Productivity

I was an accomplishing-stuff machine today. I went to work for 2 hours, baked cupcakes, cleaned my kitchen, took the kids to the zoo, went to the beauty shop, visited GGMa, cut Andrew and the boys' hair, bathed the children, cleaned the house, went shopping, baked a quiche, frosted cupcakes, cleaned the kitchen two more times, dusted the living room, and prepared my gift for Lisa's bridal shower. Oh yeah... And I just blogged!!!

Happy of the day: all that accomplished
Crappy of the day: While flinging Williams shirt behind me when getting him ready for bath, I accidentally aimed for the toilet which still had pee in it from another little boy. Poor William's shirt!!

Nablopomo

Dude! How can it possibly be November already?! This year has flown by quicker than ever. But guess what November means??? November is National Blog Posting Month, and my goal is to write or post something daily.

So gear up folks... It's going to be quite a challenge.

And with my first post, I leave you with Kristi's thought of the day:

I reached a milestone about 3 months ago. I have officially been NOT pregnant longer than ever before between pregnancies. I can't decide whether to rejoice or tear up. My mood about it tends to change by the attitude of my kiddos on any given day... Oh and also by how big they suddenly seem to look.

Making Memories of Us

Maybe it's because I just spent a weekend with him and all my best friends near the Church where we got married.  Maybe it's because I'm inspired by Melissa and Jeny... but I'm feeling extra in love with and reminiscent about my husband and my marriage.

Eight and a half years ago a stranger checked into a retreat that I was helping to lead and he caught my eye right away.  Tall, thin, vaguely nerdy looking... exactly my type.  And he was coming to a Catholic Singles Retreat.  Definite bonus.  Here is a snippit of the beginning of our story that I started writing back when we first met.  This little story occurred a few weeks after the retreat we met on but before we went on our first date.  It was our first chance to really talk beyond the silly flirting we had been doing.

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Monday night rolled around and left the Daisy Girls with a night off from everything.  It had become a pseudo tradition at the Daisy House to just have Monday nights free.  It was the only night during the week when none of the three of us had anything pre-planned.  Mondays become a time of rest from our ministry and a time to just chill as roommates.  This particular Monday seemed a bit quiet.  I secretly wondered what Andrew did on Mondays. I knew he didn’t work. “Was he bored? Was he lonely?  I wish he would call,” I thought.

Tuesday was Mardis Gras.  The Daisy house had sent out emails inviting everyone over for weekly rosary followed by fattening desserts.  Kimmy was sleeping because she had a midnight shift and Lisa had to do something at school.  So I was stuck at the house by myself to watch American idol and make brownies for later.  Andrew called the house at about 6:15 and asked what was going on.  I told him he was welcome to come over early if he wanted.  No one but me was home, but he could help me make brownies. Nerves overcame me as I said this.

He got to the house at about 6:45.  He came prepared with a sack full of goodies and a big white apron for helping to cook the brownies.  I told him I was only making a boxed brownie mix, but it was totally cool if he wanted to help. Before he arrived I had been slightly worried that we wouldn’t have anything to talk about being alone by ourselves for the first time.  That didn’t happen at all.  I barely remember watching Idol we got so caught up in talking.  I learned more about his vegetarianism, and I learned that he watched movies on Monday nights.

He even mentioned that he had driven by the Daisy House on Monday night considering if he should invite us over to watch a movie.  I so wish he would have.  I would have gone in a second I think.  I was delighted to hear that he had thought about us when we weren’t around.  That was very exciting to me.

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Not long after that evening, Andrew called me to see if I wanted to go to a Shocker game with him.  I had no idea if it was a date or a friend thing, but the night before the date I made sure to clarify.  From the game night (and dinner) forward, we were basically inseparable.  One month after we met, we started dating.  Four months after we started dating, we were engaged.  Ten months after that we were married.  And now, eight years and three kids later, I'm even more in love with him than I was back then.  

