Update on life in general...

Kaitlin is back. She is safe and home and had a great time!
I am so relieved. I feel as though I accomplished something although she actually went? Does that make sense? I dont know if would do it again any item soon...it was really, really hard.

I am impatiently patiently waiting for word on a house from our realtor. I will let you know when I hear!

I am at Amy's house, I got up at 5:30 so hubbie could drop us off here at 6:00 on his way to work. That is how bad I didnt want to drive. That is insane! I am keeping Kirsten and a friend of Amy's daughter. Amy is attending the area Republican party women thing....I like hearing about it but would rather keep the kids!

I am not doing the greatest on the budget this month, it was a little too tight. I also am having the "I wanna buys.." more! Not a good combo! I am also waiting to hear about the house which of course affects our budget amount. We have to have money down (it is only a rental) and we need to make a lot of purchases. At this particular house we will need a fridge and washer and dryer. A lot of houses have these included but a few dont, so we will have to get at least a fridge right away- I can wait longer on the washer and dryer. I also need a dining table and chairs. I know the style I want, but I might have to make do with a card board table for awhile! Which is okay with me... as long as I know which one I am getting I am okay with waiting. We are going to paint the girls bunkbed, but I cant decide what color! Matt we are just keeping his bed for now. We are hoping to get the kids both a set of new furniture...it is high on my list! There are of course a number of things that outrank kid furniture but it is on my list and I am going to start saving for it!

We have done almost no school work in over a week...we did math and we have kept up with our reading. The kids also had book club on Friday so that was something. So I have made our a list of MUST DO for school and plan to finish by Feb 28! We will have our medieval feast next week!

Our next unit is going to be ocean. I might actually use a curriculum but tailor it a little, it will still be a "unit" study. We will again do all school off this curriculum except for math and language. I am looking at Learning language Arts Through Literature and really liking what I see so far! We might start this for our language. I am going to make Ocean last through mid April and go on to Texas History from mid April -mid June. After that we will do a camping theme, which will tie into our support group camping trip! FUN!!!

In addition to buckling down on school I will of course be PACKING! Oh and hopefully MOVING! I am so excited! I went into the YMCA that will be in the area of our house, it is nice. Maybe I will actually USE it!

I am going to make a huge list of things I have to do and get to it.

I am also going to make a huge list of things I need to FIND in the area.
You know neighborhood dry cleaners, alteration shop, oil change place, nearest CVS and Walgreens, just all the basic needs! I know where the library is and a Dollar Tree!

I am also going to make a huge list of house needs and prioritize them with a number and make sure I buy things in order of need instead just getting stuff I see I need!

Okay enough of what I am going to do this week....

What do you have on your plate??

The Great Backyard Bird Count comes to an end...

Okay so participated this year and we saw ONE bird.

ONE BIRD!

Oh well, he was fed well!

Happy Valentines Day...late but still relevant

Okay, for this Valentines Day post Dave, my valentine, has agreed to be interviewed...



Carrie: Why do you love me?
Dave: Because you are you.



Carrie: When is our anniversary?
Dave: June 28


Carrie: What is "OUR" song?
Dave: Here and Now by Luther Vandross



Carrie: While dating what was my favorite thing to do with you?
Dave: (laughing) kiss me.



Carrie: What did I wear on our first date?
Dave: I do not know.



Carrie: What is the best gift you haven ever given me? (from your perspective)
Dave: your necklace (this was a necklace attached to a pig that said From your one and only...)


Carrie: If you could give me the perfect gift what would it be?
Dave: I would have to think about that...are you talking money, no object?
Carrie: Yes.
Dave: Still dont know.



Carrie: What is my favorite thing to do on a "date night"?
Dave: movies because we dont get to see them often but dinner too so we can sit and talk.







Carrie: If I could go buy one thing today, what would it be?
Dave: something you wouldnt normally buy? I mean not like a diet coke?
Carrie: Yes.
Dave: you would probably end up buying something for the kids.



