Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Beautiful Mess







Well it is Tuesday....


WOW!

It literally feels like i have been in some
kind of coma for the past 5 days....

I loaded up the children
and our  *vintage luggage*...
(trips are better with vintage baggage....serious.)


and we headed to California on Friday.

We never made it.

YA'  HURD MAY!

The old family ride did not come through for us.

grrr hmmm ^&*% blizzabur, shnagga meising,
(trust me ...it's for your own good that this is incoherent babble)


We did maked it to Perty Reno tho'...

Yeppsies!

We even got ter stay in the
world famous Aloha Inn.....

(dont quote me on the world famous part)


No worries....

Hubby drove from cali to reno to come
support his blubbering, cussing, wife.

and wallah...

just like that....

2 days and an unexpected $1300.00 later

We had us a new catalytic converter and
we was on our way....


for about 40 minutes....

til  bessie let us down yet again.

yup....

her was still broked.

we dicided....

"BAG IT ALL"

we droved to cali anyhow!

we just stopped....
a lot.

This whole time i was sooo
sick.

The flu.

so it really all seems like a hot mess of a blur to me.

Which isnt how you want the first 5 days of
Your family vacation to go...


well...being the mom i am...

i dragged my  sweaty, snorty, dizzy,
self outta bed and  took my kids to one of our

old favorite parks around these parts.







It really does not seem like 10 months since we
were living in a hotel room here.

But Thank MaLord it's in the past!


Our life is best described by these 2 words....

BEAUTIFUL  MESS

??  What words best describe your life lately??

PLEEZ SHARE!

xoxo  shell







Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Feelin Good...



I have been feelin' good.

real honest to goodness...

 good.




and that  is kinda a big deal for me right now.




Dont get me wrong.....

I feel good a lot.

I just have to work really hard at it lately.



but i plain old REFUSE to just stay in a rut.


REFUSE,    I  SAY!

i fight for happiness....
if it aint comin easy....

well...

then it's comin hard....

cuz i like being happy.

sometimes you just gotta ...

MAKE HAPPY HAPPEN.



so anywho...

that is why i'm so geeked to be

FEELIN' GOOD

without all the hard work of tricking myself into it.

:)


i am floating around doing a deep clean on the house...

my kids are sooo sick with the flu...

my sale of my home is put on hold
(some more)   grrr

due to flooding ...

and did i mention i am sick...

and despite all of this...


i feel good.

i feel lifted up...

like on the wings of Angels.

OH YES..

and my dumptruck driver broke down on the side of the road
a good 50 miles from home and it cost me...

A  PRETTY PENNY

to fix....


but still....


I FEEL LOVED.

BLESSED.

SOOO  BLESSED.


I love me some life.

hard.

easy.

pukey.

fun.

tedious.

I'll take it all just for one more day
with the ones i love!


Here is to your happiness.
whether it's comin easy or hard these days...

CHEERS!


xoxo  shell

Sunday, January 9, 2011

It ain't Perty





Imagine my excitement when our realtor

called Thursday morning to let us know

that the sale of our home was done!!!!

We would be closing in 10 days!!!


We have been waiting over a year
for this to happen!

(short sale MY BUTT!)


ahem....

scuze me...

just sayin'.

The only way i can explain my delight
is to say..

" a   $375,000 burden had been lifted!"


NOW then...

IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN
THE REALTOR CALLED BACK
3 HOURS LATER...

to announce that  ....

someone had stopped by and called to let him know that..

water was leaking in the kitchen.

wahhhhhhhhhh!!!

"ok.  i can handle this.  i'll just grab
some towels...3...no...5!
yup.  that will be good."

Hubby had just left for a 4 month
stint to work in California.

I don't handle "tragic" very
well on my own....

i had to pick my kids up from school
right then.

I am not a typically "patient" soul.

I was freaking out inside.

"i gotta get there...i gotta get there!!!"

i couldnt get there fast enough.
I am a panicky lil thing.

i reallized at that point that i needed
to say a prayer and ask for some
calm feelings and perhaps some comfort too.


I felt lifted up as i finsihed the prayer.

little did i know that i was really gonna
need that COMFORT and CALM!





















an estimated 6-8 days of a waterfall
exploding from a burst pipe in the kitchen ceiling....


the outcome:

2 entire floors of our home destroyed.

flooring, cabinets, walls, ceilings, 2 kitchens

all DESTROYED!

the house has to be gutted ...stripped to it's bones...
and restored.

ohhhh...


i am sooo glad there was not a
camera on me when we entered
the house to find the waterfall...

IT PROBABLY WASN'T PERTY!

i lost it.
thank my Lord above for family
and friends and the power of prayer.

By the grace of God i may get through this
life still.

:)

xoxo  shell


Saturday, January 1, 2011

Onward and Upward Friends




                                                                                  

Forgive me this my friends....


i need but a moment to log my reallity check....


It is 11:33 pm ....

My heart is so full and my mind running rampant...

during our routine bedtime couple's prayer...

My hubby mentioned his gratitude for

our Father in Heaven watching over us for the past 2 and a half years through all our trials...



THIS FREAKED ME OUT!

i couldnt breath... and my eyes filled up...

Two and a half years ago it became evident that
our comfy, cooshy, life was about to take some
twists and turns...

(AND LET ME JUST SAY:
IT HAS BEEN A WILD RIDE)

We went from a dream house with large beautiful
yard to hotel rooms in unfamiliar parts of the country....

presently, we reside in a bbbbbb
(sorry, it's hard for me to spit it out sometimes..)
bbb-basement.

bitter  tasting words on my tongue

We sold our  successful company, our nice cars,
our fancy home, our fun toys ( 4 wheelers)....

we made sacrifices of huge proportions.

There were a lot of "boo hoo's"
and "oh woe is me's"

but we are

STRONG.

We are not your average "give up and go home" Joe's...

No siree bob!
We have trudged our way through
uncertainty and change and sacrifice
and HUMBLE PIE ....

Lot's of unfavorable HUMBLE PIE.

and we have done it TOGTHER!

AS A FAMILY.
AS A TEAM....
 Along with our SAVIOR of course.
every step of the way.

WITH OUR HEADS HELD HIGH.
(mostly)


and without tears.


SIKE!!!!

THERE WERE A LOT OF TEARS.
SERIOUSLY.

LIKE....

A LOT.

(HEY , LET A GIRL MOURN HER OLD
COZY LIFE...WOULD YA!)

but in all honesty...

my heart is more full of thanks and
gratitude then ever before.

i recognize each and every simple blessing...
however small and sweet.

I have learned so much about life...about money...

about .....  ME.

I am one tough cookie.

I  have been part way to hell and back....

(well... almost back...)
( give me til May ok!)


It's true...I cannot take all the credit for my
toughness...

I am nothing without my Savior Jesus Christ.
We are nothing without Him.

I  knew we had been through a very rough year....

I just didnt reallize that it had been 2 and a half!

HOLY COW!

No wonder i am soooo tired.
I went from 29 to 65 in two years flat.

I just had to bear my little testimony...
that there is
HOPE.

In all things there is hope.

The sun will come out tomorrow.

The best is yet to come.

Let us never give up hope.

We are strong.

through Him weak things are made strong.

I know this is true.
Onward and Upward my friends!

On our knees looking upward.

I say these things...in the name
of Jesus Christ...

Amen!









xoxo  the Hawkers!