Our Summer Vacation

Yes, I know...I have again fallen off of the blog wagon, and have lots of catching up to do...hopefully soon.

However...

We just returned from a fun summer vacation to California last week, and I am proud to say that I have already ordered a photo book with our pictures from Snapfish!

Yea for me...that NEVER happens!

Here is the link if you would like to check it out.

Five Question Friday

This is my first time to participate in

Five Question Friday.

It is a weekly meme, with different questions each week!

1. Do you know what your REAL hair color is?

Yes, and unfortunately, since it has been way too long since I have had my highlights, everyone that sees me knows what my real hair color is too!  :)

2. Do you plan ahead for summer, or fly by the seat of your pants?

We usually plan some sort of family vacation,
and the older kids spend a week at a
Christian summer camp,
but other than that, we just kind of let things happen.

3. What is your favorite meal to cook?

I don't know that I have a specific single favorite meal,
but this potato cheese soup recipe
(linked to my recipe blog),
is one that is fast, easy, and delicious.
Everyone always likes it.  

4. Do you get offended by not receiving thank yous?

Thank you notes?
Not at all!
A verbal "thank you" when I give someone something is more than enough for me!

Save yourself some ink and a stamp when you come to my name on your thank you list!

Sorry Miss Manners...I've got bigger fish to fry than waiting by the mailbox for a thank you note!  :)

5. How did you meet your best friend?

I met my BFF, Teresa, in college at OBU in Arkadelphia! We were both in the same sorority (EEE). 

Right after Corey and I got married, I schemed with our other sweet friend Nancy, and we forcefully, I mean, thoughtfully set Teresa up on a blind date with Ky, Corey's best friend from high school. 

The rest is history!

5 kids, and almost 20 years later...
we still love to tell the story...and we are all still best buds!  :)

Here is a picture of me with Nancy (far left) and Teresa (far right) when we met for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe last year.

And here is a picture of Corey, me, Ky and Teresa with our youngest kiddos, Carson (the mystery man under the party hat), and Rachel as we celebrated New Years Eve a little over a year ago!

Love ya Teresa! 

Get Motivated

Sometimes I find myself just not wanting to get to work on laundry, or on dishes, or on picking up around the house, etc.

Does this ever happen to you?

I have a few little tricks that I sometimes use.  

The first one is setting my oven timer for 20 minutes.  

What happens with me, is that once I start moving, I keep going, but sometimes it is just 

that first spurt of energy and motivation that is hard to come by,

and my timer provides that spurt!

When I know that I am allowing myself to waste time, I often set my timer, and make myself start knocking things out.  Sometimes I have a list, other times, I just walk through the house, and can clearly see what needs to be done.  The game is that

for every 20 minutes of work that I accomplish,

I earn 20 minutes to do something that I am wanting to do

...computer time, reading, rest, etc.

Of course this really only works well during

Carson's nap time, or if he is not home!

I did this a couple of days ago, and was amazed at the difference a few 20 minute segments of work made!  The tasks that I was dreading, and avoiding, became much more manageable, and were taken care of painlessly...with a little bit of fun time mixed in!

Another trick that I play on myself involves TV time.

I am not a big TV watcher.  Occasionally I will DVR shows to watch after I go to bed (and skip through the commercials), but I rarely watch daytime TV.

One day this past weekend, Corey and the kids were all away, and although I had lots of things that I needed to get done, there was a Lifetime movie on that got my attention.  I made a deal with myself that

I could watch the show only if I worked during all of the commercials.

For most shows, about 1/2 of the time slot seems to be taken up with commercials, so watching a 2 hour movie allowed me to get quite a bit of work done, while still watching a whole movie!

The last trick that has worked for me, I have only done once, but it really worked well!  

One morning, my BFF Teresa and I were talking on the phone.  Our youngest kiddos were not home that day, so we had quiet houses, and chores to get done.

