Weekend Recap and Other Awesomeness

Ugh, I am SO unmotivated today! Mainly because I can't take a decent breath. I don't know if I've pulled a muscle from all my coughing spells over the past 10 days, or if I have pleurisy (which I get all the dang time, so you'd think I'd know), or bronchitis, but my right lung/chest HURTS when I breathe. I'm still coughing, though not as frequently as I was last week. I can now breathe through my nose, though I still have to blow it quite a bit. I guess not being able to breathe deeply makes you tired, cause I have no energy today.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran around in the yard with C, kicking balls. It was fun, but man did it wear me out! Am I goin to the doctor?  Nah, probably not. If I thought I had a sinus infection I'd be there to get some drugs, but I don't think they can do anything for this right now. So unless I get a whole lot worse, I'll just complain about it. :P (Just kidding, complaining will cease now!)

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning, me and C headed to town to find some tap shoes. On Friday during my lunch break, I went to the consignment store and bought her some tap shoes, but they ended up being too small. I also got a few leotards and skirts, which thankfully fit just fine - yay for consignment! I found some ballet slippers at Target, and they were too small as well.

Of course, Once Upon A Child (consignment) didn't have any tap shoes in C's size, but luckily I got a full refund. Next, we hit up Michael's, where I scored some ribbon on clearance for $1. I made a beautiful hair bow for her, and forgot to take a picture (haha). I'll try to get on that (and a bow tutorial) soon! We exchanged the ballet slippers at Target for a larger brand, then went on a search for tap shoes.

Luckily, we hit pay dirt at Payless. C is totally in love with her shoes and wants to wear them all the time. And I have to say, she's pretty much a natural at tapping. ( :

Hopefully that video will play! If not, here's a still:

She tapped all over the house for me, and after her long nap (in her CRIB!!), we went to my mama's house, where she tapped for her, my cousin, and my grandma. I love that kid. ( :

Yesterday, she was alternating between the tap shoes and the ballet slippers to dance for her daddy - so cute.

After church yesterday, we headed to my aunt's for a birthday lunch for my cousin. We had a good time, and got to eat some of my aunt's delicious chocolate pound cake with cream cheese icing! Yum. Of course, we stayed over there through nap time, and when we got home, C wasn't about taking a nap. So her and I played outside while DH worked on the chicken and rabbit pens.

C and I had so much fun playing outside. We played with the balls, she rode her tricycle, we swung on the swingset, and she had a blast on the slide. I cherish times like that. Then one of DH's friends stopped by to show us what he bought at the livestock sale that morning, and somehow we ended up with 6 guinea keets! When they get big enough, we'll turn them loose so they can eat bugs around the farm. Our farm will never be quiet again! If you're not familiar with guineas, they are LOUD - like, obnoxiously loud.

Anyway, after we got over our new bird excitement (note my sarcasm), C and I hopped on Sunshine bareback. Then C kicked me off so she could ride by herself, haha. I didn't feel up to giving her a "lesson," so I just walked around with her. She didn't care! I'm so glad she loves horses already. ( :

Speaking of birds, our baby ducks are still going strong! Well, 8 of them are. We lost 1, but that was expected cause he was very weak. I'm happy. Mama duck is doing a great job at protecting them. They hang out in the pond a lot, but have also been hanging out around the chicken pens - which is pretty farm from the pond, so they must be strong babies.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. The only thing that would have made it better if is I had felt better. But I can't complain, since it was a drastic improvement from the previous weekend, when I couldn't do anything but hack and blow my nose.

At church yesterday, my pastor preached on Psalm 121. This is my favorite Psalm, and probably my favorite Bible verses. I'd never heard a sermon on it, and I was impressed.

This Psalm has gotten me through some tough times in my life. It reminds me that God is always there for me. My pastor's message was about much more than that fact, though.

