A Busy, Busy Weekend

I have a lot of things I need to unpack after this weekend. Nothing too gigantic or life-changing; just little decisions here and there, some weightier than others, that are on my mind and heart. I won't go into too much detail, as some things don't need to be put out on the internet for all to see!

One big thing comes after attending the Love and Respect conference. We were invited by our mentors. Honestly, we wouldn't have gone if they hadn't invited us. It's not that we think we have this marriage thing down perfectly. And it's not that we think we know it all or don't have areas we can improve in. When I said "yes" to Jim, we started getting ready for the big day almost immediately. An important thing was getting pre-marital counseling.  We had EXCELLENT pre-marital counseling. They sat us down for weeks in a row, gave us books to read, things to think about, asked us hard questions that sometimes made us uncomfortable, and even more importantly modeled for us what they preached. As the anniversaries come, I grow more and more grateful for their wisdom and their faithfulness to share it with us because I know we are better for it. I know that not everyone gets the kind of equipping we did going into marriage. All of that being said, there is ALWAYS room to learn and grow. I can't speak for Jim, but I know there were things that I was convicted over and am challenged and want to change to better our marriage. In the grand scheme of things, Jim and I have a great marriage; at the end of the day, I know he loves me and is on my side and I'm confident that he knows I respect him and will stand by him till death do us part. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says it best, though:   "Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence." (MSG) God designed marriage, he designed the inner workings of marriage and has a purpose bigger than procreation and pleasure. Marriage is a refining fire, a work in our lives to make us aware of just how much we need Christ. My youth pastor in high school always told us that "who you are at home is who you really are." There is great truth in that. I left the weekend encouraged, thankful, convicted, and energized to ask God for strength to do better. An unexpected take-away from the weekend came as I thought not only how I relate to Jim, but also in parenting and understanding Jacob.

After the conference, we celebrated my Grandfather's birthday and then Jim, Jacob, and I went for a run. I'm doing the Couch to 5K thing (I'm only on Day 2) but we went 1.5 miles at about a 12:30 pace (it has you walk and run at intervals which is less daunting to me than going out and running a mile and a half outright). After Jacob went down, we finished Season 2 of Downton Abbey. If Season 2 hadn't ended the way it did, I'm afraid I would have had to read ahead about the seasons to see if I wanted to invest anymore time in this. BUT, since Matthew proposed to Mary and she said "yes" and Mr. Bates got his punishment moved to only life in prison, I will continue on. But things are going along too well, I'm afraid, so I am a little nervous about what is going to happen. NO SPOILERS PLEASE.

Sunday, Jacob woke up a little earlier than usual, so Jim went to our 8 am service and I went to the 930 service so that Jacob wouldn't have to be at church until noon and could get his nap in. We tried an afternoon nap after church, but that never happened. We headed out grocery shopping, to Bahama Bucks (Jacob wasn't a huge fan of snow cones, but he did like Jim's smoothie!) and then I cleaned the Cube. Janey (our "good" house trained dog that hasn't had an accident in YEARS) peed on the carpet RIGHT in front of me twice yesterday evening. It was like she was trying to prove a point or get my attention. This was after two small run-ins with some neighbor dogs and Jacob pooping in the tub. Anyone who knows me knows that I love animals, especially dogs, and especially my dogs; but I would be lying if I didn't say that there are some days that I wonder if we might need to find them new homes because they aren't cut out for apartment living. : (

BUT Monday is here- a new week, a new start, the end of the month. What did you do this weekend??

Highs and Lows

Today is my very awesome Mother In Law's birthday! She is celebrating in a big way today so we'll celebrate later on this weekend. Sherrie- I am so thankful for you and the man you raised to be mine and Jacob's Dad. You're a great Lolly! Jacob loves spending time with you. I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

My heart goes out to the community of West, Texas. I heard about it this morning and actually just watched a video of it that a friend had posted on Facebook. It brought me to tears. I don't know if it's the sub-conscious emotions from the whole Boston thing or the Mommy inside, but my heart hurts for that community and I'm praying for them as well as continuing to pray for Boston. A friend of mine, Emily, wrote a thought in post yesterday that I wanted to share:

The Run for Boston 4.17 Facebook page said “Hope triumphs over Fear. Light overcomes Darkness. Good defeats Evil. Every. Single. Time. #runforboston”
Sounds a lot like the book of James. I would rephrase the previous quote: “Christ is the Hope that triumphs over fear from the Enemy. Jesus is the Light who overcame darkness once and for all. Christ (not “good”) defeated evil. Every. Single.Time.”

Even though today has been a frustrating day with my little one, I will offer more grace and hold him a little tighter knowing that some aren't able to do that tonight.

Jacob's First Birthday

We had a baseball themed party for Jacob's first birthday. Here are some of the details:
I cut out baseball hats with my Cameo and used them as the invitations. I made a pennant banner that says "Jacob is 1"and had each of his monthly pictures on it.

I made baseball cupcakes, ordered baseball sugar cookies, served "ballpark" food (hot dogs, nachos, cokes and sweet tea) and decorated the backdrop to the food like above. I also made Jacob a smash cake which he only wanted to lick the icing off of. He got lots of great gifts, some functional (which I love) and some fun! Here's a few more pictures:

A Friday List : Life Update

1. My child's sleeping schedule has been ruined since strep throat. He wasn't sleeping through the night before, but he was only getting up once MAYBE twice to nurse. Now, it's like every 3 hours. We tried crying it out for 4 days and it was miserable (2 hour scream fests are NOT awesome). We go to the doctor in a week and a half so I guess he'll tell me what to do. I'm just lost!

2. Is fests not a word? My iPhone is telling me it's not. Those little red dots underlining it bother me.

3. Speaking of iPhones, my screen has a crack in it. I have no idea how- I guess it was something in my bag. I had taken it out if the case to put on the iHome we use at dance and when I got it out a little later to recase it, cracked! It's not huge or a huge hindrance to my screen, so I won't be forking over the cash to fix it.

4. MY BABY TURNS ONE NEXT WEEK!! What the heck?

5. Happy Birthday to my very awesome youth minister extraordinaire cousin, Justin! Another birthday shout out to a great friend of ours as well as the College Pastor we serve under, Brady! Hope you guys have a fantastic day!

Life Update :: Strep Throat & Golf Lessons

It's been quite a week here in the Johnson house. I feel like it should almost be February, but alas, it's January 9th! Jacob got sick last week and it turns out he had Strep Throat! Poor guy! We're finishing up antibiotics this week. In the meantime, I also got sick (again!) with the same stuff I had before Christmas, so I'm doing what I can to feel good (my medicine options are limited thanks to breastfeeding).

On Monday, I took my Mom on her birthday trip. We went to Top Golf for some golf lessons (she's always wanted to learn how to play) and it was a super fun trip. I listened in on the lesson as best as I could with Jacob and then we played a couple of games. I think I probably enjoyed the two hours in the car there and back talking to my Mom, but I hope she had fun!

Yesterday, dance resumed for me as did a new schedule for my siblings (and Mom). I have a new student in my older class which is exciting for financial reasons and so my sister isn't soloing it anymore.

Today, we're finally back to a more "normal" schedule. Jacob and I went grocery shopping this morning and I've already got crock pot pasta fagioli cooking in the crock pot. He's taking a nap, so I'm enjoying some down time.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!

Jacob and I took her Starbuck's and flowers this morning. After Jacob's nap, we're taking her to lunch. She didn't want a big party, so I honored that. Instead, she wanted some golf lessons. Yup, golf lessons.  Plans are being made for a trip to DFW to get that done. I could seriously go on and on and on about how awesome my Mom is. If you know her, you know these things. She is one of the most giving, selfless people I know, she's a great Mom (I know she would disagree, but I turned out pretty good!), she's a great nurse and soon to be Nurse Practitioner, she loves her kids and her grandkid (probably more than us kids somedays- but he's still all cute and no "real" work save for carrying him around), and love her animals!! She's a good cook, a great listener and gives super awesome wisdom when you need it.

Today is also her sister's, (and my aunt, obviously) Lisa, birthday! Kinda cool that they were born on the same day 4 years apart, huh? Aunt Lisa is just like her sis in many ways- sometimes she's a little bit crazier (in a good way of course!), but she's had a tough year of taking care of her husband and dealing with everything that comes with that and still gives to her church and her family with a smile!

Happy Birthday Girls! We love you!

Sick Baby Boy

First of all, shout out to my brother James because yesterday was his 25th birthday! He works on a ranch hours from where we live, but got to come into town so we could celebrate! Looking forward to when he lives closer!

This picture is of my brother, Mom and sister from Easter 2012.

Jacob hasn't been feeling 100%. He's got a super snotty nose and a cough. Two nights ago, we were up every 2 hours. It was exhausting to say the least. Grandma saved the day, though, and kept Jacob so I could rest. He didn't nap and hardly ate. Last night, I was expecting the worst! However, he slept from 8 until 3:40 and then until 7. Hoping he gets to feeling better! Today is his first Halloween and he is supposed to be a skunk! Pictures will definitely be coming!

PS: Did you know I have another blog? I wanted to separate projects from personal life and so this blog is all about what's going on in the life of the Johnson family. The project blog, called a Neverending List (because I ALWAYS have a project I want to be doing) can be found here!