Distractions.

Have you ever sat at coffee with a friend and felt like there was a 3rd person there?  Hanging out with someone and you feel invisible? Or maybe you're just laying in bed with your husband and also sensing a huge distraction... the uninvited guest.

*insert creepy music here*

But really, all I'm talking about is cell phones... mostly smart phones, where social networking is just a click away.

The constant texting, the game-playing, facebook checking, instagram posting, twittering... you get my gist.

I'm probably over sensitive about this, but I honestly can't stand it when you're with someone but don't really feel WITH them, because they are elsewhere in their thoughts. They're caught up in a text message conversation, a game, or maybe they're just constantly refreshing their facebook page... consumed in technology.  Too caught up in someone else or everyone else, to even be with you.

I am a big texter... I prefer texting to talking to someone on the phone, unless you're my Mom... but it's easy to see how this can become an issue for my relationship with my husband, or when I have company, or just during the day with my boys?  Too often I get distracted by someone else to actually focus on the people I'm around.

Here's my challenge to you today...
Try to be more aware of it.
Try to BE with the people you're actually with, instead of those you're not!
Put your stinkin' phone down.
I am not by any means innocent here, but it is something I am really working on.

{source}

It very well may be the "quality time" love language coming out of me... but when I'm with someone, I want QUALITY time.  I don't want the leftovers.

Does this drive anyone else crazy, or is it just me?

PS, before you get over-sensitive... no, I am not talking about you or anyone in specific.  It's just been on my heart lately and wanted to share.

Hello Monday.

hello great weekend

 

hello amazing provision from the Lord

hello beautiful tulips 

 

hello new camera lens (!!!!!)

hello boys favorite lunch 

 

hello continuing to feel better each day 

hello sonic drinks

 

hello arizona trip this week (thursday-sunday)

hello spending the majority of the weekend outside... sandbox + water table fun

 

hello prayer requests for my best friend + husband

hello cute easter outfits!

hello monday!  i think i'm ready for you. 

what are you saying hello to this week?  hope you had a great weekend as well! 

Organizing coupons.

You know me... organization is like coffee creamer in my life... a necessity.

I love to use coupons from time to time but really couldn't figure out a great method for organizing them and keeping them with me.  Before I got my Erin Condren, I kept all my coupons in my wallet.  I would try and organize them from time to time, but never figured out a way to separate them from the different stores and remember to use them before they expired.

Once I got my planner, I organized them by store and expiration date, and kept them in an envelope in the back of my planner.  Unfortunately, because I had so many, the coupons made it super bulky.  See?

This worked for a while, until I was in Target (of course) and found a better option for a small $5.99.

This notebook is great because it has a hard shell, organizing folders, and a notepad so that I can write what coupons I have and when I need to use them by.

So, I got right to it.  Organized each folder by the store, and then used the paper to track what I actually had.

I keep this in my purse with my wallet so that I always have it with me.  And the best part, my beloved planner is no longer bulky.  Back to her original shape.  :)

Some of you are probably un-friending me as we speak for being such a nerd, but this is me!

A true crazy lady through and through.

Have a happy Thursday!

Tuesday rambles.

Today was my first day back to work... as a mommy, that is!

My first cup of coffee in 9 days...
My first time driving in 9 days...
My first time feeling like I can be down on the floor playing with my boys.

It's the little things that you quickly take advantage of until you can't do it anymore.  I'm with all of the other Mommy's out there who need a break every once in a while, but after day 1, I missed them and it was really hard not feeling capable of taking care of my own boys.

I hate to say it, but I think this whole sickness also made my husband a tad bit more thankful for me :)

I even got to go to TARGET this morning... quite possibly my favorite store on earth...
got some bedding for our new spare bedroom that my sweet husband "made" this weekend while I was cooped up in bed.  He had full reign of all of the decisions and I didn't even see it until it was complete (because it was so hard for me to go up/down stairs)...
I'm really happy with all of his choices, and so glad we have a place for guests to sleep now!
So, come on over.  I love to host.

I think one of the sweetest things people can do for you is help with meals.  I need to do better about doing this even when there's not a need...
just sending a text saying "I have dinner ready for you, when can I drop it off?"
Seriously, wouldn't that just make your day to have someone do that for you?
A couple people did that last week for Tyler to help him and he couldn't stop talking about how helpful it was to not have to think about what to feed himself and the boys.
I was so thankful as well.

I'm rambling...
How has your day been?
It's raining here and is forcasted for the next 3 days as well... happy spring, right?

11 things.

First up, thanks for the thoughts & prayers.  My strength is slowly returning and I am taking one day at a time.  My boys are with some friends this morning and I am still spending a lot of my days napping and trying to eat again.

Second, I could use a mindless blog post today!  Thanks to the lovely Kristal, I was tagged in this fun little ditty... so here we go. 

There are five rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions.

5. Tag 5 friends and go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you've tagged them.

A photo of me: 

11 random things about myself: 

1. I do not like ice in my water.  On hot summer days, maybe an ice cube or two, but no more than that.  I just feel like it's easier to drink it without it being ice cold.

2. I love cold pillows.  Every night as I'm falling asleep, I flip my pillow over and *love* it when it is cold.  Warm covers, cold pillow... na-night.

3. I can type approx 108 words a minute.  When I worked at the bank I could also 10-key very quickly, but I've lost that.

4. I never saw a PG13 movie until I was 13, it was one of my parents rules.  I remember going to a sleepover just a couple weeks before I turned 13 and they were watching Twister, and I covered my eyes through the entire movie. 

5. I feel like I thrive when my life feels organized.  This translates into my home as well, but I love knowing what's coming up and having a schedule/list to get it all done.  I love to-do lists, I love taking a really unorganized room and transforming it (and organizing closets!),  and I love just feeling like I know what's going on in our lives.  I really feel my happiest when everything has a plan.  One of the many reasons I love my Erin Condren.  :) 

6. I have a small obsession with coffee.  Even though I limit myself to one cup a day (probably due to pregnancy/breastfeeding restrictions in the past), I still find myself thinking about it throughout the day and at night time I look forward to the following morning coffee before I fall asleep.

7. I also have an obsession with q-tips.  It doesn't matter how many times I am told that you're not supposed to clean out your ears every day, I still do.  Sometimes multiple times a day.

8. I have never been a bridesmaid, but I've been a maid-of-honor 3 times.  I feel like this speaks volumes about how I view friendship.  I would rather have a few close friends than a 100 distant friends.

9. One of my favorite foods is cheese dip at mexican restaurants.  Give me a diet coke and some chips and cheese, and that is perfection.

10. Growing up, one of my favorite things to play was school.  I loved grading pretend papers, organizing the schoolwork, and being bossy.  :) 

11. I love decorating.  I feel like my house is constantly a work in progress, never complete... constantly adding and taking away.  It's one of my favorite things to do!

Questions from Kristal: 

1. What are you reading right now?  A few books: "Jesus Calling", "My so-called life as a Proverbs 31 wife", and "An honest look at a mysterious journey". 

2. Have you met anyone famous? Depends on your definition of famous... I served under Ted Haggard at New Life Church.  Also, in 6th grade, I sent Shaq a letter telling him how long his small intestine was.  He sent me an autographed picture back.  

3. You are on death row and have to choose your final meal - what is it?  I would stuff myself full of Olive Garden breadsticks and fettucine alfredo, and wash it down with a big glass of fountain diet coke.  

4. How much time do you spend on the Internet? (LOL! So glad this wasn't one of my questions.) On the computer, probably 1-3 hours a day total.  I try to not log on at all while the boys are awake, so this is during nap time and/or after they go to bed. 

5. What do you want your life/family to look like in 5 years? I'd love to be done having kids, whether that means adding a 3rd child or not, and whether that means through adoption or not.  Hopefully in our "forever home" (living close to our family), and still heavily involved in our church and friendships.  Also?  I want a garden!  And pretty flowers. 

6. What is the bravest thing you have ever done?  I am not a brave person by nature, so this is hard for me.  Probably going on a missions trip by myself in 2000 (when I was 14), or going to Colorado for college not knowing anyone in the state. 

7. If you could live anywhere (and all your friends and family would magically be there too), where would you choose? Definitely Colorado Springs.  A great church there, BEAUTIFUL scenery, and the cost of living is decent.  We love being outdoors and there's so much to do in Colorado Springs and in neighboring towns.  Did I mention the scenery?!?! 

8. What was the last movie you saw in the theater? We saw "Friends with Kids" on our Staycation last weekend.  Before that?  No clue! 

9. What is something popular right now (could be an activity, TV show, song, etc) that you just don't get?  Obsession with celebrities.  I have never understood this... 

10. Show me your last pin on Pinterest (hopefully your answer to #9 wasn't Pinterest!). 

link

11. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?  Hmmm.... I haven't ever thought about this!  I've always loved the name Amy, so probably that! 

11 questions for the bloggers I tag:

1. In one word, how would you describe your first kiss?

2. Do you like your passport/drivers license picture?

3. If you had $100 to spend on yourself, how would you spend it?

4. What is your go-to coffee order?

5. What is your biggest insecurity?

6. Your hair looks best: straight or curly?

7: What is the most embarrassing thing in your fridge right now?

8: What is one thing you would do different about your wedding day?

9: What is one facebook-ism that gets on your nerves?

10: What is your guilty obsession?

11: What is thing/rule you had as a child that you will be sure your children also follow/learn?

And I tag:

Kallie, Bekah, Kari, Marcey, and Christie!

Update.

Still sick.

Got an IV today for fluids.  Helped me feel a little bit more human.

Haven't ate a meal since Sunday and still not hungry.

Thankful for my Mom.  Miss my boys.

That's it.

Off the grid.

Sunday night it started. The aches and pains.

By Monday morning I knew I had it, the stomach flu.

Without going into too many nasty details, let's just say between the extreme cramps/aches/pains and the vomiting, it has been the longest and worst case of the stomach flu I've had in my life.

This is day 4 being bound to bed, and as much as I wish I could tell you I'm feeling better, I'd be lying. Spent a good part of the day at the doctor yesterday and left with an antibiotic, a nausea med, and vicodin (pain med). Hopefully this means I'm on the mend soon.

In the mean time, I'm so grateful for my husband who has taken such great care of me, helping me walk, tracking my meds, comforting me while I vomit, still kisses me and even dares to sleep in the same bed as this sicky. Also for taking care of the boys, along with my friend Andrea's help, I haven't had to worry about my Mommy duties all week. AND my Mom is coming today. Such a blessing.

All this to say, I'm still insanely sick. Wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy...not that I have any, but you catch my drift.

One last thing.

Vicodin is my friend.

Staycation.

This idea of  'staycation' was originally presented to me by my close friend Andrea, who was probably tired of hearing me say I wanted a getaway with my hubby but with his crazy work schedule + lack of "vacation" funds, she suggested we go downtown for a weekend and just spend time together.

Part of me really wanted to stay cooped up in our hotel robes ordering room service and watching movies, and the other part of me really wanted to be out&about exploring downtown KC and all there is to offer, since we've lived here for years and stay in our suburban safe-zone too often.  I hoped we could find a happy medium, and thankfully, I feel like we really did.

My Mom came Thursday afternoon and spent an extra day with me before we left on Friday afternoon at 5.  We stayed at the Sheraton at Crown Center ... and while yes, it was a nice hotel, I honestly was expecting a little bit more with the high price tag.  Luckily I scored the deal almost $100 off retail price using our AAA discount, but I honestly would have been disappointed if I would have paid full price.  It was nice, but not $200/night nice, if you get my gist.  The view from the 31st floor though was incredible.

After checking in, we walked about 1/2 a mile to Jack Stack BBQ.  Kansas City is famous for their BBQ, and we had never tried Jack Stack.  We thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is more of an upscale BBQ place, compared to a local place here we love, called Oklahoma Joe's.  We thought you were paying more for the experience and the restaurant itself, instead of the food.  We left there and took the skywalk home, walking through Crown Center and Union Station.  Outside of Crown Center they had trees filled with lights, it felt like we were straight out of a romance movie... perfection!  We found the ice skating rink and watched people make complete fools of themselves for about 30 minutes, before heading back to the hotel.

We spent about an hour at the hotel just unwinding from our week and getting ready to go out.  We were trying to decide between a live jazz place, or a dueling piano bar, and decided to go with the pianists.  Unfortunately, the NCAA tournament was downtown, so traffic and the crowds were horrible.  Power & Light District was packed and I am not a fan of big crowds in general, so I was not excited about it.  The dueling pianists were fun to listen to, but since it was too crowded to find a seat, we only spent about an hour there.  We walked (over a mile) back to our hotel and enjoyed a quiet evening, just the two of us.

Saturday morning we had planned to tour the Roasterie Coffee Tour, which started at 10am.  Not even thinking twice about it, we didn't set our alarms, because I figured my internal clock would have me up by 7ish anyway.  Imagine our surprise when we woke up to see it was almost 9:30... we honestly thought our phones were broken.  I couldn't believe how deep and great we both slept and didn't regret sleeping in at all, since it never happens.  We headed to a fancy breakfast joint, then made our way to the West Bottoms district.

The West Bottoms was complete fail.  Apparently 90% of the shops are only open the first weekend of the month, so it was a dead area and when we saw convicts picking up trash + a swarm of BMW cars racing up and down the bridge, that we're pretty sure was a gang, we were pretty quick to leave.  However, we did find a vintage shop and Tyler bought himself a tie.  Random fact about my sweet man:  he collects ugly ties.  Bet you didn't know that about him!

We headed to the River Market area and went to the City Market.  This is where we spent (and enjoyed) most of our day... the weather was perfect, and the crowd wasn't overwhelming.  They had a lot of cute shops, restaurants, and of course the farmers market.

After a few hours there, we left and went to Westport.  Another area of town that neither of us had been to!  We stopped at World Market (*love* that store) and walked around the other shops.  We also tried out some infamous Bubble Tea that was recommended to us.  Maybe we just ordered the wrong thing, but neither of us were fans of it.  I couldn't get over the weird texture of having these huge balls of some unknown thing come up through your straw, and Tyler's drink was too sweet for his taste.  But, I am glad we tried it... we can cross it off our bucket list now.

At this point, Tyler was done shopping (poor guy had been walking around all day "window shopping"... you know how much guys love that!), so we saw a movie... Friends with Kids.  Horrible language, but a semi-cute plot.  The verdict is still out whether or not we'd recommend it... ha!

All of this to say, our time together this weekend was great great great...
...invaluable...
...refreshing...
...amazing!

I feel like it should be apart of your wedding vows... "I promise to take you on an overnight stay at least once every 3 months, so we can re-connect and remember what it means to truly relax and get to know each other again, in a non-mommy/non-daddy way."

Put your spouse first.  Believe me, your kids will be fine.  I don't think my boys even noticed we were gone, they were having way too much fun with Grandma & Grandpa.  My Mom said it best... "time away from your kids does not make you a bad Mom, it makes you a better Mom."

It's easy to get stuck in a routine of job/kids/life, and forget about the one you're doing this life with.  Save up for a couple months and find a cheap hotel deal.  It was a fairly inexpensive "vacation" and the best part was we were only 15 minutes from home, but it felt like a whole different world.

We reconnected, laughed, had some deep talks, enjoyed the sound of "nothing", prayed together, and just soaked in every minute.  No responsibilities, no to-do lists, no kids.

It was so refreshing and NEEDED.

Thank you for the weekend away, Mr. Keith.  You are my favorite.

And a big thanks again to my parents, who made it all possible!

...love one another deeply, from the heart.

1 Peter 1:22

PS, nothing says "welcome back to reality" like a baby who is sporting a high 104-105 degree temperature and a husband who got called into work first thing Sunday morning.

Still worth it.  :)

Master Bedroom.

I am head-over-heels-in-love with our new Master Bedroom.  Doing the math, we realized it's been 6 years since we have gotten new bedding + decor for our room, so as you can imagine, we were way overdue.

Of course, the beloved before's...

And here's the completed room...

I saved my extra income (from babysitting) for about 4 months to pull it off... here's the breakdown:

Bedding (Target): $100

Sheets (BB&B): $60

Throw pillows (Target): $45

Lamp shade (Pottery Barn, from Craigslist): $20

Mirrors (Hobby Lobby + Target): $80

Curtains (Target): $30

Paint (Home Depot): $25

Total: $360

Again, we haven't had new bedding or new decor for 6 years...

so I am pretty happy with the total spent, all things considered.  :)

I keep walking in the room and wanting to just stay put... it is so comfy & cozy.

Last night we hung out in there for over an hour with the boys just talking and playing...

love! 

If you have any questions, let me know!

Hello Monday.

hello perfect weekend... my husband was off ALL WEEKEND for the first time since December 

and we had absolutely no plans.

hello productive weekend... master bedroom finished and pictures coming tomorrow!

hello beautiful weather.

hello completing week one of my 5k training... 

i HATE running and so far i have actually, alittlebit, enjoyed it.

hello remembering the simple things.

hello busy week.

hello upcoming "staycation" ... a weekend downtown with just my hubby 

and kids staying behind with grandma + grandpa! 

hello jaxon's new obsession ... a nice break from trains.

hello cohen's super fun personality ... i love this age!

hello trying to learn to keep up with laundry instead of drowning in it.

hello long sunday afternoon nap.

happy monday!  it's going to be a great week... i can feel it!