Boy, I feel like I am in the midst of the craziest, busiest few weeks of the year right now!

My all important calendar/scheduler/life notebook is jam packed with things to do and events to remember.  There are three people's schedules to keep track of, and it's overwhelming at times for me.

Josh's choirs have had over a half dozen performances, with more to go.  Plus, he's got various meetings and other commitments to keep him occupied beyond school hours.

In addition to preschool three days a week, Catherine has gymnastics on Monday, soccer on Tuesday,  Awana on Wednesday, and MOTTTS on Thursday.  Then there's all the extras to keep track of:  field trips, permission slips, buying Christmas gifts for her teachers, when she's supposed to take snack, when that birthday party was rescheduled to, who she's supposed to invite to the Christmas pageant, what costume she's supposed to wear.

And then there's me.  I'm trying to keep track of all on my to do list.  The ladies' annual Christmas party is the largest event I plan for women's ministry at our church, and it's this week.  For so long, it's been on the back burner, and now I'm in denial about the fact that I need to move it up to the front burner and start cooking!

The word that keeps coming to mind when I try to describe my life right now is chaotic.   And I think you can understand why.

I'm sure you have your own set of things to keep track of, presents to buy, meals to plan, cookies to decorate, errands to run, commitments to keep.

And in the midst of all the mess, is the nativity.



 The Christ Child.  Emmanuel.  God with us.

Here.  In the mess.


It amazes me that He actually wants our messes.  That we don't have to first get things cleaned up and organized and all pretty looking.  Thank God!  Because that's never gonna happen!

So, I'm just trying to remember, and maybe you need the reminder too, that He is here with us.

In the midst.

In the mess.

Christ with us.

Don't ya just hate it when your body thought it was nap time when it was actually supposed to be bed time?

And after 2 oh-so-brief hours of sleep, it is WIDE AWAKE.

So you spend the time resting.

Or trying to rest.

And you spend time praying and wrestling with God.

But your brain keeps thinking.

Of ideas and To Do lists.

And the story line of Gilmore Girls Revival.

And you debate if you should get up or still keep trying, hoping for more sleep to come.

Your ears think they hear the furnace running, and your brain is telling you it has sounded like that for the last hour while you've been laying (or is it lying?) awake.

So eventually your curious brain, your tightwad tendencies, and your full bladder, win.

You get up and come downstairs and readjust the thermostat.

And go to the bathroom.

When you realize yesterday's mid-afternoon coffee kind of turned into evening coffee, you start wondering if its affects on you is more than just having to use the facilities.

(You have to write "use the facilities" because you can't write "pee" in your blog post; although, you vaguely recall some other writing of yours using that word 2 or 3 times.)

You turn on a dim lamp because 5 AM is too early for the overhead, and you snuggle up on the couch under a cozy, crazy soft gray blanket.

And you write.
Sometimes you don't know why you write, and you even wonder if you should continue pursuing this whole blogging thing.

But the words form inside you and want to be released.

And though your womb is barren, your soul births new thoughts.

If your newsfeed is anything like mine, you are seeing Gilmore Girls mentioned about every 12 seconds.

If you have no idea who the Gilmore Girls are, maybe this post isn't for you.  But if you're the other 99% of my followers, read on.


I'll admit:  I was quite delayed in getting on the Gilmore Girls bandwagon.  The couple times I tried watching it I couldn't follow the speed of dialogue full of all the pop culture references.  And quite frankly, I found the main characters ... well, slightly annoying.  Come on, we all have our annoying moments.  And if you're honest, you know Rory and Lorelai have theirs too

The two years I lived in LA was during the Gilmore Girls' run.  A friend of mine was a reoccurring background actor on the show.  I was on the set multiple times and even crossed paths with Alexis Bledel once.  I stepped across Rory's college campus, tiptoed through Richard and Emily's living room, frolicked through the Stars Hollow town square, stopping for pictures in front of the gazebo, and opened the door and walked right into Luke's Diner.  I saw Lorelai's jeep parked in her driveway, Miss Patty's dance studio, Mrs. Kim's antique store, and lots of others things that meant nothing to me because I didn't know the characters or the town or the show at that time.

