Hypothetically Speaking...

SO, let's just say your mom didn't allow you to date until you were "mature enough to handle it, be it age 15 or 20."

And let's just say if you had had a boyfriend in the 7th grade who bought you a gold bracelet and teddy bear and you thought you found him on Facebook, and you thought it would be fun to add him as a friend so you did...

OK, I don't know that the heck I'm talking about, I'm confused as a goose whatever that means, so I'm just going to fess up (Hi Mom!).

I was on Facebook and thought I found an old boyfriend from 7th grade so I added him. It would be fun to see what he was up to these days. So, I click on his profile and was like, "who the heck is this cat?!"

Yeah, I had no idea. He sho' flat added me though. He must be in a competition with his wife to see who can get the most Facebook friends. Shameful.

So, dude, whoever you are who added me, it's a little awkward, I wish we'd known each other, and I love the black and white 8x10 of your son you illegally scanned onto your profile picture. Stellar dude. And like I said, I wish we'd known each other because this is a little awkward.

(apparently I don't know how to spell ackward, spell check just lit up like the 4th of July)

And now I'm totally irritated because I was pretty sure I illegally had a boyfriend behind my parents back and apparently have no idea what his name was. That settles it. I'm getting fat & old. I know, I know, I just had a baby. Yeah, he's almost 1.

She Speaks!

Proverbs 31 Ministry is hosting a women's conference called She Speaks. They are offering a blogger scholarship to one person. For more information about the scholarship opportunity click here. For more information about the amazing training you can get click here.

If you are in women's ministry or are a writer or a speaker or want to be you should check it out. It looks like an amazing opportunity. I was not familiar with the conference. When I read about all the topics covered my heart started getting giddy. I mean, I felt like I was in Old Navy getting giddy over all the argyle and plaid that has me walking on sunshine. I felt like an announcement was made to make every day a Clinique Bonus Day. I felt like I just saved a bundle on my insurance by swithing to Geico. I WAS HAPPY! I was thinking Arby's. It was good. Go check it out. You want to be happy don't you?

I would be all over this conference like white on rice.

If I won the scholarship it would be an honor to thank the academy.

If I won the scholarship I might be able to meet Nester in person and not feel like a blog stalker because then we'd be real life, official friends.

If I won the scholarship it will be a tool God will use to clarify some directions and passions he has placed in my heart...like writing, speaking, and speaking truth to women.

I always assumed teaching and leading women through Bible studies was my main calling, but I don't know. I love writing on my blog. Love it. And I love, love, love the Word of God. One of the perks of this season of life I am in is the freedom to spend plenty of time each day in the Word. I can spend 3 hours if I want and it's a joy. Just give the kiddies some Benadryl to extend their nap time and I can get in my chair with my pen & Bible and go to town! I am kidding about the Benadryl. Geesh. What kind of show do you think we're running around here?

"LET US CONTINUALLY OFFER TO GOD A SACRIFICE OF PRAISE-THE FRUIT OF LIPS THAT CONFESS HIS NAME" HEB 13:15

"OUR LORD JESUS, THAT GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP WILL EQUIP YOU WITH EVERYTHING GOOD FOR DOING HIS WILL." HEB 13:21

"O LORD, OPEN MY LIPS, AND MY MOUTH WILL DECLARE YOUR PRAISE." PS 51:15

"MAY THE FAVOR OF THE LORD REST UPON US; ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS FOR US-YES, ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS." PS 90:17

Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Gel, Shaving Cream

I am almost out of Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Gel & Shaving Cream.

Do you have a kind that you love and that smells great?

Halo is one of my favorites, but I'm kind of wanting to try something new.

And I want it to smell amazing. Life changing. I use the Curly Girl hair method a lot in the Spring/Summer, which means I wear my hair curly, let it air dry, and use mostly conditioner and gel on my hair.

If you have a life changing hair product you like do tell. Or if you have a life changing smelling something of any sort I'm all ears...

Baby Clothes

We have a ton of baby clothes. I am trying to decide if I should hang on to them just in case or give them away.

Everything in me wants to get rid of it all and be free of the space in the attic they take up.

A big part of me wants to keep them for a few more years just in case.

Last night I was glad I had kept the other boys clothes and resisted throwing them away a couple years ago when I hit this wall. I found 2 bags of precious summer clothes and shoes, good stuff, that will fit Jibs this Spring/Summer. A huge,huge money saver.

Thoughts?

Dates

I cannot remember an important date to save my life and believe me I try.

I just wanted to let you know that if I miss your birthday it is not because I don't love you. I just suck. Ha ha I said suck on my blog. Oh boy. What was I talking about? Oh yes, your birthday.

Yeah, it's hopeless. So, please don't be mad if I never call and never write. I don't even know how much my kids weighed when they were born and can barely remember their birthdays.

That is just wrong.

So wrong.

Gosh, I thought getting that off my chest would make me feel better, but not so much.

The Ghetto-Fabulousness of the Season

Is anyone else walking around in their husbands XL College t-shirts because their cute, fun, Spring/Summer collection is up in the attic (probably shrinking due to the heat)?

If you see me around town looking like a three-toed sloth now you know why.

At least I'll be wearing my pearl studs to try to make it better.

If you don't have a pair of pearl studs you need one. Every southern woman needs a good pair. Especially when you are walking around town in oversized gray t-shirts. See me after class if you need help in this department.

Meanwhile...

My image is going down the drain.

Colon Clenz

I had an unfortunate run in with this stuff when I was in college I needed to share about today. The label read: take 2-6 as a dietary supplement daily.

(Blond Sorority Girl interprets label as: appetite suppressant, swimsuit season is coming, I'll go middle of the road and take 4.)

NEXT DAY: I woke up and everything was going great. Went to class everything is fine. Get up to sharpen my pencil. What the??? Doubled over in pain, pencil falls to floor, OK it goes away and I'm fine.

Walking down the hall to my next class, oh no not again, doubled over, this confirms it: I am dying.

Yes, that is right people. Colon Spasms. Not good. Bad. Very bad. So, I'm just saying if you see this Saturday Night Live-esq bottle laying around stay away and be warned. Buy the suit with a skirt and call it a day.

Happiness is...

finding a bright pink t-shirt from Fresh Produce hanging in your closet that you forgot about.

The Family Table

Did you grow up sitting around the table as a family for dinner? We did and it was usually very entertaining and the food was always good.

This simple practice seems like a lost art in today's busy society. At our house it is my desire that we eat dinner as a family most nights. By 6:00pm I want to be sitting down, as a family, to an unrushed dinner.

6:00pm is my cut-off time for house work for the day. The time where my focus shifts and is not on the house/chores/ga-zillion things that could be done. Or I should say this is the pattern I am striving for.

To make this happen it means I have to either plan ahead or deny myself.

The Family Table is a time to enjoy good food and conversation as a family (and/or with friends you've invited over). It is not the place for correction/rebuke etc (unless you have young children you are training for good table manners), we will make other times for that. I want my boys to remember dinner time as one of the highlights of the day. A place where they can come and talk and be heard. A place to laugh and enjoy the rest of the family, and of course my gourmet cooking.

White

While everyone else is going green, I'm going white. These are my next projects to work toward. I love my current duvet but a white matelesse coverlet is in my future. I know I live with a house full of boys but I also have a bottle of Shout and a washing machine. Why not get the coverlet I've always loved (always as in the last 6 years or so). It makes me happy just looking at it.

AND, white subway tile. Love the stuff. I first saw it when my friend Heather tiled her kitchen back splash with it and let me tell you, it is the most amazing looking stuff you ever saw.
And it doesn't look too bad in this bathroom either does it?!

Tip of the day: Windex your windows. Pull the blinds up and shine those babies up. I'll just tell you that I have about 3 bottles of Windex in my house at all times. Love the stuff. I keep it under bathroom and kitchen sinks to make them sparkle anytime. And the smell, don't even get me started. Pledge and Windex will have your house smelling right.

Let's pray for our husbands

I have not always faithfully prayed for my husband. Not always as in, I'm in my 9th year of marriage and have just started faithfully, regularly praying for him. Embarrassing to admit yes. The results that I have seen in getting a tiny index card to keep me focused have been very exciting.

God is alive. He hears us. He is still at work and has a word for us if we will stop and listen. A few months ago I asked myself if I really believe those words? Really? Were they just empty words to me or was I living in the power of what those words really, truly mean. Was I tapping into the resources of prayer and the Word?

This morning in reading Numbers 20 I found some truths I wanted to share.

These people had a real need. They were in the middle of a desert with no water. That is a big problem. How they responded to adversity became even a bigger problem. It struck me today that God gives me a choice. I do not have to trust him. I do not have to talk to him about what is going on. When you remain silent before me, I may also remain silent. You do not have because you do not ask.

