Training Hearts At Home

Jan. 17, 2007

I'm Still Here

I've had a couple people ask where I've been and if everything is ok. How sweet, thank you for thinking of me.

To be honest, I'm staying very, very tired lately. I don't know why, but I just don't seem to have the energy to do anything. My house needs cleaned, like always, and that just adds to the exhaustion. Thinking about getting up and cleaning makes me just want to cry. I'm not doing well at all on my weight loss journey, which also adds to the problem. It's like a never-ending cycle... I'm so tired I can't even make myself get up to exercise, I'm tired all day and so I just tend to snack or grab whatever is convenient which only adds to my weight problem AND makes me feel sluggish later on, and the extra weight makes me feel depressed so I get the 'I don't care/I give up' attitude which only makes me more miserable.

UGH! I tell myself all the things I need to be doing... go to bed early, get plenty of sleep at night, get up and exercise in the mornings, eat better, etc. etc. etc. But it has gotten to the point of constant exhaustion to where I feel like I could crawl in bed and stay there for days!

Ah well. I have a doctor's appointment sometime in February to check out different things like iron levels, thyroid, etc. If I can make it that long without falling into hibernation mode, I'll let you know if anything turns up. Until then, I'm going to try to get back to more regular blogging. I have a lot to say! But I also would like to update the look of my blog but can't muster up the energy to do that. Maybe in the spring!

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Nov. 23, 2006

With A Sad Heart...

Posted in Miscellaneous

Another dear Five In A Row sister has passed away and is now in the loving arms of her Lord and Saviour. It is with a very sad heart that I pass along that Lorrie has lost her battle with breast cancer and entered Heaven this Thanksgiving morning. This makes the second FIAR sister has passed away this year and once again my heart is broken. (Our 32-year-old friend who was also battling cancer passed away a couple of weeks ago leaving behind two young sons and husband). If you never had the pleasure of meeting Lorrie or Missey, the other FIAR mom now in Heaven waiting for the rest of us, please take some time to do so. They were fascinating, encouraging women. Then go hug your children and hubby and tell them how very much they mean to you and don't let the little things bother you. Enjoy every minute you're blessed with. One of my favorite saying is... Love your children like you won't have them tomorrow, train them like they won't have you tomorrow.

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Nov. 9, 2006

What Did He Really Think Was Going To Happen?

Posted in Miscellaneous

LONDON — A 22-year-old man suffered internal injuries after lighting a small firecracker he had inserted into his buttocks, paramedics said Thursday.

The incident took place Sunday, when Britain celebrated Bonfire Night, traditionally marked with fireworks to celebrate the Guy Fawkes' gunpowder plot to blow up Parliament in the 17th century.

The man suffered burns and other unspecified internal injuries in the incident in Sunderland, 275 miles north of London.

Katherine Shenton, a spokeswoman for the North East Ambulance Service, said a caller had phoned in that the victim was bleeding after the firecracker exploded.

Several of the man's friends recorded the incident on a mobile phone. The blurry images show a man bent over with his pants down and a white flash as the firecracker explodes.

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Nov. 9, 2006

The Female Species- UGH!

