The Thing I’ve Been Working On The Most: Finishing up Christmas shopping, wrapping and now cleaning it all up.

TV Show Worth Watching: I usually watch what Matt has on, or what the kids are watching … i.e. a lot of noggin and the Dog Whisperer. But I enjoyed the Biggest Loser!

The Christmas Present I’m Loving: The laptop I’m typing on!

My Favorite Blog Entry From This Month: Guess What? (because I was so so happy to get my power back on!)

Blog I Am Always Visiting: Too many to list! I use bloglines so I can visit all my blogging bff’s when they post something new.

Movie I’ve Seen (In or Out of a theater): Nativity story! It was so good.

What I’m Most Looking Forward To Next Month: New beginnings. Basking in God’s promises and blessings!

Feel free to share what you’re into, too… visit adventures in babywearing to link up.

The restaurant Matt & I had our rehearsal dinner at (in 1989) is closing it’s doors forever on December 31, 2007. It is a Lebanese style steakhouse and the owners are retiring. They do not want to trust their business to anyone else so it is closing. I have so many memories from that night before our wedding. Eddie’s will always be a part of those memories. Matt isn’t the most romantic guy around, but sometimes he surprises me :o)! He remembered that Eddie’s was closing (maybe because I have mentioned it many times?) and called yesterday to ask me out on a date tonight! So, the two of us will be having a romantic dinner at Eddie’s!

Maybe I should have him look into some ideas about romance? I think playing romantic games would be a good idea too!

Face it, with four kids we are on the run all the time! It’s a good thing we do find time to spend together alone. I do think it is important to remember your husband (or wife) even if life is racing by at warp speed.

Question 1
What is the name of your very first friend? Alicia Patterson. We met as babies in the nursery at church and were friends for years. We wore matching homemade dresses to church without planning it (I guess our moms shopped the same fabric store). I don’t see her much now. It’s actually been a few years, but when I did she was much the same as when we were little girls.

Question 2
Do you believe in love at first sight? No. Not really. I think I fell for matt the moment we met, but love… I think that takes longer.

Question 3
Clean Freak or Total Slob? Like the host of this meme, I am both… I like things to be perfect to the point that I don’t let anyone else do anything because they can’t do it to suit me and then when I am too busy things are left undone. I have to say I have worked on this lately and made some progress.

Question 4
Last book you read? I’ve been reading through the bible, the last book I read was Psalms. I am also reading a book called “unleashing your faith.” I got mom the newest Jan Karon book for Christmas and can’t wait until she finishes so I get to read it!

Bonus Question
Give me one word that would sum up your goals for 2008? Believe.

Thanks “To Know Him” for hosting this fun meme! Click on the button to link up and play along.

Marines Toys for Tots is falling short of their goals this year leaving many needy children without gifts this holiday. Cash is very important right now to get the right toys to match the remaining needs. Here’s where to get the month2month free eCards! By sending free eCards from Month2Month.com, a cash contribution is made to Toys for Tots.

Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

Bill Grein
Marine Toys for Tots
V: 703-640-9433
F: 703-640-0917
wjgrein@toysfortots.org
http://www.toysfortots.org

Steven Marcus
Month2Month.com
V: 914-933-2638
F: 501-325-9147
smarcus@month2month.com
http://www.month2month.com

Marines Toys for Tots Needs Last Minute Help
Quantico, VA. December 21, 2007 / PR Newswire – The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is making a nationwide last minute appeal for more toys. Since time is critical as they go into their toy distribution phase this weekend the Foundation is encouraging people to make cash contributions because it allows them to purchase the toys they need to fill in gaps and match the remaining needs.
One novel way to get cash immediately into the hands of the Marines is to send lots of holiday eCards to everyone you know. Month2Month.com, a free eCard website has agreed to contribute up to $50,000 when their cards are sent and received.
Bill Grein, Vice President for Marines Toys for Tots, said: “Cash contributions are critical for us at this time because we can purchase the toys we need and can place them where they are needed most at the last minute. It will help us close a gap in many areas where the economy, toy recalls and even bad weather have caused us to come short of our goals so far. We urge everyone to take advantage of this wonderful offer from Month2Month.”
John Aslanian, CEO of Month2Month.com said: “We are expecting to have 1 million cards sent in the next few days that could result in a contribution of up to $50,000. We know that for some the economy might be putting a crimp in their generosity. But what this can do is to save them the cost of buying cards and the postage. We are asking everyone to send these cards, even if they already sent other cards, to help make this a merry Christmas and happy holiday for many more needy children.”

Month2Month.com cards are all produced by top-notch artists working in a loft studio just outside of New York City. The cards show great care in design and detail and often take weeks or months to complete. They are all professionally animated often requiring hundreds of frames to get the motion to look smooth and flowing. Month2Month.com is a privately held online greeting company founded in 2005. The site offers free high quality online greeting cards and can be found at http://www.month2month.com.
This year marks the 60th anniversary for the Toys for Tots tradition of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. In 2006, Toys for Tots delivered more than 19.2 million toys to over 7.6 million children.

Appetizer

Name 2 things you would like to accomplish in 2008.

just 2? get the fallen trees cleaned up (see how good I am … I put one goal as something I will not have my hands on) and learn more about the God I serve.

Soup
With which cartoon character do you share personality traits?

yikes… probably winnie the pooh… oh bother!

Salad
What time of day (or night) were you born?

about 10 pm, I think.

Main Course
Tell us something special about your hometown.

Choctaw is an old town, has landrun history etc… but did ya’ll hear we got a brand new big Braums?

Dessert
If you could receive a letter from anyone in the world, who would you want to get one from?

From the irs, saying they had made a terrible mistake taking all those taxes every year with a HUGE check enclosed!

Have you checked out spock? Spock.com - A Great Place for Search!

Spock is the leading people search application. Spock searches the internet to help you find information about people in your life.

When you join, you can build your network to find where everyone you know is on the internet. Every time you search, Spock will personalize your results to include information that is relevant to your network. You can enhance your search experience even further by establishing a trust relationship with people in your network, allowing you to search each other’s networks for relevant people.

You can also add and modify information that Spock finds about you on the internet. This ensures that people who are searching for you can find you, and more importantly, that they can find the right information about you.

Spock combines two very powerful forces. First, our technology organizes web content about people into easily understood search results. We search for information on biography pages, social networks, news sites, blogs, directories …pretty much every place imaginable on the internet. Second, the Spock community contributes information to help enhance the search experience. Spock users can add tags, pictures, and web links or simply vote on existing information to increase its relevance. By contributing information about people in your life you improve the search experience not only for yourself, but for everyone.

Here’s a widget from a search I did for Alicia Keys! Cool huh?

I did a search for George Bush!

Spock.com - The Best Way to Search People

“(In as much as we) refute arguments and theories and reasonings, and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

If we are going to give God glory, we must manifest excellence. An excellent life begins with an excellent thought life and excellent attitudes.

All fruit has a root from which it began. The root of all our actions is our thoughts. Words come from thoughts. Attitudes begin with thoughts, and emotions (moods) take root in our thought life.

Choosing excellence in one’s thought life is a private thing. No one but God and the individual knows exactly what is going on in his own mind. I call it “inner purity.” Inner purity is a challenge that Christians should be excited about taking on.

In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the apostle Paul teaches us to cast down all wrong thoughts that disagree with God’s Word. He is, in essence, saying, “Keep your minds reserved for God’s thoughts (His Word) alone.”

God desires truth in the inward parts (Ps. 51:6). I encourage you to begin paying more attention to your thought life. Your words, moods, and attitudes are rooted in it. Dedicate your entire self to God. Live as if you were private property - reserved for God alone!

Say This: “With God’s help, I determine and purpose in my heart to maintain a godly attitude and to speak only godly words.”

by Joyce Meyer

We all love Christmas lights outside, but with landscape lighting solar you can have that effect year round at an efficient price too!

Landscape lighting and outdoor decorative lighting used to be reserved only for fancy commercial buildings and luxury estates. However, improvements in technology and reduction in manufacturing costs have made landscape lighting and outdoor lighting an option for everyone. Landscape lighting can add value to your home and also provide added security by illuminated the area outside your home and acting as a deterrent to would-be thieves. Energy-efficient lighting options such as LED landscape lighting can be used cost-effectively year-round. LEDs typically cost about 90% less to operate and will last for 50,000 hours or more. Try adding some landscape lighting to your yard and high light your walkway, decorative trees, or just expand your outdoor living space by adding some energy-efficient lighting.

LED landscape lighting also offers greater flexibility for installation because the lights can be placed at great distances from the transformer without any problems of voltage loss. LEDs have also made solar landscape lighting products a viable and reliable option.

I checked out LightInTheBox today and I am amazed at the low prices I found! If you are looking for electronics, you should seriously check out their site!