One Month Later...

I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged. I'm still working out and trying to eat better. I feel better and my clothes are fitting better, and I have more energy. However, the scale isn't moving at all. My husband found a healthy solution for my chocolate cravings. Luna Bars are nutrition bars designed especially for women. With flavors like caramel nut brownie and smores, I am one happy girl.

The Spring and Summer schedules have hit full force. The kids have Junior Soccer Academy once a week. Rick is coaching our church's softball team, and will coach the kids summer soccer team. Summer soccer starts the week after soccer academy is finished. Soccer and softball both go until the end of July. Rick has spent this weekend in Columbus attending a Upwards soccer clinic. Upwards soccer will begin at our church in the Fall. Rick has said he will not be a coach, but a coordinator. Busy, busy, busy!

While I cannot go into detail just yet, I have a possible job opportunity coming up this Fall. You won't be wasting a prayer on me right now, as the testing process will be starting soon. My family are very excited about this possibility. I promise I will blog when I can say more. Have a great week!

Can Chocolate and Healthy Choices Coexist?

What a week it's been! I know it's been more than a week since I blogged, but I have an excellent reason. Rick and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last weekend. We agreed that Rick was in charge of planning our getaway; and I had no idea where we were heading until we were actually on the way. Exciting, but the 'need to know what's going on' part of me was going a little crazy. Anyways, Rick made reservations at the hotel where we spent our wedding weekend. I loved that he thought of something so sentimental. The area where we were has developed quite a bit since we got married, and we had a blast. Rick made reservations at a fancy restaurant. The food was great. I know our waitress was doing her job, but it was strange to be served in such an elaborate manner. I kept wanting to say, "Thanks, but you really don't have to do that for me." May I say, the dessert was worth the price of admission and then some. I wish I had had my camera with me because the presentation alone was stunning. A singe tart filled with the most amazing chocolate mousse, covered in whipped cream (the house recipe), drizzled in raspberry sauce and garnished with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Amazing!

I love me some chocolate. My over 30 waistline, not so much. I headed back to the gym after a lengthy absence on Monday. I am sore! I'm trying to figure out how to satisfy my sweet tooth without sabatoging my workouts. Anyone have any suggestions? Oh chocolate, must we say goodbye?

The Angels Are Having A Party

Matt was so excited that he ran up to recieve his award.

God has been showing off at our house lately. I just had to share. First and foremost, Matt prayed the Sinner's Prayer with his Sunday school teacher this past Sunday. We had prayed that prayer before at home, but Matt told his teacher he wanted to be sure. Well, I can't argue with that. Matt's teacher told my husband, but Matt was a little nervous to tell us at first. I found out later that he was concerned that I would be upset since we had prayed for Matt to accept Christ as his Savior before. I reassured him that I was quite thrilled and let him know that if he had any doubts whatsoever that his decision was the right one. Luke 15:10 says:" I tell you, it is the same in heaven. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin." I told Matt that the angels in heaven were having a party because of the decision he made. His answer was "Sweet!"

The good news for Matt just keeps on coming this week. On Monday morning I got a call from his teacher. He has been selected as the "Above and Beyond" student in his class for the third grading period. This award is given to the student who goes the extra mile to achieve success. His teacher went on to tell me, that what we thought were the symptoms of dsygraphia at the beginning of the year, have all been corrected. It's not effecting Matt academically at all. In addition, everything has been documented so if the symptoms present themselves again next school year, we know what direction to take. A weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Go God! If you would have told me at the beginning of the school year that Matt would have this big of a turn-around I would have been shocked; now I'm humbled.

On a different note, we are so thankful that Rick was able to repair our car. We were actually contemplating a car payment :( However, we have committed to becoming debt free so we agreed to do our best to repair our vehicle. Rick did the repair and we thought not much had changed. In some ways it seemed worse! Rick was about halfway to work when he thought the car was going to die. He came to a stop sign, and when it was his turn to go the car began running better that it has in a long time. Go God! Thank you for providing for our family.

Let the Sunshine In

Hello everybody! (I always feel like Grover from Sesame Street when I type that.) It's been a while since I've blogged, but I hoping to return to my once a week posts. I miss Company Girl Fridays. Last week brought warmer temperatures and sunshine to my neck of the woods. It was a welcome sight. The kids have playing outside a lot and I have begun cleaning like a crazy woman!

I have never been one to "Spring Clean" until now. The aforementioned sunshine streaming through my windows made a winter's worth of dust overwhelmingly noticeable on my walls. So what started with deep cleaning the dining room has now led to the living room and enclosed front porch. I confess that I'm waiting to tackle the front porch windows, though. Consistently warmer temps will need to be in the forecast before I deal with those. The awesome part of it all is that I'm actually enjoying it. I can't believe I just typed that! Hopefully, I'll have the downstairs finished by this weekend, and will start the upstairs next week. Welcome Spring!

10 Years Ago

10 years ago, tomorrow, my life changed forever. It was then that I became a mom to my beautiful baby girl. Only now, she's not a baby. She prefers to be called a 'tween'. She's not 10 years old, she's a decade. (At least she wants me to say that.) Time really does fly. For some reason this birthday is hitting me hard. I am more than halfway through the time when Abby will be at home.

I remember the fresh, and in some ways, completely unanticipated feelings that accompanied my entry into motherhood. I never knew I could love someone so completely. I had a new understanding of how my mom stepped up, when my birth mother did not. That was bittersweet. And last, but certainly not least, I felt a different kind of relationship with God brewing. I didn't know at the time, but he would use motherhood as a way to draw me back to him and allow him to love me in a way I had stopped him from doing before.

Abby has grown into a girl that loves Jesus. Her favorite Bible story is Esther. We are enjoying the fact that tomorrow at sundown the Jewish people will begin their celebration of Purim. The entire narrative of Esther will be read and she will be remembered as a girl used of God "for such a time as this". My prayer for Abby is that she will be an Esther in her generation.

Happy Birthday Abby! Your momma loves you very much!

A Momma on a Mission and Other Stories

Hey Company Girls! I love spending time reading your blogs. It's been a busy couple of weeks around our house. This post may ramble a little bit, but stick with me, pretty please. I became a momma on a mission after my son saved his commissions for 5 months to purchase a certain LEGO set. Matt finally reached his saving goal on Sunday evening only to learn that the set he had been working so hard to get was discontinued. The very set that his parents had seen several times in stores over the holidays and could have purchased. We didn't though, because we wanted Matt to keep up with his goal and learn some patience along the way. After some frantic Internet searching and a lot of phone calls, I found the set. Thank you, Jesus! Matt had that set built in no time; and said he was really glad that he saved his money for it. I used to be bothered by how quickly he could build a set. I worried that he really wasn't enjoying it. Then I thought about how when I get a new book and I can hardly put it down. LEGO sets for him are like books for me.

Camera class was absolutely fabulous! I learned so much. First, I have to get all the pictures off my computer and put them on a flash drive. I would be so upset if something happened to our computer and I lost all those photos. Second, and I loved this thought, the instructor said that when you have a digital camera it doesn't cost anything to actually take a picture, so just take a bunch. I took comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one who goes a little crazy with picture-taking at a sporting event, and then ends up deleting. The perfect shot is rarely planned so just keep trying. There will a class offered soon on sports photography which I definitely plan on attending. This soccer mom needs some tips. There was so much in the class that I could probably fill an entire blog post on that alone, but maybe another time.

Matt's room is finally painted. After going back and forth on the color, we agreed on Desert Fortress by Valspar. It's a light tan color. His room has white trim and navy blue curtains are on the way.

Company Girl Coffee 1/22

This post is gonna be a short one. My camera class is tomorrow, which means that I really do hope to figure out how to place photos in my blog posts. I'm looking forward to learning something new. Last weekend's reunion was sweet. My brother was unable to attend due to last minute glitch, but other than that it was good. I got some super cute pictures of my nieces and daughter playing together. The boys were too busy playing with their brand new Nerf guns to bother posing for a picture.

This week will bring organizing/de-cluttering, parent-teacher conferences, and the return of lake effect snow. Oh, and the Indianapolis Colts game. I love watching Peyton Manning play football! Have a fabulous week!