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ALWB Getting to Know You

Last summer I became aware of a group of bloggers called the Alabama Women Bloggers. It’s a blog where various bloggers across the state can get connected and can find others in their area. I’ve enjoyed getting to “meet” some new blogs and even shared a recipe on their blog back in the fall.

Each month they feature a “Blogger of the Month” and in February the blogger of the month was Kari Scott from Raised Southern. She came up with some questions that she wanted everyone to answer about themselves. I had bookmarked the questions but didn’t get around to answering them during the month, but I figured that late is better than never! You can see the original post and other links on the ALWB blog.

1. What part of the state do you call home?

I live in North Alabama and have all of my life minus the five years that I lived in Tuscaloosa for college and the first year of our marriage.

2. How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging back in May 2008 when my best friend had her little girl, Caroline. I had wanted to start a blog for a while but felt left out of the whole “Mommy blog” thing. I now look back and wish I had started earlier when I first got the blogging bug, but I also love that I started blogging with such a special event.

3. Why did you start blogging?

Ok, I guess I answered this in the above answer so see above. 🙂

4. What do you love most about blogging?

I love the sense of camaraderie and friendship that exists between bloggers. It allows an introvert like me to keep social connections even when I don’t have time to be out and about having coffee every morning with friends because I’ve got littles at home. I love getting to experience different parts of the world, stages of life, and emotions through blogs. And I especially love the feeling that I am not alone in my struggles and place in life because I often read about others who are exactly where I am.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Let’s see, in 5 years I’ll be looking at having all three kids in full day school in just a couple months. That seems so far away right now but I know how quickly it will fly by. I would love to have expanded my shop and be working on custom items for people who want their stationery to reflect their personality and be just as unique as them. I want to be involved in my kids schools and soaking up my last months with Hadley at home with me all day while also making lots of goals for how I’m going to use the (what seems like now) infinite amount of time that having all the kids in school will give me (although even now I know how fast those hours will get filled up!).

6. What is your favorite movie?

In the past I have always said that my favorite movie is “Up Close and Personal” but I haven’t watched it in years and am not sure that I could get through watching it now without having a panic attack. I now lean more towards fluff movies that help me escape and relax and the one movie that I like to watch over and over is “The Proposal.” It’s so hilarious!

7. If you could use any actress to play you in your life, who would you choose and why?

Maybe Jennifer Garner? I was thinking back on the Oscar’s and trying to think of an actress that I really love but who also seems very down to earth and centered and she came to mind. She definitely has the Mom experience and has been married for a while so I think she would be able to play me well. I bet she gets sick of changing diapers and enjoys her breaks while also cherishing each second she gets to spend with her kids just like all mom’s do!

8. Name the top 5 things on your bucket list.

I don’t really have a bucket list but I’ll name some things that I can think of off the top of my head:
– Go back to France and spend more time exploring Paris and the countryside
– Write a novel
– Run a 5k
– Get comfortable enough cooking so that I’m improvising and coming up with my own recipes instead of cooking from others’ recipes
– Write notes in Bible’s for each of my kids to give them when they graduate high school

9. Who or what inspired you to blog?

One of the first blogs that I started reading and the one that inspired me start my own was Angie Smith. I started reading when her daughter, Audrey, was still in utero and read throughout as she was born and died. Reading Angie’s blog where she shared her amazing faith and heart wrenching honesty inspired me to live my life a lot less scared of what others thought and a lot more cognizant of how I could help others by telling my story.

10. If you could be known for one thing in your life, what would it be?

Being an authentic Christian wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend who was always willing to help others and encourage them.

11. Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?

I’m not sure that I’ve really found my favorite vacation spot yet. I like the calmness of a beach vacation sans kids but dislike the sun and sand. I like experiencing new cities and places in big cities but don’t like the lack of relaxing down time that trips like that can mandate. But I will say that some of my favorite vacations have been to Paris, New York, Phoenix/Grand Canyon, and Aruba.

12. Describe the best moment in your life.

I have lived such a wonderful life and have so many wonderful moments that I could name. But I think that one of the most important was the day that Jason and I got married. Being able to commit myself to him for the rest of my life and looking ahead to our dreams for the future was so special. We were surrounded by so many family and friends and had so much support going into our marriage which meant so much. There are so many fantastic moments that have happened since then that wouldn’t have had it not been for that day.

13. We’re headed to your neck of the woods for one day. What is one thing we have to do, and what restaurant we must eat at?

If you’re headed up to North Alabama there are a few things that you need to do. Everyone should go to the Space and Rocket Center at least once in their life. Big Spring Park is a great place to take a picnic on a beautiful day just be aware of the large duck population that will scavenge for food (and not shyly!). If you’re in the area in the fall you need to go to Tate Farms to go pick a pumpkin and if you’re here between Thanksgiving and Christmas you need to go to Santa’s Village.

By and large, my favorite restaurant in North Alabama is Commerce Kitchen. Jimmy Boyce is a renowned chef who has ties across the country and has been on the “Today” show and has done so many other cool things. He is amazing and his food at Commerce Kitchen is delicious. It’s a more relaxed environment than another of his restaurants, Cotton Row, and we take our family there often and it’s one of our favorite date night spots. If you’re there make sure you order the Crab Tots or Fried Green Tomatoes for an appetizer, the Fried Chicken for dinner, and the Pecan Pie for dessert. You’ll think that you’ve gone to heaven!

14. What is a tradition you and your family have?

One of my favorite traditions that my Mom started is playing the Mickey Mouse birthday song from Splashdance to wake the kids up on their birthday. My Mom would play the song on a tape when we were growing up and it eventually morphed into a cd and then emailing me the song on my birthday. I’ve continued the tradition with my kids and I love how excited they are when I walk into their rooms with it playing in the morning. It’s such a fun, catchy song that we end up playing it and singing it all day. It’s a fun way to start a birthday with an extra special kick and I love having passed on the tradition to my kids!

15. We all love social media, share your links so we can follow you.

You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, instagram, Pinterest, Etsy shop, and Bloglovin.

Charity, Gift Giving, Personal, Shopping, TalesOfAPeanut

Giveaway, Gifts, and more!

I wanted to share a few things from around the web today.

There’s a giveaway for a free, personalized, double sided placemat on Mommy’s Block Party that ends in about 6 hours (11 PM CST). Head over to her blog to enter the giveaway!

Second, TOMS is coming to Zulily Wednesday morning with an awesome sale. I’m not sure if your kids love TOMS as much as mine do, but if they do you’ll want to be up early to take advantage of the best selection. The sale starts at 6am PT Wednesday (2/19) so be ready! Not only are TOMS comfortable for me and my kids but I love buying them since I know that with their One for One program they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need for each purchase of shoes! (*affiliate links, see Links and Disclosures page)

Plus….

Beth is hosting a writing contest over at Five Kids is a Lot of Kids with the winner being featured on Mamapedia!

One of my oldest childhood friends opened a new Etsy shop with beautiful original art yesterday. Check out Red Clay and Cotton for beautiful art!

I’ve got friends hosting a Kelly’s Kids party right now and you can order online throughout the week. Use code 19871 when you checkout. They’ve got great looking, classic kids pieces right now including James’ current favorite…button up shirts with a monogram!

Lisa-Jo Baker has a huge project going on right now to raise $150000 between Valentine’s and Mother’s Day for the Maubane Community Center. Are you able to help?

And, on a personal note, Hadley’s doctor’s appointment last Friday went well and her blood count is still looking good. Thanks for the prayers and outreach. I’m headed back in two weeks for another check but as of right now there are no signs that the Fifth’s has passed through to her.

Hadley, Personal

Where in the world have we been?

While I’m sure most of you haven’t even noticed that I’ve been MIA on the blog for most of the last two weeks, I wanted to update you on what’s going on over here.

First, let me go back to December 19th when we had our ultrasound to check on Baby Percy and find out the gender. We were so excited to get a peek at our new little girl that day! Telling the kids was a lot of fun and they were really excited. And to clarify, I didn’t want a boy, I just thought that Percy was a boy due to how I’d been feeling — more like James’ pregnancy than Charlotte’s. Just goes to show that every child is different, even in utero!

It took us a few weeks but we finally were able to settle on a name for our new little girl.

