Bowling Nite

We had a great time bowling last nite at Island Strikz. The kids had been saying they wanting to go cosmic bowling for a while so we decided we better hurry and do it before the hustle and bustle of school and work picks back up. We had an amazing time and I just want to let everyone that I am still the QUEEN of Ingram Family Bowling Nites...yes...as well as the undefeated Ping Pong Champ..Just thought I would remind everyone....Luv Ya God Bless and Happy New Year..

Violation of Rights!!

One of the things I dread hearing my husband say is, "I'm taking your car to work today"....whaaaaaaaaat...gasp. The moment that sentence leaves his lips its like my little perfect world comes crashing down. I absolutely positvely HATE driving his truck. Its really manly and bulky and just hard for me to manuever. I am pretty short so I have to use a pillow to see over the dashboard (thats so demeaning)..lol. I feel like Im in a booster seat. I think another reason I dont like it is because I have had an incident in it before..just a tiny one. I scraped another truck JUST LIKE HIS..lol while backing up at the library. To my defense I am so use to driving my own car which has a sensor that comes on when you back up, so when you get to close to something or someone it comes on. I admit I am sort of handicapped by this device, so when backing up at the library I didnt look as thoroughly as I should because I was use to the beep beep beeeeeping of my OWN car. Anywho..thats was last summer sometime and the wound has slowly healed but everytime I have to drive it, I always have flashbacks.
When left with THE TRUCK, I tend to stay at home, and Im wondering if this may be a tactic my husband is using to keep me from shopping. He knows how much I dread driving his truck so when I mentioned shopping last night I should known something , because he was too agreeable..lol.Thats ok, tho, the stores will be still open when he gets home with my car, and it better have GAS, which is another issue. Having to adjust my seats and mirrors and fill my tank BACK up is a whole other post, but until then I guess Im stuck like Chuck cause I aint drivng that truck...

luv ya more than my british dramas (thats a lot of lovin)

the 4casters wife

On A Vampire Kick..

After watching part one of the last installment of the Twilight series I have been on this Vampire kick. I have started reading the acutal books,whaaat, yes I am appalled at myself but in spite of my judgemental feelings towards myself, I am still reading them..lol. I have acutally borrowed the whole series from a friend and plan on finishing them over my little break from school. I have also started watching this series called Vampire Diaries.its not bad either..my hubby and daughter started watching it too and they have actually taken over and have watched it without me. They have actually finished all the ones on netflix and my daughter is so hooked that she found the newest one online and was watching it last night. Well I dont know why I am so fascinated by this I have just heard that there are so may things that I am missing that are in the book and to get a better understanding of the the movie I am taking this time to read. I know some will judge me...lol.but just know that I am judging myself as well..lol. I should just delete this post..lol..but I know I will look back on this day and LOL..

Jingle Bell 5k Run

A few weeks ago I ran my second competitive race. I really enjoyed it and I had a great time. I actually ran it at the beginning of this month but since I have been in school it has been hard to blog anything. I really wish I had more time to write and maintain this blog but hopefully on this break I can post a few more things.

Ok back to the race....I didnt really train for it I had just been running every other day so to keep my "girlish figure"..lol. A friend told me about the race so I decided to run it last minute and signed up on race day. I ended up doing pretty well. I ran a 27:34 which a marked improvement from my first race which was a 30:38. I really am pround of myself I shaved of a few minutes and I ran it all by myself. My hubby ran the first race with me. I actually ended up placing 3rd in my age category and recieved a nice little metal!!

My next goal is to run a 10k..I have been running 5 miles three times a week for the past two weeks and plan on taking it up to 6 miles next week. There is a 10k race coming up on January 21 and I am thinking about doing it so..wish me luck.

Representing

OMG...Imagine the shock of driving down the interstate and seeing your face on a BILLBOARD....wow..amazing.

I know in this picture it looks as though I am representing the University of Southern Miss, and thats not entirely false, but I want to let you know that I represent so much more. I represent Christ and what his love and grace can do. When you look at this picture you see a woman who is an overcomer. A woman who despite the odds that were stacked against her, found herself doing and accomplishing things that others thought could never be, all by the grace and the love of God.

When I look at that woman smiling on that billboard, I tear up when I think about all the things that she had to go through to be there. When you see her you think wow, she is in college, she is doing big things etc., but oh if you only knew!!  The enemy had other plans for her but he must've forgot that God had plans of his own that were written even before she was formed in her mothers womb , so no matter what the devil threw her way GOD always had her back. The smile you see in the pic and the smile she wears everyday has been attacked since she was born. The enemy has used every thing possible, from molestation, neglect, poverty, teenage pregnancy to stop her from fulfilling her purpose but can somebody say BUT GOD!!!  (*insert praise break here)

USM is using the slogan "Stay Here Go Far" to encourage students to get there degree here at USM and go out into the world and do great things with it, while representing their alma mater, but, I want to encourage you from another angle.

I want to let you know that the only way to "GO FAR" is to to "Stay with GOD". Only in him can you speak to mountains and they MOVE , Only in HIM can walk through doors that have been closed in your face, and ONLY in HIM can you have ETERNAL LIFE. Be blessed and Stay with GOd....

Do you do Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!
     - Holly Golightly


I just finished watching one of my all time favorites, Breakfast At Tiffanys. While watching this I started to think about my own personal breakfast at Tiffany's. For those of you have never seen this movie, (it's now streaming on netflix if you have that), Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly and she loves Tiffany's the famous jewlery store with the cute little blue turquoise boxes. She can't afford to buy anything out of there but just walking around the store or even looking through the window while eating a crossiant and coffee, soothes her. There is a lot of other stuff going on in this movie as well. If you like good ole classic movies then you should definitely check this one out.

Now, back to my original thought..

What is that I do to decompress, what makes me happy on those days when it's hard to find things to smile about. I use to use food as a coping tool, but as I have gotten older and the weight gets harder and harder to lose, I have found healthier ways to deal with those stressful times. I go for a run , walk the dog, call a friend and vent, but most importantly I pray. I pray and ask God to give me the strength to make it through what ever is going on, and to help to deal with it in a non self-destructive manner, i.e eating or shopping.
How do you handle stress?

Let Your Nays Be Nays

One of the things that I have noticed in life is that many people have trouble "just saying NO"! It seems to be one the hardest things to say to people. My question is WHY!!!
Well this is my theory: While growing up one of the first words that we learned how to say was NO. Eat your greens , "NO", Come here "NO", Ready for a nap "NO", Give me kiss, "NO", Say bye-bye "NO" and the list could go on and on, Im sure many of can all come up with many things that we said "NO" to. The problem tho, is that once we began to use this new and wonderful word, our parents quickly corrected us and let us know that the word "NO" was not very good. In my case, the word "NO" led to a lot of meetings with the wooden spoon lol. The older I got the less and less I used it, and that even carried over into adulthood. For me, I had to change my way of thinking when it came to using the word NO, I had to learn that word could still cause me pain, but in a different way. Not being able to say not people has caused me a lot pain in the past. I have found myself saying yes to things and committing to things that I didnt want to do or even had time to do. This caused me some serious STRESS! All because I just didnt want to hurt anyones feelings or looked at as stuck up or rude. Often times after say yes to something, I would find myself wondering , how did i end up doing this, or being here. I would overbook myself and find myself running around town like a chicken with its head cutoff (lol..country quotes). This would not only stress me out but it would stress out my family as well. I would be so tired and angry I would lash out at them like it was their fault. I soon realized that I cant  keep living like this, there has to be a better way , and there was, all of this could be fixed by just saying NO. No to people and even no to self. I had to learn how to stop making decisions at the spur of the moment , and tell people that I couldnt answer them right now I would have to let them know later. This gave me time come home see what plans the family had or see what my schedule looked like and most importantly to PRAY about it. If I felt like it was too much or if I didnt want to do it, I just simply told the person NO. I ofcourse did it tactfully and in love but I said No all the same. This led to a less stressfull me. I use to still feel bad about it but now its just like second nature..lol..NO..Im not just saying no them but im also saying no to stress and conflict.
I hope that you all can find the inner strenght to say Yes to your sanity and No to things try to come against it..lol..God Bless

Summer In Review

Back to School

School is back in session ..ahhhhh the joys of not having to say, stop that, dont do that, stop looking at her, stop looking at him. Did you hear what I said, why do i have to keep repeating myself.
The list of my summer talk could go on and on but Im sure many of you , who have kids can come up with a list of your own. This summer was great, but for the most part I felt like I was nothing more than a referee. Whew...I guess that is to be expected when you have two teenage boys and lil sis (who is bigger than them) to deal with. They went back to school on Aug.4 and so far so good. We have open house on this week and Im sure the teachers will all be lovely..lol.
My kids for some reason are really excited about this year.They have all outlined thier goals and are doing everything to accomplish them. I praise God for thier excitement and I hope that it will continue on through the rest of the year.

UPDATE!!!

Looking forward to getting back to writing. I am almost through with summer school ...woo hoo, I cant wait..I have so many new pics and stories to post..

1000 Gifts

Forgot to post my 1000 things on yesterday, so here they are:

11.Quiet mornings
12. personal devotion time
13. late nite talks with my girlfriend who is overseas
14. long distance :)
15. MWR trips...where else do you know of that you can take a trip to the beach in Destin, Fl (3hr trip) for $10 a person...woo hooo
16. My laptop
17 My nikon
18. Pancakes on a stick...yummmm...i love those things,i have to limit myself
19. rustic fresh fruit/veggie stands..nothing taste better than fresh peaches or green tomoatoes
20. Cobblers ( peach, blueberry, apple and whatever else can go into it)
21. Netflix..ahhh the joys of being able to watch anything at anytime
22. i love being natural and not having to waste my saturdays sitting a salon with gossiping women, for HOURS
23. Natural hair videos on youtube
24. spending time with my daughter (priceless)
25. the Navy!!! hurah..
26. two strand twists, such a versatile and easy hairstyle for naturalistas!!
27. Kindle case....oops..lol
28. loooooooooong bubble baths.
29. warm towels fresh out of the dryer...ummm
30. Yankee candles..
31. Grills (the one you cook one..lol) my hubby is the "grill masta"
32. Gas prices dropping (thankful for even half a penny drop)
33. after dinner walks with my family
34. Morning runs with Me,My IPOD and God...
35. My IPOD and mY determination to keep moving
36. blue bell ice cream (lived 8yrs without and I never want to leave it again..:))

Cleaning Your Closet

Many of us have been through the process of cleaning out the old closet. Yesterday my husband was looking for a particular shirt to wear to the gym, and he didn’t find it in his drawer so he went to the closet..ahhh. He pulled out bins that were overflowing with clothes that we probably haven’t worn in months, some even years. Not only are there clothes in there that we don’t wear anymore, but it shoes as well. There is so much stuff in there and it’s really just a mess. I hate to go in there myself. I’m so glad that mess is behind closed doors. Or is it??
As I begin to go through the process of "cleaning out my closet" a couple of things go through my mind as it relates to our Christian walk, so I decided to share them with you. I wonder how many of us need to clean out our closets "spiritually". We have this stuff that we have collected over the years. Things that used to fit that no longer fit, but we still hang on to them. Things that are no longer in fashion or things that simply just don’t fit who we are anymore. When going through my clothes I noticed the length or fit of certain pieces or even some of the over the top things that I can’t believe I had the nerve to wear out of the house. But that goes to show where my mind was at the time lol.
Of course spiritually I’m not thinking literally about clothes, although there are some articles of clothing that I am definitely convicted about lol. I’m thinking more on the lines of our behavior, our conversations, our attitudes and the list can go on and on , I’m sure some of you can insert a few things in that line up yourselves (by all means feel free). When we become Christians a transformation takes place and we are no longer the same!! Praise God! Everything about us changes. Our conduct, character, and conversation all get an extreme makeover. It’s really put so plainly in Ephesians 4:22 -24 that says: 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy (NLT).
Well these are the things that are SUPPOSED to happen but the problem is that a lot of times we don’t really clean out our closet. We sort of surface clean, we straighten it up put and hang a few things back up that fell off the hangers . We fold a few things up and put them in labeled boxes or bins so that we can find them later on.
The Problem with a Messy Closet
Closets are places that we don’t really talk about. We sort of just put all of our junk in there and then forget about them until we need them. We don’t really care about the orderliness of them because we can just close the door and no one will ever be aware of the chaos that is lurking behind it. So we think. The thing is just because no one can see the mess in the closet, doesn’t mean they don’t know it’s there. The mess in our closets has a funny little way of showing up in other aspects of our lives. All the disorder and chaos begins to seep into our relationships causing confusion, depression, anxiety and other things. People start noticing our behavior and the door is no longer closed. We are now exposed; we can longer hide all of this mess we have allowed to build up. We have become short with people, compassion fatigued and burnt out. Some of us have even mastered the art, as one preacher put it, of “functioning in dysfunction”. How could this have happened!! Well, we have been so busy being a “good Christian” and helping others clean out their closets that we have allowed ours to come undone. We even find ourselves taking on others junk and adding to mess behind the door!! We mustn’t forget that during all of our “ministering” or helping that we not forget that we must continue doing maintenance in our own closets. When we see things out of place we need to put them back. When things fall off the hangers we need to hang them back up. Don’t let the stuff pile up, deal with it immediately and most importantly, don’t be afraid to throw stuff away.

