Two Best "As Seen On TV" Discoveries of 2009

Okay, if you have not had the pleasure of using these two inventions, you are getting ready to get so excited. Well, that may be a little too much build up. Haha. But here we go....

The first is the Neti Pot.

This is a strange little pot that you fill with warm salt water and pour into your nose. You pour the water in one nostril and watch it flow out of the other nostril. Nasty right?! Well, its not the most fun activity, but after a little while you feel so much better! It really clears your sinuses! And here's a little hint, CVS has their own version that they are selling at buy one get one half off right now. You can get the refills at half off instead, if you want to. So you end up getting the pot and lots and lots of solution packets for less than $20. Woo hoo!

I saved the best for last. This little gem is called the turbo snake.

You can get this for $10 in the check out line at Wal Mart. If you have long or loose hair (I have both), you need this item!!!!! I have gone through countless bottles of draino. Well, no more! Again, this is a little gross, but it works so well. You run this little mascara wand looking tube down the sink drain and then twist. When you pull it out, you have a wig on the end of it and water will begin to flow down the drain again. There is also one for the tub. This one allows you to pull out two wigs. Haha

Well, I hope that this post will enhance your 2010! Happy New Year! :)

Just call me Martha

I know that this is really silly, but I am in a slight time of mourning over my Halloween/Fall decorations. This year I made a wreath and decorated a table on my front porch. I also tried my hand at chiseling a pumpkin instead of carving. I was so proud of myself and the total Martha Stewart look of my house. Well, now the wreath is rotting and the chiseled pumpkin is black instead of orange in the chiseled areas. Thursday was trash day, but I just couldn't put them in that big green bin. I may need help letting go. Anyone want to come and load my decorations in the trash can on Wed? Pathetic

Bananagrams....and creation

If you have hung out with any of the Carters in the last few months, you have no doubt been told about the greatest game to come out since Monopoly...okay its actually a LOT better than that!  Bananagrams!  Carla discovered this great game and we have been playing non stop ever since.  Mom is really addicted and can be found playing alone.  Dad tries to use up all of the pieces late at night when he can't sleep.  I have had dreams about words that could help you win.  You really need to check out this game if you haven't played yet.  You can even play it on Facebook, if that is more your speed.

For the last few weeks, Scout has been asking more questions about God.  It is exciting to hear her talk about God and ask questions.  Her latest thing is to talk about how God made different things.  The other day she was asking Matt about how God made the trees.  She said, "Did God make the trees?"  "Yes, He did."  "Well, how'd He do that?"  "Well, He just said, 'Tree'...and it appeared.  He is just that powerful.  It's kind of hard to understand."  Long pause.  "That is hard to understand.  Bananagrams is hard to understand too."  Bwahahahaha.  How fun to watch her learn and grow!  And poor kid, with a family like ours this is just one of many confusing things that she will have to understand.

The Marks of a True Friend

Thursday was such a beautiful day. We made it through the whole day with no rain and beautiful sunshine. So, I pulled out the spring wear! I put on some white capris and a baby blue sweater and then I pulled out the sequin covered, pastel, ballet slippers. Let me just say, these shoes are TOO CUTE! But, they hurt my feet! They have always been about one size too small and so I always wear them once and then put them back into the closet until next year, when I pull them out having forgotten how much they hurt my feet. Well, the day before, Colette had been telling me about how her mom used to wear tight shoes around with big socks for a day and how they would stretch. So that morning when I put them on and thought they were probably a little too tight, I put big socks on with them while I was getting ready. Let me tell you....that was a sight. But definitely not the funniest thing I would see all day! Well, I took the socks off and they seemed to help a little. By lunchtime, the shoes were starting to hurt pretty good. I ran into David Kay out in the parking lot on my way to lunch. Half joking, I asked David if he would be willing to walk around in my shoes for a minute to stretch them out. Before I knew it, he had his shoes off and was waiting for me to hand them over. So I did. Haha! He put them on and walked around a bit. His only comment being, "Your toes are prettier than mine." Well, it worked. My shoes felt WAY better after that. And I now know that I can go to MY FRIEND, David Kay, with anything! What a guy!!!

The Wonder of it All!

Have you heard the Easter story lately? I mean I know its Easter and you have thought about it, but have you REALLY listened to or read it lately? Have you pondered it? It is a story full of wonder and mystery. Why would God come and live among us and then die in our place? Why would perfection take on imperfection? Why would people rather have a murderer loose in their town as opposed to a guy they didn't like because they thought He was a heretic? How did Jesus resurrect from the dead? Why didn't Jesus use pyrotechnics to draw attention to the power He had...why use women? Why did Jesus let Thomas touch Him instead of getting angry at his unbelief? Why did Jesus forgive Peter and allow him to lead His church? Do questions make you nervous? Have you already started asking why in the world I would post this? Does it make you a little uncomfortable that you don't have answers to all of them? I mean we know basic answers, but do you really, completely understand how Jesus resurrected? Yeah, I don't either. Isn't that great!

