John Piper for President

Some Ideas for a Better Life

So, we just returned from a week-long driving trip through North Carolina. It was great fun. We made lots of memories with friends and family, but I'll get to that later--namely because I have no pictures at present to upload while I'm at work. :)

I did, however, do lots of thinking--25 in the car will do that to a person.

I've always been practical, and these are a few things that I thought of to ease the tension, stress, and general frenzied state that many of us live in. Keep in mind, these are just a couple ideas that I have found make my life a little more enjoyable and stress free.

1) a) If it breaks--fix it.

1) b) If it wears out--replace it.

1) c) If it isn't being used and could be--donate it.

1) d) If it isn't being used and can't be--trash it.

2) Make the bed everyday. As a little girl, I was punished for not making my bed. Grudgingly, though, it instilled in me an appreciation for what a difference a made bed can be in a room. I'm grateful that Kevin and I agree on this--of course, that's not to say that there aren't days when we don't make it until the afternoon... :)

3) Drive a clean car. Again, I'm not the best with this. Over the last week, however, I did look more and more forward to cleaning our car upon arriving home. It didn't take much--a bottle of Windex, some paper towels, and thirty minutes did the trick. Looked like new--well, almost! :)

4) When making purchases for home decor, ask yourself, "Am I willing to dust this?" Sounds basic, right? I can't tell you, though, how many frivolous purchases I've saved myself from by asking this question.

5) When driving, do little else. We should have kept a tally of how many drivers we saw whose eyes were alternating between their cell phone and the road in front. You know, texting, talking, checking the weather, ordering a pizza--all those things normally done while flying down the road at 70 mph.

And that's all for now. I'm not perfect, but I do love to analyze. May these bits and pieces from my life enrich yours as well. Please also feel free to comment and add your own! :)

This isn't a political endorsement...

...just an excited political science/history teacher in the proverbial candy store.

Phew!

It's been quite the week...I've been to the doctor three times (a different one each time) and finally was given the diagnosis of strep throat for which (the correct) medication was prescribed. Yesterday, I turned twenty five years old (old? nah!), and today I made my first trip to the grocery store in about two weeks. My poor husband has been on his own (literally and figuratively) this last week as our pantry dwindled more and more. All I could do was watch from the couch....

Thankfully, however, those days are behind us (for now), and we're on the mend! Praise the Lord! :)

A couple pictures:

With the walls painted, it was time to do some hanging...Nice touch, eh?

And not just hanging pictures and shelves...curtains! I'm a huge fan of windows--the bigger the better. We're fortunate to have two windows in our bedroom. They don't, however, lend that homey feel until they're hemmed in something to make them more cozy. I wasn't an immediate fan, but this shade of orange did grow on me...What do you think? It's called "spice."

Fall is definitely upon us. Though the temperatures still have some catching up to do, the colors are coming! This is the view from our office window.

I love the fall colors! :-)

It's always a big deal to me when we can afford fruit. Would that we could grow our own, and maybe one day we will, but for now, we buy picked for us. What beautiful colors we have to enjoy as we eat!

And that's it from this end of randomness....Until next time! :-)

Lydia's Birthday Gift

My bride has a birthday coming up on Tuesday, but she will not officially get her gift until about a couple of weeks. However, she did get a preview today:

(Yes, we hate country, and, no, we do not consider them part of that genre.)

Worst Field Trip...Ever

You know, when you spend weeks organizing a field trip with your social studies colleagues, you hope to open up the paper the next day to read the headlines "8th Grade Class Relives The Civil War During Fort Sander's Reenactment" and you pray that you do not receive headlines saying "Mystery Illness Sends 40 Students To Hospital During 8th Grade Field Trip." Unfortunately (as the hyperlink suggests) my colleagues and I received the latter. 

However, I am on the other hand elated to read this headline: Jury Finds [O.J.] Simpson Guilty. I'm just pretending that there was a 14 year transition time to get his affairs in order before he was arraigned for life in prison for the murder of his wife and her "friend". While I was in college, I took special interest in O.J. Simpson and Double Jeopardy protections found in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. I somehow hoped for a loop hole that if evidence was incriminating and long enough, that a mistrial could be filed. Yet, everyone knows that this is not the case. 

...I pray that Simpson never sees the sunshine again. This is truly justice delayed.