It's about time
Category: None
I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this blog! I am hoping to make the time to get this updates, and to write a lot more this year. I have been so incredibly busy but also so blessed by it all. I have a new business (for anyone that doesn't already know!) and it's going really well for me.
I don't have a lot to add tonight, mostly because morning comes early and I have to get to bed. But I am super excited about something that happens TOMORROW! So I will be back tomorrow to share, and hopefully start something new this year!
Blessings,
Jesi
Rainy Saturday Adventures
Category: Updates
As this summer comes to a close here in Texas - well, as much as summer closes when school starts - we've noticed a trend in our eating habits that we would like to stop. In other words, we are not eating well at all and have decided to make a change. It's nothing that drastic, but we are using the Daniel Plan as a guide. So yesterday we went on a trip to Sam's, Sprouts and Central Market for all things healthy. I would say it was a productive shopping trip and we found lots of yummy yet healthy foods.
As we were shopping I recalled how I used to love to make homemade bread. At one time not too long ago, we stopped buying packaged bread and I made at least a loaf a day. The bread made at home is whole wheat, and with no preservatives a much healthier option. The problem isn't actually making the bread, it's finding time to let it rise then going back and finishing plus the baking time. So the logical answer to the question "how can I make bread with my crazy schedule" is buy a breadmaker! Well, that sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Except as we were out shopping my options were not that great and I certainly couldn't spend a lot on a nice machine. Still, I felt like this was the right option. So I sent a text to a friend of mine who was having a fund raiser garage sale for her 3-day Susan G Komen walk. I was so excited to find out she had a very nice machine in her sale that had been donated. It was from someone she knew who had only used it once. So we went over and picked up a very nice Wolfgang Puck breadmaker for $35! I'm excited to play with my new toy today!
So I would be remiss if I didn't mention the rain today. There I said it, it RAINED today!! We were so thankful for an answer to our prayers. It was nice to drive around in the misty rain and cooler temperatures. It was a nice way to hang out together.
Oh and while we were out, I picked up some yarn to make these. Someone asked me a while back to make them and I haven't taken the time. But this weekend I have no work to do, and if you know me very well you know I have to have something in my hands all the time. So this looked like something fun to do today. They are from the Lion Brand website, and seem to be a pretty quick make. I recently heard someone call crochet a "granny craft". That made me laugh because first of all, I never had a "granny" and second I don't at all consider myself that old. I may be a "Nana", but that's because God blessed me so young with these really fun little people in my life. Crochet just happens to be one of those things my mother taught me that has remained valuable through my life. I'll let you know how they come out. I hope she likes them. :-)
I think I'll finish my coffee now and see what today holds. I'm looking forward to church, crochet, breadmaking and getting ready for the week. I have plans for every night this week so that is a good sign school is about to start. My Kylie starts Kindergarten next week, did I mention that? I look back 5 years and life doesn't begin to resemble where we were back then and I'm very content with that.
Blessings,
Jesi
In other news...
Category: None
I could begin this little update with a discussion on how hot it is, but then that wouldn't be anything new to anyone anywhere near where we live. So, I'll move on to other things on my heart....
My life at home started changing late in May and now isn't going to look at all like it did last spring! By chance I noticed that James, my 3 year old grandson, is starting preschool next week. YIKES! We knew he would start in August but between his mom and myself we were caught a little off guard by the start date. So beginning next week I will begin my 11am school run. Then, on the 22nd of August Kylie starts Kindergarten. I am a little numb at that thought. She has grown up so fast and is becoming such a little young lady instead of a baby girl. **sigh** Things will change a lot now, with her being in school all day and James going 1/2 day 2 days a week, plus Addi going to school 1/2 a day all week. I'll have a lot less activity going on in this house once school is in full swing.
I also have picked up a few side jobs in the mean time. Sewing is my passion and a gift I have, so I love to do it. I'm sewing a lot lately and enjoying every minute of it. It's something I can do in solitude and have long conversations with my Father. I like to listen to Him while I sew, and pray over whatever I'm making and for whoever may use or wear the item. I make a lot of baby items, so it's especially fun to pray for all those little ones wearing the clothes or nursery items I've made. :-)
I'm also doing some research work for a company I used to work for, and it's been such a blessing. It's not a lot by any means, and it's only for the month of August. But I'm really excited about how things are shaping up for the fall and how all my little jobs fit in to my schedule. It is going to tie up my weekdays more, but it is so much better than going out to work and not being able to spend the time with the grandkids. I am so very thankful for the blessing of my jobs this fall.
We are also doing a lot of work in the fall with Gateway Groups (our church), and very excited about it. I love what is happening in our groups, and can't wait to begin. I guess my days will be filled with little kids, sewing and work related things and the evenings will be all things groups. That is a great way to spend this fall!
I spent today doing not much of anything. I've spent the last few weeks going from the time I get up to the time I fall in bed at night and today - I did a lot of nothing. Well, if you consider nothing including cleaning the kitchen, doing the floors, taking care of 3 amazing little kiddos, making dinner, oh and FINALLY getting to take a nap! Yes, that was absolutely the best part of my day.
Tomorrow I will finish up some sewing, and get working on a couple of projects calling my name. I am sure there is a "to do" list around here somewhere with plenty for me to do. I love how I really needed a day of rest, and it fell in my lap unexpectedly. I love how friends I love think of me when I least expect it. I really love how even with so many things going on in our lives this fall, they all fall in to place in a peaceful way. Praying peace for you this fall.
Blessings,
Jesi
Summer FUN!
Category: Updates
It's been entirely too long since I've blogged. This summer is flying by and I feel like I've been hanging on to the edge of the wing of the plane called "Summer"! Since my last post I've picked up a part time gig, and we spent 5 days in Galveston. Both of these are very blog-worthy on their own, but I think I'm going to have to just go with throwing it all out there for your reading pleasure. :-)
I have been sewing like crazy lately. That's the new job, I sew for a designer here locally and I am having a great time doing it! I have my own jobs I contract to do, one of which is finishing up a nursery set I'm doing for a sweet friend. She picked out the fabrics, etc and I put it together for her. I can't say much about it other than it came out just adorable. I am also about to finish that one and move on to making a nursery set for my newest granddaughter! Now that's just down right fun. But in addition to this sewing, I'm working for this designer and get to sew almost daily on products for her. I am making some nice extra money, but mostly I get to work with some amazing women and I love what I am doing. I'm amazed yet again at how God orchestrates these things. This is a dream job for me, plus the women I wouldn't have met otherwise are also a big blessing for me.
One thing I hadn't done since moving in this little place, was to set up a "permanent" sewing area. I had my machine in the living room for a while, then at the kitchen table, but with all the sewing I'm doing now I needed to find a dedicated creative area. I decided to use a corner in our bedroom, and I'm very happy with how it is working out. I've searched and searched artlicles online for organization ideas and small space ideas to help. I bought a small bookshelf at Wal-Mart and began putting it all together. I am going to make a hanging wall organizer to go on either side of the memo board, and I use the baskets on top of the bookshelf to keep my current projects. It's interesting that as small as my bedroom is, this fit perfectly and is a place I'm growing to love since I spend so much time there each day. I can see down the hall from my chair and keep a good eye on the babies when they are napping. I can close my bedroom door and it's out of the way of little hands when I don't want to pick up right away. And if I am sewing while the grandbabies are awake, there is room in the floor where they like to play and hang out with me. My granddaughters especially love to watch me sew. I can't wait until they are old enough to teach!
In the midst of all this sewing, we took some time over the July 4th weekend to take a trip to Galveston. We had an amazing time. Words don't describe how much fun we had! We have gone to Galveston for years, but this year we decided to take our camping propane grill and we cooked at least one meal a day on the grill at the beach. It was awesome! We had burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese.... the kids made some great memories swimming in the water, building sandcastles and eating at least one meal a day on the beach. We also met up with some friends from our past the last full day we were there and it was by far the best day of the trip! They have two girls that are the same ages as Kylie (5) & James (3), so they made fast friends and we enjoyed catching up and hanging out while kids played. SO.MUCH.FUN!!
We have finally recovered from the trip, I think. And I sewed for days it seems over the last week and a half. I decided to take yesterday off and guess what? I ended up sewing like crazy! Ha ha! We were given a bed and all the bedding recently from my husband's family. It's a great bed, like new because it was in a guest bedroom. We were so excited and thankful for the new stuff, although I'm fairly sure the fabric is circa 1980. :-) But you know, I'm thankful for what we have and having spent so much time in my bedroom I realized that there is a lot of heat coming in the windows every day. Living in the DFW area, we have had 100+ days for a while now. So, I decided to take some drapes that were made for this set that don't fit my windows and remake them to fit. We put up shades behind the blinds, and then I lined these to help keep out the heat. They weren't long enough so I added fabric to match and bought rods and rings to hang them. I also remade two long curtain panels to fit a short window in the kids room. I was really pleased with how all this came out. I worked on it yesterday and went to bed last night feeling good about having a very productive Sunday. Church, lunch, sewing, cleaning, dinner, bed. Yes, that equals a very productive Sunday.
Well, I have a ton of things to do today including a ministery session this morning, laundry and spending time with a friend of mine from Houston today and tomorrow. That is a great start to a great week!
Blessings,
Jesi
Forever, for Always....
Category: None
On June 7, 2011 I will have been married to my best friend for 14 years. I would love to tell you an amazing love story about how he was my knight in shining armour and how we have lived this amazing blessed and trouble free life for the 14 years since we said, "I do". But that's not exactly how it went....
To say our relationship started out volatile would be an understatement. We had a passionate relationship in every form of the word. We were "madly" - or so we thought - in love and we fought on a regular basis about everything that crossed our path with a passion that would drive you to call the cops if there had been anything physical involved. There was not much pretty about how our relationship started, or continued for that matter. We loved each other, we just had no idea what that love looked like or how to have a healthy relationship. In fact, many of our friends often talked about wanting what we had because our affection for each other was obvious to anyone around us. If they only knew....
On the one hand, my husband was the first man I had ever had a relationship with that didn't or wouldn't do exactly what I told him to and when. At least, by my standards anyway. He was confrontational for a non-confrontational person, and challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before. That was not necessarily a good thing at the time. He let me know when he didn't like something I said or did, and would drive me to complete and total frustration and anger when he wouldn't act, say or do something I demanded. I clearly remember that feeling of being so completely out of control of something I very much wanted and thought I needed to control.
I, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time trying to make him be what I wanted him to be. Of course, I really had no idea what that was. But I worked really hard at trying to make sure it happened. My heart yearned for my husband to be the spiritual leader - but we didn't have any type of spiritual life together. I wanted him to take care of the finances - but neither of us had any idea how to handle money. More than anything, I wanted him to treat me "special" so I would feel like a princess and more important than anything else in his life. Then again, I certainly didn't act like a princess much less treat him like my prince.
I was the wife most men probably fear. I was controlling, emotional, worrying, pestering, nagging, etc. at one time or another. I was one of these at all times, it just varied depending on my mood of the day, week or month. I was broken, and so was he. That does not a happy marriage make, never mind a happy life. We had crisis after crisis in our life together. For 11 years, we rode that rollercoaster we called life. We eventually started calling it an adventure, because otherwise I'm fairly sure it would've driven us to fall apart, or worse. There were a couple of times over the years I am positive it was only by God's hand that we didn't end up divorced.
Then one day in August 2008, we began to open our hearts to what God was going to do in our lives. We began to hear what He was trying to say to us all along. We put our hearts and minds in to learning more and more about the life He wanted for us to live and more importantly the freedom in Christ that had been waiting for us all along. We had no idea when we started what the next three years was going to look like. I'd love to say that looking back I wish it hadn't taken so long. I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought that a time or two. But the truth is, it was exactly in God's timing. As we minister to others or see opportunities around us, we realize how God is using all of those "adventures" we experienced through the years and how we would not be who we are today if it weren't for the all the ways God chiseled away at in our hearts over the years.
I've watched our lives change so drastically that you wouldn't recognize the "old" us from 3 or 4 years ago. I've seen God pick up our lives and shake us so hard it literally, physically hurt. But all the "shakables" were shaken and only the Truth was left in and for us. I've watched my husband grow stronger and stronger every day over the last 3 years. I've seen him struggle and wrestle with God over things, and then I've seen him patiently wait as God revealed things to Him in ways I stood in awe as I watched. I've seen my husband become the man God created him to be. He is a leader in our home spiritually and financially. Not because I made him do anything, but because of how God moved in his life. He leads me, just like the song says, in ways I never thought possible.
In the midst of my changing husband, God also changed me in ways I never expected. I am no longer driven by fear or worry, which resulted in the controlling spirit I lived with for most of my life. I laid down that fear, and now trust my Lord completely. I can honestly and sincerely submit to my husband because of the trust I have in my Father. This alone changed everything about our relationship. How it looks today doesn't bear any resemblance to our relationship the first 11 years of our marriage. And that princess thing? My heart's desire was filled overflowing by my Father because really, I am a daughter of the King, princess priest warrior to the most high God. It doesn't get much better than that. My identity was never meant to be found in my husband. I am finally living my life as who God created me to be.
As I sit tonight and think back over the last 3 years, I am amazed really. Not because of what God did in my husband's life or what He did in mine. But because of what He did in our marriage. I am more in love today than ever with this man who leads our family in ways I never thought possible. There is something extremely attractive, even sexy, about a man who is strong in his faith, seeking the Lord in his decisions and then standing strong in those, working hard to provide for his family but never putting his job before God or family, and who leads me the way my heart has always yearned for him to lead even when I didn't know what I needed. Only my Father loves me enough to fulfill my hearts desire with this amazing man I get to call my husband.
So, if you happen to ask us for advice or help with your relationship with your spouse, and we say to you that you need to focus on yourself and not your spouse, now you know why. We've tried it the other way and it ended in disaster. Only when we both took our focus off each other, put it on our Father, and allowed Him to change who we were individually did we finally have a healed and healthy marriage. The Word doesn't say, "submit to your husband as long as he...." or "love your wife as long as she...." Instead, press in to the Lord and ask "What is it I need to change?".
Happy Anniversary my Baby. I am more excited about the next 14 years and more than the day we were married. I love you!
Page 1 of 7. Next
Ruth 3:11
Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.