Jehovah Jireh our Provider - Ever Faithful

Testimony:

Over 3months ago - Justin did a job (took almost 2months to complete) for someone that was refusing to pay. At the time that Justin took the job - it was supposed to be profitable enough to almost get us out of debt (which was HUGE). However, the customer refused to pay anything. So not only did we not get out of debt, but we accrued even more credit debt on the expenses on the job, & lost 2mo of income (therefore creating more cc debt for our living expenses). We basically gave up on getting any payment.

A few weeks ago at church, I was reminded that, "ye have not because ye ask not..." So, I specifically began to pray that God would soften this guys heart to pay "something" for the work that he had done & that he would even pay more than just the expenses...

Then - yesterday the customer actually (finally) "paid" us. It was less than HALF of what he had agreed to pay, but still a HUGE blessing! It was enough to reimburse the expenses & pay a little bit extra towards our balance - bonus (& just what I asked for!).

It came at such a perfect time - we were REALLY needing it to be able to make payments/living expenses. God is so good & He isn't afraid to test us - to make us trust Him more...His timing is perfect. :)

Olivia Update! :)

I realized after my last post - that I did a full update on the status of our renovation, but didn't update a thing our our little Sweetie Bug - Olivia. :)

I have been reticent to "brag too much" about her. Afraid of what other people/moms would think... But I finally decided "Why not? Most other moms do it. It's just a way of expressing how much I love her" So, here goes:

She is a constant source of joy (like her middle name) & laughter to us. It's so amazing to watch her grow & develop. It's exciting & sad all at the same time. :) I couldn't be prouder of her. I am fascinated watching her little mind work & figure things out.

She has been doing the army crawl for about a month now. I figured she wouldn't ever actually crawl. She proved me wrong. Two days ago - the whole "crawling" thing FINALLY clicked with her & now she is everywhere! It's so cute/neat to see her go. I've been used to her getting around, but the army crawl wouldn't have her winning any races. :) Now she gets from one room to the next so quickly.

She also likes to pull herself up on EVERYTHING & stand. So with the developments in this week, I wouldn't be surprised if she is walking or almost by Thanksgiving - Christmas for sure!

I look at & watch her every day, & my heart swells with love for her. She is so precious, sweet, (and in my opinion as her Mommy) the cutest/most beautiful little girl there is! (there, I said it). :)

Her 3rd tooth (top) came through while we were in Disney. Now her 4th (also top) is coming through. Her smile is simply adorable now (although I must admit to missing her toothless/gummy smile too).

She also - officially - has a 3rd word in her vocabulary (aside from the constant baby jabbering that she says all day). Her first word was Da-da (Daddy). Her second word was Bah-ba (Bottle). & now her third word is Ma-ma (Mamma)!!! So excited! I've been waiting almost 9mo to hear my baby ask for me by name...it's thrilling. (yes, I will now hear it for the rest of my life, but that makes me so happy). :)

Children truly are such a blessing! We couldn't be happier with her.

Well, I gotta get back to folding laundry. Olivia has been "helping me" and the basket is now empty....as well as her onesie bin, sweater bin, & skirt bin - ALL the contents of aforementioned baskets are strewn across the living room floor. :)

Some Early Autumn Musings...

Well - Olivia is now almost 9mo & we still don't have her moved into her nursery. :) But - we have gotten a lot of stuff done to the house still (it is just a slow moving project)

Since June - we've ripped up all the carpet in the upstairs, gotten the Olivia's room finished painted & decorated, the border torn out of the front room, the front room finished (primed & painted), & completely torn out the downstairs bathroom. We've decided to carpet Olivia's room, the hallway/landing, & stairs - the rest of the floors are in good enough condition we will leave them hardwood - as is.

So, all that's left to finish the upstairs & move in up there & finally be able to spread out: get rid of all the trash (carpet, pads, border, etc...), set-up our walk-in closet & guest area in the front room, carpet Olivia's room, the hallway, landing, & stairs, empty out our bedroom of all the stored furniture & extra boxes, & paint our room. Once all that is finished, then we can move us & Olivia into our bedrooms upstairs & set-up the office/media room downstairs!

