WHAT I LEARNED IN MARCH

I’m linking up again with Emily Freeman to share some things I’ve learned this month. March has been fabulous, and I have really enjoyed the glimpses of warmer weather. In no particular order, here are 5 things March taught me...

1). Zumba is super fun. 

I’ve been attending a zumba class once a week with a couple of my girlfriends from church, and I have LOVED it. The first week I attended, I laughed the entire time, knowing that I looked ridiculous as I tried to imitate everything our instructor was doing. My hips don’t quite move like his. I’ve embraced it though, and I’m picking up on the dances better each week. When I come home from class, Chris always asks me to show him some of the zumba moves I picked up that evening. It always provides a good laugh. 

2). Carson, on The Voice, seems to genuinely root for the contestants on the show. 

I don’t watch the show regularly, but sometimes, I will watch it to pass the time while I’m washing dishes. I’ve noticed this trait about him when it shows the family and friends of the contestants waiting to see if one of the judges will turn their chairs around. He’s hunkered down with them, rooting and cheering the contestants on. Sometimes, he even shouts at the judges to turn their chairs, like one of the family members would. He may be acting, but it appears to be heartfelt. I find it endearing. 

3). Ellie Holcomb

I stumbled upon this beautiful artist through Instagram this month. I love her voice and the simplicity of her sound. I also love her name. Listen to her latest album here.

photo via

4). Basically everything on this list. Did you know it never actually says that Humpty Dumpty is an egg? Who came up with that?

5). Sketchy bowling provides lasting memories 

One of my favorite things about our church is our small group. We have so much fun with these people. On a recent fun night out, our bowling plans changed when league night took over the bowling alley we had planned on going to. We ended up at a very sketchy alley instead and were the ONLY people in the place. It left us wondering how they were still open, especially considering the peeling paint, water stained ceiling tiles, musky smells, and the dead cockroach on the vanity in the bathroom. We made it out alive, and Fritz seemed to be the boys lucky charm. 

The boys with Fritz

REMEMBER, YOUR GOD IS FAITHFUL

If I could go back in time, if I could let myself know what it would be like now, I would tell myself stories of His faithfulness.....

• When you’re wondering what’s next, where to go from here, you’ll be given time to heal, people who will stand by you and encourage you, time to rest and reflect. 

• When you’re longing for a church to call home again, you’ll be blown away. Your desires will be answered in every way imaginable. 

 

• When you’re worried about the house selling, how you’ll be able to afford rent in AL and a house payment in GA . . . You’ll watch God amaze you. Your house will sell before it is even listed. Better yet, it will sell to two precious girls whom you love. 

• When you’re trying to figure out where to live temporarily and you're frustrated about renting a house for more than you were paying for your mortgage, God will provide the perfect place. It will have all the space you need, at the price you need. You’ll love the view. 

• When fear creeps in, your husband will amaze you. You’ll watch him do his thing, and your heart will be full as you think back to that 16 year old boy you fell in love with. You’ll see the power of Christ alive in him. 

• When you’re doubting your place in AL, you’ll be so thankful for a season of rest. You’ll have time with Jesus like you’ve never had before. You’ll have 8+ hours of sleep almost every night, and you will love it. 

• When you’re sad about leaving behind friends and family, you’ll be blessed with amazing new relationships. You’ll have a small group that you look forward to every week. You’ll have a group of girlfriends that you’ve not had since college. You’ll have a church family that welcomes you in and loves you like you’ve been there for years. 

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So as questions linger.... 

As you sort through applications and work on your resume, as you wonder what, where, and when you’ll teach again, remember, Your God is faithful. 

As you long for a family of your own and dream of baby West, remember, Your God is faithful.

As you long to see lives changed, prayers answered, the sick healed, remember, Your God is faithful.

THINGS I LEARNED IN JANBRUARY

I follow Emily Freeman’s blog, and at the end of each month, she shares things she has learned throughout the month. Not anything super deep or serious - just fun, quirky, unusual, sometimes meaningless things she’s picked up over the previous month. 

I started this post at the end of January, and then my computer died. Or so I thought. Currently, it's working, so here are 10 things I learned in January and February, or Janbruary.


1). I can say no to Dunkin Donuts. This is a big deal. I said no to Dunkin Donuts a lot in January. The same cannot be said for February. 


2). Weeky trips to the gym with Becky have taught me that there are muscles in my body I did not know existed. 


3). This is my most pinned pin. Cracks me up. 

4). My Tia’s first name is Emma. I grew up thinking it was Louise. That’s what everyone called her and how she got her other nickname, Weezer. Chris’ grandmother’s first name is also Emma. Chris and I thought it was Lunette. Emma Louise and Emma Lunette - who knew? Apparently, everyone except us.

5). Do not put a sticky note near your lips. It will tear your lip skin off. 

6). People do not know what the state of NC looks like. Every time I wear this necklace, I get asked what state it is or if I’m from TN or SC. I know it’s not super defined on the right side, but come on people, it’s NC!

7). Don’t open your eyes under water in a hot tub - even if you want to see what the bubbles look like. Fun fact I picked up from one of our 7th grade boys on our Winter Retreat. Cracked me up. 

8). Mice suck and old school mouse traps from Dollar General do not work. We HAD a mouse, and it ate my mother’s homemade sour dough bread and nibbled on my bowl of Hershey kisses. NOT ok, mouse! Target saved the day. 

9). Breaking Bad is good and terrible all at the same time. There’s no one to root for, and what did they do to Landry?

10). This kid exists and is awesome. 

Try this link if you don’t see the video. 

HELLO MONDAY

I’m starting the week with some hellos, linking up with the lovely Lisa Leonard. I stumbled upon her blog a couple of years ago, and I fell in love with her jewelry and family. She has a son with special needs, and her pictures and stories of him melt my heart.

Every Monday, she greets the new week, so here’s what I’m saying hello to this week - hoping these provide me with some much needed motivation. 

Hello dirty dishes waiting in the sink...you’ve only been waiting to be cleaned all weekend. Be grateful for your dishwashers. We’re renting right now and are without one, but when we own a home again, I think I will have a new appreciation for loading the dishes. Two things to be thankful for: (1) There’s only two of us. (2) The view outside my kitchen window. 

Hello Christmas tree that is still up. I excused it the first couple of weeks after Christmas. By the time we finally got unpacked from our move, I got to enjoy our Christmas decorations for a week or so before we left to visit family and friends for the holidays. I was in no hurry to put away our decorations when we got back. Fast forward a few more weeks and here we are, with our Christmas tree still glowing at night. I complained last night when I had to turn it off. We were watching Netflix, and the glow coming from the tree interfered with the Wii. When I disappointedly got up to turn the tree off, Chris sweetly reminded me that January is almost over. Whoops. It’s on my to-do list this week. 

Hello new baby. One of my college roommates is having her baby this week! I’m excited. I’m even more excited that I’ll get to play the role of fake auntie now that we live 20 minutes from each other. 

Hello North Carolina - I’ll be seeing you soon. Looking forward to a trip home to visit with my sweet family. 

Hello substitute application - really need to get working on you! 

Hello gym. I’ve started going to the gym once a week with our Children’s Minister. Once a week - I know, it’s not very impressive, but it’s a start! I literally have not worked out in years, and believe me, I feel every muscle. Becky is a fitness guru so it’s been fun and comical to participate in the workouts she puts together. 

Hello beautiful weather. I plan on enjoying the 60 degree weather for the day. 

Hello Monday. Hello to a new week, full of fresh grace. 

Hope yours is fantastic.  

BLOG FAIL

Seven months ago, I attempted to start a blog.

I failed.  

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and after writing my first post, I wanted my blog to look pretty, like all those websites out there that people are paid to make look pretty. I’m too frugal for that, especially since I had all of one post, so I spent hours searching for free pretty backgrounds, headers, and tried to make them work with the template I chose. I could NOT get it to work. It looked correct if I was on my computer, but the mobile version of my blog would NOT apply my design. It was UGLY, and it bothered me.  I spent hours trying to resolve this issue, and I even got my super talented sister to try and help me with it. My love attempted to encourage me to continue writing posts, telling me that it didn’t matter what it looked like. He didn’t understand. It had to be pretty before people saw it because you might judge my ugly blog. I know, that sounds really stupid. Why did I care whether or not you would like it (assuming someone out there would look at it)?

