Praying for Oklahoma

This is really all that needs to be said today.

We are safe and ok. We live about 30 miles from Moore, OK where the devastation from a F4 tornado occurred.

We have been watching continuous news coverage of all that is going on. I have been brought to tears numerous times, not only from stories of tragedy but from stories of hope.

In the midst of destruction there is still goodness around us.

Still so many unaccounted for, still so much destruction to work through. Please pray for the city of Moore and all that were affected by the tornado. Thank you friends.

New York City Day One

Luke and I got in late Saturday night from a wonderful week in New York City.

We have always wanted to go to NYC, we even played around with the idea of going there for our honeymoon five years ago but decided against it. After whirlwind wedding planning the best thing to do is to just go to the beach and sit. So our NYC trip got put on hold.

Then last summer when I saw that I could earn a FREE trip to NYC through Scentsy I knew I had to earn it. And so I did.

I know I say it all the time and at this point it's just redundant but I'm just so thankful for Scentsy and what it has done in my life. I've formed some awesome relationships, I'm able to do "extra" things because of my income, and it has now provided me with 2 free trips. I have never for a minute regretted joining this company.

Time for my trip recap....which will probably last several days. If you sent me an email or comment about your trip to NYC I read it like 15 times. I didn't get a chance to respond to everyone but I appreciate you taking the time to comment or email. I referenced them a lot while we were there.

And like everyone said there was SO MUCH to do there. We went into our trip with the idea that we wanted to relax some and see some of the "touristy" things. We didn't want to kill ourselves trying to see every single thing there was to see.

Ok...here we go.

Day One: Monday:

Our Monday started very early, a little too early. I had my alarm set for 4:00 am to get ready for our 7am flight, but Eli woke up around midnight with a fever.

PERFECT. I was already stressing out about leaving him, and feeling all those stupid mom guilt feelings and had finally convinced myself all was ok and then HE WOKE UP WITH A FEVER.

He was burning up and restless so I brought him to our bed and gave him some fever reducer. Between the swift kicks to my ribs by Eli in his sleep and worrying about where I ranked on the WORST MOM EVER scale for leaving my child with a fever to go to NYC I got about an hour and a half of sleep.

Luke's parents spent the night with us so they could take us to the airport and then take Eli home with them. From the moment we got in the car to go to the airport I wanted to cry. I know it's normal to leave your baby and every couple needs time alone together and BLAH BLAH, but all I could think about was leaving my precious baby boy.

By the time we got to the airport I was a bawling mess. I'm sure Luke's parents were just ready for me to get out of the car because of ALL THE INCESSANT CRYING. You never would have thought I was going on a free trip. I was acting like someone was shipping me off to boot camp.

After about my 10th time of kissing Eli and telling him "mama and dad WILL BE BACK"  Luke practically peeled me away from him and told me it was enough. Then we made our way into the airport.

Does anybody else get incredibly stressed when flying? I looked it up and there is actually a condition known as "travelers anxiety". It's probably just a term that WebMD came up with to appease all the hypochondriacs like me, so when we are traveling we can say "well I have travelers anxiety" and sound all sophisticated rather than screaming "OUR PLANE IS GOING TO CRASH AND I LEFT MY BABY BOY" and sounding all crazy.

Several other Scentsy friends were at the airport headed to NYC with us so it was fun to see them, and it helped ease a little bit of my travelers anxiety.

The plan ride wasn't too awful, although it was on one of those smaller planes ( I hate those). This girl looks so calm and cool. Unlike the real life girl who was fighting symptoms of travelers anxiety (it's real I promise).

We landed in Chicago around 9am and we were supposed to get on our flight to NYC at 11:00. Well we did get on our plane and took a picture all excited about going to the city....

Then they came on the speaker and said a "part" of the plane was broken and we needed to get off. Then an hour later they announced that our light was cancelled. Cue running across the airport to book another flight.

I was shocked that an airline can just CANCEL A FLIGHT. How is that even possible? Anyways we got on a later flight and ended up spending a lot of time in the airport. Which means my travelers anxiety lasted all day long. I was able to get some of that famous Garrett's Popcorn that I always hear so much about. As a popcorn lover I can say that it was very yummy.

We finally made it into New York City around 6pm and were whisked off in our shuttle to our hotel.

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria which was amazing. I've always heard that the hotel rooms in NYC are very small but these weren't bad at all. I have absolutely no complaints about our hotel, it was fabulous.

