#onebigtruth

I could say that I haven't had one big truth but along the way, especially in adulthood, I have small truths that have hit me and encouraged me at different times.  You know like Oprah says you have an "aha moment".  I really love when you are reading through your Bible and something you NEED to hear just jumps off of the page.

I am guilty of not always being so enthusiastic about reading my Bible or having a "quiet time".  But it seems like when I make the time to sit down, slow down, and really get quiet to hear God speak He never ceases to amaze me.  In this season of my life God has constantly reminded me that He is in control.  I'm not always cheerfully accepting of His plans over mine but I know His plans are far better for me.

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  

This is one of those moments that I need to take a deep breath and exhale because I am what most would consider a Type A personality.  Driven, goal-oriented, a perfectionist, a control freak....and all of the other characteristics that keep my Things To Do list long and my brain on overload.  So to work so hard to at what I consider so important and plan things the way that I want them to go and then they go totally different has been a BIG lesson for me.  Not just a lesson in life but something for me to work through in my relationship with God.

It's in those moments when I have to accept and really embrace that I am lil' ol' me and He is the Creator of this world and omnicient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.  So why is a girl like me so stressed that my life looks so different than the one I had planned when I graduated from college.  How did this super ambitious, career girl become a stay-at-home wife and now mom?  I know that His plans are far better because I absolutely love staying home....and not just because I spend my day with this super active and adorable 15 month old.

The last 4 years of staying home have kept me at the foot of His throne because I was so far off of the path that I had laid out for me.  When life is going well it has been so much sweeter because I would have never planned it this way.  So whenever I hit a rough patch mentally and spiritually I tape Jeremiah 29:11 to my bathroom mirror to remind the girl I see in the mirror that He's got it!

  

Friday....

Oh Friday....we meet again! ;)  It's laundry day around here, or in the words of Minnie from The Help "change the da*n sheets day"!

Credit: www.goodhousekeeping.com

Saturday morning the hub's alumni association chapter is volunteering at the local food bank.

Credit: www.seriousseats.com

Then Saturday afternoon my Emmie is invited to her girlfriend's 2nd birthday party!  Small people celebrating ;)

Credit: www.rayneisonrealtor.wordpress.com

To cap off a super busy Saturday his is on this weekends menu for the hubs and I.  It just happens to be a favorite around here.  Run, don't walk, to get the ingredients to make this....your stomach will thank me!  And don't ever say that I didn't help you!  ;)

Grilled Salmon Gyros on the Food Network

I Wish...

I could be disciplined enough to get up before my kid every morning.
I could keep all of the drawers in my house neat and organized.
I could read my Bible and Bible study everyday.
I could work out and be fit despite my laziness.
I could not be lazy....I digress.
I could be a better friend.
I could sing (it's definitely not my gift).
I could more optimistic than fearful.
I could have more faith when it's not all good.
I could really swim and not just float.
I could really enjoy motherhood.
I could let go of who I want to be and really embrace who God wants me to be.

In a Twilight Zone

Lately I've been feeling very unorganized and in my attempts to get organized I find myself stressed out!  The perfectionist in me knows that I have got to get it together, but the "so out of order" mama that I have become is fighting against it.  I need order for my Emmie and most importantly for myself.  If I don't have some order everything in my world suffers. Unfortunately, I have become very dependent on a calendar and a "things to do" list.

I have read about people like this...you know the kind that need alarms on their phones, their ipads, and sticky notes on their mirrors.  I have been trying very hard not to become one of those, but I a, headed that way quickly.  The thing that has surprised me most is that it's not just one area of life, it's everything.  This past Sunday I stayed up until 11:30 finishing up so much needed "housework", cleaning out the microwave and refrigerators.  Along the way I found other things that needed to be addressed, so naturally I made little sticky notes and left them on my bathroom mirror and the microwave.

As I was turning in for the evening my guy comes in as says "what's going on, am I in a twilight zone?  I feel like I'm on The Color Purple, you have notes everywhere."  I couldn't help but laugh and then I realized that's it!  When I don't have it all together that's what it feels like, a twilight zone.  Leave it to my guy to put a finger on it!  Here's to coming out of the trance.  ;)

 

 

Sunday Too Soon!

I can't believe that it is Sunday again already!  This past week has flown by, everyday I have been frantically trying to finish my To Do List for the party and I really don't remember much else.  At some point I ate, bathed, and slept but hosting parties is stressful. Yesterday was Emerson's Fairytale First Year Party and we had lots of fun.  Now that I have come down off of the high of party planning and entertaining I am exhausted!  Thankfully my parents are here to keep my girl entertained while I do nothing but lay in my bed and clean out my DVR.  I haven't gone through all of the pictures from the party but here's a sneak peek at all of the fun.

She was running on fumes

Way past her nap time!

Proud dad...she was clinging tight to avoid her nap!

To end the weekend on a high note tonight we are grilling salmon from Guy Fieri's Grilled Salmon Gyros and going to RELAX.  My salmon has been marinating for a few hours and it's just the easiest way to put a meal on the table that tastes good and doesn't require a lot of clean up.  I don't make it into gyros but I do make the tomato and onions and I usually pair it with a salad and baked potato.  It really is the perfect summer meal and something that everyone will enjoy...plus it looks really fancy. ;) I hope you have had a wonderful weekend...Monday is less than 12 hours away!  

Let Freedom Ring

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

 -Dr. Martin Luther King 

No News Would Have Been Good News!

Well today is Monday and I'm hoping that this week will be a little less eventful than last.  Last week I was glued to the tv trying to keep up with the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial, Aaron Hernandez's arrest, Paula Deen's N-word fallout, the Boston bomber's indictment and the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage and voting rights. All of which made for an interesting news week.  Of course there were other news stories that were not as highly publicized but these kept Twitter and Facebook abuzz!  For some reason I feel like the news is always more interesting in the summer.  Maybe because I can actually slow down and watch it...who knows!  I am so not a news junkie, I don't even watch the nightly news but I have been all on www.ajc.com for the latest on Paula Deen and www.boston.com for everything Aaron Hernandez.

souce: www.tmz.com

Source: www.businessinsider.com

On top of the crazy news week we celebrated our 5th anniversary on Friday.  To make it extra exciting we spent the afternoon in the pediatricians office with a reaction from the 12 month MMR vaccine.  So much for "celebrating"! ;)  It's always exciting when real life trumps the fairy tale you wish for!  Now that we have beat the 101.7 fever and now have the rash that rounds out the reaction, I can say this we should be better very soon.  Better in that my parents arrive tomorrow and Emerson's Fairytale First Year (1st Birthday) Party is on Saturday!  Once all of the family leaves town and the floors are re-mopped...I can kick up my feet and really relax because the grandparents are here on Emerson Duty!  Maybe Chris and I can sneak away and go to dinner or something.  Last year we had a 3 week old baby that we were afraid to leave, what a difference a year makes.

Sweaty nose from her fever breaking...poor thing was miserable!

My contribution to the economy via Walgreens! ;)

So here's to an exciting but quiet Fourth of July week!  I just realized that today is July 1st.... I am begging that no one do anything foolish this week.  We have had enough foolery in June...just ask the NFL!  

Just because it has been an AMAZING 5 years!