Thanks

I woke up this morning with a general feeling of "thankful". I wanted to blog about this but wasn't sure what to say until I really Missy's blog from yesterday, where she listed 10 things she was thankful for. I think I am going to be a copy cat and do something similar today.

1. First, I am so thankful for my husband and my marriage. He is my best friend. I can't really express my feelings adequately on this subject, it's obviously quite personal. He is truly...me. One person. He makes me laugh, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to make him laugh.

2. I am thankful for my kids. I've said it so many times, but I'm saying it again. They have all taught me so many things. They all have their own story and uniqueness. Every once in a while I look at the slightly stretch marked, loose skin on my tummy (that is now also graced with a scar) and I think, WOW... four people have been there! Amazing what God made women capable of.

3. I am thankful that God has a purpose for me. When I'm not doing something to serve Him I feel... like a jello. This year He has chosen me for so many new ministry opportunities, I am so grateful. I had been praying for this for several months and wondering if I was ever going to be needed somewhere. Now I'm on fire and he brought the right opportunities right to me.

4. I'm thankful for me improved physical health. My doctor really cracked the code and I feel so much better. I had been suffering from extreme fatigue for a long time along with a myriad of other complaints. I felt so weak and helpless. I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to serve outside my home, let alone keep my kitchen clean. This body is imperfect and health will come and go, but I am so grateful for my strength right now.

5. I'm thankful for my husband's job. That's pretty self explanatory.

So there you have it for now. I'm not trying to brag, there are plenty of things that I could be complaining about. My life is far from perfect. I just wanted to share how I was feeling today and thank those who have stopped to pray for me, even just once.

Drum Roll...

There's going to be an evening MOPS starting at Bethany this fall! We are just in the beginning planning process at this point. Our originator and coordinator is the wonderful Amy Cline. This MOPS group will be geared to those who can't make it to the morning MOPS group, aren't morning people, or work during the day. (And I guess there are some of us who feel like one MOPS group isn't enough)

Looking for a new ministry opportunity? We are looking to fill many different MOPS positions including table leaders, mentor moms, craft coordinators, and much more. we are going to be having an open house for anyone interested, more details coming soon. Pray about it.

doing 13 year old stuff

I had loads of fun last week in VBS. I was the tour guide for the 6th graders. They were very interesting, a lot of social issues, but they were loads of fun. I also had the privilege of seeing two girls in my group accept Jesus during a bible lesson. I also manged to get all 16 of them to memorize the whole "Lord's Prayer". Cool stuff. Makes me think maybe I should be involved with youth ministries at church on a regular basis.

Last night Bryan took me to the Paramore and No Doubt concert. Paramore rocked my socks off, I really do like them. But No doubt was uuuuhhhh-nbelievable!!! So good. How in the world did Gwen get those abs right after having her babies? So anyway it was great, and I have pics but I still haven't uploaded them.

The countdown is on, I have 3 weeks until my big NY vacation with Bry. I am only 5-ish lbs from my vacation goal weight. I love my new bathing suit and may actually get to wear it. I haven't seen this number on the scale since high school. Just another part of the "done having kids" transition. Yay me!

Family Pic and more

Lu Lu

Debriefing

What a rough past couple weeks. I hate to say this, but it seems that loss always comes in bundles. I'm not going to elaborate on that at this point but there are probably lots of people who already know at least one of the things I'm talking about. Selfishly I am stunned that for once it feels like I am not the one who is being put into the Potter's fire, although I feel it very strongly for my friends who are hurting.

So here is a real Martin family update: I made a killing at the Tapps Island garage sale a couple weekends ago. I sold a bunch of stuff we never wanted to look at again. However, in doing so we have also made a new isssue for ourselves. I sold a set of bookshelves and some bar stools leaving us no where to sit when we eat and no where to put our many books. The idea is to get rid of the old to make way for the new, but um.... The upside is I used the procedes of the event to FINALLY get a washer and dryer, my mom doesn't have to do my laundry anymore (wierd/sad laugh here). We also got a new dining room table (which we haven't had in years) at a garage sale for $30, and it looks pretty sweet, just need some darn chairs. Oh well, the main reason we haven't sprung for some seats yet is all our money is on hold to go on vacation in August. I'm soooooo excited to go to N.Y., I'm really excited to be going anywhere.
Last week a nasty stomach flu swept through our family. So bad. I almost had Bryan take me to the hospital, I was so dehydrated.
Aiden graduated kindergarden. We are so proud of all the hard work he put in this year. He has really made a lot of progress. Unfortunatly the switch to summer routine has had a pretty negtive effect on him. We are working through it.
I'm going to be working at our church VBS in a couple weeks as the 6th grade tour guide. It will be fun to hang out with some older kids, and my kids will have a great time in there own groups.
Bryan is going to New York on Sunday. I don't like it when he's gone, but it is a good time for me to watch lots of Masterpiece Theater and do some reading.
Lucy sprouted a tooth a few days ago, I can't believe she is getting so big.
Jack is getting taller and smarter everyday.

There ya have it. Happy Summer!

Missed you my blogger friends

There are a lot of things I could be writing about in this blog but I'm going to stick with something light and maybe fairly entertaining.

I'M BACK TO MY PREPREGNANCY WEIGHT!!!!


I haven't eaten a piece of bread in... I don't even remember. My whole family has been eating pretty healthy consequently. We have been having salmon twice a week and wheat is pretty much out, except Bryan and the boys do sometimes have wraps.
I have been working out pretty hard too. I have been doing a lot of Jillian Michaels work outs. I started out with the ever so popular 30 Day Shred and then started doing similar ones like No More Trouble Spots. I really like the circuit method that she uses. I was just doing cardio before and adding the resistance and strength with cardio has made a huge difference.

10 lbs to go before my vacation goal. Woo-hoo!