These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Well once again the holidays are over and once again I am ready to move on with the new year! As much as I love holidays with our families, moving between 6 Christmases is just a lot to handle, so by January 1st I was ready to say goodbye to Christmas and New Year's and hello to 2011!

Here are some of the amazing Christmas presents that I got this year:

My new Nikon D3100-SO excited about this little guy. I have always loved taking pictures and looked forward to one day owning a camera that could meet my passion with quality. I can't wait to have some beginner's training sessions with my sweet friend Brooke Robinson! She is an amazing photographer (you can check out her stuff at http://www.brookerobinsonblog.com/).

My next favorite gift was my 4D Concepts rolling craft organizer! I love this thing SO much! It is three feet tall and has tons and tons of bins to hold all my stuff. I can finally have separate containers for stamps, inks, paints, accessories, and a separate bin for each color of paper! I admit my nerdiness on this one...

My last favorite gift was my NASB Ryrie Study Bible that Garland got me. This bible is cool for two reasons: 1) Garland gave it to me to replace the bible that Bosco ate (which was the bible that Garland gave to me on our wedding day inscribed with my new name), and 2) it is a NASB cross reference and commentary bible, so it pretty much tells me anything I would want to know about scripture in the most literal translation possible. This bible makes studying so much easier and it makes researching passages much less intimidating. I would highly recommend it!

Thanks to all my favorite gift givers for such a wonderful array of presents! 
Hope you had a merry Christmas and Santa gave you everything you asked for.

Pregnancy is a Privilege, not a Promise

I graduated in 2010 from the U of A with my Masters in Elementary Education, but realized while I was intern teaching that I did not want to teach. However, the timing was definitely in God's hands because he had the perfect job waiting for me. He worked out a lot of  hurdles to use my gifts in a small way to bless others at Loving Choices, a pregnancy crisis center. Basically, my job is to meet with women on a daily basis who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy (a pregnancy in which they didn't plan/want) and educate them on their options as well as direct them toward community resources. I also get to share the love of Christ with them and offer them the chance to follow the one man who will love them unconditionally.

 I LOVE my job! I really, sincerely, could not have written out a job description for a job that I could have created and liked it more than this. It's part time (leaving me time to clean, cook, and grocery shop during my off days), I work with awesome women, it's a Christ-centered environment, and it involves babies!

However, of all the great parts about my job, there is one major drawback; watching girls in sometimes painful, abusive, or unbelievable circumstances mourn the blessing of being able to get pregnant. When I'm meeting with these women, my first reaction is to think, "How awful this must be for you! I can't imagine how hard this must be, please let me help you." I know they are in unimaginable situations that bring judgement, alienation, and pain from the ones they love the most (parents, friends, father of baby). Some of these girls are barely old enough to be able to conceive, while others are coming in with three kids in tow, sometimes including an infant that is only a few months old. For this, I do not envy these women nor judge them. My heart breaks for them, I hold them while they cry, and I pray that the Holy Spirit intercedes for them as they seek the Lord for what could possibly be the first time in their lives.

The other part of counseling that is hard is watching woman after woman walk in through our doors and be disgusted, angry, depressed, hateful, and sometimes completely nonchalant about the fact that they are carrying new life. The thoughts of pity, fear, and helplessness are so pervasive and overwhelming that it is almost impossible for them to think about how special it truly is that they could get pregnant at all. I'm not saying that they are all in a situation to parent, I can understand why some of them are not ready to become moms yet. But when I think about some of my dear friends that are have been trying to conceive for years I can't help but wonder how they could take getting pregnant for granted.

While driving home from work some days, I can't help but almost say out loud to myself, "You have no idea how lucky you are that you can even get pregnant." Not to be confused with "You have no idea how lucky you are to be pregnant," because they are obviously in a crisis situation that is not one I envy. But the possibility, the chance that new life can begin within you, that's not something every woman gets; but it seems to be something a lot of women forget is only a privilege, not a promise.

I will stand beside any woman no matter what her decision; parenting, abortion, or adoption. Loving someone like Christ loves us means still walking along side them when sin is present. On a daily basis, I fail my Savior and reject him, yet he still calls to me. Why then, would I think myself so righteous that I would not do the same for others? I am not worthy to sit in the judgement seat, so instead, I prefer to just offer a heart that is open to anyone in need, regardless of their past choices.

Maybe some people understand how hard it can be to conceive and are calloused toward pregnancy anyway. I choose to believe that most people are just ignorant of the likelihood of pregnancy until they are walking in the shoes of someone who is trying desperately to conceive and having no such luck. Either way, pregnancy is a precious gift from God that is intended as a BLESSING whether the pregnancy was planned or not, so let us rejoice in the possibility of new life always.

Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, “Who are these people with you?”
   “These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant,” Jacob replied.
-Genesis 33:5

Stupid Immune System

First round of sickness for the winter has arrived and I am NOT happy about it. I always think I have a great immune system when I see everyone getting sick around me but then I woke up Sunday morning feeling awful and it continued on into my Monday. I hate feeling this way! I also hate blowing my nose. I hate not being able to breathe. I hate how my nose can be stuffy and runny at the same time (this is something I will ask God about when I get to Heaven). I also hate that no medicine seems to work. I also hate that I'm at work when I feel this way, but I hate even more using a vacation day to sit at home feeling miserable.


All in all, today is dreary and freezing and I hate being sick. Ugh.

Twitter...

Ugh. I finally gave in. I held off for as long as possible, but so help me if Katelyn Graves told me one more time, "Oh my gosh, you would loooove it! You have to get on it. YOU'LL LOVE IT" I would lose it.


So here's to you, KGB. Your never ending prodding has resulted in one more internet addiction that I do not need and shouldn't (but probably do, let's be honest) have the time to update.

Four Christmas's...Christmas'...Four Christmi...More Than One Christmas

Ahhh yes, the joyous occation of divvying up holidays between TWO sets of divorced parents and FOUR households, not to mention the EIGHT extended families...

Holidays have been complicated in my family since my parents got divorced when I was 8. I always had two of everything, including trips to visit extended family for holidays (Mississippi for my dad and all over Missouri for my mom). But it was really all I ever knew, so I got pretty used to it. However, getting married to another child of divorce has begun to really shake things up. If you've seen the movie Four Christmases it's not that far off.

Here's the schedule so far:

We will probably be seeing three of the four extended families in the week/weekend before Christmas, then comes the real schenanigans...

Night of the 22rd/day of the 23th (BENTONVILLE, AR): His Mom and Stepdad
Night of the 23rd/morning of the 24th (ROGERS, AR): My Dad
Lunch/Afternoon/Evening of the 24th (FAYETTEVILLE, AR): His Dad and Stepmom
Late Evening of the 24th/day of 25th (LAMAR, MO): My Mom

And I guess somewhere in there we will have our own little Christmas with Bosco? All I know is that by the time we get to the 26th I will probably be so sick of holiday traveling and living out of a suitcase that my tree will be coming down and all my decorations will be put away...

But four times the families means four times the love, so I can't complain too much :)

A Shopping We Will Go

It's that time of year again, Thanksgiving shopping trip with "Mother" aka, Garland's mom (the boys never really warmed up to the term "mom").  If you've ever heard stories from time spent with Garland's family, you know that this will be an adventure. Details about this trip:
1) Mother and John (step father) take us all (both sons and their corresponding significant others) to go shopping each year as a Thanksgiving tradition. And to answer your question, no, this is not for Christmas. Christmas is separate, this is just something I lucked into when I married Garland.
2) This year we are going to the Kansas City Plaza and it's going to be a whole weekend extravaganza (Friday through Sunday).
3) The first stop on the journey is to eat at Mother's favorite restaurant in Missouri, which is technically a garden megastore that just so happens to make soup and sell really fancy plates.
4) Friday night will be dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and I am so excited!
5) Mother issues a spending minimum. This means that Garland and Garrett (younger Autry brother) will be forced to actually buy more than socks and undershirts (Garland tries to pass those items off as his entire "shopping" list every year).
6) Saturday morning will begin shopping-palooza, and my first stop will be ANTHROPOLOGY (sigh). Love at first shop.
7) Thanksgiving extravaganza weekend will take a momentary break on Saturday night for the Razorback game at 6, and this will determine the enjoyment of the rest of the weekend. While Mother, Libster (Garrett's girlfriend), and I go see a movie, the boys will yell and scream at the tv and (hopefully) be happy with the outcome, otherwise we are all going to have to endure pouty lips and poor attitudes for the rest of the night.
8) Sunday is the last day, and there is no telling what Mother has up her sleeve.
9) We will head back to Arkansas in our two cars (Mother insists on driving two so they boys can be in different cars. This way, if there were an accident, she would at least have one surviving son...).
10) I am very much looking forward to this! Craziness will ensue, but spending time with the in-laws is always entertaining and fun.

No word yet if there will be any Christmas outfits purchased for Maynard (Mother's prized cat). Wish me luck!

Ten Things

Thing 1) Barn Bash was this past weekend and I have never seen so much flannel in one place. Courtney Matthews looked like a mix between a pirate and a homeless man.

Thing 2) I am desperately craving anything that includes chocolate and peanut butter, be it an Andy's concrete or just straight up, delicious Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.

Thing 3) I am trying very hard (even as I type this) to not hum, sing, mouth trumpet, or listen to Christmas music of any kind, for fear that I would get sick of it before Christmas. However, I am desperately wanting to hear some Ben Rector Christmas music (confession: I listened to it in the shower last night. I am weak).

Thing 4) I am so sick of watching football. I would be completely happy if no more football games were played until next August.

Thing 5) I love the current weather, but I can't seem to figure out if I need to be wearing my light jacket or my heavy jacket or just a sweater. No matter what I chose, I fail and end up sweating or freezing all day/night.

Thing 6) Garland's family has what I call the "Autry Itch," which is not a communicable disease as it sounds, but rather a disorder in which they get the itch to change something much faster than a regular person (ex. paint/redecorate, get a new dog, buy a new house, etc.). The statement I said eariler about it not being a communicable disease was maybe a half truth because I'm pretty sure I've caught it. I want to buy a new house and fix it up all over again!

Thing 7) I hate insurance. Doctor's are so expensive. Insurance covers basically nothing.

Thing 8) Garland cut Bosco's nails last night and Bosco yanked away on the last one causing Garland to cut a little too deep, which lead to Bosco bleeding and although it was only a tiny baby cut, because he kept running and jumping it looked like we gutted a dear on the back porch.

Thing 9) I am coming to realize that Garland and I have a real problem not having people over. If we are sitting at home and no one is there I'm always wondering, "Where is everybody? Why is everyone so busy?" This leads me to believe that we may be the worst empty nesters that ever existed. I may end up with like 12043213 pets.

Thing 10) It's only Monday (sigh). Here comes the rest of the week.