A Year of Dates: January

To give you an idea of what the monthly envelopes & card inside looks like, these are for January.  Larry & I opened it up a couple of weeks ago and decided on an evening this weekend when we will go on our first date of the year.

I'm looking forward to it!  Larry's had a really stressful past week and needs a little wining & dining.  Or, ya know...at least dining. We don't do wine around here.  ha ha!  And I can always use a little time with my sweetie.

For our first date night of the year, we're going to Barnes & Noble to browse around and then will go to drive-in burger place to sit in the warm car and chat while we have a burger.  I'm sure we will be sending picture texts of books we'd like to have to each other while we wander around the store.  We're kind of nerdy like that.  But that's just how I like us!

Are you & your sweetie going on a date this month?  What will you do?

A Year of Dates

In October of 2012 I saw an idea on a friend's blog for a "Year of Dates".  It was the gift she had given her husband in 2011 for Christmas.  As I read about it, I fell in love with the idea.  I found out that she had gotten the idea from someone else....who had gotten the idea from another lady....who had gotten the idea from another person...you get the idea.  If you google "A Year of Dates" you will likely find lots of ideas on blogs across the web.

The idea is that you create 12 months worth of dates for your spouse (or boyfriend/girlfriend).  I loveeeeee giving creative gifts like this, having to spend the time to create a whole 'experience' for Larry.

In 2002, I did the MOST FUN Valentine's gift ever.  I went to the dollar store & bought a whole gift bag full of little things for the gift.  I wrapped each one up & gave them to a lady who worked in Larry's building on another floor.  She passed the little goodies out to people all through the building with instructions to deliver them to him throughout the day at random times.  There were probably 20-30 gifts, so all day long, in the elevator, at the bathroom door, in his office, passing in the hallway...people were walking up & handing him gifts from me.  By the end of the day, he had a big bag full of things to bring home.  Most of them were little nick-nacks that I knew he'd toss in the trash, but the fun of having him receive things all day long, knowing that I had put the energy into creating this fun day for him, was SO EXCITING!  I loved doing it for him and he had a ball receiving it!  Some of the gifts were:
*a sheet of frog stickers with a label where I wrote "I'd croak without you".
*a pack of minty gum with a label that said "Chew a piece on your way home...I want a BIG KISS when I see you!"
*a piece of candy with a label that said "Something sweet for my sweetie"
....and on & on.  Some of the gifts were silly, some serious, some a little more R-rated (for his eyes only!)

So anyway, you can see I really have fun doing creative, romantic gifts like this!  Back to the Year of Dates!

In October & November, I created the gift.  I got 12 large manilla envelopes & decorated the front of each one & sealed inside it the details of that month's date.  I had a blast getting creative and coming up with 12 dates.  Some will cost a few dollars, some are totally free, and some fall somewhere in between.  Just some examples:

*In January, our date is titled "Bookstore & Burgers".  And it's just that--- a trip to Barnes & Noble to roam around and read (we're nerds...we like this kind of thing) and then a trip to a fast food place to sit & chat while we have a burger.
*One month we will have a spa date at home.  We will create homemade facials from common kitchen ingredients (there are tons of recipes on the internet) and sit in our bathroom to giggle while we put them on each other's faces.  There will definitely be pictures!  ha ha!
*One month we'll have a 'health date' where we go for a Saturday morning walk at a local park before we have a healthy Subway lunch.

Each month, I created a different theme.  Some months are things that will appeal to Larry specifically.  Some months it'll be more of something I want to do.  Some months will be things we both love.  I had to be careful to make sure that I didn't just pick girlie things that he'll have to 'endure' for a year.

I am so excited about this!!  It will force us to be intentional about planning to spend time together.  We talk about having a date night all the time, but like so many people, we get busy & just don't set aside the time to make it happen.  So this year, it will happen at least once a month!

We've already opened the 1st envelope & put our January date on the calendar.

I'm going to document each of our dates here on the blog so if someone googles "Year of Dates" later on, they can get some ideas.  (Well...I will document as much as I can!  Some of the date envelopes include things that I will not be sharing!  Big grin!!  I will make sure that everything I post here is family-friendly in case your child reads over your shoulder like mine often do!)

Date night #1....coming soon!

The Blue Screens of Death in Life

The last couple of months have felt like one big mess after another. 

