Friday afternoon we took a somewhat impromptu trip a town north of here: Holland. We don't usually go there, but we love it! Tons of beautiful shops, beautifully clean city, and all around wonderful. :) 

We decided to go there because we had run out of Balsamic Vinegar which we buy from Fustini's. So good! We ended up with Tuscan Herb Olive Oil this trip, too, and a second jar of balsamic to ship to my older bro. ;)

On our way up we spotted *numerous yard sales, but didn't stop (Which *was making me cry inside!), until we saw a sale that my husband thought had a double stroller. We have been looking for one and they happened to have a sit n stand, barely used! Perfect! The girls absolutely love it. Eeq can see everything from the front, and Little Missy loves hopping on and off the back. :) The zoo is going to be awesome this year!

Spring is here! It's a little chilly (and I have *no idea why it won't put my photos the right way), but it's sunshine-y and beautiful!

The tulips are out in various stages of growth. Some were still closed and green, some partially open, some a little more open, and some at the end. :)

This is our favorite kid's store! They have fantastic stuff, not expensive at all. 

This is mommy's dream store. Mixers in *all colors! I mean all. Don't believe me? Just look at the next photo. I heard angels singing when I spotted this section!

 Tea pots!

These are a brand called Viking and they are professional mixers. Mama wants! Only $550. :)

Sprinkles, decorating, yum!

We call her strawberry and I loved this little hair clip. She? Did not find it that fantastic. Which I also found incredibly adorable!

Chicken Pesto Pizza with some barley hops something or other on the crust that was great! Made it a little crunchy in a different way, and definitely added a good flavor.

Appetizer:

We had a great afternoon! It was a very relaxing family time, and it's a plus that the kids were completely wore out afterwards!

Love in Him,

Taiya

Oh, Exercise, my exercise

I am on a diet. Not a bingeing, crazy diet. Just a counting calories, making healthier choices and exercising like crazy kind of diet. Although I prefer the term 'lifestyle change' to diet. I am not dieting, losing weight, trying to get uber-skinny, and then gaining it back again. I am trying to give myself a little food perspective and get healthy. It's not even about numbers, although I have a couple in mind. :)

After the first week I lost 11 pounds (I know *that won't last) and an inch all over. Trust. Me. I was *not trying to lose 11 pounds in a week! I am still getting in the swing of my calorie counting and exercising thing. I didn't even eat that well last week, so imagine how good I'd be feeling if I had! I am super excited about it, but sore pretty much all over. Which is an excellent feeling, really. I'm looking forward to more energy, better sleep, and a healthier me. :)

Love in Him,

Taiya

Easter

We've had a fantastic Easter! Church was amazing this morning! We went to the 9am service so that we could be back in time to get dinner ready. Our guests got here around 2 and we ate at a little after 3, so we were still strapped a little tight for time! We did dinner, had an easter egg hunt, decorated sugar cookies and went for a 2.5 mile walk as a family just now. I am exhausted! I dragged my butt out of bed at 6 to exercise because I knew that I would be eating less healthy than I should. :) Worked out well!

Now I just need to unload a lot of cake and sugar cookies on someone else so that they are out of my house!

Sugar cookie decorations. :) I'll try to get a picture of the finished product for next time! 

It was a fantastic Easter! I think that we are all exhausted (except Eeq who slept in the stroller while the rest of us walked) and ready for bed. Praise the Lord for such a glorious day as this, and the reason for it!  Remember, Jesus said " I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."! I hope you have a week filled with life, and in abundance! 

Love in Him!

Taiya

Scrambled

I am scrambling around the house getting last minute things done for Easter! A lot of it is stuff that *shouldn't have been last minute, but I procrastinated. Like ironing the girls' dresses. I did manage to get the deviled eggs made and the sugar cookie dough in the fridge (the kids are going to decorate spring/easter shaped sugar cookies tomorrow). Tomorrow will be the ham, asparagus gratin, broccoli, cake, sweet potatoes, and so on. Lots to do! :) I love having people over and cooking for them, though, so it's not a hardship in the least. We have been steadily organizing and cleaning the house up, so it hasn't been too bad to clean. Always a blessing, since I tend to get overwhelmed when I am looking at a whole house to clean, floor to ceiling. 

I don't have much to show you at the moment, but I thought I'd post a photo of the sign I started the other day. I haven't figured out what to put on it otherwise, so, umm.. it's blank.

