Gretchen's Ramblings

I Do...Again!

2011-08-15T15:10:00.003-05:00

In just under 2 weeks my sweet husband and I will be recommitting ourselves to each other. We are having a Vow Renewal ceremony and we are so excited! It will be a lot like a wedding. Since we eloped almost 12 years ago we decided it would be fun to have an actual wedding to renew our vows. :) Some people have asked us if this is a special anniversary but it's not. It's not an anniversary at all! We got married in April. We decided to do this now because my mom and her husband and one of my aunts will be in town at the end of August and we want them to all be here for it. So we kind of crammed last minute like you do for a exam to get all the details worked out and have this thing ready to go. We have a few small things left to do so we're almost ready. Can't wait to share the photos with you here.

There are so many things going on this month I can hardly keep up with it all. Eythan (our 17 year old) was away most of the summer at the boarding school he attended a few years ago in MO. He volunteered for the summer and just came home last week. We thought his stay would be longer but God said it was time to come home. He will be 18 in November and he is itching to get out on his own already. Our older boys were not anxious to get out of our house at this age so this is different for us. We only have a few short months to finish training and teaching him. Once he's out of our house I'm not sure he will have our spiritual protection. I'm actually looking into this right now because I'm not sure. Do kids out of the house lose the spiritual protection the parents provide while they are still living at home? That's an interesting question.

Joseph just turned 22 on August 8. I can't believe how time has flown. Weren't these guys just little boys yesterday? Josh and Christine are planning their wedding for next March. We are excited to see him start this new phase of life! Savannah turns 10 on the day we renew our vows. We thought it would be cool to do it on her 10th birthday. So even though it's not an anniversary, it is a very special day. She is excited about it too. After our ceremony on the 27th we are having my family and Tim's family over for a swim party for Savannah's birthday. We didn't want to take the whole day away from her. Then the following day she is having her friends over to swim for her birthday. After 9 years of experimenting with parties, we decided it's best to have 2 separate parties...one for family and one for her friends. I think everyone's happier that way...including the birthday girl because she gets TWO parties! :)

Our church is also starting a new Marriage Ministry that we are very excited about. It starts in September. Also starting Sept 1 is our small group season. I am leading a women's small group based on the book "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I'm so excited to go through this book with other women! It's a much needed read in our culture...along with another book I just started this week called "So Long, Insecurity" by Beth Moore. I'm only on chapter 4 but it's an amazing book so far. Another MUCH needed book for today's woman.

I just finished Beth Moore's David study. What an amazing surprise! The Holy Spirit prompted me to do a study on David because I had never done one before...all I knew about David was the story about Goliath and the one about Bathsheba. I didn't know much more and I was curious. The cool thing is that God revealed so much more to me about Himself than I knew. It wasn't about David, it was about Him. He revealed things in my life that needed breaking...strongholds that needed healing. I love how He does things. And I'm so glad He's in charge. Aren't you?

A New Jesus Girl

2011-06-03T11:03:00.006-05:00

I have a new email address...anewjesusgirl@gmail.com. I will no longer be using anything else so please update your contact info.

I found a new musical group that I'm totally in love with. Have you heard Sidewalk Prophets? They are amazing...their lyrics are some of the most powerful I've heard. This is one of my favorites...

Lay Down My Life (imagine Jesus singing this to you)

All your pain
Will be made mine
All your troubles
The tears you cry
Give it up
All that binds
I will place it on my shoulders
And up this hill I’ll climb
Father, give me strength
I know there is no other way

I lay down my life for you
This is the moment when all will be made new
I know that you don’t understand
But this is part of a greater plan
So I lay down my life for you

This is love
That had to bleed
To bring you mercy
To set you free
You are mine
I am yours
And I will wear your burdens
Just like this crown of thorns
I will take your place
I know there is no other way

I lay down my life for you
This is the moment when all will be made new
I know that you don’t understand
But this is part of a greater plan
And I lay down my life for you

Give me all your pride
Give me all your fears
Give me all your secrets
Give me all your tears
Give me all your doubt
Give me all your shame
Watch them wash away
Watch them wash away

Give me all your pride
Give me all your fears
Give me all your secrets
Give me all your tears
Give me all your doubt
Give me all your shame
Watch them wash away
In Jesus’ name!

I lay down my life for you
This is the moment when all will be made new
I know that you don’t understand
But this is part of a greater plan
And I lay down my life for you
Though I know that you don’t understand
These scars are part of a greater plan
And I lay down my life for you

Arms stretched out
Upon this tree
To show true love
To set you free

Music is so powerful to my soul. If you get a chance, check out this song at Amazon because it will at least give you goose bumps, maybe make you cry.

I'm back!

2011-03-08T19:31:00.008-06:00

I guess a 5 month hiatus is long enough, right? :)

With all that has been going on in my life I literally forgot about my blog. I really do like having one but I just am not very good at keeping up with it. I apologize. Although, I'm sure you don't all just sit around waiting for my next post, do you? Surely not. If you do, please do me a favor and go get yourself a life. ;)

A lot has happened since my last post. I had another miscarriage in December (my 3rd) and had a D&C, which I didn't have with the first 2. It was not a pleasant experience but overall it wasn't bad. In fact, including the day I had the procedure, I never really felt like I had anything done. The following day I had about an hour of cramping and that's it. So I consider myself lucky. After having 3 miscarriages I started to really question our decision to have a baby this late in life. I am 37 and Tim is 42. I know people have babies at our age and older all the time, but I have things that make me feel older than I am, including 2 kids in their 20s and a connective tissue disease which causes pain in my joints every day. So we have decided not to pursue this dream anymore. I don't feel like it's what God really wants for us, nor do I feel like I have the energy to start all over with another baby. I am finally, after almost 10 years, at peace with this decision.

So we decided to go on a vacation, just the 2 of us, to get away from all the stuff we've been dealing with at home. When you decide to go on vacation with your spouse make sure you do it right. We did it right! We went to St. Lucia in the Caribbean and stayed at a Sandals resort which was all inclusive. THE BEST WAY TO GO. All inclusive...we've never done it before but it was awesome!! Everything, including alcohol and food, was included and we weren't even allowed to leave tips. It was truly relaxing. I told Tim we better remember to pay our bill when we go out to eat back home! I thought we might just get up and walk out without paying! So, if you take a trip with your spouse, do it right! We were gone for 8 awesome days without any kids (the resort didn't allow kids so we didn't even have to see other people's kids!).

My oldest son turns 23 tomorrow. Although I didn't give birth to him, I can't believe he's that old. It still makes me feel old! His fiance's birthday is 2 days after his so we are celebrating theirs together this weekend. This is that sweet boy shortly after I met him in 1999...

He is on the left and Joseph and Eythan are on the right. Joseph is now 21 and Eythan is 17. When did this happen?? My daughter, who isn't pictured here because she wasn't born yet, is almost 10!

Time sure flies, doesn't it? However, I would not be caught dead saying that a few years ago when I had a house full of kids and dogs and I felt like that time in my life would never end. It does end, it really does, so don't forget that.

Happy November!

2010-11-02T11:20:00.015-05:00

I can't believe it's November 2. When did that happen? This year has flown by. I guess that happens when you're busy. I've noticed time has gone faster since I started homeschooling Savannah and working out. When I try to do both in the same day there just aren't enough hours. But it's because our gym is 30 minutes away so drive time is an hour, work out time is 1-1.5 hours, shower and dress time is another 45min-1 hour. It takes so much out of my day to go. And school takes 3-5 hours so I hardly have time for anything else on those days. Today we just didn't have the time to go the gym...so we bundled up (it's 53 degrees but the wind makes it feel like it's 40) and we ran a mile outside in our neighborhood. Then we got our medicine ball and did sit ups on our weight bench in the garage. Took less than an hour to do both. :)

Okay, I have to preface this picture with a statement...I'm honestly not one of those people who puts clothes on my dogs. I tried it once a long time ago and my dog seemed to hate it so I just haven't done it. But now I have a dog with only one eye so it seemed only appropriate to make him a pirate for Halloween. I also really don't like Halloween but I really couldn't resist dressing him up.

But honestly, how cute is he??! And we couldn't leave out Sugar...so she was a girl pirate...along with Savannah. :)

I have a pretty cute little group there, don't I?

Here is the gang from our neighborhood riding on a trailer being pulled by a really cool 4 wheeler...they had a blast!

And Savannah with her bestie Molly...

Here are some other random shots from Halloween...

I am doing much better with my fertility issues. I really feel peace about what God is doing in our lives. I don't know what he has planned but for now I'll just wait. And I'm okay with that. He's always thrown things my way to help me work on patience and I haven't gotten much better, so this is just another exercise. It's good for me, right?

2010-10-21T19:28:00.006-05:00

"Lord, I pray for protection for my mind. Please shield me from the lies of the enemy. I want so much to clearly discern between your voice and any other. Help me to thirst for your word and hunger for your truth so that I can quickly recognize wrong thinking." A.W. Tozer

I saw this on a plaque in the home of my daughter's art teacher and I had to grab it (not the plaque, just the prayer). You see, I had another miscarriage this week. The enemy quickly jumped on his opportunity to bring me down...way down. As soon as I realized I was losing this one, I was immediately angry. And to be completely honest, I was angry at God for letting this happen again. I fight against pessimism pretty constantly in my life but I was just convinced that my first miscarriage was a fluke and the next one would "take". I felt very optimistic and excited to get this journey going. So you can imagine my surprise when this happened again.

We originally thought it might be low progesterone causing it. I had my levels checked on Monday (right before I started bleeding) and it was extremely low. But when I visited my doctor on Wednesday morning she said it wasn't unusually low, but only because my HCG level was also low. When you are pregnant your HCG hormone level should be 100 or above and when it's that high your progesterone is supposed to be high also. But my HCG level was only 26. So because of this she wasn't concerned about the progesterone level being so low. The reason my HCG level was so low is because it was a chemical pregnancy. That means the egg and sperm met but didn't go anywhere. They never implanted in my uterus. So a chemical pregnancy is considered a very early miscarriage. My doctor said it isn't even considered a miscarriage but everything I read about it called it an early miscarriage. And to be honest, if the egg and sperm met then it's a miscarriage to me.

