Surprise!!

Tomorrow is Erica's birthday and last night, her sweet friend, Jennifer, planned a surprise party for her.  I had the honor of being the decoy to get Erica to the party.  The party was at Hido, one of Erica's favorite restaurants.  She thought Brandon and I were just taking her out to dinner there for her birthday.  Erica, being the planner that she is, didn't make it super easy on us to get her there though.  When we first asked her to dinner she told me that she already had plans that night and couldn't go.  I had to convince her to switch her plans and go to dinner with "us".  With the help of her husband, Colin, we were able to do that.  I even got a night of babysitting Nate out of the whole deal.  It was great!!

I think she was pretty surprised and hopefully she knows just how loved and special she is!  Here are some pictures...

Erica's brother, Adam, came all the way from Austin to see her.  What a sweet brother!

Sweet friends!

More sweet friends

The last table with the guest of honor & more friends :)

Fire!

Me and my handsome hubby :)

Erica with the beautiful cake Jennifer had made and the beautiful decorations Jennifer made :)

Jennifer, the party planner, and Erica

Aren't they just gorgeous ladies??

Colin and Erica

Me and my sweet friend, Erica.  Happy Birthday!! We love you :)

I just love kindergarteners...

My mom emailed me this link and I thought I had to share it with everyone since I just posted about some of the things teachers hear.

Is that not the cutest thing?

In case you're wondering, yes, I'm getting a little bit of a slow start this morning, but now it's time to get down to business. Off to work!

 

Things teachers hear...

Besides just our name 150 million times (ok maybe that's not completely accurate.  It's more like 150 BILLION. Ha!)...

Today I had a student tell me that she likes it when I smile.  You might think, "awww that sure was sweet of her," but she said it right after I finished saying "I don't see a line that's ready to go home!  Cougar hugs and bubbles!"  I had also already sent them back to their tables because they didn't line up nicely the first time.  I'm wondering if she said that because she feels like I don't smile very much.  I will definitely have to be more conscious of that now!

At bus duty today, one of the kindergarten students asked me "Do you like being a teacher?" and I responded "I sure do, I love being a teacher!"  He then decided to share that "When I grow up to be a man, I'm going to be a a superhero!"  Too cute!  Just thought I'd share :)

If you need a little boost, kindergartners can be great for that (they can also be too honest, but mostly they're just sweet)!  I get to hear "I love you!" multiple times a day.  They just look up at you with a smile and say it,  It just melts my heart!  

Also, if you want to know anything at all about Transformers, I've got lots of contacts.  Just let me know.  They don't charge much. Ha!

Tomorrow is Friday!! Woohoo :)  Super excited for the weekend!  It starts out with me getting to babysit Nate tomorrow night, who I love and would totally keep if his parents weren't so attached to him!  At least they're nice enough to share him with me by going out on dates and letting me babysit :)  Then, on Saturday night, I get to have a fun dinner with Nate's parents.  Erica's birthday is on Monday, so we're going to celebrate her!  I am so blessed to be able to call her my friend!

Happy Friday everyone!

Aren't they cute???

Can they get any cuter???  Because I really don't think so!

Bear loves his duck.  It's a headless duck now though.  I guess they think it's like a chocolate bunny at Easter.  You always eat the head first. Ha!

Cooper is a hog when it comes to the bones.  He usually has 2 and always wants Bear's bone more than his own!

This next one is in the chair in the office, but it's from before this weekend.  You can see some of the clutter, but that's pretty much all gone now.

 

"Aren't we cute??"

They have their own little doggie couch, but really only Bear likes it.  This is what I see sometimes in the morning when I get up.  Sometimes he just melts my heart he's so cute!

I'm sure no one else enjoys my babies as much as I do, but I'm pretty proud of them.  They're good pups and I can't imagine my life without them :)  They put a smile on my face every day!



Ps.  I've made it 17 days with a shiny sink!  That has to be a world record, right? ok, so maybe it's just a Carissa record.  It hasn't been an easy accomplishment, but it's sure been worth it!!

Extreme Makeover Cleaning Edition Part III

Our projects today were the living room and office.  We actually completed the living room early this morning because Chester and Annie (my in-laws pups) were coming at 9 this morning to spend the night with us while my in-laws take a quick trip to Austin.  But, I think the living room looks great.  Just see for yourself! (I do however need some serious help with what to do on our shelves.  Right now it's just a hodge podge of stuff, and I really don't know what to put on them.)