I am reading a book right now by Ed Gungor called religiously transmitted diseases. So far, I am loving it. One of the chapters is called unreligion: recapturing the romance. In it Gungor, after relaying a story about killing a frog as a kid to see what made it tick, says, "It is as though I am uncomfortable with wonder. I find something full of life and , instead of enjoying the mystery of it, I want to dissect it, to figure out the how and why. But dissecting life results in death. And once death comes, the mystery disappears." He goes on to talk about Romans 11:33 which says, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" See, its good to study God's word and to learn more and more about Him. We should all be doing that daily. But don't think for one minute that you are ever going to completely get it. When we "get it", we have missed God! "How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" That's the wonder of God! And I love it! That is why we are called people of faith. It takes faith to believe what we don't completely understand.

I fly a lot for mission trips. I don't understand how huge airplanes can float through the sky. I don't even understand what goes on in the cockpit. I couldn't even tell you how the engine works. But, I do know that I have been in lots of airplanes and they have all flown. So, with a little fear, I board my plane, and know that odds are pretty good that my airplane will fly. I don't understand all of the things of God. I don't know why He chose me. I don't know why He loves me, other than the fact that He is love. But even that, I can't fully get my head around. But I know that EVERY time I have ever trusted Him in the past, He has been true and faithful. EVERY TIME! And so with no fear, I can put my faith and trust in Him, because He has NEVER failed! Oh the Wonder of it All!

My favorite sport (besides Clemson football)...go figure!

Do you ever really enjoy something and you have no idea why?  Well, I am coming out with a passion that has been hidden up until now.  Some of you have heard bits and pieces, but never before have I released all of the information.  I don't understand it myself and really it is something that has been coming to me in weird fragments of information for years.  So....here goes (in chronological order!)  When I was in college I started collecting Santas.  My grandfather was the Santa in Seneca for years, so I thought it would be neat to collect them to keep the memory alive. So one day, sometime between 2002 and 2003, I heard about a place where they set up a real live Santa workshop in Sweden.  I thought it sounded interesting, but didn't really look into it until 2004, when I celebrated my 30th birthday.  See my birthday is in December and so i started thinking that it would be a lot of fun to celebrate my 40th birthday at Santa's workshop (I am a bit of a planner).  So I looked this place up and it was way more than I had imagined.  It is in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.  There is a hotel there called the ICEHOTEL.  Oh my word, I get excited just typing it.  This is a hotel that is completely built of ice.  The beds are ice, the walls are ice, the restaurant and chapel are ice.  Anywhere you might want to sit or lay down is covered with reindeer skins.  You can also take camping trips out to places where you can see the Northern Lights.  There are sleigh rides in the snow pulled by reindeer and snow mobile trips.  And here is the part that I have always been the most excited about.... a dog sled team will come and pick you up from the airport.  How cool is that?????  So for the last 5 years, I have tried to find companions willing to trek to Sweden with me (so far I am 0 for about 5,429) and I have spent countless hours figuring out when I could go, how much it would cost, and how I can fit all of the activities into the few days I could afford to be there.  Ok, so I know you are wondering where the sport title of this blog comes in...well, here it is.  Since I have gotten so excited about the possibility of a dog sled team picking me up from the airport in Sweden, I have come to love mushers and sled dogs.  Well, in case you didn't know, the 2009 Iditarod is currently underway.  It has already been won by three time champ Lance Mackey, but there are still teams out in the tough terrain making their way to Nome, Alaska.  If you haven't watched any of the coverage on VS, you should check it out.  It is amazing to think about these athletes and what they go through on the race from Anchorage to Nome.  It is really cool to see all of the different mushers.  There are men and women, young and old.  The youngest musher this year is 18 and the oldest is 63.  How many sports have such a diverse population of participants?  I love it!  So...now you all know...I have a weird love for sled dog racing.  Go figure!

Life at the Lake

Today, after church, the Carter family tromped down to Lake Hartwell for a picnic and to see if the snow and rain had helped the sad water situation. Scout and I got out our favorite family quilt, which I was informed Matt had already claimed in the will...haha, and we set out for the sunny part of the yard for our picnic. As we were laying on the quilt, basking in the sun, and telling funny stories about grasshoppers with red toenail polish the two neighbor kids came driving across the yard on a four wheeler. They were having the time of their life and I was a little envious of the fun ride. Their names are Zoey and Bobby and they have got to be two of the coolest kids on the planet. They are getting some life experience that most kids only dream of. They spend a lot of time at their grandma's place at the lake and the rest of the time in the country with 12 goats. Zoey is the oldest, 8, and in the 2nd grade. She was the one navigating the four wheeler. They both know how to fish, clean fish, ride seadoos, and all kinds of other things kids in the country get to do. So today, after the four wheeler ride, Bobby decided that he was going to go turkey hunting. We spent the rest of the afternoon shooting bb guns and watching Bobby turkey hunt. Oh, did I mention that he was turkey hunting with a rake. It was awesome! He had a whole bag of tricks and when he would see a bird, he would sneak toward it with his bag and rake. He had a whistle to attract them and a toy helicopter so that they would think there was another bird in the air. His plan was to attract the turkeys (which later turned to ducks) and then swat them down with the rake. Don't you wish you had that kind of imagination? I do! I miss the days when I could tell the story of a grasshopper with red toenail polish or hunt turkeys with a rake all while thinking it was perfectly logical to do so. When did I get so logical? It's not nearly as much fun!