Rain Boot Make Over

A little known fact you may or may not already know about me.....

I LOVE rain boots! 

Patterned or plain.....

Short or tall.....

Rain boots are awesome, I love them all!

(See what I just did? I totally rhymed and not altogether on purpose.....score one on the awesomeness card for me ladies!)

But sad enough to say, I have a hard time finding a pair of rain boots that fit.....

 NOT a very flattering or comfy fit!

After two years if sitting in my closet taunting me with their loveliness, I got fed up (after a day of sloshing through 4 inches of frozen rain/snow in flats....not fun!) and decided to do something about the fit! After all, I wasn't wearing them anyway, so would it matter that much if I bombed in fixing them, right?

Enter in Mr. Pinking-Shears, Miss Hot-Glue-Gun, Lady Bias-Tape and Sir Buttons.....

....they all got together for a party and thirty minutes, plus a massive spider web of hot glue later (I love/hate that stuff) I have a pair of rain boots that are still cute AND fit my curvy calves! For those of you keeping score at home that brings the awesomeness tally up to a bazillion I believe!! ;-) 

But, guess what? All that rain and slush I fixed them for?? Gone the next day! WAAAAHHHHH!! =(

Photo a Day Challenge

Found this over at Blessed are the Meek and have decided to give it a go!! Let me know if you are going to play along as well, the more the merrier I always say! =)

I May.....

I may have received this lovely surprise in the mail from Hannah. It was a prize of sorts for participating in a blog event of hers awhile ago and I love it! I told her to surprise me and she did an excellent job!! I love the show and the music is amazing! =)

I may have gotten the CUTEST tea set ever for Christmas!

 Please say hello to Hootie (the pot) and the Blow Fish. Fish is pictured above, but Blow is a little camera shy and declined to be photographed! ;-) 

I may have discovered the single most delicious selection of teas in the world!! They are supposed to only be good for one cup of tea, but I brew it up in Hootie (who very nicely thought to come with his own fine mesh tea infuser) and my Mom and I can both have a cup and a warm up!

Seriously, you have to try these! My fav so far are the Apricot Amaretto and the Mojito Marmalade. They are all caffeine free, so they are great for night time too!

I may have finally broke down and bought this necklace.....what can I say besides, I love Doctor Who!! ;-)

(Buy one of your own HERE)

I may be tempted to do something crazy to my hair....after all, it is one of the items on my ever growing bucket list and it's also one of the cheapest! All hair pictures are form Pinterest, love that site! ;-)

Love this, but shudder to think how many bleach sessions it would take to get my hair light enough!

Again, lots of bleach involved.....and while I might be crazy for wanting colorful hair, I'm not crazy enough to attempt to lighten my hair, I would end up bald! :-O 

These two on the other hand.....just may be doable! ;-)

Why I am NOT Going to See Courageous

Okay, let me just say before you start throwing rocks, I'm pretty sure I agree with the message of the movie and what it is encouraging men to do and or become, at least from what I can tell, not actually having seen the movie! But, for reasons that will soon be explained, I am not going to watch this movie.....

I've actually seen Fire Proof and while it was a bit tough for me to take Kirk Cameron seriously, my only previous exposure to him being on Growing Pains (if you've ever seen the show, you'll know what I mean!) I heartily agree with the message of the movie and am glad that it gained so much popularity and rejoice for any marriages it helped through hard times! But, it needled me just the same!

Now, on to the reasons behind this rather against the flow opinion I have!

Sermons (especially fathers day ones), the two above movies, how popular culture and yes, even the church, treats this topic, has become a pet peeve of mine in recent years.....what on earth could I be talking about?

It's what I like to call, the Man Up and take back your God given (or if your not in the church, just where ever you get the ideas of gender roles from) responsibilities. I can't count how many sermons I've heard on this subject, the men getting lectured from the pulpit about how they need to become better husbands and fathers. But, I can't think of ONE sermon or movie that tells us women how bad of a job WE are doing!

Yes, you read that right, I WANT to hear a sermon about submiting to the men in our lives, I WANT to see my nagging, belittling, prideful, selfish faults 20 feet high on a movie screen and then go and by the companion book, then hear about it in the sermon for the next few months!

