We are now secure! And full!

Yep that's right, I made enchiladas. Yummy!! They actually turned out pretty good, but I think next time they need more sauce though. But they were goooooooddddddddd.

Last night we had a security system installed. This wasn't exactly our plan but we got a SWEET deal. APX took care of all the installation cost and we just had to take care of the activation fee and then of course the monthly fees. I know security systems don't totally prevent people from breaking in but it makes me feel better. I don't like when Dave goes out of town and I'm home at night alone. It scares me.

Now they have these things were you can turn your alarm off and on by remote. Geez, technology today. It's VERY cool though.

And then of course, we keep this sign in the yard for advertisement for them. It's solar powered so at night the light shines on it. And the sales guy and guy who installed it was very very nice. I HIGHLY recommend them.

Tomorrow night I am getting together with the girls from high school! Should be tons of fun, can't wait. There is actually a reason we are getting together but it's a secret so I can't say anything. I will share what it is for in the future :) I'll make sure to take some pictures, should be interesting!

He just knows!! This one is worth reading..........

Isn't this just what I needed to hear, literally. God is good, no God is GREAT!!

I Choose NOT to be Offended
4 Aug 2009Wendy Blight"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

What did she mean by that?

Why does she always hurt my feelings?

Why does she treat me that way?

Do any of these phrases sound familiar to you? It took my 15-year old daughter to show me that these words played through my head on a continual basis. She ended many of our conversations over the last few years with, "Why do you get your feelings hurt so easily?" or "Gosh, Mom, we are always hurting your feelings." Or, "Mom, you're so sensitive." At first, her words angered me.Over time, I finally began to hear what she was saying. God used my daughter to teach a powerful truth to me.

For years, I allowed people's words to hurt my feelings. In turn, I harbored anger for those words. The anger took root. Satan fed the words to me over and over again. I replayed them in my mind. Each time I replayed them, the anger grew deeper roots.I would find myself sitting in church listening to a sermon and saying, "I wish ______ was here. They really need to hear this sermon." I never heard the sermons for myself because the words of others consumed by thoughts and stole my time.About this time, God called me to teach a Bible study on the book of Proverbs. I spent days and weeks absorbed in this amazing book of Wisdom. One afternoon, God brought this verse across my path, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Proverbs 18:11).

Wow! It leapt off the page and into my heart.I had a choice here. Up until now, I received people's words, jumped to a conclusion, and chose to be offended. God's Word spoke and said, "Wendy, you have another choice...choose to look past their words and not receive them with an offended heart." I discovered that I needed to LISTEN objectively and ask: What is driving their words? Do they have a valid point? Do they have a deep hurt? Do they need something I am not giving? Are they someone who is just plain mean and negative?The responsibility was on me to stop the words from entering my heart and taking root. I discovered in this process that I NEEDED the approval of others. Yet, God's Word clearly says that He is the only One whose approval I need. When I accepted this, my heart changed.

Yes, it took time, and I am a work in progress. But, now when someone speaks a hurtful word, I check it at the door of my heart. I hear the words, I recognize my issue, and I speak Truth over my heart. I literally say, "It is to my glory to not receive this as an offense." God is pleased because I honor Him with this choice. It is a win-win for everyone because I do not ruin the rest of the day by pouting and making it all about me. I do not soak in self-pity. I let the words go.

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am created in Your image. Thank You that in You I find my identity. Thank You that it is only Your Words and Your opinion that matters. Lord, give me Your ears to hear. Help me not to be easily offended and easily angered. Help me lay down any offenses to which I am currently holding. Let me live in the freedom of Your love and forgiveness. Help me live not in my flesh, but supernaturally in the fullness and freshness of Your Spirit. I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, My Lord, Amen.

Weekend Wrap Up

Well this weekend was much needed! Dave and I had a very stressful week, best way to sum it up is, do you ever feel like your and your hubby are just not on the same page? This was one of those weeks for us. We spent much of the week working a ton and the time we were home we were both just short with one another and had problems with our communication (that is the nice way of saying we fought most of the week right :) Let's face it we all have those weeks, so we went down to the lake to spend some time fishing and playing nice!! It was good and we needed it so it's nice we have that little hobby together we can do to help ease our tension sometimes.

Today was spent trying to find my friend Amber's church, it was not a successful trip but maybe next week. I ended up at Walmart getting groceries for the week and had planned to get a pedicure but that didn't happen either. I bought a SUPER cute dress but had to go back to Walmart and exchange it for another size. So with cleaning the house and getting ready for this week, I ran out of time for a pedicure. And this is why I LOVE my husband. He got nominated to take off my polish so I didn't look so homeless with my half painted toe nail polish. He LOVES doing this by the way :)


And this is what I am getting for graduation. My friends love to make fun of me, actually Amber calls me red neck but I don't care. I plan on using this for dove season, I haven't graduated to shooting deer yet. But it sure is fun to shoot skeet, I got pretty good at it last year. Opening day for Dove season is only about a month away!!

