Friends?

Friends. How do you make new friends? How do you maintain current friendships, especially when you have small children and can barely get any time for yourself or your husband? What do you do when you feel the "cold shoulder" from someone you really want to be friends with? How do you not become jealous when others are having great friendships? Why does this feel so hard?

This past weekend, some good friends from the Cities came and visited. We had a great time playing games and hanging out while our children played together. Brad and Andy got to have a game day with some guys from our church, and Dacia and I got to hang out and go shopping for a few hours Saturday morning. It was an all-around great weekend! I felt refreshed and energized and loved.

But over the last couple of days, I've really began to question whether I have any genuine friends here in Brainerd. We've been SO BUSY that we haven't had any other couples over in months, and we haven't fully connected with our new Thursday night small group. Brad and I can't attend our Sunday school class, and even though we've gone to some events, we still sometimes feel like we're on the outside looking in. And I've been emailing a certain friend, desperately wanting to have our families have dinner together, but feel like I'm getting the cold shoulder from her. I also hear about other ladies from my BSF or MOPS groups that get together weekly with their girlfriends, and I so want that too!

Why is it SO HARD to make and maintain friendships? We've been here 3 1/2 years, and some days I feel like we're never going to find true friends.

Maybe it's just today. I have a TON of grad work to get done by Saturday. (I've SO procrastinated...and it's SO my own fault!) Besides Andy and Dacia, another friend, Andrea, was visiting just last night from the Cities as well. Maybe their visiting is just a sharp contrast with what I had in the Cities to what I just haven't felt yet here in Brainerd. Maybe I just feel stuck. Maybe I just need to have a pity party for myself, and then get refocused on the friends I DO have.

I just don't know. But I do hope I feel better tomorrow, because, right now, I'm feeling pretty lonely...

10 inches...gone forever!

As you can tell by the above picture, my hair was getting a bit out of control. When one has a baby, a 2 year old, a very busy husband, graduate school, MOPS, BSF, youth retreats, the list goes on and on...there's not much time for doing one's hair. I decided that it had to go!

So I spent a wonderful hour hanging out with Krista (a 2005 graduate from our youth group) and she worked her wonders. I've never had hair this short before, but I really love it. It's easy to do, takes just a minute to blow dry, and is out of reach from my nursing son who LOVES pulling anything he can get his little hands on! My neck is rather cold though...I need to invest in some turtle-necks and scarves...but I'm really enjoying it.


It's crazy how something as simple as a hair-cut can make you feel. I love running into people who I haven't seen since before Christmas and hear them comment on my hair. I love whooshing my new, cute bangs out of my eyes and pulling them behind my ears. I love that I don't have to pull my long mane up into a pony-tail every day.

I know that I haven't made enough time for myself in 2007. So many other people and things (and even myself) have stopped me from connecting daily with God and making time to be refreshed and refueled. I've had some messed up priorities and have tried to fix our insane schedule in my own power. I've had some bad attitudes and complained and sulked way too much. And many of my shortcomings could have been avoided if I had just made the time for myself, for my husband, and for time to be at the feet of my Savior.

But, like my hair, 2007 is gone. But I have a fresh start...a clean slate. And I praise God that His mercies are new every morning...and that "the years the locusts have eaten" will not be a complete loss.

I just don't want any more years to go by with the attitude of "simply surviving," but I want one that is truly living and enjoying each and every day.

A Christmas to remember...or cry about!

"We're NEVER doing this again!" was the most popular quote from this year's Christmas holiday. Even though I can totally laugh about our crazy adventure now, it was NOT a very fun time.

Now I could bore you all with the specifics of our little adventure, but it's getting late and I would be up all night if I wrote out every little detail. Here's just a few of the highlights! (Don't worry...there are some good ones too!)

* Sammy threw up in the car on the way to the Twin Cities the night before our flight. Luckily we were close enough to home to turn right, clean the car, and care for our sick, little girl.

* The roads were TERRIBLE the next morning as we made our way to the airport. Traffic was completely stopped near Albertville.

* We weren't able to park our car at the EFCA headquarters (for free) because we were afraid we were going to miss our flight (American Airlines ASSURED us it was on-time)...so we ended up with a $96.00 parking bill!

* We waited for HOURS in line and at the terminals. Since we were bumped, we didn't originally have any seats together (until we begged people to move for us...which most of them did very willingly).

* When we eventually left Chicago for N.C. (at midnight), we were bumped to first class! YAHOO!

* We arrived in N.C. at 3:00 a.m....about 7 hours after we were supposed to.

* Once we were in N.C. children and adults started getting sick every 2 days...Sammy decided (in the season of giving) to share her germs.

* It was a beautiful 60-65 degrees while we were there! YAHOO!


* Sammy got to play A LOT with her cousins! YAHOO!


* As we were going through security on the way home, Caleb's overall buckles set off the alarm and ALL FOUR OF US were padded down by security officers!

* We were SUPPOSED to leave at 9:20 a.m., but our first flight got cancelled, and after being moved to Midwest Express and eventually Northwest, we left N.C. at 6:00 that evening...which meant we didn't get into Minneapolis until after 8:30 p.m....

* We enjoyed a quick visit with good friends before we made the final leg of our journey (a 2 hour drive) back home.

Even though we are SO GLAD to be home, it really was wonderful to see Brad's family. The boys have such a great time together, and I do really enjoy hanging out with my sisters-in-law. Since we all live so far apart, it truly is a blessing when we all get to see one another.

I just pray the next time we get together that there's a little less waiting in line, less sickness, and flights that are actually on-time...