The Spider Caper

So this morning, I was running a tad bit late, so I was rushing around jumped in the shower and tried to hurry.... then I saw it...
a spider.
In the shower.
With me.
I freeze.

What do I do? I grabbed my shampoo bottle and killed it. And it went down the drain. No biggie. I was feeling proud of myself because there was a time in my life I would have jumped out of the shower yelling and screaming and found someone to kill it. I did it myself I did good.

So I'm in my robe with a towel on my head and I was going to pick out what I was to wear for the day. I head towards the closet.
I stop.
Big Black Fuzzy Spider.
Seriously, it felt huge.
This made the spider from the shower look like nothing.
I jumped and screamed.
And it ran under my bed.

Think.
How do you get a spider out from under a bed.
Was it here all night?
Did it climb on me while I was sleeping?
Are there more?
Do I leave it there?
How do I get it?
I grabbed the vacuum thinking if I sat there long enough it might come out. I never took my eyes off of it... it didn't come out.

I can't go to work with a huge ginormous spider under my bed. What if it makes babies under there? And they get in my bed. And get on me tonight.

So I call Jared. nothing.
So I call my mother-in-law.

"So there's a big furry spider under my bed... do you have any recommendations on how to get it out."

She hurried right over and helped me. She was seriously the pro. I was very impressed. She had the flashlight and vacuum, and after pulling everything out from under the bed (I was standing at the other side of the room hoping and praying that if that spider ran out it would not run my way) she spotted it. It had made itself a spot in the bag to hang out. She shined the light on it, and swept it up. She even emptied my vacuum for me so I didn't have to touch it.

She is my hero.

Just when I thought I was becoming a "country girl" and handling things better, I get proved wrong. I am not a country girl.

I called and told my mom about the incident and I had to laugh because I would never call my mom to get a spider. We would have both standing on the bed together hoping that it wouldn't get near us.

Maybe someday I'll get used to country living. :)

Blogger's Block

I have had writer's block... or blogger's blog I guess.

I feel like nothing in my life has been blog worthy and I have had nothing today. I think my problem is everyone has these extravagant things going on in their life and I do not. There are no adoptions, sicknesses, kids or anything to write about. I sit in Taryn's basement all day and edit pictures. That is probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it is not too far from the truth. I guess here is a quick update on life...

1. Taryn and I are extremely busy. Just when we get one session edited we shoot four more. Which is great, I am not complaining, but it requires a lot of time at that desk in the basement. We pass our time by talking, watching Gilmore Girls, arguing about music choices, laughing, arguing about cords, laughing, looking at pictures, and laughing. That is pretty much what the day in Imagine Artists looks like right now. We are currently looking for an office... this may turn out to be harder then we thought. We aren't looking for anything too huge and everything we see is just bigger then we need right now... so let us know if you hear of anything to rent... small.

2. Grandma Roth passed away last week. For those who don't know her, she is Jared's grandma, and she was a really special lady. We would try to make it every Thursday up to the Congerville Main Street Merchantile to enjoy ice cream and fellowship with her. She just always brought a smile to my face. I loved all of her stories and listening to how things were when she was younger, and then I'd tell her about my friends and of course she would want to know who their grandma was and of course I never knew. :) I definitely will always have wonderful memories of her. With her passing of course brought a visitation and funeral... now get ready, but I have never been through this. I have not lost a loved one in my life ever. I have never sat in the dreaded family section at a visitation and watched all the many people come through. Or cried my eyes out a funeral along with the other 50 members of the family. This was something totally new to me, and let me just say I'd rather not do it again. It is extremely exhausting. But all in all I came to a new realization that it helps the greiving process and I never believed people when they said you eventually stop crying. I am the type that cries and cries and cries, but I stopped and can now look back and be happy. Grandma Roth is in heaven with Grandpa Roth and they are happy.

