Listening:  Just finished listening to Francis Chan talk all about Revelations 1.  I listened to his complete overview yesterday and it gave me the sweats.  I did like it, but there’s still this semi daunting feeling because, ummmmm, it’s flippin’ Revelations.  We shall see.  I do love the way he is breaking everything down because I think no amount of my own personal research would have come out as clear as his.  I hardly ever do a complete chapter in one sitting, but loved today.

Drinking:  Water.  My usual.  I am headed to Georgia bright and early tomorrow morning for another Created For Care weekend and I’ve already decided I’m grabbing Chickfila for lunch with a coke.  We’ve been on an eating out hiatus.  Do you know how much money it costs for a family of 7 to eat out…even somewhere like Chickfila or Sonic or McDonalds?!?!?  A small fortune.  Anyways, I haven’t had Chickfila since October and feel like I might be losing my salvation over it.  Exodus 20:13 says “You shall not murder and must eat Christian chicken at a minimum of every 2 weeks.”  I mean, Chickfila is biblical.

Eating:  Nothing, but still dreaming about Chickfila.

Feeling:  All the feels.  Lately I’ve been the biggest cry baby about my kiddos.  I cried in my Bible journaling class on Saturday when I was talking about a certain entry pertaining to them.  I really am just so thankful I get to mother these small humans even though I don’t always treat them with gratitude.  My attitude can be crap.  This parenting gig is hard as hell, but my heart wants to explode with gratefulness for this journey.

Today I was mailing in our first set of paperwork for our Swaziland trip along with our first payment of $250 each.  Harper was sitting at $81.88 for her fundraising so far. (one of her cousins gave Harper $1.88 of her very own money…cue more tears.)  You guys, I boohoo-ed this morning when she received 2 random paypal donations from sweet blog readers putting her at $266.88.  I wrote her check this morning which such peace and assurance in Him.  I still choke up thinking about the kindness and love these 2 ladies poured out onto my girl.  I told her this morning about the donations and she just couldn’t believe it.  She came over and grabbed me tight around the neck while I cried.  Ha.  I’m obviously completely emotionally stable.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE she is getting to see and experience this kind of support, kindness, love and generosity.  Praying these moments take up residence in her heart and the ripple effect spills over into her own actions.

(photo cred: Shots By Cheyenne)

Weather:  Rainy and cold.  Completely un-matching my sunshine feeling thankfulness today.

Wanting:  Yesterday was Waiting Wednesday…I’m clearly terrible for actually executing this on the correct day of the week…but we are sharing about this little guy again because truthfully he didn’t get too many inquiries and you guys, we want a family for this kid.  We want to share with you about his awesomeness and then we want you to share with your people and maybe if we work collectively together, we can find this sweet boy his forever family.  Please join us in praying over his crazy special life.

**Meet “Shaefer” He is a sweet 8 year old little boy currently in an orphanage with an AWAA partnership. He has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. His file notes high muscular tension of both upper limbs. He received surgery for partial stripping of the left carotid artery on Oct 24 2012 and recovered well. He is receiving rehabilitation. His caretakers describe him as active, ready to smile, and outgoing! His file is special focus which means a family at any stage in the process can pursue him as their son. Please call (800) 429-3369 or email china@awaa.org to learn more about Shaefer.**

Needing:  A few gifts.  I am crazy excited about going back to Created For Care tomorrow for so many, many reasons, including the shopping.  I loved last month’s vendors and I’ve made my list for some gifts I need to pick up.  Hello no shipping!  You can read about C4C vendors HERE.  I will be there again solo and I feel it’s highly unlikely I will see my cousin Karen again (although that would be awesome).  Familiar faces are nice…they make you feel comfortable and like you belong.  Feel free to come say Hi…I’d love to meet you.

Thinking:  About our house…and spring because of those crepe myrtles from last spring 🙂  We’ve been here for 10 years now and it’s totally what America has coined a “starter home”, but man, man oh man, has it been just what we needed and even more.  It’s a mansion in world comparison.  We are rich in the eyes of the world.  I do not ever want to forget that.  Our house might appear old and small to some and we might be slightly busting it’s seams, but there is still room and I am so grateful for this place.

