Lazy Blogger

Goodness, gracious. I have been such a lazy blogger lately. I'm not in a bloggy funk. I'm just being lazy, I guess. . . not really doing much blog reading either (sorry)

I have so much to blog about . . . so in order that I won't forget, I'm going to make myself a blog list of upcoming posts.

Snicker's Marathon
Faithful Feet
Farmer's Market/Jennifer's Birthday
Run for Griffin
Visiting my sister in South Carolina/Zoo
Spring Fever/Shopping with the kiddos
That ungodly woman happens to be me -YIKES!
Scared half to death of this Ultra Marathon
Witnessing in Target

Maybe a post a day???? Quite ambitious??? Yes! I'll try though.

Well. . . Finally. . .

Or, maybe some would say, "That's typical of them. They always take a long time." Others might say, "I thought they were already members. They're here every time the doors are open."

Wondering what I'm talking about? Today, we finally joined the church we have been visiting now for almost a year (we're about a month shy of a year).

Honestly, in the beginning, I really didn't think we would end up at this church. Our preference was a church that was a little farther away. But, God had something else in store. I'm so thankful He did and He's the one in control.

Over the last 11 months at our church Jon and I both have grown more spiritually than we have in years upon years combined. Jon and I talk about this quite often. One day Ash over heard us and said, "Yeah, all y'all talk about now is the Bible." Sweet, sweet words!!!

I never ever thought I would find as loving of a church family of what we came from. Dayspring, our old church, wasn't the biggest church, didn't have the best programs, but it had incredible music and people that would love the socks off of ya!!! I didn't think that would exist anywhere else.

Boy, was God going to prove me wrong!!! Dayspring will always have a special place in my heart. I made special friendships there that I still carry with me. I went through so much during our 8 years at that church. I learned, I grew, I fell, I scraped my knee a couple of times, but I was always surrounded by people who loved me.

After we left the people I missed the most were the older ladies. . . Granny, Lane-Lane, Nannie, Shay-Shay. . .those good Southern cooks who made me want to sit under them and have cooking lessions for hours. I still saw all of my close friends. Now, I've found me some new older ladies at our church to love on. . . Ms. Jean being one of my favorites :) She teases me about my high heels. . . Yes, me and my high heels have already developed a reputation at our new church.

I don't know when our now church started feeling like home, but I know it was very soon. When I was waiting on Jon to get finished talking so we could leave. . . I knew it must be love - hee!hee! It was amazing how these people wrapped their arms around us and loved on us. . . how everyone was so friendly in this big church (Dayspring was a really small church). Our kids love it, we love it. It is GREAT!!

Although there's great people, great programs, great Bible curriculum, etc., the thing that we love most would be our pastor. He's a man of great conviction. One of the most sincerest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He preaches the Word of God. . . not just the touchy-feely parts, but the whole counsel of God's word.. . even the hard stuff. . .controversial issues, tough doctrine. He truly loves his flock and it is evident by his actions. Jon and I am so honored to call him both our pastor and our friend. I've alwyas been a girl who had favorite Bible teachers, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur being my top two. I've never been at the point where I could say my pastor was my favorite teacher of the Word of God. Now? Well, now, for the first time in my life I can say, without hesitation, that my pastor is my favorite Bible teacher.

We are so very honored and blessed to now be "home folk".

Addendum

(Can't you tell I'm a medical transcriptionist just by the title of this post?)

Alec happened to be reading over my shoulder the last post.

He said, "Oh Mom, I hate when you buy the expensive toilet paper. It is too soft. The cheap stuff gets all the grit out."

Okay, enough potty humor for now. . .

Some Kid Humor

I wish I could remember all the things my kids say to make me laugh. . . here's just a few. . .

Jon's best friend/business partner came to our to pick Jon up. Stacey is like family, and our kids LOVE him. He was coming to get Jon as they headed out of town to work on a house. That particular morning he must not have felt very social because he just rang the doorbell then went back out to his car.

Hanna said, "Stacey just ding, donged, ditched us."

I'm about as cheap as they come. I do not splurge on paper towels or trash bags or toilet paper. This is obvious by what Ashley said to me this week. Last week at the grocery store I must've felt like a big spender. I splurged on Charmin bathroom tissue (go ahead, gasp). . . Ashley came to me one morning, "Oh Mom thank you for buying that toilet tissue. It feels so much better to my booty then what you have been buying."

