Workin' It Out

Ouch. Two weeks since my last post. My bad! I’ve actually been meaning to post about a thought that I’ve been working through, lately. Kind’ve a gigantic metaphor for marriage, if you will. But first, a little back-story... I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, because it’s not something that we typically broadcast (mainly because we know it can be controversial in some circles), but Studly and I haven’t been part of a church for coming up on 1 year, now. In the interest of full disclosure, it’s been for no other reason than that we just haven’t found a church family in which we felt like we really were a part, but that's not really the point of this post. I miss it terribly, at times. The accountability. The genuine friendships. The corporate worship. The different perspectives preached ever Sunday. But honestly? I think more than anything, we needed this time away from an organized church atmosphere. We have grown SO much in the past year. And in the past few months, it’s been even greater. We are a daily work-in-progress, but I genuinely feel like we’re starting to adjust to our intended roles in marriage. I fully believe that men and women were created uniquely to fit a specific role. That’s what the bible says, and therefore it’s what I believe. I’m not feminist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know that it was NOT an easy pill to swallow. I felt like I shouldn’t have to ANSWER to anyone, but God. I shouldn’t be ruled over by some guy that isn’t perfect, either… how is that fair? But can I just tell you that it’s not like that at ALL?! Whether Studly fulfills his role or not, I’m to submit to his leadership as the Priest of our home. Yes, he does have rules of his own, but I think as women (at least I did) we tend to jump straight to “but HE’S supposed to…” instead of just reading our own job description and applying it ourselves. It’s hard not to be the Holy Spirit FOR my husband. But that’s not the idea, here. Can I tell you one more thing? It is SOOO beautiful, the thing that happens when you both work towards your own role. When you are living in the way that God intended, it is AMAZING how much better things will flow together. Seriously!! Now, some of you have GOT to know what I’m talking about, here. There are so many metaphors I can use to throw this thing into gear, but it’s true. If each part of the body doesn’t do its own intended function, and instead argues that another body part gets the “better” job, or the more “important” job and tries to do that instead, then we’d be doomed. Every organ can’t be the heart, or there’d be no lungs, no brain, no stomach. Everything serves a purpose!! Oops. Tangent much? Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that we are learning a lot these days. And it really took us being out of an organized church environment for us to no longer rely on what we learned on the weekends to deepen our respective relationships with God. Not having a crutch to lean on required us to work through things diligently. To be more earnest in the time we DO spend with each other and with God. To be purposeful. And therefore, we’re not just checking some box off of the list, but we’re actually learning and training ourselves in the process. Now please know this: I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying that ANYone should stop going to church in order to find this. I’m not even pretending that is some kind of magical equation to any kind of desired goal. Please don’t think that. I’m just saying that through everything, this is what came of that for us. We had a large number of reasons for leaving the church we once attended, but not becoming a part of another church right away was not the plan at all. It’s what happened, and through it all we sought after God’s will for our lives. It’s been a tough road, but we really believe that we’ve grown so so much. Anywho, I just wanted to give you a teeny little update on where we’ve been lately, but it’s all leading up to a post I’ve been wanting to write on a metaphor for marriage that I’ve come to understand. It’s nothing vast and it’ll probably be nothing to knew to any of you married people (possibly even a few singles), but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little refresher or reminder from time to time. And for any single people, maybe it’ll be a bit of a window to what marriage will be like when that time comes. Alright. That’s enough for today, but I’m eager to hear your thoughts on the above “stuff.” Have any of you gone a length of time without being active in a church? Are there any of you that don’t go to church, and don’t plan to? What are you thoughts on the biblical roles intended for marriage? And Be Honest, Guys. This is a judgement free zone. I can totally handle hearing that someone doesn’t agree with me and I would love to discuss why it is you believe what you believe, whatever that may be. I can agree to disagree, so bring it on. :)

Why I Love Goodwill

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the local Goodwill... and by "local", I mean the 2, soon to be 3 stores closest to me.

PS: Who decided it'd be a good idea to put one within 2 minutes of my house? I thank you, dearly... but "thrilled" isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe McStudly's reaction to the news.


Now, Momma Bear and I don't play when it comes to Goodwill shopping. We are serious about our bargain shopping. Most of the people at our local stores know us by name (especially, Momma's). And we don't shy away from haggling attempts.



Example: I found a dozen of these mini Ikea mirrors at the store closest to Mom & Dad's house.

They wanted $3 a piece for these MALMA mirrors (regularly $2.99, direct from Ikea). Bump that ruckus! I told them I'd give them $1 a piece, and they agreed! Holla!! I haven't even used all of them, yet, but you'd better believe that all 12 of them came home with me. 1/2 are currently hanging in formation above our love seat, and the other are stacked away, just waiting for a purpose and/or to be refurbished into something more creative. ;)

So now fast-forward to this past weekend. We got some Panera for lunch (Yummm!), and then headed over to the Goodwill nearby. They had some great stuff!

For example, one great item that didn't make it home with me was this baby:

Brand new. In the box. And for how much? Only a whopping $69.99, baby. And that was BEFORE any haggling. Oh yeah... and did I mention that it could do this:

Oh yes. Yes it can. And if I had a place to put a coffee table, it would've been MINE! But, Studly insisted we didn't need one, nor have space for one. And as much as I argued that one day we WOULD need one, spending money on something you DON'T need, no matter how good of a deal, is a waste of money. And that's one of the biggest things to learn when thrift-shopping. *sigh

But there were a few things that did make it home with me from that store. And item was this awesome piece that I can't find a picture of. Oddly enough, as soon as I saw it, I remembered seeing it in an older pottery barn ad, not even that long ago!! But it's no longer listed on their site. Ugh!! Nor does it's picture exist anywhere on the internet by how I'd described it in google (not exactly rocket science, but not the easiest task, either). So the closest thing that I could find to the piece was this:

But here's how it differs - mine is a more clean-lined modern style than this more traditional version. Instead of the horizontal bar being rounded, mine is straight. And rather than the 5 vertical bars, mine has three - one of each length: small, medium, long. Also, none of the bars on my pieced are round, either, but flattened pieces instead, and the vertical bars literally hang on the horizontal bar.

Wow. That's super confusing. But I promise to try and post a picture when/if I hang it in this house. (Have I mentioned before that's it's UBER hard to muster up any desire to decorate a home that you know you won't be living in forever? Yeesh. Not easy at ALL!)

But my proudest purchase of the day came in the form of another brand new target furnishing, still in the box. Here she is:

At first look, I thought for sure that this beautiful cardboard box included 2 of these babies. But upon further review, I discovered that the box, although it said "set of 2", also said "60 of 120 pieces". If you do the math, which I did... that means only 1 of the "set of 2" was included in the box. No biggie. I wafted back and forth about whether or not to purchase the gorge brown leather parsons chair, and decided to go for it.

Now, this is where it pays to be observant. It was originally marked as $69.99. Which is still cheap, mind you, for a brown leather parsons chair. But examining the packaging uncovered a target discount sticker STILL stuck to the box. and it was marked $45.99. Woot! When Goodwill accidentally misses these babies, they have to honor the lowest posted price. Yeah, baby!! BUT they also saw me sweat. And this part is key. I "wafted" right in front of them. Which brings me to another important lesson in Goodwill shopping. Not only is haggling super important, and keeping things in perspective essential, but don't be afraid to let them see you sweat... even the small stuff. It wasn't an act. Believe me (I've done that, too...).

I was up near the register while deciding whether or not I was going to purchase the lone chair-nger, and after pointing out the beautiful red target-sale-price sticker, the fabulous lady at the register walked it back to the manager. When she returned, I really expected her to just give me the shiny sticker price, but Nnnooooo... she took out that GLORIOUS black Sharpie marker and crossed through the hand-written $69.99 on the box and wrote "$34.99".

*insert Hallelujah chorus*

SQUEE!!!!

I got that beautiful baby for $34.99. And you know what that means? Even if I purchased a matching chair at FULL price (which is SO not going to happen... for the record...), That would bring the brown leather parsons chair pair total to a whopping $170, and thus break down to only $85 a chair.

Eat that full priced box stores!! I mean you can't find that good of a price ANYWHERE, for parsons chairs. It was beautiful!! And even with the lone chair-nger, my dining room table will already look updated. And if I decide not to stick it in there (that'swhatshesaid), then it'd still look absolutely gorge in front of a desk or something to that effect.

Holla!

Have I mentioned that I love Goodwill?

And the day almost got EVEN better after stopping at another local Goodwill store. I found 4 boxes... 4 BOXES, people!! ... of this beautiful hardwood flooring. REAL hardwood. And it was the absolutely gorgeous Antique Walnut color. Each unopened box included over 24 sq ft of flooring, and guess how much they wanted for them?

Oh forget it... you'll never guess...

A whopping $10.00 a BOX! Only $40 for over 96 sq ft of GORGEOUS Antique Walnut real hardwood flooring.

I scurried home toot sweet and measured, only to discover that I needed twice that much to do our kitchen, entry hallway, and half bath, which all share the same flooring and all need to be replaced. We even tried to find a way to just purchase the remaining amount needed, but they stopped selling that color. UGH! Do you know how CHEAP that is, people?! Less than $.42 a sq foot.

Helloo Goodwill. Goodwill... Das a nice name. Can I getcho numba? Can I?! Can I havit?!?! Can I have yo numba?!

Sorry... got carried away.

Along with the above-mentioned items, I also walked away with a cutesy green t-shirt that I was oddly drawn to, an absolutely aDORable little girl's leather jacket (for sweet baby Abby, of course!) and a coordinating pair of jeans, a brand-stinking-new pair of fabulous black dress shoes (with minuscule heels. wootwoot!), a super-cute full length summer dress (you know... that fun springy style you wear with flip-flops?), a few wrap-around headbands, and a couple of other things that I'm totally blanking on, but still loving, if for no other reason than their cheapness. :-)

Anywho - this is just ONE Saturday, and only 2 of our local Goodwill locations full of reasons why I love the place.

So what about you guys... got any favorite thrifty places? Any thrift store finds that you looove to brag about? Come on... spill. We're all friends, here. ;-)

That Person

Have you ever worked with someone that just never seems quite that genuine? They have a smile on their face, but you can just tell that somethings not right?

Well, I do.


We've been understaffed for more than a year in our office. And when I say understaffed, I mean by several people EACH. For example, me and my coworker were each doing close to the FTE (full time equivalent) of 4 people.

Now THAT is insane.


But to be completely honest? I'd take that over this new girl that they finally hired, any day. Because we at least worked like a team and covered each other. Things got done. As impossible as it seemed each and every day, somehow we made it happen.

That's a true team, I tell ya. We didn't always agree, but it didn't stop us from obtaining that end goal. And now there’s a kink in that team. A hole. A gap. A missing piece. And that is New girl.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that she can’t do the work. And it’s not that she isn’t getting things done, either.

So what is it? I’ll do my best to explain.


There are projects that we’ve been working on for over a year. Projects that, because she just joined us, she knows nothing about. And these aren’t just simple little projects, but are very intricate and it’s taken us a LONG time to set up the processes and build the relationships that we now have. Everything was moving along fabulously, and then she came along.

She started interjecting herself info parts of the projects that she had no business touching. She’s taken on tasking that she is not only not qualified for, but has been told to step back off of. Yet somehow she involves herself and somehow convinces other key players that she is supposed to be there. This not only makes our organization look disorganized and poorly run, but it also makes me look pretty stupid when I go to take care of something that I’ve been working for some time, now, and she’s already stepped in and tried to do it. The customer is confused. I look moronic. And she has me fumbling to come up with a reason for it all. And a reason for why the way that they were told to do things wasn’t correct and they need to do it this way, instead.


She’s causing confusion and making us look incompetent.


I’m not a mean person. I don’t throw people under the bus. And I would absolutely not stand in front of a customer and say “Well, [New girl] may have overstepped her bounds by telling you that so prematurely, and not only is that not the case, but it's also not her call to make.” Because I am a team player. I don’t believe in stepping on other people to accomplish a task. It’s not right, and it doesn’t just make that person look bad… it tends to make YOU look like a giant jerk-wod and still somehow make them out to be the good person, possibly even the victim.


Homie don’t play dat.

At least not this homie.


However, it’s extremely stressful. I’ve been in my position for almost 3 years, and have maintained a Level 3 in my title that entire time. The only reason I haven’t progressed is because there are only 3 positions above me, all with the same title, and just this past week was the first time any of those 3 people have left, and they replaced them with a girl that is not only fantastic (and I’m thrilled for her, in fact!) at what she does, but has been here the longest and absolutely deserves the promotion. I wasn’t even eligible because I actually work for a company that was reached out to in an order to fill my position, and the main company won’t allow “subs” to fill these top positions.

It’s annoying, but I get it. That’s just the way these things work around here. Not shock there, really.


But I’ve said all of that to say this: New girl is only a Level 2, and has only worked here in this environment and in this line of work for less than a year. Less than. So for her to come in and take over things, all personal annoyances aside, is just ridiculous. She’s not qualified. She doesn’t’ have the experience. And she needs to just take a step off.


Am I crazy for thinking this way?


I’m not one of those territorial kind of people. Trust me. Not with this stuff. Ask any other person I work with. I am all about getting things done, and if that means other people doing it? Well, then by-golly that’s what’ll happen.

Nobody wins when you’re only concerned about yourself. I’ve heard it said that “it’s a lonely road to the top”, and I have no interest in getting there.


But when you are going around to other people and making comments about me, and that you don’t like how I do things, well then grow a pair and talk to me about it. But noo.

What does she do?

She sends these e-mails with our bosses CCd, and tells me in this anything-but-genuine way how I need to do things this certain way that she wants me to.


My response?


I reply to all. I say “we’re doing things this way for a reason” in MUCH nicer wording, and throw in one of those “if I’m wrong about any of this, can you guys just let me know? I’ll gladly change things up if this is the case.” Because I have nothing to hide! I have a great relationship with our bosses. That’s what happens when you learn people and you forge working relationships with them.

Being all sneaky and conniving just makes you look like a tool.


And where I would normally be okay with letting her make a fool of herself, with no help from me, and having her just walk around like said giganto-tool, she’s messing up the relationships that we’ve built with the customers. And it’s taken us years to get to this point.



So basically, I’m just tired of it. It’s stressful at work all the time, these days. I’m constantly second-guessing myself because of it. And no one above me seems to notice the ridiculousness of it all (then again, they could possibly just not care, since I’m already doing enough damage control on my own to hopefully cover up all of her mistakes and over-eagerness).


And now I feel like I sound territorial and like I’m over-reacting.


It’s just not a fun situation. I dread going to work, now, and honestly don’t ever want to stay a full 8 hours. I’ve managed to make myself stick it out, but it’s a fight almost every day.



So pray for me… For patience. For wisdom. For kindness towards her. For energy to make it through the day, with some energy to still clean and make dinner at night. For a little extra dose of love to hand out when I’m feeling particularly un-loving. And for the ability to not take out my frustrations with her on other coworkers or my husband.

I’m really trying to work on loving her. It’s just SO hard when I feel like she seems so intent on ruining me and taking over everything I’ve worked so hard to build up.




It’s so hard to work with people like that. Am I the only one?

Provision

It's been a great year... and I've been blog-M.I.A. for most of it (yeah. Sorry about that!), but it's been great, nonetheless.

With so much that's happened this year, I can't help but see God's hand and provision in our lives. Even through that crazy chaotic man-made house flood of ours, we received new carpet throughout the house, tiling in the bathroom (which we would've had to pay for ourselves), fresh new paint in various rooms... we couldn't have PLANNED that!

When McStudly was diagnosed with Crohns' disease, even after several hospital stays and medical appointments... countless pills and medicine trials... we hardly payed a dime for any of it (I actually don't think that we payed anything for any of it). We had amazing medical coverage through the military, fabulous doctors and facilities in our local area, understanding bosses and co-workers that covered for us, supportive family that checked in on us, and fabulous friends that helped make sure we felt loved and were taken care of. We couldn't have ASKED for anything better!

Even in our finances I can see him working. When bills came in higher than planned for (like when the electric company WAY overestimated our charges: think 8 months worth of bill credits) and life just... happened - cracked windshields, a sick dog, and home makeover mishaps (plenty of those in this house) - we were covered.

