Wednesday to Wednesday= Weak Week

I know, I know, the last time I posted was LAST Wednesday. Sorry! I hate that, but I have not been in the posting mood. Weak Week because I have been weak in regards to posting- not that it has been weak in the excitement department. I HAVE had stuff to post about, but I was either not in the mood, I chose spending time with the hubs over blogging, or I was just too busy. Forgive me. :)

So last night I dreamt about Lobster Tails, (the pastry). Literally, I did! Does ANYONE know where I can get one in Htown?? Google has failed me, but maybe one of you can help!

Last Wednesday we had our home study!! Wahoo!!! Just waiting for our munchkins- any day now! {since I can't share much more on here, I think you will start to understand my lack of posting. There is so much I want to share but can't, so it is just easier not to blog at all sometimes}

Ready for a week's worth of posts??
Father's Day was our LAST SUNDAY in the theater!!! After 9 years, it is about time to have our own building!! Praise God! Will show pics of the new building soon! :)
I have sat in this seat since 2004. I HAD to sit there for my last Sunday! HAD TO! :)

Speaking of Father's Day, remember how I got Mr. Incredible nail polish? Well since I started wearing it on June 19th, I have worn: pink, brown, purple, blue, right now I have on orange and yellow on every other nail, and coordinating polka dots on them as well, and Friday I will be doing American flags, (I used to do this all the time in college). :) So in 2 weeks I will have painted and repainted my nails 6 times!! I am actually enjoying this! :)
My sister and I went shopping on Friday, and look what I found. VB 50% off!!! I will be hanging these on the wall in the bird room for some storage. Will do a post on them of course when it is complete. :)
Over the weekend we babysat some very special kiddos. ;) Look what they helped me make for the bird room. :)
Walking hand in hand with their hero. :) They helped us pick out some plants for our front yard...
Our flower bed right next to our house was pretty much complete, but needed a little somethin' somethin'. We do not want to have to redo flowers all the time, so we went with a purple plant...
It brought in some color, with less work. :)
While we were outside a neighbor brought us over a scooter for the boys. We are ever grateful for hand-me-downs!! :)
It was SO hot when we were working, Bolt chilled out under the truck to keep cool. Literally. I went in and got him a large bowl of water, but this was not enough...
Oh, SOOOO much better, Mommy!!
Wet dog. :)
How embarrassing is this?? So ghetto! When we moved in these were the bushes they gave us to hide the utility boxes in our FRONT YARD. This is our one complaint with our neighborhood. It is really nice, but why in the world would we have these unsightly things in our FRONT yard?? Not everyone has them- we were one of the "lucky" ones. Not to mention the weak bushes that were supposed to cover them. We have NEEDED to fix this up for awhile now...
I guess I could have gotten a pic with ALL the mulch in and after all the junk was picked up, but I didn't want to wait. SO much better, huh? :)
These Oleanders will cover up the utility boxes nicely when the fill in, (well, they already do a nice job but will be even better later). :)

An open letter

Dear Boston,

How dare you steal my heart away and then live so far from me. I miss you terribly everyday for so many reasons.

Fenway, Red Sox nation, the amazing architecture, the history, the people, the accents, the weather, the trees, the cobble stone streets, walking or taking the T everywhere, and so many more.


I was watching Cake Boss the other day, and I saw his Lobster Tails. You see, I am pretty sure these are the illusive treats I had in Greece that I COULD NOT find here! {seeing as I had no idea how to make them or what they were called} You HAD to ruin my day again, ole Boston town! I searched for pastry shops in Houston TX, and guess what came up? 6 pastry shops in BOSTON that have Lobster tails, and ZERO in Houston. Thank you very much for rubbing it in Boston! {and no, I did not have to look for the shops in Boston, they were all in my initial search. come on google- Houston and Boston are nowhere near each other in distance or coolness}

Boston, my love, you need to come here, or find a job for my hubs and a house for us to live in pronto!

Love always, your broken hearted Texan who misses you dearly,

Cinderella

Time Part 1

Sorry friends, Cinderella here has been too lazy to blog. I have good reason. We were preparing for the home study for yesterday which got RESCHEDULED for Wednesday! Yeah, I was a little too bummed to blog yesterday.

HOWEVER, I have fun news. Mr. Incredible wants to start blogging on here too! It is OUR blog, so I encouraged him to go for it! Now he IS an engineer, and is taking this blog thing WAY too seriously, but I think it is adorable. He actually has called it an article, and it will be in like 6 parts or so. Be sure to read it, pass it on to your hubs, and in the end- show him so love with a comment. We all know how it feels to get a comment, and I know he would appreciate your feedback. :)

Without further adieu, Time Part 1, the introduction

“What do you mean I can’t go out with the guys tonight? All you want to do is hang out and spend time together! What about me time?! So what if this is the third weekend in a row to go fishing! I can’t miss this big game and Larry has a new big screen TV! All you want to do is spend time with me and I need time with my friends!” This seems to be the normal situation that plays out in most marital relationships. Arguments get started and weekends get ruined by a simple element called time. You might ask, “What do you mean by time?” Time as I am looking at in this article is how we use the time the Lord has given us in reference to a marriage and time with our wives. So I want you to keep this operational definition in tact as we think about how we use it in regards to our wife.

As a Christian man, I have the blessing to see cultural norms so much differently than what the world says is true. It is amazing what being blessed by God’s grace through Jesus Christ does to a man by completely flipping how a man views the secular and social norms that appear in our current culture. So what is the cultural norm? It has to do with how men spend their time. It seems the normal guy wants to spend the evening doing what he wants to do. On the weekends we want to go play with our toys, watch sports, and go hang out with the guys. Now I want to make this clear, none of things I have listed are bad, evil, wicked activities. These activities have absolutely no moral value whatsoever. However, when any of these activities takes the place of time spent with you wife, then there is a problem. I myself am a big car guy, have my favorite sports teams, and have friends I like to hang out with, but the question is does it interfere with quality time with my wife?

Let me also take it a little deeper, do these things or time consuming activities take time away from quality time with the Lord. Do you find yourself able to quote more about sports statistics or car specifications than Scripture? That has been a convicting thought in my life and hopefully it will be in yours. It has driven me to ask the Lord to ‘discipline me in Your Word’.

The point I am trying to get to here is that if we can’t even be disciplined in our time with God, how can we even give our wife any justice at all? It’s all pure selfishness in how we men like to use our time! In the context of marriage, when we choose our toys, sports, or friends over time with our wife, we are effectively saying, “Honey, I know you want to spend more time with me, but the big game is on TV and it’s more important than you are and I value it more than you” Now I know that can be an extreme, but I want everyone to seriously think about it. I am not saying you can’t enjoy these activities, but I want men to give some weight as to the cost. This is also not something a wife should pound on a man either. I believe, as always, there is a balance somewhere.

What I want to address, as I have given this a lot of thought, is the social norm as compared to what is in the heart of a man who is devoted to Christ. I hope to encourage my fellow brothers in Christ about how important spending time with our wives is to building a strong family and also the body of Christ. I want us to remember what our wives are to us! They are apart of us, they are our best friends, they are our responsibility, they are to be taken care of, and they are key in building the body of Christ for His Glory!

Cinderella's Commentary: just so y'all know, we have never actually had to fight about this. Mr. Incredible said to me the other day when he thought to write this, "in the beginning I wanted to maybe hang out with the guys, but now it is not even a desire. I love being with my best friend all the time, and it is a great feeling knowing how much you desire to spend time with me." He is writing this to other men, from what he has learned from our very close relationship, ie we are attached at the hip and we like it that way. ;) With that being said, I love him so and am so blessed to be his wife!

Humility

Today I got to photograph a wedding with Steven Leonard Photography. My job was to get candids of everyone, and I spent most of the time with the bride.

I was scrolling through my settings to see how much memory I had left, (I never had checked it before, but since this was official I wanted to be sure), and somehow I DELETED ALL THE IMAGES. Yep, you read correctly. All 100+ priceless WEDDING day photographs GONE.

I felt faint. It is hours later and I still feel HORRIBLE. Luckily they were not the main photographs, but still. Mr. Incredible and I are about to go out because I HAVE to get my mind off of this, otherwise I will not be able to sleep tonight!

