Michelle

You, Me, Three Kids, a Puppy and…an RV?

April 23, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Travel 1 Comment

Oh my. Y’all must think we are crazy. Its Andrew, not me. Any crazy fun idea usually comes from him. {insert laughing/crying face emoji}

Just a week before Reynolds’ Spring Break, Andrew says to me at 8:30pm…something like this:
“So I was thinking about this Spring Break thing, and what if we did a road trip? Like, packed up the car, and drove to Asheville, Nashville and Memphis, then came home….”
I think I looked up from folding clothes with a thought like, ‘don’t crush his idea, Michelle…go with it and see what happens.’ So I said something like, “OH! Okay, that sounds FUN {extra emphasis on FUN}! Uh…so like, go see the Biltmore and…?” to which he filled in a few things, of how we could see some friends and just explore – a lot of blanks for someone like me who likes to PLAN things out {I’m so type A, this was a very difficult conversation}.
“YEAH” he said. “You know, just go…explore, find new things…”
“I think that’s great! Um…what do we do with Bleu, because he’s not had all of his shots so I don’t think we can board him…”
“Oh, he’ll go with us…” Andrew said with a sparkle in his blue eyes.
{He is NUTS. I thought.}
“ALL OF US and the dog in a car for…er, how long? Memphis to Columbia is a LONNNNNNNNNNNNG stretch of driving.” {don’t crush his dream MICHELLE. DON’T.CRUSH.HIS.DREAM, I thought}
He replied, “Well..” and turns his head with an almost crazed look of excitement….”My original idea was for us to rent an RV.”

I think I laughed. Out-loud laughed.
I KNOW I envisioned us careening down the mountain in said RV.
I tried REALLY hard not to crush this wild dream of his, but my mouth moved faster than my brain could tell it to stop.
“Uh, Babe.” {also, shaking my head in the “no” fashion my kids do so well}, “So, you want to rent an RV, with all of us, plus the dog, and go on a road trip? We don’t know anything about driving an RV. What do we do with the dog while we’re at, say, the Biltmore, or just exploring?”
Easy for him to say: “He’ll go with us the places he can go, and other times, he’ll just be in the RV.”
“What about air conditioning when we aren’t in it?”
“Oh, there’s a generator.”
“I don’t know anything about generators. What if it doesn’t work and we come back to a dead dog? I can’t handle that.”
“Why does the dog have to die?”
“What about car seats, or do the kids just roam around the RV” – mom nightmare. Remember, we just careened down the mountain…my kids are flying through the air in my mind. NOT.GOOD.
“I’m sure they have some seat belts.”
SOME?! OMG. I can’t even with this laissez faire mess.

After some time of talking about this, and me losing my marbles inside my head, while trying to sound somewhat excited about this amazing idea my husband had just presented to me… He started looking online for our options.
Outdoorsy.com was the website we used to find our rental…
A 32 foot beauty that slept 10 people. TEN people, people. There are 5 of us.
When asked why we got one so big, he laughingly replied, it was the same price whatever size we got!
As the 2nd driver to this ship, it was huge. I’ve never wanted a Suburban or Yukon XL because they are enormous…and only 19 ft. Add 13 more feet and this is what you get.

Here she is parked in the front yard…I’m sure our neighbors loved it.

We ended up changing our destination plans {remember the careening down the mountain?}, and drove to Florida, where Andrew’s brother and sister-in-law currently live. {They are military and will be moving this summer to RI.} Hoping to stay at the campground near his airforce base, but unable to make a reservation – first come first served – we had to park in brother’s driveway :)
Haha. While maybe not totally ideal…I didn’t have to shower in the RV, or bathe my kids – which was another very valid concern I had, given there was no tub and the shower was the size of a cabinet. We did ride comfortably, and the kids could go potty whenever they wanted {bonus of all bonuses}.
We packed it full of food so there were plenty of snacks, we had lunch foods and junk foods. The kids watched movies, colored and played with toys. Bleu was amazing and slept the entire time in a borrowed crate, save the stops we made to get out and stretch all the legs.

