Intimacy

Oprah Winfrey once said that your bedroom should be the most beautiful, peaceful and harmonious room in your house because that's where you go to relax and unwind and are intimate. I thought about it, and thought that it was true. So I painted my bedroom my favorite color, turquoise blue. I LOVE IT!! I love the way it makes me feel. I also hung pictures everywhere. These are the pictures right across from my bed. These are the last thing I see before I turn the lights out at night.

What color is your bedroom? What's the last thing you see before you turn your light out?

Sarah!

I went to the Mcain/Palin rally a few days ago! I got a t-shirt and these yard signs! I had a great time at Tuscany's! Brenda and Ally went with me, and I also met another old friend there who introduced me to two new friends! We spent quite a bit of time talking and enjoying one another's company! I love making new friends!

A birthday surprise..

I came home from work today to find these on my doorstep!



Thank you Di!! I love them so much! I love YOU so much! God has blessed me with a sister who loves me unconditionaly! You always tell me how proud you are of me and many other beautiful things! Because kind words are my love language.. well that makes me feel so loved! Thanks for speaking my language!
I love you unconditionally too! Susie

Great day..

But I'm exhausted : ) (In a good way!) We started off the morning meeting with our real estate agent to go over some details about our sales agreement. Then I had lunch with the wonderful and beautiful Anne Bruening. We may be starting a small group for women business owners from New Wilmington for mentoring sessions! I love the thought of that! Then Joe and I rode to Boardman to look for my birthday present (didn't find what I wanted) and we stopped at BARNES & NOBLE *sigh* I love Barnes and Noble.. I got three books..

and..

and this one..

Hopefully they will be helpful in our new business!
We then had dinner at our favorite place... OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE! We brainstormed and chatted..just had a good time together.
The girls are doing much better at school. They are adjusting. Tommorow I have a meeting with Lauren's gifted support teacher. It seems like New Wilmington has a lot more to offer their students then New Castle.
Tommorow evening Ally and I are going shopping for Homecoming dresses. She has a date for New Castle's homecoming.

Busy week ahead.. it just doesn't slow down! Susan

Don Piper @ Grove City Alliance Church

Don Piper is coming to our church on
October 4, 2008
Slippery Rock University



Don Piper, best-selling author and speaker, is coming to share his life after death experience where he spent 90 minutes in Heaven. He will be speaking at the Aebersold Recreation Center at Slippery Rock University , October 4 at 7:00 p.m. and signing books afterwards. The doors will open at 6:30pm. Admission is free and open to the public but a ticket is required to reserve a seat. Call 724-458-8497, email GCAC@zoominternet.net, or stop in the Grove City Alliance Church office to reserve your ticket(s). This event is co-sponsored by Grove City Alliance Church and Campus Crusade for Christ at SRU.




Don Piper is a dynamic speaker and the author of New York Times bestseller, 90 Minutes in Heaven - a True Story of Death and Life (Fleming Revell, 2004). For the past three years, he has traveled across the country and around the world sharing his message of hope and healing. In 1989, Don was on his way back from a church conference when an 18-wheeler struck his Ford Escort head on. He was killed instantly - pronounced dead by four sets of EMTs.

Shortly after the accident, a pastor from the same conference arrived on the scene and began praying for "the man in the red car." God worked a miracle and sent Don back to a broken body. To date, 34 surgical procedures have taken place. He walks only as a result of miraculous and in some cases medically unexplainable circumstances. During the time he was dead, Piper was granted the extreme privilege of glimpsing Heaven itself.

His dramatic story has been retold on such network TV programs as "The Today Show on NBC" and "The Coral Ridge Hour" with D. James Kennedy and "The 700 Club." He has been a guest on numerous TV talk shows including Daystar's "At Home Live," Canada's "100 Huntley Street," TBN's "Praise The Lord," "Life Today" with James Robison, "HelpLine," local and network newscasts, and in numerous publications across America. Recently, his book was featured in Newsweek Magazine.
Now in its 41st printing, 90 Minutes in Heaven has sold more than 2.7 million copies in the United States. It also is enjoying worldwide success as a bestseller in Sweden, Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Dawn Parouse Production, a Holllywood-based film studio, secured movie rights for 90 Minutes in the summer of 2007. Don's follow up book, Daily Devotions Inspired by 90 Minutes of Heaven (Berkeley), contains stories compiled from his extensive travel. His third book, Heaven Is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy, from the Man Who Spent 90 Minutes in Heaven (Berkeley).

Meeting my friend Anne Bruening for lunch today @ Panera Bread! Then Joe and I have a brain storming session to accomplish tonight. Please pray for brain power. I hope you have a lovely day today. Delight in it! : ) Susan

What is Obama's Faith? Listen to him say it himself!

How much do you LOVE Sarah Palin??? Men thinks she's hot (She does have that naughty librarian thing going on!!) and women love her strength and her toughness. Christians love her morals and values, mom's love her being a mom of five children,and I think many men and women think she'd make a great vice president!!!! SHE ROCKS!!! I'm going to a McCain/Palin rally at Tuscany square this Thursday! It's for women who support McCain/Palin! Wanna join me? If you're interested let me know and i'll send you more details! I LOVE GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS POLITICAL PROCESS! As a Christian, I have to do everything I can to help keep righteous values and morals upheld in America!!

To Mr. Obama

Junior Women's club!

LOVED IT!! Brenda and I both decided to join the New Castle Junior Women's club. We met some wonderful women who we are going to enjoy getting to know! We had a great time meeting everyone and a good meal at the Mill Street Grille! Our next meeting is at the end of the month at Tuscany Square to plan for A Night at the races fundraiser where they raise about 17,000 dollars for charity! Another fundraiser we will be having is paint the town pink for breast cancer. I've so wanted to give back to my community and this is a great way to do it! Look for updates coming soon!

