Chances are, you don't subscribe to every single status update I make on Facebook. (And depending on the day, it could be many, or it could be 1.) So I figured rather than giving you this elaborate update on my life as of right now, I would just give you a look at my day today. Then maybe you'll get a small idea of what I'm up to. ;)
*6:45am the alarm went off.
*7:30am I crawled out of bed. (Yes, I snooze for 45 minutes.)
*Between 7:30am and 8:45am-ish, I got ready for work. (Yea, I have an awesome job now!)
*9am - 3:30pm Worked at my awesome Production Assistant job for a successful Christian magazine. (Think Devil Wears Prada, minus the clothes and mean, ridiculous boss. OK...it's nothing like Devil Wears Prada. But it's fun! And it keeps me busy. Every day I'm working so hard that I look down at my clock and realize I was supposed to go home 10 minutes ago! That's. Awesome.)
*4pm I made my way home to kiss my hubs and snuggle my kitten. (Worked late today.)
*4:30pm - 6pm-ish I donned my "Small Business Owner's Cap" and returned client emails for Paint Hope. I went back and forth with the print shop trying to get an order right (only to find out I just wasn't counting properly..doh!). I got a call for another print order so I frantically scrambled to add that to my already existing, complicated order. (I'm seriously going to bake the guy at the print shop some cookies or a cake or something because he is so patient with me! Everyone say a nice prayer of blessing for Daniel tonight. That boy works hard!)
*6pm - 7pm I donned my "Housewife Cap" and figured out the finances. Called the school to find out when we can expect our financial aid, etc. Figured out bills and quietly rejoiced because we are finally paying our bills. I know that sounds so weird...but after months of squeaking by on a prayer, we are finally able to pay our bills. (Even after we had a tire blow on my car yesterday and we had to replace both back tires.) Tomorrow will be the first time we pay rent on time, I think, this year. Prayers of thanks and rejoicing went up in our house today. :) I'm looking forward to when Aaron gets a job too so we can start getting ahead.
*7pm - 8pm We splurged and ordered some Chinese from the local restaurant. I was pretty proud of myself for only eating less than half the meal and drinking water with dinner. Baby steps friends, baby steps.
*8pm - 8:30pm We got things in order to get ready to run. (That's right, I run now. ;)) I recently spent some *precious* money on some good running shoes. Half my battle with working out is wearing the right shoes. I've always just purchased the cheap shoes from Walmart or something, but every single time I get blisters or they dig into my ankles and it makes exercising impossible and extremely painful. So finally we went and got some decent running shoes.
*8:30 pm - 9:15pm We went running in the nice breeze (thanks, thunderstorm, for the cold front) and then stretched and did some sit ups and such. It felt so good to get out there and actually run...even if I had to stop and walk a few times. For my first time trying to run a lot, I am really proud of myself. I started the Couch25K program, but 2 minutes of running just didn't feel like enough. I knew I could go more so tonight I figured I would just try. It was awesome.
*9:15pm - 10:45pm I baked cookies for the women's mentoring luncheon at work tomorrow and worked on a few other things (like this blog).
*11pm - *12am I'm hoping to be in bed, ready to pass out!
So there you have it...a day in the life. Unfortunately this doesn't even give a snapshot of my other days where I literally have things back to back. (Like yesterday with my 7am photo shoot before work plus all my other odd and end things I do during a week. Now that you've seen a snippet of my week, I hope you can understand if I haven't had a chance to, you know, hang out or even call or text. Most days after work I'm doing homework to try to keep up with my 4 classes. 2 of my classes end on the 17th of June so I'm trying to hang on as long as I can to finish these intensive ones and then I'll have a little more free time. And by little, I mean none (as opposed to absolutely none). ;)
Hopefully you are doing well and having a happy summer! (I can officially say that now, I think.)
xo,
~N
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Recipe: Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie
Just typing that title out was a mouthful! But when you finally get a mouthful of this delicious smoothie, you won't even mind a bit. ;)
I made this smoothie this morning and it was absolutely delicious! I also love smoothies because it's such an easy way to "sneak" things into your day without even realizing it. ;)
Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothie (the way I made it):
2 cups milk (though you could use almond or soy milk)
1.5 cups oatmeal (I used two individual packets of regular and 2 packets of blueberry oatmeal, uncooked)
2 bananas
10-14 strawberries
1 tbsp local honey
2 tbsp Chia seeds (love these!!! Sneaky sneaky ;))
4 capsules of Echinacea (opened and powder dumped for extra immune system support. Sneaky sneaky! ;))
You could add anything you want to! If I would have had some spinach, I would have added that. Also, I don't like mine too sweet, so I only added 2 tbsp of honey; you could add either vanilla extract or sugar or more honey if you want. Just add all the ingredients together and blend to perfection! I like mine cold so I poured it over ice and drank it with a straw. You could blend the ice right into it if you want. My husband was sleeping, so I didn't want to wake him. :)
Here are some photos from my smoothie-making process this morning.
Our awesome Hamilton Beach blender we got as a wedding gift. Love this guy!
Yummy!
Using local honey. The Wildflower Mix has honeycombs right in it!
