I've been tagged

Usually I opt out of these sort of things, but today I am awake with not much else to do...so...:



8 TV Shows I Watch:

1) 24 (when it is on)

2) Heros

3) The Office

4) Talk Soup (on E!)

5) ANYTHING Food Network!

6) Flip That House

7) Design on a Dime

8) ??? (I had a hard time comming up with those 7!)



8 Favorite Restaurants:

1) Texas Roadhouse

2) El Centenella

3) Firehouse Wings

4) Chick Fil A

5) Killens

6) Panera

7) Einstein Bros

8) Frenchies



8 Things that Happened to me Today:

1) I woke up thankful that I will not feel rushed to get to church.

2) I emptied the dishwasher.

3) I put a few left-over dishes from last night in the dishwasher.

4) I made coffee.

5) I had a bowl of cereal.

6) I said, "Good Morning" to my sweet husband.

7) I peed.

8) I hopped on the computer. :)



8 Things I look Forward To:

1) Getting at least 1 room in my house just the way I want it.

2) Putting together (and testing) our new grill!

3) Being able to actually use our garage (the stackable washer/dryer is in the way). :(

4) Getting our chimney fixed.

5) Getting a new fence. (Thanks IKE!)

6) Traveling more in '09 and '10 with sweet Scotty.

7) Having my whole class potty trained once again.

8) Getting bedroom furniture.

8 Things I pray for:

1) I pray I never forget to negotiate a price BEFORE the work is done.

2) I pray for my dad's salvation.

3) I pray my brother might be free.

4) I pray I never forget to keep striving to be a better Christ-follower and wife to Scotty.

5) I pray a cure for cancer is revealed.

6) I pray my mom is able to live debt free.

7) I pray God will help me captivate my thoughts and words so I can bring him glory through them.

8) I pray if He says,"Go", I have the faith to follow.

Merry Christmas (and an update)

Today is CHRISTMAS! I cannot believe how fast Christmas came upon me this year. I am sad I was not able/did not make time to truly soak in the full meaning of Christmas. However, this does not need to happen just during the month of December - it can happen all year long! Therefore, I (or rather we) are going to try our best to open our home and hearts up more this coming year for friends to come over and God to grow us....


Some recent things going on in our lives are:
*Praise God our chimney is in the process of getting fixed - FINALLY after Ike!
*We were blessed with a beautiful, new, stainless steel backyard Grill as a gift for Christmas!
*Hopefully I (Anna) will get a new position a work I am being considered for...
*Scotty still has his job with UTMB.



I am quite sure there are only a small handfull of people who keep-up with this blog, but for those select few's viewing pleasure.........some recent photos:

Here is our place setting for Christmas (Eve) dinner hosted at Scotty and my house.

Here is our living room on Christmas Eve before opening presents with family.

Here is our beautiful tree just after we put it up.





Here is our 2008 ornament. (We have 1 from 2006 and 1 from 2007 - our tradition).

So far, we have had two of our three Christmas celebrations and have really enjoyed each moment spent with family. I have also very much enjoyed using our new China and silver we recieved as gifts from the wedding. I have also enjoyed cooking with all our new cookware!

We really have been so blessed by our family and friends, and each one of you have made our first Christmas together very special.

Love,

Parenting.........

So, I (Anna) have been watching 2 girls (ages 3 and 4) for about 15 days now....parents come back on the 17th.

These sweet babies are beautiful and adorable in every sense of the word.  However, can I just say that I am not quite ready to be a mom.  

Every moment of my days has been consumed with finding edifying words to teach them and help them make good decisions.  My heart has been sad during the times they are put in time-out and are crying in the corner.

However, there have been some beautiful times of joy (like in teaching) when they have an "ah-ha" moment and choose to either not throw a fit, close their eyes and sleep or eat the dinner that was cooked.

Either way, no one, no matter how much they love someone's kids can ever take the place of "mom" and "dad".  They are the earthly comforters, the discipline givers and the unconditional lovers of kids.

Pray for us these last few days....

*Pray the children have awesome days at school

*Pray for my level of sanity (as I am going in their room for a 4th time tonight)

*Pray for my sweet husband, whom I miss more than I can describe in words.

