China's art work

http://www.chinagoodhue.com/

I met China (her first name) while helping Marilyn with a beginner's knitting class..China was my student. What a woman she is! Some of her murals are hanging at KnottyByNature ..I think.

A trip to Dibba and Fujairah

Asalam Alaikum,
On the way to Fujairah we made some stops check out the scenery. This is a little spot in the desert, there were camels, and some trucks on the side of the road selling fresh fruit(it was pretty tasty). But the DS liked the sand best-


Pretty sand-


Mountains on the way to Dibba-


Me on the beach in Dibba, it was interesting, the mountains don't stop but continue into the water.


After Dibba, on the way to Fujairah we stopped by the side of the road(really these guys with trucks are everywhere) and got some very tasty, fresh cooked corn on the cob.


Then we stopped at The Bidyah Masjid, which dates to about 1446 CE-(This Photo from the outside comes from this site as we went when it was dark and the ones we took didn't come out well.)


Apparently this Masjid is architecturally unique because of the domes which spiral like a snail shell.

And here is the inside-


And I now present the return of the traveling orange-

Formerly KIP(ublic) -Now KIP(alace)

Asalam Alaikum,
We had to do yet another border run on Thursday, hopefully for the last time. So we finally went to see something in Al Ain, the Sheik Zayed Palace Museum(many thanks to Sydney for the idea).

First up the family tree room-


Then a trip down the well-


The kitchen-


Playing dress-up


Knitting in the Sheik's office-


And since I had no oranges, a guest fruit-


And on Friday We went to Fujairah, so stay tuned for more tomorrow.

No Spend Challange

This month over at The MotherLoad they are having a No Spend month for February. I decided to join in for the fun of it. To be honest when I hear "No Spend" I think "no spending!" Period. But as that is fairly impossible in our day in age with electric bills, insurance, etc. All of the No Spend challenges are usually concerning spending less and majorly restricting your spending. Not spending money on a bunch of wants, only taking care of the needs.

Here is my goal for this month:
I will only spend $150. (This is just what I will be spending, not Ken as this sort of challenge is not really his style.) With this money I will take care of our groceries, household expenses (like toilet paper, etc.), gas for the van and anything else we might need. (There will be no clothes buying or things like that.) It should be rather fun! In December I did this same challenge except had the goal of only $100 spent. I ran into some troubles but overall it went pretty well.

Here are some reasons I like a challenge like this and think it can help in our goal to live frugally:

1. It makes saving fun! I like a challenge or a game and setting a goal for our spending makes all of the budgeting and shopping turn into one big game.
2. I learn to think outside of the box. It is quite possible that during this "game" I will learn some new frugal method that I really like and can keep using. Here are some of the things I learned in December.
3. I can have more to share with others and I can also learn how to relate to others better that don't have as much. Because I was wanting to be able to support our church and missionaries better I proposed to Ken that all I saved on our food budget (our alloted budget is $325 a month) we would give away. He was agreeable and we did that last year and I am looking forward to doing that again this year.

Have you ever taken a no spend challenge? I would love to hear about your experiences and the things you learned!!

I will plan on posting regularly about how our lack of spending is going as well as the fun things we can do without spending money.

On another note be sure not to miss a Notecard Giveaway here on my blog until this evening. I will be drawing a name tonight.

For more frugal tips visit Biblical Womanhood.

Revisiting my goals for 2009

1. Organize my office in January (perhaps going into February) and keep it that way throughout the year. Okay so I am definitely going into February but I did make progress. At the first of the year I had fun making 100 plus cards all using various paper scraps that I had saved. I also made a big silk floral arrangement for church which used up a bunch of odds and ends that I had (I also bought stuff for it.) and I got a bunch of mending done and went through and got rid of some magazines and papers.
2. Live in the moment. This actually went pretty well for a lot of the month. We were able to stay at home a lot (slowing down and living a less stressful life) and I had a ton of fun just living with my family!! I also did a better job of really listening to my kids, though that area still needs some work! We also enjoyed having a fair amount of company and getting to really spend time with friends.
3. 
   Have a Joyful year! We have had a pretty joyful year so far but that is something I still want to do a lot of work on. I want to do more singing through-out the day. Something I have really enjoyed this month is listening to Aaron whistle. He is constantly amazing me with the tunes he will whistle. Mostly he whistles hymns and some that I will hear I am amazed that he even knows as we have hardly ever sang them at church. I think whistling is pretty joyful. :-)
4. Stop raising my voice or speaking in a cutting manner with my children. This goal has gone pretty well. I have been praying about and also slowing down has helped a lot. My study of Ephesians 4:25-32 was also helpful. I still have a lot of work before I am perfect in this area. The last couple of weeks have gotten busier again with the watching of baby boy (in place of my sister who is out of town) and I have struggled again in this area. So I need to really work on speaking gently even when I feel under pressure or don't feel good.
5. Really having fun with my husband. We have had a fun month. There has been lots of laughter in our relationship. I still haven't sat down and watched a football game with him however. We had company over for the Superbowl but I spent my time chatting with other ladies. I have watched a bit of "who wants to be a millionaire" with him though and we have decided we are ready to go on that show. :-) We even have figured out who we would want for our "call a friend" lifeline.
6. Get all my photos organized. Not a lot of progress here, but a little. I went though all my pictures on the computer and ordered (with the last good deal from Walgreens) all the pictures that I wanted printed out. I did also work on our wedding scrapbook and made a whole scrapbook of floral pictures for my business.
7. Spending an average of $250 or less each month on our groceries. Okay, I didn't do well on this goal this month. I wasn't keeping track very well and spent quite a bit more. This month I have a goal to spend a lot less and so hopefully we can get to the average of $250.
8. 
   Doing the flowers for twice as many weddings as I did in 2008. This is looking promising. I already have several booked, several more are in the works and I have another bridal show next month and all the names of brides from the last one to contact.
9. 
   Be more consistent in child training but also be patient, loving and kind. This is going fairly well but I need to actually think about this and concentrate on it more.
10. 
    Being even more concentrated on the ministry that God has given to me of reconciliation. January was an exciting month in this area. I was blessed to be able to study with a friend that has been coming to church and has been talking a lot with others as well. She decided to totally turn her life over to God and was baptized into Christ 2 Sundays ago. It is always thrilling to see anyone turn their life over to God and when you have had a chance to share with them some before hand it is even more so. I am looking forward to letting God use me in whatever ways He wants to do His will.

How are your goals for the year going? I hope you are also encouraged and inspired to keep working away and striving to be more what God wants you to be.