Fab Five ... Week ending May 30, 2009

GREAT WEEK!!!

1. Family! While we were in Alabama for Scott's 20th reunion (gasp!), I took the opportunity to visit my sweet Aunt Mollianne for an afternoon. As a bonus, my cousin Annie was at her house also. We had the best time gabbing, drinking coffee, eating yummy carb-laden foods, and sharing life together for a few hours. I am still basking in the glow of those few hours!

2. School's out! Another exciting event ... and we have a FULL summer already planned. But, just the thought that we don't HAVE to be anywhere most days is a wonderful one. (Downside to this is that I am now the parent of a fourth-grader - gasp! again - and wondering where my baby girl went!)

3. Our "country house." We are very fortunate to have a vacation home of sorts in the Shoals. The house we lived in before moving to Georgia belonged to Scott's great-grandmother. His aunt has graciously allowed us to continue to "live" there when we are visiting. It is so very nice to have a place of our own to relax in when we are home in North Alabama.

4. My cell phone. I am very excited right now about my phone because it made the normally unbearable (for all of us!) trip of 9 hours to Alabama much better! My sweet brother Tim taught me how to use it as a modem for my computer so I was able to be online the whole time. I have a data plan on my phone also but it sure was nice to be able to use my laptop for a few hours instead of squinting the whole time on that tiny cell phone screen!!! ;)

5. My new blog! This made a post unto itself on Wednesday but I am so very excited about the gracious and encouraging response to this new adventure! The first series is titled "Finding Jesus in My Messy House." My heart cry is to be Pleasing to God and so to write and share with others how God is working out that desire in my life is a dream come true!! Thank you to all those who have encouraged me - and the few who have pestered me into action.

NEW blog

Over the past few months I have been toying with several ideas for blogging and teaching and writing. I finally bit the bullet and started a new blog dedicated to writing Bible studies, devotions, essays on spiritual formation, etc.

I am really excited about this new endeavor. I have missed teaching a Bible study and am looking forward to adding an in-depth study to the new blog ~ probably in the fall. For now, I have kicked off a series titled "Finding Jesus in my Messy House." Just a look at some of the lessons I've learned about my relationship with God over the years. Amazing how He always uses everything we do to draw us to Him ... if only we are paying attention.

Please visit the new blog ... and leave a comment! Would love to hear ideas and suggestions about potential topics, studies, etc.

Oh, you probably want the link, huh? Pleasing to You is my heart-longing to know Christ and be known by Him. Based on Psalm 19:14, my life verse, which says "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer," my earnest prayer is that the words and messages on this little corner of the world wide web will always bring joy to the Father and be found pleasing to Him, a fragrant aroma and sacrifice of praise.

So, off you go to Pleasing to You ...

Really, check it out here ...

What a difference a year makes ...

Okay, so here are the pics I SHOULD have used for Wordless Wednesday!

A little background ... Scott had weight loss surgery on March 21st of this year. He has lost over 65 pounds as of today (May 27th) and is doing great!!

So, here is a little visual aid ... the picture on top was taken at Jason's graduation from Mercer in May 2008. The bottom one was taken a couple of weeks ago at Judy's graduation from Mercer.

From Scott Weight Loss

From Scott Weight Loss

I am so proud of my husband! He has worked very hard. He still has about 130 pounds to go but HE LOOKS GREAT!!!

Works for Me Wednesday

This is my first post on this meme but I love reading everyone else's so...I thought I'd join the fun!

Maybe I'm the only one who faces this.
Maybe I'm the only one who gets so upset about this.
Maybe I'm the only one who loses her cool completely over this.

But, maybe I'm not!

What is "this"?

Messy kids rooms!!

I get so tired of saying, "Is your room clean?" "Go clean your room." "Have you picked up your room?" etc.

Makes me crazy!! And with summer just around the corner, I am determined NOT to spend time on this every day when we could be enjoying so many other things.

So, I have instituted a new standard for room cleanliness. I actually "stole" the idea from my wonderful Aunt Mollianne.

The standard for Casiday's room is ...

How my room looks at 10 a.m. her room must look at noon.

So, if it's a crazy day and my room is messy - it's okay that hers is too. I think that will help all of us be more conscious of our clutter. And it makes a pretty good rule. So, that's my tip for the week.

Here's to less nagging, fussing, arguing, and whining!! Bring on the summer fun!!!

Wordless Wednesday

This is us! Right after Honors Day this morning.
There truly are no words to experess the love I have for my family.

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, so here we go again ... how do Mondays get here so fast? Seems like I just finished writing this blog last week and yet here I sit typing another menu for the week.


Monday - grilled pork chops, pasta salad, grilled corn on the cob, baked beans, fresh strawberries & homemade angel food cake

Tuesday - leftovers (Casiday has dance, I have a meeting, and Scott has quartet practice so we will be eating in shifts.)

Wednesday - baked chicken, parmesan noodles, green beans

Thursday - eat out ... we are leaving as soon as Casiday gets out of dance to head to Muscle Shoals for Scott's 20th reunion.

Friday - A great day! We'll be in Alabama and the Reunion Banquet is at Dale's. So we will be having amazing steaks for dinner that night.


Boy, I can tell we are into summer. In looking at our calendar, it appears that I will not have to plan for more than four or five nights a week of cooking until August. That is crazy but we have a summer filled with so many good things. I am ready to get started! Just three more days of school!!!

Fab Five ... Week ending May 23, 2009

1. Good friends! I had the best time this weekend with some great friends. We spent some time together on Jekyll Island - where, of course, it rained and we couldn’t be on the beach. But we laughed and got “caught up” on each other’s lives. And our girls had a great time together as well.

2. BIBC “Young at Heart” group. The senior adults are our church are just amazing! One of Scott’s responsibilities at BIBC is the Senior Adult Pastor. And without a doubt, that is the best part of his job! Our “old people,” as I always call them (in their presence, of course!), are such fun and genuinely have the sweetest spirits and the kindest servant heart. We are so blessed to have them in our life as a family!

3. Twitter!! I am a huge Twitter fan and I love “following” all the people whose blogs I love to read, celebrities (like Elisabeth Hasselbeck!), and companies with cool products. It is such fun and so easy to keep in touch with friends far away. You can follow me by clicking here.

4. Blogging. Dang, I think I am addicted to this one! I love writing my blogs, reading other blogs, finding new blogs … the whole process!

5. Goals. This week I joined the “101 Goals in 1001 Days” challenge. You can see my list here. I had no idea how hard it would be to come up with that many things I want to accomplish … but I did it!! Yea me! I’m a goal-driven person anyway but it is always helpful to have them written down and even more compelling to have them in public view where people can ask you how you are doing. So, if you’ve checked out my list, feel free to nudge me along the way.

It’s been a great week … I am so thankful to have the countless blessings I have. God has truly been most gracious to me. I’ll close with a verse that has been especially meaningful to me this week ~

For God is working IN you, giving you the DESIRE to obey Him and the POWER to do what pleases Him.
~ Philippians 2:13 (NLT, Emphasis mine)