Tina The Storyteller

Day Twenty five - What I would find in your bag. I've been sick for the past however many days I can count back which though it feels like an eternity I think it is in actuality only a few days and fortunately, my daughter was recovering from her own sickness (read that she was sedate and happy to just watch TV all day) and my husband was home for the majority of my passed out fever induced state.   Now as to what you will find in my bag, pretty much a wallet, my iPod Touch , a cell phone I use just for texting and calling my husband when I go out at night without him, a pen, paper, sugar free gum (sometimes), and my keys.  Now if my purse is big then it will also include a printed Bible , and a craft project and maybe what ever book I'm reading.    What's in your bag?

Nate Makes Plans That night, Nate had a hard time sleeping. His mind kept wandering to what Patrick had said. Nate thought of the trip and what he would actually do. He knew that his parents would say yes; they always said yes to him. Sometimes it made him feel like they were just trying to get him out of the house so that the rest of the family wouldn’t have to deal with him. But he did not care this time. He was going to leave and never come back. Nate was concerned about whether or not he should tell Patrick what he was going to do or if he should just disappear one night on their trip. As he thought through all the different ways that he could disappear on the trip, he finally fell asleep. The next few weeks of school flew by. The end of school always had a way of doing that. Patrick was a constant presence, telling him about all the things they would see and do. Nate kept a mental note of all the places that he might be able to disappear. He also listened to the amount of

I've been reading One Thousand Gifts lately and it's about a list of a thousand things that the author loves and how the making of the list has taught her about Jesus.  She's a wordsmith, so it's an enjoyable read that cannot be rushed.  I'm looking forward to sharing a review of it with you one day soon.  But it reminds me of my Thankful Thursdays and how there is something quite beautiful about pausing once a week to give thanks for the things in my life.  1.  I am thankful that my husband is a pastor and shepherds our family with strength and creativity. 2.  I am thankful for friends that are willing to try things out with me, like starting book clubs. 3.  I am thankful that my daughter is rarely sick and that she loves to have me around when she is. 4.  I am thankful that the sun shines brighter in the winter.  It isn't around as long but it's happy to be there when it is. 5.  I am thankful for warm drinks. 6.  I am thankful for insulated cu

Day Twenty three - Something you crave for a lot. My number one thing that I crave is to lie down.  Not even to necessarily sleep but to lay down.  I love to lie down and read or lie down and watch TV or lie down and watch the world go by.  It's the thing I crave the most.  But I also worry that I'm lying down too much.  So it's a catch 22.   The number one food that I crave is a toss up between french fries and ice cream.  Those are the things that I get cravings for.  I'll eat just about any version of them.  I'm not picky, though I do adore Red Robin's steak fries, NUM!  And I get a hankering for Pumpkin Pie, Winter White Chocolate, and Baseball Nut from Baskin Robbins from time to time.    The number one movie that I crave is You've Got Mail .  I can sit lie down and watch that movie back to back for an entire day.  I know because I did it one time when it was on one of those Turner networks that does crazy stuff like that.   The number one pla

This morning, I took the garbage out.  It is not something I normally do, but I had convinced Joel that the garbage men would not be coming today because there had been President's day on Monday.  When there is a holiday at the start of the work week, they always come a day late.  But as Hannah and I were in her room about to read stories, we heard their distinctive sound coming down our lane.  I took the garbage out and saw them there, dutifully putting garbage into to their truck in order to haul it away and maybe one day make a ski hill out of it. Well, Joel didn't take President's day off either.  When this was pointed out he mentioned that he has more in common with the garbage man than he thought.  He later expanded by saying they both take out the garbage and work on President's day.  But I think the similarities go on beyond that.  You see Joel is a pastor, he deals with people's unwanted stuff all the time, whether it's emotions, events, thoughts, o

Day Twenty two - What makes you different from everyone else. I think one of the main things that makes me different from everyone else is the fact that I grew up in South Carolina, the daughter of Southern parents and have absolutely no accent. Yup, that is about the only thing that makes me different from everyone else. 'Cause honestly, other people are smart, pretty, and humble. I don't have the market on those things. Other people are married to the most awesome guy in the world, but in my case it's actually true. Other people have a lot of education that they don't use to make copious amounts of money. Other people have great extended families. Other people are crafty and love learning new things. Other people homeschool, even if they have only one child. Other people blog. Other people love Jesus. No the thing that makes me different is that I'm from the South and have no accent to show for it. What makes you different?

Day Twenty one - A picture of something that makes you happy. Doing new things with my two sweeties Making things with my own two hands, especially useful things Pictures of the sun Trying something I've never done before and having it turn out.

Last week, my mom was here for a visit.  It was wonderful to have her here.  We got our nails done, went shopping, out to eat, found lots of fun things to make, and had a pretty good time.  I recently saw a question online that asked how people find good stuff at thrift stores.  Here's my answer to that question... First of all, I think you need to be looking for something specific and not be afraid to walk out with nothing.  For instance, my mom was looking for a pair of black flats this past week and I was looking for a long winter coat.  I'm also always on the look out for Frankoma pottery and I have craft ideas in the back of my head and have my eye out for supplies for those crafts.  Secondly, don't take a child with you.  If you are shopping in this kind of store, where there is pretty much just one of everything you need to devote your attention to the task at hand.  If you on a regular basis, to the point that you know the stock pretty well, then I guess you can

Day Twenty - Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future. That would be Joel.  I can't imagine being with anyone else.  He's awesome and I hope we get to be together for a nice long time.    Love you, SweetPea!

Day Nineteen - Nicknames you have and why you have them. My first nickname was probably Tina, because my full name is Christina. My grandfather called me BlueTick, supposedly because I was fickle like his hounds. In college, I picked up Nanny.  I guess because I was overly prudish. At PSA, I was called Parkie, because it fit and there was another Christine there. At Buc, I picked up the name, Una, though I don't really remember how. My husband calls me SweetPea, cause that's what I call him. And my daughter calls me Mommy, cause I carried her in my womb and fix her meals. On the internet, my name is MamaTina, cause that's who I be, a mama named Tina.   Do you have any nicknames?

I got a Kindle for my birthday.  One of the first things I realized when I started using it was that more than likely I will scratch it or someone will end up standing on it inadvertently or my keys may attack it in my purse.  I looked at all the covers online, they are beautiful and functional and expensive.   I don't really want to invest in one right now, so I started searching online for a cover idea and there are a lot of them out there.  I ended up doing a mix of them. I went to the Salvation Army and bought a hardcover children's book that was slightly wider and taller but about the same width as the Kindle .  I brought it home and removed the pages from the binding.  Then I took a fat quarter and put a fold on one end, and sewed the wrong sides together. Slipped in my book cover, sewed along the edge of the book, folded in the ends and sewed the whole thing close.  I had piece of elastic from an old coupon book and inserted it into a small button hole and put on a bu

Day Eighteen - Plans/dreams/goals you have.   Joel and I were able to get away for a marriage retreat this past week.  It was lovely.  Something that I have enjoyed every time we've been able to get one.  We use A Prayerbook for Husbands and Wives to help structure our time.  But we also make sure that we spend some time choosing a family verse for the year.  Our verse for this past year was "Delight yourself in the Lord and you will receive the desires of your heart."  We talked about the things we learned in regards to that verse and it's pretty amazing how God reveals things to use through his Word.  Our verse for the coming year is from Colossians 2:7   Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.     I think that we are going to have a great year learning about this verse.  It will be interesting.  I've already been cont

Joel and I have been talking about Nate almost since he came into creation.  There has been talk about sending him off to a publisher and letting him make the rounds of publishing houses seeing if they would like to turn him into print.  This past weekend, we went on a marriage retreat and we talked about him again.  And this time we settled on what I think is best for Nate and our family.  I will be publishing, here on the blog, edited chapters from The House of Eight Nates.  A new chapter each Friday.  And as today is Friday, here's your first installment! Nate had Enough “Nate! Get out of the bathroom! You are not the only one who has to get ready!” Nate’s brother, John, yelled through the door. Nate hated mornings. It was the busiest time for the house. It seemed like he’s always in the way during the morning and that everyone was shouting his name. Sometimes he wished that he could just be invisible. And then when they treated him like he was invisible, it was the exact

Day Seventeen - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why. Today, it would probably be my mom, because she's one of the most awesome people I know! Or maybe Hannah. She always seems to be having fun  

Day Sixteen - Another picture of yourself. Is thing really almost half over?  Wow, time sure does fly!  Okay, a picture of myself...  

