some things about me

You know, with having a blog.. its kinda hard to have a conversation with you. I just get weepy thinking about it and might have a tear in my eye at the moment.

just kidding

But not about the "having a conversation with you" part, I really do wish I could have a conversation with each-and-every-one-of-you

You are special

Okay, now that I have my good deed marked off for the day (-making someone feel special), I will move right on to talk about myself...

BWHAHAHA! As if you would want to read about that! But, common now... its the reality of having a blog. What else am I gonna write about? Hello?

Okay, this is starting to sounds extremely narcissistic - and that was totally not the intent. My point of this blurb was to say, "Hey. It stinks that we can't be having a dialog right now.. and the fact of the matter is that sometimes this blog is just my ramblings (.. I know, right?). Soooooo if I am going to ramble, I might as well help you get to know me better and then beg the bananas out of you to -for the love of all things sacred - comment on this post by telling me a little bit about you. Then we can be best friends. Forever."

So there are some funny things about all of us. And some of you might try and hide those - but for Pete's sake! Let loose a bit and lets have some fun talking about our quirks!

I'll go first.
(cough)
(ahem)
(deep breath)

-sometimes I watch 90210 online during Davin's naps... at 10am, still in my pjs, and un-brushed hair. (so if you ever want a laugh, come surprise visit me then.. but I might not answer the door because I ran upstairs, turned off all the lights and hid under my bed)
-I think I love my coffee strong but after I pour it I add 1/2 a bottle of french vanilla creamer and a tsp of sugar so it doesn't taste like mud.
-sometimes I drink that coffee from a funny and slightly creepy/cute bunny mug that I found at my grandpa's house
-sometimes I don't like having to reach my pinkie finger all the way over to the 'shift' button to capitalize "i" ... what a work out! (but I do it anyway, because I know my hub reads these posts and will be eerked if he saw a bunch of i's)
-I try and play match maker by telling Jonathan which single guys I think should marry certain single girls... and sometimes it happens!!
-I google everything.
-I am good at getting the laundry done, its just the putting it away part that just never seems to happen.
-If the coffee is over an hour and a half old I think it tastes like feet and I make a new pot. Ridiculous you say? Well, I just have a very sensitive palette - thankyouverymuch ;)
-sometimes I expect myself to be really good at something on my first try and give up if I am not. I guess you could say, 'I am really ambitious and really discouraged at the flip of a coin.'
Like, one time, I got so excited about playing tennis in high school that I got the best racquet, fancy shoes, all the tennis wear, and my mom even put me in tennis lessons - but because I wasn't playing Anna Kornacova at Wimbledon I got annoyed and stopped. I didn't even put forth any effort! So I guess sometimes I think that if I am not naturally amazing at something, I will not be good at it at all.... and just for your informatio: I am not "naturally" good at anything! I need practice and books and teaching.. who doesn't??!
-on a lighter note, I am changing my ways. I am gonna start working on my photography and I'm not gonna give up just because I'm not producing national geographic type photojournalism. Nope. Not this time. No sirree Bob! If at first I don't succeed, I shall TRY TRY AGAIN!
-Second to last, if you haven't already noticed, I like to use these things a lot of: , and .... and - and ! and italics and ahems and "ands"
-And lastly, yet most obvious random fact: I have bad, BAD punctuation usage, grammar and I use spell check on ever other word I type. How did I ever squeak out of English class?

Do you still love me?

K thanks.

Now your turn..

festive

this is my attempt to be festive:

I have been attempting a lot of new things lately.. post to come on that soon.

But back to being festive. I love it when people decorate their homes according to the seasons and make them smell like yummy sugar cookies, or apple orchards, or pine trees - how cozy! It is totally candle weather! And we all know how much I like candles ... wink wink

So, I was at target and wanted to get in on the festivities. I have always wanted to... ever since I was a little girl.....

Then I see the price tags. Is it slightly ridiculous that I scrunch my nose at tags that read $9.99 for a fake decorative pumpkin??

But they are soooo CUUUUUTE and festive! Needless to say, I didn't buy the fake pumpkin, even though it would look so cute on my fireplace's mantel - I just feel silly for spending $10 on something just to sit and look pretty when there are babies that need a home and by golly, I CAN'T TAKE THE PUMPKIN TO HEAVEN WITH ME!

SOAP BOX!!

hehehe, but seriously - eternal value? Where is my treasure at?

