So Much Stuff To Do, So Little Time To Do It

I've got a bunch of stuff I want to accomplish this evening after I get home from work. It's almost overwhelming, but I know if I write it down, it won't be so bad.

Before I met my husband, I would just do things when they came to mind. I never thought of writing things out on a list. If I missed something, I wouldn't panic (too much) I would just do it later, if I had the time. The more things I forgot, (and I DID forget, because I'm scatterbrained like that) the more things I would have to do later, and then I'd have absolutely no time left to do the things I missed. Once that would happen, I'd freak out, spend all night working on a bunch of projects and get no sleep what so ever (remember those last minute term papers mom?) You would think I learned my lesson and learn how to make a list, but no, I didn't. I continued in my lack of organization and more freak outs occurred.

Enter my husband. He is list maker extrodinaire! He makes lists for the most simplest of things. When we were dating and I would have one of my freak outs because I, as usual, would forget a bunch of stuff, he would constantly tell me to sit down and make a list of what needed to get done. I would, sweetly of course, roll my eyes at him and tell him not to worry, I had it all under control. At first he would be sweet and console me during my freak outs, but after awhile he would tell me "I told you so!" and then walk off while shaking his head. I think he finally got sick of my freak outs because he finally sat me down and told me to write everything I needed to do down. I did and life as I know it got easier! Why didn't I do this before! Now, I'm still not the best at remembering to make a list, but I am doing a lot better. So since I just got done talking about making a list, here is the list of things I would like to get done after work.

• Do load of "work clothes"- Done
  
• Empty Dishwasher-Done
• Load dishwasher again and wash dishes (We use more dishes than anyone else I know!)- Done
• Clean kitchen and straighten up kitchen table- Done
• Prepare dinner and stick it in the oven- Done
• Tear down dog kennel and vacuum living room floor- Done
• Dust living room furniture- Done
• Do load of sheets and blankets- I did the sheets, but I will have to do the blankets tonight
  
• Clean master bathroom- Done
  
• Vacuum master bedroom- To be done tonight
  

I know it seems like a lot, but I think I can get it done in a couple of hours or less. I was hoping to get that stuff done over the weekend, but it didn't happen. So as soon as I get home, I'm gonna put my cute little apron on and get to work!

Oh, and if any of you working wives read this, please leave some tips for me on how to organize work and home. I could sure use them!

Monday Menu Plan

Well, it's Monday again (groan) and that means it's Monday menu plan time!!! Laura's page, http://orgjunkie.blogspot.com does the weekly menu plan, and I am finding it fun and convenient to join it. It's nice to give an answer to my hubby when he asks the question "what's for dinner tonight?" Instead of my usual "whatever you can dig up" I can let him know. He likes it, I like it, we all like it!

So this week I'm planning on actually using my oven, instead of my Crockpot! The menu is as follows:

Monday- Chicken Parmesan with tossed green salad
Tuesday- Leftovers
Wednesday- Open face pot roast sandwich
Thursday- Taco Salad
Friday- Leftovers
Saturday- Chili and I am going to attempt to bake home made corn bread. We will see how that turns out.
Sunday- Take Out.

So there you have it. Not too exciting, but at least it's good food instead of our usual cereal or popcorn (no lie, that's what we usually would eat. Working all day sucks!)

New CD

So last night after work, I decided to stop into the new Christian book store that opened in my town. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but as I browsed through the CD section (which I am always drawn to in any store) I noticed a new CD that was out. It is the soundtrack to the new movie Amazing Grace (which I cannot wait to see!) This CD is full of remakes of wonderful hymns that I used to hear as I was growing up in Christian school and when we attended a small Baptist church for a few years. The more I am listening to this CD, the more I am falling in love with it.

Now mom, if you are reading this, sit down. I don't want you to get hurt when you faint. Your daughter is falling in love with hymns and is now finding herself saying "the music is too loud at church!" Yes, I am getting old.

I am now finding myself longing to go to a church where these classic hymns are being sung. I do enjoy the worship my church provides and it always touches me in some way when I'm there, but the more I am listening to hymns, the more I wish we could sing them in church. It's somewhat funny to me because just a few years ago, I thought hymns were "old people Christian music". Give me Jars of Clay, Third Day, Delirious and David Crowder Band any day. Now don't' get me wrong, I do still like these bands, but the more I look into the old Hymns, the more I see how full of worship they are. Just to show you, here are the lyrics to my favorite Hymn.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

So back to the original topic, if you love hymns, then get this CD. If you love some of the modern Christian artists (Chris Tomlin, Nicole Nordeman, Avalon, etc.) then get this CD. Pretty much, just get this CD. You won't regret it.

