Great Delight

Top o the mornin' to ya! By 8 o'clock I had the kitchen clean and muffins baking. It's going to be a good day!

Need some morning inspiration? I read this and felt a bit happier:

"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17

I especially love the part that says He will take great delight in me. Sometimes I tend to forget that God is happy when I'm doing the things I love to do and using my spiritual gifts. It was a sweet reminder this lovely Wednesday morning.

Yesterday was nice.

I got out of the house sans husband and child. No offense, family...but it was glorious... UNTIL My Weekly Insult reared her ugly head. You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?

Let me set the scene:

I just escaped the walls of my house to get into my brand spankin' new under-two-hundred-miles-on-her Jeep to go get my hair cut for the first time in a long time. Looks much better, eh? Anyway, I decided to go to a new hairdresser. If you've been following along long enough, you know my struggle with finding an acceptable one here and every other stinkin' duty station we've been stationed. Just when I find a good one, it's time to move!

I sit down and this lady seems nice enough. But then it happens- the due date conversation.

When I tell her what my projected due date is (Dec. 7) she says, "That can't be right! You're SO BIG!" 

"There goes your tip", I silently say to myself and put on my best southern charmed smile just like my Mama taught me.

The lady continues to talk about my upcoming delivery and when she does, she refers to "the babies" - as in PLURAL, MORE THAN ONE BABY. I correct her only once that I know it must be baffling, but I am not, in fact, pregnant with twins. I suppose that was just too much for her to believe as she continued to talk about the nonexistent twins for the remainder of the appointment.

I know I'm short and I waddle a lot, but I think I look alright for someone who recently had a baby and will soon have another. Cut me some slack, people of Louisiana! That or just don't mention to me how incredibly huge and gross you find me. I'd be just fine if you kept that to yourself. That would be great. Thanks.

(I'm linking up with these lovely ladies today. If you're new (or old!), thanks for stopping by. Pleasure to meet ya!)

Things I'm Afraid To Tell You

This topic has been floating around the blogging community lately. The first post I read I knew I wanted to throw in my two cents, too. By hiding behind my computer screen, I can paint the perfect picture of what my life looks like or what I want my life to look like. I choose what you see. But sometimes I try to let you in a little more- I try to give you glimpses into my struggles and my daily life. I know I appreciate when bloggers are real. Usually when I do write posts that aren't all that positive, I receive negative emails/comments. But I don't let them get to me too much. Because this blog? It's me. Take it or leave it.

Via

*I'm pregnant. You probably knew that if you frequent my blog. What you don't know? I look like I'm about six months pregnant. No joke. The cute little photo I posted a week ago is not what I look like right now. I showed so quickly and I'm only 11 weeks along. I can't believe how much I'm showing as I go throughout the day. It's exhausting to carry my nine month old and apparently my tee tiny little fetus and know it's only just the beginning. I'm afraid to say it, but I'm not one of those people who enjoys being pregnant. I actually think it's miserable and I hate to say that when so many of my friends are struggling right now to conceive. It makes me sound ungrateful. Don't get me wrong- I'm so excited and happy for this child, but the process of meeting him or her is not my favorite thing to do.

*This one is hard for me: We no longer have Drifter living with us. I haven't mentioned it on purpose because some people are so judgemental when it comes to pets. We gave him to a lady who lives in the area who has another husky. They get along famously. We just couldn't handle him anymore. It wasn't just one little thing. It was a culmination of several things. He couldn't be trusted inside around the baby. Outside, he was ruining the yard, making our landlords mad, and costing us hundreds of dollars trying to repair what he repeatedly destroyed. We tried everything we could think of, but when he started growling at kids- that was the last straw. We're not going to live our lives in fear that he might hurt our kids- inadvertently or not. I feel as if we are awful doggy parents for letting him go, but I feel confident in our decision as human parents and that role means way more to me. Holly is the only K-9 in our lives now and she is spoiled rotten once again. We miss Drifter occasionally when we think back to all the fun times we had with him. I imagine if we still lived in Alaska, we'd have him until the day he died, but he just couldn't handle life here in our growing family. Judge me if you must, but we did what was right for us.

*I'm a registered Republican. Some might (and have) called me a bible thumping Republican. I try not to get into politics much on my blog because it's not worth it to me. I've learned that I'm probably not going to be swayed much by what YOU have to say in that department and you probably won't change your mind based on whatever information I provide to you either. But there's something I simply can't ignore and those are blanket statements. They come from both sides and they're ignorant and ridiculous. If you make one, I'll probably take you off my mental list of 'people that can carry on intelligent conversation'. "Liberals are lazy. Republicans are greedy. Christians are stupid" et cetera- I can't stand to see this on my facebook and twitter feeds. We're probably all guilty to some degree, but it's such a backward way of thinking. Along these same lines, I don't like when people assume that because I label myself as a conservative that I must believe a certain way. Yes, I'm a right leaner, but no I don't care if gay people want to get married. Yes, I'm a Christian, but no I don't think that it's my place to judge anyone based on who they love. I just think politics should be reserved for things like, oh say, THE ECONOMY?! I don't know if you've noticed lately, but there's a lot that needs to be worked on in that department.

*My facebook job title reads "Freelance Writer", but I haven't sold anything or even written anything that I'm proud of lately. I sit down at the computer to do so and then the oven dings, the dryer buzzes  or the baby cries and I run off to do the things around the house that have to be done. Life calls. The {little} money I make on this ole blog is the only thing I contribute to our family with financially and that still bothers me on some level even though I've accepted that God wants me to stay at home with our children for now.

