On My Mind

I've been a bump on a log this past week with sick kiddos and something more personal that's been weighing down my heart.  I've been praying a lot and asking the Lord to send an answer but it seems like for the now, it's just a waiting type of thing.  As I walk through this time in my life, I'm starting to see my life and all the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. Certain things had to happen so that others could fall into place.  The Lord is using this time to teach me to rely on him and understand what having faith really means.  I liken it to the process stones go through when they're being polished. The "polishing" process is necessary to get rid of all the junk.  Being refined hurts and I can't wait til I get to the other side.  Through it all, I'm thankful for God's hand of provision and love. I love this little sign Kristin gave me on my last day in TX. I have it in my kitchen and read it over and over as I go about my day.

I've been wracking my brain this week trying to come up with stuff I wanted to share on here and this morning I thought, before I let a week turn into a month, I'd better just get to posting.  Here are just a few random things from my week.

Before I left for my trip to TX, I bought me this huge pack of Emergen-C packets to start loading up on vitamins before my flight.  And I'm talking the Costco size three box pack!

via Costco.com 

I've been taking them ever since and I think they're amazing. My family has been sick two separate times already and I've managed to stay well both times.  I usually mix them up with a little bit of juice and they're actually really tasty.  I can't say enough good things about these!

This week, I finally caved and joined Pinterest!

I'd been trying to avoid it but I after two different friends urged me to do it, I thought, well, why not?  I can see how it might be really addicting for some, but I don't think it's gonna be that for me. I love how it's such a great way to put the things you'd normally bookmark on your computer in one easy place!

I've barely gotten to "pinning" anything yet, but I for sure at least made sure to pin the links to the two frosting recipes I love and use all the time and they've both getting repinned a lot, which is kinda cool!

If you wanna check out my boards, you can go HERE. :)  I'm gonna work on adding more fun stuff on there as I come across things I want to try or things I think are cool!

The one other major item on my mind this week is actually a person.  It's my BFF, Kristin.  She is only FIVE days away from her due date with baby Matthew!  If you read Kristin's blog, you already saw this picture, but I just had to borrow it to share on here....

39 weeks!

I think she looks so amazing and I'm seriously so excited that Matthew's almost here! Due to my own hormones this week, I've been finding myself very emotional about Kristin being so close to having Matthew. I wish I could be there with Kristin during this special time but I keep thinking about how thankful I am for the chance to have gone to see her last month. And speaking of a time, I can't believe it's been a month already since I was in TX!  So crazy!

I think that's about it for this post today.  Please say a prayer for Kristin as she gets ready to deliver Matthew.  All of us mommas remember that time right before baby comes when you start thinking about everything and wondering about all the details of how everything will come together.  I'm praying for favor and blessings for Kristin and I can't wait to see pics of my sweet little new "nephew!"

Going private

It's been a while again since posting, so I thought I would quickly pop in to say hi.  It's been a little over a week since moving out of our house and moving in temporarily with family.  Things have been going pretty well and we're in the home stretch now before we get to move into our own place again and I'm getting really excited!

While things have gone mostly well during the transition, I've taken another long break from blogging.  I've had so many things I've wanted to blog about over the last several days like Alyssa's last day of school, what life's been like living here...thoughts...but I just haven't posted anything.  Since I'm not super computer savvy, I've been having a hard time trying to figure out how to get an Internet connection to my laptop.  Because I can't get online using my laptop, I can't blog from my computer and can't use pictures I have on my computer for my posts.  I know several people who like to post minus pics, but that's not usually me.  I feel so boring without pics, so I've pretty much felt like there's no point lately with blogging.

During this last week or so, I've also been thinking about changing the way I blog when life gets back to normal and I can blog regularly again. I've even been thinking I might set my blog to private.  I know that's drastic but after sharing so much over the past couple of years, I really feel like it might be time to not have everything out there for all to see/read.  It was one of the hardest things to bare all about losing our house only to find that some people used that as a way to constantly be in our personal business, and not in a way I felt  was loving or helpful.  I realize I did that to myself by putting it all out there, so with going private, I can continue journaling for me, alongside documenting the things I don't want to forget.  I also had a conversation with a friend recently about children and protecting them all the creeps that lurk out there on the world wide web that really got me thinking.

I have loved making so many friends via this blog so my feelings about where to go from here with the blog are pretty torn.  I just thought I'd share that on here so in case one day soon, you come here to find me and I'm not available.  In the next few months here, I'm looking forward to starting fresh in so many areas and I just hope I can do some things that will be for the better. I need to work on being a better wife and mom and also being a better me.  I've let myself go again and I would love to set some priorities straight and use this new opportunity to start over to make some good changes!

Memories

Tonight my Hubby and I walked down memory lane a little bit.  This May, we'll have been married for eight years and together for 13.  That's a long time considering that we're only 29 and 30 (and yes, he's the one who's younger than me)! :)  Between the two of us, I'm more of the talker, but for some reason tonight, he was the one who started the "Hey, do you remember the time when" conversation and it took me back down memory lane.

For some reason, I tend to remember many more of the difficult times we've had over these last 13 years.  A lot happened from the time I was 17 to 30, and it's easy to dwell on all the hard stuff we had to go through to get to the place where we are today.  Looking back, nothing has ever really come easy to us.  Just about everything we own is used but I guess there is something to be said about having to work hard to get the things you want in life.  Sure, on most days, I wish things would come just a little easier for us, but I am thankful that the Lord has always been there with us.  He has never left us, even when we've made bad choices or done things "our way." 

Tonight we got to talking about some things from the past that I'd totally forgotten about.  We also talked about our time before kids and what it was like waiting for the arrvial of our first little girl.  It's funny how time has a way of making certain memories fade and I guess that's one of the reasons I'm glad I ended up blogging.  It's been a great way to document our life and be able to go back and remember things later.  My Hubby was even suggesting that I start a journal for our family and I had to remind him that that is what the blog is for!

It seems like just yesterday, I started this blog and I was posting pictures like this one of the girls.

Now they're getting so big and we are only weeks away from welcoming our newest little girl.  My heart is full with anticipation.  I'm trying my best not to be anxious but on the last few days where I've been experiencing more Braxton Hicks contractions, I just get to wondering when the actual day will be when I have to leave home a mom of two and come back as mom of three!  It's a bittersweet time but one I don't want to forget either. 

So many thoughts are running through my head tonight but I am confident that the Lord will get me through!  I am so thankful for everything HE has given us, and so grateful that I get to go through this next big adventure with my best friend!