Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

Feels like Christmas! September 21, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:40 am
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I just wrote a blog last week about how last Friday felt like my birthday! We had strategically waited to get new phones. I was happily learning all the features of my iPhone 4s. We also had a half off coupon for The Melting Pot. The savings were a part of the excitement of getting such nice experiences. I was a little giddy with how great the day went. That was where the blog post came from.

The “Free Day” Latte Maker!

Well, now I get to do it all over again… but now it feels like Christmas in the Scott household. It takes a little explanation, but the end result has been pretty awesome.  So here is the story. A few months ago, when Jeremy was very sick, he stayed home from work and and signed up for a bunch of free stuff. He called it “Free Day”. He mainly got a bunch of free plants, but he also signed up for golf clubs, kitchen stuff… etc. Pretty much anything he could for free. Jeremy has great luck with getting picked for stuff like that. Last Saturday the UPS man dropped off a big box at our house. The return label had been torn off so we had no idea what were opening. Turns out it was a very expensive one-touch latte maker. Jeremy got very excited and pulled it all out. He made himself a drink and told me how awesome it was.  I informed him that we had a Keurig and a Mr. Coffee Maker. We didn’t need a third coffee making device for a house where only one person drinks coffee. Apart from a lack of storage space, it seemed a little excessive. Jeremy did some research and realized that the latte maker was worth a LOT and was returnable to Macy’s. It didn’t take too much twisting to get to him to take it back and take the money instead.

Just like Christmas!

After returning the latte maker, Jeremy went on a shopping spree at Costco. He was able to get all this stuff with the money he got from the latte maker – plus have some left over. He bought a new stick blender (which he is using to today to make his homemade salsa). He picked up a Dyson vacuum which was on sale! I didn’t make him do this! It was his suggestion. We also got some Christmas decorations and a new decorative pillow. It was like Christmas when I got home to discover all the goodies.

One Happy Amy!

For those of you who know me, I’m major OCD when it comes to cleaning. I’m a neat freak. There is no way around it. I love to clean. It makes me happy. Jeremy knows this and saw a Dyson as an investment into my cleaning obsession. Of course, I couldn’t keep it in the box for very long! I needed it out! Once we figured it all out, I vacuumed the whole house – even though I vacuumed the day before. It was amazing all the stuff the Dyson got out of our carpet. It was almost scary! I think my carpet audibly sighed with joy from being so clean. Oh wait…that was me! I’ve always dreamed of owning a Dyson vacuum. I can’t believe I got it for free.

I might have laughed at Jeremy when I came home at the end of “Free Day” but now I have some serious respect for “Free Day”.  I’m blessed to have a hubby that shares his winnings and thinks of me! I would have never asked for something so nice, but he was generous. I’m fairly positive that he is happy with his purchases as well (He was singing while using it)! He loves making salsa and pasta sauce. We did a ton of research last year about stick blenders and food processors, but we couldn’t make a decision. Getting it for free made it real easy to pick one! It’s a happy day in the Scott household! Just like Christmas!

 

Feels Like My Birthday! September 15, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 4:02 pm
Tags: , , ,

Enjoying some funny company!

Heaven? Perfection? YES!

Yesterday was a very fun day! When I woke up, I was greeted by Jeremy who has been researching iPhones while I slept. He had come to the conclusion that we didn’t need the new iPhone, but that we could now get the iPhone 4s for half the price. I agreed that we didn’t need the newest model. We’ve been waiting for months for this revealing from Apple. Jeremy’s phone left the title of “functioning” a long time ago and mine was over 2.5 years old and ready to replaced as well. This was no spur of the moment, we need new toys kind of thing. I just thought you should know. We’ve been planning and waiting… After sharing all his research findings, he asked if we could go to the store that morning and get our new phones. So yes, we got new phones and spent the rest of the morning/afternoon getting them personalized and chatting with Siri (our new best friend).

Empty… sad!

Meat! Ready to cook!

Now most would say any day you get a new phone is a good day and I would agree. However, this day got better! We had made plans to go on a double date with my sister and brother-in-law. April had found a Living Social coupon for half off a three course meal at The Melting Pot. At the beginning of the summer, we had talked about how fun it would be for the four of us to go together. It’s not a cheap bill so we knew it was going to take planning and until the coupon arrived, it didn’t look like our plan was going to pan out.

The best part!

Us!

