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!

sugar and spice

i figured i would take advantage of the 70 degree january weather
and take some 7 month pictures of rylee!
she's getting so big!

i hope to have more time to visit bloggington in the next couple of months.
but hopefully great things are coming my way soon!
i've got a great teaching prospect and i'm really hopeful about it!
so fingers crossed!
God's got a funny way of opening doors just in time.

see ya real soon!
i promise.

mustaches are incredibly disgusting but i love him anyway.

sorry that it's been so long friends.
back to work means less time for blogging.

who am i kidding?
i just don't have anything interesting to say.