Ah, To Be Young Again

Since I am homebound for the evening and have been since noon today, it's time for an update. I'm actually bored out of my mind even though I have a few things to get done and I've already been pretty productive for someone who has a sever sinus infection, no voice, and can't stop coughing to save my life.

There's not too much to say since my last post yesterday. It's funny how when I'm busy I want to be home but when I'm stuck at home, I desperately want to be busy. When I woke up this morning and barely had a voice, I decided that a doctor's visit was in order. So I went ahead to work and called the doc 15 minutes after they opened. I was in and out of there in 30 minutes so after dropping off my prescription, picking up breakfast and working a bit longer, I made my way home. I was online for a bit and tried to sleep but could only doze. So I got up and did what any sick person would do.

I made pancakes, washed dishes, filed bills, organized my planner, rearranged kitchen cabinets, took out the trash, wrote a birthday card, checked e-mails and here I am. I definitely don't like this whole "lay around the house all day" thing which is why I would never be a good housewife. I'd at least have to volunteer or work part time. (And I am definitely not opposed to either of those options.)

Since The Refining (my girls' small group meeting) last night, I haven't really been able to stop thinking about them. I had 5 teenage girls 13-17 and in all honesty, I had no idea what to do with them. Our lesson was about feeling invisible and how we aren't invisible to God but they shared so much more than I imagined they would. I am amazed at how much young women determine their value based on what boys say about them. Or even their friends. My heart breaks for them and longs for them to understand that the only opinion that matters is God's. But I catch myself, even before I say something that sounds like it came straight out of my mother's mouth, remembering how I felt at 15 and what I wouldn't have given to have just 1 boy tell me I was beautiful. The extra sad thing about this? All of those girls are beautiful and have no idea how much potential they have. But then again, at their age, neither did I. It's so ironic how similar we (girls) all are and how much we long for the same things and really just desire acceptance and love. And no matter how long I preach that God created us exactly how He wants us to be and loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine, we still just desire human love and affection-myself included. I can't tell you how many times I catch myself wishing for the days of my teenage years again and what I would do differently and how great my friends were. And then I remember the angst that every teenage girl feels and all the time I wasted focusing on boys or how good/bad I looked. As the phrase says, "If I had known then what I know now..."

I just pray God is helping them through me. I pray that they would learn to love and accept themselves as the radiant and beautiful young ladies that I know they are. And above all else to seek the approval of the only One who truly matters...

For His smile,
B

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

Busy, Busy

Yeah, I'm over a month overdue for a post. And I would apologize for that if I felt sorry. But I don't. These past 5 weeks have been jammed full of "stuff". After spring break week-which ended wonderfully with our few days away in big D-work kinda spun outta control. Apparently, spring break signifies "the point in which we stop working" to the kids and teachers. A fact which I have forgotten since my elementary school days. Everyone's been stressed to the max and we still have some TAKS tests (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) to go. Not to mention I've been preparing paperwork for 500 packets to be given to new and returning students this coming week. Thankfully, I had a parent volunteer and my sweet husband to help me finish all of them. Otherwise, I'd be going crazy over finishing them. Needless to say, the next 6 weeks should be quite interesting as things start to wind down. And I'm just hanging on til summer break. Once the kids are gone, my days shorten and I'm pretty sure I'm off on Fridays. Hallelujah! Thank ya Jesus!

I'm supposed to be at church right now but Friday, I had the WORST sore throat ever accompanied by tons of drainage-yep, I just said that. Yesterday was ok but my breathing was still quite constricted and when I woke up this morning, everything had shifted and it all felt like it was moving to my chest. I've already battled pollen and won and we are FINALLY getting a good rain (after 2-3 weeks without much beyond some sprinkles of showers) so I'm hoping I can fight this off pretty easily. Z is the best and told me to stay home and get some rest so I can be ready to teach The Refining (my girls' small group) tonight. So here I am, listening to David Crowder and writing from bed.