I had only been to The Melting Pot once before. My hubby had braved snow and ice to take me there as a surprise for my 21st birthday. It was a great memory and we’ve always talked about going back. I’m glad we did! And at a discount! Can’t beat that! It was fun to dress up a bit and head up to a bigger city than Olympia! You can tell we’re from Lewis County sometimes! I get excited over stuff like that.

The food was amazing! As it should be! We had cheddar cheese fondue that we dipped bread, apples and veggies into… well, others dipped the veggies. I didn’t! Just being true my taste buds! The next course was salads. I had a yummy Caesar salad. Then it was on the next course which was cooking meats and pasta in a delicious boiling stock. I used my handy dandy new phone to time each item that went in. No need to poison myself with undercooked food. The final course was dessert – the best of all! We got what they call the Flaming Turtle which consisted of milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans. They used some form of alcohol to light it all up on the table. Very impressive and tasty!

April and I were talking afterwards and the cheese and the chocolate really were the highlight of the meal. A perfect way to start and end! I might not get a meal like this very often, but when I do I go all out and enjoy each minute of it. Calories were forgotten and I ate everything I could! So worth it! Plus, the company was amazing. There were times where I was laughing so hard I was crying and at one point I almost couldn’t sallow my “free” glass of apple cider! April was describing how using a half off coupon meant we got half a glass and it was so funny in the moment. Good food, good times! I think this what the Teacher in Ecclesiastes was talking about. Each meal being a blessing. This was certain one of those meals and those moments!

 

Welcoming September September 1, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 7:05 pm

September rolled in quietly and started off as many September mornings soon will. I bid my husband farewell extremely early in the morning. I went back to sleep. He went out to kill a deer (correction…attempt). Or really scout out elk. He has a couple days until he can legally kill the bigger beasts (Tuesday). I often joke that I am hunting widow during the months when my hubby roams the woods with a bow in hand. I get a lot of reading done and in all honestly, I’m perfectly fine with entertaining myself. The quiet feeds my soul in a way very few things can.

After tricking my dog to sleep in, I opened a book that I picked up from the library last night. I’m massively obsessed with Lucy Maud Montgomery, so I devoured A Tangled Web rather quickly. I finished it this afternoon. Jeremy had returned home earlier than expected with many stories of the elk he and his family has spotted. He settled onto the couch with college football on and I poured over my book unable to put it down.

Good books go too quickly in my opinion and soon it was over. I had originally planned to pull out my few autumn decorations on Monday for the holiday, but I just couldn’t wait. With today being the first day of September it seemed fitting to add hues of orange to my house. I pulled out our autumn wreaths. I replaced the doormat with one that has leaves on it. I changed the Scentsy scents to Pumpkin Marshmallow, Autumn Sunset and Falling Leaves.

I also updated my pictures in the house. I usually do this about twice a year… sometimes only once a year. I have a real hard time picking which pictures to transition. If I like a picture, I want to keep it up forever, but I also want to add new photos… Unless I want my walls to be overtaken, I must weigh my choices carefully and make the tough call. As you can tell, this takes me a while. I arrange and rearrange. I try to make sure the representation fair – Scotts, Vitzthums, friends… Equal amounts of Jeremy and I both separate and together. It can get complicated like a jigsaw puzzle. I will admit that I don’t think this current arrangement will last long. It has inspired to print more photos soon so I can have more options to play with.

My mom calls rearranging things “moving her kibble.” Usually this refers to furniture and what not, but in a small way I moved my kibble today as a welcoming of September and the autumn months ahead. A new season is ahead of me and I am ready to take it on. It is the best season in my opinion – the season were the world takes on a golden hue, where pumpkin is the favored flavor, when the leaves fall. It’s beautiful and I am excited!

Welcoming September!

 

Todd & Toby Go For A Walk August 27, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 9:06 pm

Toby & Todd blaze the trail!

From the time April got back into the area until now, we’ve always said it would be fun to take our dogs on a walk together. Toby and Todd have played around the backyard at my parent’s house, but they have never had an organized activity. Today was that day we spoke of! April and Mom had been planning on doing a portion of the Willapa Hills Trail (also known as Rails to Trails). I’ve heard a lot about this trail. Family members have biked it, ladies for our church organized walks there, but honestly until today, I had no idea where it was. I love the fact that I’ve lived in this location for 14 years and there are still things I discover… Things that everyone already knows. When it comes to nature places or walking trails, I’m a bit out of the loop. When I lived in downtown Chehalis, I would walk the track at the middle school with my friends. Once Jeremy and I moved out to the sticks, we just walk our doggie along the road. It’s nicely paved and fairly quiet. We live right across the street from tree farm land, so the view isn’t too bad.

