Prayer Walks

I like to call the area where I work Corporate USA but I am blessed to have a nice walking path where on most beautiful days I use my lunch break for my Prayer Walks. These strolls are so quiet and peaceful, I can really think and open up and talk to God. I spend 30 minutes asking God “why am I on this path” or “how should I handle a situation”.  On the way back I try to stop thinking all together so I can hear God and even though I can’t actually “hear” God by the time I am back at my desk I know what God wants me to do. How do you talk to God?

The Elevation of the Cross

          O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the
          Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by the virtue of Thy Cross,
           preserve Thy habitation (Troparion).

To help celebrate the Holy Cross Monkey and I made a few crosses out of play-doh.  It was his first time playing with play-doh and I was nervous that all he was going to do was eat it but he learned fast that play-doh taste nasty. He did really good he helped me roll out the play-doh and enjoy making ball shapes out of them. After I made one successful cross, Monkey gave it a kiss. I wish I had my camera by my side but I was too still too afraid of leaving him alone with the play-doh.

Othodox Child in a Non-Orthodox Church

We attained a christening Sunday that was at an Episcopal Church, which where the christening is part of the Sunday serves too. Well for the last 5 days I have been worried how Monkey was going to act in a non-Orthodox Church because our church is normally loud with children and the choir, everybody knows how Monkey likes to "sings" and loves to scream "Amen", plus I have tons of help to keep him under control. I am happy to say Monkey did pretty well during the services, he did scream "Amen" and he had to say hi to everybody around us but after that he was good. Monkey didn't make it for the full hour and half service but the church was very quiet and there really weren't a lot of children which I felt Monkey was even louder so I did take him to the car early but I was pretty happy with his behavior so we stopped at the local bakery and got a cookie.

Happy 4 Years!

Do you ever just stop and think about how you got where you are? Today is my 4 year wedding anniversary and when I look back on our relationship it just proves to us that God has plans for us and know that DH and I would be perfect together. When DH and I meet over 8 years ago, we were both young, and we really didn’t know who we were yet. At first we were attracted to each other and realized that we had chemistry. Today I am still very much attracted to DH but the love has changed. The love is stronger more powerful than I could ever imagined it. I love who we turned into, I love the parents we have become, and I love the life we have created together. That’s my definition of a soul mate is God making two people who are perfect for each other now, later, and for eternity.

Household Chores

When you work 40 hours and your weekends are filled with faith, family, and friends it leaves you no room for house work. I have no time for house work nor any money for a maid (even though if I did have money for a maid, it would become tithe money instead). Like any women there are things that drive me crazy, for example; I like to walk around my house barefoot but I hate the feeling of dirt under my feet, but I hate the feeling that I am always cleaning which is hard for any momma out there. So here is how I fit cleaning into my busy life;

Every day I do one load of laundry and a quick clean to the kitchen (dishes, countertops, and sweep).
Every other day I do a quick clean to our upstairs bathroom (quick wipe to the tub, tiles, sink, countertop, and toilet) . The three of us rarely use the powder room so I only need to clean it once a week.
Every Wednesday night is my cleaning night: I clean both bedrooms, both bathrooms, the kitchen, living room, and the dining room. I put away clutter, empty trash, dust/windex, map/vacuum every room. It only takes me 3 hours to clean both floors thanks to being organized. My trick is clean one room at a time (starting with the baby’s since he goes to bed at 7) and I carry around my cleaning basket which has everything I need to clean all the rooms. I don’t turn on any TV or radio bc then I just get distracted and everybody is sleeping so I have a good few hours to talk to God. Boy do I talk to God when I am cleaning out my refrigerator.
Every 6 monthish I go crazy and do a deep clean where I clean the closets, windows, walls, swap seasonal clothes, Murphy oil all the wood, clean the carpets.
This schedule keeps my house clean and I don’t feel like I am always cleaning. How do you manage your household chores?

Staycation

Staycation is when your are on vacation but you stay home. I have been on staycation all week and it's been nice. I got to spend tons of time with my nephews and my Monkey and it made me realize that DH and I are done working crazy overtime and spend more time together. So we need to trim our budget and I need to realixe that it is just money it's not that important, not more important that family time. This fall I am going to give it my all and try to reduce my food bill by $75 making it $425 a month. It is going to be hard since I stress that I give my family a well balanced diet.  I need to review my receipes and see where I can make cheap subsitutes. I already started my making my own chicken stock (I use alot of chicken broth) last week but what else can I do? It's going to take me a few months but I think I can do it. Any tips?

Happy September

Fall it is my favorite season; I know it's still summer but fall is around the corner. I fancy the fall activities like apple picking, pumpkin carving, and hayrides. I also have a passion for football, comfort food, and watching the leaves change color. My town has a free county fair with hayrides and face painting this month and a October fest next month. It is expensive to live here in New Jersey but I absolutely adore Jersey this time of year, all the towns get together, there is so much to do and it cost so little. I love when strangers get together to have fun because then they are no longer strangers.