Facebook Fast

Casey is a healthy growing 4 year old. Chris is recovering quickly from his surgery. And me, well, I'm trying to get back on track. It's been a busy February so far! Casey got sick right before her birthday, and it hung around for a week. Then Chris got sick. He was having pretty bad stomach cramps, and we treated it as though it was a stomach virus until the third day - when he said he was ready to go see the doctor. Well, he ended up with a pretty bad case of appendicitis - had to have emergency surgery! It ended up being gangrenous (yikes & yuck!) and was perforated!






He has a lovely 4 inch incision and was in the hospital for 3 days. What a way to start out the month! Fortunately, his parents were already on their way out to visit us and they were able to watch Casey while I spent most of my days and all of my nights at the hospital. I felt so bad that I wasn't able to spend more time with them, but Glenda kept telling me that she was so happy to be able to help out. And since they are so far away, I can totally appreciate how she feels. I would want to be able to help my children out, too!







I was challenged yesterday to fast from something until Easter, and for some reason, Facebook kept coming to my mind. Thus, I've decided to take a Facebook fast. As I was thinking and praying about it, I really started to see how much of my time has been spent on that crazy network. It's insane! I'm hoping to use this time to seriously reconnect with God and my family. I would also like to get back into blogging. I enjoy writing, and even though I don't consider myself very gifted at it - there is a certain amount of therapy in doing it. I've never really been a journal-er so this, in a sense, is my journal. I don't care if no one ever reads it, it's good for me to do this!

Casey turned 4 this month! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by! Even though she was sick, I still made a cake and we had a present. I say "present" because I was a procrastinator and did not purchase her gift before she got sick and then we were home-bound for a week. So she didn't get her real present until a week after, but she didn't mind at all. I guess I learned that when I know what I want to get for a gift - to get it now - even if the event is months away! You never know what can happen... Anyway, Casey is thrilled to be 4, and keeps saying, "I'm 4, next I'll be 5 and then I'll be 6!" Just what mommy wants to hear - time moving faster...

So, all that to say, I hope to continue my blogging journey on a regular, consistent basis. No more of this once a month posting.

Tomorrow

I don't even know where to begin. This past week has been difficult, to say the least. Casey got her annual croup and is only now starting to get better. Needless to say, I am drained. I haven't gotten more than about 3 hours of sleep at a time in the past week, and it's starting to show. I have a great cold going and Chris is developing some nice symptoms, too. Today, my patience died and I had to dig deep to find some - which I did. Wasn't easy. But thank goodness we are finally on the upswing, so maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

Speaking of tomorrow, it's Casey's 4th birthday. I can't believe my baby is 4!! Wow. I got her cake done tonight, and I actually wrapped a small present for her. The sickies of the last week prevented me from going shopping like I had originally planned, so her real present is going to have to wait. I know, I should've gotten it weeks ago and there's no reason I didn't. Next year, I will. I really hope we are all well enough to celebrate tomorrow!

Well, it's nighty-night time for this one.

Bandwagon

So, Chris has finally jumped on my bandwagon - we are both going to try to lose weight this year. I can't express my relief that he's finally doing this with me. It's so hard to go it alone... Now he's also concerned that we eat healthier and not have so much junk food around - which includes my yummy homemade treats.... Hopefully we can make this work!

In the spirit of trying to cut back a bit on sugar, carb intake - I made a crustless pizza today for lunch. It was really good! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. Basically, I used hamburger for the crust - pressed it into the pan and baked it for 30 minutes, then drained it and added the rest of the ingredients. I added a little more sauce than I normally would for pizza, but since it's my own recipe, I know exactly what's in it and it's not loaded with sugar like a lot of sauces. I should've taken a picture - maybe next time. Chris said I could definitely make it again, so I guess that means it's a winner! Yay!

Along with the weight thing, this year we are trying desperately to get out of credit card debt. We made exceptionally bad choices in that area several years ago and are now trying to dig out of that hole. I look back at what our income used to be before Casey was born and I just cringe - we could've been out of debt YEARS ago! But that doesn't help us now, so... for the past 2 years we have been buckling down - especially last year! - and praying that we can be out from under that debt by the end of the year!

I'm trying to come up with ideas to contribute to that "loss" of debt. So, I'm hoping to pick up a couple of house-cleaning jobs. I don't really enjoy it, but it's not fair for Chris to be working 2 jobs and house cleaning is good money and would help out tremendously! I also want to get more involved with taking pictures. Of people, that is. :) I love photography and feel like there's so much opportunity out there. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this year takes me!

Today!

I have got to back into the habit of writing on here. I think about it a lot and then something always seems to come up and distract me. So I'm just going to start - - today is the first day.

Random thoughts & goals:

I need to come up with a good daily routine for Casey and myself, so that we don't end up in front of the either the tv or computer.

I want to be more disciplined in my life. Especially in my relationship with Jesus. I know He gets put on the back burner way too often.

I want my husband to feel like this home is his castle and that he is the king. I know that our relationship is very important and I want him to know that I love him without a doubt!

Why do friends make bad choices. Choices that they know are wrong and yet they make them anyway?

I know, this is a very strange post, but I had to start somewhere.

Life is like a box of chocolates...

It's true, life is like those crazy chocolates - you bite into one hoping it's a flavor you like. It seems like my life has been that way lately. The chocolates haven't always been good. I find myself stressing about being a good wife and mom, and winding up being neither. At least that's how it feels. But things will get better, they always do. And even though "better" is relative, I know that God will make things better. I'll be able to live with my life and not dread the morning. Enough philosophy for now...

I feel like I'm coming out of my spiritual valley - after at least 2 years of it. Getting involved in a small group has definitely helped, although it seems like we haven't been there much lately. Having that spiritual input and accountability is something that I now realize I need. I tend to flail without it. Last week I was feeling really down and out, and a few different events really brought me to my knees. I was praying and begging God to please let me know that He still cares about me. Well, a couple days later, one of my dear friends let me know that she felt prompted to pray for me and my family. I cried; in fact, I bawled. God does care. I'm so thankful. Even when I felt that He had left me, He was really there the entire time.

So, my days are starting to look brighter. And it cracks me up, because the only thing that has changed is my walk with God. He really does make a difference. Wow.

Now, I think I'll just reach into the chocolate box without looking.

Wordless Wednesday....

Still here

I'm ashamed. I was reminded by a friend of mine today that I need to update my blog. June was a long time ago. Then I went to add a post and realized that I had started one, on August 11, and never finished. Yikes! So now I'm starting again, on September 1. This time, I will finish!

This has been a crazy busy summer! It started at the end of April with with a trip to Ohio for a mother/daughter weekend with my mother-in-law. Then it was a trip to Mississippi in May to visit my sister. Followed by a trip to Michigan to visit the in-laws. In June and July, I went down to my mom's nearly every week, and it seemed like it was always for a couple days. In August, I stayed h.o.m.e. Didn't travel, but I did have Mops Steering meetings, started taking a pilates class and in general - was way too busy - again! Adios, my summer... :( Would I do it all again? Yes.

Now I'm preparing myself for Casey starting preschool. I'm excited and sad at the same time. My baby is growing up, and way too fast if you ask me. I know she'll do well in school. She loves to play with other kids and I know she'll love her teachers. She goes 2 mornings a week from 9-11:30. Needless to say, her play room is going to get cleaned out! **hehehe** (evil laugh...) My little princess does not need this many toys!!

I am also looking forward to organizing the rest of my house. Last week a friend of mine came over and helped me with my dining room. I'll let you be the judge of the results. I'm very pleased, to say the least! :) Now I'm going through my decorating stuff and trying to figure out what I want to put up and what needs to leave the house forever.














Oh yeah, I will also try to do better at updating my Peanut Diary!