So how was that Rainy Day fun for you all?? Did you enjoy it? As I said before, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the rain, and was so sad to see it disappear yesterday. Today it is beautiful and sunny, and although that’s wonderful too, I really do miss those rainy days and wish it would continue for just a little while longer.

Anyway, our winner…

In case you are wondering how I get these winners, I count up all the entries. Sometimes I do blog first, then facebook, or sometimes the other way around, but then I imput them into the random.org and then count back up the way I counted the first time. Sound confusing? Well, it kinda is. ha. But just trust me on this, it does work.

So the winner this time was:

GASP…Food Friday?!? YES!!

Well, I promise this was done yesterday, but we went to Brandon’s Auntie’s house for dessert and didn’t get home until really late, so I went straight to bed instead of posting. Shame, shame I know.

But yes, I am going to do my best to keep up with Food Friday. I realized something about myself last week when I was writing down my schedule… I am used to cooking very time consuming meals. My mom is an AMAZING cook {all my friends who know her I sure will agree}, she seriously cooks gourmet. All of her meals are very time consuming and she has very little “quick” recipes. As a teen, I learned to cook this way and its very normal for me, but now as a working mom, I’m realizing that I can’t cook like that anymore. That doesn’t mean that my meals have to be unappetizing either, however. Tonight I have big plans to sit on the internet and come up with some great meals that I can make and have on the table in 45 mins or less. I’ll pass along to you all what I find!

Also, with that being said, I really, really love the idea of a particular meal/style being served each night as some of you suggested. That is a great idea and something I think I will be using for sure. I’m hoping to have my “meal plan” working by Monday so I can shop accordingly on Monday.

Anyway, our dinner last night was NOT exciting. Brandon had a men’s service he was at and we had Auntie Rachel’s house to get to, so it was quick and used only items I had in the frig. In the morning I pulled out some steaks and let them defrost and then boiled some spinach and pasta and wah-lah! ha

I use the George Foreman grill for everything! Do you have one?

Hi all!

So it’s pouring down rain here. Lots of wind and very, very wet. I LOVE IT. I adore being home, listening to the rain and the wind and just thank God for taking care of us like He does. Of course, I am completely aware that rain is not always fun. When I was teaching, rainy days were DREADED as we would be in the classroom almost all day with no break, and the poor kids, that’s just rough to be that confined for 6 hours in one day.

Anyway, since I work from home now, I love it. Here’s what my front porch looks like…lots of puddles.

Hello all. I know, I know, I’m on a blogging roll. Don’t get too excited, just when I get geared up and off and running, I poop out for a couple weeks. So expect an absence coming up shortly. ha. 

Anyway, I want to mention a huge thank you once again to all of my kind friends who commented on the “Can Not” post. I also appreciate those of you who read the post and texted or called me. That really meant so much to me. I love you guys and really appreciate your love and support, but especially your honesty as many of you have felt the same way and it feels so good to know that. 

Sometime yesterday I was going through my emails and I came across an email blast from Baby Center advertising THIS ARTICLE on their website. I don’t normally read these email blasts as they come to my old email account and to be honest, I get so many blasts from so many companies in that account I tend to just end up ignoring most of them. In fact, I think I have 4,000 emails in that account that I need to clean up! ha. Oh boy, I digress as usual.

Anyway, the headline in the email blast really caught my attention: “Life Made Easier, Real Mom Tips”. Sheesh who doesn’t want an easier life?!? So I skipped over and read the article and boy did I get me thinking. I was still thinking about it last night as I went to bed and told Brandon about it, and this morning when I woke up I had a good talk with the Lord regarding it.

The article deals with a schedule and how to stay organized. I found it very interesting as Amber Gilliam {who was my first commenter on the Can Not post} talked about how she, “Schedules, prioritizes and organizes” and that really caught my attention since I can’t really say I am very good at that. In fact, I am coming to find out that I have a slight {ok maybe giant} fear of commitment {which explains why it took me forever to decide to marry Brandon, but again, I digress}. I don’t like to be “boxed in” in any way, shape or form. I like things to flow and, as Sam Hassas described me perfectly during one of our photo shoots, “fly by the seat of my pants”. I really love the feeling that I am able to pull things together without much planning. But we all know that NEVER helps us be successful and get us anywhere.

I find it very interesting that I choose to be a teacher as planning and schedules are the first thing you are required to do. But even then, I did mine in pencil so I could erase and change at will. Not sure why that made me feel so much better, but allowing for change is a MUST in my life. With that being said however, I have to give myself some credit. I DO have a schedule. And I DO have a way of organizing. You can read that HERE.  It’s just been a while since I’ve tweaked it, especially since Evy’s Tree is a little more well oiled and sustainable at this point, now I need to focus on me and my family so I don’t have to have a “Can Not” weekend again. You feel me?

