There was SO much laughter and food and visiting! It was a totally wonderful night!!! I am so blessed to have these woman in my life. And I love that while they are so sad I am moving, they are praying I make new wonderful friends in my new church and new home! :) They are just awesome!!!

Since I became a mom I have been pretty terrible about getting books read. Unless it is Fancy Nancy or Dr. Seuss I am just not reading all that much. And it has been ok to take a few years off and have babies, but now that the kids are getting older I want to set some goals and keep in mind some books I want to read.

So here goes:
The List So Far:

 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578565812/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-6&pf_rd_r=1R3T3J9YRPF57S1XAGYZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938731&pf_rd_i=507846
I started this one technically in 2010 but I haven't gotten too far just yet. ;)


http://www.amazon.com/Green-Goes-Everything-Healthier-Cleaner/dp/1416578455/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464178&sr=1-1
Apparently this book is everything you never wanted to know about toxins being in your food, water, clothing, mattresses, cleaning products etc....all the chemicals we put in our systems every day and how to avoid that. :) Stay posted, I will write a post someday on all that I have been learning and why I love Arbonne. :)


http://www.amazon.com/Joyfully-Home-Young-Ladies-Vision/dp/1934554502/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464201&sr=1-1
Totally looking forward to reading this book! I LOVE her blog! Her dad's book:

(which I gave away before I even finished reading it...I need to get a new one! LOVE this book!)
http://www.amazon.com/What-He-Must-Be-Daughter/dp/1581349300/ref=pd_sim_b_1
 totally changed our church in so many ways! Fathers stepped up and became better leaders,(but not dictators) parents got more proactive in the dating-courtship process and families are just getting closer! Awesome!!!


http://www.amazon.com/Bonhoeffer-Pastor-Martyr-Prophet-Spy/dp/1595551387/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295464219&sr=1-1
Ok so my husband actually got this one for Christmas...but I think I am going to borrow it for a bit! ;) I LOVE World War II History and the fact the Hitler killed him a couple of days before the war ended-just out of spite is intriguing.

Right now in my devotions, I am going through:

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Spiritual-Gifts-40-Minute-Studies/dp/0307458709/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295465097&sr=1-5
I am really enjoying it too! :) I love Kay Arthur! Her books, "Lord, I Want to Know You" (on the names of God) and "Lord, I Need Grace to Make it Today" (about grace and applying it to your life) were huge in my life and taught me sooooo much and changed my life drastically. :)
So I think the next devotion book I will do will be:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Help-Grow-Spiritually-Strong/dp/0736925988/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295465124&sr=1-1
Looks good! :)
I also want to do this one this year:


http://www.amazon.com/My-Utmost-His-Highest-ebook/dp/B0049U4WA6/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295465344&sr=1-4
I have heard SO many good things about this book! I am really excited to read it...and who knows...after Bonhoffer and Chambers I just may be up to reading some Tozer! :)


http://www.amazon.com/Duggars-Counting-Raising-Americas-Families-How/dp/141658563X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295467042&sr=1-1
Someday I will write a post on the 20 and counting things I love about the Duggars...but for now, I want to read their book! :)


http://www.visionforum.com/browse/product/?productid=96752
I am dying to read SO MANY of the books that Vision Forum has to offer...this is just one of them. ;)

My "Fun Reading" List:


http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Jane-Austen/dp/1936594293/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467131&sr=1-3
How sad is it that I have never read this book?!?!? This is the year!



http://www.amazon.com/Mansfield-Park-Penguin-Classics-Austen/dp/0141439807/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467176&sr=1-1
Ok, silly reason for wanting to read this one...I have taken several "what Jane Austen book is your life" quizzes on facebook and Mansfield Park is always the answer...I must find out what this means. ;)


http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Dog-His-Victor-Brodt/dp/1452839948/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295467940&sr=1-1
I am SO looking forward to reading this one! It was written by some dear friends!
You MUST read the AMAZING reviews this book has gotten and read it for yourself! I am thinking I will start this one next!