I can't believe I didn't even write about the youth pastors' retreat because HELLO! It changed my life. Yeah, in some small ways but Z and I had so much fun and hung out with such cool people. We just really received much needed refreshing and were able to spend some good, quality time together. And we stayed at this AWESOME hotel which was just perfect and beautiful. (As a side note-I would just like to say that I LOVE heated pools.) I'm looking forward to the end of the month because we're attending a live recording at Christ For the Nations Institute for free and may get to stay at the same hotel.

The end of school may translate into a slow time for me at work but it means MAJOR acceleration with youth activities. We're 7 weeks away from our mission trip to D.C. I'm very excited but I'm just praying God will prick the hearts of our church people to support us in our endeavor. Our kids are going to have some amazing opportunities to see what true missions is all about instead of just giving it lip service or throwing money at it like so many people do. I believe this trip will literally change their lives.

We'll also be heading to youth camp in July and having pool parties, overnighters, and all the other fun events that make youth pastoring so "rewarding". Ha! We've got a 30 Hour Famine planned for the upcoming weekend and then 2 weeks after that is Fine Arts competition. Both of which are overnight events but will be fun to attend.  I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time with the kids since my job will allow me that opportunity unlike last summer. Our kids are making some serious spiritual advances and I'm so proud of them and the time Z is pouring into them.

Speaking of Z, he and I are still working on our weight loss. We've both lost 7 pounds and I'm so proud of both us for sticking with it. We didn't get to the gym as much as we'd hoped last week but it's a new day and we should make it this week. Yes, we want to lose weight but we're learning a lot about just living healthfully and making better choices. We're both drinking water exclusively (with a sweet tea thrown in maybe once a week) and overall, just feeling better. With working the weights at the gym, we're also feeling ourselves becoming stronger and toning up our muscles. It's amazing how much better we both feel.

Well, this post is ENTIRELY too long. So sorry but thanks for reading. Hopefully it won't take me so long to update next time. By the way, I didn't even touch on Easter Sunday or our church's building dedication but both were a great success. And you should check out this song I sang for Easter-had me crying by the end of hearing it the first time. Truly, we are the reason He had to die.

Thankful for His sacrifice,
B
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

SB Day 3: Running Fast

Today has been a BUSY day but so productive. I've been able to sleep a bit better although last night I went to bed with a headache-which has become more and more common. Z & I talked last night trying to figure out why I've had a headache almost every day for the past 2 weeks but didn't reach any conclusions and I haven't had one today so we'll see. It's not caffeine because I've still been drinking coffee and I can't really isolate any other reason. It's very frustrating but if I have to, I'll figure it out by trial and error.

Yesterday was spent eating lunch and bowling with the youth. We took 17 of our group and I think everyone had a good time. They are so funny and have such great personalities to be around. Last night we went over to my Grandmother's and had dinner with her-lots of veggies and some chicken. And some VERY tart pink lemonade. Today I've been running errands all day-car oil changed/inspected, bought new pillows for the master bed, bought a bathroom scale & set of strainers, bought some zebra jewelry, took a pair of my shoes & a pair of grandma's shoes to have the heels repaired, went to the post office and am getting ready to go to church and take the kids out to Whataburger. Wow-I'm tired just thinking about all that! I'm also doing laundry and getting things ready for our weekend trip :) I can't wait to get out of town and just enjoy time away from the hectic lives we lead here at home.

Well, that's all I have time for right now but rest assured-after our weekend away, there will definitely be some great updates! Everyone have a fabulous weekend & I'll check back in on Sunday or so...

Blessings,
Bethany

P.S. Healthy eating habits haven't gone completely by the wayside but I have a feeling this weekend isn't going to help things. On the plus side, I am hoping to get some walking in as we trek around the campgrounds. Maybe it will all even out!

SB Day 1: Sleep, Oh How I Miss Thee!

It has been quite the productive 1st day of spring break for me. Although I was up way too late last night, I got up (read-woke up) around 7:45 this morning. I know that's not early to most of you but when it's your 1st day of a week off...HELLO! Sleep, why aren't you my friend???

