Come visit on the other side...

Ok, so I guess by now you all have noticed... I am not blogging over here hardly at all. So why don't yall come visit on the other side... I'm blogging a lot more at my new site.

Here's the link! Check it out!

LovelyNestDesigns

Confessions of a Bridgestone Arena Widow...

For those of you who don't know.... Chris is working a lot .... like, I am not sure if the kids will remember him come Christmas. I won't specify how much because I am trying not to think about it... but here are my confessions at the halfway point:

1. the sparse-ness of these closets makes my heart happy. Some kind of order in a chaotic week, I guess. (thanks mom for the help)

2. My children ate lunchables for dinner in their carseats while driving home from Walmart last night

3. I almost knocked a woman's head off in Walmart last night because she told me that she "couldn't BEEELIEVE" that I would bring the kids to Walmart without their coats and asked did I not know that it was "FREEEZZZING" outside. (thankfully I chose to be the bigger person and totally ignore the comment, otherwise she may have left the store sans a cranium.)

4. We've eaten Quinoa in various forms twice so far this week

5. I've allowed the kids to watch almost one full length movie per day (and I'm not even ashamed to admit it)

6. Harper has been sick for over a week and I finally took her to the walk-in clinic today... OOPS we left with an ear infection, upper respiratory infection and possibly a virus. Awesome

7. The kids have had O.N.E bath this week... yes, I said it... one.

8. We've eaten Chick-fil-a once

9. We've driven around to look at Christmas lights (aka kill time before bed) every single night this week

10. I don' think my kids have had more than one cup of liquid and one cup of milk each day... and I didn't realize it until the doctor today asked me if Harper had been peeing less....

11. Cleaning and organizing has been kind of therapeutic

12. I have forgotten almost everything I said that I would do this week

13. I really am not sure if today is Saturday or Sunday

14. At this moment, the small kids table is sitting on a tablecloth in front of the TV, and the kids are eating.... you guessed it... Quinoa... while watching a movie... (don't judge)

15. I am not sure that all their teeth have gotten brushed every night...

16. I did 4 loads of laundry today and gave away almost half of the clothes I folded simply because they would mess up our newly organized and cleaned out closets, and I have decided that 'stuff' is gross.

17. I am so thankful for family who has helped and friends who have hung out with us this week even though we probably smell rank by now!!

18. I don't remember how many showers I have had... but I'm thinking it's about 2

19. I know there's more... but I really can't remember them!!!

Lord, give me patience...

This one may be cute (even with the Justin Beber hair) but she sure is a handful. Today she yelled at the top of her lungs at me: "NOOOOOO LISTEN, NOOOOOO OBEY!" all while stomping her chubby little feet.
Needless to say, she got a swift spanking... but LORD, give me patience with this one. WOW.

Actually Lord, I need patience with BOTH.... This is going to be a hard 2 weeks! Please pray for us if you think about it... Mama's on her own for the next 13 days and I am trying not to get discouraged... I need an extra measure of patience and love for sure.... and maybe a Cosmo or something?

Doors and Windows

I feel bad about directing yall over to my other blog sometimes... my idea is to keep up both... but this time of year, I think it's too much! So, here's a link to post on my other blog of some things that have been going on recently!
Check it out!

and see where you can buy this gorgeous print!

Oh my goodness... make my day, my week and my whole holiday season!!! I am featured in the HGTV.com gift guide!!! WHAT??? I can't believe it. This is nothing but a blessing from the LORD... I mean, really...How exciting is that??? Here's the link if you want to check it out!!!

Thank you to NALA Photography for taking this amazing picture! Check her out too!

Forget fear of failure...

I posted on my other blog... I am being a blog slacker... SORRY!

here's the link:

http://lovelynestdesigns.com/2010/11/22/forget-fear-of-failure/

I swear I am going to keep up both blogs!!!

LOVE....

If you are friends with me on facebook, by now you already know what Chris did for me this weekend. Apparently he'd been planning a trip to Chicago since this summer! He left no detail out.... my name was even printed on the menu at the uber fancy restaurant where we dined for my birthday dinner.

Everything about the trip was amazing, but one thing in particular spoke more to me of Chris' love and care than anything else...

You all know that I love shopping, but not in the traditional sense... I love THRIFT shopping. I love the thrill of the hunt and the musty smell as you walk in the door evokes pure excitement. I love digging through people's discards to find the diamond in the rough, and even better is the feeling when you find the perfect thing that you didn't even know you were looking for! I don't know, if you aren't a thrift-er, you probably won't understand...but I love it. It's in my blood.

Chris knows this, but doesn't necessarily share the same passion. OK, maybe that's an understatement... let me say it like this...if he never had to step one foot into a thrift store in his entire life, he'd be happy. But he did... AND he walked TEN miles with me so I could do it. As we were walking and walking and asking for directions, and walking, my heart was so full I couldn't explain it. I felt LOVED. Don't get me wrong, he makes me feel loved all the time, but for some reason, I was at a loss for words in trying to tell him how much this meant to me. I hope he got it.

We found 3 stores, and one of the coolest vintage shops I've ever been to, I bought some great things... but that wasn't the highlight for me... it was the fact that he went with me. So, in total that day, we walked about 13 miles... dude, we walked a half marathon... I am still sore from walking that in flat boots with no support, and I think Chris pulled a hammy... but that's LOVE... He didn't complain, he even acted like he liked walking that far... which may have been true because we walked through some really cool parts of town, and we burned a bajillion calories, but he went with me and I felt so loved.

The whole trip was amazing, we hung out with friends, ate good food, talked a lot and rested... but for some reason, my heart was bursting at the seams on our 10 mile walk.

Ann Burton loved her son's heart, his thoughtfulness and tenderness. I was thinking about her while we walked...and I know that if she caught a glimpse of this from heaven, her heart was swelling with pride and love too.