What if....

So, there's a song by Matthew West called "My Own Little World".  I've come to LOVE it and have decided it totally describes who I want to be this year!  I've heard it so many times in the past week and it really makes me think.  Am I doing enough?  Am I thinking outside the box?  Is what I'm doing making a difference?  I don't know.  Sometimes I like to think so but when I really get down to it is it pride or am I really giving selflessly of myself or time?  I mean sure, I help out a lot at church.  Between the preschool, children's department, and youth I'm always doing something; but am I really giving it all I have, or thinking about what this could really mean in the life of someone else?  I think this is my challenge.  It's easy for me to "love" people.  I'm good at that, I enjoy giving and helping; but I'm beginning to think that there's more to it.  I think maybe what I really should be doing shouldn't be so easy.  If I was being sacrificial it wouldn't enjoy it so much right?  I don't know, I'm still trying to figure that out.  Clearly God doesn't want us to not be happy, to not enjoy what we do; maybe I'm beginning to think it just should be more of a challenge.  Maybe step out of my comfort zone a little.  I believe it'll still make me happy, it'll just be God making me happy instead of me choosing to do something because "I know I can easily and maybe it'll be fun on the way. "
Anyway, if you haven't listened to the song you should.  It's really inspiring!

Well, enough of that...  I hope everyone is having a fabulous year so far and I look forward to seeing who we will all be this time next year!

family fun...

Well, we just got home from our annual trip to TN!  We have been VERY much looking forward to this since we didn't get to go last year due to John John's broken back and all.  We booked this vaca last year, paid and everything so it was even more fantabulous that we didn't have to pay!!!!!!  We stayed in a gorgeous cabin about 1/4 up a mountain.  We woke up our first morning there to about 6 or more inches of snow!!  It was BEAUTIFUL! (I know for you that live in it every year it's nothing special but for my children it's better than sliced bread!)  We had so much fun playing and relaxing.  It was a perfect family vacation.  I love thinking of vacations that I took as a little girl and hoping that I can help my kids make memories just as fun or even better.
Here are a few pics (or more) from our snow days and touristy play days...

New Years "resolutions"?

So, I was listening to the radio this morning on the way home from dropping kids off at school.  I generally listen to the local christian radio station here.  This morning a girl called in and gave her "two cents" about the new year.  I was so inspired by what she had to say.  Apparently this past Sunday her pastor was talking about new years resolutions.  His take on it is... why make a resolution to DO something when you can make a resolution to BE someone!!!  I am going to, this week, decide who I want to be by this time next year, not what I want to have done.  Deciding to be someone will automatically cause me to do something.  I believe that choosing to be instead of do will also bring me closer to God.  As humans we think we can DO most things on our own.  The person I'd like to BE can only be done by God, I do truly believe that!!  I have full faith that reading his word and keeping an open communication with him will turn me into the person I want to be; not only for me, but for my husband and children!

I hope all those that know me will see a better me soon!

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year!!

See ya soon...

Oh my... WOW!!!

So, apparently it's been a while and a lot has happened in the last month.  (Well, not a whole lot that's really noteworthy but...)
We celebrated Thanksgiving a little different this year.  We skipped John's family completely and spent the whole day with my sister.  We missed John's family but it was so nice to just be in one place all day and not feel rushed to get to the next place.  I will also say that, I didn't think about it until just now but, I totally think it was a God thing.  We had a REALLY rough day last Thanksgiving and I think God was giving us a completely relaxing spend time with just us kinda day.  It was really special, though I didn't realize it then.  Thank you Jesus for the little things that clearly we take advantage of until we sit down and really think about them!
We had a quite interesting night with Jordyn that night though.  Her whole "croup" crap came out with a vengience that night and we were up ALL night.  Thank God again though, we ended up at the dr the next day and have finally been given and inhaler and nebulizer!!!  I never thought I'd be so happy/relieved to have drugs for my kid!!!
We did all our decorating for Christmas.  The kids have a tree in each of their rooms and I have mine.  (That way they don't need to "help" with mine, they can decorate their own all by themselves.  It's FABULOUS!!)
We started a tradition a couple of years ago where for every christmas book we've aquired we read one a night before christmas.  Well, we are up to about 13 I think.  Tonights book was called "Finally" by Ellen Thomas.  I highly recommend it, it is an amazing story about the true meaning of Christmas.
Anyway, I think that's kinda all I got for now.  A lot going on around here, but not a whole different than anybody else this time of year I'm sure.
I hope all of you have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

how time flies....