Enjoying:  Still with these chips.  I can’t quit them and I never want to.  They own my heart and I don’t even like sweet potatoes.  They make me swoon with their perfect sweet to salty blend and crazy crunchiness.  Crunchy is part of my love language.  I like making myself feel as if I am eating healthy even though I’m sure they are terrible, but, I mean, come on…they are made of sweet potatoes which are a root vegetable which must mean I am getting a full dose of my daily vegetables…minus all that fried oil nonsense.  And “simple truth” practically means organic, except it doesn’t.  Cough, cough.

Tomorrow is Friday party people.  The weekend is upon us.

Happy Thursday.

Listening:  Silence.  It’s actually 10 o’clock on Monday night, but this will publish Tuesday morning.  Josh Kelley is already asleep which is unheard of, but my brain will not turn off so here I sit…alone…in the dark…in the silence.  It’s a little eery and yet not.

Eating:  Nothing.  Again 10pm.  I did however make a million white chocolate chip brownies this morning.  Super easy…mix up your favorite chocolate brownies and then throw in white chocolate chips.  When you give things titles with capitalized letters like White Chocolate Chip Brownies they sound way more fancier and profesh than they really are.  Try it…you’ll see.

Drinking:  Water.  All day, err day.  I recently left my water bottle at a friends house and it seriously threw me totally out of whack until I got it back.  So weird.  I’m clearly not a normal functioning human.

Wearing:  Pjs.  AKA the same shirt I wore all day and sweats pants.

Laura Kelley Fun Fact #56:  I have no PJ shirts.  The tee I wear that day is 99.9% likely to be the shirt I sleep in.  And because I only wear tees this is actually more like 100% likely.

Feeling:  A tad overwhelmed.  School gets out Wednesday and sometimes I just let life kind of take over and I forget to ask God to keep the peace in my head and heart.  My mind won’t quit tonight because I just have this overwhelmed/anxious feeling from all the feelings.  I keep taking deep breaths and counting to 4 (like I saw on Sesame Street this morning.  No lie.  I figured it was worth a shot) and telling God to take it all.

Weather: It rained all day and was just the perfect temp for capri sweats, a tee and cardi.

Wanting:  A home renovation in certain areas of our house 🙂  Our house is really old.  And we’ve lived here almost 10 years and have only replaced floors.  Sometimes we feel like it’s starting to fall apart on us…broken kitchen cabinets and drawers, tub that won’t hold water, broken tiles, etc etc etc.  This morning our sweet plumber came and fixed not one, but two toilets and our kitchen sink.  I wanted to grab him around the waist and give him a giant bear hug.  I wish you could have seen the lego contraption he pulled from the boys toilet…we thought for sure it was clogged by a Luke Skywalker action figure.  Turns out Luke made his way all the way through, but the giant lego contraption Amon flushed did not.  It made my day.  So even though I would love for some other things to be fixed and maybe Ty Pennington to come swooping in for an easy and quick overhaul, I’m so grateful…grateful for this house and the people who fill it to the brim.

Needing:  This shirt.  It’s so true.

And this is what it looks like when I do a workout at home.  Cracks. Me. Up.  They are all going to be jacked by August.

Thinking:  About how I probably need  to sell our David Gray tickets at Fontanel in June.  I realized tonight David wasn’t the best choice in celebrating the big 12 year anniversary with Josh Kelley.  He’s not a David Gray fan and even though he’d never say “let’s not go” when he thought I really wanted to go, I realize now I pretty much twisted his arm into going.  I know I can figure out a better way to celebrate with him.

(photo cred the amazing Cheyenne of Shots by Cheyenne)

Enjoying:  Reading all your The Gifter Project stories.  Thank you so much for sharing your important humans with us.  Your stories are important and valued and I just feel so honored you would share a piece of them with us.  We have not started sifting and getting ideas together just yet.  We finish up school this week and then we’re going to get down to the free art making.  I can’t wait.

Here’s to Tuesday morning…even though I’m writing this late Monday night!

Happy Tuesday people!

Listening:  A little old school Of Monsters and Men.  My Head Is An Animal is one of my most favorite albums.

Eating:  Nothing.  Buuuuuuut, Chicken Enchilada Soup is in the crockpot for dinner tonight.  And I’m making Best Ever Buttermilk Pie for a special birthday guy and car rider line workers this week.  Sweets are my love language…forever and ever amen.

Drinking:  Water.  Always.

Wearing:  Oh geez.  Sweat pants and a tee.  Yesterday I might have worn the same tee I wore on Easter all day…and slept in all night…again.  Hey, it’s hard, busy times around these parts.  Changing clothes is a dang luxury.  If you ever see me out show me grace.

Wanting:  Apparently lots of people who are subscribers to my blog via email are not getting their email updates.  I don’t know why.  Honestly I’m just a little lost when it comes to my blog these days and would like a magic blog fairy to wave her magic wand and fix it all.  The fairy might be a dude too…I don’t know.  I can’t keep up.  I’m trying to figure out why it’s not sending the emails to subscribers.  Apologies for the glitchy situation.  In the mean time you can totally re-subscribe by using the “subscribe” button in the right side bar.  Just put in your email address and hit “SUBSCRIBE”.  ———>

Needing:  To do my Bible study.  Romans has been kicking my tale.  The struggle is real people.  I present Exhibit A…a text exchange between a friend and I.  I never saw the ups and downs of Romans coming.  And yes we do love us some good emoji usage.

Thinking:  Last week we finished up Chapter 4 in You and Me Forever and I cannot quit thinking about this entire chapter.  The whole thing, but these excerpts in particular:

Picture a nice house with a white picket fence and your happy family lounging inside.  Now imagine a full-scale war unfolding just a few blocks away.  Your friends and neighbors are fighting for their lives while you are remodeling your kitchen and hanging your new big screen TV.  You have contractors installing better windows so you can tune out all the noise.  It is a pretty pathetic picture, but it’s an appropriate comparison for the lives that so many Christian couples have chosen. They are ignoring Jesus’ mission in hopes of enjoying life.  Don’t fall for it.  Real life is found in the battle. pg96-97

So what’s the command?  Make disciples.  Our lives should revolve around these two words.  Whether as individuals or as couples, our mission is to make as many disciples as we can during our time on earth.  This takes priority over everything else…The command should dictate everything about your life: where you live, where you work, where you spend your money, how you spend your time-everything! pg98

We often hear the phrase “God first, family second” in church circles.  While we say it a lot, I don’t see how this phrase is actually impacting anyone.  Think about it.  What if you were to switch to a “family first” mentality?  What actions would really have to change? pg117

Enjoying:  Honestly, well, Josh Kelley and I introduced a little something called Whammy Eggs to his family egg hunt this year.  Every year each individual Kelley family fills a plastic bag full of eggs and then we let all the kiddos hunt at Josh’s parents house.

Josh Kelley Fun Fact #3:  He’s the youngest of 4…and everyone is married…and has all these kiddos…so his parents currently have 10 grandkids.

Anyways, this year as we were stuffing our eggs at home Josh suggested we put a burnt out candle in one of them.  And then it all went down hill.  Old banana slices leftover from breakfast…sure.  A popped balloon…why not.  Gravel…yep.  Empty candy wrappers…right on.  A hickory nut…ummmm, okay.  A nub of sidewalk chalk…yes.  Things might have gotten a little weird, but we could not stop cracking up.  And now, every time I think about the kids opening them and yelling “Oooooh an old banana.” or “Hey I got a popped balloon.” I just re-crack up all over again.  You have my permission to pin this…I mean…it’s pretty genius…evil genius…muhuhahahahahaha!

Happy Tuesday!

I am currently…

Listening:  Amon talk.  He’s just chatting away with himself.  I’ve got no clue what he’s saying, so I just nod and chat right back to him like we’re having a full on legit conversation.  He’s kind of the funniest kid around.

Eating:  I’d like to say I’m eating a cookie, but alas, I’m eating a handful of pistachios.  I’ve really been working on eating more healthy whole foods.  Not going to lie though, this weekend, I’m totally having a cookie.

