What's in a Name!!!!

So, what is in a name.... EVERYTHING! I'd recently gone back to blogging and thought I'd go for something a little different... "On the Porch"....  but then what happens??? Patsy Clairmont announces that she is going to be doing a little something called "On the Porch with Patsy".... yeah. So what is a girl to do?? Go back to the original Blog - Neal at the Cross... and remember why I started to blog in the first place!!!

So here I am... back home, where it all started. I will admit it has been kind of fun to go back and see some of the pictures that I've posted. Some of the stories. Most of which seem like a lifetime ago...but really aren't.

This has definitely been a busy week. Saturday is the Pekin-Eastern Alumni Banquet, and I'm the treasurer for the committee that puts it all on. I graduated from Eastern High school a LONG time ago... 1977! That is 36 years ago!!! Isn't that crazy?! Last year, my class gathered for our 35th reunion...

... yes 35 years... and we had a BLAST! It was wonderful to get to see so many friends. This was about 1/3 of our class... and I think that is great!  But I digress....

The Alumni not only give away hundreds of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors, but it honors those who have been out of school for 50, 25, and 10 years. This year is middle daughters 10 year class reunion! Only a few of her classmates have decided to come to the banquet, but I am excited to see them! Just a few more of the 25 year class will attend than the 10 year class. And the 50 year class has a little over half of their graduate attending.

This has made me wonder, when my class gets to its 50th year out of school... how many will come to the banquet? How many will even come to a reunion? There was a time when people graduated from a school, they didn't move very far away. They got jobs, married, had kids, and did it all where they were born an raised. That is just no longer the case!

As honored classes searched out addresses so that I could send invitation letters to the banquet, many had a hard time getting current addresses. And the 10 year class just had a hard time finding classmates, period! People had moved. They'd married (or divorced!). They were living out of state. And some were living out of the country. I sometimes find this a hard concept to understand... but this is coming from a girl who lives 52 of her 54 years on earth in the same town.... until this year!

We have become a society on the move, and I wonder if that is really a "good thing"! It has me wondering... where are your roots? Where do you call home?  And if you've moved... and you think of home... is it where you live, or where you grew up? To me, Pekin will probably always be "home".... even if it isn't where I live....

And that brings me back to my original question... "What's in a name?" The answer for me... family history... and at the Alumni banquet tomorrow, there will be three generations of our family present! Four generations have graduated from the Pekin-Eastern schools... I think that is pretty impressive!!!! No matter how far away you may travel from home... never forget your roots... your history... it is part of who you are!

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn

Money Secrets of the Amish - A Review

Money Secrets of the Amish

Finding True Abundance in

Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving

Who could reset getting a book with a title like that? Well, not me, that's who! You see, we live in an area where the Amish have settled. While our area isn't as rich with Amish as the area where the author, Lorilee Craker, did her interviews, we have many just the same!

I have often wondered how the Amish community has faired with the economy in the downward spiral it has taken (ah, another topic all together!), and this book answered my question beautifully. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I literally finished it in just a couple of days. I also spent a good portion of our trip to Florida for vacation explaining all the principals that the Amish have used to my husband and daugther! And yes, I LOVE the UWMW principal - Use it up, Wear it out, Make do or Do without! Interested in learning more??

From money saving tips, to their simple lifestyles, there is so much that one can learn about the Amish and their ways in this book. Not only can one learn about the Amish, but there are just so many things that you can walk away with that could make a huge difference in the lifestyle of an "Englisher"! Right down to enhancing your families lifestyle!

If you, like the rest of us, are looking for ways to cut costs, and live a much simpler lifestyle, then I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. It is well worth the read! I promise!

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn

I received this book free from Book Sneeze.com for writing this interview.

Love Food and Live Well - a Review

When I asked to review the book Love food & Live Well, I wasn't sure what I would find. How can one LOVE food and still LIVE well at the same time? Let's face it, isn't it loving food that gets most of us into trouble? Isn't that why we gravitate towards books on the subject of food and dieting?

What I found as I read this book is that it isn't necessarily the LOVE of food that is the issue. It is our dissatisfaction with ourselves that causes us problems. When we begin to hide behind the food... that is when the trouble begins! You are unhappy with out you look... so you eat to dull the pain. You are unhappy in your work/home/family (you fill in the blank!) you find solace in food. And the issue with that? That is NOT what God created food to be! It was NOT given to us as a replacement for what we think we need/must have. It WAS given to us to do a very simple task - nourish our body - period!!

