First Time for Everything!

Ok, so we're having Thanksgiving at my home, which I am VERY excited about! I absolutely LOVE being the hostess of any event! I can't really explain why, but it just makes me happy. Mama is coming over in the morning to cook with me and Jason. I'm SO ready! My Granny always made such a big deal about Thanksgiving. We were always in the kitchen with her from early in the morning until about noon when everything finally came together and was ready to serve. I will never have a single Thanksgiving that I do not think of her. She's why I love this holiday SO MUCH!

So I'm preparing for all the cooking that's taking place in my kitchen tomorrow, and that starts tonight with brining my turkey. I was so excited to see that our new Publix carries fresh turkeys! Yay! I've been waiting for this moment ALL DAY! So I open up this guy and prepare to take out the innards in the cute little baggie they always come in, and LO, NO BAGGIE. Gross. WHAT am I supposed to do??? I certainly am NOT sticking my hand in there. Oh. My. Goodness. This fresh turkey has fresh innards. EWWWWWWWW!

I know that maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but EWWWWWWW! Gag reflex is definitely kicking in. I call for Jason to come hand me a spoon so I at least can scoop out whatever is left in there after I pulled out something unrecognizable and gross. I hate this kind of stuff. The excitement over the fresh turkey and the brining is GONE. But I did it. I got them all out. I think. I HOPE. Now, for the brining! Maybe I'll be over the trauma by the morning.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!

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To All My Following Friends:

Ok, so here's the deal-e-o. I had a major crash with my blog last week and so, at a complete loss for how to fix it all, I just created another blog, kendalljo. I eventually figured it all out (with some help), but I ended up with 2 blogs and just couldn't decide which one I liked. I changed the url for The Proper Pinky to theproperpinky.blogspot instead of kendalljo.blogspot, but then that was confusing and I lost several subscribers. I actually like kendalljo better, so I changed the url back and deleted the new blog.

The bottom line is, everything is exactly the same as it was before, except I changed The Proper Pinky name to kendalljo. So I hope this actually puts things back to normal. Sorry for the confusion everyone! Thanks for sticking with me:)

ps. I have my blog backed up this time...

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Mama is Always Right

I am so thankful for my Mama. She always knows exactly how to jack me up and tell me how to feel when I'm flippin' out and having a stupid pity party. She has this wonderful "snap-me-out-of-it" gift, and it works every time. I was feeling so sorry for myself today thinking that nobody understood me and that nobody even cared about how I was feeling, and blah. blah. blah. Ridiculous, I know. I have so many wonderful friends that really do love me and show it ALL THE TIME, and here I am, being stupid. Letting little things hurt my feelings. Here's the problem with that...

IT'S NOT ABOUT ME.

It really doesn't matter how people feel about me, what they do for me, how they love me, or even IF they love me. THAT'S NONE OF MY BUSINESS. What matters is that I love them unconditionally, NO MATTER WHAT. The enemy is so stinkin' crafty when it comes to this area of my life. He knows that he can't shake me in most any other area, but when it comes to relationships, he knows just what buttons to push. It's a battle for me, but I assure you it's a battle that I WIN. I refuse to let him rob me of being a blessing to the people I love the most just because he plants little emotional thoughts in my head when I'm stressed out and the most vulnerable.

I've made a lot of mistakes where this goes and I have given in to these emotions, but I always have to keep moving forward and trusting in Him. He loves me and that is more than enough for me. It is so unfair to put that load on anyone because even the VERY BEST of friends can't carry all of that. Only Jesus can.

I am so thankful for my Mama. She always helps me put things in perspective. I pray that I will always be that kind of Mama for my babies.

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I Can Handle This

This has been probably THE MOST STRESSFUL WEEK AND WEEKEND OF MY LIFE.  We have been going through a lot of changes in pretty much every nook and cranny of our life.  I know that God is moving us into greater things.  I can feel it.  I feel it in the pit of my stomach, and I feel it in my spirit.  God is BIG and He has BIG PLANS for us!

With big plans comes big change.  We are definitely being stretched to say the least.  The amazing thing is, I feel ZERO dread about ANYTHING that we have to do right now.  I won't frighten you with my "To do" list (believe me...it would definitely frighten you), I'll just say we are very busy, but I believe that God gives us the grace and ability to do ALL that He has called us to do right now.  And I believe that we are in exactly the right place at the right time doing exactly the RIGHT things.  I have an undeniable peace about all of that.

But even with all of this new stretching going on, it all just fades into the background because my heart can only think about one thing right now.  One of my youth girls.  Things are very difficult for her right now, and I know she has had a tough day today.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about her all day and all night.  This sweet girl is under so much stress, and I just want her to be ok.  Praying for her...

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Little Things

I am working on making this blog pleasing to the eyes, and I think it's coming along.  I still have a lot of tweaks to make, but I think it will get there eventually.  It would be awesome if I had all the time in the world to just sit here and play with my blog, but not in this house.  I just have to settle for a few minutes (or seconds)  here and there.  So if things look a little blurry, I KNOW, I just haven't had time to fix it.  I am usually working on my blog during the day, whenever I can manage to get past my home page without having to stop again (so thankful for my laptop!), or the wee hours of the night when everyone is in bed.  Honestly, I don't even know how any of my blog posts make any sense.  You have NO IDEA how many times I get interrupted.  I mean, it seriously took me forever just to write this, and I'm not even sure what it says because I literally haven't been able to read through it JUST ONCE without interruption, so I'm just going to post it and hope for the best!  Maybe I'll get to read it tonight after everyone is in the bed.  But you know, I just can't get upset about these little things, because they are just not that important when it compares to being able to be with my interrupting beautiful children all the time.  I really do love the life God has blessed me with!

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I made something!

