Good Friends

Have you ever had one of those times when you are just so humbled to have such good friends? Last night was one of those nights for me. Our friends, Jim & Jaime, leave tomorrow(!!!) to go meet their 3 children in Columbia, so myself and several of our friends threw an "adoption party" for them last night. We showered Jaime with gifts for their new children since they will be picking them up with only the clothes on their backs, which basically means, they need EVERYTHING (times 3!).

What I witnessed last night was beautiful. These ladies just gave and gave. I've been to so many showers where everyone tries to make everything all "perfect" and people try to "out do" everyone else with the gifts (including the wrapping!) that they give. Not last night. People gave out of an overflow of pure joy for what the Boyachek's will soon be experiencing. There was no trying to impress everyone, just to surround Jaime with love. It was such a blessing to me!!

I am so thankful for the girls pictured below. You displayed Christ's love for us in an amazing way last night! I'm a lucky girl to have them as friends.

The new mommy - Jaime & me (...and the pretty cool looking lampshades)

The end result - Amazing!

30 Days of 30

I've officially been 30 for 30 days now, so I thought I would list 30 things that I hope to see (as the song goes) "in my next 30 Years". You've already read 100 things about me currently, but this is forward thinking only. These aren't necessarily goals (although some are), but they also include hopes, dreams and just random thoughts regarding my future from age 30 to 60.

1. Own a mini van. I want one really bad, but Garet says we can't until we have more than two kids, which leads me to #2.
2. Add one maybe two kids to our family. Not sure how we will expand our family - birth or adoption.
3. Celebrate 37 years of marriage with my best friend, Garet. I haven't spent a lot of time talking about him on here, but I honestly am one of the luckiest girls in the world. As cliche as it sounds, he really is my better half and I am a better person because of him.
4. Have enough money saved for retirement so that we can retire early. We are seriously stuck on this number in the Dave Ramsey plan. We need motivation if we are going to see this come to fruition.
5. Be a part of my children coming to know the Lord in their own time and watch them be baptized.
6. Get another degree in business - maybe finance. maybe accounting. Those both interest me. I've learned from my dad that it is never too late to get another degree!
7. Travel, travel and do more travel. I probably don't save enough for retirement because I have to save monthly for my travel habit. As I've mentioned before, this is a hobby. I really hope that I will have all 50 states in the next few years.
8. Visit at least 6 continents (I can skip Antarctica because I'm too much of a planner and I'm not sure I could handle not knowing whether or not we could fly in on any given day). Of particular interest to me are Africa (because my parents lived there for 2 years), Hong Kong (where my cousins grew up) and Australia (just because). Of course, there are 100's of places to add to that list (mostly due to the Amazing Race), but that's what I'll put for today.
9. Learn to sew. I'm not afraid to just jump in and try things, so this is something I stumble through, but I would like to be good at it.
10. Be present for my children's weddings. I love the fact I'll get to be a mother of the groom and a mother of the bride. I know they will be completely different scenarios.
11. Follow that with becoming a grandparent (God-willing they will be in that order), which is hard to visualize with two young kids right now!
12. Move somewhere new. Garet has only lived in Alabama and I would love to experience a new state (or country) with him. We dream of someday living on the ocean.
13. Actually finish a scrapbook. I have too many ideas and so I start new ones before I finish the old ones.
14. Maybe have a job in finance or accounting (see #6)
15. Go on a cruise. This really could go under travel, but it seems like it is something I'm always trying to plan, but never really do. Not sure why. I have extreme motion sickness, so maybe it's better that I haven't been, but I'd like to see for myself, good or bad.
16. Renovate a house, top to bottom. I love seeing houses completely transformed. Of course, this would not be while we have young children at the house and I would have to have the full support of my husband. I'm not allowed to talk about this for at least a year though - Garet has grounded me from discussing any and all home improvement projects after our current flooring job.
17. Learn to ski downhill without snowplowing every corner. I can keep the skis parallel at the cross sections, but I freeze up on the turns and turn the ends in every time. Therefore, it takes me an eternity to get down a slope!
18. Have a true friendship with my children. I know they are young, but I'm hoping this is something I can begin to experience now.
19. Tailgate at more Auburn Football Games. I have no desire to buy an RV with all the fixins, but there is nothing better than hanging out on the plains in Orange & Blue on a beautiful fall day grilling hot dogs and spending time with friends. We really want the kids to experience this growing up since we have so many great memories at Auburn. War Eagle!
20. Teach aerobics. I figure if I'm going to go to the gym anyways, why not get paid for it. I'm really not sure why I haven't pursued this yet. Must be a time thing. As you are reading, there are a lot of things I want to do.
21. Overcome my fear of flying. Thankfully this fear has not stopped me from traveling, but it still terrifies me and I wish it didn't.
22. See every member of my church in a Life Group. I honestly believe that God has given each of us a need to surround ourselves with other people who can walk through this life with us (even introverts). I struggle to understand why people don't exercise this need and prefer to stay in the confines of their own home/life.
23. Read more. I loved to read growing up - I read all the time. I am sure this is just a priority issue and so hopefully one of these days I will make it one.
24. Become a better public speaker. A regret from college is that I didn't take Comm100. I'm too wordy, don't make clear points and I'm a "low talker". Knowing my weaknesses is a start, right!?!
25. Complete a tri-athalon. This doesn't have to be long, in fact, a sprint one will suffice. I had this as a goal last year, but then had an awful pregnancy with Kara and this was put on hold. So, as long as I do it in the next 30 years, I'll be happy.
26. Be positive. I have a hard time being positive. I don't like hanging around negative people, so I contradict myself. I'm slowly coming around, but it will take time.
27. Hire a housekeeper. I've decided that I just need to do this at some point.
28. Do mission work in a third world country. I know that I don't fully realize how good I have it.
29. Go on more dates with my husband. Having children can hinder this at times. It seems that every time we get a babysitter, it is to do things with other people. I need to make this a priority.
30. Maintain my weight. So far, I have been pretty fortunate with a decent metabolism, but I know this will not last, so I need to make sure I keep up with it.

