Turning Moments Into Memories

I am still here

2005-11-10T14:43:00.000-05:00

Hi! Yes, it has been awhile since I blogged...if you read my previous blog, life has been a little crazy lately. But things are really good. My wonderful husband finished my office project by putting up my storage shelves and the trim around my desk. It looks really good! It is much more inviting now and I actually look forward to going in there. I still have some organizing to do but that will come with time as I figure out what works best for me. Jeremy is planning on getting stuff done around the house which really excites me. We love our house and it definitely reflects our style very well but we have lived there for 5 years and are beginning to "grow out of it". However, I don't think we are quite ready to move up yet, maybe in a couple of more years but we continue to do things to improve and design it they way we like it so it makes it hard to want to give up. We are just running out of room for storage. My kitchen is the worst. I can't even organize anything because I have so much stuff. I love to cook and bake and entertain so I have lots of dishes and bakeware, cookie cutters and chocolate molds that I will not depart with! And I want to continue to add to my collection so I need more room! So we are planning on adding a butler's pantry to our breakfast area which will give me a little more storage space. As for the rest of our stuff, we might be getting a storage building to outside in our backyard. I am not crazy about taking up the space but we really do need it. Hopefully those things will get us by until we are in a better situation to sell our house.

I am getting ready to go away for the weekend on our church's annual ladies retreat. I am really excited about it. I always ride up with my mom and my sister so we have some time together, just the girls and we usually act goofy and laugh alot! It is always a good time. And then I am rooming with my best friend, Joanna so I know that will be fun. I am so glad she decided to go because she wasn't going to but changed her mind! Yeah! Anyway, I will miss my boys but I could definitely use some time away. And I hear that we are going to have some more free time this year so we can hang out more! I love that!

Jeremy has been working hard to sell some 4 wheelers. It is nice to have that extra money every now and then. Right now, he is saving it so that he can buy me a digital camera and I think we are pretty close! I am a scrapbooker and my other camera died so I really need one! I don't like not being able to take pictures or relying on others to capture those memories for me. I am appreciative of that but when you have do that for some time you begin to feel like a "moocher". I guess that is pretty much all that is going on right now so I will holla back later!

Crazy Life

2005-10-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

Hello again. It has been a few days since I talked with you last. I haven't wanted to write but have also been doing some reflecting before I write. I am in a little bit of turmoil right now. Plus I haven't gotten to see my husband, much less talk with him since Monday! For me, that always makes things seem worse than they really are. You see I rely alot on our relationship, sometimes maybe too much. Things are really great between us, it isn't that but I have been reflecting on the "busyness" of our lives. I used to say that it was okay if you were busy as long as you were having fun. Because we do, I am very thankful that we have alot of fun in our lives. But sometimes, even fun can be too much fun! What I am trying to say is that I feel empty inside because I miss being with my family. I was a "stay-at-home-mom" since my son was born in February of 2001. I started working again this past May and I love my job! I work in the Church Office where Caleb attends Preschool and it is right down the road from house. There are so many pluses to it and I am very thankful for that as well. We really needed the money too so I am happy to be able to contribute to that. However the down side to that is I no longer get to spend as much time with my son and I don't get to volunteer as much in our home church. I still help Jeremy in youth ministry but not as much as I did before and I had to "resign" from my mother-in-law's ministry which I really loved being a part of. I still feel bad about this but I knew it was time and I had to be obediant to God. My job has also been good for me personally in some ways. I now feel like I have my own "identity". You see, I have worked with my husband and his mother in their ministries for the last 7(youth) and 5(SWM) years so I was entirely wrapped up in the "Wolfe" identity. I don't mean that this was a bad thing because I enjoyed every minute of it until the end. Even before I started working, I was very stressed out and felt "overworked". Most of this was my fault though, because I like to stay busy and accomplishes things. And I still believe that what I was doing was making an impact on the Kingdom. Anyway, It was time for me to lay down some things and get some perspective. So now, I am not doing much volunteer work but I do work 4 days a week while Caleb is in preschool 5 days a week. I must admit, I think this is a lot for him but he seems to be doing very well. He is learning alot and his teacher brags on him all the time. (I hope this is still true when he is in the public school system). I guess the long and short of it is I miss the time that I no longer have with him and I seem to be too busy even when I am at home. So if you are reading this, your prayers for me and my family are very much appreciated.

My number one priority is my family and our ministry so I want that to be where I spend the most time. I never want to neglect them for anything! I love Jeremy and Caleb so much and can't wait to hopefully see some changes in our schedules and our "quality time". Because most of the time when we are together, we make it a point to have "quality time"!

Hoping and praying for some changes...until next time...

