Savoring the Extra Day

Things I wished I had done today on Leap Day:

1. Spent more time inhaling the sweet smell of my baby boy's hair.
2. Sleeping in
3. Reading
4. Laughing with a friend
5. Writing

Things I actually did today:

1. Idled in traffic
2. Rushed to work
3. Worked at a tedious job
4. Went to the dentist
5. Gave three kids messy baths and counted the minutes until bedtime

The best part of the day:

After rushing through dinner and cajoling three hyper, semi-clean kids into bed, I was in the middle of a half-hearted attempt to tackle the sink full of dishes when I caught myself and stopped.  I went into my daughter's room. She was still awake. She asked me earlier to read her a book. I said "No, too late, time for bed, c'mon, let's go! Brush your teeth! Hurry up!"

Seriously? Too late?

Who turns down a 5 year old's request to sit and read with them? What had my day been about?

Somewhere in the middle of all that I had to do today and all that I wished I had done, was the one absolute, certain thing I should have never hesitated to do.

Read to my daughter.

My 5 year old bundle of curls and spirit and attitude and love who one day will be 11, going on 15, going on 25. I will ask her to stop and sit with me and talk with me and laugh with me and she will be busy with her own world and her own life and remember the times when she was a little girl and she asked me to read to her and I said, No.

I curled up next to her and we read a book about a little boy who imagines what it is like to live in the jungle. She told me about the new eraser she got at school today and how she can't wait for her birthday.

It was the best fifteen minutes of my whole day.

You Are Not Going To Believe This Shit........

Don’t say a damn thing about it.  Don’t judge me.  And don’t think your any better.  Those are three things I have to say before I profess what I am about to profess.  And here goes; “Yes I have a “Plenty Of Fish” account”.  Shut up, so what, you have one too.  It could be inactive, it could be disabled, or you may have just got off it right now to check my blog, although if that’s the case your order of priorities needs direction.   We are all there for the same reason.  Well, maybe that’s not true, you could be there to meet someone, but I’m there strictly for comical relief, and comical it is my friends, comical it is.  In all fairness and honesty though, I have managed to meet a handful of pretty cool girls on that site, and while scheduling is difficult for me, I do have a friend or two that I get together with from time to time, but more or less that site is ridiculous.  Now, I’m not here today to get into the shallowness of the woman on that site, and how, every time they log in they somehow automatically bump up two or three notches on the classic one to ten scale.  Nor am I here to address the guys, and how their online alter ego’s take douchebagness to a whole another level.  Although on those two things alone, I could write a dozen posts without ever fearing a lack of material.  But no, I’m here today to share with you a (rather one sided) conversation that has been going on for some time now on that site, that is just too fucking funny to keep to myself any longer.  In the words of Kenny Bania from Seinfeld, “it’s gold Jerry, pure gold”.

About a month or so ago, I get a message from this woman.  I’m still debating whether or not I should publish her screen name.  Ah fuck it, she deserves it.  In fact, I’m going to call Eli too, to see how to upload pictures of her, so you can see exactly what I’m dealing with here. Aside from fixing some spelling and grammar I promise I won’t edit anything, just give it to you how it happened.  I’m also not going to rant about how she is the size of a Lincoln (Navigator not MKZ, for the record), nor how Medusa wouldn’t dare make eye contact with her, because that’s shallow, and clearly I’m not that kind of guy.  I’ll just show you the correspondence and if I can the pictures, and you can form whatever judgment’s you want too. 

BigGirlGoinThin;  (Jan.25, 2012) hey dude, you live in aurora too, how sweet is that??
BigGirlGoinThin;  (Jan 26, 2012) hello, I just saw you online.  Message me back I want to chat damnit….ROFL

BigGirlGoinThin; (Jan 26, 2012) ok seriously, you come online, and don’t reply when a cute girl wants to talk, seriously, you have issues.
BigGirlGoinThin; (Jan 27, 2012) last call, clearly you think your better than me, and you have no reason to.  I’m a really nice person, and just so you know I give amazing head. 

