day 12: something i don't leave the house without

well as i'm sure you know,
when you have children, suddenly you find
yourself taking your whole house with you for any trip.
so obviously, i don' t leave the house without the diaper bag.
it's always full of toys, bottles, diapers, wipes, bibs, burp rags...blah blah blah

for myself, i never leave without my phone and wallet.
i like to keep it pretty simple.

day 11: i'm just tired

today i'm tired.
not tired, but exhausted.
exhausted and more than slightly annoyed
that corban decided that 4:45 was an
acceptable time to wake up this morning.

and you know what he said about it?
"i had a good nap"
a good nap indeed.

thank you God for caffeine.

day 10: something i'm afraid of

well there are several things i'm afraid of.

1. i'm completely terrified of people in costumes.
really just costumes that involve masks or face covering.
six flags was a nightmare for me.

2. i'm afraid of someone breaking into my house,
whether i'm home or not.

3. i'm afraid of the dark.

4. i'm afraid of being home alone over night
(see fear #2)

5. i'm afraid of failure.

6. i'm afraid of dying even though i know i shouldn't be.


so to sum it up, i have a lot of irrational fears.

day 9: bff

erin and i have been friends
since high school and when we
roomed together freshman year, we really became
close. we've each been there for the other's biggest moments
and we've had a lot of laughs.
love you diggy!

day 8: a place i've traveled to

the farthest place i've ever been
was the country of ukraine.
the summer after my 9th grade year,
i went on my first mission trip
also my first plane ride
to ukraine.
it was a medical mission trip where we focused on
treating local ukrainians and also telling them about God.
it was an experience i will never forget.
i was able to experience a completely different culture at a young
age.
on top of that, we had an over night layover in london, where my mom,
myself and a fellow mission tripper spent the ENTIRE night
gallivanting around london. we had no idea what we were doing or where we
were going. we may have even gotten lost once of twice.
but it was so much fun! ...even though it was the middle of the night.

after that trip, i was able to go back to ukraine 2 more times. we conducted vbs
for local children and visited some children's homes. it was humbling to say the least.
i'm hoping to go on another mission trip someday soon!

day 7: favorite movies

ok believe it or not, i'm not the type to watch movies
over and over again.
unless they are twilight or harry potter related.
i can hear you making fun of me...

so a few movies that i've liked are:

stand by me
pride and prejudice
my fair lady
simon birch (even though it makes me cry)
meet joe black
pearl harbor
atonement

i'm sure there are others that i'm forgetting
but those are some of my all time favorites

birch and bird

while perusing one of my favorite blogs,
i saw this neat idea.
the post is all about aqua and orange combos for spring.
this one really stood out to me.

i like the idea of using a giant topographical map
as an art piece. topographical maps are especially
interesting because of the bold oranges and bright greens.

i wish i had seen this idea before i did my son's room!

if you're a world traveler, it might be neat to do the same thing
with a world map. you can put cute little decorative push-pins in
all of the places that you've been!

that little boy knows how to melt my heart.

while he was playing outside this afternoon,
i looked out of the window and saw him looking at the sky.
i asked "what are you doing?"
he said "i want to see God. can we pray?"
then he proceeded to thank God for practically everything
ever created. including guns.
(he's really into fighting pretend bad guys right now)


i almost cried. and now i am complete mush.
i love that boy.

day 6: a photo that makes me happy

isn't this just adorable? if you told me that this wasn't one of the
cutest pictures that you have ever seen,
i'd say you were crazy....or lying.
i know i'm biased, but seriously people...it's precious.

day 5: songs

so today's post is supposed to be a song to match my mood.
the song that most fits my mood today is:
"sleeping in" by the postal service


i'm pretty much always tired, so i think this song could easily match my mood
just about any day of the week.

a few other songs i'm enjoying right now are:
"rollerblades" by eliza doolittle


it's got such a cheerful tune.

"eet" by regina spektor


because you would have to be crazy not to acknowledge that she
is a vocal genius.

"violin" by amos lee

it's such a soulful song. i love it.

and finally

"timshel" by mumford & sons


because it really is just a great song.
i could listen to it over and over again.
really i could listen to this whole album all day long.


so those are my songs of choice for today. if any of them are new to you,
check them out!

p.s. while we're talking about music, i just thought i would mention that
the hubs and i got tickets to see kings of leon in tulsa this april!
exciting? i think yes!

day 4: my parents

my parents have been the best parents anyone could ask for.
i've always been very close to my parents and i'm so grateful for that.
growing up, my parents were always very involved in everything i did.
my dad coached my softball team, they went to all of my games, and they supported me in
anything that i wanted to do.
they pushed me to do my best in everything and encouraged me when i didn't do well.
they expected me to never do things half way, but because of that, i learned how to work hard.
my parents were always involved in youth group activities, which at the time, i hated. but now i appreciate it.
my parents raised me in a christian home and they lived out their beliefs everyday.
i learned what a loving and Godly marriage looks like from my parents.
they showed me how to love in good times and adversity.
my parents have been very supportive of jarred and i from the time we were datin

g and still now as we are raising our own children.
i know that when i was young, i completely took my parents for granted, but as i get older, i find myself leaning and relying on them more than ever.
i think they are exceptional examples of how to love each other and how to parent.
i don't know what happened to my brother though...

i love you mom and dad!

day 3: my first love

it's merely a coincidence that i'm blogging about my first love
on valentine's day of all days.
ok so i fell off the 30 day challenge wagon over the weekend.

jarred really was my first love.
i've told him many times that i imagined myself
marrying him from about 8th or 9th grade on.
we had always known each other since we grew up going to the same church.
we started being friends in 6th grade.
we started emailing each other novels in 7th grade.
it was kind of a game to see who could send the longest email.
i know, we were adorable...
in 8th grade, i knew for sure that i wanted him to be my boyfriend.
he pretended like he was just my friend because he was too shy
to admit that he liked me.
at least that's what he tells me.
9th grade, we flirted like crazy.
10th grade he transferred to the same private school that i went to
which allowed us to hang out all the time.
*in 10th grade jarred's mom also invited me to his birthday party (which was a
paintball party) without jarred's knowledge. he was pretty embarrassed.
in 11th grade he finally asked me out.
we've been together ever since.
i've been so fortunate to have married my first love.
and i love him more now than ever!

day 2: blog name

originally i had named my blog
"a life worth living".
because i do believe that my life is one worth living.
theeeeen, my daughter was born. i began to feel like
"a life worth living" didn't completely encompass the craziness
that is now my life.
so, my blog is now entitled, "a fabulous frenzy".
fabulous, because i still love every part of my life.
frenzy, because my life is much much more crazy now
that i am a busy mother of two!
so that's that.
not much to it, but there you have it.

because, lets face it, you want to know everything about me.

i got the idea to start the 30 day challenge
from a friend, lauren.
everyday there will be a different blog topic.
with maybe a blog or two of my own in between.

so let's call this day one...
this is supposed to be a recent picture and 15 interesting facts about myself.

1. i often unintentionally hum with the microwave.
2. i won my middle school's geography bee in 8th grade.
3. i've never been to disney world or disney land.
4. i have been to ukraine 3 times.
5. i won the "abs of steel" award in my 8th grade gym class for my ability to do
an unlimited number of sit-ups. if you know me now, this is laughable.
6. i love trivia of any kind.
7. i quit track and cross country to join the academic team in 8th grade. who does that? nerds.
8. the president of rwanda shook my hand at my college graduation.
9. in 9th and 10 grade i went to a private school where i was in a class of 8 people.
10. i graduated high school in a class of over 1,000 people.
11. i had a pet rabbit named alakazzam who lived for 8 years.
12. my husband and i have been friends since we were very young.
13. soccer is by far my favorite sport.
14. i've never been to any school dance (including prom). thanks mom and dad...
15. i still have and use a caboodle.

aaannndd since i don't have any recent pictures of myself
that i'm willing to put on here,
here is a throwback picture.

someday you'll thank me...

our preacher at church challenged us a couple of weeks ago
to make a list of 10 things we want our children to learn from us...

1. keep your friends and family close, but keep God closer.
2. don't be like everyone else.
3. love those who aren't loving toward you.
4. be ambitious and follow through with everything you do.
5. words should be chosen wisely and not tossed around carelessly.
6. God will never fail you, even though people do.
7. "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
8. allow yourself to learn from your mistakes.
9. you are responsible for your own actions.
10. surround yourself with people who will build you up and encourage you.

there are so many things that i want to teach my children.
it's hard to pick out just 10, but it's a good start i think!