That Guy

My husband is quite possibly the best man on this earth.

Those of you who know him may kinda laugh at this, because the Seth you probably know is probably like this:

 

or this

You get the picture.

 

 

He's goofy, unrefined, makes really stupid jokes at inappropriate times, is always wearing work jeans, expresses his opinions loudy, and is never shy.

 

However, I happen to know he's the best man on the face of the earth. Why?

 

He's the guy that turns into a little kid on Thanksgiving night, and magically transforms our house into a Christmas wonder.

 

He's the guy that will turn on the heat in the cab of the tractor, even though he's boiling, just because he loves having my company.

 

He's the guy that will make himself look like a fool outside of a wedding, just to fix his mom's favorite purse that's zipper just broke.

 



 

He's the guy who loads everbody up in the car to drive 2 miles away to look at the neighbors Christmas lights.

 

He's the guy who the day of our wedding, when we were sitting up by the altar, tried to figure out an escape route for me because I had to pee so bad.

 

 He's the guy who stayed sober at our Annual 4th of July part because I was pregnant and he didn't want me to "feel left out"

 

He's the guy who will take Eli for an hour after working long hours at his job and on the farm, so I can go running.

 

He's the guy who will take my friends or sisters out, even if I can't go, and always pays the tab.

 

He's the guy who still lets his mom give him a kiss before he leaves...even if he just saw her the day before.

 

He's the guy who loves animals. Even the stray cat I brought home. He's the guy who claims to hate cats, yet let it be a house kitty.

 

 

He's the guy that right after you go off the road in his mom's brand new car, makes a joke and

sings a funny song while trying to push the car out of the snow bank.

 

He's the guy who still visits his grandmas, and finds a way to

make them a part of things.

 

He's the guy who put a "Good Job!" sticker on my shirt when I went into labor.  He's also the guy that flipped off/honked at/sweared at in the car to get us to the hospital.

 

He's the guy who carved our initials at my favorite spot in the world.  When I had to go back last year alone because his work didn't allow him to take a vacation...I had a part of him with me.

 

 

He's the guy that if he makes fun of you, he likes you.

 

He's the guy who DVR's gymnastics for me.

 

He's the guy who talks about his family all the time and drives by where his

 brother works to make sure he got there ok, because he knows the drive is early and long.

 

He's the guy who says "lets have a baby before our first anniversary" and then you do. Then he becomes the best father I could ask for my son.

 He's pretty awesome, that guy!

 

 

He's more than I deserve! He's given me a beautiful life, and I hope I can only do the same for him!

The Puddles

Today was a normal rainy, cold, December Monday, nothing in particulary special happened and nothing really bad happened.  On my way out from working out at the local YMCA, a saw a little boy coming in with his mom, crying.  The poor little guy couldn't have been more than four years old, and he broke my heart, I just wanted to scoop him up and give him a hug.  Then when I heard why he was so sad, it broke my heart just a little more. 

He was crying because his mom wouldn't let him jump in the puddles outside.  Instead of his mom rolling her eyes at his crying while other people passed by, or yelling at him and telling him to dry it up, she gently knelt down and explained to him that it was too cold out and he could get sick, and she promised him when it warmed up in the spring time, she and him would go out and jump in the puddles.

It gave me a thought.  Sometimes we get tunnel vision and only see the puddle in front of us that we want to jump into head on, ignoring the environment around us.  Sometimes the puddle can be an object, a want, or just something that just looks like fun.  Yet, our environment may not allow for it for some reason or the other, be it finances, our families best interest, or God's own will for us.  We have to slow down sometimes and let God gently remind us that when the sun comes back out, those puddles will still be there to jump into.

What if the puddles have dried up, you ask?

He will provide the rain. :)

Happy Monday!

Life Lately

Please excuse my absence lately from the blog! I've been busy busy busy! A few quick updates

1. I hosted Thanksgiving again this year. Did I mention that earlier? Its kinda a big deal, especially since 18 family members enter our not so big house to enjoy a delicious meal.  Not to mention we had 4 generations present. So much to be thankful for! It went so well, and I figured out to have all the food prepped and on warmers or in the oven so that when everyone arrives, I get to enjoy their company rather than be sweating in the kitchen and fighting with everybody congregating in the kitchen.  (Why is it that everyone gathers in the kitchen? I have realized that is my biggest pet peeve when hostessing!) My wonderful brother-in-law made the turkeys again this year and when I say made, I mean smoked in the smoker his lovely wife got him.  They were delicious!  My sisters who live in Florida made it up again this year and we spent the day eating, visiting, playing cards, skeet shooting, and of course watching sweet little Eli.

Prepping for the meal

 

 

May and Bristol help with clean up!

 

 

Intense card playing!

 

 

2.  Grant and Taylor got married! As many know, I've been excited for this wedding for a long time.  Of course the week of the wedding I come down with a horrible cold/flu and Eli started teething. Thankfully I felt a million times better on the day of the wedding and let me tell you, it was a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast! I've never seen anyone love someone as much as Grant loves Taylor, so it was such a wonderful thing to see these two finally tie the knot!

 

 

Don't they look wonderful?

 

This little guy was enjoying dancing with all the ladies!

 

 

3. Christmas is upon us! I have been busy shopping for my family, Seth, and most of all, little Eli!  He is going to be one spoiled little boy this Christmas, but he has been so good all year, I think he deserves it :)  We are so blessed to have a warm home and family to celebrate with.

I love our tree! It seems so homey to me! Especially now since the bundle of present below has doubled since this photo was taken!

What I'm going to do...

In sad situations like yesterday, sometimes I just need to sort it all out in my head.  I hate for this blog to be sad because I like that its my happy place for all my crafts, funny stories, and pictures, but sometimes just writing helps me figure out where to place all the thoughts.

Yesterday was one of my friends birthdays, and to celebrate her big day, we went shopping at one of the bigger malls in Indy. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous because I feel like lately there have been so many shootings in malls and movie theatres lately, and I just had one of those "bad feelings" in my gut. Well, the bad feeling was confirmed when I checked my newsfeed on Facebook while we were shopping and saw the horrible news of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in CT.  I felt like my world just stopped and I instantly sent my mother in law a text to see how she and Eli were doing.  Then as I started to read all the stories of what happened, I just felt more and more sick.

My first thought was those poor children, and their parents. I can't even start to think about if something like that happened to Eli. Makes me cry.  Then I thought about the gunman's poor mother because ever since I became a mom, I look at every person in the world and think they were somebody's precious tiny baby that they love unconditionally.  Then come to learn he shot his own mom.

I think in these situations its common to ask "why" or to even question God.  Questioning God is something I learned not to do a long time ago, and instead I chose to trust Him wholly and completely for His grace is sufficient.  However, I do think immediately after asking "why" our society wants to find someone of something to blame. Be it politics, the economy, parenting, gun control, school security...the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately I think its also quite disappointing to see how the news media can take this horrible tragedy and then just turn it into a mess.  I personally don't want to see or hear details of the shooting, and seeing these poor children being interviewed on tv seems irresponsible to me to a degree.  Then I think, gosh all we are hearing about is the shooter and his background and why he did it, so on and so on.

Well, instead of focusing on the evil, I want to seek out the heroes in the situation. Not to ignore that there is obviously a problem with society, but to celebrate that there is GOOD out there.  Maybe by focusing on the good more, it could help some of those troubled souls out there.  Instead of making Ryan Lanza a household name that will be remembered forever, I want to remember the names of some other people:

Vicki Soto: This 27 year old woman hid her students in the classroom closets and when the shooter asked where they were, she lied and told them they were in the gym.  What a hero! Not one of her students fell victim and I'm sure the parents of those 16 kids are thanking God for an angel like her!

Janet Vollmer: This teacher not only protected her classroom of students by locking the door and herding them into a corner, but there, she found enough strength and composure to read the children a story. Thankfully, she and all of her students survived.

These are just two of the uplifting stories I have read.  I'm sure many more will come to surface as the dust of this tragedy settles.  My parents posted a quote on Facebook yesterday that I love:

"When I was a boy and I could see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster', i remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world." --Mister Rogers

I think that all I can do besides pray, is to not only look for the helpers, but to be one. You never know how one tiny gesture that you do could completely change someone's day, week, month, year, or life.

Praying that I can always show my appreciation and love for those around me, and that I can bring my son up in this corrupt and evil world remembering that this life is only temporary, for our everlasting life exists only with God.