lessons learned...

For my last semester in college (a student teaching internship) I came back home to Midland. This is where I had grown up and where I swore I would NEVER live again. However, God had other plans and knew what was best for me.
When I moved back home, I moved in to the old room I had before college, (and during on random weekends- used mostly for catching up on sleep.) I loved my house. I loved being home... for a season. It was during this season that I learned many life long lessons that I will never forget. I thought I would take a minute today to share some of them.


Lesson 1: Look around... don't be spontaneous
I began my teaching career in January of 2006. The weather was beautiful. I was turning 23. I still lived with mom and dad but, hey - they were letting me. One day I got a wild hair that I needed to own something of my own. I was SO dependent on them for so much that I wanted freedom (ironic how it is not even close to freedom now)! So I decided to sell the 2000 Honda that they had given me in college for a new car. I looked... I wish I could say long and hard but I can't... I looked for about a week. Saw a PT Cruiser in the paper for $9,000!! Dude - That's totally doable I thought! SO I sold my Honda to a family friend who gave it to their daughter who was going off to college at the time. She loved it ... she is STILL driving it in Louisiana. STINKER!! Anyways... no bitterness here. I sold my Honda, took out a loan for the rest and bought this beautiful, shiny, silver with a sunroof PT Cruiser. Prior to making this decision I received many bits of advice that sounded something like this "Heather, only people over 50 drive PT Cruisers!" "Heather, Your Honda is fantastic, it has room, its in good shape!!" "Heather, there is nothing cool about a PT Cruiser!" "Heather, you will look like a dork driving that car!" And from my dad "Heather, I wouldn't do this if I were you!" But alas, he wasn't me... And I was ready to make my own decisions! So by golly I bought myself a Shiny Silver with a Sunroof PT CRUISER. The car has now been dubbed the "looser cruiser!" We are driving it. It is our family car. Andrew hates it, I hate it. (Actually I hated it about 3 weeks after I got it!) So now the lesson I have learned is to be happy with what you have! Be grateful for what is given to you.


Lesson 2: It is not about WHO I am but about WHO's I am
When I came back home from college a very sweet lady took me in under her wing. Why she picked me I'm not sure. But we had many many conversations at Starbucks over coffee. Some would last hours and hours. She would listen to me pour out my heart and all the burdens that I was struggling with (and there were lots back then) and she would just listen. Sit and listen... and then she would advise me. She would lead me in the direction I needed to go. Not though her words, but though God's. One bit of advice that I have carried with me all these years is "it is not about who I am, it is about WHO's I am!!" So today as I was thinking about this I thought Who am I? I am Heather, I am 26, I am a wife, I am a friend, I am an employee, I am a teacher, I am a listener, I am a cooker, I am a cleaner (most days), I am a talker, I am a singer (didn't say good) and I am a reader... those are just a few things that I am. However, the single most important thing about me is that I am a Child of God's! He looks down on me, despite what I have done, or will do, and he calls me HIS! He takes pride in ME! ME!! Some days I just can't grasp that. Why would the Creator of the Universe care about ME? He must have so much to deal with... but yet he cares about me. Unbelievable.... but yet so very real!


Lesson 3: 'Honor your father and your mother.'
As I moved back home I had a hard time transitioning into having authority again. I went to college for 4 years, and 1 of those lived on my own with out anyone but my dog. However, God knowing what I needed to hear had my pastor speak truth to me one Sunday at church with one of his sermons. He said that regardless of our age or our living situation we are to honor our mother and father. That means that I keep my actions clean, and pure so that they are seen in a good light. I'll be the first one to admit that my parents and I see things in a different light. They have chosen to not drink at all and I have decided that it is ok to have a drink occasionally. They don't feel it is necessary to drive with loud obnoxious music blaring out the open windows of their car, however, I feel like this is the most relaxing thing. They keep their house clean, picked up and presentable at all times, I however kept my room in a wreck. (Not as bad as high school) but it was far from "clean"! I'm not saying that I did a 180 and lived up to my parents standards. There were several times where I was out with friends or listening to a song that was not appropriate that (after it was all over) I was mortified and hoped that my parents friends hadn't seen me. Or I prayed on days that I left my room a wreck that I at least remembered to shut the door in case someone stopped by.


Through all of this newlywed stuff I am learning to honor my parents in different ways. One way that is a struggle for me is by really, truly listening to them. When they offer advice to the hubs and I ... to really stop and listen. When I am cleaning my house it is to my mom's standard. I think to myself "if momma walks in here will she feel comfortable?" If I'm thinking about making a decision that is big I think "is this how momma and daddy became the people that they are?" I want so badly to be as respected as my parents are by their friends. Not only because of their actions but because of their marriage. They are head over heals in love with each other and everyone knows it! Its quite disgusting in a really sweet way.
 I'm sure as time goes by and my relationship with momma and daddy changes so will the way that I honor them. I'm sure it will look different as we move into having a family in a few years. Honestly, I can't wait to see where it goes.