So, I made a t-shirt scarf! Two of my good friends made one and it looked like something I could actually do, so there you go. This is the probably the only crafty thing I have ever done, so you most likely may never see a post like this again on my blog. I used this tutorial that Nicole and Leasa posted on their blogs. It was super easy and my daughter enjoyed helping with mine so much she's already making her own. I made mine for game day. Crimson, white, and 2 shades of grey...Roll Tide!

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AHA!

God is so good to me. I don't know if this happens like this to anyone else, but most of the time, I don't realize God has answered my prayer until I'm knee deep in the thing that I prayed for.

Last night I was lying in bed thinking, and I had one of those "AHA!" moments. A few months ago, I was drawn to Proverbs 31. I read it over and over several times, and I just had this longing to be that woman. I wasn't discouraged by the fact that I don't know how to sew or do most of the things that she did, but I remember praying for God to show me what I could do to be that woman for my family. If it meant that I needed to learn how to sew, then ok, I'll learn how to sew. But I really just prayed for Him to give me insight and wisdom, and to show me what to do according to the gifts and talents He has given me, and I remember praying for Him to bring opportunities my way that would put me in that place.

For years, I have wanted to do something that would contribute financially to our home, and I KNOW God has called me to be at home with my children, so I have searched through many options, but nothing ever seemed like the right thing. A couple of months ago, the Lord literally brought an awesome opportunity to me. I love organizing and doing paperwork (I love working on our budget and paying bills), and when I was offered to do a paperwork job for a local judge that I knew personally, I knew it was right, and it comes with a GOOD monthly paycheck. I recognized that this was from God immediately, and I'm so thankful for it.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a Thirty-One Gifts party and had a great time. A party full of totes, bags, and purses, all for the sake of ORGANIZING. Cuteness. I knew Gina, the consultant, personally from a mom's group that I'm in, and she talked about where the name Thirty-One Gifts came from...Proverbs 31. This should have been my "AHA!" moment, but nope. I never even thought about it. The next week, I just had this sudden urge to be a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts, just for the fun of it. I had SO many other things going on in my life, and I just needed something that was fun and just for me. There is nothing more enjoyable to me than cute organizing stuff. Honestly. So, I called Gina and signed up. I knew it was right, but I didn't understand why it was such a quick and easy decision for me. Until last night.

I was lying in my bed thinking, and I had that "AHA!" moment. This is EXACTLY what I prayed for! God brought into my life opportunities that allow me to contribute financially to my family, that are perfectly suited to my gifts and talents, and just to show off, one of those opportunities is named after the very scripture that I prayed!

You can't make this stuff up. God is just TOO good!

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WHY?

Me: "I'll be with you in a minute, Jessi. I'm only one Mommy. I can only do one thing at a time."

Jessi: "But WHY can't you just put on your super stretchy arms so you can just reach over here and help me?"


Yeah...I got nothin'.

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Something New!

I am now an independent consultant for Thirty-One Gifts! I've been thinking about it for several weeks now, and I finally decided to go ahead and do it. Yes, I know how busy I am already, and that is EXACTLY why I am doing this. I NEED A BREAK! I need something that's JUST FOR ME. Something that gives me a reason to get out of the house once in a while BY MYSELF. And, I could use some extra money for Christmas and stuff.

I LOVE bags and purses and totes and luggage and all that fun, cute stuff. When If I go to a store that has these things, I completely lose track of time looking at them. It's just something I enjoy. It's fun for me. So, I know this will be just the right thing for me right now.

Also, I need hostesses to get started! Please let me know if you would be willing to host a party for me! Hostesses get free stuff! If you can't host, you can just order straight from my website, and you don't have to wait for a party. These products are super cute and you can have them monogrammed too! Here is a direct link to my website. Enjoy!

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Food!

This week has been SO MUCH BETTER. Except for the fact that my hubby is now like one of the kids where food is concerned. "What can I eat for breakfast?", "What can I eat for lunch?", "What's for dinner?". *SIGH* Sometimes I wish I could look at everyone and say, "No further questions", or "I'm not taking any questions at this time". I mean really. It's quite enough that I have to come up with a plan for dinner, but now I have to have a plan for EVERY SINGLE THING HE EATS. He's so pitiful grazing around the kitchen looking at all the whole, basic ingredients that make delicious meals and snacks like he has no idea what to do with them. He doesn't know what to do without having ready-to-eat crap at his fingertips.

I have to admit, it is more difficult to figure out what to eat when you're hungry. Especially when you have to eat something every 2 hours or so to gain weight. I know he'll be able to do it on his own soon though. He really hasn't had a lot of time to get educated on eating right, where I've been studying it for years. I actually tried to make this transition to healthy eating as a lifestyle about 6 years ago and was successful for a while, but you just can't do it on your own, and I was the only one that wanted to, so eventually we went back to eating crap. Not as bad as before, because there were just some things I refused to settle on, like Vegenaise (instead of nasty mayo), Organic milk, whole wheat, etc, but bad enough to make this diet such a feat.

When you decide to make a lifestyle change instead of going on a temporary diet, it's just easier. Those things that are harmful to your body are just not an option to you anymore. You learn what things are good for your body and those are just the things you choose. You want to know more and more about food and nutrition because you realize that the more you know, the better off you really are and the better you feel for it. You feel better physically and emotionally. I also think that when you choose to eat the things that God designed for your body to eat and be healthy, you are surrendering that part of your life to Him. Who better to surrender your body to than its own Creator?

I'm doing this with him because I'm with him no matter what. And like I said before, this isn't something you can do on your own, and he needs this, so I'm going to be right there beside him.

And by the way, I've lost 11 pounds. The sad thing about that is, I don't think anyone can tell. That's pretty bad, but oh well, 19 more to go!

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