He holds my purse for me when I've got my hands full. (Yes, he is purposely striking a "girly" pose.)
Hey, I said he holds my purse. I didn't say he was thrilled to do it. *smile*
Musings about my life. Welcome to the state of my opinion.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
After 10 years...
This is why I still love my husband...
He holds my purse for me when I've got my hands full. (Yes, he is purposely striking a "girly" pose.)
Hey, I said he holds my purse. I didn't say he was thrilled to do it. *smile*
He holds my purse for me when I've got my hands full. (Yes, he is purposely striking a "girly" pose.)
Hey, I said he holds my purse. I didn't say he was thrilled to do it. *smile*
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
10 Years
Well, the past year month has been so busy, that I've barely had enough time to think, let alone blog about what I've been thinking. Great ideas went unshared. Funny stories were left untold. TSS (Things Snuggles Says) went unpublished. But rather than trying to catch you up on the insanitythatismylife, I'll just list the things I've missed blogging about, at least what I can remember:
I'm blessed to have Guitarman as my partner, my best friend, my live-in comedian, my cheerleader, my counselor, my hot date, my pastor, and the fabulous father of our sweet son, Snuggles. After all these years, Guitarman still makes me laugh and he still laughs at my stories. Thanks for all the memories, Guitarman! By God's grace, I hope we have many more happy years ahead of us! I love you!
- Guitarman went to Honduras.
- I injured my back while Guitarman was out of the country, and I walked around moaning like an old lady for several weeks.
- We visited the pumpkin patch, where Snuggles enjoyed carrying around (and throwing!) pumpkins. Unlike his usual obsession with animals, Snuggles showed no interest in the petting zoo at the patch, preferring instead to ride in the pink car. (Much to Guitarman's shagrin.) Snuggles also refused to pose for photos. He might be smiling in like 2 of the 100 photos I shot.
- We broke up with our former landlord (who was a major jerk!), and moved to a new-to-us (read: smaller, older, more affordable) house owned by kind home-owner-landlords who care more about people than they do about doing being a millionaire real estate investor. (Seriously, folks, he was a real prime-time jerk!)
- My parents came to Tennessee to help us move.
- Snuggles visited the pediatrician for his 2-year-old check-up. Aside from allergies, asthma, and truck-sized adenoids that face almost-certain-removal, he is healthy. (Thank you, Lord!) Snuggles now weighs.... wait for it... 27 pounds! No wonder my back hurts all the time. He is only in the 34th percentile for height and 40th for weight, but he feels incredibly heavy compared to how small he looks.
- Snuggles continues to impress the pediatrician (and everyone else) with his words and sentences. Basically he's a short little motor mouth. I have no idea where he gets that. Ahem.
- Mother-in-law moved out of our house into a retirement home!!!
- We had some Fall portraits taken by an amazing photographer-friend.
- Snuggles turned 2 years old. (Yes, people, he is two years old! And yes, we're experiencing The Terrible Two's, which, as luck would have it, started around 18 months for us.)
- We observed the one-year-anniversary of when we moved from Idaho to Tennessee. (Can't believe we've been here a year. Time flew by!)
- I celebrated my 36th b-day.
- Mother-in-law moved out of our house!
- Clumsy me sprained my ankle, which resulted in an over-priced x-ray, and me hobbling around and moaning like an old lady. (Again!)
- We travelled to Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with family! Snuggles enjoyed time with his aunts, uncle, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles and his cousins! He did not, however, enjoy the car ride back to Tennessee.
- While in Indiana, Snuggles learned how to ride the battery-operated tractor by himself. (Well, almost by himself. He needed help steering.)
- Did I mention mother-in-law moved out of our house?! (I really do love her.)
- I spoke in the employee chapel at work a couple of weeks ago, and shared what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving: My God, who gave me so many blessings in life, and who has always had His hand on my heart and life. Of course, a shared that gratitude in the context of a funny story about how my parents drove me to college in our car, pulling an aluminum bass boat with all my stuff in it. I'll have to tell that truly humiliating story later.
- I switched from Android to iPhone. (This is a major step for me because I'm not a fan of Apple for a number of reasons.) I finally caved to Apple's obviously superior product, despite my misgivings with their business strategies, simply because I refused to replace my Droid phone for the 5th time.
I'm blessed to have Guitarman as my partner, my best friend, my live-in comedian, my cheerleader, my counselor, my hot date, my pastor, and the fabulous father of our sweet son, Snuggles. After all these years, Guitarman still makes me laugh and he still laughs at my stories. Thanks for all the memories, Guitarman! By God's grace, I hope we have many more happy years ahead of us! I love you!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
TSS
TSS (Things Snuggles Says)
When I get home from work, the first thing I do is change my clothes. I have to get out of the office attire and into something more... ahem... comfortable. Like jeans and a t-shirt.
Last night I arrived home from work, and walked into the bedroom to change my clothes. As I stood there in the closet, the door swung open, and there stood Snuggles. (I swear he follows so close behind me that if I let out a big fart, he'd be blown away.) As I removed my pants, and started to hang them on the hanger, the following conversation ensued:
Snuggles: Mama naaaakiiiid!
Me: No, Mama's not naked. I'm changing my clothes.
Snuggles: Mama shower?
Me: No, I'm changing my clothes.
Snuggles: (Pointing to my butt) Cute!
Trust me, Snuggles, it's anything but cute. But thanks anyway.
When I get home from work, the first thing I do is change my clothes. I have to get out of the office attire and into something more... ahem... comfortable. Like jeans and a t-shirt.
Last night I arrived home from work, and walked into the bedroom to change my clothes. As I stood there in the closet, the door swung open, and there stood Snuggles. (I swear he follows so close behind me that if I let out a big fart, he'd be blown away.) As I removed my pants, and started to hang them on the hanger, the following conversation ensued:
Snuggles: Mama naaaakiiiid!
Me: No, Mama's not naked. I'm changing my clothes.
Snuggles: Mama shower?
Me: No, I'm changing my clothes.
Snuggles: (Pointing to my butt) Cute!
Trust me, Snuggles, it's anything but cute. But thanks anyway.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Moving (again!)
"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much."
I've heard this quotation many times throughout the years, and besides the fact that the Bible doesn't actually say that, the quotation itself is thought-provoking. It communicates sentiment we feel sometimes when we're at the end of our rope. I'm going through one of those times now.
In the process of searching for a rental house, some friends made us an offer we couldn't refuse. After trying (unsuccessfully) to sell their beautiful townhome for the past year, they offered to rent it to us at a very reduced rate. We jumped at the chance. They contacted their realtor to take the townhouse off the market, and we were supposed to get the keys and start the process of moving in last week.
We contacted our landlord and gave him our notice of intent to vacate. One hour after e-mailing our current landlord, we received an e-mail from the townhouse owners. Their realtor had called about a potential buyer, so basically their offer for us to rent the townhouse was tabled indefinitely. I quickly e-mailed our landlord and asked for more time, but he refused. Instead he pressured us to sign another 1-year lease.
As home owners ourselves, we completely understand that our friends need to sell their property. But the bottom line is we were in a really bad position. We had 20 days to find a new place, not to mention physically pack and move our stuff!
I literally worked myself crazy last week searching property listings, contacting agents, etc. We looked at a bunch of properties, but despite all our efforts, we found NOTHING suitable.
Sunday morning after church, I hit a wall. I reached the end of my rope. I lost my mind. As I sat on the floor having a minor nervous breakdown, I thought about the Mother Theresa quote... I had to surrender the situation to God (again!) and just TRUST Him to provide.
Sunday night, we found our house. It's an older home in an established neighborhood in Mt. Juliet, which is east of Nashville. It's much smaller than our current house, and it's a little dated inside, but it has enough space for our family and it's on a beautiful 1.5 acre plot of land.
Once again God proved to me that He always provides our needs.
My prayer throughout the past week has been this: God give me the strength to see this adversity as an opportunity to trust You, a time to see Your grace at work in my life.
I'm going to keep breathing that prayer throughout the next 2 weeks as we pack and move... AGAIN. This will be our 6th move in 10 years. I'm over it.
--Mother Theresa
I've heard this quotation many times throughout the years, and besides the fact that the Bible doesn't actually say that, the quotation itself is thought-provoking. It communicates sentiment we feel sometimes when we're at the end of our rope. I'm going through one of those times now.
We've been looking for a rental house in the Nashville area because our lease is up at the end of this month. The house we're currently renting is beautiful (and big!), but it's expensive. Now that we've been here a year, we have a better understanding of our expenses for living in this area. We would like to reduce our housing costs in order to focus on paying down our debt with the eventual goal of buying a house here. (We still own our house in Idaho, but that's another story.)
In the process of searching for a rental house, some friends made us an offer we couldn't refuse. After trying (unsuccessfully) to sell their beautiful townhome for the past year, they offered to rent it to us at a very reduced rate. We jumped at the chance. They contacted their realtor to take the townhouse off the market, and we were supposed to get the keys and start the process of moving in last week.
We contacted our landlord and gave him our notice of intent to vacate. One hour after e-mailing our current landlord, we received an e-mail from the townhouse owners. Their realtor had called about a potential buyer, so basically their offer for us to rent the townhouse was tabled indefinitely. I quickly e-mailed our landlord and asked for more time, but he refused. Instead he pressured us to sign another 1-year lease.
As home owners ourselves, we completely understand that our friends need to sell their property. But the bottom line is we were in a really bad position. We had 20 days to find a new place, not to mention physically pack and move our stuff!
I literally worked myself crazy last week searching property listings, contacting agents, etc. We looked at a bunch of properties, but despite all our efforts, we found NOTHING suitable.
Sunday morning after church, I hit a wall. I reached the end of my rope. I lost my mind. As I sat on the floor having a minor nervous breakdown, I thought about the Mother Theresa quote... I had to surrender the situation to God (again!) and just TRUST Him to provide.
