Messy Us

Life has been really great lately. Tim has found his passion at seminary, studying apologetics and theology, and at work, as an associate junior high minister. I've been able to (barely, at times) stay afloat between work, school, and home life. Jack is the biggest joy of our lives. Even as a 2-year old, he manages to make us laugh our heads off every single day.

But while we are thriving, I have a confession to make. Our house is a MESS! It is the one part of our life that we simply can't keep up with. The main level gets cleaned the most, because that's where we spend the most time, but our bedrooms and the basement sit completely trashed 24/7. We moved into our new home vowing to keep it nice and treat it as the blessing that it is, but so far we have failed miserably.

I'm having trouble deciding if this is something that I should be concerned about. One of my counseling professors talked with me and my in-class client once about my client's huge amount of stress over working full-time, being a mom to a 5-year old, and trying to do all of the housework, thanks to her deadbeat husband (in her opinion). My professor's take on it was, what's the worst that could happen if you just accept a messy house? If it lowers your stress level to minimize the cleaning and housework, then why not just let it be? Worse things could happen than having a messy house. I liked that.

It worked for me for awhile, trying to convince myself that it's okay to just leave my home a wreck. As long as it doesn't become unhealthy or anything gross like that, I had to remind myself each morning as I stepped over toys and sippy cups and old mail, then it's okay to just let it go and worry about it when I have the time and motivation. But the fact that I had to try and convince myself of this daily convinced me of something else: I am definitely NOT okay with a messy house. I certainly don't require perfection, but I can't live in a mess. I just can't - the mess stresses me out almost as much as trying to keep up with cleaning it.

So, my last few weeks have been trying keep up and clean whenever I have a chance, even if it's just a few small messes at a time. I'm still really bad at keeping up with the laundry in our bedrooms, but I have managed to have small victories, like making the bed every day (for the first time in YEARS!), and keeping the three of us in clean clothes, even if that means washing three outfits the night before we need them. I've also been running the dishwasher more often, even when it's not completely full. (I am all about efficiency, so I have a hard time running it when it's not completely stuffed full of dirty dishes. But, if it means taking dirty dishes off of the tables and counters and getting them clean, I will do it now. Otherwise they'll sit in there for a long time.)

I'm trying to do better. I think I missed the memo about how to be a good cleaner, or about why I should be motivated to clean my house. I absolutely hate taking the time to clean. If I have a rare free moment, I want to plant my booty on the couch and relax on facebook or watch my DVR'ed reality shows. But I guess if I hate the mess, I should do something about it. It's kind of the same thing that I've always thought about if I hate feeling fat, I should do something about that too instead of just complaining about it.

So anyway, if you come to my house and you notice I haven't swept the floor or dusted any piece of furniture in what looks like a long time, I probably haven't. But I'm working on it. I do want to take pride in my home, I really do. I just... am working on it :)

We are so ready for Thanksgiving. This week has been crazy between Jack's sinusitis, both of us working, and my rehearsals every night so far (including tonight!) for the Christmas Concert.

We are so lucky to have the rest of the week off. Tim and I both have tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday off, then he has to work Saturday. Thank goodness for holidays! We definitely need this one!

Brief Update

News on the homefront:

Lisa - I have celiac disease, so I'm having to completely change my diet. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, especially since my sister was diagnosed a year ago and already knows a lot about living gluten-free. I'm also still working full-time and going to graduate school.

Tim - Just took a part-time job at our church as Associate Junior High Pastor!! He has changed his State Farm job to a part-time position, and will be working both part-time jobs for now. He is THRILLED!!! He is also seriously considering starting back up at seminary in the spring.

Jack - Hilarious kid, growing and talking more and more every day.

Mini-Van Momma

Yes, friends, it is true. We traded in Tim's Mitsubishi Galant for a mini-van - a Chevy Venture to be specific. It has no bells and whistles, I have to actually open all the doors myself and the seats do not fold into the floor. But it is a mini-van with plenty of space.

It was actually Tim's idea, too! He even drove it to work this morning (which, I must say, I was looking forward to driving it today, so I am rather jealous.)

After talking with the folks at the shop, we found ourselves in a place where neither of our cars were highway safe. And since I will be driving to Lincoln many many times in the next few years, we needed something that I would be safe driving down there. So now, we still only have one car payment that is less than $100 more than we were paying on the Galant, we are paying less in insurance, AND we have a highway-safe vehicle. Good deal all around.

My only complaint is that none of the seats in the van have arm rests!! What is up with that ??!!

Buy a house? Check
Pack up and move? Check Check
Start grad school? Check
Take care of a toddler? Check
Work a full time job? Check

All within a week of each other?

Check.


I need a vacation.

New house!

Well, we are (almost) officially homeowners!!!

We bought the townhouse, and are so anxious to move in. We will have a full finished basement with a laundry room!!! We may even get a kitten, to complete the picture :)

Hopefully we will be closing on August 8th, but it could be as late as the 15th. Can't wait!!

Here are some photos that the previous owners posted on the realtor's website:

I'm horrible at keeping up on here.

Life has just been grand lately! We just got back from a little mini-vacation at Tim's parents' house, who are in Washington D.C. right now so we had the whole place to ourselves. We spent a lot of time napping, reading and playing with Jack at the park and it felt wonderful to just be away together. We realized that it was the first time the three of us had gone anywhere over night just with ourselves - we're usually with other people. It was lots of fun.

Other fun thing is that this week Tim VOLUNTARILY quit the computer game that he had been playing religiously for a year and a half now. He decided that there is more to life than sitting in front of the computer, and I definitely agree :) He bought a brand new Taylor guitar and has been spending his free time getting back into learning songs and playing old worship tunes. (And writing a song for Jack called "Juice" - it's funny.) I am so happy for him - he is by far a happier guy these days.

Work is the same ol' same ol' for both of us. I'm getting adjusted into the Children's Department and working full-time, and Tim is still doing the same old thing. I'm trying to enjoy this last month or so before my life blows up with busy-ness with the start of my Seminary classes, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to go back to school. (Around December I'm sure I will take that sentence back, but oh well.)

Regardless of what job I end up with (I'm still not even sure that I want the typical "counseling" job!), I think that this experience at Lincoln Seminary will be good for me in lots of ways. The people, professors, and classes will be a new environment to me and I am really looking forward to it.

We could really use some prayer, though, in deciding on where to live. We are currently renting a pretty cruddy townhouse in a pretty cruddy neighborhood in Bloomington with a pretty cruddy landlord, and I am dying to buy a house. But with Tim currently in limbo with when and where he'll want to get back into ministry, buying a traditional house would be silly. So, the ever-determined person that I am, I discovered these townhouse/condos in my brother's neighborhood that have tended to sell pretty quickly in the past. The price is in our price range, we wouldn't have to take care of the lawn, and it's in the school district that I would want Jack to go to if we live here that long. Not to mention they are fairly new and really super nice on the inside. It would also be nice to have something TO sell when the time comes to move, as opposed to what we're doing now - renting - where we'll get nothing when we move out.

So anyways, this is our current dilemma. To buy or not to buy?

I'll try to keep up more often, I promise!