We decided that we were going to give ourselves 2 hours, and told each other the chores that we wanted to accomplish in that time

We hung up the phone, and hit the ground running!

When we got back on the phone 2 hours later,

we were both exhausted from working so quickly for 2 whole hours...but excited to report to each other how motivated we had been...and that

we had gotten everything on our lists done!

We both laughed and talked about how it had really lit a fire under us!

(I just texted her and told her that we need to do it again!)

How do you get motivated to do house work?

Off To A Bumpy Start...

Yesterday, it was my day to drive Christian and some friends to Science CoOp.  

Everything went well.
I got them settled, and started the drive home.

As I passed over what looked like dirt in the road, I  suddenly felt a big bump!  

I slowed down, and quickly realized that something was wrong.

Thankfully I was just a few feet from a gas station, so I pulled in and called Corey.

To make a VERY long story short, we had to have the car towed to a dealership.  After FIVE hours, I finally drove away...only to return again today. Money that could have easily paid for some pretty window treatments, or a great entry table, or a beautiful new rug, 

was spent on a shiny new...

wheel and tire.

Ugh.

I just really dislike spending big money on such totally boring things, don't you?

When I got  home, for the first time all day, I started thinking about what I would make for dinner.  

I moped over to the refrigerator to take a look around, and before I knew it, I was pulling out everything, tossing this and that into the trash, and wiping down each of the shelves and drawers.  

 Almost an hour later, I had a very clean refrigerator!  

and a nice sense of accomplishment...

That is often the way projects end up getting tackled at my house..unexpectedly.  

One thing just leads to another.  

Today that unplanned little project was just what I needed!

Sometimes it is little things like this that make me feel better!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

How I Make My Own Laundry Detergent

First off...here's my laundry room...

Ha!  I wish!  Just had to make myself laugh this morning!

Ok, now...

I'm actually a little bit hesitant to write this post, because I don't want anyone to think that I am all Little House on The Prairie-ish, because I am sooo not...but I'm putting it out there for all to see...I make my own laundry detergent, and have been doing so for about a year now!

So here's how it started...

I had always hated how often I ran out of laundry detergent, and knowing that if I didn't make a run to the store (which I am also not a big fan of), that I would start getting behind on laundry...fast.

One day, I happened upon this post written by my bloggy friend Jennifer.  She described how she makes her own laundry detergent, in LARGE quantities...and for CHEAP!  

I decided to give it a try, figuring that if it was too much trouble, or if it didn't get my clothes as clean as I was used to, that I would not have invested much, and I could just run to Kroger (AGAIN) to buy more of my usual detergent.

I'm SO happy to say however, that I never had to run to Kroger for detergent, and I don't plan on doing so again!  In the last year, I have only had to buy more supplies once...ONCE!  This detergent is cheap people...really cheap, and it gets my family's clothes just as clean as other detergents did.

The only bits of advice that I would add to Jennifer's post, are that I use this grater from Pampered Chef to grate the soap,

and then when I transfer the detergent from the large tub, into the container that I actually use on a daily basis, I discovered that using this little pitcher, also from Pampered Chef, makes things even easier.

The detergent separates (kind of like gravy), and so before pouring it, I stir it a bit.  By keeping it in this pitcher, I just give it a little pump or two each time, and it is ready to go!

(And just in case you are wondering...no, I have no whatsoever association with Pampered Chef!)  :)

I still keep my Spray-N-Wash and fabric softener on hand, as I always have, but I don't see myself going back to the store for laundry detergent any time soon!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Priorities: Golf Balls and Jelly Beans

A story that I heard years ago has been popping into my head this morning, and I think that I will take it to heart today.

I heard the story at a women's conference, and it was an illustration about priorities.

We all have a lot on our plates.  Many responsibilities pull and tug at us.

So picture this...

We all have a jar.

Our true priorities...our responsibilities, are golf balls.

The things that distract us...that suck us in, and can easily waste our time, are jelly beans.

