2013 The Year of Rain and Rainbows...

Another year is in the books, and a new one awaits us with 365 possibilities. For some, 2013 was the most difficult year of their lives, filled with loss, sickness, death and countless other personal struggles. And for some, it was the best, filled with successes, life, adventures and personal triumphs. Whether good or bad, best or worst, it was another year of life. There may have been more bad days than good, for some, and the beginning of 2014 may look just as bleak already, but hopefully lessons can be learned, and these times of darkness will serve as times of growth. When the sun finally comes out, you'll be stronger because of it.

For our family, 2013 will go down in the books as a year of rain (literally), but with lots of rainbows sprinkled about (literally and figuratively). We faced challenges that brought uncertainties, and we faced adventures that provided sweet memories that will last a lifetime and will become sweeter with age. But most importantly, 2013 will go down as one of the most blessed years in my life. When I think about this last year, I am humbled. The Lord's blessings were so incredibly abundant in my life, and my utter inadequacy in receiving ANY of it has driven me to my knees in complete praise of the One from whom ALL blessings flow. I am so aware of how undeserving I am that I often live in a state of fear that it will all be taken away, and He would be just in doing so. I always pray that I can learn the Lord's lessons without needing to take the test. However, when I look back at the year, while it was filled with rich blessings, I can also see where I was tested...or quizzed, if you will. Sleepless nights with a new baby, conquering the bloody mess that is called "nursing," sitting with my helpless 6 week old in the NICU for a week, packing up my entire house....all alone...while sick as a dog....with an infant and a 2 year old...while my husband traveled. No, these "quizzes" don't seem like a big deal now, and they pale in comparison to what people around me are going through, but I grew through them all...which is the point, after all. 

But in 2013 we were blessed with life's greatest blessing when we welcomed our sweet and spunky little Lucy into our lives

  and as if that wasn't enough, we were also blessed with a home that I never dreamed would be ours.

  And while my husband has traveled a LOT over the last year, he is so blessed to not only have a great job, but has had 3 great jobs this year, each offer coming at just the perfect time in our lives, which have served as reminders of the Lord's gracious provisions. And to top it all off, we got to take some great little trips that made heaping deposits in our Memory Bank.

  

  
 
 
 
Yes, we have been richly blessed with earthly things in 2013, we have also been blessed with a greater faith in our Lord and love for Him.
 

 
For the most part, Life is Good and when the storms in my life do come, and I know they'll come, I can look back on these days and know that they were sweet.
 
 
 
 Here's to the rain and the rainbows of 2013. I don't know what our 2014 will hold for us, but the Lord certainly does, and I will rest in that. Happiest of New Years, dear friends.

A Love/Hate Relationship...

Every week I plan to sit down and write a post and every week slips by like sand through my fingers. I've wanted to share about Lucy's first trip to Disney World, about our trip to the apple orchard, pumpkin patch's and our Halloween. I've wanted to share what's been on my mind in regards to growing babies, busy schedules, and traveling husbands, but my schedule just hasn't allowed it. Somethings gotta give, and unfortunately, it's this place. However, I have found a free moment as my husband is traveling and the babies are in bed. I do have hundreds of photos to edit, but I have something I need to write about. Something that I have to get off my chest. It started as a slight pull on my heart and has turned into a full fledged burden. Which I guess would be called a conviction.

 As we all know, time is of the essence and smartphones have helped us maximize our time by allowing us to do so many things right at our fingertips, in an instant. And while it saves time in one respect, it's also a great thief. I love my Iphone5. I love what  it does, I love how easy it is use, and I reeeeally love the camera. But I am also growing to hate it. I hate the grip it has on me and I hate the grip it has on others too. I love that I can email, make grocery lists, keep my calendar, text someone and make phone calls. I love that I can check Facebook quickly without pulling out my laptop, browse Instagram or Pinterest while I'm nursing and read my Bible or awesome articles while I lay in bed. I can check the weather and the news, check the time and listen to virtually any song I want. It can pacify my kid while I try on a pair of pants or while I make my way through Target so he doesn't see the toy isle. The hard part is putting it down...and leaving it down....and looking up. How sad is that?

My name is Ashley, and I have a problem. I have a problem with being sucked in. I have a problem with the fact that I could be using my phone for honorable purposes, like reading my Bible, but my kid can't distinguish the difference between me reading my Bible or just browsing Facebook. I have a problem with social networking when I should be socializing with the real life people in front of me. I'm thankful that my husband bought me my phone, but I know most of the time he's not. Sometimes he has to repeat himself when he's talking to me, and that's not fair. Sometimes my kid is trying to show me something...trying to tell me something....trying to compete...for me. I hate that. 

I know I'm not the only one, because I see it too. I see people checking their phones in the middle of movies because they can't wait 90 minutes (what on earth did people do before cellular phones??). I see people at dinner and every person at the table has their head down. I see people swerving on the road because whatever it is they have to see or say is worth more than the lives on the road. And I see children running around on the playground  looking for their moms approval or praise, but they are too darn busy looking down. I've heard kids trying to get someone's attention to show them something "so awesome" only for the loved one to give a delayed "uhhh...hang on...one... sec...." then give a little upward glance, smile and look right back down. I am guilty. 