Giving

2005-10-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

Today is going to be a fun day! I am having some girls over to my house for "Croptoberfest" which is a Creative Memories event that we do every fall. It is basically a crop but we add lots of special stuff, including fun snacks and extra gifts! And my office project is nearing completion! Ronda surprised me with some material that she bought for my curtains and it was the perfect color purple! She amazes me! So she came over yesterday to hang them for me and they look beautiful! Ronda was one of the friends that I mentioned in my previous blog. She is so giving and thoughtful. I want to be like that and I think I am somewhat but not as much as I wish I could be. I always have a good heart but then I forget about sending someone a card and by the time I remember it is too late. So this is an area I am going to work on thanks to Ronda. She doesn't know it (well she will if she reads this blog!) but that is an area that she inspires me in. She also inspires me a lot in my craft area which is why I re-model my office. Anyway, I love her and hope that I can re-pay her in some way not because I feel obligated but because I want to bless her because she spends a lot of time blessing others.

So if you are reading this, try to think of a couple of special people in your life and send them a card or buy them a little gift just to let them know that you are thinking of them and appreciate them.

Until next time...

Friends

2005-10-16T22:01:00.000-05:00

It is Sunday night and I am mostly finished with my painting project. We still have a ways to go to get my office put back together but the painting was the biggest chore. I just have a little bit of touch up to do. Anyways, today was fun. After church we went out to lunch with our best friends in the whole world, the Daars. We have known them for about 6 years now and we hit it off immediately. There were times that we didn't always get to hang out alot because of crazy schedules, and kids but over the last 3 years we have developed quite a deeper relationship with them. It is cool when a couple has a "best friend" couple (like Jeremy loves hanging out with Daar just as much as I love hanging out with Joanna). They have two boys so our boys love playing together. That makes it alot easier too. So this brought me to the topic of "Friends".

I absolutely love Joanna. I have alot of wonderful people in my life being involved in ministry but it seems that Joanna and I have built a bond that is really strong. You see, I love it because I can really be me and she doesn't judge me or see the worst in me. She always has something positive to say and always knows when I am down and helps lift me up. I can't hide anything from her! She knows a lot of things about me that most people don't, not that I try to hide things or have to be fake because I don't like that. I think we should always be real but I seem to be able to be more "real" with her than anyone else. I guess it is because she has never really "hurt" me or talked bad about me to someone else so I completely trust her with everything. I wish all people could be that way. One of my biggest character qualities is "loyalty" so I have high expectations of people when it comes to this.

I am very thankful to all of my friends, Joanna, Kristen, Ronda, Lisa, Salena, Jenn, Donja, and lots more so sorry if I didn't mention you. You know who you are and you all are very special to me. I love it because each one of you has something different to offer and challenge me in. I hope everyone is as lucky as me to have such wonderful friends in their lives!

My next big project

2005-10-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

Today was a pretty good day. I have been getting up early in the morning to do my morning workout. I really want to change some aspects of my life so I am trying really hard to be more disciplined. I want to have lots of energy so that I can be more effective. So far it has been going well. The only downside is that now that I am getting up earlier, by 4pm I am thorougly exhausted and one comfortable position away from being asleep! I know it will get better once my body totally adjusts. I am very proud of Jeremy too because he actually got up on his own this morning without my help to go for a run. We are both trying really hard to make better decisions in our lives. It seems to make it a lot easier when we are both trying to accomplish the same thing. Funny how that works isn't it?

I am so excited because this weekend I am renovating my home office. I have been inspired to do this for quite awhile now thanks to Ronda Harvey. I loved the way she arranged her office and I began to have a vision for mine. Thanks Ronda! She is so crafty and imaginative. I am not naturally that way so I always need inspiration to help come up with my ideas. It is important for me to have people like that in my life. Anyway, my favorite color is purple so I am redoing it in shades of purple. I am actually going to have room for my scrapbooking tools instead of having to drag everything out to my dining room. I can't wait for it to be a finished project! My husband takes such good care of me and is always supportive of my "many" projects. You see I don't really feel that I am accomplishing anything unless I am working on some kind of "project". It has been awhile though since I have had the opportunity to start something so I am very excited.

Well, I must go now. I am watching one of my favorite shows, "CSI" and it is getting really good. Thanks for listening!

Look at me now...

2005-10-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hi! Well as you can tell this is my first blog. At first I just laughed at my husband when he told me about this but I must say, after time I see the benefit that it is by having an online journal where your friends and family can stay connected and read about what is going on in your life. So here I am...

I thought it would be appropriate to make a note of where I am right now. I am at a pretty positive place in my life. I absolutely am in love with my husband of 10 years and my 4 1/2 year old son. We have the most fun when we are together and the joy that I feel in my heart watching Jeremy and Caleb together is unexplainable. Our life is many times hectic and scattered but when it comes down to it, our family life is #1. So when we are together, we try to make the most of it and really cut loose (which isn't hard for my husband who is 31 but still acts like a child). I must admit that I love that about him. So this is where the title of my blog comes into play... We always try hard to turn moments into memories... Until next time,