Blogs

To the left I've added the blogs I visit most frequently. I love these ladies. I only know one of them personally but I love them all. I love the inspiration I get from each of them. I love their wisdom and wit. It's fun to just take a few minutes...or in some cases...a lot of minutes to sit and read what these women have to say.

I can't remember how I found it, but I found a website called Choosing Home. From it, I found most of these blogs. That site is awesome, whether you choose to stay home or not, it's a valuable site to learn from.

After reading these blogs, I'd be fired up about an idea here or there, and tell Josh about a certain one. I got tired of saying "This blog I read from today..." so I've started calling these women by name. He thinks it's funny. And, I guess it kind of is.

I don't have many friends but these women have become that way for me, even if they don't know it. ;) It may be a tad weird that I refer to them that way, but honestly, when have I been normal?!

So, I hope you'll take some time (if you ever have it) to read what these women have shared.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Quiz

Alrighty, so I stole this quiz from Kristie, who also stole it, so I'm not going to feel bad about it.

1. What is your occupation? Domestic Engineer
2. What color are your socks right now? Barefoot
3. What are you listening to right now? Josh making noise outside, why is he out there, it's freezing!
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Pizza Hut Pizza, my husband's turn to cook.
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes, I can.
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mommy.
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I like the person I stole it from. :)
8. How old are you today?4 years from 30
9. Favorite drink? Iced Hazelnut Breve does it get better than coffee with half and half?! Nope.
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? What are those?
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Let me count the ways....
12. Pets? 1 dog (free to good home) and 9 cats (they belong to the neighbors, also free to good home)
13. Favorite food? Have ya seen me lately?! Doesn't seem to be much I don't like.
14. What was the last movie you watched? Hmm, does the 2nd season of Grey's Anatomy count?
15. What is your favorite day of the year? My birthday, a day dedicated to me, I love it!
16. How do you vent anger? LOL, I call Treena!
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? I feel like such a nerd saying this...books, books and more books.
18. What is your favorite - fall or spring? It used to be fall, 'cause I love the colors, but now it's spring, I want to be warm!
19. Hugs or kisses? Are we talking Hershey's or physical affection? Hershey's kisses, but I like to be hugged.
20. Cherries or Blueberries? Strawberries...
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Uh, if I emailed them, then, yes.
22. Who is most likely to respond? I dunno
23. Who is least likely to respond? Refer to answer 22
24. Living arrangements? I live with my husband and daughter, I like our arrangement just fine.
25. When was the last time you cried? Today. Yesterday. Ugh, sometimes...well, oh nevermind, I don't want to start all over again.
26. What is on the floor of your closet? I don't really have one.
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I'm not sending this to anyone, but the longest friend I've had would be Lindsey. Summer of '94.
28. What did you do last night? Made dinner, put Jaylee to bed and vegged in front of the tv for 3 hours. (I can't believe I just admitted that)
29. Favorite smells? Jaylee after a bath and Josh after he's been at work...I know I'm a sicko
30. What inspires you? My husband, daughter and anyone who's organized.
31. What are you afraid of? Drowning. I hope it's not hereditary, otherwise I'm in a heap of trouble.
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese, please.
33. Favorite dog breed? Since I have a beagle, do I have to say a beagle?
34. Number of keys on your key ring? Hmmm, maybe 8 or so.
35. How many years at your current job? 8.5 years
36. Favorite day of the week? Saturday, because we have SMT (saturday morning tradition, which consists of loading up real early and going to get coffee and donuts) and Monday, I love the beginning of a week.
37. How many states have you lived in? Oh geez, I need to borrow someone elses fingers to count this high...just kidding, only 3, I think. Just don't ask how many cities.
38. Favorite holiday? Besides my birthday???? Definitely CHRISTmas.

There. Now y'all know a lil more about me. Your day is complete. ;)

Urine Taxes?!

My husband is in the process of moving our washer and dryer from the dreadful basement that is full of spiders to our "guest room" of sorts. It's the room that houses everything we don't want our guests to see upon walking into our home. The room that stores the treadmill, the CHRISTmas presents, the laundry baskets (filled with clean, unfolded clothes) let's see...what else is in this room? Junk. Most households have a junk drawer in their kitchen, our house takes that concept a step further, we have a junk room. How cool are we?!