Alright...so besides the books I flip through on cooking, cleaning, gardening, and other homesteading topics, this is my list. Pretty daunting considering the only things I read through completely last year was "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and the "Lord I Need Grace..." one I mentioned earlier. Ok, that isn't quite true...I am having plenty of others come to mind... anyhow. FUN! I love to read!

Does anyone else have anything they plan on reading this year???

That song, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in His way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth Him with His hand." has been encouraging to me today and I thought I would find more verses on "steps" since ours are rather "unsure" at the moment. ;)

Job 34:21

Job 31:4

Psalm 37:23

Psalm 37:31

Psalm 119:133

Proverbs 16:9

Jeremiah 10:23

1 Peter 2:21

Proverbs 20:24

Yay! I thought it had been so long since I had joined in on miscellany monday that I really should today! :)
Click on the button to read more miscellany and post your own!

So this afternoon (because it was afternoon by the time I could do it) I jumped in the shower. Once I got in the shower I realized:
1. My husband went out of town and took his razor (which I have been using-he just LOVES that we are that close.;) and I forgot to put mine back in the shower.
2. A baby that had been exploring my house earlier that morning had taken my shampoo out of the bathroom and into the living room and I had forgotten to put it back.

So...conundrum: do I now wet and naked go traipsing through the house to retreive said items or do I wash my hair with my body wash (!!! I know!!!) and not shave since the Hubster isn't home anyways....
Well, I went with the body wash and no shaving...so if I look unusually frizzy and hairy when I run into you at Wal-Mart later I apologize and now you know why. ;)

Funny, I thought going without shaving would be freeing and liberating.
It isn't. It is poky, uncomfortable and I shouldn't raise my arms to wave hello even in a short sleeved shirt. I may just shower again later. ;)
                                                                               ~
After my shower, I pulled out my new uber comfy aeropostale workout pants and threw them on. Notice I called them "workout pants" instead of "sweat pants." Sweat pants sound dowdy...workout pants sound dowdy too, but dowdy with a purpose. ;) Workout pants convey mental images of me in a perfect pony tail effortlessly jogging around the block with my dog and jogging stroller-even though I may only get some painting, packing, and photo editing done tonight when I get back from Wal-Mart. Although taking all three kids to Wal-Mart in Show Low and all the snow out there could be considered light exercise. So there we go. Maybe I will even let the dog ride along.
                                                                           ~
Last night, the kids and I played Just Dance on the Wii. There is seriously nothing cuter than watching my three munchkins dance to that game! It is also funny the songs that are their favorites. All three kids LOVE "Cotton-Eyed Joe" which is the one they do best at.
Harmony's favorite is the one she calls "The Football Dance" I have no idea why she calls it that because it is the disco song and dance "That's The Way (Uh-huh) I Like It." Maybe the character's afro looks like a football helmet???
Evan loves "The punching one" aka "Eye of the Tiger" which Chas calls "I am a tiger."
Chas also requests "Pump up the Jam" which I think she thinks is talking about the jam that goes on a sandwich.
They don't like it, but they dance to the Beach Boy's "I Get Around" just for Momma. :) What sweet babies! :)
                                                                               ~
I posted this on Facebook the other day, but should document it here in my journal...a week or so ago my extremely mild-mannered son came STOMPING down the hall way. I could tell in his step he was unhappy about something. Then he stomped up to me and angrily yelled, "MOMMA!" Taken aback at this unusual behavior, I asked him, "What is it baby?"
He angrily yelled back "I LOVE YOU!!!!" And then he stomped off! I sat there stunned for a second and then had to laugh. After a second I yelled back, "EVAN!!! I LOVE YOU TOO!" He stuck his head around the corner and yelled "I LOVE YOU!" Like he was still angry. And now it is our bit. We randomly yell angry I love you's back and forth almost every day.
Today the girl's tried to join in, but he got really upset that they were moving in on our bit. He told them to "shhhhh!" LOL Having a boy is so much fun! :)

Being a mom is so much fun! :)
Happy Monday!

