My Good King

picture from askinyourface.com That's where I was today.   I have sooooo missed Zumba since school ended in June.  I thought about it countless times this summer as I was dripping sweat on the floor, killing myself doing Jillian Michaels workouts.  Don't get me wrong, her workouts are great--she totally kicks my butt (and then some!) for 25 minutes, but it's just hard work.  It definitely pays off, but I yearned for the fun of Zumba. I have been waiting with baited breath for 3:30 this afternoon!  It was every bit as fun as I remembered it--hot, stuffy gym and all.  Time just flies for that hour.  I find myself smiling as I'm sweating. :)  Let me just say, that NEVER happens, except apparently with Zumba. What kind of exercise do you enjoy?!  Zumba, bike riding and hiking are the only forms of exercise that I really get excited about.  I desperately wish I could be a runner, but I SERIOUSLY detest running, so I'm sure that...

with these:   So, a year or two ago I started a new "tradition" for myself.  I began to allot myself one day per month (while the kids are in school) to do as I wish for the time that they're in school.  If I want to lounge on the sofa and watch TV all day in my pajamas, that's what I do.  If I want to watch a chick flick , I do.  If I want to do a craft or two, I do it.  I get to do whatever my little heart desires for those hours, and I don't do anything that my little heart DOESN'T desire--if I don't feel like answering the phone, I don't. etc. Obviously, during the summer that doesn't happen.  Today was my FIRST "All About Me" day of the new school year and I have been waiting for 8:00 am Wednesday morning for several days now.  It just gives me a chance to re-charge my batteries and bask in being home alone, doing what I want, when I want. What did I do, you ask?  Why thank you for asking! ;)  I spent most of the morning w...

I also want to post an updated picture of my flower garden in the backyard. I've had so much fun growing sunflowers and hollyhocks. I really want to plant more next year. This is a close-up of my sunflowers. Aren't they so cheerful-looking?!

Well, so much for keeping up my blog this year. *sigh* Here are a couple of layouts I did yesterday and today. The pics were taken when my brother came out for a week during spring break with his ADORABLE daughter.

being a teacher -- HAS to be one of the most fun and rewarding jobs on the planet. :) tea for two -- my friend and I get together every Friday for tea, chatter, and a Bible Study hand quilting -- I know, so tedious, but for some strange reason I enjoy it. It's a nice "brain-dead" activity to do in the evenings when the kids are in bed and I am indeed brain dead. :) playing in Photoshop (I'm trying to find some nice pics to put on my wall in my classroom) encouraging my husband through a difficult couple of days. seeing the new developments with my seedlings. Every day there are small changes.

Babies require an extraordinary amount of care. I realize that is a complete "duh" statement, but it's been a few years for me, so bear with me. No, I haven't had a baby recently, but I have noticed that growing plants from seed also requires A LOT of care. Wanna see my babies? Thought so :) Even if you didn't want to, I'm so proud of them that I can't help myself. I took these pictures this morning. I have to take them outside so they can enjoy the sunshine every day, and bring them all in at night so they can stay warm. And, of course, I have to check them every three hours and admire them, even though there's actually almost nothing to admire ... yet! This is the whole "kit 'n kaboodle"--my gardening table outside. See them enjoying the sunshine? ;) These are some of my seedlings: I love the shape of the new hollyhock leaf. It's so interesting that each seedling looks so unique. I'm sooooo excited! I can...

So I very quietly put myself on a "get healthy" plan as of January 1st. 2 goals: eat healthier foods and smaller portions, eliminating/severely reducing snacking between meals exercise My basic philosophy is a Dr. Laura one: "move more, eat less." January goals ("Phase I"): reduce portion size get myself mentally ready to exercise "for real" in February. I was able to do that, so on Feb. 1 I moved on to "Phase II: Just Do It": continue eating smaller portions and greatly reducing snacking between meals. Eat healthy, focusing on fruits and vegetables (especially for snacks) exercise 1/2 hour 3-4 times per week--cardio only (for now) I am soooooo excited--this dancing thing is so fun! The time actually flies! I've never enjoyed exercise so much. Can you believe that twice this week I've begun dancing with the goal of dancing for 30 minutes, and 1 1/2 hours later I had to FORCE MYSELF to stop?!?! Now, I'm...

