Hit the road, Jack

Time for a ROAD TRIP!!!  

:::squeals:::

My in-laws are getting a great pyrenees puppy (at 9 weeks, she's already almost 20 lbs!) and that puppy happens to be near Columbus, Ohio, which is where my awesome sis-in-law, Brittany, lives!  So, I invited myself to go.  Hah!  No, really, my in-laws love me, and I love them.  We all play world of warcraft together, so it just seemed natural to let me tag along.  And the hubster gets to come, too!  

:::squeals:::

It's like a mini-vacation!  Momma & Daddy-in-law, Mackenzie, Drew & me!  So, anywhoodles, I'll be a bit quiet till next week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

p.s. don't you just love the word "anywhoodles?"  Ok, it's not really a word, but I saw it in the blogosphere somewhere and fell in love.  So, now it's a word.  :-P

p.p.s. I totally did a whoopsie and completely forgot to mention one of the most important facts on my last post!  God!  I got all wrapped up in my own little world of despair and pity party.  He's totally got my back, I know he does.  So, I know everything will work out in the long run.  I can't see where this road is headed, but that's ok, as long as God knows.  I know he wont give me anything I can't handle.

In a funk..

Have you ever been in a funk where all you want to do is... NOTHING?  Right now, I'm so overwhelmed with, well, life, that I can't even begin to think about doing anything.  Everything is making me go nuts - Mackenzie seems to be whining more than usual, the apartment looks even messier, my allergies are killing me, I feel trapped in this small apartment and I'm car-less today.  

I don't want this blog to be a whine-fest, but sometimes a girl's just gotta be real.  Ya know?  And currently, I want to pull my hair out!  I am thinking I should call up my doctor to see about switching my "happy pills."  Yes folks, I take anti-depressants.  I'm not afraid to admit it.  I've dealt with depression since 1996 and there's only one word for it.  It SUCKS.  And frankly, I don't think this wellbutrin is doing it's job.  So, please forgive me as I whine for a couple minutes.  Time for blog therapy!

In all reality, it's not that bad.  I am blessed beyond belief.  Our house sold in TWO WEEKS.  We have a wonderful little group of friends.  We are healthy and have wonderful families.  And we are going on a road trip to Columbus, Ohio tomorrow to see my wonderful sister-in-law and her husband!  I'm going with my in-laws on their trip to pick up a new great Pyrenees puppy!  So, yeah, life isn't horrible.  

I just look around the apartment, see everything strewn everywhere, and I freak.  I'm overwhelmed.  To-do lists are thrown out the window and full freak-out session is commenced.  I snap, I yell, I pout... it's not a pretty picture.  Then I play on Pinterest for a while to take part in a link-up and I see all these pretty things.  Pretty things that I want, but can't afford because, hellooo, we have a good chunk of debt to pay off and the budget is screaming NOOOO at me.  

I know, I know... take it one small area at a time.  I've heard it, I've preached it, but holy smokes, is it hard to live it!  So, my "plan" for the day is to take it easy, put my blinders on, get a shower (maybe a nice fresh feel will do a girl good) & eat a little something.  Then I gots to get the kitchen cleaned up and perhaps I'll work on organizing the office closet.

Whine-fest over.  For now.  ;-)

xoxo 

Oh, how pinteresting!

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I'm linking up (for the first time!) with The Vintage Apple today for some good, ol' pinning fun!  So here goes!

Source: google.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Source: archimedes16.polyvore.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Source: wanelo.com via Cierra on Pinterest

Source: nerdygirlmakeup.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Meghan on Pinterest

Source: via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: blogging2fun1041.blogspot.com via Joab on Pinterest

You can follow me on Pinterest here!  Hope you all have a fantastic "hump" day!

xoxo

"New" toys

So, I am in the middle of unpacking some boxes today, when I find my old barbie box - complete with Ken and Barbie.  My mom hung on to them all these years so that I could pass them on to my daughter some day.  

Now is "some day."

Mackenzie had a blast playing with them this afternoon, trying out the different outfits and playing with the fold down table and chairs in the case.  Yeah, it rocks.

Tonight, I went in to find Barbie topless and Ken dressed down to his skivvies, sitting at the table.  I asked Kenzie what she was playing with, then had to run to get Drew so that he could see.  It went something like this:

Me:  Kenzie, what are you playing with?
Kenzie: My play with the boobies.
Me: **silent giggles**  Drew, come here!  Kenzie, show Daddy what you got today!
Kenzie: My got some boobies!

Toddlers - gotta love 'em!  I'm dying over here with her language and blooming personality!

Yeah yeah, I know...

So, my catch up I had planned... didn't happen.  

....


Back off, alright!  I've been busy and then getting hurt and been busy again!

Maybe tomorrow if my day at work goes like it usually does - slowly.

Nighty night y'all!

xoxo

Slacking

Yeah, yeah, I know I have some catching up to do.  I have two days worth of Unglued challenge days to catch up on and a day of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer 40 day journey to read and reflect on.  But I have a semi-good reason for my slacking!

We decided NOT to move!

So, I got the keys to the new apartment, and after Kenzie's nap, we took a little walk over to go check it out.  Maintenance was there fixing the carpet in the back room, so I didn't take a really good look - just glanced through.  

I wasn't impressed.  I had to go take a second look with my sister-in-law to double check that I, indeed, did not see any linen closets.  So, no linen closets (I currently have two) and both the bathrooms were pretty much suckage.  No drawers under the sinks and the counters were UBER small.  

All that added up to me just saying that our neighbors can suck it and get over themselves.  I'm staying put!  I really didn't want to move all my stuff again anyway.  Maybe in a year, after our lease is up, we can find a house or duplex to rent.  Then I might be willing to move.  Depends on how "the neighbors" are.  

Then, we tried a new church today!  It is HUGE.  And I feel like a dumdum because I looked on their website, and up at the top in small print, had the times of services.  I thought it said Sundays 10am.  So, we get there a few minutes before 10 and it's packed.  We parked, like, a football field distance away, got inside and Drew said that he saw a sign saying service times were 9am and 11am.  Oops.  Yeah, their other campus starts at 10.  

But that's ok.  We got Mackenzie checked in to the children's area - which was really big and the gal in charge was super friendly.  Then we popped in for the rest of the message.  We missed all the worship, but we'll go back next week for the entire service.  :-)  The pastor was incredible.  I haven't been that captivated by a sermon in a LONG time.  So it was a nice change of pace.  I'm looking forward to next week!

And what made things a bit sweeter this morning was seeing an old friend from my Washington DC summer. I was only there for 2 1/2 months, I think, with the Nazarene program Youth in Mission, and he was there the entire summer.  But I got to know him a bit, found out he's from KC, too, and ended up keeping in touch.  Had a random bump at an ice cream place a few years ago, but hadn't seen him since.  Was a nice surprise to see him and his wife walk up to say hey this morning.  Ended up standing and talking for a good 15 minutes.  God is good!

So, yeah.. back to my slacking.  I'll work on it tomorrow and get Day 2 of the Unglued Challenge up.  Check back tomorrow and join me in discussion!  As for tonight, I'm off to watch The Hunger Games!  Eeee!

xoxo

Unglued

So, as I sit here in my office (one of the two days I come to work for my dad), I think about my life.  I feel like I have no control and I don't know what I'm doing.  I can't get a hold of my thoughts as they scramble around the inside of my head.  

I feel... I don't even know.

Then, as I was looking at my facebook feed, I saw a post by Scott & Kelli from K-Love.  It said:

Talking with Lysa TerKeurst about what makes us come Unglued and how to handle it.  Tell us what keeps you from coming unglued.

That's it!  That's what I feel: Unglued.

Many days, I start off great - then something happens & BAM.  Unglued.  I lose my temper with Drew, with Mackenzie, with anyone who happens to cross my path.

Then, the guilt comes.  I feel like such a horrible wife, a horrible mom, a horrible person.  I can't hardly stand to look at myself.  I beat myself up because I feel I deserve it.

But that's not the way God wants us to live.  That's not the way God wants me to live.

SO, I clicked on Lysa's name and up came her facebook page.  At the top, I saw a picture that had one word underneath - Unglued.  I clicked that and it brought me to a new facebook page.  There's a challenge - the Unglued Challenge.  Sounds interesting... I thought.  

So, I signed up.  It's a 5-day challenge - brought by one email a day.  It has excerpts from her book, Unglued, and real-life experiences that she has been through, all to come together to bring hope for a change.  We stuff, we explode, or react somewhere in between.  For me, I stuff & explode.  Stuff first, then when it becomes too much, I emotionally vomit over EVERYTHING.  Lysa's 5-day challenge will help - because, as she says, "God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it!"

So how about it?  Will you join me in this 5-day challenge?  If so, click here & click "the unglued challenge" at the top to find out more & sign up.  Then, each day after receiving the daily email, I'll blog my thoughts on it.  I encourage you to comment with your thoughts and insights as well!

xoxo