I may not be rushing to book our next RV adventure, because the ‘dumping’ part was very much less than ideal, but we had a wonderful trip. We made sweet memories. We saw the beach and our family. And we didn’t go crazy in the process.
Here are a few pics we managed to take along the way…

I’m not sure if this was me whistling or freaking out…

Color pencils and PJ Masks for the early morning win!

Reynolds had a spring break reading challenge – here he is reading a book to a stuffed animal :)

The night before we came back home, we all piled in the back bed to watch ‘The Swan Princess’

I hope you had a great spring break, if that was on your calendar this year! If not…it’s time to plan your next trip – will you go RV’ing? :)
Until next time…

Welcome Home, Bleu

March 21, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Bleu, Life Leave a Comment

Friends, Bleu has officially joined our rambunctious family!

Tuesday Andrew and I made the two-ish hour drive to Pickens, SC to pick up our sweet boy. He was asleep with a brother and sister when we arrived…and though it somewhat tugged at my heart to remove him from his family, I am so excited for him to join ours!

The drive home was very uneventful, with a little whimpering and a lot of snuggles, we made it home in no time.

I took Bleu to each of the kids’ schools to pick them up, and videoed their reactions. First up was Reynolds. I saw one of the after care teachers as I walked up to the school with Bleu and with a smile on her face, she told me how excited Reynolds was and that he had told her “If you see a lady walking up with a puppy, that’s my new dog.” So cute. And yes, I’m okay being replaced by a puppy for a little bit.
I let her know that I wanted to video his reaction to seeing Bleu, so upon opening the door to the school, she called him to get his bag and come to the door. Big smile on his face, both he and his school mates were thrilled to see Bleu. They were all hands on Bleu!

Next up was Eliza Jane and her reaction was by far the best, with jumping up and down from a good 25 yards away! She and all her friends were wide-eyed and giggling over our new puppy. And I am convinced that she thinks he is her new baby.

Between both Eliza Jane and Emory, they just want to hold Bleu.

The last reaction was Emory’s. His sweet little class was outside playing when we found him. He saw Bleu and all he would say was, “Lemme hold da puppy”, with arms open wide. At the school, I put Bleu down on the ground and he immediately started chasing our three kiddos around. Emory fell down and Bleu promptly hopped on him. Laughing hysterically, I think they were all so very excited about this sweet little guy that has come to be a part of our family.

{I don’t have a photo yet of Emory and Bleu…they’re both a little wiggly…}

Isn’t he the cutest little guy? He’s so stinking sweet. Except for the middle of the night when everyone wants to sleep. ha! Currently Andrew and I are in the ‘newborn’ phase, and while last night was MUCH better than our first night with him {there wasn’t much sleep at all}, we are still very tired. Yes, we have begun training him with both his crate and the laundry room area, which will both be ‘his’ places of respite..but as you know that takes some time. In the interim, we’ll be getting lots of puppy snuggles…let me know if you need some too! He’s definitely up for visitors!

Meanwhile, yesterday was the first day of Spring, and though it was a little chilly here in SC, it was a beautiful day! Today promises a little more sunshine and warmer temps so I hope you’re able to get outside wherever you may be.

As I leave you today, remember that THIS is a wonderful day. Psalm 118:24
Until next time…

I Survived Week 1 of the Social Media Fast!

March 13, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Cooking, Faith, Food & Drink, Life Leave a Comment

I’ll admit, the title is a bit more dramatic than what it was like in reality. I didn’t just survive, I thrived during my first week of the SM fast! I couldn’t have asked for something more wonderful to come into my life at this point in 2019.
I am dealing with some personal, emotional and spiritual struggles, and this is exactly what I needed. Instead of getting lost in the scroll of social media, I am forcing myself to get lost in Jesus. Instead of forgetting about my woes and cares, I am continually thrusting them at the cross. Instead of filling my ‘down time’ with that which doesn’t really matter, I am filling my heart and soul with the One who does.

There is only one ‘thing’ that can wholly fill all the voids in our lives and it’s Jesus. There is only one ‘thing’ that can take all the hurt, pain, sorrow and disappointments and in turn, give you peace and joy and that’s Jesus. He doesn’t compare you with everyone else. He doesn’t look at you and see all your faults and the poor choices you’ve made. He looks at you with immense love and the deepest care you’ve ever known. These are the things I’ve been reminding myself of the last week. The truths of God’s word, what he says about me, what he says about Jesus.
“So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder.” Deuteronomy 11:18

And as a follow-up to my post the other day, when I was just a couple of days into this fast…here’s what I’ve been doing the past week:
*Figuring out Summer Camps for Reynolds. Y’all, there are so.many.things going on for kids in Columbia! All the options are really great, I just need to figure out which camps will be the best for him.
*Prepping for BLEU!! In less than a week, sweet Bleu will join our family. I’ve made his first vet appointment, purchased his crate, dog food, treats, and all the fun things you need for a new puppy. I think we are mostly ready to bring him home!
*I’ve also sorted through some more of my clothes and given some to a friend and packaged others off to ThredUP.
*On Monday I made this amazing Heavenly Chicken Lasagna for us and a friend and it was AMAZING. I can’t tell you the last time I spent two hours in the kitchen cooking {and enjoyed it}, but this was a fast two hours and it was incredibly rewarding to be able to provide a meal to a sweet friend {and her three kids, while her hubby is out of town} and us that night. My kids loved it – aside from the filling of cheeses/spinach – and both Andrew and I found it to be completely delicious. Make it…you’ll love it too!
*Lastly, like many of you, we are in the throes of baseball season! ALLLLLLL the games and practices!

Friends, this is a beautiful time of year; Spring is ALWAYS my favorite season with the promise of NEWness and LIFE. Daffodils have awakened from the cold earth and shown their brilliance and our peach tree is busting forth her blossoms that will change over to little peaches in just a matter of time.

Take it all in…take in the colors, the smells, the sounds of baby birds chirping their little hearts out. Next Wednesday is the first official day of Spring and I pray that as this new season comes upon us, that you will experience newness in your beautiful life.

Before I leave you today, a little excerpt from my Birthday Card from God book: If you’re carrying a burden, unload it right here. Right now. I can handle it. -taken from Psalm 55:22
Until next time, sweet friends…

Social Media Fast :: Week 1 Day 2

March 7, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

I know you’re wondering if I’m actually doing this Social Media Fast…

I AM!!!
I am happy to report that I have only looked at Facebook 4 times – specifically to post on both mine and Andrew’s business pages AND to check up on my Fall Prebook for Sseko. I have also only looked at Instagram ONLY to check messages {I had 3 yesterday} and to post a daily devotional piece in my Instastory {so two times}.

Other than that, no mindless scrolling and getting lost in all the things that distract me from LIFE.

What have I done with this newfound time? I’ve talked to people. lol. I’ve texted friends, I’ve talked on the phone, I’ve talked to my husband and my kids. I’ve read emails that have just been pushed to the side. I’ve READ. I’ve organized a little more in our home. I’ve done things I’ve wanted to do, rather than gotten lost in the cyber stuff.

Benefits I’ve noticed in just two days:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the “world” and I like it. I’m not caught up in what everyone else is doing.
2. I’m not wasting time, that is often so precious.
3. I’m not distracted when my kids are around, by things that are less important. I’m being a present parent.
4. I’m not comparing…ah, that’s a big one, am I right?

Negatives I’ve noticed:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the world, and I feel a wee-bit left out.
2. There are things I actually want to share with people. Ha. Like my tire went flat this morning while going thru the car line at R’s school. #goodtimes
3. There’s this community within the social media realm, that I have found is bigger than my real-life community. I’m currently missing those people/relationships.

Andrew asked me at supper tonight what day I was on, and when proudly chirped “TWO!”, he was surprised and said he thought it had been longer than that already. Nope. Two days down….38 to go. My nail lady said yesterday morning that you have to give up something ‘hard’ for Lent. If it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. I know that this is hard for me. My automatic reaction to sitting down somewhere with my phone in hand is to tap Instagram first, and then Facebook. So to refrain from that has been difficult. I’m having to change my habits, I’m having to look around a lot more, and observe, and talk out loud. :)

This is going to be a very, very good thing I believe. And I hope that if you’re giving up social media, or chocolate or caffeine or something else for 40 days, that you are also finding it to be a very good thing…albeit hard temporarily. We can do this. Phil 4:13.

I’ll leave you with yet another quote from my little Birthday Card book:
“Stuff is overrated. Stuff doesn’t last. Everything in this world – even the world itself – is temporary.”
Until next time, my friends…

Update On Our Puppy And…A Social Media Fast?

March 5, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

Hi Friends! I hope you’re all having a great week. It’s cold and yucky here today, but the birds are chirping outside so that means Spring is almost here, right?! I’m ready for all the 70-degree weather that Mother Nature can offer. Seriously.

So, last week I announced that we are going to be getting a puppy {in 3 weeks!!} and that we weren’t sure which puppy we would be getting, but hoped to know by the end of the week. Well, after driving Andrew completely bonkers for 3 days, asking if he’d gotten an email yet from our breeder about our puppy, he finally emailed her. :)
The family in line above us hadn’t made their pick, so we were waiting on them.

Then Saturday rolled around and we were driving around looking at houses and it came. Andrew passed me the phone so I could read the email.

The family in front of us had passed on a puppy this time {not sure why, maybe they wanted a ‘red’ girl?}, and our choices were:
Red Boy – remember he was the one Reynolds REALLY wanted
Turquoise Girl – all black with a little white on her paws
Blue Boy – the sweet baby that fell asleep on my lap during our visit last Tuesday

We got to the house we were looking at and I had a fun conversation with Reynolds about our options. It went like this:
Me: Reynolds, which puppy do you want?
R: Red boy or Blue boy
Me: Why do you want Red Boy?
R: Because in the video we watched it looked like he got electrocuted {he was stretching :-D}
Me: {lauging} Okay, why do you want Blue Boy?
R: Because he looks like a police dog and I like police dogs
We talked about how police dogs are German Shepherds and that this dog is not a GS…but he was not swayed.
Then we talked about how he could only pick ONE puppy. Red boy or Blue boy. Eliza Jane piped in a few times about how she wanted Pink girl or Flower girl or Teal girl…but knowing that this dog is primarily going to be R’s responsibility, we gave him the choice.

ONE choice.
Red boy or Blue boy.

Who did he pick?

He surprised us all and chose BLUE BOY! We are so excited! We are going to call him Bleu {French for ‘Blue’…I know, we are SO fancy.} I mean, that was better than ‘Police Dog’ which was an actual suggestion by one of the kids…

Eliza Jane was not thrilled with the decision to get a BOY dog…but she will live.

Bless her heart…sweet girl…I’m sure once she holds Bleu she will be just as smitten with him as we are.

Okay…so switching gears for a moment. Y’all know about the 40 day Sugar Fast I did last year and this year. If you didn’t know about that, read this post from last year about it. This year I wasn’t as strict on myself, and I probably didn’t do as well, but I still survived!

Well, in January or so I had been thinking about doing a social media fast during Lent. Then Wendy Speake – brain child of the 40 day sugar fast – announced that she would be doing a Social Media Fast during Lent!

