No, Not Me!

As you have gathered, this last week has been a complete blur, honestly I think I stepped off the plane into an alternate universe where time and space are totally messed up. But don’t worry, I am super woman and even though life has been crazy I am still taking care of the small things…

No, this is not me, there is not a week of mail stacked on my counter top… apparently you did not read the above about me being super woman!

OH, this is someone else’s bedroom, I would NEVER be home for almost a week and headed out on another trip without unpacking… and no, I am not STILL living out of my suitcase!

Can you believe this person? I mean I bet this laundry pile has not been done for at least two weeks… maybe more…. Who does this? (And do they have any clean underware left?!?!)

This I know for sure is not me, I always do my dishes after I cook, how could any one not?

Ok, and honestly, if you have been under construction, wouldn’t you clean up and take the toilet paper and towel off the office couch?

Lastly, this is definitely not me, never would I have tools and hair products together in the bathroom non the less… my goodness, this poor girls house…

Ok, well thanks for letting me share how messy others are, just remember, I am super woman, my house is perfectly clean and organized and my brain does not feel scattered at all as I am once again on the road. Thank you for your understanding!

Off again!

Where did this week go? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love that the weekend is here, however somehow it just means that this week was so full is just escaped from me!

This weekend we were going to relax, hang out with friends, unpack (please do not judge me for suitcases still on the bedroom floor… ) maybe even clean the house. However our plans changed again and we are off again! I guess this whole planning trips at the drop of a hat thing is sticking for us. (my poor dog, he thinks we no longer love him!)

We will be driving down to Racine, Wisconsin as soon as Phil and I both get off of work today along with his Mom. Phil’s grandfather has been battling cancer as well as a very bad infection in his knee for a while and now the cancer has spread. We both decided that we wanted to make sure we were able to see his grandparents soon. We will spend the day tomorrow with his family down there and then drive up to Milwaukee to visit my brother who is attending the University of Milwaukee. I am super excited to see his dorm, see where he has classes and have dinner with him. Then after dinner we will drive back up to Minnesota.

Maybe one day we will have nothing to do, for today, I am really glad we can take this time to be with family!

Phil’s first day on the job yesterday went really well! He is super excited to have a huge window in his office overlooking the city of Minneapolis. He sent me a text of it yesterday, and it is beautiful! Sure beats his cubicle with no natural light in his last job! He also said he really likes what he is doing, and feels like this is a good fit for him. I am so thankful for God providing a good job and something he enjoys!

My run yesterday was awesome! I ran a little over half a mile… yes, I know that does not compare to the six-eight I would do before… but hey, you gotta start somewhere! It felt so good to run, and know that I am making progress. As I ran they recorded me and then after we watched it and I was able to see a few things I can change in my running style that will help me prevent injury in the future as well as make my running more effective. I am allowed to walk for the next week and a half, then I will get my training program to get back to running after that. My physical therapist says that though it might be hard, she thinks I will still have enough time to train for the marathon, I just need to be really careful so I do not re-injure!

Hope you all have a great weekend, don’t forget, its Mothers Day on Sunday! 

Not forgetful, just busy!

I know it, I have been absolutely horrible about keeping updated these last few weeks. However just to state my case, this is not because I have not thought about it! In fact, I typically go through my day thinking about what I want to blog about, and believe me, I have a lot of good ideas. Yet somehow at the end of the day when I crash into bed (and yes, it has been almost literally crashing into bed) I have not written down anything. These past few weeks have been so crazy, I feel like I need to grab on to something stationary and hold on for dear life… and unfortunately there are no signs of life slowing down.
Phil and I both flew back to Minnesota Sunday afternoon after having an amazing trip in New Mexico. My heart, mind, body and soul really needed to escape and relax. Though we were very busy while we were down there, it was so nice to be doing something different with my great family. I was SO hard to say goodbye, but are excited that we will be going down end of June again for about ten days… and the countdown begins!

Work is insanely busy, though having a week off was amazing, I am paying for it now! I could work 24 hours a day and still not get done all that needs to be done before I start with Events for the summer. As some of you know, I work for Student Development nine months out of the year and then work with our lodging program for three months in the summer. I really love both positions, however this time of year it is crazy trying to wrap up one job and also working at getting the next started. This summer is also extremely busy with groups that will keep me oh so busy as well.

We have had a HUGE answer to prayer as well! Phil interviewed for a position on Tuesday and got a call back the same day that they wanted him to start today! It is a management company that has many apartment complexes for low income and homeless people all over the Twin Cities. He will be doing general accounting work for them. It is a contract position; however it sound like this will be a much longer contract, maybe even a year. So in the mean time, there are a few other direct hire jobs he is still in the running for. We are just so amazed at how God continually takes care of us!

Today I get to run for the first time in months… and I am scared!! Honestly really scared! I think it is more that I don’t want to face the reality of needing to get back in running shape or that I have probably lost all my great progress. However, I am excited that my leg is healing enough to start running again! Today I am running with my physical therapist and she is going to video tape me running and then we will work on form and how I run to help prevent injury in the future. Then in two weeks I meet with the orthopedist again and she said at the point unless something has really changed I should be given the green light to run on my own and start training again for the marathon! I am nervous thinking about running the marathon because I feel like I have lost so much time for training, but am so thankful that I will still be able to run.

And now for the random thoughts/pictures that have been floating around in my head for days…
Please meet Audrey… This is my dog (ok, I mean my moms dog, but I would take her in a heartbeat!) She is the sweetest little girl ever, I really had fun with her while in NM... I am sure she really misses me :)

Did you know spring is here? Yes, yes it is here!! Just to prove to you that it is… look what I bought to make our yard beautiful!!!

Did you know in New Mexico you can bring your little dogs anywhere?!? It’s true, and yes, Audrey loved going to Lowes with us!

I have also decided that I think the Southwest is b-e-a-utiful…. I love the mountains and the clouds and the sun and and and…. :) Marta and her boyfriend and Phil and I took a trip about an hour and a half south of Albuquerque to get hay for my Mom’s horses, I was beautiful country!

Yes, this is what real men do… and yes, these are real men!

And these…

And these…

Opps, i mean look at those REAL girls! :)

Ok, last random thought… can you believe that my little sister is 17!??! Look at her all grown up AND WITH A BOY!! :) Marta, I love you!

Oh my goodness, how time has flown by! I am not sure how this much time has passed, other than our lives being 100% crazy! These past two weeks have brought much change and fun times!

The biggest is that Phil and I on a whim flew down to New Mexico on Saturday to spend a week with family down here. Originally Phil was going to come down alone and work for my Aunt and Uncle and I was going to stay home and work. However some things happened with my family the day before he was going to leave and I felt a great need to just get away! SO, Saturday morning, two hours before the flight took off my flight was booked and I jumped on a plane. It was super quick and last minute but really great. I have the most incredible boss who understood my needing to get away as well as the most generous Aunt who used a free ticket she had so I could come down as well.

This week down here has been a blast. We have been mostly hanging out, with so much time together. My mom and I went for a very long horse back ride yesterday through the Bosque by the Rio Grand River. It was beautiful out and so much fun to be riding again. I think it has been almost four years since I have been riding, and for a girl who grew up riding everyday, that’s a long time!

My Mom moved into new house last fall but has not had the chance to paint much, so we went together to pick out some colors and started painting. Last night we got the first coat on her kitchen and had a lot of fun doing it. Marta and Phil did a junk food run, so we all got on sugar highs and painted… that’s my kind of fun :)

Back at home we have almost completed the bathroom and are just waiting on a full time job for Phil before we finish a few things. I meant to take pictures, however with our last minute trip, I just didn’t have time! It is looking so awesome though and it is AMAZING to have a toilet upstairs again!

I have also received some good news about my leg! I went for my six week check-up with the Orthopedist and she said it is healing really well. I will be able to start running again with my PT this coming week and two weeks after that should be able to start running for real again. I am so excited to be able to get back to running, though I am partially scared, I know after this amount of time not running it will take quite a bit to get back into it!

Phil is still searching for a job, there have been a few things he is in the running for, however nothing has panned out yet… There is a possibility of a job opening in New Mexico though. This is a really scary thing to think about so we are trying to just take one thing at a time and trust that God has a good plan! The thought of leaving Minnesota is so sad, however we would love to be with all my family down here. So we will see, it probably won’t happen for a long time still… but we will see.

Work has been extremely busy, I feel like everyday I am there I just do not have enough hours to do what I need to do. I am so grateful for an awesome place to work and am so thankful for amazing co-workers.

Well, that is all for now. I have been writing this post for the last few hours but keep on getting distracted by all that is going on here, so I better end before I have another thing to pull me away!

Never to old for Mom

These last few days I have realized how much I am missing my Mom. As most of you probably know, she moved to New Mexico about a year and a half ago. All of my life, I have never been more than a hour away from her, and I think being homeschooled made me even closer to her. Being so far apart has been totally new to me!

In college, even when I would not see her for a while we would always talk on the phone a lot and I knew that if I needed her she would always be there for me. When I was sick she would bring me in healthy food she had made for me, or come and bring me home. If I was upset she would always talk to me. Even since I got married she would still bring me food and take care of me. Often I will feel like I do not know how to be a good wife and know I can always ask my mom and she will have great advice.

Over the last year, I have realized how much she means to me and how much truly miss her. I don’t mean to say Phil is not there for me, he totally is and I could not ask for a better husband! There is just something about a mom that a girl always needs. I know that I can call her and talk honestly about my life and feelings. I know that she will listen, give me good advice and always pray for me.

Growing up we had our differences… ok really I was just difficult :-) I remember her saying things like, “someday we can be friends, but today I need to be your mother.” Because of things like this, today we are friends. My mom is my greatest influence and mentor. If I can be anything like her, I am a lucky person. She has taught me so much about life, she has shown me what a woman of God looks like. She has had so many hard things happen, yet she still shines Christ’s light. I know everyday she prays for me, there is nothing better than that.

I feel like I am just learning what it is truly like to put yourself aside and care for another person. I am sure there have been many times she would rather be doing something else than dealing with a crazy teenager, or sick kid, or being woken up in the middle of the night because I was scared. But I never even though for a second that my Mom would rather be any other place. She sacrificed a lot for me, and I am grateful. I hope that I can be more like her ever day!

Mom I love you and am so thankful for you, these words do not do justice to how I feel. I hope that when I have kids someday, I can be a mother like you!

Parenthood… or something like it

I sit here at my computer half awake feeling like I understand what it is like to be a parent… if you are thinking I am going to share something, sorry… not today. However both Phil and I agreed we have now experienced what it is like to not sleep during the night while you take care of something or someone!

Last night we had the first thunderstorm of the season. It started about two in the morning and lasted until I got up for work at six thirty this morning. I normally love storms, there is nothing as cozy as snuggled in bed hearing the earth get much needed rain and knowing things will start to turn green as a result. However last night this just was not the case! You see we have a dog… a dog that typically sleeps through the night and does not bother us… this really is the way we prefer it! However, much like a child, he did not like the storm, not ONE bit!

At about 2:15am when the storm started he freaked out, for the next THREE hours he proceeded to run circles around our bed, crying, whimpering, and panting OH SO LOUD! Both Phil and I kept on getting out of bed to calm him down, he would for about a minute and then start freaking out again. Normally I would just try and ignore it, but he was so loud and so persistent there was just no sleeping happening. After this went on for way to long there was an especially loud thunder clap that sent him jumping up onto our bed to be close to us. I figured this would maybe clam him down so we let him stay. After close to an hour more of him being scared, he finally settled down right between us and slept.

Though now both Phil and the dog were sleeping, being on a queen bed left almost no room for me, so I proceeded to stay awake until my alarm went off. (Have I mentioned that our dog is a 107 pound lab? Yeah, he is almost as long as I am!)

Is having kids something like this? If so, I think I need to get a bigger bed!! As I left this morning, my two boys were still sleeping oh so peacefully on the bed, PD had officially taken over my side and was looking quite proud of himself… I wonder if secretly he “pretended” to be scared just so he could get up on the bed  :)

Just as I finished typing… it started to thunder again… poor dog…. Poor Phil who is at home with him!
 

The one with emergency rooms, fires, bathrooms, friends, and wiffle ball...

Just for the record, nothing burned that we didn’t want burned and the emergency room ended up ok! :) But as you can guess we had quite the weekend!

We kicked off the weekend by grilling out with our small group on Friday. It was a blast to hang out and spend some good time with friends. Every time we leave friends I am reminded of how grateful I am for good people in our lives!

All last week I was very stressed out and lacking sleep so I had been looking forward to sleeping in for days. However as much as I wanted this to happen, it was just not to be! :) Emily, my twin sister who lives in our basement apartment had been battling a migraine headache that would just not go away. She had taken off work for the past few days and just was not getting better. So Saturday morning 7:45am she calls me from work saying she was starting to lose vision and needed to go to the hospital and get something to relieve her headache. Phil and I rolled out of bed and picked her up and headed to the ER… Needless to say I think God was teaching me something about giving and caring for others! In the end they gave her some great drugs and was able to finally be headache free after a four day migraine! Phil and I also had fun playing doctor in the hospital… I think we watch to many medical TV shows!!

She looks scared.... why would she be go scared when Dr. Katie is taking care of her?!? At least Dr. Phil was staying away.... I mean he really only knows about taking care of crazy people right?

I'm just checking her fluids and making sure her IV is dripping at the correct rate... don't worry, I'm a pro!

OH NO! Flat-lined! Good thing Phil and I know what we are doing... we most definitely saved her life!

This is my solution for fixing a headache... Oh no... this is mean! (Just for the record this picture is AFTER she had the meds and was feeling better... no am not so cruel as to pretend to hit her on the head WHILE she has a migraine... just after!)

Just taking some notes to put in her file!

*disclaimer... I do not take any responsibility for my actions that morning... or the embarrassment i caused Emily.... clearly I was still sleep walking.... I mean LOOK at my hair?!?! (who in their right mind would go out like that?!)

After we got back from the hospital we biked over to a park near our house where we met friends and played waffle ball… this is apparently our new favorite thing to do! It was so beautiful out and a blast to do.

Saturday night we went to church and then came home and grilled and had out first camp fire of the year. I am not sure what it is, but I just love sitting by the camp fire with the warmth coming from the fire and the cool air. Phil and I ended up having a great talk about the sermon… but more on that later!

Sunday I finally got to my much needed sleep-in! When we got up we started work on the bathroom right away and finished grouting the tile countertop of the vanity and installed the hardware for the shower. I had a much needed talk with my mom also… although it left me crying at the end because I miss her so much!

For lunch, we meet Phil’s parents and sister to celebrate his Mom’s birthday! It was very nice to see them!

After lunch Phil and I decided that we needed to get out and enjoy the great weather, so we took the dog for a walk to the dairy queen a few blocks from our house. Seriously… I felt like the All-American family! It was so nice to be out and enjoying the warmth!

To finish off our weekend we spent more time getting the bathroom together. This morning I took the first shower in our new bathroom and got ready at our new vanity! So unbelievably nice! It looks so great, and is awesome to have some BIG progress being made! Today we are continuing to prep the walls for paint, and after this is done we will be able to install the toilet… something I am greatly looking forward to!