All In

Lord, I will not be angry at you when things don't go my way. I won't stop praising, or praying, or loving. I will be sad. I will cry. I will tell You that I don't understand why my prayers can't be answered in the way that I want them to be. I am all in this. I have trusted You with my life, and I will not forget the promises You have made to me. I will not forget the Son who has sacrificed His perfect life so that I may be able to be made whole again. I will not stop. I will keep going.

I'm all in.

Worth a Thousand

(first day of school)




(got my hair did)

Back to School

This year, as you know, Baxter, Kayleigh, and I are all going to be in school. Baxter will be taking Intro to Theology (I think :), Kayleigh is in 1st grade so she will be doing a lot of paste eating, and boy chasing, I will be taking American Govt. via video lectures. I had originally planned to take College Algebra but scheduling conflicts prevailed and I decided to go with something else. So, today and this week are the first week of classes for the studious Horton family. Wish us luck as it will take much time management and focus to accomplish this without losing our minds.

The Social Experiment

What do you get when you put approximately 150 procrastinating parents and students in one Walmart the night before school starts? Well, it's not pretty. I mean, really, this year all of the area schools start on the same day, so there are a lot more of us last minute shoppers all in one place. I did learn a few things about the human condition while out there in the wilds of Wylie and Garland.

1. Area retailers were extremely unprepared for these events. The were out of everything

2. There are approximately 135 different kinds of crayons.

3. I could be tested.
An unattended cart filled with the school supplies I needed created much temptation for me. I did, however, succeed in staying above reproach.

4. Do not make eye contact or attempt to smile at other shoppers. You will be annihilated.

Really, at one point I wondered if we were in a social experiment to test the limits of our capacity to endure over population.
For what it's worth, I went to two Wal-Marts, one Target, and still came away with about half of what I needed. Next year, I'll be the first one in line when the lists come out.

Movie Watchers

I have to recommend Facing the Giants. It is a movie produced by a church in Georgia, and most of the work was done completely on a volunteer basis.

Although it is a little bit cheesy at times, and the acting is not exactly "hollywood", it does send a powerful message (at least it did to me), and the humor in it was pretty funny. So, go and spend an hour and a half with Facing the Giants.

Strange behavior

There is a 17 year old boy, who shall remain nameless who came over yesterday to help me bake cookies for his girlfriend's 16th birthday. Instead, he however, decided that he would clean my kitchen. The next TWO HOURS were spent wiping, and spraying, and scrubbing. I was actually begged to release my mop at one point...

None of the above were done by me. I will not divulge his identity as it would severely ruin his bass playing, hard core seeming, rep. Is it weird that now I am afraid to mess up my kitchen, hearing his voice in my head saying "if i come over sometime and it's dirty again, there will be trouble." Strange behavior, and I'll take it...

Come and clean anytime. I'll keep the peanut butter cookie recipe on hand. :)

A new level of disgusting

Okay, well, I'm all for experimenting with different recipes, flavors, etc. But this is just too gross to comprehend. Why in the world would you let your children do this?




Kayleigh has asked that I buy them. I got as far as picking up the box at the grocery store, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sorry, darling.

Talkin' bout my best friend

Since about 1st grade, there's been this girl in my life. We have the same name, same sense of humor, our birthday is the same month, and there are more commonalities that you can count. We've been through a lot together, and now, well, she's different.

She's got this glow about her. She utters a certain name in about 74% of all of her sentences. I wonder what's happened to her. I've never seen her like this before, but I'm glad that she's changing. It's for the best. Hopefully, I'll be able to help her maintain some sense of reality while she hovers above the ground in her own dazed fog. It's okay, it's allowed once in a lifetime. After all, she's put up with me, all these years that I've been under this spell.

The walk

I have a friend in my life right now who is about to embark on a journey. It's the beginning of a close walk with Christ. This friend asked me some advice. How do you do it? How do you feel God's presence in your life? Do you feel a hand guiding you when you make a decision? Is there a way to know exactly what God wants for you, and who He desires you to be? Well, here are my two cents on that really easy question... :)

Several months ago, I found myself in the position of questioning who I was. I didn't know what I was supposed to do with my life. Baxter had just felt the calling into ministry, and there I was, no closer to my destiny than I had been when I was in high school. I have always associated what a person does with who he or she is. That's usually the opening question for someone you just meet. So, naturally that's what I intended to focus on. What am I supposed to be doing? I guess it's natural for you to find out how you should prioritize your time and resources. Baxter and I had a long talk about this during one of my outbreaks of frustration. "Why does who you are, have to be labeled by what you do" he says to me. I really didn't have an answer. "Whatever you do God will find a purpose for you." I really didn't want to hear that. I wanted a clear sign of what I was supposed to be doing. Then we talked about how you find out who you are in God's eyes. Was I someone who spent time praying, reading the bible, and pursuing a relationship with Christ? Well, you know, I did always pray, and I thought I had a good relationship with Him until I thought about it.

Say you have a best friend, but you only really hang out with them when you need them. That's the only time you guys ever talk. How close are you going to be, and how tuned in with each other's lives are you going to be ? Granted, Jesus is always right there, just kind of hanging out by the phone, waiting for us to call Him. He never leaves, just sits right there staring at the phone, desperately hoping we'll give Him a call. What if we were to constantly pursue a relationship with Him? Talk to Him about everything, the good, the bad, the ugly. What if we were to pray when things were going perfectly, and share our lives with others who have accepted the gift of the Savior? How much closer would we be to finding out who we are? As I've learned this past year, it's really about getting to know Christ first, then finding yourself. Work at it, like you do any relationship. Over time, you'll begin to see yourself as the new person you are. Reborn through Christ.

I hope this helps you. You know who you are, and I love you dearly. :)

Worth a Thousand

A story in photos

on the drive..



wheee....





Branson Landing...







my sister and I




How we all feel now...

I've Returned

So, yeah, we've been on a 9 day whirlwind vacation of Branson, Missouri and Fayetteville, AR. We've had laughs, excitement, vomit, snot, screaming fits in the back of the car, lovely cuisine, and much, much, more. It was a good time overall. But, there's something to be said for coming home and snuggling in your own lumpy old bed.

A few things I've learned from my latest experience on the road...

1. Take antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer with you to amusement parks. We are all, or have all been sick.

2. Stay away from Baxter when he's dined out for 1 week straight. I was introduced to the "hotel fart" this week. Words cannot describe...

3. Most people who go to water parks, should probably look in the mirror before heading out in their swimsuits.

4. Underdog is a decent movie for the kids, go see it.

5. 5 people create a plethora of dirty laundry. I'm going to have a heck of a time catching up.

6. Ella is capable of stalking and terrorizing my sister's cats with much ease and amusement.

7. I have the most amazing husband and kids and I'm glad we got to hang out so much. It was a blast.