Just In Case

In the event that you weren't aware....WE FINALLY GOT OUR HOUSE!!!!!!! We closed almost a week ago and are now knee deep in paint and can successfully navigate through Lowes with the slightest of ease. So very happy dear readers. Can't wait to show you the finished product.

Twenty-Two

Twenty Two...the number of hours I must spend on this bus to get home. My hubby has a photo shoot he needs to prep for, so he and the rest of the band get to fly. Oh my...what to do on a bus for twenty two hours straight? As of right now, I am trying to stay up ecessively late in an attempt to sleep mos of the day away. We'll see how I fair. All I know, is Jeff owes me a decent foot rub for this one.

Community

I have discovered as of late how vital the aspect of community is in one person's life. Traveling like we do, our community tends to be those we travel with, and on occasion, those we are lucky to see when we are home. Seeing as I travel with a bunch of males, I find that I have now begun to cherish my time at home more now than ever.

I never realized how important it is for me, especially being a woman, to have that sense of community. To have camaraderie with women that I can have meaningful relationships with. Now not to sound like a downer, but I feel that being on the road like I am has in a way taken that from me. And as of late, I am feeling it even more.

I guess I just miss the ability to go and have coffee and lunches and late night movie premiere runs to see cheesy vampire films. Shopping trips and crafting and screaming at the TV over the new episode of The Bachelorette. I guess the old adage is true that you don't really miss something until it's gone. So here I am...missing it terribly.

I have been asking God as of late what this all means, and where I need to go from here. Is this the sacrifice one must make for the ministry? Does it mean I need to be more aggressive and intentional with my time at home? Change churches? Stay off the road a little more? I'm not too sure, but these are the questions I am asking.

I suppose for now I can rest assured that the Lord has it under control. He built us for relationships, so it is not in His nature to deprive us of them. So I'll keep praying, hoping, trusting, and waiting for Him to move where I need to move.

The Gateway Baby

My good friend JoAnna recently had a little boy. Now I don't say this often, but this kid is cute. I mean, slap him in a Huggies commercial and my heart will shatter into a tiny millions pieces cute. And every time I see him, the urge to be a mother pours over me like some cute injecting baby opiate that I can't seem to get enough of. So I began telling JoAnna that he is the gateway drug into having babies. Tonight, she posted pictures of him in his Halloween costume. And once again, I am hooked. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

The Pudding Proof

I have been talking a big game about my exploits into the "Do It Yourself" home decorating world. It may not be much, but I finished sewing a throw pillow for our living room today. A pillow today...tomorrow the world.

Sleepless in Nashville

There are things you are told as a single woman preparing for married life that are meant to be tools for effective married living. Some are fact, some opinion, and some myth. One such myth is that once you marry, you lose the ability to sleep in a bed alone anymore. Now me, being the lumberjack of a sleeper I am, found this myth to be just that, a myth. Then of course, I got married.

On occasion Jeff and the band will have to fly to play shows rather than drive. When those arise, my ability to travel with him now becomes an out of pocket expense, one that we would rather not choose to pay. In our minds, what's a few measly days away from each other going to do? I mean, we're tough, we can handle it. We were single once, we know how to handle life on our own.

These are all lies I tell you. Lies from the pit of Hades.

My days are fairly normal when Jeff is gone. A little grocery shopping, chores around the house, and maybe a sappy romantic comedy rental in the evening. And much like the normalcy of my day, the night is always the same.

Around 10 o'clock or so my body says it is time for bed. I go through the normal pre-bed routine and am ready for a nice full eight hours or so of sleep. I lay down, and then it happens. Nothing. Yes, you heard me. NOTHING.

I wait for my body to relax, eyelids to get heavy, a yawn, any sign the sleep is on its way. Still nothing happens. So I grab a book. Reading, yes reading will make me sleepy. A few chapters later, and it is time for take two. And still...nothing.

By this time, Jeff has finished the show and is calling me to say goodnight. We chat for a while and then hang-up, me hopeful that my mind can now fully relax and drift of into blissful slumber. And yet again, the sleep doesn't come.

Minutes tick by, and then hours have gone. My full nights rest is now turning into a really nice nap. I begin to look for answers, anything that can help. And there, like a beacon in the night I see it....Tylenol PM.
(Disclaimer: I do not recommend heavy or excessive drug use. I am a trained insomniac, and use said medication very sparingly and only in times of great desperation.)

And once again, I find the comforts of sweet, sweet sleep. Only a few more nights left on this run, and I hope I make it. If not, I may find myself buying a ton of Sham-Wows from the infomercial guy on the tv.

Where My Wild Things Are

I am not a man. Shocker to hear that, I know. But although I may not be a man, my life seems to be surrounded by them. At this particular moment, I am riding in a van full of five band boys who all feel no need to act as though a woman is in the vehicle with them. They fart and joke and punch and talk weapons and how they'll prove their manliness through the things they can build with their hands. They prove that they are "men." And here I sit, listening.

I have come to learn to love them each for these bursts of testosterone. And for as gross and so opposite of feminine it may be, it gives me a sense of renewed hope. It reminds me that the idea of a "manly man" has not left our culture. That at the truest part of who they are, each of these guys holds a piece of the wild and rugged image of God. And as long as they strive to foster and grow that, they will help produce more "men" and more leaders in our churches and homes.

(May I take a comedic pause to tell you that at this moment they are trying to put some form of liquid ear cleaning drops into each others ears just to see what it will do. Oh brother....)

So these are the men in my life. My husband, and my four honorary band brothers with whom I care a great deal for. They my be hairy and disgusting at times, but they are wonderful just the same. Now I have to go. It looks like we are going to watch a preview for a kung fu movie called "Black Dynamite." Welcome to my world...