Happy Birthday to me!

Today was my birthday, but I had to go and sit through a teacher workshop all day.
Here's a pic from last weekend when we went out to celebrate.

Thanks for the cake Sal Gal!

P.S. M to the Izz-A remembered that today was my actual berfday around 8pm tonight. Way to go dude!

Chuck Norris sweat anyone?

Okay, if you don't do anything else today, you have GOT to go and check out this site. Our local news did a story on them and had people giving testimonials saying that their homes have never smelled better. Are you kidding me right now?

told you I was new...

The sis informed me that I had my blog set so that only registered users could leave comments. Ooops. That is now fixed. I changed it so that anyone can leave a comment. So, lurkers, (all both of ya) go ahead, leave a comment. Show a girl some love!!

Cabinet Chaos

So here's the question:

Does anyone else's cabinets look like this?!!

Oh, hi there little napkins that I looked for last week but couldn't find.

The thing is, I think of myself as more organized than this. Many people who know me, particularly my sisters, would probably say I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. I mean, I realize I am a little OCD about some things, such as track marks on the floor of my entryway. I'm also someone who microwaves something for 48 seconds, or tells someone I'll meet them around 6:37. It seems the cabinets have been overlooked for quite some time now. Maybe I'll tackle them next week. Or not.

On a more positive note, my kitchen got a cute little addition a couple days ago. I noticed the other day that as Sal Gal, my older sis, was over and we were trying to make one of Pioneer Woman's recipes, my measuring cup/spoon supply was sorely lacking. I was missing several important members of the measuring clan, such as Mr. 1/4 Cup and Mrs. 1/2 Teaspoon. Well, to my luck I found some (by Trudeau) this weekend at Ross ,and even better, they were on sale. (Of course they were, it's Ross!)

Here's a pic of my new friends:

The thinking : Colorfulness = cooking more fun

They even has a sturdy snap-thingy to hold them all together. (And I'm not talking about one of those snaps that just calls itself a snap but in the end comes clean to the fact it wasn't even a real snap in the first place.) I think these will be able to hang with me for quite a while.

Happy Saturday!!

Nothin' like a little phone call from the ol' madre to get you thinking...

Let me just say that our God is an Awesome God. Sometimes it takes us rehashing our current events to someone for us to see just how blessed we are, as was the case today. I was talking on the phone with my mom today and just sharing how things were going and talking about how I was heading back into the workforce. For those of you who may not know, I took a year off from teaching to stay at home with our baby (who is now one!). Wow, looking back I can't believe we made it on one income. We had to make a lot of budget cuts and did some major re-figuring of our finances, which wasn't super fun, but it was 100% worth it. When you have a child, you realize some things just aren't as important as they used to be. Thanks be to God for blessing me with the opportunity to stay at home with Kate and to just be there with her during her first year. There were a lot of milestones that I was able to witness and share with her that I feel I may have missed if she were in daycare somewhere. Now don't get me wrong, everyday wasn't bright, cheery and perfect. There were definitely days that I just wanted to go and crawl in a hole somewhere, days I felt like I had lost my identity. Thankfully those times were way out numbered by days that were filled with laughter, celebration, and smiles. After talking with many other women with children, I realize that I was truly blessed to be able to stay at home for a year.

Now, headed back to work, I have mixed emotions. I am excited to be able to teach again and to take part in some adult conversations on a daily basis. I am also looking forward to bringing in some income for our family. On the other hand, I feel a bit sad about leaving Kate everyday and I know that the first few days, weeks, (okay, months) will be hard on me and I'll probably arrive at work a little red-faced and puffy-eyed in the beginning. But I do realize that having a job is another blessing from God. God listens to even the smallest details as we pray and knows the desires of our heart. For the past four years I have taught in the school which I attended as a child. However, it's in a different area than where I live now so I applied for a job in the county I now reside. I ended up getting hired for the position and it is exactly what I wanted! I used to joke with my fellow teachers that I would love for someone to come in and teach my math lessons for me. (Math is not my fave subject.) I also often joked about how I should have majored in P.E. Well, that is exactly how my new job worked out. I will be teaching 3rd grade reading, writing, and science (no math!) the first half of the day and the second half I will be teaching P.E. Believe it or not, the school is so small that it only needs a PE teacher for half of the day. Another blessing!

The only other problem I had to worry about was who was going to keep Kate? Nothing against daycares, but I really wanted someone I knew to keep her either at their house or ours. M to the Izz-A says that I want too much and that I need to realize that every situation can't be perfect all the time. Well ,I know that, but couldn't we at least try?? After talking with some people at church about our situation, we ended up finding someone for the job. Our Sunday school teacher told us of someone who had kept her children in the past. Well, it turns out that she is very interested in keeping Kate! Seriously, blessing after blessing, God still never ceases to amaze me at the things he does for me.

