The World of Granite Counter Tops

Today's blog is all about this picture that my Colombian friend posted online today:

Translation:
"There are people who spend their lives doing things they detest to make money they don't need, to buy things they don't want, and to impress people they don't like."

Isn't that SO true?  I fall in and out of the category from time to time, I admit it.  Especially the last bit: IMPRESS PEOPLE THEY DON'T LIKE.  

I'm not talking about doing things you don't like in order to make money to survive.  That is a completely different story.  But this quote goes hand in hand with a blog a posted a while back regarding keeping up with the Jones'.  

Aaron and I are currently in the process of building a home.  We're scheduled to move in this summer.  I have struggled, off and on, with this purchase because of my life experience.  I have seen the slums of Central and South America.  I know the faces that occupy them.  I have held the children born in them.  Yet here I am, building a 2500 square foot home in suburbia with my granite counter tops, AC, and two-car garage.  This house means I don't get to be a stay at home mom quite yet.  This house means no vacation for a couple of years.  "So why are you buying it?" you may be asking yourself.

We have wanted to buy a home and get more settled.  Our entire adult lives seem to have been surrounded by "temporary".  We have apartment-hopped for years and, with Aaron's new job, we know we'll be in GA for many years to come.  So it's time to buy and to settle.  As a wife and mom, I couldn't be MORE thrilled with the notion.  The missionary within, however, is like "WHAT?"  

It will be big enough to offer hospitality to any traveler seeking a soft pillow and warm meal.  It will be the place where my children have their first memories.  It's the haven we've been waiting for and we're thrilled its finally happened.  These are all good things, none of which I'm ashamed.  

 

But don't we all fall into that occasional trap of wanting everything to be "just so" in order to look like we have it all together?  I know I do.  I don't live in a constant state of that trap, I just trip over it every now and again.  :/  The tricky part is to not get caught up in and attached to the things we find ourselves possessing.  Its ok to be comfortable, its ok to enjoy nice things, I believe God wants that for us 100%.

So what then?  There is no conclusion.  Life is a balancing act and I'll let you know when I get it all figured out (yeah right).  The desires of my heart have not changed.  I still want to reach the unreached, to open myself up to shine His light brilliantly as He brings Peace and Hope to those who have none.  I want my children to be exposed to the outside world; the world that doesn't have granite counter tops, or any counter tops for that matter.  And they will.  Trust that.  But I'm accepting now that there is also no shame in the quiet comforts of life that God lovingly sets in our path to enjoy, even if temporarily.  And enjoy it we shall!  

Welcome all, Mi Casa es Su Casa!

Sick. Sick. and Sick. Again.

This year, so far, has been marked by sickness of all kind.  None of it has been "serious" by any means.  Just your regular household viruses and plagues. 

I'm pretty sure that if I weren't me, I would be looking at me thinking "she's such an exaggerator."  Or perhaps "she's acting like a hypercondriac." 

Let me assure you that neither of these have been the case.  I would prefer to be able to "suck it up", take some helpful meds, and carry on with daily life, sick or not.  That hasn't been an option for me.  I have missed work at Wells and work as a doula.  I have had to cancel appointments and hire childcare on my "off" days because I couldn't take care of my little man.  If it wasn't me, it was Aaron.  If it wasn't me or Aaron it was Reesor.  AAAAAAAAAhhh!!!!!  In chronological order:

First week of January: I got some kind of sinus infection or cold.  But this wasn't your average cold or infection.  My head hurt so bad that standing or sitting made me feel like I would pass out. I missed a day of Wells for that one and it lasted about 4 days total and took equally as long to fully recover from.

End of January:  Reesor got what I had (I think) or some variation thereof.  He had a fever and insisted on sitting in my lap or co-sleeping 24/7.  His was only about 3 days so it was "ok".

Mid February:  Aaron's turn.  Aaron became fatigued due to all his crazy new work as a brand new Financial Advisor with Wells and therefor became ill.  Pretty sure it was the flu.  Achy all over, chills, fever etc.   He didn't have the option to miss work for that so he had to work through it, probably high from all the cough meds and "DayTime" decongestants. 

First week of March:  I got the stomach flu.  As in, I hugged the porcelain god for about 30 hours which was followed by a fever and extreme body pain.  I remained nauseas for days afterward and everybody, EVERYBODY (including myself for just a second) wondered if I could be pregnant.  I missed a birth for that which added insult to injury.  And no, multiple tests confirmed I was not and am not pregnant.

