A Little God Thing

Prelude-

Unfortunately I forgot to capture this in photo's, but let me give you a mental image.  First of all, by God's grace we live debt free.  At first it seemed impossible, but eventually we learned it meant sacrifice.  It meant we'd have to let go of the worldly image that new shiny material possessions mattered.  One of those new shiny material possessions included cars.  Our cars are all paid for, are all a few years old, but all get us from point A to point B reasonably reliably.   Now this "sacrifice" of not having a new car also means we sacrifice time and effort into maintaining these vehicles.

(side note: you'd be surprised just how much a girl can learn about cars by this one little practice!)

The Whole Story-

So last Thursday I was driving what should have been about a 25 minute commute home, when I noticed a "tapping" noise coming from my engine.  My intuition told me two things: A. It sounds like it's coming from my timing belt/pulley/variable-valve area & B. This isn't good!  Instantly I thought "Really, of all times this has to happen now?" (I mean really, what time isn't good timing for something to go wrong?) And with in a split second, I started to pray.  First, I thanked God.  This particular "tough" circumstance was N.O.T.H.I.N.G. compared to things in my past, and it was after all, just a car problem...things could be much worse. Secondly, I asked God to help me safely get home and to give us the wisdom to fix our little car.  Lastly, I trusted that God would do just that.

So, I'm about to get on to the free-way to head home and as I round the corner to my exit I see nothing but brake lights.  It's stop-and-go-traffic. "Greeeaaatttt...just what I needed." I thought.  Then, with-in a split second, I again prayed.  Basically, same prayers: "God, thank your for this, I know you are 'pruning' me. Please help me get home safely."  For the next 28 minutes I had to rev the engine a little, and then hit the brakes...in stop-and-go-traffic. The worst possible thing for a car with a problem in the timing belt arena.

Finally, the traffic opened up, and 20 minutes later I safely pulled into my driveway.  With in a few minutes Mark had it pulled into the garage, hood up, and looked at me with an expression of confusion and said "I don't understand how you got home.  The timing belt is so loose, it should have slipped off and completely blown the engine as soon as you started it." <---You're awesome God!

So just a couple hundred bucks out of savings, and a slightly stressed hubs-to-be later, the parts were in and it was time to tackle what car forums were saying would be "impossible" without a highly advanced computer-laser-tool-thingy that was only available at major Volvo dealerships.  The cost for them to do the work would have been around $2,200 dollars.  Well, $300 vs. $2,000...we trusted God would help us.

About 12 hours of labor later, LOTS of adjusting, testing, re-adjusting, re-testing, we started the car and tad-aaa!!! it ran perfect!  Great!  So there were a few more things to button up: tighten this, clamp that, and put the tire and brakes back on.  We go to back the car out for a test drive, and what happened next evoked a roller-coaster of emotion.  The loudest, scariest, craziest, BOOM! BANG! BING!  Quickly Mark turned the ignition off, but it seemed too late.  You see, if the timing is off just the slightest, the pistons go up & down very fast compressing the valves.  And if it's not juuuuuuuusssst right it will beat and bang up the valves in seconds, essentially destroying the engine.

We felt defeated.     We were confused.     What happened?

I have to admit.  Quite a few curse words flew out.  Some tools got thrown.  I wish I could say the first response was to pray some more...it wasn't.  But, it did come quickly.  More prayers.  More seeking guidance, understanding, thankfulness for what we do have.

With in just a few minutes, Mark came in with shredded metal in his hands. Apparently, while tightening up the last few things not one, but 3 bolts just so happened to fall down by the belt and gears, and these bolts got pulled through & jumped the belt off the gears, completely throwing the timing off.  The only thing we could do was try again.  So. We.  Did.

Together, we spent another 3-4 hours taking everything a part, re-aligning, and re-testing. Our diagnostic tests (hand turning the crank) revealed no noise from the pistons and valves in the engine. <--that's a good thing.

So in theory, by some miracle Mark shut off the engine in mere milliseconds and the valves might not have been bent...in theory.  All we could do was start the car.  Before we did, we held cold greasy hands and prayed together.  We asked for a miracle, and asked for peace & understanding if we didn't get the miracle.

Mark put the key in, turned the ignition....

and...

She purred like a kitten!

We looked at each other in shock.  We stood there listening to the engine like we were looking at an alien from outer-space.  And then, we cheered, laughed, and even did some dancing and super dorky high-five'ing.  The sheer exhaust of all the hard work and mental strain seemed to have disappeared into thin air. We again tightened up the last few things, put some clamps on, and put the tire and brakes on...oh, and this time we double checked to make sure no loose bolts had fallen down in the timing shaft.  We backed the car up and took it for a spin around the block with no signs of engine damage.

By the short time that we got home, our exhaustion had overcome us again. We took one more listen to our fixed engine, locked up, and hit the sheets. This morning we woke up crusty eyed and drool-faced smiling at each other...it felt awesome knowing we had experienced another "little God thing".

End of story.

Be blessed and bless my friends. Until next time... *Believe*

3 Amazing Cleaning Tips

Although I've never gone to cleaning college, I've definitely cleaned well over 5,000 houses total, and that my friends is enough to make me believe I'm pretty darn close to an expert in that area.  I often get asked "What's the best tip you can give me to clean my house?". Well, here's 3 that are essentials if you want the cleanest house while saving your "elbow grease".

Number 1: Always, and I do mean always, have Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on hand! These little suckers are truly amazing, and I cannot believe I cleaned for a few years before I found out about these. All you do is wet them, and you can use just water (great for those who don't want chemicals in the home) or you can add your favorite spray cleaner to the power of this amazing scrubber.

Next up: This is really two products that make one powerful cleaning force!  Take your Febreeze Duster (I like the extendable wand) and lightly spray it with this spray.  It's not as oily as original Pledge, it's more like a fine mist, and then dust away!  (Side note:  You can re-use those dusters about 3-5 times!  Yup!  Just wash them in the washer, and then lay them out to dry.  You're welcome.)

Last, but not least, those pesky mirrors and windows!  Use a squeegee!  This may take some practice, but I promise the practice will pay off. Just make sure the entire glass surface is damp (and scrubbed if it's the mirror with all the floss "meat" stuck to it) and then with mild pressure go over the surface with the squeegee. The one I use was about $5, it's a Libman, and it's decent.  But, you can find much nicer ones.

So, there you have it.  3 very useful ways to make your house cleaning easier.  Enjoy!

Check out our website and customer reviews

Save your life. Clean your dryer vent in under 60 seconds!

The importance of keeping your dryer lint trap clean is extreme!  These little contraptions can easily catch fire, and are one of the leading causes of house fires.  Here's a very simple way to prevent this from happening to you.

Make sure you clean them at least every 6 months.  The key to remember is, you cannot see the buildup.  It is invisible to the human eye, and is caused by the dryer sheets that we use to keep our clothes smelling extra fresh and keeping them static free.  These sheets have an oil that builds up, and the tight mesh of our dryer vents holds this oil in.

You can easily tell if your dryer vent is dirty, simply by running it under the kitchen sink.  If there is any hesitation in the water passing through the vent, you should clean it.

All you need is a VERY small drop of Dawn, and a brush to scrub with (I used an old tooth brush).

Simply scrub over the entire vent, rinse well, and dry.  Literally it takes less than one minute, and can save your life.  It's that simple!  

Thanks for checking out this blog, please feel free to leave any other cleaning tips you have!  

Stay blessed, and never stop believing.

Nerium Schmerium...it REALLY does work!

Had I known back in July that I was about to be introduced to an amazing opportunity that would change everything, I probably wouldn't have decided that in the following 6 months I would begin the process of quitting smoking, AND completely revamping my cleaning business as well.

HOWEVER...I'm so incredibly grateful I was introduced to Nerium International!

A little background first.  Nerium AD is the breakthrough product that was discovered during research and is backed up by many prestigious centers, scientists, authors, and fellow entrepreneurs.  The main active ingredient is Nerium Oleander. What's in Nerium AD is all natural, botanical ingredients, and you can see our scientific safety information right here.

Results have been astonishing!  Truly phenomenal!  Go here and click on either the video or the power point reel to see the results coming in across the country.  My own results blew me away.  I was fortunate to try Nerium while in my 20's and while the average results for everyone are 30% reduction in damaged skin (lines, pigment, pore size, etc..) in just 30 days, the less damaged the skin, the quicker the results have been.  Let me remind you that these clinical results are not based on opinion.  They are computer scanned results that measure the pores, lines, and spots that are diminishing on average of 30%.

As you can see, my one week results were fairly impressive.

Then, about my 60th day of using Nerium, I was going through my phone deleting old photo's when I came across a video, and in this video I captured a snap-shot of myself that shocked me!  I couldn't believe how OLD my under eye area looked, and I was even more shocked when I took my picture right then & there and placed the two side-by-side.

What's amazing about Nerium AD, is that you FEEL it immediately.  Give it 30 days (it's RISK FREE anyway), and then you'll SEE the results.

One thing I challenge everyone to consider is this.  When is the last time a skin care consultant not just asked you to take before and after pictures, but really pushed it?  I say this so my friends and family STOP wasting their money on products that do not give the results they claim.  No other skin care company has offered scientific clinical trials using computer scanning technology.  Rather, their "clinical results" are the opinion of the participants, claiming the reductions they think they can see as fact.

Take a look at the Nerium Product Guide, and under "Usage" you can see it's extremely simple to use, and just one product, as well as a review of what Nerium AD is all about from the company itself.  I've also linked the ingredients here, so you can see for yourself that it is all natural. 

The best analogy I can provide to help others better understand what I am trying to get across is this:  Skin care is just as important for good health as eating right and exercising.  Too many men and women today do damn near torturous things to their skin to look younger, spending hundreds if not thousands in one sitting.  STOP IT!  Just like liposuction, if you don't maintain a healthy daily habit, it won't matter.

Ladies, AND gentlemen, I'm here to help answer any questions you may have, and happy to do it!  Give yourself the gift of younger skin BEFORE the new year, and please don't hesitate to take a look on my website www.bethanyprice.nerium.com or send me an e-mail with any questions.

Love and Be Loved~

Bethany

 

Gone Clubbin'

Over the past few weeks, I've had the great fortune of being able to look around and notice the small things.  The little things that have added up to this wonderful life we are enjoying together.  Like our pantry stocked full of everything and anything we want.  My closet spare bedroom, which holds many years of memories between photo albums, and old (but still very comfy and functional) clothes that I hold on to, even if I just wear them around the house.  His garage, neatly organized and full of grease and tools, and all things manly.  Our furry babies and their chew-toys and rawhide's that are constantly tripped over.  The mail box.  Yes, the mail box.  It holds the bills that we pay, and are blessed to be able to pay on time.
As I sat and just soaked in life the other day in my kitchen, I was left in awe.  How different life can be if you make the choice to change.
I honestly always thought my life would be that of a "rock star".  Wild.  Crazy.  Party after party.  Early demise. All of that. Even as a child, I had a wide range of "future predictions", I had dreams of "living on the edge", always city to city meeting different people, and crazy situations.  And then there were the white picket fences dreams of a big smile on my husbands face as he came home from work, while I had a baby on my hip, one in a high chair and few playing upstairs....At one point I actually wanted to have 10 (yes TEN) children.  
Thank God, I'm right in the middle of those childhood dreams! Ha!
But seriously, I love coming home to my "children", my love, and getting dinner ready no matter how sore my feet are or how tired I am.  I love to continually pick things up that aren't mine and put them where they belong, just to see them back where I picked them up from in 5 minutes.  I really do enjoy being..."domesticated"...(go ahead get it out...GASP)  I see nothing wrong with me never pumping gas, and him never sewing a torn part of his work jacket.  Or me being the one to take the pups to all their appointments, and him being the one to do all the vehicle maintenance .  I like the "old-fashioned" way of things in our lives.
Last night Mark was exhausted, and he'd really had a long, cold day at work yesterday, and I knew it.  So I told him I was headed out to run some errands, that since I had to drop off a bill, and stop by to drop off something else for a client, and then go to 2 stores, I knew he probably wasn't up for driving me all around.  But, he said he'd be happy to come, so off we went.  We enjoyed our time together, even though it was nothing particularly special, and just as we approached the house, he noticed the time (barely after 9pm) and he jokingly said "Damn woman, look what you did, you tricked me! Got me out here clubbin' all hours of the night, and on a Wednesday night at that!  I need to be in bed getting my sleep for work tomorrow."  At that comment, we both were in stitches, almost brought to tears laughing at how "old" we have gotten.  For a long, long time, the two of us "clubbing" on a Wednesday night was nothing out of the ordinary, and as we brought our Sam's Club items into the house last night, I thought about how much I really did love my domesticated life.
Whatever you truly want your life to be...be it.  Don't settle for anything less, and don't look for the approval of others before your own.  And never, ever stop believing. 

