Stories from the Shoebox

I love hubs!

I'm linking up with Shell this morning for PYHO.

If you haven't stoped by this meme before you should check it out.

I love hubs!

He really is my best friend. There is no one who understands me better. No one here on earth accepts me more, and no one makes me laugh like he does!

He helps me around the house when he can, and never complains that I'm a SAHM who should be doing it all.

He was folding the laundry I told you about on Monday, and puting it away for me when I realized that he does that a lot. I hate laundry! I usually wash it, and fold it, and put it in cute little piles. Then I get side tracked by something. Before I know it it's the end of the day, and the piles are still on the couch when he gets home. Sigh...I know! I'm a terrible housewife. But he never complains. He just helps me.

Last week he came up to me, and gave me a big hug and kiss and looked me in the eye when he said, "Thank you for being such a good mother to my children". Then he looked over at the boys and said, "look at them-they are so happy. Thank you for homeschooling them, because of you they are so happy".

It was all I could do not to cry. It meant so much to me that he would say that. He really meant it too. That's what was so incredible. I was able to muster up a sincere "Thank you" and a he just held me for a minute.

Hubs and I have quite the history and we've made it through some crazy times. When I'm sitting out back on the porch with him I can't help but think of how amazing it is that we are where we are today-sharing this life together with two amazing boys! We've shared 13 years of life so far and I can't wait for the next 40!

I always tell him he better make it to our 50th anniversary!

He really is my best friend. He loves me unconditionally. I can see it in the way he looks at me. I have flaws, but he doesn't care. I can be totally dorky and goofy and he loves it. My favorite thing about him is when I make him laugh. Not because I told a great joke or anything, but because I did something that wasn't meant to be funny. Something that might have been embarrassing, but he loves it, and cracks up. I can be myself with him. I always have been.

I always tell him that I have never spoken the words "I love you" to another man. It's true. I don't think he believes me, but it's true. The truth is I didn't know what love was until he loved me.

I love our life together. Wherever we are is home.

I want to do something special for him. Just because I love him. I have a few ideas , but we'll have to see.

It's Mommy Confessions Monday and I'm Going Green!

Okay, so I woke up this morning thinking about how I hadn't prepared a post for today. Then I had this ~~solution~~ fabulous idea! I thought, why not recycle a post? Good idea or bad?

I don't know, but I thought it was a great way to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Reduce the time I spend on here today, Reuse a fun post from a few months ago when I only had like 5 followers, and Recycle it!!

So here's my GREEN POST! It's one I had fun with back in June, and it's still true today! I could probably confess this every Monday for the rest of my life! So link up your confessions. New or Recycled!

If you're not familiar with Mommy Confessions Monday You can go HERE for more info. It's a safe place to unload your mommy confessions in the comfort of encouragement.

We need to build each other up!

(Ephesians 4:29)

This post was actually my first official Mommy Confessions Post. I hope you enjoy the recycled goods!
I'm not in a very "deep" mood at the moment, but I definitely have a confession, and it's what's on my mom mind at the moment. I stink at laundry! I know, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's bad! I hate it, put it off, it piles up, and takes over! I do wish I was better at this, and it really does bug me. It's also super embarrassing when it's piled up on the couch when unexpected visitors come over. The shoebox didn't come equip with a nice laundry room, so on a bad day it takes over the living room. For someone who takes a lot of pride in her homemaking skills(me), this is totally a confession!

Today while I was ~~folding and puting away laundry~~ procrastinating and writing a poem, I thought about it like this...

Laundry, Laundry, let me be.

Jeez O’ Pete! What do you want from me?

I wash you and dry you day after day,

Can’t you pitch in and put yourself away?

I hate to fold you and despise the sorting.

The pile on my bed is borderline hoarding!

I try to ignore you in the hopes you’ll disappear,

But at the end of the night you're still here.

I care enough about you to pick you up off the floor,

But I always feel like you want something more.

This relationship is draining me and I’ve reached my end.

It’s not healthy being with you when you just won’t bend.

It takes two to be happy and make things flow.

I give and I give, but you don’t seem to know.

I spend hundreds of dollars to remove your stains,

Yet you remain a stress and a constant pain.

What would it be like if you didn’t have me?

Oh, how I wish I could just make you see.

You’d be desperate for love, affection, and care.

No one would look at you; they’d pretend you’re not there.

You would sit dirty for weeks bathing in your own stench.

Is it too much to ask you to budge just an inch?

Don’t you see it’s me you need?

All I’m asking is for a little reprieve.

When the dryer beeps, get out, you’re done.

Put yourself in a basket. Now here comes the fun…

Fold yourself up, and put yourself away!

I’m shamelessly asking you to help me today.

Don’t be a taker, give a little too.

This is the only way we can continue.

I’ve set my boundaries and only time will tell.

Did this letter mean anything? I hope you take it well.

A little bit of inspiration from Grandma

Today is a special day!
I'm being featured at Mama's Little Nestwork as an Inspirational Blogger.

If you're stopping by from the Nest, I can't wait to meet you!

If you haven't found Mama Hen in the blogosphere, you have to check her out!

Her blog is always uplifting, and her posts never fail to make me smile.

Somehow she has found the time, energy, and creativity to build her own community.

The fact that she finds me inspiring is nuts! Thanks for featuring me, Mama Hen!
I am so flattered and grateful for the chance to meet the rest of the nest!
If you want to know more about me feel free to look around the shoebox.
Grab a cup of coffee and stay a while.

Be sure to stop by and check out my debut!

EDIT: After writing this post, I feel like I poured my heart out.
So I'm pulling a double duty post and joining Shell today too!
Her Pour Your Heart Out meme is one of my faves.
It's free weekly therapy, and some of the best reads out there!
Stop by and check it out!

I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous. Since I've been deemed inspiring, I must now inspire you...

That's a tall order! I'll do my best.

I thought the perfect way to inspire you was to share something
(or someone in this case) who inspires me.

My Grandma!

My Grandmother just recently celebrated her 86th birthday!

My sister and I planned a special lunch for her,

and man does she know how to party!

I'm totally kidding!!

My poor grandma puts up with us acting like we're 12!

We had so many laughs that day my sides hurt!

My sister and I cannot resist the urge to play dress up.

Especially if Grandma is up for the fun!

(Just for the record my grandma would not approve of drinking!

She would probably kill me if she knew this was on here-LOL)

We had such a great time celebrating her special day.

We laughed, we cried, and just had fun!

My grandmother raised my sister and I for the first five years of my life and most of my sister's life until she was about 12. Some of my fondest memories as a little girl are of the times we shared with my grandma.

My sister and I used to walk to school everyday together, and on the way home we would stop at this flower shop near our house. It was on the way home, and it was perfect! The florist there would let us pick from whatever we wanted out of the back for free! Looking back now I think we were allowed to pick their trash, but we thought we were getting something beautiful and special for her. We stopped there almost everyday and brought her flowers.

I got to thinking about those flowers from ~~out back~~ the trash, and that pretty much sums up what my grandma did for us. She created something beautiful out of something pretty trashy.

We were without a mom. My mother left my father and the two of us early on. I was an infant and my sister was about 6. Our mother was nothing prize winning, and our father was busy trying to finish school, work, and do whatever he could to make a life for us on his own. Our grandmother raised us until my dad remarried.

I can see now how signifigant those first years of my life were in making me who I am today. I am so grateful for those years with my grandma. I see a lot of the memories she made for me in my life with my kids today.

My love for baking, my love for crafts, the way I love my boys, my love for reading, my love for God's word, and my love for Jesus! All of the things I love are things I did with her. I have memories of all of my favorite things as an adult in those first years of my little life with her.

They (whoever they are) say that the first five years of a child's life are the most significant. Whatever a child experiences during those years sticks with them. I beleive that. I see so many things about myself that I can only credit my grandma for. These are the things I like about myself. The things that make me feel good about me. I could look back at that time of my life and think how sad it was. I could think about how I didn't have a mom.

But, because of my sweet grandma, I look back at that time as something special.

The time we got to spend with her.