First World Problems

Ok, so I hope anybody who tries to keep up with me through this blog also follows me on Facebook.  Because I've been pretty absent from here lately.  I'm not even gonna try to recap the last couple of months.  Church, tee ball, and birthdays pretty much sums it up! I did want to write about something that God revealed to me the other day, however.


It starts with this meme I saw on Pinterest a few months ago.

First World Problems

It really made me laugh at first, then hit me that it's so true. We think we have big problems over here in the US, (and we do), but most of our "problems" are just little inconveniences.  

Which leads me to an incident that happened the other day.  We were having people over and I was cleaning the kitchen.  I am the mother of a 1 year old.  Which means my floors are perpetually dirty.  I sweep all the time, but I hadn't been able to mop like I wanted to yet.  I have a Swiffer which I had been using, and a steam mop, which I hadn't yet found from the move.  The Swiffer works pretty well, but you have to really use some elbow grease sometimes.  My steam mop does all the work for me! This particular day, I had decided I was going to conquer the garage and find my steam mop. And I did! I was terribly excited about it, too.  So I fill it up with water, plug it in, pull the trigger, and...nada. Nothing happened. Something was wrong with my steam mop!!!!!!! I called Shaun, I guess just to let him know I was extremely frustrated.  He offered to try to fix it at lunch, but it really wasn't the time to tear it apart, not with guests coming over that night.  So I got off the phone, and, huffing and puffing, pulled out the ole Swiffer. As I started mopping, digging deep trying to get some of the stains up, I was not happy that instead of using my steam mop, I was forced to use my Swiffer.  Then it hit me. How spoiled am I? A few years ago when the Swiffer came out I rejoiced at the easy-ness of it. It made mopping so much easier! And now I'm complaining because I get to use it instead of an old fashioned mop and bucket.  How spoiled and ungrateful am I?! I immediately thanked the Lord for my Swiffer and continued to mop with gladness. I begged Him to let me remember this incident so that I'd be reminded to be thankful. 

So here's my addition to the First World Problems:

My steam mop is broken so I have to use the Swiffer.

3 weeks worth of updates!

Well I don't know what happened, but ever since we moved we have been on the go! Both kids started tee ball, Shaun joined Titanic, we had loads of company, our van broke again, Shaun dropped out of Titanic, and we started revival at church.

Ok, so like 3 weekends ago, we took a trip to Lafayette with Steve and Lizzie, our youth pastor and his wife.  And the kids.  It was so much fun!  We went to Gatti Town, which is like Chuck E. Cheese, or Playtime Pizza, really.  On top of the arcade games, they have go carts, bumper cars, mini golf, mini bowling, and a great buffet! Bryce and Shaun played a price is right style wheel and won 1,000 tickets! Bryce shared them with Cayson and they were able to get a set of cars.

The boys at Gatti Town

We then traveled a little outside of Lafayette to Jennings and visited a park that had some rescue alligators.  The kids each held a baby gator!  (Except for the babies!)  Let me back up...Steve and Lizzie have 2 girls, Laura Beth who just turned 4, and Julie Ann, who is exactly 1 month older than Natalie. We did let Natalie pet one, though.

That night we ate at Randol's, a cajun restaurant complete with a zydeco band and dance floor!  The kids had a blast dancing! The next day we went to the children's museum, the mall and a kids' consignment shop that is great! I got some great deals for the kids!  Then we headed home.  It was such a fun trip and we had a great time getting to know our new friends!

Bryce and Laura Beth dancing at Randol's

The dads put the babies to sleep at the mall!

2 weekends ago, our Heber Springs Mamas (as we introduced them to our new church members) Pat and Carol came and visited.  They were bringing our van to us that had been in the shop in Heber Springs.  However, it broke down on them in Ruston. We let them come visit, anyway! ;) It was so good to see them! We had a great weekend! I really hated to see them go. They better come back soon!

This past week, my parents came and spent the night on Monday night.  My mom had a doctor's appointment in New Orleans the next day.  Also, my in-laws came Thursday night to visit, but had to leave Friday morning when my hubby's grandmother was admitted to the hospital with heart problems. Friday night, my cousin Meagan and her husband Jayson came for a visit.  They had planned on going on a cruise this week and were leaving out of New Orleans, so they split their trip in half and stayed the weekend with us.  We were kind of touristy with them! They love going to pawn shops and garage sales so we took them to Silver Dollar Pawn shop, home of Cajun Pawn Stars! It's a neat store.  There's all kinds of stuff in there! I'm sure that will be a regular stop when they come to town! We also did a lot of shopping while they were here.