As soon as I recovered from that Reesor started coughing.  The kind of coughing where you can hear the mucus deep in his chest trying to break free and as it surfaces you choke and can't breath for a few seconds and your eyes water and you turn red (only you're a tiny little person and its scary as hell)

While he was on the back-end of his cough, I got it.  Which has turned into a head cold now.

This morning, still battling with my snot-fest, I came down with mastitis.  If you don't know what that is, in my own words, I will tell you:  Mastitis happens when you are a nursing mom and one of your breasts becomes infected.  By infected I mean: YOU WANT TO CUT IT OFF IT HURTS SO BAD!  Sorry for the TMI.  It's accompanied with a fever and flu-like symptoms that take your average flu and make it look like a 10-day cruise to the Caribbean.  Yay for me!

So for all your skeptical folk out there wondering why I have been complaining about illness so much...now you know.  Yes, we are a vitamin-taking, vegetable-eating, in-shape family.  I'm hoping that whenever the warm weather arrives, I'll be finished with all this shenanigans and won't have to look at a tissue, barf bucket, or thermometer for a long long LONG long time!

Birthdays Galore

Happy Birthdays

My tiny precious boy turned ONE.  Yes, ONE!  WHAT?????????????????  Ugh!  I'm so proud of him and I adore watching him discover new things daily, but does he HAVE to grow up?  NOT COOL!

It doesn't seem possible that it has been a full year since that love entered our lives.  I have posted pictures on FB so head on over there to see the blessed event.  I was going to do "family only" but since a few of our friends are like family I couldn't exclude them.  We celebrated in grand style with a Sock Monkey theme and he had a blast exploring his gift bags and their contents.  He did not, however, have fun at all with the "bash" cake that Aaron so lovingly slammed his little hand into.  He was grossed out by its "stickiness" and not impressed with the flavor.  I'm not sure how he could be my kid if he didn't like that cake...it was fantastic!  He wore a sweet little Sock Monkey hoodie and little-boy overalls which I adore on him.

Of course Reesor's birthday means that my birthday must come as well...29 *sigh

Aaron surprised me with Cirque Du Soleil tickets and we had a total blast!  I have always wanted to go and it really was a fantastic time.  I'm sorry to report that this will be my last birthday.  No, I'm not ill...I simply will never be older than 29.  :)  Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes for both Reesor and I.  A fun time was had by all (I hope) and I look forward to many years of birthday fun for my little man.  

My Tight Rope

Being a mom is like walking on a tight rope I think.  It's a balancing act.  I'm not referring to the insane juggling of all the things that we moms have to do in a 24 hour time frame.  That is a different post all on its own.  The balancing I'm referring to is the one where I decipher how much of myself to sacrifice for the sake of my child.  Still unclear?

Ok, Reesor needs me.  He doesn't just need me emotionally.  He is still an infant and therefor needs me to survive. I know, this isn't rocket science!  But his need for my attention and 100% devotion does take a tole on Zoe-time.  The time where I can just close my eyes and focus on ME.  Or God.  Or SOMETHING other than a dirty diaper, toy mess, and teething.  Even now while I try to have some "me blogging time" I am sitting next to my child on the floor while he rummages through his diaper bag as I attempt to keep him from ingesting diaper cream.  Its never JUST me time!

I had lunch with a friend today who is a mother of FOUR.  She reminded me that I'm a new mom who is still figuring out to preserve the "Zoe Spunk" while also meeting Reesor's physical and emotional needs.  PLUS if I'm not taking care of myself, what is left for me to offer in my marriage?  I'll tell you what:  a grumpy ole hag who is tired all the time, not ever groomed, and snappy!  ;)  Not that I'm speaking from recent experience or anything.  LOL

I am coming up with a few things to help me take care of me the way I did pre-mommy.

1. one evening per week Aaron will keep Reesor and put him to bed while I go out and do whatever I want.  Maybe hang out with a friend or attend some kind of fun doula thing.  The point is that its doing something I love without needing to tend to Reesor.

2.  train for another race.  Not sure if I'm going to do a 10k or half marathon but now that the weather is better I'm going to get back into it.

3.  gonna work on my pre-pregnancy figure and try to get it back as best I can.  I know this will help me feel better about myself and I know the training will help get me there.

Hopefully with these basic things I can learn to walk that tight rope without fear of plummeting to the deep abyss below which is the unkept, unslept, unhappy wife and mommy.  :)  Now back to my screaming kiddo who has been feeling horribly neglected during the 8 minutes it took me to write this post....

