Monday Prayer

My new BFF over at kristiapplesauce does this cool thing on Mondays. I've decided to copy her, since we are new BFF's and that's what BFF's do...don't you remember H.S.?

If you have a prayer, leave it..then come back later and pray for those that have requests. Answers to prayer would be cool to see as well!

Conducting business the right way

Some of you know that I'm considering selling my house...for those who don't SURPRISE!

We are looking for something to rent while we wait for the RV market to pick up & while we research the best spot to be for schooling & eventual resale.

I got on Craig's List last week to look for rentals and there was a listing posted for someone looking to buy a Granger home. It didn't look like a professional ad, just Joe Blow needing a home. It said "Need to move ASAP"

I replied with details about my home including the price. And a few hours later, I received a response. She asked if we would be willing to do a "subject to" arrangement. For those who don't sell a lot of houses...here is the jist of "subject to" arrangement. If you don't want to read all of that, it's basically that the "new owner" takes over bank payments and then turns around and rents it and gets to keep the difference. You are then free to get a mortgage on a different home. Of course she didn't explain what she was talking about just typing "subject to".

I responded to her email by saying that our neighborhood does not allow anything other than a standard sale. I got no response. No "I'm not interested at this time. Allrighty then, never mind." Nothing.

Interesting fact: This woman attends my church. She's involved in the drama group and in my kids' classroom.

Please hear me: I do not care that she didn't respond to me. I have sold many, many houses in my day and know the deal w/ folks who are out to make quick $ in real estate. I don't even care that she attends my church.

What I DO care about is if someone ELSE responded to her request...THEY got no response from her. Then THEY researched & found out that her "subject to" is not REALLY like a property sale. Or that she didn't need to "move ASAP". What if THEY googled her and found out that she attends & is active at GCC....what do they now think of US? Of our church?

Dancing w/ the Star Wars Stars

I saw this vid over at Brad Ruggles' blog. Love it so much...have to post it on my own. I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan & LOVE Dancing w/ the Stars.

These two go so natually together..why didn't I think of it?

Throwback Thursday

This is a pic of 8th graduation (1990). I wore hammer pants...nuff said.

Family night.

I was so surpised when Los twittered on Monday that they were having a Christmas themed Family night....THAT WAS MY IDEA FOR THIS WEEK! The girls had been talking about it for a week! Wed. was exactly 6 months until Christmas.

I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. And I'm so glad I did. We had a great time. First we put up our stockings that were filled with a few small treats. I LOVE our stockings. Grandma Wally taught me how to do them. They're 3-D and full of sequins & beads. So cute!

Next we made ornaments out of paint sticks. They turned out so cute. We even made a few extras.
The extra ornaments were personalized for our neighbors. We handed them out while we were out Christmas Caroling! They all had a HUGE smile on their faces seeing the girls at their door! Except poor Michelle who was out wrangling her 4 boys. We just sang to her in the street!


We came home and had a FULL ON Christmas dinner. I got a picture of the turkey & gravy...but we ate the rest too fast.


We followed it up by watching The Santa Claus 3 in the basement. I've been trying to keep track of how much I spend on these nights...Christmas night's total was JUST UNDER $4. I already had the food, it was just the small treats & the library movie rental. I already had the paint & hubby got the paint sticks from work!

If you do a family night, leave a comment...I'd love to check it out!!!

Global Food Crisis

WHAT IS THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS?
The World Food Program calls the global food crisis a phenomenon, a "silent tsunami," that is affecting families in every nation on every continent. Food prices for popular menu items like rice, wheat and beans have doubled in the last year. Though increases in food prices have hit all budgets, it's the poor who bear the brunt of price inflation. The higher prices are forcing people who survive on just $1 a day to spend upwards of 80 percent of their budgets just on food. As a result, many people, including millions of children, are going hungry. The longer food prices rise, the more people will be plunged into hunger and poverty.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE CRISIS?
Since 2005, food prices have risen a whopping 80 percent because of...
* rising fuel costs
* rising food demand from populous nations like India and China
* natural disasters destroying crop yields all over the world, including the United States
* growth of biofuels

The global food crisis is forcing poor families to spend more of their household budgets on food, leaving little for anything else. In Bangladesh 95% of the 11,782 children Compassion serves there are affected. Many children are eating only at the church-based center (also known as a Compassion project). In Haiti, inflation rates have risen 40%, pushing up food prices. All 60,000 children served by Compassion in Haiti have been affected by the food crisis there.
Experts predict the combination of a weakening dollar, soaring oil prices, and reduction in food production will not dissipate. They are predicting this long-term crisis will tighten its grip on poor countries, causing more children and families to suffer.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS FUND
Compassion International has launched the Global Food Crisis Fund to bring aid to those most adversely affected by rising food costs. More information is available and donations can be made at https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/global-food-crisis.htm

Donations to the fund will provide:
* food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
* seeds and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
* supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.

