Out With the Old, In With the New......

Wow, I can't believe that 2010 is almost done. This has been such a great year for me. I'm not really sure why, either. I mean, we realized that this dream house we built and planned to spend forever in was not going to work out for us- which means we're going to have to move, which means we're going to have to pack, etc etc.... We left the church we were sure we were supposed to be at.... Yet, this year has been so good. I think I'm finally figuring out what life is all about. It's about time. I have found that this past year has been one of tremendous growth for me- especially spiritually. I have been forced to evaluate my priorities and what I really am here for. It has been great. I am not one for New Years resolutions. I think they're ridiculous- maybe not for other people, but for me they are. I find myself promising to do all kinds of things and make all kinds of changes and usually the changes last a month or two and then I'm back to the way I always was. So a few years ago, I decided to do an evaluation of the year that was passing instead of making empty promises to myself for the year that is coming up. I try to think of the things I have done this past year, or things I have not done. I think about what I've said to people or what I need to say or what I said and shouldn't have said. I think about the mistakes I've made and try to focus on what I learned from them so I won't make them again. It's really a great thing for me to do because I learn so much about myself and where I am in this walk of life. I see the areas that need improvement and the areas where I have improved. I can identify my strengths and see how I can use them more. It's just a great inventory time for me. I have figured out that the only resolution I need to make is just to do even better this next year. I want to make a difference while I'm here. I want to be where God wants me, I want to be who He wants me to be and I want to be doing what He wants me to do. I want to help those I can help and I want to show His love to those who may need to see it. Every year I hope to see more of Him in myself and less of me. So, bring on 2011. I am so ready. I am so excited about the things God has planned for my future that I can't stand it! I have no idea when this house will sell, or where we will live when it does, or when I'll finally finish all of these courses for this Master's degree I've been pursuing- but God knows and that's all I need to know. I just need to do my part while I wait to see what He is going to do. I hope anyone who reads this has a wonderful New Year and that the only resolution you make is to do better in 2011. :0)

House For Sale in SC- Website is UP!

Yay- the website for our house is up and running! Bittersweet. I love this house. But I am spending half my life in the car driving to Taylors and back. I guess we lived in Taylors so long that we established a life out there and it's too late to change that! Someone will love this house, though. If anyone out there is looking for a home in/near Greenville, SC, take a peek at ours~ the site is www.102ivywoods.com

Gettin old stinks, but it's better than the alternative...

The past 2 days have been exhausting. Actually, the past week has been exhausting. Not really with stuff I didn't want to do- but there is such truth to the 'too much of a good thing' statement this time of year. Yesterday we surprised the girls with tickets to see Disney Princesses on Ice at the Bi Lo Center downtown. It was actually a really good show. Even Brian enjoyed it. But- it started at 7:30, which meant it ended around 9:45 and seeing as the girls are usually in bed by 8 pm, putting them in bed at 10:15 was a recipe for disaster. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, (just kidding- there's no ranch- I just always wanted to say that)- seriously- back in 'adult world'- Brian and I have been trying to get this website done for this house we're about to put up for sale. Don't worry- I'll put the link on here when it's finished. :0) So, for the third night in a row last night we stayed up past midnight trying to get it all together so we can publish it. I think (fingers crossed) that we may finish it tonight, or at least almost finish. My 6 am wake up is never a welcomed event, but it has been especially annoying this week. I went to 2 Christmas parties, the girls Christmas play, took the girls to the dentist, wrote 4 papers this week, got out both girls winter clothes and began the impossible task of cleaning their closets-and this weekend is going to be just as crazy. Today was pretty nuts. We took the girls to school, raced to the Eastside to tour a private school there that we're enrolling the girls in for next year, picked the girls up from school early- at 11:15 am (they usually get out at noon on Fridays), rushed home to change their clothes, ate lunch in the car and went to see Santa at the Mall. We got there and saw the shortest line I've ever seen there, got in the back of the line, and the woman came and closed the ropes and said that we would be the last ones in before Santa's lunchbreak. (Insert Heavenly Angel Singing here). We barely made it. Emmaline did not cry and howl when she sat in Santa's lap, as is her usual routine. She even smiled at him. Yes, it was one of those nervous "Please don't kill me" smiles, but it was progress. Came home, packed their bags for my mom's where they are spending the night (Insert another Heavenly Angel singing here), typed up a 5 page description of this house and all of it's features, and put on my PJ's. I do not care that my kitchen is a mess (understatement), I don't care about the looming giant pile of laundry or the fact that the family room could use a good vacuuming. I'm so tired. I'm in a recliner, I have a sleeping cat in my lap and I'm warm, and after about 30 minutes of constant nagging to Brian, he has finally gone to get us something to eat for dinner. I reminded him that he is the 'hunter/gatherer' and I am the 'cook'- which in this case means I will put it nicely on a plate for him when he brings it home. :0) So I guess I'm just getting old. I can remember in the 'not so distant past' when the kids went to my parents it was automatically 'date night'. But who says date night can't be us in pajama pants eating dinner in the family room during a movie?? Not I. I just hope my parents have a nice pleasant evening with the fruit of our loins. They desperately needed a nap today after staying up so late last night, but we forfeited the nap for Santa (priorities, people) and so I'm hoping that they don't go into 'meltdown' mode tonight for my parents. I warned my mother, but she's one of the few people I know who has less patience than me, so I am slightly concerned. Tomorrow I'll go get the girls around 10:30 and take Annelise to basketball practice. Then tomorrow night is the office Christmas party at some hoighty toighty restaurant. Then Sunday morning is church, which I am sure I will need, and then out to lunch and then we're going to look at a house that is going to go up for sale in a neighborhood we really like. If we like it, the guy said he would give us a good deal since there would be no agent involved. The guy is like, a billion years old and has lived there by himself for years, so we were warned that the house is straight outta 1970 inside and that we need to have our imagination hats on. We're cool with that. I like to re-do. The guy is moving out because he's getting married. Go old guy- woo hoo! I guess it's never too late.... Anyway- Brian just came in and I smell barbecue and potatoes, so I'm done here. The next post will hopefully contain the link to our house we are selling. I hope it sells quickly. I don't wanna leave it, but I can't move it, so that's that. We'll see!

I Love Sudden Realizations...

Sometimes I just get these random, wonderful realizations. It's funny, actually, the little things and unexpected events that cause them. Tonight we were at Annelise and Emmaline's Christmas play at their school. I must admit, I was kinda dreading it. They go to a very small, private Christian school, which I love, and their school staff members are very much into the productions they put on for the parents- which is also great. They put hours into their plays and concerts- awesome- except when you consider that this means that these productions usually end up being about 2- 2 and a half hours long. Would be ok, except for all the infant and toddler brothers and sisters that come along and have the attention span of a gnat. But I digress.... So tonight, we're watching the kids do a re-enactment of the birth of Jesus. It's different from the everyday-birth-of-Jesus-play because it actually starts right before Mary learns that she will be the mother of the Savior of the world. She was actually working in her village when all of a sudden, an angel appeared to her and said "Greetings- you are highly favored. God is with you." Well, I didn't hear much after that, because my ADD kicked in and I thought to myself "Wow- to actually hear that- how awesome would that be??" To hear that you were highly favored by God and that He is with you! I tried to imagine what that would be like, and then it hit me- I know what that feels like. I already know, because God spells it all out for us in His word- in the Bible. I felt a bit silly after that. I mean, how could I think that I was not highly favored by God- He sent His only son to die a horrific death for me. He gave me 2 beautiful wonderful children and an amazing, loving, loyal husband. No, He never sent an angel to tell me that I was loved and that He thought a lot of me- He went a step further- He showed me how much He thought of me and how deep His love runs. He showed all of us. All of this, He did for each of us. Do I love my friends and family, oh yes, I do. Do I think highly of them? Yes. No doubt. Would I put either of my children on a cross and see them tortured and beaten and watch them die a long, suffering death for them? No freakin way. God's ability to love us astounds me. It's even more astounding that He loves those who don't even love Him back. He loves those who don't even believe He exists. And He loves them all just as much as He loves me. What an amazing, incomprehensible love. And to even have the thought that I would wonder what it would be like for God to 'highly favor' us- so ridiculous. So, just so you don't have to wonder, I'm here to tell you- you are highly favored and God is with you. You are loved and you are valuable. And because there will be people who won't believe me- He put it in writing for you. ;0)