Christy and Sam: The Love Story - Part 1

I wanted to take a break from writing about the kids for a couple of posts and go back to the very beginning of our family and tell the story of how Sam and I fell in love. There would be no Jane and Atlas without Christy and Sam (and God of course.) I haven't really written out our love story. I would really love to put it down on paper or digital paper at least to remember and read it for myself. I hope you enjoy it too.

We met

I decided to work at Camp Tejas, a Christian summer camp/retreat center, the summer of 2008. I had been going to Camp Tejas for a weekend every summer since I was 3. I always thought of it as my fun place not a work place. So the decision to work at Tejas was definitely a God thing. At that point of my life I was very fearful of anything new and working at a summer camp where everything I would be doing would be new, including the place I would live, was way out of my comfort zone. I felt strongly that God told me, "Some things will be hard, other things will be easy, but it will all be good!" That gave me the courage to go work at Camp Tejas and be assured that it was going to be good for me even if there was a lot of learning and difficult things that came along with it.

Sam had recently moved back to the US after being a missionary kid in Kenya for 6 years. He had gone to college for a semester or so and decided it wasn't for him. His parents were still missionaries in Kenya, so he didn't exactly have anywhere to go for the summer. Someone he met when he lived in Kenya was now working at Camp Tejas full time and told him it would be a great place to work and live for the summer. He decided sure, why not.

The day we met and our first picture together! (Look for the non-green shirts)

So we met in May of 2008 when we were both 19, but other than maybe a couple of small, pretty much meaningless, conversations (because neither of us can remember them) and becoming Facebook friends, we barely noticed each other. I always thought Sam was funny and Sam always thought I was pretty, but nothing even close to love at first sight. (which neither of us believe in anyway) We both a great time working at Tejas, but totally missed out on getting to know each other that summer. That was about it for our first summer of working together. Very uneventful. We were both distracted by other people that summer, but nothing came of it.

Summer Camp season ended in August and we went back to our regular lives. I went back home to my parent's house and worked as shelving clerk at my local library (a job I still look back on with fondness, maybe one day I will get to work at a library again.) Sam went to Dallas (his hometown) and lived with his older brother.

We became friends

I wasn't sure if I was going back to Tejas to work the summer of 2009. I loved my library job and it was a job that I interviewed twice for and was hard to get. If I left now I probably wouldn't get to work at a library again for a long time, if at all. I got a call from my boss at Tejas asking me to come back as a supervisor for the 2009 summer. After much thought and prayer I decided Tejas was more important to me than my library job. 

Sam began to feel like the life he had been living in Dallas didn't have a future and wasn't very meaningful. He started working at Tejas again in March during the retreat season as an intern and continued to work for the summer of 2009.

Working together and starting to be friends

So here we were back together again at Tejas and now I was Sam's boss. :D During the 2008 summer I was a regular SMT(Summer Ministry Team worker) and I worked as a lifeguard and in recreation, Sam was a Team Leader and mostly worked in the kitchen and and some recreation. So he was an expert in the kitchen and I was supposed to supervise the kitchen now with never having worked in it before... I was very intimidated. I worked in the kitchen on a few retreats before the summer started and because Sam was there as an intern I learned from him and he taught me the ways of the kitchen. The first week of the summer I was assigned to supervise the kitchen, Sam and his team were assigned to work the kitchen along with another team. Their team colors were Green and Purple. We called ourselves team Barney. :) The Food Service manager of the camp said we were the best combination of people to work the kitchen. All of us loved working together. You can tell!

Good times!!

Green and Purple teams, AKA Team Barney!!

Sam was so nice to me during that time. He kept me sane with his knowledge of the kitchen and random funniness. But I still didn't think of him in a romantic way at all. He was just a friend. He felt the same way about me. It had taken us a year after we met to become friends, but it finally happened!

Working the top of the wall together

The summer of 2009 was one of the greatest times of my life. Such an awesome group of people. So much fun was had! Many friends were made that I still have to this day. I thought to myself why would I want to leave?? I didn't have a job or school to go back to, so why not!? So I decided to be an intern during the retreat season. Sam didn't have anything that he would rather do at the time, so he stayed on as an intern after the summer as well.

Being an intern during retreat season is pretty different than working the summer. During the summer you are working with about 60+ other people split up into about 10 teams, all rotating jobs through the summer. There is only one team during retreat season, the interns. There were 5 of us in the fall and we worked all the jobs and we did it together. You basically have no choice, but to get to know each other pretty well.