Jelly beans are fun, and bright, and sooo much more attractive and distracting than plain old golf balls!

I would tend to pick jelly beans over golf balls any day!

The point was, that the jar (like our day), is only so big.  


It can only hold so much.

If we have 5 golf balls, we need to make sure there is room for them.

If we scoop our jelly beans in, and then add the golf balls on top, chances are, they won't all fit.

But, if we put our golf balls into the jar, and THEN the jelly beans, we are more likely to see results!

Jelly beans are so fun, and pretty that they beg for attention, but golf balls make life more manageable for everyone in my family (including myself!).

Today, my golf balls are lessons with kids, housework, laundry, paying bills, and planning dinner.  (I have already put in my devotional golf ball today! Yea!)

So, as tempting as it is to be distracted by all of the pretty jelly beans, I'm off to take care of my golf balls.

If I play my cards right, I should still have some jelly bean time at the end!

What are your golf balls today?

Writing the Waves,
Christi

February 3 in 30 Challenge

I am linking up today with the 3 in 30 challenge.  

I have chosen 3 goals to work on for the month of February.  The plan is that we will hold each other accountable throughout the 30 days, and then report our progress at the end.  

3 new goals for each month of the year, with built in accountability.

I like it.

Sooo...for February, my 3 goals are

1) Be consistent in having a daily quiet time each morning.  I'm going to be using a devotional book that my mother gave me called, Jesus Calling.  Short, meaningful devotions to focus my heart and mind on Christ each morning.

2) Be consistent in preparing 4 gluten free dinners each week.  My daughter can't eat gluten, and although I have recipes available to prepare, we often end up eating out for convenience, due to the kid's activities, etc.. I would like to limit the eating out to weekends as much as possible.  It would be healthier for everyone in the family, and cheaper!

3) Post new blog entries 3-4 times a week, and start making some improvements to my blog.  My blog is important to me, but I have often found myself abandoning it for months at a time when things get busy around here.  I don't want to do that.  Things are always busy.  I love having a record of the things that are happening in my life, and I want to make it more of a priority to take time to blog.

So there you have it.

You officially have my permission to hold me accountable!  :)

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Back From Blissdom

Caylie and I returned yesterday from our fun trip to the Blissdom conference in Nashville.

When we got there, started talking to other bloggers, and attending the sessions, we quickly realized that although we have both been blogging for a while, there is sooo much that we didn't/don't know!

We were able to meet many helpful, more experienced bloggers, have lots of good mother/daughter time, and we actually came back knowing quite a bit more about this fun world of blogging!

Caylie suggested that we take a picture of ourselves each morning before heading out of our room.  Although I really, really, really dislike having my picture taken, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and go with it!

I'm crazy like that!

Michelle Branch was the entertainment for Thursday evening.  

On Friday, we were treated to a nice lunch.  

We were at the table with these sweet bloggers...(from left to right) Cha Cha from sitrelaxandread.blogspot.com, Lisa from thepenningtonpoint.com, and Kellie from thisblessednest.blogspot.com.  

On Friday night, we were treated to Chris Mann and then Crystal Bowersox!  Both were just great!  I especially loved hearing Crystal!

Of course I forgot my camera that night...and wouldn't you know...we were close enough to the stage to have gotten great pictures, but whatever...you'll just have to take my word for it!

Dang it!

Anyway, last but definitely not least, before heading home on Saturday morning, we enjoyed a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel with this fun bunch of bloggers!

Left side (front to back)...Meghan from thetuckerstaketennessee.com, Sami from samicone.com, Alicia from Confessionsofasnowflake.com, Christina from Fieldtoforest.com, and of course my sweet Caylie from Lifethesedayscaylie.blogspot.com.

Right side (front to back)...Michelle from somegirlswebsite.com, Lindsey from anewlifehartz.blogspot.com, me, and then Jenny from thesoutherninstitute.com

It was a special treat to get to sit and visit with such sweet, honest women, that love the Lord, and really desire to not only live out that faith in their everyday lives, but also want to allow their faith to be revealed to readers through their blogs. Several of these girls are using their blogs for the specific purpose of encouraging others to grow in their faith.

Quite a few of these gals were homeschoolers...and a couple will even be speaking at the 2012 homeschool bloggers conference in Washington D.C. (The 2:1 Conference).

Such a neat group of girls!

It was an encouraging morning, and a great way to end our Blissdom experience!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

We Made It...By The Skin Of Our Teeth!

Well, last night, Caylie and I arrived in Nashville for the Blissdom conference.

To say that it was a stressful trip would be an understatement, but thankfully we made it safely, despite the very difficult drive. 

My poor vision, combined with driving at night, combined with heavy, blowing snow = NOT fun!  

At one point, I was so tempted to just stop the car in the middle of the road, and have myself a good cry, but I made myself keep driving, and driving, and driving. 

Finally, around 11pm, we arrived at the hotel.  I wanted to get out and kiss the ground, but it was too cold, and I was too tired, and wouldn't have been able to get back up! 

Caylie then told me that during the drive, she had been so afraid that I was going to throw up in my own lap from the stress, that she was trying to figure out how she would quickly get into the driver's seat to take over! 

Yeah, it was that bad.

I. WILL. NEVER. DRIVE. IN. THOSE. CONDITIONS. AGAIN.  (You CAN quote me on that!)

Now we are all settled into our room at the beautiful Opryland Hotel.  We have picked up our name tags, gotten our swag bags full of fun little treats, and are excited to head to the first event in a couple of hours.  :)

I am so excited about all of the new things that we will learn in the next couple of days!  Can't wait!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Winding Things Up!

Today we finished Christian's first year of homeschooling! It has been a GREAT year, and we have LOVED it!

Caylie still has a little bit to go (she started a week or so later than Christian did), but it has been a successful year for her as well.

Both kids have participated in homeschool sports, in various co-ops, and have made lots of new friends! It has been such a positive experience for our whole family.

I truly can't even put into words how very thankful I am. We started this venture a lot later in the game than most do, and although I had spent many, many hours in preparation, I was still intimidated. This past year has just been a time of such confirmation to our family that God has been working out His plan in our lives...in many very unexpected ways.

I have learned sooo much this year (and the kids have too!), and while we are all looking forward to our summer break, it brings me such happiness to know that we will also be looking forward to another year of homeschooling in the fall!

I leave in the morning to go to the state homeschool convention. I am excited about selecting new curriculum and also plan to attend some classes.

One of my many goals for the summer is to catch up on my blogging. I had hoped that I would be able to continue blogging regularly during this past year, but I just really didn't seem to have the time. Oh well...that's what summer is for! :)

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Beth Moore Study

Last week I began my very first Beth Moore study.

I have always heard great things about Beth Moore studies, but for some reason or another, I have never ended up participating in one.

A few months ago, Caylie went on a youth group girl's trip to Memphis, to attend a Beth Moore conference, and came back just bragging about how neat it was. It sparked an interest in me, and so I was immediately interested when I saw in our church bulletin that one was starting during the time that Christian's youth group meets on Wednesday evenings. I decided that I should give it a shot. It will be convenient, since I will just bring Christian to church, and stay for the study, and then we will head home together when we are both finished.

Since we have recently started attending a new church, this will be a good opportunity to meet some new women. Including me, there are 5 homeschooling moms in the group of about 30, so that will be something that I have in common with some of them!

The study is called "Jesus, The One And Only". I have done 3 of the 5 weekly lessons so far, and they were really interesting. It has been quite a while since I have done a women's group bible study, so I'm looking forward to it!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Happy Birthday To...Me!

Yesterday was my birthday!

My birthday is only 3 days after mom's, and 10 days before Corey's! January is a busy birthday month in our family!

Corey and the kids woke me up with breakfast in bed...an egg sandwich, coffee, juice, and a candle! Of course they sang the birthday song...Carson would have had it no other way! He was beside himself with excitement! It was a great way to start my day.

