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??

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

We took Jacob to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time on Friday. My Mom had just returned from a week long trip to North Carolina for a work conference and she wanted to celebrate. There weren't a TON of things he could do but he liked listening to the puppets perform on stage and watching my siblings play. He also loved playing any racing games (or just sitting at them, honestly) and driving. Jim and I had our fun too. We got 200 tickets which was enough for me to get a bag of cotton candy. Yum!

He spent the night with my Mom on Saturday night. Jim and I went to bed early and I slept in. We went to church and then tackled our storage unit. We got it all organized and also got the crates from my in-laws that we had stashed there during the hectic move. We'll get the ones from my Mom's house this week. Add in some grocery shopping. cooking two delicious meals (Zucchini boats with a bacon gremolata and Quinoa Fried Rice) and the fact that I'm coming down with either a sinus infection or bronchitis, and you have a weekend!

Easter 2013

March 31st was a great day! Not only was it Easter (which is the most important part) but it was also Opening Night for my favorite baseball team, the Texas Rangers. We won't discuss what actually happened at the game because it was a giganto let down (Astros? Really?) but we've since moved on.

Normally, the ministry that we serve in at church has small group time after the 11 am service because the chances of a college student making it to church at 11 and then staying for free lunch and small groups are much greater than said college student making it to 9:30 small groups and then staying for church at 11. For Easter Sunday, we didn't have small groups after church so that the students and leaders could spend time with their families. We were encouraged to serve somewhere instead, so Jim and I worked the Nursery for the first time. We had two year olds and it was great. The preschool staff was there for any issues we ran into. We are now on the rotation to volunteer at least once a month. I snuck this picture while washing my hands after a messy finger painting project:

For lunch, we went to my Dad's house. We had delicious food and snacks and Jacob went on his first official Easter egg hunt. We had plans last year of walking kids everywhere, but alas, Jacob had to be carried everywhere to pick his up. Back breaker. He loved it, though, and all the cousins went on a wagon ride that was super fun, too!

That evening we hung out at my Mom's house for a delicious dinner. We were home by 7pm to watch the disaster of the Ranger game. 

Hope you and your family had a great Easter weekend!

Baby It's Cold Outside

This month is flying by and the weather has finally caught up with the calendar. Temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s during the day and 40s at night. The windchill last night got down into the 20s! There is actually snow on the ground this morning and schools are delayed. This isn't Jacob's first snow, though, as it snowed randomly in February just days after we came home from the hospital.

Friday, Jim was starving when we got off from work, so we called an audible and had sonic for dinner. We played a board game on the iPad (Ticket to Ride) and watched a movie that was on TV. I also finished sewing our stockings and so the house is as decorated as it's going to be for Christmas.

Saturday, Jim took Jacob to his parents' house so I could have some "me" time. I mostly worked on the house and cooked a delicious lunch. Jim came back home to lay Jacob down and then went to watch our high school alumni make history and get the farthest in the playoffs in football. (I feel like that is a terrible sentence.) When Jacob woke up, we braved the mall and did some Christmas shopping. My sister and her boyfriend were in town, so they came over that night to watch Jacob while Jim and I attended a church Christmas party.

Yesterday morning was a normal Sunday for us. Jacob woke up a little earlier so he went down for his nap a little early. It worked out because we actually got to church on time and I got to take a nap after feeling like I couldn't keep my eyes open. He wore a sweater vest for the first time (Jim's Dad loves sweater vests) and looked super handsome. After church, an afternoon nap for Jacob, we bundled up and went to look a local lights display.

Tomorrow night is my first dance recital as a teacher. I've got a few things to finish up before it and we've also got grocery shopping and some people to visit.

What did you do his weekend??