I used to be quite the little feminist (in a very loose sense of the word mind you!) and sit there, a small smile on my face thinking.....yeah guys step up and do your job! Preach it Pastor, let em' have it! Take charge and raise your children, be the head of the household! 

But, a few years ago, I noticed that while the Mothers day sermon was all glowing praise of how great mothers are (or if not the subject of the sermon, they are at least asked to stand and clapped for!), the Fathers day sermon was yet another step up you lazy men, type of sermon. Hmmmm, something was not right here and so I started paying more attention and noticed that this wasn't just a one time thing, it was a disturbingly lasting trend!

The men are told through movies and from the pulpit to be "courageous" and us women go and watch these movies and listen to these sermons and leave feeling like we need to "fix" the men in our lives, if only they could step up and be like the men in the movie.

I have not seen one woman come away with the thought that maybe if SHE tried to change and fulfil her God given roles maybe that wold encourage her husband to do the same. But no, we just judge and shake our heads at the men in our lives. I have only heard 2 guys say how much they liked the movie Courageous, just 2! But, I have lost count of how many sighing I wish my husband was more like that comments I've heard from the fairer sex!

I'm not saying that the men don't need to be reminded that they need to step up and become Godly sons, husbands and fathers, but I would like to see some pulpit banging and convicting movies for us women to do the same!

So, girls I am asking you to stop focusing on how the men in your lives could be better, we need to focus on fulfilling our rolls as Godly daughters, wives and mothers. That in my opinion is the best thing we could do to encourage and support our men. We have to first submit, put down and step away from the men's repsonibilites so they can pick them up and become the men we want them to be!

So, to wrap up this alarmingly long post, why am I not seeing the movie Courageous? First off, the message is not directed at me, I don't need to know how to be a better husband and father! Secondly, in my own small way, I'm protesting what I consider to be an unfair bias towards men, and will be focusing on fixing my MANY faults and problems and then after I'm perfect, we'll see about watching the movie! ;-)

Awkward and Awesome

~Awkward~

(First one is epically long, sorry!)

~First day of work in the new year and my car (okay, my parents car that they graciously let me drive....his name is Torrie! The car, not my parents.....) anywhoo, back to the story.

There I was, minding my own business, while waiting for the little girl I nanny (Natilie) to buckle herself in. I put the key in the ignition and then....nothing....not even a little purr, just an odd whir click sound. I frantically kept turning the key, willing it to start....it never did.....faith may be able to movie mountains, but not car engines apparently!

I called my Mom, trying not to cry, then just as I discover that I am not on my parents Triple AAA account, I look back and see that Nolan (one of the boys I nanny) had fallen asleep with a piece of chocolate in his hands....yeah, just picture that ladies.....and me with only one small pack of tissues that have been floating around in my purse and are more smushed then usable.....

Three hours and some frantic driving on my Moms part later.....Not only did she have to go and fetch my younger sister from a house she's watching so she can watch  my younger siblings while my Mom comes and helps me, she also has to get to the school before the tow truck driver, our triple AAA card will only work if the card holder is there, AKA my Mom!

All I did was wait....and wait...and wait....wait it gets better, I just didn't sit there pathetically and wait while my Mom ran around town like super woman saving me! I also was overcome by a sudden urge to pee(movie theaters and waiting do it to me every time I tell you!), so I think I should be applauded for my heroic efforts to not kill the two kids in the backseat, one chocolate covered, but also at not becoming incontinent and further embarrassing my self! And no, the thought of using the schools bathroom never did acure to me.....

One really long afternoon  later, the car only needed a new battery and yes, I did make it to a bathroom in time! ;-) 

~The strong and ever increasing desire I have to find some third party person that knows enough about my life so no explanation of events and who people are is needed, but is not close to my life as to be super involved and have a good old rant fest followed closely by a long cry on their shoulder..... *sigh*

~AWESOME~

~Torrie is up and running again!!!!!! I never knew just how thankful I was for a car that starts untill it woudn't!!

~My super awesome Mom, thank you for always being there and being super amazing on Tuesday with the whole car deal!!!!!

~Pinterest. IS. Awesome!!!! Maybe a little to awesome.....I have been getting better though, I'm down to only a few visits a day now!