Mission Statement

I am so enjoying this blogging adventure. I feel very guilty that I have all but thrown out my daily photo journal that I loved. Daily. Writing and photographing the events of everyday life. Just for the remembory of it all. Until I started this blog. Now, a friend of mine indicated that I could later turn my blog into a book. But, it still makes me sad to look at the forgotten journal.

I love reading other women's on-line photo journals and realizing that I'm just not as inadequate as I tend to feel on a daily basis. Instead, I am...maybe a little bit normal. It is so refreshing to read the words that I am not able to express. Written in someone else's place. And knowing that they understand me. When we don't even know each other. It helps me be more open to the women in my life that I do know and love. And who love me even when they know my deepest, darkest secrets because they read my blog (YIKES!). Thanks, Ladies. For getting to know me.

I am so lucky. My daughter loves Jon and Kate Plus 8. So I get to watch it whenever she wants. And today (at least 'today' in DVR-land), Kate created a family mission statement. I'm going to do that. I'll have to think on it for a bit. And then I'll post it. Just like naming my Abby. Now, thanks to Sissy, I have to name my pear tree.

There's just so much to do! Fortunately, my list of real-life things-to-do is getting checked off. One. By. One.

Gotta go.
Thanks for checking in!
~The Roost'er

Home

I planned this post today. And then 'my buddy,' The Nester, posted this post. Funny. 'Great minds' think alike. (Yeah, right.) But, how cool is it to make a list of desciptive words for your home? What you want it to say to you and anyone who enters. I'll have to think on that a while.

In the meantime...When I photographed my Southern Living tray, my friend Pam asked me what else I had decorated in my home. I stammered my answer. But, basically, it meant, 'Nothing.' Absolutely Nothing. Nope. Nothing Decorated. But, The Nester has inspired me. (That, and the ridiculous feeling of embarrassment I experienced when I had nothing to tell Pam that I had decorated!)

I have always desired to decorate. I think I may have even believed I was decorating. Sometimes. I recall the Lighthouse-Themed Room. I was very big on themes when we moved into our home. (Which, if I named her, like Emily, what would I call her??) But now? Now I have four young kids and a one-income family. And...lots of 'ideas' that change too often to invest in decorating. But, somewhere, someone once told me to make a book of ideas. To look for inspiration in magazines. So, I've been doing that for a while now. And here are a few of my favorites. That didn't really cost too much to decorate. You know, the basement...the Dollar Store. They Rawk.

Here's to Home.

The mantle

---chickified but downscaled since then! I think you can see the dust on my stars. I hung them straight from the front porch all winter and the back porch all last summer onto the main wall of my living room. I call it Character. The allergy doctor might call it something else.

The Wall

--- last night I packed up all my curios to make way for our new front door (another post for another day!). I'd been 'shopping' for birds to add to that middle shelf for weeks. I found my grandmother's bird bells on the bottom of the curio cabinet and realized they'd be perfect! And they didn't cost me a dime!

The Pretty Bathroom

Not many would include a picture of their porcelain bowl in their post. But come on. Isn't she pretty? My husband gutted that room. He began from scratch and built it back to the pristine arena she is today. For the boys to miss. And the boys to splash. And the boys to spray. But, the elder hostile knows to wipe that pretty sink down. Every night. Bless his heart.

Home (My Abigail Grace: God's Joy)

comfortable

inviting

casual & pretty - charming

peaceful

safe & real

lived-in

tidy ('though not always clean!)

loved

~The Roost'er

Heart Walk '08

Today, we celebrated Life. And supported research.

And awareness.

Please enjoy the following photos from this morning's Heart Walk.

We walk for Our First Heart Kid --- painting the city bus.

We walk for Our Second Heart Kid --- enjoying the sites of the walk.

We walk for our friends.

Gold ones.

And Silver ones.

We walk to remember.

Spencer, age 5 - who loved Hockey

AJ, age 17 - who loved to drive and loved to help the little ones

Sophia, age 3 months - with the tenacious spirit

Jackson, 1 year - the apple of his family's eye

Emma, 5 years - with the gorgeous hair and quick grin

And others.

We walk to say thank you.
To the nurses.

To the doctors.



We walk for the sights.

The Sounds.

Even the tastes.

And maybe a chance at immortality. ???

If I just don't stop walking.

Broken Hearted

Today. My heart breaks. For our dear friends, Wendy and Sean, who lost their sweet 5 year-old Emma suddenly yesterday morning. They are heart friends. And this weekend is the Heart Walk. I scanned pictures of our previous Heart Walks with Emma with the beautiful black curly hair and huge grin. And I found this photo. Not of Emma. But of a tree in the park where we walk. And it reminds me of God. How He thinks of me. Of us. Too many thoughts to count. And He has already begun responding to our prayers.

God's love is immeasurable. May He hold Wendy and Sean in His arms. And if you didn't know, heart disease/defect affects the lives of more children than the top 3 other most common health concerns combined. Please support the American Heart Association. And pediatric research.