My brother is coming home for Christmas & will be staying with us. So we have incentive - we need to have the above mentioned finished by then. (my personal goal it to have done - or a large majority there-of - by Thanksgiving. Because I want to properly decorate my house for Christmas this year) :)

The other projects that also need completed before winter is: Insulate the house, & finish re-roofing the front half of the house. We also need to put in the new 1/2 bath downstairs, install the kitchen floor, & install the extra counter-tops & cupboards in the kitchen! No Sweat - right! :) So, Lord Willing, we will get all of these "little projects" done in time for us to sell & move out of here! :)

So - aside from all the work being done around here - we still managed to have so fun & slip away on a small Family Vacation - one we DESPERATELY needed! :) We went to Disney World for 5 days. It was Olivia's first travel/plane trip/vacation - and she did GREAT! She was a little Angel. It was so wonderful to have a few days to spend it with JUST my Husband & Olivia. Justin has been working so hard lately we've hardly been able to see him. So 5 whole days together - I dont know who was more excited: Myself, Olivia, or Justin! :) We were even able to celebrate our 1yr Anniversary (7mo late) by going on a date to Cirque de Soleil La Nouba & finished of the evening watching the Wishes Fireworks over Cinderella's Castle...(a place where dreams really do come true). :)

Since we got home - Justin had to hit work hard again... As much as I miss him - I am SO proud of him. He has such a strong work ethic & is always doing his absolute best to provide for myself & Olivia. I believe a truly "Spiritual Man of God" follows the most basic principals of God - wherein God called man to be the Head/Leader of the Home & to be the Provider for his family (after-all how can you build any structure without a strong foundation first?) . Justin does just that - always willing to do WHATEVER it takes. I can't begin to say what a wonderful man/husband/daddy he is. I thank God for him every day - for putting him in my life. He truly is a man after God's own heart - always self-sacrificing, putting others first, willing to help others, hard working to provide for his family, loving, considerate, kind, sweet, supportive & always puts a Smile on my face, a Song in my heart, & fills me with Laughter - I am SO blessed! :)

Well, this has gotten to be a long post again & I have ironing & cleaning to get back to... So enjoy this Fall weather & I will continue to try to keep this blog updated. :) God Bless...

Overdue Update...Counting my Blessings...

Wow - I always forget I even have this blog. Oops. I'm sure everyone else does too. :) Just checked on it...haven't updated since '09. That has been waaay too long. My life is for sure WAY different now.

Since then - I got engaged, married the love of my life & best friend, bought a house, & had the most adorable baby girl ever - Olivia Joy! (that is the last year 1/2 in a very short nutshell.) It has certainly been the greatest adventure of my life so far. :)

When we first got married we rented in a little one bedroom farmhouse...however - as soon as we found out we were expecting - we started the house search. After a loooong journey of looking, making offers, etc...we Finally bought a home (excellent $ - but a "fixer-upper" investment)...

From closing - we had 6wks to pretty much get it fixed up/livable - rebuild the back porch, rip out all downstairs carpet, sand & stain/finish the wood floors, completely re-plumb the entire house, completely renovate the upstairs bathroom, & paint the downstairs. My due date was 6 1/2 wks away... Needless to say - we moved into a partially finished house (just the downstairs of a 2-story home) 3 days before my due date. I went 7days past my due date - so that gave me 10 days to try to settle/unpack a bit into the house - although it was a challenge as the entire upstairs was filled w/ boxes and & all of our furniture was squished into the dining room w/ a small pathway into the kitchen. (there really much I could do)

Its a 4-bedroom, 1.5 bath - when we moved in it was into the following rooms: the kitchen (w/no floor), dining room, and 1bedroom (which will eventually be the office but for now is our bedroom/nursery). At the time we had a 1/2 bath downstairs & a shower only upstairs. Since then we have finished the upstairs bathroom, finished/expanded into the living room, painted the foyer, gotten drapes hung, built railings in front & back porches, replaced 1/2 the roof, etc...

I am slowly working on trying to help w/ what I can around taking care of a new baby....Next big project goals (for me) - finish upstairs bedrooms (border removal, paint, pull up carpet, refinish hardwood floors, etc...). My goal it to be able to move the baby into her nursery by her 6mo birthday. It may not seem that big of a deal, but it all takes time... :)

Aside from all the above mentioned stuff - I have the joy of being a stay at home Mommy for my beautiful baby girl! I am so very blessed! She is such a joy to us and we love watching her grow. She is a full time job right there (plus trying to finish a house) - so I keep WAY busy. :)

Olivia is going to be 5mo next week - I can hardly believe how quickly the time goes. She is certainly our bundle of joy! Always so full of smiles, giggles & loves to "talk". She is rarely fussy - except sometimes at bedtime when she is just sooooo tired. She has been sleeping through the night since about 6wks old. I am SO blessed.

She started rolling over on her 4mo birthday. She is always on the go & moving...so when she starts to crawl/walk - my hands will be really full. :) She LOVES her cereal too - thinks she's really big stuff. :)

Well, speaking of her - she is hungry & I need to feed her (she's been a little angel sitting in her swing as I type). But she needs me now - so I must go.