I was discouraged to find out she wasn't concerned about my progesterone because I thought if we fixed that then we could fix this problem. So at this point the only thing we can think of (if we're going to pinpoint a cause) is my connective tissue disease. On any given day my CTD doesn't bother me too much. It certainly doesn't disable me in any way. In fact, as long as I keep exercising I feel pretty good (aside from hip pain that never goes away but is manageable). But CTD is an autoimmune disease and that means my body attacks itself when it thinks something is wrong when actually there is nothing wrong. It's possible my body is attacking the pregnancies thinking they're bad. I am having no problem getting pregnant, just staying pregnant. Given this scenario, there's a chance I'll never be able to carry a baby.

That thought has caused me so much discouragement and anger this week. Thinking about how long I've wanted babies and then how long I've wanted another one after having Savannah. After years of fighting with my husband about having another baby, I finally realized it wasn't in the cards for us and I would have to accept that. And then he comes around...after I've finally accepted this difficult truth. So I was PUMPED! Totally ready to get going and feeling somewhat rushed because I'm 36. I know that's not too old, but consider my situation...22 year old son who is engaged and will be having kids of his own before long, 21 year old son who is in college, 16 (almost 17) year old son who is almost finished with high school, and 9 year old daughter which means I haven't had a baby in 10 years. Along with thinking that having CTD would probably age me sooner than expected. So having another kid in my late 30s wasn't ideal. But I've gotten used to the idea and am ready to go. But I don't want to be much older than I am now if we're gonna do this. So every time I find out it's gonna take another few months I get frustrated and discouraged.

I have the greatest friends in the world who do nothing but support and encourage me. My dear friend Andrea told me today not to let the enemy steal my joy. She said God can work around anything, including my disease. He brought my husband and I together in agreement after all these years about having another baby, so I need to let him do it! She's so right. I was angry and bitter wondering why God would bring me to this point and then not allow me to follow through. And to be quite honest, that could still be in his plan. But I am jumping to conclusions way too quickly. I need to give God a chance to shine in this situation. I WANT my Jesus to take my situation and make himself known through it. But I can't be discouraged and angry or else it won't happen.

So friends, please pray that no matter how our situation turns out that God will be glorified. I want to have a heart for him...even in the bad times...especially in the bad times.

Picture Post

2010-10-15T16:46:00.019-05:00

We've had a busy few weeks. I haven't updated here for awhile so I thought I'd quickly show pictures of what we've been doing lately. We had a special visit with Grammy this week. We only had 24 hours with her but I'm thankful we got at least that!

We have also gone to the pumpkin patch now 3 times. I guess we're trying to make up for the last few years of not going. :) This is trip #1 (just the 3 of us):

Trip #2 (Savannah and me with our friends Karen and Molly):

Trip #3 (just Savannah and me):

Eythan had another cross country meet a couple of weeks ago. Look at these pics Tim took:

Tonight I get a much needed date with my hubby! Not sure what we'll do (most likely dinner and a movie) but I'm really looking forward to getting away from everything and just spending time with him. Hopefully it won't be long until we find out if I'm pregnant too. :)

Big News & Homecoming

2010-09-27T09:24:00.007-05:00

Big News!! Josh got engaged this weekend!!!! He said they are waiting about 1.5 years, which I think is wise since she just started college. I think she's only 18. But WHOAH, right?! We are happy for them!

Eythan went to his first Homecoming this past weekend and of course had a great time. Is he really old enough for this?? And how handsome is he? Wow, my boys are good looking!

On a side note, I want to share one of my favorite songs. Music really gets into my soul and when I find truly inspiring and moving lyrics I love to share them. This is "Have Your Way" by Britt Nicole...when we don't understand what God is doing is our life or when our faith is faltering. If you love music and want to feel the love of your Savior, find this song and listen to it.

Feels like I've been here forever
Why can't you just intervene
Do you see the tears keep falling?
And I'm falling apart at the seams
But you never said the road would be easy
But you said that you would never leave.
And you never promised that this life wasn't hard
But you promised you'd take care of me.

So I'll stop searching for the answers
I'll stop praying for an escape
I'll trust you God with where I am
And believe you will have your way, just have your way, just have your way

When my friends and my family have left me I feel so ashamed and so cold
Remind me you take broken things and turn them into beautiful.

So I'll stop searching for the answers
I'll stop praying for an escape
I'll trust you God with where I am
And believe you will have your way, just have your way, just have your way

Even if my dreams have died
Even if I don't survive
I'll still worship you with all my life

So I'll stop searching for the answers
I'll stop praying for an escape
I'll trust you God with where I am
And believe you will have your way, just have your way, just have your way

Piano

2010-09-24T10:21:00.006-05:00

Savannah started piano lessons just a couple of weeks ago and is loving it!

We don't actually own a piano but we do have an electric keyboard. It's convenient because she can carry it around the house and move rooms when she needs to. She is doing a great job so far! Here is a song she is just learning this week.

2010-09-17T22:59:00.002-05:00

Savannah at 5 months old

Savannah at 9 years old

Not much has changed in 8 years.

Update

2010-09-17T20:46:00.006-05:00

What is that I hear? That is silence. Something very seldom heard to a mother. It's nice. I think I will enjoy it. Tim has the kids and I get to do nothing...which sometimes is quite annoying so I find stuff to do. However, tonight it's very enjoyable. So I'll update my blog. :)

I often desire to be one of those super bloggers who updates every day with deep and interesting thoughts and ideas. But I realized the reason I am no good at that is because I really don't want to be. I am experiencing a situation with an old friend that I thought about discussing here but then realized that I just don't want to get into it. Some things are fun to talk about and some things are better understood after a session of deep analysis, but some things just don't need to be put out there. So instead, I'll just bore you with every day details. That'll be fun, right?

Savannah took a series of tests this week in school. This was very different from our first year of homeschooling last year. I chose curriculum that didn't include testing last year and I didn't think it was important as long as I make sure she knows the information. But this year's curriculum has tests in each subject for each section. So there are 2 tests per booklet (1 for each section) and then a final test. This week we managed to finish her first Bible booklet so she took the final test today. (I still don't know how much I believe in testing but it's okay with me if we do it anyway. When she doesn't do well, we review the missed questions over and over until she knows it.) She got 100% on her Bible test! I was so proud of her. Especially after she did so poorly on all the other tests this week. She definitely gets this from me. I am a very poor test taker. Which is really why I don't see the point. I can know the information and still do poorly on a test and I see that in her...so we aren't going to put a lot of weight on the tests this year. Especially since it's only 4th grade...maybe we'll care more in high school.

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is how much I'M learning with her. And I love the dialogue we have about Bible stories especially. What a blessing it is that I GET to homeschool my child. I can't wait to do this again from the beginning with my next one. Wow, I'll have one in high school and elementary together! That should be fun! :) I will say...I don't know how you mommies do it who have more than one that are relatively close in age...kudos to you!

So I'm thinking about training for a half marathon. Anyone else? Since I already run 3.1 miles I should be ready by race time in December. Problem is...I'm not sure if I want to do it. At first I was totally excited about it but now I'm really hesitant. I don't know if it's because it's a lot of work or if I'm afraid I'll fail. I've already said if I can't run the whole thing (13 miles) then I'll run as much as I can and walk the rest. I would still be so proud of myself. What an accomplishment! Okay, I think I've decided. And who knows...maybe I'll have to try a marathon after that. :)

I'm excited for the weekend because my best friend from high school is coming to visit me on Sunday! I'm so excited to see her...it's been a long time. She is only staying for 1 night but I'm so glad she gets to come at all! Here we are in our early 20s (approx. 1996):

So, last Sunday I missed church. Actually I was there but I was in the car while my family was inside being spiritually fed. I didn't want to miss it but I developed a terrible stomach ache on the way to church. I thought if I went inside and didn't think about it, it would go away. Not so much. I actually got freaked out because I was worried it would get worse and I was trapped in the middle of a large crowd...so I left during worship and went to the car. When we left it still hurt but wasn't as bad. When we got home I laid down and decided to take a Tums, thinking maybe it was acid (I have GERD). Suddenly, within 5 minutes of taking it, my stomach felt like a tight knot on fire. For about 10 minutes I could hardly breathe and couldn't be still because the pain was so intense. (I tend to be a weenie when it comes to being sick, but still.) Then it subsided enough that I could deal with it. Then it came back. It was really the worst pain I've ever felt in my stomach. So I called my dad, who has ulcers, to ask him what they feel like. A year and a half ago when I had my endoscopy and colonoscopy, I was told my stomach and my colon were bleeding. Well, duh. I would think there was a pretty high chance I would develop an ulcer after that. I still don't know if that was the problem but drinking milk was the cure. I don't know any other kind of stomach issue that milk would cure so I'm real suspicious that it's an ulcer. However, I haven't had any other problems since then (thankfully) and I don't see the point in going to the doctor unless it gets out of control. I'll just be sure to keep milk around for awhile. :)

My family is home so I'll be signing off. Good night!

Still trying...

2010-09-07T19:51:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are, almost 5 weeks after my miscarriage. This week has been strangely emotional for me. Last night we were at Barnes & Noble and I ran across a really cool book called "From Conception to Birth". I picked it up and thumbed through the beautiful pages of very detailed photos. I have been wondering how far along my baby was when it died. I wasn't sure how much had developed in the short 5-6 weeks I was pregnant. I decided to look in this book to find my answer. I had been thinking the heart probably hadn't developed yet, or maybe I was just hoping because that would make it easier. But of course I was wrong. And that's what has made me so sad...knowing my baby most likely already had a heartbeat was very hard to swallow. It made it so much more real. There is a chance it hadn't developed a heart yet and maybe that's why I miscarried but we'll never know and I'll always wonder. And I'll always assume it did.

We are trudging along though. I use the word "trudging" because it feels like I've been trying to get pregnant forever. In reality, it's only been since July! It feels like a long time because I have wanted this baby for 7 years (really 36) and honestly never thought I'd get it. So now my window of opportunity has been opened and I can hardly wait! Getting pregnant the first month we tried didn't help with my patience either. :) And now having to start over is difficult. But I trust my God and know it will be okay. Even if for some reason it's not in his plan for me to have another one, I'll know and believe there is a good reason. We went through a very difficult time with our oldest son about 3.5 years ago and I remember telling my husband that even though I wanted another child so badly, I was really glad that I didn't have a baby or toddler at that time. It would have been too much to deal with. Going through that and feeling that way showed me that I need to trust him even more when things don't go my way. There's always a reason...always. Many things probably won't be understood until we reach heaven, but our job on earth is to trust him. Like I said to Eythan this weekend...TRUST ME that I won't let go of the rope (when we were rock climbing and had learned how to belay - which means holding the rope for each other as opposed to the rope being attached to the wall). Eythan made me lower him back down because he didn't trust me. He didn't think I could hold him (however, I can hold Tim who is 80 pounds heavier than Eythan). We worked it out and he got back on that wall and climbed with me holding the rope, but the point is I knew in the deepest place in my heart that I wouldn't let him fall. But he wasn't so sure. We do that with God, don't we? Are you sure you've got this, God?? I think I better get down just in case you drop me! It's better to be safe than sorry, right? Wrong. We have every reason to trust him and no reason not to. So let's do that.

I would like to be pregnant again right now. But I will wait for the day when God says it's time. Until then I will anticipate that day with great desire and hope for the best!

Miscarriage Thoughts

2010-08-16T19:53:00.001-05:00

I am heart broken by my miscarriage. More than anything I wanted this pregnancy to be successful. However, I am completely trusting in my God to heal us and help us move on. Miscarriages are extremely common so I know there is hope. There is hope in trying again. I believe it will happen for us but for some reason this wasn't the right time. I am a firm believer in Romans 8:28 which is why it's posted everywhere I can put it. God already has brought good out of this heart breaking situation. Things I won't go into, but very good things. If nothing else good comes from it, it was still well worth the pain. God is so good. He didn't want this for us but because of free will, bad things happen. It's part of living in a fallen world. I don't blame him and I'm certainly not mad at him for allowing it to happen. There may come a day when I feel differently but I sure hope not because I know he loves me no matter what happens. Look at Job's life...this is NOTHING compared to that.

It saddens me to think about this baby trying to build his little life and just not being able to. I'm saddened by the thought of never knowing this child. But how great that he is already in heaven rejoicing with the angels to be sitting with Jesus in the meadow! This baby is up there playing with my dogs! How fun for all 3 of them!! I can't wait to meet this little bundle and tell him how much I love him even still. I know my God is loving all over this child of mine for me...even better than I could ever even imagine.

Prayers are always welcomed but please know that we are really doing okay. I have my sad moments and I have my great moments. But because I trust my God so much I know we are okay.

You, my friends, have been more than I could have asked for in a time like this. Every single comment and word of encouragement or prayer has been a huge blessing to me and my husband. Thank you for loving us!

Spoke too soon

2010-08-13T18:46:00.002-05:00

How ironic that 2 days ago I posted about how excited I was about the little tiny baby inside my tummy. Yesterday was the day God allowed that baby to go to heaven.

I was touring a birth center when I started bleeding just a little. I told the midwife who we were interviewing with and she said to go home and stay in bed until I stopped bleeding. However, I went home and it just got heavier and the cramps started. This morning, after bleeding and cramping all night, I called my doctor and made an appt. She did a urine test and said it was still positive but just barely, which means the HCG hormone is most likely leaving my body. Which means I am currently miscarrying. She also did a blood test and will do another one on Sunday, then Monday she will compare the 2 blood tests and see where my level is then. It doesn't look good though.

The hardest part about this I think is that there's nothing I can do and nothing I did do that caused it. That means next time there's no guarantee I won't experience this again. I am thankful that, if this had to happen, that it happened so early. I only had 5 days of knowing I was even pregnant. I am saddened though that I have wanted a baby for so long and when I finally got one it didn't "take".

But I know God is in control and is sad with us. I know this isn't what he wanted and that we live in a fallen and sinful world where bad things happen. I'm praying and trusting that his will for us includes a baby in our near future.

2010-08-11T21:20:00.008-05:00

As you know by now, I am pregnant. I can hardly believe it. In fact, I keep looking at my test to make sure it's really positive. Is this a dream? I've wanted another baby for 8 years (actually my whole life) and God has blessed me with this when I least expected it. A couple of years ago (actually right around the time I turned 35) I made a decision that my chance had passed and I would never have another child. The reason is because my sweet husband has had children since he was 19. He's tired. He is ready for some down time. Our children have been blessings to us, but we've had our share of difficult roads with them as well. He just didn't have enough energy to have start all over...again. So I finally realized that my dream would never be fulfilled.

Then one night towards the end of May, my cell phone rang. I walked over to my night stand where I had laid it and noticed a little box sitting on top of my phone. Very quickly I realized the person calling was my husband who was sitting on our bed right in front of me. He called me only to get me to my phone where he had put this little box. I was completely confused. Our anniversary had passed, it wasn't my birthday, and I just couldn't think of any reason he would be giving me a box that looked like a ring box. So I opened it, after grinning suspiciously at him, and there I saw this...

How creative is he??? I looked at him still somewhat perplexed and as if to say, "Really?!" He had tears in his eyes and said he wants another baby. I couldn't believe my ears. As we talked about it, he said he realized that all the moments in his life that have made him the happiest revolved around our kids and me. He was so anxious to have me all to himself without any kids (remember, when we got married we had 3 kids already) that he didn't realize the best part WAS the kids. What a guy. What a truly wonderful (and miraculous!) blessing it was that he came to this realization. The only way to explain this is that God got a hold of his heart in a big way. Thank you Lord!!

So we made an appt to see my OBGYN. I am now 36.5 years old and it has been almost 10 years since I was pregnant. I really needed my doctor's input on how to go about doing this again. During that visit to her office she told us to wait a month before trying to conceive because I had to get off some meds that were not safe for conceiving. So that meant July was our first month to try. Wham! We think we conceived July 18. It took me 4 months to get pregnant with Savannah so I was shocked when I saw the test result. THAT was just confirmation to me that this is all in God's plan for us.

I want to share the difference in my pregnancy with Savannah and this one. Granted I'm only 5 weeks pregnant, but this is still applicable in my opinion. When I got pregnant with Savannah I was 30 pounds heavier than I am now. I didn't care too much about the food I put into my body, drank whatever diet drinks I wanted without concern, and didn't exercise at all. Like I said, it took me 4 months to get pregnant (I know that's not a long time, but it's 4x longer than this time!!) I then had a pretty normal pregnancy. I had morning sickness but nothing too severe. I lost 8 pounds the first trimester because I couldn't eat much (but since I was overweight my doctor was not concerned about it). I was pregnant through the summer (Texas summer!) so I swelled a lot and gained a lot of water weight at the end. It actually hurt my legs to walk in the last month because of how swollen I was. I went into pre-term labor at 34 weeks which they stopped with Magnesium in the hospital. I was then induced at 38 weeks (because my baby was large I asked my doctor to induce me a little early). After they induced me I labored for 12 hours and only dilated to 3. My doctor decided a c-section was the best option. I had a terrible experience and never want to do it again.

This time around I am 30 pounds lighter to begin my pregnancy (yeah!!). I care VERY MUCH about the foods I eat and drinks I put into my body. I exercise almost every day (am running 3.1 miles at least 3 times a week). I am so much healthier I almost don't recognize myself. I eat veggies and fruit every day (okay, the veggies I still struggle with but I'm definitely trying and am much better than I've ever been!). Every morning I start my day with a protein/fruit smoothie before I work out. I made myself eat raw broccoli every day for a few weeks so I would learn to like it. I don't love it but I definitely like it and my body craves it. My body knows there's something in broccoli that I need. (It's so awesome how God made our bodies!) The result of all these changes and hard work = I got pregnant in 1 month! My nurse told me today that if I don't have morning sickness at 5 weeks (which is now) that I will most likely not get it at all. What a blessing!!! I have a feeling this pregnancy is going to go very well and my delivery will be better because of my healthier habits.

Because of my bad c-section experience, I have been researching birth. I have several wonderful friends who are helping me learn as much as I can and give me lots of advice and info. I am praying for an all-natural water birth this time. I am so excited about it! Next week hubby and I are watching "The Business of Being Born". I can't wait!!

Guess what?

2010-08-08T23:10:00.002-05:00

Why I Chose to Homeschool

2010-03-22T07:03:00.003-05:00

I love this! (Found on Wonderfully Chaotic blog.)

Let's call him Winky

2010-03-17T16:20:00.007-05:00

I should have updated sooner with these pictures of my poor Sammy. He's doing so much better after spending a week at the vet's office. His eye continued to bleed all week so they kept him to watch him and gave me some peace of mind. I was really stressing about him. He's doing great now. He gets his stitches out on Saturday. He bumps into things sometimes but is mostly doing great.

And then there's Sugar, who was named so perfectly because of how completely sweet she is.

I mean, really. How can you resist this face?

Lots of news!

2010-03-06T17:31:00.015-06:00

Here I sit with this at my feet...

Isn't he a pathetic sight? I have better pictures of him which I will upload in a minute, but because this baby boy needs to rest I thought it would be a good time to update my blog. He follows me everywhere so I have to be still if I want him to be still.

