Life Keeps Happening!

Summer is coming again, isn't it? Yuck. Summers in KS are NOT my favorite. I do not have access to a pool. I do not own a boat. If you aren't in or on the water, there is no point to the heat that is about to take over our lives. I shall try to not complain about summer, all summer long. I just do not like to be sweaty or to have my face melt off. What's the point?

Okay, enough of that. We have read the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and we are hooked on his plan for a great financial future. As you can imagine scaling down from two healthy incomes to one income has been quite an adjustment since our little tornado of a boy (who also sweats very easily and doesn't really like it) was born. So we have been bringing financial order to this house by selling a few things on ebay and craigslist, as well as me attempting to create an avenue to bring in some money of my own. This is where the Etsy shop full of bibs has come into play. Thank you all who have shared the Etsy link and have checked it out. I am very thankful for you! So far no bites on the bibs on Etsy but I have sold 9 bibs to my friend Pamela and my sister! Thank you ladies for being my first patrons!! I am looking into what it takes to become a vendor at local arts and crafts fairs, so we'll see what happens. The way I see it, there are different doors in front of you on a regular basis. If I sit back and wait for one to open, nothing will happen. If I get up and start knocking on the door and testing the doorknobs to see if they open, who knows what I might find. That's what I am doing. I am putting out the effort to see what might happen. If I give it all I have and it fails, then I get to add that to my "Once Upon A Time" list. If it does turn out to be an avenue for me to help support my family and I get to work after Hudson is in bed then that is a WIN for my family. I really can't lose. Besides, if I sell no bibs, I'll have enough inventory for all the new babies being born for the rest my life. :)

Growth Groups Sign Ups are LIVE this Sunday! This is a super exciting time for lots of reasons. For one, it means it is the "end" of a lot of hard work and preparation by the groups team to get ready for another season. Two, it is the beginning of people getting connected, growing, having fun, and life change. I love it! Growth group training is this Sunday as well and I will be facilitating the training for the first time. I'll have to pull out my trainer hat from a few years ago and dust it off. I hope I've still got it! We are having our first ever "Recovery" group for those who have been through sexual abuse. I am very excited for this group and for the leaders who have taken the step to take on this group. I couldn't be more proud of them. We have a record high number of groups this season of 32! Now we just need to pack them out!

Visitors! We have enjoyed visits from my family and Ryan's in the last couple weeks. We are looking forward to visits with Mike & Liz, Heather Dougan, and the Kearney Girls in the coming weeks! We are excited!

Hudson, aka the Tornado, loves walking, emptying out closets, pantries, drawers, cabinets, baskets, bins, bookshelves, and whatever else he can find. My house is constantly a disaster. Besides a jacked up house, this age is really fun. He loves doggies, trees, to play with lasagna noodles, throwing a ball, watching his pbs videos, stacking blocks, and blah blah (his bedtime toy). He hates jazzercise, eating food, having his pants changed, being inside when he remembers there is an outside, and sitting still.

Finally, OCSAH...the 60 day Oh Crap Summer's Almost Here diet. I'm on day 50! W00-hoo. 10 days left of being disciplined with no real exceptions. Having company at your house certainly challenges the disciplined behavior. I didn't do the best this past week but did prevail once more over bread. I drank a few of my calories, ate too late in the evening, and partook of a couple meals that I had no idea what the calorie count might have been. I tried to choose the healthiest options possible and limit the portion sizes. Weigh day was this morning and I was prepared for a weight gain week. To my surprise, I actually lost almost 2 pounds. Phew! What a relief. Only one more official Monday weigh in and then the final weigh day!