7 Quick Takes Friday

I came across this fun series through Grace's blog several months ago, and couldn't wait to get my own blog started so I could join the fun! The series originated here. This is my first attempt, so bear with me as I'm not sure of all the "rules," if there are any! :)

 1. It's not unusual that I come across fashion trends I just don't get. Currently, I just don't get the whole Peter Pan collar thing. Didn't look so good on Peter, and I seriously haven't seen an example of it looking good on ANYBODY over the age of 4. Can someone explain this one to me?

 2. I need a good book to read! The last book I read / re-read was The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas. I read it for the first time in high school and several times since. It seems each time I read it, some new detail or way of thinking grabs hold of my mind, and as was in this case, my soul. I gave up Facebook for Lent this year in an effort to spend more time with the hubs and to give more effort to my spiritual life. I truly believe God put the memory of this book on my mind because he intended to use it to mold my heart again. Seriously, if you haven't read this book, check it out!

 3. How frustrating is a newly independent 18 month old?!? The dude is wanting to do more and more things for himself, which is great, don't get me wrong. It's amazing to watch him grow and learn new things every day, but it seems more often than not he's learning something I wish he hadn't just yet. For example: how to open the storm door and sprint outside; how to activate the weather radio and scare the crap out of his terrified-of-bad-weather mom; use a chair to climb up onto the table and run across it to adjust the thermostat at my mom's house; and lest I forget, how to very sneakily unplug the router and leave me wondering what's wrong with the internet for the better part of a day.

 4. Staying on the subject of wonderfully-frustrating kiddos, how do you deal with picky-eaters? As a picky-eater myself, I'm really struggling with this one. I don't want to force my children to eat something they don't like, but I don't know what to do when it's something he likes but refuses to eat because he just doesn't want it. Should I offer something else? Should I set a limit at only x-number of choices?? Advice welcomed!

 5. OK last kid-related quick-take, I promise! Have you seen this video? Cracks me up every time!


6. As you know, I'm new to the blogging world, both as a blogger and a follower. I do have a few faves tho, who unknowingly inspired me to give this a go. Check them out here, here, and here. I've also stumbled one these two just this week-- this one about being a SAHM, and this one, which belongs to a new "real-life" friend. Enjoy!

7. I don't have any real big plans for the weekend, which is a good thing. It's been a busy busy week, dear readers, the good kind of busy where I was able to get a lot accomplished. The only thing I wasn't able to do enough of was play! And that is what I intend to do all weekend! I hope you have a great weekend, and I hope you play as much as possible too!

Comment away!

The Intro

I'm not really sure how to start this, since I'm new to the blogging world and all, so I guess I'll just jump in!

My name is Jami. When I was a child, I was very imaginative, and the type that had my whole life planned out pretty early on. By about 11 or 12 years old, I was wishing it were possible to skip high school all together and go straight to college. I was ready to get things started! I wanted to get a few degrees, have "lots of letters" behind my name, and do something with my life that made a real difference in the lives of others. I just knew I was going to marry my high school sweetheart, have two or three children, and somehow stay at home with them AND work (ya know, the changing lives thing). I never really thought about how all that would work out, but I knew it would.

When I was fifteen, "the hubs" and I started dating. About three months later, we knew this was it. After high school came college and the Master's degree I had wanted for so long. The hubs and I were married in 2010, and our son, "the dude," was born in September 2011. Now I am a wife, and a full-time stay at home mom with a part-time job that takes me away from home only a couple days a week. This is where the blog site comes from; the idea of wanting "everything," and then starting to get it!

Please understand this blog is not one of boasting, nor of complaining of having too much--although I cannot promise there will never be a little complaining about other insignificant things. Lately I've found myself thinking that when a person is so blessed as to have so many dreams come to fruition, she cannot just sit around idly. No, each goal of mine that has been met, each prayer that has been answered has come with duties, responsibilities, and the requirement of being a good steward of each. And that, my new friends, is what this blog is about. Having different titles or roles in life requires great balancing skills, especially when one of those is "mother." Each day, I work to be the best mom I can be, the best wife I can be, and the best I can be at my "away from home" job. Some days I do an acceptable job, other days I feel like a failure in one area or another, but each evening I go to bed hoping and praying to do better, to be better, tomorrow.

So what do you do to stay balanced? To be a good steward of your gifts? Thanks for reading, feel free to comment always, and of course, following is appreciated!