The sad thing is, I never really took the time to sit back and realize that every one of those things were direct blessings from God. Yes, we had prayed about each one of them but I guess life happens so fast sometimes that when things finally worked out, we felt relieved, and to be honest, probably started worrying about the next thing on our list. Today just really opened my eyes to how awesome our Lord is. We (I) exert so much energy with worrying that when doors finally open for us, it's all we (I) can do to fall into them with a great sigh of relief. I know I didn't do anything to deserve the blessings God gives me but I am truly thankful for all He does. He is constantly blessing us...but I fail to give him thanks and glory like I should. Anything good that happens in my life is because of Him.

Quick pic of one of my GREATEST blessings!

I know this wasn't the most exciting, quick-witted post I could have written, but it was on my heart, and if nothing else, maybe it will give someone encouragement and insight...it did for me. To God be the glory, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!


This blog brings to mind one of my favorite songs by Chris Tomlin - Indescribable. It's worded way better than anything I've typed today.

"In everything you do, put GOD first, and he will direct you and crown your effort with success."
Proverbs 3:6



P.S. On a side note, what I had originally planned to post today (before my mom called and got my emotions running!) was a straight up awesome recipe I found in my grandma's recipe box with corn as the main ingredient. I'll post it soon! I know you're gonna LURV it!!

Tiles and Tops

Today I had the pleasure of heading into Jacksonville to pick up new ceiling tiles for our church. Yea that's right, me. Am I the only one who finds this hilarious? I mean really, out of everyone who is a member at our church, somehow I ended up being the one to go and pick up our new ceiling tiles. M to the Izz-A (my hubby) is on the Properties Committee and he pretty much volunteered me. Not that I minded, because I really didn't. I just think it's safe to say that if a visitor came to our church one Sunday and was asked to look into the crowded congregation and pick the person he thought went to pick up and unload the new ceiling tiles, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't say, "That girl, right there, in the hot pink sundress." But whatever, it was nice to help out and I hate to sound cliche but, doing for others really does make you feel good. See, can't you tell from the pic? (And no, the forecast did not call for makeup today.) (I knew what you were thinking.)








But on to the part of my day which I think deserves a mention...I stopped by Body Central to browse their tops and jewelry while waiting for my husband to call with directions to the tile place. I can always count on Body C to supply me with an inexpensive, cool top to wear out. (because I go out so often. pshhh) Granted, there's several things in there I wouldn't be caught dead in, but there are some definite finds. I can't really buy their pants or jeans though. They're never long enough. I'm 5'8 barefoot with bad posture. So you know that all of their pants tend to look like capris on me. Well, since we're going out to eat this weekend with some friends and fam for my birthday, I figured I'd snag a new top and some cute jewelry. The only downside of going to Body C is that there is always some overbearing 19-year-old trying to sale me on one of their many Buy 2 Get 1's. Ughh, seriously, just let me shop, I'll let you know when I need ya. After trying on several pieces of clothing and finally finding the shirt I wanted, I picked out some jewelry to go with it, and proceeded to check out. The girl that opened the dressing room for me was the same one to check me out. Even though I was making my last trip around the store with two tops in hand, I decided to buy only one.



Well, don't think she didn't notice that I was missing the "other top".


"Your not going to get the other top as well?"


I gave her a quick head shake and started digging in my purse for my wallet. (She had been so pushy the whole time I was shopping that I really didn't feel like explaining to her why I chose not to buy the other top.)


I noticed that as she was punching the numbers into the register she glanced up with eyes only, not moving her neck, and spotted where I had not so conspicously placed the "other top". (okay, so maybe sometimes I don't put stuff back where it belongs) There it was, in all it's multi-colored glory, squished in between a pair of big, pleather-looking heels. She didn't know I saw her eyeball it. So she proceeded...


"So you're not going to get it? Where'd you put it?" Oh it's like that.


I looked directly at her and said, "Right over there in between those shoes." (Humbling enough, I was probably close to 10 years her elder, so I had no shame at this point. Which unfortunately could probably lead to another topic...such as, should I really be shopping at this store?)


Her calling me out + me not caring or trying to hide it = dead silence


She finished ringing me up, put my stuff in a bag, and handed it to me without saying a word.


"Thanks, have a good day." I gave a quick smile and left.


Bottom line: Don't mess with girls who pick up ceiling tiles.

No longer a lurker

It's official. Today I am resigning my title of Master Lurker...at least as far as blogs are concerned. (I still might every now and then, occasionally, from time to time, (everyday), do a little lurkin' on my sister's myspace. Let's not get crazy! Baby steps, right?) Although I've written and rewritten several blog posts in my head, I've never had a real blog on which to post them. Well, now I do! Unfortunately, I am so painfully new at this that this is actually my second attempt at posting my first official blog. The first one got deleted somehow. I'm sure it had nothing (everything) to do with the fact that while I was typing it, Miss Rough and Tough (my daughter) was busy pulling on my not so freshly shaven legs. (another blog, another day) So here's my first entry, just gettin' my feet wet. Not quite sure where it's headed, but I'm excited!