How Sweet It Is

Happy 5th Anniversary to me and my wonderful hubby!  The time does fly and I am so thankful to have married the love of my life. 

Life is not full of second chances but luckily for us, we finally reconnected when the time was right.  He was my high school sweetheart, first true and deep love and first everything.  He left his mark deep in my soul and for many years I tried and tried to shake him from my heart.  To no avail, no matter how much I acted and argued to the contrary.

We both moved on with life but always had mutual friends so our circles would ultimately cross.  And every time, I would still get butterflies in my stomach when he was around or I knew he was going to be somewhere I was going.  I would put in some extra effort on looking extremely good and wearing the things I knew he liked.  Oh the vixen I could be.  But you know how it is girls...you just have to make them suffer a little bit for letting the best thing that ever happened to them slip through their fingers!  Ah the games...I don't miss them at all.

We tried to reconnect and date a couple of different times, but the timing was just not right.  It's true what "they" say about timing is everything.  Long story short, we finally came together at a time in life where we were both ready to love and committ.  And the rest, "they" say is history. 

I am so madly in love with a man that the Lord made just for me.  He is beyond any expectation or hope I could have ever had and I am so thankful that I have been shown what unconditional love really is.  He is the yin to my yang.  He is my inspiration and example.  He is my best friend.  He is my partner.  He is my joy.  He is still that man that gives me butterflies just coming home from work every day.  He is so much more that words can simply not convey. 

I love you Jeffrey John and I thank God that I found you again.

One Inspiring Woman (Bird)

Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings. ~Victor Hugo

This bird is my sister Carrie.  Her strength and faith are truly inspiring to me and I am so thankful that to call her my sister.  It's impossible to sum her up in words, all the things in life she has overcome and conquered and continues to every day.  This is a meager attempt, as I write about her, to pay homage to a woman who sums up grace, strength and sacrifice.

She is a true servant of the Lord and has proven that in this life many times.  Her selfless and trancendant ways are not just words in her repertoire; they are actions that touch the lives.  Her sweet and gentle nature comfort those in need and provide smiles and this is why it comes back to her.  Her constant quest for truths makes her pliable and adaptable in any situation or place - she can relate to all.  She exudes compassion and understanding and this is only a fraction of why she makes the perfect nurse.  She has empathy that some people couldn't achieve in many lifetimes of experience.  She is an angel and is as close to leading by example as I have ever encountered.

And this is why God continues to bless her.  She is moved by the Spirit and lives her life the way we are intended to.  She has given birth to two amazinly strong and beautiful girls and it's really no wonder that they are such a rarity in the realm of science.  The have no idea how inspired they will be by this mother who has so much to instill in them.  She has so much love to give to strangers, imagine the love she will have for her own.  She already grasps unconditional love so she is far ahead of this game of life. 

She flies above the daily travails of life with faith unshaken.  She even comforts others in her own times of need.  She sees things very clearly and she knows that God will provide and take care of her and her family.  She is a rock and she is my inspiration.  May God continue to bless her and her family daily.  Thank you Carrie for showing us and not just telling us the true ways to live life.

Baby Squared

Just a quick note to let you know that my sister Carrie is having her twin babies today!  These are special little girls who came in a whirlwind and will be entering the world a wee bit early.  At Carrie's 20 week appointment, her and her hubby found out that they will be having identical twin girls.  The good news was they were not conjoined, but the bad new is they were Monoamniotic Twins.  This means they share the same sac.  And in addition to this rare and high risk pregnancy, their cords are entangled which is one of the many risks. 

Carrie has been in the hospital for a couple weeks now for close monitoring and they opted to have the girls at week 32 based on the stats of survival.  They have a better chance as premie's than they do staying in the womb and taking the chances.  I can't imagine the mental and emotional struggle that they went through to come to these decisions.  This is so out of the realm of a normal pregnancy. 

But we are believing in faith that these girls are coming and there will be no complications at all.  God is so good and has been very powerful in our lives.  I am personally still in awe that they are having these babies today!  I feel like we just found out they were having a baby - time flies man. 

Any prayers you can offer up would be much appreciated today.  I believe it will be a joyous day!

Is Love Really Blind?

Look at this face and tell me he isn't the cutest, sweetest pea in the world.  Look at the smile in his eyes even.  I love being his mommy!

I have to choose from 25 awesome pictures and I can't make up my mind.  I want them all.  How do you choose when they are all so good? 

I am not blind to the beauty of this child.

God's Grace

Well, I have survived the last 3 months with my dignity and sanity in tact, and I would like to thank the good Lord and his grace for this small feat.  I have had a few things on my plate as of late and stress is not my friend.  It manifests very plainly on my body in the form of psoriasis.  When I am stressed, I break out.  So when Spring started to pop and bring with it the change it always does, it brought a semi-truck load for me!

One fine Monday morning I decided to take a pregnancy test, not really expecting it to be positive...it's not easy having relations when living at your mother's house with her underneath and your sister and her husband one room over.  But, when you are not really plannning or anticpating these things, it's when they like to come at you!  Great news!  Having a baby!  Yeah!  Seriously a bit of a surprise but most welcome.  The next day, I go in to work expecting a great day.  Get called in to a conference call with my managers boss in New York.  He tells me that my boss has resigned and that they would like to congratulate me on my new promotion!  WHHHHAAAA???  I am still processing my boss resigned.  Couldn't quite get over that one.  And what did you say?

I actually don't even recall being asked if I wanted it.  It's all a blur.  But now my life has been put at a bit of a tilt.  I am not management material.  I am the girl who likes to get stuff done.  Give me my list of projects and let me get to work and I will exceed your expectations and document the process while I am at it.  So, with careful consideration, I accepted the job thinking it would be good to take on a new challenge and become a grown up.

On top of this, we were planning on building and that has been in full swing since April 26th.  So, I have been in a constant state of change for the past 3 months and it's literally been a whirlwind.  And through all of these things, I have managed to stay relatively stress-free.  Granted, all of these things have been huge blessings, indeed.  But they are all major life phases all crammed in to one package deal!  It would have been nice to space them out a bit, but I am not trying to complain.  I am trying to praise and thank the Lord for keeping me calm and healthy through all of this. 

But, I am not sure I can take another big change right now....

Home Building 101

It has been an process.  There has been many months of going back and forth on our home plan.  There are so many important things to consider when building and I am just so thankful that we are working with one of the pros.  I am a little biased, considering our builder is my brother-in-law, but wow does he really know his business and everyone else's.  He has been so helpful in helping us design a home that is comfy, efficient and time withstanding.  A home that meets our needs but won't make us house poor...at least we think so...the bids aren't in yet!  A home that is quality and not size, but will be spacious enough to meet our needs.  A home that we can grow into.  A home that fits into the local geography and space. 

I am very excited to say that we have pretty much finalized the home plan draft and are moving in to the next phase.  We have agonized over how we wanted to lay the house out but some things have never faltered.  I have always wanted a nice, spacious and open feeling living, kitchen and dinning space with a decent sized foyer.  I have a hard time envisioning dimensions, but I think we have nailed this.  There are some things that we had to eliminate, such as having a modified 2nd story due to the plan ending up with way too much square footage = taxes.  But this was not hard to give up having the big picture in mind.  I think we have also set up the home utilizing passive solar energy and some other efficienct strategies like having our garage on the west side of the home as an effective wind barrier.  There are many considerations to building and frankly I was a bit overwhelmed the more I learned! 

But I am just so excited and happy that we have finally (after months of going back and forth) solidified our new home draft.  Let the games begin!

Give To Win

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." ~Edmund Burke

I have been doing a great deal of self reflection and praying as of late.  Specifically, I have been wondering what my path is for being a servant to people and to the Lord.  I have been praying to God to not only lead and guide me to what I need to be doing, but for me to hear him when the times arise.  All too often I find myself, in hindsight, realizing I missed out on an opportunity to give of myself.  There is just so much daily noise to compete with and it's challenging to be sensitive to the Spirit when you are just trying to get all the things you need to get done in a day.

I ask God to help me to be an example to my son and family, as well as those around.  I want to make sure that I am not just someone who talks about the injustice of the world and how we need to help others, but to be a woman of action.  Lately, God has been moving me a great deal and I feel like I am heading in the right direction for a change.  I have been looking for the right opportunities to volunteer for things but sometimes being a servant to peoples needs is just as simple as opening your eyes to the ones in front of you daily. 

There are some many wonderful and Godly people around me all the time and it's easy to witness and love them.  The real challenge is being bold around the ones you question or don't know their faith.  I have had a wake up call to take every opportunity that I act on as notch in the giving belt.  Some things are more obvious than others, but it is truly about your hearts intentions.  It's not about making sure people know you are a good person or a giving person.  It's about making an impact daily through big or small acts.  Even kind and encouraging words make all the difference.  We need to build up people all around us.  That love and confidence just comes back to you when you need it most.

At work, I am currently on a team where our objective is to improve communication, community and culture.  I pitched an idea to go over to the nearest homeless shelter to help with breakfast or lunch in cross departmental groups.  The idea has been a hit and it is currently evolving.  I couldn't be prouder that my fellow co-workers also find the importance of volunteering in a community. 

Also, my national sales team just got back from a 3 day trip to New Orleans to do Habitat for Humanity.  It was the most gratifying experience and it has re-energized my motivation for making my company as successful as it can be.  They realize the big picture on a deeper level and I couldn't be prouder to work for a company who is so willing to give and understands what makes their employees feel valuable.  It was incredible to see so many hard-working people all working under a common and worthy goal outside of just increasing revenue.  As a company, that is a key and worthy goal, but for mine to know that there are more important things in life makes me feel like I am at a great place.  I have not had a great deal of faith in corporations.  I have always viewed them as a menace and that they have way too much control over our goverment at a federal, state and local level.

I have been restored and feel like many things are starting to come together for me.  I pray this momentum keeps on building and their more opportunities for me personal to do what I need to do to give of myself.