Praying

Praying!
I've been doing a lot of that in the last several days. Since Thursday, I have heard of three men who have been taken from their families.

On Thursday, a childhood friends husband took his own life. He had no insurance and they have two teenage children. My heart breaks for her! Please pray for the Terry Wagoner family.

On Friday night around 11:45, Eric's cell phone rang. It was another Sgt telling him that a Pulaski trooper had been killed while directing traffic at the state fair. He left behind a wife,parents and brother/sister. They are living one of my greatest fears. Please pray for the Andrew Fox family.

On Sunday morning, I read about another tragic accident in Arkansas. I read the blog of Julee Turner who lives in Little Rock, AK. Her husband Matt was killed in a car accident on Saturday evening. Leaving her and her 10 month old little girl behind. Please pray for the Matt Turner family.

Sometimes you have to ask, why God? Why are these families having to deal with tragedy? What are you trying to show us?

As christians we have to trust in Him! He is the way, the truth and the life!!

Psalm 119:50

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁵⁰ This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.

Tailgate Yumminess

Frito Corn Salad

2 cans corn (kernel,drained)     1 red onion (chopped fine) 1 green bell pepper (chopped 1 red pepper (chopped)          1 bag shredded cheddar cheese  Crush chili cheese fritos and add to top of salad when ready to serve. If you add them too early they will be soft. Enjoy!! :)

1 cup mayonnaise (sometimes I use less) 1bag fritos (chili cheese corn chips use chili cheese flavor)

Origami Owl Custom Jewelry!

 

 

If you haven't heard of Origami Owl, you are not the only one. It's a new company that sells one of a kind custom jewelry.

Our living lockets are customized to tell your story. Each locket is created by you to share your life and interest. You can create a locket for any occasion or milestone in your life. These make excellent gifts!

Maybe you are interested in the business opportunity of this brand new company.  This is the first direct sales company I have ever been a part of and to say I'm thrilled would be an understatement!!

If you are interested in purchasing a customized locket or are interested in joining the Origami Owl team please visit my website, www.julieking.origamiowl.com or leave me a comment below.

I look forward to hearing from you!!
God Bless!!

Wonder how He feels?

So, we now have a pre-teen in our home!! Not sure how this happened so quickly but the time has arrived. With that being said, things are changing (physically and emotionally, eek)!!!

Yesterday as the kids were playing in the pool the obnoxious monster reared his ugly head. And by obnoxious I mean doing everything possible to aggravate his sister! :) Our almost always respectful and laid back child has started to struggle in this area. Bless his heart! We realize this is only the horomones working over time but sometimes it is just plain aggravating to be honest!!

 As I was sitting there watching this unfold a thought came to my mind. I thought "I wonder if this is how the Lord feels when we are obnoxious, disrespectful and wanting our way"? I am so thankful that He forgives my selfish nature and continues to love me no matter what!

As the years of raising teenagers quickly approaches, I hope the Lord will help me to be as forgiving and loving as He is with me. I don't deserve it but He loves me anyway.

My kids are far from perfect, just like their parents!! ;) However, I am so proud the Lord has allowed me to be their mama! I know the Lord is going to do great things in and through them.

Jeremiah 29:11

Disney 2012

This is only 2 months late....

Where do I even start???
Our trip to Disney was absolutely "Magical"!!! It was without a doubt the best vacation we have ever had as a family!!

