Diary of a Woman Learning

Friday night I was blessed to spend time with a lovely couple and their precious toddler boy. Hubby and I went to school with E back in the day. :) We weren't particularly close, but he was always a nice guy with a lot on his shoulders. He still is. His wife, H (common-law as they are not yet married) is beautiful...and just as sweet as she is pretty. She is a great stay-at-home mom to their active and oh-so-polite little guy...they both just adore him. I have to admit, a few weeks ago I was curious why they were not married, so I asked him...politely, of course. He said, "...besides it's just a piece of paper, right?" I didn't really know what to say then...but later I had the words that I wanted to share with him. Since I haven't yet felt led to share them with him (God will show me the right time) I would like to share them here. A marriage certificate is just a piece of paper. A marriage is so much more. When I agreed to marry my wonderful husband, I was t...

I haven't participated in Gratituesday in a long time, so here I am! I am sitting here at nearly 11:30 waiting for laundry to finish in the dryer so I have clothes to wear tomorrow and I am so thankful for these and so much more! My computer...I wile away the time on here, but I can research bras ;) and reconnect with long lost friends and even play games to turn my mind into mush when all else fails - or has been done! :) My family. They are my pride and my joy. I love teaching Kiddo and I love that Hubby is my hero when the electronics don't work. And when there are spiders. And other bugs. Yuck! He's my hero for other things, too, but I'll save some stuff for later! My home. I have a roof over my head, a (clean?) floor under my feet and a heater when it's cold or an air conditioner when it's hot. Ah...comfort My health. Our family struggles with allergies and asthma and I struggle with my weight, but all in all, we are so very healthy and I thank God for that...

I haven't updated in a while because it has been crazy...again? Still? I am not really sure if I have had the chance to breathe for a week or longer! We've had a great week or so since I posted filled with the usual homeschool/church/volunteering stuff. This week has been much the same - except since it is Fall Break here, I didn't have NOVO yesterday. It was a nice day off, filled with lunch with my Mother-in-Law at Moe's Southwest Grill (Yummy!) and then a couple of errands. The weather has been a bit gloomy here for the last several weeks, but I don't mind getting out in it - I LOVE the autumn weather! It gets a slight nip in the air and I'm ready for a light jacket, soups, stews, chili and HOT COCOA! I love the spring, too...you know, before it gets hot! :) Today Kiddo and I had a field trip out to TG Farms Pumpkin Patch and we had a great time. Several of the homeschoolers from out HOPE (Helping Other Parents Educate) group met up out there. I had a chance...

Well, I've been trying to be diligent. I've tried to work out more than my doctor requested. I've also been trying to curb how much I eat, since portion control is my biggest struggle. (I'll get there step by step by step.) My doctor entered the room very pleased with my results. In just under one month I have lost 3.8 pounds. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what I need to lose, but hey! we've all got to start somewhere, right? I am happy with what I have done in this last month and will continue to work toward my goal by the grace of God...and with the encouragement of my family and friends. And every kind word and smile is so appreciated! I want to share with you some things I have learned in the last month: When you think you will die - you won't ! It is amazing how many times I have surpassed what I thought I could do. Seriously . Me... on an exercise bike...for thirty minutes? Who'da thunk? :) Sweat is okay ! The more you sweat, the more...

It has been AGES since I last posted! Okay, okay - it's been a little over a week! Regardless, I've missed my bloggies . Hope you are all well and know that you certainly have not been forgotten. I'm just feeling a bit stretched as of late and unfortunately the first thing to go is my blogging. Church and choir are great. Allergy shots are going okay - missed this week due to an allergy attack; Kiddo's been coughing and sneezing so we tried taking a week off. We will not be missing this coming Monday. Tuesday Morning Bible Study - "Anointed, Transformed and Redeemed" - is amazing! We have a large group of ladies - bigger than usual...we have more than 20 and our group has actually gotten smaller with work schedules and new job opportunities coming up! We have both Baptist and non-denominational ladies in our group and I love when we can come together despite differences! What a great group of ladies! :) Kiddo is having a blast with his golf lessons and those w...

I requested prayer last week for my knees from you all and from my church choir family. Guess what?! Since Thursday I have had no more pain . I can run up stairs - I get winded still! :) - but without pain entirely! I can get up from a seated position with no pain. I can walk with no pain...ahhh! God is SO good! I praised Him before for granting me the strength to get through 30 minutes of exercise when it was a huge struggle - but we are together persisting and in the last week (with no changes to my diet except trying to be more aware of my portions) I am down ONE POUND ! Gotta love that exercise! :) Friends, I am so excited! These are some struggles I can not remember ever NOT having. And God is seeing me through them now. It often frustrates me that I was not told sooner, by a different doctor, about the severity of my condition. However, I am also reminded that God's timing is perfect and I was likely not ready to hear it...or not ready to do anything about it. He is surround...

Well, I have always had joint pain - especially in my knees - as far back as I can remember. However, I am not letting it get me down. Rather, I am not letting it stop me from exercising. And believe me, it downright hurts. Almost all the time - but especially sitting down and standing up. Oh, and walking...that really hurts, too. (On a serious note, I could really use some prayer that this knee pain will let up. Thank you so much prayer warriors!) Oddly enough, cycling on my recumbent actually does not hurt. How weird is that? ;o) I have exercised for 30 minutes every day but Sunday (Hubby made me take the day off so that my knee might recover, but alas it was not meant to be. :o) I range anywhere from 4.3 miles to 5.2 miles in that time and I love that exercise bike. The design of it keeps the tension out of my achy joints and lower back and allows me to build my stamina. And by listening to my fave radio station - K-Love (88.9 FM here) - I get encouraged while I worship. In fact, ye...

Here is the update. I won't go into much detail here, but I have had several concerning symptoms the last few months and recently an extreme lack of energy has been added to that. This is severe lethargy and like nothing I've ever dealt with before, so I thought it best to switch doctors. I have thoroughly enjoyed going to a D.O. that is now our Family Physician, so I thought I would try an Ob/Gyn that was also a D.O. And she is B-L-U-N-T... and I love her! :) When I went in today, I took my results from my latest rash of tests - the ones that I called my last doctor up in July for and told her to find out what in the world was going on. (I was tired of asking...) Guess what? They are all normal . There is nothing wrong with any of my levels - but my new doc did draw for a B-12 check just to be safe, so hopefully we'll hear back about that pretty soon. Anyway...you wanna hear why I'm tired and can't get pregnant? I'm fat. Yep. Not a newsflash or anything, but s...

I promise that I'm around and making it here! It's been pretty crazy what with starting school and becoming a leader in our homeschool support group. (In my defense, I didn't realize that was what I was doing. I thought I was going to coordinate the holiday parties...turns out when you only have one active officer, said officer reserves the right to make you a leader in that group. Hmm. The things you learn. :) School is going okay...or should I be more specific? Social studies, Language Arts and Science are going okay...mathematics? Not so great. We have determined that Hooked on Math is NOT a good match for my child. He gets SO frustrated he winds up in tears within seconds of the MENTION of "Hooked on Math". (While I must admit that a portion of this is due to his processing issues and I want him to learn to be more flexible, I NEVER want him to be THIS stressed out. Therefore we are searching for a new math program/curriculum. I am very interested in Math-U-Se...

So yesterday Kiddo and I went to visit a friend and her kids - she is new to homeschooling and is feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'll go ahead and fill you in on how God worked this out: I went to school with "M". She's now a mommy of three and lives just a few miles from me. Her oldest is 7 years old and she has been concerned about the quality of his education in the school he attends, so she decided to try out homeschooling. I offered a short while back to help her figure out how to get started but we didn't set up a time to meet because her family was going to Colorado for a visit before they got started. Well I haven't slept well the last several days and the other night was no exception. Hubby was super-thoughtful and offered to take Kiddo and I out to lunch so that I would not have to prepare something. We met him at aCity Bites sandwich shop, but we went to the one closer to his office - he reminded me that we wanted to purchase a dictionary and thesaurus ...

So in a sermon just a couple of weeks ago, our pastor was speaking of having been at Youth Camp and seeing each day one of our boys during his quiet time. Instead of going and picking a spot in the shade (which there was much of even with the many other students) this particular boy (who remains unnamed but I think I know who he is) would sit out in the middle of a field...and at certain times he would pick up his Bible and march in circles around his designated spot with his nose in his Bible obviously drinking in the Word of God. *Just a side note here: if it IS who I think it is, I can see WONDERFUL things ahead in a ministry for this boy. He is a light, full of joy and excitement and I love getting to see him growing in his faith!* Anyway, Pastor Ray was explaining that we go to camp to get away from outside distractions...many that we would call modern conveniences: cell phones, computers, television, etc. (And just so you know, I did already know this. It wasn't new to me, ho...

I am deeply blessed to have known a woman named Mariann Lovelady. She spoke at our church several years ago (she was a member already) about her difficult life and bad choices...but how she came to know God and His love and forgiveness. A few years after we became friends - you could not be a mere acquaintance with Mariann! :o) - she was diagnosed with cancer. She lived and breathed God's grace and mercy every moment of every day. Last night she passed away. I am so thankful that she is no longer suffering. She and I will meet again one wonderful day and I will give her a big hug - and get one tremendous hug from her. My life is not the same since you touched my life, dear friend. You were strong with God's truths and you were salt and light for Him. I love you, Mariann...and I look forward to telling you that again in person one day. Friends, please pray for her husband, Terry, and the family and friends that are without doubt grieving the loss of this amazing friend and woman...

Music Camp really was a huge hit and the performance was great. First all parents were invited to dinner at the church in the Fellowship Hall - of which I did NOT get pictures...ugh! It was decorated so nicely with candles in the center of all of the tables. We ate salad, lasagna, green beans, breadsticks and finished dinner off with a dessert of cookies and ice cream. Kiddo was NOT hungry and we barely even got him to eat dessert! I ate my salad and Kiddo's and skipped on dessert - that's okay, Hubby had TWO! :o) - and was so stuffed. It was nice...especially since we had been working so hard all week and I didn't have to cook dinner! The performance kicked off and the parents LOVED it. Hubby's parents (who attend church with us) were excited to attend and see Kiddo perform. First I will tell you that I edited a tiny bit of the clip so that it would fit better on here. First you will see Kiddo perform and then the girl that sings after him is one of the girls I taught ...

Today marks our twelfth anniversary - we have had many ups and downs, but we are stronger and happier because of them. *If you read this, Hubby-Nubby, I love you so very much and can't wait to see what the next twelve years bring!*

This year, our Worship Pastor and our Children's Pastor have worked together to put on a Music Camp for our kids from K-6 grades. The kids are learning about 7 different songs, and there are a few others who are involved in the drama - in only 4 days of practice, the kids are going to put on a musical! (It is a brief one, only about 30-40 minutes long.) It has been a lot of fun and we have 50+ kids enrolled. I'll tell you a little bit about it, but I don't have pictures right now...you know, since maybe you've gotten used to LOTS of them lately! :o) Monday - Day 1: At 9am we kicked off Music Camp in the auditorium. The kids got to hear the music (though most of the kids signed up early and already had a CD with the music to familiarize themselves with it ahead of time) and learned a few of the motions. We said a prayer and headed off to the classes, which consisted of Music Theory Games, Choreography, Song-learning (becoming more familiar with the words) and Recreation....

I am here, exhausted and a bit overwhelmed by trying to catch up on all the things I have missed - like REST! :o) - these last several weeks. However, I am so truly blessed! We traveled safely and had a great trip to Dallas, even spending less the whole weekend than we would have spent in one DAY at home! God is good and knew it would be a great break for our finances I think! LOL! On the way down to Dallas from OKC we saw two accidents - one was pretty serious but involved only one car that we could see. We never could figure out what caused it but it certainly slowed down traffic! Here's why: You don't see THAT often on a dry, straight road when no tires are blown out! This is a great picture of my friends Neeti and Shikha (I hope I am spelling her name right!). They are sisters-in-law. Akash (married to Neeti) is the older brother of Aman (married to Shikha - the one with glasses) and they were married just a couple of days apart in February 2008. I snapped this one of th...

*****Technical difficulties delayed this post until after we got back from Texas...I'll post about that in a few days - I've got a lot of catching up to do! :o) ***** *If you missed my previous post about Kid's Camp, please click here to get caught up. :o) * Okay, so Friday at camp started out much the same way as Thursday. Up early, breakfast from 8-9 and then Morning Bible Time. After Morning Bible Time the kids went to get ready for OWAM (Oh What A Mess!) and it was a blast! First they played "Bomb Ball". It's much like volleyball, but with beach balls and the person nearest the ball when it does touch the ground is out. Even the leaders got in on a game...I snapped a couple of pics and jumped in for a round or two. After Bomb Ball we went back down to the field and played some Bible verse memory games (?)... ...and then while some kids were ready to change and clean up for lunch, others stayed to play a bit of Wet Dodge ball. The kids had a great time.....

So let me preface this post by saying we'll do a couple of days at a time...otherwise this post would NEVER end! We left the church at Wednesday around noon to head to Quapaw, Oklahoma - it's a 3.5-4 hour drive from OKC. We took charter buses, so the youth took 3 buses and the kids (3rd-5th grades) had their own bus. It was a long, noisy trip but the modern conveniences of a traveling toilet and air conditioning, as well as the DVD-player made it doable. LOL! We arrived at camp, got our rooms set up and then took a mini-tour before dinner. These are some pictures of the room I shared with another female sponsor and about 10 girls. (Really nice place - especially compared to what I expected! :o) After dinner (pizza, breadsticks and optional salad bar) we went back to our cabins and got ready for our first Night Bible Time. After Bible Time we got ready for a Beach Party at the springs...this was the swimming hole - and the water was cold! Once the kids got used to it, thoug...