Every Other One {Happy & Sad Thoughts}

Sometimes things are just not good, you know?  Not bad....just enough "not good" stuff to make you feel down in the dumps.  This blog is a journal for me....the "blog" side makes me want to write about happy & funny things.  But honestly, don't we all hate those girls who only write about happy & funny things?  In an effort to be both...both a girl that's loved and hated...I'm going to tell some stories & complain a lot in this post...but every other one will be a happy story.  Because no matter what's wrong, I have so much to be thankful for. ---[happy]

In March, God put this crazy idea into my head that has slowly become a reality.  An amazing reality.  Our church is planning a two-day conference for the lost women in our community.  I'm in charge...and it's so scary.    But things are coming together in such an amazing way that makes me so thankful to serve a living God.  The conference will be June 8th & 9th.  It's my prayer that this will be a step toward making our church biracial... we'll be talking about issues like sexual abuse, drug & alcohol abuse, depression, and being a single mom.  It's going to be amazing...and feeling the Holy Spirit use little ol' me to make it possible is quite an amazing feeling.  Next Sunday I'll be addressing our congregation to fill everyone in on the event (most people still don't know about unless they're part of the planning) and to ask for monetary donations to help us make the conference a success.  It's scary...but God is so good.  

[sad]

I'm way behind on highlights.  My hair looks a hot mess and I wish I had the guts to try dying it myself.  But my hair is waist-length.  I can't risk messing up that much hair.  Why do I have to love having blonde hair so much?  It's so expensive to keep up.... sigh.  

[happy]

We had revival last week.  It was so great!  I hope that our church is revived so that we can spread the revival into our community.  One little boy got saved.  My grandma came to church every night.  She even brought her Bible.  That's quite out of character for her and I hope that she will continue to step outside her box and get close to the Lord.  =)  

[sad]

Mr. Robinson hasn't made any money yet with his new job.  He's getting very discouraged and worn down. He's thinking of looking for another job...but I know God led us here for a reason.  I feel like I'm running out of ways & words to encourage him, but it's my job as his wife to constantly encourage him and build him up.  But that doesn't mean my words erase the what he experiences daily...I wish I knew what to do.  I pray that he will start making money very soon.  But you know, it's not even really about the money...I just want him to start feeling successful.  I hate seeing him down in the dumps. 

[happy]

Zombie is so cute. 

[sad]

  It's hard not to miss the money of two steady incomes.  We're officially one month behind on the house payment we give my parents every month...which isn't really a big deal.  They're very understanding and we're blessed to have them as our lender instead of a bank.  We're going to have to start cutting corners somewhere....maybe we'll have our satellite cut off?  Mr. R's birthday is coming up...he says he doesn't want anything but he deserves a nice birthday present.  I just don't know what I could get him that is within our budget & still something he really deserves.      

[happy]

 I spent some time Saturday in the Man Cave...sprucing things up and making it more manly for my love.  I'll give y'all a tour soon.  The cutest thing EVER was hearing my husband "brag" about it to my daddy.  I knew he appreciated the effort by his excitement when I showed it to him, but to hear my hubby brag on something I did for him makes me happy.  I'm happy to have done something that made/makes him happy.  =)  His Man Cave has a ton of stuff from his childhood in it...it's like a museum of his past life.  I'm surrounded by my childhood memories since we live in the house where I raised.  Now he has childhood memories in our home, too.  :) 

[sad]

It's almost time to go grocery shopping again and it's hard to spend money when the amount coming in has decreased.  I loved grocery shopping when it was a carefree experience...now I feel guilty, no matter how much money I spend.  It'd be so much cheaper to just eat hotdogs every night (which we both love) but I can't eat like that!  His favorite foods happen to be very inexpensive, and while I love a good hot dog or burger or slice of pizza, I gain weight when I eat like that.  So what do I do?  What's more important?  Saving money before we run out or buying double food because I want to eat healthy and he refuses to eat healthy.  What a choice.      

