What's that word that you use for people who never do anything??

LAZY....and for those who may have attempted following my "blog"...that's what it appears I am. But I swear my life is no less complex and busy than it was 4 months ago..I just forgot...Yes, that's a better word for it "FORGETFUL". I honestly felt compelled to write another post after my great friend Rene realized I even HAD a blog and commented on my notes from Feb. and then when I decided to check out her comments, I realized she has been incredibly faithful to hers...oops.

So much has gone on since February that I almost just have to start new today and hope you can all catch up (ha ha...all, as if there are so many of you!!) We have an incredible summer planned for our youth group, but as with everything in life, where there is progress, there is also attack. I feel pretty attacked lately by the devil and I am consciously trying to move in prayer and not bitterness or defeat. I feel confident that I am doing what God wants me to (at least for today) and I just have to press through the hardships that will, no doubt, come with it. I only have two "free" Saturdays this entire summer and I am about to fill one of them with a CPR certification class at the local Red Cross. I really need to get better organized about housework and originally, I had planned to leave Sat. mornings free for that. But, alas, if there is an opportunity to plan something else on Saturdays, I will once again throw housework by the wayside. Can someone just come do it for me?

In other news, the weekend before we took our bomb of a vacation (aka cruise to the Bahamas), I ran my first 5K at the OK Aquarium, and did alright even by my own standards. I say first 5K, not because I intend to run them all the time, but more because since I now know I CAN do it, I don't see why I couldn't do a few every year...What, it's for a good cause (and you get a t-shirt) :-) I have also stayed pretty consistent at the gym and with my group classes, so much so that I am a "staple" in the classes and even have my own "spot". I am not extremely friendly when I work out but that hasn't stopped me from making a few "acquaintances" along the way and boy, do they motivate me when I am ready to quit! Its been really good for me.

I am looking forward to our 4th of July celebrations this weekend. Friday, we will be heading to Springfield for their festival and meeting some extremely DEAR friends there to enjoy the day with! Then Saturday, we will head over to some friends in town's home to WATCH the locals blow up the sky, eat some good BBQ, and swim the heat away! I will be exhausted on Sunday (when I am covering Children's Church) but I will never regret a single moment.

I really hope I can do a better job of documenting my life on here. I read my first post as motivation and instead of feeling motivated, I simply wanted to delete it so that there was no real evidence that I had intended to be a great blogger. I need to get lessons from a few of you seasoned bloggers....like, for instance...what do all the abbreviations mean? I feel lost sometimes, like I am in a foreign land, but I guess...when in Rome, do as the Romans do!

TTYL
Ashley

Maybe I can pencil you in....

So I officially forgot about my "blog". I knew it would happen sooner or later, I was just hoping for "later" and not three days after starting!! Oh well... The important thing to know is that I remembered and came back to it, right??? Things around here have been crazy busy and exactly normal. I don't really know how to explain how we end up so incredibly busy but before I knew it, I have every weekend in March and April booked with either church related activities, conferences, work events, and girls' nights! And, yet, at the end it feels completely normal to be incredibly busy. I wonder if we would know what to do with "FREE" time..I mean, really free.. because a Saturday afternoon that cleaning and groceries still needs to get done in, doesn't constitute free time. In fact, those times get budgeted in just the same!! Anyhow, I am excited about the next few weeks. We just did a financial seminar today at a local church. Nothing was incredibly profound and, as a detail-oriented person, most tips for effectiveness, we already practice, but overall it was a good day. The speaker gave some good insight into a few areas where I wasn't quite confident yet and if that is all I got from it, it was worth it! Next weekend (with the exception of OneWorship on Friday night) I have saturday free. I am hoping to get in a run outdoors (I hear nice weather is coming)...Don't get me wrong, I love the conveniece and comfort of the gym but I'm no fool and there's no way I am running a 5K without running real natural hills. It makes me cringe just thinking about it, but I am going to persevere! After that, there isn't anything open until May...and that time is reserved for getting ready for the cruise!

In other news, I have been doing this 5 star program and I am really excited about its results, not only in my own life-but in the excitement of friends and family! Basically it goes something like this
STAR 1: Get enough sleep at night- 71/2 to 8 hours of sleep
STAR 2: Eat right- And start with breakfast
STAR 3: Log a work-out, whatever that means to you
STAR 4: Stretch your muscles...your PHYSICAL muscles, stretching is important in preventing injury and can be very relaxing as well
STAR 5: Do something positive for someone else. Not only is it self-gratifying but you could be making a huge difference in someone else's life.

Its been really great for me, I have been constantly looking for different work-out opportunities, healthier food options, and ways to make someone elses' day. It's not a perfect science but its a good way to calculate whether or not you are meeting your goals!

The kitchen is calling me...and not for food unfortunately. Its time to clean the kitchen so that tomorrow I am not burdened with housework after church!

Til then...

Kitty Drama

These past few days have been so tough. We have been so diligent giving our cat her insulin shots twice daily...and making sure she is only eating the high-fiber/low-sugar diet, not to mention that we took her BACK to the vet today for the shot required to get rid of the urinary tract infection she had...And claire has taken it all in stride, UNTIL the shot this morning. She starting crying during the shot that, according to the vet, she would start to get used to (mind you, she hasn't cried about them up to this point) and again tonight, and tonight it almost brought tears to my eyes because it was such a defeated cry. I don't really know if animals can tell our emotions the way we *Think* we can tell theirs. I hope so, because I really want her to know that we haven't decided we hate her by injecting her all the time and that its actually the opposite of that. It made me sick to my stomach tonight because I know that I can't keep doing this unless it reall does seem easier for her..Crazy huh, how much we will do for our pets??

In other news, we were placed *officially* on the ministry team last night (Thursday) and it was bittersweet. Its important to be trained and raised up in order to fulfill our destinies but I certainly felt like a fish out of water. Nothing about me in that meeting really fits where I feel I deserve to be. I wonder how confident they would be if they saw me the way I saw me???
Boy, oh boy...

Jeremiah also managed to roll his ankle today on the way out of the vet's office ( Don't worry, he didn't drop the cat) and it looked pretty bad. He sent me a picture telling me how bad it was only to then argue with me when I suggested we ask our mom's and possibly go to the doctor. None of those were acceptable options, I suppose sulking in self-pity and pain is a reasonable suggestion after all!! So he will, until Monday, when he has agreed to go to the doctor if it's not better by then!

It seems like another day, another story. I hope I look back and think "How trivial" about these things because right now they are certainly filling my mind and my time. good rest will be my company tonight, I hope...Work comes early tomorrow morning!! :-)

Cats have nine lives

Today was an interesting day...Full of cat fur, hissing and spitting, and death glares. Yes, we took a trip to the vet today. While I was gone to OKC this weekend, Jeremiah did some research on our cat Claire's new behavior of sitting by the water bowl all the time and filling the litter box more than usual. He sent me a text with all the different diseases she could have and really concerned me by telling me to take her to the vet (keep in mind, spending money on animals isn't his forte'). It turns out, his intuition was correct...poor Claire is a diabetic kitty, complete with insulin medication and a new prescription diet. Hopefully we can be successful at this insulin stuff. We haven't been very good at our animals prescriptions thus far but this is a lot more urgent than Norman's ear drops :-) I haven't had a very successful day, no working out, no cleaning house, I'm not even sure I showered. I need to get my priorities back in order... Getting up with the alarm (cough cough) praying, working out, being successful and consistent at work, running, and CLEANING my house!!! Tomorrow is a new day and I can be a new person. I can...really.

Good night.

In My Own Words

I have never been good at diaries...I never have anything really juicy to write and I tend to lose the journal after a few entries of nothingness. So I am trying something new. I don't necessarily believe that anyone really cares if Jeremiah got a gym membership or if I had a successful day at work, but I enjoy ending the day by reflecting back on the awesome things God has done for me. I intend to use this "Online Diary System" as a tool for that and a way of having those thoughts archived..Who knows, maybe they'll make my memoir someday....Oh the juicy details of a happily monogomous marriage, two people who work hard and love what they do and (gasp) love each other and God! Not quite the life that Hollywood glamourizes but I think God is pleased...at least until I slam a door because my husband is childish, AGAIN!!! I'm trying to learn a balance of transparency. I tend to pull towards the "keep a wall up" side of the fence while I know people who lean towards the "tell everyone about your colonoscopy" side of the fence...I am a firm believer in balance and will try to even admit my own shortcomings on my blog. Not because you have any right to that information, but because if I hold it in, than I am assuming I have the right to look perfect....and my Jesus didn't die so that I could put on a good face for the public...he's far more interested in my heart, and I am too..... Who knows, maybe this will end up being more interesting than I originally thought....hmm...


Stay Tuned.