All in all, I found a good middle ground and got some things with multiple purposes.

Candy dish AND decoration

Candles AND sweet smelling pumpkin spice aroma makers

...and they came in a two pack :)

Happy Fall, my friends!

writer's block

I have writer's block.

gah! I do not like writer's block. So I suppose I will write my way through this block.

Now that's the attitude! (that's a pat on my back for me)

Usually when something requires extra care and a little more effort than climbing stairs, I usually would rather nap instead - did I just say that out loud?

No, I typed it.. but I did say it out loud to myself.

And this brings me to a point: "Why do I insist on sharing the weird and yucky things about myself to you readers?" - I will tell you why.. because I love you :) There! I said it!

I. LOVE. YOU.

I have been feeling it for a long time... and ... well... well...

**MUAH!**

I love you.

But not like I love my hubby... its more of a friendly love. Phileo, if you will.

And that was not a real kiss. That would be adultery. Consider it a hug.... a side hug.

Now wouldn't cha know! I done got outta my writers block!

aaawwhhh.. that feels good, real good.

So lets recap this disorganized mess of a post:
-I had writer's block
-Admitted that I sometimes nap when I have writers block... or chores
-I love you, my reader's, like sisters and not as much as my husband
-I gave you all a "cyber side hug" to thank you for faithfully reading, even though it came out as "muah!" it really was a hug... but how do you make a "hug" noise or motion on a blog...?
-Successfully broke through my writer's block
-Then, I looked down to realize that my white sleeve was resting on an open red ink pen...


go figure...


And in case you were wondering, I was writing down the recipe for some STINKIN' AMAZING, OUT OF THIS WORLD, MOUTH WATERING, CARNITAS FROM HEAVEN.

Thank you Pioneer Woman, and Maribeth for introducing them to me.

Eternally grateful.

read it anyway..

I was never really a morning person. Not that I had a hard time being awake and not that I am super grumpy after I get up... it was more like, I never really had enough desire to wake up earlier than necessary.

Well, when a baby comes into your life you don't really have much of an option anymore - and honestly I am glad for that (most of the time, anyways). I have always loved the crisp air of the early morning and the feeling of a fresh long day and all that you could accomplish with the extra hours you have from waking early... but yeah, given that I am slightly more "type b personality" - I often experience some temptations that get dragged along with it... like a ball & chain; one being laziness.

This morning, like all the others - my alarm (the baby) went off and daddy went to get the "smiley box" (the baby). And I'll tell ya something; staring into the face of a kid who is SO happy to see you in the morning is just awesome... Jonathan actually commented, "It's so cute, he's always so happy to see us in the morning." and I said, "I know, he is just.. he's just [brief pause] so happy to see us every morning..." because for some reason I felt the need to repeat back to Jonathan what he had just said to me, (sigh)

Fast forward about 40 minutes, I realize Davin has 7 diapers left and the only toilet paper in the house is the bit left on my night stand from blowing my nose - a combination of these 2 facts could have lead to a very interesting scenario, if you know what I mean.

So I thought, "Wonderful! Its only 7:45, I'll go now and get a bunch of errands done!"
We were in the car at 8:15, headed out of the neighborhood and there I saw, stand still traffic.

What??

U-turn it is, besides I didn't want to take that road anyway - thankyouverymuch!
And then we were off again, in a new directions to Costco..

Now for any of you Costco shoppers, you many know what is coming next.

We pull in, and..... well.... they are closed.

OF COURSE THEY ARE CLOSED!!!!! EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY DON'T OPEN UNTIL TEN!

durr... I have done this so many times, and I just wanna kick my rear for it. But hey, I needed gas, and for the first time ever, there wasn't a line :) - mainly because no one else out there is as mindless as I to show up at Costco at 8:20am, BECAUSE EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY DON'T OPEN UNTIL TEN!

I felt a little bit better since I had been driving on fumes the whole way there and I now had a full tank. As I was putting the cards into my wallet, I noticed the cash that needed to be deposited to the bank - YES! I will go and deposit this cash that has been sitting in there for a week.. I will get things done!

8:32am - I pull into Chase.

Parking lot was barren. Ghost town, I tell ya. The Chick-Fil-A, whose grand opening isn't even til Thursday had more cars in it's lot.

I actually said out load, "Does anybody do ANYTHING in the mornings anymore??"

I know, given my past and even present, that's pretty hypocritical of me to say - huh?

So, I was basically forced to cross the street and go to Dunkin Donuts. Upon arrival my "mothers nose" picked up a suspicious scent on the radar. It was the morning BM. It comes like clock work. It comes like FIRE. And why I decided to change him the back seat of the car, I will never figure out.. and how I clean up the whole- ahem - mess with the 3 wipes remaining is a miracle of biblical proportions; we're talking 2 fish and 5 loaves kinda miracle. My car smelled like, well..... poo

The ladies in there were so nice, and like usual Davin was charming them with his two toothed smiles and the boy scored us a FREE DONUT! Ok, so it was a donut hole and it was supposed to be for him - but I had to do what I had to do, because no mother would give her 7 month old baby a donut, I ate the donut... in the car of course, the car that smelled like poo. I nearly gagged.

And before to long, we were pulling into the driveway safe and sound, having accomplished nothing but adding a sugary ball of doughy delight to my morning meal. Then I began the "getting in to the house" routine which was especially hilarious today: I had a baby on one hip, and chunky diaper bag on the shoulder, a donut bag grasped with my pinkie finger, coffee that I was trying to keep away from the grabbing baby, keys to situate to unlock the door and the dirty stinko diaper too! It was like slow motion... baby reaches for yucky diaper, I do some sort of block, diaper started to slip, I see it going toward the mouth piece of the coffee in hand, I do some sort of Neo-Matrix move and end up drop kicking this mushy balled up diaper to our front porch - wipes free flying mid air and thump... it land on the door mat, like a package from UPS.

((ding dong)) Special delivery

I'm just glad the neighbor wasn't home, for he surely would have believed me if I'da told him I was captain of the Purdue soccer team.

And then I found 5 dollars...

The END

I like to wear curtains ?

I would be totally lying if I said that I didn't absolutely love wearing those fashionable scarves from day one of Fall and all of Winter....

because I DO! Oh, my poor neck feels naked with out one on any day 50 degrees and below... honestly, a scarf makes my summer and spring clothes go an extra mile... because if it to cold to wear a t-shirt, BAM,  tie a scarf 'round your neck and problem solved! It will keep you warm, I swear. There are thin, shear-ish ones for the "warmer" days and nice thick warm ones for the frigid winter.. It will be a very sad day when this trend fades... actually, it might have already faded... but as long as they are selling them, darn it, I'm wearing 'em! I will probably reminisce with my daughter one day about 'real fashion' and how 'real fashion' involves a scarf!

During our move, I was looking through my scarf collection and realized something... they all look like curtains. I sometimes see curtains and think "humm, that would make a good lookin' scarf!"

just kidding .

My five favorites

I can't wait for fall  ;)
.

24 minutes later....

.
Ok, lets talk about the fact that it just took me 24.... count 'em.. T.W.E.N.T.Y - F.O.U.R. M.I.N.U.T.E.S. to load this dinosaur computer and get one.... just one web browser open and ready for use.

HAHAHAHA!!! I am quite literally laughing out loud at how crazy that is!

I want to blame it on Jonathan for having 269 podcasts on his itunes

But really, it is simply the fact that this computer is 6.5 years old, its a laptop which translates to 92 years old in human years. Basically, technology moves faster than the speed of light and therefore leaving this "old" computer in need of a scooter for cruising around the world wide web

Oh yes I did...

Now as an attempt in redeeming myself and redeeming this post from being completely pointless (and weird)... I will tell you that we have saved up for a computer and we do need a new one for many reasons, but my major one is so that I can upload pictures again.. the computer can't even upload another single picture (laughing out loud again)

and I am going to ask for suggestions.

Yes. That is the point of this post. To ask for for help.

...mental help :)
.

How do you do lists?

.
I gonna admit that my iPhone is the bomb.

Remember those commercials, "There's an app for that.." ?

So true!

I especially love using it while grocery shopping - perfecto, I tell ya! And therefore I am slowly pushing the cart in and out of aisles not paying any attention to where my cart is wondering.. I think that half the time God is guiding my cart in order to keep me from rolling over kids and getting sued by angry moms.

He is so gracious.

On Monday I was doing my usual grocery shopping grind - and I would like to add that it was a rather pleasant grocery trip, which is not my usual experience - and people were so nice... seriously, there were 3 of us around the entire super center that were, like, friends... We had jokes!  Its true, I am not lying... one of the jokes was that Davin was my grocery list reader.... see? Friends.

