Beyond Rubies....

Had an awesome time with my dearest sister Sarah. We had girl time talking about God's call on our lives, and getting ready to be used for His Purpose and Glory. Were calling our ministry Worth Beyond Rubies, still praying...still waiting..For now we have 2 titus, Proverbs 31, and colossians 3:16. Thank you Lord for working...more to come

Welcome 2010, Please Slow down!!!

It has been forever since I last updated, so long that I even forgot my password to sign in! We can't believe 2009 is over already, and 2010 is here. We are excited to see what this new year will bring us. We don't really make New Year's Revolutions, but always start the New Year holding hands and praying. Mostly just thanking Jesus for Saving us and blessing us in so many ways. Praying for Him to complete the work that He has started in our lives, strengthening our marriage, keeping our focus on Him so that we can be the best spouses, parents, children, siblings, and friends we can possibly be. Chris Tomlin's song I will rise has got to be one of my favorite songs for 2009, listen and worship our Loving God:)

There's a peace I've come to know Though my heart and flesh may fail There's an anchor for my soul I can say "It is well" Jesus has overcome And the grave is overwhelmed The victory is won He is risen from the dead [Chorus:] And I will rise when He calls my name No more sorrow, no more pain I will rise on eagles' wings Before my God fall on my knees And rise I will rise There's a day that's drawing near When this darkness breaks to light And the shadows disappear And my faith shall be my eyes Jesus has overcome And the grave is overwhelmed The victory is won He is risen from the dead [Chorus:] And I will rise when He calls my name No more sorrow, no more pain I will rise on eagles' wings Before my God fall on my knees And rise I will rise And I hear the voice of many angels sing, "Worthy is the Lamb" And I hear the cry of every longing heart, "Worthy is the Lamb" [x2][Chorus:] And I will rise when He calls my name No more sorrow, no more pain I will rise on eagles' wings Before my God fall on my knees And rise I will rise....

June is here:)

I can't believe June is here! Summer, its one of those seasons that we love, but hate too:) We love it because school is out and we can sleep in (not really), trips to the beach, ocean breeze, swimming, vacations, fruit, vegetables, bbqs at mom's house, golden tans, longer days, deep cleaning, house projects that you keep saying you'll get to soon, naps, and because it feels like a time of rest and slower pace. We hate it because sometimes it feels like you just can't cool down, $400.00 electricity bills, bugs & flies, lazynest, sweating and thighs skicking together (speaking of myself), using the heat as an excuse to not go to the gym, and loading up all 3 kids in their carseats while working up a sweat!

For the most part I would say there is more to LOVE about it:)

Graduation is done! Yeah, so I have given myself 6 months to decide if I will go back to school...

At our house Fridays our Family Fundays, and this Friday we went camping in our backyard. John bought a tent and set up the air mattresses in the tent and made it nice and cozy for us. However, at about 1 am I secretly went back inside because Zoe was in between us and I was falling off the bed! Then John woke up and the next thing I knew he was back in bed with me! heheehe
So, we did have fun we roasted marsh mellows on our BBQ, made popcorn, and listened to the radio. The kids loved it! It was there first time and they all wanted to sleep with us (which was annoying). So John called it our "dry run" for our camping trip to the beach he is planning. So the only thing we need is another air mattress and the portable crib for Zoe.

We also had a great date night for my graduation, we went to the Cheese Cake factory(which seems to be our tradition) with our friends Kim and Melanie. We ate, shopped, and sipped on coffee. They made us laughed so much, we almost peed our pants!!! I have known Mel since the 8th grade and John has know Kim since JH, so we go wayyyyyyyyyyyy back! Lots of fun!

Summer here you come, opps...here you are!!!

Wow its been awhile!

Well, I have been totally slacking on my site, sorry! Life has been crazy busy, but I guess that is nothing new. Easter was awesome and we were blessed to have spent it with both sides of the family. The kids dyed Easter eggs at YiaYia's and grandma's house. They even got to have their first communion at grandma's house, it was awesome! Grandma had a church service and her house to celebrate our Savior and King. She surprised us with a church service, and read John 13. It was amazing and it is so awesome to see the Lord working in our family. We also had "Greek Easter" at my grandparents house which was really fun, the kids love playing outside at their house. Of course we were busy with Christian's Tee Ball, which was fun. The kids were so cute and they all learned a lot, but most importantly had a lot of fun!

