UNCHARTED...

is the word most recently used to describe my life.

I have never been here before.

Even though here is where I wanted to be,

it is not how I thought it would be.

Not how I planned it to be.

I feel on most days I get up,

roll out the map of my life,

and ask where today?

I know there are many in the same boat with me.

Many who are in new waters, not sure of where they are going.

HH never planned on being the sole bread winner

and bearing the weight of that responsibility.

MCs never really plan on anything,

but it is safe to say MC 2 never planned on kindergarten.

Lots of I don't knows.

Lots of Lord you do.

So today I am feeling ...

Not abandoned.

Not misplaced.

Not afraid.

Not lost.

Anxious maybe?

You know the feeling.

When you visit somewhere new,

and you are trying to take it all in.

Trying to figure out what to do first.

Looking at the map to see where you want to go.

Except there is no map.

Which leaves me with two choices.

I can let what I see guide me or I can follow a guide.

The problem with following what I see is that

I don't know what I am looking at.

I misinterpret what I see.

I get disoriented.

The guide better be a good one.

Not a newbe.

Someone who has been here before

and knows the lay of the land.

Someone who can show me which way to go.

I don't want to follow just anyone.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

Psalm 32:8 (NKJV)

Fortunately I don't have to.

Me and my no map having self have chosen to follow

the One Guide who has done this already.

The One Guide who sees what I cannot.

Who never misinterprets signs.

Who never gets disoriented.

Who always knows what He is looking at.

What about you?

Uncharted waters or plans laid out,

who or what will you let be your guide?

Not to say I haven't wandered off

from the direction the Guide called me to follow Him in,

because I have.

I have explored on my own and found myself in a mess.

However, this time I think I will stick pretty close to Him.

It is the wisest choice,

and as always,

I choose.

A POST FOR DUDE...

I have one brother-in-law on HH's side. His baby brother, affectionately known as Dude. I can't really recall why we call him "Dude", but considering he comes from a family of Raras, Tutus, Susus and MuMus, it doesn't really matter.

Dude has gotten older, moved out and has himself a real job now, so we don't see a lot of him. It delights the MCs when we do, and you can almost bet there is going to be some trash talking and take-downs going on.

Last weekend we were buying travel size items for our weekend apart when MC 1 saw a travel size bottle of Axe shampoo and begged to have it. Seems it must be the same thing or similar to what Dude wears because it smelled like him, and according to MC 1, Dude smells good.

We now have Axe shampoo, gold and blue bottles, and some Axe deodorant, which MC 2 demanded he wear to school today.

Ready for me to totally turn this around on us and make it about Jesus?

My boys don't see Dude a lot, but it seems when they do it makes an impression. A good smelling one that makes them want to be like him.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NKJV).

If we are professors of faith in Christ Jesus, we are His aroma to this world. It should inundate everything and everywhere we go. The question is do we leave an aroma that people want to copy, or do we leave a foul stench that makes people want to reject anything we do or have to say? Just like Dude, we affect people we only see every so often. What aroma are we leaving behind? Now the next verse does go on to tell us that to those who reject Christ, we stink. Not much we can do about that one except pray for them. But to those who accept Christ, we are the smell of life!

So today, choose to be the sweet fragrance of life to those around you.

May be someone you see once, may be the people you live with.

Either way, you get to choose the aroma you leave behind.

Leave them asking,

What is that smell?

TRACTOR SLEEP OVER

Last week, not only did we have the first week of school,

but we also had Audie and Grandpa out everyday baling hay.

Of course MC 2 was in heaven.

MC 1 just likes to hop across the bales.

He did get to drive the tractor down the road with Grandpa supervising.

HH wanted to bond with MC 2 so he had to go for his only ace.

MC 2 did ask me the first night the tractor slept over,

Mama, can we keep it?

I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE.....

teared up at Meet the Teacher Night when talking about this one...

and listened to this one tell me how he was kinda worried about the above....

and held my composure until I walked out the door when I dropped these two off...

and cried like a baby on the way to the car, with sniffling moms behind me...

and nearly lost it again 3 days later when I went into Sam's and mentioned to the lady I hadn't been to Sam's by myself in 8+ years....

and thought my boys are abandoning me for higher education and girls...

and tried to figure out how I could get them to stay little forever...

and then remembered it was all part of the plan and that there are good things to come...

and decided to purchase 3 packs of Milky Way Mint bars to drown my sorrows in.

I may or may not have.

SATURDAY....

was my official introduction to the Women of Faith conferences. I have never felt higher. Then I realized it may have been due to our seats being this far from the ceiling....

and this far from the floor.

