I ♥ Faces Pouting

Here is my entry for I ♥ Faces Pouting.














Little Sara was such a ham when her family asked me to follow her around and take pictures. She climbed up into her grandma's lap and had had enough of my camera clicks.

And here is my Pet Entry.















My husband and I saw this little bambi laying down in the grass, hiding while we were out hiking last spring. He sure tried to make himself as flat as possible!

Going Green at home and at work

As part of Sean's and my Simplicity and Frugality life style, we have made the effort to 'Go Green' in as many ways as possible.  For example, we recently added on a carport to extend the protection for our vehicles as our one-car garage barely fit one of our big vehicles in it. It was added on late January, and so far it has been a blessing for us, and our neighbor.  It has and will block out that HOT afternoon sun, keeping our home cooler in the afternoon, keeping the AC from running less (of course in MT, we have yet to really see this as we just had 3" of snow drop on us this past week, but this summer, it will pay off!). It has also blessed our neighbor as she had the bright idea to extend the roof line a few more inches to let all the rain and snow melt fall onto her side of the property line, thus watering her beautiful trees for free! 

As we are getting close to gardening seasons, we have tried to figure out ways to cut down on our watering bill. I know--plants need water to grow--but our pocketbook doesn't have to suffer from it!  We have set up 2 of our drain spouts to let the snow and rain gather in big 75 gallon containers.  It will be a little more work to transfer the water back and forth instead of just turning on the spigot, but it will be much more rewarding knowing we are using the resources that God has freely given us!  Our next goal: solar panels!

 

Sean's motivation to be frugal and Green around the house has inspired me to take this lifestyle to work.  I work for a construction company--currently I manage 2 projects on the Air Force base, where we are building new homes for our military. The first Green move I am making is to ride my bike the 3 miles to work as soon as the temps warm up :).  One of my two dogs also makes this 6-mile round trip with me daily! It's an easy way of saving on gas and getting my daily exercise in! 

The second way I'm bringing the Greenness to work is by recycling!  It is the easiest Green move a company can make! As part of our contract, we demolish the existing homes. That means there is TONS of debris making it's way to the landfill daily.  Not very green.  But I have been able to set up agreements between my company and small local companies or individuals which has led to these people coming into the homes prior to demolition and salvaging as much as possible out of them.  The wood flooring, copper piping, the furnace and AC units, all the kitchen appliances, water heaters, cabinets, doors, windows and garage doors are all being taken out of these units and given or donated where they are needed.  

In the offices, I've set up different bins for the different products that we trash daily--plastics and paper. There is even one little bucket for produce (our breakfast and lunch waste) that makes it's way into my compost pile at home weekly. I've also convinced my company to spend a little more on special recycle bins for the scrap wood and scrap metal we produce while building the new homes.  When these bins fill up, they go to a recycle center instead of the landfill.  A definite Green plus here!

God is Good All the Time...

My heart breaks as I write this. For many of you YC people, your lives may have been touched greatly by one man--Kimball Matkins. I know my life was dramatically changed because of Kimball's involvement.
Kimball Matkins passed away last night from his long fight against ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
I was privileged to meet Kimball in 2001 and work with him for 2 years in the admission's office recruiting high school kids to come to York College. We took many long road trips together; we experienced rolling a school van on slick roads outside Billings, skiing accidents, and long delirious laughter as we drove the many miles between York and our surrounding states; we shared our life's stories and challenged each other daily to show how God blessed us each day.
As a sophomore in college and not knowing which way my life path was going, Kimball took me under his wing and showed me how to truly follow God and live my life to the fullest. He was a father figure and someone I could seek advice from. Kimball was a man of God.
While many of us left here on Earth mourn over the loss of a good friend, we can be confident that Heaven is rejoicing.
...All the Time, God is Good.

Week 11 I ♥ Faces Entry

This is my first attempt at an I ♥ Faces entry. Yikes, this is exciting! So drop by their blog and check out all the other beautiful entries!

