Part 2

In case you missed it, Part 1 was about how I believe God created me to work with children and be a mom.

*** Just a little disclaimer, I am NOT pregnant. I don't want to start any rumors :)

I met my husband, Jake, while we were at college at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. We were both very involved with the same campus ministry, the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM). Our circles of friends overlapped and we attended the same church. But there were two definite events in my mind that made Jake stick out to me, way before our relationship began.

1) At a state-wide BCM event, Jake accepted Christ. He stood up, walked forward at the invitation and took care of his soul for eternity. Big deal, lots of us do this, right? The thing about this was that Jake was already an active member of the BCM and a church. He had been on mission trips and was a leader at the BCM. All these would have led us to believe that he was already a member of God's kingdom. But that night he went forward in front of all of us to make that life changing decision and he was baptized a few Sunday's later in our church. I remember thinking that night how much courage it must have taken to walk forward and show us that he was doing all of these things but still needed to humble himself before God. I don't know if I explained that well. But I just noticed him that night, ok :)

2) The youth pastor of our church and his wife, lost their youngest son when he was only 9 months old. It was tragic and from what I understand (please forgive me if I am wrong), there was never any real explanation, he just stopped breathing. This was an event that rocked our whole church and a good portion of the community we lived in. To help cope with their grief the youth minister, his wife and their two boys came to counseling at the BCM with our directors.

(A side note of background information - The BCM was open to students all day long. We could come in and do homework, watch TV, take naps, seek advice, meet with other students, play pool, etc whenever we wanted to. Several of us took advantage of this meeting place and spent many free afternoons avoiding homework there.)

I specifically remember one afternoon that the youth pastor was there with his family. He and his wife were speaking with the directors behind closed doors and their two boys were sitting in the main room of the BCM. Jake came in, saw the boys, picked up a ball and immediately the fun began. The ran all over the BCM, laughing and having a grand time. I watched them with a smile, knowing that those boys were having a good time despite what they were going through. And I thought to myself how great of a father Jake was going to make someday. He was having so much fun with them and he didn't even care that he looked like a big goofball!

I knew from those two things that he was a man worth getting to know. I knew that he was willing to put God before himself and that he would make a good father. It wasn't an easy road, and things happened that I am not proud of but in the end I found my best friend and husband.

Part 1

I enjoy every aspect of children. From children's shows, movies, clothes, room decorations, toys, and books. To their laughter, tears, eduction, development and view on life. Even the dirty stuff doesn't deter me. Ok, puke bothers me, but I can handle slobber, spit up, pee and poop of all colors and variety. I am a teacher and I have worked in daycare and have spent countless hours in church nurseries across this country caring for children of all ages.

It has been this way all of my life. I can't remember a time that I wanted to be anything other than a teacher. I have always been drawn to children. ESPECIALLY babies. Don't believe me? Bring your child within 50 yards of me. Not only will I notice their presence, no matter what I am doing, but my eyes will light up and a smile will come to my face. I can't help it. I try to stop myself sometimes, but it's just part of me.

I walk around wal-mart trying to make babies smile, I read parenting magazines at any doctor's office, I will look at all photos of babies posted by my friends on facebook. It is just hardwired into my brain.

When working in daycare people would say to me, "I bet working there is good birth control!" Nope, not for me. I so enjoyed my time there. I learned SO MUCH about young children. I learned from the other workers most of whom were moms themselves. I learned a lot of good methods of parenting and lots of bad. And mostly, I learned to be comfortable with every (almost) aspect of young children. From diaper blow outs, acid reflux, being peed on, diaper rashes, yeast infections, burping, making bottles, breast milk, heart monitors. Not to mention a fire in the daycare and a toddler choking on a hair clip. Not only did these things not turn me away from parenting, they actually made me fall in love with the idea even more and feel more comfortable with it all!

You know what all these crazy (and sometimes a little creepy) things tell me? God created me to care for children. There is no doubt about that. And I am so glad (most of the time) that my job is to care for children. BUT I also believe that God created my in this way to be a mother.

