Friday's THE day!

Tomorrow we sign on the dotted line and this home is no longer ours.

Tomorrow is also the day I go in the morning for my 3 hour glucose test since I failed the 1 hour.......I guess I didn't study enough! Poor baby Sophie - I hope everything's okay in there. I hope she's not missing any nutrition since I'm having to fast - again.

Tomorrow is the day when I start packing my first box of "stuff". I really haven't packed a thing. Not one.

Tomorrow is a day off from work (thankfully!)

Tomorrow is the start of living with the in-laws for a while. Aren't there TV shows about this??

And tomorrow is the day Boog & I get serious about the question - to buy or to build? Hmmmmmm........

Finally, tomorrow is the day where Boog & I can finally yell -in Dave Ramsey's words - "FREEDOM!". We did it. : )

Tomorrow just might be a good day!

Bible Journey: Leviticus 14:1-Leviticus 20:1

A Memory Sheds Light

Michelangelo's Slave Series

My last year in college, my dad offered to me a trip I couldn't refuse. 10 days traveling through Italy, by myself. Well, I say by myself, but it was with a group of strangers and a tour guide, so really - it was by myself. We would travel through 6 different cities in 10 days.....I couldn't say no.

I had been dating Boog for a few months and I was going to miss him desperately, but it didn't matter. I had to go. I remember being very excited about two things: 1) seeing Venice and floating in a gondola and 2) going to Florence (for obvious reasons). Really, I was excited about going somewhere on my own. Independence is a great thing sometimes, especially for a 22 year old.

I remember visiting all the "hyped" up places - the supposed touristy spots - and being greatly let down. Rome, I thought was overcrowded (although Julius Caesar's burial sight was intense). Florence, as beautiful as I had heard it was going to be, seemed to be a bit more "shopping oriented" and not as interesting as I thought it would be. And Venice....well, Venice always pleases....although without Boog there, it's just a boat in some murky water - you need your love interest in that city!

However, on the trip, I was suprised at how amazed I was by things I hadn't even thought about. First and foremost, the best memory I have is seeing the statue of The David in the Vatican. It took my breath away and lined along the hallway as you approach him, are these unfinished sculptures. The "Slave" series. Unfinished forms that seem to be emerging from stone....beautiful because they look like they are trapped - or are they almost free? It's the glass half-full, half-empty debate. They are lovely. I also loved the smaller, less known towns, walking around by myself, dipping my feet in the Mediterrenean Sea, and writing on the wall of the supposed balcony scene of Romeo & Juliet "Flo loves Boog". (Sappy, I know....but it's still there!)

Anyway, I was reminded of those unexpected pleasures the other day. I thought about how, like life, those "big events"....the things you think are going to bring you the most happiness or joy usually pale in comparison to the smaller, unpexpected joyful moments. Like seeing my daughter crack a joke. Or baking cookies that actually turn out good. Or laughing with Boog at something silly a football player said during a post-game interview.

So this Friday, when we close on this house, I have to remind myself about those "big events". That it's just a place. It's just a house. This "big event" will become unspectacular in my memory, but it's the smaller things that will stay there. I can't remember one thing about Rome really.....but those emerging, unfinished statues have stayed in there for quite a while - even with my alzheimerish, pregnant brain memory!

(So yes, we are still in motion to close on our house in just four short days. I haven't packed one thing. Not one. Partially because I haven't had the time, and partially because I know the real estate world good enough to know that anything can happen from here until the dotted line is signed. Anything. Once it's signed though, it's go time. Packing, Moving....to where? We still don't know our end destination. My prayer this morning was for God to open doors and allow us to easily walk through them with confidence and faith. It always seems like whenever I'm trying to push my own agenda, that's when it gets hard to walk through those doors....even hard to see those doors. When it's not my agenda and soley His, those doors seem to open effortlessly.......with ease and comfort and peace.)

Bible Journey: Leviticus 5:1-14:1

Something happy, Something annoying, and Something Stressful

Let's start with the happy.

My face has been really happy for the past 3 months with this new product found at Wally-World for around $6 bucks. Allure Magazine gave it their "Best Product" award, so I tried it. I've been searching for a cleanser that would make my skin quit doing the teenagery thing of breaking out - this has worked! 3 months now and I can't remember my last breakout. Good stuff!

Now the annoying.

