Kristen Blog

Fun night with the family...and Kennedy was home to visit just in time! Christmas is exhausting!!  Any other mom's out there hearing my words of truth?!!  Presents for four kids, Christmas parties, family engagements, school and work events...we've managed to stretch this thing out through the whole month of December and then some.  And who, in the families, do you think is typically doing most of the work? Please...tell me I'm not alone!! I made the brilliant decision to take Jesse to the vet on the evening of the 23rd, since I have some down time, post resignation.  Now...you may wonder why taking my dog to the vet is noteworthy.  But that would be because you do not own Jesse.   Ole' Jesse...he's a good bad dog. 💕 Jesse does not like new situations (and especially new people), and it just so happens that the vet is not one of our  best friends or family members.  We don't tend to make frequent visits.  So, the last time we went, he barked like Cujo at everyo

 I, officially, have an office!! Could it get any more Kristen?  The rug, literally, tied ANYTHING and EVERYTHING together. 💕 I've been trying to squash the stress over getting this furniture out of my garage (To my credit...I have been looking the other way since August!)...and also...the urge to get up there and get this little haven set up. It's not perfect...except that it is!!  The furnishings are ALL hand-me downs.  (Like...every last piece, down to the items on the walls.). And I LOVE it.  It is colorful and eclectic and everything ME.  I was pretty anxious about the move.  There is a small hallway to the main door of the office, since we are a bit underground on the bottom floor.  My biggest concern was my favorite piece, the chaise lounge.  How perfect for a counselor, right?  I mean...I'm not going to go all Freud on anyone.  Most of his ideas don't sit well with me.  But...what speaks "comfort" more than a chaise?  Nothing.  I promise.  (Comfort fo

 I am officially in over my head!  It seems to be the only way I function. The bond between them grows tighter every day...and the big sis "owner" talks, continually, of moving out.  Just one of the traumas and future uncertainties we face over here... I have so many mixed emotions about all the change!  On the one hand, I am really looking forward to focusing on what I truly love to do.  On the other, there are so many closures and endings that burn.  There are things I will miss, and there are things that I won't.  There are things about my new job that will be so much simpler, and there are things that will be so much harder. All the conflicting scenarios and emotions!  Sometimes it feels like it's all just a craps shoot. Today, I woke up for the first time, ever, knowing I would never be in another school with MU again.  On Friday, it was a celebration.  Today, when faced with that reality, I quickly panicked, "What have I done?!!  I am so bored and lonely!&q

Eden has officially taken over Christmas decor this year.  Thank you, sweet, baby Jesus!! 💕 All I care is that I get my nativity up and have a safe place to put all of these presents I have stocked up in my closet...  So... I've been sitting on this for a little bit. I haven't wanted to get my hopes up, because it has been a long and arduous road, with...Grand-Canyon-type obstacles in the road, at times.  You know me, right?  I just put on my wing-suit and jumped right in. Not, actually, me.  Totally stolen from the internet. Some of you know, about 7 years ago...before the MU job placed itself in my path and I started working again...I signed up with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to begin my quest for a Master's Degree in Counseling.   I was staying home at the time.  I can't remember if Evan was born yet when I started.  But I do remember only taking one or two classes here and there, so I did not get overwhelmed.  Ha!  If only I could have peeked into my f

Adulting, here we are!!  (Like it or not.) We have officially reached that stage of life where we can not control who is present at the holidays.  As young adults, we had a VERY difficult time during this stage of balancing a serious relationship in the midst of everyone's family traditions.  It was overwhelming, exhausting and disheartening...nothing at all representative of Thanksgiving or the birth of the Christ.  (And on this topic, I could go on!  Suffice to say...). We decided early in our marriage, which also happened to be early in our parenting stage, that we would offer a plan for the holidays and be willing to welcome those who could come and give grace to those who could not. We met our own challenge this year.   The one and only...forever true to her origins...Nature Girl. 💕 Xander (20) had an opportunity we refused to refuse, and she was absent from all of our Thanksgiving festivities - probably the most harsh - the Great, Extended Family Picture.  I will admit.  It

 I survived birthday month!! You guys...my baby is 20!!! Well...barely.  I have to admit, I was on the verge of a breakdown, when my keenly aware husband intervened and exonerated me from his birthday family movie extravaganza. Does that make me a party pooper?  Yep.  I think it does. Does it make me a bad wife and mom? He just...can't be normal.  I think that's why he gets me. Hold it, right there.  I going to go ahead and put mom guilt and perfectionism right where they belong...out of my head.  Seriously.  It is a thing.  No matter who you are, you are never going to measure up when you compare yourself, and your idea of what a mom "should" be is just inhumane.  There are enough people out there who will shame you, for the love, quit shaming yourself. It helps that I have some experience with what a bad mom can look like...even to them, I have offered empathy.  We are all only playing with the cards we are dealt, and some of us have been dealt a short hand.  Suffic

Well, that was a week!  First, and most importantly, EVAN TURNED 8!! I know Squid Games is controversial.  I don't understand or recommend the show.  But...he only knows the more innocent Roblox version, and they, all 5 of them, bonded over this little game this week, so...💕 I am not exactly the best at event planning.  I could give you examples, but why deflate my ego like that?  It's been bashed around enough this week.  Plus...I have a LOT of excuses.  I have 3 immediate family member birthdays this month.  For two of them, (the other is Matt...he is easy to please!) I have to go through the entire, painstaking process of finding out what they want, shopping for what they want, and wrapping what they want.  Then, I have to plan a celebration.  Listen, I was exhausted at "finding out what they want."  I have enough on my plate without all the extras, with work and work and the farm and the zoo and the crafting.  Who has time for this? I've never been good with