Random Ramblings...

Has it really been over a month since I've blogged?? 

Yes. It indeed has. 

And GUESS WHAT!??! Christian is going to be ONE in just 4 days!!!! 

How is that even possible!?!? Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital? And I mean, I haven't done a baby update post since he turned 9 months, so he must still only be 9 months...right?? 

Life has been very full lately and blogging has been left at the wayside. Not that I don't love just spilling my thoughts out onto my computer screen and sharing loads of pictures of my handsome little man. I've just been prioritizing differently lately. I value time with my ever growing baby boy and a clean house more than I've valued documenting our life lately. 

I wish I could share a bagillion pictures...but it seems I have yet to figure out how to back up my photos onto disks yet *gasp* (I better not lose every photo I've taken over the past year before I figure that out!!!) and so I haven't exactly done a photo dump from my phone lately either... 

Over the past 2 months or so, as I said, life has been FULL. 

We moved into our new house and have been busy making it our home. 

By that I mean we have been making lots of trips to Home Depot, attempting projects from Pinterest only to find out that the original pin didn't exactly include every step for the project, meaning the project doesn't really work for us and we have to start over.... 

It also means I've been painting...so far all I've painted is some trim in our bathroom and the bathroom door...painting with a baby means only painting during nap time.

Day #1 Nap - Tape for painting the trim

Day #2 Nap - Prime the trim

Day #3 Nap - Paint the trim 

Let the paint continue to dry because I realized that I bought oil based paint.... ugh.

Several days later...tape for painting the walls

Wait for new paint brushes to arrive since I couldn't get the first paint brush cleaned from the oil based paint... 

Day #10 Nap - Prime the door 

Day #11 Nap - Go to paint the door and find that a bird pooped on it while it was drying...ai yi yi

Clean the door and then attempt to find something to use as a drop cloth so I can actually paint the door inside

Paint side 1 of the door 

Maybe I'll actually be able to get the door finished tomorrow and back on and then get the walls painted in the bathroom so I can move on to the next room..

LONGEST. PROCESS. EVER.

And all of this has been for just ONE room. Ha ha 

Maybe I'll find time to share some DIY tips after all of my projects!

**Note to self** 

Oil based paint paints on beautifully but takes FOREVER to dry and is a PAIN to clean up! #newhomeownerfail

Goo Be Gone is a great fill in when you don't have mineral spirits! 

On another note...garage sale season has started and we have been scoring some MAJOR deals!!!

But along with garage sale season has also come allergy season...the worst one YET! Boo. 

The weather has been getting nicer, though, and we have been spending TONS of time outside...hence the allergies :) Christian cries when I make him come inside. We love walks and park time and time on the deck! 

Christian has also started walking!!! Not fully walking but he has taken 4 steps on his own and will do this periodically. 

Those are just a few of the highlights from the past 2 months. 

 In college, a very wise teacher once told me: 

"You can have it all, just not all at once" 

In this season of my life, I am realizing just how true this is. 

I wanted to be a stay at home mom so that I could have time with my baby boy. As a stay at home mom my focus could then be on caring for Christian and our home and family. 

This has always been my dream. 

Lately I've found myself asking, "If this is my dream, then why don't I embrace it and live it? I don't need to blog...at least not in this season." 

I still want to blog and hopefully will, but I want to spend this season enjoying what God has given me and the opportunities I have been blessed with. 

In this season I'm going to be a mom. 

Just a mom. 

And that is enough. More than enough and all I've ever dreamed of. 

And right now that season is calling. Somebody is awake from his nap and apparently doesn't want to just play with daddy. 

Hopefully I'll blog again, but today I'm enjoying this season. 

What season are you currently enjoying? What does life look like for you?

 What are you having right now in your process to "have it all"? 

The Thankful Project Day 18: A Choice.

Welcome to day 18 of The Thankful Project. Today's prompt is: A Choice. To learn more about The Thankful Project, find the list of prompts and join in the fun, click {here}.

I'm linking up with Kenzie at Chasing Happy for this post. 

Actually, this is yesterday's prompt...I'm a day late. But if you remember right, I said I wouldn't be posting every day, so I guess this is when you're getting it!

Choices.

Do you like them?

It seems the older I get, the more choices I have to make. Making choices is not something I'm necessarily thankful for as I'm SUPER indecisive!! But one choice that I've made and I'm so thankful that I did, is the choice to be part of Christian Community.

When my husband and I first joined our church, we were only dating. We were young {actually we still are young} and wanted to be a part of a couples group. Unfortunately Fortunately enough for us, our church didn't have a young couples group. I say "fortunately" because this meant we got to start our own group! Since we were only dating, it seemed weird for us to join a couples group of seasoned married people. Looking back, I know they would have been great mentors for us, but I'm so glad that we decided to form our own group.

God really has formed this group and we are so lucky to be part of it!

It's been just over 2 years now since we decided to start our own group and it's been a long journey. Actually, it took several months from the time we decided to "start" our group for dating, engaged, and newlywed couples before we even had a group! Being that we were only dating, we didn't fit into a lot of the couples that were looking to join groups. Instead of forming our own group, we actually formed 2 other groups first! Neither of which we were invited to be part of...sheesh! *all part of God's plan*

Finally, in January 2011, we had our first small group! We hosted it at Jim's house and were so nervous that no one would show up! We actually only were meeting with 2 other couples at the time...both were just dating. Eventually a married couple joined our group, Jim and I got engaged, one of the other couples got engaged, and another couple broke up. Over the past 2 years, though, our group has really grown and changed.

I am so blessed by them! 

We now have 6 couples {that's a total of 12 people!!} with 2 more prospective couples joining! I can't even put into words the blessing that this has been for us. It means so much to have couple friends who are in the same season of life and who love the Lord. It's also been really fun to all "grow" together. We are not only learning more about God and each other, but we are also growing through seasons. Jim and I are now married with a baby, another couple just celebrated their one year wedding anniversary, 2 other couples just welcomed little ones, and we hope to soon see another couple get engaged...soon :)

These people have become our best friends.

They are the people we hang out with on the weekends.

The people we share our joys and our hurts and concerns with so they can lift us up in prayer.

The people we talk about our kids with and learn about parenting with.

The people we laugh with and learn about God from.

We do life together.
And that is what I think God designed community to be. 

Acts 2:42
"All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer."

I thank God every day for providing us with this amazing community.

What choice are you thankful for? Are you thankful for choices? Are you part of a "community"? If not, I highly recommend you find your people! 
Don't be afraid to step out. I know you will be glad you did! 

And now it occurs to me that we don't even have a group picture! We need to make that happen!