exciting!!

i have had a very lazy, but exciting day. i watched disc 2 of season 1 of "how i met your mother." zach has got me totally hooked on it. i don't think i really payed attention to it - except that britney was on it for an episode or something. but ya'll, i really encourage you to netflix the seasons!! so incredibly funny... go get it now. for reals.

the other exciting part of my day? OH! there are two more exciting parts!! 1) got a pedicure!! and i went with a friend... double yay! 2) i have been searching for months for frozen pureed butternut squash here in clarksville... and today I FOUND IT!!! i am so so happy that it should be embarrassing. who cares that it was only in the organic section and one cup of it cost me 3 bucks?!? i sure didn't care. i'm eating it for dinner tonight!

what a weekend!

i ended up having a pretty great weekend. well, minus the georgia game, but let's not even go there....

saturday was operation serve and it went really well. a group of us went to an assisted living facility to hang out with the residents. it was very rewarding. i learned to play crazy 8's (from a 93 year old). and of course, we played bingo (love it!).

and then today after doing the nursery during the 9 o'clock service, i went to a titans game! and i got to sit in box seats!! it pretty much made my day. i sort of love the titans now. sorry falcons...

i am so tired. i will try to write a more exciting/entertaining post later this week...

i love thursday nights

there are a few things i want to talk about tonight, even though i should be going to sleep....

1) grey's freakin anatomy. anyone still watch it? well i do and i don't know where to start... loved seeing the army doctor dude!! how can you not love a guy in uniform?!? oh, and the crazy opening scene?!?! i freaked out. and THEN the crazy one-liners that also freaked me out. i have a good feeling about this season. OH and i was so happy to see denny. well, happy slash sad.

2) the office.... YYYYEEESSSSSSS!!!! ryan made me laugh in this episode, and i'll leave it at that just in case people haven't seen it yet.

3) it is almost october. let me repeat that: it is almost october. last friday, the 19th, marked one year of deployment. in october, i will be able to say "when is my husband coming home, you ask? oh, next month." NEXT MONTH. sure, it will probably be the end of november, but um, that is still NEXT MONTH thankyouverymuch. and i am so ready. you kind of get into a groove during a deployment (you have to, unless you want to go crazy or act like a basket case 24/7) but i have pretty much hit the wall and need my other half home. it is time!



OH MY GOSH i totally almost forgot to mention that i saw MARIA (sonia manzano) from sesame street speak at APSU tonight. i LOVE her. it is so refreshing to hear wonderful and articulate speakers, you know? and my kids are going to grow up on sesame street.

i believe that children are our future

today was my first day of substitute teaching!! ahhh!! but, God totally worked it out - i got to the classroom and low and behold the student teacher was there and stayed until lunch! so i got to feel out the class and watch someone in action for like, 2 hours. amazing.

so i tried to be mean, but i was totally outdone by the other teachers. they really know how to snap at kids. i sort of thought it was over the top... but whatev, they are probably tired or something.

my part of the day: a student (boy) said to me "i love gymnastics. i can do all my splits." he was my FAV. i signed his cast.

so after my first day of work and making money (a very minimal amount) i drove home thinking "now i can really connect with songs like 'it's 5 o'clock somewhere' and 'take this job and shove it' and, of course, 'get drunk and be somebody" and it's not about the alcohol, it's abot the new state of mind i now have: the working man's state of mind....

ha

celtic love

two Christmases ago i was watching tv and came across my public broadcast station. pbs was airing the "celtic woman" concert and that day my life changed. i love them. well, tonight i am again, sitting at home and pbs is now airing "celtic thunder" - the male version of celtic woman. OH MY DEAR LORD I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. well, maybe - if zach was sitting here watching it with me :)

a new list

ok, so as i mentioned in my last post, i went rafting over the weekend. i was seriously nervous about it for like, 48 hours before i went. but i lived! which makes me think i should try other things. (even though it will still take considerable force/persuasion.) so one day i would like to do the following:

1. swim with manatees (ok, this doesn't make me nervous at all. they are gentle giants)

2. walk on hot coals (i have dreamed about this before, surprised?)

3. walk across a really, really high suspension bridge (the kind between mountains, you know that sway and whatnot)

4. shoot a bear with bear spray (take that bear!) (ok, i don't really want to do this)

5. sing karaoke in front of a crowd - and i do mean breakin' it down

6. do one of those parasail things behind a boat

oh that is all i can think of for now. anyone have any ideas?

(ps - lucy, we rafted the ocoee river in tn, just up 75 from chattanooga. their last weekend is this weekend. but if you go next year - and you should - ask for chris b. he was our guide and was so awesome! here is the site if you want to look: http://www.hcrivers.com/ )

i went camping this weekend

ohhhh and it was a funny, funny sight. only a haiku will do...

camping and rafting:
i know i was annoying.
i whined a whole bunch.


hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

choices

(hey, it looks like i made two posts this morning, BUT the one i wrote last night didn't post, so i did it today :)

ok so, in community group on tuesday we talked about choices and what kind of things influenced our choices. all the kind of decisions i would think of were big ones, the kind you spend time on and pray about - like getting married, what career to choose, etc. but isn't it crazy how God changes your life in those seemingly meaningless choices?

for example, when i was a junior in high school my mom had just started teaching. my dad travelled a whole bunch and mom was getting pretty overwhelmed. teeth were really important in our fam, and kara had an orthodontist appt that my mom couldn't get her to. so mom put her foot down and made dad take kara. i don't really know if there were fighting words exchanged between my parents, but dad actually didn't go on a business trip that day to take kara to the orthodontist. he arranged for someone else in his company to go to the meeting for him. that day two planes flew into the WTC. my dad was supposed to be in first tower hit, on one of the top floors. the man he sent in his place died.

is it not insane how much different today could be for my family?!? why God sent mr. spence to nyc and not my dad that day i will never figure out. but i am so grateful. so i hope all of my three readers today remember mr. spence and pray for his family and all those who lost loved ones on 9/11.

well, i think i'll go call my dad now.... (that sounds really corny, but really, i'm calling right now)

hmmm

tonight at remix the youth pastor, or whatev the his title is (michael bayne) asked who we can share our worst failures with. he named three. i mean, it is really hard for me to count because i know i hold onto things so long before i tell people. anyways, i can name two people. sort of crazy to think about, huh? am i the only one with such a low number?




breaking news: i'm on a budget and have been for about 2 weeks. (thank you zachary and dave ramsey.) i really should not share this, but here it is: i actually take a small calculator with me when i go grocery shopping now - you know, just to keep track with my spending. but i am so embarrassed that i hide it in my purse. i am like, 24 going on 80. again, a big thanks to the husband and mr. ramsey.

dream lover come rescue me...

sorry for the mariah carey reference. couldn't help it.

so, i am thinking i need to make one of those post "categories" for all of my dreams because sometimes they are too good NOT to blog about. last night was no different:

ok, so in my dream i got a job and apparently jobs were really hard to come by and the fact that i got this job was a very good thing. so here is the scene: the boss lady was in a power suit and very well-to-do looking, with a really cool up-do. and i am dressed nicely too. we are in a large building that was like a nice hotel... except there were no elevators or stairs, but there was a ramp that spiraled up - all nicely carpeted. sounds normal, right? then the boss opens a door and in comes CATTLE. so we corral the cattle up the ramps with their little hooves galloping on the nice carpet. then the boss tells us to grab a cow and wrangle it into a stall where we have to kill it. well, i go into HYSTERICS. i am crying and REFUSING to take the cow's life. i was pleading with my boss "i cannot do this!! i don't care if i have to lose my job!! i don't care if my husband wants me to work" i was incoherent and a complete mess. it was so ridiculous.

so i ended up sleeping through my alarm and waking up 20 minutes before my final. (that part is real life.)

irrational thought process...

... are my life.

example:

i have to small round tins - one of cashews and one of almonds. the other day i had a few almonds, and stacked them on top of the cashew tin. but - the almond tin is slightly larger than the cashew one, so it stacked, but seemed unstable to me. and in the moment, i literally thought "if there is an earthquake, these tins are totally going to fall" so, i guess i am most worried that in an event of an earthquake, my tins of cashews and almonds are going to topple and make a mess.

again, my life.

brrriiiiittttnnnneeeeyyyy!!

britney looked so good on the vma's!!!

i don't care what people say, i want a come-back!!!

a shout out of sorts

this shout out goes to my brother, will(ie) and this is not a nice shout out. this is a "hey, why haven't you called me back? why must i find out that you were in nashville by your (awesome) girlfriend who is down in tuscaloosa? when i go to chattanooga next weekend i will not swing by to take to to lunch or dinner. well, i will.... just call me. if you don't, i will name one of my sons william before you have a chance to. ok, love you!"

and since i am shouting out to my sibling, i'll add one for kara, who doesn't read this, but whatev. kara: "you should really come visit me. i am finding single guys for you to date practically everyday. actually, don't visit me, just move in. i'll be a better roomie than mom and dad... well, minus the free groceries. love you :)"

ok, now one for kings: "hey yo! don't make all the sorority girls too jealous at once. give small glimpses of your awesomeness in daily doses - but not all at once, they will get overwhelmed. and don't break up with will, because if you do i fear i will never know anything about him. miss you and love you!

oh this is fun. here is a shout-out for my love: "if you were home, there would be no room for you in our bed. i keep all the pillows in your place now. i don't put them on the floor anymore to prevent brown recluses from sneaking in them and attacking me. but please come home soon anyways, i'll find a new place for the pillows. love you!!"

double post kind of night...

ok, so i don't mean to over do the blogging, but i have seen this video several times over the past weeks...

i had a major mess-up/set-back kind of day today. the kind where you sit down at the end of the day and just wait for the weight and regret of it all to fall on you... and wow, did this bring me back to His arms. His Love. ohhhh how do I ever forget? Even after a day like today He.loves.me. Sometimes that just brings me to my knees.


don't even watch, just hear it.

hey, it is september!!

first of all, my previous post with the youtube video: totally not supposed to be "oh woe is me, i am an army wife" it was more... "um, look at that crazy man sing!" (i shouldn't make fun, but well...)



okay, i'm watching friends, and i just realized that ross and rachel talked about baby names before they said "i love you." i learn something new about that show everyday. productive? no. fun? yes.



it is september, people. SEPTEMBER!! that means in about two weeks zach will hit ONE YEAR of deployment!!! i'm sorry for the repetition, but you'll be reading it all month. brace yourself.

i would now like to share a story of shattered pride: a few weeks ago i was hanging out with my good friends. there were other people there, and i met them. well, i talked to this one person for about, oh, 5 minutes. about a week later i see this person again... and they do not remember me. i had to reintroduce myself. here is what went through my mind during the exchange: excuse me?!?! i had a conversation with you!!! i was a good listener and i am charming. i am MEMORABLE. no, i don't remember your name, but you forgot my face!!!

phew, i feel better now. sometimes a nice reminder of "it's not about me" is refreshing, no?

(hey kings had her first college exam today!! *applause* :)