Count Your Blessings Not Your Troubles

Today has been a rainy day, but I love rainy days so I was happy. I think we have cried just about all the tears over the possible move that we can or should cry for now. There will be more water leaks later, but for now we are going to concentrate on the season at hand. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I plan on enjoying every minute of my favorite holiday. I saw a billboard at a church close to our home that said, "Count your blessings and not your troubles." I decided that was wise advice so I have been focusing more on our blessings than what might seem like troubles. It isn't always easy, but I also decided that I would face this next journey of our life with much grace and some style along the way. My niece called today and had a strange request. She told me that she had only eaten fudge one time in her life and it was at the Smokey Mountains. She was hoping that I could make her some fudge while she was here for Thanksgiving. I personally think my brother should be put on probation for not feeding his 10 year old fudge on a regular basis. I assured her that her Aunt Julie would see to it that she would have all the fudge she desired. I have never had fudge on my Thanksgiving menu, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it would be on this year's menu!

grace and peace,
julie

A Cheerful Flower on a Blue Day

The last few days have been a bit hard for our family. Michael's job came to an end, and a possible move to a new job looks to be on the horizon. There are many bright spots in the new possibility, but that being said, it also brings sadness to leave what we thought to be our home. Our children aren't one bit happy. It seems as if we are putting out fires hourly between teenagers that are having moving issues and a 5 year old that swears that he isn't leaving THIS farm. Lucky for us, we can still pick him up and put him where we want him. Due to the fact that I was needing a voice of reason to help settle me, I called my middle brother. He is Mr. Reality and I knew I needed a good dose of reality. He told me right up front that I should be thankful that I wasn't married to an average bear instead I had a Nuclear Engineer bear for a husband which would make it easier for him to find a job. I knew he was right. He also told me that my kids would adjust and it would all be fine after the initial storm. I wonder if he would like to come weather the storm for me... If you think of us, please pray for our family. It would be much appreciated!

The bright spot of the day was that while I was doing dishes I glanced out and saw a bear on our property. I started yelling, and the whole family made fun of me. They were sure I saw a black dog or maybe our black calf, but most definitely not a bear. I made them all stand on the deck and watch. After just a few minutes the bear showed himself again, and to every body's amazement I was right. It was a bear. Of course I was too busy proving my point and then celebrating my victory with a victory dance right there on the deck to get any pictures. But take it from me...it was a bear. The bear was smaller than Missy, but it was a bear none the less!!

grace and peace,
julie

The View Out My Window

I glanced out the living room window this morning and realized that there was an addition to my flowers. Our buff hen decided to make a nest right in the bucket of flowers. I think she was trying to have revenge on me for yesterday. I went out to our large pile of hay yesterday morning. I quickly started forking hay to the cows. Just a side note...I wish cows wouldn't waste hay. It would work so much better for both them and me if they would just eat what they want and then go lay down somewhere else. No, they would rather eat what they want and then lay in their leftover breakfast. While they are there, of course they decide to pee or other things. Then they don't want to eat the hay. Instead they want you to give them fresh hay so they can waste half of that too! Because we try to be frugal with our hay, we always pitch hay to them as needed. Back to yesterday... I was quickly forking hay to the cows when all of the sudden I felt my pitchfork poke something other than hay. I heard all kinds of racket and realized that our adult hens had decided to bed down in the hay. At that point, I was unsure if I had speared the buff chicken or just grazed her. She came out of that hay running every which way. I was chasing her to see if she needed medical attention.. (Like I am really going to know what to do if she did)! Apparently, I didn't hurt her physically, but I must have made her mad. I think that is why she put her big fluffy hiney in my flowers this morning. Maybe she was just making sure she didn't end up on the end of the pitchfork again today!

grace and peace,
julie

Best Friends

With all the remodeling going on lately, Seth and Missy have been left to entertain each other. Missy was hoping that Seth would forget about his blocks and leave them out for her to eat. She was much disappointed.

Seth incorporated her into his building project. Her head was under the tower. If she raised her head, she would have knocked the whole thing down. I guess he was confident that she would lay still for a long period of time. She does that most days! Now that the weather has turned cooler, she is starting to get into some trouble again. I have found her in the garbage several times these past few weeks. The highlight of her day is going with me to let out the baby chicks. She LOVES to chase them! She doesn't hurt them, but I am sure they are still terrified none the less. It still pays to keep an eye on her. You just never know what she might get into!!!

grace and peace,

julie

A Peek Into My New Kitchen

I was without a sink for 3 days. My husband called me melodramatic because I didn't handle those few days very gracefully. I am happy to announce that he has removed all paneling from the kitchen and dining room area. He has rehung all of our cabinets, and I pray he NEVER takes them off the wall again. As you can see, I am back to cooking once again. I have chicken simmering on the stove to make chicken n dumplings. I will be making a sweet potato casserole, green peas, and yeast rolls for dinner. My kids did even worse than me when they were forced to eat store bought pizza, hot dogs, and pop tarts. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight!!

I am so thankful to have a sink installed again. I haven't complained once about doing dishes since the sink has been returned. It could help that I know our new dishwasher will be here on Thursday!