[happy]

 I was fooling around in the kitchen on Saturday and found that I can use butternut squash in place of noodles in pasta dishes.  That's a pretty exciting healthy alternative discovery!   That puts pasta back in the game!  

[sad]

I've been struggling lately with modesty issues.  I feel like modesty should be practiced everywhere...  (At church) I don't want my attire to get in the way of someone worshiping God.  (Everywhere Else) I think it's tacky and disrespectful to their husbands when women dress provocatively.  My body is not my own - it's my husband's.  I don't want any other man looking at a creation meant only for the man I was created for.  But...what about everyone else?  What about all of the girls who wear short dresses and low-cut tops that get the attention of my husband?  My husband is imperfect and attractive girls showing lots of skin catches his eye, even if it is in a bad way.  Sometimes I'd like to take modesty out of the picture and dress in a way that catches his eye, too.  But I know it would be sinful and dis-respective... but I still fight it.  Soon, this will get a post all on it's own.

   [happy]

 This coming weekend, Friday - Sunday, I'll be stayed with my mom and grandma to attend a Christian conference.  I'm so excited because (1) it's my first conference that I'm attending because of my own desire, and (2) my grandma is going!!!!!!!  This is no small victory.  This is the same grandma who came to revival every night.  I hope this really signifies a change in her....we pray it..

[I don't have any more "sad"'s, so I'll end with 3 happy's]

 [happy]

 My husband is thinking of joining a bush league to play baseball!  I'm so proud of him for his bravery.  Maybe y'all don't think it's brave, so let me explain.  He's never played baseball, he has no idea who these people are, and he still wants to do it.  Um....yeah.  The last thing in this world I would do is join a team of people I don't know to do something I don't know how to do.  In my book, that's bravery.  

 [happy]

 My alcohol convictions are changing...without me really having a say in it.  That's "happy" because it's a sign that God is working on me even when I'm not looking.  I've been thinking a lot lately about bars and how I don't think it's an environment I want to be in anymore.  I've been thinking about how I don't want to be in a bar when Jesus comes back.... I'd rather be doing something that glorifies God.  But that wouldn't really stop at "being in a bar," would it?  What if He came back while I was watching a really vulgar movie or a million other things that would honestly embarrass me?   Another reason to cut off our satellite.  Save money and it would "give" us more time to spend in The Word.  It's cool when God changes your convictions without asking, haha.  Not that He has to, I'm just saying.  Y'all know what I mean.  :)   

 [happy]

 I'm working on getting back to making weekly meal plans & choosing exercises to do on those days.  I know some of y'all are probably guilty of the same things.  You plan to get on track on Monday, but then it's Monday night and your hungry and you don't know what to fix so you spend 30 minutes figuring it out, and then you have to cook...and so on and so forth.  So, my idea is to assign meals to certain days.  I

ve got a list of 7 different exercises - I'll do one a day and have a day off.  This way, I won't get bored with my routine.    THEN, figure out how much "time" I'll have to do an exercise & assign a routine based on what I'm cooking that night....does that make sense?  Maybe.  I'll write more on this later. 

Actually...I'll probably write more on most of these topics later.  I've had this window up all day, adding to it a little at a time.  I started out in a bad mood this morning, feeling like everything was going wrong.  By the end of the day, I had more happy thoughts than sad thoughts, and I realize that my sad thoughts were pretty trivial.  I have so much to be thankful for...this post kind of helped put that into perspective.  =)  If you've made it this far...thanks for reading my ramblings.  

What makes you happy & sad today?  

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Packing Heat

My husband left on Wednesday afternoon and will be coming back tonight.  He's had to go upstate a few times for job training, but this was the last time.  I've missed him terrible each time (Military Wives...go ahead and start playing the world's smallest violin concert) and am so glad that the job-training that requires overnight trips is behind us!  =)  

I've showed y'all our house.  It's huge.  And when the hubby leaves, it feels so empty and scary.  I have a secret to feeling safe though....   

