Resolutions

Last year I started having one resolution per month instead of a couple for the whole year. My thought was that I don't follow through with resolutions more than a month anyway. Well, as it turned out, I didn't follow through with montly resolutions past April. Mathematically speaking, I still did better than previous years. The biggest problem with last year's monthly resolutions was that I couldn't remember my resolutions from month to month. So this year I've decided to continue with the monthly resolutions, but to work on qualities each month rather than a specific goal.

January - love
February - joy
March - peace
April - patience
May - kindness
June - goodness
July - faithfulness
August - gentleness
September - self control

This is where the fruits of the Spirit run out, so I'm choosing some other qualities that I want to work on.

October - honesty
November - humility
December - selflessness

It's All About Perspective

I went to girl's night tonight at a friend's house and I was immediately overwhelmed and jealous. Her house was beautiful! She had pretty much everything I'd want in my perfect house. It was all decorated for Christmas and there was stuff on the walls and coordinating bathrooms and bedrooms. Plus her closet looked like something from a movie. I was definitely coveting what she had. But it's all about perspective. When I got home, Kaleb was crying in his room so I went in there to see if I could get him back to sleep. As I was holding him and rocking him, he laid his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I was looking around his messy room, rubbing his back and I realized that this friend of mine would give up everything she had to be able to do what I was doing that very second. It was a very humbling experience. Instead of focusing on what she had that I didn't have, I should have been so grateful for what God has given me. I don't NEED a big house that's perfectly clean and decorated. I mean, I still have things I want to do with my house, but if it's not perfectly clean it can serve as a reminder that I have my sweet boy who I wouldn't trade for anything.

Bucket List Accomplishment

Number 7 on my bucket list says "Witness history." I can now check that off. I got to go to the Saints game yesterday and be there when Drew Brees broke the record for the most passing yards in a regular season. All throughout the game we were keeping track of how many more yards he had to get in order to make history. He did amazing the first half and we felt certain that he would break the record in the third quarter. But he didn't. For those of you who didn't see the game, he had only 30 yards to go for most of the second half. Everytime the Saints got the ball back the whole crowd would stand up and get their cameras (or more accurately, camera phones) out to tape the event. And every time he would either run it or throw an interception or incomplete pass or something else that was totally NOT what we were waiting for. But then, with 4 minutes left in the game, he got the ball back around the 33. Keep in mind he needed 30 yards to break the record so he didn't have much room to spare. Everytime he completed a pass the Superdome erupted into screams and cheers. But it was nothing compared to what happened when he threw for the touchdown. The noise of the crowd was deafening! We were all jumping, high-fiving, cheering, clapping, and basically just going crazy. I imagine it was similar to when the Saints beat the Vikings to advance to the Super Bowl. It was so exciting and  I kept replaying in my head that night. I, of course, saved my ticket and I'll be able to tell my kids that I was there to see history...to see Drew Brees become the NFL's all-time leading passer. So in 20+ years, when someone else is close to beating Brees's record, it'll mean so much more.

A New Christmas

Christmas has come and, once again, I have gotten more than I deserve. We have been blessed by loving parents/grandparents and Kaleb is already rotten - to say the least. We are very appreciative of the outpouring of love shown through Christmas gifts. But I realized that I had to make a conscious effort to bring Jesus into it...and I was terrible at it. After ripping through presents all morning, we got in the car to go to Eric's house and I said something along the lines of, "Oh! You do know that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus right?" That was the extent of how we incorporated Jesus into His own holiday! Pitiful. I mean, we've talked about Jesus and the wise men and the story leading up to Christmas, but when we ask whose birthday it was, Kaleb said Santa Claus. I'm going to be honest, I felt awful! I don't really want to do the big Santa Claus thing. And by that I mean, when we were growing up, along with presents under the tree, we would wake up and find the big gifts from Santa. It was exciting and ridiculously fun, but I don't think we're going to do it. We'll probably have Santa fill stockings, but gifts are going to come from family. Next year, instead of a lot of presents, I think we're going to try to limit it to just a few presents (3-5 total per family) and then do some service activities like baking cookies to take to a shelter or giving away a gift for every one he gets. Like, I said, I am totally overwhelmed by how much Kaleb is loved by his family and it is a true testament to the loving nature of our parents. I guess I'm just feeling guilty for falling into the trap of making Christmas all about presents and Santa Claus instead of Jesus. Eric and I are going to decide what to do for next year then I'm going do a post about what we choose and why. I just know we have to do better.

Sometimes I Fail

Okay, reality check! Some days I go to bed at the end of the day and feel awesome...like I gave today my all and accomplished everything I wanted. Today was not one of those days. I did get up reasonably early and went to Hattiesburg to do most of the rest of our Christmas shopping....which we accomplished. But then I came home and took a nap. Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but for part of that nap Kaleb was playing by himself. I didn't really go to sleep so much as lay down and rest a while, and I could hear him playing with his trucks, and he came in to see me every now and again, but STILL, I felt horrible! Sometimes I fail. And as I sit here looking at the complete and utter mess of books on the living room floor, I think to myself, "Why did you let him go to bed without cleaning up his mess? Did you even brush his teeth!? Nope." Sometimes I fail. Then I look at the kitchen sink, piled with dishes and wonder why I just spent 2 hours watching episodes of Gilmore Girls instead of washing them. Sometimes I fail. This isn't a pity party, just a day when I realize I could have done a lot more. Tomorrow will be awesome! I will clean the house and wash the dishes. I will wash the clothes and put them up. I will vacuum and sweep the floors. Tomorrow I will NOT take a nap as I have the past 3 days in a row. I will go to the library and check out a book instead of buying one. I will go by Sears and talk to them about a dishwasher (that I should have talked to them about 2 weeks ago). Tomorrow I will not fail. Tomorrow I will win. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Book Review: True Believer

