Anywhere...

...but here.
Man, today I'm really struggling with wanting to be anywhere but here. Here as in Anderson Indiana. I love my job, but not the location necessarily.

Its been a hard day to stay focused at work. I need to stay away from Facebook and Twitter and all the lovely pictures that other people post. When I look at them I think " man, it'd be nice to be living there!" I always think the grass is greener on the other side.

I've also been battling the "I wish I was more like that person". I love who I am. Don't doubt that. But I catch myself thinking "I wish I had those clothes" or "I wish I had that life". Its stupid and I know its stupid.

I just needed to get that off of my chest. So if you could just lift me up a bit, I'd appreciate it. I always get out these funks because I've got peeps around like you (even though all of you are no where near me right now)!

What day!

It didn't start off glorious, I was 15 minutes late to work. BUT it improved! I was able to enjoy lunch with a surprise visit from my cousin. Ok, he didn't really come to see me, but the Colts weren't training so what else did he have to do? Enjoy lunch with the Torres family at The Lemon Drop.

A chocolate coke totally made the morning drab disappear. The follow it up with a hair cut! Probably not the most updated or thrilling change, but the long weighed down mess that I was doing is no more. I have inspiration for the next cut in a month or two. Plus I purchased new hair product. For some reason, this always gets me excited and feeling fabulous. I have a weird thing about my hair.

Then I committed to doing Zumba tonight and I actually went. Twice in one week! I purchased a 10 week pass tonight so I'm not committed to going for another 10 weeks! I totally burned off my chocolate coke tonight in Zumba. Some where around 1,000 calories found home in the gallon of sweat that poured out of me. So glad I found Zumba.

Then, to finish it off, after I made dinner (I have to get excited and pat myself on the back when I cook at home in the worlds smallest kitchen), we went for a walk. So add to my Zumba work out, a almost two mile walk. That finished off the fries I ate at lunch. They melted away with the chocolate coke.

And wrapping up my night, I am almost done with writing assignment #2! Ok so making $8.25 for several hours of writing this weekend isn't top dollar, but its a step in the right direction. Once I get the hang of it, I'll crank them out in no time and I'll slowly bring in the spending money (or debt pay off money).

All in all, just a good day. Its good to have one of these days every once in a while. I'll relish in it while I can!

One the Road

No, I'm not traveling, but I'm on the road to what I have committed (rather recommitted) to doing.

One step in the direction I want to be going. I found a gig. A writing gig that is. Not that I ever had writing on my list of things to do in life. I have for the longest time wanted to make some extra cash, contribute to our little nest egg (is that the right phrase?) OK, just get at good cushion. I'm taking the family through the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover and we need anything we can to pay off debt so we're not 60 yrs old when its done. So I'm writing..and will be getting paid for it. Start off at making beans, but it will add up over time as I get to feel more confident and create more space. This is all made possibly by my great friend Sarah and TruYu Resources . Great resource for mom's who want to stay at home, someone who wants to pick up some extra cash working from home, or someone who just wants to work from hom with options. She's got legit work from home jobs. Highly recommend her services!

Also, I've made it to work on time. ON TIME. Probably doesn't sound like much, but I've let myself slide more than I want. I get my hours in, but I'm not always in at 9 AM when I should be. I have the flexibility with my job, but I don't want to take advantage of that. So I'm making that commitment. I know 9 AM doesn't seem like a bad time or that it should really be hard. Keep in mind my nights are typically later than most. And it will only start to get worse when students arrive back in the dorms full swing. So I'm trying to start good habits now.

Anyway, the past few days have been good. Steps in the right direction...we're moving forward!
Thanks for the words of encouragement!!

Time

Where does time go? Seriously it just flys by at times, and yet there are moments that seem to last much longer than they should.

Why is it when you're in a rut, that's when time seems to stand still? Yet in times in the luscious valley, they seem so brief?

I'm a bag of dry bones right now, seems I have been for at least 3 years. I've had brief, very brief moments where I seem alive, but they are fleeting. And being a ministry major, "trained" to lead students in and out of these crazy times, I can't seem to navigate myself out of the dessert. I have the tools, a bookshelf full of them. I have unending resources at my finger tips, yet I barely glance at them.