Last Saturday I began the daunting task of preparing the backyard to be beautiful, and these are a few of the little things that made my day: I heard a very faint buzzing noise as I was tending my seedlings and noticed that a bee was beside me, flitting from dandelion to dandelion. It felt good to have quiet company outside, even if it was just a bee :) It was a reminder that there's so much going on around us that we're completely unaware of because we don't take the time to notice. Rather a shame, really. I remembered the feeling of satisfaction that comes from taking care of God's creation as I trained the morning glory vine on the trellis. I envisioned my backyard as it should look next summer when the flowers are in bloom, and that brought a big smile to my face :)

So I have had this vision for a few years now ... it's been my dream to have a cottage garden in our backyard--for several reasons: first, we have a tiny backyard and a tiny house, so cottage style fits our small space. secondly, I have always LOVED the wild, out-of-control, natural look of a cottage garden (maybe we can attribute that to growing up in rural Southern Illinois?!). Also, our entire backyard is visible from our living room and dining room, so I want to look at something beautiful this summer instead of the horrendous view you see here: and, I want to teach Carlos about the process and the benefits of growing herbs and vegetables (I know--I'm such a teacher. I just can't help it). lastly, I want to enjoy cut flowers in our house this summer, but I'm waaaaay too cheap to buy them on a regular basis. I have already made several mistakes and am learning. Here are some pics: Notice any mistakes?! The extreme "legginess" was an issue and almost all of ...

So I began my own personal weight loss journey on January 1st. I didn't tell anyone, but I gave myself the month of January for the idea to grow on me; I mainly focused on portion control during meals and severely reducing snacking between meals. I must say I did pretty well. I lost a couple of pounds. Now that I've had the month of January to adjust to the concept of a new lifestyle, I plan to step it up in February and incorporate exercise four times per week for about 1/2 hour. Today I started with dancing, and I was sooooo enjoying myself I ended up dancing for over an hour. My YouTube playlist now includes some of my favorites: Todo, todo (Daniela Romo), Achy Breaky Heart, and the Cha Cha Slide. I plan to add more as I find more songs I like to dance to. I especially L-O-V-E salsa and cha cha. I think I'll do dancing twice a week, and maybe bike ride twice per week. So I'm excited!! That's all for today, folks.

Wow. Like I said, Carlos and I have been destroyed by one of the worst flus I've ever experienced in in my life. It hit us Tuesday night (middle of the night), and spent all of Wednesday, Thursday, and half of Friday kicking us in the butt. It was horrible: constant fever (not even Motrin or Tylenol would kick it), aches, nausea, vomiting, incredibly weak & tired, congestion, coughing. It was the Mother Lode of flus, let me tell you. We were so weak, we basically lived on the couch. I mean, I couldn't even walk a few feet to the kitchen without hyperventilating and feeling my heart pounding. Even making a cup of tea required waaaaay more energy than I had. All we could do was alternate between watching TV, sleeping, and sipping Gatorade (which neither of us likes, by the way)... and stare blankly at each other across the sofa. Fortunately, Ashley could take care of herself and do basic chores, and Carlito added to our growing pharmacy every day, as well as did basic...

No posts this week because Carlos & I have been sooooooooo sick. I'll add more details later. Suffice to say, I have not felt so incredibly weak since my C-section with Ashley--that was a loooooong time ago.

Since my goal is to create 2 posts per week, I'm gonna post more today. Aren't I clever?! ;) These are layouts of New Year's. We spent the New Year's before last in Las Vegas. I have to say, NOT something I recommend with kids, but you live and you learn. Enjoy! We toured the strip one evening--I just don't remember which night: eating out. This was a fun night :) and some sights along the way.

I'm LOVING this new year ... Life seems so "back to normal" right now no more classes (it's AMAZING how many hours that took up of my life; I learned A TON and I use what I learned all the time at work, but I am soooo glad that's over). I have so much more time to dedicate to our home and it feels soooo good to be organized. When I get home I'll add a pic of our chore chart and weekly menu. It feels awesome to be on top of things. I have so much more time to spend with God (after the kids go to bed), and I got a great idea from Beth Moore (I just started this study) to journal in the first person every day about what God has shown me that day. I really like it. So many times I've tried to remember things that God has shown me/told me, and I can't remember the details or the time period. This will really help with that. I'm also enjoying reading the one year bible online. I love choosing different versions depending on my mood. Sometimes I even cho...