Carrie: What is my favorite movie?
Dave: personally I would say it is a toss up between You've Got Mail and White Christmas but I am leaning towards White Christmas. Um what is your favorite movie?
Carrie: um that is hard, I like lots of different parts of movies. Is your favorite the one you will always watch if it is on or that you will specifically put it on!
Dave: so is your favorite movie TombRaider?
Carrie: um maybe yes... (dont judge me...lol)



Carrie: What do you love most about me?
Dave: I am not completely answering your question... one thing I am completely fascinated with are your eyes. physical attributes...
Carrie: whatever
Dave: I love how you try to learn about things people like and incorporate that into something you do for them or get them.

(He said a few other things which he said I couldnt share...)



Carrie: What do you think we will be doing on our 25th anniversary?
Dave: Well I guess we would probably have a party or go out to dinner.
Carrie: is that all you want to say Mr. Romantic?
Dave: um yeah.

She is packed. She is excited. She is finally going to bed. My husband is still not home and I feel ill.

Dont usually post like this but I just have to get it out.

I hate anxiety. I hate fear.

I know people are praying for her trip and for me specifically and you dont know how much those prayers mean to me.

I cant breath.

I try to get a deep breath and I just cant.

Job 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me
dwell in safety.

Acts 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in
him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 18:10
"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

Fitness Friday

Fitness Friday again...

Brenda at the Family Revised has given us a "Do what ya want" assignment. So I am just going to do a simple update. I will however be participating in her Time Capsule so go check out what she is doing!!!

I am doing a food journal this week in preparation for upcoming doctor appointments. I am getting a full blood workup when I go to the doctor. I also have all my "girly" stuff scheduled too.

It is amazing how much food I CAN eat. I am not dieting. I am just totally aware of what I am eating! I have not been as hungry lately which is weird because stress for me usually equals EATING. For instance, last night we were at a Valentine skating party and we ordered a pizza. I ate two pieces and two cookies! That's all. I would have normally eaten more pizza and the desserts would have been hard to pass up!

My goals are weird this week:

keep up with my food journal
track my body stuff (girly stuff) for doctor's visit
water
no eating after 9 oclock (I think this is where the stress eating is taking over!)
keep more fruits and veggies on hand



I found the YMCA near where we will be moving and it will most likely be about as close as the one is here! So I will transfer our membership and hopefully GO!!!!!


I have some news that I will share soon... No I am not pregnant!
It is in relation to my weight loss (no I am not getting lap band surgery-although I looked at my options.)

So that's all folks...

Carrie in Texas

On the inside...

On the outside there at times I know I seem fine. I may even feel fine in that moment but other times it is just to much, like a crushing tidal surge of emotions. This house hunting is really stressing me out- no the doing just the waiting and wondering and what if's! I could look at homes forever if I needed too as long as I knew I could get anyone of them I wanted...does that make sense? The not knowing is just getting to me...HENCE my control issues!

On top of this incredible stress, Kate is leaving tomorrow for her trip and I wake up to yet another plane crash. That makes three since Dec 10. I dont care that it was a commuter plane, I dont care that there were survivors on the two other crashes.... I just feel sick. very sick.

I know I havent been blogging, I am just doing the barest of things, only what I have to do. It will get better. I know it will. My hubbie has also been working a lot. That is really hard on me- sorry all you single moms! It is just overwhelming as a literal 24/7 mom to have the kids 24/7. I get to a point and I guess I begin to shut down- it usually takes me a lot longer to reach this point but with the house stress and the trip stress I have reached it a lot quicker!

later

My head is spinning...

Well by now you all know we are moving but the house hunt is slow going! We are renting and really would like a particular area and have bad credit and need at least 3 bedrooms SOOOOO that = pain in my patootie!

I am stressing out so not blogging much! I promise to do better.

Send up a prayer that I will not stress and that God will lead up to the "house" HE has for us.

HMMMMM...

Ernest Hemingway said once that to become a man you had to do three things...

Father a child
Fight a bull
Plant a tree


How utterly random could ya get? I mean those three things were how you became a man? Not being responsible for the child his whole life, not raising a herd of bulls for a living and not planting an orchard to sustain a life....

Do these three things strike you as odd? I mean I understand that Hemingway was a deeply disturbed young man. I know he had serious problems, but THIS is what he though made you into a man???

HMMMMMMMMMM...........................


Supposedly (meaning I am not a physician and did not actually research these facts) once you die your hair continues to grow for several months.

Is that weird? I mean why would it keep growing? Does it grow faster or slower than when you are alive? Do you still have body? Curls? Does it still get frizzy???


HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM............................



The sound of E.T. was made by someone squishing their hands in jelly.


Now I want to know WHY they choose that sound? How did they come across the sound? Did they have a bunch of bowls of jelly sitting around or did they "squish" it once and just record it? What kind of jelly?



HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM........................



Stressed is desserts spelled backwards.

No comments neccesary.


HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMm.................



Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet (2 m) away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.

Okay people get out the measuring tapes. I am pretty sure the large percentage of you people's sinks are NOT 6 feet from your toilet. So unless you have it covered or in a jar....YUCK, YUCK, YUCK.

What does that mean for toilet paper or the BOOKS you have on the back of your toilet seat that you read while you go potty...(dont judge me, lots of peeps read in the bathroom! lol)

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.........................

Okay I have given you enough to think about.

Kate and Matt's story...

The Princess, the Knight and the Squire

Once upon a time there lived a royal king and queen and a chivalrous knight who lived in a wondrous castle. The castle was up on a hill that over looked a meadow with farms and farmhouses. The kind and queen were getting worried for they were getting old and tired, and when the kind was about to give up the queen had twins, a prince and a princess. The Kingdom rejoiced. They sang and the castle workers cried for joy.
The day after the twins were born, a dragon came to the castle and said to the King and Queen, “ On the Princess’s 16th birthday I will come to get her and if she is not here, you, your son and daughter and your kingdom shall be destroyed.” The dragon blew a spark on a near by curtain and flew off. The workers hurried to put out the fire.
Fifteen years and 364 days later the King and Queen called upon their daughter and explained how the day after she was born, the dragon had come and what he had said. By the time they had finished telling her the story the Princess
(named Ladybird) was in tears and the Queen and King dismissed her. Princess Ladybird went up to her room and told the Prince (named Hawk– for his sharp eyes) the whole story.
On the day of the twins 16th birthday the Princess told the Prince to go to the old knight and ask for his help.

Later that day the dragon came, he looked bigger, stronger and fiercer than the last time they had seen him. The Princess gave Hawk a look that had hope, promise, respect and honor and then she bravely went up to the dragon and said, “I am ready.”
“Good,” said the dragon and gently put down a wing. “Now get on or else!”.
The Princess quickly got on the wing and the dragon swiftly flew away. The next day the Prince did what the Princess has asked him to do, he didn't even stay for breakfast because he went straight to the Old knights hut. The Prince knocked and a man in about his fifty’s answered, “Yes?”
“I am Prince Hawk, “ the Prince said, “my twin sister Princess Ladybird has been taken off by a dragon. She has asked for your help.”
“She has, has she?” said the Old Knight.
“Yes, so will you please help us?” said Prince Hawk.
“I will think about it,” replied the Old Knight. And one hour later the Old Knight came to the castle to talk to the King and Queen.
“Prince Hawk has asked me to help save Princess Ladybird, but I have no squire. Can the Prince be my squire?”
The King and Queen looked at each other doubtful, finally the King spoke up, “On one condition, he must come back safe from harm.”
“Done!” said the Old Knight. “May I go see him Your Highness?”
“Yes.”
The Old Knight bowed before the King and left for Prince Hawks bedroom. He arrived at the Prince Hawk’s bed chambers and the Old Knight asked the Prince to be his squire.
“Yes, “ said the Prince, trying to be calm. “Yes, I will.”
An hour later the Prince was putting on the armor for the knight. The Knight picked up his shield and sword.
“Ready?” he asked the Prince.
“Yes!” came the reply and they set out on their journey. They faced ogres, giants, wizards and witches. Finally in the deepest and darkest part of Wizards Forest they found the dragon.
The dragon woke and the Old Knight and his squire fought him for hours. Princess Ladybird watched in terror as they got scratched, wounded and burned. But the Old Knight and his squire fought on till the dragon was dead and Princess Ladybird was free.
So the three traveled back the way they had come and when they arrived at the castle it had almost been a year. The Old Knight was rewarded with gold, silver, gems and jewels for his bravery. The King, Queen, the Prince and Princess and all of the kingdom lived happily ever after.

The End

This story as was told by Matt and Kaitlin.

Are you okay?

Emily: I think I just cracked one of my bones.

Me: Wow, that sounds serious. Are you okay?

Emily: I didnt die.


Arent we glad she didnt die from her cracked bone!

Fitness Friday

Hey I am late on Fitness Friday... let's just pretend it is still Friday!




Okay last week Brenda told us to do something new! HMMMM.. Well we all know she meant with our fitness situation but I would have to be having a fitness situation to do something new with it! In keeping it real... I have NOT been doing the fitness thing! I have not been watching what I eat, or counting carbs or doing ANYTHING that resembles a diet!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... here is something new I am going to do!

I am going to tell my loyal readers something about myself.......

I have totally chickened out a number of times but here it goes.

I weight 331 lbs.

Yes, Many of you dont believe it. That is okay, I know exactly how fat I am! lol!

But here is the thing. I dont want to be this fat anymore. I always say this and I ALWAYS mean it BUT the new twist is that I always says "oh it's not the number, it is how my clothes fit"

Now that is true to a certain point.

BUT NOT WHEN YOU WEIGH 331 lbs! IT IS ALL ABOUT THE NUMBER.

So I am on a diet. NOT a "lifestyle change", NOT a I want to eat "healthy" phase.

A DIET.

I am going to a doctor and get all the necessary blood work done and speak to the PROFESSIONALLY (imagine that!)... and I am going to get a grip on this situation! And it is really a situation in my case!

So there it is. In a nutshell.

I will let you know what the doctor says and I am just all about keeping it real right now! I need you ladies to really, really pray with me about this situation and I am going to need some serious help! It is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life! But I have to.

Too good for a Wordless Wednesday...

Okay, I am getting the picture that I need to explain the picture!

Here goes...

My brother used to work at Ashley Furniture and when the store opened they had this thing where "anything" could happen. Well one day they had a monkey at the store! It was so cute! It would drink out of a water bottle and it got into my purse and another lady's purse and would go through our stuff! It was hilarious! The monkey got gum and unwrapped it and started eating it!

Kate got to sit and hold the monkey for quite a while! It was a really, really neat experience for her!

Wordless Wednesday

Okay this is how I roll...

In lieu of a post of my mottled thoughts...I am going to link you to a few of my favorite bloggers and a few new reads!

Everybody wants the comments love! So peruse my blog roll and read my bloggy friends thoughts and comment!

Brenda @ The Family Revised
Jennifer @ Planted by Streams
Dawn at Picking up Pebbles
Kysha @ Love's School
Sonja @ Wonder Years
Jennifer @ The Coplings Hobbit Hole also check out her food blog and her school blog!
The Texan Mama @ Who Put Me in Charge of These People
Lisa @ verybusymomwith4
Dawn @ Because I said so
Debbie @ Finding Normal
Carrie @ Thoughts, Ponderings and Musings
Julie @ Living on Less

I will stop for now! In a few weeks I will link to some more! If you have a blog you love feel free to send me a link so I can check her out too! For Mr. Link and this particular post please put YOUR name but the link of your favorite blog, unless you write a post with the link in it! Got it?

Useful and Beautiful...

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.“

- William Morris

Okay, so I am struggling...BIG SURPRISE. I was reading one of my favorite blogs The Keeper of the Home. I have mentioned it before...and she had this quote on her site along with a post about...stuff.

I have lots of stuff. But right now I am specifically going to focus on my school room. I have too much stuff. I am also NOT using the stuff. I have great intentions, but keeping it real I just dont use it. So we are, in the near future moving to a rent house. It will most likely be smaller than our current accommodations. This means I have to pare down!

I am sooooo not good at that! Now dont get me wrong. I will throw stuff away. I will throw perfectly good stuff away simply because I am in the ZONE and know it will never get to a recycle place, or thrift store! When I am in the ZONE, I dont want to bag stuff up and have it just sit in a corner waiting for the Salvation Army pick up day! I know that is BAD, but whatever it is what I do.

When I am in that place, I gotta get it out RIGHT THEN!

