Super Mario Brothers Rule!

Donnie has a Super Nintendo that him and I play all the time. ( I know...this is very old school...but very fun) I'm hooked on Super Mario Brothers 1, but I can't beat it!!!! I can get to level 7-3, but that's it. I could not beat it when I was little...can't beat it now. sniff sniff sniff. However, I am determined to beat it! Does anyone have any tips? Does anyone even remember this game? hahahaha As if you need proof, the picture was taken tonight, with me highly into the game.

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

Recently I feel that there is a war going on between people saying "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays". Most of the media I'm exposed to is from a Christan world view (blogs, radio) and are very into the whole "Merry Christmas" thing.

As for me, I say "Happy Holiday's", and this is why. This time of year is full of holidays, thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, just to name a few in the Christan tradition. So when I say happy holidays to someone I have all the bases covered, not just Christmas. Also, I would feel wishing someone a Merry Christmas on Nov. 29 is a bit extreme. So it's "Happy Holidays" for me!

However, if you disagree with me, you can wear this t-shirt, I found here.

Tutoring Fun!

On Tuesday nights I tutor at City Mission where I used to work. I have the joy of picking up Caci and Jami, taking them to City Mission, tutoring them, and taking them home. This whole process brings much joy to me. No matter how tried I am, or if I have had a bad day tutoring always makes me smile.

I have known Caci and Jami for many years now, and they actually sat at the head table at our reception. Caci is the older of the two with the dark hair, and Jami is the one standing. These pictures were taken at my wedding reception by Dionne Haglund of The Shooting Gallery photography

Sermon Notes

Today at church they started a new series called "Holiday Hurdles", and Sunday was on Anxiety.

It is said that people worry about things that never happen more than they worry about anything else. But Jesus says "Why are you so afraid? You have so little faith!" Matthew 8.24

Don't forget Jesus-Jesus is the best means to attack your anxieties

How do we get rid of anxiety?

Remember to pray the word of God

Remember specifically what God had done for you in the past

Remember to invite others who have faith in Jesus in your storm

Black Friday at the Zoo

Donnie and I needed to get some fresh air today, so we decided to go to the Detroit Zoo. My mom got us a membership a couple of month ago. Because the weather was cooler there were not many people there, and the animals were really active. The polar bears, Donnie favorite, were just playing and having a great time. We got some great pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I should be in Ohio...

Well..the plan was to spend this weekend in Ohio, like I have spent almost 100% of my past thanksgiving. However, my stomach had other plans. Needless to say 7-Up has become my best friend. Therefore, Donnie and I are home in our apartment this thanksgiving. However, we are going over to his foster parents for dinner tonight. I hope my stomach will be okay with that!

Ghost of Cockroach Past

So when I posted the picture of our living room on Monday, I noticed something. There is ball of light beside our red rug. Because my hubby is into ghost stories, and things of that nature, the first thing I said was "its an orb"

People in the ghost hunting world say that this is the energy of a spirit. I found some examples online.

However, my hubby and I believe that what we got in this picture is the ghost of cockroach past. The other night a cockroach had come to visit us. Living in the ghetto this is not uncommon. Although to people living in the ghetto a cockroach is the most feared bug in the world. Seeing that I'm not from the ghetto, a bug is a bug in my opinion. I'm not one to kill bugs (who would support their families?), however Donnie was convinced that we had to kill it. So he killed it, and now we have the ghost of the cockroach in our apartment! See what happens when you kill bugs?!

Home Sweet Home

My hubby gets home from work around 2:30, and I get home around around 5. Well...when I walked into our apartment today it was clean!!!!!!!! Over the weekend we TRASHED our apartment. Even I would say it was bad. So after my dear hubby got home from work he cleaned!! He's the best!!!

Life in the Backseat

Today Donnie and I spent a great deal of time in the car. To church, to my parents, to the hospital, to the church Donnie was raised in, to Peggy's house, to the strip club (I'll explain a bit latter) and home.

A good deal of this I was in the backseat. While we were driving my car, Mint, Donnie was driving because he knew the area better. I was in the backseat so the guest in the car could have the front seat. Seeing that Mint only has two doors I did not want to have a guest crammed in the back.

Its funny how things are different in the backseat. I did not have to worry about driving so I was really able to pay attention to my surroundings, and the other people in the car. Also, I kept quite because it was hard for people in the front to hear me. So I got to do a great deal of listening.

I got to hear Peggy tell all about what goes on at the church that Donnie grew up in. The gossiping, true or not, has kept Peggy away from the church for a long time. I think that is so sad. Gossip can destroy a church.

I also got to hear Georgie (who was a drug user/dealer until he just recently got out of rehab) tell stories of the ghetto, until we dropped him off at the strip club. (side note: Donnie and I did NOT go in the strip club...I just wanted to make that clear) (Another side note: Georgie was going there to see about fixing a man's truck...Donnie wanted to make that clear) I think this was the first time that Mint had ever been to a strip club!

How different life is in the backseat (especially living in the ghetto). How different life is when we are quite, listen and watch. I hope I remember this lesson for awhile.

