Almost Crusin Time!

I only have to tough it out 1 more week and then I will be cruisin on the open seas!  :)  I get giddy when I think about it.  I can close my eyes and feel that ocean breeze blowing through my hair as I look out over the ocean from the boat and all I can see for miles and miles and miles is WATER!  Beautiful beautiful water!  I feel so blessed to be able to go on vacations.  I know many people especially in this economy who cannot afford to go anywhere much less a cruise.   So thank you Lord for blessing me with the means to be able to go and enjoy myself, but I pray for all those who cant right now.  I just pray a special blessing on them that you would send them restoration just like a vacation restores us!  Make a way for them to go somewhere to get away with their family, or just send you spirit to refresh and renew them!

We are going to Key West, Nassau and leaving from Jacksonville.  I've been on a cruise like this before in fact it was my first one and I had a blast, so Im sure this will not be any different!   Last summer Nathan and I didnt do much clothes shopping because we were so busy with trying to get the house ready to sale, so my summer attire selection was rather thin and worn out.  I am to the point that I HATE spending $$ on myself.  Usually I buy things for the house or for Nathan, but I had to get some new clothes and Nate needed some too.  We have found some good deals so far though, so that helps!

I dont think we want to do an excursion off the boat this time around.  For one reason, they are very expensive and for another, I just havent seen anything Im DYING to do.  So.... Do any of you have any suggestions for what we can do in Key West, Nassau, or even Jacksonville?

Ahh... home sweet home!  For 5 days at least!  :)  

The Yard

Alrighty, here are the before and afters!  Let me know what you think!  I cant wait to watch it all grow!!  :) 

So there you have it!  I still have to put mulch in the front and side, but we are planning that in a couple weeks after the cruise! 

Yard Plans: Update

This weekend Nathan and I spent Saturday outside!  Nathan has been planning on cooking a Boston Butt for months, and this Saturday he got to do it!  Nate is an AWESOME griller (is that what you call it?)  he only cooks on charcol, and I love it that way.  It took about 6 hrs to cook, but it was SO worth it!  We worked outside in the yard all while smelling that WONDERFUL smell.

We got the tree line prepared for the Azalea's by pushing back all the leaves that were at the edge of the yard, we got shovels and just threw them back and also trimmed some branches back that were way too low.  There are a lot of leaves back there, so Im thinking about starting a leaf compost pile to use for nutrients next year.  I dont know for sure if I will do it yet, but that would save a lot of $$ and there are a lot of nutirents in the decomposing leaves that the flowers and plants need.  I also got all the weeds up out of the flower beds and sprayed round up where I could.  Nathan raked up all the pine needles so we would be able to till up the beds and plant the new flowers and shrubs.

While Nathan was raking up the pine needles around the tree we came across our first snake!  It was a baby and it was sliver/grayish.  Nate chopped its head off!  I know your not supposed to kill snakes, especially black snakes, or garder snakes, but I HATE snakes, and if its alive and I see it, I want it DEAD!

We also marked off the lines for our new patio that will be built next year.  I had a can of black spraypaint and so we did our markings but I ran out so we had to use flour for hte rest of the lines.  I wanted to do this so I could kill the grass in these areas.  I love using round up.  I dont have the pre mixed kind either, its the concentrate with the pump tank/sprayer and everything!  Sunday when we came home from easter at Granny's the grass was already dying!  I love it!  :)

Thursday Nate and I are going to go to Kannapolis and plant shop with Nathans mom and dad, so we will have everything ready to go on Saturday!  Its almost time to plant, and I cant wait!

Oh another thing, I had an idea about my herb garden.  Do you think it would be pretty to do a container garden there?  I also want to plan some veggies like squash, zuchini, and peppers!  Any suggestions?!

this is the space in question!

Cigarette Butts

From my desk at work I can look outside and see the beautiful weather, and people walking by.  One thing I see are homeless and poor people who walk up to our cigarette ash trays outside the door looking for a cigarette that still has a draw or two on it. This makes me so sad.  How desperate can a person be that they would walk up to an ash tray in a public place and grab a cigarette up out of the trash and ashes that has been in someones mouth just for a puff or two!?

I was at a local bakery this morning getting doughnuts for everyone ( like I need them) and the girls working there were asking me if we got any days off for Easter.  Shes not the only one who has asked this question, I've probably had about 230498230 phone calls asking if we will be open Friday and Monday.  The bad part is... people are calling TODAY... asking if we are open!  Nah, I just figure I will sit here at work by myself and answer the phone in case you call and ask...on my day off!  If we are answering the phone...we are here!  Anyway... we were talking about Christmas being a legal holiday but not Easter.  The girl behind the counter said maybe its because Christmas is full of peace and joy and Easter is just blood and guts.  I didn't say anything to her comment.  And I'm ashamed that I didn't.  What an opportunity to shed a new light on what is probably the most IMPORTANT holiday we as Christians celebrate, and what did I do?  Just stayed quiet.  Lord forgive me! 

If we as Christians would begin to let the world know about what happend on this day to our Lord and Savior, there would be no man searching for cigarette butts to curve his cravings, there would be not girl at the bakery who thought Easter is only blood and guts. 

Easter is really the first time God showed us grace.  Its the first time he REALLY showed us love.  Its the first time we had free access to God himself without the need to sacrifice some type of animal.  Its the first time he made himself completely available to anyone who called on his name!  Yes, the crusifiction was not pretty.  It was blood and guts, but because of that blood that was spilled on that day, we have LIFE!  We have freedom, we are not bound by religious rules, but instead we are given grace to live through him!  Jesus turned this world upside down.  People hated him because he preached something so liberating and beautiful, something that you dont have to earn!  Thank God our salvation is not placed in our own hands!  But our salvation is in the hands that were nailed to the cross and NOTHING can take that away. 

His grace and mercy makes me want to live better.  It makes me want to be more thankful, it makes me want to be a good person and it makes me want to tell others about HIM.  Im so glad that Jesus didnt die so that I had to be perfect for him to love me, but that He died so that He could still love me through my imperfections!