Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Musings

As Ray Stephens once sang, It's Me Again Margaret! Here I am on an off-Tuesday avoiding anything resembling productivity! In fact, on this 17th of January, I have officially taken down exactly half of my Christmas decorations. Luckily my sweet husband took our outside decor down weeks ago so our neighbors don't think mean thoughts about us! My main thought this morning has been, "oh goodness...when Bible Study starts back up in February, I'm going to have to clean my house more often than, hmm, never!" I am not a domestic goddess. In fact, I'm not domestic. I would show you pictures, but my more-domestic-than-me husband would be embarrassed that there are approximately 4 loads of clean, unfolded laundry in the hallway, two loads of clean dishes on the counter, three unpacked rubbermaid containers of Christmas decor in the living room floor, two undecorated trees still standing in their homes since before Thanksgiving, and a layer of dust so thick that if we had children, it would certainly be full of smiley faces and funny words. So what in heavens name am I doing here? Avoiding the aforementioned mess! I have until 5 to get it under control :)

As I put my Christmas decorations away I started to think about how each Christmas from here on out is going to entail change. A sweet couple in our church, the Barnes, gave us The Book Of Christmas Eves as a wedding/Christmas gift last year. I have written meticulous details (ok, bulleted lists) over our past two Christmas Eves and read them today. The changes in one year! Addition of pets, children, and in-laws, the loss of spouses, tradition, jobs...all in one year. I can't wait until we have several years worth of Christmas Eves to read about and smile/cry through. This is such a cool tradition to do at any stage of life. How blessed we have been to begin at the "beginning".

Moose told me the problem with my boring blog posts (nothing but the honest truth around here) is that I "muse" too much and am too serious. So, I will leave you with a slightly-embellished fun story of our weekend.

We took off with approximately 40 kids and 10 other adults to the Great Wolf Lodge! The kids at our church go on such AWESOME and we are so blessed that my mom is our Children's director--meaning we get to chaperon fun trips! We arrive at the lodge and immediately notice a few things. 1-a giant stuffed moose in the middle of the lobby (we love it already). 2-there are people (adult and children alike) wandering around wearing wolf ears and holding magic wands. 3-said people are wearing their PJs and no shoes. What an interesting hotel! Upon further investigation, there is a bedtime story told by this moose and his friends every night, the strange wandering people are in fact doing a magical quest (still weird), and it is socially acceptable to go without shoes at all times at this place. In fact, we joined in this luxury. Our bracelets were our room keys, water park passes, and fashion statements in one! Mom and I got whiplash on several rides that first graders thoroughly enjoyed (maybe we're getting old), and Moose (my husband, not the giant story-telling lobby decoration) was the favorite water-slide companion. Apparently, his weight along with the ability to lean "way far back" allow for optimal water-slide activity. I disagree...but maybe that's because my favorite water adventures include long hot baths and the occasional lazy river! Nonetheless, it was a great time had by all. I only consumed 7-10 dunkin donuts beverages in my bathing suit or pjs with no shoes, we water-parked for two days straight, and of course, experienced a great Chick-fil-A dinner on the way home. What could be better?

ok....on to tackle this house...............

Monday, January 9, 2012

Courage

The adults at our church are participating in a Bible Study based on the movie Courageous.


I feel like I've been bombarded with inspiration regarding courage lately! Here are just a few of the things that have stuck with me.


Joshua 1:9--Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go


Meg Cabot--Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. For now you are traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be.”


John Wooden--Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.

We Bought A Zoo--‎"Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage...literally 20  
seconds of just embarrassing bravery...and I promise, something great will come of it."

I pray we can be men and women of courage this year. May this year be a year of no excuses...and strength in the Lord.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Well, I guess I am pulling a Brett Farve and coming out of retirement. I am going to give this whole blogging thing another go and hope to just give you the alternate side of our lives. Listed below is a two part thesis describing my intentions with you, the reader, and my goals of blogging.

1: Just like a met-the-father-unexpectedly-first-date-night-gone-bad my intentions with you the reader are simple, to keep to entertained. I do not live a overwhelmingly crazy life, rather I like to keep things simple and light-hearted. Most blogs I post will be my warped view on everyday happenings. For example, everyday I drive to work I encounter one certain individual on the way. We will refer to him as "Mr. Hippie driving 45 in the left lane". Of course, this is not his real name as he is simply a tree hugging Subaru driving long haired hippie hogging the passing lane. Although I generally believe that the less said about Mr. Hippie driving 45 in left lane, the better, as to not encourage him, I do feel obligated to say a few things about Mr. Hippie driving 45 in left lane's unrestrained activities. Some background is in order: The impact of Mr. Hippie driving 45 in left lane's contemptuous driving habits is that it has made me lose faith in the Department of Motor Vehicles ability to license adequate drivers. You truly have to experience the pure agony of the entrapment of 45mph in a 65mph before you can fully appreciate the devastation Mr. Hippie driving 45 in left lane wreaks on my morning temperament. My personal thoughts on the matter is if you are incapable of traveling at an acceptable speed, you should have the common decency to move to the right hand lane. It's bad enough that you have to eye-badger us with your Zen Buddhist New Age mystical Bob Marley-worshiping pot legalizing and PETA themed ubiquitous bumper stickers, but to travel slow enough that one is forced to read every word of it is just contemptuous.
2: My goals for blogging are also simple. I hope to post once a week just like my wife. Hopefully enough happens to me in a week to garner enough material for a blog post.

Please move over hippie,

Moose