Helloooo... Anybody there?

Oh my goodness, where have I been?  It's been seriously too long since I've visited bloggerville and for that I'm truly sorry.  But the good new is - there's no bad news and life is good around these mountain parts. I can't really say why I've been gone for a couple weeks other than just livin' the good life.  We have been as busy as ever but that's not always a bad thing right?  

Our good friends Alex and Krystal moved to town last month and we've sure been enjoying having them here.  Krystal and I are finally going to see Eclipse tomorrow - I know, I know... it's about time.  The boys are gonna have a good ol' fashion gamer night.  But if we're being honest here, Krystal and I could give those boys a run for there money any day when it comes to gaming.  
Not to brag or anything. Ha ha!

Moving on.

This weekend we had an outdoor party at our church we all played a concert together.  It was an honor to sing with the lovely Krystal Meyers (Hawkins).

(Photographer: Dorsey Coe)

(Photographer: Dorsey Coe)

It was a great time with lots of great friends and family.

(Photographer: Dorsey Coe)

And speaking of friends...

My sweet girl Jamie is heading out of Vaca for the next couple weeks and I feel as if I'm gonna be missing a limb or something without having her around.  She's kinda become like a vital organ and I just can't live without some J in my life.  So that makes me kinda sad but happy that they get to have one last family vacation before summers gone.

And then...

Today I dealt with someone who tried to knock me down for just being me. And when i say knock me down, I don't mean literally.  I'm sure you knew that but I didn't want you to picture me laying flat on my face or anything. HA! It really stinks when people are like that.  I don't get it.  I happen to like who I am and I'm thankful that I'm strong enough to not let it get me down.  But I can't say that it doesn't hurt.  I just happen to be one of those people that want EVERYONE and their brother's uncle's cousin to like me. Oh well, ya can't win 'em all.  

Well the husband is off owning the night so I'm off to Wisteria Lane via netflix and my big cozy bed. 

Hope you all have a lovely night.

XOXOXOXOXO

Busy but blessed

Today is getting off to a great start. I'm at work 20 minutes early so I thought I'd try this blogpress app and see how well it works. It's hard to find the time to sit down and write these days.
Anyways...
Isaac has honestly been super husband and I have to take a sentence or two to brag on him. Yesterday he surprised me at work by driving 20 minutes just to bring me my new flavor of Spark that came in the mail. I was so excited to try it so he made a special trip in town just to bring it to me. Awwww... Then I came home to s SPARKLING clean house complete with lawns mowed too! And a husband waiting fresh out of the shower was my favorite part but I'll skip over that...

Oh and yesterday at dinner Xander sang to me, "Sugar, awe honey honey, you are my candy girl and I know I love you..."
It was the most precious thing EVER!!!

And tonight we are having our sweet friends Alex and Krystal over for dinner and I'm super excited for that.

I guess I just have a lot to smile about today...

XOXO
Jillian

She works hard for her money...

Well my first week of working is officially over and tomorrow starts week #2.  It went a lot better than I expected.  I was surprised to find that my office is pretty laid back and the people are very close like family.  Those things alone make a huge difference in enjoying your job.  As for home, the kids did wonderful.  It was hard to be away from them everyday but realizing they were with their daddy made it so much easier.  We even spent two of my lunch hours together and that hour of pure bliss makes the rest of the day go really well.

My husband is absolutely amazing as well.  He cooked dinner a couple nights and made sure the house looked good when I got home.  I can't imagine how stressed out I would have felt to come home to my lovely little sanctuary torn apart.  I can assure you it would have resulted in tears. But on the contrary,  I received back rubs and lots of loves.

I think the hardest part besides leaving the kids was getting up in the mornings. But thankfully I woke up before my alarm clock and had a good 30 minutes each morning to pray for my family and talk with my Father before starting the day.  I know that was a huge part in my first week being so successful.

Highlights of my week were:

Having sweet Melody surprise me with coffee

Finding out I get off at lunch time every other Friday - paid!

Being told by my co-workers 5-6 times a day how much they love me - yay!

Getting surprised by my super sweet sister with my favorite Chai Latte and cookies

Lunch with my sweet husband

Taking my kids to the pool on my half day off!

I can't totally say I'm totally looking forward to tomorrow, but I'm sure not dreading it. There is nothing like being in the perfect will of God and that's where I'm sure I am.  I don't know exactly how long I will stay where I'm at but I do know that God's got a perfect plan and I intend on following that.

I hope you all have a very lovely week full of happiness and blessings.  

LUCY!!!

Well you probably know that I can't go too long with out a "Lucy" moment.  And today I had one of my BIGGEST Lucy moments ever!

First of all let me start by saying that I've been driving my husbands work car.  Usually I drive the suv so I have the extra room for the kids but since he's home with the kids while I'm at work I've been driving our smaller, more gas friendly car.  Well this car happens to be a stick shift and although I can make a 5-speed purr like a kitten, I haven't driven one in a long time.  

Moving on... As I was running into Wal-greens after work, I stepped out of my car, locked the door and began to walk towards the front door when a random guy starts yelling, "Ma'am, ma'am, ma'm, YOUR CAR!"  

It took me a moment of wondering why this strange dude is yelling at me when I turned around to see my car rolling backwards down the parking lot towards Main St.  

I screamed and ran towards the car trying to dig out the right key as it began picking up speed.  All the while the dude is yelling even louder, "Your CAR!"

Uh, yea... I know, it's heading towards a busy street and it's going faster than I am.

I got the key in the door and while trying to unlock the rolling vehicle I ended up unlocking and re-locking it several times because I couldn't steady the key.  Finally I got the door opened and jumped into the front seat and slammed on the breaks.  I had forgotten to put the car in first gear and had it in neutral by mistake.  UGH! I felt like an idiot!  I got out of the car, smoothed my hair and tried to gather the last little bit of my pride while the guy stood there laughing and shaking his head.  I thanked him profusely and then hurried into the store hoping not too many people saw me and my very embarrassing Lucy moment of the year.

I know, I know... LUUUUUUUCY!

And I'd tell you my Lucy moment that I had at work on Tuesday but you'd think I was an airhead and I can assure you I'm not.  So you'll just have to wonder about that one...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Tomorrow life officially changes.  I'm off to work!  It's the first time I've had a full time job since I was 18 yrs old, so I guess it's about time.  I can honestly say that staying home with my kids for the last 10 years is a gift that I would never exchange for any amount of money in the world.  I know that not everyone has the opportunity to do that and I'm blessed to have been able to.  But now I'm realizing that possibly I can enhance our family all the more by going back to work.  Isaac and I have some real goals that we'd like to accomplish, not to mention an ever growing medical tab so it only makes sense.  Xander will be able to start preschool this year and so officially my kids will all be school age and so this seems the logical thing to do.

I won't lie... I bawled my head of Friday night for 2 whole hours at the thought of leaving my baby boy because he's never been away from  me.  For the my older kids it's no big deal because they are used to it already from going to school.  But when Xander grabbed my face, starred up at me with his big black eyes  and said, "I'm sure gonna miss you Mama." It was all over - the tears started and didn't stop till I fell asleep. What a bawl baby! I'm just so thankful that my kids will be with their Daddy 90% of the time I'm gone due to his schedule and I've hired someone to come to the house and help out for only 7-8 hours a week.  How can I beat that right?

(img via google images)

So it's evening now and my super healthy lunch is all packed, my water bottle filled, my SPARK ready to keep me going oh and a really cute outfit all laid out.  

And all I can think and pray is...

please don't let 9 hours feel like 29 hours!

please let my children be at peace about me leaving

please Lord give me supernatural wisdom, memory and knowledge to do my best

please let me be a light in the darkness

and most of all...

PLEASE DON'T LET ME HAVE ANY "LUCY" MOMENTS ON MY FIRST WEEK OF WORK!

birthdays

As a parent we want to give our children the world.  Especially when it comes to birthday parties.  I, however, abhor crazed parties with 35 children running through my house with chocolate frosting smeared all over their cute little faces.  The idea gives me the shakes.  Honestly, I don't know how you all do it!  A good handful of my friends throw awesome kids parties and do it with ease.  I applaud you - for sure!  We have a different sort of take on celebrating in my house, we alternate between a "friend party" and a "family party" each year.  This really is the perfect solution in our family.  We also like the idea of birthday trips - Hunter went on a treasure hunt that led to a denver trip that included waterworld and a museum. and Tasia spent her 6th birthday in Disneyland.  

Thursday is my gorgeous baby girl's 8th birthday and it just so happens to be her family party year. 

So this year we are starting her day at the nail salon where she and her bestie get their first real pedi's in kid size massage chairs. Of course Jamie and I will oblige the girls and suffer through our own pedicures. Oh the things we do for our children...

(img via google images)

Then we are going shopping, 'cuz a girls gotta buy some new birthday lovelies.  At noon she has a lunch date with her Papa and Nana at the restaurant of her choice, and soon after Grammie and Aubuelo too will come over and we'll grab a quick meal of the birthday girls choosing.  And then we'll end it all with the rest of her family coming over for cake and ice cream.  It will be a full day and I'm sure she will love it!

(via we heart it)

So how do you all celebrate your children's birthdays?  Are you one of those amazing mom's that throws crazy awesome parties every year?  Or do you keep it simple?  Do you have any traditions that are special to your family? 

I'm feeling blue...

and when I say blue I mean deep shades of sapphire, midnight, indigo, rain, navy and turquoise. 

Blue is classy, intriguing, gentle, royal, alluring and intense.

LOVING BLUE RIGHT NOW!

(all img via weheartit)