Last weekend, we celebrated Bailey turning 4 with a "Rapunzel Party." It really was fantastic. I was in charge of all the decorating and Jerry's mom was in charge of all the food. The kids had a great time and all the adults loved it.
Then Jerry and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary that Saturday night. We started off at Uncle Julios and much more fun after that. We had a great time. Unforunately, I decided to give my iphone away. You don't realize how dependant you are on that little device, but I quickly found out, that I am. We had an amazing dinner at Texas de Brazil. Man, that place is so good.
This weekend, I decided to take Bailey to Six Flags, since her Grammy gave us season passes for her birthday. We need something to keep us busy this summer and that gift was perfect! We had a blast. She had no idea what we were doing either. She rode the Mini Mine Train, Mine Train, the swings, the roaring rapids, the log ride twice, the sombrero, the conquistador, the antique cars, the nauseating tea cups, everything in Looney Tune Land, and sadly, the Judge Roy Scream. She told me she wanted to ride the big roller coaster, even after I told her it was really scary, she ended up being tall enough, so I thought, "what the heck, lets go!" She was scared too death!! We got off it and she said she didn't want to ride it again until she was 15 years old. Good job Momma. I felt awful.
Wow, Six Flags needs a dress code. I've never seen so many butt cheeks out of daisy dukes in all my life! There were really women wearing high heels there too. Did somebody forget to tell them they were going to an ammusement park, not a club. What's with tattoos on the neck? Why? A lot of tattoos there. I saw SO many young teenagers hanging on their boyfriend or girlfriend and it made me really sad. Sorry Bailey, you are never going there without ME and I'll be right next to you riding the rides. Man, I'm an uncool Mom! Well, after Bailey finally tuckered out on me after riding everything she could possibly ride, we went home and she slept from 6:30pm to 7:30 the next morning. SHE LOVED IT and can't wait to go back.
Jerry and I finished putting up the walls today on his manshed and it is coming along quite nicely. I can't wait for it to be complete and clean my garage out!
March 27, 2011
March 15, 2011
Bailey's 4 Years Old - The Arrival...
The arrival of Bailey...
My original due date was March 13th 2007, but since I'm superstitious and hate the no.13, I told everybody during the entire pregnancy my due date was March 14th. SUCKERS! My pregnancy went great, I wasn't sick one day. I carried my 80 pound volleyball poles daily. I told myself I wasn't going to get huge and keep working out. Well that didn't happen. I don't remember working out even once. Maybe that's why I gained 40 pounds and was HUGE! Every doctor's appointment went fine and I ended up getting a total of 6 sonograms, one of those being the 3-D sonogram. I was pretty lucky to have seen her that many times after talking to other people. I will never forget our first sonogram and Jerry was so relieved when they told us she had 4 chambers in her heart. Jerry was so worried about her heart since Brian had heart problems. Okay, I say everything went fine, except for the day they told me that we were having a girl. I said to the nurse, "you're kidding, right?" She was not amused and said, "I don't joke around with things like this." So, I started crying. We went out into the waiting room and I had to leave again. I bawled in the hallway and called my friend, Amber. Amber consoled me. I told myself throughout the pregnancy I didn't care what I had, as long as it was a healthy baby, but I had convinced myself so badly that I was having a boy. I was ridiculous with all that. Anyway, God gives you what you need and that I am thankful for. Back to good pregnancy. It started getting difficult at the end of the pregnancy when everytime I would cough or sneeze I would pee on myself. I will never forget the time we were leaving Target and I started coughing so bad that I peed on myself and then threw up on Jerry's window. That was the worst 5 minutes I had during the whole 9 months. I was completely a good girl, I didn't drink, very very very little caffeine, I read to her, I read the weekly updates, "what your baby is doing." I didn't take any classes, heck if my parents can do it without classes, I can too. I always told myself, that if I ever had a girl, I would never do the nursery in stupid pink. Haa! Oh jeez, never say never.
You know, I always thought they got the dates a little messed up. They didn't think the date of my last cycle that I told them was correct after the first sonogram, so they took it upon themselves to make up a new date. I begged to be induced on March 3rd, but my doctor doesn't like inducing his patients. My doctor sucked. Then he went on vacation the week she was due! Darn Spring Break! So I had a random doctor deliver me. You don't really care who delivers you at that point, you just want that baby out. My cervix never softened and I'm convinced I would still be pregnant today if they wouldn't have induced me. They finally called me to come in March 14th and I was in my bed at 2:36pm after I had just stuffed my face with Jason's Deli. We got there and they had to put a cervidil in me to soften my cervix. Not just once, but twice! That's 16 hours of just laying there while my cervix is slowly softening. That's worst then the labor part for me. I was only 1cm when March 15th rolled around and they started me on pitocin at 7:45am. Then they broke my water at 11:02am, by my new random doctor, I remember that not feeling pleasant at all. Oh yeah, I wanted to have her drug free, but I got to 4cm and screamed for Jerry to get me an epidural NOW! At 1:34 I got the best thing on earth, an epidural. It was a continuous IV, so it never wore off and I didn't feel a thing, until the next day of course. I new Bailey was big and I didn't want to tucker out and risk getting a C-Section. They told me she was just at 8 pounds. LIARS! At 4:30pm, I was finally at a 10 and started pushing. Over 2 hours of pushing, Bailey finally arrived weighing 10 pounds and 5 ounces. She was 23" long! She was born at 6:59pm. I asked the random doctor if we could just round it to 7:00 since I don't like the number 6, random doctor said, 'no.' Random doctor said that if he would have known she was going to be this big, we would have done a C-Section after having so much trouble getting her shoulders out. I tried to tell you guys the dates were wrong. She was overbaked!