ABOUT COMPASSION'S DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING
Compassion International has set aside June 25 as a day of fasting and prayer to honor the victims of the global food crisis and pray for them.

Granger Pure Sex series

This is a vid GCC did during the first few months I moved here. I LOVED it!

Class of 1994 Reunion

In 2004 I planned our 10 year HS reunion. I spent a year gathering addresses, emails, info etc from every resource at my disposal. Trying to find every one of our classmates.

I found quite a few (around 150) and handed that over to my helper(whom I ADORE). There were 2 of us that planned THE ENTIRE THING!

Our agenda was this: Friday night - a get together at the bowling alley. I rented the entire thing so it would only be 1994 students (& spouses if they wanted to come along). Satuday afternoon we planned a golf outing and a tour of the new High School (the old 1 had been torn down). Saturday evening we had a HUGE barbecue trailer that provided BBQ chicken & all the fixins along w/a bar. I arranged a DJ, decor & giveaways. The party eventually made it to our local bar...there's only 1 in our town. Sunday consisted of a family day at the lake. We had parent / child games, with really cool prizes, bring your own picnic, swimming...just a fun, casual day.

I thought it was going to go well, but of course things (many) went wrong.

1st we had numerous complaints about our noise level. The hotel accidentally put a block of rooms for a convention right next to our loud party. 2nd, nobody danced...I mean nobody. And this dj rocks. They're just lame. 3rd, cheapskates tried to get in w/ out paying. And not just to socialize, but to eat & drink. 1 girl refused to pay and said some nasty things (w/in ear shot) but ended up paying because I forced her to. (I, meaning, my helper's hubby, who is about 6'3" and 250 lbs) Umm...if you don't pay for yourself, who gets to pay for you? ME that's who. I ended up $300 in the hole instead of $600 because of hubs' negotiating skills w/ the hotel.

Anyway, helper & I decided to NEVER. HELP. AGAIN. No matter what. And guess what? They don't want our help anyway. They've decided to go camping at the lake. Nothing planned. Hang out. Drink beer. Smoke weed. Ya know..."cool" stuff. =/

Now the class of 1994 has a myspace page. In the "about me" section it says "Unfortunately, we have been unable to retrieve the contact list that was compiled for the ten year reunion. That said, we hope that in two years' time, all of us will have opportunity to spread the word and encourage attendance"

Apparently helper friend didn't like the attitude that was thrown her way when the new planners asked for the deets and didn't give up the contact info. So, being the nice girl I am ;) I sent them all I had. Too bad they haven't changed their "about me" page. I've gotten several emails about it already. I look like the bad guy...again. I thought I was through being the bad guy once I graduated...guess not.

I am planning on going to CG that week, but doing my own thing. Hooking up w/ old friends. Visiting my Dad. Checking up on my house. Meeting new people.

WE WANT MORE IN '94....uh...not really. =/

Fun Fact Friday

This is a new series that I'm doing where I state an interesting (or not) fact.

Today fact is about Oregon:

Eugene Oregon was the first city EVER to have one way streets.

There are so many of the dang things in downtown (pearl st.)...they drive me crazy!!

Family night.

This week I let the girls use their family night idea and do all the decorating.

They chose Disney princess night. =/ The table was decorated w/ my wedding shoes, and tons of princess figurines.
We had Chicken Cordon Bleu...their favorite...and sorta fancy. I served their dinner on dragon plates. You know, prince slays the dragon, saves the princess...
While I was cooking they built castles out of their Princess blocks.


After dinner we played plant the kiss on the frog prince. I won.


The girls love to dress up (except Campbell). Cyra was Jasmine, Kenady was Belle, then Ariel. ...and Campbell dressed up for the 1st time (w/ out screaming) as Minnie!

Throwback Thursday

This week I had a hard time scanning pics in, so you're getting one that was already downloaded.
This pic is from 1978. My Mom always made these short little dresses for me...so my ruffly bum would show.

I'm sure I was out visiting the neighbors. I spent most of my time socializing w/ the old folks in our hood.

Leave a comment letting me know if you're participating in Throwback Thursday. I love to check it out!!!

Sleepy girl

I swear Campbell can fall asleep ANYWHERE. And while doing ANYTHING. In this first pic she was helping me sweep the kitchen. I asked her to turn up the music and apparently she sat in one place too long.
I don't even remember what we were doing here. But again...if she sits still for too long...
Ross came home from work early and they were wrestling. I guess they wore each other out.
Here she was banging incessently on Cyra's door wanting to play w/ the older girls. She sat there for over an hour trying to wait it out. Cyra apparently never let her join them.
Don't you all love it when little ones sleep w/ their butts in the air? Precious.

