Exactly one year and three months to the day since our wedding, he calls me a psycho.

I knew the day would come. It was only a matter of time. Through all the "you are wonderfuls" and "you are amazings" I kept telling him "someday you will think I'm psychotic". He would always adamantly rebuke me, saying "don't talk about my wife like that!"

Well, it appears things have changed now. After a little over a year of marriage, reality has set in. It's amazing how things change once you live with someone for a while. It didn't happen right away though, it took a series of forehead crinkling and head shaking events to bring my husband to the inevitable conclusion that he is married to a crazy person.

Maybe it's been the giggle fits that tend to turn into hysterical fits of laughter when I'm tired. There have been a few of those, the first of which caught him completely off guard. He wasn't sure what was going on, and was a little scared - which made it all the more funny to me. Most recently it was prolly the jumping around in the parking lot that just occurred minutes ago, which I felt I needed to do because I have been sitting for like 6 hours and I desperately needed to move. What.

I do feel a sense of relief. Now that my true colors are showing, in all their crazy vibrance, I can relax. It's too late for him to run. The funny thing is that he still finds my crazy antics cute. Oh, that he will still feel that way in ten years!

The blessing of being homeless

I am feeling humbled. Last night Vince, Nick, Vinny and I watched the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It is an incredible movie and is based on a true story, which always intrigues me even more.

If you have seen it already, then you prolly know how I am feeling. If you haven't, I won't spoil it for you. I will just tell you that it's about a man and his son who are homeless for a time. They carry their belongings around in a suitcase. One suitcase. His son's only posession is his basketball. No toys. No anythings. I can't imagine what it is like to not have a home. I honestly can't comprehend the loneliness, the emptiness, the fear. And when you have a child that you can't provide for, how must that feel for a parent?

As I walk around our home and see all that we have, the abundance of things...stuff...everywhere. I am humbled. We have far more than we need. More than we will ever need. I know watching a movie like this should make me feel blessed by all that we have. But honestly, I feel guilty. I feel so very selfish. Yesterday we made a trip to Sam's Club to stock up on some groceries, some of which are still sitting in a box in our kitchen because we don't have room for everything. Our pantry and cupboards are full. Our frig and freezers are full. All while many of our fellow human beings, no less deserving than I, are living in cardboard boxes and wondering where their next meal will come from.

I am humbled. I am thankful. We are blessed beyond measure. And I realize that we are the ones Jesus was talking about in this scripture:

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Mark 10:25

I never used to put myself in that "rich" category that Jesus was referring to. I always thought he was talking about the really wealthy people in America - the ones with mansions and yachts and millions of dollars. But the truth is, I am rich. And so are you. If you are reading this, you are wealthier than the majority of humans on the planet. It is so easy in our society to get caught up in wanting more, accumulating more things, that we so often forget that we are already rich. I think it is hard for us to enter the kingdom of God because in our abundance and perceived self-reliance, we think we don't need Him. In our quest to accumulate more things, we forget that Jesus is the only thing, the only One who satisfies the longings of our hearts. And we don't see the poverty that exists in our own hearts.

Those who live in poverty have a much easier time seeing their need for God and rushing to His throne, because they have little else on earth in which to put their hope. But when we seem to have all that we "need" in life, we don't see it. The truth is, not only are we all rich by the world's standards...in God's eyes we are all homeless. No matter how many "things" we surround ourselves with, no matter how high we can fill our shopping carts, it all means nothing apart from Christ. We live in utter poverty until Jesus breathes his Spirit into our hearts and gives us the abundant life that He desires to give. Which may or may not include "things". When I realize that these "things" might pile up so high that I can't see God clearly, suddenly being homeless doesn't look so bad.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8

Happy Friday!!

It's Five Question Friday over at "My Little Life". I've been a "lurker", but this week I decided to join in the fun!!! If you want to too (two tew??) then just copy and paste the questions below into your own post and click on the Mr. Linky thingy at the bottom of this page to find out what to do!

1. What celebrity have you been told you look like? Ummm....when I was much thinner I was told a few times that I looked like Meg Ryan. I totally think those people were lying.

2. What is your all time favorite movie, any special reason why? "Napoleon Dynamite". What d'ya think? GOSH! Close second: "What About Bob?" I feel good. I feel great. I feel wonderful.

3. Since we're talkin' movies...Popcorn: overrated, underrated, or 'bout right? Nuked popcorn....over-rated. Real movie popcorn....yum!!!

4. Are you a glass half empty or half full kinda person? Depends on who's holding the glass.

I have no idea what I mean by that.

