Five Things on my Mind

In an efffort to blog more this year, I'm going to do little updates like this sporadically. Here are the five things I've been thinking about recently.

1. The Greatest Showman Here's a little known fact about me. When I like something I become *somewhat* obsessed with it for a little bit. Right now, that's The Greatest Showman. I love musicals (and Zac Efron) and this one is great! From what I can tell it's not very accurate in its content because Barnum was kind of a creepy jerk, but in the movie he's awesome. I've seen it twice and have listened to the soundtrack several times on Spotify. And I may or may not have googled videos of behind the scenes, interviews, bloopers, and the trailer. 

2. Talking as Fast as I Can I LOVE Lauren Graham. I mean, sure, she's a little more liberal than I'd like, but it's Hollywood so who isn't? My mom, sisters, and I have been loyal fans of "Gilmore Girls" since the beginning. Also, I've started rewatching "Parenthood." Let's face it, she's golden. I'm not typically into nonfiction books. They bore me. But, occasionally, I find it interesting to read about people I like. I've read a couple of books celebrities have written (The Duggers, Chip and Joanna) but it's few and far between. I love her (have I mentioned that yet?) and this book is so interesting. She writes the way she talks, full of tangents and rhetorical questions. If you liked Lorelaei's character, this book will be worth your time to read. But don't ask me for it. I'll have to add you to a waiting list. 

3. New York has been on my mind lately. We went in October to see "Hamilton" (which was amazing!! obviously). We did a LOT of things while we were there. Like, pretty much everything. Each night when we got back to our hotel room, we basically fell into bed and couldn't move. I still have a blister on my big toe from all of the walking. I thought, when we left, that I was satisfied with my experiences in the NYC and didn't need to go back. But since then, I've really missed it. Not so much all of the people, but the big buildings and the energy and the overall...gumption of the city. I've starting planning things I want to do on our next trip. And, of course, I'd love to go during the holiday season.

4. Y'all! My shipping for Jamko is intense. I seriously may travel back to New York at the end of the season if these two don't make serious strides towards their relationship just to talk to the writers of the show and give them a piece of my mind. I know "Blue Bloods" is kind of not the most popular show for people in my age demographic, but I LOVE Jamie and Eddie. It's almost beyond words how much I want them to be together. Remember my obsessive behavior I mentioned? It really starts showing its ugly head when this topic comes up. I can't count how many times I've watched their kiss on YouTube. I basically have their dialogue memorized. Seriously.

5. Tomorrow is my birthday dinner. I haven't had a birthday party of any sorts since my 21st birthday at O'Charleys. Honestly, I've been hesitant to put myself out there for fear of no one coming. However, I've made some great girl friends at church and invited about 10 of them for a birthday dinner. Most are coming and I'm SUPER excited about it. Here's to 33!

Blog New Years Goals, Stop Blogging the Rest of the Year, Repeat

Ok, it's that time again. Time to blog my New Year's Resolutions...for 2018. Almost two years since a new blog post. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff that's happened since then, BUT, I don't recall. Before I get into 2018 resolutions, I feel like I should at least give an update on the one resolution from 2017 I stuck to (remember). My goal was to read 20 new books in 2017. I stopped keeping up with them in June, but I think I read around 25 new books this year. So, yay me! 

Onward to my 2018 resolutions 

I'm splitting my resolutions into 5 categories and I have all year to complete them. Those are the only ones I tend to keep.

1. Spiritual - Read through the Bible again. Last time I did this I read it through chronologically from Genesis to Revelations. This time I want to read specific parts (although still chronologically because that's how I roll). I'm starting with Paul's letters. There are 13 letters so I estimate it will take me about a month if I average three chapters a day. After that I want to move on to the other books of the New Testament that aren't the gospels. Finally, the gospels. Then I'll move on to the Old Testament. I'm hoping that by reading the New Testament first, some things in the Old Testament will have a new meaning.

2. Familial - Be my children's greatest cheerleader. So often I'll discuss their negative traits with people *hoping to get some reassurance that it's not just my kids* and leave out the wonderful parts about them. I'm not going to lie. Some (ahem, most) days are difficult. I think part of it is I'm not fully aware of what drives, triggers, and upsets my children. Not really. So in becoming their greatest cheerleader, I'm expecting to learn more about them as well.

3. Financial - We are magnets for the unexpected expenses. It's almost humorous. But this year we're going to really try to get most of our debt paid off. The goal is that by the end of 2018 all that will be left is our house note, car note, and student loans. I know what you're thinking...what else is there? Let's just say, too much. If we can get them paid off I'll be happy to share what all they were.

4. Health - What? I'm going to make a goal to lose weight? How original! But, really, now's the perfect time. By the end of 2018 I want to have lost 20 pounds. I feel like that's a realistic goal. Then again, I feel like this girl represents me perfectly.