Posted in Miscellaneous

Just a brief vent here... Can anyone tell me why in the world females, young and old alike, seem to thrive off of conflict and drama? Why must everything be turned into such a big deal? Why do we think we can say or do things to others without first thinking how it would feel if the situation was reversed? This doesn't involve me, thank goodness, but I've had two 'counseling sessions' today, one over little girls and one over big, and both situations are just as silly as the other! I made a decision long ago that the only One I care about pleasing is the One who died on a cross for me and saved my soul. While I take others thoughts, opinions, and advice into consideration, when it comes right down to it, what my heavenly Father thinks is the ONLY thing that matters to me. (Don't get me wrong, I do CARE about other's feelings and try my best to not be rude or disrespectful and I do take others into consideration, I just mean that ultimately it is the Lord that I have to answer to for anything I do or say). If I've done wrong, I repent and ask forgiveness from the one I've wronged. If something is really none of my business, I stay out of it! If I feel someone might be making a mistake or a wrong decision, I pray for them and trust that the Lord can and will deal with them and work things out. And above all else, I have learned to keep my mouth shut and when I really need someone to talk to (about my OWN problems and not someone else's), vent to, or get godly advice from, I go to someone I know I can trust to keep our conversation confidential, someone who loves me enough to tell me the truth even if it's not what I want to hear, someone who will pray with me and for me, and someone who will gently guide me back onto the straight and narrow path if so needed. Do you have someone like this in your life? It's important, so very important, especially for us women, to have this kind of friend... and to BE this kind of friend. I do have this kind of friend and I love her like a sister. Her name is Judy and we grew up together because after my mom and dad divorced my dad married Judy's older sister. I was four and Judy was seven, so we spent many of our 'growing up' years together and I consider her my closest, most true and sincere, Godly, loving, and honest best friend in the whole wide world! I love you Judy! And I can't wait to see you next week! (Unfortunately, life has seperated us by 8-9 hours driving time, but we're only a mere thought away in our hearts and prayers).

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Nov. 8, 2006

Doing a Little Blog Cleaning

Posted in Miscellaneous

In an attempt to try to get many areas of my life in order... my home, my weight, our school schedule, my blog, etc... I have begun doing a little bit of house-cleaning around here on my blog-sweet-blog. When we take our eyes off of what's really important, Jesus, we begin to sink. I'm afraid I have let too many things come before my precious Lord lately and it's past time to get back to what I know is the only thing that brings true joy and peace to my life... putting my heavenly Father first! While mulling this over in my mind, I happened to stumble across Training Hearts entry about being a blogging addict and instantly the Holy Spirit convicted me. It's a very, very good and thought-provoking entry and I encourage you to read it. So as part of my 'house-cleaning' I have gone through my entire friends list and took a peek at each blog. If the last entries were before September or if the blog didn't really go along with the paths we're taking in our lives right now (i.e. no children, not homeschooling, etc.) I went ahead and deleted them from my list. I know, I know! What an awful thing to do! But I simply can't take even more time browsing unattended blogs or reading through entries that really don't coincide with this stage of my life, no matter how much I love the owners of such blogs. This is just one small way to free up a few extra minutes from my day. Added together, these extra minutes here an there can really add up! But don't worry, if I was also on your friends list I can still access your blog very easily. Please, please... if you see that you are no longer on my friends list, don't be hurt. It's nothing personal, I promise. It's simply one little thing I felt I needed to do to help bring a bit of order around here. I STILL LOVE YOU ALL!!!

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Nov. 3, 2006

More ME'S In The World? EEK! That's A Scary Thought!

Posted in Miscellaneous

So I'm sitting here TRYING to pay bills (sheesh, you would think people would be HAPPY to take my money) and while I'm spending the entire morning on hold, I thought I'd mosey through my Friends latest entries here on HSB. When I came to Eyecorn's latest blog entries she had this really neat thing where you can find out how many people in the U.S. have the same name as you. Since I have nothing else better to do and I am tied to this chair for eternity trying to give my money away to people who obviously don't want it, I thought I'd see how many other me's there are out there. Here are my results...

There are 115,488 people in the U.S. with the first name Christy.

Statistically the 477th most popular first name. (tied with 4 other first names)

More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Christy are female.

There are 479,950 people in the U.S. with the last name _______.

Statistically the 41st most popular last name.

There are 185 people in the U.S. named Christy _______.

Want to try this yourself? Then just click here!

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Sep. 2, 2006

Want To Know When I Post A New Entry?

Posted in Miscellaneous

If you would like to know when I post a new entry to my blog all you have to do is scroll down the page until you see the door in the left-hand column and enter your email address. You will be taken to a confirmation page and then you'll be all set! You will receive one daily email with all my newest entries. I am very excited about this new feature! I've had this option in the past but have always had problems with it. But hopefully, not any more. I have found a new, very cool, host for this service. But, since this is a new host for me, please let me know if you have any problems with registering or receiving the updates. Otherwise, I may never know. I look forward to seeing your name join my ever-growing list!

