Sweet 35

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband who is 35 today! I am truly grateful for the man that God has allowed me to be married to. I am so glad the Lord created Jason to be born on this day. He has become my steadiness in my world of chaos. He is such a hard worker who does whatever it takes to provide for the family. I love how he is a hands on father and looks forward to spending time with Blake. Not only is he a hands on father, but is so willing to help out around the house too. He supports me in my desires to workout and eat healthy. Ugh...I can't imagine being without this man. What a true treasure I found and cheers to my husband...happy birthday!

23

My sweet little sister is 23 years old. We are 6 years apart in age. Growing up we weren't all that close. I was a teenager and she was in elementary school. I was always so shocked by what interested her. She loved musicals, plays, and took voice lessons. We were so different in many ways. As she has grown up and matured I have grown to respect her and look up to her. Janna is someone who speaks her mind and knows how to put up healthy boundaries. I admire her for being so confident in who she is and who Christ has created her to be. Now that Janna only lives 15min away from me, I get to see her almost whenever I want. We run together, we watch TV together, we cook together, we shop together, we find recipes together, we talk about secrets together, we confide in one another, we cry together, and we swap clothes from one another, we call one another daily and sometimes have nothing to talk about but just are on the phone mumbling about life. I didn't think that Janna would end up being one of my best friends as we were growing up...but now that we are older I can honestly say she is one of the best friends I could ever ask for. Cheers to Janna and happy 23rd birthday!

All 4 of Us

During this hard time we are going through with grandpa, I have to say a smile was brought to my face yesterday. All the Elton kids made it to the hospital to see grandpa and support the family. As soon as Bethany heard the news of what was the latest, she left the party she was at to be by the families side. My brother drove home from TIU to see grandpa and spent several hours at the hospital. During this hard time, family and the Lord are the stability that we all have.

As Thanksgiving approaches and my heart is filled with sadness towards the situation with grandpa, I have to say that God has blessed me and I am so thankful for an immediate family that supports, encourages, and prays for one another. As my dad said yesterday, if he had nothing at all, he would still be happy with having us kids and his wife who serves and loves the Lord...to him that means he has everything.

My scripture for today....

Jeremiah 17:7, “"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” (NIV)

Failure

There are somethings lately that have happened where I feel like a failure as a mother and wife. I can't take back my mistakes, I just hope it doesn't harm us too much in the future. It stinks when you give all that you have to something and someone, sometimes you still mess up and have ramifications for it. I know that God's mercy and grace can cover my mistakes and failures, but sometimes the mistakes have long term effects. It doesn't help when people point out to you that you have messed up when you yourself are your biggest critic. Hopefully some good will begin to happen and I can grow into a better wife and mom from these mishaps!

Wonderful

My husband is wonderful for MANY reasons,but one of the recent reasons why he is wonderful was put into place this past weekend. While I was gone for several days Jason kept the house clean and he did three loads of laundry...he is wonderful!

Expired

I have this thing about checking expiration dates on food. Thankfully I do that because I have thrown away several things out my fridge and families fridge of food that is way past being good. Not only that, but even at stores I have also have had to return food because of just purchasing it and seeing that it has already expired. Well in the paper today, it said that 33% of people ignore expiration dates on food....I am so glad I am not apart of that 33%!