5. What perfume/cologne do you wear? "Belong" by Celine Dion. The first time I discovered it I walked around all day in love with myself.

The post about how awesome iGoogle is

I just have two words for you....iGoogle.

Have you discovered iGoogle yet??? I recently did and it is (singing) aaaaawe-some!

I could have discovered it long ago, since my uber-techy husband claims that he tried to show it to me a long while ago and I wasn't interested. He's prolly telling the truth because when it comes to technology (and other things in my life) I am easily overwhelmed and I very well may have closed my eyes and ears and rudely announced politely declined "don't introduce me to one more smidge of information that I don't absolutely need or my head might asplode."

Nevertheless, I have now discovered it and it is soooo fun! You know how the regular Google page is just white? Well, on iGoogle you can customize the page and add all kinds of things to it that you want to see everyday. Like on mine I have a daily bible verse, a daily quote from Beth Moore, funny kid sayings (I could submit some for that). I have the date and time and a calendar, which comes in very handy on the days when I don't know what's going on.

I also have a "To Do" list that I can add things to, cross things off, and even print out. And it looks like a yellow pad of paper - cute! I have a list of the movies currently playing at our local theater, weather (both here and in California so that in December I will be able to see how nice and warm it is where my sister lives. Whatever.) I have news headlines so that I know what is going on in the world...which I desperately need as evidenced by this pre-Vince blog post. And of course the coolest of all...daily Napoleon Dynamite quotes. Yessssss!

You can search for absolutely anything you are interested in and have some type of feed thingy added to your page. You can also add a (since I don't know what it's called, I'll call it a decorative banner) across the top of the page where the "Google Search" box is. Mine is piano keys.

iGoogle....check it out! Doesn't it sound like alot of nerdy fun?!! I'm not sure why it makes me so happy, it just does.

"It works, Napoleon. You don't even know." - Kip

Quote of the day

Anyone who has boys will understand this.

Especially if your boys like to walk around outside in their socks, which get all muddy and black, and then put their shoes on...thus transferring muddy and black material to the inside of their shoes, and consequently to all future clean pairs of socks so it looks like I don't do laundry.

We have discussed this many, many times at our house, especially when I am trying to clean out the inside of a certain boy's shoes, as I was this morning.

Me: "Kyle, let's try not to get the inside of your shoes all dirty. Can you do that?"

Kyle: "It's not me, it's the sand."

I can't find my tweezers.

I know it's somewhere, everything is somewhere. I remember putting it in a particular somewhere along with my nail clippers, neither of which I can find at the moment. And I need to do some clipping and plucking of hairs that grow in places where girls should not have hairs, so I need my tweezers!!

This got me to thinking this morning...whenever we lose something that we once had, one of two things happens. Either we realize just how much we appreciated it, or we realize that we never really needed it all that much. This truth can be applied to lots of things in our lives...but I'll let you go off on your own philosophical tangent on that one. I'll just say that in this particular moment of my life, it applies to my tweezers.

Apples anyone???

If they are Honey Crisp.....YEAH!!!

Sunday I took Kyle and Hope to a nearby apple orchard, and we had a blast! Vince and the older boys were having a "boy day" of their own, so we decided to make our own fun. And fun it was! Just look...

Fall is in the air

It was the first day of school around here this week!

And on this very foggy morning, the kids were ready...

 set...

go!

Even Trevy!

A happy day!

This is my Christine!

We are so totally BFF's! We have been best friends since, well - forever! Actually since this....

Christine has been there for every significant moment of my life (and many insignificant ones too)...

Lots of hairstyles...oh my word. Is that a side pony tail??
Yes. Yes it is.

Through the years there have been many, many moments like these...


Together we have gone through Jr. High, Highschool, college, boyfriends and weddings. We've shared pregnancies and kids and all things in between. Now, we live about 2 hours apart and because of all our kids' activities and life busyness, we don't see eachother nearly often enough. Sigh. Sometimes I go into withdrawals and I just need my Christine fix!!

Well, on Labor Day I got my fix! Vince and I and our kids met Christine and her kids (her husband Mark unfortunately had to work) at a very fun park half way between our towns. We spent the afternoon picnic-ing and chatting while the kids played. It was an awesome and wonderfully therapeutic afternoon!!
Ever since highschool, we've had many talks about wanting our kids to be BFF's just like us, and despite the distance, that appears to be happening...




...which makes our hearts very, very happy!

Psssst, Christine....guess what happens in exactly 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days from today. Actually, right now??? I'll give you a hint...look at what time I posted this.
Muah!