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Aug. 31, 2006

Me? The Featured Blogger? I'm So Honored!

Posted in Miscellaneous

I can't believe it. I simply can not believe it!

I've been chosen as HSB'ers Featured Blogger! Little old simple me who spent so much time changing the LOOK of my blog lately that I forgot to actually take the time to BLOG

I truly am honored and consider it a blessing to be a part of the HSB community. Before joining HSB I didn't even know what a 'blog' was. Kinda sounded like a sickness to me! Little did I know that that 'sickness' would be just the cure I needed when I was feeling lonely (we're the only homeschoolers in our family and our church and it seems like our entire community) or when I had something I needed to talk about or when I was excited about something and just HAD to share it. Besides my on-line homeschooling friends, I have no one who truly understands the excitement and joy of homeschooling, and often times it seems, no one who feels the same joy and honor I do in being a wife and mother.

So thank you HSB, for always being here when I need a friend. For introducing me to so many wonderful homeschooling momma's (and dads!) and allowing me to talk about whatever is on my heart at any given moment of the day or night. But above all, thank you for being an encouragement to me and my family, for providing so much help and support to all us homeschoolers, for all the laughs (JenIg!) and all the tears (Missey Gray), for all the wonderful friends whom I have grown to love and look up to, and for making it possible for me to meet and chat with thousands of homeschooling moms each and every day!

May God continue to richly bless HSB and all of The Old Schoolhouse family!

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Aug. 28, 2006

Welcome To My New Blog!

Posted in Miscellaneous

Hello my fellow bloggers! I want to welcome you to my brand new blog! Ok, so it isn't exactly a new blog considering I've been here at HSB for a year now, but my look is completely different and I've added a bunch of great new features.

Take a look around and let me know what you think. How do you like the new look? How is the page loading for you? Too slow? Just fine? Please, let me know so I can make any necessary changes. What else would you like to see here? I'd love to hear your ideas. I'm still working on adding a few things so be sure to check back regularly!

My goal for this blog is to continue to share about our family's personal homeschooling journey and about our roles as wives and mothers, but I also want to provide a place where you can find all kinds of different homeschooling help and information as well as encouragement on this journey we're all on. This journey called... life.

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Apr. 5, 2006

Missey's Daughters

Posted in Miscellaneous

Here's an update on Missey's three older girls:

Just wanted to send a quick update on the three older girls because we got

to spend time with them today.

Our homeschool group had a play day for students 9 and under... but older

siblings were welcomed too... A friend called to see if Samantha, Susan and

Natalie could attend and their grandmother okayed the outing. The friend has a minivan for 7 and with her 5 kids, she was unable to pick them up, so she asked if I could. I went by and met Tom's mother and gathered the girls. Susan and Samantha are so bright and funny.. they look a lot like their mom and seem to be doing so well.

Natalie was such an angel... she had never met me and she instantly ran into

my arms and I picked her up. She just gave me a huge hug... I was trying

not to cry! She said "Oh you have a pink shirt...pink is my favorite color,

my daddy said it was my mommy's favorite too." For 5 she was incredibly

articulate and understanding, and she wanted to talk about her mom.. She

told me her birthday was in Oct, and I said mine it too! She said "mommy's

was in August"... She is so adorable and looks like her daddy rather than

Missey. I recalled the last update saying she was having the hardest

time... so pray for her! I just cannot adequately express how much she

brightened my day today as many times she would just reach up to be held and

offer a big hug.

I didn't see the baby Melissa or Nathan, as they were napping. The girls

told me that the baby was eating well and growing out of some clothes..

Anyway, it is clear that all the prayers being sent up on their behalf have

let them see God's grace through all this. They had a great time at the

play day, and I was glad to get to see them for a while.

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