Anyway...in the summer of '05 we bought one of those real neat, fancy-shmancy front load washers. We did the whole, "no payments, no finance charges" thing and it actually worked out for us, we paid it off before we were charged. Make sure you read the fine print on that "promotion." Had we not paid it off fully in that year, we would have had to pay the interest on it for the entire year. Does that make sense? Not sure if I worded that correctly, hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Okay, well this is really getting to be lengthy for the little bit I had to say, but oh well.

So, we bought the washer. I hated that we didn't buy the pair, but for once in our lives we decided to be patient. Joshua told me we'd just buy the dryer when we could afford a gas one and in my head I'm thinking, "uh, when will that be?" But of course, the wonderfully, submissive, quiet wife that I am, I said, "oh, okay honey." Well, the Lord blessed us for having patience, I tell you what! A few months after we bought the washer there was a woman having a yard sale and in her yard sale, guess what she had? That's right. A gas dryer. One that matched our washer, except black. It still had the packaging around it! And she wanted 1/2 what we would have paid the store. I debated asking her if she'd do the No Payments, No Finance charges, but thought against it, I was already getting a good deal. So, we bought it. Have we used it in the last year? Uhh...no.

To hook it up would take copper piping and all this other plumbing and work and what not. So, it's just not gotten done.

Our washer and dryer are located in our unfinished, spider ridden basement. So, I don't care to go down there. Therefore, I only wash clothes when we've run out of undies or socks or work jeans.

Then Josh had the brilliant idea to bring them upstairs and put them in the room that we don't really use. We bought the copper pipe and everything else to go with it and wa-la, it's working beautifully!

Okay, so why the title, "Urine Taxes?" Today, while he was working in there, listening to the radio a commercial came on and the woman said, "Year-End Taxes," Josh misunderstood and said, "what are urine taxes?" I thought I was gonna die.

I assured him that we don't have to pay taxes to use the commode.

I did it!

I cancelled it. My cell phone, that is. As of December 07, 2006, I will no longer be a cell phone user. Ugh! I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that. I'm pretty sad to be honest with you. That'll actually be the 3 year anniversary of my phone and me. We've been pals. He travels with me everywhere I go. Never leaves my side. When I'm down and need a friend to talk to, he picks me up...well, I guess I pick him up and then I call someone. You get the point, I'm never without my phone!!!

So, to reach me, you can do that via email or my home phone.

Even though I'm sad, I'm really excited too. My average cell bill is about $60 per month. My contract doesn't expire til September. So, from December to September I would have paid approximately $540 in cell bills. Since I'm still under contract, I have to pay the early cancellation fee of $150. Let's see, what is that...540 minus 150=390. I will have saved our family $390!!! That's a lot of money!

I really feel the Lord convicting me of my spending habits. I've been trying to look at different areas where I can help save our family money. The first, was my coffee. That was adding up to around 200 a month. I asked the Lord to take that addiction from me and in a round about way He did. (long story, I'll tell ya later) anyway, now we only get them on Saturdays. Second, was my phone. I've taken care of that, now I'm on to other measures. But, just those two things out of my life is saving my family almost 300 per month!

I'm busy today getting ready for a Pampered Chef Show I'm doing tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to make a list of areas I can cut my spending and I'll share them with you.

Hope you all had a great weekend and even more...hope you're having a fantastic Monday!

Take care!

I'm Embarrassed

I got my cell phone bill today. I can't believe it. I'm seriously embarrassed.

I talk too much. Way too much.

I have 1300 minutes, anytime minutes, with free incoming. My total minutes used: 2,160 minutes. At first I didn't think much of it. Then, for some sick reason I decided to figure out how many hours that was.

36 hours. 36 hours!!!! That's almost a full work week. Spent on the phone. I'm grieved. That is 36 hours that I was not spending time with my baby. 36 hours not spent with the Lord. 36 hours that I was not making my home.

I feel very convicted. Lately, (even before I got my cell bill) I've really felt the Lord telling me I need to be better with our money. We live on one income. We've been so blessed with Joshua's job. I'm able to stay home with Jaylee. But, we live paycheck to paycheck. There's no reason to though. I've looked over the amount of money I am spending. It's alot. Alot more than I need to spend.

So, I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit spending money. I'm going to quit wasting time. Lord, help me.

I told you last week that I am going to have a goal each week. This weeks' goal was to defeat Mt. Washmore (my laundry pile) and I've decided that next week I'm going to set our budget. I know, we should have had a budget by now, but really we just live by the seat of our pants, wasting money. Seriously, I feel so bad about wasting the blessing the Lord has given us.

If you have a budget, one that has been working for your family, please, let me know how you do it.

I hate being embarrassed and this is something I'm really embarrassed about. Too much time on the phone, too much spending, and not enough wisdom about a budget. But, I'm supposed to praise Him in all things, right? So, I praise Him that He has shown me this.

Have a great weekend, see ya Monday!

Some is Better than None

"She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27 NKJV

Today, I have been busy. I've tried very hard not to be idle. I guess I kind of am right now, but I'm taking a break, so I'm not going to get down on myself.

What I've done today:

• Got up at 6:12 am, yeah!!!



• 15 minutes of devotions, would have done more but Jaylee woke up. But some is better than none, right? Right!



• Emptied the dishwasher



• Made breakfast for Josh and Jaylee. Nothing exciting, just toast and eggs.



• Did breakfast dishes



• Took a shower



• Vacuumed my entire living room, even under the furniture!



• Decluttered the living room. We have this super old stereo that was my dad's, and with it came these big speakers. They drive me nuts. They're big and black and ugly. They clutter my living room. So, I made them leave. I then hooked up little speakers that fit nicely on top of the piano. Waa laa!



• Dusted every piece of wood furniture in the living room.



• Hung up family pictures.



• Vacuumed my couches and cleaned under the cushions...this is what I found: a teething ring, a watch (i'd been looking for this for forever!) a Santa Claus pin, a nickel, a blue pen, a mechanical pencil, 2 price tags, 4 hair ties, a fishy cracker (still intact) a bobby pin, paper clip, the letter "O" foam bath toy and more popcorn than I care to admit.

Seriously, how gross is that?! Oh well, at least it's clean now.

If you're having a really bad day and you're just down on your luck, look under your couch cushions, it's like Christmas!!!

I still have more I'd like to get done today. The day is young! I'm learning to be happy with what I got done instead of being upset about what I didn't get done. I think my new motto is, "Some is Better than None."

Back on the Wagon

I shared with you just a little while ago that I was going to try and get up at 6 am to prepare breakfast for my husband. Well, on the 5th, last Sunday, I started. It wasn't quite 6 the first couple of mornings, but by the end of the week I was waking up before the alarm. On Tuesday I realized I could also be making this a quiet time with the Lord. So, I did. Tuesday-Friday I was up at 6 and enjoying time with Jesus. Let me just tell you last week was one of the best weeks, EVER!

Then the weekend came.

I didn't get up early. I didn't spend time with Jesus. I went to church, but we're in the nursery for the month of November, so I didn't get to be in service.

On Sunday night I thought, "tomorrow I start hanging out with the Lord again." But the wind blew so hard all night and I didn't get any sleep. Next thing I know, it's 7 am. I missed my time.
I was so upset. So mad at myself.

Today, it was 7 again. Ohhh how different this week has already started out to be from last. Instead of going ahead with my devotional later in the day, I had set my mind that if I didn't do it at 6 I couldn't do it all.

Then it hit me!!! That's the enemy talking. Jesus wouldn't set a time and if I were late, He'd leave. He'd wait, patiently, for me to show up. It just dawned on me, so I had to share it. Now I need to do it!

If you're struggling with a daily time with the Lord, be easy on yourself. Take it one day at a time. Even if it's only 5-10 minutes to begin with-some is better than none. The more time you spend with Him, the more you'll want to spend with Him. I'm not a morning person, but I enjoyed last week. Enjoyed waking up while it was still dark out, turning on the lamp, snuggling with a blanket and holding the greatest Love Letter ever written. The rest of my day was great. Even if things didn't go quite right, I had joy. My husband even commented. He said he liked seeing me so happy.

Okay, well I want to go spend a few minutes with Him before Jaylee wakes up. Tomorrow I'm getting up at 6!

Lord bless and keep you.

I'm not a bad mom...

