Trash or Treasure

Haven't we all heard the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"? 

I have as mixture of both in my home...storage unit, garage, basement and family room.  Some of it was treasured by my Aunt Delma and some of it I doubt she knew she still possessed.  I have found receipts from 1937, letters from grandpa to his mother saying, "oh by the way, Lola and I got married", as well as ugly christmas ornaments and every "interesting" article from 1985 to present. 

So far the girls still really enjoy shreadding.  I question how long before the motor on the shreadder is burned out.  There's a rule in the house right now...if you are watching tv, you are feeding the shreading!

This is my garage...a mess of treasure.

It hasn't been a big deal until last week when Omaha had softball sized hail at the airport.  We were trying to decide which vehicle we could do without.  Praise God!  No hail in Millard.  However, winter will be here before we know it...gotta clear out all this treasure before snow falls.

I do want to share as much of these treasures with all those who loved Aunt Delma but there will come a time when it's all going to be donated to the Lydia House. 

Calling all family members...come get your treasures.

This Little Light of Mine

I am excited to share with you my latest home improvement.  For months (ACTUALLY YEARS) I have been looking for a new light fixture for our dining room.  It's not that I couldn't find something that I liked...there were so many.  It has been a two-fold problem.  First let me explain something about myself, when you look up "indecisive" in the dictionary my picture is there, or maybe it's my name, well just a description of me would work too.  (I COULDN"T DECIDE WHAT TO WRITE) HA HA So deciding which one I liked best was an overwhelming task.  And secondly, I'm all about getting something for a good deal.  Even the cheap ones are well over $150 and it's never the "cheap" ones that I like.

Then God shone is glorious light on me and my girlfriend, Kimberly as we hit the homebuilder stores.  Right there in the first isle of lighting at the GI Home Depot was a gift just for me. Originally priced $199, marked down to $79 but that wasn't good enough, I got another $20 off...that's what I call a smokin' deal!

B E F O R E

The table and chairs are already moved to the side so my handy man, Jerry would have room to work.  Apparently I didn't tell him about the vaulted ceiling before hand.  Then he found water stains and rusted metal stuff in the ceiling.  I am surprised? 
 NO!! 
 It's just one more thing to fix in this house. 
And here is the finished product.....

A F T E R

hmm, not a very good picture.

Meet Me There

I have been struggling with the idea of going to women's bible study at my church this fall because I really want a friend to attend with me. At first I used the excuse that they weren't offereing a Beth Moore study, that's only a small part of it. We attend a large church and there are many friendly faces but I am aching for a friend.  I know that if I put myself out "there" I just might find that friend and if I don't go I doubt I will meet her.  ha  So with all that said, this morning I recieved this little devotion from my in-laws church.  Talk about perfect timing.  I know God cares about the smallest concerns that we carry.  Thank you God for sending me a much needed message through someone that didn't know I needed to hear from you!

"Christ gives me the strength to face anything."
Philippians 4:13


Most women dread going out alone - to restaurants, shopping, social events - even church. Sometimes we are the loneliest when we're in a crowd. It's intimidating to face a roomful of strangers. But it's well worth it to bite the bullet and just go to that church brunch or spiritual retreat or Bible Study. I would have missed some awesome blessings if I hadn't gone (alone) to many spiritual events. I found I did know somebody after all. Jesus met me there.
"Lord, help me to go where you want me to go. Give me the strength to do it alone or even with another friend. Help me build christian friendships and grow in you. If I am the go getter, help me to look for that women that might just need me to invite her to come with me. And than go pick her up. Being lonely is a lonely feeling, help me to not feel lonely or to help someone that is feeling lonely. In Your Name, Amen."

Going Green

 The picture above was taken in the fall of 2010

The picture below was taken today August 2011

I know the lighting in the 2 pictures of the house is very different but I hope you can tell we have done a little work to the house.  Brady Borner with Portage Construction Inc painted the house this weekend and did the finishing touches today.  The house was a brownish color and now it is a greenish color...Desserted Island by Behr to be exact.

Green is a tricky color, kind of like yellow. 

However, after several years of debating, we feel confidant that we got the right shade.

The house looks so much better even if you can't really tell in the picture.  Stop by for coffee, we can sit outside and gaze at the green house while we enjoy each other's company.

 I put in the door bell and light without any help. 

In case you are wondering, yes I am very pleased with myself.

Signs of Fall

The calendar may not say it is fall yet but as far as I am concerned

I T   I S   F A L L

when the kids go back to school.

Look at these smiles, they were all excited about school

year 2011-2012...just a photo shoot away.  :)

My beautiful babies!

Gotta show off the new backpacks!

Yes, Olivia is sporting a "Bieber" pack.

Chris always makes a point to see the girls off

to school on the first day. 

I dreaded this day for months...

Sending my baby off to full day kindergarten.

Now that I made it through the day I can say it

was a little silly to worry about it for so long.

Liv loves her teacher and going to "big kid school" rocks!

Reagan was actually the child who was stressed about day #1, but lovin' it now.

Emma is on her dad's team this year, although won't have him as a teacher.

My daughters are growing and blooming into fine young ladies

Girls, I love you!

-Mommy

Hotels...Peaches...Arch

(Note: I added a few extra pictures)

What do these three things have in common? Not much other than

the drive home from fourteen wonderfully packed vacation days.

Sunday morning we got an early start from Ponce Inlet, FL.

Day one of traveling went well.  Before we made it to Chattanooga TN
we stopped at a peach and pecan orchard in Georgia.
My hopes were that the girls would get to pick some peaches.
We took the tour which consisted of us riding around looking at trees
listening to a canned speech about the working operation. No picking! 
Well we did let them pick which box of peaches we should purchase.

The peaches are so juicy and sweet as can be.
We also bought peach cider and wine.

Over all no problems until we pulled up to our hotel.  Eww!  I
thought a Ramada would be better.  It took 3 rooms
before we found an acceptable place to stay.

Monday morning I was so happy to get on the road, I hardly

noticed I hadn't gotten my daily caffeine.

On day #2 we drove from Chattanooga TN to St Louis MO
(where our hotel was MUCH nicer and cheaper)
Our goal was to "do" the Arch.  When you think about
it, isn't $36 (for all 5 of us) a little much to ride up an elevator, look out
some windows and ride back down again?  We still did it and I'm glad
we did.  I love this picture of the arch casting a shadow on the river below.
See the dots...those are people.

Mom and girls in the arch...Chris was nervous but still made the trip.

I don't have pictures on the road Tuesday.

We all were feeling the stress of being in a vehicle for

three days, we were ready to be home.

I did have a "first" however.  Never in my life have I been

able to read in the car but I read an entire book on day #3.

Gotta have your name sign picture.

I'm a Scrap Chick

I use to be an active member of an online scrapbooking cult...um I mean club...um group.  No one ever visits that site anymore.  Many of the cult members, I mean groupies...um active members could be found at other scrappy sites as well but I was never a multi-site scrapper.  It's all about being loyal.  (I'm kidding.)  Finally after many months I have decided I need that community again.  I'm kicking it off by joining an online crop this weekend.  Not only do I have 500 pictures from our Florida vacation but I have at least two years worth of pictures to catch up on.  If you are at all interested in scrapping please come join us at this site. Scrap Chicks 

I hope to have some new layouts to post to my scrapbook page on this blog by Monday morning.  We'll see.

Beach Play

(This post should have come before the ice cream post)

 we got up early for the sunrise

God's handiwork is spectacular

 Reagan had fun with the boogie board

the pool right by the ocean

I found that funny.

Ho Daddy O's

I guess you would call this our last hurrah.  After a

long day at the beach we cooled off with some ice cream

then went back to the condo to pack up for the long drive back to Nebraska

 Free ice cream for your dog but when you snap a picture the

owner slaps his sign down there.  Kind of funny.a

I LOVE THIS PLACE
The owner has created an environment that families want to

come and hang out.  He provides free ice cream for your dog,

free bug spray and hoola hoops for the kids to play with. 

Oh, and his ice cream is yummy!

Big brother's design...Little brother loved it.

Atlantic Ocean

You can't go to Florida and not spend some time at the ocean, especially since you can drive75 minutes east or west and see a different body of water.  We went east and spent time close to Daytona. Our friends have a condo just a block off the beach, it's a beautiful home. 

 I guess back when the Daytona 500 started it was on both paved and unpaved roads.
The restaurant we ate at on our first night was at the old North Turn of the race
and so that's what the establishment was named.  Great sea food.  Olivia loved the
alligator bites but she kept calling it "chicken".

The girls ready to hit the beach

The girls couldn't believe how white and soft the sand was.

Raabe Girls with the Kirgan Boys

Livie loves the boys!

Look how those storm clouds have moved in.

At this point we weren't sure if we would be able to eat

our entire meal outside or if we would be running for cover.

Happy Birthday Dani!

In the Beach Club house

Curt and Chris in the Florida ping pong championship game.  :)

Gotta do the "jumping" pic

I have so many beach pictures, it really was a struggle to pick out just a few.

I have more daytime pictures to post tomorrow.

Hollywood Studios

Day #3 at the Disney World parks.  To be totally honest, 3 days was

enough. Maybe it was the crazy humid heat of day three that zapped us

but we were there only from 9am - 1pm.  It felt great to go "home"

and jump in the pool.  Next time we should visit Florida in December...good to

know the invitation has already been extended.

It's just the beginning of the sixty minute wait

to do the Toy Story ride.  We all decided it was worth it.

Still Waiting

Daddy and Reagan

Mommy and Olivia

LOVED this game/ride!  Wish we would have gotten the

fast pass and waited in line.  It was worth the wait to go twice.

Competitve?  Who me?  Not at all but...

 I did want to share the final score.  (Mine was the best of them family.)

Character Visits

Who doesn't love McQueen and Mater?

Phineas and Ferb

Too bad Perry isn't in the picture because all 3 days we

looked for a Perry pin.  Never found it.

The Fam

The Little Mermaid

Our girls understood that we were not going to eat at the parks, it's just too expensive.

Most of our meals were sandwichs we took into the park or food made

at the Kirgan's house.  But by Thursday, we were ready to eat out.  We found

a fun local burger shop called The Twisted Burger.  Great food!! Look it up if you are

in town.  It's only about 10-12 minutes from the parks.  Anyway, they had "creepy" (Liv's word)

artwork on the walls.  This one bugged Olivia the most so I took her picture with it.

I want to take a brief moment to thank Robbie and Charlie! 

These two men took time out of their schedules to bless our family.  Not once but

three different days.  I don't know what kind of faith either of them have but

I can tell you that they both have a servant's heart.  Thank you!