Last weekend I went to a women’s retreat at the Calvary Bible College in Temecula, California. This was Kaleo’s first retreat in three years and long overdue. I arrived at 2pm on Friday to help setup and take pictures as women arrived to the retreat. I was so looking forward to going. I knew I’d be 35 weeks pregnant, but I knew if I didn’t take the opportunity to go, I’d regret it. I actually almost didn’t end up not going toward the end because of some unexpected financial issues that came into play, but Luke encouraged me to go and trust in God’s provision. Thank you God for giving my husband insight and the encouragement. God knew I needed the spiritual nourishment and this was the perfect opportunity to be filled.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Susan Trout was our speaker for the retreat and I was extremely blessed by her ability to honestly and humbly share the Word of God as well as some of her life. It was refreshing to hear her speak so powerfully and yet so vulnerably at the same time. That is very rare to find. Through the weekend we discussed the book of Ruth. Ruth is a beautiful picture of Jesus redeeming us to himself even through much tragedy and unfortunate circumstances such as Ruth and Naomi. Jesus used Susan Trout to open our eyes to a deeper meaning to this story. We discussed the characters in the story and dove into the meanings of their names. We also had group time where we went over specific questions which allowed us to open up to each other. Overall this was an awesome weekend filled with fellowship, growth, spiritual nourishment, rest and relaxation as well as good food.

Thank you Jesus for the time away to focus on you!

A couple years ago I became interested in photography, but didn’t know exactly what to do about it. I received a catalog in the mail for adult school education and saw they offered quite a variety of classes. The one that caught my eye was a class that focused only on learning how to use a digital camera. If you haven’t looked into taking a class through adult school education, you should reconsider. They are inexpensive and focus on specific hobbies and interests such as Italian cooking, digital photography, art, sewing, yoga, etc. Plus, every county has them, so you can always find something close by.

I enrolled and attended a one evening a week, six week course at a local high school. The instructor, Rod Deutschmann, was awesome. I remember the first thing he told us to do was change our setting to the manual setting. We were no longer allowed to use preset settings. He then told us that for a good while many of us will have blurry photos. This made many people uneasy because they were so used to using the pre-programed settings (you know the ones on the top dial with the pretty pictures) and every shot coming out crystal clear. But, after some practice and demonstrations, most of us started feeling more comfortable and more in control of our cameras. Having the ability to play with the lighting and shutter speed was all new to many of us. We were so pre-programmed just like our camera settings to click a button and be satisfied with the outcome.

If digital photography is something you are interested in and are located in southern california, Ron and his wife Robin Deutschmann can teach you how to become a more confident photographer. They have specialized classes that can help you in whatever area you are interested or need improvement in(see the list below). There is a cost for each session, but they are well worth it because they are hands on and teach you specifically what you need to know. You can check out their website by going to: www.iflcsandiego.com.

MULTIPLE-SESSION COURSES

IN FOCUS I: MASTERING THE MECHANICS

IN FOCUS III: THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

(NEW) MACRO: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

LIGHTING IN A FLASH

ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS

PORTRAITS: A NEW VIEW

DESIGNING A PHOTO

THE AT HOME STUDIO: CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

I’m 9 months pregnant! I have 27 days and counting till my son is born. If I had it my way it would be sooner than later, but God’s timing is always best.

My husband and I were talking and I was telling him how amazed I continue to be at how fast the time is flying by. Not too long ago we were scheduling our 32 week ultrasound, our six week childbirth class as well as our hospital tour and our baby showers. We are now able to check all those off on our “to do” list. The only things left to do is to put my hospital bag together which is somewhat done already and wait for the birth of our son. That just trips me out! Thinking about it though, I’d rather be busy than bored, so I guess this is a tremendous blessing after all. Plus, both Luke and my birthdays are at the end of the month and Thanksgiving is next week…so we will have lots to keep us occupied while we wait.

How your baby’s growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered he body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected he skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of he first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely he’s in a head-down position. But if he isn’t, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an “external cephalic version,” which is a fancy way of saying he’ll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

To read more go to Baby Center.com

I haven’t presonally tried these, but my mom sent this list to me. Try some of them out and let me know if they worked.

1. Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove , set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal , mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients , reseal , keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly , cut the tip of the baggy , squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

3. Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store , whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with th e same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits , pancakes , or muffins that were refrigerated , place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

5. Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

6 Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

8. Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.

9. Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and — ta da! — static is gone.

11. Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

13. Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily

14. Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…

15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies , take a small glass fill it 1/2″ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid , mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it , take it “home”, can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains , but it works & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Our God is Omniscient - We cannot escape him! He knows!
Our God is Omnipresent - We cannot run from Him. He’s there!
Our God is Omnipotent - We cannot overpower him. He is the Almighty!

Three big words for a big God. Well…what do we do with such a God? How do we respond with this Theology?

To read more click on “kaleo”