Monster Monday

This is Molly's preferred spot during exam preparation. I sit in my rocking chair with my feet propped up - in this picture, on one of my bistro chairs - and she lays in my lap. She even makes a great lap desk and will let me rest my books ontop of her if I need to.


This is Dexter "helping" me switch out my fall flowers for pointsettias in my wreath yesterday.

Better late than never...

The Christmas fairy has finally made her way to my house. The pumpkins are off the porch, the fall flowers in my wreath have been switched for poinsettias, three batches of cookies have been made and I'm about to see if I can figure out where I've stored my decorations...

Chest of Joash

When God says give, the response should always be, "yes Lord, how much?"

My church does a Chest of Joash collection every year at Christmas time. I'll be honest, I don't know the background to this giving. If I didn't have marketing notes staring me in the face for tomorrows final, I'd google it for you. Sorry. But this offering is used for specific special needs the church has. This year the offering is going toward a new bus for the church, church publications, a donation towards a car for a missionary family we support, and some needs for the children's ministry. The offering was collected this past Sunday.

Last Sunday fell in the middle of a pay period for me. And I'll be honest, things are tight. I'm frantically trying to dig my way out of my credit card debt accumulated nearly 3 years ago and pay cash for Christmas and oh, you know, keep the lights on and the mortgage paid. Same song and dance in nearly every household across America. I'm just trying to do the best I can with what I have. And God, He knows. He knows I'm broke. I'm not poor. He provides all my needs. But the piggy bank, he's pretty hungry.

So anyway, last Sunday. Chest of Joash. Lord, I have no money. I have a little money. I don't have much. Is this an offering I need to make? Can I offer my time instead? Can I give clothes, shoes, whatever to someone who needs them instead? Is there something else you would like me to give? Cuz Lord, I haven't got much. If you need me to give, let me know. Let me know how much. Cuz Lord, if you need me to give, and you tell me to give, and you give me an amount, well, I know I can afford it if you say so.

And I waited. While the pastor touched hearts and loosened purse strings with his message. He's pretty awesome. God uses him to fix the things in my life that need a little extra attention. And I was waiting. Waiting for God to tell me what to do. The whole service. Waiting. Listening. God just let me know. Waiting. And then the pastor calls the ushers forward to start guiding people to the front to place their envelopes in the chest.

Can I just tell you my whole body started shaking and I couldn't reach for my checkbook fast enough? And as I'm filling out the blanks in the check I'm asking, Lord how much? 30? Not enough. 50? Not enough. 100? Peace. The shaking stopped. God grabbed me, got my checkbook out, and then left the rest for me. He doesn't make us give. But if you aren't sure there's a need, if you aren't sure you can afford it, ask. He answers. I didn't actually hear a word. But sometimes, you just know that you know that you know. That's the Holy Spirit. And I wrote that check. Knowing that even if God leaves me with $6 in savings... He won't leave me needing more.

Monster Monday

...on Tuesday... oops.

Dex checking for visitors....



Molly on a camping trip from this past summer...


For better or worse, this semester ends tomorrow. Thank goodness. I still have mums and pumpkins on my porch...

Monster Monday

I cannot wait until this semester is over. Come what may, I'm ready.

Monster Monday

I'm trying to add a little structure to certain areas of my life. My blogging being one of them. And so, I'm instituting Monster Mondays. I will now be attempting to share a picture of my monsters with you every Monday in an attempt to:

A. Show off their extreme cuteness

B. Remind myself weekly that I have a blog just in case I might have something to write about.

Here's the inaugeral pic. This is a typical Friday night at my house while I attempt a grad degree. As you can see, its one happening place.



One day graduation will happen. And then I'll return to the world of semi-normal twenty-somethings.

I tithe.

Period.

Its funny how, well for lack of a better word, funny people get when you talk about money. And what they should or should not be doing with their money. The Bible tells us what to do with our money. It tells us to give one tenth of our first fruits to God. Leviticus 27:34 reminds us that this does not belong to us, but belongs to God. We are only giving God what is already His. Malachi 3:10 says this, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, " and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Not only does He provide for all our needs, God gives us more than we can possibly contain so that we have to give away even more than what we are already giving as a tithe.