Dear Store People,

When I come to you and ask you "do you know where I can find (this thing)?", please don't make me stand there for forever, mumbling "hmmm....it could be here...or there....or maybe even over there...er, wait...what are you looking for?"

I'm sorry. Maybe you didn't hear my question. I was asking if you know where it is. If you don't know, please don't guess for me. I don't need you to guess. I can guess. I'm actually fairly good at it. What I was actually asking is if you know where it is. That's all.

And if you don't actually know where it is, please don't pretend you do and then walk me all the way across the store, find an aisle that I've already looked in, and proceed to stand there and look for me. I've already done that. I'm almost as good at looking as I am at guessing. Again, what I was asking is if you know where it is.

If you don't know, it's ok. I promise. I won't freak out on you. I don't expect you to know where everysinglething is in your store. Just please say "I'm sorry, I don't know for sure, but I will find someone who does".

There. Wasn't that easier for both of us?

I think my head might asplode...

other than that, I'm fine.

Really.

Well, I think.

I just need a REALLY BIG calendar...maybe painted like a mural on the wall in that chalk board paint that I've heard about. I don't care if it's ugly. I just need to get organized. Organize what, you say? Oh not much, just this...

doctor appointments
dentist appointments
orthodontic appointments
second opinions
laundry
daily chores
school schedules
orientations
school supply shopping
school clothes shopping
shots for school
driving permits
sports sign ups
driving 5 kids back & forth to town for sports practices, work, youth group...
my sanity, which somehow gets lost in the shuffle
lunch money
after school child care
vet appointments
haircuts
haircuts for the dog (really??? who in their right mind gets a dog that needs $35 haircuts???)
bill paying
meal cooking
grocery shopping
sanity finding
relaxing...???
praying
devotions with kids
refereeing
worship practices
piano playing
scrapping
blogging
photo taking
working full time
dating my husband
dating our kids
growing spiritually
bible study
getting healthy
living life!

I know this is not unusual, and most mom's lists look similar to mine. But as we are embarking on a new school year I'm feeling the pressure. I need a lot of prayer in order to pull this all off...with a joyful heart!

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

The comfy chair

I tend to be a play-it-safe kind of gal. (Did I just say "gal"? Good grief. I have never in my life referred to myself as a "gal". It must be from turning 40 or something.) I don't like taking risks, and I tend to resist change. When I find my comfort zone, I curl up in a cozy little corner and park it. It is there where I feel safe and secure and where I am quite content to stay, thank-you-very-much. Stepping outside of the box is not the norm for me, so when I feel the urge to do just that, it is usually God and not me doing the urging. He knows me well enough that once I find my comfy place I will likely stay there, so in order to get me to move He needs to make me uncomfortable. My comfy chair needs to get a little lumpy.

I don't much like that. Not at the time anyway.

But I have seen God use this technique enough times in my life that I am beginning to recognize it...and the wisdom behind it. To move me in the direction where He wants me to go, He often needs to broaden my horizons and open my field of vision. And in turn, I need to be open to seeing things differently than I have been used to seeing them. I need to envision something new, or the possibility of something new happening in my life.

I think I'm in that place again.

I've been wondering about something lately. If you have a passion about something, I mean you really love it, should you follow your heart and step outside of the box and do something with it? Or sometimes do we have passions for something just for the sheer enjoyment of it, and nothing more? Of course I'm not talking about something harmful or sinful, but just something that you love to do. Maybe you even have the potential to become good at it. How do you know if you are meant to do more with it?

This is just something I have been pondering. And wondering if the career I am currently in is what I am supposed to be doing for the next 25 years...or even the next 5 years. I have been in the same career field since graduating from college. But in this past year I have experienced some changes in my job that have brought me way outside my comfort zone, and at times my comfy chair got quite prickly. In fact, a couple times I found myself without a place to sit at all. And I began to wonder if I had made a mistake in taking the career path that I did.

But lately I am seeing things a bit differently. More clearly perhaps. I hope. Instead of looking at it as a mistake, maybe it is a means to an end that I cannot see right now. A path along the journey that God is taking me down that does not look like I anticipated. It's not a smooth and hazard free path, like I keep requesting from Him. Eh-hem. Rather, it is requiring me to put on my hiking boots, face some challenges, and build some muscles that are a little flabby. It is requiring me to have faith in my Guide, who knows the way and will lead me in the right direction - to the destination that He has chosen for me.

I just need to be willing to give up the comfy chair for a while. And let God expand my horizons.

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16