12 Days of Christmas

I heard this song live on the Delilah show the other night. I think it is, without a doubt, the coolest version of the 12 Days of Christmas I've ever heard. I think you'll agree!

Word Blocks

I recently went to a Make and Take party at Mike's Mom's friend's house. We got to make our own word blocks. We started by painting the wood and then we applied the vinyl lettering. I really like how mine turned out!

Right now mine is on my Mom's hope chest at the top of our stairs, but eventually, when I have my own house, I would like to put it on top of the cupboards in the kitchen.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday Mike!

I am so happy to be able to celebrate this special day with you. I thank God every day for blessing me with such an amazing Christian man. You always put a smile on my face and I'm thankful God saw fit to put us in those same classes last year...He is the perfect match-maker. You mean the world to me and I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you!

Ladies Night Out

A few weeks ago, the local True Value hosted a Ladies Night Out. They invited a bunch of local vendors to set up tables with their products, offered free food, and had some great deals going on through the night. Heather's Dad asked me to set up an Avon table. Heather offered to sit with me and we had a great time! It was crazy busy for about the first hour and a half, and then the last half of the night was pretty slow. I handed out a good amount of brochures and business cards and sold a decent amount of products. Now I just sit back and wait for people to call and place orders ;)

Perfect fall day

A few Sundays ago, the weather was way to beautiful to stay inside all afternoon. When I got to Mike's house he told me he wanted to take me somewhere, but we'd have to drive a while to get there. That was fine with me, it was the perfect day for a drive. We drove down to Paw Paw and went to a small park there. The park is actually an island and you have to walk across a bridge to get there. My camera died after the first picture, but we had a great walk and a beautiful view. We spent some time walking, sitting on a bench, and skipping rocks. What a great day!

Farm Fest

A week from today our youth group will be participating in the very first Farm Fest. It's a very cool event that Brandon came up with to support families in Asia.

The kids have all been challenged to build their own "farm". In order to do this, they are asking for donation from people to purchase animals for their farm. The money will be sent to Gospel for Asia and animals will be purchased in India for the Dalits, or untouchables. If you go to my church and you haven't been asked by a student to make a donation, and you would like to, please let me know. I think you might be interested in learning more about the animals that can be purchased:

Chickens: The eggs provide protein and other nutrients for malnourished families. As the chickens reproduce, they can eat the meat, or sell them for extra income. You can purchase one for $11.

Rabbits: Rabbits provide nutritious meat for families. They also reproduce quickly providing more food and additional income. They cost only $11 each.

Goats: Goats produce milk which provides nutrients and can be sold for money. The goats also reproduce and the offspring can be sold for additional money. One can be purchased for $60.

Pigs: Pigs can provide meat and offspring to provide extra income. They have a lifetime of up to 15 years! They are $55.

Cows: Cows provide milk which contains calcium, Vitamin D, and protein. Not only do they provide milk, but the milk can make cheese, yogurt, and butter as well. One cow costs $375, but we are asking for donations for shares of the cow at $75.

Water Buffalo: These animals provide transportation, a plough animal, cart hauler, milk giver, and a very sturdy creature to join a Dalit family. They cost $460, but you can purchase a share for $92.

The kids are very excited about the weekend. We plan to do a variety of farm themed activities such as line dancing, pumpkin bowling, bobbing for apples, cow tipping obstacle course, and a bonfire. On Saturday we will be touring an AIDS exhibit at a nearby church. If you are interested in learning more about this weekend, please let me know or talk to a middle schooler (I can send you to one of the girls in my group).

Pumpkin Carving

Mike and I decided to carve a pumpkin...it's been years since either of us have done this and we thought it would be fun to do such a traditional fall thing.

Fall Photo-Shoot

Yesterday afternoon Mike and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall tres and blue skies and do a fall photo shoot. We had fun posing and goofing off for the camera.

I like how this picture shows the contrast between the gold tree and blue sky


Lots of colors at this park!

I had a hard time choosing my favorite pictures from all we took, but here are my top 4...

Makeover Monday

You may remember a few months ago when I posted about mineral foundation. Now I have discovered another mineral product--concealer! I have never used a powder concealer before, so I really didn't know what to expect! I was pleasantly surprised when I used new product. It goes on very similarly to the mineral foundation, and you can build coverage as needed. I think that for me, it does a great job of concealing, especially my dark under eye circles!

To order this, or any AVON product, please go here.

Can anyone help me out?

I am having some problems when I try to take pictures of small objects up close. As you may have noticed from some (not so good) pictures I have recently posted, these pictures turn out quite blurry. With my old camera, I never had this problem. Now the camera shows that it's focused and looks good but when I push the shutter button, it goes out of focus and takes a blurry picture. Is there something that I may be doing wrong, or does anyone have a brilliant idea to help me take clearer pictures?