The Problem with Holding On to Stuff
The problem with holding on to stuff is that we were supposed to GET RID of it. Not pack it up or tuck it away for later use. All those old sinful ways were to have been removed, not stored away to be unpacked again at our convenience. We all know how it is; we remember a certain thing we use to wear so we go taking down boxes and bins searching for it. Once you find this thing and you put it on and wear it you realize ok I made a big mistake, this doesn’t fit like or like it or some of us may not even get past the trying on process before we realize that it was fit for the garbage. I know I have, and when you look back at your closet you realize that you have allowed it to become junky again!! You went in looking for a certain thing but let other things spill out along the way. Now you’re to overwhelmed and too tired to clean it up, so you just find yourself closing the door again and allowing it to continue to build up again. That’s why it’s important to deal with sin properly. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you and teach you how to cast down and take captive those things that want to continue to resurface in your life. Ask God to help us get rid of these things completely because just moving them to the side makes it so easy for us to put them on again!!
I could definitely go on and on but I must finish cleaning out my own closet. LOL. I hope that I have encouraged you today. Be Blessed.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalms 51:7)

1000 Gifts :Dare To Live Fully Right Where You Are

8Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people ( 1Chronicles 16:8)

I saw another blogger post this book on her site and I decided to check it out. I havent read it yet but I have decided to go ahead and take the authors challenge while Im reading it. Take a look at the book description below I got from amazon:

Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. 'How,' Ann wondered, 'do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long---and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?' In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted ... a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved --- by God. Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeng that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!

So basically the challenge is to journal 1000 things that you are thankful for things that you already possess (not things want) but things that are seemingly ordinary that you probably dont even pay attention to on a daily basis. Things that you dont normally think to stop and thank God for. The little,bitty, teensy tiny things , and the big ones too of course!! Join me as I thank and celebrate all the things that God has blessed me with!!

1. Salvation
2. my husband

3. my children

4. my family

5. mexican food!!

6. the gym :)

7. my church

8. the library

9. my kindle

10. blogs

I know these things may seem random or insignificant but a lot of these things I enjoy and I am trully thankful for them...lol.

Hope you will join me, cant wait to see what you guys are thankful for.

Pool Side Revelations

The pool here on base opened up on last with a huge luau and every since then the Ingrams have been there like clockwork. I get up go to the gym, come home check some emails, do some homework and by 12 noon we are pool side.
Yesterday as I was sitting pool there was a situation and a revelation:

rev-e-la-tion
–noun
1. the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.
2. something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, as of something not before realized.
3. Theology .
a. God's disclosure of Himself and His will to His creatures.
b. an instance of such communication or disclosure.
c. something thus communicated or disclosed.
d. something that contains such disclosure, as the Bible.

