30 Days of Me

i know you probably know a lot about me.. maybe too much, but i came across something fun from one of the blogs that i follow.  i try really hard to write every week.. even if it is just the wee bit wednesday or thankful thursday.  and life is about to get even busier.  but i am taking the challenge of writing for 30 days straight.  please don't stone me if i miss a day because i'll be traveling for work the next two weeks & don't know if i'll have internet access.  if you want to join in on the fun, this is what you have to do: just write about these topics on the assigned day.  you can also link up with simply stacie.


here's the list:

• Day 1 – your favorite song
• Day 2 – your favorite movie
• Day 3 – your favorite television program
• Day 4 – your favorite book
• Day 5 – your favorite quote
• Day 6 – 20 of my favorite things
• Day 7 – a photo that makes you happy
• Day 8 – a photo that makes you angry/sad
• Day 9 – a photo you took
• Day 10 – a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
• Day 11 – a photo of you recently
• Day 12 – something you are OCD about
• Day 13 – a fictional book
• Day 14 – a non-fictional book
• Day 15 – your dream house
• Day 16 – a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
• Day 17 – an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
• Day 18 – your wedding/future wedding/past wedding
• Day 19 – a talent of yours
• Day 20 – a hobby of yours
• Day 21 – a recipe
• Day 22 – a website
• Day 23 – a youtube video
• Day 24 – where I live
• Day 25 – your day, in great detail
• Day 26 – your week, in great detail
• Day 27 – my worst habit
• Day 28 – what’s in my handbag/purse
• Day 29 – hopes,dreams, plans for the next 365 days
• Day 30 – a dream for the future beyond the next year

got it?  good!  i'm about to go write my post for day 1!!

wee bit wednesday v. 6

{one} grilled or fried?gonna be honest... i love fried foods. i know it's bad for me, but i do.  i do try to eat healthier, but if it's my last day to live, i'm gonna eat something fried.  just sayin'.
{two} if you could change one thing about where you live, without worrying about money, what would you change?well, we're currently renting.  i would change a lot.  the green carpet in master bedroom (the rest of the house has hardwood floors), the wallpaper in the bathrooms, the pink countertops in the kitchen.  that's pretty much it.  out of all the houses we've lived in, i love this house the most!
{three} what is your favorite time of day?when i'm cuddling with my hubby or nursing & rocking my baby at bedtime.
{four} what’s your favorite cereal?cinnamon toast crunch
{five} do you open your mouth when you put mascara on?yes!  but when i think about it, i try really hard to not open it.  heehee!
{six} if you could make any fictional character come to life, which would it be?i don't know.. maybe one of the disney princesses.  heehee!
{seven} what are your favorite pizza toppings?i love pepperoni & banana peppers!  yum!
{eight} are you a heavy or a light sleeper?i think i'm kind of in the middle.
{nine} what is your favorite board game?monopoly or clue
{ten} what star/celebrity do most people say you look like?i’ve heard jennifer lopez, salma hayek, penelope cruz.  a while back, i did that doppelganger thing on facebook & it came up with ninet tayeb, an israeli actress/artist or something like that.

tell me a little about you!

thankful on a thursday

 

okay, i realized that i haven't done a thankful on a thursday in a while.  when i remember to do it, it's late at night & i'm super tired & just want to sleep.  so i told myself, "don't forget to do it during the day!".. so here we are.  and just because i haven't done it in a couple of weeks, it doesn't mean that i have nothing to be thankful about because i do!  so much!  

26) thankful for God's financial blessings - my iphone completely died yesterday & my hubs got a new phone & i got his old iphone!  new to me!  and i can now send out picture texts to family & receive pics of my nephews!

27) thankful for family - looking forward to having in-laws in this weekend.. and i love that they are willing to drive 4 hours to see fox us!

29) thankful for friends who will come to your house & just want to look at your pictures because they are interested in you & where you came from.. and i love to talk about my family, especially my mom.  and i'm looking forward to having more friends over tonight for tacos & the office!  friends, food, & fellowship!

30) thankful for new seasons - i am so excited about this new season in my life. i know God is working through me & has some pretty awesome things planned

31) thankful for God's presence - i love that i can feel God's presence & love when i enter in

32) thankful for God's love - i have just been so overwhelmed with God's love for me.  i know he loves me & at times it's so hard to grasp why he would even love me when i have rejected him so many times or i've failed, but i am so thankful that he has never left me & waits for me.

33) thankful for God's Word - as i dig deeper into the Word, i learn more about God (duh!).. and i just feel more close & connected with him.. and it gives me hope & makes me feel more powerful because with God on my side I can overcome anything big or small because God has already conquered it!  

