You know you've been doing a lot of house budgeting in Excel when...
I was trying to decide which necklaces to buy from a website I like and the thought crossed my mind "I should make a list in Excel. I bet that would help".
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Stressed but blessed
"Jos, I can't talk you down from the ledge every single day of this process" is what my husband said to me the other night as I was stressing out of my mind over yet more building issues. Point taken. I aim to be cool, calm, and collected until the house is done. Everyone who knows me knows that this is completely and entirely realistic.
ahem.
We are in a whirlwind of activity right now. We are getting our house ready for sale, which means keeping it clean at all times. Everyone who knows me knows that this is completely and entirely realistic. I'm trying so hard not to stress about the sale, knowing that we just have to give this one over to God. We have also been given a pretty huge opportunity recently that we have to decide if we're going to take. I can't say details right now, but it would be a pretty major life change. Life feels so up in the air right now that I keep glancing warily upwards in case it all falls on top of me. We are moving forward hanging onto phrases like "I hope", "probably", and "maybe this will work out". At least they're all positive, right?
Oh, life. Thanks for never being boring.
ahem.
We are in a whirlwind of activity right now. We are getting our house ready for sale, which means keeping it clean at all times. Everyone who knows me knows that this is completely and entirely realistic. I'm trying so hard not to stress about the sale, knowing that we just have to give this one over to God. We have also been given a pretty huge opportunity recently that we have to decide if we're going to take. I can't say details right now, but it would be a pretty major life change. Life feels so up in the air right now that I keep glancing warily upwards in case it all falls on top of me. We are moving forward hanging onto phrases like "I hope", "probably", and "maybe this will work out". At least they're all positive, right?
Oh, life. Thanks for never being boring.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Pardon the memories
One year ago today I woke up from having maybe 3 hours of sleep all night, uncurled my stiff self from the cot on the hospital floor, and comforted my sad hungry boy all covered in wires because he wasn't able to nurse before his surgery. I handed my son over to surgical hands promising to be capable to fix what I could not. I watched them carry him into the first of two surgeries to mend his heart. I sat in a fog in the waiting room for 2 hours with my husband and mother in law. I was the first one in the recovery room to see Tyler still unconscious and quiet. I held his hand as he woke up and prayed over him constantly. I sat in his hospital room in tears of confusion waiting to hear if we would be air lifted to Edmonton. I heard the doctors say "successful procedure" and tell me we could go home for a few days before the open heart surgery in Edmonton. I prayed desperate prayers alongside my husband that we would survive this. One year ago today I placed Tyler in God's hands promising to be capable of fixing what I could not.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Followup
Before Tyler was born, I remember writing on my blog that I was getting frustrated with people telling me that I may be excited about having a baby, but to just wait...it'll be hard. It won't be as much fun as I think it will be.
Now that I have been a mom for a whole year, which I'd say pretty much makes me an expert (in ALL things, actually. I'm so ready to say "because I am your mother and I said so), I have realized this:
I have found joy in pretty close to every single part of parenthood thus far. I have had the poop explosions, the up all nights because of sickness, the temper tantrums, the bumps and bruises, and even the heart surgery. So basically what I'm saying is I've seen it all and done it all and can handle everything. (Oh calm down, I'm just kidding).
What I'm actually saying is that amidst everything I expected to be (and can be) hard, I have found such a profound joy. Profound. Like, wells up from my toes and bursts through the top of my head, joy. Knowing that I was made for this. I've known for years that while I have many good life goals, my one to be a mom was my most dearest desire. The feeling of having one's passion and desires fulfilled is...shall I say it again? Yep. Profound. JOY! Had to get that in one more time.
Alright, enough sap. Off to start my day.
Now that I have been a mom for a whole year, which I'd say pretty much makes me an expert (in ALL things, actually. I'm so ready to say "because I am your mother and I said so), I have realized this:
I have found joy in pretty close to every single part of parenthood thus far. I have had the poop explosions, the up all nights because of sickness, the temper tantrums, the bumps and bruises, and even the heart surgery. So basically what I'm saying is I've seen it all and done it all and can handle everything. (Oh calm down, I'm just kidding).
What I'm actually saying is that amidst everything I expected to be (and can be) hard, I have found such a profound joy. Profound. Like, wells up from my toes and bursts through the top of my head, joy. Knowing that I was made for this. I've known for years that while I have many good life goals, my one to be a mom was my most dearest desire. The feeling of having one's passion and desires fulfilled is...shall I say it again? Yep. Profound. JOY! Had to get that in one more time.
Alright, enough sap. Off to start my day.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Like water on rock
One of my passions in life is to lead worship. I've been given the freedom and opportunity to lead about once a month at our home church and I look forward to it every time. This week is my week again and I'm finding myself struggling and figured that I may as well blog about it because I think better when I'm talking/writing.
Not only do I have a passion for music, I have the passion to lead people in a meaningful way of connecting with Jesus. My desire is to provide new and inspiring ways for people to close their eyes, open their mouths, and express themselves and their love in worship. One thing I struggle with from time to time is something that I'm also very proud of - the fact that I'm a mennonite. In a mennonite church. As in, not pentecostal. My role as a worship leader in this church is to bring people ways in which to worship that they are able to connect with, but ALSO, I believe, to bring them new ways in which to praise. My mentor likened it to water dripping on stone - I can't just dump water on a rock all at once and expect it to be shaped. However after careful placement and patience, time will pass and a new pathway will be formed in the rock from dilligent dripping.
I'm planning my set for this sunday and desperately want to do something different. To lead people just a little bit down a path we don't often explore. Just a safe distance so that we can still see the main road, but appreciate the view from the foot path. However my prayer is that I see closed eyes and not blank faces. That I see raised hands and not folded arms. It is my responsibility to lead people in worship, not just to play music and hope they like it. It is so not easy.
Yeah I still don't know what this Sunday is going to look like. I dont' know if it will be played safe or played explorative. What do you love about the worship in your churches? What do you wish you could see done differently? What could I do differently?
Not only do I have a passion for music, I have the passion to lead people in a meaningful way of connecting with Jesus. My desire is to provide new and inspiring ways for people to close their eyes, open their mouths, and express themselves and their love in worship. One thing I struggle with from time to time is something that I'm also very proud of - the fact that I'm a mennonite. In a mennonite church. As in, not pentecostal. My role as a worship leader in this church is to bring people ways in which to worship that they are able to connect with, but ALSO, I believe, to bring them new ways in which to praise. My mentor likened it to water dripping on stone - I can't just dump water on a rock all at once and expect it to be shaped. However after careful placement and patience, time will pass and a new pathway will be formed in the rock from dilligent dripping.
I'm planning my set for this sunday and desperately want to do something different. To lead people just a little bit down a path we don't often explore. Just a safe distance so that we can still see the main road, but appreciate the view from the foot path. However my prayer is that I see closed eyes and not blank faces. That I see raised hands and not folded arms. It is my responsibility to lead people in worship, not just to play music and hope they like it. It is so not easy.
Yeah I still don't know what this Sunday is going to look like. I dont' know if it will be played safe or played explorative. What do you love about the worship in your churches? What do you wish you could see done differently? What could I do differently?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Next big thing
Okay so I've done the whole getting married thing...we tackled the whole having a kid thing...so then we thought: Why not do the whole building a house thing?
And thus begins our newest challenge.
We finally nailed down a floor plan we liked today, but this was not easy. I kind of pulled the whole "put a blindfold on, spin around three times, and whoever my finger points to afterwards is who we will go with for a drafting person". I don't recomend this process. It has been interesting to say the least. We asked for a house to be designed around 1250 sq feet. Today we met with the drafting team to see what they had come up with. After Mitch and I peeled ourselves off of the ceiling after seeing the 1700 SQUARE FOOT HOUSE they had put together for us, we had to start negotiating as the whole process had to be started over. It was a long hour as they thought that what they should be charging us was *ahem* slightly different than what we thought, we did come to an agreement. I'm pretty sure we walked away happier than they did...but I wasn't the one who decided that a few hundred square feet wasn't going to make that much of a difference.
Anyway...long story short, we now have a house plan being designed that we very specifically nailed down with then and can begin our building process very soon. I am increidbly nervous, rediculously stressed, and very VERY excited. If you ever have a few seconds of room in your evening prayers...we'd love to reserve a spot.
And thus begins our newest challenge.
We finally nailed down a floor plan we liked today, but this was not easy. I kind of pulled the whole "put a blindfold on, spin around three times, and whoever my finger points to afterwards is who we will go with for a drafting person". I don't recomend this process. It has been interesting to say the least. We asked for a house to be designed around 1250 sq feet. Today we met with the drafting team to see what they had come up with. After Mitch and I peeled ourselves off of the ceiling after seeing the 1700 SQUARE FOOT HOUSE they had put together for us, we had to start negotiating as the whole process had to be started over. It was a long hour as they thought that what they should be charging us was *ahem* slightly different than what we thought, we did come to an agreement. I'm pretty sure we walked away happier than they did...but I wasn't the one who decided that a few hundred square feet wasn't going to make that much of a difference.
Anyway...long story short, we now have a house plan being designed that we very specifically nailed down with then and can begin our building process very soon. I am increidbly nervous, rediculously stressed, and very VERY excited. If you ever have a few seconds of room in your evening prayers...we'd love to reserve a spot.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
One Year!
One year ago today I fell in love with the most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen. Tyler has changed my life in ways I could never have imagined and I thank God for him every single day. I would love to sum up this year in a beautiful eloquent way, but this is the best I got:
I love being a mom. I love my boy. I love seeing my husband become the most wonderful father. I cannot wait for this next year as this first one has blessed my socks off.
I love being a mom. I love my boy. I love seeing my husband become the most wonderful father. I cannot wait for this next year as this first one has blessed my socks off.
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