The beginning...

Poor Courtney Cox

2013-05-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

I think one of the HARDEST things about being a celebrity (besides trying to figure out what to do with ALLLL that money) is trying to figure out how to age.

do you age gracefully? Do you let things sag and fall as God intended them to? Or do you get stitched and pulled and tugged and stuffed...?

hard decision.

Take Courtney Cox for example. She was beautiful. Some would argue she is beautiful now. I would say from a distance, YES. She is beautiful. But all I see up close is someone who used to look like Courtney Cox.

Who is this? Is this Cher? Nope... it's courtney cox. What the heck happened?

This is too much... right? Or am I just old fashioned and like to see wrinkles occasionally?

I miss this girl.

What do you think? Age gracefully or plastic surgery?

IBS and TMI

2013-04-10T11:20:00.001-05:00

Well folks... I have self diagnosed. I have IBS. And I totally understand if that is TMI. But frankly the two go hand in hand. You can't have IBS and not have diarhea of the mouth as well. It's a fact. Ask anyone that has IBS and they will tell you TMI. It happens. :)

So anyway, I have self diagnosed with IBS and I feel pretty confident that I am right. Ya see, it runs in the fam. I have been having so many stomach issues lately that it's really gotten to be quite depressing. I had gotten to where it literally did not matter what I ate... I knew I was going to be sick within like 15 minutes. It was nuts. so I started googling my symptoms. Of course in my head I ruled out the big ones--cancer, ulcers, etc. But IBS stood out... so... I went on a journey to getting my stomach better.

I started keeping up with what I ate. Trying to find any link between my eating and my running to the bathroom. I started thinking about changes in my life lately. well, I have added a LOT more stress with school and the play so I thought maybe that could be it. Turns out, I was right. Stress triggers IBS. I can't just eliminate stress over night so I stuck with my initial plan of trying to figure out what foods make it worse.

THE ONLY change I could think of in my diet lately was more milk. I was eating more cereal, drinking more shakes, and we had indulged in some ice cream :) so I decided to give up milk products. Oh yea, and I have been eating a LOT of yogurt.

so I gave up milk. I went and bought Almond milk and threw away my yogurts. And guess what?!?!? My stomach is 1000 times better!! not completely fixed but majorly.

I tell you all of this for a purpose... and i'm getting to it.

Basically it's like this... don't run to the doctor everytime something hurts. If you do your research and actually LOOK at the things you are ingesting, you will become more aware and more cautious about what you eat. When you become more careful with what you eat, you have less issues. EX: I gave up gluten a year ago and my UTI's have gone down to next to none existent. I gave up milk and now my legs hurt less from constantly RUNNING to the bathroom.

Don't take a pill for everything. That's laziness.

Your stressed--breathe deep and close your eyes

Your stomach hurts--look into what you eat

You aren't sleeping--look into what you eat and what you watch and read

I am the first person to run to the doctor because my life is busy and pills are easy. My throat hurts, give me amoxicillan. I have heartburn give me a purple pill. But not anymore. I am actually taking the time to look into what is making me sick... and i'm seeing awesome results.!

So there ya go... I shared TMI but oh well. My IBS is better :)

I think I forgot to brag.

2013-04-09T16:02:00.002-05:00

This past holiday season I volunteered to make the float for the Christmas parade of US97 here in Hot Springs. It had been a LONG time since I made a float but I was confident I could do it... and I did!

Tada! :)

Better late than never! I had to share :) Can't believe I forgot! It was tons of work but a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to NEXT years parade :)

Not all pinterest projects were in vain...

2013-04-09T15:58:00.005-05:00

Just the majority of them!

The taco pie was actually delicous! Now, mine looked NOTHING like the picture. First off, I don't own a pie plate, or pie pan--whatever you call it. So mine didn't come out looking as pretty. It pretty much just fell apart. But holy cow was it good! And let's face it--if I can make it--anyone can make it!!

Want the recipe? Email me--cararoxanne02@aol.com

And this little beauty right here I am also proud of. I went and bought some cheap frames at our habitat store for literally pennies a piece and then printed out some fun and bright pictures, taped them to the back. Oh yea.. and I painted the frames. They were like crazy mauve and baby blue. Interesting choice of colors, but not what I was going for. :) I used left over black craft paint and TADA! Here ya go. Oh and the big one in the middle. It still had the price tag from Kirklands. It was a $14.00 frame (on sale) and it was matted. But habitat store had it for $2.00. I chose not to paint it. I thought the white was cool. And the picture I printed says "M is for Matthews. Established 11-22-2009. I printed that from a handy little Pinterest tool that has tons of free printables. It was actually meant for a babys room based on the pictures I saw, but what the heck. I made it my own!

so, here are some not-so-terrible pinterest attempts. Find me on pinterest. My username is Cara Matthews. I should be easy to find. Doubt there are many of those :) And when you find me you can look under my board titled "Printables for projects" to find where I got most of these.

