Thirteen things I miss about living in the city...

Even thought I have now lived in this small farming community for eighteen months, these are some of the things I am still trying to get used to going without...

1. Taco Bell

2. Target

3. My Family

4. My Friends (especially Mia & Hil)

5. Monday night Bible study

6. The mall

7. Restaurants open late (sometimes you just need a snack at midnight, but down here- you better know before 10p so you can make it to Sonic before it closes!)

8. Good Mexican food, even with more ethnicity in the area we live, I have not found any great food.

9. Stores to shop at (Ross, Barnes & Noble, Office Max)- Down here you pretty much have to take what you can get at Wal-Mart...

10. Being able to run to the store if you forgot something- not having to plan to get it in two weeks when we go back to town...

11. Cheaper gas prices (our town is typically 10-15 cents higher, even though it's the same chain)

12. This View...

13. Did I mention my family and friends???... (sometimes the loneliness can be hard to cope with...)

Check out some other Thursday Thirteens today! :-)

Happy First Anniversary- Surprise Style!

My husband surprised me with a wonderful anniversary weekend!

We ended up at a hotel in Cripple Creek, CO! I loved it! The hotel had just been remodeled, all new amenities, even a flat screen TV on the wall (I especially liked this, since we can't watch TV in bed at home!)

The other nice thing is that the casinos are all smoke free- what a difference! The last time we went, we could hardly wait to leave- even sitting in any of the restaurants was pure torture to our allergy-prone eyes & sinuses! But this time was way better, and no hurting eyes at the end of the night!

But that was just the beginning of the surprise! Next, he tells me we have tickets to a show (and I'm thinking, when did Cripple Creek get a movie theatre?) No way- he took me to see a PLAY! And I might add- it was great!!! We saw Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream", and for small town theatre- I was totally impressed! (And I think G even enjoyed himself a bit too :-)

Then on Sunday, we drove down to Colorado Springs to go to church, and then ate lunch at our favorite pizza place- Fargo's. It's a really cool place- an old Victorian house (huge house) and all the women staff wear floor length skirts and Victorian high-neck laced blouses. And they have these huge mirrors that have light-up numbers on them- that's how they call out orders. It is a one-of-a kind place! I even got in my veggies for the day! :-)

Then, we went for a ride in the mountains on the way back to our hotel. Check out these beautiful still-snow-covered mountains! We are so blessed to have an awesome God who created these amazing sights just for us!

This one is overlooking Cripple Creek. The picture does not do the view justice- the sheer vastness of the mountain range is breathtaking!

And now, as I sit here writing this, we shared some of our Wedding Cupcakes that we saved from last year! (My mom has a Seal-A-Meal, and they seemed to be pretty well protected from the freezer, and while they were edible, they were SWEET!!) But oh the cream cheese mint toppers were still delish!!! :-)

But, alas, the real world has now come crashing back... tomorrow is back to work but I have a wonderful weekend full of wonderful memories to take with me.

So, that is what I am grateful for this Gratituesday!

What are you grateful for today? Hop on over to HeavenlyHomemakers and share!

Surprise Weekend...

My wonderful hubby told me around 9:30 this morning that I had to be packed and ready to leave our house by 2p today, and that we won't be back until Monday! Hmmm. I have no idea what he's got planned- he's good at keeping secrets! :-) ( I do know where ever we are going has wireless- so I might have time to update later! :-)
What a wonderful Anniversary weekend this is going to be!

I may never eat out again...

Well- maybe never is too harsh- but I WILL be more mindful of what I order out...

See what I'm talking about here...

Scary...Very Scary...

But here's something to help you choose wisely when eating out!

Tonight we are eating "out" but not at a restaurant- G and I organized a Potluck Cook-off at our church. FUN & YUM!!! (More later... :-)

Thirteen things on or around my desk at work...

1. My Tea Mug

2. My "stash" of Stash Chai Tea

3. 3 live plants

4. Four calendars (my desk pad one, my one on the wall with cool pictures (Ansel Adams), my page-a-day, and a perpetual one with scripture cards)

P.S Was not intentional to number correlate these last two either, I guess that's just how my mind works! :-)

5. Phone

6. Computer
7. My very interesting, topic of conversation anytime someone

enters my office, chair :-)

(Right now I'm just using the ball itself- not on it's base.)

8. Year old pictures of 5 nieces (from our wedding- I need some updated pictures!)

9. Way more than 13 files that need to be worked on today (yesterday was more like it...)

10. Picture of my one-and-only :-)

11. Arbonne Hand Cream- can't live without it!!!

12. Bible (I keep one in my drawer- it comes in handy to read when I'm upset or the network is down, and also for finding passwords- which I have to change every 30 days!)

13. Holiday decoration box under my desk with my office decorations (why haul them home to put up when the box will fit, nicely out of the way, under my desk? :-)

Check out the Thursday Thirteen hub!

Gratituesday... The Ultimate Connection

Tonight it was my turn to meet Chelf. We had a grand time, me, Mia & Chelf (and our husbands and Mia's two girls). It amazed me how a few total strangers could sit down and visit like we were old friends, and then I remembered- hey we're not just friends- we're related! By the greatest bond two people, two complete strangers could ever be related by- we're brothers and sisters in Christ! Christ paid the ultimate price so that we could call these strangers family! WOW! So now that I've met another brother and sister- I am so glad we did! We had a nice long visit (and some laughs over Mackenzie's antics :-), and a yummy dinner at Black Eyed Pea. And even if I never see them again, (which we have already discussed trying to get together in July, hopefully (Sally & Jayme hope you'll be in on it too!) I know that there is something that we will share forever, besides the few pictures and laughs we had tonight, we share a Savior and a Heavenly Father who loved us so much that he gave His life/His Son so that we could go anywhere in this world and have family waiting for us there! What an awesome gift (and responsibility!)

Here's a couple of pics of our visit.

Three Bloggy buddies!

Mackenzie's favorite person! (She barely said hello to me tonight before she was asking "Where's G??" :-)

So this Gratituesday, I am grateful for all the family members God has brought into my life!

What are you thankful for? Join us over at HeavenlyHomemakers to share your Gratituesday!

For SALLY (and all you other Moms too...)

A newborn's conversation with God

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless ?'
God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.'
The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.'
God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'
Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?'
God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'
'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?'
God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.'
'Who will protect me?'
God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'
'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.'
God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'
God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.'