Tuesday's Travels

One of the places I want to visit and work on for a few days. Eventually I'd love to own one.

When I was little my favorite book was Cranberry Thanksgiving about a girl named Maggie who lived on a cranberry bog and that started my love, plus there was a recipe for cranberry bread that my mom made (and still does) every Thanksgiving, and it's wonderful! I was amazed when I saw a picture of a cranberry bog for the first time, they are so beautiful and so interesting. I found a cranberry bog and house for sale, I only need $750,000. Ya know, just a couple years and I should be able to afford that, right???

Just thinking about walking outside in the crisp, fall air, with beautiful fall colored trees and bright red cranberries every where, for me, there doesn't seem to be anything more perfect! I can smell it and feel that fresh, cool air now....

Curve balls - good or bad?

Isn't it strange how when you think you have everything figured out, a curve ball is thrown in and you start to question everything? Seriously. Every time I think I've got life figured out and I know what's going on, where we are going and I've got everything under control - something changes. Well, right now it's more than 1 curve ball being thrown at Rob and me. It can be a good thing to wake you and shake you and change where you are headed or it can be a bad thing because it distracts you and takes you back some steps. I'm not sure which it is for us right now, but I'll be praying about it all, that's for sure.

1st day of the fast

Have you ever typed "Facebook Addiction Disorder", otherwise known as FAD? I kid you not, it's real and you can be diagnosed with it! That is just crazy, but oh so believable! Thankfully, I don't think I have that, but that's a warning to everyone out there!

On my first day of fasting from FB, I plan to:

• Spend one additional hour talking to God (at least)
• Finish painting the girl's bathroom
• Get reconnected with Flylady and keep up with it!
• Go on a walk
• Get some budgeting figured out

I'm really interested to see if during this time, I start to feel more led to pray about one thing on my prayer list then others. Right now it seems to be praying for the youth group and the direction it should go in.

The queen of lists

As most of you know I'm fasting from Facebook. I know that seems strange, but truly, I was spending way too much time on there. I would look around on FB instead of doing housework. I would just be on Facebook to do anything other than what I should be doing.

I've been going through a lot of change and growth lately. And it has been AWESOME!!! I love the things I'm learning, I'm just soaking everything in and I just want more and more which is why I'm taking this step.

I'm the queen of making lists. I will make lists of lists - I kid you not, my lists are long and have sub lists. It's easy for me to have 5 different lists going at any one time. Rob and my dad joke about my lists. It just makes me feel better to have everything written down...whether I do them or not is another story. Lately I have not been doing them, but man, I was writing them like crazy! It seems so silly to me that I have to fast from FB and write about it, gah, how pathetic am I?? But, hey, Satan will use whatever he can to distract me from God and he is using so many distractions for me. So, I decided to make a list tonight and to actually follow this list. Here it is:

Why am I fasting?

• To focus on God more
• To pray more

What am I praying for?

• My work schedule (as I am thinking about adding another day of work to my crazy life)
• Youth Group (I so believe in this youth group and want to pray it goes in the direction God has planned and is blessed)
• Forgiveness for myself and to help me forgive others
• Freedom from regret
• My church
• My pastors
• My marriage
• Exercise (this may seem silly, but I have gained a lot of weight and am very unhappy and feel badly about myself and feel very unhealthy which worries me)
• Setting a better example for my daughters
• Wisdom for my husband
• Righteousness for myself and for Rob
• Time management
  

When will I pray?

I'll have my regular quiet time in the mornings and pray then as I usually do. But each time I think about getting on FB or spending more time on the computer, then I'll stop and pray even more fervently for the things listed above. After all, that is what fasting is about. Taking something that is natural, something you do a lot and taking it away - then every time you think about it, you are reminded to pray.

I've decided to be really careful and actually take it a step further. I'm going to limit myself to 1/2 hour on the computer per day so I don't just fill the FB time with something else. I am writing my blogs on paper when I'm alone so as not to take more time on the computer. I know that usually when you fast it is to pray for 1 thing in particular, but I feel the need to pray for all those different things.

It's not easy and I'm already thinking, this is so silly! Why make such a big deal about it? Why not just hop on a couple times a day to check up on friends...but, I'm trying my best not to! And now, I'm going to go pray!

Tuesday's Travels

One of the greatest loves of my life is traveling. I can't get enough of it. It's one of the reasons I haven't had more children, one of the reasons I was hesitant about buying a larger house and something that is on my mind - A LOT. I thought I would post some of the places I want to travel to in no particular order:

Greece (water and the beauty of the white cities built onto the side of the cliffs...yes, I know most hate Americans!)
Ireland (cliffs, countryside and castles, seeing Rob enjoy trying some of the beer)
Australia (Sydney)
Africa (my heart always tells me I need to go back and experience even more)
Spain (Rob can speak the language and I want to see the beautiful old sites and try the wine and eat all day!)
France (Paris..though Rob is not too keen on going to France!)
England ('Arry Pot'er...platform 9 and 3/4)
Switzerland (the gorgeous snow capped mountains and quaint towns in the valleys)
Austria (The Sound of Music. Need I say more? I want to dance and twirl on the hills and sing, "the hills are alive with sound of music!" I want to have a picnic and lay on a hill and look at the sky, roll around on the hills and just be.)
Germany (the food and beautiful sites)
Brazil (to see Cristo Redentor)
Fiji (ha! one can dream!)
Thailand (beaches!!)
Hong Kong (what a mysterious city full of bustle with old Asian influence mixed in)
China (the great wall)

Most of these places I want to see the countryside, but some I want to hang out in the city and see what it's all about!

I'm sure there are more! I really want to start checking these off my list of places to see. I've seen a lot and traveled outside of the US several times and I love it. I'm so thankful I've had opportunities to see some more of the world that the US. I need a job where I travel....

It's been awhile....

I'm really bad at staying organized in case you didn't know! My mind is always going a million different directions and never focuses on one thing, so it's hard to get anything done. Much less keep up with a blog regularly!

Since I last wrote a blog, I've been on 2 trips with our youth group. It was great to get to spend more than just a couple hours with the youth. I spent 2 weeks with them! It really helped me get to know them better and they are truly an awesome group of teens. I'm not just saying that. There is an incredible amount of potential there....ah potential. What a scary word! You look at people and see what they can do, but you just never know if they realize it. Shoot, it's hard for me to see my own potential, how can i expect others to see theirs?? It made me believe in the road Rob and I are traveling even more though. There is a burning inside me to really see these guys and girls not just thrive, but to truly change the world and I can see how it's possible. We went first on a mission trip to New Jersey. It's been a LOOOONG time since I had been on a mission trip, but it was so good for me to go and do stuff for others. We also went to a youth camp in FL and it was so wonderful to have that worship and hear messages on time. Man...time is incredibly valuable and something that once it is gone...it's never to be back. I waste an incredible amount of time thinking about the things I want to do or should be doing. It drives me crazy...there are so many things to take up our time and to waste our time on. Here's something that might be sad - I think it would be harder for me to fast from technology then from food. That's sad, isn't it? I'm not sure I could survive. But, i think I'm going to have to try it. To try and see how a day or week would be without tv, texting, computer...*gasp!*....I know, I almost start convulsing just thinking about it. But, there are some serious things going on right now that I need to spend a lot of time praying about. One of which is my upcoming schedule. I really did not think I could get any more busy, but this coming school year is going to be so crazy and I need to pray for God to lead me to do the things that are really important and let go of some other things.

Rob is *thisclose* to having his Associates Degree. I'm so proud of him and so excited that the first leg of this marathon is almost done. He's on his last class now. Then seminary. But, he's taking a break between so he doesn't get burnt out which is perfect!

So to sum it all up, I'm totally distracted and terrible at taking the time to actually write anything amusing or fun to read, I think I'll die if I go on a technology fast and I'm getting ready to be incredibly busy.