Category: Blogging

 

Today is a banner day in our house! As of 3:45pm, on November 7, 2011 my husband is gainfully employed! He signed the paperwork this afternoon and will start on Wednesday.

I would like to thank you all for the hours spent on your knees, my faithful and perseverant prayer warriors! I truly believe that God’s timing is accurate and he places people and situations in our life to show us a clear path to Him.

The minute Jon told me he was terminated, I felt this terrible pain of fear come over me. As soon as that came, it quickly went and in it’s place was a feeling of calm and hope. Calm because I knew my God was bigger than our biggest problems and hope because I knew that just because this door was being closed didn’t mean another one wouldn’t appear. I told Jon that we would be ok, and I really meant that. I still believe that this very minute.

I know that getting a job isn’t the answer to all our problems. We still have bills to pay and a budget to meet each month. I think this is an excellent opportunity for us to stick to a budget and live within our means, just like were supposed to be doing. I think if we make a commitment to that, we will be blessed even more.

Thank you to our family for always being there for us! I can’t wait to spend time with my parents and sister at Christmas because that time spent will be full of joy and relief and family.

We are blessed beyond measure and we don’t deserve one bit of it! Thank You Lord!!

Ok, so we might go out to dinner and celebrate so we’ll start budgeting tomorrow! {grin}

 

Love and Cubicles,

I could be a better blogger. I used to be a better blogger (well, maybe not better but more consistent) before I started using facebook . The problem is this: I update my friends and family on my life and it’s goings on far more regularly on Facebook than I do on my blog. Why? It’s more convenient and easier to do on my iphone. With that said, I haven’t really been updating FB all that much these days easier. It’s seems I have lost my "voice".

Many times I have attempted to pen a new post and just as many times I have backspaced until it was gone and closed the window because it seems all I have to write about is loss and pain. I promised myself that I wouldn’t agonize over the negatives of life and become nothing but a whiner.

After my last post in July about going to the beach, we went to the beach. I won’t say we had the best vacation of our lives, because we didn’t. The kids fought every moment they could, I was sick with a lingering virus/throat infection, 2 of the 3 girls were PMS’ing, and we spent waaay too much money on touristy trap things that weren’t even that great.

What I couldn’t seem to write about that vacation was the good memories my kids will always have of the time we drove in the car, listening to my ipod, singing out hearts out and then playing in the ocean. How they got to stay in their own room and hang out (and fight) with each other, the dolphins we saw jumping out of the water, and the seashells we found walking along the beach.

                               

Like some people, I tend to need quite a stretch between events to gain an appreciated perspective on it. I’m not sure why I trip over my own thoughts these days about what to write and how to not just regurgitate my conscious streaming thoughts, but to make them well planned out and interesting. Maybe I should take a writing class. 🙂 Or MAYBE I’m just lazy. Let’s just go with that.

 

So just to catch you up on the latest in my life "The condensed Version", here goes! (Here’s me being NOT lazy even thought I am sitting in my bed NOT eating lunch until this is done!!)

 

July: I cut 5.5 inches off my hair, we go to Galveston, we celebrate the 4th at Kaboom town

 

August: School starts and Jon loses his job (sorry, I don’t have a picture of that)

September: Brenna turns 15, Michael turns 9, Leslie turns an undisclosed age, I travel to Missouri for Leslie’s birthday

 

October: Lauren goes to Homecoming, My Dad’s beloved dog, friend, and my furry sister- Penny passes away, I clean my whole house!

 

 

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Jon is still looking for a job. Irons are in the fire and hopefully God will bless us with employment before our money runs out. My family is coming for Christmas, so I am stoked about that!! Yay!!

 

I can’t promise I won’t go another 3 months between posts, but I can guarantee that I will be working hard at updating facebook! 🙂

 

Love and Trick or Treats!

Since I’ve set foot on a Texas beach. The wait is over.

