Tips From Tara...

Tip #1:
When lending out maternity and/or children's clothes to friends and family, I now know that it is imperative to relay in very specific terms that you are LENDING said clothes. Not GIVING said clothes. There was a slight misunderstanding in that department last time I lent out my maternity things and as a result, I'm now down to one pair of pants and one pair of sweat pants. The jeans? Black velvet pants? Favorite black maternity pants ever? All gone. Consigned or given away to someone else she didn't feel she could get them back from. (I still have many of my things, just not several items that I really liked.)

*Sigh*

So, I'll be going shopping for maternity clothes this weekend. I need to psych myself up.

Tip #2:
Never, ever discuss a birthday party theme with a one Miss Georgia Reagan a good month and a half prior to her birthday. Not only will she change her mind as the wind blows, but she will also bring up the 143 different themes every time she sees and/or hears anything that reminds her of them.
All.
Day.
Long.
(In case you're curious -- the current favorite is Mickey Mouse with Dora, Blue's Clues and Hello Kitty making a nice showing.)

Tip #3:
If you have no idea what to have for lunch, I highly suggest the following sandwich. I made it on a whim today and have been thinking about going to the store for more avocado ever since then so I can have another tomorrow!!
*Toast 2 slices of your favorite bread (I did a good multi-grain wheat.)
*Slice up some avocado, tomato, cucumber, red pepper, and grab a nice leaf of romaine
*When the bread's done toasting, spread on 1 wedge of light laughing cow garlic & herb cheese
*Pile on the veggies and give it a good smush
Heavenly!! (And hellooooo - veggie city, baby!!)

Tip #4:
If you own jumper cables, try putting them in your trunk. Hanging them on a peg in the garage, not so helpful unless your car conveniently dies in your garage. **Key element for Tip#4: If your husband happens to take them out for some reason, please have him alert you to this fact or replace them when he's done with his little project.**

Tip #5:
If you are ever in a situation with a girlfriend whose van needs a jump, remain calm. Simply call your husband and ask him to walk you through it. It is actually sort of fun when you succeed and don't end up blowing up both vans and all 5 precious children inside of them. Oh -- and word to the wise -- the little clampy things are supposed to shock a little bit, but try ever so hard not to let them touch.

You're welcome.

Blah Blah Blah...

In other words -- danger -- random thoughts ahead!

Okay, it's 3:09 a.m. This probably will lack direction and focus, so beware.

Thank you, bloggy friends -- your love, support and encouragment is so very appreciated. Jennifer, I especially appreciate your comments and have thought about them several times since I read what you wrote. I think you are a wise woman, and I wish you lived close enough to just sit with a hot cup o' something and listen to you tell me I'm actually *okay* and that this is all just normal and to cut myself a break now and then. You seem to be quite good at that!!
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Blah blah blah reminds me of a funny Mitchellism from this week. He was peeved at Chris for something and decided that whining to me about it was a great idea. Not so much. I was fighting the urge to just sleep on the couch so I said "Mitchell, if you are unhappy with your Dad, then it's your job to tell him how you feel. Tell Daddy 'I don't like it when you blah, blah, blah because blah, blah, blah.' Then he'll know exactly why you're upset and he can explain why he did/said what he did. Whining to me isn't going to help much." I hear him stomp about 20 steps into the kitchen (there's a half-wall thing I can't see over) and say "Daddy, I don't like it when you blah, blah, blah because blah, blah, blah. Got it?!" Oh. My. Word. I am very surprised one of us (Chris and I) didn't pee our pants. Even Mitchell got the giggles over it. And guess what? No more peevy Mitchell. Too busy laughing at the blah, blah, blahs.
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Georgia has been super interested in going on the potty this week. Mitchell was about as difficult a child to train as I imagine there is and I about drove myself insane in the process of the process, so I promised myself that she would drive this bus. And...she is. For a few weeks a couple of months ago, she wanted to sit on the little potty all the time. So we let her. And she'd sit. And get off. And sit. And get off. And it drove me crazy sort of - but it was really no big deal. No piddle. No nothing. Just lots of giggles from her thinking she was THE coolest big girl in all the land.

Fast forward to this week. For some reason, she is all about the potty seat that fits on the actual toilet. She'll sit on her little potty now and then but she is most interested in sitting on "Emo Wod." (Georgia speak = Elmo's World, a.k.a. - the Sesame Street potty seat.) So, tonight at the dinner table, my little rose petal was tooting very loudly and announced "I poop!" I just thought I'd throw out the offer to sit on the potty. It was met with a very enthusiastic, "Yeah!!!!" Upstairs we went. Lots of tooting, which in turn meant lots of Georgia giggles. One thing that helped get Mitchell started with the whole idea of pee-pee in the potty was what we call "Pee-pee water." It's basically an ounce or two of warm water poured on the bits to get that feeling started. I asked if she wanted some pee-pee water and she said yes. As I turned off the water I heard some tinkles. She went pee-pee in the potty!!! She's not even two!!! For a mom who didn't get to wrap up the whole potty training thing until her son was pushing four, this was HUGE news!! I started giggling and laughing and telling her how proud I was of her...it was so fun. The boys both came running and it was this big, fun "Yay, Georgia" thing.

And then I about cried. Can she REALLY be this big? Can she REALLY be old enough to do stuff like this? *sigh* I guess so. She'll be two next month, and I think she is doing her best to snap me out of my denial about the whole thing.

On the up side -- the possibility of only having ONE in diapers has me motivated to help her follow her potty interest!
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I went to coffee (well, I had a cider) with a friend today. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends. She is 5 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, and though this will be her 3rd child, this is her 1st pregnancy. (She and her husband have adopted two girls. They didn't think they were able to get pregnant, so like me, this is a surprise package.) We met at the bus stop when we were 15 and have been close friends (sister-like) ever since. In fact, the picture at the top of my blog was taken at a girls' weekend with her and another good friend and she has her arm around me in the little picture of me in the brown shirt up there.

Anyway -- did I mention I would probably ramble?? -- we met for coffee today. I left the house at 1:45 pm. I thought it would be an hour or so. Uhhh - YEAH. At 4:30 I said that I should probably go in about 15 minutes. At 4:54 my cell phone rang. Chris was wondering if I had decided to run off with her and wanted to know just how big my cup of coffee was. After I hung up with him, exactly 2 minutes later, her cell phone rang. Her hubby was making sure she was okay since he hadn't heard from her. We decided that the little ones had probably been up for longer than 30 minutes and were interfering with football viewing and had a good chuckle about that.

I think we were both reluctant to leave. It was like we stepped into a little bubble for a few hours. Our friendship has gone through several ups and downs and we actually almost lost it all one time, but in the end, we are always closer than we've ever been. Neither of us could remember the last time we did this -- with anyone. Just went and sat and talked. And talked. And laughed -- oh, man did we laugh. And compared weak bladders and growing tummies.

