My Little Dancing Queens

My girls love to dance. Clara does very creative ballet “like the Nutcracker” and Daphne just spins herself silly, round and round. The other day Clara started leading me in a routine. Kind of a ballet/gymnastics/hurdling routine… and she’s very specific about how she’d like me to participate. Lots of interesting poses, one arm in the air; sometimes a leg. She gave many instructions that I wasn’t following very well. She kept having me repeat moves because apparently I did them wrong the first time. She had hubby leaping over our (stuffed animal) cat today and I actually think hubby is more graceful than she is J And hubby just stated that Daphne “dances like a drunk freshman boy”… just spinning and rocking back and forth. Made me laugh hysterically. She’s so adorable though, you can’t help but watch her spin round and round until she gets dizzy enough to fall over or she’ll finally turn the other way. 

I love my husband. Let me count the ways... (and his socks!)

I love my husband. So much. I really do. He’s an amazing man, husband and father, and a wonderful and strong spiritual leader in our home. I admire his passion for his job and his commitment to his family. I don’t deserve him and I am blessed.

I still remember the first day I learned all about his socks. I was at his apartment and we were watching TV. He was folding his whites and I noticed he was putting all his socks in separate piles after inspecting each one carefully. I asked him what he was doing and he casually explained he was folding his socks, matching the pairs together. He has distinct left socks and right socks. Let me say that again in case it didn't sink in the first time around... HE HAS LEFT AND RIGHT SOCKS!!!!! I thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard. I’m pretty sure he thought everyone had left and right socks. Apparently he has very slanted feet so his toes leave permanent indentations in the socks, making them unbearable to wear on the opposite foot. My husband likes to be comfortable :)

For a long time when I did the laundry, I would just pile his socks on the bed and he folded them himself (he always offered to do this), but now I take the time to fold them just right. I separate the socks into the type/brand of sock and then each type/brand has four piles: Right, Left, Maybe Right, Maybe Left. Then I count them all up to see how I did. You can tell where his toes have indented each sock so it’s not too difficult usually, just time consuming. It no longer bothers me, but I do still make fun of him and share this quirk with others freely J And I believe this proves my love for him, right?

I really love this funky photo of him... so nerdy! Love this man :)

Seeking My Creator... 2013

My (growing) list of possible words for this year:

Fearless, Calm, Beautiful, Rejoice, Rock, Focus, Light, Journey, Grow, Forward, Within, Obey, Relate, Surrender

I’m close to picking journey, but I’m not sure what that means for me. I’ll tell the story of journey later J 

So I ask the questions “Who do I want to become this year?” and “What does God want from me this year?”

I believe He wants me to:

• Learn more about His story (the Bible)
• Feel confident in talking about him and sharing his love with others (including non-believers)
• Spend time alone with Him daily
•  Memorize scripture so I’m always prepared to face temptations/doubt
• Teach my children about Him and how to love Him
• Support and rely on friends and grow relationships I’ve already established

Journey

So the story goes like this: I’m on the beach shooting “sample” my one words and I used obvious ones at first. Then I wrote balance because it popped into my head. I knew this wasn’t going to be my word, but about 1 minute later a woman and her daughter walked along the beach and she stops and asked me “are these your one words?” And then she told me her word this past year was balance. I was literally taking pictures of her 2012 word as she walked by and I didn’t have any connection to the word myself. How cool is that?! So I shot one or two more words to use in my Etsy listing and was walking toward the access point to leave. I had a very strong urge to write one more word… Journey. I didn’t know where it came from and had not thought at all about the word. While I was feeling like I was ready to leave, I instead walked to the shoreline again to write the word. I felt compelled; the only explanation is that God wanted me to stay on that beach a little longer. I was trying to notice what was going on around me to see if there was an opportunity for something that I'd miss otherwise… a conversation with another stranger, a random smile, someone drowning in the ocean? I couldn’t figure it out, but I wrote journey, took some pictures, felt relief and left. Since then every time someone asks me about my one word, the first one that pops into my head is “Journey”… I just can’t exactly figure out what it has to do with this year. I’ve had a lot if “journeys” the past few years… being pregnant for the first time, having Clara, then being pregnant again and having Daphne, and boy was her first year a rough journey! Before that I was trying to get pregnant and before that it was moving to Wilmington. But there are no incredible journeys planned for me this year, at least not BY me. Since God is my creator and in control of my life, I’m wondering if I’m about to face a journey of some sort this year, whether a difficult one or a wonderful one, I’m not sure. What do you all think? Is my one word journey?? These are the scripture passages I’ve been memorizing lately, trying to narrow down to one for the year.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come.

 2 Corinthians 5:17

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have troubles, but take heart, for I have overcome the world!”  

John 16:33

He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalms 62:2

Based on the verses I've been sitting on, it seems journey might be right fit, but I'm nervous to pick it because it seems my faith will be tested. I trust you, God!

35 is looming...

I turn 35 in February. This feels surreal to me. Every other year of my 30s there has been some other significant event happening so I haven’t really noticed my age creeping up, but 35 has hit me hard! I feel like you may as well just round me up to 40 (no offense, 40-somethings). Because we aren’t pregnant or have a newborn this year (nor do we plan to), I am taking my body back this year! After starting weight watchers two weeks ago, I can now fit into my jeans without cutting off my circulation. Yay, go me. But I’m starving!! I did WW ten years ago (once a decade ain’t so bad?) and it worked, but I don’t remember feeling so hungry every day. The points system has changed and my favorite 2pt treat on the old plan is now 4pts on the new plan! It is really hard to save 4pts for a tiny ice cream sandwich L It seems eating a few turkey slices with two pieces of cheese must suffice for lunch. I don’t have any good snacky items on the menu yet… let me know if you have ideas! So, with us being in this super fun stage with the girls and this being the first year since 2009 where I wasn’t pregnant or nursing, I should be excited about my upcoming birthday! The future is near and who knows what it holds? So thankful to my creator for the 35 years I’ve already lived and hopeful to have many more. Blessed.

Accidents Happen

Well, yesterday was beautiful… 70 degrees and sunny. Since I had a custom order to shoot, we took the whole family to the beach this morning. I worked for about 30 minutes while hubby played with the girls and then we all played together. Clara is so curious and so into digging in the sand, finding seashells, totally in tune with nature. Daphne all the sudden loves the sand too and was pretty much covered head to toe when I found them after my shoot. They both were willing to get their feet wet, but that water was cold! I’m so grateful to live at the beach. We try not to take it for granted and I think this summer will be amazing. The best perk of my job is that I get to go the beach often… it’s so great and God always meets me there. But, accidents happen. Today when I was editing my shot, I noticed my file size was too small for the enlargement that was ordered. I had taken some pics earlier in the week meant for email and had changed my camera settings so the files were small. Apparently I forgot to change it back and now I have to reshoot at the beach tomorrow… too bad the forecast is still 70 degrees and sunny. I’m not sure Hubby believes my story or that this was an accident. But it was. As Clara would sing, “Accidents happen! That’s what they say. Accidents happen, not today!” Those aren’t the words for anyone who isn’t familiar with the Elmo potty song, but she sang it so cutely after she peed on our living room floor the other night. Back to the beach for me!

Sitter Swapping is Awesome!

I am sitting at my neighbor’s house as I type. I’m watching HGTV… since we don’t have cable, I’m in heaven. Kids are upstairs in bed and I am relaxing by myself downstairs. My neighbors are out on a date. This is awesome. Sitter swapping has changed our lives! Here’s how it works: Every other week, hubby and I get to go on a date and have a free babysitter. The other weeks, I get a night alone with the remote and cable TV at my neighbor’s nice, clean and quiet home. It’s so great. When my neighbor (we’ll call her Miss Sara) approached me about swapping, I wasn’t sure if it would work or if we would follow-through. Miss Sara is the most organized person I know and she gets the job done – we have a two month schedule running and each get two dates a month. Hubby and I don’t even know what to do with ourselves. Last date night we ran around town trying to spend our Christmas gift cards! It’s fun because we don’t have to stress about fitting a bunch of things into one date since we know we have another one only two weeks away! It’s also easier to plan double dates with friends this way since we have a social calendar ready to go. Although Miss Sara and I have gotten to know each other much better since we started swapping, we don’t run in the same circle of friends wanting to hang out. Works well that way. Okay, back to house hunters!