Just this month, Austin had quite a few dollars spent on vet bills... and by quite a few I mean the total is now over $1.2k on something as simple as ringworm (PS: much more serious on dogs, than humans, fyi). Somehow we were able to pay for (not charge) his vet bills the first time around... don't ask me how! But I thought for sure that there would be no way we could do it again. And I was right - we could not. But with God, all things are possible - and we are able to do it again. The vet said he needs one more round of meds to be sure it doesn't come back, and "somehow" we have the extra money to pay for that and his boarding expenses. I noticed last week, after doing some quick budget math (am I the only one that keeps a spreadsheet for each month that details how much goes to which bills for each paycheck, how much into savings, how much for spending, etc? Okay... call me precise and just shy of obsessive, but it works.) that we had about an extra $1k in savings that I couldn't really account for. Every bill is payed and already pulled up to date. There are no pending checks, and no pending withdrawals. We had planned to use the extra money to pay off our credit card, but when Austin needed vet visits, I knew it would be going towards that instead. But here's the cool part: we somehow didn't spend much (hardly any) of our allotted spending money over vacation... That's about $150 that we didn't use. And $269 just came in the mail as a reimbursement from our first round of vet bills (have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE having pet insurance? Cause I do.) which I had totally forgotten about.

That's a total of: $419.00 that I had no way of accounting for beforehand. It was like surprise money... bonus cash.

So when I went to pick up Austin this morning from the vet's office, where he was boarding and had been re-checked by the vet, guess how much I had to pay?!


*drumroll please*


That would be a total of $406.68!



Isn't that amazing?! Not only are the vet bills covered out of pocket without even remotely affecting our regular monthly budget and bills, but we can also afford to pay off our credit card, now, with the extra money I "found" in savings.

Because we have been faithful to him in our finances and tithing, God has blessed us more than we could even IMAGINE through our finances.




As 2009 comes to a close, this evening, I look back and can see how God has blessed us way beyond what we could ever have planned, asked or imagined.




With this kind of provision from a truly wonderful, loving God that cares enough about me to even notice and cover the "little" things in life, I can't help but feel a peaceful confidence over whatever will be thrown our way in 2010.

May God continue to bless and care for you and yours, and may you be able to someday look back and see his hand in everything.





Happy New Year!

My Husband Rocks!

So I'm sure you are well aware of how much McStudly rocks by now, eh? Well... just in case you need another reason, please allow me to oblige:

Through everything that's been going on lately, he's stayed positive. He's doing what's best for the family, not just what he wants, and he's taking everything lightly and remaining positive. Even with the insanity that has been our house, over the past few months, he's been the one reminding me that we still have a roof, a floor, and 4 walls - more than some can say. He's been inspirational and very encouraging and is making me want to be a better person.

I don't know what I'd do without him.

You're my favorite, sweetheart. I love you forever.

Rock on.

What Was I Thinking?!

With everything that McStudly and I have been dealing with lately... between the house snafu, the hospital visits, job hunting, etc etc... we've been learning a lot.

The best part about it is that with his recently being diagnosed with Crohns' Disease, we've grown SO much with God and together, even. It's been amazing. Last night we had the BEST pillow talk. It was just perfect. We are lifting each other up and encouraging each other - being open with each other in our walk with God and what we're learning through all of this.

To be honest, I've been thinking about a song. (what else is new, right?!) I'm one of those people who totally loses herself in music. I believe there is a song (or will be soon) for every mood, every situation, everything! And It's kind've neat how this worked out...


Tuesday nights we have practice for the worship sets we'll be doing the following Wednesday and Sunday at church. So the night before McStudly went back into the hospital, I was there... practice practice practice... blah blah blah... it was over. Well, our Worship Pastor had mentioned he wanted me to learn a few new songs for us to be able to sing in the near future. So I followed him back to his office and he played/burned me a CD of 3 songs. All different artists, writers, performers, etc. They were awesome. The songs were 1 - "All I Want" by Kristy Starling (no clue if that's the actual title, but I'm guessing), 2 - "You Are God Alone" by another chick (a song we've all heard, and there's about 50 million versions of... but we plan to make our own), and 3 - "Desert Song (I Will Bring Praise" by Hillsong United.

Uh. Maze. Ing.


Seriously. Desert Song is SO stinking powerful. It starts off a little different then your typical worship song, but I could NOT get enough of it this week. Call me crazy, but I don't think it's a coincidence that I was given this CD to "practice" the night before McStudly went back into the hospital. I listened to it all week driving back and forth, and all over creation. This song was just SO encouraging and almost became an anthem (which sounds SO unbelievably cheesy, I know).

Let me put the lyrics in here for you, and I'll add emphasis on what really caught me every time I listened to it:


"This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow"


It's just been SO amazing listening and singing that song. I've been declaring and singing it just driving down the road and cannot be more at peace about everything.

