Happy Thanksgiving!

I know, a little early. But Better now than never! ;)

We'll be super busy these next few days(and weeks!), so I won't have time to be on the computer much at all. I just wanted to update a bit, real quick.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays out of all of them. And I got to think'n a few days ago-actually, this is something thats always been the obv.- This day is set apart for more then just silly super-bowl games and laughing and eating until we burst(Not that I ever do) like the world has made it out to be, its about remembering those who came to America and what they made this nation to be(or what it was) and what they came for- 'a better life', to worship Christ freely and being thankful for that. And giving thanks for everything.

Some of the things I am thankful for:
Being placed by God in a Godly home.
To have been homeschooled. haha
A roof over our heads.
My family.
My amazing friends.
To be able to worship Christ Jesus freely.
The Bible.
To be able to play the piano. If it weren't for my aunt, I'd never have discovered it.
Books. Because I love them.
And, music. And a lot lot more that I just can't think of, but I placed the most important. ;)

Like I said, we'll be busy here for the next few weeks. I have a GGCR coming up in two weeks!! Exciting! And the regular shabang that comes with the holidays. :)

Hope you all have a blessed week.

Verse~Psalm 107 ¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Random fact: God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends that we all are able to encourage each other and can just have a great time with, but if I had to choose a day with one or the other, it'd be my mom. Because she's the bestest friend anyone could have. And she always blesses me with tips on how to do things and teaches me how to be a great 'homemaker'. :)

Oh, Ill also be putting up a Christmas playlist in a few weeks. So, look for it. :)

God Bless
Amanda

When writers give you books, read 'em! :)

With all do exceptions, of course!

I have been reading A LOT lately. And tho life never slows down, I find time.
Have any of you heard of the lamplighter book, The Wide Wide World? (there are two vlms.) That book(more like novel) was a good read! It took me two months to read it, but only because I was soooo busy. Usually only takes me two days to read a good sized book. I won't tell you what its about , or what happens (just encase you haven't read the book, but if you have, lets elaborate together:)) But what I will say is that this book really shows and teaches you how to deal with trials and losses and whom to go to when you are(God). its a really good book. I only cried once, but it was a satisfactory cry. haha!

Read "Seeing the invisible~Being aware of Gods presence" Uhm, can I just say that book was absolutely a blessing and soo good! By Mari Irwin.

Then I read A Walk To Remember.Emily let me barrow that one, I got it from her Tues. afternoon, and finished it last night(wed. the 3rd) She was so surprised to hear I had finished it so fast! haha it was just so good. Sad, happy, and at times made me so vexed, but in the end it was really good.

Working on Hines feet for high places and So Much More right now.
Rest your little hearts, I am reading my bible everyday more then my books aswell! ;)

And its that time of year again! I love the holidays, baking, social gatherings with all your loved ones, baking parties, thanksgiving, going up to the rim to pick out a Christmas tree, ornaments exchanges with family, AND friends. Remembering and esp, taking time to thank God for all the wonderful things He blesses us with in life. I just love it! :)

Well, I won't bore y'all anymore. Hope your all doing well.

Random Fact: I am absolutely obsessed with Kyle Landry's piano covers/songs he writes himself. I have printed off several of his songs to learn for myself! haha If your curious enough, here is link to his youtube....http://www.youtube.com/user/kylelandry

Verse:Ecclesiastes 10:12
"Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious,
but a fool is consumed by his own lips."

God Bless,
Mandie

Prayer Request.

Hey guys!

*Update Edit*
The surgery went really well! He will probably be there for 2/3 days with a draining tube in his neck to let all the fluids drain out. And they will see where to go from there. I would post before/after pics, but Ill let him do that if he wants. He is doing good, starving(hasn't eaten for 30hrs) but good. Thanks for your prayers! :)

Could you all please pray for Micah?
For the past few weeks he has had a swollen lump type thing on his neck and yesterday he went to get a CTscan and then to our pediatrician. Yesterday evening he was admitted to PCH. This swollen lump is MRSA on his lymph node. Which, is located right under the jaw area. Not sure how long he will be there. But, he is sick and tired of being in and out of the hospital all the time and always having to deal with the mrsa junk. So, could I just ask prayer that he heals nice and quick and that God will give the docs. wisdom on how to deal with this and that it will be a short stay?!
They are getting ready to prep him for surgery here in just a bit.
He appreciates any prayers!

Thanks!

God Bless,
Mandie

October

October starts the birthday phenomenon, it contains 5(family) birthdays, and 3(friend) birthdays(that I am aware of.) It also brings in my favorite time of year, Autumn. Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, pumpkin pie making(and lets not forget pumpkin spice lattes :D) Crunchy leaves, bon fires, hay rides, well, I could go on for hours. Some of my favorite memories are because of Fall. I won't go into dets. but, you get the gist.:)

To start, the 1st was Zac's 20th birthday, TWENTY!!!! Holy cow. I was thinking, in thirty years, Ill be 47. Scurrryyy. I feel so old. lol jk We celebrated by going out to a late lunch, early dinner...linner. ;) Tradition in our family is, you either pick where you want to eat for dinner, (or if you'd rather a home made meal, thats great too!) or a favorite breakfast. He chose Red Robbin, after that we came home and watched a movie and just visited..well, some of us! lol That concludes the 1st family bday.

The 2nd was my friend Ian's 17th birthday. I went, had a fantastic time. I especially enjoyed catching up with his parents! haha (first friend birthday)

The 3rd was Grandmas bday. So thankful to God that she is still here with all her health problems and what-not. Love her!

The 10th is Micah's 15th!! Blah! He is getting so old(and, might I add, tall as well?!) He's pretty much a super amazing brother. To put it short, at birth Micah almost didn't make it, not even from the beginning, but he is here, sick or well, he is here. No one can have him! haha



The 11th is Joah's 8th birthday. Aww. He has gotten so big. I still remember the day he was born. And, going in to see him for the very first time. He's our little angel, long story behind that. haha
Not sure what we are going to do for M's and J's birthday yet, but it should be good!
There are two other friend bday's after them. Zac refuses to let me put a pic up of him, so, yeah.
Then, the 15th is my daddies birthday!! :))
I have the most amazing dad in all the world, I thank God for him everyday, and that he chose to raise us up in a Godly manner, and at home! :)
So! Today we went to the Tolmacoff farm for a family outing and to 'pick' our pumpkin(s)..they wanted $7 per PERSON to get in, thats just to get in. Did not include rides, petting zoo, corn maze or anything. Just to get in. HAHA! What a joke! Aaah, I miss Crow Dairy Farm, and The Dunkin Family Farm. So, we came home and just rested. Started searching for farms that are reasonably priced and such. Found two so far. A bit of a drive, but worth it I'm sure. (tho nothing beats the farms I stated above).
Who enjoyed the rain/hail/thunder all that jazz the other day? Whoot!! I know I did! haha My friend said he got pine cone sized hail in his neck of the woods(Paradise valley). Crazy. Gee, there goes that global warming again! (jk, ;))
Just thought I'd update. Hope everyone is doing well!

Verse:Romans15:13~May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Random Fact: I wanna move to Prescott. And visit Verona Italy. :) (In my dreams!;)

God Bless
Amanda

Week-end from my point of view:)

Last weekend was Family Camp. It was fun, good sermons, very important sermons at that.
My last 3posts have been lengthy so, Ill make this short and sweet...well the talking part anyways :)
Fri.~we left at 945, which, is early for us, had to make some stops, like, getting gas, and filling our tires, etc. We took the 17 this time, instead of the back way, but somehow I still got super car sick. :/
Got there unpacked, and went to the Archery, which I did on Sat. but, I was there Fri. to take pics. ;) Friday was a good day over all. I went to bed at 8 didn't fall asleep till 2cuz of some giddy girls. ;)
Sat~was HOT. Thats all I have to say about it. haha During free time my family, the Crawlee's(that how you spell their name?) the Rights, and the R's went fishing...oh and Matt too. All we caught was a transitioning tadpole, Ill get to that later. After fishing, I did archery, after that I hung out with Hayley, love that girl, after that it was dinner, after that was Chapel, after that was the bonfire, after that was, yes, Capture The Flag. Somehow I got pulled into playing by Brook, thats ok, we were Prison guards and only had to "guard" Josh And Zane. I went to bed at 10.
Sun~Church, packed up and left. haha I really didn't socialize a whole lot with any of the girls, except Hayley and the Crawlee girls. I 'hung' out a lot with a lot of the older people, and the guys. Not intentionally. It really was a good weekend. Pictures....
Madison, Jaden, Jeremy

Micah....

MercyAnne and Me

Joah, Getting ready to shoot 'his' bow

Josh

Joah, "nana" and I

Just for fun...

Jaden and I

Nate and Mercy

Mason, Mercy, and Micah on the fishing dock thingy

Dad and some of the kids bating their fishing rods

Nate and Matt

Josh and Noah Fishing

Dad, Zac and some of the kids fishing

Ah yes, the transitioning tadpole, into a frog. Micah caught it. It was pretty cool. We watched it continue to transition over the weekend, it was neat. God is so amazing. :)

Jeremy, :))

This lil guy was on my leg, didn't even notice him till I looked down to grab Jeremy's hand. haha

Me doing the Archery, thanks to Jessica for taking my pic. ;)

Side group shot

Dad and all the littles. I really like this pic:)

Someone made a fort, it looks like an 'A' :D

Hayley and I passing time

Micah and Jacob

Joah and Jaden eating smores
So this isn't even half of the pics I took, but well, you know. I hope you guys at least tried to enjoy them. haha
Gotta go.

