Midweek Confessions {April 18}

Happy Wednesday! I've had some of these confessions floating around in my head for a few days, so I'm glad to get to finally share them.

*I'm getting to this late because we were without power for almost 48 hours. Let me say, I am currently not a fan of our utility company, and even less a fan of our apartment management company. The management company mistakenly switched our utilities to their name, didn't notice for three months, and then had them turned off. Without warning. I had no idea any of this was going on until yesterday when Josh & I came home from a funeral to no power. All that to say this: I dislike conflict with people I love, but man, when I am angry at someone I don't know, I lose my temper quickly. I can get nasty. As I made several phone calls today, I had to pray and take a deep breath before each one so that I would remain calm.

*I was shocked at how difficult it was to survive just 48 hours without power. Dealing with no TV or computer was relatively easy. It was the little things that started to drive me nuts--no coffee, no hot water for a shower, no hair straightener or blow dryer after I survived a cold shower... luckily the weather has been reasonable so we were okay without A/C, but a fan would've been nice.

*I have a really hard time staying awake in the car when I am a passenger. Yesterday on the way to said funeral, I fell asleep multiple times. I was trying to keep myself awake for Josh's sake but it was near impossible.

*Am I the only person who can remember people's birthdays only if they show up on Facebook? I have my immediate family's memorized, but outside of that...so sorry if I didn't send you a card!

*Every night before I go to bed, I feel really thirsty, so I pour a big glass of water and set it on the nightstand. I take two sips, and then the rest sits there until I have about four cups and no more room. Then I dump all the old water into the dog's dish. Then the cycle repeats itself.

Make sure you head over to E, Myself and I for more confessions!

Today was Definitely a Monday

This morning, at a ridiculously early hour, I dropped my beloved iPhone in the toilet.

I know, I know. I knew better than that.

Really, I was only trying to put my contacts in. I had just gotten out of bed, and went to put my contacts in so I could make a pot of coffee. I wasn't even going to the bathroom. So don't even ask my five-thirty-on-a-Monday-morning brain how exactly the phone got in the toilet. I haven't the slightest idea.

Here's what I know. The internet is filled with stories of water logged iPhones being resuscitated by drying out in a bag of rice. It worked for my friend Lindsey just last week (and yes, I wish I had learned from her mistake!) My superhero dad is also sending me a magical bag that is supposed to dry out wet cell phones. So, I'm holding on to hope that my sweet iPhone will be saved.

In the meantime, I feel horribly wonderfully weirdly disconnected. I keep unconsciously reaching for my phone to check the time, check my email, text my husband, play a quick game of Scramble with Friends... it's unbelievable how much I have to come to rely on that thing. Even as I was making dinner this evening, I kept have minor panic attacks of where-is-my-phone-I-think-I-just-heard-it-vibrate-maybe-I-have-a-new-alert-on-Facebook.

Maybe this is a good thing. (Maybe I'm just trying to prepare myself for the chance that it isn't saved by the rice and the magic bag). When I got home from work, I miraculously cleaned the bathroom--something I usually save for a day off--instead of playing a few hundred rounds of Temple Run.

While I'm open to the idea that being disconnected isn't so terribly terrible, and maybe God is showing me something here, I'd still appreciate you sending warm, dry thoughts in the direction of my phone!

What It Means

When I first started this blog, it was shortly after Josh and I were married. I knew that being married was going to be a whole new adventure, and I wanted to start a blog to chronicle the moments. I've always loved writing, and had often contemplated blogging, and being a newlywed seemed like a great time to start. I originally named my blog "Life as Josh's Wife" and wrote one post (you can still read it, way back here).

I had great intentions and not so much committment. Life took over and my one and only post stayed there with no visitors.

One day I was driving and heard Andrew Peterson's song Dancing In The Mine Fields on the radio, and I loved it. I love folk music, and I love Andrew Peterson, and this song is a perfect example of why. As I listened to it in the car, I was touched by what a perfect analogy for marriage it is.

Not just marriage, but faith, and friendships, and everything else.

If I've learned one thing in my twenty-something years, it's that life isn't easy at all. There are so many mines around. So many ways that we can be caught off guard and all our plans and best intentions can be blown up.

The other thing I've learned is that we're never alone; even at the hardest, darkest times, God is with us. And that's what I want to learn to embrace. I want to dance through life--embracing the good parts, without fear or anxiety over the mines.

So when I was inspired to start blogging again, I knew that's where I wanted my focus to be--finding the joy among the mines of everyday life.