St. Louis Part Deux

I know, I know, I said I would update yesterday and I didn't. I got caught up in other things and I didn't have the chance to. So today, since I have nothing else interesting to post, I will continue with the St. Louis trip. Okay, where did I leave off... Oh yes, after the funeral.

After the funeral we all went our separate ways. Eric and I went back to his dad's home to pack up and Eric helped his dad with a computer problem. After all that was done, we borrowed his dad's little Chevy car and drove to the city to stay with our good friends, Brian and Gabby. We got there and visited for awhile. We got the munchies at around midnight, so Eric and Brian made a Whities run. Nothing is better than White Castle burgers at 12:30 in the morning! After visiting more, we noticed it was almost 2 in the morning (time flies when we all get together!) and since we had church in the morning, we thought it would be a good idea to get some sleep.

Sunday we went to church and Eric was able to see some people that he knew when he lived there. It was fun for him to see old friends (not old as in age, old as in not new, or whatever) After church we ran a few errands to pick up some food to make for lunch, and then went back to Brian and Gabby's to have lunch and take a little nap before going back to church in the evening. After church, we all went to bed early since Brian and Gabby had to go to work the next day.

Monday Eric and I had the day to ourselves. The weather was beautiful (aka cold and rainy) so Eric and I decided to take a drive all around the St. Louis area so he could show me where he grew up. I have to tell you, the towns of Webster Groves and Kirkwood are simply beautiful. Both towns are well kept and their "old town" shopping areas remind you of Main Street USA at Disneyland. All the homes are around 100 years old most of them are preserved and they even have plaques on the front that have historical data on it. If we could afford to live there, I'd move to that town in a heart beat. Even the elementary school that Eric went to is a 100+ year old brick building. It's so beautiful, I wish I could go back to elementary school just to be able to attend there.

Tuesday morning we woke up to "winter mix" weather. Winter mix is a mixture of rain and sleet (for those of you California people who don't know what winter weather is like). After a little bit, the winter mix turned into snow!!!! The crazy girl that I am, went outside with my hair still wet from my shower and snapped a few pictures. The neighbors probably wondered which mental hospital I escaped from. It was below freezing outside, but the coolest thing was I could actually see the full shape of a snowflake when it landed on me. I had never seen that before. After snapping a few more pictures, Eric and I drove into Fenton MO to eat at a Cracker Barrel. We were able to sit next to the fireplace, but still be near a window so that we can watch the snow fall. It was so nice! After eating we walked around the gift shop for a little bit to look at what they had.

After walking around a little bit, one of the Cracker barrel employees, Marissa, decided on giving us a whole tour of the gift shop and stopped to tell us about every little thing they had there. She was so sweet, I didn't have the heart to tell her I had been to many Cracker Barrels before so I had seen most of what they had already. Really, we probably spent an hour following Marissa around the store so she could show us everything. Business must have been slow that day. Anyway, we both left with little treasures (Eric got some cool magnet toy thingy and I got some nice mug coasters that smell pretty when you put a hot mug on it) and we promised Marissa we would tell everyone how great the Fenton Cracker Barrel is. So if any of you ever are in Fenton MO, stop by the Cracker Barrel there (off I-44) and say hi to Marissa.

Tuesday night, Brian got the great idea to go sledding on Art Hill. I was originally going to let the boys go while I hang out with Gabby, but Eric really wanted me to go and see what Art Hill was like, since he used to go sledding there when he was a kid. So we bundled up and headed out. When we got to Art Hill, I realized I should have stuck with the original plan of staying home with Gabby. It was Fah-reezing! Literally freezing. It was about 16 degrees outside, but with the wind chill, it was probably in the negative numbers. Not fun. Eric asked how I was and I told him that my feet were freezing at one point, but then I couldn't feel them any more so it wasn't so bad. Eric said that wasn't good so he made me run back and forth to keep my blood pumping. OK, let me say this. I hate running. I think running is a punishment from God. I hate running on a treadmill in the comfort of a warm gym, so what makes Eric think I'm going to enjoy running in freezing temperatures! That was not fun. I stuck around Art Hill long enough to pressure Eric into going down the hill (heaven knows I wasn't gonna do it!) and then begged like a baby for the keys to the car so I can sit and warm up. After another half an hour, the boys came back to the car and we went home. It took a long time to thaw out from that evening.