On January 2, the day we put Goldie down, Sammy came home from Petsmart with an eye infection. Now, a little over 2 months later, his eye has been removed. His infection was healing very slowly. The vet said probably because of his age (he's almost 11). Then we realized, also because of his age, he had dry eye (his tear production was 0 in his bad eye and very, very low in his good eye), which probably was the reason he wasn't healing very fast. I started noticing a blue tint in his bad eye which made me think he was going blind in that eye, and he was bumping into things around the house. Then yesterday I noticed a chunk of flesh was actually missing from the center of his eye. I took him to the vet and he said his eye was about to rupture so they removed it. It seems drastic, I know. The vet said we could go to an opthamologist but it's very expensive (between $100-$250 just to get in) and Sammy probably would have lost his eye anyway. He's been in a lot of pain since January 2 and dogs are apparently very resilient and do very well in this situation. It's also a common problem among dogs with bulging bug eyes like Boston Terriers and Shih Tzus. But I have to say, even though I'm glad he's finally really on the road to recovery it's very difficult to see him like this.

He looks worse than I expected, but only because he had dried blood all over his face. He bled during the night and they couldn't clean him up better than this because it's too tender, obviously. So he will look this bad until we are able to really clean his little face. He gets the stitches out in 14 days.

Poor Sammy. As if he didn't already have enough self-esteem issues (Tim always talks about how ugly he is, poor boy).

The good news is we adopted a Jack Russell mix yesterday and Tim is bringing her home tonight! Her name is Sugar...

We are excited about giving her a new home. I am worried about her meeting Sammy because of his condition, however, we will introduce them carefully and then probably separate them mostly for the next 2 weeks (until Sammy's stitches come out). Savannah is with her Girl Scout troop overnight tonight and Eythan is on a youth retreat with the church group so they will both be excited to see Sugar tomorrow when they get home! Hopefully that will help them deal with the sight of Sammy. :(

We love our new house. It's far enough from the city (30 min. north of Ft. Worth) that it's quiet and dark. We love it. We are having our fence put up this week which will be nice for the dogs, especially now that we have 2 again.

Last week I started a new math curriculum with Savannah and she is really enjoying it. We also did 2 science experiments, which she LOVES doing.

We are finally back in a routine after our Christmas break and then moving. Eythan was in his first track meet yesterday at his new school. He did a great job and we are so proud of him.

And this is Savannah (in the middle) leaving for camp with her Girl Scout troop this morning (only 1 night overnight).

What a cutie!

2010-01-29T18:51:00.004-06:00

Savannah got all of her hairs cut today...she's so cute! I wish I could wear my hair this short and look this good! :)

I am feeling much better than I was the other day. St. John's Wort, although not in full effect yet, has already helped me. I'm so glad! It's amazing how perspective can change everything. St. John's Wort helps change my perspective and now things aren't so bad. :)

I am getting really excited to move...less than a week now. We are hoping to close on Tuesday morning. We found out today that the appraisal actually came back lower than the asking price but we have worked it out to not be a problem. Woohoo!

Hard Day

2010-01-27T12:08:00.007-06:00

I am having a really hard day. It doesn't help that it's completely overcast outside and I don't do well without the sun. I am hungry, hungry, hungry...not sure if it's real hunger or "in my head" and to make it worse, I'm craving all things bad. I had a great breakfast - soy milk with plain cheerios and a sliced banana on top. Yum. But an hour later my stomach was actually growling. So I had a protein bar for 160 calories along with a Weight Watchers cookie for 90 calories. NOT THE BEST WAY TO SPEND MY LIMITED CALORIES.

Shortly after I ate those my hunger had subsided but I still wanted to eat lunch so I reheated one of my favorite childhood foods - Creamed Tuna. Most people gag at this but I love it. Possibly because it reminds me of less stressful times. BTW, Creamed Tuna is a rue with tuna and sweet peas over toast. It actually looks like prison food. I made Savannah try a bite because I knew she liked all the things in it so it couldn't be that bad. She said it was tasteless. Hmmm......

Anyway, I am feeling guilt over my food choices, probably because I am still not satisfied even though I am no longer "hungry". Knowing me, I will probably continue to eat all afternoon, but hopefully will at least make better food choices. Better to pig out of fruit and veggies, right? Our schedule has been so hectic lately because of our move that I haven't been to the gym in probably a week. However, I have chosen to stay active as much as possible and have done a few exercise videos at home and we have taken many walks. Yesterday we walked to Sammy's vet appt. Yea us. At least I'm doing something. But not working out at the gym in addition to making poor, although not terrible, food choices has left me feeling very defeated and depressed. I MUST GET OUT OF THIS FUNK. I keep telling myself "tomorrow will be a better day and we'll get to the gym". Going to the gym helps keep me focused and motivated. However, "tomorrow" keeps getting pushed off. I WILL GET IT TOGETHER SOON, RIGHT?

Part of my problem is that I stopped taking anything for my depression and I allowed myself to get into a terrible place before I realized I need to make a change. Just a week ago I realized how literally depressed I've been over the last few months but was in denial. You see, I took Zoloft (antidepressant) for 16 years. Almost 2 years ago I felt God nudging me to quit taking it. So I did. But I started St. John's Wort pretty quickly when I realized it was foolish to think I could manage without ANYTHING. St. John's Wort is an herbal alternative with no side effects. I took that for a long time feeling great and so proud of myself that I could function well without Zoloft. Then I quit taking the St. John's Wort and have been a bear to live with for months. Just last week I realized it was time to go back on and stay with it probably forever. But it takes approx. a month before you actually feel better so I'm still waiting...meanwhile, I'm still difficult and depressed. The best way to describe how I feel is hopeless and irritable. I don't lie around sleeping and doing nothing all day...but I am NOT happy and have a terrible attitude inside. I don't enjoy the things I used to or even the people in my life as much. I honestly started thinking my husband was a different person and I couldn't figure out why he was acting so different lately....duh, HE is not the problem. That would be me.

So....while I wait for my wonder drug to take effect, I still have to figure out how to survive each day without biting everyone's heads off and how to be productive and focused and motivated. Unbelievably challenging for me right now. Say a prayer for me please?

Supplements?

2010-01-23T10:38:00.002-06:00

I would really like to get off my medications for joint pain and likely (although not 100% yet) diagnosis of Ankylosing spondylitis. My friend just told me about some supplements by Sunrider...other than her positive experience with them, I know nothing about it. Anyone have any experience? I would also love other suggestions. Most of my pain is in my hips, lower back and knees but a little bit also in my wrists, ankles, and elbows. Before I started my meds, I would have given my pain a 9 and now it's probably 3 or 4. I really want to be pain free (or close to) without medication. Give me your thoughts!

New House!

2010-01-21T17:57:00.019-06:00

We bought a new house! We are so excited about moving to our new home in just 2 short weeks. It's in Northlake, TX which is about 30 minutes north of here.

It's about 100 sq. ft. bigger than our current house, which will be perfect. Since we are down to only 2 kids in the house (when Eythan gets home) this will be just enough. This house is beautiful and has a ton of upgrades...diagonal tile, wood floors, crown molding, pass through fireplace, radiant barrier in the attic, beautiful bowl sinks in the master bath, tiled shower with 2 shower heads - one is a rain head coming out of the ceiling, and many others. The owner is selling his furniture too and is giving us the washer/dryer set along with the fridge with the house. We are going to make an offer on some of his very expensive furniture. :) He wants $20k for all of it (which we would take if we could afford it) but we'll have to just pick a few of our favorites. We are closing and moving in just 2 weeks. Yikes! I better get packing!

Our kitchen (with the old owner's stuff still inside) and our new fridge :)

The Master - with the old owner's gorgeous bedroom set! Majorly expensive...probably costs $6k (we found it online to check the price)

Master bath shower - rain shower head out of ceiling!

The beautiful stones we get to use for landscaping in the backyard.

The back of the house from the backyard.

The dining room - we are trying to buy this set from him if he'll take a reasonable price. :)

The pass through fireplace from the living room. Love those crosses on the mantle! We are also trying to buy that T.V.

The breakfast nook (love that tile!)

The office - would love to get that desk too but probably won't.

The backyard (we have 1 acre)

Love these cool sinks in the master bath!

I will get more pictures after we move in so you can see it with OUR stuff. :)

Happy 2010!

2010-01-11T14:25:00.008-06:00

Here we are in 2010...how did that happen? Was it really 10 years ago that we were worried about Y2K? Wow, how time flies. 2009 proved to be a difficult year for us and for many of our friends, but I have high hopes for 2010. I hope it's a good one for all of us!

Eythan will be coming home in 2 short months. It's hard to believe he'll actually be here...for good. I know he's ready and I'm trusting God that it's the right time for him. We are picking him up the day after we move into our new house so he will come home to a new environment, which he needs. We are excited for the changes we'll see in him and hope that our new home will be the perfect place for him to continue his growth. We sold our house to the very first people that saw it...which is complete confirmation to me that God is orchestrating this move. We close on Valentine's Day but we don't move out until March. The people who bought our house are renting and can't get out of their lease until March. This works well for us since we haven't found a new home yet! We are looking North of here around Prosper, Sanger, Pilot Point, etc. We are looking for acreage and think we may have found a perfect place but we haven't seen the inside yet. Hopefully we'll get to do that this week.

Goldie lost her fight with whatever was causing her problems. It could have been age, brain tumor, or something else...we aren't really sure. But we suspect she had a brain tumor. She started going down hill again right before Christmas and we had to put her down on January 2. Not a good way to start the new year, but I am so thankful she is out of pain now. I have visions of her playing with Lady Belle in a heavenly field. I can't wait to see them again in heaven one day!

We had a wonderful Christmas and visit with my family and friends in Kansas. We got lots of snow here in Texas on Christmas Eve!

You can view our pictures from Christmas in Kansas here.

My journey to be healthier is going well. I struggled more than I thought I would over Christmas because I was surrounded by junk food for an entire week! And even though I caved too many times, I think overall I did pretty well. I didn't give up and we kept going to the gym while we were in KS. However, now that regular life has resumed I am finding it difficult to resist the things I used to battle but thought I was over. Mostly sugary carbs. I have thought about completely ridding my diet of sugar, but I honestly don't think I would do well with that. I honestly think I just need to cut back. It's not realistic for me to never eat sugar so I will just make sure that I make it a "sometimes" food. I definitely need to take it off my daily menu and only have it a few times a week. So that's my goal. Today I've had:

Breakfast - 1/2 cup yogurt with 1/3 cup granola (YUM!)
Lunch - Small spinach salad with grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, croutons, 2% shredded cheese, and Ranch salad spritzer, and approx. 1 cup of cucumbers. Then a 60 calorie chocolate pudding.

Not too bad for a picky person, eh?! :) Right now I'm eating some baby carrots as a snack since I'm a little hungry. I'm actually trying to detox myself from the junk I ate over Christmas. I think that will get me back on track. :)

I'm back!

2009-11-01T21:49:00.007-06:00

Time for another update I guess. I really wish I was better about updating here, but I just forget.

Joseph (20) moved out today. I had to comfort my crying daughter (8) after he left...it's hard for her to watch all her brothers leave. Luckily for her, one of them will come back soon. Eythan (almost 16) is only away temporarily at a boarding school so he'll be back. But Josh and Joseph are both gone for good...they are 20 and 21 now so they will be on their own. It's good...it's time. You know, that age when they need to be on their own because they don't like the rules anymore and need their own space. They (like everyone at that age) tried to fight it some but will end up loving it when they finally go. Joseph will be so happy living in his own apartment and Josh has been for over a year now. It's just hard to explain to an 8 year old why they have to leave. She'll understand someday.

We put a sign in our yard this week. Now we have to finish getting the house ready to actually show it. We are getting a storage unit for all the things that make it look junky in here. It's the easiest way to keep it nice enough to show. With all 3 boys gone (for now) it will be easier to show. It's hard keeping a house full of kids clean all the time! We are excited about moving. We don't know where we'll move yet...we are waiting on God for that information. Our hearts are torn between Keller, TX and Springfield, MO. So we have asked God to guide us and tell us where he wants us. If only he could speak to us in an audible voice, that would be great!

My sweet daughter was a little Dalmatian for Halloween this year.

I'm so glad I don't have to fight my kids on what's appropriate for Halloween costumes. I don't like Halloween and would prefer that we not celebrate it. However, my husband sees no harm in it as long as we keep the evil out of it. So it is never okay for them to dress in anything even remotely evil, but it's never been a problem thankfully. I was especially happy with Savannah's choice this year. :-) And the boys are pretty much too old for dressing up...fortunately.

I am still on my weight loss journey. It is taking longer than I was hoping but at least I'm going in the right direction. I have lost 32 pounds so far and have about 18 to go. We are at the gym every day...even on Sundays. I have a Body Bugg to keep me on track with calories in and calories out. I burn 2200-2550 calories and eat 1200-1250 a day. That should get me losing 2 pounds a week (burning 1000 more than you eat is the goal for a 2 pound weight loss per week). I am actually losing about a pound a week. I might be cheating here and there by having jelly beans and hard candies, but I can't imagine it would cost me a whole pound a week! I don't eat THAT much! So I think my body is just fighting me...which is okay. As long as I'm losing I'll be fine...I'll get there, right? I'm wearing size 10 jeans now (yea!) and they are getting loose so hopefully 8s are right around the corner! It's been 10+ years since I've been that small! And I have to admit I feel GREAT!

Gotta go to bed now. I hope everyone is well. I'll be back soon!

Goldie Update

2009-09-10T11:45:00.002-05:00

Goldie is doing better. She is not "normal" yet but she is improving. So we are not getting blood work done unless she goes downhill again. She is still a little groggy, a little unstable when she walks, but isn't falling over except every once in a while...whereas yesterday she couldn't walk at all without falling over. So I think this was just a bad reaction to her medicine and hopefully not a brain tumor. Yea! :) However, time will tell for sure. We are so happy!!

Tough Times

2009-09-08T15:06:00.012-05:00

Savannah and I are "hooked" on latch hooking (pun intended)! We are having so much fun with our kits:

Today has been a hard day. I didn't sleep well last night again (which is happening too much these days), which resulted in a late start this morning. However, we still started before 9am so that's not too bad. But at 10 I had to call the vet (will tell you about that in a minute) and got an appointment for Goldie at 10:20 so we had to leave for that. We only got 2 small things done for school before that point. Our vet appt. ended up taking longer than we expected and Savannah was too emotional to be with us so we took her to my friend's house (who also homeschools and kindly included Savannah in some of their learning) while we stayed with Goldie. By the time we got home and started school again, Savannah was distracted, tired, and not at all in "school mode". So right now she is resting and working on her latch hook kit while I type this. I was getting angry at her and she was frustrated and not listening to me (not in a defiant way but in a way where she wasn't learning anything so what was the point?). I'm not sure how to handle days like this because I don't want to just quit and communicate to her that 1.) her attitude will determine whether we will school that day, or 2.) that it's okay to quit when things are hard or when you can't concentrate, or are tired, or distracted, etc. It's only our 3rd week so I know it's going to take some time to figure this all out. I just want to make the right decisions so I don't end up regretting our decision to homeschool.

Now, why we had to take Goldie to the vet...

We started her on a new medication on Friday for arthritis. (She is a 12 and a half year old Golden Retriever.) By Sunday she was falling over, couldn't stand very long on her back legs without either falling over or laying down, was very lethargic, wouldn't eat and was drinking very little. The bottle said the medicine might make her dizzy so I thought that's all it was...just dizziness. But it was pretty bad so I called the vet. They said to reduce the dosage for about a week until she got used to it. I skipped one dose and then gave her half a pill on Monday morning. (She seemed to be feeling better that morning so I wasn't too worried about giving it to her again.) Last night she had a rough night (kept falling over when she would try to get comfortable), and today she has been lethargic, can't stand for very long without falling over or losing her balance, isn't eating still and barely drinking. I called the vet this morning to see if I should bring her in. They said those symptoms were NOT typical with the medication she was taking. So we took her in and the vet said they needed x-rays to check out her hips and see if she had a spinal tumor causing nerve damage. He suspected the problem to be neurological vs. medication side effects. He said he gives out that medication several times a day and has never seen a problem. So we went to the vet's sister office because their x-ray machines are newer and better. The vet there said it COULD be the medicine but he wasn't sure so they would still do the x-rays. The x-rays didn't show anything, which is good and bad. Good that there isn't a spinal tumor, but bad because there's still a strong possibility that she has a brain tumor.

We suspected a brain tumor about 2 months ago when she started having seizures. She is 12 years old...when seizures start at that age, it's usually not epilepsy...more likely a brain tumor or some other serious condition. We did not test for it because the cause doesn't determine the treatment. It would be a waste of money to know what's causing the seizures because at her age, we wouldn't do surgery anyway. We would just medicate, which we are doing now. And now with these new symptoms, it just doesn't look good. However, we are hopeful it's the new medication because it would otherwise be a very strange coincidence that this started as she started a new medication.

We are waiting until tomorrow afternoon (Wed.) to see if she has improved. If not, we will take her in for blood work to see if it might be something else. If she starts improving by tomorrow then everything will be fine. So we just wait and pray. It has only been 4 months since Lady Belle died. We aren't ready for this. (No one is ever READY for this, but you know what I mean.) Savannah is having a hard time with this, as are Tim and I. Your prayers are appreciated.

Good night. I'm hoping tonight will be a better night for both Goldie and me. But I'm pretty doubtful.

Latch Hooking

2009-09-04T22:05:00.013-05:00

I've always wanted to be good at sewing or cross stitch or anything like that, but I'm really bad at it all. But this week I was introduced to Latch Hooking. Savannah and I both fell in love with it immediately. So, today we went to Michael's and bought 2 kits - one for Savannah and one for me. We came home and immediately opened our kits and got to work. We put Little House on the Prairie on TV and watched while we worked. We worked for probably 2 whole episodes without stopping and she told me numerous times how much fun she was having. (You will have to pardon my piled up trash in the background of the first photo...it was time to empty it, can you tell?)

And yesterday we did our first homeschooling Science experiment. I don't know if it really qualifies as an experiment (even though it was in her lab book of experiments) because it was so easy. But I guess for third grade maybe it wasn't so easy. We picked random items from all over the house and outside and lined them up.

We listed characteristics for each item. Then we made categories and put each item into the appropriate categories. We had just learned about Taxonomy...do you know what that is? I did not. It is the branch of biology having to do with classifying living things (per her Science book). Or Wikipedia's definition is "Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification." So it was a rather tedious experiment but probably good for an 8 year old's mind.

Savannah is always saying that Math is her favorite subject. This always surprises me because she struggles with it. But she told me today that she thinks she loves it because she doesn't get it. Isn't that funny? :)

I love homeschooling so much that I wish I had started in the beginning. I LOVE spending every day with her and being the one who teaches her everything she needs to learn...education AND life skills. We start every morning with a Bible lesson. The book we use is called Building Christian Character and I love all the lessons (okay, we've only done 2 since we just finished our 2nd week, but I love them both!) We talked about Honoring God last week and this week was about Respecting Others. There are worksheets and stories to go with each subject. There's a Bible verse to memorize, too.

She actually memorizes 2 verses each week. Third grade is when they learn cursive. The handwriting/cursive workbook we use has a Bible verse for each week that she practices in cursive every day...so by the end of the week she has it memorized. Which means so do I! Double blessing!

I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to homeschool. There are so many circumstances that would change our being able to do this...things that would not have allowed me this chance and I'm so thankful it has worked out this way.

For now, I'm going to bed. :)

Hard Day

2009-09-02T22:04:00.004-05:00

Today was a hard day. I was, again, up until 4:30am last night with a stomach ache. Not sure what my problem is but I think my eating has gotten out of control. I think in general I haven't been eating as healthy as I was and my stomach is protesting. It must be time to get it together.

