Ashley's Awesome Giveaway!

So ashley has this absolute gift from God for making ADORABLE homemade cards! She has decided to share this gift with us!!!!! She is doing a giveaway... and wants everyone to know about it! Read about it @ http://ashjdrake.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-ever-blog-giveaway.html

My Husband Rocks! *NyQuil*

Oh the perks of marriage... :) i have to say that this week, my Knight in Shining Armor comes with a bottle of NyQuil. I am currently battling my own dragon... a HORRIBLE cold... sneezing, coughing, running nose, puffy eyes, stuffy head... the whole package. Well justin got today off from work... YAY! so he got to sleep in this morning. But the first thing he did this morning was get dressed and go to wal mart and get me medication. I have never loved him more than when he walked through that door with that NyQuil bottle in his hand. Then this afternoon i took my full 2 Tblsp. in hopes of passing out and getting some MUCH needed rest! After i took it, nathaniel was down for a nap too, so justin climbed in bed with me and cuddled with me til i fell asleep. He then made sure that i got a couple hours worth of good sleep... it was AWESOME and i appreciate it so much! :)

the Lord is my rock...

some things have come up in my life that makes me really need to trust and rely on God and His protection... i don't believe a blog is a place to air dirty laundry... but i just wanted to share some bible verses that i'm leaning on right now... and maybe they can help someone else.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall i fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall i be afraid?
When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege against me, my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me...

even then will i be confident." Psalms 27:1-3




"God is out refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it's waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with the surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; He will help her at break of day." Psalms 46:1-3




"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, i will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge, trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." Psalms 62:5-8




"Two are better than one, because they have good return for their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A CORD OF THREE STRANDS IS NOT QUICKLY BROKEN." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12




"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud,. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." I Corinthians 13:4-8

a day to praise our God...

Today was GLORIOUS... a wonderful day... one that made it SO easy to thank God for loving us. *sigh*

Justin had to report to the ship this morning and won't be home until tuesday... i am getting used to him coming and going for days at a time... every 10 days he's gone for 2 days, and this past week has been crazy with him being away for a full 24 hours, to 4 days at a time... he is now gone til tuesday, and then he'll leave again on friday morning and be gone until monday... it makes for a VERY long weekend... i usually get shopping done, errands done, and go to the gym to fill the time... plus a WHOLE lot of time on the computer and just playing with my little man.

but today was beautiful... it would have been MORE beautiful if Justin were home, but God did great as far as lifting my spirits. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was a fresh 70 degrees! As i drove home from church i had my window down and my sun-roof open... the breeze was flowing through my car, my baby was happy and giggling in the backseat, and things were just good. We got our tax returns without any problems and that was a HUGE relief, and that will cover the moving expenses as well as 1/2 my school loan in order to get my transcripts released. My son is fed, clothed, and healthy. My husband and i are in love, hoping and planning for a honeymoon later in the summer and we trust one another to be apart. I love my God... and i feel like i'm headed in the right direction and i feel Him near me.

i took a deep breath and thanked God for the sun and for every blessing... Today was a good day.

My Hubby Rocks... first time i WANTED to kiss him.

Well, i'm missin' my hubby so i'm gonna do ALL the MHR Inspiration Promts! :) He is on the ship this week... he's been gone since Wednesday, won't be home til tomorrow morning, then he has to go BACK Sunday morning and stay til monday or tuesday, THEN they're going OUT to SEA til the NEXT sunday... SO, i will spending Valentines Day with my mini-Valentine, Nathaniel. But anyways... i'm missing my hubby, and just want to talk about him and think about him all i can... :)

1.) "Tell us about some of the things that you and your husband do to just have fun together!"

We love to have a movie night... but we kinda go all out. :) we put nathaniel to bed, rent a movie off this Apple program i think, pop popcorn, light a few candles, and pull out the Hide-a-bed from the couch! :) it's fun... we don't have a real tv in our room... it's TINY, like 5" by 5"... so we prefer the larger TV. It's fun... :) and it's just different, so it's a tad exciting. ;) lol

2.) "Tell the story of a memory about your husband that brings you a smile and a giggle every time you think about it!"