Tada!

My favorite blogger is doing a GIVEAWAY!

2013-04-05T11:19:00.001-05:00

This is AWESOME!! Here is a chance to win a NIKON CAMERA! And even better... (how could it get better you ask?) you will become a follower of my favorite blogger ever! Her name is Erin. She writes about frugality, life, losing weight, living healthy, and her journey through all of these things!

She is awesome! Check out her blog her then follow the steps to be entered into the GIVEAWAY!

YAY!~ I'm so excited!

http://erinbrans.com/2013/04/nikon-camera-giveaway.html

Eat every two hours

2013-04-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

Make yourself. Just DO it! This was very hard for me to do. I was more of a "only eat when i'm starving" kinda person. BUT, that has helped me DRASTICALLY!

I did some research and found out that every 2 hours your body basically does an assessment. Your body asks itself EVERY 2 HOURS "Do I have what it takes to survive?" If you haven't put anything inside your body then your body will answer that question with a "NO!" And if your body answers no then the NEX THING YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH WILL BE STORED. Do you know what you call stored food in your body? FAT. Plain and simple. Even if you are starving hungry and eat an apple... it will turn to fat.

So it's very simple. Eat something every 2 hours.

Bowl of high fiber cereal at 8
Yogurt at 10
salad, half a sandwhich at noon
Apple at 2
100 calorie snack pack at 4
dinner at 6

It's very simple! Pack your "meals" the night before so you have NO excuse. Please try this! It has worked wonders for me!

Keeping the motivation!

2013-03-27T11:58:00.001-05:00

Here you are... you want to lose weight and start working out!! you are faithful for a few weeks at the gym, you quit snacking late at night... but after a few weeks you don't see a lot of results. So you quit. Screw it--it obviously wasn't worth it, you tell yourself.

How do you keep the motivation when you reach that plateau? Or when you reach the point when it doesn't seem like its worth it...?

THAT IS A TOUGH QUESTION TO ASK!

Here are some tips for keeping the motivation:
1. Find something new to do EVERY SINGLE DAY! (or week) Find workouts on pinterest, google "ab workouts" and give one a try. Have something new that you are going to try every single day! That will help keep you motivated!

2. Try on your swimsuit. Ladies--it works every time!

3. Buy something that's too big. Not extremely too big, but something that you wouldn't feel comfortable in unless you lost a few pounds. I've done it--and it works! Every Sunday night I have tried on this dress for over a month now. And each week it fits better and better!

4. Make a planner. Just like I say to plan EVERYTHING (grocery lists, meals, cleaning schedule), your workout is no exception. If you just drag yourself into the gym with no PLAN you are likely to not work out as hard, get bored, or just continue to do the same thing. What is the definition of insanity?!?! DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS!

5. Think of it as LONG term, not short term. If you think about the pounds you want to lose, or the changes you want to see in your body, you HAVE to think long term. That has been my problem my whole life. I looked at working as something to do for a month or two, lose a few pounds and be done. BUT, when I changed it to the mindset of wanting to change my BODY and NOT just my weight, I began to look at my workouts differently. It now isn't the worst thing ever to skip a day. I don't just have the rest of the month to make it up, I have the REST of my life!

Hope these tips help! Keep up the good work!

Saying goodbye to those 17 pounds...

2013-03-26T16:22:00.005-05:00

Ladies and Gents... I am down 17 pounds! It's crazy! It's amazing! It's SO FUN!

I have worked really, REALLY hard over the past 4 months. I have watched my diet, I have exercised, I have changed my lifestyle in so many ways. And it feels AWESOME to step on that scale and SEE RESULTS! I have been discouraged time and time again over my lack of weight loss... but NOW I got my head in the game and it feels great!

No, i'm not an expert. I do work at a gym now, but I am by NO MEANS an expert. BUT... as usual I have no problem throwing my 2 cents your way.

