Sleepy Ramblings

I'm tired - physically and emotionally so I don't know what to blog about.  I'm just going to write whatever comes into my head.  Hope you all enjoy seeing how my brain works.  (Yes, this is what Nate has to deal with on a daily basis.)

Well, all this working, schooling, working out, living life, etc is wearing me down.  I need a vacation.  Anyone want to pay for me to go to Hawaii?  Or Europe?  Or Ethiopia?  Yeah, send me to Ethiopia.  I LOVE Ethiopia!  Someday I'll have to tell you all about my trips there.

Speaking of Ethiopia, I've been super emotional recently.  The other night, I was telling Nate about a couple from our church adopting from Ethiopia.  He said that, once they get the baby, he bets I'll start crying when I get to hold him or her.  Him saying that made me start crying because I LOVE little Ethiopian babies SO MUCH!  Yes, I cry because Nate tells me I will cry.  Also, if we adopt I'm sure it will be from Ethiopia.  Also, I might move there just because I can.

Some of our dear couple friends who have been struggling getting pregnant just found out their adopting a little boy in August!  I can't wait to share with you all more about their story and the assistance they need in making their dream come true.  They're even talking about starting a blog which I'm super excited about.

The main reason I'm excited for them to start blogging is because I really love blogging so much.  I love the connections I have with people.  I love that I can email or text girls I've never met to talk about life.  It fills a void in my heart.  What I like even more is meeting my blogging friends in real life.  I'm meeting Kelly in a week and I'm beyond excited about it.  I kind of have a blogging crush on her.  Also, we're so similar - we both are in love with Skylar Astin (and our hubbies know about it), we both hate driving over bridges because we think we're going to drive off and drown (even thinking about that makes both of us short of breath), and we're both adorable (but hopefully you all already knew that).  Meeting new people stresses my introverted self out a bit but I'm fairly certain meeting Kelly will be one of the best things ever.  (Sorry if I'm coming on a little too strong, Kelly!  Heehee)

aBeing introverted can be hard sometimes.  Tomorrow I'm heading to a women's retreat with my church and I'm excited but also kind of nervous.  I LOVE people but I don't always know how to behave when meeting new people.  I hate small talk and just want to get to the heart of someone and talk about deep things.  I'm hoping to meet some kindred spirits this weekend and have an amazing, God-filled weekend.

Ok, Nate just walked in the door from Bible study so we're going to go work out now.  Hope you enjoyed my jumbled up brain mess you just read.  Oh, and do any of you know any good inner thigh/rear end workouts?  Those are the areas I'm really wanting to target right now.

And speaking of targeting something - I REALLY love Target.

Pictures found HERE and HERE

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I'd love for you all to meet my darling sponsor, Amy from Taking Steps Home

Hi y'all, I'm Amy.  I'm a lover of Jesus, southern, addicted to hummus, spastic, known to make weird noises/accents, and enjoy a good glass of sweet tea. I love meeting new people and having meaningful conversations about the things going on in their lives. My blog, Taking Steps Home, is a place where i share new projects I'm working on at home, discuss spiritual issues, share recipes, and ramble. Basically, it's a place you can swing by and feel welcomed and normal (at least I hope).

I Dreamed a Dream

Friends, I'm going to be honest with you - this post will be the most vulnerable of all I've posted.  My heart has been drug back and forth as I wrestled with myself as to whether or not to post it.  I've decided that since this post is all about following the Lord's leading in our lives I need to post it.  How can I not follow the Lord's leading about a post that discusses the Lord's leading?  I pray that this little snippet of my life will encourage at least one of you and truly make an impact in your life.

As you all are well aware of, I have the best husband ever.  Seriously.  You all should be very jealous.

Before dating and marrying him, though, I was in a different relationship.  I dated this other guy for a while, due to reasons I'm not going to go into, the relationship ended very poorly and without closure.  We both had been dumb in various ways and, obviously, I was hurt.

Through the next few months I went through the whole grieving process and did come to the point of forgiveness for this guy for the dumb things he had done and forgiveness for myself for the dumb things I had done.  The thing was, I am a deep feeler and an extremely relational person.  Because of the way the breakup had occurred, I hadn't had closure and then had no contact with him after that point.  It was so hard for me to be torn in that way from someone I had loved and then not be able to heal at least a part of that relationship.

(Sorry all that background is so vague.  I'm trying very hard to keep from saying anything that could potentially negatively represent that ex.  That's not fair to him at all.)

Probably three or four months after the breakup, once I was pretty much healed from the breakup and had truly forgiven the ex, I began having a recurring dream every month or so.  I've never had recurring dreams before in my life so that in and of itself was strange. 

The dream itself was strange too.  Each time the dreams would start out different.  I would be doing some random, insignificant activity.  All of a sudden, my ex would show up.  In each dream, I would attempt to go over to him to tell him I had forgiven him but he would leave or disappear or I wouldn't be able to talk to him for any number of reasons.

I've never really been one to put much weight in dreams so I just kind of brushed this dream off by saying that it was just me subconsciously still grieving for this relationship.

I went on with life.  I began dating Nate.  He and I had been good friends while I was dating the other guy so he was well aware of all that had gone down between us.  I felt totally comfortable telling him all about these dreams from the very beginning of our relationship.  I made sure to tell him each time I had one because I wanted to be completely honest with him.  As our relationship progressed and I kept having the dreams, I began to realize more and more that these dreams weren't coming to me because of grief.  There was some deeper reason I was having these dreams.

Around the time Nate and I got married, I realized that I knew why these dreams were coming.  The Lord was laying it on my heart to talk to my ex and express my forgiveness to him and apologize to him.  I needed to do what I couldn't do in the dream.  I needed closure.

Nate was completely supportive of this.  He told me that he was fine with me talking with my ex and expressing to him the things that God was obviously placing on my heart to say to him.

I, on the other hand, listened to my pride.  I wasn't holding onto the relationship, what if that's what my ex thought?  I didn't want to be hurt if my ex wasn't at a good place in life and said something mean spirited to me.  I went through all the possible negative outcomes and decided there was no way I was going to talk to him.

Because I wasn't listening, the dreams kept coming.  About once a month or so, I'd have the same dream and it would always put me in a funk.  Nate began to recognize when I had the dream because of my attitude the next day.  I was married for a whole year and I was still having these dreams.

Finally, one September night, I pulled open my computer and wrote out a simple letter - expressing my forgiveness, apologizing for the hurtful things I had done, and telling him that I pray for him.  I pulled open facebook, prayed a little prayer, and sent the message to him.

That night, I dreamed the dream again.  I was at a park with friends and this ex showed up.  Once again, I got up to talk with him and he began walking away.  Then, he stopped, walked over to me, and said - "Susannah, everything is forgiven."

It's been eight months since then and I haven't once had that dream.

I want to encourage you, friends.  I don't know what's going on in your lives.  I don't know what promptings you're being given.  All I know is that, if they're from God, it's a good idea to listen.  I could have saved myself years of stress simply by listening to what I knew God was telling me to do.  I pray that you're willing to set aside your pride and listen too.

Picture found HERE

Spring Cleaning: Pantry

I am a little OCD.  I like my closet and dresser drawers being organized in color order.  I fold clothes a specific way.  I have the exact same order I do things in the morning (if I don't do them in that order I forget one - or seven - things to do).  I LOVE organizing.

This weekend, as I was pulling food out of the pantry to make lunch I realized how crazy messy our pantry was!  I couldn't believe it!  How on earth did I let it get that way?

I did what every normal girl would do.  I completely forgot about lunch and started pulling things out to reorganize.  It felt so good to figure out what food we had.  It felt even better going through all the appliances we've received since our wedding and weeding out the things we don't use.  To Goodwill they went.  The pile of things to go to Goodwill in the corner - it actually went to Goodwill.  The random cardigan I had to return to Macy's - it's all ready to be returned - in my purse, not our pantry.  We even have an empty space on the bottom shelf!!!

