30 Day Challenge- Day 9: A Favorite Picture of Your Best Friend

Best friend????? Why have a best friend when you can have MANY great friends. I hate the word "best" because it insinuates that one is above all others, and that friend in my life would be God, the Creator and Savior. However, I don't think the question meant for me to dig that deeply, so my best friend. . . well. . . . how about my top few friends?

Shawn, of course is at the top of the list. Without getting all mushy, he is that friend, even to the point that it makes me mad when we argue because he's the one I want to talk to about it!

My kids- and honestly we're not "friends" persay because there has to be a distinction in roles between the authority and child, but my kids are in the circle of "friends" that I hope someday to be considered best friends. I pray they find wives that are loving and kind and will be friends with me .. . . :)

And finally, my girl friends- they are amazing. I have a bunch, but a few very close ones. My Bible Study sisters are some of the closest friends I have ever had. They are terrific. I wish I had a picture of all of us together. :(

30 Day Challenge- Day 8: A Place We've Traveled To

We've been a LOT of places, mainly as a family. When Zachary was almost three years old, he asked if we could go see the ocean. So, we flew by the seat of our pants with a 2 and a 1 year old and packed our tiny Dodge Stratus for a 10 day vacation. We got awesome deals on hotels, and since we were members of the local zoo, we got into almost every aquarium and zoo free or half price. Look back, I wonder why we were so crazy, but it was a lot of fun and really our first official "vacation." The best part about it was having paid for it entirely in cash so we never had a headache of bills after we returned home. Ah. . . . I miss those days!

We went to the Omaha zoo a few years ago, but haven't been on any vacations for the past couple years with the way my health has been.

Maybe someday. . . we'd love to take the kids to Florida to DisneyLand/World (whatever it is down there) and we'd also love to travel to some national parks and explore God's beauty in the mountains and the Grand Canyon. Hopefully it will get easier as the boys get a little older. . . someone please tell me it will! :)

30 Day Challenge- Day 7: Favorite Movies

We have a LOT of favorite movies, TV shows, etc. It is hard to think of just one particular movie that we like to watch. We have been watching a lot of kids movies, romantic comdies, or just dumb movies. We also like to watch "The Office" which is more of a TV show, but we watch the seasons on DVD. This probably is one of the more boring of the 30-day posts. I don't have a lot to offer. I'm completely and utterly exhausted. It was a LONG weekend with little rest or relaxation. It did help to have Monday off but I still feel like I am treading water to get back into the swing of things. I can't even explain how awful it feels to have tachycardia for so long and so high. I get my marathon workout before I have even been out of bed for more than an hour. :( PLEASE keep praying that God will provide healing and and end to the suffering. . . if it be His will.

Maybe I'm being a tortured turtle! :(

30 Day Challenge- Day 6: A Picture of Something that Makes Me Happy

30 Day Challenge- Day 5: A Song to Match My Mood

I think Georgia is so content and spoiled. She is such an excellent dog. She's a great cuddler and a sweet and patient dog. We love her so much. She is sooo precious! The other day, she crawled up on Malachi's bed to take a nap with him:

 We also bought her some fun new blankies to curl up with. This is her after her first vet appointment. The vet said she looks good and her heart worm test came back negative! (This picture is older. She went to the vet about a week after we brought her home.)

 Here she is by the door. Its so stinkin hot out. She's good about making her trips outside quick and to the point. Suzie needs to take a few notes because Suzie often gets shut outside because she just likes to wander around the yard and play rather than do her business and get back in.

 Isn't she so precious?

Ok, for the 30 Day Challenge- a song that matches my mood.  . . . . well, this is a song that matches how I feel almost every single day. I remember the first time I heard it I thought it was written with my exact thoughts. I couldn't believe someone else could write it so perfectly and hit the nail on the head like they do in this song. In fact, this is really creepy, but as I type this, the song JUST came on KLove! Wow! Ok, God. . . I get it! (How creepy/weird/ awkward is that!?) I swear it JUST started playing! Anyway, it is Matthew West, "Strong Enough." It is a song about asking God, "why do you think I'm strong enough to handle this?"

This song is also a favorite: "Blessings" by Laura Story:

30 Day Challenge- Day 4: Parents

And. . . .here we go again with the 30 Day Challenge!

Here is another "touchy" subject to blog about. Wow! I should have read the list before I signed on for this 30 day challenge. :) Parents. . . . let's see. . . . Webster, a little help. . . . Definition of PARENT: 1a : one that begets or brings forth offspring b : a person who brings up and cares for another.

