Dh's car broke down late last week, so I have to drive him to work (done) and pick him up this afternoon before I have to be at work this evening. (Good thing he gets out early today.) Normal activities planned for today (outside the normal reading, writing, 'rithmetic for the kiddos): - laundry (washed just needs to be hung) - girls have computer class followed by volunteering at the library (class done/ volunteering in progress) - arrange trip to local touring of National Geographic North American Continent map - fill out insurance paperwork (in progress - I'm here taking a break) - check out the local consignment store for some boots they are having a sale on - work

On a normal Sunday with just Sunday School and church, we are there 3 hours. If there is a meal following the service (which happens at least once a month), we're there at least 4 hours. And while we are in the membership class, dh and I go back in the evenings for a class that lasts 1-1.5 hours. This past Sunday, dh and I spent about 5 and a half hours participating in church-related activities at church on Sunday. The kids were only there for the 4 hours of morning participation.

Our day was wonderful! Sunday school was week three of an eight week course on the beliefs and practices of the ancient church. Worship was glorious! We're all finally becoming adept at following along with the prayer book and having it enhance the service rather than it becoming a distraction. There was a pot luck supper after church (somehow we missed the announcement so didn't bring anything but there was more than enough). There was coconut cream pie... enough said. Then we came home and I took a NAP! Sigh. Then dh and I went back to church this evening for the membership class. We had a brief overview of the contents of the Book of Common Prayer then discussed the attributes of God, the nature of the trinity, and how both of these are refelected in creation as a whole and within the family and the church more specifically (especially in the church's liturgy and the contents of the Book of Common Prayer in regards to the latter). There are about 10 of us in the class and most of us stayed behind an additional hour just chatting about class, life, etc. It was wonderful!

I belong to a local "chapter" of Parent Educators And Kids (PEAK: http://peaknetwork.org/) and really love it. This is the second PEAK group I have belonged to, and it is completely different from the first. Each group has its own flavor dependent on the desires and involvement of the local members. You can contact Natalie (one of the co-founders and administrators) through the website for information on finding or starting a PEAK (or PEAK-like) group near you. Or feel free to PM me, and I'd be happy to share how the group has worked from a member's point of view.

Right now, both of our teens volunteer at our local library. However, they are looking into volunteer opportunities at two our our local museums (natural history and children's) for the summer.

Stephen Fry In America How Beer Saved The World Pompeii: Back From The Dead National Geograpic: Secret Yosemite Food Stamped (?) Holy Rollers Patriot Guard Riders (?) All are available on Netflix streaming (last I checked) except those marked (?)

I work part time at our local library and it is jammed most times I'm there (I work evenings and Saturdays). We have a lot of people checking out books, movies, and music and many students coming to use the computers, printers, Internet, and group studay areas. We teach computer classes weekly and they fill up fast! We also have two meeting rooms where everyone from the Girl Scouts to the VA to a coin club and a local homeschool group meet; the rooms also get used for birthday parties and baby showers. With the economy how it is, our résumé assisting services, computer classes, test proctoring services, and tutoring connections are in great demand. I never realized the vast array of services provided by the library until I started working at one... and I was perfectly content with the free access to books, music, and movies! Our patrons are so kind and generous and we receive thanks from most of them daily for being there for them. We love seeing them when they come in. It's like the new town square.

During Lent, our family is eating lacto-ovo vegetarian meals except on Fridays (we'll be eating shrimp, crab, or scallops - I don't like fish) and Sundays (where we will have a small roast or some types of meat-inclusive stir-fry). I just went shopping for the upcoming week and spent a little over our average $100 for the week for the six of us. I realized when we got home that I forgot to inventory meat (since I was so focused on ingredients for balanced vegetarian meals) and now have enough seafood for the next three weeks (three seafood meals) and for Sunday (steak strips for stir-fry). This morning's breakfast was oatmeal, bananas, and milk or tea. Lunch was pasta with an olive oil sauce, fresh herbs, and spinach with water or tea. Snack will be bananas or strawberries. (Both were on sale, so we have lots and will probably be sick of them by the end of the week.) Dinner will be shrimp stir fry with rice (stir fry veggies include spinach, carrots, brocolli, and snow peas), clementines, and milk, water, tea, or lemonade. In my ideal world, we would be eating almost all local, organic food, but we can't afford that right now, so I buy as healthy as I can as cheaply as I can. That averages about $100/wk for 6 people (two of whom have a gluten intolerance). ETA: I just looked at the USDA chart, and according to their numbers for the thrifty plan we should be spending $936.13/ month for our family. We average $400/ month, so we currently spend 43% of the government's thrifty plan. Although with food prices going up, we'll probably have to adjust up soon.)

Like LAmom, I've been following along awhile and finally decided to jump in and say hi. (Plus, I have a class to prepare for our co-op tomorrow, so I'm procrastinating.) Roadmap of our church background: I grew up Methodist/ Unitarian Universalist and dh grew up independent Baptist. We attended an independent Baptist church in college until dh's senior year when we dicovered the OPC. After we married, we joined an OPC then began our journey of moving (physically) and growing and changing (spiriutally), so since then we have been members of an OPC church plant, a PCA, another PCA, and now are in the proces of joining a Reformed Episcopal church (Anglican Communion). We love it! It is the beautiful dance of doctrine and liturgy that we have been searching for! Right now I am reading a lot of church history and books on Anglican donctrine and practice as part of our membership class. I'm also familiarizing myself with the Book of Common Prayer. We are generally not fans of children's church that removes children from the service, but this church offers a childrens church (for kids under the age of 12) during the sermon only the week before a major church holiday to explain the purpose and practices of the upcoming holiday, and it is wonderful! This week they discussed Lent and Easter, and the kids participated in every part of the service except the sermon. It's a really thoughtfullly planned program.

Our church is very small, so we only have two Sunday School classes: K-age 12 and age 13-adult. We also have a nursery for ages 4 and under. We don't have a youth group. We have no Sunday night service (although right now we have a new members class that meets on Sunday night). Every other Wednesday night, our church gets together for dinner. Thursday night is a women's Bible study.

It depends on the context and what we're eating. Fried chicken church supper or picnic: yes Dinner table dinner or formal restaurant: no

The only show I can think of that is even close is The Colony. It's like a post-apocolyptic Fronteir House where they place people with various skils in a post-apocolyptic scenario and see how they work together as a community to build shleter, find/ provide food, find clean water, develop transportation, etc. I hope that others know of other suggestions that are closer to Fronteir House. I loved that show!

We're still waiting for W-2s. Grrrr.

Not sure how to link from my phone, but you might want to check out HoneyBee Bakery and Big Bad Breakfast. Both are in Oxford, MS. Both focus on local foods, and the chef from BBB has been nationally recognized for his food and his business models (he owns four restaurants in Oxford).

$5 or 25%, whichever is higher However, we rarely have pizza delivered because the fees make it worth our while to just go pick it up.

Delicates get washed seperately. Whites get washed seperately in hot water and bleach. Everything else gets tossed together.

Last night, dh made tuna hushpuppies, homemade potato chips, and green beans. Tonight, I'm going to pop a ham in the oven before I head to work and dh will make some sides when he gets home (probably salad and sweet potatoes).

They are inexpensive, durable, and multi-functional. When we needed to replace our glasses last year (most had been broken), we decided to replace them with mason jars of various sizes. We also bought lids for each size and tossed the majority of our storage containers. Now, if someone doesn't finish their drink, I pop a lid on it and stick it in the fridge. If we want to being a drink with us, we put a lid on it and bring it along. We store leftovers from meals in them, and we can reheat the leftovers in the jars (replacing the lids with plastic wrap) and I can easily bring leftovers with me to work. What used to take several shelves/ cabinets to store can now be stored on 1 1/2 shelves. We also haven't broken any yet despite their being dropped and bumped frequently during washing and use. I plan to use some instructions I found on Pinterest to alter some of the lids so I can put re-usable straws in them so we can use them as travel cups.

Welcome! Glad to have you here!

Same here. Our double sink is so small here. I can't fit any pots of substantial size into it.

I've found grace.

We moved recently and this is the plan we implemented to find a church home. First, we made a list of what we were looking for in a church. Then we made a list of all of the churches we thought we be a good fit for us (based on denomination, recommendation from coworkers & friends, information on church websites, etc compared to our list); in our case, there were 6 churches on our list. We then attended each church once during their normal worship service. Everyone was very friendly and if they inquired as to whether we would be coming back, we were very honest with them that we would be visiting other churches in the area but that they may see us again in the future and thanked them for their hospitality. After we had visited each church once, we re-evaluated our list and eliminated any churches that obviously conflicted with what we were looking for. We then attended each of the remaining churches two weeks in a row and attend Sunday School and worship, and we asked the pastors or elders if we could meet with them just to talk about their congregations, ask questions, and get to know them a bit. Our plan at this point was to then narrow down the list again and visit each church for a month and attend as many of the additional activities (youth groups, Wednesday night suppers, Bible studies, etc) as we could then narrow our selection down to one, but our whole family was in agreement as to which church we wanted to attend after our two-week visits so we started attending there. As to what to say when people ask about your family situation, I would just be honest while sharing as much information as you feel comfortable sharing. Just let them know that while you do have a family and you hope that they will join you for worship and other activities at the church in the future that right now you are looking for a place for yourself to worship and serve in. You have been longing for a new church home for a few years now and are very thankful for their hospitality while you look. If any of the churches you visit has a problem with you searching for a church home on your own or after a seven year hiatus, then maybe that is not the right church for you. I would see thier responses to these situations/ questions as tools rather than potential embarrassments. I'll be praying for you as you search. Looking for a new church home can be such an emotional and stressful task. May you have peace in the process.

Heather, I'm so glad you've had some possibilities open up! I'll be praying that one (or maybe a combination) works out for your family and the other families you mentioned. As to your question: yes, doctrine matters. A great deal. It is why my dh and I had struggles with a couple of churches we had joined in the past. On paper, their doctrine was sound. In one-on-one discussions with leadership, their doctrine was sound. From the pulpit, the doctrine was sound (for the most part.... one church tended to softball the doctrine from the pulpit when a new pastor took over, so that was a HUGE problem for us). However, both of these churches suffered in their praxis of their stated belief; what they said they believed and what they did didn't always match in our opinion. This is why we will never rush into church membership again- because while we think membership and dedication to a local body of believers is extremely important, we want to be more intimate with a congregation's doctrinal beliefs through their preaching, teaching, and practice before making a promise to uphold that church's purity.

Yes, Sherlock is BBC. Very fun! I can't wait for the next season to come out (which may take at least a year! Ack!) I started watching LRtC via DVDs at our library, but they only have seasons 1 & 3. :glare: I'm trying to work from the inside (I work there part-time) to buy seasons 2 & 4.My co-workers just don't appreciate my need to keep watching.

Sherlock Lark Rise to Candleford The Last Detective I like the BBC :hurray: