Catch Up

A little catch up post if you will...

I impulsively joined the gym again this week. If I go 12 times a month, it is free, so I have that motivating me. I also want to run in the Fargo Marathon. We all know that I will not be able to do the full or even the half, but I'd love to do a 10k or 5k. We'll see as it gets a little closer. I can run great outside but treadmill running does nothing for me. I usually quit way too early for it to be effective. I'm giving it another go though, so maybe I'll be in shape enough by the time the weather is nice for me to run outside for longer distances. Whew, hope you understood that.

I am also doing the stair stepper and elliptical machine on a regular basis. Hopefully mixing it up will keep me motivated! When all else fails, I will probably end up going to classes again because having someone yelling at you is a lot more motivating than staring at a wall.

We're starting to get just a wee bit of cabin fever now that it's been a solid two months of "inside only" days. We try to leave the house every day, but that only helps a little. Today, we're going to the library to run around quietly read books in a different environment. Anything's better than sitting in our tiny living room all day every day.

You like the random pictures in between each change in direction? Just trying to keep your attention. :)

I really thought I had more to say than this, but I guess not... 

Last weekend we went to my parents' lake and got to play outside even though it was ridiculously cold. It was fun to just be out of the house!

I assure you that she was dressed much warmer than this when we actually played outside.

We also went to celebrate my grandpa's 85th birthday with some of the family. They living in an assisted living/nursing home so we used the sitting area that was on their floor to have enough space for all of us. It was fun to see everyone, and Josie ran around entertaining everyone. 

Sitting on the floor while we eat... easier to keep her attention this way

Hubby and my uncle 

The birthday boy and his bride with their  second great grand daughter . They have four great grand kids. Pretty sweet!

Last week, I went to a funeral to support a friend of mine (so hard, but so thankful I could go). My dad jumped at the chance to take Josie to work with him. He is a teacher at the Tech College, and apparently whatever he was teaching left room for a 1 1/2 year old to take up most of his time. He had a ton of good pictures and it looks like they had a lot of fun. I took Audrey with me, and she was a little angel, sleeping through the service and being happy and even a bit smiley when my friend got to hold her.

She is so tiny in this room! Can you even find her? Also - notice how they are watching "Bambi" - the students loved it I'm sure!

Excellent student, a bit mature for her age

She loved it! Proof!

Bappa and Josie have become quite the pals these days

(I like how the spelling of my dad's name from his grand kids is always different. Bappa, Papa, Bapa, Boppa, Poppa... someday we'll settle on one.)

Also - Josie is currently singing "trouble trouble trouble" from the Taylor Swift Song "I knew you were trouble". Be still my heart.

Josie says

I saw that title on another blog and I'm stealing it. Deal with it. It's a good one. It may or may not be the start of a new series around here.

So...

Josie says (all the time): "Audrey Joy!" whenever she thinks of her sister, hears her sister crying, hears her sister chattering, sees her across the room... you get the idea. It's so cute. The best part is that it sounds more like "Audwey Choy". He toddler lisp cracks me up. I have no idea where she got the idea to say her full name like that, because I don't feel like we called her by both her first and middle name until after Josie started to. Either way, it's sticking and I hear all of us calling her that more often now. 



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Thoughts

The past couple of days have just felt rough. There's no reason whatsoever, but I just feel frustrated, impatient, antsy. As it so often goes, when I feel this way, little things go wrong left and right. Either I just notice it more because I'm already aggravated, or my impatience causes me to be clumsy. I just know that I can't keep my head above water to just make it through the day no matter how hard I try. 

So today, I thought about it. I prayed about it (not enough), and I was able to put my finger on something that really really helped. 

Have you ever had that feeling that you have really hit the nail on the head? Just knocked the ball out of the park? That you are doing exactly what God wants you to be doing? It's happened to me numerous times in my life, and I'm so thankful that I have felt his will like that. 

Right now, I feel as though I am on the brink of another huge life changing decision. No, we're not pregnant, and no I'm not going back to work. I'll talk about it in more detail later. The point is not to leave you in suspense about something happening here in our lives, but instead to talk about this. When we are right on with God, Satan takes note. He perks up a little, okay a lot, and tries to divert us. 

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation^[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

I have always loved this verse. It pops into my head all the time, and I would bet that I refer to this verse more than any other in the Bible. It came to mind today as I was reflecting on my terrible day(s). God does allow us to be tempted, but he will never allow it to go farther than we can handle. So Satan can try all he wants, but I have what it takes through Jesus to overcome any obstacle he puts in front of me. 

The best part of this realization is even more reassurance that we are doing the right thing. Why else would Satan suddenly focus wholeheartedly on me (us) like this?

I won't make excuses for why our days have been more rough than usual. There isn't any one thing. In fact, they really aren't even that bad. But a few little things going wrong can really make a person's mind frame turn negative, and then it all seems bad. 

Here's what's important. I know that I need to focus even more so on God's will and continue on the path we've decided to take. Isn't it reassuring to know that the battle has been won? No matter how hard it seems now, the outcome is clear. God will lead us through this thing called life, and it is our job to follow as close as we can.

That's all for now.
Good night!



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Monkey Excursions

Confession: I'm skipping over every Valentine's Day decoration/card making post that I come across. I know I'll feel inspired, then just as quickly overwhelmed when I realize that I can't do it or it's not as easy as I was expecting. So. I'll just ignore them this year. Maybe next year I'll be able to pull off the whole she-bang.

Confession #2: Today was tough, and all I want to do is sit on the love seat, read blogs, read my book on kindle, and watch tv. What I need to be doing? Packing for the weekend. AGH. I hate packing ahead of time because there is always something that I have to pack in the morning so it never seems worth it. 

On to the fun stuff...

Last week, we as a little family of four got to go see the coolest thing ever. George! Oh, you don't know which George I'm referring to? Curious George of course. This monkey is the best thing that has ever happened to our girl Jo and when I found out that he was visiting the local library, I knew we had to go. We hyped it up pretty big before getting there, so the minute we walked in (the story had already started...oops!), she was captivated.

After the story was done, everyone got in line to take pictures with the celebrity, George. We chose to just read stories until the line died down. Good choice. Jo loves the books, the library, the monkey - this was the best night of her life!

Let's just pretend that I have make up on, have showered recently, and hubby has not worked a super long week... we were a little ragged by this point... but it was worth it for the experience. Jo really did love it. 

Captivating.

First family photo of 2013... with a monkey. 

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