Now, this all ties in with where I’ve been for the last few weeks because our family contracted Fifth’s disease sometime over Christmas break. Fifth’s is a really common childhood viral infection (aka “slapped cheeks”) that didn’t show any symptoms in our kids until they came down with the rash. At that point they’d been contagious for apparently 10-14 days and ended up spreading it to Jason and I.

Fifth’s is usually something that you get as a child and then your body develops an immunity to it (like chicken pox). But, even though I had it as a child, my body didn’t develop the immunity. Fifth’s in kids is not a big deal and barely affected our kids. Fifth’s in adults is not a big deal either, except the results of Fifth’s (arthritis like joint pain) can cause some severe pain. The only time, typically, that Fifth’s can be a big problem is…when you’re pregnant.

So, for the past few weeks we’ve been dealing with this. I’ve been referred to a specialist in Birmingham to keep watch on Hadley and ensure that her blood count doesn’t get too low and she doesn’t retain fluid. He wants to see me every two weeks for the next eight weeks, but at our first appointment Hadley was doing fine. As a side note, one of the neatest things about this is getting to see H more and finding out that they can determine blood count in a baby via ultrasound! They measure the velocity of her blood through one of her veins in her forehead and can tell by the velocity whether the blood count is acceptable.

In addition to this stress, I’ve been having fairly debilitating pain in my joints. Two weekends ago I couldn’t pick anything up in either hand because the pain was so bad which definitely meant that I couldn’t type! For the past few days the pain has gone away and I’m praying that it stays gone.

I hope to pick blogging back up this week but I tend to do all of my blogging on the weekends and just set my posts to post during the week but the pain in my hands has prevented me from doing that the past few weekends. We would appreciate it if you could join us in praying for Hadley’s safety and for a pain free time for me. I was 27 weeks on Monday and am entering my third trimester which is unbelievable but also reassuring that the bigger H gets, the better she’ll be able to handle the virus if it passes to her.

Faith, Personal

Five Minute Friday – See

To find out all the Five Minute Friday details go to Lisa-Jo’s blog here. But the gist is to write for five minutes, unedited, just for the love of writing.

Today’s word is SEE.

Ready, set, GO.

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When I look in the mirror I see me. I see a tired Mama. I see gray hairs and fine lines that are getting less fine by the day. I see circles under my eyes and, sometimes, eyes with less than desired luster in them.

But what does God see?

When God looks at me I don’t think he sees those things. I think he sees a Mama who is working hard to do the work that he has placed in front of her. I think he sees the beautiful creation that he made thirty years ago and not the lines that have accumulated in those thirty years. I think he sees me as he intended me to be and what he knows I’ll be at the end of my life. I think he sees all that I’ve succeeded at in the past and all that I will succeed at in the future.

When God looks at me he doesn’t see my mistakes. Or my failures. Or my shortcomings or lack of enthusiasm. He looks at me and sees perfection. Because when he looks at me he sees Jesus.

I couldn’t ask for someone to see me better than that.

What do my children see when they look at me?

I think they see the one who loves them no matter one. The one who reads to them and snuggles with them. Kisses their boo boos and makes their favorite food. I think they see the one who they think will be there forever. The one who will always be on their side. The one who will always take care of them. I think they probably see safety. And love. And rejoicing in themselves.

I pray that they don’t see the days that I’m tired and worn out. The days that my patience is thin and my desire to read another book five more times is less than stellar. I pray that when they see me, when they remember me, they see Jesus and all that I was trying to teach them and draw them to. I pray that they see my failures as only a way to show them Jesus more and to help them grow and know that everyone makes mistakes.

I want to see me the way I think they see me. The way I see my Mom.

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See other posts on the word of the week, SEE, here.

Faith, Personal

Rest and Worship

“The thing” this year it seems is, instead of making New Years Resolutions, to pick a word for the year (Rachel on Lil Light ‘O Mine and BooMama are two good examples).

My first word for 2014 is REST. Over the past few months I’ve been feeling a pulling to step back and really have a Sabbath. I feel that I’ve run myself ragged and I’m not leaving the margin in my life that God asks and demands us to have. In our life it’s not always possible to have an entire day of rest. I mean, when you’re teaching four year old Sunday School, Sunday’s are anything but restful! And I began to wonder about just implementing a restful period in each day or each week and whether that would help me refresh enough.