Boy, what a difference it would be now to interact with that town after having watched all seven seasons of the show!  I now know that Stars Hollow is like a whole other character on the show.

I'm on the top right, and I took the bottom photo inside Luke's.

Now, after nine years of absence, the Gilmore Girls are coming back this Friday.
And, seemingly, the world couldn't be happier.

The Gilmore Girls Revival is the happily ever after reunion of long absent friends.  It's been so long since we've seen them that we only remember the good parts about them.  Forget about any past thoughtless decisions or foolish behavior. We've forgiven and forgotten and just want to see them thriving and at peace.

Seeing the town of Stars Hollow gives us a sense of familiarity and community.  It's a place where everybody is known, a place where everybody matters.  Don't we all long for a place like that?

In a time when we are engulfed by divisiveness and disingenuity, we long for a brief escape back to Y2K and a conversation where the biggest point of contention is whether you're Team Jess or Team Logan.

I have so many questions!  We know the day (Friday, November 25), but what time will the episodes be released?  Will it depend on what time zone you're in?  IE, can I watch the episodes before my friends on the west coast can??  Are GG fans going to break Netflix?  And if you don't watch it on Friday, how on earth can you avoid spoilers online?!?

There is more excitement about these upcoming four episodes than there was about seven seasons of episodes!  There is so much hype I don't know how it can possibly live up to the expectations.  As crazy as this sounds, I'm already feeling the future sadness of the four episodes being over and having to say goodbye to The Girls all over again.  I mean, four episodes are going to be over in the blink of an eye.  And then what are we left with?  Leftover turkey, dirty dishes, and a debate about the political future of our nation.  Yah, I'd rather be in Stars Hollow...

Ah...  Sunday night

For the last few weeks I have actually loved Sunday nights.
Excited for the return of the routine.

Catherine is loving pre-K.
And I am loving having free time for a bit while she's there.

So, why am I feeling such angst tonight?

I don't know.

Probably a number of things.

This week is going to be full of long days for Josh, which then also means long days for me single mom-ing it.

Plus I've got a number of things on the calendar that I'm actually dreading instead of looking forward to.

I'm struggling with writing and struggling with finding my creativity and passion.

I can't help but think about our housing situation and wonder where we'll be a year from now or what we'll be pursuing half a year from now.

Add in probable hormones and likely depression that often makes a reappearance, and you've got me tonight.

Just the sad reality.

But I know it will pass.  I will survive the long week.  And I will, once again, have activities to look forward to.  So, to cheer myself up, I'm reminding myself that Josh's Fall Break is coming up soon!  And we'll be taking a trip to one of our favorite places:  Traverse City, Michigan!

2015 Chateau Chantal in TC

2014 at our hotel in TC

2010:  our Mini-moon (mini honeymoon) in TC

It's one of our frequent destinations, but it's been awhile since we've been.  We always have our favorite restaurants and stores to visit and a great hotel right on the water.  We wander around downtown and take in the beautiful views from Old Mission Peninsula.  Fall is a gorgeous time to visit, plus we get off-season rates!

So, for now, I'll hold onto that.  It helps to have SOMEthing to look forward to.  Are you the same way?  What's coming up on your calendar that lifts your spirits?

It was exactly one month ago today that we first saw the house we planned to buy and move into this fall.

It was beautiful.  In so many ways.

Well cared for.
In a great neighborhood.
Right next to a school.
Big, beautiful shade trees.
A huge living space where I could see us gathering for small group, Bible studies, hosting Mom's Night Out, having birthday parties, and holiday meals.
A bright cheery kitchen with shabby chic cabinets and whitewashed old fence post pieces as a backsplash of sorts.
Hardwood floors, huge windows, a beautiful stone fireplace, a newly updated bathroom with subway tile.
Space for my office.
And space for Catherine.  Space for her to play and spread out.   A basement for a drum set and big toys, where she could toss a ball without having to worry about it hitting and breaking something.  A paved driveway where she was going to learn how to ride a bike.  A tree swing.  And right next door to a playground, soccer goals, basketball hoops, and space to run wild (yet fenced in for my peace of mind).


It was just about perfect.
Oh, and in a town that we love.

And all along, it was our continual prayer that God would show us clearly if this was meant to be our home.  The proverbial doors kept opening wide.  And we kept walking through them.  And kept saying, "As long as God keeps opening the doors, we'll keep walking through them."

Well, yesterday, God clearly closed the door.  The buyers suddenly decided they don't want to sell right now.  "Nothing personal" we were told.  That didn't make the punch to the gut feel any better.  This was completely out of the blue.  We had paperwork written up, revised, and revised again.  We had details figured out.

We had our home 95% staged.  We had a house cleaner booked for Tuesday and a photographer booked for Wednesday.  We had a website created.  And an open house planned.

Mentally and emotionally we were moving this fall.

And now...

Well, I canceled the house cleaner and the photographer.

I had to break the news to Josh.
And Catherine.

Last night we treated ourselves to our favorite restaurant where we ate our feelings.  No, seriously, my "meal" was fried mozzarella sticks and a giant chocolate chip cookie covered in ice cream, chocolate, and caramel.  (The order disgusted even me.)

At some point we'll start unearthing all the bins and boxes we packed up of things we didn't need for a couple months.  We can put the toaster oven and coffee maker back on the kitchen counter.

Having a 95% "show ready" home has re-birthed my desire to host friends, and I'm happy to say we had a family over this morning.  We made a big pot of coffee, and Catherine helped me make muffins.  I even served them on a pretty cake stand that I had set out for staging.

I'm going to use the pretties as I make my guests feel welcome in our yellow farmhouse with the red front door.  And the big front porch.

So, I'm feeling rather giddy right now...

Hubs and I just announced on social media our news that we are planning to sell our house!

Yellow house with the red door

It's a first for us, so everything is new and exciting and overwhelming.

There have been a number of things that we have lived with or ignored or put on the back burner but really need our attention before we can show the house, so that has been consuming our time, energy, actions, and thoughts for the last couple weeks.

Before and after of the linen/storage closet

This all happened suddenly and seemingly randomly, but we feel God is leading us down this path.  And as long as the doors keep opening, we will keep walking through them.

So, as we continue crossing items off our home to do list, we are praying that God will bring us a buyer who can be blessed by this home as much as we have been for the last four years.

Wow, where did the last month go?

Hubs has been gradually adjusting to his new job.  Which means C-bug and I have been gradually adjusting back to our routine.  She still has a few weeks before Pre-K starts.

I've been gearing up for my Mama's Group to resume next month.  Being on the leadership team means involvement year round, even though the group officially takes the summer off from meeting.

And now Hubby and I are trying to go hard-core into home improvement projects that we've put on the back burner for awhile.  Our to-do list is massive, but we're trying to tackle one thing at a time.  We've been working hard in this heat, so I finally got around to making my first batch this summer of my iced coffee concentrate.



I posted a pic on Instagram and Facebook, and I know ya'll wanted the recipe, so here goes!


Brew a pot of extra strong (2-3x) coffee (I did 10 scoops of espresso beans with 20 oz. of water).

Mix with 1/2 cup sugar (I put in less), and 1/2 cup flavoring syrup (I do a combination of Hershey's chocolate and caramel, but I would imagine you could do something like Torani syrups), and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Whisk it.  Whisk it real good.

Pour into a mason jar and store in fridge.  When you're ready for a glass, pour over ice about a cup of milk and a 1/3 cup of coffee concentrate (make sure to shake the jar first to mix it well).  Feel free to experiment with your preferred ratio.



I've tried it with different flavored coffee beans and different kinds of milk (coconut, almond, etc.).

In all honesty, I don't know if I should call this Iced Coffee or Iced Mocha.  Regardless, it's good, quick, and easy!  Let me know if you try it and if you experiment with different syrups and flavors!

Feel free to follow me at the links below, where I post a lot more than here lately!  For example, did you know I finished the gallery wall that I've been planning for months?!?  Hmm, maybe I should write a blog post on that sometime.  Maybe in 2017.

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