A Little Update

Exactly what I am NOT doing...

I haven't posted in over a week! Craziness! I make myself as busy as I want to be-and I hate it when a post just doesn't seem to be flowing. I had my mind set to write up a couple recently, but when I actually sat down at the computer they seemed contrived and just didn't work. Anyway- in the past 10 days:

1. Joel officially had his last day in uniform. He is on "terminal" leave until the end of October. He also quit his second job (Home Depot, in case you didn't know-he was working nights there) in order to find something that will fit better with his new school schedule. He starts in October.




2. We went to Cheyenne over Labor Day weekend. And I forgot my camera! We visited the most beautiful little park. It had a terrific area called "The Children's Village"- it was so surprising! It had all these terrific water features, and was absolutely enchanting. However, I won't drone on, since I don't have any pictures. My personal favorite part was the labyrinth. I had never walked one before, and it was so peaceful!




3. I started leading Bible study again last week. It is a lot of work, but I love it. I don't know that people realize how much time and energy that kind of thing takes, but I am much more appreciative of all the good leaders I have had in the past. I am really passionate about growing and developing the group this year. I think we are off to a good start.




4. I am cleaning my basement. Our house has sort of a funny lay out, so everything that doesn't have a home ends up in the basement (and is slowly finding it's way out of the house-I love it!). I got a new shelf for my stockpile, and I am doing some rearranging and sorting. I am also prepping for the semi-annual JBF sale-super excited to rid myself of all the kids clothes from last winter!

5. Lots of clearance shopping! This is my favorite time of year for good deals-I stocked up on $0.10 notebooks today, because my little artist (Josie) is using up one every couple of days. My fave recent finds: $6 jeans at the Gap, a free Battleship game (I had a coupon) and an adorable little pencil box that is so perfect for all my pens on my desk!





In addition to all that, last weekend, we had dinner with friends. This weekend we are having a Lifegroup dinner, and the kids start Awana on Sunday. I am praying that goes smoothly, since I won't be teaching and it is at a new church. I am keeping up with laundry, and schooling and all the other million little things. It doesn't seem like much, but it keeps me hopping! I am hoping this week we will be able to ease into a more "normal" schedule. I don't know if I can keep up this pace!:)

3 Year Blog-O-Versary and an Update

So, I was reading some of my blog posts from when I first started blogging (if you are ever interested my first post is here) and realized that Iwas much better about actually talking about my life in the beginning. That may or may not interest you, but it was really great to have those memories recorded. There was a number of things I had forgotten about (particularly this hilarious incident involving a strange cat) and I realized that this is a good place to see where I was growing. August is the month I started blogging, and believe it or not, this marks THREE years!

I also realized something else (you can look to your right on the blog and see this, but I will recap in case you are lazy and don't want to scroll around the page).

In 2008, I blogged 46 times. In 2009, it was 57. In 2010, 66. This year, 52 times (53 including this post). That may sound good, because each year it has increased. However, let me remind you that I blogged 46 times in the first 5 months! That means I averaged posting right around 2x a week in the first year, and only about 1x a week the next year.

Part of that is easy to explain. Joel deployed in September 2008, and initially I had more time for blogging. Then I started adding things to my schedule and it got crazy. It hasn't stopped. But this is important to me, so I am choosing to make it a priority. And also to record some of the smaller, but just-as-important-to-me happenings.

So, in the name of status updates here is what I have been doing:

1. Physical therapy. Three times a week. Every week. I love it-not kidding. It is relaxing to me to get to simply follow instructions for an hour and nothing else. It is a long, boring story but the short version is: my knee cap is out of place, and I have swelling in the tissue underneath it (and the bursae, for those of you who know what that means). It was causing me quite a bit of pain, and the therapy is really helping. I may have a tear in my meniscus (part of the knee that helps it to move freely), we will find out for sure when I have an MRI in September.

2. Joel is getting out. He will wear his uniform for the last time on August 30th *tear*, followed by about 7 weeks of leave. We have a multitude of praises: two years of commissary privileges, six month extension on health insurance, and last but not least, he will get both a lump sum and (small, but still praise-worthy) monthly payments.

3. He has decided to attend school to become a mechanic. I am thrilled, mostly because I really feel like the Lord is clearly leading in all of this. We still have miles to go before we sleep, but this is a big first step.

4. In other, less life-changing news: Jocelyn has learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! It took her about an hour-she is amazing! Now, every day she begs to ride it. PE-check!

5. I will be starting my second year leading our moms' group at church. I am still completely unqualified, thankfully I serve an amazing God who equips faithfully. I am anxious to focus more attention on that this year, I have tons of ideas and hope I can conjure up some follow-through.

6. We are getting ready to start first grade with Jocelyn. Nothing in my life daunts me quite like homeschooling-I still feel like I am just play-acting, not actually teaching. It is a learning process, and Carson is insistent on starting preschool, so I will probably dabble in that as well. I have almost all my curriculum lined up, I just need to get a schedule together.

That is definitely not "all" we are doing, there is plenty of couponing, and photo-booking, and blog-reading and I am dipping my toes into Pinterest (can anyone say "time-suck"?). Not so much cooking or cleaning. I hope to get something crafty going soon, I am kind of missing it. We are enjoying doing nothing with Joel, lots of 1/2 price floats at Sonic, and going to the movies, and the park-that kind of thing. It has been a good summer, however, I am looking forward to seeing what the next couple of months bring. And doing more blogging!

Happiness Is...

So, it has been a while since I posted a list. I loooove a list, and I am feeling pretty happy today, so I decided I would post about a couple of the things that are making me smile.
1.We have a squirrel. She comes to the back door about 3 pm every afternoon to beg for food. It is really pretty cute. We think that the people who lived here before us must have fed her. Of course we couldn't say, "no" to that face, so we now have a bag of nuts that we keep by the door for afternoon snacks.

2. I can't resist these faces either. There are days that are more frustrating than others, of course, no child is perfect. But they have been really great friends lately and sharing a room is coming along nicely. That definitely makes me happy!

3. These faces make me happy, too, but really this is because Carson used the potty. I think we will really tackle potty training after we come back from my mom's in March, but he was so excited about going he wanted his picture taken. I will take any small victory that comes along, because Carson being out of diapers will definitely make me happy!

4. My new bedspread. It was kind of a spur of the moment purchase. We had a gift card to Target and it was $20 marked down from $80. I am obsessed with the gray/yellow color combination and it went nicely with the black things I already have in our room. The sheets match better in real life than in this photo. I really like it!

5. Bargains! I have gotten some STEALS lately- for instance: the bodywash was $0.59, the Gain was $1.18, the donuts were $0.50 and I had a $1 coupon for the liners, so I actually made $0.11 on them! I have also gotten free Triaminic, ibuprofen, and more liners this week. It is so fun!
6. My new jeans. I really, really love them because they were FREE! Another coupon deal- I got a $5 off a pair of jeans coupon from Target and these were $4.98!So truly, after the coupon I paid $0.00 for them. This one was too good to combine with the other bargains- it makes me super happy! My mom said with the holes in them she wouldn't have taken them for free, but I am not looking this gift horse in the mouth. No way.

7. Photo books. This is my latest one, from Walgreens, and I love it. It turned out fabulously. I have already made two this year and have another that I will be finishing shortly. I never had any desire to scrap book, but making digital books fits me perfectly. I am finally getting caught up on our photos and that makes me happy, too.

So what is making you happy?

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Status Update

I'm listening to: "Let it Snow, Baby... Let it Reindeer" by Relient K. Always late to catch on but this is probably my most favorite Christmas album. I always cry over "I Celebrate the Day" but I also love "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More" and "In Like a Lion (Always Winter). Thanks, Kate, for introducing me!

I'm watching: Criminal Minds (anyone else totally crabby over the end of last week's episode? ugh!) and also "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" which is completely making me want to re-read the whole amazing Chronicles of Narnia series!

I'm reading: "Courting Trouble" by Deeane Gist. Well, I haven't actually started it yet but I will soon and I am really looking forward to it.

I'm putting off: cleaning my laundry room. I trashed it pulling out the Christmas decor but it has needed a major overhaul for a while. My sister informed me the last time she was here that I should keep the door shut...

I want to: address my Christmas cards (hope to do that today) and make candy! I have picked out four different kinds of truffles that I want to make and I am really eager to get started. I also have a cookie exchange coming up and I am looking forward to getting some new recipes.

I'm excited about: Jocelyn singing in church next Sunday. This will be her first "performance" as part of the preschool choir. I am already charging the video camera! I am sure it will be adorable. I am also excited about Christmas Eve-our tradition is to attend the service and then do dinner out. It will be a great family time.

I'm thankful that: it is snowing outside, but warm inside. Also, that we have almost all our Christmas presents purchased (I don't have anything for Joel but he won't take long-everything he wants is so expensive!) Also, that our Savior came in the form of a precious, sweet, innocent Baby to live to die for my sins...

What's up with you?:)