Productivity

I feel like today has been the most productive day I have had since school let out.  I finally got the main rooms (bedroom, living room, laundry room, upstairs bathroom, and Yisrael's office) completely clean! This makes me so happy!  I have an as equally productive day planned tomorrow.  I hope to bake bread (my first time, not with the parents!), fold the rest of the clothes and start on the junk room.   I have plans to convert the junk room into a guest/crafty room. This is what it looks like now:

TERRIFYING!!!!!

We moved everything in here when we moved in and were in major construction and it has only been added to over time.  So it MUST be conquered.  

Today, I also had a date with my cousin, Megan.  I love her! :) We went to see "What to Expect When you're Expecting".  Cute movie, but not as funny as I thought it would be! 

Well that is all for tonight, I'm going to read Hunger Games 3 to my husband now and that takes precedent over blogging! Maybe more tomorrow and a bit more interesting material :)

Until Then, PRODUCTIVITY IS THE KEY!

My week. whew.

This week has been good and hectic.
Sunday, Yisrael's parents and aunt/uncle left to go home and we stayed another night with Rachel and Kelly.  They took up to see the Avengers which was great fun.  I did find the movie to be a bit long and boring in some places, but I really do not get into those movies anyway.  (I want to see "What to expect, when you're expecting! But it was not out yet at that point.)

Duck Lips. Crazy Kids.

We got home, to Troy, on Monday night after stopping at the galleria to get Yisrael legos! haha. Such a fun guy, he is!

Tuesday was the first day of my new job as a nurse extern at a hospital in Montgomery. I am really excited about this opportunity and so honored to have been chosen!  Basically, I will be following a nurse and helping out as needed (or PRN in the nursing world :) We have two weeks of training.  It is very laid back with long breaks, lunch breaks, and random days off. Odd. But hey, I am not complaining, I am getting paid! I think it will be a great opportunity and I get to wear real scrubs! I have orientation Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week.

The girls I ride with: Brooke, Brittany, and Kasey! I love them!

Tuesday,  my baby brother turned 15! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBY! He sent me this Tuesday afternoon:

He passed the test the first time! He is growing up so much.  We went out to their house Tuesday night for a birthday party with all my family.  My family is crazy, loud, always laughing so it's always fun!  We gave him a credit card monopoly game. I can't wait to play with him soon!                     

My little niece Lilly came and of course I had to get my baby fill for the night!  She is learning to stand up, so we were practicing.  And apparently I like to make funny faces :) She is turning one in June and I am helping my sister plan the watermelon themed party! So excited!  I found a banner for one dollar today at shindigz.org today so I ordered. http://www.themomcreative.com/her and Bo both one. It was a one day sale that I saw today on The Mom Creative site. http://www.themomcreative.com/





Wednesday, I worked (we went over VERY basic nursing/tech skills - bathing, bed changing, positioning, Vital signs, etc.) I came home with a plan of cleaning, but ended up helping Yis with the car until 12. I actually helped and we got it put back together only to find the manifold was leaking a bunch of smoke, so he will have to take it apart again.  what fun...

Today I did not have to work. We slept super late and I got some cleaning done.  We were supposed to go to band practice for Yisrael tonight in Enterprise, but as we went to get in the car I noticed we had a flat.  With one car down, this put us out of commission for good.  The person that owned my car before me lowered it and put on fancy rims and tires.  This makes for great difficulties. We got the spare on (Yisrael, really) So along this adventure we learned that my suspension was messed up, my wheels have too much negative camber, both my back tires need replacing, and one of my rims probably does too.  When it rains, it pours at the Grimes house! But I did get the grocery shopping done and my laundry room clean today!
Tomorrow I start eating as organic and healthy as possible again.  I took a break from this during the last month of school to help with the stress.  I am excited about it, but I need all of you to keep me accountable!  My breakfast will be a green monster smoothie.  You can read about those here: http://greenmonstermovement.com/  They are actually really good and filling! I put frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, milk, spinach, wheat germ, and ice in mine.

Well to bed now I go, work in the morning (learning the computer system and how to document). I have a crochet post for tomorrow!

Until Then, pray that it rains on the Grimes no more.

God doesn't need gold

Posting this a few days late, we went to the temple on Saturday of last week 5/12/12

This post might seem offensive to some, but I am going to try my best to state my opinions without getting frustrated.

Yesterday, we went to a Catholic shrine named, Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. (I'll post pictures at the end)  I went to experience the history and explore the religion some.  Some of Yisrael's family that was visiting are Catholic.
The shrine was a huge castle like building, complete with gift shop.  Once inside, the main chapel was huge.  The whole front was made of pure 24k gold. Everything was elaborate.  There was also a lower chapel that had more gold.  Marble and stone were also everywhere.  Walking through this place, seeing the confessionals and the expensive surroundings, I got mad.  Maybe that was the wrong response. I also felt sadness and pity.  Just be honest here.  I kept thinking about what Jesus would have done if He had walked into that temple.  How many homeless could that gold, stained glass, marble, etc. feed? How many lives could be changed if that building did not exist and the money was given to those that couldn't pay their light bill or buy food for their children.  I am not saying that the Catholic church is not giving, because they are one of the most giving church groups I know.  This does not only apply to Catholicism, many churches/denominations/religions have this prestigious mentality.  I am also not saying that all Catholic churches do this.  I was told by someone that the Catholics were proud of big buildings like this one and especially the Vatican.  Because the Vatican took three hundred years to build, it shows their faith to their religion has been strong for that many years.  It reminded of a passage in Acts 17: 22-31:  
"So Paul stood in the midst of the ^[s]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶ and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and ^[t]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ ²⁹ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. ³⁰ Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹ because He has fixed a day in which He will judge ^[u] the world in righteousness ^[v]through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men ^[w]by raising Him from the dead.” http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17&version=NASB


