New Hair

I am LOVING the black. Thanks to Megan..

That girl can make anyone look good.

;)

A good friend of mine is throwing me a birthday party tonight. I should be more excited than I am, but for some reason I'm nervous.

I'm confident that it will be fun!

And I do sooooo appreciate Amy for trying to get my 30th year started off right.

XOXOX

Easter Sunday and the big 3-0

1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

Today has been a full but nice day. Church, then Easter egg dying (last minute, I know), then dinner with family, where my sister and I were asked to be bridesmaids for our soon-to-be sister-in-law's and brother's wedding. That was a very pleasant surprise!

Tomorrow is the dreaded day....my years in the twenties are no more. *tear*

But if 30 is the new 20, as they say, then I'm good! :)

Also as they say, you're only as old as you act...uhhh...enough said.

Also on deck for the week:

Getting my hair highlighted...again..this time with a little black in the mix!!!

SIM.

Coffee with some of my favorite girls.

Birthday celebrations all around!

~~~~~~~

A couple more pics...

BURN

My most recent endeavor: Working out. and working out HARD. I ain't talkin half-assed, sissy, twirling around for 20 minutes just so I can say I worked out. I'm talkin down and dirty, sweat-drenching, muscle-building, calorie-incinerating workouts. And I've been sticking with it for at least 2 months now.

I have always worked out, but it was sporadic, and even when I did commit to 5 days a week, I would end up having something more important that I needed to do, like help out in my daughter's kindergarden class, and I would convince myself it was okay to just skip it because in the scheme of things that truly was more important. But I've always known and strongly believed in the importance of staying fit, too, and I believe that if you want something you MUST work for it. You can't just sit around and whine about how everything sucks. TAKE ACTION! If not, you then become a victim, and it's difficult for me to tolerate that mindset, though I can't deny that I, too, am guilty of indulging in it every now and then. If something needs to change, then change it, or at least try to change it! Just DO something. Don't complain! DO!

Anyway, sorry....losing focus, losing focus.. (ADD sucks). hehehe.

Back to working out. I think I may have some kind of disorder, because I'll be working out hard and almost crying and hating every second of it...but then when it's over, I like HAVE to do more! It must be the burn that motivates me...because that's the feeling of accomplishment! It's different than pain to me..pain would be the damn migraines and neck issues I continue to have from that damn car accident last March. But this is like satisfaction and achievement and feeling strong all at the same time. And now, after the last couple months of REALLY working out and really giving it my best effort, I'm sleeping better, I have more energy, and I'm in a better mood in general. LOVE it.

And now I'm going to go to bed so I can wake up in the morning and get my hardcore Pilates on.

:)

Carly on AI...

She is fabulous. I hope she wins.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Revelation

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~ 2 corinthians 12:9-10

i love it when everything falls into place and starts making sense, and you look back and are able to be thankful for things that have occurred, even when they may have seemed confusing at the time. i feel so blessed and so fortunate to serve a God who is faithful and always true.

here's what i mean.

for the span of probably about 5 years, i was in "settle" mode. i wasn't unhappy with the way things were going; quite the opposite, rather. however, unknowingly, i was letting my role as solely a mother and wife define me more and more. for some, this may be what they have aspired to be, and that is totally fine! [i love being a wife and a mother, don't get me wrong!] but for me, i was neglecting the aspirations and dreams and hopes that i had possessed since i was a child that i knew were placed in me by God. i was living a life behind closed doors, never wanting to get out and meet new people or try anything new.

at the time, i thought i was a strong person. i had been through some interesting times in my life and had convinced myself that i didn't need anyone else besides my family. i didn't let anyone give me advice or criticism, and i even had a hard time accepting compliments, because i thought everyone else was full of crap. unless you were my husband or my child, closeness with me wasn't an option. so i started to isolate. but God began to stir it up in me again, giving me a taste of desire, a glimpse of hope, when I decided on a whim to visit Vinelife Church after years of church-hating. when i finally did start to get involved in things and reconnecting with friends, etc., i felt so much contentedness. it was like i was re-realizing how rich and fullfilling life was meant to be. God surrounded me with people who inspired me. he opened doors of opportunity for me. he never left my side as i humbly and fearfully walked through them.

and the funny part; i never realized how weak i really was until i started to obey him and take even those tiny risks...

through all of this, i noticed that i was not myself. i was letting other people get to me. i was being overly sensitive to situations. i was taking these good things God had placed in my path and misusing them in fear of losing them, i guess. and i would think to myself, "what am I doing?" i know better. i know it seems like that would be a frustrating thing. and it was. but i really believe that it was meant to be. it was going to take brokenness to understand what God wanted from me. and it revealed to me what my weaknesses are so that i could let Him carry me in those areas and rely on him when there was no one else who would understand. Because, after all, IN MY WEAKNESS, HE IS STRONG. i realized that i do also very much need the support and friendship of others...and that i can't do this on my own. and i now feel stronger in faith than ever because of these things He has allowed me to experience and has used for good...

and the same can be true for you.

xoxo

It's been one of those days

How to describe today...

Not a bad day...mostly pleasant in fact..more like uneventful, yet extremely long. It was one of those days when time flies by so fast that you can't really get anything productive done, but now, finally sitting down to relax at 10 pm (actually 11 pm if you've already changed the clocks, as I have), this day seems to keep going, and going..

It was one of those days when everything my poor kids did seemed to find a way to get on my nerves..things like when my 6-year-old whined for 20 minutes about not wanting to sit in the third row of the car for a 5-minute car ride (actually, she seemed to whine about everything today), or when my 8-year-old kept buggin about needing to feed his Webkin for the 282934th time today or else its happiness would be depleted. Oh, how tragic. Or when my almost 3-year-old decided it was a good idea to throw rocks at the neighbor's baby (sorry Ellie!!)...thank God her aim sucks. :)

I love my kids and I always feel so bad when I get snappy with them, but there are just those days when you get sick of hearing your own voice saying "no", and you wonder if they just really don't understand the word, or why they think it means "possibly" or "perhaps if I keep asking."

My kids are definitely very well behaved, good, kindhearted, well-meaning kids in general and I am so proud of them for that. And, though I know days like this are inevitable, I truly hope that they grow up knowing how much I adore them.

Speaking of women leading worship..

This girl rocks.

In the past 2 weeks, I have recieved this video in an email and have seen it through at least 2 different people that don't even know each other...Making an impact? For sure!

It's freakin awesome.