This is my beautiful friend Katie! This picture was taken on a cloudy day at Yellowstone Bible Camp last summer.

Look what's popping up...

It is officially spring time in MT. As part of Sean's and my "Simplicity and Frugality" lifestyle, we have made it a goal to plant a garden and try to live off the 'land'. Here are just a few pictures of our plants and seed packets of what we will be planting as soon as Mother Nature agrees to keep temps above freezing at night!

Here is a picture of all our seeds: pumpkins, melons, corn, carrots, lettuce, and peas.  We will also be trying our luck with some hops rhizomes.  Sorry no pictures of them, they have to stay in the fridge for now!  We will also be getting some tomato plants from my wonderful friend Amy.  She is kind of a gardening nut--and is starting to specialize in heirloom plants!  I can't wait for warm juicy tomatoes right off the vine!

We will have blueberry and blackberry bushes! Oh I hope they are fruitful!  I would love to make my own jam!

My beautiful Dahlias! Ok, this is just a picture on the root packet I purchased from one of the local garden center; but I will be planting them and one day this summer, this is what will be popping up!

Here are the little sprouts of basil and oregano! I also have cilantro and chives starting to sprout!

And my little pride--the pepper plants! Beautiful Serrano and Tuscan Sun Sweet Peppers!! 

The herbs and peppers are sitting in our guest bedroom/hobby room in the only window in our home that faces the sun during the day. It is so fun to watch the soil and look for a change. And then, you walk in after a warm afternoon, and there is a little sprout peaking through the soil--a few days later, it's a centimeter tall--and almost 2 months later, you have a 3" tall plant with leaves that reach to the heavens.  

Oh I can't wait until I can put these little guys in the soil and see them take off!

Please pray!

Every Tuesday night, a few of the young professionals from my church get together for a bible study, food and fellowship. It is one of the few times in the week that I am blessed to be surrounded by Christians, my age, who have the same spiritual drive as I do.
Last night was amazing! There is a young Air Force Couple who have been coming off and on to church, but have been very devoted to coming to the bible study on Tuesdays. Sunny grew up Baptist, but really doesn't know much about living like a Christian. His wife Branda never really had exposure to a church or the bible while growing up--she comes to church/study because Sunny comes to church.
Last night was so amazing because after people started going their own ways, Sunny pulled aside a couple of us and started asking some really good questions--what do i have to do to be a member? When do you do baptisms? Can Branda and I be baptized at different times? I was baptized when i was little--is that ok? Some really good questions for 2 people who are looking and seeking out answers!
So pray for Sunny and Branda as they continue their search for Jesus; pray for open hearts and ears. And pray for those of us who will be starting a new studying with them, that they can give them the answers and information they need as they seek out Jesus.

No cable here...

I must say, I revel in the fact that we don't have cable. Talking with friends and co-workers, the conversation usually goes like this: "Sam, did you see last nights episode of ____?" and i almost always say, "No, I don't have cable" to which I get some of the best facial reactions. It's one of the few highlights in my work day. You want to really shock someone--tell them you don't have cable.
Now, I watch TV-I have 3 channels--ABC, CBS and the CW--only because we got a digital converter so we wouldn't be totally out of the bubble with what is going on in the world. I watch LOST, and before we go about our nightly life Sean and I watch both the national and local news, and sometimes catch a CSI or Criminal Minds episode--but it's a personal choice to not spend out money on cable.
Sean and I made a dedication when we got married, not just to love each other until death do us part, but to also live our life with Simplicity and Frugality--we actually have it engraved on our wedding rings. It's a reminder to us that we don't have to have the flashy new stuff, or to try and one-up the neighbor with a new toy. It's a reminder to live life without the distractions that the world throws at us. It is a reminder that we can entertain ourselves without having to pay for it--we walk the dogs, root around in our garden, we take day trips to the river and mountains. But the biggest thing we've done with out spare times is read our bible and attend a bible study with friends. As we fall more in love with our life style of simplicity and frugality, we have fallen more in love with God, and that makes me proud to say, I DON'T HAVE CABLE.