So I got up and made Z a quick breakfast of cheese eggs & toast-YUM-and then did a few house chores and met him at his office. We ran a few errands and had lunch together and I'm pleased to say that in 7-10 business days, I will officially be Bethany Ann Parker. Let me chase a quick rabbit here...

I've had quite a hangup regarding my name change since Z & I got married. Yes, my new name is Parker but there is a part of me that doesn't want to forget my roots, where I came from, because that's who I am or at least it has made me who I am. My family is a very important reason I am the woman I am today. So this whole name-changing process has me a bit torn. I really hate having to leave out part of my name, really I do. On the plus side, I don't have to change my monogram and I do like that I'm still BAP. :) So Mom, if you're reading, now you know the truth. (And yes, I do know how trivial this is to most people but it's kinda a big deal to me.)

Anyway, the wait time really wasn't bad at the social security office or at the DMV so I was able to finish that up pretty quickly and then come home and try to organize my music library. I have SO much music (read - cds) that I hardly know what to do with them all. But I'm making some progress. Dinner was enchilada casserole that turned out really good. I was quite full from that and some mexican rice (that I make by just adding salsa & taco seasoning to white rice). After my apple I realized that I had done pretty well today considering it's my 1st day of break. Granted, we still have the rest of the week to go but Z is helping me and we're doing well at staying on track.

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow I have several things I want to cross off my spring break list including getting some of my recipes organized and getting my car inspected. We also will be having lunch & bowling with the youth and then heading to Grandmother's for dinner. Looking forward to another busy day...hopefully with a little more sleep.

Night night,
Bethany

SPRING BREAK :)

It is Sunday night of the week of spring break and I am SO thankful! I've been looking forward to this week for a while now and can't wait for all the excitement that is planned. I won't detail it now but how 'bout a little listy-list to share a few upcoming events:

1. Update social security card & DL w/married name :)
2. Workout at least 3 days this week
3. Eat lunch & go bowling w/youth
4. Visit grandma
5. Out to eat for Wednesday youth service
6. Organize/clean the house
7. Start recipe book (collecting & organizing the ones I have)
8. Help Z w/youth stuff
9. Organize Z's office :)
10. Finish editing my grandmother's picture book from her 90th birthday party
11. Clean inside/outside of my car
12. Head to Lakeview for a few days of relaxation & Dallas adventures w/ Z (YAY!)

I've got lots to get done but am so excited. I think this break is exactly why I've been needing to get me a bit more motivated in some departments and I'm SO looking forward to it.

Tonight was a good night of girl time w/the youth group girls from church. We started our small group ministry tonight and ours is called The Refining symbolizing that God is refining us and taking all our impurities and making us pure. Z & I are both SO excited about the direction this ministry is headed and we can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of our teens. They are precious kids and I only pray that they realize how much more the Father loves them than we do. We've had a lot of fun with them lately.

About the healthy living journey... It hasn't been all bad lately-just haven't made as many healthy decisions as I should. Yesterday we celebrated Z's dad's birthday in Rockwall at Gloria's and we all know how I LOVE me some Mexican food! It was the PERFECT day for being down by the lake-mid 60's, sunny w/a breeze-so we ate outside and then walked down by the water. We took some fun photos and then had Coldstone ice cream (where I LOVE the cheesecake & cinnamon mixed). But that plus and a little fruit and a fiber bar was all I had. I definitely need to drink more water and I'm hoping to get my workouts in this week. Some of the girls from youth want to go walk/workout with me so we may try to do that since everyone's off. Overall I feel good and am really proud of Z and myself for being so serious about this. We even gave up PIZZA today to come home and have beef tips and rice. So the health train is still rolling-hopefully it's picking back up after slowing down a little for the weekend.

Well, I better go get a little snack before heading to bed. Busy day tomorrow with all the errands I need to run but looking forward to extra time to sleep :)

Blessings,
Bethany

1 More Day

Just a quick post because I'm super tired tonight (and it's only 9pm-I am such a grandma).