Maybe I will update sooner next time. :) I truly am SO VERY blessed - with the best husband/daddy ever (Justin is so good/helpful with Olivia - she LOVES her Daddy). When I sit & count my blessings - I lose count... :)

S’been a while since I posted. I think the last I posted was shortly after my trip to Quebec, Canada – kinda between my many trips this summer/fall – (Quebec, Arizona, Holland, and Switzerland)… WoW – SOoo much has been happening since then. It’s amazing how quickly things change in life – when you least expect them…I will try to fill you in…

So, after I got home from my Canada trip – I was home for a short 3.5 weeks then I was gone for the entire month of September… *sigh* (Loved the sound of that - went quickly though)

From September 4th-19th I was in Phoenix, AZ (I was staying w/ one of my girl-friend's and her husband. I also got to see alot of my friends out there). It was so nice & HOT there 95-110 the entire time – I LOVED it! I got in alot of walking and as much sun soaking as I could (I can’t forget to mention my wild off-road jallopy ride in the wilderness where I almost broke some ribs…just got badly bruised – but I survived and had a blast doing it!). We got to see alot of stuff and do alot…yet did nothing really…just totally relaxed, and enjoyed my vacation and my time w/ Gabbie & Matthew (it will probably be my last trip out there like that for some time…)

Anyway, I flew home on Saturday the 19th. I was home for roughly 36hrs (just enough time to unpack my teeshirts and repack sweaters and scarfs…). Then on Monday the 21st, four of us (two of my girlfriends, Justin, and myself) flew back out of the country for an Amazing 12day trip to Holland and Switzerland.

There is really too much to write about the trip on here – But for a quick/brief summary: We were in Holland for 4days. We went to Gouda, Schiopol (saw the North Sea), Waddixveen (for a friend's wedding), Haarlem, and Amsterdam . Then we flew to Switzerland for 6days (that was by far the BEST part of the trip – SO BEAUTIFUL!) We visited Geneva, Zermatt (saw the Matterhorn), Lusaunne, Interlaken, Lucernne, (another town I can’t remember), and Zurich…It was a full, fun, and fantastic trip – from discovering the vast beauty of the Swiss Alps, exploring medievil castles (Le Chateau de Chillon), enjoying the great food (which was REALLY expensive though), having “adventures” with Swiss Fondue (a long story), canceled trains, getting lost, countelss train rides, miles of walking, shopping, tons of picture taking, experiencing the many different cultures w/in one country, and finally capping off the trip by attending an Opera at the Zurich Opera House on the last night…It was GREAT!

So, we all came home tired, happy, and broke… But it was a wonderful trip all around – well worth it – we all had so much fun and created alot of wonderful new memories. But we were all so happy to return to America where you can eat an entire meal for less than $10, get free water, and all the free refills you want… But I certainly miss the Alps, French, and the AMAZING Swiss Chocolate!!

Travels...

Hello to all my "avid readers & fans"! :) I just wanted to drop a few lines here to tell everyone hi – in between all my travels. It feels like I haven’t traveled or really gone anywhere for so long…then suddenly – I have a flurry of activity.

Last Tuesday (Aug. 11) I just got home from a week’s vacation to Quebec, Canada (road trip – woohoo!) It was a GREAT trip! I just love Quebec – it’s SO French! It was SO good to be back in Quebec…it had been 5 yrs since I lived up there – WAY too long. It was wonderful to see everyone again. I felt like I’d “come home”. PLUS I was able to pretend to be French for a week – I loved it… I spoke about as much French as I did English…I was afraid I would’ve gotten rusty having been away for so long, but as soon as I got there, everything just came right back to me! I know that the teaching & private tutoring that I’ve done for the past 2yrs really helped. It was a great feeling to be talking to someone & just randomly switch back & forth between French & English…

I went with 2 of my girlfriends for an “Older Youth Camp” (ages 22-40). We all left right after work on Wednesday eve & just drove through the night – it is a 13/14hr drive (stopping for about 3hrs in a parking lot to sleep). *Yawn* We spent Thurs. sightseeing in Montreal then ended our journey in Granby at “chez Petit” (the family I’d lived w/ 5yrs ago). Friday was a very relaxing day full of fellowship & shopping. We went to the camp that evening and was at Lake Magog until Monday afternoon. It was so nice to be among “peers” and not feel like the oldest one around – a wonderful change! There were 52 of us and the average age was 30. It was Great!

