The Bright Eyed Brunette

 A while ago I had a discussion with a friend about being easily offended and how it seemed to be an epidemic these days.  This has been saved in my drafts for at least a month now.  We have had a lot going on around here and honestly, I just didn't have the time or energy to finish it.  Wouldn't you know it, something happened today that triggered my memory of this post.  I did my best to wrap it up. I hope this makes sense and helps someone (it sure helped me). There are certain sins in our lives that get swept under the rug because they aren't the big obvious ones like murder, stealing or addictions.  They become like pet sins; those sins that feel safe to keep in our lives. Who are they harming?  One pet sin that I think is wreaking havoc on our world today is being easily offended. Do you rehash all day why the cashier treated you rudely? Do you refuse to enjoy a meal because the waiter forgot to bring the sause you requested for the fries that ar...

 Happy Monday friends! What are ya'll doin'?  We are just waiting for this nasty ice storm that is headed our way.  Ice sucks.  It means power outages.  Although we have a generator, it is still not ideal.  And if power goes out at our post office (where our internet comes from) we lose our internet, which means we lose our television, as well as our phone service.  You see why I am dreading this?! I digress.  Let's talk about the doozy that was all of last week!   Ya'll, I didn't even know it was possible to be as tired as I was.  When I say it took me ALL weekend to recover, it is not an exaggeration.  Having a four-month-old while homeschooling a teenager (who is easily distracted) isn't easy. To add to that, my dad was at an international poultry show in Atlanta, leaving it to me to help out when my mom needed (which I ended up taking her to the ER one night). I was drained when Friday came.  There is much more to the ...

 Ah gentleness.  The most difficult of the fruit of the Spirit for me.  All of my life I have read how women are supposed to be gentle and quiet in spirit.  I always admired gracious, graceful, delicate women, mainly because that couldn't be more opposite of my personality.  The opposite of gracious?  Perhaps sarcastic, severe, ungiving.  The opposite of graceful?  Perhaps careless, awkward.  The opposite of delicate?  Perhaps robust, strong. Being gentle really has nothing to do with personality or circumstances.  How God hard-wired my personality doesn't make being gentle impossible.  Gentleness basically means to stop fighting God, accepting His dealings with us, considering them as good.   Last year was hard on me on many levels, and I fought tooth-and-nail with what God wanted to teach me.  I ignored what I already knew and continued on my own strength.  I resisted being restrained.  I believe it i...

 Happy Monday friends!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  It was a fast-paced weekend here on the homestead.  On Friday and Saturday, Trey went squirrel hunting with my uncle.  They entered the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Big Squirrel Challenge, and they won first place in two categories!   Here they are posing with the dogs, Stacy and Mia This was also Makena's last weekend home for Christmas break.  I wanted to have a dinner for her but everyone was busy doing stuff except for my dad.  She wanted ribs, so Carl smoked some ribs!  They were delicious as always.   Sunday was church day :) I was pleased to have our whole family at church on Sunday morning (Carlie, Caleb, and Wrenley were there also)! We had lunch at my parents house and then we had to leave to take Makena back to school.  I say take her back but she has a car and took herself, we just had to help her move back in because she had a lot of stuff and her...

 Happy Thursday, friends!  It's been a good week, but a long week around here.   I started out January with some light reading and I thought I'd share my new reads :) I have never gone all the way through the Bible in a year.  I have started but never made it all the way through.  Well, this year is the year!   Next, while on my Bible app I came across this 12 Day Study.  It is a video and devotion with Francis Chan and I am really enjoying it.  I am sad that I only have one day left. Which leads me to this find.   Lord only knows how beneficial this could be. This is not a read, but while I am doing some soul searching and self-improvement, I thought I should start eating a little better.  This is the 2B Mindset plan from BeachBody.  I'm not a huge fan of their workouts, but this plan does work when you stick to it.  I've lost 2lbs in 2 days.  If you want more information, just look it up on Pinterest. Ok, ...

 Well would you look at that: it's Monday already. That means back to school for us and back to work for Carl.  Makena is home from college for one more week and actually had the day off today.   It was a good weekend for the most part.  On Friday I went to take Wrenley to the doctor with Carlie.  She had a pretty high fever and a little bit of a cough.  She wasn't able to see her regular doctor, but they did some test to rule out RSV, the flu, and Co*!d.  Carlie took off the rest of the day to stay home and keep a close eye on her.  They ended up taking her to Arkansas Children's Hospital after Caleb got off work.  She had a pretty nasty virus and her oxygen was low when they got there but went up after they were there for around 3 hours.  We were thankful that she got to come home late Friday night.   Poor sick baby.  Carl made chili Friday night and we had a bonfire.  It was perfect weather for it but I was ti...

 I'm starting out the new year with a new planner stack!  Unlike last year, I am starting with only two. The Happy Planner is a constant for me.   I struggle with what to use this page for. It is marked for priorities/goals and important dates at the bottom. But the large part is bullet journal style. Sometimes I cover it with stickers, but I am thinking that this year I may use it as a memory/scrapbook page for the month. This is the front page for the month of January. I had to add some things to make it my own. Just your regular monthly layout. I prefer the vertical layout.   It is just easier for me to keep track of lists, appointments and daily tracking. The section on the left, I usually use for prayer requests.  Wouldn't you know that my birth month is beach themed :) All of my favorite things! My next planner was an accidental find.  I am not a huge Pioneer Woman fan.  I like her cookbooks but I find some of the designs a bit gaudy....