I will admit that I was a little nervous about how Toby and Todd would do all harnessed up and walking in the same direction. It turns out they did pretty well together. They sniffed stuff and tried to be the lead dog. However, I would say for the most part they were in their own zone and minded their own business. At one point, we passed a very well fed dachshund. Toby and Todd hadn’t a made a noise at anyone, but the dachshund was not shy and started to bark as we passed them, even though our doggies passed by silently. It was so strange, at the moment Toby and Todd became a team and the pack mentality kicked in. Suddenly they were side by side, sniffing each other and acting all interested in each other. It was so random, but they must have felt the need to join forces against the pudgy dachshund who had long past.

The Ladies!

I love to walk! The trail was flat and covered very pretty landscape. I’m not a fan of inclines, so this was perfect for me. It also came at a great time as I have decided to crack down and exercise more. It’s been a bad summer for me when it comes to being active. I haven’t taken Toby on as many walks as I should. It’s always fun to have a buddy and the trip with my mom, sister and the dogs made it very enjoyable. I’m feeling pretty good today about my walking – 4 laps around the church, a walk to the mailbox (which is down the church’s long driveway), and ending the day with doggie walk on a new trail! I was intentionally saving some calories for an after walk snack and Mom offered to treat us to McDonalds. I got a small cone and Toby got an ice water. My final act of the outing was to split my last bite of cone between Todd and Toby. The ride home was quiet. Toby was passed out. He greeted Jeremy by flopping over on his doggie bed.  It was a good outing for both Toby and I! I sure hope Todd feels the same way!

 

Camping Adventures! August 26, 2012

Filed under: Family Time,Travels — Amy Scott @ 7:48 pm

I’ve taken a short break from the blog. This weekend I was out of cell range and that also meant no wi-fi! So no blog! It was great to get outside and go camping with my hubby and sister (and of course, the little dog too). It came at the perfect time for me because they’ve been painting at work and the fumes were starting to get to me. I couldn’t wait to breathe some fresh air!

Takhlakh Lake with the hubby!

Jeremy had been researching new places we could go. It’s been fun to camp at two different locations for the first time this summer. The first would be Hidden Springs on California road trip and now Takhlakh Lake right at the base of Mt. Adams. It was beautiful! The lake framed the mountain perfectly and it was a very picturesque place.

There were many highlights to our camping adventure. The first and foremost for me is getting away! When I get to a place where there is no cell reception, I truly feel free. There is something freeing about not being track-able.  I know this might seem silly, but falling off the grid every now and then does a lot for my soul. The views were spectacular and the combination of a beautiful setting and the freedom of being off the grid made for a relaxing mini-vacation.

Thursday, we set up camp and got everything situated. I love making the bed in my tent and making it feel homey. We packed a ton of blankets so we could stay warm. I always layer them and make them look as much like a “made” bed as possible.  I guess I’m OCD even in my little tent home. After the site was ready to be inhabited, we look a walk around the lake. It was a nice mile hike with great views. Once we got back from the walk, we started to make my favorite camping dinner – pizza pockets! Camping food would also go on my highlights list! We eat well on these trips.

The view from the top of the lava rock mountain!

It was really cold Thursday night into Friday morning. I was surprised by the chill even though I knew it was coming. However, even with 4 extra blankets on top of my sleeping bag, I was still cold. It think the greatest downside of this trip was constantly trying to feel warm. It was a battle for heat and I was losing most of the time. Friday morning we had breakfast (cinnamon roll pop tarts, another camping food treat) and then set off to hike around the camp ground. We made our way to Takh Takh meadows and we climbed a lava rock mountain. April was the first to start scaling the rocky path and soon we were all following suit. The view from the top was worth it!  After our wanderings, we made it back to the campsite for lunch.

Our next adventure was a drive around the area to look at other campgrounds and check things out. It was so remote out there. Every campground we came to I marveled that there were people out there that knew about these places. The scariest and funniest part of this afternoon adventure was our drive on what was labeled a “primitive” road… That would be an understatement! It was like a movie scene as our truck drove through the forest in what reminded me of the jungle. There were huge potholes, giant rocks, narrow road with the branches scraping along the side of the vehicle. At times we weren’t sure if we were going to make it, but we did! Praise the Lord! There is a lot of prayer on my part for us to see the end of the road. The funny thing was I was sitting in the middle of the truck cab, so I had nothing to hold on to. Toby had settled into my lap and we literally bounced around the cab together. I was flying every which way the truck seemed to go. It seemed like some strange kind of chiropractic treatment. Or I might need chiropractic treatment afterwards! By far the sketchiest road I’ve been on.

