Archives for 2013

A Day in the Life

April 23, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

I read Tsh’s Day in the Life post and was spellbound. What is it about seeing other’s details we love? I don’t know but here’s mine.

6:00 Sleep Cycle alarm goes off. I question why, after I didn’t go to sleep until 1am the night before, I felt the need to set my alarm for 6am. I listen as Scott leaves the bathroom and goes to have an MRI to see about a pinched nerve. Reset the alarm for 6:10 and fall back asleep after I hear his truck pull away.

6:10 Still feel like lead, determine I can take a shower later at lunchtime and reset the alarm for 6:30.

6:30 Open my phone, turn off the alarm and scroll through Facebook. Having the light in my eyes wakes me up every morning.

6:36 Determine I really should roll out of bed since I have to get the kids off to school on my own.

6:40 Try to wake the kids up and then head out to the kitchen to start on lunches.

6:45 Check on the kids again and hear Bella crying. Let Bella out.

6:50 Check on the kids again and finish lunches. Catch Bella mid-air as she falls off the counter.

6:55 Make cereal. Sign papers. Brush hair. Take Bella out again.

7:05 Put some clothes on. Same ones as yesterday. I let Bella out again. She finally poops and I’m grateful that’s one less mess I have to clean.

7:10 Help Emma get shoes and clean up water that’s been spilled from Lexi’s water bottle.

7:15 Get out the door.

7:16 Go back in the house to help Lexi get something she forgot.

7:17 Leave for school.

7:27 Get home and let Bella use the bathroom again in the front yard. Type this as I wait and answer Yes when Scott texts me if I want Starbucks on his way home from the doctor.

7:33 Clean off the counter and take pictures of the bar for the day’s post. The one I worked on until 1am Sunday night is a dud and the one about the bar scheduled for Friday is moving to the front of the line.

7:45 Scott walks in with Starbucks and I ask how his appointment went. He has to go back Friday to get results. Start writing the bar post.

8:02 Realize I need to sign in to work and finish the post as everything gets logged in.

8:10 Put Bella in her crate for a nap.

8:15 Work. The day includes setting goals for the year. Not my favorite task.

8:38 Realize its Earth day and I didn’t send Emma to school in the earth day shirt I bought specifically for today. I also glance at an incoming email and realize I didn’t get Lexi to write a thank you note for teacher appreciation week. Fail. Go back to goals thinking I clearly need some for personal use.

9:20 Bella wakes up from a nap. I let her out. She comes back in chewing on something. I let her, glad she is distracted for a few minutes while I finish a chat with coworkers.

9:30 I call in to my only conference call for the day and sit outside and let Bella play as I am on the call.

9:47 Off the call and good timing because Scott is home from helping install some sort of shelf at the chiropractor’s office and can take over Bella duty. I get back to work, starting up Kristen Howerton’s Killer Tribe session as background.

10:30 Sit outside with my laptop for awhile and let Bella play while I continue to work.

10:45 Take a break to get a sausage patty and coffee. Think to myself all I’ve had to eat was a banana. At least I think I ate a banana. I vaguely remember grabbing one when I got done taking pictures of the bar. Bella also whines and Scott puts her back in her crate for another nap.

10:50 I get back to work researching where I might volunteer for our company’s big volunteer day in June. Start Brad Lomenick’s Killer Tribe session. Also check in on Facebook quickly but don’t see anything interesting.

11:30 Decide to take an early lunch so I can shower while Bella is asleep. As I use the bathroom yet again, I remember that I didn’t just have a banana, Scott brought me Starbucks and the coffee I had mid-morning was actually my second cup. I guess that’s the type of thing you forget when you go to bed at 1am.

12 Clean up dishes and start the dishwasher, make a sandwich for Scott as he runs in the door from seeing his grandmother and back out to help my mom at her business. I get Scott to snap a picture of my outfit for What I Wore Wednesday before he leaves. Finish my lunch break with my prayer time I missed in the morning, answer a few emails and share my post on social media.

12:30 Back to work.

1:45 I go get Bella up because she’s been asleep for so long and I’m worried. I move my laptop outside and let her and Tucker play.

2:08 Scott calls to say he’s done with mom and can pick the kids up on the way home. I’m a little sad.

2:46 Girls get home and I take a break to help with homework, hear stories and figure out snacks.

3:00 Back to work out in the yard. Bella is still wanting to play and Scott starts a fire to burn brush from trimming trees this weekend and calls the girls out to play. They’re not excited about it and just sit on their swings.

3:30 Scott finds a blue egg in the yard and I Instagram it, taken by the color.

4 Everyone comes inside. Bella goes to her crate to take a nap, Scott and the girls start a game of LIFE and I fix Emma some oatmeal and then get back to work.

4:30 Scott leaves to see his grandmother again who was taken to the ER.

4:45 Lexi asks me to put in The Bible DVDs.

5 Quitting time! The girls are starving so I go ahead and heat up leftovers for them. I’m waiting to eat for Scott to get home because he’s supposed to stop by and get shrimp sauce.

5:30 Bella plays in the front yard and the girls and I enjoy the beautiful weather on a blanket. I think of the neighbor whose teenager is giving them fits and say a prayer of thanks for the season we’re in.

5:55 Back in for more of The Bible. Bella wants a nap and I’m hoping Scott returns soon so I can eat.

6:10 Scott’s on his way home so I start frying some rice and reheating chicken.

6:30 Scott returns and we eat! The Bible is still playing and I continue to answer questions like why is he wearing a diaper (sumo-ish wrestlers perform for the king)? And why is Joseph mad she’s pregnant (oh geez)?

6:45 I hang up some clothes, empty the dishwasher and reload it while Scott is replaying some of The Bible he missed.

7:00 I sit down to put this post in draft stage. After such a late night, I’m exhausted and want to go to bed early.

7:20 Scott asks for help with the dishes. He got a little behind on his duties and it’s not normally this bad.

7:30 All done with the dishes and we feed the dogs. I Facebook a picture of the dogs eating out of each other’s bowls. Tucker always cleans up after Bella and Bella always wants some of Tucker’s for dessert.

7:45 We go out to Cook Out for milkshakes. It’s been months since we’ve been there. I get Peanut Butter Fudge. Is there a better flavor? I think not.

8:15 We’re home and I give Bella a bath on her back end. The downside to long hair. We shoo the kids off to get their outfits for tomorrow and brush their teeth.

8:30 I lie down with each of the girls and read Stephen King’s On Writing as they read for school.

9:00 I come back out to my desk and finish this post while Scott plays Call of Duty.

9:26 Lexi comes out and says she wants me to lay with her again. I tell her I’ll check on her when I go to bed, which I hope isn’t long now. The pictures are giving me fits.

9:39 Emma comes out to say Lexi is already asleep in her bed. I tell her Daddy will come and move her in a little bit. He’s on the phone about work.

9:58 I finish this post, schedule it for tomorrow and head straight to bed. I’ll read some more On Writing and hopefully be out by 10:30.

Tomorrow will be entirely different as I have to go in the office for meetings and Wednesday even more different than that as Scott will be sleeping work off and we have small group out our house in the evening. With both mine and Scott’s fluctuating work schedule, it’s rare two days look just alike in a week but today was a pretty typical relaxed, work from home day.

What do your days look like?

The Bar

April 22, 2013 by Amy 10 Comments

Two months ago I put up a post To Bar or Not To Bar trying to determine if we should knock out a wall between our kitchen and dining room.

Most of you confirmed what we were thinking—to bar!

Here’s the before again:

So, Scott has spent the last two months making a bar out of this area.

Much of the time at the beginning was determining what we wanted to do. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out if I wanted all of that side wall gone or not.

Finally, Scott made the decision for me and took a hammer to the wall.

After we lived with it that way, I determined I just couldn’t handle it completely open. It was driving me crazy to walk in and see the side of the countertop. So, we decided on half a wall.

We also have spent much of the two months thinking we’d put another short cabinet back there with glass on both sides. However, after we talked to a cabinet maker we realized it was just too much money. Plus, the open wall let in so much light into the kitchen, we kind of liked it without one.

While the project didn’t take a lot of money, it sure did take a lot of Scott’s labor.

I’m a lucky gal to have a guy that can do all this himself.

So, let me introduce you to our new bar:

We are loving it SO MUCH. Even Lexi, our change-hater, has taken to it quickly. The girls use it to eat breakfast and do homework. When we have dinner guests, the kids sit there. We find that guests congregate around it and it’s opened the rooms up so much.

It’s one of those projects where you just shake your head and wonder why you didn’t do it years ago.

Twitterature – April 2013

April 19, 2013 by Amy 6 Comments

Joining with Modern Mrs. Darcy for her monthly link-up for books called Twitterature. The premise of this link-up is to share short, casual reviews of books we’ve been reading.

The past month has been busy as I finished up several books in one weekend and then started my Growth Plan which includes a ton of books.

I’m trying out a new gallery plugin to display the reviews–let me know what you think!

Pursued by Jud Wilhite

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Whether you consider yourself a “good girl” always striving to be perfect or a “bad girl” with a past, Pursued will remind you God wants you just as you are.

Just Outside the Circle

April 18, 2013 by Amy 27 Comments

A topic has been rumbling around way down deep for months now. I keep pushing off writing about it. It’s the raw stuff. The vulnerable details. The things that might make some people reading a tad uncomfortable.

This one is super long but worth unearthing.

Not Belonging

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In many small ways throughout my life, I have felt I didn’t belong.

Don’t get me wrong, I have an amazing family, both immediate and extended. Nothing was glaringly wrong. No one pushed me in a corner.

But along the way, there have been many times I felt just outside of some imaginary circle.

Let me give you some examples.

I was born in Maryland and my immediate family moved to the Carolinas when I was just three. For the rest of my life, I’ve always lived 8 hours away from my extended family. We would make the trek north at least twice a year for the rest of my life, even until now. My family is awesome. Truly awesome. I love every single person and there were only hugs and happiness when we returned. No one made me feel left out. But I did sometimes.

We were the family that lived in the south and the rest of them lived within miles of one another in the north.

When I was 7, my family moved from one town to another. While I did not want to move, I admit the transition was pretty smooth after we moved.

But still, I always had this nagging sense that all the kids had had a few years of bonding time that I didn’t.

In middle school and into high school, I had an awesome best friend and a great smaller circle of friends. I never, ever lacked friendship and for that I’m so thankful.

But I was in honors classes and many of “the cool kids” were in classes with me. Except I wasn’t in their group. Always with them but never part of them. Sure, they were nice to me. I never was made fun of or ostracized. They just weren’t my crew and I admit I always felt a little left out that they weren’t.

As a teenager, we traveled outside our town 30 minutes to a church in Charlotte. The youth group was large and we were heavily involved. I had good friends, even had a few boyfriends along the way. No one ever made me feel left out.

But still, there was only a handful of us that were from our out-of-state-suburb of Charlotte. I had little clue what students were talking about when they mentioned what schools they went to. I hardly knew road names or neighborhoods. While I look back with great fondness on my time there, I admit there were many times that I felt like an outsider coming to the group.

We attended Scott’s church when we were first married and I was the outsider coming in.

In college, I stayed off campus so I was always the one driving in and not really a part of the entire campus life.

Even at our church now, at times I’ve felt like the new kids coming in.

I don’t hold ANYONE responsible for the situations I was in or the feelings I had. They just were.

Not Just Me

I’m sure you’ve felt this before right? Just outside the circle?

Maybe you felt the same in high school.

Maybe now your friends all work and you stay at home.

Or, you’re just sure you’re missing out on all the cool birthday parties for your kids.

Or, everyone is having coffee in small groups that you’re not.

Or, you’re sure everyone else is in some Facebook blogging group you’re not.

The Lies

We all have an innate need to belong.

I was listening to a TED talk recently by Brene Brown and she talks about how a lack of belonging is at the root of shame and unworthiness.

I’ll tell you what. I had a light bulb moment.

These ideas that I don’t belong? Stink of lies from Satan.

All of those places where I questioned my belonging the most, were the most important, impactful relationships and circles.

My family.

My high school.

My university.

My church.

Looking back now, I truly believe these were Satan’s attempt to distract me, depress me and lead me into a less-than life.

Thankfully, I was spared any deep depression but how many interactions and relationships did I miss? How many hours did I spend second-guessing myself?

The Truth

As I look back now, I can see the bigger picture–the truth.

Now that we live in the same town as my husband’s extended family, I see that months, sometimes years, go by when we don’t see some of his family. Just because you’re within driving distance doesn’t magically give you a close relationship. I definitely belong and am close to my family even if they are hours away.

Even my kids that have been at the same school their whole lives go into every year only knowing 1, maybe 2 people in their class.

Everyone in high school feels left out at some point. Or more likely, at a lot of points. We were all just surviving the best we could.

No one in college has a standard experience I missed out on. Some lived on campus, some lived in apartments, others lived with parents, some lived with sororities. It was all different and living at home was just my experience.

Everyone came from all over the Charlotte area to youth group.

Not every single person, at any church I attended, were all “originals.” We all had our stories of how we got to the church. Even if they were, that didn’t mean they belonged more.

When I look now, I see myself not as an outsider, but a unique individual coming to the group–someone who brought a different experience and personality.

Oh, how I wish I had understood this to the full so many years ago.

I think it’s a total lie of Satan to tell us that we shouldn’t be there, that we aren’t deserving, that we don’t belong.

I’m no counselor or expert but I know so many people are dealing with depression and anxiety. Suicides continue. How many times is that related to feelings of isolation and lack of belonging—even if it isn’t true? I’d wager quite a few.

The truth is God puts us in certain places and then gives us certain people for certain seasons of life and he needs us in those places for the very reason that we’re different.

The truth is we aren’t the outsider destined to sit outside some circle. We just might have what it takes to be the missing piece to finish the puzzle.

The truth is there likely isn’t some secret inner circle and even if there is, we’re deserving of it–ALL of us are. We just might not be meant for that circle.

Sometimes we all just need to adjust the lens a bit on our situations and see the truth for the truth.

Give it a try—think back to some times you felt like you didn’t belong and try a new lens on.

Who was right in front of you trying to include you that you missed out on because you kept looking at that group over there?

What did you bring to the table that made you included because you’re unique, not an outsider because you’re different?

What was just a flat-out lie that you didn’t belong but you really did?

I want us all to learn to appreciate what’s right in front of us—to know we belong and are loved right where we are. All these feelings are just plain lies meant to steal the joy of now.

I can promise you this: you belong here. I pray for you. I write for you. I think about you all the time. You’re my here. You’re my now. And I’m so glad.

Have you ever felt outside the circle? How do you deal with these feelings?

What I Wore Wednesday 4.17.2013

April 17, 2013 by Amy 4 Comments

It’s Wednesday! I share my outfits from the week with The Pleated Poppy’s What I Wore Wednesday.

I pair my outfits with inspirational photos. Read more about that here.

NOTE: Pinterest has updated all of their embed code and I don’t have as much control over how the pins are displayed as I previously did. I wish I could make the pictures bigger and get rid of the footers and buttons on each one but I can’t. Apologies! Hopefully Pinterest will get some feedback soon from bloggers and make some updates!

Email and RSS readers are probably going to need to click over to the site to see it.

Another color combination I was trying out, inspired by one of our towels of all things. Still love that the colors are ultimately inspired by nature.

Simple spring outfit for lots of errands on Saturday.

My “date night” dress made a return appearance this week for church but with different shoes and cardigan.

I have my latest favorite accessory! Be sure to check out Monday’s post to get acquainted.

I just love that our grass is starting to turn green and flowers are blooming. The leaves on the trees are nearly lime green. I’m blessed not to have received bad allergies so I feel like I’m coming alive with weather. Much love to all of you that are sneezing and blowing their nose through the season.

Summer Garden 2013

April 16, 2013 by Amy 2 Comments

In case you weren’t around last year at this time, I planted my first summer garden.

People that know me well know that I do NOT have a green thumb. One year, Emma gave me a begonia for Mother’s Day and said Mom, do not kill this one!

Against all odds, the garden last year was wildly successful. It was one of my favorite adventures yet. If you want to catch up on some of the posts, check out the posts in the Gardening Category.

As a quick update from the last post there, my carrot seeds did grow through the winter and I just picked the last 6 or 8 carrots last week. So awesome being able to pick a carrot and use it a soup.

So, this weekend we planted this year’s summer garden.

It was a quick affair this time. The raised beds were done, the soil was in. I just weeded it a bit and turned the soil, adding a bit of peat moss. I have no idea if that’s what I was supposed to do or not—please don’t consider me an expert quite yet.

We went last Saturday morning and got $30 of starter plants—I only include the price so you can see how affordable it is compared to the amount of produce you receive once you have the initial beds ready.

We laid the plants out in their containers.

And then Emma and I planted them while Lexi opted to play photographer.

Bella helped where she could—mainly providing the cute factor.

And here is the official “before” picture for the year:

It’s hard to tell what’s what, so here is the layout:

Overall, I have less plants than last year. The garden was a jungle. I really would like to add a 3rd box next year.

What I added more: jalapeño peppers

What I cut back on: tomato and zucchini (holy tomatoes and zucchini, Batman!)

New things I’m trying: Grape tomatoes and cucumber

Things I didn’t bring back: Broccoli and lettuce, which I didn’t think had a great return on money for us.

My one concern for this year is that since last summer we replaced our fence with the 6’ privacy fence. Tucker kept jumping the 4’ picket fence. Tucker!

The back line which has all the tomato plants don’t get nearly as much sun so it will be interesting to see if they are as productive as last year.

I just can’t explain how awesome it was to see everything grow.

If you need some extra inspiration, be sure to check out this post where I talk about the film East of Eden. I might have to give it another viewing myself.

Overall, I’m super duper excited to see how it turns out again and highly suggest anyone to give it a try.

Do you garden? Have you planted yet?

Puppy Love

April 15, 2013 by Amy 18 Comments

The following events described in this post were unplanned, unexpected and unexplainable.

Y’all, I’m in absolute puppy love.

Which is weird because I am not the animal lover of the bunch—any bunch.

I mean, I love animals and they’re great but I’m usually more of tolerator than anything.

But the very second I saw this 8 week old Havanese puppy, something cosmic happened. Something like…love at first sight.

I’m sure you can’t blame me.

I brought her home Friday night—Scott and the girls didn’t even go with me. They’d seen her picture and were all for it if that’s what I wanted.

And I did.

I really wanted a dog that would keep me company while I worked at home.

And my goodness, if this keeps up, I’ll just die of cuteness overload.

She’s a feisty little thing when she wants to be.

And is just so darn happy.

She stays at my feet and follows me around like a shadow.

I was a little surprised but her and Tucker are getting along famously.

I admit, I like it a little too much that she annoys him more than he annoys her.

I love when she runs because she hops like a bunny more than runs.

She hasn’t quite mastered the stairs and I hope she never does.

The girls love her too. Emma is an absolute mommy figure to her.

And as the animal lover of our family, Lexi is head over heels.

I admit, I’m becoming one of THOSE dog owners.

We carried her around to all of our errands this weekend and I might have let the girls convince me to buy her a skirt.

And let her nap in a toy cradle.

So with that, I’d like you to meet the newest member of the family—Bella.

For good, bad, smelly or dirty, I just know she’s meant to be a Bennett.

A Video: Is There Someone Who Encourages Your Development?

April 12, 2013 by Amy Leave a Comment

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen last Friday where I posted I was working on a “creative presentation” for work.

Each year, our company takes a Gallup poll which attempts to measure our engagement at work with 12 questions. We have an offsite each year where 12 small groups present one of each of the 12 questions to explain it and make sure everyone understands what the poll is asking.

This year, the groups were tasked with bringing some creativity to the presentation. No PowerPoints allowed.

My group’s question was “Is there someone at work who encourages your development?”

We concentrated on the effects of positive and negative chatter in the workplace. So, inspired by how Emma and Lexi film skits all the time with their Barbies, we wrote a skit and performed it using the girls’ Happy Family figurines.

We had a really, really fun time putting it together.

The bloopers after the credits are my favorite. And you have to know that the bobblehead that makes an appearance at the end is an actual bobblehead of our manager that is passed out for awards yearly. It was icing on the cake. Also, the Town Hall is a big meeting we have twice a year for updates and recognitions (but no cell signal in the room).

What I really wish I had video of is when I played the video for Emma and Lexi and they giggled seeing us perform with their toys.

And yes, Tucker is the one responsible for Greg’s gnawed off hand and foot.

On a serious note, I couldn’t help but walk away thinking about how applicable this is to our families. Your spouse and children will be more engaged when you are feeding them with encouragement and take an interest in their development. Stop the negative chatter and be that positive influence!

Happy Friday, ya’ll!