Quiet Sunday Morning

It's sooo quiet in my house right now. My husband went on an overnight hike with his buddy. My children are still nestled in their beds. And I'm sitting on the couch with a hot cup of tea and snuggled in a warm blanket. It's still.

I've been thinking about my relationship with Christ this morning. I feel like I've veered so far off path in the past year. I'm not doing anything wild and crazy...but I'm not finding any time to spend with my Father either. I'm missing Him. And I know that He's right beside me and I just need to reach out and say "hello." Why does that feel so hard sometimes??

I could blame the space on a lot of things. It has been tough to move out of the bible belt. I'm not in a Christian bubble anymore. Not as many people to hold me accountable. Blah blah blah. I know the real answer though...laziness!

I'm really looking forward to the Ladies Retreat weekend in 25 days! I need to go back to TX and be refreshed. I need to remember what it feels like to meet with God everyday. I want the Spirit poured back into me and I want to feel that fire and desire that I'm missing. It's a lot to ask of one retreat but God meets me there every year and we have a date again this year!

God is so good and so faithful and I am so blessed that when I ignore Him that He doesn't just turn around to find something else to do. He sits. He waits patiently. And waits. And waits. So very patiently. And then welcomes me back with as much love as the first time we spoke!

I am so Blessed.

God is so Good!

My Big Want

Check out this duffel bag made by Roots Canada.
Now you have to understand that I am NOT a purse or bag person really. I do not understand the term "investment purse." And I don't usually salivate over material things.

However...I NEED to OWN this bag.

$398....REALLY??

But the beauty....

An investment duffel?? Not sure my husband is going to buy that term either....

Shooting....on my way to the goals...

So, I had set my deadline to finish my goals to be the weekend I went to TX. But I hadn't bought my tickets to TX yet. Well, I finally bought them today!! I'm sooo thrilled. I was starting to get nervous because I wasn't able to find them for less than $225 which is more than Julie or I wanted to pay. Lucky me, I logged onto travelocity.com this morning and found them for $150! So, now that the goal posts are up...it's time to really focus on getting those goals in!

Physically...I managed to get up to running 1.5 miles. And I love it! Who knew? I get into the zone and just sort of go after it. But nothing beats the endorphines that kick in when the run is over. I feel like I could jump over the moon!

Now the bad news....my knee is killing me. It hurts so bad and is so inflamed that I can barely walk the next day. So, this weekend I actually stayed away from all exercise for 3 WHOLE DAYS!! YUK! I felt better and went back to spin class last night. My knee hurt a bit while spinning but it doesn't feel any worse today so that makes me happy. So, I guess I'm revising my workouts to include more spin during the week and only 1 or 2 runs on the weekend. Somehow, someway, I will make it to this 5k and get it completed! I'm really looking forward to it and cannot wait to cross it off my bucket list!

And some AWESOME NEWS...Jimmy has really taken to this running thing too, running up to 3.5 miles at a time. And he's lost 20 pounds!! I'm so proud of him!!

Financially...not much has changed. Well, we did accomplish one thing that wasn't on my list. WE MADE OUR LAST PAYMENT TO PRESCHOOL EVER AFTER NINE YEARS OF PAYING FOR OUR THREE KIDS TO GO THROUGH!! That is HUGELY EXCITING for us! We decided to pay off Jagger's last few months early so that we could just be done with it. And we are thrilled that we did!

Spiritually...we have made it to church the last 3 Sundays in a row! We have gone in with renewed hearts and God has really revealed himself to us. He is so faithful!

So yay! Lots of good things happening. My heart is feeling very full and I am feeling very blessed.

Valentines Box

Kaylee was asked to bring in a Valentines Box for her party today. Like always we turned to Family Fun. We found this on their website which is so perfect for her age. We got a shoe box, painted it a metallic silver, and then just added the other stuff with markers and glue. Coolest locker I've ever seen!!! Kaylee was very excited to bring it to school today.

Growing Up Too Fast

Can someone tell me when it happened? I swear she was running around naked while playing with her Teletubbies just days ago....

Not only did she dress like a full blown teenager last Saturday. Not only did she read some of the newspaper. She also jogged for a mile with me....and beat me home.

Will this precious child of mine ever cease to amaze me??

Robot Valentines

Jagger and I made his Valentines for his preschool friends today. We found this great idea in Family Fun, as usual! This was so easy to make and Jagger loved handing me the chocolates (and nibbling on a few until I needed the next one...). They are supposed to have foil arms but I think they are cute just the way they are....plus I'm running out of time and we still have to make cookies for the teacher gifts. Off we go....

Setting Some Goals

I'm a very goal-oriented person. If I know I have a deadline then I can get things done. So, this year is going to be the year of goals for me. Luckily I have lots of pit stops along the way that will be my deadlines.

My first "pit stop" is the ladies retreat with my old church in TX. My best friend Julie and I are flying in for the weekend to spend some time with my TX best friends. I'm sooo excited about the trip and thrilled that Jules is coming with me.

But I have some goals to get to before we leave in March.

Physical: I have to lose 10 pounds. I've already lost 7!! And....I will be running my first 5k with my small group. Now...I don't run! I can't run!! I have never run more than 2 minutes at a time in my life. So I'm training. And just this weekend, for the first time in my life, I ran a full mile outside...without quiting! I still have a long way to go but it sure feels good to make a head start. I'll start blogging about the progress and you can all have a good laugh at my expense.

Financial: Since taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University I have been setting small goals for our finances. I have put our house on a strict budget. I wanted our Lowes debt paid off by New Years and when we fell short we decided to give up Christmas presents for Jim and I so that we could pay it off. And we did. So, we have debt paid off now and we have moved on to cars. My goal is to pay off a certain amount of Jimmy's car by March. We have made headway but it is going to continue to take discipline to reach my just out of reach goal!

Spiritual: My small group is doing a bible study called Encounters with God. I have become a little complacent when it comes to church and getting into God's Word lately. This bible study challenges us to transform. So, transform I must. My goal is to go to church every Sunday and pray before service that God would reveal to me what I need to take from each service....or give. I also need to buy myself the bible in The Message version. I have wanted it for over a year and refused to spend the money on it. I want to read through the bible again in a different version and I need to get it so that I can do it.

So, that's it. Not too tall of an order right? I can do it by March 25th!

Then when I get back in March I will set new goals that will need to be attained by the time we leave for Jagger's 5th birthday family vacation on Memorial weekend.

I think this will be the year of getting things done!! Pray for me!