Friends, I say all this, because I don't want this to be true of me. I want to learn moderation. I love my phone, but I'm growing to hate it more and more everyday, and I'm so grateful that I do have that hate.  Maybe it's the beginning of change for me. I could easily justify my usage. 'Gotta check in the middle of the movie to see if the sitter has called...." "I've gotta check my Facebook messages for photography clients...." "Gotta answer this one text because so-and-so is having a problem...." "Gotta edit this last picture...." "Man, that article was so good, it really spoke to what I've been going through lately." The list goes on. The truth of the matter is, it can wait. All of it really and truly can. the problem is how to make it wait. My babies? Well, they can't wait. They are growing up right before my very eyes and I'm sick and tired of being robbed. While my phone is what is robbing my attention, it is ME who is allowing it. And I'm committing myself to working on that. Writing this is my first step, I pray that just putting it out there will keep me accountable. If you feel that tug too, please join me! We can do it...our kids will thank us!

The Wife of a Traveling Salesman...

 When I am asked what it is that my husband does for a living, I usually answer by saying that he sells something that has to do with lights...or lightbulbs....or lighting?? And honestly, I haven't bothered really trying to figure it out because it seems like when I do, he is offered a position somewhere else and then I have to learn a job description all over again. So let's just say that he sells lighting stuff and will continue to do so in some form or fashion.

 A co-worker of his came for dinner over the weekend and I got to see a different side of my husband. Sometimes I forget that he has a life outside of the walls of our house. For the most part, he knows who I know and he sees where and how I work. Sometimes I have a hard time seeing him as someone who is more than that silly 16 year old boy I've grown up with. It was at that dinner that I realized just how much weight is on his shoulders and just how much he juggles and has for the last 6+ years of our marriage. He's the picture of climbing a ladder to get to a place where he can support his little family and allow me to do what I love to do since the day we said "I do."

 As I write this, my husband is on his way home from one of his frequent business trips. The weeks that he is away on business are long. Verrrry long. And often times I get irritated or bummed when I find out that he has to go away again. However, these weeks usually serve as lessons in contentment in my life. The Lord teaches me this lesson a lot. Maybe because I never quite "get it!" The lesson usually consists of a chapter on patience, a chapter on God's grace with a lengthy final exam on thankfulness and trusting God. I usually fail the test, which is why I am taught the lesson time and time again. 

 When I think about the early years of marriage, I can see just how far we have come. We didn't have cable and we couldn't go out to eat,we rented a movie for a buck instead of going to the theaters, I had to decline shower invites because I couldn't afford a gift...BUT the Lord's blessings were always on us because He ALWAYS provided. We always had food, we always made rent, had cars that ran, tithed and had jobs. We were also blessed with the generosity of family who let me tag along on trips to Disney or taking us on trips to the beach. And I will FOREVER remember the kind man who saw a young married girl trying to buy something to make for a valentines dinner and paid for my groceries when I didn't have enough cash to pay for it. And then there was my husband, who knew I loved my job (which paid diddly squat) and never forced me to find something that paid more. A husband who delivered light bulbs during the week, worked at a gym in the evening and washed cars on the weekend so that I could do what I love.

While we were broke as a joke, I wouldn't change those early days for anything. It taught me about hard work and sacrifice, what going without is all about, all so I could do life with my friend. I would...and could do it all over again if I had to. 

 Six and a half years later and my husband is still busting it for me....for us. I will forever be thankful to my husband for all of his hard work so I can stay home with our babies. Life has gotten a little more comfortable over the years but I know it could all go away in a blink too. And that's ok, but I never in a million years would have guessed that a lightbulb delivery driver would have found so many open doors in the lightbulb world, but he has and the Lord has been sooo good to us. I hope that this post serves as a "cheat sheet" for ME when I find myself in the middle of one of my contentment lessons again.

Super Coopers SuperHero Shindig....

It's been over a week and Coop is still talking about his birthday party, so I'll count that as a success! I really was pushing for a more "cutesy" theme for his party like trains, fishing, or baseball, but noooooo. Apparently, the Kid is into Superheroes.He knows NOTHING about Superheroes and I know even less, but he does know that they are cool and I guess it's just innate in the male species. That's all that matters.

So for the last several weeks we just dove head first into Gotham City and it's been nothing but Batman, Spidey and all those other guys that I have no clue what their names are. Coop had only one request and that was to have a Spiderman cake.

  I made sure that happened and I did him one better. Spiderman, aka Santa Claus, aka Pops, aka my dad made a very rousing and an inadvertently obscene appearance. 

Turns out it was the best $50 I've ever spent. The kids loved it, my mom hated it, and there was fun had by all!

 I had a very tight budget, but I do believe I kept it. Which would be a first ever! I wanted to keep it cute, but LOW KEY. I got lucky when I was at Target and they were putting all of their summer and superhero party stuff on clearance and I walked away with table cloths, place mats, foam shapes, stickers, coloring pages, etc. from $.25-$5.00!!! 

 I bought tissue paper and some supplies to make capes and masks for the kids,

 as well as supplies for a Pinata 

 and some silly string (to web the bad guy).

 I spent the bulk of my budget on food, but kept that simple as well. We had some chips and dips, salad, pizza, cake and my favorite: Cannoli Dip.

  Kids parties are a LOT of fun to plan and I love all of the possibilities. Pinterest can be both helpful, but also the bane of my existence. I'll go to it for some brainstorming, but at some point you gotta turn it off and let your creative juices flow.But, there ya have it. Another birthday in the books and now to gear up for the holidays and start the brainstorming for a certain little girls 1st birthday...in 6 months!

And here's to 3 going on 4!