Love is part of a collection of studies based on the fruit of the spirit. This particular study is six weeks in length with daily reading and a weekly discussion guide if you are reading it with a group. The study includes Evidence of love, forgiveness, as well as God’s definition, passion, unconditional longing and incarnational force. The daily lessons are simple and more like devotionals on a topic than study of the scripture that is provided. This study is not one that I would recommend to new believers because the Bible references are not included with the daily lesson, therefore will require the use of a Bible and the scripture hops back and forth between the old and new testaments. There may be more time spent searching for the Biblical text than the actual study of it. There are some inconsistencies with the font and the binding of the book has already started to deteriorate after two weeks use. Love would be an excellent six week devotional on the topic of love, but as a

Day Fifteen - Put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play. Now this is my kind of challenge!  Here goes!      How Sweet It Is by Michael Buble   Love is Still a Worthy Cause by Sara Groves   All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints by Paul Simon   Wrong Turn by Jack Johnson   Jesus Freak by DC Talk   On the Wing by Owl City   In the Name by Jennifer Knapp   Loose Change by Andrew Peterson   West Coast Kid by TobyMac   Come What May from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack   I would go to YouTube and post all of the videos for you, but let's be honest, most of these don't have videos made by the artist.  I think I might have to watch Moulin Rouge tonight!  What's on your ipod?

Since we moved into our current home and started weeding out the wee one toys that Hannah no longer needs, they have been sitting in various places in our house.  Let's see, they were in Hannah's room for a long time, and then they went to my laundry room, a little time in the spare room and then they started to habitat in the garage.  They've been there for a little while and I've been so concerned about what to do with them.  Well, Purple Heart called and they take toys.  I put out an entire porchful of stuff and then it was gone.  Just like that.  Boxes of stuff that I will never have to think about or move around or ponder again.  Kind of feels nice.  I think I might have to do it again, and call them instead of waiting for them to give me a call. During the same weekend that I realized a place to give my stuff, I finished a project that took much longer than I expected.  I started about a year ago, while visiting Seattle.  I bought these really great short needle

Day Fourteen - A picture of you and your family. We're small in the number that lives in our home, but we are mighty in the bonds that connect us to those we love.

Day Thirteen - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently. The only person I can think of to write an open letter of pain to is myself.   Dear Self,   Sometimes you are extremely gullible.  If you hear something from television or someone you trust, you take it for truth without ever checking it against scripture.  That might seem to work, but it doesn't in the end, it just leads to pain and heart ache.  In the future, I would appreciate if you were to take every thing you hear and talk with Jesus about it and make sure that you take a look through the Bible to see what it says in there before you go about making assumptions about things.  I have to tell you, I am pleased that you did realize these lies you believed in regards to food and sex.  Life has been much better since you started to see God's plan for both of those in your life.  I also appreciate that even though the body has determined to undermine itself on a regular basis since the advent of the 30'

Day Twelve - How you found out about blogger and why you have one. My first real memory of blogger was when my sister in law set up a blog and shared the address with us about seven years ago.  I didn't start one right away, cause I didn't want her to think that I was trying to be just like her.  But it didn't take me long.  I started my first blog at cdpluvsjtp and then I was hard core stalked and I did not like it, so I wigged out and went to Xanga for awhile and was extremely private about my blog over there.  I left there and came back to blogger when I decided to set up a blog for a book I was writing during NaNoWriMo.  My current address happened about a year ago when I finished up Five in a Row with Hannah in Tow.  And I've been quite happy here.  No Internet stalking yet and I'm pleased with that.  Now as to why I blog?  I love to write letters and to journal.  Blogging is like both of those smooshed into one.  I love the whole concept, it keeps me happ

Day Eleven - Another picture of you and your friends. BLURGH!  I have not managed to take pictures in the eleven days.  So I'm going to change today to something else....   Day Eleven - Something you did as a child that you still do today.  Can be something that you wish you still did or that you actually still do.     I guess I'm thinking about this because there are so many things for kids to do nowadays.  You can't throw a stick without hitting some form of child entertainment, whether it be sports or arts or pure entertainment, there's just a lot of stuff.   With all these options for kids, I start to contemplate exactly what is it that I picked up as a child that I still do today.  And the only things that I can think of are reading, watching TV, and painting.  I do one of those really well, another okay and the other one just for pure pleasure.  Can you guess which is which?