 

When we moved to Texas 14 years ago, I cried. You would too if you saw a tumble weed blow across the road in a rural town that took you 3 days to drive to. Thousands of miles away from the coast you grew up on and a thousand miles away from the lovely coast you just left full of snow, gorgeous salt box houses with wreaths on the door, and the eastern charm of it all.

I made do with what God gave us and I resolved to "like" South Texas after all, it was where we got stationed and there wasn’t anything we could do about it! 😀

One day, we decided to take a drive down to the "beach". I was excited to see the "ocean" and walk on the "sand". When we got there, Jon drove on the "beach!!" I died right there in the car. I yelled, "YOU CAN’T DRIVE ON THE BEACH!! IT’S ILLEGAL!!!!!" He assured me that "Yes, in Texas you can." I soon learned why.

It was ugly!

We got out of the car and the water was brown and foamy and the sand was all streaked with black tar from the oil derricks out in the gulf. And that’s another thing: the ocean is not the Gulf. I learned that the hard way.

When we pulled the girls out of their car seats (2 1/2 and not quite a year) and tired to put them down on the "sand" to walk around, they pulled their feet up and started to cry. They didn’t like the way it felt and I guess looked! I mean, Lauren had an aversion to grass back in California, as she didn’t like the way the pointy blades felt on her bare feet, but I didn’t blame her one bit about the "sand". It was gross! It made our feet sticky and black.

No thanks.

We got in the car and drove a little farther south west looking for some "prettier" "beach", but no luck. We heard if we wanted really pretty beach, we should go to South Padre Island. That didn’t happen while we were there, as we (I was)/ were too busy raising babies and trying to stay sane in a town of 7,200 people and a mall 30 minutes away. This was dire people. I was stuck in country hell. (Love my friends from there though!! smooches!!)

 

So, anyhoo! Back to why I tell this lovely story! (see what happens when I don’t blog much? All these words just pile up in muh brain and spill out when I start typing!!)

 

We are going back to the BEACH!! A real beach! No air quotes needed here!! WhoooHooooo!!

 

Wanna see where we are headed??

 

GALVESTON, TEXAS

Photo Courtesy of Flickr! 

 

Yes…Galveston, Texas! We’ve never been, and we are so excited to check it out! Looks like the beaches are much nicer and not slicked with oil! We’re staying just off the main strand, about a mile at a neat Hotel called the Inn at The Waterpark.

 

There’s Schlitterbahn Waterpark   nearby and Moody Gardens as well. Locally there’s a Flight Museum, and lots of other fun beachy kinds of thing to do! Put Put Golf is on the grounds and a nice looking pool. We are super jazzed at how close we are to the beach and the superawesomegreat rate we got for 2 rooms for 2 days! It’s going to be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! Foshizzle!

 

Expect there to be lots of gratuitous pictures and hopefully none in my swimsuit, because no one should be subject to THAT !!  You’re welcome!   Snack shopping and car cleaning outing commences today, so that’s always a plus. Can’t have too many snacks on a 5 hours drive to the beach, don’t you think?

OH and LOTS of Sunscreen!!  It’s supposed to be pretty warm there, but I just wanna dip my toes in the water and watch my precious children build a sand castle. Maybe I’ll get to bring home some seashells and put them in one of my glass jars. Ahhh, the simple things in life. I love it!

 

See you all in a week!

 

Love and sandy beaches,

I admit it. I was a downer the other day. I tend to find the negative in most things before I see the positive. And while I can’t quite see the positive of a clogged sink drain and the need to call a plumber, I can feel a little bit better about it.

How? Not quite sure yet, I’ll let you know when I do!

No, seriously… I feel somewhat better today than I did yesterday and even the day before. It might have something to do with 2 (two, dos, zwei, deux…you get the picture) iced coffees today!! Wheeee! I think I was caffeine deficient!!  That MUST be why I was misscrankymcspankypants. No other reason I can think of, (except no money, clogged drain, and oh yeah, no money). Ahem, sorry. Bright side…

 

…(crickets)

 

Um..yeah. As I was saying!