In her book Love Food & Live Well, Chantel Hobbs purposes a simple 80 / 20 rule. 80 % of the time you should eat food that will deliver the maximum fuel your body needs. The other 20% of the time you can splurge on the foods that you love! She is quick to add that this rule alone will NOT work for you, you MUST incorporate exercise into your life as well.

I found this book to be very insightful, and I found her continual reference to scripture, and to God's plan for our lives, to be very encouraging.

Have a Blessed Day!
Lynn

I was given this book, by WalteBrook Multnomah in exchange for this review

Have a Blessed Day!
Lynn

Finally!

The day has arrived! Michael gets his halo off tomorrow at 7:30am! That is 86 days! Can you just imagine how excited he is? He told Carly that he will be able to do boy things! And yes, I have said over and over "Stop pbeing a boy until that halo comes off!"

Thanks to everyone for the cards, stickers, and most importantly your prayers!

Have a Blessed Day!
Lynn

A Good Day!

Yesterday started out great... Michael was up and ready to go... but by 1:00 he told me that his "head was tired" and a few minutes later he threw up. Then he seemed fine. About the time we sat down for supper it all started again. This time he threw up several times... but kept telling me that his head felt "tired".

By 8 PM he was laying on the couch sound asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake him up to put him to bed. He was resting SO easy. So I watched some TV... did some knitting... checked by FB several times... and then around midnight he sat up and asked if everyone was in bed. Well, yeah!!!! So off he went to bed, asking me several times if I would hear him if he got sick. So I sat up until nearly 1 to make sure he went to sleep.

And sleep he did ( I did NOT sleep as I kept waking up to listen for him!) He woke up at 9 this morning without a hint of being sick. He ate his breakfast, did his school work, ate some lunch, played some Mario Kart, took a nap and now this evening he is STILL doing fine. We believe that this may NOT have been the flu, but a migraine. This is not the first time he has told us that his head felt "tired" and then he has thrown up. It has happened after school work, it has happened when he has been on the computer, it has happened when he has played Wii. Not always... but that is what he has been doing when this has happened before. I think as soon as the halo comes off we are heading to see the eye doctor!

But today was a GREAT DAY where his schooling was concerned. He was definitely ON TASK today! He came up with and wrote 8 sentences using key words ALL BY HIMSELF! He worked on the fraction 1/2 and actually GOT IT!!! He did a paper on opposites all by himself and ACED the paper!!! It has been awhile since he has done so well, and it was great to be able to heap on the praises... in fact it did us BOTH a world of good!! (And if you homeschool you know exactly what I'm talking about!)

Looking forward to this weekend. Rachel's Graduation Open House is Saturday, and we are SO very proud of her for getting her LPN. AND she's already been hired to work in a doctor's office!! Way to go Rachel!!!

Sunday we are having an open house to try and help along the sale of our home... and Michael is excited that he will get to go and play with Emma and Levi while we are "banished" from our home! Since we have already found a home in Madison we hope to sell soon before it gets sold out from under us! But it is all in God's hands and we know that while we really love this place, if it sells before we sell then God will just have something better in store!!

FINALLY Monday (and yes we count Monday as a weekend day here as it is Mickey's day off!) we will go back for Michael's one month check with Dr. Havlik and we are praying that he will give us a date for the halo to come off. This boy is SO ready for that (and so are we!)

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn

One Month to Live - A Review

Well, I began this book in February, but due to a surgery that my son had, I just didn't have to finish it in the one month alotted! But what a wonderful read.

My journal is overflowing with little bits and pieces of wisdom. Words that just seemd to jump off the page at me: "If God gives you a plan that isn't a challenge to you, it is an insult to God"... "Embracing our time on earth as a limited resource has incredible power to liberate us."... "The only way we can live for eternity is to embrace each day as a gift from God"... and I could go on and on and on!!!

Written by Kerry and Chris Shook, One Month to Live is a plan that steers you in thirty days towards a no-regrets life. The four principles they urge the reader to embrace are: Live Passionately, Love Completely, Learn Humbly and Leave Boldly. I have come to belive that living life with the "when" and "then" mentality is really not living at all. If you find that you are continually saying "when this happens then.... " you might find this book will unlock the door to a life lived in the now!!!

I highly recommend this book to one an all! I definitely give it a 5!!!

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn

I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah for this review.

Michael Update April 1, 2011

Michael's progress through March 24th.... And below is Michael today... April 1, 2011... Only 16 more days until he goes to the doctor for his first check up since we've stopped turning. Hopefully we will get a date of removal at that appointment.

All this and I can still get a smile out of him!!!!!

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn