I have not been able to write in a few days.  I’m not really sure why, but my brain has just seemed unable to focus. 

I kinda feel like I was on this trip and I had the GPS all set to my destination.  I knew where I was headed and what the journey would be like, and then BAM!  A detour happened and everything went haywire.  You know when your GPS says “recalculating”.  Well, that is what seems to be happening to me.

In case you misssed my post a few days ago, I like to plan.  I like to have things all laid out and know exactly where I am “headed”.  Well, over the past few days, my life seems to have gone off on it’s own little excursion.  We have had some changes in my husband’s current employment situation and we still aren’t quite sure how they are going to play out. 

I think of myself as being laid back, a kinda “roll with the punches” kind of girl, but for some reason, I have had a hard time with that lately.  Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, do women have those ?!?  Anyway, I guess I should not even be concerned until we figure out what is really going to happen, but either way, there will be yet another big change coming and I think I am just not sure if I am ready for that or not.  I think you reach a point where you just need to settle down and just “be”. 

We have been living in a transitional state for a few years, and I think I just want some…. I’m not really sure if “peace” is the right word or not.  We do live a pretty peaceful life, but I mean peace in the sense that everything is mapped out and I know exactly what lies ahead and it is all okay with me.  Is that possible?!?  Of course it’s not, I know that.  Life can change in the blink of an eye and we just have to find our “Peace” from knowing Who is in control.

“Control”, wow, that’s a loaded word isn’t it.  I want it, but unfortunately, even when I think I have it, I usually find out that I really don’t.  I know there should be some comfort in knowing that He who does have control, knows it all and it far better capable of taking care of situations that arise than I am.  But my problem with Him being in control, is that He tends to give us what we “need” not what we “want”.  That doesn’t always sit well with me.  Do you know what I mean?!?

I was listening to a song yesterday and the words really just jumped out at me.  Part of them were, “I’d rather fight you for something I don’t really want, than to take what you give that I need.”  Ouch!  Are we really that stubborn?!?  Oh well, sorry to just dump all this on you so early in the morning.  I think I just needed to get it off my chest and you happened to be the ones that get stuck reading it.  Thanks for being there .

I rarely just sit down and write a post and then immediately post it, and now as I read back over this one, I see why.  This seems so scattered, but I guess that is a bit indicative of my life lately, so bear with me, and enjoy the video from “Big Daddy Weave”.

 

 

I stole that line from a song.  It is actually the ring-tone on my phone right now.  Does anyone know what it is?  (I’m sure Kerri does, she seems to be a “Guess Who” Guru!)

Anyway, we have recently began to try to empty out the storage building that we have had for almost 2 years.  We are going to try to fit it all into my parents garage so we can save from having to pay all that money just for storage space.

In the midst of all the boxes, I found one that had some old writings that I had done.  I found a journal that I kept from 2002 when we went on a long road trip out west.  On our journey, we visited the old homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  In the journal I had written various things that stuck out in my mind as interesting on the tour.  One entry spoke about how Laura didn’t even start writing until she was 65.  I found that to be incredible.  One of the most beloved authors of our time, didn’t even start her writing “career” until she was 65.

I know so many times, I look back on my life with regrets about things that I didn’t do or didn’t accomplish.  I find it to be extremely encouraging to realize that it is never to late to start your dream.

Just like the song lyrics say,
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I guess I just gave away the answer, oh well

I am not in a grouchy mood at all today, so I’m not really sure where this is coming from, but I thought I would just share some of my “pet peeves” with you today.  Can you relate?

*  I am very particular about my groceries, I put things on the belt exactly how I want them bagged.  It peeves me to no end for the cashier to sit there and look down the line and grab what she feels she wants to scan next, then all my stuff gets mixed up in the bags and it is a mess when I am trying to put them up.  I especially hate when small items like kool-aid get next to something cold and then the paper gets all soggy.  I HATE THAT.

*  It bugs me when the lights and TV are left on in a room even though the person has left the room.

*  When I speak to one of my children and they ignore me because they have those little earbuds in their ears connected to their ipods and couldn’t even hear me speaking.

*  When shows use the same person to play different roles.  Do they think we are stupid?(I like old reruns of Matlock that come on Hallmark and they have the same girl playing his girlfriend that later is playing his daughter).

*  When someone puts the pitcher back in the fridge with only a miniscule amount of tea left in it.  Remember, we are southerners through and through, so sweet tea is a staple at every meal and it is so annoying to be fixing drinks to sit down to eat and realize that there is no tea in the pitcher.   

*  When someone uses something and doesn’t put it back where it goes.  You know, “A place for every thing and every thing in it’s place.”

Oh well, what can you do?!?

Hakuna Matata

or

 Ce La Vie(thanks Heidi for the spelling)

or

No Worries

or

Well, I can’t really think of any more, but you get the message

No, that is not a typo, I didn’t mean “planting” season. 

Planning Season is one of my most favorite times.  Now that the past school year is pretty much wrapped up, I can now turn my affections toward my new stuff.  I love all my new treasures that I have found for this upcoming year and I truly find great enjoyment from sitting down with each of them and slowly going through them page by page seeing what they have for me and making all my lesson plans. I try to spend equal time with each of them and they in turn rarely disappoint me.

I like to give them each a quick scan, seeing how many chapters they have and what the main points are that they will teach.  I then like to break down each one individually and truly explore the many nuggets that they possess.  I start writing general ideas down and then get more specific as I get going.  I get myself a spiral notebook, not just any ole’ color with a wire spiral,  I treat myself to one that has a plastic spiral and I even splurge to get a pretty color.   After I have gone through each one a couple of times and have a pretty good idea of what it contains and what areas I want to cover, I then start making my detailed lesson plans. 

This whole process usually takes a couple of months to conquer, but these are times that I truly enjoy and look forward to.  I know this probably sounds weird and you are probably thinking, “What is wrong with this woman?!?”, but that is how I am and I can’t really change nor do I want to. 

I am a planner;  parties, outings, trips, meals and lessons it doesn’t really matter I will plan it and I like it that way! 

 ”I am what I am, I can’t help myself and if you don’t like it, go to somebody else.”  At least, I think that is how the song goes.  That is the only part of it that I have ever heard.  It is from the Jonas Brothers and my daughter downloaded it onto my phone so I would know when it was her calling me. The Jonas Brothers, AHHHHHHHH, don’t EVEN get me started!!!

I’m not really sure that the title is entirely accurate.  If I remember correctly, 101 means a basic class, and this weekend was anything but basic.  I think I really need to put the title as AP Romance.

Well, needless to say, our weekend was definitely romantic.  The B&B was truly spectacular.  If anyone is ever looking for a weekend get-a-way in the north Georgia mountains, I have the place.  It was very quiet and serene. There were no phones, tvs, clocks radios or anything.   Just beautiful scenery and plenty of relaxation and that whole atmosphere was perfect for a 20th anniversary celebration.  My DH and I had a wonderful time, and that is all I have to say about that .

Also, each morning we were served a three-course breakfast.  One morning we had baked grapefruit.  Has anyone ever had baked grapefruit before?  I had never even heard of it, but it was absolutely delicious!

We have had a great time these past couple of days celebrating our big 2-0.  I made everyone come into our room and watch the video from our wedding.  My girls thought most of it was extremely laughable(big hair was very “in” in 1988), and we enjoyed getting out all the scrapbooks and photo albums and reliving our past(at least I enjoyed it and that is all that really matters )

Well, for our big celebration, Hubby and I are off this evening for two nights to what we hope will be a romantic Bed & Breakfast to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  We’ve never stayed in a B&B before, and I hope it will be as nice as it looks on the internet. 

So, I hope you will be able to survive a couple of days without any new posts from me . Speaking of surviving, I have kinda been a little apprehensive about this B&B.  It is pretty much out in the middle of the nowhere in the north Georgia mountains, there are no TV’s and no phones(hopefully cell phone coverage will exist), and we were only able to find one review on their site.  Of course, that one person said it was great, but now I’m thinking what if it ends up being haunted or something and to make matters worse, we are going on Friday the 13th, Yikes!!  So, if you don’t hear from me by Monday, call 911.

This is a story of eternal love, a love that spanned the trials of separation and hardships.

Our story begins with two small children, about 3 or 4 years old.  Their parents had been pregnant with them at the same time and they were born a few months apart.  They had grown up together through nursery, Sunday School classes, Vacation Bible school, and even had chicken-pox together.  Their parents had been great friends so they had many times together on vacation, holding hands on the beach and just getting to know each other. Her with her big brown eyes and him with his baby blue ones, they just knew they were destined to be together.

But one day in 1972, at the young ages of 6, their lives were shattered as the girl’s family changed churches and they were thrust apart never to see each other.  They both went on to live their lives and have their relationships.  The boy got a job and the girl moved 600 miles away to go to college.

Then one day in 1987, after 15 years of separation, the two paths crossed again.  Through bizarre circumstances, they found themselves, now at the age of 21, at the same Halloween party.  They immediately felt those same feelings of affection that they had known as small children.  They quickly moved toward each other and began to get reacquainted. 

By the end of the night, they knew that they wanted to pursue the relationship.  On their first date it became quite evident that those “small child” feelings had blossomed, as the boy, now a young man, sang this song to the young woman.  

 They dated for a couple of months then the young man asked this young woman to be his bride.  She, of course, was thrilled to agree to do so and they were married 5 months later on June 11, 1988.