 

Oh yes, caffeine. It’s a glorious thing. I ran out of Dr. Pepper and didn’t think 1 can a day would make much of a difference, but I guess I was wrong.

I usually don’t like coffee, but iced with milk and sugar is just a wonderful thing, and so much less expensive than Starbucks.

I must be hyped up because I can’t seem to stop talking about it.

So I guess that’s all for now.

 

Oh, here’s the linky to the power juice I made this morning. Enjoy!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

 

Love and iced coffee buzz,

 

Just when I thought we would catch a break from all the repairs and bills our sink decided to back up.

So, last month our guest bath fell apart, the car needed repairs, and various expenses popped up unexpectedly. Oh, and I forgot, 3 of our kids went to camp for a week. Can you say stress??  How did we deal with all these expenses? Well, after our bonuses ran out, (My parents who are generous to a fault-mostly mine)  came to our rescue. Not sure what we’d do without them.

Now our sink is clogged and we have to wait until Tuesday for a plumber. We’ve tried everything we can do, so we’ll be washing dishes in a bucket and using paper plates.

I’m just a girl trying to get through them summer with 4 kids and a hard working husband. Why does our house have to continue to fall apart?!

Why?

So frustrating.

Can the universe just stop throwing crap my way please?

kthxbai.

and to add insult to injury, I’m pretty sure I’ve already lost whatever readers I had before since I haven’t posted in like FOREVER omg!!

I’m not a Mommy blogger, or an entertainment blogger, or really a blogger at all, since I’ve stared at my blog’s homepage for weeks and felt, "Meh. I’ll do it later."

Gah! I can’t even formulate complete sentences. Why do I have a blog again?

 

Ok, well, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit, so here is all the stuff that’s happened in the last month or so, just to catch you up, since I know you are dying to know how many loads of laundry I’ve done!

 

• My Sister and I flew to St. Louis to visit my Dad. We had a great visit!
  I flew stand-by, thanks to generous friends. (Important to know because I got snowed in during the "SNOW-POCALYPSE of 2011" and thought I might not make it home.)
• I got snowed in in St. Louis because Dallas was being hit by the Ice/Snow storm of the century at the same time St. Louis got 9-11 inches of snow or something like that. It’s all a flurr.
• While I was gone, a bunch of really awesome young adults from the Access group at our church came and cleared our yard of every. plant. and tree. (save for 2 crepe myrtle trees) and even took down our nasty dilapidated patio cover! It looks great and lets in tons of light. (I’d show you pictures of what they did to the yard, but I just now discovered that Facebook and it’s billions of dollar earning creators have made it impossible to right click save on photos now. Even though they are mine and I own them. so yeah.)
• We celebrated the snow-pocalypse of 2011 with almost a whole week of snow days off from school and I went crazy while they were all stuck in the house. The end. Just kidding, more stuff happened in Feb.
• I made a fancy feast of food for Valentine’s Day! Pasta with "Love sauce", salad with red pepper hearts (yes, I cut the red bell peppers in to heart shapes) and red velvet cupcakes (I bought) with hearts (I made) and fresh chocolate dipped strawberries! (I made those too, because well, I rock!)  It was delish!
• I went to a baby shower, a valentines day party, and 3 kinds of dip all in the same weekend!
• I got my hair cut. 3 1/2 inches off! 

• I felt the calling of reviving our Women’s Ministry at church. Still figuring what God wants to do with it and how He’s going to use me, but I’m excited to see us grow!
• Went last weekend to a Women in Ministry Conference and came away with a fresh outlook and vision for what our ministry could be!
• Had a great time driving through the fog with my friend Andee, singing songs from my iPod and eating twizzlers!
• My three oldest kids had a great weekend at FUEL ( a discipleship event) at church a couple of weeks ago. I got to spend quality time with Jon and MJ. Gelato was consumed. Oh and pudding. but not at the same time, eww. 
• Cooking every night for the last 2 weeks because gas prices have us over a barrel. Get it? barrel? gas barrels? ha. anyway, GAS IS FREAKING EXPENSIVE!
• and cooking every night makes me tired. and the dishes! don’t get me started. I’m allergic.
• Taking care of sick girl at home with strep and this morning my oldest boy says his throat hurts. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Wheee! This is fun!