...but I sure feel like one. Last night my sweet little girl fell down the stairs leading to our basement. As soon as I heard the sound I ran for her, even though I was only a few steps away it felt like forever before I got to her. She was laying on her back with her arms spread out as if she were about to make a snow angel. She didn't cry very hard but I was freaked. Josh was outside under the suburban, so I pound on the door and he came running in. I had blood on me and I didn't know where from. We checked her over and saw the blood was coming from her lip. We gave her a wet washcloth and she seemed to enjoy sucking on that. As we were searching the rest of her body, feeling for bumps and broken bones we found a lump right above her forehead. It turned purple right away. But she didn't seem affected by it. We made sure she could walk and talk and in no time she was running all over again. She didn't want to be fussed over, she wanted to play.

Whew!

So, that "honey-do" list tonight will most likely have "make gate for stairway" at the top tonight.

Girls' Night Out!

Woo Hoo! Tonight my mom and I are going to Outback Steakhouse. Just us. Her and me. Me and her. Like the good ol' days. When I was three, hey that rhymes!

The days when I was an only child. *sigh*

Well, no time to reminisce, I need to get ready to go.

Have a great weekend, be safe and I'll see ya Monday!

Testing 1, 2, 3

Friends,
I've seen on other blogs that you can link someone to another site but I didn't know how to do it. Thank you, Kristie, for teaching me how.

At least I hope I learned, I'm going to try it out.

A website I stumbled upon a couple of days ago has greatly encouraged me. Just in a couple of days time! I want you to be encouraged as well. Her name is Laine and this woman just loves Jesus so much and has such a desire to serve Him by writing to us. As you read her letters you'll feel she's speaking directly to you. At least that's how I've been feeling. I haven't read through all of her letters, recipes or journals but I've found that when I start reading through her letters, I get lost. I lose myself in them and forget that I have a home I need to be making.
So, that's a warning. You will absolutely love her! I just have to remind myself every time I go to her website that I can only read one letter at a time.

Wait to visit her site until you have some extra time. You'll want to keep reading and reading.

Have a wonderful afternoon!

New name, same great taste!!!

What the heck-ola am I talking about?! Well, I've decided to rename my blog. The Front Porch. I don't know why. It just kinda came to me. It sounded good.
The Front Porch. Close your eyes with me a minute. Picture the perfect front porch. I'll tell you what I picture.
A couple of chairs with a table between them. Cups of coffee or iced tea, with a snack. A dog at my feet, a child on my lap. The lawn that's been mowed and the trees that are bare of leaves but full of squirrels.
This is a place to relax. To share conversation. A spot to talk about the days' events, the triumphs and trials of life. A safe place to open up about heart issues. Areas in our lives where we need God to work. But also a haven to give praises to Him for what He's already done in our lives.
The Front Porch is where it all happens. Where we meet and greet with hugs, it's a welcome spot, a place to catch up. It's also the area where you say your goodbyes. Hugging again and the last words are those of encouragement, reassurment, well wishes.
This is what I pray for this blog that I have. That when we meet here, it would be exciting to talk about what's going on, it'd be a safe place to discuss goals and fears, praises and prayer requests.
What's gotten in to me? I dunno. I just know that my heart is heavy about sharing my life's joys and struggles with other women. To encourage. To uplift. Bear with me. I'm just kinda following my heart here.
So, go grab your cup o' coffee and let's talk together about this day.

Reasons why I have joy

In no particular order:

1. Joshua. I have an amazing husband. He loves me. He loves our daughter. He works so hard everyday. Out in this cold, I can't even imagine having to spend my day outside right now. He's kind and considerate. He's polite.

2. My home. It's cozy and warm. It's mine to take care of. I am responsible for it, that can seem overwhelming at times but it still brings me joy.

3. I talked to my sister, Erica, on the phone for almost an hour yesterday. God is so good. I love when I pray and He answers in a way that is visible to me immediately.

4. The sun. It's beautiful outside right now. Cold, but beautiful.

5. Jaylee. Oh, our sweet Jaylee girl. I find joy when I peek into her room and she's curled up so sweet. Just one little creak of the floor and she's bursting with energy! "Hiiii!" she says, and when I pick her up she wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes. Then just recently she's started patting me. It's hilarious.