Anyway back to my point, which kinda ties in with my grocery friends. So, like I said, I was doing my usual grocery grind.. DD'ing (distracted driving).. I was doin' my lil grocery shopper app... and my grocery store friend drove up on his riding cart.. you know, the ones you drive... and told me, "Hey, young lady.. no texting while driving!"

hehe... I almost called him GRANDPA, but thought.. . "humm, he probably wouldn't think that was funny."

We aren't that good of friends.

Basically, I took his wisdom to heart and made this "soooo yesterday, old school, shopping list"

 .hehe... just kidding, its not old fashion

I actually kinda missed my ol' shopping list, crossing off stuff and the like...

Awww.... that makes me feel goooood

mundane

Mundane sounds kinda negative, doesn't it?

I dunno, maybe its just me since that is how I have been feeling about life lately.

I am not going to make this post a big ole whine-fest of how I literally wake up and do the same exact thing every.single.morning.

Instead, I am going to poke fun at it. It is really quite comical when I really reflect on my tendency to a "lather, rinse, repeat" type lifestyle.

Example I have been having the same thing for breakfast, everyday, since Davin was 8 weeks old... no, I did not make a typing error... for the past 4 months, with the exception of a few random days in there, I have filled the coffee pot to the 4 cups line and loaded the filter with 4TBPS of Dunkin Donuts Original Blend coffee grounds, pressed START and then grabbed the toaster, tossed in a whole wheat english muffin, spread it with natural peanut butter and topped it with banana slices...then proceed to grab a white mug, sprinkled in a pinch Stevia sweetener + a pinch of sugar and a splash of french vanilla creamer and poured in my fresh coffee over it to create the perfect natural stir. Then I go and nuzzled up next to my cute little babe playing on the floor to watch the TODAY Show while I ate my ever so exciting breakfast!
I have had the same exact thing for breakfast for nearly 4 months.... this is craziness, is it not??
There are times after breakfast that I think.. "man, I really need to change this up." And you know what?? I come down the next morning and repeat the whole morning routine AGAIN.

Theory
I have a theory that my whole tendency to get in ruts comes from my mom. No offense mom, but I think that I inherited it from you! Remember when you got on a deviled eggs kick? You were making those eggs ALL THE TIME! They were your favorite snack. I could always find them in the fridge. I would walk in from school and find eggs boiling on the stove. That kick lasted for weeks... then you got sick of them, only to replace them with roasted marshmallows.
So, then I am walking in from school to find Mom at the stove, roasting a marshmallow over the burner of the stove top! It wasn't even a gas range with a flame, nope, it was a red hot coil that she was roasting that 'mallow over!
She did this for about a month.
I love my mom.
If my mom bought a bag of grapes, and my sister and I would finished them off quickly, you better believe my mom would be haulin' in pounds and pounds until our skin turned purple.
Again, I love my mom. :) She was so sweet to pay attention to what we liked!

But you know what, it probably has nothing to do with my mom...

why? because I am really all that mundane a lot of other areas of my life. Sure, I eat the same thing for breakfast everyday, yet I have moved 7 times in the past 6 years.... mundane?? I think not! I have never bought the same shampoo twice in the past 6 years... mundane? I think not! I get a new kind of laundry detergent every time we run out... mundane?

I

Think

NOT

I am totally mundane in the day to day, but as for the weird unimportant stuff.. I totally LOVE change.. this is weird... I have to just ask you all to kindly wipe the boggled and confused expressions off of your faces now and simply forget you ever read this odd ball post..

Now if you will excuse me, I have some very mundane things to get back to, thank you very much.

goodbye forever

a note

not a music note..

not a to-do note..

nope!

it was a note from my Hubby :)

So, I have been sleeping horribly for the past 3 nights and it is really
NOT.
FUN.
AT.
ALL.

Ugg, yesterday was day 3 without sleep and I was REALLY feelin' it.
Phew, so I stayed home last night while Jonathan went to care group. I got Davin all clean and put to bed and then I made myself some Chamomile tea, grabbed a crossword puzzle and put on some Enya and got comfy in bed..

Relaxing, honestly, depends on my mood... and last night.. that is what sounded relaxing :)
2 cups down, a few boxes filled in, and several songs later... I had the eye mask on and lights off.