 

So, that’s pretty much the highlights of the last month+. You’re welcome. I knew you were going through withdrawals.

Now if I could just get motivated to blog the rest of my summer trip to Europe from LAST YEAR, I would feel more complete. 

So I leave you with this.

The picture I wouldn’t let my Sister show ANYONE, but the one that makes her laugh the most. We were mid-primp when Kurt snapped this baby. I was fixing my hair, NOT saying "Hallelujah!" and my Sister seems to be bringing out her inner Queen, "I do say, this is a lovely day for a picture!"

 

So there you go. Until summer, I bid you adieu.

 

Love and underachieving,

PS. Loads of laundry = 5

So last week I bombarded you guys with 8+ outfits! I guess I was excited to show you the good, the bad, and the ugly. This week, I wasn’t feeling as adventurous or as cute, so I only have a few to show.

I even wore the same shirt twice! *gasp*

Most days were spent in jammies and t-shirts. It was the first week no one was sick! Praise Jesus!

What I’ve learned this week:

1. I need to have better lighting
2. I need to paint my walls and the front door!
3. I need to put the scale away that’s by the front door. Really? There’s got to be a better place for the hubs to weigh in every morning!
4. And I need to find a better place for the vacuum!

So with all that in mind, here we go!

Thursday: Day 1- Week 2

Again, my most favorite jeans. I wore this to lunch with the hubs. I think that was the only day last week I got dressed “up” enough to be seen in public.

The lighting is so dark in my house (we have 2 huge 37 year old Oak trees in the front yard) that you can never see my shoes. I was wearing my Father-In-Law’s boots from a LONG time ago. They are so old that they need to be resoled. They’re worn and dry, but I can’t help it, they are too cute and even though they are *slightly* big, I LURVE them!

Here are said boots up close! I feel compelled to collect more pairs! How can a girl go wrong with multiple pairs of boots in Texas?!

“I’m not from here, but I got here as fast as I could!”
-seen on a bumper sticker the day we drove into Texas from Rhode Island

Sunday: Day 3- Week 2

I subbed for another Worship Team Member this day. I can spend an hour or more trying on outfits to wear to church on days I sing. I know God doesn’t care what I wear or how I look, but when you’re being video taped and archived, the last thing *I* want is to look like I didn’t care what I was wearing. Call me vain. I can take it.

Top- Cato
Skirt- Avenue
(another pinned skirt because it’s too big! Good problem to have, but I think my backside was looking a little J-Lo if you know what I mean!)
Boots- ?? It’s been so long I can’t remember
Black tights-Avenue
Necklace- Avenue
Flower Pin- me

Close up of the boots, they’re suede slouchy boots with no heal and a REALLY pointy toe! My feet aren’t THAT big.

Every other day I didn’t take a picture…

PJ pants and various t-shirts. ‘Nuff said.

Tuesday: Day 6- week 2

Ladies Night Out with my girlfriends. I felt cute from the neck down. Ever have one of those weeks where you’re face isn’t very well, um…clear? Yeah. It’s like I’m 14 again. Good reason if you ask me to stay in ALL week. Being a girl is hard!

Ok, I’m done whining. I KNOW my friends and family are done hearing about my complexion! I just had to get it out, you know on the INTERNET and share. Thanks for listening! :o)

I leave you with one last thing. One of my favorite t-shirts. It pretty much sums things up.

See you guys next week!!

BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP.