6. Food. The Lord always provides. Even when we're down to the nitty gritty in the cupboards He makes the mush I put together edible. Do you ever wonder if when manna was eaten for 40 years, did some days He decide to make it taste like a juicy steak or grilled chicken? I'd like to think He did because I feel like He does that now. Some nights I feel so bad for what I am throwing together for dinner but it ends up being pretty tasty.

7. My mom. I love that she loves the Lord. I love that she has wisdom and shares it.

8. My car. It's cute, reliable and wonderful on gas. Even though it's good on gas, I'm trying to be better about driving whenever I feel like it. I'm getting better about planning my trips and making the most of each outing. Gas is expensive and a few miles here and there add up.

9. Blogs. I've found a few of the most God-fearing, inspiring, amazing women that open their hearts and share the journey of homemaking. If you'd like their blog addresses, let me know, I'd be happy to share them. And, I enjoy my own blog. It's a fun, creative outlet for me.

10. Commission checks. I got one today and it made me so happy! I know money doesn't bring joy but the things I can buy will. ;) JUST KIDDIN'!...kinda

11. My SIL, Treena. She's one of my best friends. The woman is crazy busy all of the time. Her house is always clean, laundry done, family fed and her scrapbook is caught up! She's quite inspiring to me. I love her.

12. Random phone calls from my husband. He called me just now to see what I was doing. How sweet is that?! (Yes, Treena I said random)

13. My in-laws. I feel like the saying in-law refers to people you don't like or get along with. I guess this could be the case for some families but, praise the Lord, I have really great in-laws and a great relationship with them. Love it.

14. Jesus. He loves me. Cherishes me. Finds delight in me. Died for me. Comforts me. Disciplines me. He's the most amazing Father a girl could ask for. Not having a dad, my relationship with my Heavenly Father has become more important than ever. My earthly dad has been gone for over seven years and I'm just now realizing I'm not fatherless. How comforting it would have been these last seven years if I'd only realized sooner. I have joy that He made me realize He's here. Always.

I'm sure I could add to my list, but I'm getting hungry, so I'm going to go eat some of that homemade bread I made. It turned out! Can you believe it?! Me either!

My prayer today, for you and me is that we find joy in everything. Big or small.

I'm all grown up!

Okay, I know you're thinking, "yeah, right." But right this minute I'm feeling like an adult.

Why? Because I made bread. Stop laughing. Downstairs, right now, in my kitchen, underneath a towel some bread is rising. At least it's supposed to be. I've decided to have a goal for each week. This was my first week and my first was goal was to learn to make homemade bread. I do have a bad feeling that it's not going to turn out, but if it doesn't, I'm going to try again tomorrow. I'm not going to give up!

Why do I want to make homemade bread you may wonder, well, for one I think it'll help me feel like I've learned something. All by myself. Two, it makes me feel domestic. I am in my home day in and day out. I've realized that I'm only existing here during the day. I do what has to be done and no more. I want to change that. I want to stop being idle during the day. I need to stop to stop finding excuses to be get out of the house. The only way to make a house a home is to be in it. Not only do I live here, I love here. I love my family, my home, my life...but I want it to be visible to them. This probably makes no sense to anyone but myself, but it's helping me just by putting it down.

Another reason I feel grown up is because a couple days ago I was on the phone with my mom. I'd had a lil get together here at my house and made some fun food. I called her the next day to thank her for helping with some of the clean up. She says, "You're such a good cook and since you had no desire to learn while you were growing up, I can't take any of the credit for you being a good cook."

Okay, I had a desire to learn to cook, but it's not as if you need a teacher to teach you to how to make Helper Helper* when you're 15, there are pretty clear directions on the back of the box.

I'm not an amazing cook or anything, don't get me wrong. For the most part everything I've made has been edible, except for Sugar Rice night, if you don't know the story, I'll fill you in later, but not here, not publicly so I can humiliate myself anymore than I already have! :) If you're frustrated as a cook, which I've been many times, start by using your cookbook. Follow the directions for a recipe you like to a T. If, after your family has eaten it, if you feel it could've had something more, write a note to yourself on the recipe. Then, next time, add that to your recipe. Whether it's extra salt, pepper, maybe an onion or some fresh garlic...you can always spruce up a recipe. Remember, a cookbook is only a base for your masterpiece. There's no cookbook police that will cuff ya if you don't follow it just as it says.

After a little while, you'll know what your family likes and the cookbook will just be your helper, not your guide.