Our trip was a Christmas gift to our kids (and to ourselves!!) We counted down 18 days until it was time to head to the airport. The kids and my dad had never flown before so that in itself was exciting. There were several other families on our flight who were taking their kids to Disney for the first time. One family was keeping it a secret where they were going. They had 2 boys 7 and 4. Their Mom kept telling them they were going to the "Socks and Underwear Factory". LOL They still had no idea where they were going as we exited the plane in Orlando. (I LOVED HER IDEA)
We flew out of Charlotte so we drove down to my parents house(they went with us) on Wed, Jan 11, spent the night and then headed to the airport. Our kids loved the flight and my Dad liked it to but he will never admit it. LOL
When we arrived in Orlando (only 1hr 17mins later) we were directed to go to the bottom floor to be picked up by the Magical Express. We didn't have to claim our bags, we just went straight to the bus. Our driver was a little over the top but what else would you expect from a "Disney" cast member? The drive from the airport took about 30 minutes. We made stops at several different resorts before finally arriving at ours, Port Orleans-French Quarter!!
The resort was GORGEOUS!!! Check in went smoothly once we figured out which person to go to. We were given our Disney cards (for room,parks and dining) and made our way to our room(s). We were plesantly surprised with how beautiful, clean and spacious our rooms were. The kids were so excited!!!
After freshening up we decided we should head to Magic Kingdom for some rides and supper. During our visit we relied solely on  the Disney Bus System and it was GREAT!!! Thankfully our resort was one of the smaller ones so we never really had to wait for a bus. Anyway, on to Magic Kingdom. After about a 10-15 minute bus ride we were dropped off at the gate.

We went through security and FINALLY we were there!!! Walking down Main Street with the Castle in view is such a magical feeling. As we got closer we could see Mickey and Minnie and several other characters dancing on stage in front of the castle. OH MY!!! It was perfect!!! Emily was so excited!!
After the performance was over we made our way to Pirates of the Carribean. This was our first ride and the kids loved it!! Then we went to eat at Pecos Bill's which is a burger place. It was okay but doubt we will eat their again. After we finished eating Eric and Caleb headed to ride Space Mountain. My Mom,Dad, Emily and I found us a good spot to watch the Magical Light Parade. It was beautiful!! We LOVED it!! If you ever go, this is a MUST do!!  After the parade finished we headed over to find Caleb and Eric but first made a stop at "It's a Small World". Emily thought it was "adorable". By the time we met up, the fireworks were getting ready to start. NO ONE DOES FIREWORKS LIKE DISNEY!!!! It was breathtaking!
After the fireworks we rode a few more rides then headed to the front to make our way back to our resort. However, we timed it just right for the Castle light show (another MUST do). It blew our minds and we were so thankful that we were able to see all of these awesome things on our very first day at Disney.
We made our way to the bus stop and headed back to our resort. We headed to the restaurant for a snack. By the time we got back to our room, our bags had been delivered to our room (we didn't have to claim our bags at the airport, Disney did that for us.)  First class is all I can say about a Disney Vacation. To say we were exhausted was a huge understatement but we couldn't wait for our first full day at Disney.

Day Two(first full day): Epcot
Epcot was our favorite park!! We liked Soarin, Mission Space and Test Track the best! We had lunch at Le Cellier Steakhouse and OH.MY.WORD!!!! It will be a must on our next trip.

Day Three: Animal Kingdom: This was our least favorite park. The safari was EXCELLENT but other than that my kids didn't really enjoy it. We did however enjoy our lunch/dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Another must on our next trip!

Day Four: Hollywood Studios: Caleb really enjoyed this park. He loved the Tower of Terror and the Rockin Roller Coaster. Emily doesn't like the roller coasters so she was a little bored. We enjoyed the Indiana Jones show and got to meet most all of the characters at Hollywood Studios will a minimal line for each. Our favorite part though was the American Idol Experience!! It was sooooo much fun.
I can't remember what the name of the place that we had dinner but it was NOT GOOD!!! Next time we will probably get reservations at Downtown Disney this night.

Day Five: Magic Kingdom: It was really crowded this day (Martin Luther King Holiday) because schools were out. However, we had a great day and had dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, it was pretty good too.

Day Six(our last day in a park): Downtown Disney and Back to Epcot: The kids really loved it and that 's where they wanted to go on the last day. We headed over to Downtown Disney first to look around and then took the bus to Epcot. We managed to ride all of our favorites at least one more time and it was great.

Day Seven: Flying Home

I can't say enough about Disney Vacations!! They are awesome and Disney transportation is excellent. We Cannot Wait To Go Back....in a few years!!

