Magic Couch

I planned on writing a great creative post today but you know how plans go...

Alaina was super fussy and a serious grump today. My in-laws came and visited for the afternoon and I cringed the entire time because my house is SUCH a disaster. I hate when people come to visit and my house is a mess. Not enough to actually clean it, mind you, but still.

I stayed up entirely too late last night and slept right through church this morning so I don't even have a great sermon to tell you about. Pretty much, this is a post about nothing in particular because I started the 365 day challenge and I can NOT fail on day 3.

I promise that I will have better content in the very near future to share with you.


Oh, and I have a magic, magic couch. In case you wanted to know...

365 day challenge

There are many areas of my life where I am steadfast and consistent. However, when it come to blogging, I'm a total flake. I am so bad about posting on a regular basis. It's gotten better since Alaina was born but I am still more sporadic than I want to be. I always intend to write more and I even have several posts that I've started and never quite gotten around to finishing. Somehow I manage to get distracted by just about anything else and then forget to post.

In an effort to change that, I'm joining love and marriage on her 365 day blogging challenge. Perhaps if I have to be accountable for my goal, I will actually reach this one! I won't promise that all of my posts will be deep and meaningful, but I will post something every day. So for those of you brave (or crazy) enough to read this, here goes nothing!

Please Stay Tuned…

I am commandeering Stephanie's blog for one more super short post; the Internet is down at the Hughes residence, so that is the reason Stephanie has not updated you about Alaina since Monday morning. I will not give away anything special, but Stephanie has some very exciting news to share as soon as their Internet connection is up & running!

I return you to your regularly scheduled blogger,
Hailey

Honored

This morning it was such a nice surprise to see that I received two awards! An old friend and fellow blogger passed along both the "Friendship" and "Kind Blogger" awards. Sarah has been such a good friend for as many years as I can remember and I am honored that she thought of me when passing along these awards. In the spirit of the awards I will pass them along to 5 people and hope that it brightens their day as much as it did mine!


1. Ruth Z~We met less than a year ago and she has grown to be one of my dearest friends so quickly!


2. Andre~My sweet friend and accountability partner.

3. Josh Roberts~ Technically I am better friends with his wife Julie, but he is awesome! His work with Connect Rome is so exciting.

4. Abby Fernandez~ An old friend that I would love to catch up with very soon:)

5. Allison~ I met her through Stampin Up! and will always be grateful that she shared her glue with me on that first day.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to honor my best friend Hailey. She doesn't have a blog but she is the most kind-hearted, generous, beautiful, funny woman I know. She is the kind of friend who will paint with you until the wee hours of the morning even though she hates to paint. The kind who will make you laugh until tears are streaming down your face and you are dangerously close to wetting yourself. The kind who will hold your hand because she knows you need to feel like you are not alone. I could go on forever and it still wouldn't do her justice. She is simply my Goose.

I am so very blessed by all of my friends and family. Thank you all for being so wonderful!

All About Me: A to Z

I came across this survey and thought it would be fun!


A is for Age: Technically 26 but I rarely act like it!



B is for Burger of choice: My husband makes a mean bacon cheeseburger!


C is for what Car you drive: Silver Sebring


D is for Dog’s name: I have no dog's but I have two kitties that I love dearly, Mercedes and Lexus.


E is for Essential item you use every day: My coffee pot or my french press if I'm camping. I can not live without my coffee!



F is for Favorite TV show at the moment: There are so many that I love that it's hard to choose one! If I had to pick, probably Jeopardy. I realize that this solidifies my status as a nerd but that's okay. I watch with my husband every night and we try to beat each other. Yes, my husband is a nerd too. But he hasn't realized it yet so shhh...



G is for favorite Game; Rock Star on XBOX or Apples to Apples if we're talking board games.



H is for Hometown: First half of my life in San Diego, now and forevermore the suburbs of Atlanta.


I is for Instruments you play: Um...I play the radio. It's really easy, you should try it some time!


J is for favorite juice: Pineapple-Orange



K is for who you’d like to Kiss: My husband is the only one I want to kiss! Unless you count my 18-month old niece, Hannah, who loves to give out sweet kisses to her auntie.



L is for Last restaurant you ate at: Ruby Tuesday.



M is for favorite Muppet: I DON'T DO MUPPETS. PERIOD.


N is for Number of piercings: Two holes in each ear. I used to have my tongue pierced but not so much now.



O is for Overnight hospital stays: None, praise Jesus!


P is for People you were with today: My co-workers and my husband.



Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Read or work on a blanket.



R is for biggest Regret: I'm going to steal the answer of the lady that I stole the questionnaire from (Tracie Miles) because she said it so much better than I ever could have! "Poor choices as a teenager, but God has used those experiences to His glory, so that gives me peace."



S is for Status: Married for 3 years to my wonderful husband.


T is for Time you woke up today: 4:45. Yes, that's a.m.



U is for what you consider Unique: Snow. Every snowflake is different and unique. Nothing ever looks quite as gorgeous as it does covered in snow.


V is for a vegetable you love: Probably broccoli and cauliflower.


W is for Worst habit: I have no shortage to pick from! I think probably trying to control everything is the worst though. I am trying to learn to give it to God and let Him handle it but it's so hard. It's so nice of Him to give me multiple opportunities to get better at it!



X is for the number of X-rays you’ve had: I don't know...lots over the years.



Y is for Yummy food you ate recently: Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies! They were even yummier since my hubby and I made them together:)


Z is for Zodiac sign: Aquarius



Well, that's it about me! If you want to use this on your blog, free free to give it a shot!

Hump Day Humor-Getting Older

Hump Day Humor

Hosted by Mercedes at Mercedes Rocks

Being the quote queen that I am, I couldn't resist using these for my blog this week. Enjoy!

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going. ~J.B. Priestly

An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have: the older she gets, the more interested he is in her. ~Agatha Christie

Gray hair is God's graffiti. ~Bill Cosby

You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred. ~Woody Allen

A stockbroker urged me to buy a stock that would triple its value every year. I told him, 'At my age, I don't even buy green bananas'. ~Claude Pepper

No man is ever old enough to know better. ~Holbrook Jackson

Hump Day Humor-Signs

Hump Day Humor
Hosted by Mercedes Rocks
I got this as an e-mail from a friend. The signs are hilarious and sure to make you giggle at least once!

How Many Pairs of Shoes Do You Own?

**Update**I found 7 more pair in our guest closet bringing my total to 42 pairs of shoes. Which just makes the whole thing more terrible. I have shoes that I FORGOT ABOUT and there are children who have no shoes.**

A little random for a Monday morning I know, but humor me. One of the blogs I follow, Brad Ruggles, asked this question on Friday. So, I counted and I own 35 pairs of shoes. He followed up yesterday with a post for the 40 Day Fast.

Reading about the number of children that are running around with no shoes, cutting their feet on rocks, while I have a multitude to choose from, is heartbreaking. In fact, with my cast on one foot, I only have a few pair to pick from and I've been complaining about being confined to those.

That makes me a little nauseous.

Go check out his post for the exact number of children who have no shoes. I can't read it and not be moved to do something about it.

Father's Day

I had the pleasure of spending Father's Day weekend in Centerville with my in-laws. The only down side, of course, being that my super powers are broken. Since I can't be in two-places at once without them, I wasn't able to spend the day with my own father too. I got a chance to talk with him a little though and will hopefully see him soon!

The weekend overall was wonderful. I spent time with a friend that I don't see often and thoroughly enjoyed my time with her. Her infectious personality makes it impossible to not laugh when you're in her presence. My husband had to work but we were able to spend the evenings together and we cherished the time we had.

One of my favorite things about going to Centerville is getting to worship in the church where my Father-in-law is. He has an amazing gift for words and I love hearing his sermons. Yesterday morning was no exception. He spoke on John 14:1 and it was AWESOME. If you get a chance, I encourage you to check out the church's website. His sermons are podcast so you can hear it in it's entirety. Let me know if you go listen to it; I would love to hear your thoughts!

This has been a longer post than I meant it to be...though they usually are. I have the gift of gab and I thank you for sticking with me while I ramble:) I hope all of you had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend with your families!

Peace and Contentment

"Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart."


Those who know me at all will tell you that I love quotes! After all, if someone already said what I'm thinking perfectly, why not use their words? I came across this one from Sarah Ban Breathnach this morning; I skimmed it and was about to move on but something stopped me so I went back and re-read the last part, "but only when we are ready to receive it with an open mind and grateful heart."

Only when I am ready to receive contentment and peace will I find them. Now, I know that you are thinking that a person would have to be crazy to be anything but ready. And I agreed with you until I really sat and thought about it for a few minutes. How often do I pray for peace only to continue to worry about it? As Christians we know that God is in control and that worrying about it won't change anything. Jesus asks in Matthew 6:27, "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?". The answer is always no. And if you have been my friend longer than 5 minutes I have quoted this to you while telling you not to worry about whatever it is that is troubling you. I humbly apologize as I am guilty of not taking my own advice!

I realized this morning that I almost like to worry. It's tangible and it gives me something to do with my thoughts and feelings when I should be dumping them out at the foot of the cross. Do you know how backwards that is? That is about the dumbest thing I have ever admitted out loud! And something about putting it in black and white makes me feel even more ridiculous than I did when it was just my own thought...

So from this point forward I am going to make a conscious effort to leave my worries with God. He's far more capable than I am of handling it anyway!

Safety in the Storm

Please pray for my husband this morning. He has been miserably sick the last few days and he has a job interview this morning. I know that if it is where God wants him to be He will open the door regardless of the situation. I just know how nervous he must be because he wants it to go well so badly and he's struggling just to make it through the day right now. Thank you all for being wonderful friends and prayer warriors. I will keep you posted as soon as we hear anything!

On a completely separate note, the scripture for my devotion this morning was Psalm 57:1-11. The first verse immediately jumped out at me: "My soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by." An immediate sense of peace washed over me as I had a mental picture of God standing next to me and protecting me.
As a kid, I felt the safest when my dad was there next to me. It didn't matter if we were riding a roller coaster, waiting out a storm, going to the doctor or simply crossing the street, if he was next to me I felt safe. That same feeling of safety should follow me everywhere because I know that my God walks next to me and is with me always. Does it? No. It doesn't mean that He's not with me, just that I'm being stubborn and trying to brave the storm instead of seeking the protection that is being offered. I encourage you today to seek that protection and take solace in the fact that God will always be there to comfort you, whatever storm you may be facing.