While at the pool, there was a young girl and her little brother who came into pool area together. The little girl who had to be about 7 or 8 walked to the side of the pool and immediately jumped in, the little boy who was like 3 or 4 saw this. He walked to the edge of the pool and was talking to the little girl as she was trying to fix her goggles. I was watching the little guy and thinking to myself the whole time, "I hope he doesnt jump in", and I was also wondering if he could swim. I saw him get closer to edge of the pool , but I didnt say anything because I figured mom was close behind, and plus , I have seen women get really crazy about other people saying things to their kids.

So, as I was doing all of this self talk, the little boy JUMPED in, and I took off. He jumped in with his arms wide open , thinking that the little girl would catch him, but she wasnt even paying attention, she was doing her own thing. The lifeguards (teens) were on the other side of the pool and it would have took them too long to get there so I took off ,jumping over chairs and bags and into the water. When I got in the water the little boy was under with his eyes wide open, reaching out to me, so I quickly scooped him up. By this time the lifeguards had made their way over to me and I handed him to them, so they could check him out. His parents thanked me and were grateful that I got thier little boy.

I didnt even have on a bathing suit, I wasnt planning on getting in the water at all..LOL..I went in fully dressed...LOL.

Thinking about all that had happened yesterday, reminded me of the Fathers Love and how we are as his children:

Many times as christians we find ourselves in situations where we run ahead of him. We want to do something so badly but instead of waiting until we have been fully equipped to do the task, we jump into it head first and find ourselves struggling to keep our head above water. We were tempted by how easy or effortless others made things look, when in fact we dont know what all they had to go through to be where they are.

Unlike me and the little boy, the father knows what we are going to do before we do it and even though he knows we are not ready, he lets us jump in anyway.

He watches as we look at others and think to ourselves that if they can do it, then we can do it. He watches as we put our trust in man instead of him. He watches as inch closer and closer to the edge. He watches as we struggle. But most importantly he HEARS us when we call, and he comes to our rescue!!

We must not get ahead of the father! We must not move until he says move! He knows when its time to be released to do what it is that we desire! He knows the exact time, place, minute and hour, and thats why I love him.

When I think about my own journey to the pool today I realize that it took some time prepare before we went. My children asked to go and I said, Yes. They then got on their swimsuits, and their towels, their goggles etc. They took swim lessons when they were 6 and I know that they know how to swim so I give them a lot of freedom at the pool, but every now and then I have to remind to put on sunblock so they wont get burned!! Wow..that spoke to me just then. Even though we have been doing a thing for years , we shouldnt get so beside ourselves and think that we have arrived...I have heard of people who have been swimming for years drown...some people get to cocky and think they are beyond reproach but find themselves in a situation that they cant handle...believe me , a Lake is whole different than a Pool!!! You cant see all the dangers lurking in a lake! Putting on the full armour of God DAILY, is a must regardless of how long you have been walking this walk. Without the use of sunburn we get burned! We know this but sometimes we think , oh Im not going to be out there long enough to get burned, but the thing is you never know.

Christians find themseleves in some hairy situations sometimes because they thought they could handle it. Please friends let us not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Let us gird ourselves up everyday with prayer and the word. Let us be in a position to help others, but let us not be so arrogant as to think we are better than them, because it could just as easily been us. Let us always listen to our Father, and FOLLOW him and not run ahead. We can avoid so many snares if we do! I love you and God Bless you all!

Summers Here!!

Summer is in full swing at the Ingrams....lol...

When the poles and the bait comes out you know that it is defintely summer time for my family. Im not that into it (thats no surprise) but everyone else it.

To me it seems like people go through an awful lot of trouble just to catch a little fish. My husband spends a LOT of money on all of this fishing gear just to catch something no bigger than my hand. He has all the latest gigs and lures, that are suppose to attract these little fish and yet we most times walk away dissappointed. But Ive come to realize that if nothing else we at least get to spend some quality time together and that overall is priceless.

Welcome Summer....take your coat off and stay awhile!!

A letter to my blog.