I don't preach a lot on here (or maybe I do more than I realize?), but this is just something I really felt like I should share. "All of my life, in EVERY season, YOU ARE STILL GOD, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship."


I need to praise him through everything, because no matter what my circumstances are, He is STILL God and that alone is reason enough to praise him and give him the Glory that he deserves.

I don't have a clue what his plan will be that it should involve all of this, but I know that he is the one that is All-Knowing, and I am not. He is the one that created us. So I will praise him even still.


PS: Google the song - you won't regret it. and I hear there's an awesome video out ther esomewhere about how the song came about - I'll definitely be checking that out when I get the chance!!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Well... that's what I've been thinking about. What about you guys? Anything at all... what has been on your mind lately? It can be about switching cereals or finding a new job, or just trying to make it though day-to-day life, but I'd love to hear it.

So spill! :-D

Pay It Forward

Saw this on Kelly's blog and thought I'd give it a whirl!

Here are the rules:
The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a small gift from me within one month!
You must be willing to host a pay it forward too! As well as send the gifts out to your recipients within a month.
Post this same thing on your blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in! Please remember to leave me your e-mail!

PS: If you haven't seen the movie "Pay It Forward" you're SO missing out. Netflix it or something. Totally worth it!!

Oh Joy

I had to post this because it made me laugh. For those of you who know me, you know I'm not our biggest Jessica Simpson fan. In fact, I bite my tongue to avoid the few choice words I have for the blonde who's stolen my beloved quarterback's heart! *clenching teeth*


deep breath.


Knowing this, my Husband thought it would be funny to put "Private Valentine" on our Netflix list. I got this e-mail from him today:

"Sarah: I am happy to tell you that we will be receiving the much anticipated Private Valentine movie from Netflix, tomorrow! I think its going to be a great date night. Sit back, eat some popped corn...play sucky face, you know the drill.
-- McStudly"





Ha ha... He's lucky I love him!! :-P

My Hosband Rocks

But he does. McStudly and I are on the same page, but not... at the same time. Does that make ANY sense? That's why God brought us together. He knows how to challenge me and make me want to be a better person without pushing the limit (though I'm sure he could do that too, at times) and getting me to just whine and cry about him stepping on my toes.

*sigh*


He's the best.
He's my favorite.
He's my Husband.


You know that wedding song "When God Made You" by Natalie Grant and Newsong? Well it's true. He must've had me in mind because it's amazing how we ying and yang.





I love you, baby!

Not Enough Tissues in the World

Seriously. Read this post and you'll see why:

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/05/time-please-dont-have-your-way-with-me.html



I officially miss my Nester, and I haven't even met him. I want to. I'm not sure when or how, but I will, someday.

MHR Friday RETURNS!

I've been SUCH a blog slacker, as of late... heck, I've been a slacker PERIOD as of late. But what's a girl to do with as much going on in her life as I've had lately?

That's where McStudly comes in...

You see, McStudly is preparing to separate from the military, so he's been home on terminal leave for a while, now. Why does that make him awesome? Because he's been taking care of like EVERYthing around the house for me!!

Seriously, though - he's been doing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning up dog dookie (my neighbor is very grateful). He even cooked dinner last night! How amazing is he? I love him to pieces. And he's been SO great with everything.

It makes things SO much less stressful for me when I can come home to an empty sink and having the house as neat as it can be, right now. Have you seen the pictures? My house STILL looks a royal mess. And there's not quite an end in sight, at the moment. But he's doing what he can to help keep it as put together as possible while I'm working and he's at home.

*sigh*. He's so dreamy. I love you, baby!! And thank you soo soo much!!

XOXO

"I will Daaance like David Daaannnced"

I was writing, kind've like I do fairly regularly, and discovered that it's looking a bit like David's writing style in Psalms, today. Oh well. What can ya do, right?!

So here it is... my thoughts, as jumbled and mixed up as they were at the time of writing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I'm crying in the night
Afraid of what's surrounding me
not knowing when the pain is going to end

When the sin in this world
Becomes thick and almost suffocating
And I hardly feel like I can breathe another breath

I know that even in these times of fear and doubt

You reign.
You’re still seated on the throne.
You reign with power to calm even the raging seas.

There’s none on earth, or above, or below
That could even begin to compare to Your strength and majesty

When I’m not sure that this world is worth it anymore
And I don’t want to deal through the pain
You’re the one who dries my tears and You hold me in Your arms.
You don’t let go.

