh on my walls) and edjumicate my kiddos! ;) Have a good one! God bless!<br /><br />P.S. here is a photo of me before I started this ride!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9l_gcTBVDwxtXNiU3jDrM0H7tkkXUYOUNsfVJlxrhaUOC_RG5llEi9vJxqYGEEZfyotvAqClT-NRNHCRw_7EeWLmkUz8Frft44KmNBKRxrVMW1NTzqDOQBBAN26xx9VjvQn61Lou0Tssc/s1600-h/SD533124.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9l_gcTBVDwxtXNiU3jDrM0H7tkkXUYOUNsfVJlxrhaUOC_RG5llEi9vJxqYGEEZfyotvAqClT-NRNHCRw_7EeWLmkUz8Frft44KmNBKRxrVMW1NTzqDOQBBAN26xx9VjvQn61Lou0Tssc/s320/SD533124.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438505657475680642" /></a>I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-74943951579658442762010-02-14T12:34:00.002-06:002010-02-14T12:43:40.673-06:00Did not make my 6 workouts....I don't have a good excuse other than this weekend has been an emotional challenge for me.... And unfortunately when I have difficulties in that area ALOT of times the exercise? it does get sacrificed on the altar of self pity....Which in turn creates a problem because exercise? it does improve my outlook. So, I might possibly go and do some cardio on the elliptical or run later today, we shall see. Then my 6 days would be fulfilled and I will have managed to fill my verbal agreement thus also helping my overall mental status....Thank God that I have Jesus otherwise it would REALLY be hard and bad and all of that!<br /><br />In other news it is snowing here. AGAIN. Snow it is not a bad thing when it happens where it should!!!!! ;) So, that means that I will probably not have access to the internet either later today or possibly tomorrow! Which leads me to my next random thought--I will be working out and doing cardio at least 5 days next week and continuing on my burn the fat feed the muscle endeavor with GREAT fervor! <br /><br />I hope that you all have a wonderful evening and day tomorrow! :)I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-28810967238462771112010-02-12T11:49:00.002-06:002010-02-12T12:01:51.869-06:00We have satelite internet and because it snowed a MASSIVE amount of snow in our neck of the woods for the better part of yesterday I could not log a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.!!!! I couldn't even check the weather!!! How do ya like them apples!!!<br /><br />Wednesday:<br />stairmaster-30min.<br />1 hr. cross training class<br />ate my 5 meals and kept it clean!<br /><br />Thursday:<br />workout with heavy weights--chest, shoulders, triceps and abs <br />ran HIIT for 2.2 miles and walked .75miles.<br /><br />ate good ALL day until the end....I could not control the urge to binge...I HATE THAT!!! Sometimes it is SOOOOOO hard to stay on a healthy plan for eating. Oh well, off to a good start on the eating plan today!!! And that my friends is how you(I) have to do it! Mess up, and just get back to business with the next thing! My workout was canceled this am so I am off to workout! See ya!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-83258784910044580722010-02-09T18:14:00.002-06:002010-02-09T18:18:53.472-06:00Keepin' on keepin' on!Ok, so I got my workout in for the day. I did legs, back and biceps today followed by a 4 mile run on the treadmill. Needless to say I am TIRED!!! :)<br /><br />My eating has been clean and top notch! Only by the grace of God and the strength of Jesus Christ that is FOR SURE!!!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-83106977996684565782010-02-08T10:03:00.004-06:002010-02-08T10:29:35.963-06:00Changin' my approach....So, I am going to give this blogging thing a new go. I need a place to journal and track my progress towards a challenging goal that I set for myself and I need to make it official by publicly declaring it thus hopefully keeping me accountable(or more accountable)!<br /><br />Starting off with my stats:<br /><br />I am 5'7"<br />today I weigh 177lbs.(I started 7 weeks ago at 189)<br />my body fat(using a one site hand caliper) is 19.6%<br />Body fat mass is 34.7 lbs.<br />Lean Body mass is 142.3 lbs.<br /><br /><br />My goals:<br /><br />1-Achieving 16% bodyfat by April 15, 2010.<br />2-Getting down to a dress size 8 and feeling comfortable in a swimsuit for once!<br />3-Eating 5-6 times per day and only eating clean A+-B graded foods(as per Tom Venuto's book Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle)<br />4-working out 5-6X/wk.<br />5-drinking at least a gallon of water/day <br /><br />These a short term goals and of course they are only my physical goals for health.... I have MANY areas in my life that I have goals for, but like I said I need to become more accountable. For some reason I let my health goals slip because I know noone cares and so it makes it easy to let them slide. BUT NO MORE!!! I cannot blame my 3yr. old "baby" for the last 15lbs. anymore!!!! They(the pounds) are ALL mine! I, coupled with 35 yr old metabolism, have been lazy in doing the appropriate things to exterminate this unwanted fat!!!