Sermon Notes

Today's sermon was Guilt Driven

Its amazing the power that guilt can have on us. God wants us to handle guilt the right way. People can be guilt driven, and (or) guilt ridden

Guilt Driven- Always doing things to avoid feeling guilt.

Guilty Ridden- Feeling overly guilty, often times for things that are not even your fault.

What do we do about guilt?

Jesus is the one who sets us free from guilt. "There is no commendation for those who are in Christ." Romans 8.1

Be in Christ-One must have a relationship with Jesus to be set free from guilt

Live Free-After you know that Jesus has set you free, you must CHOOSE to live guilt free

Fill your life with God's truth- We will make mistakes, but don't carry the guilt with you.

Have mercy on others-Forgive others as God forgives you

Visit the Oaks website here!

Another Crazy Day!

Today I had to work, but after work we were planning on going to my parents house to celebrate my mom's birthday. So I made my mom a snowman cake, made her a card, and wrapped her gift. However on the way to my parents, my dad called to say that he had taken my mom to the hospital because she was having chest pains! We ended up just heading back home. What a crazy night!

UPDATE: I talked to my mom last night and they are keeping her in the hospital till at least Monday to run test. She says she is feeling better, so that is good. Donnie and I are going to visit her after church today. I wonder if we can bring the cake to her room? :-)

UPDATE: My mom is out of the hospital and at home now. She has to go back in on Monday so they can run more test. She is happy to be home!

Funky Friday

Today has been a funky day. The weather has been icky yet again. I wish the sun would come out! On a good side I did not have to work today! Here is a low down on what has happened so far today.

This morning when I got up I stubbed my toe on Donnie's suitcase that is in the kitchen. I did this about 10 hours ago and my toe is still throbbing. I'm convinced I broke my baby toe. However, I am able to move it, so Donnie says its not broken. Walking is very painful.

Then around 2pm my stomach starting killing me! The past few days my stomach has been having issues. I took some tums, and I do feel a bit better now.

Donnie came home and went straight to bed, for a nap. When I came in to check on him he was snuggled with all our bears. How cute! Amanda is the horse, and the most recent addition to the bed. Cuticus in the care bear in the middle, and I had him for a very long time. Bobo is the polar bear, and is Donnie's.

Then all of us took some family pictures together. I think I had a bit too much fun with this.

Tonight we are going out for Mexican! (we have a 50% off coupon for our favorite place!) I love Mexican!

Have a great weekend!

Frugal Friday

I love to drink lemonade, and I got hooked on Crystal Light's On The Go Lemonade. I love it because all you have to do is pour it in a glass of water, stir, and you have lemonade. However, this is REALLY expensive. In my area its almost $5.

However, I found a cheaper alternative. Aldi's sells a very similar product for 69 cents! The only difference is that the packets are not individual serving, like the Crystal Light. This does not bother me, because I just pour some of it in, stir, and I have lemonade!

Check out other great frugal ideas here!

New Door

Seeing that my birthday countdown was over, it was time to make a new door. So I used construction paper to make a tree, snowflakes, and ornaments. I don't think it took nearly as long as my last door. Each ornament has a date on it, and when its that day the ornament is moved from the snow to the tree.

Fun, Fun, Fun

I had the joy of having my friend Carrie over for dinner tonight. It was just us girls seeing that my hubby is still out of town. Although I do miss my hubby, it was great to have a girls night. Just being able to laugh and share stories about life is so great! I love hanging out with Carrie, because I can be real with her. I don't have to pretend to be a perfect Christan woman. It is so freeing.

Being with friends can be such an encouragement!

Sermon Notes

Because I'm spending the weekend with my parents, the notes today are from Kensington Community Church. It was great to be back at Kensington. I do love the Oaks very much, but I think a part of my heart is still at Kensington. There are in a series called the 4 that will make or break you. Its funny because the Oaks is doing a very similar series right now.

Money: Man's Way

When we do money God's way it gives us freedom. When we do money man's way it gives us bondage. The phrase 'In God we trust" is on the back of our money, but do we put our trust in money, not God?

Debt Chokes-When we have dept it makes us worry, it chokes us. Avoid dept at all cost. "The borrower is a servant to the lender" Proverbs 22:7 Don't spend money you don't have!

Stuff Grabs-Where your treasure is, there will your heart be. Don't own anything that you be heartbroken if it got stolen.

Jesus Fills

Weekend at My Parents

This weekend I get the joy of being out of the city! I think this is important every once and again. My hubby is out of town for a bit, so I took this chance to hang out with my parents. I came in Friday night after working, and my mom did my laundry! How cool is that! I have the best mom ever! Today we went to a woman's retreat presented by a church out this way. We had a great time. However, there was a bit of a mix up with the food. Sometimes its hard being a non-meat eater in a meat eating world. :-)

I'm on my parents computer and I found a bunch of pictures that I have not looked at for awhile. Because I love photos more that anything, I'm going to post some.

Boston, July 2004

Wedding Adventure

Courtney and I!

Steve, Tim and Courtney in the fog!

City Mission, May 2004

End of Year Party

Nakya is SO little in this picture. I love this kid!

Its hard to believe that both Josiah and Mechi are both in second grade now! In this picture they were my preschool kids.

City Mission Gala November 2004

Me and my dear friend Mary

Rachel, me, and Katie. I love my girls!

RGIS Picnic June, 2004

My dear Julie playing a great game!

My "other" man Viktor. hahaha

There are many many other picture I would love to post, but I think I will stop for now. Have a great weekend!

Frugal Friday

My Frugal Friday tip this week is about wall coverings. My husband is an artist, and I'm crafty so needless to say our apartment has some cool (some would say odd) touches to it. I will share an idea for the bathroom, and the living room.

Bathroom

When we got married in May we got an awesome shower curtain that I just love. However, the bold print made the wall next to it very bare. I wanted to get a large mirror for this space. After finding out how much it would cost, I knew it had to be a DIY project. This is what I did. This project took about 3 hours to complete.

I got 4 frames from Michaels for about $2 each
I got paints, that were the same colors as the shower curtain, for $ .90 each
Then I painted the frames to match the shower curtain. Masking tape is a must for this project!
Then I hung them! (This was by far the hardest step!)

Living Room

This idea is a little bit more "out there", but it was super fun to make, and people always comment on it. (Sometimes good...Sometimes not so good hehehehe )

This project my husband and I did before we got married. I had a large space above my couch that I did not know what to do with. So we went to Michaels and bought a framed picture that was on clearance. Doing this was SO much cheaper then just buying a frame. Yes, the frame did have real art in it when we got it. We turned the print over and used that as the canvas for our new art.

First we found all all different types of textures to glue down. We used plastic bags, pin foil, tissue paper, and other things we found around the house. Next we traced our hand prints, over lapping each other, about 30 times. Then we painted! Painting by far was the longest part. This project took about 5 hours to complete.

So, be creative and make something to hang on your walls! It was save you money, and you will have a blast doing it!

Check out more frugal ideas here!

Did You Vote?

My hubby and I just got back from voting! Did you vote today? Things are always an adventure living in the inner city, and voting was no different. While we were there, a lady was very upset about the whole process, yelling and such. So the police were called in, and they helped to calm her down. There is always drama here! Go and vote!

My Birthday Weekend

I think it is safe to say that I had a GREAT birthday weekend. It all started Friday night when Donnie took me to Andiamo's for dinner. We never so any place this fancy, and we never eat out without coupons, so this was a nice change. The food was GREAT! However, they did not sing happy birthday to be, which was a bit disappointing. :-)

We spent Saturday and Sunday in Frankenmuth! I love it there. My mom had got us a hotel room at the Bavarian Inn! Our first event was pretzel rolling. We took a class that taught us all about the history of pretzels, and then we got to make our own. It was so much fun.

After that we had an early dinner, and headed over Bronners. (the worlds largest Christmas store) Donnie had never been there! Seeing that both of us are not big shoppers, we did not spend very much time there. However we did stay long enough to have my picture taken with a nutcracker!


Then we headed back to the hotel for a night of fun at the family fun center. I even got my picture taken with Willy the dragon. (the mascot of the family fun center) My dear husband had a ask a staff person to go get Willy because his wife wanted a picture with him. hahaha


Our room had a sliding door, that lead right to the pool! How cool is that! So after the family fun center we went to the pool. There was a Mary Kay convention going on, so the pool was very filled with older ladies.

Sunday was filled with shopping, and then our trip back home. On the way home we stopped at my parents for a while, and it was nice to see them. What a great birthday weekend I had!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yours truly will be turning 27 in less than 4 hours. The countdown has started. Have a great weekend everyone!

Frugal Fridays

My frugal Friday tip is to use more postcards.

I received, a while ago, a pack of 30 fine art postcards, and I love them. They are perfect for sending a quick hello. Postcards are cheaper then notecards to send, and people often save post cards on refrigerators. I also find that postcards take less time to put together. People often tell me how much they enjoy a postcard I have sent them out of the blue.

Be sure to check out all the other frugal ideas here!

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight I made Stromboli. I was so proud of how pretty it looked, and how good it tasted, I had to take a picture. I got the recipe from Taste of Home magazine that my grandma gave me. I love my grandma.

On My Block

Detroit is FILLED with abandoned houses. There are almost too many of them to count. Because my hubbie and I live in a very poverty ridden area of Detroit (we live here by choice) we have abandon houses all around us. Over the past few days I have gotten sick of it. As I say often your either part of the problem or part of the solution, so I have began making phone calls to get rid of these houses. I hope on my day off to stay on top of getting abandoned houses demolished. I'm starting with three houses that are the closest to our building.

14040 Blackstone
This house is not the worst in Detroit by far. Most people live in houses that are more run down on this on our block. However, it has been abandoned for a long time now, and needs to go.

13965 Blackstone
This house is missing all windows in the back, and part of the back roof is also missing. This house has been abandoned longer than I have lived here.

Between 14110 and 14096 Blackstone
This house is literal falling apart at the seams. It was in good shape a year ago, and someone was remodeling it. However, I think something went wrong. This house is in bad shape.