the garbage collector

I'm a confessed recovering perfectionist. I really enjoy a good dose of O.C.D. A perfect day for me could possibly, just maybe include really clean closets.... But God didn't want me to get carried away. So he gave me a little garbage collector. I have to be diligent about going through her room to remove old candy wrappers, fruit, fries, broken toys (we still have a prince eric who is missing a hand), ripped pieces of paper... you get the idea. So you can imagine my dismay when Emma came running (and I mean running with excitement) off the bus with a HUGE smile on her face yelling, "MOM!!! LOOK AT THIS CUTE UMBRELLA MY FRIEND GAVE ME TODAY!!!!"

and again I say....

UGH!

okay... so here's the thing...

Last weekend Janelle and I planned a very small progressive dinner to start with dinner in her home and then dessert at mine. I was feeling quite pleased with myself. I was so proud of my gingerbread, martha cupcakes. I was bragging to everyone and telling them to eat their hearts out.... Okay, if you know me you KNOW that I LOVE to tease...

I thought I was wearing a cute outfit...

I WAS feeling pretty cute...

So.... here's the thing...

(insert long deep sigh)

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping with my brother at Nordstrom!! I thought I was safe there...

We ended up in the brass plum dept. and I literally freaked out with excitement when I saw the CUTEST PAIR of big star skinny jeans.... (I've been wanting skinny jeans for awhile)

So I tried them on while the sales lady was helping my brother. I was feeling young, hip, and cute...

and then it happened...

My brother was looking at a sweater for his wife. The sales lady said OH! I LOVE that sweater! I bought it for my boyfriend's MOM! To which Jim and I responded with an "UGH!" She said, "Is that bad?" To which I replied, "No, but he wants his wife to be young and hip~ not old like your boyfriend's mother."

then it happened...

She looked directly at me and said, "oh, NO! she's hip FOR HER AGE~ kinda like you are!"

CAN I GET AN

UGH!!!!

So we've come to this...

hip FOR MY AGE...

deep sigh...

It's all down hill from here... :0)

race day

side note:

I spent the day away from home. When I returned Neal could hardly wait to show me this video he made of my race day. He was so proud of me and said I want you to put this on your blog. So this is really the real me. In the beginning please remember it's only 5am and I'm not awake yet and feeling nervous about the race. Then in the part where I look irritated it's because I couldn't find a bathroom without a HUGE line and the race started in 10 minutes so I was freaking out a little bit.

But as I watched this video I had tears streaming down my face. Everything about this video is a testimony to the amazing love of our Father! As I'm walking to the race I have my dear, dear friend Janelle by my side. There is an awesome testimony to our friendship which you can read about here. She was probably one of the main people who kept me afloat last spring and summer! At the end of the race her husband said that Janelle always knew there was a reason that they moved in next door to us. And that reason was to take care of me this summer. I will be eternally grateful not only to Mark and Janelle but to our Father who used the most unlikely person to be one of the most amazing heroes to me.

Then there's my girls.... They could've been destroyed by what we've been through. But if you've read my blog for awhile you'll remember me writing about promising to show them just how big God is! Watching them run up those stairs and act like they're in a Rocky movie~ all smiles is such a testimony of God's grace.

Then there's Neal. Wow... is he EVER proud of me. Janelle said after watching him at the race, "he's so in love with you!"

It's been a hard year! But God's been FAITHFUL to keep his promise that whatever the enemy intended for evil He would USE FOR GOOD! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS VIDEO IS A TESTIMONY. My immediate family, my friendship and support from an awesome friend and her husband, my joy, my smile, my kids, my Neal... God IS FAITHFUL!!!! TRUST HIM!!! I want to badly for this blog to be a testimony!!! I want so badly that if one day you find yourself in the worst spot of your life you will think If Lissa made it with God's help then I can too!

finding inspiration in the strangest places.

I'm a total nester. Probably my favorite way to spend my time is puttering around the house. Cleaning, moving things, changing for the seasons, cooking for the seasons, etc. I love to find inspiration that I can use in my home. Sometimes I find ideas in the strangest places. Take my new peace ornament I purchased today from Pottery Barn. Yesterday I watched the video on Paige's latest post (which is amazing and you must watch!) and fell in love with her earrings! I knew right away that my house was in desperate need for some peace sign bling! So like a good

nester, I took care of it right away!

I also had some left over burlap so I ran to home depot to purchase 2 trees and wrapped them in the remaining burlap. I just tied it up with twine. I've had the metal basket for years.

Nesting makes me so happy! :0)

This is Christmas... 2009...

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My title is actually quite funny and only my family will get it...

Anyways, let's see how I did on my "spreading yule tide cheer the dave ramsey way..."