To be continued...

I wish...

There are an awful lot of things on my wishlist these days. If only we could stumble on a large sum of money....

I would buy one of these. I borrowed one from my friend and it makes EVERYTHING easier in the kitchen. I can whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies in 15 minutes with one of these!

I really wanted one of these that The Pioneer Woman gave away. But alas, I did not win.

I want a privacy put up so we can enjoy ourselves in our backyard. Did you know it costs a good $3300 to have one installed? Jeez! And it will cost us at least $2000 to do it ourselves. Sigh...

And when we have a fence, we can finally get one of these guys. It doesn't matter what kind. Jake wants a dog he can play fetch with and look manly besides. We want to adopt a dog that is about a year old.

And in that backyard I would love this lovely patio set from Sam's Club. It has a wonderful lazy susan and 6 chairs.

And I so badly would love to have a closet full of clothes. Clothes that fit me well, are stylish, fun and comfortable. My walk-in closet looks pathetically empty.

I would love this bedroom set. We currently have hand-me-down dressers that are small and the drawers don't work well. And we have no headboard, just the frame and matresses.

But forget all of that stuff. What I want more than anything in this world...

But as it turns out, these aren't as easy to come by as you would think! EVERYWHERE I look, there are pregnant woman. Everywhere, except my own mirror...

Back on the Horse

I know I've been gone from this awhile but I have not given up! I kind of slacked over the holidays. (You can see my weigh-ins to the left of this post.) I gained quite a bit over Thanksgiving but lost it the very next week. December had it's ups and downs. BUT I only gained 1 pound through it all and I have already lost it. So, now I am getting back on the horse!

I am incredibly proud of myself for only gaining 1 POUND through Christmas break. Usually it is 10-15 lbs. That in itself is a triumph for me. It shows me that I have learned better habits. While I was not tracking my Points, sorry PointsPlus values, I was able to indulge a little at events, eat well during most of the day and mostly keep on track. YAY! That indulgence included my mother-in-laws AMAZING peanut butter fudge! It is just heavenly. And I promise I ate my own body weight in that stuff!

I started a biggest loser competition at my school. We have 16 people competing. The winner will get our $5 entry fees for a total of $80! Now, that's what I call incentive! We have 8 weeks to lose the weight.

We had a great Christmas! We treated ourselves to more than we should have with a Wii, Jake's new cell phone, my beautiful necklace from Jake and a new coffee table - but hey - you only live once! That's how I'll make myself feel better anyway :)

2010

I am stealing this from someone else's blog...

10 for 2010

1. I made some great friends at Addams Elementary School.

2. I lost my job at Addams.

3. I started working at The Apple Tree - one of my best decisions ever!

4. I got a job at my new school teaching pre-k again!

5. I taught 3rd grade summer school - definitely a challenge for me.

6. I got my tonsils out - I sleep so much better now.

7. Jake and I decided to begin trying to start our family - trying - it's all in God's hands.

8. I started to help teach 1st grade Sunday School.

9. I decided to join Weight Watchers and work towards a healthier me.

10. I had another family structure change when Christa decided to leave my mom.

11 for 2011

1. I will continue my journey with weight watchers. And start tracking again!

2. I hope that we can start our family this year. - I have no control of this one!

3. Get a dog for my husband.

4. Continue to make our house a home with decor and furniture we like, not hand-me-downs.

5. Work our on a regular basis.

6. Spend more time with my friends and family.

7. Be a better wife, friend, daughter, sister and aunt.

8. Take my husband to a football game.

9. Pay off our credit card.

10. Build up our savings account.

11. Continue to become a great teacher.

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love all the pretty decorations, good food, seeing family, time off school and of course - presents! I like to get presents but I especially love to give them.

I love to decorate for the holidays! I was always the one to bug my parents until they put the tree up. I decorated my tiny dorm rooms in college and I have especially enjoyed decorating my new home for Christmas. We started off by putting lights up on the house.

