Good Things Out There

If you have not heard the news, the BEST thing out there is that I got a contract on my house today. We are celebrating! Now a new and different stress takes over, but it all means we are one step closer to living together as a family! So very happy!

I sent my Facebook friends to this post. If you didn't go, go NOW. Seriously amazing stuff from a Broadway actor. Love hearing from people of faith in "the biz." Crazy good.

Michael Hyatt, a constant fave of mine, talks about how to get out of a funk. Now, it's spring. You shouldn't be in a funk, but file it for the next rainy day/ snow storm.

Dan Pearce writes a moving, poignant post about the blessing and responsibility we have as parents, specifically dads. Powerful.

Chris Gallagher wrote a cool piece about when God closes a door. Good read.

Even before we got the contract I have started packiing up the house. As I empty out one cabinet, I'll find myself humming this song, getting a little weepy. Lots of memories in this house:

Good Things Out There

It's been a LONG time since I've done a "Good Things Out There" post... and this one will be brief.

My father has always been a big believer in learning people's names. I try to notice, but confess I'm not very religious about it. This article is a great reminder that learning someone's name not only makes that person feel good, but it can pay off for you, as well.

I have really come to enjoy reading Michael Hyatt's blog. He is the president of Thomas Nelson publishing (Christian books). He has excellent things to say about leadership, organization, productivity, and even parenting. I enjoyed this article: "44 Actions You Can Take Now to Boost Your Energy." None of them involve Hydroxy-Cut.

I thought this article entitled "The Two Sides of Responsibility" was an interesting look at obesity: political vs. personal problem. It was written by Michael Prager, author of "Fat Boy, Thin Man."

(My brief "good things" post is getting longer and longer because I keep running across good stuff!)

I'm re-stealing/ linking this from Julie. And reciting it to myself. A lot. Capable people struggle with finding balance. Right?

This is an older post of Michael Hyatt's that I came across later in the week about modesty for our girls. Some excellent guidelines to be teaching them.

I had this video on Facebook a while back... I may have even posted it here. I like this guy's attitude: even if you don't know the words, go ahead and sing out. You will probably make someone smile:

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Good Things Out There

LOVE this way to recycle an old sweater. I doubt I'll ever do it for me, but would someone make me one, please?

I really like the thought and individualization put into each friend's birthday and gift. Very sweet.

Very detailed tutorial about color splashing your digital pics. I think even I could do this!

Another great inexpensive and recycling idea for clothing -- that I would probably never take the time to do.

Amanda has done it again. If you only read one thing today: READ THIS. No kidding.

Listening to a great series from Andy Stanley out of Northpoint. The one that I listened to most recently opened with this testimony. Very powerful.

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Good Things Out There

This is a very inspiring post about not overindulging during the holidays. Be it food or money issues, this is a great read.

John does a great job of summing up the deal with Facebook and privacy settings. Somewhere along the way, I accidentally got it right. Thanks for this post, John.


If you know me personally just a little bit, you know that I really drag through the winter. I can tell this winter will be rough since it got cold earlier than usual this year here. I came across these tips that I think really hit home. I encourage you to check them out, too.

If you only read one of these, make it this one. Remember that not everyone is having a holly jolly Christmas. And don't forget in our busyness to stop and take a moment to lift up those that are struggling.




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More Good Things

I don't know if I'm being supremely lazy or thoughtful lately, but there is much out on the internet that I long to share with you! Too much for yesterday's "Good Things" so it has run over. (I guess if I were smart I would save some for next week, but I'm not)

I have mentioned my friend Jana many times before. Love her. A woman whose inner beauty is perfectly reflected on the outside. She had this to say on facebook to new grads (she teaches college, so some graduated this weekend). Feel free to pass it along because it is golden wisdom that is hard to come by:

Message to new grads: Finding God's will is not geography; it's not some dot that you have to get to & if not, your life will be ruined. It is about who you are & about making decisions informed by what pleases God. Do what pleases God, and you will be in His will. Are you taking the "right" job? Are you marrying the "right" person? Take the job, marry the guy/gal, and please God in those choices. I would have been relieved to know that 20 years ago. I thought there might be one "right" job and years later, one "right" person. Looking back, I know that I could have pursued a number of paths. The point was not geography; God's will was honoring him, no matter where the choices led me. And that, my friends, is the very good news for the newest graduates here, and for all of us, really.

