Happy New YEAR!

Well it is the start of a new year tomorrow. I know that I am dorky but I always get so emotional at the end of every year. There is something about knowing that this year is completly over. You can never do anything with it ever again. It for some reason leaves me sad each year. I usually get weepy.
I feel like this next year is going to be so amazing so I am not really sad this year for the first time for as long as I can remember. I am hopeful and energetic about the things to come in 2009.
So what am I doing for New Year's Eve? Well hubby and me and well all of these kids

are going to be ringing in the new year together! Kind of nuts huh? We are excited about it though we will have a good time. With 20 sugured up teens how can you not have fun?

Hope all of your Christmas' were wonderful! See you in 2009! I am not going to cry *tear* *tear* =D I know I am a dork.

COOKIE TIME GIRLS!

Isn’t this the cutest cookie jar you have ever seen? I love it so much! Mrs. Pattie gave me this cookie jar Sunday at church she also gave each of my kids one of these…

It is one of the cutest snowman plates ever filled with cookies. In the center is a sweet snowman cup that has little snowflakes that move around when they take a sip.

So the best part is the cookie jar was filled up with yummy cookies! Pattie makes the best cookies you have ever tasted! When I came in with the beautiful gifts I had a house full of family once word got out that the cookies were indeed Patti V.’s cookies they started to disappear!

Thank you so much for my wonderful cookies! I am still enjoying them today! Girls go check out her blog at www.delightedheart.blogspot.com !

HOLIDAY CRAZINESS!!

Wow so this week has been so crazy busy for me! There has been so much to do before Christmas. Last minute shopping, Christmas parties to go to, and lots of baking to be done! I have been one busy Chik ;)

I had to share some of what happened this week with you all. I like most of Americans had to go to Wal Mart this week nothing really eventful really just a usual thing for me. So I am coming in and trying to take the coats off of my babies while they ask for other various items. I then am trying to get my list out of my purse. This is where the story gets funny.

This is a grocer cart. Never really thought of it to be a weapon or something that could be used to inflict pain upon somebody right?

This is an elderly lady (picture is not the real lady in story) lol Never really thought of it to be someone that could use a weapon or would inflict pain upon someone right?

So back to where I was.....trying to get kids nestled in for a long Christmas shopping trip. I keep getting pushed in my back side with a buggy. I ignore it the first second third times....then finally I realize someone is hitting me with a buggy. Why would someone do this I thought as I am getting hit again. Then I look behind me and there is this little sweet elderly lady ramming me with a buggy.

I then so kindly ask "Why would you hit me with a buggy"

Lady: "I was wondering when you were going to move"

Me: "Well I hope you have a Merry Christmas too!"

I then joyfully push my buggy down the way.

Christmas time is so sad how people loose focus on what the holiday is all about. It isn't about getting everything done. Not about having presents, the best cake or even the best decorated house. Sometimes I think we loose track that this day is all about God sending Jesus to us. What love that is. There was such love that was shown that day when God sent Jesus to dwell among us to only die for us to have what we never deserved.

But somehow we become that little old lady ramming people with buggies because we are so busy. That same shopping trip I helped an elderly man get his groceries. The smile on his face warmed my heart. I thought this is what Christmas is all about. It is about sharing the love with people that we have on the inside of us. That is Jesus; that is what Christmas is. I thought I would tell you that to just encourage you not to be so Holiday driven.

Take time to have a cup of hot chocolate and watch Charlie Brown Christmas with the kids. Help somebody in need at the store. Give something to someone less fortunate than you. Spread that love that you have inside of you! Blessings to all of you! I will post on Monday about other things that happened this week!

Crystal Sparks

I have never really been the winner of much in life when you can't sing, are sorry at sports and can't play an instrument that is pretty much all you can win an award for. The one thing that I feel like the Lord has given me as a talent instead of those things is talking. I have a big mouth and that is what He uses. There aren't many awards for how much you talk! Until now I won my first AWARD!! Woooo to the HOOO! I am so excited. http://www.delightedheart.blogspot.com/ Patti V at Delighted Heart gave me this super sweet award! I always go on other people's blogs and on their side bar they have their list of all of their awards. Now I have one too! Look at me go! :) Please go by and check out Mrs. Patti's blog she is so amazing and truly a very Kreative Blogger for sure!
Soooo I am supposed to tell you girls 6 things that make me happy. This should be easy because way more than six things make me happy! So here we go ladies!