It inspired me to be better about my Bible reading and studies. Well, I should say it inspired me to DO it again. Sadly, I've really gotten off track with that. At the beginning of this year, I was reading the Bible daily with my Bible In One Year app, plus I was doing other random studies through books I found. I also read several books about building a closer relationship to God. I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped doing all that gradually. Its just easier to read "fun" things, like trashy romance novels, I guess. But you know what? Lately, I've been feeling not quite myself, almost depressed at times. I was just thinking on Friday how I needed to get back into the Word, cause when I was deep within it, I didn't feel this way. And then I heard this sermon yesterday - coincidence? I think not. My God is just awesome like that. ( :

So, I'm jumping back in. I'm gonna pick up where I left off with my "The Excellent Wife Day by Day" devotional, the BIOY app, and a couple of other books I recently purchased. Fill myself with spiritual goodness, reconnect with my Maker, have peace again. Who's with me? ( :

Take Two

I'm back for Round Two today. This time will be more uplifting, I promise. ( : (Take One wasn't so lighthearted, but I needed to get that out!)

I wanted to share a couple of positives in my life from this week. I thought about doing a High Five for Friday post, but honestly, I couldn't come up with that many positives. Its been a challenging week, to say the least.

Late last week, I decided to start exercising again. Now, before you get all excited for me, let me just say that if it involves me sweating or getting my heart beat up, its probably not gonna happen. Back in the day, I used to run 5 miles every single day, and loved it. These days, I don't run unless someone is chasing me. Or if my toddler is escaping or approaching danger. 

I've been thinking lately of what I could do that was low-impact and quick. I needed something that would make me feel better about myself, get toned up again, but not make me lose weight. Since I'm still breastfeeding C, I have to be careful because I lose weight pretty easily. To most women, that would be wonderful, but I do not want to lose any more. I'm at a good weight right now, and with all my muscles gone, I'm pretty fail looking (according to my husband). Hopefully soon, I'll get some muscles built back up, but either way, I want want to get any smaller, that's for sure. (Please don't hate me. I don't often talk about my weight because so many women struggle with their weight and hate people like me. I promise I'm not trying to "brag," I feel disgusting because even though I'm "skinny," I'm flabby and very out of shape.) 

Anyway, last week I remembered that during my pregnancy, I enjoyed doing yoga on the Wii Fit. I started doing it, and have kept it up for a week now. I haven't done it every single day, but most of them I have. I've been getting up a few minutes earlier than usual and "working out" before getting ready for work. This equates to about 20 minutes of yoga. Which is totally not much at all, but it makes me feel better. I can already tell a difference in my posture, and I swear my legs are already stronger. Some days I do some of the strength training exercises, too. My goal is to slowly get up a little earlier every day so I can do more yoga and strength training. Maybe one day I'll do some cardio to get my heart in shape, but I'm not making myself any promises on that! I'll be happy if by summer my arms, legs, and waist are more toned. At this rate, I think they will be! ( :



I also got a new book this week. Its a daily devotional for wives. Its called "The Excellent Wife Day By Day," by Karen Eiler.  It is based on the book "The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace. I haven't read that book, but I intend to get it soon. This devotional is a 5 day a week one, which I love (I always forget to do the weekend ones), and its perfect for the wife who strives to be a more Godly wife. Martha Peace said this about the "Day By Day" devotional:

The Excellent Wife Day By Day is a five-days-a-week, year-long devotional for wives to remind them of their "primary ministry" to their husbands - to give glory to God as they show love, respect, and biblical submission to their husbands. Each day there is a Scripture on which to meditate, a brief very engaging story, and a reminder of at least one biblical principle. Karen's devotional book is a convicting and a challenging blessing to her readers to help them see a high and proper view of God as well as how to respond to Him in a way that pleases Him. 

I'm only a few days into the devotional, but I love it already. Each week, it gives you a verse of scripture to memorize, which I love. It encourages you to keep a journal, and so far I've enjoyed doing that. I hope that when I complete this devotional, I'll be more like the wife God has designed me to be, and my marriage will be stronger for it.

If anyone has any great devotionals or other wonderful books to recommend, I'd love the suggestions! ( :

Being A Help Meet For Your Husband: Initial Thoughts

In January I was introduced to a book that turned out to be life-changing for me. I've mentioned it several times since then, but haven't felt quite ready to really talk about it yet. I plan to read the book again, but haven't made the time to do it yet, though I think about it almost daily - that's how much of an impact its made on me!

The book is called Created To Be His Help Meet: Discover How God Can Make Your Marriage Glorious by Debi Pearl. I bought it for my Kindle, but you can get it in paper form, as well. One of the many blogs I follow, Baby Chaser, posted at the beginning of this year about how she enjoys mentoring other couples in their marriages. In her post, she talked about how she mentored a friend and gave her this book to read. This blogger is always going on about her "Beloved" (her husband) and how she's always bending over backwards (it seems to me) to please him. I really enjoy her blog and have always thought she had some great ideas. But all this "Beloved" talk was so strange to me. Even though I thought her ideas towards marriage were old-fashioned/impractical/what-have-you, something about that one post called to me. I firmly believe that God speaks to us in all sorts of manners, and I do believe that He uses technology these days! My point is, I felt like God was pointing me to that particular post, which talked about this particular book. Like He was telling me to read this book.

I'll admit, I was very skeptical at first. I'm human; I'm hesitant to really open myself up to Him and let Him in. Sometimes He has to almost hit me over the head with something and make me listen. I downloaded a free sample to my Kindle and didn't touch it for several days. Okay, God, its on my Kindle, I'll get to it eventually. See? I did it. But that wasn't good enough for Him. He kept putting his on my heart and on my mind, so finally I gave in and started reading. I was hooked from the Table of Contents. Seriously. I could tell just by glancing at chapter titles that this was a book HE wanted me to read, and read NOW.

Here's a sample of chapter titles: "So He Isn't Mr. Right;" "The Queen of His Heart;" "Make Love Fun;" "God's Blueprint for Marriage;" "Practice Makes 'Awful' Perfectly Awful;" "Three Kinds of Men;" "God Made Them That Way;" "Marriage Made in Heaven;" "Eve Has Many Sisters;" "How To Be A Good Wife Today;" "I'm About To Have A Nervous Breakdown;" "Raising Cows or Kids;" "The Wife Does Make a Difference;" "Is There Hope Yet?" Get the idea? This book covers a lot of topics and issues. As I was reading, I kept coming up with questions, and Mrs. Pearl answered all my questions before the book was over.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I have been praying for a really long time for God to work in my marriage. I love my dear husband with all my heart, but I knew our marriage was not where it needed to be. I prayed and prayed for God to change it, to change me. I didn't know exactly what I was praying for, I just knew things needed to be different. I knew that somehow, God wanted more for us. (My marriage is still not there yet, and I know that it will be a constant work-in-progress, just like anything worth having in life. But it is better by leaps and bounds, I will tell you!)

I will also say that my husband is a good man. He does not abuse me, he would never cheat on me, he does not watch pornography or do anything else that is morally wrong. He loves me and he loves our daughter, and I know he'd lay down his life for either of us. He's a good man, plain and simple. So its not like I started reading this book hoping for help with dealing with an abusive mate or needing to know how to love him even though he loves porn. I feel for women out there who are dealing with situations like that. My marriage is just a typical marriage, we have typical, normal problems, but nothing that is a "deal breaker."

We love each other, but for a few years now I've felt like I wasn't doing quite enough in my role as wife. There was something out there that was just beyond my reach. I didn't even know what it was, I just knew it was out there. I know now that was God talking to me. He has been (and still is) patiently guiding me to where I need to be. (I'm sure now He's like whew! Finally! She's on the right track! haha)

Before DH and I got married, we were required to attend some premarital counseling with both our preachers (they both married us). I remember we went to those sessions thinking what a waste of time it was. Obviously, we knew each other pretty well, or we wouldn't be getting married! We each knew where the other stood on the important issues, and even most of the unimportant ones. I wish now we had really taken that opportunity to learn more about what it really means to be married. Our counseling sessions didn't turn up anything that was alarming to either of us. The preachers did try to make sure we knew what we were getting into, but we just nodded and smiled and thought that nothing would ever happen to us, we loved each other and that was enough. I'm sure lots of couples go into marriage thinking that.

Photo from our wedding day. EL Photography

 But marriage is hard. If you want to be successful at it, you have to work at it every single day. Its easy to be stubborn and selfish and unloving, and do things your way and pay no regard to your spouse's feelings. That's human nature. Its my nature, at least. I was always told to guard my heart, make sure my spouse loved me more than I loved him because you just never know what can happen. But that is wrong. That's not what God wants for us in marriage at all. Marriage is a constant give and take, and in a marriage both spouses should be equals. And ultimately (and this was the life-changing part for me, because I had never thought about it this way), marriages should glorify God.

So let's get back to the book. Mrs. Pearl reminds us of what the Bible says in Genesis 2:18, 21-22:

"And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him... And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam... and he took one of his ribs... And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man." 

Right there, God tells us women that we are to be help meets for our husbands. Exactly what that phrase means is the question, and we'll get to that. I love how God tells us that he made woman from Adam's rib - a part of his body that is at his side. Woman wasn't made from something on Adam's back, so she would stand behind him, or something from his front, so she would stand ahead of him. Woman was created to walk by man's side, to be his equal. God didn't want Adam to be alone, he wanted him to have a partner to walk this earth with, someone to help him. Proverbs 18:22 says, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." 

All these great verses in scripture have been right there for me my whole life, but no one has ever put them all together and explained them to me in a way that it clicked with me.

"For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (1 Corinthians 11:8-9) God wants a wife to be a helper for her husband, plain and simple. Not the other way around. I know what you're thinking, because I thought the same thing: so I'm supposed to bow down to my husband and let him reign over me??! Nope, we'll get to that in a minute. God also made sure to tell husbands how they should treat their wives. And while we're talking about our husbands, I bet you're also thinking "does my husband deserve for me to treat him like a King?! No, he probably doesn't. Christ died for our sins; did any of us deserve for him to do that for us??! NO! We don't deserve anything He has given to us, not a thing. My husband is a sinner, just like me. It doesn't matter that he doesn't deserve for me to treat him with respect or be submissive to him, because its my calling to do so. This is what I was created for: to be my husband's helper (just as he was created to be a helper for the Lord).

I don't know about you, but to me this was pretty mind-blowing.

As my preacher says, but let's look further! ( :

God has given us a blueprint for marriage, as Mrs. Pearl says in the book. Check out these verses:

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22-24). 

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." (Colossians 3:18)

"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." (1 Corinthians 11:3)

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church. ...each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (Ephesians 25, 28, 29, 33)

So yes, we as wives are called to submit to our husbands, but husbands are also to love their wives just as Christ loves the church. That's a pretty amazing love. Think of what Christ did for His church. He gave us everything. Husbands are supposed to love their wives with that kind of love. Not because we deserve to be loved like that (because we don't), but because that's what God meant for husbands to do. Just like he meant for us wives to submit to our husbands. See what I mean about marriage being a give and take? You can't just expect your husband to "give himself up for you" if you're not also submitting to him. Its a two-way street.

Mrs. Pearl does a much better job of explaining all this in her book, so I would encourage everyone to go buy it and read it. I am not affiliated with her ministry in any way, and I get nothing if you purchase her book. But it has had such an impact on me that I can't help but tell others about it.

Here's another point that Mrs. Pearl made that really impacted me: when we honor our husbands and submit to them (and basically just be the woman and wife that God made us to be), we are honoring God as well. I have never thought about it like that. Conversely, if we are not honoring our husbands and not being submissive, we are dishonoring God. Woah. That is not what I want at all! I want to honor God in all that I do.

So for me, even though it goes against everything I've heard my entire life, even if its incredibly hard for me to be submissive and respectful, I will strive to be that woman, just so I can honor God. I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman (see Proverbs 31:10-31). And I know that I may not ever be rewarded for my efforts in this life. That's okay, because I know God will reward me in Heaven, and that's all that matters. I was put on this life for a purpose, and my purpose is to bring honor to my God (that's everyone's purpose!). Being my husband's help meet brings honor to God, so I have to strive to be that.

I have tons more to say on this topic, but I am going to close this post now so that it doesn't get too long. I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts on this topic of being a help meet to your husband! Is your initial reaction just like mine was? Is this idea nothing new to you? Are you going to read the book, and if you have read it, was it as life-changing for you as it was for me? I think I'll turn this into a series of sort on my blog, since it is something I could go on and on about. So stay tuned for Part 2, where I'll get more into exactly what being a help meet means. This is gonna turn into a full-fledged study of Mrs. Pearl's book! ( :

Confessions

 I have stayed away from blogging this week on purpose. I have a wonderful life that is full of blessings (I am extremely rich, and I don't mean in a monetary way!), but occasionally I get bogged down and discouraged by life. I'm sure everyone feels that way sometimes. Nothing major even has to happen, its just some mornings I wake up and feel like a complete failure, like I can't do anything right. Please tell me I'm not alone in these feelings!

Sometimes this "funk" lasts for days. I try to remember that God hasn't forgotten about me, that He still loves me no matter what and is there for me. But sometimes I am weak. I give in to the "funk" and let myself be in a foul mood and think negative thoughts. And then, He always does something to open my eyes to my sin, something that lifts me right out of the funk and back into His arms.

Its normally nothing big. Actually, sometimes I have to be looking really hard to see His hand at work! Then sometimes He'll practically slap me in the face with it.

Lately, He's been speaking to me through books. Last month, He led me to read a book that was life-changing. I'm working on a post about it, but it was so profound to me and has impacted me so deeply that I find I have a hard time putting my thoughts into written words. I want to make sure I have it right in my head before I put it to paper (er, computer).

This month, God has led me to another book. Actually, I was supposed to finish it last month (its part of the book club I'm participating in this year). But I had some days of the "funk" and I resisted reading what He laid in front of me. I knew it was for my own good, but I resisted anyway.

The other night, I decided to try to crawl out of the funk and I made myself read from this book again. Wow. Its like it was written for me, at this moment in my life. Again, I can't say much about it because I need to sort it out in my head first. I haven't finished the book yet anyway. But, thank GOD, I am out of the funk once again. As always, God was there for me and pulled me through.

You'd think eventually that wouldn't be necessary, that I'd learn not to let myself get to that point, huh? But no, I know I will always need Him to help me. I am weak and I am a sinner. But He has proven that with Him I can be anything. ( :

So I was avoiding blogging because I thought to myself, why blog about all these happy things when I don't feel happy right now? When I don't have everything together or figured out? Well, that's kind of the point of blogging for me. I don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all together. I'm working on it. I might not ever get there, but I am a work in progress. I've decided I don't need to have it together to be a blogger. I can be imperfect (human) and still blog about my life. And maybe this is better, because now I can share the story of how God works on me and in my life to make me more what He wants me to be.

Hopefully soon I'll have a chance to sort out my thoughts on these two books so that I can blog about them. I also have a long list of projects I want to tackle around the house. In the meantime, here's a picture that my husband took last night. C wanted to help me wash dishes. I let her rinse the easy items. ( :

Ain't she cute in her big girl panties? Potty training is going really well!!! ( :

High 5 for Friday!

Seems like the only time I am able to blog is Fridays! But that's alright. ( :

I've had a pretty good week. I've been extremely tired since my child has not been sleeping well (except for that blessed Wednesday night, when she slept all night long in her crib!!), and I've been staying up way too late. I am determined to start going to bed earlier, though! 12:30-1am is way too late for this workin mama.

 So, without further ado, here's my 5 highlights of the week!

1. Sunday night we went to the local Olive Garden for my niece's 18th birthday party. It was my first time at that location (they just opened last summer) and I was really looking forward to it. Turned out, I wasn't all that impressed with the food. Olive Garden is one of my favorite places to eat, so I was pretty bummed this one didn't live up to my expectations. But the fun time with my family more than made up for the food! We had a great time. I don't get to hang out with my sister and her kids that often, so it was nice to get that opportunity. And of course, C kept us all entertained!

2. Last Saturday, I rode my horse Wiley. I'm trying to ride every weekend now. I just feel so much better when I get to ride. Wiley did pretty well. I didn't have high hopes since the last time I rode him he laid down....yes, he literally laid down on the ground while I was on him! Luckily I was able to get off before he crushed my leg, but woah. Kinda scary. Crazy pony. Anyway, Saturday he was good. We had some discussions when I asked for the canter, but I was prepared for that since we haven't cantered in a really long time. Like over 2 years. (Long story.) In the end, I won (of course) and he gave me a nice little canter, both directions.

 

3. Last night, C and I went to a Thirty-One party at my friend's house. We had so much fun! Thirty-One is kinda a big deal here in the south - not sure if that's the case all over the country. They have all kinds of cute bags, totes, purses, baskets, etc. in really pretty prints, plus everything is monogrammable! Monogramming is another big deal here in the south. We like our initials on everything. I haven't really jumped on that bandwagon so much, though I do appreciate a nice monogram. I have a Thirty-One skirt purse and one of the skirts has my initials on it. (By the way, the skirt purse is the absolute BEST purse I have ever had - seriously! Its the perfect size, very comfortable on my shoulder, and I love that I can change the look in about 15 seconds, without having to move all my junk.) Last night, I ordered another skirt for my purse, a cute scarf to use as decoration on my purse (I know, I know, its another southern thing), and a camera strap in a really fun print. I also qualified for one of their new products at 1/2 off, so I got a hang-up family organizer. I can't wait to it to come in and I can put it to use! 

4. The Premonition series by Amy Bartol. Love love love!! I'm a huge bookworm, even more so since I got my Kindle. I can't remember how I stumbled across this gem of a series, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I think the series is geared toward a younger than me audience, but I don't care. I am also obsessed with the Twilight series, so there ya go. ( :  (Oh, and I loved the Hunger Games series, as well, though not as much.) The Premonition series starts off with Evie, a college freshman looking to make a new start. In time she discovers she's half angel, and other angels - both fallen and divine - are out to get her. Of course, she gets a love interest (two actually - an angel and a human) and makes some great friends. They all go through some intense events together, which I won't talk about because it'll ruin the book for you! I was hooked from the first page of book 1. I just finished book 2 this week (which is why I have been staying up way too late - its hard to put down!!), and I purchased book 3 yesterday. Though I need to read my book for the women's church group first (more on that at another time). For some reason, the books are super cheap on Amazon - like $3.99 or so each. I can totally see this series becoming a movie series, and if that happens I will be all over it, haha.

this was from 2008 - I used this pic as my entry for the RTF competition

5. Finally, an important part of this week for me was the Rock the Frock competition. Just Becca Photography hosts this competition every year. Its for any woman who can still fit into her wedding dress (whether she's still married or not). Its basically a chance for you to wear your wedding dress again! Since I am still in love with my wedding dress, I am all for anything that lets me put it on again. The contestants campaign for votes (which is done online and is free), and the three women with the most votes become the finalists. Those three get a free photo session in their wedding dress. You can do anything you want in your session. Some girls have done a trash the dress session before, some stick with more traditional stuff, really whatever you can dream up Becca can make happen. My dream was to get a picture of me galloping in a field on my horse. I did use Sunshine in my bridal portraits, and I did sit on her, but we were all so worried that I'd ruin my dress that I couldn't relax and get exactly what I wanted (though I was very pleased with my pictures, and still love them). Anyway, after the three photo sessions, a panel of judges will select the winner, who gets to appear on the cover of Down Home Magazine, which is a local magazine. There's a story on each of the finalists inside the magazine, but the main focus is on the overall winner. The winner also receives other smaller prizes.

I entered Rock the Frock last year and did pretty well. I don't know what place I ended up in, but until the last day I was staying in the top 5. My cousin ended up winning last year and her pictures were absolutely breathtaking. This year I decided to try again. Next year I might not fit into my dress, who knows! Well, the contest started at 6pm last Friday and ended at midnight Monday. I campaigned hard! I was so overwhelmed by the amount of support I had. People for campaigning for me and every day someone had a facebook status about me. It was so heartwarming. I stayed consistently in the top 5 every day (Becca did updates twice a day). Unfortunately, I didn't win. I finished FOURTH! So close! I couldn't even be upset though, because of all the nice things people were saying about me. I updated my facebook status to show my appreciation for everyone's support, and people were commenting on how I was the winner in their eyes and all this nice stuff. Almost brought tears to my eyes, and I am not a crier!

What was really amazing happened the next day. Becca e-mailed me and said that someone contacted her and said that I really deserved to win the competition, so they were paying for me to have my own Rock the Frock session! I was shocked and so grateful. It was my best friend and her husband, who live in England right now (he's in the air force). I couldn't believe someone would want to do that for me. I'm still kinda in shock about it. So, sometime soon I'll have a photo session in my wedding dress! I'll get my dream of having my picture taken in my dress on my horse. I am SO excited!!


So that's my exciting week in a nutshell. I am linking up with Lauren at from my grey desk blog. Welcome to any new readers that come over from Lauren's! ( :

Quick Update

Blogging is not as easy as I thought!! When I decided to start this thing last summer, I assumed it would be super easy to always have something to blog about. I do have a ton of ideas, but I never have time to sit down and type! And then when I do have a few minutes, my mind goes blank. I really need to start a list or something of blogging ideas. Maybe one day I'll get it together and really make this blog something, because I do enjoy what little I am able to blog. ( :

Until then, anyone who might actually read this thing will just have to wait patiently! Patience is a virtue, you know. (hahaha)

We have been super busy lately. But what else is new, right? There's rarely a dull moment in my house! Last weekend was awesome. My friend came down Saturday and we rode horses. I wish I could do that every weekend! Then on Sunday, DH, C, and I packed up and headed to the coast again for the day. Well, sort of the coast - Pamlico River. I'll post about that trip later this week. I foresee more trips to that place in our future!

How am I doing on my New Year's Resolutions, you ask? (Didn't someone, somewhere wonder that? hehe) Well, hmm. Not so great. I haven't made a budget yet, I haven't started paying more towards my student loans yet, I haven't even started meal planning yet. I just haven't had the time to sit down and figure everything out. We don't stay home long enough, haha. To my knowledge, nothing is going on this weekend, so I should have a little time to make some plans. That's my hope, at least.

I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, ideas that may never become anything real. But that's okay. Inspiration is good. One thing I am going to try possibly tonight is rosemary bread in my bread machine. I've never had rosemary bread so I'm not sure exactly what it'll taste like, but it sounds delicious. I'm on a kick of trying new recipes. One night this week I made a Spam casserole. It was delicious! Even DH liked it. I'll have to post that one, though I didn't take a picture (it really didn't look very appetizing at all).

I am also reading a new book. I'm almost done with it, and when I finish I plan on writing a review of it here. Its an awesome book and has already changed my life. I know that sounds ridiculous and corny, but its true. I want to finish it before I say anything more about it, though.

I did decide on one final New Years Resolution. I want to get closer to God. You know, have less world and more WORD. I downloaded a Bible in One Year app to my iPhone and absolutely love it. I'll blog about it soon, too. (Hey, am I making a blogging list here?? haha) Every day, I read verses from Psalms or Proverbs, the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and then the author or the app has a commentary/devotional on the passages. I try to read the verses every morning before I get out of bed, but sometimes I have to do it later in the day. So far, I'm still on track!

To further accomplish my new goal, I am participating in a women's book club though my friend's church. My friend lives over and hour away, so I won't actually be able to attend the bi-monthly meetings, but they are working on letting me listen in via Skype. Either way, I'll read along with them, and my friend will fill me in on the meetings. We'll be reading one book a month. I haven't started yet, since I wanted to finish this other book first, but the list of books sounds amazing! I can't wait to get started. Oh, if only I had a few more hours in a day to accomplish all the reading and other tasks I want to do!

Look for more posts from me soon, all these ideas in my head need to get out! ( :

Advent and other musings

Well, we missed a few days of Advent celebration. Whoops! We had a very busy couple of days, and when we weren't busy, C wasn't in the right mood to sit down and hear a bible story. I sort of feel like an Advent failure since we haven't done a single craft from Truth In The Tinsel. But then I remind myself that its okay. I knew it would be tough this year with C so young. And like I've said before, she's not really into crafts yet (other than scribbling with her crayons - or a pen if she gets a hold of one!). I did look up a recipe for salt dough ornaments last night, though, and I think that's something we can do together that won't be too hard for her. That will have to be a weekend project, though, since them babies have to bake for 2 hours!

We did read from the Bible last night. C was sort of paying attention. When I grabbed my Bible, she grabbed hers and laid down beside me with it. Every few words I read she'd repeat, like she was reading along with me. It was precious! I hope she'll hear these words enough that one day she'll know the stories by heart.

We'll be celebrating her 2nd birthday this coming Sunday after church. I'm so excited for her birthday, but its such a bittersweet event for me. Every day she's another day closer to pulling away from me, which I know will happen eventually (hello teenage years). And every day she's another day farther from being the tiny newborn I held on my chest. *sniff* At our church, once a month we do a "birthday offering." We sing a hymn and if you have a birthday in that month, you go up to the front and give some money, which is donated to an orphanage. My husband has to take C up there because apparently it will be my tradition to completely loose it when C goes up there! Last year, as soon as he picked her up, I started crying, and it was the same this past Sunday. I couldn't even watch her put the money in the plate because I had so many tears in my eyes! I never used to be such a softy, so this is still strange to me. Next year she'll probably walk up there by herself, and I'll probably bawl even harder. Who knew I'd end up so in touch with my emotions? And I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

This is part of a series of posts about Advent, using the e-book Truth In The Tinsel. Check back here for an updated list of links of my posts.

We started our Advent celebration!

This will be quick since I'm on my iPhone. Yesterday I found the e-book "Truth in the Tinsel" and purchased it to start a new tradition with my daughter. Last night my husband left to go on a fishing trip and I took C to my mama's house to decorate her Christmas tree. My brother and I do it every year together. Anyway, so last night we got home late and C was too tired to do anything but pass out!

So I decided to start the advent celebration tonight. C is almost 2 but she's not really into crafts yet. She likes to color/scribble, but that's about it. I don't have any art supplies here yet anyway. So tonight we caught up on the scripture listed in the book. It was quite a lot for a toddler to sit through, and she didn't sit through most of it but I kept reading. After I do finished each passage I gave her a short summary in toddler-speak. She liked that part! Hopefully this week I'll get to a store and get some art supplies and I can help her do some of the projects. But for now just talking about Christmas and Jesus is great.

The second "lesson" in the book talks about Jesus being the king. C didn't know what a king was, so I told her it was kinda like a princess. After that, I told her to say "Jesus is king!" Like she said "Jesus is the light" earlier. Well, she smiled and said "Jesus is the princess!" I cracked up. Not quite right, but I think she got the idea that Jesus is special. ( :

I can't wait to see what else this month has in store for us! This is definitely a tradition I will continue with C and any other children we may have.

This is part of a series of posts about Advent, using the e-book Truth In The Tinsel. Check back here for an updated list of links of my posts.

Advent - better late than never

I have never celebrated Advent. I've never really understood what it was. I'm still learning, but what I'm gathering is Advent is a time of celebration and anticipation leading up to the birth of Jesus. Its a time to slow down and really reflect on and enjoy this season. Awesome. I can totally get on board with that!

Now that C is almost 2 (in 18 days - yikes!!), I feel like she's old enough to start learning the true meaning of Christmas. I've said from Day 1 that I didn't want her growing up thinking that Christmas is just about getting a ton of presents. Today I stumbled across an e-book called Truth in the Tinsel. I purchased it right away, once I realized what it was. Its only $7.99, so it doesn't exactly break the bank, but its full of projects to do each day of Advent - and the best part is, these projects are for toddlers and little kids! I just finished the download and printed it off (so I can have quick access to it at home), and I haven't read any of it yet, but it looks fun. Every day, there is scripture to read with your child, a project to do together (simple, fun things that shouldn't be too hard for a toddler to do with help), and then some ideas for discussion on the topic. I'm so excited to start!

I know we're three days behind already, but that's okay. Better late than never, right? ( :

In hopes that I remember to blog about this experience, I'm linking up with Truth in the Tinsel in their advent experience page!

This is the first in a series of posts about Advent, using the e-book Truth In The Tinsel. Check back here for an updated list of links of my posts.

See my posts about our Advent experience:
 Days 1-4
 Day 5
 Day 11