President Obama was at our hotel the first night we were there so security was everywhere along with protesters. It was fun to see people protesting in NYC and I might add it looked a little fun. They were all chanting together and seemed to be having fun, although I have NO idea what they were chanting about.

Luke and I unloaded our stuff in our room and hit the town. We walked to Times Square to see it all lit up at night. That place is AMAZING. Oh gosh I just love it there. All the people, and the hustle and bustle, and the lights, and the giant poster ads. It's just SO COOl.

We found a nice little Italian restaurant (of course) to eat at and enjoyed our first dinner in the city.

Then we went back to the hotel and crashed since we had been up all stinking day long. Before we went to bed we made a little game plan of what we wanted to do the next day. And then we went to sleep to get ready for Day two!

Boxes in my Attic

Well I knew it would happen. I knew May would come and with all that we have going on this month that blogging would take a backseat.

Unfortunately working out has taken a bigger back seat, although eating all the junk in the world has NOT taken a back seat, so you can imagine how well that's going.

Reminder to my self: do not back those jeans that are a bit too big, mama is gonna need them after May.

Today during Eli's nap-time I conquered all the boxes that have been sitting in our attic for the past 3 years. And there were A LOT of boxes in there.

I knew some could be condensed and I could get rid of some stuff that didn't need to be moved.

I'm the type of person who likes to save things. I have a sentimental story for every single item in our house. I can tell you where I was when I got it, what kind of mood I was in etc. etc.

This is not a good trait to have when wanting to get rid of "stuff". I found a ROCK that I saved because Luke picked it up and handed it to me one time.

Nothing special. He was just joking around and picked up a rock and said here is a gift, it was a joke. AND I KEPT THE FREAKING ROCK.

Something is wrong with me. We were dating at the time which at this point was forever ago, so when I came across the rock I asked Luke if he remembered it. He of course didn't and gave me his blessing to get rid of it.

I put it back in the box. I've kept that rock too long to get rid of it now.

I also found a stack of blank envelopes that I saved for all these years.

Because THAT'S NOT A SIGN OF A HOARDER. Blank envelopes? Just weird.

Going through old boxes is an adventure. Finding lots of things you can part with, old clothes you are glad you don't wear anymore, tons of tiny baby clothes that make your mama heart hurt and smile all at the same time, and lots of pictures and notes from friendships of the past - ones that you know will never be the same but you smile at all the memories. And then stick the notes back in the box because you might want to read them again in three years.

Obviously going through boxes makes me an emotional mess.

And I've decided I would rather have the label "emotional" than "hoarder" I save tons of cards, notes, dried up flowers, MOVIE STUB TICKETS, napkins, journals, various rocks because I am an emotional being. NOT because I'm a hoarder.

This is another reason why I haven't been blogging, because nobody cares about the contents of the boxes in my attic.

But it's all I've got to share for now.

Maybe tomorrow I will have some riveting details of what I find in my kitchen cabinets.

Stay tuned.

Moving and organization

A couple of weeks ago we put our house on the market.

We decided it was time to move to somewhere else in our town so we got it all cleaned up and listed it on the market.

And by "we" I mean I hired someone to come get my house all cleaned up. I realize to some it seems like an oxymoron for a stay at home mom to hire a house cleaner. Just all me an oxymoron. Or whatever you want. House cleaners are god-sent. Like little angels from above with mops and dusting contraptions I didn't even know existed.

We figured we would list our house and then look around for a house while it was on the market. Basically we saw it as a slow process.

Then six days later we got an offer on our house. We did that back and forth thing that buyers and sellers do and then came to an agreement.

And in just a short bit we will be homeless

Honestly at first I wasn't stressed, but the closer our move out date moves upon us the more I start to stress.

This whole selling your house in six days thing is awesome for people who  move slow. I'm not a slow mover by nature but Luke is a very slower mover (anybody remember our 18 year courtship) so this is rocking our world.

Because we are scheduled to move soon I've been packing our house up bit by bit.

Do you know how much JUNK one family can acquire in a short amount of time?

A LOT.

So instead of stressing about finding a house and not being homeless and all that nonsense I've been stressing about the amount of stuff we own in this house. I'll leave the bigger stressful stuff to Luke.

I've been using the stress to organize our home.

Because clearly, if you are going to be moving and packing everything up you want it to be as organized as possible before throwing it in those moving boxes.

I'm talking I've been organizing our books by category. What is wrong with me? This is NOT required for throwing them in a box.

I've never claimed to be a person who makes a lot of sense. I just am me.

It should be an interesting next month as we already had a fairly busy May planned and then we threw in packing, moving and finding a new house or temporary housing until we find something.

Fun times at the Tree house.

I have no way to end this other than stay tuned.....and come help me organize if you want.

Books I've Read Recently

It's been awhile since I've shared books I've been reading. And as a person who always loves recommendations I love to suggest books for other people to read.

So, here is what I've been reading lately....

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

I'm sure most have heard of this book. It's about a little boy who is very sick and has a  heavenly experience.

First of all, as a mom this book was so hard to read. This sweet little boy was so sick, and there was nothing they could do about it. That part was just so hard and gut-wrenching for me to read. My verdict is still out on whether I believe all of it to be true. I am by no means saying that I think the author made it up, I just wonder how much the boy could remember or stuff like that. Regardless it was a good, easy and quick read. And it got me thinking for sure.

What Women Fear by Angie Smith

I love Angie Smith. I have now had the privilege to hear her speak live twice and I love her even more. I've always been a fan of her blog and read her first book about her pregnancy with her daughter Audrey. This book, What Women Fear, was perfect for me. I have ALWAYS struggled with fear. I'm at the point in my life where I can make jokes about my fears and taking pills and therapy and all that, but it is all very real and something I have to give to the Lord continuously. I took away some awesome points from this book and just overall enjoyed the teaching of Angie. 

Most Talkative by Andy Cohen

Oh how I love Andy Cohen. I am a fan of the Real Housewives of ANYWHERE franchise and Andy Cohen is the "mastermind" if you will behind it all. I expected his book to be hilarious and it did NOT disappoint. Andy is a very funny man and writes just like he talks. I wanted to read this book because I was interested in his background and how he got to where he is. I knew he had a background in journalism at CBS and had a strong presence during the OKC bombing and I wanted to hear his take on everything. It was very interesting to me. Keep in mind this book is full of inappropriate language and some inappropriate topics, but it was a funny read and I liked learning about Andy and his background.

Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shanklee

I think I've said once (or a million times) that I love the Big Mama blog and Melanie is one of my most favorite bloggers ever. I would venture to say that she IS my most favorite blogger ever and I want to be her BFF but that would make me sound a bit creepy and fan girl'ish so I won't say that, instead I will say go read this book. Now. You will thank me later. 

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

This book is about prayer, and I can honestly say it has changed my life. It has changed the way I pray, the way I view prayer, the way I think about prayer. I have pretty much recommended this book to anybody and everybody I have come into contact with since starting it. I could probably write a whole book based off of what I've read in this book and how it has effected my life so far. 

The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers 

This series is amazing. Francine Rivers is a christian fiction author, and is the author of a very popular book Redeeming Love. My grandma gave me the Mark of the Lion series several years ago and has asked me many times if I had chance to read it yet. Finally this year I picked it up and finished the series in about short amount of time. VERY short amount of time. And as soon as I was done I wanted to pick it up and read it again. I wasn't yet ready to let the character go. If you are looking for a good fiction read go find this series and start it. A little disclaimer: the first part of the first book is sloow and a little bit hard to follow BUT it sets you up for the most wonderful story of all time. 

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Eh. Typical Nicholas Sparks book. Not a book I would read again OR recommend. Plus the ending was just PLAIN WEIRD. 

Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury

Karen Kingsbury is another Christian fiction author whom I love. I read her series the Redemption series several years ago and this is the final book in that series. I had been looking forward to this book for awhile and was excited to sit down and finally read it. I was not expecting to BAWL my way through the book. If you haven't read the Redemption series do yourself a favor and read it. And then if you feel like crying so much that your entire face is puffy and you aren't sure you want to continue on with life then read this final book.

So there are some books I've read recently. I'm reading a couple more right now and I will blog about them when I'm done. Or 8 months later, that seems to be how I do things around here.

Anybody have any good books to recommend? Clearly I read books of all genres so I'm game for anything! 

Working out with Spiderman

Today is "does it really make a difference" day.

First of all we have time out. Eli has become all too familiar with time-out lately. Whether it is him acting a-fool at the dinner table, or refusing to let me change his diaper or get him dressed or throwing fits that I'm pretty sure our neighbors an acre over can here, he will find himself in time-out because of these actions.