Truthfully, it was still a little tough falling asleep - but gratefully I only woke up and wrestled around once in the night and slept til 7! yay... and PTL my baby slept until his 8 o'clock wake time (thanks to the ghetto looking decor of - bed sheet draped over the window - that kept the bright early morning sun out!)

My hubby even decided to just come home last night and crash on the couch so that he wouldn't unintentionally wake me up when he got home or when his alarm went off in the morning (which inevitably is ALWAYS set for 6am or something like that... and he almost always snoozes until 7 - so when its been 3 days with no sleep.. a 6am alarm is not all that amusing, sigh)

It was so nice of him! And he always comes and kisses me goodbye before he leaves for work if I am not up yet... and instead, he left a note... and the note was really what this whole post was supposed to be about: sooo moving right along - It was left hanging on the landing of the stairs.. love it!

So there was my morning kiss, faithfully awaiting me

lips not actual size...

hehe, that made me giggle

a bottle?

I was bouncing around, doing a little hip swinging sing-a-long action to the music playing in the background as I was picking up around the house... in need of hydration, I reach to my water bottle for a rejuvenating swig of crisp fresh water and it is then that I realize:

I have a baby bottle in my mouth

*EWW*SPIT*SPIT*BLAAHHGG*

No offense to Davin, but when you are expecting a sip of water from a WATER bottle and get a taste of the 1 part formula, 2 parts baby slobber that was left on the nipple of a BABY bottle - the gag reflex is strong, and stronger than ever.

But please.... before you think I am completely without a brain, do notice how similar they are.... anyone could have made the same mistake, right?

Please make me feel slightly less sheepish by saying you would easily have made the same mistake....

sigh

I know, you probably wouldn't have because you wouldn't have left a dirty bottle laying around.... would you?

Oh dear, don't judge ;) Because if I am being completely honest.. dirty bottles are the least of my cleaning worries!

Okay, I am going to go before I start taking and posting pictures of the laundry piles in my bedroom and the diaper on the floor I changed Davin out of..... an hour ago.....

and I have said to much....

goodbye forever

Candle love

There is just something about a candle that instantly makes a house feel like a cozy home!

I love lighting candles all around, all the time :o) I burn through candles faster than you can say..... candle

Just kidding. Anyway, the usual candles that are burning on a daily basis are:

The apple scented candle from Ikea - cheap and smelling good!
The "Home is where your story begins" candle on the black shelf
The vanilla candle found at a garage sale on the kitchen table
And the newest addition to the candle family since the burning out of the Cinnamon Spice Yankee CandleGot that one from a white elephant gift exchange: I stole from someone ;o)

Basically, I like little flames. (and I used to play with fire when I was a kid.. almost burnt my arm off once.. those log fire starters where my best friends!)

Somethings never change...

Pray for us, because our little boy will likely take after Mom and Dad (and dad started 2 forest fires in his day!)
Lord, help us all
Amen

From thinking about kids,....to taking "the plunge"

In our journey to becoming parents - taking the plunge - there were a few obstacles that I (and Jonathan some too) had to sort through.

The desire to start a family was there, definitely there, that was not the obstacle.

There were a variety of things that clouded my mind, but in this post I want to talk about one specific area. It was brought to mind after reading a recent post at the True Woman blog.It was addressing weakness and Christ's strength and glory through it.

When I would think about having a precious little bundle, my heart would melt and I wanted to be pregnant ASAP. But then I would see wild children come into work and think "Oh, Lord have mercy on that mother" and it would scare me out of my mind. Then I would look at the amazing example set by the families at church - of parents raising children in a Christ center manner and the effects were inevitably fruitful. It was both encouraging and intimidating. I would think... "Yes! I want children! I want a family like that." and then also think "There is no way I am equipped or remotely qualified to lead children the way they do."

There was a serious tug of war going on in my mind and heart. And the battle was of my competency vs. Christ's sufficiency. Specifically, Christ's ability to give me grace as a mother - to lead, raise, cherish, protect, and teach my children in the things of God, and help lead them to Christ.
I was waiting to feel "competent, to have my act together, to feel adequately prepared before ever stepping out into uncharted territory," as True Woman post put it.