Great, now the pressure to buy the good stuff is there. Poor thing would've never known what good toilet paper felt like if I wouldn't have splurged this week.

Alec and I have had a couple of good belly laughs this week too. . . my memory is just failing me right now.

How'd It Go?

Did I paint?

Did I call a friend to go out for dinner?

Did I clean my closet?

Clean up the school room?

Or. . .

Did I sit on the sofa and hardly move an inch?

If you guessed the last choice, you guessed correctly.

The morning started out with me working. Then, I went to a nearby trail with some friends and we ran the 17.? mile loop.

Let me just stop here and say trail running kicks my booty!!! Believe it or not the downhills were harder than the uphills. I'm not the most coordinated gal either. After the 6th time of catching my fall, I finally couldn't get my balance and fell flat on my hiney. I toughed it up 'cause I was with my friends, though I did get teary eyed. It hhuuuurrrrrttttt . . .okay, that's the whiney girly girl in me. Throughout the trail I felt like thte scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz" when he comes off the pole. .. he's all falling around, arms flailing everywhere. That was what I looked like. Then I got the stinkin' song in my head that he sang.

Although it was tough, I have to say I really enjoyed the trail running. Time passese by so much quicker. I think it is because you have no earthly idea where you are going. I have to fess up though, I'm scared to death of snakes. . . so before I left I googled "what time of year do snakes come out in the South".

I have you know I really didn't get a clear answer. I wanted something as clear as "Snakes come out on March 15th every year". I got nothing of the sort. However, I didn't see the first snake . . . praise the LORD!!

I got home and I had muscles hurting on me I didn't know that I had. I ate, watched a little TV with Jon, got a shower, came back downstairs. . .cuddled up on the sofa with Jon, finished a movie with him, and we both fell asleep like babies. .. He did run his 18 miler early that morning. We were both "too pooped to pop".

Jon woke up because he had to get ready to go out with the guys. I cleaned the kitchen and then started dreaming of my favorite dessert. . .a little something called a "Blondie" from "Applebees".

Jon left. I called in a dessert-only order to "Applebees". The sweet hostess delivered that yummy goodness straight to my car. I didn't even have to get out.

I got home, savored every morsel of my dessert (left a little for Jon though), turned out all the overhead lights, cut on all the lamps, lit a candle, and plopped myself on the sofa with "Systematic Theology". Now before you start yawning on me and thinking I'm a big ball of boring. . . this theology stuff is actually really good!!!

After my mind had all teh big words it could take, I opened up Francines Rivers "A Lineage of Grace" and started reading about my girl, Tamar. I'm getting to know her pretty well through the writings of Mrs. Rivers. She's my very favorite author and anything she has ever written is WONDERFUL!!!

My eyes started to get all sleepy, so I turned on the TV. . . Now, I'm thinking, "Jon's out with the guys. It will be late when he gets home. When I'm out with the girls we tend to close down whatever restaurant we eat at, then we all head to the car and talk." Don't know why I was thinking the guys would talk this much. . . Jon got home around 9:00. They talked at dinner. Apparently that's enough for the boys. They had a great time though. Jon really enjoyed himself.

It felt really, really good to rest and read . . . things that truly are a luxury for me. . . don't you just love the simple things?

What to Do??? What to Do??? What to Do???

In a little while I'm going to meet my mom for coffee. She's taking all the kiddos with her this weekend. She has been in grandkid withdrawal. With the busyness of basketball she didn't get a chance to get the kids much this winter. So. . . off to Nanna's they are going.

Meanwhile, back here at the homestead. . . Jon and I will eat in tonight. I'm going to make this pasta dish recipe from our newest "Runners World" magazine. I'll probably stop by "Red Box" and find some kind of funny movie for us to watch. We both have 18-mile long runs tomorrow. We were all going to run together. However, Jon's running partner, Doug, needed to run at 4:00 a.m. so he could spend time with his family. Jon didn't want to leave him high and dry. I'm going with Angela and another friend of ours, Chuck, to run some trails. We have a 31.5 mile trail run coming up in early April. I'm not sure if it is too early for snakes to be out. But, let me tell you - THEY FREAK ME OUT!!!! I will be looking underneath my feet and if I see one, I will run the fastest I have ever run.

