Happy Halloween!!

Kyle's been working on getting our house ready for Halloween for the past couple of weeks.  He decided to put the pumpkins in a different area this year.  The ones on the front of the house have been on the fence the past couple of years so this year he decided to make them up front and center as well as adding the pumpkins along the roof of the garage.  He also wanted to incorporate the blow up pumpkin / ghosts.  This is what he came up with.  We both really like it!

Last night my inlaws came by and they brought these!  The one with the large pumpkins is frickin HUGE!  I have tall ceilings where it is situated and the very top is squished down!  But my inlaws got these at the store for something like 90% off so they wanted to bring them over to us.  We put the large one on our front porch so that kids wouldn't come up the stairs.  Last year, even though we were sitting in the driveway, they just ignored us and tried to go to the door. Umm, hello?  We're right here!  LOL  This year we only had one set of kids that were oddly confused.

I'm not big on dressing up.  I don't think we've ever really gone to a Halloween party, which I'm totally fine with.  The other day  I was at Old Navy, though, and I saw this shirt on sale for $2.50 so I figured I could afford that. ;0P  So, this was my costume.  I know everyone is jealous!!

This was the skull / ghost thing that Kyle and his mom came up with.  He had it anchored in the back of his truck and he pushed a button that he was holding in his hand and it would jump out at people and scare them.  It was a lot of fun!

Then us and our neighbors decided to take pictures with it and see how creepy we looked.  This is mine.  Creepy and gross looking! I look like I'm covered in dirt. Haha!

I took some video of the house in action. It's not the best because I took it at the beginning of the Trick or Treating and with my phone.  But at least you can see what my hub has been up to.  You may need to turn it up a bit more than normal to fully hear it, too.

Another Prayer

Source

A Prayer for The Conception of a Child

Lord, help me to know that You are enough.
Take my eyes off of myself.
Take my eyes off of the child I desire.
Help me to delight myself in You.
Mold the desires of my heart to be in line with Your will.
I don't want to need to be a mother more than I need to be your humble, obedient child.
I don't want wanting to have a baby to be a stumbling block between You and me anymore.


Lord, I want to give this desire, this drive, this ache up to You.
Help me not to snatch it back as I so often do with the burdens I place in Your hands.
Help me to be truly content with Your will and Your timing.  


Lord, You know that I still desire a baby - someone to mold, teach, train, shape, guide, and help to grow in You.
But until the day You give me that joyous blessing, help me to grow in You.
Let me reach out to those around me.
Let me witness and minister to the children You place in my path.


Lord, if adoption is the path You would have us take, prepare our hearts, and prepare the child who will share our home.
If adoption is not Your will for our lives, keep me from pushing ahead of Your plan.
Help me to stay submitted to my husband's will, and to Your will.
If we are headed in the wrong direction, change our hearts.


Thank You for lifting my burden.
Help me to keep You first! Let me seek Your face daily, and let me know that You are enough!


Fertility Prayer by Jennifer Saake

Infertility Prayer

God answers so many of my little prayers,
so why not the big ones too?
I just can't understand it
Why does He do the things he decides to do?
My deepest desire lies unfulfilled
I feel so hopeless inside
I know I should be thankful
and not so full of pride.
I ask God every day
for this or that, you know, little things.
And when He answers so clearly
my heart just really sings.
But in those deep, pondering moments
When I ask for the desire of my heart,
I get no clear answer
and then my tears start,
Oh God, I want a baby
to hold and kiss and love
I know that You alone can give me
that blessing from above.
I keep waiting, waiting, waiting
and my patience grows to despair.
Oh why can't I have a baby?
For nothing else I truly care.
I know You haven't forgotten me
for better things to do
because You answer all my little prayers,
I just wish You'd fulfill my big one, too.

By Stephanie Marottek

Weekend Wordle / Six Word Saturday

To create your own Wordle, go here. And then download MWSnap to save the image. Easy peasy!

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Six Seven Word Saturday:

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another!

Join Cate at Show My Face for more Six Word Saturdays. She's got lots of groupies that like to play along!

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This will be me this morning.  For a whole 75 minutes.  I can't wait!

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Source

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Comfortable

Two sisters, one blonde and one brunette, inherit the family ranch. Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock. Upon leaving, the brunette tells her sister, "When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home." The brunette arrives at the man's ranch, inspects the bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less.

After buying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news. She walks into the telegraph office, and says, "I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home."

The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, "It's just 99 cents a word."

Well, after paying for the bull, the brunette only has $1 left. She realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word.

After thinking for a few minutes, she nods, and says, "I want you to send her the word "comfortable". The telegraph operator shakes his head. "How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her the word, "comfortable?'"

The brunette explains, "My sister's blonde. The word's big. She'll read it slow. - - - -
("com-for-da-bul" ) 

Short and Sweet

• My mom is home from Europe.  She had some hoops to jump through but she made it home safe and sound and in one piece.  It was great to see her!

• I bought boots!  A lot of you that voted voted on more than one, which was great!  I couldn't decide on just one pair though!  H was definitely the high winner so I went with those from Victoria's Secret {and put it on my VS credit card...ssshhhhh, our secret. ;0) }.