Indeed.

The next good thought is too long to copy and paste here. You must go over and read here. If you have had a thought about money in the last week, go read. No, really. I'm not kidding. I'll even let you enter those free giveaways at Dave Ramsey, but you still need to read this if you have had any thoughts about money. Seriously.

And there is much more. But I will try and actually write something for you to think about. Wow. What if I wrote something that someone ELSE said to "go read". Yeah, it's been known to happen, but not lately. 'Cause, see? You have to do some actual writing first! True that.

Happy Monday to all and to all... the happiest of Mondays!

Money Saving

Just a quick stop in today to tell you how to save some dollars! Heaven knows we could all use some dollar-saving here at Christmas time!

I have been into couponing out of necessity, as have some of you.

I do subscribe to Grocery Game. It's a pay service and can save you at least as much as your subscription cost. There are pros and cons, and I would be happy to answer any questions about it.

I happened across Couponing 101, which is free and has almost as much information as the pay site. Big thumbs up.

Keeping the Kingdom First is another good blog about living frugally.

If you want to do much online shopping for Christmas, you will want to know about Want Not. Lots of good deals. Updated ... hourly it seems. Crazy deals, she has.

That's all I've got for now. What about you? Julie is over there finding crafty blogs. Are you finding good blogs? Are you finding ways to be frugal? What are you up to these days?

Good Things Out There

My friend Julie moved to California -- seems like last week to me, but I think it's actually been almost a year ago now. She has been busy, busy, un-wallpapering her house, painting her un-wallpapered walls, and if that weren't enough, making these adorable little guys to sell at a holiday boutique this weekend. Hope it went well for her!

This post kind of hit me squarely between the eyes. It kind of called me on the carpet for what I like to call "lazy compassion" -- what I am FREQUENTLY guilty of practicing. Worth a read. Worth letting it change your heart.

Anybody ever ask you to pray but not give you details what TO pray. Keep praying. Someday you might here an amazing story like this one. Wow.

This made me gasp. And smile. And stop and appreciate my kids instead of doing FOR my kids.

Since Riley's birthday is the week before Thanksgiving, we have made these little handprint turkeys at his birthday party before. Several cute ideas.

One of those clever videos from my church:

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Good Things Out There

Many of you know that one evening a week I spend with 3 wonderful people with A Better View podcast. We have the best time and I generally feel pretty much out of my league all the way around. This post from one of my co-hosts, Amanda, simply confirmed that fact. This is some wonderful cleverness regarding spiritual application of Zombie movies.

I rarely do churchy type things on Good Things Out There, but oh my stars, you need to read this. Then you need to email your preacher, elders, and any other church leader you know and have them read it, too. Have them repeat after me: We will miss you. Love it.

Do not send your church leaders here, but send people you love here, especially those over 50. But go read it first. I literally put my head on my desk and cried -- I was laughing so hard. I know this month is all pink for Breast Cancer Awareness -- but this is about colon cancer which has its own awareness month in March, but I will never remember that, and this is just hysterical and you need to read it anyway. Seriously.

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Looking Back

So glad you are here! Welcome to the continuation of the party for my 1,000th post!

Help yourself to some cake, pour some Diet Coke, coffee, or the beverage of your choice, and we'll stroll down memory lane just a little.

First, I want to mention that I never intended this blog to be as 'public' as it has become. I only wanted a place to house my own personal writing. But soon I just needed to vent, or tell about something funny that happened at my house, and that is what people responded to.

So I continued to chat and share my life with you here and you continued to come around and visit with me.

You have been down several roads with me. You were here when I started a teaching job, and when I left it to try out this writing business.

You have grieved and remembered my Poppa Max with me, and laughed and enjoyed my kids with me.

You have celebrated big doin's with me, and been there to keep me going when I was grouchy.

And last week, you gave me great thoughts about going back to middle school (shudder).

All this week I will be saying thank you. I usually only say the words "Thank you" -- because words are the best way I know how. But I have a few little token 'thank you's' just to say,

"Really! Thank you for still stopping by!" Give-aways all this week.

Today's give-away will include two books, one a little more 'fluffy' than the other, and a magnetic list pad because I simply love those things, don't you? If not, maybe you will learn to love them?

To enter today's give-away, leave a comment telling me about a middle school experience you would rather forget. My kids asked "your most embarassing middle school moment" -- if you are ready to re-live that on the world wide web, knock yourself out. I will simply phrase it, 'a time in middle school you would rather forget' since there are SO many of those.

I will kick off but I have to confess that I have successfully blocked much of middle school out. Partly because I went to school at the same school 1st-12th grade, and we moved to the same building at 4th grade, so many of the memories have merged. I do remember being in 7th grade and having a crush on a tall, lanky senior and I'm sure I acted like a total doof around him at all times. Not that that sort of behavior is rare for a middle school girl.

So, what about you, can you be more specific than me? What do you remember as awful about middle school? Any particular bad experience? PE comes to mind for me...

Good Things Out There

I do not know this young lady's entire story. Nothing I have read leads me to believe she is actually in physical danger. However, I do know she is a baby Christian against amazing odds and could use our prayers. Add her to your prayer list.

Don't forget to scroll down and visit my 1,000th post to tell me a little about you!

These ladies say that anyone can sing standing where they are. I don't believe it, but this actually did make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. One of my favorite songs:

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Good Things Out There

LOTS of Good Things Out There, and I'm finally stopping long enough to round them back up. I think I finally have a system. Kind of.

Julie set up a tutorial (of sorts -- more of a 'point us to others' tutorials') for all kinds of bloggy goodness that I want to know how to do. Now I need a bootleg copy of Photoshop for this one project. Oh, I KID, internet police!

Deana wrote this wonderful blog post about community in Christ. If you don't understand why people 'go to church' or if you can 'be a Christian and not go to church' -- you may want to read this. Very well said, Deana.

I have, in a very short amount of time, grown to love and cherish each of the other 3 individuals working on the 'A Better View' podcast. I am blessed and challenged by each of them and their way of thinking and living. One of my co-hosts, Amanda, wrote an article that explained how her perspective toward one person from the Bible changed when she found herself walking the same road. Read Amanda's heart-wrenching article here.

Many of you know that last year, Steven Curtis Chapman faced a parent's unthinkable horror when his little girl died. Like the amazing artist he is, he has poured out his grief, longings, and questions into a beautiful song.


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Good Things Out There

Pray-shus.

Trey rocks out loud. I haven't met his wife, Lea, (yet) but she appears to also rock out loud. Awesome.

And Susan? Susan rocks out loud on stage. This post really spoke to me about a way that our Lord was so human the week of Easter. What an awesome message.


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Good Things Out There

Gather the children 'round... They are REALLY going to want to hear this. Lysa always sums it up well.

I'm always proud of Roxanne, but this made me even prouder. While your children are gathered 'round, have them hug their teachers tomorrow.

Y'all, I am LOVING Picnik.com. It's free, free, FREE and has many of the same photo-editing features expensive softwares have. Of course, you can pay for premium and do more, but it's just so much FUN!!! I took this photo of Ashley and me:

and did this to it:
How fun is that?

And if this just don't beat all!!! "I would like to thank the Academy... or Theobloggers..." That's a pretty heavy-hitting line-up right there, and I'm honored and amazed to be included in the Chrisitan Blogger Award winners. Just another way the Lord continues to smile on me while closing a few doors on my foot.

This video isn't as funny as I generally do, but it's great info to have about running form to avoid injury such as knee, hip, and shin splints. It makes a LOT of sense to me -- but it will take me a LOT of work to break my horrible habits!

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Good Things Out There

Y'all, I have sewing room envy. Didn't this Sarah make it the cutest thing ever?

Amanda makes me miss having a 5 year old son. All I get now is, "Mom, you're so weird..."

You KNOW I love words. But Donna Hester knows how to put them together. This woman is a genius. Maybe someday I will grow up and put together words as beautifully as Donna did in "Words". A must read....

And that Beth... she's always sayin' it right. Beautiful post about marriage and the God that ordained it.

I think Troy thinks this is what I do every night:


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Good Things Out There

• Well, I have to start with Carrie for being a Good Thing Out There, because I have FINALLY been able to make the button the way I wanted for this, thanks to her amazing tutorial! Carrie, you're totally a good thing! Thanks!

• Then Lisa Laree had a thought-provoking post about marriage and what scripture says about 'loving your husband'.

• Antique Mommy has great perspective on all the stuff we just got for our kids for Christmas.

• And I can totally see me making these all the time! Wouldn't they make a great gift for friends and grandparents? Check out Chocolate on My Cranium's Personalized Notepad How To's!