34) thankful for God's promises - if i didn't have God's promises to lean on, i wouldn't have hope.. and because i know his promises, i am learning to trust him more with every part of my life.

35) if you haven't really figured it out yet, i'm just thankful for God.

37) i'm thankful for not having to do all of the monthly enrollment this month because i don't want to be away from fox so much

38) thankful for coconut m&m's.  they are my new favorite snack.  and i should probably not eat them every day.  but that's another story for another day.

39) thankful for this amazing weather!!!  i love the crisp mornings.. and not having to have the air on all day & we can just open windows!  (looking forward to my bill being lower next month!)

40) thankful for blogs - it gives me an outlet to write about whatever.. whether it make sense or not.. and just ramble about this & that.. or not so much of anything!  it's a great way to journal about our lives!  

I would love for you to share what you are thankful for!

And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20 (NLT)

wee bit wednesday v.5

mixing it up a little & doing wee bit wednesday on thursday.  ha!

 {one} what is your biggest pet peeve?hmmm.. probably people chewing with their mouths opened
{two} what is your favorite dessert?warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream
{three} what is the first thing you notice about people?their teeth.
{four} are you usually late, early or right on time?usually late to work, early to church.
{five} have you ever fired a gun?yep, hunter's safety course in junior high.  i'll let you know it was my first & only time to shoot the gun & i shot more skeets than some boys that used to hunt!  woohoo!
{six} are you right-handed or left-handed?right.
{seven} which do you prefer: coke or pepsi?right now, dr. pepper.  but i like both.  maybe pepsi.
{eight} do you dance crazy when no one is looking?yes, these past few days brandon has put some music on while fox is finishing his dinner & i dance around the dining room table.  heehee!  it's so fun seeing him giggle!
{nine} what’s your favorite movie snack?super buttery popcorn, dr. pepper, & a pickle.. and chocolate covered raisins.
{ten} do you scream on roller coasters?yes!
okay, now you go!

wee bit wednesday v.4

{one} what is your happiest childhood memory?i loved watching my mom & dad dance.. we would not go a week without watching my parents dancing in the living room.. and i loved my daddy/daughter dates.  or jumping in bed with my mom & dad on saturday mornings. 


{two} what is your middle name?eglee


{three} what’s the habit you’re most proud of breaking?hahaha.. hmm.. i don't think i really have a bad habit.


{four} what do you order when you order chinese food?i love orange chicken, chow mein & crab wontons.


{five} what’s the best bargain you’ve ever found at a garage sale or thrift store?well, first i need to go to garage sales & thrift stores.. i tell brandon i want to go & never do it!!


{six} what’s the best costume you’ve ever worn?i never celebrated halloween..


{seven} who’s your favorite game show host?i liked wheeel of fortune & jeopardy.. alex tribec & is it pat sajack?  i dunno.


{eight} what’s your favorite breakfast food?sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese, orange juice


{nine} what’s your least favorite word?curse words


{ten} describe something that happened to you for which you have no explanation.when i lived in albuquerque, i was driving to a friend's house & noticed something in the sky.. and the whole time i was driving, i kept my eye on it.. it lasted for about 10 mins & it wasn't moving.  when i turned the corner, i glanced away for like a second & when i looked back in the sky.  it was gone.  it wasn't a plane or weather balloon... and it wouldn't have vanished so quickly. 


okay, your turn!

mountain bikers extraordinaires

if you ask me what my favorite hobbies are, i will reply with the usual: shopping, sleeping, watching chick flicks, shopping, sleeping, reading, traveling, eating out.. but never in a million years would mountain biking have been one of those.  you see since i'm in the business of branching out & being so passionate about Christ & going crazy by joining life groups that I don't have to join... i joined the mountain biking group at our church.  

my husband went biking first.. before the launch of small groups.  and they all had a great time.  my husband actually fell off a "bridge"  and his arm was badly scratched & he was sore from the fall for a few days.

he put the "fail" on this pic.  lol

 

and i joined the following week.

we were so excited that he overcame his fear of the "bridge" and rode back over it without falling off!  woohoo!  it was a great time hearing everyone cheer for my hubby!  my only goal of the bike ride was to make it past that one bridge.. because that would have meant i lasted longer than brandon on my first go.  and i did it!!  we rode about 10.5-12 miles.  i actually made it the whole way & my legs were not sore the next day or two.  