Today has been a decent day-busy at work and didn't feel like myself all day but this afternoon, Z & I took a 1.5 mile walk and I'm feeling much better. Afterward, I made mexican chicken (w/black beans, corn, salsa, & taco seasoning) & rice and we finished off the triple fruit chocolate pudding. I am still very full-should have cut back on my rice portion-and my eyes are getting heavy.

The sounds of crickets outside my door right now has me SO looking forward to spring and the fact that it will be 60+ degrees for the next 10 days here. Even if it's raining, I'm happy for the impending season change. It was so nice to get outside tonight to walk-I really think I just needed some fresh air to shove me out of the 'bleh' mode.

My calorie intake wasn't too bad today and I've had the most physical activity I've had in a while. Z joined the weight loss train too but we're terming it 'healthy living' just so we both stay motivated and don't get to stressed. He's especially fond of reading up on the current life topic and is really enjoying this guy.

So the next few days and coming weeks are sure to be a challenge but I'm so glad to be making this change now and not waiting until after kids come along or my schedule gets too busy. I already have so many excuses not to live healthily, I don't need any help in that front. However, I'm definitely not claiming that I will be at x pounds by x date. I'm taking this whole journey one day at a time and one decision at a time. That's what it's all about right? Better decisions for a better me.

Until next time,
Bethany

P.S. One more day of school 'til spring break and I am ECSTATIC!!!

Bettering BAP

A very important shift has happened in my life over the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure of the precise moment it happened or what even triggered it but I am determined to make it last. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon a blog by Amanda, entitled Another Prior Fat Girl. Don't ask me how I found her because I honestly don't even know but I do know it significantly impacted my life. After I read all of her posts about her dramatic weight loss, I read from her inspiration and friend Jen, the original Prior Fat Girl. These two ladies' amazing journey through their loss of a significant amount of weight coupled with the fact that they are around my age inspired me to again attempt the journey myself. The only difference? This time it seems to have stuck.

In all the prior diet attempts I've made, I reduce the amount of all the things I'm eating and do some cardio exercise. Only 1 of those multiple attempts has ever been successful for me and then I lost about 35 lbs. only to gain it and more back when my disciplined lifestyle ran away to hide for awhile.

But after reading those blogs and seeing the techniques that every day people (like me) use, I truly am inspired. I can't tell you how many things are on my list to try or that I have tried due to the exposure just from those two girls (including but not limited to chicken, bacon artichoke deLite pizza; aluminum water bottles; 45 calorie bread; triple fruit white chocolate pudding; Hungry Girl daily e-mails & cookbook). My eyes have been opened to so much-especially how many calories I was eating (WAY too many) and how the foods I ate so drastically affected my life, mood, relationships, etc.

And now, here I am. I've been tracking my food/calories since February 22, 2010 and have been consciously making better choices in many areas of my life and just plain thinking healthier. Z and I have researched so many healthy options and I can't wait for my next paycheck so I can go to the store and explore them. There are fruits and veggies that I'm dying to give a chance and soups and dairy products I never dreamed about putting in my cart but I can't wait! The really awesome thing is that since I began this journey a little over a week ago, I feel so much better! At first I was a little scared of getting hungry and not being able to fill up but now, I can hardly eat all things I prepare ahead of time.


I start my day with my travel mug of coffee & creamer ('cause I just haven't been able to give that up) and on work days am having a banana by 9am. At 10:15 or so I fill up with either a fiber or nut bar that helps me make it to lunch. So many options are available for lunch-which I eat at 12 or 12:30 but one of my faves is a pb&j on 45 calorie bread with low sugar grape jelly (which I grew up on and has now caused me to not be able to eat regular jelly-FAR too sweet for me). I usually have that with 27 Cheez-its = 1 serving and an apple immediately following or shortly after. Today for lunch I had leftover taco soup from last week that was seasoned perfection and 4 saltine crackers along with my apple. For a snack I may have some peanuts or some chocolate cheerios-which are new & fabulous by the way-if I get hungry around 3pm. By the time I get home-and I bring at least 2 extra snacks home that I didn't eat throughout the day-I'm pretty hungry so I may snack on some light butter popcorn or some carrots and a little honey mustard. For dinner, Z and I usually cook during the week so we'll have MUCH smaller portions than normal of a well-balanced meal and I'm learning the art of low-cal dessert options (like the triple fruit white chocolate pudding I mentioned).