Remodeling a conference room

One thing got in the way of me thinking of Sam as anything other than a friend at the beginning of our internship was that I had my first boyfriend right after the summer of 2009 was over. He had worked at the Camp the last two summers as well. It didn't last long. After about a month we realized we weren't right for each other and broke up. It took me a couple months to feel over it. Not because I was heart broken or wanted to get back together or anything, but because it felt like such a failure to me. I guess I really wanted/expected my first relationship to be the one that worked. I was not one to rush into a relationship or did I think lightly of it. I mean I was 20 before I had my first boyfriend. God was good to protect me and kept my heart fully in tact.

God sees me, God knows me, God loves me.

One day, I read some passages that reminded me that God wanted to romance me. Specifically Zephaniah 3:17. As soon as I finished reading, I looked down and there was a beautiful lone flower right in front of me. I needed that. I thought "Ok God, I hear you. I will focus on you." That was just the beginning of many beautiful flowers and sunsets that I felt were meant for me. I had always wanted to get married, but I at times I had let it become more important than my relationship with God.

SOOO many beautiful sunsets.

Once I saw the break up as helping me understand better what I wanted/needed in a guy and that it allowed me to deepen my relationship with God, I didn't see it as a failure anymore and was able to move on completely. Now refocused with God as my most important relationship, I didn't even feel the need to look at guys in a romantic way at all. I thought, "This will be the year of no boyfriends and not even any "crushes". I'm not going to let guys distract me! I mean there's only two guys my age here and I know I won't date either of them. They're my friends and that's all." God's like "Ok, now let me surprise you!"

Random beaver we found under a dock and named Doug

No one can convince me that God doesn't have a sense of humor. I remember there was this one time while I was still dating my first boyfriend, the interns and some weekend workers were sitting in the dinning hall talking after dinner. I was texting my boyfriend and he asked what we were doing. I texted "Oh Sam is just making everyone laugh like always." He responded with "Don't let him steal your heart!" I said "Haha! Very funny! You don't have to worry about that." Little did I know...

To be continued...

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God in your midst,
 The Mighty One will save; 
He will rejoice over you with gladness, 
He will quiet you with his love, 
He will rejoice over you with singing.

Moments of Motherhood

This post is a compilation of random thoughts or dilemmas I've had recently.

Oh motherhood! It's crazy but it's also the best!

I'll start off with my thought that Jane could have some potential to be a comedian. Here's why. She loves to be the center of attention. And nothing makes her happier than when she is making people laugh. Also, when she gets in trouble (and it drives me crazy!) she will just laugh at me almost every time! I will be trying to explain to her in a very serious and stern voice how what she did was not acceptable and she just laughs in my face. I don't think she is trying to spite me or thinks disobedience is funny. I think it's how she deals with uncomfortable situations, she doesn't know what else to do, so she laughs about it.  I guess it's better than lashing out and getting angry. :)

My little comedian

The other day I had finally gotten both kids down for their afternoon nap and was about to get some work done and then I heard some rustling.... What is that??? Then I see a huge roach crawling across my hallway. 😬 Bah!!! I hate roaches by the way, ask my husband. It's pretty much the only thing that makes me turn into a screaming little girl and I then proceed to jump up on the nearest elevated surface. 😅 Anyway, I thought, "How am I going to kill this thing and not make a huge racket that will wake up both kids?!" I can't let it get out of sight! If I do then I will be paranoid until I find it and kill it. As quickly as I can I find the roach spray and go back to find it. It hasn't gotten far, thank goodness! I killed it with the spray and then used the opportunity to mop my floor. Crisis averted!

Jane wanted to pretend to nap next to Atlas

Why is it that as soon as Atlas is napping and it's Jane's nap time she wants to do everything I've been asking her to do all day. She finally wants to play with her puzzles instead of watch a movie or she'll run off and entertain herself with her toys, while I lie there on the couch and think to myself, "That is exactly what I wanted you to do this morning, so I could get some work done..." Finally I get her to calm down and lie down on the couch with me and she is just about to fall asleep and then Atlas starts crying. Uggg... Some days nothing seems to go right. But then I nurse Atlas and he falls back to sleep and Jane falls asleep right afterwards and they both end up taking a great nap. So when I was stressing out about things not going just right, it was for absolutely no reason. I hope I can remember this lesson for the future and roll with the changes in schedule that having two kids brings at times. It will help me enjoy every day more.

Don't let worrying about the little things
make you miss moments like this.

One of the best feelings in the world is having your kids cuddled up on each side of you and sleeping peacefully. I wish I could bottle it up and keep it with me and open it when I need a pick me up. When everything is wrong with the world for that one moment everything feels right.

I think this was near the end of a 3 hour nap for both of them.

