INTRODUCING...Perseverance Scott!!!

PERSEVERANCE (PERCY) SCOTT

After much labor and travail (a THREE DAY INDUCTION, Y'ALL!), Esther gave birth to another gorgeous little boy on October 21st, 2013. Weighing in at 5 lbs 5 oz, with a length of 18.5 inches, little Percy is just the cutest baby his maternal grandmother (that's Mom, just so you know) had ever seen (she claimed that he was the most perfectly-proportioned, attractive newborn ever).

See for yourself!

Grandma Phyllis' Obituary

See obituary here.

Grandpa's Obituary

You can see the original post about Grandpa on FloridaToday.com.

I Called Him 'Grandpa': Chocolate, Part I

Grandpa believed in 'spoiling' us. There was never a single time when we visited Grandma and him, and he didn't have a special treat for us. Most of the time, it was fresh grapes - which for us was a huge treat. Other times, it was cookies of extra candy; 'extra' because he always had a dish of chocolates for us to sneak into.

An Appearance of Grace

AN APPEARANCE OF GRACE

AN ALLEGORY

Written October 3rd-9th, 2007

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Mara. This little girl was born with physical deformities, so that her parents were ashamed for her to be seen in public. For many years, the child grew up in bitterness, hiding herself from all others. When she took the chance of being seen in order to go outside and play, Mara would take great handfuls of earth and smear it upon her face and arms in an effort to disguise her ugliness. Her childhood was spent alone in fear and anger at the pitying and disgusted glances that were cast upon her by all who looked on her.

I Called Him 'Grandpa': Hugs and Handshakes

Grandpa had exacting standards of manly conduct. First and foremost: men do not hug other men. I am unsure of what exactly would happen should such a thing take place in Grandpa's presence (perhaps a gruff clearing of the throat and a to-the-point explanation of The Behavior and Duties and Rules of Conduct for Men Who Are Lads No Longer).

I Called Him 'Grandpa'

On October 2nd, 2013, Vincent Dover Wilson passed away. He left behind his wife of 20 years, Geraline, and her (Geri's) daughter's family. My mom, aforementioned daughter, considered Vince to be a dear friend to her and a beloved grandfather to her children, of which I am the fourth of nine.

Grandpa's Surprise 90th Birthday Party by Brevard Sheriff's Office

See full article here.

Post-Independence Day, 2011

A little over 300 years ago, a War for Independence was fought against the British Empire; Britain conceded the defeat, and a nation celebrated its own birth. Years before that, however, men from many corners of Europe and the British Isles left their homelands in search of an elusive freedom. That search brought them to a land completely devoid of the amenities to which they were accustomed, and occupied by people who were more foreign to them than were the Orientals on the other side of the known world. There, surrounded by the dangerous and unfamiliar, the seekers found what they sought: the freedom to worship and teach as they believed was right, without the fear of soldiers knocking down their doors and delivering them up for harsh sentences.

Dad's Trip to Publix Today

A while back, Dad offered to go shopping for me at Publix on his way home from work in the evenings. Generally, I prepare a little baggie of coupons and shopping list, and hand that over to him the prior evening. Most of the time, he has no problem at the register and comes home with this little grin on his face - along with several items that were decidedly not on my list. As far as Mom and I can tell, he just hates to leave Publix without handing over seven or eight dollars more than I had planned on; usually, the extras include iced tea and a Cuban sandwich, even if he is on his way home to dinner.

Free Vitamins at Publix!

Starting Saturday, June 25th (that's tomorrow!), Publix will have their newest Green Advantage Buy flyer available at their stores (in the turnabout near the front where you find the weekly sales ad). Inside that flyer, you will find Publix store coupons for $6 off two Sundown Naturals Vitamins. Use that coupon with two $1 off one Sundown Naturals manufacturer's coupons to get a total of $8 off two bottles of vitamins. Many varieties of the vitamins are $3.99 or less, which makes them free!

The Green Advantage Buy flyer also has coupons and sales for really cheap feminine products (two packages of regular size pads for $.19!). For more details, check out my post at A Little Lower Than Free.

The Stumbling Block and Rock of Offense: The Offense of the Cross

The Stumbling Block and Rock of Offense is nothing more than the fact that we, Mankind, are incapable of reaching perfection of self and surroundings on our own. In fact, if we have anything to do with it, then all is lost.

The "offense of the cross" which Paul speaks of in Galatians is the acknowledgement that perfection must come and does come from a source outside of ourselves. All men - Jew, Gentile, whatever divisions you may see in the world - balk at such an idea; so they stumble over and around the fact, rather than resting on the Corner Stone of the foundation of God's perfect existence.

Check out these verses:
Psalm 69:22
Isaiah 8:13-15
Jeremiah 6:21
Romans 9:30-33 with Galatians 5:11
I Corinthians 1:22-24
I Peter 2:4-8

Publix Trip and ConAgra Rebate

About three weeks ago, I began seeing some hubub about a great deal at Publix with ConAgra items. A few days later, I found a ConAgra brand coupon booklet in Publix containing several Publix coupons and a great rebate! The rebate stipulates that you purchase $50 worth of groceries at Publix, with at least half of that purchase being select ConAgra brand items.

Well, last week's Publix ad had Hunt's Ketchup (24 oz.) and Peter Pan Peanut Butter (13-16 oz.) on sale for BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE. I was able to get rain checks for each of those, so that I could wait for some other coupons to arrive from eBay. Once those coupons arrived...I went to Publix!

Research Paper Draft 1: All Hallow's Eve

Rebekah Robbins

REL2100-01M

Ms. Spring

1 November 2010

All Hallow’s Eve

On the evening of October 31^st, children around America dress up in costumes and trawl the local neighborhoods for gifts of candy, nuts, and small toys. The night is devoted to fun and games and – if the child or adult is so inclined – to pranks and tricks of both well-meaning and malicious nature. Billions of dollars are spent in America over the course of several weeks for that one night of enjoyment, that one night of abandonment – abandonment of inhibitions, of accountability, and of identity. This night of ‘go as you aren’t’ is the holiday known as Hallowe’en.

Hallowe'en Question

What are your views on Hallowe'en? Should Christians have anything to do with it? Should we "avoid all appearance of evil" and denounce it? Or do we ignore the pagan origins as we do with Christmas? What do you think?

I recently wrote a research paper about the religions behind the holiday; not in depth, as it was only a 5-page paper, but it was still interesting to learn and write about. I will be posting that paper later on.

I simply wonder about Christians' views about secular holidays: do we think about what we're doing in certain traditions? Does it take an informed decision before we can say that what we are doing is not sinful? Is it sinful to participate in these traditions unless we have made an informed decision? It's something to think about...

Check out http://tiny.cc/48nom to see what one person has to say about Hallowe'en.

CVS/Pharmacy:Stuff For Free! And $7 In Cash!

I went by CVS/Pharmacy on my way home from school. Spending exactly $2 out of pocket, I got:

(1)12-pack of Scott Xtra Soft toilet paper, (1)8.3 oz. bottle of Dulcolax, (1)Revlon Lipstick, and (2)Right Guard gel deodorant.

Used $19 in coupons, $2 in cash, and $9.99 in Extra Care Bucks for a gain of $19 in ECB.

Saving $27.03 With Coupons

Today, Mom and I went shopping at Publix. We purchased:

Old Stuff #2

Here's another old song I wrote a couple years ago. Country is also a music genre that I generally dislike, but the rhyming, singing monster inside my head doesn't always cooperate...

I'm sure some of you will recognize the truck that is mentioned here.

Rejoice!

Rejoice in Sufferings

Matt 5:11-12 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Old Stuff #1

OK, so this was a song that I wrote at 1 in the morning a few years ago, after I woke up with the lyrics of the chorus running through my head over and over. It's funny, I hate, absolutely loathe girl-bands, but this is most definitely a girl-band song.
Here's the song, Just Me.