Cleaning House

Lately I've learned that I'm as drawn to and controlled by stuff as everyone else in America. I hate that about myself. I long to be a selfless, unmaterialistic person, but as I clean through my house, I've realized how much "stuff" we really have. Honestly - no one "needs" this much stuff - this many toys, cloths, gadgets, kitchen utensils, small appliances, games, and the list goes on. I'm having one big garage sale in a couple of weeks to try to unload a bunch of it.

I've rid my closet and drawers of clothing that fits but I don't like along with all the cloths that don't fit and that I hope will someday. By time I get to that size, I probably won't like the clothing style anymore anyways. Now when I look at what I have I'm content because it is all stuff that I'm okay with. Let me tell you how much slimmer my wardrobe is, but I don't feel the need to go shopping for something else (except for a few replacements) because I like what I see. It's rather refreshing.

Hopefully with selling our house and moving and then building and moving again we'll really cut down on what we own. I really want my kids to learn that it isn't about stuff but about relationship, contentment and good ole imagination. Now that is easier said than done...

Honesty

I love Easter. I love to celebrate and remember that Jesus died for our sins and rose again to make a way for us to have a relationship with God. I love the opportunities to share with others about God's love. This morning's service was awesome and God granted me a strong voice and steady nerves to make it through the service.

However, today was one of the roughest days I've had in my post-partum depression struggles. Some of you may not even be aware that I've been going through issues again following Tyler's birth. It isn't an easy thing to talk about.

I keep praying for a light at the end of the tunnel. The medicine the doc prescribed is helping some, but I'm still struggling. I have another appointment this week and I'm hoping that we can tweak dosages and combinations to get better results.

All this said, I'm learning quite a bit about relying on God through all of this. It's a daily struggle. Some days a lot better than others. It's good to know that through it all I have a God who knows my struggles, who cares what I am going through, and is strong enough to meet my needs along the way. I'd appreciate your prayers for the process.

Million Little Things

Do any of you at the end of the day look at your list of things to do and realize that the list isn't getting any shorter? That's been my battle the last couple of weeks. With getting the house ready to sell - my list is far longer than it usually is. I'm getting frustrated that it isn't shrinking.

Today is my day to annialate the list. Don't really care if the kids end up with a video day, but whatever it takes. I've accomplished 4 things so far and only 2 dozen left to go.

Forgive my infrequent blogging. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up in the not too distant future. Trust me, I'd rather be blogging that cleaning baseboards and scrubbing every inch of the kitchen.

Computer Addiction

Step 1 - Admit that you are an addict.

Hi my name is Jenelle and I am a computer-holic. It has been 1 week since my last use of our home computer - not my choice, but because our monitor died. I have had sporatic fixes by using my husbands computer when he remembers to bring it home from work. We were suppose to get a free monitor this week, but I never heard anything from my source. We gave up and decided to get a used model. That was about the time that Andy was hit in his work van for the second time in a couple of months and then the next day had another work van have the transmission fail on him in Mattawan. My car had to go it for bearing problems...Bad transportation week.

So we still do not have a monitor. I cannot access any files , programs, pictures, etc. I cannot look up a recipe, email a friend, check bank accounts, instant message, research a project, make a flier for church, etc. You get the point. I am desperate.

So, I am willing to admit I am an addict, but not so sure about the next 11 steps. I am not sure if I want to give this addiction up.

2 Weeks and Counting

I have 2 weeks to clean and organize every square inch of our house. We're putting our house up for sale and I'm determined to have our house in tip-top shape. The housing market around these parts is pretty soft, so any advantage that we can have over the competition...

Cleaning is one thing. Keeping it that way with 2 little boys and a husband - that's another story. I'm a fairly organized person, but my down fall is piling. I tend to make piles of things to deal with later, and then piling the piles. Needless to say, this sales adventure will be interesting.

On a spring note - I'm LOVING this spring weather. I worked cleaning out the flower gardens today and actually sweated! I've forgotten what it was like to work out in the sunshine. Ryan had a blast getting into everything in the garage, yard, sandbox, etc. I can only imagine how many baths this kid is going to get this summer!

Great News

We got great news today that Tyler's tests came back normal. We are thrilled that our son has a big head! We're hoping for great things to come from that big noggin of his. His mom and dad may need him to support them in their old age ;)

Seriously, we thank God for each of you - for your prayers, support and concern over this month long saga. We are excited to get back to life and all the other stresses of life that are non-medical related.

Tyler's Test

Thank you all for praying. The test and whole morning went remarkably well. Thank the Lord for answering our prayers. Tyler did really well and managed to charm a few nurses along the way. We are hoping to not hear from the doc in the next 24 hours (that wouldn't be good news) but rather in 3-5 days or so (if everything is fine). We'll let you know when we know more.

Thanks again.

GreatTiming

Tomorrow morning we head into the hospital for Tyler's CT scan. Tonight, Tyler was sitting on the floor, playing with his stacking cups. He managed to fall forward and his face landed on one of the larger cups, leaving a bruised ring around the eye. That will be a fun one to explain tomorrow. Hopefully it will have faded so we won't have issues. Great timing.

Thanks for your prayers on our behalf and Tyler's.

March Madness

It's here! Non-stop basketball with a bunch of teams most of us haven't heard of facing cocky over-rated teams. I love a good upset, especially if it humbles the prideful.

Really haven't followed it enough this year to make a good bracket, but did a little bit of last minute research and we'll see where my bracket takes me. It's a lot of fun, lot of bragging and teasing, and all around good time. Even Andy did a bracket. Didn't have a clue what he was doing - which means he'll probably either win or go down in massive flames.

Any predictions on who will win? Are you doing a bracket?

Happy March Madness and St Patrick's Day to you all.

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend at the basketball tourney and spending time with friends. Four games in one day was a bit much and all of my predictions from my previous post came true. The cool thing was when one of the guys we were with was picked from the next to last row in the stadium to sit in the second row as part of an XBOX promotion.

We did decide that Wisconsin fans gave their team a bad name. Can't say that we liked any of them that we met. I'm sure it's a few bad fans spoiling the whole - but I couldn't bring myself to pick Wisconsin in my NCAA brackets.

We were up way to late and came out of the weekend tired - but it was so nice to be away, without the kids. We felt like rebels at IHOP until 2 AM. We're getting too old for such late nights.

Spent too much at IKEA, but I got some really cool stuff.

Basketball Butt

Andy and I are joining two other "couple friends" for our annual pilgramige to the Big Ten basketball tournament. 4 games, nosebleed seats, time away from the kids - priceless.

By the end of game 4, my butt will have revolted from sitting in the highly uncomfortable stadium seats in the highest level of seats.

I will have watched most of the games on the jumbo-tron rather than the miniature people running around on the floor way down below.

I will have consumed WAY more than my fair share of over priced and completely unhealthy concessions because session one runs through lunch time (it's a conspiracy).

I will have laughed hystarically and shaken my head at (as well as pretended I didn't know) the guys in our group as they make fools of themselves.

I will laugh at how little about basketball one of my girlfriends knows.

I will laugh at how little I now know about NCAA basketball and say "Man, I really haven't had time to follow much this year."

I will hopefully have a great time with friends, create a few memories and try not to throw up the whole time I'm at a hotel for a change! Have a great weekend everyone.

I Paid For What?

Went this weekend to the West Michigan Home and Garden Show. It was over $25 for admission, parking, and the rip off Pepsi. When we got back to the car we talked about how disappointing the show was. Not much new. Spent half of our time chasing a 3-year-old around and bribing him with snacks. Really we had just paid good money for people to advertise their products to us. Does that sound right? I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon.

Allergy Update

Good news. Ryan's blood work came back and his soy and egg allergies came back undetectable. Peanut is still hight at Class 4. Waiting to hear from the doctor is that is up/down/same as 18 months ago. 2 allergies down - 1 to go!

Test Update

After a long week of a comedy of errors in the pediatricians office - we finally got word today about what is going on. Tyer is too old for a soft-spot ultrasound so he'll have to go in to the hospital for a CAT scan March 20th. This means that they will have to sedate him for the test.

I was hoping for the ultrasound, but I'll take whatever answers we can get at this point. Thanks for all those who have been praying for us. We appreciate it more than we can tell. God has really given me peace about everything being okay which has helped a bit with the frustration with the doctor's office. Still need to be more careful about how I treat the phone nurses. Another God lesson there - but that's another posting.

Hopefully later this week we'll hear more about the bloodwork done on Ryan's allergies. We've opted to postpone doing full allergy testing for another year. I'm sure he would be okay, but I just can't do it yet. Watching them needle test him and try to keep him calm... no thank you. There is more than enough medical drama in our lives right now.

