Our Mommy & Son Date to Barnes & Noble

The other night Alex and I had a super fun date night.  Alex has been loving reading books lately, wanting us to read 5-6 books a night before he goes to sleep.  Now if you know me I hate reading the same thing over and over again so I thought we would take a trip to the bookstore.

Now when I was growing up I was an avid reader, I would be up into all hours of the night reading just to read "one more chapter."  But something in me changed after I had Alex and now I can't keep my eyes open for more than 10 pages in a book.  But one thing I have noticed while looking for a bookstore is that there are less than half of the bookstores in our city than there used to be.  That was super depressing for me!  When we would go to the mall my mom would drop me off at the bookstore and come check on me between each store she needed to go to and I loved it.  There are even less libraries than there used to be. 

SOOO Alex and I set out to the bookstore which was about a 20 minute drive from our house and all the while Alex was so excited and talking about all the different kinds of books he wanted.  He wanted a "Star Wars book, a stinky face book, a truck book, a light saber book, a colors book and a Minions book."  I had no idea he would be so excited about books.  Until about 2 or 3 weeks ago Alex absolutely hated reading, Chris and I would sit down to read with him every night and and about 2 pages in Alex would shut the book and say, "All done."

I am loving this stage he is in and I hope it continues for a long time.  So many of my childhood memories revolve around books and playing outside.  I had a super avid imagination and I brought my characters to life, and I would play outside for hours.  So I have made a few resolutions for Alex this year.

1. Start going to story time at the library.

2.  Spend at least 30 minutes outside everyday, no matter the weather.  He can play on the porch or in the garage.

3.  Make one major outing a week, to the zoo, the museum center or the bounce house.

 

I am so excited for Mommy & Son dates!

When God Shows Off, Part 1

You may or may not know this but about a year and a half ago Chris and I began on a new journey with Christ.  We sought out to not find a religion but rather a new and renewed relationship with our Heavenly Father.  And along the way we have rebuilt our relationship with each other and as parents.  

When Chris and I found our new church we were at a terribly low place.  Divorce hung low over our heads and was a daily mention.  We were drowning in debt and couldn't find a way out.  Chris and I could not stand to be in the same room as the other and we never had a nice thing to say to each other.  We were fighting all the time and I am ashamed to say a lot of that fighting was in front of Alex.

Chris and I each grew up practicing the same religion(different than the one we define ourselves with now) but neither one of us went to church each week and religion was not something that was ever mentioned outside of the 4 walls of the church.  We got married in the church I grew up in and never went to church together after that day, except maybe Christmas and the day Alex was baptized.  When I would go to church I would beg Chris to go with Alex and I, but Chris' response was always, "I don't find God in a church." So eventually I stopped asking and stopped going altogether. 

Fast forward to fall 2014 and I was looking for a safe trick-or-treating environment for Alex's first real trick-or-treating experience.  I was browsing Facebook and came across a "Top things to do in the fall in Cincinnati."  On the list was a trunk or treat event hosted at a school not far from our home, it was being put on by a church that I had never heard of.  The event was that night so Alex and I packed up, got his costume on and recruited my sister to go with us.  

We headed over and the experience we had there was fantastic.  It was organized and fun, but also full of people.  And being who I am, I was people watching and listening in on conversations.  It was so awesome to hear people talking about Jesus and how much they loved their church.  This was something I wanted to look into more.  Well the next day I received a text message from an amazing lady, who I am beyond blessed entered my life, and she told me that we had won a basket from their raffle and I could pick it up on the following Sunday at church.  

My next hurdle would be to see if I could get Chris to go with me.  So I told him a little white lie.  (Yes I lied to my husband to get him to go to church.)  Amazingly he agreed.  I remember back to that morning and it was a really tense morning and I know there was fighting involved.  That was until we got out the car, that's the way it always was.

As we we pulled into the lot of the church there were people directing us as to where to park, and as we were getting out of our car they welcomed us and asked us how we were doing.  Then as we walked up to the doors, there were greeters there as well.  They were incredible, one in particular, who Alex now looks for every Sunday, recognized us as new people and walked us inside and sent us to the raffle basket for us to redeem but also spoke with us a few minutes and encouraged us to stay for service and also encouraged us to take Alex to the church nursery.  

We did just that.  From the time we walked in the doors Chris and I both felt welcome and wanted.  Neither of us had ever felt that way in a church before.  Then we entered the auditorium for the service to begin.  This was such a different experience than what we were used to.  Our church we were from sang hymns, this church sang songs about God but they were up-tempo and people were outwardly showing their affection for God.  It was an amazing sight to see and I was hooked!

This was the relationship I had always wanted with God.  

The pastor gave an awesome sermon and it was one that kept not only myself intrigued but also Chris.  After the sermon was over Chris looked at me and said, "For the first time in I think forever, I felt God's presence today." 

