Not just "one of those days"

I started to chalk up yesterday as "one of those days". I woke up in the middle of the night with HORRIBLE cramps that kept me up even after 3 extra strength tylenols. By the time morning rolled around I was totally exhausted and not excited about facing my day.

But I am not going to let cramps steal away a day of life, so I decided to sit down and write about all the good things about my day instead of focusing on the bad.

So... highlights from my Friday.

- Cracking up when Liliana picked up her pretend phone (aka calculator) and called Mickey Mouse. She had a little conversation about Goofy mixed in. Love her creativity.

- Hearing Chris read outloud his b-day card that came in the mail from his parents. I almost cried as he read it. It was the most thoughtful card expressing how proud they are of him and how much they love him. Amazing parents!

- Greek salad with extra feta and fresh baguettes from Panera. Chris brought this home for dinner and it hit the spot, esp the extra feta. Yum.

- Jam session. Chris had 2 guys over- one on guitar and one on djemebe to jam and help them out in learning to lead worship. I loved hearing them play in our living room. Whenever we tuck in Liliana for bed we sing "Jesus Loves Me", so she got the full band version last night and loved every minute of it!

-Helpful e-mails. We are working on some classes for our church and we have some amazing pastors in Boston helping us with material. I was in contact with 2 yesterday and their willingness to help us out is such an encouragement.

- Phone calls. I got to talk to both of my sisters and a friend yesterday. This much quality time on the phone rarely happens in one day.

So, even though the day started off rough, it ended up not being that bad after all. But to be honest, had I not sat down to write the good things, I would have just chalked it off as "one of those days".

Happy B-day Chris

Yesterday was Chris' b-day. I hid notes all over the place for him to find, texed him at work, and gave one of his co-workers a treat to give him mid- day so that he had birthday wishes all day long. I love celebrating special events. They are a great reminder of life and what matters- People. People are the best and particularly my husband.

We are having a b-day party on Sunday... what you might ask? A game of laser tag. It was funny when I called to make reservations for our group coming in because the lady on the phone asked how old my child was. I told her the party was actually for my husband. She thought it was great. I think it's great too. I love that Chris still has fun like a kid.

Laser Tag, here we come.

100/100

yesterday chris and i got into a fight. it was one of those fights where i felt totally justified in my feelings. well, somewhere in the middle of the fight i heard this little voice in my head say, "remember when you first got married and you said that marriage isn't 50/50...it is 100/100? now would be a good time to hold up your end of the 100%, regardless of what chris is doing"


i actually hadn't thought about that 100% idea in quite sometime, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. so i changed my attitude and acted in love towards chris and immediately the fight diffused. we ended up having an amazing heart to heart talk and then chris downloaded the jane austen movie persuasion. we had wine, snuggled and had a great evening.




i've been challenged lately about this idea called love. actual love truly is self less. it is not about what credit i get. sometimes i don't like that, but really it is what i want.
what is the alternative? to be a selfish, bitter, irritated person? that doesn't sound too appealing.
i'd rather walk in sacrifice, patience and kindness, even though it can be challenging at times, the rewards are much better.

De -Cluttering and Happy

So, yeah, I am actually blogging about getting organized...

I don't really consider myself the "clutter" type, but we are in the middle of going through each room and doing some massive de-cluttering and organizing. The basement storage is on the list for this week. I sense a bag of goodies will be heading to Goodwill after our time there.

All those "zen" claims are true. It is amazing how less stuff, that is well- organized, really does help bring a sense of peace and order.

I am so glad we are doing this. It has been a good challenge for us to live in a 2 bedroom apartment for this season and see what we actually need and what really is non-essential.
I've also been realizing how I always default to my favorites and really don't need a ton..

... I have my favorite black comfy pants I like to change into when I come home. (don't we all have a favorite pair of jeans or pants?)

my favorite cookie sheet for baking- i always by pass the others and use this particular one.

my favorite pilot pens i use for writing ( i still have no idea how we ended up with so many other random pens that we both hate using to write with and clutter up our pen container)

etc...

sure i have fondue pots we bust out once a year at new years eve ( well, at least we used to before we had a toddler. fondue and 2 don't seem to mix) and fun heart shaped pan for a big Valentine's day cookie, but i am choosy over what stuff i am now allowing to be excess.

i guess the true test will come this week when i hit the basement....

