Things I Love Thursday 4.30.09

I've been a little MIA for the past few weeks. Looking back at my calendar, I'm not really sure why...maybe a little busy, maybe just not feeling the blogging mood. At any rate, I'm back (I guess) and ready to roll out another "Things I Love Thursday" post.

Being the music lover that I am, people often ask a question to which there is no answer: "What's your favorite song of all time?" Last week, I was getting bored with the playlists on my iPod, so I decided that I'd make a playlist of all my absolute favorite songs. The only criteria was that I had to love the song so much, that I wouldn't skip over it when it played. And if I didn't know I liked music before, I definitely know now, because FIVE HUNDRED songs (or 26 hours worth of music) later, the play list was complete! I really couldn't believe it, but thought I'd test myself by playing the playlist and seeing how long it would take before I started skipping songs. I'm on song 232 and still haven't skipped anything...not because I felt like I was being challenged to love all those songs, doggonne it, but because I really do love all that music! But, I think the thing I love the most is the variety in which that playlist contains. I have it on shuffle so that the genres and artists are all mixed up. I love when a song such as "Revelation Song" by Kari Jobe offers such an intense moment for worship comes on and then is followed by "Fishin' In the Dark" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. After every song, there's a brief moment when I almost hold my breath to see what's gonna happen next and it usually causes me to laugh out loud!

So, the next time someone asks what my favorite song is, maybe I'll start that playlist, hand them my iPod, and tell them I'll see them in 26 hours.

New Phones

Thanks to Verizon's "new every two" promotion, we are the proud owners of new phones! Marty got the new LG Chocolate 3 in Black. And I currently have the cutest phone I've ever owned. I used to have the LG Voyager (touch screen). At first I really liked it because it was neat and fun and new...and then it was just bulky and somewhat annoying at times (like when it would get unlocked in my purse and surf the web for hours at a time and run up our bill). So, I was more than ready to get back to the basics and go with a good ol' flip phone again. I got the new Nokia Intrigue with Hot Pink Keypad. And here she is:


I'm a huge fan of the pink and the cute little flower...if ever a phone could be "so me", this is it! I'd never owned a Nokia before, so I was a little skeptical. However, so far, I'm really impressed. It's taking some time to get used to having actual buttons to push again, but overall, I LOVE IT!

Extreme Blog Makeover

Thanks to some FABULOUS work by Kristi's Blog Design my blog makeover is complete! Brooke & Katrina gave me a gift certificate for Kristi's for my birthday and I couldn't be happier with the results! From the butterlflies to the fonts to the colors, I LOVE IT!! Hope you like it too! Check out Kristi's site for some more of her AMAZING work!

Things I Love Thursday 4.9.09

I love Easter candy. Spring time offers up the most delicious of all candies and with that comes falling off the eating well bandwagon. The sugary goodness inside a Cadbury bunny egg makes my mouth water. Robin Eggs and Whopper Eggs and Chocolate Eggs in pretty pastel colors really do need me to eat them. And let me just tell you right now...nothing, and I mean NOTHING will keep me from a big fat Reese's Egg. Holy Moses those things are good. I swear they use different peanut butter in those. It's the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate and it is GOOO-OOOOD!

And while I do love all those things, I can say with certainty that the one Easter candy that I DO NOT love is Jelly Beans (unless they are Jelly Bellys). I've had one too many bad experiences where I picked up a licorice flavored one without realizing it and I could vomit just thinking about it.

Happy Easter, everyone! Celebrate that Jesus is alive...and have yourself some yumm-o Easter goodies :)

Down To One

If you know me, then you know that I'm ALWAYS busy. I'm often very relieved that I don't have a 40 hour/week job as I'm sure I would never get time to sleep or eat. There were times when I was working 3-4 small jobs at once (none of them more then 10 hours a week) and as work in those jobs slowly began to fizzle, I found myself just as busy as ever. Maybe the world can't grasp the concept that work-from-home-wife does not equal full-time-soap-opera-watcher-and-bon-bon-eater. So I began to say "no" for the first time in my life. I even scheduled "NO!" days on my calendar...I had at least one of those a week and at least one "NO!" weekend a month. And slowly, but surely, my calendar began to clear. I found myself, FINALLY, only working 2 days a week (for the Edwards') and even had entire days when I could just do things that I wanted to do. I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything for anyone else. I was making a little extra money, had time for myself and was finally really satisfied with how my time was being spent.

And here I am on my first afternoon of being unemployed. Due to the current economic status, the luxury of a part-time nanny was one that the Edwards' could no longer afford. Today as little Yannick (who is 4 now) came up to me before nap and thanked me for making his bed so pretty (which pretty much equals me making the bed and putting all his animals on it) I knew for sure that I'd miss them like crazy. While I know we'll see them occassionally, it will definitely be different when I don't get to see them twice a week.

So now what? Do I look for another job? Wait a minute...don't I already have a job? Ummm, yeah I do. In all the chaos that has consumed my calendar for the past year, I would often forget that my most important job is being a stay at home wife. Yes, that means cleaning and laundry and doing dishes and organizing (which are mostly somewhat fun things...well, for me anyway!) but it also means creating a home for us that is a loving place to be. It means having time to use the creativity and talent that God has blessed me with, so that I can bless others. But I think that most important thing that it means is that I get to do the things for me that I need to do to be the best wife I can be to the man that God has given me. So, I'm not "employed" in the sense that I get a paycheck and have benefits and get vacation time. But, I'm down to one "job" and it's probably one of the most important ones I'll ever have.

Things I Love Thursday 4.2.09

I love the annual girls' weekend in Pigeon Forge! Some girlfriends from college and I get together every year to guarantee that we stay connected. Sure, we stay connected via facebook and e-mail and maybe a few visits throughout the year. However, there is nothing like being stranded in a cabin or condo for the weekend to eat and fellowship and watch movies and eat some more! This is a time when we get to truly dig deep and find out what's REALLY going on in each other's lives. We are certain that God has blessed us with these friendship and we deem it more than necessary to cultivate them.

This weekend, we're looking forward to some good food, good times together and rarely getting out of our pajamas! According to Proverbs 27:9, "a sweet friendship refreshes the soul" and I couldn't agree more! Hope to have tons of pictures to share next week!

Happy April!