These past two days have just been “off” days for me. Maybe it’s the slightly cloudy weather, maybe it’s the allergens clogging the fall air (ugh), maybe it’s just getting back on a routine.

But oy.

I’ve been sleepy, unproductive, grouchy and sneezy. And whatever else all the rest of the dwarfs were named. I hate days like these. The smallest thing ticks me off for days, getting out of bed feels like the tallest hurdle I’ll ever have to cross.

Just kind of bleugh.

Does anyone else ever have these kinds of days? I think Winnie the Pooh labeled them as “blustery” days, but then again, he was also seeing Heffalumps and Woozles and I’m just seeing a husky who is shedding SO much he looks like he has the mange.

Jon and I have been a one-car family for almost a month now. And I must say – I am learning a TON about being thankful for what we have! We sold Jon’s old car to try and find something a little newer and with fewer miles. But, that search has kind of eluded us. I think you never fully realize what you have until it’s gone.

So, in the spirit of cheering myself up, I’m going to post a list of things I’ve recently become thankful for:

* Washing machine & dryer
* Running water
* Internet
* Food to eat
* Daisies that lived for one month (but are now brown and need to be tossed)
* Hands that work
* Chocolate.
* Dog brushes that control shedding as much as possible
* Our vacuum cleaner
* A surprise call from my hairstylist who said she can get me in tomorrow
* Those little rolling tape things that trap lint and fur
* Canned peaches
* Toothpaste

I’ll keep thinking about the rest of my list today. In the meantime though, what are things you haven’t taken the time to be thankful for?

Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. And I might just start my rejoicing with a cup of hot chocolate. It is a blustery day, after all. 🙂

Yesterday was my brother’s birthday. And of course, I forgot my camera again just like I did on my brother Caleb’s birthday, so I have no pictures of my “little” brother turning the big 23, (I say “little” because Bryant is almost 6’3″!) or my littlest brother turning 21 (who again, is over six feet tall. Sheesh.)

It was after Bryant opened the presents we got him and we were all stuffed with my mom’s homemade enchiladas and an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins that I started thinking. We were all lounging on the couches and the floor, laughing and talking, and I just realized how incredibly blessed I am to have such an amazing family. Ever since we were tiny, my family has been super, super close. We are best friends as well as being siblings, daughters, sons and parents.

This is us when we were little – Caleb, Bryant, Cayce and Me. 🙂

And my mom and dad. 🙂

It’s pretty special. 🙂

And then, I met this amazing guy:

Who brought his equally amazing family into the picture! I could not ask for better in-laws – the O’Briens are definitely another huge blessing! There has never been a time when I didn’t feel like a part of the family. 🙂

Back in the ole engagement days… 🙂

It is SO easy for me to completely space out on the incredible blessings God has given me – especially when my prayer request list keeps filling up! I was reminded of this verse this morning and I just want to share it:

John 13:7 – “Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.'”

Isn’t this the truth? I am definitely a hindsight 20/20 kind of a girl – sometimes it’s so hard for me to see what things I should be thankful for right now. I get so caught up on what I think we need or something I want. But, when I stop and really think about it? I have everything I could ever need right here: Christ.

It’s good to be reminded! How about you guys? Are there things in your life that you’ve forgotten to be thankful for lately? 🙂

We’re talking about how we get started on new writing projects this week on Scribble Chicks! Check it out here!

In other news (probably a bad word choice for what I’m about to tell you), here’s my list of what’s happening in my life:

1) Have not had a haircut since January. Called to make a haircut appointment and was told the earliest I could get in was September 18. Anyone know ways to disguise horrific spit ends? Besides the Princess Leia Cinnabon thing?

2) Kody is going through what Siberian Husky people call “blowing his coat”. Basically, it means all that fluffy undercoat he had is now floating through my house, clinging to my carpet and piled on his puppy pillow. I had no idea a dog could shed so much and still have so much fur left.

3) Jon and I have been a one-car family and looking for another car for going on three weeks. My question directed toward a certain Car Salesman: Next time someone calls about a car, could you please let them know it was a theft recovery car before they drive across town to see it? And that the stereo is a faint memory in the battered dash, the headrests are gone, and that no, the overhead light is not on so don’t try to turn it off – that is definitely blood smeared on there. BLEUGH!!! Purell was my best friend that day.

So, there’s my news for this last week! How about you guys? 🙂

Today has been just one of those days.

It started out normal enough. I got up and got ready for church. When Jon got up, he was complaining about his stomach not feeling too good. So, halfway to church we decided to just turn around and stay home.

Poor guy. He’s been feeling sick and throwing up all day. I’ve realized that it’s a very good thing I did not go to school to become a nurse. I don’t handle other people being sick very well – I don’t even handle me being sick very well!