God has brought me a long way from that silly little girl that came back "home" all those years ago. It wasn't THAT long ago, however... with the many lessons learned, (and yes there are more than just 3) it seems like years ago.
So as I go forth and try to look around, remember WHO's I am and honor my father and mother... I pray that I do so with conviction and the integrity that comes with following Christ.

Just a few things

Well here it is... Thursday. Honestly, I never thought this day would get here. I have had a rough week. My sinuses are overwhelmed to say the least. I have a continual headache from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. My doctor (yes I went to the doctor) said that I am just getting use to this Oklahoma weather. Apparently fall here is different than fall in West Texas. OH yeah as in it comes before Thanksgiving!! Oklahoma: 1 Texas: 0
Pretty soon the trees ... yes the TREES that we have will not look like this:

And they will start looking more like this:

This makes me so happy. In West Texas our trees pretty much turn Brown after they are green. (If they turned green to begin with.)

So I'll take my headaches. I'll take my sinus meds. I'll be happy!! Because outside my window this year, I will have a beautiful view. I plan on taking seasonal pictures. Oh and this weekend... (Andrew doesn't know it yet) we are decorating for Fall. Oh HAPPY day!!

Camping: The art of getting closer to nature while getting farther away from the nearest cold beverage, hot shower and flush toilet.

So Friday was my friend Renda's birthday. To celebrate I made her a little gift... here are the pictures.

It was so fun getting to do something fun and special for her for her Birthday. I loved it.

Then Friday night the hubs thought that it would be fun to go camping to celebrate 3 months of marriage. (yes we are still silly and celebrate our monthly anniversaries... and I plan on doing this for awhile... till we forget basically...) For those of you who know me you must be thinking "CAMPING??? Heather??? What was he thinking?? Does he know you at all??" The answer to all these questions is... YES. Yes. yes...

We went camping at Osage Hills here in Bartlesville... it was a "trial run" before we REALLY camp in October at Devils Den.

I packed a light bag with a couple changes of cloths... warm and not so warm... you never know the weather around here. Andrew was shocked... he asked why I even needed extra clothes... we were just going for one night... to which I rolled my eyes and he put a change of underwear and a tshirt in the bag. :)

Here are a few pictures ... they don't capture how great the night was ... but they are fun.

The car... all packed... FULL!!

 Buddy Boy Buster is ready to go!!

Cami is ready to go... she has NO idea what she is getting into!

The hubs and I ... ready to go! (yes he asked me if my earrings were necessary...

 I told him just because I was camping didn't mean that I didn't need some bling!)

Is that a lighter?? Maybe... but remember this is NOT real camping... (Yet)

Buster was not a good boy... he had to be punished...

Cami "Brother, what did you do?"

"Sucker"

His behavior improved... he wanted to enjoy the fire with out being tied up...
 (notice my leg... I'm in my flannel jammies... it was ONLY 8:30 here!)

Rise up old flame, by thy lights glowing, show to us beauty, visions of joy...

It still takes my breath away to see a beautiful campfire. This picture doesn't do it justice at all!

These are several little boys and their dads...
they did not respect the "quiet after dark" rule...

All in all it was a wonderful trip. Andrew said we will really need to be conscious about what we bring because we have to walk aways to get to our camp grounds... I have informed him that it is ok. He can make multiple trips... I will be packing clothes, and shower stuff. There WILL be a shower, there WILL be a toilet that flushes, and we will again pack the tent with the air mattress. It will be great... Andrew won't quit raving about the beautiful trees and leaves and weather. He says that it is time for me to experience a real fall!

Saturday morning ramblings

So today was the first day in quite a while that I did not have anything planned. Andrew did... he is at a workshop learning how to make people build those muscles. I have sat in front of the tv watching Food Network thinking about how I so wish to be a great cook... and drinking my coffee... it has been amazing. As I have sat here and vegged out I have thought about what is going on in our life. Some random thoughts that I have had are as follows...

• Daily I track Ree Drummund on this blog The Pioneer Woman. She is the coolest lady... one day I hope to be kinda like her... :) Ree if you are looking to take on an apprentice ... PICK ME!! I would love to come and just watch you for a day. I would take the best of notes... You inspire me! 
• Our dogs are finally getting along... Hallelujah!! They even catch themselves playing together on occasion... its fun!! 
• My parents came for a visit last weekend we had so much fun!! Mom and I did some shopping and the hubs and daddy worked in the back yard putting up a fence. They did great... we did great... all I need to find is a pair of jeans and my fall wardrobe will be set... until winter!! :) 
• I'm getting motivated to start training to run. I'm going to go get a pair of shoes ... this week hopefully and if that fixes my aching knees and ankles then I'll be on my way to being a runner. There is a program called Couch to 5K... I'm going to give it a try. I have never been a runner... much less a workouter... but I really want to be. I would be living proof that the hubs can do his job well!