Alright, I noticed this was getting long again. I'm wordy aren't I? I will let you all have a break in reading, and then I will post about the last part of our trip when I have the chance.

Thursday Thirteen!

It always happens to me. I find this really fun website and as soon as I get into it, it shuts down. I was looking for a cute Thursday Thirteen banner, so naturally I went to the Thursday Thirteen site to find one. When I get to the page, I see a memo that the web page administrator is shutting it down. So, since they no longer have pages upon pages of really cute banners, I had to stalk some people until I could find a banner I liked. Hopefully, someone will take over the Thursday Thirteen site and I can once again find cute banners without stalking someone. So, since we just came back from St. Louis, my Thursday Thirteen is based on that!

13 Things I Miss About St. Louis

1. Brian and Gabby
2. The Snow (which I know it doesn't snow there a whole bunch, but it snows more than here!)
   
3. Weather cold enough to actually wear a coat and be comfortable in it
4. The Snow
5. White Castle
   
6. Friendly People
7. Seeing the old architecture
8. The trees (even though there are no leaves for the winter, it's still purty)
9. No traffic (really, you LA people should see the "traffic" they have there. Their rush hour is like a normal flow of traffic here)
10. The Snow
11. Crown Candy (Their big cheese sandwich rules!)
12. Ted Drews (Who doesn't like frozen custard when it's 15 degrees outside?)
13. Brian and Gabby (I had to add you guys twice!)

So, that is it for this weeks Thursday Thirteen. We really had a blast on our trip and we miss our good friends so much. It sucks when your closest friends are a thousand miles away.

Later today I will write more about our St. Louis trip. Hopefully tonight I can post some of the pictures.

I'm Back! (Part one)

After a couple weeks of being gone, I'm back! Y'all (all 2 of you who read my blog) missed me didn't you?

These past couple weeks have been pretty busy (beware of a long post coming so I can tell you all about it!) Hubby and I made a mad dash for St. Louis to attend his grandfather's funeral. I've never planned a trip in 8 days and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do that again. I don't think my sanity could take it.

Even though the St. Louis trip was for a pretty sad reason, we ended up having a great time. We arrived in St. Louis on Thursday the 8th and met our bestest friends as well as Eric's dad and nephew Evan. We all went out and met Eric's sister then had a LATE dinner (or was it an early breakfast?)

Friday we had to run a few errands (I didn't pack shampoo or conditioner for fear of TSA confiscating it) and then we went back to Eric's dad's home to get ready for the viewing. As I was going through my suitcase I realized (this was only a little over an hour before we had to be at the funeral home) that I had forgotten my black dress slacks. Let's just say I had a minor melt down. I'm not one to cry over a minor thing like that, however all the stress that had piled on me from the planning of said trip kinda came on me at that very moment. All I had were jeans and I did NOT want to wear jeans to a formal funeral. I didn't want to make Eric look bad in front of his family. Thankfully, Eric's sister came to the rescue and drove me to shopping center so I could find a new pair of pants. I've never shopped so quickly in my life. I grabbed the first pair of black pants I could find and tried them on. Miracles of all miracles, they fit!!! Let me tell you, it is RARE that I find a pair of pants that fits so well. Being almost 6 feet tall, a normal pair of pants looks like capris on me. I kept the pants on and the girls at the counter cut off all the tags and rang me up. I paid and was out the door in less than 15 minutes, wearing a new pair of pants that, in my humble opinion, look fantastic on me. After that, we rushed to the funeral home to make the viewing.

