hubs December 23, 2009

I was just thinking yesterday that though baby bailey hasn’t arrived yet, he’s already drastically reformed Jared and I’s relationship…especially lately…and then i remembered how blessed i am to be married to mr jared bailey.

we are as different as 2 people could get, but it works out. i need to be realistic sometimes…and slow down…jared needs to be spontaneous sometimes…and hurry up He thinks things through so much so that the best possible result may come about…that takes time, as we all know, and therefore sometimes leads to procrastination…me, on the other hand–i want to come to the best and quickest decision possible and move forth with it immediately…therefore leading to sloppy, not so wise decisions. we need each other…i think the Lord planned that perfect, don’t you?
when i was studying social work, something that was revealed to me that some of our most strongest points are also some of our most weakest. so true.  this is reinforced almost daily to me because of situations that cross my plate. as i look ahead to the drastic change our lives will forever endeavour, the thought of having Jared to share in all the transitions gives me a confidence and peace beyond belief. further, knowing the Lord has ordained it all and orchestrated such a beautiful endeavour ahead resassures the faith and confidence I hold in His direction for our family.

So today, is Christmas eve eve…that means tomorrow is Christmas eve…also known as baby bailey’s due date….and alas, whether he comes tomorrow or not, i am so thankful, SO thankful, that i have a sweet, loving, considerate and positive hubs to help push me along up to the day baby bailey arrives, through his birth, and throughout his little life as it astonishingly grows before us. 
  

real simple December 18, 2009

i’ve never been a big magazine patron, but somehow real simple magazine has done it! It’s a bit rediculous the joy i gain when i open up that black box by the road and see my new issue of this magazine. it’s packed w/ tons of amazing and incredible ideas, revolving around the theme of simplifying your life and living more creatively. it makes you say, ‘huh…what a GREAT idea!’

www.realsimple.com

whether its organizing, cleaning, green living, or gardening, there are ideas galore. my favorite is “new uses for old things”—who thought of cleaning a ceiling fan blade using an old (or washable) pillowcase? you just stick it on a blade, slowly pull off, your blade is clean and the dirt is contained…wow.

check it out, and order a subscription…if you’re not a magazine lover, you’ll quickly become a lover of this one.

This months subscription ”how to save on nearly everything” was pretty incredible. gave ideas, websites etc. that can be very helpful in budgeting and careless spending.

so, if you have AAA, there are many places to get a dicount..who knew?
http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Savings/index.aspx
i could have been saving at the gap or banana republic outlet all along~!

this one, i’m excited about.  
www.relishrelish.com
for the less organized type or for someone who hates planning meals and preparing a list for the grocery store, this site, after subscribing to $7/mo, prepares 15 meals for you to choose from, you pick 5/wk, and it prepares a list right up for you to cover you for the entire week. you’re only making one trip to the grocery and it gets you under $85/wk. I don’t know that I’ll ever take advantage of it, but i think it would be super helpful to get someone, say a newly married wife, started and used to shopping and cooking…i’ve definitely not mastered making less than 3-4 trips/wk to the store.

how i long to live simply. i bet i’m not the only one!

**december** December 9, 2009

the age old question people ask each other around this time of year “are you ready for Christmas?”…most people sigh and say something along the lines of “ahh there’s so much to do, and so little time…shopping isn’t done, decorations have not been made to the tree we haven’t purchased….it’s just crazy. i need another month to get ready!”  then there’s my response-this year- “HECK YEA i’m ready for Christmas!!” i even find extreme pleasure in wishing people a Merry Christmas.

i am this way  because there is this little man inside me who is bursting (well, let’s hope not literally) at the seams to get out!  and i can’t lie, i’m sort-of ready for him to be out. yesterday marked 38 weeks  (almost 9 months, for those who don’t do ‘weeks’ — i didnt’ know weeks before i was preggers)  and i’m ready to meet the little guy! no, he still doesn’t have a name…and no, we’re not going to name him Jesus…we are, however, closer than ever in choosing a name for him, but for now, he’s still  “baby bailey…” it’s literally going to take us 9 full months to agree on his name.

december has been great so far, to say the least. though my body gets more and more uncomfortable and achy day after day, it will soon come to an end and life will change radically. Jared i got to have one more nice relaxing getaway weekend before the new addition comes along.
The Big Mill in Williamston, NC was a haven which forced us to relax–there was nothing to do in this tiny town, so we did a lot of watching tv, walking around the farm taking pictures in the bitter cold, snoozing and of course, YAHTZEE–basically the best game ever. I wish i could post some pics, but the web address will have to do for now.
http://www.bigmill.com/packhouse.html

I’m so thankful to have had a good start to a very special month in our lives. it can only get better from here and i claim that at the top of my lungs (which are currently squished).

so for today and the rest of the month i say, come on Christmas!!