I hear a lot of parents say, "I just need a break from my kids." And then, as soon as they aren't with their kids, they say they miss them! I'm not one of those parents. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids! But when I get a break, I don't miss them. My husband and I enjoy the breaks we get, even if it's just one less kid than normal! I actually have a hard time understanding when parents say they miss their kids when it's only been less than a day since they have seen them last. When I know my kids are with someone that will take care of them and give them the attention they need, I barely think of them at all. Every so often it will feel strange when they are away, like something is missing. But it's not the same as missing them. Because I'm not wishing they were here instead of there, it's just different than my normal. Atlas hasn't been away from me longer than 30 minutes and Jane has never been away longer than 24 hours. Don't worry. I'm sure when they've been gone longer than a day or so I would start to miss them. ;) And when Jane comes home after a sleepover at grandma's house I am very happy to see her! And somehow she always looks so much older after just one day of not seeing her.

When did she grow up??

And how is he already outgrowing 6 month clothes!

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

Jane turns two!

Trying to get mom wet!

Jane is Two years old! She has grown so much. She has stayed as full of energy, excitable and smiley as ever. After playing with her second cousin, Colin, (who is 4) He said, "Jane is just too crazy for me!" I said "I don't blame you, she just gets so excited." He asked, "Why?" His mom replied, "She just loves life." He asked again "Why?" She said, "Because that's just the way God made her." Yep Jane loves life and that is the way God made her and I'm so glad. She makes life so much fun.

Playing with cousin Colin

She can be a challenge sometimes, like any toddler, but she is learning and responding to discipline. Most of the time when she gets in trouble it's because she can't quite control herself and let's her excitement get the best of her. When she is playing with Atlas she will get overwhelmed with excitement and either tries to pick him up or just gets too rough. She is confused as to how to make Atlas stop crying and will hit him when he's crying sometimes. Other times she'll tell him, "No, No whining!" Which is what she is told a lot. ;) Like I said she's learning. She can throw a fit like the best of them, but it normally doesn't last very long and they seem to be decreasing in number. I think it's because I won't give her what she wants until she calms down and asks nicely and sometimes she doesn't get what she wants at all if she throws a fit even if I was planning to give it to her otherwise.

"I do not want to wear those shoes!"

I don't always react to her bad behavior in a proactive way. I'm learning too. I thought I had left my anger problem behind me long ago, but man, does Jane bring it out of me. What I'm finding is if I stay calm and don't get angry at her disobedience it really helps me to have a clear head and react constructively instead of destructively. It scares me to think how easy it is for me to hurt my kids emotionally or physically by a quick reaction motivated by anger. For example, a couple of weeks ago Jane hit Atlas on the head while he was crying and I angrily pushed her away from him, which made her fall down and hit her head on her nightstand. I thought, "Great... now I have two crying children and one of them is my fault..." I was so disappointed in myself. Jane retreated to her bed and was crying under her covers. I felt terrible. I went over to Jane and told her I was sorry asked if she would forgive me. I then asked if she would tell Atlas she was sorry. (A word she learned quickly after Atlas was born). She did and we all gave each other hugs and kisses.

Hugs!

I was embarrassed by my overreaction. I didn't want anyone to know about it. After I reflected about it some more I thought "I don't know why I would worry about telling anyone about it. Nobody is a perfect mom and we all need to be more transparent with each other and encourage each other with our mistakes along with our successes." So here I am telling you all about my failings as a mother and I feel better because of it. It's too stressful to try to maintain the image of perfection. After all God didn't ask us to have a perfect looking life, he called us to serve him and others, do our best and ask for forgiveness when we fail. I think it's important for us as Christians to be transparent with others and not be hypocrites, because who likes a hypocrite? Most importantly, It turns people off from finding their Savior and that's not ok. Let's not be whitewashed tombs. Let's show everyone that we're just as messed up as anyone else and the only reason that there is any good in us and we're able to love life and anyone around us is by the grace of God and Jesus who is continually saving us from ourselves.

She LOVES the trampoline!

Now let me get off my soapbox and get back to talking about my little firecracker who is growing up way too fast! I went back and read my blog of Jane's first year and I thought it would be fun to continue with a summary of Jane's second year including her growth, firsts and favorites. :)

Those shoes look like they were made to go with that dress!

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs

1 Year Old: 18 1/2 lbs

2 Years Old: 25 1/2 lbs

Jane has always loved climbing in between these arches

She has never been a heavy weight partially because she won't sit still long enough to eat a big meal. She was that way when she was nursing. It didn't change when she stopped nursing and went to all table food and cows milk either. She's almost always moving when she's awake and I think it keeps her slender, but not too thin.

That's her swimsuit she's carrying around. :)

Height

Birth: 21 inches

1 Year Old: 28 1/4 inches

2 Years Old: 32 3/4 inches

Same dress as above. I love to watch her grow!

Jane has stayed pretty close to the middle on the percentiles of the average height for her age. I kinda feel like she'll be a petite person like myself, but who knows, she could end up being tall like her daddy. We'll have to wait and see!

Love that smile!