Tasting Madison

chris and i had a fun date last night. we went to a german restaurant called essen house. so yummy. the moment they served a basket of hot pretzels upon seating us and had a guy on the stage playing an accordion, i knew i was going to like this place.

i have this guide of madison restaurants and each time we try a new place i mark it off in my book. we are trying to eat our way though all the locations. (well, minus places like chuck e cheese or denny's). it is so fun seeing all the local places and seeing people's creativity with food and drinks.

my husband is a very fun person to eat with. he soaks in all the flavors. when he is first biting into food or trying a new beer, i have learned not to talk. he is so "in the moment" and talking ruins it. seriously, sometimes conversation stops for about 5 minutes while he is taking it in and enjoying the taste and then describing it.

we've always liked trying new restaurants as part of our dating. to us it is like a little adventure. we do have our favorite places, but it's fun to try something new and expand our horizons too!

MN or Bust

Liliana and I took a little Mommy Daughter Road trip this week to Minneapolis. I had some regional pastor meetings to attend and they graciously offered child care, so Liliana accompanied me.

I am so appreciative of the leaders of the Vineyard. The older generation has such a heart to champion and see us younger leaders grow in God and succeed as the next generation of pastors. One thing that struck me was the fatherly heart our speaker portrayed. It's interesting how in different seasons of your life you realize your need for your parents. My dad passed away over 3 years ago and I found myself relating to this speaker as I would my own dad.

You typically think of your childhood as the time you really need your parents, but I think we need our parents our whole lives. It looks different based on the season of life you are in, but I don't think that need ever goes away. We need our parents to love us, believe the best in us and also love on our own kids. So, it was a sweet time of being reminded of that and seeing God demonstrate His love to me in ways I least expect it, like a pastoral meeting in MN.



I'm thankful that God knows our needs at times when we aren't even in touch and He gives us just what our heart wants.

My First week of 2010

My first week of 2010 has come and gone. How about it for the new year?

Started off great with a chili party . We followed a tradition from some friends who have an open house on New Years Day. Great idea, right? Everyone sleeps in and most people have the day off, so it is a perfect opportunity to get together later in the day and hang out. We had so much fun that we decided we want to make it a tradition in our household.

Had a good prayer time with my prayer partner and friend. It's always good when we connect to share about life and pray for each other.

Preached on Sunday. We have been listening to our sermons to evaluate how we sound.. we are trying to mindful of "ums", how our delivery goes, etc.. So I listened to my sermon and just laughed. I asked Chris, "When do I breathe?" I am surprised I haven't fainted when I preach. Naturally when there is a subject I am passionate about, I talk really fast. I know I must breathe somewhere in there, but at times I am going at lightning speed and have no idea where my oxygen comes from. Quite funny.

Had the most draining 1.5 work days ever helping Chris with end of the year accounting and getting out tax receipts for non-profit giving. Yuck stuff that has to get done, but just sucks the life right out of you if that is not your primary gift. (which is NOT ours)

Had some super productive times working with our graphic artist and getting some material set in place for the new year. Super excited about what lies ahead this year and have lots of anticipation for our church's growth.

Shared in some amazing conversations and openness with a few different church members this week. It is precious, absolutely precious, when someone trusts you and shares a part of their life where they want to see God come in and heal and restore and meet them. Every time I get a chance to hear people's journey with God, listen and pray for them I walk away so thankful for my job. THIS is what my life calling is- to pastor people. To rejoice in good times and stand alongside in trials. Got a taste of that this week and it renewed me.

Read a new book. Wrote in my journal. Watched a movie. Ate some new foods I hadn't tried before. Went out for gigantic burritos with my family that were delicious. Had some of Liliana's friends over for a little b-day party. Started up our toddler time at the library which we love. Worked out. Had lots of fun with Chris. Felt God's love in new ways and loved Him back.

I'd say 2010 is off to a good start. :-)