<br /><br />So there is my public declaration! I will be posting progress as I go. Not sure how often but hopefully at least every other day.<br /><br />daily workout today was as follows:<br />ran 3 miles walked .5 mile<br />1 hr cross training class<br /><br />meals:<br />1-protein shake with psyllium husk<br />2-1whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 c. old fashioned oats with 1 1/2 t. natural peanut butter pluss 3 T skim milk<br />3-5 haven't eaten yet!! :)I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-59034885715555597832009-10-02T10:07:00.006-05:002009-10-03T08:12:35.539-05:00Surrender....such a heavy word when coupled with a Godly desire to surrender completely to Him. I don't think I fully understood what that would entailed when I was laying at my precious Saviours feet several years ago....<br /><br />You see, I used to be a christian that did not care about the lost, simply because my heart? it was hard. I felt like, or rather thought that people were just stupid(sorry) for rejecting this wonderful Jesus Christ that I had come to know personally, and that it was their loss. Silly in hindsight, because obviously their eyes are blinded and their ears don't hear.... I used to be one of them. <br /><br />So, while I lay at the base of God's throne and asked Him to give me a heart like His, one that loves people(all people) like He does, He started to soften this sinners heart. While I was there I also requested that He show me my deceitful heart(Jer. 17:9-10). That has been rough. There are lots of sinful things that our hearts hold that our flesh(sin nature) tries to cover up and/or hide. It also does not help that our culture actually embraces many of these evil heart deceptions as being acceptable and dare I say "normal".... Anyway, I digress.<br /><br />Loving others as God does. That is NOT at all what I thought it would be. Love is an action and sometimes it is an action that the recipient does not perceive as what is needed. ALOT of times the very thing that we need from God is NOT AT ALL what we think we need. But let me just say that I believe that ALOT of suffering that the Israelites endured did not seem like the "right" thing to them, even though our perfect and just God was the One doling out the love. Gods love can "feel" tough, and it is even tougher as one of His servants to be the giver of this kind of love.... But if you ask me I would much rather love this way(which by the way isn't how my flesh would like to do it my flesh would rather keep peace and have "friends and/or family") then pat my loved ones on the back as they go to hell.... Following God fully, without abandon, isn't the most popular way to go. Speaking the truth of God's Word because you not only love them, but you love Jesus Christ enought to only care about pleasing Him, and then stepping out of the way to let the Creator of ALL things go to work, is not an easy thing to do. We as a general rule want acceptance and our flesh wants to please man, but pleasing God comes first and loving people sometimes isn't what we think it should be. Rather loving in deed and truth and not with word(something said), neither in tongue(1John3:18), is not what <em>we</em> "think" love actually is. I know that in actually following my Saviour in loving this way that He is able to work in both hearts a wonderful transformation and fruit does follow....<br /><br />If you asked me 3 yrs ago what it meant to be fully surrendered to Jesus Christ and His will for my life I would not have told you that this would be the lesson that I was learning....I had NO clue what I was asking for when I asked for His heart to love others. And to say that I wasn't prepared is an understatement. However, I would not trade it for ANYTHING!<br /><br />Boy I hope that wasn't too confusing!!! I have a hard time putting into words the wonderful lesson that God has been teaching me!! :)I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-40409303613517940282009-08-19T09:06:00.007-05:002009-08-19T09:56:17.788-05:00HEY Look a MeMe--Right Up My Alley!!!!<strong>The Movie Meme:</strong><br /><br />(please list up to 3 per genre)<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Comedy Film:(</strong>I prefer romantic comedy and don't much enjoy plain comedy...)<br /><br />■How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days<br />■Better Off Dead circa 1985ish(with John Cusack)<br />■Confessions of a Shopaholic was slightly amusing! :)<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Romance Film:</strong><br /><br />■P.S. I Love You<br />■Pride and Prejudice<br />■FireProof<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Sci-Fi Movie:</strong><br /><br />■Starman (with Jeff Bridges)<br />■Enemy Mine<br />■I Robot<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Animated Movie:</strong><br /><br />■Over the Hedge<br />■Flushed Away<br />■Robin Hood<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Disaster Movie:</strong><br /><br />■Twister<br />■Armageddon<br />■Blood Diamonds<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Christmas Movie:</strong><br /><br />■The Christmas Story<br />■The Grinch<br />■The Christmas Child<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Horror Movie:(</strong>I try not to watch these anymore)<br /><br />■Taken<br />■The Sixth Sense<br /><br /><strong>Movies With Music:</strong><br /><br />■Fiddler on the Roof<br />■Mary Poppins<br />■My Fair Lady<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Book to Movie:</strong><br /><br />■Black Beauty<br />■Notebook<br />■The Grinch???! :)<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Classic: </strong><br /><br />■My Fair Lady<br />■Heidi(Shirley Temple)<br />■Fiddler on the Roof<br /><br /><strong>Favorite Chick Flick:</strong><br /><br />■The Presidents Daughter<br />■The Prince and Me<br />■Sense and Sensability<br /><br /><strong>Movie You Could Watch Ad Nauseum:</strong><br /><br />■Sense and Sensability(with Kate Winslet)<br />■Pride and Prejudice(with Kiera Knightly)<br />■P.S. I Love You<br /><br /><strong>Worst Movie of All Time:</strong><br /><br />■Anchor Man<br /><br /><strong>Favorites of Another Kind...</strong><br /><br /><strong>-</strong>The Nativity Story<br /><strong>-</strong>Gladiator<br /><strong>-</strong>Schindler's List<br /><strong>-</strong>A Beautiful MindI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-92164138801067216022009-05-14T18:19:00.002-05:002009-05-14T18:22:43.529-05:00Rosetta Stone Foreign Language Freebie!!!There is a wonderful opportunity to win a Latin foreign language course from Rosetta Stone!! Here are that details:<br /><br />****<br />Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update. <br /><br />This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)<br />This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.<br /><br />To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck! <br /><br />****<br /><br />Good luck to ALL TWO of you!!! ;)I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-2659588232446404592009-03-27T08:34:00.004-05:002009-03-27T08:41:31.278-05:00Are YOU Getting Involved in the TEAparty of America???We need to take our country back to the Republic that it was started as! I think that taking a stand against this HUGE machine, that is a majority of our government at the moment, is necessary! If not now, then when? When will YOU stand up and say NO MORE??? <br /><br />Watch this<br /><br /><br /><embed src="http://www.nmatv.com/nvembed.swf?key=5faf8d2e3b084a1e2db1" width="480" height="370" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /></embed><br /><br />or visit www.TEAPartyDay.comI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-7918590983343506162009-03-05T11:08:00.005-06:002009-10-25T12:44:08.030-05:00I Interrupt This Blog to Tell You....Actually, I should say I Interupt this "not" blog!!! ;)<br /> <br />Back to my point of this post, there is this give away happening at a great blog that I read! If you go <a href="http://www.owlhaven.net/2009/03/04/book-giveaway-a-sane-womans-guide-to-raising-a-large-family/">here</a> then you can have a chance to win a prize from this VERY funny lady! I might add, that she has a wealth of info to share on raising a family in general--not to mention a large family!!<br /><br />I hope that you will go and enter! God bless!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-28045861929245403592009-02-02T11:05:00.004-06:002009-02-02T11:12:18.486-06:0025 Random Things About Me In No Particular Order...I know I haven't post FOREVER and then I do something like this! I must confess, I have become a Facebook--aholic! I can control who sees my personal stuff there! Anyhow, I was tagged on there to do this 25 Things, and thought that I would post it here as well...<br /><br />1. I am living on a farm in southeastern Oklahoma--not exactly where I thought I would live...<br /><br />2. I always wanted a farm just didn't know about the Oklahoma part!<br /><br />3. God literally moved us here! I love knowing that I am here because of His perfect will for my life. There is ALOT of peace in that knowledge.<br /><br />4. My husband and I did not plan for our third baby. He is a very welcome blessing!<br /><br />5. The Lord has informed us that our family is not complete even though we are no longer able to have any biological children.<br /><br />6. We plan on adopting. International adoption.<br /><br />7. My heart breaks to know that there are 150 million children in this world that do not have a mommy and a daddy to love them...<br /><br />8. I wish that I could adopt a whole bunch of children.<br /><br />9. I was RADICALLY saved by Jesus Christ from a life of drugs and selfishness where I am certain that I would have died...<br /><br />10. I LOVE Jesus Christ with my whole heart and I would do ANYTHING for Him just to hear Him say well done my faithful servant.