Tomorrow night Jon and some guys are all going out. One of our friends just recently lost his father and his wife (who is a dear friend of mine) is going out of town. The guys thought they'd all take him out to grab a bite of dinner and play pool.

Know what that means for me???

Well, I'm not sure.

Very rarely am I ever totally by myself. . . that is unless I'm working. . . Honestly, I'm afraid I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.

I did think about calling an old friend or 2 and seeing if anyone wanted to have dinner.

But, since these times don't come often, I thought I'd just hang here at the house.

I've got a few things twirling around in this head of mine.

- clean up my closet (it is supposed to be a walk-in closet, but is so messy you cannot even step in there without stepping on something) and clean our dreadfully messy school room
- price homeschool books for the upcoming used book sale in late April
- veg in front of the TV
- Start a new Francine Rivers book "A Lineage of Grace".
- paint my hall (in front of the laundry room) and up the stairs
- sew pillowcase dresses for the girls for spring. The sewing bug has really bitten me.
- try and see if I can make some of these
- study and complete my homework for Bibliology/Hermaneutics
- clean up the garage
- catch up on reading blogs

With the looks of this list, it looks like I'm going to be by myself for days (thankfully NO!!)

What do you guys think? If you were getting a night all by yourself, what would you do?

Dear Days of the Week

Dear Days of the Week:

You know each one of you have your very own identity to me, but for the most part Monday through Saturday you all start out the same.

3:50 AM -Alarm goes off and it's "time to make the donuts". . .which means work. Head downstairs to get coffee.
5:30 AM - Back downstairs for more coffee.
6:15 AM - Coffee I love you. . . need another cup.
7:45 AM - I think it should be "4th time's a charm rather than 3". . . by my 4th cup I'm feeling GOOD!!!
8:00 AM - Kids start getting up. I have to pry Alec out of bed.
9:00 AM - Stop working, go fix breakfast.
9:30 AM - Get school started. We always start with our Bible first. . . it's the most important and, honestly, if our day is hurried, I won't get it in if I don't do it first.
10:15 AM - Kids working on their assignments. I'll go run/workout. . . whatever is in order for the day.
1:00 PM - Break for lunch.
1:30 PM - Back to finish up school (at this point the kids don't need me hoarding over them.
2:00 PM - Go back to work (I'm having to work a little bit in the afternoons now. . . so thankful that there is a lot of work on the system right now).
3:00 PM - I will go and read by Bible. I've tried to do it in the morning, but b/c work is so much in volume right now I find my mind is focused on working and I feel "hurried" through my quiet time. Kids start their chores.
4:00 PM - Try to do whatever chores are needed to be done that day. .. but also I may hop in the shower and start getting ready for whatever we have to do that afternoon.

Dear Monday . . . I love you and I hate you. . . but at least I love you, right? Mondays are normally my long run days. Sometime I wake up at 2:00 AM Monday just to greet you. . . to get a little bit of work in before I go and meet my friend at 5:00 AM to run with. I must squeeze in a nap sometime on you Monday. Later in your evening, Monday, my dear friends come over and we gather together to study the word of God and to grow and to learn and to have our toes stepped on. Our time is so blessed, it is normally 11:00 before I put you to bed.

Dear Tuesday . . .I'm so tired when I greet you at 3:50 in the morning. I know you want me to be chipper and such. . . but tired is the word. . . but an "oh so worth it tired". . . my body is tired because on Monday I ran anywhere from 10 to 18 miles and my eyes are sleepy because I put Monday to bed so late. But, oh, what a sweet feeling of peace and happiness I feel in my soul. We go throughout our usual day... and Tuesday evening we go see our "soccer family". Tuesday, if you're lucky, you're put to bed around 9:30.

Dear Wednesday . . .Good morning at 3:50!!! This day is pretty much the normal routine until church that night. We leave the house at 5:30 and return about 8:30-9:00. It's so good to eat with our church friends and family. And, Wednesday, I love you because I always get excited about going to my Bibliology/Hermaneutics class on Wednesday night. I'm learning so much. So, Wednesday, my head gets full of facts and knowledge. . . so much so, sometimes I think it might explode as I'm leaving class. You, dear Wednesday, are normally put to bed around 10:00.

