My Brother Nathanael…

So my brother is moving to FL this weekend, and though this brings a level of selfish excitement for future visits, it also brings with it the harsh reality that he is not just a morning’s drive away:(. I have no idea who bothers reading my random thoughts here, but some of you may very well know Nathanael, or think you know him, but I thought I would take today’s blog and give a shout out to one of the world’s best big brothers…at least top 4:)!

My favorite things about Nathanael:

-When he could not have his own room due to limited space in our Hepworth Parsonage he decided to convert the linen closet into his own wicked cool room..at least I thought so back then!

-He once collected a ridiculous amount of mom’s egg cartons (5kids w/ 3 teen boys made for a lot of egg cartons), and then built this amazing city like structure in his room that his action figures roamed the streets of…

-He is an INCREDIBLE artist…seriously its sickening how well he can draw and how LITTLE he does it..

-He once used his mad artistic skills to write and illustrate an entire comic book series…Fall Apart Stick Man had many an adventure back in the day:)

-Though I am certain we have had our share of fights and seasons of hate, I carry with me many more memories of being friends, driving with him places in his white mustang(and being the only sucker in the car who didn’t pay him for gas), being protected (Ask Joel Ninaber what happens if you hurt Bethany Blevins on a tampoline…or maybe the decaying elastic band from his underwear left in the woods outside of New Life Camp would better evidence this story:)…We got to do 1 year of Bible School together and I quite enjoyed hanging out with him before 4pm;)..stuffing me like a dummie and causing trouble is always a favorite, and well the fact that we grew up only 13 months apart in age and forced to share a grade level made for many fond memories all throughout our childhood

-He once got into some trouble in High School that has forever given me the best stories think back on when I watch law and order:)

-Finally, he married a cute girl, that proved a perfect match for having a ridiculously adorable kid!

I LOVE my brother! Here’s to continued cheap flights to FL to continue to build memories!

House Decor..

Its been quite  few months since my creativity has been on towards my house. We moved in this home is June, and for a while the ideas were flowing, and the dreams were more than the budget allowed:). Recently I visited a friend Jess’ new apartment, and loved what she had already done, and planned to do to make it their home:)! Something about spending the day with another creative decorator rekindled some of my own love of decorating! There are three rooms I have not done anything with since the move, and though I have ideas, I have yet to set aside the funds to get materials… My dining room, which is directly connected to both my kitchen and livingroom is one of my favorite spaces in the house as far as light, color, and function, but despite its beautiful color, and lovely space I still have yet to put creativity to work in making it feel warm and inviting! My ideas involve a little bit of simple mixed with a little pottery barn feel….

Here is what it looks like now minus the flowers....

Next in line is the bathroom. I am terrified of yellows(I had a bad experience), so I have yet to settle on a dream for this space. I go between bringing in a lot of blues and greens and making it fun, or bringing in muted tones of green or blues and creating a relaxed garden-like feel. Then there is the lone picture behind the toilet which pushes me toward a coastal vibe…Thoughts? I will have to think this room through before i begin putting it together..

Here she is now...

 

Finally is the master bedroom. Andy and I will celebrate 9 years of marriage this fall, and have never actually owned a true bedroom set. I have had my dream bedroom set in my mind for quite a while, but it always seems like it falls to that part of the dreamers list you never quite get to. My dream for this room, is to create a space that’s just ours, and celebrates the marriage God has blessed us with! Other than the bedroom set itself, the only other creativity I have settled on it framing our written vows above the headboard…ideas welcomed here as well:)!

Again, here she is for now...

Maybe this spring, or fall…or never, but its always fun to dream:)!

Snow Loving Crazy Person

You have have noticed how in love with snow I am this winter:). I have found that my love of snow gains different responses from people, both loving and hateful. I thought I should take a second to explain my love story with snow…I spent many a years hating winter, and found myself counting down the days till spring from the very first snow fall. This year as winter approached, I realized that I live in NE. Some might have come to this realization sooner than myself, but none the less it was a big “Ah Ha” moment for me this year. You see, if I continue to live in NE which I am, I am going to always have winter, and probably a ton of snow at the very least convenient times. So, I decided this year I could either remain ticked at the snow that falls, or I could embrace it completely! Its my first winter living out this new chosen love of mine, but I can honestly say, its been the best winter EVER, and already I have more memories made in snow than most all other winters combined! So if you have chosen the path towards snow hatred, than by all means, feel free to avoid my street on snowy white days, since the song I will be singing joyfully at the top of my lungs as I shovel my new found friend, will most likely push you over the edge;)!

