Praise

I felt convicted as I had my quiet time this morning to publish the deeds of my heavenly Father. You might remember awhile back I posted Psalm 96. Well, God brought it to my attention again and I will not hesitate to "tell everyone about the amazing things he does". But first:

vs. 1-4
Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of our praise!

I was praying on Monday morning that God would help me find some friends. I took it a step further (spawned by the Utmost for His Highest devotional that morning) and asked that He really show me His power through this. I wanted to see Him working and know that He heard me and would answer my prayer.

Well, we headed to the library around 4 that afternoon and we were sitting next to two women about my age with little ones. I eavesdropped overheard them talking and they both had just moved here! They were talking all about the things they had done so far. Well, I am not one to just go busting in on strangers' conversation but I really felt like it would be stupid for me not to. So I casually walked by and said something like, "Hey, we just moved here and it sounds like you guys did too!" Well, we ended up having a short but sweet conversation and they referred me to a website called Meetup.com. Go check it out yourself but it is a wonderful resource. So I went on the next day and found this group of Bloomington moms and they basically just get together and hang out, talk, and play with their kids. Playgroup in other words. I ended up finding the women I talked with in the group and sent them messages. They were very nice and welcoming and were glad I was going to start going to their meetup events. Waalaa! God at work ladies and gentlemen. I would never normally go searching around the internet for some source of community but it turns out this is a very up and coming site that is so cool. It took observing two women my age AND the fact that I had just prayed about it that morning to take the plunge and do something I had never done before. (Random footnote: you can find any kind of group in any city across the U.S. It's really handy--go check it out!)

And ever since I prayed that prayer, God has brought to my attention how many people I actually do know already. I seem to bump into my neighbors all over town.....or people I've met at the YMCA. I'm beginning to feel.....well, not so new anymore which is a very good feeling.

God has been so gracious to us and I want everyone to know that.

I guess that's it!

Thoughts on Bloomington

It's been a month or so since I did one of these so let's see how it goes.

-People are really friendly here. Coming from Texas, that says a lot. The college kids that work at all the stores and restaurants seem to be very nice and helpful. Not the typical "college kid" attitude I was expecting. Everyone seems generally enthusiastic that you are choosing to frequent their particular storefront.

-The trash thing is actually working quite well. I guess I overestimated how much trash we produce. We rarely fill the whole thing up throughout the week.

-Mexican food gets a C from me. We visited a new restaurant tonight called Casa Brava. It looks really cool and contemporary. The food was average and the service was average. I don't think people here know what true mexican food is. Whether that be Lupes or Don Jose's in Cali or Abuelos and El Paseo in TX.

-Extracurricular activities: Bloomington gets an A. From drive in theaters, to a cool science museum, this town has anything and everything to keep you entertained. Not to mention you have the lake 10 minutes away and Indianapolis 50 minutes away if you feel like a real night out on the town. The local newspaper is so good about always informing you about all the little/big things happening around town. Honestly you feel as if you have to choose because there's no way you could do everything. On top of that, there are various small towns all outside of Bloomington (15-40 minutes away depending) that each have their own character and special highlights. We have yet to go to any of these towns yet but will definitely visit soon. Popcorn, Indiana is just 15 miles from here and that is what Dale and Thomas popcorn originated as.

-Church. Interesting subject. Still under examination. :) We have been visiting a large Christian church that seems really great. But we decided to look yesterday online for other Christian/community churches out there. We found one we would like to visit but due to the boys' being sick today, we had to miss. So hopefully we'll get a chance to visit next Sunday. It's very small and meets in a clubhouse but who knows.......could be wonderful. Check back with us on that.

-Gas. It's expensive. In fact, I'm a little disturbed at the fact that I filled up "early" (I was only half empty) today because the gas dipped to $3.93. What is this world coming to?

-Ain't no place like home. And that home ain't Bloomington........for most around here. What I mean is almost no one is from here. Many seem to be passing through since you know, it's a college town. So it leaves you to wonder when you meet someone that you could potentially have a lot in common with and then they say their spouse is getting their doctorate, so on and so forth and only has 2 years left in the program. Bummer. This causes you to get excited when you meet people that have nothing to do with the university and therefore their chances of staying in B-town are much higher.

-Two interesting facts about IU. Apparently IU has the #1 music school in the world. Ya. I know. Pretty impressive. And we recently heard they have the #1 undergraduate Spanish program in the country. So if you feel the sudden urge to become the next Mozart or Miguel de Cervantes, you might consider heading to Hoosierville.

Alright, that's all for now. Hope you learned something new.

Menu Plan Monday and weekend wrap-up

Hello all. I hope you had a great weekend. It was a decent one for us. It's been pretty hot and humid up here. While Texas is HOT, Indiana is hot and HUMID. So an 85 degree day here feels almost identical to a 98 degree day in Texas. Anyway, Saturday morning we headed to The Bakehouse. It's a joint Brian and I love but this time we went to the eastside location instead of the one on the Square. We had a sub-par experience. They were out of yogurt for their parfait (noah's fav), our food was cold, it's overpriced, and they did not serve their house blend that day (coffee). I mean seriously.....on a Saturday morning??? They needed to be much more on top of their game.

So we came home and Daddy and Noah took off to the golf course. Noah recently acquired a putter and a 5 iron and so he was able to practice on a real golf course. Cool stuff. Then we loaded up and headed to the beach (on Lake Monroe). However, much to our disappointment, the beaches are all closed due to high water. All the flooding definitely affected the beaches up here. We are really excited about spending time on Lake Monroe and we'll keep trying before the beaches close for good on September 1. :(

Since we had all the beach accoutrements packed we turned back around and headed to the local pool park. I bought a pass last week and it's really neat. It has all kinds of things for different ages and the boys loved it. Plus, I basically get to sit in a foot and a half of water while gettin' some rays, so of course it works for me too. We all had a good time. Wesley LOVES getting to roam free. We are finding that while he is still very attached to us, he definitely has an independent streak that is growing more and more. He just loves doing his own thing out in public. He was flirting with the mommies and running to and from the pool.

We got home and after naps and showers, we headed to our first invitation to someone's house. I think we were a little nervous but grateful as well. We met the wife last week at church. She was super nice and gave me her number and said she wanted to have us over for dinner. Our kids are similar in age and so it was a nice fit. Anyway, we had hamburgers and conversed over our kids all playing together. It was good........different but good. I totally remember going through this when we moved to TX. The first time we'd go out with anyone, I would think, "Hmmm, are these people going to end up being our BEST FRIENDS????" Most of the time the answer was no, but it took a long time to figure out who we fit best with. Sounds kind of strange, but I know you all know what I'm talking about. The funny part is, we were in TX almost 7 years and some of my close friends are ones I got close to at the very end of our time there!! (Even though they were there all along!) So anyway, the invitation provided a diversion for us and obviously the opportunity to get to know others at our church. We're still not 100% sure that we will stay at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church but I think each week we feel a little more engaged.

Today we went to church and Brian was fighting some kind of bug and so we stayed close to home after that. It is 8:40pm and Noah is playing to his heart's content outside with all his friends. "Friends" are the highlight of his life right now. I'm trying to figure out how to bring him down and make him realize that he can't constantly leave the house to play with friends. It's a hard line to walk with a 3 year old that just got removed from all his routine and friends back in TX. He thinks he is much older than he is because all these "friends" are older than he is. Anywhere from 5-10. But thanks to a lot of older cousins, he fits right in and he's feeling very good around all of them. I'm so thankful for them. But it's going to be a hard reality when they all start school in a month and suddenly they aren't around all day. Ho humm.

Well, here's my menu plan for the week. Remember to stop by orgjunkie.com to view other great menu plan ideas and see the crazy amounts of people out there all posting their recipes and menus. We're all just trying to keep our families alive, healthy and feeling full one day at a time. :)

Sunday: Pasta with summer squash, bread and salad

Monday: Stirfry veggies and smoked sausage

Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (waffles, sausage, eggs)

Wednesday: Chili Dogs, corn and chips

Thursday: Mini meatloaves, green beans and biscuits

Friday: Eat out

Saturday: Probably leftovers

Bandaid, anyone?

Ever notice how the purpose of a Bandaid is not as much to soothe the actual "owie" but to ease the emotional pain associated with it? Noah just banged his shin on the edge of the futon and cried so loud for about 15 minutes. He actually told me that he wanted me to call 911. I was trying to explain that it wasn't really cause for the ambulance to come but he seemed rather convinced that it was. No amount of distraction deterred him---even a ready to go bubble bath Brian was preparing. So I made an ever so genious purchase at Target yesterday. Giant Sponge Bob Band-aids. I am not a fan of Sponge Bob and we own nothing and watch nothing with him on it. However, it was the only option for giant cartoony bandaids and sure enough it did the trick. The crying stopped instantly and Noah was fascinated with the giant (seriously) Sponge Bob face that would be attached to his shin shortly. Naturally I told him it wouldn't stick to his leg till after his bath. He happily jumped in and is anxiously awaiting the application.

Wouldn't it be nice if any little hurt, disappointment or sadness was eased with just a silly bandaid? I think I would be covered with them! What happened as we grew up that enabled us to hang onto our hurt feelings or sadness for longer than a few moments? Kids never stay sad for very long and they rebound so quickly. They are able to see the next great thing so clearly and seem to give little thought to whatever tragedy happened just minutes before. I want to be that way. Maybe I'll try it for a day and see what happens. Anyone game?

Menu Plan Monday

Oh ya, baby. I'm back in action. After eating like a horse all weekend with my in laws it's time to turn things around. Brian and I have a vacation to Orlando in September (his annual sales conference---more of a vacation for me) and we have got to get into swimsuit shape! I headed to the Y this morning and worked out for an hour, I've eaten moderately healthy all day, and I'm feeling motivated to use the latter half of this summer to my advantage. Come on, cheer me on! :) Although I haven't posted our menus lately, I've been cooking a ton at home. Almost every night. By the time Bri gets home at 5:30pm, we're all so ready to see him that eating out is the last thing we want to do. Quite different from those last couple months in TX. Plus, the weather has been mighty fine which invites us to use the grill constantly. So without further adeu, here's the menu for this week. Keep in mind that which days we have what is always flexible. Sometimes if something is about to go bad, or has been defrosted too long, then I will switch things around. Just getting 5 meals or so on paper is a great headstart and then from there you can be flexible. For more great meal ideas, go to orgjunkie.com

P.S. We had a great time with Bri's parents. SOOO nice to have visitors. I'm officially out of my funk and feeling pretty good. Thank you for all the calls, emails and encouragment.

Monday: grilled chipotle chicken, broccoli casserole and salad.
Tuesday: Chicken Tacos (courtesy of The Crockstar) and leftover rice
Wednesday: BLTs
Thursday: Chicken nuggets and leftover pasta
Friday: Hamburgers, corn, chips, fruit
Saturday: Depends on what I come home with from the Farmer's Market
Sunday: eat out

Blaaaaaaaaaaa

Today is a blaaaa day. Very boring, hot, unproductive, sad, frustrating, annoying and any synonym for those words.

I'm easily irritated today. The one outing I tried to accomplish (going to the YMCA to work out which always makes me feel better) was thwarted with a road blockage and I had no idea how to get around it. So I turned onto a street and luckily it dead ended at a park. We spent an hour there and it was ok. Then we went to Subway for lunch on our way home. That was ok too. Then we came home, I put the kids down for naps. I walked in my room, stared at laundry that needed to be put away, and collapsed on my bed feeling blaaaaaaaaaaa. Noah never took a nap so he kept peaking his head at me every once in awhile. I slept for about 5 minutes and then woke up to him whining. The one thing I accomplished was to get the guest bed made and the room a little picked up. My inlaws are coming Wednesday night so that's why. (In other words, I would never have been motivated to do it if not given a reason. Hmmf!)

Our playroom has double doors on both sides. I told the boys I was putting in Elmo for them, shutting all the doors, and they weren't to come out. I've never done that before. But I feel a little like a zombie today. A sad zombie. My first sad day, actually. And I should be happy. Brian was supposed to be out of town tonight but his plane got cancelled this morning so he's actually going to be here tonight. Woo hoo! Funny enough, that wasn't enough to turn my funk around. Now it is time for a pity party. I have gotten one piece of personal mail since arriving in IN. It was the best present ever and I look at it every day. I think I have gotten 3 personal emails since arriving. Can you believe that???? What the heck? I used to avoid writing people back because there were too many and now............let's just say I'm actually initiating the emails. Gasp! :) No, I know, I probably have more time on my hands than others so I should rightfully be the one writing. Okay, so I sound like a brat. That's pretty much how I am acting today. Bingo----my sister just called. That was a nice surprise. So I guess I'll end this. Feel free to write me, call me or visit ANYTIME!! There are plenty of smiling faces ready to see and hear from you.

Thank you Mr. Kimball!

Have you ever heard of Kimball pianos before?? Click here if not.
Well, the owner of the company lives a few streets over (literally) and apparently lets off a HUGE fireworks display every year the day after July 4. We are talking, Disneyland quality and length. Our house has been BOOMING for the last 30 minutes. I had to run to CVS just to get Noah earplugs because it sounded like there was a cannon in our living room. I'm not exaggerating. We had the most awesome view from Noah's bedroom. I only could grab a couple shots so here they are. Wow, that was amazing. Very very loud, but beautiful. Can't wait for next year. But we'll have to count on staying up with Noah every July 5th till after 11pm. As for sweet Wesley, he's sound asleep. :)

Happy 4th!

Okay, these pictures aren't the greatest but we DID have a great time. Brian and I are blown away by the friendliness of our neighbors. We celebrated the 4th at a house down the street and neigbors from all over came to the event. It was wonderful getting to meet probably 8 or so other families from around the neigborhood. And boy are there tons of kiddos!! Here are a few pictures.

Noah's new friend. She's a doll and has been awesome at playing with the boys. She's a little mommy.
Wesley had a blast roaming all over. He is walking SO WELL and perfected his skills all over their house and lawn. Look at those chompers coming in!
Playing Corn Hole. A popular game up here that we had never heard of. Similar to Washers if you know what that is.
Noah getting serious for some baseball.
Our blurry family picture. But it's the only one we got, so I have to keep it.

10 days in.......

Brian and I were just sitting on the front porch. It's 9:53pm and it is finally getting dark. There are fireworks going off in the sky somewhere and there are supposed to be thunderstorms that roll in late tonight. I told him I feel like I am in a gap. It's like I don't know any future or the ability to even see a day ahead. I just simply exist in this house, on this street for now. I'm not saying this is bad at all...or necessarily good. It just is what I have felt like. It feels like we have been gone a month for sure. Neither of us feel like it could possibly only be a week and a half that we were in TX. It kind of feels like an experiment. :) Hey, are there cameras watching me??? It doesn't help that I'm reading The Shack and so my mind is fuzzy anyway with the greater details of life and beyond. But as I was sitting out there, I watched the gigantic trees sway and heard their leaves softly clap together. I watched three neighbor girls run around the grass catching fire flies in their hands. I saw many people out walking their dogs and children. And then next to me was Brian, carving away at a "walking stick" that he acquired last night while on a walk in the forest with Noah. So strange. Is this really our life? I mean, really? For good? Even though we had 9 months to prepare for it, it sort of seems like we were picked up and plopped down in this place. And a beautiful place it is. But it doesn't seem real. Atleast not long-term real. I feel strangely at peace but again, only in the moment. I have no plans, routine or agenda outside of our home. Well, there is the daily walk to the mailbox. :) They don't have mailboxes in front of each house. You walk to an area a block away that has a couple streets worth of mailboxes all together. When I try to think about next month, or Thanksgiving time, or Noah's preschool year, I come up blank. Friends and fellowship are an integral part of life and it saddens me deeply to think that people actually live the life we are living right now but forever. They have no church family, they have no close friends that know the ins and outs of them. Two of the kids that have latched on to us and the boys since we moved in came over for awhile today. They are 8 and 10 and really great kids. I feel like I can talk to the girl forever.....she's oddly mature but still very innocent. Anyway, she says they don't go to church and it made me try to imagine what that kind of life is like. I truly have no idea what it would be like growing up without being involved in a church family. It means more now to me that it ever has before. We will definitely be looking for opportunities to invite neighbors to church once we get plugged into one. Noah couldn't understand why these kids don't go to church. I think he really assumed everyone goes. Anyhoo, I ramble. Back to the friends and fellowship-----I believe they are what enable you to see the future. You make dates, you make plans, you schedule trips, you experience life together, etc. I am enjoying this time as a family immensely and yet I told Brian I am also looking forward to having people we know come over. Our families will be visiting the next couple months which will be wonderful. We can't wait to show people this place. But I also anticipate truly developing good friends here that we will invite over, talk deeply and experience things with. I am aware it might be awhile. I have stories I could tell but I realize this is getting really long. Whew. Well, write us, call us, come see us. We can't wait. And yes, we miss you.