If I Had a Nickel

I'll get to it tomorrow...

To use the old phrase, "if I had a nickel" for every time I said I'll get to this tomorrow, well our student loans would probably be paid off.

One of my best friends has a favorite band. Skillet. Two years she made strong-armed me into going to Winter Jam with her to see them. I've never been a huge concert fan, but it was only $10 and there were lots of bands, so I thought it would be fun. I've been a fan of Skillet since. Last year I had some money on a gift card for Lifeway Christian and they had Skillet's CD Awake on sale, so I bought it. Since then I have found one of my favorite songs. One Day Too Late.

I recently hung this sign in my cubicle:

For the first day it was super motivating. I kicked butt and got everything crossed off my to-do list. However, since then I can't say it's done me a lot of good. I try, I want to do the things I'll say I'll do today rather than wait until tomorrow. I think it's something we all struggle with. There are days where we just don't feel like doing anything and sometimes that's okay. For me, I have been in this place for weeks now. Laziness has taken it's toll on me. It really got to me this afternoon, I was ignoring work, ignoring my bible reading, and ignoring my training for the Mini. This afternoon, I had enough. So what came next?

I did one thing for work that I was waiting until tomorrow to do.
I caught up on my Read-Through-Bible plan that I was 3 days behind on.
I did my 4 mile run that I didn't want to do.

So, if Today is your Tomorrow, what's one thing you can do today instead of tomorrow?

Purpose

I've had friends in the past share with me that instead of doing a bunch of resolutions they have a Word for the year. Last year I tried to do my own thing and do monthly pledges... well if you look through my old posts you'll see that didn't last :). I made it through about two months before I gave up on those, oops! So this year I have decided to adopt a word for 2014: PURPOSE.

Last week Paige's daycare was closed which forced me to take almost a whole week of vacation to stay home with her because Jeremy was out of vacation time for the year. I cannot be more grateful for last week. It was an amazing refresher for me, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The main goal I had last week was to go through a Goal Planning Workbook that was created by one of my best friends Victoria over at Creative Home Keeper. (All you have to do is sign up for her for her monthly newsletter and updates and she'll send it to you free!). As I started going through the workbook one of the first things mentioned is to make sure you have your Mission Statement handy. I had never done a mission statement before, I've had many friends do one, but to be honest I always thought it was weird, until I made one. After going through a short e-book (Victoria's Goal Planning Workbook will direct you there) which helps you name and prioritize your roles it became evident that I wasn't living with a purpose. Sure, I know my purpose is to love God, my family, and do what the Bible tells me to do, but am I really living that way?

So as I developed my Mission Statement by identifying my roles and prioritizing them I realized that things need to change. I'm tired of waking up each day doing the same thing because it's routine. I want to have a purpose every day. I want to find God's purpose for my life. I want to work for a purpose. With that said here is my new Mission Statement:

My mission is to:

Love God wholeheartedly and glorify him daily. To spend time with him daily through prayer, devotion, stillness, and worship.

Love, respect, and serve Jeremy unconditionally. To be his best friend and help-mate.

Be an inspiration and role-model to Paige. To be Jesus to her by showing and teaching her Love, Grace, and Discipline.

Work at whatever I am doing with all my heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. To make a difference where a difference can be made. To make my workplace my mission-field.

Happy Anniversary

I imagine when most people think about how they will celebrate their wedding anniversary they think about romantic trips, fancy dinner, or flowers. Well I am forever inclined to think about IndyCon and Boardgames from here on out for our anniversary :)

When I first met Krista Daulton I had no idea what I was getting myself into... but I'm so glad she reached out and we have become such good friends. The first time I went over to Krista and Adam's house for "game day" I was a little (okay, A LOT) overwhelmed... but don't tell them that (oops... too late). There were so many games I had never heard of and I felt like everyone had played every single game, except me.

As Krista will attest to this... I've come a long way. We attended our first IndyCon 2 years ago and only went for 1 day. We had a blast, but the day went by so quickly because the games are typically 1-2 hour games. I stuck with the people I knew (Krista, Adam, and of course Jeremy) and didn't try too many new games. Last year we went for all three days and had a great time. This year again, we did all three days.

So the difference this year? Even though I go in to almost every single game knowing I'm going to lose, I still go in to have fun. I understand rules of most games better now than I did last year. And it's much easier for me to pick up on new games. My brother, sister-in-law, and 2 other friends came for all three days this year too which made it more fun!