Meditation Takes Time..

I know about God, and to an extent I have grown to know God, but there remains in me this burning desire to know Him even deeper. The more time I spend sitting quietly with Him the stronger this passion grows, and the more I am aware of the thirst that accompanies it, likewise, the more time I spend searching this world, my heart, and religion itself, the smaller the flame within me dies down to…I am used to getting things instantly, or at least swiftly. I live now, in 2011, where I can speak a dinner code into a microphone and pick up the contents of my order in a window 3 minutes later. I walk along bookshelves of authors who all claim to have found the fastest method to the best results….The concept of waiting, or resting, or being still is not only foreign but can seem almost terrifying. Stopping, like seriously just stopping, as in no movement? AHHHHH! There are things to do though, and people to see, and children starving in Africa for Pete’s sake, I can’t just stop, BUT stopping, waiting, resting, and being still are exactly what God calls me to do, and its in this act of meditating or contemplating who God is and what He’s done that I find not only the energy to serve God, but also the wisdom to know His plans for me and how to do them well….as oppose to just being busy trying to do everything and really accomplishing nothing! The hard reality that goes against everything in my culture, and even in my impatient desires, is that meditation and contemplation takes time, and regardless of my lame excuses its time I DO HAVE!

12 Week Challenge

I mentioned in a earlier post that I was considering my gym’s 12 week challenge. Well, today begins my 12 weeks! I got my girl Kelly (aka you WANT her as coach/accountability cause she will call you out:), I set out my plan,made my personal goals and rewards system, and am ready to do this thing!! I thought I would share that thus far into my journey I woke up late, still had a good breakfast, but hopped into my van to head to yoga and found my van to be dead:(. So, here I sit waiting on the 3 hours I was quoted from AAA, and thinking its time to make the most of a strange morning…I am thinking, a little “house cleaning aerobics”, or maybe “laundry lifting”. I do LOVE my built in home gym for days like these!

So, despite a crazy start I would still like to give the remaining possibilities of today a TWO thumbs up!!

Childhood Dreams

As a little girl I had this dream of being a gymnast…flying through the air with the greatest of ease, but alas, my dream remained distant! Today, I brought my baby girl to a birthday party for some great friends of ours at their gymnastics studio. I was not sure what to expect, but I was so excited to find some of my favorite church peeps there with their kids!! After a few moments of watching the kids do their thing I began to look around…the trampoline, the uneven bars, and then there was the pit! I mentioned the desire welling up inside me to climb on the trampoline or jump into the foam pit, thinking it would definitely NOT be ok. You can imagine my excitement when permission was given to “try whatever I liked”.

I wish I had photos, and I wish I could say those photos would carry evidence of my natural ability to be a gymnast, but “natural” and “ability” would not be the words used to describe my first attempt at a flip, or my flopping around on the trampoline, BUT despite my lack of mad skills today I lived a small piece of my dream! (Thanks Kelly Canney for being amazing and that friend whose willing to be the other crazy mom diving into the foam pit:)

If ever you are given the opportunity to run full force and jump as high and far as you can into what seems like a bottomless pit of foam cubes, Just Do It!!

SNOW DAY #20,000

Call me crazy, but regardless of my “old age” (according Jay), BUT I LOVE snow days!! Pile it one, bring in a boat load, and hand me a sled, or even a shovel! Today is one of those days, and though I have not been out yet (I have learned to let it finish before I shovel the driveway;), I have enjoyed a wonderful morning, snuggled with coffee, crocheting, and being with my gorgeous mini Needhams! I was reading a friend’s blog (Jenny Bosak=photographer,amazing wife, fabulous friend, overall person you have to get to know before your done on earth), and as I commented on her including myself and my family in her writing I actually got to thinking about my bucket list.

