Taking The Challenge

~* Inexpensive Table Decor *~

First you start with some of these (from your son's mammoth collection):

(hand choosing the right colors of course)

Then you add a lovely $1 vase from the dollar store:

Add in some pretty $1-a-bunch flowers from the dollar store:

And voila' ...you end up with these beauties:

These will grace the cake and photo tables of our youngest son's graduation.

They make me smile every time I walk past them.  I just might keep them out around our home for a while after graduation.

What's your favorite, inexpensive decorating tip?

~* Love to Read? *~

  I LOVE reading.  In fact, if you wanted to make me crazy, just have me waste time waiting somewhere without a book to read.  I usually have several books going at once and 99.9% of the time, I have a book with me whenever I leave the house.  I mention this because books are a huge part of my life as they are to the life of any avid reader.  BUT, let's face it, books are expensive if purchased new, and often when trying the used route, they are not always readily available and can frequently still be pricey.  Enter Paperbackswap.com.   Although the name says paperback, there are many hardbacks swapped as well at no extra charge (unless the weight of the book increases your mailing cost, but with the postal systems new one-price-if-it-fits in the box, you can mail most books very inexpensively.)  The overall concept of paperbackswap.com is simple: Members list their books that they wish to trade, they get book credits for each book they mail to another member, they can then use their credits to purchase books they've been wanting to read. 

   What I really like about paperbackswap.com:

       * Passing along my books to other readers and getting credit for new-to-me books

       * Having a wish list for books not-yet available (which includes the "delight" factor when I

          recieve a notice that an item from my wish list has become available!)

       * Getting so many books for so little investment

       * Feeling free to try new authors/titles with very little cost associated

  How it works:

      * Sign up for membership and list the books you're ready to pass along

            (When someone wants one of your books, you mail it to them and upon their

              receipt of the book, you get credit to "buy" a book of your choice from all the

              books listed on paperbackswap.com)

      * Start shopping and/or making your wish list.

     *  Select the book(s) you want and enjoy the experience of receiving some good mail! :)

     

I am a fan of paperbackswap.com and use it almost weekly.  I've saved money on books and I've been very pleased overall with the quality of books being exchanged.  If you're a book lover, give paperbackswap.com a try.  I think you'll be very glad you did!

Happy shopping....happy reading :)

~* Wish I Were...*~

(beach hammock allposters.com)

THERE /\  !

Where would you like to be today?

~* What I've Been Doing *~

We've been busy with prepping for our youngest's graduation (My BABY!!!) and having the absolute fun and pleasure of getting together with friends and family.

One of my best friends having lunch with us after helping our second son with his E-bay business:

Me and my other best friend riding the Scrambler at a little local Carnival...can we say

Tummy-bar bruises???

My niece and her family in for a visit - with the cousins having a wii blast

and this is the invitation for our son's graduation

Life is hectic, but very sweet! :)

So, what's going on in your world this summer?

~* Book Review - Forever Christmas *~

Forever Christmas  

by Christine Lynxwiler

published by Barbour Publishing 2007

159789821X    (isbn13: 9781597898218)

************************************************

     I will be the first to admit, I LOVE Christmas!  I love the sights, the sounds, the scents, the hustle and bustle...all of it.  I love who it represents and think it's no coincidence that it is one of the most cherished and special times of the year for most Christians.  Having said that, I'm the kind of gal that as soon as the season is over, it's over.  The decorations are quickly put away.  The music is packed up for another year.  The specialty baking spree is finished.  So, it was with reluctance (actually, desperation, I didn't have any other light reads on hand which is very unusual for me!) that I grabbed this book off the shelf to read.

   I was so pleasantly surprised!  While the plot definitely takes place around the Christmas season, it really centers more on the fact that as Christians, we really do celebrate Christmas year 'round.  The spirit of Christmas is personnified in the little town of Jingle Bells, Arkansas and shopkeeper Kristianna Harrington.  Kristianna is ready to fight the fight to keep Jingle Bells the special place it's always been and not allow a new, incoming corporation (which would bring much-needed jobs to the area) to change all that.  In the midst of the town turmoil, Kristianna has her own personal battles with her parents expectations, letting go of the past, and deciding whether or not she is ready to love and be loved by a special someone.

   If you enjoy light-hearted fun reads with a little bit of surprise thrown in, then you'll enjoy Forever Christmas!  Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.....

   Sorry, I just couldn't resist ;p

~* God's Little Surprises *~

(graphic: allposters.com)

     As if getting to go to UP this weekend wasn't enough!  Sunday was a perfect day!

I LOVE perfect days...maybe because they don't happen too often ;p

Sunday morning at church is always wonderful. I appreciate the worship and always enjoy our pastor's messages.  (I love, love, love how he teaches verse by verse!)  To top it off, our church is always so good to recognize those who live their lives in service to our country/community.  Last week we celebrated all our military and yesterday we celebrated all our public safety workers. 

(photo: allposters.com) 

 Then, after our usual Sunday nap (photo: allposters.com)

(is life good or what?!), we went back for a wonderful concert/service by the .  These kids were awesome!  If you ever have the opportunity to hear them take advantage of it!

AND...as if that weren't enough, I met an online friend of several years!! (graphic: allposters.com) We've tried to meet before and it never worked out.  In fact, we actually lost contact for a bit.  And there she was!!  Just as sweet in person as she is online.

To top it off, one of our sons friends went with us to Rubio's Grill

(a new favorite) and to the Cookie Jar next door.   Happy, smiling, contented sigh.... :)

Don't you just love perfect days?

Isn't God good?

~* The Obamas May Have Gone to Broadway, but We Went to...*~

UP!

 

Waiting in line Son #1, son #3, dil, Son #2, my honey

 

After the show with our cool 3D glasses  l-r my honey, son #1, dil, son #2, son #3

(just wish our daughter could have been with us!)

 

Sons #2 and #3

UP is Pixar's best yet!  Whether or not you have little ones, go see UP!

~* College Class Review: Music 004 *~

This is a series journaling my college class experiences. 

 

First the Not So Good

Music 004

   The teacher was almost indescribable...almost!  Take a genius composer who loves composing and, for the sake of feeding his family, make him spend most of his day teaching students he feels doesn't appreciate either great music or his teaching.  What do you end up with? A VERY frustrated and frustrating music teacher. 

      I agree with his first rule of thumb: you don't know what you don't know.  Sounds very simplistic in a dog-chasing-its-tail kind of way.  But, after being exposed to music and understanding more of the background of differing eras and music styles.  I have to agree with him.  For instance, an infant has no idea the wonder of pizza, bbq ribs, or steak.  The baby neither wants nor misses what it has never had.  The same is true of many things in life, an appreciation for varying styles of music being only one. This exemplifies the fact that even though the instructor was a frustrated/frustrating instructor, he did teach quite a bit of worthwhile information. 

   So what's the not-so-good part?  His frustration with students who were there to fill time and earn grant money rather than to learn, being transferred to all his students.  His lectures and his somewhat erratic jumping from subject to subject, era to era, composer to composer could really make a person crazy.  Having said that (and after surviving and getting my A) I'm very glad I took the class.

What I LOVED:

Oh! Such beautiful music!  If you'd asked me before this class if I liked classical music, I would have said, " Probably not".  If you asked me now, I'd say "Mostly not".  The difference?  Now I know that "classical" is an era of music.  Not all instrumental music and not all old music is classical. I don't enjoy most of the music from the classical era.  However, I did find two eras I loved, Romantic and Impressionistic! WOW!

Here are just a few samples that I now have on my I-pod and listen to with regularity because it's a preference now.

Moldau River Smetana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLPLO90fSk&feature=player_embedded

   Polovstian Dances Borodin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmptWExyKEw&feature=player_embedded

Rachmaninov- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKZbvluHcNo&feature=player_embedded

So...if you made it this far, you may be asking what grade would I have given my music teacher Mr. Simoncic?    I'd have to give him several grades: an A for his passion for good music, an A+ as a composer (of course, this is taking into account that there is still plenty that I don't know), an A for all the extra credit assignments he allowed, a B for his lectures that were on subject, an F for his non-subject lectures that treated all the students as if they were punks, and, last, an F for showing Carmen in class.  While it's true many female students dress and act like Carmen on campus, there were many females in the class who were totally uncomfortable watching the explicit-in-nature seduction scene.

I guess that would give him an overall strong B.  :)

~* Taking the Challenge...What Does it Mean? *~

For those of you who've been reading my blog for the past couple of years, you'll probably remember that I started this blog while homeschooling.  Our youngest was a reticent writer (okay, he hated writing), so I had this brilliant idea to set a good example and write.  But to level the playing field (since my kids have seen me constantly fill journals), I had to make it something I dreaded or hated.  Writing publicly was the ticket.  And so, the Taking the Challenge blog was born.   Our youngest graduates from our homeschool high school in June.  I'm finishing my first college year this week and have just started posting once again.  I pondered changing the name of my blog, but then I realized that Taking the Challenge is really who I am.  Even more importantly, it's how I want to be remembered.   I thought back to some of the times I was given the choice to Take the Challenge:

   1)graduate early and move to NY (which is where I rededicated my life to Christ and met my husband-to-be)

  2) rededicate my life to Christ

  3) learning to live a life devoted to others rather than self by getting married and having kids(ummm...still learning this one!)

  4) becoming a home schooling mom

  5) facing HUGE changes in our lives - many house moves; denominational questioning/change; seeing our son go to Iraq for a year; children marrying and moving away; losing our homes, savings, and retirement fund; a tough economy; facing the loss of parent/grandparents

  6) learning to forgive

  7) going back to college

And some of the new challenges I'm being asked to tackle:

  1) learning to hear who God wants me to be, not what others want me to be

  2) learning to be child-like, once again, in my faith and in my receptivity to God's Word.

  3) learning to trust again

  4) learning to let go of things that need to be let go - fear, doubts, seeds of bitterness

  5) constantly reviewing where I am against where I want to be/need to be.

I haven't faced all the past challenges with grace and good humor...sometimes my faith in God's goodness faltered.  But, each time, He faithfully picked me up, brushed off my knees, bandaged my head, cleared the grit from my eyes and ears, gently tended any life-threatening wounds, and asked in His still, small, and oh-so-sweet voice, "Are you ready to get back up and try again?"  And so, I think I'll keep this moniker and do my best to live up to it.  Even better, I want to live up to it in a positive, cheerful, and gracious manner.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my son began blogging right after I did, and while he doesn't "love" writing, he no longer hates it either. :)

~* This is dedicated to...*~

...all the families who watched a loved one don a uniform and wonder if they would make it safely home.

....all the families whose loved one didn't make it safely back home.

...the memory of those loved ones.

...the families who are still watching their loved ones put on the uniform and walk out into danger.

...those men and women who wear those uniforms today.

Thank you to every man and woman in uniform.  Thank you to your families.  America appreciates and needs you!

God Bless  and Keep America!