Don't pick on me because it's pink.  It's still a gun.  It's still a .32 (which mean's that it's strong enough to kill with).  

My gun is small enough to easily conceal.  In South Carolina it is legal to carry a concealed weapon if  the gun is registered, you are 21 years of age or older, you've taken the course and have your Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP), and follow the rules you learn in the CWP course.  

I know that gun-control is an issue for many people.  I actually have a very close friend who is adamantly against guns and doesn't like me having a gun of my own.  My honest opinion?  Guns are great to have - especially for women.  It makes me feel safe when my husband is away, it makes me feel safe when I'm traveling even a few miles down the road, it makes the people around me feel safe, and it makes me smart.  (Not to say that people who don't carry guns aren't smart.)

The law in South Carolina says that I can't just shoot somebody.  If someone breaks into our house, unarmed, and I shoot him....I'll go to jail.  You know what?  I'll take my chances.  If someone breaks into our house, he or she has a death wish.  Just saying.  If someone breaks into our house, I'm not going to ask the criminal if he or she is armed and I'm certainly not going to trust their answer, regardless of what it is.  If someone breaks down our door or busts through a window to get inside our home in the middle of the night,  I'm going to boldly assume that they aren't dropping by for a visit or a spot of tea.  They will either kill me or I will kill them.  Those are the options.  Because, let's face it, I'm a pretty decent shot.  ;)   If I miss, I'm going to keep shooting.  If I run out of bullets, I have more in my night side table.  Like I said, one of us will die.

Some Questions...

What kind of gun is it?  It's a .32 - small enough to hide in my purse or on my body & large enough to kill.

Where do I keep it?  My gun is either beside my side of the bed, in the glove box of my car, or in my purse.

What do I do with the gun when people are visiting our house, especially those with children?  We rarely have visitors - it's even more rare for us to have child visitors.  But, my gun is always on "safety" when I'm not using it.  I keep the gun out of site if anyone is coming over.

Does Mr. Robinson have a gun?  He does!  He has much bigger guns that would do a heck of a lot more damage than my little gun.  However, his big boy guns are kept in the gun safe.  He also has a collector's gun that's a .22 that may or may not kill somebody.

Does the gun kick a lot?  Ehh...kind of.  I've shot smoother guns and if I bought another gun, I'd probably buy a revolver.  It kicks enough to where it messes with my accuracy, but I'm still accurate enough.  For example, if I aimed for the heart I may not hit the heart, but I'll still hit the chest...so I'd probably hit a vital organ.  It would slow the criminal down enough to let me a get a few more shots in.  

Where did you find a pink gun?  I didn't.  It was a Christmas gift from my parents right before I turned 21.  The gun was black and my daddy bought pink grips for the gun.  But pink guns are pretty easy to find.       

Funny how turning off the "safety"  feature makes me feel safe! ;)

I'm a Republican - gasp.  I know, I know.  That's a big surprise.  I believe that I have a right to carry a gun on my body and I'm thankful to live in a state that allows it!  =)  Any questions, ask away.  
Do you pack heat?

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Shopping List ~ Free Printable

It's been a little over a month since I made my first free printable.  I wasn't really planning on doing another one any time soon, but this one sort of just happened.  I came across a free printable grocery list that really helped me organize my shopping list.  The downside was, it didn't really meet my needs.  So, naturally, I made my own!  

Aren't they precious?!  =)  I'm obviously more drawn to the teal & yellow shopping list but we don't have a color printer, which explains the black and grey version.  Underneath the header, you'll see where it says "Month."  This is for those of you who are on a budget or for the very organized people.  Let me explain...  My husband and I are currently on one income.  We prefer to eat totally opposite meals so it's very possible for me to go to the store and spend $200 a week on groceries just by buying our favorite foods over and over.  It's because we don't have the same favorite foods, so we buy salads for me and chips for him, whole grain cereal for me and cookies for him, almond milk for me and whole milk for him.  You get the picture.  So, I had an idea that might help cut down on our expenses.  I started shopping only once a month if I could help it, and for the most part we can make do for a month.  To cut down even more on the Wal-Mart Spending Sprees, I had a genious idea.  We don't have to stock up on our favorite foods every time I or we go shopping.  We could spread it out...let some things (like cookies and avocados) be special treats.  

