When you don't get to check off those things on your list

Sometimes I think about being really famous.  Like some internet how-to-person.  Or some crafty person with a business.  Or an author.  Or I am in an accident one day, and the next day I wake up and I can sing really well.  But mostly these days I dream about being able to sleep.  (Before you hastily type your well-meaning sentiments, I'm not looking for helpful tidbits on how to get them to sleep or enjoy this mombie ((mom + zombie)) time of your life, you will miss it--blah, blah, blah.  I'm in the trenches--NOT what I need to hear right now!)

I don't know what part of me needs this recognition from others or to be good at something.  Ahem, probably the sinful part.  When I was a teacher, I felt successful often or at least like I had a point to all my runnings around.  I could make lists and check things off.  And snap pictures for instagram of things that turned out so wonderfully and that I even had time to arrange them for snazzy photo ops.

As a homemaker, I can make lists and check things off and feel productive...maybe even successful in that role.  But my other job as a mom is a little harder to make into a list and check things off.  I think that is why I struggle with feeling successful.

And how would I even define success with my kids is probably a bigger question.  Is it when they get older and have real jobs, and I can not be embarrassed when other people ask what my children are doing??  Is it when they get a scholarship for being intelligent or playing a sport really well?? Gosh, I guess the big thing for me is that I want my girls to love the Lord and serve Him.  (And I say that like gosh, I just realized that as typing not gosh, duh, doesn't every one??)

In that same context, that's where I should feel successful in loving the Lord and serving Him.  That means tangibly loving people and that's hard because people are dumb.  (See, I need some work in that area!)  I am serving the Lord in my home right now raising these girls.  And most days on more than one occasion I say dirty words in my head and I want to stab my eyes out and Real Housewives of some city is on while my children are in the room because I just need a break.  (Anyone, anyone else??  Crickets chirping...  Crawls under rock.)  

Point being, because I am severely digressing, all jobs don't make you famous, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing them.

Also, question for you: how did you find out what your spiritual gift is?  I want to start actively using mine and being aware of it, but don't really know how to go about that...

Keeping it rrreal, ladies,
xoxo

My baby is safest when...

Since I am no longer working and getting paid for it, I switched over from night Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) to morning BSF.  (If you do not have a current Bible study group, you need to check out one in your area.  It has been the greatest encouragement to me.  I wrote a post about it last year, and you can check it out here to get some more information.)


This year we are studying the life of Moses.  Today we talked about Moses's early life.  If you are unfamiliar with it or need a short recap, here goes: The Israelites were living in Egypt.  The Pharaoh was afraid of how numerous the Israelites were becoming.  He tried many attempts to try to stop the growth of that nation with one tactic being for the Hebrew mothers to throw all their newborn baby boys into the Nile River.  Moses's mother fixed a small basket for him and set it afloat on the river where he was later discovered and saved by Pharaoh's daughter.

How courageous was that momma?  Being a momma now, I can't imagine sending my daughter off on a river.  I can't imagine being asked to give up my baby.  Our leader reminded us that Moses was never safer than when he was in that basket.  Likewise, Eleanor will never be safer than when she is in God's hands.  That reminds of something else I have been told-We are immortal until God calls us home.  Both of those things are just sweet reminders of the Lord's plan and protection for us.  But also very convicting, have I trusted the Lord with my baby?  I can plan and prepare, just like Moses's mom, but ultimately I have to leave her in the Lord's hands.

Wow, so much to take away from BSF, and it is only week 2!

Be encouraged!

Remember me?

I am sitting in our new, albeit, dog-chewed chair listening to the sizzling of my husband cooking dinner in the kitchen.  I have a laptop that works and a lapdesk which makes it super easy to type while sitting away from the table.  (Thanks hubby for the Christmas gifts!  Now I can finally get back to blogging!)

Did anyone else feel weird this Christmas?  I just felt like I was off.  It could have been the Icemagedon that caused schools to be closed a mere 4 days after returning from a week-long Thanksgiving break.  It could have been that because of said ice storm, I had to cancel my cookie exchange this year.  I was way excited because it was going to be in our new house, I was going to use my grandma's Christmas china, and I had the menu all planned out. It also could have been because there were only three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Oh well, Christmas decorations are down, and I am on to the next projects. 

I have been feeling so overwhelmed lately, so overwhelmed.  I just feel like I have a mountain of things to do before the baby gets here in 8 short weeks.  Some of my projects don't even have to do with baby girl, I just know that once she is here, a lot of other projects will be placed on the back burner for a  while. 

In the upcoming posts, I will be sharing with you the progress on our house, baby girl's nursery, and a couple DIY pinterest projects that I actually did!  Shocking.

My wonderful mom came up today to help me out with life because I am seriously struggling.  She is such a calming presence.  A few weeks ago my hubby said, "I know most people don't really like their MIL, but I like mine because she calms you down."  He will even suggest me calling her when he has tried his best to calm me down, but I am still worked up.  I can't wait to show you some of the stuff we did today.  If you want a sneak peak, check out my instagram on the side bar of my blog.

It won't be so long next time, I promise,

I am sew cool!

A while back I got a perfect sewing machine at an estate sale for $10.  BAM!  I had taken a sewing class in college for fashion design, and I had really enjoyed.  Plus, how was I going to make all my cute DIY projects on Pinterest without a sewing machine.  My mom sewed a lot while I was growing up.  I remember her making us doll clothes, curtains, matching Easter outfits, and even a few formal dresses.  I so regret not taking her up on her knowledge and skills and being interested in sewing.  She could have taught me so much.  Thankfully, her and my father, who has become quite the tailor and reupholsterer, are close by when my machine starts making weird noises or something gets stuck.

I was way bored a few weeks ago and decided to make a reusable grocery bag.  I had picked up some material for cheap at a garage sale earlier this summer, and I found a pattern at About.com.  It had directions for piping.  I neither had it or knew how to put that in, so I opted out.  The pattern also requested denim or heavy material, which I would def recommend it you have it on hand, but mine turned out ok. 

Obviously, I am a beginner...

but I did see some improvement, which is encouraging.

Ta-da!  Grocery store ready!

If you are in a jam, call me!

My mom came up the other day to help me organize my closets.  Who does that but your mom?  We had some time afterwards, so we decided to make jelly\jam.  I am glad that I am taking advantage of the time I get to spend with her.  This is super easy to do and a great gift idea.

My mom chopped up the berries to make it easier to squish.

I squished up the berries with a spaghetti spoon.  A potato masher is recommended, but we didn't have one.

Mix sugar and fruit pectin, see box picture below.

Add water and bring to a boil.  This is the part I really had to pay attention to.  When it gets boiling, stir for a minute and then take of the heat.

Add berries and mix in sugar\pectin mixture.  I put it in measuring cup that makes it easier to pour.

I add some extra baby food jars laying around from another project I did last year.  Don't fill all the way to the top if you are planning to freeze the jelly.

This is the box I picked up at the grocery store.  The box says no sugar needed, which is true, but we needed sugar for the blackberry\raspberry recipe.

Source: http://pinterest.com/pin/273171533618260898/

Mingle with us, 

The Sunshine Project

Thoughtful Thursday Blog Hop

Peek-A-boo Soup

I love this soup.  It looks like a lot of steps; however, it really is just dumping one ingredient in after another.   Some of the ingredients look like it would make it spicy, but it is NOT SPICY at all.  If you know me, I have a very low tolerance for anything spicy, but it is very flavorful.  Yum!

Ingredients.  

You will need a large pot for this as there is a lot of ingredients.

I don't know what the original name for this is.  My family named it Peekaboo soup when we were younger because my sister, a picky eater, would always try to peek under the tortilla chips to make sure she wasn't eating an onion or a tomato.  We still laugh about it today!  Isn't it fun making memories around the kitchen table?

I hope this recipe works for you and helps create many memories for your family!

Sometimes the hardest part of DIY is doing it.

Well, I did something I found on Pinterest.  I actually make a lot of recipes I find and activities for school.  DIY projects take a lot more motivation for me.  We will blame it on the small space apartment we live in.  

I am linking up again today.  I met some really sweet bloggers last time I linked up and would love to repeat that.  My goal is to reach 20 followers before the week is out.  Will you help me out??

This is the picture I found.
http://pinterest.com/pin/180566266281193612/

I have several large vases from my wedding that have been sitting empty on the top of my counter.  My mom came the other day, and I put her to work.

I also happened to have several things of popcorn kernels (thanks Dawn and Alexa!).

I also had some large white candles from my wedding.  I had a ball of twine from Alexa that I haven't returned.  (You can have it back.  I didn't use much!)

Here is my finished product, and I love it!

The surrounding acorns I got from the thrift store for $2 total.  

Happy Mother's Day!

Goodness, I feel like I have not blogged in for-E-V-E-R! Last weekend we celebrated mother's day. My parents came up and visited. We cooked dinner, and my little brother was home from college. I love opening up our place to friends and family. It fills the heart with love. I am pouring love into them, and they are replenishing that love with love for me. It is a great feeling to give and receive. Growing up, I was always the first one to want to leave the table. "Ok, food is done, Can I be excused now?" I am realizing more and more the importance and joy of sitting around the table just talking.

Anthony and I made fajitas and this yummy strawberry salad. (I even convinced my brother to try it and he liked it!) To end it all we had a really tasty, and healthy, dessert. Yum! My mom is wonderful in so many many ways.
1. My mom is so sacrificial. She always puts herself last.
2. My mom is extremely sympathetic.
3. She is fair. She kept track of everything so that she did it exactly the same with all of us. Because, heaven knows, we would call her out if it wasn't exactly fair.
4. She raised four children. Not bragging about me, but we all turned out really well thanks to her.
5. She is a prayer warrior. Any time I had a struggle that I brought to her, she would ask me if I had prayed about it. At times, I probably got frustrated with this response. Over time though I realized that she believed in it. Prayer does work. Not that all your prayers get answered, but that you trust in God's provision enough to turn it over to Him...which is what we should be doing always.
6. She always had a meal on the table for us to eat together. I know this always wasn't easy especially when we whined about what she had spent time preparing. Now that I am cooking meals, I know how hard this is, and all I have to do is feed one extra mouth.
7. She taught me not to care what other people think. We had by far the ugliest, oldest car in the church parking. Anybody remember our old station wagon? Fun times. I used to be so embarrassed about riding in that thing. Eventually, I got over that, but I think that car taught me a big lesson. If people are going to judge me based on what I drive or what brand I wear, I probably don't want to be their friend anyway.
8. She is a hard worker and for little in return. She did not consider any job or task below her. That is why when we all started jobs as teenagers, we weren't the ones just standing around, we were always looking for work to be done.
9. She is super creative.
10. She doesn't pry. She manages to care about my life, marriage, husband, and decisions without being overbearing and a control freak. How nice that is to know that regardless of what decision I make, I will have a mom who supports me and loves me. She is a great example to follow.
Happy Mother's Day!