The Master Plan Contest!

Sticky note! Please scroll down for more recent entries.

It's that time of year when I am making plans - plans for the summer, plans for the next school year, plans to reorganize my apartment and even plans to sleep in late. If you've read my blog for a while, you probably know that I struggle with organization. So I was excited to find out about Julie's new planner, The Master Plan.

Click on the picture above to see a slide show and the table of contents. I had to get one for myself and I've been going through it this morning. The Master Plan's nearly 400 pages has everything I need all in one place. It's fully interactive so that I can print it out OR just type my info in right there and keep it on my computer. I love the fact that Julie made it so user friendly and her fun style is all through it. I think everyone should have one of these planners so I am going to give one away. All you have to do is post an entry about it on your blog with a link to me and a link to Julie's blog entry about The Master Plan. Then just leave me a comment here letting me know you've blogged about it. The contest is open until Friday the 13th at midnight. I will announce the winner on Saturday.

Interactive Planner

My friend Julie has made a planner that includes absolutely everything and then some. And not only that, it's fully interactive, so that you can type your own information in all of the forms, click on links and customize this planner and make it your own. How cool is that? I've gotta get one! Check it out here.

My Famous Kids

Check out my famous kids!

Actually, I found this site over on Julie's blog. How fun!

Sneak Preview

While my house is not in order yet, I do have some places that I will show you. Julie has blogged about her beautiful doorknobs in an entry entitled "This Old House" and has asked us to show her something about our homes.

For years, since college I think, I have collected tins. Because of my many moves, some of them are dented and not as beautiful. Some I have given or thrown away. They do make attractive storage containers and this apartment has lots of room for them over the cabinets in the kitchen.

The refrigerator is not very big. My magnet collection covers the freezer and then some. Magnets is another thing that I have collected for years. Notice the maple leaf in the bottom right corner. It's from Canada! Sadly, it's gotten worn over the years. I have magnets from other countries too: Austria, Bulgaria and the Netherlands. Amazingly, I don't have a single magnet from Romania. The tin on top of the fridge is filled with letter magnets. I thought my kids might have outgrown them. However, the first thing my son did when we moved in was to write a phrase. Can you guess what movie it's from?




UPDATE! No one has guessed the movie yet. Hint: There is a scene in a movie with refrigerator magnets with that phrase spelled out. I will give the answer this evening. Stay tuned!

Busy Days

This week just zipped right past and we have been busy with several different things. On Monday, Gabriel took me to see Spider Man 3. That was his Mother’s Day gift to me. I wasn’t really wild about seeing an action flick, especially paying theater prices for it. Waiting for it to come out on DVD was good enough for me, or so I thought. But Gabe insisted that I would like it and surprisingly, I did! There are some powerful lessons taught in that film on bitterness, revenge and forgiveness. It’s a must see movie, in my opinion.

John has been cleaning and organizing my parents’ garage. That is quite a daunting task! I have been working bit by bit on things here on the inside. School wise I am thrilled to say that are just about finished with one subject! Gabriel asked a few weeks ago if we could just concentrate on one thing at a time and it has been a great idea. He and Hannah just have a couple of reports to do and we’ll be done with English Grammar and Composition 1! Next week, I am planning on focusing on Geography.

On Wednesday night, my blogging friend Julie and her kids came by for a visit on their way back to Texas. They arrived a few minutes after LOST was over. Great timing, Julie!! We had an awesome visit with them! I have no idea when we may cross paths again but I am so blessed to have Julie and her family for friends.

How was your week?

A Visit from a Friend

I began my first blog nearly two years ago. I hadn’t been blogging long when I added Julie to my friends list. She was also fairly new to the blogosphere. Our blog comments evolved into e-mails and Instant Messages and then, when we were home on furlough in 2005 she invited us to drop by her house. On one of our Alabama – New York trips we decided to take her up on her offer. Julie is truly a brave soul to invite practical strangers to stay with her but she has a heart for missionaries and genuine hospitality. In fact, she never felt like a stranger to me but more like a kindred spirit.

Yesterday, she and her kids plus a couple of extras were able to stop by for a much too brief visit on their way to West Virginia. I am so glad that we are here in the states and we don’t have the Romania/US distance to deal with, but Texas is still too far away. I am thrilled that we are just about the halfway point for her on her journey and she was able spend some time with us. Who knows? Maybe some day we will live closer to each other. Until then we have the blogosphere to keep in touch.