Lately

...I've been logging into Blogger, opening up a new post, and staring a the blank screen with not a clue where to start. Therefore, this post is likely to be even less organized than usual, but at least it's here.

Hannah and Audrey have been taking up a ton of my time lately. They always do, but it seems more true in the past couple weeks. Nick walked around the corner of the kitchen today to find Audrey pulled up on the high chair. I'm not ready for this, I tell ya. I'm already missing my tiny baby. It doesn't last long enough. And yet, I'm also looking very much forward to a new stage of life. About this time with Hannah, I got pregnant again. Therefore, from here on out, we are in uncharted territory in our marriage. It's been three years this summer since I've not been either pregnant, or had a baby under 8 months old.

Hannnah learns new words every five minutes, it seems. She remembers everything. This week she has started saying "stupid!" when she gets frustrated. Who does that? I'm sure I don't know. :) I guess we need to start watching our words a little more around here.

Today we found a house that might work to move into. To make a long story short, if it works out, we will have the 180 Accounting office in the back part of the house. Nick will work from home, we will therefore have some help with the rent, and we will have the yard of our dreams in a location I never would have dreamed we could afford. Please keep us in your prayers. We still need a renter for our townhome before we can move. Thankfully, if we have enough favor with this new landlord, he may be willing to hold the property for us until the warm weather coaxes out people who want to move here.

The warm weather... What a glorious day it was today. This kind of weather is the reason people move to Colorado Springs. We wait all year for it, and then it lasts three months. Every summer makes the long winter worth it though. Somehow. Somehow the sunshine makes every thing better.

A week from Wednesday we're heading down to Phoenix to see my best girlfriend Stephanie graduate from college. Thanks to the fact that we found $78 tickets, all four of us get to go. We haven't had a "real" vacation where we went anywhere but Nebraska since our honeymoon. I can hardly wait. A 2 hour plane ride with the girls will be interesting, but I think if we are prepared enough with food, toys, etc., we should do fine. I haven't seen Steph since Hannah was a baby. We met at Bible school and were inseparable that year. We have managed a long-distance friendship - fairly well, I might add - for nearing 8 years now.

I have realized in the past few weeks that I have a habit. It's now in the process of being broken, but with all the things we've been through in the past couple years, negativity has set in. Have you ever thought about what percentage of your thoughts was negative? Worry, insecurity, discouragement...far too much of my thought time has been spent on these lately. I really do believe that being happy is a decision. I'm not sure it's as much an act of the will as it is a result of the patterns that you choose in your thought life. For example, there are many things to focus on that are negative in life, but no matter how bad things are, there are always good things too. Focusing your energy on those blessings has got to have a different effect than focusing your energy on the hard stuff. This is as far as I have gotten, but I'm determined.

Another week begins tomorrow. I can't believe how short the weekends are. This one will be full of trips to the park, playing in the sandbox that Hannah got for her birthday, a trip to Denver, and lots of sunshine. Alright, time for Nick to put in a couple hours of work before bed.