~Gina

So the news: We are moving to Texas!!! Telling the teens last night was one of the worst things EVER. So awful. But here's the story: Yep, out of the blue Chase was asked for his resume three times in a week! He didn't even have one so we whipped one up, talked to Pastor Steve and sent them out. Fairly quickly two of the options were shot down but the church in Princeton, Texas was seriously considering us. If you are wondering how and why they heard of us, some of you might remember Lynn Hoskins. She used to come to our church here before she moved to Princeton. She said that one day the Lord just impressed on her heart that she should be praying for me and Chase. She didn't know why until two months later when their youth pastor resigned! A light went  on and she talked to Pastor Stan about us. They received a bunch of resumes but really liked us. (what's not to like???)   We exchanged questionaires, had a skype conference call with their calling committee, and Pastor Stan and his wife Julie were able to come and visit Calvary awhile back. It "just happened" that they were going to be in New Mexico for a missions trip anyway. ;) So we talked with them and asked a bunch of questions and answered a bunch of questions. Pastor Stan met with Pastor Steve and they had a good talk. Next thing you know, we left early for Christmas in Houston in order to go to the Youth GroupChristmas party in Princeton, Chase was going to teach Sunday School the next morning and give his testimony in the church service. We LOVED the teens...the church...the community and felt right at home. The church was going to vote on whether or not to call us the following Wednesday night and we would pray about it some more. Well as it turned out, two people voted undecided and everyone else voted yes to calling us! Which is still amazing to me...anyhow. We prayed some more and sought counsel some more and talked to Pastor Steve again. We asked what his thoughts were and if he had peace about us leaving. He expressed that it was the last thing he wanted, but through the whole process he had never been able to find a problem with the pastor or church or process or us leaving. In fact, he told us that two months prior to Chase being asked for his resume (which we realized later was the same time God told Lynn to pray for us) Pastor Steve felt like God was telling him that we would be leaving soon... So we prayed about it some more, felt like this was something that God had completely orchestrated from the beginning and we accepted the position.  Funny too because our major three concerns and prayer requests for our family have been: to be closer to the Ward side, to get Chase back in school for his Master's degree, and to have a better schedule with more time to spend as a family or down time. We have really been wanting to start family devotions and the best time is in the morning except that that is the worst time because Chase's days start anywhere from 5:15-8:00. It just hasn't worked...and it doesn't help that he typically works 70 ish hours every week. Our kids are young and we need more time together.  Well guess what? All three of those were answered by moving to Faith Baptist in Princeton! Chase will have time this fall to go back to school and the commute would be MUCH shorter than if we were in Show Low. Chase's parents are about 3.5 hours away from Princeton...and they are hoping to move closer at some point. And Faith is SO relaxed!  Life just moves more slowly there and there aren't as many hours needed in the office.

So anyway...our prayers were answered...not like we were thinking but I guess we should have been more specific! haha! ;) Anyway, in case you are wondering, Princeton is just north of Dallas. It is a town about the size of Show Low but with 1 million or so people in the surrounding like 20 miles. I like Princeton because it is small enough it really has a country feel but I would only be 15 minutes away from THREE Targets and a Hobby Lobby and a Whole Foods, and a couple of malls! AWESOME!  So our last day at Calvary is the last Sunday of January...I believe Chase is preaching that day. We pull out of town on February first and our first day at Faith is the first Sunday of February. I am excited about the new teens and new church and being closer to the in-loves, but I am really very very sad about leaving all my friends, our teens...and what I believe is the best church and pastor ever! Calvary and Pastor Steve are not perfect...but I have never seen or experienced better.  (Or anything even remotely close!) We have been soooo very blessed and even spoiled here! I would like to take Calvary and just combine it with Faith so I don't lose anyone! :) It is also hard because we have no idea what we are moving into! We really want to buy this house: http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/TX/Princeton/1100-N-6th-St-402_11484404.htm But we can't buy anything (or rent anything other than a 750sq. ft. apt) until our house here sells. We are hoping to get it on the market next week after we finish up some projects we have had going . Please pray!!!