Friday's Fave Five #164

TGIF!  One of the loveliest days of the week ...

1.  Does anyone else love crock pots as much as I do?  I bought a new one this week, and I'm excited as a kid with a new toy.  My hubby frowned on another crock pot, so we compromised.  I had an old one that had a hairline crack in the crock (lol) and I decided to get rid of it to make room for the new.  I now have 5, 2 big, 1 medium, 1 small, and 1 little dipper. That's not too much, is it?  Please say no!

Isn't she cute?

2.  I've had a good week at work and was able to get  some things accomplished ahead of time. It just makes me feel so efficient, and that is a great feeling!


3. Anticipation - Tonight, our women's retreat begins.  I'm excited because I've heard our speaker before and I always enjoy her messages.  I'm also really hoping and expecting to experience God's presence.  Nothing is more special than that!


4.  I tried something new:  I put a tablespoon of peanut butter in my oatmeal as soon as I took it out of the microwave.  After it melted, I was in love - it was so creamy and yummy.  More filling, too.  If you like peanut butter - try it!


5. Quote of the week:

God's goal for every Christian is Christlikeness (Romans 8:29). And He will use everything in our life to see us reach that goal (Romans 8:28). Our job is never to lose sight of God's calling. … David Jeremiah, Turning Point Devotional, 11/1/11

This really resonated with me - everything that happens to me is only allowed because somehow it will bring about Christlikeness in me. To think that God cares that much!


Have a wonderful weekend!  Remember, you are God's masterpiece!

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago".
Ephesians 2:10 NLT

Friday's Fave Five is a blog party sponsored by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  If you'd like to share your 5 highlights from your week, link up here.

Friday Fill-Ins #106

It's time to participate in Janet's Friday Fill-Ins. Janet begins a sentence (her words are in blue) and I am supposed to finish it. It's fun to read everyone's answers. Join in here.


1. It's January; a time of new beginnings. This is the time of year I think about organization and self-improvement!



2. A Subway BMT is what I crave most right now. I haven't had one in a long time ...





3. I don't drink, so this question is hard for me! I guess I'd say cork and wine go together like milk and milk cartons?





4. Soup is so nourishing.





5. Let us dare to declare absolute truth. I'm sick of political correctness!





6. I adore my home and want to make it a haven of peace.





7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include working and the ever-present laundry (although my daughter has done a lot of it for me this week!) and Sunday, I want to attend church, then relax some more!

Friday Fill-Ins #105

I've missed a couple weeks of participating in Friday Fill-Ins. It's great to start out the new year with this fun little meme.

1. The world is full of beautiful things.

2. I love you was the last thing I said when I left for work this morning.

3. I wonder what God has in store for me in 2009.

4. Whether or not we have made a decision for Christ is at the end of all things.

5. There's something to be said for laughter. I'm all for it!

6. Home is where I want to be.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include working and laundry :( and Sunday, I want to relax some more!

If you'd like to participate, visit Janet at Friday Fill-Ins. Also, please pray for Janet; her father recently passed away.

Friday Fill-Ins #102

1. Friends add so much to life! They are a true blessing from God.

2. Good health; it's priceless. You don't appreciate it until you or someone you love becomes ill.

3. I'm ready for another day off!

4. Honeysuckle is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is a porcelain Santa Claus that my mother gave me.

6. Take some toddlers and play-dough, mix it all together and you have a mess! :)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting home and hangin' with my sweetie, tomorrow my plans include shopping and Sunday, I want to regroup!

Join Janet at Friday Fill-Ins and see how others answered these questions. Also, please remember to pray for Janet and her family. Her father is still in the hospital.

Friday Fill-Ins #101

1. Snow is beautiful the first time we have a snowfall. Then I'm ready to be done with it!

2. I'm looking forward to the next movie night with my family.

3. Christmas is the best season ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is The Carol Burnett Show.

5. I'm done with condemnation. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is time spent with family.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to our Ladies' Church Christmas party, tomorrow my plans include grocery shopping and perhaps putting up the tree, and Sunday, I want to enjoy resting!

Join Janet at Friday Fill-Ins and see what others are saying.

P.S. Please pray for Janet and her dad as he has been ill.

Friday Fill-Ins #99

1. The last band I saw live was Ernie Haase and Signature Sound.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is the food and playing board games with my family.

3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is not started.

4. Thoughts of my to-do list fill my head.

5. I wish I could wear a smaller size.

6. Bagpipes sound melancholy.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my church's Progressive Dinner, tomorrow my plans include going to the craft fair, and Sunday, I want to collapse!

If you'd like to see how others answered these questions, visit Janet at Friday Fill-Ins.

Friday Fill-Ins #98

1. Please feel free to comment. Comments are like chocolate to me! (Have I mentioned how much I like chocolate?

2. When I light a candle I can't help sniffing it occasionally. This is my favorite time of year to light candles.

3. My favorite thing to cook is mexican food.

4. Chocolate is something I can't get enough of. (See #1 above)

5. That's the thing I love most about M & M's (the chocolate).

6. Having a few M & M's in the package always makes me think to myself, what the heck? I might as well go ahead and eat them!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hangin with my hubby, tomorrow my plans include working my second job and cleaning out the fridge :p and Sunday, I want to rest! (I'm in a rut!)

If you'd like to read answers from others, visit Janet at Friday Fill-Ins.

Friday Fill-Ins #97

1. My blueprint for success includes being organized.

2. Candy corn was the last candy I ate.

3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is Oil of Olay.

4. Cleaning the house can be good therapy.

5. I'd like to tell you about my faith and why it's important to me.

6. Being nice is my strongest characteristic. I have been accused of being too nice!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to buying groceries after work and then spending the evening with my hubby, tomorrow my plans include going to a surprise birthday party for a friend and Sunday, I want to recuperate!

If you'd like to read what others had to say on these topics, visit Janet at Friday Fill-Ins.

Friday Fill-Ins #96

1. My favorite food seasoning is chili powder. I add it to lots of things, including baked beans and homemade pizza. Try it!

2. You look like you're in your 30s is music to my ears. [OK, I like it when people say I look like I'm in my 40s, too. Enough said.]

3. Lucky is a word I don't use. A person can be blessed, but not lucky.

4. My faith is something I take very seriously.

5. Many people dress casually on Fridays at the office. Sometimes, too casually ... Sorry, it bothers me when girls at my bank are wearing jeans that I'd use to clean out the garage. I love jeans, but let's wear a dressy pair to work!

6. Buns for my crockpot barbecue was the last thing I bought at the store, because I like to buy them the day I use them. Fresh buns are better!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping (what else?), tomorrow my plans include our Fall Festival at church (hot dogs roasted at a bonfire, anyone?) and Sunday, I want to have my afternoon nap!

If you'd like to see the way other people answered these questions, hop on over to Janet's blog, Friday Fill-Ins.

Friday Fill-Ins #95

1. Right now, I'm feeling like a zombie. I have sinus, and sinus meds make me feel like I'm someone else existing in my body.

2. Home is where I want to be. It's good to be home!

3. How does one little M & M become eating the whole bag?

4. Studying God's word keeps me on track.

5. Please don't hate me because I'm beautiful! (Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I am the queen of stating the obvious, so when I can put a well known saying in a blog, I can't help myself.)

6. Comments from my readers fills me with joy. (No pressure, though. Mmmkay?)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to laying on the couch, tomorrow my plans include laundry, lesson, and a quick (!) trip to town and Sunday, I want to nap! (I feel like I write basically the same answers about my weekend every week, 'cause I'm just boring like that.)

If you'd like to see what others said on these topics, visit Janet at Friday Fill-Ins.

