Hello again & alot of changes

Hi everyone! I am back from a very long hiatus. My last post was way back in March and here it is already August. There have been some big changes in our lives since I last posted! One big one was that we moved. We moved from a really big house (over 2000 sq. feet) to a small duplex that is probably between 700 & 800 sq. feet. It was hard to move from something so big to something so small but I am really happy that we did it. There is so much less stress in our lives since we moved.

Also there were some unexpected blessings in moving into this tiny duplex! One big one is that we are all yelling at each other alot less (have to keep the noise down in deference to our neighbors), I have had to be alot more organized, there is much less clutter, and I have managed, finally (after years and years) to tame the laundry monster!!! I have been praying for years to get it under control and not being able to but in this little duplex the washer and dryer are only about 10 feet from the dining room table (and there is no wall or door or anything seperating anything...its one long rectangular area) and so its easy to get to (no stairs, no flooding basement, no spiders or other creepy crawlies) and there is a small table that was left in the duplex that sits next to the dryer and I use it to fold clothes directly out of the dryer. I also take a day and iron all the clothes that need to be ironed. I can't tell you how good it feels to have tamed that laundry monster. Oh, I still get behind and have to work to keep up, don't get me wrong, but usually it only takes 3 or 4 loads to catch up at any given time (thats not bad for a family of 7).

Another change in our family is how we view the Lord and His importance in our lives. We began going to church more and more and now we are there almost every service. We do miss a few sometimes but for the most part we go to church and we don't plan or allow the teens to plan anything on church days. We have things like illness and whatnot that do keep us from going but for the most part we are faithful in our attendance. My husband has made some huge changes in his life! He quit cussing, he quit using chewing tobacco, he is really editing the movies we watch and the music we listen to. He has been helping a little bit with the teens at church and is hoping to be able to help the youth leader with the teens on a regular basis. He is really working to serve the Lord and to live a godly life. I am amazed at the changes in him! Ladies don't ever stop praying for your husbands. You never know when your prayers will be answered. I can't even tell you how long I have been praying for mine..it feels like forever and I am seeing the answers to my prayers in ways that absolutely amaze me!!!

We are getting ready to start school this week. My oldest child starts back at the public school on Thursday and we will start school the same day. I am working on getting the house totally unpacked (still have about a dozen boxes to get put away). I need to get school supplies, also. I am perterbed with our local Stuffmart. I noticed that the school supplies are 10 to 15 cents higher than they are at the Super Stuffmart that is 40 miles away (both Super Stuffmarts, one north of us and the other south of us). I won't be supporting our local Stuffmart for much longer at this rate. They not only quit carrying quite a few products that I use all the time (my favorite toothpaste, dishliquid, soap pads, borax, etc.) and the prices have gone up. It might be only a few cents per product but they add up and since I have to go out of town for doctors appts. anyways I am going to do my shopping there. Spiral notebooks are 15cents each at the Super Stuffmart and a quarter at the local one. Yuck.

Other than that there isn't alot else going on. My computer will be up and online this week (we need it for school) and I am hoping to blog regularly. You all will notice alot of old posts missing from my blog. I was tempted to erase it and start over but I kept the recipes and a few other posts up because I wanted to keep them. Enjoy!!!