Lots of right and wrongs...

Apparently, there are right and wrong ways to do all kinds of stuff.  Today, I found out there is a right and many wrong ways to make cinnamon toast!  who da think it?  LOL
I knew there was a right and wrong way to make grilled cheese, my friend Marian's way-the wrong way and my way-the right way...lol, but cinnamon toast? 
Go to the Pioneer Woman's blog and find out for yourself!

BTW I was out of town this weekend...we went to Fargo one last time to gather the rest of our stuff.  I didn't feel the need to cry tears of saddness as I left-lol-only tears of joy!  LOL 

We left Thursday night around 8 pm, drove to Iowa City, and stopped for the night.  We ended up dwaldling the rest of the drive and got up to Fargo around 6:30. Worked until about 10:30...the rest of the weekend is a blur...we got up Saturday morning at 6:30 and worked and worked and worked until around 1:30 am when we finally left.  Then we drove and stopped and drove and stopped a few times until I was rested enough to drive most of Sunday. We got in around 7 pm, showered and plopped ourselves in bed!

Now we just have to go down to Arkansas and gather the stuff from there and put it all together in one storage unit...work, work, work!  I told DH, if we don't have a house in a year, we are getting rid of it all, and living in the RV from here on out.  It's too much work and money to gather up stuff and move it from storage to storage!

Blessings until next time!

Moon Sunrise

This and That

Today is a gorgeous day!  The sun is shining.  The snow is glistening on the ground. 
We were snowed in for Christmas.  We were going to have company, but because of the blizzard the interstates were closed and most of the roads were closed as well.  We finally were dug out on Sunday.  :D  Our neighbor came with his tractor and HUGE snow blower and cleared the snow away and pulled dh's truck out of the snow.  YAY!!!

Although we were snowed in the blizzard itself wasn't that impressive.  Actually it looked like a normal snow day in Alaska.  I think the reason for the shut downs etc, were because here the wind blows the snow up under the overpasses.  The country roads actually stay pretty clear because of the openness of the prairies.  The wind blows the snow right off the road. 

Dh and I have started remodeling this old house-mostly out of necessity.  The house is so drafty and wastes so much heat, that we've decided to take it upon  ourselves to start fixing it up...whether we end up staying or not.  So yesterday,  dh ripped the subceiling down from the bathroom, where he found gaping holes to the outside.  No wonder it's so cold and drafty!  The person that either designed or remodeled this house...did not know what they were doing!  So now I might record video...hello HGTV or PBS...lol.  We have started taking pictures and I'll be posting them up as the work progresses. 

Today would have been my mom's 71st birthday.  Wow...she past away when she was 44 1/2.  I remember several of her birthdays.  One year we were in New Orleans, another year we were in Colorado with my dad's mom...I hope someday I can say we got to celebrate together in Heaven!

Blessings until next time!   

Fresh, new snow

I went outside yesterday to throw some old apples out in the field.  When I came in and got busy I was admiring  out the window, the fresh, new snow that had fallen all over the ground yesterday.  We already had snow, so this was a fresh, new layer.  It reminded me of the verse:

Isaiah 1:18 (King James Version)

18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

But it also reminded me that each layer of dirty, trotted snow is covered and you can't see what was there before.  That's a lot like us too, as Christians.  We sin, but if we ask for forgiveness, GOD is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness and forgive us our sins.  (1 John 1:9)

HIS love is unfailing.  HIS forgiveness is unfailing.  I encourage you to seek HIS face today. You can be white as a fresh, new layer of snow.  All that old snow is covered up and no one sees it, not even GOD himself, because HE chooses not to when we ask for forgiveness and seek HIM.  What a wonderful and beautiful promise...just like the picture out my window of fresh snow!

Blessings until next time!

Glistening Trees

Here's some pictures of what the trees looked like today. It's been in the teens and single digits for at least the last 36 hours...brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Something I've really come to appreciate while being here in North Dakota

I guess, maybe, I've taken things for granted, or never really thought of how grateful I am for some things in life.  Really it's the basics...food and clothing.  But every time I drive by a farmer, plowing his field, or gathering his harvest, I am so thankful for him and his hard work, and I say a little prayer for him and the many farmers in the world.  Often we see the farmer still out in his fields well after dark, often into the middle of the night, up the next morning when it's still not light. 

