Today's Word

You know how it feels when you literally work your tail-end off in every aspect and it just seems like no one notices or cares?  Especially when you're giving it everything you've got and theres still someone who thinks it isn't good enough?  I've had several of those days and feelings recently.  It is hard to work full time and raise a family.  When I get frustrated at work, I sometimes ask myself it is worth it to be away from my children all day and come home exhausted with not much to offer to my family.  I feel like I am doing what is best for our family right now, but I still struggle with the guilt of not being at every school function, and missing the cool things Cason does during the day, or not always giving my husband enough attention.  I struggle with the fact that I stayed home with Lucas and gave him a years worth of my undivided attention, but am not doing the same for Cason. But, I know God has our family right where He wants us right now. He works in amazing ways. I love it when He reminds me of this.  Right in the middle of my chaotic, frustrating morning, my friend turned my day around when she sent me the following email:


I was led to send this to you as soon as I read it : ) Hope it gives you a smile. Hope you are having a great day!!!  I know you work very hard and sometimes it seems for nothing but it helps to know who we truly work for.  You are one of the hardest working and sharpest people I have ever worked with. I know you are strong in your faith and you may not get discouraged as I sometimes do but thought that it may give ya a smile.



“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23, NIV)


TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

In today’s society, many people have accepted mediocrity as the norm. They do as little as they can to get by, always looking for the easy way out. If the boss isn’t watching, they’re playing on the computer. They simply go to work to pick up a paycheck, then wonder why they’re not promoted and don’t see increase. It’s because God doesn’t bless mediocrity; He blesses excellence.

Whatever we do, we should do it to the best of our ability and set the standard. Remember, you are ultimately working for the Lord. He’s the one who put those talents and abilities in you. You are a steward of the gifts He’s given. Other people may show up late. They may complain. They may cut corners. But don’t sink down to their level — you are working for Almighty God. You are called to excellence!

I encourage you today, stay determined. Stay focused. Whether you’re a waitress, a truck driver, an architect, a police officer or a CEO, do it to the best of your ability. God is the one who brings promotion. When you set the standard, He will raise you up and pour out His blessing all the days of your life.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, today I choose a path of excellence. I recognize that the work I do is for You. Keep me close to You by the power of the Holy Spirit and help me to rise up higher in every area of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Good news is that my eyelashes are not sore at all...

 

CLEARLY SOME FITNESS-MINDED ALIENS SEIZED CONTROL OF MY MIND. I have begun the 30-Day Shred.

OH MY MERCIFUL HEAVENS.

 I realized today that I had committed to a 30 Day challenge. I cannot overstate the importance of this discovery because HELLO, ACCOUNTABILITY, NICE TO SEE YOU. I also realized on Saturday that I had been planning to set aside some time to “shred” this afternoon, but I was sort of blase’ about it because the workout only lasts 20 minutes, and how hard could that be, right? I mean, I can do all sorts of things for 20 minutes: I can lift the fried chicken off of my plate and put it into my mouth, I can repeatedly mash the buttons on the TV remote, and I can also send and receive countless text messages while continually sipping an ice cold Coke.

You may be picking up on why the aliens seized control of my mind and convinced me to "sign up" for the challenge in the first place.

So Saturday afternoon, when there was not another living soul in the house, I turned on the DVD and got ready to feel the burn. I even wore my brand new lavender leotard and hot pink leg warmers.

Oh, I kid because there was never a time when I really did own a lavender leotard and hot pink leg warmers.

I will spare you all the details of my initial foray into shredding, but suffice to say that within the first five minutes of the workout I was thinking Not Nice Things about Jillian and her perky fitness compadres. It didn’t help that Anita – who was quickly becoming my new BFF since she was in charge of showing us the “modified” moves, aka The Moves For Those Of You Whose Primary Form Of Exercise Has Been Pointing Your Toes While Typing – had abs so defined that I thought at first they must surely be the creation of some subtle airbrushing, only to realize that OH, those abs are totally real, and MY WORD, they are spectacular.

However, I moved past my bitterness, soldiered through the workout (does it tell you something that I was actually relieved when it was time for the ab segments because that meant I got to LIE ON THE FLOOR?), and y’all, when those twenty minutes were over, my leg muscles were so exhausted that my very first thought was I’ll never walk normally again.

Sure enough, I spent the next forty-five minutes trying to figure out how I was going to walk without looking like some straight-from-the-boondocks contestant on America’s Next Top Model who is trying to impress Tyra with what she thinks is a fierce runway walk. The only way I could manage to keep my knees from locking up was to lift my the tops of my legs to a forty-five degree angle with my waist, then sort of kick out my leg until my foot hit the floor, and later, when I was laughing until I cried about The Day Jillian Nearly Killed Us, I described my new walk as something along the lines of what you’d expect from a demented clydesdale. In other words: it’s very sexy and now.

So Jillian and I have spent time together each night since then.  And tonight Jillian and I will meet again, and I don’t really know what to expect since I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to move my legs at all. However, I have decided that if I am not in fact mobile, then I will track down some sort of beige marker and spend my twenty minutes watching Jillian tell me to WORK HARDER and PUNCH IT OUT while I draw ab muscles on my stomach in an attempt to replicate Anita’s rockin’ six-pack.

Certainly I am climbing to new heights of fitness!

Or at least I will be.

Just as soon as I can, you know, stand up.

Thankful

So much to be thankful for this year.

A roof over our heads.