The sign started out as this. It's okay, but not really the kind of thing I like. It's very... store bought, I guess. Anyway, I wanted to redo it, so I tried fabric, but didn't like it. I tried plain scrapbooking paper, didn't like it. Then I tried ripping and mod podging the paper and loved it! Now i just need to figure out what to put on it!

My parents took Little Missy today, so when I went to pick her up I borrowed my mom's craft room to cut out some hearts for a new project that I'll, hopefully, be working on tomorrow! :) I have never appliqued, but I am going to try. If all else fails I'll be mod podging fabric to some re-purposed canvas! lol!

On that note, I am off to bed. It's midnight and I need to be up at 6 to exercise and start the day!

Love in Him,

Taiya

In Him Pt.2

At our church we've been talking about what God wants for us, and the fact that he sees us as his children, equal to Jesus. Whoa. How is that even possible? Well, that comes in the next verse that I highlighted, also. As His children God wants to see us happy, see us prospering (Jeremiah 29:11). The way I feel about my children, the love, the joy, the hope I feel in them and for them is magnified so much more from God, which is a hard hard concept to grasp. I can't even imagine myself being equal to Jesus. Could God possibly love so much and care so much for me? He gave up his Son for me, and he also loves me, and with that, I(we- I am just putting "I" to grasp the concept more!) get the promise of 'of course, hello!, are you paying attention, Taiya?! how will he not also graciously give you all things?!' (I might have paraphrased a little. Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)"abundantly". What a term! It amazes me that God wants to graciously give me all things, and he wants to do so abundantly. Above the norm. More than. And graciously. He doesn't want to hassle with me over it. He doesn't want to punish me with his good things, "Do this, or you won't get that." He literally just wants to give me good things, for loving in him, believing in him. I know that it isn't all going to be easy. There will be no instant fix to the sins of the world and what that brings: trials and tribulation, but the fact is that while I will have trials, God has also given to me, graciously and abundantly, the tools to deal with them. Although what he gives is so much more than just the ability to deal with trials and tribulation. It is a fascinating verse and one I am definitely standing on this week, and for weeks to come! 

I have gone to church my whole life off and on, and believed my whole life (although I am not perfect and I have strayed, often and far), so this all seems new to me. I've never embraced God's word this way, and really studied it in a way that applies it to me. It always seems so impersonal "well, that doesn't apply to me", but it does! I am loving how it is opening up to me!

Love in Him,
Taiya

In Him

My husband and I have started a small group through our church, and we are loving it! We are doing curriculum (I guess that's what you'd call it?) from john Bevere. It's called Extraordinary. We have a really great group! :) We go to a rather large church, so it's nice to connect with people on a more personal level! For part of our small group we are picking 5 verses each week that we are praying over, meditating on, and resting in. We have a sheet of all the verses that are "in him" "by Christ" "with Christ" etc... There are a lot, so we are just picking 5 a week. We were instructed to take each verse and personalize it. So if it says "you", put "me" and so on.

I thought a fun way for me to focus on them would be to blog about them every week as I pick them. I am going through from the beginning and writing all of them and reading over them, but picking the ones that really hit me as i am reading for my 5. 

I love this. I have heard it/read it before, but I really love it. I love the beginning, and I love the end, but I am also coming to love the middle. It's hard for me to think about taking up His yoke and learning from him. I am a flawed being and I want so badly to go my own way! It's a struggle that I have to trust fully. I trust God, and that hasn't changed, no matter how far I have strayed, but some of his promises, his abundance, his more, is hard for me to grasp and hold on to, so I go my own way. I am working on changing that, and as I do I am loving the visual of learning from God, and taking his yoke, which comes with a promise of rest for my soul, and a light and easy burden!

What are you resting in? What part of God's word are you standing on this week?

Love in Him,

Taiya

Rusted Chain Giveaway!

Beki at Rusted Chain is doing a giveaway(and of course I am trying to get an extra entry!) for a $25 gift certificate. Well, she is doing 2, so 2 people have good chances, right? Anyway, she does awesome stuff like this:

I really want a couple (okay, so probably more) of her necklaces! I haven't purchased one, yet, but mostly that is because I am indecisive. :) Check her out, leave her a comment on her blog and get in on the chance to get something awesome!


Love in Him,
Taiya