Mini-Vacation Hooray!

We are sorta "known" by our close friends and

family for doing life on a whim.

It has it's benefits and it's non-benefits, for

lack of any other word coming to my brain.

I guess the only non-benefit is rushing around to pack

and trying not to forget the essentials. I'm getting pretty

good and fast if I must say.

After a stressful couple of weeks we decided we should

seize the opportunity for a weekend adventure and

in less than an hour Shawn had the hotels booked and

the plan was in motion.

Here is our fun whirl-wind-of-a-trip in pictures.

And by the way, the only thing I forgot on this trip were

bobby pins and my CAMERA!!

Please excuse all of the blurred motion shots, my kids and husband

do not EVER stop. :)

We started off at Great Wolf Lodge. This is one of the only

pics(above) I took because either left my phone in the room

or in our locker. If you haven't been to the GWL it is

a must do. We always splurge and get a KidKamp Suite

or a Kid Cabin. (The picture above is not me, I got it

from their website. Would you have thought it was me

and Berklee? I should have fooled you.)

GWL is catered to families and everything

you could possibly need is under their roof.

Including the best spa I have ever been too.

Berklee did some mega big slides this time

and we literally had to hold Hayden back

from running away to sneak on the giant slides himself.

Hopefully next year he will be tall enough or I don't

know what we will do.

This is my favorite picture of the trip.

After we left

GWL we went to the next hotel, the Omni.

It is the exact opposite of GWL. Prim and proper

but they advertised free backpacks when kids

check in so Shawn booked it at the sight of

the word "free." The backpacks were actually

great, much to my surprise.

Anyway, this is Hayden after about a 3.5 hour nap.

We had to wake him up so we could get moving again.

Things to do, places to see Hayden!

Here we are headed into Grapevine Mall.

It is HUGE and we walked the ENTIRE thing.

We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and had great seats by the

elephants that terrified our kids every 20 minutes when their

was a "rain storm." Actually, they loosened up after a couple

of rounds and then they were literally dancing in the aisles of

the restaurant to the jungle music.

Daddy is going into a monologue with

the elephant above.

Berklee is on the verge of tears below.

We ended with a trip to the Dallas Aquarium

It is a great little treasure in the heart of downtown

Dallas. We got to meet up with my little brother who

recently moved there. Such a quality brother and uncle and

man. So glad we got to spend some time with him

and now we have a really good excuse to go to

Dallas more often!

It seemed more like a zoo with

ocean stuff and sharks.

Some of the favorites were the penguins, sloth,

monkeys, anaconda, jaguar, and the sticky-toed

guy below was one of my favorites.

Here is Berklee doing her usual make-a-silly-face

for-mom-when-she-asks-me-to-smile pose.

Then we drove 4 hours north on I-35 to see

Rowin and our beds waiting for us.

The End

{{Still Here}}

Sorry for the lack of posts.

Have you ever felt like you're going crazy?

Your mind and heart race at a pace that your body

can't keep up with?

Well, that is me. I'm trying to keep it together people.

So much on my plate, too much on my plate.

The majority of the madness stems from the fact that my

husband and I have worked together for the last 7 years.

He is a marriage counselor and I am his billing

department/"everything else you can imagine".

I don't recommend this situation. Even for marriage counselors

and their wives. But we've made it through by the skin of our

teeth. (Hopefully that is the right use of that pointless saying.)

That is why this week, this momentous, glorious, stress-induced week we

are handing over our life (billing department) to some

professionals.

Let's hope that in a week I will be back and better than ever!

And fully unemployed!

Sunday Morning Sermon

NOT!!!!!

Shawn was sick this morning. So I took some time to

get caught up on some things around the house while the

kids played before church. When it was (past) time to get

ready we had ponies we had to negotiate about and hair to

cry over and dinosaurs to find.

We couldn't leave without both kids

having potty emergencies and then Berklee's dress got wet in the

urine filled toilette. (I'm sick of urine already because Hayden peed

through his diaper last night and Berklee wet the bed which

are some of the tasks I was trying to get caught up on before church!)

We hit every red light on the way and got stuck behind two cars

who road side by side going 40 in a 50.

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine!

So of course we were late to church.

Then Hayden, the boy with a dependency on routine,

freaked out when I dropped him off at his class

because, you see, this is daddy's job every Sunday

and there were two new teachers.

I left him screaming and they paged me almost immediately

after I found my seat. Typically he has a great time and I

knew it was all about the routine thing not sickness or

tiredness. So I went and threatened and spanked and negotiated.

No such luck. Into church we went for 5 minutes before his

two year old mouth could take no more.

He began blurting out questions.

"MOM, WHY ARE

YOU WRITING? MOM, WHY ARE YOU READING?"

(Our church is small and we meet in a small school-like

theater which means everything is amplified.)

So now I am standing here outside the church,

in the heat while Hayden is being forced to sit quietly against a

wall until Berklee is finished with her class.

She loves it so much I don't want to ruin it for her too.

Here Berklee is dancing during their worship time

as we are waiting, waiting.

She absolutely loves it!

And Hayden has just informed me that he wants

to go to his class now.

Good, that was the point of making you sit still

and quiet for 15 minutes!

I pray the Lord would open my eyes this morning

because I sure feel like nothing good could possibly be seen.

This is my life without the help of my husband on a Sunday morning.

I feel a little better now. Thanks for reading my rant. :)

-----Sunday Evening----

Spending a family evening at my mom's new

house made my day even better than expected!

Her awesome house wraps around this awesome pool.

And I love this tree right outside the back door.

Shawn spent the evening in the basement/theater room

watching a movie while the rest of us

grilled burgers and dogs and swam our

little hearts out!

We will now be going to my mom's

for our date nights.

Drop the kids off upstairs and

head downstairs to the theater!

Random Post Wednesday

Are you ready for some randomness???

It isn't too often that Shawn and I get to love on Hayden

without Berklee in the mix.

Don't get me wrong, we love to

love on our Berklee but she did get 17 months worth of all our love

and kisses before Mr. Hayden arrived. And he has always had

to share the love ya know?

Berklee was on day 2 of no nap today so she beat

Hayden to bed and we took advantage of some Hayden (kiss

your face off) time and some pictures.

If you have two, or more kids, you know how the

number of pictures of your second child is "slightly" less

than the first. : )

So these are some pictures from a wonderful

evening I'm sure I will cherish for a lifetime.

I also took some pictures of my awesome Thirty One stuff tonight.

Lovin' every bit of it!

This is our new food cooler for our lovely outdoor outings.

And this would be our new family tote that carries everything

with room to spare!

And I couldn't have done a better job if I would have picked

these fabric choice myself.

This is just one of my favorites.

And here would be a few more. :)

For my last random note. Do you know those silly

little sayings that those silly little

people on facebook say that they 'like?' Well here

are 3 that have made me giggle.

1. "Your skin is pale, white, and ice cold....I know what

you are."

"Say it. Out loud."

...............

"Polar Bear"

(for all of my Twilight Ladies)

2. Lowering the music when looking for a street

address so you can see better.

And my favorite so far

3. Girl that is a SHIRT NOT a DRESS!

I love random post Wednesday!

Hope you have a lovely day!!

5 P's of Bible Study

I wanted to share with you one of the most applicable sessions

of the Going Beyond Conference last weekend. Priscilla shared

with us how she has learned, in this busy season of life,

to study God's word.

1. Position yourself to hear from God.

Find a place of solitude and quietness, if at all possible.

If you have small children this will include either getting up before

they do or locking yourself in the bathroom. Whatever works best for you. ;)

The point is to be able to shut off what is going on around you so

that you can clearly hear from the Lord without distraction.

Just like we need time for our husbands alone, we also need

regular time with God alone.

2. Pour over the passage and paraphrase the major points.

You don't have to read a whole chapter a day. It is quality,

not quantity that is important. Priscilla only reads 2 to 3 verses a day.

Read over them several times. Keep a notebook with your Bible

and rewrite the verses that you just read in your own words.

Don't make this harder than it is. There are not too many ways to

paraphrase some verses.

*Something she also noted that I think was very important is to

not skip around in the Bible. Read a whole book of the Bible at a time

so you are reading the verses in context of that chapter. We tend to

interpreted the Bible to our greatest benefit instead of how they

were actually written to be interpreted.

3. Pull out the spiritual principles.

Look for a promise or command or an attribute of God's character

within the verse. In your notebook, write down what you find.

4. Pose the questions.

Ask yourself some questions. Do I believe this promise?

Am I obeying this command? How can I apply this characteristic of

God to my life? If you are honest some of the answers you will like

and others you won't. Write down you questions and answers.

*Allow the Holy Spirit time to speak to you or convict you.

5. Plan obedience and pin down the date.

(My own little note here: If you plan to do nothing then you plan to fail.)

Seek out accountability and plan your days for success. Set a

date and work toward achieving whatever it is God has for you.

Remember: When you are being obedient today in what you know to do,

you are in the middle of His will. And if you find yourself confused

or in a spiritual daze go back and do the last thing he told you to do.

If you want to practice the 5 P's of Bible Study, Isaiah 43:18-19 is a

great couple of verses to start with.

Dirty Doors

We have a glass storm door that leads to our backyard.

Both of my kids are able to open the door at their leisure.

And they do. They love to sit on the back porch swing, or catch bugs,

or let our dog in and out at his leisure.

If you are a mom and you have glass -anything- you

know that this means you have dirty glass.

Hand prints, mouth prints, food decor, sweat, and who

knows what else. You can clean the glass

and 5 minutes later , like that magic disappearing/reappearing ink,

the smudges are back.

This dirty glass door drives me crazy. The sun shines through

and shows every little speck of grime and gook.

Every time I look at it I feel myself getting annoyed at the

fact that they just can't use the handle and be done with it.

So, like most days I grabbed my spray bottle and a

towel and squatted down to scrub and

shine the inside and outside of the door. As I was

scrubbing and huffing I felt the Lord interrupt my negative

self-dialougue and whisper, "as quickly as this door gets dirty is

how quickly your children will be grown up and gone."

It stung. I gulped.

There are things in life that have to be done.

If you're a mom, there are many tedious and

mundane tasks that can cause us to easily focus on the

fact that we would rather be doing something else than

cleaning dirty doors.

But as the Lord graciously showed me,

it is all in how we look at it. Now, when I see that dirty door

I am reminded of how quickly the time is passing and

how thankful I am for my children. How great is it that

we have the choice in how we look at the "dirty doors" in our lives.

Great Idea Berklee

Berklee yells at me across the house this morning.

"Mom, wanna come see my good idea?"

A few moments later I walk around the corner to see this.

"I put a leash on him and it works great!"

Great idea Berklee.

Photography Bokeh Effect

I know a lot of my friends have SLR cameras and I get a lot of questions about

how I take my pictures and especially how I get the blurred background effect

or "bokeh" effect.

I could tell you the settings that I use but unless you have the right lens on

your camera the settings will be useless. For instance, to get my camera to focus

on my kids eyes and face but to have the rest of the picture out of focus I set the

aperture setting on 1.8. (The picture above is actually 2.8 f-stop)

Aperture is also referred to as the f-stop. I will let the

Pioneer Woman explain all of the technical stuff right here.

Now, if you have the lens that probably came with your camera the lowest f-stop

setting you can get is probably 3.5-4.5. So you see, I could tell you what I do but it

would be impossible for you to replicate! Very frustrating for you.

So here is what I recommend:

The additional lens that I purchased for my camera that allows me to have the

1.8 setting is the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. The really cool thing about this lens

is that it is only around $100! I did a ton of research before I bought this lens and

have since come across so many articles from professional photographers who

say this is by far the best investment you can make if you own a SLR camera.

Many photographers got started in their business with just this lens!

I promise you, you will LOVE this lens. Put it on the list for your next birthday,

anniversary, or Christmas present!

The first picture below is of the Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens

and the second is of the Canon version. You can click on either link

and it will take you to a place in the interweb world where you can read

more about them.

He Does!

I hope you had the time to watch the short video yesterday.
I need to watch it every morning.
Why is it so hard to accept such a free and amazing gift?
And can you imagine how your life would change if you did?

As I was watching the video again today, I couldn't help
but be reminded again of an encounter our family had
3 weeks ago.

I have hesitated in telling this story because I always want
to be sure God has a purpose for using it and that it is not
read in any other light.

But today is the day I want you to read about and pray for
Monica.

On this particular Sunday.....

We left church, the temperature gage read 110 degrees.
We buckled in our two hot, tired, and hungry kids and set off
through the streets of downtown OKC headed toward the
highway that would lead us to our lazy Sunday routine of
a quick lunch and long naps.

Everyone was pretty silent. Shawn and I were both in
thought over the message that day. Luke 14.
This chapter is challenging in every way. It commands
us to leave our comfortable bubbles and see beyond
outward appearance and social classes.

Me: Shawn, what does this look like for us? (Luke 14)
Shawn: I'm not sure.

More silence.

Shawn: Look! That woman crossing the street doesn't have
shoes on!
Me: Yes she does. They are the same color as her feet. :)
Shawn: Oh. Good. It is too hot to not have shoes.

Two Seconds Later

Me: Stop the car! That lady really doesn't have shoes on!

We turn around and Shawn gets out of the car and chases her down
with an extra pair of my flip flops we happened to have.

She asked him for change and he invited her to lunch instead.

I'm not going to lie and say that it felt perfectly normal to be sitting
at the table with Monica that afternoon for an hour and a half.
People looked, but excuses and pride were already out the window.

She wasn't anything like me. She was a little drunk. She smelled just
as you might think she would.

But Monica had a story to tell us.
She has kids and grandkids, and until 6 years
ago she had a life much like ours. She believes in God. She loved to be
surrounded by two children and was embarrassed of her clothing.
(She showed me that she kept her jeans up with an appliance cord.)

She was honest with us about her fight with satan and alcohol. She
told us if we would have given her change she would have bought more
alcohol. Shawn told her he would only give her what she needed, not what
she wanted.

We were honest with her about God's love. She was familiar with the story.
But in one of the saddest moments I've ever experienced she looked at
me, as we were both crying, and then she looked down at herself and slowly said,
"God doesn't want me like this."

I wish I could go back and yell louder, "Yes He DOES!" I want to show
her the Brennan Manning video below. I want to find her again.

Our Sunday routine now consists of a search for Monica. I left her with
my Bible that day and we promised we would be back.

We haven't found her again. I know my life will never be the same
because of my encounter with her and I pray that she had a life-changing
encounter that day as well.

I don't want you to think that you must go out and take the next homeless
person you see to lunch. But I think we all need to begin seeing the world,
and the people around us, through God's eyes.

Luke 14:12

"Then Jesus said to his host,

When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers
or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so
you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled,
the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you,

you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

3 min 43 sec

That is all it will take to watch this clip from one of Brennan Manning's sermons.

Our Little Trip

The one word that comes to my mind is surreal. It happened so fast and was packed

with so much that it seems like it may not have really happened. It was also a bit

surreal that I had my own human body to myself with no other human appendages

to be concerned with.

Nikki ended up being my partner and our brains got to synchronize, because I really

believe sometimes that we may just share a brain. We think so much alike and on

most days only half of our brain is functioning correctly.

So we set out, in a non-mini van vehicle. It was so weird being so low to the ground

and being so close to someone in the car. Took me a minute.

For lack of time this a.m. I will highlight the rest of the trip in incomplete sentences. :)

We got lost.

Twice.

We plannd on eating in a nice restaraunt and could only find a McDonalds.

We were 5 minutes late to the first session. It was dark and packed.

We sat in the last two available seats. Here was our angle. Very acute angle.

Worship with Anthony Evans was a-maze-ing. He is Priscilla's little brother and

they were hilarious together. He was hilarious. And has an awesome heart for

God.

In the first session Priscilla spoke about how we tend to

Sleepwalk Through Life. Powerful.

We get back to our hotel and buy chocolate. :)

We realize that on an average day we both sleep in the clothes we have on.

I know. Weird.

Here was our conversation while we were each laying in our own bed.

Me: I want to watch a movie or doing something fun.

Nikki: Yeah, we should. Want me to turn on the tv?

Me: Yeah, sure.

Nikki: What do you wanna watch?

Me: I don't care, whatever you think.

Nikki: We should definitely sit down to a nice breakfast in the morning.

Me: Yeah. You still want Waffle House?

Nikki: Yep. Still wanna watch a movie?

Me: I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Should we set the alarm?

Nikki: I can't sleep past 7. It's impossible.

Me: OK.

(we fall asleep within 5 minutes to David Letterman)

Next Morning

Nikki: Tanda!!! It's 8:15!!!

This means no nice breakfast.

We are 5 minutes late to first session on Saturday.

Scrambling for the last two open seats.

But the message and worship, again, was awesome!

Priscilla spoke about how to study the Bible and The Secret of Beholding.

I will share more about all of the teachings tomorrow night at Focused Fellowship.

Please be there if you can! Email me if you need directions. Everyone is welcome,

it isn't affiliated with any church. Not that that matters because we are the church!!!

And if you can't make it I will post some of the outline this week on here.

And now for something really cool!

As Nikki and I were stretching out our time after the conference before we had

to head back home we were taking random pictures in the parking

lot when Priscilla and her husband and another girl came out of

the back door! I hope she didn't think we were trying to stalk her

because we were clueless being that it was a HUGE church with

LOTS of doors. Anyway I decided to seize the moment

and asked for a picture.

Me: Hi, um, could you take our picture? I mean can we take a picture with you?

Priscilla: Sure!

Nikki: Gives Priscilla props on the message.

Me: As I'm shaking like a leaf (Lord help if I ever meet a really famous person)

I look at Priscilla and say, "I bought your book at Wal Mart." (What????)

