Birthday Blessings

Today is my dear husbands birthday. What comes to mind when I want to tell people about him... servant leader. Honestly. He works SO hard for our family, and rarely takes a break. He is solid, ALWAYS there for me. He laughs at me a lot, and I think that is a good sign. He is my best friend, my closest confidant, the one who challenges me to be better, we pray together almost every day, and he means what he says with all his heart. We watch movies together that make him cry and hug me really hard, I get pouty when I don't get enough time with him actually staring at my face when we talk. I discovered that when he is gone I literally cannot sleep. Not because I am scared, because it is now completely unnatural for me to sleep without him right next to me. We go on dates a lot now that we have a child- I know that's backwards. He has beautiful blue eyes that really stand out in pictures and yay for us, evy got them too. He smells good, I love hugging him and smelling that smell that only he has- its home to me. He is one of the most patient people I know, with me, evy, riley, we all test his patience at one time or another. He tells me he loves me every day. He says good bye to me every morning and gets evy for me every night when she wakes up. He does dishes, he loves God, and isn't afraid to show it, even in front of a lot of people, like when he is leading worship at our church. What job is more important than leading others in worship? When I think about my life before him, I laugh because he has made me the happiest and most fulfilled I have ever been. He gave me a lifetime commitment, a child, a marriage that points others to Christ (I hope) a life of service, and so much more. He is my provider and protector and everything that God intended him to be. Even when things are hard with money, or time, or whatever it is, when I look at it from the right perspective I can't help but be at peace because- get ready for it- I really am beyond blessed!

Some News

So in this race to do the best you can at life. He he. We are making a change (hopefully) in that direction. We own our townhouse in Hugo, we were not planning on selling it any time soon, and we couldn't even if we wanted to, it is worth far less than what we bought it for. Not a good feeling, but it's ok. We have planned on renting it out as an investment, maybe for quite a few years, depending on the economy.

In order to have the money to move on to something else, we need time to save up, which we haven't done while living here. So... we are going to move in with my Dad. In Lindstrom. My sisters think that I am crazy, but I am just thankful for the opportunity. Not many people have this option, and we are excited to see what happens. My Dad is single, living in this big house alone, and we will fill it and keep things hopping. No more meals in front of the TV Dad!

This is a scary step for us in leaving the only home we've had since being married, but we know that the future is open, that anything can happen at this point, and it is exciting to see what will!

I feel like there are so many areas in our life where God is stretching us to learn to trust, and it has not been easy. But we didn't ask for the easy path, did we? Bring the rain... Sometimes it takes being brave and saying, "Lord, do what you want with me, I'm willing to go through the storm, so that I can be closer to You and help others be closer to You." Sometimes there are things we go through and it's not even for us, it's for other people to learn and grow through our trial. I know I've been that person, learning from others, and that is why it is so important to share what God is doing, don't waste those opportunities. Okay. Back on track. :)

So I think that we are aiming for September, and that is if we can even find a decent renter and get packed up before then. But if it's supposed to happen... it will! My Dad is not happy about us bringing Riley with because of his shedding... but I just can't bear to think of pawning him off on someone else for a year. He is part of the family. So we're not sure how that is going to go...

Now you are updated. On that. But there is so much more! It will have to wait for another time :)

Evy with her first cone, she loved it of course!

Time goes on. It is so interesting to me as I get older, I understand more and more what "adults" go through, where they are coming from, and why they do the things they do. It used to be hard to understand them. I used to think, "When I'm in that place in my life, I will be so much better, I'll do things differently." Well, now I'm in that place, and it is hard to be different. We struggle with a lot of the same things my parents struggled with. Sure, I've learned from their mistakes, but life is life, and we are all going through it.

As I continue to enter into this "adult" stage, with responsibilities and children depending on you for everything, I realize more and more how important it is to redeem the time, to keep the big picture out in front of you. Too many days go by and I feel like I was so bogged down with getting things done that I didn't play with evy or I didn't enjoy the gorgeous sunset.

I understand now why people put so much weight into making the most of every moment. I am striving to rise out of the mundane, every day sameness, and make memories as much as I can. Sure, you have responsibilities, and yes, I let my laundry go sometimes, but the challenge is making sure that I am laughing with my husband, that I threw the ball for the dog, that I taught evy a new word.

I hate that feeling of just going through, doing what you need to do, and not making memories while in the midst of it.

ps this is leading into another post, later :)

Thankful for Family

Last Monday I got a dreaded phone call that you never want to get. "Hi, I got in a car accident and I think I broke my jaw, the ambulance is taking me to the hospital" my mind travels back to the other calls in my life with someone rushing to the ER. My husband cutting himself with a saw blade, another time thinking he had broken his ankle, my Dad with kidney stones, Grandma with heart trouble, the list could go on. This time it was my Dad. I don't panic in these situations, immediately I am calm because I need to be strong for this person who is in the crises.

I make a few phone calls and get down to the ER as soon as possible with my husband beside me, afraid of what I will find.

He is in a bed, but no one has come to help him yet, face clearly swollen with a definite disjointed jaw. 10 hours and another ambulance ride later, we are headed home from a different hospital with a diagnosis: broken jaw, will be "fixed" tomorrow, try to sleep tonight.

The cop had come to the hospital while we waited and talked about how "lucky" my Dad was to be alive, that most people don't walk away from this kind of accident. We know he isn't lucky, God wants him here for a reason.

