TO BE

As we continue to journey through our Beth Moore study at church I have become more and more introspective.  It had been quite some time since I took a true look at who I am and I want to be and today it just seemed to fit.

1.  I am a child of God.

• I gave my life to Christ when I was five, rededicated myself to His work at 13 and  remained basically stagnant until Grace was born at 26wks.  Nothing makes you lean on God like seeing your child in danger.   

2. I am a wife and a mother.

• Buck and I have been married for eight years in June and are blessed with two girlies, Grace 6 and Ansley 3.  Are we done?  I don't know but thanks for asking

3.  I am teacher.

• I teach at the small private academy that Grace attends.  I was in a private school from K-3 and truly feel it gave me the foundation in faith that has allowed me to weather the storms of life.  So to say I am thrilled to be able to help others...HUGE understatement.

4.  I am a daughter and a sister.

• Our family is extremely close knit and not a day goes by that I am not thankful for how that has shaped me as an individual.

5.  I am a perfectionist.

• This has it's ups and downs and I feel like I am finally starting to be able to let some things go.  Just some though so don't get any ideas.

6.  I am procrastinator.

• This is especially difficult taking into account #5.  I really want to be one of those people that makes lists and actually checks items off.  I make them...that counts for something right?

7.  I am a runner. 

•  Not a great one mind you but I still run.  There is something so releasing about tying your shoes, putting your headphones in, and just running.  I have determined it's quality time with me so it MUST happen.  Have any suggestions for the play list?  Help a sister out because after about four runs the same music gets tired.

8.  I am fiercely independent.

• This is a strength and a weakness in my book.  Asking for help just doesn't come naturally to me.  Does that make it right?  No, but it is what it is.  

9.  I am a miscarriage survivor.  

• When I look back at things that shaped my outlook on life, losing two babies before we had Grace was definitely one of them.  Getting pregnant is easy...staying that way not so much for us at least.

10.  I am a reader.

• When filling out the 14pg (no joke) application to work at IDA I had to list the books I read that year.  I gave up at 48.  Funny thing now that I teach I don't have time...

11.  I am a crafter.

• I LOVE all things crafty and my mind is constantly running with ideas for new and fun things to try. 

Now what do I want to be?

I want to be...

• Someone that is completely and utterly sold out for God and my family.  
• Someone who takes the time to invest in people not things. 
• Someone who is more concerned with making memories than cleaning messes. 
• Someone who loves deeply and holds closely.
• Someone who enjoys the journey instead of focusing on the destination.
• Someone who sees the good instead of only the bad.
• Someone who embraces what life throws my way and comes out better for it.

Looks like my to do list just got longer ha!!!!

CARNIVAL

About a week ago we had the AWESOME opportunity to shoot with Ashley Marie Photography at the carnival.  Grace had a blast and I was dumbfounded when the pics were posted.  My baby girl turned 16 overnight!  Ashley rocked as usual and we can't wait to shoot with her again :)

AHHHHH where does the time go?

LUNCH FUN

I have been working REALLY hard on making sure that the small amount  of free time that I do have is maximized by cutting out distractions.  TV and FB have been put on the back burner as I try to re prioritize all of the "little things" in life.  Anyone with me?  Some days I feel like I am missing out on my life because I am so wrapped up in other peoples.  

So anyway this morning I woke up at 4:30, ran 2.25 miles before the hubs left for work, and then started making lunches.  The extra time afforded me the ability to get creative.  :)  I purchased these food writers on a whim and was so glad I did!

After using a biscuit cutter to remove the crusts I decided to make a caricature of each girlie.  I am sure these would work better on a smooth surface but they are still cute and most importantly they will make Grace and Faith smile!

UNFINISHED

I swear I should wear a shirt that says “Unfinished.”  And although I guess I wouldn’t ever want to wear one that says “Finished” because that would imply that I had arrived which is most certainly NOT the case, sometimes, maybe even one time, I would like to feel like I actually completed what I set out to do.

I look around our home and see books with only chapters left to finish, devotions with the final week incomplete, skirts without hems, sketches without products, recipes without meals, supplies without projects…  My lists grow by the minute hour day but I just can’t seem to cross anything off and it’s frustrating.  Almost more so than if I were to not have the ideas at all.  I always stop RIGHT before the end goal is achieved and I have NO clue as to why.  It’s not as if the concepts and thoughts no longer hold value in fact their unfinished status haunts me at night.  Yet I can’t bring myself to cross the finish line. 

