'Serving Time'

I didn't get to moving around too well this morning, but I did catch the end portion of a documentary on OWN called 'Serving Time'. Sooo good. I will have to try to watch the entire documentary some time. Its about prison inmates volunteering for a hospice for other inmates who are dying. Very touching and humbling. With my job I am seeing more and more people in hospice or on the verge of it, and it really gets you thinking about things. This past spring I sat vigil for the first time at a family member's passing and its really life-changing. This person lived a life, and touched so many people, and now here these people are with you in your final moments. I can only hope that I touch enough people's lives that they will want to be with me in my final moments.

1) Tonight I'm going to attempt to make home-made chicken pot pies for dinner. Wish me luck! I'm needing to use up some Bisquick before it expires and potentially kills my husband, lol. Seriously, I'm not the only one whose heard that can happen with expired Bisquick right?

2) So I've started this new thing where I'm trying to get in shape before I get pregnant. My husband and I always said we wanted to be married for 5 years before we started trying to have children, and it'll be 4 years in October. I figured if I really start working at it now I *should* be able to get there. Though I may get a little depressed if I get in shape and then get knocked up and chubby? Oh well--either way, I really think it'll help my body out and hopefully ease my pregnancy if I'm in good shape beforehand. I hope.

Happy is as happy does...

"You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace." ~~Ernie Banks

With the 4th of July past us now, I've been thinking about how next month is AUGUST. Can you believe it? The kids will be going back to school soon. (Yay! And I don't even have kids yet lol.) This year has really flown by. In about 3 months I will officially have been at my "new job" for a year. This past year has really been such a blessing in so many ways for me and my little family.  I am ever so amazed at the good that can happen in your life if you just have faith in God and put your life in his hands. In the past year both me and my husband have left behind old, unsatisfying jobs and come into new jobs that we are very happy in and hope to stay long-term in. These new jobs have given us so much more time together, too, so our relationship has even grown. We had such little time together before (we worked separate shifts for as long as we were married).

My family went through a few tragedies this past year, too, but we made it through. The biggest lesson I have learned this past year is that God won't throw anything your way that you can't handle. So anytime I feel like I'm being handed something that I don't think I can handle, I know that either I can handle it, or it will be taken care of in another way before I even get a chance to take care of it (and yes, that's happened to me recently!)

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way: when August starts coming around I still feel like a kid--time for fresh beginnings and time to tackle the world and all those projects I've been wanting to do. Its weird that I still think of August as this time, and not New Years. Is this something that changes with age?

With autumn comes some of my absolute favorites: scarves, sweaters, corduroy, beautiful falling leaves, long walks in the woods, fall festivals, the sweet earthy smells of autumn, cooler weather, pumpkin pie lattes...oh, I could go on and on. I am looking forward to doing  a lot of crafting this autumn (I want to make more Christmas gifts this year), and spending time with my family.

4th of July

Photo credit

Did everyone have a good Independence Day?

It's sort of a big day for my family. We *usually* start the day off with the 5k, but we missed that this year. Boo----no free t-shirt for me this year!
Then around noon we all line up for the parade. Some years I'm in the parade, others I'm an onlooker--this year I was an onlooker. It was a good parade this year, too. At the very end there was a couple walking a pair of donkeys, and on the donkeys' rear-ends were little signs that said "the end". Very cute and clever!
Then its off for lunch---they serve pork burgers and other foods in the park and they are a tradition for us. And then later once its dark we all meet up again for fireworks. Big day but so much fun. And it wasn't too hot this year,  nor did we get rained out again like some years. Thank you Lord!