This post was supposed to go out yesterday, but it took me a lot longer to do than I thought. I usually limit my blog writings to 10-20 minutes, but I figured this one needed a little more thought. These items are in no particular order, just what came out of my head.

Now it's your turn. What do you want to see in your future?

That There's an RV!

Happy Birthday, Mom! No, my mom is not an RV, but that has been a joke in our family for years and I could think of no better title.

Today my Mom turns another year older and I wanted to share with you a few things that I have inherited from my mom.

1. A love for homemade chocolate chip cookie dough. Though my dad (and now Garet) constantly warn of salmonella (which is a valid point), there is nothing better!


2. Curly Hair. In case you missed the post, you can view it here.


3. Love for Travel. My earliest memories are of our family piled in the station wagon traveling in the car for days. She has 49 states...only Alaska to go! And, she's going to China this summer making that continent number 4 for her.


4. Attention to detail. My mom leaves nothing "halfway" done.


5. Height. We are both tall women. I used to hate my height, but when you are married to someone who is 6'2", I rarely think about it.


6. We are both extroverts in that we get our energy from being around people. In other words, we love a good party.


7. Traditions. It is hard to break one in our family as they are deep-seated. I find myself doing the same thing in my family.


8. Love of Holidays. We get something from my mom every single holiday of the year.


9. The need to be in charge. If you know us, you know what I mean. This can be good and bad.


10. Crafty. Whereas her medium is quilting and mine is scrapbooking, we were always doing some type of craft project when we were growing up.


11. Keeping in touch with every last person we have ever met. Both of our Christmas Card lists are ridiculously long, but we love people!


12. Love for the Lord. My parents were there when I became a Christian and were faithful to raise me in a loving home. I want the same for my children.
    

Since I know her grandkids are about the best thing in the world to her, this one is for her. Happy Birthday Mom! Love you.

And, what it takes to get a picture of them both these days:

Laundry Lament

I have always been somewhat OCD when it comes to laundry (seriously). I joke about it often, but I really go to some ridiculous lengths to have all of my clothes (and now my husbands and children's) a certain way. I'm really not sure when it started. I never did laundry growing up and so I think my first experience with it was the summer before I left for school when I realized that I knew nothing. So, all of this transpired somewhere down on the plains of Auburn...

Clothes are all hung and folded a certain way...and I fold EVERYTHING - including matching and folding socks and underwear. Once they go into the closet or drawer, it continues. Clothes are hung by season and size (for the kids) and are rotated as they are worn (see why I said seriously above!!). Socks are sorted by color and style in my drawers. All of my hangers are navy (a carryover from my college days), Garet's are white, Levi's are boy toddler colors, Kara's are girl toddler colors and my maternity clothes (when needed) are on green hangers. If the appropriate hanger is not available in the laundry room, they can be hung to dry on a different color hanger, but then I have to change them out before they go into the closet. I'm having a breakdown as I read how ridiculous this sounds!!!

As you might imagine, doing laundry is no simple task in my house and it is quite a lengthy process. Since time has become a premium to me with two children, I have decided that I must change my laundry habits. Last week, I did something that I have never done (no joke) - I left the underwear unfolded and then I put it straight into the drawer in a heaping mess. It pains me to type that, but I feel that it will save me so much time. I still get a little antsy thinking about how this is going to mess up the rotation, but it is something I have to do.

Garet was thrilled to say the least. He is of the opinion that you really don't have to fold anything - just hang up (on whatever hanger is available) what you don't want wrinkled. He quickly said to stop matching and folding the socks, to which I replied, "One step at a time...I can't overwhelm myself!". I really hope I can keep this up - it did save time. On a side note, I don't fold sheets and this is probably the one thing Garet thinks should be folded. They are just too big. Sigh.

You really need to read this

I don't remember how long I've been reading this blog, but if you don't have it on your reader, you need to add it. This is an amazing love story. I'll warn you...you can spend hours reading his stuff-it is that good. And, crying is a given!

No Modesty

Today we went to a birthday party for Levi's friend, Kayley (in the purple suit - Happy Birthday!). It was a nice day, so Darrell got out the Slip-N-Slide. (Side Note: We got one of these last summer...it is not as easy as it was when you were 8). Levi has always been a skinny little guy and pants never fit him (thank goodness we can finally buy adjustable waist pants!!! ). Unfortunately, that was the case today and we ditched the suit and he goes on and plays in his pull-up the rest of the afternoon.

Here's where it gets entertaining. As I said earlier, we have started potty training. This has been a learning experience for me two-fold. 1) Trying to teach a toddler how to know when to go the bathroom and 2) Exactly how this process works for a male (it is not something I see everyday!). So, I'm trying my best to figure out how to transition Levi from sitting down to standing up. My friend Jenn recommended that we take Levi outside so you don't have to worry about "aim" at first. What a great idea!! So today, since we were already outside and Levi has to go to the bathroom, we go to the edge of the woods, I hold up a towel (he prefers to always have the door closed at home) and wait. Nothing. Thinking he doesn't have to go, I drop the towel, he turns around and faces all the onlooking spectators and lets her go. Gotta love it. At least he went standing up, right?

Any other suggestions? I'm all ears. I need to try Cheerios in the toilet tomorrow.

If you didn't figure it out

So the mysterious man was our own Richard Buckley...I know some of you had to think about it. I honestly didn't recognize him the first time I saw the picture below! Richard is the interim minister at our church and if you haven't noticed, we like to have a little fun around the office. I'm pleased to say that I am now the proud owner of those red suspenders (that were worn by Richard to staff meeting today), but I "accidentally" left them in Jan's office. Oops!

I still haven't figured out why Richard keeps wearing them...especially in this photo taken last month! You would think with 4 girls at home, they wouldn't have let him wear them out today! He must put them on after he leaves the house.

Guess Who?

This post is for the locals. Do you know who this is? He he he. I just couldn't resist! However, I don't think I have any "tolerance" for the suspenders!