You’re the boss, Brandice

handmade pledge?

I really really want to do this, but I am scared of commitment :)

I love giving handmade gifts, I love receiving handmade gifts. But what if I can’t do it? I am sure I can do most of my gifts handmade..but I am not sure I can do %100..mostly because of time. I could buy handmade gifts from others, but I don’t have any extra money. Well, I guess that settles it right there.. If I can’t buy any homemade gifts, it’s most likely I can’t buy any thing not homemade… well, there. I worked it out.

Homemade gifts it is. I hate how commercial everything gets this time of year. Homemade gifts are so much better and completely from the heart. Oh, and no led poisoning.

Decorations

It’s a week before Thanksgiving and I couldn’t wait any longer to decorate for Chriatmas.

The kids got in on it to, and decorated this banister for me.

When “it” happens

See those windmills? They are located in southern Vermont. I was standing under those windmills when I decided to marry my husband. No, that’s not where he proposed, it’s just where I made my decision :) We were not even dating.

Ben is from southern Vermont, I am from here in Alabama. I went to a bible school in Florence ( AL) called Heart of David. Two of his brothers went there also.The first time I met Ben he and 2 more of his brothers had come down here to visit. I never thought that he’d be the one. He came he stayed for two weeks and he was gone. Later in the summer they came back and stayed for several months, and still..nothing, no butterflies in my belly, no inkling of an idea that he was the one.

The next summer me and other people from HOD went to Vermont to visit. We were all sitting down at Bean Heads drinking coffee and eating delicious snacks when we decided to go on a hike to see the windmills. Still… nothing. We all piled up in cars and drove to the trail, and started up the mountain. As we were all walking up the very long steep hill I looked around and there were people in front of me and behind me, but Ben was right beside me. We started talking, it wasn’t the first time we had spoken to each other, but it felt like it. As we were talking, “it” happened. Don’t ask me to explain “it” because I can’t. While “it” was happening I was giving myself a little talk in my head that went something like this “Brandice, do not fall for Ben…you don’t need a relationship..OH! and he lives 1100 miles away from you!” But by the time I got to the top of the mountain I had stopped all that foolish talk :)

There was a huge windmill blade laying on the ground, me and Mia were standing on one end of it, and Ben and someone else were on the other end. That is when I looked at Mia and said ” I think I am going to move to Vermont and marry Ben Senecal.” Don’t ask me what Mia’s reply was, I was busy planning my wedding.I am sure it was something equal to my giddy girl remark.

So, I moved to Vermont that fall, and Ben proposed in February ♥

Thought:Maybe “it” was the thiner air I was breathing as we got higher and higher up the mountain.. :)

To hang it or not???

If we hung this stuff up…all we’d do is stand under it ;)

Today’s mood forcast: anxious with a slight chance of breakdown

Maybe that title is a little bit of an exaggeration..I am suppose to be grabbing your attention here ;) I do sort of feel like the kitty in the picture though. I just want to hide from my responsibilities today..well, my school responsibilities.

I have an algebra test today..ugh. I don’t like algebra, but I do try. I tell myself all the time “you may possibly use this one day.” So far I see no evidence that I am telling myself the truth. I was hoping to do well in this class, and I have so far. I got really sick a while back and got behind on my homework. So this whole module was suppose to help me bring up my grades from the last module. Doesn’t look good:(

I am sure I will pass the class, I just wanted to make good grades..like a really high “B” or possibly and “A.”

Anyway, writing this post is not helping me study, (although I do feel a tiny bit better.)

I should end it before I get sucked in.

gossip kills

I came across this image the other day and it really made me think. It says “Her careless talk costs lives.” I thought about the power of our words and how easy it is to destroy people with them. Then I thought about myself, and how careless I am with my words. Even if I think “Brandice, you should not say that!” the words just fly right out of my mouth.

Words are powerful. Creation itself came into being through words. I read somewhere that according to Jewish law, everything spoken is a secret unless the person specifically says otherwise. God was constantly telling Moses to “Speak to the children of Israel, saying…” If God didn’t tell Moses to speak it, then Moses would not be permitted to speak His words. I was talking with someone about gossip and this person said to me “it’s not gossip, if it’s true.” Unfortunately, that is so far from the truth. Gossip is gossip is gossip…even in the form of a “prayer request.”

I have been thinking about how I am going to approach this notion. I have never considered myself a gossip, but I have gossiped before. So, I say that to confess…I am a gossip. If I killed a person in cold blood, or because of carelessness, I would be a killer. It wouldn’t matter if it only happened once.

I am completely aware of the amazing grace of God when we sin. This is far from condemnation, I don’t feel condemned and you shouldn’t either. It doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re all sinners, it just means there is grace to turn from our sins.

I got side tracked..I was talking about how I was going to approach this notion of gossip. How am I going to not gossip? I don’t know, I think I will be exceptionally quieter. At least, slower to speak. In the book of James it says “but no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” Not exactly the words you want to read if you’re trying to get a grip on your tongue.

Gossip not only hurts the person being spoken about, it hurts the person speaking it. I think a good plan would be to just try for more productive and meaningful conversation. It’s the careless banter that gets me in trouble. I think I have just gotten lazy, I am just too tired to talk good talk.

Halloween

I wanted to dress the kids like Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Lion. Aidan was the only one who cooperated, which didn’t surprise me at all. Andrew wanted to be a pirate, and he decided this about the time we were leaving. He would NOT wear his Lion costume, and Zion just pulled everything off that he could. So, I tried my best to come up with a pirate costume, and left Zion in his overalls.

We had a great time! We went trick-or-treating with my nieces and we also went to the park where we ran into Helen the clown.

The kids were exhausted and burnt out from their sugar high on the way home. Well, everyone but Andrew, he was ready for more :)