Blogs I Love and Why

It's no secret that I love to read. I read anything and everything I can get my hands on from the back of shampoo bottles to adventure novels. So when I discovered blogs, I found another outlet for my voracious reading habit.

As you can see by the list on the side of my blog, there are quite a few blogs I like to follow. Today I decided to tell you about my top five favorite blogs and why I like them. A couple things first. Most of these ladies don't have a clue who I am, and none of them know me personally. What I love about their blogs is that in reading them I've found women who share a small portion of their lives in an interesting and classy way and to which I can completely relate.

So without further ado, and in no particular order, I present to you my top five favorite blogs:

• The Glamorous Life of a Housewife - This is the blog that got me hooked on blogs, and the reason I read most of the blogs I read. The writer, Whitney, has an adorable little boy and another on the way, and I'm always impressed by the grace and class with which she handles almost any situation. Plus she's downright funny at times.
• Marriage Confessions - Katie, the writer of this blog is funny, and witty, and honest. She keeps it real without being tacky or revealing too much. She doesn't pretend or put forth the perfect family picture, but at the same time, you realize how normal, well-adjusted, and loving her family is.
• Blue Eyed Bride - One of my absolute favorite blogs to read! Erin is funny, but totally honest. I know that her blog only presents a small part of her life to the world, but it is very relate-able. She has two adorable sons, and she doesn't mince words when it comes to writing about life as a mother and a wife. She doesn't pretend to have it all together, but you can also tell that she adores her family.
• Tales of  the Trees - Megan writes this blog, and y'all she cracks me up. Probably because she reminds me of myself. The things she writes about are often the same things I deal with in my own life. Not to mention, that her husband is also a youth pastor and plays on the worship team at their church (I actually think he leads worship) which is very much like Patrick and myself.
• Bogue and Weejer - Last but far from least is Ruthie at Bogue and Weejer. If you are ever having a bad day you need to read this blog. Ruthie is hilarious. And she's one of the few girls I know that also loves Science Fiction. And she replies to my tweets. And I think we would get along really well if we ever get to meet in real life. And I mean that in a totally non-creepy, unstalkerish way. Oh, and she helped center the header on the top of my blog. But seriously y'all she is a super funny writer, and she takes the cutest pictures of her twin girls, and I highly recommend you read her blog.

So there you have it. My top five favorite blogs. There are tons of other blogs I love, but these are the ones I relate to the most. They're all young mothers (I actually think they are all younger than me, but we won't discuss that) with at least one young child. They are all Christians although they are from various denominations and walks of life. Most of all, reading their blogs makes me realize that I am not alone. Everyone's kids (and husbands and dogs and jobs and yes I'm including being a SAHM as a job . . . because it is a huge job) sometimes drive them nuts and make them throw their hands up in the air, but at the same time you know that you couldn't and wouldn't want it any other way.

A Night Out

Every year at the end of January, Patrick and I get ourselves all dressed up and head to the local Chamber of Commerce Banquet. I promise it's more exciting than it sounds. They have a nice dinner followed by a casino night and (for the first time this year) a dance. Now, I am in no way advocating gambling. As a matter of a fact, I know nothing about gambling, but this is gambling with play money for prizes so I don't consider it real gambling. And y'all it's always so much fun. A bunch of people, the majority of whom know nothing about what they are doing, always makes for an entertaining night.

So yesterday morning, I dropped Andrew off at Sarah's and headed home to relax for a bit and get ready. I guess I should admit that part of relaxing included consuming a third of a huge container of Goldfish. I blame Andrew for this completely. Before I had him, I never bought Goldfish.

Anyway, before we left for the night I set up the tripod and forced Patrick to pose for a picture. It's so rare for us to get really dressed up, and not to brag, but we clean up pretty well. (Yes, I have big head. It's genetic. I can't help it.)

We had a great time, but we didn't get to bed until around 1:00 a.m., and y'all I'm almost dead today. In college, I ran on coffee and almost no sleep, and it didn't seem to bother me. I'd go to bed at 12:30 a.m., get up at 6:30 and run five miles, and then head to class. It didn't phase me. I did it day after day. Now aside from the fact that I couldn't run two miles right now, is the fact that I go to bed late one night, and I'm exhausted. I guess I'm getting old.

All tiredness aside, it was fun, and I'm glad that I got to spend a night out with my husband.