i went last sunday without brandon because he was getting over a dumb stomach bug that had his violently vomitting & other fun stuff for like 4-6 days.  we went to a different location.. which was harder.  and i started off riding in the highest gears for about 2 miles until i realized that my bike was not in the right gears.  and it was mostly uphill.  i seriously almost died.  so i went the easy route with a few people and only really rode 4 miles altogether.  my legs just burned because i had been uphill & the highest gears.. everyone said i was trying to out-do them.  heehee!  

brandon & i didn't go this past sunday.. we took a break from it.  we had such a busy week last week.  well, actually brandon did.. we were preparing for the grand opening of our new church building.. i really didn't get to see brandon much.. and neither did fox.  so we just took long naps, ate mexican food, and went out for ice cream.  we had a fun night.  but i am looking forward to getting back on the bike!  i love being out there.  so now, i can add mountain biking to my favorite hobbies.  ;-)

crazy love

if you're human, you know what it is to have a craving, right?  if you've been pregnant, you know what it's like to crave something like ice cream, pickles, lemons, etc.  well, i didn't really have any cravings when i was pregnant.  but for the past year or so, i have been craving something else.  i have been craving more of God.  if you have a craving for a hamburger or pickles, you just go to the store & you get it.  but for me, i have grown so complacent with my walk with Christ.. that I knew & have known what I wanted, but I have found it so hard to get what I want.  I have had the car, but not the gas to get there.  I have not had any motivation.  or when I have had motivation, I have felt like a failure because i do so well for a little while & then I go back in that same rut i started.  

a few months ago, marcus (our pastor & friend) asked us when was the time that we felt the most close to God.. and for me that time was when my mother was sick with cancer.  i prayed constantly, went to church as much as i could, i fully relied on God for healing.  and i think with the situation i was in, he was ALL i had.  but even before my mom was sick, i was close to him than i am now.  and trying not to repeat myself so many times, my life changed.. a lot.  i was hurt... by a lot of people.  i was burnt out with ministry.  i was tired.  and i needed time to grieve.  i needed a break.  within the past few years since everything went down, i just grew complacent.  i wasn't going out & "sinning", but i wasn't making my walk with Christ any better, you know?  i've tried on many occasions to get out of the rut.  a friend told me last week, "if you're not moving forward, then you are moving backwards."  kind of like a stream.  

for the past several months, i have been praying really, really hard.. for God to break me out of this "rut".. break me out of that mold.  i want my relationship with him to be like it once was.. but even better.  and i don't want a bad situation to draw me closer to him.  i want to have that intimate relationship with him on my own.  i have been praying for more passion.  because i want to be passionate about him.  i want more of him.  i want that burning desire for more of him.  i know i want him.. and i need him.  and i am so tired of making excuses & saying "i'll get to making time for him later".  i want to know more about him.. because honestly, i feel ashamed when i hear somebody say something that was found in the Bible & me not knowing that was even in there!  you know what i mean?  i don't want my past.. or my hurts.. or my failures to keep me from being the best person i can be.. or to keep me from knowing God more.. or yet, keep me from getting to heaven.  the only person that will keep me from spending eternity in the gates of heaven with my Father God.. or spending it with my Mom, grandma & sister.. it's me. 


our church just launched life/small groups for this fall.  and one of the groups for the fall is called Crazy Love.  we are reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  

This is a little snippet:

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts — it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.

Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

{Source}

yes, yes, & yes!  that is all me.  all of the above.  i want it all.  


when i saw this group & read what it was about.  i knew that i would sign up.  tomorrow, we will meet for our third time.  honestly, in the past i have never wanted to join small groups.  i didn't want to get involved with anything more than i "had" to.  but i look forward to this group.  we have a great group of ladies.  and i feel like i can be myself around them.. to be real.  sometimes, i feel like i have to not necessarily "put on a show", but i just can't really let them completely in.  but we share things & we let go.  we move on.  i am making new friends.. and i love it.  i've always told brandon that even though we're surrounded by people, i feel so alone.  i don't want to try hard to make friendships work... but if i have to work at it, it's just not worth it.  you know what i mean?  it just needs to flow.  well, i have been connecting with so many people these past few weeks.  and it is so encouraging.. and it's lifted my spirits.  i know God is already working in my life.


so far, this book is really good.  have you ever read a little passage in the Bible & it click with you?  well, i had something happen to me in the first chapter.  and i was put in my place, so to speak.  and later that night, i knew i needed to quit making excuses, bit the bullet, & i read a few passages from the Bible.  and would you know that it had to do with what i read in the book.  i didn't know that would happen.  but God works in mysterious & wonderous ways. 

God is good.  and i'm really excited about this new season of my life.  i know our relationship will be restored & it will be better than ever!

If you are in the same boat, I highly recommend this book.  I think it's a push in the right direction.