Dear Thursday. . . okay, Thursday. . . sometimes by the time you roll around I'm exhausted. I think I grit my teeth when the alarm goes off at 3:50. I'm really tired physically and mentally. . . sometimes to the point of tears . . . depending on my mood. If I'm really good to myself, dear Thursday, I will squeeze in a nap on you. If I can't make it work, then my eyes get heavy around 8:00 PM. However, I try to purge through so I can watch "The Office" with my hubby. After "The Office" it is off to bed, off to bed I said. Thursday, you know we squeeze ballet into you and sometimes running club. We enjoy both very much because we get to see our friends.

Dear Friday . . . it is our lightest school day and one of our "easiest going" days around here. Work still abounds and there are chores to be done, but the kids have more free time than the rest of the week. Most times we have Running Club that afternoon. We also have soccer practice. Sometimes we get together with friends or the kids have friends spend the night. Fridays are usually restful as far as the evening time goes. . . which is OH.SO.NICE!!!

Dear Saturday. . . although I'm looking forward to the day when I can sleep in on a Saturday . . . I greet you bright and early, but it's not until 5:00 AM though. I normally work until about 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM. Then it's time to get ready and, depending on the season, head to the soccer field or basketball court. Normally after that we have a birthday party or maybe doing something with friends or just enjoying a quiet night at home.

Dear Blessed Sunday. . . oh how I love you. I sleep in until 6:00 AM, wake up get my coffee, head to what we call the "Coastal Room" and have some sweet quiet time with the LORD. No pressure to get work done today. We leave our house about 9:30 and head to church. We get home about 1:00. We eat and then I head upstairs for my Sunday nap. The more and more I read Scripture, the more important I see how important it is that we rest on Sunday. I really try hard and do this. My Sunday nap pretty much happens every Sunday. I get up, we enjoy some family time, then its back off to church. I really, really love our new church. It deserves a whole post of its own. Sunday is really my very favorite day of the week!!!

So, there you go, days of the week. You keep me busy, and there are times when I'm exhausted. You keep me in the hustle and bustle .. . but the times when we have "down time" are all the more special. .. they are savored like a good cup of coffee. Honestly, I think I'm kinda wired to be busy . . . I'm so thankful God has provided me with the energy to keep up the hectic schedule that you demand from me "days of the week". I'm so thankful we have the finances to participate in things that keep us busy. It has brought us many special relationships.

Crazy Mind Trick and Marathon #3

Well, I confessed to my friends that I make up these crazy stories in my head as I'm running.

For example, at Disney I pretended I was a princess and I was running through the parks trying to find my prince charming (which is Jon, of course).

For Chickamauga, I told them I would pretend that my husband (Jon again) was in the Civil War (we ran the battlefield where part of the Civil War was fought .. . it was beautiful). . . and I was running to find him. . . to see if he was hurt. . .if he was wounded.. . if he was alive. . . you know a little dramatic and all like Scarlet O'Hara.

Well, the next race on our agenda with Warner Robins Air Force Base. Guess what we were running. . . the Air Force Base. B-O-R-I-N-G. No pretty scenery. Really no story to make up in your head. . .or at least I wasn't feeling that creative that day.

I was really, really excited, though. My Dad was coming. He insisted on it. He was so very sweet. I tried to talk him into just being there at the finish. NOPE!! He told me he was going to be there to see me start and finish. The problem was it was supposed to rain that day. He told me he would be standing in the rain. If I was running in the rain, he was going to stand in the rain waiting at the finish line for me. He thought it would make me run faster.

Y'all this race was SO hard. Worst than my first. I had been doing the Daniel Fast. So, I didn't have much fuel for my body. . . and on mile 15, I started breaking down. I told Angela to go ahead. So the last 11 miles I was by myself. It was so cold and so rainy. I literally probably walked about 5 miles. It was so hard. I so wanted to make my Dad proud and have a really good time. Angela had even told me that at the end she wanted me to sprint ahead of her, just so Dad would be extra proud.

