Menu and other stuff

Just Kidding.

I don't cook during soccer season. Ok. I do. Some. But not a lot. Here is why:

Monday: Josh practices until 5:30, meaning he gets home at 6:00. I teach piano lessons until 5:00. (ok, so I usually cook something easy on Mondays. Last night it was hamburgers)

Tuesday: soccer game (I don't think there is a Tuesday during soccer season where we don't have a game). We are usually home by 9:30

Wednesday: I pick Owen up after work around 5:00 and we have youth group at 6:00 (Owen is going to Puggles this year!)

Thursday: I teach piano until 5:45 and Josh has a game at 6:00. (again, we are usually home by 9:30)

Friday: I really, really should cook on Friday. All throughout our marriage its something we've kind of gotten away from. But in light of our crazy schedules throughout the fall, I'm going to try a lot harder to cook. Usually we get together with friends or just completely veg out on Friday nights.....but we'll see.

Saturday: Ok. I can cook on Saturday too....some Saturdays Josh will have tournaments, but not all.

Sunday: I can cook here too.

So...its not completely impossible, it just seems hard. Especially during the week. I'm going to try and concentrate on making the weekend meals a bit more consistently. I have majorly slacked off on trying new recipes. Anyone have anything good they want to send my way? :-) I'm looking forward to cooler weather for reasons such as chili, chicken corn chowder, chicken tortilla soup and CORNBREAD. OH YA BABY. Lovin' that stuff. Although it will probably be ninety degrees until November. I can't complain really. We've had a very mild summer. I'm just ready for fall the day kids go back to school. I even got my pumpkin candle out last night and I'm trying to figure out when I get out my fall decor. I'll try and hold off until mid-September but I make no promises!

Other Stuff:

I've started a new work schedule. I love it. Instead of working a half day every Friday, I am working all day every OTHER Friday. So every other week I only work two days. Its fantastic really. Every other week I have five days off in a row (including the weekend, but still, its good).

I still really enjoy the balance of being at home a few days, and being in the office a few days. I never thought I would be a part-time working mom, but I find that it suits me well. However, I'm continuing to pick up more piano students, which may allow me to only work from home eventually....maybe. I'm not sure that's what I want. We'll see. And then I keep thinking about going back to school.....ugggh. I just don't know. Josh is done with classes for the most part, so technically its my turn. Again, we'll see :-)

With the return of school, comes the return of routine. I like it. Most of our days are nicely scheduled. I'm back to doing spinning classes at the gym with a friend (YAY!), Josh and I are working with the Senior Highers at College Park again (we are actually co-leading together, how great is that....all I have to say is that God is GOOD!), and our small group will start back up here at the beginning of September.

Its times like these....when I sit back and think about all we are able to do, and how full our life is that I just feel very blessed. Blessed to walk through the hard times, blessed to have Owen, blessed to have a future and a hope....blessed to just LIVE and to be a family.

Oh, and Owen is great. Sometimes his cuteness overwhelms me. I'm blanking on examples of specific cuteness, but every day he does something and I just am thinking "My kid is great. How did I get so lucky? Is everyone's kid so stinkin' funny?....." and yah....you get the idea. I'm cherishing the days where I can ask for a kiss and still get one (we actually play a game where he runs from me and then comes back and kisses me...its wonderful!).....and I'm rocking him at night every time he will let me, and I'm rubbing his back every night when he asks me....and oh yah, "Momma, I hold you"....means, "Momma, please hold me" and you can pretty much know that everytime he says this, he is gonna get held. Yep. How much longer do I have before he isn't little and Josh and I aren't his world anymore? I dont' know. I don't think about it anymore. I'm just living in the present. Because God gives enough grace for tomorrow....and tomorrow isn't here yet.

We just finished a series at College Park on "How to Kill Relationships and Irritate People". It was very, very good. If you are so inclined, go take a listen. The sermons are online. I've linked to the church's website on the title of the series. We talked about Pride, Anger, Living with Unresloved Conflict and The Tongue (words).....and I found something that needed fixing in my life in every sermon. (darn it, and I thought I was getting close to perfect by now!) I don't know what else to say....except that (and I say it all of the time) but I just love our church. After moving back to Indianapolis, I knew College Park is where I wanted to attend because of Kimber Kauffman. I had listened to him on the radio enough to know that his teaching was something we shouldn't miss. We got to sit under his preaching for two years before he resigned, and I never, ever believed that I would love a Pastor as much as I loved Kimber....but Mark Vroegop (College Park's new Lead Pastor) is really in the running. :-) Now.....if we could only get people to attend business meetings and work in the nursery things would be perfect! (ha ha!) All that being said...if you are in Indy, and you are looking for a place to worship....God is DOING THINGS at College Park...He is changing lives and bringing people to Himself.....of course its not a perfect place....and you might be frustrated because there aren't a lot of extra parking places and services are overcrowded, but if you can get beyond the details that need improving, you will most likely have your socks blessed off. Ok. Soapbox on my church is over.

I think that's about it. I need to put pictures on here, but honestly we haven't taken a lot lately. I'll try and fix that. Just know that Owen is as cute as ever....and he recently got a haircut making him look about 18 years old and I can't stand it....I'm keeping his curls next time!

This post is way too long to comment on, but hopefully my family is satisfied enough with this to know that we are alive, we are busy, but we are happy :-) Happy (almost) Fall!