April 15th - April 30th: The Days That Life Took Over

No regrets. No regrets. No regrets. Say it with me now....
I've started too many things in my life, and finished far too few. I can sulk, I can pout, I can put myself in timeout and at the end of the day, the ends are still untied and I'm still disappointed. It's a recurring theme around here, isn't it? Not the soundtrack I care to have for my story. No sir, my story is His and He deserves a full blown symphony, not my tiny, whiny solo violin of misery. And with that, dear orchestra, tune your instruments, straighten your sheet music and let's get this show started. We have a bigger song to play:

Because we're covering a lot of ground, I'm ditching format and going with my instincts here. I may go back and add a special post or two, also. If you say it, it will come. Or something like that....

April 15 - Early rising on a rainy Sunday, breakfast with my mother, continuation of the cleaning frenzy (today's victim: the bathroom. YIKES.) Ready to take on the rest of my house. "Have scrub brush, will travel", reads the card of this gal. (catch the reference? I watched a lot of westerns as a kid)

April 16 - Rough day for best friend. Sometimes just being > perfect words. Praise Him for his intercession on our behalf and for reminders of such. Bless that man of mine, he stayed home, cooked me dinner and we watched Adventures of Tintin (so cute). As Mondays go, it lacked excitement, but overflowed with reminders that I am undeserving and so very blessed.

April 17 - The day my sweet, most-anticipated new little man was to arrive, but alas, did not. Due dates: another reminder that God works on his own time, and it is so very perfect. This was also the day of my last post. Bible study got tabled and so we reverted to our usual back-up plan: snow cones. (ever notice that I can't decide how to spell that? I'm just going to keep rotating the spellings until I settle on one I like)

April 18 - I'm going to be really honest. I have very limited memory of this day. I looked up a few things for our upcoming birthday trip (like Goonies film sites in Astoria). I went to Bible study with my lovely ladies. That's all I've got!

April 19 - Let the list making begin. Or continue, rather. I started perfecting my 30 by 30 list. So far, 19 things listed. Added on this day: full marathon. Eek! I want a few more halts under my belt first, though. Found the Disney Princess half in Orlando. 13 miles in a tutu? Totally got this.

April 20 - The day was a blur as I flew through it to get to 4:30. My little brother's birthday party was Friday night at the Burleson community center pool. Best gift: donating my husband to the party. I don't know what it is, but kids love to torture him, especially in pools. Such a good sport, though! Followed this with the bday boy's restaurant of choice: Chili's. Thanks to an over-booked Saturday, I had to stay up late at the shop to catch up, and let off some steam while I was there. You'd be surprised how therapeutic a rolling pin and a few balls of dough can be. I knew how exhausting the next 48 hours would be, I prepped a big bat h of iced coffee. Smartest idea ever.

April 21 - 10k number 2 in the books! I was up far too late, so my wake up. All for this race felt more like a death march. Not the best way to start, but I was committed! Ended up finishing and even shaving a few minutes off of my previous time! We rushed back to the shop (well....after a taco stop) to help with a large party. Speaking of parties, we spent Saturday night at the bday party of a sweet friend. The iced coffee came in here, as she was having a fun coffee/tea party. It was tasty and I was wired. Perfect!

April 22 - worship and study with my CLC family, lunch with my favorites on a patio, and a housewarming party for sweet friends. Social, filling, and there was Queso. Mix for a good day! Let's make it better by adding iced coffee (yes, again), an almost-car-problem (if I fully explained this I would lose serious wife points...but our car is fine), sno-cones and strange holistic magazines about angel psychics (hey, it was free at a gas station!). Wish I has some anecdotal story or something to add here..let's go with when you have car trouble, make sure you do do at a coffee shop do when you call your mechanic uncle and he brings his wife along for the rescue mission, which turns out to be quite unnecessary, she'll at least have her coffee. We are women and related so I totally get it.

April 23 - this day will be getting its own special revisit! It involved a doctor visit (uneventful as heck) and a hospital visit (amazing as heck). Roston James made his entrance into the world in a way as unique as I hope his life story will be. Beautiful, healthy and capable of expanding my hearts love for my nephews farther than I thought possible. Can't wait to document this day further!

April 24 - life after Roston, day 1: went to visit that sweet blonde baby and fell in love again. Uncle Jon stayed home in bed with a migraine, which led to a cancelled small group, which led to more hangout time with the Denman party of four. No biggie! :) Stayed up late with best friend watching the office. As Tuesdays go, this one was a rose.

April 25 – The last session of our study of James (for me, anyway). I am always amazed at how God touches each participant’s in a particular way, so that when we all come to the proverbial dinner table of group study, its quite a feast. That being said, I’ve slacked a bit on my homework, but I intend to start over on my own.

April 26 -  Meeting with doctor, round 2.  I spent most of the day fighting and praying away anxiety over this appointment. Still not up to divulging all the details, but just know it was bit more “invasive” than your average check-up. Things went well and I wholly believe I was carried through on the heart-whispers of others. Beautiful things, those. Business meeting that night, complete with Bison burgers  (yum!) and our usual rabbit trails. Ended the day on a semi-frustrated note, but with that still-small voice speaking stillness. Sleep came easy, thank Him.

 April 27 – POTTERMORE! Def a nerd-out kind of a day. I joined and I’m in love. Finally on its way out of beta testing, I got a good way in. Good news – I’m Ravenclaw! This is much to the dismay of my Hufflepuff Hubs. Speaking of that guy, we went to his softball game and followed it up with the deliciousness that is Campo Verde. I introduced him to Pottermore while we watched the Sorcerer’s Stone. Ah-mazing.

April 28 – The Burleson Farmer’s Market opened today! A touch disappointed with the small number of vendors (some carrying not-so-local produce) but I have faith that it’ll grow and become a good source of local Burleson goodness. It was also my shift to bring the Denman clan dinner (read: slip the parents food while I steal the baby for snuggles). I must say, I made some of the best taquitos ever. Seriously. I could eat my weight in these suckers. And black beans. And Cilantro lime rice. Dang it feels good to be a {kitchen} gangsta. Anywho, got to snuggle with that gorgeous little baby, while Jon was on big-nephew duty (this involves lots of roughhousing and sword fights for which uncles are best suited). Jon left to go out with the boys, and a few hours later returned with said boys and my house instantly became a hostel.  I’m going to start charging rent, maybe in the form of lawn work. Yeah…lawn work.

April 29 – Outings with the nephew are kind of like previews in parenting, which is always…entertaining. We took my oldest nephew to Scarborough Renaissance Faire. His mom gave him money that was burning a hole in his pocket even in the parking lot. He was going to buy a toy, and it only took him 5 minutes into the place to find “the one” – a wooden battle axe painted silver and black. The next few hours was a battle of wills as he begged to buy it right then and I pushed for him to hold off in case he found something else. I finally gave in, let him buy the thing and as I knew would happen, 10 minutes later he found something else that caught his eye. He understood that we shook on it when he bought the axe – no whining, no turning back – and he solemnly nodded as I reminded him.  I’m such a tough aunt! Haha. Still, we had fun riding rides, camels, eating treats and people watching (sidenote: that is the BEST place to people watch. Veeeery interesting).  Tavin even sang his pirate song (from Muppet Treasure Island) to the pirates at the faire. Also nearly got attacked by a creepy vulture. We ended our day with a tired 4 year old, a Sonic run, pirate songs and sword fights. Not a bad Sunday (and I got to hold his brother again)!

 April 30 – One of 3 days I’ve ever cried on the job. I can handle a lot of things, but rudeness and an absolute unwillingness to listen or reason are two that I just cannot stand. I got pushed to the edge by a yelling, angry, berating, and just plain mean person today. That’s all I can say, but the situation ended with me in tears of anger and frustration. Hardest thing in the world to keep your cool with people who never had a hold on theirs! Thankful for the reprieve of nice coworkers, family, baseball and best friends.

