30 Day Challenge: Day 19

Day 19: Something you miss

I miss how fast I was able to get out the door prior to having a baby. Now I am always late. And I hate when people are late.
I miss having my mom cooking dinner made for us every night while growing up. Why, oh why, can't I have someone fix me dinner every night now?!
I miss that Friday at 2pm feeling. The feeling you get knowing that you only have one more hour to teach those wild kids and then IT'S THE WEEKEND! There is not so much excitement about the weekend when you don't work outside the home. But every Friday, I miss that feeling.
I miss living in a small town. Some people don't consider Lubbock a small town, but if you are from DFW, it is small town. About the smallest I could tolerate. But the perfect size. I love Lubbock.
I miss being pregnant.
Side note: I do not miss the babyfat on my body.
I miss my Nana.
I miss life before dogs. Okay, maybe that was mean. But in all seriousness, Rob and I are beginning to wonder why we have dogs and I am beginning to want to take that doggies tab at the top of my blog that talks about how sweet and cute they are OFF this blog!


Really though, I am trying to live in the present... I have been focused lately on trying to enjoy each day and not think about things in the past or things in the future.

So there you have it. Have a great Friday!

30 Day Challenge: Day 17-18

30 Day Challenge Day 17: What you are looking forward to
I am looking forward to....moving into our new house!
I am looking forward to....having more children!
I am looking forward to....being Baptized into the Baptist church!
I am looking forward to....new friendships with other church members!
I am looking forward to....taking Lorelei to Disneyworld!
I am looking forward to....cooler weather!
I am looking forward to....Me and Rob's 10 year anniversary of dating next year & 5 years of marriage!
I am looking forward to....the holidays minus the crazy shopping traffic!


Day 18: What you regret
I really don't think much about what I regret because I believe that God uses everything that happens in our lives to work together to lead us to where we are. Sometimes things happen to us, or we do things to ourselves, that we wish didn't happen...but God allowed those things to happen so that we could come out of that mess glorifying Him. But, if I HAD to choose one thing I regretted it would be this....

In college, I was just like I am today...type A personality, had a clean dorm room, on time (well you could argue "on time" now that I have a child..), etc. I was on the executive board for my sorority, involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, and hardly ever missed a class. Now hear me when I say this, I am NOT tooting my own horn, but this next detail is an important part of the story. I also made an A in every single class but one, which was American Sign Language. So making a 4.0 was an ongoing goal of mine every semester. BUT, I have this sweet friend & sorority sister named Adrienne. She was opposite of me. Nothing stressed her out or bothered her. Overslept and missed class? Eh, no big deal. Skipped a sorority event and got a fine? No worries. Stayed out really late before a test? Who cares! Not even her dorm room floor, piled high with clothes bothered her. I remember her telling me once that I needed to be more carefree because this was the only time that we didn't have responsibilities and things that we had to do or take care of. I wish I would have listened to her. Maybe not taken this advice for all of college, but I could have taken it for a little of the time. Because now that I have a husband, baby, house, and 2 dogs, and all the other adult stuff to take care of...I get what she was saying.



Happy Thursday, friends!

So Long Dr. B

I never post twice in one day, but this warrants a blog post. I decided to do a little cleaning and glanced at the bottle rack filled with the bottles and their gazillion parts (thanks Dr. Brown bottles) similar to this one but much messier:

just like I've looked at it a million times a day for the past 14 months. It sits next to the kitchen sink. It's big and takes up too much space on the kitchen counter and today is the day I realized it was time to put it away. Lorelei is down to a bedtime bottle only so I stuffed two bottles in a drawer and am putting the others away. Stored in the closet. Until next time...

Sad day. Silly? You might think so but for me, it is a reminder of the night we brought her home from the hospital. When Rob ran all over town until the stores closed trying to find bottles and a wedge for her to sleep on. It's a reminder to me of when I didn't know how much I was supposed to feed her and trying to learn how many ounces of water with how many ounces of formula. It's a reminder to me of all the middle of the night feedings.

Ok, enough already. Back to cleaning.

30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Exciting News!!
I am now an "Escential Consultant" for Scentsy!! Check out my website at mbpatterson.scentsy.us. I have set up a Fall Party on the left hand side so that you can start your Christmas shopping.


Day 16: Dream Home

Well, this is the perfect topic for me since we are in the midst of building our home! It also happens to be my dream home! It is our forever home as well. We built our first house knowing we would only be there a few years. We learned a lot along the way about what we liked and didn't like, and what we wish we had done and didn't do. But now, we are building this home and hope to raise our family there. No plans of moving. Ever.

