Top Five

ONE WEEK till Tom takes off for San Antonio....for a month!  I have a whole new appreciation for military wives/moms who send their guys off to Iraq or Afghanistan for MONTHS at a time!  And just because it doesn't get said enough, THANK YOU to all the troops for your service to our country! 

I was looking at the calendar and figured out that Tom is gone for parts of 5 weeks....so here it is, my list of 5 things that I'll miss the most in those 5 weeks.  I could come up with a lot more, but I needed to stop at 5 or I was going to have myself in tears! 

1.  Laying in bed after a long day and talking about how cute are kiddos are, all the funny things Makenzie said during the day, all the naughty things Micah did, and just how blessed we are.

2.  Sleeping in  (redefined sleeping in....you know like 7:30 am) on Saturday mornings while Tom gets up with the kids (at 6 am). 

3.  Having a helper, someone to share everyday life with....talking on the phone once a week just isn't going to be the same!  I love that Tom helps out so much - and for the next month I have to cook AND clean up dinner AND keep the kids entertained while I do the cooking and cleaning up! 

4.   Having someone to rant to after a hectic day at work....someone who listens and never reacts, never gets worked up when I'm going 100 mph in circles about nothing!  There isn't anything that can take the place of a hug from my man or his shoulder to cry on when I'm in a tizzy. 

5.  My trash man.....I can't tell you how much I hate trash duty, and in over 6 years of marriage I can probably count on one hand (maybe 2 hands) the number of times I've taken out the trash and I HATE thinking about having to take out the trash myself for the next 30 days! 

And because I don't want you to think its all gloom and doom around here while Tom's gone, here are 5 things I'm really looking forward to in the next 5 weeks: 

1.)  4th of July in Dubuque - Tom's grandparents live in Dubuque and we've gone there every July 4th for the last several years.  His grandpa is 92 and they just moved to assisted living (If I'm 1/2 as sharp as his grandpa at 92, I'll consider myself amazing!!)  I think it will be a little hard to not spend the time at their house -- the house they built when Tom's mom was young and have lived in all their lives, but I'm SO excited to see them!!  Hopefully they're still up for a trip to Eagle Point Park. :) 

2.) Go Fish concert -  We LOVE Go Fish!!  We went to one with Makenzie shortly after Micah was born and I found out they are coming to Kearney in July....so we got tickets and my parents, the kids and I are going to Go Fish!  (Hope Grandma and Grandpa know what they're getting themselves in to!!)

3.)  A week away --of course this would be better if I could call it a FAMILY vacation, but I'm still looking forward to it!  Several days of no work and lots of fun with my kids!  We're headed to Lincoln/Omaha to see friends, my grandparents, go to the zoo and hopefully hit up a children's museum! 

4.)  Makenzie picking up the phone and saying, "Oh hello dad" just like she's 3 going on 16  - MELTS my heart to see her smile when she hears her daddy's voice on the other end of the phone!

5.)  July 26th - party at the Nelsen's....MY HUBBY GETS HOME!!  :)

Quick 5

A good friend and college roomie, Stef, does lots Quick 5 posts and since I'm short on creativity tonight, I'm stealing the idea:

1.)  This week marks Week 4 of working out...you know instead of paying nearly $50 a month for a Y membership that I never use.  Novel!  And, I can truly say I'm enjoying working out!  I've started doing a noon strength training class (i.e. no sweating) on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then trying to get in either running or eliptical time two days a week.  I'm totally out of shape and I have a long way to go, but I've started!! 

2.)  Work has been kind of a bummer lately --just lots of reminders of how crappy life really can be and how much people need Jesus!  I met with a 16 year old girl today who is hospitalized after a very very serious suicide attempt that nearly took her life.  She has too many cut marks to count on her forearms and in our 30 minute meeting she smiled only twice.  It breaks my heart! 

3.)  Micah seems to be 100% after puking from Saturday-Tuesday!  Hallelujah!  And after a couple days of no dairy, all he wanted to eat tonight was cheese...so much so that he even said the word cheese for the first time tonight!  Love that little boy! 

4.)  My dear husband took out our ridiculously loud dishwasher Sunday night to replace it with one we bought from somebody in town who was remodeling and replacing all their appliances.....only problem was the "new" dishwasher was just as loud as the old one, it leaked water and it refused to drain.....so last night he pulled out the "new" dishwasher and put the "old" back in.  Bless his heart!  And after washing dishes by hand for the last few days I can't tell you how thankful I am for that noisy dishwasher! 

5.)  Miss Makenzie might make me lose my mind yet! :)  She's going through a major attachment phase and crying every time I leave her (no matter who I leave her with....dad, grandma, Cori (our beloved babysitter whose house Makenzie LOVES going too), children's church...this morning I had to peel her off my neck and leave her screaming.  Cori assures me this lasts less than 5 minutes and she does great the rest of the day.  Tonight when I picked the kids up Makenzie told me she wanted to stay at Cori's house forever and not go home with me (I think mostly because Cori had jello that she really wanted to eat!).  Oh life is rough when you're three!

Convicted....

I have to admit, I've been acutely aware of my need for God lately. I can see it in my marriage, I can see it in my parenting, my interactions with my kids (particularly my testing 2 year old), at work, with friends.....I know that God has been tugging at my heart, gently calling me back to a place that I was in college....not a physical place but a place in my life where I was deeply connected to him. Where I longed to serve Him, and serve others for His glory. Where I longed to dig into His word. Where I actively sought His will for my life. The other day I was getting spending my free time (aka nap time!) perusing blogs and through a series of "clicks" I came across this one. (Renee Meyer, the author of this post is married to the pastor who married Tom and I....and he was SUCH a blessing to Tom and I during our college years and as we prepared for marriage!! The two of them were married after we were, and Tom and I actually left the college group (or aged out!!) where Matt Meyer was pastor....so I don't really know Renee, but I like to think I do).

Anyway, her post was SO, SO convicting!! I don't even want to admit how often I struggle with resentment, and how often that resentment is towards my husband (the man I love the most, the man I CHOSE to marry--but I will tell you I want to be free from the ugliness that is resentment! And just like Renee wrote, the ticket to freedom is in laying my life down....in freely choosing to do so. My choice, my action. No one takes it from me. There is no one to resent. John 10:17-18....I lay down my life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative...