Flat

So I'm sitting on the parkway with a flat tire ... I don't know how to change it...mg will have to come do it in his work clothes... I will pay attention while he does it this time so I can do it myself next time.
In 45 min no one has stopped to see if i need help... I guess in the world of cell phones no one does anymore.
I'm sure I would have been able to fix it in less time than waiting for mg to finish a lunch meeting then get a ride out here... I just need to know how. I don't want to make things worse...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Getaway

Last weekend my good friend Lisa and I went to La Push
Washington for a getaway.



We did some hiking in the woods that ended up being longer and harder than we expected.


We combed beeches and searched tide pools.


We lit a camp fire(though it wasn't very big) and we roasted/burned marshmallows. We watched the sun sink lower and lower into the sea.


This part of the olympic peninsula is amazing because the ocean essentially kisses the forests floor and the two seem in perfect harmony with each other. While hiking you can literally gauge your distance by the sound of the ocean...and if is becoming louder you know you are getting closer to your destination.






I feel like places like this only exist in books and fairy tails so to see with my own eyes the splendor of nature unfolding this way was incredible.


I would love to go back and see more. Feel even more sand beneath my feet. Maybe see the hall of mosses this time and explore a new trail.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Satisfied in You" by the Sing Team

Mg sent this song to me via email last week and I love it. I hope that this song will encourage you all as much as it has done for me. Sometimes all I need is an anthem for a rough season and this is really good one... it will be on re-play around here for sure.

Our Hank

Sometimes I like to call Henry Hank...because its funny to call a baby something you would think a plumber would be named. And because he acts like a plumber






The other morning he climbed from his high chair to the counter and dipped my keys into a bowl of salsa while perched a-top the counter... Words fail me sometimes with him...

He is our little Hank...we love him.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Writing

Wow it's been a long time since I have written anything here. I feel bad...not because I think I have a huge audience expecting amazing prose from me daily...but because I really have been thinking about
writing a lot.

I love to write. I know I'm not very good at it and that many people may not even know that I do it...but I still love it.

If you know me in real life you know I'm awkward as all get out and that I put my foot in my mouth more often than not. You also know that I have a very small personal filter...and that usually is what makes me awkward... That and being extremely introverted while trying to act like I am extraverted.

When I write I don't feel the social pressure to be normal or to fit in. I can edit my words so they don't come across as harsh or intense. I fell free when looking at a blank page knowing I can fill it how I choose.

I love writing because it forces me to think long and hard before I push publish... I know my words cannot be taken back once out on the webs so I do better at filtering my thoughts and ideas.

I think sometimes I have so much to say that it all just gets jammed up inside and then when I meet up with a friend it just dumps out in an incoherent mess. Here in this place I can formulate my thoughts and organize them into sentences that can be understood and that are not overwhelming(at least that is my goal)

I also love to read-a lot-and writing often-or semi often-helps me feel more connected in a way to a literary world that captivates and feeds me.

Also there are these sweet little people in my life








and I really do not want to forget the small precious things they say and do. I want to record them and lock them down so that in the future when their wives ask me when they first tasted avocado I will remember that moment.

Those are some of my reasons for writing... What are yours?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The way it really is: being the crazy lady

About a week ago I lost our radio face thing at Fred Myers...well Henry technically lost it but I am in charge of him so I will take the blame. Today I went back(after calling several times) to see if customer service had it...and to check in the big car cart we used(it had this creepy whole where I just knew lost items would love to hangout) I asked customer service if anyone turned it in...nope. I asked the manager if he could take apart the cart and look in the creepy whole...his face told me everything I needed to know...I was that lady the really crazy one who asks the most outrageous stuff of the store managers...I was my gram. Uhg.

Any way he looked and even tried reaching in...no luck. He did find a thing of bubbles, an old sock, a blue binky that I am pretty sure belonged to us(we lost one the same day as the radio but we are always loosing them so who knows), a pack of gum, half a granola bar, and someones phone. He said he would ask his boss to look into it further but did not ask for my contact info so I am pretty sure he was just saying that. He was nice to me but he had this look on his face the whole time that said"this woman is nuts and I will say anything to get her to forget this cart thing". So I walked away and did my shopping only to find him  and another employee laughing as I passed...no doubt discussing my delusion of my car stereo face residing in a cart...sigh. I cant care that they thought I was weird  tho.

If you know me well you know that is my cars 6th stereo. I am embarrassed to admit it but to my credit usually its not my fault when we have to get a new one... usually its because someone steals it out of our car. Any way it may be a while before we save up enough to get a new one...they are expensive! And we have literally purchased 6 of them...if only car toys had a punch card for this.  Who knows maybe it will eventually turn up at Freds...got to keep the dream alive.

on the plus side...gf pretzels on sale!

Lessons learned from MG

So I have been suffering from migraines for the last 3 months. I have literally had probably 5 days where I had no headache at all and only a handful of days when the headache didn't escalate to a full blown migraine. It has been rough to say the least.

I have been less than able to preform cursory tasks in the home and I have been dealing with pain pretty much all the time. My kids have suffered and my husband has taken up a ton of the slack...he is already really busy with work and ministry so I feel bad when I have a day when I can do nothing but sleep(if only I were able to enjoy it). I feel like I am useless and a burden and I hate feeling that way.

Joy in long baby lashes

I was crying the other night as mg cared for our children and I lay helpless on the couch... a prisoner of the pain racking my brain... I told him how badly I felt that he had to do my job as well as his. He just said "why? This is the day God gave me and I am fine with it" That touched my heart so much. That my sweet mg wasn't bogged down by doing triple duty but in fact he saw it as a gift from God...a part of the good works that God has set aside for him and only him to do...an area he could use to show Gods glory. He didn't say as much but I could see it...the love of Christ shining through him... and it was lovely.

Joy in brothers playing together

Then later this weekend mg taught at church, his message was on Titus 3 and he asked us what distracts us from the the story God is telling in the world and in my life? What takes the place in our mind where insisting on Gods truths should be? He said it better than that though. Any way... I have been thinking about that a lot. And now I know that one of those things for me is migraines. They distract me. I also have been considering how God gives us what He has planned for us each day, special acts of good-or sometimes just attitudes-that reflect him...and sometimes those things come in a package that isn't so pretty(like headaches) sometimes they even cause us pain. And the way we react to them is the way we can reflect the love and(hopefully)the glory of God. I have been doing a cruddy job.

Can I be Fine with what God has planned for me? Can I sit there in the pain of a migraine and see the work of God in my life? Can my attitude be good? Can I still find a way to shine for Him? Usually I just feel sorry for myself(and very rarely)I consider the fact that there could still be joy there-I consider it then dismiss it as a funny thought-but funny it is not. I can still find joy here in this day. I can be fine with the day God has given me and I will be.

Joy in patting the bunny

I can learn here and lean on Him. I can praise Him that not every day is a Migraine day. Praise Him for I am still (even while suffering with intense headaches) receiving His grace and getting more than I deserve(which is death). Migraines are a distraction from his work in my life. When my head hurts I don't remember who I was before and who He is and what He has done in my life...all I know is pain. I don't want that to be the case any longer, I want to win! and even if I still suffer with physical pain I want to win the battle for my mind while I suffer. I want to always remember to rejoice! To insist on the truth. That He is good and He is strong and that He loves me. That He took this rebel to His cause and held me close and called me daughter...That He healed me and grew me and nurtured my heart. That He still Is and will always be the only one who can deliver me. I want to do His good works big and small in my life. Sometimes that may be just having a cheerful attitude and loving those around me and other times it may be sacrificing something I want to do what my family needs. I do not want to be distracted even in the rough spots because being inflicted can be a gift. I want to see it that way from now on...as a gift-as something God has given to me for that day-and I want to do it well for Him even when it hurts.

Joy in chocolate

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
So we do not loose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are unseen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal. 
Revelations 21:4 
he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,  neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away,