Priscilla: Um, well good I hope you were blessed by it.

Me: Oh, yes. Still being blessed.

And here is a fantastic picture of the moment that I made awkward.

Her little sidekick is an amazing photographer. I mean look at those bricks!

And that white mini-van! The details are so crisp!

To her defense I had the camera on a weird focusing setting. My fault.

Told you I got nervous. But I promise that is Nikki, me and Priscilla in

the picture. :)

Have a BLESSED day! And keep your eyes open!

Thirty One

I'm so excited about going to the conference

tonight I can barely concentrate.

I am expecting the Lord to speak directly into my soul.

Can you say big expectations?

I am also excited about Thirty One. Which is funny because

I just realized I will be thirty one in less than a month.

But I'm not actually wanting to talk about my age today.

I want to talk/blog about this

and this......

I pretty much want it all. The apron and the large tote and

the flat iron travel pouch, and the

thermal cooler, and you get my point.

Oh, and I want it all personally monogramed.

So like the sensible, Proverbs 31, woman that I am,

I became a consultant. If you want to order something

click here. Or you can host a fun party and

you can be done with your Christmas shopping

by the end of August!

Random Post Wednesday

So, I came across this blog and it has so many random things about it that I love.

I'm getting ready to talk like I know this woman and

use the word and and blog a lot, so excuse me please.

I love Reagan's style. And her hair of course.

She is a hair dresser in NYC.

And I love that she does famous people's hair.

I just find that interesting.

And she has a great blog with hair tips.

And I love that she calls herself

Hair Dresser On Fire. Love her humor.

And the fact that she and her husband are marathon

runners. (you know since I'm on week 3 of couch25K and all!)

That was humor folks.

Love that her husband is a pro photographer and I peak on his

blog and look at his cool pictures.

But most of all I am IN LOVE with

their precious little 3 year old girl.

Her name is Piper Jane and they call her Pip or Pippy.

Their story is one that will make you so thankful to have

a normal/crazy child stepping on your toes, and talking too loud

too close to your face, that leaves legos on the floor for you

to step on and then fall to the floor in pain.

It seems the Lord, through the stories of personal friends and

now the blogging world, wants me to really get this whole thing

about how truly blessed I am.

Check her out.

Oh, and I love the name of her Blob. Reagan's Blob.

On a side note. Next Tuesday, August 10th, we will meet for

Focused Fellowship.I will probably on fire, literally from

the Spiritual Reawakening Conference with

Priscilla Shirer that Nikki and I are attending this weekend.

(We still have room for

YOU!)

On one more side note. My mother-in-law was in town this

weekend and I just want her to know I can't wait for her to

be here permanently. She is so wise and

I could sit and soak up her Godly wisdom for hours.

I am always encouraged and refreshed when she leaves.

Even if she makes me drive her to the airport at 4:40 am!!

Thanks for a great weekend Nanna!

And sorry I cut off your head baby.

What's Motivating You?

People, um therapists, say that we humans are motivated in one of two directions.

There is toward motivation and away motivation. A "toward" person is motivated by rewards and achieving goals whereas an "away" person is motivated by a fear or consequence. (And of course, there are always those in-betweeners.)

A "toward" person is one that sets a goal, conquers it, and then sets another goal. (Yay if you are one of these people). Your problems usually come when you feel like you've reached the top or the top within your limits. At this point, you might change jobs or change careers or create some drama to keep life interesting! But overall, toward motivated people tend to make better decisions because they are always looking ahead and there focus is on the goal.

An "away" motivated person is motivated away from what they don't want or like. They don't really care if they are rewarded necessarily, they just want to avoid pain or their fears. This can be great motivation if you are very close to the thing you don't want. Like if you only have $5 left in the bank or if you are about to surpass your heaviest weight. Your(our) problem comes when you(we) achieve a little bit of success, you move away from your fear, and then your motivation dwindles. If you are an "away" motivated person you may have a little bit of a roller-coaster effect going on in your life.

So why do I tell you this? If you are an "away" motivated person, like I obviously am, you can start identifying the underlying fears that exist in your core belief system and work on replacing those fears with truth that comes from God and his word and also what your loved ones believe about you.

Here are some examples:

* I'm not good enough

* I'm too fat

* I'm not a good mother

* God can't use me to help others

* I'll never be able to finish anything I start

Not only will thinking about this motivation stuff start helping you, but if you understand how those around you are motivated you will know how to motivate them!

Now if I can figure out how to apply this motivation thing to laundry, which in all seriousness is what made me think of this motivation stuff in the first place. :)