Guess it's about time to blog again...

Well... seeing as how EVERYONE else is making an effort to restart up their blogging machines, I might as well jump on the bandwagon  :)

Although they all seem to have WAY more interesting stuff to post than I do!!

We're about 48 hours into 2013... our New Years Eve was a quiet one. We had "big" plans of going to a NYE party at family's house, but alas, the Holmans would only be a party of three.... There's some super strange virus making the rounds at my house, and apparently at 6pm on NYE, it was my turn. Not awesome. And super inconvenient! I was all dressed up and ready to go until the nausea hit. Fast forward a few hours (during which my three boys went off to party hearty - although they were back by midnight to be with me (aww)!) and after a little bit of a nap, the worst of it was over. Well... there was a ton of residual yuck, but the most acute symptoms had run their course. Of course, New Year's Day, I still wasn't feeling 100% - and Rick was knocked flat on his back with it.... That entire day consisted of watching football (UofM was in the Outback Bowl) and movies.

Even today I still feel a little "off", and my biggest one ended up in Urgent Care earlier, but I'm cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind us and the nasty little bugger has moved on to bigger and better things! 

Not how I would have chosen to ring in 2013, but as always, I'm thankful for each and every single day  :)

Fall Faves!

Here are a few of my favorite things about fall:

-Pumpkin anything!
-Football games
-Mums - I currently have some rusty orange colored ones on my front steps
-Cornstalks
-Hay Rides
-Apple Cider
-Apple Crisp
-Apple EVERYTHING   :)
-Fall scented candles - Hobby Lobby has an orange pumpkin spice one that is my fave
-Walking in the woods by our house and looking at the pretty colors
-The Grossenbacher Family Chili Cook-off (I actually took first place last year!!!)
-Yummy soups on chilly days (as I type, I'm enjoying a bowl of Southwest Potato from Campbells)
-Hoodies and jeans
-Tall boots over skinny jeans with sweaters
-ALL the festivals that we have in the White Lake area - especially the Pumpkin Roll down the hill in Montague
-Hocus Pocus - the movie with Bette Midler - I LOVE IT (in fact, I watched it last night!)
-Snuggling around a campfire because it's JUST chilly enough that you want to be close
-Watching my kids jump in piles of leaves
-Driving down the highway and seeing a different site everyday as the trees change 
-Clearance sales on plants! I just bought 2 rhododendrons for the front yard for $10 apiece - saved $40!
-Going outside and being able to see your breath - and pretending I'm a dragon with my kids  :)
-Chai lattes - sweet and spicy at the same time 
-Warm Vanilla Sugar line from Bath and Body Works - I swear it makes me feel warmer after I use it!

I'm sure I could list a million more, but right now, my family is waiting for me to come join them for a movie. That's probably what I love most of all, regardless of the season!

Silence

So, I sat down last night and wanted to do a blog post. I stared at the screen and came up with nothing... Kind of frustrating, but what are you going to do. I was just tired from the day, I think. 

This morning, I was drinking coffee and listening to the quiet and I decided what I wanted to write about: Silence.

I was actually going to post this on Sunday, but we ended up getting busy (so busy that I didn't even watch a single football game! That's unheard of!). At our Sunday School class, our topic of discussion was on silence. More specifically, one of our pastors, Pastor Nick, had taken a week long sabbatical at The Hermitage in Three Rivers. He took a vow of silence for the week in order to listen. He had a laundry list of things he wanted to "discuss" with God. He was telling us some things about it and I was really captivated. How he struggled, how it worked for him, what it was like. I guess it's amazing what you can hear when you're being quiet.

I'm not a good listener - people who know me well will tell you that's true. I always have "something important" to add to the conversation and I'm not very patient at waiting for my turn to talk, or even not talking at all and just listening. I'm a mom - we fix things - that's just how I'm wired! I'm not going to apologize for it - call it a character flaw. But, I do try to make a conscious effort to listen more than I speak sometimes. 

Pastor Nick said that he is going to have a weekend retreat this spring/summer that will include the taking of a vow of silence. Rick and I both want to do it (although Rick says we're bringing two separate tents so we can have our own space and our own silence, even away from each other). I'm excited about it... I think it will be a good chance to listen and give God a chance to speak without yelling. I'm REALLY good at talking to God - I've never struggled with that. I have a harder time listening for God's response. Especially if it's something I don't really want to hear, or even worse sometimes, when I have to wait for his response and it's not on "my schedule". Patience is not a virtue I have a good handle on yet...

I think I'm just worried that I won't get that "experience" of hearing God loud and clear. I feel like it would be terrible to have anything less than an awesome experience of hearing God speak to you through a burning bush or something. Like what if I'm trying my best to listen and I still don't hear? I think that would be so discouraging... It's not like he's ever forsaken me before, but like I said, it's not always on my time frame and I struggle with that "waiting for a response". 

My sister sent me a book a long time ago, it's called "You're Late Again, Lord!" and it's all about God's timing versus our timing. I think I need to read it again because that is another thing I haven't mastered yet...

Maybe I'll start silence in small doses and see if I'm better able to hear things.

Pineapple Mangosteen

I LOVE being a BzzAgent! I get to try all kinds of super cool stuff and talk about it! I LOVE talking about stuff I love, so it's a win-win!

I am currently trying the Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser in my office at work. My co-workers FINALLY noticed the lovely scent emanating from my corner and before I knew it, everyone was checking it out  :) I now have 3 folks interested in becoming BzzAgents too! I chose the Pineapple Mangosteen scent for the office and I absolutely adore it. It makes me so relaxed and helps me focus when I'm drowning in to-do piles. Plus, I don't have to worry about it spilling, which I'm sure the cleaning company appreciates.

I am definitely a fan  :)

Road Trip Weekend!

Woohoo! Road trip to Indianapolis this weekend! Rick has to do some work down there, so we're going with him. Looking forward to seeing my aunt and uncle and escaping for the weekend. 

I LOVE road tripping with my family - our boys do SO WELL and Rick and I get along best on road trips, I think. Not that we don't get along in general, but you know what I mean! Indianapolis isn't a bad trip either! Long enough to count as a road trip, but not too long that you have to plan a huge thing. We're leaving Saturday morning and we'll be home on Sunday. 

Plus... road trips mean staying at a hotel. We LOVE that! When I was a kid, we didn't stay in hotels - we took a trailer and camped wherever we went. We, on the other hand, don't have a trailer, so when we go away, we stay in hotels. Josh and Logan are super lucky in that respect (in my opinion anyway - I would have LOVED to stay in hotels when I was a kid!!!).

I'm glad we're not leaving tomorrow night (which was the original plan). That would have involved getting everything packed tonight, and I'm just not up for that tonight. It was my late night at work, and I have to be back there at 8am tomorrow, so I'm glad I don't have to worry about having everything ready to go tonight.

I wonder what fun things the boys and I will find to do while Rick's working. Anyone have any tips for fun stuff in Indianapolis??