Thankful Thursday ~ relationships

This week's theme on Thankful Thursday is relationships. I have been tremendously blessed with the relationships in my life.

~ I am thankful first and foremost for my relationship with God. His love and faithfulness are the true constant in my life. No matter where I have been, or how horribly I have failed at being faithful to Him, He has never failed me.

(click play on the very first song of my playlist to hear this song)

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure,
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast inJesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

~ I am thankful for my precious husband. I am thankful that he is committed to our marriage and to me and that he is willing and very good at working on our relationship.

***Trouble is part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough. ~Dinah Shore***

~ I am immensely grateful for my family relationships. Immediate, extended, and in-laws, I have a terrific family and they all work hard to stay in touch, and be a part of our lives no matter how far away we are.

***How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~From the movie Annie***

***Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust***

~ All of our wonderful friends who are the family we got to choose. Their love and support mean the world to me.

***Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!" he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you." ~A.A. Milne***

~ My sweet, fun and hillarious blog and Internet friends. I know that we may never meet face to face on this earth, but their friendship is no less genuine, and their encouragment and comraderie is just as meaningful.

***Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings. ~Miles Franklin***

Thank you all for being a part of my life!

Under Construction!

Good morning everybody!

I'm going to be making some changes to my layout for the next day or so. Let me know what you think of the new pages! Hope everybody has a fabulous Thursday!

Operation!

Last week we were hanging out with Austin's parents, my amazing in-laws, on a Saturday afternoon. They had been garage saling that morning and among their awesome finds was the game Operation, in pristine condition. We immediately got it set up and began playing the classic version of the game, where everyone gets "Specialist" cards, then you go around the table drawing "Doctor" cards, and if the "doctor" fails their assigned operation, the "specialist" gets a crack at it and whoever completes the operation successfully gets "paid." This was fun, and we enjoyed the suspense of wondering if the other players would touch the sides of the openings and jumping at the shocking sound and laughing at everybody's reactions. Austin is the master of this game, and is able to remove each piece from the game in any order without hitting the sides one time! He tried. It was cool. Lol!

After a couple of rounds like this we decided to mix it up a little bit, and the game turned into a very interesting exercise in marital communication. :)


We decided that we would play as teams, and the person holding the tongs would close their eyes, while their teammate gave them verbal directions. It was a blast, and although we didn't end up playing a whole game this way, Austin and I both said that it would be a great exercise for a pre-marital counseling session. (Kind of like the driving scene in License to Wed, only fewer potential-death situations!)

Hope everybody's having a great week! I counted the bangs post as my rag, but be sure to check in with Staci for Real Raggin Wednesday!

Thanks for reading!

Boredom+Scissors+Alias Season 4=

Bangs. That's right. No, I'm not kiddng. And don't think I'm too happy about it, either.

It all started two Thursdays ago. Well, it actually all started in high school when my good friend Danielle introduced me to Alias, and I became . . . well, a fan. In fact, my love for Alias often went hand in hand with my love for Chipotle. There's nothing like watching Jennifer Garner beat down the evilness in the world while mouing down on a steak burrito with extra guacamole. But, I digress. All that to explain why I own seasons 1-4 on DVD. (I don't have season 5 on DVD, I'm toying around with the idea of selling my 1-4 and buying this!)

Anyway, two Thursdays ago I was home alone kind of cleaning my kitchen and mostly watching Alias Season 4 on DVD. In this season, Sidney has some really cute bangs. Seriously, look how cute they are! (She's the one out front.)

So I got to thinking that it had been a really long time since I had bangs, and she makes it look so darn cute, I should just cut me some bangs. So I did. I got my sharp scissors and marched my happy little butt into the bathroom and I chopped me off some bangs.

I don't like them, Austin doesn't like them, and thankfully my hair grows fast, otherwise I'd be stuck with them. And, I feel slightly betrayed by Sidney Bristow. Through the first several episodes of season 4, she gives no indication that she too dislikes the bangs. She wears them very well, but about halfway through the season, she starts pinning. them. back!!!! Ugghhh!!! So, if you see me walking around out in the real world and you think to yourself, "What made her think that bangs were a good idea for her?" Just know that I blame Sidney Bristow. She's tricky that one! Lol


It's okay though Sidney, I still love you. I've even started back at the beginning of season 1! I do like the hot pink hair episode! Maybe I'll try this look next, you do make it look so cute!