Here are some tips:

1. Drink tons of water. Sounds simple because it IS!! drink it. Gulp it. chug it!
2. Skip the booze. Unnecessary calories. Say goodbye. Except on special occasions.
3. hit the gym. Or the trail. Or your yard. (my husband and I made up our own little "cross fit" class outside. WHEW--that was a workout, but it was so fun!)
4. Read about fitness. Look up workouts on pinterest. Google things! Read SHAPE or FITNESS magazine. Something to provide motivation. Just like anything you have to STICK WITH IT! And for me personally, reading on a constant basis about workouts, and fitness, and eating healthy, and seeing pictures of skinny girls made ME want to go workout!
5. Treat yourself! You will NEVER stick with it if you can't have a candy bar or a cookie every now and then. It's OKAY TO TREAT! It's not "cheating". That's a bad word when it comes to eating. If you think of it in a negative way you will give up quicker!
6. Start slow. You don't have to work out 45 minutes, 4 days a week. Try working out 20 minutes three times a week. then go from there.
7. Do weights! This has helped me drop the pounds QUICKLY! And it's FUN!
8. Have a buddy. Have a partner that you can share your progress with!
9. Get mad about it!!! Get mad about that flab! Scream it out. It's okay! NOTHING will change if you aren't mad about it.

Have fun!! And send me your tips!!!

"He's still working on me"

2013-03-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

Do you remember that song as a kid? "He's still working on me... to make me what he wants me to be" (something like that. haven't heard it in a VERY long time). But lately I have come to realize that this is my LIFE song. So it would probably be awesome of me to learn the words. I can hear it in my head being sung from former Sunday School teachers, but I just can't remember all the stinkin' words! Lol

God is so good, so faithful, and so wonderful to me. I do NOT deserve his love, grace, and mercy but He freely is pouring it on my life. And i'm so glad!

He's still working on me...

In the play I am currently in, "Diaries of Adam and Eve", "Eve" has a line where she (I) says "At first I couldn't make out what I was made for..." That's how I have felt for a long time. But it's more like "At first I couldn't make out why I went through all this"... BUT, there's always a BUT, NOW, I think it was to bring me here. My sin, failures, shame, selfishness, and shame have brought me HERE. And HERE isn't always wonderful and magical and amazing. In fact, it's scary, and it's trying, and it's mind-blowing at times... but I am HERE for a reason. And that reason is that God is not done working on me... to make me what he WANTS me to be.

I have some things to do. I have some wrongs to make right. I have some forgiving to do and I have people to ask for forgiveness to. That brings me to the thought of, no big surprise here... FORGIVENESS. I'm not good at that. I want it, but I don't give it freely. *hand slap* I know I need to work on that.

Sigh. Thankfully God is not done with me yet... hopefully he won't be done with me for a LONG time!

How beautiful!

2013-03-25T10:14:00.003-05:00

How beautiful these words are!!!! And so true... I needed to hear them. Maybe you did too?

I am currently doing Beth Moore's Bible Study "JAMES". It's so good! I just love her. Not just because she's from my 'neck of the woods', but because God has blessed her with the ability to minister to women and I am so grateful for Beth Moore.

In one of last weeks lesson she spoke about "loving your neighbor as yourself." She took a totally different spin on it that I had never thought about. Generally when we hear these words we think that means we are to be loving and kind towards our neighbors. *TRUTH* BUT, she went onto explain that this also means we are to LOVE OURSELVES. It's easier to love our neighbors, be kind to them, show gratitude and love, but yet we struggle with that ourselves. So when the Bible says "love your nieghbor as yourself" it also means to LOVE yourself. This is not easy to do.

Under most circumstances (except for these FEW people that are just hard to love), it's very easy for me to be nice to others. To be complimentary, to look for the good in people, to pray for them, to share, to be kind hearted to... but then I look in the mirror. I do the opposite! I critique myself in such a negative way, I tell myself I am stupid-fat-ugly-undeserving of good things-unworthy of Christ's love. I am NOT doing what the Bible says. I am not loving myself.

I am so hard on myself. I have made MANY mistakes. And God has forgiven me, but I can't seem to find it within myself to forgive ME. I feel so undeserving of good things. I am a screw up. I am flawed. I can be so selfish. I can be so cruel and hateful. I can be QUICK to ANGER and SLOW to LISTEN! I can be self righteous. And for those things right there sprinkled with my past of sin and shame, I can't even look at myself and see good.

Yesterday at church our pastor said something to the effect of "We ought NEVER be ashamed of our redemption." *GULP* I sat there and felt like everyone was staring the back of my head. That hit me right between the eyes and knocked the wind out of me. I realize how many times I feel ashamed of my redemption. I feel ashamed that God has had to pull me out of the pits time and time again. I feel ashamed that I ever had to be on my hands and knees before the Almighty and BEG for mercy on my soul. But I shouldn't! I should REJOICE! I should rejoice that I have a story of mercy, grace and redemption to share.