Quick funny note: My neice McKinley was asking about when Grandma was coming back and Sheri told her "When God gets her, He doesn't want to let her go. She stays with Him forever." to which McKinley said "Forever? really." "Yes, forever." Then McKinley asks... "even when school starts?" Oh the innocence of kids. I love it.

Cancer

Go away cancer.

I feel like lately cancer is taking over. I've discussed it with a few people and everyone says the same thing. I don't remember cancer ever being this bad. And here is my thoughts: I think that cancer has always been around, but we now have the technology to know that it is actually cancer. So we hear it more. With family, friends, and all over. Why can we not find a cure? Why can we not stop it?

Let's pray that a cure is found and that we can learn more about it and stop it from taking loved ones.

Please pray for:
Jordan Schroeder - www.caringbridge.org/visit/jordanschroeder
Tess - www.caringbridge.org/visit/princesstess
Jared's Grandma - they currently gave her a few weeks to live. She has been fighting cancer for about a year.
Vicki Hodel - She is losing her battle with cancer and is currently on hospice. They gave her a few days to live.



Psalm 34:15
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.

Things I learned about having 4 kids.

Last night and today I watched four kids. Tasha was induced last night with her fifth kid. Tom and her left at about 5 and when I showed up the kids were fed and clean and it was great. We decided to go to the pool.... Here's where the learning starts.

1. Loading 4 kids in a car is not as easy as it looks. Especially when they all have car seats. And not only do you have to get the 4 kids in the car, but if you want to take anything, you need to load, bags and towels, and anything else you may need. By the time I got everything in, I was exhausted and ready to nap. And we hadn't even made it to the pool.

2. You must watch small kids at the pool. So I've never been a huge fan of floaties. Sorry Mom's out there that use them, but I just do not believe in them. I think it's a bad habit for kids. I taught swimming lessons and the ones who had used floaties had the hardest time learning to swim, they were scared and wanted them, and were a crunch. So I grabbed Silas and Naomi and was getting ready to get in the pool, when I suddenly realized I neeeeded those floaties. There was no way I could do this without them. So on go the floaties and we had a great night.

3. Snack Time = another mess to clean up. I have a hard time with messes. This is going to be one of the biggest challenges for me as a mom. I want to clean everything the minute it drops, but you just can't.

4. Sleep is not the same. So I fell asleep just fine, you better believe I was tired. But any noise I heard I thought one of them was hurt or getting hurt. I was constantly checking on them. I guess this just gets better with time, I don't know.

5. Babies wake up sooo early. Silas was right on cue at about 6:30. I don't wake up at 6:30... ever. So I got him up and he was still tired so he laid with me on the couch and we both slept for another hour. I will say I love cuddly kids. And Silas is definitely a cuddler.

6. When kids wake up they are hungry. I don't eat breakfast. This is new to me. At least the older ones knew what to eat.

7. Loading 4 kids into a car doesn't get any easier. The second time was just as long and hard. But we did it!!

8. Only the Kaiser family knows how to make the perfect cheese crisp. So whenever I babysit any Kaiser kids, they want cheese crisps. I remember Sophie when she was like 4 telling me she wanted a cheese crisp, and I had noooo idea and she cried forever cause I didn't know what a cheese crisp was. Well being around the Kaisers has soon taught me. Except I am the worst at making them. I burnt them today and I thought I could just cut off the burnt part and they would never know. Nope, they said that they were disgusting, and they didn't want to eat them. And most of them ended up on the floor.

9. Two entrances out of a basement is a hazard. The boys kept wanting to get in the food, and they made a huge mess. They thought it was hilarious because I could come down one way and they would just run up the other way. So I am a genius and put a chair against one of the doors so I could catch them. :)

10. I have a new found respect for all moms. Especially those with many children. You women are saints.


So I have to end this by giving Abby some huge props. So it's nearing 2:00 and I'm feeling exhausted, not only from lack of sleep, but I am just not build to haul around a child built like Silas. That takes a little working up to. He's just the cutest thing, but I definitely need to hit the gym before I become a mom. So I was tired and Abby called and said she was picking them up. She shows up and takes these 4 kids. I thought she was maybe just taking them to the hospital then someone else gets them.... no way. Abby is taking these 4 kids plus her 5. And she's all smiles doing it! And she had zero sleep. Wow.

I don't want you to think this is all complaints. I really had fun. We had a blast at the pool for like two hours, and Jared came over and had fun chasing the boys all over, and Naomi and I colored and played ponies forever and it really was fun. I just learned something new about being a mother.

The busy busy weekend

Saturday
-Woke up super early - or to me it was early... we had to be at the hair stylists at 7:30.
-Headed to St. Francis to be a part of a really unique ceremony. Katy's mom couldn't leave the hospital, so they brought the wedding to her. It was definitely a special experience.
-Took pictures
-Attended the second service. This was unique as well, because the couple was already married! So we watch a video of the morning.
-Reception
-Edited pictures
-Headed to Congerville
-Went to bed at 9:00... so tired.

Sunday
-So I thought Saturday was early, but Sunday I had to be at the hair stylists at 6:30. Oh my, I saw 5:00 a.m. I can't remember the last time I did that.
-Took pictures
-Wedding
-Reception
-Edited pictures
-Headed to Congerville
-Went to bed at 8:00

Notice how my weekend was quite full. And to be honest it was a lot of fun! Seriously, who could ask for a better job? I get to hang out at weddings all weekend and hang out with Taryn. I must say by the end of Sunday, we were getting a little giddy. You can tell when Taryn and I get tired, we laugh... a lot... at everything. Even if it isn't funny.

And we were laughing hard.

This is kind of going off on a new subject quick... but laughter. Seriously I laugh so much now that I work with Taryn. And all the time. We can be driving, sitting in the office, whatever... but we are normally laughing.

Brenda told us this weekend she had seen us in the car, and we were laughing sooo hard. I think it's funny that someone saw us... and we were of course oblivious to the world, laughing away.

Now, I'm at Designer Tile and Stone, being my other self... selling tile and granite. Sometimes it's hard to sit here, when I know we have three weddings to edit, and so many sessions on top of that to edit. Oh well, things will get done.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

What type of land are you?

Mark 4
¹Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. ²He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

Jared and I read this last night during our devotions and I've heard this parable over and over, but for some reason last night it really made me think. Later, Jesus goes onto explain what this means...

¹³Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

I think this applies to believers and non-believers. When we go to church, most of us sit and listen, and hear what the minister is saying, but what do we do with the Word?

Does Satan come and immediately take it and we don't think about it again. If that's the case, then why are we letting him do that? Did that particular message convict us and maybe we don't want to hear what the minister was saying, or maybe in general we just don't care.

Or, do we go to church, hear the Word and immediately think, yes, yes that's it, that's right, I'm going to work on that, or change my life, and then we go home and never do a thing. These are the people who don't have roots. They don't have Christ in their lives, and are trying to do things on their own. Or, it can be believers, where I find myself hearing something, and being convicted say on reading my bible. I think, yes I'm going to go home and read more, but then never do, because I have not planted roots and ask Christ to help me with this, and committed to this.

Or do we receive the Word, but there is something stopping us from actually listening and heeding the Word. I think this is where people stumble the most. We hear the Word and want to do something about it, but there is one little thing on this Earth stopping us. Or maybe we have committed to be a Christian and life a life in Christ, but there is still ONE sin in life we can't seem to get rid of so it is "choking" that commitment, and the Word is lost.

Hopefully we can all be seeds planted on good soil, and learn to accept the Word and live it, throughout all aspects of life. It takes time to make roots, but someday soon we will have everything we need to be a fruitful person for the Lord. And it will multiply.

What should I name her?

So her name was Soxy at one point... but someone said that was corny... I won't name names....but I'll give you a hint... She's my business partner.

So help me.

Name her.