Meet.......

Mr. Traverse

(you know how men name there car a girl name or call her a "she" well my car is a Mr.)

I am proud to announce that on Thursday we welcomed this 2011 Chevy Traverse into our family :) We needed a little bit bigger car inside for more space.  We fell in love with this car because of the seating, it has 2 captain chairs and then a 3rd row, ONSTAR which we got activated for hands free calling, emergencies (they will get notified of a crash and contact help) and navigation. XM Radio, Backup camera (so i won't run over Cohen's tricycle... again.), BETTER GAS MILEAGE, the list is endless. This is a great fit for our family.


Although we are still sad to see the Explorer leave our family....

MEOW :)

The other day I was at Berglund shopping for a new vehicle (post to come soon) as I was standing there this sweet kitty came up and got in the basket of the stroller :) He was SOO SWEET! I need to add that the dealership I was at was on Williamson Road. One of the busiest roads in Roanoke. The dealer said "oh shes been coming for days. we are scared she is going to get hit, we are calling SPCA later".  I immediately decided, no more Williamson Road and no SPCA for this sweet kitty, shes going to the hollar with me. So I loaded her up and brought her home. She lives outside but at least I know she gets fed daily and her chances of getting hit by a car up here vs Williamson is significant!

note: zach said next time i do this he is taking the animal back where it came from. rude. i guess i'll quit telling him when i do this and just "pretend" it showed up 

:)

day 5- FOOD

Now this is a topic I love :)

FOOODDD!!!

Here are 6 of my favorite recipes!

5. Cresant Chicken

4. double-crunch-honey-garic-pork-chops

3.Pumpkin Trifle!

 

2. Chicken Marsala

1. CUPCAKES!

 YUM.YUM.YUM.

 

six-places :)

well if you've read my other "challenges" you know i don't travel, so places may be hard for me but here goes of places i like to DREAM about going, but not really ever go :)

~six~

Barcelona

~five~

Maui

~four~

San Diego

~three~

Paris

~two~

London

~one~

Scotland

Day 7- Wants

Todays Challenge is.....  WANTS.

...i WANT to save more money, spend less...

...i WANT to save time...

...i WANT to learn something new about my friends daily...

...i WANT to see my family who lives far away...

...i WANT to stay healthy and stay mobile for the rest of my life...

...i WANT to see my children get married one day...

...i WANT to grow old with my husband...

buzzzzzzzz

While getting ready in the mornings I always let Cohen sit on the vanity with me and "help me do my makeup" or he brushes his teeth or brushes his hair or "puts on daddys deodorant", etc. This particular morning Zach left this sitting out...

As I was straightening my hair I heard a buzzing looked over and this had happened.....

 notice the chunk missing out of cohens hair!

good thing tomorrow is wednesday, haircutting day for cohen anyway!
ahhhh :)




don't judge when my child literally has a buzzzz cut.

day 8- fears

Let me start off by saying that listing my "fears" is difficult for me. I USED to be one who worried worried alllll the time, one who feared a random person would kill me in walmart, I would die in a car crash, one who feared my husband would die at work if he wasn't home within 10 minutes of saying he would be, the list in endless. I then came to God's word and learned. . . .

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.    
Philippians 4:4-7

That doesn't mean that I still won't have times or worry or anxiety over these things but I know that when this happens, I pray. 

Here are some of my "fears"

 

eight: air planes

seven: car accidents

six: crossing bridges or driving over long ones.

five: hurting peoples feelings.

four: sticking my foot in my mouth during a conversation (not literally)

three: failure of not evangelizing my children the way I am called to do so

two: fear that I will worry to much

one: fear that I will not hunger for God's kingdom as I should.

9th day challenge - loves

Today's topic is nine loves...

...waking up early...

...laying in my bed with hubs...

...DIET COKE...

..anything with carbs...

...Christmas...

...11-20-10...

...01-29-09...

...June 29th...

...Romans 5:8...

.

baaaaaa

Today the boys and I (and duke) walked down the driveway to visit the goat. Cohen LOVES going to visit him although the goat has learned to run and hide when he hears us. 

Off we go down the driveway.

our house behind the trees :)

calebs first trip visiting "the goat", the goat never came out of hiding so I don't know if this trip counts :(

"I see him I see him!!!!"

When Z and I first moved here I kept asking where the goat stayed when it snowed and was cold. He told me that the goat climbs up this ladder and sleeps up in the barn. I believed him for the longest time. Go ahead, laugh out loud at me.

Even though he never came out of hiding the boys enjoyed the walk down to the lot and seeing the barn and hollaring "baaaaaa".

 

DIY Suds

I do at least one load of laundry a day. And that is really an understatement so you can guess my thrill when I found this link on pinterest DIY SUDS. Ps. if you don't have pinterest, I suggest you get it :) This is a DIY recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I always used the powdered kind anyways b/c I love how it looks in a glass jar on top of my dryer (like this)

It is only THREE ingrediants. I let Cohen help me mix it (he really wanted me to take his picture holding the ingrediants).

Super Washing Soda

Borax (great for many other cleaning recipes!)

One lemon or Fels-Naptha (which I couldn't find)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mix 1 cup of the washing soda, 1 cup of borax, zest one lemon or a whole bar of fels-naptha. anddddd. voila!

 You only use 1 teaspoon per load. You can only imagine how long this batch will last and how much it will save. Try it. I promise you'll love it!

And Yes it smells WONDERFUL, very fresh lemon smell :)

10 day challenge - secrets.

{one}

I have a slight obsession with cupcakes. Ok, its a real obsession. I can eat 4 a day. Not kidding.

{two}

I follow/read LOTS of blogs. I love being inspired and encouraged daily. :)

{three}

I still get homesick if I go on vacation. One week at the beach is wayyyy too long. I will NEVER move from Salem, VA. Ever. 

{four}

I eat a bowl of cereal every night in my bed. Oh, the junky kind too. Yum

{five}

LASIK surgery was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

{six}

I wish I could save every single animal from being euthanized and let them live in my yard. Everytime I pass the shelter I try to scheme some way to save them all.

{seven}

I somehow manage to get by on about 4-5 hours of sleep. 

{eight}

I wouldn't be upset if Comcast cancelled the SPEED channel ;), sorry Z

{nine}

I hate doing things without my children, but I make myself so I stay sane.

{ten}

It was secretly hard to come up with ten "secrets"!

 Your turn for the 10 day challenge!

10 months old!

Without even knowing it you captured our hearts. You make us laugh more and love deeper. We treasure you more than you'll ever know! 

 :)

Really?

This is so sad and happening in America. If this couple had a party w/ beer cans all over their yard there would be nothing said because it's on personal property. Their crime...holding a bible study. 

California City Fines Couple for Holding Bible Study in Their Home

Homeplace!

Saturday we decided to take a trip to the Homeplace for dinner : ) The wait was well over an hour, good thing I brought my camera!