My attitude is changing. It's not going to happen over night but I am in the process of forgiving myself and I am well on my way to be happy to share my Redemption story. That's what I am now calling it.. MY REDEMPTION STORY! No longer will I call it "my shady past", I will never speak of it as "My struggle with sin", and I WILL not get caught up in all of my "former pit dwelling". It is MY REDEMPTION STORY! I have been redeemed. God has redeemed me, restored me, and rebuilt me. and I am So, SO grateful that the God I serve can turn a mess into a MESSAGE, a test into a TESTIMONY, a trial into a TRIUMPH, and this poor, pitiful Victim into a VICTORY!

Praise the Lord!

Yesterday I said goodbye to the Benz.

2013-03-15T12:14:00.001-05:00

It was a little bit of a sad day, but not really.

I said goodbye to my beautiful Mercedes-Benz. A car that I ALWAYS wanted that I NEVER EVER EVER thought I could afford. But I found one in GREAT shape, looked awesome and was in my price range. I was thrilled.

flash forward to this week... it started doing some weird stuff. Like when I put it in reverse it took a second... like it kinda paused and then jerked into reverse. I assumed that wasn't good. Then on two different occasions I would be reversing and it would tell me to "release the emergency break". Well, the emergency break has NEVER been used by me in this car so I knew I hadn't done it. Finally I said something to my husband. We took it to the car dealer. They weren't sure what was wrong. Sent us elsewhere. Next guy, hooked it up to a computer and got no "Codes" which meant he had no clue. Third guy, took it apart and said it wasn't leaking fuel but something wasn't right. Called the Mercedes dealership, they were going to charge me 700 dollars to find out what was wrong.

Okay here's the deal... I didn't want to spend 700 dollars to FIND OUT that there was a problem and then have to spend more!!

One thing I did NOT consider when buying the Benz was the expense it was to mantain. I had ZERO clue that even oil changes were near 100 dollars. no one told me that... grantit I never asked. I had no clue. then to find out something was wrong with the transmission. That coulda been anywhere from 100-7000. That was the quote I got. Are you kidding me? That was too much of a gamble

So I did what I do best, apparently (Since I do it all the stinkin' time)... I traded. And I am the proud owner of a gently used 2009 Honda Civic 4 door. I used to have a 08 2 door in the same color and I LOVED that car.

It goes like this... just because something is AWESOME doesn't mean its right for you. I NEVER do things on a whim. Ever. (well, there was that ONE time) But as a general rule I don't do things by the seat of my pants. And I bought that Benz on a whim. I wanted a new car. I found my DREAM CAR was within reach and I didn't do any research or even praying... I just did it. YOLO! I'm pretty sure I yelled that when I was leaving the dealership in my beautiful Benz. Instead of YOLO I should have yelled HELLO--what were you thinking?!? But I didn't

Trading in the Benz has saved me money on payments and oh my goodness on INSURANCE! I didn't even think about how expensive it was going to be to have insurance on a Benz. Gee whiz.

Lesson learned. I'm a Honda girl. I'm not a fancy girl. I don't do fancy things very well. I don't like to own things that I am so afraid messing up or getting dirty. I don't want to live my life that way. so here I am... the Honda girl that I have ALWAYS been at heart is back. And i'm excited.

Goodbye, Benz. You were fun. Now go cause trouble for someone else.

My teacher talks weird

2013-03-15T12:07:00.001-05:00

But seriously... she DOES! I have no clue where shes from but I can tell you this with 100% certainty... "She ain't from around here".

I'm guessing somewhere up North, or East... but I can't hardly understand her.

I know I have a super thick accent, I get reminded of that often, but my goodness this lady is from some place I have never been. She says things like "aboot". And i'm pretty sure that means ABOUT because she will use it in a sentence like this: "Today we are going to be talking aboot Islam." so surely that's what she means, right?

I guess i'm just plain giddy to be a southern girl. Even if we talk slow and sound dumb, people, for the most part, know what we are saying. I think?

Maybe i'm wrong... but if being from the South is wrong then I do NOT wanna be right.

Trying my hand at this Pinterest thing...

2013-02-26T16:30:00.003-06:00

I am not very patient. Ever. That's just not a gift of mine. ESPECIALLY when it comes to trying something new. I tried water skiing... after 3 attempts I was over it. I tried snow skiing--I quit ski school within 15 minutes. I just don't have patience. (By the way... I am not bragging about it. It's terrible. I am simply stating facts)

So when Pinterest came along and I decided to get all "crafty" i knew this wasn't going to be easy for me. I knew I wanted to try to do everything but I also knew I didn't have the patience. BUT, you will be happy to learn my patience is getting better during these projects. :) and I have actually enjoyed a few successes...