The last couple of months have been challenging, and doors have both been opened and closed in our lives. John got a new position as an official bailiff, and is enjoying his new position. As for me, I lost my job; which was shocking at first, but definitely has been a blessing. Before I had lost my job, and all the talk with teacher layoffs and cut backs; John and I were praying and talking about me not working and staying home with the kids until Zoe starts Kinder in 3 years. And although I wanted to be the one to make that decision, God had different plans, and as we all know HIS PLANS are always BEST! So, I am thankful for the decision and JOHN is so excited it was just getting to crazy with me working so much. So now its count down...15 more school days:)

And then there was...Another little scare with Zoe, she had been sick for a couple of days and on the third day she was not looking too good and was having trouble breathing. We made an appointment with urgent care and she was not going to be able to get in until 9pm, but when John got home from work, he was worried and decided that she needed to go in earlier. He went down and about 45 min. after he left he called me and said that it didn't look good. Of course I panic and said WHAT, he said that they wanted to transport her on the ambulance to the hospital. So, we ended up spending the night at the hospital with her, and she had pneumonia starting and they think possible asthma. She is okay, and we are following up with our pediatrician. With her being sick; it has really opened up my eyes to how precious life is, and if we can make it work on one income then to do it. We are going to have to cut some extras out of our lives for sure; but it will be well worth it!

I also finished my masters and graduate May 22, 2009-I am really excited about that! Now that I am going to be home I want to look into writing children's books. This is something I have always wanted to do, and my dear friend Sarah is knowledgeable in this area, so I will be getting some advice from her. I will finally get to get caught up with scrapbooking, friends, teaching Faith how to read, working out, but most importantly being used by God and serving in HIS ministry!

The LOrd is soooo good, and we are so thankful for the work he is doing in our lives, and look forward to seeing his Plans unfold in our lives and the lives around us!

The Last week, was very exciting and busy! We went to the Palm Springs Air Museum, and on the way stopped at our family's restaurant for lunch, we have not been there since Faith was a new born. The food was good as usual, and unfortunately we didn't see any old customers
:(maybe next time.Then we headed to the Air Museum, and we had a blast! John was just so excited ( I swear he was acting like he was just a little boy), sound effects, and to say the least we were all fighter pilots for the day. Christian, Faith, and Zoe had fun running around and painting the plane, coloring plane pictures, and learning about different planes. I tell you Christian and Faith asked a lot of questions and wanted to know the whys and whats of everything. My response, ask daddy!

John was outside helping our neighbor learn how to skateboard, and commented to me that he misses skating and wanted to buy a skateboard, so I decided to surprise him and buy skateboard, so he could teach buddy to skate. Anyhow, he did not do to much teaching Christian, but he did get to play on his new skateboard. I even joined him, it was fun; but I was making him very nervous!!!hehehe

We also had Opening Ceremonies for Christian's T-Ball, it was fun and exciting to see my son all dressed-up in his uniform. He looks so cute, and loves to play baseball! He is #7 and on the Braves team, and is blessed to have some awesome coaches Jamie DeLand, Chirs Hardin, and Daddy:) Our banner came in 1st place and credit needs to be applauded to our friends Jamie and Holly DeLand they did a great job! It is really cool that Christian knows so many of his team members form church and school! His first game is this Saturday at 9:00 am and they will be playing the Pirates! YOHOYOHO... Baseball is HERE!!!

Not too many words...But many thoughts...

I heard on the way to work 107.9 of course Brian B. say "Everything NEW will become OLD" applying to things on earth. So very true, reminding Christians to keep their perspective and eyes on heavenly things, investing in God's Kingdom and not our own.


Having unhealthy relationships with others is a sign of an unhealthy relationship with Christ. Be careful not to judge others with a critical heart, instead examine your own heart.

How can anyone survive without a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Each and everyday I see people who don't have a relationship with Our Maker Jesus Christ, and I can't understand how they can live in this word without a relationship with Him. He is my everything, my breath of life, my peace, my strenght, and my HOPE. I like what our pastor was preaching on a few weeks ago about HOPE...
People can live up to 40 days without food
up to 7 days without water
But not 1 day without HOPE

My HOPE is in Chirst, where do you put your HOPE? I continue to pray for the Lord to guide me and lead me to put my HOPE in HIM and not the things of the world-they will fade away, there is no value in them.

Do you know what the shortest chapter is in the bible?

Psalm 117

"Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Praise Him, all you people of the earth.
For He loves us with unfailing love;
the Lords faithfullness endures forever.
Praise the Lord!"

We fail but He never FAILS us!