Sarah!

We had to put Sarah to sleep today. She had been a special part of our family for 14 years! She was an AMAZING, LOVING and SWEET cat!! She slept with me every night, curling up to my back, her purrs vibrating against me.
Thank you Lord for allowing us to share our love with such a beautiful animal. Please bring us comfort as we grieve.

The voice.. Don LaFontaine

Lauren is 15!

My little baby turned 15 yesterday! We had a beautiful celebration for my beautiful daughter! Lauren is colorful and creative! She brightens up our world! She is very witty and intelligent. She dances to the beat of her own drum! She is confidant and strong! She is unique..and LOVES being different! She loves to draw..loves the color purple, she likes to watch House and C.S.I on her computer. She loves God and loves her family and loves her pets too..especially her cat, Sarah! Happy birhtday my sweet girl! I love you so, so, so , so, so, so.......MUCH! I am proud of you!
Love Mom!
P.S. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Phil 4:13 (That one was just for you on your birthday!) : )

It's unbelievable..

..how biased the media is. 99 percent of all newscasts are positive about Obama, and negative about McCain and his new vice president candidate Sarah Palin. Why?
Why are almost all celebrities and musicians liberal democrats? Name a few celebrities that are republican or conservative? WHY?????

Junior Women's Club

Brenda and I are going to check out the Junior Women's Club of New Castle this Wednesday evening. We are going to attend a dinner at the Mill Street Grille and check out what it's all about. I want to be more philanthropic and this might be a good chance to get involved in charitable giving!

New Church

Joe and I and the girls tried out a new church this Sunday. It is called the Alliance Church in Grove City www.grovecityalliance.org It was nice. It had a room called The Core, where you could sit and have coffee and muffins or other breakfast items, while you watched the pastor on a video screen. I definitely loved that part about it. My family was very comfortable in the Core.

We will probably go again this Sunday. I want my kids to be a part of a church family again. They have been saved and born again and love Jesus Christ very much, but they need a church family.

Before and after lap band pictures!

It's been one year since my lap band surgery! I've lost 81 lbs so far! I'd still like to lose 40 more. It's so weird to look at my before picture. They are both me. The same me. I haven't changed on the inside. But it's nice to look better on the outside : ) More than looking better, Oh, I feel soooooo much better! I can do so much more than I've ever been able to do! I walk almost daily! Joe and I ride bikes together! I have so much more energy! Life is definitely more enjoyable!
My sister Dianna can't believe how I let myself be so transparant on the internet..that hasn't been difficult for me at all! I love to write and share my thoughts. THis is the most difficult..showing pictures.It's painful to see the old me. I don't want to be the old me.. I want that part of my life erased. I don't want to be remembered or thought of like that old picture! BUT..IT IS ME! It's a part of my life. I've always struggled with my weight. I still struggle. I always will! Food is my drug, my pleasure, my comfort, my best friend and my enemy. I still want to gorge myself..but I can't anymore. I love to eat! I love food!
I like being thin more :)

.

Bliss Update

Lauren got asked to homecoming..yes, on her first day at a new school.(She still thinks boys are yukky, so she laughed and said "EWWWWW NO!" She made lots of friends already.. she loved it! Ally..not so much. But we will see with her..she's in 11th grade so it might take her a bit longer because friendships are already established. Also, her classes seem really hard for her. Entreupreneurship..Pre Calculus.. Speech..
Overall, I think it's going to be goo! Please keep praying for my girls. They will need God's help!

Bliss

First day of high school for Lauren. First day of a new school for Ally and Lauren! They are incredible girls! They really are. They weren't too nervous.. more excited then anything! I think I was more nervous then they were. We got there right on time! I ran some papers into the office and was stopped by the superintendent, who had a great big smile on her face as she welcomed us to school. Then one of the teachers who comes into my restaurant, stopped and told me how everyone was so excited for us to be at the school and to be opening the Tavern Restaurant! hmmmm, God is so good to me. God is so good. I am blessed beyond belief. I don't think I can feel any happier then I feel at this moment. I feel bliss.
Yesterday the employees from the Neshannock Creek Inn all went to a Pirate Game together. (I couldn't go, because of having to prepare the girls for school). I stayed home and cleaned my house from top to bottom. (This helps Ally feel good and less anxious) Then I went grocery shopping (350 dollars..and I only filled one cart!!!) I got the girls their favorite foods, and came home and made some broccoli salad, a pot of Chili and fresh blueberry muffins! The salad and chile are for dinner tonight.. the muffins were for the girls this morning!
I talked to my bestie Kim for a little while..Then I turned on the radio and listened to music, and prayed while I cooked. It was very relaxing. Joe called while I was in the kitchen. "Guess what?" he asked. "What?" "I caught a homerun ball!!!!!" It was his first! He was so excited... the girls were really excited. We all three wished we would have been there to witness the event! They couldn't wait for him to come home. They new how excited he was.
We stayed up to watch the game highlights on tv and all saw him catch the homerun ball! He pumped his fists in the air!! Hahaha..it was great!
So this morning after taking the kids to school, I put on my walking shoes and I took Nikki for a long cardio-walk! I love walking through the side streets on Neshannock. It's so quiet and peaceful! And..for the rest of the day Joe and I are strategizing on restaurant ideas and applications! We've got so much work ahead of us, but it's work that I love!
Well..that's a lot of words for today. I hope you are feeling wonderful! May God pour out His blessings upon you today! Peace out, Susan