I surprised myself with this one! I went to the Salvation Army and spent $2.00 on this board, .50 at Michaels on the bottles of paint (I had a coupon so I got both for 50 cents) and $3.50 on the thumptack things. That was the most expensive part BUT I had other crafts in mind that I knew they would work for.

anyway, I painted the board, cut some cute sayings out of magazines (Trendy, sophisticated, style) and modpodged them to scrap book paper that I already had and TADA! I hung up my earrings.

since making this one I have made another because unfortunately, or fortunately, (however you look at it) i have thousands of pairs of earrings to hang up. The nice thing is that it looks cute in the room and eliminates the stress of finding the other one or de-tangling them in the mornings.

thanks pinterest! This was a great idea!

The death of a country star

2013-02-18T09:07:00.000-06:00

It's with a heavy heart that I write this... Mindy McCready was found dead at the age of 37 on her porch in Heber Springs, AR.

I am so saddened by this. No, I didn't know her. And yes, it's true that I only know 2 of her songs (Ten thousand Angels and Guys do it All the time), but it just breaks my heart. I told my husband last night that I could totally cry if I let myself.

I was in 7th grade when her song "Ten Thousand Angels" came out. I knew everyword instantly. I remember riding around with my friend (who happened to be my youth minister) jammin' to Mindy's CD. I was sad when she kinda dissapeared from the scene.

Then years later I found out of her struggles with drugs and alcohol and all of her run ins with the law. It just made me sad for her. This will sound TOTALLY SILLY, and I know this... but I always wanted to be a "star". I loved to sing and be on stage and as a kid I used to watch the show on MTV called "Diaries", or something like that... and it would be like a raw interview with a celebrity and I used to picture what MY episode of "diaries" would look like...

So when I hear that someone with such talent, and the ability to KEEP being famous and KEEP making money and KEEP doing what they love has gone off the deep end it does REALLY bug me. It shows their real-ness, if you will. It shows that money and fame do NOT buy happiness. It also shows that if you don't have JOY in your life which comes from the Lord then all the riches in the world can't fix it.

I'm a reality show junkie (I'm just waiting on a support group to join) so it's no surprise that I watched Rehab with Dr. Drew when she was on the show. It made me so sad for her. All the struggles she was going through and yet by the end of the show she had written a song and performed it and I really felt like she was going to bounce back. And she didn't...

Tragedy struck this young lady and it's such a great loss. I know she wasn't the most famous country singer EVER, but it's not even about that. It's about the fact that she had a problem and tried to get help and it just wasn't enough.

I hope that Mindy is dancing with Ten Thousand Angels right now and that the tragedy in her life is long forgotten as she dances with her Father.

You will be missed, Mindy.

If you trust me at all...

2013-02-13T10:08:00.003-06:00

Then CHECK THIS OUT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV2itf_sdgM&feature=youtu.be

Or go to seatbeltguard.com

If you have teenagers then you MUST check this out. This item will send you a text if your child is texting while driving. This device will text you if the airbags go off AND provide GPS.

My husband and I are behind this product 100%. It was on the local news last night and just wait for it to be on the national news! This will be something that will one day be manditory, I can guarantee it.

If you have interest in purcashing this product please email me at cararoxanne02@aol.com and I will put you in touch with a GREAT salesman... aka, my husband :)

Check it out. Let me know what you think!!!

The Diaries of Adam and Eve

2013-01-18T10:05:00.003-06:00

As of lately... here is what i'm up to...

School--full time! This has been great so far, but stressful. I AM the old lady in school, but oh well. I'm finally back at Henderson and it feels GREAT! I have quite a load this semester so it's definitly a juggling act these days. There was drama getting registered... luckily a nice lady in the Registrar's office saved the day. I began contacting my advisor back in October. Literally, OCTOBER. He was terrible to write back but occasionally he did. I got all my ducks in a row and did my "homework". I had to:

-get an official transcript sent

-get all my transfer paperwork filled out

-fill out some accomidation worksheets (I was needing to transfer more than allowed so I had put some extra effort into NOT losing those credits)

I did all of this. Then it comes to register. I call the office to set up an appointment. I left him 3 voicemails and 4 emails. Never heard back. So then I panicked. I finally got someone in the Registrar's office to help out... we get it all figured out and THEN she informs me that I cannot register because I am on "HOLD" because they don't have my transcript. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I go back through my checkbook. I paid for those transcripts on November 27th. This is January 14th... what do you mean you don't have them?!?! PANIC again. So I had to wait... another day. I called the office of the school I was needing to send the transcripts and THEY informed me that they were mailed out on December 3rd AND were ACKNOWLEDGED by Henderson on December 6th. This is now January 15th... what the heck is going on?!?! At this point I am starting to think that school ISN'T going to happen for me. To make a long story short... they got it figured out. It was THEIR error, not mine. Which made me feel better because I KNEW that I had done my part. It's frustrating when YOU do all you CAN but you are relying on OTHER people to do their jobs... so annoying.

Then today, FRIDAY, I recieve an email from my Math teacher that I can't be in this class because I didn't meet all the pre-requisites. Are you kidding me? I was PLACED in it by an advisor. I mean really? So now I have to meet with him next week and I have no idea how this is going to go down. I don't want to drop a class because that just puts me THAT much further away from graduating. It's frustrating, but I am trusting God. He is so faithful. Just this morning there was a little panic financially with me and then about the time I was stressing I got an email that I had gotten a nice little chunk of change from the blogs that I write for money. THANK YOU LORD! He is so faithful and HE will work all of this out. I know it!

THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE. I am in a play and BACK on the stage! so exciting! The play is downtown Hot Springs at the Five Star Dinner Theatre. It's play that was written by Mark Twain so it's very witty, and you guessed it. It's about Adam and Eve. It's hilarious, witty, funny, sad, and enduring. So good. If you live in the area I hope you can out and enjoy it!

WORK! Work is going well. I really do like my job, it just seems like I have a LOT on my plate right now. I went from unemployed and BORED OUT OF MY MIND to having more on my plate than I can stomach.

But life is good, and God is faithful!

Just list your stinkin' prices!

2013-01-09T16:28:00.002-06:00

My pet peeve. Grr..

Okay so I have always been in sales, like back before I was really even old enough to be in sales, I was in sales. Get it? Always been in sales. I totally and completely understand that your job in sales is to GET THEM THROUGH THE DOORS. I understand it. BUT... when it comes to vehicles... don't put "CALL FOR PRICE" next to every stinkin' vehicle on your website.

That is annoying. And the thing is that people KNOW what they can spend on a vehicle and "Getting them through the doors" is not going to magically change their income level or the amount of money that they have set aside for the purchase of a vehicle.

So... do yourself a favor. List the prices on your vehicles. Maybe you will sell more.

Just a thought.

I have a friend.

2013-01-09T16:10:00.004-06:00

I have this crazy, quirky, amazing friend. Basically if her life were turned into a Lifetime movie she would be played by Lisa Kudrow. She even kinda looks like her. And she reminds me SO much of Phoebe. Don't get me wrong... my friend is completely intelligent. Like probably one of the smartest people that I know. And her life--my word! It's so interesting. She has LIVED, I tell ya. She has more cool stories than anyone I have ever met. She is definitly a celebrity trapped in Arkansas. It's for real. So legit.

She's awesome, and she blogs about her adventures in an amazing blog.

Check it out.

www.hampoland.com

It's the coolest blog out there. Tell her I sent you. She is awesome.

I'm the girl...

2013-01-09T16:05:00.000-06:00

I'm the girl that sees something on Pinterest, buys all the crap to make it, and watches it fall apart right in front of me.

I'm the girl that can't stand eyeliner on my bottom lids.

I'm the girl that has my mouth open when I put contacts in.

I'm the girl that dusts 3 times a week.

I'm the girl that hates unloading the dishwasher.

I'm the girl that has on the wrinkly shirt.

I'm the girl that is frugal.

I'm the girl that LIVES for Christmas time :)

I'm the girl that can see right through your fakeness.

I'm the girl that could spend all day in the library.

I'm the girl that buys the rhinestone phone cover

I'm the girl that opens mouth and inserts FOOT everyday.

I'm the girl that only changes my calendar like every couple of months.

I'm the girl that buys all used clothes but wants a 4 carat diamond. Priorities people. :)

I'm the girl that starts 20 projects a month and completes MAYBE 2.

I'm the girl that will always be waiting on the other shoe to drop.

I'm the girl that prays. All day, everyday.

I'm the girl that will ALWAYS find my way back home.

I'm the girl that gets tired of the round and round.

I'm the girl that forgives everything, but never forgets.

I'm the girl that TRIES to get it right.

I'm the girl that can't go a moment without music.

I'm the girl that doesn't always have the words.

I am THAT girl.

New Year, New Confession

2013-01-08T16:54:00.003-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR readers! I hope 2013 is a year full of joy and excitement and steps towards being the best YOU that you can be!

My husband is excellent at keeping his New Years resolutions. He is phenomenal, in fact. For 33 years straight he has vowed NOT to make a resolution... and he has been successful at it. I'm jealous--we are 8 days in and I have already blown my big resolution.

I vowed to myself that I would start washing my laundry the way most people do it... whites together, towels together, fancy clothes together... I had it all planned out and I even did it for 3 whole days. But then I realized that this resolution blows. It does nothing for me. It's actually causing more stress in my life than I could ever imagine that laundry could create.

Yes-- i am that woman that washes everything together. It's just who I am and what I do. My husband takes 99.4% of his clothes to the cleaners (don't worry--i'm too frugal to pay for that much BUt it's a free perk from his job) so all I am washing 99% of the time is towels and cotton clothes. I don't dress up hardly anymore because of my new line of work, so there really isn't that much stuff that doesn't go together. I mean cotton is cotton--right?

Also, I have heard that by doing this that my clothes will not last as long. Funny. I have washed my clothes like this my entire life (well, for the last 9 years since I have not been living with my parents) and I STILL have shirts that I wear on a REGULAR basis that I bought in high school, or 4 years ago, etc. Maybe a cute tank top being washed with a bath mat gives it character and causes it to last longer? I dunno... all I know is there have to be some stressed out women in this world over some dang laundry.

Life is too short to stress over laundry. Life is so short. Don't fill it with sorting laundry. I promise. It will make you feel better to just dump it in there together.

It's a NEW year!

2012-12-30T14:56:00.000-06:00

I get so excited for the New Year! Of course I have some sad feelings about taking down Christmas and seeing a good year end, but it's so exciting. It's a FRESH start! It's a chance to get a clean slate and start over FRESH AND NEW!

Yes--I am ALL about resolutions and goals and I encourage you to hop on board! Without a plan, nothing gets done. (When I say that, it drives my husband crazy... I think it bugs him so much because I am SO right)

My friends laugh at me for my LISTS. I make lists for everything. I try not to be extreme with it, and hey- I DO know how to cut loose and NOT plan... but when it comes to major goals I have for myself and for my family, i'm not gonna chance it. I'm making a list!

GOALS FOR 2013:

1. BE DEBT FREE!
*DOABLE, but more realistically I would like to see 75% of our debt wiped away.

2. WORK OUT 5 TIMES A WEEK!
*Very doable since I now work at a gym, but probably more realistic would be 4 days a week.

3. KEEP THE CLUTTER AWAY!
*So hard to do... days and weeks get so busy and it's just TOO easy to open that "junk drawer" in the kitchen and stuff papers, and old mail in there. NOT ANYMORE! I am going to work super duper hard this year at keeping the clutter away!

4. KEEP IT TO A MINIMUM.
*I have worked so hard over these past 2 years at getting my life more simple and minimalistic. I don't want to see myself get caught up in the trap of needing more and more stuff. This is not just a simple every day effort, this is a personal issue that I will continue to pray through. It's not easy. We are human, and we like STUFF. It's fun to shop, it's fun to get new things, but it's also a way of life that I feel led to--minimalism.

5. KEEP GROWING.
*I gave up on the idea YEARS AGO That I would ever be tall enough to be a rockette. Another little girls dreams crushed by stopping growing in 6th grade. But there are other ways I plan to keep growing.
- My personal walk with the Lord
- My cooking abilities (Always room for growth) :)
- Myself. Sounds selfish, and it is. I have made so much improvement on myself. STAY WITH ME--this is a good thing :) I have worked really hard on being nicer, being calmer, being a better listener, controlling my temper, letting things go--I intend to keep working in 2013. I want to be better.

Okay, that's enough about me?! What about you?! What are your goals for the New Year? I encourage you to write them down and follow through!

Christmas 2012

2012-12-26T17:44:00.003-06:00

"Christmas came and Christmas went and it was all heaven sent." -- my mom.

My mom used to always say that... and yet again its so true. It came, it was lovely and wonderful, and then it went away. But it was so heavenly. :) This was such a great Christmas season.

We did Christmas with my sister (that lives in South Carolina) over Thanksgiving. So our Christmas has seemed to be extra long this year :)

Thursday got started off with a BANG when Ava had her class party at school!

Then the next day we headed to Mountain Home to my parents house!

My little family

Mom, sister Erica, me, and Ava Hope

Grandmother and Ava making cookies!

Me and my sis being silly :)

After a weekend in Mountain Home, it was time to head to OUR home :)

Christmas Eve night was filled with opening presents from each other.

Ava got an American girl Doll that looks like her... so then I had to bust out MY American Girl doll from way back in the day :)

And I was so surprised! My husband got me an awesome new addition to my Wizard of Oz collection AND our theatre room!

Merry Christmas from the Matthews! :) May your Christmas (have been) Merry and Magical!

When Godly People Do Ungodly Things

2012-12-19T15:55:00.001-06:00

I find myself really compelled to write this, yet I don’t even know how to start. I’ll attempt to just dive right in.

