Just Me

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I mentioned a bit ago that I had pictures taken of just me. No kids. No hubby {it was a surprise for him}. A clean shirt and a chance to feel pretty.

Misty met up with me early one morning {she's a mom with four little ones too!} and we walked around town taking pictures here, there and everywhere. She has been gracious to give me a few of the proofs to share with you all {and one of these days Rick and I will have time to sit down and let her know which ones we're going to order!}.

If you are wondering why I wanted pictures of just me...well, mainly to document that I am here since I am sadly lacking in the majority of pictures we have of our day to day life. That and I am tired of waiting till I lose that last 10 pounds. Or five pounds. Or have it all together with my hair the way I want it....blah, blah, blah. I just needed to do it!

That said, I have a few favorites ~ one of which is my new profile picture - LOVE it!

If you live nearby, Misty is working on building her portfolio for her business, and I'd be happy to get you her contact information or you can contact her through her website or blog. She's great to work with!! Be sure to stop by her blog and comment on her recent family pic - too cute!!

Did You Get Your Seven?

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Somewhere in the back of my mind there is always the thought that when I have my quiet time it must be just that: QUIET. No distractions. Nothing.

You might remember that I have four children generally running around and acting all crazy-like.

Quiet time is fairly non-existent in our house. And by the time of night that it generally does exist...there are so many excuses, because I just don't have the time {except to email, maybe blog, watch a show on tv...}. Those lovely priorities hit you every time, don't they?

I've been reading The Mentoring Mom by Jackie Kendall and the last chapter (or two) brought up some things that I've personally struggled with front and center.

And generally I don't care much for 'ouch' moments, but I know that they are needed and also can bring about great things too. Kendall made a few points that just hit me:

• Don't let your children or life circumstances sabotage your time with God each day.
• I have been challenging moms for years to at least get her seven minutes with God.
• Having devotions does not keep a person from sinning, but having devotions helps one respond properly when one has sinned.
• Are you modeling for your {children}the significance of a consistent, daily growing relationship with Jesus through God's Word?
  

Kendall talks about when her kids were younger she made a point to let them visibly see her having her 'quiet time'. They may have played nearby on the floor while she read her Bible, etc...but she felt it was important for them to see her modeling studying God's Word. If they needed something, she marked her place, helped out if needed and returned to her studies.

Ummm...how often have my kid's actually seen me doing that? {Ouch point number 1}. The modeling ~ not so much.

Time to take action.

Our kids are awake fairly early in the morning and continually come out of their rooms for little things {even though they are awake we ask them to stay in their rooms until 7:ish, but there are bathroom breaks, meandering here and there}. I sat down with the girls and explained to them that at 7:00 every morning, I needed them to stay in their rooms so that I could have 10 minutes to read my Bible and pray ~ my start for the day.

My goal was to have at least 7 minutes at 7am. The result ~ the last few mornings have been uninterrupted {mostly}, but if they are I just pick right back up where I was.

When I went in the girl's room to get them up the first day, they were both laying on Laurianna's bed together. Reading their Bibles together and having their own devotions.

Because Mommy was doing the same. Modeling 101 in action.

{And yes, that makes me cry}.

The neat part of it is, this has been consistent with them every single morning since. It's both encouraging and frightening at the same time to me, because it gives me another glimpse into the gravity of my actions ~ both positive and negative.

There are four little sets of eyes watching me. Learning from me. Modeling my behavior.

Seven minutes isn't nearly enough.

Some Tidbits About Me (Or How I Might Bore You in Under 50 Questions)

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I've been tagged by a friend from college, Sara-Anne. She and I recently got back in touch via Facebook, a lovely, yet sadly addicting place to hang out - especially if you haven't chatted with many of your college friends in close to (gasp!) 15 years.

1. What time did you get up this morning? too early

2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Clifford's Big Movie (free movie, people!!)

4. What is your favorite TV show? Bones or House

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Toast (my homemade bread, yum)

6. What is your middle name? You guess...and good luck, it's foreign and starts with a "D"

7. What food do you dislike? spam and velveeta

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? anything that keeps the kids happy and quiet in the car

9. What kind of car do you drive? Couldn't fit all the kids in a car if I tried - so, an Odyssey

10. Favorite sandwich? A good BLT

11.What characteristic do you despise? audible nail biting - is that a characteristic?

12. Favorite item of clothing? capris or a layering tank - not by themselves, of course

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? a tour of Europe: Ireland, England, Italy, France.....wherever!

14. Favorite brand of clothing? anything cheap and flattering (love Anne Taylor Loft, especially when I find it at a bargain store!)

15.Where would you retire to? A lake/woodsy area

16.What was your most recent memorable birthday? memorable - ummm...I remember I turned 35, does that count?

17. Favorite sport to watch? anything boring on the weekends so I can nap well. :)

18. Furthest place you are sending this? Well, you'd all have to tell me where you are checking in from wouldn't you?

19. Person you expect to send it back first? no one really

20. When is your birthday? 5-23

21. Are you a morning person or a night person? lately a night person. Thank you Olympics

22. What is your shoe size? a whopping size 10. 9 1/2 if I am ever-so-lucky (and the shoe sizes lie)

23. Pets? none - Rick is allergic to cats

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? we are in the beginning process of building a new house!!!

25. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher

26. How are you today? Thank the Lord SO much better than yesterday

27. What is your favorite candy? Kit Kat or Peppermint Patty

28. What is your favorite flower? Tulips

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Labor Day Weekend - Graham Cooke is coming!

30. What is your favorite pastime? reading and scrapbooking

31. What are you listening to right now? the Olympic announcers

32. What was the last thing you ate? Chinese - we ordered out tonight

33. Do you wish on stars? that would be a nope

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? an unbroken green

35. How is the weather right now? Fairly warm today

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? My husband

37. Favorite soft drink? A lovely Dr. Pepper or a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (I know, not soft drink, but luv, luv, luv them!)

38. Favorite restaurant? one in which I sit on a date with my hubby

39. Real hair color? dark brown

40. What was your favorite toy as a child? a doll of some sort

41. Summer or winter? Fall or spring. :)

42. Hugs or kisses? hugs, because my kids think kisses = let's lick Mommy

43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate, with chocolate cookie chunks. The more chocolate the better

44. Coffee or tea? Coffee, please!

45. When was the last time you cried? This morning

46. What is under your bed? My wedding dress, the hiding wii fit, a portable crib and a digital drum set (not sure how that ended up there?)

47. What did you do last night? Olympics

48. What are you afraid of? Wrecking my car again...probably since I seem to have a past history that would suggest this could be a problem.

49. Salty or sweet? sweet