Her head has finally come to be pretty proportionate to the rest of her body. :)

Hangin out with Atlas

She has 15 (almost 16) teeth! That's a big change from the 3 teeth she had on her first birthday.

Firsts!

Jane asked her first "Why?" just the other day! Which I think is a pretty big deal. I know it is the first of countless more! My mom was taking Jane to my mom's parents house for a visit while I got to stay home and get a few things done with just one kid to worry about. They were about to leave and she said, "mommy go!" I said, "No, I'm staying home today." and she asked "Why?" Of course, I didn't have an answer that she could totally understand, so she said "Why?" again. I told her I needed to get somethings done and she soon left with no fussing, but probably a lingering "why" in her head. She knows more words than I can count even though I have trouble understanding one word from another sometimes, because so many sound similar. She will finally repeat words after me and can say at least 8 different colors pretty well! She will surprise me with words that she knows. Like when we were at my parents a few weeks ago she grabbed my hand and took me over to the side of the pool and said "Buoboo!" It sounded like a cross between bug and booboo. I asked her if she saw a bug, there were a bunch of mosquitoes over there because of the rain we had recently. She frowned and said it again. I asked if she got a booboo she said no. I asked my dad if he said anything to her about that area and he said he told her it was bamboo plants. OH! of course you were showing me the bamboo on the side of the pool. I had no idea she had ever heard that word, so I didn't expect her to be saying it! I've heard that two year olds learn about 5 new words a day. I believe it!

Steadly walking - 12 months

Big swing - 13 months

Running - 14 months

Falling asleep on the floor - 15 months

Video Game - 15 months

Anime! - 15 months

Ponytail - 16 months

Playing dress up - 17 months

Trip to the Library - 17 months

Pretending to talk on the phone - 18 months

Playing in leaves - 19 months

Washing the car - 20 months

Playing with dirt - 20 months

Sibling - 21 months

Tire swing - 21 months

Wearing mom's jewelry - 22 months

Toddler bed - 22 months

Swimming on her own - 23 months

Favorites

First time in a booster seat here.

Her favorite food is Mac & Cheese. Other favorites include, strawberries, hot dogs, pizza, cheetos, fruit snacks, ranch dressing, meatballs and marinara. She will eat a whole can of sliced olives if I let her.

Yay books!

Her favorite books seem to change on a weekly basis. Her current favorite is Creaky Old House. Other recent favorites have been Panda Club's Tree House, Dr Seuss ABC, October the Octopus, Berenstain Bears-Soccer Tryouts, Learn to Share, and Goodnight. She loves books and loves to read them in her bed with me or in the glider before bed.

Bah! I just love her hair in this photo.

Her favorite toy at the moment is hard to say... toys have never been a big thing with her. But she does like to play with her elephant train a lot and she's always liked her talking puppy and toy house. Running around on the driveway with her toy strollers was a favorite for a long time.

Watching Team Umizoomi

Her favorite TV show varies from time to time and has changed from Blues Clues to Daniel Tiger to Team Umizoomi and the most recent favorite Doc McStuffins.

Picking out Frozen!

Her favorite movie is undisputedly Frozen! She will pick it out time after time. She loves her Frozen bedding and any Frozen clothes she owns. Tangled is a distant second but she does like it a lot too because one week she said no to Frozen a few times and wanted to watch Tangled instead, but went back to Frozen the next week. She really liked Guardians of the Galaxy when she watched it the first time, but didn't sleep well that night and seemed scared, so we'll have to wait on those kind of movies for a while.

Look at those smiles!

Her favorite activity is to swim in Marmee and Pappaw's pool. Jumping on the trampoline takes second place.

She's gotten so good at jumping!

She continues to love people and is excited to try just about anything! She'll see someone doing something that interests her and start saying, "my turn, my turn, my turn!" She loves music and will sing and dance when it comes on. She is a girly girl and loves shoes, jewelry, purses and dresses. But she's kind of a tomboy too and loves to play anything that involves a ball and likes to play in the dirt. She still loves to be outside more than anything, but TV is becoming a big favorite and might watch it all day if I let her. She likes to play games on my iPod, but it's a special activity that she only gets to do when Atlas is nursing or when we're on a long car ride. She loves the park! In fact her biggest meltdown ever was when we had to leave the park one time. (most of the time she leaves without any problems.)

Climb, Jane, Climb!

It's so fun to watch Jane grow up! I'm continually trying to not wish her older or younger than she is and enjoy every age as it happens. I'm loving getting to watch her mature and learn something new everyday. It's amazing. So glad God blessed me with her and made me a mom. Happy 2nd Birthday girlie! We love you so much.

This is me attempting to get her to sit in the chair for a
picture...  I guess she's graduated to climbing trees!

She'll pose for a picture if her new horse, Max, is in
the chair instead. :)

Matthew 23:27-28

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.