Side note: I'm totally slacking here. I've just been so busy being wife/mommy/homemaker/etc... And I actually feel like I'm doing a pretty good job! Chandler Rae is on the move and is INTO EVERYTHING! I can't take my eyes off of the girl for even a second and we've been really trying to be active so we've been spending a lot of time at the park or outside. Amazingly, I've been keeping up with the house work too and for once, I don't feel like it's swallowing me whole! What's more... I actually joined a bible study (yes, that's right folks, I'm doing something for myself)! Even crazier... I've been reading! Do you even know who I am anymore!?! There just hasn't been enough hours in the day for blogging around here, but at the request of one of my fellow SAHMs I'm trying to work it back into the schedule! This is for you girl!
With that being said... Mondays are for memories and today I'm remembering a day when I once served like crazy for the youth at Journey.
Long story short... I didn't grow up in church, but I started attending (and I use the term attending loosely) my freshman year of high school. It wasn't until my Junior year though that I was 100% sold out for God and his plan for my life. I didn't know much about the Bible, but I knew I wanted to be a part of a story bigger than myself and I wasn't looking back! After high school, I got right into serving in elementary and middle school at church and once I entered into my sophomore year of college I started serving the high school youth.
My time as a "high school sponsor" (aka small group leader and someone for the kids to count on and trust) helped mold me into the person I am today. God grew me and used me in ways I never imagined He could. Some of my favorite times came in a tiny little room in the children's wing of our church with a room full of girls sitting in tiny chairs at a little table with Bibles in hand and hearts open. The memories made and talks had will always be in my heart. I will admit, the job was not always easy! I was stretched, challenged, and sometimes exhausted after long nights in group discussing questions about God and life that I sometimes couldn't answer. I was sometimes emotionally drained after road trips and conferences or dealing with the "drama" that can happen in a youth group, I was sometimes disappointed in decisions made and consequences that followed, but I wouldn't trade a second of the time spent with my girls.
It's crazy now to see the journey's they've all taken and are still on. A few are married and a couple, now moms. Some are in college or pursuing their dreams while others are struggling through life still searching for their calling. Some of the girls I'm still close with, when we talk, it's as if we talk everyday. Others I see on facebook and share comments here and there with. More of them than I'd like, I don't see or talk to at all and that makes me sad. One of them is no longer with us and I'm still in shock over her death. I still love and miss her and wish so badly I could tell her how proud of her I was. Some of my girls are still as in love with their Savior as they were years ago and others have walked away or taken a different path in life. Regardless of where they are now or what they're doing now there will always be a place in my heart just for them.
While these days I'm wife, mommy, and homemaker and unable to serve as a sponsor, I still feel I'm a role model to the girls currently in our high school youth group. I'm not able to have late night convos, or lead bible studies or attend most trips, but I feel that I'm showing them how to be a Proverbs 31 woman (or at least how to try). One day my schedule will open up again and I'll be free to lead and serve and while I miss it so much I know that I'm serving my husband and my children by being the best wife and mommy I can be and I can't get this time with them back!
I'm learning everyday to embrace the season of life I'm in and today I remembered how sweet one season was.
Happy Monday Everyone!
I will hopefully return for more blogging soon. :) Love you, Jill!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
WORD TO YOU MOMS. some humorous advice about daddies
My husband is the best daddy in the world to our two children, Landon (2 years old) and Chandler (9 months, going on 9 years). He is also an awesome husband who would do anything for me and does everyday (like going grocery shopping with me and the kids after he got home from work today and then helping me clean up our very messy [now clean] kitchen)! He pretty much rocks! With that being said, it is a fact that God created men and woman differently, so what that also means is that he created mommies and daddies differently too. And that my friends, is what my silly but so true advice is about today.
We'll just call this... things that all mommies should understand about daddies...
1. Daddies don't know how to be quiet. They make a good effort after being SHHHHed at, but they are not nearly as crazy as mommies when it comes to noise. Mommies will do everything from holding in sneezes to leaving toilets unflushed (even when they should really be flushed) just to keep a napping baby asleep. Tip: Use a white noise machine or fan for white noise. Landon sleeps like a rock through almost anything. Chandler not so much.
2. Daddies are not wired to multitask. It's not that they wouldn't want to, but they just can't. Mommies can make lunch while entertaining the kids, feed them, and then clean up the mess all within 20 minutes. Daddies usually don't work that way, so be happy if your kids get fed and clean up the mess with a smile knowing that your man is doing a great job being a daddy!
3. If your husband offers to watch the kids for you so you can get out be happy! Don't expect the house to be clean when you return. In fact, expect it to look like a DISASTER ZONE, but just be happy your kids are alive when you return. Consider it a bonus if they have fresh diapers and smiles on their faces. And really who are you kidding anyway, the house is pretty much always a DISASTER ZONE anyway.
4. Most daddies are not bothered by a house that is not sparkling. Our daddy is not bothered by a house that looks like a tornado made an appearance. Mommies, on the other hand, start twitching when the house looks awry, the laundry is piled up and the trash can be smelled from across the street! Look on the bright side, at least he's not going around the house doing dust checks or breathing down your neck to get your clean on and be sure to be appreciative if he helps out with the cleaning around the house! My hubby chips in by washing and sometimes folding the laundry and taking the trash out every week. He also helps in other areas whenever he can. It still makes my skin crawl when he leaves shoes in the middle of the floor, but I try not to say anything. If that's all I have to deal with, I'll take it.
5. If you are a stay at home mom (SAHM), sometimes it's hard for daddies to understand that you worked your booty off all day, probably even harder then people who have full time jobs! If you are a mom with a full time job, I surely hope he cuts you some slack!! If your husband is like mine he is always amazing enough to come home and immediately help with the kids. Most nights he helps with baths and bedtime too. I have to admit it might be hard to see what we SAHMs do all day especially when the house sometimes is more of a wreck when daddy gets home then when he left, but we know how hard we work! All it would take is one 10 hour day in our shoes though, and they'd quickly get it.
6. Daddies have the amazing ability to tune out whining and crying. I have to admit, I'm jealous of this one. In the car, Landon could be whining for "his music" or Chandler crying because she wants out of her seat and it doesn't phase Matt at all. Me on the other hand, I can't focus on anything else except for the kids. Forget having a conversation with me. All I can think about is getting out of the car and rescuing Chandler from her car seat. As far as the whining goes... it must come to a stop. Mommy is not a fan and concentration is nearly impossible when whining is present.
There are probably more, but I'll stop here. For the record, this is all in love and just for fun! I had my hubby read this before posting just to make sure he was not offended. I also know that this does not apply to everyone's daddy. I happen to know though that there are at least a few of you who can agree with most of what I posted because we share stories together often. I also happen to know we love our husbands and the daddies they are.
Feel free to add more to the list!! Please do not feel free to make a Jesus Juke!
Happy Friday all!!
We'll just call this... things that all mommies should understand about daddies...
1. Daddies don't know how to be quiet. They make a good effort after being SHHHHed at, but they are not nearly as crazy as mommies when it comes to noise. Mommies will do everything from holding in sneezes to leaving toilets unflushed (even when they should really be flushed) just to keep a napping baby asleep. Tip: Use a white noise machine or fan for white noise. Landon sleeps like a rock through almost anything. Chandler not so much.
2. Daddies are not wired to multitask. It's not that they wouldn't want to, but they just can't. Mommies can make lunch while entertaining the kids, feed them, and then clean up the mess all within 20 minutes. Daddies usually don't work that way, so be happy if your kids get fed and clean up the mess with a smile knowing that your man is doing a great job being a daddy!
3. If your husband offers to watch the kids for you so you can get out be happy! Don't expect the house to be clean when you return. In fact, expect it to look like a DISASTER ZONE, but just be happy your kids are alive when you return. Consider it a bonus if they have fresh diapers and smiles on their faces. And really who are you kidding anyway, the house is pretty much always a DISASTER ZONE anyway.
4. Most daddies are not bothered by a house that is not sparkling. Our daddy is not bothered by a house that looks like a tornado made an appearance. Mommies, on the other hand, start twitching when the house looks awry, the laundry is piled up and the trash can be smelled from across the street! Look on the bright side, at least he's not going around the house doing dust checks or breathing down your neck to get your clean on and be sure to be appreciative if he helps out with the cleaning around the house! My hubby chips in by washing and sometimes folding the laundry and taking the trash out every week. He also helps in other areas whenever he can. It still makes my skin crawl when he leaves shoes in the middle of the floor, but I try not to say anything. If that's all I have to deal with, I'll take it.
5. If you are a stay at home mom (SAHM), sometimes it's hard for daddies to understand that you worked your booty off all day, probably even harder then people who have full time jobs! If you are a mom with a full time job, I surely hope he cuts you some slack!! If your husband is like mine he is always amazing enough to come home and immediately help with the kids. Most nights he helps with baths and bedtime too. I have to admit it might be hard to see what we SAHMs do all day especially when the house sometimes is more of a wreck when daddy gets home then when he left, but we know how hard we work! All it would take is one 10 hour day in our shoes though, and they'd quickly get it.
6. Daddies have the amazing ability to tune out whining and crying. I have to admit, I'm jealous of this one. In the car, Landon could be whining for "his music" or Chandler crying because she wants out of her seat and it doesn't phase Matt at all. Me on the other hand, I can't focus on anything else except for the kids. Forget having a conversation with me. All I can think about is getting out of the car and rescuing Chandler from her car seat. As far as the whining goes... it must come to a stop. Mommy is not a fan and concentration is nearly impossible when whining is present.
There are probably more, but I'll stop here. For the record, this is all in love and just for fun! I had my hubby read this before posting just to make sure he was not offended. I also know that this does not apply to everyone's daddy. I happen to know though that there are at least a few of you who can agree with most of what I posted because we share stories together often. I also happen to know we love our husbands and the daddies they are.
Feel free to add more to the list!! Please do not feel free to make a Jesus Juke!
Happy Friday all!!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Word on the street is... TLC will be bringing us more Extreme Coupon-ers!!
If you caught my blog last week about TLCs Extreme Coupon-ers special then you know what I'm talking about. If you didn't you can read it here.
Turns out TLC's ratings were off the chart when their special about four of America's most extreme coupon-ers aired that they have now decided to turn it into a series! According to CNN there are 12 more half-hour episodes on the way!
I'm personally excited about it because after I watched the special, I was so motivated to get my coupon-ing booty in gear that I saved over $200 the next time we shopped! In some ways I can see how the special and the up-coming shows can make a bad reputation for coupon-ing in general, but I kind of like it. Jenny, the creator of Southern Savers (a coupon site I frequent) shares her opinion here. She has actually been approached to do such a show, but has turned them down for her own reasons and she shares why on her blog.
From what I've read the series will be debuting in the Spring. I will certainly be on the look out for air dates and times and I'll be sure to share if and when I find them out!
Turns out TLC's ratings were off the chart when their special about four of America's most extreme coupon-ers aired that they have now decided to turn it into a series! According to CNN there are 12 more half-hour episodes on the way!
I'm personally excited about it because after I watched the special, I was so motivated to get my coupon-ing booty in gear that I saved over $200 the next time we shopped! In some ways I can see how the special and the up-coming shows can make a bad reputation for coupon-ing in general, but I kind of like it. Jenny, the creator of Southern Savers (a coupon site I frequent) shares her opinion here. She has actually been approached to do such a show, but has turned them down for her own reasons and she shares why on her blog.
From what I've read the series will be debuting in the Spring. I will certainly be on the look out for air dates and times and I'll be sure to share if and when I find them out!
Happy Friday all!
And than you so much Sarah Morgan for sharing the 411 on this. You know me too well!!
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