Mud On The Tires

Funny title. huh? But in reality it's not. See, when W and I were dating, Brad Paisley's song Mud On The Tires appropriately described our relationship. He was a country boy. I was a city girl. Yet somehow, someway (fate maybe?) our paths crossed. And pretty soon, this city girl was head over heals in love with that country boy. Every waking moment I had, I wanted to be with him. Every breath I took, I wanted to take them with him.

That has not changed. This city girl is still head over heels in love with that country boy. Except now, I'm more of a country girl than a city one. And he made me that way. He took me out of my city house and put me in a country one. He taught me that riding 4-wheelers was tons of fun. That fishing is fun (though I still refuse to bait my own hook or remove the catch from the line), that swimming in the river and the lake aren't bad at all, that sometimes it is ok to get dirty, and about a million other "country" things.

No matter where we go or what we do, I'm happy as long as he is by my side. No matter what we face or what we have to overcome, we can because we are together. We've had our moments. Lots of moments. But we've come through, stronger, better, than we ever, ever were. I am thankful, I am blessed, and I am loved. By this man. He is my rock. He is my fortress. He is my strength. He is my other half.

My Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you'll never know dear how much I love you, so please don't take your sunshine away!

Meet my sunshine. This is A. She is playful, tomboyish, sassy, serious, artsy, adventurous, beautiful~inside and out, my heartbeat, my reason for breathing, smart, amazing, silly, a dress-hater, a t-shirt and jean short wearer, softball player, part little girl~part big kid. 100% amazing.

A is a good mix of her dad and I. I like to think she is the best of both of us. She's serious but silly. She's a thinker, always has been. She was the best baby. She is the best big kid.

I used to sing the "sunshine song" to her every night as I gave her her bedtime bottle. It was OUR time. I still get to sing it occasionally as somehow bedtime as turned into her and her Daddy's time now. Which is ok. I'm here with her all day (I'm blessed), he's not, so if bedtime now belongs to him, then I can accept that. Though I do love the nights he is away (for whatever reason) and I get bedtime. And on those nights, she always requests the "sunshine song".

She is the sunshine of my life. She is the best thing ever, and I thank God for her every.single.day.

Plans

~"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11~

This has always been a favorite Bible verse for me. When W went through a big shake up at his former place of employment (and thank God was spared), it gave me comfort. When an amazing job opportunity opened up for him in September, it gave me peace. When I was struggling with my former job and how unhappy it made me and how much time it took away from my family, God provided it to me again. When we took a huge leap of faith and I went back to school, there it was again.

And now, when we are dealing with some other things, it is back again. God always seems to put it in front of me when I need it. Nevermind that it is printed out and taped to my dresser mirror, it was the Bible verse and topic of my daily devotional today.

Just when I think I need to do things "my" way, God reminds me to slow down and do things "His" way. To wait for him. To listen to him. To seek his guidance. To remember what HIS plans are. To remember that HE has a plan, and HIS plan is to prosper me and my family, to give us hope and a future.

Isn't it funny how God works sometimes? Just when you think you have it all figured it out, He throws in a wrench. Or he provides when you feel you are at the end of your rope and have no where else to go. I've often heard that if you want to hear God laugh, just tell him YOUR plans. Because most of the time, our plans aren't necessarily GOD'S plans. God is so good, all the time. We just have to remember to be still and listen. To be patient and wait for his timing. This is not easy for me as I am a "want it now" type person, but just when I try to get ahead of myself, God slows me down. God reminds me that HE is in control, not me. And isn't that just a wonderful thing? He provides, He loves, He gives. And He has a plan. It might not be MY plan, but that is not what is important. HIS plan is.

~He says, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10~

The Bucket List

A few days ago, the hubs and I watched the movie The Bucket List for like the 1000th time. We love that movie. It was on cable and, since nothing else was on, we watched it. Again. And it got me to thinking, what about my "bucket list". What are the things that I'd like to do before I go to heaven?

1. Learn to fly an airplane.
2. Travel. And I mean REALLY travel. Greece, Rome, Paris, Jerusalem, Hawaii, Grand Cayman, Canada, New York City, etc, etc, etc.
3. Watch my child graduate from college, get married, become a parent.
4. Build my dream house.
5. Skydive.
6. Learn another language. (And I took Spanish in high school, I just don't rememeber
any of it.)
7. Swim with dolphins. (and yes, my daughter has already done this one, but without
her momma!)
8. Finish all of the Disciple Bible Studies at my church.