In the middle of this 3 week period the boys started tee ball and Shaun joined Titanic! Theatre Louisiana College is doing Titanic for their spring show.  They needed some more male voices so Shaun joined the chorus.  The only problem was all the practices seemed to interfere with tee ball practices.  Or company visiting. Or something with church, like revival this week.  And we only have one vehicle right now.  So Shaun had to drop out. I hated it, because he loves being on stage and he hasn't had a chance to be in a show since college. But, I guess there will be other opportunities, hopefully!

Speaking of tee ball, Cayson has a practice tonight at 7 and we have revival at 6. I guess I'm going to have to leave early and take him.  He's already missed one practice because it was scheduled for last Wednesday during church.  I will be so ready for my van to get fixed!!!

Well, there you have it!  An update on the last 3 weeks in the life of the Martins!

Elliptical Update

Here's a quick update on the status of my new workout routine. (Not really a routine, just 30 minutes on the elliptical, but routine sounds better!)

I've had the elliptical for a little over a week now. I exercised 3 days last week then my parents came in. I jumped back on yesterday and I just finished today's. I've learned that in the past, for me, the 3rd day of my workout is the hardest. It's hard to be motivated that 3rd day. It was hard this time, too, because my parents were here. But I made myself do it. We were really busy the other 2 days they were here so I missed it then. But the biggest test was starting back up yesterday. And I did it.

I have no idea if I've lost any weight yet. I've yet to find my scales. That's a project for today! I did take my measurements before I started so I'll have something to compare.

I also started my fitness pal, an app on my iPhone. It keeps track of calories burned and taken in. Like one of my favorite worship songs says "I'm determined, I've got a made up mind...".

And even though it has nothing to do with this post, I'll leave you with a picture of my favorite girl this morning.

What a week

This past week was a busy one. I didn't get much done on the house because my parents came down. But I'll take that trade any time! They came down Wednesday night just as we got out of church and stayed until Sunday afternoon.

On Thursday we took it fairly easy. Stayed at home during the day and we took them to the mall that night. When we got home, we watched Breaking Dawn and Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. Friday, Shaun was off and we still didn't do much. We went to Ryan's for dinner ( we had some serious coupons) and walked around Walmart. We watched Moneyball and The Help. On Saturday, mom kept Natalie and we took the boys and my dad to see Star Wars episode 1 in 3D. They loved it! Although Bryce fell asleep at the end. Then we stopped by old navy. That night we met my aunt and uncle at their house and we all went to a restaurant. It was a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but really good. I got a 20 oz "petite" sirloin for $12.99! We were stuffed! Sunday brought church day, as the kids call it. It was a really good service, I thought. Pastor Bart is preaching a sermon series on giving. But it's a fresh look at it. We are to give sacrificially because Christ gave all of himself for us.

It was a great week with my parents and I'm looking forward to the next visit! Here's some pics from the week:

Random Thoughts :)

We missed out on a zoo day with new friends. :( our van is still in Heber waiting on a water pump and Shaun would have had to bring the jeep home for us to go. Except because of whiny kids and a sleeping baby I waited too long to tell him to bring it home and he had to go to staff meeting. Plus, I didn't want to reward bad behavior with a fun activity. And I'm 2 sheets away from being out of wet wipes. Not a good start to the morning. (I know I have more wipes around here somewhere, because I bought a new box before we moved, but I haven't found them yet. They weren't in with the baby stuff.)

Also, I got a new elliptical. Came in yesterday. I've been begging for one for a while. So I started my workout this morning. It came with an 8 week Jillian Michaels workout that's 30 minutes a day. I lasted 15. I could have done more, but I got a phone call in the middle of it which ended up being our invite to the zoo. So I stopped to get ready, then the kids started in with the whining and I called the whole thing off!

So here's a couple of things I learned from my elliptical experience thus morning. First of all, I have to get up before the kids get up. They wanted to watch me exercise and just ended up keeping me distracted. Between Cayson's constant chatter, and trying to keep Bryce from sticking his hands in the machine, it's a wonder I did 15 minutes. Also, I do think I'll like it. I enjoyed hearing Jillian motivate me and keep me going. During the first 5 minutes I thought I'd never make it. My legs were already "feeling the burn"! Then she (Jillian) had the gall to say "that was a good warm-up. Let's pick up the pace!" But after about 10 minutes it got better and I found a rhythm. It's funny how 30 minutes passes by so quickly when you're sitting on the couch watching tv, but it seems like an eternity when you're exercising!

Ok, the kids are playing nicely so I'm going to try and finish up my workout!

*update*I did it! And the kids cheered me on for the last minute. After I stopped, Cayson said, "hey mom, I think you're getting skinnier!". Maybe I do need to work out when they are up! ;)

Our Weekend in Pictures

New words

So this precious girl has blown us away this morning! First of all, while I was unpacking her room I came to her Razorback bloomers. I held them up for her to see and I said, "Wooo pig sooie!". Y'all, I promise she said "pig sooie" back to me! Also, a little later Shaun came in her room and he said hi to her. She said as clear as can be, "Hey dada" and WAVED! Of course, I teared up! My baby girl is growing up so fast! Oh, and she tried her first bread pudding last night, too.

P.S. Leave me a comment if you're reading!

New Beginnings

The boys now have a completely unpacked room...just gotta hang pictures. Natalie's room is halfway done. Kitchen is almost done. We're getting there.

Last night was our first Wednesday night at KBC. Boy, was it rainy! I'm so glad I didn't have to drive myself! I am ready for my van to get here so I can start learning how to maneuver around this city! (It's in Heber still, getting repaired.)

So here's what an average Wednesday looks like for us now: meal at 5, handbells at 5:30, kids at 6, choir at 6:30, and we're all done at 7:30. I haven't decided if I'm joining handbells or not. I would like to, but I found out last night that getting the kids fed in 30 minutes is tough! Especially when Bryce didn't take his nap and was extremely grumpy!

Choir went well. There weren't as many there last night as the last time we were here, but I'm sure the weather kept some away.

Today's agenda is to keep unpacking. Someone is bringing us a meal tonight, so that will be nice. Here are some random pictures from this week.

Moving Day in Pictures part 2

Today we actually moved into our new house!

Sad Day, Victorious Day

As I'm writing this, we are heading to my parents' house. We said goodbye to our family at Heber Springs Baptist Church today. I don't think I have the words to express how much I love this body of believers. We have truly made lifelong friends. We will miss them terribly.

My favorite part of the day was the worship service this morning. We spent the whole service singing songs that are favorites of the choir and the church. What an awesome time of worship it was. I will never forget this day. We stood with our family and magnified the name of Jesus together. That is why this day is victorious. God is doing a work in our lives and in the life of this church, and even though we are going down separate paths we will forever be connected because of our love for Jesus.

Possibly my favorite moment of the day was watching Bill and his kids sing during the offering. The song they chose was perfect and reflected exactly how I'm feeling. I'll try and post the song later when I have a better connection.

Well, we've made it safely to my parents' house so I have to get some sleep. We have an early morning ahead of us. Thank you Heber Springs Baptist Church for a day I'll never forget. God bless you!

Moving Day in Pictures part 1

From Heber Springs to Pineville

Well, family and friends, the time has come.  It is our last weekend in Arkansas.  We are about to become Louisianans.  Did I even spell that correctly?  HA!  It feels strange, since I've lived here my whole life.  We are in a unique situation.  We are so incredibly excited about this move, yet intensely sad about leaving our HSBC church family behind.  We've made so many lifelong friends here and it's hard to imagine not seeing them every week.

Today the movers came and packed up our stuff.  This was a new experience for us!  We've always had to do the packing and moving ourselves, with the help of church members.  We were extremely blessed that we were able to hire a moving company this time.  Our whole family got sick last week, which would have made packing next to impossible.  Today, all we had to do was sit back and watch!  Tomorrow they will load up the truck.  And we will meet them at our new house on Monday.

Cayson's pre-k class held a "Cayson party" today to say goodbye to him.  He was so excited.  He said they got 2 cookies...and no more!  When I picked him up, I asked him if he wanted to give his classmates a hug goodbye.  He said that they had already hugged him while he was in his seat.  But as he was leaving his best friend said bye and held out his arms for a hug.  Cayson ran to him and gave him a big hug.  That was a tearjerker moment!  I pray that he will find good, lasting friendships in Pineville.

I should have said this in the first paragraph, I suppose, but the purpose of this blog is simply to keep our family and friends up to date on what's going on in our lives.  And hopefully it will allow our new friends in Pineville to learn more about us.  I used to have a blog and just didn't keep up with it once we moved to Heber.  I'm feeling the urge to blog again, so hopefully I will do a better job keeping it up-to-date.

I always have a hard time wrapping up a blog post...so I'll just leave you with a picture!