Ok thats all for now... I'm getting ready to go out with my friend Renda and we are going to have some great friend time. 

Here is a question that I would really like feed back on. 

I am really wanting the Iphone 4... any advice. I doubt the hubs will go for it... but I really think it would be a great Christmas/birthday/valentines/anniversary day gift! 

Have a great weekend!! 

Our House...

So mom and dad will be here in about an hour (maybe less by the time this is done). They are coming to see Andrew and I for the first time sense the wedding. We are very excited, but, if you know me... you know what this week has been like. I have been stressed planning things for us to do, cleaning the house, wondering how things will go and what they will think. Well, to document this event I decided to take pictures of the house ... the whole house... clean... picked up... organized (sorta) ... unpacked (mostly).
Here they are...

The front of our house... quite charming... don't you think?

The front porch!! One of my favorite things!

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Living room from the front door... I LOVE the blue walls.

Living room from the other corner.

Living room from dining room.

Dinning room.

Into the kitchen/guest bathroom.

Kitchen... I know what you are thinking... ALL that storage! NOT... looks are very deceiving...

The kitchen sink... looking into the dinning room.

The rest of the kitchen.

Into the guest bath... yes... it is pink. No... we did not pick out the colors.

Laundry room... I'm so thankful for this!!

Back yard... getting a fence this weekend.

Spider infested storage building... not being used for my stuff...

Hallway upstairs... different blue than downstairs.

Bathroom... green floor, green walls... different greens... again didn't pick the colors...

Shower!!

There is this closet behind the tub that is currently holding most of my stuff from my classroom in Midland. The rest stacks nicely in front of the door.

Guest room :) Come see us... we have an extra bed.. and a Teddy Bear if you need something to snuggle!

Our bed... my in-laws found our bed and my mom made the pillows. They all make me very happy!

Reading corner... other wise known as Buster's hang out!

I love this space... I don't ever use it...

My dresser.... never ever this cleaned off.

Andrew's dresser... never ever this cleaned off...

Well that is it! Our little house. I love it. It has been a good house so far... full of lots of memories. It will be a great house to laugh about down the road!! Come visit us... it gives me a good reason to cook up something yummy!!

Just when I thought I had things planned...

Honeymoon picture... on the "sky tram" at the zoo!

A funny story about how God is working in our lives.

The week of our Honeymoon … side story—

{We went to San Diego for our honeymoon and loved it. Everything was perfect. We stayed in a historic hotel, went to Sea World and the Zoo, walked up and down the streets every night, stayed in the Gas Lamp District, saw many homeless people, did a little shopping, ate great food, took the public transportation, and did not take enough pictures. But we loved every moment of it… except the part where Hubs wanted to get a picture of me standing with my feet in the water at the ocean and water splashed up and got my jeans wet… if you know me you know I hate 2 things… the ocean and getting my clothes wet. So minus that small mishap, everything was great!! We loved it!! It was full of fun memories that we will cherish as long as we have our minds to hold them.} –

Take the picture...

One more...

See my feet... they are wet!!

Now my feet & my jeans are wet... and you my love are DEAD!

OH you want to buy me a new dress and take me out to a
good dinner with an amazing sunset view?
 Wow... you are forgivin.

This is from a different day and a different beach (same ocean :));
but I want it to be clear, we kissed and made up!

--OK back to where I was. The week of our honeymoon, it might have been on the plane ride there, I announced to Hubs, “I love that we have a church to go to where we feel comfortable and know many people, however I don’t feel like we need to get too involved. Let’s just do church for the first year we are married!” I said this with finality and determination in my voice. I was ready for PC to argue, I had prepared some good points to support my argument. He said, “Well, let’s pray about that and see what God has to say, but if that is where He leads us, that is great.”

SUCCUSS!! He didn’t argue!! I had WON!! This is what victory feels like!! Oh I love it!!

Now fast forward about 3 weeks.

We are invited by a precious couple, who happens to have taken us under their loving wings, to play Bunko at their house. If you know me at all you know that I’m ELATED!! I LOVE game nights, I love food, I love talking, and I love … friendly competition. So I agreed quickly and was assigned to bring dessert. I made some yummy cake balls and an alright fruit salad… but the game night was great!! (Another time in life that I wish I had used the camera that I had in my purse!!) Hubs was the big winner!! YEAH my husband ROCKS!! I’m glad I’m on his team in life… I’m typically the looser in most games. But ohhh I lose well!! I lose with pride and with honor… naturally by trash talking ALL the other participants!

Anyhow, a week or so after our wonderful Bunko night, we received a call from a sweet woman at our church that was also at this Bunko game. The message went something like this, “hubs, we had so much fun playing Bunko with you guys. OH by the way, we are looking for a couple to host a Newlywed’s Small Group this fall, and would like you to consider hosting. Will you and Heather please talk about it and get back to me.”

Hubs let me listen to this message to which I replied. “Awww wasn’t that sweet. She is precious. I hope we can hang out with them again soon. It was nice of her to consider us for the small group. Can you call her tomorrow and let her know that we have decided to not get involved?” Hubs responded with “Ummm don’t you think we should pray about it?”

“FINE!!” I said with frustration!! “I THOUGHT we had agreed not to get involved.” Hubs reminded me that perhaps we just need to pray about it. If God clearly tells us no, then we will not do the group. But, let’s give it a couple of days to pray and see how we are lead. I agreed, knowing that I felt for sure that we did NOT need to be involved.

As the next couple of days went on and we continued to pray about it, I started to feel this tug in my heart. Shortly after we got married I began praying that God would bring us to some friends that are young, involved in the church, newlyweds without children. We have many friends currently in our home town; however, most of them have been married several years and have families. We love spending time with them and hearing about their joys, and struggles that have come with their families, we also feel like we need to have some people in our life that are going through the same struggles we are. As the days passed I found myself excited about hosting this group. I thought of fun things that we can do as “friends” and not just a Bible study. Hubs and I discussed it and we decided that YES, we would host the small group. The next Sunday we went to church and found our names listed with the other host families. That is when it became real and I started my small panic… a panic that lasted up until this past Sunday at 5:55 pm. We had cleaned the house (or the bottom floor) till it sparkled and shined, I had made two types of tea un-sweat and mint and a tall pitcher of lemonade; I was putting the final touches on the brochette, chips and hot sauce and brownies when I looked up and realized the time 5:53… ACK!! PANIC!! MELTDOWN… almost!! Hubs was lucky enough to be in the kitchen with me at this very moment. Here is what it sounded like… “What it the dogs potty on the floor, what if our house stinks, what if the bread burns, what if there isn’t enough ice, what if they don’t like the food, what if they don’t like us… WHAT IF NO ONE COMES!!!???” PC does his thing … and listens to my borderline meltdown, and assured me that everything would be fine. At that very moment we hear “Knock, knock, knock!!” (We don’t have a doorbell.) Hubs casually walks to the door, not wanting to seem too anxious, and there they are … the first couple for our group. I panic and stay in the kitchen … everything had to be JUST right!! I hear more and more and more voices fill our little house. I’m in a panicked sweat now. I put the last few things on the table and at the last moment I, with all the grace I could manage, walk out into the living room. There are 11 people standing in my living room!! Smiling, talking, getting along, no one is making discussed looks at my house, no one is looking at my dogs like they are aliens, and everyone is PERFECT!! I quietly thank God for His promise that He will provide who I need, when I need them. The night went perfectly!! We ended right on time and then… people stayed a little bit longer… they stayed and chatted. We got to know each other. We started building relationships! My favorite part of the evening was … when I heard all of them say “we will see you next week!” My heart jumped for joy… if I wasn’t fat and out of shape I would have done a back flip!! (If I could do back flips in the first place.)

This week we will meet again at our home. We will spend Sunday cleaning and preparing for our guests… our friends! I am most certain that a time will come during that day where I have a temporary panic attack… however; Hubs, with his wonderful calming attitude will reassure me that everything will be ok. We are having a Salad and Baked Potato Bar!! OHhh I’m so excited!!

About a week after agreeing to do the small group, we were contacted by another couple that was at this Bunko game night. They were interested in us being on the prayer team at church. They left Hubs a very similar message on his phone and he let me listen to it one day after work. I responded with this remark this time, “Well, call them tomorrow and let them know we already have committed to do small group!” Shewwww that was easy to get out of! Hubs gave me the same response as he did last time. So therefore, we prayed… and in the back of my mind I thought “I got this, we already committed… God wouldn’t dare ask us to do something else when clearly we aren’t to do anything in the first place.” Well as God would have it, we are on the prayer team as well.

I am so excited about the adventures ahead of us. God is providing us with so much to look forward to. He is doing so much in our lives as a couple and personally to push and grow us in Him. Some days it is hard to see the God’s goodness through the clouds… but somewhere in the day I try to find a rainbow, a promise of hope and protection.

I’m sorry this post was so long, but I just had to share it. I needed to document it before I forgot the events. Enjoy the story… I hope it gives you courage to take on that thing which you least want to do.

Blessings sweet friends!!

peaches or chocolate...

So last night we made "frozen yogurt" sundays.

Here are the two that we made... can you tell what one was mine?

Frozen yogurt, peaches (no sugar added)

Warmed brownie, frozen yogurt topped of with whipped cream!!

What one is mine what one is Andrews?