Random Fact: I give you two, first is, I hate clicks. If you don't get the gist of that, read above again. Two, if my hair grew like my Nails, I'd be one happy girl.
Verse of the day~2 Corinthians 9:7 "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver"

God Bless
Mandie

The Gift Of Friendship

Its a wonderful thing! If God didn't give me the friends I have, I don't know where I'd be. I have many, but the one that has had a major impact on my life lately is my dear friend Kristi. In the beginning of last month we began to really get into some deep conversations(about our spiritual life) and how are we really living our lives for Christ?! And our spiritual battles. :Daily walk with God, how are we honoring our parents and others, etc. I won't go into much detail....
But, what we decided is that each day we would send each other a text(easiest way to communicate without having to worry bout getting on the comp or whatever everyday.) with a verse and a prayer. Then about every few days check in on each other and ask how we're doing and if there is any specific prayer requests. Its really helped, let me tell you.

And we both got to thinking, how many times a day do we say, 'I don't have time to read my bible' but yet we have time to do other leisure things. How often do we go by and by without thinking about him, yet, we go thinking about so many other things. Pointless things at that! How often do we push him aside? For me, too often. I often times don't serve Him at all, think about Him, Pray to Him, give Him the praise, thank Him for the day. I always get this tugging in my heart from God, always reminding me to do X, and Him convicting me of my wrong.
I ashamedly go days without even picking up my bible. Thats another thing we got to talking about, as well. Not reading our bibles. We both decided to kinda hold each other accountable I guess you could say. Glad God brought her into my life.

He wants to have a personal relationship with us. He instructs us to do so. I fail a lot. He calls, how often do we hear? He wants our hearts, our everything. I have a fear that only God knows, and I have to get over this fear and its so hard not to give it over to Him. I try and pray and ask for His help for me to give it to Him, and He does, but the stinkin devil attacks me all the time!

Our God is a gracious God. And I'm so glad He chooses to give us a new day, and a 'second chance' to serve Him better and love Him more everyday. As of late, I can't help but stop and look around me, at His beauty and His amazingness. And thanking Him for the new day.

I have many other friends that we all really hold each other accountable and get into the same conversations and just are in awe of how much we don't do these things. and 'cry on the shoulder' etc. but, Kristi has been a super friend lately.
Now, not to say that I depend only on my friends for conviction, nor do I give them half the credit I do my parents for my growing spiritual walk. But God does instruct us to have friends, right!? :)

So thanks to God for my amazing friends. Including all of you, my readers. I love you all too, don't forget that! :)

The sun is setting, and it is time for me to go.

God Bless,
Amanda

I'm not even sure how to title this...

Ok, so yesterday was anthem auditions. Had to get up and 6am to be there at my teachers house at 7:45. Anyways, we warmed up and then headed for the USA airways(btw, you get to know girls way better than you thought you knew them when riding together. haha), Karlie, Emily, Julia, Melody, Erin and me all in one car. It was quite crammed. Then the rest in Lori and some other ladies car(s). When we got there we signed in and what-not and watched other auditioners(is that a word?) A lot were really good, but went over the two min. time limit so they were automatically eliminated. We finally after watching at least 20ppl went outside to warm up. The funniest part about that day was, there were three ladies there(to audition) dressed in black dresses, black shoes white mid-gloves, their hair was arranged like Lucy and Ethel, and each one had two HUGE purple flowers arranged on each side of their head, when we went out to warm up Lori says "Did you see those purple ladies!!? talk about hilarious!!" Yeah, they were right behind Lori. It was hilarious.

Went in sang and we were interviewed on ch. 15news!!! Yes, we were on ch. 15 and 3. Bailey and Emilee were interviewed but, the camera guy did a head wave shot of us all. it was pretty cool. oh, and some of the girls got newspaper interviews so, they might be in there. lol

Tiffany, Karlie and Bri did solo tryouts, Tiffany Bailey and Karli did a trio and Tiffany and Bri did a duet. When we got there, there were four people, when we left there were at least 80. And we left at lunch so I can only imagine the number they got after that. 7am to 7pm. Long day for them.

So after much bonding with a lot of the girls, picture taking, getting in trouble for taking pictures, Making fun of the news reporter dudes wearing make up, laughing at "Abraham Lincoln, and Lori, Mr. Ziemer(karlies dad) and Mrs. Ashworth getting parking tickets, and much rage bout that we finally left. It was a long morning. Lori says she has a really good feeling about the group number. Not sure when we will find out whether or not we made it. But it was way fun and a good experience! :)

Random Fact: One of my favorite things to do, is ice skate!(tho, its rare I get to)

Mandie