“good to great” July 1, 2008

my friend lydnsey wrote a post a week ago that she’d just started reading a book called good to great.  well, as i sit on a leather love seat (ryan and i got the master suite!) with my feet up, about 2 feet away from a huge window overlooking the atlantic during a rainstorm, who would have thought things could get better?  then i see bubbles floating up from the porch below…the sign that my mom (Nana) just put down the Bible she was reading to blow bubbles with my daughter (who i thought was occupied eating a bowl of fruit loops watching noggin).  pretty cool.

so far this week has been an amazing vacation…a break from reality and the sometimes mundanity of not working (well, not having a job that i get paid for).  uninterupted time with my family is truly a pleasure.  it is so heartwarming (cheesy word, but the only one that seems right) to see my daughter and my niece (15 months apart) play together all day long.  it is so much fun to watch the pride that my parents have in how their children have turned out and to see the love that they have for their grandkids.  that love was defintely put into action earlier today when my mom, who scares easily and isn’t too fond of getting “tossed around”, decided to venture out onto the “fun island” (a HUGE float that we got my dad a few years ago) when my dad had purposely pulled it out past the sand bar so that it would be really hard to stay on every time another wave came.  justin, my 7 year old nephew was THRILLED and giggling everytime Nana screamed bloody murder.  :) 

we’re obviously all having fun, but are definitely grieving a little bit, too…  my brother’s son was diagnosed last week (2 days before they were supposed to fly out) with an extremely contagious virus (HFMD).  because the virus can be passed from a prenant mother to her baby during delivery, bob and julie decided that it was too risky to come.  so, it hasn’t really been a “true” family reunion…there is definitely a BIG hole.  everytime we sit down for a meal or when all the grown-ups are sitting around talking at night, i catch myself feeling like there’s something missing or like i’m forgetting something.  it’s just not the same without them here.  it’s really heartwrenching to know that we have to wait a whole year until we can do this again and they can come.  ugh.  maybe i titled this post wrong… 

back to the blog (journal) aspect of this post…  here’s a pseudo-schedule of what our days are looking like:  wake up at 8, TV in bed for about a half hour (a treat for ryan and i who don’t want a TV in our bedroom at home), big breakfast (dad makes bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, grits, biscuits, special order eggs) around 9,  clean up, devotions, suit-up and lather on the sunscreen, on the beach by 11, pool to rinse off around 1, kids’ lunches around 1:30, little girls’ (and ryan) naps at 2 (the rest of us just take it easy wherever we’re in the mood for, which right now is inside because of the rain), dinner (we takes turns cooking) around 6, baths/books/ bedtime around 8, grown-up time until we feel like bed.  actually, for the past two nights my sister and her husband and my mom and dad have gone out to the beach around 10:00 and found nesting sea turtles…i’m thinking of going tonight, but they’ve been staying out on the beach until like 1 AM, so i don’t know if i can swing it or not…plus the no-see-ems have been really bad and i’m not sure if seeing a mommy turtle lay her eggs is worth being eaten alive by microscopic bugs…  if i go, i’m sure i’ll write a post about it.

anyway, this post was mostly written for me, so if anyone made it this far, i’m sorry if it was boring…  these are just memories that i don’t want to forget…  that’s what a web-LOG is for, right?

busy bee. June 24, 2008

got back into town/reality this evening around 8:00 and was hit in the face with the fact that i have ALOT to get done this week.  we leave on saturday afternoon for a week in melbourne beach with my family.  i am super duper stoked for the trip, but have so much to get done beforehand.  doing a to-do list post has helped me before, so i’m going to for it again.  (fyi: alot of this stuff might not seem too urgent, but when you consider that my due date is exactly 4 weeks away, then you should understand where the urgnecy for completion comes in!)  here goes in no particular order of importance:

• editing for jenna’s senior photo session  (in progress)
• upload for jenna’s senior photo session
• cd for jenna’s senior photo session
• mail jenna’s cd
• (maybe) blog about jenna’s session
• make changes to kelley/jay’s wedding invite
• e-mail changes to kelley
• get another bookshelf and brackets (for the new book storage system in our bedroom…thanks honey!)
• spray-paint the file cabinet that i got last week and thought would be a super easy project (i say this an hour and a half and two coats of crappy paint later)
• put away files in newly painted filing cabinet  this isn’t going to happen…the spray paint ended up not working because of the crappy paint underneath.  plus, i had never had the bright idea to measure the space where the cabinet was supposed to go.  it’s WAY too deep to fit where we need it to (we’d never be able to fully open the computer armoire door.  ugh.  going to buy a NEW one.
• finish painting #2 bathroom (this was another supposedly “easy” project…HA!)
• finish design for Emmaus web content  i wish this took up more room because it was a big job!
• upload web content to web.com
• make sample changes to Emmaus postcard
• e-mail samples of changes to Emmaus postcard
• call current Emmaus webhost to switch to new webhost
• do laundry
• pack for me & ryan
• pack for harper
• doctor’s appointment on friday (first internal.  EW.)
• (maybe) pack my bag for the hospital (for when we have the baby…you’re supposed to have it ready early, just in case)
• send a congrats card to sari
• send my mother-in-law’s birthday gift
• exhange library books for harper
• catch up on homework for bible study on tuesday night  unfortunately not gonna happen
• copies for tuesday night bible study
• host tuesday night bible study’
• empty the trashcans
• thank you notes for baby gifts
• new sheets on the bed (probably saturday morning)
• clean out fridge
• sweep and mop kitchen floor (i’ll be shocked if this actually happens)

wow.  even worse than i thought.  i’d better get to bed so that i have some energy to get all this stuff done!

random. June 20, 2008

some things on my mind tonight…

1) starting tomorrow i get to spend a day (and night) with two of my best girlfriends (and no kids).  CAN’T WAIT!  hopefully i’ll have some fun pictures to post when i get back.

2) i had an interesting conversation with a man today at the pool.  he was doing most of the talking (for the entire 40 minutes), but it was actually me who said something that i’ve had to reflect back on several times since then.  we were talking about amish people because he’s from pennsylvania.  he was going on and on about how their farms are so beautiful, they’re all in great physical condition, they’re the nicest people on the planet, etc, etc, etc.  i told him that the reason i thought they were like that was because they do absolutely EVERYthing in a way that would be pleasing to God.  i said that i totally agreed with that type of lifestyle as long as you’re doing it to please God and not just to do good things (for the sake of tradition or “religion”).  that part of the conversation has had me thinking ever since:  there’s a verse in colossians that i really like - “whatever you do, do it as if working for the Lord and not for men”.  i like to think that i strive to do that, but after considering what that concept really means, i TOTALLY don’t.  the reason the amish stand out so much in our culture is because they do EVERYTHING for the Lord, thus everything is done as well as is humanly possible.  my life definitely can’t compare to an amish woman’s life.  when you think about it, they don’t do anything for themselves.  they are constantly either doing something for the Lord or for someone else.  i was really challenged by these thoughts.  sorry if this portion of my post is a little disjointed…i’m really just journaling for myself. 

3) my 5 days of freedom is coming to an end.  i’ll see harper on sunday night at my sister’s place in gainesville and then on monday we’ll head home.  i talked to harper on the phone for about 30 seconds today and it made me miss her terribly, but at the same time, because i know she’s being well taken care of and that she’s enjoying herself, i wish i had just a few more days at home to enjoy the quiet.  i guess most of all it’s just been nice to focus and get things done.  i do feel like i gave myself way too many things to get done (paint the bathroom, finish web design, move furniture, sort through books, photo session, etc…) and didn’t really get enough time to just relax, but it’s still been super nice.  luckily in a week we leave for a beach house with family for a week (melbourne beach) where i will be away from all of my “home” responsibilities and can REALLY veg out by the pool or on the beach.  yay!

4) i love the body of Christ.  i just went to get a haircut.  the stylist and i didn’t talk too much, but we somehow got to talking about the fact that she’s getting married in july, then we started talking about churches and it turns out that she goes to church regularly.  it was pretty obvious that both of us are reserved people who don’t really talk for no reason, but when we discovered that each other attends church (and obviously assume that each other are believers), both of us perked up and started talking like crazy.  it was a shame that the good conversation didn’t start until she was almost done…i almost wanted to stay and continue talking to her or go have coffee or something.  i just love the feeling that i get when i meet someone random who is unexpectedly on my “team”. 

