I may NEVERRRRR...

I may NEVERRR have a doctorate,
 (Or ANY degree for that matter;)

 BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, 
People with their doctorate's degree...

ASK ME...

Where to go for their DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE!!!

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYY!!!

♥Mary Frances :)
P.S. Btw: just look on your ticket, it's usually either got a number or a website that will give you your location!!! Hee, hee!!! 

Need sleep???

Let's face it, some nights we all have trouble falling asleep. We toss and we turn, we flip and we roll until its time for a potty break, which usually ends up with a stroll to the kitchen, a look through the fridge and a midnight snack. Well at least that's how they go for ME! :)

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I've always heard this saying growing up, "If you can't fall asleep, COUNT SHEEP!" I'm like, sheep??? What sheep? Where are they? This is AZ we don't just have sheep WONDERING through the desert. They'll either die of starvation for the lack of grass and water, or become DESSERT for a coyote. Count sheep, I just don't get it!!!! I asked my mom one time what that was supposed to mean and she explained to me that BACK IN THE DAY, people had herds of sheep and they would tell their children to picture the herd in their minds and to try and count them all and before they could count them all, they would fall asleep!

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I'm like, hmmmm...maybe we could move up in the times and think of something a LITTLE more exciting!!! THEN my mom heard this saying...

"Instead of counting sheep, talk to THE SHEPHERD!!!"

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I thought, that's REALLY GOOD!!! Why NOT talk to Jesus! However, I just recently learned something else to do that helps you fall asleep...AND I've done it and have had great success with so far! Soooooo I thought I would share it with you all!

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 The tip is simply this; If you can't fall asleep at night, Go through the alphabet in order and think of ONE thing you are thankful for that goes with THAT letter! So basically, this is STILL talking to THE SHEPHERD but in a specific way...GIVING HIM THANKS!!! Only two times I have had to go through the alphabet twice and most of the time I don't even get through the whole alphabet before I am asleep!

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Sometimes I like to switch things up so that I don't get into a rut and always thank God for the same exact things...you know like every night starting off with thanking God for Apples, Books, Cats and Dogs! Sometimes I'll thank God for in Alphabetical order for things about my family, or my friends or my church or my week and sometimes ill just do in general...tonight I'm going to try thanking God in Alphabetical order what I'm thankful about for STILL being single...HA!...it may be a, UH, LOOOOOONG night...OR maybe it'll just put me to sleep REALLLLLY FAST!!!! AHAHAHAHA!!! JK!!! ;)

 Anyways, if you can't fall asleep one night, try this idea! I truly can't think of a better way to end my day than to think of different things to THANK MY GOD for!!! Have a blessed night and start THANKING!!! :)))

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"Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." (1 Chronicles 29:13)

♥Mary Frances :)

Roswell & Ruidoso!!!

I had to do things to entertain myself on the 10 hr drive to Roswell...Hee, hee!!!

Writer's gonna write, write, write, write, WRIIIIIIIIIITE,  write it up, write it up!!!! 

Soooooooo when we got to Joe and Anali's in Roswell, THE FIRST thing lil Miss Alina did after she saw me, was reach for the toy I had given her for Christmas!!! Not sure if it was a coincidence or NOT, buuuuuuuuuut I LIKE TO THINK that she remembered that I had given it to her!!! Hee, hee!!! 

MAKING HER to get pics with her Auntie Mary!!!

The three of us, look at that lil smile on her face!!!

The next day we headed out to Ruidoso about 1.5 away from Roswell

What I looooove about this town is that theme is BEARS...Liiiiiiike MAR BEAR...sooooo my home!!! hee, hee!!!

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Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay so Anali told us about this AMAAAAAZING lil coffee shop in Ruidoso called SACRED GROUNDS, if you all go there, YOU HAAAAAAVE to try it, it's SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!

BREAKFAST TIME!!!

My sister and I split the breakfast sandwich, egg, ham, pepper jack cheese and green chilis on  a FLUFFY cheddar cream cheese biscuit...it was SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! and honestly it was HUGE!!! I ate half of my half and then saved the other half of my half for later!!!

The thing that was sooooooooo cool about this café was that there was an outdoor deck that you could sit on to enjoy eating from...with the forest and a creek to overlook, with GORGOUSE WEATHER...it was PERFECT!!! 

After breakfast were going to go down to the creek, buuuuuuuuut ANOTHER man that was eating breakfast on the deck, told us that the town of Ruidoso was having a BED-RACING-FLOAT-PARADE-RACE that was starting in 10 minutes, weeeeeeeelllll of course we couldn't just miss an a once in a life time opportunity like this....LOL...

Really, it almost seemed like the kinda thing that would be going on in ROSWELL, only it woulda been ALIENS in UFOs … HA!!! 

After the parade, we walked back to Sacred Grounds and went exploring behind by the creek, 

it was sooooooooooo PRETTY, I just loved it!!! 

Just call me Aunt_____!!!

So one morning recently, we were out doing our early morning hike and for whatever reason, Odie was being rude to me...can't quite remember WHY at the moment, most likely because I was telling him to do something he didn't want to do...LOL!!! So I'm like, Say sorry for being rude! He says, NO! I'm like, You say sorry to me! Once again, NO! I'm like, NO! SAY IT! Weeeeeeellll we're go back and forth, both being equally stubborn. So when he isn't in school, I take him swimming in the afternoons, I'm like, YOU SAY SORRY  for being rude AUNT MARY, or else we're NOT going swimming later! 

So he looks at me with a HUGE GRIN and says,

 SORRY AUNT RUDE!!!

Sooooooo there you have it my friends, JUST CALL ME, 

AUNT RUDE!!!

AHAHAHAAAAAA!!! Such a little stinker!!! Just kinda, IMPROVISED what I told hem to say!!! LOL Annnnnnnnnnd YES, he did win the battle, I was laughing too hard to continue it!!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! Oh man, I sooooo love this high maintenance little blessing!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

More than just passing!!!

Just passing emissions...you JUST GOTTA PASS EMISSIONS!!! I remember sever years ago, while lying in bed, about to drift to sleep, that thought kept running through my mind. All you gotta do to keep your car is to get it to PASS EMISSIONS...if it doesn't pass...you gotta get it fixed or get a new car...JUS PASS EMISSIONS. I'm not trying to win any car races, i'm not trying to do any fancy tricks or show off my stuff, I just need a mode of transportation that is reliable, I just need something that will get me from point A to point B and as I lay there with this RANDOM thought running through my mind... I had to get up out of bed to write down the thought that began to formulate in my mind...

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Sometimes that's how we are in our walk with God, we're JUST TRYING TO PASS EMISSIONS!!! We live with mindset of, I just wanna make it to heaven! Now don't get me wrong, I JUST WANT TO MAKE IT TO HEANEN TOO!!! There is NO greater goal that I strive for in this life than t make it to heaven. That is THE HOPE that we live for in this life...HEAVEN!!!

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Everyone will always tell me, JUST MAKE SURE that your check engine light isn't on when you go to get your checked for emissions, because they will NEVER pass a car with that on...

Annnnnd we start to live with that same check engine concept in our own life. Just so long as there is no sin in my life, I'll make it to heaven and we're not striving for anything MORE...I just got to NOT SIN!!! I know we've got to continually live in a state of repentance. However, there is something in my heart that wants to do MORE than, just MAKE IT TO HEAVEN!!! There is a song that we used to listen to as kids, and the lyrics to that song said, ♪You can't get to heaven on roller skates, cuz you'll ROLL right by those pearly gates...♪ And it seems like sometimes that's how we are living our lives, just skating a long. We're NOT sinning, we've obeyed Acts 2:38, buuuuut we're NOT really do anything MORE for God, than JUST MAKING IT TO HEAVEN!!! There is SOMETHING in my heart that says, ITS NOT ENOUGH for me to do just be GOOD!!!

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 I remember my brother's eating the dinner I had cooked one time, and I asked them how it was and they said, yeah it was good. And I said THATS IT??? JUST GOOD??? I wanted to hear them say it was MORE than just good, I wanted them to hear them say it was AWESOME!!! Another time, I made these homemade twix bars and I asked the guys at my church to rate them from 1-10 and they came up with an 8.5! I was like, WHAAAAT??? Just an 8.5??? One of them explained to me, that's pretty good! A 5 is AVERAGE, so an 8.5 is definitely ABOVE average. But there is something inside of me that just isn't satisfied with just being ABOVE average...I WANT TO BE A TEN!!! Annnnnd when I finally reach a TEN I'm gonna start going for an 11!!!

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The Bible says that Daniel had an EXCELLENT SPIRIT!!! "Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him..." (Daniel 6:3) I want to have an EXCELLENT spirit within me. I don't want to waste my life living for God. Its not enough for me to just have a GOOD spirit, I'm striving for EXCELLENCE!!!!  I don't want to look back at the end of my life and say, "Weeeeeeeelllll...at least I'm saved!" At least I'm going to make it to heaven!!! Why should I wait till I get to heaven to experience the miraculous, when its RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!! There is something in my heart that wants to do MORE than just make it to heaven!!! I want to share this gospel message with as many people as possible! I want to take souls to heaven WITH ME!!! I want to know God to the fullest extent that I can possibly know him here on earth. I want to dig deeper. I want to go further! I want to knock harder! I want to be EVERYTHING that God wants me to be. 

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   In my own life I pray against a spirit of complacency, against a spirit of mediocrity! I don't ever want to get so comfortable that there is not a longing in my heart for something MORE. I don't want to become passive about the things of God! I don't ever want to forget what Jesus did for me, where he brought me from! I don't ever want to become so satisfied in my walk with God that I lose that hunger to talk to him, to be with him, to feel his presence! I don't ever want my life to be SO GOOD, that I begin to FORGET THAT THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME!!! I want to live with a dual feeling of homesickness for heaven and yet a desperate knowledge of the fact that there are people all around me on their way to hell.

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There is a quote that says, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everthing you gave me."I want God to use me to make a difference. I want to be a blessing to those around me! I want my life to bring him glory. I REFUSE TO JUST PASS through this life...Its NOT enough for me to just be passing the emissions of my heart, I want to soar. To one, not just slide my way into heaven, but to have an assurance of knowing that my time on earth is complete and the Lord is going to WELCOME me home...

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"His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:23)

♥Mary Frances :)

GirlsBeLike #28374628

AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Beyond the struggle

HIKING
So as you all know at this point, I LOVE hiking, and in this recent year, I've gotten my sister to start enjoying it as well. However, with the weather changing into summer, we've had to find a new time to go hiking, because as you know, summers here in Arizona do NOT play around, with the temperature changing, we hadn't gone hiking for about a month or so.

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My sister and I decided that  we'd start waking up at 5 am and go for a morning hike, the weather is PERFECT at this time, although by the end of June, I'm sure we'll have to change our time til 4 am...EEEEEEKS!!!  

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Well we figured with it being our first day back on last Monday, the struggle up would be the hardest first day. However tho, it was not! I mean, we pretty much just FLEW up the mountain, weeeeeeellll...NOT LITERALLY but you know, it was pretty easy going up, we were like WOW, that's cool!

AND THEN SURPRISE

We figured it'd be EVEN EASIER the next day, buuuuuut surprise of all surprises, IT WASN'T, it was harder!!! Annnnnd the next day even more, it was like that the rest of the week. I realized it was because the first day our muscles weren't sore because we hadn't been hiking, but NOW they were, causing the hike to be more of a struggle than the first time. It seems so strange that it we would feel MORE RESISTANCE in our hiking than we did in the beginning, but that's just the way it is, you can't sit down and just give up, you've got to KEEP PUSHING through it every day, until you've broken through.

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Spiritual Hiking

Did you know that it's the SAME way in our walk with the Lord? Sometimes, it's later on in your walk with God that you REALLY start feeling the struggle!!! It may have been the easiest thing to  make that decision to live for God, or to walk away from sin, or turn yourself in a different direction. It makes sense and you knew it was right, so you do it. It's NOT until the next day that you start feeling it, the resistance to your decision, it's pulling at you. AWW MAN, today it's harder, I'm out of breath, I didn't realize it would be like this. And you just want give up,

to SIT DOWN...

Keep Pushing forward

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut you got to keep going, you've gotta PUSH THROUGH THE STRUGGLE, it won't always be THIS HARD if you'll just keep pressing on!!! Beyond the struggle, there is VICTORY!!! Don't give up my brother's and sister's, catch your breath, TAKE A DRINK and keep on moving!!!

VICTORY IS YOURS,

IF YOU'LL KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!! 

" I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14)

♥Mary Frances :)

May Update!!!

Weeeeeelllll May just LITERALLY flew by and before you know it, 

it's a typical AZ summer!!! 

One day, I was just craving frozen waffles like my mom used to make them!!! 

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Annnnnnnnnnnd the best thing everrrrr is the All Natural mocha cold brew...seriously, that stuff is sooooooooooo YUMMMMMM!!!! 

Glow in the dark Family worship for the kids night!!!! 

The BEST EVERRRRRRRR Ice cream, don't even diss it TIL YOU TASTED IT!!! 

Messing with pic aps!!!!

Denae and Sis. Abbott wore purple on Mother's day in honor of my mom!!! 

With my adorbs lil bear!!! 

PEACH FESTIVAL!!!

When your craving Ethiopian food, buuuuuuuuut your favorite Ethiopian cook lives in Cali, sooooooooo you gotta settle for Whole foods Ethiopian food til you go out!!!

Odin GOT ADOPTED!!! 

I'm going to be a AUNTIE... AGAIN!!! 

Not everyone is that excited about waking up at 5 am to beat the summer heat and still go hiking!!! LOL

I want this sign!!! 

My new hat, that I just LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!

It was one of those, I'm supposed to be buying camp supplies buuuuuuuuuuut... OMW how cute!!!

Next Friday will be my Roswell, Ruidoso annnnnnnd AMA Camp trip post!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

T has a CMM!!!

Sooooooooooo T, my big sis, had a MAJOR CLASSIC MARY MOMENT last week. We were both borrowing my dad's car due to the fact that mine was still in the shop ANNNND, T had hers at the car wash for a 3 hr job...YES it was that bad...kids...I tell ya!!! Anywayz, we went out to eat and then afterwards when we were leaving the car would NOT START!!!

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I was like, OH SNAP, you have seriously got to be kidding me!!! NOT another car out of commission in this family!!! Plus it was soooooooooooooo HOT OUT!!! My sis is like, it must be the battery! I'm like, OR maybe it's the fuel! It was almost on E when I picked it up that morning but I figured it would make it for a LITTLE bit, usually you drive at least 5 miles on E...YES, I've tried it MANY times, hahaaaa!!! 

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Sooooooooooo my sis is like, well I'm going to go walk to the car wash while you wait from AAA to come because I gotta get O by 1. I'm like, Ok buuuuuuuuut it's soooooo hot out and it was a estimated 70 minute wait for them to get there,  i'm like, gonna go wait inside the mall. Well my sis walks away with MJ and they leave the keys in the ignition, the last thing my sis says to me before she walks away is that she couldn't get the keys out, they're stuck!

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I'm like, whaaaaaaaaaaaat??? Keys don't just stuck in, so i'm jiggling it all around and NOTHING! I try keeping my foot on the break, I thought maybe she hadn't done that, still NOTHING!!! Then I happen to glance at the gear-shifting-thing-a-ma-bob annnnnnnnnnnd I see that it's in R. I'm like, R??? That's REVERSE!!! I'm pretty sure it won 't start UNLESS the car is in PARK!!! 

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So I put the car into PARK, turn the ignition and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, it starts RIGHT UP!!! I'm like, Theresa! Theresa!!! GET OVER HERE YOU TWO!!! They come over and I'm like, DUUUUUUDE you had the car in REVERSE, it won't start unless it's in PARK!!! She's like, well, I put it in reverse cuz I was backing up...

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I'm liiiiiiiike WOOOOOOOOOW!!! You can't BACK UP THO if you can't start the car!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! Remember that people, YOU CAN'T START THE CAR IF IT'S NOT IN PARK!!! We were like laughing sooooooooo hard!! It was pretty epic!! My sis FO SHO had a CLASSIC MARY MOMENT!!!

Apparently, I'm influencing her in...

MORE than just HIKING!!! Hee, hee!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)