chad

I can think of thousands of things to blog about BUT tonight I decided to talk about my fiance! Whenever somebody falls in love you always hear "he is the greatest thing ever" or "the love of my life" or such as that. I will save you those little sappy sayings but I will say this. In all  my life and of all the men that have passed through my life none can compare to this man right here! I am blessed that God saw fit to put him in my life and give me a reason to pick myself up and move on! I do not always understand why things happen the way they do BUT I am assured that he DOES always have a plan!

 I so loved his plan this time! I so love this man! 

                                                                   Love and Hugs,

                                                                       Francine

Quote of the week and verse of the week!

Quote: 
"Life is rough. It's also beautiful, but if we can't get some respite( rest or brief break) from its cruelty, we will never have the healthy vision to savor its tender beauty" ..........Beth Moore From the book "So long insecurity"




Verse: 
Isaiah 46: 4
Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you. I will carry you and save you. 


what a blessing!!! 
Love and hugs, 
Francine

Link to recipes from last night!

Here is the link the recipes from last night's menu! i hope you enjoy them and enjoy reading that blog as well!

http://ahealthyscoop.blogspot.com/


Love and hugs,
Francine

I am back for GOOD this time :0)

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend and a great start to your work week. I want to apologize in advance as I have been missing in action for a while. Life, that is all I can say is just that LIFE.....As ashamed as I am I just have been to caught up in it to stop and write BUT I really enjoy sharing my thoughts with those few who read it so I decided to come back and start back at it..I have a lot to blog about and a lot to just record so I don't forget things later down the road. So in order to do that I kind came up with a schedule for my blog just a little "theme" per say that I can kinda stick to and on certain days know and prepare a little in advance for what I will be sharing. This is what I am thinking...
Monday's-Will be my weekly menu schedule with a link to my health blog for any recipes I plan to use. Other than that just free rambling which I do SO WELL! LOL 
Tuesday- will be my quote of the week and verse of the week. I love this idea as it will help me to dive deeper in God's word and really search for things to share with you. I am NOT taking the easy way out on this I am going to be searching as I am doing my bible study. 
Wed-no plans as of now just whatever crosses my mind....that could be scary folks..just warning you! 
Thursday-Photo/no words of the day...other than a brief explanation of the photo. 
Friday-I will be talking about another blog that has touched me in some way and sharing there link with you so you can check them out as well as just sharing. 
Saturday-No plans open
Sunday- will be a recap of the weekend 


So that is what I am thinking..I believe this will help me because it kinda gives me a lean towards something and helps me round up my thoughts so I actually know what I am talking about. HAHAH! Organization. 
You know I thought "Capricorns" were suppose to be organized and stubborn I totally get the stubborn but what the heck????? Where did my organization go lately? All I have to say is whoever stole it needs to give it back NOW! Just sayin.....


So this is Mondays and here is my Weekly menu: 
Monday- Shrimp Greek salad (chad is off this is subject to change)
Tuesday- Chicken Breast Stuffed Parmesan and spinach chicken. 
Wed- Greek baked shrimp with feta
Thursday- Herb marinated chicken and roasted vegetables
Friday- Greek Burgers

***I just noticed a theme here Greek...oh well we are on the Sonoma Diet so we eat a lot of foods like that***


The link for these recipes will be posted tomorrow as I need to go over there after this and do some work on that blog but I will get it done tonight. You have my word. 

OK, now onto another subject I found this really neat thing on Pinterest YES I AM AN ADDICT...anyone else ?? Come on you know you love that site.... Anyway I wanted to share it simply because I thought just as I received a lot from it many of you might as well. 

Stressed????
Jeremiah 29:11 
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, Thoughts of Peace, and NOT of EVIL,To give you an expected end. 


Proverbs 29:11
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards. 


Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. 


Ephesians 4:26
Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath.


Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be pt away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 


Matthew 6:19-21
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also. 


Romans 8:28
For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. 


Hebrews 12:6
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he recieveth. 


Ok so there is you some food for thought... Hope you all have a blessed night! 
Love and hugs
Francine

A story.......IMPORTANT!

