This week...

This past week was fabulously fun!  I got to be creative!
This weeks activities included:
1.  Landscaping-  Wes and I started landscaping last Saturday.  We are not done yet, as you can see in the pictures, but it is a great start, and I'm excited to actually see some progress.  This past spring we decided we hated our landscaping, so we chopped it all down...and never got around to replacing it, until this week.

 

This was our yard before...

 

This is our new landscaping.  As you can see, I still have some planting to do.  One of this weeks projects:)

  The side of our house also got a bit of TLC.  This was more of a dramatic change, but I'm slightly more embarrassed of the "before" pic!  ha!  Pretty sure this has irises in the spring, and I bought a lot of tulip bulbs to plant this week!  Yay!

I made invitations for my cousin, Missy's shower.  I wanted to do something that matched her nursery theme.  Thanks to my mother-in-law, Libby, these didn't cost a thing!  Yay for her stash of office supplies!  I accidentally mis-spelled her last name in my first round of invites!  dope!  I was sooo bummed; I nearly cried.  Luckily, Missy's nice and said I could send them to the people who didn't share her last name and probably wouldn't notice...unless they read my blog...:)  I'm not going to lie, I'm kinda proud that I made this in Microsoft Word with a very limited selection of clip art! :)

batman cake

I got to make a cake and cupcakes for my adorable nephew's 3rd birthday party.  I was pretty pleased with them.  The one thing I was disappointed with was the fact that the dark blue icing colored the yellow color flow on the cupcakes overnight.  You live, you learn!

This is Zane meeting Batman for the first time:)  What a lucky little boy!

 The costume my husband is wearing was also one of this week's projects.  Some of the stuff was bought at the store and altered, and other parts of the costume I made.  I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of a fan of semi-homemade costumes.  Below is a picture of another thrown together costume...

Spartan Costumes for an SNL themed birthday party

Wes also had to wear women's clothing for this costume.  I'm such a nice wife for 1.  making him wear the costumes, and 2. for announcing it to the world.  He's such a good sport though:)  Love him!!!

The party was awesome.  Complete with party favors and batman masks for everyone!  In fact, it was so great that when it was all over Zane said, "I want to have another birthday party!!!"  

Look at how happy the little guy is!  Cute and shy as we sing happy birthday to him:)

My other PRECIOUS nephews with Batman.  Little Brandt seems to like Batman:)  Jaxon was a bit afraid at first...but loved it.  He kept saying, "Hi man," as he waved and followed batman around.  So cute!  He also loved my cupcakes!  whoo!  Sweet success!  And, don't you just love their batman shirts!?  Tiffany said it was just an image off of Google image and an iron on transfer!  Genius!

 

He's pretty much my superhero too:)

*melt*  This picture makes my day.  Do you see the mutual love? :)  They were having so much fun! We are so blessed:)

This coming week's calendar is not quite as packed, but I'm sure I'll come up with something!  My plans are to work on the house, which might just mean cleaning it and keeping it that way...like I DIDN'T do last week:)

...or maybe I'll try to take over the world:)

Hope yours is grrrreat!

And so begins another great year...

There is this new approach to health called holistic health. It claims that in order to be healthy the areas of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental need to be addressed and cared for. I’m not going to lie, I don’t really believe this is new news, as the bible addresses all of those issues! I would, however, reorder them and rank the spiritual realm as most important. I want my blog to be an adventure of the ins and outs of my days as I learn new things in all areas of my life (sweet life skills!!!), and as I strive to become a better wife, friend, daughter, sister, servant, etc. For me, and I believe for everyone, when it really comes down to it, growing in my relationship with Christ is the most important thing I can do for all of my relationships as well as for myself.

The one sure way to grow in relationship with God is to get into His word. Now, I haven’t always been the best at this. Actually, I’m still not even close to good at it! I have been a Christian for a long time, and reading my bible daily has always been my biggest struggle. However, I have found accountability to be a huge blessing. This is why I PRAISE THE LORD that BSF started today!!!

If you have not heard of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), it is an international program that teaches the bible in depth. I believe it takes 8 years to do all of the studies! Each week consists of reading the bible and answering questions daily, going to a discussion group and lecture over what you read, and reading notes (commentary). Yes, it is intense, and sometimes it may feel repetitive, but Wes and I (and the whole Stewart family would agree with me, I’m sure), feel it is the best tool for personal study we’ve found to truly understand the bible and imprint the words and stories in our hearts and minds. I’m not going to say it is always fun. I was in a funk at the beginning of last year and remember several times where I didn’t want to go at all…and sometimes I didn’t even enjoy it. However, looking back at the year, I see how God brought me back to Him through my desire to uphold my reputation as responsible in my eyes as well as in others’. (What a terrible reason to study the bible!! Thank God He knows how to reach us, though! Ha!)

This year we are studying Isaiah! How exciting to study the man whose very name means Jehovah saves/God is salvation! Our lecture leader said the message of Isaiah was something like this (summarized): There is only hopelessness in human endeavors that promote significance through earthly pleasures and significance and totally neglect God. The only remedy is to trust in God and his redemption. I’m greatly looking forward to it!

Now that you’ve read my plug for BSF, if you’re interested in Springfield there is are two meetings for women (Wednesday at 9:10 am, Mondays at 6:45pm) and one for men (Monday at 6:50). They run for the duration of the school year, the summers are off. If you are not in this area, it is an international ministry, so check to see if there is one near you!  You can't just show up, though!  There are introduction classes once a month.  If you are interested, contact me or a leader in your area:)

Thanks for reading!

Have a stupendous day!!!

HI!

Hi!

So, this is my first post:) I don’t know what to say, other than I’m really excited to get this whole blog thing started, and you have to start somewhere! It is my hope that this blog is not only a way that family and friends can see what’s actually going on in my life, but also a tool that I can use to remember the fun details that are so easily forgotten with time. It has been a few years since I’ve really had to express myself through writing, so you’ll have to bear with me!

One warning I might add: I have tons of hobbies, and interests and am always learning new things. Because of that, I have a feeling this blog is going to be quite random! Just like my life!

That is all! Have a BLESSED day!!