But then I also wanted to get E.  However, after reading the reviews, they were no longer a contender since the reviews were BAD!!  So, I did the next best thing and I found a pair as similar to them as I could and although I had to wait, they finally were restocked in my size and in brown.  I bought them with the gift card my dad gave me.  I plan on wearing them with the fold UP so they don't look like pirate boots.  They got AWESOME reviews though!  Thanks for all of you that voted on my very important issue! ;0P

• School is swallowing me alive!  This quarter is requiring A LOT of my time just because of all of the homework I have!  Tonight I got my assignment for my EKG class, due next week, and I think I might cry.  Don't let anyone tell you that LEARNING EKG's is easy!  Maybe once I've got it all down and know all the different heart rhythms it'll be easier, but right now, I feel like I'm drowning.

Alrighty.  I said this was going to be short and sweet so I'm stopping now.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Boots, Boots and More Boots...I Need Opinions!

I've been searching and searching for a the perfect pair of brown boots.  The pair I have are super cute but are more stiletto style and KILL my feet after wearing them for like 10-15 minutes.

I need something comfortable, but casual enough to wear with jeans but dressy enough to dress UP a pair of jeans.

I want a pair of boots that I can wear UNDER my jeans because I don't think I do the over-the-jean style well enough.  I'm too short or something.  Or maybe I just have the wrong jeans.

I try to have some fashion sense but I'm more of a comfort girl then stylish girl.  I also need the boots to be under $100.

Here's where you come in.  From seeing pictures of me, which of these do you think would suit me the best?  Which would you choose for me?  Or, if you know of others that are out there, will you provide a link?  

I've got birthday money burning a hole in my pocket!  Help!!

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I'm asking everyone that comes by to please, please, PLEASE vote!!

Even if you've been a lurker.  You don't have to say anything except for the letter of your choice.  Simple!  I've got a couple I'm leaning towards but I honestly want your opinions because I'm having a tough time choosing!  They're all in the $69 - $99 range.

Voting....COMMENCE!!

Worship and Praise Sunday: I Will Lift My Eyes

I Will Lift My Eyes

Bebo Norman

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker

Of the mountains I can't climb

I will lift my eyes to the Calmer

Of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes to the Healer

Of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing

Her melody over me

God, right here all I bring

Is all of me

'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever

The Lover I need to save me

'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God

So hold me now

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God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I know I've mentioned it before, but I've got this anxiety that just overwhelms me sometimes. It comes on for no apparent reason and suddenly my chest feels real tight and I want to jump out of my skin.  Horrible feeling.  

During those times, this is a great song to listen to.  I just pray that whatever is causing the fear and anxiety at the time be taken from me and that Jesus would do just as this song says and calm me from the inside out.

Do you have a specific song that you listen to during times of turmoil?

I hope you all have a great Sunday!!

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If you'd like to see which songs I've showcased thus far, you can do so here.

For more Worship and Praise songs, visit Jen at Following the Footsteps.

Weekend Wordle / Six Word Saturday

To create your own Wordle, go here. And then download MWSnap to save the image. Easy peasy!

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Six Word Saturday:

Plane and Train Strikes In France!

And my mom is there!  Thankfully my sister was able to talk to the airline and get my mom a flight out of Milan to London and back to Seattle on the 19th!  Please pray that there are no more hiccups on this trip!!

Join Cate at Show My Face for more Six Word Saturdays. She's got lots of groupies that like to play along!

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www.nataliedee.com

Fragging, Picture Style

Thank God for Friday!!  Let's get this fragging started!!

This baby was in a carseat, facing the correct direction, but this just doesn't seem safe, or legal.  Am I wrong in my thinking?

Is this not the best story?  Were you able to watch it?  I must admit, until Tuesday night, I didn't even KNOW there were Chilean miners stuck underground.  Yeah, I guess I've been living under a rock.  But once I did find out about it, I didn't want to do anything other than watch the rescue happen.  What a great ending to something that could've ended so badly.  A true miracle!!  Photo Source  

The beginning of Fall.  I saw this tree at school the other day and stopped to take this picture.

I watched this lady park.  This gives women drivers a bad name, does it not? LOL

The other day I told Chewy to bring me a stick from his hiding spot and this is what he brought me.  He cracks me up!

On Wednesday night I could NOT get to sleep because Milo was cleaning himself right above my head.  He went at it for at least half an hour.  I decided to start taking pictures of him doing in instead of pushing him off, which is what I wanted to do!

Kyle was having a difficult time staying asleep the other night.  Milo cleaning himself, me talking in my sleep and Chewy being a scaredy-cat when the smoke alarm started chirping in the middle of the night.  At about 1:30 in the morning, according to Kyle, I said "Why the hell would someone name their dog after a body function?!"  He wasn't sure if I was awake or not so he waited for me to say something else.  Then he was trying to think of everyone we knew that had dogs but he couldn't think of any that had names of body functions. LMAO!!  He said that I talk in my sleep all the time but usually it's mumbling.  I had no idea!  I guess all my classes this quarter are getting to me and invading my dreams now! {Thanks Google Images}

This is what I've been working on this week.  It's only going to get harder!  These are regular heart rhythms I had to dissect.