An old friend

I have an old friend that I've known since kindergarten. I'd post a pic, but (even though we haven't talked in nearly a year) she'd hunt me down and slice my bowels open. =/

As adults we became REALLY close, like tell each other everything close. EVERYTHING. But we always seemed to argue about something, be unable to resolve it, then split for a year or so. We still came back to each other, but after a long break.

Last year I. TOTALLY. MESSED. UP. It was my fault we argued, my fault we split. I apologized and she called me a few months later and forgave. BUT, we haven't spoken since then.

It seems like when we're together, we both have so many problems we're dealing with. Which (of course) we drag each other into the middle of. Asking for advice that NEITHER of us will EVER take. When we're apart she seems to thrive and so do I.

Do any of you have someone in your life that you'd LOVE to be friends with, but just can't seem to make it work? My hubby calls them "toxic friendships".

RagamuffinTop Challenge

This is week 3 in the RagamuffinTop Challenge. I'm posting a day early because I'm super busy tomorrow. Tackling the yard & some kitchen cabinet smack down!!!

So my hubby bought me a scale to (ahem) "help" w/ my weight loss. So far all it's done is confirm that I need to lose more weight than I thought I did.

Does that happen to any of you ladies? You don't realize how much you've really gained after 15 years of "after graduation" life, kids, bags & bags of Oreos? You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I can eat a package of double stuff in one sitting....even w/ no gall bladder...TOP THAT!

I know, NOT something to be proud of.

So this week I did a lot of walking, and cut back portions by about 1/3. Tonight I walked to Gwen Stefani, JT & a little Blackstreet.

And, in total, I've lost (drum roll please).....5 whole lbs. And this is the only current pic I have. I've lost 3 more lbs. since this pic was taken by Daley Hake...a.k.a. "The Jam"

Family night.

I'm so glad that Heather Whittaker decided to do Famiy night as a weekly carnival. Maybe it will encourage me to actually TAKE pictures and then actually post them.

So far we've done National Treasure night, Cinco de Mayo, Luau, Monkey night, Movie night & our favorite was Pirate night.

Here are bits of the past 3 weeks that I didn't take the time to post.

We had Backwards night. Where we ate under the table. We had pizza in our cup, 7 down and unbirthday cupcakes. I didn't get a pic but we had an inside out pinata. I just hot glued candy to the outside of a balloon. We also played limbo, but instead of going under, we jumped over the stick. It was a lot of fun.






Next we had a Pajama Party. Dinner was pigs in a blanket. We played Midnight Madness board game where you have to act out certain things. Ross had to be a cowgirl and romp around the room giving his best Yippee Ky Yeah....it was hysterical. Then we snuggled down in the living room for some bedtime stories.




This week we had Under the Sea night. We had "seaweed" for dinner (spinach pasta) and wore Ariel costumes & swimsuits. We used pretzels as fishing poles, pb as bait and goldfish crackers for a "fishing" snack. Then we swam in our blow up pool and followed it up by watching Nemo.

Fun Fact Friday

We are in week 2 of my new weekly installment!!!

Fun Fact Friday will be a simple post stating a fact that maybe some of you don't know. Sometimes it may be funny, sometimes it may be dumb (more than likely the latter).

Did you know that the tongue of a blue whale weighs around 8000 lbs? That's larger than most elephants!

Daley Hake pic 2

Daley Hake pic

Throwback Thursday

This pic is from December 1989. I was in the 8th grade.

We were having our Christmas dance at Lincoln Junior High.

Mom helped me make this dress! I was WAY overdressed compared to the other kids.

If you participate in Throwback Thursday...let me know in the comments. I'd love to check it out!

She misses Daley

She's stinkin smart...

Kenady (5) just ran in my office and this is the conversation that followed

Kenady - "Mom, Campbell threw a crayon at my head!"

Mom - "are you okay?"

Campbell (2)ran in the office smiling.

Mom- "Campbell, did you throw a crayon at Kenady?"

Campbell - straight faced " No, it jumped"

Sure it did my love, sure it did...

Why doesn't He give up?

I have a few vices in my life. Nothing like drugs or alcohol, but this junk still controls my life at times.

Why is it that, even though I'm aware of it and WANT to fix it...I can't seem to? It's something I've struggled w/ my whole life, but thought I'd grow out of it as an adult. Um, no. Throwing money at something does NOT make it go away!

I pray about it often. I cry about it often. I think about it nonstop. While I'm driving, cooking, typing, resting, playing, eating....all the time. Wouldn't it be easier to just try a little harder and rid myself of all that stress?