Corey took a picture of me with my pj's and crazy hair, but you're just going to have to use your imagination on that one!

During the day, it started to appear as though my birthday might make a bad turn.

As I was transferring clothes from the washer to the drier, I looked down and saw Christian's flash drive (with his school work on it) in the bottom of the drier! Not good.

I then walked straight into the kitchen, and looked down, only to realize that I was standing in a big puddle of water that was leaking from the dishwasher!

Love it when that happens!

Anyway, moving on...

We decided to eat at Shorty Small's for dinner. We hated to not have Caylie with us, but she had a volleyball practice that she needed to attend.

Shorty Small's has great mozzarella sticks. Carson sure enjoyed his!

He didn't seem to care about our instructions to look at the camera and smile. Here he is with my sister, Jeanna, and me...2 out of 3 smiles...I'll take what I can get!

Mom, Christian and Corey...

While we were waiting for our dinner, I got to open my sweet cards and gifts.

Mom and Jeanna gave me a Coldwater Creek gift certificate (one of my very favorite stores), and a Wood Wick Almond Orange candle. Mom had given me one of these candles a couple of years ago, and it is almost gone now. They knew that I wanted a replacement! I was so excited!

Corey and the kids gave me a gift certificate for a new blog design (which I had asked for)!

The deal that I have made with myself, is that I must get my 2008-2009 blog entries printed before I can get my new blog design. If I don't have a goal, it won't get done!

I have been playing around with the "blog to book" software that I downloaded from blurb.com. It is going to be more time consuming than I had hoped it would be to get it all laid out correctly, but I'm hoping to make it happen before TOO long!

I wish I could just print it out exactly as it is, with me just determining where the page breaks would be, but all of the sites I have found either mess the layout up when they automatically fill in the pages, or require me to do pretty extensive photo and text layout in order for it to make sense.

So, if you see that I have a new blog design anytime in the near future, you will know that I have finally met my goal of getting my blog printed out!

After dinner, we went to mom's house to enjoy the wonderful pound cake that she had baked for my birthday! She served it with whipped cream and strawberries! Yum! :)

It was a very nice day, and I appreciated all of the nice things that were done to make it so special!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Changing Things Up A Bit...

When I began homeschooling this year, I planned to do my lesson plans at the beginning of each week. I had heard arguments for and against planning way ahead, and so I just had to make my own judgement call. My thought was that I could be more flexible by planning weekly...if we missed a day of school for a trip, etc., then it would be easier (or so I thought), to just tweak things accordingly, and keep on rolling.

Well, after one semester of doing lesson plans every Sunday night (or first thing Monday morning!), with our many books surrounding me, I decided that we would try a different approach this semester.

For the last couple of days, I have worked to lay out the rest of the lesson plans for the year. I know that we will have some unexpected disruptions, but I will still be able to tweak things. I THINK that this be much easier. I can't wait to feel the freedom that this will create on Sunday nights!

On a completely different note, another idea that I think I will try, is making my own washing detergent! Never, in a million years, would I have pictured myself doing such a thing, but after reading today that a friend has only spent $7 on detergent since April, and that the "recipe" only takes 20 minutes to make, I decided that it might be worth a shot! I will have Caylie help me do it. It will probably be kind of fun...at least the first time! :)

Here is a link to Jennifer's blog, where she describes how to make the detergent.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Love My Friends!

This morning, I got to have breakfast with my good friend Teresa, and our sweet college friend Nancy, that we had not seen in years.

Both Teresa and I had roomed with Nancy in college, and we were all in the same sorority. Nancy used to live here in town, but about seven years ago she and her family moved to Tennessee, and I had not seen her since she left. They recently moved back to Arkansas, and I was so excited about our little reunion this morning! She lives in a different area of the state, but hopefully we will get to see more of each other now that she is a little closer!