There is a story I would like to share in hopes that perhaps ONE GIRL will read it and take it to heart and not allow it to happen to them...It's not a story I have shared with many and it is not a story I am proud of but none the less it is a story.

There was a girl I knew she had very very low self-esteem, she had no confidence and she little faith in her self. She didn't think she would ever get married, she didn't think she deserved a man, she didn't think she was beautiful enough to have anyone in her life, to have kids, to have any of those dreams that she sooo greatly desired! One day this girl met a guy..he was cute, funny and smart he said sweet things to her, he took he out to dinner and he "romanced" her. She thought "he hung the moon" she was head over hills in love.....and she THOUGHT he was too. However the more she got to know him the more she noticed little things, one being his nonacceptance of what she physically looked like. All through there relationship he was constantly demeaning her, making her feel as if she was unworthy and should feel like she was lucky to have him. He lied to her constantly and blatantly did so. He would make her look like a fool to those who loved her but to her face act as if he "loved" her as much as she loved him. He often told her she MUST have makeup on because she was NOT pretty enough without make-up. She would hear all the time how she wasn't skinny enough, that good old saying "if you really love me than you would do ..........", she was asked to do things that were just beyond crazy against EVERYTHING she believed in. He knew she felt like she could do no better so he playing with her emotions, he verbally abused her, he physically abused her and he almost literally destroyed her.
I won't go into the details and I won't say who the person is none of that matters what does matter is realizing WHY it happened other than the fact that he is just pure evil, it happened because SHE did not have any faith in herself, man after man in her life had let her down, had hurt her in some way and she was at the bottom of the barrel in trying to pick herself up....she had NO self-esteem and he knew it, she was terrified he would leave her and he knew it, she was scared she would grow old alone and he knew it. He used all of that against her and almost destroyed her...eventually he was caught in his affairs and she finally left him. She walked away and it hurt it a lot but with the love of family and friends and more than anything GOD she was able to pull herself together and eventually move on. God,life and time heal all wounds!
She looks back on that time in her life and it saddens her that she had got so low and so good at hiding things from her family that they really had no clue what was going on. God has blessed her and brought someone new in her life and she is finally experiencing what REAL love is like. She is blessed now and getting stronger every day. However she still thinks about that time and what she would tell her nieces or any girl or woman that is being controlled,abused or mistreated by a man and this is what she came up with:

1) You are precious in the sight of the lord ...You are a princess and you should be treated as so. 
2) You deserve respect, demand it, expect it!
3) Never allow anyone to control how you feel about yourself! Look in the mirror remind yourself daily that you are wonderful,amazing, out of this world and you deserve only the best! 
4) If you are in a relationship where you are being physically abused,emotionally abused or verbally abused realize it WILL NOT STOP!!! They are not going to quit and eventually it could get very very ugly. 
5) Also realize you did not cause him to do it and it is not your fault DO NOT ACCEPT BLAME! 
6) Seek help! PLEASE seek help! Confide in someone and be brave..and know that even though you may feel as though your life is falling into a thousand pieces YOU WILL BE OK! 
7) Take time to heal, surround yourself with good people and God and move forward.  KNOW there are GOOD MEN out there! 

Love should never ever be about bruises, low self-esteem, making the person you love do things they do not want to do just to please you. Love should never cause fear and pain in such a horrible way THAT IS NOT LOVE!
 Love is a wonderful thing when done in the right way with a man/woman God has given you. Love should make you feel happy and special (granted you will have fights some times but they should never lead to you being hit) You are special and deserve to be loved the right way!

I know all this is true because this story was about me and just a tad of what I have been through and although i hate what I experienced and I don't talk about it often I also know that I will find a way to take something from it and move forward.  I am strong there is NO doubting that, I am important to GOD and I do matter. I will never ever allow another person to hit me or abuse me in anyway! I have a voice i have an opinion and I will be heard!
So in the end the abuse did not win HE did not win I DID and for that I hold my head up and I am proud!
Now I am happy to say I have a man in  my life that GOD brought me , I am engaged to be married and I am excited about life and I know I never ever again have to worry about a man hitting me or abusing me in any way!

 I have worried about what type of example I would set for my nieces because I want them to be proud of me. I feel like I have shown them that being a woman does not mean you coward down it means you stand strong, proud and you fight for what you believe in. I know that in the future they will all three start dating and I will pray that they will always remember what I went through and never ever go through it themselves. If I can stop just one girl, if I can protect Brooklyn, Callie and Taylor from ever being treated this way by being honest with them and open about what happened to me than I know I have made something really good come out of all that bad. That is more than enough for me!
I am survivor and I am damn proud of it!

SOUND ADVICE!!!!

Pray. Trust God. Go to sleep!!!!!!

I was just thinking over some things...yes I often DO think way too much but either way I was still thinking. I decided to check my facebook wall real quick and this message was on a post and it so stood out. I stress and worry so much about so many things when ultimately THIS this above is all I need to do. Sound advice and some I think I should take. I actually think we could all do well to take this advice. The devil KNOWS the buttons to push and he KNOWS how to push them I have to take back the control and give it to GOD or for the rest of my life the devil will be pushing those buttons. So tonight I will do the following PRAY, TRUST GOD and go to SLEEP! My life is in his hands and even when others may look at me and judge me or feel I don't live my life CHRISTIAN like enough that's OK I DO NOT have to answer to anyone BUT GOD!
I am soooooo glad MY GOD is so much more loving and understanding than those who judge me so harshly!  Tonight I WILL sleep...I pray you do also!!!!
love and hugs,
Francine

Matthew William Lee--The little boy that changed everything!

I have a story to share with you about a young man that came into my life and literally changed everything about my life. He was a prayed for blessing a perfect distraction in all our crazy lives.. My sweet sister wasn't sure when or if she would ever get pregnant and yet I will always remember the pooh shoes that told me " I was going to be an AUNT" I will never forget jumping up and down, screaming and hollering and literally just being soo excited! When Matthew was born he came at a time in my life when I needed a NEW focus and Matthew was that focus...He changed EVERYTHING!!!
 Since than Matthew has filled my life with so much laughter, so much joy and such and awesome honour to be called HIS AUNT! Matthew for as long as I can remember has been the young man with the "beyond wild imagination" the " amazing knowledge of things I would never think to know so much about" the "uncanny ability to make me laugh when NOBODY else could" he had my heart in the palm of his hands and he still does. I have watched him grow from a laughing, silly, fun loving, kind little boy to this amazing man that just blows my mind every time I think about him. Matthew is wise beyond his years.....he has such a way of seeing things... of looking beyond someones faults and seeing the good in them, he forgives and he loves with all that is in him. He protects, he protects me and I saw that when my ex hurt me so badly Matthew protected me i didn't realize at the time how much until this past summer when I stayed in Florida with them..Matthew was quiet and didn't say much at first BUT than he would start talking to me about all kinds of things and he would say things about wanting to see me happy.. Matthew i knew would be a tough cookie for another man to ever be his uncle because he was so hurt by my ex. I worried when Chad went to Florida with me for my grannies funeral, I worried how Matthew would take to him and I prayed that Matthew would see what I saw. He did, he saw the good side and he let me know in his own way he approved. In all my life, in all I have done I pray that I am remembered  the most for being a good AUNT...

 I pray Matthew always knows how very much I love him and how very very proud of him I am. Sometimes I think about this past summer and the" missiles"lol that often just barley missed my head...I also remember the "shows" Matthew and I watched together..the laughs that sometimes nobody else understood but us. The talks and closeness that we gained. I wouldn't trade anything in this world for that time because Matthew and I bonded again.

 He is somebody that I will forever be proud of , forever admire and forever respect. Even as a young man he already deserves my respect and leaves me speechless when I stop and think of the wisdom he holds. He was my first nephew, the first all nighters when i spent the night to help out, my first nephew b-day parties, my first aunt things, my first heart strings pulled, my first everything as an Aunt and he will always and forever have a huge part of my heart! Matthew I love you so very much! I am so proud of everything you stand for and everything you are! I pray that as your Aunt I can make you proud of me and that you will NEVER ever doubt my love for you. You are sooo important to my life and I will always hold you close to my heart! I hope you have an amazing birthday! I will be home soon to see you ......I love you bubby always and forever!
Aunt.CineCine