Again, we appreciate all your friendship and support. We really are blessed. Your continued prayers on the 20th would be appreciated.

Pray for My Baby

Took the boys in today for 6 month and 3 year check ups. Was not the best visit ever. Ryan was WAY hyper and talked constantly from the moment we got there until the moment we left.

Tyler who usually had quick perfect check ups was the concern this time. He's always had a big head - consistenly in the 95%. Over the last 2 months though, his head has grown significantly and it is quite off the chart now. The doctor suggests that it is probably nothing but a big head, but the growth was enough that she wants tests done to rule out other issues. Hopefully they will be able to do an ultrasound through his soft spot. If not we'll have to sedate him for a CAT scan.

We're sure that it isn't' anything significant because there are no other symptoms. But it's hard to not let my imagination and internet searches for possible causes get the best of me. Andy had two cousins with brain tumors so that doesn't help my mind rest at ease.

We're trusting God that it is nothing but a big head, but we could really use your prayers to that end. Pray for our peace of mind while we wait to hear about apointments and which course of testing they are opting for.

My Inner M&M

Thanks Amanda for the great idea of finding my inner M&M. You too can find yours at http://www.becomeanmm.com/

I ended up looking a little touristy - but that's okay. I love to travel!

Scrapbook Amnesia

I actually got to scrapbook for the first time in FOREVER this weekend. It has been so long I'm claiming creative amnesia. Thanks Teresa for the tip about Page Maps. It's a great site with all sorts of layouts and concepts to duplicate.

We were home all weekend so I was able to get some done. We put ourselves in isolation as we finished recovering from the flu. This is what I came up with. Not completely finished with all of them yet, but until I can get to the store, this is what I've got.

Exploring Life

Scram Lake
Mr Fixit
Picnic In The Park

How We Met

Taking Teresa's challenge, here is how Andy and me became a "we."

It was New Year's Eve and I was headed back home from visiting a friend in Detroit. I had a couple of parties to hit that night. At the first party, friends tried to get me to stay, but I felt obligated to go to my friend Melissa's party to hang out with her younger brother Rob. We were both burned on relationships and were going to keep each other company.

When I got to there, Rob had already ditched the party and I was the ONLY single person there. Everyone else was engaged or had been dating for years. A bit uncomfortable.

A friend of Melissa's fiance' (Andy) showed up around 11 PM. He was pretty cute, and by himself. So at midnight as everyone was kissing - we smiled at eachother and shrugged. Didn't give Andy much of a thought after he walked out the door at 12:10. Rob got home shortly after and I hung out until 2 am chatting with him.
The next day I headed out to a retreat up north and then got snowed in at my parent's house that weekend with 2 1/2 feet of snow. When I finally made it back to my apartment there was a message from Melissa warning me that Andy was going to be calling me, but I didn't get it until after I had talked to him. Our friends had talked about setting us up but thought we were too different.

Three months later we were engaged and married that December. It was a quick process, but Andy was the best guy I had ever met and he loved me! It's been 7 years and 2 kids later, and his smile is still contagious. Love that man.

Sick & Stuck in San Antonio

I don't know what is going on. I was sick Friday and Saturday and then I got better. Then suddenly last night (Mon) it all started again. So I'm stuck in the hotel room again. If there is something worse than being sick it's being sick away from home.

We are suppose to fly out tomorrow so I'm just praying that this is going to pass by then. I desperately miss my boys and don't want anything to keep me away from seeing them. I'm hoping that this new winter storm coming through doesn't delay things either. Detriot it suppose to get 6 inches and our flight is routed through there.

Just want to go home.

Something about San Antonio

This is my second trip to San Antonio. This is the second time that I've been extremely sick in San Antonio. 10 years ago when I was here, almost a third of my singing group was down with the flu. This time I think it is food poisoning. Whatever it is, hopefully I'll be better soon to actually see this city since I'm doubting I'll want to make a third trip here...

Andy and I are at the Hotsy Distributor Conference. It's a "salt of the earth" group who enjoy their alcohol and a good party. Very nice people for the most part, but not a group that I really fit in with. I'm sad that I missed out on one of the sight-seeing trips today that would have helped me connect with other wives.

One day almosts down and 4 more to go.