Good jobs that allow us to provide for our family.

An amazing husband who helps me pursue my dreams.

A supportive family and loving friends.

But, most of all I’m thankful for these two. So very thankful for their health and happiness

Carey's shower

the following pics don't need a whole lot of an explanation... We decorated, talked, laughed, ooohhh'd and ahhh'd over Jeff and Carey's loot, and wished them well! Most of the decor were gifts for the couple, or borrowed from Broxson Hardware. They were very generous and certainly appreciated.

 I made up this cute little game - shower libs! Everyone had fun filling them out and coming up with silly (and suggestive) words!  Carey had fun reading them (mostly to herself) and I think it will be a neat addition to her scrapbook.

 This little cutie was the life of the party. Ain't she cute? Good thing Cason wasn't tagging along with me, he would have been smitten!

 Of course, the mother of the groom and mother of the bride making more last minute decisions!

Can't wait for the wedding weekend, coming up on 12/3!

Another one (or two) bites the dust!

somewhere deep in my brain, i have a mental list of projects that i must complete - it is necessary to my existence. Thanks to pinterest (it's the devil!!), this list is increasingly growing. I was, thankfully, able to cross a couple of said projects off the list this weekend and secure my sanity for at least another week.

One of the projects is a Christmas gift for two very special grandparents, so I am at this time unable to share. I will give a few sneak peeks, though! (Dad... you just thought you were about to see your Christmas present, didnt you?) The boys stripped down to their undies, and loaded up their paint brushes. 

This is what happens when you sprawl out on the kitchen floor with paints and your almost two year old son decides that said painting project would be a good thing to STAND on.

 Notice the blue mustache sitting atop Cason's lip. Don't know how that happened, honest!  He also decided that blue hair gel is the in thing.

the second and third projects of the weekend are no longer a secret. I made my soon-to-be-bride-friend Carey a Christmas ornament out of her wedding invitation.  I also crafted some "redneck wine glasses" that she "pinned" on Pinterest a while back.

Her shower was Sunday. I have a few pictures, but my break is over so back to work I go!

How Poetic...

Though I have been slightly touched by an occasional poem, I have generally determined that poetry isn’t my thing. When I read most poetry, I envision the person writing it and either roll my eyes or burst into laughter. (Nice attitude, huh?)

My beloved friend, emailed me a Sylvia Plath piece not long ago. I rolled my eyes and laughed; that was the last straw. So I decided to give it a go myself. How hard could it be?

Here is an attempt at an art form I still just don’t understand but am finding endless enjoyment in attempting: (Disclaimer: Please don’t be alarmed. It’s [only partly] tongue-in-cheek.)

Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?
Their war cries pound my brain.
Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?
I slowly go insane.
Will you? Can I? Why not?
So goes the daily grind.
But wait–I am their mommy.
I love them.
Never mind.

Thanksgiving Feast at SHE

Last week I took an early lunch break to join Lucas and his class for their Thanksgiving feast at school.  I was fully prepared to make a Subway run after lunch because I know how school cafeteria lunches work! However, I was pleasantly surprised by both the quality and quantity of the food! They served (of course) turkey, dressing, rolls,mashed potatoes, green salad, fruit, apple crisp, milk and juice. It was really quite tasty!
The kids marched into the cafeteria (where the parents were waiting) adorning their self-made Indian and Pilgrim costumes. Lucas was so excited to show me his "deer skin vest" and feather hat.

Evidently, according to Lucas, turkey is good at getting stuck in your teeth!

For their afternoon snack, each student was assigned to bring a Thanksgiving snack as designated by their teacher. Lucas was assigned cornbread muffins.  I picked up a mini muffin tin and we made them together! They were really good- too good, in fact. I couldn't keep Cason out of them so I had to put them where he couldn't reach! I didn't take a lot of pictures.  As you can imagine, the bowl of batter, an almost two year old and a six year old had my hands too full to hold a camera! But, Lucas insisted he take a picture of me (my little photographer in training).

WWW-WE (What We Wore-Wedding Edition)

On 11-12-11, underneath an elegantly decorated gazebo, next to a peaceful lake, Katie Elizabeth Tucker and Kyle Adam Everett joined hands in marriage.  Everything about the evening was perfect- from the handsome groomsmen (biased), adorabe ring bearer (biased), beautiful bride and exquisite menu.  The reception was fancy but fun - great DJ/music and lots of dancing!

Kyle, when Katie came out... I love watching the groom. Everyone else is watching the bride- not me. (Or DAD!)

And, of course Dad had a bit of advice to offer up

What a pretty couple!

So, here we go- What we wore. First, the rehearsal dinner:

Pretty proud of this one - we are all looking at the camera and half-way smiling! Christmas card worthy? Maybe...

And, Wedding night:

I think the boys both looked stunnigly handsome! I may be partial.

My handsome hubby and his bridesmaid. Since we are talking clothes, I'll tell you about his- they were HUGE. His waist measures 36"...the pants were totally sized incorrectly, don't know how that got mixed up but his pants had a 50" waist!! They literally swallowed him.  The jacket was the same - way too big.  Thanks to Dad always having safety pins (amongst other things) in his briefcase, I managed to pin him up pretty good. Between the pins and the suspenders- you couldn't even tell.
Finally - my dress.  I really love it. I hope I get to wear it again soon.  I'm so glad that Eppie and I stumbled onto it.

Couldn't leave out the shoes!!

Here are a few more pictures from the day: