Showing Up

Spring, you forgot to show up this morning. It is April. You officially arrived last month. We should have sunshine and warm breezes. Instead, we have snow. Flying in the air. Sitting on rooftops. Laying on the grass.  Really, it was just a dusting but to see snow, in April, in the valley, in Idaho - crazy!

Meme

I was tagged by Courtney over at Joyful Weddings and Events for this meme.  

What was I doing ten years ago?

Hmm, ten years ago I was teaching Kindergarten in Iowa. Lance was finishing his last round of rotations in vet school. We were preparing for his graduation, our move to MN, and closing on our first home. Oh and I was in the midst of job hunting.  Although I was excited for Lance to start his new job, I was very sad to be leaving my job and friends in IA. 

Things on my to do list?

Like Courtney, I love to do lists!  I make lists constantly!

This month?

- do some major deep down spring cleaning - windows, blinds, baseboards, etc...

- clean out/organize closets (if the warm weather ever decides to come and stay)

- complete a 16 mile run

- clean/organize the garage

- figure out how to fit in all my extra projects with Lance working or gone the next three weekends

- the usual weekly stuff - running errands, cleaning house, homeschooling, taking Morgan to/from gymnastics, paying bills

This year?

- to finish my marathon on June 1st

- to paint our entryway and master bedroom and bathroom

- to move Landon into his own room and move Mauryn into Morgan's room

- to paint and decorate the kids' bedrooms

- to re decorate (or start decorating) our main level bathroom and the kids' bathroom

- to do a better job of planning for our school days and keeping to our schedule

- to travel to MN to see my family

- to get through some of the books on my reading challenge

In my lifetime?

- to travel to all 50 states

- to travel to Europe 

- to travel the Caribbean

- embrace and enjoy each day as a gift - to do a better job of letting the little things go and just treasure my time at home with my kids

- to continue to learn and grow in my relationship with God

- to do my best at being a good mother, wife, daughter, sister

Bad habits?

- washing and drying clothes but not folding them and putting them away ( i have gotten better)

- drinking fountain soda

- spending too much time on the computer

Places I've lived?

- St. Peter, MN (same town, same house from birth to college)

- Decorah, IA

- Rye, NY

- Windom, MN

- Ames, IA

- Winsted, MN

- Nampa, ID

Things most people probably don't know about me?

- I was voted biggest brown noser and most talkative in my senior high school class

- When I was in about 4th grade I sang a duet in church - so at one time in my life I could actually sing :o)

- I do not like doing any type of public speaking or being the center of attention 

- I can be quiet when I first meet a person until I feel comfortable

You are tagged if you want to play along!

Vacation

In my mind, I have grand plans for the vacations I want to take with my family.  There are so many places I want to explore with my children and many experiences I want to give them.  I have lists of trips I would love to take as a family.

When we moved to Idaho, a few things changed in our lives. For one, we are now three states and about fifteen hundred miles from family.  Instead of family vacations, we take vacations to see our family. The other thing to change was Lance's schedule.  He went from having holidays off and a great summer schedule (13 days on then 9 days off) to working on holidays (unless it falls on a weekend) and vacation time that is now unpaid and based on the availability of his partners to cover his work.  

When I decided to run the marathon in San Diego, the visions of a family vacation were dancing in my head.  I started researching and planning our day trips to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and the Wild Animal Kingdom.  Then reality set in.  How would we juggle the marathon weekend with what I wanted to see/do while in San Diego? How much time could Lance truly take off? If we go, then are we sacrificing a trip to visit our family (oh the guilt factor was big)? I came to the conclusion that I would just go to San Diego on my own. It would be easier, more cost effective, the list goes on ......

I have been reading Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist (thanks to Sarah's giveaway).  She has a chapter in her book about vacations.  The entire chapter changed how I was viewing vacations, but this one statement grabbed me:
"Vacations are the act of grabbing minutes and hours and days with both hands, stealing against the inevitability of time." 

 I cried as the reality of those words struck me.  We would be making memories my kids (at least the older two) will remember forever!  There is no price tag on these experiences.  If we could make it work, with Lance's schedule and financially then we needed to take this trip as a family and make the best of the time we could spend in San Diego. Instead of focusing on not having enough time to do everything, I need to focus on our time together and what things we will be able to experience.

Yesterday, I did it. I bought the 3 for 1 City Passes at Cost*co.  There is no turning back now.  We are taking our first official family vacation! 

Conversations

Landon: Mom, you know who I am talking to all the time

Me: No, who?

Landon: myself i have lots of questions

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I was working in the nursery and saw one of Landon's friends:
Me: are you excited for landon's party?

Landon's friend: yes, and i am going to marry him
Me: oh, okay

a little bit later

Me: landon i just saw your friend and she said she is going to marry you

Landon: well, i am going to marry someone else
Me: well, who are you going to marry? 
Landon: i don't know, just someone else

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Me: Landon, what do you think Miss B is going to teach you about in Sunday School?

Landon: I don't know, probably about God 

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Me: what did you learn about in your Wednesday night class?

Landon: Paul Revere
(well at least he was listening some of the time when we talked about the American Revolution)

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Landon is playing with his drums and his guitar

Me: Landon, you need to be quiet Mauryn is taking a nap

Landon: Mom, it isn't me making the noise, it is my guitar. I am only trying to get the picks in it.

State Gymnastics Meet

This weekend was the culmination of Morgan's competition season with the state gymnastics meet held in Boise.  

On Friday evening, we traveled into Boise to watch some of the upper level girls from Morgan's gym compete.   As we were leaving the meet, we were talking with Morgan about her meet the next day.  Morgan looks over at us and says " I am just horrible at gymnastics.  I am horrible on vault and bars. The only event I am good at is floor." Lance and I looked at each other in shock.  Here we are the night before the state meet and Morgan's confidence is at an all time low.  

Lance and I tried to reassure her, but to no avail. She was sure she was horrible at gymnastics. There were no tears. There was no whining. There was no complaining. There was just this attitude of defeat.

We were packing Morgan's bag for the meet and we found a note in her bag from one of the older girls at the gym.  There was a section of  the note that said "Don't let anything get in your way. You are the only one who can get in your way. Go out there and do your best. Most importantly, have fun! I believe in you!" Morgan reread the note and thought about what it said. I think those words, coming from someone she looked up to, rather than her parents impacted her attitude for the meet.  The entire way to the meet I prayed that God would give her the confidence to do her best. It wasn't about winning, but about feeling confident in her skills, doing her best, and enjoying the experience.

Morgan pulled out her best meet of the season on Saturday.  I am not sure when her attitude changed but she showed confidence and maturity in her performances.  It was nice to see her peak in her final competition of the season.  Morgan earned 1st place on floor, 1st place on beam, 2nd place on bars, 3rd place on vault, and 1st place in the all around for her age group. Morgan's all around score was high enough (36.8) to earn her all state honors.  Her level 4 team took 1st place at the state meet. It was a very exciting day!  

Morgan competing on bars

Morgan receiving her all around champion medal

Morgan with all her hardware :o)

The Little Pink Bike

Remember this post about the little pink bike. Well, today I was able to get a few pictures of the boy and his (borrowed) pink bike. Enjoy :o) 

I can do it all by myself!

I am heading down the road!

Here I go!

Cruising speed

Cold Tangerines

 

The day this book arrived, I ripped the envelope open and just stared with excitement at my new book. My kids were playing quietly at the moment so I thought I would just take a quick peek at the book.  Four chapters and too many minutes later, I realized I had to stop reading or I would lose the entire day to this book.  Shauna Niequist had me from the first line of the book.  She is honest, vulnerable, and so real. At times, I felt like she was looking straight into my soul with the words on the page. 

This wasn't a typical book reading experience. I craved more of her words, insight, experiences, and wisdom with each passing section. I could envision myself sitting across from Shauna in a coffee shop as she told me these stories, rather than reading them in a book. The words flowed beautifully and easily off the pages.  I found myself laughing out loud, crying, and smiling as I read the book. This is a life changing, attitude changing book that helps you define life as you view each day as a day to embrace, cherish, and treasure.

Thank you Sarah for hosting this giveaway! I have been blessed by this book.  Thank you to Zondervan for providing the books for the giveaway.