Morocco Love

April 1, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Ok, thanks for being so patient!

Here are the long-awaited photos from our quick jaunt to Tangier, Morocco.

:) 

Our transportation from Spain to Morocco, across the Strait of Gibraltar. (aka: the ferry that made me sick. ;))

Me on the ferry…smiling and determined to not lose my breakfast. It was kind of a bummer that the ferry was pretty sweet…it had a bar and cafe and tables so we could play games…had I been able to actually sit up. 😉 However, I can’t complain too much. The Dramamine worked and I got to enjoy Morocco.

Us at the northwestern most point in Africa. Interesting travel fact about us…we’ve now been to the northwesternmost and southernmost points in Africa, but nowhere in between. I’m thinkin’ another trip to Africa should be in our future. :)

Baby camel love. I wanted to bring him (or her!) home with me. So soft and cuddly. :)

The obligatory camel ride…that was pretty cool. Something to cross off the bucket list that I haven’t yet written. 😉

Just a cool shot from the coast.

And another…cause I couldn’t decide between them. :)

This was, I think, taken at a different place along the tour. The water was so incredibly beautiful. (But COLD!)

Since living in Indo, I am largely unimpressed by snake shows/charmers. And, to be honest, cobras bring back memories I don’t want to revisit. However, this stop provided a cool opportunity to share with our tour guide that we’d been missionaries, and he was especially intrigued with my snake stories…never thought those would come in handy! 😉

And…we begin the obsession with doors. :) Morocco had cool doors. This one is famous, but I can’t remember for what. But if you Google “green door Tangier”, I’m pretty sure you’ll find out why. 😉

I’m such a dork…no idea why I was laughing. But the door is cool. :)

I like this one. The door AND me. :)

Included in our tour was an authentic Moroccan meal. The soup was ok and the bread was good. The meat was just ok. The couscous was really soggy. But this? I suppose when you cover any pastry with gooey, sugary, caramely yumminess, you’re bound to come up with a winner. Dessert was GOOD. And definitely worthy of making the blog. 😉

So, Morocco was good…the tiny part we saw of it. Truthfully, I can’t wait to go back and explore more of it…the part that doesn’t include pushy sellers and snake charmers. I knew that once I got a taste of it, I’d want to explore more of it…so we’ll see. Maybe for our 15th, honey? 😉

I honestly feel so blessed that we’ve had the opportunities to travel that we have. The world is so incredibly beautiful…and we highly recommend seeing it! (Well, the parts we’ve seen, at least! ;))

Thanks for looking, friends.

Coming soon: Pareeeee…and a few more from Spain.

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, blessings, culture shock, just life, marriage, remembering, Tobin, uncategorized

Ramblings

March 31, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Just a few thoughts…that are really not connected at all, just not worthy of a whole blog post on their own. 😉

I spent more time today in my pajamas than in jeans. That almost never happens…and it was nice. But wanna know a secret? Sometimes I wish I was that woman who can go to Super Target on a Saturday morning and walk the aisles in her sweats, while sipping a Starbucks and looking disgustingly cute. I, um, think that’s maybe not me. But I’m secretly jealous of people who can pull off that look in public.

Last night we had friends over for dinner, and they stayed to look at pics from our trip. They are really nice friends. 😉 (Gosh, that reminds me I need to post Morocco soon…tomorrow.) We grilled out for, like, the 6th time this month, and my husband seriously outdid himself. I don’t know why the burgers and chicken were so good, but they were. SO. GOOD.

Anyway, I woke up this morning wanting a burger with pineapple and provolone…and BEFORE you scoff, you need to try it. It’s my favorite. :) I promised myself that if I did three miles of sprints, I could come home and eat one for breakfast.

I seriously hate sprints and only do them on Saturdays.

AND I thought about that burger the whole time.

And when I got home, I ate it before I even took a shower. HA.

😉

So my daughter seems to be changing her sleeping habits, which is not so wonderful. Yesterday she napped for a whopping 30 minutes and then stayed up until 10:30 pm…yes, you read that right. She slept this morning til 8 am, took a 2-3 hour nap, and now, at almost 10 pm, is showing zero signs of being tired.

Ugh…I’m afraid we may need to start phasing out the nap in order to get her to sleep at night.

I’m not sure I’m ready for this at all.

So I signed up for this.

The whole idea is that the group of women who write this blog (which has a HUGE following) are hosting a worldwide conference with “meetup” spots all over the place. Then each of the groups can watch the conference, which will be broadcast online. When I signed up, I figured…this is the Chicago area; there will be at least one meeting close to me.

Um, nope. The closest one is over an hour away. Bummer.

So I’m debating what to do. I can watch it at my house, but the whole idea of it is community. So do I make the drive to meet up with a few people and make some new friends or do I just chill in my pj’s and invite a friend or two to join me for the morning?

Still thinking on it. :)

And speaking of still thinking…I’m thinkin’ it’s time for bed.

This could be history, folks…I think I’ll be asleep before my daughter tonight. Oy…

Hope you’re all having a fantastic weekend!

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, friends, just life, Maelie, running, where I am, writing

A Friday Photo

March 30, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

You’ll never guess who Maelie loves. 😉

A sweet friend gave her this today, and to say that it made her week is an understatement. We are pretty blessed. :)

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, friends, just life, Maelie

Life in 700ish Words or Less

March 29, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Maybe tomorrow I’ll switch things up and have hot chocolate or something, but I’m just feelin’ the coffee thing this week. It could be that I’m just tired and desperately trying to keep my eyes open…last night was interesting.

I actually fell asleep pretty early (for me) last night…around 10:30. I slept great until around 4:30 when Mae woke up crying. I checked on her and realized the poor girl, who’d been having tummy issues the day before, had blown through another diaper…all over her pj’s, all over her sheets. (Thankfully NOT all over her blanket and stuffed animals.)

She was so sad and miserable that I just wanted to pick her up and snuggle her, but I had to clean her up first, which took enough time. Once she was in a dry diaper and clean pj’s, we had time to cuddle…oh, it was wonderful, even if it was at 4:30 a.m. 😉

I am completely convinced that Mae is now making up for all the snuggling she didn’t do as an infant. She’s a cuddly sweetheart, and I gladly oblige.

Thankfully, after a song or two and some snuggly moments, she went down again with just a few tears. I threw in a load of laundry and crashed again for a couple of hours.

And while my daughter slept til almost nine and woke up rarin’ to go, I didn’t.

It was kind of a blah, drink-a-pot-of-coffee, kind of morning. Thankfully we had plans to meet a friend at the park for an hour or so. Even though the weather was only upper 40’s, the sun was shining, it was a gorgeous day, and Mae and I both had a great time…though she needs to understand that one needs to SIT properly before trying to go down a slide. 😉

When we left the park, I swung by Target to get some Pedialyte to help her tummy. (She thinks it’s juice…I’ll just let her think that for awhile. ;)) Then we headed home for our usual. Lunch, play, stories, snack, nap.

I know I say it all the time, but I feel completely blessed to be able to stay home with my daughter. I love soaking up the simple moments that make our days.

Next week I’m going to start taking guitar lessons from a friend. I’m excited. Yes, it’s one of my 12 in 2012, but I’m excited to potentially progress beyond the self-taught, I-can’t-play-bar-chords, level at which I currently am. I’d really love to play for praise team sometime…I guess we’ll see. At any rate, I’m looking forward to it. :)

So y’all read my post yesterday about the Reese’s eggs? Yeah. I forgot to mention I sorta love jellybeans, too. I am really, really thankful that I waited til less than two weeks before Easter to cave. Less time to consume so much sugar.

So…just a blogging pet peeve of mine. Also, one that proves that though I am very fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants and easygoing, I do have perfectionistic tendencies. WordPress is slowly killin’ me, I think…their formatting for archives is atrocious. Pretty much anything that is even a few weeks old is completely messed up. (Please don’t go look.)

So my goal for April is to update what needs to be updated (which I’m not great about), find a new layout for the blog (which I’m excited about), and try not to care as much (which I’m not sure I can do).

Ugh. Everytime I look at older things I’ve written I just cringe.

And, yet, it reminds me that sometimes things in life are just what they are. We have to accept them and keep going with life and not let ourselves worry and fret over what we can’t change.

God has been teaching me so much lately about trusting Him with things…doing what I can and leaving the rest to Him. It’s cliche, but it’s true.

He does have it figured out.

I know I keep quoting Jesus Calling, but the devotion for today was so exactly where I am.

Maybe it’ll bless you, too. :)

“A life lived close to Me is not complicated or cluttered. When your focus is on My Presence, many things that once troubled you lose their power over you. Though the world around you is messy and confusing, remember that I have overcome the world.”

I love the reminders He gives, just when we need them. :)

G’nite!

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, encouragement, just life, Maelie, what I'm learning, where I am

The Evils of Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs

March 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

So the other day, Tobin and I went to Super Target. Mae needed diapers and we needed a few other things. It had been a few weeks since we’d done a major Target run, but we needed to do it. And so off we went.

If you know me at all, you know how much I adore the glorious red and white aisles of this place. I used to spend far too much money there each week, but in the past months we’ve been trying to be really, really careful with money and so I rarely go anymore.

It’s ok…I’m surviving just fine. But thanks for your concern. 😉

However, on this particular trip, the inevitable happened…

We walked by the Easter candy.

It’s kind of hard to avoid when the display takes up a quarter of the store.

Since September, when I decided to lose the baby weight once and for all, I have carefully monitored my candy intake. Well, for the most part. I eat these sometimes…only the best chocolate EVER. And I’ve been known to eat these sometimes, too, by the bag. But I’ve mostly been careful. :)

However, that one trip was my undoing.

On most holidays I can get by without the candy…and I really don’t even miss it.

But not at Easter.

I don’t know what it is about fluffy, marshmallowy, chocolate-covered goodies and magical, cream filled chocolate creations that make me dive in and consume more calories in an hour than a person should in a week.

Ugh.

We bought two bags. The Coconut Creme Hershey’s Kisses we’ve managed to not completely devour.

Yet.

But the Reese’s Peanut Butter, bite-size eggs?

Holy Cow.

They’re like a magnet.

I ate, like, ten of them on Monday, and then I even put two in my coffee and let them melt. (Pathetic, I know. But it was good.)

Then I went throughout my entire day feeling utterly GUILTY for the amount of sugar and fat and calories I’d consumed, thankful that at least I had a mongo workout to look forward to that night. You know, to rid me of at least part of the guilt. 😉

Monday night, as I was lamenting to my friends about the torture of these eggs, I figured it out. They make them the size they do on purpose…just enough for one big bite, but not enought to actually satisfy the chocolate consumer, thus forcing him or her to return to the bag of candy for more.

And more.

And more.

It’s evil, really.

In fact, I plan on writing to Hershey’s to complain.

Just as soon as I finish this last egg.

😉

Sig

Filed Under: just life

Little Blessings (Pt. 29)

March 27, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

:) Mae’s new favorite word. “Ok.” She has suddenly turned into a much more agreeable child.

:) Reading in the late afternoon sunshine.

:) Coffee, scones, and an hour with a dear friend.

:) Thirty minutes spent strolling the aisles of Target. Alone.

:) Gorgeous weather and grilling brats. Is it really March?!?!

:) The reminder of new life that spring brings.

:) Singing lullabies to my daughter while she snuggles close. I want to freeze time.

:) Perfect early-morning running weather.

:) A pretty important goal (to me) reached.

:) Hope…and my Father, in Whom I find it.

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, coffee, friends, just life, where I am

It’s Late? Let’s Talk About Stuff.

March 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Yeah, it’s totally late.

And I’m drinking more of that coffee…

I really need to stop with the caffeine at night.

Tonight was my weekly workout with my awesome girlfriends.

It. Is. Tough. Seriously tough.

Our fearless leader knows her stuff…and knows how to make us sweat. We start off our workout with twelve minutes of stairs, alternating one at a time, then two. It’s crazy and always the worst part of the night, for me at least. :) Then we spend the next hour doing weights and (evil) lunges 😉 and more cardio and sometimes some yoga.

I’m pretty sure I burn an entire day’s worth of calories.

But it’s so, so good.

I’m not sure if I love the actual working out part, but I love the group of women who are there. It’s just a good time. So Monday nights are one of the highlights of my week.

But they are also pretty late nights because I almost never blog before I go. As my wonderful husband pointed out to me, as I was sitting down at the computer at 10:30 pm…”Um, honey, you don’t have to blog.”

I know that. But I want to. :)

So Mae and I have a wide open week, mostly. It’s spring break for Immanuel, Bible study is cancelled, and several friends are gone. We chilled today and are having coffee with a friend tomorrow morning, but other than that we are free and hoping that the week will somehow fill up a bit. If the weather warms up we’ll probably go to a couple different parks. Maybe grab a Starbucks. Take walks.

Sounds fun. :)

Really random, but Saved by the Bell is on Netflix now. Oh my, what flashback fun. I am not letting myself waste my brain on it too often, but an episode before I go to bed is not a wasted 22 minutes. Good, good times. Now, if only Full House would join the Netflix party…my other favorite from my preteen years.

What happened to TV? Really. (That could be a whole blog post in itself…hmmmm.) 😉

On to more random…I’m turning into a reading junkie. There are so many freebies out there for my Kindle, and a lot of them have actual substance. I stumbled onto this one that is such a cute read…I wish I’d had it when I taught 4th grade…it would have made such a fun read-aloud. (Though, for that one, I paid a whopping $.99…but there are lots of good free ones out there, too.)

Oh, I love books.

There aren’t enough hours in my day to read everything I want to. Sigh.

Well, my coffee mug is empty and I’m watching the clock turn later and later…so I should find my pillow.

G’nite, friends. 😉

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, coffee, friends, just life, reading

Coffee in a Packet + Friend Chats + Painting = JOY

March 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

So we’re coffee datin’ it tonight, even though it’s kinda late.

And I’m drinkin’ this.

Some would argue that it’s quality coffee. Or that it’s even actual coffee.

However, I brought a box home with me from Spain.

I like it.

And it reminds me of Indonesia ’cause I drank something similar there all the time. Except that was this. You can’t get it anywhere in this hemisphere, I’m pretty sure. And I miss it.

Since today was not exactly my favorite day ever, for reasons that don’t need to be discussed, it’s good that I’m drinking coffee that came out of a little packet. It kinda cheers me up.

A little.

It has that same, slightly-burnt-coffee taste that is strangely comforting and reminds me of my sweet 4th grade class who would always ask me what flavor I was drinking that day. And it’s only a little ick, mostly good.

Tonight, I’ll take it.

:)

So I’ll just say up front that five hours of sleep when emotions are running high is not a wonderful combination. I really had to search for the JOY in my day today.

What I love is that He always gives it, somehow.

And, thankfully I’ve been blessed with this girl who doesn’t understand what it is to actually have a bad day, though she’s definitely had a few. She just doesn’t get it yet. :) She, most of the time, runs around with a huge smile on her face, spreading sunshine everywhere she goes.

It’s really, really hard to be in a bad mood around that. :)

After church and lunch today, my girl and I took a walk down the street and then ended up at the house across the street, the one I swear she thinks is her second home. 😉 I got a chance to talk to my dear friend for a bit while Mae climbed up and down and up and down and up and down the front steps.

Then it was home for her so she could take the dreaded NAP. She protests it loudly each and every day. It doesn’t change anything.

While she napped, I decided to finally get going on a painting for her room that I’ve had in my head for over a year. I didn’t think I’d actually finish it today, but I did.

I’m happy with how it turned out, even if there were a few little mistakes…that I mostly fixed. 😉 Keep in mind that…1) I’m not technically an artist though I do occasionally paint; 2) lettering is not my gift; and 3) I still don’t love the colors…I wish I had added orange.

Next time. :)

Mae clearly liked it, though…in fact, she wanted to play with it until we finally hung it up on her wall…where she couldn’t reach it! 😉

It was a good ending to a not-so-good day…and things are looking up, I think. :)

The coffee from a packet is definitely helping. :)

Happy end-of-the-weekend, my friends.

Love you.

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, coffee, friends, just life, Maelie, where I am

Am I Allowed to Re-Post?

March 24, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

:)

I love this song. I posted it about a month ago, and it’s still in my head.

Good reminder. I’m so thankful for a Father who walks with me no matter what.

Happy Saturday night and happy listening!

Sig

Filed Under: just life, music

Oy…

March 23, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

…one of my current phrases.

And this time, it totally applies.

Tonight I had planned to share my favorite pictures from Morocco with you. Alas, our computer had other plans. (aka: I can’t get to the pictures right now.)

Major bummer.

It’s at a time like this that I’m thankful I married a computer guy. Because I wouldn’t have a.clue. what to do otherwise. Looks like it’s not too tough of a fix, thankfully. :)

So I guess you’ll all just have to wait another day or two…sorry about that.

At least it gives me extra time to come up with witty captions for all of my favorite photos…trying to look on the sunny side, here… :)

Hope you all had a fantastic week…wishing you an even better weekend!

:)

Sig

Filed Under: just life, travel
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