today

today is the middle of a pretty darn good week-unit.
I am happy today. :) Today was Momease and like Momease a lot. Mark H spoke and he answered a bunch of questions that were very interesting! Tonight is Singles' Group and I enjoy that too!

I just got finished making a schedule of my kid's life and it is pretty funny...especially her bedtime routine. It's ridiculous!! But it works pretty well, so whatever, I guess.

Here it is in all it's OCD ridiculous glory

Lucy has to be in bed BY 8:30. - At 8:30/8:45 the window slams shut, and she'll be awake til 11.
Routine:

-go potty, change diaper, brush teeth, jammies.

-Read a few stories

-Turn off light, say prayers, then a short sweet rundown of the day ("we went to ____, that was fun, huh?”, "Did you have fun?”, “Now Lucy has to go to sleep so we can have fun tomorrow!” “Everyone’s going to sleep”, etc)

-hugs, more prayer, pacifier and doggie, more hugs, lay down.

-She will ask for another hug after you've tucked her in - give it to her then tuck her in again.

-Be sure to tuck in her toes -fold blanket under her feet. Give her doggie, green bunny and other bunny (white one).

-As you close the door, tell her "goodnight, I love you, byebye" and when she askes for more huggies, say no you just gave her huggies and goodnight, and close the door.

-If Gwen goes to bed at the same time, it helps incredibly much.

-If you can convince her that Lizzie and Brad and Gwen and Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grampa, etc are all going to bed too, then that helps a lot too.

-Then keep it quiet-ish in the living room, she'll sing and talk to herself till she goes to sleep.
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YEP, that's ridiculous. What do you all think?

Ok! off to singles' group for free dinner and some singing and fellowship! wonder what we're eating tonight?

Homeless Octopus

Today I am thankful for:

1. PF Chang's Mongolian Beef
2. Snickers
3. Netflix
4. Paper Shredder
5. The United States Postal Service...cuz you can't email everything.
6. "Alone time" with my hubby. :-D
7. Light bulbs.
8. Foothills.
9. My totally awesome couch.
10. Remote controls.

I don't know what day it is

But I'm still thankful!!
Here's proof!

1. My house is clean!!!

2. My kid is asleep!

3. I made rice krispie treats

4. Our Christmaween party is tonight

5. I finally got invoice sheets from the school Mikey contracts with and now we can get paid for all the lessons he's done!

6. I am feeling SOOO much better (happier) today.

7. My birthday ended up being really happy. :)

8. My husband is going to scrub out the microwave for me today!!

9. Crayon easily comes off my dining room table when I wipe it down!

10. I was able to get my parents a lovely condo for their little getaway this weekend for much cheaper than anything else they could find!

And an extra one for today. :)

11. Gwen. I love her.

Ok today is getting better :)

The day is on the upswing :) The FANTASTIC parent teacher conference definitely helped! :)
My kid got all A's and Excellent Effort. She reads at an 8.6 grade level. She is sweet and amazing and the teachers' favorite! SO PROUD!!!! Thank you God for scheduling that conference for today!!! :)

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! I can't wait for my birthday dinner tonight!! :)

Birthday.

BLAH. Why do we even celebrate them? A whole year leading up to this one day and I've been borderline dreading and loving it. Well, today has started off on the dread side. I try so hard not to be depressed and somehow, aside from the facebook prompted birthday greetings, and all of the lovely text messages I've gotten... something about this day just sucks. I desperately want it not to suck!

You know how sometimes you can be in a good mood that's fragile and one bad thing happens and your mood starts tumbling into the bad place? Well, maybe you don't know that feeling. But I do, and I don't like it.
I hate the person I can be. I come across so jerky sometimes and i hate it. why can't i turn that off? I think I need Valium or something.

Anyway, I have turned on some worship music (thank you Pandora), and I am going to write my thankful list.

1. That my kid ONLY has a cold. It could be much worse. Maybe it's allergies like someone suggested.
2. That my memory card from my cell phone wasn't erased like I thought it was.
3. I have more pens and pencils than I know what to do with. Some people don't have even one.
4. Music. It lifts me.
5. My beautiful birthday cards from my kids today. :)
6. That my BFF gave me a 10 person lasagna and garlic bread today!
7. That I'm going to dinner with friends tonight.
8. That my husband is contractually obligated to love me, even when I'm ugly.
9. That someone gave me a beautiful 2011 calendar.
10. That I cleaned out my desk drawer today.

Yep this list is really lame, but it was a hard list to make today. I hate November 10th. I think from now on I skip it.

Happy nonexistent totally unimportant day, everyone.

Day 5

WOW...what a busy weekend! Mud Run on Saturday, then Denny's for dinner for breakfast!
Sunday was church, then lunch at my grandma's, then the worship team dinner, which turned out so great! but wow were we tired after all that!!

OK! Now here's today's list of things I am thankful for!

1. Scrambled eggs...cooked light and fluffy. :)
2. COFFEE!!!
3. My internet is FIXED!! And I *think* my computer is clean now.
4. Our church pastors. They are hilarious, they love God, and they aren't afraid to step on toes.
5. The fact that my wonderful husband loves Jesus. I know so many wives with husbands who don't.
6. My 30th birthday. I'm sort of excited! And I am in the best place I've ever been in my life at birthday time. Praise God!
7. Indoor plumbing. 'Nuff said.
8. My friend Justin. I love him and he loves me and we're buddies and that's awesome.
9. Lucy's awesome way of interpreting language.
10. Hillsong United.

Day 2

Things are looking good in the Best household. It's the beginning of the month, and this month holds great opportunities for growth and enjoyment. I am feeling really good about myself, my family, and my circumstances and that makes for a really happy me.
After coming off of a recent bout with depression, I feel that the haze has lifted, and I am feeling really good. I've been monitoring my cycles, and it seems like there is a cyclical element to how I feel during certain times. Now that I am aware of that, I feel I am better equipped to look for solutions.
Please join me in praying about this.

Now! in efforts to continue the less depressed me, I give you today's list!

1. My extended family. As I talk to my friends, I realize how few people around me have the luxury of having family living around them! It's just always been this way for me. Almost my entire family lives within city limits!! I have two sets of grandparents, lots of aunts and uncles and GREAT aunts and uncles, cousins, parents, siblings... Not to mention my husband has the same! His paternal family lives in other parts of the country, but they come and visit at least once a year! We are SO blessed! We have so many willing babysitters, too! That is such a blessing. It makes me remember not to take them for granted. We are SO blessed.

2. The internet. I know that sounds silly, but being without it most of the time for the last couple weeks due to computer issues makes me realize just how much I use it for yellow pages, networking, recipes, knowledge building, wasting time, etc. I use it so much!

3. Free stuff for my birthday. Everything from free dessert to entirely free meals! Check it out! http://www.frugalliving.tv/free-stuff/birthday-freebies.html

4. Having very little debt. Due to very diligent payments, followed by trying really hard not to pay for things with credit cards, we have very little debt. Dentist bills and things like that come up and we'll use the card for that, but overall, we are very blessed to be mostly in the black.

5. Hank. He is such a great mentor for my husband and I and we love him so much. And no, he doesn't read my blog.

6. WATER. I love water, and obviously my body needs it, so it works out. I am SO thankful that we live in a place that has clean water running freely.

7. Shoes. Cuz the ground hurts.

8. The book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It is amazing and it is changing my life. Read it.

9. Kathy Martin. I love love love her. She speaks to the very depths of my soul with every word that she speaks, and I know that what she speaks is truth.

10. God. I know it seems cliche to say that in a blog like this, but it's true. I wouldn't be who I am without Him. I wouldn't have the positive outlook that I have without Him. He knew me before I even existed. Even BEFORE I was knit together in my mother's womb, He CHOSE me. He DECIDED to bring me into existence to commune with Him. And He sent His only Son to DIE for me so that my sin would not separate me from Him. WHOA! That is amazing to me. I am learning (through "Crazy Love" - READ
IT), that God is not just this obscure, dominating figure up there. He is not only an awe-inspiring King to revere, He is also our Daddy. He wants to have a close, intimate relationship with us. He wants us to revere Him, but He also wants us to climb up into His lap and tell Him stuff. He LOVES us. And that makes me thankful. :)

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What about you? Are you up for the thankfulness challenge? I think you should try it. :)

Thankfulness - Day 1

There are 21 days til Thanksgiving, and I intend to spend them thankfully. I make it a point to be thankful in my everyday life, but there is something special about being purposeful in thankfulness. And, what better time than now? So in light of this month of Thanks, I will be writing down 10 things I am thankful for.

1. My wonderful Husband.
2. My beautiful daughters.
3. My lovely home.
4. The great school Gwen goes to.
5. All of the yummy food we have to eat every day.
6. All of my great friends. :)
7. My Thursday night small group.
8. My awesome new van.
9. Foothills.
10. M&M's

And there you have it. That's what I am thankful for today. :)

Happy November 4th!