So this post is dedicated to you, Andrew Christopher.  Thanks for walking into my life back then and being the best part of it ever since.  

May 7, 2006 - Our first full day as a married couple.

St. Therese, pray for us.

Since she's one of my favorite saints, it just didn't seem right to let her feast day go by without a blog post... But Mondays generally have me swamped with housework... So I refer you to a post I wrote 2 years ago about the roses she sent to me. A bouquet of roses!

Eternal Optimism

Somewhere back in Junior High or High School my best friend dubbed me an "eternal optimist." She said, "You always expect the absolute best out of everything, and that's why you're so disappointed when things don't turn out as they should."

There have been numerous times throughout my life that I have realized how true her statement was. And just tonight, I found it yet again.

For at least 18 months I had been thinking how fun it would be to plan a date night for Andrew and I and not let him know about it. I would just whisk the kiddos off somewhere and be all ready for a fun night on the town when he arrived home. How surprised he would be that the kids weren't here! How delighted he would be that we had the evening to ourselves! How awesome of a time we would have!

Yeah... well... it didn't exactly pan out the way I had hoped. This morning I realized that because of our schedules, this evening could actually maybe work for this plan I had plotted for 2 years. So I called our neighbors who owed us a baby sitter trade and started considering how awesome it would be if I could get the whole house clean as part of the surprise. About 15 minutes after securing the babysitter, Andrew called to tell me he had a late meeting at work. Then he called back to tell me he wanted to run an errand after that and the kids and I should meet him. OH SHEESH! So I sort of ruined the surprise by saying "Wait... kids with us or without... I COULD get a babysitter.."

Anyhoo... after lots of hem-hawing I finally had to tell him I already HAD a babysitter and that I was a little bummed that our special date night was going to turn into yet another "errand running excursion." As the afternoon wore on, the house did NOT get clean, the boys were being bananas and I was pretty sure I should just cancel the babysitter.

It ended up that Andrew did not need to run the errand, so he only had the meeting that would keep him a little late, so I decided I would take the kids over anyways. So for the next 30 minutes I scrambled to spic and span the house and myself so I could still SORT OF surprise him.

And here's where the disappointment part comes in. First, Andrew's meeting ends up going like 45 minutes longer than usual, which left me kidless and waiting for my husband in a very quiet house FOREVER. (Normally a quiet house is a really really nice blessing... but today the silence just annoyed me.) And then, when he finally called to tell me his meeting was over, I was totally not nice on the phone having been so annoyed that half of surprise date was being used up by a dumb meeting.

To top it off, when my dear husband finally gets home and walks in the door, he did not react with the "Oh Wow! You and the House Look Great!" that my eternal-optimist-self was expecting. It was more of a blank stare and a "are we doing something tonight?" look. Good grief!

I'm happy to report that after a good cry (on my part) and a bit of apologizing (on Andrew's part) that the rest of date night was sensational. It included one of the best dinners I've ever tasted at my favorite restaurant and some laughter and fun and ice cream to boot. But, seriously, I'm starting to believe I should just take my husband's advice and have low expectations of everything. Then, more often than not, I'd be delighted when things weren't as awful as I expected them to be. Could I ever really live like that though?

Things you should know about me if we're gonna be BFF.

So I was at a loss for blog topics, and I stumbled across this one when googling "blog topic ideas." Not sure anyone will care to read it, but it sounded like a fun introspective writing exercise so here goes nothing...

Things you need to know about me if we're gonna be BFF (in no particular order):

1.) I do not like cooked fruit. (pie, jelly, jam, fig newtons - yuck).

2.) I am passionate about natural birth.

3.) I am passionate about SAVING THE BABIES.

4.) I am passionate about being truly and wholly Catholic. Mother Church knows her stuff, and if you disagree with something she says, then you need to go find out why she says what she says.

5.) I am introverted until I get to know you... which is super hard for me to do because I'm introverted.

6.) But once I get to know you, I'm a really goofy extrovert -- go figure.

7.) My parents are the Shiz-nit! And if I turn out to be the kind of people that they are, I would feel blessed beyond measure.

8.) Even though I'm 31, I still pretty much idolize my big brothers.

9.) I used to want a sister really really badly, but when I started young adulthood, I began to realize that girls=drama and that I was blessed to only have brothers. I was enough drama for our family.

10.) I miss stage acting.

11.) I would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to be in a musical.

12.) Please don't lie to me. I would rather hear a hurtful truth than a sugar coated lie.

13.) I frequently lament losing connections with old friends and always wonder what exactly happened to end the friendship.

14.) I hate, loathe and am repulsed by Calculus.

15.) I question the medical establishment - a lot.

16.) I don't like talking on the phone.

17.) If you have a problem with something I've said or done, I think it's really dumb if you won't just come talk to me about it.

18.) Don't belittle me.

19.) I never feel like I'm doing enough with everything God has blessed me with.

20.) Andrew and I are considering foster parenting.

21.) I bought a guitar for my 30th birthday and vowed to learn it by 31. It's still in my closet and I'm almost 32. BOO TO ME.

22.) Related to that, I'd love to be a part of "the U family singers" - Kind of like the Von Trapps.

23.) My favorite word is "GROWL."

24.) My husband is terribly quirky and I delight in him every day... even when he annoys the heck out of me.

25.) I love chocolate and cheese and therefore chocolate cheesecake is high on my list of "AWESOMELY DELICIOUS FOODS THAT I SHOULD NOT EAT"

....to be continued...

Slow and steady...

About three years ago I finally got fed up with feeling sick all the time, and after having been told by my PCP multiple times that I needed anti-depressants for my anxiety, I was ready to try something different.

Upon the recommendation of a good friend, I went to see a chiropractor. And beyond fixing my out-of-whack alignment, she started me on a path towards much better nutrition. It turned out that my feeling sick all the time had a lot to do with my body being drained from pregnancy and nursing for 3 years straight and not eating the right foods to remain nourished.

And though I feel a thousand times better than I did when I first went to her in 2008, I still get really frustrated with myself when it comes to our family's diet. Too much sugar. Too much refined wheat. Too much junk. - A mantra that runs through my head about once a week.

But in the last month or so I've started paying more attention to how we eat and how others eat, and I finally realized that we ARE making progress.

In our kitchen, you won't find pop, potato chips or white bread. We don't buy juice (unless we're making smoothies and then I go for the most pure juice I can find.) You won't find corn syrup (not even in our ketchup or jelly). We don't buy canned veggies anymore. And I won't purchase tomatoes in a can either. We eat natural peanut butter. Whole wheat or whole grain bread. Organic apples when we can afford them. And try to only eat fruits and veggies from the "clean 15" if we can't find or afford the organic versions of the "dirty" veggies and fruits.

On occasion, you can still find crackers in our house... and we still eat corn tortilla chips... but we're doing pretty good at staying away from food that can sit on a store shelf for months and months without spoiling.

I didn't realize that our diet was different from the average family until I started paying more attention to how others eat and what others use as staples in their home. I tend to compare our diet to people like Katie @Kitchen Stewardship or my good friend Blair and think "GAH!! Why do I still have refined sugar in my house???!!"... but I've decided it's a pathway and we're still on our journey. And it is not an easy journey by any means.

Sometimes I struggle because I know there needs to be a balance. I don't want my kids to spend their childhoods without the joys of candy or cupcakes or fruit loops... but I want those things to be treats - not daily indulgences. My goal in this whole journey is to set up my kids, and Andrew and myself, for long healthy lives.

For me it really comes down to two questions:  Did God gives us bodies that are meant to fall apart and get sick all the time? Or did he give us bodies that have incredible power to heal and grow and stay healthy if we only nourish them?

I absolutely believe the latter.