The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 57 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

After starting this blog in May of 2011, I realized that my writing is not only a creative outlet for me, but that my posts sometimes touch the minds and hearts of the readers. Here are five posts that have received the most hits on this blog this year.

1. Summer Love (Circa 2003)
   This is the story of how Tyler and I met and fell in love. It’ll either make you sigh contentedly or just roll your eyes. Either way, it was the winner this year.
2. “i want to be thin.” The False Idol of the 21st Century
   This post shows my realization that being thin isn’t everything.
3. Mommyrexia – Selfish Pregnant Women Aren’t Cherishing their Gift
   I was appalled when I heard of women not eating properly during pregnancy in order to maintain or lose weight, all while endangering their unborn babies. This post reflects on the gift of children bestowed on parents from God.
4. Make-A-List Monday – Things I Never Knew I’d Have to Say to My Kids
   With three kids under the age of five, the things I have to say surprise even me. 🙂
5. My Day So Far 
   The story of a trying morning with the kids. Really good for a laugh, and to sympathize if you’d like.

Starting in September of this year, I also became a contributing writer for Catholic Mothers Online. I have had two posts published there so far. If you haven’t read these, check them out!

• The Laundry Abyss – I talk about how household chores affect your relationship with your spouse.
  
• I Love my Husband More than the Kids – By far the winner on number of hits, this post reflects on the close relationship Tyler and I have, and what love looks like to us. Again, either sighs or eye rolling, your choice!

Lately, I’ve been trying to eat healthier and work out more often because my honey and I are going on a Caribbean cruise this spring. And I want to be thin. I want to be confident in a swimsuit, and I want my honey to be proud of the way I look. As a result of this, I have been looking on Pinterest (where else?) for inspiration, and I am surprised at what I have found.

photo credit: AllWomensTalk.com

Yikes. Is that what I really want?

The first reading this past Sunday was Proverbs 31: 10 – 13, 19 – 20, 30 – 31

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.

She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

This graphic really hit me hard because I would like to lose weight and look great in a swimsuit. Yes, I want to be healthy, but I will not devote my entire life to looking good, just to have people think, “wow, she’s so thin.” This obsession our entire society has with being thin has become a false idol for many people.

I want to be woman who fears the Lord. I want to be a good wife who does my husband good and not harm all the days of my life. In the long run, it doesn’t matter at all how “people” see us. It matters how God sees us.

My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and I will treat it as a temple. I will take care of my body by eating healthy and exercising when I can, but the focus is always on God.

What false idols do you see in our society? Exercise, finances, celebrity? Have any of these interfered with your relationship with God?

I haven’t updated this blog for about two weeks, and I apologize to all my rabid readers (crickets, crickets).

Girls Weekend

Vanilla shopping with us in the Crocs store

Anyway, I have fairly good reasons  for being distracted. My sisters, my mom, Vanilla and I went to the Ozarks last weekend for a surprise shopping trip for my little sister BB’s birthday. She was totally surprised. We did all the fun girl stuff – went out to eat, to the movies, shopped, painted toenails, and drank a little wine. My sisters both live out of town, so it was great to be able to spend some sister time together. I always forget how comfortable it is to hang out with people I’ve known literally my entire life. We had a blast, and I miss them like crazy already!

Home Improvement Projects

So while we were all having a girls weekend, Ty was at home with TT and Peach. I kept wondering what they were going to do to entertain themselves all weekend without me there. Little did I know, my honey had a big plan in mind. With lots of help from his mom and siblings (thank you all!), he drywalled our entire hallway as a surprise for me!

When we moved into our house, everything was wood paneled and had drop ceilings, except the bathroom. I called it our “That 70’s Show House” because it really did match some of the sets. As of last weekend. we now have all three bedrooms and the hallway drywalled, so all we have left is the kitchen/dining area and the living room. We are hoping to have our house ready to sell within the next couple years.

Ty also just put a new roof on our house. We had an insurance claim from the crazy wind storm in June, and we had been planning on replacing the roof anyway, so it worked out really well. We had his brothers, his mom, his cousin, and my parents over to help with the shingles and the clean-up on Monday. We ordered pizza and everybody stayed to eat, so it sort of felt like a party. Thank you all again!

Catholic Mothers Online

I’ve also had a few other projects of my own. I recently submitted my first article to Catholic Mothers Online, where I was accepted as a contributing writer this summer. The due date for this article is September 1st, so it will published in the next few weeks, and of course I’ll put a link on here.