His jaw is now wired shut and he can only "eat" through a straw, this should last for 6 weeks. He is discouraged and I don't blame him.

On Wednesday we went to get the rest of his things from his totaled car, and what we saw was unnerving. He could have died. Easily. I won't allow my mind to go there, it would be too hard. To lose both parents before their "time"? Not fathomable. All I can do is be thankful. And continue to reassure him that he is here for a reason. His work here for the Lord is not over. And you can't argue with that.

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful that I didn't receive a different call that day, and then have to call my sisters with worse news. I'm thankful that my daughter will grow up knowing at least one of my parents and see at least half of who I am through Grandpa. Have you taken time to Thank God for your family today?

I'm back!

It's been a long time, I am not going to feel guilty about it, because I feel like every blog I have read has had a "guilty author" at some point or another, and to be honest, I wasn't feeling that inspired. I felt like I didn't have much to share with the "world" or in my case, anyone who happens upon this little hidden journal.

I will give a few updates. Evy is doing so wonderfully. I just can't believe how much I have to be thankful for. We are starting to get to know more and more of her personality, and unlike her looks, she takes after her momma in this department. She has been so talkative lately! She can say about 7 or 8 words already and it has been so fun to witness. She is not walking yet but she is pretty fast at scaling along all the furniture and human/dog legs that she can find. We are just enjoying every minute with her and at this rate we are just going to keep going. Ha ha! I keep kidding that I want to be just like the Duggars, it isn't completely true but I like to see people's reactions. I do just love that family!

Alex is doing well, he is so busy right now with so many things and I am thankful that we have had some time together as a family. He is going away for a long weekend golf trip with my Dad. He definitely deserves it. I'm a little nervous about being alone that long with Evy but I think that my sister is going to stay with us so that should help a lot.

We have been enjoying our summer so much it was really busy with my sisters wedding and we had a great time but I am glad that it's over. Be back soon!

Organizing

For some reason I can't write in paragraphs! Annoying! I will try again later... Alex is teasing me and calling me "Danny Tanner". Recently I have become obsessed with cleaning and organizing. No, I'm not pregnant, I just have the most energy that I've had in the last year- so celebrate and clean! Ha ha. but really, I'm running out of things to organize, which is really neat. Don't get me wrong, I still have PLENTY to keep me busy, but last night Alex and I agreed to clean out the garage today, which made me really happy to have another thing organized and clean, hence the "Danny Tanner" comment. If you don't know what I mean, I'm guessing you didn't grow up around the same time as me. I wanted to share about my closet and thrift stores (Random). Everyone has mixed feelings about thrift stores, great, I just wanted to talk about my newest opinion. I cleaned out my closet and went through all of Alex's things. I mean, ALL. He had about 50 tshirts that he used to wear when he worked construction every day. "Used to" being the key phrase here. So I managed to get rid of as many things as I could and had quite the trunk full to drop off at the good will store. So on the way back from a friends house I went to the one in Stillwater, a couple friends that were following me decided to come with and check it out. I wasn't even planning on going in but decided to since they were stopping too. Now, any store that just has racks and racks I don't do well in. I just have a hard time going through every aisle and looking. But my friend Sam started to find all these cute tops, so guess who had to start looking! I ended up spending $35 dollars on 10 children's books, 3 cardigans, and 4 dressy tops, who would have thought? And most of the things still had the tags on them. Needless to say, I am now open to spending the time and going to the thrift store, because it was definitely worth it! Sometime soon I will post pictures of all my great finds- that could be fun! The neatest part was that I only bought things that I knew I needed and would use. I had just gone through and "purged" a lot in my closet and knew that there were a few key things that I would definitely wear, and only looked for those things,. It worked out really well, and I want to keep up with my closet and keep out as much clutter and unneeded clothing that is never worn, as possible. Maybe I will post a picture of my closet as well... :)

7 Months!

This was the face that she made while mommy did this...

Dont move baby girl!

Very Nice!

Our little baby is seven months old! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. She is such a fun little girl right now. I thought I would write down a few fun facts about Evelyne:

-She has a cold right now, I think she is teething, but despite that she is still happy!

-Whenever anyone, really anyone, smiles at her and says hello she always smiles back! Only a few times has she actually been scared, but I take great pleasure in seeing my little girl smile at so many people, she loves you no matter what! The faith of a child...

-Her eyes are still big and blue, and we think they are going to stay that way!

-She was born with this little curl at the top of her head, like a cartoon baby, and now it keeps growing and more hairs are growing to make it a bigger curl. My sisters and I all had curly hair as children so maybe she will at least get that from me!

-Who would have ever thought that I would have a blond haired, blue eyed baby?!!

-She is really good at sitting up on her own, she has been doing it for a few months now and it is fun to see her interactive, especially with toys!

-She LOVES to read books and will sit and turn pages for a long time (And of course taste the pages)

-She is very verbal (Surprised?) and laughs and "talks" and sings all the time. There is no sweeter sound to me!

-She still does not like being on her tummy at all, so mommy really has to make a conscious effort every day to make sure that she does

-Which reminds me of this, Evy is still really good at spitting up all the time! After every feeding, even if you don't move her around too much, it happens, everybody we know has been "christened" by Evy's spit up. Once it has happened to you, you are part of her "group" haha.

-She is very social, she has lots of friends her age and grown ups that she talks too, and I'm glad that she is used to being around a lot of different people.

There are so many more things but there is a little glimpse into the life and times of Evy :)

Pretty little piggies!