Cosmo

This post is in loving memory of our beloved cat Cosmo. Moe was a sweet and gentle spirit who was in tune with his people. He loved catnip and cat treats. He was given to me by my husband in honor of my 25th birthday. He was a shorthair, solid black male cat. I picked his name because at that time they had just announced that Kramer's first name from Seinfeld was Cosmo, which I found hilarious! He was always a sweetheart. As a kitten he learned how to play "hand" where we'd use our hands to play with him. He also liked to be scooted around on his back on the floor.

Cosmo lived in three different homes with us. He was the baby before we had children and the third cat I owned as an adult.

Cosmo passed on 9 days ago. He had not been feeling well. The doctor said his liver and kidneys were shut down. He was gently euthanized. He is missed.

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Roekle- 13 years

Thirteen years ago today my husband and I said "I do". We were married at the United Methodist Church in Scottville by Pastor Bobby Dale Whitlock. The church had no air conditioning, and the place of reception did not either. Talk about HOT! Wheeew!

We enjoyed our honeymoon in Toronto after riding the Amtrack from Kalamazoo there. Toronto was great! I'd never been there before. We checked out Casa Loma www.casaloma.org and had a meal in the revolving resteraunt called CN Tower 360. Sooo cool! http://www.cntower.ca/index.aspx

Happy Anniversary Mr. Roekle. May we have many more!

Love, Trish

Ahhhh... What kind of "noise" are you subjecting yourself to?

I don't think I ever properly enjoyed peace and quiet until I had children. I just took it for granted, or drowned it out with radio or television. Now though after having children, I treasure any moment when the house is quiet. This does not happen that often at all, unfortunately! Right now I can hear the air purifier humming and that's about all. Ahhhh....

When I think about all the noises I am subject to during the day it's no wonder a little quiet seems great... We've got the sound of dogs barking, kids talking, yelling, whining or crying, semi trucks going by on the street, television, radio, computer games, telephones ringing and the list could go on and on...

I'm much more careful too what "noise" I intentionally choose to listen to. Take radio and television for example. I used to watch lots of television talk shows and several hours of soap operas. Well over a year ago I switched to watching TCT (Total Christian Television) www.tct.tv all day and I love it. I hear inspiration. Joyce Meyer, Lindsay Roberts, Billy Joe Daughtry, The Copelands, Rejoice, Spiritual Warfare. I am lifted up, encouraged with my walk with the Lord. The radio pretty much only plays Way Fm www.way.fm which is a great local Christian radio station. Plays lots of Contemporary Pop Christian music. The musical messages are inspiring and uplifting.

I challenge you to take inventory of what noise you subject yourself to. What messages are you hearing? Are they lifting you up, or tearing you down? Encouraging or depressing your soul? Start being aware of what you hear in your music lyrics, the topics of your television shows. See if you need to make an adjustment. It was once said by a great preacher, Pastor Jen from VFC "Garbage in, Garbage out". Let's see if we can get that garbage out, and our minds and souls filled with more positive, upbeat, and yes- even more of the "ahhhhh" moments.

Praise be to the Lord!

Twenty years

This year is the twentieth anniversary of my high school graduation. Seriously- where in the world did 20 years go???? It seems like yesterday.... Big hair was in. Bon Jovi was a big musical influence. I even was lucky enough to see Bon Jovi in concert at Silver Lake with several classmate friends of mine. I drove a red Mustang my dad bought. I worked at Kmart (I think- I had so many different jobs back then!) Life was simple- if I wasn't at school I might be at work or hanging out with friends. If I could, I would sleep in. My mom cooked all the meals, parents paid all the bills. All of my Grandparents were alive and in great health. Ahhh, those were the days.

Even though this year is our 20th year since graduation there are no official festivities. I think that's sad. Who is in charge of this stuff anyway!? There is a get together in a couple of weekends at a restaurant in the area. I'll likely have to miss it due to life circumstances which include work, distance and kids. I pray those who do get together enjoy themselves and the time reminiscing about the good old days. Hoo-rah to the graduating class at Mason County Central for the year 1989!

First Blog

One of the things that I was convicted about during the last Bible study we did on the Proverbs 31 woman was the whole issue of caring for the family. Not to say I'm some big slouch in general, but there are definite areas of improvement I need to address. One is meal time. Let me say I have never enjoyed cooking.... I have never been one that cooked for the fun of it. I have a handful of things I cook w/out recipes and on rare occasion I'd search All Recipes and try something new, or maybe get a recipe from someone I knew that I'd try. We ate a lot of pizza and spaghetti or boxed/frozen convenience foods.

Until this week that is. I signed up for a website that prepares a menu for your size family. You can decide a few factors such as if it will be low fat, low carbs, points based, vegetarian and a handful of other choices... Lets just say I'm in love with this new system. It's bliss! I'd only be happier if I had my own personal chef- seriously!... I printed off a menu plan, went shopping on Sunday (which took forever compared to just grabbing whatever looked good/was on sale. I was definitely ready to be done grocery shopping after I had that list completed... I am so glad I gave it a try though! I have all the necessary ingredients in my house saving me extra running for this or that at the last minute. I have easy meals printed out that I can choose from daily depending on our schedule. Even my husband is impressed. The kids haven't cared much either way yet. I feel so much better about meal time now that I have this system. If you want to check it out here is the url: www.e-mealz.com If you enter the code Dave you save 2.50 off a three month subscription.

Enjoy your family and your mealtimes... Be blessed.