Putting it in your own Handwriting

In this world we live we really do not have to communicate with each other much anymore do we? I mean we have social networking sites to handle everything. We can message, IM, poke, comment, update, tweet, text anything to anyone without so much as lifting a finger. You can post an update on one site and it can simultaneously go to three being sure to alert everyone to your status.

I am the absolute worst at communicating and keeping in touch. I will admit I would rather text that talk to some people and even then responding to texts can be a lot of work. There is always so much more to read into a text, so many underlying phrases that a :) or a !!! can't quite express. Sometimes we read texts in a manner in which it is entirely not meant. I cannot tell you the times I have gotten mad or hurt someones feelings for the lack of !!! or short phrasing in my texts.

Some what recently I have decided to go back to a little bit of old school communicating... I am talking about snail mail people! Sending thank you notes, thinking of you notes, sometimes need you to think of me notes, and sometimes just to simply see what is going on.

I love getting "real" mail in my mailbox and not just student loan statements or bills. They even out do catalogs. So I enjoy thinking of the person I am sending mail to smiling at the site of their very own "real" mail.

I kind of think this started for me while my Grandy was having such a hard time talking on the phone. I wanted him to always know that I was thinking of him and our conversations became sometimes routine because he couldn't hear me and I didn't want him to have to strain to hard. I would send him and Nana notes in the mail to update them on my weeks events or just to say I love you. He told me time and time again that those cards were a gift to him and that it was a ministry.

I never thought of it like that... being a ministry to write people in the mail, but I did recognize I was able to write to people and say Thank you's I never would have been able to do in person. I am able to express more accurately my love or gratefulness to someone with a card than with my own voice.

All that to say I try now to send out a couple cards a week. Sometimes to long lost friends. Sometimes to my roomate or family I see everyday. To people I miss. To people I want to be closer too. To someone who is on my heart.... I send cards.

They aren't anything special... these I actually found in the $1 at Michaels. I just got a cool set of recycled paper with floral watermarks from World Market for Easter.

Etsy has some great homemade note cards from very creative vendors.



  

Or you can make your own.....

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/01/diy-project-cardboard-thank-you-postcards.html

http://www.card-making-corner.com/diy-greeting-cards.html

http://www.oneprettything.com/?p=13409

Either way I encourage everyone to give it a try and send out a card or letter to tell someone Thank you, or what they mean to you, or that you miss them.

Happy writing all!!

Graduation celebrations to come!

I am so very excited because this weekend, my precious little baby brother is graduating from ACU with his degree in business. Cannot believe that he is old enough to graduate or that I have now been a graduate for 3 years. CRAZY! There will food, family and no doubt lots of fun this weekend to celebrate him! He has really overcome ALOT in his life and I could not be more proud of the man that he has grown into. The little whiz kid has already got a job lined up in DFW area... guess that means I will be traveling alot more there to see him and hit up more Ranger's games.

While Patrick is walking across the ACU stage to recieve his diploma one of my absolutely BEST FRIENDS will be walking across Texas Tech's stage to recieve her Law degree.

I am so very proud of Laura Beth and her accomplishment! She has toughed out 3 years of extremely hard schooling and other struggles to get to the other side and she did it!! She is a one in a million friend and I wish I could be there to see her walk. We will just have to celebrate later :) I am hoping that she finds a job closer to Amarillo instead of further away.

This weekend will be full of CELEBRATION!! I can't wait! And I get to see my mom and Nana which always makes life better!!

"DO NOT RESIST OR RUN from the difficulties in your life.
These problems are not random mistakes;
they are hand-tailored blessings designed for your benefit and growth.
Embrace ALL the circumstances that I allow in your life, Trusting me to bring good out of them.
View problems as opportunities to rely more fully on me.
When you start to feel stressed, let those feelings alert you to your need for Me.
Although self-sufficiency is acclaimed in the World reliance on Me produces abundant living in My kingdom."
                                                                                   ~Jesus Calling May 10

Today this has been my prayer. That I my not get so down in a funk when I think that things are not going my way. That I may learn to use obstacles as a building block for my relationship with him. That I may learn to rely on the path he has laid before me and walk courageously with my head held high. I am praying to give all my stresses and anxieties up to the only one who can take them away. Today I am leaning on him!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

Today is such an amazing day to honor the AMAZING women in my life.

I have been blessed to be raised by some of the strongest, independent, god- fearing women I know.

My mom:

She has shaped me into the woman I am today. She has selfishly spent years devoting herself to the full happiness of my brothers and myself. She has taught me what it means to work hard. To never take advantage and to never expect anything. She has taught me that you must work for what you want in life. That love is absolutely unconditional. She has taught me what it means to trust in the lord in all times good and bad. She has taught me that I can achieve anything and that dreams can be reached. 

To her I owe everything!

My Nana:

My Nana has been the woman who has taught me above all else what it means to be a follower of Christ. She has taught me what it means to be an amazing partner and wife when that time comes. She has offered guidance and wisdom during places of uncertainty. She has taught me the joy of reading. She has taught me the simple joys of cooking. She has taught me how to be a wonderful Christian role-model to all around you. She has been a confidante and friend. She is so much more to me than just a GRAND MOTHER.

My Aunt Tammy:

She has been the constant presence in my life and has showed me time and time again that I will never face anything alone. She has picked up all the days and moments of failures or letdowns and made them extraordinary. She has taught me what it is to be utterly selfless. To put others before yourself and when the time comes to stand up for yourself. She has showed me unconditional love and acceptance in all times of need. She is so much more than an Aunt, she is a second mother. A battle partner. 

I am so thankful for ALL of the mother's in my life. And to All mother's everywhere. It is truly one of the toughest jobs on the planet. When my time comes to be one I know that I will be well prepared by the guidance the 3 women in my life have given me and when I need it I know they will ALL be there for me and beside me!

 

Reality Tv

There is little else on TV these days then the so called "realty" tv shows. I must admit I am a victim to the shows in that they have created a fan out of me. Neeley and I have long since been fans of MTV's 16 and Pregnant and of course the following Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2. TLC has always been a favorite with shows like Cake Boss. The Kardashian shows on E! provide great entertainment. Recently I have fell into the spell of Bravo. They have the gazillion Housewife shows but more importantly they have Pregnant in Heels and Bethenney Ever After and Million Matchmaker. Of course with our Bachelor viewing parties, the Bachelorette will be DVR'd when it starts later this month.

Now it is not that I am proud of watching all this TV (In fact I think it is quite clear I need to be doing something else with my time) nor do I agree with any/all of some of the behavior that is shown on these shows. But in a world where reality tv is king when you come home from a looonnnngggg day at the office and want to not think about anything these are your options.

The point of this blog though is that amongst all these show premises and topics that all claim to be reality they are severly lacking in the REAL part.

Neeley and I often in our everyday lives admit that we would make a great reality show. Our lack of some responsibilities, our relationships with each other and everyone else, our dog parenting, our cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, our work and school days, our auto malfunctions, our wardrobe selections, our weekend work at the bed and breakfast, our silent communication between each other.... all things that if people could see the actual and real ends and outs of our everyday lives I am sure people would be thoroughly entertained. Details of which will remain between the two of us but take my word for it... you would be amused.

I came home last night to find Neeley reading on her bed... reading the very book that I blogged about yesterday... the very book that I purchased in NC without knowing she already had it and hadn't begun to read it...she did not realize that was the book that I was reading either... we are super wierd like that!

On another note.... I went out to have dinner with my Auntie and Kelbell last night. Some much needed time with them after being away for a week. With my sweet Kelsey I am never able to doubt how special I am or how loved... for she is so good to tell me everyday, usually when she calls at 5:01... I wish everyone could be that lucky. My Aunt is one of the single handedly strongest, most encouraging, loving person I know and I can say without a single doubt she has helped shaped me to be the person I am today and continues to do so (more on that in another post). Kelsey had on the cutest outfit ever... one that only she and her mom could come up with and I have to share it with you!

(cant figure out how to rotate at work computer )

Isn't she so darn cute!!!

Heart of the Matter

I had lots of time to read while I was away. Read and catch up on all  of Bravo's shows that I am completely hooked on now.

I finally finished Francine River's Her Mother's Hope. 

This book was very different from all of River's other books I have read. It took me a little while to finally get into it. I have been so busy at home lately, or atleast if feels that way, that it has taken me a couple months to finish reading it. The story is a good one about the relationships between mothers and daughters and their struggle for approval from one another. Obviously being the only daughter in my family, and growing up in a family that is very female dominated the context registered with me. It is a two-part book and upon finishing part one I was not jumping at the bits to start part two. In fact I went to Barnes and Noble, bought part two Her Daughter's Dream, sat in the coffee shop waiting on my family to finish and changed my mind. I wanted to read something a little more light-hearted at the moment, something I could jump into and not want to put down. Something that would make me not thing about hardship or what is going on in my own life right now.

I remembered too that Nana told me once that her English teacher in high school said "Never waste your time reading a book that you don't like because there are too many great books to read."

It wasn't that I didn't want to finish the story of Marta and Hildie in Francine's book. I just needed a little break.

So I am now reading.... Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin.

This is one of those books... I literally cannot put down.  On my lunch break yesterday I sat in a parking lot eating and reading it. I had to fight the  urge to read it while at work or even while driving my car.

She is an great author that Neeley discovered and her books just draw you in. This one was on the New York's Times List so it had to be great right?!

Not exactly the light heartedness I was looking for but enough of a distraction I simply can't stop reading it.

Her writing is very much like Sophie Kinsella who I love... author of Confessions of a Shopaholic.

If anyone is looking for a nice book to read... any of Emily's are fun and will take you no time to read cause you can't put them down!

P.S. Whitney Ann you may be getting one in a care package :)

Am I so boring because I just wrote a WHOLE post about the book I am reading?!!?

Back.

Back at work today after being spoiled with a week of lounging about and doing abslutely nothing.

Back to answering questions about liability limits and premium increases.

Back to worrying about bills and cleaning the house.

Back.

(I was greeted with these at the airport upon my arrival home.... pretty much the best arrival EVER!)

I am so unsure about what to get anyone for mother's day. I always want it to be awesome but can never seem to prepare, always letting it sneak up on me.

Trying to figure out what an appropriate graduation gift for my brother should be. and my sweet Laura Beth who is graduating Law school the same day... has to be something good!

And still somehow after a week of none of this... I am already simply EXHAUSTED. Maybe that is just because it is the dreaded monday.