Now here they are, 20 years later.  It is strange how they haven’t even seemed to notice that a whole lot of years have passed.  They still sit close whenever they can, hold hands, choose to do things together than with other people as much as possible and have become each others best friend.  They are still has happy and as much in love as they have ever been.  They have increased their family to now include three wonderful daughters and their lives have truly been one worthy of a fairy tale. 

She knows he is her Prince-Charming who literally saved her life and he treats her as the Queen of the Kingdom.  They can’t believe that these past 20 years have come and gone, but the memories they have made and the love that they share will continue on throughout many, many more generations to come. 

 I love you Honey!  Forever and Ever!

Happy 20th Anniversary!

I was watching a show yesterday and something that happened gave me thought.

I will spare you the details, but the gist of it was that the mom was really worried about something through the whole show, then finally in the end she realized that she had been so busy with her own life that she hadn’t even thought about what was troubling her.  At the same time, the problem that she was worrying about was being worked out all on it’s own without her involvement.

I got to thinking…..it seems like this principle gets lived out all of the time.  The first example I can think of is when a family is having difficulty getting pregnant and then they finally decide to adopt, it seems like more times than not, as soon as the adoption starts happening, the couple ends up pregnant.  I think sometimes we get so wired up or frustrated about certain situations that we aren’t able to look at it with the right perspective or we keep ourselves all in a “tizzy”, so that the situation has no chance of working itself out.

Then of course there is the Christian perspective of God waiting for us to quit trying to “fix” things in our own strength so He can swoop down and save the day Kinda like the old saying “Let go and let God.”

Oh well, that is my thought for the day.  Maybe I will have a different one for tomorrow. 

Thanks for stopping by

My husband and I were in the grocery store the other day and I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t talked to in ages.  We just stood there talking while my husband graciously went to find everything we had on our list.  It was so good to catch up with her and listen to the things going on in her life and share mine with her.  We decided to get together and “do lunch” one day.  When my husband and I got back in the car, I said, “I just love her”.  It kinda made me sad to think that we have let our friendship almost dwindle away.  That got me thinking about how important friendships can be in our lives.

Why don’t we “do lunch or just coffee” more often?  I know those of you with young kids are a little more tied down and would find it a little more difficult to just run out for a few hours, but those of us with kids who could stay alone for a short time can easily do it.  I know, for me, I usually let other things take priority over keeping up my friendships, but I am beginning to realize that friendships are a beautiful thing and sometimes we need to be deliberate in keeping them vibrant.

It might be doable to take a day a month and try to meet a friend for lunch or just coffee one evening.  I have many friends that I see on a regular basis, but even then, we don’t get much one-one-one time and it’s rarely without the kids, so lunch or coffee would still be nice sometime. And the friends that I rarely see, that are just a phone call or an e-mail away, lunch or coffee would be a wonderful way to stay connected.

So,  to my fellow-bloggers that I actually know, “Let’s do lunch or just coffee”. And to my “blog buddies” that I’ve never actually met, if you are ever in my neck of the woods, drop me a note and we’ll do lunch or just coffee!

There are many things in life that you just have to accept;  your height, shoe size, natural abilities, your race, gender(well, maybe not now days), family, disabilities, your past mistakes, etc.

But so many things in life can be changed.  I am the type of person that does not easily accept things that I don’t like.  If I don’t like my hair, I cut or color it.  If I don’t like my curriculum, I order new stuff.  If I don’t like my house, I rearrange furniture(this happens A LOT). If I don’t like my husband, I get a new one(just making sure you are paying attention ). 

 I get frustrated when I am around people that constantly complain about the same things over and over.  I want to say, if you don’t like something, do something about it.  Kinda like “Put-up or shut-up”.  That’s not very nice is it?!?

But what happens when you can’t change a certain situation?  What about when the circumstances are beyond your control?  What then?  Well, for me, that is when stress comes into play.  I don’t like having things or situations forced upon me.  But God knows better.  I think sometimes He sends things into our lives that force us to go beyond ourselves, to “grow up” and learn how to adapt. 

I think so many times, I try to change things and escape certain situations that God has put in my life for a particular purpose.  There is a verse in Psalms 46 that says, “Be still and know that I am God”.  I hate that verse(just kidding) but just being still, accepting, is hard for me.  I guess I am more of a “doer” or “changer” than an “accepter”(is that a word?!?).

There are certain areas in my life right now that I am not thrilled with, to say the least, but I can’t really do anything about them.  It is frustrating and I find myself lying awake at night trying to sort them out, but there seems to be no answer or solution.  Am I just to accept these things as God’s working and quit trying to “fix” them?  I know the answer, but it doesn’t make it any less exasperating.

Have a Great Weekend