Maybe just maybe it’s because I can’t see what is beyond that line.  Perhaps I become so fixated on the process itself that when I am unable to determine the aftermath it becomes daunting.  What if I fail, what if I fall, what if I can’t.  The fear of the unknown is gripping yet I am faced with only two choices…DO something or DO nothing and doing nothing is NOT an option.  So I am UNFINISHED and so are all of my projects, ideas, and aspirations but it is in my state of disarray that God moves and shapes and molds me into His idea of perfection.  And maybe, just maybe that’s how I am supposed to be.  

THE COLOR RUN AZ

A couple of friends and I decided to hit the pavement (literally and figuratively speaking) and run The Color Run in Phoenix over the weekend.  It was a quick trip, we drove to Tucson Friday night, crashed at Trish's, left at 5am to head into Phoenix, ran the race, hit up Ikea, and then came back home.  Needless to say we were a LOT wee bit tired by Saturday night. 

There were 6000, yes I said 6000 runners so it was WAY bigger than anything any of us had ever run.  We were finishing and people were still just beginning.  NUTS I tell you!

Everyone had to wear shirts that were 90% white otherwise they would kick you out.  I can't believe that's actually true but no one wanted to take the risk :)

It was almost a costume run in some senses.  There were tutus and wigs GALORE!

Every K was a different color so we ended up running through yellow, green, purple, and pink and came out looking like this...

and this...

My Color Run experience was completed during our trip to IKEA where a little boy told his momma "I'm scared of the tall painted lady!!"  Nice...

Quick side note...I am apparently allergic to something in the starch that they throw and sneezed violently with profuse waterworks from my right eye for 36hrs following the race.  The things you just don't know until you try hah!

A DAUGHTER IS...

A joy bringer,

 A heart warmer,

A memory maker,

A Daughter is...

LOVE

ITTY BITTY PEN PALS

I came across the Giverslog this summer while on our marathon road trip from NM to GA and back again.  The concept is simple, to mail unexpected items weighing 13oz or less.  The woman is crazy (in a good way) and mails everything from rubber balls to easter eggs.  What fun surprises for her littles when they check the mail!!  After Meredith's scarf swap I couldn't get the idea of "little" swaps out of my mind so I emailed her and after a few emails back and forth she put together "Mini Mail."

From Meredith herself...

The mission (should you choose to accept it):
Friends, I don't know about your little ones but my Carson absolutely LOVES getting mail. He asks me every time we drive to our mailbox if there's something for him-- he gets so excited when there's ANYthing that I can pass off as a toddler-friendly piece of mail. I just know that he would be beside himself to get mail of his very own on a regular basis. Behold, I have created Mini Mail: itty bitty pen pals! The concept is simple-- to send and receive mail to and from your little ones. This will be super organized so it's not overwhelming and I can already promise you it will be SO worth your while. In this day and age of technology, isn't mail becoming a lost art anyhow? I just love the idea of little pen pals.

The nitty gritty: 

• If you choose to participate with your child/children, you will need to commit to a minimum of a 3-month pen pal partnership. 
• Your child will have 4 pen pals in a calendar year-- new pen pals will be assigned every quarter {January, April, July, October}. Since we are beginning this month your partner will take you through the end of this year, new pen pals will be assigned in January.
• Your monthly package can be as big or as small as you wish. Remember, you're mailing between toddlers. My 4 year old would absolutely FLIP if he got a note in the mail with a single treat. So, if you're not on top of your game one month and only have time to have your little draw a picture, write a quick note and grab some gummy bears or stickers-- it's all good friends. 
• But, in case you want to help yourself get ahead of the game... you can do what I just did and order a package of 10 or 25 small flat-rate USPS boxes for FREE online. Boxes will literally arrive at your door, ready to be filled month by month, free-o-charge. Mailing a small flat-rox box is $5.20 regardless of weight. You can even print your postage online, making a trip to the post office obsolete. These little boxes are the perfect size for notes, drawings, and a few surprises!
• On the 1st of every month I will post the theme and any instructions for your pen pal mail for that month. I am going to keep my guidelines very basic and allow you to take this to whatever level you'd like to go.  Raid the $1 bin at Target for some fun treats or toys to send to your pen pal.
• There will always be a letter aspect to the package-- for the first month of each quarter it will likely include a getting-to-know-you portion, a picture, and something theme-related for that month. 
• In your child's first package to their pen pal it may be fun to include something that's their favorite-- and it could vary depending on the month you're introducing yourself. October-- my favorite candy! January-- blue mittens, my favorite color is blue! Hope these keep you warm!