<br /><br />11. Noone else in my extended family loves Jesus except my Dad's brother!<br /><br />12. Not surprisingly, my uncle is the only one in my family that never gave up on me while I lived a wreckless life...<br /><br />13. I still want my mom when I cry...<br /><br />14. I still miss my grandma--she died when I was 7 years old. We were VERY close.<br /><br />15. I don't have a biological sister but God blessed me with a sister. I love you Aim...<br /><br />16. I miss summers in Idaho.<br /><br />17. I love the smell of Pine trees on warm humid mornings in Oklahoma. It reminds me of McCall in the summer afternoons! If I close my eyes I can pretend that I am there!!!LOL :) I miss McCall most of all...<br /><br />18. There are alot of pine trees in this part of Oklahoma--we live in the only pretty part of the state!!! Thank you Jesus for that!<br /><br />19. I would thank him even if it wasn't pretty here! :)<br /><br />20. I am incredibly insecure, and my husband knows it and loves me anyway...<br /><br />21. I can be not very nice when I am allowing my insecurities to run me--And yet, Brandon, knows what the problem is and forgives me before I ask...<br /><br />22. I love my husband VERY much, he is probably the best gift(after salvation) that Jesus gave me.<br /><br />23. I asked God for my husband in a letter listing 26 things that I wanted in a husband 9 mos. before I met my husband. When I met him I knew he was my husband within the first week and he fulfilled all 26 things, but 3...<br /><br />24. A week after my husband met me we were talking and he saw in his mind what our kids would look like--it scared him!! He turned white! When I asked him what was wrong he told me what had happened. I told him that that made sense because he was my husband! We were married three weeks later! We just celebrated our 9th anniversary! Praise God--because He gets ALL the glory!<br /><br />25. I was married before.. twice. It's a good thing God can change us if we are willing to come to Him...humbly.<br /><br />Your supposed to tag 25 people, but honestly I don't even think 25 people know about my blog!!! LOL! :) So I will tag the few that do: Amy, Heather, and Pam, oh and Grafted Branch if you still read ;)!!I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-16075923782036440942008-12-06T09:04:00.003-06:002008-12-06T09:16:07.063-06:00We Live a Humble LifeWithout a dishwasher. I mean we have many able bodied dishwashers, but none that require electricity. I tell this because I have relinquished most dishwashing duties to the 8 year old and the 6 year old. It. Is. Killing. Me. Which is actually good for the control freak in me. After all they have to become contributing responsible citizens at some point. It is just hard to watch the drying towel wrap around my sons head and God only knows what else it does just before it goes to dry a dish...<br /><br />In other news. My older two bathe themselves. After this next dialogue that I am going to share I am questioning whether that was a good call on my part...<br /><br />One of my children who shall remain nameless, because I am sure at some point they will care that I share things about them, informed us that they liked the smell of skunks. This comment was then followed by I like the smell of skunks because it is not half as bad as the smell between my toes...<br /><br />And I will leave you with that.<br /><br />God bless.I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-69563968319538530682008-12-05T09:10:00.003-06:002008-12-05T09:39:45.541-06:00Smoothing Off the Rough EdgesAs you know I have 3 children. The first two were VERY well behaved babies and toddlers for the most part. I could reprimand them with minimal scolding or hand swats. My third, notsomuch, let's just say that he is very different...<br /><br />I have puzzled over this matter for many hours wondering is it because I am doing something different? No, I mean things are a little different, but I am not easier on him than the other two. Here is what the Lord has imparted to me. <br /><br />Being a parent, as you probably know, helps us to become selfless(hopefully!) and more like Jesus Christ--servantlike. Caleb was given to us because we had A LOT more work that needed to be done. Apparently, my rough edges had not been smoothed down at all with the first two! And now, I am struggling. <br /><br />I have been praying for the last year that the Lord would search my heart and use the fire of His Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart to make me more like Him(I do not tell you this because I think that I am anything great--I am not, quite the opposite actually--I am in desperate need of change). It just so happens that He will give you anything that you ask as long as it is not to consume upon the lusts of your flesh! <br /><br />OH MY GOODNESS!!! I never thought that there could be SO much darkness and sin in ONE heart... And He often uses my little