BigGirlGoinThin; (Jan 27, 2012) or maybe your gay??   Hope not, that would be a shame.
BigGirlGoinThin; (Jan 30, 2012) look, I just wanted to give you one more chance, you said in your profile that you don’t have the time to play games.  And neither do I.  In fact I bet we have a lot of things in common.  I like Italian food, and cuddling while watching movies.  What about you?  Tell me a bit about yourself please.  I really want to get to know you.

BigGirlGoinThin; (Feb 3, 2012) alright, I refuse to put any more effort into this, clearly you’re not interested, and that’s a big mistake on your part asshole.  I hope you die you piece of shit.
BigGirlGoinThin; (Feb 4, 2012) I’m up late drinking tonight, if you want to get together for the best piece of ass you’ll ever have in your life.  Add me to BBM if you have it, ######## and come over and get it. 

(Writers note; not even I’m evil enough to publish her BBM for everyone to have….and no I didn’t add her….lol)
BigGirlGoinThin; (Feb 6, 2012) I bet you live like right around the corner and everything, seriously dude, how good would that be.  Message me back will you, I’ll make you happy. I promise

(Writers note; finally I respond.)
Me; (Feb 7, 2012) ok, that’s enough, I’m seriously starting to fear for my safety here.  Can you please stop messaging me?  I stopped finding this funny a few messages ago.

BigGirlGoinThin; (Feb 8, 2012) wow, what a fuckin prick, I can’t believe I liked you so much. (Writers note; WTF???)  I’m blocking an asshole piece of shit like you, I don’t need you in my life anymore.  (Writers note; seriously, WTF????)
(Writers note; I blocked her at this point, note her name change, and reasoning, this bitch is certifiable!!)

BackForMore20; (Feb 14, 2012)  Hey hun, I just wanted to say “happy VALENTINES DAY”.  You’ll never believe what happened.  I was talking to this other guy, no, he’s nowhere near as hot as you, and I decided that he wasn’t good enough for me, but he wouldn’t get the point, so I blocked him, but then he made a new account and kept messaging me anyway.  So I deleted my profile, and made a new one with a new name.  Hopefully he doesn’t find me this time.  I can’t stand when people don’t get the message.  What’s new, what are you up too?  Want to grab a drink or a coffee sometime?
(Writers note; Right?)

Me (Feb 15, 2012) Yeah I hate that.  Oh, and I’m blocking you again.  This is the last time I’m going to be nice about it too.  So pretty please, with sugar on top, don’t message me again.
(Writers note; note the name change again….)

Bac4more35; (Feb 17, 2012) Hey sexy i had to change my account i had some guy harassing me AGAIN. I'd block him and he would make a new account.  What the hell is with guys anyway?  Anyway, I wasn’t sure if you messaged me back before I deleted that account, so I wanted to message you with the new one so you would have it.  TTYS
Bac4more35; (Feb 18, 2012) You know I wonder to myself what i need to do to get a reply out of you? If it’s the weight, dude its coming off in May.  It’s amazing what having money can buy !! :) Seriously you should really give me a try I am great to be around I have an awesome personality and am seriously fun.  Message me and ill prove it.

Bac4more35; (Feb 20, 2012) so you’re a guy, I need some advice, what do you think is better, the BMW SUV or the Cadillac SUV.  I’m going to buy one in the next week or so, but can’t decide.  The price isn’t important I don’t care about that.  If you help me decide I’ll let you drive it whenever you want. 
Bac4more35; (Feb 21, 2012) hellllloooooo, I’m supposed to go to the dealership today, and I never heard back from you.  I really hope I don’t buy the wrong one, I want to get what you think is better.  Message me back before 2, that’s when I’m going.  I can’t wait later than that though.

Bac4more35; (Feb 22, 2012) ok, so I didn’t go yesterday, I really want to hear what you think about it, because I don’t want to be a girl and make the wrong choice when it comes to cars.  Especially one that is so expensive. 
Bac4more35; (Feb24, 2012) I just saw you were online, and you didn’t message me back, can I ask you a question? Is it the weight?  I told you it’s coming off.  Oh, and you should know, I own my own house, and live alone.  And I don’t need any money from you, just you.  That’s all.  Why won’t you message me back?  Take the chance, you will be so happy you did. Trust me.  Take a minute and think about it. 