We met at Mimi's Cafe, and had a delicious breakfast. We visited just like we had not missed a beat. We had all been great friends in college, and we slipped right back into that mode. We visited from 9:30 until 12:15, and could have kept going even longer!

Teresa and I agreed that we would ask our husbands to give us a weekend get-away for Mothers Day this year, and let us go see Nancy for the weekend! Hopefully that will work out!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Knocking It Out!

We have been getting quite a bit accomplished around here!

For the last few days, we have been tackling some little projects that seem to get lost in the shuffle at other times.

We learned this season that we will NOT be going the route of the "real" Christmas tree again. While we savored the experience of going to the Christmas tree farm, selecting, and then cutting down our own tree, boy, did it turn into a mess! By the time Christmas rolled around, despite regular watering, it seemed that more needles had fallen off of the tree, than remained on it! So, we broke a record this year by having our tree, as well as all of our other decorations taken down and packed away by the 27th! That freed up my mind to focus on some other things that needed to be done.

I have organized Carson's "preschool cabinet", so that it is now much more functional than it was before. This is an area where I keep his letter and number magnets, flashcards, educational games, puzzles, etc.. It is easier for me to locate what I am looking for now, and it will help me to make sure that we are using most all of the items on a regular basis.

Today, I asked Caylie to clean out the coat closet while I was getting some other things done. This hard-working area has a tendency to collect too many coats, backpacks, purses, etc., and so it doesn't take long for things to start getting way too crowded in there. Now, it is cleaned out, and ready for business again.

Also, I was sick for a couple of days on either side of Christmas this year, so although I had already purchased most of the necessary ingredients, we didn't get the baking done for our neighbors that we usually do. Today Caylie, her friend Elizabeth and I all had fun while spending several hours in the kitchen preparing some treats that we will deliver to our neighbors tomorrow.

We are planning to get together with our friends, the Harrod's for New Year's Eve, so tonight we also baked some sugar cookies to take to their house. The girls used icing to frost, and write "2010" on the cookies. We used regular icing, and I sooo wish that we had used royal icing, that would harden, and not be so messy, but we were already into it before I came to that conclusion...oh well. I guess I'll just have to find an excuse to make some more soon!

Tomorrow afternoon, we will prepare some "party sandwiches", as well as some hot spinach dip with crackers to take along as well. Both are new recipes that I have found online. Hopefully they will turn out well!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Attitude of Gratitude

Gratitude...

I think that in order to keep perspective on things that seem to frustrate, or discourage us in our everyday life, it is important to frequently remind ourselves just how very blessed we really are. I have so much to be thankful for, and these are just a few things that come to mind immediately.

I could never write about gratitude without acknowledging Christ, who is my source of hope, both in my daily life, and my eternal life. I truly don't know how people manage to keep scraping along through the ups and downs of life without a greater purpose.

I think that there are probably days when we all just want to throw up our hands and throw in the towel! If it were not for having a greater purpose, I think that it would sometimes be difficult to stay motivated...to persevere and strive to move beyond the ditch that we sometimes find ourselves in.

Of course, there are countless other things that I am grateful for...my wonderful husband and children, my extended family, health, my church, God's faithful provision. I could go on and on, but I will stop there.

Just a little reality check!

Thank you God for the many, many blessings you have poured into my life! I pray that I will never cease to praise you for your faithful provisions!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

Yesterday after Jeanna's IV treatment, we all loaded up and went out for a drive.

Our family lived in the DC area from the time I was in 8th grade until I graduated from High School, and then they moved to Heidelberg, Germany while I was in college, and then back to the DC area for a couple of years after I graduated from college.

Anyway, last night we went and took a look at all of the houses that we had lived in. There were three. It brought back lots of memories for all of us. I wanted to take some pictures, but it was dark...maybe another time. :(

We ended the evening in Georgetown...one of the fun, more "happening" areas of DC, and ate at an old favorite. Clyde's restaurant in Georgetown Park (a mall). See that little area in the middle of the mall? Well, back in the 80's, Goldie Hawn filmed part of a movie there, and her character passed out right in the middle of her salad that that little area. Fascinating. Just a little tidbit that I remember from my high school days. Good Stuff.

