Grace

One of my first Christmas memories is when my sister and I went to some holiday craft fair with my mom and while she went shopping with the pretty, sparkly glass things that she was afraid we would break, she plopped us down at the table in the corner to make "kid crafts".

We decorated sugar cookies aka got babysat by a probably 95 year old lady who looked like Cruella DeVille, and patiently waited for my mom to come back and get us. My sister waited so patiently, in fact, that she got a marshmallow Santa to put on her sugar cookie. I mean, come on. She was like 1 1/2 years old. How patient could she really have been? I'm sure it was her "adorable long blonde hair" that won her the coveted Christmas cookie decoration.

I was SO jealous. I had been SO excited to go home and show my dad the cookie that I had made. It was totally the best in the group. Until Mandy got the marshmallow Santa... I couldn't stand the thought of her going home and showing her cookie to my dad. He would think the marshmallow Santa was sooo awesome and she would probably get extra dessert too since she was so well behaved :)

I couldn't let that happen. On the ride home, when I was just in my booster seat and she was totally strapped into her car seat since she was still just a "baby" as I liked to inform her, I reached my stubby little arm down and grabbed her sugar cookie.

and ate it. :)

Problem solved. No one would see her cookie with the marshmallow Santa and my dad would love my cookie and I would get extra TV time :)

Well... That was the case until my baby sister saw the frosting on my face and burst into that annoying 18 month old baby cry :) Like the screeching, kicking, face is bright red, screaming ;)

Unfortunately, my mom put two and two together and realized what I had done.

All I remember is running around the kitchen, begging my mom to not tell my dad. I remember pleading with her. She was not going for any of my deals (like giving her my Polly Pocket Mansion), so I took a deep breath only 5 1/2 year olds can take, crossed my arms, and put my head down.

"Fine. Let her eat my cookie. That is fair. I ate her's she she can eat mine. Then Dad won't get to see mine either. I AM SO SORRY MOMMMYYYYYYYY!"

She grabbed my cookie (coconut "snowflakes" and all) and carried my sister over to the couch. She sat my sister down, turned on Little People (come'onn, you know the movies) and grabbed my hand.

Wait. This wasn't what was supposed to be happening. Mandy was supposed to eat my cookie while my mom lectured me and then I went to my room crying and was supposed to "think about what I had done."

We went into the kitchen and sat down on the floor. I remember my mom telling me that I shouldn't have eaten her cookie blah, blah, blah and that I made her sad blah, blah, blah and that my dad wouldn't have been more proud of her for getting the marshmallow Santa. She told me that she knew that it was hard to be a big sister and that I was doing a really good job. She was proud of me for always sharing my toys and even for watching my baby sister when my mom took a shower in the mornings.

Even though I'm not sure that was my mom's goal, that was my first lesson in grace.

I thought that letting Mandy eat my cookie was what HAD to happen. It made sense and was fair and was the only logical conclusion in my little pre-schooler mind. I ate her cookie, so I DESERVED to have her eat mine.

Do you know what I think is even HARDER than giving grace to others?

Giving grace to ourselves.

We sing songs, we study, we read books. We are taught to forgive others and shower them with mercy and kindness even if they may not deserve it in our worldly eyes.

Try forgiving yourself, or loving yourself, despite what you see when you look in the mirror.

It's really hard, and I think it's something we forget to do. We focus so much on giving grace to others (which is a GREAT and very important thing) but we forget that the same concept applies to ourselves.

I am just so hard on myself. If it's not perfect, then it's a failure. Working longer hours at work, or lowering my body fat percentage; logging more minutes reading my bible, or running any faster isn't going to make it all perfectly fall into place.

I can't earn grace. I must just accept it and know it is given to me to use.

So this holiday season while we focus on helping and giving to others, just remember to give yourself a little gift of grace as well. It's amazing how far it can take ya.