More food for thought.......

I read the devotional for today and found myself thinking "this is me.....this is exactly me" and then it started to bother me. It's funny, especially with devotionals that are sent to us daily because sometimes we actually read them and then sometimes we don't, we pretend to pay attention and read it but we are really just skimming. I'm glad I read today's though, because sometimes for me it helps to know that I'm not the only one who has issues with relationships.

I have always been kind of loner, I've blogged about this before. But I find myself especially when it comes to other women in my life holding back and keeping myself guarded. I can't really put my finger on it except that like this devotional says I've gotten burned by one to many people at a young age and just decided that instead of allowing others to get to me I put a guard up and say "Not me, you can't hurt my feelings because you will never really know how I feel, I'll never share that" and just like today's devotional said we loose our ability to grow from true fellowship with other Christian women therefore hinder our growth spiritually.

I'm not great at apologizing, never have been. I can talk through problems and explain how I feel but the actual "I'm sorry" isn't something that comes out so easy. Although I had a situation recently where my feelings were hurt deeply by people I care about and funny thing is, however awkward it might be to apologize that's all I wanted to hear. I wanted responsibility to be taken, to say "I'm sorry for hurting you, for disappointing you" and while I know people don't always do that (like me) I think it's mainly because people, me included, would rather go on pretending it didn't happen than say I'm sorry.

As I look onto other situations in my life I find that I have let situations like this one break me and loose my faith and trust in people. Instead of talking through the hurt with the ones that hurt us we often just ignore it and go about our business. I am learning through growth and experience that situations aren't often as horrible as they seem and simply talking about feelings is okay, even if we don't get the exact response we want. But I do think God places situations in our lives to grow and hopefully be open to change and lessons. I have learned this lesson recently........

Not all people are who you think they are, some are better than we expect and some worse. Living a life full of forgiveness for YOURSELF not from others is really the way to grow in Christ. I can't let others people's actions hurt me and hinder me to put up a guard or shield that tells others, "she is to hard to be close too" I have to allow Christ to work through the ones that hurt me and not me work through them. That will never work, I just have to remember that the one and only person in my life who is consistent, loving, and always willing to listen is God. And through his grace I learn forgiveness and the ability to love others even when it doesn't feel like they love me.

Food for thought

Thought this was a GREAT devotional as I know I struggle with many friendships in my life. I just wanted to share, it's from Proverbs 31 Ministries:

Women: Friend or Foe?
28 Jul 2009Rachel Olsen"I'm a friend and companion of all who fear you, of those committed to living by your rules." Psalm 119:63 (MSG)Not long ago I would've told you that I don't much like women. I counted a few as friends, but the rest of the gender I dismissed categorically as too much trouble. Never a "tomboy" by any stretch of the imagination, I just found guys so much easier to deal with. They generally say what they mean, let you know where you stand, and never size you up to determine who has the better haircut.

I didn't want to distrust women, but the majority of females in my life at the time evoked that response. They were catty, competitive, and conniving. They gossiped, backstabbed and manipulated. I have to admit that I often responded in kind. Isn't it str ange how addictive relational drama can be?

I'm told you can put a frog in a pot of cold water on the stove and gradually turn up the heat, and it will stay in the pot until it reaches a fatal boil without attempting escape. Evidently the frog doesn't realize how unhealthy the situation is slowly becoming. I can't vouch for the accuracy of that fable - I'd never boil a frog! - but I've been in a few friendships that were like that. I stayed way too long in the pot before I realized this isn't healthy for me, and I got burned.

So what lead me to flip-flop my position on having girlfriends? First, I decided to follow Christ. This sparked many beneficial changes in my mind and spirit. Where I had been cynical and guarded, God's love penetrated and softened my heart. I learned the meaning of Proverbs 18:24, "There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother" (RSV). Christ was now my forever friend who could be trust ed completely.

I also made changes in my choice of girlfriends. With the help of the Holy Spirit and lessons on character from the book of Proverbs, I learned to recognize which people and relational patterns were unhealthy for me. I was ready to be rid of the drama! The Bible teaches, "He who walks with the wise grows wise" (Proverbs 13:20, NIV). I wanted to walk with wise women through life. Many of my current-at-the-time friendships ran their natural course and dissolved. A few transformed along with me. But a few I deliberately phased out because my own character wasn't strong enough yet to remain Christ-like in their company.

Meanwhile, I prayed for quality friendships with women of faith. God heard my prayers, just as the Bible promises He does. Fun-loving, God-loving, gracious women at my church sought me out and invited me out. And I made the choice to trust them and invest. I discovered how beneficial it is to surround yourself with women who inspire your walk with God.Over time, God birthed in me a huge love and great compassion for women. I began seeing them through His eyes and not just the lens of my own hurtful past. I realized that not all women are like those I had known. I also learned to forgive and pray for those who've hurt me.

