We Moved!

We have a new address!  homecanbeheaven.com  Things are still a little messy and may be for a while BUT it should be entertaining to watch me figure it all out, dontcha think? 

Under Construction!

I’m in the middle of switching hosts and putting together the new layout and…ummm…it’s taking a leetle bit longer than I anticipated…yeeahh…  It could be because I have exactly zero techinical know-how but, who’s to say.  See you on the other side!  (hopefully soon!)

To Life!

I am a fiend for musicals, no lie!  On Pandora, I even have a whole station that started with The Music Man.  (The original, thank you very much!  All respect to Mathew Broderick BUT, he is NO Professor Harold Hill!)

A song that’s been on heavy rotation lately is Fiddler on the Roof’s, ‘To Life’.  I love this musical and I love this song!  I’ve always sung along with it and lately it’s had me thinking.  Mostly about choice, actually. 

At about 2:53, the soldiers start to sing a blessing, “May you both be favored with the future of your choice.  May you live to see a thousand reasons to rejoice…” and I was thinking, “That would be awesome, to have a life of my choosing!  I’d pick this and that and…”

…and that’s when I realized, I may not be living the ‘future of my choice’ but, I AM living the future of my choices.  I wouldn’t choose to be currently about 60lbs overweight BUT, because of my choices, I am.  I wouldn’t choose to be throwing every extra penny we can find at debt for things that, for the most part, we don’t even own anymore BUT, because of my choices, I am.  Every choice I’ve made has led me to where I am in life today and, for the most part, I’m THRILLED with my life!  But, there are definitely areas of my life that, had I really known what the consequences would be, I might have chosen differently. 

I really am trying to be more deliberate about where I choose to spend my time, money, energy, etc…  I want my life to be a certain way and, unless I make the choices that reflect what I really want, not just what I want right now, I’m not going to have that future that I dream of so often!  It’s hard to do that though, it takes muscles that I haven’t been flexing very much.  Delayed gratification, discipline, being able to see the big picture and not acting like a 3-year-old (but I waaaaaaaannnt it!)…  It’s going to take some practice and I’ll probably have aches and pains as I stretch and grow into the person I really want to be.

I am NOT saying that life doesn’t throw stuff at you and knock you off course!  You can make all the right choices and still end up with tragedy and loss, bad things happen to good people.  I can look back at my life so far and see the trials that I’ve had to go through just because I had to but, I can also see where I made my life harder than it had to be because of the choices that I made.  Does that make sense at all?

PS: I love how the scene devolves into a ‘Beat It’ style dance off at about 4:44!

I’ve Got A Perfect Body (but sometimes i forget…)

Love, love, LOVE Regina Spektor! What a happy, happy song!

National Adoption Month

Did you know that November is National Adoption Month?  Did you know that less than 1% of all crisis pregnancies culminate in adoption? 

One way to support adoption is to support birth mothers!  mrs. r has a lovely blog that is all about open adoption and her experiences with it.  For National Adoption Month, she’s leading a charge to post about adoption every single day during the month of November.  I started late and I’m still trying to build up my blogging muscles so, I won’t be taking the challenge BUT I had to post a link to her awesome service project!

Definitely check it out!  If you’re looking for a service project for your family this holiday season, this is definitely a worthy one!

Cookies? For Breakfast?!

No, we’re not having Cookie Crisp Cereal (do they still make that stuff?), we’re having Giant Breakfast Cookies!  Oh my goodness, you guys, the house smells AWESOME!!  I had to fiddle with the recipe a little due to food allergies in my child care program.  For instance, we can’t use honey so, I substituted Grade B Maple Syrup.  Also, I forgot to get them started last night so, we didn’t soak the grains but, oh well!

Photo credit http://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com

I’m trying to be more of a ‘Yes’ person and so, I’m trying to set up parameters in my home that allow me to be able to say yes to my husband and child care kiddos more often.  I think being able to ask, “Who wants cookies for breakfast?” totally helps me fulfill that goal!  Especially when I know that the ‘cookies’ are just as healthy, maybe even more so, than a bowl of oatmeal!

Taking It Easy…

Whew…starting out my week with only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, probably not my best idea ever! It wasn’t that I was up late trying to prep for the week, it was just plain ‘ol insomnia. Oh well, I’m going to be sure not to nap or anything this afternoon so I should be good and tired by bedtime tonight.

The nice thing about prepping for my week instead of vegging through my weekend? My lesson plan was already done today so, the older kiddos are coloring their #2 sheets happily after a lesson about counting and numbers, the toddlers are outside playing with my assistant (You rock, Lesley!!) and are burning off tons of energy AND, since David and I prepped most of our meals for the next two weeks already, I only have to remember to pre-heat the oven at 11:30 and pop in our meal and our lunch will be DONE! Veggies are chopped, fruit is sliced, recipe is already put together and ready to cook… *exhale* What a blessing preparation is, especially on a day that you need to coast a little!

Photo Credit StefanG81

Touched My Heart Today

I heard this song, probably a year or two ago and, I just couldn’t handle it at the time. I came across it today as I was reading a blog and the feeling of peace and healing was a surprise to me. I’m thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who not only knows the dreams of my heart, He planted them there and He whispers words of love and comfort to me.

