A Lifetime of Love

I rejoice in the opportunity of having a fresh start at a new year; I wish you all a happy, healthy, blessed New Year! ~T.

Many of you received my family's Christmas letter for a review of this past year, but here are some additional thoughts I have regarding 2007. . . . . . I began a blog for no particular reason but it quickly became a way for me to write about my daily trials and blessings for all of the many hats that I wear. . . . Through my blog, I am better able to see the Hand of God at work in my life, both in the present and the past. This has helped me to grow closer in my walk with the Lord. . . . I have been able to encourage others, which is an awesome by-product of having this blog. . . . I am able to express myself better through writing than I am in person. . . . The bond between my sis-in-law Jenn and I has been strengthened because of blogging. . . . I have been humbled because of various circumstances that happened to friends and acquaintances this year, and I appreciate my family so much more, particularly my husband and children. . . . I learned that life with 3 children is not th...

In the wake of the phone incident, I have been busy washing towels and scrubbing the kids' bathroom- every square inch of it! No fear, my dad got himself a new phone, the toilet is back in place after 2 days off, and the stench from the drain hole is finally subsiding. Only 5 more days until my dad goes home; pray nothing else happens until that time... On a more serious note, I have been thinking of and praying for a little 4 year old boy who lives in Texas. He is in his final days of battling brain cancer, and I have difficulty bringing myself to read his daily updates. I know soon I will click on his care page and the update will tell of his passing. I have been following his story since the fall and although it's difficult to explain, I sort of feel like I know his family. I guess perhaps it is because he is close in age to my Th, and his mother Mimi has pictures posted from before his cancer; Julian was very much a boy like mine. His care page depicts Mimi's thoughts a...

Below is a video of an event that occured yesterday in my home involving my dad and his phone. . . enjoy!

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas! For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ~Luke 2:11

I use the Kraft website weekly to plan my menu and then daily to follow the recipes when preparing supper. I run like a crazy woman back and forth between the computer and the stove. TJ has been after me for a while to replace my cookbooks and many recipes with a more modern digital version. I have been reluctant to change because, well, our desktop computer isn't that far away from the kitchen and I have a lot of hand-written recipes. I find it difficult to see the necessity of typing them into a Word document to save in a digital format. But, as usual, TJ had a solution: he removed my cookbooks and replaced it with a laptop that sits on the counter next to the stove. For my other recipes, he has a machine at work that scans the document and saves it in a digital format, meaning he can email it to me to save to the laptop. He finished the laptop Tuesday, and this weekend I have really put it to good use as I baked Christmas cookies. No more sprinting to the computer desk or sifti...

Last week, I received free tickets for ice skating at the outdoor rink in downtown Charlotte, along with free skate rental and hot cocoa vouchers, followed by tickets to watch the Charlotte Checkers play a hockey game as part of the WBT radio station’s celebration of Veteran’s night. It was awesome! Driving in downtown Charlotte is easy compared to a city like Chicago or New York, but nonetheless we made a few wrong turns and had to drive around the block in order to get into the parking garage. I am the navigator while TJ is the pilot (like our airplane talk?); however, he gets nervous driving in places he’s not familiar with. He was also driving fast, making it difficult for me to read street signs. Once we passed the garage, he was a little upset that I didn’t see it before he passed it (sorry, I try my best to read at 40 mph!) because, of course, the next intersection we came to was a one-way street. After much arguing discussing we got back to where we needed to be and found a go...