So I am going to share my schedule with you and I would LOVE if you would share yours in the comment section.  What areas do you feel you are good at, what do you need to improve? Do you work?  Or maybe work from home like me? I’m interested in how you make it all work! After reading the Baby Center email, I realized I lack in one huge area: Food Preparation. In fact, I haven’t been doing much cooking at all, mainly because I don’t want to smell up the house and send out stinky hoodies {even though they are mostly in the garage and in bins, I do worry about that} and also because I am so tired by the time dinner time comes around, we end up eating take out or something VERY easy, like mac and cheese. Ugh. I hate that. 

NOTE: this is the “ideal” schedule. As all schedules are, its very fluid and can change a lot. Just want to mention that ha. 

6:30 AM: Brandon’s alarm goes off. We get up somewhere between 6:30-7 depending on the day.

7:00 -7:30AM: Wake Jake up for school. While Brandon is showering, I dress Jake, get him fed and make his and Evy’s lunch. He is waiting by the door usually by 7:30 ish.

7:35ish: Brandon and Jake leave. Brandon takes him to the church and Jake stays there for a bit until its time for Brandon to run him to school.

7:30-8:30: I pray, read my Bible, eat, exercise {if I have time, must work that in better!!} empty dishwasher, make bed.

8:30 Evy up. While she eats, I take a shower and dress {sometimes. ha. Sometimes I take her to sitters in my PJs if she isn’t cooperating and then shower when I get home. }

9:00 leave for sitters. Drop Evy off.

9:30 Start work. Jen, and now Sarah as well, are usually here by 9 and start without me.

12:30 PM- 1:00PM Brandon picks Jake up from school and comes home for a quick lunch.

1:45 PM Jake and I pick up Evy from Sitters.

2:00 PM  Kelsey arrives and starts organizing inventory, ruffling, or cutting. Naptime for both kids. I usually have to lay down with Jake to get him to settle down. This takes about 20 mins. Team works without me.

2:30 PM Kelsey and I keep working.

4:00 PMish. Kids up from nap, give snack, start a video, usually Leap Frog as its educational and I like that.

**NOTE: This is when I should start dinner. I do not. I usually keep working. MUST WORK ON THAT!!

5:30 PM Brandon comes home from work. I scramble for food {see, not good. }

6:30 PM Kelsey leaves, we eat dinner.

7:00 PM bathtime. Brandon bathes the kids while I clean up the kitchen area.

7:30- 8:00 or 8:30 PM: Play with kids. Maybe watch a video, color, or just connect. If Jake has really destroyed his room that day, we spend that hour cleaning it. ALL of us. ha. Even Evy.

8:30-9:00 Bedtime. Evy goes RIGHT to sleep, Jake comes out  A LOT for random things. 

9:00- 10:30 or11:00 PM- Adult time. Usually we spend the first 30 minutes cleaning up the living room and I’ll clean the factory really good and maybe vacuum. Sometimes we do laundry or just sit and return emails together. Yes, we live a charmed life. HA. 

10:30 PM- I really try to be in bed by 10:30, but sometimes it’s 11. 

1. Menu planning on the weekend. I think if Brandon and I could sit down and plan the entire evening meals for the week on Friday, when I shop I could be more organized and then it wouldn’t be such a stress to make things at the last minute.

2. Bedtime. It’s very hard for us, as youth pastors especially, to get to bed early. Brandon is NOT a early to bed kind of guy, and I have to confess that I really love the quiet of the evening hours while the kids are sleeping. When we have youth functions, its just too hard for us to move things around for the kids, so its better to keep our schedules a bit more open in the evenings. With that being said, I’d really like to shoot for 10:30 bedtime. I think I would be popping out of bed at 6:30 instead of dragging!!

3. Exercise. I would like to try to make more room for it. 

So anyway, I’m interested in your schedule and how you make it work. Would you please give me a quick breakdown of your day? It doesn’t need to be long and drawn out. {Ahem, AMBER GILLIAM please reply. haha.} I’m super interested in how you all prioritize, etc. 

xoxo 

My number one reason why I am not able to do everything…..I am too busy cleaning up after this one

Sometimes there are just no words. Especially on a day like today.

Right now my son is in his room. Due to his horrible behavior when I was trying to drop him off at the babysitters this morning, he will spend quite some time there. My head is pounding and my throat hurts. My house is a wreck and I have gobs to do today. I am so very tired. 

And I feel like a huge failure.

Have you ever felt that way?? I especially felt that way this past weekend and the beginning of this week. If you read yesterdays post then you know I had to make a quick trip up to Santa Rosa at the last minute. The reason why is not really necessary to discuss, but even that reason is enough to make me feel frustrated and very alone. 

And the worst part about having to go up for the weekend is that I had a very big weekend planned here at home. I had one thing after another that needed to be tended to. My nephew’s first birthday, my other nephew’s church dedication, a tea with my pastors wife, an appointment with a customer, shipments that needed to be sent. They were all canceled at the last minute. Some of the people where understanding. Some were not. 

That made me feel worse. 

I found this on this beautiful blog that you should check out…

Hi all! So sorry I’ve been MIA this past several days. ‘Course I’m sure many of you are SUPER glad to not read my gazillion FB updates, yes?!? ha. 