In this passage the community presents their complaint to their leaders with a complaining, quarrelsome spirit. Moses & Aaron, their leaders, go directly to God and fall facedown in prayer. Every time these leaders encounter trouble they go directly to God in prayer, and consistently, every time, God appears to them and speaks to them. Come to me, I am here waiting and I have a word for you if you will come.

Here is what I have written down to pray over my husband, as I read scripture and see attributes in the Bible I add them to my list:

• to be above reproach
• protect our marriage
• temperate and self-controlled
• gentle, not quarrelsome
• boys obey him with respect
• good reputation with others
• fill his mouth & heart with your words and teachings
• speak with great boldness
• hunger for your word, thirst for righteousness
• favor with students, coworkers and men
• fill to overflowing with the Holy Spirit
• new ideas/vision in work and family

If you have more things you pray for your husband please share. If you have been married awhile and want to speak to the value of praying for our husbands please share. If you are not yet married use this opportunity to pray for your future husband.

"May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd." Numbers 27:16-17

Move that bus!

Here are pictures of what our old living room looked like before a gallon of paint and some window mistreatments...

The throw pillows were one's I allready had and they just got a make-over. As bad as I will miss the aztec stuff that came with our couch pillows, I'm coping...

The table topper on this table is pretty bold but I automatically LOVED it when I saw it. Yes, it is pink striped toile. My man had a pink striped toile table in his house, don't tell....and thanks for voting for the picture grouping, I took your advice and went with the first option.

The dining room mistreatments made me nervous but I loved this floral linen and it was on Clearance at Hancock's for 50% off. It has a blueish green background.

The living room mistreatments are yellow and cream stripe silk from Hobby Lobby. We hung all the rods high and wider than the actual window to get the most light and make the window look bigger. Ooops, that cord on the armoire snuck out again, shame on you. And a large Vanilla DP from Sonic on the ottoman is always a nice touch. Yea.

Boys mistreatments-those are $3 Red tab top panels on clearance from Wal-Mart-they also had light pink and light purple. I cut a shower curtain liner in half and hung it on the $2 cheap rod to darken the room at naptime. Used the $1 clear rings to hang it and everything.

I will just tell you that I found Nester's website and after listening to her talk started to believe that maybe just maybe I could do all the things I love about decorating magazines in my own home. It has been such a neat process to cozy up my home and let the fears of "doing it wrong or messing up" go. You may laugh but I have talked to God more about fabric the last couple weeks than ever and it's been fun.

And here's a free tip if you want to do something fun and spring like for your house today. Invite someone over for dinner this week. Call people by name when they come into your home, it creates a welcoming effect. Serve lemonade in the good glasses. Run a lemon wedge around the top of the glass, dip it in some sugar and you have sugar rimmed lemonade glasses. So cheerful and fun.

Pardon our dust...

We just had the inside of our house painted which is way I have been M.I.A. Be on the lookout this week for the big reveal. Which picture arrangement do you like best, I need HELP!

Group A:
Group B:
Other ideas: If you have other ideas on how to place these pictures I'd love to hear it! Please leave a comment and vote if you have a sec.

Our little baby has pneumonia

Hey ya'll, I wanted to post and ask if you think of it to pray for our baby. He has pneumonia. Pneumonia scares me. We knew of someone who lost their child to it, and ever since then I am scared of it. There has been plenty of opportunity in the last couple days to re-surrender my fear to God and keep choosing to trust him in the midst of being tempted to worry. We took Jibs to Children's Saturday night because his breathing was so bad. They got him fixed up and we're at home. He is one sick baby right now. We're going back to the doc tomorrow morning.

Listen to what I read in my reading the day we found out he had pneumonia (that at the time did not seem too relevant to my circumstances, but now are very applicable...oh God's timing)

KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME! Waves of adversity are washing over you, and you feel tempted to give up. As your circumstances consume more and more of your attention, you are losing sight of Me. Yet I am with you always, holding you by your right hand. I am fully aware of your situation, and I will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.

Your gravest danger is worrying about tomorrow. If you try to carry tomorrow's burdens today, you will stagger under the load and eventually fall flat. You must discipline yourself to live within the boundaries of today. It is in the present moment that I walk close to you, helping you carry your burdens. Keep your focus on My Presence in the present.

Psalm 73:23, I Cor 10:13 (devotion from Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young)

Here is a video of our sweet, sweet boy. Jibs is such a little ball of energy. Always exploring and chasing his brothers around the house. His little nose often is orange thanks to sweet potatoes, carrots and peaches. I pray he gets to feeling better soon and in the meantime am cashing in on good lovin'. Oh I love that child!