I am down to just 2 days left in my bible study. I’m doing Beth Moore’s “When Godly people do ungodly things.” It is amazing! I love Beth Moore. Anyone from Arkadelphia HAS to be awesome… JUST sayin’. J

Funny story. Well not “hahaha” funny, but well, funny. I bought the book by Beth Moore “When Godly people do ungodly things” about 8 years ago. It was long before the demise of my marriage. It was long before my affair. I purchased it during a season in my life when I was seeing another person do “ungodly things”. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. So yes, God has a funny way of teaching us lessons. I purchased this book to help me understand how a Godly person could get trapped in something ungodly. I read that book cover to cover. I highlighted, I underlined and I prayed. But never ONCE did I see myself in this book. Never once did I read something that stuck out about myself… I was reading this strictly to understand this other person. How sinful is that?! I think back and wonder how I could do something SO ungodly as to try and understand someone elses sin while not even seeing the sin in my own life. I often wonder how I was able to read that book with the huge plank that was in my eye. Man oh man… God taught me something there.

Flash forward… I am doing the study for myself. I have attempted to do this study plenty of times over the past few years and I have never been able to just dive into it. I have had some not so good seasons in my life over the past few years. Currently I can say that God is alive and well in My life and in the life of my family. Thank you God for seasons like this!

Today after finishing the next to last day, I had a break down. I had a break down over the sin in my past, over the shame, over my conscience (I wasn’t aware that God WANTS us to have a clear conscience), over my pride and over my pain. It felt like I was washing away all of it with my tears.

You see, I have never allowed myself to let go of guilt or shame. Partly because I DO firmly believe (And the Bible and this Bible study confirm it) that we are reminded by God of where we have been. He doesn’t let us forget it! BUT, he doesn’t want us to live a life of shame. The fact that He never lets us forget where we have been is ONLY To help us for the future. It’s not meant to be bondage. I finally get that point LOUD AND CLEAR!

1 Corinthians 4:4 says “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.”

Amen, Hallelujah, 3 times each! (That’s an old family saying and frankly… don’t know where it came from!)

What a blessing and what relief to know that Jesus wants our conscience clear and clean. Do you know what good news that is?!

If you have things in your past that you are not proud of. That you want to run from, never speak of, hide, conceal, mask, FORGET, … you are not alone. But it is just here recently that I have truly grasped what redemption and forgiveness is. I have been the one punishing myself these past few years… not God.

In week six of this Bible study, Beth Moore states “we can sincerely confess our sin and even turn from the sin yet still die a thousand deaths at the stab wounds of a guilty conscience.” There is much truth in this statement. Quit dying a thousand deaths because of your conscience. Let God cleanse and renew your conscience and go on to live a Godly, prosperous, life, while never forgetting where you have been so that you will NOT go there again.

That’s my sermon for today. May it give you a peace.

Some changes are coming :)

2012-11-11T11:55:00.002-06:00

I have wanted to make a change to this blog. Not necessarily the content, but the name for sure. When this blog was started, my husband and I had JUST gotten engaged and were embarking on life together. It truly WAS "The Beginning...". But nearly three years later, I feel it's time for a change. That being said, isn't it ALWAYS like the beginning in a lot of ways? Even when you have been married for 35 years, there are still "beginnings". Changes, growing, aging, etc... circumstances and situations that make it feel like you are always starting over.

I have a few ideas in mind. I THINK I know the direction I am going... BUT, I would love for you to send me your thoughts. Comment, or email me at cararoxanne02@aol.com to tell me what YOU think the new name of this blog should be. Also, if you have any ideas on topics to write about I would LOVE to hear it.

I can tell you this... I am going to get a LOT more real. This year, 2012, has been a trying, challenging, growing, rewarding, and blessed year. I feel like it's easy in a blog to sugar coat everything and just focus on the good. (Which, well, that's good...) but there is more to my life than that, and more to ME. I want to show that.

Help me as I take a BIG look in the mirror... as I try to find the words to get raw and real with my readers.

So , get ready for some changes and HELP ME as I make them! Advice is ALWAYS welcome! :)

Have a blessed Sunday!

Catching up is HARD to do!

2012-11-07T14:04:00.003-06:00

I feel like I will NEVER get caught up on blogging. I take a break from time to time but still manage to keep a list of topics to write about when I DO come back.. and yikes-catching up is SO hard to do!

Let's back up to September. My baby girl turned 7! I CANNOT believe it... she is growing up so fast. She's in 1st grade now and enjoying school. I am so grateful for her wonderful teacher. :)

Ava had a party at Jump City and had a BLAST!!! Enjoy the pics! :)

What a face?!?! She was SOOO happy!!!

PRECIOUS GIRL!

Happy Birthday, baby girl! You are growing up so fast!