What's your least favorite hair memory? Why do we do this to ourselves?

Thanks for reading!

Marriage Builder Monday!

Sarah over at Burgeon is hosting a new meme called Marriage Builder Mondays. She says:

"I’m a big believer in accountability and have found that it becomes very easy to be accountable when you share your mission with others. So here we are…I would like to share with you each Monday one small thing I will be doing for my husband each week."



As you all well know, I'm a firm believer that a healthy, happy marriage = work. Good work. Mostly fun work. But work nonetheless. And the extent to which we fail to do the work, so we fail altogether.



To that end, I will be joining Sarah in this weekly challenge, because I can use all the help and accountability I can get. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of life and work and everything else and forget to make our husbands our number 2 priority (second only to our relationship with God).



I have been so blessed with my amazingly wonderful, patient, loving husband who just happens to be a hottie, who absolutely rocks my socks off!

And on top of all that, he is taking time off of the job he loves, to drive me twelve hours both ways to visit my family in Colorado! He's just that cool!

So, this week, since he works so hard, and since we will be sitting in a car for hours upon hours, I will give him a relaxing and thorough massage every eveining. I know that this means a lot to him, and it's something that I do not take the time to do nearly often enough.

Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration Sarah! This is such a great idea!

Pop-up Adventures

Happy Monday everybody! Hope y'all had a great weekend! Our weekend was spent on our first official camping trip in our brand new (to us) pop-up camper!

We had a grand old time :)

We purchased the camper last weekend from friends of a friend (who happen to work for the same company as I do), and they gave us a great deal on it.

For a pop-up it is very roomy and comfortable.

We had hoped to pull it out and camp last Saturday evening (the night we took it home), but we did not really have time to get it out to a campground, so we popped it up where it sat in our driveway, and proceeded to spend the entire night out there - even though it poured harder than I can remember it raining in several weeks! It was definitely a true test of storm-worthiness, and the little pop-up passed with flying colors!

In the morning, to complete our mini "camping" trip, we carted out breakfast and ate at our cute little dinette :)

The title to this vehicle is also the very first title that has both of our married names on it :) which is pretty cool!

Thanks for reading!

~my husband rocks!~ money

Happy Friday everybody! I hope you have all had a fabulous week! Thanks for joining us again for another installment of ~My Husband Rocks!~ Friday!


This week I'd like to tell you about the financial wizard that is my husband! I have always known that he was very frugal, and he comes by it honestly as he is VERY Dutch! This is not uncommon in our part of the world. In fact the joke is, "Do you know where copper wire came from? Two Dutch men fighting over a penny!" And if you are Dutch or know Dutch people or, like me, married into a Dutch family, you will understand that this is (often) the case! :)

Not only is he very careful with our money, he also takes his responsibility as financial manager of our family very seriously. At any given point he could tell you the interest rate and balance of any loan, credit card, or bank account we have. He monitors them all very closely, and ensures that every payment gets made on time without fail.

Because he is so conscious of our finances, we are able to do and have many things that we would not be able to afford otherwise. Everything from our wonderful home to our plethora of fun "big kid" toys, to the myriad of entertainment options that we enjoy - none of it would be possible if was not so intelligent and contientious with our money.


In fact, he often says that he would like to be a financial advisor to other families who may be struggling in this area, and he would be great at this because he can so easily identify the places where people are spending more money than they need to, whether they're not using financial tools well, or if they just eat too much fast food, he has great discernment in this area. He has great discernement in a lot of areas, but that's another post for another Friday.


I am so blessed and so thankful to be married to such a smart, responsible, wonderful man!

~EDITED: I was re-reading this and realized that I must give credit to God. He has blessed us and continues to bless us beyond my wildest imagination, and Hoss would be the first to say that the main reason we live so comfortably is because of God's provision and blessing.~

Thanks for reading everybody! Be sure to check in with all the ladies in the list to the right to hear about more husbands who rock!

And remember, on Fridays From*me Tees will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you From*me Tees!

If you'd like to find out more about why I started MHR Fridays, either click here or follow the top button on the right hand side (if you would like the code to add it to your sidebar, use this code )

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you'd like to join in the fun, leave a comment on this post with the permalink to your ~my husband rocks! Friday~ post! Remember, this is not just for us girls, guys we'd love it if you would turn it into ~my wife rocks! Friday~ and link up! :)



If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

Have a great weekend!

