Things I've realized since joining the blogging world......*warning* you might disagree!!

Since I started blogging I've had a lot of fun checking out other people's blogs. I love to jump from blog to blog, linking off of others. It's so amazing to see all the different types of blogs and all the fun ideas there are out there. I knew what kind of blogger I would be, but after becoming familiar with some other blogs I have realized more and more some things about myself and I have also realized I'm totally fine with these facts!
I've re-realized ( is that a word???).....

1) I am not crafty. I can't make treasure out of trash or scrapbook a page that looks like it cost $20 to make (and it probably did). I cannot use a saw (because I don't know how and because my husband wouldn't let me...it's just not safe for me hehe). I cannot sew. I cannot build.  And I'm okay with that.

2) I am not a "hippie-mom". So I did make a lot of Jack's baby food (because cost wise it was an amazing difference and it was easy) and I did enjoy wearing him in a moby or carrier when I could. But I don't use cloth diapers, nor will I ever. I did not, nor will I ever co-sleep with my child (same room for the first couple months, yes...but not in my bed) I did not say no to drugs while in labor. I happily accepted my epidural and I'm so glad I did. I was still in control of my body, but I was not writhing in pain. And guess what?! It was still a natural birth because birth is a natural thing! You don't win extra points for going drug free, although lately some woman seem to think it means they are more of a woman for doing so. Props to you if you did, but don't make it a popularity contest (this isn't high school)

3) I am not an organic, eco-friendly fanatic. Yes, I use my own grocery bags (when I remember) and yes we recycle. But I like my packaged food (in small amounts) it tastes good....so shoot me. I buy from the grocery store, and I get it pretty cheap. I love corn from the local farms, but honestly that's about all I get from there, unless there happens to be something else that catches my eye. My eggs come from Costco and my milk from the Umpqua dairy. And it's all yummy. We eat healthy, don't get me wrong...I just don't only buy from farms or the organic section at the store.

People who are/do these things are amazing! That's them and it's great! I love to read about their journey and the fun things that they can do. What can get under my skin is when people that do these things make you feel like you're a horrible person for not. And that's just annoying.

But what I do know about myself is that........

I'm a stay-at-home Mom who spends most of her day on the floor playing with her son. We eat pancakes and bananas and make a big sticky mess. Sometimes the house gets clean, but most days it's not. We color and paint, but I don't pretend he's some future picasso. We go for a walk, play at the park and drag around the wagon. I make sure he eats a good meal and drinks his milk. He loves the Disney channel and I don't blame him. Pretty sure I did too, and I turned out okay. 
I do my best to get my devotions in as well as a shower and maybe a nap during HIS nap time. We really don't leave unless I have to go to the grocery store. I don't have a playdates scheduled or "girlfriend" time. When my husband comes home, we sack out on the couch and watch a favorite show. I'd rather be with him than with anyone else. Our time is sacred and we protect it.
No, I don't work from home or get paid to blog. I don't sell anything on Etsy or have a side-job. Being a mom and a wife is my job and I wouldn't change it for the world. I take care of my boys and  that's what brings me joy and satisfaction. God is who I look to for approval, nobody else. That's the bottom line.

I blog about my life, my family and what God is teaching me. It might encourage someone, it might not. But it feels good to type it out and be vulnerable.

I'm sure I rubbed someone the wrong way with this post....but it's who I am and I've never tried to be anything but. :)

Facelift!

I get so bored with things, so I gave my blog a little facelift. It will never look exactly how I want it to without paying somebody to make it pretty.....so I will just periodically do this when I grow old with it :)

It's pretty cute, I'm not totally in love with it though. Anyhoo...enjoy!

Fill in the blank Friday!

1. One song that always takes me back to my youth is...
Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot. I know, I know...so wrong in so many ways! But some neighbor's friend always had it on, and I learned the lyrics at a very, very young age. Of course I had no idea what I was saying! So, yes, kinda strange...but true!



2. My first concert ever was... 
I can't remember for SURE, but I think it was Audio Adrenaline or Newsboys. At the Britt in Jacksonville, Oregon.


3. If I could create my dream music festival I'd want these bands to be there:
DC Talk, FF5, Joss Stone, Michael Buble, and Celine Dion. Can't see this mix happening, but it's a dream right.....


4. The best make-out/"boot knocking" song ever is:
Let's Get it On by Mr. Marvin Gaye haha!!



5. The best concert I've ever been to was:
Probably the Supertones concert at the Expo. I was a wild, moshing head-bangin' crazy person. It was a blast. Got there SUPER early, we were like the 10th people in line to get in the door. Got a cool orange Supertones shirt (matching my best friend's of course!) and my super cool Dad let us go be crazy, and he hung near the back and enjoyed the music.



6. A memorable musical moment for me was...
Not such a good one.....it was my first and only Jesus Northwest. My favorite band was Newsboys. So me and this other girl decided to skip the actual concert, and hang out by where their cars are. We were told that this would be where they signed autographs at the end of the night. So, we could still here them play, but weren't up in the mix of it all. We stood there for over 4 hours only to watch them jet off in a limo right away. Needless to say I was no longer their #1 fan. :(



7. The song on my ipod that's getting the most playing time these days is:
Family Force 5 Love Addict. Great workout song!

**Just started following Lauren over at her cute blog and this is a little thing she does on Friday's! So I'm gonna start doing it, but I still haven't figured out how to link BACK!! I got a McLinky account and everything, but I'm totally lost. So, if one of you can help I'd love it! :)**

Kutless Concert!!!

Tonight was the Kutless concert at our church! It was fantastic! Kutless is from Oregon, and 3 of their band members graduated from High Schools here. I went to school with the lead singer's sister and sister-in-law, so I have been fortunate enough to see them before!

This is for their It Is Well tour, and opening for them is The Museum and Chasen. To be honest, I hadn't heard of these other bands before tonight, but they were great! I especially liked The Museum, and got to meet the band members after the concert. Super cool guys, with a heart of worship.

I think that was what was most evident about tonights concert. It really had the feeling of a worship service. Kutless played several songs in acoustic, including my favorite Let You In. And....wow. It was just awesome!

I am a concert type girl. I LOVE it. I'm usually down in the front jumpin' around, head bangin' with the rest of 'em. But tonight I sat by my hubby in the balcony, with the rest of the old people. Haha...just jokin...sort of :)
It wasn't quite the same, but the view was awesome. Here are some pics. They are fuzzy, but my camera is old and they were movin around all over the place!

The Museum

The Museum

ChasenC

Chasen

Chasen

Kutless

Kutless

Jon Micah from Kutless

Kutless




Here's a lil video for you too!!

Wordless Wednesday....or not

Well...it was going to be a wordless Wednesday...but it won't let me load any pictures!
Boo!! Oh well...:) I'll try again later!

Hello Tuesday.......

Happy Tuesday everyone! Geesh, it's been forever since I blogged!!

Okay, real quick....I got an itouch this past weekend, and it's like super smart. So I was typing the word Geesh into a comment on Facebook and it auto-finished it for me. Well, I didn't check it and after it posted I saw what it wrote.....

Gershwin! Ha...that just hit me funny. So, now I think I'll say Gershwin when I usually say Geesh.

Okay, on to more important things like how cute my son is.... he "helped" me do dishes last night. And while we washed we sang, "clean clean clean". So Daddy came home from work to find this....so he snapped a few! It was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself :) :)

Well, this week is pretty crazy, but we get to leave for VACATION on Sunday after church! Whoopie! We are headed to Newport, Oregon on the coast! This is a much needed time away! I look forward to blogging about that as well as the Kutless concert that is at our church on Thursday!

Love love love them...check them out here!!

Hope everyone is good!

Wordless Wednesday

A must read..........

Got this book from my hubby for Easter

Finished it in 5 days

Would have been less, but I have other responsibilites haha!

Check it out!!

Her Mother's Hope

Pear Blossom Day!

Ah....Pear Blossom Day! For those of you NOT from the Valley, this is a pretty big day for us :) First there are the races. We have a 5k, a 10 mile, a 2 Mile and a 1 Mile Fun Run for the kiddos. Anyone and everyone is welcome, walkers and runners alike.... and they come by the hundreds....or thousands!
Check out the run info here if you want! 

For the 5k there were, get this.........1,118 finishers!! WOAH. It is nuts out there! For the 10 Miler there were 1,580 finishers! Familes come, Dad's and Mom's with jogging strollers....Grandma's and Grandpa's walk with their grandkids.... it really is a family event!

After the runs are done, most people head home and shower and then head back downtown for a parade! Floats and cars and trucks and tractors and high school bands galore! This year there were over 120 separate floats! We have everything from the Shriners to the Girl Scouts and Papa John's Pizza to the YMCA and Cheerleaders and more! They pass out candy and flyers, do stunts, sing songs etc.

THIS year my dear hubby thought it would be super cool to have our Saturday Night Worship Band have a float. Sooo.....they did :) So after he ran his 5k he ran home, showered and headed to the staging location.

Oh...and the 5k starts, yes STARTS at 7:00am...

They loaded all their gear (drum set, amps, mics, guitars, keyboard and soundboard) on the float, plugged it into a generator and put it all on a trailer! They had teens pass out flyers for our church services and water bottles. They were at the END of the parade, so it was a long wait. But SOOO worth it! They sounded great!

In years past we have seen some church floats (no offense) that were just plain....boring. If I wasn't a church goer, frankly it would have turned me off. Loving God is an exciting thing! That should be represented! And this year it was! The played and sang their hearts out for over 2 hours while strolling along the parade route!

When they finally came past us, it was all I could do to keep Jack from running to Daddy! :)

The crazy part is that now they will tear it all down, set it back up at church and do a Worship Service tonight at 6pm. Wow. They all worked so hard, and it really came off good. Then several of them will get up tomorrow (my husband being one of them of course) bright and early and head to church for two more services! Can someone say CRASH afterwards!!!??? :)

Anyways....Pear Blossom Day is a fun family day and after the parade and through tomorrow there is also a little "fair" type thing downtown with booths and games to keep the party going!

 Pear Blossom is part of this community, and it's a fun tradition for the family. My Dad, sister an I all ran the 5k along with my hubby. Jack got to hang out with his Grandma and cheer us across the finish line! Although I think he was more interested in all the Police motorcycles and dogs :)

I will post pics of OUR experience this year as soon as I can!

Some super cute pics!

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider to keep the boys from running off!

Jack and his cousins Zoi and Miles

HUGS!

The most hilarious picture...totally spacing out! All of them! :)

Blessings upon blessings

Today I am just thinking and meditating on all of the blessings God has given me. When you really sit back and think on it, it can be pretty overwhelming.

I think it's good to write this stuff out because days come where it's not so easy to remember all He's given me. But if I can look back and see what I've written down...it's a good and healthy reminder when I lose my way. Take some time to write down every little blessing you can think of.

*so blessed to be in this house. yes it's a rental, but it's great and i love it. i pray God would give it to us someday, but until then...i'm so blessed to have this fantastic roof over our heads and to be near a park and my parents all at the same time!

*so blessed that my husband has friday's off. he works every other day, but friday's are OURS. we protect them by not scheduling things apart from eachother as best we can. it's family day.

*so blessed that my son, although sick with a yucky cold right now, is healthy.

*so blessed that i get to stay home with jack. my hardest, most trying of days at home is better than the best days i ever had at work. i am so thankful. it's so worth giving up other things and sacrificing to make sure i can be with him. how else could i capture all these insanely cute videos of him!?

*so blessed to have a sister that is 9 years younger than me. we are so close and i forget sometimes she's still 17. she has an amazing drive and desire inside of her. she can do whatever she wants, and she trusts God and loves Him so much. i am so proud of her and thankful for her.

*so blessed that after almost 7 years of being married to my best friend, he is still head over heels in love with me and he still woos me. each day gets better and better and i fall even more in love with him.

*so blessed that my husband is such an amazing dad. and jack adores him. it makes me teary watching them.

*so blessed that God loves me, no matter what. to sit and ponder that is refreshing.

Crazy House!

Hello everyone :) I hope you all had a fantastic Easter! We sure did, our Saturday night service was awesome and then I got the little dude dressed up for Sunday AM service too! We spent the day with our WHOLE family and some adopted family too! Just enjoying God's blessings!

Usually right before Easter is the crazy time in our house, with my husband being the Worship Pastor, we usually have a big event that he has to oversee which means extra practices and such. This year we did not do that, so before Easter wasn't too bad! But this year for the first time, our Saturday night band will be in the big Pear Blossom Parade on Saturday! And my hubby is running the 5k in the morning before that, and then still doing Saturday night service after! So...needless to say, he's a bit stressed and things are a little wild!
Also my poor lil man has another stuffy nose. After 2 sets of antibiotics it looks like we're heading into the doctor again. Hoping it's just a little allergy or something, he's so healthy otherwise!

So it's just a tad nuts around here :)

Here are some photos of Easter stuff and a couple from my Mom's 50th Birthday Celebration!! Enjoy!

My boys :)

Looking for eggs in the rain!

With my Husband, Son,  Dad, Mom, Sister and Chris

PS- If any of you are on Facebook let me know, I'm there all the time!!

Okay, can I just say this..........

GOD IS GOOD.

He is. So So So Good.

I don't blog in awhile, I feel maybe I should stop blogging? I don't know....

Then God does something cool, cause He's cool.

And I remember that I didn't do this just for me. I hoped and prayed that God would use it for someone else too. And He's faithful.

Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing and praying. I love all of your blogs as well and love this cyber connection God allows us to all have. And one day we'll meet face to face and hug eachother, because we know one another.

I hope you feel God's faithfulness today and that you hold onto Him just as I am. And that throughout this Easter weekend you can reflect once again on what God did for you and me!

Blessings!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's 50th Birthday! Nope...no joke, it's really today! My Mom LOVES Birthdays! She could care less if there is a party, or how old she is turning. She just loves to celebrate and enjoy family and friends and life!

Tonight though, we are having a HUGE Birthday party! I'm talking 80+ people! It's gonna be a blast! I can't wait!!

My Mom is an incredible person.

She has always been sacraficial, trustworthy, honest, comforting, loving and kind. She has set the perfect example for me on how to be a great wife and mom. She loves to love on people, she loves to give she loves to make other people happy.

She has taught me so much and I love that because of her I get to teach my kids the same things.

I hope today is everything she hoped for. I hope I can be like her when I grow up :)

Meeting Mom for the first time....

Graduation Day

Wedding day....almost 7 years ago!!

Love you Mom!!