Thank You Michelle Bachmann!

I found this link on MN Representative Michelle Bachman's website (great site as well!). The Gas Buddy link provides info on gas prices in the USA and Canada.

Are you on a "treasure hunt" each day?

A friend of mine said that she hoped I am finding "jewels of a joy in each day."

I love that! What a great "treasure hunt" each day can be!

God has certainly been helping us walk through these trying times and when I look, those "jewels" are definitely there. What a blessing!

Sometimes less is more...I think this says it all.

My Fine Print

The views expressed by outside links are not necessarily those of the author of this blog. In fact the views expressed by anyone other than, well, me may not be accurate or even logical. However they are always welcome to be expressed. And just to make it look like there is even more “fine print” allow me to repeat myself. The views expressed by outside links are not necessarily those of the author of this blog. In fact the views expressed by anyone other than, well, me may not be accurate or even logical. Ok, so sometimes I am wrong but come on, you gotta admit I’m funny!!

** All you need to do to read this is hold down the "Control" key and then scroll up or down to change the size of the words.

Remember the day's blessings. Forget the day's troubles.

I wanted to combine two great finds today on my blog. First, the title of this post. Ahh yes, I think we could all use that little reminder each day!

Second, my family is going through some pretty dark and trying months. I will expand upon this at a later time - when it isn't almost 1:00 in the morning (I know, I know, mom, I'm going to bed right after this!!) Anyway, we just had our 3rd wedding anniversary and it was a little overshadowed by the situation we are currently going through. However, I feel this is perhaps the most, if not one of most important trials of my life. One with immeasurable consequenses for my husband, our children and all of our family and even friends. So tonight I wanted to spend a few minutes searching online and see what I could find that might help me be the wife God calls me to be each and every day, regardless of what that day may bring.

While the information I found does not pertain to the specific situation I mentioned that our family currently faces I do believe it's principles (rooted in the Scriptures - which I find always helps) are not only timeless but often forgotten or simply ignored in our busy lives (me included!!!).

And to my precious single friends (I'm sure you won't but trust me and enjoy it because you will never have this time again); to you I will be frank and say that I think even you will find it worth reading. In my short time (however, Marty and I agree that we have really been married in dog years - really) as a wife I realized that I have been in training for my wifely habits, attitudes, etc. all my life. Perhaps reading some of these can give you an idea for what you can be doing to help prepare you to be the wife your husband and family need, the wife God calls you to be. Or if you never get married, the women and mentor you will be to those God places in your life.

This is only one section but I encourage you to take some time and eventually check them all out. I will to.


Godly Wife: Are You Drawing Him to You with Your Speech?

By MInTheGap on Jan 18, 2007 in Husbands and Wives and Noteworthy

One of the greatest tools that we have to effect the way others feel is our tongue. Many a leader has attributed his ability to weather the toughest times in his life because of people willing to give encouraging words.

The Bible tells us that we are to be building one another up with our words– strengthening each other, bringing people to a closer relationship with Christ. As one flesh before God, this command is magnified in that we should be ones that draw each other with our speech.

It’s no secret that women talk more then men, and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Bible has more to say about how women use their tongue in marriage than men.

Godly Wife, how do you use your tongue? Do you use it to attract or to repel? Let’s look at some passages about both:

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. - Song of Solomon 7:11

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. - Proverbs 12:4

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. - Proverbs 14:1

A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. - Proverbs 19:13

A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. - Proverbs 27:15

What is the goal of how you speak to your husband? Is it to make him more attracted with you or is it to somehow boost yourself. How does your husband react to having conversation with you? Does it seem that he wants to spend more time with you, wants to be more intimate with you, or does he tend to want to spend more time away.

Men are not as simple as some women think that they are– they take a lot more verbal abuse than you think because they internalize it. Just think of the relationship you could have if you start or continue to use words that draw each other closer!

Question Idea taken from Questions for a Godly Wife

Article Series - Godly Wife

1. Godly Wife: Is He Your Master?
2. Godly Wife: Who Are You Seeking to Please?
3. Godly Wife: Are You His Helper or His Obstacle?
4. Godly Wife: Does Your Husband’s Heart Trust in You?
5. Godly Wife: How Do You Handle When He is Wrong?
6. Godly Wife: How do you Handle Disagreements?
7. Godly Wife: How Do You Receive Correction?
8. Godly Wife: Are You Drawing Him to You with Your Speech?
9. Godly Wife: How Does Your Husband Grow?
10. Godly Wife: Who Trains the Children?
11. Godly Wife: How Do You Make Your Husband Feel?
12. Godly Wife: Are You Intimately Available?
13. Godly Wife: Are You Helping Your Husband to Greater Heights?
14. Godly Wife: Do You Speak To Your Husband with Flattering Words?
15. Godly Wife: Are You Openly Appreciative of Your Husband?
16. Godly Wife: Are You Keeping Your Wedding Vows?
17. Godly Wife: Do You Dominate Your Husband?
18. Godly Wife: Have You Cut the Cord?

I hope these words touch you as they do me.

"Sometimes He Calms the Storm" by Scott Krippayne

All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn't mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child

He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we're shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place

WANTED: Recipies and/or Cooking Tips!

Please share your (preferably simple) yummy recipes and cooking tips!

Who Said It? (No "googling" allowed!)

“Yes, I changed my mind. I’d like to believe I'm smarter today than I was yesterday.”

A Video Ode to My Dad

I love you dad! I can't thank you enough for moving up here. I wish I could have had a relationship with your dad but I'm grateful my children are able to with you. There really isn't a way I can express to you how much you mean to me and our family. Thank you for being my dad.

Happy Father's Day!
- your little girl

A day often forgotten - June 14 Flag Day

Please take a moment to read the text from the 2008 Proclamation by the President of the United States of America.


has been our national symbol for 231 years, and it remains a beacon of freedom wherever it is flown. Since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as our flag in 1777, it has stood for freedom, justice, and the resolve of our Nation.

When Francis Scott Key saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry in 1814, he believed that liberty would triumph. The flag that inspired Key to write our National Anthem still energizes and emboldens the American spirit today. As our Nation faces the challenges of a new era, Old Glory reminds us that liberty can prevail over oppression.

Since the first days of our Republic, Americans have flown the flag to show their pride and appreciation for the freedoms they enjoy in this great Nation. Every day, Americans pledge their allegiance to the flag of the United States, and our troops carry it before them as they defend the liberties for which it stands.

On Flag Day and during National Flag Week, we remember those in uniform whose courage and sacrifice inspire us here at home. We also remember the rich history of one of our oldest national symbols and reflect on our duty to carry our heritage of freedom into the future.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as "Flag Day" and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as "National Flag Week" and calling upon all citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2008, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 8, 2008, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by flying the Stars and Stripes from their homes and other appropriate places. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

What if...

What if you could travel in time. Where would you go, who would you want to meet and why?

Well, where do I begin?

I've thought a lot about it and I just can't figure out how to give an adequate update since my last post. There has just been too much going on. And frankly some pretty serious things. But in keeping with my extremely under appreciated sense of humor here is my pictorial montage. Enjoy!