Crowd of Dreams

My Sister in Law, Grace, challenged me in our accountability call to start writing again. "If you don't want to write your own blog post, at least join in on Five Minute Friday. You can do that."  At her prodding I agreed, although hestantly. Five Minute Friday has come and gone at least once since then, but here is my addition, late though it may be.

Here are the rules:
 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you and leave an encouraging comment.

 Life has changed tremendously--gone places I could never have foreseen just three months ago. We have a backyard now, and a dog, a sweet not-so-little playhouse on stilts and nearly an acre of land to call our own. And then there is the baby--a sweet little girl due to make her way into this world in May, sometime around Mother's day (wouldn't that be a great day to celebrate her birth!).


I've had so many thoughts crowding through my mind lately. Dreams that used to be out of reach are solidly within the realm of possibility. Projects I've looked forward to are now achievable. My mind goes a mile a minute jumping from one thing to another. A garden? Some animals? More quilting? A mini orchard? Permaculture? Having company over just because it is more convienant now? Maybe even a tea party or two?

It all feels urgent as the countdown to baby begins in earnest. About 10 weeks left before my life takes a permanent change, before I have a newborn to take up most of my attention. If I want to start something new, it is either now or not for awhile. I felt the pressure of dreams waiting to be released into reality, dreams I'd waited so patiently for now begging to for freedom.

I wrote them all down--these thoughts crowding through my head. I took each one captive with a pencil and bound it with lead to paper. It all seemed so reasonable as each dream spoke to me--I can do all of this! Was my thought as I researched and studied. And yet, there are a dozen things on that list. More than one a week to do before the baby comes, and the smallest thing on the list involves potty training a toddler (and house training a puppy? I should put that down also...). Ha!

So, the crowd of dreams and thoughts are held at bay, chained to their paper. I step back and realize that even making just two or three of them a reality in the next couple months will be a major accomplishment. I am free to say "no" to the others for now. Or, perhaps, not "no" but simply, "be patient for just a little while longer."

As I think on these dreams, this crowd of self-drive and enthusiasm that I've just said "no" to, it occurs to me:

Perhaps the most freeing word in the English language is "No."


(definitely more than five minutes. There were diapers. And meals to put away. And two toddlers--of the human and canine variety--that needed naps. But! I did it. And that's the most important thing.)

Babies, marriage, and Gods gifts

Looking through the last few 1000 gifts posts I realize how incredibly intense the last few months have been for me. Spiritually, emotionally, physically--when I sit down each week and review what has happened just thinking about it feels exhausting. 

This past week was different. It was a week of recovery. I did spend a few days "flattened," but I rested through them. I stayed home. I worked on the house (and made great progress!). I did some fun things (like napping :P). It was a hard, abrupt stop after the busyness of the last few weeks. And God knew it was just the kind of week I've needed. 

After such a restful week, this past weekend we had my first baby shower. We had so much fun! The decorations were lovely--on the theme of Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter. The games were absolutely hilarious, and had most of us in stitches at least once. I got to see some old friends, a few of whom went VERY out of their way to make it there. And once the shower was over I was showing Richard my presents and realized were a lot closer to "being ready" for Baby than I realized. That's a very, very nice feeling for this mom-to-be. :-)

All in all, this past week has been a gift from God. First in giving me the time to relax and be productive at the same time (while I did rest a LOT last week, I also got a lot accomplished around the house--from cleaning and organizing to daily chipping away at my freezer cooking goals). Second, the encouragement that I've gotten this weekend from old friends, family, and on baby prep has been wonderful. I had been feeling overwhelmed with what I had left to do, now I'm not. We've got a month, we can do this!



446. A week with my mom and brother
447. Intense sessions making me focus on Christ
448. Making a list of my favorite books
449. purchasing the very, very best books
450. a york mint frappe

451. Lunch with my sister, Grace
452. Putting my feet up in the AC after a long, hot day
453. Seeing my man after days of being apart
454. Rest
455. A whole evening with my man--no planning, no figuring, no stress (and no dishes). Just us.

I thought the cabbage bowls (top L, and bottom middle) were so cute! (472)

456. A love letter
457. Being reminded of what marriage is about
458. Laughter in a room full of women as we gave each other shoulder rubs on a break
459. A generous gift
460. Seeing progress--little by little

461. Freezer meals, cooked and ready
462. Days of rest after a week of "on my feet"
463. An unexpected evening at home (and the foot rub that followed)
464. Encouraging numbers
465. Putting words to paper
466. Natalie and her arm rubs

470

467. Going to see a movie with my family
468. Getting all dolled up--pretty clothes, pretty face, pretty day
469. My first shower!
470. Seeing old friends
471. Abi, who flew down so she could come to my shower
472. Cabbage dishes

475

473. Cute, cute decorations
474. Beautiful, thoughtful presents--perfect!
475. Games that kept us in stitches
476. Hugs from friends
477. Looking through my baby supplies and realizing I'm not as far off as I thought anymore

MomLife Bootcamp

This weekend I will be attending MomLife Bootcamp. I am sooooo excited about the opportunity! I found out about this through a giveaway done several months ago (I don't even remember whose blog). I was so excited to see that not only will Crystal Paine of MoneySavingMom be one of the speakers, but it will be held within driving distance of where we live!! How often does that happen!

 I've never been to an "adult" retreat before--I think the last time I went to a weekend camp was in youth group. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I do expect both lots of fun and lots of learning.

The session I'm most looking forward to is this one:

Social Media Group Ideation Session – Hosted by Tracey Eyster, Crystal Paine, and Kennisha HillAnyone with a passion for reaching others through a digital medium are invited to join in on this think tank session where we will explore, consult and advise each other on how we can most effectively use our God given passions to reach others through blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media forums.

Hopefully I'm going to walk away from that with some ideas that will directly impact this blog. We'll see!!

I doubt I'll have a chance to keep up with the usual posting over this weekend, but when I get back I'll give an update of how it went.

Will any of you be going? I'd love to meet you there if you are!

26 weeks down... 14 to go...

 Time for another pregnancy update!  Since my last update Pregnancy has been progressing quite nicely. The biggest change is the rate that I am changing sizes. I'm actually getting to the point now that some of my maternity clothes are getting snug--a problem that I never realized could happen a couple months ago when I gleefully shopped for maternity clothes. The lotion bottles in the house are emptying about as fast as my belly is growing, as I try to avoid stretch marks. So far, so good. :-)

My big project

Vacation!

This past weekend my hubby and I both took a long weekend and spent some time visiting a few local points of interest. We've never done a "stay-cation" before, and we had such a lovely time! Here are a few pictures from our various excursions:

I’d never been to the local zoo before, despite that it is one of the top zoos in the nation. My hubby had been before, and it was everything he’d promised. We saw hundreds of different animals.

The last few weeks we have been taking a class together on creation, and one of the things that really stood out to me from this visit was the amazing variety in creation. The animals that God created are so complex, so amazing, and so varied. Their mere existence is proof-positive of an intelligent creator!

Neither of us had been to the local aquarium before, though I've heard great reviews. I enjoyed the trip even more than I expected to. The bright colors of all the fish were fun to look at—yet again I was impressed with the creativity of our God. The ones in the picture above were my favorites—I loved watching the way they moved. The rays (along with sharks and a few other things) were in a huge aquarium with a tunnel through it. When we walked through the tunnel there were fish above, to either side, and below us. I'd teased Richard about the shark tank beforehand; I didn't realize we'd BOTH end up inside one! 

In addition to some of the big-name attractions that we visited, we also had a chance to visit some local restaurants. It was fun meeting the local people, making connections, and finding places that have a bit more “personality” than the usual chain restaurants.