My 2011 Resolutions... Goals really.

As this year ends and the New Year begins...  I spent most of my morning pondering what 2011 will bring and what kind of goals or expectations I should set for myself and my family.  In past years, I have always made a few resolutions as the NYC Ball dropped at midnight, but by the time the 2nd month arrived in the new year, most of my resolutions were past times. 

So this year, since I have found my new hobby, BLOGGING, I have decided to write my resolutions down, print them off and ask my readers to help keep me accountable... so here goes. 

11 resolutions for the year 2011.

1.  Get Healthy... I know right?  This is the #1 New Years Resolution, but in the words of my dear friend Krissy Wood...

I've renamed diet to... Physical responsibility... God wants us to take care of our vessels through devouring His word, eating healthy food, walking with the usable limbs he gave us and praising him with the voice and hands He gave us... All attributing to our  physical wellness.

Therefore, TODAY, December 31st, 2010 is the last day that I will wake up and do knee bends in order for my jeans to fit.

2.  I am going to fill myself with the TRUTH everyday... I am going to go beyond just waking up and reading my Bible, I am going to dig deeper in His Word and find out more of His will for my life.

3.  Wade is going to find a JOB and we are going to become more financially stable so that we can Pay it Forward and help someone in need.

4.  Take a Vacation to a place we have never been...  Some place where we can experience nature and God's beauty without all the business.

5.  Volunteer for a Charity.  Suggestions???  leave a comment...

6.  Sell our house and let the Lord, show us our next destination... I am really hoping for a 3BR 2 BA house...  Wow!  What will I do with all the extra room?!?!

7.  Buy a stranger's dinner at a nice restaurant and leaving them wondering who did it!

8.  Start a NEW BLOG... one that I can discuss anything!  New competition for a creative blog name coming soon... chance to win a FREE gift card.

9.  Read 1 book a month... I love to read.  Making time for it is the only problem.  Maybe blogging about it, will help me with this one??

10.  Worry less...  If you know me at all, you know how hard this is for me.  I worry about almost everything.  So this year, when I catch myself worrying about money or the gray hair on my head or anything really... I am going to PRAY instead.

11.  The last resolution, but probably one of the most important is...  Making that LAST year of my 20's COUNT!  Not just living... but LIVING on PURPOSE. 

So there you have it... What are your Resolutions for the year 2011?

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CHRISTmas 2010

Tis' the season...  The Nagy family had a wonderful Christmas... I think one of the best so far.  Emma Jane, getting to the age of really being able to use her imagination, loved the idea of Santa.  Besides Santa coming to visit and bringing lots of special toys, our holiday was filled with lots of chocolate, casseroles, family time, comical moments with bows on our heads, visits from Santa, a Christmas Miracle and lots of busy travel. 

Besides all of the hustle and bustle of the weekend, the most important thing that happened was the birth of Jesus.  We tried really hard as a family to tell the story of the Coming of Christ and that that was the TRUE meaning of Christmas.  We explained to our girls, that all of the presents were to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  They loved the idea of singing Happy Birthday to him.  Honestly...  This not only played a huge part in teaching the girls a valuable lesson, but it reminded Wade and I how important Christmas is.  It's so easy to get caught up in the "holiday" that you can easily forget what it's about... Our Savior.

Enjoy these captured moments...

Lela loved all the bows and wrapping paper!

Emma Jane's Doll House... I mean MANSION!

Visiting Papaw Jack before Candle Light Service on Christmas Eve.

Some big man in a red suit just walked down the stairs!?!?!?!

Most of these are from the Christmas Miracle...  the girls must have been good this year!

The first White Christmas since 1947...  one to remember!

Lela would have rather been in the warmth... maybe next year!

Family Christmas photo... a little rough, but still worth showing!

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A Christmas Miracle

So this was so good, I just had to write about this right away... Christmas Eve night

Christmas... full of traditions.  Christmas trees, presents, cookies, parties, Santa Claus, and so on... but the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus and because of HIM...tis the season to GIVE.  Which leads me to what just happened at 10:13pm...

Wade and I were in the living room, Wade putting together a last minute gift for the girls, myself making Emma Jane a T-shirt to wear tomorrow.  (I also need to inform you that we do not have blinds over our windows...so you can see in, but not out.) 

All of a sudden, we hear a loud knock at the door.  Wade immediantly looks up, gets up and goes for the front door.  The next thing I know, is Wade is yelling for me to get there and look...