Christ on the Quad

Another big project that I’ve been contributing to is the Christ on the Quad podcast and website. I designed the logo for Christ on the Quad and the header for CatholicCollegeStudent.com. This website is going to be an excellent resource for college students, their parents, and those involved in the Focus ministry at college campuses. Check the website frequently as there will be many updates in the coming weeks.

God, My Hubby and Kids

God is my first priority. I’ve been spending a lot of time in prayer lately, and I feel like there are so many people who are hurting right now to pray for. I’ll also be starting Bible study next week, and I’m so looking forward to it!

TT's flippin' sweet hair

My husband and my kids are a very close second in my list of priorities. I had a meeting last night for TT’s preschool. He’s really excited to get back to school with his little friends, and I am ready to be back in a regular routine. He also has quite a head of hair growing this summer. He hates getting it cut, and I’m starting to like the look of it long.

The girls are growing fast – Vanilla has been crawling and pulling to standing for about two months, and I think she’ll be walking in the next few months. Peach is still obsessed with Lightning McQueen, and she copies nearly everything her brother does. The two big kids’ favorite activities this summer have been swimming, finger painting, and playing in shaving cream.

My honey has been busy this summer with all our projects, so he took a vacation this week. We’ve been able to do some  fun things with the kids – swimming, going out to eat, and just playing in the yard. We’re also thinking of going to the zoo and Build-A-Bear tomorrow.

That’s the update on what’s been going on around here. I’m hoping to update this a little more often now that we’ll be in a routine with preschool and Bible study starting next week.

Until next time, you stay classy, San Diego.

Bob and Nicole over at Wif and Hub nominated me to take part in a posting challenge of my favorite posts – and favorite blogs!

THE GOAL

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1)     Blogger is nominated to take part

2)     Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

3)     Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

4)     These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers

5)    And so it goes on!

6)    They’ll be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on our blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

My Seven Links!

Here are my seven posts! I’ve only been blogging for a couple months, so it was hard to find something for each category. I hope you enjoy my seven!

MOST BEAUTIFUL

May the Daddy Bless You
I love how this one came together on Father’s Day.

MOST POPULAR

Summer Love (Circa 2003)
This is the story of how my honey and I fell in love.

MOST CONTROVERSIAL

Mommyrexia – Selfish Pregnant Women Aren’t Cherishing their Gift
I think the title of this one turned some people off, but it led to a lot of conversations, which is always good.

MOST HELPFUL

Summertime and Cloth Diapers
Just a little information to get started on cloth diapering.

SURPRISE SUCCESS

My day so far…
Venting my frustrations ended up getting a ton of hits.

NOT ENOUGH ATTENTION

Are You a Singer or a Thudder? Nothing Can Separate Us From the Love of Christ.
I just wrote this one the other day, so I hope it gets more hits soon. It’s a different perspective on how we can control our own outlook.

MOST PROUD

Christian, with the Works
This didn’t get a lot of hits either, but I gave it a ton of thought before I wrote it, so I’m very proud of it!

Here are my five nominated bloggers!

Related articles

• My 7 Links (wifandhub.com)
• 2 Years Blogging: My 7 Links (tripbase.com)

I love how well my kids nap when it’s cloudy and rainy out. We had a fun, lively morning at the pool today before coming home, watching a half hour of “Up” and then kiddos going down for naps. I have always loved rainy weather and storms, and this is just another reason why.

Perfect napping weather

Last week, however, the stormy weather got a little out of hand. Last Monday morning, because of 76 mph straight line winds, we lost power, and I was having flashbacks to the movie Twister because the lightning looked like a strobe light with no thunder. We didn’t have power for two entire days, had roof and tree damage, but thankfully everyone is all right.

Our little city suffered mainly tree damage and everything that comes with it, and the Ameren (power company) workers were desperately trying to get power back for more than half the county that lost it because of downed power lines. It was a hard few days, getting our yard cleaned up, figuring things out with our insurance, trying to feed our family with no ability to cook or refrigerate food, and endless worry over all these things.

The gospel for this past Sunday was Matthew 11:25-30.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

After the previous week, we definitely needed a break. God can give us that break from worry. If we can just trust in Him, there is no reason to worry about anything. He cares about us, and He has a plan for us. He’ll give us rest if we just rely on Him.

For now, I’m totally at peace because God has truly worked things out. Our insurance is paying for our roof, and my parents never lost power during the whole ordeal, so they were able to store some food for us and help us with meals.

And now all three maniacs are getting their rest because of this great napping weather.

Oh how He loves us!