Being Winsome

I read during my devotions the quote : To win someone , you must be winsome". The dictionary says that winsome means engaging, that someone who is winsome wins friends easily. I don't really know if I am "winsome".. I kind of don't care if I make someone mad... well at least if I don't have any respect for them as a person, but I do care what people think about me. It is hard for me to be winsome because I am one of the moodiest people I know. I remember when God was doing a serious work in my life a couple of years ago. He was teaching me that I couldn't use the fact that" I inherited this from so-and-so, so it's just who I am" as an excuse for not being loving and compassionate. Being loving and compassionate is not my nature.. Why? because my nature is sinful. I'm thankful that although I still have not learned this lesson, God is patient enough to continue teaching me until I do learn it.
May my life be one of love and compassion today.

A week without Corey :(

It does not feel like Wednesday. I have thought it was Thursday all day long. I think my routine has been so messed up with Corey being gone all week. I absolutely hate being home without him. I thought that the puppy would keep me company and he has, but it's just not the same. I miss him so bad today I can hardly stand it.

This is the last night without him though. And I have school tonight so that will pass the time. And THEN:...................LOST... my favorite tv show in the whole wide world. But even it won't be the same without my Corey :(

You know.. I used to be so independent.. and now look what happened.. I fell in love

it's my anniversary

Today is our 2 year wedding anniversary.. February 24.. one of my favorite days..
I love remembering what our wedding day was like. It was one of the best days of my life.
So- in honor of my wonderful husband Corey Allen Dalton...
here is my list of things I love about him..
1. His beautiful eyelashes
2. His laugh.
3. His sense of humor
4. The way he listens to the Lord
5. how hardworking he is...
6. that he is so sensitive
7. that he encourages me about school
8. that he loves music even though he can't sing.. ;)
9. that he calls me bunches just to talk
10. that he cares about what I think
11. he is a TRUE Carolina fan!
12. He loves the Lord!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I ever found someone that I could love the way I love him. I love him much much more today than I did 2 years ago when I married him, and I didn't know that was possible. I'm excited because God continues to whisper in my ear about our marriage that.."the best is YET to come"..
Corey- if you're reading this.. I miss you terribly and I can't wait for you to come home. Happy Anniversary my sweet best friend.

Somebody's got a case of the mondays....

It's Monday.. and I hate Mondays. And today I'm especially sad because my husband is leaving to go to Maryland for a business trip. Not to mention the fact that tomorrow is our anniversary. Some people might think that I am pathetic but I can't even go all day without talking to Corey. He is my very best friend and I tell him everything. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. We have so much fun together. I'm just going to have to try to make it until Thursday night when he gets home....
Poor me.. All alone with the puppy. at least I have the puppy now.

Pictures and Updates

Fifer after being groomed by a professional

Me asleep with the puppy

Fifer after being "groomed" by me

Our New Family Portrait!

allergies

ok, so I'm allergic to my puppy and it seems like it's getting worse the older he gets.. I'm already taking Benedryl and it helps but it makes me so sleepy I can't stand it. I'm too attached to get rid of him but I'm miserable ... I sneeze nonstop and blow my nose constantly.. I've tried finding some ideas on how to deal with pet allergies online but most of it I'm already doing.. If you have any ideas besides getting rid of him then I'm open to trying just about anything!!!! Please help!

Anniversary

Tonight Corey and I are celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary by going to P.F. Changs and maybe to a movie. I thought I would post my favorite pictures of us from our second year of marriage..

It's been an incredible year.. full of ups and downs, all-the-while bringing us closer together and closer to our Father.

Why oh Why??

Sometimes I do things that make me shudder... why? you ask? Because I realize that I just did something that my mother would have done..Last night was one of those moments.. I did something really stupid and my poor puppy is having to pay for it.. I decided to be thrifty and groom Fifer myself. We have hair clippers with guards on them.. and I thought.. why pay money to have someone else do it when I can just do it myself? It took me about 30 minutes to do it and finally I just gave up because he wouldn't let me anywhere near his head or neck and so....my poor puppy now looks like he has the mange, not to mention about 10 pounds lighter. He looks scrawny and uneven and Corey says his head looks bigger than his body now too. After I did it, I thought, Oh no, Corey is going to kill me. So, I called him and warned him on his way home. He ended up just laughing at me and feeling sorry for our puppy. I'll post a picture of him later and hopefully it won't embarrass him! :)

TGIF

It's Friday and I'm so glad it's finally here. Corey and I have big plans this weekend. We are celebrating our 2 year anniversary tomorrow. Tomorrow is not actually the 2 year anniversary, but he is leaving to go to Maryland for a business trip on Monday and will be gone most of next week. I hate that he'll be gone, not to mention the fact that I HATE being home alone. I find it very creepy. I have a really great gift for him that didn't cost that much money and I'm excited about giving it to him.. I can't put what it is on here since he reads my blogs though! :) And we have reservations at one of my favorite restaurants at 6:00 tomorrow night!! We're going to P.F. Changs and I already know what I'm going to order. I get more excited about food than just about anything. I think I might have a problem... one of these days when my metabolism stops working I am really going to be in trouble..
It's going to be a GREAT weekend!!!!

Lessons from Fifer the Puppy..

It's Thursday and I am laid off again today. This will be the last day I am laid off this month, so I'm actually excited about it. I have so much to do and here it is almost 8:00 and I'm still in my lounge clothes. I did get up at 7 though which is early for a day off!!! Fifer has been a great source of motivation to get me out of bed early in the mornings. I feel terrible about leaving him in his crate for any longer than that and I am really looking forward to the day he is housetrained so he doesn't have to sleep in there unless he wants to! But I know it's for his own good that he's in there. It is a teaching exercise. You know.. this may sound so stupid but since I've had him, I feel like I'm being taught how God must feel trying to teach us things. I celebrate when he does what I want him to... and I am so angry when he disobeys me! But I still love this little puppy.. do I love him anywhere NEAR the amount that God loves me? Absolutely not.. but I feel like the Lord is using my sweet puppy to teach me more about Himself. A couple of days after I got Fifer, I was home sick from work and I decided when I was taking Fifer out to pee and poop that I would walk down to the mailbox. Of course, Fifer did not want to stay where he was... he wanted to follow me down to the mailbox.. I wasn't watching him the way I should have been and he took off running behind me and fell into our ditch at the edge of the road. The ditch is where the water drains off of our property and it has some pretty big rocks in it and it is a pretty big ditch.. especially for such a small puppy to fall into. He let out a yelp that sounded like a small child screaming and he continued to "scream" for help.. he was stuck and scared and dirty and wet.. and for as much as I knew, very hurt.
of course, my heart stopped in my chest and I took off running to rescue him. I picked him up wondering if he had broken something or if he was really hurt and clutched him as close to my chest as possible just wanting him to feel safe. He trembled and shook for a good hour after that whole experience. Luckily, he wasn't hurt.. just scared, but I'm sure that was a really traumatic experience for my little puppy. I was pretty shaken up myself. By the time I got him in the house, I had tears streaming down my cheeks and called Corey immediately to tell him what a terrible pet owner I was for letting this happen.
But in this experience, what hit me the most is the fact that , that is exactly how God comes running to us when we scream to him for help. Believe me.. I've been screaming for help a lot lately and even though I can't see him or physically feel Him, I know that every time, he comes running and scoops me up and holds me to his chest. It may take me awhile to realize that I'm safe.. but I always do. I know that He holds me in the palm of His hand and His heart is grieved when His daughter is in pain. I'm so thankful that He holds me when I need Him.

Thankful yet Sorrowful

So- Corey still has a job after multiple layoffs at his company today. I am so thankful that the Lord is providing for us today like He always does. Yet, I am full of sympathy and my heart is so heavy for those that lost their jobs. I try to stay away from the news these days because everything is so doom and gloom, but occasionally I will read something on the internet reporting how many people are unemployed. Just about everyone I know has been affected by the economy in some sort of way and I know how stressful it is when people don't have the money to pay their bills. It is a reminder for me to be faithful in giving to those who are struggling, to listen to those who just need someone to lend an ear, and to be a friend to those that are feeling so alone in their time of need. God has blessed us more than we deserve and I want to be a good steward with what He has given us.
The Lord is so good, He is faithful, and we can TRUST HIM!!
I was listening to the latest "Passion" CD "God of this City" today and there is a Matt Redman song on there called "God of our Yesterdays" and it talks about how God is Sovereign and we can trust Him. In the middle of the song, Matt Redman quotes a scripture and says "Those who know Your name, put their trust in You."
Well, I know His name.. Jehovah Jireh, my Provider! and He is FAITHFUL

Trusting God in the trials

A lot has happened with us financially as of late.. My company has made everyone take one week of lay off each month, so that has hurt us financially, but we've cut back and God is providing..
Then today, Corey sent me an email letting me know they are having lay offs today at his work. So we don't know if by the end of the day if he will be laid off or if he will still have his job. It is so hard in times like this to rejoice and be thankful, but it's a commandment.. God has commanded us to be thankful and rejoice at ALL times..
so because I'm having a hard time today, I'm going to create a thankful list.. I haven't done one of these in a while but today is a perfect day to do it..
God, I am soooo thankful for:
my wonderful husband, my sweet parents, still having a job, being able to go to school to better myself and our future, great friends that will pray for us, lessons learned in hard times, my SALVATION!!!, grace when I don't deserve it, the way You provide for us when sometimes I don't know where the money is coming from, a beautiful house, and a sweet puppy.

Thank you Lord that you provide!

Fifer...

Here are a couple of pictures of our sweet puppy Fifer

The Gift of Time

So... this is my first blog I have ever done, and quite honestly, I don't know who would want to read it... but I figured it was a good way for me to document my life. I forget things way too fast and I want to be able to remember the important things and be able to share them with whoever might care.
I have been given the gift of time. In the midst of my busy, busy life .. I asked God to give me more time in my day to get things done. I've been working full-time, going to school at night, doing homework, trying to take good care of my husband, be a good wife, do laundry and have meals for us to eat, meanwhile helping my husband with the youth at our church on Sundays and sometimes on days when we have activities planned. We also just got a sweet puppy, Fifer, who I'm housetraining. Well, God answered my prayer. I got laid-off from work.. (sort-of).. I now am laid off every three weeks from work.. Will that put a strain on our finances? Absolutely. We are going to have to cut back in our spending in a major way. But.. instead of worrying, I'm thanking the Lord for answering my prayer. He didn't answer it the way I would have liked, but He answered it nonetheless! Isn't God good like that??I now have one week every month to spend extra time catching up on housework, cooking, doing homework, and studying!
Thinking about this answer to prayer reminded me of the verse in Isaiah.. "His thoughts are not my thoughts.. His ways aren't my ways"
I'm thankful that He answers my prayers.. even when it doesn't come the way I would have liked.

I'm learning how to trust Him with everything and that is a really important lesson.