What all did I play this year you ask? Let me recap for you:

Day 1:
1. Trajan - really enjoyed this. Jeremy and I got to IndyCon a little early because Adam wanted to play this first thing and asked us to join. It was a very fun game and now that Krista and Adam have a copy I look forward to playing again.
2. Lifeboats - Interesting negotiation game. You need to have the mindset going in that no matter what happens you will still all be friends at the end of the game
3. Tzolk'in - This is a very deep game with a lot going on. I think too much for me.
4. Wits and Wagers - Every year they have an annual Wits and Wagers tournament. They ask questions about boardgames, teams write down answers and you bet on which team has the most correct answer and you get payouts of 2-1, 4-1, 6-1, etc. We had a team of 4 girls and were getting our behinds kicked, so what did we do, bet it all on the last round of course... oh and guess who won... that's right, we did :) Scored a free copy of Wits and Wagers: Party Edition!!
5. Fistful of Penguins - This game is so fun! It's a quick 'filler game' with penguins and dice!
6. Crokinole (x2) - Learned this for the first time to play in the annual tournament... got creamed in the first round of the tournament by the guy who won!
7. Pillars of the Earth - I love this game. I don't think I've won yet, but I still love it!

Day 2:
1. Guildhall (x2) - 2 thumbs up from me on this one! I really enjoyed it.
2. Pillars of the Earth - Again... love this...
3. Le Havre - Krista has been talking about this game for a while. So we finally had time to sit down and play it this weekend! It was almost too long for me. However, I did enjoy it and almost beat Krista on my first time playing :)
4. Agricola - I WON! Whoo-hoo! Maybe I should put in a disclaimer that I played with all new people. But I think this was only my fourth time playing. This is a fun game, but takes a lot of advance planning which is hard for me to do!
5. Tichu (x2) - Annual tourney. Krista and I made it to the second round before getting beat! But we both got a Grand Tichu! (If you really want to know what that is just e-mail me... too complicated to explain!)

Day 3:
1. Stone Age - I played this game for the first time last year at IndyCon and have been wanting to play it ever since! Finally got to play it again this weekend and I am still just as excited about it this year as I was last year! This game is so fun! Jeremy just bought the iPhone app!
2. Ticket to Ride Africa - Ticket to Ride is one of my favorite games. The Africa expansion added a new element with Terrain cards, but they were hard to use in a 5-player game. I think Jeremy and I will play again and see what we think with just two people.

So Happy Anniversary to an amazing husband! I love you so much and had a great weekend playing games all weekend with you!! I look forward to it again next year!!

March Pledges

Oops... so I'm a couple days late on starting my March Pledges... but nevertheless I have been thinking about them. Surprisingly it's getting harder to do this! I felt like January was great, like most 'resolutions' January is the easy month. It's continuing that motivation that is hard.

As far as my February Pledges, well they didn't go quite as planned, in fact it was pretty bad. But I'm not giving up. I feel like when I do these pledges it gives me something to strive for daily. For me, it's Living Purposefully... does that make sense?

Anyway here are some pledges for March, you'll notice quite a few are carried-over from February.

Daily:
1. Read my Bible daily - I'm sad to say I got a few days behind in February, I think I have 3 days to catch up on.
2. Pray Daily
3. Continue to get up when my alarm goes off - I actually didn't hit the snooze button once in February... there were, however, a few times when I turned my alarm off and reset it :)
4. Going back to brushing daily. Someone once told me it takes 21 days to start a habit and only 3 to break it... that is so true!
5. Drink at least 32 oz of water daily... although ideally I'd like to see that at 64 oz.

Weekly:
1. TURN OFF THE TV!! I definitely have my shows that I watch. I know that Thursday nights the TV will always be on. Lately we have added Family Night Movie night to Friday night, which means, I'd like to keep the TV off Mon-Wed.
2. Workout 5 times a week. The 30-day shred was great... it would've been even better if I hadn't gotten sick for a week last month. I will officially finish day 30 on Friday March 8th, although it won't be consecutive, I'm still proud of myself for doing it within a month and a half!
3. Count calories 5 days a week. I have got to start doing this! This will help my goal of fitting into my "conference" outfit in two months!

Monthly:
1. Learn to knit - I started to do this in February, but unfortunately Maggie and I had very opposite schedules this month and we weren't able to get together to work on this! But I'm not giving up! I have yarn and needles and by golly I will knit something before the end of the year :)
2. Total Money Makeover - I'm so proud of Jeremy and I last month. While we did go over on a few budget items, that's totally expected the first couple of months as we are learning how much we need month to month.
3. Read 3 books - these, of course, being the three I pledged last month: Harry Potter, I have Loved You: Getting to Know the Father's Heart, and I Want it Now

This month will present a few challenges especially in the calorie counting and exercising as it is a very busy month! But writing these out really helps me keep them in the front of my mind!

Happy March!!