No chance. Angela finished around 4 hours 15 minutes. Me? 4 hours 50 minutes!! YIKES!!!

My Daddy was there, in the pouring, freezing rain. Right at the finish line (my eyes well up with tears as I think about this). He immediately wrapped me up in towels, took my hat off me and put his hat on me, took his jacket off and put it around me. He was so sweet!!!!



I told him over and over and over again how special it was to me that he was there. Angela won 2nd place in her age group. I got home and looked at the results to see how poorly I did. Guess what? I won 3rd place in my age group (with an awful time like that even). But see, I had missed the awards ceremony. I didn't even think there would be a chance of me winning anything. So, I emailed the coordinators of the race and they mailed me my trophy (I need to take a picture of it and post it).



Funny thing how your mind works. I was beating myself to pieces about my awful time. Then, I find out I get a trophy, I'm all happy go lucky, excited like crazy!!! Jon was so funny. He told me, "Babe you do realize you still have the same time." I know hunny, but at least I get a trophy for it!!!

Another thing that meant so much to me during this race was I had my cell phone with me. Normally I don't have it, but because I was meeting up with my Dad at the beginning of the race I needed it. During my "down times" in my run (or I should say walked, 'cause I walked ALOT) my phone was goingg off like crazy. . . people calling, people texting. . . letting me know they were praying for Angela and I. Oh, my heart was so warm from all the love. I really do believe that is why God had me take my cell phone with me. Because, although I was not in the mental state to pick up my phone or even look at it to see who was calling, just hearing the rings going off, knowing people were thinking of me and praying for me meant SO VERY MUCH!!! For those of you who called or texted or facebooked me or emailed me, I love you all. You encourage me more than you could EVER know!!!

Until . . .I Met

My friend Angela. . . I met her at church. She had run 18 marathons at the time and was getting ready to run her 19th .. . which would be Chickamauga.



She told me she'd love to run with me and that a couple of other people from church would be running this race. WOW!! I got to meet a new friend and she likes to run!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?



Let's just be honest here, people who like to run come a dime a dozen. I was so very excited!!! I was excited about actually training with someone this time around. The last time I trained for a marathon I trained all by myself. . . Well, and I did meet my "break wind friend" (who was at my church this past Sunday night). He was so sweet.



So once a week Angela and I would run a long run together. In the process we have become great friends. I tease her and tell her "I want to be like you when I grow up".



She's AMAZING!!! After this marathon she has 19 marathons under her belt, one includes Boston (which I DREAM of running one day). She has taught me so much. . . not just about running. . . but about motherhood. . . about friendship. . . about church life. . . about nutrition (she went on a total raw food diet for 2 years) . . most importantly, though. . . she has taught me so much about Christ!!! She really is a spiritual mentor to me. I really trust what she has to say. She's incredibly smart. . . and she's a thinker (like Jon). There are times when we will run and the whole run we will talk about Christ (anywhere from 10 to 18 miles). She's also very so much fun to be around and makes me laugh 'til my belly hurts!

Also, my new friends Doug and Chuck. Doug's wife (another Angela) went along with us. She took great care of us and is now known as our "marathon mom".

This race was awesome. My best time yet (4 hours 19 minutes). I was really weepy with this race (look at my face crossing the finish line. . . I just knew I was going to bust into tears). Jon or the kids weren't going. My dear friend, Lisa, was supposed to go, and then couldn't at the last minute. I was lonely for my loved ones to be near me. Plus, I was really nervous that I would be the weakest link or . . . worse. . . ride the loser bus.

I did get silly and confess to my new friends my mind trick I play on myself while I'm running these long distances. . . after seeing their reactions I thought, "Oops, maybe I spoke too soon. They need to get to know me a little better." Stay tuned. . . next marathon post I'll share with you my crazy mind trick.

How it All Got Started

Since I will be attempting to run my 4th marathon this weekend (and haven't yet blogged about ANY of them). . .I thought it would be fun to tell you all why in the world I would even THINK about running 26.2 miles. . .



I started running shortly after I had Ashley. I needed to get some baby weight off, so this is how I thought I'd do it. . . when I say started running, I mean walk/run for 20 minutes 3 days a week, no more, no less.

