I'm A Winner

Thanks to my lovely friend Allison for awarding me:

Allison is keeping an amazing blog about her homeschool adventures with TONS of great ideas and links -- if you're homeschooling, I highly recommend it.

The rules for winning this award are as follows:

* Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
* Share 7 things about yourself.
* Pass the award along to 10 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous.
* Contact the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award.

7 Things About Me:

1. I hated tomatoes growing up and didn't ever eat them until I was pregnant with Alison and fell in love with Chevy's salsa.

2. I receive a lot of compliments on my handwriting. It's nice because I spent a lot of time practicing in high school, not taking notes, actually practicing my super-cool handwriting.

3. I love that necklace that Mariska Hargitay wears

on Law and Order:SVU

and my wonderful husband had one custom made for me for our anniversary.

4. I own 2 Swatch watches.

5. As a kid, I loved red licorice, not twizzlers, the legitimate stuff you can get on the Boardwalk in Ocean City.

6. I love fine-point Sharpie markers.

7. I make up word a lot, in English and now in Spanish. :)

I award the following bloggers:

Table for Four

My Journey of Growth

Meyer Family

Mighty Woman

From the Inside Out

Jenna's Jots

Counting My Blessings

PoMo Golightly

Halfway Down the Stairs

Running, Knitting & Such

The future

Both of my lovely sisters are pregnant with princesses who will be born in the next few months. Throw in a few friends who are also expecting and I feel like I've been churning out baby stuff for months -- baby stuff that's still here in Nica and seriously needs to get mailed. :)

I'm just about to finish my last baby gift and am setting my sights to the future.

The future uses small needles.

The future is a project that won't sit on my lap and make me hot while I knit it.

The future is also a gift, but a somewhat predictable one so I'll probably still blog about it.

The future begins Oct 1.

The future is Socktoberfest-friendly.

Here's to happy sock-knitting, care to join me?

Happy 8th Birthday Alison!

This year Alison celebrates her third birthday abroad -- a great way to start a life if ever I've heard one! :) She's having a slumber party with friends from school and church that we're all hoping we survive.

The road to eight has been paved with a lot of growth and changes. Our little girl is becoming more than a big girl. She's asking questions. She's making decisions based on long-term outcome instead of short-term.

Still a voracious reader, Ali's gotten pretty good at reading in Spanish. And speaking Spanish, too. It's still pretty funny to listen to her go off on a tangent in Spanish with her friends -- it makes her sound a lot more intense.

Big girl things have become more important: purses, nailpolish, not-Princesses, distance from her little sister; and it's been a little difficult for this mommy, but we're all growing.

Happy Birthday Roo! I love you a million!

Love Languages

The description in 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 describes what love IS, perfectly.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

Therefore, that must also mean love is NOT a "feeling." It is a verb. An action. It is what you DO.

God designed 3 types of love and 5 love languages.

The 3 types of love are:

EROS: commonly known as erotic or romantic love

PHILOS: a friendly or brotherly love -a la Philadelphia (the city of brotherly love).

AGAPE: unconditional-the love a parent has for a child and God's love toward us.

Next, come the LOVE LANGUAGES.

Love languages are how we interpret and express love that is both given and received.

1-WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

You experience someone's love most when they encourage you and speak words of affirmation

2-QUALITY TIME

You experience someone's love when they simply spend time with you and make themselves available

3-RECEIVING GIFTS

You experience someone's love most when they express it with physical gifts.

4-ACTS OF SERVICE

You experience someone's love most when they take on some of your responsibilities and do things for you.

5-PHYSICAL TOUCH

You experience someone's love most when they hug you or just hold your hand.

You can take a quiz, found HERE, that helps you identify your love language.

My love language is Words of Affirmation, followed quickly by Quality Time. These two are biggies to me and anyone who has spent a lot of time with me could probably guess them. Alison and Wayne's language is Physical Touch so they get LOTS of hugs!

Even if you show someone else how much you love them using YOUR love language, they might not experience the depth of love you're trying to express. Express your love for them in THEIR love language and watch them light up and your relationship improve. I think everyone should figure out what theirs is and what the love language is of those they love!

HIYA Papaya: August 2010 Newsletter

August 2010 Newsletter