The campgrounds were very rustic w/ lots of trails and walking. The cabin I stayed in was the “luxury cabin” – it had 3 light bulbs & 2outlets…all the other cabins didn’t even have electricity. We were unaware of our “pick” at the time – we only chose it initially, because all the other cabins were very musty and made breathing very difficult (& breathing is important to life – usually). There were showers there…down the trail a bit – and plenty of outhouses. It was so beautiful & peaceful there – right beside a lake nestled in the mountains…*sigh* It was a wonderful & refreshing time of fellowship & drawing closer to God.

So, Monday night – we (all 52campers) headed back to the Petit’s for additional fellowship… Then us girls headed out for home Tues. morning & got back into Lima around 11/11:30 that night… We were SO tired – as no one got much sleep all week, but it was so worth it…A great trip, with many wonderful memories, spent w/ precious friends.

Then - in two weeks (Sept. 4th) - after work, I fly out to Phoenix, AZ for 2 weeks. I’ll get back home on the 19th around midnight. Then turn around & fly back out on the 21st for a 10day trip to Europe!! 4 of us from church are going to Holland for a friend's wedding. We will be there for 4 days – then we’ll go on to Switzerland for 6days… It is going to be SO much fun! I’ll be sure & blog about that when I get back…

Basically – I’ll be gone the whole month of September (love the sound of that)

Well - that's all for now...ttyl. :)

Update-ish kinda news thing...whatever.

Weeeellll, since it's been SO long since I posted anything - & I discovered about 2-3 ppl actually look at this thing - I'll try to write something... Ummm - nothing much going on in my life right now...hmmm...feeling kinda stupid writing about me - like I'm so interesting and all (not). Oh I know - let me tell you about something that happend to me about 2weeks ago - maybe you'll be interested (this might be long...).

I have a friend who owns and boards horses about 1/2 hr from my house. So, for the past couple months, I’ve been spending the majority of my weekends at her farm helping out around the farm, learning to ride, and working with the horses. It has been SO much fun & I’ve been learning alot! About 2 weeks ago, Alice (my friend) was dog sitting for her son’s German Shepherd – so she’d brought him (Miles) out to the farm for the day thinking he would enjoy himself. Apparently, though Miles had visited the farm on several occasions, he hadn’t been allowed around the horses – now we know why – nor will he be in the future.
See, Alice was doing a bunch of transplanting and landscaping around the barns and house – so she was having me work with Max (her horse) – lunging, walking, excercising, riding, etc. She was on the farthest side of the of the riding arena (3 barns over) with Miles (the dog), and I had Max in said arena…

Well, suddenly – Miles (who must have heard us) came charging around the barns & into the riding arena in complete attack mode. Poor Max was scared & didn’t know what to do…he shied then started kicking at Miles. It was kinda scary – I would have gotten down, but to be honest I felt safer on the kicking Max. That’s when it got interesting (sorta in a sarcastic way)… Well, the dog kept snapping, growling, barking and biting, so Max kept kicking & bucking which dislodged my feet from the stirrups (which turned into a real blessing). Suddenly Max reared up and the next 10-15 seconds became a blur.

I realized that “I don’t think this is typical, because after rearing up, don’t they usually go back down – on their front feet…?” I was questioning this because although we were “going back down for a landing” it was in the opposite direction – Max was in the process of flipping over backwards – with me on him… As soon as I realized this – I instantly let go of the reins and tried to shove off from the saddle in the opposite direction of Max’s twisting fall. We both landed on our backs beside each other and I promptly kept rolling in what I was praying was the opposite direction of his hooves – thankfully it was. Miles by this times was quite incensed as he’d received at least one (if not more) kicks to his head (he was dripping a steady stream of blood out of his nose & mouth – giving him quite the vicious air). So, of course as soon as Max regained his feet – Miles was back on the chase with teeth bared in full persuit. Alice was finally able to corral Max and grabbed his bridal to try to lead him out. However the dumb dog was stubborn & was trying to get one last bite. Well, Max had the last laugh (okay maybe neigh) – he got in one more well placed kick right on Miles head. It dazed him enough that Bill (Alice’s husband) was able to grab his collar and lead him away.

So – needless to say I was quite shaken up and all I can say now is – OUCH. I did get back up on Max right away and rode him bareback for a few minutes. As I mentioned before – I was more afraid of Miles than Max. Plus, I didn’t want Max to associate me w/ that crazy dog. By that time my entire body (specifically back, hips, and ribs) were screaming at me loud enough that I couldn’t stay on him too long – hurt too much.

Thankfully no bones were broken - just badly bruised, & several severely rolled/twisted ribs. I’m just thankful to be alive – it could have ended so much worse. Yes, I relay this story w/ a bit of humor, but it was frightening, and could have had a much more sober ending - with either Max, Miles or myself seriously injured – or worse…

Anyway – that’s my story & therefore my post – hope you enjoyed – I’m still here...