Aren't you glad that it's Thursday?  I mean come on, who doesn't like the day before Friday and the day after Wednesday?  It's a great day! 1.  I'm most especially thankful for my husband today.  I won't say any more than that for fear of repeating myself, because let's face it, he's awesome and I could talk about him all day.  LOVE YOU, JOEL!!! 2.  I'm thankful for my new ability to focus on the things that are going well in school as opposed to the not so well.  I think part of that is because of Joel seeing our school day twice this past week and then giving me an honest evaluation of the situation.  Honestly, I don't know how anyone could do it completely by themselves with out the invested support of another adult. 3.  I'm thankful for my girlfriends.  From all over the world and right here at home.  You are all wonderful women and I love interacting with each and everyone of you! 4.  I'm thankful that I learned how to knit,

Day Ten - Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad. I actually tend to sing when I'm happy.  And they are songs that I make up to tunes that I know.  So it might be to Happy Birthday, Amazing Grace, or what ever is on repeat in my head.    I would say that I do tend to listen to entire albums at a time.  I think I might be old skool like that.  My favorite right now is Leaving Eden by Brandon Heath I love how Christian artist are so translucent with their music.  You can hear their life struggles and what is surrounding them.  It's quite beautiful.  A struggling musician told me one time that you should listen to an album from beginning to end because there's a story being told in the way the songs are placed.  I can hear that in this album.  Here's the song list 1. Leaving Eden 2. Your Love 3. The Light In Me 4. Only Water  5. Stolen  6. Might Just Save Your Life  7. It's Alright  8. It's No Good To Be Alone  9.

Day Nine - Something you’re proud of in the past few days. Wow, I really want to toot my own horn and all, but at the same time I don't want to embarrass myself or other people.  But since it's a challenge, I'm going to do it anyway.  I'll exclude the names of those involved to protect their identity from the general public, but if you recognize yourself, then yeah, it's probably about you.   I am a minister.  Not a minister of the word and sacrament, but one of the home and relationship.  I think it's one reason that Joel and I enjoy ministry so much, because even though we are both ministers, our calls compliment one another and are not mutually exclusive of each other.  Well, recently, I have been trying my best to figure out how God's placing of all this love and marriage stuff in my lap is supposed to work out.  Is it something big or what?  And I have kind of settled on the idea that it's going to be a grass roots kind of thing.  Within that

Day Eight - Short term goals for this month and why. Hmmm, short term goals...I can't remember when I stopped making real attainable goals, maybe it was when I was thirty.  I remember sitting down with Joel at Chili's for my birthday and we talked about goals for the coming years.  That may have been the last time I really thought about personal goals.  It's even been about two years before we've made goals for the family unit or as a couple, mainly because we haven't had our marriage retreat in that amount of time.  We've still chosen family verses but haven't set any goals.  So, it's been awhile.  I was going to say that my goal for the month is to eat a lot of cake, because it's my birthday month, but that seems a little shallow, even for me.  And then I thought I would do something lofty like sending out my manuscript, but that seems trite now.  I've had the darn thing written and partially edited for almost two years and haven't ma

Day Seven- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you. This picture thing is starting to wear on me a bit. Luckily, tomorrow does not involve any pictures... I've never seen a good picture of Jesus, but Hannah drew one this past Christmas that I shared with all of you that comes close

Day Six- Favorite super hero and why. When I was a kid, I loved to watch The Greatest American Hero, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar man and GI Joe.  Now which of those fine heroes is my favorite, I would be hard pressed to choose.  But as far as real life heroes, I know exactly who I would pick.  It would be my husband!  He is definitely my hero, he keeps food in our cabinets and fridge, without ever complaining about the personal sacrifice he makes to provide it.  He gives me time alone when I've had a bad day.  He loves being a dad.  He is considerate, tender and kind to me always.  He drives me around to where ever I need to go.  He puts up with my book obsession.  He's a faithful reader of my blog.  He is a wonderful husband and has been a wonderful friend since the day we met.  He's my favorite!  

Day Five- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to. Do I have to choose just one?  Or can I show you a couple of them?   Mequon, WI  I loved the views from our home, even if parts of it were a little vermin infested.     Edisto Beach, one of my favortie places in the entire world!  That's Joel and my mom out there having fun.   I've been to Paris a few times and this is still my favorite thing to see there.     I went to Africa for a few weeks.  It smells different than I expected.     Hawaii is a place that I definitely want to go back to.     I've been to Greenfield village a time or two.    But the thing I love most about going someplace new, is the ability to come home again when it's all through.   PS I took all these photos, if you want to use them go ahead, but if you end up making money from them, I want my cut ;)

Day Four- A habit that you wish you didn’t have. I had to ask Joel to help me out with this one.  Even though I like routine, I don't consider myself habitual, well at least not so much in the past 35 years.  Joel mentioned my gagging.  Let me tell you about this.  All I have to do is think about mucus leaving the body or being collected to be either spit or swallowed and I can gag.  If I see it actually leave the body, either through nose or mouth, I can gag for a good five minutes.  I am so thankful that Hannah was not a very sick baby or I would have spent her entire infancy gagging.  This is not some polite gag where there is no sound involved, this a deep full body gag that sounds like I might be throwing up and sometimes I think I might actually throw up while I'm gagging.  My eyes water, I literally cannot stop myself once the snot has been seen.  It's bad.  And it might be nice to not have to gag uncontrollably in front of sick little children. PS  Joel said

It feels like it has been a much longer week than it actually has.  I think I've been over tired for some odd reason.  Makes it more difficult to cultivate the thankful attitude.  But here I am, because I expect this of myself and I want to have a thankful heart, even in the midst of being tired. 1.  I'm thankful that I'm not nearly as tired as I was when I had Lyme disease.  Wow, talk about tired, it was almost as bad as being depressed as far as the tired bit goes. 2.  I'm thankful that I have a loving husband who is willing to indulge my crazy ideas, even when they mean more work for him. 3.  I'm thankful that my daughter came up with a way to deflect her frustration during class time.  She ended up having her animals join us and do some of her work for her.  It's quite fun to have an entire class to work with. 4.  I'm thankful for this thing Jesus is doing with me that's related to water and fishers of men.  It's not fully expressible yet

Day Three -A picture of you and your friends. This may be the hardest challenge yet.  Because even though I am friends with a ton of scrappers, we tend not to take whip out cameras when we're together.  I'll blame it on the fact that we're too busy having fun! So instead, I'll share a picture of me with some of my favorite people

Here we are for my blog challenge . Day Two- The meaning behind your blog name Okay, so my blog title is HoHa which stands for H ands o n H ome a rts.  And that's really my purpose when I write here.  I want to share about the hands on stuff that I do around the house.  I want to remember that taking care of the home and the things that I do during my daily life is not just chores but an art and that I need to cultivate it.  Part of cultivating that art is sharing it here on HoHa.  I also happen to love the sound of HoHa, maybe because it's so close to HoHum, which is what I typically think of the home arts.  I share the good stuff in hopes of breaking free from that stereotype.  Staying home and caring for my family is something that is a blessing to me.  The things that I get to learn by doing that are phenomenal.  I hope that I share that part with you as well.  So that's my name! What does your blog name mean?

Joel asked me tonight why I had not posted day one of my latest challenge.  So here's day one :D I took this picture of myself just the other day and I absolutely love it!  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you can't see my double chin or nose hair. HA! Okay, fifteen interesting facts.  I am going to have to put a disclaimer here to let you know that these are things that are interesting to me and maybe Joel or TinkerBell, our cat.  That being said 1. I grew up in South Carolina, near Charleston. And have no Southern accent to prove it, or the manners for that fact! 2.  I once colored my hair a deep cherry red on a dare. 3.  I am a pastor's wife. 4.  I love to write, but don't really know if I want to be published 5.  We were able to conceive our daughter after trying for a few months and haven't been able to conceive in the six years since.  I guess if anyone says that Hannah broke the mold, they wouldn't be telling too big of fib. 6

I found this list over at The Griffiths .  I just started following her blog and loved this idea.  I hope that I can make it through 30 days Day One- A recent picture of yourself and fifteen interesting facts. Day Two- The meaning behind your blog name. Day Three -A picture of you and your friends. Day Four- A habit that you wish you didn’t have. Day Five- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to. Day Six- Favorite super hero and why. Day Seven- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you. Day Eight - Short term goals for this month and why. Day Nine - Something you’re proud of in the past few days. Day Ten - Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad. Day Eleven - Another picture of you and your friends. Day Twelve - How you found out about blogger and why you have one. Day Thirteen - A letter to someone who has hurt you recently. Day Fourteen - A picture of you and your family. Day Fifte

The Purpose of Passion is one of those books that will invade your thoughts. This is not just a book about the passionate throws of romance, but also the love that surrounds us every day. Dante’s The Divine Comedy is skillfully explained by Bruner and Ware. One thing is certain; you do not have to have any previous experience with Dante’s work to appreciate The Purpose of Passion . I have never read any of his works, but after reading this commentary, I got myself a copy to read so that I can be fully immersed in this story about love and passion. The sections start out with excerpts from The Divine Comedy and then are followed by clear, well written explanations that not only include the thoughts of the authors, but also historic figures such as CS Lewis. The Purpose of Passion reminded me that I have the option to delve deeply into love every moment of every day. And it’s not just romantic love that helps me move into a greater understanding of God but any love that aims f