One year my sister-in-law and I took a trip to the beach. The upcoming year I would be turning 30 and she would be turning 40. She told me on this trip she'd always wanted to run a marathon. She wanted to lose some weight. . . so I told her, "Let's do one together". I thought with me doing it with her, it would help with accountability and also help her to lose some of the weight she wanted to get off. We both LOVE Disney, so the Disney Marathon it was.




We signed up and I told EVERYONE who crossed my path what I would be doing. I'm not sure if this was stupid or not. . . because life got hectic for my SIL. She wasn't able to train. I kept on training all because of my PRIDE!! That's it!!! I'd told too many people what I was doing. . . and I wasn't dare going to embarras myself and not pull through.



Life was C-R-A-Z-Y in the month that approached the race (that's when you're putting major mileage on your feet). We moved, I was getting my real estate license. Jon had a conflict with work and couldn't get off. I tried to talk him into letting me fly to Orlando, run the race, and come back home. He wasn't going to have it!!! I'm so thankful he insisted on he and the kids being down there to support me.



The first part of the race was AWESOME!!! My favorite part was probably running through Main Street in Magic Kingdom with all of these people cheering for you. I kept thinking, "There must be a lot of Michele's in this race". About halfway through the race I realized my name was on my racing bib (I promise red in my natural hair color).



Mile 18 is where I started breaking down or in runner's terms "hitting the wall".



Mile 21 is where I was literally in TEARS!!! Streaming down my face I tell you. I had no earthly idea how I was going to complete this race. All I knew was my family was at the finish line, and I COULD NOT disappoint them!!! Thinking of them is literally what kept me going.



Exhausting I tell you. . . like nothing I've ever felt. I got terribly sick after the race. I was miserable. Can't you tell what obvious pain I'm in crossing the finish line? Check out Ms. Bouncy Ponytail behind me.

I swore I would never do another race. . . that is . . until . . .

My Toes Hurt

Well, I'm entering my 4th week of discipleship, and I have to say Monday has now become my favorite day of the week. .. for this very reason. Y'all it is SOOOO good.

I've been involved in many Bible studies before. . . I've even taught one. . . but discipleship is quite different.

We all meet here at my house at 6:30. I have coffee ready for everyone and my girl, Lisa, always brings us a yummy goody. She is an excellent cook and an even better friend!!

We all gab for a little bit until about 7:00.

Then, it's time to get down to business.

We head to my family room and start out with prayer. Then we open up our books and read.

Right now we are going through "Respectable Sins" and "The Mischief of Sin". If you want to be convicted, have your toes stepped on, and the like, then you definitely need these books. If you're the type who chooses to ignore both the obvious and unobvious (is unobvious even a word?) then stay away from these books.

Cutting, I tell you. Makes you fall to your knees in repentance because you truly realize how wretched you are. . . how full of sin you are. . . sin that you like, sin that you allow. . . Becuase many times we as Christians tend to compare ourselves to unbelievers. We look at ourselves and think, "Hey I'm pretty good. I don't murder. I don't cheat. I don't steal. I love Jesus." The problem is we are comparing ourselves to the wrong standard. We've allowed these "respectable" or acceptable sins into our lives. Sins like worry, fear, gossip, impatience (I can't wait to get to that chapter b/c I didn't even know impatience was a sin). God is the ONE who sets the standard and His standard is His Word. We've got to be in the Word if we're going to know His standards.

In fact, we always read a chapter during the week. It's the same chapter that we will be going over. Once when reading "The Mischief of Sin" I'd have to stop after just about every paragraph and repent.

We learned last week that a single sin does not stand alone. One sin is usually coupled with another sin and probably several sins. For example. . . resentment, pride, frustration can all tag along together. And, what about the sin of gossip? Gossip is a pretty broad term, but to make it simple, gossip is ANYTHING that tears another person down. . that doesn't build them up. . .and it hurts both the person saying it and the person listening. I joked around and said, "Yeah, here in the South we think we can say something about someone and follow it by 'Bless his/her heart', and we think it's okay to talk bad about them."

Know what else? We are to keep one another accountable.

So, let's say my friend has a problem with another friend. She calls me venting about our mutual friend. She says some ugly things. I'm to call her out on it and tell her she is gossiping. OUCH!!! That's a hard one for this people pleaser.

