Sunday, October 30, 2011

New Traditions

Kyle and I carved our first pumpkin together tonight for the first time in 4&1/2 years of marriage. We decided that from now on we will carve a pumpkin every Halloween eve. Fun huh?
I'm looking forward to the seeds drying over the next 24 hours and then I will roast them. Yum!
Hope you've had a great weekend & happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Where there's His will, there's a way.

Where there's His will, there's a way

That's a great little reminder isn't it? This month is the first month in a very long time that I have not felt the urge to sweat the small stuff. I think it's because of this sticky note I came across AND applying the truth of it to my life. Doesn't that above sentence just put it all in perspective? We can't do anything beyond His will and His will for us is for His glory and WHERE HIS WILL is involved there is always a way!! Praise you Jesus!!

"All of my life in every season You are still God I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship."
-Desert Song by Hillsong

Friday, October 28, 2011

Roscoe Plowboys

Since its the last weekend of the month which tends to be our busiest my dad and stepmom offered to keep Kennedy for us. I'm so excited for her because she is enjoying her first ever stay in Rocoe, Texas home of the mighty Plowboys & purple & white. My paternal grandfather or "granddaddy" has been the voice of Plowboy football since my dad played football in the 70's and they all wanted to go watch the last home game he was announcing. Don't worry Kennedy Kate opted to stay out of cold west Texas air and home warm with my Mammie & stepmom Diane. I hear she's having a blast and we are too! My dad said she hasn't cried at all and has been waving hi to everyone to make sure they are watching her. We are looking forward to a wonderful day of working with our team tomorrow and even more to Kennedy's arrival home on Sunday afternoon.
I think breaks are good for everyone and I'm blessed to have family to help when work is a must.
Rocoe, Texas:
Roscoe is a city in Nolan County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,378 at the 2000 census.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Kennedy Kate is 9 Months Old

Kennedy Kate is 29 inches tall, weighs 20.5, and is doing just great! Our little sweet girl is gaining such a personality and I think I like this age the best so far. It is so much fun to see her eyes light up when someone she recognizes walks into the room. It is really fun to see her hands wave in the air and all of the little sounds that she makes. Oh I know I say this a lot but I just LOVE her!

She has still been going to sleep around 9 or 10 and sleeping until 8 0r 9 the next day. Over the last week she has had a few melt downs in the middle of the night where she sits up, screams for about 5 minutes, and then goes right back to sleep. I'm not sure what that is about but I hope she out grows that soon.
  • still just has her 2 middle bottom teeth
  • still in size 3 diapers
  • wears 12-18 month clothes
  • can't find shoes to fit her short/wide feet (any ideas on where to get shoes for that please help)
  • stands and "cruises" along the couch or other furniture or toys within reach
  • LOVES her glow worm, blankie, and thinks it's so funny when I read books to her
  • not so fond of the jumperoo at all anymore. Will be putting that away this weekend
  • is so so so sweet
  • gives kisses and hugs
  • is getting better with a sippy cup but best with a cup
  • eats 2 meals a day and 2 snacks. I need to fit another solid food time in there but she's still taking 3 1 hour naps a day (Im working on cutting out the 5 PM one) and still takes about 4 6 ounce bottles a day.
Kennedy Kate you are a complete joy! I never knew I could love like this and your daddy and I don't know what we did without you. SO SO FUN!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Compensate

compensatekämpənˌsāt|verb1 [ trans. ] recompense (someone) for loss, suffering, or injury, typically by the award of a sum of money : payments were made to farmers tocompensate them for cuts in subsidies.pay (someone) for work performed : he will be richly compensated for his efforts.2 [ intrans. ] ( compensate for) make up for (something unwelcome or unpleasant) by exerting an opposite force or effect : officials have boosted levies to compensate for huge deficits.
*THIS IS WHY MOST PEOPLE DON'T LOSE WEIGHT WHEN THEY ADD EXERCISE TO THEIR DAILY ROUTINE*Huh??? you ask! I'm glad you did: It all boils down to that little word up there: Compensate and that little definition #2 "make up for" "by "exerting an opposite force or effect" Make sense yet? Here's what I'm good at:
My inner actual daily thoughts after running: awesome! I did that!! Whooo hooooo now I can have a cookie or 10.
We are all very very good at compensating and rewarding ourselves. The problem with this is that most of us OVER compensate and end up gaining weight after a long race or daily exercise regimen. This is why when I trained for that marathon in 2009 I gained 10 pounds even though I was working out and running far more than I had ever done in my whole life. My mentality: I ran 10 miles I can eat a whole pizza. with ranch. and that dipping sauce with butter. and have a cookie. and drink 2 classes of milk. and.... None of that was true. or good for me. So when I read in Runner's World magazine about this word compensation I was able to realize the bad habit I had gotten into and push through with better eating decisions. This is also why I chose NOT to run the Austin Distance Challenge this year that I told y'all I would do. I started training and the weight went right back up. My eating habits got worse. The extra weight caused my ankles and knees to be in severe pain with every step and I know I must get my eating under control before I take on that feat. Here's to tackling me :)



Monday, October 24, 2011

False Security

Every day I am amazed at how attached people are to their jobs, benefits, and "security". It's scary really. Every day I am amazed at people who pray for a financial answer but aren't willing to work for it or step outside the "box". Every day I am amazed by people who are highly "educated" & show elitism towards the "lesser". Every single day I'm faced with whiners, complainers, and skeptics. Every single day is full of questions, concerns, and people facing the economic crisis with nothing left to give. But EVERY SINGLE DAY I carry with me, by my side, the God of the universe that conquered all. He is a lamp to my feet in this dark dark world and has called me to LOVE everyone He's placed in my path. My "job" description might be "network marketing" for a company who's mission statement is to, "help others achieve their financial goals and life dreams" but my life and purpose is to show others the way to FULL ON FULL BLOWN SECURITY in CHRIST JESUS. He is all we need. An ever present help in trouble. Don't put your hope in your job or education or money or false security. He is all we need and it's my mission to share Him with every one in my path. Every. Single. Day.

*and thank you Jesus for the leaders I work with who don't complain and are on this mission with us. It's a pleasure!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Whew! Sunday

We woke up at 7:45 to get ready for church and head to our new assignment. We are now co teaching the 18 month old class at BBC 2 Sundays a month. I was a bit nervous but today went great! So we teach from 9:15-10:45 and then head to the sanctuary for worship. it was a fun and refreshing morning that I needed so much! Our pastor started a new series called "Consumed" and today's topic was about worship and pushed us each to take inventory of where our time is spent. I'm going to take personal inventory of my time this week and make worshipping the Lord more of a priority. It's sad that most days the Internet gets a majority of my free time and devotional time gets some or none of that. My relationship with Jesus is so so very important to me and I must live my days like it is.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Parrot Head

Kennedy spent the night at my dads last night so we could go train new teammates in Fredericksburg, TX today. We got back to their house to pick her up and when we walked in the door she waved and said "HI-IIIII" SO PRESH!
She was also wearing my dads Jimmy Buffet hat :) At least she wasn't wearing the "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" one. What a fun day!

Friday, October 21, 2011

What a Dress

My dad bought Kennedy a new dress and Kyle loves it! We have had a fabulous off day from work that consisted of the next highlighted events:
-An exciting weigh in which noted that I only have 9 more pregnancy pounds to lose
-Helping a few friends with several moving boxes
-A pot of chili
-An afternoon nap
-a dinner at Clear Springs (where I did not over eat) with my dad and Kyle and Kennedy and stepmom Diane
- lots and lots of playing with Kennedy
- and bright blue skies with wonderful weather

We are ready and rested for a full weekend ahead.

Can't wait!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Diaper Rash & Doubling

Diaper Rash:
Kennedy has been battling a diaper rash for a day or so so she's been crying when it's time for a diaper change. Poor baby. I'm learning things about being a better parent every day. Like the late night I went to HEB for diapers and the only size 3's available were in the Munchkin brand and I didn't want to go to Wal-Mart AT ALL so I bought them against my better judgment and the next day with butt paste and all my sweet baby girl has a diaper rash that WILL NOT LEAVE. URGG After the run-on sentence trip BACK out to Wal-Mart the next day we have Pampers Cruisers and a little healing butt that you get to read about on this here blog. *sigh* rookie mommy mistake number 234829384

Doubling:
Doubling is a way for people who have partnered with FHTM (our home based business) to double their paycheck. We have had the pleasure of helping people go from single pay to double pay. Yesterday I got a call from a doubling paycheck person in tears because they were so thankful they have stuck with and pushed through the "no's" (we get a lot of those) to be able to pay all of their bills AND HAVE SOME LEFT OVER for the first time in 14 months. Blessing. I never thought I would be in network marketing and a really really never thought I could make a dime in it. I was wrong. I also never thought that I would have the chance to help a lot of other people make money for their families and in this economy that just thrills me.

So the point to this post is to say that I love being a mom and I love my work and I am so very thankful for every up and down and every joy and tear and sacrifice that they bring. I was put here for this purpose and for such a time AS THIS.


Pumpkin Patch

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Skinny Jeans

I need some riding boots to wear with mine but I think Kennedy's look great paired with her striped socks. What fall fashion are you looking forward to wearing now that the weather is cooling off?

We are heading to the pumpkin patch in downtown Buda so I'll catch ya tomorrow with some fun family photos.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Challenged

Everyone needs a good challenge right? That's why I'll be blogging much more regularly for a while. I was reading a blog with Trisha T over a WonderfullyFlawed which stated, "So I've taken a challenge from my friend at www.lisaspence.com to blog for 21 days straight no matter what, to put words to paper every day for 21 days, to write something--anything--long enough to push through the resistance. If she can do it, I can do it, right?" And I happen to think that if Lisa & Trisha can do this so can I and I really want some of you to join me in on this. I have several blogs that I follow and I find myself wanting to read more posts by these authors. My sister-in-law (who is not a blogger but follows The Pioneer Woman, Kelly's Korner, and a few others) told me that she likes to read blogs that post more frequently and not those that just post every now and then and without a schedule and I TOTALLY agree!

What's your opinion?

Hope you liked day 1! Can't wait to see what I'll find to write about. One of my goals is to link up some of my posts and start broadening my blogging horizons.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Look at This

Kennedy went to sleep last night at 8:30pm and slept until 9:30am. I think she was a tired girl.

But look how I found her when I walked in her room this morning:

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Field Trip

We took a stroll to subway today and Kennedy had a blast. I love that we have places to eat within walking distance of our house. She is such a joy to have around.

Coach Childress

My husband Kyle is an amazing coach. I've watched him grow as a person over the last 4 years as we've been building our FHTM business. Today I overheard a phone conversation he was having with a fellow teammate that went like this:
Kyle: don't be so hard on yourself.
D: I know I'm my worst critic
Kyle: you're doing a great job.
D: I don't feel like it I'm terrible at A, B, C, D (alphabet has been used to protect the innocent)
Kyle: if you were a golfer and you hired a caddy and your caddy talked to you the way you talk to yourself. Your caddy said EVERYTHING to you that you say to yourself what would you do?
D: I'd fire my caddy
Kyle: then quit talking yourself out of achieving greatness!

Isn't that good????? I probably need to "fire my caddy" every single day. I'm my worst critic too and I'm real terribly tough on me. I'm starting tomorrow off differently and changing my mind about me.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
"all things work for the good for those who Love the Lord and are called according to His purpose"

We serve a big big God.

Thank you Lord for a husband who leads and is willing to put the work and effort into achieving his goals. I'm blessed to be on his team.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Tumbleweed

Go here first:

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

I absolutely love this idea/concept/lifestyle

I like this one http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/b53/ the best and LOVE that it could be ours for less than $60,000 (I might still have some work to do with Kyle on this)

Y'all know from my project 333 posts that I've (we've) been on a journey for simplicity since the birth of our baby girl. In many ways God has used Kennedy to show me what's really important in life. Since her birth we have sold:
KitchenAid mixer
All of our DVDs (ok we kept 5 we couldn't live without)
About 150 CD's
My Lucchesse boots
4 Coach purses
2 Coach Wristlets
2 Guitars
Our Coffee table
An antique furniture set
2 vintage chairs
A lot of jewelry
Over 200 items of clothing
Over 100 household decorative items
A 2006 Mazda3
And most recently our big screen TV.

I say all that to say this:
Life is better simple. I've been much more productive without that big TV (we still have a small tv upstairs).

Selling these items has allowed us to add more than $2500 to an emergency fund, pay off $3500 in debt, and place more of our attention on what's really important to us in this life. With an extremely important desire to give of our time and money our focus is still to be debt free by Spring (April 2012).

We are asking for prayer and encouragement as we enter this very last leg of our debt snowball marathon. And please keep your "they sold that?!?" gasps to your selves. We've felt like we live in a pressure cooker because of the mountain of debt we've tackled and if you haven't faced close to $100,000 in debt I pray you never will.

So excuse me while I'm focused.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Stay at Home Parents

A lady asked me last night if we really enjoy working together and we looked at each other and laughed. It's the only way my husband and I work. When I taught high school and we were away from each other working separate goals 12 hours a day, we fought all the time. ALL. Our gifts and talents work perfectly together. We don't take our business for granted. I told the lady that this isn't about stay at home moms it's about stay at home parents. It's about living a full time life and working a part time business. It's truly a life with a pay plan.

Sunday, October 2, 2011