Since we've moved here, our family has had many discussions of the farmer, and his hard work. How he works long hours, probably a pretty lonely life, how he provides for so many, etc. Yesterday, when we were driving by, a farmer was plowing his field to prepare the land for next spring.  I said to my kids, "Can you imagine what it would be like back when they didn't have tractors?  Having to plow with horse and oxen?" ( It was a convienent 29*F out...brrrrrrrrrrrrr, and due to the bad weather here on and off all year, the farmers are still plowing and harvesting, etc.)   

Can you even imagine what it would be like without them?  No conveinent trip to the grocery store to pick up that gallon of milk!  We would still be all planting farms and raising our own animals.  We would still be weaving and sewing our own clothes...NO, I can not fathom the thought, to be honest.  So many things stem on GOD's provision through the farmer that I'm so thankful for!

LORD, I thank YOU for the men and women that have dedicated their lives as farmers and ranchers.  I imagine that life can be quite lonely and much hard work, but I thank YOU that YOU provide food and clothing material through them.  Please remind me to be thankful for that and other things that I would generally take for granted or not thing about.  Help us all to be grateful for them and remember that YOU provide through them.  Amen

this is what I've figured out...

You know why it's called Fargo? Because it's far to go to anything good-good to eat, good to worship, etc., etc.. Guess what else? North Dakota should change their state motto to..."Winter All Year Long" roflol

Here's some pics of the snow we got overnight:

Joy of the LORD, um or the lack of it...

I have to confess, I haven't really had any joy lately. Probably the main reason I haven't been blogging. Yes, some of it was I thought no one was reading, but mostly because I didn't want to come to my blog and complain, gripe about how bad life is. I want my blog to glorify the LORD and my readers. If I'm here griping, complaining, etc...that's not blessing anyone! I'm not doing that.

Anyhow back to the joy, or lack of it...Dh and I were in the truck the other day. We were talking about tractors of all things. Which brought me almost to the point of tears. (We'll need one with winter approaching. We have a very long drive from the road to the house.)

Why? Why was almost to tears? Because moving to ND has been financially difficult for us. DH took a two-thirds paycut, bills, etc...I'm not going to go into details...(GOD knows the needs and satan doesn't need the glory)

I told DH, "I'm mad at GOD. I'm mad at this situation. This doesn't make me happy" blah, blah, blah....I've been angry for awhile. I've allowed my joy to be stolen from me.

Today, the kids and I were doing our daily (which btw hasn't been so daily lately...We get off track when we are busy :( ) Bible study. We started learning about patience today.

The lesson (from Pearables, The Narrow Way) started out giving a description of Patience, in the context of 2 Peter, according to Strong's concordance.

Patience-
Greek#5281 & # 5278, means cheerful endurance; constancy; enduring, patience, patient contiuance (waiting); and to undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere; abide, endure, take patiently, suffer, tarry behind.

From the dictionary...
Patience-The capacity of calm endurance.
Patient-1. Capable of bearing affliction with calmness 2. Persevering;constant. 3. Understanding 4. Forbearance

(Hmmm...not a very good description of me lately. I've been anxious, worried, concerned, lacking joy, etc, etc....)

Then the study used the following verses to see what the Bible says about patience.
Luke 8:10-15 (Today's New International Version)
10 He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, " 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.' [
11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Luke 21:16-19
16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

Romans5:1-4
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 15:4-5
4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,

2 Corinthians 6:4-5
4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

James 1:2-5
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

When I got to the middle of this last verse, I broke down and cried. The LORD convicted me, in HIS loving way, and gently reminded me that I'm having my faith tested (yes, again...even when we think we know that lesson, HE might remind us again) and that I must not give up, but to press forward and continue to be stretched. I stopped at that point and asked for forgiveness and thanked my HEAVENLY FATHER for HIS love and HIS patience with me. I thanked HIM for continually forgiving me when I come so short of HIS glory. I realized I'd allowed my joy to be taken away, and there was no reason for it. GOD hasn't left me, HE hasn't forsaken me. HE is here with me, wanting me to draw near and realize this is a trial to produce patience in me and that patience will mature me and make me complete.

Oh what a blessing that is!!!! I am filled with hope and joy again! I asked my dh for forgiveness for my lack of joy. I asked my children for forgiveness, too. What a tremendous weight lifted off my shoulders! Thank YOU, LORD!!!!

I encourage you to let HIS word saturate your very being.
Blessings until next time!

truly shocked and surprised...

