Christmas cards...

Somebody pass the milkshake... A long time ago, a wonderful couple from Lakeland Fl, Susan and Larry Hilla taught me and Q that when something bad happens you go out and get a milkshake and celebrate how God is gonna fix this one. We got a Christmas card today... It wouldn't' be Christmas without cards right?? Well I am afraid we get this one most every year. From Alabama power... Saying we need to pay our bill... Lol seams like we are always having our power threatened around Christmas time... Oh well, we called them and worked out a deal. No use crying over it, may as well laugh, and enjoy life... It will get better one day.

Praise The Lord! I had my last class for this semester today... I still have the exams to go, but the classes are over... I am so glad. This has been a really hard semester, I took a class I didn't have to take because I didn't check with an advisor before I made my schedule... and well I have paid for it...

All of our money had to go to rent this week, so we had no money to buy groceries... I was kinda worried, but I prayed, and God hooked me up with a food bank. It is so funny, how God even works in things like that. They gave me a turkey, Q has been really wanting to cook one "his way" lol For thanksgiving, Mom and I overruled him, and we had a smoked turkey. He pouted for 2 days... ok not really, only to me. Now God has given him another one.. So, I think we are having thanksgiving again this week lol. I have to make some dressing.

No one really responded about the food posts, so I just decided to cut it out. I am still trying to cut back, and watch what I eat.I hope soon to get some sort of exercise paraphernalia...

Christmas!!

I love Christmas time. I love my Christmas tree! Every one of my ornaments has a story behind it. Here are a few. I collect nativities, so a friend of mine saw this nativity ornament and bought it for me.

Another dear friend, Kathy, from Fl. gave me this snow flake. I am a snow flake fanatic. I love them, they are so pretty!! When I went over to Kathy's house one year at Christmas, I saw this ornament hanging on her tree, and I exclaimed over it. "Oh! I love this! it is so pretty!" so she took it off of the tree and gave it to me.

Another tradition we have is we try to buy a ornament for every family member each year. As you can see, this one says Mom and Dad, and 2004 Q and I usually try to get one that show us together, like this one...

I just love this one, we look so in love!!!

I love my Que!

Love you too,

DaNella

Confession time...

The food is taking up tooo much space in my blog. So, let me know what you think, I'll put up another poll.

Should I keep posting my food every day, or is it boring you to death. You can also leave a comment, or email me at Godlyspice@yahoo.com .

In the mean time...

1. a Mt Dew (see a trend here?) a 3 musketeer, and a serving size bag of bugles


2. a double cheese burger (Mc D's) and Dr P


3. Taco stuff. only one helping, and a small one at that... with a Mt Dew


4. another Mt Dew while working on home work.

It has helped me to think about what I eat more, but it has confirmed what I knew, I already don't really over eat. (couldn't prove that by my waist line)

Love ya!

DaNella

Sweet Gum Leaves and Acorns

All of nature reflects the nature of God. I love nature. I am absolutely obsessed with sweet gum leaves, they have such a pretty shape, and turn such pretty colors. God is so creative... lol Yeah, my husband wasn't surprised either... I picked up a acorn the other day, and showed it to him, I wanted him to see all of the lovely little stripes. So, I pointed them out, and said earnestly "God did it!" lol he looked at me like DUH! But to me it is really neat. If He cares enough to take the time to paint stripes on acorns, surely he cares for you.

lol God is good. I know He is in control, and I know He has a plan. He has not forgotten me. I may not see where he is, or what he is doing, but I trust him. I know he will see me through, no matter what happens.

So, if you are going through a hard time, something that is discouraging you, don't give up. God Has A Plan!

Love to all,

DaNella

This is becoming a food blog...

Ok, today...

1. 1. Um a Mt dew and a piece of breakfast pizza for breakfast... and then I had to drive to Clanton, past Cakes and Candy...


2. 2. Not good but I only ate a chess square, and a half a piece of peanut butter chocolate cake.


3. 3. Then I had some taco helper for supper. with a Dr Pepper.


4. 4. And, Mom and I got a whopper Jr... later.

Yeash I am not eating a lot, but I am not loosing... I am not active enough, I know that, but when do I have the time? I am just gonna have to make time some how.

Mom and I went to a work from home seminar tonight. It was legit, and pretty good, but to do the program, you have to pay $3000.00 to get a certificate to be a medical transcriptionist.

I simply can't afford that right now... I need to get paid to work from home now...

Well btw, update on the hamster. Itsy seems to be adjusting to life as a solo hamster. We never found Bitsy. We haven't started smelling her yet, so hopefully she escaped into the woods behind us. On a crazy note, to get Nana back for naming her bunny, Bunny Stew, I taught Anny a little song...

Little Bunny Stew is hopping thru the Forrest scooping up the Bitsy to bop her on the head!

ah the joys of children...

Love ya, DaNella

It's Sunday

What a wonderful way to start the day!!! My children made me breakfast in bed!! Wasn't that sweet.The really good thing is they are old enough that we could actually eat it! They made us pancakes. It was nice.

Then we got up and got ready for church... We had a good service, Pastor Mark talked about peace. The peace that passes all understanding. A timely message indeed.

