Weekend Ramblings

A friend of mine text me to see how our Disney hangovers are going. I thought that was the perfect way to describe it. We have been super lazy the last two days doing little more than laundry and tidying up the house. It's been steadily raining all day and it feels amazing to just snuggle up at home watching football and playing board games. 

 I didn't have any new pictures for this post so I just snapped a couple pictures of our current winter decor downstairs. January is a perfect excuse to bring in coastal pictures and colors. It's kind of a favorite of mine. Although soon, I think I'll be adding some Valentine's Day touches. I can't believe that's only a month away. Speaking of things that are coming quickly, our puppy, Molly will be 9 on the 25th, Taylor is turning two on the 26th, and Donovan will be eight on February 1st. Cue the tears! Dustin and I were just saying how crazy it is that we are getting this old. I graduated from high school 20 years ago!!! Holy cow, where has the time gone?

 In other news, ever since our Disney trip, Taylor has a new found bravery and will no longer stay in her crib. Yesterday at nap time she crawled out three times in a row and only fell asleep when I laid next to her and did my day's Bible reading aloud. Apparently the book of Job is the perfect thing to induce sleep. Last night at bedtime, she did the same thing and only opted to stay in her crib when we watched her over the video monitor and caught her in the act each time she started to climb. This morning she crawled out bright, and early and walked herself downstairs where she found Grammie and requested some Paw Patrol. So this afternoon, we surrendered to her new talent, and turned her crib into a toddler bed. We put the baby gate at the door and after a huge melt down she finally fell asleep in her "big girl bed" for nap. This unexpected transition is making me even more excited for moving the girls together in the same room. And Donovan has been all about the move, too. I am thinking that some of his birthday gifts next month may be items for his soon to be solo bedroom. 

Currently pinning pictures of bunk bends on Pinterest. I have never been a huge fan of bunk beds, but think it might be pretty practical for his little space. His room, Taylor's current nursery, is super tiny. So we're pretty limited in furniture set up. Let the brainstorming begin...

 Proud to report that Donovan and I have successfully worked on "muscle building" three times this week. And with the added days of Disney walking (holy, marathon) we are feeling pretty good about ourselves. America Ninja Warrior ready? Not quite. Each workout is so hard for me but I feel so much better committing myself to strength building again. We return to work on Monday so I am not sure how we'll squeeze it all in but I am really hoping that I will be motivated enough to prioritize it. 

 Bible reading continues to be rewarding for me. I really enjoyed reading this post by Emily Lex about the gospel reading that she completed recently. Our church is beginning a new series on the gospel of Mark and I am excited to pair that with the Old Testament reading that I am doing on the chronological plan. 

I can't sing enough praise to the Bible Recap Podcast produced by Tara-Leigh Cobble. She gleans so much more from each day's reading than I do initially. I love the way she highlights things that I missed. We have been in the book of Job all week this week and it's been a bit tedious for me. I am eager to see how the book of Job closes and then jump back into the book of Genesis. 

My take-aways this week have been that while every single thing has been stripped from Job, he never curses God or doubts his sovereignty. It amazes me how Job, even without a complete Bible or any idea of the future redemption we receive in Jesus, still seems to know and respect God so personally. And while his friends offer misconstrued ideas/advice to Job, they too, seem to have a strong understanding of who God is and what he asks of us. It makes me wonder, how in our current culture we have gotten so far from making God our everything. Myself included. It seems that the people of the Old Testament lived for God. How could I work to make God more of a priority in my life? 

On a completely opposite, superficial note, I was so excited that these popped back up in my shopping cart in my size! I had been watching them for so long and then the second they went on sale, they sold out. I'm hoping that they'll fit. I wear my one pair of light colored overalls that I own all the time. I was looking for a darker pair that I could dress up a bit. Also, hoping that these come a little longer than the pair that I have. Mine are more cropped style and these appear to be longer and more straight legged. Thank you for whoever returned these and for my husband's so unexpected Christmas gift card surprise for me. Woo hoo! 

Love this picture of the girls waiting in line at D land. I am so curious to see what their relationship is like as they get older. Everyone always talks about how the bond of sisters is so close. I hope it will be true for these little ladies. 

And I suppose that's all that I have on the mind this weekend. 

Looking forward to trying this healthier recipe tonight. 

And baking this not so healthy dessert for family dinner tomorrow. 

Happy weekend, everyone!

xo

Happy New Year

Gosh, the start of this year has been completely uneventful. Maybe I need to give thanks for that. NYE kicked off with a bedtime of around 10:00 and most of my evenings this week have ended with some HGTV viewing and falling asleep on the couch. Vacation mode, lazy days, and rest filled nights are in full swing over here. 

