a-z tag

We just returned from visiting the Dykstra family in Wisconsin. I have some fun pictures to post later. We also just got back our family photos from the best photographer ever, Megan Quist Photography and they turned out awesome! Thanks, Megs! I can't wait to post those later too. Blogging about anything significant lately has been at the bottom of my "to-do" list, but I did get tagged recently by Sara so here goes...

A. Attached or single? attached....and head over heels....

B. Best friend? What is this? High School? :) I have several close girl friends. I am thankful. Very, very thankful.

C. Cake or pie? depends on the occasion, the type of pie, and the thickness of the frosting on the cake.

D. Day of choice? Wednesday

E. Essential item? eye liner

F. Favorite color? kelly green, olive green, red

G. Gummy bears or worms? neither

H. Home town? Kalona

I. Favorite indulgence? jeans, coffee (I indulge myself daily with that one), turtle cake

J. January or July? July

K. Kids? Jeneva (5) and Jude (12 months)

M. Marriage date? 07/28/2001

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 younger brothers - Michael and Matthew

O. Oranges or Apples? Grapefruit

P. Phobias? very small tight places

Q. Quotes?

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison." 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ~C.S. Lewis

"To know Christ, this is Life!" ~Elisabeth Prentiss

"Gratitude is past-oriented dependence; faith is future-oriented dependence. Both forms of dependence are humble, self-forgetting and God-exalting. If we do not believe that we are deeply dependent on God for all we have or hope to have, then the very spring of gratitude and faith runs dry."
~John Piper (A Godward Life)

"I bet as I grow bigger, my tastebuds will grow bigger too and then I will like mushrooms." ~Jeneva (4)

R. Reasons to smile? God's grace

S. Season of choice? anything warm

T. Tag 1 person: Kristy

U. Unknown fact about me? Whenever this question is asked, I always blurt out the whole 6th finger story......why can't I think of anything else? I always feel like everyone knows everything already. So, for lack of creativity......I was born with 6 fingers on one hand.

V. Vegetable? corn on the cob

W. Worst Habit? inconsistency

X. Xray or ultrasound? I was just about to make a comment about what kind of crazy question is this when I realized that these are all alphabetical questions. WOW! I missed that one. I guess I would choose ultrasound.

Y. Your favorite food? Mexican, Indian, Thai

Z. Zodiac sign? Cancer

31 things...

1. Where is your cell phone? in my purse....i think.
2. Where is your significant other? at the hardware store.
3. Your hair color? dark brown (with a few grays....)
4. Your mother? mary
5. Your father? harry (well, Harold:)
6. Your favorite thing? too many....the leaves right now.
7. Your dream last night? don't remember...
8. Your dream/goal? to be a good mom/wife
9. The room you're in? office/spare bedroom
10. Your hobby? thrifting, Legacy
11. Your fear? if I fear, then I'm not trusting....
12. Where do you want to be in six years? wherever God wants me to be. really, I'm open.
13. Where were you last night? at home
14. What you’re not? exercising
15. One of your wish list items? a new computer and a home resembling something in Real Simple.
16. Where you grew up? kalona, iowa
17. The last thing you ate? some reeses pieces. oh, and i test tasted the curry i'm making for supper.
18. What are you wearing? jeans, a cute sweater i got at a thrift store, my comfy Keen's.
19. Your TV? is in the basement and rarely used.
20. Your pet? nada.
21. Your computer? is loud.
22. Your mood? on the up. God is good.
23. Missing someone? no one at the moment
24. Your car? honda accord wagon.
25. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry (except for my wedding ring)
26. Favorite store? unique thrift store, target
27. Your summer? was peaceful.
28. Love someone? so many. i love the people in my life. lovelovelove em.
29. Your favorite color? red.
30. When is the last time you laughed? this morning.
31. Last time you cried? today....just a teeny bit when i was on the phone with a friend.