What about the sin of complaining? This one really got me!!! When we complain about things in our lives, then we are questioning God's Sovereignty. Whew!!!

When we started this discipleship group I prayed God would not only step on our toes, but even bruise them. Now, I think we are on the threshold of having them broken. . . but that's good. That's what I want. I haven't gotten into Chapter 4 yet (plan on diving into this weekend), but I can't wait. I WANT to know my sin. I WANT to be aware of it. Because when I sin and do it willingly, then I am despising God. Oh, when I learned that it cut me to the very core.

I'm trying to be so very mindful of my sin, moreso my "acceptable" sins, the ones that make the church blend in with the world. Just today, only today, I've been tempted many times, and I'm sure I've failed. I'm so thankful God is so patient with me. I'm so thankful He is the potter and I am the clay. I'm so thankful that during this process of sanctification He hasn't let go of me yet. Stay tuned. . . I know I'll have much more to share!!!

Ergodic, Haphazard, Hit-or-Miss, Stochastic

I feel like I have more random posts than anything. . .so in an effort to be creative, I thought I'd give you all some synonyms . . . so there you go. . . right up there in the ol'title . . .

Want ergodic? My kids are having a fit. They think I said a cuss word. I was on the phone with my sister, who is moving to Columbia, SC. She and her best friend were talking about running a beach race up there. Melissa suggested the 3 of us running it and Leslie (her BF), jokingly, was like, "No, Michele cannot run it. We are going to tell her you have to have a certain percentage of body fat in order to run it." I'm cracking up as Melissa tells me this and I said to her, "That heifer!!!" Ash and Alec start saying, "Ewww, Mama said a cuss word." I told them my Granny called me a heifer alot when I was little. Melissa then corrected me saying, "She didn't call you a heifer, she called you a heifa." Oh me, oh my. . . it felt so very good to have a good belly laugh with her. It felt so "normal". I've missed her. She's been withdrawing from her antidepressants going on the 1-1/2 year mark. It has been a living hell on earth for her. Most of our conversations center around me encouraging her, helping her to think rationally, etc. (which I love being there for my sister). It's just been a good, long time since we've cut up and laughed on the phone. Side note: I did tell my kids I was teasing and I shouldn't tease that way. I didn't want them to go around calling each other "heifas"

Want more haphazard? I've decided that God gave me a job where I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. (tried to do 6:00 a.m. it just doesn't work for me) . . . to make me tired. . . because really I'm a fireball just like Ashley. Our household can only handle one of us. . . while Ashley is like a raging forest fire. . . I'm like a dimly lit match. . . only because I'm too tired to be anything else (ha!ha!). Jon, Hanna, Alec, and Cookie would probably go crazy if there were 2 live fireballs running around here. Side note: I'm very, very grateful for my job. I'm not complainin' (my discipleship girls will know what I'm talking about). I'm just sayin'

How about some Hit-or-Miss? My parents may be moving . . . from the home I grew up I. Although I will be sad, I am ecstatically happy for them. This will be their dream home. . . a log cabin on 18 acres. . . and . . . it will be closer to me. . . 45 to 50 minutes. Nothing is written in stone yet, but we will see. I'm really hoping it will happen. It will be so nice to be closer to them. It's almost a straight shot from where we live now. You don't have to turn down 10,000 back roads to the there like you do to their house now.

Okay, let me throw some stochastic at you?!? I AM SO EXCITED MY SISTER IS MOVING TO COLUMBIA, SC. It is less than 4 hours away from me (which sure beats 12 when they lived in Dallas, TX)!!! My other sister is only an hour from her in Augusta, GA. There's nothing in the whole wide world like a sister. . . someone who loves you always even when they hate you. . . someone who knows everything about you. . . someone who loves you enough to tell you the truth. Know what else? Blood doesn't make you sisters. It's your heart that does that!!!

Done!!! I feel like Joey did on the episode of "Friends" when he needed to write Monica and Chandler a letter of referral so they could adopt a child. He wanted to sound really smart, so he broke out his thesaurus. He signed the letter, "a baby kangaroo". Get it? Joey??? A baby kangaroo??? Oh that puts a gig in my giggle.

