The Best Laid Plans

As I type this, there is a moving crew at my house hauling all of our possessions onto an enormous semi parked in front of our driveway.  My husband is there "supervising" and making sure that all goes according to plan.  Because, you see, plans are so important.

That's the funny thing about plans, isn't it?  Crazy Type A people like me live and die by a plan, but we often need little reminders that the world is chaotic and that when it comes right down to it, we can plan all we want, but things are operating on the itinerary of someone much more powerful.

For example, I planned the next several days down to pretty much every detail.  We pack up, move out, scrub the place down, close on one house in the morning and another in the afternoon, move in, and move on with life.  Done.

Well, not so much.

It's looking like some kind of delay in underwriting is going to push back our closing on the new house.  Now, I realize that this isn't the end of the world as I know it.  Instead of closing on Monday afternoon and moving in on Tuesday, it's looking like we might be closing on Tuesday and moving in on Wednesday.  In the grand scheme of things, this is not all that big of a deal.

But it messes up my plan.  I hate it when my plan gets messed up.  It irks me.

Know what else I hate?

When you go through all the boxes you can reach under your bed just to make sure there is nothing...ummmm......embarassing left behind for the movers to discover when they clear the room only to get a text message from your husband with a photo of what they just found when they moved the bed frame. 

No, I'm not going to tell you what it was.  Just know that I just about DIED.  I'm just going to have to chalk that one up to God having a sense of humor.

As for plans being messed up, I'm going to rest on these scriptures I studied recently:

"We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer."  Proverbs 16:1 (NLT)

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" Psalm 27:14 (ESV)

Happy Moving Day! 

Project Life Tuesday - Week 30

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! This is my third year of doing Project Life and I have found it to be so beneficial to have this post planned every week because then I have a standing deadline to get my photos done!  Some weeks might have more photos than others, some weeks will be missing days, but the goal remains a simple one: To provide a glimpse of our life and preserve it.  This isn't meant to be stressful.  It's a wonderful way to simplify scrapbooking and memory keeping.

If you're looking for inspiration on what others are doing with their Project Life, you can check out my board on Pinterest and be sure to link up on The Mom Creative!

Click on any photo to view it larger!

This was a fun week! 

Left Side:

What a wild week!  On this page, I document hitting my goal weight, serving my jury duty, and some delicious photos of my sweet Thomas.

The top photo slot gets my before and after photos from the day I hit my goal weight!  I did continue to drop a couple more pounds after that weigh-in, but I was so thrilled to hit the number I had been working toward for more than 7 months. 

This Totally Tweeting This! card worked perfectly for my little snippet from the jury assembly room on Monday morning. 

And just look at that sweet baby.  I just love him so much!

Design J:

I busted out a new page protector from the recent plastics release to document my trip to Living Proof Live in Moline, IL to see Beth Moore speak.  It was an incredible experience!

Right Page:

I documented a pretty nasty owie on Micah's face, a very tired little Thomas, and the start of the Olympic games!

I used a screen shot from the NBC Olympics app on my phone to create the card on the far right.  I added the text in Photoshop Elements.

Every passing week gets more and more busy as we approach our moving date!  Things are going to get interesting soon.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Moving Week!

This is the week.  Over the next few days, we are going to pack up everything we own and move out of our first home.  It's certainly been a long time coming, so now that this transition is fully upon me, I am so excited!

It certainly would help if I didn't feel as sick as I do though.  Over the past couple days, I have developed a nasty cold and I feel just miserable.  Stuffed up, terrible chest cough, sleeplessness, aches, and a nasty upset stomach.  Perfect timing, huh? 

Anyway, the blog will likely be quiet for a little while.  Our wireless is getting disconnected on Thursday and we are moving out on Friday.  We're staying with my in-laws for a few days while we are in between houses, so I will try my best to check in during that time.  At this point, I don't know yet when we will be getting our Internet hooked up at the new house, so it's hard to say when I'll be able to reconnect on the blog.  I will be checking in via Twitter and Instagram though!   

Have a wonderful week and I'm so excited for the new adventure our family is about to take! 

Exhausted.

Perhaps it is just best I let this video speak for itself.

Enjoy.

Thomas - 11 Months

Well, hello there handsome boy!!

My baby Thomas is eleven months old now.  Yes, I realize I am more than just a little late with this post.  I'm doing the best I can at the moment!

What's going on with you, sweet boy?  You are TEETHING something fierce. 

Thomas only has 2 teeth on the bottom right now, but he has two teeth on top that have just broken through the gum surface and has at least FIVE more that are threatening to burst forth into daylight at any moment.  As you can imagine, this has made Thomas more than just a little fussy.  He's not eating as well as usual, his sleeping is a bit more erratic, and he is far more interested in being held and carried around all day than being set down to play.  Kind of a tough spot to be in, considering our current situation.

He had a checkup a couple weeks ago that put him in the 80% for height and 75% for weight, so he's still a pretty big dude!  He weighed in at 23 pounds, 10 ounces!

Some of his 12 month sized clothing is starting to be too small so we are gradually transitioning into the 18 month stuff.  Thankfully, his sizing has been matching up pretty well season-wise so he can reuse the majority of his big brothers' clothes.  Life saver!

His vocabulary still mostly consists of "Heh-deh" and "Ba bah bah bah," but he is capable of saying "Dada" and "Mama" if he so chooses. 

Thomas wants to walk. I do not want him to walk yet.  His brothers and father are encouraging him to walk.  Conflict ensues.

More than anything else, this boy is loved fiercely.  He gets kissed and snuggled and loved on all day long.  He's curious, inquisitive, and energetic.  He exhausts me.  But I love it.

Happy almost birthday Thomas!!

Staring Down the Barrel

Today is my 29th birthday.  No, seriously it is!  This isn't one of those "I turned 30 three years ago, but I still tell people I'm 29" things! 

To celebrate, I am going to a job interview and then setting up for a garage sale.  I know, I know.  You only wish you could party like me.

I'm so blessed.

This year has been downright incredible.

There have been so many changes, overhauls, and turning points that I can't even count them all.  God is working some serious projects in my family right now and it's really pretty amazing to be along for the ride.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

By the way, my 27 year old self would be sooooo jealous to see the butt on my 29 year old self.  Booyah!!! 

P.S.  Wish me luck at this job interview.  I tend to get a bit prone to panic attacks in this situation.  No joke.

P.P.S.  I'm still in mourning that I broke the blog. 

I Broke the Blog

In a hair-brained moment of stupidity and craziness, I deleted my Disqus account.  For those of you know aren't familiar, Disqus is the program I have been using for my comments for a long, long time.  I started to get frustrated with it and decided to just go back to the default Blogger system of commenting for a while.

I found out too late that deleting my account would wipe out all my comments from the past.

Every comment.....gone.

Every. Single. One.

This sucks, yo. 

Please join me in a moment of silence for my lost comments.

Project Life Tuesday - Weeks 28 and 29!

Hello and welcome to Project Life Tuesday! This is my third year of doing Project Life and I have found it to be so beneficial to have this post planned every week because then I have a standing deadline to get my photos done!  Some weeks might have more photos than others, some weeks will be missing days, but the goal remains a simple one: To provide a glimpse of our life and preserve it.  This isn't meant to be stressful.  It's a wonderful way to simplify scrapbooking and memory keeping.

If you're looking for inspiration on what others are doing with their Project Life, you can check out my board on Pinterest and be sure to link up on The Mom Creative!

Click on any photo to view it larger!

It's a 2-fer here on Project Life Tuesday this week!  Woohoo!!!  I'm starting to get caught up on the blog posts, but still find myself falling behind a bit on the actual album.  I'm still taking photos like a crazy person and still trying to keep track in my computer folders, but the actual printing and assembling is falling to the side a bit.  Must get back on track soon!

WEEK 28

There is going to be a freakish influx of iPhone photos now because, as you can see, I crossed over to the world of Apple this week and got a 4s.  It's been fun to play with and I am OBSESSED with the camera apps on this thing!

Left Page:

Shot of my Bible study journal, the cookies that sold our house, my new iPhone 4s, email screenshot from our realtor, two scary Spidermen. 

Right Page:

Fun with Instagram and the front-facing camera, #shereadstruth, corn on the cob, ice cream, new Gussy treats, and AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!

And that's when things got REALLY crazy....

WEEK 29

This week was all about getting our ducks in a row and pulling the trigger on finding a new home.  We left the kids with my mom for 3 days and headed about 2 hours east to go house hunting.  I only brought my iPhone on our trip, so this week is 100% iPhone photos.

Left Page:

Thomas' checkup (healthy boy!), saying goodbye to our beloved doctor, stuffed animal pals, Bible study, trusty Accord hits 200,000 miles, and we finally get some rain!

Right Page:

This side is all about our house hunting trip and a few of the highlights, including a photo collage in the lower left corner of our new home! (I blurred out our new address for security reasons.)

And there you go!  Two more weeks in the book and done.  Trying to get caught up a little at a time!  Hope you enjoy!

And just for funsies, here's a little sneak peek at next week.

The Countdown

In a mere 10 days, a moving company will descend on our house and pack up our entire house.  As I look around me, I am still just stupefied at everything that I have to do yet to prepare for this transition!  Oh goodness.  So much purging, sorting, and packing has to get done!!

Add in all the time-consuming work that has to happen around here with all the arrangements that must be made (coordinating funds/closings for both houses with the bank, canceling utility services and scheduling new ones, finding a new doctor, etc.) and it makes for a pretty chaotic world right now. 

What's really funny is that Evan and I are already having heated discussions about what things should and shouldn't go in the new house and where particular items should go.  For example, I am of the opinion that we should mount our smaller flat screen TV on the living room wall so it doesn't dominate the room and take over focus from the fireplace.  I'm so excited to have a fireplace!!!  In typical guy fashion, he is convinced that we should keep the larger 42" TV in the living room, fireplace be darned.

Men.

So, this is the way things are shaking out for the next couple weeks.  This week is about purging, packing, cleaning, going to a job interview, and holding a moving sale.  I have a kind of farewell party at the end of the week that I'm really excited about, but I'm not looking forward to my last weekend of work at the restaurant I've loved working at for the last six years.  Next week will be crunch time.  Frenzied packing, intense scrubbing, and trying not to lose my mind.  The end of next week will culminate in the movers coming to pack up our house and move us out.  Then we'll be living in my in-laws' basement for the next few days until we close on our new home! 

Craziness. 

Anywho.....my goal is to whip together a Project Life Tuesday post for tomorrow.  Not sure how successful I will be.  Keep your fingers crossed!!

The countdown is on.

Project Life Tuesday - Week 27

Surprise!  I bet you thought I'd totally forgotten about Project Life Tuesday, didn't you?  Oh ye of little faith.  :)

I may have fallen behind a bit, but I am far from out of this game.  I love this project way too much to give up on it because it has become an absolutely essential part of memory keeping in my world. 

If you're looking for inspiration on what others are doing with their Project Life, you can check out my board on Pinterest and be sure to link up on The Mom Creative!

Click on any photo to view it larger!

Ok, let's take a trip back to the beginning of July, shall we?  Please forgive my horrific photos of my layouts this week.  I had just terrible lighting to work with, so I just had to get it done, you know? 

The majority of the photos from this week were from our two days with family for the 4th of July.  In fact, the only photos NOT from the holiday are the first two on the left page. 

It was so so so HOT this week.  I had to include a screen shot of the weather because we in Wisconsin are just not used to seeing highs of 106 degrees.  It's just downright WRONG, kids. 

And on the right page, I just kept things simple again and tried to include mostly just photos without a lot of fluff. 

Look at all those red faces!

Not a ton of photos of this week's layout because there wasn't a lot of extras to show off, but I'm just happy to have something ready to post on Tuesday!  God willing, I'll have something next week too, but I suppose time will tell.  Just for fun, here's a sneak peek.

Happy Tuesday!





This, That, and Another Thing

It's a good night.  I'm watching Olympic gymnastics, the boys are asleep (I think), Evan is out on a walk, and I just ate an ice cream sandwich.  No better moment than the present to blog!

I do still need to go through the photos of the three weeks of Project Life layouts I assembled the other night and try to throw together a post for tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'm going to pull it off.  I'm already feeling slightly guilty that I didn't go out for a run tonight, but I'm rationalizing it with the fact that I ran my personal best for distance last night of just over 4 miles.

Know what's funny?  I'm at the point now in my weight loss journey that I'm running not so much to keep losing weight, but to maintain my dessert habit.  :)

Oh goodness.  I really need to update you all on my weight.  That's a post on its own.  Patience, young Jedi.

Let's talk about Thomas.  He just turned 11 months old and this child is teething.  And by teething I mean he is TEETHING.  My little overachiever is cutting a bare minimum of FIVE TEETH right now.  Holy Hannah.  I love that little booger, but this is making for a rough go of things.  He struggles to sleep, struggles to eat, and spends a good deal of his day crying and wanting me to hold him all. day. long. 

Thankfully, he's pretty adorable so I'm able to overlook all that other stuff.  Mostly.  :)

In other news, I have been stressed out.  As you know, we've been in the trenches of selling our house, buying our new house, inspections, appraisals, spending oodles of money, and yes.....still showings.  It's been a whirlwind that just keeps coming!  In the midst of all this, I found myself feeling super duper tired.  And moody.  Irritable.  Short tempered.  And hungry.  Seriously, there were several days there where I just wanted to eat and eat and eat....

Uh oh.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

In a strange twist of events, I found myself setting the timer for 3 minutes and saying a little prayer that.....this time.....it wouldn't be positive.

I ran into the living room, waved that stick around, and proudly announced, "Turns out I'm just hungry and stressed!  Woohooo!!!"

So here we are, 3 weeks away from the closing date on both houses.  I have a few days less than that to empty this house of its current contents and scrub it clean of all the marks we have left on it.  I've started slow considering that we have still been holding showings even after accepting an offer....and then another offer.  Yup, we're actually under contract with TWO buyers.  That's a whole blog post too, folks.  I really should write this stuff down.

Anyway, I've started doing some purging and organizing to try to slim down the volume of our stuff and put a dent in the packing.  So far, this is really the highlight of my efforts:

Yup, that's pretty much it.  I have a lot to do. 

On that note, I suppose I should probably get to it, huh?  Until next time.....