Ready or Not...

I am getting this post up a bit late

{what's new??}

but wanted to share with you our first-day-of-school photos

and

give you a little update.

And I also wanted to put this up

so that I could feel as though

I did something for me,

that I love 

and reminds me of my former life. :)

Goodness...

where has the time gone?

How are we headed to 

high school,

middle school,

AND elementary school this year?

Seems like just yesterday we were headed

out to MOPS 

and I was packing diapers and bottles

and double checking to make sure I had matching socks on.

No small feat in those early, sleep deprived days.

And now...

big kids.

And I truly love it.

The older they get, the more I enjoy them.

Yes, we have bumpy days and teary moments,

but by and large, they are becoming wonderful people

who I really like to spend time with.

Speaking of time,

adjusting to being a working mom has been challenging.

I have spent the last 16 years feathering my nest

and making sure home was a 

calm, clean, organized haven to come home to.

These days we leave by 7,

arrive home near 5,

and are out the door again for a 'Back-to-{fill in the blank} night.

I miss my kids,

I miss my cowboy,

I miss long walks with the dog.

I miss my measuring spoons - 

I miss being home.

I could go on and on but I might short out my keyboard

with exhausted tears.

While I desperately miss home,

I love my job.

I walked through the doors the other morning and worship music

 was blaring from the Worship Center,

people were gathering to pray

and peace reigned.

{AND  I get paid to be here??}

And just down the hall are roughly 300

middle schoolers who need to be loved on

and cared for and shown the right way to class.

They need copies of schedules,

and help with jammed lockers,

and maybe a kleenex or two.

{volleyball cuts were made today :( }

They need to know that someone is there to greet them

and say how glad they are to see them.

Bless their hearts,

 they are a mess!

Precious messes

 and I get to love on them 

and help them

 and love on their overwhelmed mamas, too.

{I can relate} 

Well, off to pack lunches and move laundry

 and maybe sneak a moment

or two with the cowboy

before it is time to start the whole thing over again!

Blessings,

{K} 

Changes

I added this beautiful leather cuff bracelet

to my ever growing collection

earlier this summer.

{jewelry, it's an addiction I tell ya!}

I wish I could tell you where I found it

other than 'somewhere on etsy'.

I had been looking for just the right cuff with just the right

word/saying for months.

And then I landed on this one

and fell in love.

I don't know if you can fully

read it or not but it says,

"just when the caterpillar thought her world was over,

she became a butterfly."

It perfectly sums up where I believe I have

been for the last several months.

The Lord has been up to a mighty work in my life the last

few months, and I naively thought it was all about weight loss.

In February I committed to a healthier

lifestyle and gave weight loss a good try.

{I'm not known for sticking to my guns in this area}

I originally hoped to loose

20 pounds.

To date I have lost 30 pounds

 and have become a foodie and exercise junkie.

Who knew I had it in me??

Certainly not moi!

Then waaaay back in May

a job found me.

As I was walking in the cross walk.

To pick up my middle schooler.

Just crazy

as I had applied for a job at my kids' school months earlier

 and had resignedmyself to the fact that I wouldn't be working there

this coming school year.

I just wasn't in the cards, or so I thought.

Long story short, the principal

of the middle school grabbed me and told me I was an answer to prayer.

She wanted me to be a part of the middle school staff

and work in the front office.

All the pieces fell in to place

and I will be there this coming school year.

I am thrilled to have a job and yet conflicted at the same time.

For the last 15+ years I have been a stay at home mom.

And a very content, happy one at that!

I fully believe that having a parent who is 

passionate about home and being fully present in their role,

is the greatest gift a child can receive.

                           I have loved {almost} every minute of being at home with my kids.

LOVED IT!!

But it is time for me to leave home and supplement our income.

It is time to take the burden of raising a family
 on one paycheck

 off of my sweet man's shoulders.

He has been a trooper for so long

 and graciously

 allowed me to live out my dream of staying home with our kids.

Now it is his turn to live out his dream

of working for himself.

So this fall will be a crazy one for our family

as we all adjust to having a working mama.

I started work just yesterday

and bravely wore my cuff bracelet,

proudly telling my story to anyone who asks

about the engraving on it,

of how a gracious God has taken this caterpillar out of her

cocoon and readied her wings to fly.
My world isn't ending...
just beginning a new chapter.

His hand has been evident in every move that made this job

possible - in ways that I could never manipulate,

all the way down to the timing of cataract surgery

that allows me to really see my new computer screen

in my new office

at my new job.

30 lost pounds + clear vision + the perfect job

=

one butterfly ready to take off. 

I'm not sure how working full time will impact this blog.

That remains to be seen.

So we'll just take it one day at a time,

see how it goes

and give it my best shot.

Thank you all so much for hanging in there 

with me.

You all mean the world to me and I so appreciate

your stopping by to check in on me.

xo,

{K}

Lately...

I have sat down to start a post no less than 50 times and would you believe I just can't pull my creative juices together??  Summer has that effect on me.

I would much rather be at the pool smelling the chlorine and sunscreen and lost in my current read {more on that to come}.

Most other bloggers out there have a laptop and can therefore write and post from where ever they are.  This very fancy girl has a computer in the basement and because of that I must check out of life and and hole up away from everything else to get a post up.  Not that that is all together a bad idea because the basement is the only cool place in the house and feels rather nice compared to the 87 degrees that was  the upstairs part of the house last night.  No kidding.

Yes, it's been a bit over the top here the last week or so, temperature wise.  I mean like Africa hot.  Feels more like late July than June with temps hovering near 100.  I believe my car 's thermometer read out at a balmy 107 on the way home from the pool yesterday.  Now my car does not count as the state's official temperature reading guide but clearly 107 on the way HOME from the pool meant we were going the wrong direction.

Speaking of Africa hot, I have had to keep a more visually tantalizing stock of magazines near the treadmill while I do my morning workout.  I suffer from extreme lack of interest in all thing running and therefore keep a handy pile of magazines next to me so that I might get lost in them and forget that I'm actually running.  I think I have runner ADD.  I also have to use those same magazines to focus my attention on something other than the voice in my head that keeps shouting at me,"THE HEAT!  MY WORD THE HEAT!!  STOP RUNNING YOU FOOL, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!!"

She is such a drama queen.

Anyhow, I woke this morning to cool temps and cloudy skies and may or may not have hollered out, "Thank you, Jesus!!!!" as I jumped up and down on the bed.

Today is a big day. Cousins are coming to spend the day with us, we have to go to Target and pick up a birthday gift for a friend, and the new Walmart opens up just down the street.  Big stuff, folks.  Big stuff.

 We are so excited about the new Walmart {gosh, you'd think a Trader Joe's was coming to the hood - oh, how I wish!!} because it will save me time and $$ on my groceries as the closest Walmart is a good 25 minutes away.  I'm all about saving the time and money!

Well, now that I've bored both of us to tears, we're heading out for a run.  Just me and the drama queen.  Running. Together.

This is big stuff, folks.

Blessings,
{K}

Spring Break

I know I have been a really lame blogger this past week or so.... or several weeks really. 

 But this past week and a half the kids have been out for Spring Break 

and although we are going nowhere,

 we are just hanging out and laughing and playing in the unseasonably warm weather.
My laundry schedule is off, my cleaning schedule is off,
my refrigerator is bare and
I'm waaaay off track.
 

We have stayed up late and slept in even later. 

 Which is messing with any free time  I might have to put a post together. 

 But I'm working on big things for next week, Holy Week and I am excited to tell you all about it.

So, a little grace this week?
  Thanks!

Blessings,

{K}

P.S.

This is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

I love listening to the birds this time of year and I specifically 

love the doves...they sound so nice and they are so pretty as well!!
I think she is a girl, don't you?

Have You Heard??

Well, its been an exciting week around here.

The big game is tomorrow

{Broncos vs. Patriots}

and we are all ready to cheer Tebow on!

That's not the only reason we are doing 

a little happy dance.

Did you know that the mayors of Denver

and Boston made a little wager

on the game?

The wager for this game is 

Colorado beef for Maine lobster. 

OUR COLORADO BEEF!!

mmm... doesn't that look good??

 

yes, please!!

 Yes, Ralston Valley Beef

is pleased to announce that we

are providing the beef for the

bet!

It is a long story, 

so I'll just say

that an opportunity presented itself,

and after numerous texts and emails back and forth, 

it was officially decided late yesterday

that our beef

will be headed to Boston,

depending on the outcome of the game.

So, do we still cheer for the Broncos or not?!?!

But seriously,

we are thrilled that after almost three years

and much blood, sweat and tears,

{and I mean my husband's blood and sweat and my tears}

it looks as though our prayers are being answered.

To God alone be the glory!

Only He can take us out

of our comfort zones,

and strip nearly everything else away,

and leave us with just himself.

Only Him to rely on,

only Him to cry out to,

and only Him to be the 

hero of the story.

And He is enough.

While our story is not over,

today we stand in awe.

Today we give thanks,

for this is the day the Lord has made and we are rejoicing!!

 Blessings,

{K}