A-Z

I'm totally stealing this from someone else's blog...thanks Erica!  I figure it's been a couple years since I've randomly given out facts about myself so here ya go!

A. Age: 2012-1985=26, turning 27 (yup, I have to do the math)

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathroom, specifically the tub/shower

D. Dogs: yep.  I have had a total of 5 dogs in my life!

E. Essential start to your day: being allowed to wake up slowly 

F. Favorite color: depends for what!  yellow, grey, teal, green...

G. Gold or Silver: Silver (or white gold) :D

H. Height: 4'10"

I. Instruments you play: piano

J. Job title: wife and mama, small business owner (wow, I like the sounds of that...)

K. Kids: LEVI!

L. Live: small town

M. Mother’s name: Irene

N. Nicknames: Niki, for a while there Dollface was sorta on the list :p

O. Overnight hospital stays: tonscilectomy when I was 3, 4 nights when I had Levi

P. Pet peeves: incorrect grammar/punctuation, people being inconsiderate of others

Q. Quote from a movie: "Sanka mon, whatcha smoking?" "I'm not smoking, I'm breathing!" 

R. Right- or left-handed: Right.

S. Siblings: 2... older sister, younger brother

T. Tastes you do not like: salad dressing, coffee, cream cheese

U. Underwear: yes?

V. Vegetable(s) you hate: sweet potatoes, water chestnuts, warm chunks of zucchini

W. What makes you run late: Not being organized ahead of time

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Ha!  Just had one today!  Well, Levi did, but I'm sure they must have caught the edge of my hand as I held Levi's arm down to check out his wrist!


Y. Yummy food that you make: For a person who spent the first 20+ years loathing the very existance of pizza, I do make a variety of AMAZING pizzas!

Z. Zoo animal: Lemurs!  I saw some in the zoo in Fresno and they were SO much fun to watch!  By far the best zoo animal I've ever seen.


Hey hey, that's it!  Time for me to go!  So, whadda ya say? Are you going to steal this and give me some random facts about yourself on your blog??

Oh, and here's one more random fact that I learned this week: Putting two spaces after a period in a sentence isn't the correct way of typing anymore.  If you don't believe me, google it. It's true.

Doodles

Our little Levi learned a new word tonight at supper. 

"Noodle."

He said it over and over again as he was very excited about the noodles he was eating.

Except no matter how much he practiced, it always came out as "doodle."

hehe...what a sweetie.

His daddy and I really are so in love with him, and growing more and more in love every day.

Is this normal?

I have a 17 month old.  I love my 17 month old to bits.  He is wonderful.  He is fun.  He is energetic and exploring and learning...busy.  Busy is good!  Busy is healthy.  But busy leaves me tired.

I've noticed in the last few weeks/months that I guard my naptimes agressively. As soon as Levi is in bed for his nap, my mind goes in 20 million directions trying to figure out what the best use of my "free" time would be.  I almost panic trying to come up with just the right thing to do so that I won't feel as though I wasted even a minute of the precious time I have to myself that day. And if something threatens to come in the way of that time, watch out.  Don't distract me.  Don't ask me to do anything out of the blue during that time.  Don't come into my space.  I have only limited time every day to do my own thing and be alone.  And I never know how long that time will be so if I get distracted by something/someone unexpectedly and Levi wakes up, it could be another 24 hours before I get some time to myself again. 

It struck me lately that this just doesn't feel...healthy?  normal?  It's gotten to the point where I'd rather not eat lunch with Nathan (Levi naps over lunch time) because it means that I have less time to myself.  I'd rather sit and read or crochet or even just creep around facebook than ask my husband how his morning was.  That doesn't seem right.  And yet...that's my energize time.  That's my "keeping sane" time.  I feel like I need that time... 

Is it ok to ignore everything else during that naptime each day?  Is it ok to guard it protectively?  Is it ok to hope that nothing unexpectedly comes in the way of it?  *sigh*  Does anyone else feel like this?  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I feel like I'm at a place where I either need to be ok with being distracted or else give myself permission to guard that time ...

On worship...

Something that I've experienced many times but only put words to this morning is how, when moving to a new place, worship is something I miss.  Not worship in general, as that goes wherever a person goes.  But worshiping with the certain group of people.  I had never really realized this before.  I assumed that just because I found a new community of believers to worship with, worship went with me.  But things change.  Different worship leaders lead worship differently.  Each leader guides the congregation into worship in their own way...in the way they are gifted.  Every once in a while, I'll be listening to worship music and certain songs will take me right back to a "congregation" that I've been a part of and a certain worship leader who was leading in that place and time.  Worshiping together is a very intimate and special thing for the Body of Christ, the church.  And whether or not you're actually in a church building or calling yourself an official church, each "worship service" has it's own unique offerings to our Lord.  I love to reflect back on the people I've worshiped with over the years, whether I knew them personally or not, and give praise to my Father who has given me the opportunity to worship in many different places all the while giving honour to the same God.  What an amazing God we serve.  And what an amazing thing the Body is.  Look around you...who is a part of the Body that you're worshiping God with today?  Take time to appreciate the unique worship that you're a part of right now...

On being an introvert.

I've been realizing more and more lately that the fact that I'm an introvert is something to be embraced rather than fought.  Interesting that I ever picked up the idea that being an introvert wasn't a good thing, no?  I'm fairly convinced that the society in which we live has been designed by extroverts.  And this has often left me feeling like there's something wrong with me, like I just don't quite fit and, on top of all that, like I'm the only one who feels this way. 

As I live in more places, get to know more people and function in new and different situations, I'm realizing that I am not, in fact, the only one.  There are more people out there who feel like society isn't quite designed for them.  People who would rather sneak through the church foyer than have to stand and "mingle" for 20 minutes (an eternity, yes).  People who would rather brainstorm on their own than get together in a group and throw out ideas or plan an event.  People who have no problem spending the majority of their time at home alone, rather than scheduling their week full of coffee dates and activities. 

For the majority of my life, I've found myself dreading things like group work in school, ice breaker games, "mingling"...and the whole time I just thought it was something I needed to just deal with and get over.  And as I am getting older, I'm realizing that the introvert in me isn't something to be somehow overcome.  It is not something that needs to be stuffed away and ignored.  There is great value to being an introvert and, more than that, it's who.I.am.  That alone is reason to respect how I feel and to give those feelings a voice.

I have started giving myself permission to be true to the introverted part of myself.  That might mean not being fully immersed in every area of the church right away (gasp!).  It might mean not pushing myself as hard to set up playdates or coffee dates or to have people over for supper every week.  Sometimes I just need time and space.  And that's ok! 

It has been extremely life-giving to have come to this realization.  Why did it take me so long?!  It's quite likely that nobody else notices any difference, yet the change in pressure that I'm not putting on myself has been huge!  I'm still learning to tell myself that it's ok to sometimes pull away and give myself space.  It's getting there :)  Being an introvert who is fueled by time away from the action is ok and normal.  Aah...talk about a breath of fresh air!