Huckleberry stained fingers!

Friday concluded with huckleberry picking, another walk around the lake, a hot dog dinner and s’mores. Around 8:00pm, we all got talking about the cold night ahead of us and I admitted that I would be willing to pack up and head home so we could sleep in warm beds. We’d done everything we planned on doing. All we would miss was breakfast and tear down in the morning. So we quickly got the site packed up in the fading light that we had. We were on the road and heading home before 9:00pm. We got in around 11:00pm and let me tell you, it was nice to sleep in my own bed! I didn’t sleep so well with the cold on Thursday, so even though I felt a bit wimpy about coming home early, it was a great decision!

Saturday morning, April and I ate pop tarts in honor of our camping trip and watched the Hunger Games all wrapped up in blankets. It was so nice to be warm! We got cleaned up and headed out to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant and then went blackberry picking. It wasn’t the Saturday we had originally planned, but it was pretty close to perfect in my book!

Thus ends our camping adventure and really the last hurrah of our summer! It was a great trip and one we’ll always remember… that view, that road, the lake. Summery weekends like this are going to be gone soon. It was nice to spend the last official one in August in nature with loved ones!

 

 

Sister Time! August 19, 2012

Filed under: Family Time,Getting Creative — Amy Scott @ 2:07 pm

Dinner in the Park!

It seems like my sister and I have had opposite schedules this summer. We haven’t had a chance to hang out too much in July and August was starting to shape up the same way. Back in June, April and I made plans to go down to Saturday Market in Portland, OR while our hubby’s climbed Mt. St. Helen’s. The only thing that might have kept us from going was if April had to work this weekend, which thankfully she didn’t! We had a great time catching up while the our boys went fishing, camping, and hiking a mountain. I like camping, but the fishing and hiking part, I was glad to do without!

April’s project!

Friday night, April, Toby Dog, and I enjoyed Taco Ball in a local park. We sat a log and munch on our cheap Mexican food. April got to tell me a bit about her family reunion the weekend before with her husband’s family. Toby wanted to eat a taco and was generally a hot dog since temps had been in the mid 90’s on Friday! We took off for my house and planned a night of crafting. April had text messaged me earlier that week saying that she had the itch to craft. I jumped on the bandwagon and we prepared for a night of art projects! April’s project turned out great! She’s got really creative and the result was what she calls “The Leviathan”. My project turned out great and I was super happy with it. However, it is a birthday present for a student and on the off chance that she reads this blog, I don’t want to describe it or post pictures until after I give it to her.

With all our creative juices spent, we moved over the couch to watch Lifetime movies about troubled teens. It was great to just veg and be chill. This is probably one of the best things that April and I do together. We’re good at being active together, but we can always just kick back and relax. No need to be impressive or entertaining. It’s nice to just sit and be myself.

Saturday Market on the Portland Waterfront!

Saturday morning we were up early to head down to Portland for a wonderful time hanging out in downtown. April and I both have a special fondness for Portland and it’s been our favorite spot for years! Since we grew up in the area, there is a bit of childhood magic still associated with the land of no sales tax! We wandered around Saturday Market and walked to Pioneer Place. It was a lot of fun to look through the shops and get excited for fall shopping! Back to school shopping and sales were in full swing.

By mid-afternoon, we needed to head home to let my crazy dog out of the crate. It wasn’t a full, long day in the city, but it was perfect! This was the first time that April and I had gone to downtown Portland just the two of us. Usually we have parents or hubbys with us. It was nice to prove to myself that I could drive around downtown and not kill us! We made it everywhere we hopped to go with getting attacked or getting lost. The day was full of Starbucks, good food, window shopping, and lots of walking!

It was nice to spend some one on one with my sister and catch-up at the end of a busy summer. The boys had a great time hiking Mt. St. Helen’s. Both survived and Jeremy had many tales to tell me when he got home last night. The next adventure of the summer will be next weekend when Jeremy, April, Toby Dog, and I go camping! We still haven’t decided on a location, but camping is always a blast and I was super excited to find out that April’s work schedule allows her to come. The only downside is April’s husband, Andrew, has to work so we’ll be short a family member. I guess that means April get an air mattress all to herself! Unless Toby wants to share it with her!

 

Photo Book Fun! August 13, 2012

Filed under: Family Time,Getting Creative,Recollections — Amy Scott @ 12:22 pm

My Photo Books!

About a year ago, I discovered the website Shutterfly. I had heard of it before, but had never visited it. When  I got my new camera last fall, I was given a free photo book to make on Shutterfly. Right from the start, I was hooked! It’s a great tool and resource. I’ve become a fan of making photo books (or digital scrapbooking as some call it). Since the first book was free, I used it to document my family trip to Chicago. Once I made a book, I started to get emails on their savings. I will admit that they send more emails than I like, but they always have a sale or discounts! I don’t think I’ve ever paid full price for anything on the website.  Because of all the deals they offer, I decided to use them for Christmas cards and I plan on doing it again this year! They have more layouts for cards than Walmart (which had been my standard for Christmas cards in the past). Since that first book, I have made a book of Jeremy and I’s honeymoon. This was really the realization of a well-intended project. When I first got married, I was super diligent and put together a wedding scrapbook in no time. I had intended that same scrapbook to include our honeymoon and first year of marriage. The honeymoon portion was half finished and the first year of marriage portion only went through September (we were married in July – so not far)! Using Shutterfly, I was able to document both of these phases. The honeymoon book was free thanks to a promo and the first year of marriage book was $10 off. As I was planning for our road trip this summer, I already knew I was going to come home and make another book! This one was 40% off and covers the many highlights of our trip to California! Now that I’ve started, I plan on waiting for sales and going back through a lot of our major travels and making books for those as well. The great thing is that they have a photo book template for every occasion – not just travels! It’s a great way to document life! Shutterfly also has awesome deals on prints. At the beginning of the summer I got 100 prints for free and then my sister-in-law sent me a coupon for another 100 free prints. I know the day of the printed photo might seem over, but I remember how much fun it was as a kid to flip through my baby pictures or my parent’s old photos. I want my future kids to have the same experience. All these free prints also help me keep my picture frames up to date with new photos! The hardest part about Shutterfly is not wanting to buy everything they offer – which is a lot! It’s like a candy store for me and pictures!

 

Meeting Brinley July 28, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:15 pm

Yesterday was a fun family day spent getting to know our new niece, Brinley! She is such a sweetheart! A very cozy, sleepy baby who handled being passed from aunts to uncles and back again quite graciously. It was wonderful to watch Carson being a big brother in action. He loves Brinley and treats her so gently! Carson didn’t stay newborn sized for very long, so I was  a bit taken back by how small Brinley is. It’s hard to believe humans start so little! It amazes me! It’s not often that all the kids get to hang out together, so it was a great to have some time with Jeremy’s brothers and their wives. We went to lunch together and played some games. The little ones were the highlight of my day, but the overall family time was great. I’m so blessed to be an auntie and to be a part of the Scott family. I look forward to many more memories with my niece and nephew! They are treasures! These little days will go by quickly, so I’m happy to make the most of them!

 

From One Adventure to the Next! July 18, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 9:56 pm

Giving God our garbage!

Today was the grand finale of Sky Family VBA! It’s hard to believe that four days of VBA are now over. They went so fast! Each night was awesome and tonight did not disappoint. Because 7:00pm is when our regular church services happen on Wednesday, we decided to wrap VBA with all the kids and adults – not just the ones that signed up for VBA. We abbreviated the night so we could fit the whole program into just over an hour. We started off by reviewing what we’d learned and watched a slideshow full of fun pictures from the week. After that, we sang 5 of our favorite song (with motions of course). I know this part probably stretched the adults the most, but I think it’s important for kids to learn worship from their parents. The Bible says we need to have faith like a child, so why not dance like one? We moved in our powerful Bible lesson. This story is really why we do VBA! We talked about the cross and salvation. To illustrate, we hung pieces of garbage bags on the cross. We talked about how God takes our garbage and forgives our sins. Once we place the garbage on the cross, we grabbed glow sticks and cracked them to symbolize that God’s light now shines in us. We moved from the Bible lesson into a craft and snack. It was wonderful to come together as families and as a church family to remember the heart of the story – the reason we do what do. It’s all about Jesus! I’m praying a lot of young hearts made a firm commitment to follow him tonight – no matter what we’re going to trust God!

God’s light in us!