I need lots of prayer this week, next week is midterms. I can do it!!! That is what I tell myself.

The kids were playing in the leaves today... this is a moment where Anny saw a butterfly in the clouds... I love this. Thank God for kids...
Ok, ok confession time.

1. For breakfast, I had a pancake (in bed) with a cup of milk.



2. At church I had a cream cheese pastry, with a Dr Pepper



3. For lunch, a hamburger and some fries. with Dr Pepper



4. then for supper, some cheese peanut butter crackers, and Dr Pepper



5. also a piece of white chocolate.

Not too bad... I am still trying. My goal is to loose 70 lbs... I know that sounds like a lot, but that will only take me down to 160, 135 is supposed to be "ideal" weight for my height. So I think 160 is reasonable.




Peace out.... DaNella

Confession time...

Ok confession time... today I ate...

1. One pancake and 2 scrambled eggs
2. a doughnut
3. a dew... and another...and another... and another... and a root beer (wrestling match all day today, I got thirsty.)
4. small bowl of veg soup and cornbread
5. 10 Mandarin orange slices
6. a fourth of a grilled cheese and a small bag of chips

That's all not too much, maybe toooo many soft drinks...It did help me to think about what I ate, because I knew I'd have to write it down...

Matt and Tymothie had wrestling matches today... Tym won his first one, and should have one the second, but got beat by the score keeper, and lost his third. Matt lost both of his and came in third place... lol

Hi Melinda, thanks for reading... Yall don't forget to click on the adds, if they interest you, I get paid per click... It hasn't paid anything yet, but I figured it was worth a try.

Love to all!

An exercise in futility? Humility? Public Humiliation....

(photo not by DaNella Auten Photography)

I have to loose weight this year... 2008 I mean, but I have to do it for free... cause I ain't got no money... so, I thought if I post what I have had to eat everyday on my blog, maybe it will help me to cut back...Maybe.
Or just humiliate me in public... or not, because I only have three readers right now...(Andriea, Vickie, and Nana) (Oh, Nissa too! Exponential growth!!!)
Ok so here goes, and I am not going to eat anymore tonight.

1. No breakfast, just a 12 oz Mountain Dew


2. At 10:45 I went to Subway for a study meeting, and had a 6' chicken terraki and bacon sub with a root beer


3. at 2 I refilled my root beer before I left and ate 3 or 4 chips...didn't like the way they tasted.


4. for supper I had a hot dog with mayo and ket. two hash browns, one with cheese, and 4 stalks of broccoli steamed, with salt.
5. For the sake of honesty, I had a Doctor Pepper on top of that Dew before bed, cause I had A LOT of homework to do. And, I forgot about the two pieces of butterscotch, and 4 small pieces of wt chocolate...

That's not a lot right? I will probably have another Mountain Dew before bed.

K love ya!!

DaNella

Here is my before picture...
230 lbs

I am special...

One lone car parked facing the wrong direction...

That pretty much sums up my life... and the funny thing is that is my car that is parked the opposite way... lol

I have always been different. I have always seen things differently. I think that is why I am able to write Microbursts. Something that is just a cup of hot hot cocoa so someone else, is a spiritual lesson to me.
God has been dealing with me a lot lately about preparation. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." He has prepared me in advance... I am not just quirky or silly, I am created special. I was a special order that God put in, because He knew exactly what he wanted me to do, and He thought..."DaNella would be prefect for that..." and you know what? I am.

DaNella

Hamsters...

Please if I ever go to get another Hamster, STOP ME! The saga continues. QM decided it would be funny to let Bitsy go under the bathroom door to see Nana while she was using the restroom. Well Bitsy decided to take a detour, down the vent...

Yep, the vent... Do you know how hard it is to catch a hamster that has been released into a maze of vents? No? Well if I knew I would tell you, but we haven't caught her yet. We are praying. We bought a "humane" box trap, and baited it and we are waiting.

That was just the Icing on the cake of my day...

It began with rain. Don't get me wrong, I like rain, I consider it liquid sunshine, but today, it wasn't a nice thing. It was messing with my head. No, literally, I had a splitting headache, sinus pressure. Then on the way to College, I sorta turned a corner on a wet road too quick, and almost met myself on the way in... It was interesting.

When I did finally get to class, I realized I had homework due, that I hadn't done yet... and, I had no paper to print it out, and no jump drive to get it from my computer to the printer... When I finally got it all fixed and printed, I had to borrow paper and a jump drive...I realized I had my jump drive in my pocket... Lovely huh? Then as I was getting ready to leave school, I had left my jacket in my first class... Yeash....

So, I went home, and laid down, took some medicine, and was starting to feel better, when Nana came in and woke me up with "Mommy, one of the hamsters went down the vent..."

I need a bubble bath and a good book... see ya.

DaNella

Life Goes On...

Our darling Nana lost her little pet Hamster Kati yesterday... It was sad, Kati got stuck in her ball on the hot air vent. Today, we went and bought two more. Itsy and Bitsy... I named them, but Nana thinks it was her idea... lol

Later tonight, she got to thinking about it, and realized, I have pretty much named all the pets. Misty, Trixie, Angel, Kati the dog... they were all my idea....