Friday Fill-Ins: #94

1. Follow the Lord and He will make your paths straight.

2. Extra outfits are something I always take with me on vacation. I like to be prepared for anything!

3. To achieve your goals, you must "plan your work and work your plan." [I wish that was an original thought but I heard that saying many years ago. I wish I would have done it ... ]

4. The fact that I became a mother for the first time when I was 30 is something I'd like you to know about me. That is why I'm addicted to Sunday afternoon naps!

5. I have a dream.

6. I love root beer floats. [I started to say "Hope floats."]

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being done with the work week, tomorrow my plans include enjoying the cooler weather and Sunday, I want to nap! [I know, I say that every week ... ]

To see other Friday Fill Ins, visit Janet here.

Friday Fill-Ins: #93

1. One of the best concerts/plays/movies I ever saw that I really didn't think I'd like was Shrek. I usually don't like animated movies, and a movie about an ogre? I really figured I wouldn't like it. I was wrong. It was funny and I liked the message: it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.

2. Chicken enchiladas was a recipe I recently made that was delicious! I'm going to make it again this week.

3. It's time for lipstick. Gotta keep those lips hydrated!

4. Eating York Peppermints is quite refreshing.

5. If I never hear the words "politcally correct" again, it'll be too soon.

6. To one side of the curving road was a guard rail, and on the other was a rock cut.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching "What Not to Wear," tomorrow my plans include cleaning the bathroom and then being lazy and Sunday, I want to nap (as usual)!

If you'd like to participate in Friday Fill-Ins, click here.

Friday Fill-Ins #92

1. October is for me the most glorious month of the fall. I love the fall colors, the weather and the harvest!

2. Heights scare me! Rodents scare me, too!

3. Leaves are falling all around, it's time for bonfires. Mmmm, I love roasted hot dogs and s'mores and sitting around a bonfire with my friends.

4. I don't have a favorite horror movie because I think it's very important what you put in your brain. I don't want to dwell on horrible things! (Plus I get scared easily. I once had to sleep with my younger sister when my husband was out of town because I watched Ghostbusters and then dreamed about ghosts. Let's just keep that between me and you.)

5. Old photographs = good memories.

6. It was a dark and stormy night the night I graduated from high school. I wanted to attend an all night party against my father's judgment. I went anyway. Driving home in the pre-dawn hours, I got my car stuck in the little dirt lane 1/4 mile from my house. I had to walk in the rain in my graduation dress holding an umbrella to get home. Granted, it wasn't all that far, but it was far enough to dread what was going to happen when I got home!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working at my other church then running to Wal-Mart, tomorrow my plans include attending the Riverboat parade and later that day watching my daughter compete in a contest for Riverboat Queen and Sunday, I want to collapse!

To read what others have to say, visit Friday Fill-Ins here.

Friday Fill-Ins #91

1. Cooler weather, fall decorations and homemade chili and soups are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all of the things I am passionate about and all the things I want to accomplish! There are not enough hours in my day!

3. I used to say that I would never live in a certain town, then I married my husband who lived in that town and we lived there for five years, and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"!

4. When I'm down, I think about positive things. I'm never down for very long -- it's just not my nature.

5. Home or church is where you'll find me most often. (I work at a church besides worshiping there!)

6. A rainy day is good for reading.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing my grocery run (ok, I'm not looking forward to it), tomorrow my plans include working at my second job and then later that evening, going to our Women's Retreat and Sunday, I want to nap (after church, of course)!

Head over to Janet's Friday Fill-Ins blog to see what others had to say about this.

Friday Fill-Ins #90

1. There is no need to worry. God has everything in His control and He does NOT need my help!

2. Where in the world did the time go? It feels like Tuesday instead of Friday!

3. Get further behind is all I managed to do this week!

4. Prospects for weight loss are looking dim ... I had too many M & M's this week!

5. Freedom is the message! I am free from condemnation.

6. Simplicity and tranquility are the result of removing clutter from your life.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to the Olive Garden with friends, tomorrow my plans include work and laundry (ugh!) and Sunday, I want to sleep! (Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right?)