As usual, the hardest place for me to cutback is at restaurants. Like last night, I met one of our youth and her mom at Cheddar's and I REALLY wanted to eat. Not just nibble but EAT. However, I had just walked 1.25 miles and made myself eat carrots and honey mustard (I am not a rabbit fo' sho' y'all) and I surely didn't want to ruin all the progress I had made. So I did what any fat girl trying to be healthy would do: reviewed the menu for something semi-healthy and then ordered the smokehouse burger, no pickles, sauce on the side and no side to go with it. When it came I cut it in half, took off the bottom and then ate that 1/2, 5 of my friends' fries, and 3 onion rings from the appetizer. When I finished, I wasn't bursting at the seams and was kinda tempted to eat the other half but I could definitely tell that if I did, I would be miserable. I even just drank water with my meal-not the sugary sweet tea that I am so fond of. Arriving home, I had an attack of my sweet tooth so I had a small dessert of the triple berry pudding from Monday and drank more water (I had 84 ounces of H20 yesterday).

I was so proud of myself for not giving in and eating too much. I am doing my best to make sure this lifestyle change sticks and even push myself through the processed food aisles at the store faster so I can linger with the fruits and veggies. I am drinking SO MUCH AGUA but my body is finally adjusting to it = I don't have to excuse myself to the restroom every hour anymore. And I am determined to get more exercise in. More and longer walks paired with some Hip Hop Abs (cheesy as it is) and some usage of the exercise ball are my plan of attack. That's what worked in the activity department last time I lost weight and I'm planning to incorporate those into my plan now.

Wow, this is a long post. Sorry-didn't mean to be so verbose but I hope you can see my excitement about getting my body and mind in shape. :) This won't become the focus of my blog but it will impact what I write about so please forgive the ups and downs of this 'BAP on her beat the belly campaign'. Words of encouragement or helpful info are welcome so feel free to throw the comments in and thanks for sticking with me through this journey to a better me. I wanna be a prior fat girl!

Blessings,
Bethany

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Like A Lion...

March has officially arrived sneaking in on February's coattails! And I still haven't disciplined myself enough to write consistently. But onward we go...

The 90th birthday party for grandmother was a huge success! My mom worked her li'l booty off and I think she'd agree that it was worth it.

Everything was delicious and most of it was homemade. And since I did a lot of the decorating, I told mom we should definitely start our own event planning business and offer catering. I think we'd make a good team but neither of us has the cash flow to start it. Needless to say, a good time was had by all and it was great to see all the family.

February seemed to fly by but that was prob'ly because I was sidelined by a hideous head cold for about 2 weeks. Now all of a sudden, it's March. We celebrated the groundbreaking of the school I work for on the 19th of last month and I am super excited that it will be 1 of 2 iSchools in the country. We will be turning people away for sure now and I'm glad to be a part of such an innovative organization (and a place where I will ALWAYS meet my daily quota of hugs-love 'em!).

This past weekend was quite busy for Z & I. After a bit of an itinerary mishap with my mom flying back to NC (dad and brothers drove back last Monday), she stayed with us from Saturday afternoon until this morning. So after a laundry-filled Friday night, we had a low-key youth fundraiser Saturday morning and then headed to get mom from grandma's. After rescheduling flights at the airport, we headed to AT&T to fix Z's phone bill and then on to Sonic for a Low-cal Cherry Limeade (more on that later) and Target where we discovered some great finds! We all laughed a lot and enjoyed just being together.

Yesterday was 2 church services (I sang a solo in the AM & the youth did the PM w/Z preaching), a meet & greet w/the church staff, & a parent meeting for youth members. All went fine but after doing all that plus cleaning up the house in the afternoon, I didn't even make it all the way through Julie & Julia that we rented (such a great movie-very inspiring for a cook). So we hit the sheets around 11.

