Archives for 2012

PermissiontoPeruse.com on Facebook

March 24, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

Well, I’ve held out for a long time. I knew getting a Facebook page was the “right” thing to do but I just wasn’t sure I wanted one more thing to manage. But, I think it’s finally time. The bottom line is everyone’s on Facebook. And now so is this blog. I’ll be posting the links to new posts there instead of my personal Facebook stream. I’m hoping to share some of the great blog posts I read and who knows what else. So please go Like it. If you end up not liking what I share, I won’t get mad if you hide me 🙂

Head over there now –> Facebook page.

Puppies, Bikes and Cupcakes

March 23, 2012 by Amy 9 Comments

How about a few random things?

1 – Our puppy Tucker has made it to 1 year and 1 day. Possibilities were sketchy at times. Sadly, many, many, many things were destroyed in the process. A blue tooth, Nine West shoes, more markers, pencils and pens than I can count, a pool skimmer, grill brush, pool lights…oh I could go on. Scott tells me it’s worth it. Possibilities are sketchy.

2 – Both Emma and Lexi are now riding their bikes. We did not totally fail as parents. We actually went on a family bike ride the other night and it was a pretty darn good feeling.

3 –This has no story except to say Emma was the one taking the picture. I found this in my camera and this is why I’m scared of her being a teenager and thought you should be warned of my impending meltdown. Those eyes cut through any fuzziness of the picture. They are LOUD and CLEAR.

4 – I also need to confess I made cupcakes although I know how bad all the sugar is. They’re from the King Arthur Gluten-free cake mix with my mom’s icing recipe. They were divine. If you couldn’t tell by Lexi’s face.

5 – On a serious random note, please pray for my family. My grandfather is very sick in ICU with pancreatitis. My father-in-law has diverticulitis and is having surgery today and will be in the hospital for the next week. Praying for peace for the family, healing for them and wisdom for the doctors. Thank you.

And if you’re feeling chatty, tell me the worst thing a puppy ever destroyed at your house.

American Idol Top 10

March 21, 2012 by Amy 4 Comments

Deandre: I did not enjoy this in the least. I felt like I was laying poolside and the band was playing down at the end of the pool instead of my bed. So much cheese and I just don’t think it showed his voice at all.

Erika: Holy wow. Her hair is different. I think this is a great song choice for her. Really showed off her range. I think she pulled off the right attitude.

Joshua: I just love his voice and conviction so much. Perfect song choice for him. And how do people not know that song? Wow.

Skylar: While I feel like she picked the right song I’m not quite sure I liked the arrangement. I think she needed to stick a little closer to Garth Brooks’ version than she did. I’m surprised she said that’s who she was copying after.

Elise: I think it was an awesome song on her. I feel like that was just her style. Just not sure it will connect with voters since it’s so unknown.

Phillip: I love Phillip. I say it every week but I seriously cannot quit smiling when he’s on stage. I love that he’s so consistent. I was worried before the season he might not be but he’s really proving he’s got it for the long haul.

Hollie: I felt like she was pushing it too hard and the bad notes were distracting. Just not her best.

Heejun: Well, I feel like we’re on borrowed time with Heejun. That was super fun but maybe not a winning performance.

Jessica: She really did sing that beautifully. Not my favorite song ever but she really proved once again how big that voice is.

Colton: Loved this. Just perfect for him.

Favorites: Colton, Phillip, Elise, Jessica

In trouble: Heejun, Deandre

WFMW: Apple Chips

March 21, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

OK, this is one of those Works for Me Wednesdays where you find something new and you want to share it but you’re pretty sure everyone already does this and you’re about 33 years too late on the whole deal. But I’m just going with it.

Growing up and even until recently, we always ate an apple either the old-fashioned way or used Pampered Chef’s apple slicer to produce 8 (?) even slices. Well, recently we went somewhere and all I had was a knife and Lexi had no front teeth so I ended up slicing off thin pieces of apples for her. She LOVED it. In fact, we all do. We call them apple chips.

Something about them being thin and easy to eat a whole slice at one time. Or the texture seems better. Maybe they remind us of potato chips. I can’t exactly figure it out but getting the kids to eat an apple is now a cinch! Just plop a bowl in front of them and they disappear as fast as a bag of potato chips. Give it a try. It works for me!

This post is linked with We Are That Family

Raised Garden Gets Some Dirt

March 20, 2012 by Amy 10 Comments

In a weekend recap a few weekends ago you might have seen the raised beds Scott made me. We finally took the time to put in the dirt.

First, we put down plastic.

I’ve read that you can put wet cardboard or newspaper down but we had plastic and the guy at the farmer’s market said since we had plastic, that’s just what he would do. He said to just make sure to put holes for the water to drain. Once we had it spread out, we poked holes in with the pitch fork.

The beds are 3’x6’x2’. We ended up using 4 bags of this compost:

Katrina at The Poorganic Life had a great post today on how to make your own compost for free. I’m not quite that adventurous yet.

We then mixed in 2 bags of peat moss :

Katrina had also recommended getting vermiculite but the guy at the farmer’s market said we could do it, but it wasn’t really necessary so we opted out.

We all really got into mixing it.

This picture reminds me of these:

Do you remember these garden decorations? That’s gonna be me this summer, baby.

So the girls really got into it. Like, literally, INTO IT and had to get sprayed down.

We had a lot of fun. It was nice doing something messy together and being productive all at the same time. I looked at Scott while we were mixing and said, “There’s just something right about this.”

I’m still not sure how it will turn out but for now, I’m excited!! They said we should plant on April 15th so just a few more weeks!

Remembering Third Year Elementary

March 19, 2012 by Amy 6 Comments

Nine years. Third grade. She’s starting to talk of boys. Playground chases. Walk-by comments. Confirmation of cuteness. It’s all a little too much for this mama. It’s full of cliché, but wasn’t it yesterday I was gifted the tinker bell perfume in third year elementary?

But then there are still moments.

Joy in the birth of Spring.

The hand requested from a little sister.

The push needed from the same.

And sometimes a pull too.

The dare accepted.

Heaven looks on

and we all forget the growing and the changing. They’re just my babies playing and I’m just the mama picturing. I can’t stop the changing but the changing brings remembering. And this will be a sweet one.

Weekend Recap

March 19, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

Friday night did not go as planned. My mom decided last minute to have the kids overnight so Scott and I thought to hole up in our bedroom to watch the latest Big Bang Theory until AT LEAST 9 before we went to sleep (please feel the sarcasm). After spending a little time with the kids over at her house, going to see a neighbor’s horse and whatnot, we headed for home and Scott started to complain about his eyes really hurting. I noticed as we drove, our house not more than 8 minutes away, that his eyes were quickly swelling. By the time we got to the urgent care about 2 minutes from our house, we agreed he needed seen. I had seen this type of swelling one other time with my sister when we were in Wilmington one weekend and I did not want to see anymore eyes bulging. After a long wait, it was determined he was having a localized allergic reaction to something that had likely gotten on his hands when we were outside. All around his eyes were severely swollen, the doctor confirmed the whites of eyes were swollen and he was feeling it in the back of his nose and throat. He had to get a cortisone shot in his hip, get eye drops, Zyrtec and a cortisone pack to wean him off the cortisone over the week. Holy cow. We didn’t get home until 9 and with our Big Bang Theory plans shot and Scott’s inability to probably SEE the TV, we went right to sleep.

Saturday Scott woke up without the swelling so he was off to work. The weather was gorgeous when I woke up. Something about the way the sun was shining, the sky was a magnificent blue and everything seemed to be positively glowing. The kids were gone so I went outside to enjoy the weather and trim the monkey grass. I’ve never been so proud of a mound of ornamental grass. My legs are still screaming at me this morning from all the squats though.

Saturday afternoon we had plans to go to a local spring festival but the kids just weren’t into it so we stayed around the house. I had work most of the afternoon anyway and into the evening. Lexi had a sleepover Saturday night so Emma and I finished out our evening watching Zookeeper. Not our favorite. I didn’t realize until the very end all the big names that were the voices of the animals. Cher, Adam Sandler and Sylvester Stallone to name a few. I can see why it was supposed to be big but it fell flat for us.

Sunday was an awesome morning at church. I’m telling you, that sermon was a little gift from above. If you’ve been paying attention lately, money and possessions have been on my mind during this season. He talked about how we swing from prosperity theology of thinking God needs to bless us so we can give to poverty theology where we feel guilt and want to give everything away. He suggested a “generosity theology” where we give richly but we live sufficiently and have joy in both. I highly suggest that if money is a struggle for you in the least that you give it a listen. Good, good stuff.

After Sunday dinner, the rest of Sunday was spent grocery shopping and around the house. We watched Mr. Popper’s Penguins (GREAT kids movie), baking bread (OH MY WORD, I made bread! As in, the kids have a PB&J in their lunchbox made with that bread), and just generally resting.

Overall a decent weekend for us. Hope yours was great!

On Dressing Up at Church

March 16, 2012 by Amy 22 Comments

These posts from Marla have weighed heavy on my mind since she posted because it’s something I’ve struggled with during recent years.

I’d highly recommend you reading them for yourself but she basically makes the case for dressing how YOU feel appropriate for church. For her, that’s jeans. For many of you reading, that’s your very best dress, skirt, heels. For some of you, it’s jeans but you wear skirts because that’s just what your church does. For me, I wear jeans (and some casual dresses) because I’m comfortable AND that’s what most of my church wears.

But I haven’t always been casual at church. In fact, it’s only the past 3 years attending our new church did I even fathom wearing jeans on a Sunday morning. I grew up in a Church of God church. Church of God historically is very strict. Very. Women just did not wear pants. I was in my very best dress every single Sunday. I can remember my mom making me change when I wore anything not dressy enough, even as a 15 and 16 year old I had a dress, pantyhose and dress shoes on. But so did everyone else. It’s just the way church was.

Then I got engaged and started attending church at Scott’s Southern Baptist church where we stayed for over 10 years. Same thing. Everyone dressed up. It’s just the way church was. And for the first time, I saw some some ugly things regarding dress. And I don’t mean ugly dresses. I mean ugly attitudes toward dress. Now, before I say this, hear me when I say I’m not putting that church down. That church is like family. I’m serious. In fact, many of them are literally family members. But I did see some ugly things in regards to dress. I know of people that were highly judged because they did not have a tie on when they were on stage. People were looked down on when they wore shorts on a Sunday night. You were definitely singled out if you weren’t in a dress or skirt Sunday morning. No one would ever say anything to you directly, but the judgment was still there. NOT by everyone. Many could care less what you wore. But some people did. A lot. And some people didn’t really care much but dressy was just the acceptable standard.

Our current church accepts any sort of dress. There are some folks who still wear dresses but not often. Most people are in jeans or a casual skirt. All the men wear jeans, even the lead pastor. Only a few men have jackets. Kids are mostly in casual wear. Some girls have casual dresses, but not Sunday dresses. My girls wear jeans most Sundays unless it’s a holiday and then we’ll dress up. Scott hasn’t worn a suit, dress pants or dress shoes since we’ve started there.

And FOR ME, I feel so much more free. Before I was SO CONCERNED with what I was wearing. Clothes were almost 90% of what I was thinking of on Sunday mornings, more than any other day of the week. I had to have the just right outfit, the just-right shoes. I had to make sure my makeup and hair were just right. And then I’d spend all morning pulling at my skirt, tugging at my pantyhose, comparing myself to everyone else dressed up. Church was like the Super Bowl for fashion every week. On the other hand, I didn’t care what anyone else wore. I honestly could have cared less if someone walked in with shorts. The concern was all inward and how I looked and stacked up. Was I any better than the folks looking down on people for not wearing a tie? I doubt it.

Now? I get dressed like I would every other morning. Sure, I care about what I look like. I make sure I’m modest and respectful and am not dressed like a slob but I’m not thinking about what everyone else thinks. Because no one is dressed up and no one cares. My feet don’t hurt when I’m standing to worship. I’m not worried about tugging a skirt or shirt. And best of all, I don’t spend time seeing how I stack up to everyone else. I still worship the same. I still concentrate the same. In fact, at times, I’m less distracted by looking at everyone. Furthermore, the one time I remember being distracted is by someone wearing a dress.

Hear me, I’m NOT bashing folks that dress up. I dressed up for 30 years of my life and ALL of the rest of my family and many close friends dress up Sunday morning. But what I am saying is now that I don’t, I’ve realized that dressing up on Sunday brought some ugly things out of me at times and I think it does for a lot of other people too (but not everyone!).

And here’s my most important observation: I think it can create a false sense of I-have-everything-together and enforces people acting and dressing one way on Sunday and then another during the week. You are polite and nice and worship in your nice clothes but then you walk out of the door, not only do your clothes change but also your attitude and actions do too.

I’m not looking down on anyone for dressing up or dressing down. You have to do what you feel comfortable with. But what I would ask is, are you TOO preoccupied with what you’re wearing on Sunday morning and furthermore what OTHER people are wearing on Sunday morning (comparing or judging)? I can honestly say I was and I’m not sure I even saw how much I was until I wasn’t. Sunday mornings have very little thought to what I wear and NO thought to what anyone else is going wear OR what they’re going to think about what I wear. I’m wholly concentrated on worship and the sermon and reconnecting with like-minded believers. And I think that’s just how it ought to be.