There’s a peace You give that I can’t explain
And I know I’ll make it through the night, to the next day
The comfort You give is overwhelming
And joy, it overflows within me.

God, my Father, only You can calm my storms.

Nothing, in life or in death, could ever replace Your love.
My desire to know You more and more astounds me every day.

Even when I fail, You never change.
You never move, but to follow me – even into the depths of my sin.
And when I cry out, You’re already there.
Holding and comforting me before the cry even leaves my lips.

You know my heart.
I can keep nothing from You.
You see the good and the shameful,
But You love me still.

How can there be a love so great?
So that even my sin can’t turn You away?

I’ll never understand such a love, but I’ll be forever grateful to You for it.

I love you God, my forgiving, loving Father.
And even if I worked forever, even past this life,
I’ll never be able to comprehend Your love.

But I’ll try, because a love so great is worth everything.
And maybe that’s why You gave Your son – You gave everything, just to prove that to me.

A sinner like me?
Worth Your everything?

I should forever be in your debt, but you’d never allow it.

Your gift of love was just that – a gift.
And now I could never repay you.

But God – I’d love to try.

So I’ll give You my everything.
I’ll try and try to live for You, and none other.

I’m not perfect, by any means, but You see me as spotless, still.

How great a love is that?

Back on the Table

So, as most of you know, McStudly is due to "separate" from the Air Force in June of this year, his terminal leave beginning in just ONE week.


However, with no job lined up and only two possibilities that aren't looking too promising at this point... another option pops up.


McStudly now has the option to extend and deploy. It's a 6 month deployment, and so he'd be extending for 8 months, but... he's not 100% sure of what he wants to do, yet.


I like to think of myself as a pretty supportive wife. So when he mentioned this to me I thought about it and came to this conclusion: if it's what he wants to do, then he should go. You see, he's wanted to deploy as long as I've known him. He doesn't have an insane desire for action or a crazy streak (though, that's debatable), but he's just always wanted to do it. And in my opinion, if ever there was a "perfect" time (if such a thing exists, that is), it's now. We're young and basically healthy (minus that little spell over a week ago, anyways), we have no children and we're not expecting to anytime soon. We're covered by the military (i.e. he gets a gun, whereas he'd get nothing as a deployed contractor), and we still live close to family and friends. I guess I just want him to be able to do it if he really wants to.


Will it be hard? HEEEECCKKKK yes!! Will I miss him? What kind of a stupid question so that - of COURSE I would miss him... like CRAAAAAZY!! But I just feel like this is as good a time as any for him to be able to pursue this.

More details, and eventually the decision to come, I'm sure.

... but am I nuts? What would you say if you and your hubs were in the same boat - optional deployment and a desire to do so.

My Husband Rocks

I know... I KNOW!! I've been SUCH a slacker with the MHR posts, lately, but it's not because I don't think My Husband does in fact Rock... it's more like because I get busy, and forgetful... blah blah blah.

Enough excuses.

My Husband TOTALLY Rocks!! This week, Katy Lin created an Acronym for "My Husband Rocks", so I'm going do to something kind've similar. Check it:

M - military... for now :-)

c - crazy fun

S - sexy (Oww owwww!!)

T - thoughtful

U - uncanny knack for reading me

D - dreamy as all get out

L - lovable

Y - younger than me *blushing*

So there you have it - a little bit about my McStudly. Don't tell him I told you, though... he'd HATE it if word got out that he was lovable and understanding. His "street cred" as a man would be shot. And we wouldn't want that, now would we? :-P

Leave a comment and paste a link - if your Husband Rocks, too, we'd LOVE to hear about him!

Toodles!

Pretty Please?!

I know I've pimped out my dog on this blog before, but this time I have a picture that's actually cute. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go vote for him??

kthanksbye

That ol' Gee-Tar

Well, I found a guitar on Craigslist and *fingers crossed* I'm really hoping that this guy will get back to me... like... YESTERDAY!!!

According to the listing, he bought it for his daughter and she's only used it about two times. So he's only asking for $125. :-) I'm SUPER excited!! AND - the real kicker... McStudly said I can go for it!! Well, his actual words were "It's up to you, babe." So that means yes - SCORE!!!


I've been itching to learn since high school, so I'm really praying this will all work out. It's in the price range (really cheap) and it's WAY local (as in only about than 10 mins from our house). Here's hoping!!







Now... I just gotta figure out how to play the dang thing, if I get it!!

But, I want it NOW!

Seriously, though - this is PERFECT for the idea I have for the wall behind our couch. I want NEED these letters! P-U-H-L, please.

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=6139862119478198419&id=77415&parentid=DECOR_ACC_MONOGRAMS&pushId=DECOR_ACC_MONOGRAMS&popId=DECOR_ACCESSORIES&sortProperties=&navCount=101&navAction=poppushpush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=zin



And thanks!

McStudly Rockity-Rocks

My Husband Rocks. Plain and Simple. I can't really give you details this week, but mainly he rocks because we're learning.

We've only been married for about 15 months, now, and so there's a lot for us to still learn - about each other, about marriage in general, about co-habitating. There's a lot to figure out! So when faced with some of the shenanigans over the past few weeks, he's still trying to learn as we go. Some guys get to a point, or so I've heard, where they think they've got it all figured out. But he's not doing that. He's still learning, and he'll admit it.

We both admit that it's a HUGE learning process, that probably never stops being just that... but at least we're not getting all hopeless about it, right?

He's amazing, and I love him so much. It's amazing to be able to agree with such a cliche, but I truly do love him more and more all the time. It just keeps growing - it's out of control!! ha ha

MHR Friday

McStudly is amazing. He knows me better than anyone else, and even better than I do, at times (which is kind've scary to think about, but kind've a relief, at the same time).

So without going into detail, there was a situation over the past few weeks that reflected poorly on myself and McStudly, though neither one of us had done anything to be part of it. I know it doesn't really make sense, but it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that McStudly handled it amazingly. He does what he can to make me feel better about it. He's stepping up - as a man, and as a husband - to deal with it.

It's not always easy for us to realize the position a husband holds, as wives. We just see the cups he leaves laying around or the dirty socks all over the bedroom. We hear him asking what's for dinner as he sits there playing his video games, or we hear him asking over and over and over again for sex, like it's going out of style... but we don't see the rest of it.

At least I know I don't. We don't see or understand their need to protect us. Their need to keep us safe. Their need to provide for us. We don't understand their justifications for why they do things the way they do, or appreciate the comfort that just their presence can bring, until they're not there one night and we can hardly sleep because of every little noise we hear.

And yeah, sure, they may not see or understand all of the ins and outs about us, either, but that isn't the point. The point is that we take them for granted. We all do. Then a situation occurs where it's put to the test, and it all starts to make sense.

My Husband Rocks because he knows that even though I may not understand all o this about him, I still need it. I still need him to be my rock and my protector. I still need him to provide for me and keep me safe.

We live in a crazy world full of crazy people. And for those of us that are married, we're lucky enough to never have to face it alone... and that's why My Husband Rocks. Because I'll never have to face any of this alone, anymore. I'll always have him to protect me and even just be there for me.

I love you, baby.

A Letter from Nester

He's only 6 years old (yes "He". Compassion had messed up and wrote "she" before, but it has since been corrected) but he's eager to communicate with us.

Yesterday I opened the mailbox to find what I didn't think I'd find for another few years - a letter from Nester. I assumed that due to his young age, he'd be unable to write to us for a little while, but I was wrong. And I'm SO glad that I am!!

He didn't write the letter, but he told someone what he wanted to say so they could write it for him. AND he drew us a picture! He's such a sweet boy. Most of his letter told me about his parents and his younger sister, Jane. He loves school, especially Math and one other subject that I can't recall, at the moment, and is so happy that we sponsored him. He eagerly awaits a picture of our family, to include our silly dog, and then asked us to pray for him and his family to have "a good life". How sweet is he??

I'm getting ready to write him, again, but this time I'll be doing it by hand, rather than through the internet, as I have been previously. The translator is also trying to help teach us some of their words... next to each thing he drew for us - house, snake, maize plant, table - they wrote the word in their language (I can't recall what it is) and then the English translation underneath.

I'm going to try to find a way to scan the picture he drew so you all can see it. It's proudly displayed on our refrigerator at the moment. :-) I love our little Nester. He's got such a sweet heart and is apparently a very lively 6 year old who loves to laugh and have fun. And ANY 6 year old that likes Math, well he's a hero in my book!