Drinking:  A Shakeology shake.  What the what you ask?  I know.  I signed up to participate in this 21 day fit challenge and it starts Monday.  And this big bag of Shakeology mix came with it.  I chose chocolate.  So far it’s okay tasting.  I’m really weird about drinking certain liquids…I have weird liquid texture issues.  This makes me sound like the weirdest person in the world.  Goh.  I’m such a dork.  I typically work out in the mornings and try to eat some protein right afterwards, so this is subbing for my protein.  Our group is being led by this super sweet lady named Marta over at Four Fit Sisters who I learned about from Meg.  Do you see what the internet does 🙂  I like it.  I’ve never done anything like this so I’m pretty excited to participate and have accountability and learn and then report back to you guys.

Wearing:  Still my workout clothes.  And I smell bad.  And need a shower.

Feeling:  Good.  It just feels like a good day.  The boys are playing legos and need to do their Valentines today and Amon has therapy and we’re watching one of our favorite little girls this afternoon.  I’m working on lots of key fobs in between canvas stages.  There are Valentine goodies to get ready and friends day preparations.  Lots of things to do, but they are all fun things.  Feeling like it’s going to be a great day today.

By the way…got in my huge supply of key fob materials, so if you were wanting to order key fobs, I’m taking orders now.  Shoot me a message HERE if you’d like to place an order.

Wanting:  Some time alone in our house.  Ha.  Can I get an amen from any one else out there who can relate?  Any other moms of small human toddler children who are into everything under the sun?  It’s so true.  A vacation would be awesome, but I think I’d rather ship my kids off for just a bit and enjoy some time alone…in our own house.  Just think of all the possibilities?  Just think about what all I would get done?  Just think about how I could go pee without fear or worry of what I might find when I finish.  Ahhhh, heavenly.

Needing:  New socks.  My socks would bring about laughter.  Lots of holes.  And these are the socks I run in.

Laura Kelley Fun Fact #82:  I continue to go sockless even in winter.  I wear my TOMS 96.3% of the time.  Always sockless.  I have two pairs.  And they stink.  Bad.  And I’ve washed them multiple multiple multiple times.

I may have just decided to change my “need” from socks, to a new pair of TOMs.

Thinking:  Well now I’m thinking about how I probably over share on the inter webs 🙂  But hey, we need to know we’re not alone right?  We need to know life isn’t good, great, grand and wonderful all the time.  We need to know that other people and woman struggle and make mistakes.  We need to know things like how I have socks full of holes and smelly feet.

I originally was thinking about Harper…before my thoughts go high-jacked.  I just really like her.  Don’t get me wrong, I actually like all my kids…not 100% of the time though 🙂  I remember when my SIL Becky was about to have my niece she was nervous and I told her…don’t worry.  You’ll be great.  You won’t like her all the time, but you’ll always love her.  Ha.  Anyways…thoughts…high-jacked again. Harper and I just connect on a different level…lady to lady…artist to artist…color lover to color lover.

For Valentines she opted not to buy a pack from Target, but make her own.  And I let her totally do her thing.  Part of me wants those super cute, momma made valentines, but that’s not Harper and so I chose to let go.  She made each of her Valentines all on her own…each uniquely designed for the friend in mind.  Each one different and unique and special and I love that about her.  And today was crazy hair day.  She asked for rainbow hair.  Of course she did.  So rainbow hair it was…courtesy of my chalk pastels.  She makes life brighter.

Enjoying:  Running.  Last January I decided to start setting monthly mile goals for myself and I actually stuck with it for all of 2013.  Now, some months had lower miles than others and I had a few months when I didn’t make my goal, but that’s okay.  I was still making goals and trying my best to reach them.  I wanted to continue to do the same for 2014 and I’m seeing more and more how much I really do enjoy running.  It just clears my head and makes me feel better over all.  Last month was a great month and I logged almost 70 miles.  This month I want to hit 70 or maybe even 75.  I’m getting after it hard.

We shall see.  Are you setting any walking/running goals this month or maybe you set a goal for the year?  I’d love to hear about them.

Well if that wasn’t a post full of random thoughts and run on sentences and incorrect grammar, I’m just not sure what is.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my crazy straight from my brain to the tips of my fingers thoughts.  You guys are amazingly nice!

Happy Wednesday.