Chia seeds. My new best friend. They are supposed to aid in weight loss as well as many other awesome health benefits (like lowering blood pressure!).
All photos were taken on my android phone with the Camera FV app (free in the android market!) and edited with Pixlr-o-matic (Also free! Filter: Bob, Frame: Scrap).
I'm not usually a fan of "liquid breakfast" but it was nice to drink this yummy smoothie and reduce my normal breakfast by half. (1 egg, 1 turkey bacon, 1 toast)
Let me know if you end up trying this! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)
Have a great day!
~Nikki
Sunday, May 13, 2012
From the Heart of a "Wannabe Mom"
Happy Mother's Day!
I have taken time today to reflect on all my moms (Momma Mary, Momma Kim, and Mama B.) and have decided that just saying, "Thanks" isn't quite enough. We stand on our mothers' shoulders. We run because they walked. It is no easy task to mother...and my respect for them has probably tripled over the years. I am honored and grateful to be blessed with three beautiful mothers!
That said, I want to address the hearts of the hurting. I want to speak into the lives of the women who have lost babies, or haven't been able to conceive yet. You may or may not know that my husband and I have been trying to conceive for about 6 months now. I haven't been able to (yet). While I know and trust that God has a plan for my family (not to mention promises He's going to fulfill), it doesn't make days like today any easier. In fact, today was the hardest Mother's Day of all for me.
You see, Wednesday I had myself convinced that I was pregnant. Everything lined up. I even giggled at the idea that bananas were making me sick lately. Surely that's a pregnancy thing, right? Wrong. So very painfully wrong. I also made the grave mistake of psyching myself up and thinking, "It could be my first Mother's Day as a mom this year!" After the single pink line showed up on my test (again), I knew I would move through another Mother's Day without the joy of knowing I was finally a Mom.
I had a photography gig at my husband's former church this morning so we decided to sit in on the service. I did my best to prepare my heart for yet another "Celebrate Mom" sermon, but still found myself fighting bitterness in my heart. I was shocked by the contents of today's message.
It was about Hannah, the childless woman.
With tears in my eyes I sat up straight, cocked my head up at God, and started to wonder just what He had up His sleeve for me at that moment. Surely it was no coincidence I was sitting right there in that seat, on that very morning, in a church that decided to talk to childless mothers instead.
Tears threatened to spill over as I listened to the lady preacher tell the story of a determined Hannah. Hannah was married to a man who had another wife with lots of children, but Hannah could not conceive. She was constantly tormented by the husband's other wife...to the point of extreme agony and weeping. But the difference between Hannah and me is that Hannah prayed. Fervently. I find myself just yelling at God instead. I find myself shouting at Him about how unfair it is. Why has He given me this desire if He's just going to keep it from me?! He's surely the only One that can make it happen.
In the story (found in 1 Samuel 1:1) it says that God had closed her womb (vs. 6). It feels like God has closed my womb. And not only had God closed her womb, but her rival, the other wife, decided to make her life a living hell because of it. How much can one woman take?!
I find myself asking God that constantly. How much do you think I can take?! The accuser comes to poke at my wound over...and over...and over, until finally I cry bitterly and weep in agony. One more negative test. One more person that says, "It's OK, you can adopt!" While these kinds of comments are said in love, they are received with pain. I am certain these folks who have beautiful children of their own do not realize the cost involved with adoption. It always sounds so nice...so good. But it costs a small fortune to adopt a child. Do we want to try one day? Absolutely. Can we do that anytime soon? No way.
So my desiring mother's heart waits some more. Like Hannah, who waited so long for her sweet little boy to come into the world. But see, it wasn't about Hannah...or Samuel. It was about an entire nation that was waiting for that boy to come into the world to help save them. Any sooner and the opportunity wouldn't have been ready. Any later and he would have missed it. But no, God's timing is perfect.
My challenge to your bitter heart is to let go and let God. I know it hurts. I know what the doctors have said. I know the pain and the agony you're feeling. I may have only been trying for 6 months...but this has been my dream since I was old enough to understand what being a mother meant. I've waited forever for this. In fact, my dear friend Janie and I used to joke that I was going to "birth a nation." :) Let's band together...let's trust together. Let's remember that the timing is not about us. Like Hannah, let's commit our children to the Lord. Let's cry out to Him and wrestle with our flesh to touch His beautiful heart. When we pray, bitterness will leave us. And if it doesn't, pray yourself through it until all the bitterness is gone and all that remains is peace.
I needed this message today. I needed Hope today. And because I know there are so many of you dealing with this very real, unspoken hurt, I wanted to share it with you. God has not forgotten us. And I truly believe that God included the story of Hannah to show us that it's OK to be disappointed. It's OK when it hurts. Just don't forget where to go when that hurt comes. When you cut yourself and blood is dripping everywhere, you don't wait to get a band-aid and some Neosporin. When our hearts hurt, we can't wait to have them healed. We have to go to the Great Physician. We have to lay at His feet and weep. We have to grieve that very real loss. Trying to make it "go away" isn't going to do anything for us. He is the only One who can make us feel better.