I have never actually written a bucket list down anywhere, but secretly over time I have collected a list of dreams for my time here on earth:

1) I would like to be friends with Brittany Spears…actually the entirety of this dream is to have her and her adorable kiddos step out of Hollywood and spend some time with me and my kids(ie coffee dates, playdates,girls nights)…Her and I are close in age, and I have always felt a sisterly love for her and desire to introduce her to Jesus

1B) Included in the coffee sitdown dream would be to bring in all these young women in hollywood who are plastered all over tabloids for their addictions, crimes, and overall screwed up lives…I want to share truth with them, of who they are, why they are, and just how much they are loved….so much that Jesus gave his life for them!!

2)I desire to spend a year (maybe two or three…20?) living in a small remote village in Africa, in a hut, caring for orphans and women within the village!

3)I want to see China…to walk the streets and see the places I have spent many a time reading as a youth…(read Heavenly Man)

4)I want to speak at a national women’s conferences before I am old enough to think I earned it or can actually do it

5)I want to learn to snowboard

6)I want to live in a small lake house, with tons of windows facing the water

7)I want to live in beach town and walk barefoot along the beach to my favorite coffee shop where I work part time

8)I want to give days, weeks, months, and even years to serving in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters etc, and do it, not just preach it!

9)I want to walk hand in hand along a beach with Andy sipping diet coke and reminiscing about the past 60 years of marriage, and how hot we both still are;)…at least we will think so

 

Ok enough pondering my future, its time to live today, and today there are two little snow bunnies, and about a foot of fresh snow awaiting my incredible fort building skills:). Happy Shoveling everyone!

Snow Bunny

Promise of Today..

I am sure I have thought many times on the certainty of today verses the uncertainty of tomorrow, but I wonder how in all my thinking it has not had a greater affect on my now? I have to winder if I truly grasp the reality, that tomorrow might not come for me, or that I could die before I exit my bed this morning…Maybe it seems to morbid to ponder that thought too deeply on a moment by moment basis, but in avoiding “morbid thinking”, I often find myself living today like I am promised hundreds more!

I know so many people at varying degrees, who still do not know the truth about who Jesus is, and that His death was for them as much as it was for me! I am aware of so many people who are in need when I sit cozy in my bed surrounded by plenty. I spend a significant amount of time concerned with my own wants and needs every moment while I battle within myself to take time each day to think of others. Even as I acknowledge these things in writing (or typing) I feel this cry rise up within me, “God CHANGE me! Remove that which is of me, and fill me with all that is of You! Teach me to love others and hate sin! Give me only eyes for things that matter in all eternity, and create in me a distaste for things that have not significance!”

 

Competition

I am really competitive! Its not always even about winning as it is taking on a challenge…Well, my gym is doing a 12 week challenge and I am seriously considering entering just to use my own competitive spirit to motivate my butt out of this fitness rut! So, my goal in all of this is to reach the end and actually be able to do a handstand on my forearms…If I accomplish this task I will definitely post a photo as evidence:)…here goes:)

Good, better, BEST habits…

I have certain habits that have been with me a long time..some of them are obvious, while others would require an uncomfortable amount of time spent in my presence to recognize them. Examples: I straighten my couch pillows at least 5x a day sometimes over a dozen times…I always take two large towels when I shower since I prefer to designate one to just my hair….I make coffee as soon as I get out of bed and before I attempt anything physically active I at least take my first sip…Some of my habits are good, some are better than others, but those that are best are the one’s I am considering today? Do I really have any habits that are BEST, or do all those “habits” really fall into my typical do-it-then-drop-it pattern? I find it frustrating that it takes so much time to develop a habit like going to the gym, eating well, waking up early, and then in a matter of days the habit can break and its like climbing Everest to get back into it, YET, I can carry such habits as eating crap when I am bored/sad, watching hours of tv, sitting at my computer all morning, and I don’t remember having to work at making them habits and can’t figure out how to break the pattern.

This blog lacks direction for the reader I am sure, but its purpose this morning is to allow me to get my thoughts down, so I can sort through them…I have these habits I desire to drop, and then I have others I really want to add. I don’t want to always be an emotional eater, a media addict, or a lazy slob….I do want to spend more time knowing God’s Word (not just reading), I want to read more about those before me who chose to live their lives “above the influence” and for eternity, I want to memorize Scripture and hide it in my heart, I want to serve those around me, and give to the poor, and feed the hungry, I want to teach my children God’s love and live it out for them in our home and out, I want to love God most! I want to return to this blog a year from now, or six month from now and list these as habits, and the bad habits be marked by God’s healing power!