While I haven’t been successful every week, I’ve found that those weeks when I take time to leave everything “undone” for a little while and just nourish my soul I end up having a better week. Sometimes this means reading the Bible, sometimes it means watching a movie, sometimes it’s just taking a nap. But by closing off all my “to-do’s” and forgetting the dishes and laundry and myriad other tasks that are a constant around the house, I’m able to give myself a little margin to breathe again and remember who I am and, most importantly, WHOSE I am. And my life works much better when I remember those things.

So, my first word for 2014 is REST. And it doesn’t necessarily mean sleep since we all know I’ll be missing out on a lot of that shortly. And it doesn’t mean neglecting the things I’m in charge of or being lazy. It just means that I’m going to strive to let go of those things that aren’t my responsibility and rest in the goodness of God’s grace. Daily — hopefully — but definitely weekly or as often as I can. I think Matthew 11:28 and 29 make a good case for having a time of rest and how it can help us.

Jesus asks us to “learn from him” (emphasis mine) and he will give us rest. I can’t think of a better model for my life than Jesus Christ.

And Psalm 100:2 and 3 offer a great explanation of my second word, WORSHIP.

Both WORSHIP and REST tie hand in hand because, by worshipping God with time spent in his Word and listening to him daily, I am constantly reminded that God made me and that I am his. Which, in turn, helps me rest peacefully in his hands because I know that He is God, not me.

2014 is going to be crazy for our family, there’s no doubt about that. With a new little girl on the way, our big girl starting kindergarten, and a crazy two year old little boy, things are not ever going to be quiet. But even in the loud and crazy and fun and joyful and wonderful that is our life, I can remember to REST in God and WORSHIP him and I know that my year will be so much better for that.

I’d love to hear if you made resolutions or chose words! Leave a link to a post or tweet or just your goals or words in the comments! And both of these images are free to download by clicking the image!

Personal

Five Minute Friday – Fight

When I saw this Friday’s topic I wasn’t sure that I was going to have anything to write, although I’d really like to participate in Five Minute Friday as much as possible this year. And then this morning as I was folding old clothes into plastic bins and listening to my kids play a whole slew of thoughts on the word ‘FIGHT’ came. Here’s my 5-minute, unedited stab at putting those thoughts into a comprehendible post.

START———————–

It seems like a lot of days right now I’m telling my kids “Don’t fight.” They’re constantly arguing over whose turn it is or who isn’t taking a turn. Things that are inconsequential become the biggest deals when you’re two and four.

But as I thought this morning, I wondered if maybe that’s the wrong refrain to be singing. Do I really want to be teaching my kids not to fight?

Not to fight with each other, yes.

Not to fight with their parents or teachers, yes.

But not to fight in general?

Don’t I want to raise fighters? Raise kids who will fight for the things in this world worth fighting for?

Their marriages.

Their health.

Their kids.

Their beliefs.

Their own personal boundaries and opinions.

I realized that I don’t really want to raise my kids to believe that “Don’t fight” is the be all end all. I want to raise them so that they know how to fight fair and coherently and how to fight for those causes worth fighting for and how to know what things aren’t worth it.

The people that we most admire in this world were fighters. Those who fought for freedom. For equality. For Jesus. For love of others.

I want my kids to be able to know what’s off limits in fights with their spouses. Ancient history? Not acceptable. Below the belt shots? Definitely not. But using language and words to explain your feelings and your needs in a respectful way. That’s good fighting that’s going to benefit you in the long run.

Maybe, on days when I’m feeling especially good and have the patience to spend some time. On those days when I feel like I’m supermom and can conquer anything. Or those days when God gives me a super anointing of grace. Maybe on those days I should sit down with my kids. And instead of simply saying “Don’t fight” I should teach them about the things worth fighting for and how to fight with respect and honor. Because more than anything I want my kids to fight for what’s right. Ok, not more than anything. But more than a lot.

END———–

I think I might revisit this theme later. I probably need a refresher on what the correct way to fight is. And there’s a lot more to be said about this. But hopefully this got my mind and yours thinking about those things worth fighting for.

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