the back door

last night was a typical thursday night around here. okay, not really. it started with the dishwasher. most of you know i like dishwashers, but the one we have doesn't dispense soap. i guess that makes it kinda worthless. i've complained, yes i admit it, that if i can't use it i'd rather put a cabinet in. hubby said that would cost more than a new dishwasher. but we have never bought one because of choosing to spend our money elsewhere. frankly, i can always wash dishes. well, my parents are gutting their kitchen and offered us theirs!! woo hoo!!! so everyone said this was simple. hmmm..nothing is ever simple inside our back door. the dishwasher was attached to our countertop. but good thing - we had a new counter top put in last week. that girl should slide right out!! nope....they built the floor up over the bottom. so it still sits in it's spot and my working one sits in our barn. oh well...fix dinner and move on! dinner fixed, homework done, now on to pumpkin ca...

so i am 2 days away from the big race! oh yeah! this morning my friend and i met up to run the course. i made one boo-boo on the map, but it was equal distance...no biggy! and we finished. we managed to fight the cold, the urge to quit, and the lack of breathing and finished. faster than we thought! woo hoo!!!! so now i rest. i will not run again tomorrow. and then it will be saturday morning. the race! did anyone out there decide to give it a try? i'm quite impressed with the plan i used. it definitely got me to where i needed to be - even when i doubted it. some have asked if i like running now. hmm...not sure. i loved it when i was at the 2 mile point. i could do that in about 20 minutes and it felt good. but when i had to go beyond that, i can't say it felt nearly as good! the fact that i can now even run for 30 minutes amazes me. it does boost my mood, it does relieve stress, and there is a sense of accomplishment. my goal after the race is to run 2 miles twice a week. i p...

i can't seem to find her. i know she was here - even just a few days ago. but now she's gone. it bothers me really. i miss her. she was so fun and happy and crazy and pleasant. hmm.... i'm thinking i'll go look for her at starbucks tomorrow. i know she likes to hang out there! if i'm lucky i'll find her. i am sure it is just a temporary thing. i know she'll come back, but i'm sad without her. if you see her - tell her i'm looking for her!!

this was us almost 10 years ago! it was the most perfect late fall day. nearly 70 and sunny, and the beginning of the best journey of my life! this friday, hubby and i celebrate 10 incredible years of marriage. there are days that i'm sure we both wanted to walk away from it all, but we didn't and hear we stand today, crazy in love. a love that is deeper than i ever dreamed. a love that makes me whole. a love that is meant only for us. in today's world, not many couples make it to 10 years. sad, isn't it? i was thinking about this the other day and thanked God for giving me a hubby that is patient and kind with me. that loves me everytime i ask him if i'm fat. that loves me even when the house is a mess. that loves me when i'm falling apart emotionally. that loves me when i am just sitting next to him. so in honor of our 10th....i have the top 10 reasons why our marriage is so good. 1. HUMOR - he laughs at me and i laugh at him and we laugh at our ...

i once took great pride in the fact that i could do laundry once a week. and i could do it in 3 loads. minus my sheets which frankly is whole different post. but, lately, the loads have doubled. it seemed like a never ending pile last night as i sorted and got the first load started. i couldn't even get all the darks in one load. what??? this is insane!! how on earth does a family of 4 produce so much laundry??

so...life is always full of suprises, right? now, i want you all to know before i start...that this may sound like a rant, but to be honest i'm ranting while laughing because mostly i'm finding it all quite comical! let's begin with mapboy - remember his great distress when the tooth fairy forgot him? well, good thing she remembered the next night, last minute, but remembered! but for whatever reason the beginning of this week has found mapboy on sensory overload or maybe underload. i can't tell the difference! but he would prefer to be disciplined than to speak in anything other than moans or barks. yes, he thinks he is a dog - and he is 8!! goodness....i'm thankful for an incredible teacher! then there's princess...who for whatever reason is now on a new phobia. i'm not good with what is what but she has the one where she is always sick with something. so while laughing with her teacher about it today we said that one day she is going to throw up ...

do you remember that game show? the one where 3 people all posed as the same person and a panel of celebrities asked them questions and then guessed which one was real? i didn't watch it often, but i was never very good. anyways...lately, or for about the past 4-6 months, i've been on a quest to see who the real Jesus is. call me postmodern, or just call me crazy, but i can't help but think that in the grand scheme of things we are so busy doing church that we are clueless about who Jesus really was and what he would like in our world today. i've done a little questioning of God in my prayer life...begging Him to show me Jesus. the real Jesus. not the one i want Him to be. then i read the shack and oh my....rocked my world! awesome book and i highly recommend it! i don't think i get who Jesus truly was. i've had some of the best spiritual growth in the past year, but an awful lot of "tribulation." i believe Jesus promises us those tribulations...

my saturday morning started at 6:45 when i was greeted bedside by mapboy. he held in his hand a baggy and said, "mom, the tooth fairy forgot me! she didn't take my tooth or leave me anything!" can i just say....oops!!

*this picture really has nothing to do with this post, except that is one of the loves in my life and from my favorite season.... i can't believe i haven't been here since friday! where on earth did the week go? let's see...monday i babysat in the morning and then i can't remember. worked i'm sure. tuesday...meetings at church and then work there and then....family fun game night. wednesday...field trip, errands for youth group, coffee with niece, dinner, youth group, hubby on hog hunt so kids to bed late... thursday..more meetings at church, garage sale, out with good friend for food friday....garage sale - now finishing work for the week! whew...what a week! i was not made to run around! thought i was, but i'm not. oh well...like all good things i'll adjust. you know..sometimes i've decided life is just weird. you never know what each day will bring it's way. now next week is quickly filling up, but hey, it's all good! i'm in love with my ...

i love this man......i just have to start with that! anyways...this incredible hubby of mine turns 40 in a few weeks. i asked him a few weeks ago what he wanted to do for his birthday. his mom was wanting to have something and i was trying to come up with something too. his reply, "gee, i kinda thought you would plan a party and surprise me!" well....okay then! (i have to say i heard this repeatedly!) now there is only a few small problems with this. his october calendar is crazy, he is home with me during the day, and surprising him is never easy. last spring we discovered a great celtic rock band in michigan. he said that night that he wanted to bring them to town and rent a place and have a big old party for his birthday! well, then he quit his job and not that we could afford a band before but we definitely couldn't afford it now. so i did some research and saw that this band was playing in south bend on friday night. being very thankful that we atleast hav...

really, i'm sure you do. but i actually ran a full 2 miles for the first time ever in my life. and i did it in under 20 minutes! woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!