Y’all…it just has to be. How many days do you/we get on Facebook, Instagram or whatever and just scroll? Every time I get in the car {when I’m not driving of course}, I open up something and just start scrolling. It’s ridiculous. My kids are calling my name, and I’m all like, “hold on a sec…” because whatever it is I’m looking at is somehow so much more important. How about all the things I could be doing that are more productive in my home, my quiet time, my time with my husband/kids/friends. I’m telling you. My life is a giant scroll and I don’t want it to be that way.

So I’m doing it. Starting tomorrow, March 6th, my social media time is going to be seriously limited. Unless there’s a purpose {which, if I’m completely honest, how often is there a REAL purpose?}, I’m not getting on. No more looking to see what’s going on in the world, when there’s a world right in front of my face. Waiting for me to behold.

If you’re following me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see much less from me over the coming weeks {maybe you’re happy about that? haha. I hope not!}. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you or want to know what’s going on in your life, because I do. But I want my contact with you and others to be outside of social media. I want it to be REAL. So, if you don’t know how to reach me – email, text, phone {do people call each other anymore, anyway?}, let me know and I’ll get you my info.

My deepest desire over the next 40 days is to be present. Present with my family, my friends, whomever it is I am with in the moment. And to draw closer to my Lord, the lover of my soul.
If you want to join the Social Media fast with me, click here to find out more from Wendy: The 40 Day Social Media Fast.

I’m excited to see what happens over the next 40 days. Of course I’ll be writing, maybe even more with all my new-found time!
Today I’ll leave you with a little quote from my Birthday Card Book: You are worth celebrating. A masterpiece created to do great things.
Until next time…

We’re Getting a Puppy!

February 26, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

Y’all, Andrew and I are SO very excited to share with you that WE ARE GETTING A PUPPY!! It’s been almost 4 years since we lost our sweet Lil-bug. We still miss her so much and Reynolds says that he still remembers her…and LEGIT prays for her almost every night {along with my mom}.

Several months ago, maybe even a year ago {or more? I lost track of time!} we started talking about getting a new dog for our family. Emory loves every dog he sees and Reynolds needs a four-legged friend, and I think a little responsibility. And in all of our conversations about dogs, what kind, how big, etc., we settled on a Goldendoodle and started our journey to finding our new family member.

Fast forward to just a couple of months ago, when we found a breeder in Pickens, SC {near Greenville, for my non-SC friends} that would have a litter sometime early February. We inquired about the litter and were told then that they wouldn’t know until closer to the due date how many puppies there would be, but that we could of course get on their waiting list. We jumped in, last on the list, but expectant.

The puppies were born on 2/1 and a few days after that we received an email from the owner with some details and information. They had more deposits than puppies, so they opted to give up a boy puppy from a December litter that they originally had wanted to keep. Thankfully, someone opted for this cute little guy, which meant, WE would now get a puppy!

At this point I started stalking these sweet babies on their Facebook page – Double U Doodles. First a few pictures, then videos, we were all immediately and completely smitten by these sweet little faces. Reynolds even saw a video and announced that he wanted “Red Boy”.

We asked the kids the other night what names they could come up with for a girl or boy dog, and though I can’t remember them, they were all quite silly and unrealistic from a mom’s perspective.

Well, today was the day that Andrew and I got to go visit these sweet puppies so after dropping off all the kids at their respective schools, we hit the road, north. The drive was quick and beautiful. Andrew worked and made phone calls while I listened to the Today show {Hulu is amazing!}. Our visit was limited from 11am-12pm and I wanted every bit of that hour to meet these sweet little pups.

We pulled up to the gate promptly at 11am…no other visitors were there so it was just us and the puppies, all to ourselves. They were fast asleep, in a little puppy clump when we sat down next to their pen.

They were seriously so much cuter in person. The owner/breeder, Rebecca was so sweet – in her email she’d stated that we wouldn’t get to hold these sweet pups because they were still so young, but today she squirted hand-sanitizer on our hands and opened the pen for us to love on them!

I didn’t tell Andrew, but I wanted them ALL. In that very moment.
Rebecca told us that most people wanted a ‘red’ puppy – there are three of those: two girls: Flower Girl and Pink Girl and one boy: Red Boy. Sort of figuring we won’t get one of those {Reynolds may be slightly heart broken…but hopefully not}, we focused first on “Blue Boy” a Sable colored little fella – brown and black and “Turquoise Girl” who is black with little bits of white on her paws.

Blue Boy, asleep on my legs…y’all. so sweet!

Turquoise Girl…who made the sweetest little sounds. She reminded me of Eliza Jane..we call her ‘Squeaker’, and have since the moment she was born. This one could be ‘Squeaker 2’.

This is Pink Girl…she actually came over to me and all but put herself in my arms…and then fell asleep. I may have fallen in love with her.

Me with both Pink Girl and Blue Boy…both asleep.

We had such a fun time holding these sweet puppies; Rebecca was a delight and made my day by letting us play with them. Before we left we gave her our top 4 list, which was actually really hard. I hated having a ‘last’ option, as we will be THRILLED with whichever puppy we end up with. Which, by the way…it will possibly be tomorrow that we know which one will be ours! Of course, it’s a few more weeks before we can bring him/her home to the crazies {our kids}…but that gives us time to figure out a name and get all the fun puppy things. :)
By they by…where’s the best place to go for puppy training?

Oh, and did you know that today is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day? I may be looking for a fairy tale about puppies, to tell at bed time.

Until next time…

Finding Peace

February 21, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Faith, Life 2 Comments

Do you have a word of the year?
Around New Year’s, when everyone was posting about their top 9 photos from 2018 and resolutions/goals for 2019, I was also seeing posts about finding your ‘word of the year’. One friend even linked DaySpring’s quiz so that you could discover your own word for 2019.

Like any curious person, of course I took the quiz myself and discovered my word for 2019 is ‘Peace’. In the moment I thought that was an odd word, and being unhappy about my result, I attempted to take the quiz again. I even changed up some of my answers {just call me sneaky}. And guess what?
I got the SAME result. hmmm.
Now feeling like this was providence and not just randomness, I decided to embrace the word and try to understand why peace would be my word for 2019.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, after having dropped off my oldest child at school, I was driving away listening to a local Christian radio station. The morning show team was discussing their word of the year and as I thought on the conversation, I went back to my word: Peace.

Why had that word been chosen for me? I certainly believe it was chosen for me. I obviously didn’t pick it – I wanted to change it. I probably would have picked some other fun word like joy or gratitude, but this word – Peace – was for me.

Peace.

Some of the definitions of this mysterious word, according to Merriam-Webster are:
*a state of tranquility or quiet
*freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
*harmony in personal relations
*in a state of concord or tranquility

Not that I have come to some sort of extensive realization about my life + peace, but there are some things that have gained clarity for me in this second month of this new year…

I have been lacking peace. Genuine peace.
There’s been a lot of turmoil in my personal life…relationships that have been frazzled and torn, especially over the past year.
My spirit has been downcast and and troubled for some time, and I think I’ve tried to suppress it with filling my time with stuff/keeping busy.
Also, a lot of changes swept into my world last year, in a very short period of time, causing much restlessness and sadness.

So, yes, there is a great need for peace in my life. Peace that passes ALL understanding, and the lack thereof as well.
In looking at the definitions of peace, my life has been the complete opposite of those words so I can more clearly now see WHY peace may have been chosen for me.

Yesterday morning after I got back home and was pondering peace, I looked the word up on Biblegateway.com…what were some verses that could point me closer to finding peace?
There are a lot. ha. The Lord does not lack talking about or showing peace, throughout the scriptures. One verse in Romans in particular stands out to me: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13.

Dear friend, if you are like me, and lacking in peace today, may you cling to this verse as I am. Let us be filled with hope, joy and peace as we trust in Him, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2).
Until next time…

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