***Especially pray for safe travel for their parents and big brother.  We all want them to arrive safely and on-time.

Thanks!

OH....and

Merry Christmas from my sweet Mother and my brothers and sisters:

Alexandria, Tracy, Arthur, Anna, Elizabeth, Aaron (Standing)

Renee' and Amanda (Sitting)

An Update~

Wow. I don't think I even know where to begin.

This past week has been quite trying, emotionally. On Wed, about 3:00am, my dad got in a car accident. He was taken to Memorial Hermann because of the seriousness of his trauma. I got a call at about 8:00am that day to tell me he was in a wreck.

I took the day off work and went down to the hospital. It turns out, he burst his "L3" in his back and the rest of his vertabre were crushing down on it. He also fractured a couple ribs and his right ankle. He finally was able to get back surgery (fusion) on Saturday. I was able to stay with him for a couple nights, and pray that by serving him he might come to know the REAL Servant and Savior!

I'm not sure how much longer he will be in the hospital, but hopefully he will get out soon.

ALSO.....

In the midst of all the stuff going on with my dad, we have come to find my youngest brother (18) is beginning to experiment with pills and hard liquor. After much deliberation, Scotty and I decided we would like to take him in and get him away from his "friends".

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY FAMILY.
Please pray everything that has been kept in darkness will come to light.
Please pray Scotty and my marriage only grows stronger and we grow closer to Christ through all this.
Please pray for my dad's salvation.
Please pray Scotty and I can show Christ to my brother through the way we treat eachother, speak and love him.

Thanks!

You're kidding.......RIGHT?!?

I love FALL! I especially love when we have a Fall where the cool weather does not wait until Thanksgiving to get here! This year, thankfully, we began getting cool weather by the 1st few weeks of October! YAHOO!

I was totally psyched! The moment it was cool enough, I turned off the air conditioner in our home, opened the windows and let the air do all the work! I naturally turn off all lights when we are not using them, so I am pretty savvy about keeping the electricity bill as low as possible. However, to be able to keep my AC off as well???? I was thrilled!!!

Then, Monday, the new energy bill arrived. I was almost as excited to hear what our bill was as I would be hearing that someone just randomly sent us a check in the mail for $500! I called Scotty, and he assured me it had arrived. I waited in anticipation over the phone as he opened the envelope............................

Was it as low as $60?!?

Was it $80?!?

TELL ME NOW!!!!!!

Then, I heard the words.........

"Honey, our electricy bill is $300."

"WHAT?!?" "You're kidding with me, right?"

"No." "$300."

I was sure somehow he had forgotten how to read the bill. So, I rushed home and sure enough the bill was for $298.75! HOW? On top of the bill read: "Estimated Bill", so I called Stream Energy Customer Service. After sitting on hold for 30 min, a sweet lady got on the phone. I kindly explained to her how I loved Fall, I had been turning off my AC, opening windows and did not understand how my bill (which is never over $120) can now be almost $300.

Then, she kindly replied: "Well, since not everyone in the Texas/New Mexico power grid has recieved their power back yet, we are not getting current, accurate reads from everyone's meters. All residential customers are getting what we call "Estimated Bills". Which means, whatever your residence paid last year at this time in energy, we are billing you. So, you do owe the $300. It is due by the due date or you will be subject to having your power cut off."

uh..........yeah

So now, apparently, I have to manipulate the budjet to find an extra $100 or so to pay this bill of energy we didn't use. The good thing about the deal is that when they finally do get an accurate read, if they realize they over-charged us, our next bill will be a credit and could be as low as $0. Geez.......I sure hope so.

For your enjoyment...

This Halloween proved to be fun and disappointing. My 2 year olds had a BLAST this week! Here was our schedule at school:

Monday: Decorate Trick-or-Treat bags
Tuesday: Make Spider Apples
Wednesday: Decorate Halloween Cookies
Thursday: Discover Pumpkins
Friday: Wear your costume and Halloween Party!

Needless to say, I had to get quite creative to keep everyone from bouncing off the walls from their constant sugar high during class. Myself and the other teacher decided to go to school Friday as characters from the Wizard of Oz. She was the Tin Man. She looked FANTASTIC! I sure am glad I didn't choose her character. I could not have pulled it off as good as she did!

However, I was extremely sad when, after work, I raced home, touched-up my make-up and waited in anticipation for...........NOT ONE TRICK-OR-TREATER!!!!!!!!! NONE. I was so bummed!!!!

This is my very first Halloween being married. My very first Halloween to be in full costume waiting to answer the doorbell and see those sweet faces, and NOT ONE!

*sigh*

WHO IS GOING TO TAKE ALL THIS CANDY?

I am seriously considering having a Halloween Party next year. People must come to my home, ring my doorbell and say "Trick-or-Treat!". Even if it takes me sending invitations and making food............

I'll take it!

This Saturday night I get to have an extra hour of sleep thanks to good 'ol Daylight Savings!

I am a bit sad, however, that it will begin to get darker earlier. I enjoy being able to walk in the park in the evenings with my sweet Scotty. Now, we will have to be home be 7 or so to beat the sunset. :(

Even though Daylight Savings comes around bi-annually, I am sure that in the Spring, I will be just as surprised to lose my hour.....and will probably write a blog-rant about how upset I am about that. ;)


OH - here are some fun things going on today:
1. I'm cooking a SUPER YUMMY desert for my work staff luncheon.
2. Going to early voting before work.
3. Hottie and I have "date night" tonight. :) :) :)
4. I'm carving pumpkins with my class today! FUN and MESSY! :)

Can you believe it?!?

I'M READING!

I know! It is CRAZY. For those of you that know me well....I hate reading. Seriously. I think, in my lifetime, I have read maybe 4 books. In school, I would do ANYTHING I could to NOT read books for class.

I remember, in 9th grade English, our teacher would give us a quiz each Friday over the chapter we were supposed to read the week before. However, he loved the it when "students" would get enraptured in a book, so he could talk about it for hours. So, every Friday I would somehow ask a question about one of the characters that I "just didn't understand". He would begin a discussion about the chapter we were on and why that character was doing what he/she was doing. By the end of each discussion, I would have almost enough information to make at least a "B", if not an "A" on each quiz. By "test time", our "study guide" was our quizes! I made an "A" in the class - without ever picking up a book!

However, now I am getting older (hopefully wiser) and realizing a couple things:

1. I want my children to love reading. How can I instill that in them, if I don't read joyfully?

2. I want to become the kind of wife and mom that honors God, but I definitely have no idea where to begin. I know I am in for some heavy reading, prayer and mentoring...

So, after many suggestions from wives I look up to, I bought the book "The Excellent Wife". I have not even had this book for a week and am already on chapter 10!!! I am captivated, humbled, inspired and excited!

Marriage, in two months, has already taught me that I am definitely all about ME. I love serving Scotty. I love making him lunch, dinner, making the bed, doing laundry....all those things. However, the moment I feel like one of my "needs" are not being met, something in me just wants to make everything I do shut down. I want to say, "WAIT! I did all "this" and you can't see that I need "that"???" Then I'm done.

Sad.

That is NOT God's plan for marriage. That is NOT God honoring.

If you are a wife, and have not yet read this book, GET IT. It will revolutionize the way you think about your life, your purpose and your husband.

....more to come..........

Are you willing to die for your faith?

Believe it or not, this question pops up in my mind more than a couple times a week. I wonder, in that moment:

Could I die and be okay with never having children?

Could I die and be okay with leaving my sweet husband of only 2 months?

Could I die not knowing if my dad ever accepted Christ?

Could I????

The truth is, I have to. I have to believe that God's plan for my life is GREATER and my own. I have to just trust Him. Trust He will take care of my family. He is the ultimate provider.

I read THIS, and am praying He is caring for Gayle's family now.

I'm IN LOVE!

With my crockpot, of course!

I don't know how any working person can truly live without one of these fantastic inventions. I am fine with coming home a couple nights a week and making dinner, but there is nothing like getting up in the morning, throwing some carrots, potatoes, onions, seasonings, roast and water in a crockpot - setting it on low for 8hrs - and returning home from work to a home full of wonderful aromas and a fully prepared Pot Roast dinner ready to eat!