It's the last week of school before spring break and I CANNOT WAIT! Z & I have some special plans and I am planning to catch up on rest and do some projects around the house. It will be an entire glorious week of getting to do what I want to do. :)

Ok, that's all for now. A new update is coming very soon...and hopefully even more after that but I make no promises.

Blessings,
Bethany

And You Thought I'd Given Up...Again

Nope, I'm still around. Just running as hard and fast as ever. My week has been slammed FULL of chaos and I can happily say that the cure for that was almost 12 hours of sleep last night. And man, did that feel good. As I stated on Monday, having administrators out of the office is no fun (for me, anyway) and seeing as how I had at least one of them out every day, there was a big ol' lack of fun in my office. I was telling my mom the other day that I honestly cannot tell you what happens between 7:30am & 4pm every work day. After 8.5 hours at work with 300+ people relying on me, I can't really remember a single thing that happened. That's sad to not remember over a 1/3 of my day but that's how fast my mind runs. Oh well...

We had moving day at our church today (which sounds really strange to say). They've been in a temporary situation for 2.5 years now and we just got our certificate of occupancy from the city this week so we were finally able to start moving things in. There was much disbelief about how much stuff (aka junk) had been in 5 storage rooms and by the time we left, I was just ready to toss everything into the trash pile (I felt like Niecy from Clean Sweep). But at least the biggest chunk of all that moving/organizing is done. Now if we can just find Z a nice, small desk...

This is so sad but I am pooped so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to say goodbye already. Yes, I'll be back-I'm doing my best to keep y'all posted. So take care until next time! Blessings on you!

~Bethany

P.S. Only 1 more week til Mom & Dad are in town for Grandma's 90th and I CAN'T WAIT!!! Good times to come :)

February, How I Love Thee

It's the evening of the 1st day of one of my favorite months and right now, I'm just thankful I survived it. With all 3 admins gone to an out of town meeting, I am lucky to be alive. 3 MIA admins+240 sad-the-wkend-is-over kids=1 very crazed/drained school secretary. Overall, it was a good day (I've def had worse) and I still love my job. Here is my day in numbers:

22 - the # of kids who needed the nurse (me)
3 - the # of kids who got sent to the principal's office
137,592 - the # of phone calls I answered (at least it felt like it)
5 - the # of people I told about our new school and what we offer
25 - the # of teachers who asked me for something
17 - the # of things I had on my desk at 3pm and had to clear off by 4
0 - the # of breaks I took today
1 - the # of corndogs I ate for lunch (Can I get an amen for corndog day?)
11 - the # of people who tried to 'help' me do my job
8 - the # of times I walked the entire school looking for someone/something
0 - the # of times I'd trade my job to go back to insurance (or most any other profession)

So like I said, all in all I had a decent day.

The weekend turned out quite interesting since Z and I stole away to Lakeview for a few hours. We made it a nice overnight date and minus the bruise on my hip that's bigger than my hand (which I'll spare your eyes from viewing), it was a good getaway.

Side story: I had a little slip up in the shower at the camp grounds Saturday morning that left the aforementioned bruise. Z had gone to his morning meeting and I was getting ready in the cabin (which turned out to be a nice 2 bed/2 bath house). Let's just say that soft water and a tub with no tread on the bottom do not like me, standing on 1 leg getting ready to shave. As soon as I hit the floor of the shower and realized what had happened, I repeated to myself over and over (out loud) "You're ok, you're ok, you're ok". Sometimes you just need to give yourself a little pep talk. So I assessed the situation and came to these conclusions:

1. I had hit my head but was not going to pass out. I willed myself not to pass out because I most certainly was not going to have a camp staffer see the cabin leaking water out of every crevice and find me laying naked in a tub full of water.

2. I had 2 choices, I could either lay there (like I remember from all those Lifetime movies I've watched) and let said staffer find my dead, naked body or I could get myself up and get the shower curtain that I pulled down re-hung and get it together.