It isn't a very long list, because I'm not one to try to make things happen. I like to live in the here and now. Enjoying my simple, little life one sweet day at a time. A pastor at our church once said in a sermon that the important thing on a headstone is the dash between the birth date and the date of death. He challenged us to "live the dash" so to speak. To live each day to the fullest. To make the most of your "dash".

So while I've compiled a bucket list, all be it a short one, I'm more focused on the here and now. Not the things I WANT to do, but the things I SHOULD do. Living each day on earth like it was my last. Being a better mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend. Enjoying the little things that make life so sweet. Not focusing on the shoulda, coulda, woulda's of life. Sure it would be great to travel all over the world, but not if I have to go at it alone. I'd want my daughter and my husband there with me. And who knows? Maybe one day the things on my bucket list will get checked off, one wish at a time. Some of them will I am sure. Some of them are just fleeting fantasies that might or might not happen.

But I can assure you of one thing, I will have "lived the dash"!

What about you? Do you have a bucket list? Are you "living the dash"?

What A Girl Wants

Let me preface this post by saying that I truly LOVE my husband. I love that he gets up every morning to go to work to provide for our family, that he supported me 100% when I lost my job and that he was 100% behind me when I decided to make things work to work from home, that he is an amazing father, that he is a man of God and a man of his word, and that he loves me to the moon and back.....

That being said.....sometimes he drives me UP.THE.WALL. Ya feel me? UP.THE.WALL. And for all of those wonderful qualities I listed about him, he is still the man whose underwear I have to wash on a daily basis. I guess that is the reason some of his "shine" has worn off, at least on me.

So, there are few things, that in a perfect world, I WANT. I want:

-A husband that knows that underwear (and all his other clothes) belong in the dirty clothes hamper, strategically placed right beside his dresser, not right beside said hamper. Really? Is that a hard concept to understand? Doesn't dropping them IN the hamper require just as much effort as dropping them ON the floor?

-A husband who realizes that I do not go to Walmart for fun. I go there to shop for the things we NEED. (And maybe, occasionally, a pair of flip flops that I "need.") For some reason (and he's the numbers guy around these parts, I just spend the money..), he thinks that I'm splurging on "big ticket" items at Walmart. Um, no. Have you not seen the increase in the price of groceries? Clearly, he needs to make at least one of these trips sometime soon. With kid in tow. Hello Honey, welcome to my world.

-A husband who realizes that just because I work at home, does not mean that I don't work. And please don't get me wrong here, I know he knows I work, but I also think he thinks I have all the free time in the world. To do things for him. Or to apparently, clean house all day, every day. Not gonna happen.

-A kid who realizes the same thing. Except she just wants me to play with her all the time. This is the first summer I've done this (I just started my job in February), so this summer is a whole new world for us. We're learning by error. Somethings work, somethings don't. I like to call it "flying by the seat of my pants". Yeah. Welcome to my world.

-And finally, while one of the qualities I adore about my husband is his devotion to our daughter's school (he's President of the Board of Directors), it is also one of the things that annoys me the most. Why? Because we have precious free time as it is, and sometimes I don't wanna share. It's that simple. I don't play well with others.

The Best Part of Waking Up.....

.....is not Folgers in your cup (or in my case 8 O'clock Coffee, as it was what was on sale).

It is that last 10 minutes after I hit snooze on the alarm clock. Before the husband gets up to go to work. Before I get up to start my day. It is that last 10 minutes when he rolls over, wraps one arm around me, and all is right with the world. I feel safe, secure, loved. I'm ready to tackle the real world after those 10 minutes.

And then the snooze starts its annoying sound again, and the real world slaps me in the face. There is laundry to be done, dishes that must be washed (and not because I didn't wash them last night...no...), doctor's reports to transcribe, or a dog and fish that must be fed. The real world wakes you up fast.

But, if at any time during my crazy day, the real world gets to be too much, I simply remember those last 10 minutes this morning. Then I can go back to the happy place where life is simple. I am loved, I am secure, and I am safe.