The lay off, the job hunt, the stress level that went through the roof, the holidays, a family cancer scare, then a 2nd one, the possible pregnancy scare (oh yes....we had to throw one of those in there, too).  I've applied for 60+ jobs now and nothing has worked out, so as you can imagine, there are few relaxed moments going on at our house these days.

And then yesterday morning, we got (cue music from Jaws) the Blue Screen of Death on our one and only computer.

As I stared at the screen, I couldn't help but drop my head in my hands & whisper "Really?  NOW?"  In the midst of trying to search for a job (which requires daily job site searches), in the middle of trying to bring in a little extra income through freelance writing (which requires email, google and word processing software), during a season of life where I'm writing an article for the newspaper weekly (which requires email & word processing software), in the midst of watching our bank account like a hawk (which requires internet access).........you get the idea.

But is there ever really a good time to have your computer totally crash?  Umm, no.

So yesterday morning I did the only things I could think of.

1.  I posted a plea to facebook (I can send a text from my phone to post on FB) asking if any friends had a spare computer we could borrow.
2.  I texted the picture above to 2 computer guru friends & asked for HELP!

Folks, I have go to say something before I go on.  We are blessed beyond measure with amazing friends!!  (God bless the invention of social media.  I am perpetually amazed at how quickly you can post something & get it out to hundreds of people at once in situations like this.)

Within an hour, I had texts from at least 10 people offering to loan us a spare computer.  (Who knew so many people actually have a spare sitting around??)  I had 3-4 people calling to offering suggestions & advice about fixing our computer...recommendations to people who can work on it or ideas about how to fix it ourselves.  (Although I've gotta say it here: I can OPERATE a computer, but I am CLUELESS about how to fix one!)

Our precious youth pastor came to the church on his day off to get us a spare laptop that the church owns.  Thank you, "L"!!  We got it hooked up & running.  I used it to apply to 2 more jobs yesterday afternoon.

Then our dear, sweet, awesome, heroic friend, "M" came over to see what he could do about our pitiful 2005 model desktop that was giving us the BSOD.  It didn't look promising at first, but he figured out a solution.  He switched out our hard drive for one of his.  It has a different operating system (Linux) than we're used to (Windows) so that's a bit of a learning curve, but it's totally functional and we can do all the things we need to do on it.  He took our hard drive home & was able to pull all of our pictures & documents off of it and transfer them to the hard drive that we're borrowing.  And tomorrow he's going to take our hard drive back home to tinker with it.  He thinks he can get it fixed, folks!  Still crossing our fingers on that, but hey...I have hope!  (And of course because he's amazing he won't accept payment but we've got a few tricks up our sleeve so he will be getting something fabulous whether he takes money from us or not!  ::insert maniacal laughter::)

Today, I got an email from a friend who lives halfway across the country, telling me to go to Best Buy & pick something up.  She stated "You're going to need this."  I went to the store & found that she'd purchased us some of the Windows software we're going to need to re-load when we either get our hard drive fixed or when we buy a new computer.  What a COOL gift!!!  Thank you, "A"!  Love you girl!!

I could name all the million reasons the last 6 weeks have been horrible.  Let's just be honest, the last 6 weeks have sucked dirt. But the last 24 hours have been such a sweet reminder that God cares about all the teeny details of our lives---even our computer, even our blue screens of death.  While life has felt like one big blue screen of death for weeks now, I am reminded that my life is good....family & friends love us....people care and really do want to help if they can....and everything always works out in the end, somehow!  (Rom. 8:28)

So while it seems crazy insane to say this, I am thankful for the BSOD that highlighted the awesomeness of our friends and the goodness of our God!!

2012 in Review

JANUARY
*I began writing a column for our local newspaper.  I've had a blast writing it & have heard, throughout the year, that people actually read it!
*I launched a prayer team ministry on Facebook called P4TK (Praying for the Kids) after I had yet another friend lose a child.  P4TK is reserved for praying for kids with chronic or terminal conditions.  It's been such a blessing this year!
*I enjoyed a full day of teaching by Sheila Walsh at a local church.  She is amazing!

FEBRUARY
*Sarah turned 11.

MARCH
*Samuel turned 12 & got braces.

APRIL
*Using leftover flagstone from my a project my parents had recently completed, Larry built "the thinking spot" next to our house---a rock "porch" sort of place where he can sit and read, think or just enjoy nature.

