time away

We are entering a really crazy time in our lives. Andrew and I discuss daily how difficult this next month or two is going to be and what we can do to be efficient and manage our time wisely. This past weekend marked the first of 4 trips for us this month. During the holiday season. In the month that we are relocating to a new city. There were moments this weekend that I appreciated so very much and that I feel so blessed for having. Then there were moments I saw how much I had to learn about myself and marriage and the quality of my character. {More on that at the end}

This weekend we spent time with great friends and found out that it takes 9 minutes and 27 seconds to walk from their front door to the one we will call our own by the end of this week. (Yep, we close on our first house THIS Friday, but won’t move in for a few more weeks.} We also went to Andrew’s firm Christmas party and it was lovely. I was able to meet several of his new colleagues and I had a wonderful time sharing a meal with them. He has been so blessed with a great job and great people to work with on a daily basis! We can honestly say they are all fabulous people! {No quirky Dwight Schrutes in their midst.}

And we even got to spend time with family because Cutie Pie and Little Man came into town for a visit. {Special thanks to their mama and daddy for making the drive. We enjoyed our time with you two as well!} I cannot explain to you how much good it does my heart to spend time with these two little ones. Cutie Pie had a blast riding the ferry and the train with Aunt Sha Sha, and truth be told, I think it was more fun for me and a memory forever etched onto my heart. It’s the little things, ya know? Combine that with a smile from Little Man specifically for me and I am just filled to the brim with real joy. I love those kids!

|| I could not for anything get rid of the red-eye in this picture even though I tried 3 different editing software programs. I had to include it because you can clearly see the fun they were having. ||

Now for the ugly part. For the most part, Andrew and I had some great times just the two of us with lots of laughs and smiles and all around good times. However, this weekend I also realized how selfish and self centered I really am because I allowed the pressure of this month to bare down on me so much that I was not always nice to Andrew when we discussed the move and the busyness and the schedule for the month. When he didn’t see it my way it was the highway. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I know I have said stuff like this before…about him being nice and me being downright mean. So clearly I’ve got a lot to learn about marriage and patience and loving in general. And he would tell you the same thing about himself. I am grateful that he has that kind of attitude about it. To be honest, I know what gets me in trouble; it’s not starting my day in the Word and consistently meditating on it and praying throughout the day. It never fails. The days I wake up and get right to it are the days I see life differently and I love people better and I can handle the things that aren’t part of my plan. I know that the busier and more stressful life is, the more I need to stop and stand before the Lord. Praying that I take my own advice!

that thing i kept avoiding

Soooooooo…I have this problem. I like to be super organized. And for the most part I am super organized when it comes to my classroom stuff because I don’t think I would function well otherwise. However, I am also busy, busy, busy with project after project after project. And I get excited and I tend to move on before I should. Which means sometimes what started off as super organized ends up as not so organized at all once the project or unit is said and done. Catch my drift or am I talking in circles here? 

For about 3 years I was lackadaisical when it came to filing in the classroom. {Baaaaaaaaad idea!} I felt like there was so much begging for my attention and energy that I’d catch up on my filing one day. This resulted in a full {and heavy} box of papers that had not been filed. I tackled those papers months ago and finished filing all of it after about a month. The other day I decided to take my files further and break them down a bit more. And now in the midst of the Christmas bins and moving boxes you will find the mess pictured here.  

Why now? Why would I decided to take all of my files out of the filing cabinets and file everything away by subject area? Well, because I don’t know when else I’m going to do it and I’m not sure if my files will be easy to get to once they are stored away in the new house. I know this will make my teaching life so much easier whenever I go back to teaching. I was always able to find things I needed because everything was alphabetized, but this is going to be so much better. 

Please tell me there is another teacher out there who can relate! Does anyone else feel like the only way to stay sane in the classroom is to be super clean and organized, but has a closed closet full of hidden unfiled papers or something like that? I really hope so because I feel like I am partially confessing to get this secret off my chest and partially because I want to be honest so that other teachers who beat themselves up over not being perfect {like me} can feel like they aren’t alone! 

Well, I am off to file away and be done with this by tonight. Lesson learned here…file everyday, even if it’s just for 10 minutes and even if planning for the next unit sounds like way more fun.

you should see this place

It’s crazy around here. Have I mentioned we are moving? In one month? During all of the holiday hustle and bustle? I knew because of our crazy travel schedule this December and the fact that we are relocating to a new city would mean I’d have to scale back on the Christmas decor, but I just could not live I tell you without a Christmas tree. So we busted out the 6 bins of Christmas {and left 2 more boxes in the garage} so that I could go through them and make sure I got to all our tree ornaments. 

Please allow me to give you an idea of what my house was like exactly one week ago. {And truth be told, not much has changed since these photos were taken.}

Now, you know when you move it allows you the perfect opportunity to go through all of your stuff {All. of. your. stuff!} and get rid of things so that you aren’t packing and hauling what you don’t want or use anymore. It just so happened that our only free Saturday in a 6 week time period was this last Saturday. SO we went into Operation Seek and Purge in overdrive while trying to also put up the tree. Ha!