One evening, last fall, we finished dinner with a family from our church and were talking about starting a family one day. And I remember them telling us straight up: "You'll never be 'ready,' you'll never have 'enough' money in the bank, or have the 'right' house, or have done 'enough' traveling, or had 'enough' time with your spouse.."
As Gary Ryan Blair is quoted in Start Your Family, Inspiration for Having Babies "You cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions....opportunities are easily lost while waiting for perfect conditions." I knew it was true. I knew that I would think my way out of having kids for the rest of my life if I decided to wait for my adequacy to catch up to my calling. But most of all I knew it was true because, I knew that I would never be competent enough, adequate, or prepared enough to be a parent. I am human, a sinner, insufficient in my own strength and will.

I still have moments when I think "how in the world am I gonna do this??" At times I have "a mind paralyzed by fears of inadequacy and potential failure.Thoughts of “what if” have flooded my mind. What if I really can’t do what’s being asked? What if I’m found to be inadequate? What if I fail or disappoint or …? The possibilities seem endless. The result = mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion! .. I’m not surprised by my “little strength and ability.” In fact, daily those truths flash like a neon sign in my mind. What surprises me is that the Lord doesn’t see them as hindrances." (True Woman blog post - my own emphasis added)

The Lord has mapped out the days of our little boy's life. He mapped them out before the foundations of the earth were laid. He holds our little boys future in His hands, and no failures or inadequacies of mine will change that.

My friend shared a very helpful truth that she received, from her friend, who was given this advice from another precious friend, that I will now put into words from what I can best remember and add a few of my own words :o)

God, in his good and sovereign will, chose me - out of all the other women in this world - to be the mother of this baby at this very time because he saw it fit for me to raise him and He will be faithful to sustain me in this calling, guide me in this task, and give me knew mercies every morning.

Aww....[deep breath]

So,as the same TW post puts so helpfully: "Is it really possible that our little strength and ability provide the perfect vessel through which the fullness of Christ’s life can be exhibited? Isn’t that our desire? That the fragrance of Christ’s life in us would permeate the lives of those He’s entrusted to our care so that they would be drawn into a more intimate relationship with Jesus? "

The answer is a resounding, "YES!"

That is why the families in our church have such a delightful flavor to their lives, and the parents are examples of what Jonathan and I hope to be!
Not because they are competent or adequate, but because they have learned dependence on God's grace and mercy and because they have found adequacy in His sufficiency to lead them in their calling as mothers and fathers.

That is what gave Jonathan and I the courage to jump on the boat. To start our family. Because we know that we are not in it alone. We will never be alone.

2 Corinthians 12:9
..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

black nails

I just decided one day to paint my nails black. It was there, I was wearing the right outfit, we were going to a concert that night.... you know, all the reason to paint them black.

It was kinda fun, but looked just plain 'yuck' when it started to chip off (which was the next day, probably b/c it was el cheapo)

And it hit me.

"How in the world am I gonna get this stuff off my hands without turning them dingy blackish gray?" I don't like it when that happens.

Well, I accidentally got some tape stuck on my finger at work and when I ripped it off, the black paint came off too!

Eureka! I found my answer - no polish remover... just a couple pieces of scotch tape!
Check it out:
This is the "starting to chip yuckiness" I was talking about.

I apply tape like so:
RIP! And the paint comes off!
Do it a few more times and you can see the results:
And for this special offer of just 4 easy payments of $0.50 - this magic tape can be yours! No more remover, staining, and scrubbing your nails clean. Have it all, with Magic Tape!

a seed??

I just realized, after reading a friends blog, that Halloween is tomorrow and I have yet to touch a pumpkin - let a lone make slightly salted, golden roasted pumpkin seeds!

I don't really participate in Halloween festivities, and I guess that it doesn't have to be Halloween to carve a pumpkin. They are still around after October 31. Hummm....

I just hate it when my hands get all itchy, irritated and splotchy because of having them coated in pumpkin guts.

And it is a total mess....

And I would just toss the pumpkin away after I get my seeds....

Maybe I will just get a small pumpkin....

Or would anyone like to donate their pumpkin guts? that would be really cool! I will totally share the roasted seeds too. I make them really good, I swear ;o)

gosh.. i am drooling at the thought of those darn seeds

I should go eat dinner, which I am actually waiting for my hubby to get home because we are going bowling together!!! yay, we are going to have a fun date and eat 'bad for you food' at the bowling alley.
At least it is a nice, smoke free, family friendly bowling alley. Either way if they have salad - I am still skipping it and going for the nachos, hot dogs, soft pretzels, and chili fries! And a big ol' cherry coke. BOOYAH!

sooooo bad

but

soooooo good

maury show

that's right.... sigh.... the title of this post is Maury Show

I hate to admit this, but I might as well be transparent? Right? What is the point in trying hide silliness??