Love and Try-Agains,
K

April 8 - April 14 - The Day(s) I Got a Step Closer

April 8 - A beautiful, rain-soaked Easter!  Spent the morning celebrating with my CLC fam, basking in gratitude, humility and just plain awe at the incredible gift we've been given. For once in my adult life, I actually had my ducks in a row, too! Clothes picked out (though that dress turned out to be quite uncomfortable), cakes and food ready to go (though every time I decorate a cake I remember why I own a PIE shop) - I should try this route more often! Even with its faults, it helped ease my usual holiday stress. Unfortunately, the egg hunt got rained out, but this did not stop us from enjoying the patio! We ate lunch outside on my aunt & uncle's wrap-around porch, watching the slow rain fall around us. My nephew also got his first introduction to confetti eggs (which he just wanted to smash in front of you, not on you). We closed the day at the in-laws with delicious food, a cute baby, and as is tradition, dessert and a movie.

April 9 - Remember that failed biscuit dough from last week? Turns out it makes great pizza dough! :) After a gym class that kicked my butt, I felt I had earned the right to some cheesy goodness. Husband whipped up a homemade pizza using the re-purposed dough, and it was delish. He finally got me to watch Zombieland for the first time. I'll admit it - not as bad as I thought it would be! I am also loving these long, spring days! Still had enough daylight to go out and run a few errands after dinner. Also, I'm pretty sure my crazy neighbors were in my back yard. Note to self: really need to get a gate!

April 10 - This marked the 11th anniversary of my official title as middle child. Little brother celebrated his birthday today! I don't think any of us had a clue of how much he was going to change all of our worlds (sometimes for the crazier, but most times for the better, haha). Also, this would be one of those days where I feel really, really old! I headed to small group by  my lonesome as Husband was, in his words, dying on the couch. We planned out the next few weeks of lessons, and naturally, nominated Jon to teach since he wasn't there to object. :) Since we wrapped up early, best friend and I headed out for a snowcone, then I donated some of my time to helping the youth of America. Or rather, the teacher of the youth of America, by grading papers. This is all at once the most hope-giving and hope-killing activity. Lord help the future of this country!

April 11 - In case it isn't obvious, let me just say that our lives are busy. Very, very busy. Days "off" are precious few, so sometimes we just have to raise the white flag, say no to social activities, and invest in our own little family (its still a family, even if there's just 2 of you!) This is what we did, and little did we know how much we'd need it in the coming days.We stayed home, made some tacos, devoured chips and salsa from our go-to Mexican place, grabbed a snowcones, and just chilled with each other. It was time much needed and appreciated.

April 12 - This day sucked. You know when God has been showing you something through a book or a lesson and you're like "yeah, I totally get that!" and then he's like, "Um, no, Kid, you don't. Buckle up, cause I'm going to SHOW you." That was this day. Apologies for the simultaneous vague and personal nature of this post (paragraph), but the details are still unfolding so its not quite fit for sharing yet. Suffice it to say that husband and I spent the day reflecting, praying, at times being anxious, but at the end of the day feeling peaceful. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers..." I'm working on it, James. I'm working on it. In the meantime, God wows me with his willingness to whisper my name into the hearts of praying people. In the middle of this turbulence, I received an email from my sister-in-law saying that, for reasons she didn't understand, God had placed me on her heart and she'd been praying all day. When He brings someone to you, LISTEN and OBEY. Also, when you have a bad day, let your husband dote on you and take you out for lots of Italian food. You're welcome for both of these advice gems.

April 13 - Friends who move to fun places are good to have. Friends who come back home to visit and invite you for Mexican food: even better. Before this, however, we went for snowcones. After all, it is Friday. Traditiooooon, Tradition! Tradition! (Why yes, I am equating our frozen treat ritual with ancient Hebrew traditions and Broadway musicals...what of it?) Finished off our snowcones just in time to walk into the beautiful garden at Joe Ts for some silly-good tacos and a reunion with our California beauty who was home for a visit. I love, love, love seeing people I have known as kids, particularly young women, grow up into such Wonderful adults. Granted, she isn't much younger than me, but still. Makes me proud, in a way. We talked, laughed, hugged and parted ways, in the kind of way that's sad but comfortable knowing it'll happen again soon enough (maybe on her turf next time!) From there we booked it over to catch the last half of Husband's softball game. Short story: they lost and sometimes old men get grumpy when they lose. :)

April 14 - I drug myself out of bed to knock out a few pies and other goodies at the shop then retreated back home for some semblance of a day off. While eating my lunch, I wanted to watch a little TV, but didn't want to get sucked into anything. Perfect solution: hoarders. Boy, if that isn't fuel to my organizational/cleaning fire, I don't know what is! Let it be known, I worked miracles this day. I DEEP cleaned my bedroom. This house hasn't seen that much elbow grease since we moved in. I forgot how good it feels! Don't get me wrong, I clean regularly, but not like this. I plan to continue working my way through the rest of the house. Husband got home, picked his jaw up off the floor after seeing the fruit of my labors, and we headed over to hang out with some awesome kiddos from our church. We ate brownies, played games, I fell asleep watching a movie (what's new?), and then spent the night with the girls, while Jon went to hang with the boys. Luckily, the girls were as tired as I was and we all fell asleep pretty quickly (Jon was not so lucky).

Love, lessons & week-long posts,

K

April 1 - April 7: The Day I Did It...Again.

Oh if it were only a 2 week late April Fool's joke! No such luck, friends. Let that post smash-up continue...

Apr 1 - You know, it's funny; when you're young, you don't really think you'll grow up and voluntarily hang out with your family. Can I just say how blessed I feel that this is true for both my natural family and my married family? We spent the afternoon eating lunch and watching brit coms with Husband's sister, her husband and their kissable baby. Later in the day, we continued the fam love on the other side, celebrating my beautiful sister-in-law's birthday, which, unrelated, included playing with the tiniest, cutest puppy ever (only cause its not learning to potty train at my house). As usual, I ate far too much, laughed til it hurt, and said more than a handful of "thank yous" for all of the above.

Apr 2 - I don't have very many claims to fame, but I am very proud of and thankful for a handful of friendships that have stood the test of time. Two lovely ladies in particular have kept me giggling since before we were in Kindergarten. For years, we have intermittently banded together for travel adventures. We decided to get together for dinner to plan out this year's trip. This meeting was, of course, comprised of about 10% planning, 60% laughing and 30% delicious food, coffee and cake (oh, and 2 different patios. We get around). Can't wait for our Hill Country getaway!

Apr 3 - It is no secret to those that know me, I haven't exactly been known as athletic for the majority of my life. Ok, really, like the first 24 years. As such, I surprise myself with how blocked into that role I still am, but its mostly me who does the blocking. Imagine my surprise when I actually (almost) won a game of bowling! The surprise wasn't so much my score (still pretty sucky), but that no one was surprised that I wasn't the worst one. It's the little things! The bowling trip was to celebrate the birthdays in our small group. Bowling with lasers and black lights: appropriate birthday celebrations for ages 8-80 (though I'd suggest you guard both end of that spectrum against the music video selections...interesting)

Apr 4 - Women of the world, I know you'll understand me when I say this. I am thankful for medical advancements and screening procedures that keep us safe from preventable cancers. But....annual exams...I hate them. Possibly invented by the devil himself. Or men. Probably men. The upside: the drive into work passes a Starbucks and a Chick Fil-a. This idea was also invented by men. I'm sure mothers everywhere rejoice over this caffeine refill station adjacent to the only guiltless fast food option for their chicken-nugget-addict kids. I digress. Bible study that evening, where I saw once again the beauty of that scarlet thread gently stitched from Genesis to Revelation. It's one big, beautiful story, y'all!

Apr 5 - Another day highlighting my innate act to over-commit. Another day to remind me why I own a restaurant. It started with a simple pie for my coworkers. Then I thought, well gee, they really need something savory too...enter Farmer's Pie, a delicious creation involving a crust of hashbrowns, filled with sauteed onions, bacon, cheese, eggs and cream. I think I should rename it Fat Farmers Pie. THEN I thought, well what about the vegetarians?? Why, homemade biscuits and raspberry butter of course! My poor kitchen. My lucky coworkers. All went well except the biscuits...as soon as the dough came together, I just l knew they weren't going to work out. But I already made the butter, so, back to the mixer I went, whipping up a batch of whole wheat buttermilk and cinnamon scones. Note to self: this much cooking should be done at the restaurant. Where there's a paid dishwasher, who isn't me.

Apr 6 - What a good Friday it was! Having an unplanned half-day off work is such a rarity that I usually don't know what to do with myself when it occurs. Today, though, I chose to head to my happy place. After my cooking and baking marathon the previous morning, I had an itch that only organization could scratch. My spice cabinets were a royal mess. I say royal because, seriously, they should've been wearing crowns for King and Queen of Disarray. So, as usual, I headed to the container store for inspiration, then to Dollar Tree for my cheap-o self to actually buy stuff. My cabinets handed in their crowns for a jaunt through the fields of Organization Heaven, as they look perfectly lovely. Husband came hone soon after this project wrapped up and we headed to the yard for a little green thumbing. Tired does not even begin to describe my state when this day wrapped. Lucky for me, it ended with a plate full of Babe's Chicken and the subsequent food coma, which made it all worthwhile.

Apr 7 - Easter is the one time of year that I spend time lavishly over cakes. Every other time of the year, pie and cobbler rule my kitchen. But Easter goes to the cake. This year, it went to two: strawberry coconut cupcakes and Lemon Orange Chiffon Cake. Naturally, two cakes = two days of baking. I started on this Saturday with the cupcakes. Y'all. You can't even know how good these were. Topped them with dyed coconut to look like grass and candy eggs. Pagan Easter deliciousness, as Husband likes to call it. The remainder of the day involved lots of Easter pie ( for the shop) and was bookended by the beginnings of my lemon chiffon cake. In my glamorous way, I fell asleep on the couch under a bath towel. The rest of the cake (leveling, icing, all that jazz) would just have to wait til Sunday. That bath towel was cozy.

Love & Messy Kitchens,
K

March 25 - 31 - The Day I Got Lost In Life, part 3

Mar 25 - This would be the day I got asked about being Jewish at least 3 times. Odd as it may seem, this is not particularly surprising. In an attempt to get a little more stuff out of our garage, we extended the garage sale through Sunday. The more popular wares included a few Jewish cookbooks, which led to questions about my religion, which led to probably-more-obvious-than-intended looks of confusion as I held a Bible in my lap (I had "church" in my front yard - this is a grand idea, btw). Then.....HUNGER GAMES! It was excellent. I may have cried. Ahem. And then we celebrated my favorite TX spring traditions: patios!

Mar 26 - Let the patios continue! Any patio + good food + even better friends = a beautiful evening. This one was particularly special since it involved two lovely ladies I haven't seen in over a year, two sorority sisters from college. It was a  bittersweet reminder that we don't appreciate things (or people in this case) nearly as much as we should while we have them. We spent hours chatting about college days, and coming up with various ways we can convince other people to fund our alma mater. Looking forward to more of these visits, and maybe a pledge class reunion in the near future!

Mar 27 - Best Friend got her first slap in the face by the Dangerous Minds realities of public school (find the humor, not the offense, ha) when she witnessed a hall fight, then got sucker-punched with the apathy that only teenagers + homework can bring. Lord, protect her Michelle Pfieffer heart and clothe her with your tough leather jacket of protection. May she teach those choir kids how to sing your praise...oh wait. Wrong movie. And for a dose of bad adult behavior, we went to my little brother's track meet, where the kids had a great talent for running races, and parents had a great talent for nearly ruining them. Lord, help us all. And that's for real. (Landon won 3rd place though! Go bro, go!) Grabbed a late night dinner with my parents and a very sleepy little runner, then headed home, happy, full and thankful my parents were never those parents.

March 28 - I spent most of the day trying to convince myself that I did NOT need tacos for dinner. As usual, this plan totally failed, and I indulged. The good taste barely outweighed the guilt. We also had a double dose of Bible study, as we did two weeks' worth of sessions from our study on James. If you've ever done a Beth Moore study, you know that one session can pack enough of a punch on its own, but by the end of two, I was all at once full of inspiration and drained of mental energy. When this is centered around how God may be working in your life, its a good, good feeling. I've started coming home from these lessons and sharing my "pearls" with my husband. Its becoming a ritual most cherished, and one I hope continues beyond the realm of this study.

March 29 - The day that went absolutely nowhere. I can't talk much about my job, but I can say that 99% of my work involves a computer. So, when my computer crashes at 9:30 AM, you just KNOW it's going to be a grrreat day (don't slip in my puddle of sarcasm there). Positives: business luncheon (read: bread basket and a 2 hr lunch break)...as for my work day, that's all the positive I've got. They had to rebuild my computer, which I got back around 4:30. Luckily, the day's prospects brightened with every mile closer to my home. Husband ordered pizza, we worked in the garden, my beautiful Cross Dragon vines began to bloom and we got a chance to crash, exhausted and happy, on the couch. Again, Again! :)

March 30 - Rebuilt computer = new screen saver! The downside of that being that I wanted to sit and watch the slideshow I created of iPhone pics. Ha. Post-work, I got to visit Best Friend's basement classroom! She started very late in the year so technically, it doesn't feel like "hers". We'll fix that next year, though. It finally hit home, though, how very much lies on the shoulders of the teachers regarding classroom supplies. Its a disservice to their craft, and I wish more people understood and would help. We followed this with week 2 of our new Sno-Cone tradition. Apparently, a rusty picnic table and cups of flavored shaved ice are quite conducive to good conversation. Followed this up with Chinese food and a pleasant spring evening drive with the hubs. I'm getting very good at this weekend kick-off thing!

March 31 - Finally made a hint of progress on the blog! Hey, a step is a step, no matter how small. :) Today was loaded with an array of spring goodness. It was the kind of day where I wish I could photo-document every second. Started with pie, of the strawberry sort, which was just a piece of a morning of baking. I had to go to my desk job for a couple of hours, but even that wasn't enough to deter me. Went to my little bro's baseball game, watched him hit a single, then steal 2nd AND 3rd, that guy. We wrapped up the day in the most perfect way, with friends at the drive-in, watching Mirror Mirror and the Lorax. The movies were good (confession: I fell asleep halfway through the Lorax, but this should surprise no one who knows me and my late night movie habits), but the company (and free popcorn!) was better. Also, put a mark in the "pro" column for "Friends with Minivans". Turns out they're excellent drive-in material!

Highlights:
1) Every night this week involved some sort of horrible, unhealthy food. Did you know when you are NOT running 15-18 miles per week, this catches up with you? Just ask my thighs.

2) I am in LOVE with fall. We have a special bond, really. But Spring...its doing quite a job of wooing me with its pleasant weather, fragrant blooms, and as it happens, multiple patios. I feel like I'm cheating on my beloved! This may be irrational,but I bet there's at least a few season loyals who can relate.

3) The garden is officially reignited! We have lettuce, squash, cucumbers, cilantro, grean beans and more that are slowly stretching their pretty little leaves skyward. This process never ceases to amaze me. Also, I will kill any squirrels who try and ruin this for me. Furry little rats.

Love & Springtime Musings,
K