Anyways, in our marriage Rob is the dreamer. Once he wanted to be the mayor. And I'm not talking about wanting to be the mayor like 20 years down the line...he wanted to be the mayor like right then. Another time he wanted to own a sno cone stand. I love him for this. His crazy ideas and all. And the best part is that he gets really excited about these ideas and you can see him light up with enthusiasm. He really believes he could do them...and I believe in him. But I am not the dreamer. I am the realistic, practical, get your feet back on ground type. So when you ask me my dream home I will have the answer, "we are building it!"

Some things that I love about our new house:
Huge kitchen island
Composite granite single bowl sink....pretty and functional!
Master closet opens into laundry room
Laundry room will have built in mudroom locker system for all of our stuff!
Brick fireplace
Playroom
Oversized, dual head and tiled floor master shower
Powder Bath
Built in desk area for me in the kitchen
Media Room where we can watch movies and football!


What I would change/add if anything was possible:
Plantation shutters throughout...which isn't too unrealistic. Just gotta save up!
Solid wood doors throughout
All bedrooms downstairs and only media room upstairs
Big wood front door
Big front porch...but only if it was in a neighborhood where everyone had porches and used them.
Jack and Jill Bathroom
Built in fridge
Double oven
Exposed brick
Closets like something out of the container store catalog....
Beautiful outdoor area with nice patio furniture, an outdoor kitchen, and fireplace
Beautiful landscaping that someone else would keep alive since I would probably kill it.
Laundry room with sink, a window, and a small room off the laundry room for my office
I would ask for a decorator and lots of spending money!


What I really dream about, aside from the way the house looks, is everything that will happen at this home. I think about all the Christmas mornings, first days of school, birthdays, and all the days in between. I think of the all of the laughter, tears, and disagreements that will happen in this home. I think about bringing home our other babies to this home, and then sending them off to college from this home.

Here's our house lately:


What's your dream home? Visit Katie's page at katieslifejourney.blogspot.com

30 Day Challenge: Day 15

Katie's Challenge Day 15: Bible Verse(s)

I went a little crazy on this one...

"...and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."
-Isaiah 61:3

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13

Proverbs 31

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes...Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..." Ephesians 6:11, 14-17

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness by evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phillippians 4:4-7

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2: 1-10

30 Day Challenge: Day 13 and 14

Apparently I am not so good at keeping up with the challenge each day. So here are days 13 and 14.

Day 13: Goals
I'm a pretty goal oriented person, but I don't ever write my goals down....so this will require some thinking. I probably should be writing them down. I will have to work on this one...

Day 14: Photo that you love.

Reminds me of being at the lake house with family

The day our sweet baby was born


Reminds me of the day we found out we were having a baby


Reminds me of our wedding day


Reminds me of memories of Texas Tech plus time with good friends plus Tech football! WRECK EM!


Reminds me of me and Rob's first time to see Maggie


Reminds me of sweet memories with my Nana


L saying prayers with Daddy

30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: What I believe...


I believe that God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life and die for our sins.
I believe that all things work together according to God's plan and purpose.
I believe that God calls us all to be exceptional.
I believe that God did an excellent job on me (and you!).
I believe God answers all prayers in His time and His way.
I believe that I am THIRD. God first, others second, me third.
I believe that believing in God intellectually isn't enough.
I believe that "religion" isn't enough.
I believe that accepting Christ as my Savior and having a personal relationship with Him IS ENOUGH!


I believe
in country music,
Southern hospitality,
chivalry,
time with family,
what my momma taught me; money can't buy happiness...but it can help,
writing thank you notes,
that marriage is forever,
that there's no place like home,
in being authentic,
that God is GOOD, ALL the time,
and that Christians should VOTE according to the teaching of the BIBLE.

30 Day Challenge: Days 9, 10, 11

Day 9: Picture of your friends
I have been blessed with wonderful friends...I have 2 sisters and 1 sis in law as friends, Alpha Chi Omega sisters, friends from high school, friends from college, Lubbock friends, new friends, etc. In order to make it brief, I am going to share a picture of friends from high school. This picture was taken the other night when we met for dinner.


Left to Right..Camille, Erin, Me, Amanda, Leslie, Chelsea, Kori
(Molly had to leave early and didn't make the picture)

Day 10: Something you are scared of
Fire. Oh so afraid of fire. I worry about if I have unplugged my hair straightener, blown out all the candles, etc. on a regular basis. And living in an apartment right now makes it worse, because now not only do I have to worry about me...but all the other people in my building who may forget to do these things! I don't know that I will ever be able to live in a lovely retirement community because I will worry that the old folks will forget to turn the oven.


Day 11: Favorite tv shows
1. 19 Kids and Counting
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Dancing with the Stars
5. The Middle
6. Modern Family
7. Lost (because my husband would kill me if this wasn't on the list)
8. House Hunters
9. My First Place
10. A Baby Story, Bringing Home Baby, etc. And why do they always make me cry?

30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Katie's 30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 8: A place that you have traveled

Well...if you see interesting fact #6 on day one, you would see that I am not a big traveler. But one place that I have been that sticks out in my mind is..

Wallowa Lake, Oregon
Rob grew up going here every summer to visit his grandparents. We went a about 4 years ago and I desperately want to go back! It is beautiful. We went in August and it was so nice to escape the Texas heat. It is near the town of Joseph, Oregon. We spent our days fly fishing in freezing cold, clear, rocky, clean, and beautiful streams. The entire place is so peaceful. And this is coming from a girl that is not the least bit "out door-sy!!"

30 Day Challenge: Day 7

Katies 30 Day Blog Challege

Day 7: Favorite Movies

I really don't have any favorites because I usually forget what they were about a week after I see a movie. But here are a few that I remember that I love :)
1. A Walk to Remember
2. The Notebook
3. Fireproof
4. Mary Poppins

One movie I know that I do not like is The Lion King and ANY of the Lord of the Rings movies. Which Rob dragged me to. And I also don't really care for really violent movies, or movies that have lots of unnecessary cussing. I try to keep a "trash in, trash out" motto...which is hard when choosing which reality tv shows to watch...some of them are just such train wrecks you can't help but to watch!

30 Day Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: Picture of something that makes you happy



Don't judge. I just really love cake.

Lately

It's been a while. It's not that I don't think about blogging. I do. I come to my computer daily and look at my friends blogs and other interesting blogs, but I don't ever think of anything interesting to say on my own blog. Well, interesting or not, I am blogging. Right now.

Our house is in the framing stages!! We have attempted walking through the first floor once, but it was a bit messy and we ended up stepping over and under lots of wood. But, they are almost done framing the second floor now! I cannot wait to get out of our apartment. It actually is a nice apartment (minus the cricket problem and hundreds of children who like to play outside in the yard and in the street with no adult. So, I really shouldn't complain because we could be in an old small ugly apartment instead of this one. But, we are so ready for a yard for Lorelei to play in and a place for the dogs to go out. And more space to spread out!

Speaking of the dogs, I am at my witts end with them. See a typical morning:
Wake up.
Brush teeth, wash face, do as much as possible to get ready before Lorelei's hollering gets too loud.
Go see eager baby L.
Change stinky pants.
Get L dressed.
Put L in high chair.
Get L's breakfast and milk ready while telling her "I'm fixing it! Hold on a second."
(Dogs at my feet all the while)
Bring L food.
L plays with food.
L throws food to dogs.
Fix myself toast.
L throws sippy cup on floor and dogs begin licking the sippy part.
Wash sippy cup.
Bite of toast.
Give sippy cup back and try to convince Lorelei that milk and her breakfast is good.
Put out dogs breakfast.
More bites of toast.
Maggie finishes her breakfast in lightning speed.
Maggie begins scarfing Milo's breakfast down. Milo watches.
Tell Maggie "NO!"
Take dogs outside to potty.
Come back inside.
Wash off L's jelly smothered cheeks.
Get diaper bag packed and everything ready to leave.
Pick up Lorelei, grab diaper bag.
Step in something wet...
Look down...wet yucky stuff dribbled across carpet in a trail...leading to a big yucky puddle.
Give dogs evil eye, through towel on it, and leave.
Return to find that Milo pooped inside....again....

Ok ok, it doesn't happen like that every morning. But most of it does. So I have decided. One baby=not difficult. One baby + 2 terrible dogs = difficult. No more babies until we can take the dogs out of the equation. Rob says they have another good 10 years in them and that we will be waiting a while. So my friends, it will either be 10 years until I birth our second child or I will be looking for new homes soon :)

I mentioned that I am doing a Bible study now at a church that we had not attended before. Well, we decided to try going to church there on Sundays and we love it. When in my life have I looked forward to Sunday mornings all week? Never...until now. I have prayed for God to reveal why we are in this town. I know we moved back to DFW for family and Rob's job opportunity, but I knew that surely God had something else planned for me here. And why this particular location out of all the suburbs? And I think this is it. I began looking for a Mother's Day Out for Lorelei. They were all full because I started looking after the school year started. However, I found an opening at this particular church. Went, toured, enrolled Lorelei and the director of MDO invited me to the women's Bible study the next morning. Went to the study and loved it, talked with one of the leader's who encouraged me to come to Sunday service. Told her I would come but Rob had to work. Well, God being the awesome God that He is, allowed Rob's work schedule to be changed unexpectedly to where he had Sunday morning off. All of this to tell you how amazing it is to see God's plan revealed like this. This is why we are in this town. Had we not moved to this exact location, I do not think I would have even checked into this particular church's MDO. But God had greater things in mind when we moved in. Meeting new friends at this church and Worshiping Him and learning about His word in a whole new way to us. Gives me goosebumps!