Clyde's is the restaurant that my family, and my friend Miriam's family ate at right after my high school graduation ceremony. I don't think it has changed much...I even remembered where we sat that night...so long, long ago! :)

While I love visiting such a fun, exciting city. I am glad to be doing just that...visiting.

I think our little slice of life in Arkansas is more my style. I am by no means, a country girl, but a small city girl is a perfect description. I love having access to the things and places that I want/need, when I want/need them, but don't love the crazy traffic, etc., etc., etc., that goes along with big city living.

I guess that is a good thing since I'm now an Arkansas girl, and not DC girl, huh?

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Just A Little Stir Crazy...That's All

Jeanna is home now. She is upstairs taking a nap. Hopefully she will quickly regain her energy, and feel much better. Daily IV treatments begin tomorrow at 1:00.

Today I have been a little stir crazy. I haven't left the house...my sister's house that is. I could have, I just wasn't quite ready when mom was heading out, so I stayed here with my dad.

Back at home, I could very easily fall into the "homebody" category. I can stay home for days on end and be just fine because I literally never run out of things that I need/want to get done.

Corey is sooo not that way!

Staying "home" in someone else's home is different though. I will say that I have had lots of computer/tv time today. I'm just not used to having this much unspoken for time. It is weird.

Actually, I need to just relax and enjoy it, because I feel pretty confident that when I get back to my house on Saturday afternoon, I won't be bored...AT ALL! ;0

Mom has made a yummy smelling roast for dinner, so I guess I'm off to do some good eatin'!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

I'm Out Of Commission...

I am out of commission.

Two nights ago, my sweet hubby took me out for a birthday dinner...just the two of us. We went to Bonefish Grill. Oh my! How we LOVE that place!

We had a YUMMY, relaxing, wonderful dinner, and then, disaster!

We were walking back out to the car, and as I stepped off of the curb, into the parking lot, down I went!

It was one of those areas, right above a gutter, where it dips down further than you expect it to...

How embarrassing, and HOW PAINFUL!

Oh my gosh, if I had not been so overcome with sheer humiliation, I think I would have broken down and cried from the pain, right there in the parking lot! Corey helped me get up, and then held on to me with a death grip because I was about to faint as I struggled to get back to the car...I'm so bad about that.

The last time I had an injury that amounted to anything, Corey and I were photographing a wedding, and I fell and broke my finger. I passed out, not once, but twice, right there in the middle of all of the wedding buzz...talk about making a scene.

Oh, and did I mention how embarrassing it was when I awoke from the second fainting spell to see the ambulance crew standing over me?

Anyway, back to my story...

I did quite a number on my ankle, and haven't been able to put any weight on it since. Not cool when you have a busy household, that also happens to include a busy toddler!

My in-laws came over yesterday to help out, and even brought some KFC for dinner, which we all greatly appreciated!

Carson had Mother's Day Out today...YEA! That helped!

Corey and the two older kiddos have really kicked it into high gear to cover for me too. I am so thankful! I know that with Corey working, and the older kids having school, the house is not going to run as it normally would, but they are trying to keep things together, and I appreciate it!

My mom is out of town. Otherwise, I know that she would be here, helping me out. No doubt about that...she is my BFF! :)

I must admit that I feel very guilty with others having to work extra hard in order for me to sit around. That is tough, but I guess there are times when we all have to give up a little bit of control, and allow others to help us...even if it isn't what we would choose.

Since I don't really have many options at this point, I will just have to accept that this is the way it is. I will try to express to my family how thankful I am for their help. I will make a point to use this time wisely. I have LOTS of computer work that I can get knocked out while sitting around.