And the winner is . . .

Mama Dawg!!!! Congratulations! :) Please e-mail me with your mailing address, and I'll forward your information to LetsGoGreen.biz!!!

This is so exciting!

I'll have to do another giveaway here, soon!



Here are your random numbers:

36
Timestamp: 2008-07-24 13:19:53 UTC

(Random.org)

(For those of you who are counting, remember that some people had more than 1 entry in 1 comment, so I printed them off, numbered them per entry, and random number generated from there!)

Hope y'all have a happy Thursday! TOMORROW'S FRIDAY!!!!


Sorry it took so long to get this up! Blogger kept eating my post!

Quizzes (at blogthings)

These are such fun! I found this site yesterday, and I could spend hours just taking their silly little quizzes. :)

Hope you're having a great day! Only one day left to enter the giveaway! I'll be drawing a name at 12:00 midnight CST tonight (or tomorrow morning, I've never really understood how that works)!!!

You Belong in 1958

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

You Are a Sensitive Kisser

For you, kissing is a way to connect And you need lot of care, attention, and privacy It may take you a while to kiss someone... But when you do, it's total fireworks

What's Your Kissing Style?

What These Orchids Say About You

You are exotic and intricately beautiful. You possess a unique grace that's both delicate and strong. You are thoughtful and refined. You are the definition of class.

What Do The Flowers You Pick Say About You?

Happy Wednesday!

~ my husband rocks! ~

Hey gang! It's finally Friday again! It's been an exciting, surprising week here in our little corner of the world, and I hope it has been the same for you!



If you haven't been here all week, don't forget to enter the giveaway! Very exciting stuff!




This week, I want to tell you all about my gorgeous husband's amazing work ethic. Austin is the hardest, most efficient worker I have ever known. He will work some of the craziest hours and not complain about it. These last two weeks, he worked from early in the morning at his "real" job, picked me up from work, and we ran the Shopper route until late at night. And he just got up the next morning and started again. Thankfully, this week we did not have to run the route, but he has still given his all at work.



And don't even get me started about this house. Without his drive and encouragement, I'm sure we never would have finished. Look how hard he's working in the dead of winter when we had no heat in this place:

Quick trip to Menard's to get supplies:

Back to work!

Now it's summer, and it's crazy hot, but he's keeping at it:

(I did work, and not just take pictures the whole time):

And in the midst of all this, he took time of from work, and from working on the house to volunteer for Hurricane Katrina cleanup:

He's a fabulous husband and an amazing, responsible man. I am so proud of him. My husband rocks my socks off!

Thanks for reading everybody! Be sure to check in with all the ladies in the list to the right to hear about more husbands who rock!

And remember, on Fridays From*me Tees will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you From*me Tees!

If you'd like to find out more about why I started MHR Fridays, either click here or follow the top button on the right hand side (if you would like the code to add it to your sidebar, use this code )

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you'd like to join in the fun, leave a comment on this post with the permalink to your ~my husband rocks! Friday~ post! Remember, this is not just for us girls, guys we'd love it if you would turn it into ~my wife rocks! Friday~ and link up! :)



If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

Have a great weekend!

I'm going to be an aunt!!!

My sister-in-law, Ashley, called today to tell us that they're expecting!!!! This is so exciting! She has wanted to be a mommy for so long, and she and her hubby are going to be such great parents!!! :) Please keep them in your prayers!

Thanks!

I've been tagged!

My very first blogging friend Sarah at Burgeon has tagged me this morning!




1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules to your Blog.
3. Share 6 unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag people at the end of your entry.

1 & 2 are done, so for 3:

~ I don't like the taste of water, so I will usually drink juice, milk or tea
~ I love flowers! All kinds, all colors, in all seasons, and I cannot wait until we get our landscaping done so I can have my own :)
~ Our Internet was down at home this morning and I about went crazy!
~ I adore eating out. It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, because I do, I'm just not very good at it so it kind of stresses me out. Eating out completely solves this dillema
~ I never owned real jewelery until I met my husband, who doesn't believe in fake jewelery (not a bad problem to have, lol!)
~ Holding brand new babies makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! :)

Please pay no attention to the lack of makeup or apparent hair grooming skills!
Our friends Alex and Chelsea brought beautiful Kylie Luanne into the world on Saturday evening! :)

And I tag:

Heathahlee at Butterfly Genes
Lee at New to This Farm Stuff
Barb at Edie Marie's Attic
Amanda Jo at A Special Blend
Christina at The Esselman Family

:)

My very FIRST giveaway!!!

As I mentioned here, I am becoming increasingly aware of how the way I live and the products I use impact the environment. Therefore, I am learning more and more about how to decrease my negative impact and companies that strive to help me (and everyone else) do so!


LetsGoGreen.biz is one of those companies! I first heard about LetsGoGreen.biz through a blog giveaway! The rules of the giveaway prompted those who entered to visit the LetsGoGreen.biz website, then come back and comment about his or her favorite product. I was very impressed with the scope and selection of their products. Being kind of a green "newbie" there were many products that I had never even contemplated. At the time of my first visit I had been reading about plastic grocery bags and how one plastic grocery bag can take 1000 years to decompose! Yuck! That same afternoon while I was emptying the kitchen trash I thought to myself, "Self, if a plastic grocery bag takes 1000 years to decompose, how long does it take these plastic trash bags?" Then, low and behold, Eco-safe Degradeable Garbage Bags! Where have you been all my life! If you haven't taken the time to browse their website, please do. Not only do they have a product to green-ify nearly every aspect of your life, most of the products don't cost any more than their non-Eco-friendly counterparts and many cost less!



The following video is a newscast in which CEO, Kyle Jodice talks about some of the products you will find on their website, and explains why he started the business in the first place:




Well, that's about it for me, have a great Thursday everybody!

Wait, just a minute . . . .

I feel like I'm forgetting something . . .

What was it . . .

Oh, that's right! I promised y'all a giveaway, didn't I? - Silly me, it's even in the title!



After the giveaway that introduced me to LetsGoGreen.biz, Kyle contacted me to see if I would be interested in hosting a similar giveaway on my blog! I was flattered, and accepted right away! A few days later, I came home to work, and this was on my porch:



Inside, I found this:




And I immediately went to work attacking this:

I am thoroughly impressed with this detergent! Laundry detergent is one of those things that I don't spend a lot of time thinking about. Mostly because if I can avoid laundry or anything related to laundry, I am a much happier camper; however, this detergent warrants a closer inspection. The first thing I noticed about this was the packaging, it seems like a very small bottle to do the self-proclaimed 64 loads, but as I was reading the directions I learned that it takes only one ounce per load for a standard machine and about half that for a HE front-loader. So, for my purposes, I poured enough detergent into the cap to cover the bottom, and tossed it in. At this rate, one bottle will do WAY more than 64 loads!



The next feature that drew my attention was the scent. Now, I know you're thinking, "Katy, you crazy girl, the website clearly says that this detergent is fragrence free." And you would be right! But I'm telling you it has a very distinct scent, and I honestly wasn't sure that I liked it at first. Initially, it kind of made me think of Pine-Sol! But our clothes came out smelling sooo wonderful! The very clean scent of the woods after the rain! And I love it!



And most importantly it works! I mean, it really, really works well! Austin's work shirts are white - I'm not exactly sure what the thought process behind this was, but that's the uniform, so we go with it. But he's a hard working man and he gets dirty, and his work shirts reflect that, as you would expect. Using this detergent, they came out snowy white, and I didn't even use bleach (which I usually do)!



So, you think you'd like to try some detergent for FREE! Just to sweeten the deal, LetsGoGreen.biz is going to send our lucky winner one bottle of the Concentrated Laundry Detergent and one bottle of the Concentrated Fabric Softener! (That's a $24+shipping value!)


To be entered in the drawing, click on over to LetsGoGreen.biz, pick out your favorite product, come back here and comment on this post what your favorite(s) is(are) and why!



For extra entries, do any of the following:
~ Leave a second comment with a "going green" tip or little known fact about being environmentally conscious
~ Subscribe to my feed
~ Add me to your blogroll
~ Follow me on Twitter (those of you who are already following automatically get an extra entry)
~ Blog about this giveaway



That's up to 6 entries per person!!! If you do any of the "extra credit" be sure to leave separate comments letting me know!



Comments left between now and 12:00 midnight CST on Wednesday, July 23rd will count for entries in this giveaway, I will randomly select a winner (random.org) and I announce the winner exactly one week from today on Thursday, July 24th! (This giveaway is open to US residents only.)



Thanks for reading!