I get all teary when I think of the gift it is to share this journey with her. We were both so sad that when Georgia was born, she couldn't come to the hospital. I wanted her to be able to witness her birth because she hadn't been able to be in the room when either of her daughters were born, and well -- she is just one of those people that I know the experience would have meant the world to. Of ALL of the days -- she ended up having a severe migraine and couldn't get out of bed. It was so sad for both of us because we wanted it so much, but now - -here she is about to have her OWN birth experience. Amazing.

Oh, and her dad said the coolest thing when they announced their pregnancy. He said that he was so glad they were unsuccessful in getting pregnant for so many years because otherwise they wouldn't have Madeline and Mara. I get teary every time I think about that. God truly does work in ways that we can't possibly understand until it's in our rearview mirror sometimes.
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Okay - I think that's it for now. I'm about to crawl back into bed and attempt to sleep again. Wish me luck. I promise, I'll be back in the bloggy saddle here soon. I miss reading everyone else's blogs and seeing what you're all up to.

I think I'm almost all the way out of my little hole. Thanks for lending me your shovels.

Buried.

Okay, for starters... I have sort of gotten myself into a rut. Okay, not sort of. I just have.

I'm sick.
The kids are sick.
I'm tired.
I'm pregnant.
I just don't have time.
Repeat.

The above has been my mantra for the last oh -- three weeks or so. For everything under the sun.

Cleaning? Mantra.
Time in The Word? Mantra.
Exercise? Mantra.
Fun stuff with the kids? Mantra.

Okay - now I *will* cut myself a little bit of slack. I have been sick. The kids have been sick. I am most certainly pregnant. I don't know if I've EVER been this tired in all my life. True. All true.

But.

I can make a good mantra. I can get myself out of this "buried" condition. A month or two ago I was happier than I'd been in quite some time. I was eating fantastically. I was spending time in The Word each and every day and loving it. I was participating in two Bible studies regularly. I was working out several times a week.

Now -- not so much. For any of it. *sigh*

I do, honestly - feel buried. Under the blahs. Under life.

But I can get out. I know I can. And I will. So, no worries.

Okay - so speaking of buried. Here's that post I mentioned like a month ago that has been knocking around inside of my brain. Ironically, it's about things being buried, too.

Alot of our stuff is in storage right now. Obviously, not things that we use every day or on a somewhat regular basis. Most of the stuff are things that we want to use again in the new house (wherever that may be) -- train table, formal serving dishes, our overstuffed rocker recliner, etc.

Well, when we went to get our stuff out for the holidays (ALLLLL of our Christmas decorations were in there), I was struck by how buried it all was. How boxes and boxes of other "stuff" made getting to what we were actually looking for so very difficult. We had to wade through very tiny walkways, stand on desks, etc. to make sure that the box at the very bottom of the back pile was indeed Christmas stuff.

Then, once we got all of the things out that we needed, we had to put the rest of the boxes and items back in...only they didn't fit the same way. There were gaps and holes where the things we'd taken out had once been. Now some boxes stacked akwardly. Some furniture had to be rearranged again. Things like that.

It just struck me as we drove away how similar that is to my own heart and the "junk" I have stored in there. Sometimes in order to dig deep and get to the things that I really need to have and deal with right now, I have to unpack some other things that I didn't even know were jumbled up in there. I guess the thing that jumped out to me is that so many times, I have things buried in my heart and half the time, the things I have to deal with in order to find what I'm looking for I thought I'd dealt with long ago.

Here is where I'd usually elaborate, but it's taken me two attempts to get THIS much written down so I'll stop here. I'm 12 weeks along now and am off to the OB's office in a few hours for my 2nd appointment. I'll keep you posted.

A sincere thank you for all of the love and "where are you" check ups. I'm here. I'm tired. I'm fine.

I'm buried, but digging out.

Off to a rockin' start...

So.

Last time I posted I told you how we were going on a 4 day mini-vaca as a family and were excited to be leaving the sickies behind as we rang in 2008 as a healthy, relaxed little group.

Welllll...it didn't quite work out that way.

On Saturday we spent the day packing up our stuff (more of a "me" than a "we"), putting Christmas stuff away, shoveling walks (that was more of a "he" than a "we"), and finally loading all of our stuff and ourselves into the van. Seriously - you would have thought we were going for 4 weeks, not 4 days -- that thing was packed to the gills! We had already decided to just avoid the headache of taking the kids out to eat and instead brought enough food and drinks to last us the whole time. Also, the hot item of the week had been the new kitchen, fake food and tea sets that arrived at Christmas, so we decided to bring those along. (The kitchen barely comes up to my waist -- it's tiny. The fake food and tea sets are all in one 3-drawer rolling plastic bin, so it was easy traveling with those.) We also loaded up a bag full of trains and books. We were all set!

We planned on leaving around 1 but didn't get on the road until about 3. Not a big deal until we decided we needed to make two stops once we got into our little mountain town. By the time we got to the condo, checked in and got everything unloaded it was about 6. I think it was around this time that I told Chris I felt like I was getting sick. My throat was starting to hurt, I had a headache and I just felt a little "off". (Remember that Mitchell and I were both already on antibiotics for strep at this point.) I sort of shrugged it off though because I assumed it was just from having a busy day and not staying totally on top of drinking enough water, so I just started drinking a lot of it right then.

We had a fun night and made some pizzas for dinner. There was a great gas fireplace in the living room which really warmed the whole room -- and it was so cozy and relaxing. (The kids did a wonderful job of staying away from it, too!) The kids were so excited to be in the mountains and it was snowing off and on, which was beautiful to watch. Mitchell was already asking to go play outside in the snow, and we promised him that we would the next day.

We are a sports-loving family, so we were all having fun watching football together - especially since Mitchell insisted on bringing his new Broncos outfit and helmet with him. He loves to pretend he's in the game and "helping the team" - it makes us laugh to see him running around in his own little football game. Such a goof! The only problem that we found was that the large, rectangular window above the couch was REALLY drafty...super drafty. That weekend was filled with high wind and very cold temperatures so we had to improvise with some extra pillows and sheets to block the draft. We never got it completely sealed off but it was much better after our little alteration. The kids also had fun "making dinner" and just playing together in the living room.

We got everyone settled into bed that first night -- Georgia didn't really even fight sleeping in her pack n' play, which was fantastic! There was a little cut-out closet with no doors right inside of our bedroom that made the perfect, cozy little spot for her. Mitchell ended up just sleeping with us. We have a queen sized bed at home, so this HUGE king bed had more than enough room for all of us. Chris and I were both exhausted, so we all went to bed at the same time.

The next morning (Sunday) when I woke up - I knew I was about to get hammered. (I should mention here that we had some "people" over for dinner on Friday night and it turns out that one of them had been sick in bed with a bad cough/cold and the chills *read: fever* all day, yet didn't tell us this and still came to dinner at our house so I was hoping against hope that this wouldn't happen. I'm trying VERY hard not to be bitter or angry about this, as I'm sure you can understand.) I felt absolutely HORRIBLE and feverish. I also was starting to cough and every time that I did it felt like my entire throat and chest were literally on fire. (You know how it feels when you run in really cold weather? That burning?) Mitchell was also starting to cough a bit, which worried me as I was sure he'd soon be feeling like I was. We got everyone fed and sort of got our stuff a bit more settled in the kitchen and living room. It really is so very beautiful up there -- and the kids, like us, were amazed by the view out of our window. We all sat taking it in for awhile, watching for birds and squirrels and other wildlife. There were some gorgeous bluejays that kept flying in and out of the trees right off of our deck.

Mitchell was begging all morning to go outside, so we decided that since the wind hadn't kicked up too much yet, that it would be as good a time as any. (Good thing - the 20 minutes we were outside was it for the WHOLE weekend!!) I really can't believe that I'm putting this picture in here -- you can see how great I felt. Oh, and for the record, I didn't even BRING my makeup bag with me on the trip so just know that. (And BethAnne, my friend, I don't even want to HEAR about another horrible hair/no makeup day from you -- I've clearly trumped you but good in the looking glorious department.) Anyway - it was pretty cold out there (but then again, I had a fever) so we didn't stay long but the kids had so much fun just tromping around in the snow outside of our complex. They cleared the whole picnic table off -- I think that's what took the most time -- and Mitchell made a few great snow angels. Oh, and sweet Miss G did her usual face plant in the snow thing, of course. Then we headed back inside for more football and some hot chocolate and snacks.

I'll give you the nutshell version of the rest of the weekend:

*By about 2pm that day, Mitchell and I both were feeling awful. He and I both kept our fevers until Tuesday morning. His got up to 104 but was usually around 102 and mine was around 101 most of the time. Tylenol and motrin (just for him) helped, but only temporarily. *Georgia joined in on the fun for most of Monday by throwing up once and having a low grade fever, but other than that seemed to be feeling like herself most of the time. *Chris ended up escaping the sick bug -- but I wonder if that's because he was already on Tamiflu from his little episode the week before. *We watched a lot of football and cartoons and I was thankful that there was a Law & Order Marathon on tv all night long since I didn't do much sleeping. *Chris ran to the grocery store 3 times for more medicine, drinks, etc. which was the only money we spent, so at least that was a good thing *He got in the private hot tub on our deck exactly one time but was in sheer heaven while he was soaking *I was actually awake at midnight on New Year's -- of course that's because Mitchell's fever wouldn't go down and I was worried sick while he slept on me. *There were super high winds and it was freezing!! all weekend long, so even if we'd wanted to go outside, we couldn't have.

So.

Here we are, back at home a week later. (And it's the middle of the night as I'm still not sleeping very good, thanks to this monster cough.) I'm still sick, though much better. Mitchell is the same way. Georgia drank out of his cup a few days ago and today came down with a 101.6 degree fever and a cough. *ding,ding* Round 2 anyone??

Still.

It's manageable. It stinks like crazy and I truly have not been this sick in years, but it's manageable. And temporary. And as Chris and I kept repeating to each other all last weekend while we were away...at least we're together.

I'll be back more often once we kick this thing for good. Hope everyone else's year is off to a better start!

Echo...echo...echo....

Hellooooo.....
Helllooooo.....
Hellllooooo...

Is that an echo? I need to clear the bloggy cobwebs, huh? Ohhhhh, my friends...what a week it has been around here!

Both of my kids had a short-lived tummy bug at the end of last week. Mitchell's came back in the middle of the night the next day though (meaning more pukey sheets to wash!) and a fever came with it, which was different from Georgia who simply threw up twice and was fine two hours later. I took him to urgent care on Sunday after learning that our neighbor (who is also his classmate at school) had just tested positive for strep the day before and sure enough -- he had it, too. The doctor was nice enough to write me a pregnancy-friendly prescription, too -- that way I could save myself the $50 copay if I started having symptoms.

Anyway - for me the sad part (you know, in addition to having sick kids and having to repeatedly clean up throw up with a delicate pregnant nose and wash sheets 6 - yes I counted- times) was having to miss our annual "cookie day" at my mom's house. We get together and make all kinds of cookies for Christmas: iced sugar cookies that we really get into decorating, russian tea cookies, chocolate chip (a different than usual recipe), peanut butter, raspberry jam filled sugar cookies, Danish dapples, and peanut brittle. It's a big-time tradition for us and a day that I always really enjoy. Even though *I* wasn't sick, if there was a chance that I would be, I didn't want to be preparing food that 35 people would eat on Christmas Eve, as the cookies are our family's dessert every year. I also stayed home from making our yummy meatballs on Sunday which also bummed me out, but again - better safe than sorry. Sooooo, anyway - Sunday was a pretty good day - Mitchell seemed much better and the rest of us felt fine.

Then, on Monday - yes, that would be Christmas Eve - I ended up having the other kind of tummy issue allllllllllllllllll day long. Chris had to work and when he left for work it wasn't too terrible yet, but it quickly got to the point where I was pretty much non-functional. (I have hit that pretty much constantly nauseated point of my pregnancy, so that on top of the other stuff = not good.) I knew Chris had a really big, important meeting at 3pm though, so I just decided to suck it up and handle it myself. Both of our parents offered to come help me take care of the kids, but there was no way that I wanted to pass this stuff around so I just managed. The tv was on literally all day long and they ate things that required me to get up no longer than about 2 minutes: cereal, cheese quesadillas that I nuked in the microwave for 30 seconds, fruit, etc. The rest of the time I was either parked on the sofa or in the bathroom. I think Georgia must have sensed just how yucky I felt because all she wanted to do was sit on me all day. Literally. That girl never left my side -- I think it was the most still I've seen her. Ever. Such a sweetie -- and Mitchell was such a big helper to me. So, we made it through the day. By the time my husband fought traffic, stopped at the store for me and finally arrived home, it was later than he had hoped. He got the kids fed and into bed and then came downstairs with me.

He started acting really weird right about then. Now, I don't know if any of you have the type of husbands who will just readily tell you when they don't feel good, but if you do - count your blessings. I have one stubborn man who pretty much tries to hide and/or downplay his illnesses. It is always sooooooooo annoying when he's denying that anything is wrong, but on this day it was particularly feather-ruffling for me. After he tidied up the kitchen, he came and sat on the loveseat directly across from the couch that I was laying on. He had his hands between his knees, his head bent over and he was rocking back and forth slightly. I asked him what was wrong and he said he was just really cold.

Really cold? MY husband? I have never in our almost 6 years of marriage heard him say that he was ever slightly cold unless we are literally outside in frigid weather. Usually I will have on three layers of clothes, two blankets (so not kidding) and still be cold and he'll be talking about how it's hot in the house since I turned the heat up.

Anyway - I knew something was up, so I had him come over and let me take his temperature. It was 101.5 and I just sighed. Here we go again.

I'll spare you the long, drawn out version - -ha! Too late, huh? I ended up being up all night long with him (he slept most of the night though) worrying myself silly because his fever climbed all the way to 104.9 and wouldn't come back down past just under 102. He was in pretty bad shape and it was worrisome for me to see him have such a high fever, as that is COMPLETELY unusual. I did the whole alternating tylenol and ibuprofen thing every 3 hours and let me tell you how fun it was to convince him each time to sit up and take it. Uhhh, yeah.

Luckily, I started actually feeling much better during the night and by the time Tuesday (Christmas morning) rolled around, I actually felt like I was halfway human again. The yuckies had stopped and my stomach was no longer constantly rolling. I was actually hungry and enjoyed drinking some water and gatorade. Funny how little things like that will make you so happy sometimes.

We had cancelled our annual Christmas breakfast with all of the grandparents, but my parents still came over to see the kids open their big surprises. (I ran around - again - with the lysol spray and clorox wipes prior to their arrival.) Poor Chris managed to make it to the landing, where he sat to watch a safe distance away from everyone. After about 2 gifts for each kiddo, we packed them up and shipped them off to grandma and grandpa's for the day and a sleepover. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how sad it was for me to not spend Christmas with my children, but it was important for us to make sure that they still had an enjoyable holiday, and we knew that it was the best thing.

Chris went back to bed for a few hours and then it was back to urgent care again. I should mention that it was snowing hard all day on Tuesday, so we got to do all of this running around in the middle of a very cold, blustery day. The doctor told him that he had influenza, gave him a shot of something and a prescription for tamiflu. Off to the pharmacy! Of course the one that is about a mile from our home was closed, so it was off to the Walgreens about 20 minutes away. It turns out that half of the world was in the same place and we ended up waiting almost two hours for our prescriptions. (I decided to just go the cautious route at this point and take the antibiotics.) As we were sitting there waiting and people watching, we knew that the kids were definitely where they needed to be and we were thankful to just be together. When our name was finally called, we grabbed a frozen pizza and some drinks on the way out, which gave us a good laugh. We never envisioned grabbing our Christmas dinner from Walgreens. I also told him that no one had selected "pizza" on my what will you have for Christmas dinner poll, yet here I was.

As we drove home, a little piece of irony came to my mind. My friend and I write the group's discussion questions for half of the MOPS meetings, and one that I myself had come up with for our most recent meeting was about a holiday where things didn't go as planned. Nice foreshadowing, don't you think? On our slow, snowy drive home, we were talking about people we know that have critically ill children who are in the hospital, friends who have endured major family losses so close to the holidays, and all of our country's soliders who would LOVE to be driving home with a frozen pizza from Walgreens, as long as they were with their sick-as-a-dog spouse on Christmas. We still had a whole load of presents to open with each other and the kids, even if it was a day or two later.

We decided right then and there that we really didn't have too much to complain about after all.

So, the good news is that we *hopefully* got all of the sickies out of the way before we head out of town. We are off to the mountains today to spend three nights at a lovely little condo. Just the four (and a half) of us. We're really looking forward to it and have already decided that instead of killing ourselves to get the house all crazy perfect before we leave, we're going to call the realtor's office and tell them no showings this weekend. That really wasn't a difficult decision at all. At this point, it's all about our family and what we need: some time to get away together, relax and unwind.

Happy New Year, friends. May you all enjoy a year filled with love, peace, happiness, health, and an abundance of God's blessings. Thank you for filling my year with friendship, hope, encouragment and laughter. See you in 2008!

Still here...

Thanks for checking on me, friends. I'm still here. Not feeling all that horrible, but not feeling all that great either. I had my first appointment at the OB's office on Monday and all is well. I even got to see the little bean on an ultrasound, so that was reassuring. My due date is now officially July 27. I've just been really, REALLY tired so blogging has been put on the back burner until I can keep my eyes open past 8 pm. Plus, I've been enjoying the fact that my husband has been getting home earlier and we've been spending time together at night. This week I have got to wrap presents as so far, I have wrapped ONE. Probably not a good pace I'm setting.

Seeing as how it's Wednesday and I'm in a rush to get Mitchell to school so that Georgia and I can go finish my shopping, I will just take the Not-So-Wordless-Wednesday path today. I *do* have a more thinking cap type blog in my head -- it's been there for about 2 weeks now -- maybe this week I can find a few minutes to get it down.

Love and hugs to all my bloggy friends. Hope you are wrapped in the love of Christ as the day of his birth draws near.

Our first family gingerbread house. We were sort of over it by the time we got to the windows and the wreaths. The kids loved playing in the backyard after the snow. Unfortunately my camera batteries died after these two shots. That last one is of Georgia after she face planted. Doesn't she look thrilled? It was pretty funny - she is SUCH a drama queen.

Thankful and then some...

Okay, thanks to Alana for giving me the idea to keep my November thankful list on my blog. I'm moving on to December. It's a blessing to be thankful for so many gifts in my life...big and small.

*Cameras. I LOOOOOVE pictures. They are definitely on the things to grab list if there's ever a reason to flee the house.
*The telephone. Seriously. What would I do without it??
*Fresh Flowers. I love to look at them and feel so special when I receive them. They're so beautiful. One of God's amazing creations.
*Blogs! Hellloooooooooo...self explanatory, right? *hugs, bloggy friends*
*My husband and I crack each other up. Yesterday I hit him between the eyes with a spongy football the size of a tangerine and I bet we laughed for 15 minutes. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's so "us" and I'm so thankful that it's true. We laugh all the time.
*A hubby who doesn't mind rubbing my back. Does it get any better than that??
*Ice cream. Uhhh, YEAH. 'Nuff said.
*Grandparents. They have made a huge impact in my own life and are tremendously influential in my children's lives. I'm so thankful to be able to say that.
*My pink bathrobe thing. So comfy!!
*Always having enough to eat. My children have never TRULY experienced hunger, and for that, I am so grateful.
*My iPod - Rebekah, you're right. Thank the Lord for iPods!!
* Tissue. We have been very appreciative of it this week around here.
*Shoes. I love them. I just do.
*Public libraries. I mean, free books? Come on...that is the coolest!!!
*The Bible. It is where I go to renew, refresh and remind myself of what REALLY matters and where my Hope can be found.
*K-Love -- that station keeps me in the right frame of mind all day long. It's especially good on days like today where I'm dangerously close to losing my mind!!
*Gingerbread Spice hot tea. It's my new thing this week. Just the little treat I need to warm me up - -and no guilt! Hooray!!
*We have two safe, comfortable vehicles. Being able to go where we want, when we want, and not have to worry about the safety of the car taking us is such a gift. It gives our family freedom.
*A warm bed to snuggle into each night. I can't imagine not having that and know that I am fortunate for having a bed at all, let alone a very, very comfy one. (And a snuggly hubby in there, too. Bonus!!)
*Mexican food. Specifically chile rellenos, cheese enchiladas and GOOD green chile. Not that I have weight issues or anything.
*MOPS...it has blessed my life in so many ways. I have made some amazing friendships and have learned so much about myself there.
*Hugs. Very few things in this world can make me happier or feel better than a good hug from someone I love.
*Okay, okay - I'll say it. I am thankful for Starbucks!!!
*We're selling our house because we WANT to, not because we HAVE to. We're not in foreclosure, we don't have two mortgages, we're not upside down in our mortgage. We will actually be upgrading. So our house hasn't sold yet. We are tremendously blessed to HAVE a home of our own.
*My good health. I'm SO appreciative of that.
*My girlfriends...each and every one of them.
*I'm a child of God, and have the freedom to worship Him. Amazing Grace for sure.
*I'm an American! I'm so blessed to be able to say that.
*Being married to my (totally hot) best friend. I treasure our love.
*My two beautiful, healthy children. Miracles -- both of them.

Mini-Me Friday #10 - A Biggie!!

So...I expected to get some questions as to why I hadn't been updating my Mini-Me stuff, but I guess you were all just assuming that I'd already fallen off the wagon or something. Naughty people! You're supposed to be holding me accountable over here!! *wink*

Well, I can tell you this. I am going to be changing the focus of Mini-Me Fridays from a weight loss journey to a weight gain journey. You see, sometime near the end of July, there will literally BE a Mini-Me. Or a Mini-Chris.

Look what I found last Monday:


Yep! Baby Number 3!!

Yep! Total surprise!! (Yes, we know how it happens, by the way.)

Yep! We're excited!!

Nope! Don't have a preference for what we're having!!

Yep! Feeling pretty good -- nausea off and on, but otherwise just fine.


So, there ya go. The biggest Mini-Me update yet. Oh, but in case you're wondering -- I still plan to exercise throughout this pregnancy. I think it's funny that *I* of all people am actually excited to get the 3 new pregnancy dvd's that I just ordered this week. I am sure that I have already gained back all 8 of the pounds that I lost...I have been an eating MACHINE this week. I think that the brakes have been applied though -- last night was my first big food aversion and it was a biggie. I'm feeling more queasy today than I have pretty much all week, so I'm guessing that I'm entering "that phase".

Well, anyway -- there's the big news! *big, deep breath* We are looking forward to seeing all that God has in store for us with this newest little blessing.

Another Meme - Christmas Edition!!

The lovely and talented, Renee tagged me for this one and I'm all over it as I was fresh outta bloggy material. Sweet timing!



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Both. I have a large collection of both. In storage. And an ever growing assortment of gifts accumulating in the basement. Waiting for both a tree and gift wrap. Back to the subject though - I have both bags and wrapping paper, but when it comes to wrapping paper, look out. I have sort of an addiction to it. No matter how much I already have, I *always* buy at LEAST a roll or two every season because I just can't help myself. Oh, and one thing I also have started doing that my mom did growing up was to do covered boxes. Basically you wrap gift boxes in special paper and instead of tape, use glue to secure it and permanently wrap it. Then, every year that person gets a gift in the same box. They are my most favorite boxes in the entire world and some of them are literally falling apart but we still use them. I love getting gifts in my scottie dog paper (I had a scottie dog phase in 7th grade), or my paper doll paper (that started in about 3rd grade), etc. It's definitely a tradition I want to continue in my family. Mitchell already has a Peanuts box and Georgia will have a Princesses box this year.



2. Real tree or artificial?

Artificial. My mom is allergic to pine -- she stops breathing. SO - we have always had a fake tree. I actually am very turned off by the strong scent, so it works for me. I think my husband missed a real tree at first but he's all good with the not ever spending money on it again thing, being the thrifty man that he is. Plus, it's pre-lit. Hello.



3. When do you put up the tree?

Not as soon as I'd like. It varies every year. The year Mitchell was born I had it up the day after Thanksgiving with some help from my dad because I was ready to pop. We were going to put it up last week but did the outside lights instead. We're doing it on Saturday.



4.When do you take the tree down?

Usually the week after New Year's.



5. Do you like eggnog?

No. I LOVE IT!!! And Renee -- there is a GREAT, lowfat, safe for pregnant women eggnog that I discovered when I was preggo with Miss G. It's yummy and better for you - I love it and haven't bought the real stuff since! I put some in my coffee this morning, actually. You're welcome. :)




6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Ohhh, toughie. Hmmmm - I'm going with my walkman and Bonnie Tyler tape in 6th grade. Total Eclipse of the Heart, dudes. Like, totally.


7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, three of them. Two are for the kids, the white, ceramic one is for the top of the entertainment center! We have this one from Current and Mitchell just got this Little People one for his birthday. Both are huge hits.


8. Easiest person to buy for?
My husband. I get a list every year.


9. Hardest person to buy for?
My grandma. I hate drawing her name because, seriously. The woman needs (and pretty much wants) nothing. I usually end up doing gift cards to restaurants for her.


10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Oh, SO easy. The ex (a.k.a., "The Jerk") on our first Christmas together gave me -- and I promise, I am not making this up -- a joke book and a tin of popcorn. We were 24 years old and that's what he gave me. Uhhhh, YEAH. That was him in a nutshell.


11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
Mail. Though at this point, I'm aiming for Valentine's Day cards. *sigh*


12. Favorite Christmas movie?
I think it's Rudolph, which I just watched tonight with the kids. Still love it. It was always my favorite.


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the first week of December, but I started a little earlier this year.


14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I think I did with a bottle of red wine once. I just have never been a cabernet fan and gave it to someone who was as a hostess gift.


15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Oh, another easy one! Our traditional Christmas Eve meal. It's a Danish thing (my great grandparents on my mom's side came from Denmark) and we always thought it was this very special meal. My mom and her cousin went to visit a few years ago, and it turns out it's a very routine thing to eat there. Who knew?


It is carb city, people and sounds strange but it is so yummy I can't even begin to describe it to you. Anyone who has ever joined us for Christmas Eve dinner has fallen in love with it, too!


Here's how you put it in the soup bowl (the flat kind work best, by the way):
*rice
*mashed potatoes on top of the rice
*homemade chicken and noodles (like a stew with peas and carrots) over the top of both
*homemade chicken/veal meatballs (that have literally like 10 sticks of butter in them) on top of everything


I have no words for the yumminess that IS this Christmas meal.


16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Ours are colored. I think the kids like it that way. Works for now. I don't have a strong preference. My mom has two trees -- her fancy tree is all clear lights with gold, crystal and white ornaments and is just gorgeous.


17. Favorite Christmas song?
Away In A Manger.


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Well, we go to my parents' house for Christmas Eve, have all the grandparents over for breakfast on Christmas morning and go to my in-laws for Christmas dinner.


19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Not at the moment. I'm too tired. Love that Rudolph, though!


20. Angel on the tree top, or a star?
We have both. The angel is in SORRY condition though, so probably a star.


21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
My kids get to open one gift on Christmas Eve each year and it's always new, washed and ready to go pajamas to sleep in. Another tradition I carried over from my own childhood. I love it. Georgia's just arrived today -- here they are!


22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
I think for me it's that stress sometimes wins out. Too many parties, too many gifts to buy, too many cards to mail, too much food to cook, etc. It's like good intentions pile up and sometimes result in the focus of the season getting lost. It's sad that it sometimes feels so hard to make the season Christ-centered.


23. What I love most about Christmas?
I love seeing the whole thing through the eyes of my children. The wonder of the story of Jesus' birth. The beautiful songs that they love to sing. The joy and excitement of the gift giving and receiving. The fun it is to see them adore the trees, the lights, and all of the decorations. I just think that there's nothing like the magic of the season to a child. I just love it.



As for tagging someone, I'm going with Sadie, Emily, and Teresa. Get on it, sisters. By the way, T -- I always want to comment but it won't let me. And, Em - I am trying to get you to move past the pumpkin patch, honey. LOL *smooches to you, friends*

A Hand To Hold...

On Thursdays I work and am lucky enough to have in-laws that not just agree to, but love to watch our kids for me while I see my clients. The kids look forward to going, and their grandparents look forward to having them. It's free daycare for us, so it's a great situation all the way around.

Yesterday morning as we arrived, Georgia did something that really caught my attention. It was one of those things that I'm sure on most days I'd never notice, but ever since it happened, I have found myself thinking about it pretty frequently.

It was really cold yesterday morning so Miss G was all bundled up in her coat and hat and was tightly clutching her beloved Duck Duck in her right arm. I was walking beside her on her left side. As we got to the porch step that is much too tall for her to just step right up on, she stopped. Then she simply lifted her chubby little hand in the air.

She didn't look up.
She didn't look around.
She didn't say "Momma."
No, she simply held up her hand and knew with unfailing certainty that I would be there to help her. She was right...I was.

As you may or may not recall, I have chosen the word "Trust" to be my guiding theme for the coming year. There was my not-yet-two-year-old baby girl demonstrating for me what it truly means to trust. Without batting an eye, she raised her hand into the air, confident that I would be there to hold it and help her get where she needed to go.

I so badly want that to be me.

Next time I'm standing in front of a step that I know is much too large for me to take, holding tightly to that which I hold so dear, I want to without a second thought hold up my hand. I want to do that and know that He is beside me, waiting to take my hand and give me the help we both know I need.

Unfortunately, this is not a strength of mine. Yet.

I tend to get into situations that require a great deal of faith and trust and do a lot of talking about both of those things, yet it takes me a while to actually do the trusting and have the faith. It's not that I don't think the Lord walks beside me. It's not that I don't think He cares. It's not that I don't think He wants to help me.

It's that I don't make myself available for being helped. He can't hold my hand unless I give it to Him. Many times I make it as though I need to seek Him out with bullhorns and neon lights.

"Yo, God -- this way. I'm over here. I see a step. I'm afraid. I can't do it myself. I need help."

Sure, that will get His attention. Sure, He will find me. Sure, He will help me.

But He'll do it anyway, even if I don't say a word.

Psalm 9: 9-10 (NLT)

9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Trust.

I keep coming back to trust in a big way, friends. I just never thought my little Love Bug would give me such a clear example of what it's supposed to look like.

Wordless Wednesday...

Blue Tootsie Pop + Runny Nose = Not Good For Anybody

Spreading Free Holiday Cheer...

Okay, I know -- two posts in one day! But I had to share! You see, last year one of my friends emailed this to me and Mitchell just about peed his pants watching it. Then we did it with Mitchell's picture and the child was literally doubled over, cracking up through the whole thing.

Well, folks -- it's that time of year again and this time, they've bumped it up a notch. Instead of one picture, you can use up to four.

So. Of course we did the whole family!!

I just emailed it out and have gotten responses that have ranged from "sort of disturbing" to "hilarious" to "wow". (Incidentally, the friend who said it was slightly disturbing OF COURSE tried it herself!) So -- make your own decision. If you (and your kids) love it, you can make your own when we're done grooving. Oh, and you can record your own voice on there, too -- but we were much too impatient to wait for that to finish loading. Enjoy!

Watch our family rock the house by clicking here.

Tag, I'm It!

My buddy, Jennifer, tagged me for a Meme -- 8 Random Things. If you have read any of my blog at any time, you will know that I specialize in randomness. I know I just did 7 things about me a while back, but this time, I will NOT be consulting The Cabana Boy so it is all me.

1. I was bald until about the age of 3. Then I was a toehead. Now I'm back to being a brunette (natural color) with blonde highlights (a little help with those) and have more hair than I can handle. (Seriously - it takes forever and a day to dry because there is SO MUCH of it. I am not intentionally whining, for those of you who are about to tell me to count my blessings because you have thin hair and hate it. I'm just saying - it's REALLY thick and some days, it stinks.)

2. I am the only person in my house who likes pickles.

3. My nickname when I was little was (hold onto your hats, friends -- it's gonna blow you away)... Motor Mouth.

4. I have never, ever been able to consistently sleep through the night.

5. My husband and I had our son named before we were married, let alone pregnant.

6. I have always really, really, really wanted to go to Italy.

7. I am uber clumsy. As in, my college roomie nicknamed me "Ouch" for awhile.

8. I can do this funky thing called the 5-toe-spread where all of my toes spread out like fingers. Speaking of things The Cabana Boy just can't get enough of. *snort*

Tagging people -- hmmmmm...if your name starts with the letters A-Z, you are reading this blog and need something to blog about...I tag YOU! You're it!

The Cabana Boy Said WHAT?! And A Recipe...

Just a few random tidbits here and there, and the chicken enchilada casserole recipe at the end...

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Last night at dinner -- I made Chicken Parmesan (yum!)with a new marinara sauce recipe --

Me: I am not a fan of this sauce.
The Hubster: I don't like it at all.
Me: *blink*blink* Oh.

That is the first time in our almost 6 years of marriage he's ever said anything like that. I actually just laughed and didn't get my feelings hurt -- after all, I didn't like it either. To be fair, he can't stand tomatoes and that's all that was in the sauce...so there ya go.

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About 10 minutes later, laughing about how bad the sauce was...

Me: So, did you just take your vitamins with Budweiser?
The Hubster: Yep, sure did. Blog that!

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I don't recommend not being able to find the word you are thinking of when you are a speech therapist. You don't get cut much slack. Especially when the word is "fast"...

The Hubster: What's up with that cop?
Me: I'm not sure, but he's not going very hurry for having his lights on.
The Hubster: Going very hurry?
Me: Going very hurriedly.
The Hubster: Hurriedly?
Me: He's going pretty slow, huh?
The Hubster: Stay in the shallow end, honey.

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White Sauce Chicken Enchilada Casserole
(so NOT a Martha Stewart recipe, by the way, Beth Anne!)

This makes either one 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans.

4 medium or 3 large chicken breasts (boneless,skinless)
3-4 large or 5-6 small flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese (I used 2% monterey jack/colby)

Sauce:
5 oz evaporated milk (fat free)
1 can cream chicken soup (healthy request)
1 small can diced green chiles
1 small (8 oz) tub light sour cream
Any seasoning you want -- I used some garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350. Boil chicken breasts until cooked through. As the chicken is cooking, stir together the sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Tear the tortillas into 1-2 inch pieces.

When the chicken is done, shred it and stir it into the sauce until well combined. Spray the bottom of the pan with cooking spray and line with a layer of tortilla pieces. Layer half of the sauce onto the tortillas. Spread half of the cheese over the sauce. Repeat the layers. (I had enough for two layers.)

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and everything is hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my bloggy friends. May we all be reminded of the tremendous blessings that surround each of us, even on the worst of days. I've enjoyed adding to my thankful list every day - so much so that I have decided to have a Thankful December as well. I hope that everyone enjoys a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday -- enjoy celebrating with your friends and family and don't forget to make some time to truly count your blessings.

With a thankful heart,

Thoughts galore...

This will be a totally random post, so if you are expecting a logically sequenced stream of thoughts, you might wanna keep on shopping around.

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I am having a very productive day -- and it feels so good! I had our dinner made and in the fridge by 8 am, if that tells you anything! Today was my day to take dinner to a woman from my table at MOPS as she's recovering from surgery, so I made a pan for her and a pan for us. It makes a 9x13 casserole, so I just made two 8x8 dishes instead. (Here's where there would be a lot of clicks on the remote if I were a tv show, huh?) I know she got a meal last night and will get one tomorrow, so I figured on Thanksgiving week, leftovers probably wasn't a big deal -- besides, the only disposable pan I had was 8x8. (That way she doesn't have to wash or return the dish.) I felt even better about my choice when I got there and her hubby had me leave the food on the table because he needed to make room in the fridge for it. Plus, now we have dinner ready to heat and serve, too! Score! Oh, and in case you're wondering - I made White Sauce Chicken Enchiladas. We're also having refried beans/cheese, brown rice and fresh green beans. (They got the same, except for I gave them one of the steamer broccoli bags instead.)
Yummy!!

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So, I just got off of the phone with my husband a few minutes ago and our conversation prompted him to say the following:

Hubby: You need to add that one to the list.
Me: What list?
Hubby: The list of random things about you.
Me: You mean the one that quickly grew into a list of crap that bugs my husband?
Hubby: Yeah, that one.

What was he talking about, you ask? My need to clean by hand our self-cleaning oven. Apparently, his label for this sort of issue is (and this is a direct quote) "There's clean, and then there's 'Tara' clean."

Ummmm, yeah. I have a few issues. But, to be fair -- the man was cleaning his bathroom with dish soap until I came into the picture, so ladies -- let's consider the source, shall we?

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I so totally did NOT want to work out today. (Like, totally dudes. Gag me.) However, I managed to scrape up just enough motivation and did a quick 30 min dvd during nap time. I feel good about that one!

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Did I mention that my oven is clean? And I love it that way?

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Yesterday at the pediatrician's office, we graced a P.A. that we'd yet to meet with our family goo. Both kids have snotty noses and coughs -- and for the past 4 years, that has meant a good possibility of an ear infection, so I took them both in. Mitchell had just started to fall asleep in the car on the way there, and I'm sure I don't have to explain the resulting demeanor to those of you moms with preschoolers who don't nap anymore. When they do fall asleep, and it's only for a few minutes -- whoo---eee, look out now. Or is that just him? Not sure.

Anyway -- so we're in there tearing up magazines and other fun stuff (uhhh, yeah - good times) and in walks Mark, the P.A. that we've never met. Georgia immediately shows off by blowing a snot bubble out of her nose and Mitchell literally crawls under the table.

Me: Hi! Welcome to our little world of fun.
Mark: *blinking like a deer in headlights* Hi, guys!

No, really - he was super nice and quite the trooper. In my defense, it was 2:45 and we'd been waiting for a while. Mitchell quit the shy act after about 2 minutes and Georgia did her normal charming act and all was well.

I think the highlight for me was when Mark used his little plastic hook tool to get a chunk of wax deep out of Mitchell's ear so that he could see the eardrum. He cleaned the tip of the tool off with a tissue and set it down to pick his otoscope (the little ear looker thing) back up. Mitchell saw the tissue sitting there and blew his nose with it.

Mark looked totally grossed out.
I just laughed and said "Well, at least it's his, right?"

I'm pretty sure we made an impression. Oh, and by the way - Mitchell does have an ear infection, and Georgia's was pretty close. (Even with tubes.) *sigh*

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I'm making out my Christmas list (of things to buy, not receive) and can I just tell you right now how LOVELY the whole "scaling back" effort feels right about now?? Not just the money we won't be spending, but the stress of shopping, wrapping, etc. for stuff that I am not so sure people will really use or love. I *know* that each and every thing on my list will be appreciated and I think it just might mean more, not getting lost among a pile of other "things." I feel so good about it -- and the shopping I'm really looking forward to is with the kids and Chris for our soldiers at war that we sponsor, and for the angel tree families we will sponsor this year as well. I can't wait!!!

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Alrighty then, I'm off to make sugar cookie dough. We're making football and turkey cookies for Thursday. In my very clean oven. Did I mention how clean it is?

Walking...

My sweet, sweet hubby has been so wonderful to make sure that I get some time to myself on the weekends -- and I usually go for a walk. It's nice not to have to push the stroller, stop to dish out snacks, put jackets on, take them off, pick up sippy cups that have rolled under the stroller, etc. I also don't have to stop at the park for a wiggle break. I can just strap on my iPod and start walking. I get to keep walking until I want to stop.

I'm always surprised by the flood of thoughts and ideas that I experience -- they don't seem to make their way out of their little brain jail until I'm alone and just walking. Maybe it's because I'm always too preoccupied, or too focused on other things and other people in every other situation. Maybe it's because I don't take the time to just breathe. To just focus on me and the things that have been building up -- thoughts, emotions and ideas come in a steady stream as I walk.

Stress.
Anxiety.
Praise.
Joy.
Worry.
Fear.

It all seems to come out when I'm walking by myself. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was trucking along -- and it's like my walks become one big prayer. Sometimes I pray out loud, sometimes I pray silently, and sometimes I let the music I'm listening to guide my prayers. I pray for myself, I pray for my family, and I pray for countless others that are on my heart and in my mind.

I always thought that I liked to walk by myself because I didn't have to deal with the exercise-hindering issues that come with kids and strollers, but yesterday I realized that I like to walk by myself because it's such a huge release. You'd think it would have been more obvious, but for some reason it wasn't. Yesterday as I left, both of my (sick) kiddos were pretty much melting down at the fact that Mommy was walking without them. They were both throwing pretty sizeable tantrums, which of course, made me feel guilty for leaving my husband alone to deal with it. Instead of being annoyed, he said "Honey, GO. I got it. We'll be fine -- just go do your thing."

So, with a big sigh and a somewhat reluctant stride, I made my way down the sidewalk and away from the house. As I got about a block away, I called home and asked him if he was sure he wanted me to go. He just laughed (above the screaming in the background) and said that it was fine and the only thing that would make him upset is if I came home. With that reassurance, I set out on my way.

Obviously, my thoughts and prayers started there, at home, and as I prayed, I was aware of the fact that I was physically walking away from the stress and into my own little world. I wasn't going to work, not to the grocery store, not running errands, not volunteering at school -- I was going to be alone with myself, my thoughts, and my desire to improve my life.

What a gift.

Mini-Me Friday #9 - and a Me-Me

This is gonna be a quickie while I'm waiting for my hubby to get home. If I end abruptly, now you know why! I choose him. Yay!

So, I lost one pound this week. I can't remember who asked, but someone asked how much I've lost. I've lost 9.5 lbs so far, which makes it 10.5 lbs away from my first goal of 20 -- and I have 5 weeks to get there. (That's the end of my first session with First Place.)

I feel good about things and know that I can do better. I *will* do better. I think this week was about more than weight loss for me, and the fog has lifted. I feel more energized, more joyful, and more confident in myself -- I finally feel like things have clicked in on this journey and I'm doing it the way that I need to. I'm more about the whole package than the scale, and it's been a LONG time since I could say that.

So, there ya go. The long and short of it.

Bethanne basically dared anyone who reads her blog to do a Me-Me, and because we were united in our tween angst of being Annie-haired-freaks, I will go ahead and oblige her. I'm tagging anyone who needs something to blog about and has seven wacky facts to share. (Basically, that's about 75% of my audience, I'm guessing.)

Okay -- here ya go. 7 (probably lame) things you might not know about me:

1. When I was growing up, I *hated* playing Barbies. This got me into many little squabbles with friends who were Barbie-a-holics. I wanted to play house. Or store. Or teacher. Or some sort of role-play game. (Yes, I was a five year old control freak -- started early, girls. What can I say?)

2. I am PHOBIC of lightning. I'm not talking "I don't like it" or "It scares me" stuff. I'm talking I go into almost hyperventilating, shaking mode when it gets bad. I will NOT go outside if I see it anywhere REMOTELY close. (This is where my definition of "remotely close" usually drastically differs than 99.9% of the population.) This whole lightning "issue" drives my husband nuts.

3. I had stick straight hair before I had kids. I know some women's hair falls out. Mine all stayed in, but it got curvy. Yes, curvy. Not wavy, not curly -- curvy. The first time I got my hair cut after I had Mitchell, my hair stylist accused me of cheating on her -- she thought I went and got a bad perm. Not so much. She right then and there appointed me the posterchild for what hormones can do to someone's hair. Oh -- and it gets worse -- it's only on like the bottom half of my hair -- not bottom half as in one piece of hair -- but as in thickness. So the top to middle of my hair is sort of straight and it gets crazier as ya go deeper. Not pretty. Not. Pretty.

4. I don't wash my face at night. I know, I know. I'm an alien. With a bad skin care regimen.

5. I do this thing that Chris has nicknamed "The Tara Shuffle" and it is off-the-charts in the nerdy department. Basically, my arms are stretched out straight in front of me and my legs are stretched out straight behind me and I run in place that way. Yes, it's quite a sight.

6. When I sit and watch TV, I don't realize I'm doing it, but basically I rest my hand (in sort of a loose fist) against my chin and my pinky goes against my upper lip. Chalk up another "drives the hubby nuts" thing.

7. Every hanger in the closet has to face the same direction. HAS. TO. As in NOT up for discussion. (By the way, the hubster just got home and helped me with these last two and suggested a &, *, !!! for this one. I'm a bit freaky about it.)

Okay -- done. There ya go. Happy weekend!!

Do you really want to hear?

That was one of the "themes" of this week's sermon at my church. He was talking about hearing God's voice in your life and using it to direct your path.

One thing that he said really, really resonated with me and I've been thinking about it a lot this week. He said that if you are TRULY interested in hearing His voice, you need to be prepared and willing to hear him say NO. That's a good thing for me to hear because I can definitely get into periods where I perceive a non-response, when really it's just a NO. I am completely capable of being pretty self-absorbed and just waiting on the big YES that I know is surely coming my way. Really, I'm pretty dorky in that way.

Anyway...back to the thing I really wanted to share. He said that many times, God's responses to our prayers fall into four categories:

*No, I love you too much.

*No, not yet.

*Yes, I'm so glad you asked.

*Yes, and here's more.

In looking at my own life, I couldn't agree more with this. I really can plug into one of those for each and every prayer I've ever laid before His feet. I find, too, that lots of times -- the "Yes" answers start with the "No, not yet" reply.

Okay -- this is a much quicker post than I would like but I have to go sort $5,000 worth of cookie dough at M's preschool this morning. Don't ask.

Maybe I'll come back for Part 2 later.

Spiritual Gifts...

I am on the steering team for my MOPS group this year and am really enjoying the Bible study that we are doing on servant leadership. Last week, in preparation for our discussion, we took an online survey to determine what our spiritual gifts are.

Here's the survey.

It was so interesting for me to do, as I haven't done anything like that before. Truthfully, I wasn't really all that surprised by my results -- they were kind of what I thought they would be. (I do have to add that #3 on my list was writing, so obviously this blog lets me get a lot of what I have inside out in a productive way!) Since you asked...
Tied for 1st: Hospitality/Encouragement
Tied for 2nd: Faith/Writing

One thing that did surprise me as I took the test were the occasional pangs of guilt about not saying "yes" to some of the questions. I wanted for it to be true about myself, but I also know that I could in no way represent that it was. It just wasn't me even if I wanted it to be. The other thing that I took note of as I went through the questions was that different people popped into my head -- I could tell "Yep, that's a spiritual gift for So-And-So" or "Oh, that's totally So-And-So."

As we were talking about our results during Bible study, the funny part was that most of us had trouble believing that our top gifts were truly spiritual gifts. There were lots of comments about how it just seemed like that's the way you do stuff...that's the way you go about things...that's just the way it is.

I came to the conclusion as I listened to everyone share that having that feeling is actually confirmation that they are INDEED spiritual gifts. Each person is blessed with the innate skills and talents to have those things be second nature, to be a part of that person's core. The fact that it is "just how you do things" says to me that God made it that way for you because he definitely didn't make it that way for everyone. Others that didn't have those spiritual gifts also chimed in, indicating that they wished they were blessed with such things.

I just thought I'd share this with you all since I enjoyed taking a closer look at myself in such a cool way. Try taking the survey with some friends, your spouse, and/or a Bible study group. The discussion is the best part! I'm guessing that whatever you are surprised with will be obvious to those that know and love you.