So, because I was up so late, we didn't get started with homeschooling until almost 10am. I felt okay when we started but soon started to drag. As the day progressed I was getting more tired and then my head started pounding. I decided to quit before we finished our last subject of the day (Science, which is the hardest subject for me because it's complicated and somewhat boring to my brain). I was cranky and finding myself a snappy. I don't want our homeschooling experience to be me being a cranky-pants and snapping at my precious daughter (who had no choice in this decision to homeschool).

It is now going on 10:30pm and my head is still pounding. I try not to take Advil unless I can't avoid it (because I believe it was a culprit in my stomach issues) so I have only had Tylenol...but to no avail apparently. I need to go to sleep and hopefully that will keep me from having to take Advil.

I want to post some pictures from Savannah's birthday but I think it needs to wait until tomorrow. For now, good night everyone. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much more productive and positive day. :)

Happy Birthday Savannah!

2009-08-27T11:31:00.014-05:00

Eight years ago today I was in the hospital in labor with my precious daughter. I was actually due on September 10, 2001, but I begged my doctor to induce me early because I was so big. My mom was the only one of 4 girls who was under 10 pounds at birth; I knew Savannah was big too! So my doctor agreed and scheduled me for August 27, 2001. (I am glad I didn't wait for many reasons, but one reason was because of 9/11). Around 7:30 that night I was only dilated to 3 so my doctor wanted to do a c-section. I was on board with that decision because I was tired and very anxious to meet my little girl. In hindsight I wish I had waited and tried to have her naturally, but how could I have known that my c-section would be so hard on me? So at 8:07pm on August 27, 2001 Savannah Grace Tripp was born.

One of the first pictures of her with her daddy.

Me with Savannah

Me with Savannah

Grandma (my mom) with Savannah

Here is that same little punkin this morning...8 years later.

Breakfast in bed has become tradition for her birthday mornings.

Can you tell who her new favorite "person" is? Here's a hint...this picture is "Savannah Montana" with Grandma (on the phone).

She LOVES Hannah Montana. Can you tell?

Aside from this silly 8 year old girl, homeschooling is going really well. Our 2nd day was not so great...she was tired, cranky, and totally distracted the whole day. I was frustrated and she was unhappy. But yesterday, our 3rd day, went much better. And today has been fine as well. We are off schedule today because of her birthday but we're doing what we can. Tomorrow we can play catch-up if we need to. The beauty of homeschooling!

I have realized this week just how much time and effort I need to put forth for our homeschooling to be successful. It will be a challenge for me but I love it. Spending every day with Savannah has made us both more "needy" for each other...at 8 years old I'm okay with that. More on this later...

First Day of Homeschooling

2009-08-24T09:09:00.006-05:00

Our first day of homeschooling...I started a little less enthusiastic than I had hoped. I was awake until 4am with a stomach ache, so when my alarm went off @ 6:30, I was NOT ready. Since homeschooling is such a relaxed environment, I allowed myself to stay in bed until I woke up again @ 7am. I was hoping to wake up @ 6:30, get Savannah up, eat breakfast, get ready and start by 7. We were going to work for an hour then to the gym (the childcare doesn't open at the gym until 8am), then back home to finish school. But instead we got up @ 7, got ready, ate breakfast, made beds, then started school @ 8:15. I've decided that 7 is awfully early to start school anyway so I think 8 is a good goal. Then we can take a break sometime around 10 and hit the gym and finish when we get back. Today we aren't going to the gym because my stomach still isn't feeling great so we'll try that schedule tomorrow. So far it's going a little slower than I expected because it's almost lunchtime (it's 11:30) and we are just finishing Language Arts and still have Math. We may not be able to finish by lunch every day, which is okay. :)

Here she is (before we started) very excited and ready for the day!

And our faithful companions (Sammy and Goldie) sitting at our feet because they follow me everywhere I go. I thought it was because all 3 of us were in the office but then when I laid down on the couch for a few minutes while Savannah was working, they followed right behind me sitting by my feet at the couch. I love my dogs.

We'll see what tomorrow holds. Hopefully I'll get a better night's sleep tonight!

New Blog!

2009-07-18T13:50:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry to do this to you all again so soon, but I have moved my blog again. It is now here. I don't have an easy domain name for you to remember yet...it's http://web.me.com/gltvoscorp/Site/Home/Home.html. But I will be getting a domain name soon that you will be able to remember and when you type it in it will take you directly there. Make sense? If not, for now just click on the link above to go to my new home. :) See you there!

Home from Missouri

2009-07-14T16:42:00.026-05:00

My favorite picture of the week:

We took Eythan back to the ranch last week and then spent 4 days with my aunt at the Lake of the Ozarks. I love being at the lake! If we could, Tim and I would drop everything and move there! After our 4 days with my aunt and my cousin, we drove back to the ranch and spent the weekend with Eythan and all the other families who were visiting for family weekend. It was a truly amazing weekend. God was so present and I wish every one of you could have been there to witness the amazing things God is doing there. But since you weren't, I will just share my pictures. :)

Eythan & Joshua

If you are a prayer warrior, please pray for Joshua. He just turned 18 and therefore is allowed to leave the ranch on his own. He was only at the ranch for 6 months, which is a very short stay. He thinks he is ready to go home but we are all concerned that it's too soon. Please pray for him! He lives in Dallas.

Some of the boys (and 2 sisters of one of the boys) getting ready to drive go karts.

Eythan go karting.

Us at the ranch.

Tim & Savannah (she wasn't very happy because she had an ear ache the whole weekend).

This is Pastor (in the cowboy hat) talking to his dad who had just been kicked in the leg by one of their horses.

This is Savannah with Elizabeth, who is the sister of Seth at the ranch. They are both 7 years old so they played together all weekend.

Eythan waiting in line to be baptized in their pool. I think there were like 19 boys who were baptized that day! It was awesome!!

This is Pastor's pastor who led him to the Lord in Greece when he was in the army. He was telling Eythan and me that Eythan got his eyes from me. :)

I have many more pictures but it will take me forever to upload them here so later I will post a link to them. Keep praying for Eythan...he is making leaps and bounds and we are so excited about what God has planned for him.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T11:14:00.010-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads reading this. I hope you have a wonderful day! Yesterday I spent the morning with a friend making some yummy treats for our husbands. The "french fries" are sugar cookies, the "hamburgers" are cupcakes as buns, brownies as the burgers, and colored frosting for ketchup, mustard, and lettuce. And the paper materials (basket, liner paper, and french fry holder) were printed from my printer. Isn't this adorable?!!

I got the idea from an excellent website called Bakerella. And here is my family this morning enjoying these little goodies:

Lady Belle

2009-05-18T18:44:00.005-05:00

I fell behind with posting here because of Lady Belle, my sweet dog. A couple of weeks after my last post, we had to put her down. Her mouth was getting worse and we didn't want her to suffer. She was 15 years old so she had a wonderful, long life. It tore me apart to lose her and I was not able to post about it until now. It has been 2 weeks since she died and time has healed me a lot. I was a complete mess for 3 days and was struggling quite a bit for a whole week. I still miss her terribly and wish we had had a choice, but I am feeling much more peace about putting her down. As time goes on, our new routine, which doesn't include her, has made it easier. At first I didn't even want to have a routine without her in it, but since that was impossible to accomplish, I am now able to walk into my room and feed my other dogs without breaking down in tears. I didn't WANT to walk into my room and see her bed and be okay with it. I wanted to stay sad every time I saw it even though it was so painful. It's weird, I know. She was just a dog, but until you love something unconditionally and have it love you back unconditionally, you won't understand. I lost 3 dogs between ages 17 and 27 but none were this painful. Lady Belle was MY first dog...all mine. Not my dad's or mom's or brother's, etc. I picked her out because she was adorable and fun and I knew I could love her so much. Now take 365 days x 13 years (she was 2 when I got her)...she was part of my EVERY DAY for 13 years...she was with me through a divorce, a move to TX, my parent's divorce, my marriage to my husband, she was with me through all the places I lived in between, through "inheriting" 3 children almost overnight when I married my husband, through the pregnancy and birth of my daughter and has watched my kids grow up. She wasn't a BIG part of any of that of course, but she was THERE. Now she isn't. It hurts my heart.

This picture was the day before she died. I love it because you can see the pain in my face and it helps me remember how much I loved her. You can also see the side of her mouth is hanging a little low - that is where the cancer was and her mouth was beginning to hang lower and lower and she was drooling puss from that side.

And this one I had enlarged to 8x10 and framed.

Sweet dreams my precious girl.

2009-04-21T16:51:00.005-05:00

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we had to take my baby girl dog, Lady Belle, to the vet yesterday. The tumor in her mouth (that was removed a few months ago) is growing back. That tumor was malignant. :( It's growing back but it's still very small so he gave us an antibiotic and a pain pill to make her more comfortable. We go back in 3 weeks to check it again. If it continues to grow, we won't be putting her through surgery again. She's 15...that would be pointless. But I'm not sure what the plan will be yet. Have to cross that bridge when we get there. But I'm sure her time is coming to an end...I'm guessing she has less than a year. But who knows...my childhood dog, Gizmo, surprised us all by living to be 18!! It will be very difficult if this is the end because Lady was my first "baby". I got her in 1996 (she was approx. 2 years old when we got her) and she was my only dog for years. I, of course, treated her like she was my child because she was my child. Thinking of life without her is difficult and will be sad. But I know she'll be better off because she is very old. I don't know if she's suffering because she shakes a lot, doesn't eat much, can't control her bladder anymore and is in a diaper all the time, and can't hear a thing. She can only hear me clap and she's very slow going most of the time. However, when she's excited she jumps like a crazy head and runs all over the house! Sometimes she still seems like a puppy, but most of the time she acts like she's 100 years old. Poor girl. She is the little one on the left:

Photography

2009-04-20T20:41:00.002-05:00

Have I mentioned my interest in photography? I have always loved it (right, Mom?) and now with digital cameras and so much technology to go with it, I'm really intrigued. I'm completely amazed at the quality of photographers out there...especially moms who do it as a hobby and some who do it as a career. I'm so inspired by them...Lyndsay Photography, Lisa Harrison, Me Photography, Carrie Small, Little Things Photography to name a few. I'm trying to figure out what kind of Photoshop tools they use to make their pictures POP. That's what I'm missing. I still have a lot to learn about my camera and taking pictures, but I know I have some good shots that just need a little computer editing. I'll be sharing them soon. :)

I went to a chiropractor finally after many years of thinking they were pointless. However, at the urging of some friends and then my personal trainer at the gym, I decided to give it a try. Now I am in the process of getting 15 adjustments to help my hip/lower back/knee. So far I haven't felt much different, but I have hope that he will fix my lower back pain. This weekend in San Antonio I was in a lot of pain due to all the walking we did. It's very hard on my back and hips when I do a lot of walking and I knew that but I wasn't going to let it ruin our trip. You don't go to the River Walk and not walk a lot! Here are some pics from our trip (take on my iPhone, not my good camera so they're not great pics):

That last picture was where Sandra Bullock did the swimsuit contest in Miss Congeniality. Cool, huh? :)

ABCs of being a Help Meet

2009-04-16T16:38:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine has this on her blog and I think it's really good so I want to share it with you.