MAY
*Our neighbors to the west of us are renters.  The house goes through tenants regularly.  In between tenants (and sometimes even when there are tenants living there!) the yard is often overgrown and dirty.  In May, they experienced a large rat infestation.  Their little "guests" found their way into our yard and left me completely digusted and grossed out on a daily basis.  Rat poison and a vigilante 12 year old with a bow and arrow eventually took care of the problem.  But in the meantime, ewwwwwww!
*Sarah won the 5th grade spelling bee.
*Larry switched jobs.
*The kids finished 5th, 6th and 10th grades.

JUNE
*I returned to the preschool (where I've worked in some manner or another since 2007) for the summer.  My summers wouldn't feel complete without a twice-weekly dose of preschooler fun!
*Samuel went to Boy Scout Camp and Youth Camp.
*The girls went on a trip to Colorado & back with my parents while Samuel was away at camp.

JULY
*The kids and I took part in a local mission trip with the youth group, a '5 Day Club' hosted by Child Evangelism Fellowship, at a local park.
*I began searching for a job with a bigger paycheck.

AUGUST
*Savannah began summer band practices.
*Savannah turned 16.
*Larry & I celebrated our 18th anniversary.
*I was offered a job at a local law firm & began the job at the month's end.
*Samuel began his first season of playing football.

SEPTEMBER
*Savannah got her letter jacket for UIL Journalism, giving our home a 2nd generation student to receive their letter jacket from the same high school for journalism pursuits.  (I got mine for being on the yearbook staff in 1994.)
*We traveled to The Woodlands, TX and stayed in a nice resort for Larry's cousin's wedding.  It would've been a great little mini vacation, but we brought home a stomach virus that we passed around amongst the family for nearly two weeks afterward.
*Larry turned 39.
*Samuel dislocated his thumb badly enough to need a cast for a week followed by 2 weeks in a brace.

OCTOBER
*Sarah tried out & was accepted on the UIL Dictionary Skills team at school.
*We spent our very first Halloween at home, handing out candy to trick or treaters.

NOVEMBER
*I turned 37.
*Found out mid-month that I would be laid off at the end of the year.  Stress levels hit the ceiling and the job hunt began.

DECEMBER
*Job search continued and many hours of sleep were lost as I battled emotionally & spiritually with the fears of what lie ahead.
*Christmas came and went.  It was a smaller, quieter Christmas than in the past, but it was a good one!

As we look ahead to 2013, we pray that your family is blessed!

It Is Well With My Soul

It's been a month since I updated the blog.  I don't think I have ever gone that long between posts since I started this blog in February 2006.  I know the handful of you who read this don't sit around waiting to hear from me, but I need to write.  It's my outlet.

Fortunately there is Facebook, where I've updated daily.  There are the thousand emails, texts, phone calls & people I run into every day who check to see how things are going.  There is my column in the local newspaper where I've shared a little of what's going on.  So I'm not hiding under the covers and sucking my thumb just yet.

In the past month, I have sat at my computer reading job listings, tapping my foot, bouncing my leg 90mph with my shoulders up around my ears.  I'm fidgeting, biting my nails.  I have prayed, nearly constantly, since mid-November.  I've never been in this position before, knowing that my lay off date is looming nearer with each passing day, and not having any idea what I'll be doing afterward.

I have a few ideas of things I can do for money until one of the bazillion jobs I've applied for comes through, until one of the people I've interviewed with says "Come work for me."  There has been one job offer, but it didn't work out.  All the sudden, I understand people becoming desperate enough to do criminal things to provide for their family.  (To be clear, I'd NEVER do that, but I am beginning to understand how they get to that point.)

I have ugly, messy, scary days where I shake in my boots and beat my fists.  Days when I feel like sleeping at night is just a way to pass the time while the world spins, all while I pray for survival.  I have days when it's all I can do to breathe in and out; days when I can barely claw my fingernails through the grime on the ground of this long, dark tunnel.  Hopelessness, fear, doubt...they've become my bedmates.

But then I stand in the shower with the water running down my face and I start praying.  Or I am driving down the road and a song comes on the radio.  Or I hear someone say something that wasn't even meant for me but I grab hold of it and squeeze it until it is empty of all the hope it gave me.  I've found myself pouring over Scripture, pleading with the words to jump off the page at me and bring me relief.  I've listened to sermons about surrendering, heard lessons about relaxing & trusting God.  I've printed Scriptures & taped them on the walls to read & re-read.