We still have a lot left to do for our kitchen remodel. Michael will be working on mudding and finishing the dry wall. I love watching him finish out dry wall. It always amazes me when he is done. Once that is complete, then we will be able to paint it. He will be installing appliances on Friday. (Sears had a great deal and we were able to get our needed appliances at a 25% discount)! We are still trying to decide what to do about the counter tops. Again, our budget is a key element to our decision. He is thinking about doing granite tiles for the counter top. It is about the same amount of money as Formica counter tops because Michael is the one doing the work. We still haven't made up our mind, but it is okay because we aren't in a position to purchase anything else at this time. He has all of the materials in the shop to build the corner cabinet and new upper wall cabinets. This will take some time and when he is finished I am hoping we will have the money to go to the next step. If I have my way, floors will be the next large purchase that we make. We should be past the hardest part of this renovation after last weekend. Whenever we do get to do counter tops, it will require my sink to be out of service again for a time. I am going to be better prepared next time. I WILL have meals tucked away in the freezer for those few days. I will also make sure we have plenty of paper plates and cups!

We also purchased a hood to go over our stove. We have never had a hood since we have lived in this house. I am looking forward to our cabinets staying cleaner and free from grease. We are all getting more used to the new configuration of our home. Thus far I really like it. I am hoping to get done with the dry wall, paint, and new cabinets by our Thanksgiving deadline.

grace and peace,

julie

My Love

I remember meeting him when we were in 7th grade. All the small schools from different areas of our county merged together to make one middle school and one high school. It was our turn to make the merge and become one school in that very tiny town. I liked him. He seemed fun loving and very much a country boy. He had wild woolly curls that popped out from under his ball cap. He introduced himself to me as Mike. Just about everybody calls him Mike. Somehow in conversation his real name came up, and I decided that I would never shorten it to just Mike. I have called him Michael ever since. I think I was about the only person in high school to call him Michael. I told him the name Michael fit him perfectly and I liked it. He didn't mind at all. I wanted to name our first born after him, but he wasn't in agreement with that. Finally, I got to use the beautiful name for our last son's middle name. It just seemed to fit. He still introduces himself as Mike, but the people that know me well know him as Michael. After being around our family for about 6 months, our oldest son's girlfriend point blank asked him. "What do you go by? I hear you tell everybody your name is Mike, but Julie calls you Michael. What do you want me to call you?" He told her either was fine. That wasn't good enough for her. She persisted, "What do you prefer?" He told her to call him Michael.

It doesn't really matter to him what you call him, but if I were to ever call him Mike it would bother him. Time has come and gone. We have been married for 22 years and I am so thankful that the Lord brought this man into my life. His curls have gone, but his smile remains the same. He received an email the other day from a person at work. It made me smile...

Dear Mike,
I am so fortunate to have worked with you the past couple of years. I value your friendship, your patience, and your values. Especially those concerning your family. I enjoy hearing about your family activities. Your love for your family shines bright when you speak of them. That speaks volumes about a man.

Did I mention that I am blessed? By the way, I have been without a kitchen sink for two days now and I will be doing dishes in the bathroom sink! If he doesn't get it back in soon, I may be calling him worst than just Mike!!!

grace and peace,

julie

Just Another Reason Not To Exercise

The weather outside yesterday afternoon was perfect. Michael was in early from work so I grabbed my walking shoes and headed out the door for a quick walk around the loop. I told him I would be back in 45 minutes. When I left, the kitchen was spotless. Not one dish was on the counter or in the sink waiting to be washed. They were all put away in the cabinets. The counters were clean, and everything was in its place. I told him that I had beef stew that we would eat when I got back from my walk. I wanted to wait on Josh to get home from football practice so we could all eat together.

When I came back home from my 45 minute walk, this is what my kitchen looked like! I am not joking. I am not making this stuff up either...my imagination isn't that good! I had no idea that he was going to tear the kitchen apart while I was gone. (I might have stayed at home).

I hadn't even had a chance to get a drink of water when he asked, "Hey, Julie. Can you wash dishes in the bathroom for a few days?" I assured him quickly that I would not be using the bathroom sink, the bathtub, or the toilet to wash dishes. If he takes out the sink, it must be put back that same day...I had to draw the line somewhere!!!!

After just a few hours of work, he had the kitchen back in order enough for me to cook. This corner is where the big pantry cabinet used to be. We had the refrigerator there for about 2 days. He has now closed in the doorway.

I would be worried about my mental health if I were the only person in the house exhibiting symptoms. I can't tell you how many times I have been standing in the refrigerator and turned around to where the refrigerator used to be to get something. The other day I watched our 15 year old put his beloved apple cider in the pantry cabinet instead of the refrigerator. He caught himself and I heard a growl coming from his lips! Last night, I bet I tried to walk through the doorway that isn't a doorway any more in our kitchen to get to the hall at least ten times. I heard everybody making the same mistakes. Some of the kids laughed when they realized their mistake, while others grumbled. Our oldest son was at work when Michael made the wall out of the doorway. When Matthew came home, I think he bumped into the new wall trying to get in the kitchen. He screamed and then mumbled something about why he had to live in a house where doorways turned into walls without advanced notice!

grace and peace,

julie