It's August

How in the world is it August already? It was just May yesterday. School *just* got out, right? Guess time really does fly when you're having fun. It's been a summer of VBS, mission trip to Helen, vacation, Mission Mondays, HUGE yard sale, and hanging out with friends. It's also been a summer of spontaneous Saturday road trips and spending time with family.

So, upcoming things (the next 4 months), in order of date:

• Road trip for the final Japanese encephalitis vaccine. My insurance covers all vaccines at 100% if they're done in network. Walgreens does travel vaccines, but the ones here in SC aren't in network. (Go figure). However, the ones in the Atlanta area are, so guess where I'm headed. I had the first one (and typhoid) done while we were on vacation in Florida last month. 
• First payment for the China trip is due. 
• School starts on the 15th. 
• Simeon turns one! (He's the baby I keep twice a week so his 3rd shift working mama can get some sleep during the day). 
• Jacob (my nephew) turns ten!  
• Final payment for China is due.
• Lin and LeeAnna come home for a short visit!
• Two final travel vaccinations (Hepatitis A and B). 
• My birthday!
• China trip!
• Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon with a side trip to accommodations in Hilton Head.
• Pentatonix concert! 
• Kristin turns ten!
• Ansley (my niece) turns 6!
• And then, my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. 

Soooo, lots of stuff coming up soon. The biggest is the 10 day trip to China. Our team is going to a new province for the adoption agency and will be updating files from 2 orphanages. I'm excited to see what God will do through our team while we're there. 

I'm getting really close to having all the financial support I need. Donations can be made here: Storyteller Missions. In the "designated fund" drop down, choose "storyteller missions", then put my name in the dialog box that pops up. Your prayers and financial support mean more than you'll ever know!

Half marathon. I believe I once said I would NEVER do another one again. Well, never say never. My friend and team leader, Mandy, wanted to do one so I told her I'd train and run with her. We get back from China on October 16 and our race is November 5. Both of us started training the same day, but the big, huge yard sale we had last Saturday threw us off of our training last week and again this past week. Who knew pricing, sorting, and then selling other people's stuff would be so exhausting?! I know now. I plan to pick up with the 2nd week of training on Tuesday; it's just 2 miles. I can do that. 

Ahhh, Pentatonix concert. My dear husband picked up two tickets for me for our anniversary. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them in person! I can get sucked in the Pentatonix black hole and listen to their music for hours. 

For the sake of not rambling on much more, I'm done for tonight. I'm sleepy and have plans to go school supply shopping before lunchtime tomorrow. So, my bed is calling. G'night.

And then there was snow...

...and ice...and snow...and ice. About 5-6" of the stuff so far with more on the way. I had plans for a Girls' Night Out with my Sunday School class tonight. Yeah, cancelled. Not because The Melting Pot is closed due to snow, but because most of us are snowed in. Most. There are a couple who live on the other side of the interstate and didn't get any snow or ice this morning. Not sure how it's looking for them this afternoon/evening.

At least it's pretty.

Patiently Waiting...

It's supposed to snow this afternoon. Haven't seen any yet. I'll believe it when I see it. {Side note: 5 minutes after I typed this out, it started snowing}.

Supposed to snow again Friday night. Again, I'll believe it when I see it.

Since it's been sooooo long, I want to do a thankful post. So, here we go:

1. being a stay-at-home-mom even though my kids are in school
2. babysitting twice a week for pay
3. daily workouts at the YMCA
4. chocolate chip cookies
5. coffee with hot chocolate and vanilla caramel creamer
6. coffee dates with friends
7. date nights
8. lunch dates with friends
9. relatively clutter free living room
10. watching snow fall
11. facebook friends
12. movies
13. a clean kitchen table
14. scentsy
15. choir
16. Bible study
17. friends who are like sisters
18. girls' night out
19. netflix tv series (Psych, House, NCIS)
20. found candy bars that were stashed 2 years ago

My Once a Year Obligatory Post...Maybe

Yeah, so I'm not so great at this blogging thing. But, for all 3 of my followers, here's a new post. It's past mid-January and I don't do resolutions, but I have some things I do want to accomplish this year. In no particular order:

• keep my house uncluttered - I've gotten a good start on that by using the Konmari method as described in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering by Marie Kondo.
• read 50 books - thanks to the GoodReads app, I can keep track of the books I read this year.
• work back up to running 10K because I registered for the Cooper River Run - I've gotten a good start on this, too. We joined the YMCA back in May and I've been going pretty faithfully 5 days a week. They got new treadmills after the first of the year that have great presets for interval training. Currently I am using the 2-1 interval setting. I "work" for 2 minutes and "rest" for 1 minute. Working consists of a 2.5 incline and I've set my speed to 4.5 mph for now. Resting consists of a 0.0 incline and walking at 3.5 mph. I'm covering about 4.15 miles in an hour at these settings. 
• work on Bible study - I found a tool on Pinterest that I am going to utilize for the next 31 days or so. It's called "31 Days to Deeper Bible Study". Deeper Bible Study 
• be yielded to God and what he calls me to do - I'm going to China later this year to love on babies...I think that's a good start. 
• stay active with Scentsy - the extra money is nice for treating myself occasionally.

So, there you have it. The big things I want to accomplish this year. 

Pay Me No Mind

It's been over 2 years since I even thought about this page, but here I am today recording thoughts once again.

Acts 2:42-47 is the scripture I'm looking at today and maybe all week. Breaking it down verse by verse and letting it hit home. Today: verse 42 - "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Devoted: an intentional act, made it important in their lives. I'm sure it took discipline, especially for the apostles' teaching and prayer. Discipline isn't easy. I can train my body to exercise every day. I can train my body to crave foods that are good for me. I can, with the help of God, train myself to long for the things of God and to learn more about Him and His character. It's time to bring this discipline back to my life. I'm hit and miss with scripture study and prayer. If anyone is reading, pray for me in this area, mmkay?

A hotel room

Why is it so hard for children to go to sleep in a hotel room? The lights were turned off 30 minutes ago and all I hear is shuffling blankets and sheets. Neither of my kids have gone to sleep yet. The oldest is usually out within 2 minutes of his head hitting the pillow...just like his daddy. The youngest is more like me and takes quite a while to fall asleep, so I'm not surprised she's still moving around. And we have 2 more nights of this. I'm hoping that we'll all be so worn out by spending time with family and in the hotel pool that we'll all just collapse as soon as we are able to.

Now, for the reason we're staying in a hotel. My grandmother turned 80 yesterday. We are celebrating her birthday at my aunt and uncle's house in Tennessee. Just about everyone will be here to celebrate. The only family missing will be my brother and his family. They just aren't able to make it.

In other news in my life, I will be starting a quiet time challenge next week. It's called Hello Mornings and the challenge is to get up before kids and spend time in the Word and with Jesus. I need this in my life right now. I'm doing okay just reading through the Bible so far, and even have a friend from church who is helping keep me accountable. This HM group will incorporate a study and hopefully change the way I see QT and how I interact with God. I LOVE that he sees fit to provide me with this opportunity to participate and even used me to share with someone who was looking for a devotional to help her through a difficult time in her life (unbeknownst to me that she was going through a difficult time until she found the pinterest link to the devotional).

I'm in awe of how God continues to show off in people's lives. Our stuff from a year and a half ago is done. Some friends received some awesome news recently. He's provided me with a small group of ladies that I can share life with. I went so long without having any friends to having several I would consider close friends.  He's brought my BIL and his family home safely from Germany and we seem to have picked right back up where we left off. Yeah, they're moving again in a few weeks (staying in the states), but they're back on home soil.

I guess it's about time for me to try to join the supposed to be sleeping family. Only one of us is asleep. Kids are still awake. And? I still need to do my Bible reading for today.

I did it!

I finished the Kiawah half-marathon in 2.47.01, slower than I was hoping for, but I'm okay with that. It was humid (100%) and I started out a lot faster than I should have. I just had a hard time slowing myself down, so I was worn out by the time I was halfway done. I think I managed to push through about 8 miles or so before I slowed down to walk off and on the rest of the distance. I haven't checked the Garmin yet to see what my splits look like.

About this time last week, I was plotting my next half. Now, though, I'm not sure if I'm going to do another one. I mean, I got my medal and my 13.1 magnet. I also have sore legs, a sore shoulder, an aching back, a knee that's catching, and a hip that hurts if I move it the wrong way. Oh, and my feet hurt. I'll give myself a few days to recover and then go from there.  I was considering the Palmetto Half for my next one. I'll make a decision by the end of December because it's greatly discounted if I register by the 31st. I've also tossed around the idea of doing the Kiawah marathon next year. I'll just hang on to that idea as an idea for now.