I wish I was to the place in this story where I can look back at it all & say "Ohhhh....that's how God was working." But I'm not quite there yet. I know the day is coming. I know (that I know that I know that I know) He's got all the details worked out, every single little piece in place. And I trust in that.  Really, I do.


But some days are easier than others to relax & trust in that.

There are days when I want to just scream "Why can't life be easy for us?  Even for just 5 minutes?"  It feels like we've struggled in one way or another over and over and over for years now.  Isn't it time for things to fall in place and give us some peace, God?  He reminds me, when I feel that way, that I can't look at all the thousand times He's come through for us in the past and assume He is going to forget us this time.  He reminds me of the thousand times He's come through for us...at JUST the right time.  In His time.  Usually at the very last minute.  I can not think of all those times and worry about all of this.  Too much.

My heart believes that and my head knows it to be true, but my flesh still cries out for something concrete to grasp hold of.

In the meantime, I am singing this.  Over and over.  And finding that the more I focus on HIM, the more it really IS well with my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,


When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

November 20: Today I am grateful for...

I've lost track of what I've said I'm thankful for & what I haven't.  Tonight I just want to share a story with you from yesterday.  I have much to be thankful for.

Monday November 19th:

Early this morning, the church finance secretary called me.  She said there were several boxes of food with my name on them at the church office.  She didn't know where they came from, but she wanted to work out a time for me to come pick them up.  I couldn't imagine WHY someone was giving us this, but said thank you & told her I'd be there this afternoon to pick it up.

An hour later, my boss called me in to tell me that I'm losing my job in 6 weeks.  He was so very apologetic.  He's accepted another job elsewhere, so as of January 1st my job ends.  Talk about being stunned.  I think I just sat there & grinned like an idiot and tried to figure out what would happen next.  But while I was sitting on the couch in his office hearing this news, I couldn't help but think "God knew this was going to happen.  He provided groceries before I even knew!"

When I left the office to drive home, I fell apart.  I sobbed, I cried, I prayed.  The windshield and windows heard me begging God to provide...somehow.  When I finally reached a place where I could sort of breathe again, I started singing.  I didn't think of it on my own...it was all God.  And what did He give me?  "Great is Thy Faithfulness!"  Even as I sang it, I warred against singing those words because I wanted to be all angry & frustrated...but I couldn't forget His faithfulness to us, even in my fear and sadness.  I am SO grateful that I've spent years tucking away Scripture, singing hymns and praise songs with such great truths hidden in them.  Today it was not ME but the Spirit who sang that song all the way to my house from my office.  By the time I reached home, I was at peace.  Still devastated & scared to death no doubt, but at peace.

I picked up the kids from school and we made the trip to the church office to pick up the groceries.  I had considered sharing all of the food with a friend who runs a nonprofit to collect groceries for families in need, but we decided to keep 99% of it after learning the job news today (and there was so much that I can't even fit 1 more tiny thing into my pantry!)  When we got home & started unloading the boxes, I found a little piece of grace tucked between the cans & boxes.  A sizable gift card to Walmart was in there, too!!

He provides before we ever even know there is a need, friends.

Great is His faithfulness.  Morning by morning new mercies I see.  All I have needed, His hand has provided.  Great is His faithfulness.

Nov 12-14: Today I am grateful for...

I know, I'm not doing so well at keeping up with this!  I think about it every day, but just don't have tons of time to sit down & type.  Playing catch up again!

Nov 12:  Today I am grateful for my daughter, Savannah.  At 16, she is so much stronger than I was at her age.  I fell prey to peer pressure and boys and selfishness at that age (like so many teens do), but Savannah is strong & has a good head on her shoulders.  So proud of her!

Nov 13:  Today I am grateful for my son, Samuel.  He reminds me of all the sweet things I fell in love with Larry for 20 years ago.  He is so much like his daddy in a million ways.  And for that, I couldn't be more happy.  He's got an awesome dad and if he grows up to be just like him, that will be a good thing!

Nov 14: Today I am grateful for my daughter, Sarah.  She is smart and talented and funny.  She is incredibly responsible and endeavors to never break the rules or hurt anyone (well, except for her brother...ha ha).  Sarah is such a light in my world.  I can't imagine life without her in it.