(writers note; I finally messaged back)
Me; (Feb 25, 2012) You are really unbelievable you know that.  Do you want to know why I don’t message you back, because it’s simple really.  You’re fucking nuts!!!   You blow me up nonstop on this site, imagine if I was, GASP, on your bbm??  My battery would be dead three times a day.  And never mind if your “swimfan” ass knew where I lived.  I could only imagine the horror.  You’d probably show up every night when I got home from work and drive back and forth in front of my house constantly during the day.  At first I felt kind of bad for you, because clearly you’re lonely, but now I’m thinking the only solution to your problem is lethal injection.  You should look into that immediately, never mind Cadillac’s or BMW’s, because cars are the least of your concerns.  And before you try and say anything to me, look at the message count, it’s like what?  58-3??  You’re oblivious.  Completely and obviously.  Message me again, please.  Just to confirm your insanity, and make me feel a little bit better about sending this message.

Bac4more35; (Feb 27, 2012) Cool I just wanted to have a conversation But clearly you seem to seem to know it all. Very cool ya I wouldn't even want to know where it is you live. I’m so humored right now if you were on my bbm list, basically I would poke you a thousand times a day just being funny. But I’m going to block you now so I don’t have the urge to send you anymore messages. I didn’t think I was being annoying just simply expressing myself. I hope you find what it is your looking for and I promise once you see the new me in June you'll be messaging me and I promise you , you won’t even get the time of day from me . Seriously though I hope it works out for you :) I thought you would have been flattered to have someone so attractive with a brain, their own house and money in the bank that also happens to live so close to you.  But I guess not.  Because you know everything don’t you. I found you attractive and I’ll be honest, I’ve only been with one person for the past 5 years, and FYI she was a woman.  Ya, I’m bi sexual, and have a lot of bi sexual friends as well.  Too bad you didn’t message me back, we could have had a lot of fun. Do you know that on Valentine’s Day I spent the entire day cleaning the house, and had a nice long shower, and cooked a nice dinner, in the event that you came online, I was going to invite you over.  That would have been great. I recently met another guy of this site, and I had to tell him upfront that I really liked you, and even though we haven’t met yet, one day we will, but now I’m starting to reconsider that.  Then I opened my email last night and that person was basically threatening to punch me in the face.  These are the guys I attract, and that’s why I liked you sooooo much.  Because you would never do that. But oh well.  Now that I know you’re an asshole I won’t let you stop me from meeting new people and making them happy in ways you can only dream of.  But you made me more aware of my surroundings that’s for sure.   I put my cards on the table and you chose not to play.  Your loss asshole.  Someone’s else’s gain.  Someone else’s gain.  Im blocking you now, don’t ever message me again.
                                                             (Here's The Pictures...........)

Oh, How Pinteresting!



Wednesdays are one of my fav blogging days, because I love the link-ups that I participate in! Linking-up with {The Vintage Apple} {Rolled Up Pretty} && {This Kind Of Love} LOVE these blogs and LOVE my Wednesday Link-ups :)

As some of you may know...or not know, I am in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom observing and teaching some lessons :) I LOVE IT! So here are some of my teacher inspirations from this past week...and some other things that just caught my eye or touched my heart :)

Teacher Love:

 via

Baby Love:

 Via
 via
 via
 via

LOVE


 via

Food Love:
I have a sweet tooth...

 via
 Via
 via

Funny Love:

 via
 via
 via

Happy Hump day lovely readers! :)







I Believe.


Christ Crucified


I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Along with my faith in Jesus, I also strongly believe in the little things in life:

...a morning cup of coffee
...warm summer days
...painting your nails
...the companionship of a dog
...watching movies at home rather than going to a theater
...a precious and encouraging note from a young child
...the company of loved ones
...a campfire and s'mores
...falling asleep to a thunderstorm
...laying in bed on a rainy day
...the colors of fall
...a walk in the woods, or around the town
...ice cream
...knowing someone misses you
...a home cooked meal
...long phone conversations
...holding hands with someone you are crazy about
...first kisses
...soup, salad, and bread sticks from Olive Garden
...love stories
...walking out the door, and taking in the intricate and beautiful world God has created




Early Field Experience!


It was only my first day, but I LOVE being in a classroom so far :) It was the first time I have ever talked to these students, and I was a total stranger, but they warmed up to me in an instant. When they asked if I would be back tomorrow, and I said, "I'll be here all week." They would get huge smiles on their faces and cheer! Ahhhh, I love that I'm going to be a teacher. This day has definitely been an encouragement to keep studying and pursue my teaching career :)

Speak O Lord.


A few  weeks ago my friend came to me and told me one of her family members was just diagnosed with a form of cancer. It broke my heart; I didn't know quite the words to say. It seems that we often overlook our health; we never realize how thankful we are for it until we lose it. The only thing that came to my mind to say was: pray. In some way; some perplexing and unimaginable way, God is using this to do something for you and your family. Whether it be to teach you in some way, be more thankful for what you have, or bring you closer to him, he is working this out for your good. 

The next morning, my friend and I were getting ready to go to class. I had some extra time to spare before we had to go, and I said I was going to read the daily devotion that I receive in my email really quick. I was surprised when they asked, "Could you read it out loud so I could hear too?" I obviously responded, OF COURSE! It was an awesome idea. I realized that they were going through a rough time, and the words of our Lord put into a devotion was something they really needed to hear. I opened up the devotion and my mouth almost fell to the floor. The devotion was titled, "HOPE IN TRAGEDY." My wide open mouth quickly turned into a huge smile, my heart began to be filled with warmth, and I thought, "Our Lord speaks to us the perfect words when we need it most." 

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
{Hebrews 4:12}

The devotion was based on the words of Job 7:1-7, and talked about the immense pain and struggles that the Lord had placed on Job. Some of the words that most hit home with my friend and I were these: 

"Job experienced more suffering in his life than most of us ever will.  Yet the Lord preserved his faith and strengthened him through it all.  What great comfort to know that whatever hardship and suffering we might have to endure, God will never forsake us; his love for us never changes.  Through Jesus we have God’s peace even amidst the turmoil of life.  Though we face the fact of death, we have the confidence of the resurrection from the dead and rejoice in the gift of eternal life from our Lord."

Of course, by the end of the devotion my friend was filled with tears. These tears, however, were not tears of sadness, but of hope and comfort. Through the words in this devotion

the Lord truly spoke to them.

Our God is always with us, guiding and directing us; picking us up when we have fallen; and encouraging us when we feel the world is crashing down. There may be times in our life when God doesn't feel present. There may be trials and hardships, and we may wonder, "Where is God? Why is he not helping me?" The thing is though, He truly is helping you. He is making you stronger, he is showing you his almighty power and his ability set the course for your life. When you feel like you cannot keep going, like life is becoming too much, the Lord will not let you fall; He might even come to you in a devotion and remind you of his 

immense love. The Lord tends to speak to us when we most need it.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.

Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.


The Lord speaks to us everyday; Indulge yourself in HIS word today, and allow him to speak to you!

{On a side note} I start my first day of observing in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom tomorrow! You can call me "Miss Rachel" for the week ;) I'm so excited! Pray that I have an awesome and positive experience! I am on my way to one day teaching Jesus' precious little lambs. How amazing is that?! :)


bits of splendor mondayMiscellany Monday @ lowercase lettersFindingBeautyintheOrdinary.com




Changes && Inspiration



Well hey there readers! Can I just remind you that there is only a small number of you {28 to be exact}, but I love you all and appreciate the support and comments :) I follow almost every one of you as well and I just love all of your blogs! I love blogging so far and I hope that my blog can continue to grow into something I love even more and what others enjoy as well!