I'm honestly shocked and surprised by all the comments I have received from so many about my blog. I truly didn't think anyone was reading anymore because I had been away for so long. I appreciate all the kind words and thoughts. I was probably still going to blog more as a journal and keep it private for my own use than open as it is now, if I didn't have followers. Thank you all for the encouragement and I'll definitely keep it open...I didn't want to make it private if you all are reading. Thanks!

So here's a couple things going on....

Yesterday morning I was looking at my arm...I thought...when and where did I get that bruise? then I realized it was blueberry juice on my arm that didn't come off from the night before. (I hadn't showered yet) LOL!

The cows will be leaving soon...Do you all know about the cows? Did I share that only on my FB? Hmmm...I don't recall. The owner has about 100 cows here in the pastures. The cows have been entertaining, needless to say. They come by the house and moo. LOL They often will wake me up in the morning. I would leave statuses on my FB about the cows...soon I was using cow words to describe my day, my mooooooooood...lol! (so you get the point)
But soon the cows will leave. :( The mamas will stay, but the calves will go to be fattened up in another pasture...from my understanding. Then the mamas will go soon for the winter. No cows to talk about. That will be sad. :(

Our house is still up for sale, but now under a new realtor. The old realtor's contract ran out. We didn't feel he did anything so we hired someone new. Hoping this person will be successful in getting it sold or at least leased out. Please keep us in your prayers.

ND is in autumn or as most of us say it, Fall. The leaves are starting to turn and fall of the trees...the ND winds certainly do their share to help! The sky is turning gray and the days are getting shorter. When we first got here it would get dark around 10pm, now it's about 8-8:30.

My sister was here for Labor Day weekend. We picked her up in Minneapolis. We stayed a few days and went to the Mall of America as well as found the house that they used for the Mary Tyler Moore show. They only used the outside as her apartment building. We also went downtown and found the Mary Tyler Moore statue and some of the other landmarks they use in the opening credits. It was fun. On the way back to ND, we stopped at Costco. How I miss Costcos! They only have Sam's here....used to like them, but much prefer Costcos instead! Got lots of stuff...and then we finished our way back to little rv on the prairie. My sister was here until Tuesday...then the kids and I drove back to MN to take her to the airport. I told her next time just fly into Fargo...I'll pay the difference. (well we've seen the MN sites now...lol)
We also went to Detroit Lakes while she was here and had a picnic on Labor Day. It was a beautiful day.

School is going well. We've taken a few weeks off with my sister's visit, etc. But next week we'll be going full steam ahead again.

Not much else to share today....
Remembering 9-11 eight years ago. Sad....
Remembering my friend, Debbie's birthday and the little guy Nicholas that use to live across the street from us, today. Happy...

Blessings until next time!

Taste of small town America

Yesterday, we went to the Ransom County Fair, taking me back to fond memories of my childhood. We moved a lot, but most the time we lived in small towns. When I was 11 we moved to Illinois for about a year and the big thing was "The Corn Festival" in August, then we had the fair in September. There were rides, and fair foods, and tons of corn.

Yesterday. I was taken back to all of that. Dh, the kids, and I watch the cattle competition for 4-H and FFA, and afterwards we ate a free dinner of pork sanwiches, fresh corn on the cob, chips, and german chocolate cake. We walked around the games and rides. We walked in the barns and saw the pigs, chickens, rabbits, goats, and lambs, and cows. We walked around the expo center and looked at all the 4-H projects-the homemade baked goods, jellies, and jams, the crocheted dollies, handmade quilts and other sewing projects, the projects on the crops of North Dakota along with other projects. It was nostalgic....it was the taste of small town Amercia...and it's starting to really draw me in. ;) (Actually, I really would love it, if our house in TX would sell, and I know I have something to live in that's warm here for the winter)

I don't think most people in America, get the real taste of small town America. They don't get or appreciate the small town life. They don't know how important small town America is to the rest of the United States. Unfortunately, it seems it becomes less and less important as we continue to give jobs away to foreign countries. :(

As I get older I understand the meaning of small town America and the heart of America. Big city life isn't the same as living in a tight knit community of a small town. Yeah, I have to drive a long way to the grocery store, to homeschool community events, etc, but when I get to think about the simple life and building relationships with honest, hardworking Americans, it makes it all worth while!

Blessings until next time!