Sunday night, we found our house. It's an older home in an established neighborhood in Mt. Juliet, which is east of Nashville. It's much smaller than our current house, and it's a little dated inside, but it has enough space for our family and it's on a beautiful 1.5 acre plot of land.
Once again God proved to me that He always provides our needs.
My prayer throughout the past week has been this: God give me the strength to see this adversity as an opportunity to trust You, a time to see Your grace at work in my life.
I'm going to keep breathing that prayer throughout the next 2 weeks as we pack and move... AGAIN. This will be our 6th move in 10 years. I'm over it.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Movin' On Up
Snuggles is movin' on up... to size 18-24 months clothes, that is. Fall weather brings with it cooler temps, and he can't wear any of his long-sleeved clothes from last year. After hitting up consignment sales and outlet stores last week, I found some new and new-to-us clothes for Snuggles, which only means one thing... Time to clean out the closet!
The process of cleaning out Snuggles' closet usually entails packing the old stuff into plastic bins and replacing it with the "new" stuff. [Did I mention my garage is PILED high with plastic bins full of Snuggles' clothes from the past two years?! Yeah, we can't even park our cars in there.]
I dread the seasonal transition of Snuggles' clothes, for two reasons:
1) I hate shopping. The search for new stuff wears me out!
2) Cleaning out the closet is an unavoidable walk down Memory Lane.
Okay, I'll be honest. I'm usually not a sappy person... But when it comes to Snuggles, I'm a blubbering, snot-running-out-the-nose fool. Transitioning his closet seems to bring me to a grinding halt in front of a sign that says: YOUR BABY IS GONE! As I packed away the size 12 months clothes on Saturday, I could literally see Snuggles' babyhood slipping through my fingertips. And althoughI want to strangle him sometimes he tries my patience on occasion, part of me doesn't want him to grow up so quickly!
There I sat, on the floor of Snuggles' closet... Everything I touched had a memory associated with it: He wore the grey, fuzzy sweatshirt on his first wagon ride. He wore that striped t-shirt on his first trip to the zoo.... Each piece of clothing I held in my hands was like a fabric snapshot of Snuggles' life.
Cleaning out Snuggles' closet to make room for bigger sizes, I found myself torn between celebrating the new phase in life and missing the baby days. That's when I found it--the white onesie with the lamb on the front and the big yellow stain on the bottom. That's when I remembered The Blowout.
The Blowout: We were at a restaurant eating lunch when Snuggles grunted, made the-face-every-mom-dreads, and then proceeded to poop over the back of his diaper, out the side of his onesie, down my leg, and onto the floor. It was a Level 5 Blowout.
So there I sat last Saturday, on the floor of Snuggles' closet, holding the poop-stained onesie. In that moment, I realized it's so important to live in the moment. We've moved on to new adventures now. And while I'm sure I haven't cleaned the last of Snuggles' poop-stained clothes, I am blessed beyond words. Every moment with Snuggles is a joy... even the ones that stink.
The process of cleaning out Snuggles' closet usually entails packing the old stuff into plastic bins and replacing it with the "new" stuff. [Did I mention my garage is PILED high with plastic bins full of Snuggles' clothes from the past two years?! Yeah, we can't even park our cars in there.]
I dread the seasonal transition of Snuggles' clothes, for two reasons:
1) I hate shopping. The search for new stuff wears me out!
2) Cleaning out the closet is an unavoidable walk down Memory Lane.
Okay, I'll be honest. I'm usually not a sappy person... But when it comes to Snuggles, I'm a blubbering, snot-running-out-the-nose fool. Transitioning his closet seems to bring me to a grinding halt in front of a sign that says: YOUR BABY IS GONE! As I packed away the size 12 months clothes on Saturday, I could literally see Snuggles' babyhood slipping through my fingertips. And although
There I sat, on the floor of Snuggles' closet... Everything I touched had a memory associated with it: He wore the grey, fuzzy sweatshirt on his first wagon ride. He wore that striped t-shirt on his first trip to the zoo.... Each piece of clothing I held in my hands was like a fabric snapshot of Snuggles' life.
Cleaning out Snuggles' closet to make room for bigger sizes, I found myself torn between celebrating the new phase in life and missing the baby days. That's when I found it--the white onesie with the lamb on the front and the big yellow stain on the bottom. That's when I remembered The Blowout.
The Blowout: We were at a restaurant eating lunch when Snuggles grunted, made the-face-every-mom-dreads, and then proceeded to poop over the back of his diaper, out the side of his onesie, down my leg, and onto the floor. It was a Level 5 Blowout.
So there I sat last Saturday, on the floor of Snuggles' closet, holding the poop-stained onesie. In that moment, I realized it's so important to live in the moment. We've moved on to new adventures now. And while I'm sure I haven't cleaned the last of Snuggles' poop-stained clothes, I am blessed beyond words. Every moment with Snuggles is a joy... even the ones that stink.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Playground
Check out the big boy at the playground. He is so proud of himself, that he's big enough to climb the stairs and go down the slide by himself!
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