Those of you with little babies already, snuggle them close for us. Kiss their cheeks and smell their hair for us. Don't neglect even one precious moment with your little ones because those moments will go away one day and all that will be left is your memories. And if you need a break, those of us with Hopeful Mommy Hearts will gladly babysit for a little while. :)
Here's to trusting God's plan over our own...
~Nikki
Love this:
I have taken time today to reflect on all my moms (Momma Mary, Momma Kim, and Mama B.) and have decided that just saying, "Thanks" isn't quite enough. We stand on our mothers' shoulders. We run because they walked. It is no easy task to mother...and my respect for them has probably tripled over the years. I am honored and grateful to be blessed with three beautiful mothers!
That said, I want to address the hearts of the hurting. I want to speak into the lives of the women who have lost babies, or haven't been able to conceive yet. You may or may not know that my husband and I have been trying to conceive for about 6 months now. I haven't been able to (yet). While I know and trust that God has a plan for my family (not to mention promises He's going to fulfill), it doesn't make days like today any easier. In fact, today was the hardest Mother's Day of all for me.
You see, Wednesday I had myself convinced that I was pregnant. Everything lined up. I even giggled at the idea that bananas were making me sick lately. Surely that's a pregnancy thing, right? Wrong. So very painfully wrong. I also made the grave mistake of psyching myself up and thinking, "It could be my first Mother's Day as a mom this year!" After the single pink line showed up on my test (again), I knew I would move through another Mother's Day without the joy of knowing I was finally a Mom.
I had a photography gig at my husband's former church this morning so we decided to sit in on the service. I did my best to prepare my heart for yet another "Celebrate Mom" sermon, but still found myself fighting bitterness in my heart. I was shocked by the contents of today's message.
It was about Hannah, the childless woman.
With tears in my eyes I sat up straight, cocked my head up at God, and started to wonder just what He had up His sleeve for me at that moment. Surely it was no coincidence I was sitting right there in that seat, on that very morning, in a church that decided to talk to childless mothers instead.
Tears threatened to spill over as I listened to the lady preacher tell the story of a determined Hannah. Hannah was married to a man who had another wife with lots of children, but Hannah could not conceive. She was constantly tormented by the husband's other wife...to the point of extreme agony and weeping. But the difference between Hannah and me is that Hannah prayed. Fervently. I find myself just yelling at God instead. I find myself shouting at Him about how unfair it is. Why has He given me this desire if He's just going to keep it from me?! He's surely the only One that can make it happen.
In the story (found in 1 Samuel 1:1) it says that God had closed her womb (vs. 6). It feels like God has closed my womb. And not only had God closed her womb, but her rival, the other wife, decided to make her life a living hell because of it. How much can one woman take?!
I find myself asking God that constantly. How much do you think I can take?! The accuser comes to poke at my wound over...and over...and over, until finally I cry bitterly and weep in agony. One more negative test. One more person that says, "It's OK, you can adopt!" While these kinds of comments are said in love, they are received with pain. I am certain these folks who have beautiful children of their own do not realize the cost involved with adoption. It always sounds so nice...so good. But it costs a small fortune to adopt a child. Do we want to try one day? Absolutely. Can we do that anytime soon? No way.
So my desiring mother's heart waits some more. Like Hannah, who waited so long for her sweet little boy to come into the world. But see, it wasn't about Hannah...or Samuel. It was about an entire nation that was waiting for that boy to come into the world to help save them. Any sooner and the opportunity wouldn't have been ready. Any later and he would have missed it. But no, God's timing is perfect.
My challenge to your bitter heart is to let go and let God. I know it hurts. I know what the doctors have said. I know the pain and the agony you're feeling. I may have only been trying for 6 months...but this has been my dream since I was old enough to understand what being a mother meant. I've waited forever for this. In fact, my dear friend Janie and I used to joke that I was going to "birth a nation." :) Let's band together...let's trust together. Let's remember that the timing is not about us. Like Hannah, let's commit our children to the Lord. Let's cry out to Him and wrestle with our flesh to touch His beautiful heart. When we pray, bitterness will leave us. And if it doesn't, pray yourself through it until all the bitterness is gone and all that remains is peace.
I needed this message today. I needed Hope today. And because I know there are so many of you dealing with this very real, unspoken hurt, I wanted to share it with you. God has not forgotten us. And I truly believe that God included the story of Hannah to show us that it's OK to be disappointed. It's OK when it hurts. Just don't forget where to go when that hurt comes. When you cut yourself and blood is dripping everywhere, you don't wait to get a band-aid and some Neosporin. When our hearts hurt, we can't wait to have them healed. We have to go to the Great Physician. We have to lay at His feet and weep. We have to grieve that very real loss. Trying to make it "go away" isn't going to do anything for us. He is the only One who can make us feel better.
Those of you with little babies already, snuggle them close for us. Kiss their cheeks and smell their hair for us. Don't neglect even one precious moment with your little ones because those moments will go away one day and all that will be left is your memories. And if you need a break, those of us with Hopeful Mommy Hearts will gladly babysit for a little while. :)
Here's to trusting God's plan over our own...
~Nikki
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