Mini Mail Dates:

• 1st of the month: monthly theme & pen pal mail instructions posted
• 1st of the month: pen pal partners received
• 15th of the month: packages must be IN THE MAIL.
• 29th of the month (February has 29 days this year): Blog about your pen pal package!

... right now I want to gauge interest in Mini Mail! If you and your littles would like to participate then leave a comment here with your names and their age(s). Please include the best email address to contact you. If you are unable to comment on my blog for whatever reason, you can email me all of your info to thetichenorfamily {at} gmail {dot} com with the subject Mini Mail. If I have a decent amount of participants I will get the ball rolling for October ASAP! Feel free to blog about this (you can absolutely use the mini mail image) and spread the word. The more mini mail pen pals, the merrier! 

 

Do you get as stoked as I do about your little's opening up the box to find sweet surprises JUST for them?  Then join in the fun and head over to thetichenorfamily.com to sign up!!

EEEK so excited!

SUPERNATURAL

Today has been a day.  You know the type... 

Wake up late, nothing to wear, grumpy kids, gads of errands, massive headache, and the list goes on...

However, tonight when reading the girls devotion I was overcome.

"When it seems like absolutely everything is going wrong-trust Me.  When your life feels more and more out of control-thank Me.

That's not what usually pops into your mind first, is it? ...your first respons is to complain.  That's only natural.  But whining and complaining are like jumping on a giant slide.  Once you start down, you only go faster and faster - more whining and complaining.  And at the bottom of that slide,there's nothing but a big pit of self-pity.

Put on the brakes! Don't do the "natural" thing-do what is beyond natural.  Do what is supernatural .  Trusting and being thankful in the middle of a realy bad day are supernatual responses, and they unlock MY supernatural Power in your life.  I'll see you through whatever mess you're in and fill you up with My peace, which is beyond your understanding."

SO TRUE!  When in "the trenches" it is so difficult to be thankful even when we have so much to be thankful for.  So tonight I will be thankful, I will be thankful that I woke up, I will be thankful that I have clothes to wear (even if I don't like any of them at the moment), I will thankful I have children who can fuss, I will be thankful that I have reasons to run, and I will be thankful that even when I hurt God is still good.

I WILL BE THANKFUL

FALL FUN

This summer I came across a list of 101 summer activities that became our "go to" throughout the season.  I loved having ideas ready at the drop of the hat, most requiring little or no thought or preparation, that the girls could easily chose.  So when it came time to retire our summer list I made a fall one to take its place and I am hoping that this becomes a tradition in our household.  Each season holds so many unique opportunities but when they are not in writing it is easy for them to slip by.

 I just grabbed a dollar store frame and spray painted it purple (I would have preferred orange bu used what I had on hand) popped the list in it and we were up and running.  The hubs found these amazing window crayons that work perfectly for marking off those activities we have completed.

You will notice that some of the activities go together and I did that by design.  Grace was terribly dissappointed when we weren't able to cross EVERYTHING off our list this summer so I felt this was a way for us to get the best of both worlds!  And as you can see so far we aren't doing to shabby!

Breakfast for dinner....

 Camp Out

 Balloon Festival

 Nature Hike

CASTING CROWNS

The hubs and I were able to schedule a date night due to the combined help of three babysitters (no, our girls aren't that bad everyone's schedules just conflicted) and great friends who held our seats while we ate dinner.

It seems as though real dates are fewer are farther between lately so we truly enjoyed the opportunity to just hang out and talk (which explains why dinner took so long ).  Casting Crowns never dissapoints and we were able to catch Sanctus Real as well so I was stoked.  It was funny to see how much they have changed since seeing them last (7yrs ago).  At that point they were all piling into a hatchback with a U-Haul on the back and now they are living large.

The music was great, the company amazing, and the food incredible all in all quite the success.

We even got to say goodnight to the girls...at 1230am since they refused to go to bed.

Oh well life's short, right?

Third Annual Scarf Swap!!

I signed up for Meredith's third annual scarf swap over at the tichenor family. 

I have participated each year and have loved it every time!

This time I was teamed up with Lindsey from The Whitely Girls.  It was so fun to get to know her through this process and we had to laugh over how much we had in common.  We both have two girls, August birthdays, husbands that have changed uniforms but not jobs...the list could go on and on. 

I sent her this adorable chevron check...

And she sent me this amazing zebra print!

 I love that it is black and cream not black and white. 

It makes it so much classier and gives it a cool weather feel!

LOVE!

This is me...

Everytime I find a new blog I always start wondering about the "story" behind the person.  So today I thought it might be fun to take the guess work on my end and list 21 random facts about me.

• My name is Bethany
• I am 28 years old.
• I am happily married and have been for seven years.
• I have two little girls, ages 6 and 2.
• I showed cattle for 10 years.
• I live in New Mexico.
• I am a "has been" pageant girl.
• I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. 
• I have my bachelor's in agricultural economics and business.
• I teach full time at a private academy.
• Half the day I spend with kindergartners.
• The other half I spend with 9th-11th graders.
• I learned to sew a year and a half ago.
• My favorite color is teal.
• I love seeing my girls walk around in something I made.
• As hard as I have tried to obtain long hair I am just a short hair girl.
• All I ever watch is HGTV or Food Network.
• My best time to "create" is between 3-6am.
• I am addicted to sleep.
• ...and gummi bears.  (But only the Haribo ones!)
• My closet is full of 5 colors, black, gray, teal, purple, and white.  Is that a bad thing?

Play along!  Post a pic and list 21 random facts about yourself.  Make sure you leave a comment if you do!

5 MINUTE CURLS

 Early this summer 5 Minute Curls were ALL OVER the blogsphere.  I was completely intrigued and tried it right away.  I am absolutely sold on the technique and Grace loves watching my hair go from stick straight to crazy curly over night.  Last night she asked if I would do hers and since it only takes 5 minutes we did it right before bed and then I sent her off to dreamland.

After a little bit of coercion her curls fell into place and she was SO excited.  Of course I forgot to take pictures before we left for school.  These were actually taken after lunch meaning she had played full out for 45 minutes by this time.  I was pretty impressed with how well they held. 

And on a grown up :) 

This was at the MLB All Star game this summer after the headband being in for only 2 hrs and let me tell you it was HOT.  My stylist was so impressed with how healthy my hair that she asked my secret.  When I told her I think she thought I was nuts but I am telling you it works!! 

BTW, the video is really long and you probably could skim through it to get the info.  I have changed things up just a bit and would love to hear how it works for you!  Happy curling!

Despicable ME!

One of my sweet students turned 16 a few weeks ago and they asked me to help out. 

She decided on a movie on the lawn theme and I was so excited to find out that she chose Despicable ME.

We worked up All Access Passes for the invites and Madison was thrilled!

Then after scouring the internet for sweet treats that would fit in with party we made MINIONS ala Cookbook Queen.  They turned out absolutely adorable! 

As soon as Madison saw them she found her favorite and hid it before the other guests arrived ;) 

That made my kitchen being covered in blue icicng absolutely worth it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!!

GO BULLDAWGS!!

It's GAMEDAY here at the Cooler household! 

Everyone is decked out in their UGA gear as the Dawgs get ready to take on Boise State.  I have to admit its taken me a while to jump on the bandwagon but after making the girls shirts I thought I should join in the fun...

I have to admit it is much more fun to watch a team that actually has a chance. 

After cheering for a losing team in both HS and college I was ready to join the hubs DAWGS.

MAD-DAWG!!!  GRRRRR!

Accent Vlog!!

After Faith needed pictures for a class project and I took a stroll down memory lane via the blog I realized how much I have missed it.  So I am jumping back in with the Accent Vlog that many of you have seen floating around.  I actually ended up turning the concept into an experiment for my rhetoric class and even my high schoolers got a kick out of it.  Clicker for remote?  Really?!?

I should preface the video by saying that the words stressed are contentions in our household ;)  My husband is from Georgia and I am from New Mexico so there are a couple of things that we don't agree on when it comes to verbage!  The most interesting part is trying to figure out who our daughters will end up siding with in the debate. 

ENJOY!!!

(Has anyone else noticed that regardless of how composed you are the screen shot still makes you look like a dork?  Just wondering...)

The instructions are to say these words: 
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions: 

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

EGGED!!!

After seeing the idea on www.eighteen25.blogspot.com last year I have been counting down the days until we were able to go "egg" ourselves!!!  So we stuffed 7 dozen eggs with sweet treats...

and notes that let our friends now how much we loved them!

Then we ran and printed our "calling cards."

Headed out to egg houses!

We hid eggs here...

there...

EVERYWHERE!

By the end of the day we had it down to a science...

we would pull up past our "target", leave the doors open, hide the eggs, ring the doorbell and then RUNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is definitely a repeat!