From what I hear, surely within the next few days, things should start getting better...hopefully enough that I can at least put a little bit of weight on my foot, and get around the house. I am already getting some more movement, so that is a good sign.

Thank you, my sweet family for helping me out!

I love you all!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

My first meme!

35 Things About Me

I'm so unoriginal!

I can't think of anything "blog worthy" right now, and I feel like I am past due, soooo.....

I saw this meme on Lisa's blog, who saw it on Meredith's blog, so I'm going to do it too!

1. Do you like bleu cheese salad dressing?
Got it on a burger in a fancy, expensive restaurant once, and couldn't even eat the burger...yuck!!

2. Do you own a gun?
Hubby has one tucked away. Don't think it has been used since we've been married.

3. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks?
That's tough. White Chocolate Mocha or Chai Tea Latte I guess...or maybe Pumpkin Spice Latte???

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee with the pink stuff and 1/2 & 1/2

5. Do you do pushups?
PLEASE!

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
A beautiful bracelet that hubby got me for Christmas several years ago...LOVE IT...but it is broken right now. :(

7. Favorite hobby?
Scrapbooking maybe, but I'm never even close to being caught up! Lots of contenders though! Reading, decorating, shopping...

8. Do you have A.D.D.?
I wish I could blame some stuff on something legit, like that!

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself?
S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N!!!

10. Name three thoughts at this exact moment:
A) Are there any good parts of being stubborn?
B) What is Corey watching on TV in there?
C) Hope Christian doesn't fuss about going to bed at midnight since he has a friend over!

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink.
A) Water
B) Milk
C) Coffee
D) Diet Coke...newly acquired taste (need the extra energy!)

12. Current worry right now?
That bad things will happen to good people that I know.

13. Current hate right now?
That I don't have the power to change some things that need changing!

Also...a side point...I HATE bicycles that get in the way of cars on the road...MAJOR PET PEEVE!!! Ask my family! I constantly gripe about it!

14. Favorite place to be?
Home or on a great vacation!

15. Do you like to travel?
YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!

16. What color shirt are you wearing?
White shirt / brown sweater...good stuff, huh?

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
Never have...don't think I would.

18. Can you whistle?
Not at all...ask my family!

19. Favorite color?
Red

20. If you could, would you be a pirate?
What?!?

21. What song do you sing in the shower?
Never think about singing when I'm in the shower...probably too busy running over my "to do" list in my head!

22. Favorite girl's name?
Caylie...of course!

23. Favorite boy's name?
Christian and Carson...of course!

24. What's in your pocket right now?
Cell phone and keys...pretty boring, huh?

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child?
Probably the SUPER soft flowery ones that I finally had to put out of their misery because they got so many holes in them! I hung on to them for way too long! Mom probably knows the ones I'm talking about! :)

26. Worst injury?
Broken arm from doing our home-cookin' obstacle course in my friend Heather's back yard in 6th grade! Didn't quite clear that picnic bench!

27. Do you love where you live?
Yes!!!

28. How many tvs do you have in your house?
3...Den, Living Room, Our Room

29. Who is your loudest friend?
Our friend Ky, has a very loud laugh. Yep Ky, you made the big time! HIS laugh makes US laugh! :)

30. How many pets do you have?
Well, my kids still claim the sweet toy poodle, Macy, that lives at my mom's house. Mom is L-O-N-G term dog sitting the sweet little precious for us...and right now, we are short term dog sitting the sweet little precious for her...she is in my lap right now! Hi Macy!

31. Does someone have a crush on you?
Hopefully my husband still has at least a little bit of one, even though he knows the good, the bad, and the ugly! :)

32. What is your favorite book?
Purpose Driven Life...hands down!

33. What's your favorite candy?
Peanut Butter Cups!!! Oh Yeah!

34. Favorite sports team?
Razorbacks...but I'm not really a sports fan! I don't lose any sleep, no matter who wins! :)

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Is little Carson going to let me make my bed and get ready before I go downstairs?