It sucks. I hate it. I want to move out of it. I need someone to help me pack my bags because I'm done staying in this dry dreary place of life. We've finally found a place of worship to call home. I've loved being at a place where I'm reminded of who I call Father, how He's actively pursuing me no matter what junk I've done. I still need a kick in the pants. I need one before Eleana gets old enough to know. I want to show her what a God fearing woman looks like and how to enjoy the adventure that living a life of faith can bring. I want her to know what it means to be engaged in a life changing love affair with Jesus.

So I'm going to start journaling....again. I'm not sure if I'm going to journal online or if its something I want to sit down and pen out. But I need to flush out some thoughts, desires, heart aches, disgruntled opinions, etc. There seems to be a release in writing that a conversation can't always bring. Does that even make sense?

So if you wouldn't mind keeping me in mind of the next few weeks. Lets hope I get off to a good start and I don't sink back into my apathetic lifestyle. It just isn't a satisfying way to live life.

Wowza's!

Its been a grip!

Being a mom is a very time demanding thing, even more so when you're still working full time. But I am LOVING every minute of it. Yes, even those very early morning ones.

Eleana is now 7 months old and it just doesn't seem possible. Where did the time go? A neighbor of ours just had a baby and he's roughly the same size as Ele was at birth. I don't remember her being that small! Now we're off the charts in height and weight. Literally, at our 6 month check up we were above the 98th percentile for height at 27 and 3/4 inches long and above the 98th percentile in weight at 20 lbs and 12 oz.

We've go two teeth coming in already. The whole teething process has been a breeze for Miss Ele. She's not been fussy at all. Just a lil' runny nose and lots of drool. We're also sitting up all by our self rather well. And we're a rolling machine! If she sees something she wants, she rolls to it. I thought she was going to skip the crawling as the rolling thing seems rather easy enough for her but she's perfected the army crawl this week. She loves standing up like a big girl and this week it seems she's starting to get the hang of pulling up. She doesn't quite know she can do it, but if in your hands she's pulling hard to go straight up to her feet. I think we're going to have to officially baby proof the house.

Overall things have been much easier than I ever anticipated. She's only fussy at bed time, she loves sleeping in, she's eating like a champ, and has been healthy as a horse! One cold in 7 months isn't to shabby if you ask me. I would have twenty more if they would all be as easy as she is. I don't trust my luck so we definitely
won't be having that many. Maybe one or two more if we're lucky enough.


I must say I've enjoyed having a little girl. I have been able to restrain myself (for the most part) in shopping. I just don't go out or into the baby section. However, I have found a few websites that I can't pass up. www.mamabargains.com is now a guilty pleasure of mine. So is www.babysteals.com I've had to start leaving my debit card at home so I don't shop while I work.


Baby Legs are my newest and cutest addiction. They look a little "Flash Dance"ish, but they make changing diapers and staying warm so easy. Plus they're just so darn cute on her chubby thighs!


Another great thing we've discovered is cloth diapering and a few sites like www.diaperdaisy.com and www.cottonbabies.com or even www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com are a few new favorites. I was able to stock up on 3-4 days worth of diapering and we've drastically reduced the amount of blow outs. Actually, I've not had a blow out with a cloth diaper on.

Life is definitely busy. I feel like we've been the parents that just take our child with us where ever we go. We haven't really slowed down or changed our social life up much and she seems to be adjusting to it rather well. She's a social butterfly like her parents! We can't walk on campus with out being stopped at least once. We joke that she's the most popular baby on campus (and no, she is not the only baby on campus. There are three others and two more on the way). Ele just soaks up all the attention. She just lights up when a gaggle of girls come over to see her. She even has a standing lunch invitation with a group of the female RA's from our neighboring dorm. She's a pretty popular gal!

Well, I could go on forever about our little cutie, but I'll save you time from reading it all. If you're ever up for a visit, Ele would love to see you! Hopefully we can get around to traveling and seeing more people. She does fairly well traveling and has already been to 6 states (IL,OH,MO,IA, KY, & D.C) and has her 7th state (Michigan) planned.


*** Just a small side note, it has taken me a MONTH to get this post out. I started it March 31st. Here are are April 30th and I've had to take a few moments out of my work day to finish it up so I can get it out there!