Now, 4 years has passed since this wonderful experience. The time truly goes by so fast. I have a 4 year old!!
Daddy and I took the birthday girl to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, let her play in that playroom that smells like feet and always has that one really loud obnoxious kid that is too tall to be in there anyway. Then Mommy took her shopping, she wanted to go through the carwash, so we went through the carwash, we gave her one of her birthday gifts, then we waited on Grammy to get here so we could all eat dinner at CiCi's (Bailey's choice), and finished the night off in the Disney store. This kid loves Rapunzel and Grammy is a sucker for Bailey, so she made out like a bandit! We can't wait for her party this Saturday.
My original due date was March 13th 2007, but since I'm superstitious and hate the no.13, I told everybody during the entire pregnancy my due date was March 14th. SUCKERS! My pregnancy went great, I wasn't sick one day. I carried my 80 pound volleyball poles daily. I told myself I wasn't going to get huge and keep working out. Well that didn't happen. I don't remember working out even once. Maybe that's why I gained 40 pounds and was HUGE! Every doctor's appointment went fine and I ended up getting a total of 6 sonograms, one of those being the 3-D sonogram. I was pretty lucky to have seen her that many times after talking to other people. I will never forget our first sonogram and Jerry was so relieved when they told us she had 4 chambers in her heart. Jerry was so worried about her heart since Brian had heart problems. Okay, I say everything went fine, except for the day they told me that we were having a girl. I said to the nurse, "you're kidding, right?" She was not amused and said, "I don't joke around with things like this." So, I started crying. We went out into the waiting room and I had to leave again. I bawled in the hallway and called my friend, Amber. Amber consoled me. I told myself throughout the pregnancy I didn't care what I had, as long as it was a healthy baby, but I had convinced myself so badly that I was having a boy. I was ridiculous with all that. Anyway, God gives you what you need and that I am thankful for. Back to good pregnancy. It started getting difficult at the end of the pregnancy when everytime I would cough or sneeze I would pee on myself. I will never forget the time we were leaving Target and I started coughing so bad that I peed on myself and then threw up on Jerry's window. That was the worst 5 minutes I had during the whole 9 months. I was completely a good girl, I didn't drink, very very very little caffeine, I read to her, I read the weekly updates, "what your baby is doing." I didn't take any classes, heck if my parents can do it without classes, I can too. I always told myself, that if I ever had a girl, I would never do the nursery in stupid pink. Haa! Oh jeez, never say never.
You know, I always thought they got the dates a little messed up. They didn't think the date of my last cycle that I told them was correct after the first sonogram, so they took it upon themselves to make up a new date. I begged to be induced on March 3rd, but my doctor doesn't like inducing his patients. My doctor sucked. Then he went on vacation the week she was due! Darn Spring Break! So I had a random doctor deliver me. You don't really care who delivers you at that point, you just want that baby out. My cervix never softened and I'm convinced I would still be pregnant today if they wouldn't have induced me. They finally called me to come in March 14th and I was in my bed at 2:36pm after I had just stuffed my face with Jason's Deli. We got there and they had to put a cervidil in me to soften my cervix. Not just once, but twice! That's 16 hours of just laying there while my cervix is slowly softening. That's worst then the labor part for me. I was only 1cm when March 15th rolled around and they started me on pitocin at 7:45am. Then they broke my water at 11:02am, by my new random doctor, I remember that not feeling pleasant at all. Oh yeah, I wanted to have her drug free, but I got to 4cm and screamed for Jerry to get me an epidural NOW! At 1:34 I got the best thing on earth, an epidural. It was a continuous IV, so it never wore off and I didn't feel a thing, until the next day of course. I new Bailey was big and I didn't want to tucker out and risk getting a C-Section. They told me she was just at 8 pounds. LIARS! At 4:30pm, I was finally at a 10 and started pushing. Over 2 hours of pushing, Bailey finally arrived weighing 10 pounds and 5 ounces. She was 23" long! She was born at 6:59pm. I asked the random doctor if we could just round it to 7:00 since I don't like the number 6, random doctor said, 'no.' Random doctor said that if he would have known she was going to be this big, we would have done a C-Section after having so much trouble getting her shoulders out. I tried to tell you guys the dates were wrong. She was overbaked!
Now, 4 years has passed since this wonderful experience. The time truly goes by so fast. I have a 4 year old!!
Daddy and I took the birthday girl to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, let her play in that playroom that smells like feet and always has that one really loud obnoxious kid that is too tall to be in there anyway. Then Mommy took her shopping, she wanted to go through the carwash, so we went through the carwash, we gave her one of her birthday gifts, then we waited on Grammy to get here so we could all eat dinner at CiCi's (Bailey's choice), and finished the night off in the Disney store. This kid loves Rapunzel and Grammy is a sucker for Bailey, so she made out like a bandit! We can't wait for her party this Saturday.
March 13, 2011
Weekend Project-Bailey's Room
I'm jamming to Jet Black and Jealous from Eli Young currently. Love it. One of my favorite things to do, is to get on my Itunes, close my eyes, just click, and listen to music.