5. Fun - Learn how to do new things. I'm not sure yet what this entails, but I have some ideas. I want to learn how to bake bread. Okay, I have one idea. Surely more will follow. I almost always set book goals for each year, but I don't think I'm going to do that this year. Unless maybe my goal would be to read all of the books I currently own but haven't read yet. Yeah...

So there we go. When I look back on this January 1, 2019 (woah! sci-fi much?) I'll at least be able to see what (if anything) I accomplished. 'Til then...

Yearly Goal Update

Remember how one of my goals was to go on an international mission trip? I know you do because I'm sure you've been checking daily to see how things are progressing. Well, the wait (albeit short) is over. In July, I'm going to Guatemala! I don't know a whole lot about Guatemala except for what people have told me who have been there on the same mission trip from years past. So far I've gathered that the weather is perfect (mid 70s all year round), the food is great, and the people are amazing. Sounds like a plan to me. I'll be working in a malnutrition center everyday during that week. Basically, if parents can't feed their children they can drop them off at this malnutrition center. They can come visit once a week, and when the children are properly nourished they can go back with their families. I'll be going with an organization called Orphan's Heart. 

There are several mission trips that will be happening with our church this year, so when I felt God telling me this was the right time to go, I knew I had some choices. At first, I was going to go to Haiti and help teachers there with educational things. It sounds perfect for me, right? I mean, I teach. But I couldn't shake the feeling that that wasn't where I was supposed to go. I felt like I needed to work with orphans or children in need of care. When I heard about this trip to Guatemala, the nagging feeling immediately went away. THIS was my mission trip.

I'm not sure how things will work out financially (about $1700) or with the boys. I'm sure that it'll be hard to be away from them, in a different country, where I can't talk to them all the time or see their faces, and where Eric will have to take some time from work or enlist help in taking care of them, but God will work it out. He wants me there and He can take care of it. I'll leave you with some pictures of Guatemala:

Book Review: Fight Club

While we were planning our Christmas trip to the beach, I knew it was going to be rainy (of course-last time we went there was a hurricane, so you could say this was an improvement). I love a good rainy day because they're the perfect excuse to read all day without being considered a nerd or lazy. The problem with reading books comes when you don't know what book you want to read. I've tried the thing where you go to a bookstore and look for a book that "speaks to you." Let me tell you, it doesn't work for me. There are just too many options. It's like finding a needle in a needle stack. But I didn't have a book in mind, so I tried. While browsing, I saw this book - Fight Club.

If you've seen the movie, you've read the book. It's one of the most accurate book to movie translations I've seen. Of course there were a few minor differences, but overall, it was pretty spot on. Saying that, it's obscene and vulgar just like the movie. The overall concept is so, so interesting, but, in my opinion, the best part of the book was the afterword. It gives information about the book/movie that I found fascinating. For instance, did you know that the book was originally a short story? It's true! The whole story was originally just chapter 6 from the book. The rest of the book came from stories from his friends (he has some pretty gross friends it seems). He also says that people find him and ask him where fight clubs are currently being held. Overall, I'd say watch the movie (because, um, hello! Brad Pitt!) and find the afterword online. 

Goals and Such

Sooo I feel like I'm on repeat when I say I'm a bad blogger, but the fact that I didn't blog at all in 2015  somehow gives me the right to say it again. I'm not promising that I'm going to be awesome at it this year, but I'll definitely be better than last year. I mean, I'm already soon better with this first post. Since it's the first day of the new year I feel obligated to share my goals for 2016. I try not to make too many goals because I know myself and know that I have low will power. I've made one weekly goal, two monthly goals, and two yearly goals. Last year I had a goal to read the Bible all the way through. We, as part of our church, started a study called The Readers Guide to the Bible. Essentially it's a year-long study of the Bible chronologically. I'm not going to lie. Most of the year I did terrible. I felt like I was playing catch up for most of the year. I got bogged down in the Old Testament and had to binge read the New Testament. I'm happy (and honestly surprised) to say that I finished Revelations on December 30th. Doing the study helped me realize that making a goal to read the Bible everyday isn't realistic for me. I hope that this time I can go deeper into smaller sections of the Bible.
My weekly goal is to spend more days in the Word than out of it. It could be 7 and 0 or even 4 and 3 for those super busy/tiring/where-did-all-my-time-go weeks. My monthly goals are to 1) save from every paycheck we get and 2) go on more dates with Eric. At least once a month. That gets tricky because we don't live in the same place as our parents and that severely cuts down on cheap (i.e. free) babysitting options. Darn kids these days want to be paid for working. (And stay off my lawn!) my yearly goals are to 1) donate blood. I know, I know. I'm 30 years old and have never donated blood. It's terrible. I have no excuse except fear. But this is the year to conquer that fear. And 2) go on a mission trip. I've felt called to go on an international mission trip for over a year now, but haven't felt like the kids were old enough for me to leave them for a week or more. Our church does several every year, and I'd like to be a part of one. I'm not sure which one, but I know they go to Haiti and Guatemala every year. They've also gone to Scotland. That would be preferable because they at least speak English. I'm still praying about it, and I'll be sure to post a monthly goal update to let you know how things are going.