I’m finally doing it. I’m following through on something I said I would do. I have decided to document what I’m wearing for a week and then post it on my blog. I’m not the only one doing it, you know. It’s a whole “thing” in blog land. Everyone is doing it and I’m jumping on the bandwagon! I’m linking up to The Pleated Poppy.

Continue reading “What I Wore Wednesday: The day late addition”

It’s been 7 days since I was here last telling you my tale of woe. Thankfully the only thing that happened after Wednesday was 3 kids came home sick from school. All three of the older ones were home. At the same time.

Let that sink in for a minute. I’ll wait.

 

I know right?! There goes all MY  fun!

 

Anyhoo, I made them soup and got them medicine and tissue. I accused Dan of faking it. Turns out that Monday would hit him like a ton of bricks and he really was sick. Oops. Muh bad.

It really wasn’t that bad to have them all home, I like to be dramatic. I did get to go to the store and stock up on groceries. That’s always fun. {crickets chirping}

 

I begged the next week to please be kind to me. It was, er well is. Being kind. Sort of. Let’s take a look shall we? I love lists. They are fun!

 

Saturday: Took oldest to the the sick clinic because she felt REALLY sick. Just a cold. That’s what I figured. Treat the symptoms- good advice Doc! That’s what I said, but whatever. Then she rested all day and was able to go to her school’s Fall Festival and sing in the Halloween show they put on every year. Brenna was able to go too and they both had a good time.

Michael and I went to the BFF’s house for a Monster Bash party. He won a couple of prizes for Silliest Pumpkin and Pin the Eye on the Monster. It was a ton of fun and Natalie out did herself! She’s a party hostess with the mostest! And if you are reading this Natalie, when you get tired of some of your Halloween decor, send it my way. Thanks. :o)

Oh and Jon put up my coat rack over the bench in the living room where I moved it. I love it! Wanna see? Sure you do. Please excuse the crappy picture- I used my phone.

 

so cute, huh? I’m beginning to really love my house!

 

Sunday: Went to church and I always need and enjoy going. Then came home and made lunch and then took a nap. It was an ok nap as far as naps go.

Monday: I slept in while Jon took the kids to school. Then….then… I WENT BACK TO BED!  Iknowright?! Then, I ate lunch and watched TV and when it was time, picked up the boy from school. That’s it. Quiet and lovely. Oh I did make dinner.

 

Tuesday: More of the same. Please see Monday. Thank you and amen.

Just kidding. I did some laundry and cleaned off my vanity. Man there was a lot of hair. How do I still have any in my head? I’m just wondering cause that’s just wrong. And gross. Oh and I made dinner, AGAIN!

But then I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 4 something and just laid there until 6 something. Then I fell asleep while Jon got the kids ready for school. Convenient, no?  I didn’t mean to. I was tired. Sue me. Please don’t. I’m all out of money. Thank you.

 

Wednesday: Annnd, now we are back to right this minute. I’m SURE I’ll do one of two things. 1. go back to bed. Get those hours of sleep I lost, back. OR 2. Don’t go back to bed and do some more laundry and clean up my side of the bed. And maybe the dresser because that didn’t get cleaned off very well when we cleaned our room.

Yep, either one I am SURE to do. Let’s take bets which one it is! It’ll be funn!

 

{I’m just going to toot my own horn for a minute, ok? Commence tooting…}

Since at least Sunday October 16, because that is as far back as I can remember, I’ve cooked a meal at home for dinner. That’s 11 straight meals. At. Home. I know for some of you, that’s a normal occurrence.  Not so much for us. We always eat out at least once a week or did.

Money is a big factor these days {read: we have none"} and that’s true for so many. I know we aren’t alone in that department. What has surprised me is I’ve actually stuck to a menu! I make them all the time and then I allow myself to change the plan to suit my mood. Those moods are sometimes expensive. I’ve even used all the stuff in my freezer! Crazy, huh?!