Driving home, right after I messed up royally, I was in tears asking God why this happened. It is odd, when terrible things, (death etc), happen I don't question God cause I know they are for His glory. But why did I have to lose the pictures that to the bride were priceless, and to me helped give me experience and somewhat of a portfolio? Well, the only thing I can think of is that this is to teach me humility.

I had to humble myself enough to tell Steve of my mishap. I had to humble myself to admit it on here. This experience was a huge reminder how truly imperfect I am. We all mess up. I just happened to mess up big time.

I usually don't post without pictures, but obviously there will be no pics this time. :/

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend we are moving into our new Church home. Sunday is our last Sunday at AMC! Next Sunday we will be in our new home!!! We are ecstatic!!! Those are our plans for Father's Day. I celebrated my "Father to be" already, (even though technically he is a daddy already- anytime after this MONDAY!!!) I'll get to that later... first a few pics:
Behind our house- see all the birds in flight?
Yes, there are 2 drains in this pic, and a half filled lake, but I had to keep this pic cause ever time I say it on my camera it was like, wow. I think it is those amazing clouds with the blue blue sky and the green green grass. Too pretty not to post. :)
The last few weeks, we have had 2 blue dragonflies in our backyard. Maybe there are more of them, but there always seem to be 2 hanging around. I have seen other colors in the front yard, but our 2 blues stick to the back. Is it their territory maybe? :) Anyway, not only are they a nice shade of blue, but they are enormous!!! BTW, this is with 20x zoom, and it is still crystal clear- I love my camera!!


Now onto Father's day. Mr. Incredible is so bad at surprises. He never can wait to give me my gift. So, I return the favor, and give him his gifts early. :) He also happens to be terribly cheap. I am frugal. He is cheap. Yes, there is a difference! lol Anyway, he asked me not to do anything for Father's day and I told him that was too bad. I had a plan for months that was cheap but useful and meaningful.
DD in Boston was on every corner. LITERALLY. We had two within 2 minutes walking distance from our hotel. Go up a little further,and you will find another one. They are EVERYWHERE! And you thought Starbucks was bad. We get home and Walmart has an end cap full of all DD coffees. Mr. Incredible stops to have a sniff and reminisce. {BTW he doesn't drink coffee- just likes the smell of DD, brings him back to Boston} Genius struck.
I was going to buy the beans, but when I went to buy them they were no longer there. BUMMER. So, I had to settle for the ground coffee. What did I make, you wonder? An air freshener for our bathroom. When I gave it to him, he just held it up to his nose, sniffed and smiled. Great gift indeed. :) {Our bathroom smells AMAZING BTW}

He also received pics of our boys for his office, and 3 nail polishes. I know, that seems weird. They are for me!! He really likes my nails painted, so I am stocking up in many different colors, and plan to change it up weekly for him. :)

In marriage it is the little things sometimes. What is something small that you can do for your hubs that will make him happy- and I mean truly small like painting your nails. {not like cleaning out the garage, that is big lol} (now this is not in a sexual context at all, just something small he likes, that can add a smile. Maybe wear more perfume, wear less makeup, etc).

B♥F♥F♥

Friends are just so special. And friends that are believers, (and if you are a believer too), well, they are more than just "like sisters", they ARE your sisters! How cool is that?! I am so thankful to even this blog. It keeps me in contact with friends from high school, friends that live SUPER far away, and has even helped me meet new friends, whom I SO wish I knew in "real life." :)

Yesterday my BFF got some heartbreaking news. Her and her husband cannot have children. Now, being my BFF will bring her comfort in the future seeing as we are not having birth children, (BY CHOICE), and since we are HUGE proponents of adoption. We have actually already started talking about her options there, which makes me very happy! Please pray for them in their time of grief, and pray for them as they move towards adopting! While on the subject, I have another friend TTC which is taking a little longer than we would like. Please pray for her too! :)

Through little twists of fate, (excuse me GOD'S SOVEREIGN PLAN!!!!), I have had a new friend in my life for a few months. She is a great friend and a great mom! She also happens to be a handy woman!

Yesterday I debuted a ghetto fabulous part of my house. There used to be another, (sorry I never got a pic). I needed a window covering for my back door, and to save money, I just nailed up some fabric there to LOOK like a curtain. Ghetto fabulous indeed, but it did its purpose! lol My new dear, (and uber talented), friend offered to make it into a Roman shade for me. OK!!! :)
When it is fully down...
Half way up...
all the way up...
She did an AWESOME job and we are so thankful and in love. :)


She is great at sewing curtains etc, but her new passion in wood working:

My new fav- toy bins. You betcha I am gonna be buying these from her!!
Big kids size picnic table, (she also has a little kids size one which I HAVE to buy for our kitchen- in some shade of gold- yes I practicality dream about it). ;)
Stinkin' adorable hanging book shelf!! Can you believe she makes all these herself with wood and a saw?!?!

If you are interested in "hiring" her to make you so amazing home stuff, let me know and I will get you her info!!! You won't be sorry! :) And you will get to see what an awesome friend she is! ;)

SURPRISE! Another Home Decor Post! ;)

I go to Hobby Lobby at least once a week. Every penny I earn, am given as a gift, or am given as blow money, (we follow Dave Ramsey), goes to Hobby Lobby! I am in love!

Well, I go the the same few Hobby Lobbies all the time. A few weeks ago we were in a different part of town, and just cause he loves me so much, Mr. Incredible offered to let me go to Hobby Lobby, (seriously, it was out of the goodness of his heart, cause what man enjoys that place? I know he does not!) :) So, OF COURSE I am not going to turn down the generous opportunity! Well, while we were there, I spotted two HD2HV, (had to have), items that I have never seen at any other Hobby Lobby! Money was not ready to be blown at that time, so I had to pass them up. Sigh. Well, last week we sold some junk of ours and got a little blow money, $20 to be exact. I ran to that Hobby Lobby and the 2 things I wanted were each $25 and were both marked down 50%! SCORE! I can get both items for $25!! Since we earned the $20, we only had to pay $7 out of pocket, (after tax) for both HD2HV items!! (and even if we had to pay the $27, it would still be an AWESOME price)! Did I mention I LOVE Hobby Lobby?! ;)
My first HD2HV purchase would be joining these lovely ladies...
Full price- $25! For a beautiful framed piece. Seriously, if it was marked by value, it should have cost $50- but hey- I am not one to argue about little things like something being sold for undervalue! ;) If you have read this blog for awhile, or if you have been to my house, you know I LOVE the names of Jesus! To read about why click here, (it is below the pics of the cute Mastiff), and if you would like to see a "Names of Jesus" project I did myself click here. :)Here is the completed "transformation." :) Sorry for the glare!
This is the next HD2HV from Hobby Lobby! Isn't is awesome!?
I love the "worn" look, and I LOVE how it pops on the wall!!!
This little guy was $2 at Hobby Lobby! HD2HV for the boys' room, and the price was unbeatable!!!

Fits in nicely, don'tcha think? :)




ATTENTION: frugal decorating secrets about to be exposed!!! I LOVE decorating, and doing it inexpensively is even better! I have started a side "business" which I will debut soon that involves this. I wanted to call it "Design on a Dime," but that name is already taken. Mr. Incredible came up with a cute name though for it. :) Ok, ready for some secrets???
{First of all, the table was moved so it is off center from the painting - will be fixed soon!} The painting was purchased at a Christian store. It was originally $150, and I bought it for $50. How? There is a typo on it- which by the way you naturally read over and miss, and the font is SO SMALL no one even notices there is writing there in the first place! Anyway, this table is there because we really need some light in this area of the house. {too cheap- with money and time- to let Mr. Incredible install a recessed light at this time}

So, ready for the cheap secrets...
The table is actually our old tv speakers draped in an old curtain. Cost of table- $0. I'd have to say this is the most ghetto fabulous thing in our house. ;)
The lamp- which was purchased to save money on recessed lighting. $17 at Hobby Lobby, down from $40+. There was a beautiful cheetah print lamp also on sale too, but it was on sale for $40. yikes! Then genius struck and I decide to just add the ribbon myself! Just as cute, but way cheaper!!
Why was the lamp marked down so low? This little crack! Just like the painting- not a big problem, but it brought about big savings! :)

{PS, out of everything shown here-only the HD2HVs were purchased recently. Everything else was purchased awhile ago, (some as long as 3 years ago). Just FYI since you know we had to save for the inspections. Didn't want you to think I was just blowing money left and right, while our kids are not here with us}

Bad Blogger but Big News

UPDATE:

Ever since we began this process, I wanted to make a ticker, but couldn't cause we had no idea when they would come home. Well, after our home study it takes about 2 weeks to finalize everything- SO in less than 4 weeks, (Lord willing), our boys will be home! ♥


ORIGINAL POST:
This weekend, we didn't do too much, though it sure felt like we did. Ya know that feeling??

Sorry for my lack of posting. Last week was uneventful, and this weekend I didn't turn on the computer once!

BUT good things come to those who wait, right?? Well BIG NEWS!!! One week from today...



we have our home study!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the last step in the process!! Wahoo!! This week will consist of cleaning and inspections to get ready for our home study! Pray it all goes well, and QUICKLY after the home study! ;)


On Saturday, I had a wedding shower for my cousin. I wasn't going to be able to attend her wedding in July- but after wrestling with all the possibilities, I WILL be going after all! I am so excited!!
I had bought this dress for Boston but never wore it. I was going to wear it on Mother's day but did not. Since I wasn't gong to go to the wedding, I wore it to the shower. Darn, now I need a new dress for the wedding! lol {I need to teach Mr. Incredible how to CENTER pics} ;)
I NEVER spend money on clothes. The majority of my closet is years old. Hence why this dress in being featured on this blog. It was about $50 which I NEVER spend on clothes- $25 is like my absolute max, (and at that price I have to be IN LOVE with it in order to buy it)! But I really liked it a lot, so I splurged!

Growing up, when getting ready for a date, I would do my hair, make up, nails, put on perfume, etc- none of which was ever "noticed," ya know?! Well, I did the same for the shower, and Mr. Incredible LOVED that my toes were painted! Hey, he noticed!! :) Since he actually noticed and liked it, I will be doing it more often! :) The little things right? :)

Weekend Update...

... and here are tonight's top stories: {remember SNL anyone?} ;)


Saturday afternoon was a lazy one:
My boys napping ;)
my cutie patootie about to nap on daddy's foot...
...and he is OUT!
Saturday evening we had a Tbone get together, (we lead the middle school ministry at our church and it is called Tbone). I didn't participate in "Embrace the Camera," officially, but I am still making an effort to embrace it more often. :)
Def not the greatest of Yours Truly, but it IS of my whole fam, so I have to keep it. :) {matching was not planned. He saw me in my jersey and was going to change and I told him that it didn't matter that we were matching- it wouldn't be the first time} :)
Sunday afternoon- just minding my own business on the www, and Bolt decides he is more important than Facebook. ;)


Sunday evening we had a baptism with our church! Such a wonderful time with "family" and what an awesome day to celebrate!! {we had it at one of the members' homes}
Remember Andrew that we prayed for, (he seems to be gracing this blog more than I do now)? ;) I saw him sitting like this and jumped to catch this shot. Too perfect! {this started a whole evening of photo ops with him and his sis}
This is absolutely CHEESETASTIC!!! Seriously, it cracks me up!! His arm- he is posed like a little man, his smile- wow!!! I love this so much I couldn't delete it off my camera. Talk about a mood lifter. Whenever I am down, I will pull out my camera and just look at this. Instant Joy.
Here we began our sibling photo shoot. Out of the like 20 pics I shot- this is probably the best of the 2 of them...
LOVE LOVE LOVE Andrew here!! {Abigail has a beautiful smile of course too} :)

Last shot of our "shoot." Abby was giving me the, "are you done yet eyes." You HAVE to meet her; she is absolutely hilarious!!
Isn't he just beautiful?!
She came off the slide, landed in the grass, and I said, "stop right there!" The grass looked SO good as her background! Unfortuneatly in this pic- the flash highlighted her body, so I had to warm it up to make it look more normal. Quite irritating cause I think this pic is AWESOME of Abigail!!
2 of our newest Tbone members. Cool shot, huh? I HAD to get it- too perfect!