I can breathe a sigh of relief.  One more location is up to my OCD standards!

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I'd love for you all to meet my darling sponsor/friend, Kelly from Today Was A Fairytale!

Hey there! I’m Kelly and I blog over at Today Was A Fairytale. I'm a 20-something newly married, social media addicted, country music loving, picture taking, craft attempting, all things pink, girly girl. I love meeting new people but have a tendency to be a little shy. I blog about my life as a new wife, my journey through losing weight, getting lost in amazing books, being an auntie to my adorable niece and nephew, my attempts {and successes} at being crafty, making memories with friends and the pictures I take along the way.

Quirky Pickings

I have a special treat for you all today.  Jennifer from Quirky Pickings is guest posting!

Years ago, in a creative writing class, Jennifer began writing a series called The Griffin Inquisition.  It started out because she was supposed to write a memoir but didn't know what to write about.  Instead, she asked my family and friends to each pose a question that would require an essay or short answer.  A couple of years ago, she decided she wanted to expand the project (she's even thought about turning it into a book!) so she asked if I could pose a question that she could answer.  I was more than happy to oblige.

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What’s one event in your life that you feel best shaped who you are today?

There’s a scar on my face, in the center of my left cheek. A tiny, blue-gray dot. Lead, from the point of one of my perfectly sharpened pencils, taken by one of the boys in my fifth-grade class on the day we were to take our CAT tests—the standardized test of the time. I was taking too long. He was in a hurry. So he snatched one of the pencils from me and jabbed me in the face with it.

I don’t remember how I reacted.

I have a vague recollection of sitting in that classroom, filling in the bubbles of my booklet, oblivious to the importance of that test.

Years later, my mother told me of how much it mattered.

Twice my teachers tried to place me in special education classes, in third and fifth grades. The first time, I attended a private, Catholic school. My parents withdrew me and enrolled me in a public one.

The second? My teachers recommended that I be placed in special education. The principal approved the recommendation and called my mother to inform her of this. She told him to go ahead, that she’d be up there in five minutes to withdraw me, which of course had him flustered and blustering and insisting that she should come and have a talk.

The best thing about having teachers for parents, about having a school superintendent as a father, is that both know the ropes quite well. And my mother knew that while teacher recommendation and principal approval were two of the four criteria for taking a child out of a mainstream classroom… that even with the third of parental consent, that without the fourth—CAT scores—the other three don’t matter. And no child, no matter how the student performed in the classroom, could be placed in special education if the tests said he or she didn’t belong there.

And I didn’t belong there. She knew this. My teachers probably knew it, too, but they wanted me out of their way. I was too difficult to teach. I made their jobs too difficult. They couldn’t, wouldn’t be bothered with me.

I got the second highest score on that test out of the entire fifth grade. Not my class. My grade.

They put me in honors classes the next year. And my sixth grade language arts teacher managed to sneak a compliment in with all the ridicule I’d heard from so many, all the torment I felt. I remember being the last one to leave the classroom, though I can’t say if it’s because she’d pulled me aside or because I’d just taken too long to get my stuff together. She told me that she thought I had a lot of talent for writing. And for the first time in a long time, someone other than my family saw something good in me, something beautiful.

My childhood was like Pandora’s box—so much ugliness inside. But there was hope, too.

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Jennifer has month giveaways on her blog.  This month, she's giving away

• essential n.y. times cookbook
• grill wrangler
• $15 bed bath & beyond giftcard
• bourbon & black pepper bbq sauce
• mango habanero bbq sauce
• paris & italy dishtowels

Head on over to Quirky Pickings to enter!

Look for Less... And YOLO Monday

Today, I want to remind you how inspiration can easily move to reality.  I was browsing through clothing sites and realized I had (cheaper) versions of so many of the items I was loving.  I figured it would be perfect to show off a look I put together for less.

 

 

Burberry Cashmere V Neck Cardigan $645/ Emporio Armani Sleeveless Top $280/ Simone Rocha Winter White Skirt $274/ J.Crew Short Heel Shoes $150/ Danielle Stevens Jewelry $188/ Ray-Ban Ray Ban Sunglasses $244

 

Cardigan: Forever 21 (gifted)/ Sequin Tank: Walmart ($5)/ White Eyelet Skirt: JCPenny ($20)/ Sandals: Ross ($10)/ Necklace: Vintage (gifted)/ Aviators (not shown): Ross ($6)

Origional Outfit Total: $1781
My Outfit Total: $41

I hope this inspires you to make your own looks for less!

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Today I have the honor of cohosting YOLO Monday with Molly and Carly.  Let's let Carly take it from here...

 

Happy YOLO Monday! Each week, Molly & I will be selecting a few of our favorite posts from the Monday before to feature……it’s a great way to put the spotlight on a few of y’all each week! Please be sure to link up an ACTUAL post, not just a link to your main page.Our favs from last week?

White Jeans Day to Night

BBQ Chicken Salad

Mini Quiches

All About Accessories

 

 

The Rules for #YOLOMONDAYS Link-Ups:

1. Follow your hosts Molly @ still being [molly] ,Carly @ Lipgloss & Crayons , and your guest host for the week Susannah @ Simple Moments Stick
2. Grab a button and / or post a link back here in your BLOG POST (NOT your blog’s main page) so your readers know what all the #YOLOMONDAY-ness is about. We love you guys linking up and we do go through and read all your posts… so if you do not give credit, we will have to remove your link. That’s no fun, right? Right. So be nice and share a link! Pretty please?
3. Link your blog post up using the linky tool below! It can be ANYTHING! An outfit post, a giveaway, a story, a recipe, whatever. Why? Cause it’s #YOLOMONDAYS!
4. Visit a blog or four that you’ve never been to before and leave a #YOLOMONDAYS comment – you never know, you might “meet” someone new that you will lurve!
5. Have fun! Cause #YOLO! 

Want to cohost #YOLOMONDAYS? We will be accepting weekly cohosts starting next week..........please email us at carlybrydon@gmail.com for more info!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom and Sheli, thanks for being such wonderful, Godly examples for me!  I'm so blessed to have a mother AND mother in law I love and admire!  I hope you both have amazing days!

Field's Potatoes {Recipe}

Today you all should feel very blessed.  I am sharing with you a recipe that has been in my family for 3 generations - tweaked by my grandma, my mom, and me until it is absolutely perfect (until my future daughter comes along and tweaks it again).

Every holiday my family has Field's Potatoes.  As I made these potatoes for our small Easter celebration, I had an epiphany!!!  I didn't have to wait until a holiday to make these potatoes!!!  That kind of blew my mind.  Never in my life had I had these potatoes other than during a holiday dinner or for holiday leftovers.  It was fabulous to realize I could eat them whenever I wanted!

Why are these potatoes called Field's Potatoes, you may ask.  I'll be honest with you, I thought that my grandma had found this recipe in a cookbook and they were called Field's Potatoes and that's what they're called.  At Thanksgiving about two years ago, we were making these potatoes and my mom and grandma were talking about Mrs. Fields.  Apparently, these potatoes originated with my Grandma's friend, Mrs. Fields.  When we were younger, my mom always told us that they were Mrs. Fields' Potatoes and, through time, my siblings and I shortened it to Field's Potatoes.  My mom and grandma thought it was hilarious that I didn't know that!

Now, after all this backstory, you should be excited to get to make your own Field's Potatoes.  This is MY version of the recipe.

Ingredients:

7 to 9 medium potatoes

1/4 c. butter

1 can Cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup green onion, chopped

1 pt. sour cream

1 1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• Cook potatoes until done and mash.  
• Heat butter with soup. 
• Blend sour cream, onion, cheese in. 
• Stir mixture into mashed potatoes. 
• Put mixture into buttered 2 1/2 qt baking dish. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Easy, tasty, and AMAZING!!!  Let me know how you like them.