2012 so far......

Well, it's 10 days into the new year and so far it's been pretty good. Our family is healthy, we have a warm house to sleep in every night and we have food to eat. I have a husband I love more than he will ever know and two awesome kids who light up my days!

Most importantly we serve a God who is always faithful!!

My mom got me a daily calendar for Christmas and it sits on my kitchen counter. Everyday it has a different quote. Yesterday it read.....

"If you aren't satisfied with little, then you won't be satisfied with much!"

WHOA!!! That really got my attention. God is so good to me and my family. He provides everything we NEED! I want to be satisfied with what He has given me. I want to be satisfied with what He has given my family. So often I find myself thinking "if we just had a bigger house" or "if we just had more money". I'm finally realizing that satisfaction doesn't come from bigger things or more things. Satisfaction can only come from a relationship with God. This year I want to be satisfied in my relationship with Him. I have a VERY LONG WAY TO GO! I just need to take it day by day and let Him lead me each step I take.

Eric preached Sunday at his Dad's church (and did an awesome job!!). He preached on "Forgetting Your Past Failures". I feel like I have been a failure spiritually in the past. I've not read my bible like I should. I've not prayed like I should. I've not been the wife and mother I should. I've made other things priorities and I don't want to keep making those same mistakes.

So 2012, I want to grow in my relationship with the Lord and make Him my top priority!! Will I be perfect? NO Will I fail some days? YES

Most of all, I hope He can continue to show me that life is not about things, it's about Him!

~Julie

2011 Recap

I can't believe another year has come and gone! I always heard "the older you get the faster time goes by" and I have found that to be true.

We had a wonderful Christmas and just enjoyed being with family. Christmas Eve was spent with Eric's family. This year we were blessed with a precious addition, Audrey Ruth! She is definitely the center of attention when we get together because she is just so sweet! After presents were opened the whole family started playing "Just Dance 3". It was sooooo much fun and we laughed so hard!

Christmas morning the kids woke us up at 3:45 but went back to bed until 4:45, UGH!!! They were so excited to see what Santa had brought them. This year Santa tried to scale back!! Caleb's big gift was an XBOX Kinect and Emily's big gift was a REAL baby stroller with carseat. ;)  They were both very excited and happy with all of their gifts.

After all the presents under the tree were opened we brought out our "family gift".  Wrapped in a box was a Mickey Mouse balloon and a note that read.....
SURPRISE we are going to DISNEY WORLD AND WE ARE FLYING ON AN AIRPLANE!!! Caleb almost passed out and Emily didn't really get it at first. Emily was hoping for a dog even though we had been telling her we were NOT getting one. To say they are excited is a HUGE understatement!! We leave in 7 days. My parents are going with us too! We are staying at Port Orleans French Quarter inside Disney so we are looking forward to that as well! We will be there for 6 nights.....

Unfortunately Eric had to work over Christmas for the first time in quite a few years. The kids and I went to church at 1pm and it was the sweetest service. The pastor ended the service by asking for testimonies(tears) and then his four precious kids(ages 7,5,3, and 1) sang "Happy Birthday Jesus"(tears again).

Eric was off the week before Christmas with the kids. I was off the week after Christmas so the kids and I just hung out and had fun while poor Daddy worked.

We finally headed to NC on Dec 29th for our NC Christmas. The kids had a blast with all of their gifts and spending time with their cousins. On Saturday it was so nice and warm that the whole family was outside all day!! It was wonderful! We also got to spend some time with my 87 year old grandparents who are not in the best of health. It was really bittersweet because I kept thinking that they may not be around next year. None of us are guaranteed another day but when people get older and are in bad health it makes you think about things you don't like to think about! I couldn't ask for better grandparents, they are precious and love unconditionally!

Our New Year's Day was spent going to church with my parents, eating at Porkies (one of our favorite places in China Grove) and then heading back to VA.

Looking forward to 2012 and the blessings I know it will bring.