Look at mama and listen

"Paige, look at mama and listen..."

This usually results in Paige running in the opposite direction... maybe she thinks she is always in trouble when I say that? Which isn't the case... usually I just want her to pick something up or ask her to do something.

Last night the issue of running in the opposite direction and usually whining before she even heard what I had to say kept wearing on my patience with her... I was getting so frustrated, and the more she didn't stop and look and listen the more upset I got, which continued to get her more upset because she could hear it in my voice.

Today I am reflecting back on this continued cycle of me saying look and listen and her running and whining/crying and it gets me thinking...

Annie, how many times has God said to you "Stop, look at me, and listen... I have something to tell you/ask you" and how many times do I run in the opposite direction afraid of what I'm going to hear.

I am not perfect, and neither is my daughter (shocker, right?) but are my reactions to her disobedience showing the same love that God shows me when I continually disobey Him??

Reflecting today on God's Love and how I can show my daughter His love through my actions

Lord, please give me patience when trying to teach my daughter how to listen...

Mid-Month Re-Pledge

So here we are on February 14th and I find myself needing to re-evaluate my pledges for the month as I have not been doing as well as I wanted.

Daily Pledges:
1. I'm still up to date on my Bible reading, but I have not been focusing on the reading... lately I've just been reading to get it done... not the purpose of reading it!
2. Praying: I started out well this month by writing out my prayer requests in my journal and spending some time praying after reading my Bible, but that has gone by the wayside.
3. There have only been 2 days where I have re-set my alarm after it went off.. I didn't hit the snooze, I just re-set it :)
4. I thought flossing would get easier... nope I still hate it... I've done decently with this, but haven't done it every day.
5. Sadly I have not been taking a picture of Paige every day :(

Weekly Pledges:
1. TV... ummmm... yea it's been on way too much this month
2. I believe I did have a pop 2 times in one week, but I've been trying to refrain as much as possible.

Monthly Pledges:
1. Learning to knit - Maggie and I have set up a couple of times to knit but things have come up. I've watched a few youtube videos and kind of re-taught myself (I learned a few years ago but never practiced or made anything). I just need to get some better yarn to get started
2. Total Money Makeover - going good! Sticking to our budget pretty well!
3. Reading... yea... I don't see this one happening... I'll be lucky if I get one finished!
4. 30-Day Shred... YES!! I am currently on Day 15!!! I started Level 2 on Sunday... it's been kicking my butt!

Okay... after writing all these out I don't feel like I'm as off track as I thought I was... Things I want to continue to focus on:
- 30 Day Shred... I'm half-way there!
- Cutting out the TV! Ugh... this is so hard! After working out all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV!

Thanks for keeping up and for your support!

The Smell...

So here I am going to bed at around 10pm tonight and as usual I go in to check on Paige before I go to sleep.. Aren't sleep babies just so precious! Anyway, so I open the door and am immediately struck by a foul smell... I thought whoa Paige, that's some serious poop! But as I got closer I realized, it was poop... It was the other p-word... PUKE! Oh no!! My poor baby! She had massively puked and was sound asleep in it!

Of course, first thing I do is get Jeremy, first thing he does is pick her up and take her to the bathroom... I said shouldn't we get the water running and warm before we just throw her in there? So he hands her to me and I'm doing what I never thought I would be doing... Holding a baby whose head is soaked in puke! (It's only by God's grace that I didn't throw up myself this evening)!

The bath tub is finally ready and Paige is doing great for having thrown up and been woken up abruptly. I set her in the bathtub but she won't sit down, you can see the fear and confusion in her eyes. I ask her if she wants me to sit in the tub with her and she simply looks at me and shakes her head yes... So I climb in. (During this time Jeremy is being super-dad and cleaning everything up in her crib!)

We finish getting her cleaned off (not very well because her hair still smells like puke unfortunately) and Jeremy gets her dried off and new pj's on while I change clothes. I go back into her room because I want to snuggle with her and hold her for a few minutes, we take her temp but it seems to be normal. After about 5 minutes of me rocking her she sits up, looks at me, coughs, and throws up again. I yell for Jeremy and he runs in and grabs her and gets her over the trash can where she finishes throwing up. This time it all landed on me so we avoided having to change her again.

Now it's Jeremy's turn to cuddle with her in the rocker. We eventually all go snuggle on the spare bed but Paige moves around soooooo much that we decide to put her back in her crib. She lays right down and I think she's now gone back to sleep. But I think Jeremy and I are scared to go back to sleep plus we are wide awake now!

The weirdest thing about this is that we have no idea when she threw up... We didn't hear her cry or anything. And she never cried once after we woke her up to clean everything!