Well, my husband put up lights. Poor jake, it took him three days of putting up lights after work, in the dark to get it all completed. He did have help from a friend a the first day. Of course, I helped by sitting on my bum in the house watching TV. :) But it looks so good in the dark!

Well, becuase my husband did all that hard work AND was working crazy hours at his job, I surprised him by putting up the Christmas tree. That's right folks! I got it down from the attic (huge accomplishment) and put it up all by myself! Ok, putting it up was easy but man getting it down from the attic was crazy! I hate the attic! First, you are always scared you will walk off the beam and fall through the ceiling. Then there is the fact that are probably some 8-legged friends living up there. AND then there are the millions of nails sticking out from the roof that are only 5'4" off the floor when your head is 5'9" off the floor.

Anyways I got that sucker up. This tree was a hand-me-down. It was once I really great pre-lit tree from Garden Ridge. Well, now it is mostly a pre-lit tree. Several parts of the lights only came on after replacing bulbs, fuses, a little bit of wiggling and a lot of prayer. And one section will still not light up. So I just strung on a strand of lights we had. (Kind of ghetto, I know). Needless to say, I will be shopping for another tree after they all go on sale! Here is the finished product.

I'm not one of those people who decorate their tree around a theme. I like to put up ornaments from our childhood and every year we pick out an ornament. I hope to allow my children to do that someday too!

Here is the ornament from the year we got married.

Here is the ornament from last year - the year we purchased our home.

Here is one of Jake's childhood ornaments.

One from my childhood.
I enjoy all the memories that are tied to the ornaments.

Of course there are other decorations up. My wreath is one of my favorits. It is made of bells and it made a lovely sound everytime you open the door.
I actually made this one. It is a card holder. I just measured and cut some ribbon for where I wanted to hang it. (I have two hanging up. They are in the middle of three windows.) Then I made a bow out of the same ribbon and hot glued it on there. Then I took some mini clothespins and painted them silver. And I glued them on a varying distances down the ribbon. Voila!

Our stockings and holders. You can't hve a fireplace without stockings!

And of course - the mistletoe!

I am...

A daughter - I have been blessed with wonderful parents. They are not perfect but they love my sister and I very much. I have amazing in-laws who may love me more than their son! :) I have also been blessed to have more people in life that I consider to be parent-figures even though we have no shared DNA. People like Bob and Deb Lipscomb and Marlene Carpenter.

A sister - Not a great one but I love my sister very much. We are very different in all the big ways but deep down we can be surprisingly alike.

An aunt - My nephew is the cutest little thing that ever walked this Earth and he knows it! He is smart and so funny! I am so thankful that God protected him and allowed him to overcome being a preemie.

A teacher - I have wanted to be a teacher since I was very young. It is an amazing feeling to know that I am doing exactly what God designed me to do. I can be lazy and short-tempered sometimes but I really enjoy my career. I am thankful that God gave me such a passion for teaching young children.

A student - I am not in school at this point, though I may someday go for my masters degree. But I try my best to learn something new everyday. Whether that is about children, God, my friends and family, being a wife or just new and interesting things.

A wife - I married my best friend. We laugh and play and just have a good time together (most of the time). We are not perfect spouses but we learn to be better ones on a daily basis.

A friend - I have been lucky to have a lot of friends throughout my lifetime. I have lost touch with a lot of them for one reason or another and I can be insecure when it comes to trying to reconnect with them. I have known great friendships in my 24 years and I hope to continue to make new friends as I grow older.

A cook - I love to cook for my friends and husband. It makes me feel great to get compliments on my cooking. I especially love to bake but I have cut back on that lately.

A mother - No, I don't have kids but I know that I am a mother in my soul. I mother my husband, friends, family (older and younger) and my students. I know that I will someday have children (in God's timing) but until I will just take care of everyone that I can to practice :)

A believer in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord - I am not perfect and I never will be. I do my best to live my life as I think He would have.

Who are you?