6 Things that Make ME happy

1. Jesus Christ About 8 years ago I really encountered Jesus. You can be a church goer and really never get to "know" Jesus. About 8 years ago I fell so in love with a Jesus I had never known before. I had gone to a church that preached a dead gospel. I then started going to my church now and realized Jesus can be just as alive to you in your heart as He was when He was here. I love reading my bible and ministering to other people.
2. The love of my life...B-ro Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 Bryan found me when I was on the brink of messing up my life in such a way. My heart was so broken I felt so unworthy of love. I was so lost. He came into my life and loved me with such an unconditional love. He hasn't stoped since September 8th, 2000. He is so good to me. Girls if you aren't married you pray! God will give you the desires of your heart. He has the perfect person out there for you! Don't you dare settle!
3. My Children There is no joy no happiness one can have like that of having children. My kids are so amazing! Brailey is my girly girl! She loves fashion, skirts, leggings, ballet flats, bows, lip gloss and Hannah Montanna! Rylan is my little man. He loves trucks, transformers, Mikey Mouse and most of all fishing with daddy!

4. My Friends God sends you the best kind of friends in the world. Each friend comes into your life for a specific reason. I cherish my friendship with all of my friends I don't know what I would do with out any of them! CD she is like a sister I never had, she knows how to make a bad day wonderful and a great movie buddy too! Jennifer reminds me so much of me when I first was saved and even who I am today, I know God is going to do BIG things in her life. Nancy she just can make me laugh anytime. She has a laugh that is so infectious. Crystal is someone I can look to to be encouraged in the things of the Lord. I can't imagine my life without them in it!
5. My mom and Sister My mom is the most wonderful loving mom. Just hearing her come into a a room makes me feel at ease. My mom is always a shoulder to cry on, an ear to talk off and a warm hug to make me feel better. My sister and I never were close. The age gap between us was hard. We never had anything in common. Now I am finally getting to know my sweet sister. I love her so much and is so amazed at all that the Lord has done in her the last year. Really I am in awe of what the Lord has done in both of them this last year. I love you girls!

6. Terry and Sandy It is crazy how someone can come into your life and never leave it the same. These are my Pastors, my in-laws and most of all my closest friends! Terry and Sandy are such amazing people. Just talking to Terry for 30 minutes makes you feel so happy and so full of the love of God. He is an amazing teacher of God's word. I am where I am today because of all that he has poured into my life. Sandy has a faith that will move mountains. She loves all things beautiful....She is always there if I need help, advice, someone to go shop it up with or just someone to drink a cup of coffee with. Most of all they are there to guide me in the things of God. How honored I am to have them in my life.

7. Great big cup of coffee! Not all things that make us happy have to be meaningful! I love a cup of coffee anytime is good for me!

Well that is it I hope that you enjoyed my list of things that made me happy!! ***EXCEPT FOR THE TOP THREE NONE OF THEM ARE IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER!! I KNOW HOW YOU GUYS ARE LOL***

So now I have to nominate others

1. My Church http://www.familylifechurch.com/

2. Glamorous Housewife http://glamlifehousewife.blogspot.com/

3. Brandi at http://lovelycharmingwhimsical.blogspot.com/

Different kind of Chirstmas want list!

You know I remember the days when what I wanted for Christmas was a new tape by my favorite boy band. I used to love New Kids on the Block! I remember opening presents so excited to see what new "New Kids" item I got! I remember having the pajamas, the tapes, the vitamins and the videos of their concerts. One of my most favorite home movies is when I had a sleepover. Me and all my girlfriends are dancing, screaming, and singing! All while my parents laughed at us while recording it!

