In Pursuit of True 'Happyness'

As I mentioned earlier, I had the pleasure of seeing The Pursuit of Happyness last week while in the metroplex for the holidays. It was very moving to me. Everyone I have mentioned it to replies with, "Isn't he homeless or something?" That is not the point of the movie. Its actually a very small part of it and only a few nights is that what happened.

Everyone seems to be focusing on how everyone can get a job and help themselves, etc. I guess that is one way to look at it. However Chris Gardner had a job in sales and was an incredibly intelligent man. He was first in his class in highschool and went on to join the Navy and had success in the military. All this can be learned from his biography. Anyway, I only mention that to say that this guy was not a loser.

I do agree that everyone can do their part to help themselves and not just take hand-outs, but what I took away from this movie was so much more. I was very convicted in my own determination and character. I was so moved by the way he reacted to various circumstances within themselves, but also as a parent!!! I get so flustered by the smallest things and I embarassed to say that I let my attitude be effected. I know for a fact that I would not have been the parent that he was through all that he endured. His humor and faith played a major role in that.

I have had the incredible blessing of not having to work very hard for everything I have accomplished. I was blessed with a college education, all of which my parents paid for. I have never done without a meal because of money. I have never gone a night without a warm bed to sleep in. In reality, I have been really spoiled. If I have made a poor decision financially or without being responsible, there has always been someone (my parents or husband) to take up the slack and I did not have to pay real consequences.

This man was such an incredible example to me of how I want to be and what I want to teach my kids as far as determination, character, and grace go. I realize that I am given an even more incredible example in Jesus, whom I have learned so much from. I guess it just helped to see it in a more modern world in circumstances of which I can relate to after becoming a parent and working in corporate America.

There are times that I miss being in that world, because I think I placed so much of my identity in it. It saddens me to think about that because I want to find my identity in my relationship to Christ and how that overflows into every aspect of my life. I am so effected by movies, which is why I can't allow myself to watch just anything. I was reminded in this one of who I need to be and that I must not be pouring enough in for it to be pouring out.

I do not know much about Chris Gardner's faith or his relationship with Christ except that he is a Christian because his faith is mentioned in his biography. He endured a lot more in his life than the film depicts and before this part of his life took place. I guess my whole point in this post is how much of an encouragement and inspiration we can be by example, as he has been to me, regardless of how much we share about The Word. Not that we should not share, we are called to do so, but seeing this Love is just as important.

(Warning do not read next paragraph if you have not seen it)

His attitude showed this in various circumstances from giving his last $5 to a corporate millionaire for a cab despite his own situation, and with a smile while doing it. He showed everyone respect even when done wrong. I have a hard time with that I am sorry to admit. He turned a subway station bathroom into a cave to get away from pretend dinosaurs to make it not only easier but actually fun for his five year old son! Just an amazing strength of character to me. He made it back to an internship after being hit by a car and losing a shoe! I milk a runny nose! Just a few examples in the film and in true to his life.

(Safe to continue if you have not seen it)

Christmas has really lost its meaning to the majority of Americans, even believers. We make it so much more about gifts than celebrating Christ's life. Although we are not wealthy by any means, thanks to grandparents and friends our children have so much more than they really need. Kids really do not need SO much to play and be happy. I felt a little sick while looking at it all this year and being reminded (Holly :) ) that 80% of the world lives on less than $2.00 a day! Our (my little family) life has become filled with so much excess that it is border line ridiculous.

I hope that by sharing my own convitions that someone reading might be convicted as well and look to God in all His glory to be more of what he expects and calls us to be. If so, maybe HE will puit you in REAL PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

God Bless and Happy 2007.

Pursuit of Happyness-SEE IT

Yes, that is how its spelled. Starring Will Smith and his son Jaden now in a theatre near you.

I have been thinking about it ever since. I don't want to give anything away so I will not describe it but you NEED to see it. If you ever think you have 'done without'............you haven't. Don't take for granted anything you have.

This is a perfect movie to see right after enjoying the excessive-ness of Christmas. I will post more on this later.

Part II

Here is our last night at dinner. We didn't take any of the formal night. We really did not take very many total. To the left of us is Beth and Tom and to the right are Angel and Eyleen (sp?). I have not unpacked yet and looked at their information so I apologize if I have mispelled! Its definately back to winter here. High of 33 today and freezing rain! Ty and Trent are off to see "Charlotte's Web" and I will be taking Olivia in to the doctor at 2. Our little 'sleeper' has started waking at 5 and fussy as all get out! She does fine when she gets up for good but I am afraid she might have an ear infection so we will be on the safe side. I am a little overly cautious after my experience with her big brother!!!

Carribean Cruise

The next day his dad and I left for a cruise (which Trent surprised me with a month ago) on the Celebrity Century which left from Miami. We had a long day of flights to get there. Once we were there we checked into our hotel, napped, and headed out on the town for dinner. We went just north of "South Beach" to Lincoln Drive. It was so nice just hanging out and being a couple. We had late appetizers and sat out on the patio doing some of the best people watching ever. It was actually a classy joint but lots of guys.......you know what I mean. The next day we headed out to the boat and set off for KeyWest and then Grand Cayman. It was very relaxing for the most part and we enjoyed sleeping in every day. The food was great. Trent got a spa package for each of us and each night at 9 we were in pure heaven! Trent got massages every night, I had the asian package which was a full body massage, facial + massage, ginger wrap, and scalp massage. I did great until about day three when we were no longer able to call home! This was the first time I have left Olivia for even over night and it was for 8 DAYS!!!! She was walking by the time we returned!

We met some wonderful people at our table, Beth and Tom from Chicago and Angel and Eylene from Orlando. They were too fun and made every night so enjoyable. We hope to stay in touch. What a perfect time to get away and we had a wonderful time. Now onto Christmas shopping! I have done some but have a bunch to go!

Side note: not all my pictures will post for some reason. I will try part II later :(

Ty's Third Birthday

It was December 9th, we had a Thomas party!

He got to go to McDonald's for lunch, then to pick up his Thomas Cake, with a tunnel, then to petsmart to pick out his new fish he named "Nemo". He then crashed and woke just in time for burgers and a party! He got some fun items like the game Candy Land, a set of 'real' golf clubs, a real 'putter', a big doodle board, some fun new clothes from Meme, and aunt Mimi, some Thomas slippers, and a Christmas Percy! Wow, I can't believe its been three years!!!! He had a great day and is the best little boy in the world :)

More pics

Okay, sorry..........it takes several times to get anything done! Here is my sister-in-law Emily and brother-in-law Tim, AKA Bum and Em. Two of my favorite people and especially Ty's. A precious precious couple and one of the reasons I am so glad we live here now. We have been here four years!!!! Its amazing how fast that went! Anyhoo...........will try to post some b-day pics tomorrow night if I get time. We leave at the crack so it may have to wait until we get back. Hope everyone is enjoying the season! Oh, I have to tell you how blessed I am by Alisha's latest post, check it out if you have a chance. There are some awesome suggestions on how to stay content which I think we all need. I have changed my mindset because of them! Miss you Alisha!

More Pics

Em sent me more pics!

We are all actually looking ! Right: Whole gang

Above: Meme and G and grandkids
Above right: Classic Hampton :)

P Family Thanksgiving

We had originally taken pictures to be our Christmas card but there were about 20 people trying to get attention of us individually, therefore in every shot we are all looking different directions! This was the best one with just Olivia looking away but I don't know how to crop so probably not going to happen.

Also, wanted to include one of Trent's oldest sister, Tamara and her family just because they are all so dang precious. I did not get any entire group shots on my camara, those were done by the professional lady for Meme and G's Christmas card

About Olivia:
Well we had our One Year Well Check and the girl is 30 inches long but still underweight. She is about 15 lbs. They did lab work that day because the Pediatrician thought she might have a metabolic condition that was keeping her from gaining despite her large appetite! The girl can put away some food but you just don't see it on her! Anyway, the bloodwork came back normal. She then referred us to an Endocrinologist. The nurse is the middle person trying to get us in for an appointment but apparently its a long process. We will not even know if we will have an appt. until mid December and it probably won't be until after the first of the year. All of this makes me think it can't be that serious since there is not much of a rush. She is still teething. She only has her bottom two and now an upper. I have always heard that the later teeth come in typicallly the better they are for a lifetime! It held true for me, I have still never had a cavity!

Catch Up:
Well last Sunday we had Thanksgiving and family pictures out at Trent's parents house. We had a wonderful time and incredible meal. We were all color coordinated in fall colors for our pictures and all the kids in outfits that Meme got them. I will have to post some when I get more time. They are still on the card in the camara. It was so nice to just hang out there. We don't do that much now that we live here because we see them so much at church, to meet for dinner, and things. So nice just visiting and sitting by the fire!

Speaking of fire, the next day my father-in-law came out and fixed the pipes so that I can enjoy new gas logs in my home!!!! We spent that whole day getting things down from the attic to decorate for Christmas. Of course there were lots of kid interruptions and after jacking with the stand and finally bending out every branch that evening, I came to the realization that this was our OLD tree!!!! My parents got us a new one last year as a Christmas present to me. So up went this one and down came the new one which went up SO much easier! I decorated that evening while Ty watched a movie and Olivia played and Trent reffed.

That was a night I never never want to forget. Olivia went to bed at her usual 8:30 and Ty just stood in awe for a long time and kept saying, wow! I saw the tree shake a few times so I showed him how to touch with a single finger and oh so softly. His little short body next to it with that sweet voice getting excited about , "Santa", "Choo-Choo," and "My Hand!!" He loved looking at each ornament. That made it all worth it. We sat in silence and just the light of the tree for two whole hours talking about Jesus' Birthday. I taught him, "Away In A Manger," which he caught on to rather quickly, and hearing his little voice sing it just brought tears to my eyes. He sings it all the time now. I peaked in on him at school yesterday and he was singing it as he built with blocks. That child is so precious to me.

That Tuesday evening, after taking care of a ticket I got the previous week :( ...... we were on to Arlington to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Man do I miss Fort Worth. I just love that town and have SOSOSOOOOOO many fun memories there. My friend Jay was home from Floriday and we got together with our other (highschool) friends Heather-her family, Holly and Casey, and Thea. I got lots of baby holding and enjoyed a great meal at one of our old stomping grounds, Razoos. We used to go to the one in Sundance Square all the time before they were all over the place like they are now. I also got to see Linnea at her house the day before and spent an evening at Holly's planning for her new little girl to arrive in the spring!!!!

We also took Ty to see "Happy Feet." Cute but some scary parts with a sea lion and killer whales. Today's animation is just far too real. He loved it despit hiding his head in my chest during those scenes, telling me "Its okay mommy, I keep you safe. Don't worry Mommy." Too dang sweet. We also took him to the carosel afterward where he rode with Daddy. He loved being special to go on an outing with us and without sister.

My mom had her whole house decked out with pumpkins and corn stalks on the back porch along with scarecrows and hay bales. We spent a lot of time out there since the weather was so beautiful. Ty got lots of sandbox time and swinging on the horse tire swing. My aunt Mimi also bought him a ridiculous amount of Thomas trains and tracks which he had a ball with. That is the kind of birthday he is going to have in two weeks! We had a wonderful time with friends and family. Trent was miserable with allergies, but other than that a fun time was had by all.

He found out that he has polyps back after having sinus surgery last spring so looks like he might be having another one before long. Also, my lasik has been postponed until the first of January because I still have a dryness problem. The dates in December did not work out with our traveling schedule but I did get some temporary contacts to wear on our carribean cruise!!! Thankgoodness............I am ABOUT SICK OF GLASSES!!!!!

Well that is my novel for now. No more griping about updating! I will be busy finishing decorating for Christmas and a lot is going on in the next couple of weeks so it will probably be after Ty's birthday on the 9th before I update again. Just a fore-warning! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving reflecting on God's greatness. Every year I am more amazed of His bountiful blessings and the joy He brings to my life. God is SO good.

Olivia Lane's First Birthday

This was one year ago Saturday, November 11th when this precious girl entered our lives. She was born at 11:52 A.M. weighing 7 lbs. 9 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. She was and still is just perfect! We celebrated this past Saturday with some family and it was such a good day. She had her picture taken that morning and cupcake and milk that evening. Below are some pictures of the festivities.






This is one pooped little birthday girl. She got a little umbrella stroller for her doll and enjoyed pushing that around for awhile but not real interested in opening her gifts other than that. She had a bath and then we watched the video from the day she was born, as well as Ty's first birthday and up until Olivia was born. Man did that bring tears to my eyes! He has changed so much too and it all just went by too fast. They are as different as night and day! We feel so blessed to have enjoyed this past year with Liv and the almost three with Ty. God has shown us so much through their lives and melted our hearts in the process. She has her one year check up this Friday and I will post her new stats after that.

Is it just me or.............

1. Does anyone else have a toddler who basically eats the toothpaste before the teeth get brushed? I have to reapply so much its ridiculous and he just doesn't "get it" when I say don't eat it!

2. Has anyone else ever forgotten the very first thing on their grocery list!!!???!!! Trent wrote in an item at the top and I guess I overlooked it b/c it wasn't in my handwriting. I felt terrible. I also forgot the most important thing, cake mix for Olivia's cupcakes Saturday!!!! Its my daughter's first birthday, what kind of a mother am I? Also still have to go to Party City to get the plates, napkins, decor items but I am saving that for when my parents are here Friday to keep the kiddoes for me.

3. Does anyone other than me require at LEAST two cups of coffee before being able to start housework? I can do things like get my children milk and take Ty to the bathroom in sort of a half-eyed stupor but when it comes to being productive I have to have a stimulant. Sad isn't it.

4. Does anyone else have their quiet time, devo time, on the toilet with a closed door? It seems to be the only place I can get un-interrupted time to myself after Trent is home and kids are in bed. My friend Courtney gave me the idea two years ago. It has been especially helpful since my daughter was born. Its only about 10-15 minutes but it has really helped me! I think I have written about it before but "Keep It Simple, For Moms on the Go" is great and I reccommend it to EVERYONE! Thanks to Ruth Williams I enjoy it daily!

5. Am I the only one who gets giddy with excitement about circulars or catelogs in the mail? I love stacking them up and then looking at them while in a warm tub about once a month. I do a lot of shopping that way b/c I don't go many places to buy things other than Wally World.

6. I also get a weird excitement from re-filling things. For instance, when we have been out of things and I finally get them at the store and go around putting toilet paper in the cabinets, re-stocking the changing table with diapers, more coffee grounds in my canister (my favorite), paper towels on the holder, etc. There is a weird satisfaction in that. Also a feeling of being blessed to be able to do that when there are many in the world that consider all of those items a luxury.

7. Does anyone else keep the change they find in pockets while doing laundry and keep them in a jar above the dryer and when its full move them to the change purse in the car for the Sonic fund?

8. Am I the only one who is obsesssed with keeping their children's clothing from being ruined by stains? Yes I understand they are in fact children but I guess I hold the people who are with them while eating responsible. For instance, if a toddler is going to eat carrots, take her sweater off just leave her shirt on and put a bib on! Is that too much to ask? I am nervous every time I hand out RED kool-aid to my three year olds at snack, at least they have sippy cups. However, there are a lot of their moms who send red and purple drinks in their lunch that are not in a sippy cup or have a straw. EVERY day there is a child who stains their clothing with it. I have used my own Tide To Go on more than one occassion and a child came back in the same shirt the other day with a stain that did not come out. I will not give Ty spagetti with a shirt on! Yes, he is almost three in less than a month! Other people whom he has been left with will and then I am left with the 45 minute stand at the washer doing pre-treatment to stains, some of which will never come out and its not like we can replace every item.

9. Does anyone else have a toddler that despite taking them to the restroom before every meal inevitably will have to go once all trapped in their booster chair? Usually its right after my first bite of the meal.

10. Anyone else LOVE the smell of bleach and lyesol? Maybe its just the knowing that things are clean. Especially on the kitchen sink every night. That is the one thing I have definately stuck to from The Fly Lady!

11. Does anyone else hang shirts in the closet sorted by long and short sleeve and then by color. T-shirts of course are a whole separate category. I do the same with shorts, skirts, jeans, capris, and pants. Also divided up into Winter and Summer in halves of the closet. I could write a book on the drawers!

12. Anyone else despise wire hangers other than me and Mommy Dearest? Other than the marks they leave on clothing, they are always in a tangled mess!

13. Anyone else pump up the volume on their stereo system occassionally to get down with the fam? Thanks to Trent, Ty could fit right in at a club at only three years old! The boy has got some moves and sister already shakes it and nods! Its hysterical but we have a great time. Probably something not right about seeing a toddler and one year old jamming to "I'm Bringing Sexy Back!"

Can you tell my life revolves around my children and cleaning by my list? I just thought about that! We had a guest speaker in Ladies Class yesterday and Kerri and I were commenting on her big words and how being out of that professional environment for awhile made it a little refreshing! To think I used to live by my planner, dress professionally every day, and do laundry once a week makes me laugh now! My how my life has changed. I realized I have a lot of black clothes from that time in my life and am well equipped for Sunday morning until things go out of style, I am verging on that since I have been out of the workplace now for a little over three years! Haven't had a design job in 5! Pure craziness. Haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in quite a while so I thought I would take a break while waiting for the dryer to cut off and make for some good entertainment.

More Pics

First, Pop and Cita and Ty carving a pumpkin Sunday night. Next: Jarrod and Ella Martin, Denise and Olivia. Third pic, DD and Grandmom! Our great grandparents, Phillips! They were our first stop for the night.

Halloween Festivities!

Above left, our very close and special friends, The Galbraith boys! Above right, our cousin Hunter. Left, Ty, Hampton, Liv, and Heath!

Treat Night

Well this is only allowing me to upload a few pictures at a time so I guess I will try to post the others if I get time later. The night went well. Ty had a good long nap that afternoon in the car with Pop while mom, Liv, and I scoped out our new bigger improved Target. We were in there a long time! Little girl refused to take an afternoon nap which made for a zombie puppy dog at treat night but she did not fuss at all! People would ask Ty, "Are you a fireman?" and he would answer, "Yes, and this is my dog!" He was really sweet with her. Ty loved having Pop and Cita be there to take him around. He was super sad when we came home from school yesterday and they were not at his house. He has been asking for them ever since and why they left! They will be back in a week though to celebrate Olivia's first birthday! Its on the 11th, a week from Saturday.

Its almost like the day after Christmas or something, I am taking down all my Halloween decor today and am sad about it! My mother-in-law has had all of her Christmas up for a few weeks now, even the stockings are hung! I can see why though, its her absolute favorite thing and a month is just not long enough to enjoy it. I however enjoy the fall so much that I stretch it out as long as possible. Now I will concentrate on Thanksgiving. Our Christmas will probably go up a little early this year b/c we will be at my parents this year. Our tradition has been to put the tree up Thanksgiving night but I don't want to come back the week after Thanksgiving and have all that to do and it be up less than a month!

The time is just flying by! We made it through another week while Trent was away in Florida with the girls team. He has been gone the majority of the past two mnths :( They got back last night and we have him for two more days until he is back to OKC. This time though, the same day he leaves my parents will be joining us! It will be nice to have them around while he is gone.

I signed up for roasted pumpkin seeds for Ty's class party on Monday, so I went to United this past week and bought the biggest pumpkin they had!!!! I could barely load it into my cart!!!! I have never had one so big. Ty LOVES it and Olivia pulls up on it all the time! Anyhooo.... we are going to carve it with Pop and Cita Sunday evening. Ty is just now old enough to enjoy that. I also wanted some 'extra' seeds for us.......hmmmmmmm one of my favorite things about this time of year! It will also be nice to have them play with the kids while I make cookies for their teachers and our little class for treat sacks. Another one of my favorite things to do if I get the time.

Tonight I am having a jewelry show for my friend Kerri, her website is Olive Juice on the left. I am so excited and hope we have a good turn out. If you are reading, and live in town, consider yourself invited. She is so amazingly talented and makes such beautiful things. I wish I could afford to buy them all. I am doing a little Christmas shopping tonight!

The day has started out well. With Trent being here, I got to take a worry-free shower that lasted more than two minutes........even got to dry and style my hair and put make-up on within the same hour!!! We get to meet him for lunch and then while the kids are down I will be doing some cleaning for tonight. I need to run to the store for some goodies to serve and dinner for Kerri and me and that is about it! We have absolutely NO plans for Friday and Saturday and you just can't know how happy that makes me. I am looking forward to the time with my little family.

Facts about Olivia at ELEVEN months!

The past month has just flown by and now we are nearing Olivia's first birthday which is making me a little sad! Its so neat to see her growing and developing but at the same time letting go of the "baby" in her is hard.

She is now standing on her own for short periods of time and has taken a first step! Not walking consistently though. She is making attempts at more words like baby, and dat, and dis! Her favorite thing to do is crawl over to the book box and completely empty it! She had two feet in it yesterday and the books were just flying behind her! She also enjoys doing this with dog's toy basket. She is a little bit harder to discipline than her brother and just keeps going back!!! She absolutely loves the remote and my cell phone and is sneaky about getting them both!

Olivia has become quite clingy to me in the past month or so and won't go to many people unless I sneak away and she is distracted. Even so, she will not cry long and adapts easilly to whatever, just not real willing to leave me. She is now eating all kinds of table food for example, lunch meat and cheese, cut up grilled cheese sandwiches, cooked carrots, peas, rice, loves rice chex cereal for snack time, green beans, cut up zucchini, squash, baked sweet potato, munches on cinnemon rasin bagels at breakfast and will generally have apple sauce or bannanas and strawberries shortly afterward. Its SO nice not to have to always bring food along everywhere we go. I can usually mush up what I have for her if we are at a restraunt. She is slowly weaning from nursing and drinking milk and juice from a disposable sippy cup several times a day. We are down to just about three times a day, if that, I try for just twice and not very long at that.

She is finally in 6-12 and 12 month clothing, although pants still hang on her. If they are elastic I roll them on so they will stay up! She is wearing a size two in diapers and shoes. Her hair finally stays in alligator clip bows but still not long enough for actual pigtails. She loves her bed. Sometimes she cries when I lay her down but by the time I walk out of the room and shut the door she lays down. She has developed a liking for baby dolls and carries a small one around that our friend Priscilla, from Bright Horizons got her last week.

She likes to put her face in the water at bath time, I don't know if she is attempting bubbles or what! She got a little top heavy out of her suction cup seat last night and took a dive. Ty was way more freaked out than she was. He was balling and kept asking, is my baby okay??? She was under for maybe two seconds, I was right there to fish her out. He is so protective of her, which is surprising to me at his young age. He was sick, and missed school today but she went to give me more time with Ty at the doctor's. Our friend Sandy met me at my car to get her and take her in and Ty went nuts after she shut the door and left, saying, "she take my baby!!!" She still LOVES her brother and squeals in laughter at him all the time. Its neat to see your children love on each other. Ty softly kisses her on her head when she is asleep.

I can't believe that before long I will be posting her one year old facts along with pics of her first cake, etc...... I can still vividly remember reading a pregnancy test and being pregnant with her and it just doesn't seem like it was a year ago that I was anticipating her arrival. She is SO beautiful to me and has such a sweet disposition. I never could have imagined what it was like to love a little girl so much. I already worry about her growing up and the people she will encounter and things that she will experience. I pray over her every night that God constantly watch over her and protect her and for her to wake up healthy every morning.

She is so curious and smiley and I wish all of you could experience her in the way that we have over the past ELEVEN :( months.............

Happy Fall

Fall is here, for today anyway! Its cool and rainy and not quite the day for the pumpkin patch that I had planned. We are going to try again for tomorrow. These are some pictures taken on Saturday. I just love this time of year, the smells, the colors, the food, and the weather! We had Trent all weekend long and were able to spend time with two of his uncles from the metroplex area who were here for volleyball games and suberbans! Olivia went to her first birthday party for a friend, Jade who turned one last week! Dad and Ty got some time together and went to see, "In The Wild." He can't stop talking about it.

I also was treated to a movie last Tuesday by Meme, "Facing The Giants." If you don't see another movie this year, see this one. Its obviously low budget, and there is nobody you have heard of in it, but its a wonderful story about a football team that decides to get their priorities straight and focus on God. This of course is why there is not much publicity on it and you probably have not heard much about it. You know how the world works, don't want to offend anybody, unless they are Christian! Anyone seen veggie tales on regular t.v. lately? That is all I have to say about that.

This coming week is pretty uneventful for us. I will be missing my 10 year reunion at ACU b/c my husband will not be around and I will have my two small children, not up for doing it alone! I am a little sad about that, mostly because I was looking forward to going to The Shed and The Beehive with Holly. I guess we could do that any time though.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and is enjoying this day off if you have it!

Positive Things that happened in the past week

Well after my last two posts hosting a bit of the negative side, I decided to focus on the positive for my Thursday Thirteen:


1. This is a picture taken from our Girls Night Out last Friday evening. Top row, Calli, Me. Bottom row, Jen, Sara, and Suzanne. We met at LaDiosa-such a neat place. Great food and atmosphere, I think we have decided that its going to be "our" place. We are going to have monthly meetings and I can't wait for October 20th!!! These pics can also be seen on Sara and Jen's blogs.

2. One day earlier, I was able to attend for the first time, my class's evening women's study that is every other Thursday. We are studying God's purpose for our lives. There were so many people there and many of whom I have not been able to spend a lot of time with so I was thrilled to have the opportunity and hear God speaking through their words.

3. Saturday morning Ty, Olivia, and I joined Meme to watch our neice Hannah play in a volleyball tournament that was not real far from where we live. I saw some people from our church there and had a nice visit and we also went to one of my favorite burger joints for lunch afterward with several other family members along with some people from their town. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a great time.

4. Church Sunday- Trent and I taught last quarter which was neat in a lot of ways, but we really missed our class. We were able to go together Sunday, which we don't get to do a whole lot now b/c he is gone for tournaments so much- in fact he will be this week.

5. Finally got my little girl's room organized and re-arranged with her "new" dresser in place. It looks so cute, I will have to post pics if I ever get around to taking any.

6. Tuesday night Trent and I took on the task and put Ty's new train table together! Well, we have not put together all the buildings and bridge yet, but the table is there and he is THOROUGHLY enjoying it! Thanks Pop and Cita :)

7. Got my freezer, again- new to us, cleaned out and put almost all of our things in. I just have to go pick up things I am storing at my sister-in-law's and Sara's house and then we are good to go!

8. The kids both got flu shots Tuesday, probably not a "positive" thing to them, but hopefully it will be in the long run and neither of them will end up contracting the flu. On a side note, Olivia still has an ear infection in her left ear, getting better but still there. This is why she cried so much Sunday and Monday :( But the positive spin- she is on a baby version of the "Z" pak and already doing better!

9. I slept GREAT the past two nights and its looking like I just had a quick bout with allergies instead of a sinus infection!

10. Got my car washed Tuesday while kids were sleeping after their doctor's appt. I just love a CLEAN CAR!

11. Today is my friend Courtney's birthday but we celebrated at school yesterday with coffee and doughnuts at our early morning staff meeting, well all day we ate really! Mmmmmm.....

12. My sweet mother-in-law met me at school yesterday with my favorite drink in hand as we were making our way out to the car. Such a nice surprise at the end of the day. Have I mentioned that I have the best mother-in-law in the whole entire world???? She is also having us out to her house for dinner tonight which she has started doing on a weekly basis. Its so nice getting together with Trent's side of the family and Ty LOVES playing with his cousins!!!

13. My friend Suzanne was a real blessing to me this week. She is pictured above. I will not go all into why except that she is just a wonderful friend. I met Suzanne the week after Trent and I started dating. She was a good friend of his from college and still is. We hit it off instantly and she has been my friend too ever since. Another one of the many blesesings of having Trent. She is a great listener but will tell you how it is and I appreciate these things about her so much. Plus she is a ton of fun to be with. Whenever we would come back here to visit, before we lived here and she did, we would meet up with all of Trent's friends he grew up with and most of the time Suzanne and I were the only two girls, except for when Sara could make it, also pictured above. Sara is married to our friend Brad and Jen (also pictured above) is married to our friend Jon, two of the boys Trent grew up with. The other girl, Cali, I have had the blessing of getting to know through Sara. They went to pharmacy school together and we are all great friends now.

I really could go way beyond thirteen in counting my blessings this week but I will stop there. Its really neat to go back and do that, especially after you think you have had a hard day! Hope everyone has a great end to the week!

13.

I made it, Thanks God

Well, it was poker night last night so my wish did not come true. However Olivia finally fell asleep and Ty and I took a bath and he slept in my bed with me so it got a little better. Leave it to my sweet little man to put a smile on my face. He is SO precious! God worked in his sweet little words and laugh to remind me that its not all about me. I feel so selfish sometimes and I hate that I do. Of course with one down and one left up it made it a ton easier. Thank you God for giving Olivia a peace to finally rest, she never napped yesterday. She slept until 7 this morning and apprears to be much better. Well I am off to refuel with some caramel truffle coffee, with my fun pumpkin creamer and Tylenol daytime sinus. Thanks for your encouragement and prayers girls............you really have no idea how much that means to me. Also, I would LOVE to see the video Jen. I will be calling you at some point.