Catching Up (9/26/12)

Lately, I have not blogged much, so here's the highlights and a few pics...

- We've been silly.

- We've played with friends.
- I'm taking part in the Ladies' Bible Study at church, and the kids just started AWANAS at another church on Wednesdays.

- I've been reading a lot. (My recent fav is These Is My Words. Loved it.)
- Enjoying the downtime before wedding season starts this Saturday.
- I have grown to love and appreciate my husband even more. He's so amazing.

- We've taken time to just be.

- We're eating healthier. AND exercising! Are you impressed? I am!
- Carson lost his two front teeth. Cute!
- Our Monday Date Days have resumed now that the kids are back to school, and we LOVE IT!
- And we've spent a lot of time praying and preparing for the journey ahead...

I'm excited for all God has in store!

Back to School

Our fun summer has come to an end and the kids started back to school last week. Abby and Carson were thrilled to be back and are still enjoying it the second week in! Abby started third grade and her teacher is Mrs. Cepeda, and Carson is a first grader and has a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Chamberlain. We've all settled nicely back into the routine of the school year and are looking forward to all that this year holds!

Word of God

Sometimes you read or hear something and you just know it's for you. I looked down at my Bible yesterday and Proverbs 3:19-26 all but physically jumped out at me. I'm thankful that the Lord speaks to us.

Down Time

Lately, I've been enjoying a very un-busy August. And it's splendid. There's still work to do, but it's not urgent. There's nowhere I have to be. I don't allow myself to think anymore about the fact that it's a month where my business brings in almost no money. (I remind myself, "Remember, it's like this every year in January, February, July, and August -- at least. And you prepared for this. It's all good!") Pushing all that aside that fear (that all who are self employed can relate to) gives me time to not only work on "big picture" projects (which I enjoy), but also gives me time to just enjoy being. More housework gets done. I spend more time with the kids. I've read three -- almost four -- books in the past week. It's so nice. I'm doing my very best to enjoy it before the busy season arrives -- where nearly every weekend is spoken for from late September to mid-November. As I get older, I'm learning to accept (even enjoy) the ebb and flow of life, to take the seasons as they come...

Ecclesiastes 3 

 1   There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

Abby's Baptism

Sunday was a very happy day. Abby made the decision several months ago (though she's really been talking about it for a lot longer than that) to give her life to God, and this week she was baptized! Not only was it a very cool event on it's own, but Aaron was the one who got to baptize her, and it was so special and meaningful.

After church, the grandparents came over and we celebrated with cupcakes! We were so glad they all got to be a part of Abby's special day.

Abby reverted to her one year old self and dug into her cake! Ha ha!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Life Simpler

I'm a big fan of things, habits, and practices that make life simpler. Who couldn't use more of that, huh?
I feel like I've been on the journey of trying to become more efficient and organized for years, and I'll probably never really get there, but this week, three things I believe got me closer!

1. Laundry Chute
Aaron and I saw a house with a laundry chute a couple of years ago when we were looking at houses to buy. We thought it was so cool and tucked it away in our brains until a couple of weeks ago, when it was mentioned again. Well this weekend, Aaron and my dad cut a big hole in the floor of our closet and in the ceiling of our laundry room, and then Aaron built the chute, complete with door. Now my kids fight over who gets "dirty clothes duty". So far no one has jumped through, though I did see a pair of Carson feet dangling into the laundry room yesterday.

2. Roomba 
My mom picked up this fabulous wonder-machine at a garage sale for $15 and gave it to us. I adore it. I use it every day. I sit on the couch and read magazines as it vacuums my floors and under my furniture. It's glorious.

3. Get Rid of Stuff
I've filled up my trunk twice now with stuff to donate and give away. Much of it, I'd been piling up for months, and I just decided it was time  to clear it all out. I also went through my closet and got rid of a lot of the stuff that I never wear. I was inspired by the blog Small Notebook that my friend, Amanda, told me about. It feels GOOD.

I'd love to hear about any of the things that help you simplify, organize, or be more efficient!

Friends

It's no secret that I'm kind of an introvert. I'm perfectly content to work from home, sit in my office, and interact with no one all day long. Aaron, on the other hand, at one point decided to work from home a couple of days a week, and it lasted all of one day. He couldn't stand the quiet and the complete lack of interaction. Ha ha!

I don't like to admit it, but when I'm busy, one of the first things to go in my schedule is my friends. We've just come through a season of insane busyness (doesn't it seem we're all in that state a little too often) with a month full of weddings, followed by VBS, and all sorts of other things. So over the last couple of weeks, it has been incredibly refreshing that God has blessed me with time with friends. I wish I had gone out of my way to plan these times, but more often than not, these happy opportunities to sit and visit just seemed to drop in my lap. I wish now that I'd taken the time to snap a quick picture with each of these special friends, but I didn't, so words will have to do!

• Amy has been a great friend of mine since Aaron and I were first newlyweds. She is the wisest woman I know and I can always count on her for a listening ear and wise, Godly counsel. It was so nice to spend part of the day last week with her and her kids over lunch. Plus, we may or may not have a plan to arrange a marriage between our two oldest. Kyle is such a sweetie!
• I got the chance to sit with Amanda for a while last week when I stopped to drop something off at her house. I think that she and her husband Daniel are some of the most interesting people in the world, and I always love the energy, passion, and ideas that come up when we talk. Also, when I showed up, she'd made at pitcher of tea because she remembered I liked it so much. AND she sent me home with a loaf of banana bread. Yum!
• Growing up in Howe, and particularly in high school, Johnny was one of my good friends that I ran around with. A couple years ago, he introduced me to his wife Sarah via Facebook because we had a shared love of photography. I was excited to find out a couple of months ago that they'd be moving here. They don't live far from us, and it's been fun getting to reconnect! 
• Today, I was happy to finally meet Dawn, who I "met" online through Amanda. She's also the wife of a minister and she also happens to love Caedmon's Call like I do. She just moved back to San Antonio from Alabama, and it was fun finally meeting in person and seeing her kids, who I see in pictures all the time! 
• Of course, I always love time with my wonderful friend and sister-in-law, Natalie. You'd think we get to hang out a lot, but even though we usually see each other once a week, it's hard to find time to really talk. It was good for me to spend time today hanging out with her, talking over sandwiches and loud kids!

I recognize that I need to carve out more times like this -- with these friends and others. Thank you God for the blessing of friendship. And thank YOU, friends, for the special and unique gift each of you are to my life! And if I haven't gotten to see you lately, let's do dinner or coffee or a playdate soon!