5) ryan is playing golf right now, but when he gets back, we’re going out for a late dinner (without having to worry about a babysitter!).  can’t wait!  gotta run and do some stuff on InDesign before we leave…

denim and freedom June 18, 2008

so, i’m pretty sure most of my readers are female (minus you, Dad).  because of this, this post will include an analogy that can really only be applied to the life of a female.

harper is at my parents’ in tallahassee for 5 days.  it was pretty spur of the moment, but my niece and nephew were already there and i knew harper would have a ball and that i needed a break, so i just asked them if she could come too.  my dad met me in wildwood (halfway) yesterday to pick her up.  4 hours later after i had walked around the mall for a LONG time, uninterrupted, feeling no obligations, the drive up and the heartache of being away from her was already worth it.  i had to ask myself, “when was the last time you sat in a $3,000 massage chair at brookstone for 10 mintues straight?”  then i had to answer, “i have no idea, but this feels really good.”

 

i’ve come to the conclusion that having a child is like wearing a pair of really good-lookin’ tight jeans ALL THE TIME.  the jeans make you feel proud because you know you look good.  they add to your beauty.  people look and admire them and comment about how cute they are and ask you where you got them.  then…you sit down.  they are REALLY uncomfortable.  after awhile you get used to them and you forget what it felt like not to have them on, you just know that you have to hold your breath when you bend over and that you can’t really eat alot at one time when you’re wearing them. 

the jeans might even stretch out a little after you wear them a few times.  you think they’re getting more comfortable.  until…you take them off.

“whoa,” you think.  “those jeans are super cute and i really love the way i feel when i’m wearing them, but i didn’t realize how stinkin’ uncomfortable they are!”  you do a few cheerleading kicks just because you can.  you eat alot of food at one time, just because you can.  but then, a few days later, you have plans to go out to a movie.  when you think, “what will i wear?”, the jeans are your first instinct.  you love those jeans, even if they do make life a little bit uncomfortable.

 

this is totally how i feel about having a child.  i LOVE being a mother and i feel so blessed.  there is NO other job in the world i would rather have attached to my name.  but it is SO nice to get a break.  it’s nice to take the jeans off and take a really deep breath.  although i’m sure that in about two days i’ll be anxious to put them on again.

 

SYTYCD June 15, 2008

i watched the elimination episode of ”so you think you can dance” this afternoon.  this is what i have to say:

I CANNOT STAND THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS.  who the heck was tipping them in a stripclub and decided that they should be pop singers?!  i seriously hope they don’t consider themselves artists.  in my opinion, all they’re good at is making young girls think that it’s cool to dance and dress like a prostitute.  the main reason it annoys me so much that they were on the show is because my daughter likes the show.  granted, right now harper is two and has no idea what modesty is, but if she were 6 or 8 watching the show with me, i would have a HUGE problem with her seeing them perform.  i would never want her to see/listen to them period, much less it be on a ”family” show.  ugh.  might as well just take her to a dadgum stripclub. 

sidenote:  i think my favorites on the show so far are chelsea t., kherringon, and twitch; although i really enjoyed every minute of every couple!

maybe i’m not cut out… June 15, 2008

to be a true blogger.  just in case no one noticed, i missed doing a post yesterday…i failed my self-challenge.  i couldn’t even blog for 7 days straight.  sorry if anyone is heartbroken or disappointed in me.

 

thank you and good night. 

thursday June 12, 2008

so after last night’s pseudo-post, i had some comments with ideas for things i can write about.  first was my friend heather in california.  she posed three questions.  here they are, along with my answers:

*best job you’ve ever had in your life and why?!  well, i guess the answer would depend upon what you define a “job” to be.  if a job is something you get paid to do, then i would definitely say that my 4 years teaching art (k-5/1st) and PE (4th-9th girls) was the best job ever.  not only was i doing something i loved, but the school i taught at was absolutely awesome.  i hardly ever miss “working”, but when i do, it’s because those people became like my family (students and fellow teachers alike).  if getting paid isn’t a factor in defining a “job”, then my favorite job would be the one i have now.  i LOVE being completely responsible for the rearing of my child day-to-day.  are there days when i badly need a break?  yes.  are there times when i feel like i’m no good at my “job”?  YES.  however, i truly feel that this is what the Lord has called me to and what he wants my life to be right now, and i’m thankful for that.  (maybe someone should ask me this question again after i have TWO to chase around…) 
*if you had the money, time, and a babysitter where would you travel to? (distance isn’t an issue either!)  australia, for sure, but it couldn’t be for a while because i’d want at least 2 weeks there and i would not want to be breastfeeding a baby or pumping at anytime during the trip.
*you win the BIG lottery, you have to give 30% of your winnings away to 3 separate non-profits (10% each), who would they be? What would you do with the other 70%?  not sure what “big” means, but i’m assuming it’s millions…  first 10% would go to my church, next would be sent to china to help the earthquake victims (obviously, that’d be if i won like today), and the last 10% would probably be sent to a pregnancy center/organization.  with the other 70%, i would buy a big strip of land somewhere on the atlantic, and put a big house on it.  i would set money aside for my kids’ college.  i would probably also use some of the money to adopt at least one kid.  i would spend alot of it on plane tickets to visit my family and friends who live far away (or to fly them to visit me).

my friend kathleen said this: I think you should share 2 items you cannot live without!  hmmm…this is hard because you weren’t very specific…  are we talking hygiene items, like things i would take if i went on “survivor”?  if so, my answer would be toothbrush and toothpaste.  if we’re talking about two items in my daily life, i’d say my computer and my refrigerator.  if we’re talking about things i would grab to take with me if my house were on fire: my computer (the CPU) and harper’s memory box.

amy said that i could share favorite recipes or websites…  honestly, i don’t use recipes all that much and when i do, i always have to embellish or change them somehow because i hardly ever have all the “required” ingredients.  last night we had shrimp fettucine alfredo, which was super easy and turned out pretty good.  here’s what i did:  cook the fettucine (at least 10 minutes, unless you want it al dente).  in a skillet, melt a stick and a half of butter with 2 cups of heavy cream.  stir on medium heat for 3-5 minutes.  when the pasta has been drained, put it in the skillet with the sauce and coat.  while the sauce is cooking, get out another skillet and put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in it.  add the shrimp (peeled, but you can leave the tails if you want).  next pour a little lemon juice (probably a tablespoon) and some minced garlic (maybe a clove).  toss the shrimp until they are opaque (i.e. pink and not gray).  be careful not to overdo them…tough shrimp are gross.  while the shrimp are cooking, pour about 1/2 cup (or whatever your tastes are) of grated parmesean cheese onto the pasta and toss (the sauce should’ve thickened by now).  place the shrimp on top of the pasta and…voila!  enjoy.  [to my husband's credit, we were going to grill the shrimp, but when he figured out we were out of propane, he came up with the lemon/garlic combo.] 

as far as my favorite websites go, i would probably just say that i really enjoy reading other people’s blogs…that’s where i spend most of my free time on the internet.  i love jumping from one blog to another to another and just reading about people’s daily lives.

 

well, i guess that does it for today.  thanks girls!  :)  i was going to write a post about “so you think you can dance”, but maybe i’ll wait until tomorrow…that way i can reflect on tonight’s elimination.

June 12, 2008

i don’t feel that it’s fair to waste space using words that my heart is not into.  :)  in other words, it’s 11:14 pm on day 3 of my “blog every day for a week” challenge and i have nothing interesting to talk about.  i am super tired and even if i tried to write something profound, i know it would turn out weird.  so, i will spare my readers the wasted time and save my words for tomorrow…when, hopefully i’ll have thought of something fun/interesting/controversial to write about.  i didn’t forget about blogging until now, i was just waiting ALL day for something to come to mind that was blog-worthy.  i got nothin.

i just watched the jon&kate+8 episode where they went to disney.  too cute.  (actually, come to think of it, if i had a laptop, maybe i would be posting an interesting blog right now because then i could’ve been working on it while watching the show…which i know is what most of you do.)

hmmm… June 11, 2008

day 2 and already i have nothing profound to blog about (because comparitively, all my previous blogs have most certainly been profound)…  here are some random thoughts so that i can say i blogged today (as part of my week-long self-challenge):