And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Genesis 2:18

Admit when you are wrong
Be positive
Cuddle
Do it his way
Encourage him
Fix his breakfast
Give back rubs
Hug often
"I love you" should be said many times daily
Joke around in a playful manner
Know his needs
Listen to him
Manage your home well
Never hold grudges
Open your eyes in the morning and smile
Pray for him
Quit nagging him
Reminisce about good times
Show respect and honor
Trust, and earn his trust
Understand his need for reverence
Vulnerability is a feminine trait; cultivate it
Wink at him!
X is for private times
Yearn to please him
Zealously guard him with your love

2009-04-14T16:09:00.006-05:00

See the wonderful help I had today cleaning Eythan's room? Savannah loves to help me clean with Chlorox wipes so I asked her to wipe the doors. Her friends came over (we were babysitting) and they all wanted to help! We are using his room as our office temporarily until he gets back home. I spent almost a whole day cleaning it out before we could move our stuff in. It was a DISTASTER, worse than most 15 year old boys' rooms. But it's done and hopefully will never be that bad again. I'm hoping that when he grows up a little (from being at the ranch) he'll come home at least a tiny bit neater. :) Nothing wrong with hoping! We also bought a Futon to put in the office too and my mom will be the first one to use it next month. We will pick it up this Friday. Yea! Finally a guest room (sort of)!

I started working with my husband yesterday. So far so good. :) He works in Dallas on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I am not actually working WITH him on those days but am still doing stuff for him. We are working on an iPhone application. Right now I am trying to put together a presentation for prospective clients that we want to work with. It's pretty exciting! And I'm learning some new software that I've never used.

I went to a Chiropractor yesterday for the first time because my right hip (actually it's where my femur and hip meet...in that socket) has been bothering me and is getting worse. He said my right leg is shorter than my left, which I don't think is too uncommon. He took an x-ray of my hip to see if there's any other reason for my pain and I go back tomorrow to find out the results. He did some adjustments on my back too which was a weird experience! But it felt good too. He told me that low serotonin can cause or lead to (not sure which) IBS. I don't think I have IBS, but it got me thinking about all my recent stomach problems and I think it's possible that going off my Zoloft almost a year ago might be the reason this all started. Mine seems to be an acid problem and having gone off my Zoloft after 16 years of being on it, I'm probably creating more acid than I used to (from stress). Just something I'm pondering...

I haven't managed to lose any weight yet but I haven't tried very hard yet. The chiropractor said I shouldn't start exercising this week so hopefully I'll be motivated to do it next week. :)

Tim and I celebrate our 9th anniversary tomorrow (the 15th...tax day...how romantic). We are driving to San Antonio this weekend and will celebrate in a beautiful bed & breakfast while Savannah goes to my brother's for the weekend. So excited!

That's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and loving this beautiful weather (if you're in Texas)!

Happy April!

2009-04-02T23:39:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's already April. Every year time seems to go faster. I don't like it because that means my kids are getting older.

I have one week left at work and am anxious to be done! I'm just ready to move on since I've already given my notice. Patience is not one of my strengths.

My sister-in-law had rotator cuff (shoulder) surgery this week and is in tremendous pain. I had no idea that kind of surgery was so painful. She fell while running in a softball game about 2 weeks ago. The way she landed must have jammed her shoulder upwards and she tore it in 3 places. Ouch!

I have always been interested in photography but am starting to really have an interest in learning as much as I can about our new Nikon D90 camera. There is so much to it and it seems like such a waste if I don't learn it. So that's my current project. I've also started reading "Restoring Your Digestive Health" and it's a great educational read! I'm learning so much about how my body works and nutrition.

That's really all I have to say tonight because I'm really tired and cold. I am anxious to climb into my warm, snuggly bed. Good night!

Update

2009-03-27T17:36:00.003-05:00

I gave my 2 week notice yesterday at work and I'm very excited. I will be working with my husband helping him develop some cool iPhone programs. :) Pray that we will work together well. I don't know how it will go but I'm excited to give it a try!

I had a follow up visit with my GI doc today. I had some blood work done about 6 weeks ago that showed 2 elevated levels that were "nonspecific". Nonspecific meaning I have inflammation somewhere in my body. I had more blood work done this week and today he told me those elevated levels are even higher than before. He is sending me to a Rheumatologist and also doing a test on my small intestine on Monday. They have ruled out Lupus, which is something he was concerned about. He is also concerned it could be Crohn's disease but after reading about it, I don't think I fit the profile. I don't have the symptoms other than (light) abdominal cramping. So we'll see. But I think the test on Monday will help rule that out.

Tim and I are taking Savannah, Joseph, and Nana (Tim's mom) to see Monsters vs. Aliens tonight. Should be fun since we all want to see it (even though it's a kid's movie!). :)

That's all for now. Have a great weekend and stay out of the cold! We have a cold front moving in right now, but from what I hear it's not that bad compared to other parts of the country. Although it's extremely windy which makes the cold feel colder. The good news is...Sunday is supposed to be sunny and 70! :)

We're home

2009-03-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

We are home from our trip. I have another major headache right now so I'm not gonna update this post quite yet. I just want to share with you today's Loving Action:

Keeping Alive Romance and Security...

A man will do almost anything to gain the admiration of others. The most important person from whom he wants it is his wife. Some women think that because their husbands are admired by others in their professions, they don't need it from their wives. That's a serious mistake.

- From "It Takes Two to Tango" by Gary and Norma Smalley
All excerpts from "It Takes Two to Tango" are copyright 1997 Gary and Norma Smalley, and are used with permission.
Find more relationship resources at http://www.smalleyonline.com

In Missouri

2009-03-17T00:25:00.003-05:00

We arrived in Couch, MO last night around 10pm. It was too late to go see Eythan so we waited until this morning to see him. He always runs to us with a big hug...he can hardly wait to see us and hug us. It's really nice. We are allowed to take him off "campus" until Tuesday night which will give us lots and lots of time to be with him. We drove about 25 miles away to another small town called White Plains, MO and spent all day there today. We shopped a little, ate, went to a really nice little park. The weather couldn't have been better...it was sunny and probably around 70 degrees, maybe warmer. Tonight we ate dinner at a really good restaurant and then saw Race to Witch Mountain. Tomorrow we are gonna bowl. That's all we have planned so far! I'm sure we'll have quite a bit of down time before we take him back to the ranch, which is okay. We can't be entertained 24/7, right? :) We had a really nice day with him today and I have seen more changes in him that are very pleasant. I know God is really making some changes in him and we are excited about what his future holds. Keep praying for him!

On a different note, I think I went a little overboard on what I ate today. Today was the first day I allowed myself (because I really didn't have a choice) to eat out so much. I think I made very good and reasonable choices but my stomach is not very happy with me right now. It was probably the pizza I had for lunch...which I thought was an okay choice because I started with a salad and only had 2 small pieces of pizza. Maybe not. :) I think I'd better stick with Quizno's or even just a salad instead of salad plus grease. I should know better.

We are driving to Kansas on Wednesday to see my best friend and her new baby and some of my family. We were just there at Christmas but I'm totally excited to see everyone again! Kansas is my home and I will always love going.

I suppose I should try to sleep now since it's 12:45am. But I'm sure I'll instead decide to play Solitaire until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. (I don't like to go to sleep with an upset stomach; who does, right?) So goodnight!

2009-03-11T22:22:00.003-05:00

I won this Shape Up Letter Template by Meredith Fenwick on a blog giveaway in exchange for doing a layout with it. It's a really cute template and I love putting so many pictures in one layout. Such a creative way to include so many pictures!

We are leaving Sunday to go visit Eythan and are very excited and ready to see him. We weren't able to talk to him on the phone this past weekend because he got in trouble for lying and they took away his phone privileges. I think it's good they did that because that child will not learn from a slap on the hand. He has to have big consequences or else he doesn't learn. I'm not sure taking away our call was even enough, but hopefully since he really looks forward to our calls.

Have I ever told you how wonderful my husband is? This morning we got in an argument as I was leaving for work. It was one of those situations where I was being a poo and was grumpy for no good reason. I almost left without kissing him, which is really not something we ever do. We always make time for a quick kiss before we leave. But, like I said, I was being a butthead. I have to say, at the time I thought HE was being a butthead which is why I was acting the way I was (someone else's bad behavior is never a reason for my bad behavior, I know). Anyway, he got me to give him a kiss at the door and when we opened the door it was very cold and raining pretty hard. He asked me if I wanted him to get our umbrella out of the car so I didn't have to go to the car without it. Long story short, he went out in the rain to get it for me and then walked me to my car and helped me in; then he put the umbrella back in my car and went inside. He just told me tonight, when we were talking about what the Loving Actions quote below means, that he really didn't WANT to get the umbrella for me because I was being a pain. But he knew that the best way to combat my ugliness was to do something nice for me. Without consciously thinking about that this morning, I sent him a text message when I got to work saying I was sorry and I love him. See how that all worked out? :) God knew that Tim would be a good example for me and that's why he put us together. I have learned so much from my husband and have even changed my thinking in some pretty big ways. God knew. God knows. Thank goodness! :)

Today's Loving Action:
Resolving Conflict and Dealing with Anger...
"We'll never be successful in our most important relationships until we learn to drain the anger out of another person's life."

One Look Challenge

2009-03-08T17:05:00.001-05:00

Check our church's new thing - onelookchallenge.com

Honoring Your Husband

2009-03-06T17:03:00.003-06:00

I love today's quote from my Crosswalk.com Loving Actions newsletter:

Honoring Your Husband...

"The more skilled a wife becomes in meeting her husband's legitimate needs, the more indispensable she is to him. Her act of serving in love builds her own security in the marriage."

That's really all I have for now. Have a great weekend!

Not to worry

2009-03-05T21:37:00.003-06:00

Today I was finally feeling better because my cold is going away, so my body decided it was time to do something else. I had another pretty bad headache and tonight I've been sick to my stomach again. I ate a small lunch and no dinner. I'm feeling okay right now but am about to pass out from my nausea medicine (it makes me sleepy). So this will be short. :)

This week of unfortunate and sudden deaths of friends has given me a lot to think about. I am more convinced than ever that I need to be healthier. I understand and was reminded by my husband about the verse in Matthew 6 stating, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" So while I will try not to "worry", I will take control of my health. I have been eating much better than I used to but have still not added exercise back into my life. Mostly because I've been sick for 3 solid months. I do think it's time to get back to it now before I regret not doing it sooner. So, slowly I will add a little at a time. It helps that the weather has been absolutely wonderful and gets me motivated. Good night all.

Another passing

2009-03-04T17:12:00.003-06:00

I'm a little freaked out right now because I just heard about another mother of small children who passed away this morning. Similar story to the first one in that there were no signs of any problems prior. She was a mother of 2 small boys (4 months and 4 years old) who died suddenly and unexpectedly. I did not know her but she was very involved in our church. How can this be happening? My fear is shining bright and strong because it's unusual for women my age to suddenly die, and to have it happen twice within 2 days is just weird. Please pray for these families.

I have been thinking almost nonstop about Stacy's passing on Monday and her family. (BTW, her newborn son, Wyatt, is doing very well and is expected to go home in the next few days. PTL!) I mentioned below that I was trying to understand God "taking" mothers away from their families, but it's very possible God didn't "take" her. He may have just "allowed" her to go. Those are very different things and should be understood differently. We live in a fallen world and things happen. Sickness, death, sin...they are all very prevalent in our world and there is no getting around it. I was talking with my Grammy this week about the death of this sweet young woman and she made an excellent point. She said, "Remember that we are looking on the back side of the needlework and God is looking at the front. Sometimes we can't see how it all goes together." What an interesting and excellent perspective. I'm so thankful she shared it with me because it gives me comfort.

Answer

2009-03-03T07:01:00.002-06:00

God literally woke me up in the middle of the night with an answer to my pondering about HOW taking a mother from her kids can be part of his plan...sometimes it's the only way to HIM.

Understanding God

2009-03-02T22:43:00.004-06:00

I fully believe that God has a plan in everything he does and allows. But I will never understand how taking a mother from her kids is part of his plan. Having said that, I do still believe that my God is an awesome and loving God and only does (or allows) what's best for us. A woman from my old church died tonight while giving birth to her 3rd child. News like this is nothing short of tragic. The thought of that baby not having her mother for even a moment is incomprehensible. The thought of her 2 older children not having their mother is equally unfair. And the poor husband who has lost his life partner...I can't even imagine the pain that family is bearing. Please pray for this family as they mourn the loss of their beloved mother and wife.

Sick of being sick!

2009-02-28T11:59:00.003-06:00

I need to complain for a minute. I am SO SICK of being SICK! After having an upset stomach for 3 straight months, I am ready to be well. But this week my body decided to get what I thought was a little head cold. But it has now turned into a full blown sickness...body aches, headache, sore throat, sneezing, ear aches, etc. I'm just miserable. Won't be able to take Savannah to her Girl Scout event today and won't be going to Keno tonight. That's a bummer because I really only go to spend time with my MIL and 2 SILs. :(

What do you think about my new header? I am wondering if I should have it titled "Gretchen's Ramblings" vs. "The Tripp Troop". Any thoughts? I'm so proud of my clan and I like showing them off. :) But this blog is not about them; it's my own personal place to vent and "ramble". :)

I am thinking about buying some AdvoCare products. Are you familiar with their products or have any experience with them? I have heard really good things about them so I would like to give them a try. Particularly their Well and Trim products. My weight is holding steady right now, which is good. But soon I need to focus on LOSING. If I can lose 10-15 pounds I'll be happy.

I think I'll go back to resting and watching a movie. See you all next time! :)

2009-02-26T19:04:00.002-06:00

This is really scary for our economy.

On a different yet equally depressing note (okay, not really equally) I feel miserable today. I have been having a lot of headaches again, which is very perplexing to me because since having my stomach problems I don't allow myself caffeine anymore. Caffeine has given me headaches since I was in 2nd grade. My headaches have come back but I can't figure out why. I've cut back on carbs and am trying to include more fruits and veggies in my diet...maybe I'm allergic to healthy food?! Just kidding. :) (That would suck and be fun all at the same time!) So yesterday I had the headache from hell...very well could have been a migraine but if my migraines don't start with spotty vision, then I'm not sure the difference between them and a really bad headache. I am not taking Advil anymore because it was the reason my colon was inflamed, so I took Tylenol and it didn't touch it. Finally I woke up this morning feeling better but all stuffed up in my sinuses and head. I was sneezing all morning but didn't feel too bad until about 2pm this afternoon. Ever since then I feel like I've been run over by a truck. I can't get my sinuses to clear and my headache is back (although not quite as bad as yesterday). I'm so ready to feel good for at least a month straight. It's only been a few weeks since I've been able to eat again. So hopefully after this yucky head cold, I'll be good for awhile. :)

Did I tell you about the "Never Say Diet" books by Chantel Hobbs that I'm doing with a small group at church? I'm so excited about it because so far it's an excellent source for weight loss help. Here is a review of it. I guess I can give you a better indication AFTER I reach my goal. :)

Awesome friends and other ramblings

2009-02-22T23:31:00.005-06:00

I just love my awesome friends! God sure wired us to be social and need connection, didn't he? Tonight I met with several friends from church at Starbucks and we just had a blast! Here we are (wishing my iPhone took a better picture, but it's better than nothing!):

I also released something new in my store today...it partners my last release, Chipboard Years. These are Chipboard Months...it helps to have both!

Also wondering who knows about V8 Splash? I just learned about it this weekend and LOVE it. I am not a juice drinker because it's usually too sweet for me. But this stuff, although sweet, isn't too sweet and gives me a serving of fruits AND vegetables in one 8 oz. glass. What a deal! For someone who doesn't like many vegetables and always struggles to get them into my diet, this is a wonderful help! We got the Light version because it's (obviously) lower sugar. You should try it if you haven't yet. It tastes NOTHING like tomato juice. :)

I also have fallen in love with a new song entitled "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. It was in the movie Fireproof and has a powerful message. Click here to hear it and see the video.

Eythan at the ranch

2009-02-20T18:58:00.004-06:00

My good friend Tracy took these pictures of my son at the ranch just a couple of weeks ago. Tracy's son is also there and doing very well! We have a trip planned in March to see Eythan so I will have tons more pictures then.

Cleaning...

2009-02-20T16:22:00.002-06:00

Finally I am motivated to clean off my incredibly messy desk. Every time I sit down at my desk to do something, I get completely distracted by the huge piles of "to do's" right in front of me staring me down. I will complete my task today (or tomorrow) by cleaning it off and will love it. However, I know in a few months it will be right back to where it is today. I don't know why I always let things get so messy. You should see my daughter's dresser. We still have her baby dresser which is wide vs. tall because it was a changing table as well as a dresser. So it has a really big surface that is the perfect temptation for someone like me to just "put things on top" of when those things don't go there. Insanity, I tell you. I took pictures of my desk and my daughter's dresser but I am not posting them until I get the "clean" shots to put with them!

So one question I have is this...do you save birthday cards from other people? I tend to save the ones from my good friends and family. But I'm wondering if this is wasteful and part of what makes me such a "cluttery" person. I tend to keep too much, although I've gotten better. I got a card from a good friend with my favorite dog on the front so I think I want to keep it but really, what's the point? I'd love your opinion on this.

Chipboard Years

2009-02-19T17:40:00.004-06:00

New in my store are these awesome Chipboard Years. I'm always looking for a cute way to add the year to my scrapbook pages...so I came up with these simple yet necessary little cuties.

Fireproof

2009-02-15T22:10:00.003-06:00

Have you seen Fireproof yet? It's on DVD now so rent it if you haven't seen it, or even if you have. My husband and I saw it in the theatres last year and he bought it for me for Valentine's Day and it was an EXCELLENT reminder to see it again. In fact, after we watched it last night, I got online and ordered "The Love Dare" book from the movie. I'm excited to get it and start working on it! Here's a preview:

I'm so impressed with how far Kirk Cameron has come since Growing Pains. For Christmas, I asked for and got his book called "Still Growing" but still have yet to read it. I'm anxious to get started on it because he really interests me. He was an active atheist who asked God one night to show him that He's real. He said that was the night God came into his life and changed him forever. He is married to former model Chelsea Noble (now Cameron) and they have 6 children, 4 of whom were adopted. You can see an interview with him here.

It's A Jungle Out There!

2009-02-15T22:09:00.001-06:00

My new kit at Faith Sisters. Get it 40% off for a limited time!