Our Weekend

We had such a great fun filled weekend.

Friday night we visited with some friends and about 12 other couples for "Weird Beer Night." The object of the game was in the name of the game. We sampled 10 unusual beers that couples brought and gave them scores based on a few factors. There were also delicious cheeses, crackers, and taco soup. I stayed up a little later than I normally do but it was really fun. I even ended the night by singing lead to "21 Guns" and "Dirty Little Secret" during Rockband.

Saturday we pretty remained as lazy bones around the house. We watched "Sunshine Cleaners" and ate leftovers until 2 in the afternoon when we decided it was time to get up and do something. So we all bundled up and drove to see our friends the Spiveys in Wetumpka. You know there are those afternoons that you just feel like driving outside of the city? Their home and land surrounding is beautiful and it was nice to see their sweet baby. Saturday night we watched, well started, the movie State of Play. So far it is really suspenseful but around 10:30 we had a crying baby who needed some extra attention and a breathing treatment before really going night night. By 11 it was just time to "get in it" as we call going to bed at our house.

Then this morning, my suspicions became real concern. These babies might have pink eye. I don't know yet if it is viral or allergic but they both are a little swollen and have the yuckies after they sleep. Once I clean them up it isn't that gross and they aren't complaining or rubbing their eyes. So maybe it isn't pink eye? I really don't know. I do know that to take them to the church nursery would not be kewl. So here were are this morning, playing in their warm nursery, with blocks, and books, and plush animals. Their favorite toy these days is the Noah's Arc and pairs of animals they got for Christmas. I love that every animal says, "RAAAAAAAAAARRRR" according to Lily. Lions, bears, tigers, rabbits, birds, and butterflies. I love that when Harper is ready for her nap she throws down whatever she is playing with and sprawls herself on the floor and start sucking her thumb and humming, "hmmmmmm. hmmmmmm" like "come on mama, you see me soothin' myself, now put in my crib!"

The rest of the day I will be doing chores and hoping to have some time to curl up and finish "The Lovely Bones." Also, I have a recipe to try for some home made soup. I'll give it a go and post the recipe if it is any good.

Happy Sunday all! Can you believe we are almost half way through January?

Playing Outside

Here is a little video, short and sweet, that I put together to show our latest favorite afternoon activity. At first, the babies were unsure about walking around on the grass, so different from tile and hard wood floors, but once they got used to it they cried when it was time to come inside! It is in moments like these that I am most thankful for my beautiful children.

Song "Letters From Far Away" by Coldplay

more about "Playing Outside", posted with vodpod

Things to do, later.

What is it about me that needs and thrives off of structure, planning, cleanliness, and organization yet dreads some activities that involve just that?

A few examples:

I don't mind dusting and vacuuming our bedroom but I hate washing dishes and cleaning the bathrooms.

I love to pencil in appointments and due dates on my calendar but I hate opening gmail and reading through my emails especially if I have to respond.

I love the feeling after a great walk or workout at the gym when I happen to go but I hate, really hate, thinking all day, "I NEED to go this afternoon" so much that a lot of times I talk myself out of it.

I love to buy a few new garments or accessories every once in a while when I find something great unexpectedly or on sale but when I have a gift card or money saved up and go out to look for something I get overwhelmed and want to give up 10 minutes after I start shopping.

My car needs gas but I hate stopping to get it and the same goes for grocery shopping... i love food and a stocked and organized pantry/fridge but I usually dread the grocery store.

And I love my little dog more than any other little dog in the world but why do I say for weeks, "I need to get her groomed" or "bathe her and comb her out 1,000,000 times" before I make the appointment?

Those are just to name a few.

I really do wonder why I have so many inner hesitations about little stuff that really aren't that big of a deal. It is odd. Or is it normal? What are some things you dread or put off that make you feel good once you get it done?

New Year brings New Home

Nick and I visited our new Church home this morning. Over the Christmas Holiday, within the span of about 7 days, Nick was offered a Youth Pastor position at a nearby church and he accepted. I compare my feelings of sitting in the pew this morning to the feelings I had when we did our first "walk through" in the house that we live in now. It just felt right. I looked at the structure of the sanctuary and the lighting. I closed my eyes and listened to the organ and the piano play. I smiled back at hundreds of welcoming faces and most importantly I received inspiration from the sermon and restoration through Communion. When we looked at our house, the same day we made the offer to buy, I walked into the back yard and all the way back to the fence. I wanted to see what our home looked like from a point of view that not many people would see. Yes, curb appeal is important, but for me I wanted to picture this house as my home by looking at it through the eyes of a girl expecting big things to happen at this home: nights spent on the porch with friends, reading a book while basking in the sun, playing ball with our little Ali Carrie, and chasing toddlers around with bare feet. Sitting in the front of the church I did a similar exercise. I wondered who I would see give testimonies. I pictured youth going through Confirmation under the leadership and guidance of Nick. I pictured that my own children would be called for the kids' minute in front of everyone before heading off to their own services during Children's Church. Big decisions need assuring moments and visions such as these to help us be at peace and have expectation for the upcoming journey.

I could not be happier for my husband as I know that he is excited and rejuvenated to serve in this area of ministry. Mentoring kids, particularly, junior and senior high school youth aged people is a big responsibility... a task that quite frankly I feel he could not be more "qualified" to do. I love that my husband loves his job. I love that he appreciates and savors every moment of his daily routine in the commute to work, the preparations and correspondences he conducts at his desk while sipping his coffee and listening to some Mr. Tony or other podcast no doubt, the contacts and relationships, the traveling for mission trips and retreats, as well as some of the challenges. I hope that I will be a useful partner to him in ministry... I wake up most mornings feeling like, "thank goodness I married him... where would I be had if not been for our swift dating period, engagement and marriage?" I shutter at the thought of whom else I could have settled for and my life without my children. I am also very thankful for the so much more than just "approval" that my family has for him. It has been such a blessing to see him grow as a person, husband, student, and youth pastor over the past 4 1/2 years. I cannot wait to see my expectations and visions for us and our future unfold. Congratulations my Love!