What A Day....

Today has been one for the books..nothing really bad happened just every little thing that could happen, happened.

To start things off woke up at 6:48 and the bus comes at 7:00 so there was a mad dash to get clothes toothpaste & bookbags. I had to swing by West Caldwell to pick up a order & check for a 31 party I did Tues., then to work by 8:30...it was about 8:39 when I got there. Our office has been pretty slow lately due to the encomony, but today was the exception of the month. We had 3 purchases this morning @ 9, 10 & 11. It was unusually busy already with phones & clients and I was trying to multi-task as usual & put in that last order so I could get to the bank before 2:00. In the process of my multi-tasking I managed to cause an error and merge & delete parts of the 2 separate orders I had worked so hard on the night before to get ready. BLAH! I proceeding on with what I could @ work, then office errands which was the definate wrong time to be out. 11:30-12:30 on the eve of 10"+ snow is not the best time to be out trying to get to the banks. Got back to work & finally finished up there. Left @ 1:30 & ran to the DMV which was my second mistake...last business day before the end of the month!! Waited in line 15 mins. & finally got done there. (Just FYI: you have to take in your inspection sheet w/ your renewal now to get your sticker) Got home & still needed to finish my 31 order (and by finish I had to start all over & enter 35 orders in all over from scratch) & get back to the bank by 5:30, but I somehow had lost the envelope I picked up this morning with a check & info in it! Blah again! Went back to work & there it was in my desk. Back home, entered info & got girls off the bus. Went back to bank then to Walmart for a few things I needed & it wasn't bread or milk thank goodness! Then I had the bright idea to try Lowe's to see if they still had any snow shovels left. Wrong! Sold out! Finally, ran through McDonalds for some chicken nuggets & a gallon of sweet tea. Made it home safe & sound & had just sat down to enjoy my first bite of food/drink of the day and yuck, the tea was UNSWEET!! And, guess what?? The only thing I am completely out of is yep, you guessed it...SUGAR!! Oh, well! Haha! I just have to laugh, because even though my day was crazy, it was still a good day and I am blessed because of all the things I do have.

It's snowing outside now and it is so peaceful. God created such beautiful things as snowflakes and I love to see them fall & sparkle in the light. If I get snowed in all weekend, well that's just fine with me.

My hubby is due in the next week to arrive in GA and then soon thereafter I'll be going to finally pick up my best friend. I'm so glad this journey is almost over!

And, one last thing, I got the opportunity to meet & talk with Madison Bumgarner, the 18 yr. old South Caldwell baseball player turned Major League, now 20 yrs. old & just bought a house. We closed the loan & I was able to get 3 baseballs autographed for my favorite ball players at home. He said CA was definately not like home and when he finds himself missing home he thinks about all the people overseas & away from their families for whatever reason & he's thankful for what he has & is grateful for his life & opportunities he's been given. Somehow, that meant a lot to hear him say that. A lot of our young people don't think that way these days.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys some play time in the snow this weekend! Be safe & have fun!

Women's Conference

This past Friday night & Saturday I was privileged to attend the 1st ever Women's Conference at Calvary. I had been looking forward to going to this for weeks! I had attended the Greg Lentz and Ralph Sexton Ministry's Conferences before in the past, but this, this was just for women and the speakers I felt like gave us just what we as women needed to hear. We had several speakers including Nikki Carswell, who spoke about her sweet baby girl, Johanna, who is with our Lord now, and her journey with Trisomy 18. Nikki, you truely blessed my heart to hear you talk about your sweet baby girl and how the Lord has worked in your & Chad's life through her. And, just so you know, Robbie does the exact same thing to me. Everytime I get upset & flip out he just looks at me & says, "It will be ok". Just once, I wish he would flip out too, but that's just the way God made them! Christine Braidwood also spoke about her previous missions and journey with her husband in Haiti. What a wonderful way that God used her and touched us all when we found out that she would be speaking the very same week that the earthquake happened. God always has a plan. We also were able to support Haiti and took up an offering for Christine to send directly to people she knew there. We also heard from Lori James. Lori spoke to us about "The New Year" and Happiness through fellowship, fighting and following. She was a hoot too! Our main speaker was Mrs. Carol Kent and before the conference, to be perfectly honest, I had never heard of her or her story. To be as brief as possible, Mrs. Kent and her husband, Gene, had the so called "normal" life until the morning of Oct. 25 1999, when they received a call that their son, Jason, just recently married the year before had been arrested for the murder of his wife's ex-husband. I won't go into much more detail because I want you to go visit Carol's website. www.carolkent.org But, as I sat there listening to all the horrific things she had went through & had to face on a day to day basis from there on out, I couldn't help but think, "WOW, I don't know how she gets out of bed every day". Her & her husband moved to FL to be close to their son & visit him on every Sunday, and spend every Christmas thereafter together in the jail. But, instead of crying in her pity, she picked up the pieces and how at first she questioned why to God, she turned to him and let him use her and her son to reach others. I've only scratched the surface on what their family has experienced, but to go from a happy normal family one day, to never normal again, is something I though long & hard about. Any of us could go through this circumstance or anything just as tragic anytime. I thought to myself, could I do what she & so many others did?? Could I use something I had been through in my life to help others? I purchased one of Carol Kent's books and I've already read the first 3 chapters in it. It's called "A New Kind of Normal". I don't want to be normal, I want to be able to say that I've done what the Lord has had me to do. Needless to say, this weekend was great. All the speakers, the skits, the music, the food, all the Calvary ladies that put it together, it was all wonderful and I am blessed to have been a part of it. I encourage you, if nothing else, to do what Mrs. Kent wrote in my book..."Keep pointing people to hope". There is always hope if we just trust in HIM! "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". Proverbs 3:5-6
I hope you all have a great week, and I'm going to nurse this sore throat & back ache I woke up with today and read some more in my book!

TO-DO LIST

I've decided to make out a list for myself to accomplish over the next 4 wks., one to help me stay busy so the time doesn't drag, and two just because it desperately needs to be done! So, here in no particular order is my to-do list:

1) Clean & re-organize kitchen cabinets
2) Clean & straighten up Robbie's room downstairs
3) Finish getting things ready for Christmas in FEB!!
4) Organize all the clothes & storage totes in Laundry room.
5) Wash & clean out car
6) Get in at least 2-3 workouts a week in hopes to lose a goal of 10 lbs.
7) Maybe put in a few extra hours at work to help make up for some of the time I'll be taking off (hopefully as long as possible)!
8) Get things ready for tax time. (ugh)
9) Schedule our Anniversary trip & Chloe's kennell stay. (my fav one by far)
10) All the normal cleaning, homework, laundry & to-dos of the regular week!

Last but not least, I want to make sure to have time for me, thus I am so looking forward to this coming weekend at Calvary's women's conference. This will be my first women's conference and I'm excited about what the Lord has in store for us. I always love to hear other people's testimonies and how the Lord has worked in their lives. Sometimes the best things come from pampering your soul. I think I may pamper my nails & hair too before the next month is up too! Can you tell I'm excited & anxious for the next 4 weeks to fly by?? I'm sure I'll think of a bunch more things TO-DO between now & then too!! Well, off to start on my list....

Finally 2010!!!

I don't think I have ever looked more forward to a new year in my whole life!! I could barely sleep this past week in anticipation of the new year. Why you ask??? My husband is coming home in just a few more weeks!! Yippee! The long & dreaded deployment is almost over and hopefully by Valentines Day (give or take a couple days) our family will be re-united again! I have so many things I want to finish before he gets here though and a few surprises too...which I won't post just yet b/c I'm not sure if he reads this or not. But, one of them he is already aware of, I have planned Christmas at our house again in February. I plan on leaving all the inside decorations & Christmas tree up until Robbie can be home with us. We are going to have Christmas all over, complete with Christmas dinner & of course Robbie's fav...Tom the turkey!! Robbie has started a list of foods he wants when he gets back home, some of them to include Spaghetti, Lasagna, Turkey, Chicken Casserole, Shrimp & Chicken on the grill, pickled eggs, steak, sweet & regular potatoes and the list goes on & on. Lets just say he's not a fan of Army food or Iraqi food for that matter...haha! Robbie's 28th Birthday was also today, and the girls & I worked on cards & such today for him when he gets home as well. He said he wasn't turning 28 until he got home! :) We have a lot of celebrating to catch up on in February! We've also decided that if he comes home on a day the girls are in school and it can be arranged we are going to try to surprise both girls at school with his homecoming. There is nothing like the sweet surprised look on their faces when daddy comes home & this time for longer than a couple weeks. I've stocked up already on banners & signs and as soon as I get a call you can bet I'll be in Monroe ready & waiting!! I really can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family this year. We have been blessed so much over this past year and I can not thank him enough. But, soon enough the Beaver family will be back together again & we are ready for whatever God wants us to do! Hope everyone had a Happy New Year and a blessed beginning to 2010!!

Christmas Time

Christmas, my favorite holiday. I love everything about it! I love to decorate, the lights, the cold & snow, the family gatherings, the nativity scenes, the Christmas plays, the Christmas story, the Christmas movies, the shared memories, the food, the shopping (yes I even had my 1st Black Friday experience this yr. & loved it), I love it all!! But, I stop & think about what makes Christmas, Christmas & what a night that must have been that night in that little Stable. What a miracle was born that night and what a Mighty God we serve today. I'm thankful that God sent his only son Jesus to be born that night & that he so willingly died to save his people.

Christmas, this year, wasn't the typical Christmas for us this year with Robbie being in Iraq. We made it as "normal" as we could though. I hooked up the laptop in the livingroom floor & thanks to technology & Skype, this Christmas, Robbie got to watch the girls wake up & open presents & enjoy the fun via webcam! It was definately not the same, but it was the closest we could come to being together. Hopefully in about 6-7 more weeks the Beaver household will be having Christmas again...tree & all! The girls & I are looking forward to that homecoming & celebration! I'm so thankful to the Lord for keeping Robbie & all our troops safe thus far and even though he couldn't be home for Christmas, I feel like my family has surely been blessed this year.

"I Don't Like Daddy's Master"

These were the words that came out of my 5 yr. old's mouth tonight as she had just asked me for like the 5th time "Is Daddy going to be here for Christmas?" While part of me wanted to just freeze and cry, I couldn't help but just look at her & giggle. Master? Where on earth did she get that? Emma definately has took a fascination with new words since beginning Kindergarten. And, mix that with her daddy's personality and you have pure entertainment 24/7. The girls usually don't say a lot about the deployment, but lately Emma I can tell has been a little frustrated and curious as to why daddy isn't home yet & when she sees a pic of a soldier she automatically asks me if he/she is with daddy. I hope one day they will understand just what her daddy & all the soldiers do for us daily & why he couldn't be home at Christmas. But, tonight the girls and I baked cookies for the girls school Christmas parties tomorrow & they worked on homemade Christmas cards for family. I feel like it is very important that they understand it is the things from the heart that truely matter most, and that even though the gifts are nice at Christmas, that is not what Christmas is about. To me, Christmas is all about love, God's love. I am thankful for God's love and the blessings he has given me & my family this year. I am thankful for his most precious gift of all, his son, Jesus Christ. I am very thankful for my family & friends and for my two precious little girls, who by the way, are not too little anymore, and their innocence. I wish sometimes I could just freeze them. I wonder if given the chance, Emma will ever get to talk to Daddy's master...hehehe

On a lighter note, I'm still trying to figure out all this blog stuff. I don't know that I ever will totally, but I'm having fun in the process!

Here Goes Nothing....

Well, I have decided that I want to attempt to start a blog. I am not the best with words, but I feel like this is something that I want to start trying to do occasionally just as something for me and "my time" so to speak. As most of you already know, I am in the middle of a new journey for 2009. Robbie, was deployed in April of this year and even though I do get to talk to him about every day or every other day, I still feel incomplete. Robbie is my best friend. When I am sad or upset, he can make me smile & forget all my worries in an instant. I can be mad at the world and he can say something to make me laugh & forget it ever happened. Even though we have been apart for basically all but 6 wks. out of the last 16 mons., I feel like our relationship & marriage has grown & grown every day. I know what he is thinking 99% of the time & can read his expressions like a book. He has been my encouragement & my rock through this deployment, when I feel like it should have been me doing the encouraging. I said all that to say this...there have been many changes for Robbie, the girls and myself and our families this past couple of years. But, God has always had a plan for us and even when I doubted myself, he picked me up & showed me the way. I want to ask you all for you prayers for me and the girls & Robbie, that we will continue to try to let his will be done. I know next year will hold many more changes for me & my family and though I think about it often, Robbie & I have talked about this many times and we know that God is in control & he always makes a way. So, for now, I'm done with my rambling and I'll leave you with this, hold on to your seats, it could get bumpy!!