Way too early

I was at JC Penney's last Friday (10/17) to get some clothes, and was a little depressed and overwhelmed to see all the Christmas paraphernalia out. I enjoy Christmas, but it was much more fun as a kid. As a working adult with my family in one state and my husband's in another, I just don't have the time to spend with everyone that I'd like to have. Every year we have to decide when are we going to see who, when can I get off work, what does everyone want, when are James and I going to exchange gifts with each other, what are we going to do with the dogs while we're traveling. It gets stressful.

Some of my favorite memories of Christmas lately have nothing to do with gifts or traveling or shopping. Some include: walking around the AR state capital with James and Daisy on Christmas Eve - it had snowed, and Daisy loved being out in it - and seeing the life size wooden nativity. . .and singing with the BCRL choir at Tucker prison - and the Christmas concerts at BCLR - what a piece of heaven they always were. . . .and our annual trips to hear Handel's Messiah performed. . . hearing the Christmas story read from Luke before we open gifts at James' grandparent's house. Instead of the crazy-dancing-Santa-blinking-lights-madness that it has become for society, Christmas should be a time to contemplate the God-Man, the brevity of your sin, and the abundance of His forgiveness.

My 2 cents on politics

Well, I'm not excited about this upcoming presidential election at all. I don't want to vote for either main candidate. If McCain wins, (which seems doubtful), I'm afraid we're going to be in Iraq for for more years - and be paying taxes on our health care benefits?? Please explain to me how taxing our health care benefits that we receive from our employers is going to solve the health care situation in the US. And what about Sarah Palin? A heartbeat away from the presidency. Do you really want her to be running the free world if she had to? It makes me kinda nervous to be honest. If Obama wins, I think we'll be paying higher taxes, but we might get out of Iraq. Obama is really liberal, and people are hypnotized by his promises of change. I think you better be careful what kind of change you wish for - because he might really change the face of this nation. After 4 years of an Obama administration we might not think that FDR was much of a socialist after all.

So much talk of change, but there's only one man that has the power to change this country. Christ, and the life changing power of the gospel. The bible tells us that it is God who appoints the leaders of the world. HE is ultimately in control of this world. Do not loss heart, for this election is in the grasp of HIS hand.

I think I'm going to be voting for a 3rd party candidate. I know, I know, throwing my vote away. I just cannot vote for either mainstream candidate with a clear conscience. Here is a list of who else is running if you are also disappointed with your choices this year:

Charles Baldwin (Constitution Party)
Ralph Nader (Independent)
Robert Barr (Libertarian)

Get out and vote, but more importantly pray for God to bestow His wisdom on the man who will be our next president.

Home Renovations part 2

Above is a picture of the vanity in the master bathroom, and below is a closer picture of the old sink. Notice that the drain stopper is missing. Every sink in house except for one, was missing the drain stopper.


After shot:

Home Renovations

None of the cabinets in our house had hardware. After 13 years of hands touching them, they were starting to show some wear. I ordered the new hardware online, which was about $120 cheaper than buying it a Lowe's. It's nice too - I was a bit leery of ordering it without being able to see it in person, but we're really pleased. James and I spent a Saturday installing the hardware.

Below is a picture of our old kitchen sink. We had all the faucets in house replaced today. I was glad to see this go. The sink was rather shallow, and the faucet was short, which made it difficult to wash large pots and pans.


Our new sink. It is 2 inches deeper than the old one. The faucet is from Delta and the sink is from Kohler. The plumber spent about 2 1/2 hours installing the two.


New curtains for the living room. The previous owners didn't leave much in the way of window treatments, so I've been making curtains. I am really thankful for my Mom's help with these.