a me date

isn't summer lovely?

kids are home. it's hot. you're a servant for days without rest. it's hot. you just got to the best part of your book and you hear  "MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM" gah! you put the book down and ask why "WHY can't you just get along with your brother?"

ok enough of that
this post isn't meant to be ho hum it's meant to be fun.

and for the record i really do love my kids to be home. 
it's just that sometimes being on all day everyday gets the best of me and i have a melt down.(just keeping it real)

on friday my husband was off. he was busy with something and each of the boys were busy with something else and i realized i was just waiting around for something to happen.

how silly of me. 

so i decided that before any bombs went off and let me tell you in a house full of males they are liable to i'd better leave.

i grabbed my key and purse and booked it out the door.

i went on a me date. 

i did the things that i wanted to do that nobody in this house enjoys doing but me.

thrift stores

antique stores 

just me 

alone with my thoughts

looking a beautiful treasures

no interruptions

it was heaven 

i saw this display and i really thought for a second that i was in heaven. everything was so dainty and sweet. oh so sweet. 

Oooooooh if i had a daughter...

i also had this because you know calories are free on a me date. 

i encourage everyone to go on a me date it's good for the soul.

it's all about balance. ha!

what do you for yourself in an 

attempt at keeping your sanity? 

linking up here

procrastination

is like my biggest problem...

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more often than not i am scrambling at the very last minute to get things done, and while i'm doing that i start freaking out on everyone in my family. Not good.  
so today i want to know how you get motivated to get things done. even though i am getting better, i still have TONS of room for improvement.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."Ephesians 5:15-17
i read this today and bam it hit me like a ton of brick i don't want to be a fool. 
i hope your day is wonderful and productive all the while giving glory to God!

WOOOT P-SHAW!!!!

weird title right?

{via}

it was a text that i got from one of my favorite friends today.

you see,  i say holla! like 97 thousand times a day. with enthusiasm. 

i have said this daily for at least the last 4 years. 

i know i should find a new word...

 NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

most evr' one after 4+ years, now ignores my 

HOLLA{S}!!!!

so you can imagine my excitement when she responded with 

wooot p-shaw

i may or may not have gotten teary eyed.

i immediately text her and said
i love you!!! you know that right. 
evr' one blows off my holla's.
you made my day!!!


to which she replied
LOL! & U just made mine. 
XOXO


which got me thinking. i don't let my friends know often enough how much the mean to me.
and how thankful i am to have each and everyone of them in my life.
and that they each have a special spot in my heart that belongs to only them.
i really need to let them know more often.


so today i will start with you,  my readers.


thank you for taking time out of your day to read this here blog.
it means the world to me. each comment you leave brings a smile to my face. if i could i'd invite you all over for tea and a game of rummy i don't know how to play bridge. 
xxO

today send your friends a sweet note telling them how much they mean to you.ok?!OK!
speaking of tea, sarah we totally need to dress like this for our tea on the 2nd. how fun would that be?

sparkle & shine

some time yesterday i let a 

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad

attitude 

creep in.

i'm not sure why or how it crept in but 

OH.EM.GEE

it did.

it.was.very.bad

the worst part about it was i had a meeting to go to and other people saw

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad

attitude

embarrassing
and a bad 'tude is not, will not, and does not bring glory to GOD.
i want so badly to glorify HIM daily.

SO today i decided that even if i don't feel well, 

even if something really makes me mad 

even if i'm tired or sad
even when i spill half a cup of hot coffee on myself
(because yeah i just did that)

i'm going to sparkle and shine

{via}

*matthew 5:16

{via} 

will you sparkle and shine with me?

linking up with jami

Love Notes

love [luhv] noun, verb, loved, lov·ing.
1.    a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2.

a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection,as for a parent, child, or friend.

Love is my word for the year i really need to work on showing love in all aspects of my life i.e relationships, (being a "LOVING" wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend) household chores, sunday school. you name something, and i probably need to show more love.

my husband and i had a date night on saturday. it was way over due. december took us by storm as it always does. (i always promise myself it wont) our last "date night" was a weekend in SLO for our 13th anniversary in november (our anniversary is in september). i think that life in general is taking us by storm. everyday is full. 

we got an outback gift card for christmas from my dad and step mom so we decided to go there. by the time we got the boy settled and made it to the restaurant it was close to 7 the wait for 2 was 75 minutes. it was a long day and we were starving. *i have dinner on the table by 5:45 every evening. needless to say we were not waiting. as we were walking out i new just where i wanted to go...

P.F. Changs 

my brother works there. i haven't seen my brother very much in the last 6 months, which is a big change. have i mentioned we lived with my brother for 2.5 years. we parted ways in may. that sorta makes it sound like we parted ways on bad terms. we didn't. his life is just as busy as ours he went back to school to get his teaching credential after deciding that advertising was not his cup of tea. 

i am guilty of not going out of my way to see him. shameful i know. so when he saw us sitting in the bar waiting for a table in his section his smile grew from a smirk to an ear to ear grin. he said "you know this is the first time anyone from our family has ever sat in my section. thanks you guys. this is awesome!" now that made me sad. he's worked there for 2+ years. (i guess that show how often we get out) LOL

i know it may sound silly, but our little tiny act of going to his restaurant for dinner showed him tons of love he was thankful and so were we.

when our bill came, my husband opened the bill fold and on the receipt was a love note  i'm a girl and i'm sappy, so i may have shed a tear or two. it was so sweet and i will cherish it forever.

to the outside world, we grow old. but not brothers and sister. we know each other as we always were. we know each others hearts. we share private family jokes. we remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. we live outside the touch of time.

~ Carla Ortega

do you reach out to your siblings and show them that you love them? 

today give them a call and tell them you do.
or write them a
love note
and send it in the mail. who doesn't love happy mail?
it's easy

5 ticks of your time will mean the world to them.

do everything in love

res·o·lu·tion

 
noun
the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method,    procedure, etc.


obviously there are tons more of definitions for this word, but i liked this one the best. :) i have never ever in my whole made a new years resolution... well besides the ever popular "this year i will lose weight" 


so this year i wrote down a few things that i want to change, incorporate into my life and or start. i am really excited.


last year i decided to choose a bible verse to pray over the course of the year.
here it is:

"be still, and know that i am God."

psalm 46:10

so i guess my unofficial word of 2011 was trust.

i learned how to trust God and i hope that at the end of the day year i showed others how to as well. i am not sure that people always understand the power of prayer, trusting god, or what it means to pray. 

there are only three answers to prayers. 

1. yes

2. not yet

3. i have something better in mind.

recently i was telling my husband and dad that i wish i could find a way to stand on a mountain top with a megaphone that could be heard world wide and tell everyone

"God loves you give him a chance. haven't you read footprints? You are not alone he is carrying you through the bad times and walking with you through the good. Our world is falling apart. it's time we brought the Lord back into our daily lives, back into our schools, back into our government, and stop all this madness. it's time we put our trust as a nation united into GOD." 

they said if i could figure it out they'd stand with me on the mountain. i realized that i do have a tiny hill MY BLOG that i can stand on and shout and hope that someone hears me.

ok so back to 2012. i chose a bible verse to pray over this year too. actually i think the verse chose me. it has been turning up a lot in my day to day over the past month. 

{via}

i think it's perfect. i tend to get grouchy A LOT when my boys are standing in the kitchen and look in the fridge and say 

"mom, can you get me a drink." 

what the what? i can teach them to get what they need on their own...with love. teach with love. do all things with great love. 


it's pretty obvious that this years word is LOVE.

Do you chose a bible verse to pray over for the year or a word of the year? You should. ;)

big girl pants

so here is a truth about me.

i am allergic to confrontation.

i literally get hives from the stress over load.

i have medicine for it.

seriously!

lately when i have been put in these situations

 i have tried to get out of them by ignoring them.

i keep ending up with a big lump in my throat and an ache in my heart.

i am a people pleaser

i think that the GOD has been working on me in this area.

he has been putting me in situations that i can not run from.

wish i could but, it just makes me a coward. 

it's not like it's been anything super bad.

i just need to speak my heart and let people know how i feel.

for the sake of my relationship with people.

 for me i feel like it's easier to just go along with things, and then distance my self from the person that i don't want to confront. 

lately when i have been put in these situations i have tried to get out of them by ignoring them.

i keep ending up with a big lump in my throat and an ache in my heart.

it happened again yesterday. 

i knew that GOD wanted me to speak my heart.
i put on my big girl pants 

i said a prayer and made the dreaded call.

it went a lot better than i expected.

i felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off of my chest.
it was good. 

"do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,

what is good acceptable and perfect."

romans 12:2

how do you handle being put in uncomfortable situations? 

when you have to confront someone or speak a truth what do you do?

i need advice.

slow down

both of my grandparents have passed (on my dad's side)
my grandpa in 2003.
my grandma  in 2007
i miss them terribly.



(look at my dad's pants and flip flops...he's such a clifornian!
my grandma had 5 kids.
all of her 4 boys are in this picture.
i saw my uncle yesterday.
he is standing to the right of my grandpa in this picture.
i couldn't stop starring at him he looks so much like my grandpa.)

ever since they passed holidays have not been the same i hardly see my aunts and uncles anymore.
my dad tries to get everyone together
but life i guess gets too busy.

thanksgiving was my grandma's
 HOLIDAY.
she hosted for our whole family, immediate and extended.
she pulled it off every year without a worry or a care.
naughty kelly would say she made it her &*!^$
you get my drift.

keeping a home & garden always seemed easy for her.
i feel like i didn't take advantage of her knowledge when i could.
but, i am thankful for the things i did slow down for to learn.

life goes too quickly.

this week
slow down
enjoy the holiday
and don't worry
everything always turns out perfectly,
 and the stress you put on yourself is always in vain.

NOW
grab a tissue
&
listen to this song.
it came up randomly this morning.

it is perfect for this week.

my cup.

i have a confession.
my whole life i have been a cup half empty type of gal. i have always played the woe is me card. this is a fact about me that i am not proud of. 

Source: etsy.com via Kelly on Pinterest

about two years ago i decided i needed to change. i had just turned 29. 29. i started to panic. i was not who i thought i would be at 29. heck i never thought i would be 29. i decided it was time to take an active approach and change all the things i didn't like about me. problem was i focused on the outside, not the inside. cause you know if you aren't pretty outside you wont be pretty inside. *rolling my eyes at my stupidity*


i started working out and eating better and lost 18 lbs. i was getting compliments on how good i was looking. and of course i 
ate.it.up.


later that year my husband had to go out of town on business for two months. i was not happy about this and fell apart. i stopped exercising and reverted to my old ways of woe is me. and guess what gained all of the weight plus an extra 10 lbs back over the course of a year. who does that. oh yes...ME!


last year i realized that i still wasn't all that happy. and why not? i am tremendously blessed. i am living the american dream. i am a christian...why wasn't i happy.


here is what it came down to.
i could talk a big game about the lord. but i wasn't actively pursuing a relationship with him. of course i would fall down on my knees when things weren't going my way, but how about the day to day. we prayed with our children everyday, but i was doing it because it was part of the routine not because i wanted to. shameful i know. 


over the last year i have been trying (i saying trying because of course there are days that i fail) to actively pursue a relationship with christ. becuase you really can't have a half full cup without him. i want my cup to remain half full for the rest of my life.

Source: bethquinndesigns.com via Kelly on Pinterest

 the other day while reading my bible i came across this:

 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!  You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, also."  

Matthew 23: 25-26

{via}

this rocked my world. i haven't been able to get it out of my head, nor do i want to. pretty much says it all for me. 


this is how i interpret it. if you are actively pursuing a relationship with the Lord by whole heartedly following the commandments, reading and living in the word, praying and giving thanks, that when we open our mouths love and kindness will pour forth. we will sparkle and shine without even knowing it.
if we are doing it out of routine or because we want to "look good" in front of others inside we will be a hot mess. 


are you actively pursuing a relationship with the Lord?


here's to our cups shining for all to see and when we do fail that we get right back in to the pursuit with the quickness.

Source: sodarling.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

happy tuesday my friends!

November I'm glad your back. I've missed you!

first of all I can't sleep. i kind of hate when that happens. my mind tonight is going in a billion directions. i have so many things to do and say. so, i came to the conclusion that it really is okay that i can't sleep tonight. i'm a stay at home mom and i can go back to bed after drop off if i want to and it'd be okay. especially since i never do. but for future reference kell do.not.take.midol.late.in.the.afternoon.
(sometimes i talk to myself who cares) did you know midol has caffine in it? me either. i never paid attention.

also i have been meaning to do a 365 days of his word link up. i am so sorry that i haven't yet. i will be sending out an email with the date soon. if your interested in joining or would like to read what it's all about you can here. if you'd like to see who is currently participating you can here.

the boys football season will be over in a couple of weeks, which i am a little sad about because i love me some football. but it's also good because we'll get our evenings back.

have i mentioned that i live in my car? i have only had my car for 7 months and i already have 10,912 miles on it.
lawd have mercy!
ooh and it's a lease. woops!

with that all said. NOVEMBER I AM GLAD YOUR BACK! i have missed you so much. i am thankful that the weather has finally started to cool down, and that the leaves are beginning to change color. the purple leaves are my favorite but, the red ones are nice too. hot chocolate tastes magical on crisp fall evening. i look forward to drinking lots.

Source: balancingthedream.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

isn't november the perfect month to precede december with all of it's thankfulness. because you know i sure am thankful that god gave us his only son to save us from our sins. i am in love with that fact.
but seriously who could have better planned THANKSGIVING to fall a month before CHRISTmas than GOD? it's mind blowing right! or not God's AWE-MAZING!

doesn't november get you in the CHRISTmas spirit? it does me.

and for the record i bust out my CHRISTmas tunes every single year on NOVEMBER 1st!!! i told my boys that we'd be listening to CHRISTmas music for at least the next 70 days. to which their response was YES!!!

i am joining in on Rachel's be thankful on paper this season. i am really excited about it. i already have the list of peeps i'm going to write. i seriously could write 100 people a day all month long, and still not write everyone i am thankful for. i truly feel blessed by all the people in my life including each of you bloggy friends.

this NOVEMBER...carpe diem...seize the day

~i love the movie dead poets society don't you~

"real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present."

- Albert Camus

-he's a little weird, but i love this quote-

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Purpose

once again i have stolen my we encourage post from my priest. i've gotten really good at that...yes? i couldn't help it, it's so good. if you didn't know this already I am Eastern Orthodox Christian. it IS Christian. (you wouldn't believe how often i get asked that) I believe in the FATHER the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT. i hope i haven't lost you. i am not trying to push my faith on anyone. i believe God leads us where we need to be. 

please read the article it is so SO good! and i know we have all felt this way. but take heart God is with us every step of the way.

 Abba Poemen said about Abba Pior that every single day he made a fresh beginning. 

 ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT, but most seasoning, elements of life is simply the fine art of getting up every morning, of doing what must be done if for no other reason than that it is our responsibility to do it. To face the elements of the day and keep on going takes a peculiar kind of courage. It is in dailiness that we prove our mettle. And it is not easy. 

The easy thing is to run away from life. Anyone can do it, and everyone at one time or another wants to. Living through the sterile and the fruitless cycles of life earns no medals, carries no honor. The temptation is to put down the hard parts, to disappear from the heat of the day, to escape from the dullness of the daily from its pressures and its dry, barren routines when life looks so much more exciting, so much more rewarding, somewhere else. Few, in the end, ever go, of course. But simply staying where we are because there is nowhere else to go is not the answer. What makes the difference is to stay where we need to be with a sense that dailiness is the real stuff of contemplation. Then the staying is not only bearable; it becomes possible. 

Regularity has been a mark of the spiritual life in every century, in every tradition…. [and constitutes] an ordo of prayer, work, and reading that forms the backbone of every day of the monastic life. Why? Because the spiritual life is meant to be dull? No, because the spiritual life is meant to be constant, meant to be centered. The dailiness of spiritual practices, the practices of daily life, focus the heart and concentrate the mind. Incessant agitation, unending variety constant novelty a torrent of gadgetry a life filled with the strange and the unfamiliar irritate the soul and fragment the inner vision. 

 Dailiness, routine, sameness frees the heart to traffic in more important matters. The desert monastics wove baskets every day of their lives to earn alms for the poor — and, when the baskets went unsold, unbraided them and began again. The purpose was to occupy the body and free the mind. Mindless work — mowing the lawn, sweeping the sidewalk, washing the windows — is not a burden when the mind is full and the heart like a laser beam finds its way to God. We wait for retreats, services, grand gatherings to take us to God, and God is with us all the while. We are just too preoccupied, too disassociated to notice. We run from place to place and thing to thing, we skirt from idea to idea and do not recognize God in the humdrum of the day to day. We give our souls no rest and find them dying from spiritual starvation when we need them most. 

 Dailiness frees us for the things of God. The important thing is to prepare the mind by prayer and reading, to make the routine parts of life periods of reflection, so that God can be present in mechanical moments in conscious ways. Every day the contemplative makes a new beginning, tries again to plumb the meaning of life, disappears again into the heart of God so present in the world around us if we only realize it. To be a contemplative there must be time for God. The routine parts of life, the dull parts of every day — the commute, the cleaning, the cooking, the waiting times — are gifts of space. Then, while the world goes on around us, the thoughts of God take hold within us. Then we are ready for the chaos that comes with variety, with gadgets, with change, with the whirl of a world in motion. 

To be a contemplative we must remember to begin again, day after day, to turn dailiness into time with God. 

Adapted from Joan Chittister, Illuminated Life: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light 

SAINT SOPHIA GREEK ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, WASHINGTON D.C. Friday, July 1, 2011 

pur·pose:

1.

the reason for which something exists or is done, made,used, etc.

we all have been intentionally created by God. What is your purpose? 
to pray to and worship Him who created you.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

Source: Uploaded by user via Kelly on Pinterest

THE JESUS PRAYER, a prayer to pray without ceasing

"Lord Jesus Christ Son Of God Have Mercy On Me A Sinner."

it is better to live alone in the corner of an attic.

have i told you that i have PMDD? it's basically when you have severe PMS i.e. anxiety, depression, irritability,  difficulty concentrating, heart palpitaions, and well the list goes on. PMDD can occur at different points of a woman's cycle. so basically it last a better part of the month for me. as soon as i feel better... boom i'm ovulating and bam here we go again.


i really thought i was crazy for a long long time. i begged the lord for help. one day back in 07' i had a major break down. i called my doctor and bawled on the phone with him for a good hour. he sent me to have blood work done. he thought that my estrogen levels were bottoming out.  turns out my estrogen yo-yo's big time. and i was diagnosed with PMDD. the normal fix for this is birth control pills. i can't take birth control pills because i also have a blood clotting disorder ( i clot to quickly) with some research he found a pill that would work for me. praise Jesus!


i am not here to tell you that you should take a pill and life will be all better. what i am here to tell is that i prayed for a long time for help. i fell like God allowed me to break down when i did and he found me the help i needed. i didn't want to take a pill to "fix" me. it made me feel weak. we take medicine to cure lots of problems why did this bothering me so much?  i told my priest this and he said "sometimes we need to look out side the box for help especially if it is a hormonal imbalance. would the Lord want you to sit here and suffer?  he gave someone the know how to develop something to help people in your situation." 
i don't know why but that made real sense to me.


this isn't really where i wanted to go with this post but this is a truth about me.


this morning when i was reading my bible i read proverbs 21.
here's what stuck out.

9 it is better to live alone in the corner of an attic

than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

19 it is better to live alone in the desert

than with a quarrelsome,

 complaining wife.

and just like that i was humbled. i love how everyday that i pick up my bible i read something that i really REALLY needed to read. God is so GOOD!


i have been snappy and rude the last few days with the love of my life. i could just say "honey it just that time of the month deal with it" but that's not who or what i want to be. i really don't like excuses. it just is what it is and i need to pay attention to whats going on with me and realize that yes i may be feeling these things but i am not going to let it dominate my life or use it as a crutch.  why is it that we take out all of our frustrations on those we love the most.

today i am going to tell him that i love him!


i want to be a proverbs 31 wife to him. he deserves it. it's what God put me here to be.


^{Proverbs 31:10-31
          10} Who can find a virtuous wife? 
      For her worth is far above rubies. 
       ¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her; 
      So he will have no lack of gain. 
       ¹² She does him good and not evil 
      All the days of her life. 
       ¹³ She seeks wool and flax, 
      And willingly works with her hands. 
       ¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships, 
      She brings her food from afar. 
       ¹⁵ She also rises while it is yet night, 
      And provides food for her household, 
      And a portion for her maidservants. 
       ¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; 
      From her profits she plants a vineyard. 
       ¹⁷ She girds herself with strength, 
      And strengthens her arms. 
       ¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandiseis good, 
      And her lamp does not go out by night. 
       ¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff, 
      And her hand holds the spindle. 
       ²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor, 
      Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. 
       ²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household, 
      For all her household is clothed with scarlet. 
       ²² She makes tapestry for herself; 
      Her clothing is fine linen and purple. 
       ²³ Her husband is known in the gates, 
      When he sits among the elders of the land. 
       ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sellsthem,
      And supplies sashes for the merchants. 
       ²⁵ Strength and honor are her clothing;
      She shall rejoice in time to come. 
       ²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom, 
      And on her tongue is the law of kindness. 
       ²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household, 
      And does not eat the bread of idleness. 
       ²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed; 
      Her husband also, and he praises her: 
       ²⁹ “ Many daughters have done well, 
      But you excel them all.” 
       ³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty ispassing, 
      But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. 
       ³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands, 
      And let her own works praise her in the gates.