Wifey Wednesday - Declutter

Marriage is not easy. It is hard work. It is tiring work. It is exhausting till I can barely stand up anymore work. You add children into the mix of things and that adds a whole other element of work. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the "work" of if all and miss the "moments."  

I have bought in to the whole social media frenzy. Now, I may not share every single detail of every moment of my day but I get it. It helps us stay connected with family and friends among many other things. This blog is a perfect example of social media. It allows me to create an easy scrapbook of memories for our family when otherwise it may not happen. 

However, social media also lends to temptation. "Friending" an ex on facebook, checking out how others are living their life and who got what and went where on vacation. Then, before you know it, the internal analyzing begins. Well, why doesn't my husband do that? Why don't we get to go there? Why can't I buy that? It is disturbingly easy to get wrapped up in everyone elses "status updates" and before you know it you are trajecting those feelings upon your own marriage and life. That is when things get dangerous.

Marriage and life are hard enough without the "outside" clutter influencing you and your relationship. This is something I struggle with sometimes. Who wouldn't love to have a spouse who just received a triple digit promotion? A vacation through Europe? A 5000 sq. foot home?

The clutter starts eating at me and prevents me from just "being" in the moment and the simple joys that God has blessed our family with. The "clutter" is not part of God's perfect plan for us. Our marriage and our journey together is not like anyone elses. Our journey is our own path which we chose to walk together 8 1/2 years ago in front of God, our family, and our friends. 

My husband gets me and knows me, at the very core of my being, and unlike anyone else. He is the one who holds my hand when we pray together, when I am sick, suffering a loss, or just watching TV in bed together at night. And now, he helps me hold the hand of our little girl. He is my partner and my best friend. Sometimes though, it just seems easier to focus on the "clutter" and negative. When this happens I miss "seeing" the moments of coming home to a clean house, him playing princess dress up with our 4 year old daughter, cuddling on the couch with our kittens, keeping us safe and secure, or calling our neighbor to check on her because of a random car parked her driveway. Pretty much all of the reasons (and many more) I fell in love with him in the first place. All the reasons that I CHOSE to say yes when he CHOSE to ask me to marry him all those years ago.    

Our marriage is centered around God and our foundation in him. Yes, it is work. Yes, it is hard but at the end of the day, we CHOOSE to commit our lives to each other until death do us part.     

Tummy Tuesday - Wings Night

No, this post is not about some fantastic wing recipe. More along the lines of a yummy dinner we had at Buffalo Wild Wings last night. We are creatures of habit at our house and always cook during the week. However, we were so tired last night and really did not feel like cooking. Plus, as a result of my hectic grocery store visit on Friday, many key ingredients were accidently (maybe my subconcious knew what it was doing) left off the list therefore leaving us unable to cook dinner last night. 

To be honest, I don't think Sophie has even had wings before. They are Jeff's most favorite food in the whole world and I enjoy them as well but not necessarily on his level. If there was ever any doubt (and there wasn't), Sophie proved last night she is most certainly her father's daughter. 

Very proud of her messy hands and face!

I love that look! She is thinking - hmmm...I am not sure that is going to be enough water for me!

Wild Winger Champion!

Sophie - 1, Wings - 0

Doing what any reasonable lady would do after eating a basket of wings - reapply her lip gloss!

  

Like father like daughter!

Mommy Monday - Cousins

I love big families - the bigger the better. We grew up without any cousins so the fact that Sophie already has cousins with hopefully many more to come, makes me extremely happy for her!

This past weekend we were lucky enough to have some of Jeff's family in town for the weekend. It was one big slumber party with people everywhere - especially kiddos. There is almost nothing that makes Sophie happier then spending time with her sweet cousins. I am sure the fact that they dote on her has nothing to do with it!

An added bonus is that we of course all get to spend time together and Jeff had time with his brother. When those two are together, it is as though they enter their own little world. It's kinda like catching a glimpse of what they must have been like together when they were younger. Makes me love and respect my mother in law even more - just kidding....kinda.

Some of the highlights from the weekend include me learning how much of a germ-a-phob I have become. We took the crew to our local spray and play park which also has a large community pool. Of course I packed Sophie's swimmies/floaties but guess what?! They don't allow you use your own floaties and instead you must use one of their lifejackets. You know - the ones that everyone and their brother have also worn? The ones that have probably never been cleaned? I could keep going but I will refrain. Please do not get me wrong because I most certainly do not think we are too good for them because we aren't. I totally get the importance of everyone wearing the same thing. But....the germs, oh the germs! And the way some of those straps on a lifejacket fit, it is just not places I think are meant to be shared with other people. Sophie on the other hand could have cared less and that is how I want it. I don't want her turning into a germ-a-phob like me....or my Mom. Thanks to my mom - I can also no longer take my shoes off in a hotel room but that is beside the point.

At the pool there were some pretty awesome inflatable obstacle courses floating in the deep end of the pool and of course we all had to try them out! However, they would not let you in the deep end of the pool until you passed a swimming test. I am not even going to lie.....watching Jeff pass the swimming test and go across the floating obstacle course was perhaps the highlight of my weekend......possibly my life!

I wish I had more pictures to share but I was too busy trying to keep the house from burning down and/or our new kitties escaping from one of the open doors that had been le. However, I truly would not have it any other way.  

Fabulous Friday - On the Pontoon

We had a great time last night riding to dinner on Bubba's boat. Such a nice summer surprise after this hectic week - very much needed!

Rare family pic! 

I don't care how old you are - your never too old to enjoy feeding the ducks!

Jeff doing the "dougie" dance. Yes, you read that right!

Even after seeing him dance, I still love him!

Love of my life! She broke it down dancing too but it was too dark to snap a picture!

Love our Titi and love watching our family grow!

I am ready for some nieces and nephews!



Take a look at this view and I dare you to try to tell me that our God is not good!

Have a great weekend! xoxo

Random Thursday - The Cat's in the Craddle

1) I get up early every morning, while things are still quiet, and do my devotional then run. I love this quiet time before the day starts getting crazy but I do hate the actual act of running. As much as I would love to be one of those people with the stickers on the back of my car for all the marathons and such that I have completed, it will never happen. It just won't! Now, I could do Zumba and a Mud Run every day of the week but as for the 'ole boring run - it is a necessary evil!

2) I learned something crazy cool in my devotional this morning that yet again shows how great is our God! There is the existence of a protein molecule in the human body called Laminin. Laminin is a self adhesive protein molecule that litterally holds our human bodies together. The shape of this tiny protein is a cross. Seriously, a cross! How crazy right?! Just another example of how precious and amazing our heavenly Father is. He really does hold us together in every since of the word!

3) King, one of our new kittens, LOVES for Sophie to carry him around like a baby. I am not even kidding - he loves it. This morning she was carrying him around craddled in her arms and she said to me "Mommy, look what just came out of my tummy." We did not have enough time for me to even begin to broach that subject so I just rolled with it.

Have a great day!

Wifey Wednesday - Strong Foundation

In the past few months I have become hypersensitive to little eyes and ears watching everything we say and do. As Sophie grows and become more aware of her surroundings and actions, it is more important now than ever that Jeff and I provide a strong example of a Godly, healthy, and loving marriage.

Jeff and I love laughing together. A few evenings ago we were joking around with each other as we were cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Jeff made a joke and Sophie's little head whipped around on her shoulders and without missing a beat she said - "Daddy, don't talk to Mommy like that." We both just stopped and stared at each other with our mouths hanging open. Of course, we explained to her that Mommy and Daddy were just playing around and being silly but yet again we were shown what a strong impression our relationship together has on her.

The way that Jeff helps around the house, showers us with hugs and kisses, dances with me in the kitchen, and many other things are all qualities that Sophie will one day look for in her husband. The way that I take care of Jeff, provide affection, encouraging words of support and appreciaton, and many other things are all ways that Sophie will learn to be a wife. Most importantly, showing Sophie how to have God at the center of her marriage because our heavenly Father provides the best foundation of all. With his help, we are laying a strong fundation that will last her a lifetime.

Tummy Tuesday - A Crock Pot Meal I Didn't Burn!

We have always been big fans of crock pot meals at house. Even if I do find ways to burn them half the time. Yes, I know this is a talent that not many people have so please try not to be too jealous. Don't worry though because of course, I only share the meals that I don't burn!