Well recently Eli started putting himself in time-out. For instance this morning he threw a doozy of a fit. I'm talking screaming, fake crying, and rolling around on the floor. Then just as quickly as it started he stood up, walk to time out and sat there.

It's very hard to not laugh at your child when he DISCIPLINES HIMSELF. He has all the standard first born characteristics already.

I let him sit there for two minutes and then let him get up.

Then I wondered how affective is time-out if it's a place that he WANTS to go sit?

Or maybe he realized that is actions were wrong and deserved a punishment?

Either way he's basically a toddler-genius. This we already know.

The second question is how affective is working out when you have a toddler running around you "shooting webs" from his hand at you?

Eli was playing in our room this morning and seemed to be doing a mighty fine job of entertaining himself, so I decided to use this opportunity to do a little Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels. If I skip her super slow warm up and cool down parts (I do them on my own and not as slow) then it is actually a pretty quick, and good workout.

Well shortly into my workout Eli decided to join me - he does this sometimes and it ends up being really fun. He will do the exercises with me and then do his own thing and then come back and workout with me.

Consider it our Jillian Michaels bonding time.

However this morning he decided he was spiderman and was trying to 'beat me up" while I was doing my ripped thang.

I used photo booth on my computer to record a bit of what was going on because I knew Luke would find it hilarious

.

While I was trying to get Ripped in 30 and Eli was attacking me I wondered just how affective this workout was when I was halfway doing the exercises while dodging a 28 pound ball of energy.

Did halfway doing the workout really even matter? Maybe it mattered more?

And I look completely ridiculous doing my workout, usually I do them in the privacy of my house while NOT filming it for the 10 people who read my blog to see, just focus on the small child running around the bottom of the screen.

This is just another one of those times when I wonder and try to remember what life was like before I had a child who doubled as spiderman. Not nearly as entertaining that's for sure.

Friendship

This week's Build Em Up post is about friendship.

Obviously having friends is an important part of life. I mean who goes through life not wanting friends or not needing friends?

I have been blessed by friendships in my life and stressed by friendships in my life. I think I've reached a point in my life where I've realized that some people are in our lives for just seasons and that's ok.

I've also realized that not every friendship is identical. I think for awhile I tried to put all my friendships in the same box. If I have this, this and this in common with person A then I MUST have those same things in common with person B.

It made no sense and put unrealistic expectations on friendships. So as with anything in life I'm learning along the way, learning what being a good friend looks like. Learning HOW to be a good friend. And learning that its ok to let some friendships go, and its ok to fight for some friendships.

I have so many friends in my life that bless me. Some are friends that I've known for YEARS. You know those kind of friends that you can hang out with or talk on the phone with after not talking for months and feel like not a second has passed since you last saw them.

I have my college friends who will probably always be a constant in my life. We may not see each other but once a year, and we may not talk as often as we could but these are people that were with me during some very important years in my life. They were my family away from my family. They were there when I met my future husband and all the ups and downs of that. We may all be different people now and be in different places of our lives, but I am grateful and thankful for these girls.

Then we have "recent' friends, meaning friends who have come into my life the past couple of years. Whether it was through blogging, through Scentsy, or just through living life I have been able to develop some pretty fabulous friendships.

To me, friendship is about doing life with people. Friends are people I know I can call on when I need prayer or encouragement, and I hope and pray that they know they can do that with me.

Not every friendships is equal, not every friendship is made up of the same components and I now realize that not every friendship will last forever. I am working on having grace with other people and with myself. I think this is the key to a good friendship...grace.

I don't really have any advice on how to get, make, or keep friends. I think these are just lessons you learn as you go through life. I do think I'm that overzealous friend that tends to come on a little strong. When I go into a friendship I automatically assume that the person is my new BFF and I will start texting them and sharing inside jokes with them almost immediately. This is probably scary to some and I've learned to back off a bit. And then others embrace it....

I guess you can tell if a friend is good if they are as crazy (or crazier) than you are!

I would absolutely love to go on a girl's trip one day, it wouldn't have to be anything big - just a bunch of my friends together in a cabin laughing and having fun and eating lots of queso.

Hmmm maybe I just planned my 30th birthday?

If I've learned anything about friendship it is that there is no true definition of friendship. We are all unique individuals and together we make up unique friendships, no two friendships being the same.

I am thankful for the people that inspire me, challenge me, and listen to me. My friends.