Too Much Caffeine

Dear Family Members (and Roman):

I planted three flowers yesterday in my flower pot. Despite your doubt in my green-thumb, they will NOT die. *slams fist on desk*

Three things:

1) Lauren enjoys pulling off the rubber tips to the door stoppers in our house. It’s really annoying.

2) There was a rooster in the median of the highway on my way to work today. I immediately wanted to crack a joke: “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Oh wait, there’s no one in the car with me to tell the joke to. Fail.

3) Here’s a goat:

Happy Tuesday!!

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” ~1 Corinthians 10:12

Rawesome Roman

So we are getting ready for bed tonight, and then this happened.......

Me: I really want to get all of my house stuff done tomorrow so I can use my day off on Monday for some R&R.
Roman: Do you know what R&R means?
Me: Rest and Relaxa-
Roman: Rawesome Roman!
Me: What?
Roman: Ragnificent Roman.
Me: .......
Roman: Ronderful Roman.
Me: Okay.
Roman: .............Ramazing Roman.
Me: ....................

One thing is for certain: it's never boring here. Also, we are both sleep deprived. Good night.

"God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it He ceased all the work that He had been doing in creation." ~Genesis 2:3

Encouraging the Youth of America

One thing I’ve learned in my short life is just how much other people enjoy trying to run your life for you. Examples:

When you’re dating someone, they ask why you aren’t married yet.

When you’re married to someone, they ask why you don’t have kids yet.

When you have your first kid, they ask when you are planning to have another one.

Graduating from high school…where are you going to college?

Graduating from college…when are you going to start on your second degree?

You should work _____. You should do _____ with your career.

_____is not a good idea…you should do ____ instead.

American society is never short on opinions for what others should be doing with their lives.

I was reminded of this fact yesterday afternoon. I was walking outside my building and ran into one of my old co-workers. We said our “hello’s” and “how are you doing’s” and without skipping a beat she asked me how school was going. “Well you know I graduated last May with my Bachelor’s….” The look on her face was immediate disappointment. “Sarah. You have got to keep going with your education. Why are you not enrolled in a Master’s program? You’ll never get anywhere in your career without a higher degree” she said in a very stern tone. I calmly explained that I was taking a break and that I was going to work on some training through my employer….but I can tell you, it took all I had in me to keep smiling and acting friendly through the rest of the conversation. Especially when she ended the conversation by reminding me that once I finished my training I needed to start working on my Master’s degree. Really??!?!?

Now if this had been my mom, or Roman, or my Pastor, or someone who knew me very well….that’s one thing. They know me and they know the call that God has for my life. But this woman barely knows me and doesn’t know anything about the goals and aspirations I have in my life….and I’m not sure she’s a Christian so she probably isn’t even thinking about what God wants for my life. And that’s the real problem.

I worry that the American society (this includes the Church of America as well) places too many expectations on our youth. We expect the youth of America to have it all figured out: where we’re going to go to college, where we want to work after we graduate, when/who we want to marry, how many kids we are going to have, where we want to live, and the list goes on and on. But we don’t stop there….not only do we expect them to know the answers to all of these questions, we also expect them to maintain a certain status in their answers. Heaven forbid one of them answer your question by stating they want to be a factory worker after they graduate high school. Oh no. That is not. good. enough. You need to aspire to be a banker or a CEO or an actor or a doctor…just do SOMETHING that will make you a respectable member of society.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to encourage our youth to dream big dreams, but it is 100% wrong to ignore their hopes and dreams and press them to be someone they’re not….or rush them into making decisions when they’re not ready. Go ahead and ask the questions like “where are you going to go to college?” Just don’t act disappointed when they tell you that they haven’t decided yet, or that they’ve decided college isn’t for them and they would rather just start working instead. Trust me, I’m sure they’ve talked with their parents over this decision and they don’t need a half-stranger giving them advice on their life decisions….they get enough of that from everyone else.

Perhaps I’m being a little too mean about all of this, and if so then I apologize. I just feel like our youth has enough to worry about…they go through so much. Between trying to figure out who they really are and who God is and what He wants from them….and then dealing with difficult social situations that are much more varied than what older generations have dealt with, I think they have enough on their minds.

So rather than be a discouragement to our youth, be an encourager instead. Listen to them talk about their hopes and dreams and then encourage them to chase after them. After all, God gives us big dreams for a reason....and sometimes those dreams don't include a college degree or a high-paying job. Don’t look down on them if they are making a decision that is not “socially acceptable” in your eyes. I think we have enough cookie-cutter adults chasing after the great “American Dream”. What this country needs is a generation that is unafraid to seek after God’s heart for their lives. And most importantly: PRAY that our young people are willing and seeking to follow God’s call for their lives. Ask that God give them a soft heart and a burning passion to see His glory on earth. Because if they are running heard after God’s heart, then they’ll make the right life choices….no matter how crazy those life choices may sound to us.

And for heaven’s sake….please don’t ask me when I’m going for my Master’s degree. Because I can assure you, unless God specifically (and I mean specifically) tells me to go back to school, I’m not. EVER. #hatedcollege    ;)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  ~Jeremiah 29:11

Cat Problems

I am not a cat person. I like them alright….but give me a choice between owning a dog and owning a cat and I’ll choose the dog, thank you very much. But as most of you know, Roman and I have two cats: Ralph and Lauren. Lauren is a goofy little black cat….and Ralph is a devious huge stripe-y cat.

I love them both, I really do. But Ralph gets into trouble. All. The. Time. And the thing with cats…..well, you can’t really train them like you can a dog.

One of his favorite games to play is “Let’s see if I can run out of the door when they let the dog out.” If he manages to escape, he then likes to play his next favorite game: “Let’s hide under the front porch steps where they can’t get me, roll around in the sand, and hiss at everyone.” Cue the temptation to cuss. Also cue the temptation to leave the @#$!* cat outside to be eaten by that fox living close by. Oh, I kid….mostly. (CALM DOWN PETA)

We also have to keep our bedroom door closed at night now….because of RALPH. If we leave the door open, then he will find a way to take over BOTH of our pillows. And we have a king-sized bed guys. He’ll start walking back in forth. “Purrrr”…..“Purrrr”…..*steps on Sarah’s hair*…..“Purrrr”……*lays on Roman’s head* Cue more temptations to cuss, a mouth full of cat hair and a restless night.

Once I had a really nice, wicker basket by our front door to hold all our shoes. Ralph chewed it up. Then he taught Lauren how to chew it up. Then he taught Duke. I no longer have the shoe basket. In fact, I no longer have ANY wicker baskets because as soon as I get one he eats it….so I just quit trying.

But what aggravates me more than any of this is Ralph’s problems with food. He loves to eat the dog food….which is something cats can’t digest. He’ll run by Duke’s dog food bowl, grab a piece, and then go hide somewhere to finish eating it. I keep telling him I’m not going to care if he gets impacted and dies….but he doesn’t listen. Dumb cat. Never mind the dog food though, let’s talk about MY food. When cooking, you have to keep a constant eye on the food….leave a pot of food unattended and I guarantee Ralph will stick his face in it. And don’t even think about leaving bread anywhere on the counter. Once Roman and I bought a bag of hoagie rolls to use on our beach trip the next day; we left them on the counter top that night, only to wake up the next day to find Ralph had chewed through the bag and gnawed on all the rolls. *&$%@! cat.

So what I found this morning really shouldn’t surprise me….but it did. I bought two tomatoes last night at the grocery store because I’ve really wanted a tomato sandwich this week. They weren’t quite ripe yet, so I left them in a basket on the counter top with the bananas. Apparently, my cat likes tomatoes as well. I walk in this morning and pour my cup of coffee, and I just so happen to look over at the basket. “Hmmm…those tomatoes look weird. Don’t tell me they went bad over night.” *Picks up tomato* “RALPH! Why did you gnaw all over my tomatoes!!!!???!??!” Cue temptation to cuss and throw tomato at cat.

If you’re looking for me, I’ll be locked in my bedroom with the dog food and a new wicker basket, snacking on some rolls and tomatoes. &*$#@!*&$ cat.

“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”  ~Acts 5:32

Weird Wednesday.

Last night I dreamed that I was back in high school. Cue the weird hair-do’s, awkward social situations, and the endless stream of tests and pop quizzes. Yuck. One of my good friends from high school was in this particular dream, except he decided he was going to start driving a semi truck to school. A big huge white one. It was ugly. On this particular school day, we decided we would make it prettier….so we skipped class and stayed outside so we could draw all over it with blue expo markers. Then he tried to run me over. Not. Nice. I escaped by jumping on top of another student’s truck. You know, because I’m a ninja.

Then I had another dream where my friend Mallory bought me a white bathrobe as a random gift and wrote on the card: “Go home, put this on, sit down, and paint your toe nails.”

I am assuming this was my subconscious mind reminding myself that I really need to take the time to repaint my toes. And also that I secretly think my friend from high school wants to murder me with a semi truck. Dear Subconscious Mind: GET OFF ME, OKAY??!?

Ahem.

…..Does anyone have chocolate? I think that would be the solution to my current ADD issue.

That is all.

“Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” ~Psalm 119:1

Being an Adult.

When you become an adult, some of the strangest things make you happy...

I bought a new broom and dust pan today....I'm in love.

Getting in your car and seeing that you have over half a tank of gas...pure joy.

Opening your mailbox to see no bills have arrived.....it's party time!

Roman says he <3 his recliner. 'Nuff said.

Chocolate. Oh wait, that made me happy when I was a kid too.

Hitting all green lights on your way to work....happy dance happy dance happy dance

Waking up to a clean house.... Heck. Yes.

Roman also added that he loves his puppy dog....but who doesn't love the Duke-ster??

And of course, the best feeling of all: getting off work on Friday afternoon.

Oh crap. I shouldn't have said that last one....it's only Monday. Sorry guys.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." ~Colossians 3:16

Let's Get Technical

Hey folks! Just a real short post this Saturday morning to take care of some tech-y things. If you are real observant and you stalk my blog like a hawk, then you may have noticed that I've done some updating to my page this morning. But seeing as how I JUST GOT DONE fighting with Google over how to arrange everything, I doubt anyone has seen it yet. So let's look to our right of this post, and I'll give you a little tour. (FYI: If you are reading this on a phone or tablet, you may need to scroll to the bottom and click the little link that says "View web version". Go ahead and click it, I'll wait.)

........

Ready? Let's go. 

Alright, I didn't change the position of the "Blog Archive" or the "About Me" sections. But in case you normally read my blog on your phone, you may or may not have seen/noticed any of this stuff. So for the sake of being painstakingly thorough, I'll give a short explanation. The Blog Archive is a place where you can see a list of every. single. post. I've ever written ever. You're welcome. The About Me is for those of my readers who do not personally know me....or for those of you who just really like to read things that you already know. Pretty self explanatory. 

The next section, called "Follow us on....." is new. I have created individual accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr (because I can't do Instagram on my phone...sad face sad face sad face....) for this blog. Even though I have a personal account already, I'm not quite ready to dive into full Internet disclosure and accept friend requests from people I don't know, just so they can see when I slap up a new post. So having a separate account for those of my readers who do not already personally know me (what's up folks! nice to have you!!) seems like a good way to go. Can't be too careful these days, ya know??? I post the most using Twitter, just because it's easier that way. So if you just can't get enough of us through this blog, then you can get some more of us there. For right now, the Facebook page is just a place for me to link up my blog posts since most of my reader traffic comes through Facebook. And to be honest, I've only posted one picture on Flickr because I'm still trying to figure it out. So be patient, OKAY?? 

And while I'm taking entirely too long to explain all of this, let me just add one thing: people come up to me all the time and say "I read your blog all the time, I LOVE it!" And then I say "Really, I thought the only one who read my blog was Roman and my mom. I now love you forever" (Or something like that.....Shout out to my homiesss!!) So for all of you beautiful people who, for whatever reason, love to read this blog....can y'all do me a huge huge HUGE favor? Go like our Facebook page and if you have a Twitter account, start following us. (Also, if you know how to operate Flickr, give your girl a shout out!) And if you like a particular post that I wrote, share the link on your Facebook page so other people can see it. (There are tiny icons at the bottom of each post that you can click to share it on Facebook and Twitter, or you can just take the link that I post to Facebook each time and click "share".) Seriously, I would owe all of you great big milkshakes and lots of hugs if you could do that. In looking at my statistics, probably around 95% of my readers follow a Facebook link to read my blog, so sharing the links on your page would be a BIG help. Okay, enough about THAT.

Next up we have the "Blogs I Lurve" section....I didn't add anything to this section. But if you want to know who I follow/stalk every day, then check this section out. Many of them are marriage bloggers, but there is a good mix over there of some for-real awesome blogs. So if you are bored or just don't feel like answering that e-mail at work, check it out!

Alright, next we have the "Mercy House". I'm going to do a special post on this next week highlighting what this is about, so for now I'll just say this: if you are looking for jewelry, t-shirts, bags, etc. and want to support a GREAT cause, then follow this link and check it out. This is not an affiliate link so I don't get any income if you make a purchase, but I just love the Mercy House's mission and wanted to share this link with all of you. 

There is a light at the end of this tunnel....last section! Right now there is only one link under the "Affiliates" section, but hopefully in the near future I will be adding some more. This link is to a book called "31 Days to Great Sex" by Sheila Gregoire. IF YOU ARE MARRIED or about to get married, I highly recommend this book. Sheila is a great writer and covers the topic of *ahem* marital intimacy with great tact. So if you're looking to spice things up, or just improve on something great you already have, then check out this book. (DISCLOSURE: This is an affiliate link, so if you click this link and then make a purchase, I do get a small percentage of the profit.) 


Okay, so I guess I lied to all of you when I said this was a real short post.....oops. Forgive me?  But that's all I got for you this morning. I'm off to go ride horses with some friends (probably a terrible idea since it is stinkin' COLD outside!!). I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I will "see" you guys on Monday!    :)

PS: I am SO thankful for my readers and seriously love you guys. It makes my week when someone comes up and says how much they enjoy reading my posts. All of you are awesome!

"Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways!"    ~Psalm 128:1