Now, I have to say, I have never been to a formal funeral. All the services I have been to in my life have been more of a "memorial" service. The people who have died have already been buried and the services are more of a celebration of their life. So you could imagine how, for lack of a better word, uncomfortable I was when I walked into the room and there grandpa was, laying peacefully in his coffin. Eric went up to pay his last respects and I stood back. I couldn't muster any courage to go up and look. I instead put my focus on a video that was playing in the background. Eric's Aunt put a video together of many pictures that were taken in the years grandpa was alive. I could tell, just by the pictures that grandpa Schroder was fun man. He always had a smile on his face and from the pictures, you could tell his grandkids loved him. There were also many pictures of grandpa and grandma Schroder (she passed away a few years ago) and they were always holding hands or kissing. Eric said they had a great relationship. They bickered like normal couples, but they really loved each other and you could really tell from their pictures. Eric said that his grandpa was half deaf and his grandma was half blind, so together they made a great team!

At the viewing, I was able to meet many of Eric's family members. They are all wonderful people and I really enjoyed getting to know some of his cousins. After the viewing, a bunch of us went out to eat. Again, it was a really late night, but we had fun visiting with the family.

Saturday was the funeral and it was what I expected. The preacher went up and read scripture and talked about how grandpa really loved the Lord and enjoyed serving in the church. After she spoke, we sang some hymns (I know mom, HYMNS!!) prayed, and then we moved on to the procession to the burial site. The burial part of the funeral was very short. Part of the reason was because it was 23 degrees outside (BRRRRR!!!) and the other part was that the cemetery closed at noon and it was already 11:30. If we didn't want grandpa to stay outside over night, we had to boogy through the service so the cemetery could do their job and bury him. Really, who heard of a cemetery closing at noon on a Saturday?! Aren't MOST funerals held on Saturdays so that people can actually go and pay their last respects? I thought that was kind of odd. After the funeral was officially over, we went out to eat again, and they every one went their separate ways. As I said before, even though the reason for getting together with family was a sad reason. I was glad I could finally meet Eric's extended family. They are a bunch of nice people and I'm glad to be related to them.

Since this post is getting kinda long, I will separate the rest of our trip. Hopefully by then I can get some pictures loaded.

Monday Meanderings and Memes, Sans Menu Plan Monday

I know, my title is a mouthful isn't it? Well, here we are. Back at Monday. Just like Garfield, I hate Mondays. Even the weekends are even tainted for me, because I know Monday is coming right around the corner.

Despite the fact that today is Monday, my weekend was fabulous. It started out on Saturday with a wonderful birthday breakfast with my parents (beautiful roses included), a fun shopping trip to Lane Bryant, where I got some great clothes and then ended with a fun night of card playing with my brother and cousins. Then on Sunday we spent the afternoon at my other brother's home watching the Super Bowl in his home theater. A grand time was had by all! Since we didn't "really" celebrate my birthday, it makes me look forward to the 18th when we will do the family thing. It just makes it seem like a Birthmonth instead of a birthday!

I'm just about ready for our up and coming trip to St. Louis. All I need to do is pick up some dry cleaning, finish a couple loads of laundry and then pack. I do have this nagging feeling that I will forget something, but I'm not too worried about it. If we do leave something behind, we can most likely just buy it when we get to our destination.

Now, on to the next item of my Monday agenda... A fun Meme, brought to you by Kimberly, of her cute blog, http://kimberlys-cup.blogspot.com. I thought this one would be fun! So, here are a few of my favorite things!


A- Authors
Charlotte Bronte, Lori Wick, Francine Rivers, J.K. Rowling.

B- Books
Jane Eyre, Anne of Green Gables, Redeeming Love and many more that I can't think of at the moment.

C- Coffee
Cinnamon Dolce Latte

D- Dessert
Any cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory

E- Elegant Object You Own
Hmmmm, I don't own anything too elegant. I'll have to think of that one.

F- Flowers
Hydrangeas and roses

G- Guests for Tea
Audry Hepburn. I would love to sit down and have a chat with her. She had such a beautiful personality.

H- Home
Anything that looks like this:
(It doesn't have to be Mount Vernon, but something similar would be nice)










I- Inspirational Authors
Beth Moore & Elizabeth George. Both wise and insightful Christian women.

J- Jane Austen book
Emma

K- Kitchen Gadget
My coffee pot

L- Laundry Help
My husband

M- Musical
Yikes! This one is hard! I LOVE musicals. Top three are Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music

N- Naptime
I don't take many naps, but I love a nice nap when I am snuggled with my kitties.

O- Organizing Tip
You're asking the wrong girl.

P Pride & Prejudice Character
Mr. Darcy.

