Hi Everyone! My family and I will be spending some much needed time with each other over the 4th of July weekend. Therefore, I will be taking a little blogging break. Be back on Monday ya'll!
Have a great 4th of July!
Tiff~
I stole the post title from my friend Bre's husband who has a blog on his College/Young Adult group website. Tony is a very talented communicator of God's word and he and Bre are friends that we are just completely blessed to have in our circle.
He wrote a post today that I thought really taught him all that women do in order to "keep the home", but he makes us sound so strong:
I’m kind of interested to hear from the girls along with the guys on this one and excuse the Spice Girls flashback but there’s no better title. The last thing I would ever want to do is place myself in a rigid or prejudicial role that assumes “guys work and girls stay home” but my wife and I had talked for years about her being a “mommy” and thus far it has worked out real well. I’ve always been amazed by the way Paul points out a woman’s sensitivity, encouragement, and love in Titus 2:3-4.
Most days I get home from work and my wife stands “barefoot and in the kitchen” always ready to chase around my two year old son. She has a congenial smile on her face, glows as if prepping for a Cosmo-mag shoot, and smells as if running in a field of daisies. I’d say most days I still catch my breath or get that funny pit of the stomach feeling when I see her. But, there towards the end of her pregnancy with baby Peyton things changed slightly. By the time I got home she was kind of tired and actually wanted me to help with dinner.
My natural tendency on these days was to smile sarcastically and run through the skeptical analysis in my head. How hard can it actually be? You sleep in when you want, feed the kid some Cheerios, throw a dvd in, put him down for a nap, and then sleep some more. I mean come on, the world’s nuclear stockpiling and human injustices aren’t exactly being cured here! Four days ago it all changed… The moment a surgeon hacked into Bre and prescribed her 3 weeks of bedrest my world and sense of sanity collapsed as I became mom.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been there before or not, no baby should ever poop tar and that’s just the beginning. Women have this special gift called “multi-tasking” that God never wired into us guys. Let’s be honest sit us down in front of a football game with a drink and remote and we’re about maxed out but somehow girls manage to change diapers, discipline two year olds, cook food, clean the dishes, put away laundry, vaccuum, grocery shop, and still put up with the dude in their life. This doesn’t even take into account their relationship with God or extra “lovin” for their husband. Even writing it makes me tired!
It’s only been four days but I can truly say that I’m overwhelmed. Our house isn’t clean even though I am constantly picking up, we eat lame food even as I’m forever in the kitchen, and Ethan constantly looks like one of the Alabama kids on a 1987 episode of COPS no matter how much I bathe and dress him. So, I have a new found respect for my wife, mothers, and ladies in general who are called to be multi-taskers and have talents far beyond my comprehension…
Bre and I are both so blessed to have husbands who are willing to step in and do some of the dirty work when their wives are incapacitated. I remember after giving birth to Madi, I was in such pain from the episiotomy that I could hardly walk, plus I had horribly swollen feet so I was really forbidden to move a whole lot. My hubby learned to change Madi's diaper before I did, gave her a bath before I did and learned to swaddle Madi in a blanket before I did. He also made dinner, cleaned the house (as Bre says to a guy's standards lol) and took care of me in my emotional state! That is quite a feat!
It is wonderful to hear that we are appreciated, but allow me to let you in on a little secret gentlemen: We aren't all that strong. I have been known to go without a shower the entire day until the hour before my husband comes home...just so I can look like I actually accomplished something. My mother taught me the trick of "neat little piles" so that your house actually looks clean and put together. Make your bed every morning and your bedroom instantly looks cleaner.
I am not a saint, nor am I really that good at multi-tasking. And we NEED you men. There have been days when I see my husband sitting there on the couch after working all day at the church and here I am slaving away, making dinner and trying to keep Madi from putting her fingers on hot stove.....and something snaps! I yell at him to get off his lazy bum and do something. After all, I worked all day too...why should he be the one to relax for a little bit while I continue to work and clean, etc etc.
But really, if I stop for just a moment....we need Dan's income more than we need mine. And he has a lot on his shoulders in regards to providing for his family and making sure that we have food on the table. My hubby often quotes the verse that states "a man who doesn't work is worse than an unbeliever." Ouch! God has placed the responsibility of leadership on our husbands heads....the least we can do is follow our husbands and if it means having to clean the house even if we have had a long day at our own jobs so our husbands can be replenished for another hard days work....so be it. Our husbands will be thankful, as Tony's post shows, when we continually serve them with our gifts and take care of our home so they don't have to. And when you need them, I guarantee they will be there.
So let me say to my husband, Dan, and to every other man who has a family and feels the burden to provide and care for them.....we appreciate all that you do! Thank you for your hard work, your dedication to your family and to the Lord. We NEED YOU!
Blessings,
Tiff~
This is the last time I am going to try and create this specific post. I will try to keep it to a minimum. Dang Typepad. It has crashed on me twice. Aarrrggh!
This weekend = nice. LOL. I got some scrapping done. I made this album for my little Madi:
I would attempt to show you the entire album, but Typepad apparently has a problem with the amount of pictures I showcase on this darn blog...hence the crashing. I used a kit from Keep In Touch shoppe and I am so excited I finally got to rip into it. The colors are definitely up my alley. Very girly.
Sunday night was the beach bonfire for Illuminate. A couple of pictures from the evening.
Madi and sand = completely in her element! LOL!
Dan and some of the gang.
Some girlies from the college group.
It was a blast. Madi and I only stayed for a little bit due to the fact that her bedtime is at 9pm and she would definitely need a bath after playing in that sand. I mean she was practically rolling in it and eating it. Gross! I for one do not really like sand. It drives me nuts and I can't stand the way it feels on my skin.
Oh....and thank you for all of those who prayed for my friend Bre! They had their precious little girl Peyton. She weighed 8 lbs and 12 ounces. They call her their little sumo. Hopefully I will get to meet Peyton soon and with the parents permission will post pics when I can.
That is all for now. I don't want Typepad to crash on me again. lol! Blessings!
Tiff~
Bre will be delivering their baby girl by C-Section. Please pray for Tony, Bre and baby Peyton, that God would have His hand on them and guide the doctors. That they would be able to deliver Peyton with no complications and that they will both be healthy!
Love you guys!
I recently purchased a kit fromKeep In Touch. Gorgeous isn't it! go grab one!
Tiff~
On of my favorite things to do is search the internet, check blogs and find brand new companies to shop at that I never would have found on my own. I love that about blogging. I have found some fabulous finds and I am going to share them with ya'll today.
First up: The talented Heather Bailey. Oh man she makes me swoon. I don't even sew. I don't know how! But I hope to learn with her beautiful fabric and oh so fun projects. Just look at these strawberry pin cushions!
Gorgeous eye candy! Plus, she has a fresh line of Patterned paper and embellishments for the devoted scrapbooker. I hope to pick some of her line up real soon.
Lately, I have been heavily into vintage and shabby chic. I have browsed through different magazines such as Romantic Country magazines and I found this site and shop through a regular read of mine: Sadie Olive owns an online boutique in Southern California, and her stuff is gorgeous. You can definitely get in a lot of trouble there, so browse wisely and with caution. But don't blame me if you end up spending a fortune!
And if you are looking for a fun purse for the summer....look no further than Etsy. I recently requested from my husband this purse from the Pink Lemonade Boutique there. Gorgeous no? I hope to have that purse in my hot little hands soon and in time for my birthday! You can also check out the Funky Bag Lady as well. Great purse shopping there.
Looking for new stamps to try out? Check out the Unity Stamp Co. They just released their new sets last night, so I had to check them out and I am very impressed. So I grabbed just a couple. And if you order in the US, you pay just $5.00 for shipping. Not bad at all! So quick go check them out before they are completely gone. They are great!
Well that is all they new sites I have for right now. So whenever you have time stop by! Have a great day!
Tiff~
I am learning my daughter is quite the ham. And she tries to obtain attention any way she can. Of course, because she is so cute, I am only happy to oblige. Say hello Madi!
Everyone....say hello to Madi =)
I did a little soul-searching like I said I would when it came to finding out what I had deep in my heart. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was hard and hurtful and just plain ugly to see what I kept deep down, harboring and chipping away at my heart. Allow with me to share what my findings were, and perhaps maybe some of you can relate to what I am feeling.
If you remember a previous post I wrote in regards to answering the question "what do you keep deep in your heart." and we had a week to search and answer the question....well I answered it. Here is what I wrote for my assignment:
I believe that anger and distrust are the things hidden deep in my heart. The two ugliest things a woman can have buried there and I have them both. Without diving into details, the last four years have been filled with disappointments and broken promises. While this isn’t a good excuse for harboring such attitudes in my heart, I believe that long ago, these began to take root and have turned into the feelings of anger and inability to trust that I experience today. Quite frankly, because of this it shows up in every aspect of my life, especially in my relationship with the Lord.
While I love the Lord, I can’t help but sometimes feel very disappointed. My relationship with the Lord has been deeply wounded. The message last week spoke of first loving the Lord with all of your heart and then loving your neighbor as yourself. I haven’t exactly loved the Lord as I should, nor have I shown much love for myself or for my neighbor. This attitude of anger definitely plays out in how I treat myself, and how I treat those I love. I find myself lashing out and becoming emotional over the smallest infraction. It has been frustrating for my family and really for me. I can’t even begin to think of what God things, although I am sure it breaks His heart. Prayerfully and with counseling one must make the decision to allow the Lord to work on your heart. I have done so. While this will more than likely be a long process of healing and restoration I can see the Lord’s hand working on me. God will restore my heart and begin healing. That is all I can ask and hope for and I am so thankful that God is a God of second chances (and third and fourth!).
Today when we sat down in our weekly meeting, our dean decided that we should make a list of things that others (or ourselves) could be harboring. She didn't want to call us out and make us share something so personal, but she wanted us to visually see how ugly those traits really are. Are you ready for this list? Believe me, it is ugly:
Selfishness, Anger, Fear, Jealousy, Pride, Critical Spirit, Judgemental, Lack of faith, worry/anxiousness, Shame, Victimized, Defensiveness, Resentfulness, Alarmist, Controlling, Impatient, Distrustful, Laziness, Deceitfulness, Insecure, Gossip.
Ugly isn't it. And that isn't everything. I know we can all think of more attitudes or behaviors that we hold so close, yet what we really should be doing is throwing those things away. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us and change us. To do all things out of love....love for our Heavenly Father and the love our neighbor. And if we look closely at this list, we can easily see that a few of these items are just springboards for other attitudes and feelings.
Want to know what mine is? Deep rooted Anger and distrust, but I also have a critical spirit, worried, insecure, impatient, selfish and full of pride. I could also be controlling if I felt that I had to "make" someone do something the way I want it done.
And all of these items go again what scripture clearly says about the Fruit of the Spirit. Those attitudes are the exact opposite of the Fruit of the Spirit.
Many times I will tell myself that I have got this whole Christian walk thing down. That I am pretty good. And on the outside I probably look like I have it all together. But don't be fooled. You only see a tip of the iceburg. Underneath is a large mass of hurt, anger and feelings of mistrust that I must allow the Lord to work through. To chip away at the ugliness that is in my heart and to create a revived soul. One who will seek first His kingdom, allowing things to fall into place, into His timing.
This assignment was hard, because I didn't really want to admit this to myself. But you will be happy to know that God has begun a work in me...as He always does. Our next assignment from the dean is to search God's word and find scriptures that speak about those listed above, and what we are to do with them or God will deal with them. Talk about a challenge!
I will continue to post about this. But thank you readers for being willing to provide such encouragement and help throughout this. I love that...and that is why I feel so comfortable to blog about my journey with the Lord.
Blessings to each of you!
Tiff~
Trying to post a picture of a card I made this weekend. I was able to upload it to MySpace....
YES!!!! It works!!!!!!! Enjoy folks!
This weekend flew! I feel as if I had so much to do and not enough time to do it all. I guess that is just how it is going to be for awhile. Our family is still trying to get into routine after coming home from vacation last week. I did manage to get all the laundry done. Now I just have to focus on cleaning the house. Speaking of my house, I absolutely hate my vacuum. I want to throw that thing over the balcony and spend the $500 or so for a Dyson. Our current vacuum sucks up nothing! But enough about that. How about I update ya'll on my weekend!
Let's start with Friday. I originally had plans to go to the movies with my friend Michelle. However; we had to reschedule due to a couple of the gals not feeling well. Dan wanted to hang out with his friend that evening but that didn't work out either. Soooo....Dan and I got a date night! Woo Hoo!!!!! We first went to Chili's for dinner and then we headed over to the movie theater to watch The Love Guru. And seriously, the Love Guru sucked. I just didn't think it was that funny. I just don't understand why you have to go completely dirty in your jokes in order to be funny. Dan wasn't to thrilled with it either. We kind of expected it to be that way, but I think we really (naively) hoped it would have been less crude. Oh well. We did have a good time together. Everytime we go to the movies together, we ALWAYS have to buy popcorn, coke and some candy. It is our thing. We know it costs an arm and a leg, but we don't care. We are just giddy we are alone and without an adorable 2 year old on our arm asking us for a billion things at once. LOL!
Can you see the giddiness? LOL!
Then Saturday, we didn't really do a whole lot. We just hung out at home because quite frankly it was really too hot to be outside. And Dan had to clear out some of the boxes in our bedroom so that I could start decorating it. We have lived there for almost a year and it is still isn't finished! Ay! I have a lot of work to do. I did however sneak a picture of Madi napping.
She is no longer sleeping in her crib, but I think I might buy her very own toddler bed and some new bedding. That way she can feel like her bed is her very own and she will enjoy sleeping in it.
Then on Sunday Madi and I headed to the pool!
Her new crocs that Daddy bought her. She loves them. Personally, those shoes are ugly, but kids seem to love them!
She is a ham!
Later that afternoon while Madi was taking a nap, I thought I would steal Stephanie Howell's idea and make Madi her own hair clips.
I was pretty proud of myself. It was a lot of fun! I had so many flowers and buttons and jewels that I just needed to use them. They are quite girly and Madi loved them!
I also made a card using the Studio Calico June kit although I am having trouble uploading it on here. I can't even upload it into photobucket, so the file may be corrupted. I hate that!
Anyway, that is all for now. Hope to write later!
Tiff~