I care way too much about what others think. It’s one of my weaknesses, and at the core of it is pride, ugly pride. And it stopped me. I got frustrated and annoyed enough that I quit trying to make it work, and I eventually just gave up. Summer continued on and then school started back, and I completely forgot about it . 

Enter a new season in my life. 

We’ve had some BIG changes in life recently. About 2 months ago, we left our home, jobs, family and friends in GA, and moved to AL to follow God’s lead for a job for Chris. It’s been scary, sad, amazing, and exciting all at the same time. One of the HARDEST things about leaving GA was leaving my job as a special needs preschool teacher. I loved it. It was my dream job, and I had the honor of loving on my babies for 6 1/2 years. As hard as it was to leave, it was obvious to us and our family and friends that God was calling us to a new place.

We have absolutely loved our new home. Our new church is amazing and exactly what we have been praying for, for years. We have new friends that we have bonded with very quickly. Chris LOVES his job, and I LOVE sleeping in. It’s awesome. My days are spent hanging out with Matilda, running errands, reading/journaling, visiting with friends, helping Chris at work, and whatever else comes up. It’s a lovely break from the stress of teaching, paper work, and IEPs. I know it won’t last forever, so I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Since I’ve had more down time these days, I’ve been keeping up better with blogs I enjoy reading. Recently, one of my other beautiful sisters started her own blog. I’ve loved reading her journey; you should too. As I’ve read her blog, it’s reminded me of my own blog fail. Nattie doesn’t give up. That’s something I love about her. I need a lesson or two in that area. Because I couldn’t get my blog to work (look pretty), I gave up. I know it sounds cheesy to make some life lesson out of this for me, but being a perfectionist, I fear failure. It often keeps me from doing things I want to do because I’m afraid I’ll mess up, fail, not do a good enough job, etc. Like the time it took me 3 years to commit to measuring our windows and purchasing blinds for our house because I was afraid we would measure incorrectly, spend a lot of money, and then they wouldn’t fit and couldn’t be returned because they were cut to fit our windows. It took a student asking me at church, “Why don’t you have blinds up in your house?”, and then telling me that she could see us when she drove by our house to finally get me motivated to measure windows with Chris. We did, and they worked, and I regretted not doing it sooner.

Since I gave up so easily the first time, I have been attempting to make this blog thing work again.  After trying to use other people’s templates and design again, and it STILL not work on my mobile version, I decided to try and make my own. I am one of the least tech-savy people you will meet, but after a quick google search, this lady proved to be very helpful. 

So seven months later, I am finally pleased enough with it to share with you. The over-achiever/people-pleaser/perfectionist/pride thing is a continual work in progress. Thank goodness for grace. 

And hopefully, I’ll start using this space as I intended to back in June. 

TIME TO START

The other day, I was checking the few blogs I follow, and I stumbled upon this:

the nester

For the past few months, I’ve rolled around the idea in my head to start a blog. I love keeping prayer journals. I actually have those dating back to my eighth grade year. It’s amazing (and hilarious) to see how I have grown in the Lord since then. Just so you can laugh with me, here is a sample from my first prayer journal:

01/23/98 - 
Heavenly Father, you are such an awesome Lord, and I thank you so much for another day of life. Lord, I ask that you would take to heart the following concerns.

I like that I asked God to “take to heart” my concerns. What’s even better is most entry is very similar to this, followed by a page and a half of every thing ever I could think to pray about, including getting my dog to wake me up in the morning before she peed in the floor of my bedroom. I’m serious. 

Even though I laugh at myself SO many times as I look through these journals, I treasure them. They hold my struggles, my sin, my healing, my questions, and my heart. His faithfulness shines through them. It’s amazing to go back and see His hand working in situations when I couldn’t see it at the time. These moments make my heart leap, and as I’ve thought about how much these journals mean to me, I've wanted something similar to keep up with life in general. Day-to-day life, pretty things, work, trips, things I’m learning, projects, yummy recipes, and whatever else floats my boat will *hopefully* be here. 

It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while and for whatever reason, I’ve just not started. Maybe it will even inspire me to tackle a few of those Pinterest ideas too. 


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