My sister had a birthday on Monday.  Her hub put together a surprise party at a local Mexican restaurant.  She was definitely surprised.  She was not happy about wearing this hat though, even though she's smiling. ;0)

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Kailani says: In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

My question is:

Pumpkin or Ginger {bread / spice}?

An Island Life for Aloha Friday!

and

Half-Past Kissin' Time for Friday Fragments.

Have a fantabulous weekend everyone!!!

It's Time To Get Our Frag On!

It's Friday and I'm back to Fragging so hold on to your seat belts and let's get this show on the road!!

I mentioned awhile back that I needed new tires.  I REALLY needed new tires.  My car {Er, SUV} is a 2006 and it's never had the tires replaced.  We've known for awhile now that we needed to replace them but we've been putting it off and putting it off.  Tires are EXPENSIVE, man!!  The outside of the tires were bald, too.  I was SO thankful that last year we had a really mild winter, meaning NO SNOW.  So we made it through that.

  

Anywho, a couple of weeks ago, I was home after my externship and Kyle came home but then he was spending all this time outside.  I was getting a bit irritated because I was going to have to go to bed soon and he'd barely said two words to me.  I sent him a text {since I didn't want to go outside. LOL} and said that I was going to bed soon.  He didn't respond.  I went to the front window and looked outside and I saw my neighbor, a bright light, the trunk of my car open and one of the back doors open.  I was thinking WTH?!  So I went downstairs to the laundry room {because the door the garage is in there} and looked to see what was going on but I couldn't see much cuz the boat was in the way.  But Kyle told me that they were replacing my back tire with the spare. What?  Why?!  Then I HAD to go outside {in my lovely pj's and no bra on, mind you}.  I ventured outside with a sweatshirt on and my arms crossed and the guys showed me my tire.  You could see the wheel through the tire!  It was >this close< to blowing out.  Considering I'd been driving 60+ miles a day, it could've ended badly!  

I later asked Kyle what prompted them to look at my tire and he said he didn't know.  Well I know!  The Big Man upstairs was watching out for me, that's who!  I drove around with the spare tire on for a few days and then Kyle took my car in to have the tires replaced once they'd come in {since he had to special order them}.  I'm SO SO SO thankful that my guys were making sure that I was safe!  My neighbor is one in a million too!  So thankful that he was able to help Kyle out!

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Last night I went over to my sisters to watch my nephews while her and her hub went to an event at her salon.  I got to spend a bit of time with the boys since it's been awhile.  Kingston went pee on the potty!  And I fell in love with their new puppy!  She's an 8 week old Weimeriner and they named her Olive...or Wolive, as Kingy calls her.  Heehee  She is the biggest snuggle bug EVER!  

Then when my sister and BIL got home, we stood and talked in the kitchen and she kept coming over and laying at my feet, or ON my feet.  SO SWEET!!!  LOVE. HER.

  

Now Kyle's trying to talk me into getting another puppy and I would totally jump on that bandwagon if we had the time and money.  As it is, we DON'T have the money for sure and time isn't exactly flowing from us right now either.  Some day.

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Kyle and my cousin started tearing down my mom's deck yesterday.  In the process, Kyle smashed his finger between two boards and ripped the tip of his finger almost off.  Know what he did?  Folded it back over and TAPED IT!!!  WHY do men think that's an OK solution?!  I swear, he tries to give me a heart attack on a regular basis!

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My BFF, Riika has a newish blog.  Will you go and show her some love?  You can find her at The Little Things.  It's about their life living in Japan.  The history of how they got there can be found here.

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Fall has found us.  The weather has been cooler {even though we didn't even get much of a summer so that's not saying much}, the leaves are turning colors and the holidays are upon us. Ahhhh!!!  LOL  I'm NOT ready yet!  

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Kyle thinks I don't love him anymore because I keep falling asleep on the couch and staying there all night.  I'm not the only one that does this, right?  But if he tries to get me to go to bed, I fight him because he's waking me up so he, most of the time, doesn't even try.  Plus, our couch is comfy.  I love it!

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Are you watching Dancing With The Stars?  I love Rick Fox and Kurt Warner, the athletes.  I always love seeing the big, burly men get out there and shake their groove thang!  I'm glad that Margaret Cho is gone.  She was just awkward to watch, although not as awkward as it was watching Kate from John & Kate + 8!

Thanks to abc.com for the pics.

Who's your favorite and who do you think is gonna win?

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Today is a Teacher In-Service day or something like that so I don't have class tonight. Yay!!  But a few of us are going to get together at Alfy's pizza {and local girls...Eve...they have GLUTEN-FREE crust!!!} and we're going to study heart rhythms.  Be jealous.  Be very jealous! 

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Kailani says: In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

My question is:

What are some of your Fall traditions?

An Island Life for Aloha Friday!

and

Half-Past Kissin' Time for Friday Fragments.

Have a fantabulous weekend everyone!!!