Cool Ranch Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

And then I found this GREAT suggestion for corn on the cob that we added with it.

Directions - Fill pot with water and then add a stick of salted butter and 1 cup of milk. Bring to a rapid boil. Put in ears of corn and turn heat to low simmer for 5 - 8 minutes. Yummy!!

Enjoy!

Mommy Monday - dotMOM (not polka dots) Me!

One of the most important things I have learned from being a mommy is that mommies need other mommies. More importantly - mommies need other mommies who are also sisters in Christ.

Over the past year I have been praying for God to show me ways that I can "Do More" to share about his glory and love. Would this be a mission trip? Would this be leading a preschool Sunday school class? As God has a tendency to do, he directed me down a path I had never even thought about or much less even knew about!

On a sidenote, I know God must sit up in heaven laughing at me when I think I am in "control" of things.

Through some blogs that I follow and no doubt - God's subtle direction, I came across this AMAZING event called the "dotMOM Conference". At first, as you probably are right now, I was so confused. My thought process went a little something like this -

"Is this a conference about polka dots? I like polka dots but sometimes they are not so flattering on clothes and one of Sophie's lovies has polka dots on it.....but I don't want to go to a conference about it. Why would someone have a conference for them anyways? Or maybe it's an internet thing for Moms that do fancy stuff on the internet. Like the moms that have more then three people who read their blog. Hmm, well I guess that counts me out then. What kind of name is this?!

That is when I went into detective mode (I always wanted to be Nancy Drew, as I am sure I have mentioned before) to research this bad boy and figure out what I was working with. I quickly discovered that the dotMOM conference is not about polka dots (yes, shocking I know) or internet savvy mamas. Instead, it is something so much better and beyond amazing.

The DotMom Conference is about us - mommies! To quote the conference directly -

"Have you ever thought, I wonder if other moms feel....? However you finish that sentence, the answer is yes. The journey of motherhood is exciting, scary, lovely, and challenging. Which is why we've created dotMOM - a weekend that will encourage and refresh you, connect you with other moms, celebrate motherhood, and draw you closer to Christ. dotMom is for moms of all ages, stages, cultures, and backgrounds with kids of all ages."

The event features keynote speakers who are parenting experts and more importantly - mamas! Breakout sessions are taught by experienced leaders and involve a wide range of topics such as: The Working Mom, Infertility/Adoption, Raising Godly Kids, Single Moms, Home School Moms, and more! They also have shopping at vendor booths, free goodies, and giveaways. Best part of all is that this massive undertaking is all done Lifeway Christian.

For me, an opporotunity to worship, share, learn, and grow in Christ with other mommies going through the same things as me, is something I have to take full advantage of. It is always reassuing to know I am not the only one and am not crazy.

As I continued my research, I quickly discovered they had recently held one in Dallas and Birmingham...and wait for it....for the first time ever...this year they would be having one in good 'ole Chattanooga, Tennesseee! I think it was at about this point that I figured out what God was doing. dotMOM sounded beyond amazing! I had to learn more about it and find a way to get further involved so I could spread the publicity and education about this upcoming event to my fellow Chattanooga mommies.

And here I am.

I am super stoked to be serving as an Action Team Leader! I am desperate to spread the word about it so no one misses this wonderful chance to be a part of something so special.

The conference will be held on Friday, September 20 - Saturday, September 21. Tickets are $79 (today, Monday - July 22nd is the deadline for the $69 Early Bird ticket special). The ticket price does include both days. However, we all know our schedules are hectic. You are of course more then welcome to come and go as you please for both days or even just one. However, I strongly encourage you to make time for the whole event if you can!

 CLICK HERE to go directly to the Chattanooga dotMOM website and learn even more details about the weekend including a schedule along all the breakout sessions being offered and additional information. To say there is something for everyone is a bit of an understatement! Of course they are also on facebook so check out their page - dotMOM event. If you would like to help out with spreading the word among your friends, church, etc., please let me know and I can pass some goodies your way!