 

See the frame above the TV with the pictures?  That's new!  I actually bought it by myself (which is a huge task for me because 1. I don't like spending money and 2. I have a hard time making decisions that I actually want things (and about anything really) and 3. I don't go shopping).  All of the pictures of us were taken by Jennifer and you can see some of her other work here.  She is amazing!  Here's a close up.

 

Here's one more picture from a different angle of the room.  I had to retake this picture because the one I took earlier in the day didn't come out the way I wanted it to.  I prefer more daylight, but this will have to do.

The office is still a work in progress unfortunately.  It became our catch all whenever we'd have company come over and we'd have to frantically make the house presentable, so it has been a huge task.  We did a lot of work (spent over 2 hours on it alone) and it looks way better, but I'm going to hold off on a picture until we complete it.  We also want to rearrange the furniture so I'd rather wait until it's a "new" room.

I'm really happy with how everything is going.  When I come home from work a huge weight is lifted just by not having to look at all of the clutter the instant I open the door and not feeling the burden of the million things that I should be doing when all I want to do is rest.  It is amazing how much better it makes me feel!

Ps.  I have actually already made 2 other posts this weekend (crazy! I know!), so if you missed them, you might want to check them out.  I promise, I never intended to take up so much of everyone's time.  I really didn't think I'd have much to write about.  Hopefully it's at least not to boring!

Choices

Sometimes the choices we have to make as adults really (pardon my language) suck!  I don't want to have to choose between spending time with my husband, different parts of our families, friends, time with God, to do lists, work, etc.  There are so many things in our lives that feel important and they feel like things we should do.  But, there's not enough time to do all of those things, so we have to prioritize.

Our ABF (adult Bible fellowship - the new term for Sunday school class) recently had one of our pastors come and do a series with us called Extreme Makeover: Family Edition.  Pastor Greg talked with us about setting priorities, our purpose, and planning.  One of the things he said about priorities has really stuck with me.  He said that if you make plans with your husband or family, put it on the calendar and if Pastor Dave (our head pastor) calls and wants to come to dinner that night, should you cancel your family plans?  I was thinking wow that's a really tough decision.  His response was that if you cancel your family plans "you said yes to something good, and ruined the best thing."  (He also said that sometimes we do have to make those choices, but what he said was important about making changes mid-course was to decide the rules ahead of time.)

I'm just really struggling with balancing all of the relationships and roles in my life.  I only have so much time and energy to give, and I want so badly to be the perfect child of God, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and teacher.  No matter how hard I try though, I'm going to fall short because I am not perfect.  Because of sin I, cannot be perfect on this earth.  I want to be able to attend every family event, celebrate every birthday & holiday together.  I want to be able to hang out with my friends every time they call, text, or invite me to something, but I can't.  I also want to spend every moment possible with the man that I love, and that God has given to me as my husband.  Unfortunately, I also have to go to work, keep a reasonably clean house (which I'm still working on but with much success), cook dinner, do laundry, check emails, etc.  I have to make choices.

Right now, as silly as this may sound to some, I really feel like God has laid it on my heart to get my life together at home, and little by little that will carry over into the other relationships/roles in my life.  I know that having a clean house doesn't make me a better Christian, but if having a clean house makes me and my husband feel better when we get home from work, so that we can actually enjoy our time together, that is honoring my husband and honoring God.  As Christians, we are called to minister to our husband (or wife) & children.  If we are busy trying to save the rest of the world, but neglect our own families then we haven't completely done what God has called us to do.  Not everyone's mission field will be the same.  Sometimes in addition to ministering to your family, you will be called to another city or country, sometimes it may be in your workplace or even your neighborhood, and sometimes, even if just for a season, it may only be in your home.  God needs people in all of those areas so having a ministry in one of those areas isn't better than a ministry in a different one of those areas.

Something else that we were challenged to do by Pastor Greg in our Extreme Makeover: Family Edition class was to write a family mission statement.  We actually did this!  Unfortunately, we wrote it back in September, but haven't made it a part of us, and truly chosen to live by it.  That is something that I hope to work on.  I'd like to share it with you so that maybe I can be more accountable to live by the words we have chosen. 

We exist to glorify God by dedicating ourselves to being passionate for God, by giving ourselves to each other in a loving and respectful way, by shepherding, educating, and inspiring our children through benevolent authority and laughter, by being an example of Christ to those around us, and by serving and encouraging spiritual growth in others.  

So to all of my friends and family, I'm sorry I have not been the best and have not lived up to my family mission statement, but I'm working on it.  Please don't be offended if I have to decline an invitation.  It doesn't mean you aren't important, because you are.  I'm working on getting things in order so that it is a lot easier for me to accept invitations :)  If you want me for a Saturday morning though, you might want to ask me well in advance.  I've still got a few dates with my duster set up. Ha!  (Speaking of duster dates, I will be posting an update soon about today's progress.)

Random!!!

See this picture?

That is The Pioneer Woman.  Isn't she beautiful?  If you don't know who she is, you should get to know her.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  Oh wait...I'm supposed to already be grown up...well she has mad skills such as cooking, photography, blogging and many other things that I would love to have!  Maybe one day...

Anyway, back to the photograph.  I took that photograph back on December 5th when I went and waited a measly 7 hours with my sweet friend Erica to get to meet her and have her sign my cookbook.  Here's proof:

 

Ok, so I keep getting sidetracked...back to the reason I'm showing you this and telling you all this even though it happened months ago. If you search for The Pioneer Woman on Facebook, you will see that her profile picture is the picture I took of her.  I can't believe it!  I got so excited I think I screamed and scared my husband.  I just remembered I could take a screenshot so for those of you that don't have Facebook, take a look...

I also really want to pick up the phone and call someone, but it's midnight, and I don't think anyone would appreciate a phone call this late about something like that.  Can I just shout for a minute instead????  THE PIONEER WOMAN IS USING A PICTURE I TOOK OF HER ON HER FACEBOOK PROFILE!!  I'M SOOOO EXCITED :)  Thanks, I needed to get that out!

Don't you think I should get an invitation to her ranch for that?  I do!  Ha!  Some of you may think that sounds a little crazy and stalkerish, but I want to participate in her fun cooking parties that she has.  (She is actually doing a giveaway for that right now and I completely forgot, so I may have missed the cutoff for entering, but I never win on her site anyway.)

I just realized you may be wondering how in the world she even got the photograph, but I actually emailed her a couple photographs because 1. I thought they were decent, and 2. she didn't have any of her friends or family with her at the Houston signing like she had at the others, so I know she didn't get as many pictures with her own camera.  I thought she might want some, so I shared.  I also posted them on my Facebook and tagged her in them, so she could have also found it that way.

Anyway, I know it's totally silly, but I'm super excited!  That just made my day, week, month, and practically year (since it's really only been a month)!

I Will Rise

At church this morning they ended the service with I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin and as much as I tried, I couldn't fight back the tears.  I have heard it before on KSBJ but this morning as I sang the words "I will rise when he calls my name.  No more sorrow, no more pain..." I was reminded that even though our time on this earth will have many seasons of sorrow and/or pain, when we get to heaven all of that will be gone.  The sufferings of this earth with be no more.  We will fall at His feet and cry "Worthy is the Lamb."

As wonderful as that will be, as I sit here and read over the words, it also reminds me that "A day is drawing near, when the darkness turns to light."  For those of us that are Christians, that is going to be a wonderful time.  However, our time to share that beautiful gift with others is limited.  There are so many out there who are filled with sorrow and pain, but don't have the hope that we as Christians have of that day when we will meet our Father and will be relieved of that sorrow and pain.  They don't know that they are not alone.  No matter how tired, sick, overwhelmed, hurt or helpless I have felt, I have always managed to make it through those tough times.  Not because of anything I did or someone else did, but because God carried me through.  Even though sometimes I question and feel like God couldn't possibly be with me because the weight feels too heavy and I just want to quit, I make it through.  I can look back and know that had I not had Him with me, there's no way I'd be here right now. 

If you are in a time of sorrow or a time of pain, you are not alone, and I am praying for you.  If you don't know Christ, or the gift that He has given us, I am praying for you.  If you want to know more about this gift, or want me to pray specifically for your sorrows or pains email me and I'd be more than happy to -- whoop2006 (at) gmail (dot) com.  God did more than something for us, so the least I can do is this something for you.

Here's the video...

"I Will Rise"

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
[x2]

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Extreme Makeover: Cleaning Edition Part II

I am on week 2 of getting rid of the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in my house and we were successful this weekend as well!

What have we been up to today?  Well, we have been to a meeting for the leaders of the small groups in our Sunday school class, cleaned the dining room table off, cleaned the front entry table and all of the other miscellaneous clutter in those 2 areas, and vacuumed the whole front part of the house (which is actually a huge task because you have to empty the vacuum what seems like every 5 square feet because there is so much dog hair and my vacuum is terrible.  I really wonder how they even have any left on them!).  I have to be honest, this weekend I didn't have the energy and excitement that I had last weekend so it was very hard to push through.  I always get started with lots of momentum, but towards the end when it gets down to the hard stuff that I just really don't know what to do with, I get very overwhelmed and want to quit.  Fortunately for me, I have a husband who is very supportive and helped me make it through!  It looks great!!!  I'm almost ready to have company :)  See for yourself...

 Do you see how much space we have to cover on that table?  We pretty much utilized it all.  Not any more though.  My goal is to not put things on it so it doesn't get hidden again.  I need some of that police tape to put around it so I can't go in there anymore.  Ha!

It is so much more inviting now!  Before, I would come home and immediately have to look at clutter and it would just totally depress me.  Now, no matter how exhausting my day may have been at work, I can walk into a pleasant environment.  No more "Ugh!" when I walk in :) Woohoo!!

Also, my sink is still shining which is probably a record.  Most Saturdays I would have to wake up to a dirty kitchen and I would have to spend at least an hour cleaning.  Not this weekend!  And it's not because I didn't do anything that could have dirtied it during the week.  I actually cooked real meals twice (and had enough leftovers to have them twice too), but rather than leaving the dishes, we did them that night.  I still didn't want to do the dishes, but it was definitely worth it to get them over with and not let them pile up.

I am hoping this will help me enjoy cooking again.  In college, when I lived off campus, I cooked dinner most nights for Brandon & me.  I really loved doing it, but ever since I started teaching, I don't have the time or the energy that I had in college.  It doesn't make cooking quite so appealing anymore especially since cooking always requires cleaning and that already isn't my favorite thing to do.  If there was a job that was staying at home and cooking so friends and family could come over and visit, I'd be all over that!  Ha!

In case you're wondering about my daily Bible reading...I wish I could say it's gone perfectly and I've read it each day, but it hasn't.  However, I have read all of the passages for the week.  I just did them in a couple bigger chunks.  Something is better than nothing, right??  Also, I'm not sure what version they email, but it is not the most friendly version to read with all the ye's and thou's and such, so I may just look at what chapters I'm supposed to read and then go to my NASV bible.  I think with the emailed version I'm not as likely to pay attention since the wording is so crazy.

It is hard because I want everything to be perfect right now, but I know if I tried to make it that way all at once I'd fail.  It's just too much to take on all at once.  I have to keep reminding myself that as long as I stick to my plan it will all get done.  This way I won't end up burnt out and right back in the CHAOS.

Well I think that is all for now.  My hubby and I are off to Lupe Tortilla for a much needed date after all that work (plus we have a giftcard, so that always helps)!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Overwhelmed

As I mentioned in my first post, I get overwhelmed by things and just don't even attempt them or if I do, it's with much reluctance and maybe even a temper tantrum or two!

I'm sure I don't really have a lot of people actually reading this, but on the off chance that someone is, I'm just curious if other people get overwhelmed by small things.  Do you have things that overwhelm you and just make you want to go hide in a closet somewhere or just close your eyes and hope that when you open them, whatever it is is gone?  I'm not talking about major things like applying for/changing jobs, making a major purchase such as home or car, planning a vacation, having a baby, raising your children, etc.  I'm talking about your little every day tasks.  Maybe I'm the only one and at the end of it, you will all think I'm crazy, but here are some of mine (in no particular order):

1. Laundry - it never ends.  Last Christmas I got it all under control, bought a special hamper and everything and thought "ok, I can do this!"  Within 3 weeks of being back to work, I was already having major piles of dirty & clean laundry.  I don't know why, but every time I look at it, it makes me want to hide, so I pretend like it's not there.  Then, when I have no clothes and am desperate I am forced to face the monster.  It's terrible, and the laundry always wins! (if you're wondering about my poor husband's clothes, if he doesn't have clean clothes it's his fault because he's done his own laundry pretty much since we've been married...I know I'm a terrible wife!)

2. Email - right this second, I have 821 UNREAD emails in my inbox.  I don't even know how many emails I have that are read and just sitting there.  I know, that's insane.  I have this thing with deleting stuff (it's like throwing something away, which I have issues with as well).  I'm afraid if I delete it, I might want it later.  I should just sit down and delete emails weekly, but like the laundry, the thought of it makes me want to lock myself in the closet & hide. Ha!  Fortunately for me (or maybe unfortunately), I have Gmail and they just keep adding storage space.  According to Gmail, I'm only using 26% of my space, which doesn't sound like a lot, but that's actually almost 2000 mb.  For those of you that don't know what that means - it means that's a LOT of email!