Back to me admitting..... that.... I sometimes find myself watching The Maury Show...

phew... did I just say that??

Oh dear, I need prayer.

I guess I should clarify. When I am home during the day, like today, I am usually, like today, doing laundry or something around the house - with the tv on as some background noise. Occasionally I find 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' - which I find fun because I like trivia and I really like to see if I am right on some of the tough questions :o)

Well.... then the show is over, I leave the room to throw in some more laundry and when I come back into the room, I hear in a very dramatic Maury voice... "Paul, you ARE the father....!"

and the crowd goes crazy and the lady on the show runs off the stage... and 15 minutes later, I blink and realize what the heck I am watching!!??!

I just laugh... because does Maury really look like the kinda guy that would host a paternity results show?
I just laugh... because every show is the same.
I just laugh... because, that show is probably so staged.... or maybe not, humm?

Please, don't judge. Because, if you know what show I am talking about.... you are just as guilty! ;o)

lazy days

I am definitely NOT going to tell you what time I woke up this morning - rather, what time I chose to keep sleeping til. That is a secret for only my pillow and I.

Point being, it inevitably creates in me a lazy day. Go figure!

by the way.... "go figure" suddenly sounded like the strangest phrase on earth. Does that ever happen to you? You say a common phrase or even a word and it all of a sudden sounds so odd?? Well it does to me kinda often....

Especially on lazy days...

Go figure.

It is days like today that I always get a list that seems to compile and compile, snowballing into a ridiculous length of things to do.

I am really exaggerating here.

Go figure.

I think of how hard my husband works, bringing home the bacon and then my list suddenly pales in comparison. Thank you God for always pointing out the "baby" in me (figuratively of course) (hehe, that was an awful attempt at humor... forgive me)

Point being, I am lazy at times. And that is when even the most simple of tasks on my list seem like the most strenuous. Of course a hair brush, clean clothes and shower would most likely encourage my need to venture out side of the apartment. Its just sooo hard to make it up those darn stairs ;o)

In my attempt to put off the tasks at hand, I did stumble across some of the CUTEST things! And guess what, I set up a registry for them..... Go figure!

They are on www.heavenlyhold.com
They are baby carriers. This one is a carrier and the other is a sling.If I had photo shop I would have stuck my face on these mommas, just for affects.

hummm..... so cute.

Basically, a glimpse into my lazy days: blogging, urging myself to shower and be productive, looking at baby things, and oh yeah - chasing my CRAZY cat around the place because he won't stop destroying things. He is no normal cat.

Gotta GO! He is knocking over my lamp!! ........... go figure

ants in your pants

hehe, although today it seems like there have been a lot of customers in unfortunate moods - I know that I can always rely on one kid saying something funny!

Today quote:

Bekky: "Joshie, you are squirmy! Do you have ants in your pants!?"

Joshie: "NO!!! But do you wanna see my underwear?"

hehehe. I definitely giggled at that one

errgg

Why is it that EVERY time I want to go run errands and get things accomplished outside the home it is ALWAYS raining??

Ok, I am sure it is not always raining, but we're talking a good 85%.

ahem....

I was literally about to get up from munching on my veggie stew, to venture out in to the fall cold and grab some safety pins and go to FedEx and BAM! I look outside and a drenching down pour began!

This happened a couple weeks ago too. I am just pulling up to the apartment with a truck FULL of groceries and BAM! drenching down pour.

There are times that I am in the grocery store and scoot on by the big sliding doors on my way to the check out line and BAM! drenching down poor.

Is it ever fun to load/unload groceries in the drenching rain? I think not... no matter how awesome my rain coat is.

It is also not fun to come home from a long trip, late at night and walk a 1/2 mile in the rain to your door because there is simply not enough parking......

It seems to rain a lot when were come home late too....

Alright, enough with the negative! I truly to enjoy a good rain shower and T-storm, but that is when I am inside with cozy candles lit, warm slippers, a hot beverage, and a good book. Those are the days :o)

we're almost famous!

A loooooong time ago, probably back last very early spring (whenever it was still pretty cold out) - Jonathan, his momma and I went to our most favorite lil' chocolate shop, Le Chocolat in downtown Naperville. We like it there. It is always so warm, cozy and quaint. Not to mention they have very delicious treats.

Personal favs include, but are surely not limited to the carmel toastie, English toffee, Bailey's Irish cream cake and the turtles

Anyway... back to the story. So we were there one evening enjoying some treats and quality time together and this man from the Chicago Tribune comes up to us, carrying a huge camera and bag with all the goods and asks us if we would be willing to take a few photos. Come to find out he was doing a piece for the Metro Mix!

"Umm sure..." we said.

The owner of Le Chocolat said that they were going to run it the following Thursday and they would have copies of it in the store. Since Cookies Cutters was little down the block from there, I thought I would hop over the following week and see if we made it into the Tribune!

Oddly, the paper was never available.... so we just thought... "boo, it would have been cool to see if we actually made it into the CHICAGO TRIBUNE!!!"

Months later, we get a call from our friends - and guess where they were and what they saw!!??

"You guys are in the wall at Le Chocolat!"

"What??"

"Yeah.. you are in some news paper article, framed and up on their wall!"

check it out!

Yup, that is definitely the hubster and I in that pictorial!
We just had to make a trip there to see the evidence. So why the heck not turn it into a lil' date time?
And our yummy treats...I got the caramel toastie... and ate the little square of goodness sooooo slowly, savoring every bite!
Jonathan got some like a peanut butter cup, but obviously a much better version of the Reese cup. It was pretty good, but awwwww, the toastie....

So there you have it. Almost fame! We felt special. And people that were in the shop kept asking us if that was us in the picture :o) If you live in the area and are ever in downtown Naperville - stop in there!

Sad day, Einstsin bagel, and a soft ball game

Well, yesterday at about this time we would have been finding out if our baby was a BOY or GIRL. But the moment the phone rang at 7:45am... i knew, I just knew, it was the "I'm sorry we are going to have to cancel your appointment and move it to next Wednesday" call. And it was! Jonathan popped his head around the corner as I was talking and he picked up on what was happening quickly. I was so sad, and I think that the nice lady on the other end of the line could tell (I couldn't help it... I wear my heart on my sleeve)

I just plopped down in the bathroom because it was the closest "seat" around, and Jonathan came up to my comfort... what a man, right?!?

In honesty, I was just so excited to go, that I felt the need to over exaggerate my disappointment and discontent. Total drama queen moment.. they don't happen often (Jonathan would say: "yeah right!" just kidding!!! He would not) My precious husband was being understanding, like always, patting my back and reminding me that, "The baby isn't going anywhere.."

I love him, but in my first reaction I wanted to say: " UMMM DUUUUUUHHHHHHHH -Thanks for the reminder!" but I didn't, because by the grace of God I felt comforted by his care :o) Thanks hubby!

Looking back... how pathetically scarcastic I wanted to be - all because I could not make it to an appointment yesterday... that I will now have in 6 days, AND like my wise father stated, "Well JuJu, most women in the past had to wait."

Whether dad knows this or not... I needed to hear that. I was being very selfish and impatience over a gift, that I have to wait a little longer to unwrap. A gift, not a right..... oh man, this could turn into a lecture or as we used to call them as kids "a proverb"

Ok, ok... I can't just let that pass with out explaining it some because it is to great of a childhood memory! My wonderful, inspiring, Godly mother was so gifted by God to instill in us Godly principles growing up. I know Jenna and I are both VERY thankful for this. She would find a lesson, "proverb" in EVERYTHING. It was awesome. We would have an encounter at the grocery store, we would get a "proverb" in the car ride home. In a tough time, God would provide for us, there was a "proverb." We were scared to start something new, there was a "proverb." We would leave church, there was a "proverb." We would watch a show together, and when the remote came up, and mute buttom pressed, Jenna and I would look at each other and laugh..."here comes a proverb!" my mom would giggle too and then continue with her thought. There were "proverbs" at most commercial breaks :o) You name it, my mom would have a proverb come out of it - it was just plain day to day wisdoms out of day to day life. I hope that I can be that diligent to find learning experiences and opportunities to teach my kids to grow from day to day experiences too. Thanks Mamma!

So, this post took a rapid turn that I was not expecting - but it was fun! So I will be quick and tell you that, I wrapped up what started as a sad day with a yummy Einstein bagel for breakfast, and a pumpkin spice latte at Jonathan's softball game last night, where I got to catch up on life with my sis. I love her and miss her and can't wait to see her again soon.