the back door

this morning i was heading to work. i hopped in the car and knew i had a lot to do. our secretary is out on thursday mornings for a little while so i was motivated to get the job done, get a few errands done, get my run in, and be home for lunch with hubby. i turned the car on and the fray started playing - in fact, it was the song you are hearing right now. this song has so been on my heart lately. or i should say, God is using this song to talk to me. between God, this song, and some blogging friends, i've really been thinking about my presence. or maybe i should say, my lack of being present in each moment. so as i started singing to the song i had just cranked up i decided to be present. i want to know if it would matter if i sat and talked to you. i turned the corner just down the street. now, you should know, i drive this route maybe 20 times a week. that might be an exageration but it doesn't seem like it. so i'm singing and gazing. loving the fresh snow...

i've hesitated to write anything deep lately. i don't know why - i just have...but lately i've been so deep in thought that i feel i need to blurt it out. i don't know exactly where this will go - only that it will go... i have a wonderful opportunity to count among my dear friends several 20 somethings. they crack me up and i get a kick out of them. they seem to actually even like hanging out with us old people:) but something i've wrestled with for the past few years is one i see their generation wrestling with. maybe it is more of trying to reconcile "it". i know some people will be bothered by this, but i have greatly struggled lately with how we do church and christianity in america. are we missing out on what God intended? have we strayed from things? i had this conversation with someone who then turned it into that we have softened sin. that isn't exactly what i meant by that. in fact, i think that is a mute point in this discussion. really?? o...

so, first off, i posted on facebook that i did something i've wanted to do for 15 years. my college roomie asked if it was getting a tatoo! i laughed, mostly because i remember telling her that one time and seeing her flip out. but, now, she asked if i wanted to celebrate our 35th with both getting one! he he!! okay, but then i realized, i'm older than i thought, or i'm bad at elementary subtraction because it as more like 20 years now!! boy i'm getting old. i've digressed...yesterday, my kiddos had a half-day. i had briefly mentioned that to my mother-in-law on sunday. well, okay, i hinted that if she wanted my kids they had a half-day. she loves to see the kids and they love going there. well, anyways..thursday morning she called and said she'd pick up my kids if i would pick up my niece(she lives with them) when she gets done at 3:15. then she would fix us dinner. well, geez...what a deal!! i pick up my niece and we check out a local consignment shop. then i ...

this post is a little late, but better late than never right? and it is a good story. one mixed with suspense, drama, fear, and laughter. a tale of friendship... last thursday night was only like -26 around here. it was a cold day. so cold in fact that a good friend decided to stay in with her little one instead of joining a few of us crazies for craft night. so i came home from craft night and shortly after hubby and i headed to bed. i must have been tired, because i was zonked! about 12:45 am little oscar dog jumped out of bed. my first thought, "surely you do not want to go potty in this?" but when he started barking while running down the stairs i became a little more aware. it was about then that i heard someone pounding on our door. my next thought, "oh no...the (the family in our rental right behind us) had a pipe burst!" but when i peer out princess's window and see a car i realize this is not them. we come running down the stairs and see ab...

can you guess who had the birthday? well, i did. on saturday i turned 34. that seems old to me - don't laugh, it just does. but i don't feel old. i feel like i'm in a good place. my incredible hubby wrote that he was praying that this would be the best year of my life - and i'm praying that too! i mean, why not, right? the past year has definitely been an adventure. 33 turned into a lot of unexpected turns - mostly blessings, but turns in the road. i got kind of pouty early in the week. hubby didn't seem to be making plans, asking me what i wanted to do, and even not liking some of the things i wanted to do. goodness... but he was so GOOD!! he left on friday afternoon and returned with yellow roses and white daises. my favorites. then he had arranged for babysitters and he whisked me away for quiet romantic dinner! oh, it was so wonderful. we just say quietly and enjoyed an incredible meal. then he took me for chai and we just sat and talked. ...

as most of you know, our community has spent quite a bit of time inside lately. while we have just under a foot of snow, we have had insanely cold temps. this has meant a lot less time at school last week. i happened to remember dear friend giving me a recipe a few years ago for snow ice cream. well, that will be something fun to do with the kids. so i hunted for the recipe but couldn't find it. i googled and found a simple one. snow, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. simple - and i have it all. especially, plenty of snow. so i gathered the clean snow and we went to work. i have to say, this was very yummy! i love homemade ice cream and this was so similar. very tasty and very yummy!!! if you have snow - make it some day. it is a fun, easy,frugal, and well, natural project!

so my cousin over at created and called put out a weighloss/healthy living challenge. it is quite impressive how vulnerable she has been with showing her weight and struggles. i decided i'd join in on the fun and contribute to her weekly question. this week her question was whether or not i was an emotional eater -- oh my goodness yes!! when i'm stressed i eat, when i'm bored i eat, when i'm sad i eat, when i'm lonely i eat....well - thankfully, i'm working on that and recoginizing those times and making better choices and also saying no. let me share a site that has helped me in so many ways. a friend at church all of sudden got skinny - super skinny! i knew she had decided to workout more this past year. i asked her one day how she did it! her response was sparkpeople! spark what??? well, it is this website you can find at sparkpeople dot com. it is a great online tool that is absolutely free. you can create a page and plug in whatever info you wa...

so much like his name sake, mapboy is fascinated with geography and maps. he lives to read his rand mcnally. he lives to pour over books on places. his library books this week were on tennessee, utah, and washington dc. believe me, i've learned more on geography in the last 2-3 years than what i did in high school geography class. but, i digress...for some reason last year, mapboy took an interest in the colts and other football teams. late this fall, he made a christmas list for his grandparents. his list was comprised of nfl football helmets, colts stuff, and purdue stuff. well, to his delight he got it all! he has now spent day after day researching each and every nfl team. he knows which team is in what league. what all of their scores were against each other. and a random collection of other nfl facts. so my question - is this fascination because he truly loves nfl football, or is it because it is another set of facts he can memorize and process, in other words - it feeds his ...

i was asked last november if i would mentor 2 young high school girls. having a passion for teens and children it didn't take me long to say yes. one girl i know fairly well, the other, just basically by name. so this week we were together sitting in dairy queen. i had struggled to identify what God wanted me to talk with them about that night. at the same time i was struggling with several other decisions i needed to make. i love how God uses our struggles and brings them together to show us His truth. so as i was finishing the dishes and waiting for one to arrive it hit me. why not do with the girls the same thing i needed and wanted to do with myself? so as we splurged on blizzards, while it looked like a blizzard outside, we set some goals. i challenged each of us to define 3 - one that is physical, one that is spiritual, and one that would bless others. while we chatted, the goals slowly evolved and we were all excited. the 3 of us together will be running a 5k race this summe...

the kids with their great aunt!!! this last weekend found me and kiddos following hubby to a job. he was headed a great town to work and since this town is home to a wonderful state park we tagged along. we arrived on sunday evening with great plans of tobaggoning, crafting, and swimming. so the tobaggon run closed that day and the craft room closed on monday and tuesday. geesh...what is a mom to do with 2 kids alone for a day in a hotel...atleast the pool was still open! so anyways...after a disappointing breakfast, we still can't figure out how anyone can make a bad bagel and eggs, but they can, hubby left for town. the kids and i wondered to the game room and played some boccerball. all the while i was praying that God would give me the experience i needed with my kids that day. after boccerball fun was over the kids spent the next 45 minutes playing video games. well, they thought they were playing, but i never gave them a quarter! how great is that!! and they just giggled lik...