My Top Songs of The Week:
Rainbow Stew- The Hag's version, not Jason Boland.
Nothin's News- Clint Black
Never Have To Crawl - (The Ticket's 1310) Danny Balis
Islands In The Stream- Dolly and Kenny
American Saint- Bleu Edmonson
Lord I Hope This Day Is Good- Brandon Rhyder
Don't Ask Me About A Women- Easton Corbin (Yes, sounds just like King George)
Walkin' After Midnight- Patsy Cline
Oil Batch- Chris Knight
Johnny Cash & June Carter- Jackson
Last week sucked! Sucked Sucked Sucked. I had two middle school track meets, one of those we hosted, I helped with Richland High School's Track Meet (don't worry I'm still a true buff), then it was 'Puberty Video Day in PE.' That is the only bad day about PE for the entire year. I don't want to answer questions when you will start your period or how to use a tampon! And I don't want to know if you have already started your period either. Sheesh! I need an extra stipend for that awkward day.
We partied with our cool neighbors on Friday night. Saturday, Bailey and I went to Chick Fil A with family members for lunch and then it was on! I went back home and got all this furniture that I had bought at a garage sale and painted it! It was originally yellow and green, so I painted it white with a little pink accent. It looks really good. Thank you Baer. Every little girl should have white furniture! I HATE PAINTING! It's the worst! It's a freakin mess! Bailey is going to be 4 on Tuesday and she is a big time girly girl (not my child), so she loved painting this stuff pink. She wanted all the yucky green out of her room and I wanted all the dark furniture out, so we hit it! We painted all day and we're exhausted.
We totally forgot to move our clocks forward, so I'm on the computer this morning just waiting to start getting ready for church and I look down at the time and it said 8:45. WHAT?!!! It's only 7:45, you...!! I run in there and wake Jerry up and ask him if he wants to try to make the 9:00 service or just wait for the 10:30 service. He said, "nope, 9:00, let's go." So we rushed to get ready. RUSHED! I went to church with a pony tail and yesterday's make-up, Bailey went with wet hair, and Jerry looked like 'Cast Away.' We just knew we had a lot to do today. How many of you rush to church?! That's what I thought. Quite honestly, we have never done that before. We were scoffing our breakfast down in the truck. I'm digging going to church. We all dig it! I'm going to heaven. Whooo Hooo.
We get back home, I call my seester to come help me, because Jerry is building his 'manshop' in The Blackyard and is in no mood for my shenanigans. The Manshop is looking good and there's more to come about that. My sister, Misti, helps me finish up painting, moving out all the old furniture, moving in the new/old furniture, and deals with my OCD inndecisivness. I CAN'T HELP IT! The placement of furniture is very important people!! Feng Shui! I hate the curtains and I'm trying to find some cute valances. Look at my little rug rat reading. Love love love her!
So, all in all, it was a nice productive weekend.
My Top Songs of The Week:
Rainbow Stew- The Hag's version, not Jason Boland.
Nothin's News- Clint Black
Never Have To Crawl - (The Ticket's 1310) Danny Balis
Islands In The Stream- Dolly and Kenny
American Saint- Bleu Edmonson
Lord I Hope This Day Is Good- Brandon Rhyder
Don't Ask Me About A Women- Easton Corbin (Yes, sounds just like King George)
Walkin' After Midnight- Patsy Cline
Oil Batch- Chris Knight
Johnny Cash & June Carter- Jackson
Last week sucked! Sucked Sucked Sucked. I had two middle school track meets, one of those we hosted, I helped with Richland High School's Track Meet (don't worry I'm still a true buff), then it was 'Puberty Video Day in PE.' That is the only bad day about PE for the entire year. I don't want to answer questions when you will start your period or how to use a tampon! And I don't want to know if you have already started your period either. Sheesh! I need an extra stipend for that awkward day.
We partied with our cool neighbors on Friday night. Saturday, Bailey and I went to Chick Fil A with family members for lunch and then it was on! I went back home and got all this furniture that I had bought at a garage sale and painted it! It was originally yellow and green, so I painted it white with a little pink accent. It looks really good. Thank you Baer. Every little girl should have white furniture! I HATE PAINTING! It's the worst! It's a freakin mess! Bailey is going to be 4 on Tuesday and she is a big time girly girl (not my child), so she loved painting this stuff pink. She wanted all the yucky green out of her room and I wanted all the dark furniture out, so we hit it! We painted all day and we're exhausted.
We totally forgot to move our clocks forward, so I'm on the computer this morning just waiting to start getting ready for church and I look down at the time and it said 8:45. WHAT?!!! It's only 7:45, you...!! I run in there and wake Jerry up and ask him if he wants to try to make the 9:00 service or just wait for the 10:30 service. He said, "nope, 9:00, let's go." So we rushed to get ready. RUSHED! I went to church with a pony tail and yesterday's make-up, Bailey went with wet hair, and Jerry looked like 'Cast Away.' We just knew we had a lot to do today. How many of you rush to church?! That's what I thought. Quite honestly, we have never done that before. We were scoffing our breakfast down in the truck. I'm digging going to church. We all dig it! I'm going to heaven. Whooo Hooo.
We get back home, I call my seester to come help me, because Jerry is building his 'manshop' in The Blackyard and is in no mood for my shenanigans. The Manshop is looking good and there's more to come about that. My sister, Misti, helps me finish up painting, moving out all the old furniture, moving in the new/old furniture, and deals with my OCD inndecisivness. I CAN'T HELP IT! The placement of furniture is very important people!! Feng Shui! I hate the curtains and I'm trying to find some cute valances. Look at my little rug rat reading. Love love love her!
March 10, 2011
Random
I never just blog for the heck of it! I'm usually on a blog mission! I have no mental notes on a predetermined blog here. I'm just gonna go with it. I am jamming to Chris LeDoux right now. One of my all time favorite songs is, "Tougher Than The Rest." I listen to it like 30 times before I move on to other songs. Jerry and I danced to "Look at You Girl" at our wedding. Weddings are ridiculous, but that's a whole other blog. Dancing with each other was truly the best part of our wedding, and the carriage ride to our hotel, so we could get away from everything. We could escape all the drunk groomsmen getting out of their tuxedo's too early, the crazy photographer, people talking to us, the heat from Thistle Hill, and more. When we were on the carriage ride to our hotel, my veil flew off and some person on the street yelled, "you lost your veil" and started running for us so he could return it to me, I yelled back, "KEEP IT!" I don't miss it.
10-4 Buddy come on back!
I am half way done with this track season. I like track. It's no volleyball. I am coaching pole vaulting. Let's try that again, I encourage the kids that do pole vaulting. I'm terrible. I get it and all. I am too afraid to try it myself. I tried 5 times yesterday and I'm too scared to let it take me up and rip my arms off my body. Have you seen my arms? My teammate in college called me "batgirl" when I would do bench. 80 was my MAX!!!Volleyball is not about strength, it's about arm speed! Anyway, I like it when it's good weather and kids try hard. I'm sick of kids that half-ass it. I'm tired of spending time away from my family for kids that have terrible attitudes and a shitty work ethic. I would rather lose with good, respectful kids then put up with creeps. Done. Come on Spring Break, I need you!
Bailey will be 4 years old in five days!!! Time goes by so fast. It just seems like yesterday we had her. All 17 pounds of her. Just kidding, she was only 10.5 pounds. Thank God I took a picture of her every morning for the first three years of her life. You forget how little they were. You forget how helpless they were and how you did everything for them, but you didn't mind. I am busy getting her party together. This is going to be the coolest party ever! Bailey LOVES Rapunzel right now, the new Tangled version, so we are having a Tangled Party. We can't wait for the movie to come out the 29th of this month! We have a castle, lanterns, canvas to paint, a Rapunzel cup-cake cake, Flynn Rider, Pascal, and more. Honestly I'm more excited about this party than Bailey I think. Jerry's mom is in charge of all the dainty food for the princesses. NO BOYS ALLOWED per Bailey, "Daddy can be Flynn Rider!" We got her a Big Wheels, T-Ball set, Rapunzel towel, and a Rapunzel Scooter that I had to order online because Toys R Us sucks sucks sucks and doesn't sell them in their stores anymore. I need to put Toys R Us on my 'What Grinds My Gears" list. They are the worst with ordering. You don't even wanna know what Jerry went through ordering Bailey's Jeep. Luckily, I did get the scooter and it's all good. This is going to totally beat Elmo Party and certainly The Little Mermaid party.
My friend posed a very good question today, why do people from Texas use their full name when it comes to country music? Like Robert Earl Keen, Larry Joe Taylor, David Allan Coe, Earl Thomas Conley, Jerry Jeff Walker, etc. That's a very good question. It's definitely a country thing, but nontheless, it's because Texas is the best and we can get away with it. I don't know, we're hillbillies Amanda Kathleen Carlson!
In college, I had 4 roommates, we all played volleyball for MSU, and 3 out of 5 of us are pregnant right now. That's crazy to me! Can time just slow down a little bit? I can't afford a 2nd kid right now and they need to wait for me! I hope my girls have big healthy babies: Amber, Aaron, and Heather! We are the 'Hazbinz' now, but will forever be remembered as 'Snaggle', 'Mullet', 'Muffin', 'Harvard', and 'Spike'....aka "JuCo All Stars +1."
Wow. This blog was random.
10-4 Buddy come on back!
I am half way done with this track season. I like track. It's no volleyball. I am coaching pole vaulting. Let's try that again, I encourage the kids that do pole vaulting. I'm terrible. I get it and all. I am too afraid to try it myself. I tried 5 times yesterday and I'm too scared to let it take me up and rip my arms off my body. Have you seen my arms? My teammate in college called me "batgirl" when I would do bench. 80 was my MAX!!!Volleyball is not about strength, it's about arm speed! Anyway, I like it when it's good weather and kids try hard. I'm sick of kids that half-ass it. I'm tired of spending time away from my family for kids that have terrible attitudes and a shitty work ethic. I would rather lose with good, respectful kids then put up with creeps. Done. Come on Spring Break, I need you!
Bailey will be 4 years old in five days!!! Time goes by so fast. It just seems like yesterday we had her. All 17 pounds of her. Just kidding, she was only 10.5 pounds. Thank God I took a picture of her every morning for the first three years of her life. You forget how little they were. You forget how helpless they were and how you did everything for them, but you didn't mind. I am busy getting her party together. This is going to be the coolest party ever! Bailey LOVES Rapunzel right now, the new Tangled version, so we are having a Tangled Party. We can't wait for the movie to come out the 29th of this month! We have a castle, lanterns, canvas to paint, a Rapunzel cup-cake cake, Flynn Rider, Pascal, and more. Honestly I'm more excited about this party than Bailey I think. Jerry's mom is in charge of all the dainty food for the princesses. NO BOYS ALLOWED per Bailey, "Daddy can be Flynn Rider!" We got her a Big Wheels, T-Ball set, Rapunzel towel, and a Rapunzel Scooter that I had to order online because Toys R Us sucks sucks sucks and doesn't sell them in their stores anymore. I need to put Toys R Us on my 'What Grinds My Gears" list. They are the worst with ordering. You don't even wanna know what Jerry went through ordering Bailey's Jeep. Luckily, I did get the scooter and it's all good. This is going to totally beat Elmo Party and certainly The Little Mermaid party.
