Clearly, I have failed miserably at the month-long-five-day-a-week posting challenge that I embarked upon at the beginning of April. I’m not sure how many times I’ve actually posted, but I’m quite sure that I haven’t kept up my end of the deal.
Sigh.
But I tried. And I did write more frequently than I did in March. Which isn’t saying much. But still. I wrote.
Life has been a whirlwind over the past few weeks. In retrospect, April probably wasn’t the best month to begin a writing challenge, since we’ve been to both Starkville and Franklin, and we have even more weekend trips on the books. Busy time. But good.
I love spring. And baseball season. And sitting in Section M at Polk Dement Stadium at Dudy Noble Field. I’ll be honest. I don’t really watch that much of the game while we’re there. But I do so enjoy spending time with family, eating boiled peanuts, people-watching, and cheering for the bulldogs. Micah likes it so much she drools over it.
I love Starkville in general. It’s got Little Dooey’s and Abner’s and Bulldog Deli. Yum. I miss all those restaurants.
College days were good. Mississippi State holds lots of memories.
It’s where I met my husband. Where I made lifelong friends. Where I learned about life and love and faith and God.
I like going back.
But I also like coming home.
There’s no place like home, you know.
That’s enough rambling for now. I need to wake the little lady up so she can hang out with her Nana, Grampa, Aunt Stacy & Uncle Phillip. They’ll be here soon.
Until next time, grace and peace.
Ever since I found out I was pregnant with Micah, I’ve had a slight obsession with any pregnant woman or new mom on TV. No matter how different we may be, we are all the same, because we’re all facing one of the greatest challenges in life: becoming a mother.
It’s hard work, y’all. Being a mother is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. I’m grateful and blessed to have a loving, supportive husband at my side. I cannot imagine doing this alone. It’s even harder to imagine doing it as a teenager.
MTV has a habit of producing documentaries that capture my attention. The second season of 16 and pregnant wrapped up last night, and I’m heartbroken for some of those girls. When I watch scenes like this, I’m overwhelmed by the responsibility that little girl is about to face.
That’s just one example of a season full of difficulties those girls are facing because of rash decisions and careless sex. Some of the girls have partners who support them, but others, like Chelsea have baby daddies who couldn’t care less about them or their child.
Chelsea’s episode left me in tears.
I hope these girls make it. I hope they can survive this difficult time in their lives and come out on the other side better people. I hope that the hardships they’re facing change them for the good.
Watching this series made me realize what a responsibility the church has to help pregnant teenagers. It happens all the time. Some of the girls in our youth groups are pregnant and scared right now. We can preach anti-abortion all we want, but the only real way to encourage those scared little girls to choose life is to offer them a safe place to raise their children. We Christians need to step up and stand in the gap for deadbeat dads and parents who don’t want to have anything to do with their knocked-up daughters.
The church has to be the kind of place that can restore people. We have to love people into choosing the right thing. We have to be willing to step into a messy situation and hold a little girl’s hand as she struggles through what is bound to be the most difficult time in her life.
I’m willing to step up. Are you??
Until next time, grace and peace.
Micah and I loaded up early this morning and headed out to the pediatrician. The verdict? The tonsillitis is gone {praise God}, but she’s got a little bit of an upper respiratory infection. The course of action? A different antibiotic and some decongestant. I hope my baby feels better soon.
Last night I promised to share a couple of new designs with you. The big news is that my father made a generous donation to Senojal Designs and allowed me to purchase the most beautiful and elegant font I’ve ever seen: Adios Script font by Ale Paul. Because of this donation, I was able to design some simply elegant rehearsal dinner invitations for one of my favorite clients, Suzi.
We started with this:
I love the mix of hard and soft. The play between the swirling script and the straight-laced type. It’s beautiful, but it wasn’t quite right for Suzi.
So we tweaked it to end up with this:
Love this one too. The lime green pops off the invitation, and I love the way the M overlaps with the swirls. Beautiful, and perfect for Suzi.
I love custom orders. They give me a chance to try new things and be creative. I also had fun playing with the new font.
Open Type fonts are a fun new world that I’m just beginning to explore. Expect to hear more about them in the future :)
Until next time, grace and peace.
I started to write earlier today, but Micah cut my post short when she awakened from her nap far too early. Fierce resistance of sleep is apparently our new normal. We’re headed back to the pediatrician in the morning to see if the tonsillitis has gotten any better. I know without even going to the doctor that something isn’t right with my child. She’s not her normal happy, healthy, easy-go-lucky, content self. That has made life a little difficult lately, which has not allowed me to keep up with my promise to post five days a week.
But last week I posted four times. That’s 80 percent of my goal.
An 80 isn’t a shabby grade, is it?
I would have flipped out if I had gotten an 80 on a report card. I was such an over-achieving perfectionist. I had issues. I hope I don’t project them onto my children.
I’m obviously scattered right now. I’ve found it difficult to collect my thoughts over the past week. Most of my energy {and that includes brain activity} has been focused around soothing my sick child.
It’s difficult for me to focus on much else.
But I did manage to complete a couple of custom designs last week, and I’m super excited to share them with you, but it will have to wait until at least tomorrow.
The doctor’s appointment is early in the morning, and I need to dry my hair before I can crawl into bed.
If you’re the praying type, please pray that my child will sleep well tonight. We could all use the rest :)
Until next time, grace and peace.
Did y’all know that it’s spring already? I’ve been relishing life without running the heater as the thermostat in our house has risen from a steady 68 to 70 to 72 and has finally landed at 76. That’s when I had to turn the air conditioner on for just a few minutes. My baby was sweating on me while I rocked her. That’s a sure sign that it’s too warm in the house. AC or not, I’m already excited about receiving our next power bill; it has to be lower than it was last month.
Lower electricity bill aside, I love spring. It’s absolutely my favorite time of year. After the coldness and deadness and drabness and dreariness of winter, my soul needs the spring. It longs for sunny days, daffodils peeking through the grass, bursts of forsythia, and Bradford Pear trees burdened with thousands of tiny blooms.
Oh, and flip flops.
And painted toenails.
My soul needs those things too.
A couple of weeks ago, Micah and I ventured outside for her first outdoor photo shoot, and while we were out, I snapped a few shots of the forsythia and Bradford pear blooms. They’re the first herald of spring around here.
Sigh. Seeing those two things made my heart happy.
So do flip flops.
And painted toenails.
What makes your heart happy?
Until next time, grace and peace.