What are some things God had shown you about your flaws & how to handle them?

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by Sky over at Seeryus Mama. Here you go: Random info about me!

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I had been married for a year. We had just moved to Yakima Washington. I was working at a company who built machines that would bag bread, stack tortillas and bag potatoes. I was driving a Toyota Supra (hot car)...living life!

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Kids to swim lessons
2. Balance check book
3. load of dishes
4. load of laundry
5. mop floors

Snacks I enjoy:
Pringles & Tang
Oreos
Cheddar Goldfish crackers

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I know everyone says this, but I would tithe.
Pay off all debt.
Buy a new piano.
Disneyworld for a month.
Put it away and live off the interest.

Places I have lived:
Cottage Grove Oregon (2 diff. places)
Creswell Oregon
Drain Oregon
Yakima Washington
Selah Washington
Granger Indiana

Party at the Conforth's

The girls had a BLAST w/ Daley this weekend. He was so awesome about listening to them talk, sing, tell jokes AND watching them dance & pose so he'd take pics.

RagamuffinTop Challenge

Week 1 recap:


My goal was to cut portions by 1/3 and to excercise for 30 min. 5 days per week.


Day 1 - Mowed part of the lawn for 40 min. Then walked for 20 min
Day 2 - Power walked 40 min.
Day 3 - Power walked 60 min
Day 4 - Power walked 50 min
Day 5 - Mowed the entire lawn 80 min.


So I was AWESOME at keeping up w/ the excercise...even through the thunder storms we've been having.


As for portions, I've been eating off of a salad plate. Because for me it's ALL about emptying the plate. And I'm always full no matter how much is really there. Mental issues I tell ya.


I'm not counting calories, just cutting back portions. It seems to be working though. I've had more energy this week that I have in a long time AND I lost 2 lbs. Not a lot, but better than nothing! And I made sure to weigh myself BEFORE I got my haircut so it wouldn't throw off my numbers.

Fun Fact Friday

I'm starting something new on this here blog!

Fun Fact Friday will be a simple post stating a fact that maybe some of you don't know. Sometimes it may be funny, sometimes it may be dumb (more than likely the latter).

This first one is "The Cyra edition". I let her choose the fun fact :

Miley Cyrus's birth name is Destiny Hope Cyrus. Her nickname as a baby was "smiley" and it got shortened to Miley. She also legally changed her middle name to Ray, just like dear old Dad's.

Throwback Thursday

I had to put this pic in B&W because the part around my face was so dark. You get a better image in B&W.

Awwww.....this car brings back some great memories. It was a cream colored 1969 Bug. The license plate said "gruven" and I had 2..count them..2 Panasonic 6x9's in the back. Oh yeah!

I ended up having my name in cursive (on vinyl) stuck in the back window and I put on some wheels....I miss that car.

I was a Junior in HS here (1993). And wearing way too much makeup....

Link Love

Brody Harper started this trend. Brody....you're so cool.

This is a comprehensive list of the top 5 folks (in order) who are sending the most traffic my direction. Although I don't particularly get a lot of traffic...it's fun to see how my readers find me.

Daley Hake - I'm so surprised. I've only left a few comments on his blog, but he did blog about me once. =) Daley is an amazing (uber talented) photographer from Riverside CA. He's flying in to Indy this weekend and is traveling to our house to take some much needed family photos. Can't wait to show you all! He also plays guitar....Dude, you're awesome.

Lisa Wege - Lisa is my cousin. We grew up hanging out together quite often. She's the oldest of 5 and now has 3 sons of her own. It's fun to watch her grow up and become such a great woman of God! Her Dad is my Mom's little brother....I know it's confusing.

Shannon Lowe - Shannon runs the Works For Me Wednesday carnival. She was one of the Compassion bloggers and has a HUGE following. Her posts are always real to what a SAHM goes through. She once blogged from her coat closet in a tornado....seriously, the woman is addicted!

Carlos Whittaker - If you don't know Carlos, then you must be living in a van down by the river, in which case you probably won't be reading this post. =P.....Carlos is the ultimate. He's cool, he's real, he's inspiring, he's what we call a "blogstar". With an amazing job, friends & family....he's got it going on in the blog world.

Jennifer Cook - Jennifer is my sister in law. She married my awesome older brother Marty. She's the mother of 2 and has 2 home based businesses. One is with Mary Kay and one is a scrapbooking company. This woman is super busy, but takes time to hang with her kids and be heavily involved in their lives. She has so many friends that I'm sure would say, she is the most loyal friend.

Head on over to Brody's and participate. If you don't know how to track your referrals, email me...I'll help you.