So, on a similar note, I have been making some small changes around the blog. First of all: 
I GOT A BUTTON!
Photobucket

It's located in the right side bar and you can grab the code there :) It's my first ever button, so I was really excited when I figured out how to make it! Let me tell you...it was definitely a bit of a struggle at first. I kept messing up the code, so the actual button wouldn't show up, then I put two "http://" in the code so it didn't properly link back to my blog, but FINALLY I managed to get it right! I used this tutorial from {Shabby Blogs}. I definitely recommend this tutorial if you are a first time button maker. Even though I struggled a little bit {a little technologically challenged sometimes} it is one of the easiest tutorials that I had found! So if you're looking to a make a button for yourself, visit this one!
I also got a "Twitter Button!" I'm maybe even more excited about this button than I am my actual button! It's located right below my blog button so you can get to my twitter account there! I am increasingly becoming more found of twitter as the days go on. It's a great way to stay connected with other bloggers and stay up on their posts. I love how easy it is to communicate directly with people on there! I'll admit, I used to be a "twitter hater" and didn't understand the point of it. It's basically a constant "status" update, and I was never one to post a bunch of status' on FB. But now that I have a blog, and more of my friends are getting twitter, I have converted and falling in LOVE! :)

Just a disclaimer for this next week: I will probably me experimenting with new ways to make my blog fabulous...so if the layout is looking a little wacky or things just seem kind of odd, it's just me failing technologically again! I'm really excited about where my blog is going, and I want to keep adding things to it! :) There will probably be labels added to the top of my blog this week; but not a whole lot of posts in them. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to  add to them more! Like I said I'm super excited about where my blog is going, and I hope you are excited to and enjoy reading and viewing :)


Right now I am enjoying a lazy Sunday morning at Josh's parents house :) We went to church last night so I slept in this morning and enjoyed a cup of coffee and indulged in those {horrible for you} hostess type mini cakes; just like zebra cakes but the heart shaped ones! Love them, and haven't had them since my 3rd grade lunch!
Today will be awesome because Josh's older sister and her husband will be coming this afternoon! We'll be enjoying a steak and salmon for dinner tonight. It's going to be SOOOO GOOD! I can't wait!
Tomorrow I am going to start my week long EFE {Early Field Experience}. For all of you who don't know, I am studying Elementary Education, and over Spring Break we go into a classroom for a week for teaching experience. I am SUPER excited to start tomorrow :) I will be in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom {they are combined} and my teacher has a ton of teaching experience and great accreditation. People just rave about her and her teaching, so I am really eager to learn from her!

Now to share with you all some of my inspiration for my exciting week ahead::


via
Teaching outfit? Love these long accordion skirts!

via
Such a simple and classy teaching outfit.

via
DEFINITELY trying out this bun sometime this week. So classy and elegant. 

via
Dear Lord, please clothe me in strength and dignity; and most importantly, clothe me in you and your saving word.
via
Crazy how true this is... 

via
Haha, I remember listening to this song! The words are so true!

via
If it is God's plan for me to be a teacher, he will bless me with the qualities it takes to be one! 

via
I'm addicted. I'm such a teacher.
Have a wonderful week bloggy friends :)
                                                 

Friday Fancies {The Oscars}


Oh, the Oscars...the stars are dressed so classy and walk the red carpet with poise. I love the elegance of the Oscars, and how women can wear fabulous ball gowns that have the ability to take your breath away with their beauty!
I'm linking up with Long Distance Loving to share with you some dresses that I would love to be seen in if I had the opportunity to walk the carpet :)

Oscars
1. Blue is my favorite color, and I LOVE to wear it; so I'm definitely loving this dress!
2. It's a RED CARPET, might as well match it, right?! Okay, well that's not why I would choose this dress...I think there is just something about a woman in a red dress that is show stopping and just drop dead gorgeous!
3. Who wouldn't want to sparkle as they walk down the carpet?!

PHEWW! 
I made it to the end of my hectic week! Even though it was busy; my gracious God has given me numerous blessings throughout this week, and I must remember to thank him! He is the one who gave me the intellect to write my research paper; the coordination and patience to practice piano, the focus and retention to study for my tests, and the physical ability to run and be able to exercise everyday! Make sure to thank God for the many blessings he has given you this week! 


I found this video via Erin at "Captivated By Grace" the other week. It is such a great reminder as to why we should continually thank God for EVERYTHING. Even the little things!



Thankful from worshiphousemedia on GodTube.


I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and enjoys "oooing and ahhhing, or maybe a "what was she thinking?" over the actual Oscar gowns on Sunday! :) I'll be heading off to Illinois this weekend to kick off my Spring Break! Happy Friday :)