*On that note, I'm not currently working on my Master's either. I took another break. I couldn't do it. Well, that's a lie. I can do it, I just want to be able to focus on it and not worry that I'm not going to do well. I made it a goal of mine when I graduated college that if I went back, I would get a 4.0 with my next degree. As it stands, that is still an option for me but last semester I just barely came out of it with an A. Because Captain J is in grad school right now, I just didn't have the help I needed with the baby because he was busy with his work, too. I hope to go back when he finishes his up.

Allow me to sum it up for you-

I'm not perfect, folks. I hope we're still friends!

XOXO,
Mrs. K

on finding a church

library cards.

house to rent.

church.

When Captain J and I post up at a new duty station, these are among the first tasks we try to accomplish when we get there.

Two outta three ain't bad.

We're still working on the latter, as is usually the case when we move. Finding a place to worship is so important and there are many factors contributing to our feeling comfortable doing so. Of course, we want to agree with the main belief system, but there are other things to consider.

I grew up in a Baptist church. J grew up in non-denominational places of worship. I'm pretty open in this area so since we've been married, we have gravitated toward non-denominational churches. Finding one in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana is quite the task. We thought we had found one last Sunday and we decided to give it a whirl.

As we walked in, faces of every size, shape, color, and age greeted us with welcoming messages--This was a good sign. As we proceeded through the sanctuary, I looked around, noting the ambience. This church was one where everyone made it a point to come talk to you, to let you know you were welcome there. This can be great or it can be incredibly uncomfortable if you're socially challenged as I can often be. Still, I was happy to be able to worship that day with these really genuine Christians.

The icing on the cake was when a middle aged black woman delivered her freshly baked bread to all the newcomers. Umm, SCORE! It's truly fantastic and tasty, as we knew it would be. The best part about it was that she was just so insistent that we receive a loaf even though we didn't tell anyone we were first time guests. She went out of her way to create opportunity for people to have a better day. That's one of my favorite qualities in a person. This gift marked the end of our comfort zone, however...

The sermon progressed for hours. People shouted, they spoke in tongues, the pastor danced and stomped and spewed spittle as he spoke. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with this scene, it's also not typically what we do when we go to church. It provided a learning opportunity for us, for sure. We knew we were in trouble when he set off behind a row of people, jumping on the pew, and walking over to talk with us.

He said a lovely prayer for the two of us, our marriage, and our baby boy. It was so comforting to me, even though I was awkward in being the center of attention for those few minutes. I appreciated his prayer for health and happiness for all of us.

His message was one of forgiveness, something I always need to hear. We were able to sing enthusiastically and praise God in a way we had never experienced before. It was an awesome experience!

Although, I think we'll try some place a little less nerve-racking next week, a place a little more Mrs. K and Captain J (ish), if you please. The search continues, but that's okay. God will put us right where He wants us- He always does.

Choosing to See

It's 7ish PM Alaska Time (Yes, that's the name of the time zone) and my husband is outside tinkering with his jeep, although he is home so I can't complain. I have a glass of red sitting by the computer and dinner intoxicating our home with delicious smells. The two dogs are downstairs being good (and quiet) and I can truly say, "Life is good today".

I had a great day. One of my favorite things to do in this town is to go to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore. They have a huge circular fireplace with oversized, comfy plaid and solid chairs surrounding it. It's the perfect place to relax, put my feet up, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a good book. Today I chose a book that I first heard about from Kate. The book was written by Mary Beth Chapman, wife of the popular Christian songwriter and performer, Steven Curtis Chapman. It's called Choosing to See and I can't sing its praises enough...

While I'll admit I only got half way through it before it was time to leave to go start dinner, I already have been spoken to via her writing and God's will. I will, of course, have a book review to come when I do finish, but I just wanted to go ahead and recommend it to all of you. Her story is one of struggle. She pictured her life all planned out, but God continues to throw some curve balls in her way. You may know that this family experienced a tragic loss when one of their sons hit one of their adopted daughters in a tragic car accident. She writes about this loss and many other obstacles that she has had to deal with throughout her life. What I like about her story is that it is real. We often look at people in the so-called spotlight and put them up on a pedestal. Christian musicians and ministers have it all together, in our minds. In reality, they struggle, too. Everyone struggles with something. Life isn't perfect. But the faith and grace that Mary Beth Chapman talks about in her book can be an example to anyone who wonders why God does some of the things He does. We may never understand His ways, but it's encouraging to know that there are others out there who endure (very) hardships but still come out at the end praising and worshiping God for all He has done in their lives.

Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed learning more about was their experience in adopting. The Chapmans' adopted three beautiful little girls from China to add to their already family of five. Since I was young, I have always thought about how one day I would like to adopt. Captain J and I have talked about this as an option (an option far, far away, of course) and I plan to look into it some more as the years go by.

I could have posted up there all day and finished the book if time allowed. I love her writing and I really love stories of faith and grace. You won't be disappointed if you check out her book.

I'm glad I was able to look at my life today and see how God has blessed me. I'm choosing to see!

Anyway, I'm going to go prepare some rice to go with what I've already prepared. Let's talk soon, mmkay?

Much love,


(*I was not compensated or contacted to write this review)