So yesterday, November 22, 2010, my husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.  (This is gonna be a long one)...
I moved to Florida when I was in the 9th grade, I was 15.  My family was always a church going family so naturally we started visiting churches.  We settled at a fabulous church (where my own family and I still worship today) called Mandarin Baptist.  We started going very regularly, as we always did, and I began making lots of friends.  My very first sunday school teacher was Debby Turner (anyone see the resemblance?).  She was a fabulous woman who loved God and her "students" very much.  She and her husband, who was also a SS teacher, had 3 sons.  The oldest, John, was in the youth with me.  He was a BIG trouble maker.  I fell in love!!!  (Not sure what it is/was about me and bad boys).  I had a major crush for a while, he would never give me the time of day.  Finally, in June after my 10th grade year and his 11th, he was punished!  I had had a rough few weeks.  I was hoping to go back to SC, where we had moved from, to visit and my parents had decided we weren't going.  I was very upset.  My sister and mom convinced me to go to a lock-in at church to get me out of the house.  I decided why not, I had nothing better to do.  Here he comes, wheeling in in his white low rider with his hat on backwards, his long hair hanging out the back, and his bad attitude (he actually was quite angry this day).  Apparently he had gotten in trouble and his parents made him come.  He, obviously, DID have better things to do!!  As the event went on it became very apparent that everyone there had a "significant other", except he and I.  He figured, why not; my heart melted!  He just wanted a "friend" for the time, I prayed it would last forever!  17 1/2 years later we've been married for 15 years and have 3 BEAUTIFUL (if I must say so myself) children.  Now, this is the SHORT version, just of how we got together.  The next 3 years of our lives were HARD, to say the least.  I truly believe we beat the odds and everyones expectations.  The hard times we went through, caused by ourselves and others, made us who we are today.  I believe we love each other more because of the obstacles we overcame.  There is no one on earth that inspires me and makes me a better person, except him.
I love you John Turner, for the rest of my life!!!!!!

REALLY?!?!?!?!

Can I just say I HATE the grey hairs on my head!!!!  I swear everyday there's 25 more of them.  The top of my head is FULL of them!!! 

That's all I got today...

sometimes they walk all over it...

Why does being a mother hurt so bad sometimes?!?!?!  It really stinks when you get along so well with your child but those few times that things aren't going so well it's like someone's ripping your guts out!  It stinks having to be the "adult" and the one that has to point out the rules, and enforce them.  It's so hard when your kids are normally so well behaved but there's always that one issue that turns around and bites ya in the backside!  Ours, with one of the kids, is homework.  Why can't they just bring their stinkin stuff home?!?!?!  I'll tell you why, because he knows he can make an A even without doing it.  So what's the point in fighting over it?!?!  It's called teaching them responsibility.  When your "boss" tells you to do something you do it, like it or not!  It kills me to tell him for weeks, even months, to bring it home do it and then make sure it gets turned in.  We fight about it at least once a week!  Yesterday I finally had to put my foot down.  I took something pretty important to him, and me, away from him for the night and he was not very happy.  He had the nerve to get mad at me.  Why do they do that?!?!?!  How do they know the days that  you're gonna lose it?  All I could do was stand there and cry.  I was already so upset about having to discipline him and then he had the nerve to act like it was my fault, REALLY?!?!?!  It hurt my feelings so bad.  Then I was even more upset for letting my emotions get the best of me.  Why can't I just be firm and fake it, wait to cry til he walks away?!?!  That's twice in a week he's made me cry and he doesn't even know why!!!!!  Maybe it's a teenager thing; though I sure hope not cause we're only at the very beginning of those years.  It just breaks my heart first to have to discipline, then for him to get mad at me, and then for him to stomp on my heart when it's already hurting?!?!  Sometimes I'd like these 6 feet off my heart!!

I know it's lots of rambling this time, I just can't get over how perfect these 6 feet can be and how hurtful they can be at the same time!  I know most, if not all of you who have kids have felt this way before and if not, though I pray it doesn't happen to you, I'm afraid it's inevitable!!  Glad they're all in God's hands cause if it was left up to me....  well, I just know I couldn't do it!

Anyway, again, sorry for all the rambling.  Sometimes I guess I'm just gonna use this to get stuff off my chest!

Til next time....

Peace out!