While I am on the subject, here are some other things I simply cannot live without:

I have not always been a coffee fan, but thanks to Coffee Mate - I am almost an addict! Best of all, they have seasonal creamers! Currently, Peppermint Mocha is my favorite while Scotty prefers Pumpkin Spice...BOTH occupy a corner of the refrigerator.

Swiffer makes TONS of great products I love, but currently I cannot get enough of this little handheld duster! I have the one with the long extended handle, and I am able to dust the fans, all the blinds and the top of the doors without breaking a sweat! I LOVE IT!

So.............what can YOU not live without????

Thank God mine was indoors!

Have you seen this yet?

Savannah Grace

Sweet Savannah had her surgery yesterday. God, as always, proved to be faithful. Her mom had a peace she could not explain, but gave glory to Him. The doctors originally throught since she was born with 2 left sides of a heart (not a visible right and left) that she would not have correct blood flow in hear heart or maybe only have 1 chamber in her heart, so her oxygenated blood would mix with the un-oxygenated blood. But, PRAISE GOD, inside her little heart, all is normal! Right chambers and left chambers. Blue blood goes in, Red goes out and they are not mixing!

She was also born with pretty much no wall around a huge part of her heart which caused her to have a very hard time breathing and has not allowed her to grow (she was born 7lbs 3oz, she is now 10 lbs at 6 months). They were able to patch the wall, and see her having no issues with growing and breathing any longer!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. Pray for a miraculously fast recovery for little Savannah.

2. Pray for her 2 older brothers' Bradley and Josh Jr. - 3yr and 1.5yr - they miss their mom and dad already, and have a long road ahead of them.

3. Pray for mom and dad as they have 4 days with Savannah in the ICU unit and about 2-3 weeks in the hospital before being able to return home to some normalcy with their other children.

4. Pray for the general things the devil can take a hold of durning times like these and cause rifts in marriages and families: tension, stress, finances, lack-of-sleep, etc....


Thank you!

It's LAUNDRY day!

Believe it or not, I like Laundry Days! I have determined that Wed and Fri will be my laundry days. I enjoy getting up early in the morning so I can have some time to read and walk at the park before going to work. So, because of my early mornings, I am usually able to get about 2 loads in before even going to work!

Wednesdays always have more because I also wash bed sheets. But, it is not the pure organization of Laundry Days that excites me.....no.....it is the precious SMELL of my softner!

I LOVE SOFTNER. I am truly addicted! I never used it until I met Scotty, but once I smelled his clean laundry, I was hooked!

The frustration of softner is you have to "pour" it in durning the rinse cycle. Who sits around their washer to wait for the rinse cycle??? In the beginning I would get so frustrated because I would always miss it!!

NEVER AGAIN thanks to the handy Downy Balls! Just fill one up with softner close the top and drop it in at the beginning of the cycle. When your clothes are done, the ball has released the softner at just the right time and your clothes smell just like your favorite softner!

ahhhhhhhhhh heavenly!

Update

I just thought I might take a moment and update everyone on some not-so-important happenings in the Floyd Home:

1. Scotty has not been working on Galveston Island much. He worked at UTMB (in Galveston) for about 2 weeks just after the storm, but has since been working at the UTMB clinics in the surrounding areas.

2. Anna recently got a small promotion at work. Along with teaching, she will also be "closing" the daycare Tues, Thurs and Fri. This is exciting as it is a pay increase and a chance to learn more about management.

3. We finally got to celebrate Scotty's birthday with the annual Scotty/Connie birthday dinner last Saturday. We ate at a FANTASTIC steak restaurant called Killens. If you live in the area, and have some coin to spare - THIS IS A GREAT DATE NIGHT RESTAURANT!

4. We meet with the insurance adjuster on Saturday. Yay!

5. Anna is officially Anna Floyd! YAHOO! SSN changed. DL changed. Insurance changed. Bank accounts merged. *whew*


PRAYER NEEDS:
1. Please join us in prayer for all the UTMB employees that are about to lose their jobs. The number will be great and will be soon.
2. Please pray if Scotty is chosen to be let go that God shows us immediately where he is to go.
3. Pray with us for a sweet 6 month old girl, Savannah, she is having open heart surgery Thursday (Oct. 16).

Thank you! We love you all!

A MUST See!

Scotty and I went to see this movie for our date night this week. I would encourage everyone to see this movie! We always are trying to see films that do not have cursing / nudity in them, but this went above and beyond.

I was totally surprised and a bit upset with myself while watching this movie. As I sat in the movie theater, I knew it was going to be a movie about a failing marriage and a husband that would eventually come to know the Lord. However, I was totally in awe of my heart reaction when I felt a little embarrassed to hear "Jesus" spoken of so many times in the movie.

CRAZY, I know! Has my heart been so hardened and my ears been so desensitized from watching all the filth over the years that when a movie finally comes along with the audacity to speak TRUTH - I feel embarrassed to hear it?

I pray I would not just go through my days - in and out - without making an impact for the Kingdom. I pray I would not just do the daily chores of the house without truly serving my husband in love. I pray I would not just speak words without realizing they are truly either life or death - nothing else. Most of all, I pray I would hold God's name in reverence and honor - brining GLORY to Him every moment and not feel ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ.

Go see the movie. For real.

I will definitely be homeschooling

A MUST READ!

Click HERE

Back on Track

I am gearing up to be back on track with my good eating/exercising habits tomorrow.

Side note: Why is it whenever one decides to "eat right" or "exercise", one does so on a Monday? Why can't I just start TODAY? Well, because I'm not going to - that's why...

Anyway, I lost about 40 lbs. for my wedding by working out every day at work during my lunch hour (thank God for the free gym at work) and bringing the above pictured "Smart One" meals as my lunch. I have always had such a frustration with my weight, and I am sure I will struggle with it my entire life. So, while I am still in my 20's, I would like to attempt to at least get to the "medically appropriate" weight for my height and attempt to maintain that.

So, pray with me. Pray that I would not focus on the numbers on the scale, but on my health. Pray that I would remember God's definition of beauty and not the world's. Pray I would not give into any temptations - I love food. Seriously. LOVE IT.

Thanks!

Whoo Hooo!

I am usually not looking forward to Fridays like the rest of the working world. They usually sneak up on me, and I feel like my week flew by. I wonder how I didn't see it coming.

However, this week, I have been anxiously waiting for Friday. I think all my precious 2yr olds ate donuts for breakfast this week! Every day has been a little on the crazy side. Co-workers have been causing so much drama this week I have to go to scriptures daily just to not feel totally defeated.

I am definitely going to relax this weekend - possibly tackle the back yard - and just be thankful I got through the week.

Women

Why is it so stinkin' difficult to work with other women?

It is incredibly hard to find a woman who speaks truth, takes constructive criticism well and is always professional in the workplace.

For me to elaborate on my frustration would be inapproprate.

I'm just................frustrated.

Oh the Joy!

This weekend proved to be on both ends of the spectrum for us. On Saturday we did absolutely nothing. Honestly. I wish I could say that I got up, cleaned the bathrooms, swiffered the floors and had a very productive day. Sadly, no.

However, an extremely lazy Saturday made me need to get out on Sunday and accomplish something major. So, Scotty and I decided we would do the front yard. Keep in mind, we have not had to mow a lawn or rake anything for years. I never did. So, we were both very leary about possibly severing an imporant limb in the process. I figures we would both get out there, work for a couple hours and be done. Easy breazy.

We started about 12:30pm and finished around 6:30pm!

What?!?

I was in shock. I still am. I have blisters on both my hands from the rake and I am extremely saddened to know it took two people 6 hours to do one small front yard! The back yard is double the size of the front! Please, Lord Jesus, help my husband and me to be better yard workers! Help me to not spend 12 hours on my back yard next weekend.

I am terrified.

**On a side note: a special thank you to Karen who bought us a new lawn mower and to Patti and Glen for giving us even more lawn equipment! We are truly grateful to not spend $35 weekly to have people come mow our yard. We just have to get better at it ourselves. ;)

Hey there!

Hello family, friends and anyone else who cares to hear what all is going on in our lives. We hope we are able to update this blog quite frequently with pictures, video and fun stuff we are doing.

However, keep in mind, we are not the most fun people out there - we do enjoy just laying around the house doing absolutely nothing. So, we'll see just how "fun" things get. :)