Gulp!

 Pray for me ya'll! Tomorrow morning I am going in to take an assessment test to see what classes I may need to take to pass my GED. I AM SO NERVOUS AND SCARED! The whole thing could take up to three hours. I'll be tested on everything. I'm mainly worried about the math, which has always been my weak point. Right now I can't even remember how to convert fractions, much less do a simple algebra problem. Yikes! Anyway, I'm gonna have a really busy weekend, but I will try and get on here at some point to give an update on how it all goes. Well, I hope and pray!

Birthdays!

 Ok, I admit it...I spend almost as much time with my pastor's family as my own. :D But seriously, who could stay away from such fun, sweet, awesome people?! Not me! Anyway, I have been at almost every birthday party for at least the past decade. Just about a week ago, two of the girls had their birthdays. Emily turned four and Anna turned eleven. Here are some pictures...of which I have many more of Emily's than Anna's. :/ That's just the way it goes sometimes.

I did her hair in a " big girl " messy bun.
SO CUTE! :D

Lemon cupcakes for the party - YUM!

Too excited to wait for the party to officially start!

Hello Kitty was the perfect theme :)

Patiently waiting to eat dessert and open presents ;)

My FAVORITE picture!
Emmy giving Mandie a thank you hug :)
CUTENESS!!!!!

 And then, Anna's peacock-themed party that we had later that evening:

Minus the glowing eyes, this is a really sweet Daddy-Daughter picture :)

THE END
:)

Mystical Fairyland

 Sorry I'm not keeping up on my postings everyone! I can't say I've exactly been all that busy, but I have been a little bit. I also haven't been feeling well off and on the last couple weeks. :( Anyway, it's been freezing cold here - literally! Twice in the last week we had frozen fog. It was SO pretty! :) Almost better than snow in my opinion, because you get the beauty without all the hassle. Here are some pictures, folks:

Reflections

 A few days ago I was at the library. We have a table there where people can drop off magazines that others can take for free to enjoy. As I browsed the contents, at first I didn't see much that interested me. Then my eye caught one that looked like a Christian magazine. Picking it up, I realized that it was a Latter-Day Saints ( Mormon ) one. Looking around, I saw that there were actually quite a few. Some were geared for adults, some for youth, one for children. I thought, " Hey, they might not believe the same as I do, but there might be some good articles in these. " I scooped up all of them. ( I know, kinda selfish...some I will probably return though. )
 I glanced through the children's magazine and one of the youth ones last night and am starting on another youth magazine today. Wow! I was really surprised. Apart from things like the Book of Mormon and how their church system is structured, there was a lot I agreed with. In fact, ever since last night, my heart has been rejoicing mightily. Not only did I agree with a lot of the material, a lot of it really spoke to me. There is a difference inside me already.
 Some of the things covered were: strengthening and keeping a good testimony, serving others, not getting caught up in worldly things ( be in the world, not of it ), forgiveness of sins, understanding grace, overcoming temptation and addictions, and so much more.
 One thing I remember off-hand that really stood out to me when they were discussing a newly revised book for Mormon youth was how God's standards have not changed, but the attacks of Satan have become more crafty and numerous and that was why they updated their book. So that today's youth could have help living up to God's unchanging standards against Satan's ever-changing attacks. There is more out there now to make one's faith and testimony waver than at any other time in history.
 Another thing that really made me think is how we tend to judge people who don't believe the same as we do. We make negative comments, jokes, and critisize ( even despise! ) those that have a different belief system, idea, or agenda than us. There is actually scripture about this. I never really took it in the spiritual sense before, but as I read my Bible last night, it jumped out at me.

 " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let him that eateth not judge him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. " Romans 14:1-4

 There is more to the chapter that is very good and continues on those same lines. While this can certainly pertain to what one prefers to eat in the natural sense, it is also typed in the spiritual, as all scripture is. Let us all be more aware of what we say and do and think. God is the Judge, not us. Everyone is at a different level. Let God deal with each of us as He sees fit. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit that leads and guides to ALL truth. God may use us to help someone see the error of their way, but we must deal with that person in love and with a Christ-like spirit. It can be hard to do! But pray. Above all else, prayer changes things when a situation seems impossible. Many times with a sincere prayer, God will move without us having to do or say a thing. That is so amazing! :)

God Bless!

An Update On My Boring Life :P

 Ok, so maybe not boring, but I haven't done too many extraordinary things yet this year. :D

 Ahem. Moving on.

 I love, love, love the re-design on my blog! Hope no one minds me giving myself a little pat on the back. :D Not that I'm being prideful or anything...* little laugh *. Took me quite awhile to get just the right stuff to re-do it. Many thanks to Google Images! A little copy/paste here, a little save to computer there... hehe. Oh, and did I mention A LOT of searching?! I may change it up here and there a little, but I think I'll be sticking with this design for awhile! Especially after how long it took me to get it "perfected".
 Well, I have been doing more than just figuring out how to update my blog style. Most of it revolves around doing dishes. Which would be the result of me creating new, healthy meals for our family to enjoy. I've had some pretty great successes! Who knew that being Gluten-free, Sugar-free, AND Low-Carb could be so yummy?! I'm sure a lot of folks out there would be like, " WHAT?! That isn't even possible. " Well, it is! I've made Pesto Spaghetti Squash, Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Squash ( with a Panko look-alike topping! ), Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Loaded Baked Cauliflower ( instead of potato )...and the list goes on! All these veggies might be scaring some of you, but if you only tried it, you would understand what a yummy and satisfying substitute these are for the glutinous and carb-dense norms. Not only that, but I've managed quite economically too.
 Other than that, I mostly spend my days reading or doing stuff online...ho-hum. I have put in an application for a job. I need to do more. Being broke is not fun!
 Sorry for such a lame post everyone! It is hard to figure out what to say sometimes...
 I do have this really funny picture from a few weeks ago. Took it at church. It was going to be this adorable picture of brother and little sister smiling. Then as I snapped the picture...achoo! Dare ya not to laugh every. single. time. you. look.!!! :D

 See?!!! I think this is the best picture I've ever taken! If you know what I mean... This is seriously epic! :D