time better spent

i've always spent time on the computer. most often, in the evening, surfing aimlessly. you know...checking in on the celebrity scene (people.com)...spending a little time salivating over new shoe arrivals (nordstrom.com, nine west)...checking in on my sports (msuspartan.com, espn)... checking the weather back home so i could feel sorry for myself about how stinkin' cold it is here in Michigan (weather.com).

THEN something happened.

i stumbled across Beth Moore's blog - probably around Christmas-time. and, honestly, i can't remember what happened after that. in what order. how it began to snowball. but, today, i have a handful of blogs i love visiting.

blogs that feed my faith while often making me laugh and sometimes cry: Lysa Terkeurst, it's almost naptime, Whitney Capps.

blogs that are creative, inspiring, just plain fun to look at whatever, fabulous k, madebygirl.

blogs that get me in the mood for a little home decorating a soft place to land and the nesting place.

and just 'cause i can, i'll often drop by whitney caroline, la la lovely, monogram chick.

let me give you just a taste of what i'm talking about. promise me, if you don't read anything else today you'll read this.

see what i mean?

now days, i don't know the latest celebrity to go into rehab. i couldn't tell ya what nine west's fall line looks like. and, i don't know today's temperature in dexter, missouri. (of course, i still follow the beloved spartans). but, my time on the computer is better spent because of many gifted women, sharing a little of themselves.

the future's so bright...

...for MSU football.

And, here are four - of so many - reasons why.

Our '09-10 quarterbacks...awesome, hard-working, God-loving young men.

Go Green. Go White. GO SPARTANS!

who i am...

i'm still lovin' jennifer rothschild's me myself & lies bible study. one principle, from the first week, still resonates so strongly with me....particularly on a day like today. she teaches us that: who i am and what i struggle with are not the same.

hmmm...think about it. what are your struggles?

i struggle mightily with one area of discontentment in my life. unfortunately, i've been known to let that area of discontent seep into other areas of my life. areas where i am perfectly content...specifically, my relationship with husband, my interactions with my child.

i am guilty of allowing my discontentment to swallow my contentment. truly, eat it up whole.

unfortunately, i'm afraid my discontentment - in this particular area of my life - will continue until God's perfect timing releases it from my life or until God decides i have (somewhat) adequately learned the valuable lesson of peace outside of my circumstances. (and, there's always that patience thing).

regardless, i am striving to remind myself daily that i am more than my discontentment. i will not let my discontentment define me. and, only i can stop my discontent from poisoning the other areas of an otherwise content life.

pah-leeeeaze....

vacay view from...

my chair on our balcony


my chair at the pool

love. fun. wonderful. rum. delicious. delightful. fabulous. sun.
words that come to mind when thinking of our recent few days away.

oh, yeah! laughter.

lots. of. laughter.

p.s. for the life of me i can't figure out why the quality of these pics are so horrible! truly it was brilliantly beautiful.

a NOT so good recipe

here are my ingredients for a NOT so good recipe.

MIX:
an evening return from an awesome vacation with hot husband to experience end-of-vacay-will-it-be-another-four-years-before-we-do-this-again-?!? blues.

ADD:
oversleep. no time for starbucks. high-tail it to work. hardly ever happens. no God-time. no starbucks. no good.

GENTLY FOLD IN:
the beginning waves of PMS as i'm chatting with my husband demanding to know sweetly asking why he hasn't called me to see if i am surviving the dreaded first-day-back-to-work-after-vacation morning.

COOK ON HIGH AFTER:
hearing from hubs - who remains on vacation - that he and little man have played outside all morning and are going swimming this afternoon. the nerve!

SERVE WITH:
an evening that will entail making small talk with my mother-in-law who has been visiting since last week.

RESULT:
FOOD POISONING!

Rather, THOUGHT POISONING!
NOW is exactly when i need to practice what i am learning. you know, the question i want to tattoo on my forehead: are my feelings serving me well right now (big fat no) or are they enslaving me (big fat yes)? so, what am i going to do about it?

PRAY:
ohhh, dear, sweet LORD, pleeeeease....mercy....pleeeeeease.....wisdom.
please let me see these "ingredients" as what they really are: the creation of memories from a special vacation, a return to a job i am fortunate to have, the fun and precious time hubs and little man are having right now and, finally, knowing that i am doing my best (though very far from perfect) to honor my husband through gentleness and attentiveness to his mother.

AMEN. KITCHEN CLOSED.

fancy and oh so easy!

i want to have my girlfriends over for lunch and serve this...


what an easy and FANCY way to serve one of my summer favorites - chicken saled. i can buy the chicken salad (the kind with dried cherries in it from L&L - yummy!), heat the pastry shell (least I can do) and put it on a plate with fresh fruit and/or a small salad.

how pretty.

how effortless.

i do adore Southern Living - where this simple idea was featured.

vacay today

coach and i leave on vacay this morning. yes, that is right - just the two of us. not a child nor an entire football team in tow. just us.

hmmm...how long has it been? couple of years maybe? just take a look at the pool at our resort (aka Marriott).

Come to momma...

i need hot. i need humid. i need to escape michigan for a few days to get a real taste of summer.

p.s. i will not be posting over the next few days as i am leaving my computer at home (important note: NOT my blackberry, just my computer). you see, there is a love triangle that goes on in my home. it involve me, my husband and my computer. hubby wins this one.

p.s.s. check back monday!

request it!

i'm participating in a summer bible study conducted through Living Proof Ministries ( beth moore's blog) called "me, myself and lies" by jennifer rothschild . the study is a perfect fit for summer - not as intense as a typical beth moore study but it does a fab job of keeping you in the Word.

the premise of the study revolves around our self-talk. what are we saying to ourselves everyday? are we speaking - to our self - words of condemnation or words of truth? is our inner voice truth-driven or feelings-driven?

no-brainer for me: feelings driven!

she challenges us with the question: are my feelings serving me well right now or are they enslaving me?

i want to burn that question into my mind. i want to tattoo it to my forehead. i want to challenge myself with that question all day, everyday. as various situations come up, i do not want to be a slave to my emotions. period. i meant it!

funny, a few years ago i wrote in the front of my bible, God's Word is stronger than how i feel. yes, that was written a few years ago. think i've been struggling with this issue for a while?

here's a few zingers from the study:
"Feelings are supposed to serve and strengthen us. Left to themselves, however, they enslave and deplete us."

or, how about this one:
"A surplus of emotion usually proceeds acting without wisdom."

and, my favorite:
"Without God's wisdom we stumble in our reasoning, think with our feelings, accept lies as truths."

how do we combat this? stop. pray for wisdom. seek God's wisdom. God is the giver of wisdom. wisdom is our protection against the condemnation of our thoughts and our spiralling emotions.

how do we get God's wisdom: we request it! (Prov 2:16)

i'm lovin' this study!

and so it begins (project 1)

well, it's that time of year. typically, i do a few updates to the house in preparation for a fall (aka football season) full of house guests. i usually begin doing a few things in august when fall camp begins; but, i've got a special girlfriend, tracey, visiting soon so i thought i better get started.

my first project was to tackle the fireplace mantle. in my defense, i think that thing in the middle of the mantle looked better in person...least i hope so. lordy, it looks ugly in this pic!

and, here you see after. you'll soon see that blue is the new green in my house. everything that was green is slowly turning blue....pillows, candles, picture frames, flower arrangements.

at lunch

if you saw me on my lunch hour today, you saw the windows down, the radio BLASTING, my hands up, and a squeaky (rather nightmarish) voice coming from my car as i sang this at the TOP of my lungs.



words can't describe what this song does to me. doesn't matter how many times i hear it!

please close your eyes and listen but ONLY IF:
(1) you are somewhere where you can turn it up!
(2) you have a full 5 minutes you can give to the song.

AND I WILL ADORE YOU.

the warner family 4th of july

the warners celebrated the 4th with a trip to dexter, missouri! yee-haw. so hard to believe, but it had been a year - a YEAR - since i'd been home. mom and dad have been up several times, but it has been difficult to get with away with the demands of football season, a bowl game during the holidays, not to mention starting a new job. so, off we went on wednesday afternoon - a 9-hour trip home.

wwwwell, to begin, this is not what you wish to see about 4 hours into a 9-hour trip.

that is, your car in park with your husband standing outside the vehicle ON THE INTERSTATE. that's right. he's trying to see what's going on somewhere in front of us. really, i think he was simply trying to avoid this...

yes, it appears our 5 year old decided a 9-hour trip to dexter was about 8 hours and 45 minutes too long. he's usually such a good little traveler but, boy, did we have a rough trip! he was just so excited to get to ya-ya and paw-paw's. he grew so frustrated having to wait that out sprang the tears! bless his sweet, little heart.

in most families the saying goes, "when momma's happy every body's happy." well, in the warner home -after a long michigan winter - it goes a little like this, "when momma's basking in the HOT summer sun then every body's happy." here i am, though a bit of a lobster, REFUSING to go in! i've got my hat on, umbrella up, and towel covering me, but i am content to stay in the HEAT. michigan will do that to you. i'm thinking - though not quite sure - that i have finally defrosted from a long, dreadful winter. trust me, i will never take a hot summer day for granted AGAIN. i like it. i love it. i can't get enough of it.

here's little man in happier times...

little man and coach...

my girlfriends - with husbands in tow - came in for a little golf and a night out. "melons" and todd came in from jackson and jenna and john from st. louis. thank y'all for doing that! i had so much fun!

Coach and I - Happy 4th!

my very own goddess bracelets

okay, I said the photography would be horrendous - and it is - but can you get the idea? really, my goddess bracelets look fab and cost (maybe) $8 dollars to make.

what you need:

beads

Stretch Magic jewelry cord

charm (optional)

drop of super glue

slide beads onto cord. cut cord with plenty of room on both ends. single knot and pull cord (hard!). another single knot. again, pull cord (hard!). you'll be surprised how strong cord is. put a drop of super glue on the knot. cut cord as close to knot as possible. pull knot into one of the beads.

waaa-lah!

note: i realize the directions i provided for making a goddess bracelet are pretty shoddy but if i thought tens of people were actually reading this blog, i would go into a more precise, detailed explanation.