FRIENDS

I know I said that I was going to write about my "finding myself journey" but I'll save that for another day. Anyway, I went away with my friends or should I say "scrapbooking bitches" (that was for Sherry's husband Doug and son Alex's enjoyment) over the weekend and we had a blast. We went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Louisville and bought tons of stuff, including dorky t-shirts and laughed until our stomachs hurt. Isn't that what good friends are for? Really, these girls are great. They are the kind of friends that you can totally be yourself around. You can say stupid things and they'll make fun of you of course but it doesn't matter because you're comfortable with them. These are the kind of people that keep you grounded.

Here a few pictures of our weekend.

Purpose

By the title of this you would think I am going to talk about something deep but not yet. I've been thinking about this blog and what my purpose is in having it. At first I thought I would just write about, simply, my life. Let me tell you, my life can be pretty humerous so I wanted to share those moments and I can still do that. Now I'm thinking that I want others to share in my journey of, for lack of better terminology, "self discovery".

I've been feeling for awhile now that I want to go into a different direction in my career so that would mean I need to go back to school. I have a few ideas of what I may want to do but I'll share those on another day. If whoever reads this and knows me, please give me your input. What direction do you think I should go? You don't have to comment on here, you can email your thoughts. I'm just curious what others think. I'll share my thoughts on what I'm thinking in a few days but want to hear from others first. Yes I know that only God's opinion and mine matter but I still want to input. Thanks.

IGNITE: Creativity

Hey! This is a head's up to an event at Compass Community Church in Forest Park. Compass is a church pastored by Dorrien Hinsey who was on staff at the Vineyard in Springdale previously. You can get more information about the church at its website: http://cincycompass.com/

Compass has opened itself up to exploring different aspects of worship and they feel like art and creativity are gifts from God and should be utilized in worship and in church overall. With that in mind, Compass is hosting a Good Friday art exhibit (gallery style.) The event is tentatively being called Ignite: Creativity to tie into their Ignite series at the church.

Having said all that? We want artists! You don't have to be a pro. You don't have to be a church attendee. The art doesn't need to be "Christian" - no one will be checking for bible verses at the door.

You can paint, draw, knit, sculpt, recite poetry, do a one-act play, sing, play an instrument, sew something... whatever unique creative ability that you have. Whatever connects YOU to our ultimate Creator! :)

I'll have more details soon. PLEASE forward this to as many people as you can, especially those who may be interested in submitting work. The deadline for submissions is the Tuesday before Easter (April 7th.)

Thanks!

SNOW DAY!!!

So the past two days have been TORTURE!!! LOL! We have had a snow/ice storm come through Cincinnati which meant that me and the boys stayed home. But just because I was home doesn't mean I didn't work. I have remote access so I can work from home. It has been the hardest thing to work from home on work stuff and not creative stuff plus on top of all of that, the boys are driving me absolutely CRAZY! They cannot play Xbox online because I have to be online and all I hear is how bored they are. Well GO OUTSIDE! That's what I did when I was a kid and I loved it. I have told them that a million times and to get out of my hair but NO they can't do that. When they finally did go outside, I had to be on a conference call, I told them this but lo and behold they came in to make noise, ask questions, etc. Is someone bleeding? NO? Then leave me alone!!!!! What part of conference call don't you understand? Billy is at work because, well, that's what he does, grounds keeper for a church and that means he has to clear the parking lot and surrounding streets.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I can't wait to go back into the office to have some peace and quiet.....LOL!

Well I'm going to finish my day at the "office" and then finish knitting a hat that I started.

Stay warm.

Balance

I feel like I’m being torn in a million different directions right now. It’s really hard to explain. I love my church and I love to honor God by doing stuff for the church but as I look at this week, I can’t help but think this is not how God intended for it to be. Tonight, Monday, I have a meeting at church, Tuesday I have a meeting at Panera for Church, Wednesday is small group with my husband, Thursday I have a meeting at Church and then my Beth Moore group, Friday I am going on a women’s retreat through Sunday. On top of all of that, I have a job, and kids who need me right now. My husband needs me also but he will be with me for some of these things. But we could have had the whole weekend to ourselves this coming weekend because the boys will be on their ski trip. It’s not too often that we can have a weekend to ourselves but I paid for the retreat and I think it would be good for me. Next week will be a bit better, just meetings on Tuesday and Thursday.

This should not be a hard thing for me because I believe God wants me to raise my kids in a home where the parents are there and present in their lives. I only have about 5 or 6 years left with my boys and I don’t want to miss out on what should be the best but probably the hardest times of their lives. They will go to Wyldlife on Thursdays so I don’t feel bad about going to my Bible study but I still need to find some balance.

How do other people handle this? I could use a little advice here.

What If?

Alexander Michael Ayers

This is one of my favorite little guys, Lex, my 3 year old nephew, my little brother's boy. Anyway, his mother is from Egypt and they left today to visit my sister-in-law's side of the family. They will be gone for 2 whole months! Don't they know that I need my Lex fix at least once a week? LOL. Really, I'm glad my brother is able to take off work for that long and go visit his in-laws. I know they miss Lex and Sherine, my sister-in-law, I can't imagine having one of my kids in another country and a whole different culture. It's been 2 years since they've visited. Sure they've seen pictures and my brother has webcam but it's just not the same as being there face to face and they'll be able to give all of them real, live hugs. I really am glad that the other side gets to enjoy Lex and his parents. But in the meantime, I'm really going to miss my little Lex. Let's face it, I'll miss his parents too.