Archive for September, 2007

Thankful Thursday~

Thursday, September 13th, 2007



There are so many things to be thankful for today!

(funny how a funeral puts life into a whole new perspective… every time)

  1. I’m so thankful that I am getting good reports from Izzy’s teachers and therapists every day! In the past I have geared myself up to hear negative and found myself repeating 2 Cor. 5:7 when going into those doors… but this year it has been so positive and still I walk by faith, not by sight. The biggest joy is knowing that she is enjoying school and happy. That is a blessing!
  2. Coming home after a long day. Home is just the best place of all. I love taking off all my jewelry, then changing into comfy clothes! Love it.
  3. I’m thankful for my blogging friends. You guys are the best. I love popping in to read what you have to say and love all your sweet comments.
  4. FALL! Isn’t the cooler weather heavenly? I love the crisp mornings and the cool evenings. The nice breeze. Beautiful.
  5. Quiet mornings, just me & Izzy! (I was basking in one of those, but matt just popped in and told me he is off for the rest of the day!)
  6. I’m thankful for my cell phone! How did mothers survive without them before? I know the answer to that questions, but what a blessing to always be a literal phone call away!

You can go HERE to see what others are thankful for today!

a long day…

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

Well today was a LONG day.
We headed out of town late morning for Eddie’s funeral.
The family dinner was scheduled for noon, with the funeral at 2 PM.
I didn’t anticipate how sad the funeral would be…
The lunch was nice. The menu was baked ham, corn, baked beans, potato salad, salad, multi-grained rolls, and various desserts.
You never really feel like eating at those dinners, but somehow shove the food in to fill the void of conversation. If that makes sense.
I could hear laughter and conversations, I saw friends and relatives embracing and realized I haven’t seen many of these people since the last funeral in Blanchard.
Eddie’s daughter and son seemed like they were handling it all pretty well.
The funeral itself was very very sad. I cried a bucket of tears. Matt did too.
I still have a cry headache.
Those video montages always get me, it’s like watching someone’s life literally flash before your eyes.
I felt so sad for Evva, Eddie’s daughter. She is a sweet girl and loved her daddy so much. Bryce, Eddie’s son, spoke. I was amazed at how composed he was, how he had the entire congregation laughing and then how he pulled it all together and prayed. It was touching.
I’ve never seen so many flowers at a funeral. It was incredible. I sat and counted but lost track at 50 arrangements. He was loved.
We viewed his body. He looked 80, and was only 54. He had so much life in him, without it he was just a shell. I guess that’s always the case, just seemed more pronounced in Eddie.
It was a beautiful day. Perfect weather. We went to the cemetery and gave last hugs to the family. His sister Betty whispered in my ear as I hugged her, “I pray for your family every single night.” She was having a very hard time, she was the older sister by 18 years and was almost like another mother for Eddie.
We visited both of Matt’s grandmother’s graves while we were there, they have both died in the last year, then drove by Marmar’s old house. Lots of memories there.

remembering~

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007


George Edgar ‘Eddie’ Binyon, 54, of Blanchard, Oklahoma, was the son of G.W. and Evelyn (Shelton) Binyon. He was born on June 12, 1953, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and died Sunday, September 9, 2007, at his home. Eddie was a 1971 graduate of Blanchard High School and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Central State University in 1975. He was president of Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Central State University. Eddie was honored as a Former Distinguished Student by University of Central Oklahoma in 1996. He also received his certification as a Certified Funeral Service Practitioner in 1997. He became a licensed funeral director and embalmer in 1975. Eddie owned Brown-Binyon Funeral Homes in Chickasha, Verden, and Cyril for over 25 years. He also owned Binyon Funeral Home in Blanchard for six years. He served as president of the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association in 1987 and was also named Oklahoma Funeral Director of the year. Eddie also served as a district chairman and governor of the association. He was a board member of Director’s Life Insurance Company. Eddie was the football statistician for the Chickasha Chicks for over seventeen years. The Binyon family was the founding family of the Festival of Light in Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1993. Eddie was a member and past president of the Chickasha Rotary Club where he was named as a Paul Harris Fellow, a member and past president of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce and past chairman of Chickasha Certified Cities Steering Committee; he was past president and board member of Frontier Country Marketing Association and past treasurer and member of the Blanchard Lions Club. His latest accomplishment was being a licensed real estate agent.


Amy Wilhoite
Went home to Jesus yesterday
Please remember her family in your prayers.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
23 Psalms

time travel tuesday ~ first job experience

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Time to share your first job experience…
What was your first job experience?
Do you remember the first paycheck, starting salary?
Do you remember your first boss, coworkers?
What was your favorite task/least favorite task?
How did that job end?

