Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Mother's Day Recap

This year, due to scheduling conflicts and budget issues, I was unable to see my momma on Mother's day. :( I did not care for this at all and neither did she! I am thinking that next year we will be having a mommy and me trip somewhere to make up for it!

Anyways, A and J made my mother's day very special as they do every year. J had wanted me to get some flowers and plants, so a few weeks ago, we made a trip to l0w3s and bought several plants, flowers and shrubs.

J picked out all the flowers including the pink hydrangea! She then helped me plant the smaller ones!  I am happy to report that my killer thumb hasn't been successful as of yet! :)

My Mother's Day weekend was jam packed with activities! Friday, I went to J's school and had a picnic in the gym with her and her classmates. Then it was off to some appointments and finished the day with a girl scout meeting that night!



Saturday, we walked in the 73rd Annual Portland Strawberry Parade with our troop! It was so fun and the girls all did a great job waving and singing!!!








On Sunday, A and J treated me to j3t's pizza, a brisk walk in the park, a much needed nap and a few homemade gifts from J's school! We also had a couple of  movie nights with Iron Man 2 and Thor.


Overall, I got more love from them than I deserve! I thank God for all of the gifts He has given me. I am truly blessed and extremely grateful for my family and their love!

I hope you had a chance to call, visit, talk to you mom this past weekend. I have several loved ones that weren't able to do so, as their mom's have already made it home to be with Jesus. I pray that those of us who still have their mom's here on earth don't take this time for granted.


KK


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Happy New Year!

Sing it with me "should old aquaintance be forgot...."

What?!?

Yes, I am aware that it is April 11th.

No, I have not lost ALL of my mind, yet!

Ya see, today is a new day. Its the start of a new chapter in my life! No, not preggers yet, but on my way to getting healthy enough to be preggers! :) I have diabetes. It runs all through my family on both sides and I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with J. I am truly thankful that it is manageable through a diet and a couple of pills a day.

So, when A and I decided that J had done enough begging and pleading for a baby brother AND sister,  I went to the doctor recently to get a check up. They did the labs and sent me on my way to patiently wait for the results.

Good news? My A1C has gone down. Bad news? It wasn't enough. I am sitting at 7.4 and the doctor says 'No Baby' till I am at 6.0. Before going to the doctor, I did my research of diabetes and being pregnant. There are some scarey complications that can come up if I don't have it under control before getting pregnant. They even suggests being at an average fasting sugar of 80-100 for six months before hand. Currently my fasting is at 130ish. That translates into going on a strict carb counting, eating more veggies and fruit, exercising as much as possible diet!  So its OUT with the pizza, french fries, cheesecakes, milkshakes and other yummy delicious treats and IN with the good things like apples, grapes, veggie soup, and aerobics!

The goal is to be off of ALL medications and to have the 6.0 that my doctor is looking for. I am also researching for a high risk doctor to help through this as well. I know some of this may be too much info, but I believe that sharing my story will result in advice from others who are in my situation and may even inspire others to get their diabetes together as well!

Got any tips? Recipes? I would love to hear from some of you out there! Comment below and share this posts with your friends!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Did someone say Frazzled?

Last week, I had mentioned that I started a Bible Study with a group of FABULOUS ladies from my church. Its called Victoriously Frazzled Female and let me tell ya, its been a wild ride so far and we are only on Week 2!

This week it talks about releasing control and giving God all of it. I had a tough time struggling with it because like most moms, I am not about to admit that I am a control freak! Everything is just in a particular order that makes sense to myself and other moms...Just ask my husband! LOL
Anyways, as I began the homework for this week, I prayed and asked God to reveal to me what I need to loosen my control over and to let Him take over. Little did I know that the reveal was coming later that night!

It all started with a trip to J's school for a Parent/Teacher Conference. I knew that they were going to raise the issue with J's maturity level. They had been mentioning that since the second day of school! I figure, just give her time and let her get used to things again. Then I started making the excuses that the teacher was too tough, she's an only child, she will blossom into it after Christmas break, and so on and so on.

Her teacher started out the conference telling us how wonderful we had done working with her and her homework. She also mentioned how J is the sweetest child she has ever taught...then there was the BUT! She felt that J's maturity was going to be a major issue next year and we needed to consider holding her back in the Second Grade.

Really?!?! My child? How is that possible? The one who has been bringing home wonderful grades all year and who has improved in her reading skills, would need to be held back?!?! I immediately started thinking there was no way in the world I was going to do that! What about her friends? What about her Girl Scouts? This was not going according to MY plan!
 
I cried all the way home. I was shocked and my mind just started barreling out of control with crazy scenarios and countless questions. It was then my husband asked me a question that I couldn't answer.
How should a Christian react to this? Should we pray about it and leave it to God? Or should we keep turning a blind eye to it and just go with the flow?

It was then that I realized that God revealed what I had asked Him.

As a mother, you plan everything for your child. You set goals for your child and help them to achieve it. But when you are planning/dreaming of how it is going to be, you don't realize that God may have a different plan and if we aren't careful, it can jump up out of no where and that's when you feel like you are losing control! I unfortunately did not plan the little hiccups and this was exactly where I needed to step back and let God take control.

If there is something that you have control over, I pray that you trust Him enough to say "Here ya go, Lord! I know You can do better with this than I can!"

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Buttons and 2x4's

This week I joined a bible study with a group of ladies from my church! I knew from past experience that this was going to get the devil all riled up. You see, when he sees you reading your Bible, telling others about Jesus, and just over all spreading the Love of Jesus far and wide...he has buttons to push. The buttons are different for each person. For me, the devil starts with the marriage button, then moves on to the child button, the finance button, the work button, and just continues till I cave or surrender all to Jesus.

I like to sometimes picture the devil with a game controller and he's just trying to defeat all the levels in my heart and mind. Well, this week, he created and added a new button. It was the "being a stay at home mom" button.

Yes, he knows where to strike and let me tell ya, that button had a punch behind it. It put doubt in my mind, revealed what others close to me thought about the dream, confused me, and well, you get the point. I seriously felt like my dream was getting farther and farther out of my reach.

So tonight while J and A were doing their own thing, I decided I was tired of being cheerful and happy on the outside and self-doubting on the inside. So I turned off the TV and went to my homework for the Bible Study. As I was doing the prep work, which entailed me reading a particular passage in the Good Book, I got my 2x4 upside the head!

Ya see, I am a bit stubborn when it comes to hearing God. Sometimes my heart is so torn and my thoughts are out of control so much that I can't tell if I am hearing Him or hearing my own thoughts. So,  I pray and ask Him to reveal the answer to me like a 2x4 upside the head....

Anyways, back to my bump on the head! The passage was Romans 8:28-39. We were advised by the author to read it slowly and ask God to speak to us directly. As I got to the 32 verse, my eyes filled with tears and it felt as if I couldn't breath because I was so overcome by it. I slowly realized that God used this Bible Study to speak to me about the new button. The verse says 'He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all - how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?'

Think about it...what kind of limits do we set on God and His awesome power? How many times have we prayed and prayed for something but then spoke to others that you doubted it would happen?

I pray that with this verse, I can difuse all of the buttons. As a matter of fact, with this verse, I should remember that regardless of what button is used, God's got control of it all.

KK

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Craving God?

The flu bug made an appearance this week at the homestead and happily it has been defeated! On Tuesday, I had to leave work early to pick up J from school. As I driving, I was listening to my favorite Christian Music station and a commercial for Proverbs 31 Ministries was played. The lady was talking about dieting and how difficult it is to lose weight with all the massive cravings you get during it....but then she asked "are we craving God as much as we are craving the junk food?" Well, this just about blew me off the road! Think about it. How many times have you said "Oh, I would just die for a chance to do this or to have that?" It made me think about how much I long to be a SAHM and I had to ask myself am I craving God more than I am craving my desires? I mean, I listen to Christain Music, take my Bible to work, teach my child about Jesus, you know..all the Christain things to do. But is it a craving? If so, is it a craving to want more from Him or for just Him? Am I yearning to learn more about Him or do I do just enough to remain comfortable?

I just picked up Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst to help me learn more. I will let you know how it turns out! :)

Have a blessed day!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Uh oh...

We've all been there. You are saying to yourself "Well, I did it again." The one thing that you promised that you would never do again. You feel like you have let someone down and you wonder how you can face him or her again. In some cases it may be a promise to a spouse, parent or a sibling that has been broken. But what happens when you feel like you have let God down? The One who continues to bless you regardless of your 'mistakes.' I don't know about you but that is the lowest, loneliest I have ever felt. We tend to think God would give up on us or walk away from us because we "humanize" Him. We feel as if he would react the way our flesh would.

Guess what? There are NO boundaries to His love for you!!! He loves you regardless of your faults and failures!! His love is so powerful, His grace unending and His mercy limitless, that we can't even fathom where it ends!!

So pick yourself up off the floor, stop kicking yourself, and pray! When you feel as if you are headed down that road again, pray that God give you the strength and wisdom to withstand this trial/temptation...and He will Give it to you!

One of my favorite quotes: 'If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it!'

Suggested worship song:

Give me Faith by Elevation Worship

Bridge:
I may be weak
But your spirit's strong in me
My flesh may fail
But my God, You never will

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

My First Week as a Couponer!



All last week I did research on two different things. One was how to set up an Aquarium for J’s birthday and the other was couponing/stock piling.  I am happy to say both subjects were aced! We got her tank set up and have only had one fishy fatality but more about that later.  With the couponing, I searched and read countless blogs/articles on how and where to start. I compiled a To-Do list for the first battle and tried to stay on track the best I could!! 

The first thing most suggested was to inventory your pantry and plan your menu for the week. And I have to say if you don’t stay on task that leads to more mischief, such as re-arranging your pantry and drawers and forgetting to the fam about where you put everything! The next was to look at all sales ads. On Sunday, I poured over all of the ads and came to the conclusion that I could not pass up the 10 for $10 sale at my local grocery store.  I wanted to stock pile a little and get grocery’s to last us for the next two weeks. 

Despite the horrid weather forecast last night, I was able to go grocery shopping! I marched into the store with my head held high and my coupons and calculator at the ready! I was determined to beat the register and not make my husband cry because I went over budget :).  

So with this Mega Sale going on, I was able to stock pile on pasta, paper towels and Capri suns for J. I was successful in coming around $37 under my budget!! Let me tell you the feeling was great! I was wanting to do the WAVE and probably could have tried doing a cartwheel or something else about it…until I realized there were a few essential items I missed. OOOPS! 

Ok, so I am not ready for a reality TV show nor am I ready to give my notice at work. However, the lessons learned from this week will carry over to the next. Have a great one everyone!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Let The Games Begin!!!



I have heard for months about couponing and the up and down hill battles that my friends and family endure each Sunday morning. I have also caught a few glimpses of the reality shows that feature women getting their $1000+ groceries for less than $100! So, I have decided to become one of “those” women!  

Last year when all the hype began, I tried to get into it but totally went about it the wrong way. This time will be different! I have researched stock piling, couponing, bulk ordering, etc.  I have the coupon binder, the many blog subscriptions, a vast selection of friends who are couponing DIVA’S and the determination to be able to only spend $75 at the grocery store every payday! 

As of the end of 2012, we were averaging a $225+ grocery bill…for three people…every two weeks! I believe that in order to achieve my dream of being a SAHM, there are a number of financial steps we have to climb down. One of those big steps is to cut that down significantly. This should be an interesting leg of my SAHM journey! Wish me luck! 

kk


Friday, January 4, 2013

Let it Go!



I feel so angry right now. I feel hurt, desperate, disgusted and other words that I can’t form right now. Someone went to the CEO to complain about J being here on Wednesday. They said that she was a distraction and that she was here all day long. She was only here for 2 hours at the most. 

What else was I supposed to do? The hubby and I have no family/friends up here that could or would watch her that day and we couldn't call out because school isn’t in session.Trust me, we would rather her not be stuck in an office all day long when she can be outside playing with friends. The momma in me wants to find out who it was and confront them about it. Not to curse them, belittle them or anything but to find out why they couldn't come to me about their concerns. 

But the Christian in me says to let it go and let God deal with it, so that is what I am going to do. The phrase Let Go and Let God is not an admission of defeat. It's not the lazy man's way out. Its the realization that God is bigger and stronger than anything or anyone that may get in our way. He's got this....we just need to step out in faith and trust Him to take care of it.


Philippians 4:5-6

New International Version (NIV)
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Introductions


I am a 30-something mom and wife living in a small town. My husband and daughter are the essence of my world and what keeps me from losing my mind! I try to glorify the Lord in all that I do and I dream of being a stay at home mom. 

Why did I start this blog??? Well, like most mom's these days, I don't have the joy and pleasure of staying home with my daughter as my mother was blessed to do. I would also like to connect to other mom's that are in the same boat as I. So many times I feel discouraged and alone in my quest. My hubby is there for support 24/7 but sometimes ya need your girls by your side.

So bare with me as this is a new journey for me. I may not use proper grammar and I may misspell things from time to time...but that's me.