By NO means am I saying that I am perfect, I often pay more attention to worldly things, rather than my God. This is a problem I greatly struggle with.  I just don't understand why the leaders of a church would be adding to this sin by creating a temple like this.  
As I walked through the chapels one of my favorite songs came to mind especially one line. "Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other Our God is Healer, awesome and power Our God, Our God... There's no one like You, None like You, Into the darkness You shine, Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like You, None like You"http://youtu.be/2AQ0Dv7kzoA

I am so glad that my God does not need anything from me, but love, trust, and faith.  God does not need earthly things.  He does not need anyone to mediate for him and I do not need anyone to interpret my prayers and repentance to Him! He is almighty.  He made us for His pleasure, to worship Him and love Him. He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, the Bible to live by, and prayer to talk to Him by.  God has also given us pastors/priests as leaders, but they are no greater than us. We are called to all be disciples and spread God's love to all people wherever that might be.  He wants us to share His word to the homeless,  share His word with the wealthy, share His word to anyone and everyone.  He is not restrained by a gold temple, GOD IS EVERYWHERE AND CAN DO GREAT THINGS ANYWHERE.  

Maybe I am not getting something here, maybe I am being hypocritical? If anyone has any explanations/comments I would gladly take them! 

My God reigns and I can't wait to meet Him.
Until Then, Glorify His Name.

Crazy Days

Oh what a weird couple of days it has been! Yisrael has been working on his car all week and has had many troubles with it.  I got very mad at Autozone for being rude to me, because I was a woman. Currently the car is still in the driveway with the exhaust manifold laying on the ground. Yis is so talented in fixing cars! He is my hero!







Then Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 12:30am I was changing out the clothes in dryer and knocked a vase off and it hit the PLASTIC drain valve on the hot water heater.  Water started spewing everywhere! I screamed for Yisrael and after 3 time completely filling up the shop vac, 10 towels, 8 pails of water, and 2 hours later, we finally had the draining stopped and cleaned up enough to go to bed.  My husband, once again my hero, fixed it the next day!

Thursday we headed to Huntsville to visit family, including his aunt and uncle from Michigan.  We arrived at 1am and went straight to bed.  This morning we got up and got ready.  We went for breakfast at this little local place called Ranchero's and I had the BEST mushroom swiss burger (my standby).  We then saw where Rachel (Yisrael's sister) worked and then went shopping!! My Mother in law was gracious enough to get me several new clothes and the cutest sandals ever! So exciting!

 We then came home and Yisrael's aunt, Debbie, cooked us authentic Italian food. (His Uncle Enzo is from Italy.) IT WAS AMAZING! Then we just relaxed for the rest of the night! Great day overall.

 So crafts this week have been Amazing so far!
On Wednesday, Kasey, her friend Jess, and I made duct tape wallets.  You don't think they would be cute, but they are! They have so many colors of duct tape now!  I have attached the tutorial below.  (No use recreating the wheel!) I would recommend using a real ruler! :) Good luck, this is so much fun!
http://youtu.be/oytm19b1qr4  - this is the link

This is my wallet half way done.

Inside Completed

And outside completed!

After reading my blog, someone also asked me to crochet them two baby hats.  One a pumpkin hat and one a sunflower hat! I am so excited about this endeavor and am already halfway done with the sunflower! I will post pictures when I finish.

Anyway, as you can see, CRAZY DAYS! But I am glad we are getting to see the family and relaxing a bit.

And this is what happens when Bethany tries to work on cars! haha

Until then, Have some family time!

It's a great day to praise the LORD!

HELLO FIFTH AND FINAL SEMESTER! I have officially passed Critical Care with a 73.55.  I had to have a 74 to pass and my teacher was gracious enough to round it to a 74.  I went from a 68 in the class, making a 83.33 on the 5th test and a 79.844 on the final.  This final was the hardest test that we have taken thus far in nursing school and I dominated! Mind you, this was NOT my doing.  There were questions on that test that I had to guess on.  God answered those questions for me.

WHOO HOO!! My teacher also said in an email,  "I'm about to make the class available again but couldn't wait to tell you that all your hard work paid off. You did pass 73.55. Congrats!!!" !!!

This has been my first day of summer break and it has been great! I slept in until 11!!!!!!!!!! And then my womb best friend, Haley came over.  Our moms were pregnant and great friends at the same time, so we were born friends. We went to lunch and make a quick run to Goody's and then spend the rest of the day just chatting it up! This is us:










Then I made dinner: fish tacos, stewed squash, and corn on the cob.  I didn't like the tacos, because I accidently bought mango salsa and I just don't like it! Yisrael does though!  I also got a bit of cleaning and laundry done.  Going to do much more tomorrow.

Yis and I then sat and watched three episodes of Touch. We really love this new show and we wanted to catch up. (We had gotten behind during finals!)

Look at their website below.

Dead Day

Dead day has arrived. I have a final tomorrow and the next day and then the dreaded Critical Care final on Monday.  Oh boy. Stress abounds.  I have been reading 1 Samuel though and it is really helping.  Seeing how God led the Israelites and protected them no matter how stupid they were! Awesome. On the last critical care test I has last Thursday, I was riding to school and decided to listen to some Christian tunes.  I found myself worshiping, crying, singing, and just praising God on my way to school. (probably not entirely safe :) I told God that I knew if I didn't pass CC that it was His will and that I would just continue nursing school wherever He led! I passed that test with and 83.33! Praise God! I still have to get around an 80 on the final and this is a hard final. But I can do this, through God! SO I guess I need to get back on it and hit the books! Hope everyone else is having a great week and finals or whatever are not hitting too hard! I will post Yis' artwork after school is OVER!
Until then, God's got this!