Tell Your Time

I know that I haven’t been posting here at ALL and that’s mostly because I have had no TIME! My goodness, buying a house, repairing a house, renovating a house, running a business, caring for family, and on and on and on, ad infinitum… I’m looking all around and seeing women (and men!) who are just as busy as I am and yet, they seem to find the time to shower, they seem to be able to have conversations (with actual friends, mind you! I hardly remembered I was supposed to have those!) that weren’t words being flung, rapid-fire, with barely a breath drawn. How do they DO that? Where do THEY get the extra 12 hours a day they MUST have? Is it drugs? Why aren’t they sharing?? (JUST kidding!!)
In my search to find peace and balance in my life, I’ve been reading blogs (WHO has TIME to BLOG??!!) and finding different female ‘heroes’. Women who I could relate to, who seem to have their stuff together but are still not perfect, who have similar goals to mine and seem to be actually progressing toward them. I was looking for footprints in the snow! Someone who was a little bit ahead of me on the path but who wasn’t so far ahead that their footprints had already been filled in again with flurries and I’d get lost if I tried to follow them. One such woman has written a book…

Click to check out her ebook!

 …and it is AMAZING!  It is short, it is simple, it is part of what I was so desperately looking for!  A way to have my life reflect my values and ideals. 

Maybe you’re like me.  I have so many ‘roles’ that are key to who I am as a person.  I’m a wife, I’m a care provider, I’m a Mormon, etc…  Somewhere in all of my activities, I lost track of, not only those roles but, also the most important one, I’m myself.  I need to care for myself so that I can care for my husband, my charges, my relationship with Christ, my dreams.  There are so many things that I feel I HAVE to do and there’s always more piling on.  I was spending my days running and my evenings collapsed in a heap of exhaustion and frustration.  Everything has to be done right now!  Look at everything I still have to do!  Does that sound at all familiar or is it just me?

So much was suffering!  I’m able to care for the kiddos but not my house.  I can feed my husband but I’m not drinking any water (AT ALL!).  I can finish my paperwork but I can only sleep 4 hours a night.

After reading Amy’s book (it took about 20 minutes), it was like a lightbulb had switched on!  You mean I only get 24 hours a day and, if I schedule more than 24 hours worth of stuff, I’ll be stressed, frustrated and upset with myself?  Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?  Even though I knew that already (duh, 24 hours, 7 days, 52 weeks…), I was feeling totally powerless.  Everything on my calendar is good stuff, it all has to be done and it all has to be done by me!  I had no clue how to prioritize and eliminate or delegate.  Amy’s book has lit that path.  I get it now and, though it may take some time and effort on my part to make an actual DOable plan and stick to it.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to get it eventually. 

I really hope that, if time management is one of your stress points right now, you’ll take a look at Amy’s book.  You can’t find it in stores, only on her website.  It’s an ebook so, you’ll only have to wait about 30 seconds for delivery and every tool she gives you, you can use right away.  If you read it, please, leave a comment below!  I’d love to hear your thoughts!  If you don’t read it, I’d still love to hear your thoughts!  What do you do that makes your schedule work for you?  What doesn’t work?

Click here to visit AmyLynnAndrews.com.

Meet My House

A before shot of our house. Actually, REALLY before, we hadn't even bought it yet!

 This is my house.  Our house, really.  We used to walk  by this house every day on our way to the park with the kidlets.  I didn’t like the color and the style wasn’t to my taste but, it was a perfect location and had a HUGE yard.  We were on our way to the park from the house we were renting two blocks away when we saw the realtor’s guy puttin up the For Sale sign.  David & I talked it over while this kids played and decided to call our realtor to see if we could take a look at the inside.  We were able to make an appointment for the next day, decided we could work with it and put in an offer.  We heard back that evening, it was already in escrow.

 

We kept up our walks to the park.  We kept looking at the house with the awful, hot, dry paint job.  We kept stalking it online.  David was looking at the MLRS page again about two weeks later and, lo and behold, it was back on the market!  He called his uncle, our realtor, immediately and asked him to resubmit our offer.  Now, this was a Friday afternoon and, as far as we knew, no one even knew it was back on the market.  David’s uncle happened to know the listing agent and made sure our offer got right on their desk before anyone else had a chance to blink!  We had everything faxed and waiting for them in the machine bright and early Monday morning and they accepted!!  It was a bank owned property and had been vacant for a little while.  The pond in the back yard had dried up and there were little fishy carcasses just lying there.  😦

 

After we signed all the papers, it hit me.  What are we going to have to do to make this place liveable?  Not only that, what am I going to have to do to make this place somewhere I want to actually live?!  Here are some more before pics to let you know what I mean…

A View from the Front Door

This is what greeted you from the front door.  High-gloss Mint Ice Cream on the family room walls contrasted nicely with the High-gloss Grape Bubble-Yum in the kitchen, don’t you think?

From Left of the Front Door

Here, from another angle you can see the weird little door thingy under the stairs that leads to the garage.  And the lovely Salmon colored metal banister.  It reminded me of something you’d see on outside stairs, maybe, not in someone’s home. 

I can’t wait to show you the huge difference a year (and David’s hard work!) has made!