Lorelei is at such a fun age right now. She is walking sometimes and chattering all the time! Her new favorite words are "go go." I guess I must say "Let's go" alot or something because one day she said "go go" when we were in the car and so I repeated it to her. On and on we went. I would say it, she would say it. We took her to the pumpkin patch last weekend. She loved the pumpkins (aka "balls") and petting the animals at the petting zoo. We went with a family we met at her gymnastics class! She is also down to one nap a day, which I love because it is usually a very looonnnnggg nap!

Here's a few recent pics...

30 Day Challenge: Days 1-5

Since I have been on a blog break recently, I figured I would join join in on Katie's 30 Day Blog Challenge. Maybe it will get me back into blogging mode. I am, however, about 5 days behind. So I have a lot to catch up on...

Day -Introduction, Recent Picture, & 15 Interesting Facts
Well, I don't think I really have readers that don't know me but just in case, I am Mary Beth. Grew up in Plano, Texas. Moved to Lubbock to go to Texas Tech and recently moved back from "the hub city" to the DFW area. Married my high school sweetheart four years ago and have a one year old little miss, aka Lorelei or L.

Here I am!


15 Facts:
1. I was once almost eaten by a bear. Ok, well not really eaten. But attacked? Greeted? We were staying in a woodsy cabin in Oregon and left the trash on the front porch, only to find that a gigantic black bear wanted part of the trash can contents in the middle of the night.
2. I love playing board games and card games. And I will win.
3. Being in or even near the container store makes my heart happy. I LOVE organizing.
4. I have a very hard time making decisions. This is probably why no one likes to shop with me. Well people, that's okay, I would rather shop alone anyways!
5. I am a busy body. I have to be doing something, have to be accomplishing things, and have a hard time relaxing. Which makes being married to my very type B personality husband a little interesting.
6. I am also a home body, which means I really don't particularly love to travel.
7. I am in LOVE with Diet Coke. I get a Sonic or McDonalds (a large for $1!!) everyday and drink it way too fast. Speaking of, I need a refill!
8. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was about 7 years old. I played school and even owned an overhead projector. I love teaching.
9. If I could change one thing about myself, it would be that I could sing.
10. I currently have about 40 magazines and catalogs that I need to read. They date back to February. And every time I look at them all piled up, I feel very overwhelmed!
11. I want about 4 kids. An entire clan. I want my days filled up completely with sloppy kisses, sticky fingers, baby giggles, a messy playroom, and lots of love. And at the end of the day I will tuck them in and thank God for blessing us with these babies.
12. I can't stand when people use the word "aint" oh it makes me skin crawl just typing it.
13. I love mimosas. I like mimosas at any time of day. The only time I would drink a mimosa in the morning is at a brunch or shower. Mostly I drink a mimosa at night. So light and refreshing!
14. I am an Alpha Chi Omega. I love pearls, lyres, carnations, and the colors scarlet red and olive green. I also love my Alpha Chi sisters.
15. I am a Christian. I love Jesus and seek to glorify him in all that I do.

Day 2: Story Behind Your Blog Name:
I guess my blog name is "Pockets Full of Sunshine." Or is it the web address? Well, if it is "Pockets Full of Sunshine" I chose that because a) I love that song by Natasha Beddingfield and b) I think the song is about loving who you are and being confident. The last verse of the song is "I smile up to the sky and know I'll be alright" and for me this verse sums it up...God is good...all the time.

Day 3: First Love
Rob

Day 4: Your Parents
My parents have been married 31 years. My dad is probably the hardest working person I know (along with Rob), and my mom stayed home with us girls and worked equally as hard. She was the world's busiest taxi driver, taking us here and there. She had breakfast fixed for us every morning, lunches packed, and a homemade dinner almost every night. And she never complained! My dad always made our friends laugh. He is still making everyone laugh. The best part of it all is that he knows he is funny so he laughs too!



Day 5: My siblings
I have two sisters, both younger. Natalie graduates with her Bachelors in Nursing in May and Melanie graduates high school in May! I have many memories of growing up with these two. What I know about Natalie is that she is full of life. There is never a dull moment with Natalie. Which makes for fun and interesting days! Melanie (or Mel Mel as we called her to annoy her) is sweet natured, laid back, but also very opinionated. Nat and I are very used to being told by Mel that what we are wearing is out of style!