No, seriously, I had a very minor issue that had to be dealt with up at my parents in Santa Rosa, so I have been there since Thursday evening, and just returned home LATE last night. You can read more about this HERE. 

Anyway, due to the craziness from the weekend and the fact that my parents have horrible internet service, I am just now catching up with everything I need to do. I’m so sorry for the delay, if you were one waiting for an email or response. Hang in there, I’m responding as fast as I can, I promise!  

On to the winner of the Diana Wrap:

Ok, I have to say, Amber winning this is pretty funny….just while I was adding up all the comments and putting them in the random.org generator, she put this comment on the Evy’s Tree facebook wall:

….was one of those crazy weekends. Brandon was scheduled to be speaking at a youth workers conference this weekend down in L.A. The kids and I had hoped to go along with him, but some things came up and so at the last minute {literally…like 10:30 PM Thurs eve}, I drove up to my parents, while Brandon left at 5 AM Friday for L.A.

I haven’t discussed it much on this blog, but my Dad is not in good health. And then on top of his health issues, he tore his Achilles Tendon last winter and is now wearing a boot and is using crutches waiting for it to heal. He’s had a rough couple of months. I hope to do a blog post regarding my dad and his health issues later this week or the beginning of next. Please keep him in your prayers…although his issues are not life threatening, they are life changing and it has been very hard for him to adjust to a “new” way of life. Not to mention how difficult it is for the rest of us who have to watch him deal with some of the frustrating issues popping up. 

Anyway, one of the things that “popped” up this weekend {not the most important or major issue, but by far the most exciting}, is that my dad’s little acer notebook that he had been using to browse the internet somehow blew up. A couple years ago when my brother Brad was home for a visit, he helped my dad get all set up with the internet and taught him how to use a computer for the first time in his life. I’m sure it was no easy feat as my dad has NEVER touched anything electronic outside of a cell phone or his answering machine and feels they are VERY confusing. ha. Well, he’s been addicted ever since and pretty much lost it when he realized his computer was a goner. So guess what I spent most of the weekend working on?

Right.

Brandon and I have been telling him for months that he needed an ipad. The simplicity of it would be so good for him, we thought. Once I heard that his computer blew, and that I was going to be helping him fix the problem, I called my brother Jeff and asked him what he thought about me introducing Dad to Apple products, specifically the ipad? Of course! was his reply. So I gave my dad my ipad and told him to play around on it. Oh boy, you would have thought he had been attacked by ninja warriors as he was so freaked out by it. So the ipad was nixed. 

So you can imagine my frustration after spending approximately 5 hours driving down to Best Buy and buying the new little acer, hooking it up, calling India to fix the internet connection and doing a little tutorial explaining how to use it to my Dad, when he spent about 10 mins on it and said he didn’t like it. It was confusing. They had changed the keyboard and he couldn’t find anything. He felt like the mouse wasn’t working…blah blah. Guess what he decided he wanted?!?

Yup. An ipad.

And guess who had to go stand in line for one on Sunday morning at 8 am? Right, me. While my dad sat comfortably on the mall bench with his crutches I waited in line and chatted it up with the rest of the desperate crazy people.

Hello all! I hope you are having a wonderful St. Patrick’s day! I myself, am not Irish, and don’t really celebrate the holiday all that much, but every holiday is a great excuse to have some fun over at Evy’s Tree…

Do you agree?

So…are you on our email list and did you receive something that looks like this?

If not, you need to be, as I just sent out a coupon code for 17% off the entire Evy’s Tree store! The sale lasts until Saturday, March 19, so you better shop soon to enjoy the savings!

Not on our email list? No worries, just comment below with your email, or send a request to info@evystree.com and we’ll get you set up and the email sent out to you today.

Hope you all have a fabulous St. Patty’s Day! 

xoxo

You might remember a while back I did something called “Tell A Friend Tuesday” on facebook. It worked really well for a while, but during the summer it lost steam and I gave up on it. ha. Well, its the truth. 

Well, now with my plan to get Evy’s Tree name out there as best as I can, we are going to do “Tell A Friend” once a week for the next several months. It’s pretty much the same idea as the Tell a Friend Tuesday, except instead of it lasting one day, it will last several days, depending on my mood. The contest will go here on the blog and on facebook, but there will only be one prize as I will combine all the comments together and choose from them all. 

So this week I had planned on giving away something that involved a Mrs. Darcy brooch, but if you follow Monica, you will know that her 32 year old sister in law, Kelly, has been diagnosed with cancer in her liver and her colon. It has been a horribly difficult time for Monica as she is extremely close to Kelly. With this in mind, Monica has closed her shop for the next couple of weeks, to be there for the family and help everyone get through this difficult time, as Kelly and her husband, Steve, have two beautiful kiddos, Micah and Mia. I know many of you have been praying for Kelly, and that means the world to Monica. 

Anyway, with that in mind, we will have a Mrs Darcy giveaway at a later time. 

I think you will be just as happy with this week’s giveaway, however, since I have had many people comment on this item…This week I will be giving away a Diana Wrap of your color choice {that I have in stock that is }