Success

...is setting a goal and accomplishing that goal.

The goal of running the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville was not met without Grace surrounding trials. For instance, I questioned JT3 more than once the night before the race to check his 'alarm clock.' It didn't ring. Luckily, he was prompted out of bed at 4:45. Let's call it Providence.

Then, there was the issue of traffic:

I apologize now to all the runners and innocent by-standers we passed and possibly cut-off on Hwy 24 in our efforts to arrive on time. (Sorry we laughed so hard when God prompted that poor girl to hesitate while looking down at her map. May she be granted extra blessings for the Grace she afforded us...and that spot in line in front of her car.)

Note the rain:

And here are the kajillions of racers that also made it on time:

There goes my MIL. She's smokin' us. Keep in mind. We ran more than half the time. She walked the whole way and finished 5 minutes before me. That woman can walk! (This is her 6th 13.1...)

This is for The Office fans out there:

Would you make your bridesmaids do this with you in prep of your big day???

You can't see it, but those white-tee'd girls are carrying a bouquet of flowers a piece!

And here's to the Southern Gentleman toasting us at 8:00AM on his front lawn with his iced champagne:

And THANK YOU to JT3's ever-hospitable aunt and uncle for providing us with comfy food and shelter before and after the run. Here are a few of the absolutely beautiful and memorable scenes we were blessed to share over the weekend at their gorgeous, historical home:

Here's to Family,

~The Roost'er

Financial Freedom

Tonite, I share with you my Life Changing Event #3. My husband asked me to listen to this book on tape just after I'd asked for this camera for Christmas. Granted, the camera would have cost us the price of a small car in India (see how the small print says price is for camera body only?), but I wanted it (plus at least two lenses to go with it...). I believed that it would cause me to take better pictures. Beautiful, wonderful, artistic and amazing pictures. Backed in 14ct. gold. Certainly. For the cost of that camera. Keep in mind, I'd still love that camera. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's even artistic. And amazing. And I would look all of those things, too, carrying that baby in my hands while I set this baby down:

cuz the camera's too bulky to carry her and the camera and I have my priorities. So, instead, I opted to to upgrade to this sweet little number. Now, I can take cute pictures with a cute (pink) camera and hold that pink cutie in my hands, too.

Oh, and we're gazelle intense in our efforts to snowball our debt. Check out the book to understand what I'm saying. Believe me. It will change your life.

See you after Nashville.
~The Roost'er

Life Changing Moment #2

So, maybe this week I'll talk to you about recent events that have impacted my life in remarkably positive ways. Yesterday, I spoke of the book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. When you go to the authors' blog, there is a well-written critique that describes the book better than I can. You might check it out for further insight.

Today, however, I'll tell you a little story about this house:

(This is a photo I took of a photo I taped into my Daily Photo Journal - you'll see the carriage-style garage doors we were installing that I had 'drawn' onto the picture *smile*)

This is the house we dreamed of buying. We would have moved in several weeks ago if this had panned out the way we'd hoped. But, through the whole process, we prayed that God's will would be done. And boy did He shut the door on that one. In retrospect, we can see that God did the only thing He could to keep us from selling the farm (we don't really have a farm), promising our first born, and giving up on our Dave Ramsey financial plan to own that house. It was the greatest house. The kitchen was easily 2/3rds the entire size of this house. I just kept imagining the basketball team from High School Musical playing catch in that kitchen and still having room to not break my grandmother's china tea cup collection.

But, one night, as I ran a few miles to prepare for our up-coming half-marathon (another story later this week), I conversed with the Holy Spirit in my head. And He told me I had to get this house in order before I could move to that house. And I knew in my heart what that meant. There's a lot to 'this house' that He was referring to. One, I wrote about yesterday. Another, led me to this website.

So, I am trying to FLY. And, as I've shown you in previous posts, it's not always easy. In fact, it's easier to sit on my bum at night than to throw in yet another load of laundry. Let alone fold the one that I dried this morning. Are you kidding? Sure. It's easy to be lazy. And it's even easier to fall behind and hear the thoughts of doubt nagging at me in my head. I'll never get it all together. I can't do it. I can't. I...can. Turn those thoughts into the positive. Because this is my house. And this is my job. And this I can do. Maybe not perfectly. But nobody is asking for perfect. They are just asking for socks. And clean underwear. And to be able to see the kitchen counter.

In fact, my husband was gone all last week. And I had teacher appreciation activities for 40 wonderful ladies every day. And a baby shower. And this was my kitchen. All week.

Praise God. For TheFlyLady. And life changing moments. And answered prayer - that God's will would be done. Because that wasn't our house. He already has one in mind for us. Just not yet.

Blessings,

~The Roost'er

Oh yeah. There has to be a P.S. here. Never you mind what the rest of my house looked like last week. My sink was shiny and so were those counters (most of the time!) Just don't get a look at my craft area. Not even today. Baby Steps, People. I'm just learning to FLY. I'm a gosseling. Not the full blown goose yet!