• i recorded nashville star last night and watched it for about a half hour today while i was eating my lunch.  never seen it before and i was just curious.  all i have to say is: billy ray cyrus needs to LAY OFF THE FREAKIN’ FLAT IRON.  his hair looks like hay…the kind that horses eat.  also, i think it is pretty lame that he’s totally riding his daughter’s coattails.  also, taylor swift is a DOLL.  is it bad that she’s like 13 years younger than me and i pretty much want to be her?
• tonight was session #3 of our beth moore “believing God” study.  she is SO GOOD.  so easy to listen to/watch…very profound and well-spoken, yet super down-to-earth and easy to grasp.  lovin’ it so far and i know it’s only going to get better.
• i had to spank harper tonight because she chose (YET AGAIN) to scream relentlessly when we put her to bed.  luckily, it only took one hard smack to do the trick (i pulled down the PJ pants and everything).  i feel like she woke up one morning about 10 days ago and realized, “hey, i’m TWO now.  how cool am i?  i can do whatever i want.”
• i LOVE ice cream.
• i got my sweet husband an skateboard for his birthday (which was this past sunday).  we don’t get each other gifts very often…usually just cards, but he turned 30, so i thought that justified something special.  i was SO excited to give it to him and couldn’t wait to see how he’d react (we did a bunch of stuff on friday and saturday for his birthday with his family, so i know he wasn’t expecting anything else).  he loves it and has already used it twice.  yay!!
• went to the baby doctor today…my last appointment without having to be “officially” examined…as in…um…internally.  darn.  the highlight of the appointment was at the very beginning: one of the receptionists told the other one my name…as in, she knew who i was!  shocking!  i was sincerely excited (is that really sad?).

a day in the life June 9, 2008

i’m going to post what is a “typical” daily schedule for me.  i would love it if people would comment back with their daily timeline or if you would post it on your blog…  (so, i guess i’m “tagging” all my friends/readers to do this too.)

7:30 - wake up.  make the bed, then i either shower, turn on the computer, or work on my Bible study

8:00 - harper wakes up.  i get her out of bed, put her on the potty (as of this past week), then she sits on the couch to watch tv.  i get her some juice & i get me some juice.  usually around this time i’ll start dishes or a load of laundry or both.

8:30 - eat a bowl of cereal and give harper a bowl of fruit or cereal or both to eat on the couch.  don’t hate me because i’m lazy.  (to my credit, i do make us a hot breakfast - eggs and sausage - like once  week.)

9:00 - we usually leave around this time for out morning activity (errands, the pool, the beach, the library, etc…).  we typically don’t come home until around noon or so…  if we don’t leave until 10:00, i will work on my daily “chores” or we’ll just play in harper’s room.

12:00 - lunch (if we don’t get back until closer to 1:00 because we’re out somewhere, i’ll usually have packed a lunch for us to take)

12:30 - read books and get ready for harper’s nap

1:00 - i attempt to put harper down for her nap (she’s unfortunately starting to fight it pretty hard).  during her nap, i’m on the computer most of the time.  this is when i do 99% of my editing and design work.  if i don’t have ”work” to do, i go through my e-mail, write a blog, read other people’s blogs, or put receipts into quicken.  i also do alot of laundry folding.  every now and then i take a short nap (although if i nap during the day, i usually don’t sleep too well that night, so i don’t nap unless i don’t feel good.)

2:45 - harper is usually awake around this time with a dirty diaper.  i change her pants and then gate her into her room for about 45 minutes.  she plays and reads while i do whatever i need to get done (which could mean finishing stuff on the computer, doing laundry, or just picking up around the house)

3:30 - this is where it changes every day…sometimes we walk to the playground, sometimes we walk to the pool, sometimes we go to the beach, and at least once a week this time is used for the grocery store.

5:00 - i turn on “little bear” for harper so i can do a final “walk-through” of the house before ryan gets home.  i hate it when he comes home before everything is picked up.  i also try to get dinner started so that we can eat by 6:00.

5:30 - daddy gets home.  we play around the house.  sometimes harper and i do bubbles outside so daddy can unwind for a few minutes.

6:00 - dinner (typically a 3-course gourmet feast.  hahahahahaha)

6:30 - harper’s bath

7:00 - harper reads books with daddy

7:30 - harper in bed.  after she’s down every night is different.  sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we catch up on recorded DVR shows…sometimes i iron or fold clothes while ryan watches soccer. 

10:00 - time to sleep!