Life Lessons

I think everyone has gotten this in e-mail at some point. It's all good stuff and should be re-read every so often. I bolded my faves.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't judge others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life, at least you know your way around here
28. Forgive everyone of everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

H.....H.....H.....Are you sure?

If you know me then you know my breasts are....large. And well, being pregant makes them larger. So tonight I went to purchase some new bras. She asked if I'd like to be fitted, well of course I would! Until she said, It looks like your a large G to a small H. I'd go with an H so you'll have room to grow during your pregnancy. What? H? I didn't know bra sizes went that high! Just so you know, it goes like this:
D
DD
DDD
F
G
H
I just don't get it. I couldn't even bring them home tonight! I had to SPECIAL ORDER them! I'm so in shock. I have my appointment with the high OB scheduled. Pray for calm nerves and a healthy baby!

He R.E.A.L.L.Y. loves me! :0)

R- really looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you and our children
E- excited to have another baby.
A- always loving to snuggle with you. Having you lay on my chest is the best
L- loving you is what I do best. You are my everything
L- little baby boy in your belly! Yeah! Or a girl? Hhmmm… let’s pray for a boy
Y- you. I fell in love with you at first sight. I really did.

I love you baby!! Always! Forever!

YOU’RE MY GIRL

Bring on the Testosterone!

Last night Savannah had her sleepover. The next time I volunteer to have 5 little girls over, PLEASE smack me! They weren't bad, they were just girls! How did my grandma raise 4 girls, my mom raise 3? I give them many, many kudos. I have stepped my prayers for a boy!

Kailee, Savannah, Allison, and Megan(Kiyah was on her way)

We went swimming and it was COLD! The kids loved it though.

Hopefully the water will be warmer for Jonathan party.

Allison, Kailee, Kiyah, Savannah, Megan

Jonathan, poor guy barely survived!!

After swimming, eating twizzlers.

Today was a lazy day. We didn't do much. No laundry. No cleaning. Just recovering :0)

today's lesson in being a good person

here's the deal. if you find out something that was obliviously not meant for you to know, keep it to yourself. what good does it do to tell others? none. unless you are a kiss ass. or just plain mean. especially if you were asked to keep this information to yourself and chose not to. that makes you untrustworthy and a dirtball.

What a week! And it's only Tuesday!

The week started out great b/c I got to wear jeans to work yesterday! I love wearing jeans, I wish management could understand how much more productive I am when I'm wearing jeans. Granted I had to unbutton them after breakfast b/c there wasn't enough room for my baby, my belly, and my breakfast. Then we go to an afternoon meeting/thank you ceremony. They announce that Top Performers will get a jeans day today. Guess who gets a Top Performer award?? ME! I figured I didn't have a chance since I got one 2 months ago...but I was wrong! Then we had a raffle and I won a $50 American Express gift card! Sweet! What did I buy with my $50 you ask? Maternity clothes, Motherhood gladly to took my gift card :)

Today, while wearing my jeans, I had a dr's appt. I'll put all the details the baby blog, but the trip the Dr. was good and bad. Good, b/c they did another sonogram(pic on the baby blog!), but bad b/c she is referring me to a high risk OB/GYN( details on the baby blog). I have to give a shout out to Staci who calmed my nerves a BUNCH when I called her after the Dr. visit. Love you!

Since tomorrow is the last day of the month I will get to wear jeans again! YIPEE! 3 days in a row. I am busting a happy move! I'm going to be so depressed when I have to wear slacks to work on Thursday :0( Only 2 months and 11 days though. I haven't decided if I will try and get a job in Kansas once we move. I suppose it will depend on if anyone will hire me with a preggo belly. If I do work it will only be until the baby comes. Jason wants me to stay him with him/her like I did with J and S.

Life is preparation for eternity

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,"Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free. We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

Dreams

If you've been pregnant than you've had pregnancy dreams. And man, they suck! They are so vivid and totally off the wall that they just leave me feeling like the wind as been sucked out of me! I have woken up Jason twice in the middle of the night this week due to these crazy dreams. When I have dreams like that it's SO hard to separate them from reality. I have to lay there and tell myself to be rational. I had a dream earlier in the week that something HORRIBLE, and I mean HORRIBLE happened to the kids. I knew in my heart it wasn't true, but it seemed so real. I had to lay in bed and force myself not to go check on them. I knew they were OK, but my dream told me otherwise and I had to force myself to be rational. AGH!

Today I am going scrappin'! I can't wait. We are heading up to Remember When in Whitesboro for a day of scrappin', shopping, and girl time. I do not even remember the last time I had girls day. It's been well over a year! Jason and the kids will be chillin' at home watching...THE 2008 NFL DRAFT!!! If you knew my family this is like a national holiday in our house! It's probably bigger than the Super Bowl around here.

Nothing New

Not much going on here at the Hallock house. Just wanted to say "Hi"

HAPPY

I am happy. I have so many great things going on in my life right now, how could I not be? Did I have it rough there for awhile? I sure did! There was a time that I never imagined I'd be where I am today. I never thought I could be this happy again. I am. Sometimes I'm even happier. If you only have good things happen you than you never truly appreciate what you have. You have to have the bad, the rough, the hard to make you realize how great things really are. To realize the important things in life. Yes, people are going to hurt you. Everyone will. The ones you love are the most likely to hurt you. Why? B/c you are more open with them, more real, more vulnerable. You have to remember that they are also human, which means they are not perfect, and they will make mistakes. It doesn't mean they love you any less, it just means they are regular folk.

My life is swirling with anticipation! We have so much going on and so much to prepare for. God has blessed me so tremendously. He is rewarding me for following Him and listening to Him. For not giving up when I wanted to, for taking my my trials and using them for His glory. This little baby growing inside of me to a true testament to that. I believe s/he is a symbol of rebirth. Mine. Jason's. Our Marriage. Our Family. Our Lives. I posted on the baby blog an e-mail Jason sent me right after I found out I was pregnant. It basically said, that while he knew he was forgiven by God, he didn't truly feel forgiven until he saw those 2 lines on that test. That's when he knew without a doubt that God had cast his sins as far as the east is from the west.

Thank you for sharing in my happiness. For loving me for who I am. For being great friends. I feel blessed to have all of you in my life as well, even you turds who read and never comment(T.C!) I love you all!

So Ready!

Everyday all 4 members of our family check the countdown clocks. We are so ready to get to Kansas! The kids are excited to get to Grammie and Grampy's and begin summer vacation. Jason and I are ready to get to Grammie's guest room. My Grammie's guest room is in the basement ( yup we have those in Kansas!). It is cool, and dark and houses THE MOST COMFORTABLE BED EVER!!! When I'm at Grammie's I sleep like a baby. My Grammie always laughs b/c she said it was the first bed her and Grampy bought when they got married and it should be old and worn out. It's not though. It's wonderful. Sometimes Jason and I will lay in bed and talk about what it will be like to lay in that bed. Today Jonathan asked if we could "get a house" on Grammie's street so he can go there "whenever I want". Sweet. That is why we moving to Kansas. So the children can have the relationships they've been missing out on. They know they've been missing out, and are ready to jump in feet first. They have never once complained about leaving Texas, ever since we announced to them we were moving they have been on board with it. I can't wait to get to Kansas and get a little break. You know what I mean...I'm ready for Grammie to take care of me! It's a desperately needed, long awaited pampering. When I'm at Grammie's she does what Grammie's do best...she takes care of her family, all of us. It's so wonderful. 2 months, 22 days.....

Lazy Day

Jason went to get donuts this morning and brought me back these! I love me some colored Daisy's! Of course the Blue and Orange are my faves :) Today is the first Saturday in a LONG time we have NOTHING to do. No errands, no shopping, nothing. Jason took the kiddos to the park to play and I'm going to do a little scrapbooking. I'm making the invites for the kids going away sleepovers and a mini book for a girl at work. I can't wait to dive in and get my hands all inky! Today was the first day in almost 6 weeks I haven't thrown up! Yippee! Maybe my morning sickness will end with the first trimester like a normal pregnancy (and very unlike when I was pregnant with Jonathan!!).