It's amazing, just by making bread and the sweet comment from my mom, makes me feel like a full fledged woman!

I'll let ya know tomorrow if the bread even turned out. I sent my prayers up about it, please do the same!

*Helper Helper is actually Hamburger Helper but being the poor folk that we were, there were times we when couldn't afford the hamburger. So, my sisters and I dubbed it Helper Helper.

Two for two!

Yeah, me! Well, it may not have been exactly 6 a.m. that I was up yesterday and today, but close enough. And, enough time to make my dear husband breakfast. Yesterday, hashbrowns and eggs lovingly thrown into a tortilla with some cheese. :) Today, two eggs (not too runny, not too hard) with two pieces of toast and a cup of coffee. I felt like I was dragging a little bit, dreaming of my comfy bed, wondering why on earth I got out of it to make a breakfast I don't get to eat (that's another blog in itself) but then he says to me, "I feel like I'm at a restaurant."

Bless his sweet, lil' heart!

It made getting up worth every minute of grogginess. Is that a word?

If I don't love him the rest of the day at least I loved him this morning! *grin* I chose the highest good for him. I feel good about that. I'm so quick to take care of my needs, my wants that so many times I leave him to fend for himself. With a husband as self sufficient as mine, it's easy to do, but that's no excuse for my selfishness. Maybe he became so self sufficient because I neglected his needs for so long.

Ugh, I hate that thought.

Instead of focusing on the negative (which I am very good at) I'm going to be proud of the small step I made.

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave your comments. Have a great day!

The Highest Good

We had an assembly one day, everyone met in the gym, we sat in those bleachers that just kill your rear and we listened to a man talk to us about love, purity, dating and a little about marriage. He never came out and said (probably because it's not allowed in schools much anymore) but I believe this man loved the Lord. I don't remember much of what he said but a main point he made has stuck with me all these years.

Love is a choice.

Not a feeling.

He said that if love were a feeling, when we woke up in the morning next to our spouse, we wouldn't love them because of their morning breath.

His definition for love was, "choosing the highest good for the other person."

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

Am I loving my husband? Am I choosing the highest good for him? I tell myself, "of course I'm loving him, for crying out loud, he has clean clothes doesn't he? Or does he? I make him dinner every night...that counts for something doesn't it?" I realized that I have so many areas where I need to grow. Choosing the highest good for him would be to show him I love him in a way that speaks to him. Something my husband would absolutely love is if I made him breakfast every morning. UGH!!! I am sooo not a morning person. But I think maybe to choose the highest good for him, to show him I love him, I'm going to start.

Would you pray I wake up at 6 a.m. every morning to make pancakes and eggs?
Lord bless and keep you all.

Too cute!

I just had to share some other absolutely adorable babies from Tuesday night.

My second cousin, Emma and my lil niece, Sabrie. Sabrie was a sweet little bunny who was sooo fascinated with Jaylee's antenna! When Jaylee would walk by her she'd open her mouth because she wanted to eat them! It was hilarious.

Happy Harvest Everyone!

The Harvest Party at church was so fun on Tuesday. When I signed us up to go, it said the children were to come dressed as their favorite Bible hero. Well, not many places sell Bible costumes. So, I'd decided since Jaylee was little, she'd have no idea that everyone else was dressed up and she wasn't. Well, my friend, Amber told me I'd be a terrible mommy if my child wasn't dressed up. The next morning in my mailbox was the most adorable Bumblebee costume. No, the Apostle Bee isn't Jaylee's favorite Bible hero, but at least she was dressed up. On our way to the church, Joshua announced that we could tell everyone she was from the Land of Milk and Honey. My husband, the ever clever one.

So, here she is, in her adorableness. Is that a word?

Handing over the Reigns

So the wife put a gun to my head and told me to type tonight.

So, here it goes, one key at a time.

Today was not a good day for the "Culver Backyard Project." It turned into a messy project when I discovered my "stupid strength" and slammed the post hole digger right into Sunnyside Valley Irrigation's 6" PVC pipe carrying a great deal of water to the wear box in the neighbor's pasture.

Turns out that flood irrigation is not entirely acceptable as proper use of the water these days. Thought I was doing the other neighbor's marijuana plants in the basement a favor. Boy, was I wrong.

