Right from the get go, things were going wrong. I couldn’t find the parking pass, my car’s speedometer decided not to work (my 16 year old car that I JUST got fixed and now have spent close to $1,000 in the past few months for repairs just to have something break. AGAIN! Oy. We don’t have money to keep throwing away like this) so I had to rush to Mark’s car. At this point I was running late, but I could still make it on time with luck.

But oh, of course I don’t have good luck. It was raining hard, traffic was way worse than normal, meaning pretty dang horrible. Like, stopped horrible. Then, I finally make it to campus an hour later, but I’m so late there is no where to park! And I get lost trying to find a place to park. So I eventually find my way and park WAY far away and hustle through the rain with my handy zebra umbrella.

I finally get to my class 30 minutes late…and…no one was even in there. All that stress, worrying, and banging on my steering wheel screaming “GO!” for nothing. Though, I’m betting the entire campus was late today so I’m sure the teacher just left when no one showed up.

It just wasn’t a great start to my day, and the grumpiness stuck with me. I came home completely exhausted and with a headache, to make things worse. And, as I sat through my 4 classes (I would have 5 if my first wasn’t canceled), I felt this huge dread over me. I’m really, really not looking forward to this school year. I feel like I’m re-doing high school over again, just about every one of my classes I’ve already taken before.

1800 century English? Check. Spanish 2? Check. Algebra? Check.

Next semester will be the same way as well, re-doing what I’ve already done. I really, really hate this right now. The thing that is pulling me through is thinking about how I would regret it if I quit and how dang close I am to graduating. Half way there. I can do this. But man, I’m praying like crazy God will keep giving me the strength and courage to keep going.

The good news is that I know a few people in my classes, I picked really awesome teachers (except my Spanish guy. B-o-r-i-n-g, but it should be easy), and since I have had most of these topics it’s nothing “new” to me so it should be easy. And, when I get home we had steak and potatoes for dinner, which was especially yummy after not getting any lunch.

And now? I’m off to do absolutely nothing. My brain is tired.

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

And that’s only half of them.

Do you see that HUGE book? It’s seriously 3 inches thick. I’m praying that my English Teacher will have mercy and not make us carry that for every class. Holy moly. Or, better yet, that all my teachers have mercy. I’m sure all these books (plus the others) combined weigh more than I do, my little back cannot carry it all.

(And don’t even suggest a rolling book bag!)

I’m off to pack my (non-rolling) book bag.

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

Coming up this week:

1) I promise to update about our fun day at the beach.

2) Daddy O starts school tomorrow, I start school Tuesday.

And so, the school routine begins again. *sigh* The good news though is that by the grace of God and random luck, I was able to enroll into a woman’s studies course at the EXACT time I needed it! Meaning I didn’t have to switch my entire schedule around. This to me, is a sign that this is in fact the direction God wants to me to in. I prayed that if it was His will, He would allow a way. And He did. I’m also pretty excited about the class, so that’s a bonus, since all my other classes won’t be so interesting (math? Spanish? 1800 century English authors? Public Speaking? Gag).

So any way, I hope everyone had a great weekend and I’m sending my wishes for a wonderful week your way.

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

A note on my experience driving in a completely unknown area: Mapquest sucks. Thank God for signs! And cell phones! And great neighbors!

Tomorrow holds another day trip–to the beach! Since Mark and I couldn’t take a “real” vacation this year, we’re going to at least satisfy the beach urge a little bit with a nice day trip with Savannah and my siblings. It should be fun. I hope. A car full of kids, 2.5 hours away from home. I sure hope it goes smoothly.

Last time we were at this beach, Mark and I were fresh newly weds. *insert awing sigh here*

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

See, Coley (from Birth Mom Buds) and I have been working hard on redoing my adoption story show case site for the past few days and I just had to share it. If you’ve even been to the old one, you might remember it desperately needed updating. Not only were the graphics not so good (oh, how technology improves quickly), there were pictures not working, it was linked to my very first old blog, and it said I was still a senior in high school. Obviously, it had been awhile since I wrote it. In fact, it was just months after Kaylee was born.

But now! It’s beautiful again. However it’s not just beautiful in colors and pictures, but I re-wrote it as well. Some things I decided didn’t need to be shared that were in the old one (like names or family drama), and this time it includes more than just my adoption story and also focuses on how God worked in my life. If you’ve ever read my testimony some parts might sound familiar.

And? It was just so, so fun to play with scrapbooking supplies for days. A big thanks to Michelle at Little Dreamer Designs that so graciously let us use her “Loveable” collection for the project. And thank you, Coley, for all your hard work putting it all together :-)

Enjoy!

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

Actually, to be honest, this isn’t a “new” dream. Since my pregnancy and birth of Kaylee I’ve wanted to reach out to other young women. When I first started college I wanted to be a social worker, like the social worker I had throughout my pregnancy and post-placement. She was, and is, amazing. I loved the idea of helping other girls through something that I had already been through. I could be the counselor that had been there in their shoes and understood like no one else could. The problem was, I am shy. I can barely hold a conversation with my family members, let alone a stranger pregnant girl with raging hormones that doesn’t want to be in my office. It wasn’t what God called me to be, the job would be more than I could handle on a day to day basis.

After I made that realization, that’s when the writing passion kicked in even more and I moved to an English degree. Still, I get the urges often to do something to help others with my story and experiences. I have a feeling that God is moving me towards the Woman’s Studies area to do just that. To bind the gift of writing He’s given me with my heart to help others. I don’t know how He will use it, or when, but I feel that sense of purpose deep inside. It’s that purpose that is helping me actually feel excited about classes starting in a week (gulp). I’m even feeling the urge to volunteer some where. But where?

Again though, the issue will be hoping and praying that God will open a WS course at the right time for me to stay on track. Of course, as some one told me, God has always “had my back” with this sort of thing so if it’s His will, it will happen. I have faith in that and I’m excited to see how He will continue working in my life.

Also, I want to emphasize that this is not about me being a “man hater” *ahem, family of mine* I promise, I am not and will not be a “man hater.” I’m married to one of the best men there is and have a wonderful Dad who I could never hate. Just because some men are creeps, I realize that that doesn’t make all men creeps. Just like not all Woman’s Studies students are against men. It’s a stereotype. My goal is simply to learn more about women.

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

(Don’t worry I won’t go too crazy for the big Two-One.)

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

-Savannah found Mark’s energy gum and decided to have a piece (Go ahead, laugh with me)

-She fought sleep until at least 9:30 last night (her bed time is 8pm).

-She then woke up at 1am WIDE EYED and ready to play.

-I used my stern Mommy voice too many times in my frustration and exhaustion.

-Slammed some doors, too.

-I tried everything, nothing worked.

-So, at 3:30am I did the ultimate bad Mommy thing: Went back to my own bed and turned off the monitor.

-I spilled orange juice this morning (Do you know how sticky that stuff is?)

-I look and feel like crap.

-My face is breaking out worse than it has in a long time (Will I ever grow out of acne?)

-Dude, I’m tired.

-And very, very, very grumpy. I’m not used to this sleep issue stuff anymore.

The Things That Make This Day a Tiny Bit Easier:

-Savannah let us sleep in until 8:15am.

-She’s not whiny today.

-Tomorrow is Friday, which means one more day and I’ll have help to maintain my sanity.

-I got to take nice, long, hot shower by myself (a rarity these days)

-Yup, that’s about all the sunshine in my stormy day.

I think I’ll go take a nap now.

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

Just another reason I love writing, it helps me share things I struggle to express in person.

Keep using my blog for Your glory, Lord!

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.

I decided to make this hot plate, (ya know, for at dinner time when you don’t want to hurt your table with your bowl of steamin’ hot mashed potatoes) but it can be simply displayed as well. It was done at one of those local pottery painting places (You really should take your kids and go have fun!). I chose the pink and brown because it matched their wedding colors.

So it serves 3 purposes: 1) To be a hot plate or just look pretty. 2) Remind Bre of me. And most importantly, 3) Remind Bre and Aaron what love and marriage is all about and what it takes to keep a healthy marriage going. Love for each other, living for each day, laughing with each other, trust, and lots of praying together.

Hope you enjoy it, Bre! May it bring you the reminder you may need on those rough days, and joy on your most joyous days with Aaron. I love you!

©2008 O Momma Writes. All Rights Reserved.