The days of vacation are flying by. We did manage to sneak away to my favorite place for an afternoon last week. Ahhhh, there is nothing like it. The sun felt warmer at the beach than it has at home. The smell of the salty air and the sound of the ocean waves trickling back to the sea over all of the beach rocks felt like a glimpse of heaven on earth. I just love it here and don't spend nearly enough time enjoying it for being such a short driving distance from it all. Maybe that is one thing I should resolve to do more of this year. 

Speaking of resolutions. I am not huge on the idea of making resolutions, per se... But I do appreciate the idea of a fresh start and trying new things. My new chronological Bible reading plan has been so great this week! It's not too late if anyone is still interested in following along. I wrote about it here. I'm thankful to have started it over vacation because I'm spending a big chunk of my morning diving into it and I am learning so much. I am not sure how that will pan out when I go back to work in another week. I will have to start setting my alarm earlier, or doing the reading at night instead. Either way, this is one I know I want to stick with. Here are a few thoughts I had this week as we kicked off in Genesis and Job. 

God is SO big and SO mighty and I am so very small. Reading the story of creation really put that into perspective for me. It's amazing how my little world becomes so big in my eyes. But gosh, our God is so powerful and I am so thankful that He created us in such a way that we are allowed to know Him through his word and communicate with Him through prayer. 

God's word even from the very beginning points to Jesus. I can't wait to see the big picture in its entirety as I continue studying.

God is hurt by our sin. 

Gen 6: 5-6 "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain."

God restores His plan with His people. Like Noah, in whom he "found favor" with. This made me wonder if I were more obedient and upright, if I would sense more ways that God could use me to fulfill His purpose. 

And now for the last few days we've been in the book of Job and will remain there for the next few weeks. In all honesty, this book has been harder for me to really dive into. But I am still seeing glimpses of God's character. And one big take away that I have had in the last few days is from reading the chapters about Job's friends responding to Job's hardships. I learned that the best comfort we can provide a friend is done with our presence and our silence. Even well intended words can hurt those who are suffering. 

Dustin, my mom, and his mom, have been reading along with the plan this week, too. (And my friend Sara Culver!) It's been nice having someone to talk to about it each day. Mostly, I am just blown away that there is so much to learn and so much that I don't know about God's character and His sovereign plan for creation. I'm thankful to have the Word to better understand it all and especially grateful for Tara Leigh Cobble's podcast that helps recap each day's reading in a way that makes sense to my very limited brain capacity. :) 

Phew, you still with me? 

On a totally different note. I need help in the health department. Remember when I use to want to stand on the roof tops and shout to all to join me in the Kayla Itsine's BBG workout plan? I followed it pretty faithfully for about a year and a half and have soooo many great things to say about it. My body never felt so strong and my energy level and confidence were equally uplifted. But I fell off the wagon sometime towards the end of summer and didn't look back and man, does it show. Even with the beginning of the new year, I have very little motivation to jump back into it. 

But yesterday, Donovan started to watch these episodes of America Ninja Warrior Junior and then last night we randomly watched that new show The Titan Games or something... and I felt so sad that I have let myself fall so far from where I had been fitness wise. 

I mean, I can barely button my jeans right about now. It's been a loooong season of eating comfort foods, desserts like they're going out of style, and rarely turning down an offer for an IPA or a holiday egg nog. 

So after Donovan begged me to "get bigger muscles" with him, I did the very first BBG workout today and it kicked my A**. I am SO out of shape. But I am also wanting so badly to keep it up so that there comes a time where I feel like I am owning the workout and it's not owning me. 

Self control is the name of the game and I struggle with that big time. Especially where good food and sweets are part of the picture. We'll see how this one plays out. We are soon to enter the busiest season of our year with baseball season upon us. I lose my better half for the majority of the week and weekend. But I also don't want excuses to keep me from being my best self. So consider me putting this into writing as some sort of commitment to doing better for me, and for my kids especially. 

And I guess, that's about it for this week. It went by so fast and we did a whole lot of nothing... but I loved every minute of it. 

Tomorrow we leave for our Disneyland trip! We are doing 3 days at the park and I am super excited. It's been 4 years since we were there last. I know it'll be exhausting and I am not sure how my little fireball is going to handle all of the excitement. But I also have very little expectations and am just excited to soak up fun time with my crew. Can't wait to blog about it on the flip side. 

Have a wonderful week, friends! 

xo