I feel like that will be a great place to end this post.  I would like to make this a weekly bit until we come current with our life story.  God is moving in big ways in our lives.  Chris and I have made a promise to do all things for His glory and we would be wrong not to share the amazing ways He is moving in us.  We hope you enjoyed this and come back next Sunday to hear the next part of our journey with God.

Do you have questions about God or do you long for a relationship with him instead of just a religion?  Please leave your questions in the comment section below and we would be happy to answer them for you or get you in touch with someone else who can answer them.

Movie Review: War Room (No Spoilers)

I went to my church group this past Sunday and this movie was brought up and highly recommended Chris and I watch.  They also told us that we should buy it and not rent it because it is that great.  So when I left that night I stopped at Target and picked it up along with some snacks.  I told Chris to get Alex to sleep and we would have a makeshift date night.  

This movie did not disappoint!! I laughed, I cried and I got goosebumps all multiple times throughout the movie.  

I felt as though the plot line was fluid and not predictable.  I found myself trying to guess at what was going to happen and each time I was wrong.  But the message and theme were incredible.  I feel as though it was a good family movie and it was a very relate-able movie and hits home with many families.   I know at least in our family Chris & I have had times in our lives when our careers have become more important than each other and our relationship fell by the wayside.  

But I also love that it reiterates the power of prayer and it encourages developing an intimate relationship with Christ.  My life and the life of my family has drastically changed since we developed our new and renewed relationship with Jesus Christ.  

On a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being great and 0 being terrible, I would definitely give this movie a 5.  It is for sure a movie I will watch multiple times and I will definitely beginning to put into practice a few of the techniques mentioned in the movie.

Our Cleaning Routine

Quite frankly I have no idea why I decided to write on this topic because we have no routine, however, Chris and I have come up with a division of chores that works for us and I thought I would share that with you.  

Chris and I have been together for 10 years this year!!  Of those 10 years we have only been married and living together for 5 years.  It has taken us a long time to come to a point with chores where we both feel as though each person does their fair share and saves us from the endless fighting.  Chris and I have never worked the same shift and probably 6 out of 7 days of the week are so tired we would rather have a lazy day than spend any time cleaning. 

What we have found that works for us is:

I do the cleaning of each room in the house.

Chris does the laundry, dishes (cleaning & putting away) and takes out the garbage.

There are still days where the other person feels like they got the raw end of the deal, namely Chris when it is time to clean out the fridge, but sometimes me when it is time to clean the big bathroom.  However this division of chores has been the best thing for us and has made it super easy to make sure things get done.  I love for things to not look cluttered and Chris likes to make sure all of his clothes are clean so each of are happy.

But let's not bring up, I hate folding laundry and absolutely detest doing the dishes!  Our garbage can is relatively far away from our home so for safety sake, this has always been Chris' job.  

But we are interested in how you and your spouse or significant other divy up the chores.  And when do you start having your children have their own daily chores?  Let us know in the comments!

 

What I'm Loving Right Now

I would classify myself as one of those people who likes a lot of things but doesn't love as many things.  So today I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things I use on a daily basis that I absolutely love.

1.  My iPhone

I switched to Android for about 9 months this past year, and it was a mistake!  I hated it! I quickly went back to an iPhone and I don't think I will ever make that mistake again.

2.  Hulu

Prior to my surgery Chris and I made the decision to get rid of cable and just keep our wifi and use Hulu and Netflix to keep up on shows, but whatever is not on those 2 things we can buy through the iTunes store.  But I have found that it is amazing, I like Hulu so much more than Netflix because it doesn't judge with the stupid, "Are you still watching?"  I binge watched Scandal on it and I am in the middle of Brothers and Sisters.

3.  Cherry Coke Zero

 

I am a soda lover!  There is no question about it, and I love that there are no extra's in it but also no harmful things that diet soda carries.  

4.  Canon 70D

This is my DSLR that I purchased last year when I upgraded from my Canon Rebel T3i.  I love this camera and all of the features that come along with it, my ultimate favorite being the wifi capabilities.  I love it so much so that when I added my sister onto my "team" I purchased another one for her to use. It's awesome!

5.  Target

OMG OMG OMG where to begin?!?! If Target was open 24/7 and served wine you would probably never get out of there. I used to favor Walmart thinking Target was so much more expensive, but it's not terribly more expensive and the customer service is generally 100% better and they have more checkout lanes open on a consistent base.  In fact when I went to Walmart a few weeks ago with my Grandma, I couldn't remember the last time I had been there and was appalled that it looked dark, dingy and dirty.  And lets not even talk about how long I was waiting in line.

Now I don't go to Target on a daily basis, but I would say I am there at least weekly...

6.  Kroger's Click and Pick Up Shopping

Praise God Hallelujah!  Can I say how much I hate grocery shopping!  This has made my life!  It's incredible, when you load your shoppers reward card it will populate all of your most recent and frequent purchases so that you don't have to go searching for anything. But it also saves an incredible amount of time & money.  I can place my order at 12am one night and pick it up in the afternoon the next day.  I can be as hungry as a wild tiger and not spend the superfluous money on crap food, I can make a list and stick to it, and I find it so much easier to make sure I use my coupons and budget wisely because I can see the total adding up on the bottom right hand of the screen.   It takes less than 10 minutes from the time you pull in the parking spot until the time you back out.  It was amazing!  I find it hard to not justify the $5 charge when you add in the time and money saved.

What are some things you are loving right now?  Share them with me in the comments below!

Inside my Devotional

Can you say personal?  I truly believe a person's journal or devotional are one of the most personal things they own.  However it was not until I saw someone else's that I began to have one of my own.  Through my journey in this devotional I have not only found out more about myself but also found out many, many things about God.  So I thought I would use my little space on the interwebs to show you my devotional and encourage you to start one of your own.

I have a pink journal that was my very first devotional.  This notebook is falling apart and the pages have bends and show lots of signs of love.  I love this book, as it signifies to me the start of my new walk with Christ and also was there with me the day I was baptized. It will forever hold a special place in my heart and I am sure I will frequently look back to it to remember that special time in my life.

I use my devotionals in many ways.  My most common use being my church service notes. Every Sunday I take this book with me and write notes from the sermon in it and also write down the verses read during service.  Then once I get home I will go through the notes again and then write the verses read in my devotional.  I myself am a visual learner and have found that if I write these verses I understand the lesson more. This is my favorite use by far.

One other use I have for my devotional is to use the S.O.A.P. method. 

Scripture

Observation

Application

Prayer

Often our Pastor will use a book & chapter in the bible but not give a specific verse.  I take these opportunities and use these instances to use this method.  I have found out so much about myself through doing these and find that they are generally so easy to do once I get going. 

And finally I use my devotional as a journal.  There are plenty of times when I have a hard time formulating my feelings into words and find it easier to just word vomit all over the page.  These entries are some of the most emotional and cathartic posts I have and find that I have grown so much when I reflect back on these posts.

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my devotional and would love to answer questions if you have any!

Happy New Year!! My Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I hope each of you had a fantastic New Year's Eve and most importantly were safe!

New Year's Eve falls within my top 10 favorite days of the year! I absolutely love everything about it, not only are you celebrating the year that has past but you are also celebrating the year to come.  A new year means a new slate, it means 365 more days of fresh starts and countless possibilities.

Every year I make myself a list of resolutions for the coming year and generally speaking fall flat on my face with them in the middle of February.  This year I have made myself a list of 5 resolutions that I will plan to do my best with throughout the year.

1.  Monthly Budget

Now you all know that I have my budget book and have my entire year planned out, but this resolution more so means for me to stick to that budget all year.

2.  Make a Weekly Vlog

Writing memories down is great, but there are a lot memories that will never be the same unless you can see them again.  Now for awhile I was really good with taking video and posting them to YouTube but fell off the bandwagon for one reason or another.  I look back at those videos now and think, "Why did I stop?"  Those memories that I captured with Chris & Alex are irreplaceable.  I have even made into the budget a vlogging camera fund.

3.  Do More with Photography

I have kind of reached a place with my photography business where I feel like if I put a little bit more effort into publicizing my business will increase.  So my plan is to network more and shoot to average at least one session every two weeks.

4.  Lose 40 - 50 pounds

Now this one will be my hardest this year.  I am doing my best to not let me foot and restrictions become an excuse.   I have 3 other working limbs darn it!  I have my next appointment with my surgeon on the 7th and I am really hoping he will give me the all clear to start walking and maybe doing some light biking on a stationary bike.  When Chris and I are completely caught up on bills we plan to join a gym and begin exercising regularly again (I really miss spin classes :().   But also we are doing our best to begin to meal plan and eat more at home.  We are so bad at getting fast food and take out and both know that if we would make more meals at home we will begin to lose more weight.

5.  Become a better cook

There are a few places within Cincinnati that do cooking classes but are all so expensive.  I think perhaps the most adventurous I will be with cooking classes is going to a place like Dream Dinners.  Chris and I have talked about doing this as a date night once a month or once every other month, this would help to provide meals in the freezer that just need to be heated up.  I have also began to find recipes on pinterest for our slow cooker and meals that claim to take 30 minutes or less to prepare.

Generally speaking I believe that all of my resolutions are obtainable but will be challenging, they will all require for me to make changes in my lifestyle but also will be beneficial to me.  I pray that throughout the next year I can stick with these goals and in December of this year can look back and say I gave it my all.