Anyway, this shopping list is perfect for us and there's bound to be more people out there who shop and eat like we do.  Hopefully someone will find this useful!  :)  To print:  right click, save as, and open as an image in Word.  Print thousands of copies.  

What tricks do you have for mass shopping trips? 

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Praying for Friends {aka} Ordering Friends How You Order a Pizza

Growing up, my parents always had lots of friends.  We lived in a small community that was miles away from the nearest town but there were always plenty of other parents around that my parents could relate to, even if their kids weren't the same age.  The dad's hunted together, the mom's sat together at ball games or watched their kids play together, the families attended the same church, some of them sang together in a music group at church, and one of my favorite memories is of the "coffee club."  My parents and their friends would all take turns hosting coffee & snacks at their homes after Sunday night worship services.  They all laughed and shared stories...they could lean on each other, talk to each other, and laugh together.

Now, my husband and I are living in the house I grew up and attending the church I where I was raised.  Except we don't have the same type of group as my parents did.  There is no "coffee club" for newlywed couples because there's only two couples and we don't have all that much in common.  In a small church, our options are being involved with my parent's friends or being involved with the high school kids.  We picked the adult classes, of course, and we do enjoy and love them.  Their ages range from 10 to 30 years old than us but since most people at our church are married, we have enough in common.

But sometimes...it'd be nice to have friends who we have more in common with.  It's hard to find people who meet all of the "requirements" we'd have for our best-friend-couple.  Requirements such as...

• They'd have to be Christians.  I'd like for them to have similar beliefs to us so that there wouldn't be a whole lot of conflict.  My husband likes to argue...and different beliefs would surely mean the end of the friendship over time.  I'd also like it if they could come to our church.  =)  
• It'd be pretty great if they were our age...or close.  
• Coming to our church means they'd have to be local.  Which is preferred, since we'd be hanging out several times a week.  We don't have a whole lot of extra time, so it'd be best if they lived less than 15 minutes away.  
• This is huge!  They would have to be married without children.  Also, can they not have any immediate plans to make children?  Hanging out would be much easier without having to find a baby-sitter every time something cool is going on.  And if they have kids and we don't, we'd have lots of differences.  However...if we decide we want kids..they have to be ready to have kids, too.  So that we can continue being friends, of course. ;)
• They would have to be a little weird.  We love quirky, strange, interesting people.  Hopefully they have tattoos because while weird is good, they've still gotta be cool to chill with.  Haha 
• They'd have to like Zombie.  Period.
• They'd have their own sweet little doggy - NOT ANY CATS.  Mr. Robinson is allergic.  And their sweet little doggy would love Zombie & Zombie would love him/her.    
• It'd be nice if we had similar interests because then we'd have more to talk about and more to do together!  In a perfect world, the husband would love sports and music.  In the same perfect world, the wife would love blogging and would make an excellent work out partner.  :)  But she wouldn't be too skinny yet...we'd have to get in shape together.  
• They'd have to love food but not so much that they pick on my husband for being a picky eater.  He doesn't like that.  
• At this point, asking them to be hilarious and have great senses of humor wouldn't be asking too much.  I've already ordered them how most people order a pizza.
• It's necessary that they have good style.  Good style being defined as the wife shops at Express or at any sales rack, and the husband wears only Polo Ralph Lauren or nice suits & ties.  Also, Mr. Robinson needs for the husband to have at least one pair of Chucks.  Also again, it's be fun if the wives could get their nails done together.      
• Also, and this is most important, they've gotta be swingers.  Kidding.  Ha! =)  You should have seen your face!!  Seriously, it'd be really important all of us are devoted to our spouses & not tempted at all by the friend-couple.
• The husband has to be an intellectual.  The wife...not so much.  But she doesn't need to be ditz either.  
• The couple would enjoy a nice social adult beverage from time to time.
• Mr. Robinson would really enjoy a man friend who has excellent taste in movies & great actors.  Apparently this means really long action movies. 

The title of this post is "Praying for Friends."  Obviously, this is not my prayer.  This list is extensive, shallow, and impossible.  I know that you can't order friends like pizza's, but if we could...this is the couple we'd order.  Right now, there is one other married couple at our church.  The wive is my bridesmaid Brittany.  We love them, but our schedules never match up and we don't have very much in common.  We'd really love for God to send us a couple we have more in common with...and I know that He can.  We had friends before we got married, and we still stay in touch with them.  But we've moved.  Our friends are over an hour away OR more.  And we have less in common with them now...we're not asking for much!  Well, okay.  We are asking for a whole lot.  But we're only asking for one of these couples...not a whole group of them!  

Anyway, I just wanted to share this humorous list with y'all...but on a serious note, I wanted to document that lately I've really been praying for us to find some friends.  And I hope that God will send us some.  :)  

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Adventure Itch

Do you ever itch for an adventure?  
It's this horrible, wonderful little itch for more.  Something different, new, exciting.
Something that would make all of your readers jealous and want an adventure of their own.
The itch of just wanting to go somewhere & do something out of the ordinary.  
The silliness of the simple things that can scratch that itch. 
But something...on adventures...you find yourself wanting something normal, regular, comfortable, and old. 
Maybe it's like buying a new & really expensive dress.  
You think it looks hot.  You get home, and it still looks hot.  So you go out and flaunt your dress but...pretty soon you're ready for your regular clothes that fit right.  Clothes that don't require constant glances in the mirror from every angle because you don't know what you look like if you have your  back to the mirror, left hand above your head, & your neck turned to the side.  Maybe adventures are sometimes ridiculous...like new dresses.  
But then...why do I keep getting the adventure itch?  
A part of me wonders if it's God's way of preparing me for a calling into foreign missions.  But when I think about it like that, the itch is suddenly gone.  And I'm ready to go to revival and be around regular people who fit me in a regular, comfortable, and satisfying way.  
But you know...I think I'd be happy in either place.  And it scares me.

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

A Short Story About Long Leg Hair

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already seen this.  Last night, this happened...

It's been really cold here, you guys.  I don't see the point in shaving my legs if the hair is going to grow back as soon as I get out of the shower and get covered in goosebumps.  Also, I've been on my period & don't see the need to shave my legs during that time for obvious reasons.  So maybe my leg hair got a little long...

Okay.  That's all.  I'm done justifying my leg hair.  Haha!  Have a great day! =) 

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Part Seven: Bride & Groom Pictures

[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three] [Part Four] [Part Five][Part Six]

  

.

 And after we smooched on each other for about an hour, we finally got around to making it legal on the hood of my daddy's 1957 Corvette, which will get it's own post later.   

So..there they are!  Which one's your favorite? =)

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Loving or Unloving? Respectful or Disrespectful?

Many a date-night-ago, Mr. Robinson and I went into Lifeway.  It's pretty impossible to go into Lifeway without spending a trillion dollar, and we ended up walking out with a nice stack of books.  Well, my reader eyes were bigger than my reader belly and I didn't have time to read the books I picked out right away.  I'm just getting started good on the first book from the stack, but it's amazing.  

If you are single, dating, engaged, newly or oldly married you need to read this book.  Let me share one quick thing with you that I've learned so far.  

"Everything, for a man, is viewed as respect or disrespect. For a woman, everything is seen as loving or unloving."  This is so incredibly true.  Honestly, every thing my husband is does is run through the same filter.  His actions trigger one of two reactions:  "He loves me!" or "He doesn't love me at all!"  I got my Mister to read the little section on wives encouraging their husbands respectfully and he said he agreed 100%.  Hopefully he will read the book when I'm done with it.  But him agreeing means that everything I do is run through a similar filter.  My actions trigger one of two reactions:  "She respects me!" or "She doesn't respect me at all!"  Just something to think about.  

Our church has Revival meetings this week.  Big things are happening at our church and I'm definitely excited about what God has in store.  

Oh, and one more thing.  I've come across my new favorite artist.  Francesca Battistelli.  Check her out!  =)  I'm just not discovering Christian music, so if I'm a few steps behind...forgive me & send me some tunes to check out.  =)  

    

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

So...Jay Leno & I are *Twinsies*

Morning.  :)  If you haven't heard the buzz yet, Raven from A Momma's Desires & Pacifiers is hosting another super cool link party.  This one is about finding your celebrity doppelganger.  If you don't know what a doppelganger is, shame on you for not watching How I Met Your Mother... shame on you.  Anyway, linking up with Raven!

This is the picture I used.. 

Here are the first results I got.. 

When I clicked to see more results...I got these results...

Seriously?  Jay Leno?  SERIOUSLY?  How is it possible for a person to resemble both Jessica Simpson and Jay Leno?  I just don't get it.  Haha.  I'm trying not to let this kill my joy.  
I've never been told I look like any of these people...especially those two old gals.  I'm 23...do I look old?  Haha.  This is doing a number on my self esteem.  But, I've never been told before today that I look like any of the aforementioned celebs.  I've never been mistaken for any celebrity, but I have had people tell me (on more than one occasion) that I look like Jennifer Aniston.  They say it's the hair and/or the eyes... and while I'm complimented on my long, thick hair and big, bright eyes pretty often, I do not (by any stretch of the imagination) even slightly resemble one of the most beautiful women alive.  Haha.  I think my chances are better against Jay Leno.  ;) 

Whatcha think?  Do you see it?   

Anyway, my husband definitely has a doppelganger (or he did when he had long hair)...who just so happens to be his favorite athlete.  Tim Lincecum...no doubt about it.  

 Who is your doppelganger?

Coo Coo Kachoo, 

Mrs. Robinson

Part Six: Family & Wedding Party Pictures

[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three] [Part Four] [Part Five]

Or, you can just click the "All About Our Love" tab up at the top to read our love story from the very beginning!  :)  

The Wedding was over and we were man and wife!  We made our way down the aisle and had a family & wedding party photo shoot before heading to the reception.    

Our sweet flour girl, Gracie, got all upset.  Apparently she was crying during the entire ceremony, but was able to hold it together.  She said that now that I'm married, we'll never see each other anymore.  I, however, think that she knew her mom should have been there for this.  Gracie's mom passed away from breast cancer in 2009.  Regardless of the reason for her tears, I love this picture of me comforting her.  :)  She wasn't in most of our group pictures as a result, though.

(L-R)  My Sister, Mom, Husband, myself, and Daddy

The Bride and Groom, Parents, Both Sets of Grandparents, & Flower Girl/Cousin

(L-R) Groom's Mom, Groom, Bride, and Groom's Dad

(L-R) Groom's Nana, Groom, Bride, Groom's Dad & Mom

 We got married just before the Pinterest wave hit, so I'd never seen any of the quirky family portraits.  All of our after-the-wedding photographs were nothing out of the ordinary, but they're classic and timeless.  We didn't want to spend all of our time taking posed photographs, so we instructed our photographer to take several group shots and to focus more on candid, action shots during the reception.  We are very happy with the pictures we have with our family.  They may not be anything weird or new or quirky, but everyone looks happy in front of a gorgeous, Southern backdrop and we were able to focus on spending time with our guests rather than posing for thousands of pictures.