The speakers were wonderful. I am a big fan of Sheila Walsh so I really enjoyed hearing her. The dramas were outstanding. But my main reason for sitting for hours were these two ladies right here...

That's right peeps...it is Mary Mary, and oh how I love them. Even if there names aren't really Mary. Thank goodness I wasn't one of the ones who called "Hey Mary!" when I spotted them in the hall. Of course, I never got close enough to the ground to spot them, but I am pretty sure I would have given "Mary" a shout out, and that would have been embarrassing. I was so happy to hear their music and their stories. Real women with real kids who really pooped on her right before she went on stage.

I concluded that the main purpose of the conference was to get away with other gals, and get encouraged. I decided that the next one I attend will be a four day affair. 26 hours is just too fast.

Did I mention I had Starbucks coffee for the first time? From the hotel. The free pack. They can keep it. Also, I rode public transportation for the first time. I felt so citified! NYC here I come!

We had a great time and it was nice to get away. I recommend it for a girls weekend away. Take all four days! You will need it. To wrap this baby up, here I am with the MIL. She so loves her nickname. Kinda like how she loves to say I am her favorite daughter-in-law and then I remind her I am her only daughter-in-law.

Yep, she has jokes.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS....

Friday evening, my MIL and I headed to Dallas for Women of Faith. We knew we would be pressed for time if we got away when we expected to, and we did not. We made good time. By the grace of God found our hotel and got parked. That was the easy part. Seems at the exact moment we wanted to ride the elevators out of the garage, some one decided to test all the fire systems, which made the elevators non-functional. We located the stairs, said our prayers, and headed 5 flights down.

The door then opened up onto the street, which got us completely lost. Fortunately, there were some nice moving men who pointed us in the right direction. We entered the Plaza of the Americas, and got lost again. So again, some nice people pointed us up an escalator, where we found a most gracious young man who could tell these girls were out of their element and walked us to the hotel. We checked in with no problems and decided after all that walking we were hungry. TexMex was our craving, but not within walking distance. We asked the concierge about places to eat. He says "Sure there is a steak house called Dakota's and it is usually pretty good. Let me call."
Don't we feel special now.

It was all a set up.
We walked down to the restaurant and within about 30 seconds knew we were not in Kansas anymore. MIL said "See that woman is casual" to which I replied " Yes, but she isn't Wal-Mart casual". We opened the menu to find NO prices. Bad sign. B...A...D... sign. But we figured since HH and my FIL have splurged on a few meals in our presence we could do the same. Three hours later we finished our three course Restaurant Week Special. The only thing that made me feel more justified was that a portion of the proceeds went to charity. Or perhaps it was a portion of my meal because those servings were teeny tiny. We had a good time watching all the other people though and the food was good. We hiked it back to our hotel, met our rommie for the first time and then we crashed,ready for what Saturday held.

OFF TO WOF

I am off to Women of Faith this weekend with MIL and some church ladies.
Did anyone else immediately go to Dana Carvey?
I am pawning the MCs out.
HH is excited to have some alone time.
He has decided to switch out the exhaust on the motorcycle.
Seems doing it by himself sounded great in his head,
not so much in action.
So he has a friend coming over to help.
Have a great a weekend!

SOMEONE....

is still here.

And someone...

is getting a tad "too comfortable" on my front porch.

* For the record--he is chewing his leg. His bum is clearly on the ground - Becca!

RODEO TIME...

It is rodeo time again! MC 1 was so excited.

His response when pulling into the arena,

"Man, it is good to be back".

MC 2 is eligible to participate,

we are just undecided.

For one thing, it's MC 2.

Him on a horse is an anxiety attack waiting to happen.

Second, MC 2's rodeo starts very early in the morning and last past lunch.

MC 1's rodeo - 1 1/2 hours.

We have a month to decide.

Must say I agree with MC 1.

It was good to be back.

SWING LO' SWEET CHARIOT

I took the MCs shoe shopping Friday. MC 2 was successful, MC 1 was denied. He can't understand why mom won't pay $90 for a pair of shoes.
We started at our local Academy Store. On the way in MC 1 found a deceased butterfly. He laid it on the ground by the truck while we went in. Upon returning to the vehicle known as Ol' Blue, MC 1 decided he wanted to give the butterfly a proper burial. He began using his finger to dig a small grave. I was trying to get MC 2 in the truck because it was HOT. He kept yelling I wanna see! I wanna see! so I relented. During our impromptu moment of silence. I hear a soft voice start to sing Jesus, Jesus.....Seems MC 2 felt the occasion called for song. I expected him to bust out with some Sweet Chariot, and had he known it he probably would have. It was too funny!
Unlike discovering the MC 2 had been going commando all day while we were in the movie theater later that afternoon. That was not so funny.

FLOORS AND FASHION

BIL has been working on our floor.
Remember our floor, that we ripped out nearly a year ago?
Yes, that one.
We were moving along nicely this week until I actually went to Lowe's to purchase the floor.
And let the salesman completely point me a different flooring direction.
Which will frustrate BIL to no end, but he will roll with it.
Has to, I already ordered and paid for the new floor.
Yesterday, BIL came over with my niece and nephew.
I also had sister #1's (by birth order- you other two don't get your knickers in a twist about who is the fav.....I love you all equally!) 3 kids because she and BIL had "BUS DRIVER RECERTIFICATION"....oooooooohhhhhhhhh.
Throw in my two and hello....7 kiddos - 5 boys, 2 girls.
One of my niece's has a birthday coming up so I gave her a gift.
Other niece, who just had a party and received a gift as well from me, walks up and says:
"Uhmm.. you know I had a party and I didn't get a gift from you."
"Uhm.....yes you did. I gave you those two dresses, remember?"
"No."
When I was retelling her mama that story, she replied to said niece with something along these lines,
"Remember, Aunt Rhonda got you those dresses that you liked. Remember, how she did a good job picking them for only having boys?"
Not that I have ever, E-V-E-R, claimed to have any kind of fashion sense, but I do believe I have maintained my XX's enough to know little girls like flowery dresses.
On that note, my friend Casey is a small fashion icon in HH eyes. So much so she is my go to woman when he threatens to send me shopping. I am choosing not to tell him she is about to start a cooking class...he will have me signed up before I can even finish.
Anyway, Casey always looks very "put together" when HH sees her. I have been on retreats with her so I know the truth;) I have seen the no-makeup face. I love her still!
A couple of weeks ago, she came by the house in her casual wear.
T-shirt, some form of stretchy pant, tennis shoes, you know....everyday stuff.
HH was home, or came home, or whatever, while she was still here.
He was floored. Seems he has never seen her like this. He did not know how to respond and it was all over his face and eventually came out of his mouth.
"You went to town like that? I don't think I have ever seen you like that?"
My - how the mighty have fallen.
Casey and I had a good laugh.
Then I went back to put on a clean pair of stretchy pants.
I love fashion!
Have a great weekend!

THE COVER-UP

To end up our fun filled stay-ca, HH decided we needed to take the boys to a water park.

HH decided.

The mere mention of the words "water" and "park" together, well, I'm out.

But as we moms and dads do, I sucked it up and joined along.

I would be a liar if I told you I had a really great attitude about it that morning.

To tell you the truth I had to pray hard before I ever set my feet on the ground.

Two things were causing me worry.

First, me in a swim suit, having to take off my cover-up.

My really cute cover-up, with embellishments at the neck, and a cute little tie thingy.

My cover-up that did just that, covered-up all the junk we had been eating for a week (and then some).

Second, MC 2.

You read the blog.

You know how he is.

The thought of keeping up with him at a water park was not my idea of fun.

I totally did not buy it when HH (who has visited this particular water park before) said,

It won't be a big deal. All you have to do is sit there and watch him.

Obviously a man who does not stay home with MC 2.

You don't just sit and watch him do anything.

Alas, the MC's were so excited that I just put on my big girl swim bottoms and got over it.

Imagine my sheer delight and Thank You Jesus when I discovered that I did not have to remove my tunic!

You have never seen a woman so happy!

MC 2? Well, he was pretty brave.

I must give props to HH, for he did an excellent job of including little man in all he could.

It actually turned out to be a very nice day.

If we don't include the fact that by noon our feet felt like we were walking on hot coals.

The boys and I had flip flops we could wear.

HH was Shoeless Joe.

So, if you were there, and if you happened to see a grown man sitting in the splash pad with his feet over the spouts, you now know why.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day and have made plans to return next summer.

Vacation 20-10 is in the books.

AHHH...MORE WALL MOUNTS....

at least in HH eyes.
The next day we loaded up the men children and headed to the zoo.
Seems we decided that our pores could use a follow up cleansing.
The men children love the snake house.
The men children's mama is not a fan.
I mean, honestly, they put you in a room full of venomous animals and turn off the lights.
Really?
Who thought that was a good idea?
We saw all the big boys and the little vermin.
Shared nachos and chili cheese fries by the giraffes.
Saw some crazy rhinos.
Then we traded one zoo for another as we headed to the local Chuck E. Cheese.
At least it was air conditioned (Hallelujah!).
(For the record, when you try to use your GPS to find said restaurant, always good to remember that it is Chuck E. and not Chuckie. Someone would have gotten us lost....)
I never can tell who loves it more, HH or the men children.
HH and MC 1 are all the about the tickets.
MC 2 is all about hitting every game like it was a slot machine.
He could care less about the tickets, until it is time to go.
Keeping with our zoo themed day, we then headed over to the mall in this fine city.
HH's plan, not mine.
Our mission....to find a suitable (aka HH approved and not looking like my mama) swim suit cover-up for the next day.
That is right peeps, swim suits....
Gives me chills as well.
Have a great day!

GATORS

Tuesday we loaded up and headed to a gator park, because, well, every little boy loves him some gators. They also had a petting zoo.
I don't know why I forget this, but I am reminded every time we go somewhere with exotic animals, that I should leave HH at home.
He just walks around commenting on how nice they would look on his wall, or how he already has it on his wall, or as he vocalized when we approached the ostrich,
"Man, now that is some good eating".
Needless to say the people there moved on quickly.
After lunch, and a trip to Bass Pro, HH decides it is a good time to go fishing.
As if we weren't sweating enough.
So fishing we did.
Which I was okay with until the water moccasin climbed out of the tree and into the water right next to my babies.
12 hours and 30 buckets of sweat later we returned home.
I would show you pictures but someone is being a tad bit difficult when asked to upload.
Round 2 tomorrow;)

THE DOCTORS ARE IN...

Monday was my quarterly doctor's appointment and MC 1's dentist appointment.
I was up first.
So was my weight.
Dr. B walks in, looks at the chart, and then so nonchalantly says,
"So, have you been watching what you eating?"
To which I replied,
"You already know the answer to that Doc. You saw the chart. Why do you ask questions that you already know the answer to?"
And started calling him Clarice.
He had nothing after that.
Not really.
He had plenty after that.
And I never uttered Clarice.
Then we rushed to the dentist, after a stop by the donut store, which probably contributes to both our issues.
MC 1 seems to have an affiliation for silver teeth.
We garnered another one last week.
Now you are asking yourself, where was MC 2 during all this?
HH bravely took him to work with him.
MC 2 was so proud.
He was telling people all weekend, "I'm going to work with my daddy."
Then we came home and crashed because it was like 200+ degrees outside, and contrary to my theory, sweating in the car does not cause you to lose weight.
Tomorrow - GATORS!

DOUBT

This brings tears to my eyes, out of anger and saddness.

MY BIRTHDAY

I had a birthday last week. Honestly, I am okay with it. The number does not freak me out. What does is the fact that I remember my mama at this age. Plus the fact that some of my classmates graduated high school nearly 20 years ago. I just don't know how they did that because I am confident I graduated only a few short months ago.

My body is not in the shape it used to be, but praise God neither is my heart.

Although it is harder to see the written word with these physical eyes, the Lord has sharpened my spiritual eyes to look deeper at myself. To look past others bravado (good or bad) and see them as He does.

It has been a year of fine tuning, which, at times, has been hard. Felt like I was regressing. But I believe He was just getting to the bottom of it all.

I would like to take this time to thank ANONYMOUS for the pizza rolls he jacked from a certain place as my birthday gift. They were not wasted on me:)

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Last week HH had the chance to go deep sea fishing. Being the good wife that I am *cough cough* I said he could go (Really it was my birthday weekend so he did ask if it was okay. How do you say no to a chance of a lifetime?). I was good with it until Friday morning when I woke up with the theme music from Gilligan's Island playing in my head. Not to mention the vast number of survival shows I have been subjected to have only increased my awareness of how quickly things can go bad.
And I did not marry Bear Grylls.
And The Professor was not on board.
They did survive though. HH caught sharks and something else. He also caught a bit of sea sickness, which resulted in copious amounts of heckling from his fellow fishermen. No pics to prove anything, so we will have to take him at his word on the size of said sharks.
The MC's and I headed to my mama's house because I take any chance I can to go to my mama's house. Friday night we had the obligatory birthday dinner. Saturday, Grandpa took the boys "into town" while mom and I did farm work. Saturday afternoon we rode the club car around to check the fences. The most exciting thing was Molly the dog came near to having a heat stroke. My mom and dad have a large pencil box full of dogs and few of them very sharp. Molly would be one of the duller ones (sorry sister). We spent close to 45 minutes hosing her down and babysitting her. Sunday we all parted ways and went to our respective churches.
So there is the weekend for you. Gilligan did discover later this week he forgot to sunscreen one ear. Can we say ouch?
So there is your weekend wrap up.
Hope yours was awesome as well!