Now in less than 9 hours, Jeremy and I will be on another adventure. We’re packing up the car tonight and planning to hit the road around 6:00am tomorrow! That means being up at 4:30am for me… Oh my… Right after VBA, what was I thinking? I know… “Must get out of the state… must travel… must go…” It’s going to be great to spend 5 days with my hubby! We’ll drive all day tomorrow and get into the Bay area that evening. We’ll see the sights and where Jeremy used to live. Saturday evening, we’ll drive up to the Redwood Forests and pitch a tent for a couple of days. Monday will another driving day as we head home and reunite with our little dog, who is sadly not joining us. We love Toby and always miss him, but I don’t think the hotel will be happy if we left him barking there while we sight see! Even now as we get stuff ready to go, Toby is freaking out. He knows we’re up to something and he doesn’t like it. Toby’s motto would be “Stay with the routine!” He really hates when we throw off his schedule. Oh well… I keep reminding myself that my life doesn’t revolve around this dog. Jeremy and I haven’t been a road trip just the two of us. In fact, we haven’t been a trip just two of us in long while… Probably Nashville in 2008 and even that was to visit a friend. Trips with family and friends are great, but I’m really looking forward to this adventure with Jeremy. It’s going to be worth the drive, I’m sure! Here’s to new memories and more summer fun!

See ya when I return!

 

A Split Personality Kind of Week July 17, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 1:44 pm

Oh, multi-tasking! How I dislike you! You bring such stress to my life. My thoughts run together and bounce from one topic to the next! Welcome to my week!

Flying at SKY Family VBA!

Sunday started our first ever week of Family Vacation Bible Adventure! This year we’re doing something totally different by having parents attend VBA alongside the kids. We’ve reformatted things so that parents can be ones having the spiritual conversations with their kids. It’s hard to break the mindset that parent’s bring their kids to church and it’s up to the church to make their kids into good Christians. We want to empower parents to be the spiritual leaders of their families and see that faith starts at home. What we do as a church will never compare to what they do daily in their households. The purpose of this new VBA format is to show families how fun it can be to do faith-based things together. Hopefully after this week, parents will feel more comfortable with having faith conversations at home. It’s been fun to do things in a new way. Having the parents around really adds a whole new level energy to the week. We’re still doing all the classic VBA elements, but with a twist!

When VBA rolls around it seems like it’s the only thing on Jeremy and I’s mind. However, this year, we have a few other things competing for our time and attention. Like I mentioned yesterday, we now have a niece, Brinley, who arrived yesterday. We’ve all been anticipating her arrival for the last week.  It was a mystery to us what day she’d actually appear, but yesterday was the day. We’re so excited, but we’re sad that we don’t get to meet her for a few weeks.  This is my first niece, so the excitement level is off the charts!

Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment right smack-dab in the middle of my day. Nothing big – no worries, but still, I hate going to the doctor. Anything medical freaks me out and makes my blood pressure spike. Oh goodie! So I had to race from work, to home, to the doctors, to home and back to church for VBA. I felt like I was willing the car to move faster while still going the speed limit. I made it everywhere I needed to on time, but it was close. I kept flying in right at the last second!

When Jeremy and I came home to let Toby out of the crate for lunch, we noticed that he was in the window as we drove past our house. We lock Toby in a crate each morning when we leave, so you can imagine our shock when we saw him roaming the house! As we get ready to leave in the morning, Toby runs into his crate. There he sits and waits for us to give him a treat and lock him in. Jeremy realized that we had left without locking him in. Oops! Now Toby is the kind of dog that doesn’t do well with free time in the house. His nature is always be with people, so when he is home alone he doesn’t stop moving. He is always looking for the people and freaking out because they are no where to be found. As a result of the stress, we had a couple of accidents waiting for us. Yes, it might seem weird, but our dog loves the structure of the crate. I can’t believe we forgot to lock him in when we left! Oh well – one of the side effects of VBA brain!

San Francisco here we come!

Finally, we leave Thursday morning for our road trip to San Francisco! I’ve been trying to clean the house, get laundry done, clean out the fridge and pantry, find a Toby sitter and pack for our trip. All while being home limited hours due to VBA. It’s nuts! My brain keeps hoping from thing to thing… Get house ready, make sure everything is in place for our Toby sitters, make sure VBA stuff is taken care… It’s like mental ping-pong! I’m super excited for our trip, but the reality of it really hasn’t hit yet. VBA is too important to let my mind slip and forget something related to this highlight of our children’s ministry summer.

And now, I’ve used up my allotted free time for blogging! Back to the mental to-do list! If I don’t keep moving, I might fall over completely and that wouldn’t be good! It’s all worth it! Vacation is on the horizon!