So back to my stuff... I have all this awesome home schooling stuff. I have neat curriculum, tons of books, hands on activities stuff, craft supplies! But I am not using it! Some of it I have had for years and still havent used. Some stuff I bought when I home schooled Sarah Jean and that was 10 years ago! I havent used it yet...but I cant bring myself to throw it away. I mean it is neat, it is educational and I have great intentions that I will USE it someday.

So the problem is letting go of things that are not useful or beautiful...

If I havent used it in 10 years and my kids are past the age I would have used it than I GET RID OF IT!!!

If I have plans for something "neat" than I need to put it in writing when I plan to use it, write a curriculum plan and put everything I need for it in a bag or folder!

If I have read a book that I didnt really like I DONT have to keep it. Even if it was a gift!

If I have changed my mind about a curriculum than I need to get rid of it! Bye Bye Horizons!!!

If I am NOT using it because my kids are simply not there yet, than I need to make sure that it is really a curriculum that fits into Dave and my plan for how we want to school. If it does not NO MATTER HOW AWESOME IT IS...I can throw it away.

If I have 5000 googly eyes... I can probably put a few hundred in a simple Ziploc back and GET RID of the rest! I don't have to keep every craft item I ever bought just because there were a few left of it!

If I have printed something out, but didnt use it I can throw it away... I can find it again on the world wide web if I need it!

If I have a paper that I really need to keep I can scan it into my computer and keep it on file! Wow using technology usefully!!! What a concept!

If it is not beautiful or useful...it's out of here!

For all you peeps who are freaking because I keep saying I will throw it away... I will put it all in a box or two and put it directly in my suburban. I will take it to our home school coop one time and on the way home dump the rest at a donation center! Feel better?

Maybe someone else will find it useful or think it beautiful!!!

Update, Accountability club, my envelope

Okay, so I have been a bad blogger lately, it must be in the air because a lot of my favorite reads have blogged just a little bit less lately! I have not been feeling well, we have been busy doing family stuff and I just having taken the time to blog!

Well a little update over the past few days. I was supposed to have my Accountability Club Mr. Linky up but I havent yet! My resolutions arent going great but they are at least going! I had my envelope post scheduled to come up on Jan 30 and it did before it was ready and I deleted it, but for any who got a peek...

I have lost a few pounds, I thought I would be embarrassed putting my weight on the blog but honestly everyone knows I am WAY over weight and no one believes I actually weigh that much anyway. Well I DO! But I really dont care about the number as much as how I "look", actually how my clothes fit! I am losing weight although very, very slowly! I see it as a glass half full though cuz at least I am not gaining weight right!

On my envelope....

I will tell you two other things that are in my envelope. One is my anxiety. I am such an anxious person, unless you too are an anxious person you dont understand! In fact many, many people in my life REALLY do not understand (shout out to my family!) I cannot help it. I can work on it. I can do my best, but I cant make the feeling of anxiety go away.

BUT... in December my sister asked me if my daughter could go with her out of state...like on an AIRPLANE. I said, "um no, I really dont think I can do that."

So I was literally typing a post a few days later and talking about working on my anxiety. I got up to call my sister and tell her that Kate could go. You cannnot fathom HOW HARD THIS WAS FOR ME. I got off the phone and cried.

I know she will be fine. I know she is with family. I know she will have a BLAST. I know this is an awesome opportunity.

DOESNT MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER.

But since we bought and paid for the air fare and I have told her about it... well let's say that I wont be making any appearances at the airport and I will be doing a LOT of praying!

Next in my envelope is our debt....

We made stupid mistakes. We are attempting to correct those steps by becoming debt free. We took Dave Ramseys class and while we do not follow the program entirely, our goal is to pay off our debt and live debt free. We DO NOT use any credit cards and have not for over four years. Anything bought is done with cash. Any vacation, any purchases, Christmas...etc. That is an awesome feeling!

But in addition to living credit card free, we want to be debt free! So that means paying off the old debt! Well this month we sent a money to pay 1/3 of a very large credit card! We have plans for Feb and March and that card will be DONE!

That is very exciting to us!

So there is my envelope post, accountability post, update of past few days post all wrapped up in one!

I will put mr. linky up in case you want to write an update post on your resolutions.