Long Weekend

I feel like I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off lately, and I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling like this either. Spring always makes me a little crazy around my house, ‘spring cleaning’ everything (which drives Curtis nuts, especially when I try and do it all at once instead of room by room) as well as trying to get assignments and requirements done so I can graduate in precisely 45 days and 1 hour.

While it has been crazy for me lately, we just had the loveliest long weekend that was wonderfully rejuvenating because I decided to do nothing. I didn’t do laundry. I loaded the dishwasher one time. I avoided homework on Sunday. It was glorious!

Naturally, I spent my downtime reading for pleasure and watching the Harry Potter marathon that was on all weekend (I’m an admitted Harry Potter nerd, it’s why I have a Pinterest account). Again, glorious!

Anways, that was my weekend. I want to pass on a little phrase that caught my eye last week:

“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

This really struck home with me because kindness is something I struggle with while working in customer service. Oftentimes I am on the receiving end of rude behavior from others, and I often find myself holding a grudge against that person and then passing along the rudeness unintentionally to someone else. I am not trying to excuse rude behavior by saying there is always a reason for it, but on the chance that the person in question is having a terrible day, I think that returning unkindness with kindness may change that person’s day for the better…and in the process it might just change the way I walk away from the situation. That whole, ‘Do unto others’ thing- 🙂 It really changed my attitude, which can get pretty crummy at work sometimes.

Anyways, have a wonderful week-

Read a book.

Relax a bit.

And be kind, even when you don’t want to be, and see what it does.

~K

 

 

 

 

Privileged to Complain

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m sharing this embarrassing 3 am picture. I am TI-RED. This morning most mornings this month, Gabs has woken up between 3 and 4:30. For the most part, it’s not a big deal because I only work a few times a month- but it feels like a big deal at 3 am! I can barely keep my eyes open and my squirmy little wormy is tired, but awake and hungry. In those moments, sometimes I get caught up in feeling bad for myself. This morning I had a case of the ‘feeling sorry for myself’ pretty bad- and as I poured my morning coffee and mashed up some bananas for little one, I glanced at the mail I had brought in yesterday but hadn’t looked at yet. On the top of the stack was a new issue of ‘Tabletalk’ by RC Sproul- I said a quick thank-you to the Lord, grabbed it, and indulged myself in some real good reading as Gabs had breakfast.

Reading from the Bible with a little guidance from RC Sproul (a theologian I love) totally shifted my mindset. I am so thankful that God can hear my mind and intercede for me on those mornings that discontent and weariness cloud all the blessings that my life is full of. After reading a few articles, I moved on to read a blog that I keep up with daily. And whaddaya know, her post this morning just took the words right out of my mouth!

I am so privileged to be able to complain. Despite the early mornings, unexplainable (occasional) tantrums, dirty bathrooms and piles of laundry- I am so blessed and happy to wake up and live my life. Despite being unsure how to balance an early career as a nurse with a beautiful daughter, I have a job I love and a daughter I adore. With the sticky floor and cemented baby food on the dishes, I am blessed in having dishes and cleaning supplies! I’m blessed to be irritated by a mess!

Yeah, I don’t always remember that first thing. But boy… God reminded me today, and I am just too blessed to be anything but overjoyed to live this life He gave me.

I get irritated, cranky, sweaty, tired, smelly, impatient, selfish, proud, and a boatload of other things- by the grace of God, sometimes He gently brings me back down to a place where I’m just simply happy. I love social media and hate it at the same time- I love posting pictures of all the things I love about Gabby, and I love seeing other people enjoy their lives too! I have many friendships that have flourished through social media- and many faces I get to see that I otherwise wouldn’t without FB or instagram.

On the other hand, I’ve read so many things about how depressed and discontent people are nowadays because all we ever see are the AWESOME and FUN parts of life from others on social media- even though subconsciously, we know nothing is perfect. Even though we know. We KNOW!

So…. let it be known. Gosh, I love blogging, but I am NOT the world’s best baker. Half of you (or more, most likely more) are way better in the kitchen than I am. Everyone has beautiful kids. Everyone has reasons to be happy and thankful. I hope that no one mistakes my love for blogging and social media for bragging or misconceptions about perfection. If you know me, you know I’m not.

I’m privileged to complain, and therefore, TOO privileged to complain. Thank you JESUS!

~M

The Non-Vegetarian Sister

Major thanks to my wonderful sister for keeping you all going with reading material the last few months. Im sorry for having been away so long, I take a break and she goes vegetarian on me!? Although these meals look delicious and I truly do trust M’s talent in the kitchen, I’m not sure I could do tofu.
I really like meat.
Now that school is back in session and my internship has started, I plan on being much more diligent in my efforts to share my goings-on with you all. Because I am having some truly awesome experiences!
Because the nature of my job has a huge element of confidentiality, I hope my shortened version of experiences will still be able to show how much I am loving social work.
I’ve got a great group of supervisors both at school and my agency, but so far my relationship and dependency on God has blossomed in a way I didn’t expect. I wrestle a lot with being a follower of Jesus and being a person who advocates for others especially when the two vocations don’t mix. Or cant mix.

(From A Voice in the Wind, by Francine Rivers)
It’s an awesome learning thing for me, and I am repeating to myself daily that God’s plan for me is greater than my plan for myself. Self-care has been underlined from the beginning as something that is necessary to my health and ability to do my job, so posts like M’s last week (even though I have no moppets yet!) made a big impact on my day.
Did anyone else gain from M’s post last week? I love how God uses so many different people with so many different talents to reveal Himself to us.

~K

Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas

 

Happy Labor Day! I hope that all you working people are enjoying a much-earned day off. Being a nurse and now mostly-stay-at-home-mom, Mondays have never had the ‘eh, its Monday’ feeling to me, because my schedule is pretty all over the place and I rarely work Mondays! Therefore, it’s a day that I usually enjoy because it’s a fresh new week and a catch up with the mountain of laundry recharge day after the weekend.

 

Last night we took a stroll outside with our pack of dogs and got to enjoy an amazing sky show- I love that Gabby can sit facing forward in her stroller now and see this herself. What better way to learn her colors by looking at God’s own artwork?

 

Confession time: We have this family tradition called Gourmet Burgers with Joey’s family every Sunday. Thank goodness I said ‘mostly vegetarian month’. Joey and I may or may not have inhaled 3 burgers between the two of us. Beef never tasted so good! And now we are ready for another week of mostly vegetarian. Which brings me to sharing this recipe for Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas from the Garden Grazer with you!

 

This lady knows what she’s doing in the kitchen. I made this Saturday night for the Joester and I, after a sweet friend suggested this recipe for us to try. The green onions and cilantro add tons of flavor and the homemade enchilada sauce is a cinch to make and SO delicious! We subbed corn tortillas for the flour ones, and made homemade chips with the leftovers.

 

 

My tummy= happy tummy. Vegetarian enchiladas for the win!

 

~M

Happy 24th Birthday, M!

Happy Birthday, Mon!
I am so happy to be one of your sisters. You are one of the most Godly women I know and you set such a wonderful example for me, Lindsey, and your baby girl, and many others I know. Philippians 1:3 says I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Paul talks in his letters to the Philippians about his thankfulness to them for their help, to talk to them about his circumstances, and to unify and humble them as well. It’s so important to have people in our lives that do this for us, and I am blessed to have M as a confidante and support. I love you, sis, and I hope you have an amazing day today 🙂
Love, K

Coffee Date and Les Misérables

Sorry for M and I being more absent than usual. We are both experiencing some technical difficulties with our Internet, so we are communicating on this blog 100% via our phones. I thought I was tech savvy til now. Ha! We’ll see how this goes.
Mom, Linds, M, and I have decided to do a book club this summer and read Les Misérables ‘together’. We have all seen the old movie, most of us (everyone except me) have seen the new movie, and none of us have read the book. Coming from a family of ‘the book is always better than the movie’, this is kind of illegal- so! We are reading. And discussing. And the first discussion was so cool!
For any of you who do not know the story of Les Mis- Jean Valjean is a good man who served 20 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. He is released from prison, but cannot find honest work anywhere. Valjean receives mercy from a very humble and truly godly bishop only to be pursued for the rest of his life by a so called ‘godly’ man named Javert.
Since this was the first meeting, we got sidetracked sitting outside Starbucks just catching up on each others news and also got into a conversation with a man walking by who was telling people about the mission he is running for men and he asked what Les Mis was about. After mom explained it, he said,’ it’s kind of like a parable isn’t it? An earthly story with a heavenly message.’ And it’s true! The first chapters cover nothing but how the bishop came to be such a disciple of Christ, and such a humble man, and we each had different views of it but we were all amazed at how this man chose to have absolutely nothing in order to give everything to those who needed it. Made us reevaluate our needs and wants a bit. Funny how ‘stuff’ we think we need and ‘stuff’ we think will solve all our problems can get in the way of doing what God has planned for us.
I think this book reading and discussing is the start of a really good thing…can’t wait to see what we learn next!
😉
~K
P.s. a man walking down the sidewalk with two 7 week old pit bulls allllmost had Lindsey convinced she’s an animal person. Allllmost.

Burning Lights Tour!!

I’ve actually really been suffering from withdrawals, I think, from not being on here! It makes me sad. I miss you people. 🙂

So I’m just gonna give y’all a little picture of the last few weeks….

1. My friends Adrienne and James’ wedding two weekends ago….

Gorgeous aren’t they? The wedding was beautiful, and we had a BLAST 🙂

2. My friends Janna and John’s wedding this past weekend….

My apologies for the lighting….She looked like a princess!! Beautiful!

Another wonderful time with friends and family! Congrats Janna and John 🙂

3. The Chris Tomlin and Kari Jobe concert Curtis and I went to with my mom and stepdad- AMAZING!!!!! Holy cows, guys. I have been to plenty of concerts before but this one kicks all those other concerts little butts.

We were SO CLOSE! Props to Dave for the awesome seats 🙂

It was so cool to be in a huge room with tons of other people all worshiping God through music. It’s one of those things that kind of renews your faith a little, just by being around others who believe in the same God you do.

Plus, Chris Tomlin was HI-larious! It was a pretty high-energy concert so of course everyone is standing and being enthusiastic until Chris sets up for an acoustic guitar song that seemed like it was gonna be more low-key. So everyone starts sitting down (not us though!! I promise!!!) and Chris stops doing the intro to the song mid-chord and calls everyone out, ‘Why is everyone sitting down? Stand up! Let’s get this going!’ and everyone jumped right back up! He starts laughing, the crowd all starts laughing, and the music starts up again.  Hehe I don’t think anyone sat down again for 40 minutes until he brought his piano down for a solo and started laughing again and ‘gave us permission’ to sit 😉

Not sure how much longer the Burning Lights tour is out and about, but you need  to go. Kari Jobe is amazing also- I didn’t recognize her name but she sang several songs I was familiar with so she must be on K-Love a lot. If you can’t make it to a concert, download these songs…

1. Love Came Down by Kari Jobe

2. White Flag by Chris Tomlin

3. We Are by Kari Jobe

4. Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin

5. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin

So that’s the last of the fun stuff til May 25th, when Ashley gets married!

This wonderful girl was the first friend I made when I moved to California, and she is the one who introduced me to my husband, who happens to be her cousin, so now we’re stuck together forever 🙂

So, til then….

hittin’ the books 😉

~K

P.S. I tried M’s Kettlebell exercise. If I can move my body tomorrow, I may try it again. If it makes me sore like this, that means it’s working, right??!?!

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Between having a new niece, a new second cousin (!! It’s baby season, ya’ll!!), friends, school, work, and housework, I am getting to be one cranky lady by about Wednesday afternoon. I simply cannot stretch myself thinly enough to do everything I want to do, and it can drive me batty. I’m sure you understand. We all do this in some way- say yes to everything, because ‘everything’ is stuff we want to do, and end up going crazy because there’s not enough hours in the day.

It’s all about- I’m gonna be cliche- taking time to stop and smell the roses. Or, in my case, wiggling my toes in freshly mown grass.

**pedicure courtesy of M, who treated me to a ‘me’ day, cuz she’s psychic or something

Also, I’ve been listening to K-Love on the radio lately and trying to make it more of a habit- and I love what it’s doing for my attitude. I’m sure some of you understand- the ‘on-the-go’ nature of  life can suck you dry, but having a radio station dedicated to awesome worship music and talk on how to live a God-centered life in a self-centered world has made a huge difference for me….I highly suggest turning your radio channel if you haven’t already.

And I started reading Blue Like Jazz again. If none of you have read it- make the time to do it. It’s by Donald Miller, and it is a phenomenal book on how to be a Christian today…

It’s so crazy how much more calm I feel when I take more (nonexistent) time out of my day to focus on what’s important (God and family), time suddenly seems to slow just a bit, life seems a little brighter, and graduation doesn’t seem quite so far away.

Coffee dates with my momma also help.

🙂

~K