Monthly Archives: November 2014

My best friends.

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family2

We definitely have our moments–I’m pretty certain all mothers, daughters, and sisters do–but the three women in this photo are ladies I wouldn’t want to live without. I can remember as a young girl and teenager wishing I had a brother, but I don’t think we’d be nearly as close. I mean, I doubt I’d call him about “female” issues at 10 pm at night.

I couldn’t be more proud of my sisters, and if the Lord chooses to bless me with a daughter, I’d have to pray for another one or two so she wouldn’t have to face life without a sister and best friend.

Also, this shot was a simple self-timer photo. Nikon D7000, 50mm lens, ISO 500, 1/320 SS, f4.

 

Good Things

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In no particular order…things I’ve found on the glorious interwebs that I like, love, agree with, want, inspire me, etc.

This recipe is delish and super easy! My man approved as well. I made it a little too spicy for the boys, but that could  be adjusted.

Ruth Simons is not someone I know personally, but I so admire her! Her Instagram feed and blog are some of my absolute favorites. This post was just the reminder I needed after a REALLY rough, full of parenting fails day.

Just finished reading this book, (gotta keep up with all the great YA novels). I’d give it four out of five stars…pretty good mix of mystery, romance, and coming of age stuff.

Reading through this book as well, although admittedly I can finish a YA novel much quicker. My mom gave it to me, and it was pretty good timing to say the least…my almost four year old is proving to be as immovable as a mountain some days. I haven’t decided how much of the book I am in agreement with…

This is what’s for supper  tonight…saves me in a quick fix and great for church nights when we are in a rush.

And finally, my sister who is also an educator sent me this article recently, and it’s sad, but true…it touches on a big part of why I transitioned from the classroom to the library.

Roller Coaster

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SO. I haven’t written in a week because the past seven days have been a roller coaster of emotions. I am not sure that I’ve had a more difficult season in my life, and I know I’m supposed to “Count it all Joy” (James 1:2-4) but that has been THE HARDEST choice to make.

Last Monday night or maybe Tuesday–my days run together–we got a call from our realtor saying our buyers wanted us to sign paperwork to release them from the contract. My initial reaction was shock and LOTS of tears accompanied by that lovely I-wish-I-could-go-throw-up-because-then-I’d-feel-better feeling. Thankfully, my husband and father had a much less emotional reaction and were able to calm me down. Twenty-four hours later, we negotiated some things in order to keep our buyers happy. Basically, we are giving them a little more money for closing costs and  had to do some more in the way of repairs/improvements. It’s funny how literally for 48 hours it was all I could think of–and yet now, it seems like it was weeks ago and things are moving along fine. HOWEVER, I will not be excited, celebrate, or spend a dime on a non-necessity until we actually hand the keys to someone else!

 

This last week has also been an epic disaster in parenting. One evening, the husband was gone and I attempted bedtime with the boys solo. Sometimes, I wonder why I even try? What would be so bad about letting the boys stay up all hours of the night? It seems that if I try the bedtime routines alone I end up hating strongly disliking the boys for not going to sleep easily and hating  strongly disliking my spouse for not being there and then hating myself for thinking such terrible things. I mean, people are suffering all around the world, but if it’s 8:30, and my guys aren’t asleep, I turn into a crazy person.

That same disastrous evening ended in a drive attempting to get the boys asleep, some crazy text messages to my man, and me apologizing to my boys for losing my temper. After my apology, rather out of the blue, my older one says, “When I get bigger we can get married, and you can wear a princess dress and have flowers, and I can have flowers in my big black pocket.” I’m always amazed at how easily children can forgive, forget, and move on to something else. They definitely point out my flaws, but they remind me of how blessed I am as well.

Hopefully the rest of this week and the weeks to come won’t be as much of a roller coaster…

 

Thankful.

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I think sometimes it’s too hard to get out the “fancy” camera–my Nikon D7000–but if I don’t get it out, I miss capturing moments like this one:

red house

This was taken on “Moving Day,” October 11, 2014. It was a hectic day, and I almost didn’t pause and force us to take one last photo in front of our “red house,” as Cannon has so deemed it. I almost didn’t make Rusty grab Izzy, and now I’m SO thankful I did. I’m glad I forced my boys to stop and take a few seconds to “pose” for our picture. I am also glad for small things like the basket of “choo-choos” on the chippy-painted chair. I debated about getting them out of the frame (at the time or in post-processing), but I left them there as a reminder. It brings back the memory of how my older son carried that basket around for almost two weeks straight–probably out of fear that they would get packed away or he wouldn’t be able to find them at his “new house.” I’m thankful my husband is wearing his OU shirt–reminds me how we watched the OU/Texas game BEFORE moving (priorities), and how just a few hours after, he would be giving up football (on TV) for over a month.

I LOVE my family. I LOVE this photo. I do wonder though if I had known what the next couple weeks had in store, if I still would’ve had “Moving Day” on October 11th. I doubt I would.

Perspective…with a dash of Hope!

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I rarely talk about my job–I’m a school librarian, and I LOVE it. I will openly admit that I don’t work NEARLY as hard as I did as a classroom teacher, but I still get the joy of being around great students, teachers, and teaching the things I love–literature, research, technology, and general information skills. One of the things I’m thankful for about my work is the perspective it gives me. There are some days I come to school stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed with all the things that come from being a wife, mom, and still working full-time. Then, I’ll talk to some of my students or hear stories from a teacher, and my life suddenly becomes a cake-walk. I don’t have it HALF as hard as some of “my kids.” I have a great support system, and I have HOPE. HOPE that anchors my soul. HOPE in Jesus Christ.

Speaking of HOPE, we have had some encouragement on the home front! We got a call from our realtor recently that our buyers have a new contract on their home! It’s with a local bank and known lender this time–thankful! If their inspection and appraisal go smoothly, they’ll close at the end of November, which means we will close shortly after! My prayer is that we can also close before December–it’ll make the holidays less of a stress.

It’s amazing to me how one phone call from a realtor or one story from a student can change my perspective and remind me about the HOPE that I have.