Tina The Storyteller

I have the pleasure of having a birthday coming up very soon.  In two weeks, I will be 36 years old.  I think that's considered late thirties, right?  But I'm not really writing today about growing older or the wisdom that comes with time, I'm writing about gifts. When I was younger, I would love for people to ask me what I wanted for my birthday.  I would hope for one of the many things I would name.  But the truth be told, my favorite gifts were always the ones that were a surprise to me that also told me that the giver really knew me and cared about what I would think of their gift. Now, I keep a wishlist, but secretly, I want things that can't be bought on Amazon.  I prefer things that I've never seen before, that no one else will have, things that are unique and unusual, just like me.  For example, one of my most beloved, but highly balked at gifts is a vase that Joel and I received for our wedding.  It is wrapped in...

The Devil in Pew Number Seven is a true story of a family that lived in Sellerstown, NC in the 1970’s. As dramatic and terrible as her story is, the saddest part for me is that she is not alone in what happened to her. Granted, very few of us will ever go through the physical hardship of having our home bombed and destroyed by the hands of man, we won’t all lose our parents in such tragic ways, but the devil sits in far too many of our churches. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, but at the same time it drug up memories of things that have occurred to us in churches over the years and as Alonzo talks about in the book, it’s not a one-time forgiveness and you’re done, you have to reaffirm that forgiveness towards humanity over and over again. The beauty of this book is the story of Alonzo’s parents’ legacy to their children. Even though they did not have much time with them on earth, the message that they sent with their lives in that time is still being lived out through b...

Today, I'm thankful for good decisions. I'm thankful that I'm FINALLY starting to see some progress with Hannah and reading. I'm thankful for a dear sweet husband who cares for me and loves spending time at home with me. I'm thankful for friends. I'm thankful for a pair of shoes that may very well change my life. I'm thankful for scripture and how it still speaks today. What are you thankful for?

So I did not wear my shoes nearly as often as I have in previous weeks. Mostly because the weather got really cold and we were walking outside and I just couldn't bring myself to wear them and freeze my tootsies off.  In some ways, I think they look like they are in better condition than week two... Don't you just love looking at pictures of my shoes? Hopefully, this week will help me turn back towards dirt.

I wanted to share something that we've eaten recently that was tasty!  Last night, we had Fettucine Alfredo with Grilled chicken and broccoli. There was only one recipe that I started with, it was Alfredo Sauce Recipe from Allrecipes.com. But I modified it. So first of all, we grilled chicken on our Griddler (It's awesome, totally better than the George Forman, which I never enjoyed cleaning or storing), then I boiled the pasta. While the pasta was boiling, I melted a half a stick of butter in a sauce pan and put in two cloves of chopped garlic. Once the butter was melted, I added a small container of heavy whipping cream. I continued to cook the butter, garlic and cream for about five minutes.  Then I added in a package of pre-shredded Parmesan, not the stuff in the can, but the kind that is with the pre-shredded cheeses.  I stirred it all up when it was as melted as it was gonna get, I added a bit of fresh ground nutmeg to it.  In the midst of all this, th...

I was contemplating my current state of health when I waked up the stairs and noticed a package outside our front door.  I opened the door, brought the package inside, opened it up and there was Every Body Matters .  It was a book that I had off handedly put my name in to review for Zondervan and forgotten about.  And here it was in my hands while I was wondering what to do about the fact that I feel like I’m getting old and falling apart.  I’m so thankful that it showed up and that I took the chance to read. The main principle in this book is that physical exercise can and should have purpose outside of losing weight or changing the look of our body.  In fact, the purpose it can have is much closer to God than either of those.  The purpose of activity to strengthen our body can be to strengthen our soul and increase our ability to say yes to God.  Thomas challenges the current ideas about taking care of our body and why we should do it a...

I love to Google.  It's probably one of my most used things on the internet.  I Google anything I'm curious about, anything I don't know, anything I heard someone talk about that I wanted to find more information about.  And I'm pretty good at it.  In fact, I once found an article that someone was talking about faster than a professional fact checker did.  I think he was a little miffed.  Anyway, I really enjoy having so much information at my fingertips.  I am a Google fan. Recently, though, I've discovered that there are some things that I've been Googling that I have to stop my obsession with.  I've been Googling about my health.  Taking any small annoyance of my aging body and putting it together in different combinations with whatever else is annoying me at the moment and trying to find out what is going on with my body. The other day, as I was driving to class, I was struck by how little control I admit to God in regards to these pe...

He likes to sunbath, nude, in the bathroom.  I've got a picture to prove it... I covered up his manhood to keep it pg

So far, I've been doing pretty well with the BHAG.  I've gone for trip to the DIA, walked with the family, gone to parks a couple of times.  And no blisters!  YEAH!  It's been a lot more fun that I expected.  Want to see the shoes?  Here ya go Still have a lot of tread to wear, but I'm hoping this is doable.  Any one want to go for a walk?

Big Hairy Audacious Goal, that's what a BHAG is.  I set one for this year.  I can't remember that I have set a goal for myself in regards to health or fitness, but I've been reading Gary Thomas's book Every Body Matters (A review will be coming soon!)  and I had this BHAG come to mind. My goal for 2012: Buy a pair of running shoes and wear them out. I've got one half of my goal done already!  And I thought that I would share my progress with you, so here are some pictures of my brand new shoes. Them's my new shoes and my Christmas pajamas.  They look so clean! There's a tread that has never been on something other than carpet.   I'm hoping to walk my shoes into oblivion this year, needing to buy a brand new pair at the end of the year.  I'm going to break them in tomorrow at the art museum.  It should be a nice painful day.  I might take some moleskin with me.  I hope to update you once a week on ...