About Me

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child of the risen king. wife to one. momma to three. always striving to learn more about christ and how i be a reflection of him.

Blog Archive

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Redeemed

I love seeing how God redeems. I don't necessarily enjoy the times leading to redemption. It's ugly and beautiful, all in the same breath.

But you know what? It's totally worth it. I will take the the ugly messiness and aching to see the beauty. I will be wholly broken to be wholly restored. And I will give the glory to God for it all.

All glory and praise for redeeming us, for restoring our marriage, for leading us along the way, for showing us glimpses of our future.




Monday, August 17, 2015

Snapshots


While it seems that we've been really busy, it also seems like we haven't been doing much. Or maybe it's just that we haven't been taking pictures as much.
We went with some friends to an amusement park in Belgium. Thankfully I checked out the website before hand and saw they had a splash pad and I remembered swim suits for the boys (and a swim diaper). They loved it.

Jax was big enough to ride all of the rides, though he is a bit hesitant about a lot of them. He and I were able to ride this thing together - it's sort of like a tilt-a-whirl. He was laughing the entire time!

Lately, we have been taking a lot of walks together. Charis rides in the stroller, Jax zips around in his scooter, and Eli glides around on his bike. We usually make it 2-2.5 miles; we have a little route that we typically travel with the kids that isn't too billy for them. Here are some snapshots of sights and family.
















Saturday, July 11, 2015

Vanishing Act

Things keep disappearing. I really don't mind. At all. In the least. And I don't want to find them. Ever again. 

Those pesky pounds can keep getting lost.
It all started with a round of Whole30. Real foods for 30 days - no common triggers, like dairy, legumes, sugar. It basically helps heal your gut inflammation from all of the processed junk we eat. I lost a fair share of weight without exercising. I can only imagine the difference if I WERE exercising while eating Whole30 compliant foods.
Now, I've added in the running. A tiny bit of TRX for strength training. Logging my food using my FitBit. And now I've signed up for a 3 month weight loss/get healthy challenge to help hold me accountable. 
Woot woot! Getting healthy, getting strong, getting active! 

Monday, June 22, 2015

Running things


My husband runs marathons. And running marathons while living in Europe is insanely awesome. Instead of running in St. Louis, or Oklahoma City, or something - he has ran in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France, and Greece (so far). Uh, yeah.
Most of his marathons include travel to a cool city of some sort. Which is really fun. And *may* result in some envy.
So a friend and I decided that we wanted to run a half-marathon -- to help us lose weight and to get a fun trip. We considered all sorts of places... Spain, Ireland, France, Italy. We opted to be a bit more sensible and signed up to run our half-marathon in Brussels, Belgium. 
With signing up for the run, I committed to train for it. (I've walked a half-marathon before - because I signed up to run but never trained, so walking was really my only option.)
Training had been pretty discouraging. Most of my runs have been 15-17 minute miles with a LOT of walking involved. But something has shifted in the past week. My legs feel strong. I feel better about even trying. And I take the dog. So, here is what's been happening.
Charis fell asleep the first time I took her. 

Part of my training is actually walking. So I got the entire family to come along!
This run made me feel amazing! Not only because of my improved time, but because of this...
The first time in my LIFE that I have ever ran an entire mile!!! Woot woot!!!! I had to message my husband immediately after (I was on a steep uphill, a good time to walk and catch my breath). 
These hills out here are giving me some amazing legs, too! Win, win, win!




Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Every day life

life as a stay at home momma isn't always exciting. i would says that most days aren't exciting. i'm learning to find the beauty in the mundane. and to really appreciate that I get to be present for so much. 
charis gets some crazy hair when she plays on the trampoline. and you know what? i used to be one of those "why do they need a net on the trampoline?" folks. now, I see the need! it turns the trampoline into a huge playpen! it's so great to zip her and the boys, or her dad, inside and workout.

thankful that we kept these IKEA bins, even if they have seen better days. If we hadn't, i wouldn't have walked in to see this!
we ordered pizza in the other night. it was charis' first time to eat it and she LOVED it. I probably shouldn't be happy about that. it definitely required a bath after, and also soaking her dress in oxiclean.
just reading some magic school bus before putting the boys to bed. 
jax had some time playing in an old phone. i was cleaning up our photo stream and saw these pictures he snapped. there were so many more!!! what a goof! 


Saturday, June 6, 2015

when the husband works

my husband is currently working shifts. 24 hours on, a few days off. and repeat.
it's a pretty nice set-up. it took some getting used to, but now i usually appreciate the flexibility of his schedule, though i don't necessarily use it to my benefit frequently (unless you consider taking only 1 child to the commissary as a benefit, then, i frequently benefit).

on days that he is on shift, things seem to be a little less "official." meaning, cooking is completely optional. as is clothing (unless we are planning to go somewhere). 

this is what our dinner table looks like tonight.


charis probably has the healthiest mix of granola, fresh fruit, lunch meat. eli is having lunchmeat, yogurt, and hotdogs. jax is having hot dogs and cheese nips. i had two hot dogs, some carrots with honey mustard dip, and i snuck downstairs and had a few bites of leftover fruit trifle. oh, and samson is having whatever the kids drop on the floor, or what charis may hand feed him.

here's another sight from lunch.

charis managed to spread strawberries all over her face, her hair, and her shirt.


and then i find myself with such a treat. the boys picked some flowers while we were outside. they may have been from the neighbor's bushes. (when i mentioned to jax that we shouldn't take flowers from their bushes, he was rightfully correct with his reply of, "well, they were leaning over into our driveway.") 

jax took the time to meticulously arrange them while eli would go and pick more flowers of whatever color jax needed more of. 


mothering may not always be pretty or ever glamorous. but it is always rewarding. 


 Behold, bchildren are a heritage from the Lord,
cthe fruit of the womb a reward.
psalm 127:3 


Hi

hi. i'm jaime.



















and this is my spot in the inter webs.
i'm not quite sure what it all be. 
which makes sense. i'm not going to commit to blogging with a focus on one thing in my life, because my life is always evolving. 
from a southern girl to a nomad with no firm roots.
from a wild and crazy young adult to a more responsible and intentional adult.
working in corporate america to staying at home and raising three children.
from a sinner without hope for the future or my eternity, to a sinner that has been saved by grace.
i'm always growing and changing and learning. trying to discover who God has planned for me to be. and i've learned that i can't pinpoint that. maybe you can for yourself. but for me, i've learned that God is going to use me and stretch in ways that i couldn't' imagine. that my life will always be changing. that i will always go where He needs and i will always be what He needs me to be for that time. 
one constant that i am is His. 
His daughter. 
i am fearfully and wonderfully made in His reflection. 
and i will do all i can to honor that and to bring glory to my Father.