Our challenge...

It's been a long time...too long since I've blogged.  Many of nights I've sat up, unable to think, and due to Mark's sensitive (almost blind) eye, unable to keep a light on for reading.  I've only been able to think...about life...about God...about new challenges...about conquered challenges.  All perfect for blogging, but just haven't gotten down to it.  

So...today's "thoughts" have been on how   I   no, we have been planning to live out our lives "debt-free".  Basically, we don't want anything other than God to own our belongings.  So, we have sacrificed, and honestly it's not been that hard.  We've bought cars, much older cars, paid in full, and have put a couple dollars into making them run like new, and diligently keep up on the maintenance.  I certainly remember the days of brand new car smell, nice beautiful leather seats, awesome stereo systems, heated seats, adjustable foot pedals...but, I especially remember the $600 per month payments.  Only to have the threat of that nice car being taken away should I not be able to pay.  Yea, I don't miss that feeling.  While I've never owned a credit card, I used to think if I just got one, how happy I would be to be able to get the things I "needed" right away.  (Thank you God for not giving me the opportunity to fail miserably in that area!)

So, what brought this on today?  Our hand-me-down vacuum cleaner bit the dust over a week ago, and I (who clean houses for others to make a living) really cannot stand a dirty house, particularly a dirty floor, mainly because I like walking around my house barefoot.  Ok, so the vacuum died, and previously I had told Mark that when it died I really wanted to look at getting a Dyson.  Dyson's aren't cheap, by any means, but are in my experience and opinion the best.  So I looked into it.  I had the savings to get the brand new one that I really liked.  But thankfully, God gave me the insight to think further than my current predicament.  I knew I had been saving for several things.  For instance, a new camera, our trip to Italy next June, Christmas gifts, and just a general savings for the "what-if's" of life.  Did I really want to use up over half of my savings for a purchase that yes was needed, but not necessarily on that extravagant of a level?  The honest truth was, No.  No I did not want to do that.  And then...His mercy was shown on my obedience just THINKING the right way, and being willing to ACCEPT what I knew was right, and an ad on craigslist came up for a used Dyson $25!  Now, this Dyson needed some work, some time, some effort.  It badly needed cleaned, and deodorized, and may possibly need a new filter if this cleaning doesn't work.  But it runs great, and does the exact job(s) I NEED it for!  It may not seem like much to you, but to me, it's amazing.  Just by thinking clearly, and past the first impulsive nature to "get it because I need it anyway, why not get the best" is a miracle for me, but then to be rewarded for that behavior, something I should be doing anyway....yea, that's amazing.

I doubt we will accomplish this "debt-free" lifetime goal blemish free.  I do NOT doubt that we will be continuously held up by His righteousness if we give all our best efforts at listening to what He is calling us to do, and how to live.  I certainly do not put anyone down for having credit-cards, at all.  This is the way we've been called to live, and for good reason.  

With all this being said, and two rambunctious puppies playfully getting tangled at my feet (and in my computer wires) I am going to call it a night.  

*BELIEVE* 

Another day has passed

Weariness.  Just the sound of the name brings about visions of damp, grey, gloomy weather.  Which, is a more perfect description of how I've felt most of the day.  I've had my high moments.  Moments where I forced a smile.  A real smile.  Not the "there I did it" smile.  Or the "I'll pitifully smile to make you happy" smile.  A real, genuine, pearly whites showin' smile.
While the devil is sneaking in (very unfairly I might add) at the darkest hours trying to make what are already "tough" situations even tough-er...God's grace shines through.  He reminds me, mercifully, that things have been far worse, and He uses all things for His good.  He reminds me all too often that I am not the one who has to carry the weight of my loved ones burdens, and that I have Him to carry me when my burdens are too heavy for me to walk.
Keep praying. Keep believing.  Keep praying.  Keep believing.   Keep  praying.   Keep  believing.    Keep   praying.    Keep   believing.          Keep       praying.          Keep       believing.

Good night my dears, may all of you be blessed, through the darkness and the light!