I'm not going to lie

I thought today was going to be awful, miserable, and horrible. It wasn't. It was just normal. Imagine that. Just a regular day. Time does heal all wounds, if you let it.

Emotionally Drained

I'm so ready for this week to be over.

Who would you want to meet???

At dinner we starting talking about people we would like to meet, it turned out to be a really neat conversation. Each person in the family chose 2 people they have never met before, one dead and one alive. Below are the people we each chose, kinda interesting. So, I wanna know, if you could meet anyone( dead and alive) who would it be??

Angel:
DEAD-Jesus
ALIVE-Amy Wood

Jason:
DEAD-Audie Murphy
ALIVE-Bill Gates

Jonathan:
DEAD-George Washington
ALIVE-The Manning Brothers

Savannah:
DEAD- Grannie DeuPree
ALIVE- Miley Cyrus

I love me some Saturdays!!

Today it was so beautiful out! We went out to run errands and bought kites while we were at Target. We hadn't flown kites in years!!

Jason and Jonathan flying kites

Savannah flying her kite
My 2 beautiful, wonderful children

Jonathan preparing for his GQ cover
For my April birthday gift for the year of Angel I decided to invest in some good make-up. I ordered Bare Minerals. I've heard wonderful things about it for years, but have been to cheap to to give it a try. I think it will go pretty fast once I learn the steps and how to apply. It didn't take me long this morning, but it could be faster.

Last month I bought the Mary Kay mircoderm abrasion kit, and I love it!!

It makes my skin feel so soft!!

Below is my before and after.

I hope ya'll are enjoying your family and weekend too!
I made a new banner of the baby's sonogram. I don't have a scanner, so I had to take a picture of the sonogram. That is why it's so blurry, plus the baby was only 6 weeks in the sonogram which means it was the size of a lentil. Ya, tiny. Be sure to keep checking out the baby's blog for updates!!

I miss it!

I had a totally different blog topic picked out for tonight. Then I started watching AI. The remaining 8 sang "Shout to the Lord" as their group song, and I'm not ashamed to say I almost lost it. I love that song. It's one of my favorite praise and worship songs. It made me realize how much I miss going to and being involved in Church. We have been a few times since we moved up here, but nothing consistent or fulfilling. I want it, I need it. I can pray, I can read the Bible, but I need that extra shot of faith that regular Church going provides. So it is my mission to go to Church on Sunday. We received a flyer in the mail for yet another Church this week, and I want to check it this weekend. It has a sermon series that sounds interesting to Jason and I, so off we will go!!

I'm not perfect, but I am forgiven!

Happy Birthday Blog!!

I've been doing this crazy little blog for 2 years!! So much as happened. Good, bad, and everything in between!! I've come to love blogging. I look forward to giving my little slice of the world to everyone out there. I will admit I'm not as honest as others that I read. I've struggled with that and decided that it's OK. That's not me. I'm as honest as I want to be. Maybe I don't want every single person to know every intimate detail of my life. I also love reading others blogs. I check them daily and often several times daily! Blogging is such a great way to keep up with so many people at one time. I love it.

Tired

I am hitting the hay early tonight!! We were up at 5:30 this morning so I could take Jason to work, so I'd have the car for my Dr's appt( update on the baby blog). Now I am wiped out, that extra hour of sleep makes a huge difference.

Sunday Night Already??

This weekend has been so great. It's the first weekend in over a month that I have felt good, and it's flown by so fast. Today Jason made a big breakfast, then we started in on the laundry. It's almost done. I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with no dirty laundry. We didn't do much today. I took a nap this afternoon while Jason and kids played. I worked on some new digi scrap pages( see the other blog). They turned out so I cute!! Tomorrow we have to be up early so I can take Jason to work, b/c I have a Dr's appt over lunch. What a nice and relaxing day, I'm so sad to see it end.