I remember shopping for Christmas presents for my parents. My poor mom she made the mistake of saying that she liked squirrels. I bought her so many squirrels. Each year I would get her a new squirrel item. Mom always acted so happy to have it and would it put it next to the shelf full of squirrel items. Sorry mom! So one year my mom kept saying how badly she wanted a new set of pots and pans. I remember thinking "Man how lame for Christmas you want a new set of pots and pans?" So that year that is what we got for her for Christmas! Don't worry we got her a squirrel for her birthday to make up for her not getting it for Christmas! LOL

So here I am at the ripe old age of 25. I have been wanting to have a new set of pots and pans for quiet some time. They are pricey and I just can never make myself break down and spend the money on them so I have only thought of having new ones. This year when my darling hubby asked me what I wanted for Christmas I was so excited and told him POTS AND PANS! He looked at me and told me "What a lame Christmas gift!" So yesterday my sweet hubby was busting at the seams to give me my gift!

Girls I got a new RED SET OF POTS AND PANS not just any pots and pans the PAULA DEEN ones! :)

Bryan kept apologizing for not getting me a "good" gift! I was squealing like a school girl and calling everyone to let them now I have new POTS AND PANS! The even sadder thing is they all squealed with joy as I told them!

So look out Paula Deen! Here comes Crystal Sparks with my new fancy pans!

So that is my blog for the day! Hope you weren't expecting anything insightful. I just thought I would let you in on my dorky thoughts. Hopefully it made you smile a little! If you didn't I sure did! Hope you girls all have a great weekend!

Crystal Sparks :)

These are the days we will remember!

You don't have to know me for very long to know this about me 1. I love great jeans paired with a cute heel. 2. I have to have all my silverware organized in the dishwasher (yes it does matter if a spoon gets washed with a fork!) (lol) 3. I DESPISE cold weather.....

So I got to thinking about it today. Lord why did you make there be a cold season. I mean when you walk out to a store and the wind cuts through you like a knife that isn't fun to me. When your toes have been so cold all day they feel like they could snap off....no fun!

(this is my sis in her coat)

To make things worse about cold is I don't like COATS! I know they keep you warm and blah blah blah....This is what I don't like about coats. You wear them for like 2 minutes till you get into where ever you were going in the first place. Then you have to take off the coat because you are burning up, cuz it is warm where you just went into. You sure don't want to be the crazy lady wearing her "PARKA" through the store! So know your kids are hot in their coats so you are carrying your coat (which is big) their coats and trying to keep up with them in the store! CRAZY!

So all of this said you are probably why I am seriously writing a blog about cold weather and coats.....

Back to me talking to the Lord....about why do we have cold weather. All of a sudden it hits me I know why! We have cold weather so families can be bonded! All summer long we have all kinds of activities that keep us so busy. We work in our yards, take family vacations, then their are ball teams, and summer camps for kids. All of these things keep us on the run.




When it gets cold we all gather at each other's homes, eat good food, and make lots of memories. I have spent so much time with family in the last week it is so great! Winter and cold is a time for us to slow down and just enjoy each other. It is so special!



I encourage you to take advantage of this cold weather! Spend a day at home with your kids! Stay in your pajamas all day long, tickle them till they can't laugh any more, cuddle with your hubby while watching movies, then share memories with a friend over a cup of coffee, and have your mom over for some dessert! This is what I have been doing this week, and how precious it has been!

When you think back to your childhood memories these are the days that you remember. These are the times that you never forget. Let's make it special for our children and for each other!

Open House

I love Christmas! There is something so pretty with my whole house just lit up by small lights and tons of trees....So I thought that I would show you all a few of my Christmas decorations!



I love these little guys they are old and from a place in Canton! They make me smile!





This is in my entry! I love this little fat snowman! He totally cracks me up everytime I see him! Plus he looks old which I just can't resist!



My dinning room tree is my favorite of all my trees....in case you were wondering I have 7 trees total in my house! This one I love the most though!




This is the topper!




These are Bryan's old fire boots. They are underneath Rylan's Fire Truck tree that is in his room. With the lighting in his room the pictures of his tree didn't turn out well....




This is Brailey's tree it is in of course Hannah Montana it is her favorite! Of course her tree is in PINK! Her mimi bought the tree for her!




This snowman makes me smile everytime I walk in my kitchen! He just looks so happy doesn't he?







I hope you liked taking a small look around my house! I know that your house is probably getting all shaped up for the holidays also! Hope you have a great day!

New blog in town!!

