Wow! I'm really flattered to have received not one, but two awards from my friend, Pam at Pam's Perspective. Thank you, Pam. I love your blog and am glad we have become Blogger buddies. Pam lives in Rhode Island and she has renewed my life long urge to see more of the Northeast : )Here is the first award~

The Lemonade Award:
The lemonade award is for showing great attitude and/or gratitude. Each award has a pay it forward concept...

The Rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog, nominate at least 10 blogs, which show great attitude and/or gratitude.

2. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

3. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

4. Share the love and link to this post, and/or to the person from whom you received your award.

Pam was also gracious enough to bestow another award on Traveling at the Speed of Life, the Kreativ Blogger Award:

The Rules:

1. List 7 things that you love.

2. Link to the person who has tagged you

3. Choose 7 more bloggers to give the Kreativ Award to.OK, here goes.

Seven things I love:

1. God

2. My Family

3. Coffee

4. Wildbirds

5. The Great Lakes

6. Traveling

7. Reading

OK, now the best part. I get to pay it forward. I'm passing these amazing awards along to the following wonderful bloggers (in no particular order)~

1. Ginny at Small Things With Great Love

2. Hannah at Our Lifesong

3. Heidi at Mt.Hope Chronicles

4. Jena at Organized Chaos

5. Lovelyn at Moments With Love

6. Deidra at Jumping Tandem

7. Leah at A Silly Little Sparrow

8. Laurel at Trailing Spouse in Kathmandu

9. Kimberly at Going Pink

10. Saskia at Seven Xs and Y

Thanks Pam for thinking of me and sharing the awards! To all the bloggers I gave the awards to, please pay it forward : )Blessings to you all~

Hello All! I am so excited to announce that I am having my first blog giveaway. I have never done this before, so here is what you will be posting a comment for. A copy of 'So Long, Status Quo' written by Author Susy Flory. I contacted her regarding the cover of her book and the similarity it has to the image I selected for my blog. She was very thoughtful to respond and very gracious to provide me with an interview that I can place on my blog as well. I cannot put this book down!! It is inspiring and at times shedding light in dark corners of my own selfishness. I will post again soon about the giveaway. I gotta run, back to finish the book and leave the "Staus Quo" in me behind. In Christ~

Hello All! Today has been a good day considering it is a Monday. I am not one to complain, but some days seem longer than others. Monday and Tuesday are consistently my long days. It is hard to start the weeks activities all again after enjoying the weekend together with My Bunch. I have to admit this past weekend was even hard as it was rainy and we were trapped in the house due to rain.

We decided to take a walk/bike ride to the "Slurpee Store" on Saturday morning. As we were walking (Kel and I were walking, the kids were riding) Kelly said " Crystal, why don't you walk back and get the van. It sounds like the thunder is getting closer and closer." I'll admit, I didn't totally agree with him. Something inside me said "go, don't question him. Just GO!" Off I went speed walking for the van as Kelly heads in the opposite direction to the slurpee store with all five kids. On my walk home I was able to pray and listen to the birds. I don't know that Kelly's walk was as relaxing as he had to listen to training wheels grinding on the pavement. I make it home, grab the van keys and head off to the slurpee store. As I pull up and hop out of the "Briden Bus" I feel drops hit my back. Kelly is in the store with the twins in their double stroller and the Big Three shopping for a snack. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, by the time the bikes were loaded and all five kids strapped in Slurpees in hand, the rain starts pouring down. Then it didn't stop for the whole weekend.

It is strange how you get so used to the sunshine that you forget how rainy days can affect your mood. I am trying to think of the positive, "April Showers Bring May Flowers". I guess the take home lesson for me, in the future do not question Kelly's meteorology expertise. The photo at the top of the post of of sweet Hope from a few months back, she was just having a bad day. Doesn't she look so pathetically sweet , though. God Bless you all this Monday~

Hello All! Well I am so excited about this book I have recently stumbled upon. 'So Long, Status Quo' is written by Susy Flory. At first the cover art drew me in as the cover is markedly similar to the image used in my blog design. I have even written the author and shared with her my excitement to read this book. It sounds like just the inspiration I need. You can read about it on her website.

Excerpt taken from Amazon.com

Susy Flory's life was a lot like her couch--comfy, slumberous, and safe. She was a happy suburban wife and mom who enjoyed her couch-like cocoon and avoided suffering and uncomfortable situations at all costs.

I cannot wait to recieve my copy!!! I will do a book review of it after I have read it. Have a great weekend~

Hello All! The Bunch all went out for a GREAT bike ride today. It was a beautiful day, the big three all rode their own bikes for the whole trip and I was on my new dream machine. Here she is Ruby : )

I love my CRUISER bike!!!! Tell me why did I have a mountain bike previously? I have never gone off rode and frankly I don't see any mountains anywhere. The best part her giant padded seat, what a great outing on Ruby : ) Spring is finally here!!!! God Bless~

Faith came home after school and was sharing about her day. Her teacher was ill today so she had a substitute teacher, Mrs. M.

Mommy: "Faith did you obey your teacher today?"

Faith: "I obeyed her all day. She gives us Skittles when we obey her!"

Mommy: "Oh, really."

Faith: " Mommy, I would obey you better if you gave me Skittles too!"

Mommy: Giggling......."Faith you are one smart girl."




Blessings to you all~

This week at I ♥ Faces it is a Easter/Spring theme. Here is my entry. This our youngest, Hope, not cooperating while we are trying to take Easter morning photos. She had a pretty hand smocked dress that matched her big sisters, but she wouldn't indulge Mommy with at least standing . I love this shot as it shows her mischievous personality : ) Below is the photo Straight out of the camera. Go over to I ♥ Faces to see more pictures guaranteed to give you spring fever. Have a great week~

Hello All! Is anyone out there watching 'Little Dorrit' on Masterpiece Theatre? I am so enjoying this classic by Charles Dickens. I watched the first two episodes via my laptop on PBS.org. Last night I tuned in and finally caught the third episode on the television. Oh my, this is truly so well done!! I would recommend it to all who love British period dramas. It has suspense, murder, romance, unrequited love, intrigue, laughs and triumphs. I would love to hear your favorite movies of late. Kelly and I also watched 'Slumdog Millionaire' this past weekend. It was hard to watch in parts but very well done! Please leave me a comment with your most loved movies or recent favorites. God's grace be with you~

Hello All! I hope you all had a blessed Easter celebration today. We had a blessed day celebrating our RISEN Lord with family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. We had a great time hunting Easter Eggs and eating dinner at our friends, the Kinneys. We are blessed by the Kinneys, Thanks you for having us all over, "Grandma and Grandpa" Kinney : )

I am planning on posting more photos of our girls matching dresses. They were hand smocked by Darla at Darla's Clothing . I found her on Etsy.com. They turned out so cute!!!!!!! I would highly recommend her for any dress you want hand smocked. She does beautiful work and she was so fast!! Go by Etsy.com and check out my new friend Darla.

God Bless you tonight~

Hello All! Welcome to "Traveling At The Speed Of Life". What do you think about the new look? I am thrilled with it! It just screams ME : ) Please be patient with me as I fix all the titles and sidebar information. I hope you all will enjoy the new name of my blog and the new look. Lindsey just did a fabulous job! Thank you so much Lindsey, I love my new Blogosphere home. If you want a custom Blog design or redesign go over to Lindsey Joy Design. Her pricing is very reasonable, she works quickly and efficiently and her designs are all so well thought out and pulled together. So, look around and please give me your thoughts. Have a great weekend!

Hello All! My Blog is in the process of being designed by Lindsey Joy at Lindsey Joy Design. I love all of her previous blogs she has designed for her clients. I have been so thrilled for her to design it as she is a sister in Christ and a missionary in Panama with Calvary Chapel. I would highly recommend her as she is wonderfully creative and pulls it altogether very well! Lindsey is very busy, so get on over there if you want a new blog design for Summer : ) I am excited to show you all the design real soon. God Bless~ Crystal

We are Spartan fans in our family, so as I type this we are cheering for Michigan State as they play U CONN in the NCAA Final Four. A few years ago, when the Spartans were in March Madness, we were huddled around the television cheering for State when our oldest, Grace, made a funny comment. Grace was probably about 3 years old. Kelly had on a baseball cap with "Sparty" on it. Sparty is pictured here to the right. During this time we were watching bible videos about the death, crucifiction, and Resurrection of Jesus. Grace knew who are the players were, Mary, Peter, Pontius Pilate, etc.

Grace was studying Daddy's hat and said "Who is that?"

Daddy replied "That's Sparty, the Michigan State mascot."

Grace then stated in shock and horror "He killed Jesus!"

If he was in red he sure would look like the classic image in most bible depictions of a Centurion. Grace was truly shocked we would cheer for a team that had any connection to the people who killed Jesus. We explained it to her, but I don't know that she ever believed us.


Go SPARTANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, beat U CONN~ Blessings to you all~ Crystal

Happy April Fool's Day ! Tonight The Bunch will feast on this. There is no beef on this burger. In fact there is no chicken, turkey or vegetables either. Can you guess what it is? I am so excited for my April Fool's joke on them. I am going to tell them when they all come home from school that we need to eat early right after school. That is when the healthy food will be eaten : ) Then I am going to tell then that I won a cooking award for creating these Mini-burgers or "sliders". We will wait until Daddy gets home to eat those. I can't wait to see their surprised faces!!!!! So, what do you think it is? Come on people give me your guesses and no fair searching the Internet, cheaters : ) Have a fun day~ Crystal