Who's Yo Midwife?

I have this opinion about higher education...I know way too many people my age and older who wish very much that they could have a do-over with their choice of degree. There are definitely those who knew what they wanted to do straight out of high school and now do and will always do that very thing.  These are generally the doctors, lawyers, businessmen/women, and teachers etc of our society. (Although even some of THEM aren't practicing in the field they studied either). And so my opinion is that, as a society in general, we often push our children to go straight into college when MOST OF THE TIME 18 years of age is way too inexperienced and not nearly self-aware enough to make a decision about what they want to do for the rest of their lives!

I cringe a little every time somebody asks me what my degree is in...are you ready for this...INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES! That's right folks, I have a degree in NOTHING! Correction; I have FOUR minors and no major. "Why?" you ask....because I had NO CLUE what I wanted to do when I went to school. Well, let me take that back, I wanted to do missions but I didn't know what kind of degree would be practical for that. So here I swim in a sea of school debt and every month I make a payment for an education that I dare say I NEVER use. At least not the curriculam part of it. I undoubtedly DO use the life experience I gained in going through college.

Now for the good part... What would YOU do if you got a re-do? What would you have gone to school for? Wanna know what I would have done if I knew then what I know now?...Instead of a bachelor's of ARTS I would have done SCIENCE. Nursing to be exact. That would have allowed for a future in...drum roll please... MIDWIFERY! It is pretty gutsy to lay it all out here for all you kind folks to read but I will go ahead and tell you that before I am 40, (that's only 11 years away people) I wish to complete a Master's of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Midwifery.

 First thing's first though and for us right now, that is building our family. Once the baby-making is over and the kids are starting school, if it all works out, I'll hit the books once more and do what I am dreaming of: support women to good health and help them bring their babies into this world.

 Meanwhile back home on the range, gonna go chase after my 9 month old who is making a snack out of a deck of cards...

Done and Done!

ALL DONE!!!!!!! I'm a bonified, certified doula! Yippy! So, I finished my certification births, all my exams, my book reviews, and coursework. LIFE IS SWEET! I'm so thrilled to start this new chapter where I get to support moms through one of the most exciting and challenging events that life offers. I have already been faced with the sad challenges of this job but I know that, whatever lies ahead, God remains faithful and turns ashes into beauty, somehow, someway. So, I'm going to take my life experience, my doula education, and my passion for birth and use it to His glory and to support mamas! Still don't know what a birth doula is? Click HERE and watch the video on my homepage. :)

Zoe the Politician

Should I feel guilty that I have never been inclined to read up on or study much about politics and current details of government decisions? I don't really FEEL guilty!?! I'm not THAT embarrassed!?! This is going to be laughable to some of you but ya know what...LAUGH AWAY! To sum up some of my favorite verses, without siting them, let me explain my political viewpoint: Christ lives in me, I have not been given a spirit of fear, the life I now live I live by faith, His plans for my life are of hope, now I see through a glass dimly but I will [sooner than later] know as I am known... SO, what does THAT mean Zoe? Whelp, since I'm not, shall we say, politically minded, nor do I understand the lingo of legislature and law (though I'm sure I could if I studied hard enough and researched long enough) I pray about things, do the minimal research that I feel necessary, and then go with my "gut" instinct. This post is coming at a time when we are surrounded by belly button opinions. What's a belly button opinion? Well.....opinions are like belly buttons, everybody's got one and they don't do much good! :) I'm NOT talking about the experts out there who's HOURS of studying qualify them to give truly educated and experienced opinions. I'm just talking about the average "zoe". Instead of arguing my minimally educated opinion with friends and family to no achievable end, all I'm going to say is that I have had a lump-in-the-throat feeling about our government and where its headed for a LONG time now. And yesterday's Supreme Court decision was no deviation from the growing elephant in the room. Sorry if this upsets all you Obama lovers but the moment I heard Obama's voice years ago the hairs on my intuition stood straight up and do so every time I see his face. He makes me uneasy. Its like my spirit throws up just a little every time I have to hear a speech or read about some new thing he's trying to pass. I can't explain it and I'm not sure I'm supposed to. Maybe you moms out there could compare it to a mother's intuition but come Nov......well, he ain't got my vote! And there you have it: the deep and meaningful political views of Zoe Das. :) I'm not ashamed to speak my truth in love and hopefully you can receive it as such.