• And thanks to Vann for pointing out this video. This hurts my heart (okay, maybe warms my heart) on so many levels. Precious, precious:

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Good Things Out There

Moms can relate.

Jana shares some awesome wisdom of elves that we all can live by.

Troy's grandmother is in heaven clapping her hands in glee at the way you can make a Target bag become a beautiful topper to your gift. Seriously, are holiday bows that much of a problem in our landfills?

Tip Junkie is at it again! Precious gifts to make (not gonna happen here) or even cute Christmas cards (these were in a contest --not for the craftily challenged!)

This isn't how I feel about Christmas, but the light guy takes me to my childhood -- naming no names, of course... I'm still laughing.



This IS how I feel about Christmas:

A Few Good Things...

This is by Joshilyn -- not only an amazing author (like, of the actual published variety, not just fancied in her head like me) but she is also my friend. Okay, it's a facebook friendship and she would never know it if I walked by her and smacked her in the head, but we are TIGHT, I tell ya. And you will NOT be sorry if you spend a few minutes to read THIS. Even if you only get as far as the digression -- yet another reason I love her so -- you really won't be sorry. Oh, but you may want to clear any liquids from your mouth so as to save spewing them on the computer screen.

This is REALLY deep -- I keep coming back to it and thinking on it again and again. Check it out. Bookmark it. Think it through...

Since I'm almost starting to walk without limping, I had to live vicariously through other's accomplishments this week. This one was fun.

And, I just obviously love this guy. I need to hang out with him for a little while...

Good Things Out There

Tip Junkie has some ideas for an over-the-top "Ho-Ho-Hoedown"!

Here you can see why I like to imagine Heather as my BFF: she calls 'em like she sees 'em. Powerful words.

I totally get this.

Tried to post this video here, but it's blah-blah "Quick Time" blah-blah, so you'll just have to see for yourself...

Good Things Out There

I have really enjoyed reading Susan's blog -- I love that she is a runner and her love for the Lord shines through. Now, she SAYS she hates Wal-Mart, but she shops there once a week (budget reasons -- whatev! :-) HOWEVER -- this precious story is about her seeking God to reveal Himself to her at Wal-Mart. Guess what? She found Him! I did NOT think God existed on any Wal-Mart properties! I thought He refused to go there like I do! Check this one out!

I have signed up at Mozy.com: for $5/ month (free month if you'll pay for 2 years at a time -- I didn't!) they back up all the files on my computer that I tell them to EVERY NIGHT. When my computer crashed in May, I lost all pictures, music files, some writing, etc. For $60 (one year) I couldn't even buy a USB that would hold all of my music, AND I would have to remember to back it up! DONE! You may want to check out Mozy!

It's too late for me (until granddaughters) but this blog is devoted to doing little girl hair for little girls who will sit still for such! Either way -- you have GOT to check this 'do out!

How fun is THIS???

Yes, it's too early to start on Christmas (oh, yes it is!!!) but these will make precious teacher gifts!

I frequently refer to Mrs. Wiggins, but Troy doesn't know who I'm talking about. I think I've seen every episode of The Carol Burnett Show at least once. When I was in 6th grade, my friend Brandi Wheelis and I both wanted to be Carol Burnett when we grew up. This is one of many, many memorable characters and sketches I remember. It's long -- enjoy.

Good Things Out There

Very long story, but I ended up in praise chapel at ACU on Friday. They announced that the ACU men's basketball team was sponsoring a fundraiser 5k for a former player and his family. This is Lia: Is she just the most beautiful thing ever?Lia was born with a (or several?) heart defect and has required surgery, feeding tubes, and all the things you don't want for your newborn. Go check on Lia here, and feel free to add her and her family to your prayer list. (Her parents both went to ACU and her dad played basketball -- hence the men's team involvement in raising money for her medical expenses).

This is totally going on the recipe blog.

Cathy is a dear friend -- and I hope I grow up to write beautiful words like her.

Y'all? Cuteness AND easy? Check these gift tags out!

September 11 means different things to everyone. September 11 of 2003 was a much more personal day of loss for the Stirman family. For another family, 9-11-01 was huge and life-altering, but in a far different way. Read this beautiful post about grief.

Teachers, this takes almost 10 minutes, but you must see it (and may have already). This little boy will fire you up!