Our Only Offensive

I'm not going to lie. I'm TERRIBLE at reading my Bible and getting things out of it. I know what the problem is, too. I'm lazy and selfish. I want to watch "Gilmore Girls" or read one of my several crazy YA books (for the umpteenth time). But I really need to get back into reading the Bible. So the other day I read the section in Ephesians 6 about putting on the armor of God. I've read it many times before, but something stuck out to me this time. I wanted to go through each piece of armor in depth and really 'get' what it was about. Now, I'm sure that these revelations for me will be 'duh' moments for you. 

The body armor of God's righteousness: God's holiness is what covers us. The body armor protects us from the blows the Enemy throws at us. It's main purpose is to prevent amputation and decapitation in battle. Without God's righteousness covering us, we don't even stand a chance.
The belt of truth: We should secure His righteousness around us with the truth and the knowledge that He is the holy Lord. When we doubt the absolute truth of it, His righteousness slips. He continues to cover us, but WE feel less secure in Him.
The helmet of salvation: Let's face it, without a head, we're pretty much useless. And without salvation, we can't fight in the unseen war. The salvation through Jesus is what protects our mind from Enemy intruders. We have to be careful what we see, hear, say, and think.
The shoes of peace: I imagine going into battle is scary. You don't know for sure if you'll survive it. The peace of the Good News should guide our steps so that even if we should (and do) fear what's up ahead, we can go forward knowing God is in control. Without that, I'm not sure we'd ever move.
The shield of faith: Armor is necessary. So is a shield. It is the closest thing we've come so far to a weapon in battle. Granted, it may not be a great weapon, but it can protect for sure. If our faith is strong, so is our shield. If our faith is weak, it might as well be made of plywood. The battle is continuous, and the Enemy knows just how to attack us. We have to always be on our guard, and part of that is being strong in the faith.

**The sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word** This is the part that really got me.
So far, all of the pieces of armor have been for defense. They have helped us survive. BUT, without the Bible, without being fully immersed in His Word, we are always being attacked. We never gain ground. We are just trying to make it through another day. God's Word is our offense - our sword. If we are ever going to feel like we are gaining ground, defeating the Enemy, and not just being bombarded, we have to read the Bible and use it as our guide. I wouldn't go into a battle without a weapon, so why am I walking day by day into a spiritual, unseen war against me with the ultimate enemy leading the helm WITHOUT a sword!? I want this revelation God gave me to change the way I read the Bible and the frequency I read it. 

Many Plans

I've had many plans recently. Big plans and little ones. I've wanted to make a tree skirt, make a cushion for this old rocking chair in the boys' room, make a cushion for the glider in the backyard, make a "ghost garden" for Halloween, finish the attic, take the kids to Disney World, and adopt. I'm sure you can sort the plans into big and little on your own. Eric and I have been talking about adopting lately. I love my boys, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but I still don't feel like our family is complete. I would really like to have a daughter.

Call it motherly instinct or whatever, but there are things I'm sad about missing out on with only boys. And as Eric pointed out, most of them involve dresses or accessories. I always envisioned myself having a house full of girls -4 to be precise- and ended up with a house full of boys. I want to buy those adorable little dresses and headbands. I want to be able to take prom pictures of my kids (since they're always at the girl's house for the big reveal). I want to go wedding dress shopping. I want to paint fingernails and cook together. Yes, I know that boys can cook, too, but it's different. God calls his children to adopt and care for those in need.

The thing is, the house we just bought has only 2 bedrooms. I love our house. It's cute and charming and amazing. But it only has 2 bedrooms. Not really any room for another child. Thus the idea to finish the attic and turn it into 2 more bedrooms and a bathroom. It's not a terribly big attic, but I think two smallish rooms would fit up there. If we did that we'd also have to make a staircase. This seems like it's going to add up pretty quickly. We don't have an estimate or anything yet.

As I was thinking about all of these things I want to do, I realized that even though there is a lot up in the air concerning some of these decisions, someone already knows what's going to happen. God is already 5 years down the road in my future. He knows if I have a job in Jones County, if we have another little one added to our family, if our attic is finished or if we're even in the same house. He knows it all. And while I still struggle with my personal timeline, it's comforting to know that nothing is going to be a surprise for God. That He's going to see our family through everything.