Well, Nana decided to return the favor.Anny got a new stuffed rabbit this weekend, Anny calls it Bun Bun, Nana named it Bunny Stew... Lol Guess which name stuck? You got it, Bunny Stew!

DaNella

What a week.

I know, I know, I am slow to post. If anyone actually reads this on a regular basis, I apologise. No I am not sorry that you have to read it, I personally think it is fascinating :) I am sorry I am not more regular.

OK so lets do a week in review... there are some pictures that are in my head, that I have to find... What on earth am I talking about?

I Love hearts. When we were first married my dear hubby swore up and down I had a heart shape spinning in my head and it tried to make a heart out of anything I saw...Hey blast from the past... (singing) "Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me..." LOL Anyways, I have some pictures in my head, things I have to capture on digital film, but I don't really know what they are, until I see them in real life... Here is almost one.

However that was the start to a wonderful, horrible, wonderful day... It was a beautiful day. See the sun-rays bursting thru the trees, OK, also notice that I am stuck behind a school bus. However, that is OK... I can be patient. I was on my way to take my two youngest to school, and as I stopped behind this bus, probably at the same moment as I took this pic... (yes I am a photo geek OK I take pictures while driving... my husband has threatened to take my camera away... that wouldn't be a pretty site.) OK so anyway, as I stopped behind the school bus, the breaks sounded like they scrubbed... not good. Then, as I started to go again, my breaks were kinda stuck. I pushed on the gas harder, and it went. However, I knew in my heart that something was terribly wrong, and if I went to fast I wouldn't be able to stop, but the best place to pull over was still a quarter of a mile away... So not wanting to scare the kids, I turned my Christmas music up louder... No Room by Evie... and sang... as I prayed and drove very slowly to a church parking lot I knew I could pull over in. Sure enough, I made it, but as I pulled into the church parking lot, when I barely tapped on the breaks, they clamped down tight on the front passenger, and I had to drag it like a lame leg just to get the car into the parking lot, and totally out of the road.

So... then I had a new problem. We are in a financial crunch right now, so I can't afford what many people consider an essential, cable...OK so we don't have cable, I can live without that, the truth is I don't have a cell phone. OK so I do have one, a nice blue razor like phone... but I don't have a service... and for some reason they want me to pay to have one... go figure. Oh well. This would have been not a real big deal, but my youngest son had a field trip that day, and we weren't at the school yet. So, I flagged down someone and... Humbly... asked someone to let me use their phone. I called my mom and asked her to call my hubby at work.

Then I waited... and prayed. I needed an angel to come and get my kids to school... Sure enough, God sent one, she came and offered to take me and the kids to the school, and take me back to my stranded car, even though it was out of her way to come back to the car... Thank you angel!!!

So, then I waited some more. My mom was passing near my stranded spot, and decided to see if I was still there, and sure enough, I was. I explained to her that I somehow had to get to Montevallo, 11 miles away, to turn in my homework that was due that day... She graciously offered to go out of her way to take me.

As kind as it was of her to take me, there was a catch... I had to wait on her to finish some business in Birmingham, before she could come back by and get me... Long story short, I spent 3HOURS in a McDonald's with NOTHING to entertain me... When you start thinking you have met that fly somewhere before, perhaps you have been in McD's tooooooooo long...

However, the upside, is that it was just simply a bolt on the caliper that had come loose. All we had to do is put it back, and it was fixed... Praise God.

Yeash and that was just Monday... the rest of the week didn't even really make the charts... Praise God. I am glad for a little mundane. I am working on an excel file, to give to my children. It is called the Auten Family Thanksgiving Master List. It is a list of my usual Thanksgiving Menu, along with an ingredients list for each, (for a shopping list) along with all of the recipes. I will have a link to each recipe individually. Pretty cool.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, on Monday, my mom was on her way to a pre-op work over, because she had to have foot surgery on Wednesday, so on Thursday, Que and I went over, and cooked everything, served lunch, and cleaned up... It was fun we enjoyed doing it. Here is a picture of the lovely clove oranges my kids made for Grammy...

Also we got the Christmas decorations out. Every year, I put away all of my Nick-knacks, and put out Nativities. I have 18 I'll have to put up pics one day... OK so my point is I get a new one every year... This year, my new one is a Rubber Ducky nativity. My mom gave me one of my favorite one's 2 years ago, it is a huge statue, of just Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. My kids kinda combined the two, and this is the result...

Merry Christmas!!!! A little early.

Love,

DaNella

Christmas times a comming!

My Sister and I have started every year taking pictures for my mom's Christmas card. Here are some from this year, the blue kids are mine... since I am a blue supremist...

I said Ok everyone, Pretend you love each other!!!

I love this one!! She is so cute! She wasn't really pitching a fit, she was just being silly!

This is my sister's oldest girl, the oldest of the grandchildren, and my youngest child, the youngest of the grand children. I love the symbolism here...


Happy Holidays... Well actually, to not be politically correct, Merry Christmas! (a little early)