My first job was right before I was 16. I was at the mall and saw my cousin Dee Ann working in the fabric shop. It was a small fabric shop called So-Fro Fabrics. She mentioned that they were hiring a few people to help inventory the store. I spoke to the manager and was hired on the spot. I was so excited!

My mother has always sewn things. I remember coming home from school when I was young and there would be an outfit laying on my bed she had made while I was away (that and my dolls lined up with their hair washed and curled, but that’s another story altogether)… Yes, my mom was a worker, and so we spent many days looking at fabric. Enough so that I felt well in my element to work at this store.

Right across the way in the mall was a greek restaurant called “Olgas.” They had a three-cheese olga that was wonderful, and spinach pie! YUM. Anyone have an Olga’s near them? They have vacated Okahoma… Anyway, first job… so I worked there most Saturdays and some evenings after school. There was a woman that usually worked with me and we got along fine. I cannot remember her name, but one night we were closing up and a young man came in asking for change. We were both there and gave him change. I guess he was some kind of quick change artist type, because we came up a little short. She blamed me. I started applying at other stores because of this irritation. I moved up in the world to a young fashion clothing store… I can’t remember the name of the place, but all my $$$ went for things from that store.

I think my starting salary was minimum wage at the time, $3.35/hr. Woo Hoo! I don’t even know what minimum wage is now, but this sure sounds like a tiny hourly amount.

The scariest time I remember was leaving the mall after work one night, it wasn’t dark yet. A man walked along with me, too close. He had a trench type coat on and opened one side to reveal many gold chains. I wasn’t interested… I told him I didn’t have any money. He said he had friends who would pay dearly for my time. That set off the alarms in my head. I was about to my car at that point so I jumped in quickly and noticed he had run over to the passenger’s side to get in too. He got in the door but had not gotten seated so I peeled out of my parking spot and he lost his grip on the door. I drove to the other side of the mall before I stopped to close the door. Matt was at my parent’s house when I got home so I told them all what had happened. We called the mall security and they caught him. He had other complaints and some warrants out for him already. That was scary.

I can’t say I learned a whole lot at my first job, other than how to cut fabric and how to make a baby blanket… oh, and how to escape a psycho felon!!! Good stuff.

menu plan monday ~ september 10

Monday, September 10th, 2007


Monday

Cheesy Mostaccioli
(thanks Lauren)
salad
garlic toast


Tuesday

Barbecue chicken
scalloped potatoes
baked beans

Wednesday

enchiladas
rice
refried beans
salad

Thursday

curry chicken
rice
veggies

Friday

date night!

Okay, I’ve written three full paragraphs about things going on… Amanda’s adventure and scary text message last night; my latest weight news; etc… but keep finding myself backspacing the whole thing.

Matt’s uncle Eddie was found dead in his home last night. When we first started dating, Eddie and his lovely family were always around. We watched his children Bryce and Evva grow up. Somewhere along the way his path of life took a detour and he made some wrong choices. I’m sad for him. When Izzy was in the PICU for so long, Eddie was there every day. He would just sit and visit with us and was very helpful. He was really a funny and warm man. For many years he owned the funeral home in his home town and so he always had a funeral story to share, which I never particularly enjoyed… but it was just Eddie. A few months ago when Matt’s grandmother died, it was Eddie who saw to every detail, even fixing her hair to look “like marmar always looked.” My next line of thoughts is something like… the devil can really lead your life in the wrong direction and ultimately ends in death… but, we all know that. I just pray for his children, who are essentially grown now… but it was still their dad.

I’m not sure why I have a very heavy heart today, I think maybe some time on my knees rather than at the keyboard is a good idea.

Be blessed.

week in review

Sunday, September 9th, 2007


This was another week full of blessings… Monday was Labor Day, we ate Mexican food at mom and dad’s house. It was delicious! Matt and I did a little shopping during the day too. I did my time travel Tuesday post all about Monday! Tuesday all the kiddos were back in school, including Izzy… who has been a little stuffy this week. She made it to school all week and was a trooper. Wednesday I got to meet Rachel, a fellow blogger. It was so neat meeting her and her family. Thursday was the day that Emelia surprised us with a full agenda. I had just pulled in earlier from picking Amanda and Izzy up and told Amanda, “tonight will be great, no plans!” and at 5:15 pm Emelia told us she had a honor choir try out and two softball games! Honestly, I enjoyed the games. I joked about softball not being a real sport like basketball. Truth is I just don’t take little kids sports as seriously as some. I believe they are for fun, learning to work as a team, being a good sport, exercise… a little bit of healthy competitiveness is fine, just as long as we don’t get ‘crazy!’ Matt and I sat on the bleachers and enjoyed a beautiful late Summer night, the breeze was almost cool. Friday we raced to see bear, home for a quick lunch and then off to school. Another busy day for miss Isabelle! (and her chauffeur!). Saturday we stayed home – ALL DAY! That was first in a long time. I got to visit with CoachJ on the phone.