Today I cherish my friendships with the women in my life.What about you? How are your friendships? Do you find yourself entangled in an unhealthy relationship? Are you in emotional hiding after being burned? Maybe you've written off the entire gender because of the trouble you've seen. Take that to God and ask Him to heal and bring restoration to your heart. Ask Him to send godly, wise women into your life. Then muster up the courage to respond and befriend them.Neither gender is categorically a foe – but I count myself happy to be sipping tea, playing Dominos, doing Bible study, shopping and sharing my dreams with sisters of the fairer sex. Won't you join us?

Dear Lord, I want to have good friends, and to be a good friend. Help me to develop godly friendships, in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Show us your Wedding Dress, even if it's a few days late

Over at Kelly's Korner she is now doing "Show us your Wedding Dress", so even though I'm late (they are usually posted on Fridays) I decided to share a few of my pictures from my wedding. I didn't get the digitals so I took pictures of my pictures like some of the others who participated. I had a video of the wedding too so I limited myself on how much money I spent with the photographer. But you should be able to see them, Enjoy!!

My Aunt Angie, she and my mom did SO much of the work for my wedding. This was the ONLY picture I got with her. I am so grateful she is so much a part of our lives, she not only brings humor to the family but is a great person to talk too. Lots of life lessons she has to share!

The Petty Family: (starting from the left, Melanie, Big Chris and Ethan; Brenna, CJ, Kristen, me, Dave, Sherry, Gordon, Jenn, and Bailey. Braiden just happens to be not seen because of the flash. Boo)

The Pecor Family: (from the left, my Dad, my mom, me, Dave, Leslie and Jenna)

The is probably Dave and I's most FAVORITE picture! You can't tell but we were coming right off the aisle into the sunset, our photographer didn't do anything to the picture. The sun just happened to be in the right spot!

I LOVE this picture too though. We were coming right into the reception and I hadn't seen what it looked like. I started crying right after this picture because my mom and all her friends did SUCH an amazing job! It was beautiful!!!

We had to get a picture with Leslie, me, Dave and CJ. Pretty cool, two sets of twins in the family! Although now days no really seems to think we look alike.

The BRIDAL party! Dave's favorite part of the wedding was the Chuck Taylor's all the boys wore. Dave loves Chucks, he wears them with EVERYTHING! So Dave wore white ones while the groomsmen and ushers wore brown. Even my dad and father in law wore them! It was very cool.

My girls, from the left it's Kristen, Amber, Leslie, Jenna, Emily, and Jennifer (or Sharghi as I like to call her). Every single one of these girls has been so great to me for all different reasons. I feel very fortunate to have such great friends in my life and even though we don't always get to hang out like the old days, each one holds a very special place in my heart.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoyed seeing some pictures of our wedding!! You know, every couple fights, it's just part of life but sometimes when Dave and I are having a rough day or two I look at our wedding pictures or video and somehow it makes me feel better. Just to know that one day we vowed to work together and NEVER give up. Keep on livin as Dave likes to say. L-I-V-I-N!

I love surprises when I get home

Anyone out there have a lab? Goodness! I have blogged before about our dogs, they are both wonderful but geez! Today just about pushed me over the limit to banish our lab (C'mere is his name) outside for good!!

I came home, while on the phone with Jenna, to a very and I mean VERY fowl spell that hit me as soon as I walked in my house! Yuck!! So while I ventured in to see what had happened, I found C'mere in my favorite chair (he thinks it's his and it drives me nuts!) with his head already hanging low and giving me the sappy brown eyes. He had gotten into our kitchen trash can and pulled out almost everything! There was trash all over, that was the good part though. I went further down the hall and found a huge surprise all over my carpet. Evidently the trash he ate didn't set to well in his belly and came out all over my floor. I wasn't as mad as I usually am, probably because the smell was horrible and just wanted it cleaned up but man. One thing is for sure, I do not look forward to cleaning up poo with a kid if it smells anything like what I experienced today!

So my question, which is the point of this entire post, has two parts:

1. While I don't want C'mere to stay outside all the time, I need some pointers as to what to do to keep him off my furniture. Not that our furniture is super nice but he sheds pretty bad and it drives me crazy to have blonde dog hair on my furniture and clothes all time.

2. I'm not sure how to break him of the habit of getting into the trash. We don't have a cabinet tall enough to put our trash can in so unfortunately unless we want to take the trash out repeatedly by using a small trash can we have to keep the big trash can by our kitchen island. Any ideas???

Dave and I FINALLY compromised about leaving him outside during the day (only if it's not super hot) and let him come in when we are home. And that was a long time coming, Dave did not want to budge on that topic but we "talked" it out and decided it was for the best.........you know that whole talking thing DOES work sometimes ;)