If you are like me you are always looking for a new fun blog to go check out! Well I have one for you! My girlfriends and myself do what we call "Chik Nites" these are nights for girls to get together away from children, hubby and the home. We do fun different things every time that we meet up. So we started a chik nite blog! This is a blog that will have the thoughts of me and my girlfriends throughout the week! So go check it out! I know that you will love it as much as I do!

www.chiknite.blogspot.com
So moving on to other things there has so much been going on here! Between Chik Nite Holidazzle, decorating my home for Christmas, getting ready for my daughter's Christmas play at school, to shopping and keeping up my home! I have been a very busy girl!

One of the things that we did was go see the Christmas train when it came to town! It was totally free and it was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We got there right on time when it opened and there was probably about 400 people there in line! Needless to say we didn't wait for our turn to go on the train since we had to go to church that evening! Here are some pictures:



My son loves trains! He kept waving at "Thomas the choo choo" the whole time that we were there! Brailey was absolutely scared of the train and didn't want anything to do with it what so ever!

Here is bear waving at the train :)

No condemnation!

Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Wow how many times have I heard this passage preached? Too many times to count really. God really has been revealing things to me about this text.

First thing I want to point out what is the "law"? Us country folk always calls the law meaning the cops....lol. Not in this text the law is the Ten Commandments. The original purpose of the Ten commandments was to show the people that they were unable to be perfect. That they could not measure up to God. Everything they did was based on works. If they were good and kept God's commandments they were blessed. If they didn't then judgement came. There had to be a sacrifice made when sin happened to keep them "clean".

Now because of Jesus we don't have to kill a fatted calf every time we do something wrong because Jesus' blood was enough for us all.

So why does all of that have to do with there is therefore no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus? Glad you asked!

You see we still think that God's love for us is performance based. When His love for us is solely on Jesus, because of the blood of Jesus God loves us unconditionally! There is no end to God's love for us. For some reason we think that when we do wrong God doesn't accept us. This is why people that stray away from God have such a hard time getting back into the church they feel unworthy and that God is disappointed with them.

I have learned in life it is easy to feel good about your relationship with God when your husband and you are getting along, money is good, kids are good, everything is going your way. When things start going south and you have a few sin issues pop up it is really hard to get around that the same God that loved us in the good times is there with us in the hard times. For some reason when we mess up we think that we have to make it up to God by doing things or we hide because we are ashamed of what we did.

The enemy wants to constantly tell us all of the things that we do wrong. How we miss the mark. How we aren't worthy of the love of God. How can you minister to people when you have problems yourself? I love that it says there is therefor NO condemnation! That means if you start to feel down on yourself that is the Devil whispering in your ear not God! When we entertain those thoughts we are going to the other team and agreeing with the enemy! We should be saying what God says about us! The only reason why I am ok is because of Jesus. Solely because of that is why no matter what I do God has already forgiven me and I am always on God's good side.

That is the good news of Grace! It is not about what I do but what Jesus did! I can never do enough to maintain my salvation! That is why Jesus had to come!

I just want to encourage you ladies! There is nothing wrong that you have problems and issues. Everyone does! All you need to do is cry out to God let Him know that you can not do it without His grace. Start looking to God as being strong enough to get you through any addiction, obstacle or problem not to your ability to get through it. Just accept the fact that He will get you through everything in life. When you do that you line yourself up for the blessings of God to flow through your life!

Love you Chiks! Check out the new Chik Blog!!

Crystal Sparks

Been a long time coming!

Wow so I have been not writing much lately! I have had such an incurable hunger for the word of God. I don’t know if you have ever had such a feeling like you could read the whole Bible and still want more of God. This is how I have been the last few weeks. When I do have time to actually sit down and blog I have been reading Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince or the Bible by God (lol I crack myself up) or just listen to preaching.

God is revealing himself in such new ways in my life. I am at such a place that is so wonderful yet so different. I am so happy yet so hungry for more all at the same time! I am seeing the word in such new ways. Isn’t it funny how you can read the same verse a thousand times then in one moment God sheds whole new light on it and it seems as though you have never read it before.

I am hoping to share all that God has been showing me! I promise I will try my very best to write more often. My Pastor came on here and yeah……I hadn’t posted anything sorry Pastor!