Why I Love You

I was thinking today about how negative people can be (I am one of those people). I decided that I wanted to be decidedly more positive and the first thing I wanted to do was tell some of the people closest to me why I love them. Now some of these reasons may seem silly, but to me no reason is more important than another. I love each of you for many more reasons than the one I choose to list!

Adam I love you for acting as my stand in husband. When Bussell has to be away over night and I am too chicken to stay at my house alone, you come and hang out with me and keep the murderers away. You even protect Bella and me from the possessed baby monitor.

Ashley I love you for being my motivator. You always motivated me to do my best. When I wanted to slack off and take a not so good grade, you would always push me not to give up. You would sit with me for hours on end as we both poured over music history, opera, or whatever other work it was. You pushed me to be great in school and you made me want to beat your grade (which rarely happened) and this in turn made me be on Deans list my last 3 semesters of college.

Callie I love you for being my oldest girl friend. I remember when you were 7 and I was 8 and you moved next door, and I told you that you had dirt on your leg....and you indignantly informed me that it was in fact a birth mark. Through the years we loved each other, hate each other, stole each other’s cloths and even threw people’s rock collections in the yard (I’m still not over that one J). Through all that you were the closest thing to a sister I had and we had some awesome times....Like that time you were spending the night and fell out of the bed and crashed into the furniture and walls...HILARIOUS!

Daniel I love you for being a Jack of all trades. You amaze me all the time with how much you know. If I ask you a question and it’s an off day and you don’t know the answer you will find the answer. Sometimes I think you just make up some stuff, but honestly? I don’t care cause you are awesome and your made up reason is probably better than the conventional reason.

Jeneva I love you for your amazing amount of Ambition. You are so driven and strong. I am so proud of your hard work to climb the corporate ladder. I’m proud because you know what it is you want and you are working really hard to get it, I really admire this about you.

Mom and Dad I love you both for your overwhelming amount of Generosity. I have never in my life known two people more dedicated to sharing what they have with others. Be it financial, pretty things, kitchen things, plants, bread, or talents you both will stop at nothing to share with others.

Kate, this may seem like a lame reason BUT, I love you for your Calendar obsession. When we were talking about this the other day it made me so happy, because I have never met anyone as obsessed with planning and using calendars as I am, and well frankly it made me feel better about myself J Just today I was working on making a calendar on my computer and I am now color coding things because of you!

Kendal I love you for two very important things Hair and Harmony. My first thought for you was hair. You are by far the best hair person EVER, you have never given me anything other than an awesome cut or color, you are amazing! Then I also thought about those times in the car when we would be singing along with a cd and we would be harmonizing and it would sound so good and give me chills!

Kevin I love you for being my Guardian. Whether it was tackling Sam so I could get out of the huge pile of leaves, or taking the time to talk to me when I was sad, you have always been really protective of me and watched out for me. I have never taken this for granted, and I know that even now if I needed you for something you would do everything in your power to help me, cause that is just the kind of awesome friend you are.

Marissa I love you for all the things we both love. Be it pearl studs, Aubrey Hepburn, Toblerone candy bars, Sarah Jessica Parker, or a huge drink from sonic you and I have so many shared loves. One of my favorite shared things we loved was going to the Foxglen pool. We would get some Pals to take with us and a book and we would go bake ourselves by the pool. When we got tired of that we would have or mock Olympics! How much fun were those days?

Renee I love you for being a fierce Momma bear. I admire you for being a protective mother. I think young mothers everywhere get scared into the corner and back down thinking that they should just trust everyone else to know best. But not you, you know that there are times when only you know what your children need, and you are not going to let anyone walk over you. You have your children’s well-being at heart all the time and that is awesome!

Sam I love you my brother for your Hilarity. You could be the life of any party with your sense of humor and your impeccable comical timing. Humor is such a gift and I have never known anyone that could make me smile and laugh as much as you can.   

Sasha I love you for your Passion. I don’t think I have ever known anybody who was more passionate. You are passionate about your family, friends, music, life...the list goes on and on. Whatever you set your sights on to be passionate about I know you will succeed at.

These are a few of my favorite things!

I have decided to do a post about some of my favorite things, things that can perk up even the most challenging of days!

1.) Morning snuggles with my Bussell! I know this is gag worthy but its just the truth! When I know my day is going to be epic it ALWAYS make it a tad easier to have that little snuggle time. Case-in-point, yesterday Daniel was going to be leaving to go to Johnson City for two days and I was honestly dreading it. We were going to get up at 8, but when the alarm went off we snuggled up and slept for another hour, and it was PERFECTION! The picture below is what I think we look like snuggling.

 2.) Seeing my girl Bella in the morning is generally a pick-me-up (I say generally because sometimes there are scary diaper situations). Yesterday when I walked into her room she threw her arms up and yelled "SURPRISE"! And then gave me hugs and kisses! What could be better? Look at her sweet, angel face!

3.) The obvious next step to a good day is a good cup of coffee! Now I generally have Level 4 Seattles Best at home. But certain days require Starbucks, in particular an iced, quad (4 shots of espresso), caramel latte! INCREDIBLE.

4.) After a nice hot shower using many fruity, delicous, floral, sented thing. I like to use Clinique Happy body smoother. It is AMAZING. I love the smell of Happy, but some days actual perfume just feels too overpowering, and this body smoother has the perfect amount of scent, while also moisturizing your skin with shea butter.

5.) Another kind of pampering product sure to make me feel better about life is Burts Bees tinted lipbalm in Rose. It gives the prettiest, subtle hint of color and softens your lips!

6.) Wanna immediately feel classy? Perhaps a little like Audrey Hepburn? Then you need some white pearl studs. I dont care if they are faux or real because either way they will lift your spirits. My absolute favorite earrings are large white pearl studs!

7.) Once I'm in the car to start a long day of here and there errand running I have to have music. Lately, my favorite c.d. is by Christina Perri. Her sometimes folk, sometimes edgey, songs and vocals are engrained into my mind and I sing along and happily pass the time.

8.) If all else fails and I'm about to explode from frustration with terrible drivers, there is only one thing that will truly help (besides a heavy dose of prayer that is) and that would be oversized sunglasses. They are a must. End of story.

Now if I really need an attitude adjustment I just take a gander at this picture...

No Kids?

I just read an article about the rise of married couples choosing not to have children. The explanation for this "trend" is that children are not an economic asset but rather an economic downfall. Another reason for this is that the couples want the perks, such as: More disposable income, more sleep, more free time, not having to go to boring soccer games, and not having to haul other people's children around in there minivan. The number of vasectomies has gone up by nearly half. A psychologist from Harvard says that when couples first get married their level of bliss is high but it then drops when their first child is born and doesn't go back up until the children are out of the home...

As I was reading this article I was agreeing with everything it was saying, yes its true that if I didn't have Bella I would have more cash, more time to do what I want, more time to lie in the bed, etc. But do you know what the overarching theme in this article is? That our culture yet again is saying choose yourself over everybody else. Don't put yourself out there to actually make some sacrifices and lay down your life for others. This attitude goes so totally against what I believe as a Christian. We are called to give our lives for others in service, not be totally self-centered, not to mention highly cynical beings.

Now, in my mind having a child, or children, takes two different forms of giving your life for the benefit of others. One, it is bringing another little person into the world, giving of your free time and your extra sleep to raise that child to be a good, kind, loving person who will enrich the world. The second thing is a sort of extension of the first, if you raise your child right, teach them right from wrong, bring them up to love God and treat others as they want to be treated, your child WILL have an amazing impact on the world.

I feel so blessed when Bella goes up and hugs people, people who are hurting and sad. There is absolutely no way for Bella to know that these people are sad and in need of her toddler love, but something inside her encourages her to give hugs, say HI, and sometimes give kisses. I think Bella, at the ripe old age of 2, already has her own little ministry. I also think and believe that if Daniel and I give of ourselves to bring her up in the way God would have her raised then she will make an impact on the world she is living in....

I know being a parent is hard, and it involves a lot of daily sacrifice. But in my opinion those sacrifices are worth it for the blessings. Blessings that go far beyond money, free time, and sleep.

I'm on the outside.....

*DISCLAIMER: I love my family, friends, Daniel, and Bella- this post in no way means I take all the people in my blessed life for granted!!!!!!*

Do you ever feel like one day you woke up and had forgotten how to make friends? Well that is how I feel. I used to be super outgoing and friendly, would chat up just about anybody and never had a hard time talking to people. Somehow I have turned into a person who doesn't now how to do that...I don't know if it is because I have had so many people who I got close to turn out to not be very good people or what.

One time when I was young I prayed quite fervently for God to send me a best friend. Sam had Kevin and all I wanted in the world was to have a best friend. God answered that prayer and sent me Mary Catherine...we had an awesome friendship for many years, drifted apart for a bit, and are now getting back to being buddies. I have friends but I just feel like they are all so scattered and I'm feeling really down about that.

Marissa lives in Kansas and I miss her so much! Mary Cat lives out in Sevierville which isn't exactly down the street. Renee is in Chatt for two weeks. Franny is in Cookeville. Kendal is in Nashville. Callie is off the map. Sasha is far away. Jeneva is super busy with work and trying to make her way up the corporate ladder (get it girl!), Adam is always working his fingers to the bone, and I see Kate like once a week...Not exactly a cohesive group huh? I love all these girls so much and am trying to forge friendships with others like Laura Hayes and Leslie Hogan, but you know; new friendships are a little scary aren't they? You don't know, for a while atleast, just how high you can let your freak flag fly lol.

I guess it's just difficult to forge new friendships and paths in life. I hope that Daniel, Bella, and I will soon be at a church permanently so that we can start getting really involved with a church family. I think making relationships within your church is a great thing but unfortunately we have not done that at EPC because there is a chance we won't get to stay there. So I guess I'm in the same place I was when I was young, praying fervently to God to send me awesome people to share my life with....

End of a chapter...

Today was moms last day directing the choir at Eastminster Presbyterian church. She has been the director there for as long as I can remember. She started there when I was 3. It is hard to believe that she is no longer the director! So many memories of my life are from things that happened at EPC.

Once when I was young dad was angry because our cat beast had been meowing very loudly at the back door. He made a comment about Beast (the cat) raising H*** at the back door. So we are at children's choir practice which mom taught and we always had prayer time at the end. Some children had submitted prayer for their grandparents, school, pets etc...just normal child-like concerns. So I raise my hand and very reverently state: "I need to request prayer for our cake beast, that she would stop raising H*** in the morning and waking up my dad". My poor mom probably wanted to die right then and there!

We even had a home school program that mom headed up at EPC. Every Friday we had Friday school from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. This was the closest thing to school I experienced until college. I looked forward to it every week, I love being around everyone and especially loved that homeschooler drama! I still have several friends from those days and I look back on it so fondly!

I remember times with the youth group going to the lake and such. One of the moms who did a lot with the youth was Trudy. She still tells the story of how grumpy I was in the mornings when she would go from room to room very loudly singing "O WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOOOOOORRRRNING". Hey I was homeschooled, I slept till like 10 every single day! What do you want from me? I remember the good times and the bad. I have loved the EPC family for almost my whole life. The church wouldn;t be anything if not for the people who attend there. By attend I don't mean just show up on Sunday mornings and sit in the pews and leave. I mean people who sang in the choir, helped with the children, took the youth to m-fuge and on other trips, prepared food, prayed for us...I mean the list goes on and on!

This is the end of moms chapter as director at EPC but I will always have the best memories and look back at my families time there in a positive light, remembering to feel blest for the times shared and memories made!

Motherhood

I recently discovered the site Pinterest.com. From what I can tell it's a pretty random site where people post pictures of things they find interesting and love. There are fashion pictures, vintage pictures, funny sayings etc. I look at it atleast once a day because it changes so much and you are bound to see new, amusing, and interesting things. Today I saw a picture of a stand up cheese grater that had been painted a happy shade of turquoise, had legs attached, and was being used to hang earrings from! SO very cute! There was one thing that really touched me today, here is the picture...

The story behind this picture is that this tiger lost all of her cubs due to premature labor. She became very depressed so they dressed these piglets up in tiger cloth and gave them to her. She treated them as her own babies and loves them.

Does that amaze anybody other than me? I think the power that motherhood has in incredible! So incredible that in can change our very nature. The nature of this tiger would have normally lead her to eat the piglets, but the power of mothering and nuturing takes over and she sees them as her own. I believe this can also be true of humans. Now, in light of the Casey Anthony trial I certainly can't say that motherhood has an influence on all mothers, but rather that it can make some mothers really rise to the occasion. I wasn't ready to be a mom when I got pregnant with Bella. I had every intention of waiting until I was about 30 to have children. But that wasn't the plan that God had for me and so less than 2 weeks after my 23rd birthday I had a baby Bussell, and you know what? I rose to the occasion, adapted to being a mommy, and let the power of motherhood, and God, mold me into the mother I needed to be for her, and still need to be.

So to all you wonderful mommies out there keep on keeping on. I know at times being a mom seems like a thankless job, but it isnt. You are so important to your child, and have such an impact on who they will become.

Mommy, I need a nap!

On Friday Daniel was in Johnson City to tune 4 pianos leaving Bella and me to our own devices. The day was uneventful until 9pm when we went to walmart, and mommy made the executive decision that it was ear piercing time in Tennessee! Daniel had previously stated that he didn't care if he was present for the baby torture, so I figured "why not get it over with?" After picking out her earrings and having not 2, but 3, walmart associates come to help with this gargantuan undertaking it was time. They thought it would be best to leave Bella sitting in the shopping cart. They were playing with Bella and let her have a glove to play with, but as soon as one of the girls started to wipe her ear lobes with alcohol her face changed totally...she got the look of an almost 2 year old who knew something was up. They proceeded to: mark her ears, messed them up, wipe those marks off, and finally remark. By the time they had done all that Bella was positive that something scary was about to happen. Two of the associates got into position on either side of Bella, and I had the wonderful job of holding her head still. Unfortunately the ladies were not in perfect sequence and thus Bella got WHAM WHAMMMMED instead of just one big whammy all at once. Bella took in a huge gasp of air, held it, turned beet red, and after what seemed like 5 min let out the shriek to end all shrieks....luckily we proceeded to go look at balloons and party favors and she only had to cry about 34235235 more times in an hour period!

Saturday was Bella's birthday. My little doll  baby of a girl is now two. We decided that it would be a really good idea to have her party at the pavilion outside at EPC and to use the enclosed playground so the kids could play. Well for any of you living in Knoxville you know that we basically had a monsoon yesterday which threw a bit of a kink in that plan. Obviously we would need to do it in the fellowship hall. I panicked for a minute (ok maybe a little longer the a minute, maybe like oh 60 min?) because I didn't know how we would entertain the children up there, but Mary Catherine talked me off the ledge and told me to just bring a bunch of coloring stuff. Daniel and I got everything together and loaded into the car. Bella was napping and Dad came over to sit with her while we went to set the church up. Daniel went to put the car seat into the car and when mom asked him what time the party was he told her 5. This would have been fine and well except that the party was at 4! When he told me this as we were on out way to church I had to freak out a little because I know my mother. She would think to herself, "Oh good! I have plenty of time to get Bella's gift and dawdle around!" Daniel couldn't get her on the phone or anything to correct the time, so we just had to hope that mom would go back to our house in time because dad did know the correct time.

As we are driving through the torrential downpour it dawns on me that we had failed to get the fellowship hall key from my mom. Daniel assured me that he knew where one was in the main church...after 3 trips running up and down the hill in the rain he couldn't find it. I was sitting in the car, watching the rain, thinking "Could this get any worse? Downpour, no key, and a party without the birthday girl!" I told Dan to just grab every key he could find and I would try them all. Thank the Lord there was a loose key floating around that was the right one! We get into the building and lo and behold, all the tables and chairs were set up for moms surprise lunch that happened today after church! My blood pressure shot through the roof as we stood there with 45 min to: Move all the tables and chairs, set up partition to hide them, ice a ton of cupcakes, make PB and J sandwiches, pick up ice, pick up pizza, blow up balloons, tie balloons to chairs...etc etc etc. Lucky for us Kate and Kevin showed up early and they helped us knock it all out. We had everything done in time and the birthday girl arrived a mere 20 min late! Which was fine because everyone was slowed down by the rain. Poor Mary Catherine misunderstood where the party was being held and went to our house in South Knox instead of the church in East Knox. Leslie and her crew had to wait on their PRECIOUS, adorible, eat your heart out, 9 month old to wake from a nap, Auntie had to come on her lunch break, Renee and Josh had to rangle their babies in the rain, Ashley and Quinton and to wait out the storm, and Adam is just Adam.....did I forget anyone's craziness? But you know what I learned? That even when everything seems to be going crazy and out of control it can all work out and be fine! We had a fabulous party, with the sweetest little girls, and somebody even got great news! Thanks everyone for making Bella's bday so special! Oh and just to give him props...Sam was there ON TIME :-) He was very proud!

Oh and that great news? My awesome sister-in-law passed her test to be a manager at Home Depot! We are all so proud of her and all her hard work! She is the best Auntie in the world!!!

Oddly enough, this is one of my favorite pictures from the party. These wonderful little girls were so amazing and sweet! Bella and Marley picking out glasses and blowers. Emma looking too cool for school! Isabella getting ready to blow that blower! Love them all!

This has to be a new tradition! It's called group present opening! All her gifts were open in about 5 min flat with a massive 4 girl group opening! It was a real blur!