So the water got shut off a coupla days earlier than scheduled...hope the next 6 people down the line were done for the year.

Sometimes I think life would be easier if I could go back to the days of my childhood. You know, BMX bikes, sling shots & pet aliens. As an adult, you can't say, "time out." Well, you could, but SVID's still going to send me a bill for the repair.

Well, besides the MINOR setback today, the fence we were building is almost done and looks really good.

Jaylee is doing alright. She had to go to the dr. yesterday, so I met her for the first time...she's old. I felt like we should have been asking her the questions. You know, like, "are you walking by yourself? Do you need assistance?" Well, everything went well, except when they shot her four times. Next time I'm gonna shoot back.

I suppose I have taken up way too much of your time, especially if you read as slow as I write. Goodnight.

Weight a Minute

Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into? I don't know if I can do it. In fact, I don't think I can. Most likely it's impossible. There's no way I'll win. But it's $350!!!!

Sorry...my thoughts are taking over my fingers.

Well, last night my husband and I placed a bet. A ridiculous one. One I'm sure I can't win. And ya'll know I hate to lose. But oh well. A bet's a bet. We shook on it. All's fair in love and war.

And this...is war.

Whoever loses 10 lbs the fastest wins $350!!! His idea. I'm sure it's because for about 16 months now I've been complaining about my "baby" weight. Nothing seems to be gettin' me motivated and he must have thought money would do it. He sure doesn't need to lose any weight but he's already Mr. Hardcore. He ran a mile last night on the treadmill (after he uncovered it from all the dust) and then he ran 2 miles this morning. I, on the other hand, ate. I still lost a lb. and he lost 2. So, he's ahead.

I'm totally psyching myself up to lose the bet but I really wanna win! I figure with his metabolism he could lose 10 lbs by Monday! I wanna cuss!

He asked me last night what my plan of action was. I said, "pffft, like I'm gonna tell you. Do opposing football teams share their strategies, I think not." He laughed. So, of course I had to ask him what his P.O.A was. "Eat less. Run more." I said, "okay, okay. I'll tell you my P.O.A. Eat. Throw up." JUST KIDDING!!! I'm not going to do that, but I wish I could.

Maybe I'll get on the treadmill too. Crazier things have happened...

Panicking

When Jaylee was born I started a journal for her. I haven't written in it everyday but when she was first born I wrote quite often. Telling her our events for the day or marking milestones; first night in her crib, first time rolling over, crawling, teeth, etc. Well, I lost that journal. It's been a couple of months since I've written in it and every time something funny happens or the days that her and her daddy share a sweet moment I think, "oh, I'll remember to write it down when I find that journal."

But I don't remember.

Today my mission was to find that journal and write, write, write! So, I found it. In one of our end tables. It wasn't lost. I had put it in a place that would be easy to get to and because of that I made the searching process more difficult than it needed to be. I looked in dressers, a cedar chest, a box full of her keepsakes, my bookcase, under her crib, on the shelves of her changing table. Why look in the end table next to my chair that I sit in everyday?! Geesh.

So, I wrote. And I wrote some more. I looked back to my entry of October 4, 2005. She was just starting to grab at things in front of her, she was wanting to roll over, she needed to be held to see things because she couldn't sit up on her own yet. October 4, 2006 she's running all over, talking up a storm, she's aware of her surroundings, yet intrigued by everything new, she's asserting her independence...she's becoming a little girl.

I don't know if I'm ready for that. I know that I can't stop it. But I wish to slow it down.

It seems like yesterday she made those little noises that only the newest of babies make. You moms know what noise I'm talking about. While they are awake or even when they sleep, a little squeak, mixed with a sigh, their mouths twitch, eyes flutter...but about 2 months old, it stops. We used to call her Squeaker. Then one day she didn't squeak anymore. I think it was then I realized how fast time was flying by.

I don't mean for this blog to be a downer today. Maybe it's the rain today that has me feeling this way. I don't know...

But tonight, when you're so excited for bedtime because you'll have a few hours to yourself, to be a woman and not just "Mommy", when you lay your little or not so little one(s) down for bed, let that hug last just a lil longer, squeeze a lil tighter. Take a few minutes to praise Jesus for the miracle(s) He's blessed you with and ask Him to help you not take for granted their everyday.

I know I'm going to.