Well Past My Bedtime...

Not much to write tonight. Well, I am sure there is plenty to write. I am just wanting to go to bed but I told myself I'm not allowed to go until I blogged. So here it is. The blog before bed.

I'll leave you with a few thoughts:

1. This television fast is proving to be one of the best things we have done for ourselves. We are talking more and enjoying each others company. Things are getting done around the house. We just feel better all around!! I highly recommend this for every family. Flip the switch!

2. I've officially enrolled in school for the fall. I don't know why I am so nervous but I am. Regardless, I have high hopes of a wonderful academic filled next 8 years of my life!! :)

3. I'm working tomorrow, Saturday. Come visit me at Colorado Coffee Merchants from 8-2!!

4. I am starting to observe that I over use the exclamation mark. I'll refrain from doing so at this point.

And for my final thought, “All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of yesterday”. Plant wisely and prosper.

Goodnight, my dear friends.

Hi. My name is Kirsten

...and I'm a T.V.aholic. No, really. Let me break it down for you.


Mondays. Oh glorious Mondays. Mondays provide a good dose of CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" and the must see CBS' "The Big Bang Theory".


Tuesdays provide quite the entertainment with an episode of ABC's "Wipeout" along with an occasional viewing of FOX's "Hell's Kitchen".


Wednesday evenings are reserved for the tiny dancer within. "So You Think You Can Dance" on FOX makes me want get up and get down. It reignites that fire with in me every season. Perhaps I should stop watching and actually get off my butt and take a dance class or three...


Thursdays. Why do you have to be so cruel to me? Thursdays prove to be a difficult night for television. You see, at 8 o'clock, all battling for my attention are "Glee" on FOX, "Community" on NBC and another dose of "Wipeout" followed close behind by the results show of  "So You Think You Can Dance".


Fridays are old news filled with rerun after rerun.


And if that wasn't enough for you, for fun, let's just throw in a 1/2 hour a night of your local evening news, the World Cup and maybe a couple reruns.


Please excuse me while I step away from my writing for a few moments to throw up. Sick. You really should know that I really don't get around to each of these every week but if I could, I would.


Perhaps you are so disgusted with me that your reading has subsided by this point. But in the case you are the kind of person that looks even though it is disgusting and find yourself still reading this, you may be asking yourself, "How?" How do you manage to fit housework, a family, work and a dog into your boob-tube lifestyle? Allow me to explain...


1. The baby goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30 pm.
2. The dog just sleeps and barks at cats.
3. I work while I watch. I guess it's more for the background noise since I can't really watch T.V. and label bags at the same time.
4. Kelly and I bond over television. (No not really. That's just wrong. But we do watch together)
5. The housework just doesn't get done. You know the the song "Burning Down the House"? That song plays in my head and a grin creeps across my jawline. No, not really. In fact, Kelly and I were just discussing our lack of attention to detail around this place. Please continue to read...


We have found ourselves in a mess of a place. Not horrific but definitely not a relaxing home environment. Just messy. I decided we needed more discipline in our lives. At this point in our conversation, my stomach dropped to basement level and I felt sick as the words spewed out of my dirty little mouth, "Maybe we should do a T.V. fast?".  (you know, you always feel better after you throw up. I know. That's really gross. But it is true, isn't it?) As I wiped the remnants of those dirty words from my face, I felt free.
 

So, today on July 4th, as we celebrate our country's freedom, we have broken the chains and flipped the switch. We are free!!! Let the T.V. fast commence!! Well, all except the World Cup and our nightly news. Gotta start somewhere, right? 

5 Years and Counting...

If you were to ask me 10 years ago where I thought I'd be today, I would have told you that I would be married and have a baby. Done and done.

How do you know you are following God's plan? He gives you dreams and you find yourself living them. 5 years ago tomorrow, I married my best friend, Kelly Ryan Havskjold. I honestly cannot believe that it has already been that long.

Kelly, thank you. Thank you for loving me and my quirks. Thank you for the wonderful life that you have shared with me; for sharing your beautiful family; for our perfect son, Amaias; for allowing me the privilege to be a part of your life. I am so so lucky to have you as a husband and also as a father for Amaias.

You are so special to me and I look forward to the next 5 and the next and the next and the next......

I love you! Happy Anniversary.

Love,
Kirsten

I will call her "Shallow" and she will lay an egg...

Meet Shallow. She has made her home in a tree right outside my living room window. My little feathered friend. She sits there in the shade of her tree snuggled in her tidy nest. I keep poking my head out to watch her be and we catch each others eyes every now and again. A beautiful friendship in the making.

I know she is going to lay an egg. I just know it. And best believe, I will be watching her every move as she raises up her young. Naturally, she has so much I can learn from. She is the mistress of he domain. The ultimate care-giver. She has made a home to raise her young in that is secure, sanitary and is out of harms way. She will sit on that egg and keep watch until it hatches; she will gather food all day to feed her baby; she will teach the little one independence, good manor and grace.

Oh good little mama bird. Teach me your ways...

To Love...

I am what you would call a hopeless romantic. To the core. I love. I love everything. I melt at the sight of new love; of old love. I could watch chic-flicks or love stories for hours on end. I love flowers delivered to me; dinner by candle-light; sunsets; sunrises. Singing and dancing in the rain.  I love walking hand-in-hand with the one I love.

Life presents itself to me in the form of beauty. Everything is beautiful and lovely. Everything, that is, except running. Running is painful, tiring, dry out your lungs ridiculous and frankly, most people look pretty darn funny when doing it. But now that I have presented such a harsh statement, I must now ask myself a question.  Why am I finding myself falling in love with this disgusting sport? Maybe I can cough it up to being an addict. That's it; I'm just addicted to running. Although, the wind in my face is such a beautiful feeling. Exploring the radiant neighborhood we live in makes me feel more connected. That hour or two or three by myself allows me to dream...about flowers and date nights and little giggles from little babies and everything else that I love.

I run for time to dream. I run to create a healthier lifestyle and to create healthy habits. I run because God has given me two strong legs and a healthy set of lungs. Perhaps running is beautiful. Perhaps, I love running. I must be sick...

Patio ramblings...

Have you ever smelled a lilac? I mean really taken the time to stop and smell them. Their aroma is intoxicating. Sweet and subtle. My neighbors a few houses down the ally have a few beautiful full lilac bushes and when the sun and wind hit them just right, it almost takes my breath away.

Amaias is currently napping, Barley Biscuit is chilling on the patio with me and I am enjoying the warmth of the sun along with the complimenting breeze. The only thing that could make this moment a little brighter would be some company! But you can't come over. My house is a mess and I don't want to do anything about it. I just want to sit out here and enjoy the beauty that God has bestowed on me.

So, here I sit under our patio umbrella, trying not to get too much more sun. I over did it on Sunday. Just picture over done bacon. Or a leaf shriveled up by the sun. Or maybe a tomato in a boiling pot of water? I'm pretty darn close to all of the above. My skin must have shrunk a few sizes at least. It'd be nice if it were that way around the waistline but I don't think that is very feasible. What I have is the ultimate "Mom Sunburn". No joke. Let me explain...

On Sunday morning, we decided to venture out on our Sunday ritual walk. Our 5 mile or more walk. We left late morning while it was still a little cool out. I drenched Amaias in sunblock, loaded him in the jogger and we all headed out. We walked and walked. Pretty soon the sun was directly over head, beating down hard. I just didn't realize how hard until we returned home about two and a half or three hours later. Let me paint a picture for you. Stand up and position yourself as if you were pushing a stroller. Your arms should just about be at a 90 degree angle. Now, if the sun were directly over head, that would mean that your shoulders, neck and forearms would be exposed but your arm above your elbow is shadowed. SO, not only are just my shoulders and forearms scorched, I have nice white hand prints on my arms from where I wiped Amaias' left over sunscreen. There you have it. The ultimate Mom sunburn. I shall wear it like a badge of honor. A heavy, burning badge of honor.

Well, the dog has decided to go meet the trash-men and I suppose I should reel him back in.

I pray your day is full of a whimsical beauty. Wish you were here basking along with Barley and I.

Finally some time to myself. These moments are few and far between which makes them absolutely beautiful. My fingers are allowed to wander into parts of my heart I generally keep under lock and key.

Right now, my thoughts are fragrant. So much on my mind; on my heart. Where to begin.

After pulling an all-nighter and witnessing Amaias in his 4:30 AM "bounce-a-thon" I have found myself worn; blessed, but still worn. I have a load of laundry in the washer and the dryer, a load running in the dishwasher, a baby down for a nap, everyone has been fed and here I sit at 1:30 PM in my pjs. But it's ok to take a break, isn't it? I mean, I know I have responsibilities but I am learning that I need a break. My mind craves these quiet times. 

So, here is where I am at. My world has been some-what overwhelming lately. I've been in a funk and not the funky funk. Not that get down and boogy funk. It's the funk that smells; the kind you step in and you smell it for weeks. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.  

Years ago I had a dream and lately it's really been heavy on my mind. In my dream I saw a farmers hands. I remember watching as he worked his soil over and over and over. There was pain. I don't know where it came from but I remember the sensation of pain. When I awoke, the one word that stuck in my mind was "Cultivate". I don't know much about farming but I do know that this is a very vigorous task. It takes place to break up the dry, hard soil in preparation for new growth. Much labor and care go into this refining process.

I feel it. I feel the pressure and the digging and the churning. When the baby wakes up screaming or when I ruin the nice dinner I was trying so hard to bless my husband with and when laundry is screaming for me, when I write last months date on all of the coffee bags I dated, when one of our vehicles breaks down and we are left with one car...I feel it.

It's painful when being broken but necessary in order to grow. Let me say it again, if not for your

benefit then for my own. It's painful when being broken but necessary in order to grow. And you know what the most frustrating thing is? This isn't an over-night cure. And it's not a one time cure. This is something I have to remind myself of. Farmers are continuously working their fields over. Continuously digging, and sowing. If they don't, their field become dry and lifeless.

I guess that's how I've felt lately. Spiritually dry and lifeless. You reap what you sow and I have done no sowing leaving me with what feels like nothing. I have invested all of my time, effort and energy in everything but my Abba. It's so easy to do yet somehow it's the hardest way to do it. 

So, here I am. I'm ready to live again. Cultivate, refine, cleanse, purify. Call it what you will. Break this soil and bring new life.

And there it is. The cool water saturating everything within. Washing me. Refreshing my mind, body and spirit.