Cruisin

Today I will go on a long car trip to a far away kingdom called Galveston.

Today I will board a cruise liner that I will pretend is the Titanic. Except with a happy ending.

Today I will be Rose and my husband will be Jack and we will fall in love all over again and he'll draw a G-rated picture of me as a stick figure on a napkin, and we will go to steerage and dance a jig with the emmigrants, and then he'll give me a ginormous blue diamond that I'll throw in the ocean when I am old and I won't tell Bill Paxton where it is.

Well, that last part may be stretching the truth a little.

In all truth, I am so excited because my husband, my boyfriend since I was 15, the father of my children, and my best friend ever is taking me on a trip for my 30th birthday.

We are not wealthy people and this trip is such a gift. We have very very little medical debt, we have modest salaries at our jobs that we adore. We have things that need to be fixed/replaced/purchased, but after some creative budgeting, gift from God money, and scrimping and saving, Ryland decided to invest in our marriage. And I am happy to comply with his decision.

We have never been away together without our kids. Sure there have been single nights here and there, but never out of town, road trip, adventure style get-away. It has been 4 years since we have vacationed alone and I am giddy excited.

I am so grateful to God for the gift of my husband. He is more than I deserve and over the last few years my opportunities to lavish him with love and attention have been less. There are two little people who have competed for my attention with their little people needs of dirty diapers, needing to nurse, and just keeping them from harm in general, I haven't always made the time for him that I should. I wouldn't trade the mom life for anything but sometimes my husband has graciously taken the backseat.

Over these four days I plan to enjoy him. I wish I could say that I had the body I had on our last vacation. Babies and gravity have taken a toll on my swimsuit figure, but I am so excited for ocean breezes, sunsets, and the arms of the person I love more than anyone else on this earth. And surely there will be at least one person on the boat squishier than me. Is that mean?

Thank you God for giving us this time! I am pumped!

I'll never let go Jack........

30 Experiences That I Never Want to Have Again

30 Things I Never Want to Experience Again

In honor of my 30th birthday please enjoy my (lighthearted, not serious, not in any way real problems) list of things that I never want to experience again. Feel free to comment on your own!

30. Going to the Social Security building for any reason. 

29. Visiting the recycling center- the smell, oh the smell.

28. The first day of school where I have every bad student I've ever had & I'm not prepared and ohbytheway the bleachers in the gym are your classroom dream. It's brutal.

27. I know it's inevitable, but I don't want to have to attend another funeral for someone I love. 

26. The first _____ after giving birth. You girls know what I'm talking about. It's the nightmare that no one warns you about. Ouch. 

25. Anything at the dentist. Again, inevitable, but still terrifying. 

24. Falling down on front of a crowd. 

23. Introducing someone by the wrong name, or the wrong person altogether. This happened the second time I saw my father-in-law and I wanted to die. 

22. Wearing a bikini in public. My kids wrecked the ole body. 

21. Reading books for a grade. I'm a rebel. 

20. Blow out diapers. 

19. Stomach flu. 

18. Fender benders. 

17. Pimples on picture day. 

16. Living in a town without a Wal-Mart. 

15. Athlete's foot. 

14. My "before" weight. 

13.Dating. 

12. My voice cracking in the middle of singing solo. 

11. Having to put my dogs to sleep. Again, inevitable. 

10. Living away from my husband. 

9. Stitches of any kind. 

8. Verbal confrontations. 

7.Long car rides. 

6.My twenties. They were fabulous, but I prefer to think forward. 

5. Sleeping on a floor. 

4.A day in this world without Ryland, Isaac, and Hope in it. 

3. Sunburns. 

2. Home improvement projects with my hubby. 

1. In all seriousness- my life without my amazing God. The giver of all my experiences, who works them all together for good. I'm grateful. 

Please share an experience that you don't ever want to have again! 

My People in Photo

These are my people.

 

 

 

They shine up well.

 

 

Sometime we have a hard time behaving.

 

 

But if your boyfriend was this cute you'd have a hard time too.

 

 

And my cute boyfriend (who eventually became my husband) gave me these two cuties.

 

 This little lady smiles all the time, except in photos.

 

 This handsome little man absolutely makes me melt.

 

My sweet little Space Rangers.

 

Melt. Melt. Melt.

 

El Mustachio Gang. I love my People.

 

 

All photography by the lovely and talented Cecilia Hibdon

Tunia Turns 2: A Birthday Letter

The day we met.

Hopey Wan-ja-ween Russell,

How is it that 2 years have already happened? How is it possible that my tiny baby is now into full, unquestionable toddlerhood?

My big girl.

2 years ago your daddy and I went to the hospital to meet you and even though I was enduring labor pains I was also smiling. I wanted a daughter so much and I couldn't wait to lay eyes on you. You've never disappointed. Even then you had a mischievous, free-spirited beauty that is magnetic. You make me smile even now. The day you were born ranks with the best days of my life. It is a gift from God that I am celebrating the anniversary of your second birthday- I pray I get to celebrate it with you many, many times in the future.

Little Fashionista.

I think back on this day last year. You were crawling, tiny, not very verbal, and eating baby food. And today you can climb to Bubba's top bunk, while wearing 24month clothes, speaking complete sentences, and have definite preferences in your big girl diet especially "rock-a-roni".

Baby Beauty.

You wear your pretty, baby fine, blonde hair in pigtails most days, you still don't have much hair on top, but no one has ever looked quite as sweet with a baby mullet. And you are very proud of your "tigtails".

First day of school.

You love to watch "Dora the Explorer". In your opinion, there is no other show that is better. We joke about needing to have a Dora-vention because you'd watch all day if we'd let you. Your brother pointed out a bush recently and asked me what I saw under it. You enthusiastically yelled "Swiper!" because he is always lurking in bushes.

You are in your big girl bed and have been for about 2 months now. You have been in trouble only once for playing while you should be sleeping, but you are usually happy to lay down and rest. But only after prayers, hugs, kisses, and a "moochy" shake. You like to sleep with your puppy, Violet, and like the white noise from your giraffe sleep machine. And giggling is usually the last sound I hear you make at night.

Big girl bed.

You have lots of nicknames: Tiki, Tunia, Tot, Sissy, Ladybug, just to name a few. I've heard it said in some random psychological study that people only nickname people that that really love dearly. Well baby girl, you are very loved. No question.



You love your big brother. Whatever he does is cool. Whatever he thinks is cool, is cool. You try do hard to do everything he does. He is so sweet to share with you, and most of the time you two are best buds. You call each other "bubba" and "sis" respectively, and it makes me melt.

Buzz and Baby Buzz.

But sometimes you bite...



I know you'll never remember it but you tend to bite when you are cornered or when someone has something you want. Eek. It makes your momma cringe a little. You haven't done it in several weeks so hopefully the "phase" is over. You've sank your teeth into several little friends at school. ( "I bite Campbell's nose!") Yikes. I've had to bite you a few times and it KILLS me. Please stop. Forever.

You talk like such a big girl. You almost always speak in complete sentences. You also love to sing songs. In the car if there is silence you will yell from the backseat "more songs!" with great passion. You like the songs "Nothing is Impossible" (sangs!!!) and "Baby Bumblebee".

You are showing lots of interest in potty training. I'm in no hurry to walk that road but you seem to like to live life a little ahead of the curve so I'm sure we'll try soon.

You have lots of sweet little friends at church and school. And you talk about them a lot. I see you hug them & try to teach them things at school. I think that you'll be the fun girl everyone loves in a few years.

You are a little bit messy when you eat.

I love that all of life is an adventure for you. You live in fear of missing out and are very adventurous and brave. You do everything full throttle. I love that you have so much passion.



My sweet birthday Tunia.

I am so thankful that God chose to give you to me. You are such an amazingly precious gift, Sissy. You are a sweet little light in a dark world. I'm so proud of how you've grown this year, and as sad as I am that your baby days are over, I am overjoyed at the anticipation of what will be in the next years of your life. There are so many adventures and experiences waiting. I can't wait to share them with you baby!



Happy 2nd birthday dear. Momma loves you more than I could ever tell you. May God bless your life, may you fall deeper in love with him, and may I always point you to him. My prayer for you is that through every milestone and experience, every peak and valley, that you will know God more and more and you will be like him. I'm proud of you Hope. You make my corner of the world so joyful.



All my love,
Momma

My favorite picture of us.