Talk of the town....

Did I tell you how we're the talk of the town? or rather we were? LOL...
When dh pulled the boat onto the property, the folks around wondered if we knew something they didn't...lol....the boat is awfully big for around here and they did have that big flood this year. So now as we meet the area people, we just say we're the folks with the boat...and of course they all know who we are! LOL

I forgot to tell you, we aren't technically "in" town so we aren't part of the population. We live about 3 miles away. oh well....

Population 27 umm +5?

The population in the "town" we live in is 27 and I guess now +5 with the Santana's in town! LOL...

Town consists of a saloon...there's an old post office/grocery store, but they closed down a year or so ago because there wasn't enough mail going through. There's a campground, a one-room schoolhouse-also closed down a few years ago, and a museum. I think that's about it. There's far more cows, horses, and fields than there are people or buildings around here.



North Dakota is rather flat on the east side. There's the start of the Black Hills on the west side of the state...but where we're at it's mostly flat. Occasionally, you see a few hills and some trees, especially near a river. The big river is the Red River. The Red River runs from here all the way down to TX. I didn't realize until I moved here, that it runs up instead of downstream. Apparently that's a big deal here. (LOL...not sure why.) There's mostly grasslands. That's where we are at...the Sheyenne National Grasslands.



There's lots of ducks, geese, pheasants, grouse, turkeys and other wild birds here. There's also deer and coyotes. The property that we are on has all of these...which makes dh smile. :) He's looking forward to hunting season...needless to say. ;)



Can't think of anything else to say about our neck of the woods...ummm, I mean prairie...

my super star!!!

"Bill, Strange things are afoot a the Circle K" (from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures)
Um in this case in Fargo...lol... and really they aren't strange things, but GOD things.

Dh's job has been really interesting. By trade he is a piping designer and computer designs things like refineries and power plants. Since we've been here in Fargo, dh's job hasn't been doing that. He's been trying to get clients for the company and been a spokesperson for them.
Dh has found tremendous favor with the company and with many of the clients. :)

Recently, the Washington Post called the governor of ND and asked why the state has one of the lowest unemployment in the US. The governor said that there are several companies hiring, and suggested calling dh's company. When the Washington Post called the company, they wanted to do some interviews with some of the new employees. Dh was one of them!!! How cool is that?

Today, dh got to go make an ad for new recruits and interns for the company. While he was doing the taping, he did it in one take!!! The crew was impressed and called him One take Charlie! lol He was also complimented on his voice and was asked to narrate the whole video!

We know this is where GOD wants us, even though we miss TX! It's exciting to see what GOD is doing here and with our lives!

Blessings until next time!

Home to RV safely!

We got back to the RV yesterday around 3 pm. DD had a very dull birthday...sad...several bdays in a row have been a bummer for her and often we are on the road. This year we even had to do laundry and then went to the store and got a cake. :) Oh well...guess it's all part of becoming an adult!

Dh did surprise us by taking us to Kansas City, MO for a Royals game on Friday night. We got there Thursday, and my sister surprised us (well dh knew). We had a blast and also got to meet one of my Homeschool Lounge friends, Kelly and her precious little boys, that were just darling!

Other than that, not much new...house looked good, TX wasn't terribly hot in the less than 24 hours we were there...lol...um and we got the boat...which made dh very happy!

Blessings!

44 1/2...

Yesterday was my 44 1/2 birthday. It might not mean anything significant to any of you, but it meant something to me. My mom past away exactly on her 44 1/2 birthday. (That will be 26 years ago, June 29th).

I know that I'm washed in the blood of JESUS and I shouldn't have worried about it, but somehow it was always in the back of my mind...will I live longer than my mom? The devil aways has a way of nagging at us, keeping us from focusing on GOD's perfect will for our lives. It's his job...to kill, steal, and destroy! Thank goodness we are redeemed. Thank goodness that we have the victory through JESUS' death and resurrection!

If you don't have peace that passes all understanding, if fear, doubt, and insecurity have taken over your peace...turn to JESUS. HE is there with open arms to hold you and comfort you, to give you peace that passes all understanding.

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I bet you all are wondering about moving to Fargo, etc...I'll try to share that in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I would appreciate prayers. Our house in TX hasn't sold, and we really need to buy something before winter sets in here (which will come sooner than I would like...) So if you all don't mind, please pray. Thanks!

Blessings until next posting!