a tag

I am…tiffany
I want…to know Jesus more deeply
I wish... I could travel more
I hate…that I have a hard time changing
I miss…my family
I fear…not much
I feel…pain in my back
I hear…steve washing dishes
I smell…nothing
I crave…a snack
I search…the internet
I wonder…about lots of things
I regret…yelling at my daughter
I love…my husband
I care…about people
I ache…right now (my back)
I always...overanalyze
I believe…that God is sovereign, supreme, and sufficient
I dance…in my dreams
I sing...in the car
I cry…when I read certain blogs
I don’t always... like myself
I fight…sin
I write…in a journal mostly and a little on this blog
I never…change the oil on our car (steve does)
I listen…to people
I need…to be content
I am happy...to be me

i tag jenny and erin

i was tagged...

Okay, so Jenna tagged me awhile back and I'm finally getting around to filling this out and exposing my deepest, darkest secrets. Here goes:

10 Years Ago:

I was living in a really funky, old, yellow house in good old 'nordeast' with great roomies. We painted the kitchen bright blue. We had very 'loud' orange counter tops to match and some retro tablecloths for curtains. There were three interesting, odd, crazy fellows that resided in the upstairs living space. We had neighbors named Bob and Bunny. Their teenage son dressed goth and had a habit of backing into our vehicles. Every once in a while we would trap a mouse with a pan (or we would scream loud enough for the guys living upstairs to hear and come to our rescue.) We hung on the stoop a lot. Our rent totaled a whopping $400 a month. Divided by 4 that's a pretty killer deal! Our landlord gave us gift certificates to a hole-in-the-wall steak place every year for Christmas. This may have been around the time I came home from class one day to find a school bus had run into our house. Really. Truly. So, anyway, besides that, I was a junior at Northwestern and I think at about that time I retired from the Cross Country team. I also at that time retired my obnoxious bangs and layered t-shirts. I had a deep down crush on someone (I won't mention any names), but started dating someone else from....dare I say it....Bethel.

Things to do on my TO DO list for today (or tomorrow morning):

*Finish putting laundry away.
*Talk to Jenna about food for our small-group-to-the-cabin excursion this weekend.
*Call Molly
*Do Fire and Reign Bible study before the weekend.
*Give Jeneva a bath.
*Cancel Jude's Physical Therapy appt.
*Figure out what's for dinner.

3 of my bad habits:

*Obsessively checking my e-mail.
*Jumping from task to task rather than focusing on one thing at a time.
*Hitting the button on my answering machine so that it stops blinking and then forget to listen to the message and return the phone call.

If I suddenly become a Billionaire:

I would pay off our loans and mortgage and put enough away for our children's education and for our retirement.

I would pray that pride and greed would not enter my life, because of this truth in Scripture:

23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19: 23-24

I would want to keep enough to live comfortably and modestly, but not lavishly. I would like to give a lot of it away and find creative ways to bless people. I would also like to travel with my family and re-decorate my house. I really have to check my heart on this one. I guess I would REALLY have to pray about it and ask God for wisdom and guidance. I would probably help to support organizations such as: Robbinsdale Women's Center, Desiring God, Here's Life Inner City, Hope Academy, Gospel for Asia...

5 jobs I've had:

*Cheese Factory
*Walgreens cosmetics---you know me and makeup!
*ACR Homes (group home for people with physical and mental disabilities)
*2nd grade teacher
*Cutting hair for a wee bit of cash in the laundry room at NWC.

6 things people don't know about me:

*I was born with 6 fingers on one hand (passed that trait along to my son)
*I love to read, but rarely finish books.
*I like to eat the heart and gizzard from a chicken (yes, fully cooked)
*I have fat ankles (really, ankle bracelets don't fit)
*I've been to Montana 6 times.
*I like pants. I like to buy pants. I like jeans. I always notice what kind of pants others are wearing. If I go shopping because I need new shirts, I will probably come home with a pair of pants instead. (You can add that to the billionaire question. Yes, I would buy more pants)

Okay, that wasn't so bad. I am going to tag...Shari