My friend posed a very good question today, why do people from Texas use their full name when it comes to country music? Like Robert Earl Keen, Larry Joe Taylor, David Allan Coe, Earl Thomas Conley, Jerry Jeff Walker, etc. That's a very good question. It's definitely a country thing, but nontheless, it's because Texas is the best and we can get away with it. I don't know, we're hillbillies Amanda Kathleen Carlson!
In college, I had 4 roommates, we all played volleyball for MSU, and 3 out of 5 of us are pregnant right now. That's crazy to me! Can time just slow down a little bit? I can't afford a 2nd kid right now and they need to wait for me! I hope my girls have big healthy babies: Amber, Aaron, and Heather! We are the 'Hazbinz' now, but will forever be remembered as 'Snaggle', 'Mullet', 'Muffin', 'Harvard', and 'Spike'....aka "JuCo All Stars +1."
Wow. This blog was random.
March 06, 2011
So I haven't been an angel - Part 2
When I started going to church at seven years old, I really liked it. I loved all my friends, my Sunday school teachers, children's church, and everything about Christian Center. We went Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday and I always looked forward to it. When the pastor moved on for a better opportunity in another state, so did we. We started attending another church, Christian Temple for many years. I never felt like I was apart of that church. Ever. One Sunday I walked in and some lady asked if it was my first time to visit. I told that lady I had been going there for eight years and walked away. We went to a church for a short time called The Glory Church and you were lucky to get out of there by 2:00 in the afternoon, no lie people. I would be starving! Church should not be that ridiculous! When I went off to college I would occassionlly go with my parents, but I got tired of my Dad always dragging me down to the altar, so I stopped going. I don't like people touching me and I certainly don't like them putting their hand on my forehead and trying to push me to the ground.
I told you that we tried a new church two weeks ago and it was quite the culture shock for us. I had Cowtown last Sunday, so I wasn't able to go. So we were excited to go back with an open mind. All of us were ready with an hour to spare. Oh, and this is the first time in my life I wore jeans to a Sunday morning church service. Lord forgive me.
So, we are driving to church and Jerry did something that made me laugh! I rarely 'LOL' at anything because nothing is funny enough to laugh out loud to me. Jerry turns up the radio all the way making it annoyingly loud and he yells "I'M JUST GETTING US READY FOR CHURCH!" The music there is a little louder than I would like, I'm unfamiliar with the new Christian songs, I still love old gospel music, but I'm getting there. I've been out for a long time and I'm getting back into the swing of things. I am not ashamed to admit that Jerry and I both put God on the back burner and even turned that burner off.
I checked Bailey in, got my 'actin' a fool' sticker, with my number on it. Heaven help Bailey if her number is EVER on that screen and I have to go get her. I dropped her off at children's church, and took my seat in my nice padded chair at the back of course. I'm not ready to move up yet. Baby steps people. I'd like to interview God about all this nonsense though. Why are people just hanging out in the foyer during the sermon? Why are people bringing their Starbucks into the sanctuary? I love coffee, but jeez, I can do without it for an hour and a half for crying out loud. You can pay your tithe and offerings online too! Pretty soon, they will have a PayPass on the chair in front of you. I'm only joking about the PayPass, but again so much has changed and I just need to start accepting it, except for that part after the music where you have to meet somebody you don't know, go shake their hand. Lets just say that's my least favorite part. I never liked that part growing up either, it's awkward.
The service was great. We really like the pastor and the way he preaches. Today he preached about living a sacrificial life by Genuine worship, Investing in other people, Value your resources, and Enlarging your circle. Romans 6:13
I believe everything happens for a reason. There's a reason I saw a fellow teacher driving in my neighborhood who referred me to a great babysitter. She is down the street from me and runs a daycare out of her home. After two years there, it was time for Bailey to move on and that babysitter referred me to a daycare out of a church, and that's why we are going to that church now. It feels good to go to church. It makes me feel better about myself, because Lord knows I sin, but I feel like a better mother to Bailey and wife to Jerry. It makes me a better Christian most importantly.
If you would like to attend, it's Chapel Creek Fellowship, a nondenominational church on Academy Blvd. in White Settlement.
I told you that we tried a new church two weeks ago and it was quite the culture shock for us. I had Cowtown last Sunday, so I wasn't able to go. So we were excited to go back with an open mind. All of us were ready with an hour to spare. Oh, and this is the first time in my life I wore jeans to a Sunday morning church service. Lord forgive me.
So, we are driving to church and Jerry did something that made me laugh! I rarely 'LOL' at anything because nothing is funny enough to laugh out loud to me. Jerry turns up the radio all the way making it annoyingly loud and he yells "I'M JUST GETTING US READY FOR CHURCH!" The music there is a little louder than I would like, I'm unfamiliar with the new Christian songs, I still love old gospel music, but I'm getting there. I've been out for a long time and I'm getting back into the swing of things. I am not ashamed to admit that Jerry and I both put God on the back burner and even turned that burner off.
