these boots were made for walkin'....

Clever, no?  Well, boots aren't really the topic of this post.

See these beauties?  These were picked out amongst hundreds of other options in my quest to find the perfect wedding shoes.  The hunt began right around this time three years ago.  I purchased several options...only to return them after a second glance.  But these shoes made the cut...and today they sit perched on a shelf in my closet....at the perfect height for my toddler to grab them and play with.

Like most engaged couples, we struggled with focusing on the fact that we weren't just preparing for a wedding...but for a marriage.  These shoes are just one example where emphasis might have been placed heavily on items that truly had little importance after August 16th, 2008.  On Saturday mornings we'd gather in our Pastor's home and I'd gush over wedding favors, flowers & the invitations...and while our Pastor and his wife were excited along with us, they were also quick to continually remind us that the wedding is one day....and we ought to be pouring more (or at least just as much!) focus into the lifelong commitment we were going to be making.

They were right.

And...we knew that.  Quite honestly I think we did pretty well with the balance.

Something lately has triggered my mind to remember those comments nearly three years ago.  I suppose it's the fact that my daughter takes every opportunity to pull those shoes (and many more) off my shelf and stomp around during the day.  The very fact that I was spending my days pouring over shoe options nearly three years ago, and today I'm searching for the best grocery deals, diaper deals & googl-ing how to remove mud stains from kids clothes....that right there shows how different my life has become.

I had only known my now husband a year (dated 8 months) before I said "I do."  We became pregnant two months later...and on our second anniversary we were celebrating with our one-year old daughter & I was battling morning sickness from baby number two.

We skipped a lot of the newlywed stage...heck, we skipped a lot of the dating stage.  I don't regret it, but it did put us on the "fast track" to dealing with real life.  Baby number one didn't shake our lives up too much, but with baby number two & a toddler fighting for our attention, we're forced to face the facts.

Marriage is beautiful & marriage is HARD.

I love my husband more than I ever could have imagined, but I am a selfish, sinful person that is married to another selfish, sinful person.  We both own that fact....and we are both painfully working through that fact in order to love each other more intentionally & seek God's will for our marriage.  And I'll be honest, there are days that I wish I could return...or at least would have treasured more...the time when finding the perfect wedding shoes was my biggest worry, when sleeping in meant past 10am & when I could go to the bathroom without having an audience.

While those shoes may have brought me down the aisle.. it's God's grace that is bringing me through marriage.

thinking about being thankful.

So perhaps this post is a little...late? To be honest, I wasn't really feeling very thankful leading up to the actual holiday & I'm not sure I'm loaded with thanksgivings right now either.


Now, I am thankful that my family is healthy, my babies are growing (the one on the outside and the one tucked inside for a few more months!), my husband loves me, my marriage is stronger today than it was last year, & right now I'm even thankful to go to bed at night with a clean house.

But to be thankful in the "everday" things, that's where I'm seeming to struggle. I've always been the one to see small blessings in our lives even when our bank account sat empty. I've been the encourager when we had to wait to pay one bill because there was only enough to pay some of the bills. I've even been the one to get really excited when we have money in our bank account at the end of the month, even if it's only a few dollars.


But the truth is, we are not poor. In relation to the world we live in....my husband and I live in such abundance, it's ridiculous that I even consider using the term "we're broke". Don't be fooled, we have heat, a tree with soon-to be presents underneath, meat in our freezer, and an occassional ice cream treat. But, it's a common phrase lately...from our mouths & other mouths. And, that terminology can just leave you feeling REALLY defeated.

November was a tough month, a kick in the face to be brutally honest. Between a lack of pay from my job for the two week vacation I took, a mis-hap in not paying the utility bill from last month, a broken car, broken glasses, etc...it was just a rough month financially. We live on a meager budget (like most we know) & are in a position to have "enough" to just get by. We came home from a wonderful (& budgetted for) vacation....and it's like November chose to take away that joy upon our return. I won't even get into what happened when a certain company turned us into collections saying we owed them $450 for equipment we had RETURNED. (No worries, a government consumer protection agency cleared this up for us a few weeks later)

I spent several evenings in November feeling anything but thankful. We were doing the BEST we could with what we had, why did I feel so...forgotten? Now, maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but I spent a few nights in tears spilling my fears to my husband. He, in turn, kept telling me not to worry about tomorrow. (Ironic role reversal as these were the same things I was saying to him last year...)

And then as November came to a close, I recognized my failure in all of this---something I have avoided quite often. My faith was being put in our bank account, and not in My GOD. I was being blessed ALL around and I couldn't see it because of that small bank total I kept focusing on. My husband and I typically pour out praise over small things when we can see God's hand in it & I was NOT recognizing those things...and had not been for sometime.

So as December started, I did just that....
-We praised God that our in-laws had loaned us their car...and praised him again when my dad volunteered to fix my husband's car, for free.
-We praised God when we found ourselves blessed with several 20% off diaper coupons to amazon & stocked up on diapers for Lucy at the cheapest prices imaginable
-We praised God when we discovered our tree was one of the few decorations that escaped damage during flooding in our garage this winter...even if our ornaments weren't so lucky
-We praised God when he blessed a family member with incredible understanding about our delay in re-paying them
-We praised God when a bill was resolved & a subsequent refund check was sent to our home
-We praised God when my husband fixed his glasses with a popsicle stick
-We praised God when we decorated our home for Christmas with flannel fabric and art canvas
-We praised God when I was able to find items to fill my husband's stocking for free after coupons
-We praised God when we filled our freezers with meals for the next month or so, meat included :)
-We praised God when my current boss for my work at home job emailed me about an additional project she needs help on...that will add around $600 of income a month if it works out...even if it is just a possibility at the moment
-We praised God, not our bank account.


It's all too easy to put our faith in money, possessions, people, job stability, etc....and, oh, what a beating my heart took when I allowed it off course. And what a blessing it is to be getting back to faith in God alone, not our bank account, to provide for our needs....over & over again...

my husband pointed out that I had disallowed anonymous comments, that has now been resolved!

Frugal Fun...

When we returned home for our vacation last month, I was on the hunt for more age appropriate toys and activities for my active toddler. Toy keys and teething rings were just not entertaining the little girl the way they used to! :)

So, I pulled her inflatable baby pool out of the garage from this summer and skipped on over to Target to purchase a $15 bag of balls.

The results of our "homeade" ball pit have been very favorable...both with our little one and her four cousins that came to play this afternoon. The best part? It was WAY cheaper to make our own ball pit than spill the money towards a store bought one.

MIA...for like, two weeks?

It's true....I had a whole host of things to write about prior to our big trip and now I've been off the map for well over two weeks. Right now I'm blogging from Tampa--awaiting our delayed flight home.

That's right, I spent the last 10 days in Florida...and they had unseasonably high temperatures as well. We spent 6 days in 4 different Disney Parks, attended Mickey's Not-so Scary Halloween party, swam in the Ocean, flew over the Ocean, and even slept near the ocean.

I'll be sharing more about our trip in the next few weeks--complete with photos.

I'm sad to be heading back--I mean, it's always nice to go home...but it's been much nicer to be away from reality for awhile. My husband and I have had some great talks about new ways to save money---and have started planning our "goals" for the month of November...more on that later as well.

But, I'm also glad to be heading back. The break from "reality" is just what we all needed---even if we're coming back exhausted and sun-burned...I'm excited for the fresh creativity I have and some neat ideas for blogging, freelancing, and managing my home.

Vacation does a mind good...even if it wore out this pregnant mama's body.

Speaking of which, I'll have pregnancy updates as well!

So, lots to write about upon our ACTUAL arrival to Kansas!

Stay tuned!

new experiences.

Polar bears, 1st carousel ride, 1st shared ice cream cone with her sweet cousin=Lucy's first trip to the zoo!

My sister has a season pass to the KC Zoo and today Lucy and I joined my sister and her three youngest boys for the afternoon. I don't have a lot of photos--I mean, let's face it....when you're at the zoo with four kiddos under the age of 5 it makes it a bit more difficult!

However, I managed to snap this one on my phone. Gage is about 6 months older than Lucy and he was NOT interested in sharing his ice cream cone. Carter, Lucy's 3 year old cousin, gladly shared his ice cream bar. Anyways, something about that interaction triggered Gage to hold his ice cream cone out for Lucy and the two of them took turns back and forth. By the end they were both a sticky mess, my sister and I were cracking up and I was delighted to get to create such fun memories.