Hollister - ugh. I've never been in your store until today. And I'll never go back. My preggo brain left my sweet niece's birthday out in left field somewhere, so I ran out to the nearest mall to get a gift certificate to stick in the mail. She's 13. She's entered the world of Hollister apparently, and that's what she wanted. Upon arriving, first off, I'm old now and I could barely hear the young cash register gal for sake of the loud music blaring. Second, I had two choices in gift cards. Option # 1 had two almost naked teens making out on the front......Option #2 had one almost naked man on the front, baring his waxed chest. Hmmmmmm......which one should a 13 year old receive? NONE. I chose the lesser of two evils (is there really such a thing?) - the almost naked man - and quickly called my sister so she could intercept the scathing gift card and just tell my niece how much Aunt Flo said she can spend. I should have said no to both and gotten out of that place. Shoulda, coulda, woulda..........I'm kicking myself.

And finally, the STRESSFUL.

Little bit of background. Last year, almost one year exactly, we toyed with the idea of selling our sweet, little home. We were planning on trying for baby #2, and we needed something bigger. Not huge, just bigger. A sweet elderly couple fell in love with our home, put a contract on it, and tried to sell their own house. Their house never sold, so our house never got sold. We stayed put, took our house off the market, and good thing we did, because it took us over a year to get this little bun in my rapidly growing oven. We didn't need a bigger home at that time. (Need is a funny word anyway, I don't need any size home. I would like a bigger closet, but I don't need one!)

Fast forward to a week ago . We got a phone call. The sweet elderly couple finally got a contract on their house. They're closing next Friday. NEXT Friday. They want to buy our house again, and want to close on ours NEXT Friday, too. NEXT Friday. (Did I say that already?)

What do Boog & I do? We accept. We have a baby on the way, it's the holidays, but we we accept. Because? Now we sort of, kind of, would like a home that fits this growing family. Not huge, just bigger. God has His perfect plan, doesn't He? I'm a bit stressed, but we'll be packing up our things and heading to the in-laws for a while to figure out whether we build, buy, rent, shuffle along the street.....whatever. Pray for Boog & I to keep our sanity please!

Bible Journey: Leviticus 4:1- 5:1

Sophie's First Picture

Lil' Sophie...can you spot her face?

This was a 3D shot taken back at 20 weeks, and I'm finally getting it on bloggerville after a little encouragement from friend (ahem...Keri!). I loved seeing her little lips and eyes....nose.....

Sophie's getting to be quite the mover and shaker these days. I can't remember pregnancy being quite this uncomfortable.....approaching 7 months now....it's definitely taking it's toll on my body a bit more. Backrubs are always good.

Things have started to slow down at the homefront, which is nice. But in school, things are just gearing up. (Note to all parents out there.....give your child's teacher a note of encouragement over the next few weeks. The kiddos and their craziness around the holidays is enough to make any sane teacher wonder why she didn't get certified in anything else - accounting, lawyering, fencing, aerobicizing.....anything other than teaching! : )

My Boog is running in a 30 mile trail run tomorrow. Yep - 30 miles. I'm good if I'm walking .03 miles these days.........I'm using Sophie as an excuse. I'll get back on track after she's born.....I'm thinking Pilates classes. Anyone interested?

Bible Journey: Leviticus 1:1-4:1

What a couple of weeks!

Flying High! Halloween Lady Bug!

THIS has been the longest two weeks ever. It seems as if either myself or Boog or us together had something to do nearly every night for the past 14 days. I'm sure that's not the case, but it seems that way.

Halloween '08 started and has ended. (Whew!) My little girl decided to be a ladybug, along with her cousin, and we took part in our church's Annual Fall Festival. I kept thinking how different it's going to be next year hanging onto a little baby while making sure my other child doesn't wander off with the sea of Halloweeners......why didn't God invent mothers with octopus hands? We NEED 8 of them!

Gettin' a Boost from Mimi

Grace in her duds

Anyway, we are tired, but I HAD to blog. It's been forever. Here's a picture of MY costume - a very preggers gal. That's my costume. 6 1/2 months now and STILL no nursery. What is wrong with that picture? With Grace, I think I had her nursery completely done by now with at least a three month supply of diapers and wipes. Poor 'lil Sophie! Getting the shaft already. I was the #2 child who always got the shaft.....you'd think I'd know better! ( I must try harder, note to self.)

On another note, God's mysteriousness had been ever present this week. He's woven in some truly wonderful things like friends giving birth for the first time, with some utterly sad losses. I couldn't sleep last night, so I got out of bed at 1am and read the rest of Exodus in the quiet of the morning hours. My brain couldn't stop itself from thinking of how things can change in a moment's notice.

Bible Journey: Exodus 28:1-Leviticus 1:1
Onto Leviticus. Man.....our God. He's such a perfectionist. Wait....he really IS a perfectionist. Those were my thoughts as I read the intricacies of his building plan for the Ark of the Covenant. How he cared about the color of the thread in the drapes and how many lampstands there would be, how long they would burn, with what kind of oil, and how the priests would dress......the dimensions, the layout, the colors.....how it all would be created by the craftsmen He gifted for just that purpose. Such a perfectionist...what can I say? I'm preparing myself for Leviticus right now.....I always give up on that book. I won't this time.

Tagged!

I've been tagged. Here are the rules:
1. Open your pictures folder.

2. Go to the sixth folder.

3. Open the sixth picture.

4. Import into your blog and tell the story.

Here's my photo!

This is a photo from our Breckenridge ski trip back in Christmas '06. Grace (if you can see her!) is skiing on the bunny hill for the first time! The skis were actually a little too big, but she was a trooper. Daddy was a trooper, too, for even trying to get a 2 1/2 year old to ski.

Grace is a well-traveled tot. She's been to Colorado (twice), Florida (twice), California, all over Texas......way more places than I had ever been to at her age. Traveling is something Boog and I plan to continue trying to do with our children.....maybe venturing internationally one of these days. We want to show her the world. But something else about Grace that I'm noticing more and more - she's a lot like her daddy. Not afraid to try new things, always up for an adventure, cautious but curious....so her loving the slopes was no surprise.

Anyway, the Ferrell family loves to ski, so I can't wait to hit the slopes one day with my two girls.....maybe I should wait until Sophie can actually walk first, huh?

I now tag: Stephanie, Heather, and Jennifer!

Bible Journey: Exodus 22:1 - Exodus 28:1
I love the descriptions of God in the Bible. Mainly, I love the sounds and pictures that are associated with who He is......in Exodus it talks about the thundering, lightening, and deafening trumpet sounds that the Israelites saw and heard when God's presence was on Mt. Sinai. I can't even imagine what that must have looked like or sounded like....loud trumpet sounds amidst a thunderstorm like no other. In Revelation, where it describes His voice "like the sound of many waters". Can you just imagine how overpowering the sound of a waterfall is...and attribute that to His voice? And in Exodus, just simply describing how the Lord's feet were standing on a road of sapphire with clarity unlike anything we know. As a visual person, this stuff gets to me! I imagine meeting God one day and truly having the question ....'Will I dance for you Jesus?' (to quote "I Can Only Imagine") being answered - YES. Because that is the only response I might have to His magnificence.....

Stop. Breath In. Exhale.

Today, Boog & I found ourselves a bit overwhelmed. Most of it was the "post vacation" stress of catching up with life after being gone four days. Some of it was self-made "have to's" (ie. this weekend's garage sale that we reluctantly agreed to do with our neighbor), some were weekly commitments, but most of it was just life.

I kept telling Boog we need to quit the whining. Really....I'm so sweet, sometimes. But what I meant was, it's just like this occasionally. It's busy. These months, for some reason, everyone starts to plan things.....parties, functions, get togethers, festivals, water fights, cat fights you name it - it's planned.

But then - everything stops. January usually puts the capital B in Boredom.....do you agree? And we adjust to life in winter lane where the tv is bad and the weather is worse. Longing for spring to rejuvenate things again.

What's worse? Boredom or Busyness?

I prefer the wave.

A time of busyness, to let me know that I'm still alive and there are people around me to care for (not that I do a great job, but I try). Followed by a time of boredom, to let me clean my house and organize my life......you know, the wave.

Without the wave, I think I would either have a heart attack by stress or die of loneliness if either of the two became my only option.

I know there are others out there probably surfing the Busy Wave right now. If so, count your blessings. You could have no one to care for.....or have nothing to be a part of.......or no one that cared if you were there or not.

Today (and maybe just today....hey, one victory at a time), I choose to quit the whining myself. Count my blessings......and enjoy surfing. Surfing must be on my mind.....I did just get back from California!

Bible Journey: Exodus 21:1-22:1