1. The candlesticks were downstairs on the hearth and I moved them to the kitchen. I LOVE candlelight during the holidays.

2. I'm obsessed with shredded paper and put it everywhere....

3. I'm hanging my Christmas cards from garden twine which I already had and some old clothes pins.

4. I did purchase the ginormous urn from the clearance section at Anthro. but I just couldn't leave it behind.

just a little something in the kitchen...

5. the garland is from last year. I bought it on clearance at Joann Fabric's. Then we painted the pine cones cream to match the rest of the decor.

6. more shredded paper and cheap trees.

7. I bought a few yards of burlap and shredded the edges and then hung my wreaths from it. The wreaths were 9.99 at the grocery store. Oh and if you look to the very left of the picture you see some old bells which I used to always place on the tree. This year I filled that bowl with them and more shredded paper. (a better pic is on my header)

8. I needed a star for the top of my Christmas tree so I painted an old one I had in the bin with the spray paint can that I used last year on the pine cones.

9. Then I shredded the rest of the burlap and stuck it in 'lumps' in the christmas tree. Then I added my star fish as ornaments.

I wanted my home to have a winter white feeling.

My baby boy was exhausted from all the decorating.

Here is a little peek at the girl's rooms. I wanted to buy them larger trees this year but couldn't get myself to spend the moolah. So these are from years past.

Natalie worked really hard to earn money and pay for a christmas dress for her doll. Her mom was to cheap to buy it So she earned it herself and saved for 2 months! (proud mama)

well... I guess that's it!

ps those letters from anthro didn't go at all... but think how much money I saved!

I had every intention to post pictures of my house all decorated for Christmas. Today is not the day for such a frivolous post because I have something special to share with you. I heard God whisper something special to me this morning. He told me, "It's time for you to WALK IN your healing." I keep talking about how God is my healer! How he's healing me. But I keep waiting for this *big* event where I no longer feel any pain, no longer feel like a victim, no longer feel sorry for myself. I completely believe that God is my healer but yet I wait. Today he revealed something to me. He revealed that my healing was already made complete on the cross. That by Jesus's stripes I'm already completely and totally healed. Not only that but by His stripes I've also been set free! So I don't have to wait for some momentous event to occur. I can start walking in healing today!! This very minute!!! I CAN walk in freedom and healing! WHAT AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS GIFT! Just writing this post I feel so much peace!

When I think about Christmas this year I see baby Jesus lying in that manger. I see our Father up in heaven proudly staring down at his son and thinking, "I miss you boy! But one day there will be a girl named Lissa who is going to have the most difficult year and she's going to need what you're going to do for her! She's going to need you to die on that cross so that she can be healed and set free!" I see a wonderful savior! The one who came as a baby so that I could walk in my healing!

This has been my hardest year...

But it just could be my best Christmas ever!

Santa's workshop

My sister's friend has the cutest blog and awhile back she posted about making a gift called "spring in a box." I thought that this was the cutest idea and knew that I would enjoy making "christmas in a box" gifts for a few of my friends. I have NEVER had so much fun putting together a gift! I know that it's partly due to the fact that the girls who would be receiving them are AMAZING friends to me and I was so excited to bless them!

So I started with what I like to call my packaging station. I gathered tags, shredded paper, stamps, baking twine, lables, etc. and placed them all in this metal basket along with a few inspirational magazines.

I gathered items from all over. I ordered those darling cards from frenchie and flea. I wanted to send each friend a personal note of gratitude of their friendship. Then I ordered the cutest christmas recipe cards from Farm Chicks and wrote Martha Stewart's sugar cookie recipe on them. I don't know if these girls are like me but I LOVE to receive recipe cards from people!

I had so much fun with the packaging! Each girl received a clear bag holding a gingerbread cookie cutter, 2 christmas wishes and tied with a peace ornament and a cute tag that says "open me." I tied it up with baker's twine. My husband was laughing at me enjoying myself. He said I would freak out if someone sent me a gift like this. He said, "that gift is soooo Lissa!" Soooo, I made one for my self! :o) Why not, right?

Then I put together what I consider to be the most fun Christmas cd which I entitled "JINGLES." I wanted it to be something different than the normal traditional stuff. It's got a lot of fun country stuff on it. My hubby helped me create festive labels (which is harder than you would think unless there is an easier program out there.)

Each girl also got a beautiful verse tied like a scroll with bakers twine. the verse reads:

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. Ps 100:4 which is an entirely appropriate verse for Christmas as we remember all He's done for us!

Lastly, I packaged up everything in shredded paper and mailed them off to my friends.

As I look back on 2009 and all of the hard events that took place I am truly amazed and humbled by the quality of friends that God has placed in my life. It's entirely true that the best gifts will never be found under the tree but in our hearts! Merry, Merry Christmas!