Monday funday!

I had a dr's appointment in Dallas today.  Not knowing how long it would take, I went ahead and took the entire day off.  Finding myself poked, prodded, and (finally) given some answers, I had the rest of the day to play at 10am.  I quickly called Lars' grandmother, Linda, and asked if I could come over to play.  We spent about three hours together, and I just fell even more in love.  He just keeps on getting cuter and cuter! :)


 

Lars, heartbreaker.

Check out this nephew of mine. 10 months old, and just as cute (if not cuter!) than the day he was born. It's so fun to watch him grow! I just wish I got to spend more time with him, and especially his other cousins, Aren and Alex, who I only get to see once or twice a year.

The main reason mom doesn't take us go out to eat anymore...

moving, moving, moving! 

as of today, i will no longer be found at this blog.  my new blog is...

morethanihopedfor.wordpress.com

I cried today. It caught me by surprise. I came across this photo...

This is at my brother's house a year ago in January 08. Chris (with lots of help from my other bro Brad and Chris's then fiance Liz) decorated it with my grandparents' bar and assorted bar paraphenalia that that they had in their party room. They named it "Harry's bar" and brought Granddaddy over to see his bar with the next generation. They rushed the project because they wanted it done in time for him to see it. He was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in fall of 07 and was failing rapidly.

May 10, 2008 he left our world and joined his Father in heaven.

I mourned his death, of course, but I also knew he was ready to go. He loved his family more than life itself, but he knew where he was going and that he would see all of us again. I knew that, too. So, though I missed him, I was okay.

And, then I came upon the pictures from my brother's blog. I clicked on the slide show and settled in for a trip down memory lane. It wasn't the first time that I've seen pics of him or anything- they're all around our houses. What got me was the thought that he never got to see my new house. And, then I lost it.

I don't think it's even that he didn't get to see the house as much as, in one split second, I realized all the things he wouldn't be there for... to be at my wedding, to see my children. He wouldn't be there to giggle at our Christmas shenanigans or our next huge family gathering.

I just really missed him all of a sudden. But, more than that, I missed what he wouldn't be able to be a part of in the future.




I miss you, Granddaddy. Until we meet again.

I'm an ambitious girl.  I don't say that to brag, it's just true.  I don't like getting a B when I know I can get an A.  I don't want to be a good teacher, I want to be the best.  I don't want to be a good Christian, I want to be an awesome one.  It's just the way I am, for better or worse.  I'm starting to come to grips with that.

So, my type A personality loves, loves, loves new beginnings.  I love the start of the school year, the new year, even Advent, the start of the church year.  I love Lent, too, but that's a whole other story.  It's a time to start over and become more perfect, right?  Become an even better me.

And, of course, I love me some resolutions.  My track record these past few years have been pretty decent, too.  Buy a house in 2008?  check.  Read the Bible in 2006?  check.  (There's been others that I've failed miserably at as well, but we're not focusing on those right now!)  And, although they've all helped me reach goals or made me a better person, that's not what I'm looking for this year.  

I want to remember 2009.  Do things out of my comfort zone.  Make memories I'll treasure for life.  So, I'm making a list of things to do in 2009.  It's not neccessarily anything individually that makes me a better person, but I think, as a whole, I will be.

So, here's my list:

1. Run a mile without stopping to walk.

2. Take a trip to Glen Rose to come face to face with the animal that terrifies me.  (It's also just a way cool place.)

3. Host a get-together every month.  I worked too hard for this house to not share it with everybody.

4. Wear my sassy shoes.  Bring comfy shoes to work for planning period if neccessary, but break out those babies!

5. Take a continuing ed class about art or photography.  I've been "meaning" to do this for years, and it's about time!

6.  Travel outside the state... where?  I don't know, but I don't travel near as much as I want to.

7.  Switch out a chemical I use for one that's more eco-friendly.  (I've bookmarked tons of recipes for cleaners, but if you've got one you love, please share!)

more to come, I'm sure, but here's what I got so far.  What resolutions do you have?  

Lessons learned...

In addition to the holidays, December,  for me, also brings a lot of self-reflection.  Here's 10 things I've learned (sometimes for the second or third time) this year.

1. I'm not perfect, and I never will be. No matter how hard I try! :)

2. Coffee really does get you through a bad finals week. (I never drank coffee in undergrad, so this is a new thing for me!)

3. Dreams come true, but not without some hard work and/or sacrifice. Thanks to Dave Ramsey, a lot of discipline, and Pampered Chef, I had enough money to buy my first house.

4. Even then, though, it still takes a certain amount of divine interference to make the dream a reality. I would not have looked at the house I now own had I not been delivering a Pampered Chef item at random and knocked on my future realtor's door.

5. My life is nothing like I imagined it to be, but I'm happy all the same. In high school and college, I had no intention of teaching, I thought I'd get married straight out of college, and I was terrified of being by myself for any length of time. So, now I'm in my late twenties, in my fifth year of teaching, and my second year of living by myself. My, how things change! :)

6. What's best for your career isn't neccessarily what's best for your career right now. In my area of teaching, a Masters' is pretty much expected, and fifteen post-graduate hours are required. The struggle for me came that while trying to keep up with my masters' classses, my teaching fell apart. I simply didn't have time to excel at both. Some weeks my schooling got the gip, some weeks it was my kids'. I wish it wasn't that way, but I've yet to find a balance.  

7. I don't deserve my family. Seriously, they are amazing. They come through for me when I know I'm asking too much from them. They help me again and again.  

8. The older you get, the more you treasure your friends that knew you "when".  I've gotten back in touch with a lot of great friends from college and high school.  It's just been a huge blessing, because although I love my newer friends dearly, they didn't walk beside me through those years in the past.  

9. It's never too late to repair a lost relationship.  My family had some drama with some members of my extended family about ten years ago that severely affected our relationship with them.  Time has healed a lot of wounds on both sides, but this year we really put everything aside and spent some time repairing the relationship.  What a blessing it has been.

10. There's more to finding someone to be with than just a list. (Definitely a lesson I keep relearning!)  I've had an internal list of qualities I'm looking for in a guy for years.  Most girls have one.  (The short list is Christian, tall, good sense of humor, family focused, dependable.)  I've met quite a few guys this year that on paper meet every criteria plus some.  But, it still didn't work out.  Whether it's chemistry or compatibility or another C word, we just didn't have it.