Outside, on our front porch in the middle of pitch black darkness, lies perfectly wrapped Christmas presents!  8 to be exact.  With the front door wide open and our mouths even wider, we ran out on the front porch.  I stood there in astonishment of what had just happened, while Wade played "Rambo" and ran in the woods to track down the mysterious Santa Claus.  He came back without a clue of who did this.  I think I stood on the front porch, tears in my eyes and frozen bare toes for a good 10 minutes before I even lifted the 1st package. 

We brought the gifts in, arranged them in front of the fireplace and are sooooooo excited to open them in the morning with the girls!  So whoever you are... I am sure you read this blog, so here you go...

Dear "Santa,"

I hope you had fun being sneaky on our front porch and peaking in our windows, knowing that we were absolutely clueless that you were out there.  Wade is still trying to figure out how he saw "the white hand" knock through the window, but could not manage to figure out how you planned your "get away" so sufficiently.  The surprise that you gave our family will never be forgotten and we are grateful, but most of all...

You have shown us Jesus' love through your giving spirit and your thoughtfulness.  You didn't just make our Christmas brighter because of the presents, you reminded us how lucky, blessed and loved we are and how one day WE WILL PAY IT FORWARD! 

I believe you have started a "Nagy Christmas Tradition"... Wade is planning his incognito names as we speak...

May your Christmas and your New Year be blessed and your kindness be returned to you in every way possible.

In Jesus Name,

Wade, Tiffany, Emma Jane and Lela

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Count Your Blessings...

I heard, said and even preached at times the often used phrase..."Count your Blessings" more than once in my life, but I have to say that this last week has truly shown me the true meaning behind this commonly used statement. 
I debated on whether to even write about what has been going on the past few weeks, trying to avoid getting "too personal" on a public blog, but after some quality time and good conversation with a dear friend today, I decided to move forward with writing...

The last two weeks have been very interesting.  Let me take that back... the last YEAR has been very interesting.  Just to give you a quick recap of all that has happened...  Wade and I started to get very involved in church and our walk with the Lord, something we had neglected for quite some time.  We were learning so much, taking a Dave Ramsey class to become "debt free," had 1 beautiful daughter and another on the way, plans to build our dream home and move, an income that met all of our needs and then some... life couldn't be better. 

September 2009... Lela, 8 weeks prior to delivery, had a cyst on her brain and was miraculously healed by the good Lord.  Just a few weeks later, Wade lost his job.  He went from a substantial income, to unemployment benefits that wouldn't even pay our bills, 4 weeks away from my due date.  Lela arrived, Wade decided to open up his own Construction Company and forfeit his unemployment... scary, but I supported.  Months have varied throughout his career path... months of wondering how we were going to pay the bills, months of feeling like everything was going to be just fine...  God was and is Faithful, which we knew, but over the last 2 weeks it has become even more clear how faithful He really is. 

Wade has been looking for full-time employment since he was laid off, in addition to doing his construction job.  God has spoken to us that He is moving us and is going to give us a job... where and when are still the missing details!  With this in mind, I guess we have tried our best to avoid "government assistance" for all this time.  Wade and I came to a crossroads... we knew that God was going to provide, but even He may use other means to do so... So we put all our pride aside and marched ourselves down to DSS and sought out the help we so desperately needed.  I didn't know that it was going to be the learning experience of my life...

I walked in feeling "I don't belong here"... not because I am better, but because we HAD it so much better than some of the people that were there.  But here is the thing... 6 hours of waiting to be helped can create some bonding time between you and the other people waiting.  Not once, did anyone judge me for my nice jeans and comfortable tennis shoes, but how often have I judged?  How often have I stood behind the person in the grocery line and complained that they were buying "Digiorno", while I had "Great Value" in my cart all to find out that they were on Food Stamps. I am guilty of this... and ashamed.  My eyes were opened sitting in one small little town in America.  There was so many people that would have loved to be in "our shoes."  So many people without, hungry and hurting, but to make it worse... there are so many people thats' only comfort is found in government sources and they don't rely on the Lord for means of provision, hope and support.  I think this is what hurt the most...  I realized that I have a giving heart, but I need to give beyond the material possessions...  God wants us to have things, but only so that we can give to others and give the glory to Him...  otherwise it is just useless stuff.  Christians must have compassion for the hurting... just as Christ does for us. 