I chose the latter. And while my body was definitely not happy about having moved in such a way that it was so unfamiliar with, I am glad I chose to salvage my pride. I didn't have a bruise until about 5 hours later (so I couldn't even prove to Z that I really had fallen until much later) but boy, did it appear when it finally found the surface of my skin. Yes, I am still sore and yes, this bruise will inevitably last until October but by golly, I still have my pride. That is, until the hundreds of you my mother reads this and tells all my friends to check my blog.

Nonetheless, February is one of my favorite months for many reasons.

1. Most years, it has 28 days which means there are 4 perfect weeks and that means the days & dates for February match the days & dates for March.
2. The years it has 29 days just make it that much cooler because what other month gets to add an extra day to itself?
3. My favorite holiday is in February. Valentine's day has always been of utmost importance to me ever since my infatuation with hot pink and royal purple began at the age of 4. I love love and I love sharing gifts of love. Hearts are definitely my thing and I like to think that I can celebrate Valentine's day all month long.
4. Have you seen the cute stuff you can buy at Target & Walmart for V-day? Especially if you wait until February 15th.
5. There is an endless chasm full of heart-shaped things to make at home and I LOVE browsing those options.

As you can tell, February is a favorite month of mine. And this February is one of the best since my family is coming to visit. My Grandmother is turning 90 on February 16th and my mom is throwing a little shindig for her and so the fam is all getting together. Side note: this is my grandmother who picked up her new eyeglasses and then directly went and renewed her driver's license. Watch out. But it will be a fun celebration and I look forward to seeing everyone.

That's all for today, folks. I'm heading to finish some wifely duties and get my tired self in bed. Blessings to you all for a terrific Tuesday!

~BAPP

How do you summarize 6 months???

The answer: You don't.

Instead of trying to recap the past 6 months of my life, I figure I'll settle for the next best thing (at least in my opinion) which is inform you of my daily life. I have really missed writing and being able to express myself but I'm finding little pockets in my day when I can get a few lines written here and there. So here we go again...and I really am gonna try.

The weekend is finally upon us and I couldn't be more ready. Z & I are slipping out of town for a night and heading up to the Assemblies of God campgrounds just outside of Waxahachie. I'm very excited to just be able to get some rest but also to spend some quality time with him in our free little cabin just off the lake. Thank goodness the AG gives every minister 5 free nights a year. I can see this becoming a habit-one that is much needed. We need a little "no cell phones/no church stuff" time and I can't wait! (We're also gonna see his family and I am glad to spend some time with them since we haven't seen them much lately. Plus, Big D is cooking-yum!)

Just as an fyi for any readers other than my mom, I am working full-time for a charter school as the secretary and absolutely love it. I see the kids enough to meet my hug quota every day but also am not trapped with them all day. It was a little overwhelming at first but I've been with them since mid-September and have gotten most all of it under control. Last week was the end of my time with the temp agency that got me in here and I'm so excited to be them full-time now and starting my contract in August. It is such a blessing to go to work every day and not dread it and have the opportunity to be Jesus to little kids. They are so loving and I have SO many funny stories (which I'm sure will end up on the blog)-I am blessed. The hours are great and I have a month off in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week for spring break, and the occasional holiday/flexible hours so it couldn't work better for me and Z as we work with the youth.

Almost 6 months of wedded bliss and things are going splendidly. The occasional clash has occurred but no major battles. (I know, I know-you marriage veterans are screaming "They will come!".) But we have been fortunate enough to have the Lord working for us and through us and have worked through our "opportunities for compromise" quite swimmingly. (And now I am British apparently.) I am so thankful for my husband who loves God and loves me and treats me like a queen. I honestly couldn't ask for better.

As a side note, I have now laced 2 shoes, delivered 1 lunch, dealt with 1 stomachache, 1 toothache, 1 busted lip, conferred with 3 teachers and handled the front office workings and it's not even lunch time. But these days, that's an easy morning.

Until the next adventure,
Bethany

And yes, there will be more of this to come-I forgot how simple and therapeutic it was.