Well, we have parents and we are parents. Parents are an important part in our lives and we treasure the relationships that we do have and the bonds that are shared. Personally, and speaking solely for myself, I am so thankful for the parents that I have and the role models that they have been for me and my family. I will give a shout out to them in this post because I am not real sure what Shawn wants to write. (He can sign in and blog anytime he so wishes, ya know.)

My parents have shown me the true definition of love. I wasn't always the most pleasant of children. I think I stuck in the terrible twos throughout, uhm . . . well, I never quite lost my stubborn, ornery, and mischievous streak. I know that I was a difficult child. And, should I not have remembered some of the antics my parents survived, my mom so kindly kept some memorabilia for me. I have never appreciated my parents more than after I had kids. Sadly, I wish I would have been different now that I am a parent of a child exactly like I was.

I am so thankful for my parents and their unconditional love for my husband and kids. They are accepting and loving, setting the Christian example of love. They have not been perfect but have been model parents that we hope to be like, and for that I am thankful.

30 Day Challenge- Day 3: Our First Love

This is a 30 day challenge, but it didn't say a consecuetive 30 days, right!? :) Our first love is the subject today and quite frankly, how do we know, right? Of course, the intention was to get us to spill our guts about a previous crush or former boyfriend or girlfriend, but really, God is love and He should be our FIRST love- now, in the past, and forever. So, there you have it: our first true love- hopefully always obvious in our actions and words: Jesus our Lord.

30 Day Challenge- Day 2. . . How Did My Blog Get it's Name?

How did my blog get its name???? Hmmmm. . . . Well, it seems easier to say how it did NOT get some of the names we were thinking of:
- Chance Family Chaos
- What in the World Were We Thinking?
- Adventures of Living in a Frat House
- 4 boys and a girl
- The Adventures of Search for the most Yucky, Disgusting and Thrilling Creatures
- How 3 Young Boys drove their Parents to Drink
- Lessons We're Learning the Hard Way
- Mama's Medical Updates
- Some may call us Crazy
- What are the Chances?
- Take a Chance. . .
- Chances Are. . .


This blog was started to attempt to keep the memories of my boys as they grow up so fast. While its been used for multiple purposes at one point or another, it has been a great keepsake and diary to watch my babies grow up and someday I hope they know how much we love them as well as how much they put us through! ;) haha.

I will get through this 30 day challenge. . . maybe before Christmas. :)

30 Day Challenge- Day 1. . . On Time!

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts Introduce myself. . . .well, I am a Christian first and foremost and a wife, mother, teacher, reader, blogger, baker, sleeper. . . yeh. I love to talk randomly and especially about my boys and their adventures. I realized shortly after having my third baby that I'd never keep up with 3 baby books and all their cute little sayings, so I decided to start a blog and write narratives of our lives to keep up with the memories and precious times together. We've been through a lot, but God has been our rock and will continue. I have been married to Shawn for about nine years soon. We have three adorable boys, Zachary, Logan and Malachi. If you ask them where they got their names, Zach says his is from Zechariah in the Bible, Malachi is from the Bible of course, and well. . . Logan claims to have the namesake of the famous Logan's Roadhouse restaurant. While that isn't completely the truth, it does humor us some days.

When looking for a recent picture of myself, I realized after searching through the entire July 2011, June 2011, May 2011. . . (you get the idea), I am in NONE of the pictures! I am always behind the camera. I'm not a flattering person usually so it might be best, but then again I need to embrace the camera more so my kids can have some great looking pictures of their mama involved with them rather than just behind the camera. I promise to try to do better with that. I am the shorty on the left here with my other siblings. We went to see Brady's play in Wamego. He was a lead as a sailor.

15 Interesting Facts about me or my family:

1) We love time together. We drive each other nuts, but really, on a day with no plans, we love being together.

2) My kids have eaten Doritos for breakfast more than 3 times this summer while I finish my master's degree. No, I won't have bad-mom guilt. I know that they have potatoes somewhere in those chips and it can't be much worse than letting them eat Pop-Tarts.

3) Shawn is an amazing person that follows his passions. He's a dreamer and I'm a realist. It doesn't always go so well, but hey, we have chickens, I sell Tupperware, and he's going back to school to be a teacher. So, its a nice mix! :)

4) I have a posse of amazing friends that are the best Christian sisters. I wasn't keen on moving to this small town, without a Wal-Mart (gasp) but have found so many "family" here that it is home.

5) My boys are ALL boys- the love dangerous stuff, icky stuff, stuff that really freaks me out. I have a heart condition and I think it is partily to blame from their scare tactics!

6) My favorite place in the world to eat is Taco Grande. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that place and their greasy food.

7) My husband is a nuclear medicine technologist, CT tech, x-ray tech, mechanic, handy-man (except for at our house), roofer, and sheetrocker. He also likes to be a kid and enjoys his electronics and having our children watch him play them! He is re-living his childhood right now.

8) I am a teacher and couldn't have a better job. It is truly my dream job. Somedays I just walk in the halls and think, "wow, I get paid to do this!?" I love my students and most all the people I work with. I just completed my masters degree as a Master Teacher- Reading Specialist.

9) Shawn and I almost died on our wedding night. Funny story which might lead to laughing or teasing, but I had recieved some bath bubbles as a gift and packed them along for our first night in the Westin. We had a nice supper and arrived back at our hotel for a hot bath. Well, if you read the directions, you are only supposed to use one or two of those bath beads. We used the entire package of about 20 of them! Needless to say, we had a very difficult time not slipping and splitting our heads open trying to get out of the bath tub. A shower the next morning was still out of the question! We went to a different hotel. Its fun to laugh about to this day.

10) Zachary was diagnosed as officially "gifted" this year. While I believe EVERY child is gifted in many different ways, this was a relief to us to finally understand how to work with him and what services to fit his needs. He is a smart little cracker and a smitten little image of me when I was a kid, even in attitude and intelligence. So, I'm sorry mom. . . I really am.

11) Logan is the spitting image of Shawn in looks and acts! He is the funniest kid you could ever know and is one of the MOST compassionate kids. He even hugs the Wal-Mart greeters! :) He asks difficult questions and thinks WAY outside the box.

12) We love snakes. We didn't realize this as much until we had Tippi for a few short days and loved her so much. She was an awesome snake and has really made us itch to have another one just like her. (NO exotics!)

13) Shawn has a lower feminine voice and one of my favorite parts of going through a drive-thru is when they ask "ma'am would you like fries with that." It cracks me up all the time!

14) I had my belly-button pierced before I was married. My sisters and I wanted to do something crazy before I tied the knot and they didn't think I'd do it, so they made me go first. It only lasted a few months after I got pregnant with Zachary and that closed that chapter.

15) We try to embrace life and live to the fullest. We love each other and others like it is or could be our last day with them. Sometimes I send out mass texts (haha friends) to remind my friends how much I love them. My family sometimes responds with questions asking if I've changed meds or am doing ok. :) The sad fact is that we have lost so many close friends and family in such a short few years that we have hit the reality that our time on earth is not guaranteed. This is not our home and we live each day here, hoping to make it the best, yearning for the blissful, peaceful home that awaits us with no sorrows, pain, fear, or bad stuff. I hope that reading my blog you can understand how much faith plays a part in our lives and how it is an integral part of who we are as individuals and as a family.

30 Day Challenge. . . or 40 Days. . . or Sometime!

Long story short, my friend Bria noted that she was doing a 30-day blog challenge on her blog. She got the idea here. :) As a teacher, I'm good a re-using other's ideas and giving them credit, so here goes.

During the next 30 days, I want to delve back into the world of blogging and enjoying blogging. I want to re-explore why I blog and how I can become better at it, or simply, more motivated to post more often! :)

So, here is an insight of what you get to look forward to in the next 30 days, or 40 days, or somewhere before Christmas hopefully!

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3: Your first love

Day 4: Your parents

Day 5: A song to match your mood

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

Day 7: Favorite movies

Day 8: A place you've traveled to

Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend

Day 10: Something you're afraid of

Day 11: Favorite tv shows

Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

Day 13: Goals

Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?

Day 15: Bible verse

Day 16: Dream house

Day 17: Something you're looking forward to

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

Day 19: Something you miss

Day 20: Nicknames

Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?

Day 22: What's in your purse?

Day 23: Favorite Movie

Day 24: Something you've learned

Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26: Your Dream Wedding

Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in

Day 28: Something that stresses you out

Day 29: 3 Wishes

Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

I really want to thank Erin and Bria for letting me tag along and would like to encourage my new blogging (or OLD haha) blogging friends to play along as well. It'll be a lot of fun.