Yeah for Fall!!

Today is a cool, rainy, dreary day and it is wonderful! I love it!! I love the cool temps. Its a nice break from the heat that we have been having since oh...MARCH!! I am looking forward to our family pictures coming up, a Halloween party...it's so fun!! I had a wonderful weekend and it was so wonderful because we stayed in! Brandon cleaned out the garage, just another thing off our checklist of things to do! Brandon enjoyed football games yesterday while Pig and I napped. Crawling=awesome naps! We went to visit Brandon's parents for his mom's bday. We got her a photo album of some pics of Libby since her birth. Actually before birth cause I included some ultrasound pics too. I am looking forward to entertaining tomorrow night for a 31 gift party. I am really loving staying at home with Libby. I actually enjoy cleaning the house. (Weird I know!) I am hoping our financial situation will allow this for a while. It's amazing money you can save doing the little things. Here are a few of my money saving strategies:
1) Cancel any magazine subscriptions and read online. No people is not as fun to read online but you get the same stories at no cost.
2) coupon clip- Sunday paper and great coupons online too!
3) buy off brand items. It is super amazing how much money you save buying generic!
4) call and complain about your insight bill going up! Call and complain and they lower it!
5) Target brand formula- saves us $10 a can!
6) Don't eat out- We were out to eat obsessed. Now we barely miss it!
7) Ask for help- This is the hardest one! But when you have a babe everyone wants to get something for her, so I ask for stuff that is actually needed instead of wanted!
Well that's all I have for now someone is not happy!! Gotta go!!

Thursday

This week last the rest has gone by super fast. I cannot believe that tomorrow is Friday! I get excited for Friday because it is one day closer to the weekend. Yes, I do have a four day weekend every weekend which I am thankful for (my babysitting, chauffering is Tuesday-Thursday). However, I love the weekend because I get to spend it with Brandon. I love him so much! I wake up so mornings and wonder how I got so lucky...I can't believe this is my life! I am so blessed I just smile thinking about it. I hear about all the tragedy and hurt going on in other people's lives and I just realize that I have been blessed beyond measure. I thank God everyday for what he has given me. I sat on the bed the other night and laughed for 20 minutes at Libby watching Brandon play a game on the iphone. (See above). She is my love!

On another note...I have an example in my life of someone who doesnt understand some decisions and choices I am making. It reminds me to be careful to judge others. You really cant comprehend someone's situation until you have been in there shoes. I dont like that this person doesnt like how I am handling this situation so it reminds me to be careful to judge others. I need to try to be more empathetic and remember that I may not know the whole story. Well I hope that stops and make you think like it has me!

Early Monday..

Well it's 7:30 am...been up since 5:30...sheesh. What a yucky way to start a Monday. I have some stuff to get done today, gotta go pick up the dry cleaning I was suppose to pick up last Monday (opps), get my check, and get my grandma a photo album for her birthday. My cheap but clever gift idea is I uploaded some pics of Lib since her birth (30 for $3 sale at Walgreens..yay), and then buy a photo album. I will continue to give her pics to fill her album. I had a fantastic weekend. The hubby and I hung out on Friday night, made a trip to Target, etc. We tailgated for a bit on Saturday and then had a restful Sunday. I am looking forward to the week to come! Lib will be 23 weeks tomorrow..sheesh...why can't things slow down! Love her!

Forgiveness...it's hard!!

This has been so busy and its only Wednesday! Any hoot....I have been and am struggling with forgiveness. Does anyone else have that problem or am I the only one? A situation occurred over a year ago and I am still struggling to let go. It consumes me and I hate it! I want to and pray to forgive but its like I can't let it go. Of course I am respectful and nice but in the back of my mind no matter what this person does, I wont let them redeem themselves. I am a loving, caring, and Christian person but this is something that has really tested me. How to do I get over it? How do I look at this person and not think about what they did? Maybe I am preventing myself from forgiving. Maybe I truly dont want to forgive them and that is what sucks cause how do I make myself want to? I say I do but do I really? In the meantime I am going to continue to pray and ask God to help me. I want to forgive like God forgives me! I have been thinking about and praying for a lot of people this week. Brooke had and lost her baby boy. So sad. I cant imagine what that would be like. I have been praying for them. It makes me feel so lucky to have a healthy baby and I dont take her for granted. Another girl I went to high school with found out devastating news that her little girl may never be able to walk again. Situations like these make me realize how blessed I am and make me feel even more guilty for not being able to forgive. I have been thinking about my brother a lot lately too and have been praying for him as well. I am also so burdened that I cant welcome him in my life right now but I still love him and pray for him everyday. I wish the best for him. I hope that God shows me how to forgive that person and finally just let go. Please pray for Brooke and her family, and Lena and her little girl.

Oh Monday.....

Wow I cannot believe it is already Monday again! Crazy! Libby is officially 5 months today! Time has flown bye. Over the weekend she has started doing a scoot/crawl. She gets wherever she wants to go doing this little scoot crawl. Wont be long till she is going fast and I will be even more busy than I already am. Right now I am watching her go after Jeter who is trying to get away from her. haha. I love it! I wish I had the video camera. He is scared of her. The weekend was fun. We got errands run on Saturday and went to some friends house to watch part of the game. We went to church and then out to dinner with the p's and grandma on Sunday evening. I am always glad for her to see Libby, although Libby slept the whole dinner. haha. I am starting to love staying home! It's so funny cause I feel busier at home then at work, especially on the days I have Addyson. I am hoping the days start to slow down a bit. It's all going too fast!

Uneventful Thursday

There is not a thing going on today. But I love it! The only time I am leaving the house today is to go get Rebecca and take her to diving. I am really enjoying staying home with Libby. I could not even imagine sending her to a sitter or daycare now! I have officially haulted the job search. Brandon and I have decided that we are going to do our best to make it on his income and my side jobs. So far so good. It's amazing the things you can do to cut back. We only allow 1 out to eat a week, cut coupons, and dont spend any on extras! Apparently we were basically just blowing my salary. By the time I would have paid for daycare I would have been bringing in a week what I do now with my side jobs....and I dont have to leave Libby somewhere else. It's a no brainer. I feel so good about the decision we have made. I felt like that was what God was telling me to do. I trusted him and he opened doors for me. I didnt understand at first why I didnt get a full time position I applied and interviewed for and now I do. The way things have worked out has been all according to his plan. I am so blessed and so lucky. Sometimes I anticipate something bad happening because I have been so blessed which is silly but I cant help it. I thank God for my blessings everyday!

Fantastic Labor Day Weekend!

I had a great 4 day weekend with Brandon this past weekend. I cant believe it is already Tuesday. It's back to the grind. On Friday we got new tires for my car and went to The Cellar with friends and had a great time. My aunt Jacki came in for the weekend and stayed the night at my house with my mom to watch Libby. I woke up in a panic only to find Libby still asleep. Saturday we had a great time at a cookout to watch the UK game. On Sunday we went to church and listened to an awesome message. I am so blessed to have found such a great church. We then had lunch with the fam. That evening my grandma came to visit Miss Libby. I am so glad Libby brings her such joy. Monday we did absolutely nothing and it was wonderful! It's so nice to have days where you don't do anything. The highlight of my day was napping with the princess. I love that little booger so much! I am currently hanging out with Miss Addyson while Libby sleeps. Addyson is so smart and she doesnt realize it but I am learning more from her than she is me. She is preparing me for toddler-hood. haha. Well just wanted to brag about my fabulous weekend...I hope this weekend is just as fun!

Inspirational Wednesday

I never thought I would be so inspired on a random Wednesday morning but I am. I guess when the babe is napping you have a lot of time to think. I thought about one of my big flaws that I need to really pray about and work on. I am annoyed when people wanna praise God and talk about how good he is when something happens but never praise him otherwise. I read on a comment online about how something went well for someone so "God is good!". Dear friend, that is not just a saying. That's something you really mean when you say it. I guess I have been thinking a lot about this subject since the sermon series at church is on the Atheist Christian. An Atheist Christian is someone who is a believer but is not a follower. My fault is my first initial reaction when I read it. I snickered out loud. That was wrong. What my initial reaction should have been was to stop and pray for that person. I am really trying to work on my initial thoughts and reactions and judging others. Brandon always says to me, "Be the bigger person Joni!"....I respond in a whiny voice, "But I'm tired of being the bigger person"! haha. I'm mostly kidding when I say that but he is absolutely right. I wish I could be more forgiving and less bothered by petty stuff like him. He doesn't sweat the small stuff which I think is very Christian and I want to be more like him in that way. I guess it has made me stop and look at myself and my actions and think...do I represent Christ to other people the way I should? The answer is no, probably not, so I need to pray about that and ask God to help me. I am also not very patient. I pray for something or someone and expect to see results immediately which is not the case. It's not about my time, it's on God's time. Please Lord lift this burdens that I have been carrying and help me to be more like you. I love the person my husband is and I am so lucky to have him. He is such an inspiration to me in his actions and his words.

On another note, a friend of mine found a girl from high school's blog. She is around 7 months pregnant with a baby that basically does not have a brain. He will most likely die during labor and delivery and if he survives that he will die shortly after. She has known almost her entire pregnancy of the situation. She is such an amazing person. She is looking at the situation as it is all in God's plan. When I am down or complain about life I think about all those who have it so much worse and are praising God every step of the way. I am praying for you and your family Brooke. You are such an amazing person. God bless!