On the Adoption Front

Good News First
Our adoption agency received three referrals this week. There have been some changes in the Bulgarian Government during the past few months, and with that and Christmas, things seemed to slow down a little bit. But now it looks like everything is picking up again, and we're very excited to see families bring home their sweet kids.

Stupid News Second
In other adoption news, I talked to one of the girls at our home study agency today, and she told me that we'll do most of our updates in April. But . . . there's always a stinkin' but . . . anyway . . . but I may want to start my FBI background checks and fingerprints in February. And I was like, "Say what?" I mean do y'all remember the whole finger printing fiasco of 2011? Quick run down, in case you haven't been dwelling on it for the past year or so. When adopting from Bulgaria, the parents must submit ink fingerprints to the FBI for a background check. Not electronic fingerprints. You know, seeing as how we live in the electronic age.  But ink fingerprints. The old fashioned kind. The kind the nobody knows how to do correctly. Anyway last year, when we sent off the first set, Patrick's got accepted. Mine got rejected. I was traumatized. It held up our home study for a while. I just recently got over the whole ordeal. I may or may not be slightly dramatic. Yada yada yada. I naively thought it was all behind me, but today my bubble was burst. So now I have to be careful with my fingers again. I can't burn them, cut them, scrape them, or destroy them in any way, form, or fashion. Which, if you know me, is much easier said than done.

But I'm not going to dwell on this. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to go eat a box of Girl Scout cookies instead. Good night everyone.

When It Rains . . .

It pours. And I mean that quite literally.

Last night we went to bed expecting a few mild albeit unusual January thunderstorms. Sometime early this morning the storms rolled in, and y'all they were anything but mild. It has been a long time since we've had storms like these. The thunder and lightning were unbelievable. And the wind . . . I hate wind more than anything. I've been unfortunate enough to be in a handful of really bad thunderstorms with (small) tornadoes and straight line winds, and so thunderstorms make me a little edgy.

Between the hours of two and five a.m. it rained over five inches (and I didn't sleep a wink). Some parts of our county got around nine inches of rain. The creeks and the rivers are up, and school is canceled. Yay for that (I won't be saying yay in February when we miss our bad weather day). Thankfully, the storms have moved out, but if you live east of us, you better go ahead and prepare for some yucky weather.

Before I show you a couple of pictures, let me say this, I am extremely thankful for the rain. We need the rain desperately, and I am in no way complaining about the rain. But severe weather is severe weather, and I don't care what you say or who you are, no one enjoys severe weather. Except maybe if your storm chaser, but then you're also somewhat crazy in my opinion.

My sister took these pictures. My parents and my sister and her family live on the river. Normally these pastures are not under water, but the water came up fast this morning. Thankfully, there homes are not in any danger.

This was when the river first started to rise early this morning. That dock you see normally floats right on the edge of the bank. And underneath all that water up to those trees there is usually grass that you can sit on.

These are pictures of Plum Creek which runs along the edge/through our town. Looks more like a lake than a creek.

So there you have it folks. Some people get snowstorms. We get freakishly strange January thunderstorms! Stay safe and dry everyone.

My Beef With the Girl Scouts

Every year about this time they make their appearance. They seem so cute and so innocent, but people let me tell you, those little girls with those sweet smiles are ruthless saleswomen at heart. In the cold, dark, middle of winter (did I mention that it was almost 80 here the other day?) they entice you to buy those little pieces of Heaven which clearly are laced with whatever people lace stuff with. They call them cookies, but y'all they are much more than cookies. No mere cookie has this kind of sway over me. I find myself thinking about them throughout the day wondering if Patrick took the last box of Thin Mints with him to work and working out a plan of action were I to arrive home and find the cupboard bare.

I say I buy them to support the Girl Scouts. I say I buy them because it's the charitable thing to do. But y'all let's face it. That is a big fat lie. I buy those cookies so I can eat them . . . and eat them . . . and eat them. And when I run out, I book it to the nearest Wal Mart praying that those sweet little girls are standing out in the cold with those little boxes of Heaven for me to purchase.

Which is why I inevitably gain 5 pounds every year around this time. This is also why my daughter will never be allowed to join the Girl Scouts. Neither my pocketbook or my waistline could afford to have Girl Scout cookies at my fingertips.

* Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing against the Girl Scouts. They are a marvelous organization. As the matter of a fact, I love and admire them for their cookies.