Thanks momma for teaching my little heart about love, and sorry sissy for eating your sugar cookie. Forgive me? ;)

and the SECOND the pumpkin cream cheese pie, and the white chocolate cheesecake and the chocolate creme pie and the mini apple and pumpkin tort's were devoured...

it's time for the christmas socks!

Love Train

I have always loved being the oldest grandchild on my gram and gramps side.

I always get to be the head of the cousin massage train when we line up oldest to youngest.

When the little girls were little-er they never thought about rotating so we ALL got a chance to get a massage without massaging.

They finally are on to me :) We set the timer and every minute we would have to rotate. (aka I don't get to sit in the front the whole time anymore :)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, with lots of good food (umm... seriously though, how flipping GOOD are mashed potatoes??) lots of cousin love, and lots of back massages :)

In summer, we just throw together our paper plates, our burnt marshmellows, some campfire wood, some limbs, (maybe even some tiki torch oil) shh... don't tell... to make our summer night bonfires.

Winter time?

You must be methodical and planned out. :)

You have to know EXACTLY the resources you have, so you can get the most heat out of your supplies. :) Good job birthday boy, you made the 30 degree night quite enjoyable :)

but of course, we had to keep a little of the summer tradition alive...

but wait. I was missing out! Today at the grocery store I saw.... SEASONAL MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE.

WINTER BLACKBERRY!

and you wonder where I get my love for pajama pants and slippers.

I get it from my mommmmaa :)

just a typical evening at the Hatch's :)

and you probably can't see that we are watching the E-Trade baby commercials on You-Tube. Just to appease my dad, of course. He gets a kick out of those things ;)

I hope Drew is ready for my evening rituals :)

My New Career Choice

this weekend, I thought I was just going to a fun little fund-raiser for this cute girl and her school. I actually sat through a few somersault competions. Yep. Like who can somersault across the gym the fastest.
watched some mini-cheerleaders...

and found my new career calling... :)

I want to be a cheerleader.

Yeah, so maybe I am a little too old for the high school football team cheer squad, but come on. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders or the SeaGals have to be around my age, right?

it was freaking AMAZING. Those girls can lift, throw, jump, kick, do gymnastics, dance, and do the cheerleader face alllll at the same time. :) Like seriously, could you THROW your friend in the air, have her do the splits, do a flipping backflip and then catch her? All with a huge SMILE on your face. I can't even talk on my cell phone and run up the stairs at work without getting winded. :)Really, I had no idea. The music was so fun (ya know, all the trendy, hot songs that I feel like I am too old to listen to?) and seriously, those girls can groove. I was very impressed.

maybe to start my practicing, next year I will enter the somersault competition... what do you think? :)

Going Overboard!

The Predictable Pitfalls of the Holidays!

OverINDULGING
-- "If it leads you down the wrong path, don't follow it."

Okay... Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes and peppermint mochas. Gramma only makes the cinnamon rolls Thanksgiving and Christmas. The PEPPERMINT BARK hERSHEY KISSES ONLY COME OUT FOR ONE MONTH A YEAR! I haveeeeee to eat them! Maybe for you it's the hot buttered rum or the spiked hot cocoa at the ugly Christmas sweater parties! Pastor Grant said today something that really resonated with me. If you can't handle it, just. don't. do. it. If you struggle with over-indulging in food, then just don't go to the buffet. If you make a fool of yourself AND your spouse after a few too many drinks at the office Christmas party, maybe reconsider:)

OverSPENDING
--"Invite Jesus into every purchase you make"

Okay. So yesss. This does sound a little "sunday schoolish" bumper-stickerish. BUT. think about it :) Since during this season the whole POINT is to honor the Big Guy's birthday, everything we do to celebrate the season should be, in theory, to celebrate him :) Soo... before really... should i spend $100 on wrapping paper and gift tags and bows and ribbon and those wrist-tape dispensers (so. our family gets competitive with who finds the cutest wrapping paper. I won last year. thank youuuu Target :) just because I LOVE wrapping presents. Probably not. Not the best use of my money. :)

OverCOMMITTING
--"Sometimes the correct answer is "no"

I ALWAYS think the right answer is yes. "Can you babysit?" YES! "Wanna come over and bake Christmas cookies?" YES! "Can you head the decoration committee for the Christmas party?" OF COURSE! "Wanna have a Justin Beiber Christmas CD dance party on Friday?" HECK YEAAAH! Even though all of these things are fun, festive and there is nothing wrong with the, sometimes we just can't do it all. Sometimes, we NEED to say no, for everyone's sake ;) (p.s. FYI, don't ever ask me to be on a decorations committee. i am horrible at decorating. :)

So this is what we talked about today at Church, and he did SUCH a good job of not making it should like a list of "do's and do not's" and "ways to ruin the holiday season" :)

I just want to pick one of these things to focus on this season, and see how it goes. :)

little miss evy turned ONE this weekend!

and got some prettttyyyy sweet stuff :)

My personal fave? Her PERSONALIZED blocks HOMEMADE by alissa :)
The birthday girl thought they were pretty cool too! (see the unoriginal, un-homemade tricycle in the background? that was my gift :)

all my friends complement each other so well. :) some crafty, some not so much :)
(but really. liss says they are easy to make? anyone wanna try and report back to me?

:)

Simplify Your Life

I am debating getting rid of Facebook. I just spend waaaaay to much time on it, and whenever I am done looking at it, I usually feel stressed out or like a big fat loser :)

The truth? I am afraid if I get rid of it I won't know what's going on! Drew thinks it's weird borderline psycho I even care what so and so named their twin baby or how so and so from high school got engaged. (lots of these people I haven't even talked to in YEARS!) When I write this out, yes it does sound super creepy. I don't like to refer to it as "stalking" but more just like super intensive research ;)

Anyways... so, I have been trying to find ways to simplify my life so I can learn to keep my facebook account but just use in moderation ;) Moderation, moderation, moderation. :)

I tried downing an app on my ipad that would de-activate my facebook account for a certain amount of time. (This is more for college students who can de-activate during finals week so they can focus on their schoolwork with no distractions. Then. finals are over. party hard. facebook is back.) :)

Then I tried downloading some timers, and I would allow myself 30 minutes a day to surf the net, facebook included. Didn't work. I spent half the time stressed out just staring at the timer as the seconds ticked away :) annddd it remained me of my tooth brush timer from when I was little... Bad memories. ;)

Then one morning I got this lovely email from my friend Alissa!

1.) Turn off all technology for 60 minutes a day and focus on doing your most important work.
2.) Don't check your email first thing in the morning.
3.) Start your day with exercise!
4.) Be obedient to the sabbath!
5.) Learn to say no.
6.) Plan your week ahead. (Schedule space and time for work, rest, exercise, hanging out with friends, etc.)
7.) Don't answer your phone every time it rings.
8.) Get up early.
9.) Go to bed early.
10.) Eat a big healthy breakfast.
11.) Clean out your closets. If you don't wear it or don't use, get rid of it!
12.) Stop watching TV.
13.) Make sure you plan a decent vacation at least once a year. (at least 10 days to be truly regenerative.)
14.) Learn to protect your time.
15. Do your banking online.

there is no way i can do all of these. or even half. but I think they are interesting. This week, I am going to try not checking my email first thing in the morning. No groupon, twitter updates for me at 6 AM. Hope I can survive :)

"Put first things FIRST"

~Stephen Covey

Thanksgiving is where we show thanks for what we have. Veteran's day is where we show thanks for the people who fought for what we have

i could complain about how i haven't been able to blog or facebook or twitter because of the stupid internet and comcast not working :( but really... This is Kathy, a woman who lost her husband when he was deployed in Iraq. The night before his body was to be buried, she said she wanted one last night to sleep next to her husband. The marines brought her in a mattress, made her a bed and she listened to songs that reminded her of him.

Before she fell asleep, the guards asked if she wanted them to leave, or stand watch. She replied, "I think he would want you to stand watch."

The guards stayed guard all night, while Kathy slept next to her husband for the last time.

Thank you Kathy, for giving such a sacrifice for the rest of us.

To all the men and women in the military, to all those kids who only get to skype with their daddy's once a week, to all the mom's who stay up worrying about their sons millions of miles away...

I will NEVER know how you feel, and I don't show my gratitude near enough, but thank you...

My wedding planner is better than yours... :)

Not only does she come with ideas, but she brings candy too :)
I can get her number to ya if you need it ;)

happy sunday!

today, I am not gonna TRY and not get caught up in the score of the Seahawk's game (seriously they are so bad it puts me in a horrible mood all sunday)

today, I am not gonna check my fantasy football team stats like every 10 minutes to see if I am winning (last week Drew traded one of my best players to himself. As in, he logged on my name, and traded the player to himself)

today, I am not gonna spend hours and hours flipping through wedding blogs and magazines.

so much of my day is spent doing mindless activities, worrying about pointless things that are out of my control.

today, I'm gonna work on that. :)

Don'ts

My cute Dad decided that I needed some reading material to study up on before the wedding. (perhaps he is starting to feel bad for Drew when he is realizing that I can't cook/clean or really do laundry? I can handle whites... it's just those confusing darn color loads...)

This thing was written almost 100 years ago! My dad wrote a sweet little message on the inside cover for me :)

But don't you worry... we gotta be fair...

Drew got one too! :)

so yes, some of the words of wisdom are a bit old-fashioned but we also found some great advice :)

Don't think money makes happiness. It helps to procure comfort, but true happiness lies deeper than that.

Don't let your husband feel that you are a 'dear little women' but no good intellectually.

Don't object to your husband cycling into the country just because you don't cycle. If you can't, or mustn't or don't want to, that's no reason for cutting off one of his chief pleasures.

One of my personal favorites?

Don't hesitate to inconvenience yourself to give him a den all his own. He's really a good fellow and a lot of his worries will melt away if he has a place to himself for awhile. When he is out, the den will be yours.

2011 translation: Drew can have a man-cave, just as long as I get one too ;)

Okay. So I read The Help right when it came out, and loved, loved, loved it. Couldn't put it down.

I usually don't really watch movies that are copied after books because the movie just always seems to ruin the book :) I like to keep the characters in my head the way I picture them, not what Steven Spiehlberg casts :)

So I didn't see The Help when it came out.


Fast forward to tonight. I texted my momma's bestie telling her that I missed my wedding planner. (she is my wedding planner. so when ya'all don't like your seating arrangment? It's her to go after. ;) She texted me back, asking if I wanted to go see The Help tonight with her and her friend Heather!


I first thought... umm.. The Help is STILL out?

So I went.


and I literally haven't stopped gushing tears for the last 17 straight minutes. Like seriously, the top of my sweater is SOPPING wet from my tears.

seriously. those women are SO brave. So many times came flooding back into my head of times when I totally went with the flow, went with what the "cool" kids were doing, or just agreed because I was too embarrassed.

This movie shows the other side; just how influential our words can be.

Hurtful phrases that you don't even think twice about? You have NO idea the effect of those.

Something as simple as "You is kind, you is smart, you is important?" You have NO idea how important that message can be. ;)

Made these with the little girls this last weekend.

Fun, but I think a 7 year old and a 9 year old are a little beyond this activity.

Jenna took one look at the hershey kisses and the package of cookies and said, "Man. I know what we are gonna do. We just stick the hershey kisses on and make a hat."

yep. that's right smarty pants :)

Oh my gosh. Starting on TODAY, Redbox is up-ing their price for movie rentals by 20 cents :(

I think by my reaction, Drew thought they were going up to like $5 a night.

Nope, just 20 cents but still :)