on my way...

to North Carolina tomorrow morning...

lots of packing to do & other fun stuff like cleaning..

meh. -_-

lookin' forward to the trip insanely.  feelin' like it's Christmas or something.

:)

my parents celebrate 40 years of marriage this weekend! no small feat!  

looking back over my childhood & my parents' relationship, i'm amaZed that they've made it this far..

but then again, i'm surprised that my j-boy#1 & i have made it this far also!

let's face it.. ALL kinds of statistics are stacked against marriages.

selfishness

infidelity

pornography

covetousness

greed

selfishness

laziness

lack of commitment

selfishness

abuse

fears

selfishness..

did i mention SELFISHNESSS!? 

we're plagued by the stuff.. ALL of us. even your newborn. Lol..

sO, if my parents or my own marriage lasts one more day, it'll be because we beat the odds...

and let's not forget that there is an omni-everything God who makes amaZingly sticky "glue" ;)

anyway.. yea. i'm lookin' forward to celebrating with them. it should be fun.  :)

photo credit here..

some inspiration..

just when i need it most..

after midnight.. LOL

i thought that THIS was an amaZing little way to use paper.. would i try it?

no.

& yes.. it IS paper

but it's still pretty neat to look at.  ;)

and THIS is just too much cuteness.. i love it when people aren't afraid of color.. so much fun*

and THIS is one i just gotta have.. but i can't find it where it's supposed to be..

i saw it here, though..
should i make one for myself.. maybe.. ;)

sO, yea... i'm inspired. :)

Six Months To Live...

i listened to this one for a second time today..

profound word.. worth heeding..

enjoy.

:)

If I Had Six Months To Live

a must see..

to see details about what looks like an awesome movie.. click here.

about this guy....>

heh heh..

;)

what a funny lil' man..

his name is Shail Upadhya.. a former UN official for Nepal.
i would've loved to see him during forums.. LOL

you can see more here..

thankful thursday.. a good day to be back!

it has been sOoo LONG since i've blogged.. that's been mainly because of busy-ness..

i homeschool my kids and the curriculum is VERY involved.. but i have to say that it (the curriculum) is definitely something that i'm thankful for..

this is my fifth year homeschooling.. and i've told people for the past FOUR of the five years of my battles with despairing over this treacherous movement that manages to squeeze the last bit of life out of any mother who would desire to be with their children..

sO, here i am.. five years later..

some say it's perseverance.. some call it crazy.. some think i'm sOo great. HA!

well.. for ONE thing, i have to give the perseverance credit to my honey, j-boy #1!

although i resented him greatly many days AND nights for encouraging me & ignoring my pleas for restoration of sanity (which usually were revealed in the form of tantrums) i'm grateful.

for him. and Sonlight.

before i started using Sonlight curriculum, i spent listless hours with *trying*.. i was burnt out before i could even start the fire!

i didn't know where to begin.. or how.. & i felt like the worst mother for tormenting my kids and myself into this lame excuse of an education.. & yet my kids were still learning.

sheesh. lol..

Sonlight does EVERYthing for you.. except for actually teach. there's a day-to-day, subject-to-subject calendar, so i don't even have to think. LOL... there are fun activities interwoven in your learning that make it come to life..

the other day we played pictionary with our science vocabulary words.. the kids had a blast!

the books that Sonlight has hand-picked for each grade are some of the greatest classics mixed with some good historical fiction & stories with wonderful Christian types and expression.

i LOVE it.

i realized more than anything that school could be enjoyable.

i actually still like my kids. LOL..

i really thought that by the end of the journey i would despise all living creatures that swim in piles of Lego® with high-pitched giggles..

but i don't. i ENJOY them.

finally.

it has been a LONG journey. one of which i am happy to say that i desire to endure to the end.. (whenever that is..)

& not begrudgingly either. we look forward to "school" each day. the history, the science, the reading.. & it's FUN.

*gasp* (did i just say that out loud???)

i did.

sO, yea.. i'm thankful. ;)

THANKFUL.. thursday? NOOooo... ;)

i can't believe it! i'm actually POSTing on a THURSDAY!! Yay me!!

is that even POSSIBLE??

yes. ;)

i was *browsing* the creative genius of others when i came across sO many goodies my head was spinning..

(this is when u ask, WHY was your head spinning, Tosha?)

well.. honestly, i realized how much i was missing out on exploring my inner adventurous, creative self.

i LOVE etsy. the place is an amaZing haven of inspiration, exploration, and encouragement..

but u can't just be inspired to explore & get encouraged..

which is what happens to me a lot of times during my creative adventures.

i get my *fix* just by lookin' at what other people have done, admiring THEIR creative geniuses & then feelin' sucky for not tryin' my own hand @ fun stuff..

sO, i went to the etsy blog...

*here's where it gets interesting..*

and i found

THIS!!

such an amaZing article that inspired me to not give up!

i'm encouraged. sO, i made a lil' reminder doodle. :)

cuz u know what..? i'll only get to the WHO and where i wanna be one small step at a time.

*peace* :)