So I challenged myself to cook at home until payday. I’m doing it! I also proved to myself that I could go a whole week without eating any fast food. And believe me when I tell you I talked myself out of it several times. I almost gave in yesterday and got me some Chip-i-top-a-tolp-le! I love that place and I know it’s a weakness. But I didn’t succumb and for that I am proud.

Tonight on the menu is a new recipe for Pork Carnitas! I can’t wait! I’m going to try cilantro lime rice and refried beans too!

I may just get my Chipotle after all!

{Ok, I’m all done tooting my own horn! Maybe one more…Yay me! Now I’m done.}

 

So far, this week is WAY better than last week. It would be the BOMB if my Sister got a call for that job she interviewed for last week after her purse was stolen and she was so angry she couldn’t see straight. Which by the way, her bestest spechals flew her out to California for the weekend to hang out and get her mind off all the junk that’s been going on in her life and were a healing balm to her heart. That’s the best right?

I love best friends! They are more than friends, they are Sisters that you choose!

Anyway, the best news today would be that she got that job. I want to see my Sister smile again and have it be FOR REALZ!

Let’s make that happen, mkay?! Thxbai.

I’m running on about 4 hours of sleep, so forgive me if this post rambles and sounds dumb. I’m not in much of a mood to care. Oh yeah, I went there.

 

This week Jon is on a business trip. Gone for 5 days and somehow the universe decides to barf all over me and the kids. It’s in our hair, down our backs, and stinks really bad. Metaphorically speaking of course, because eww.

My oldest son fainted on Monday at school. Stopped, dropped, and rolled and hit his head. He didn’t even mean to. A bad of ice and an ambulance ride to the hospital later PLUS a $100 dollar ER co-pay he’s fine. I was not reachable by phone as this was all going down. Finally Jon was able to get a hold of me and tell me to meet him at the hospital. Dan became possessed when he had to be stuck twice with a needle. He threatened to kill the nurse and was and I quote, sure “they are trying to kill me”. Let’s just say, I needed some chocolate by the time that was over.

Then in a sick twist of fate, while picking up the other boy in my life (who is being observed for hyperactivity and ADHD) from the park at school, first boy locks my keys in the car while they are still in the ignition. And it was running. And the gas light was on. And my phone and purse were also in the locked car. Um yeah. Sucks! Universe is now up by 2 and I am about to lose my shit.

My dear friend who dropped everything to come pick up other boy while I get first boy out of the hospital, stayed with me until the Auto Rescue dude came, but not before I had to spend 15 min. trying to get a hold of the Roadside Assistance people from our insurance that was, you guessed it. ALSO in the running on empty, locked car.

Fast forward to later that night, I collapse in an exhausted heap and stay home with the first boy to “rest” (read: he totally could have gone to school since he was bored out of his mind staying at home) and did nothing.

While I did nothing, my Sister in several states away from me, had to have an emergency root canal, then her purse stolen out of the front seat of her running vehicle, and then missed a job interview that she so desperately needs. I cried for her and nodded my head in supportive misery, knowing the exhaustion I just endured the day before and what she must have been feeling. 

Universe 3 or 4 by now. Me: 0.

Today was added heartache.

My Dad’s cancer is growing again. He’s waiting to hear of a surgical option and if that doesn’t get approved, then it’s back to chemo. It could be worse, and it’s not the hardest thing he’s been through, but dangit! Can’t he be healed already? Is that too much to ask God? I know He can do what he says he can do, so why not heal my Daddy? I thank God for the extra time we have had with him, because I wasn’t ready to be without him 2 years ago, and I’m not ready now. So do what you need to do big Guy! You are a big and mighty God and I ask and expect big and mighty blessings from you.

So the universe or whatever has scored more points than we have and really, that’s ok. I have my faith, my family, and my friends. I can’t ask for more than that. I have nothing to be unhappy about. But those other things, those scary things that happen to us, I don’t like. Not one bit.

Here’s to an uneventful Thursday, ok? KThxbai.