oh my, the story that automatically comes to mind is one from before we were even dating. :) We were flirting around, "friends" that happened to cuddle once in awhile, he'd asked me out many times, but i was playing VERY hard to get and kept saying no. But this one day... one HOT day in April 2006, school had let out early, and me and some girl friends went to lunch and had a big, fun day planned! I got to my car, bouncing around and excited for our day... when my car made this SICK coughing noise! OH NO!!!!! ugh. So i try to call a few friends from school... ya know, car guys. But all of them are either far gone after the early release, or not picking up. *bitter* So i call my good 'ol pal... Justin Schaefer. I describe what it's doing, hoping it's an easy fix i can do myself... cuz i feel funny calling him, cuz i know he likes me, but i'm not in love with him at all (yet), and i honestly didn't want people from my school seeing me with this random, New Sharon, guy... :S But he INSISTS! (surprise, surprise) So he comes to my school. and works on my car, gets it running. :) YAY! Thanks! Bye! Not only am i a snob, but i don't ask him to lunch and just drive off, avoiding telling him about lunch at all! *sigh*gives self dirty look*

so we went to lunch, ate our fill, and i went out to my poor blue lumina and turned the key. it again made that sick, coughing noise, and refused to start! i was so mad! i had places to be! People to see! and justin was already HOME... AND i didn't want him knowing i'd been so rude as to not invite him to lunch. ugh. So we called my friend's boyfriend who worked at a tire shop just down the street... thinking, "oh, he works with tires... he must know about coughing engines too!" No such luck. He got there, opened the hood, stared for a minute or so... and announce, "I have no idea." Thanks. So i swallow my pride and call my friend, Justin Schaefer. I was mad in my head because i didn't want to NEED him, didn't want to give him the satisfaction of coming to my rescue... but i called him, told him what was going on and what it sounded like... thinking he could just tell my friend's bf what to look at. No, he drops everything and drives the 20 minutes to the restaurant to fix my car! how sweet. :P so he's in his jeans, hair all curly and messy, he's got this cut-off t-shirt on so his FINE arms are showing themselves off... i hated to admit it. but i fell in love that day. :) he came to my rescue TWICE, took me being MEAN, showed off his MUSCLES... all with a big smile. So i sat in my car... watching him work on my car, sitting besides my friend and decided... "I want to kiss him." My friend was shocked. IIIII was shocked! and all of a sudden... INCREDIBLY shy. She encourages me, but i laugh and refuse, but hug him, and give him that shy look... and we make plans for that night. :) I always giggle when i think of that day...

3.) and my Valentines idea... i was gonna do an "edible bouquet"... one of those fruit bouquets! BUT... since his schedule is all up in the air, i think i'm gonna go with my plan B. :) ya know those flip-calenders... the ones in businesses and the dentist office? they always have a cartoon, or bible verse or whatever... BUT i'm thinking about making my own... kinda. I think i'll buy one, put pictures over the cartoon/bible verse, and put MY OWN memory, bible verse, or note under the picture. :) i got this idea because i'll be moving home soon... and so to start off his day with US, even though we won't be with him, i'm gonna TRY this... we'll see how it goes. :S

ooooooooooh boy...

SO MUCH IS GOING ON!!!

first off, we've decided not to buy a house... sad. but once we added EVERYTHING up, it was DOable, just not wise, we felt. So we decided to RENT a house... any ideas? :S NOT easy to find a house from over 1000 miles away! We're both disappointed, but i KNOW that we will be way more ready to buy our home in 2 or 3 more years. Once justin is out of the military, i'll hopefully have a decent job, and we'll have a better idea of where our finances are and will be. So now we are full swing into trying to find a place to rent. We only about about 3 to 4 weeks... so the pressure is on. :S eek. i'm going to start gathering boxes in the next week or so and will start packing things up. big goals for someone is hadn't even packed up CHRISTMAS DECOR! Good heaven... i've got a lot to get done. ugh. We're also kinda hoping that justin's best friend will make the trip and spend the week before hand with us... helping us pack, load the truck, and then help take shifts in driving. My dad thinks it's silly... but i'd like HIM to be the one in the car with Nathaniel in the back seat for about 20 hours, 4 hours at a time over 2 days! HA! isn't gonna work, sorry. And it's actually cheaper to drive both the car and thhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4766541138497762412e truck rather than rent the equipment to tow the car... plus i'm not real comfortable having Nathaniel in the front seat of the UHaul truck... even if he is in the car seat. :S

secondly we're thinking about taking advantage of a great Disney deal through the military. i know, i know... go to Disney World, but can't afford a house? ok the only reason we're even THINKING about it is because Justin gets in free, i can get in for only $99, and we get 40% off our stay at a Disney Resort. :) sweet deal huh? i'm pretty excited... we still need to save some money, but with a little of our tax returns, plus what we'll be saving from living at home in iowa... we should be able to pull it off. :)

Nathaniel is walking around... not great, but pretty well. :) it's SO cute! he also has tooth #2 poking out! YAY! Thats about it for now... i know, my blog is way boring compared to everyone else's... but oh well. this is me... pretty straight forward, laid back... ya know. ;)