Over the last 2 weeks we have been humbled by the people that we spoke with and met and the experience we had.  We have had some medical scares over the last two weeks with our girls, (which I will post later) but again, we are so blessed!  We gathered our tax information for 2010 and realized that by the "Number" we ended up with, that God has definitely, supernaturally multiplied our income in order to pay our bills... otherwise I can guarantee that some bills would have been unpaid.  We have had some really tough times, but I know that our hardships are another person's dreams...

That is why today I am choosing to COUNT MY MANY BLESSINGS and know that my Lord has got my life in HIS hands... Wade and I have realized that we need to wake up... it's a big world out there and there are a lot of people that we can show God's love to.  It's not just about us...

listen...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Yasgzjc0w

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New Blog

For those customers that are looking for Emma Jane Baby... please check back for the latest products and information.  I have canceled my website to reduce cost and hopefully have a little more time with my family and veture into other things that make me smile...

Please email me with any orders/ request ~ emmajanebaby@hotmail.com

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Computer back in Business...

Our one and only family computer has been out of service for about 3 weeks... NOW it is up and running and we have lots of catching up to do in the world of blogging. First, let me say some things about what I have learned from the last 3 weeks of having to rely on my Blackberry as my only means of the "world wide web..."

1. I have come to terms that I spend way too much time on the computer. My husband likes to refer to it as my "other boyfriend." I am not too fond of this term... I prefer "mommy's outlet" ...after all, it is my only source of adult conversation on most days of being a stay home mom.

2. With all of the new free time I had without a computer, I figured I would work on some much needed scrapbooking for the girls. This soon came to a halt, when I realized that all of life's captured moments were all captured in my laptop... leaving me know way to do a scrapbook. I have come to the realization that digital is not always better... which has inspired me to work with some film to capture some Nagy Moments.

3. I have way too much of my life documented on my computer! Everything from email, to documents, photos videos and more... This being the reason to purchase "back-up." I am now the proud owner of an external hard drive. Not much good without the computer, but still has a purpose...I guess.

4. The most important thing learned... Journaling! You know where you use actual paper and pen...crazy I know, but I really did enjoy going back to the old school way of writing down ideas, thoughts and memories. The only problem was, is that my brain has been trained to follow this "fast paced technological" world and my hand...well it couldn't quite keep up. So I am thankful for the technology of Blogging, but I have made a mental note not to neglect the paper/pen version of journaling.

Now time to recap the last few weeks...

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving was spent filling our bellies full of delicious food that we often neglect throughout the year... like stuffing and cranberries. Wade and I made sure to wear our "buffet" pants (aka sweat pants) so that we could fool our stuffed bellies into thinking that there was still more room. The girls had extra fun riding on the wagon pulled by Papaw Morton's tractor... I assure you the bumps throughout the cow pasture were not the most pleasant after eating everything in sight.

Of course it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without ending the day with the viewing of the BIGGEST shopping day in America... Black Friday Sale papers. We gather around the table and pass back and forth the flyer's picking out this long list of all life's "must haves." Wade and I always have a big list...but usually the thrill of it ends when it ends up in our shopping buggy and we realize with actually have to pay for it. Those "must haves" usually end up back in the shopping aisle. The adventure began at 3am and ended just after breakfast around 10am, which resulted in a mid-morning nap for the whole family.

Lela's 1st Birthday Party...

We celebrated the BIG day at Memaw and Pappy's house... Lela was dressed to impressed with her specially designed apparel designed by no other than Emma Jane Baby:) She wasn't aware of what was really going on other than all of the attention was focused on her for once. We had a great turn out of family and friends, delicious BBQ and all the fixins', chocolate sprinkled cupcakes and presents galore! Lela loved smashing her fingers in the smushy, chocolate delight and even more so enjoyed the opening of presents. I think she would have been just as equally satisfied with tissue paper and some bows...

She had a great 1st birthday and we are very blessed to have her. This year has been filled with lots of joyous memories of her life so far and I know that we can count on many more!

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Christmas Card 2010

Share your Shutterfly Christmas Card on any Blog/ Website and you will recieve a $25 dollar credit off your next Shutterfly purchase... now that's what I call a good deal! I plan to use mine to capture all the family memories of 2010 in a digital photo album... Hope you enjoy the Nagy Christmas Greeting!

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