  • Izzy’s healing.
  • Parker
  • Heather
  • Luke
  • Abbie
  • Kari
  • Collin
  • Susan’s granddaughter Oksana, and Susan
  • Darla, one of my oldest bffs from way back who is a minister’s wife and stranded in a place she is not happy.
  • Ann, dealing with sadness.
  • Michelle, Joe & Kayla as Joe is deployed next week.
  • Zenaida’s friend Vic who is in ICU after terrible motorcycle accident.
  • K.C.’s hubby.
  • 6 week old baby Emma to have a good biopsy report
  • baby Jackson to grow strong and healthy!
  • Terri, Debi’s friend, who is battling cancer for the second time around, prayers for another victory!

I’m so thankful that I KNOW that God answers prayers! Please leave any prayer requests you might have in my comments and I’ll add you on. I want to pray for you and think prayer is very powerful and necessary.


Jesus who died for me
Church to worship & recharge
friends to chat with
health
family
cooler weather
YOU!!!

TGIF

Friday, September 7th, 2007

Here’s a pic of Isabelle surfing the net with Bailey!
Talk about busy… Emelia told us at 5:15 last night that she had honor choir tryouts at 5:45 and 2 softball games at 6 and 7! I was feeding Iz dinner so I finished quickly and off we went! They won both games and Emelia even made it to home base for the first time (this is her first time to play softball). She was so proud of herself. We were proud too. We are the parents who sit in the bleachers giving smiles and thumbs up, not the yellers. I told Matt this wasn’t a real sport like basketball, so we didn’t have to yell. LOL.

I took Izzy to bear today. He did great with her. We came up with some more new ideas. After bear we made a quick stop home to feed her lunch and then she made it to pre-k. I posted some new pics of Izzy at school on her blog! You can see them by clicking here!

Nice Blogger Award…

Tricia over at Dragon Fly Dreams and Linda at Ribbon Rock Star both gave me the nice blogger award! You guys are too sweet for words, thank you!!!

Gail at More than a Song
also gave me the Reflection Award. She is one of the nicest girls in bloggville! Thank you Gail.


Jenny, Amanda and I are having a interesting conversation about healing and faith over at Jenny’s place today.

faith lift fridays ~ scriptures of promise

Friday, September 7th, 2007


Scriptures of promise I believe & base my faith on…

1. John 14:12-14 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

2. John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you

3. Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

4. Mark 11:22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

5. Matt 18:18-20 Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

6. Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

7. Matt 8:16-17 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

8. 1Pet 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.

9. Eph 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

10. 2Cor 1:18-20 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us–by me, Silvanus, and Timothy–was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

11. Jam 1:5-7 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

12. John 16:23-24 And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

13. Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Amen!


Encourage others and yourself! Share a scripture, quote, devotional, lyrics, or anything that has blessed you and strengthened you in your faith. Don’t forget to grab the button and to link back to Shery!

a bloggy meeting … and eggrolls

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Guess what?

I met a blogger! Her name is Rachel. She lives in Missouri. She mentioned driving through Oklahoma on vacation so we decided to meet. Today was the day and both our schedules were a little crazy, but we were determined to ‘make it happen.’ (I feel very Tim Gunn saying that). Anyway, she is so sweet! Even sweeter & cuter in person. Her hubbie is also adorable as are her four little children. We were both on a pretty tight schedule, but we chatted as much as possible. She brought Izzy a barbie Rapunzel dvd, so sweet and brought me a sweet gift basket. Thank you so much Rachel! I’m so glad we were able to cross paths! You can see in the picture of us standing up how much taller I am than her!

As we were leaving her oldest daughter got her sweet little hand caught in the door of McDonalds and really pinched her fingers, breaking the skin. UGH. I felt so sorry for her. I know it hurt really bad.

On another note…

I made egg rolls. They look just like the egg rolls at the Chinese restaurant. I was very proud.

wordless wednesday

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007


This is Izzy with two of her new pre-k bff’s. They worked building this castle on her tray the other day. Izzy worked very hard to keep her arms from knocking over their blocks. Seeing her holding her arms in to her chest in this picture speaks volumes about how intent she is. Those little girls are so sweet to Izzy and I’m so happy Izzy has good ‘new’ friends!