I checked Bailey in, got my 'actin' a fool' sticker, with my number on it. Heaven help Bailey if her number is EVER on that screen and I have to go get her. I dropped her off at children's church, and took my seat in my nice padded chair at the back of course. I'm not ready to move up yet. Baby steps people. I'd like to interview God about all this nonsense though. Why are people just hanging out in the foyer during the sermon? Why are people bringing their Starbucks into the sanctuary? I love coffee, but jeez, I can do without it for an hour and a half for crying out loud. You can pay your tithe and offerings online too! Pretty soon, they will have a PayPass on the chair in front of you. I'm only joking about the PayPass, but again so much has changed and I just need to start accepting it, except for that part after the music where you have to meet somebody you don't know, go shake their hand. Lets just say that's my least favorite part. I never liked that part growing up either, it's awkward.
The service was great. We really like the pastor and the way he preaches. Today he preached about living a sacrificial life by Genuine worship, Investing in other people, Value your resources, and Enlarging your circle. Romans 6:13
I believe everything happens for a reason. There's a reason I saw a fellow teacher driving in my neighborhood who referred me to a great babysitter. She is down the street from me and runs a daycare out of her home. After two years there, it was time for Bailey to move on and that babysitter referred me to a daycare out of a church, and that's why we are going to that church now. It feels good to go to church. It makes me feel better about myself, because Lord knows I sin, but I feel like a better mother to Bailey and wife to Jerry. It makes me a better Christian most importantly.
If you would like to attend, it's Chapel Creek Fellowship, a nondenominational church on Academy Blvd. in White Settlement.
February 27, 2011
My Cowtown Experience
You know I CAN'T write a blog without being ugly and honest. So with that said, why do men think it's okay to run without a shirt? Moles, freakles, birthmarks, backne, hair, skin & bones are not attractive! Is a shirt that heavy? Heck they make that dri-fit crap now that's virtually weightless, put one on for the love! So, unless you a have '300' Gerard Butler body, keep your shirt on! Next,when you are running TRY to put your empty cups in a trash can, it's not that hard to hold it for a few more seconds until you get to a trash can. People have to pick all that crap up. People volunteer to support runners, they are not getting paid you litter bugs! When you start a race, get in the correct corral. That means get in the right heat according to your mile time. If you know you don't run a 9:00 minute mile, then don't get in Corral 2 so people don't have to hurdle your butt when you start walking at the first turn. Last thing, if you're wearing a tutu, first off you're dumb, then you're not serious about this and stick to the Jingle Bell Run or some fun-run elsewhere.
Today was a special day for me. I had been training for a marathon for a few months now, by myself. Word of advice: you can NOT just go out there and run a marathon, you have to train for it. Every weekend consisted of a long run and a few runs during the week. I would do weights once or twice a week. It's really not that hard, just very time consuming and you gotta find ways to keep motivated. That is why I had the 26.2 sticker to keep me motivated. It may seem dumb to you, but it is big time for me, and it will forever make me remember the hours of hard work I put into this marathon. NO, I will not have it on my car forever, just one year and then I will take it off. Unfortunately you do feel guilty with wasting so much time running, so I would get up early enough to run so I didn't leave Jerry with Bailey all the time and I could still enjoy the weekend with them. I would run on the treadmill if was too cold outside. I would run on my conference so I didn't take away from family time. I planned everything around my runs. I was really getting tired of it too. I'm so thankful this day has finally come and I reached one of my goals. I finished 16th in my age division (30-34) man I hate being 30! I was 6 seconds away from being 15th place, dangit! I finished in 4:16 with a 9:51 mile time. The person who finished 1st in my division had a mile time of 7:48 and finished in 3:24. That's insanely fast and there's no way in God's green earth I would ever beat that. Good job homegirl!
The race goes by so fast. I looked down at my Nike+ and it said I was already at mile 7! Geez! I started the race off real slow so I wouldn't tucker out at the end and it helped. (Thank you Amy G.) The last two miles I probably passed 20 people. There was the biggest, longest incline at mile 9. I was very thankful at that time that I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have one flat area. I have to go run along the access road of 820 for flat land and I just run back and forth, which still has a slight incline. I broke this race up into three parts. Mile 10 so I could see Jerry, mile 20 to see Jerry again, and the finish! You have to break it up or you will die. When I hit mile 20, Jerry started running with me for a 1/4 of a mile. He told me I looked hot and slapped my flat butt and went back to meet me at the finish line. He's so great. Did I say the race goes by so fast? I lied. At mile 20 and thereafter, the marathon only begins and it takes FOREVER! Your body is so done and you just have to play mind games to keep going. You try to forget about all the pain, you even resort to talking to people to keep your mind off everything. I finished strong and even sprinted at the end. Another good thing is that I didn't pee or poop on myself like I have heard some runners doing.