man to show me. Because honestly, Caleb wears me out. And sometimes I get grumbly and say things like "<em>I</em> cannot wait for him to grow up he breaks EVERYTHING!!! <em>I</em> just want <em>my stuff</em> to stay nice and <em>I</em> just want <em>my house</em> to be safe and <em>I</em> and <em>my</em> blahblahblah!!!" Then the Holy Spirit is quick to show me my selfish thinkin', imagine! I asked for it! Of course there is grace, praise Jesus, and of course His mercies endure forever thank you GOD, but that does not negate the fact that I am having a VERY difficult time enjoying being a mommy with this one. I am constantly needing the gently reminder from the Lord that being a mom is an act of servanthood--selflessness, for some reason I do not do that well. Is this normal? Or, am I a spoiled brat? Sometimes I am merely treading water with the parenting of this wee one.<br /><br />All of that to say that God has a WHOLE LOT of work to do in me! SO as I draw closer to Him the sinful condition of my flesh becomes more obvious and that much more detestable because honestly there are MANY days that I feel like I may be barely moving forward toward a more Christlike nature. It certainly is a very good thing that we never "arrive"... <br /><br />Jesus Please help me to be more like you, I am failing soooo much!!! I need you. Help me, Lord. AMEN.<br /><br />God bless and I hope that I am not alone in this!<br />SarahI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-88974047392377204192008-12-04T08:55:00.003-06:002008-12-04T13:51:56.520-06:00To Post Personal Stuff or Not to Post...That is the question... <br /><br />I have struggled with this one question for some time! I really want to share my life with some people... However, I don't know about others! I don't mind sharing my testimonies about what the Lord is doing and has done in my life for His glory!<br /><br />But the mundane details of my life and that of my families I am just not sure... And then there is always the problem of where do I start??? I don't know... It baffles me.<br /><br />So, today I am going to share with whoever would care to know that I run. And lest you think too highly of me, don't. Because honestly, I don't like the actual act of running--it hurts me. I do, however enjoy the benefits, you know like blowing off steam aka decompressing, staying healthy, maybe keeping the pounds at bay, I think that about sums it up. And so since the benefits outway the loathing that I feel toward running I continue to do it! I made a goal on Jan. 8, 2007(when my baby was 5wks) that I would run regularly for a year, when that goal passed I just made it another year goal and now we are approaching 2 years of consistant running! Which is a miracle in itself because I do not stick to consistant workout. EVER. I go in 6 month spurts and it seems like that is my M.O. I am determined to break that habit and so I run.<br /><br />And man I feel so good when I finish a run.<br /><br />I share all of this with you to tell you about a run that I had on Monday. If you have never ran then this might be difficult for you to understand. Running is painful, if you run distance. Monday was my long run, 10 miles, and it was VERY windy with temps at about 35-40 degrees. I run on a mile long track and everytime I came around this certain corner the wind would nearly push me backwards-made my eyes water. I kept asking the Lord to please spare me!!! This is what He spoke to me: <br /><br />"Your walk with Me is much like running. It is hard. Not popular, painful even, alot of the time. Sometimes the run is less painful and you have joy, you feel good, the temperature is perfect and you cannot quit being glad that you are able to run and feel this good, but most of the time there are hurdles and trials and the road is long and arduous. This wind you are experiencing is similiar to the wind that is about to come to this nation. It is going to be feirce, painful, you will "feel" like you are being pushed backwards, your eyes may pour tears from the sting of it, but DO NOT FEAR, cling to Me, keep your eyes on Me DO NOT GIVE UP! The outcome for you may not look like what you have in mind, for my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are above you thoughts."<br /> <br />Alot of times, in fact, most of the time, the Lord uses my runs to speak to me, or ask me to pray. This time was not different it was just way more obvious(not sure how to explain) like His voice in my spirit was "louder". So, my plan is to press into Him with all that I have and not look to the left or the right, just keep my eyes on Jesus Christ. I can assure you that during this race that we are in toward the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ that that will be the ONLY way that we can make it...