Dear Blog,
I know that you think that I have forgotten about , but I want to assure you that I haven't. Its not for lack of things to write about because, there are sooooo many things going on right now, that I can barely see straight. I have had so many papers to write this semester and that has definitely taken time away from you. Im so sorry! I think about you all the time and I hope to be able to make it up to you soon.
Love,
Kesha

Todays Forecast: Spring Break!

Spring Break is finally here!! I am out all this week and the kids are out Monday-Wedensday as well for Mardi Gras. We dont celebrate the Mardi Gras season but being so close to New Orleans, you really cant help but get into it just a little bit. There are parades going on all the time and Mardi Gras decorations everywhere!! You cant even walk into Wal-Mart without feeling the Mardi Gras Fever. The greeter was dressed up in a Mardi Gras get-up, dancing around with an umbrella to some carnival music and handing beads, and Mardi Gras coins.

I have two midterms next week so after a few days of relaxing, I will have to take the rest of my break to study for them, but right now, its time to Chill.....

Balancing Act

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. (proverbs. 19:21)

With the spring semester starting back and soccer still in full swing it has been a job in itself trying to keep everything balanced. So instead of winging it like I did last semester, I have went back to the methods that helped me when I was first starting at as a wife and mother and that is a PLAN. A plan that include a weekly chore chart and a menu plan. I have been follwing this schedule now for a few weeks now, I actually started it about week before I went back to school and things have been running pretty smoothly. I am posting my plans below, these have been scheduled around my class times, soccer practices and church.

Mondays: Declutter Desk /Water flowers/Sweep porches/clean upstairs hallway and stairs (trash day)

Tuesdays: Dust, Wipe down all light switches door knobs etc with disinfectant sprays..

Wednesday: Laundry / Mop/vaccum floors Grocery Shopping and other Errands (church)

Thursday: Bathrooms (trash day)

Fridays: Deep Clean Kitchen ( oven, pantry, refrigerator, cabinets) water flowers

Saturdays: Laundry/vaccum out cars (soccer games)/ clean out trash cans

Sundays: School clothes ironed for the week/backpacks ready/prepare menus (church)

This list isnt the bible...if I need to mop or dust etc before the proposed date then I do it. Cleaning the kitchen and picking up things daily is a must as well. Its up to you how you do it.

I know it sounds like a lot, but I have family of five and a dog and its a job...but I dont do all these chores alone..my whole family is involved :) takes a village to mess up and takes one to clean up..LOL.

My Menu this week:

Monday- Turkey Burger/Sweet Potatoe Fries/Salad

Tuesday- Herb Roasted Chicken/Brocoli and cheese/Rice

Wednesday- Spaghetti w/Turkey meatballs/salad/garlic bread

Thursday-Leftover Buffet

Friday- Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Polish sausages (grill) w/ onion and green peppers

Sunday- Superbowl finger foods (sliders, dips, treats)

A Frugal Female

Coming up in a house raised by a single mother of four children, we often got a lot of "hand me downs". We rarely got NWT stuff (new with tags :)). Someone would give my mom large black trash bags filled with stuff, mostly stuff that was out of season or too little, or things that had little wear and tear on them. My brothers, sister and I would then proceed to put on a full fledged fashion show for mom, so she could figure what we could and couldnt keep. I admit, it was little exciting to get stuff that was "new" to me but I still longed for things that were NWT! I often times thought to myself, when I get "grown", I will never make my kids wear hand me downs or used stuff...HA!!! Boy have things changed!! I know realize how frugal my mom was, she was clearance and second shopper, and as I child I couldnt appreciate how she had to do what she had to do to make sure that we at least had something to wear, may not have been new but hey, it got the job done...
Now with that being said, I am a FRUGAL FEMALE...I dont know if its because my mother was or because I just cant see how buying a lot of Designer, Name brand items for children who can only wear them for one season as being rational or sane!! Not saying that I dont buy new items for myself or for my family because believe me, I do!!!!!!!! Maybe more than I should, but any who...I am writing this blog to share with you guys how my Thrifty Furniture and Fashion Finds....insert applause here......yayyyyyyyyy.. I shop at my local Goodwills and Base Thriftstore as well as Curbside finds..I also find awesome things at the Dollar Tree too!!! I know I know, it sounds foreign to a lot of you but, I promise you will be surprised with what I find!!

So, I want to know if there are anymore Frugal Females or Males out there and do any of you shop in thrift stores or Goodwill etc? Please share, I would love to hear or even see what thrifty treasures you have or find.

Getting To Happy (Review/Spoiler)

When reading Getting to Happy, honestly the only thing that I could think about was Getting to the End! I literally had to MAKE myself pick it up and finish it.

I sooooo wanted to love this book because I really loved the movie Waiting to Exhale, so I was looking forward to seeing how these women were doing after 15 years. Waiting to Exhale left us all feeling hopeful that these four friends were on their way to finding true happiness but just like the title of the sequel suggest they are STILL trying to find it.

I was dissappointed in how these four strong, smart, successful black women were portrayed in this novel. Savannah is working in a job she loves but is in a "boring" marriage that ends in divorce once she finds out the her husband is addicted to pornography and is having an affair. Gloria ,who seemed to be the only one who is actually happy and happily married ends up a widower when her husband is shot and killed during a drive by while shopping for anniversary flowers at a local plant shop..(whaat...who has shoot outs at Lowes..LOL). Her friends who should have been there to console her, do so at first, but then begin to become more concerned about her weight gain than how she is doing emotionally. I mean the woman just lost the love of her life for crying out loud, just be there!

Robin, who at the end of Waiting to Exhale is left pregnant by Russell has decided to keep her now 16 year old Sparrow (I didnt make the bird references until another character mentioned it). Robin is now a single yet desperate mother who is run over by her daughter. She tries to find love via online dating but it ends badly when she finds out the man she has been corresponding with is married. She does however find love in the end, with Micheal, the same one she dissed in the last book. Bernadine (Bernie) by far was the one that had me the most dissappointed. She is now a pill popping drug addict a habit she develped after James (wesley snipes), turned out to be a complete liar, living a double life, married to two women. YES..the just lay in the hotel bed and hold me routine was a set up..ugh..he played her and took her money.

So there you have it, a divorcee, a widower, a druggie, and single/desperate mother is what you have to look forward to when reading this book. Like it or Love it I guess!!

I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to Terry Mcmillian I like the movie versions better. I have read a couple of her other books, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, and The Interrruption of Everything and I had sort of press my way through those as well, but not like this one. I think that there just have been too many good books put out over the past few years that made this novel so dissappointing.

Back to the Basics

10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10






While reminiscing about years past, my husband and I realized how over the years, we have complicated our lives with so many extra things. We wondered what happened to the good old days when we just felt so carefree and didn’t worry about a thing. We really were like kids, we depended on God for everything and we knew that no matter how our finances or circumstances looked we knew that God would always provide for us. We really never wanted for anything and we honestly never worried about it because we knew how faithful God was to us. Those were our “brokest” times and also our most happiest.
We have learned the having money in the bank doesn’t always equal happiness, the saying “mo money mo problems”, has played itself out in our lives numerous times. So this year we have decided to stop allowing our financial status and our circumstances control our lives, especially our emotions. We have decided that in 2011 we are going back to the basics. Back to putting our complete trust in its rightful place which is in God. He alone brings joy, happiness, and peace. He alone is the one who allowed us in times of hardship to live in peace and contentment and we want that back.
We also plan to go back to doing simple things as a family. As parents we sometimes feel that love equals how much we spend on them, but that’s sooooo wrong. I have learned that just from watching my own children. They are very simple children and it doesn’t take much for them to be happy. Often times the things that they enjoy the most don’t cost anything extra at all, like playing board games at home and eating popcorn, or watching a Netflix movie or redbox, fishing, walking on the beach, picnics, libraries. They even like going to the Goodwill and Thrift stores…lol…yes frugal children…lol. They don’t have to the latest and greatest ..I so love that about my children, they are content with whatever I get we give them. I said all that to say the family time can be simple, it doesn’t have to involve spending a lot of money, its all about bonding and the lasting relationship you are building with eachother.
So this year the Ingrams are going back to the basics, back to when things were simple, back to trust , back complete surrender, back to LIFE and LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY.