Snapshots of Life!

I love working at a zoo and I am still loving being out of the house everyday!  Talk about the opposite of mother of the year.  It'll definitely be hard to ever switch back with Tony and have him be the working one and me be the stay-at-home parent.  We'll see what life has in store for our future.  Hopefully something awesome.

Presley is 20 months old today!  Only another few months and she will be two!  How incredible is that?  She is LOVING her daddy these days and gets so sad when he leaves.  She absolutely loves to laugh and dance and clap and sing!  She says a ton of different words but for the most part she still speaks jibberish.  Still a great sleeper - goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 8am.  She's a big bean eater and is great about eating fruits & veggies!  Oh and she loves the show Glee!  Of course not as much as she likes Sesame Street, but she really does seem to like all the singing and dancing on Glee.  (That's my girl!)  She LOVES the animals at the zoo - the lions & giraffes are definitely her favorite.  Presley really likes to color/squiggle on things.

Life is tough lately.  We're not making a whole heck of a lot at the moment and we're paying some bills with our savings.  It's not ideal, but it's what we've got right now.  Not sure what our next move will be but we just keep applying for jobs in Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, or Chattanooga areas).  As much as I enjoy my job, it doesn't pay the bills.  But then again, when I accepted the job I never thought it would be our only source of income.  C'est la vie.

That's a big reason as to why I haven't written lately.  I guess I just need to get it all out of my system one of these days so that I can go back to writing about life in general without the weight of our money issue constantly creeping in.  Until then, seems like I'll just be sharing bits and pieces every few weeks as best as I can.

Thanks for sticking around guys - love you all.

Reflection.

Most of you ladies probably already believe in the regenerative powers from a nice haircut... not just for your hair, but for your soul, too.  I am {unfortunately} one of those people who only ends up getting their hair cut once MAYBE twice a year and I almost always leave the chair thinking, "Damn!  I've got to do this more often."  And today was especially one of those days! 

So anyways, thanks to my new favorite hairstylist my dead ends are gone and I also came to the realization that I need to get back to my pen-to-paper journaling roots.  I have such an awesome physical journal that I've been neglecting and after the conversation with my stylist today it really hit me that we learn lessons (big and small) every single day.  Most of the time we don't stop long enough to reflect on the day to pick up on what we've learned and therefore we fail to grow in both miniature and large ways.  Journaling is one of the most concrete ways for me to stay connected to myself and everything around me and my favorite way to open my heart up to God.  (Side note:  Lesson I learned today?  Do NOT to put your hair up in a scrunchie when your hair is wet.)

I might also start writing regularly in here too with some of those prompts (today I am grateful for, prayers answered, inspirations, etc...) as well as sharing some of the "lessons" I've learned throughout the week.  I'd like to start a regular link-up for people to join me every week if that sounds like anything anyone would be interested in doing occasionally - let me know!  Every time I've tried to keep up with or create a link up it's been a massive fail.

Another thing to look forward to on my blog?  I've gotten a new spring in my step when it comes to Marriage Monday.  I've just recently started reading "Love and War" by Stasi & John Eldredge and let me tell you - amazing.  It's good stuff.  And therefore I will be sharing some of my favorite things from that book soon!  So if anyone would like to start that book - I would highly recommend it.  Obviously take the "advice" with a a grain of salt because every marriage is different - but there are some wonderful insights on the nature of men and women in that book.

And so, that's all for now.  Happy weekend!

EDIT:

A blog friend of mine - Lauren from And Triplets Make 8 - lost her sweet daughter Jillian Ivy this morning.  I ask all of you to stop what you are doing and say a prayer for Lauren, Andy, Oliver, Ari, Jillian, Noah, Charlotte, and Lindsay.  Or several.  And if you're not the praying type, please offer your supportive energy and words.  I cannot imagine what these next few months, weeks, days, or even hours will be like for the M family but I do know that love and support can move mountains.  And if that's the least we can do for each other, then why not give as much of it as we can.  Thank you so much, friends.