So, as you can quite obviously see this is a very personal kind of a blog. Not a general interest, writing, or niche kind of blog at all.  All 7 posts (!) have simply been me talking about the mundane things of my every day life. This is fine. . nothing wrong with this except that I am not sure I want to blog like this any longer (well I guess I really haven't been since my last post is dated July!).  I may continue here or not. My time is not so much freer to do so but a bit more streamed lined as KL is more on a predictable schedule and I am S L O W L Y becoming better housekeeper and time manager.

All this being said I have to decide what direction I want to go. If I continue here it will only be for the odd family member or 2 who care to see what adventures our family goes on. (Not there are many outside of our dear BSL.) I have decided to work towards another kind of blog though. A baking blog. Yes, I want to add my endless pictures  attempts at pictures of cookies and cakes and gushing about this 'heavenly cheesecake" to the million others out there.  I hope it will be up and running soon. I hope to feature my holiday baking as the first series.

You may or may not see updates here in the future (I will alert the appropriate parties if I decide to continue.) So maybe you'll next see me at my new blog. Link to come.

Thanks :-)

and we're back

I'm going to keep plugging along here. Updates will happen when they happen and this blog may grow into something to be proud of and it may not. I'm just going to keep trying. "Keep Trying" is what I say to myself about a number of things these days. Housework, baby raising, weight loss, meal planning. If i quit, I die. . so I keep trying.

::News::

KL, finally has a tooth! Albeit its just a tiny little toothlet that's just broken the skin but it'll get there! Fun times. I was beginning to think she was going to be toothless. We know a few other babies around her age who are cutting tooth #4 already. So yeah, we're catching up.

KL gets her casts off next week! Yay! I'm anxious to see what the little girl will surprise us with once she has a little more freedom to move. Maybe she'll shock us and start crawling FORWARD! LOL

COFFEE! Yes, I can have it now It doesn't seem to bother KL anymore for which I am eternally grateful. My productivity has increased because of it, let me tell you!

That's about it for news. Our life looks dull on the outside but it's hopping I assure you. I feel like we are ALWAYS busy. But that's life. You slow down, you die. . apparently.

Our daily life seem full and slow at the same time htough. KL and I usually walk about and hour in the mornings followed by a little play time and then a nap for her. I do chores and relax a little (like now). Then its wake up time for her and more chores (while she plays or eats in the high chair) for me. This cycle plays out about twice and then James comes home and all is right with the worldd once again.

I love my life. I really do.

Early Morning

I usually go back to bed after james leaves for work. Usually because I always feel woefully behind in sleep. This morning though I feel a tad bit caught up. We will see if it lasts and if I give in to a nap later.

I feel as if I have been busy all week but still have so much to do. I guess it will always feel that way to a certain extent.

I have been inspired lately by a few websites that focus on how to live with less and on less. The Lord has blessed James and I so much in spite of ourselves. James earns a good income and outside of our home we have no debt. I'm afraid this knowledge has tempted me to be a little too carefree with the household spending.  I was appalled when James told me that he had averaged our grocery spending over the last 6 months and that it was . . . let's just say out of control.  Part of this was due to the fact that we moved, and have had a pretty needy baby. I have used this as an excuse to buy more convenience type foods rather than cooking from scratch. No more. It has to stop.

One of the things I have been doing to avoid over spending is planning a menu and sticking to it. Here is a link that has a lot of free downloads - menu planning forms and much more. I have also been writing down everything i spend. Trying my best to itemize and keep track of what each item costs (on sale, at different stores etc.)

I am also exploring the idea of couponing but have yet to actually implement it.

SimpleMom is also a great website for not only money saving ideas but for just creative ways to simplify life. And I'm all about that!

these days

These days I try not to lose myself in what I consider the upheaval of everyday life. There is always an upheaval. There is no escaping it. I am never going to have every single task complete at the same time and have the luxury of sitting and basking in a the serene knowledge of a job well done. 

(picture was snapped with my iPhone and makes me feel serene when i look at it. )

I am blogging right now because . . well I have been putting it off for awhile and because I am tired and am dreading the thought of tackling the mountain of work before me.  KL is napping and the house is peaceful. 

But there is a lot to do. Life comes at you fast and if you're not careful can steal your joy and your serenity. Lately I'm focusing on not letting that happen. That and avoiding muffins and cookies like the plague. (yesterday was a cheat day-otherwise i've been doing pretty good. . . sigh) 

the next 30 days

For the next 30 days I will be going on a baking hiatus. I will probably bake once in a while for James only and probably only in his presence. (If he's watching i'm not likely to snitch cookie dough or lick the batter bowl.) This is in an effort to go very strictly on the Atkins plan to make headway toward my summer weight loss goal of 30 27 pounds. I've managed to lose a pound or two here and there, slow and steady but I know if I do Atkins it will come off much faster. So. . . . . . So long, pound cake, cookies, muffins, french toast. Oh how I love to bake and eat sweets. hopefully it is a temporary sacrifice and when I reach my goal I can go back to indulging now and then. 

Along with my baking hiatus I am going to tone down my running just a bit. Its always hard for me to run when I'm on strict Atkins- my energy wanes for the first several days.  I am going to give my body a chance to get acclimated to the change and focus on long walks with my little girl for awhile. i'll probably still try to run about twice a week for 1-2 miles but that'll be it for about a month I think. 

I think it will feel good to give myself permission to just walk after training for the 5K I ran on Saturday. (no i will not admit the time just that I DID NOT walk.) TO be specific James and I ran it together. It was our 5th anniversary see and we got the idea it would be cool to run the 5K to sort of honor it. We did. I had trained all late Winter/Spring for it. He trained exactly 2 weeks and finished well ahead of me. Men!  I'm so proud we did it though. It was a blast! We are hoping to do at least one more in the Summer and then maybe one in the Fall eventually working our way up to a 10K. We dream. . . 

The rest of this week is going to be spent getting ready for a quick trip to Brevard, NC to visit James' Grandmother and Kl's great-Grandmother. We plan to drive through the night Friday hoping KL will sleep and the head back Sunday afternoon. It should be an adventure and hopefully not too tiring. It is a beautiful place so i am looking forward to great pictures! So until then. . . 

The good, the bad and the beautiful

This past weekend KL and I took a trip to Natchez, MS to an Old Time Music gathering. It was a good  idea. We rode with my mom and my sister and my mom played with KL much of the day giving me a chance to indulge my dormant hobby. I also got to show off KL to friends that I had not seen in over a year. In fact last year when I attended the same gathering I was about 4-5 months pregnant.

We arrived Friday evening and checked into the hotel. The bad came when it was time to sleep Friday night. KL apparently has something against sleeping in a pack and play in a strange hotel room. I don't know why. It was a very nice room with a King Size bed, with lovely pillows and beautiful comforter for mom. Too bad mom didn't actually get to do much sleeping in it. Oh well. We awoke Saturday morning feeling not so refreshed and proceeded to the grounds of the gathering. That was the beautiful part.

The weather turned out very cool for mid May in Mississippi. Very cool indeed! But it was pretty much perfect because the event takes place entirely outside or in old buildings with no artificial air flow.  The music was enchanting as always. I was privileged to jam a bit with precious friends and listen to other friends. I judged a contest and participated in one as well. If I had known how little sleep I was going to get I'm not sure I would have gone but probably. It was worth it.

(this pic is  of a couple of friends from a couple of years ago at the same event.)

Today

Today is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Those are such simple and familiar words but ones I need to repeat over and over to myself. Everyday is a new opportunity; to serve; to minister.  Life can seem pretty bleak when your 6 month old baby girl is teething and nothing you do seems to help her feel better. The two of you haven't slept much and the house is a wreck and you wonder how it will be possible to ever have another child since you can't even manage the current chaos very well.

Everyday isn't like this though. Most days she naps when she's supposed to and sleeps decently through the night.  On those kinds of days I forget to rejoice. I take for granted to the blessings of that day and go about my merry way thinking what a wonderful mother I am that my child is so happy and contented today. The truth is I am not such a wonderful mother at all. I am completely dependent upon Christ everyday whether I acknowledge it or not. 

So today, the tough day, I will rejoice and be glad because God has given me a precious little girl and the opportunity to minister to her though her pain. He has given me the opportunity to grow today to be more unselfish and more giving.