“linkage” November 19, 2009

i truly love this blog i’ve come accross. http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com    i can’t help but laughing continulously as i read her unique ways of putting things…

just thought i’d attach a link from her blog of “good linkage” b/c it indeed holds some good websites worth checkin out.

http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2009/10/20-things-i-learned-in-a-week-without-my-computer-conversion-diary.html

the happy housewife whole chicken in a crock pot was a very good one…i’m gonna try it!

can anyone else believe that thanksgiving is next week? good gracious. time flies.

 

baby butt baby feet and baby fingers November 17, 2009

over the course of the last couple weeks, I’ve felt increased movement in my gloriously (large) abdomen. i find myself looking down and half my belly is sticking out and the other is shrunken the slightest…what is this…its the baby’s butt–boney and comfortable…and that dreadful pain i’ve felt nudging its way into my right rib section–jabbing heels and toes of the cutest feet in the world.  i can’t forget the weird tickling that wakes me up in the middle of the night below that foot thats so delicately lodged in my ribs–it has to be the fingers of the most precious hands i may ever see.

everything seems on track 35 wks into pregnancy–regular strong heart beats, increased movement, head down…gettin ready to go…wow. i can’t believe time with this kid swimming inside me is drawing to an end. i can’t help but rejoice with knowing the days are drawing to a close-of heels lodged in my ribs, fingers tickling weirdly, and a butt shoved up against one side of my belly…the bliss i feel now of being able to breathe normally, not having to *sigh* every few minutes to catch my breath.

Yet i know i’ll miss this safe time in the life of my child–the time where I can somewhat control what’s going on…
a time where i don’t have to worry if he’s getting into something unsafe, or about to fall off the bed, or eating that piece of puppy chow nala somehow left behind.
a time where i don’t have to worry about some kid snatching a toy right out of my kid’s hand… or my kid snatching a toy out of some other kid’s hand…
a time where i don’t have to worry about my kid getting hurt during soccer practice…
a time where i don’t have to worry about ‘those GIRLS’ ….

it’s weird becoming a  parent. it’s weird even typing that.

we’ve got a lot ahead of us, jared and i.  there’s gonna be good times, hard times, easy times, funny times and sad times. just like looking back on our lives thus far–things we might have done differently, things we’d have done at all, things we would have bypassed entirely…  but i’m up for this adventure of parenthood. jared’s up for it too… not just because we have to be, but because we’re ready to be–we’re excited to be!

it’s a good day. i can’t help but feel blessed beyond belief.

dizzy seeds are fallin, yet again… October 28, 2009

glorious autumn. my favorite time of year. the brisk air flowing through the barely hanging on leaves, knocking many of the bright colors dizzily to the ground; pumpkin decor-some filled with yummy candy, others displayed with an assaundry of emotion-filled faces; sweaters to snuggle up in; crunching leaves beneath me;  turkey feasts filled with delightful treasures in the form of pumpkin pies…

It’s yet another dizzy time in life…
-32 weeks down in the process of developing and nourishing the small, amazingly delicate life within me…
-a new home with boxes, bare walls, and lost to-go coffee mugs…
-Jared is transitioning from his shadowing/orientation period of his first nursing opportunity into being on his own, caring for the health of lives the Lord has entrusted him with.

it seems, yet again, there are many dizzy seeds falling and settling  into sweet soil to erupt beautifully into new life.

and all that is to come in the next couple months is suspending mid-air in front of our faces, staring at us with great, urgent desire. One important thing i have remembered-is to live, relaxed in today. taking one thing at a time, accomplishing only the things I have first entrusted into the hands of the Lord…understanding that the future is never certain.

here’s my second attempt to blogging…after almost a year gone by from posting before, i’m trying again. here goes.

testing September 22, 2009

today. January 28, 2009

Psalm 40

  I waited patiently for the LORD;
       he turned to me and heard my cry.

  He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
       out of the mud and mire;
       he set my feet on a rock
       and gave me a firm place to stand.

  He put a new song in my mouth,
       a hymn of praise to our God.
       Many will see and fear
       and put their trust in the LORD.

  Blessed is the man
       who makes the LORD his trust,
       who does not look to the proud,
       to those who turn aside to false gods.

  Many, O LORD my God,
       are the wonders you have done.
       The things you planned for us
       no one can recount to you;
       were I to speak and tell of them,
       they would be too many to declare.

  Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
       but my ears you have pierced  ;
       burnt offerings and sin offerings
       you did not require.

  Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
       it is written about me in the scroll.

 I desire to do your will, O my God;
       your law is within my heart.”

 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
       I do not seal my lips,
       as you know, O LORD.

 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
       I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
       I do not conceal your love and your truth
       from the great assembly.

 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
       may your love and your truth always protect me.

 For troubles without number surround me;
       my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
       They are more than the hairs of my head,
       and my heart fails within me.

 Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
       O LORD, come quickly to help me.

 May all who seek to take my life
       be put to shame and confusion;
       may all who desire my ruin
       be turned back in disgrace.

May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
       be appalled at their own shame.

But may all who seek you
       rejoice and be glad in you;
       may those who love your salvation always say,
       “The LORD be exalted!”

Yet I am poor and needy;
       may the Lord think of me.
       You are my help and my deliverer;
       O my God, do not delay.

not me… January 16, 2009

I’ve found over the last month increasingly striking moments where i think everything is about me. Really… it’s not. as i walk along within my day to day life, i see things i want, eat things i want, do things i want, when i want, where i want how i want….etc. I still think i can figure everything out on my own…that i can even save myself in the storms of life.

we’ll folks i got it way wrong, and the Lord is challenging me..daily.

 

“you have made known to me the pathway of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

I’ve been reading this scripture for a couple weeks now, over and over, trying to find the perfect sense of fulfillment. I’ve been looking at it as a promise to point me in the right decisions that lie ahead. and it just clicked…once again–it is NOT about me.   The pathway of life is not the decisions that must be made ahead of me. Those things that are in a constant battle in my mind of grad school, no grad school- now or later, family–now or later? what the heck are Jared and i supposed to choose next? Well in fact it very well can be looked at as a promise to decisions ahead but it says in the first phrase: ‘you have made known to me the pathway of life..’ have’=past tense ‘the’=singular tense ‘pathway of life’=singular tense… I already know THE pathway of life-the one and the only pathway that was, is and is to come…
    In the midst of decisions i truly hope clarity will be much brighter knowing i already HAVE the pathway of life.
Oh Lord your gospel is sincere to the core. 
   So resting in this pathway already revealed allows me to see so vividly that it’s not me…it’s someone way more capable of life choices.

future January 9, 2009

what a word….so much shoved into it.

Jared’s starting his last semester of Nursing school!! And he’ll be done in May! Thank the dear precious Lord:) So we’ve entered into the realm of “whats next” syndrome. Perhaps more myself than he as he is distracted w/ school stuff. The future is a field of wide open serenity that screams with opportunity-that’s how i see it today anyway. I battle back and forth as I weigh the options out of what’s next. First off I struggle because I want the next decision to be clear cut, mission bound, something Jared and I both decide upon mutually, easy, productive, the ‘right decision’, centered on what Christ has us here for in the first place, happy, perfect, no problems…
that’s not too much to ask is it?  I have been pondering several things Pastor JD prays daily to keep his life Gospel-centered.

1. “God, because I am in Christ I know there is nothing I can do today that would make you love me any more than you do right now, and there’s nothing i have done that makes you love me any less.”

2. ” God, your presence and approval is all i need to have joy today.”

3. “God, everything the Gospel tells me about your intentions for my life is TRUE.”

This standard so often i try to live up to of perfectionism always blinds the light of the gospel out of my sight. I feel like a major teaching i recieved all my life in church was to have a firm structured ‘quiet time’ to grow in Jesus and in his love and not to sway from that set time daily…or else. Or else what? I am promsied by my sweet Jesus that He loves me more than imagination could wonder. And to know that I am blessed with this amazing, real promise I can stand to breathe and enjoy my relationship with Christ. I’m not going to do something to screw up His love for me…i’m not going to do anything to shove his love for me higher up the todem pole… sigh of relief.
Secondly, something i shared last night at our bible study was that a big fear in life that always seems to make itself known is that of future happiness. What if a decision is made in our future that will leave me utterly unhappy. Well, i’m directed once again to where my happiness/joy (2 very different yet similar ideas) is rooted? Knowing and resting that Jesus Himself is all i need in life and what He has done for me on the cross has covered any crap i could ever accomplish….I need to remember this Jesus who loves me unconditionaly, and who provides me the joy i need today.
Lastly, He has plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Every intention this all knowing Lord for me is a blessing and not a cursing. And amongst the fear of chosing the “wrong path/decision”, dwelling on this beautifully crafted intention God has for Jared and I’s life, there is no WRONG decision. He’s blessed us with discerning minds and wants the best for us. Through the Gospel I am promised more than my little brain can imagine. He desires to use Jared and I and OH how i want to be used.

Grad school/not, remaining in Chapel Hill/not, moving to a random place/not….I don’t know. I am promised to have someone helping me along the way and to use me…and from this true joy will be manifested.