Q- Quote
"Stop telling God how big your storm is, start telling the storm how big your God is." Alan Whitaker

R- Recipe
Right now I love that bread recipe from Bethany. I'm looking forward to making it again.

S-Scent
Fresh brewed coffee

T- Tea
I'm not a huge hot tea fan, however Paradise Tropical Iced Tea is one of my favorites.

U- Underwater Creature
Any huge sea mammals. Dolphins and whales are amazing to watch.

V- Voyage You’ve Taken
Probably my senior class trip to New England. I wish I could go again see things with my adult eyes instead of my annoying "teenage" eyes. I didn't have near the respect for historical stuff then as I do now.

W- Water Feature; Lake, Creek, Ocean, etc.
Ocean. Being a California girl, nothing beats the Pacific Ocean.

X- X-tra Special Treat for Yourself
Eating Dove dark chocolate and drinking a nice hot cup of Starbucks coffee

Y- Thing About YOU!
My happy disposition. I don't get upset too easily and I don't stress over much.

Z- Zoo Animal

Giraffes.

Last, but not least, there is no Menu Plan Monday for me this week because I'm leaving for a trip in a couple of days and menu planning isn't necessary. Plus it's an extra excuse to go out to eat a couple nights in a row (c:

So that's it for me today. I'm sure I'll find something else to post about later.

Frugal Friday

I thought it would be fun to partake in a Frugal Friday posting. I'm still quite new at the blog thing, so I hope I get this right.

One of the blogs I lurk is Crystal's Biblical Womanhood blog, http://www.biblicalwomanhood.com/blog.htm and she has her Frugal Friday posts, so I thought I would try it out this time.

My tip in saving money is on gift wrapping. My husband and I lucked out one time at work and they gave us a whole bunch of 24x36 white bond paper that they no longer needed. Ever since having that, I have been able to make my own wrapping paper with that, just by stamping it with a cute stamp. Below is a couple pictures of the gift I wrapped up for my niece's birthday using the bond paper, one of my stamps and left over Christmas ribbon. It cost me nothing to wrap and it looked really cute!

Showing Love

I know it's a little bit early for a Valentines Day post, however I will be out of town on Valentines Day and I read something this morning that makes me go "hmmmmm", so I thought I would post about this today. Note that I'm not the best of writers. I just post what's on my mind. Grammar and spelling are not my strong points.

Moving on...

While we were driving to work today, we passed a flower shop. The billboard above the flower shop read "express your love by buying roses!" Now, I know that Valentines Day is a day for flowers and chocolates and all things lovey dovey, however, There are other ways to express ones love for another, other than buying roses. Don't get me wrong, I love roses as much as the next girl, however it's not a necessity for my husband to "express his love" just by buying my overpriced flowers that are going to die (or be eaten by our cats) in just a few short days. There are many other ways he expresses his love. The main one is by him telling me he loves me. Just by that, I have a pretty good reason to believe him. I don't need flowers to back his claim up. He also shows his love by being patient with me when I have a "Lucy moment" (you know the show, I Love Lucy, where she does something stupid and Ricky gets upset, yeah well, I do that too and Eric can get upset, he just doesn't ramble in Spanish like Ricky did.) There are other ways Eric shows his love for me, I just don't have time to count them all. I just know that he doesn't have to express his love, just by buying me roses.

There is another love that is expressed to all of us that also doesn't require roses. That is the love of God. God assures us of his love all throughout His word and the more I read His word, the more I know of his unconditional love towards all of those who believe in Him. We don't need roses from Him to realize that (although God has made some pretty nice flowers for all of us to enjoy).

God ultimately showed His love for us, the day he sent His son, Jesus Christ, to this Earth to die for our sins. Just like Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

After reading that, who needs roses?

Thursday Thirteen!

13 CD's I Couldn't Live Without

1. Whatever and Ever Amen- Ben Folds Five
2. Ben Folds Self Titled Album
3. Songs for Silverman- Ben Folds
4. Third Eye Blind Self Titled Album
5. Dark Side of the Moon- Pink Floyd
6. Jars of Clay Self Titled Album
7. Redemption Songs- Jars of Clay
8. Chopin's Nocturne-Frederic Chopin
9. The Best of the Andrew Sisters
10. Faith- Avalon
11. Parachutes- Coldplay
12. A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay
13. OK Computer- Radiohead