REMINDER

Chill

This morning has been very chill for me.  I wrote myself a cleaning schedule for the week, loaded & unloaded the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, took A to school, read my Bible, cleaned & started the roomba, fixed breakfast & two snacks so for for K, took pics of our fridge to post to craiglist, and fixed myself a cup of hot cocoa.  Now, I'm sitting and I'm reflecting.  As I type all of that, it doesn't sound very chill but one thing that has consistently been missing for me is my Bible time in the morning.  I'm hit or miss.  I'm really going to try this year to be HIT.  It makes such a difference in my outlook and my attitude.  Lots of days, I go go go.  And most of the time it is necessary going, errands, grocery shopping, meeting people to eat lunch or play with K (maybe those last 2 aren't TOTALLY necessary but they are important).  Some days, I'm reminded that I just need to chill. I need to take time to take care of me and my house and not feel so rushed.  When I do, I find myself reflecting more...I'm not so good at that these days.  I'm sitting here reflecting on my time with family over the holidays and how lucky I am to be the wife of Levi and the mother of A & K.  I'm lucky to have the friends that I have.  I am truly blessed, not with things but with people and with love.  I'm also thankful for forgiveness and mercy and grace.  Ashamedly, I admit that I want to harbor and not give mercy and compassion freely to all and that's wrong.  I was reminded during my Bible reading this morning that when I am weak, HE is strong and I can rely on His strength not my own.  That was  good way to start my morning.  As moms, I think we put ourselves last and take care of everybody else and do all the running and fixing and taking care of  and we go on empty so much of the time...let me say I do at least.  I'm trying to reprioritize myself, not to take care of me in a selfish way but to take care of my spirit and soul so my outlook and attitude is more reflective of Christ.  That's my prayer today!!

Groupon-alicious

So, I love Groupon, Eversave, and all the other "deal" websites.  I love them and at times, I get a bit addicted to them:)

Getting my nails done is a TREAT.  I am a once every 3 or 4 month mani/pedi girl and I usually go to nail places where there are 10 chairs, nothing swanky, and I'm reminded of Bon Qui Qui skits every time. 
 
So, today April and I enjoyed one of these deals to celebrate my birthday (back in May).  It was at the Spa at Willowbend in Plano.  There was a wreck on the interstate so we were late.  I called and told them we'd be late.  The woman who answered the phone told me if we were 10 minutes late it was fine but if we were more than that, our pedi/mani would be shortened.  Okay so we go there between 10 and 15 minutes late. We filled out our paperwork and the receptionist who had a very strong European accent informed us that because we were 15 minutes late, we would lose 15 minutes of our services.  April and I looked at each other with a confused expression.  April asked, "What does that mean exactly?" At this point, I'm thinking, "If 10 minutes was acceptable to be late but 15 minutes meant we lost some time, wouldn't we only lose 5 minutes? "  She explained that there was a client right after us and she couldn't make them be 15 minutes late. Okay so I understand and I think we lost a massage.  We got the pedi/mani with paraffin which was wonderful.  Our nail techs were fine but April and I both felt like we were inconveniencing them a bit.  As we sat and let our nails dry, we fully expected clients to fill our spots, no one.  We let our nails dry, paid, and left without any other clients filling our spots.  And as we were leaving and paying, the same receptionist tried to upsale us another mani/pedi for a great price of $55. No offense, I would not pay $55 for what I got today.  Doesn't she know we're Groupon-alicious?  We bought the 3 mani/pedis a month ago for $55!!

My review:
PROS:

• my nails look great
• the mani/pedi was very good 
• I loved the paraffin treatment on my feet and hands.  It was great. 

CONS:

• greeting from receptionist wasn't very understanding or forgiving
• didn't feel welcomed or appreciated as a customer

Final Thoughts: I'll stick with my Bon qui qui nail salons and leave the swanky spas for those with more cash flow!

Moved by Music

I'm getting a jump on my "thanks" for tomorrow. I was listening to our playlist for tomorrow and I was moved.  We're singing Revelation Song.   It is powerful but oh my gosh, I sat here and the tears just came, I mean like bitter beer face crying.  I needed to hear and be reminded of the power that God truly has.  I need to be reminded that He was and He is and He is to come.  The "is to come" is the one that trips me up. I worry and I get anxious and I stress.  This song was the perfect reminder with bitter beer face and all that HE IS TO COME with all power and glory and wisdom.  And when I even type that, I think, "who the heck do I think I am?"  Glad for the reminder as I sat in my room at my computer with hands lifted in the air singing at the top of my lungs tonight.  It was definitely a moment!! (I was kind of surprised my kids didn't run in to tell me to turn it down.)

Thanks

I decided to do a thanks a day during November.  It's been really cool to reflect on all of the people that I am thankful for.  I've been blessed. 

As I was reading about the First Thanksgiving and why we celebrate that day, I was reminded that there are still people in our country who do not experience freedom and who are still oppressed.  That makes me so sad. I want my kids to understand and appreciate what we have but I also want them to be moved to action to help the oppressed.  I want to be a good example of that for my kids and I'm not sure I am.  Definitely need to do some more thinking and "acting" in that area.

that's it!

HELLO?

So, I was slightly offended (not really) when asked earlier this week if I was through with blogging.  I guess by behavior, all signs lead to that conclusion but not in in my heart.  I truly want to document and fill you all in ....because I know you are all so curious as to the happenings of my life.  I realized though at times, my blogging desire borders on a strange desire to complain, fuss, vent on the world wide web.  Although sometimes I find that appropriate, no with my motives or intentions.  I'm trying to tame my tongue and more so, my thoughts.  I've struggled the past month with negativity and criticism.  I am reading a book called, The Dance of Anger. It is fabulous.  I am trying to figure myself out which is not an easy task.  I'm trying to figure out what is it in me that causes such a strong reaction of negativity to certain situations. I don't have many answers but at least I'm connecting some dots for myself.

In other news, this week is crazy.  We've tried very successfully to reduce some schedule chaos.  This week, however, is a chaotic schedule week.  Monday night I had a Scentsy open house at a local high school, then an event at A's school.  Tonight we had K's end of season soccer pics & party.  Tomorrow night, we're going to celebrate Chick-fil-a's 5 year anniversary, Thursday, we've got a meeting, Friday, I have a Scentsy open house, Saturday we have a birthday party.  Isn't that wack-a-doodle??!!  My goal tomorrow is NOT to leave the house except to take & pick up A from school until dinner time.  I'm so doing it;)

Alrighty, that's an update.  You're all caught up on me!!!

The Wagon

I can't seem to stay on it.  I have jogged/walked 3 days this week so far and did some yoga one day.  I've got to be consistent, that's so hard for me.  I'm trying to eat better and I have done okay this week.  It's a battle for me. I'm really trying to remind myself that this is for my health.  UGH!!

In other news, I tried my hand at making pickles this week with my friend Lori. We had a lot of fun and they seem to have turned out pretty well.  It reminded me of my friend Michelle in North Carolina.  She was a master at canning, preserving, and just homemade stuff.  She knew it all.  We had so much fun with that.

That's all I've got today.  It's only 8am and I might be ready for a nap.