Obviously, I will be there with bells on and would love to have you there with me! If you are interested in purchasing a ticket for yourself or a group of girls or have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a shout at utvol91@yahoo.com  . As of now, I am flying solo but it sure would be nice to have some friends there with me. For my girls out town, you are more then welcome to come visit and stay with me or we can make a girls night out of it and get a hotel room. Since the conference is being held at the Convention Center, they are offering discounted hotel rooms at the Marriott.

Being a mama is hard work and sometimes we just need to take a step away from things to refuel for a moment. We need to remember what is really important and sometimes just concentrate on ourselves. We need to have the tools and support to raise our children to become even better then we are today so that they can one day spread their joy and love for Jesus Christ!

Hope to hear from you soon!

"For where two or more are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Matthew 18:20

Fabulous Friday - Summer Time

TGIF!!!

I am obsessed with my new nail polish - Tart Deco from Essie. And of course it came from the best grocery store ever - Publix! Essie has so many great pastel summer colors right now - I am trying to "collect" them all.

 

These two pictures say it all!!

 

Story of my life and it seems I will never learn my lesson!!  

During the summer two of my most favorite shows are "Big Brother" and "So You Think You Can Dance"! My most favorite dance ever from SYTYCD is a beautiful contemporary piece (Click here to view it) they did a few years ago featuring the storyline of a womans battle with breast cancer.
 Absolute beauty!

 

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo

Random Thursday - Welcome to the Family!

As many of you know, we lost our four legged fur baby - Bella, only a few months ago. As time has passed, Jeff and I have felt our hearts healing and started the conversation about adopting a new baby. After speaking with a friend from church who is an animal foster mommy, she told us of a wonderful placed called the Pet Placement Center where we could go visit and meet some kittens. We love doggies but are most certainly a kitty cat family - even my husband. Believe it or not, that is not something I had to covert him too. We both had dogs and cats growing up but our preference is cats because they are just so much easier. Yes, I know this puts us in the minority.

Many years ago when we first took Bella to the Vet, I remember someone telling us that you don't pick your pet, your pet picks you. Based on the story Jeff shared with me of how he chose Bella, this rang true. And once again, the theory has proven correct!

Let me just tell you about this Pet Placement center. First off, they are a no kill shelter which I proudly support. If we are going to have to put our money somewhere when adopting, why not support a facility such as theirs. All of the animals seemed very much at home and very happy to be there. It was as though it was actually their home and they were just allowing the humans to come in and hang out. They (the humans) showed us to a kitten room to meet all of the available babies. Yes, you read that correctly....a kitten room!! Are you kidding me? I don't care if you are a dog person, cat person, elephant person, whatever....when you walk into that kitten room your heart melts. I litterly wanted to do snow angels on the floor in between all the kittens.

Somehow someway in the kitty room, Jeff and I managed to find not one but two kittens. Keep in mind that our original plan was to find one girl kitten. I chatted with the front desk about these two babies and soon discovered that not only were they both boys but also brothers. As I walked back into the kitten room I realized the truth of the situation. Yup...we are going home with not one but two boy kittens. How did that happen?! We didn't pick them, they picked us!

Let me be the first to tell you - they are perfect and amazing and we would not have any other way. Plus, they are able to keep each other company when we are not home which is great for them!

Bringing our boys home for the first time!

Sophie was esctatic when we surprised her with them. As she peered into the carrier and saw more then one, she looked up at us and said - "Wow, how many kitties did you get me?" As though it was a clown car and they just kept coming out one right after the other. We explained to her that we only two and they are boys (we may or may not have told her that they were "out" of girls at the pet store) but by this point she could have cared less. She was over the moon with our new fur babies!

Meeting the boys for the first time!

They have been amazing! They are only 13 weeks but little fur balls of perfection. I do love the fact though that they already have very distinct personalities. However, they both LOVE to cuddle and play which is perfect for us. Jeff insisted on the names King and Flash and given the fact that it was his birthday and everything else in our house is so incredibly pink and girly, I decided to let him have this "win". 

King is my maiden name and since this is not exactly a first name you can bestow upon a child, our pet is the next best option. King is more laid back, chill, and a total mama's boy cuddle bug.

Flash's name fits him perfectly. He is much more flashy and loves being the center of attention. He has really bonded with Sophie and LOVES to play with her. She will roll a ball and he will, no kidding, fetch it and bring it back to her.

Flash lasted less then 24 hours before Sophie had him in a dress!

FYI - King and Flash are also the nicknames of Jeff's two favorite basketball players, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade from the Miami Heat.

I am well aware that I have managed to turn a whole post into sharing about our new kittens. However, since I have a husband and child I think (fingers crossed) this disqualifies me as being able to fall into the catagory of crazy cat lady. Right?!

Yes, they have slept with us every night and are the best cuddle bugs ever!

We will always hold a special place in our hearts for Bella but it sure is great be able to once again give a loving home to two fur babies!

Wifey Wednesday - Surprise!

Happy Wednesday!

 I am not even kidding that I have been going into blog withdrawl. Seriously, it is kind of disturbing how theraputic it has become for me but we have had alot going on lately so my blogging has been put on the back burner for a few days. 

I think all married couples will agree that celebrating is important in any marriage. Yesterday was Jeff's birthday and I was raised (thank you mama) with the belief that you do not just get one day for your birthday but instead a week long celebration. Since my husband inherited this responsibility and expectation on the day we said "I Do", it is only fair that he should also reap the benefits. With this being said, his birthday officially kicked off around 6:45 last Saturday morning. .

Jeff had the expectation that he was working all weekend until I woke him up on Saturday morning with the tall tale of a leaky toliet. Not exactly they way you want to be woken up but as he dashed into the bathroom fully intending to inspect a broken toliet he instead found two tickets to the Atlanta Braves game for that evening along with our hotel room reservation. I had also already taken care of my parents keeping Sophie for the night as well as the details regarding Jeff's absence at work. We were all set for our only second night away from Sophie in four years. Much needed would perhaps be an understatement.

At this point I would normally post pictures of our wonderful overnight getaway to Atlanta but I quickly realized that I -
A) Did not want to take the time to mess with taking pictures.
B) It would only be pictures of Jeff since I would have to be the one taking them and I wanted to document our evening together - no solo.

So instead - how about a picture from our AWESOME seats which were only a few rows up from the field.

We had a wonderful time would be a bit of an understatement. Truth be told, we could totally have stayed another night but hey - as all parents know, you will take whatever you can get whenever you can get it. It was a wonderful birthday surprise for him which was the best gift of all. To see the shock on his face was priceless and being able to somehow pull off this surprise was no doubt a miracle!

Happy Birthday to my most handsome hubby and very best friend! Thank you for just being you and one of the most amazing gifts God has ever blessed me with!

Wfiey Wednesday - All You Need

Sometimes all you need from the hubby is a little surprise, a little pick me up! I must brag on my husband for moment and share how he came home yesterday with a dozen coral roses to pick me up after an icky day.

 

Later in the evening I walked in the bathroom for Sophie's bath time and he was bent over the bathtub with Sophie "washing" his hair. If I was not so concerned about CPS (Child Protective Services) coming after me, I would have posted a picture. Nothing like seeing a big 'ole guy brought to his knees by his little girl!

 

It's nice to be reminded of these little blessings in life after a tough day. These are the things and the people that really matter - not the other "stuff". I have no doubt that God knew I needed these blessings as a friendly reminders of what is really important in life.

 

 

Tummy Tuesday - At Your Own Risk

Great meal and dessert from last week!!

 

I  did add a soup can of water with this Crock Pot Italian Chicken Pasta since I was working all day and it was still delicious!

 

Crock Pot Italian Chicken Pasta

 

And for dessert - I give you fair warning! Try Heaven in a CrockPot at your own risk ONLY! While it is incredibly yummy and easy, it is also very rich! We loved it but threw out the leftovers. So maybe next time I will just make it for a large group as opposed to only the three of us!

 

Heaven in a CrockPot

 

Yummy - enjoy!

Mommy Monday - The Great Money Tree

I feel very safe in assuming that I speak for every mama when I say that they grow up too fast! Ever since I left for college, my Mom will hug me while breathing in deeply and telling me that she just loves my smell and how it reminds her of when I was younger. As with many things in life, now that I have a child of my own, I totally get what is saying!! I see all that Sophie is saying and doing and just keep thinking, when did she get old enough to almost be ready to go to school? Wait a minute....when did I get old enough to even have a child?!

 

I am certainly not interested in rushing anything along but school is right around the corner. Of course we have one more year of her preschool which she loves. We have been so blessed to have found such a wonderful place for her to grow over the past three years. However, ever the planner, I have already begun the great debate of where to send her to school!! Jeff and I both had a public school education and are strong believers in it! Sadly though, our world is just not what it used to be and our schools are often suffering because of it. Now, I know what we teach Sophie here at home about our faith in God and our morals and values. However, I feel that those beliefs are being ripped away from us to make room for a moral liberal society. As a result, my child is growing up in a world that is suffering and will continue to suffer because of it. This is one of the many reasons why we have been praying about where to send her to school. The great Easterday debate has begun - Public vs. Faith Based school for our children. Private faith based school comes with a price tag so therefore it is not such a cut and dry decision. Additionally, we hope to be blessed with more children and will of course do for one what we do for all. We do not live in denial and are of course totally aware that negative things and influences happen at every school. However, at a faith based school, they still have the Christian values and teachings serving as their core foundation.

In the meantime, Jeff and I have both been praying for direction on where to send Sophie to school. I have also told God that if he wants to work a miracle and sprout up a money tree from our backyard - I would totally be down with that as well. However, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that is probably not going to happen so we can't really put all our eggs in that one basket now can we?? I guess in the Fall we will start visiting some faith based and public elementary schools. We will also continue to pray for direction and maybe possibly....a money tree! That would certainly serve many purposes!

Mommy Monday - Hey Girl

Sophie is about four going on twenty-four right now! Some of the things that just randomly come out of her mouth shock me and have me in fits of laughter!!

Just last week as she was playing with her baby dolls she very casually walked up to me while I was in the the kitchen. Wiith her baby doll placed strategically on her hip and a totally serious look on her face she said - "Hey girl!! How are you? I have not seen you in forever!!" My jaw was on the floor and all I could think was why is there not anyone else around to have heard that come out of her mouth? She must have picked that up from Jeff because goodness knows I would never talk that way!

Sophie loves to shop and is such a little trooper!! We were at Lowe's on Saturday, one of fifty errand stops, and a pink sparkly fan caught her eye. She walked right up to it, pointed, looked at me and said - "Now, that's what I am talking about Mommy."

While the majority of things that come out of her little mouth will just melt your heart, there are also times lately when I think the complete opposite and that she must be possessed. Sophie does not like to get in trouble and is devstated when it happens. She is much like me and is her own worse enemy. However, lately this does not necessarily stop her from having total melt downs and really pushing the limits with me and Jeff.

Currently, she is a huge fan of screaming (and the girl has a strong pair of lungs) and stomping her foot. Sometimes when this happens, I wish I could bring in one of those professional stompping dance troups to do their whole thing of stomping their feet and clapping their hands and dancing. I bet that would get her attention! I guess these lovely littly episodes are also known as a temper tantrums. While they do not happen alot, they are most certainly happening more lately then what we are used too. When she gets in that mode, it is like trying to talk a crazy person off a ledge. And wouldn't you know that these tantrums often happen in the morning as we are all getting ready for the day. We are both trying to make it out of the house and to the office on time and here she is going buck wild about refusing to brush her teeth. By this point, I usually have sweat dripping from places I will not name and the underneath part of my hair is wet from sweat as I try to keep it all together - too late! Then, you throw in having to discpline and I feel as though I have worked a whole day before leaving the house.

I just had to take this picture of my girl. I am not even kidding when I tell you that I was sitting down taking off my shoes and she dragged my vanity chair over so it would be directly in front of me. I guess she wanted to look me straight in the eye as she cried. You have to give her some points for persistance!

 However, I am trying to remind myself that these are learning moments for her and for us. Learning moments about patience and God's guidance in handling the situation the right way and teaching Sophie about reprecussions and displine from unacceptable behavior.

After church yesterday she brought me this sweet surprise. They were asked to draw a picture of themselves and instead drew a picture of me. Don't you just love my long fingers and toes? You can barely make it out but my blonde hair is drawn on there as well. Love my girl!!!