3. Paper - probably the worst for me!  It haunts me at home, and at school.  I can't get away from it!  Paper is one of those things that requires throwing away, and I have issues with that.  Sometimes I just can't part with it, but don't really want it or know what to do with it.  It's terrible!  I swear it multiplies too.  Stacks just get taller and taller and I promise I don't put anything on them. Ha!

4. Shopping - this may seem insane to most of you women, but I walk into a store (mostly clothing) and there are way to many choices and I just get overwhelmed and want to turn right around & leave.  And sometimes I actually do!  Unfortunately for me, I don't know if I'll ever get over this one.  Fortunately for me though, I have a wonderful mother-in-law who actually likes to shop.  Without her, I probably wouldn't have clothes to wear...at least not ones that are in style anyway.  If you like something I'm wearing, there's a 90% chance she bought it for me.  I know, how lucky am I to have a personal shopper?!

I have more, but I'm going to stop with 4 today.  I'm sure I sound crazy already!

What overwhelms you?? 






Ps.  My sink is still shining!!!

Doing something to know Him better

Another area of my life that I'm ashamed to admit that I've slacked in is getting to know God better.  I hope to change that and to start taking baby steps to doing things that will allow me to know Him more.

When Brandon and I first married we knew we wanted to find a church we could get involved in, but never really did anything to find one.  We visited one, but it wasn't for us and then really didn't pursue anything else.

God led us to an amazing house that is just perfect for us.  Little did we realize at the time that it was more about the location of the house than the house itself.  You see, it was literally 2 minutes from a church that I had actually attended the school that it supports when I was in kindergarten & first grade.  Since it was so close we decided we might as well give it a shot as it sure would make it easier to make to it church on Sunday mornings when it's so close.  We went one Sunday and liked the service.  We got a welcome letter in the mail that same week.  The letter also included a list of ABFs (Adult Bible Fellowships - their term for Sunday School).  One of the ones listed was a young married's class.  We were very excited to learn of this because we had hoped to find a group of other believers at the same stage in life as us.  The next week we tried it out and we were so unbelievably welcomed that when we left the class that day we both knew were in the right place.

Through this class we were able to join a small group that met once a week outside of church.  We have made some wonderful friendships through this class and our small group.  God has truly blessed us with the people he has brought into our lives.  Through this group I have definitely grown in my walk with God, but I've still struggled with truly taking the time to get to know God one on one.  I think I've been overwhelmed with the thought of it that I've just put it off and basically done nothing.

Today we had a great sermon about wisdom and the wisdom to know what God wants for our lives and I realized that until I really get into His word and spend time getting to know Him and what is in His word, I'm not going to be able to have that wisdom.

Well when we left today, it got me thinking.  I remembered that on KSBJ they talked about a website that will email you the bible daily so you can read the bible in a year.  I decided that this would be a good first step for me to take.  If I'm reading His word daily then I'm doing something to know Him better and who knows where that will lead me.  I'm all signed up and ready to start reading!  If you're interested in this too, the website is http://biblicalmail.com.

Here's to Something in 2010!

Maybe I'm the only person that gets like this, but whenever I feel like I can't do something right, or can't do it the way I want to, I tend to give up and not even bother trying. So here I am, just trying to figure out how to balance all the roles in my life and learning to accept that I'm not perfect, will never be perfect, but can still be successful as a child of God, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and teacher.

I've had lots of people tell me I should start a blog, but I've always made the excuse that I don't have anything worth writing about or anything that others would be interested in reading. But, if you've read my title, I'm learning that doing something is better than nothing. So here I am! I may only post once a month, but then again, who knows, maybe I'll post much more than that. I have no idea where this road will lead me.

My "something" that I did today was shine my sink, which led to then cleaning the whole kitchen because you can't have a shiny sink and a messy kitchen. It looks great and makes me smile every time I go in it! I had some extra help from my wonderful hubby, who I am very thankful for! And, if you're thinking I'm crazy for shining my sink, visit www.flylady.net. It's a website created by another woman who wasn't born with the natural ability to be neat, clean and organized (like me! I envy those of you who it comes so natural to, but am working to make it a habit). She started with shining her sink and took baby steps to take back control of her home. I am determined to eliminate the CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) by the end of the month and keep it away.

Here's a picture of my finished kitchen. I'm so proud!

So here's to something in 2010! Are you doing something?