Have a wonderful Thursday!!!

2500? Really???

Last Monday night Alec's band had the opportunity to perform at the "Wild Game Banquet" our church puts on. I just thought this was a small event. When we showed up at the high school it was being held at I was informed there would be about 2500 people. You've got to be kidding me. I was as nervous as a pole cat in a room full of rocking chairs. . . yet so very excited for my boy. They performed, "O Happy Day". And. . . to top of the night, they got to meet Coach Mark Richt, coach of our GA Bulldogs!!! Jon and I both were so very proud of Alec. Here's a few pictures that captured our night. . .

Girls, Girls, Girls

I bet you're thinking this post is going to be about my girls. . . oh how I wish!!!

Alec is spending the night with his friend, Griffin. His mom, Jennifer, is a dear friend of mine and an excellent spy (as you will see shortly)

When I woke up this morning I had all of these messages on facebook. . . I thought I'd share. . .

>1st Message
"well...they were talking about GIRLS!!! YUCK! They were rating girls and Alec said "there's a difference between liking someone and thinking they're cute". I'm about ready to put on a good movie so they will stop talking about girls!!!!!! I'm not ready for this! LOL!! Oh, well... wait, now they're talking about video games. Yeahhhh!

2nd Message
"My mom always wanted me and Emily to get together but now she's like 7 ft taller than me..." They are cracking me up!

3rd Message
"Hanna likes Jonathon Ford. She's boy crazy." (Who the heck is Jonathan Ford? - this is me talking. . . and YES, she is boy crazy . . . and YES, she is beautiful. .. and YES, it scares me)

4th Message
"Alec is talking about some girl that use to be crazy about him but "she's gross...she like...bites her fingernails!" Alec is definitely noticing girls! The subject may change but he brings it right back to the topic of.... GIRLS!!!!! LOL!!

5th Message
"Okay...I had to run up there and change the subject when I heard them talk about the 11 year old that had a baby. Alec said...there's only one way...and I heard someone else say..yeah....So I told them it was time to watch a movie. The Incredibles to the rescue

Girl, I can't believe they are pre-teens...they have noticed girls and are acting so goofy about them! LOL!!

I've got to get to sleep now...can't spy any more.

Love ya!
Jennifer

I have ONE word and ONE word only. . .

HELP!!!

Family Olympics

Ladies and Gentleman I now invite you, in honor of Winter Olympics 2010, to take part in our family Olympics. There are 4 participants this year. . . Alec, Ashley, Hanna, and Verdia (our sweet neighbor whom I claim as my 4th child).

The first event . . . JUMPING JACKS!!!

Ashley gets the Gold

The second event is BALANCE ON ONE FOOT . . .

Verdia gets the GOLD!!

The third event was SPLITS!!!

The gold goes to HANNA!!!

The fourth event . . . JUMP ROPING!!!

The gold goes to ASHLEY!!!

The fifth event. . . PUSHUPS!!!

The gold goes to ALEC!!!

The sixth event was . . . SIMON SAYS!!!

The gold goes to HANNA!!!

The next event BALANCING A PILLOW ON YOUR HEAD . . .

And . . . Alec takes home the GOLD!!!

Then sweet Verdia went home. We started watching the Olympics and after 1800 flicks of light. . . this was the only light that was left. . .

The lights are out, which means no heat (don't be fooled by the fireplace. . . they are only gas logs and they don't heat very much. . . Jon says its like burning dollar bills). . . this stresses the Olympic Mom out. . .

So the Olympic Dad. . . called the electric company . . . and then called his parents (who live 2 miles away). . . they were out of town, but called their neighbors. . .

They had electricity. . . off we headed to their house (so we could watch the Olympics. . . spoiled Americans we are)

Guess what? Their downstairs heat was broken. Although we could watch TV we were freezing.

But,brilliant Olympic Dad had an idea. Turn on the upstairs heat and lay on the floor and watch the TV from the balcony that overlooks the family room. Olympic Dad kept calling the house (he knew when the phone rang more than once the lights were back on).

So, we headed back home, all piled in the bed and fell asleep to the opening ceremonies.

We are SO LOVING the Olympics!!! What about you guys? What's been your favorite event so far?