Somebody said that if God gives you a talent, a way to pay him back is to use it. (That actually came from Uncle Jessie on a Dukes of Hazzard episode.) Regardless, I can run for days without stopping and I think I used that talent today and I do thank God first and foremost. Secondly, I want to thank My Lover, Jerry, for being there for me today. He stayed with me before the race started, ran back to the truck to get my pre-race goo pouch, watched me get started, met me at mile 10 with my fuel, met me at mile 20 with more fuel, ran with me, and then saw me cross the finish line. I want to thank my mother-n-law for always being there with her camera ah blazin' to support everything I do (again the mother I never had), and my friends Josh and Michelle. I love you guys! I want to thank all my family, teachers, and friends who supported me through this and kept me going. A marathon is tough. I mean tough. It truly is the hardest thing I have done in my life. I would go back to a miserable volleyball practice with the worst coach on earth than do that again, at least for today anyway. Indian tempo ladies!
I use to think running was all mental. "Is that all you got" is what I would tell myself to keep myself going. I used to think it was 90% mental and 10% physical. WRONG. It's more like 50% mental, 50% physical when it come to a marathon. Whatever it is, it was truly rewarding for me.
26.2 Holler!
Today was a special day for me. I had been training for a marathon for a few months now, by myself. Word of advice: you can NOT just go out there and run a marathon, you have to train for it. Every weekend consisted of a long run and a few runs during the week. I would do weights once or twice a week. It's really not that hard, just very time consuming and you gotta find ways to keep motivated. That is why I had the 26.2 sticker to keep me motivated. It may seem dumb to you, but it is big time for me, and it will forever make me remember the hours of hard work I put into this marathon. NO, I will not have it on my car forever, just one year and then I will take it off. Unfortunately you do feel guilty with wasting so much time running, so I would get up early enough to run so I didn't leave Jerry with Bailey all the time and I could still enjoy the weekend with them. I would run on the treadmill if was too cold outside. I would run on my conference so I didn't take away from family time. I planned everything around my runs. I was really getting tired of it too. I'm so thankful this day has finally come and I reached one of my goals. I finished 16th in my age division (30-34) man I hate being 30! I was 6 seconds away from being 15th place, dangit! I finished in 4:16 with a 9:51 mile time. The person who finished 1st in my division had a mile time of 7:48 and finished in 3:24. That's insanely fast and there's no way in God's green earth I would ever beat that. Good job homegirl!
The race goes by so fast. I looked down at my Nike+ and it said I was already at mile 7! Geez! I started the race off real slow so I wouldn't tucker out at the end and it helped. (Thank you Amy G.) The last two miles I probably passed 20 people. There was the biggest, longest incline at mile 9. I was very thankful at that time that I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have one flat area. I have to go run along the access road of 820 for flat land and I just run back and forth, which still has a slight incline. I broke this race up into three parts. Mile 10 so I could see Jerry, mile 20 to see Jerry again, and the finish! You have to break it up or you will die. When I hit mile 20, Jerry started running with me for a 1/4 of a mile. He told me I looked hot and slapped my flat butt and went back to meet me at the finish line. He's so great. Did I say the race goes by so fast? I lied. At mile 20 and thereafter, the marathon only begins and it takes FOREVER! Your body is so done and you just have to play mind games to keep going. You try to forget about all the pain, you even resort to talking to people to keep your mind off everything. I finished strong and even sprinted at the end. Another good thing is that I didn't pee or poop on myself like I have heard some runners doing.
Somebody said that if God gives you a talent, a way to pay him back is to use it. (That actually came from Uncle Jessie on a Dukes of Hazzard episode.) Regardless, I can run for days without stopping and I think I used that talent today and I do thank God first and foremost. Secondly, I want to thank My Lover, Jerry, for being there for me today. He stayed with me before the race started, ran back to the truck to get my pre-race goo pouch, watched me get started, met me at mile 10 with my fuel, met me at mile 20 with more fuel, ran with me, and then saw me cross the finish line. I want to thank my mother-n-law for always being there with her camera ah blazin' to support everything I do (again the mother I never had), and my friends Josh and Michelle. I love you guys! I want to thank all my family, teachers, and friends who supported me through this and kept me going. A marathon is tough. I mean tough. It truly is the hardest thing I have done in my life. I would go back to a miserable volleyball practice with the worst coach on earth than do that again, at least for today anyway. Indian tempo ladies!
I use to think running was all mental. "Is that all you got" is what I would tell myself to keep myself going. I used to think it was 90% mental and 10% physical. WRONG. It's more like 50% mental, 50% physical when it come to a marathon. Whatever it is, it was truly rewarding for me.
26.2 Holler!
February 20, 2011
So I haven't been an angel.
This has been a great weekend! We ate Jason's Deli Friday night, first time we have eaten out in a long time. It's kinda our goal to see how long we can go without eating out. I was just craving a bunch of salad and it's the only buffet I condone. I had my last long run Saturday morning. Thank God for tapering. I saw a t-shirt that said, "While you were sleeping in, I was running." That's the truth Lover. The wind was a doozie and my mile time drastically improved during mile 5 when a Chihuahua started chasing me. I would have turned around and kicked it if I didnt' love Chihuahuas so much. Aye Aye Aye! Then we all got dressed, ate lunch at The Olive Garden, and then I got new tires! Yes, four new tires! No more bald tires that are all different sizes and brands AND I got a sweet hook up from an old high school friend. Oh, yeah and I now have a spare tire. I know! I haven't had a spare tire in quite some time. What if you would have had a flat Brandi? I would have ran to where I need to go! Then, I dragged Jerry to Sam Moon. Jerry hates. Bailey likes. We went to church this morning and then grilled hamburgers in the Blackyard (that's the backyard incase you can't figure it out). Good weekend.
I started going to church when my Dad remarried, so I went to Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night church since I was seven years old. We even went Thursday nights when it was family gym night. I'm not going to complain about that, because that's where I started my love of volleyball and started playing at 8 years old. When I moved out I stopped going. I got tired of being dragged down to the altar. I'm not going to lie, I haven't been to church in a long time. I would occasionally go when I was home from college, if I didn't have a hangover, but not too often. It's one thing to not go when you don't have kids, but there comes a time when kids need church, that is if you're a Christian. We have been wanting to try the church where Bailey attends school, Chapel Creek Fellowship, a nondenominational church, so finally this morning, we did. They have three different services, so there's NO excuse why you would miss church. Genius.
This is where my blog may get hairy: Please don't tell me about your church, I'm not going to visit it.
What happened to church?!! I remember the beating of Sunday School, the hours of preaching, wearing dresses, panty hose, heels, hair had 3 pounds of Rave in it, you bring your Bible, you got the option of using the church's Bible incase you didn't have yours, hymns, uncomfortable pews, long altar calls, and hour long fellowship with people after church while you were dying to eat lunch. Man my church sucked. Lord forgive me, but it did.
First, everybody is in jeans in this 'contemporary' church! Like denim. Including the preacher. No tie. No suit. Just jeans and a button up shirt. They call him by his first name too! The music is nothing like what I grew up in. Yeah, we had guitars, a piano, drums, and a base player. Oh by the way I grew up in an Assembly of God Church and Jerry grew up Nazarene. You probably don't even know what that is. Google it. This church was different. It was like a Christan concert during the music part. It was so loud, there were three guitar players, a keyboard player, drums, base player, three singers, and lights flashing creating a pretty cool lighting effect. I was waiting for pyrotechnics. Why wasn't church like this when I grew up? Have I been out of the church loop that long?
I always hated growing up, kids would ask what religion you are and I had to explain my penecostal/assembly of God background. I would always hear, "I'm baptist". Okay. Who cares as long as you believe in the Lord. Maybe that's why there's more nondenominational churches now. Pretty cool if you ask me. This church had the projector to display everything you need including the bible you didn't bring, your assigned number for when your child is acting a fool. They even go as far as to giving you a church program with the sermon on it with notes, and you can fill in blanks. When did Christians get so lazy? Sheesh.
Overall, very different church experience than what I was expecting. I guess I'm just old fashion and was looking forward to singing, "I'll Fly Away" or "Amazing Grace". Next Sunday I have Cowtown, but the following Sunday, this family will be going back to broaden our church horizons.
Today's sermon was 'Being Confident In God and taking the plunge'. I think we took the plunge today.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart & do not lean on your own understanding.' Proverbs 3:5 (NAV)
I started going to church when my Dad remarried, so I went to Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night church since I was seven years old. We even went Thursday nights when it was family gym night. I'm not going to complain about that, because that's where I started my love of volleyball and started playing at 8 years old. When I moved out I stopped going. I got tired of being dragged down to the altar. I'm not going to lie, I haven't been to church in a long time. I would occasionally go when I was home from college, if I didn't have a hangover, but not too often. It's one thing to not go when you don't have kids, but there comes a time when kids need church, that is if you're a Christian. We have been wanting to try the church where Bailey attends school, Chapel Creek Fellowship, a nondenominational church, so finally this morning, we did. They have three different services, so there's NO excuse why you would miss church. Genius.
This is where my blog may get hairy: Please don't tell me about your church, I'm not going to visit it.
What happened to church?!! I remember the beating of Sunday School, the hours of preaching, wearing dresses, panty hose, heels, hair had 3 pounds of Rave in it, you bring your Bible, you got the option of using the church's Bible incase you didn't have yours, hymns, uncomfortable pews, long altar calls, and hour long fellowship with people after church while you were dying to eat lunch. Man my church sucked. Lord forgive me, but it did.
First, everybody is in jeans in this 'contemporary' church! Like denim. Including the preacher. No tie. No suit. Just jeans and a button up shirt. They call him by his first name too! The music is nothing like what I grew up in. Yeah, we had guitars, a piano, drums, and a base player. Oh by the way I grew up in an Assembly of God Church and Jerry grew up Nazarene. You probably don't even know what that is. Google it. This church was different. It was like a Christan concert during the music part. It was so loud, there were three guitar players, a keyboard player, drums, base player, three singers, and lights flashing creating a pretty cool lighting effect. I was waiting for pyrotechnics. Why wasn't church like this when I grew up? Have I been out of the church loop that long?
I always hated growing up, kids would ask what religion you are and I had to explain my penecostal/assembly of God background. I would always hear, "I'm baptist". Okay. Who cares as long as you believe in the Lord. Maybe that's why there's more nondenominational churches now. Pretty cool if you ask me. This church had the projector to display everything you need including the bible you didn't bring, your assigned number for when your child is acting a fool. They even go as far as to giving you a church program with the sermon on it with notes, and you can fill in blanks. When did Christians get so lazy? Sheesh.
Overall, very different church experience than what I was expecting. I guess I'm just old fashion and was looking forward to singing, "I'll Fly Away" or "Amazing Grace". Next Sunday I have Cowtown, but the following Sunday, this family will be going back to broaden our church horizons.
Today's sermon was 'Being Confident In God and taking the plunge'. I think we took the plunge today.
'Trust in the Lord with all your heart & do not lean on your own understanding.' Proverbs 3:5 (NAV)
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