And it works. It does. I needed furniture and an estranged husband of a friend of mine gives me his designer bedroom furniture. I needed a tree trimmed in my back yard and was quoted a $6,000 price tag from a tree service and my manager and boss come over and trim it for me for steaks and beer. I needed my air conditioner and windshield wiper assembly in my car fixed and my sisters ex-husband fixes it for next to nothing and some food out of my freezer. Every need that has presented itself since I have started tithing has been met. And some of my wants too. I still wanted a lingerie chest and patio furniture and those exact things are given to me when my grandmother moved into assisted living and gave up her apartment. I didn't ask for them. I didn't speak this want. God gave me exactly what I had asked for.

And the list goes on. If He doesn't provide things I need for free, He provides an opportunity to buy them for next to nothing. And the money shows up too. I make next to nothing and yet the extra money I need shows up. From strange places. Like I was short in October with money to pay my bills. Didn't know where the money was going to come from. My office administrator and I discover that while my company doesn't cover lenses or contacts, they do cover eye exams. I had been told when I came to the company that we didn't have vision insurance. I was able to re-emburse an eye exam that I had in September for nearly the exact amount that I was short on my bills for the month.

It works. Its not a trick. I give because God placed a burden on my heart. I give faithfully. And cheerfully. I actually get excited about writing those checks. And because I've kept His covenant, God has blessed me and continues to bless me. I haven't reached the point where I can't contain that blessing but I can honestly say there is not room for one more piece of furniture in my house.

Playing in the mud

I've been super busy this fall with class and work and you know, sleep, that about the only creative outlet I've had time for has been a ceramics class that I signed up for. And let me tell you, taking two hours every Sunday to mold a little mud into something that might actually be keepable was very rejuvenating. Its a peaceful process. And a de-stresser. And its fun. I may not have gotten anything that could be considered art out of the class but the enjoyment was worth it. I'm hoping I can fit this into my schedule for the spring and maybe come up with something a little grander in scale...

Virginia Beach SPCA Walk

We didn't raise very much money but we had a lot of fun. And so did the dogs. Here are a few pics from the day...






And here's a picture of my favoritest witch!



Neither my sister nor I have any kids yet so, yes, we took our dogs to the pumpkin patch after the walk.

B5491

One of my college buddies, Phil, married the sweetest girl (Meg, not pictured, sorry!) two weeks ago in a gorgeous outdoor ceremony. I made this dress in July, specifically for the wedding and have been meaning to get a picture of it since. This is the best picture showcasing the dress from the event, as unfortunately, I still have not photographed it on its own.

This pattern was a breeze. I cut a size 8 - one larger than normal - since I used a woven instead of the recommended knit. I also fully lined the dress as the pattern only called for a partial lining of the bodice and I'm not a fan of wearing a slip. Other than that, I didn't make any alterations. This dress went together like a dream. I don't know that I'll make it again, but if I do it will probably be the longer version.

Concord Grape Pie

This is one of my absolute favorites. I have been waiting a year for grape season to attempt this pie. Its a little labor intensive but worth it if you like grape and/or a tart pie.

For this recipe you need:

5 and 1/2 c concord grapes, washed
1 c sugar depending on the sweetness of the grapes
1 T tapioca
Double pastry for a 9 inch pie

First, remove skins from grapes and set aside.



Next, bring the pulp to a rolling boil for five minutes in a heavy bottom pan.

Then, put pulp through a colander or a food mill to remove all seeds and pour hot, de-seeded pulp over skins that you had saved.


Let sit for 5 hours and then add sugar and tapioca. Pour mixture into pie crust and dot with butter. Add "floating" crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes longer until crust is brown and juices begin to bubble.



Enjoy!

On the quilting front

A little fabric goodness showed up on my doorstep yesterday.



Two more charm packs in Pure by Sweetwater, a Whimsy jellyroll, and a Bliss jellyroll. Oh, and a yard of one of the colorways from the Pure line for sashing.

I didn't waste any time cutting into the two charm packs. ;)

And so these...

>

Became these...



Which will be added to these...



And hopefully very shortly I'll have another finished quilt!

I'm learning to love precuts. The last quilt took nearly 7 months of dragging out all the cutting. This one may just come together in a matter of weeks! After this... no more blue and brown for a little while. I need some color in my life! I think the two jellyrolls are going to be just right for that... :)

For a Cause

Let me just say that I don't jump on every band wagon cause that comes down the pipe. I just don't. My heart goes out to each and every need out there but... I just don't. No idea why.

This one though, this one is fun. This is doggies parading in costumes on the boardwalk so that other animals can find homes and love. Not that its any better than any other charitable need, its just every morning when Dex is trying to cuddle while I'm trying to get ready for work I'm thankful that God told me to go to the SPCA and get a cat that day. This cat was suppose to come home with me. This cat was mine before I met him. And I was his. He definitely picked me. I think this is a baby step toward parenthood but we won't go there.

And so, I've signed on with my sister to raise a few pennies for the good folks at the Virginia Beach SPCA so that they can get more animals into the homes they were meant to have.

If there's anyone out there in blog land who would like to help me, here's my website:

http://www.firstgiving.com/annajohnson3

I greatly appreciate anything and everything that you might be willing to give. Even an encouraging word. :)

OBX

But just for a day.

My bff vacationed with her family for a week in Outer Banks and I drove down to spend a day with them. I had never been to the beach there. It was beautiful. Totally different from the beaches here in the Hampton Roads area. I'm still pretty partial to my little corner on the bay but OBX makes a pretty awesome second. Especially when the ponies decide to make an appearance.

This is Amber, my bff, and her bf. And one of his bffs. Like the tween speak? It only comes out every once in a while. ;)



She and I together. The only pic I have of the two of us from that weekend.

More Route 127 pics

Here's just a few more taken on my point and shoot. The previous pictures were all taken on my DSLR.

We were pretty proud of our tent construction abilities. Less than 15 minutes, no instructions. Once a girl scout, always a girl scout.



Molly decided camping was kind of okay. She might be interested in doing it again

We found a pooch more spoiled than our own. Check out her doggie sunglasses!

Her owner told us she was a rescue dog. I'd say she's found her way home.


.

Route 127 Sale

My sister and I traveled to Jamestown, TN, the first weekend in August for the World's Longest Yard Sale. The sale stretches along Route 127 from Alabama to Michigan and the main hub is in Jamestown. We've been trying to make this trip for a few years and this year things finally worked out.

We camped at Cherokee Ridge and headed south the first day and north the second day. Below are some of the more interesting things we saw on our trip. Beware: picture heavy!










Notice that this man had his dogs in one side of the box and his chickens in the other.







These kids raised $1,000 last year selling lemonade for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. They earned a brick for their efforts and are trying to earn another brick again this year. Such awesome and adorable kids. And super awesome lemonade.










While on our way back to the beach from Tennessee we stopped to visit some of my side of the family. Megan had come to visit me the weekend before, coincidentally, but the others I hadn't seen since winter break of '06. A lot has changed since this. Good, bad, and sad. But seeing them made it feel like it hadn't been quite so long.

This is me with my uncle, Ken. He's the older of my mom's two younger brothers. He drove up from NC on his motorcycle just to see me for 10 minutes before heading back to beat the sunset.



Here I am again with my aunt, Monica, and cousins, Gavin and Megan. They all belong to my mom's youngest younger brother. I hadn't seen them since before he passed away. It lent a touch of bittersweet to the visit. But just a small one.



And, my sister and I. She survived meeting my crazy side of the family. I actually spend a decent amount of time with her crazy side but this was her first encounter with the Blevins. Kind of weird to think about.