<br /><br />God bless,<br />SarahI live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-60077573242574070932008-11-13T15:05:00.003-06:002008-11-13T15:20:50.615-06:00LOOK!!! An Update, and Not Another Political Alert, or Morality Stance!!!Ok, so I realize that I have been HEAVY on the controversial issues, but I just cannot get over how much EVIL is gushing out in the USofA these days...<br /><br />But that is not why I am posting!<br /><br />I am posting because I wanted to talk about what the Lord is doing on the adoption front at the moment!<br /><br />Well, we know that we <strong><em>will</em></strong> adopt. We did ALOT of research on agencies, homestudies, cost, countries, etc., etc. and we are now in the prepare mode. Which translates into Jesus has told us what we are going to be doing and now we are waiting for His perfect timing!<br /><br />We have to get our house in order, so that when we have our homestudy there will be enough room for another child! When we moved to our farmhouse we moved from a house that had a 2 car garage with built in shelving and MANY closets to another tiny home with NO garage, and hardly any closet space! So, one of our 3 bedrooms is a storage room! I have tried not to let it get that way, but have failed miserably! So, our 3children share a room which works alright for now, but it won't be long before that will no longer be the case! <br /><br />I am so very excited about what the Lord is doing, but anxious as well! I don't want to miss Him and His perfect will for our lives. In the mean time I will keep putting one foot in front of the other and getting our ducks all in a row! <br /><br />God bless!<br /><br />Also, wanted to leave you with this WONDERFUL song! Holy Holy is HE!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n_3W8XI7W2w&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n_3W8XI7W2w&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-1082930500113135402008-11-10T12:24:00.002-06:002008-11-10T12:32:23.056-06:00Parental Rights... Who Should Have Them?According to the United Nations they should have them. Or, at least they should have the access to make sure that you are a good "care giver". <br /><br />I just read <a href="http://www.parentalrights.org/blog/uncrc/%e2%80%9cimagine-if-%e2%80%9d?utm_source=ParentalRights.org+Newsletter&utm_campaign=bb631453e8-UNSurvey_intro_Nov_2008&utm_medium=email#more-99">this</a> article and am saddened because their is a president about to take office that will probably be very supportive of this measure. All I can say is Come quickly Lord Jesus! And of course, lift up ALL the precious children and babies whose lives are and may be ripped apart by this, in prayer to the very One who created them...I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-7709688188350061692008-10-30T16:30:00.000-05:002008-10-30T16:32:22.939-05:00What in the WORLD!????!<a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78931">Is this????</a><br />Obama should never have even made it this far...I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-56384521149196694592008-10-30T15:58:00.005-05:002008-10-30T16:42:39.521-05:00BIG RESPONSIBILITYLet me just say that as a Christ follower I hold a very big responsibility to vote according to HIS ways. Not just me, but we, the Bride of Christ--the TRUE BRIDE OF CHRIST--hold a VERY big responsibility. If you think that for one minute God really cares about our financial comforts more than He does the murdering of unborn children, or the redefining of marriage then you are ABSOLUTELY wrong! Because He does not. He tells us to sell everything and follow Him... HE will supply our needs according to HIS riches and glory--that may not look like what you think it does! I, for the life of me cannot seem to find it anywhere in the Word of God, that it is ok to turn a blind eye to the sins that this nations leaders are trying to legalize and redefine as moral liberty!!! <br /><br />So, if you call yourself a christian, and you say that you believe the word of God to be the one and only truth, then you had better hope that your votes are not for those who support abortion or gay marriage... Because one day you WILL stand before the Lord and have to explain why your financial comforts were more important than your responsibility in representing Jesus...<strong></strong><br /><br />Vote against this<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kri8G-lGYfg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kri8G-lGYfg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1130491096090856784.post-3135313367922874552008-10-17T21:56:00.005-05:002008-10-17T22:10:57.173-05:00I Feel Led to Share This With the Few That Might Read!!!So if you feel the need to be educated on the current housing market crash then please grab a drink maybe even a snack and watch this-<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1RZVw3no2A4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1RZVw3no2A4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>I live IN Jesushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11344561225406869535noreply@blogger.com2