I am a teacher…currently not teaching with a garage FULL of classroom stuff. And going through ALL of that stuff made me super nostalgic and downright emotional. So I spent an entire {8 hour} day last week going through classroom memories and boohoo-ing over the fact that I am not teaching right now. {Hello? Self-imposed unemployment. Move on and get over it, right? What can I say? I’m a mess.} Going through and purging your things is a lot of work! And my getting all emotional about it did not help matters around here. {Insert a thousand apologies here for that one night last week I was not very nice to my husband because of my bad mood and poor attitude and ridiculously irrational and emotional state.}

|| Isn’t he beautiful??? Oh my goodness – I love him!!! ||

There were piles like this everywhere. Ev.er.y.where! In multiple rooms. It was crazy. Needless to say, I am sooooooooo glad we had the garage sale, got rid of a bunch of stuff, and made some cash money to go towards painting our new house. {Holla!} 

We have currently replaced all of the garage sale piles with empty boxes for packing. If you would like to donate packing boxes to our move, we are accepting all offers. I am also accepting offers for prayer and spa dates. This gal needs the Lord’s wisdom, peace, and joy right now, and a little massage wouldn’t be so bad either. ;)

long weekends

 {This pic is from last Thanksgiving. We didn't get fancy this year.}

I am still reeling over the long weekend. It was positively perfect. What isn’t to love about Thanksgiving and the leftovers? And we did it twice! That’s right. We went to my Uncle’s for the first, official round. Then on Saturday we decided to do it all over again because it was weird not hosting after 4 years of hosting and we wanted in on the fun too. It was delish! I have come to the conclusion that my favorite Thanksgiving meals include homemade goodness from scratch AND a gluten-free menu! Who would have thought!? I am certain that I was the only one on both Thursday and Saturday who was not uncomfortably full, partially because I have found going gluten-free in general has saved me of that plight at every meal and partially because I simply couldn’t eat what everyone else could because I was limited. Come Monday morning the scale said I had lost a pound. What? Lost a pound? That has never happened during Thanksgiving weekend in the history of man, yet the scale does not lie! Did I mention I ate an entire gluten-free pecan pie from Whole Paycheck by myself over the course of 6 days? True story. My body is loving this gluten-free business and my taste buds are happy about it too.

{Never saw that coming!}

The weekend {or week, because we had Maddie for 7 fabulous days} was also wonderful because I had Maddie Bell and Trinity here with me too. And they really enjoyed one another’s company…

We watched the first Christmas movie of the season with the whole family. My littlest sis and her BFF spent the night and we created more inside jokes and laughed a ton. I got wonderful news from a dear friend about her engagement. And we brought home our biggest Christmas tree yet. He is 9 glorious feet tall, 12 years old {I counted the rings at the base of his trunk.}, and we took him right off the truck from North Carolina. And I love him. I have sung, “O Christmas Tree” to him several times already.

My favorite thing about long weekends is that my husband gets to spend them relaxing and hanging out with me. And Trinity. And this weekend Maddy too. And I really, really love that. I hope you're Thanksgiving weekend was just as lovely!

my sister, my friend

To be perfectly honest, there aren’t many friends or acquaintances that I have talked to about their sisters-in-law that can say how much they treasure being family now or go even further in saying that they would consider them to be dear friends. That is why I feel extremely blessed to be able to say both of those things about mine. 

Now we are very much alike in many ways and very different in others, so it took us awhile to figure out how to relate to one another and form a bond. When we first met, Becky was extremely cautious of me and kept her distance, while I tried my hardest to become BFFs at a rate of 0-60 in 4 seconds flat. A major difference between the two of us right there. I cannot blame her; I was after all her brother’s first girlfriend and she loves him dearly and wanted to be sure I was right for him and their family before she herself got too close. Plus, she chooses her friends very carefully and wisely {one reason why I feel so honored to be one of them now}, and my lets-be-best-friends-because-I-can-tell-I-really-like-you-after-5-minutes personality was a little much for her. {Sorry, Beck, for my pushiness back then and thanks for forgiving me of it!}

 

[ the two of us with our first “babies” many moons ago]

I don’t remember exactly when it was we really started clicking, but I just know I am so very glad that we did! I love her so much! She is quiet and I’m loud. I talk too much and too soon, while she chooses her words wisely. There are times when I wonder how on earth she puts up with me given how differently we operate, but she finds it in herself to do so and she loves me in spite of my crazy. She’s a fabulous listener and a great encourager when I tell her of my woes and fears. She is my favorite shopping buddy. I look forward to summers and holiday seasons when I know we will be in the same city for days or weeks at a time. When that happens, I try my hardest to see her everyday. And yes, she is the mother of Cutie Pie and Little Man so part of me wants to see them every chance I can get, but honestly I cherish my time with her too.  

She has always been an extremely strong person. Often times I wonder if she realizes how strong she is because I don’t think she gives herself enough credit! She is an awesome teacher and I love talking teacher stuff with her. She is an amazing mommy and I have learned sooooooooo much from watching her with my niece and nephew and hearing her talk about motherhood and parenting. She loves Jesus and I thank Him on the regular for making us sisters and friends, and for also giving us a firm foundation in Him to deepen our friendship because I consider her one of my best. 

 

Today is her birthday and I really wish that I could be there to celebrate with her {and catch a showing of Breaking Dawn part 1 too}. I love you dearly, my sister and my friend. Praying that you feel very loved and appreciated today and that this year is full of blessing and joy!

Row15

We didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Usually when you witness a group of friends you find a likeness among them. For instance, the group might dress similarly and like the same music or books or movies, and the group will have similar hobbies or enjoy going to the same types of places. But not really with us. Not really at all. We were all so very different. And yet we did have a common thread. We all were young and trying to figure out how to live our lives as an offering to God. Something we all took very seriously. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that we were meant to be. God knew that we needed each other for a season and so it was, whether we made sense or not. 

Beth and I ventured into a new college ministry one Wednesday night back in the Fall of 2002. I am pretty sure that very first night at Breaking Bread someone invited us to be a part of a Discipleship group. {Jenny, was that you? Or Kate maybe?} Beth and I went to the first meeting and we were instantly hooked! We loved the people there. {Side note: We met this guy who walked us to our car. He kept talking about politics! We laughed and rolled our eyes. And now 9 years later Beth has had two babies with him. :) Funny how things turn out.}

If you flip through my journals from that time period in my life you will find all of their names in the pages. Each one of them taught me something about myself, about God, and/or about friendship. That group is very special to me. It was about 12 guys and gals altogether. There were some who trickled in and out, but there was a core group of us who really stuck it out together. We met together weekly in the home of a young couple who set out to mentor and disciple us. I am pretty sure we grew them as much as they helped in growing us. Every week we got together to pray, to read the Word,  to discuss, to dump out our emotional and mental and spiritual baggage, and to wade through the mess together. There were a lot of tears, a lot of laughs, and a lot of memories made. It was amazing while it lasted. As the group dispersed, it was clear that we all were headed in new directions and that our group, while it was meant to be, had served its purpose.  It was time for all of us to move on.  There was no big drama or misunderstanding…it was just time for it to end and so it did. But those friendships and lessons will live on in our own personal history books.

Last weekend the girls of the group had a reunion. At first all 6 of us were going to meet up, but Kate got a job in NY she couldn’t refuse and Abbie kept getting bumped from her flight until there were no more flights to get on! They were both missed tremendously! Beth and I drove to Georgia where we met up with Jenny and Shell drove in from Nashville and met up with us. The weekend was wonderful. All we did was sit in the hotel room, a Starbucks, Jenny’s house, or a restaurant, but it was perfect for catching up on the last 6 years. You can imagine we had a lot of talking to do! These girls were my biggest encouragers in the faith in that ever so formative year in my life. They spurred me on and loved me through quite a bit of junk. It was so awesome to feel like no time had passed. We just fell right back into place. We had new things to discuss and new challenges; we had husbands now and some kids, new jobs, and new cities. But we still wanted what we wanted back then…to live our lives for the Lord and to love others as He called us to. The weekend was like water for my soul. In all honesty, I have trouble finding the right words because these gals mean so much to me and they do so much for my heart. 

Jenny, your sensitivity to the Spirit and the way you communicate what He is teaching you is unique, a Jenny trademark that I admire and love so much about you! Shell, your unapologetic this-is-who-I-am attitude, overflowing joy, honesty, and desire to know and love the Lord is such an encouragement to me and what I love so much about you! Beth, your friendship to me, your honesty, encouragement, love, and willingness to hear me ramble and process through anything and everything while giving me godly council is what I love so much about you! I can’t wait for our next reunion! It will be much sooner than 6 years from now! I don’t know how on earth we survived so long without being together! ;) 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

felicity

Dear Netflix, thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU for having the show, Felicity, in its entirety available for instant streaming. I love you. Dear Ian Gomez, thank you for accepting the part of Javier Clemente Quintata. You are one of my favorite tv characters of. all. time. Dear Season 2 Episode 9, you did not elude me. I am determined. I found you on YouTube. Dear Self-Control, pull yourself together. Just because all 84 episodes are available now does not mean that they all have to be viewed in one week’s time. Dear Netflix, you do remember what aired with Felicity, right? I don’t want to sound unappreciative because believe me, I am! But I’m not going to lie, you’ve got me hoping and praying that this means I will soon get to relive the angst that is Joey Potter’s life. Just sayin’.