So, be praying for Jon if you don’t mind. He’s not having a good day.

We house-sat for Mom and Dad this whole last week and last night was our first night back at our house. When we got home, we discovered one of the cabinet shelves in the kitchen had broken and spilled pans and bowls all over the kitchen floor. Yikes! Nothing was damaged except the shelf bracket, thank goodness.

I’m also realizing I’m not one of those handy women who can fix everything. If you are one of these women, I salute you with my borrowed screwdriver. Growing up, Dad did everything. And now, Jon usually does everything. But since he’s couched for today, it was up to me to fix the shelf. And even though he offered to fix it tomorrow, I still decided it was just a simple shelf – how hard could it be to fix?

Well, two trips to Home Depot, about an hour fiddling with the wrong brackets, thirty minutes reorganizing half my kitchen later… and I’ve officially fixed the shelf – as long as we don’t put anything heavy on it.

It’s amazing to me how quickly I lose my patience with people when they can’t control the situation, with things when it was my fault that they broke, and with myself when I realize that yep, that old sin nature is still present and accounted for.

Which is when God brings verses like this to my mind: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (That’s Hebrews 10:23)

God IS faithful – even on rough days. He IS faithful to complete the good work He’s started – even when the kitchen shelf breaks, someone’s throwing up, the dog is eating the brackets that spilled on the floor and the grocery budget is once again shattered by the sound of the price scanner at the store.

He who promised is faithful! So, I’m going to take a deep breath and even though I can’t start today over, I can start right now practicing more patience – both with others and myself. So, I’m going to go trade in my screwdriver for a spatula and do something I’m a little better at – making dinner!

Thank you so much for your dinner ideas, by the way! You guys are such geniuses. And speaking of dinner geniuses, has anyone seen Julie & Julia yet? I really want to see it – it looks so cute! If you have, let me know if you liked it!

I thought you guys might want to see a few things in my life lately. Here’s a picture I took of our little backyard recently:

It’s little, but it works for us! I wish I could say Kody goes out there and plays around, but when we play fetch with Kody, it looks like this.

Yeah, he’s not one for fetching. Notice he’s completely ignoring the tennis balls. Not that I blame him. Maybe he’s just smart enough to recognize how dumb fetching is! But, we still throw the ball for him. I’m not sure how long it will take me and Jon to realize he’s not a Labrador, he’s a Husky. I don’t think Huskies are known for their fetching capabilities. Here’s what Kody would rather be doing:

He’s a floor-potato. Look at that little paw all folded under so politely. What goofy dog. And this is his favorite spot – right smack in the middle of the hallway! I don’t know how many times I trip over him during the day!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day of rest! And if not – don’t forget that He is faithful and tomorrow is another day!

This past week has been one of those crazy ones, so finding the time to sit down and blog has been a challenge! So, to make sure I found time today, I am blogging before breakfast. You know how food supposedly stimulates the brain? Yeah, this could be an interesting entry.

There’s only ten days left in my name contest, so keep on submitting names! You can enter as many times as you want to! I’ll announce the winner on Friday, August 14.

Because things have been so crazy lately, I’ll confess that I haven’t been a good wife in the area of Dinner Prep. The last three nights we’ve had frozen pizza, frozen taquitos and mini corn dogs. And while all of those choices are super healthy (especially when combined with the desserts of choice: Nutter Butters and Oreos), I’m feeling like maybe I should try cooking tonight.

My mother tried to warn me about this part of marriage, but I don’t think I paid enough attention to it. I love to cook, so before we got married, I thought coming up with an idea for dinner every night would be fun. And it was fun. For about the first 100 meals.

Now we’re reaching close to around 500 meals and Mom, I apologize. You were right. It is exhausting coming up with something to eat every night! Not even counting then having to go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients and make it. And I only have one other person to cook for! Moms have become my heroes.

So, I’m going to start racking my brain for dinner ideas. If you guys have some, please leave a comment! 🙂

In an attempt to keep things fair, I’m going to post one of my favorite chocolate recipes since I posted a lemon recipe last time. 🙂 This is Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread and oh. my. gosh. It is the bestest bread on the planet! I’ve been known to eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. It’s that amazing.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2 cups canned pumpkin (16 oz.)
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking power
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients. Stir well. Mix in 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean).

Let it cool before removing it from the pan. When you do remove it, empty loaf on a wire rack to cool more. And even though it’s hard, try to not cut into it until it’s cool (I never last this long). It does cut better when it’s cooler though. If you don’t mind a mess, I say, dig in!

Okay, now I’m seeing that not eating breakfast has prompted this blog toward food thoughts… 🙂