I'm a big Nicholas Sparks fan (aren't we all?) but I never seem to buy any of his books. Just like this one, I either borrow them or check them out at the library. I'm not sure why exactly. In this book, which is the first of two in a sequel, Jeremy Marsh, a writer from New York, goes down to North Carolina to try to debunk the legend that there are ghosts in this small town's cemetary. While there he meets Lexie Darnell, the local librarian. In true Nicholas Sparks fashion there is Southern charm and romance. However, also in true Nicholas Sparks form, it is fairly predictable. You know that the main characters are going to fall in love, have to sacrifice something, end it, and then get back together. I mean, that's how they all are...The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One, etc... It's true that sometimes a main character dies or has to sacrifice himself or herself and it's not a happy ending. I'm not going to tell you whether or not this book falls into that category. You'll just have to read it yourself.

Pinterest, You Might Just Be Alright

I'm gonna be honest. I don't really "do" the Pinterest thing. Every now and then I sign on and look at some of the cool stuff that's on there, but I don't have any pins or anything. Honestly, I just don't need another thing to be addicted to. I mean, c'mon, Facebook's plently. However, when I see something that 1. catches my eye and 2. looks easier than scrambled eggs, I try it. First time it was a recipe for s'mores dip and it was some kinda good! This time it was a project for some Kaleb art. Now, my son is an art prodigy. He's just got a way with colors and brush strokes...and I'm totally biased. But Haley pinned something to her board about how to turn a kid's scribbles into something you could actually keep. Kaleb painted a picture on white card stock, but there was a lot of white space left over when he was done. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the Pinterest idea. I took another piece of white card stock and cut it into sixths. (I'm planning on doing some 123's with another painting) I traced the ABC's in pencil then used a knife to cut them out. After that I just taped the ABC's onto the painting in a way that would show off all the colors he used. Then I cut the picture according to where I put the letters and outlined the edges. I realized I needed to do this because you couldn't see the floating parts of the A or B without the outline. Anyway, I thought it turned out pretty cute. Maybe I'll find a long picture frame that I can put them in and hang it up.

12 Days of Christmas

I learned something very interesting in Sunday School this morning. "The 12 Days of Christmas" is a secret song for Christians. Back in the long-ago days, when Christians were persecuted for even mentioning Jesus (ok, that happens now too but I think it was more prevalent back then), they sang this song where each day represented something Biblical.

A partridge in a pear tree = Jesus
Two turtle doves = Old and New Testament
Three french hens = faith, hope, and love
Four calling birds = the books of the Gospel
Five gold rings = first five books of the Bible
Six geese a laying = the days of creation
Seven swans a swimming = gifts of the Spirit
Eight maids a milking = Beatitudes
Nine ladies dancing = fruits of the Spirit
Ten lords a leaping = the Ten Commandments
Eleven pipers piping = faithful disciples
Twelve drummers drumming = 12 parts of the creed

Christmas Wishlist 2011

This is the obligatory Christmas List Post. I wasn't going to do it, but my sisters did, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. I'm just that kinda person.
As our big gift we want a stainless steel dishwasher. Our house doesn't have one and we are desperately wanting one. Plus, it'll help with other things in the future.
Next we have Kaleb. I know that he's getting a wooden workbench...not this one, but something similar from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. He's also getting a tent, playspace, and some books.

Now that he's really enjoying bath time, we wanted to get him some new bath toys. They have all sorts of stuff now like bath paints and cool stuff from Crayola. I don't know what the picture is below, but it gets the "bath toy" idea across.

On to me, I know what I want (and hey, this is my blog after all) so there's more stuff for me. I want some picture frames. I saw these cool framed flower pictures at Kirklands and really wanted them. Then I realized that my bedroom calendar has pictures that are very similar. So instead of buying those from Kirklands I though I could pick my favorite ones and frame them myself. Plus I want some fabric. I'm going to be recovering my kitchen chair cushions, ottoman, and accent pillows (as I've mentiond a bunch of times before) but fabric is way more expensive than I thought.

I also want a Nook. I'm a book fanatic and I've had the idea that if I got a Nook it'd be like I was cheating on books. But frankly, I'm running out of room on my bookshelf and I don't have room for another one. Plus, if I really like a book I can always buy it for my shelf so I can lend it out. I do plan on having a reading space (nook, if you will) in my perfect house surrounded by shelves of books. I may have to end up buying more to fill them.

I found a painting at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that I just loved. It spoke to me. There's just something about it that makes me love it. I don't know if I would put it in the living room or the bedroom, but it would definitely have a home. I need a Swiffer wet jet as well. I don't mop...ever...because it's just a pain in the butt. I think I would mop more if I had one.

Finally, I want some Toms. I'm not sure what kind I want, but I know that I want some. I'll just have to go pick some out. I'm trying to decide between practical or fun.

On to Eric. His list is super easy because it's super short. He wants gift cards and the new Zelda game. Literally, that's it. So that's our list. Hope you enjoyed it!