resolution time..

thankfully that's not actually my attitude, but i love it..
..hobbe's expression is my favorite!

Happy last day of 2008!! <3

homemade toothpaste...

..seems like forever now since shannon told me about this homemade toothpaste recipe, but i finally got all the ingredients together and out came this fantastic mixture for cleaning my teeth!!


had to capture my little workspace...



..i started to collect the 'toothpaste' -which is actually more like toothpowder- in two separate jars (for sharing purposes:) but then i soon imagined having to twist and untwist that lid a few times a day and thought i might better transfer it over to the mini-tupperware! ;)

so here's the recipe... (i highly recommend it! :)

*zest of one lime (let dry for two hours)

*1 cup baking soda

*20 drops peppermint oil


...i will definitely be throwing out (well, passing on) the tube stuff... it surely is like brushing your teeth with baking soda (because essentially that's what you're doing) but the peppermint oil gives it a more-than-bearable flavor and the lime zest is kind of like a refreshing pulp-texture...

i'm looking forward to yet another way to forgo the storebought stuff!! ..let me know if anyone's up for giving it a try!! <3

more about brothers...

i actually had contact with all three brothers this christmas!!!


rick..(the oldest) in the back row..

don't think i've seen rick since that picture was taken (8/05)... he called christmas day though, and i got to talk to him for a good five minutes...

he sounded great. he's lived alone for the past several years in the upstate. seems to enjoy life working some and shooting his bow as much as he can. :)





gary.. (middle brother)..

gary -who actually goes by 'chelli'- came over christmas day with his wife of three years nancy and two sons dustin (15) and christopher (1 in january). they are precious. all of them. it was so great to see them and spend time with them! nancy has clearly been good for gary.

it is my goal to make it a habit (they only live 45 min. away)!





and then there's michael... (the youngest)..

michael is actually kayla's dad; long story of course...

i actually got to talk to him last sunday night. there's a lot of mixed feelings with mike because when kayla was born he was around all the time... it's hard to see him struggle and even harder not to be able to help, but i was glad he called and hope one day there will be an opportunity to do more than just listen.

tha boys..

not everybody knows i have three older brothers.. this is one of my favorite kid-pics of them.. they're a mess, but i love them...

the only time i ever really lived under the same roof with them was when i was very young (from one to four or so). they got caught up in a variety of bad crowds and habits and never really got out... it's unfortunate.

sometimes i feel guilty for getting to grow up with such stability and consistency and love and security. (i know it doesn't make sense for me to feel guilty for such a thing, but it doesn't make sense for them to not have the guidance and support they needed and me to have it.)

glad we're friends...

from the new mac-pc commercial... 'i'm really glad we're friends'
...cute! too cute not to share! <3

'tis the season for seasonal photos...

...with the angel tree toys at church :)

christmas questions...

showed this at church yesterday...


thought-provoking to say the least...

...i looked up the history of the christmas tree after seeing it... some say it has christian roots, some say pagan... nothing worth striking it out of the books or anything, but i definitely would like to maintain a habit of considering why it is we do the things we do... ...

brain.storm...

a good way to help ourselves solve problems... i tend to forget that some things are really solve-able...

like what to get certain people for christmas, or things i can do to improve my classroom, or where to begin when i find myself with extra time on my hands...

just when i think i have no ideas and there's probably no solution at all, i remember i have been given the ability to reflect, consider, ponder, and brainstorm lots and lots of ideas... once i do that, the solution (or at least a good place to start) usually becomes incredibly clear!

..just thought i'd share... <3

december good-ness..

what a wonderful month!! ...it's just so different from all the others i guess..



some goodies while i finished up the tree...


(popcorn with and w/out choc.chips :)...


kayla had her first singing recital yesterday
...and it more-than brought tears to my eyes!

the sweetest version of 'rudolph' i've ever heard!


can't believe how big they're all getting... we've known the davis boys since birth... a strangely wonderful thing!


love that fam!


thankfully she's only 6! she would surely steal him from me if she could! <3

gatherings [are my favorite!]

one of my 29 before thirty goals (#14) was to practice hospitality on a monthly basis... and, so far, so good!

...some dear friends who have helped make that possible are shannon and jeremy m. :) ...they also happened to use our nov. gathering as the time/place for their 80's christmas card photo shoot!

...i'd say they did quite nicely...













...the actual card is even better...










and then there's sophia... the life of the party!! :)













...we all got together again this past weekend for randy's birthday party and played laser tag!! (sadly i forgot my camera, but meggan let me take some with hers, so maybe she'll send them to me so i can post them) ....such fun times.

i couldn't be more thankful for such dear friends to walk through life with!! <3

welcome, Christmas...

it's dec. 8th and i guess it's about time i welcomed the christmas season!!

...j. and i worked on our christmas cards last night and i've finally pulled out the tree... (yay!)

...makes me think of the chris rice song, welcome to our world....

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

...great words; really great!

lion chasers [defy odds]...

"but benaiah did what lion chasers do.

he defied the odds.

he didn't focus on his disadvantages.

he didn't make excuses.

he didn't try to avoid situations where the odds were against him.

lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in this world.

they thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. that is how God reveals his glory --and how He blesses you in ways you never could have imagined" (p. 22).


...as i've been reading, i've had the thought that God made benaiah a warrior.. that is what he was.

as for me, i am no warrior.
i would not chase something down for the sake of killing it...

however, there are 'lions' for me to chase
-such as injustice (abuse..), poverty, hopelessness...

i may not be equipped like ben. to chase/kill a real live lion, but i need the same measure of God's power, ability, and equipping to chase/kill the 'lions' God calls me to!

..what lions do you think need chasing??

chase lions?

a few words from chapter one...


"God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time."

"a sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ." (p.12)



"...when i look in the rearview mirror, i realize that the biggest risks were the greatest opportunities." (p.14)


"...we think of holiness as the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn't be there.... ...goodness is not the absence of badness...."

"our calling is much higher than simply running away from what's wrong. we're called to chase lions." (p.15)


i'm looking forward to this read... i have definitely seen holiness as a 'subtraction' problem... the need to subtract something bad from my life to make it better...(i guess sometimes that's probably true)

but i'm thankful for new perspective and the challenge to chase the God-sized dreams i know are buried somewhere deep in my heart!