I have missed blogging this past year. I miss having a spot to record our daily life and my {oftentimes random} thoughts about said life, post pics, etc. So I have decided that this year I will blog at least twice per week. Hence, post #1 of the new year. A new year is always so refreshing to me--I love the hope that the new year brings, the ability to make a fresh start, the fact that the failures of the past year can be left behind, never again to burden our minds with guilt; I love that each new year brings a clean slate with a myriad of possibilities, and there's a sense of anticipation about how the slate will be filled as the year goes by. This year, like every year, will have it's share of joys and sorrows, and I find such comfort and peace knowing that my Maker will walk beside me every step of the way. Blah, blah blah, you say. Just get to the good stuff. Ok. Wanna know how we spent New Year's? Carlito decided to rent a room at the Embassy Suites, and we stayed the...

I have to say that no matter how long I've been a Christian, I find myself constantly amazed at the humanity of the Bible characters. Of course, I know they're human, but they somehow always seem holier than us. I was reading 1 Kings 18:20-19:7 today, and have to say I was fascinated when it dawned on me that Elijah, in spite of having just witnessed two great miracles in the same day --fire for the sacrifice and a huge rainstorm after 3 years of drought , practically curled up in the fetal position with fear when Jezebel threatened to take his life. He's just like us. How many times has God performed amazing miracles for me, and yet I continue to doubt and live in fear instead of just trusting Him and His Word? I mean, God had just allowed him to perform a great miracle in front of the entire Israelite population, kill ALL of the prophets of idols, sent a huge rainstorm (and told him before the rain came so he and King Ahab would be prepared and take shelter). Then this ...

Wow! I am so bugged that I never post anymore. Facebook is just so much easier. I'll just keep it simple-- random data: today I had Pho (Vietnamese soup) for the first time and LOVED it!! Seriously, you haven't lived till you've tried it :) I created two and a half sketches of future layouts, and halfway finished two more layouts. really on a paper-scrapping frenzy! This is one sketch: I joined the Facebook group "I grew up in Fairfield, IL, and thought I would die of boredom (but I didn't)" :D ... you have to have grown up in a dinky town to "get it" had a "day off from life" hanging out at my in-laws house all day ... ahhh! gotta love days like that I can't believe it's almost June already

in other news, let me begin by saying, "I became an aunt again today!!" My nephew was born today, and I can't wait to see pictures of him. let alone MEET him!! There are no babies to spoil in our little neck of the woods, and I wish I could be a real aunt and be there with him to watch him grow up--and take a gazillion photos of him. oh well. So here's why I'm DESPERATE for Spring Break. I get to: catch up on my "Home Office" project, including painting and assembling these (so excited to finish them) go to this park with my in-laws, nieces, and nephews (and my own kids, of course). Ashley has decided we need to make it a yearly tradition the day after Easter :) catch up on house-cleaning and use this (thanks, Samantha!): scrapbook for four hours straight --paper scrapping (vacation photos from last summer) most of all--NO RUSHING the whole day from one thing to the next catching up on grocery shopping, errands, and PLANNING MEALS, something I haven...

It was truly only a matter of time until Facebook crept into my blog life, lol! I truly tried to hold off as long as I could, but it is so energizing to connect with people in the middle of the day during my breaks at work. For the longest time I didn't "get it." (What's the point? Who cares? What is the purpose of Facebook anyway?) Then my niece went to Australia and I really wanted to connect with her and see what her life is like there 'til she comes back in July, so I "re-joined" facebook, and I have to say I'm loving it. My favorite part is that you get quick little "snippets" or "sneak peeks" into the lives of people that you know (or knew) but don't connect with on a regular basis anymore. What have i learned on facebook? my brother still works his schedule so that he takes off every other friday, and last friday he went out to lunch with his wife--just made me smile :) i'm not the only parent with a crazy, hectic l...

My schedule today: 7:00-3:15 work 3:15 rush to pick up Carlos 3:40 arrive home to get Carlos ready for his baseball game & answer an email 4:15 go to his game 6:00 pull him out of his game to pick up Ashley at her friend's house 6:30 pick Ashley up and take her to church 7:00 drop her off at church 7: 20 get Carlos ready for bed ... and finally have a few moments to myself to catch up on blogs and facebook 8:15 pick Ashley up from church 9:15 Ashley goes to bed and I get some R & R :) Hmmm ... how much do taxi drivers get??!!